6The Daily Tar Heel Tuesday, January 15, 1985
J I I I- HllMY. LJimr
J l I. BR Al)WAY. Munuyhi): Editor
MARK STINNI.l:ORl!twMi- Editor
BI N Pl-RKOWSKI.fiM-m-urc Editor
Kii.i.y Simmons. i'ni,rsity Editor
VANCK TRLFnTHI.N. State and National Editor
MlI.ANlE WE1.1.S. City Editor
DAN TILLMAN. Business Editor
Lynn Davis, Nc-us Editor
Frank Kennedy, sports Editor
Jeff Grove. Arts Editor
Sharon Sheridan. Features Editor
JEFF NEUVILLE, Photography Editor
The monster mash
Are today's college students becoming
the increasingly conservative, material
istic, all-I-want-is-a-job monsters that
everybody, especially nostalgic campus
radicals of the '60s, tell us we are?
Well, according to a recent survey, the
answer isn't as easy as Reagan's youth
"mandate" might indicate. The 19th
annual survey of freshman attitudes,
"The American Freshman: National
Norms for Fall 1984," was published
yesterday, and the results are less than
conclusive that today's college youth
have bought this new conservatism
hook, line and sinker.
While college students are indeed
more materialistic than ever (which must
come as no surprise to those trying to
get into comp sci courses these days),
they still tend to lean to the left on issues
such as disarmament, women's rights
and school integration.
The survey, based on responses from
182,370 students at 345 schools, is
interesting both because of the contrast
it invites with college students of the '60s
and early 70s, and that it apparently
contradicts the myth about today's
students' right-wing brainwash.
The survey shows that being well off
financially has risen from ninth place in
1970 to second place among personal
values expressed by freshmen, with the
aspiration to become authorities in their
fields of interest as the most important
value. However, slightly more freshmen
labeled themselves "liberal" or "far left"
than "conservative" or "far right": 22
percent against 20 V percent. (The rest
considered themselves in the middle of
the road.) Still, this year's figures are
a long way from the nearly 2-to-l edge
liberals had over conservatives in the
early 70s.
The political thrust of the survey is
that students' views span both sides of
the ideological spectrum. Students took
a liberal stand on military spending, with
fewer than ever thinking spending
Airing the dirty
Every once in a while, there comes
a time when our worst fears become
reality. It's the kind of day when national
politics are mundane. When we've
printed two CGC edits the day before
and don't want to alienate our readers
by writing more about campus issues.
It's times like this when we throw
everything into the wind and write a
"gripe edit."
Like, why is the Fastbreak closed?
Many a student groping his or her way
to class would never be coherent before
noon if it weren't for Fastbreak java.
And what about running to grab a quick
burger? The phrase takes on a whole
new meaning since you now have to run
up to Burger King if you want some
real fast food. .
Ticket distribution. Does it really have
he Bottom Lane
WeVe got Ann Landers to tell us how
to fix up our marriages, Heloise to tell us
how to get rust stains out of the rug, Dr.
Joyce Brothers to tell us how to screw our
heads on straight, and the Kinsey Report
to tell us how to . . . well, you get the point.
But these familiar columnists may soon
be rivalled by an unlikely source of advice
and inspiration Chrysler chief Lee
Iacocca. No, the "Big I" is not about to start
a column of his own, but he's receiving letters
at the rate of more than 600 a day. Chrysler
spokesman William Stempien says some
fans write with questions and requests, but
most write to thank Iacocca for touching
their lives, especially through his best-selling
book: "Iacocca: An Autobiography."
Much of the recent mail has come from
people with diabetes, a condition that was
suffered by Iacocca's late wife, Mary. A
number of Catholics have sent mass cards
in memory of his departed spouse. A writer
describing himself as "an old man" said
Iacocca's book helped lift him out of the
"crushing sorrow" caused by the death of
his own wife during the holidays. A doctor,
saying that he had lost five patients in two
separate auto accidents recently, com
mended Iacocca for his promotion of auto
safety and urged him to do more.
Some of the letters are more light-hearted.
An Indiana woman sent pictures of her two
prized dogs, writing: "I share your love of
Silky Terriers." Several people sent invita
tions to birthday parties, and one woman
asked for help with a regularity problem
after reading that Iacocca uses her brand
of laxative.
mm
Olar mnl
92nd year of editorial freedom
should be increased; and a record low
number, 22 Vi percent, felt "the activities
of married women are best confined to
the home and family," down from 56.6
percent in 1967. So much for our
predecessor generation being All
Enlightened. Nevertheless, support for abolishing
the death penalty hit an all-time low,
26 percent, and only 23 percent support
legalizing marijuana, down from 53
percent in 1977. Maybe the decline in
support for pot is just a decline in the
interest to smoke pot it would be
interesting to see the support for
legalizing cocaine.
