Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 23, 1984, edition 1 / Page 6
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6The Daily Tar Heel Tuesday, October 23, 1984 Jeff Hiday. Editor Jof.i. Broadway. Managua vjitr Michael TtxM.E. Associate Editor MARK STINNEFORD. Associate VJitor Kelly Simmons, university Editor WAYNE THOMPSON. State and National Editor Melanie Wells, aty Editor VANCE TREFETHEN. Business Editor STUART TONKINSON. News Editor Frank Kennedy, sports Editor Jeff Grove. Am Editor Sharon Sheridan. Features Editor JEFF NEUVILLE. Photography Editor O: 92nd year of editorial freedom ililil!lli;il!lilv ViiSii-SJKS:: : !m The vote from There is to be a campus-wide vote in the residence halls today. Isn't it a shame no one knows about it? We didn't learn of the Residence Hall Association's plot to pass a new con stitution and a 75-cent dormitory fee increase until about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. In the mean time, weVe taken great pains to determine exactly why RH A didn't see fit to tell the DTH about this scheme three weeks ago when it decided the matter and how UNC residents can be expected to make an informed decision today on an issue about which they know next to nothing. We've yet to hear a satisfactory answer. In the story on today's front page, RHA President Mark Stafford offers a few excuses for the virtually nonexistent publicity, but they ring hollow. Resi dents should not have to suffer ignorance because RHA didnt complete its drafts for the referenda until three weeks before an Oct. 26 deadline imposed by the Housing Department. "We're not trying to slide anything under anyone's noses," one RHA governor, Tim Cobb of Everett, said last night. "It was something we could not Louisville slugger strikes out Earlier this campaign season, Demo cratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale pushed hard for more than two debates with President Reagan. Now, following Sunday night's encounter, he and his aides must be wishing privately that they had been successful in only getting one. All last week the Mondale campaign stressed the importance of the foreign policy debate in Kansas City, saying that the event would be decisive in shaping the voters' opinions. After Reagan's embarrassing show in Louisville, Ky., two weeks ago, the Mondale campaign was giddy with new found life and confident that a knockout blow was forthcoming. It never came. The problem: Mondale was a victim of his own success. He didn't live up to the expectations that he and the media set for him after the first debate, and in politics meeting expec tations is more important than actual performance, especially for a challenger. Mondale was expected to come out energetic and aggressive, yet calm enough so that his voice wouldn't rise to levels that might make local dogs gather at the auditorium doors. He was expected to be youthful and critical while still being respectful of a president 17 years older than he. In short, he was supposed to do all the things he had done in the first debate: It was just too big a task. , The debate wasnt a total wash for Mondale. Barring his double dodge of how he would verify a nuclear freeze, Mondale probably answered questions more substantively than Reagan. But like actual performance, substance often takes a backseat to appearance. He started hesitantly, laughed almost First daughter from Plains. This one's for you, Amy: WeVe been waiting for a celeb deb like you to come to our campus since Brooke got bagged by Princeton. And we haven't forgiven Jennifer Beals for flashdancing her way over to Yale. But we always knew you had more sense than that. Come to UNC, Amy. You'd like it here: We're just good ol'down home Southerners like you and Jim and Ros. Granted, weVe got our share of carpetbaggers down here, but they're mostly them Moreheads they jockey up North to find. WeVe got plenty to offer you, Amy. A tangle of general college and upper level curriculum requirements unmatched by other universities of our caliber. Knowing how you like astron omy, weVe got an observatory here with your name on it. (Okay, so it's a figure of speech.) And if you have the urge to share your opinions on U.S. defense policy, feel free to tell it to the Pit. outer space avoid. We just did not have time to get out the publicity as well as we would have liked." So why attempt to put the issues to a vote? We'd love to recommend here whether to vote for or against the measures. But given that the papers only reached our hands yesterday afteroon, weVe barely had time to read, much less consider, the proposals. The same goes for nearly every resident, including dorm leaders. Ran dom calls last night to RAs and dorm presidents asking them about today's vote usually brought the response, "I don't know anything about it." Even the RHA governors contacted conceded that better-organized publicity was in order but they said they didn't intend to do anything about it at this stage in the game. The governors may be full of good intention, but in this case they've cast serious doubt on their motives. In their haste, they've succeeded only in convey ing the image of shoving change down the throats of residents, who were deprived of any chance to make informed decisions. gratefully at the president's jokes and worst of all looked bad. Under the TV lights, the bags under his eyes seemed the size of Winn Dixie grocery sacks. In contrast, Reagan, as aides promised all week he would be, was Reagan. He dismissed the age issue and the Demo crat's insistence that Mondale is strong on defense with one-liners. Standing tall, rosy-cheeked (sans makeup, of course), he looked youthful and in command. And perhaps most importantly, he didn't stumble. His closing statement rambled all over California, forcing the moder ator to cut him off for exceeding the time limit. But viewers apparently got the message: Respondents to a New York Times poll taken immediately following the debate said Reagan won 39 percent to 36 percent. USA Today's survey put the margin at 44 percent to 27 percent. Besides making tactical errors like