Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 19, 1980, edition 1 / Page 8
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8 The Daily Tar Heel Tuesday, February 19, 1S30 David Stacks, Editor Michele Mecke, Managing Editor Michael Wade, Associate Editor Gary Tespening, Associate Editor Martha Waggoner, News Editor Eddie Marks, University Editor Carol Manner, City Editor Kathy Curry, State and National Editor Reid Tuvim, Sports Editor Susan Ladd, Features Editor Laura Elliott, Arts Editor Andy James, Photography Editor Dinita James, Weekender Editor 4U 4 mm n 9 T-K TV-TVT TPI TV-Pi Tl l -f jff-MVn -w v-i Tl -W latin 87th year of editorial freedom Nothing but a glimmer Five men with names largely unknown in the United States are scheduled to meet in Geneva today to catch a U nited Nations-chartered plane bound for Tehran. The five men from France, Algeria, Syria, Venezuela and Sri Lanka make up the long-awaited panel which will investigate the alleged crimes of Iran's deposed shah. The formation of the panel understandably is cause for renewed optimism and hope that the 50 Americans held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran since Nov. 4 soon will be released. Long since the immediate reaction of hostility in this country lessened and attitudes fell into harmony with President Carter's patient, pragmatic approach to the crisis, formation of an investigative panel has been seen as a crucial first step in freeing the hostages. It seems that step has been taken: U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim has chosen five panel members, and the United States and Iran reportedly have approved the choices. But there is no cause for jubilation. Even optimism and hope might be words far too optimistic to describe what America's reaction should be to Waldheim's selection. The panel's creation is only a first step in what promises to be a protracted final phase of the hostage dilemma. Compounding existing difficulties is the lack of a timetable for the panel to work with. Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who last week hinted that the hostages might be released once an investigation into the crimes of the shah was begun, lately has shunned a timetable in an effort to appease the militants holding the U.S. Embassy. Bani-Sadr said that before a timetable could be set for the panel's investigation, the United States must take the initiative in changing the political climate that exists between itself and Iran by condemning its past policy toward Iran, promising not to interfere in future Iranian affairs and promising not to obstruct pursuit for the shah, his entourage and other Iranian criminals. Bani-Sadr said Sunday that the ailing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is in complete agreement with his position. Such a situation, if it indeed exists, is a plus. But the militants in control of the embassy in Tehran, who repeatedly vow allegiance to Khomeini and Khomeini alone, issued a chilling statement Sunday night: "By having the American spies in our hands we are in a position of initiative and power." The militants give no credence to the supposedly ayatollah-endorsed Bani-Sadr plan and insist on their original demand made 107 days ago: Return the shah. The signals coming from Iran are no less confusing and convoluted than they ever have been during the hostage crisis. Release of the hostages seems near, but until every one of the 50 sets foot on U.S. soil, the latest glimmer of hope is nothing more than a glimmer. Making up lost ground Next week's Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire could make or break Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's hopes to become the party's 1980 nominee. Kennedy's setbacks in the Iowa caucuses a month ago and in the Maine caucuses last week have put a damper on his campaign thus far, and his efforts to combat President Carter's momentum have been stymied by the president's steadfast refusal to leave the shelter of the White House until the American hostages in Iran are released. In explaining his stunning defeat in Iowa, Kennedy said that the road to the nomination is long and that the contest was far from being decided. Even after the New Hampshire primary, the Democratic National Convention will be thousands of grueling campaign miles away. President Carter's victory in the Maine caucuses showed his strength in Kennedy's native New England, and the Massachusetts senator will face a huge disadvantage without a convincing win in New Hampshire, especially if there is no immediate solution to the hostage crisis that keeps the president from facing tough questions about his domestic policies. After New Hampshire, Kennedy will have two other primaries in New England before the home-court advantage shifts to President Carter with the Florida, Georgia and Alabama primaries on March 11. Kennedy could pick up some lost ground in the M arch 4 primaries in his home state and in Vermont. But unless the senator can turn the nation's attention to the abundance of problems at home, the president's momentum is likely to continue. His decision to stay at the White House is difficult to criticize because he has not allowed the public and the media to forget the hostages in Iran, and it is obviously good political strategy as well. Kennedy will fail unless he can convince Americans to look toward the problems at home and that he can solve them rather than just point them out. 