8The Daily Tar HeelFriday. September 6. 1985
93rd war of editorial freedom
Arni: Rk:ki-:kt
Editor
Stuart Tonkinson
Bin Fi.RKtwsKi
Dick Anderson
Janitt Olson
AmyStyers
Andy Trincia
At.iMfM HJilor
AsiiH uU' Editor
Axsotiutc Editor
Vuin'tsity Editor
Nvus Editor
State and National Editor
A rush of indignation
The women in last week's DTH
cartoon on sorority rush projected one
completely justified stereotype, so far
ignored in the many letters of protest.
All of the women were white.
The continued racial discrimination in
sororities is an outrage, leaving us
particularly aghast when sisters publicly
claim that "what they see is me, just for
the person I am" and oppose "the
prejudices of narrow-minded
individuals."
There are no justifiable reasons for
segregation. And most fraternities are
just as guilty.
There probably are many excuses. It's
not that the sisters and brothers them
selves are prejudiced. It just so happened
that blacks who rushed didn't have the
right personality - you know, didn't fit
in. Or the generous alumni would refuse
to contribute if blacks were admitted.
Or it's just that parents wouldn't pay
Aiming for the
Twenty-eight years ago this week,
seven black students were denied
entrance to Little Rock Central High
School. Those students were looking for
greater educational opportunities
offered at Central. But on the opening
day of classes, instead of teachers
looking for "what I did on my summer
vacation" essays, the students were met
by the Arkansas National Guard. The
confrontation that ensued between Little
Rock's black and white communities
seemed to typify to Yankee outsiders all
that was Southern education ignorant
people who will always be last in the
class. s
That stereotype has prevailed for the
last three decades or so, but Southern
governors are implementing programs
to alleviate the stigma once and for all.
The projected explosion of business in
the Sun Belt states will need a skilled
labor force to support it. Despite cries
of opposition from teacher's unions
outraged by many such reform move
ments, Southern governors have
declared war on inferior education and
are raising the standards expected of not
only students, but teachers. And the
governors are winning.
Novel ideas in public education, such
as merit-pay plans and competency
testing for all teachers, are getting their
trial runs in the South despite teacher
protests. Plans for increasing the number
of credits required for high school
graduation and generous across-the-board
raises are being instituted.
The "crisis at Central High" now a
legend in his state, Arkansas Gov. Bill
Clinton announced this summer the
results of the first teacher competency
testing program in the country: 90
percent of the teachers passed. -
The Daily
Editorial Writers: Keith Bradsher and Jim Zook
Assistant Managing Editor: Anjetta McQueen and Cathy Cowan
News: Betsy Arledge, Brian Adler, Crystal Baity, Lisa Brantley, Darlene Campbell, Randy
Farmer, Charles Fernandez, Jill Gerber, Darla Godwin, Todd Gossett, Loretta Grantham, Mike
Gunzcnhauser, Robert Keefe, Scott Larsen, Lana Lewin, Guy Lucas, Jeanie Mamo, Dora
McAlpin, Anjetta McQueen, Yvette Denise Moultrie, Linda Montanari, Kathy Nanney, Beth
Ownley, Rachel Orr, Grant Parsons, Gordon Rankin, Rachel Stiffler, Rachel Stroud, Joy
Thompson, Laura Van Sant, Devi Sen, Rhesa Versola, Kim Weaver, Lorry Williams, Laurie
Willis, Katherinc Wood and Karen Youngblood.
Sports: Scott Fowler and Tim Crothers, assistant sports editors. Rick Beasley, Mike Berardino,
Scott Canterberry, Kimball Crossley, Paris Goodnight, Tom Morris, James Suroweicki, Buffie
Velliquette, Mike Waters and Bob Young.
Features: Marymelda Hall, assistant features editor. Mike Altieri, Nancy Atkinson, Louis
Corrigan, Vicki Daughtry, Kara V. Donaldson, Heather Frey, Keith Griffler, Wayne Grimsley,
Jane Mintz, Mary Mulvihill, Laurie Rodgers, Liz Saylor, Denise Smitherman and Martha
Wallace. ;
Arts: Elizabeth Ellen, assistant arts editor. Mark Davis, Jim Giles, Aniket Majumdar, Alexandra
Mann, Alan Mason, Sally Pont, Deanna Ruddock and Garret Weyr.
Photography: Elizabeth Lamm, Charles Ledford and Jonathan Serenius.
Copy Editors: Roy Greene, Gina Little, Cindy Parker, Kelli Slaughter, Jami White and Vince
Vargas.'
Artists: Adam Cohen, Bill Cokas and David Sumner.
