BThft Daily Tar HeelThursday, October 13. 1983
91st year of editorial freedom
Kerry DeRochi. Editor
Alison Davis, Managing Editor
LlSAPULLEN, University Editor
CHRISTINE MANUEL, State and National Editor
Michael DeSisti. Spom Editor
BILL RjEDY, News Editor
JEFF HlDAY, Associate Editor
John Conway, cay Editor
KAREN FISHER, Features Editor
Jeff Grove, Arts Editor
CHARLES W. LEDFORD, Photography Editor
Better late than never
The International Olympic Committee has long forbade amateur
athletes to use drugs especially those that might aid the performance of
the athlete; giving him an unfair advantage over competitors. Never
theless, drug, use among athletes has increased steadily, its growth
unhampered by mostly unreliable and ineffective methods of detecting
drugs. Technological advances have helped rein in drug abuse, and for
several years major sports countries, except the United States, have in
stituted highly sensitive drug-testing procedures. Now, finally, the United
States Olympic Committee has announced its own belated intent to
follow the lead and attempt to protect both amateur sports and its
athletes.
The American action comes only after an embarrassment at this sum
mer's Pan American Games. There, hundreds of competitors watched as
new drug-testing devices disqualified 15 athletes, two of them American
gold-medal winners. The shakeup shocked both athletes and fans alike
and awakened them to the seriousness and pervasiveness of drug use in
amateur sports.
Now, several months later, the United States Olympic Committee has
ordered that similar tests be performed on all athletes who qualify for the
U.S. Olympic Team. In both formal and informal testing, urine samples
from every qualifying athlete will be tested for the 100 drugs banned by
the IOC. If only one test comes up positive, that athlete will be barred
from competition. Disqualified athletes can ask to be retested and can
pursue further appeals through the director of the USOC.
Because the United States is one of the last leading countries to require
drug testing of its athletes, the pre-Olympic testing cannot be performed
here the United States does not have a center capable of performing
the tests though USOC officials say a state-of-the-art testing center will
be present in Los Angeles next summer.
As the last stronghold of non-government-subsidized Olympic sports,
the USOC is embarrassingly delinquent in instituting drug-testing pro
cedures. Still, these strong measures should be commended for assuring
that Olympic athletes will be competing fairly, using nothing more than
their strength, skill and determination.
Modern muckraking
Rest in peace?
Not if you live as a Hollywood star, died under even the most minutely
suspect circumstances and happened to fall into the cold, profit-seeking
hands of coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi. And, most of all, not if respect
able journalists decided to pay attention to the sensational stories
Naguchi likes to tell.
- Noguchi, a former chief medical examiner for Los Angeles County, is
no Quincy when it comes to professional ethics. His alleged mismanage
ment of the department, spotlighted by inappropriate comments about
celebrity deaths, earned him his demotion to physician-specialist in April
1982. But it did not quiet the good doctor, whose forthcoming book, apt
ly titled Coroner j discusses the deaths of such celebrities as William
Holden, Marilyn Monroe, John Belushi and Natalie Wood.
Celebrity vultures like Noguchi have long existed. Accounts like his are
no strangers to book publishers and scandal sheets. Yet the advances for
Coroner have also found the ears of such esteemed wire services as the
Associated Press, which only last week produced a lengthy story detailing
Noguchi's chapter on the Nov. 29, 1981, drowning of Natalie Wood. The
Associated Press no doubt thought the piece a public interest story, as did
the Raleigh News and Observer, which gave the article on Noguchi's far
fetched forensic findings prominent display at the top of page three of the
Oct. 11 issue.
Still, the interest in Wood generated by the recent release of the film
Brainstorm, which features her final screen performance, is no reason to
report the ever-changing conclusions of a man of dubious reputation.
There is no news value to NoguchTs "new" findings concerning the
circumstances of -Wood's accidental drowning two years ago. While his
original report indicated that an intoxicated Wood fell off her yacht after
trying to escape an argument between husband Robert Wagner and actor
Christopher Walken, the new report downplays Wood's inebriation and
states that she fell while trying to retie a dinghy to the side of the yacht.
