6The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, November 11, 1981
Jim Hummel, editor
Susan Mauney, Managing Editor
Jonathan Rich, Aorta Edim
JOHN DROGHER, Associate Editor
EDWSNA RALSTON. University Editor
JOHN ROYSTER. City Editor
CHARLES HERNDON, State and National Editor
BETH BURRELL, Now Editor
Clifton Barnes. Spons Editor'
LEAH TALLEY, Arts Editor
KEITH KING, Features Editor
SCOTT SHARPE, Photography Editor
Ann Peters. slight Editor
CHUCK JAMES, Ombudsman
Grouping plan
When the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system began its fall semester
in August, it took a bold step for the first time since integration in
1970, students in its 10 high schools were grouped in classes according to -academic
achievement.
A committee, sensitive to the problems that could result from such
achievement grouping, was set up last spring by system Superintendent
Jay Robinson. With parents complaining that their children were being
held back by slower students, and instructors finding it impossible to
teach students of differing abilities in the same class, such grouping seem
ed to be the solution.
While such a major step is admirable for Charlotte a city that has
been used as a model for desegregation in the past the possibility that
students may be segregated into basic, average and advanced classes ac
cording to race, has aroused criticism. Separating blacks into basic classes
and whites into advanced classes is a likely consequence of the program,
according to critics.
But Robinson defends the program, saying it could be discontinued if
it were leading to resegregation. "We are so committed to running an in
tegrative school system that we will not start anything detrimental to that
end."
However, critics of the program say high school is too late to begin
such separation according to achievement. It should be done at lower
levels where classification would more likely be made according to ability
rather than race.
Critics also argue such grouping undermines the purpose of busing.
Why bus black or white students across town just to be resegregated in
classes according to skill with those of the same race? But Robinson made
clear he was not willing to support the program if it put a large portion of
one race in all the same classes.
N.C. Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Jerome Melton
argues some grouping has to be done in order to make the curriculum
meaningful. But he admitted if grouping was too rigid or forced upon the
students, it would either resegregate students or result in poorer students'
being placed in some classes and middle-to-upper income students being
placed in other classes.
While some grouping may be essential to ensure that achievement
oriented students are not slowed down by the system, it should not be
used as an excuse to segregate, students. Robinson, school administra
tors and principals, should monitor the program closely to keep it from
reaching such a point. In that way, a truly integrated and fair system for
every student would continue.
Hollow support
President Ronald Reagan, proclaiming the right to vote as the "crown
jewel of American liberties," last week voiced his support for a 10-year
extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But his support, though elo
quently stated, seemed paradoxical. While advocating the extension of
the act, he called for two provisions that could render it ineffective.
When the Voting Rights Act first gained approval, it was adopted as a
means of protecting blacks from having their voting rights whittled away
by literacy tests and poll taxes. The act helped to increase minority voter
participation nationwide. In 1970 and 1975, the act was expanded to in
clude Hispanics and American Indians in parts of New York, California
and 14 other states. ,
But today, Reagan is calling for a halt to this expansion. Instead, he
has advocated a way for states to evade their legal obligations of clearing
changes in their election processes with the Justice Department. The
House has adopted stringent guidelines for states that would exempt them
from these obligations. But Reagan has said that these guidelines were
too harsh, calling for what he describes as more reasonable restrictions.
Reagan said he also would support a provision requiring the govern
ment in violation cases to prove that a state not only had denied the right
to vote, but had done so intentionally. Unfortunately, gauging the intent
of a law could at times prove difficult, possibly providing' states with a
way to dodge the act's restrictions.
Reagan has said he recognized the need for a voting rights act. But at
question is the. length to which this recognition would provide actual pro
tection for a citizen if his right to vote is denied. In reality, Reagan has
shown vocal support for the law, but at the same time has provided
means for states to dodge it.
Legal advice
Use teller cards with care
Editor's Note: This advice is pre
pared by Student Legal Services,
which has an office in Suite A of
the Carolina Union. UNC stu
dents have prepaid for this service
and may obtain advice at no addi
tional charge.
