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6The Daily Tar HeelFriday. October 2. 1"' Jim Hummi i. ;.kf Susan Mauney. aimjwc lift Jonathan Rich. Atwit V John Drescher. .-um-en ElJWINA RALSTON. ( mn-rsity I'Jim John Royster. aty Mm Charles Herndon.swwnjwei7, Beth Burrell. Nm fifo Clifton Barnes, sj Tom Moore. Am Edit Keith King. Fmnms Edit Scott Sharpe. pktrPhy Editor Ann Peters. .sviv- .iw Chuck James. OmJUWw &c3 arres tsp art of -draft be er co ms piracy 0SZnlSf Oiar SrA yfar 0" editorial freedom New standards In an attempt to raise sagging college admission standards, the College Board announced this week that it was urging all colleges to adopt a list of skills "as their preference if not their absolute requirement", in admit ting new students. The board, which represents more than 2,500 colleges and secondary schools, outlined a list of about 50 reading, reasoning mathematics and writing skills to be used in high school curriculums. The recommendations, the first of several the board plans to make, will not change academic standards overnight, but are a start toward rais ing standards in school curriculums across the country. The board said the standards might eventually become the basis for new college entrance exams, but added that revised exams would not be implemented in the near future. . The recommendations are an encouraging sign from the organization, which oversees the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The SAT was taken by 1.5 million college-bound seniors last year and is used as a standard tool to predict how a student will perform in college. The SAT came under attack in the 1970s when educators and parents voiced skepticism about the weight the scores carried in undergraduate admissions decisions. Many critics thought it was unfair to put so much emphasis on a three-hour test that in many cases determine where a stu dent would go to college. Fortunately at UNC, the undergraduate admissions office uses the SAT as only one of many criteria to; predict whether a student will be able to survive in a university setting. This. is particularly important, given the diversity of applications that UNC receives every year. , ; College Board officials are hoping that by adopting new standards, high schools and colleges will be better able to educate their students, which in turn, might curb the decrease in SAT scores over the 15 years. College Board members and non-members alike should work hard to adopt the organization's recommendation. In many states, the increased standards have come in the form of minimum competency exams. Heed ing the board's advice will not only provide the minimum level of educa tion, but take curricula one step further and better prepare for students who desire to attend college after high school. ' Give us a break Alone, in groups, in masses, students flocked to television screens at 3 p.m. last week to witness the world's salvation. And when it happened when Luke of "General Hospital" saved Port Charles just five minutes before ftjiad cpmpletely f o.zen, a roar of cheers and sighs of relief could be heard coming from ' dorrri rooms, sorority houses, the Carolina Union and from anywhere else that students sat watching. , Students have caught it General Hospitalitis, the newest soap opera craze. And the addiction by far outweighs last year's obsession with J.R., Bobby, Sue Ellen and the rest of the "Dallas" cast. General Hospital has more than 14 million devoted, trance-fixed fans. Despite the show's propensity toward the ridiculous, it brings in adverti sing rates of $26,000 for 30-second spots and earns about $1 million a year in profit alone for ABC. The Luke and Laura craze has spread to buttons, shirts and bumper stickers that bear the General Hospital name. And, television talk-show hosts Phil Donahue and John Davidson conducted interviews with the tantalizing twQ. , Donahue and Davidson are one thing, but when the couple appeared open-lipped and lusting on the cover of last week's Newsweek , that was a bit much. It seems as if Newsweek has caught the fever, too. . While news of Luke and Laua is as common to come by as a casual conversation on campus, the news magazine might take some advice and stick to news in the future; and give those not affected by the "Hospitalitis a break. - j j By GARY DAVIS It was too incredible to believe, at first. My eyes squinted at the crumpled piece of notebook paper, trying to make out the blue "Bic" scribble. It couldn't be true. A conspiracy? I rubbed my eyes and began to reread the letter I had found pushed under my door. It read: s I am writing this note to you hoping it will save innocent students from being caught up in a draft beer conspiracy in Chapel Hill. So devious are the