Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 22, 1986, edition 1 / Page 6
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6The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, January 22, 1986 READER FORUM ,1 Mr fie 93rd year of editorial freedom ARNE RlCKERT AND DAVID SCHMIDT Editor Editor Anjetta McQueen Janet Olson Jami White JillGerber Loretta Grantham Production Editor University Editor News Editor State and National Editor City Editor Tom Camp ; Lorry Williams Lee Roberts Elizabeth Ellen Marymelda Hall Larry ChIldress Bad Page Editor Business Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Features Editor Photography Editor Center of attention ss The Dean E. . i Smith Student DOarO Activities Center. nnjnjon The name's a sent- ULJIMIUM ence in itself. While we're catching our breath, the debate at UNC goes on about how to shorten it for everyday "Usage.- The popular choice has been the Dean Dome." But, as the coach himself has remarked, the nickname implies that Smith is bald. Better to call it uLefty Dome," which is right out of the question. A nickname isnt necessary when a simple reworking of Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center is all that's needed. First, "Student" should be omitted. The arena obviously is a regional, general-public stadium that just happens to be on campus. Witness (or don't) its first concert attraction: Kenny Rogers. An acronym is no good. DESAC sounds like the way arch-rival coach Jim Valvano used to refer to "the SAC and spelled backward (if anyone had the noiton), CASED invites opposing coaches to spy on the joint long before game day. On second thought, maybe leaving in "Student" isn't such a bad idea. It would be better than having the title dominated by a "Dean." That easily could be replaced by "Coach," resulting in CESSAC. An anagram of this acronym, of course, is ACCESS. But not for wheelchairs. For people who need them, a basketball game in the new arena is as tough to follow as this editorial. The solution is clear: Call it Smith Center. A little lithspy, but it's short, direct and accurate. After all, where else do so many Smiths namely Dean, Kenny and Ranzino converge? Editorialist's column Perfect circles "Duck. . .duck. . .duck. . . Goose!" And I scamper around a circle of other screaming children trying to catch the brown-haired girl. But the circle changes as I run, and I notice children in the center dodging a red rubber ball. As I join the circle, the ball hits me on the shoulder . . . "Are you in, or not?" someone asks. I look over the cards three Jacks and toss in two blue chips. The guy next to me in the circle bounces a coin in and sticks his elbow, at me. "Drink," he says, and I see a guarter bubbling from the bottom, and I hesitate, knowing I have to finish it off inonegulp. We play a lot 'of games. Because our culture and our lives are complex, or because our summers are long and sometimes dull. But it seems "we're always playing games: card games, board games, table games, water games, video games, sporting games, drinking games, childrens' games, mind games. We grow from our games. We learn about our bodies and the marvelous things we can do through the physical challenge of the more athletic games like basketball, football, racquetball, and tennis. We learn how to think and use our resources, from chess, bridge, Risk, and Monopoly. We hide and seek and learn cleverness and deception. We Marco Polo ourselves silly and learn how to listen and feel for ripples in the water. Our reflexes quicken behind the buttons on the Asteroids game and we learn to avoid hyperspace. Right hand blue . . .Left foot green . . . Left hand blue ... Right foot yellow. And we laugh at our foolish contortions in Twister as our friends fall over on us. Once we wondered at the many small white pads our father gave us and began to conceive of a game: Tic-Tac-Toe. X's and O's. Really quite something. A game. We play hundreds of games, rich in diversity, impossible to characterize in any one phrase, capturing as many moods as life's experiences. Games reflect life, yet insolate us from it. For a while we are somewhere else, living a life with a funny new order of rules, a fantasy island of possibility sur rounded all around by waters of "real ity." Games circle back on themselves, regulate themselves, contain themselves. Yet within their boundaries, we are momentarily complete. We live whole lives within a game's duration, often more complete lives than we live amidst the waters which sometimes toss us roughly. We thrill at catching someone or at being caught; at escaping another's move; at knowing an answer; at making a right move; at making money; at uncovering a clue; at slamming a birdie into the ground; and at winning. Games are practical and absurd at the same time. But we can understand them, and grasp their instruments (our "men," or our rackets, or our cards) and we excell inside their circles. Three Jacks, my pot. Eight ball in the corner pocket. "It's just a game.",The circles close upon themselves and outside of them we must live again like we all must do, with responsibilities and worries and little joys. But aren't the circles something for those moments. The quarter spins around the rim like a ball in a hoop, and falls. "Drink," I say. LOUIS CORRIGAN Presenting: The first weekly Carolina Contest Sponsored by the Carolina Union and the 'DTH' Name the object and where it can be found op campus PRIZE: Two complimentary orchestra seats for the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company's Feb. 5 performance ($17 value). ANSWER HERE: YOUR NAME: ADDRESS PHONE: ( lip this form and place it in the "Bits and Pieces" box next to the Union desk by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday. The winning response will be drawn from correct responses received. Full-time UNC graduate and undergraduate students eligible only. 