Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 13, 1988, edition 1 / Page 8
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8The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, September 13, 1988 Th e value o f luck is the rice you pay 96th year of editorial freedom Karen Bell, News Editor MATT BIVENS, Associate Editor KlMBERLY EDENS, University Editor JON K. RUST, Managing Editor Will Lingo, city Editor Kelly Rhodes, Am Editor CATHY McHUGH, Omnibus Editor Jean Lutes, Editor, .: KAARIN TlSUE, News Editor LAURA PEARLMAN, Associate Editor KRISTEN GARDNER, University Editor SHARON KEBSCHULL, State and National Editor MIKE BERARDINO, Sports Editor t LEIGH ANN McDONALD, Features Editor KIM DONEHOWER, Design Editor DAVID MINTON, Photography Editor Lending the helpers a hand How many rapes do you think .occurred in residence halls or apart ments last year? In South Campus parking lots or Coker Arboretum? , : Maybe 10, maybe 50, maybe ,200. No one really knows, officials agree, because most rapes aren't reported. But few deny that rape is a serious problem on this campus. And although it's certainly more than a campus issue, rape should be of special concern to students here. The small-town atmosphere can lull everyone, both men and women, into a false sense of security. A pretty campus should not automatically be assumed to be a safe campus; rapists may lurk on brick pathways, next to colonial buildings and behind century . old trees, too. Or down the hall. : . Although some, victims, for wha tever reason, decide not to go to the ; police, all of them need to turn to : someone. And that's where you can help. : The Orange County Rape Crisis 'Center is looking for volunteers to train as counselors for adult victims of rape and sexual assault, counselors for sexually-abused children and community educators. The volunteers offer emotional support to victims of sexual violence and help educate the community on prevention. "It's the kind of thing where you can never have too many," said Kristina Groover, community educa tion and outreach coordinator for the center. "The more volunteers we have, the better job we can do." And this isn't a job just for women. The center is always in need of male volunteers as well. "We counsel a lot of dads, boy friends and brothers," Groover said. Men also are needed to present public awareness programs to civic and campus groups, she said, since the center tries to send male-female teams to speak to co-ed audiences. A warning this program requires sincere commitment; volunteers must pre-register for the six-week training program, and they must be willing to put that training to use. Of course, the best way you can help the center is to avoid becoming a victim yourself follow basic prev entive measures and exercise common sense. Even if you dont have time to be a volunteer, you can take a few minutes to walk a friend home from the library at night. But despite the best of precautions,, you or someone you know could still become a victim. The Rape Crisis Center staff should be commended for the valuable counseling services they provide. They deserve all the help they can get. Jean Lutes Law schools vital, bar none . UNC-system president C.D. Spangler is understandably concerned about ttie scores of the students who recently took the state bar and nursing exams. : The scores of N.C. A&T University nursing students were nothing short of exceptional, with a 100 percent pass rate. But the N.C. Central University Law School students who took the state bar exam had only a 49 percent pass rate, making them as disappoint ing as the nursing students' perfor mance was outstanding. The scores seem even more frustrat ing when examined in the wake of what administrators undoubtedly considered encouraging progress. The NCCU Law School hit an oppressive low in bar exam scores in 1985, with only a 38 percent pass rate. In 1986, the scores rose to 62 percent and in 1987, they climbed once more to 67 percent. "It's been a disappointing year," Spangler told the UNC Board of Governors last week. "I share the concerns many of you have expressed to me." Disappointing, yes, but not a total loss. NCCU's scores should not outshadow the outstanding perfor mance of the system's other law school, which is in Chapel Hill. It boasted a 90 percent pass rate. If Spangler and the other BOG members are dedicated to outstanding performance in every UNC-system school, these poor exam results should