designers of this plot, that they have duped the Chapel Hill Town Council and police into giving students criminal records for sip ping a beer in public. I first became involved two weeks ago. It was 12:20 a.m. Sunday. Five of us were standing in front of Henderson Street Bar, less than the length of Sam Perkins to the door. locally "May I see your driver's - license please," a man said quietly into my ear. A badge flashed in front of my face as I took a Budweiser bottle from my lips. I turned to face one of Chapel Hill's finest, dressed in a tan leisure suit jacket, light blue pants and earth shoes.Stuck in his ear was an earplug the kind that comes with cheap transistor radios. He wasn't snapping his fingers. Four feet away, my friend Ed watched as the man talked in a low voice to me and another friend. Ed took a drink from his Bud bottle. From out of the darkness, as quick as a vampire, came a young woman wearing a jean jacket, jeans and dirty sneakers. "May I see your driver's license please?" she asked Ed. It was the perfect bust. The officers escorted us and our beers to an unmarked car in front of NCNB on Franklin Street. A student 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, with . built-in shoulder pads, came walking down the sidewalk as we waited for our citations. He had one arm draped around a friend just as tall. In his other hand was a beer cup. The two stop ped to talk with the officer with the ear plug. The big fellow took a sip from his cup, laughed, and the two sauntered away. "Aren't you going to arrest him?" asked Ed, his eyes becoming as large as helium balloons. "That's not alcohol," replied the of ficer with the earplug. "Anything in a cup is ginger ale to us," said the woman officer, taking a short pause to relieve her writer's cramp. We took our $31 citations and left. I tried to laugh the incident off, but the statements about ginger ale stuck to me like Super Glue. The officers had been serious. They really believed those people staggering around Franklin Street holding plastic beer cups were drinking ginger ale. They were dedicated solely to arresting anyone, sober or drunk, who drank from a beer bottle or can. Why? I pledged to find out. - ' Posing as a DTH reporter, I began gathering information. Mayor Joe Nassif and the Town Coun cil had ordered a crackdown to prevent minors from drinking and purchasing liquor. Sixteen officers, eight of them plainsclothesmen, were assigned to patrol the streets. Stores and bars were asked to check for proof of age before serving anyone. ABC agents hid in bushes outside convenience stores, such as the Happy Store, to ensure compliance. But no one could say how many juve nile drinkers had been caught! Police said statistics on children under 16 could not be released by law. Convenient. Police Chief Herman Stone did say any minors caught are being released, without fine, in the custody of their parents. The would be fined if caught a second time. College students were not as lucky. Police would stand in the middle of the sidewalk and reel in drinking students like trout fishermen. They were everywhere; on Franklin Street, fraternity court and by Hector's. Since Aug. 25, 146 people have been arrested for public consump tion. Six more have been, arrested for under-age drinking. Most of . the arrests have come on football weekends. ' The law does not specify how liquor could not be consumed. Why discrimi nate between beer bottles and cups? They all have beer labels on them. Why would the police believe anything in a beer cup on Saturday night was ginger ale? Only if they were told to do so. Who would be powerful enough to tell them to believe that? My mind shifted into fourth gear. The oil companies. No, they don't sell beer. ml l'J: t ) T r r; A fan The Ram's Club. Insanity, they always drink beer in bottles on Saturdays. Then it struck.. It was the beer compa nies. In an effort to cut costs, the com panies were promoting draft beer through a systematic program of positive rein forcement. They must have convinced the town there was a problem with minors drinking. ' They must have then convinced police . that Philips Petroleum had developed a new plastic that would turn beer into ginger ale. So believing the cups contained no beer, officers had to arrest people drinking from bottles and cans to look . busy. The positive reinforcement was ac hieved by permitting people to drink beer from cups while people who drank from bottles and cans would be punished with arrests. Ingenius. The beer companies could cut costs by producing fewer bottles and cans. But students arrested would continue to drink now from cups. Revenue would not be lost. It may be too late to end this plot. Students have begun paying their fines. Those who