The new report rather melodramatically describes Wood's struggle in the
frigid ocean waters off South Catalina Island as "both unique and
gallant ... she almost achieved a miracle." It almost sounds as if Noguchi
were there watching it all happen.
Seeing tripe in The National Enquirer is regrettable. Seeing a wire ser
vice rendition of it in the first pages of supposedly responsible
newspapers, however, is inexcusable.
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 Berry hill, Angela Booze, J. Bonasia, Keith
Bradsher, Amy Brannen, Lisa Brantley, Hope Bufflngton, Tom Cordon, 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'Kelky, Janet Olson, Rosemary Osborne, Heidi Owen, Beth
Ownley, Cindy Parker, Donna Pazdan, Ben Perkowski, Frank Proctor, Linda Queen, Sarah'
Raper, 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
ington, Scott Wharton, Lynda Wolf, Rebekah Wright, Jim Zook, Kyle Marshall, assistant
state and national editor, and Stuart Tonkinson, assistant university editor.
Sports: Frank Kennedy, Kurt Rosenberg and Eddie Wooten, assistant sports editors. Glenna
Bun-ess, Kimball Crossley, Pete Fields, John Hackney, Lonnie McCullough, Robyn Nor
wood, Michael Persinger, Julie Peters, Glen Peterson, Lee Roberts, Mike Schoor, Scott Smith,
Mike Waters, David Wells 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.
Graphic 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, Kevin Freidheim, Patricia Gorry, Terry Lee, Doug Robinson, Amy Schultz and Anneli
Zeck ad representatives.
Composition: UNC-CH Printing Department
Printing: Hinton Press, Inc. of Mcbane.
on't buck deregulation
By KYLE MARSHALL
Concern over two financially troubled
airlines Continental and Eastern has
flown into two larger issues: whether the
airline industry should be re-regulated and
if companies have a right to escape labor
contracts through bankruptcy.
In both cases, airline executives are pit
ted against labor unions. It's not the first .
example of labor vs. management. But this
time the results could set precedent for the
industry's biggest airlines as they battle low
fares, high wages and intense competition
in their struggle to remain airborne.
A tale of two airlines
Continental almost taxied to a halt three
weeks ago when it announced it couldn't
pay its debts. It laid off 65 percent of its
12,000 employees. With operating losses
of $26.5 million for the second half of
1983, and with no prospect for improve
ment, Continental announced its intention
to file for Chapter 11 of the Federal
Bankruptcy Act.' (Under Chapter 11, a
firm continues to operate under court pro
tection from creditors while it seeks a plan
to pay its debts.)
- Chairman Frank Lorenzo said the air
line had not gained the wage concessions it
needed to continue operating. His plan?
First, close the airline, and second, re-open
it as a smaller, regional carrier. Soon after
filing for Chapter 11, Lorenzo made good
his promise by restoring service to 25 of
the 78 cities Continental had served.
And at Eastern, 1983 second-quarter
losses totaled $3377 million, compared to
only $3 million for the same period last
year. Chairman Frank Borrnan, a former
astronaut, threatened to follow Conti
nental's lead unless he got employees to
accept immediate 15 percent wage cuts.
Unions representing machinists, flight
attendants and pilots refused to back
down, saying Borrnan was bluffing.
Then, just when it seemed Eastern
would get breathing room through the
bankruptcy courts, Borrnan called off the
dogs. After he dropped his demands for
the wage cuts in an agreement last Friday,
the unions agreed to let independent finan
cial experts analyze the situation and said
they would abide by the results.
VMAH.THfir.s THE CAST" TUB W W CONTINENTAL UNTIL
THEV SETUE THIS PILOTS STRIKE.. ,
Continental and Eastern arenow look;
ing to climb back to the heights they once
enjoyed. The latest moves by Lorenzo and
Borrnan indicate they're capable of pulling
it off. One thing seems sure, however
the airline industry unions will continue to
sing the blues of deregulation.
