8 The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, January 14, 1987
JlM ZOOK, Editor
RANDY FARMER, Managing Editor
KATHY NANNEY, Associate Editor
Tracy Hill, News Editor
Grant Parsons, university Editor
LINDA MONTANARI, City Editor
DONNA LEINWAND, State and National Editor
Scott Fowler, sports Editor
JUUE BRASWELL, Features Editor
ROBERT KEEFE, Business Editor
Elizabeth Ellen, Arts Editor
DAN CHARLSON, Photography Editor
f
Restricting extra athletic tooostt
ular Uni
f you have ever been to a college football
game at any Division I institution,
vouVe seen them. Some of their com
ATTENTION, feAIA'sau&i WE HAVE To VOTE ON
tue final. &ec&iutm.he's."72
Satin
mon possessions include a school pennant,
usually held aloft, and a bulging wallet,
usually hidden except in special recruiting
cases.
They are high-powered alumni, called
"boosters" in the language of the National
Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA
made them about as welcome as a booster
shot in last week's convention in San Diego.
At that convention, boosters such as the
AVEKAG E S 28 PoiNTS A GAME,
AND HAS MEVE6. feEEN INJURED
94th year of editorial freedom
i R Y
Constitutional rites
One of America's oldest documents,
the Constitution, celebrates its 200th
birthday this year. But proposals for
a Sept. 17 national holiday honoring
the document are sure to bring protest
from folks in Washington.
The usual argument of another
costly federal holiday will undoubtedly
come up for debate as it has in the
past with other holidays (Martin
Luther King Jr.'s birthday, for
instance). However, it doesn't seem
illogical to take a day off and celebrate,
if only once, the anniversary of a
document that has been the basis of
our federal government for two
centuries.
Although considered an American
standard by most folks today, the
Constitution created what at the time
was the most unique form of govern
ment. And just as it is today, the
Constitution was a source of controv
ersy. Two states, Rhode Island and our
very own North Carolina, refused to
ratify the document in its early version
because it lacked guarantees for
freedoms of speech and religion. Thus,
the Bill of Rights was added.
Rob Sikorski, associate director of
the N.C. Commission on the Bicen
tennial of the U.S. Constitution, thinks
the idea of a national holiday merits
attention. "The 1976 celebration was
about something that happened. 200
years ago and stopped 200 years ago,"
he said in Monday's Durham Morning
Herald. "As for the Constitution, 200
years ago was only the starting date.
We are celebrating 200 years of people
and ideas."
That is, without a doubt, true. The
country takes a day off every year to
celebrate the declaration of its inde
pendence. And last year Americans
went all out celebrating the 100th
birthday of Lady Liberty, complete
with armadas of ships and prime-time
television coverage.
The Lady is but a young babe
compared to the weathered papers the
founding fathers wrote in charting our
nation's future. Sure, a few pages may
have torn corners, but this year, and
perhaps this year alone, we should take
one more day to celebrate the docu
ment that enables our country to
continue celebrating its independence.
Championing breakfast
Remember eggs? Toast and bacon?
Juice and milk? Well, forget 'em.
Moms and (let's not fall prey to
sexism, here) Dads across the country
can rest. Skip the slow fry and quick
stir of steamy scrambled eggs. Toss
that fresh-squeezed orange juice out
the window. And tell the cow to go
back to sleep because you won't be
doing the milking.
A revolution is shaking the Amer
ican public, led by those ever
ingenious nether-corporations known
collectively as the fast food industry.
In their interest in long life, health and;
of course, your greenbacks, they have
invented Styrofood breakfasts. And in
giving convenience priority over
culture, they've gone too far.
It started out simply. We Sou
therners have been eating Hardee's
ham biscuits for years. The ham biscuit
fit nicely into Southern culture, so it
was only natural to have them mass
produced for mass-consumption by
half-asleep highschoolers.