show up in court have some times escaped a criminal record for good behavior, but have been charged the $31 fine anyway. Undoubtedly, the demand for draft beer will begin to increase. As for me, I am off to Milwaukee to find a job. Gary Davis is a graduate student in jour nalism from Poughkeepsie, MY. ' Will Jee9 Jim revive tine ant of msiiltiiig? By JOHN DRESCHER . It was no fun. In fact, it was boring. Sen. Jesse Helms, in his finest Southern gentleman style, was making peace. He had accused his arch politi cal foe, Gov. Jim Hunt, of talking to a U.S. senator be hind his back about the politics of tobacco, when in fact, Hunt had not. "I suggest to the governor that, regardless of political affiliation, let bygones be bygones and from this point on, remove the tobacco question from the political arena," Helms said. . With that, Helms' accusation was swept under the rug, never to be heard again. Let bygones be bygones. Yawn. Years ago, politicians weren't so nice to each other. Here are the two most powerful political figures in North Carolina, the leaders of their political parties. They ought to be at each other's throats, yelling insults about the other guy's ugly kids and his mother's lack of virtue. But not these guys. They talk to each other like they live next door and cook hot dogs and play tennis and do other neat stuff together. Yes, things have changed . "There simply are not great insults any more," said Roger Rosenblatt of Time. "What was art has become shambles." Of course, every now and then Hunt and Helms have a little squabble. But it's always small. They never haul off and blast each other like the politicians of the old days. Rosenblatt attributes today's lack of insults to a basic lack of confrontation. "Time was when enemies would wholeheartedly enjoy squaring off, ram to ram," he said. But today, he said, it is better to not say any thing, or to say something that amounts to nothing, like Hunt and Helms so often do. That's nice, but, unfortunately, no matter how much we like nice people, niceness is often boring. Niceness just doesn't sell. "You're a nice boy," my mother once told me when I was. "But," she said, "there's not much of a market for nice boys." Who wants to read about nice boys or nice politicians? Nobody. state Because they know niceness does not sell, newspapers and novelists have always been among the greatest in sult or s. "Storytellers, like journalists, have never been much for emphasizing the sweet, the decent, the well behaved," wrote essayist Frank Trippett. Whenever, a politician used to blast another politician or blast any body for that matter newspapers were always there to record the biting quotes, and maybe, if needed, blow them but of proportion a-bit before slapping the story on the front page with a huge headline. But with politicians blowing less steam, life has be come more difficult for newspapers. Oh, sure, some papers have overcome this obstacle and continue to blast people anyway, but not the way they used to. Hunt and Helms don't know how good they have it. After Thomas Jefferson was elected president, one New England news paper was sure Satan would rule the nation. "Murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will be openly taught and practiced," the paper said. As one can see, the reading public is missing out on a lot. Where have all the insults gone? Perhaps as the 1984 races heat up, they shall return. Perhaps Jesse will finally tell Jim he's.so ugly that when he was born they slapped his mother and Jim will reply that Jesse's mother is so low she can play handball against the curb. It would be good for them: "There is so much to be said for letting the fur fly, for openly acknowledging your enemy and allowing him to have at you with the full force of his puny, flaccid mind' Rosenblatt said. "It is ; even more pleasurable to give than receive, to hone one's words until they gleam and watch them fly in lovely arcs toward one's fellow creatures.". So perhaps it is just a matter of time. Maybe the in sults Hunt and Helms have been hiding behind a facade of niceness will finally emerge. The 1984 elections seem a long way off, but they will be here before we know it. For insult lovers, it could be a very special time. In the mean time, both of their mothers wear combat boots. John Drescher, a senior journalism and history major from Raleigh, is associate editor for The Daily Tar Heel. ifflUltem politic By GEOFFREY MOCK Shifts in political power take a long time, parti cularly in the South where conservative old-line Democrats have dominated the political scene for . decades. But two major political events of 1981 the coalition of conservative Democrats and Re publicans and reapportionment of congressional districts