Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / May 22, 1980, edition 1 / Page 42
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18 The Tar Heel Thursday, May 22, 1980 commentary and analysis 1W i i iiH e William Durham, Editor Amy Sharpe, Managing Editor Elliott Warnock, Associate Editor John Royster, News Editor Susan Mauney, Copy Editor Sarah West, Features Editor Tom Moore, Arts Editor Clifton Barnes, Sports Editor Sharon Clarke, Photography Editor A sad day Extreme violence in American cities is not a phenomenon we expect to encounter every day. And when the violence is of such a degree that people are dragged from cars to be beaten to death, and curfews cage a raging populace, the scene takes on the aspect of a nightmare. This nightmare took place last weekend in Miami, and continued well into the week. With at least sixteen people dead, 3,600 National Guardsmen called in to maintain peace and the curfew, plus major fires causing damage estimated at tens of millions of dollars, the conflagration in Miami is the worst racial violence to scourage the city in more than a decade. The cause of the. situation is as despicable as the violence itself. Demonstrations began last Saturday, a mere three hours after four former metropolitan Dade County police officers were acquitted by an all-white jury in the brutal beating death of Arthur McDuffie, a 33-year-old insurance executive. The trial had been mqyed to Tampa due to excessive media coverage in Miami. The trial itself was a travesty. The prosecution contended that McDuf fice was stopped last December after a high-speed chase and then savagely beaten by police officers, who left him unconscious. He died four days later in a coma. The defense attorneys claim that the officers had used only the force necessary to subdue a violently struggling McDuffie, who was an ex-Marine and held a black belt in karate. However, the medical examiner has stated that McDuffie's skull had been crushed by six heavy blows, the equivalent of falling from a four-story building and landing on his face. Further impugning the decision to acquit, the Justice Department announced Sunday that the McDuffie case would be presented to a federal grand jury in Miami Wednesday for possible indictments. Civil rights lawyers who had reviewed the evidence before the trial had expected at least some convictions in the state court and were shocked by the acquittals. There is no excuse for the violence that has torn Miami. There is no excuse for judicial desultoriness. The citizens of the unfortunate city seethe behind barred doors, leaving empty, smoldering shells where homes and businesses once stood. It is a sad day in the republic when justice must be torn from the system with the blood of the innocent. Don't pass it on If you are a newly arrived Carolina student, (an incoming freshman trying to get the jump on your fellows, a transfer or a visiting student here for a lark) you are about to be privy to one of the best kept secrets in the United States. . ' . Before you read further, we must ask you not to divulge this to anyone off-campus. That's right, not even your mom. The secret is very simple: Chapel Hill and Carolina, for all their fall glory, winter wonderment and glorious springs, are even better in the summer. Parking, what little there is, is slightly more plentiful; getting around town and campus is easier; bars aren't quite so crowded and even classes seem more enjoyable. Carolina's summer weather, if you don't mind humidity normal for 12 feet below sea level, is enough to bring out the best in everyone. Chapel Hill is one of the truly, blessed spots in the summer, and Carolina is a shining gem in the crown of southern states. Together, they really do make this the "southern part of heaven." In the summer, this once-quiet village is quiet again. So, be smart, don't squeal just enjoy it. XWK .rTSCEMT? 1 Qitf SSMTo HEAR YOU TOO 0R,fc. mmHf. 0 CM UPTrC UDtCR A BT, Soviets await alternative; Garter policy unacceptable By William Durham Detente is at long last dead, and Jimmy Carter, according to the Soviets, killed it. The hawkish leanings of his National Security adviser and the exigencies of election-year hype have laid that remnant of the Kissinger-Nixon era in an unhappy grave. Carter's foreign policy vacillations have reduced his credibility to the point where the U.S.S.R., and much of the rest of the world, sees it as unpredictable and insecure and go so far as to treat it with contempt. The lagging M iddle East negotiations have served only to tarnish the record of the State Department More recently, Brezhnev slyly maneuvered Carter into an embarrassing gaffe by attending Yugoslavian President Tito's funeral, which Carter had decided to avo: ! T- Soviet press has centered on Na!x ial Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzc.-mski as the evil member of Carter's policy-making machine. Anti-Brzezinski caricatures constantly highlight the Soviet press. According to the Soviets, Brzezinski has too lorfg held the upper hand in dictating foreign policy, forcing his mulishly hawkish opinion on what could be a malleable policy. The Soviets claim that he has steered U.S. policy toward a potentially explosive cold war. This has been despite the feeble activities of former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. There was, therefore, hope on the Soviet front when Edmund Muskie took over the office of Secretary of State. However, despite Muskie's "blunt" talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in Vienna last week, there is complete disillusion among the Soviets for reparations with the Carter Administration in any form. The Soviets are, however, aware that Carter and the North Atlantic allies are coming to recognize the fundamental issue how to curb Soviet expansionism in an age when the U.S.S.R. possesses global strategic parity with the United States. This, too, has served to reduce the attractiveness of the Carter Administration in the eyes of the Soviets. Moscow, in its apparent desperation for any alternative to Carter, has even gone so far as to postulate about what would come of U.S.-Soviet relations if Ronald Reagan were Chief Executive. This frightening thought is made even more terrifying in view of Reagan's ideas on holding Cuba hostage until the Soviet forces leave Afghanistan. The Soviets' primary dissent with Carter is that he has, in a desperate scramble for an election-campaign line, used the invasion of Afghanistan to whip up anti-Soviet hysteria and ultimately sabotage the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty that he and Brezhnev signed in Vienna last June. According to the official Soviet party line, the invasion is not responsible for castrating U.S.-Soviet relations; rather, it was an intervention at the request of a friendly government worried about Chinese mercenaries and U.S. imperialism. Of course, it was this same friendly gesture on the part of the Soviets whuh made impossible the ratification of the SALT treaty. And further, the only way that normal chilly relations with the U.S.S.R. can be repaired is for the Senate to ratify the treaty. It has been the cornerstone of Soviet policy toward the United State for the first three years of the Carter reign, and is now essential for further relations. I n short, the situation is ripe for a change of cast. However, there are no attractive characters waiting in the wings. And Carter, if re-elected, will no doubt find it even more dificult to deal with an intransigent U.S.S.R. It seems that detente has indeed perished from the earth. William Durham, a junior English major from Chapel Hill, is editor for The Tar Heel. The Tar Heel Wnters: tlon Armstrong. Gelrmh Ayh, Sammy Rjitrn. Jrl( Bow-t. John Pre Jwj, prt-gy f dward. John Fish. Susan Garrett. Lisa Goldfarb, Cindy Gr'nan. 1 vnda I IrttK h, Martha Johnvn Aluon Lyra h. Jrnmlrt MiCabe , Jon Pope, Rorhelle Rilry, Dorothy Rcmpal.U, Yvette RuffmXihy Sheet. Angie Sullivan. Davd Thompvon, Julie Trotter, Jac V'mtmc and Mclanw Wekh. Photographer : John trrhcT. Mora Garrivm, Lisa Goldfarb, Allen Jemigan and J at k Mohr. Copy dtk: Bob Anthony. Maria Biro. Miui Cor and Dun Lupton. Busmeu Manager: Mark Kadlec. Adt-ertistng: Nancy MiKrtiw, manager, and Paula Brewer. coordinator. Secretary Receptionist: Linda Allred. Composition: UNC Printing Drpartmrnt. Printing The Hinton Press, Mcbane, N.C
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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May 22, 1980, edition 1
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