But in their zeal for a new market,
the fast food industry has overdone
a half-baked idea. The profit motive
has something to do with it. The
restaurants were sitting idle in the
mornings, corporate MB As reasoned,
so why not squeeze every minute of
selling time out of them why not
serve breakfast? Then the MB As kept
upping the ante. From ham biscuits,
the downward spiral twisted to pan
cakes in Styrofoam platters to
croissant-things to pre-packaged
Sarah Lee danishes (danii?). But now
it has reached an all-time low.
The French Toast Stick.
It's not that bad, the MBAs claim.
Why, you even get a little plastic
bucket of maple syrup with a hermet
ically sealed, self-sticking foil top in
which to dunk the ever-tasty French
Toast Stick. Maybe they think you can
eat it while you drive after going
to their convenient drive-thru window.
A competing chain has come out with
round bacon. Where will it all end?
But the problem is not the industry
per se; it concerns this nation's future.
Local managers say the new breakfasts
are selling like, well, hotcakes. With
people forsaking the traditional hearty
American breakfast, how long can our
civilization thrive?
Our country is based on the Amer
ican breakfast. Our astronauts didn't
go into space until they ate hearty
steak-and-egg breakfasts. Our Presi
dent and his cabinet members surely
don't make an early-morning fast-food
run. They need power breakfasts:
American breakfasts.
For all our sakes, don't dash off to
class without a hearty American
breakfast. The future depends on it.
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Brian Long and Kathy Peters
Staff Columnist: Pierre Tristam
Omnibus Editor: Amy Hamilton
Assistant Managing Editors: Jennifer Cox, Amy Hamilton and Regan Murray.
News: Jeanna Baxter, Tom Camp, Chris Chapman, Paul Cory, Sabrina Darley, Kimberly Edens, Michelle
Efird, Jeannie Faris, Scott Greig, Maria Haren, Nancy Harrington, Suzanne Jeffries, Susan Jensen,
Sharon Kebschull, Michael Kolb, Teresa Kriegsman, Laura Lance, Alicia Lassiter, Mitra Lotfi, Justin
McGuire, Laurie Martin, Toby Moore, Dan Morrison, Felisa Neuringer, Mary Paradeses, Liz Saylor,
Rachel Stiffler, Elisa Turner, Nicki Weisensee, Beth Williams, Robert Wilderman and Bruce Wood.
Jo Fleischer and Jean Lutes, assistant university editors. Cindy Clark, Ruth Davis and Michael Jordan,
wire editors.
Sports: Mike Berardino, James Surowiecki and Bob Young, assistant sports editors. Greg Cook, Phyllis
Fair, Laura Grimmer, Greg Humphreys, Lorna Khalil, Eddy Landreth and Jill Shaw.
Features: Jessica Brooks, Eleni Chamis, Robbie Dellinger, Carole Ferguson, Jennifer Frost, Jennifer
Harley, Jeanie Mamo, Corin Ortlam, and Lynn Phillips.
Arts: James Burrus, David Hester, Alexandra Mann, Rene Meyer, Beth Rhea, Kelly Rhodes and Rob
Sherman.
Photography: Charlotte Cannon, Larry Childress, Jamie Cobb, Tony Deifell, Janet Jarman and Julie
Stovall.
Copy Editors: Sally Pearsall, assistant news editor. Lisa Lorentz, Belinda Morris, Sherri Murray and
Marielle Stachura.
Editorial Cartoonists: Adam Cohen, Bill Cokas and Trip Park.
Campus Calendar: Mindelle Rosenberg and David Starnes.
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Patricia benson, advertising director; Mary
Pearse, advertising coordinator. Angela Ostwalt, business manager; Cammie Henry, accounts receivable
clerk; Ruth Anderson, Michael Benfield, Jennifer Garden,' Ashley Hinton, Kelli McElhaney, Chrissy
Mennitt, Anne Raymer, Julie Settle, Peggy Smith, Kent Sutton, Amanda Tilley and Ashley Waters
advertising representatives; Tammy Norris, Angie Peele, Stephanie Chesson, classified advertising
representatives; and Mary Brown, secretary.
Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager.
Production: Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway and Lisa Poole, production assistants.
Printing: The Chapel Hill Newspaper
members of the Universitv of North Caro-
Una Rams Club were outlawed from having
anything to do with recruiting athletes for
colleges. The measure passed overwhelm
ingly in the vote by college athletic directors
and was hailed by the NCAA chief as a
giant step forward in bringing honesty back
into the college game.
Said NCAA executive director Walter
Byers after the legislation passed: "The
greatest threat to intercollegiate athletics is
the irresponsible behavior of powerful
people outsiders, state legislators, big
donors who make arrangements with
irresponsible coaches to circumvent (rules)."
Byers' statement is a bit overblown
ignoring other recurrent problems like drug
use and eligibility regulations. But his
concern is justified. The move to totally
outlaw boosters is extreme, but necessary.
Why do alumni give their hard-earned
money and other perks to 17- and 18-year-old
schoolboys? Many have a terminal case
of childhood superiority. They want the
teams they cheer for to win. Always. Since
the teams that win are usually the ones with
better athletes, some of the alumni get
involved in recruiting. Stories of a prized
recruit shaking hands with an overzealous
booster and finding a $100 bill miraculously
enclosed in his palm afterwards have become
increasingly common.
In several cases, the alumni have gotten
caught and their school has been placed on
probation. So in a move analogous to the
elementary teacher making her entire class
Scott Fowler
Sports Editor
stay in for recess because of the misbehavior
of a couple of students, the NCAA has
disallowed any contact. No phone calls. No
friendly letters.
How closely this measure can be policed
is questionable. Will there be telephone
operator informants, or mailmen opening
suspicious letters? No. But the measure
should scare many boosters, because if they
get caught contacting a blue-chip prospect
it will cost their school any chance of signing
the athlete.
The legislation strikes some as an admis
sion of the NCAA's inability to handle
college athletics and the alumni that go with
it. "The fact we need all this crap is an
enormous admission of failure," Stanford
athletic director Andy Geiger said. "We
failed. We can't handle the pxessure."
However, it strikes me as a much-needed
step. Most boosters are honest. But the ones
that arent spoil it for the rest by indirectly
encouraging the top high school athletes to
market themselves and to seek the best deal
possible.
The NCAA has finally smelled the coffee.
Let the boosters' money help build better
facilities like the Smith Center, and let the
boosters sit placidly in their front-row seats
if they wish. But keep them in the stands
and out of the recruiting business.
Scott Fowler is a senior journalism major
from Spartanburg, S.C.
Ad policy
lacks sincerity
To the editor:
The Daily Tar Heel's new ad
policy explained in the article,
"Bias ruled out of classified
ads"- (Dec. 1) needs consider
able examination on three
points.
First, it seems that the goal
of the Justice Department
ruling and the DTH policy is
not merely to foster non
discriminatory ads but to foster
non-discrimination itself. In
this regard, the example in the
article of an acceptable ad
"White Christian male seeks
roommate" contains the
very innuendoes that the DTH
claims it intends to avoid. The
example fairly screams discrim
ination, as surely as if it read
"no non-whites or non
Christians need apply."
Second, the article states that
"students can still let readers
know who they want for a
roommate by stating what they
are." This sentence is an out-and-out
guide in one easy
lesson for evading the spirit of
the DTH's policy on non
discriminatory ads. Further, it
is racist in that it assumes
automatically that no one will
ever want a roommate of a
different race or religion.
Last, the article asks if the
classified ads look different.
They do not. There were at least
1 1 classified ads offering male
and female dormitory contracts
for sale, one ad for white male
asthmatics to take part in a
study, and one ad for black
students or faculty to be sperm
donors. All of these ads have
ostensibly valid reasons for
specifying preference by gender
or race, and the DTH has
evidently exempted them from
its policy on non
discriminatory ads using guide
lines that are at least unknown
to readers.