'In Quotes' By MARTHA WAGGONER Marilyn French does not look like your stereotypical feminist. The rose-colored wool suit, the pumps and the soft voice remind you instead of a successful businesswoman who has made it in a man's world. But the author of the best-selling The Women's Room and the just published The Bleeding Heart speaks on women's rights with a voice so determined that there is no doubt about her feelings. "All our lives are a prison," French said at a press conference held a few hours before her 7 p.m. speech Friday in Memorial Hall. "You choose a form to live in and all forms are constraining. Some prisons are worse than others.... Men usually get to choose theirs more than women do." French said the only form offered to many women is the prison of being a wife and mother. "I have never met a woman happy just raising children," she said. French's view of life and her thoughts about the future are not optimistic. These feelings have roots in her childhood. "1 was a very unhappy child," she said. "I don't know why. My life was fine. My parents were gentle people. I was a very, very precocious child. I lived in books and in music make believe. I found the world outside very ugly. "I didn't know many people who weren't poor. I saw fathers beat their children and saw these children go to the streets and beat on children smaller than themselves. "I grew up during the Depression.1 always felt we were rich at the cost of my mother's entire life. When my father was making $ 1 8 a week, a dollar of that was going for my piano lessons. The world outside my home was letters to the editor 'All our lives are a prison. You choose a form to live in and all forms are constraining. Some prisons are w orse than others... Men usually get to choose theirs more than women do.' Marilyn French 1 , , , not like the world inside my home." French believes the world is well on its way to destruction and that men "damn well better" help the women straighten out the world before it's too late. "One person has said that within 10 years, you won't be able to walk down the streets of New York and breathe," French said. "The world will turn into a huge computer with three or four control centers, if we leave it to the think-tanks." French blames the universities for many of the world's problems. "The focus has to change from what is absurdly called reason." She accused the universities of encouraging only linear thinking. One of the main criticisms of The Women's Room has been that the men are portrayed as stick figures. French justified this attitude by saying that The Women's Room is "a book about women and about how they see men. How do women talk about their husbands in the kitchen? How many men do you know who read feminist books? Not one." French, who is divorced, has a son and a daughter. Of her marriage, she w ill say only: "I haven't had a husband in a long time and I never intend to again." But she says she is very close to both her children and has never lost contact with them as Mira did in The Women's Room. We're all feminists together my son, my daughter and French described The Women's Room as a horizontal book which cov ers the lives of a lot of women through many years. The Bleeding Heart, she says, is a vertical book which goes deep into the exploration of a feminist's relationship with a traditional man. "Because, of course, there is no other kind of man than traditional," she said! "I attempt to show the costs of being a feminist." It would be very easy to confuse Marilyn French with Mira, the main character in 77k- Women's Room. Both graduated from Harvard and both had an unhappy marriage. Both have a bitter sense of humor and sharp wit that makes you glad, if you're a woman, that French is on your side. More importantly, both are survivors. French admits that she pronouces Mira like "mirra" because "she is a reflection in so far as there is an image of a middle-class white woman." But French denies that she and Mira are one and the same. "She isn't me," French says with a secretive smile that makes you wonder if she's being totally honest. Martha Waggoner, a junior journalism major from Winston-Salem, is news editor for The Daily Tar Heel. T rr M ilitary registration borders on slavery To the editor: Recognizing that registration is the first step toward full conscription, and believing that the impressment of individuals into the armed forces is involuntary servitude, the Libertarian Party adamantly . opposes President Carter's draft registration proposal. The coercive control of the lives and actions of others is slavery. The controller may be a single individual looking for personal benefit or a collection of individuals seeking their common good. In either case, the plight of the slave remains the same: He is working while his controllers dictate the conditions of his life, control his actions and dispose of the product of his labor. The Libertarian Party stands on the belief that all individuals have the natural right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives and to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others to live in whatever manner they choose. The draft denies U. S. citizens these fundamental rights to live their lives according to their own choice and judgment. If a person wishes to join the armed forces, that is certainly his privilege; but no individual or group of individuals has the right to force another to work as a soldier rather than to pursue his own chosen profession. It is absurd to talk of fighting against aggression abroad when, in our effort to wage such a campaign, we enslave U. S. citizens here at home. If the enemy is aggression against the liberties and interests of U. S. citizens, then a natural measure against such an enemy is to maximize the freedom of Americans and to outlaw