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Paula Brewer, advertising director;
Angela Booze, student business manager; Doug Robinson, student advertising manager; Alicia
Brady, Keith Childers, Alicia Susan D'Anna, Stacey Ferguson, Kellie McElhaney, Melanie
Parlier, Stacey Ramirez and Scott Whitaker, advertising representatives; Milli Neal, classified
advertising manager, Rob Patton, classified assistant, and Cathy Davis, secretary.
Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager.
Production: Brenda Moore and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway, assistant.
Printing: Hinton Press Inc. of Mebane
and David So imidt
Editor
LtKiH Williams
Mark Powell
Li:l: Roberts
Frank Brum
Sharon Sheridan
City Editor
Business Editor
Sports Editor
Arts Editor
Features Editor
Larry Childress Photo Editor
the house bill if blacks were admitted.
Such garbage is a thinly veiled
rationalization for those who prefer the
system as it is. And if sisters and brothers
sincerely want to welcome blacks into
sororities and fraternities yet resort to
such excuses, they're only admitting how
easy it is for someone else to hold their
consciences hostage.
This is by no means a blanket
condemnation of everyone in the system,
because we realize that there must be
some who are struggling to change the
status quo. If it bothers you, as a member
you're obligated to keep trying.
Last year's discussions and mixers
between black and white fraternities and
sororities were a start. Let's hope they
continue. But the need for desegregation
still exists. Until it reaches their house,
sorority women and fraternity men have
no grounds to complain about all of the
stereotypes.
dean's list
Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar and
graduate of Yale Law School, called it
a great day for the state. But the state
media noted that one of every 10
teachers did not pass all three sections
of the exam, which covered the three
R's. Undaunted, Clinton has defended
his entire educational reform package,
which included an approved 1-cent sales
tax, on "Face the Nation," "Donahue"
and a host of other national talk shows.
But the plan formulated by South
Carolina Gov. Richard Riley has been
recognized as being the toughest and
most comprehensive of them all. It
involves a 16 percent teacher pay hike,
merit-pay program, the largest basic
skills program in the country, minimum
standards for all school districts with
the possible withdrawal of state funds
if they fall short. The difference in South
Carolina is that the state teacher's union
is involved in the implementation, taking
an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
approach.
After being the butt of numerous jokes
about Bobby Joe, the illiterate farm
hand from Podunk, the South is on the
rise. The initiative of such leaders as
Clinton and Riley, and in our own state
of former Gov. Jim Hunt, is going to
rebuild a crumbling educational system
into the envy of the rest of the country.
Oh, by the way, have you heard about
the current teachers' strikes, giving more
than 150,000 Northern students an
extension to their summer vacation?
Teachers are on strike in Philadelphia;
Pawtucket and Newport, R.I.; Toronto,
Ohio; four school districts in Michigan;
several districts in Pennsylvania; and one
in Illinois. A strike of teachers in
Chicago was resolved Wednesday.
Looks like the South might get the
last laugh.
Tar Heel
READER FORUM
Sororities just another target for
To the editors:
Remember the wonderful closing
scene from Revenge of the Nerds
where everyone decided to stand up
and be counted? Well, IVe decided
to do some standing up of my own.
My name is Jane, and I'm (gasp!)
a sorority woman. I have one
problem, though nobody seems
to know it except for me and "my
kind," namely, my sisters. In fact,
when people finally find out (I don't
talk about my sorority 24 hours' a
day) they always ask me again, just
to be sure. And you know what else
is strange? Most sorority women
have the same problem.
For some strange reason could
it perhaps be a DTH cartoon (Sept.
3) by the illustrious Adam Cohen?
Existentialist
quote worthy
of front page
To the editors:
Allow me to show my support
for your choice of Wednesday's
quote, "God is dead," from
Nietzsche. Scott Carlson, whose
letter (" 'DTH' scrapes the bottom
of the quote barrel," Sept. 5)
objected to it, by no means repres
ents the only thoughtful opinion on
Nietzsche or the importance of the
quotation.
As Carlson points out, some use
was made of Nietzsche's ideas in the
( people seem to have the precon
ceived notion that all sorority
women are spoiled little snots who
have nothing better to , do than
emblazon Greek letters on our
foreheads and sit upon our patt
erned China plates with daddy's
checkbook in hand, waiting for
rushees to kiss our feet. My dear
Cohen, you are sadly misinformed.
It appears to me that sororities
have become a favorite target for
recent DTH potshots whether
they be the opinions of the editors
or not. However, what really dis
turbed me was the stereotypical
nature of Cohen's cartoon. Not only
was it unflattering, but it was unfair
and irresponsible as well. This kind
of stereotype can be likened to those
Third Reich. But it is obviously
fallacious to hold Nietzsche himself
responsible for these distortions;
one might as well blame the Cru
sades or the Inquisition on Christ.
