10The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, September 24, 1987
V
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latlg
95 th year of editorial freedom
Deck is a gamble for students
Chapel Hill is a "
city. It has a large
population in a
small space, espe
cially when the
board
opinion
University is in session. When cities
reach the size that Chapel Hill has
reached, it's time to start thinking
about rapid mass transportation.
Poor planning has left the Univer
sity with dire parking problems. For
years, people have suggested building
parking decks, but they Ve always been
passed over in favor of other facilities.
The blame for this situation rests
on the shoulders of the bureaucrats
of 20 years ago. The task now is to
deal with the problem as efficiently as
possible.
One way is to build remote parking
lots and have buses bring students and
faculty in to campus. This is already
working. Chapel Hill's comfortable
and regular buses carry more people
per mile traveled than any other
network in the state.
Another is to build decks. Four have
been recommended. One has now
made it through a five-level maze of
bodies of approval and will open in
1990 near Craige Residence Hall. It
will house faculty, staff and students,
all of whom need spaces.
It's tempting to criticize the way the
deck's been handled. Spaces will be
lost at Craige while it's being built.
Parking there is likely to be expensive.
Thawing the deep freeze
Like an aged actor with his last shot
at an Oscar, Ronald Reagan stands
on the verge of signing a historic arms
control agreement on short- and
medium-range nuclear weapons. But
as the curtain call nears on his reign,
Reagan risks ruining the deal for the
sake of Star Wars.
As the United States and Soviet
Union gradually move closer to an
agreement, the Senate Foreign Rela
tions Committee has threatened to
delay ratification until the Reagan
administration ceases attempts to
rewrite the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty. Unless these efforts end soon,
Reagan risks losing the possibility of
the first superpower agreement that
would reduce the number of nuclear
missiles held by both sides.
Although the agreement to elimi
nate all nuclear missiles with ranges
between 300 to 3,000 miles represents
only 3 percent of the nuclear weapons
in the U.S. and Soviet arsenals, it does
mark a significant first step. By
thawing the deep freeze that has
plagued superpower negotiations
during the 1980s, it would represent
progress toward dealing with the much
greater threat of long-range intercon
tinental ballistic missiles.
Blocking this agreement is Reagan's
belief that the ABM treaty has a
rnon sequitur-
Bork flees rabid
Non was bored last week, so he decided
to head up to Washington. A visit to the
nation's capital, he thought, would be an
uplifting and invigorating experience. Little
did he know what lay in wait.
As he drove by the Capitol building, he
was forced to bring his car to a sudden
stop, as a figure with a straggly beard and
darting eyes ran across the street. Non
recognized him immediately. "You're
Robert Bork!" he shouted. "But why are
you running?" '
Before Bork had a chance to answer, Non
saw the answer to his question racing down
the Capitol steps. A horde of senators was
approaching with disturbing speed. There
were liberals, foaming at the mouth and
mumbling words like "ideologue" and
"racist," and conservatives 1 speaking of
"moderates" and "judicial restraint."
Non could see Joe Biden, reading an old
Neil Kinnock speech, and Ted Kennedy,
struggling in vain to find a verb while he
looked for the television cameras.
"Get in," he yelled, and Bork jumped in
the car. Non gunned the accelerator and
1
JlLL GERBER, Editor
Amy Hamilton, Managing Editor
Sally Pearsall, News &ftor
JEAN LUTES, University Editor
DONNA LEINWAND, State and National Editor
JEANNIE FARIS, City Editor
JAMES SUROWIECKI, Sports Editor
FEUSA NEURINGER, Business Editor
JULIE BRASWELL, Features Editor
ELIZABETH ELLEN, Arts Editor
Charlotte Cannon, Photography Editor
CATHY McHUGH, Omnibus Editor
But building such facilities is a
bureaucrat's nightmare. The new deck
will hold up to 1,500 cars. Included
in the $12.2 million price tag are an
estimated 500 surface spaces to replace
those lost while the deck is built.
That's a maximum of only 2,000
spaces, at a price fully one-third the
phenomenal cost of the Smith Center.
If applications for permits were to
stay at their present level and they're
likely to increase 2,000 people
would still be turned down each
semester.
