12The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, December 3, 1985
mm
H
93rd year of editorial freedom
Arne Rickert and
Editor
Catherine Cowan
Anjetta McQueen
Janet Olson
Jami White
Andy Trinqa
Associate Editor
Production Editor
University Editor
News Editor
State and National Editor
Larry Childress
Avoiding speed
The days get , ,
shorter and the D03TCI
nights get longer nn;n;nn
and Coke , OpinlOn
machines gather
lines. Final exam time, and things are
as well as could be expected.
Well, not exactly.
Reading day, usually scheduled on a
Friday or Monday to create a three-day
period of respite and study, does nothing
but mock students this semester.
After Tuesday's 20-page term paper
and Wednesday's five-page poem anal
ysis, the lone Thursday for reading fails
to give students the necessary time to
prepare for the harsh winds of Friday
and Saturday exams.
The problem, says University Provost
Sam Williamson, lies in the late
Thanksgiving.
By design, this semester started later
and ends earlier than usual. The last day
of finals falls four days earlier than last
fall. Williamson said the desire to get
students home earlier and to have a
longer Christmas break had been a
major concern in scheduling. The late
Thanksgiving reduced trie number of
days before finals, he said.
Such modest attempts to compact the
semester and lengthen Christmas break
are admirable when it sometimes seems
friends at other universities spend full
Editorialists'' columns
Making the grade
Well, the Chicago Bears met their
match last night against Miami. This
doesn't bode well for the beginning of
exams. After all, here you've been sailing
along, like the Bears, knocking a few
heads, turning the academic world on
its ear right? (Well, something like
that, you mumble). And now you're
heading into the "exam experience.''
Well, listen up, those of you who are
new to the game.
Look for tricks during exams. Tricks
for studying; tricks for. staying awake;
tricks for meeting all the really cute guys
and girls. Don't rely on the tried and
true. Like the Chicago Bears, you need
to innovate the game plan.
First, don't rely on carbo-loading and
caffeine. You need inspiration, not
anxiety attacks. Springsteen might be
your bag or maybe the Violent
Femmes. (Depends on the course). Try
watching The Paper Chase. Guaranteed
to inspire. But beware of too many
luxuries. Late Night with David Letter
man goes without saying it's almost
a staple. But how Tjout tractor-pulls on
ESPN? (Fresh air and all). Be aware of
the image you present. It's the fashion
Their talent is
Resolved: to give praise where praise
is due.
One harm now exists in the status quo
that two local heroes have gone
unlauded for months, which poses the
following inherent dilemma: If two
debaters speak at Wake Forest and no
one hears them, do they really win?
To correct the aforesaid harm, I
propose to implement the following
three-plank plan.
Plank I: 111 tell you who they are.
They are senior Jeremy Ofseyer and
junior Mike Egues, both from Dallas,
but whose lightning quickness of speech
belies any Southern origins.
Plank II: 111 tell you how good these
guys are. In one eight-minute speech and
one four-minute rebuttal, they say more
than most people manage to mumble
in their entire lifetime. They are involved
in a sort of verbal gymnastics that
consists primarily of barrages of witty,
urbane far-fetched at times but
always intricately logical arguments. For
example, here's a mundane paraphras
ing of the ingenious argument that won
last week's tournament at Wake Forest:
In the finals, the team from Baylor
proposed a plan demanding that every
schoolchild in the United States should
read Huckleberry Finn. They argued
that the book is the greatest American
novel, would promote feelings of patri
otism arid would give its readers a
heightened sense of individuality.
Hell, sounds good to me.
Vrong. Egues and Ofseyer provided
ample evidence that the book would
M I Bin '
David Schmidt
Editor
Loretta Grantham
Lorry Williams
Lee Roberts
Elizabeth Ellen
Sharon Sheridan
City Editor
Business Editor
Sports Editor
Arts Editor
Features Editor
Photography Editor
- reading days
weeks less in school. But the problem
rests with reading day scheduling itself,
not Thanksgiving. Finals usually
account for 30 to 40 percent of course
grades, and one . day doesn't allow
students time to properly prepare for as
many as two exams.
Williamson said the short reading
period was surprisingly unquestioned at
the time of scheduling. The same
situation holds true for fall 1986: A
Thursday reading day will be followed
by Friday and Saturday exam days.
A proper reading period must be
maintained. Students surely would
benefit more from an extra day before
the finals' onslaught than afterward.
Here the exam period's length must
be considered. Williamson said shorten
ing the long exam period by instituting
three finals a day was under consider
ation. This seems like a responsible
means of shortening the semester, since
students often find themselves with four
or more days between exams. Such a
procedure would be acceptable if stu
dents are still able to reschedule exams
if they have three in a row.