promise a radical departure from the past traditions of Southern politics. The dominant concern of state legislators re drawing district lines is to protect incumbents. The closest thing to a politician's heart is staying in of fice and the easiest way to ensure a safe seat is to protect everybody's seat. The ability to protect incumbents is limited by changing demographics. Large population shifts force wholesale redrawing of districts. Such a situ ation brings out the more bloodthirsty nature of politicians as each seeks to save his district. Officeholders traditionally have run to their party for support at the slightest sign of their seat being endangered. However, with the weakening of both major parties, conservative politicians have found strength in more ideological ties. The result is the beginnings in several southern states of . a Boll Weevil coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans. The Republicans in the past have shown strength in the South, but this coalition is the first solid base from which the strength can be expanded. - In. Texas, a coalition was formed because of ef forts by the two most powerful state politicians Republican Governor Bill Clements and House Speaker Billy Clayton. The coalition immediately made itself felt in congressional reapportionment. Ignoring party ties, Clayton targeted moderate-to-liberal Democratic congressmen Jim Mattox, Bill Patman and Martin Frost for unfavorable redis ricting. Republicans hojK'd to increase on the five congressional seats they now hold. The coalition's plan included the addition of conservative areas to Mattox and Patman's district and then making the plan enticing to blacks and Hispanics by making Frost's district a minority group-majority district. This move split minority group leaders. The . Coalition for Minority Representation led by Rep. Lanell Cofer pressed vigorously for the plan, but Rep. Craig Washington and Rep. Hugo Berlanga spoke for most minority leaders in opposing it. "Rep. Cofer was' a force of one," Berlanga said in a telephone interview this week. "You have to look at the bottom line. Votes are what count. We were getting a pure minority district at the expense of two Republican districts. The Republican party will never be on the side of. minority legislation." The conservative plan would have split Berlanga's Hispanic district in South Texas in a fashion unfavorable to Hispanic interests. Despite heavy lobbying efforts in favor of the plan, Wash ington and Berlanga were able to bottle it up in a conference committee and forced the matter to be considered in a special session of the legislature. For their efforts Washington and Berlanga re ceived praise from the media and outside observers. For her efforts Cofer was named one of "the ten worst legislators in Texas" by Texas Monthly t magazine. But in the special session it was Cofer who emerged on the winning side. Although a compromise more favorable to the South Texas Hispanics was forged, the plan that passed was otherwise similar to the one stopped in " conference committee. ' 'The plan gutted the Democratic party," Berlanga said. "It insured that out of 27 Texas congressional districts the Repub licans would get 10 seats." In North Carolina, Democratic conservatives moved to protect 2nd District congressman L.H. Fountain while sacrificing any chance Richardson Prcvi iuKi ' ..uuiuige Republican Eugene Johnston for his old 6th District seat. Supporters of Preyer in the legislature had hoped to take liberal Orange County out of Fountain's district and use' it as a basis for Preyer's comeback effort. Fountain's conservative supporters also wanted to get rid of Orange County, but they pro posed a different use for it. . In order to avoid the addition of Durham Coun ty to the 2nd District, Fountain supporters pro posed that it be combined with Orange si'd Wake Counties for a Research Triangle district. Not only would this preclude the use of Orange County for Preyer, it would force the addition of conservative Republican counties to the sixth dis trict, which would further damage Preyer's chances. ' , ' Although Preyer's supporters fought the plan, the coalition of Republicans and conservative Fountain supporters pushed it through passage in the legislature. Fountain now has the conservative rural district he wanted; Johnston has the conserva tive Republican district he wanted; and Preyer is left out in the cold. Don Stanford, President of Orange County Young Democrats, said the alliance between Foun- atjairge. tain supporters and Republicans was unique in North Carolina political history. "In the past, ad herence to party ties went above ideological princi ple," Stanford said. "That prevented an alliance like this one. What