The advertising staff really
needs to rethink its strategy and
policies on this important issue
and these three points.
JOHN HICKEY
Research Assoc. Professor
Environmental Science
and Engineering
Coach critique
To the editor: -
I have been an avid Carolina
basketball fan for more than 10
years, and during that time I
have witnessed many, many
games. One thing I have
noticed in recent years is a slight
decline in Dean Smith's coach
ing abilities. That is not to say
Smith cannot coach, but only
that he is no longer the best.
Sometimes I wonder whether
he is even in the top five
anymore. On too many occa
sions during the past four years,
UNC has lost to inferior teams.
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accuracy.
And worst of all, Carolina
peaks in January or early
February and chokes in March.
Considering this to be a
serious problem, I began to
ponder the situation. Finally, I
have come to the conclusion
that Dean Smith is suffering
from what I will refer to as "Fat
Cat" Syndrome. This is when
a man who has everything is
no longer motivated and is just
going through the motions. In
26 years at UNC, Smith has
won an NCAA title, an NIT
title, numerous ACC titles and
numerous holiday tournament
titles. He has 19 seasons with
20-plus victories, the last 16
consecutively. He has won
nearly 590 games while losing
less than 180. He coached the
Olympic team to the gold
medal in 1976 and has had
nearly a score of All-Americans
play for him. He has a 21,000
seat arena named in his honor,
draws a six-figure salary, has
already been inducted into the
Basketball Hall of Fame and
is worshipped by thousands.
What else is left to achieve?
I believe with all these
accomplishments under his
belt, Smith has lost his ability
to guide his teams to their full
potentials and inspire them to
that final level of excellence
necessary during the cham
pionship drive. There were
many times in the past when
1 saw UNC teams seemingly
reach down and find that extra
lift that would vault them to
victory. I can count on my
fingers the number of times I
have seen Carolina reach that
level during the last four years.
I know Carolina has won a lot
of games the last four years and
is certain to win a lot more in
the future. With the kind of
talent Smith has had and will
continue to get, he will win 20
or more games, but unless he
regains that old desire, he will
be beaten by hungrier coaches
with slightly less talented
teams. I hope I am wrong.
EVERETTE MILLS
Sophomore
- RTVMP
Not just
a holiday
To the editor:
Jan. 20 marks a day of
celebration of brotherhood and
aspirations of hope, marking
the major accomplishments of
Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa
Parks, the sit-ins staged by the
students of A&T State Univer
sity, the Lyndon B. Johnson
administration and the count
less number of people who
participated in . marches and
boycotts.
It took those events that
occurred nearly 20 years ago to
force America to acknowledge
and change the injustices it had
adopted: They also paved the
way for minorities to attend
universities which would not
have otherwise opened their
doors.
But what bothers me is the
ignorance fueled by apathy in
which our generation is smoth
ered. We as students, black and
white, can make a huge differ
ence in what will be the future.
But we merely sit back and
enjoy life. We go to classes,
hang out, joke around and go
blindly about life.
I admit there is nothing
wrong with leading a typical
college student's life. But we
must realize there is more to
gaining an education. We
should take advantage of our
college years by learning more
about ourselves and others
around us whose lives touch
ours.
In the words of Martin
Luther King Jr., "The function
of education is to teach one to
think intensively and to think
critically. But education which
stops with efficiency may prove
the greatest menace to society.
The most dangerous criminal
may be the man gifted with
reason, but with no morals . . .
we must remember that intel
ligence is not enough. Intelli
gence plus character this is
the goal of true education."
I challenge every student not
to just look at Jan. 20 as Martin
Luther King Day, but also as
a day of reflecting upon the
celebration of life, a day that
no one will make assumptions
based on race. I urge you all
to learn something about a
different culture and commit
yourself to world peace. Then
carry this through the year,
because it is not until we live
and respect everyone that we
really experience peace and
brotherhood.
LINDA SHEALEY
Junior
Psychology