Disgruntled over deregulation
Deregulation, the most revolutionary
thing to hit the industry since the invention
of the airplane, took effect in 1978. What
it did, essentially, was end government in
terference and allow the same kind of
competition that other industries face to
spread to the airlines. Before, the govern
ment readily approved air-fare increases.
Since, the airlines have cut fares while
costs have soared. It has allowed smaller
airlines a chance to get out of the gates.
But the truth is, not too many airlines
are flying high right now. Smaller, upstart
carriers founded since deregulation are the
most financially stable in the industry.
They don't compete with the giants on a
national scale and thus are able to keep
operating costs down. Perhaps best of all,
the discount airlines are largely non-union
a tremendous advantage over carriers
that have to pay employees two or three
times as much in salaries and benefits. It's
easy to see why Continental and Eastern
are having trouble competing.
Not every airline is in such trouble,
however. America West airlines, a new
Phoenix-based regional carrier, is just get
ting off the ground. It pays its pilots a
mere $32,500 a year. (The average salary
for Eastern's 37,500 employees from
pilots to painters stands at $47,000.)
People Express, based in Newark, N.J.,
undercuts other airlines' fares and is able
to succeed by Wring non-union employees.
Closer to home, Winston-Salem-based
Piedmont is secure with its strong regional
system. After first-quarter losses this year,
the company's earnings have rebounded,
and Piedmont's future looks promising.
Of course it goes without saying that the
traveler is clearly better off paying lower
fares.
All of which points to the need for con
tinued support of deregulation. In cases
where airlines have failed or are on the
verge of bankruptcy, the problem has been
the cost of labor. Still, the AFL-CIO and
six airline industry unions plan to lobby
Congress in the next few weeks for re
regulation. Aside from government regulation, the
unions claim that the bankruptcy law is be
ing misused. Chapter 11 is a tool to put
labor at a disadvantage, they say. But what
they're forgetting is that Chapter 1 1 was
designed to protect workers' jobs.
The next chapter
When the Bankruptcy Act was revised
in 1978, it encouraged more companies to
use Chapter 11 to keep from going under.
Without this reorganizational type of
bankruptcy, companies could be forced to
close their doors and fire all their workers.
But the air industry unions insist they're
being forced, through unfavorable bank
ruptcy laws, to make wage concessions.
Their point of view is understandable
no one who works for a living wants his
salary to be cut, especially through legal
maneuvering. Still, it doesn't seem realistic
that they're making a two-pronged attack
on deregulation and bankruptcy.
And it doesn't seem possible that airline
employees are making the wage demands.
While Eastern's employees average
$47,000 a year, at Continental senior pilots
averaged $83,000 before the company filed
bankruptcy.
So the airlines' labor costs are very real.
, Here's an industry that already suffers
from enormous operating costs (a single
767 jetliner costs around $50 million), cut
throat competiton and a not-so-rosy
future. And the unions refuse to back off,
even when job security is at stake.
In light of this, the big airlines have
every right to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Whether it's to seek proection from
creditors or to reduce wage costs should
not even be an issue. If the company is in
debt, it must try its best to get out of it.
Union leaders must also do their part by
corning down from the clouds and accept
ing concessions whenever possible. That
way, labor and management can avoid
showdowns over Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The first step for big airlines like Con
tinental and Eastern is to reduce labor
costs. If that doesn't work, Chapter 11
should be a good escape clause. And the
only alternative after that is to go out of
business. In that case, everybody's a loser.
, Kyle Marshall, a junior economics and
political science major from Henderson
ville, is assistant state and national editor
of The Daily Tar Heel.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Is 'DTH' the 'National Enquirer?
To the editor:
The DTH has gone too far. An incredi
ble lack of responsible jounalism has been
evidenced time and time again. It boils
down to what students want in a student
newspaper: Do we want a professional,
responsible media publication, or do we
want a glorified National Enquirer that
prints false information, stirring up con
troversy and pitting group against group.
