6 The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, February
David Stacks, Editor
Michele Mecke, Managing Editor
Michael Wade, Associate Editor
Gary Terpening, Associate Editor
Martha Waggoner, News Editor
Eddie Marks, University Editor
Carol Hanner, 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
Election hypochondria
Most of us who ail from time to time know that it makes sense to seek
a second opinion, especially if the first diagnosis is costly or unpalatable.
Sometimes, though, the maxim of seeking second opinions can be
carried too far. As most hypochondriacs learn, all the searching in the
world often won't produce the desired verdict. But curiously enough,
some continue to search.
It seems once again that election hypochondria has infected campus
politics at Carolina. The first symptoms appeared the night of Feb. 5,
when the Campus Governing Council hastily proposed a counter
referendum to the newly passed constitutional amendment
guaranteeing control of certain student activity fees to the Graduate and
Professional Student Federation. The student Elections Board
responded quickly; its prompt attention, though, failed to prevent the
wound from festering, and the infection spread to other parts of the
student body elections held Feb. 13.
The latest symptoms were confirmed Friday when two University law
students asked the Student Supreme Court to void the results of two
referendums passed Feb. 13. The symptoms are peculiar; they have
appeared only in the referendums (one calls for a new student fee to
finance an expanded intramural and recreational sports program; the
other allows the Campus Governing Council to increase its membership
to as many as 30 representatives) and not in other election results.
Election hypochondria is a strange affliction indeed.
But before the court can prescribe any treatment, it must first decide
in a pretrial hearing Thursday if it can examine the complainants'
arguments. It is unclear if persons other than candidates are
constitutionally able to approach the court with complaints.
Whatever the diagnosis of the court, the newest outbreak of election
hypochondria suggests that the court should take steps now to prevent
future outbreaks or even epidemics. It seems that it recently has
become a tradition at Carolina to petition the court to decide the results
of elections. Perhaps we are naive, but as we understand it, the whole
point of democracy and elections is for everyone to accept the will of the
majority. When irregularities occur in determining exactly what that
majority is, there are avenues of recourse, like appealing to the Student
Supreme Court. But the privilege of appeal should not be abused simply
to make a final desperate try to recoup pet political losses.
The court has its hands full for the time being, and it will be hard
pressed to devise a remedy for the election ills that promise to again
plague Carolina. But a vital first step toward developing potent
medicine for election hypochondria can be taken Thursday: The court
should confirm the opinion registered by voters on Feb. 13.
Some record
Now that the suspense is all over and the political smoke has cleared a
bit, it seems that John R. Ingram is not running for eovernor, not
running for lieutenant governor and not running for U.S. senator. He is
running for re-election as insurance commissioner. It would be better
for North Carolina if he were running for the hills.
As the state's commissioner of insurance since 1973, Ingram has made
considerable progress in attracting a political following. He appears to
have done little else. Although he managed to convey the impression of
working in the interest of consumers by tying up insurance industry
requests for rate increases in the state's courts, the record shows that the
N.C. Court of Appeals allowed his rulings to stand in only one of 14
cases that were not appealed to or ruled on by the N.C. Supreme Court.
On cases that did reach the high court, Ingram's position was upheld in
only one minor case out of 10. By abusing his power, Ingram provoked
the N.C. General Assembly into passing legislation that stripped the
commissioner's power to halt rate increases until they are ruled on in
court. In the long run, consumers probably will suffer from the effects of
Ingram's two terms in office.
The scathing criticism of Ingram by his opponents in the insurance
commissioner's race is politically motivated, of course, but the deeply
personal nature of the campaign is indicative of the enmity that has
characterized Ingram's relationship with his top aides. Nevertheless,
seven chief deputy commissioners and more than 10 other top Ingram
aides have quit or been fired since he took office seven years ago.
Political loyalty to Ingram appears to have been an important hiring
and firing guidepost in the N.C. Department of Insurance.
It will be interesting to see whether Ingram's considerable political
savvy can make voters forget his record.
