8The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday. January 9. 1985
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joi I BROADWAY. MuNuaiHt: IJm.r
Mark Stinni i oiu. A,,iun vMt..r
Hi n Pi kkiwski, ....;.,, i;Jur
Ki i.i.y Simmons, i in rn r.d,tr
Vanci: Tri:m:thi:n. sun- w Natv,ai r.Jn,,r
Ml LANIi: WH1.LS. City liditur
Dan Tii.i.man. i:Jitr
Lynn Davis, Ncu vmu,t
Frank Kennedy, sports rjitor
Jeff Grove, Am Editor
Sharon Sheridan. Features Editor
JEFF NEUVILLE, Photography Editor
Slowing the countdown?
The hoopla surrounding renewed
arms Control talks in Geneva this week
far exceeded chances for achieving a
substantive weapons agreement with the
Soviets anytime soon. Despite the
geniality that seemed to surround two
days of talks between Secretary of State
Schultz and Soviet Foreign Minister
Gromyko, the arms negotiations if
they can be sustained may stretch on
for years after the throng of reporters
currently gathered in Geneva has
dwindled to a handful.
The distance between the two nations
is made obvious by the fact that the talks
between Schultz and Gromyko were not
really about controlling arms at all. Both
sides were merely hoping to reach
agreement on a format under which
future arms negotiations can take place.
They needed talks to decide what to talk
about.
For all the cordiality in evidence in
Geneva, superpower relations are
marked by wariness and suspicion. Just
before the opening of the talks, Soviet
leader Konstantin Chernenko warned
the United States against using the
meetings as a cover for a heightened
arms buildup. Secretary Schultz vowed
that the United States would walk away
from a "lousy deal." Other Reagan
administration officials openly questi
oned whether the Soviet Union would
live up to a new arms deal and charged
that the Russians are violating agree
ments already in place.
Still, the renewal of serious arms talks
gives a glimmer of hope to a world living
under the constant threat of nuclear
extinction. The willingness of the Soviets
to return to the table after a 13-month
absence provides some vindication for
the hard-line stance taken by the Reagan
Mission imp ossible attained
Just before Christmas Break, 20 or
so members of the Student Activities
Center's hallowed Steering Committee
met to decide who sits where. That's
important business for UNC's new Blue
Heaven, considering that the 22,000
seats must be shared by students, faculty
and, of course, those who chipped in
pride along with more than $33
million to build the place.
TheyVe had these meetings before.
About this time three years ago, UNC
students opposing the seating arrange
ment of the day planned to publicize
their efforts in a three-minute "silent
time" at the tip-off in Carolina's last
home game of the season. Students then,
as now, complained that on-court
seating paled proportionally in compar
ison with what they had in Carmichael
Auditorium. In addition, there was an
unclear designation between student,
faculty and staff seating areas. Oh, and
there was the absence of student input
into early seating arrangements.
None of this endeared the Rams Club
to the student body. No, ever since the
The Daily
Assistant News Editor: Steve Ferguson
Editorial Writers: Dick Anderson and Karen Youngblood
Assistant Managing Editors: Amy Styers and Elizabeth Huth
News: Mike Allen, Lisa Brantley, Richard Boyce, Tim Brown, Matt Campbell, Joan Clifford,
Tom Conlon, Katy Fridl, Mike Gunzenhauser, Beth Houk, Catherine Kury, Guy Lucas, Sallie
Krawcheck, Georgia Ann Martin, Dora McAlpin, Andy Miller, Morris, Brian Mullaney, Kathy
Nanney, Janet Olson, Beth Ownley, Ruthie Pipkin, Mark Powell, Robbin Robertson, Karen
Rogers, David Schmidt, Rachel Stiffler, Kevin Sullivan, Jim Suroweicki, Lisa Swicegood, Ray
Tingle, Andy Trincia, Jennifer Trotter, Laura Van Sant, Kevin Washington, Leigh Williams,
Lorry Williams, Laurie Willis and Jim Zook.
Sports: Scott Fowler and Lee Roberts, assistant sports editors. Tim Brown, Mike DeSisti,
Paul Ensslin, David McCullough, Mike Persinger, Kurt Rosenberg, Mike Schoor, Mike Waters
and Bob Young.
Features: Marymelda Hall, assistant features editor. Mike Altieri. Nancy Atkinson, Tom
Camacho, Vicki Daughtry, Loretta Grantham, Bryan Hassel, Jennifer Keller, Anjetta McQueen,
Mary Mulvihill, Darian Marbry, Tom Rose, Liz Saylor and Sonya Terrell.