be a one-time occurrence. r : The curriculum at NCCU should be closely examined. Art Padilla, UNC associate vice president of academic affairs, told BOG members he had already requested information from the NCCU law school. And he should. There is a definite need for at least two law schools in the university system. The law school in Chapel Hill is extremely competitive. Students who prefer a smaller school or who cannot gain admission here should have an alternative to the compara tively expensive private universities in the state. No one with the grades, the drive and the true desire to go to law school should be denied the opportun ity for lack of places in the class or more importantly lack of funds. NCCU's low scores should not force BOG members' heads into their hands for moans and groans. Instead, they should serve as incentive for admin istrators at all levels to roll up their sleeves and seriously study the curric ulum to find the problems which obviously exist in the school and correct them. There are no excuses for students in the law schools at the two univer sities not to receive the same caliber of education. The schools and their administrators need to work together, exchanging ideas to create the best system-wide law program possible. Sandy Dimsdale 1 The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Writers: Sandy Dimsdale, Dave Hall and Bill Yclvcrton. Assistant Editors: Jenny Cloningcr and Justin McGuire, university. Staci Cox and Amy Winslow, state and national. Andrew Podolsky and Chris Spencer, sports. Barbara Linn, Felisa Neuringer and Clay Thorp, managing. News: Lynn Ainsworth, Kari Barlow, Jeanna Baxter, Crystal Bell, James Benton, Tammy Blackard, Brenda Campbell, Lacy Churchill, Daniel Conover, Karen Dunn, Laura Francis, Eric Gribbin, Susan Holdsclaw, Kyle Hudson, Helen Jones, Chris Landgraff, Bethany Litton, Brian McCollum, Samantha Newman, Helle Nielsen, Susan Odenkirchen, Laura Pe ay, Beth Rhea, Cedric Ricks, Michael Spirtas and William Taggart. Peter Lineberry, wire typist. Sports: Robert D'Arruda, John Bland, Dave Glenn, Brendan Mathews, Jay Reed, Dave Surowiecki and Langston Wertz. Features: Jo Lee Credle, Hart Miles, Myrna Miller, Leigh Pressley and Ellen Thornton. Arts: Cara Bonnett, Beth Buffington, Elizabeth Ellen and Julie Olson. Photography: Brian Foley, David Foster and Belinda Morris. Copy Editors: Cara Bonnett, Julia Coon, Whitney Cork, Bert Hackney, Susan Holdsclaw, Anne Isenhower and Angelia Poteat. Cartoonists: Bill Brown, Jeff Christian, Adam Cohen, Pete Corson, Trey Entwistle, Luis Hernandez and Greg Humphreys. Business and Advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director; Patricia Glance, advertising director; Joan Worth, advertising coordinator; Chrissy Mennitt, advertising manager; Sheila Baker, business manager; Michelle Harris, Sarah Hoskins, Amy McGuirt, Maureen Mclntyre, Denise Neely, Tina Perry, Lesley Renwrick, Amanda Tilley and Joye Wiley, display advertising representatives; Leisa Hawley, creative director; Dan Raasch, marketing director; Diane Quatrecasas, sales assistant; Diane Cheek and Stephanie Chesson classified advertising representatives; and Jeff Carlson, secretary. Subscriptions: Cody McKinney, manager. . Distribution: David Econopouly, manager; Cindy Cowan, assistant. ; - Production: Bill Leslie and Stacy Wynn, coordinators. Leslie Humphrey, assistant. Printing: The Village Companies. I he city of La Paz, Bolivia, fills an enormous dead-end canyon high in the Andes, the downtown office buildings and hotels nestled at the bottom of the gorge, and the shacks of the poor campesinos climbing up and over the rim. La Paz is a bowl of city, like neon soup at night the basin glows with the street lights and shop signs, and the steep sides of the canyon flicker with evening cooking fires. . ' The streets of the city are twisted and fragmented, like the random cracks in a shattered mirror. On market days, the steep sidewalks fill with campesino women dressed in several layers of thick frayed dresses and sweaters, black bowler hats perched on their heads, most carrying children slung in brightly colored blankets across their backs. The women spread their goods across the pavement, selling ever ything from Trac II razor blades to blood clotted goat heads with huge white eyes rolled back. The roar of bargaining echoes in the narrow streets, as does the honking of .cars forcing their way. through the crowd. On my second day- in La Paz. the overwhelming confusion of the market was too much, so I ducked down Linares Street and first met the witch." She was not the only witch on Linares. Six of them had set up wooden tables by the gutter, displaying hundreds of withered herbs and dusty idols. Cloaked in heavy blankets, the witches sat on the sidewalk and madly chewed coca leaves to relieve the pain of hunger. Their, black eyes shone from leathery and wrinkled faces. I wandered to the smallest table because its owner smiled at me, a dark toothless grin, and nodded her head. "Hola, gringo," she said. . 