The Daily
Assistant Manating Editors: Pam Kelley, Amy Sharpe
Ombudsman: Alice Treanor Distribution Manager: Jaci Hughes
Editorial Assistants: James Alexander, Jr., William Durham, Jim Hummel
News Desk: Gelareh Asayesh, Ted Avery, Karen Barber, Chris Burritt, Lynn Casey, Penelope Cox, Peggy
Gladstone, Lucy Hood, George Jeter, Lou Ann Jones, Joni King, Susan Leahy, Katherine Long, Cheri
Lovell, Susan Mauney, Kathy Miller, Kenneth Mingis, Peggy Nowak, Robie Patterson, Susan Pruett,
Edwina Ralston, Chris Redmond, Suzette Roach, Sue Ross, Evelyn Sahr, Betsi Simmons, Shelly Spiegel,
Debbi Sykes. Frank Wells, Annette Wilkerson and Wendell Wood. Melanie Sill, assistant Weekender
editor. John Royster, wire editor. Pam Hildebran, projects editor.
News: Kitty Adair, Melodee Alves, Karen Barber. Stephanie Bircher, RoAnn Bishop, Cindy Bowers.
Shannon Brennan, Julie Britt, Linda Brown, Chuck Burns. Lynn Casey, Cathy Cousins, Debbie Daniel.
Elizabeth Daniel, Kerry DeRochi, Angie Dorman, Anne-Marie Downey, John Dusenbury, Murphy
Evans, Pat Flannery, Charles Herndon, Joey Holleman, Dale Jenkins, George Jeter, Sharon Kester, Joni
King, Karen Kornegay, Pete Kuehne, Maxcia Makepeace. Susan Mauney. Annette Miller, Kathy Morrill.
Jonathan Rich. Beverly Shepard, Betsi Simmons, Mary Beth Starr, David Teague. Nancy Thorne, Rand
Tucker, JefT Whisenant, Diane Wilfong, Nora Wjlkinson and Carolyn Worsley.
Sports: Bill Fields, assistant editor; Cliff Barnes, Norman Cannada. Chip Karnes, Geoffrey MockTScou
Peterson, David Poole, Marjo Rankin, Linda Robertson, Mark Tayloe, Scott Whisnant and Bert
Woodard.
Features: Gelareh Asayesh, Deborah Baker, Buddy Burniske, Shannon Burroughs, Lee Creech, Dawn
Dixon, Virginia Greer, Kim Kkman, Cathy McJunkin. Lori Morrison. Ann Peters. Susan Pruett. Diane
Veto, Tom Weber. Phil Wells, Elliott Warnock, Sarah West and David Wilson.
Arta: Sharon Anton, John Bchm, Bill Burton, Gregory Clay, Jere Link, Kathy McAdams, Rob Monath,
Tom Moore, Jonathan Mudd. Bobby Parker, Dorothy Rompalske, Bob Royalty. Evelyn Sahr. Anthony
Scideman, Ann Smallwood, Donna Tompkins, Jac Verstecg and Donna Whitaker.
Graphic Arts: John Boone, Dan Brady, Greg Calibey, Ann Emery, Bob Fulghum. G. Douglas Govus,
Danny HarrelL Kathy Harris. Sandy Sakata, Lawrence Turner and Steve Werk, artists; Matt Cooper!
Arden Dowdy, David Earnhardt, Jay Hyman, Will Owens, Randy Sharpe, and Scott Sharpe
photographers.
Business: Grant Duers, business manager; Linda L. Allred, secretary receptionist; Shannon Brennan,
classifieds manager. Brooks Wicker, accountant; Jim Hummel, and Karen Newell, office assistants.
Advertising: Nancy McKeruie, advertising manager; Paula Brewer, advertising coordinator, Arlene
Aycock, John Bchm, Buddy Burniske, Sally Hamrkk, Mark Ransom, Gena Shreve, Judy Van Beuren and
Tina Venable.
Ombudsman's Staff: Susan Brady, Patricia Jackson, Lucy McCaulcy, Mary Ann Rickert and Valerie Van
Gordon.