It's date night USA, or else you
need food to survive a weekend
term paper. You reach into your
wallet and pull out nothing more
valuable that the ticket stub from
last week's game. You need CASH,
and you need it now. No problem
you can always use your bank
card in the robot teller at your
friendly neighborhood bank.
Electronic funds transfer sys
tems are not always painless. Fe
deral and state law does offer the
consumer some protection but the
careless user may suffer loss.
If a thief steals your card and
also gets your secret access num
ber, he may take money from your
account. To seek protection of
these laws which may limit the
cUar Jhd
89th year of editorial freedom
consumer's loss to a total of $50,
the consumer must report loss to
the bank immediately upon disco
very. The customer may be pena
lized for negligence in restricting
access to' the card and code. Erro
neous subtractions from your ac
count may be next to impossible
to trace, as are empty money en
velopes. Keep the receipts put out by the
machine, and be sure to subtract
all transactions from your record
of your accounts. Although bank
ing machines are very convenient,
they don't balance your check
book for you.
ADVICE FOR THE DAY: (1)
Memorize your access code and
either destroy it or keep it in a safe
place entirely separate from your
car: (2) If you lose your card, noti
fy the bank immediately. (3) Be
sure to keep accurate records of
all transactions and notify the
bank immediately if you receive
an empty envelope.
Impact of
By SHAILENDRA GHORPADE
"Violence depicted on television can in
duce mimicking or copying by children.
Under certain circumstances television
violence can instigate an increase in ag
gressive acts. " Report of the Surgeon
General on TV violence, Jan. 1972.
Ten years after the $1.8 million report
confirming the positive causal effects of
TV violence on aggression in kids, an up
date from the Surgeon General argues that
children who watch television could also
get a skewed view of the world. Among
other things, television is, seen as por
traying the elderly as senile and pitiable v
women as subservient, and crime as more
prevalent than it actually is.
"New research clearly demonstrates
that the question of TV viewing goes sig
nificantly beyond violence. Almost every
act of a child is influenced by watching
television," said Eli A. Rubinstein, coor
dinator of the update to be published
soon, and vice chairman of the Surgeon
General's Scientific Advisory Committee
(1972) on TV violence.
Rubinstein, an adjunct professor at
UNC's School of Journalism, said the
update would summarize a plethora of
scientific papers on the subject, published
since the first Surgeon General's report
on TV violence 10 years ago.
"The most important impact of the
first report was to spawn a whole new
generation of TV researchers," Rubin
stein said. "There has been as much re
search on television from 1975 to 1980 as
had been done in all the years before
that."
The updated report will summarize
hundreds of studies, many of which show
that TV viewing by kids affects them in
several ' areas their learning of the
world around them, their social moorings
and intellectual development. It will also
confirm findings of the earlier report that
violence depicted in TV programs does
cause aggressive behavior in impressiona
ble children.
"Scientific evidence indicates that tele
vision affects the viewer in more ways
than one...," Rubinstein said. "The ori
ginal smoking-and-health study was limit
ed to the lungs, and later it was learned
how smoking affects the heart and other
parts of the body. In the same way we
now know that the original emphasis on
TV violence was too narrow. Television
affects not only a predisposition toward
violence, but the whole range of social
and psychological development of the
younger generation."
Exposure to television in this country,
where 96 percent of the homes have direct
access to TV sets, is significant. Rubin
stein points out that children watch an
average of 25 hours of television a week,
and by the time they are out of high
school, kids have spent more time in front
of the television than in the classroom.
A Nielsen poll computes that the aver
age American watches television for four
hours and 30 seconds a day with women
averaging four hours and 47 minutes;
men four hours and six minutes; children
Letters to the editor
Breaking lines shows
To the editor:
I was one of those poor fools who
camped out last week for a ticket to the
Clemson game. Yes, I willingly admit to
being a fool. This is not due to the fact
that after having waited in line since 8
p.m. the night before the only seats left to
offer us were end zone or row A or B any
where in the stadium. We chose to stay at
the end of the line knowing that we would
not get excellent tickets.