'Hola," I replied. "Puedo mirar?" Can Hook? Brian McCuskey In the Funhouse - She nodded again - solemnly, and waved, her hand over the table. Jars of crumbled leaves and broken twigs, none labelled. Small ampules of dark rubbery things floating in a dirty syrup, with tiny pieces of clay resting on the bottom, carved in . strange but purposeful shapes. Dozens, of v fist-sized stone , idols turtles with sad human faces, twisted and lumpy frogs, miniature Incan warriors, dwarfish men carrying huge bags on their backs, or grinning maniacally and holding their crotches. And a stack of dried llama fetuses, shrivelled into contorted poses. I pointed to the largest fetus, the size of a cat. "What is this for? She giggled. "Bury under your house for luck. Only 25 bolivianos." "I don't have a house." ; v "Do you want one? Take this." She held out a tiny stone frog. "For wealth. Five bolivianos." J turned it over in my palm. One foot was chipped off. "No, I don't want wealth." She shook her head. "You are American, you must want wealth." She took back the . idol. "Are you married?" "No." r . "Then take this."; A small carving of a-, man and a woman embracing. "To find a good wife. Two bolivianos." "But I dont want a wife right now." "Oh., Well, it's for true love, then. Five bolivianos." . , "Hey, you said two before." She giggled again. "Harder to find true -love than a wife. Need stronger magic." T pointed to the mysterious ampules. "What are those for?" , "Luck." "How much for one?" "You decide. The more you pay, the more luck you have." "I dont want one." "Too late, gringo. You asked, you have to buy one. Or your luck is nothing." ."Ill think about it," I said, and walked away. ; Oyer the next few days I stopped and chatted with the witch several times, and even bought a few idols as presents for people back home. Each time I passed she gestured at the ampules, but I couldnt bring myself to buy one. How much to pay? There would always be the nagging thought that I hadnt paid enough, that the luck would fail at some crucial future moment. But, if I didnt buy, then "my luck was nothing." - I was caught. And I couldnt merely laugh it off the old witch's foreboding face loomed over me at night as I lay awake, agonizing over the price. On my last day in La Paz, I went to Linares Street. "Ill buy one," I said, pointing to the ampules. I grabbed a fistful . of bolivianos from my pocket. Chance would determine the price, and I would live with that luck. She grinned. "No money, gringo. I give it to you as a gift." ' I frowned. "But then there is no price: My luck is nothing." . She shook her head. "Gringo, it is a gift; . it is priceless. Your luck is everything." Still giggling, she wrapped the ampule in tissue and handed it to me. , I could still hear her giggling as I walked ' away. I can still hear it now. Brian McCuskey is a senior English major from Los Angeles. x IReadleFS Foram Stop beating our heads To the editor I hate to break the news to Marguerite Arnold ("Parking is not an issue," Sept. 9) but parking is, whether she likes it or not, an issue on this campus. Granted, it is not an earth shattering one. It is, however, worthy of attention. Arnold fails to realize that for a large number of students it is not a question of simply driving to class. If Arnold will pardon our arrogance, some of us would like to drive home on weekends and holidays without forcing our parents to lose time on the job to come pick us up. In my case, my family lives near Hickory, nearly three hours away. Making a trip from Hickory to Chapel Hill and back would be an all-day affair. Arnold then abruptly man gles the subject of her letter by transforming it into a condem nation of UNC students "class blindness." She uses the arts of assumption and accusation, becoming quite arrogant in her own right. In the first place, yes, we have opportunities and