The quotation not only represents
an atheistic perspective but also a
profound turn in the course of
western intellectual culture. While
the Middle Ages presupposed an
absolute metaphysical basis for
objective values, this cannot be
taken for granted in our own era.
This is what the "death of God"
refers to.
The existentialists, among whom
Nietzsche is usually numbered,
developed a philosophical literature
articulating an anguished attempt to
ground values in subjective human
choice instead. For Sartre and other
atheists the death of God metaphor
was especially appropriate, but for
others (notably Kierkegaard) exis
tentialism included belief of a God.
Surely Carlson can best take
Augustine's advice to "hear the
other side" by recognizing the
legitimacy of the existentialist
problematic. Perhaps it is even
worth a quotation in the DTH every
once in a while.
James Coley
Dept. of Philosophy
Is there no room at the Inn for the house of God?
To the editors:
I attended a church service last
week, an act that has been common
place in this nation since before it
was a nation. The service was held
in one of the meeting rooms at the
Carolina Inn. The room, for which
a substantial sum of money was
paid, had been reserved by a local
church for a few weeks' use. Yet,
earlier in the day in a management
meeting it was decided that there
would be no more meetings after
this night, because the Inn, like the
University, is owned by the. state.
Therefore, there can be no religious
meetings of any kind there.
'Liberal' view
By JOHN DEVILLE
Steve Epstein, in his DTH column "Liberals
a better style of patriotism" (Aug. 26),
presented what he termed a "liberal, Democratic
view" of patriotic foreign policy and defense
spending. What was actually presented was the
Gary Hart view on foreign policy and the James
Fallows view on defense spending.
Epstein has engaged in good ol American
piousness. His philosophy is not unlike the "New
Coke" same basic formula of placing the
American government on a pedestal to exercise
its politically centric views (read capitalism) on
the rest of the world, with added sugar to give
a veneer of more palatable moderation.
Epstein has attempted to balance his critique
of left-wing governments by denouncing the
twisted police-state regimes of Guatemala, South
Korea, South Africa and others. While I am in
full agreement with Epstein that the United States
is in a position to effect change in said countries,
possibly through economic leverage, I am
somewhat suspicious, though, because of his
disparagement of the Nicaraguan government.
For some reason Epstein equates patriotism with
"acting tough" on left-wing governments.
Epstein says we distanced ourselves from Cuba
in 1959 when it became communist. Perhaps he
has not yet learned of his hero's (John Kennedy)
ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. More importantly
Epstein forgot to mention Kennedy's disastrous
failure to "distance" U.S. forces from Vietnam.
ers;
Lett
mm-
that portray all athletes as "dumb
jocks," all UNC women as MRS
majors, all , Black Student Move
ment members as Malcolm X
disciples, the Interfraternity Council
as animals from National Lam
poon's Animal House, all Carolina
Gay and Lesbian Association
members as having limp wrists, all
graduate students as zoo keepers for
Davis Library, and for that matter,
all newspaper people as uncaring
individuals whose only purpose in
life is to write up the dirty laundry.
Ridiculous, isn't it? C'mon, guys, we
want some enlightenment from our
student newspaper, not just the
same old stereotypical garbage that
prevents interaction between stu
dents and faculty!
I, for one, am tired of this
fWw ?k 2 . .
I ' Tnk I llf MlfflM ABOUT A J YA
l- 1 hi - I 1 TQ TELL YOU CMP" ' 'h - J .
li'V S - - f 1 1 l ffiBECT) THESE i Mi
A little punk, a lotta brains and savoir faire
To the editors:
I am writing in response to
Richard Chisholm's letter, "CHHS
more spike than spunk" (Sept. 4).
I am a 1985 graduate of Chapel Hill
High School and the picture of it
that I have gotten from the DTH
in no way resembles the school that
I remember. The punks that have
caused such a stir constitute a highly
visible, but small, group. ' Most
students at CHHS do not dress this
way. In all fairness, however, the
students of Chapel Hill High do
take their individuality and liberty
very seriously. Chisholm stated "it
is a wonder that liberal students at
CHHS have enough time to think.
much less do anything liberal."
Well, with all that effort spent on
being individual of course the other
areas must suffer. Alas, all that
Chapel Hill High School had to
boast of last year was 85 percent
of the students going off to post
secondary education, the highest
standardized test scores in the state,
the most National Merit Finalists
in the state, two Morehead Scho
lars, one Presidential Scholar, the
top-ranked foreign language depart
ment in the state, and one of the
top-ranked math teams in the
country. It's too bad that CHHS
students don't spend more time
thinking instead of trying to be
Now, the communists in the name
of Marx could meet there, and the
gays to the tunes of Village People
could eat there, even the Klan
embracing racism could wear sheets
there yet Christians can't worship
God there.
