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What about our children?
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Kerry DeRochi, Editor
Alison Davis, Mandjjw.u EiW
CHARLES ElXMAKFR, Associate Editor FRANK BRUNI, Associate Editor
Kelly Simmons, University Editor Michael Toole, City Editor
KYLE MARSHALL, State and National Editor KAREN FlSHER, Features Editor
Michael DeSisti, Sports Editor Jeff Grove, Arts Editor
MELISSA MOORE, News Editor CHARLES W. LEDFORD, Photography Editor
A second chance
On Oct. 24, Michael Warren Forte tried to kill himself in his room at the
Wake Juvenile Detention Center. Last week, on his third attempt he suc
ceeded, his death pointing to the glaring inability of state facilities to treat
the emotionally disturbed. For years, Forte had been diagnosed as un
stable and often had spoken of suicide. He'd been turned down for treat
ment at three area hospitals and was placed on a waiting list. There just
hadn't been room.
Forte was first placed in the detention center in early October after
stabbing a classmate. By State standards, he was one of the 1,000 children
across North Carolina described as eligible for the "Willi M" program, a
program that provides comprehensive treatment for emotionally dis
turbed adolescents. Willi M children, named after a 1979 lawsuit that
mandated the state provide such treatment, are often the products of
broken homes. They are usually victims of sexual abuse at an early age
and now try to hurt themselves and others.
Yet, of the 1,000 Willi M cases, only 400 will receive the appropriate
treatment; the rest to be placed in detention centers where they receive in
adequate, if any help. As it now stands, there are only 55 spaces available
in state mental hospitals for the severe cases such as Forte's. As one court
official in charge of placing the children said, it's "like an ongoing game
of Russian roulette."
To lessen the chance of another suicide, state officials have taken steps
to tighten security at detention centers. They've proposed ways for op
tional care to be provided should a child with severe emotional or be
havioral problems be turned away from a hospital. Perhaps most impor
tant, they've designed a $7.2 million plan that would double the 55 spaces
available for the severely disturbed. It is estimated that about 108 of the
Willi M children need such treatment.
Although the plans were announced just this week, they've already
drawn large amounts of criticism, especially because of their high costs.
But as Forte's death has demonstrated, it's the odds against the Willi M
children that are exorbitantly high. State officials are not to blame for
Forte's death, but they carry the responsibility to make sure that the next
child, through adequate treatment, may have a second chance.
What's up, Doc?
In an astounding move to preserve the status quo, the Campus Gover
ning Council Wednesday night discarded discussion and voted unani
mously to require any student running for election under a pseudonym to
list both his chosen and legal names on the election ballot. The campus
politicos ostensibly decided on the elections policy change to better in
form the students about whom they might be voting for. More likely,
council members have become terrified that one of the "joke" candidates
might supplant them and so they have acted to decrease the effectiveness
of running under a fake name.
The option to run under an alternate name was placed in the elections
rules to give students another outlet for expressing their dissatisfaction
with campus policies or leaders. By effectively destroying this avenue, the
CGC has resorted to an underhanded and cowardly restriction of the stu
dents' right to make a statement a move made all in the name of keep
ing the students informed about candidates. The students if interested
in the candidate's legal name are fully capable of discovering such
facts for themselves.
The council's paranoia stems from the recent strong showings by long
shot "joke" candidates in campus elections. Hugh G. Reckshun Hugh
Lamb incognito under his Black Label beer helmet shocked students
and the campus political establishment last spring when he knocked a
prominent candidate out of the student body president run-off. Whether
because he had a captivating pseudonym or because students were in
terested in his plan to abolish the executive branch of Student Govern
ment, Reckshun became a mocking symbol of student dissatisfaction
with the political status quo on campus.
This fall, another "joke" candidate picked up on the novelty of
pseudonyms and captured the crown of Homecoming Queen under the
guise of "Yure Nmomma." The election of the new campus queen,
Teague resident Steve Latham, proved that students may find crowning a
Homecoming Queen a dated and possibly sexist ritual.
Some students may argue that the CGC has not restricted students
from running under pseudonyms, but by forcing these candidates to
place their legal names on the ballot, the council has displaced much of
the message carried through using a fake name. Both Reckshun and
Nmomma showed that such candidates are anything but jokes, and the
CGC has no right to hamper the efforts of such anti-establishment office
seekers. Perhaps the council members are simply afraid that they may
become the real jokes of campus elections.
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Assistants: Bill Riedy and Gigi Sonner.