It does not take a journalism major
(these points come put in freshman
English) to realize that though there is
every right to print anything, one still must
separate fact from opinion and draw con
clusions only after thorough investigation.
Bypassing this process breeds sweeping
condemnations, falsehoods and hatred.
For example:
1) Three drunken UNC students (not
totally uncommon) harassed a drunken
female and were implicated for assault
(not sexual). In no way defending the ac
tions of these invididuals, it is still unfor
tunate that because they were lacrosse
players, the DTH made a vast generaliza
tion and implied that all lacrosse players
are barbarians and CTiminals.
2) The DTH (Sept. 16) implied by the
prominence and publicity of the story, that
UNC President William Friday had
devious and secretive dealings with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. This was
based on conjecture without any sub
stantiating evidence.
3) Looking past the front-page .story
given to ' the candidacy of a male for
Homecoming queen (as that may have
"warranted attention), the DTH decided to
personally attack an individual student,
Padraic Baxter, on the editorial page and,
then, sign it with someone else's name!
4) Concerning me "mikeman contro
versy," the DTH once again decided, pre
maturely, that all of the facts were in and
that the UNC administration should go to
hell in a handbasket for blatant disregard
of student welfare DTH, Oct. 5). This
editorial mentioned that the office of the
assistant dean had no right to "fire" Ken
ny Ward because they were not the ones to
"hire" him. Exactly! Though Sharon Mit
chell is an assistant dean, she is also the
sponsor for the spirit unit, which encom
passes the cheerleaders and the mikeman.
It is this unit which does sponsor (not
"hire"; there is no money involved) the
selection of a mikeman and, thus, has the
right to dismiss him. Not much was said
about why he was asked to resign. This
was to protect Kenny as an individual. Un
fortunately, he chose to allow this to
become a racial incident rather than telling
the facts: He had been warned from the
very first day that his performance needed
to improve. This was done first verbally
and then written suggestions were given to
him (white face, racial and ethnic jokes
were not among them). It was because he
failed to respond to these pleas (from
various groups: the band, cheerleaders,
students ...) he was asked to resign; this
was not a decision handed down from the
University administration. (Lay off the
bong hits "Buzz!")
The list of examples goes on. It is not a
bad thing to question and to raise aware
ness as long as it is done responsibly
and honestly. I think the time has come for
the DTH to re-evaluate responsibilities,
priorities and practices. All the DTH has
to do is to look deeper than the surface ap
pearances to arrive at the truth. We all
have enough concerns without fabricating
new ones just to fill some copy space.
Paul Parker
West Cameron Ave.
Goodjob
To the editor:
I would like to commend you on your
publishing two articles by Buzz Brice this
semester thus far. His writing is the best
and most interesting thing that has hap
pened to the back page in a long time.
Seriously, take a bong hit DTHers and en-joy
Susan Gaddy
Town House Apts.
To the editor:
For the past several years when
law graduates have come back for
Law Alumni Weekend they have
been greeted at the school's front
door by a large and cheerful blue
and white banner. And so it was
for Law Alumni Weekend this
year. However, sometime between
Sunday afternoon and Monday
morning, someone unauthorized
romoved the banner. The law
alumni office would appreciate it if
the person or persons who did this
would return the banner to the
school so that -law alumni in the
future can be greeted with this
welcoming sign.
Cathy Schweitzer
Alumni Secretary
UNC School of Law
Bring it back
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ABC's 'GI Brides' crime against Korea
By YOUNG-OAK LEE
I have lived in the United States for more than seven
years working for my doctoral degree in American
studies, yet I have never been to such a place as Chapel
Hill where the Republic of Korea is either simply nonexis
tent or, at best, known as the subject of disgrace and
shame. It is due to this very ignorance and apathy on the
part of North Carolinians that I was particularly annoyed
with "GI Brides," televised Oct. 6 by WRAL-TV as part
of the ABC news program 2020. 1 also feel with a great
pang how the media could be misleading when they bring
to our attention something we never heard of, or bothered
to know about.