The University's big facilities are
funded by the state, research grants,
alumni and corporations. It's not so
hard to fund a glamorous facility, as
the Smith Center demonstrates, but
who wants to pay for a parking deck?
Gene Swecker, associate vice chan
cellor for facilities planning, said the
deck is practical because of its location
near the Smith Center. The University
hopes that the deck's usefulness for
special events will attract some private
funding and hold the price down.
Although the deck should be wel
comed, planners must hold the costs
passed on to faculty, staff and students
as low as they can. While people
should accept other transportation,
the administration should work more
vigorously to conquer the parking
problems. Most importantly, the
University should plan parking facil
ities with more foresight than in the
past.
loophole that permits unlimited testing
and development of Star Wars. Des
cribing this misinterpretation as a
deliberate attempt to rewrite history,
the Senate Foreign Relations Commit
tee has threatened to delay ratifying
the agreement if the treaty's original
meaning is not upheld. The ABM
treaty, signed in 1972, prohibits the
presence and testing of any offensive
or defensive nuclear weapons in space.
At the heart of this dispute is
Reagan's vision of Star Wars as an
alternative to nuclear deterrence,
under which nuclear war is avoided
by the threat of mutual assured
destruction. In his view, Star Wars
should be a sort of protective umbrella
that renders nuclear weapons obsolete.
It is a plan that sounds good, but
would never pass a truth-in-advertising
test.
By rewriting the ABM treaty to
permit unlimited testing and deploying
of Star Wars, Reagan will only invite
the Soviet Union to build nuclear
arsenals that are capable of penetrat
ing any space defense. By threatening
to delay an symbolic step forward in
the superpower arms race, the Foreign
Relations Committee has attempted to
stop Reagan from pushing progress
several steps backward. Mike
Mackay
liberals in D.C.
his Chevy Impala vanished into the haze.
"Thank you so much," the distinguished
looking judge said. "They were driving me
mad with their drivel about their legal
philosophies and how I'm going to return
America to the Dark Ages. Why should
I be forced to listen to plagiarists and
thoughtless clods expound on legal theory?"
"I guess that's just the way it goes," Non
said. "In a democracy, being an intellectual
is not easy. And it certainly doesn't make
you popular."
"But I don't want be popular."
"But you do want to be confirmed, don't
you? YouVe already done such a good job
of confusing people about what you really
think. I admire you for that. Those
confronting you have been dishonest about
the way they see democracy, so there's no
reason for you to be particularly clear."
"Thank you for that lesson," Bork said.
"I feel a new sense of purpose. Let's return
to the Capitol. I'm ready to face the
slavering hordes again And by the way,
I love this car."
"No, thank you," Non said. "And if they
really start bothering you, just tell them
they're borking up the wrong tree."
Experience
George Bush is the obvious Repub
lican candidate for the upcoming
presidential election. While other
Republicans are qualified, none have
experienced first-hand the ins and outs of
the presidency like George Bush during his
seven years as vice president.
Bush stands head and shoulders above
any of the Democratic candidates. A
dedicated public servant, he is an expe
rienced student of diplomacy and political
skill. His intellectual and moral qualities
far surpass those 'of current and recent
contenders for the Democratic
nomination.
While it is true that the Reagan Bush
administration has cut federal funds to
education, it is equally clear that two aims
of Reagan's agenda have been accomp
lished in the area of education. First, as
a result of tremendous growth and
improvement in the national economy,
universities and other educational institu
tions have benefited immensely. While the
stock market has grown to new heights,
so has the value of educational endow
ments. Where inflation has been brought
from record highs to record lows, insti
tutions have broken free from the vicious
price spirals that plagued the economy
during President Jimmy Carter's term.
Also, in keeping with Reagan's New
Federalism, more responsibility for provid
ing education has been returned to the
Give back
film posters
To the editor.
Over the weekend three
movie posters that were on
display in the Upper Gallery of
the Student Union were stolen.
They had been up for less than
a week, and were serving as a
pleasant artistic distraction for
those who studied and worked
in that area.
As chairman of the Union
Film Committee, what really
upsets me about the theft is that
a lot of people have asked me
if they can have the posters, and
I have had to say no because
I need them for publicity. I just
hope that the theft was done
in a moment of rashness and
that the culprit(s) will have the
courage to return the posters
to the Union desk soon.
