8The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, October 5, 1983
QJh? Satlg Sar.
91st year of editorial freedom
Kerry DeRochi, Editor
Alison Davis, Managing Editor
L ISAPULLEN, University Editor
Christine Manuel, state and National Editor
MIKE DeSISTI, Sports Editor
Rll L RlEDY, News Editor
JEFF HlDAY, Associate. Editor
John Conway, cuy Editor
KAREN FISHER, Features Editor
Jeff Grove, a Editor
CHARLES W. LEDFORD, Photography Editor
Mouthing off
The decision to ask mikeman Kenny Ward to resign came straight from
the office of the assistant dean of student life last week. That's interesting
since they weren't the ones to hire him. Their action has transformed the
issue from whether Ward's performance was offensive into whether the
administration has a role in -policing the performance of a person in a student-appointed
position.
Since the first home game against Memphis State, Ward has stood
before dozing fans, who were watching those Heels battle little competi
tion and has tried to get them to cheer. With the band in the end zone, he
had less help with this task than the mikemen of recent years. As a result,
he resorted sometimes to ethnic and X-rated humor, trying to capture the
fans' attention. Students began writing to the editor soon after his first
performance, claiming that Ward was unable to charge the fans. Con
troversy climaxed at this year's Homecoming game when many alumni
and parents were on hand. Ward's performance rose to the occasion, and
complaints have never hit such heights.
It was not surprising then that effort was made to change Ward's style.
AVhat is surprising is the speed in which the administration stepped in,
asking Ward to resign. The action showed misjudgment and a violation
of the students' rights to handle the situation.
This is not to say that Ward should not be criticized and told to im
prove. But any criticism should have been in the form of a warning from
the people who hired him the cheerleaders, the band and faculty
members. If the administration is that concerned with the students' im
age, perhaps they should start selecting the mikeman themselves. Then
the cheerleaders, the Homecoming queen ... the student body president
... the DTH editor....
Whatever happens in Ward's case, it's mandatory that it be because of
students' wishes. If as many students are upset about the mikeman's per
formance, they should focus their complaints at the group who selected
Ward. A decision about the student mikeman must be made by the
students.
Illuminating history
"The most amazing 60 years in history," proclaims the cover of the
special anniversary issue of Time magazine. To many readers, such a
claim may seem narcissistic and solipsistic, yet it has its legitimacy. The
history of the 20th century is not so much amazing because of the
fleetness of progress, but because progress itself has endowed human
society, and the media in particular, with the communicative tools which
allow an unprecedented accuracy in the charting of history.
The advances of the media have immeasurably affected the 20th cen
tury United States. The musician John Lennon dies and within weeks we
are provided with countless newspaper and magazine analyses of the
social ramifications of his art. A civilian aircraft is shot down by another
country's missile and we know about it in less than 24 hours. With its
constitutionally protected freedoms, the U.S. media brings home to every
American each pulse of 20th century life the technological and medical
advances, the social and political upheavals. The splitting of the atom
and the war in Vietnam would not have meant so much to each of us had
they occurred in a vacuum. They have shaped our national character
precisely because they occurred on our doorsteps at 6 a.m. and on our
television sets at 6 p.m.
The newsstand today is a kaleidoscopic sight, an eclectic assemblage of
diverse periodicals. The conservative candor of U.S. News and World
Report, the radical rantings of The Village Voice. The New Yorker finds
social truths in street fairs and pretentious prose, Sports Illustrated in
athletic competition, Rolling Stone in popular music, Playboy in pro
fligate lifestyles.
Many issues of each magazine and newspaper will meet indifferent
eyes. At least one of each, however, will endure; off the shelf, into the
library, and onto microfilm. Indexed for posterity, and perhaps forever,
in a periodical guide.
Whether or not the scope and speed of today's media coverage have
improved the quality of life in this country is problematic. We are better
informed, less likely to succeed in isolating ourselves in ignorance and in
difference; this much is good. Yet advanced communications have
rendered life on this planet increasingly complex. In the 20th century, it
matters urgently what is happening on the other side of the globe. There
is an international intimacy and a diplomatic intricacy which sometimes
reach frightening dimensions.