trying to portray Reagan as soft on the Soviet Union a concept about a: absurd as nominating Gengis Khan for the Nobel Peace Prize the Mondale campaign's biggest mistake seems to have been underestimating Reagan and placing too much importance on the debate. Perhaps being so far behind in polls at this late stage gave the Demo crats no choice, but they should have known that the Gipper wouldn't drop two in a row. Ex-actors know the value of dress rehearsals. While lobbying for more debates months ago, Mondale also fought for a debate close to election day in hopes that a Reagan gaffe might put him over the top. He won that battle: With two weeks left before the election, it may have cost him the war. The social scene, Amy, is unmatched. If Uncle Billy comes to visit and feels the urge to party, the weekend begins on Thursday night. (Not to worry: Mom and Dad will never know.) Forget the North, Amy. It's nothing but a bunch of Kennedys running around, anyway. Remember how wel come your family was the last time they lived up there? North Carolina has everything, even its own Mondale liberal. (Daddy would like that.) We could continue ad nauseum Amy. The joys of off-campus living. The ecstasy of obtaining a parking permit. A top-notch football team. A first-rate student newspaper where you can read yesterday's news today. And the oppor tunity to be student body president and experience excess spending firsthand. The pleasures are limitless living life as a Tar Heel, Amy. Enjoy your stay. Bring your dog. Grits, if you like. Come to UNC. Amy. Proposed Franklin Bond issue may decide Carrboro's fate By JOHN E. THOMAS SR. Election time is here again, and again students are pursued for their votes. The Franklin Street Extension bond issue in Carrboro is the primary local subject of conversation. Recently several newspapers have printed subjective arguments offered by a developing opposition to the Franklin Street Extension. Opposition has developed for three reasons: 1. A home will be demolished (or moved to another location). 2. A continuing effort to preserve Carrboro's antiquity, including mill houses. 3. Resistance to change and taxes. Many statements have been issued to discredit the bond proposal, most of which seem to have little or no merit when compared to the overriding need of Carrboro to resolve some of its problems. Mayor Jim Porto has had several accusations cast at him, one of which suggests that the bond program idea was his alone. Not so. The idea of a community improvement bond issue originated in the Association for a Better Carrboro Steering Committee as a suggested project should the ABC candidates be elected in November 1983. Porto ran on his own ticket. In March 1984, the mayor and Board of Aldermen appointed a citizen's Bond Task Force to identify community improvement projects which would be proper for inclusion in a bond program. The committee was comprised of males and females, blacks and whites, former members of the ABC and of the Carrboro Community Coalition, businessmen, home owners, apart ment residents, bicycle riders, car drivers, pedestrians and most of all, people who cared for the community and were willing to work hard. Initial ideas were identified, subcommittees appointed, on-site visits were made, volumes of LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Reaganomics not voodoo; it works superbly To the editor: This letter is in response to Neil Claffey's outrageous column ("Exploding the myths of Reaga nomics," DTH, Sept. 26). Let me briefly comment on each of the author's points and present them in a proper economic and political prospective. Thanks to Reagan, unemploy ment is down. This statement by Claffey is true. The unemployment level is back to where it was when Carter left office. But, inflation is much lower now. As any economics student (and I hope any economics major) should know, high inflation breeds low unemployment, except in stagfla tion. Reagan's policies regarding the two evils of the economy have worked extremely well considering he has been able to greatly curb inflation while returning the level of unemployment back to Carter's level. What about inflation? What about it? Any one with any common economic knowlege realizes that small inflation is good for the economy. Sure it costs more for tuition and books, but the actual income is also worth more. For a true perspective of the actual rise in the cost of living, one must look at the Consumer Price Index and not merely rely on inflation figures. All of this might not be understood IT TAKES COURAGE TD APM1T.TW rW PROEMS OF THIS ADMIN ISTRATION X You can 't decide To the editor: I found Bill Cobey's statement on abortion ("Andrews, Cobey clash on abortion, defense, ERA," DTH, Oct. 10) offensive in two ways. First he wishes to ban all abortions, including those because of rape or incest because "only" one percent of abortions are due to them. How callous he is to the suffering of approximately 16,000 women and girls yearly who are not only sexually assaulted that is, forced against their will but also become pregnant, again without their con sent. When one of an assault victim's most important tasks is to take control of their life again, Cobey wishes to render these vic tims helpless in deciding whether or not to continue the pregnancy. Then he proceeds to tell all us women that he will be saving us from the "trauma" of abortion. Hasn't he learned by now that you can't tell another person how they feel? For some of those women or girls, being forced to remain pregnant after Street extension: An end to tragic woes or a information secured, neighborhood meetings attended, conferences were held with the Local Government Commission and with the Depart ment of Transportation, Bond Task Force subcommittee reports were reviewed, majority approval on each project was given by the Bond Task Force, and the final report was submitted in June to the Board of Aldermen. Each meeting of the Bond Task Force was open to the public and to representatives of the press. We answered all questions honestly and to the best of our ability. Opponents of