coercive interference into their lives. To the extent that the U. S. government disrupts the lives of private individuals, it is adding to the strength of the enemy. The notion that this country has a common interest to pursue, as an entity in itself and apart from the individuals who compose it, is fallacious and dangerous thinking. Only individuals, each taken separately, can decide what is in their best interest. If we pursue our interests by coercively depriving a percentage of the population of their freedom to choose and act as their own minds dictate, then we have presumptuously assumed that we have human rights, while they do not. If we sanction such sacrifice of individuals now, what surety is there that we will not become the victims of "our country's interest" in the future? The all volunteer force is the only moral way to defend our lives and liberties. The United States is unique in that it was formed on the tenet that laws exist to secure the liberties of the people and not to abridge them. Our heritage is certainly worthy of our patriotism, but in IM CASE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY, REMEMBER... M CHILDREN RRSTi WOMtH AND our concern for human rights at home and abroad, we should not betray these liberties to immoral institutions, such as the draft, which erode the freedoms on which this country was built. Elizabeth Ann Ratchford 213-20 East Franklin St. To the editor: One Libertarian response to A. Hewitt Rose ("What Justification?," DTH Feb. 14, 1980) is, "How can you advocate fighting for freedom overseas by instituting slavery here?" The draft is immoral because it does not allow people to choose for themselves whether to work as soldiers or to pursue other professions. If some people want to be defended, they may pay the free market price for defense services. Suppose the government drafted workers to pick cotton. One could argue that without the draft cotton would be too expensive to pick, so citizens would find the cost of clothing prohibitively high. Are defense services too expensive to pay for? Libertarians question the validity of any government's power to enslave individuals. In a free society, the initiation of the use or threat of force against others would not be sanctioned. Trying to counter Soviet aggression against liberty with American aggression against the liberty of American citizens plays right into the hands of the tyrants. The all volunteer force remains the only just way to defend our liberty and our lives. Philip Fransioli Busby Jr. Route 4, Box 657 Kudos for 'Overeating' To the editor: As a recovering compulsive overeatcr, I would like to commend the Weekender feature on "Overeating." Often compulsive ovcreaters feel shame and disgust at their lack of "self-control," a feeling made more painful by our "disfigured" bodies and further intensified by feeling set apart from the rest of life and alone. Only when we start to realize that it is a common and frequent problem, and one that arises from more than just a lack of self-control, can overeaters overcome the compulsion. That's why it is important to let people know that they are not alone and that there are places in Chapel Hill to turn to for help from the compulsion: Overeaters Anonymous, Weight Watchers, Lucy Minuto. All these groups and people can help overeaters effectively deal with their compulsion. I also encourage all compulsive overeaters to read Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach. This book offers tremendous insights into the compulsion to overeat. Susan Cohen 375 Wesley Court $ Favorite nightmare To the editor: The editorial cartoon on women and the draft (DTH, Feb. 1 5) was sensational, hysterical, uninformed, offensive and dumb. It was lacking in insight, perspective, wit and originality. 1 found it alarmist, reactionary and pathetically chauvinistic. The unfortunate would-be cartoonist owes your readers an apology for assuming that we would enjoy a peek at Phyllis Schafly's favorite nightmare. May I paraphrase? "Jeez, lookit what would happen if they draft women. They'll send all our beautiful blondes to the front lines and all the beautiful blondes will get kilt and all the big strong stalwart Marines will have to waste a lot of time lugging their lifeless but lovely bodies back for a decent burial or something." Melody Ivins 109 North St. The Bottom Line What's In the plumbing? Troubled by mice in the attic? Eighty-five-year-old Ayame Hiranshi of Salt Lake City, Utah, wishes mice were the only bats in her belfry. The trouble started last week when Hiranshi discovered a 5-foot boa constrictor in her bathroom closet. While Hiranshi and her daughter watched the snake stick out its tongue at them, her husband scurried about looking for a pair of wire cutters with which to decapitate the beast. The frantic trio was seized, however, at the last moment by humane instincts and opted to call zoo director LaMar Farnsworth instead of going through with their grisly design. But Farnsworth was unable to catch the leviathan, which reportedly retreated into the house's heating ducts. Unalarmed, Farnsworth said, "It likes that kind of warmth." We bet the Hiranshis can hardly wait for summer. Oink Mary Lynne Rave of Jacksonville and her sisiter, Ellen Stanley of Lubbock, Tex., don't take too kindly to fat, slovenly slobs who give their organization a bad name. They are co-founders of the Association for the Advancement of National Pig Day, and they believe their favorite animal has an undeserved reputation because its name is applied to Bluto-like crumbs who eat too much and stay dirty all the time. From now on, don't call your