"Whatever lay in darkness was to be iUurninated,'' writes Time essayist
Roger Rosenblatt in an attempt to codify some of the recurrent themes of
20th century history. Indeed, this century has been one in which the
media has inundated our society with information: facts, opinions, even
maudlin sentiments. William Churchill once said, "History with its
dickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past." Today's media
transforms that tiny spotlight into a powerful beacon.
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Frank Bruni, Charles Ellmaker and Kelly Simmons
Assistant Managing Editors: Joel Broadway, Tracy Hilton and Michael Toole
Assistant News Editor: Melissa Moore
News: Tracy Adams, Dick Anderson, Joseph Berryhill, Angela Booze, J. Bonasia, Keith
Bradsher, Amy Brannen, Lisa Brantley, Hope Buffington, Tom Conlon, Kathie Collins, Kate
Cooper, Teresa Cox, Lynn Davis, Dennis Dowdy, Chris Edwards, Suzanne Evans, Kathy
Farley, Steve Ferguson, Genie French, Kim Gilley, Marymelda Hall, Andy Hodges, Sue Kuhn,
Liz Lucas, Thad Ogburn, Beth O'Kelley, Janet Olson, Rosemary Osborne, Heidi Owen, Beth
Ownley, Cindy Parker, Donna Pazdan, Ben Perkowski, Frank Proctor, Linda Queen, Sarah
Rapcr, Mary Alice Resch, Cindi Ross, Katherine Schultz, Sharon Sheridan, Deborah Simp
kins, Jodi Smith, Sally Smith, Lisa Stewart, Mark Stinneford, Carrie Szymeczek, Liz Saylor,
Mike Sobeiro, Amy Tanner, Doug Tate, Wayne Thompson, Vance Trefethen, Chuck Wall
ingion, Scott Wharton, Lynda Wolf, Rebekah Wright, Jim Zook, Kyle Marshall, assistant
state and national editor, ' and Stuart Tonkinson, assistant university editor.
Sports: Frank Kennedy and Kurt Rosenberg, assistant sports editors. Glenna Burress, Kimball
Crossley, Pete Fields, John Hackney, Lonnie McCullough, Robyn Norwood, Michael Pers
inger, Julie Peters, Glen Peterson, Lee Roberts, Mike Schoor, Scott Smith, Mike Waters,
David Wells, Eddie Wooten and Bob Young.
Features: Dawn Brazell, Clarice Bickford, Tom Camacho, Toni Carter, Margaret Claiborne,
Karen Cotten, Cindy Dunlevy, Charles Gibbs, Tom Grey, Kathy Hopper, Dana Jackson,
Charles Karnes, Joel Katzenstein, Dianna Massie, Kathy Norcross, Jane Osment, Clinton
Weaver and Mike Truell, assistant features editor.
Arts: Steve Carr, Ivy Hilliard, Jo Ellen Meekins, Gigi Sonner, Sheryl Thomas and David
Schmidt, assistant arts editor.
(.raphic Arts: Jamie Francis, Lori Heeman, Ryke Longest, Jeff Neuville, Zane Saunders and
Lori Thomas, photographers.
Business: Anne Fulcher, business manager; Tammy Martin, accounts receivable clerk; Dawn
Welch, circulationdistribution manager; William Austin, assistant circulationdistribution
manager; Patti Pittman, classified advertising manager; Julie Jones, assistant classified adver
tising manager; Debbie McCurdy, secretaryreceptionist.
Advertising: Paula Brewer, advertising manager; Mike Tabor, advertising coordinator; Laura
Austin, Melanie Eubanks, Kevin Freidheim, Patricia Gorry, Terry Lee, Doug Robinson and
Anncli Zeck ad representatives.
Composition: UNC-CH Printing Department
Printing: Hinton Press, Inc. of Mebane.
If he were a poor man. . .
7
By FRANK BRUNI
It's a difficult scene to imagine millionaire
Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block, his wife, his
daughter and a family friend all feasting on such dishes
as beef liver, chili macaroni and grits. They did it,
however, as part of Block's August effort to discover
first-hand whether they could actually gain sufficient
nourishment from $58 per week, the maximum amount
of money allotted to a family of four by the federal
government's current food stamp program. For an en
tire week, we are told, the Blocks adhered to the menu
plans in the United States Department of Agriculture's
own pamphlet, "Making Food Dollars Count."