They say they're just protecting
our freedoms and that they have
nothing against our meetings, but
they also want us to have them off
in a corner somewhere. Well, we
won't go off into a corner and we
won't go away. We are the church
and we are growing numerically and
spiritually. The media ignores us
and the Supreme Court restricts us,
and this only serves to make us more
determined to further our goals.
If that night the doors had been
kicked open and some men dressed
in green had come in and said,
"President Castro said no more
meetings," then I could have pos
sibly digested this thing more easily.
But this is America, the land of the
free, the land of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. Well, that
night I was to believe that one is
free to pursue happiness unless he
or she happens to be a Christian
pursuing it in state-owned facilities.
Furthermore, our government
wasn't establishing religion that
smacks of American piety
'Epstein's philosophy
the New Coke same
Unfortunately the Democratic-controlled
House has stood on the sidelines hoping for the
Reagan-backed contras to fail all in the name
of political gain. Instead they should confront
Reagan's inhumane policies and provide con
structive alternatives. In any case, they do not
need to show their "patriotism" by playing tough
with the Sandinistas.
The issue of Afghanistan has served as a
platform for anti-communist, populist-oriented
presentation of gibberish for both parties. While
noting that I am not an apologist for Soviet tanks
in Kabul, there is nothing more sickening than
the opportunistic bipartisan support of the so
called "freedom fighters" whose fundamentalist,
Khomeini philosophy the same bipartisans
would generally eschew as being backward.
By the way, Esptein, since when is Ernest
Hollings one of the "most liberal Democratic
senators"? I guess you saw him standing with
Strom Thurmond and the contrast confused you.
Implicit in Epstein's column is the current
Yuppie view of defense spending; that is, we want
a "bigger bang for the buck." In other words
defense spending would fail to become an ethical
issue for Epstein if cost overruns, waste, fraud,
etc., were eliminated and we didn't have to worry
about an' increasing deficit. Never mind the ethics
and columns are always welcome provided they are
signed, legible and stuffed In the little green
box outside our offices. Deadline for the following
day's publication is 1 p.m.
'D TH' potshots
constitutionally-funded publication
being utilized for attacks on organ
izations and individuals by writers
or cartoonists who are too cowardly
to have an open mind. I expect my
student funds to be spent on a
publication to "Serve the students
and the University community," not
to further the prejudices of narrow
minded individuals.
Mr. Cohen, I don't know where
you're coming from with regard to
your artwork, but I would hope
you'd take more time to research
and understand before you label.
"My kind" and I would be happy
to help you with your research
if youVe got the guts to learn.
Jane Drenkhahn
Chapel Hill
individual.
Jonathan Parker
Chapel Hill
To the editors:
Many Chapel Hill High School
students have more savoir faire than
UNC students. Your Aug. 26 car
toon would have been funny if it
had reversed the caption and had
Chapel Hill teenagers watching the
return of UNC students to "prowl"
Franklin Street.
Carolyn Christman
Chapel Hill
night by virtue of us being allowed
to rent a room in a state-owned inn,
no more so than it would be
establishing communism by allow
ing the Communist Worker's Party
to use the facilities for a convention.
Isn't it ironic that religious
freedom was one of the founda
tional elements upon which our
nation was built, yet these are the
very freedoms that are being taken
away? America is chipping away her
foundations; she is certain that she
can withstand the loss, i
Rick Spargo
College Republicans
is not unlike
formula, added sugar'
of building weapons of mass destruction and
engaging in overseas adventurism such as in
Lebanon and Grenada.
The liberal politicos that Epstein gleefully
speaks of go to jail for an afternoon after
protesting apartheid at the South African
embassy yet often ignore the blacks that populate
American ghettos. The same liberals that sport
Polish "Solidarnosc" buttons, largely because of
their anti-Soviet appeal, denounce American
labor unions.
Patriotism is the caring and respect of your
fellow citizen in order to create a spiritually
healthy country. It is not healthily manifested,
as Epstein proposed, in the form of nationalistic
zeal to dominate other nations politics, especially
.when its "moral highground" is rooted in
economic utilitarianism.
Epstein, with your demonstrated erudite
undergraduate ability to toss around adverbs at
will, you may want to consider switching your
major to advertising. Clip your column, attach
it to your resume. There are senators in Colorado,
Kansas, Tennessee and Massachusetts that are
looking for men like you in 88.
John DeVille is a junior philosophy major
from Highlands.