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Wednesday, December 7, 1983The Daily Tar Heel5 Political groups continue on despite student apathy By JOEL KATZENSTEIN Staff Writer Almost every Monday morning, Bob Sheldon can be found setting up a table in the Pit. Having selected a topic that he and his organization feel is. pertinent and will generate discussion and con troversy, Bob uses his table as a sounding board and a display case with books on alternative political opinions, bumper stickers protesting U.S. military activities and fliers calling for social and political action. Bob Sheldon, of Internationalist Books, is one of many common faces in the Pit's "politico row" and his goal is to generate political awareness a goal that he shares with a handful of political organizations on campus. Gone are the days when Carolina students chanted, "Burn, baby burn," and, "All we are saying is give peace a chance." Instead with a more reserved and even apathetic mood on campus political views are often kept silent. There are, however, students who are both politically active and aware on campus. They plan rallies, collect signatures for protests, set up booths with literature in the Pit and w rite letters of concern to their congressmen. "Groups that were once socially oriented like the Campus Y are becoming more politically ac tive," Lisa Mercer, president of the campus Democratic Socialists of America, said. "The fact that they are getting involved means that political activism will be just around the corner." Mercer said, "The problems we faced in the '60s haven't been overcome. We see the same systemic failings that we did then." According to Mercer, ; students are beginning to react, though not as vocally as they did 20 years ao. "In theory there are many people who are Democratic Socialists," Mercer said. Estimating a membership of more than 800 acknowledged members in the Triangle area, Mercer said the par ty is definitely growing. "Although we were almost entirely made up of graduate students and faculty, we now have 20 active student members." Mercer said that recent student involvement in the DSA can be attributed to their opinion of the Democratic Party. "People see the DSA as the only viable, sane national alternative to a stale Democratic Party," Mercer said. The party to which Mercer referred is also represented on campus in the form of the Young Democrats. Here since 1966, the Young Democrats have about 100 active members accord ing to Tim Newman, a member of the organi zation. Newman also a co-chairman for the Carolina Students for Jim Hunt, said the Young Democrats sponsor candidate forums on campus for state government positions including attorney general and lieutenant governor. There are plans for a gubernatorial forum in the spring. "We have a very diverse group of students that see the potential for far-reaching changes through the Democratic Party," Newman said. "We're more a party of the people trying to help others through government service whereas the Republican Party is a party of self preservationists." The Republican Party also has student represen tation at UNC. The College Republicans' presi dent, Garth Dunklin, said that college-age Republicans may not be highly visible, but their voices are being heard, "In a poll conducted by the Republican Na tional Committee in October, it was discovered that 56 percent of those polled between the ages of 18 and 24 were in support of President Reagan," Dunklin said. "The College Republicans is the largest student organization in the country." Dunklin said that students get most involved during an election year because they feel that this is when they can be of the most help. There are about 40 active members. "Students who get in volved usually want to help a candidate with his campaign," Dunklin said. He said that becoming more aware of reality had determined his political leanings. "The more I came into contact with the real world the more conservative I became." A new group on campus was formed three weeks ago to better student government. SEEDS (Students Effectively Establishing a Democratic System), a progressive political party, developed because of feeling that Student Government is not responsive to the needs and interests of students. "SEEDS is a carry-over from many discussions people have had on the effectiveness of Student Government," Bill Barlow, a graduate student in city and regional planning said. "We want to raise political issues and see them through. The Campus Governing Council operates on an allocation basis and they don't discuss things that we feel are very important." Barlow said that SEEDS hoped to take an issue and see it through to some form of completion. Barlow said that although SEEDS has just begun, there are already 20 active members and he and Carol B. Solow recently won vacant graduate seats on CGC. "I found a need to get involved politically on campus and there is a need for political action," said Solow, a graduate student in social work. ShbUb is a coalition of progressive groups that wish to confront such issues as water conservation, a nuclear free zone and divestment. "We want to be aggressive in representing issues that are cur rently affecting students," Barlow said. The N.C. Student Legislature is another organization that is active on campus. However, the structure of NCSL is much different than that of other student political groups on campus. "NCSL is a non-partisan way to get involved in politics," said Mary Roff, NCSL president. "Students active in NCSL the active membership is about 40 discuss N.C. issues and invite state legislators to speak on issues instead of candidates," Roff said. "We debate the issues and have state legislators speak. "We have people who love Jesse Helms and people who hate him," she said. Students who get involved in NCSL are interested in seeing how issues are discussed in actual government situa tions and they get to see step by step how the issues are handled, Roff said. "We have the opportunity to interact with NCSL members from other schools during our state meetings and it is there that we pass resolutions about state issues," she said. Past ...from page 4 The strike ended after Gov. Bob Scott announced an increase in the state's minimum wage and the University acced ed to workers' demands for more equitable overtime pay and the hiring of minority supervisors. Failing to get administration support for their ideas, UNC student activists of the late '60s were likely to set out on their own, said speech professor Paul Brandes. Students rented buses to establish a profit-making transportation system on South Campus. And one group, dissatisfied with UNC's curriculum, established an unsanctioned night school staffed by student lecturers. The activists had received valuable leadership training during integration battles in their high schools, Brandes said. Students weaned on confrontations with