The stolen posters were for
"Blue Velvet," "Something
Wild" and "Down By Law."
They are all dry-mounted and
are not yet commercially avail
able, so they should not be hard
to track down.
Due to their popularity,
there will be an opportunity to
win some of the posters at the
Union Bash on Oct. 2.
JAMES DEAN
Junior
History
Bring U2
to the Hill
To the editor:
Considering all of the hoopla
surrounding the Smith Center
as being an incredible place to
book concerts, we devoted U2
fans were completely mystified
that the band Rolling Stone
magazine called "the band of
the Os" was not scheduled to
perform in Chapel Hill. It is
reassuring to know that the
University has assumed the role
of our mothers in deciding
when we should study and
when we should not. Imagine
the difficulty we seniors would
have budgeting valuable study
time in order to go see a
concert. It boggles the mind.
Are Steve Camp and the
University really operating
under the delusion that if they
refuse to schedule U2 at the
Smith Center we will all remain
in our rooms that evening,
noses buried in books? Get real!
Plans are already in the works
for a mass exodus to either the
Analysis of Bork nomination was biased
To the editor.
I am writing in response to Mike
Mackay's editorial "Bork nomination is
injustice" of Sept. 21. He states that Bork's
philosophy permits state powers to justly
override such individual freedoms as
privacy, abortion and advocacy of civil
disobedience. Mackay also has the gall to
say that Bork's nomination may haunt
America for years to come. He even
compared Bork with Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde. These statements show Mackay's
extremely misconceived view of Bork's
philosophy. It is extremely obvious that
Mackay has a tremendous lack of infor
mation which leave him with only his
zealous liberal attitude to form his biased
opinions.
In the past, Bork has had a tendency
to argue that some activist groups have
had weak premises which lead to weak
arguments. He only tries to make the point
that reasoning, which is illogical if not
Readers'' Forymn
makes Mush
Mark Kita
Guest Writer
states. This is a reasonable and logical
objective as state and local governments
have traditionally been responsible for
education and should continue in this role.
Reagan's foreign policy has been
attacked as anything but constructive and
resembling the post World War II
McCarthy approach to world affairs. In
light of his new and dramatic arms
reduction agreement with the Soviets, I
think any reasonable person can see the
ignorance and stupidity in such a
statement.
Finally, Reagan has been criticized for
supposedly blackmailing the states to raise
the national drinking age to 21. I would
submit that Reagan was simply responding
to the apparent will of a majority of
congressmen, state legislators and. con
cerned citizens who are grappling with
solutions to the terrible problem of drunk
driving. I rather doubt that Reagan's legacy
will be judged inadequate for addressing
this issue or that intelligent students will
make the drinking age issue a priority in
next year's election.
Hampton, Va., or Atlanta, Ga.,
concerts, depending on where
tickets and transportation can
be secured. Imagine what driv
ing hundreds of miles in the
middle of the night will do to
our grade point averages! So,
if the University really has our
best interests in mind, they
should immediately call Paul
McGuinness, U2's manager, to
apologize for the misunder
standing and beg the band to
play not one, but two shows
in our beloved Smith Center.
We're sure that Steve , Camp
would appreciate the extra
revenue, anyway.
himself begins to feel younger.
Here the female sensibility is
associated with a positive vital
ity and energy. Unfortunately,
this interpretation is more than
a little far-fetched.
The images of women that
recur in Groucho's television
show "You Bet Your Life" fall
into only too familiar sexist and
misogynist stereotypes: volup
tuous young women seen only
as sex objects and elderly
unattractive spinsters who have
no hope of landing a man.
Groucho would doubtless find
my generous interpretation
laughable and absurd. I think
he was referring to feeling
women in precisely the way that
the more direct reading of the
quote suggests. And, I can only
conclude that you do not find
this brand of sexism offensive.
The most generous interpreta
tion I can find for your action
is that you were giving Groucho
more credit than he is due and
that you are unaware of his
record of sexism. I'd like to
believe this. In any case, an
apology to all the women and
men on this campus is in order.
KATHY NASSTROM
Graduate
History
Smoking is
a dirty habit
To the editor.