Composition: UNC Printing Department. .
Printing: Hinton Press Inc. of Mebane.
20, 1980
Daily
Qfar mnl
87th year of editorial freedom
Tar Heel
letters to the editor
Vill a stricter curriculum be stronger?
To the editor:
The editorial "Leadership 101" (DTH,
Feb. 18) was right to recognize and
criticize the dangerous opinions on
student involvement made by Boston
University President John Silber.
However, we would like to object to what
is implicit in the editorial with regards to
the Thornton Report and student
involvement with it.
Leadership development, while
doubtlessly important, is far from being
the only issue involved in this
controversy. A curriculum and a
curriculum change involves broader
goals than that. Unfortunately, exactly
what the goals of this university are for
undergraduates are not clear nor are they
well agreed upon. Without a clear and
widely agreed upon statement of
educational goals and an equally plain
philosophical basis for those goals, any
attempt to evaluate and change
curriculum is destined to be a failure.
The point should be made that this is
the level at which students must get
involved with curriculum change and the
Thornton Report. Students are already
involved in the process of what the
editorial called working out the details
through seats on the subcommittees
working toward a second draft of the
report.
This is not enough, however.
Individual students must ask themselves:
What are the goals of this University for
undergraduate education and what sort
of a curriculum will best serve those
goals?
Only after considering these questions
can students, faculty and administration
begin working toward reshaping our
curriculum. Right now, however, it is not
at all clear to us that the Thornton Report
presents the answers to our supposed
curriculum problems, nor is it readily
obvious exactly what those problems are.
It may not be the case that a stronger
curriculum is a stricter curriculum.
J.B. Kelly
Student Body President
Jeff Koeze
Student Government Academic
Procedures Chairman
Priorities illustrated
To the editor:
According to supporters of the recently
passed referendum calling for an increase
in student fees for expansion of
intramural and recreational sports
programs, one of the benefits we can
expect to enjoy is extended operating
hours at Woollen Gym on weeknights
and weekends.
If fact, with these new times, Woollen
Gym will be open more hours each week
than Wilson Library. For anyone who
couldn't already see it, this illustrates the
firmly established priorities of this fine
institution: Athletics come before
academics.
Timothy B. Brown
Curriculum in Ecology
Defending freedom
To the editor:
Barbara Olasov does not speak for all
young men and women in "Not again,"
(DTH, Feb. 13) or at least not for me.
itching :
By TED GOLDMAN
Hitchhikers, it seems, have been
getting a bad rap lately. Attendance
figures for interstate hitching, dutifully
compiled by the N.C Highway Patrol and
the Interstate Commerce Commission,
show an average yearly decline of 2.7
percent per highway mile since statistics
were first kept in 1924 the year that J.E.
Hoover gained the throne of the FBI.
The figure is a net decrease; it
obviously does not include those who had
their careers struck short while in the line
of duty run over by drunken drivers,
shot by robbers or killed by exposure in
the deserts of Utah or in the snow of the
Dakotas while waiting for a ride.
H oover was not a man distinguished by
rhetorical excesses, but concerning
hitchers he evidently was driven to new
heights of passion, resolving "to keep tabs
once and for all on those pernicious
parasites of the road." Remains of
Hoover's somewhat biased views and
quality alliteration still can be seen in the
ICC's yearly publication The Hitcher,
subtitled Facts about Society's Biggest
Bane.
Understandably intrigued that any
federal organization actually would
compile data on hitchhiking, I finally
tracked down T.H. Speed, a sergeant in
the N.C. Highway Patrol's Division of
Highway Hazards. Speed was distinctly
professional as he explained his mode of
operation. ,
"Well son," he said,! get in my car and
drive around a few interstates and see
how many hikers I see. I make two
categories: them that look bums, tramps
or students and them that looks
respectable."
But counting hitchhikers, the sergeant
told me, w as only a minor part of his job.
"Mainly I deal with other hazards found
on the road, like PCB's and dead cows."
Tell that to ace hitcher Alfredo
Fettucini, however, and you might find a
thumb sticking down your throat.