their local school board members and town officials had no reluctance to bring their grievances to the University administration and the Board of Trustees. "The poor board would never meet, but somebody wasn't after them," he said. The fervor began to cool considerably in the semesters following the Kent State protest, Bello said. Students turned their attention to campus issues and social ac tivities. "Vietnam was winding down and the draft was pretty much cut off," he said. "There were also a lot of protesters that "Vietnam was winding down and the draft was pretty much cut off... There were also a lot of protesters that were becoming burned out. There is only so much protesting you can do until you get frustrated. " Thomas Bello, former student body president The Daily Tar Heel's political attitudes survey was conducted from 6 to 10 p.m. on seven days during the last two weeks of September. The sample of student telephone numbers was drawn randomly from a list of numbers of students registered at the University as of Sept. 7. Evening College students and students living outside Chapel Hill and Orange County were included in the sample. A total of 384 students were questioned about their political behaviors and at titudes. Because of the random-sampling The 'DTH' Survey techniques used in the survey, there is a 95 percent certainty that their answers reflect the attitudes of the student population as a whole within a plus or minus 5 percent margin. The survey, which consisted of 52 questions, was developed by two graduate students at the UNC School of Journalism, Gary Dorsey and Ellen Rusten. Dorsey and Rusten also supervis ed the calls, made by The Daily Tar Heel staff, and tabulated and analyzed the results. Technical assistance was provided by professors Phil Meyer of the School of Journalism and M. Richard Cramer of the department of sociology. The DTH staff would like to thank Gary and Ellen for their work on the survey. Thanks also to Steve Ferguson, Wayne Thompson and Janice Murphy. National were becoming burned out. There is only so much protesting you can do until you get frustrated. "Everybody was asking, "Where are all the protesters?' Most of us were studying." With the pressing issues of the Vietnam War and civil rights largely behind them, students turned to their more natural con cerns of academics and careers said J. Carlyle Sitterson, chancellor of the University from 1966 to 1972. As a legacy of the unrest of the '60s, students were left with a skepticism about the ability of government to solve modern problems. "During the '60s, there was an expec tation certainly a hope that it was ; :A :.r ...from page 4 possible for government to solve the perennial issues of mankind poverty, peace, racial justice," Sitterson said. "We've become less certain that they can be solved by government." UNC President William C. Friday said that students didn't become less active, they just began to channel their energies within the system, participating in volunteer work and writing letters to the editor. "I've never known a student genera tion that has failed to make itself know in some way. That's the tradition of Chapel Hill," Friday said. "The real disappoint ment would be if you were not heard." FOR THE RECORD: Coach Crum Does Not Endorse Alcoholic Beverages A beer distributor recently ran an advertisement in The Daily Tar Heel saluting Coach Crum which used his name and likeness. The beer distributor did this without Coach Crum's permission. Coach Crum did not authorize the advertisement, and it is his policy not to endorse any alcoholic beverages. The DTH and the beer distributor regret the error. "I think that the recent events in Grenada, Lebanon and Central America have generated a lot of concern among students," he said. "There haven't been a great number of protests, but I don't think you'll see a return to '60s-style demonstra tions unless we start the draft." Ward said he believes that the decline of campus activism actually began in 1970, after the initial reaction to the Kent State shootings subsided. There are two theories behind the end of activism, he said. First, students began to see the danger of march ing in the streets. At Kent State, it resulted in four deaths. Second, as the war in Viet nam continued, students perceived that the protests really didn't matter. Despite the conservative trend on today's campuses, several schools have ex perienced specific incidents that indicate the pendulum could begin swinging the other way. The Progressive Student Network at the University of Michigan, for example, staged a two-day sit-in at the radiation laboratory in early November, effectively preventing entry of graduate students working on a radiation project. PSN members were trying to draw attention to military research that was taking place in the lab. At Brown, 800 students attended an educational forum on the Grenada inva sion, and at Northwestern University 450 students braved wind and rain to attend a protest of U.S. intervention in foreign countries. Mike Tidwell, editor of the campus newspaper at the University of Georgia, said students there are becoming increas- ingly active in political causes. The Reagan ' administration's foreign policy has "sparked activism from apathy," he said. "Activists get involved because they en joy it," Tidwell said. "They get their kicks from it. But there are still a lot of students who aren't aware of what's going on in the world." Trust in government Believers Middle ' Skeptics male. 34 19 47 female 35 32 . ' 33 black 49 22 29 white 33 26 41 in-state 34 21 45 out-of-state 37 33 30 Greek 29 19 52 nonGreek 36 27 . 37 Democrats 37 27 . 36 Republicans 27 21 52 Independents 37 37 27 Income: up to $25,000 40 29- 31 $26-$35,000 36 23 41 $36-$50,000 33 25 42 Over $50,000 27 27 45 You don't have to go to Washington to read a great newspaper :;::n:.:X;:X:X:':X.::: .v ..y.v.-.v. . ...v. Hit! '): OMiMisnssnw phrjerj seemices EXAM SCHEDULE Due to Lenoir IHIall renovations, the Pineroom vAU close December 9th at 7:00 food and cafeteria service The Fastbreali will operate: Monday-Thursday 7:00 a.m.-ll:00 p.m. Friday 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Cafeteria meals will be served: Breakfast 7:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Lunch 11:00 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Dinner 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. fplepfi regular service, hours until December 2 1st at S:G0 p.m. E"3ot Morrison and iHiiiton-J The University Dining Services Office '(3rd floor Lenoir) oil; be open to assist you from 9:C0 a.m.-2-:C0 p.m. Monday-Friday thru December 21st. . " , V" -: . . '-' . v -;; .. -. .' - -f '' ' ' . , ' ' GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAMS! if- V - ill. ir m.. I. 5 Dathj ar Mnl
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 7, 1983, edition 1
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