The line had atmosphere; it was like
going to a party that stretched from Car
michael to the Bell Tower. Those people
who waited in line are the true Carolina
fans. They are the people with incurable
Carolina fever, the true spirit of the Uni
versity. What leads me to feel foolish and very
angry are those people who did not wait
in line to get tickets but butted in line
when the doors were opened. Rumor has
it that those people hid in the cemetery
and then made a mad rush for the door at
6 a.m. with the rest of the people who
had spent the night on the pavement.
These people slept in warm beds while we
slept on bricks.
Is this justification? These people
thought they were really clever and went
home and had a good laugh. I think you
ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You
didn't deserve those tickets. -You people
have a severe case of degenerating morals.
Deborah Mall
231 Cobb Dorm
Oil the chain saws
To the editor:
.1 would like to commend the University
on the selection of the site for a new dorm
that is, right next to Teague Dorm.
This area is one of the few forested areas,
excepting the grounds of Kenan Stadium,
that are left on campus and I'm so glad
to see that the University certainly doesn't
hesitate to build on it.
I propose a campuswide movement to
remove all campus trees an end, I be
lieve, to which we will eventually arrive
anyway, but I would like to see the pace
accelerated. I don't think people realize
the enormous disadvantage trees pose to
students and faculty at universities. It's
about time we followed in North Carolina
State's footsteps to do something about
the situation. ,
In the fall, trees coat sidewalks with
their leaves, causing slippery surfaces for
hurrying students. Trees house birds and
squirrels, both of which like to drop a va
TV violence updated
age two to 1 1 three hours and 52 minutes;
and kids age 12 to 17 three hours and 17
minutes per day.
Research has shown that the behavior
of characters on TV shows (even cartoon
and fantasy figures like Batman) is mi
micked by children and also instigates
similar behavior by kids. The American
Medical Association reported that two
kids imitating Batman jumped off a roof
in juvenile imitative fantasy, and another
set fire to a house after watching a similar
incident on television.
... we now know that the original emphasis on TV violence was too
narrow. Television affects not only a predisposition toward vio
lence, but the whole range of social and psychological development
of the younger generation
Eli A. Rubinstein
Adults are not exempt from this causal
pattern. Several acts of arson, theft, and
even murder, have been reported to have
been committed using plots from tele
vision programs. There has been a dis
turbing increase in the incidence of ter
rorists and other violent demonstrators or
law breakers demanding TV coverage of
their antics in recent years. Prison rioters,
suicide victims and kidnappers have all
soaked themselves in the questionable
riety of substances from leafy branches
above. Trees also have the annoying habit
of obstructing views of the beautiful, ex
pensive buildings on campus, as well as
having their roots confound sidewalks. In.
the spring, many of the trees produce
flowers that aggravate hay fever sufferers.
And just after a rain, when you want to.
put your umbrella away, trees continue to
drip on you if you are forced to walk be
neath them.
We can always appease soft-hearted
environmentalists with a commemorative
statue of a tree with metallic compo
sition, of course. I believe a new campus
organization should be founded: Wipe
Out Campus Trees (WOCT). If we can
get enough students motivated, we can fi
nish what the administration started. Get
those chain saws oiled up!
Marguerite C. Moore
Scott Residence' College
Access
To the editor:
In addition to Friday's article on build
ing accessibility, I would like to make the
v f
1
SORRY THAT
T'n A
I LITTLE LATE. 4 ji
7 """" - f .
glory of appearances on television.
Dr. Leonard Berkowitz, University of
Wisconsin, reported that the amount of
television viewed by kids age nine is "one
of the best predictors of whether a person
will be found to be aggressive in later
life."
"Many people will 'do almost anything
to get on television. Some will even kill,"
. Daniel Schorr, a former CBS correspon
dent and now senior correspondent of
Cable News Network, said in a recent ar
ticle on TV violence.
It might seem strange, but cartoons on
television have more acts of violence per
se per hour than other programs. The Na
tional Coalition on Television Violence
reported that between February and May
1981, Sunday morning cartoons had
more acts of violence per hour of trans
mission time than prime-time shows.