'DTH and Union committee members not eligible. Race open for secretary and treasurer To the editors: With the elections just aro und the corner, students have important decisions selecting the persons who will lead their student government, edit the DTH and be responsible for the all-important basketball ticket distribution. Rising seniors will also be asked to decide who will be the leaders of their class, be responsible for chosing the class gift, plan their graduation, senior class events and in five, 10, 25 and 50 vears, plan their class reunion. Candidates have filed for the positions of senior class president and vice presidentUnfortunately, there are no candidates for secretary or teasurer, the other two elected senior class positions. These posi tions have to be elected, and in order for someone to be elected, someone must be a candidate. These positions are important to a successful senior year. The pres ident and vice president cannot do it alone. They need a support system with which to share authority and responsibility. The secretary and treasurer are there for this duty, in addition to their traditional roles. These officers are representatives of the class to the administration. Currently, all four officers serve on the UNC Commencement Commitee. As soon as the election is over, officers must immediately start choosing senior class marshals who constitute the Senior Class Council. These marshals are the core group for planning and implementing class events. Their first duty is serving as graduation marshals at May com mencement. It would be impossible for two officers to interview and select a diverse group of marshals. Last year, the four officers had our hands full with 150 marshal appli cants and interviews. This decision of marshals is one of the most important, because it sets the direction for the class. In order for the class of 1987 to have a successful year, a secretary and treasurer must be elected in this election. Since the filing date has closed, the only way to be elected is through a write-in campaign. I am strongly encouraging any inter ested senior to pursue these posi tions. This is not a position with which to pad your resume, gather it is a commitment to insure your senior year is your best at UNC. Although it dor$ require a lot of time and energy, the personal rewards are incredible. If you want to be involved and make your class the best, consider running. Elections are not far away, so decide soon! If you have any questions, contact either Kayce King, 1986 class treasurer, or me. As a write-in candidate, you will still have to file a financial statement of compaign expenditures, even if you doni spend a cent. The Elections Board can answer any question in regard to the rules. Now is the time to make a commitment for a great senior year! Dawn M. Peters senior class secretary Dave should tell To the editors: On reading Dave Schmidt's editorial "Letteral Endorsement" (Jan. 20), I was distressed to see that the DTH has decided not to endorse a candidate for the newspaper this year. It is argued that it would be impossible to "view any candidate for editor with a dispassionate eye." Obviously I have no idea as to how much effort the personal prejudices amongst the board which decides the endorsements have upon this process, but it is obvious that a degree of subjec tivity will undoubtedly creep into the process for deciding who gets the DTH endorsement for all the other offices. Even though this newspaper will aim to be as objective as possible, I cannot help but see personal prejudice, in whatever form, be a significant factor in the endorsement pro cess. If total objectivity is the goal, then the D TH should rerun the articles that appear on the frontpage of the paper announc ing that a student is running for . a particular office. Of course, this would be a great disservice to the readership of the DTH who deserve to be given an indicator as to who the newspaper thinks will be the best . for the given office. Throughout this editorship, the DTH's edi torials have been thorough, well- written and accurate a plea sure to read. Therefore, there is no reason why the DTH should not endorse a candidate for editor, and let someone write an editorial outlining the reasons behind the decision. It is too easy for the endorsement board to tell the DTH's readership to make their decision solely on objective material supplied by the paper the endorsement board is in a unique position to inform the readers of how well the candi dates will be able to manage the job. As total outsiders to how a newspaper is run, the average voter does not have this sort of insight; they should be able to rely on the decision of the endorsement board as the best and most accurate opinion of the candidates. You are the people who know who the editor should be, and you have a duty to the readership to telL In the past, the editorials endorsing candidates gave a fair degree of attention to candidates that it saw as viable alternatives. Why shouldn't this happen with the D TH candidates? The endor sement board should also remember that its choices do not always win take one look at last year's choice. Scott Martin Chapel Hill 'DTH' hypocritcal To the editors: The inconsistency in the DTHb reporting is inexcusable. I just finished reading another negative article regarding the conservatives on this campus. That article, "Stu dent conservative group protests Price," was written about a recent student protest of a congressional candidate's political stand. And although I wasn't a participant in the protest, I found the article as being another example of the DTIfs unfair reporting practices. If a liberal group protests against Ronald Reagan, as they did at N.C. State last fall, or against Jesse Helms, then 'our' paper adds a tone of praise for them in its reporting and makes a special effort to explain the reasons for the protest from the protestor's point of view, which is fine. Yet, when a conservative group protests at a gathering for Demo cratic speakers, the DTH speaks of it in a negative tone, going to great lengths to quote others as saying, "It's unfortunate that it happened," and "There could be no other influence behind it," speaking of Jesse Helms and the Congressional Club. The DTH praises people such as Randall Robinson, Abbie Hof-. fman, and others for urging student activism in political issues, then criticizes these conservative groups for being politically active. In this letter I'm not taking sides on any issue, I'm just a bystander saying look at the hypocrisy of your words. You condone some groups for engaging in student activism and condemn others for the same reason. This school has no place for a newspaper that shows an inability to report from a neutral position. The purpose of this letter has not been to label the DTH staff as 'Mondale Liberals' but rather to bring to attention the inconsisten cies in some of their reporting. For if we want a society where the individual is free to choose what he or she believes on any issue, then the individual must get that infor mation, upon which he bases his beliefs, from an unbiased source. r Cutting praise To the editors: Two comments on John deVille's editorial in today's issue: 1) His arguments against Star Wars are the best I've seen! Because of his presentation, 1 shall attend the debate announced for tonight, to hear Philip Clarke and Glenn Snyder. 