Assistant Managing Editors: Joel Broadway, Tracy Hilton and Amy Tanner
Assistant News Editor: Gary Meek
News Desk: Cynthia Brown and Pam Weber
News: Tracy Adams, Dick Anderson, Diana Bosniack, Keith Bradsher, Amy Branen, Lisa
Brantley, Hope Buffington, Tom Conlon, Kathie Collins, Kate Cooper, Teresa Cox, Lynn
Davis, Dennis Dowdy, Chris Edwards, Kathy Farley, Steve Ferguson, Genie French, Kim
Gilley, Heather Hay, Andy Hodges, Reggie Holley, Sue Kuhn, Thad Ogburn, Beth O'Kelley,
Janet Olson, Rosemary Osborne, Heidi Owen, Beth Ownley, Cindy Parker, Donna Pazdan,
Ben Perkowski, Frank Proctor, Linda Queen, Sarah Raper, Mary Alice Resch, Cindi Rossi
Catherine Schultz, Sharon Sheridan, Deborah Simpkins, Sally Smith, Mark Stinneford, Carrie
Szymeczek, Liz Saylor, Amy Tanner, Doug Tate, Wayne Thompson, Vance Trefethen, Chuck
Wallington, Melanie Wells, Lynda Wolf, Rebekah Wright, Jim Yardley and Jim Zook.
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: Clarice Bickford, Tom Camacho, Toni Carter, Margaret Claiborne, Cindy Dunlevy,
Charles Gibbs, Tom Grey, Marymelda Hall, Kathy Hopper, Charles Karnes, Joel Katzenstein!
Dianna Massie, Kathy Norcross, Clinton Weaver and Mike Truell, assistant features editor.
Arts: J. Bonasia, Steve Carr, Ivy Hilliard, Jo Ellen Meekins, Sheryl Thomas and David
Schmidt, assistant arts editor.
Photography: Larry Childress, Lori Heeman, Jeff Neuville, Susie Post and Zane Saunders
Business: Anne Fulcher, business manager; Angela Booze and Tammy Martin, accounts
receivable clerks; Dawn Welch, circulationdistribution manager; William Austin, assistant
circulationdistribution manager; Patti Pittman and Julie Jones, classified advertising staff;
Yvette Moxin, receptionist; Debbie McCurdy, secretary.
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 Mebane.
By DOROTHY N. GAMBLE
On the last Wednesday of each month, my husband
and I spend our lunch hour in front of the Franklin
Street Post Office with other friends from the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom trying to
engage people in discussions and persuade them to take
action in favor of peace and freedom and to put an end
to war and the nuclear arms race. Why have we become
part of the oldest international peace organization in the
world, and why do we stand there trying to slow the pace
of the usual lunch hourstampede?
Anyone who has paused to witness the birth of a
human being must have marveled at the miracle of it.
What a miracle that each tiny cell in each tiny toenail
became properly specialized and correctly related to all
the other specialized cells to make that little toe! As we
watch the mental and physical development of children,
we are awed by the magic of this development and the
large responsibility we have for its guidance. Any parent,
grandparent or teacher who engages with a child in the
process of development senses the awesome nature of
the magic and the responsibility and begins to have
respect for nurturing life.
Parents too often engage in the growth relationship
only long enough to ensure that the child contributes to
the family's pride. The child too often is seen not for his
or her own sake but as an extension of the pride and
vanity of the parents.
If one follows this vain use of children to its extreme,
it becomes the rationale for using children, in the prime
of their youth, to defend home and nation. It seems to
me that one of the most cruel hoaxes the leaders of any
nation can play upon their people is to convince them to
send the country's youth to do battle in the name of free
dom when the real purpose is to flex the national muscle.
They send the country's youth to do battle in the name
of peace when the real reason is to maintain the status
quo for greedy profiteers.
Freedom needs dedicated and concerted action in
order to be created, preserved and defended. Conditions
that enhance and facilitate freedom need to be actively
produced. Conditions that inhibit freedom need to be
non-violently eroded. But people need to learn much
more about freedom and much more about war and
peace in order to be able to distinguish between a hoax
and the defense of freedom.
When I stand on the street asking people to write let
ters to their congressmen about the deployment of the
MX and Pershing missiles, there are two responses that
are most troublesome to me. One of these is young
women who coyly reply, "But the experts should decide;
I don't know enough." The other is that of young men
who say, "I'd rather be dead than Red!" To both of
these replies I say, "But what will you tell your
children?" I wonder, what would they tell my 11-year-old
son if he were in their care. Would the young woman
tell my child he had no responsibility to help the nation
decide what it should do about nuclear arms? Can
anyone old enough to reason absolve themselves of the
responsibility to struggle with this complicated but vital
issue?