"GI Brides" was reporting on the practice of fraud
marriages between GIs and prostitutes in Korea for the
purpose of legal entry to the United States, and on the
subsequent exploitation of those women in this country as
sex slaves. At this point, I want to make a few observa
tions regarding the content of the program: that part of
the program coverage was not true; that the focus of the
program, if it were to have any social significance at all,
should have been on the American soldiers rather than the
Korean victims; and finally, that the media should be
more responsible for its content and fair in its treatment.
First, the reporter, while examining the process of the
marriage between the GIs and prostitutes, claims that the
marriage process in Korea is rather simple merely "a
series of stampings by a clerk." Quite contrary to this
observation, however, a properly processed marriage in
Korea is, as in any society with a long tradition and
history, never an easy matter. It is far simpler to get mar
ried in the States in the sense that couples here do not go
through all that complicated series of events culminating
in the ceremony itself. The marriage is considered a once-in-a-liferime
business a permanent bond. Therefore, the
marriage in Korea is a serious, solemn, social event that is '
worth a lot of attention and consideration. If the reporter
was talking about a fraud marriage, it is entirely a dif
ferent matter, for you can always find a loophole in any
law if you want it that way. I want to remind the reporter
that Korea has almost 5,000 years of history and that he
should have confined his talk to the illegally "legal" ar
rangement of marriage. He should not have talked about
marriage in general. -
Secondly, I would like to point out that in airing the
show, WRAL and ABC committed a serious crime of
murdering a national pride by bringing this crooked busi
ness into larger scale, reinforcing the crime by repeating
"Korean" each time. They have quite successfully made a
great deal out of a minor problem. The women engaged in
that profession one of the oldest professions through
out the world, which men created are extremely small
in number; again, the American soldiers who cooperated
in this inhumane transaction for money are also small in
number. I note that the reporters inadequately and cun
ningly added that every nation has a seamy side of life.
Then let me ask them, why in the world should it be my
country that was unfairly spotlighted and, I repeat, about
which this community is horribly ignorant? I would rather
blame the American military policy that has brought over
to Korea such morally unqualified soldiers who not only 7
disgraced the name of the United States through a disgust
ing cooperation with prostitution but also helped corrupt
and degrade those Koreans into a greater misery. The
soldiers must be better educated! The point is that the
show might have been better off in terms of its contribu
tion to society if it had focused on the lack of discipline in
the American mind represented by the American soldiers
stationed in Korea. A program such as this finds its
significance at the expense of another country.
Finally, I want to ask what the goal of this program was
after all. I wonder if these excuse the phrase simple
minded reporters and directors have ever thought serious
ly about the impact their program would have on this
community. If their intention was not to slander my coun
try's reputation, they should have shown at least a few ;
positive sides of Korea. They brought up this issue as if it
were all there was to know about Korea.
This incident and a few others led me to think about the
role of the media, its moral obligation and responsibilty.
MASH, for example, is a total distortion of Korea,
even in minor things such as costumes it nauseates me
so much that I believe it is some other country that they
allude to. Even National Public Radio was covering up
the appalling murder of 269 human lives by the Soviets by
suggesting that Korean Air Lines might be involved in
some kind of information service to the government. I
know and you know that the Soviets know that the dead
are silent! Let's never, never again speak against the dead.
The NPR does not seem to recognize that one of the goals
the Soviet Union has in mind is to isolate Korea from its
allies.
I believe that every growing nation has its odds and
trials. Korea, which has grown rapidly during recent
years, has every potential to become powerful among na
tions. It is now time we get to know each other the
American South and Korea for there are a whole lot of
similarities between these two. Yet before we get on
friendly terms, we need to clear the ground, and that will
be done by an apology, a remark of any sort to the public
during the news hour from WRAL.
. Aplogize!
Young-Oak Lee is an American studies doctoral stu
dent from Korea.