Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 15, 1988, edition 1 / Page 10
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
10The Daily Tar HeelFriday, January 15, 1988 latlu 95 th year of editorial freedom There's only one "My interpreta tion of a man with backbone is con fronting adversar board opinion ies while there," Associate Dean Hayden Renwick said Thursday. During his 18 years at UNC Ren wick has rarely stepped down from a confrontation, especially when it comes to minority issues. Yet, on Monday he will become special assist ant to Fayetteville State University Chancellor Lloyd Hackley, leaving a predominately white UNC campus that is still beset by racial tension. In a story Wednesday, The. (Raleigh) News and Observer quoted Renwick as being "disenchanted" with the University's commitment to minor ity students. As examples of recent failures he pointed to the poor han dling of a racial incident at the business school and to the defeat of his proposal to require tutoring for students in academic trouble. The remarks were not meant to be parting salvos from Renwick, who says he leaves with no animosity toward the school. And he is not leaving because of anything that has happened at the University. "It's just time for new horizons. I felt I needed a change," he said. Still, the minority situation at UNC, includ ing a drop in black enrollment from Don't tread on The Supreme Court ruled Wednes day that public school officials have the right to censor student newspapers when the material in question is inconsistent with educational values. Before students run from the presses screaming, "First Amendment!" they must consider the Catch-22 situation which the Supreme Court faced. By ruling as it did, the court opened itself up to accusations of violating the freedom of the press. But had the ruling been reversed, school officials would have their hands tied when immature students practice irrespon sible journalism. At either extreme, it is a no-win situation. Faced with the choice of granting power to the students or power to the schools, the Supreme Court chose the lat ter. This decision applies to state high school papers; whether or not it is broad enough to apply to university papers remains to be seen. The problem is the potential for abuse of censorship power which the broad ruling now allows. A high school administration should foster ethical journalism by giving students freedom of the press and teaching them how to use it responsibly, not by holding the Damocletian threat of censorship over their heads. At the worst extreme, censorship leads to education by fear, rather than by instruction. What can be deemed inappropriate The Daily Editorial Writers: Matt Bivens, Sharon Kebschull, Brian McCuskey and Jon Rust. Editorial Assistants: Gary Greene, David Lagos and Laura Pearlman. Assistant Managing Editor: Amy Hamilton. Layout: Cara Bonnett, Peter Lineberry, Joe McCall and Mandy Spence. News: Kan Barlow, Jeanna Baxter, Laura Bennett, Lydian Bernhardt, Brenda Campbell, Jenny Cloninger, Staci Cox, Laura DiGiano, Sandy Dimsdale, Carrie Dove, Alissa Grice, Lindsay Hayes, Kyle Hudson, Michael Jackson, Helen Jones, Susan Kauffman, Hunter Lambeth, Will Lingo, Barbara Linn, Lynne McClintock, Brian McCollum, Stephanie Marshall, Myrna Miller, Smithson Mills, Lee Ann Necessary, Rebecca Nesbit, Susan Odenkirchen, Cheryl Pond, Amy Powell, Beth Rhea, Becky Riddick, Guinevere Ross, Andrea Shaw, Mandy Spence, William Taggart, Clay Thorp, Jackie Williams and Amy Winslow. Mark Folk and Justin McGuire, senior writers. Angela Joines and Helle Nielsen, wire editors. Laurie Duncan, assistant state and national editor. Brian Long, assistant business editor. Kimberly Edens and Kristen Gardner, assistant university editors. Sports: Chris Spencer, assistant sports editor. James Surowiecki, senior writer. Robert D'Airuda, Steve Giles, Dave Glenn, Dave Hall, Clay Hodges, Brendan Mathews, Patton McDowell, Jim Muse, Keith Parsons, Andy Podolsky and Langston Wertz. Features: Carole Ferguson, Laura Jenkins, Corin Ortlam, Lynn'Phillips, Leigh Pressley, Karen Stegman, Kathy Wilson and Julie Woods. Arts: James Burrus, senior writer. Scott Cowen, Stephanie Dean, Kim Donehower, David Hester, Julie Olson, Kelly Rhodes, Alston Russell and Richard Smith. ' Photography: Christie Blom, Tony Deifell, Janet Jarman, David Minton and Julie Stovall. Copy Editors: Karen Bell and Kaarin Tisue, assistant news editors. Cara Bonnett, Carrie Burgin, Julia Coon, Whitney Cork, Bert Hackney, Lisa Lorentz and Sherry Miller. Cartoonists: Jeff Christian, Bill Cokas and Greg Humphreys. Campus Calendar: Mindelle Rosenberg and David Starnes. Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Patricia Glance, advertising director; Joan Worth, advertising coordinator; Peggy Smith, advertising manager; Sheila Baker, business manager; Michael Benfield, Lisa Chorebanian, Ashley Hinton, Kellie McElhaney, Chrissy Mennitt, Stacey Montford, Lesley Renwrick, Julie Settle, Dave Slovensky, Dean Thompson, Amanda Tilley and Wendy Wegner, advertising representatives; Stephanie Chesson, classified advertising representative; and Kris Carbon, secretary. Distribution Tucker Stevens, manager. Delivery Leon Morton, manager; Billy Owens, assistant. Production: Bill Leslie and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway, Leslie Humphrey, Stephanie Locklear and Tammy Sheldon, production assistants. Printing: The Chapel Hill Newspaper. Jill Gerber, Editor DEIRDRE FALLON, Managing Editor SALLY PEARSALL, News Editor JEAN LUTES, University Editor DONNA LEINWAND, State and National Editor Leigh ann Mcdonald, aty Editor MIKE BERARDINO, Sports Editor FELISA NEURINGER, Business Editor HANNAH DRUM, Features Editor Elizabeth Ellen, Arts Editor Charlotte Cannon, Photography Editor CATHY McHUGH, Omnibus Editor Dean Renwick 7.7 percent last year to 7.5 this fall, cannot be pleasing to a man who has spent the past 18 years trying to improve campus life for blacks and other minorities. Ren wick's new job at Fayetteville will not be easy. He will focus on increasing enrollment at the histori cally black college. He will be missed, but his decision is understandable. Black colleges are going through tough times in North Carolina as attention is being focused on their students' poor showing in national tests. Changing the school's image will be one of his first priorities. With Renwick's departure Monday and the search for a replacement just beginning, it is imperative that the University find a successor who will seriously continue minority support services, Renwick's main responsibility in the College of Arts and Sciences. And because he is one of the most outspoken voices in the administration on minority issues, the University must be careful not to let minority issues slide to the back burner. Renwick's candor has often caught people by surprise. It has infuriated others. But he has said much that has needed to be said. Finding a replace ment like him will be difficult, but it is necessary to the advancement of a racially balanced campus. student press is also a hazy area. Presumably, this ruling is designed to prevent students from slandering or invading the privacy of others. However, if a student paper uncovered a scandal in the administration, the school could protect itself by barring any investi gation by the paper. Or, the principal could censor a harsh editorial written against a decision of his. Those who dismiss the above as merely conjecture should remember this ruling resulted from a Missouri high school's censorship of candid interviews with students about their experiences with sex, birth control and pregnancy. The material was judged too sensitive for the maturity of the students. But the school showed its own immaturity by refusing to allow students to openly discuss sex, which would go on with or without discus sion. Educators should promote honest discussion of problematic issues, not suppression of "sensitive" topics. Worst-case scenarios of both schools' abuse of censorship and students' abuse of freedom of the press could be played off against each other ad nauseum. The bottom line is this because state schools own the presses, they technically do have the right to dictate what is printed there. However, to exercise this power would violate more educational values than such censorship would protect. Brian McCuskey Tar Heel Apathy threatens super collider bid There has been much excitement lately about North Carolina's chan ces of landing the proposed Super conducting Super Collider. North Carolina appears to have a good shot at the project. Objectively, our state offers perhaps the best qualified potential site, about 20 miles north of Research Triangle Park in Durham, Granville and Person counties. Nonetheless, much must be overcome to win our bid for the SSC. The panel overseeing the site selection process to make a recommendation to the Department of Energy recently named North Carolina as one of the remaining contenders for the project, but expressed some reservations about North Carolina's bid. The committee's primary complaint is that access to the proposed site is less than wonderful. Raleigh-Durham Air port's relatively small size and the rural flavor of the area are negative factors. The committee did mention several points in North Carolina's favor, including the "immediate proximity of several major research universities (and) the presence of urban amenities including those of Research Triangle Park." It seems obvious to me that the pluses of the North Carolina proposal heavily outweigh its minuses. With regard to transportation, North Carolina has prom ised to construct a four-lane highway from the Raleigh-Durham area to the site. Other factors bode well for North Carolina: low Continue King legacy To the editor: As the nation reflects on the Rev. Martin Luther King's achievements, we responsible citizens should stress continu ing his legacy of peace, freedom and brotherhood to future generations and fighting for those same goals. If King were alive today, he would chide us for not taking a more active role in the welfare