Arts: Ed Brackett, Frank Bruni, Steve Carr, Elizabeth Ellen, Ivy Hilliard, Eddie Huffman,
Steve Murray, and Virginia Smith.
Photography: Larry Childress, Nancy London, Jamie Moncrief, Stretch, and Lori Thomas.
Copy Editors: Angela Gunn and Carolyn Wilson.
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Paula Brewer, advertising director:
Tammy Martin, student business manager: Angela Booze, accounts receivable clerk: Terry Lee,
student advertising manager: Alicia Susan D'Anna, Greg Goosmann, Patricia Gorry, Melanie
Parlier, Stacey Ramirez, Doug Robinson, Amy Schutz and Scott Whitaker, ad representatives:
Patti Pittman, classified advertising manager, Laura Bowen, assistant: Jim Greenhill, office
manager: and Cathy Davis, secretary.
Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager.
Production: Brenda Moore and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway, assistant. ' ,
Printing: Hinton Press, Inc. of Mebane
cliff
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92 nd year of editorial freedom
administration. Reagan apparently has
sucessfully called the Russians' bluff on
arms talks. The Soviets stormed away
from talks in late 1983 to protest the
U.S. deployment of new medium-range
missiles in Europe, but Reagan was
unshaken in his resolve to counter the
300 Soviet medium-range missiles
already in place there. Reagan seems to
have made good on his promise to make
the Russians return to the table on
American terms.
But now that both parties have
returned to that table, Reagan seems
unable to take the kind of bold action
that could earn him his much-desired
goal of becoming known as a "peace
president." He flatly refuses to use his
proposed space-based missile defense
system as a bargaining chip to get the
Soviets to agree to cuts in strategic
nuclear forces. Some experts believe
some trade-off involving the proposed
"star wars" system offers the best hope
for an agreement within the next four
years. It would cause the nation little
harm to at least talk about not producing
a system that could turn out to be a
trillion-dollar pipe dream. But Reagan
continues to pursue this far-fetched
technology, claiming that it will lead to
the elimination of nuclear weapons, just
as past leaders have claimed each war
would be the last.
Never having to face another election,
Reagan should be able to free himself
of ideological constraints to take a
visionary stroke toward global security.
Keeping weapons from space would be
just that kind of move. Reagan's
boldness in the current arms talks may
determine whether he will be rememe
bered as a world statesman or just
another politician.
Educational Foundation was turned
loose to raise money for the coliseum
a few years back, Rams Clubbers have
had an increasingly tough go of it trying
to win over public sentiment. But a
respite is in order. The SAC Steering
Committee, well populated by Clubbers,
came off as the epitome of compromise
last month when it moved to give over
to students choice half-court seats. News
of their decree appears on today's front
page.
We're still concerned that Rams
Clubbers are perhaps hogging too much
of the S AC's lower level, relegating most
students to the nosebleed seats, and that
student enthusiasm in the spacious arena
might therefore be diminished. But,
heck, the way they've worked it a full
third of us can fit into the coliseum along
with everyone else. We can't help but
make noise.
No, we certainly don't need more seats
we need the quality. . That's what,
surprisingly enough, the Rams Clubbers
have given us.
Tar Heel
The King is gorier but the PR lives on
By DICK A NDERSON
It's over. Let us breathe a collective sigh of
relief. .
No, I'm not talking about 1984. Or the
holidays. And certainly not the long-passe
elections. I'm talking about the passing of Jan.
8 . .'."Elvis Presley's 50th birthday.
Elvis. The King. The man whose suede image
graces many a would-be Graceland across rural
America.
Don't get me wrong, now. I bear no personal
grudge against the man. "Before he discovered
carbohydrates," as Saturday Night Live once so
astutely put it, Presley made his share of
memorable records and not-so-memorable
motion pictures.
But the man himself would, well, die if he
saw what had transpired since his unexpected
death on Aug. 16, 1977 . . . and what weVe been
deluged with on what would have been his golden
anniversary.
Elvis car tags. Elvis bubble gum cards. Elvis
souvenir edition newspapers. Elvis impersona
tors. My personal favorite, the "Elvis Coat
Show." Etc., etc., ad nauseum.
IVe had it up to my Elvows with Elvis.
Certainly it wasn't his fault for being born when
he was, but someone must be to blame for the
bonanza of birthday effluvium.
Why not the media? Yes, us ... er, them. (This
is the first you've read of Presley in the DTH.)
Certainly Elvis was an American folk hero, a
rock 'n' roll original, but we know that already!