slobbish friends "pig" and by all means, don't call somebody "pig" on March 1 unless he has a pink snout and a curly little tail. March 1, Rave declares, is National Pig Day, and it has been since 1972. The sisters celebrate the day by exchanging pig packages and throwing pig parties. At pig parties, it seems, pink pig punch, pig cookies and pig cupcakes are served, and pink ribbon pigtails are tied to trees in honor of pigs. Right. NBC-TV plans to cover a pig party in Lubbock next month for its Real People program. If the party works out, perhaps the network could make it a weekly series. Pork and Mindy or something. Who needs the Moscow Olympics with programming like that? According to latest reports, there are 300 card-carrying members of the AANPD, including members in Australia, Canada, Belgium, England, France and South Korea. Rave says she has received pig statues from as far away as the Soviet Union, proving that pig lovers have managed to overcome the petty squabbles of international politics. And that's the bottom line. Have you been cheated out of the 960? By FRA NK WELLS I've always felt I was born too late. For those of us born in 1960, the '60s were a time of bicycles and treehouses; we missed all the. real fun. You remember civil rights marches, war protests, the drug revolution, the counterculture, the sexual revolutiorL.the good old days. I never heard Hendrix, I never dropped acid, 1 never choked on tear gas or cried for a friend who didn't come home. 1 was cheated. I contented myself with secondhand accounts of alll the things I missed. I listened to Dylan, Joan Baez and Arlo. 1 read Res olution for the Hell of It three times, and subscribed to Crawdaddy magazine. I was determined that if another movement came along I would be prepared for it. There were causes all along, I suppose. Watergate offered the perfect opportunity to toss a few last stones at the man we all held responsible. But somehow, even the direct hits we scored weren't satisfying. I went. to meetings of Common Cause and gave money to stop nuclear power. We cursed the '70s as an empty decade, all the w hile complaining of the complacency and apathy that filled our lives. The people who were around back then tell me that Chapel Hill was different 15 years ago. A sleepy place made restless by the tension of the times. But I wouldn't know because I was in grade school during Kent State. I listened to the stories of those who were here when they occupied South Building and was filled with a sense of deprivation all over again. 1 saw Making of the President '68 and cried when Bobby Kennedy died. I watched Hearts and Minds and The War Game and became more cynical and terrified with each death on the screen. But it was just a movie, a mov ie made a long time ago. At some vague point along the way, I realized that I could never be a part of the '60s generation, no matter how hard I tried. My only knowledge of the time was from romanticized views of others. Those who lived through that war were active because they had to be. The protests and even the violence were only defenses against an insanity they could never quite understand. No one who wasn't there could ever fully understand, but the excitement they talk about, the fun they say they had, were all substitute" emotions. A necessary defense to get them through the horror. I had just about given up trying to be a part of that decade. And now the powers that be for a while at least are giving me a chance at a war of my very own. This time it isn't Vietnam; it's Afghanistan. Not Nixon, but the liberal peacemaker 1 hung posters for. And this time it isn't romantic; it's scary. They tell us this registration is only a precaution, that there's no chance that anyone will be drafted, bu! just in case... Resistance movements have already begun, and the narcissism is giving way to that tension. It has become fashionable to joke about the draft. I plan to be prepared. I've been leafing through back issues of my "radical" magazines and Dylan has returned to my turntable. Suddenly, we're about to recapture some of that spirit; but right now I'd settle for a return to those dull, complacent, curved '70s. But we can't turn back the clock; this situation demands action, and that means it's time for a decision. 1 often said 1 never would have gone to Vietnam. But I had the advantage of 20-20 hindsight when 1 made those positive statements. I realize how difficult the decisions were for those who stood against the war from the start. 1 see now how much courage it must have taken to give up citizenship here. I've gotten used to this place and I'm not sure I have enough strength of conviction to leave. No, the Middle Last is not Vietnam. This time there are vital oil supplies at stake (finally a war over real American values dollars). I'm not sure 1 want to go to war to make the world safe for Standard Oil, but 1 like to think I'm as patriotic as the next person. And if there's going to be real trouble, 111 probably fall right into Une with the rest of the patriotic cannon fodder. They tell us this one is for real. If the gulf area goes. F-urope goes. I hen pretty soon we'll have Russians on Pennsylvania Avenue. Wait a minute -- does that sound as familiar to ou as it does to me? Go back and read some of thoc magazines. I think some of the people in Washington arc using them as a script. Maybe this decision won't be so tough after alt Frank Well, a sophixnttre journalism major from tkntn, it a taff nrtier for I he Daily Tar Heel.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 19, 1980, edition 1
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