"Thundarr the Barbarian" had 64 acts
of violence per hour, "Daffy Duck" 52,
"Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner" 51,
'degenerating morals
following points.
The state legislature's cancellation of
barrier removal funds to the UNC system
is most inopportune. The International
Year of Disabled Persons will end in Jan
uary and it is unfortunate that in our state
its ending will be marred by such a lack of
support. However, it is a great consola
tion to hear that the state legislature will
not totally abandon its commitment to
barrier removal in the UNC system, and
especially at UNC.
Building accessibility at UNC has in
creased dramatically and the changes
made in the last five years are very signi
. ficant. Specifically, the new ramped en
trance into Steele Building now provides
the mobility-impaired with more freedom
in consulting the Coordinator for Handi
capped Services. In light of the completed
past projects and plans the University has
for barrier removal, we feel that UNC has
maintained a policy of consistent adhe
rence to 504 Regulations and has sup
ported its disabled students despite any
lack of funding.
As January approaches we hope sup
port for the International Year of Dis
abled Persons will continue to increase.
by report
"Superfriends" 38 and "Richie Rich"
and "Scooby Doo" each had 30 acts of
violence per hour.
In contrast, prime-time shows chalked
up the following scores: "Walking Tall"
25, "Vegas," "Lobo," and "Greatest
American Hero" 18 and "Incredible
Hulk" 14. Between 1967 and 1969 the
rate of violence averaged eight acts per
hour, but a smaller proportion of charac
ters was involved in 1969 and the violence
less lethal than that of 1967.
While the networks argue that most of
their programs are "pro-social" because
the good guys always win in the end,
Rubinstein said children seldom make the'
connection, particularly if they are less
than nine years old. "They do not recog
nize the moral," he said.
Rubinstein also discounts the myth that
cartoons cannot influence behavior in
kids because children "know" the cha
racters are not real. "Kids do imitate car
toons," Rubinstein asserts. Scientific re
search supports that argument.
The 1972 Surgeon General's report titl
ed "Television and Growing Up: The Im
pact of Televised Violence" states that
violence on television increased in car
toons and comedies from 1967 to 1969. In
fact, cartoons were cited as the most vio
lent type of program for acts of violence
per hour in those years. However, the
agents of violence in non-cartoon shows
were human beings 78 percent of the
time, while in cartoons humans were the
perpetrators of violence only 23 percent
of the time.
"There is also evidence that years high
in violence also tend to be years high in
overall ratings," the report says, adding,
Vthe frequency of violent programs in a
year is related to the popularity of this
type of program the previous year."
"I was disappointed that over the past
10 years there has not been a significant
change in the level of TV violence as rated
by an annual survey conducted by the
School of Communication at the Univer
sity of Pennsylvania," Rubinstein said.
Rubinstein persuaded the Surgeon
General in 1980, Dr. Julius Richmond, to
update the 1972 report on the impact of
TV violence on kids. State-of-the-art
papers were written by 25 prominent re
searchers summarizing research in this
field during the past ten years. The report
is now ready, but bureaucratic lethargy
and indecision has delayed publication.
Rubinstein said he expected the report to
be published by the end of the year.
Not only will the report confirm the
negative effects of television violence on
kids, but it will tread fresh ground iden
tifying ill effects of TV viewing on special
populations like those in mental institu
tions, reform schools and prisons. The
networks will face another round of con
centrated criticism for their questionable
influence on clean-cut American children.
The rapidly expanding cable system will
also face censure for the first time.
' The report is unlikely to result in man
datory warnings on TV that prepare
children for the dangers of excessive view
ing, but it will bring increasing pressure
on the purveyors of TV content to turn a
new leaf.
Shailendra Ghorpade is a graduate stu
dent in journalism from Bombay, India.
9
The Town of Carrboro deserves much
praise for its efforts to assemble its own
IYDP committee. Chapel Hill Mayor,
Joe Nassif, who has refused to acknow
ledge the local support behind the Inter
national Year of Disabled Persons would
do well in joining Carrboro's efforts.
Michael Dixon
. President, N.E.E.D.S.
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