of the people he tried to help: the poor, the hungry, the home less and the disenfranchised. He would chide us for keeping quiet when racism raised its ugly head in Howard Beach, N.Y., and Forsyth County, Ga. Though we recognize these problems that consistently seem to slap our faces, I do not see the push for urgency and immediacy to bring about change. Granted, neither you nor I may be able to act globally, but we can act locally. Conse quently, I challenge everyone to participate in the upcoming seventh annual Martin Luther King birthday celebration week. Let the Jan. 15-22 events be a sincere springboard toward fulfilling King's dream. The King holiday is not just another day off from work, nor a day of rest and play. It is a day set aside to hope, to dream dreams of equality and to work to fulfill those dreams. We should rededicate ourselves to the ideologies and to the memory of a great American, a prophet, and a saint the Rev. Martin Luther King. B. FOSTER BLAIR Junior Biology Christmas road trips and This year I once again fulfilled one of my duties as a son and a brother. I went home for the winter break. However, I returned to Chapel Hill on the 29th of December. My mother thinks that I no longer love her, but how do you tell your mother that you have to leave her because you can't stand the radio stations? I don't know whether it's nature or nurture that has caused me to evaluate an area based on the radio stations I can receive. They don't teach us useful things like that in psychology. Let me recount my experience driving to Chapel Hill from my home town of Jackson, N.J., as an example of a radio lover's nightmare. I only have an A.M. radio in my car that has this problem of playing at about 196 decibels when I try to turn the volume down. No, that just wouldn't do. I brought along an old A.M.F.M. portable radio with an A.C. car adapter. It was still not quite Bose quality, but, to me, it seemed like heaven. Jackson, N.J., must pick up more radio stations than any other town in the world. New York, Philadelphia, Trenton, Prin ceton and Wilmington, Del., all contribute to the electronic entertainment of the town. That's great if you're standing still. In a car, it's impossible to keep a portable radio , on one station. For instance, I heard Bruce Springsteen and Crystal Gayle singing, "Don't it make my . . . pink cadillac . . . blue?" It sounded like a song about vandalism in New York City or the soundtrack to the movie, "King Kong Eats Faye Wray." Since during most of the trip it was Readers' Forumm Matthew Eisele Guest Writer contruction labor costs, a comfortable living environment, and the clear advan tage of being located near the University of North Carolina, Duke University and North Carolina State University. Those benefits have been realized by the tenants in RTP, the nation's premier research park. The biggest obstacle to North Carolina winning its bid for the SSC will not be practical, but political. The choice of a site for the SSC will probably be made from among proposals by North Carolina, Texas and Illinois. Among these three we are a political lightweight; North Carolina simply does not have the political influence that Texas (which has proposed five potential sites) and Illinois (which has spent three times as much money in its quest for the SSC as has North Carolina) have. Lest you think I am unduly cynical, consider the fate of North Carolina's $147 million bid to provide a facility for Sematech, a consortium of 13 semi conducting companies; the Sematech board of directors abandoned the North Carolina proposal in favor of Texas' amid insider charges of personal bias and subjective selection this after Gov. Jim 9 LOUSY NEIGHBORHOOD ing persons from these popu lations in the life of the aca demic community is essential to our survival as an economically competitive and open demo cratic society. Chancellor Christopher Fordham has guided this uni versity closer to realization of an open community of scholars than many thought possible at the time federal courts ordered the University to increase the pace of desegregation. He has stimulated and encouraged efforts to recruit and retain minority students and faculty and appears to genuinely believ e that a minority presence is as important to the education of white students and faculty as Ft is to the development of the potential of minority stu dents and faculty. Advocacy from the chancellor has created a climate supportive of efforts to reduce residual barriers to Fordham urges racial equality To the editor: The relatively peaceful and effective movement toward desegregation at UNC-CH pla ces it at the forefront of high quality research institutions in correcting past inequities. In the thrust toward excellence it is important to take into account the continuing need for distributive justice in the allo cation of educational oppor tunities and other resources essential to development, power and social harmony in a post industrial economy. By the year 2000, 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 will be