the Franklin Street Extension support the projects included in the other bond issue. As past chairperson of the Bond Task Force, I personally take the position that both bond proposals should be approved, or both rejected, by the voters. Study will verify that the improvement of Main Street and West Poplar Street contribute little to the continuity of traffic flow if the Franklin Street Extension is not approved. Downtown Main Street is inundated with traffic, and a danger to the public safety and welfare now exists. Several alternative routes to the Franklin Street Extension have been considered. None of these alternatives had all of the following qualities which were attributed to the route recommended by the Bond Task Force and approved by the Board of Aldermen: Directness of route Potential cost effectivness Comprehensive traffic flow Promotion of business district Minimum of people and businesses displaced Approval of Department fo Transportation Two other points need to be addressed. First, the accusation that the bond orders are too general. The Local Government Commission, which must first approve all municipal bond programs in the state, recommend that due to the complexity and variety of the projects the by the layman, but surely an economics major such as Claffey would not exploit the common man with facts that he knows are not in proper context. Thanks to Reagan taxes have been cut. Claffey certainly must have heard of the Laffer Curve. The theory is quite simple. First, if there were no taxes, people would work harder, knowing that they could keep all of their earnings. Next, if there was a 100 percent tax, no one would produce for lack of incentive. Reagan simply feels, as others do, that 50 percent is the point where production incentive turns around. Thus, he increased incentive by ISTHE SOLS" ROTJSIBIUTV OF THE PR6SIREML, what 's right for being raped would be a much worse trauma than undergoing an abor tion. A number of studies have found that women regretted the necessity of having an abortion and found the experience painful, but almost all still thought that they had made the right decision for them selves at that time. The important word is decision. Someone has to make the decision about an abortion and as the Supreme Court decided some years dccccrc'Jsn cf Ihs cc.v.T.ur.::? bond orders should be general in nature. The Commission representatives did consent to a request that the bond project be divided into two issues. This request was made to accomodate the political awareness that the opposition to the Franklin Street Extension would jeopardize the entire bond program. There are many advantages to a generalized bond order. The sale and administration of the bond fund lays with the Board of Aldermen. It is unfair to impugn the integrity of the current Board of Aldermen by suggesting that because the bond order is general, a former Board's action is contagious. The other point is the need for the Franklin Street Extension. One has to only observe the daily traffic jam. Traffic flow now exceeds the imagination of eight years ago. The Triangle area is going to grow whether one approves or not, and certainly one cannot dictate which route another should take to reach a destination. A representative of the Department of Transpor tation has told a visiting Carrboro committee that expansion of the 54 Bypass would not appreciably relieve the traffic flow on Main Street and that in the foreseeable future the Franklin Street Extension would be constructed. Carrbo ro's advantage can best be attained by securing the cooperation of the DOT by becoming a partner in the planning process. Statements that the Franklin Street Extension will become a speedway, that crime will increase, that neighborhoods will be subjected to intol erable noise, and that bikeways will be more dangerous are overstatements and are a disservice to the welfare of the total community. All voting citizens of Carrboro should become informed about the bond issues and how their passage would contribute to the betterment of the community. As each voter is convinced, so should his or her vote be cast. The bond issue will be resolved on Tuesday, Nov. 6, as may well be the future course of Carrboro. John E. Thomas Sr. is a resident of Carrboro raising the 50 percent tax bracket to a higher income level. Also, by giving corporations tax advantages with Investment Tax Credits, the economy has rebounded. By cutting everyone's taxes, Reaganomics spurred a great increase in economic activity that led to the recovery. Now, let us talk about the rec overy on "borrowed" money. I can understand Claffey's concern about the deficit. A deficit is also good for the economy, but I do agree that ours is way too large. I cannot understand, however, how Claffey or Mondale propose to handle the problem. Mondale assumes that the wealthy have all this money lying around that they would just love to spend financing wasteful projects. What Mondale does not seem to realize is that by increasing taxes he will not only decrease incentive, but will hardly crack a leak in the deficit. If one takes a moment to study the theories and actual concrete evidence that Reaganomics pres ents, one can see clearly the purpose of the president's plan. First, we must get the economy going again through several types of incentives. Through permanent tax cuts and credits, investment will spur the economy thus creating new jobs and opportunities. The Mondale ticket offers no such plan. It will merely put the economy back into a slump like it was when Carter left office. The Keynesian theories of tax, tax, tax and spend, spend, spend have all been outdated. Reaganom ics lives and is working superbly. Todd Robinson Everett all women. Bill! ago, the pregnant woman has the Constitutional right to make it. Andi Weiss Bartczak Craige Letters and editorial columns should be typed 60 character line and triple spaced. Deadline for contri butions is 2 p.m. the working day before publication.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 23, 1984, edition 1
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