"Ignorance, ignorance, sheer
ignorance" he fumes. "Why, most people
don't know the first thing about
hitchhiking, but they" he stops to
gesture emphatically with his middle
finger "they all got an opinion. 'No sir.'
H
; 0 ' ""'N
I 1 H I W
Although we young men and women may
not want to participate in a war, some of
us have the loyalty, courage and love of
our freedom and civil rights to do so if
called upon. It is these rights that a
totalitarian regime such as- that of the
Soviet Union encroaches upon
remember?
It is attitudes like Olasov's that have
dropped our country from the position it
holds (or used to hold) as a defender of
freedom. I also am opposed to war but
not at the expense of endangering my
freedom and my country's sovereignty.
Mark Carpenter
102 Graham
Thanks, Jane
To the editor:
Having just digested a little breakfast
and the Feb. 18 issue of The Daily Tar
Heel, I would like to commend Jane
Morley for developing a feel for the
nuances of good brinkmanship.
Having been in Chapel Hill for eight
months now, I have not noticed any
writers that have exhibited as wide a
range of genuine personality and human
flavor as Morley has in her contributions
to the DTH. A sincere thank you, Jane,
for the high personal and journalistic
quality of your articles and the enjoyment
and food for thought you give DTH
readers.
John Kalmar
E-l The Villages
Guaranteed housing
To the editor:
In reference to the letter "Just
compensation," (DTH, Feb. 4), I
sympathize with Russell Lookadoo on
his views towards the quadrupled and
tripled freshmen of the University.
World's second-oldest
they say, 'you won't find me stopping for
anyone. If they're too lazy to own a car,
hell, let them walk."
Alfredo crosses his arms defiantly,
and then, seeing that I am sympathetic to
his cause, relaxes. "You see," he says,
lowering his voice and continuing more
gently, "it's a little-known but well
documented fact. After prostitution,
hitchhiking is the world's oldest
profession." I told him that I had always
assumed it was plumbing or door-to-door
sales.
"But no fool, it's hitching," Alfredo
fairly thundered. Years of hitching
Alfredo will have logged one million
miles after seven more cross-country
trips-have worn his nerves razor thin.
But if you can tolerate his erractic
disposition, typical for a seasoned hitcher
who sees his spirits rise and tall more than
500 times a day as potential lifts approach
and then-agh-pass him by, Alfredo is a
world of information:
"Herodotus, you sec. tells about the
great Athenian Solon who traveled to the
court of Egypt. How did he get there?
Why, as Herodotus says: 'Solon found
himself upon a ridge, tired and thirsty, he
made to put his arm to a passing Caravan,
who, having nothing better to do.
However, I do not agree wholeheartedly
with his idea of guaranteeing only this
particular group room to live on campus
next year.
I, being a student at Carolina, propose
that the University do something
concerning this overcrowded situation.
Seeming to have enough money to
finance the building of new athletic
facilities and for another library, I am
sure the University can manage to find
enough funds to build some new housing.
In my opinion the University owes the
student body the opportunity to be able
to Jive on campus. The University should
take in view the fact that many students
who attend Carolina cannot afford to live
off campus.
In the future 1 hope Carolina becomes
more concerned with the student need for
increased housing quarters.
Gregory Jones
207 Ehringhaus
Chess club
To the editor:
I was dismayed to read "UNC takes
College Bowl with win over Vanderbilt,"
(DTH, Feb. 19) and the vague reference
to the UNC chess team also doing well in
the tournament held over the weekend.
UNC sent four team members to the
Region 5 ACU-I tournament and did
extremely well. Maurice Dana,' ranked
third at the start of the tournament, was
the clear winner in individual
competition. Dana and Danny
McKeithen combined to tie for first place
in team competition, and Steve Williams
tied for fourth place in individual
competition and was instrumental in
leading the B team to a fifth-place finish.