We do have something to thank the commer
cial networks for: no Elvis extravaganzas. No,
you have to pay the price to enjoy such cable
gems as "Elvis Presley's Graceland," in which
ex-wife Priscilla, Dallas' Jenna Wade, takes
viewers on a see-all, tell-all tour of her one-time
hubby's Memphis mecca, and shows us such
marvels as the last piano he played, his many
gold records and his favorite refrigerator. This
special, as well as an HBO concert, boasts never-before-seen
footage. Makes you wonder, doesn't
it where do they keep getting this stuff?
Probably in canisters marked "never before
seen."
LETTERS TO THE
For the sake of harmony
To the editor:
Well, the issue has come up again
and it must not be avoided any
longer. This, of course, is the "racial
gap" between North and South
Campuses.
Let's take an inside look at South
Campus. It is obvious that most
black students live there. Why? I
talked to some students on South
Campus, most of whom were black,
and they told me that they chose
to live on South Campus because
they felt like they belonged there.
They chose to live on South Campus
because of the large number of black
students who have lived there in the
past.
Now let's take an inside view of
North Campus. The lack of black
students on North Campus gives
our school a very negative image.
I believe that having more blacks
To fish or not
To the editor:
Harold Geneen has insulted the
fish and remarked harshly of the
retired. I feel we should protect the
honor of both the fish and the ever
increasing population of retirees in
the Carolinas.
Considering retirement, Geneen
remarked: "I'd hate to spend the rest
of my life trying to outwit an 18
inch fish." So he races on now in
a second career.
What a demeaning insult to the
fish and Izaak Walton.
Harold Geneen may have been
the dynamic ruler of the Interna
tional Telephone and Telegraph
.Corporation; however, all mere
mortals, including the exalted
Harold, are but equal before the
fish. Even the briefest encounter
with the simplest member of the
finny tribe tends to reduce a man's
ego and makes a mockery of greed
and profit.
Big-bucks libel:
By MATT CAMPBELL
In the past couple of months there has been
a great deal in the news about libel. With two
of the biggest and most widely covered libel cases
that the 'SOs have seen the Gen. Westmoreland
vs. CBS and Ariel Sharon vs. Time magazine
cases it is a good time to talk about the current
libel laws and the consequent effects on the press.
Because of the tremendous cost of litigation in
a libel case and the increasingly conservative
outlook of the Supreme Court towards libel,
many publications and other forms of the media
are practicing self-censorship. That is, editors are
not allowing controversial information to be
published or aired because of the fear that
someone might sue for libel, regardless of
whether they would have a good case.
Libel is basically any published or broadcasted
defamation of a person's character. In regard
to public officials, it also means that this
defamation has been done in reckless disregard
of the truth. Over the past decade the libel laws,
as interpreted by the Supreme Court, have
become more strict. In fact, the Burger Court
has never ruled in favor of the press. Juries have
been awarding damages to 90 percent of all libel
plaintiffs, and the number of suits brought
against the press has increased dramatically as
a result of the possibility of winning large sums
of money.
Regardless of whether the media wins or loses
a particular suit, it still loses. Litigation of libel
Elvis or more Elvis: some choice
But television's not the only guilty party. Elvis's
longtime label, RCA Records, continues to churn
out King compilations, the latest of which is a
Valentine's album due later this month. Come
on guys, are we talking aesthetics here ... or
merely a few extra bucks?
Elvis Presley's death triggered a teletype
tremor. Many a tree has given its life in the
interests of Elvismania. The National Enquirer
created a stir with it splashed ill-gotten pix of
the King lying in state across its front page. Albert
Goldman's Elvis was a druggie and a pervert
and wasn't received with the warmest of
on North Campus would have a
very tangible effect on students, and
would be a step towards racial
harmony at UNC.
Did I hear someone say that if
blacks choose to live on South
Campus, then that is where they
ought to be? I believe that the goal
to achieve racial harmony overrides
a student's ability to choose where
he or she wants to live.
The Housing Department thinks
that if a student is unable to choose
where he or she wants to live on
campus, then he or she would
choose to live off campus, and the
dorms would be vacant. I find that
hard to believe. There is a large
number of off-campus students who
would like to live on campus.
The president of the Black Stu
dent Movement, Sherrod Banks,
very much opposes the integration
of blacks on North Campus. He told
me that the integration of blacks on
North Campus would destroy the
"black culture" on South Campus.
But he was unable to define "black
culture." If integration did occur,
each culture could make a strong,
positive contribution to each other.
I respect the Black Student Move
ment's goal to preserve the black
culture on South Campus. Yet
integration, typically, does not
destroy, but rather, improves cul
ture. I know. I am black and I live
on North Campus.
I believe the present condition of
North and South Campuses is a
reflection of the UNC administra
tion. The administration should not
just say they hope for racial har
mony on this campus, but they
should do something about it.