I suppose we Americans should not only applaud
Block's egalitarianism but also feel relieved by his
discovery that the regimen he and his family followed
was "quite adequate." But I'm not clapping. And I'm
most certainly not closing the poverty case on the basis
of Block's slanted evidence.
For Block to believe that his recent eating excursion
tells any real truths about the chances of nutritional suc
cess for a poor family dependent upon food stamps is
audacious. It doesn't take a scientist to poke countless
holes in the scientific validity of Block's now-famous
week-long experiment. There isn't a family whose in
come would qualify them for food stamps who would
have a kitchen as well-equipped as the Blocks' in which
to prepare the meals from the government handbook.
The poor homemaker must also contend with the
limited selections and inflated prices of his or her
neighborhood bodega when searching for both the
generic items and the often obscure sources of protein
required by some of the USD A recipes. Contrary to
what many people believe, the price for groceries in a
Harlem food store is usually higher than the price for the
identical items in a suburban Shop-Rite. And the
Blocks' eating restrictions were held in effect for only
seven days. The end of sacrifice was in sight. The poor,
however, cannot perceive smaller eating restrictions as a
temporary evil. They must see them as a perpetual la
ment. Before anyone lauds Block's self-sacrifice or accepts
his proclamation that $58 per week is "quite adequate"
to feed a family of four, it is also essential to discern just
what Block meant by adequate. He did not mean that he
was even the least bit satisfied with the taste and variety
of his meals that week; he himself stated that he sorely
missed his weekly sundae and an occasional weeknight
beer. What he meant was that he neither starved nor ex
hibited any symptoms of poor health. He survived, and
his concern, as well as the concerns of most upper-middle-
and upper-class Americans, end with the mere
physical survival of the poor. And if the poor can sur
vive on grits and noodles and dried milk and bread, then
God forbid they should receive or waste food
dollars on anything more palatable.
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Like Block, those of us who have never felt the pangs ,
of poverty and having to settle for Hector's instead of
Pyewacket does not count seldom even attempt to
imagine what life must be like for the poor family. How
many times has each of us complained, or heard another
complain, about the welfare mother who uses the
change from food stamps to purchase cigarettes, candy
and soda? How many times have we watched with hor
rified expressions a poverty child squander a half-dollar
on . a Hershey's chocolate bar? And how many times
have we all cited boredom or depression as the villain
responsible for weight gain yet labeled a corpulent wel
fare mother wasteful? We callously denounce the poor
for blatantly abusing not only the government's
benevolence, but also our (or our parents') hard-earned
tax dollars.
We ignore the reality that there is a jarring difference
between what foods means to the poor and what it
means to the rich. For Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Block, a
lackluster meal was certainly an endurable, easily
overlooked low point in an evening that might very well
have promised greater entertainments. At the end of
each meal that week, the Blocks knew they could get up
from the dinner table and mitigate their dietary
dissatisfaction with some form of diversion, such as
watching one of the color televisions in the well
furnished, air-conditioned rooms of their lovely home.
A poor family, however, may have little, save watching
paint peel off the walls or counting cockroaches, to look
forward to after supper. Is it any wonder that they in
dulge in a steak for dinner or some Chips-Ahoys for
dessert?
Perhaps tLvre were times in this country's history
when the poor could be dismissed as idle folk who were
responsible for their indigent lots in life. With a current
poverty rate of 15 percent and unemployment fluc
tuating around 10 percent, now is not such a time. There
are 34.5 million people in this country who are legally
"poor," 34.5 million people who qualify as needy by the
stringent federal guidelines that classify a family of four
as needy only if its total income amounts to $189 a week
or less. And there are millions more living just above the
poverty line.
All considered, Block's media-monopolczing (did you
. happen to catch the television news clips of the prim and
proper Block family out shopping for their week's
food?) experiment is revealed as an example of the pur
posely misleading superficiality with which he and other
current government officials treat matters related to
poverty in America. Block cannot truly believe that the
poor are doing just fine,, that the Reagan
administration's spending cuts have not hurt the needy,
but he and his colleagues know full well that they can
make others believe it.