These figures can be interpreted in
many ways, but it's hard not to agree
with the survey's director, UCLA
professor Alexander Astin, who says
that it shows "there is no monolithic
trend toward greater student conserva
tism as many pundits suggested during
the recent presidential election."
Yes, we might be more materialistic
(or at least more ready to admit it) than
the students of the Vietnam era
putting more energy into our careers
than rallies and protests - but claims
that today's students have sold out and
are abandoning all that is good for the
twin "evils" of conservatism and mate
rialism reek of self-righteousness.
Having a so-called conservative
viewpoint on a particular issue should
not be inextricably linked with material
ism and self-interest, as some like to
assert and as this survey appears to
contradict. Nor should a liberal view
point on an issue be seen as automat
ically synonymous with a good social
conscience and selflessness. The truth is
that people are more complicated than
that. Generalizations tend to lead to
over-generalizations, and this certainly
applies to all the fuss over today's new
conservatism and the "downfall" of
students' values.
laundry
to be so early in the morning? If
distribution starts at 8, you have to be
at Carmichael by 6, at the latest.
Slowpokes who mosey in around 7 can
forget it, might as well get to work on
plans to watch the game on TV.
Closer to home, the water fountain
outside the DTH office hasn't worked
in weeks. The crusty paper towel with
the scrawled "Out of Order" sitting on
top is beginning to rot, and yet there's
no indication that the fountain will ever
be fixed. Thirsty DTH writers and
editors must now climb stairs to the
second floor or walk to the front of the
Union, or resign to plunking 50 cents
into the Coke machine. We need our
water fix.
That's all.
The woman wrote: "Do you dissolve it
in fruit juice followed by a glass of water,
as the directions say, just before going to
bed?"
An unusual question, perhaps, but not a
surprising one, considering that it was
addressed to a man who has worked miracles
for Chrysler's bottom line.
Rolling to victory
Normally, the DTH doesn't stoop to what
some might call "bathroom humor," but
with Lee Iacocca and laxatives in the
preceding piece, we must make an exception
An exception because this is a story of
winners. America loves winners. Look at
Mary Lou Retton: two perfect 10s and she's
on the cover of a Wheaties box. Well, Mary
Lou is no longer alone in the winner's circle.
Any doubts about the patriotism of Amer
ican productivity can now be laid to rest.
From Wisconsin Tissue Mills Inc. comes
word that it has taken the Super Bowl of
bathroom tissue brawls: the world record
for toilet-paper-production speed, at 6,300
feet a minute over a 24-hour period. The
dethroned champions? A European opera
tion out of West Germany.
His face aflush with victory, Wisconsin
Tissue President George Mueller had plenty
to say about his crew's wipeout win. "I felt
like the captain of a winning Olympic team.
It's a source of pride to us as citizens of
the U.S."
Victory is sweet, even in the world-class
tissue competition. But Mueller better stay
on his toes: the West Germans aren't likely
to take this sitting down.
And that's the bottom line.
f you can't pass the SALT,
By GREGG BOGOSIAN
Last week in Geneva, Switzerland, Secretary
pf State George Schultz and Soviet Foreign
Minister Andrei Gromyko met to lay the
groundwork for the resumption of talks aimed
at controlling the nuclear arms race. This meeting
broke a 14-month silence on the subject between
the two superpowers. The American people can
take some of the credit for the reopening of the
talks, as public pressure prompted the Reagan
Administration to negotiate with the Soviets.
Another topic related to nuclear arms control
and amenable to public pressure will arise later
this year. This concerns the question of whether
the U.S. should continue to adhere to the
provisions of the unratified SALT II Treaty, due
to expire on Dec. 3 1 . A small group of senators
and administration officials is putting pressure
on President Reagan to let SALT II expire. Other
officials are urging Reagan to extend the treaty
limits for another five years.
Opposition to SALT II began in 1976 with
the formation of the Committee on the Present
Danger (CPD), a group opposed to any arms
control agreements with the Soviets. Despite
efforts by the CPD to derail SALT II negoti
ations, the new treaty was completed and went
to the Senate for ratification in 1978. Meanwhile,
CIA analyst David Sullivan had prepared a
classified report on alleged Soviet violations of
previous arms control treaties. Sullivan gave a
copy of his report to Richard Perle, then an aide
to SALT II opponent Sen. Henry Jackson. Perle
leaked the report to the press, and the CPD used
it to attack SALT II. This contributed to the
Senate's refusal to ratify SALT II. Sullivan was
fired from the CIA for his actions.