The administration should know
to fish
Fishing inspires meekness, inspi
ration, and restfulness to the soul
qualities, one might presume,
foreign to the nature of the Cor
porate Cobras. Little wonder he is
contemptuous of the fish.
There is more than a hint, one
fears, that Geneen and those of his
corporate breed have come to
regard business, money-making and
material improvements as taking on
the aspects of moral virtues.
Is there no more to his life than
that?
As for Geneen's concern over
"watching the physical and mental
skills of his (retired) peers atrophy
from too much leisure," such is
purely a matter of how that leisure
is spent. As for fishing, however,
somewhere in an Assyrian tablet of
2000 B.C. it states, "The Gods do
not subtract from the allotted span
of man's lives the hours spent
fishing."
v 1
Long after Geneen has gone
wherever it is that he will go without
his money bags Izaak Walton,
the delightful Englishman of a
piscatorial fame far greater than any
glory Geneen might ever aspire to,
will still be remembered for his
intimidating the media?
suits is very expensive, and if the plaintiff wins,
the damage can be devastating. The most
threatened media are smaller hometown publi
cations and broadcasting companies. These
smaller businesses can often be put out of
business by involvement in one libel suit, even
if they win.
The Supreme Court did something else that
may have greatly increased the number of cases
brought to trial. In the 1979 case of Hutchinson
vs. Proxmire, the Court's majority opinion
questioned the idea of summary judgment.
Summary judgment is the legal principle that
allowed the press to go to a judge and ask for
a libel suit, which is frivolous or harassing on
the face, to be dismissed. It is estimated up to
75 percent of all libel suits are dismissed this
way before trial. Many authorities believe the
Court's opinion in that case may have prompted
an increase in the number of cases brought to
court.
These aspects of libel suits should cause public
concern because they are forcing the press to
practice self-censorship. This is not a bad idea
when the purpose is to kill stories over which
a plaintiff would have a reasonable chance of
winning a libel suit. But editors are constantly
asking the question "will he sue?" according to
Martin Garbus, an attorney who frequently
represents libel litigants. This is a threat to our
right to the free flow of information the media
is often avoiding tough investigative reporting
and controversial information. Many papers
have a full-time legal staff which plays an
prevalent role in the editorial policy of these
adulation. True Elvites overlook his later
shortcomings and 44-inch waistline; when they
think of Presley, they see a young rockabilly
whose pelvic gyrations were too taboo for Ed
Sullivan's television audience.
But weVe heard all this before. And again and
again and again. The Elvis craze, like a well
worn record, should be put to rest . . . and only
brought out for an occasional play.
Dick Andersont a junior journalism major
from Rutherfordton and an editorial writer for
The Daily Tar Heel, turns 21 in May. He's
awaiting the media blitz.
EDITOR
integrate
the black and white ratio of South
Campus is 70 percent white and 30
percent black. Big surprise, South
Campus is integrated! Why not
North Campus?
The integration of blacks on
North Campus might deprive them
of their political unity on South
Campus, so I propose that the
administration develop a gradual
program of integration that would
not entirely deprive blacks of their
political power.
I know there will be several
negative responses to this letter;
however, I hope the students and
the administration will realize that
racism can, should, and will be
overcome at this university.
Wade Lewis
Chapel Hill
pleasant memories of happy encoun
ters with the finny tribe.
And just what will Geneen be
remembered for?
Edwin S. James
UNC Class of '47
Rock Hill, S.C.
papers. Attorneys read over articles and columns
and delete the ones that might attract litigation.
And this is done in regard to whether an
individual would sue, not if he could win the
case.
When considering the issue of libel, it is
important to remember there are two sides of
the issue. The damage done to individuals who
really have been libeled against cannot and
should not go unnoticed legitimate claims
should receive some sort of retribution. But, at
the same time, plaintiffs should not receive
millions for damage to their reputations, unless
they can somehow prove that that loss hurt them
financially. Damages should be awarded prim
arily on the basis of financial loss and then to
a lesser extent for reputational loss.
If we want to keep our First Amendment
rights, then steps must be taken to protect them.
President Reagan will, in all likelihood, get
several chances to appoint Supreme Court
justices during his next term there is little
doubt that they will be fairly conservative. And
conservatives often view the press as a threat.
One thing is clear if it is true that a well
informed populace is necessary for the mainte
nance of a responsible democracy, then steps
must be taken to ensure press freedom in the
future. Everytime a libel suit is brought against
the press, self-censorship gains more prevalence
in editorial policy.
Matt Campbell, a sophomore journalism and
economics major from Greensboro, is a staff
writer for The Daily Tar Heel.
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