Christmas break last longer this year,
but the one-day reading period is not
an acceptable trade-off unless the
University can put more hours in the
day.
able time of the year respectable
people dress well. Specifically, scientific
evidence assures us that an overcoat
raises an individual's IQ by anywhere
from 15 to 25 points. Overcoats just look
smart. (Consult physician if rash occurs).
General tips; limit yourself to 10 trips
to the water fountain per hour; don't
shave; save tomorrow's crossword
puzzle for as long as humanly possible
(preferably until the eve of your last
exam); stay in constant motion physi
cally and mentally (better to spew out
gibberish than to spew nothing at all
you're bound to hit on something during
the course of three hours); count yourself
lucky when your prof enters in running
shoes and tells you the exam shouldn't
take more than 30 minutes; avoid the
second floor of Davis; don't even try to
find an open copier; buy as many
bluebooks and pencils as you like (there's
no such thing as "too many"); make
friends with someone who's worse off
than yourself; and call home often,
collect.
Oh, and . . . need I add, good luck?
ARNE RICKERT
undebatable
hamper progress in the United States.
Focusing on the word "individuality"
they showed how our nation is moving
toward a more collective state, so Huck
Finn is a reactionary book.
Plank III: 111 tell you what to do next.
Try to say witty and urbane things as
quickly as you can. When you find out
that you can't keep it up past two or
three witticisms, youll realize how good
these two are. Then become a groupie.
Go by Bingham Hall and find out the
comings and goings of the debate team.
Memorize the National Debate Topic
which, as you may have gathered,
concerns education. Above all, seek out
Ofseyer and Egues, and talk with them
a few moments. Enjoy the poetry of
nimble tongues and limber minds.
I think that my plan will acrue the
following advantages: first, it will create
a universal consciousness of an ancient
artform. Should we not be aware of
these, our modern Ciceros? Second, my
plan will create a heightened interest in
the educational system, not only through
the national topic itself, but also by
listening to Egues and Ofseyer.
Last, and most important, my. plan
will answer the call of the resolution:
to give credit where credit is due. Yes,
whether you heard them or not, these
two won the . Wake Forest Debate
Tournament and have proved them
selves to be the best debaters in the
nation. Put a star at the top of that and
pin it up on your refrigerator.
SALLY PONT
READER FORUM
This court's against textbook cases
To the editors:
checks used
At the end of each semester, the
Office of the Student Attorney
General receives numerous reports
of students who have' stolen text
books and attempted to sell them
back for cash at the Student Stores.
Book theft is a Campus Code
offense, as it harms the educational
opportunities of those in the Uni
versity community; students with
out textbooks cannot adequately
prepare for exams.
The Student Stores routinely
book list before buying them back.
Students who are caught attempting
to sell stolen books are reported to
the student attorney general. As a
precautionary measure, it is advis
able for all students to mark their
textbooks for identification.
In recent years, there has also
been an increase in the theft of
student papers. We strongly encour
age students to keep a Xeroxed copy
or the rought draft of any submitted
work. If your paper is lost or stolen,
W j V. "Dome... yi
ARA employees get no service points
To the editors:
"Whaddya want?" If you have an
ARA meal plan you probably hear
these words about three times a day.
This introduction to ARA is only
the foreshadowing of what's to
come. These words illustrate the
growing insolence behind the
scenes. If our cafeteria system had
any consideration for the individual
customer, this attitude would not
exist.
I am a junior and have been in
the restaurant business for seven
years. This is not to mention serving
on an ARA advisory committee at
UNC-Wilmington for two years.
My opinion, therefore, is far from
unsubstantiated and is based on
many incidents, not just one isolated
incident. It is now clear to me that
the ARA employees on this campus
are underpaid. This is evident by
the general discourteous and incon
There is a degree of hope for
To the editors:
right as they
many fields
I appreciate Jane Gabin's letter
in the Dec. 2 Tar Heel ("English
grads still face it alone"), and I am
glad to have this opportunity to
address once again the issue of
employment of English majors. It
is complex.
The interview I had with Lorry
Williams (DTH, Nov. 20) involved
both our undergraduate programs
and graduate programs. The depart
ment believes that the English major
is good training for several pre
professional programs. Most of all,
we think it makes major contribu
tions to an enlightened citizenry.
English majors repreatedly prove us
Some after-words on
By GARY HERION
This past semester has witnessed a lively and
at times emotional debate about Zionism. My
purpose in writing this is first to attempt to bring
some closure to this debate by pointing out what
I believe one of the underlying issues to be.
Tomorrow, I intend to suggest some possible
ways that we on this campus can contribute
positively not only to the security that Israel so
desperately needs, but also to the peace that the
whole Middle East so desperately needs. '
At the heart of the debate about whether or
not Zionism is "racist" is a great deal of confusion
about definitions. Jews and non-Jews alike are
not always certain about what Zionism is. Those
who have arisen to defend Zionism have been
essentially correct in arguing that Zionism takes
many different forms. In fact, the most prevalent
form of Zionism on the UNC campus is probably
not even held by Jews but by fundamentalist
Christians who feel that Israel's presence in the
Middle East is a necessary prerequisite for
Christ's return.