Shortly following his inauguration in 1981,
Reagan appointed Sullivan to a post within the
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
(ACDA), and Perle to Assistant Secretary of
Defense. Two months later, Sullivan was fired
from the ACDA by his supervisor, Robert Gray,
who cited disruptive behavior as the reason for
the dismissal. Sullivan was then hired as an
advisor to Sens. James McClure and Jesse
Helms, both opponents of SALT II. When Gray
was nominated to become deputy director of the
ACDA, his nomination was blocked by Helms
and McClure.
SALT II opponents also include Secretary of
Defense Caspar Weinberger and presidential
advisor Edwin Meese, who has said nuclear arms
control "will be lucky if we let it get away with
benign neglect." Supporters of the extension of
SALT II include Secretary of State George
Schultz and others within the State Department,
and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS were told
that if they didn't support Weinberger, Meese,
and the ACDA in their struggles against the State
Department, Perle would put aircraft which the
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Abortion: a matter of personal choice, not law
To the editor:
Accepting the vocal, opinionated
society we live in, I have read
without much anger the numerous
editorials condemning abortion. I
respect those individuals who feel
it to be unfair and unnecessary.
These people have reached a deci
sion which does not violate the
values of their personal moral
framework. Nevertheless, it is the
religious and philosophical know-it-alls
who employ sensational,
emotional and often cruel persua
sive tactics in hopes of outlawing
abortion that have motivated my
writing this letter. I feel an obliga
tion to defend a woman's right to
make a decision a personal,
difficult decision. The numerous
aspects of the procedure, ranging
from the baby's rights to responsi
bility to God, that anti-abortionists
dwell on deserve the mother's
private consideration, not the con
demnation of legality or politics.
Although I'm not aware of his
rank in the University's academic
army, I must criticize Board's
propaganda-style article ("Sad
Date," Jan. 10). Suggesting that
women who terminate their preg
nancies are simply trying to avoid
cost and inconvenience reflects an
insensitivity and a disturbing men
tality that has no place in college
leadership. He labels a woman
Now, a message for
To the editor:
This letter is directed specifically
to the five people I confronted for
breaking into the Duke ticket line
in front of Fetzer Gym, as well as
all others who broke into the line
in the ear'y hours Sunday. The line
starts in the back. If the back
happens to be the Bell Tower,
tough. You should have gotten up
earlier.
I couldn't believe the number of
people walking into the line looking
for someone they knew so they
could break in. If survival of the
fittest is the name of the game,
consider this: There are 160 first
year MBA students. If we all sat
just one hour we could stake out
a position for about a week. Then
at 8 a.m. on ticket distribution day,
all 160 will just slip in front all rested
and warm. Too bad for the 160
freezing, tired suckers at the end of
the line who don't get tickets. Is that
how we want the ticket distribution
system to work? I don't think so.
I can hear the guilty now: "Just
one or two people is no big deal."
It is a big deal. Let me describe it
in terms you might understand
better. How about, collaborating to
take unfair advantage of other
Letters and editorial
columns should be typed
on a 60-character line and
should be triple-spaced.
Contributions may be
placed
located
in the
JCS wish to retain on the negotiating table. Perle
has said that the JCS are "push-overs and patsies
for whoever leans on them the last, the longest
and the hardest." The JCS responded by stating
that they are "acutely aware that the Soviets
could add warheads to their missile force far more
rapidly and menacingly than could the U.S. if
SALT II limits were to go by the board" and
that they "want a continuance of the adherence
regime rather than deal with breakout on the
Soviet side." To date, the JCS and the State
Department have prevailed upon Reagan to
continue to adhere to SALT II.
The most recent attempt to change Reagan's
mind was led by Sens. Helms, McClure, Steven
Symms and John East. They got the Senate to
obtain the release in September 1984 of a report,
written by the General Advisory Committee
(GAC) of the ACDA, that is merely a rehash
of the old Sullivan report of alleged Soviet treaty
violations. The GAC is composed of 12 members
appointed by Reagan, seven of whom are
members of the CPD and all 12 of whom oppose
SALT II. Reagan himself thought the report was
biased, and released it with a covering letter in
which he stated: "Neither the methodology of
analysis nor the conclusions reached in this report
have been formally reviewed or approved by any
agencies of the U.S. government." Arms control
experts who have reviewed the GAC report have
concluded that all but three of the charges in
it are erroneous or relate to earlier matters (such
as the 1962 Cuban missile crisis) which have since
been resolved. Of the other three charges, the
first relates to a minor clause of the 1963 Limited
Test Ban Treaty which the U.S. has also violated
and which both sides consider insignificant and
inadvertant; the second concerns a violation of
SALT II which the Soviets. themselves discovered
and corrected; and the third concerns unsubstan
tiated violations of a minor and ambiguous clause
of SALT II. Arms control experts feel that the
GAC report is a politically motivated attempt
to discredit SALT II, and that the charges it
levies should in no way be construed as grounds
for disregarding the treaty.