2) John includes an argument against the use of nuclear technol ogy for production of electricity. No, John! The intent of a "tool" needs evaluation, before condemn ing it. There is, you know, a difference between a switchblade and a scalpel. Bradshaw B. Lupton Chapel Hill Wait a minute, Mr. Postman Letters and editorial columns should be typed on a 60-character line and should be triple-spaced. Contributions may be placed in the DTH box located outside our office in the Carolina Union. Rick Spargo Craige I F Yv&l riflfc cones mKr oweX 7 " Site for new hot tub To the editors: As I sat in the bleachers at Fetzer Field pondering why construction workers on state contracts move so much slower than those building private sec tor projects, a capitalistic light bulb went off inside my head. The Carmichael dormitory is way overdue, and the loss of student rentals has added to the "cost" of the new residence hall. Still, UNC has an opportunity to recoup these losses coming in 1987. The U.S. Olympic Festival (formerly the National Sports Festival) is coming to the Tri angle area and following close behind will be big bucks. UNC should lease out rooms in the new Carmichael dorm as corpo rate suites, as many overlook the Fetzer Track and Field. The location is prime. With minimal tree trimming, several rooms have large glass windows opening on the action. Busi nesses could hang their corporate banners and logos on the brick outside their opulent suites. Given that kind of T.V. coverage advertising, UNC could charge a substantial price for rooms unused in summer months. Of course, some preparation would be involved. Primarily, the scheduling of key track and field events would have to be centered at Fetzer. Also, amen ities added to the"suites" could make them more attractive to executives and future residents. Wet bars, closed circuit televi sion, hot tubs and S-5 parking permits -are just a few suggestions. I propose someone in charge look into this. Richard Wilkinson Chapel Hill 13th anniversary marks horror By ANNA CRITZ For most people today is just any old Wednesday. Another day of classes, the middle of the week and a women's basketball game against Clemson. But for 4,320 people, today is their last day of life. In the U.S. today, 4,320 people will be aborted. That is one abortion for every 20 seconds. Yet, this number is not special for only today, this many babies die from abortion every day and this number is continuing . to rise. What sets this day apart from the others is that it marks the 13th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision that says an unborn child is not entitled to legal protection of his or her life and can be killed anytime up until the moment of birth. What a shocking and horrifying thing to know that almost every third baby conceived in America will be killed by abortion until something is done about this atrocity. 1 am disturbed when 1 hear people talk about the way China used abortion as a means of birth control and the Holocaust that happened with Hitler in Germany, and they don't even realize what is happening in their own backyard, or they do and shut their eyes to it. Do they see that the total combined U.S. war casualties to date is 1,610,000 and that the total abortions done in the U.S. from 1973 to 1982 is 15,000,000 -a number which is greatly increasing? Can they ignore the fact that 18 days after conception, the child's heart is beating and the child has his own blood supply and blood type which may be different from that of the mother? And by the 30th day almost every organ has started to form? But we seem to be ignoring the American Holocaust that is going on. We think that it is a woman's right to choose, that it's not bad, and that there is nothing we can do about it. But who has the right to choose who gets to live, and who must die? We cannot think that shutting our eyes to this will make it go away because it won't. Abortion has become so frequent that population experts say that it has become, in effect, a new form of birth control. It's a sad thought that birth control could turn from something that prevents a new life from beginning to something that destroys thttt . life once it has already begun. Nazi Germany made a law legalizing the extermination of "useless" members of society. The U.S. is now following the same path in which a whole category of people, unloved, and unborn are being slaughtered. What class of humanity will be destroyed next the aged, the handicapped, or maybe the mentally retailed? "God defends the unborn, the innocent, the one who cannot speak for himself, that tiny individual who will never again be duplicated in all of human history. Only God has the right to bring the innocent home to Himself. But man has taken matters into his own hands. Mothers with their selfish excuses and doctors with their sharp instruments are playing God. 1 caution them to think twice, because God is not pleased. In fact. He is grieved to the depths of His heart by the mutilation of these beloved children." (Melody Green. Child ren ... . Tilings We Tlirow Away'.') When you go about your daily routines today, think about the 4.320 babies that will be innocent victims of abortion, but also say a prayer for the 4.320 women that will commit murder. Anna Criiz i a sophomore eiltuaiinn mahr from Asheville.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 22, 1986, edition 1
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