Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / July 23, 1987, edition 1 / Page 9
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The Tar Heel Thursday, July 23, 19879 Edotoiroa Students for Towe ComeioI? Bring back Burnout! Frustration over Chapel Hill's seemingly cavalier attitude towards the University has prompted two students to announce their candidacies for the Chapel Hill Town Council. Fellow students may expect these candi dates to support a weakening of the noise ordinance and the resurrection of Burnout. Yet, these issues should not determine whether or not an individual student supports either of their fellow classmates. The argument may easily be advanced that a student councilor will best represent student interests. However, this argument oversimplifies the relationship between constituents and their representatives. To use an extreme example, no one would reasonably argue that Phyliss Schlafly would represent feminists better than a man solely because she is a woman. The duties of a councilor are numerous. The primary duty of a student councilor, as with any councilor, will be to determine which policy best benefits all of Chapel Hill's residents, not just students. Never forget, a student serving on the Town Council is a Town Councilor and not a student representative. A student councilor must reconcile the conflicts between students and residents, and not just vote a straight "student platform." A student councilor may discover the true volatility of an issue, such as the noise ordinance, when irate residents call repeat edly to complain about late night parties. Which group more deserves the councilor's support in a vote fellow students who wish to carouse well past midnight or residents who want a decent night's rest? The strength of the noise ordinance and the status of Burnout are relatively unim portant issues when compared to issues such as residential development, economic growth, roads, zoning, environmental protection, and social services. These issues have far greater impact on students than the volume at which a band may perform. These issues are determining factors in bus fares, rent levels, locations of stores, cost of water, and a host of other daily concerns of students. The decisions by these two students, Charles Balan and Rob Friedman, to campaign for council seats will hopefully represent a turning point in relationships between Town and Gown. For far too long both Chapel Hill and the University have acted as if the other s existence was of little consequence. Obviously, these students will have their greatest impact if they are elected. However, as important as the election results are, the nature of the campaign will also greatly affect the relationship between Town and Gown. A narrow campaign that is focused on students is unlikely to win a seat for the candidate, but a campaign that addresses the concerns of Chapel Hill may demon strate to skeptical residents that students are truly a part of Chapel Hill. Students are a vital part of Chapel Hill. We are customers. We are taxpayers. We are part-time workers. We are renters. We are residents, but we need empowerment. Bryan Hassel, past student body presi dent, strove for student empowerment. If Balan and Friedman focus on the noise ordinance and Burnout their campaigns may attract student support, but will not appeal to most Chapel Hillians. If they address important issues, such as residential devel opment, public transportation, and envir onmental protection, they may attract broad-based support and empower students. Sty? ar Mnl Sally Pearsall Editor Lisa Lorentz News Editor Ron Crawford University Editor Mike Berardino Sports Editor Joanne Gordon Arts and Features Editor Steve Matteson - Photography Editor Staff Tom Ballus, Chip Beverung, James Burrus, Susana Dancy, Amy Edwards, Eric Fullagar, Stephen Giles, Sarah Glowacki, Michael Jackson, Kasey Jones, Veronica Ko, Ava Long, Alex Marshall, Krista Matthews, Kim Orr, Laura Patterson, Stacee Singer, Marie Thompson, Wendy Widener, Judy Wilson. Loyalty's no excuse To the editor: When Ronald Reagan called Oliver North a "national hero," he demonstrated his true genius for pinpointing what Americans want. They want heroes, and at first glance, North seems like a natural candidate. He has demon strated unwavering, personal loyalty to the President. He has stood behind his own acts cour ageously, even when they proved unpopular. But is North really a hero? North's loyalty to the President and his policies existed at the American people's expense. The Iran-contra scandal began as a policy argument President Reagan wanted to continue contra military aid, Congress did not. Instead of continuing to fight openly for funding, the White House circumvented Congress and began to solicit monies from non-government sources. North's claim that he acted with the knowledge and approval of his superiors by inference with the knowledge and approval of the President is moot because his actions were, if not contradictory to the letter of, in violation of the spirit of the Boland Amendment. In a democracy, when we are opposed we don secede and form our own government, we change policy by working within the system. More distressing than the exist ence of North's shadow govern ment is the idea that anyone would consider North to be a hero. Fortunately, that term didn't originate with the public. Amer icans are desperate for heroes but not quite desperate enough to convince themselves that Ollie North fits the bill. J. Stevens English 5 J X? 1 - 1 ' PublicOpinion : "ZT? y MAGIC SHREDDER. i-Off the Record Cleaning out the Frats Gee whiz! Not one, not two, but five fraternities have been condemned! And is anyone who knows anything about UNC fraterni ties surprised? Is anyone who knows anything about the aver age college male and his per sonal habits surprised? The fact is, any dwelling that is exclusively inhabited by men (most of the time, anyway) is doomed to be abused. Men don't know how to take care of things unless some woman is around to remind them. Left unsupervised, they watch pas sively as ceiling tiles fall down and mold grows in the bathroom sink. And if the urinal falls off the wall, that's the next person's problem. They don't know how to wash dishes unless they use the classic Fraternity Man's Dish Cleaning Method. (Read: run scalding hot water over a dish until it looks clean or you get tired, whichever comes first.) Food on the floor is no problem; they let it lie and the roaches have a picnic. The roaches are self-supporting vacuum cleaners. They also like to partake in destructive games, like shooting off fireworks indoors and throwing things out of third floor windows to see what will happen. (David Letterman, a very typical male, likes to do this too.) And this kind of activity can be very hard on a house. Not that there's anything wrong with this; boys will be boys. A fraternity house wouldn't be truly masculine if it didn't have a few bare wall sockets and some missing stair rails. Broken windows and a few crunched beer cans lying around are evidence that real men abide within. These houses really shouldn't be condemned they're per fectly inhabitable. So what if there's water in the basement the guys can always throw a pool party when everybody gets back in August.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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July 23, 1987, edition 1
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