Is Chapel Hill High School
smarter than UNC? Students at
CHHS are not allowed to
smoke on campus, but UNC
students seem to get little
discouragement from a habit
that kills more Americans every
BECKY BAWDEN
Senior
International Studies
Political Science
JUDY CITRON
Senior
English
Groucho quote
offensive
To the editor.
The DTH's quote for the day
on Sept. 21 ("A man is only
as old as the woman he feels"
Groucho Marx) stunned me
with its blatant sexism, offen
sive objectification of women
and poor taste.
The most generous interpre
tation of this statement is that
Groucho Marx, and by impli
cation the editors of the DTH,
believe that women can have
a rejuvenating effect on men.
If a man "feels" himself to be
like a younger woman, then he
supported by strong evidence, is worthless.
For example, one state was trying to pass
a law to make the use of contraceptives
by anyone, including married couples in
the privacy of their bedroom, illegal. In
response, an activist group argued that this
violated constitutional rights of privacy.
Bork considered this argument weak due
to the fact that the Constitution doesn't
guarantee privacy. Many people misinter
preted his actions and assumed that he was
against the freedom of privacy. This is
definitely an absurd misconception. -
Mackay seems to think that the Supreme
Court should be able to change the
Constitution at will. He then goes on to
criticize Bork for believing that the judges
should only hand down "neutral principles
of law" which correspond with the original
intent of the Constitution. The Supreme
Court was formed for the purpose of
abiding by the Constitution, which no one
has the right to alter.
first choice
George Bush will proudly run for
president in an effort to carry the Reagan
legacy into the 1990s. Like Reagan, he
supports reasonable solutions to the
problems of education. When the Demo
crats say throw more money at the
problem, Bush abstains. Instead, he
advocates more practical solutions that
first and foremost center around the need
to maintain a strong and thriving economy.
He will not jeopardize our current eco
nomic resurgence by raising taxes for hard
working Americans.
The average citizen can rest assured that
Bush is in touch. He knows that the best
use of the federal government is to promote
policies that will strengthen the nation and
promote an individual's opportunity to
succeed. The Reagan Bush administration
can take credit for last week's news that
2.5 million jobs were created in the past
year and that unemployment is at a decade
low 6 percent.
George Bush established hims'elf as a
leader early in his career. Seven years of
grooming sets Bush apart from any of the
other candidates, and establishes him as
the logical choice to lead a strong nation
into the 1990s.
Mark Kita is a senior chemistry major
from Cary.
V
year than all the deaths from
alcohol, illegal drugs, traffic
accidents, homocides and sui
cides combined or more
than all American deaths in
World War II or more than
all the deaths from AIDS from
when it was first reported up
through 1991!
However, as your Sept. 15
article ("Library school sets no
smoking policy") indicates, a
few parts of the University are
beginning to heed the surgeon
general's warning that smoking
is "the No. 1 heart problem in
the United States." Other parts .
of the University seem to be
ignoring this habit which
rewards smokers with lung and
heart disease, strokes, stained
teeth, bad breath, gum disease,
numbed taste buds and reeking
hair, clothes and furniture
not to mention its effects on
bystanders. Can we afford "free
choice" for a gruesome habit
that murders as many as 46,000
innocent bystanders a year?
Thanks to the courageous
people who have said, "No,"
including those in the School
of Library Science, the English
department, and North Carol
ina Memorial Hospital (which
plans to confine smoking to a
room in the basement starting
in 1989). Hopefully, someday
the rest of the University will
be smart and ban this fiery
weapon that's killing us at a
faster rate than AIDS will even
begin to approach for years to
come, if ever.
V 1
14
JUDITH B. WOOD
Assistant Professor
School of Library Science
To make Bork look like a racist, Mackay
ridicules Bork's criticism of the court's
"radical expansion of the First Amend
ment." Mackay suggests the Bork is against
minorities by implying that Bork thought
of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a
criminal. Bork's criticism of this expansion
was only that it promoted civil
disobedience.
Mackay mentions last week's hearing on
the Bork nomination, but obviously he
didnl tune in. His analysis is totally
unreasonable and biased. It is evident that
his basis for this column is purely emo
tional, because it is a far cry from being
factual. In the future, he should be more
informed and less one-sided in his subject
analysis.
JEFF DUNCAN
Political Science
Sophomore
si . ' '