Among Jews there are different types of
Zionism: spiritual, cultural and political. Political
Zionism itself (like the Democratic or Republican
parties) contains a wide spectrum of governmen
tal philosophies and policy goals. On one
extreme, there are political Zionists who favor
peace with the West Bank. On the other extreme,
there are self-avowed racists who wish for
nothing less than the total destruction of
Palestinian identity and even of Palestinian
people, should it come to that. Between these
two extremes are numerous other positions,
differing from one another mainly on the issues
of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank
territories, the use of military force in neighboring
Arab countries and how best to present Israeli
goals favorably to the American public.
In light of this diversity, one can see how
erroneous and counterproductive it becomes to
label all Zionism as racist. Zionism's defenders
both Jewish and non-Jewish have
repeatedly provided quick and correct testimony
to Zionism's diversity, and yet this testimony
seems to have had little effect in convincing large
books against a stolen-
a copy can verify your
save you a great deal of worry and
inconvenience.
The end of the semester brings
with it a large amount of academic
and emotional pressures. Final
exams are particularly important
for seniors who are anticipating
December graduation. Although
the exam period can be an especially
tense time for students, it is impor
tant to keep academics in
perspective.
The basic premise of the Honor
siderate nature and arrogance they
display toward customers. At times,
holes in bread, greasy hair in food
and employee inefficiency typify the
situation.
Contemplating further on, I
wonder if it is just the employees
who have gone stale or if their lack
of initiative simply arises out of
being poorly managed and unin
formed. Try calling ARA pizza for
delivery some night, and Itza joke.
I called at 10:30 one night, and the
person on the other end of the phone
tried to tell me they were closed.
I then informed him that they were
in fact open to 1 1 and if I was not
served, I would report the situation
to his manager. (Whether or not this
was a blatant lie or just ignorance,
I may never know.)
After a talk with a manager, who
sided with me and presented me
with two free pizza coupons, I
thought the problem was over.
However, the following night
it even seems the employees feel like
they are performing favors, not
services. These assertions may not
be fair, and it crosses my mind that
maybe these employees just don't
like their jobs. Perhaps there is some
other skilled position they would
rather, occupy, possibly a job in
which they would not have to deal
with people.
Furthermore, the only way to get
a customer to return is by having
consistency in quality and service.
This, a golden rule of restaurateurs,
seems to go unnoticed by ARA at
UNC. Could this be because of the
"captive clientele" they enjoy? This
is evidenced by a bacon
cheeseburger price of $3. How they
calculate their food costs is beyond
me. High prices do not bring about
better quality and service. Finger
proceed to careers in
law, medicine,
past few years, the department has
been pleased to see its Ph.D.s
business, education and other areas.
We like to think that the training
in English has enriched the lives of
our students even when they work
in professions not professionally
"English."
The training of M.A. and Ph.D.
candidates, particularly the latter, is
more problematic. Most of these
people wish to teach. Ten or so years
ago, these people indeed faced an
excruciatingly tight market. Many
of them took their Ph.D.s and
headed to programs in business or
law. As I told Ms. Williams, that
pattern has been reversed. In the
getting the positions that were not
formerly there.
Our experience at Chapel Hill
reflects the national picture. Carl
Lovitt, assistant director for the
Association of Departments of
English, reports that the improve
ment is "dramatic." He notes that
the October 1985 Job Information
List has an increase of 37 percent
in the number of positions adver
tised during 1984. This is the largest
number of advertised vacancies
since the list was first published in
1971. .
The market is still not a seller's
numbers of relatively well-informed people. Why
is this so? The charge that Zionism's critics are
"hate-filled" (and therefore not open to reason)
has been made, but I think this is premature,
at least as far as the UNC debate is concerned.
I would suggest that ultimately there is another
reason: Everyone hears that Zionism is diverse,
but almost no one sees that diversity at work.
What most people see is a widening gulf between
the (sometimes pious) rhetoric of many Zionists
in this country and the (often ruthless) "facts"
created by other Zionists in Israel. These "facts"
most recently include the ongoing illegal
settlement of the West Bank territory, military
raids that kill hundreds of Arab civilians in
neighboring Arab lands (Beirut, Tripoli) and in
the last two weeks the distressing news that Israel
has been stealing military secrets from the United
States.
Generally speaking, these "facts" correlate very
nicely with the Zionist agenda of extremists, such
as Meir Kahane, who refuse to compromise on
the West Bank, who urge any military action
to terrorize and intimidate Arabs and who view
the United States as an untrustworthy partner
to be used or even abused as it accommodates
their vision for Israel. The only difference is that
these "facts" are not being created with the speed
and belligerence that Kahane and other extrem
ists would prefer.