black, Hispanic or Asian and 55 percent of those under 18 will be of these populations. Includ- Marc Huber Guest Writer snowing and my car has tires that slide better than an East German bobsled, I had to hang on to the wheel with both hands. I would change stations and then start to slide. Of course, no matter how much of the dial is filled with radio stations, I found a frequency that played 24 hours a day of static. God was punishing me for leaving my mother. Usually when I come back to Chapel Hill I take the old, boring 1-95 to 1-85 route. I thought that I'd be different this time. Who needs AAA when you have maps? I'd take 1-495 west of Washington, D.C., to Route 29 South to 86 in North Carolina and I'd be all set. I would check out Charlottesville and Lynchburg on the way. This was not to be as Route 29 South disappeared while I was driving on it and straight ahead I saw a building that looked strikingly like the Jefferson Memorial. I don't know that much about Washington, but I figured that they didn't put major structures like that in the suburbs. This is where the radio came in handy. I don't remember exactly where I was, but the traffic reports said to avoid that street if at all possible because there had just been a major accident about a hundred feet in front of me. The final test of my sanity came between Petersburg and South Hill, Va., another radio wasteland. Here, the country stations from around the world must compete with Martin's administration was all but certain North Carolina's bid had won. Further complicating matters is the fact that North Carolinians are not committed to the SSC project. Most people know very little (if anything) about the SSC, and they are interested even less. But interested and informed they should be. A federal project costing $5 billion to $6 billion, and the fact that the cutting edge of particle physics research would be located in our state, would be of no small importance or impact. It therefore falls upon the state government to educate our public about the SSC and its significance, and to generate the public interest in it that is detrimentally lacking. To succeed with the bid will require public support, effective communication of North Carolina's practical benefits, and, unfortunately, intense political posturing. Texas and Illinois offer very good potential sites in and of themselves, and Rep. Jim Wright (D-Texas; speaker of the House) and Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Illinois; chairman, House Ways and Means Com mittee) will be formidable opponents in the game of political leverage. It is very possible that North Carolina could win the technical battle yet lose the political war in its pursuit of the SSC. Matthew Eisele is a sophomore from Albany, Ga. His major is undecided. access based on past privileges denied blacks, Indian and Asian citizens. Fordham has clearly placed the issues of social justice and the healing of past wrongs as properly falling within the mission of the Uni versity. Moral neutrality on these issues will hasten this institution's membership among the ranks of those satisfied with a token minority presence. I trust the search committee will take full account of Chan cellor Fordham's role in emphasizing the minority pres ence while at the same time advocating and promoting academic excellence as an outstanding contribution to the University and the people of North Carolina that must not be compromised. JOHN HATCH Professor Health Education radio days the religious stations. Having had a close call with an Amtrak train earlier, I thought it safer to listen to the religious station. It was an educational experience. I learned that an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible was recently sold in auction to a Japanese company for a record $4.9 million (that's $5.39 million including the auction fee). I never knew that 89 percent of Bible readers do not read their Bibles. I also learned that the devil doesn't care that the Bible is the best-selling book in the world, or that soldiers carry it into battle, or that criminals take it into prison, or that a man once won the Olympic 100 meter hurdles carrying it (I found out about that one in a game of Trivial Pursuit). It's when we read it that the devil goes into a real frenzy. The Bible jockey went on to say that only one percent of of the Japanese population is Christian, but that he hoped this $5 million and change purchase of a Gutenberg Bible indicated a change about to take place. I wouldn't hold my breath. A Japanese company bought a Van Gogh painting for over $60 million, yet I don't see a significant drop in ears per capita in Japan. After a long and trying trip, I got back to Chapel Hill, crawled into bed and let WXYC lull me to sleep. I kept wondering, where was Paul Harvey when I really needed him? And now you know . . . the rest of the story. Marc Huber is a senior psychology major from Jackson, N.J.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 15, 1988, edition 1
10
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75