The conclusions Block reached were not intended for
the poor, who know first hand that living on such a tight
. budget in the real world is all but impossible. His conclu
sions constituted a gift-wrapped piece of political pro
paganda intended to ease the consciences of all the
upper-middle- and lower-upper-class taxpayers who
flinch at the thought of parting with their privileged
dollars, who are willing to be gullible to propaganda
when it saves them money.
Frank Bruni, a sophomore political science major
from Avon, Conn., is an editorial writer for The Daily
Tar Heel.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Did his mother beat him?
To the editor:
University housing, in the three some
odd years I've been at UNC, has shown a
callous disregard for the welfare of stu
dents, so I suppose I should be used to it
by now. People have tried to complain
about such subjects as the cooking policy,
all to no avail. Maybe we should have
learned by now, but I'm going to make
one last try.
University housing has come to the deci
sion that they will close the dorms over fall
break, even though they haven't officially
announced it yet. I don't know; maybe
they're going to try and surprise all of us.
At any rate, this has to be one of the more
ridiculous decisions they've made since
I've been up here.
What's the point? To save a couple of
dollars? Weigh this with the inconvenience
it's going to cause students who just aren't
plarining on going home (particularly out-of-staters).
And while they are being ever
so generous in letting us sleep in the
lounges over at Craige (for a fee, of
course), I don't think it. will hold us all. !
can't imagine anyone wanting to stay
there, at any rate.
Now it would be one thing if they had
told us this last year when we signed our
contracts, or even if they had done it in
past years so there would be some prece
dent. But to spring it on us like this is so
stupidly uncaring, it really makes one won
der what hole they dragged the new hous
ing director out of. What is his problem?
Did his mother beat him as a college stu
dent, or what?
David Knieriem
James
h
SSSsS" .
Wire news incompetent
To the editor:
At the edge of 1984, when our produc
tive and free country spends billions of
dollars to place missiles 10 minutes from
Moscow to destroy the hated Soviets 50
times over; while we swap about 20,000
two freighters full of grain a day for
their gold and banknotes; while we grant
our Central Intelligence Agency $300,000 a
day to finance guerrilla attacks on bridges,
airports, factories and peasants in
Nicaragua; and while we maintain dic
tators' rules through decades of martial
law in the Philippines or Child, I would
wish that the editors of my college news
paper would consider critical the sense of
the wire-service stories which they serve to
us as "the news."
"Lebanese, Moslems still exchanging
fire" (DTH, Sept. 28) is such a foolish
headline. The Moslems involved are
Lebanese, too! In Lebanon they are the
majority. The Christians, despite Allied
and Israeli backing, are the minority. The
wordgame of calling the Moslems
"Druse" or "Shiites" obscures the issue.
Why does Honduras have the richest air
force in Central America? Why is that
region's chief recipient of U.S. support the
government that kills by far the most of its
civilians, as the Catholic Church or
Amnesty International announces each
week? (El Salvador.) For whom does the
U.S. military spend, fight and die?
The alternative to dumb repetition of
government or wire service news is to ask
ourselves, "What's really going on?" and
answer with our own considered words.
Thank you for airing my outraged and
outrageous dissent.
Tim McDowell
Carrboro
Killings aren 't the norm
To the editor:
I read with interest your article
"18-year-olds had last lawful beers"
(DTH, Oct. 3). However, concerning the
comment by Benjy Sutker, "They can
send me to Lebanon to put bullets in
babies, but I can't have a beer," 1 would
like to make the following observations:
First, Sutker should be aware that his
right to buy beer was revoked by the Legis
lature of the state of North Carolina,
which does not have the power to send
him to Lebanon for any purpose, much
less to put bullets into anyone.
Also, Sutker seems to be perpetuating
the idea that military service (which is not
even mandatory at this time) is equivalent
to governmentally sponsored and sanc
tioned inf anticide. 1 have spent my entire
life (26 years as an Army daughter and 16
years as an Air Force wife) around people
who make a career of the military, and the
ones 1 have known do not look forward
even to putting bullets into enemy soldiers.