The major clauses of SALT II have been
adhered to by both sides. Under the SALT II
limits, both the U.S. and the USSR can have
a maximum of 2,400 nuclear weapons launchers
(missiles and bombers). Furthermore, there are
limits on the number of warheads per launcher
that allow the U.S.' a maximum of about 14,000
warheads and the USSR a maximum of about
12,000 warheads. Once these limits are reached,
new launchers and warheads can be added to
the arsenals only by making room by dismantling
old devices. The Soviets have adhered to these
limits, dismantling over 200 SS-7 and SS-8
intercontinental ballistic missiles, 160 SS-N-6
submarine launched missiles, 308 SS-9 ICBMs,
and 510 SS-11 ICBMs. The U.S. is currently
dismantling its Titan ICBMs at the rate of one
per month, until all 52 are gone, to make room
selfish and "barbaric" who decides
to prevent an unwanted child from
entering the world. I understand
and support the women who realize
their inability to properly care for
a child, and their decision to save
it from an unhappy life.
Board sees a "moral deficiency"
and a "lack of love" in those who
obtain abortions: the poor who
cannot adequately clothe or feed a
child and the young who are not
emotionally or mentally prepared to
provide proper care for a baby.
Indeed, women outside these cate
gories obtain abortions, also, each
with a personal recognition that she
cannot give a child the complex but
necessary responsibilites of mother-
line-breaking slimeballs
students in a University-sponsored
activity. Sound familiar? Can you
say "Honor Code violation"? If 1
knew the names of the people who
broke in front of me they would be
fighting to keep their athletic
privileges.
If I might indulge myself now, a
little commentary. Breaking in line
has no place at Carolina. The people
who do it are low-life pond scum.
They have no integrity. They are
cheats and liars. They don't deserve
to go to school here.
Carter Houchins
Chapel Hill
Letters?!
in the DTH box
outside our office
Carolina Union.
Letters must be received
before 2 p.m. for the next
day's publication.
extend it
for the new MX ICBM.
Reagan's best course would be to continue to
adhere to the SALT II limits while nuclear arms
reduction talks are underway. The public can
help bring about such a policy by contacting their
representatives in the House and Senate and
urging them to support the pro-arms-control
wing of Reagan's advisors. Unfortunately for
North Carolinians, there is not much point in
contacting Helms or East for this purpose.
However, I have talked to Rep. Bill Cobey, and
he indicated his support for nuclear arms control.
Concerned citizens should contact Cobey and
the other members of the N.C. House delegation
and urge them to support Schultz and his allies
in their efforts to get Reagan to extend the SALT
II limits.
Gregg Bogosian, a research fellow in the
department of microbiology, is the UNC
correspondent for the Federation of American
Scientists, an arms control organization.
hood. These are the selfish baby
killers that must be stopped?
The opinions of some must not
become the rules for all. The issue
is too personal to serve as such a
political theme. Few people are
actually pro-abortion; it's an unfor
tunate and traumatic act we can
hopefully lessen, if not eliminate,
through more efficient sexual edu
cation. But all of us should be pro
choice, and respect the freedoms of
our country which allows us to
make our own decisions concerning
such personal matters.
Stephen Young
Ehringhaus
Think again
To the editor:
If Elizabeth Larsehan ("Ill
Conceived," Jan. 14) is any indica
tion, what letter writers need is not
"more lengthy consideration," but
more intelligent, honest and
informed consideration of the
abortion issue. Five examples: she
asks if it is fair to bring into the
world children "raised in poverty
unwanted, unloved, neglected."
According to Monday's Newsweek,
70 percent of abortions are among
white, middle-class women. More
significantly, she is arguing that
termination of life is preferable to
poverty and neglect.
Secondly, she asks, "How can one
kill that which is not yet alive?" I've
never met a doctor who thought a
fetus was anything but alive. Maybe
she means not yet self-sustaining?
The answer is easy: Poison him or
her with a salt solution or dis
member limb by limb with suction
or scalpel.
Third: She says children have
never had a choice regarding their
own birth. The Constitution doesn't
guarantee that right but it does
guarantee the right to life, which is
our slogan. Pro-choice is theirs.
Fourth: Doctors are using their
skills to the benefit of society. If
doctors remembered their respon
sibility to be guardians of life and
not social engineers, as Hippocrates
said in an oath MD's used to honor,
they would be repulsed at the
destruction of innocent life. Instead,
they earn close to $1 billion a year.
Finally, she scoffs at the thought
that we should want and love every
child. For everyone like her who
cannot comprehend such an ideal,
there are two couples who wait an
average of two years to love and
cherish that young life which she
would extinguish. Could she have
been serious when she referred to
pro-lifers as "selfish"?
Terryl L. Givens
Chapel Hill