Certainly many Zionists disagree with these
extremists. Many have spoken out against the
West Bank settlements, against Israel's some
times wanton use of military force (Israel has
the third most powerful military in the world),
and some perhaps will criticize Israel's acts of
espionage against the United States. But they
have only spoken. Some (but not many) Zionists
mostly Jews go so far as to sponsor Arab
Israeli dialogue and to hand out anti-Kahane
pamphlets, and this is commendable.
But when it is time to act, many of these types
of Zionists seem to d isappear. For example, when
the question arises. "Should the United States
refuse to continue financing Israel's illegal
settlement of the West Bank?" Zionism seems,
to appear monolithically to answer with: "No,
do not withhold this portion of the economic
aid to Israel." When the question arises (as it
arose in Congress two years ago), "Should he
United States compensate Israel lor the money
work and
System is that we conduct all
academic work with honesty and
integrity. If you are faced with
questions or unexpected problems,
please clarify the situation. In
addition, we will be holding sche
duled office hours during the exam
period; if we can assist, feel free to
contact us.
Mary Evans,
student attorney general
Suzy Adler,
Undergraduate Honor Court chair
A real poet-taster
has a full bard plan
One of the things that is hard to ignore
Is the food served inside the Hall called Lenoir.
They manage to take our vital resources
And turn them into disgusting morsels.
The food quality's bad, yes, but there's more
That the student will encounter in the Hall called
Lenoir:
As one goes through the line to make the difficult
choice,
He is greeted by a frown and discourteous voice.
Topay for a drink and plate of spaghetti,
One needs the wealth of J. Paul Getty.
After one's through, he streaks like a comet
To the nearest toilet, so that he may vomit.
Will I return to this Hall called Lenoir?
To quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"
Jim Suiter
Apex
brought on a similar situation, even
though that day they had held an
employee meeting.
Rectification has failed. ARA did
bring in a new manager, but with
the old crew he can be of little help.
Even a superb coach has little hope
of achieving anything more than a
mediocre season if his team has no
talent. Only by training, assessing
the situation and getting rid of the
"dead weight" will our cafeteria
situation improve. We customers
will then be satisfied and reinvest
our money in ARA.
Until then, exercise your right to
"eat out." It costs the same, runs
more smoothly, and, since they care
about the individual, youll find they
serve you instead of the other way
around.
WJ. McMichael
Lewis
English Ph.D.s
market, to be sure. Connie fcble, the
department's director of graduate
studies, and I have been very frank
with our entering graduate students
about that market. We create no
illusions for them. Similarly, George
Lensing, director of our Undergrad
uate Literature Program, is equally
frank in dealing with undergraduate
majors who are contemplating
graduate work in English. Of
course, all of us take pleasure in the
improvements on the national
scene.
Joseph M. Flora,
English department chairman
Zionism
and the military hardware it expended in the
invasion of Lebanon?" Zionism again seems to
appear to answer monolithically (as it did two
years ago): "Yes, let the United States pay for
Israel's invasion of Lebanon." One fully expected
that when the question is raised, "Should the
United States castigate Israel for stealing some
of its military secrets?" Zionism will again appear
monolithically to assert that this was all a
misunderstanding and should be quickly forgot
ten. (How many readers remember the Israeli
attack against the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967,
when 34 American sailors were killed and 171
others were wounded while Israeli jets and
torpedo boats spent an afternoon repeatedly
trying to sink this American naval vessel?
Probably very few remember; this event has
successfully been "forgotten.")
The distressing point is this: Time and again,
when moderate peace-loving Zionists have had
an opportunity to take an active and public stand
against this agenda, most have chosen not to
and seemingly acquiesced to the advancing
agenda of the extremists. Thus, the growing gap
between sanctimonious rhetoric (of which we
have seen so little on this campus) means that
the rhetoric loses much of its credibility and that
the public continues to view Zionism monolith
ically, associating it with the extremists who
continue to "create facts" uncontested (and with
little apparent regard for the morality of their
actions).
The question may be fairly asked: What have
Zionists whether Christian or Jews - done
to demonstrate convincingly their disapproval of
the 'facts created by the extremists? Is Zionist
rhetoric designed to help affect peace in the
Middle East? Or is it designed to enhance Israel's
image in the eyes of Americans? Such penetrating
questions as these cannot be answered convinc
ingly with words (or by letters to the DTH).
but only by deeds. And as long as the only
effective deeds the public sees are the "facts"
created by those extremists who pursue an
admittedly racist agenda, so long will it continue
to hold a very simple view of Zionism that fails
to distinguish it from racism.
iiary fiction is a James .1. dray lecturer in
hihlicul studies in the department religious
studies.