I am not blind to the fact that atrocities are
sometimes committed, but Sutker seems to
think that they are the norm. Surely we are
past those Vietnam era days when soldiers
were considered "baby killers."
Sutker should consider extending his
concern to the babies who are killed on the
highways of this country, not by blood
thirsty Marines, but by drunken drivers,
some of whom are, yes, 18 years old.
Elizabeth Grant Fisher
Chapel Hill
Mikeman maladies
To the editor:
I read with interest Thursday's story
"UNC mikeman asked to resign"
(DTH, Sept. 29). I knew it was just a
matter of time before everyone got
tired of Kenny Ward's one-man show
of offensiveness.
Ward seems to think he is being ask
ed to step down because he is black and
therefore can't get away with the types
of jokes he tells. Baloney. If I, who am
white, should tell jokes like Ward's, I'd
soon be Public Enemy No. 1 with every
black person on campus. I am referring
to Ward's joke about keeping black
guys from raping a white girl by throw
ing in a basketball. Why the Black Stu
dent Movement didn't take offense at
this joke, I don't know. Another ex
ample of Ward's humor was seen when
he asked a youngster perhaps 11 years
old to tell a joke. The kid responded
with an off-color joke and Ward glee
fully chanted "We want the kid, we
want the kid!" I for one, found ab
solutely no humor in that incident.
Ward attempts to badger students in
to cheering, rather than trying to moti
vate them. Granted, it's difficult to
motivate students to yell and' scream
when the Heels are blowing some team
off the field. Rather than just saying
"Oh, so you people ain't gonna cheer,
huh? No spirit!" perhaps Kenny Ward
should realize that when a game isn't
really exciting, students are naturally
going to be less likely to cheer. Wait un
til the Clemson game, or better yet, the
Duke game. Then we'll see whether
Carolina can cheer!
Let's not allow this mikeman busi
ness to become a racial issue because of
Ward's off-the-cuff remark. Instead,
let's have a good mikeman who can do
the job and not offend anyone while
doing it. ,
Langley Respess
Hinton James
To the editor:
There has been an injustice perform
ed at our University. A student has
been denied the opportunity to show
the student body that he can perform
his assigned duties.
Perhaps because Ward is black, the
students do not feel the same sort of at
tachment to him as was felt to past
mikemen. Whatever the reasons, it is
not Ward's fault that the crowd has not
been totally responsive during the first
three home games. Ward cannot force
anyone to stand up and support om
team.
Many people criticize Kenny for tell
ing distasteful jokes at the Home
coming game. To remedy this situation,
Dean Sharon Mitchell or any other ad
ministrator responsible for coor
dinating game activities should have
discussed with Ward the implications
of his jokes and asked him to stop tell
ing possibly offensive jokes.
Because Mitchell asked Kenny to re
sign before she had exhausted other
solutions to the problem, I feel the de
cision to replace Kenny had racial im
plications. I hope my conclusion is not
true. j
No mikeman can perform success
fully without total crowd support. Ad
ministrative support is necessary also. I
hope the Department of Student Life
will withdraw its request for Ward's
resignation. With patience and renewed
enthusiasm our student body will allow
Ward the opportunity to succeed.
Kenneth Harris
Northampton Apts.
To the editor:
I sure wish I could be black. Then, if
something didn't go my way or I failed
at a task, I could blame it on my skin
color. It would be convenient to never
have to take responsibility for my own
shortcomings. If no one liked me and I
had no friends, I could say "Hey,
it's because I'm black." Talk about a
handy excuse.
The Carolina mikeman may think
his routine is not accepted because he is
black but I do not agree. I will never
be able to accept a mikeman who tells
Mary Jane jokes, performs cheers that
I did while in elementary and middle
school, and incorrectly leads standard,
traditional Carolina cheers.
Kelly D. Darrett
Colony Apartments
To the editor:
By blaming his obvious failure on
skin color, Kenny Ward has insulted
the intelligence of all Carolina students,
both black and white. Therefore, an
apology to the entire student body, as
well as Ward's immediate resignation
as mikeman should be forthcoming.
Kendall Moore
Granville West