When I think of the young man's response I wonder
what kind of an education we have given to young men
to make them believe they should be ready to kill or die
at the mention of an ideological symbol. Would this
young man know a communist if he saw one? Does he
have any recognition of the millions of people in Russia,
Poland, Yugoslavia, Grenada, El Salvador or Nicaragua
who, like him, want to get on with the business of learn
ing, making a living and raising a family? And like him,
must all these ordinary people live in fear of an oppos
ing, warlike government preparing to attack another
because each has been convinced the other is its mortal
1- THE WEEK IN REVIEW
enemy? If we were watching a television documentary of
Nicaragua and a young man interviewed said, "I'd
rather be dead than overrun by the Yanki Imperalists!"
we would say he had been brainwashed. When we watch
a 14-year-old soldier fighting in Tripoli say to a television
interviewer, "We fight to the death!" we assume this
child is in a condition in which he cannot think or act for
himself. Why would an 18- or 20-year-old man living in a
country that has not been invaded or has not had to fight
a war on its soil for more than a hundred years say to
me, "I'd rather be dead than Red!"?
Perhaps the fear of totalitarianism has made it impos
sible for him to think. Or perhaps it is because he knows
we are not innocent. Even before the Vietnam War, we
had in the collective memory of this nation the know
ledge that we used the atom bomb on a civilian popula
tion. I have often heard adults older than me talk with
pride and enthusiasm about exactly what they were doing
on the day Pearl Harbor was bombed and exactly what
they did immediately afterward out of patriotic duty. I have
rarely heard people older than me talk about how they
felt when the atom bomb was used on a civilian popula
tion. I have heard the bitter tales of the holocaust and
have visited Auschwitz, one of the most devastating and
unforgettable things I have ever done, but people rarely
talk about the "firestorm" bombing raids on German
civilians that had little to do with winning World War II.
While it may be human nature to avoid talking about
guilt, revenge or excessive behavior, it seems we have no
other way out if the planet is to survive. Now we have
gone too far. We have enough nuclear weapons to
destroy the world several times over. We can no longer
hide behind our innocence or our national pride. We
must strengthen world organizations that facilitate
dialogue rather than flaunt our nationalistic nose at
them. We must do it for our children and the children of
the U.S.S.R. and of Nicaragua and of Lebanon.
We all view the world in slightly different ways and
define our roles in the context of our personal experi
ences. I am a mother and a sister and an aunt and a wife
and a teacher, and I feel an obligation to facilitate public
discussion about how to abolish nuclear arms and
violent conflict.
Dorothy N. Gamble, lecturer in the School of Social
Work, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bucara
manga, Columbia, from 1962 to 1964 and is a member
of the local branch of the Women 's International League
for Peace and Freedom.
Cameras not set to roll at UNC
By GIGI SONNER
North Carolina defensive tackle
William Fuller may have been named to
the 1983 Kodak Ail-American team
Monday, but another UNC Ail
American may not be seen on campus.
Warners Bros, was denied permission
Tuesday to film part of their $13 rnillion
movie, Everybody's Ail-American, on
the UNC campus.
The distraction the filming would
cause and policy on use of the Universi
ty's facilities were the main reasons for
the refusal, according to Rollie Tillman,
vice chancellor of University relations.
"Any major motion picture anytime
classes are in session would be subject to
very careful scrutiny by the chancellor,"
he said. "We have a facilities-use policy
that says this campus is not to be used
for something which will disrupt this
university's academic mission."
The film, which will star Tommy Lee
Jones and Jessica Lange, is based on a
novel by Frank Deford that tells about a
fictitious UNC football star and the
years after his graduation when his
fame has diminished. It will be directed
by Michael Apted, who also directed
Coal Miner's "Daughter.
"They wanted to come at a time
when people are settling into exams,"
Tillman said. "It is ultimately a judg
ment call, and I think the chancellor
made the right call because our job is to
educate students."
Without permission to film on cam
pus, Warner Bros, would have to find
another university that would be willing
to permit filming.
The N.C. Film Commission is still
planning to find a way Warner Bros,
could use the campus, according to
Paula Wyrick, the commission's assis
tant director. Without permission to
film on the UNC campus, the chances
of the movie's production coming to
North Carolina are greatly diminished.
Proposed fee increase for STV
The Campus Governing Council
agreed Wednesday to hold a student
referendum on a proposal to raise the
Student Activities Fee to help support
Student Television.
The proposal, if passed by a two
thirds majority during the campuswide
elections in February, would increase
the fee by 50 cents per student per
semester for one academic year only.