I believe that achievement in all areas
should be recognized in The Daily Tar
Heel, because it is the only source to tell
how UNC students fare in all types of
DTMScotl ShP
stopped to pick him up!And Geoffrey
and Moremouth, busy studying for the
priesthood w hen the Second Crusade left
for the Holy Land, hitched a ride with an
Arab merchant two years later, and
caught up with the Second Crusade, just
as they were entering Jerusalem."
Alfredo's eyes were twinkling, but like
the modern ballad goes, there was no
stopping him now.
For hours I was regaled with
tantalizing tidbits of what Alfredo called
"the world's most misunderstood
profession." Hell. 1 never realized you
could enjoy hitching. I'd always seen it as
a necessary chore, a way from here to
there when one's pockets were lined with
everything but cash.
At times Alfredo would wan
rhapsodic, recalling his own past
moments on the . road when "an
inexpressible floodgate of joy would well
up inside of me whenever the driver and t
achieved that most perfect communion of
hearts and minds, whkh only the
anonymity of the road can create."
Several year ago, Alfredo and a few
other veteran hitchen had tried to
organize a hitchhiking convention in
Normal. 111. The choice of location was
no doubt intended to ivmbotie the
competition.
Tim Galloway
President
UNC Chess Club
Inform yourself
To the editor:
President Carter's proposal that both
men and women be registered for the
draft in the near future affects us all.
Whether one wants to accept the draft,
the situation warrants our attention. The
possibility of women being in the military
alongside men is something women here
on campus need to research individually.
The Naval ROTC program is bringing
Brig. Gen. Margaret Brewer, director of
public affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps,
to speak to midshipmen at 12:30 p.m.
Thursday in 104 Howell Hall. Brewcr.the
first and currently only female general in
the Marine Corps, will answer questions
on the military. Take advantage of this
unique opportunity to ask questions and
become informed.
Ann Merrill Benjamin
Alice M. Thomasson
Association for Women Students
Letters?
The Daily Tar Heel welcomes
columns and letters to the editor.
For prompt publication,
submissions must be typed triple
spaced, typed on a 60-space line
and signed. The writer's address
should be included and each
column should be accompanied by
the writer's year, major and
hometown.
profession
hitcher's most fervent hope: that he was,
in fact, a normal human being and not
some creature in a zoo to be gaped at by
passing drivers.
But it was destined to fail. Hitching in
from all parts of the country, the
delegates all arrived at different times.
Hitchers are naturally disinclined to stay
in one place very long, being always told
by the authorities to "MOVE ON!," and
so there were never more than a dozen
hitchers there at the same time.
It would have been a wonderful
conference, Alfredo told me. Seminars
were planned on every thing from the
baggage controversy (suitcase or pack?)
to the particular subtleties of nighttime
hitching, to interpreting the bizarre
gestures that many motorists make as
they pass you by.
Most often, they simply mean, "I'm
turning up ahead." But Alfredo knew one
hitcher w ho swore that a passing driver
gestured to him in 2.6 seconds of eye
contact available at 60 miles per hour
that "My wife is in labor, I'm on my way
the the hospital, 1 would stop ordinarily,
in fact I did stop the last time this
happened, but we arrived at the hospital
too late, and I'm not taking that risk
again. Sorry."
I began to see that provincial attitudes
towards hitchhiking that it was
parasitic, dangerous, even. God forbid,
immoral were dead wrong. The failed
to appreciate the depth and variety of
riches to be discovered in each driver and
the unique sense of triumph that you. the
hitcher, feel when you finally figure out
what to talk about with the driver. Far
from being the banc of the road, hitchers
arc its benivon.
"For you ce," as Alfredo o elegantly
put it as he hitched a ride with me back
into town. "Drivers don't stop to help you
out, but rather to help themselves out, to
have a free and captive body that will talk
to them, cajole them, keep them awake."
"The hitcher-dnver relationship." he
grandly concluded, "u society's- ultimate
symbiosis."
Which sounded fine to me until,
dammit. 1 ran out of gat, and learned
another rule of the road. When the ride
nop, the hitcher split. I had to hitch to a
gas station by myvclf.
Ted Goldman hai hitchhiked to
Durham once.