you have seen is that former Democrats like Jesse Helms have jumped ship and become. Republicans. Ultimately, most conserva tive Democrats will become Republicans and make North Carolina more of a two-party state." The gasoline tax was the catalyst for the forma tion of the Boll Weevil coalition in Florida. When Senate President W.D. Childers came out in favor of an increased gas tax and decided to break Florida tradition by running for re-election to the senate presidency, his predecessor in that office, conservative Dempsey Barron, decided to chal lenge him on both issues. Although Childers controlled a majority of Democrats in the senate, Barron formed a coali tion of 12 conservative Democrat supporters and 12 Republicans to gain a majority of the full senate. " . For several days the conservative coalition tied up all action by the Democratic leadership on the senate floor. "You little shit," Barron was re ported as calling Childers in the Tallahasee Demo crat. "Vm. going to whip your ass and throw you off the floor of the senate." : ; Barron and Childers have since made up, but again the initial breakthrough for the conservative coalition was made! Redistricting in Florida begins ; in January and Republicans are already planning to make use of the split in Democratic leadership to make gains at both the congressional and state level. The Boll Weevil coalition seems to be a last gasp by conservative Democrats to maintain their domi nance of southern, politics.- In Texas, North Caro lina and probably Florida the Republicans have used the coalition to increase their strength nu merically. In these states, as they have in Virginia, they will soon surpass the conservative Democrats. By coalescing with the Republicans, the conserva tive Democrats are only destroying themselves. "The endangered species is not the Mexican American," Berlanga said. "The Republicans cannot beat me in my. district. The endangered species is the conservative Democrat. Some day they will wake up to this." The coalition is further indication of the weak ening of party structures. I lie Boll Weevils mark the victory of ideological ties over party ties. To some extent the liberals must take the blame for the reduction of Democratic Party strength. Many of the liberal's reforms to broaden party participation also served to weaken the party's apparatus for enforcing unity. But Stanford said other factors were more important in the reduction of party ties. "We have seen the breakdown of old political machines," he said. "Now individuals have to put together their own organizations and they don't owe much to the party. But the Democrats made the right decision to broaden the party. The key issue is whether conservative Democrats will try to outgun Republicans with slick direct mail opera tions or go back to the old line grass roots cam paign." " The coalition is also an indication of the changing demographics of the sunbelt region. The great population increase of the sunbelt is by no means spread evenly throughout the area. As in other regions, the South is seeing a shift of popu lation from urban areas to more politically conser vative suburban and rural areas. The one man-one vote principle, which stipu lates that all districts have approximately the same population, has long been used by urban areas to beef up their representation. It will now be used by conservatives, particularly Republicans, to bring the shift of power in the South even more in their direction. Texas, which by the next census will probably be the second largest state in the nation, gained three congressional districts this year, all in conservative areas and with Republicans expected to take two rf tViAm THf M-iIf ti;r M!ctr5rtc in Tav9c tr cHr reduced population were in central Houston and central San Antonio where minority groups are in the majority and the incomes are low. According to the 1980 census, the fastest growing congressional district in the nation was the 5th Dfc trict of Orlando, Fla. The district was regarded as moderate until a large number of new residents contributed to the election of conservative Bill McCoIIum. Now observers say it will be difficult not to divide the district up into two conservative seats where once stood a moderate one. Of course, voters have a tendency to surprise the experts no matter how safe an incumbent draws his seat, the voters may still defeat him. Never theless, this year's reapportionment debate will leave its mark on southern party politics for years to come. Geoffrey Mock, a senior political science major from Baltimore, Md., is editorial writer for The Daily Tar Heel.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 2, 1981, edition 1
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