The fee increase would provide about
$20,000 of the $35,000 necessary for the
STV Committee to purchase the
videotape, cameras, recorders and
editing equipment needed to produce
programs for the university access chan
nel on Village Cable.
Since students who live in dormitories
or in Carrboro are not served by Village
Cable, CGC member Steve Reinhard
(District 1) questioned whether all
students should pay for STV.
But the STV programs will be shown
in the Union, making them available to
all students. The price of two soft
drinks seems a small price to pay to give
students interested in all aspects of
broadcasting a chance to learn more
about the field. STV will also increase
awareness of campus happenings, a ser
vice that will benefit everyone at the
University.
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In other business, the CGC approved
a $10,000 loan to The Daily Tar Heel
and passed a bill requiring joke can
didates running in campus elections to
provide their legal names on the ballot
as well as any pseudonyms they wish to
use.
The loan to the DTH will offset a
cash flow problem the paper faces in
December when it does not receive
advertising revenue or student fees.
The bill dealing with candidates who
use pseudonyms is meant to insure an
informed electorate, according to CGC
Rules and Judiciary Committee Chair
man Reggie Holley (District 11).
"This is not to harm joke
candidates," he said. "Our intent is to
inform students as to whom they're
voting for."
Florida man executed
Convicted murderer Robert Austin
Sullivan was executed Wednesday at the
state prison in Starke, Fla., despite an
appeal by Pope John Paul II to spare
Sullivan's life. He was the ninth man to
be executed in the United States since
the Supreme Court lifted its ban on
capital punishment in 1976. He was 36
years old.
Sullivan's execution came 10 years
after his 1973 murder of Donald
Schmidt, an assistant manager at a
Howard Johnson's motor lodge in
Homestead, Fla., and brings to an end
10 years of court reviews.
Sullivan was adopted when he was
two weeks old and his family life was
described by friends and neighbors as
marked by bitterness and frustration.
During his years on death row, prison
officials described him as a model in
mate. He was a practicing Roman
Catholic and served as a counselor for
other prisoners. He once talked another
prisoner out of committing suicide. An
accomplice in the murder, Reid
McLaughlin, testified against Sullivan
in exchange for a lighter sentence; he is
living in Massachusetts on parole.
Vernon Bradford, state corrections
spokesman, said the execution was car
ried out "very smoothly."
Hope for Lebanon
Lebanese President Amin Gemayel
met with President Reagan and
Secretary of State George P. Sfiultz
yesterday in hopes of finding new ideas
for trying to get the foreign troops out
of Lebanon.
Earlier this week, the United States
and Israel reaffirmed their support for
the May 17 pact in which Israel pledged
to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in
return for security and political conces
sions from Lebanon. The catch is that
Syria must pull out at the same time.
This has not happened.
"The only basis for a settlement of
the Lebanese problem is the full im
plementation of the May 17, 1983,
agreement in all its parts," Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir said before
leaving Washington.
Syrian President Hafez Assad con
demned the pact, claiming it makes
Lebanon a puppet of Israel. Assad and
Lebanese leftist and opposition groups
insist that Israel withdraw uncondi
tionally. After meeting with Shultz yesterday,
Gemayel said that both the Geneva
talks on Lebanese national reconcilia
tion and his meetings with Shultz and
Reagan will help to end the chaos in
Lebanon.
"Despite the present difficult situa
tion in my country, I am here with a
strong sense of hope rather than of
uncertainty; of resolve, rather than
hesitation; ot accomplishment, rather
than inertia," he said.
But six months ago, when the troop
withdrawal agreement between Israel
and Lebanon was signed, the pact was
considered to be the Reagan administra
tion's single foreign policy success in the
Middle East. Now this same pact has
become a major obstacle to peace in the
region.
Yet another shuttle
This week's space shuttle launch was
greeted with nonchalance by pretty
much everyone other than the scientists
and astronauts involved.
This was the first shuttle to carry a
non-American. Ulf Merbold, a physicist
from West Germany, accompanied five
other crew members on the flight. The
shuttle was also the first to put the $1
billion Spacelab to work.
But if those on the ground weren't
excited by the flight, those in the air
were more enthused.
"It is so neat up here," said mission
commander John Young, who is mak
ing his sixth flight. "It is really
something."
Pilot Brewster H. Shaw Jr., making
his first flight, said, "It's a beautiful fly
ing machine. It's really some ride."
Gigi Sonner, a junior English major
from Norfolk, Va., is an editorial assis
tant for The Daily Tar Heel.