privileges that are less common in other places; and we are thankful for them. These opportunities, however, did not come easily. Every student at this University has worked for at leasi 1 2 years to get where he or she is today. We have earned the right to be here. Secondly, not every student's car was bought for them by their parents. A great number of students paid for their own car in part or in full. Honda? BMW? No. I drive a 1974 Monte, Carlo in which the odometer registers, 110,872 miles. But that, of course, is my problem. It runs; therefore, it is functional. And why is it necessarily a crime to drive a car be it a BMW or a Chevette that your parents SSSBnEBBBDBBKiBaBliBnBBBBnBBBDBIIK9HBBBHBflBnBBBBBBIiHBaiBMaMHBaBBnnBBHH - ' '. f HIS CAMPAIGN) LroimD , ( IS ABOUT J f, IF LCtS in r-P IrC f SuQlL Do -Vw PUN y - : ,u - THI5 CAHPAIGH "1 o "tV V IS -ABOUT,- ' tSV- j jssts... bought for you? A person cant be condemned for that. Person ally, I'm happy for that person.' My world, and I am sure I speak for a number of others, is not rocked because Joe College is driving a free Porsche. ,r Finally, there is the matter of Arnold's thinly veiled cry of "racist," directed, I suppose, at Matt Bivens as well as the rest of the student body. Arnold, get a grip. Are we really racists in your mind because we would like a place to park our cars? If so, as one of those allegedly spoiled, wealthy, sheltered, car-: driving, car-parking racists, let . me be the first to tell you that you are, in this particular statement, extremely offensive and dead wrong. Give us all a break, Arnold. Stop beating our heads against your wall. JOEL FOX ' Junior ' Music Clean lip game; cheers To the editor: - , I write this letter in reference to Saturday's UNC-Sooners football game. My complaint is not with the team, band or . cheerleaders but with the mike man.. His attempts at encourag ing crowd participation, were frequently prude, disgusting and totally inappropriate to the 100-year-old Tar Heel ' tradi tion. I am all in favor of the job the mikeman is supposed to do. The cheers add a fun touch to the games. However, cheers about sodomy, laxatives and the way in which Asian people speak are completely uncalled for. It would be hum iliating for national television to present this spectacle as representative of all UNC. I am not advocating that he lose his job; just clean up his act! '' JEANNE APPLETON Graduate Occupational Therapy Letters policy The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and criticisms. When writing letters, to the editor, please follow these guidelines: ; n The DTH reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity and " vulgarity. Remember, breyitys the soul of wit. - n When submitting letters or columns, students should include name, year in school, major, phone number and home town. Other members of the University community should include similar information. D All letters and columns must be signed by the author(s), with a limit of two signatures per. letter or column. ' n Place letters in the box marked "Letters to the Editor' outside the DTH office in the Student Union. Help;! rm ceep compassion an d justice alive I his year marks the 40th anniversary of the United Nations adoption of Ji. the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document, which all UN member, nations have signed, provides an international standard for the protec tion and preservation of human rights for all citizens. Unfortunately too , many nations have elected to ignore their obligations under this charter. In more than 50 countries you can be arrested simply for expressing, or listening to others express, a certain political or ideological point of view. Or arrested because of your ethnic, racial or religious background, or because a relative has voiced certain ideas in public. Or arrested for no "official" reason at all. Despite persistent denials, over one third of the world's governments routinely arrest and torture people to gain informa tion, force confessions, intimidate and punish. . ' : Take the case of Shahid Nadeem, who was jailed for organizing a strike of television workers in Pakistan. He was kept in a cell at a notorious prison in the Punjab desert, next to an open toilet used by 70 prisoners. If sleep was difficult because of the stench, searing heat made it impossible. One prisoner died of sunstroke a few hours Tom Rudin Guest Writer before Nadeem received the letter that changed everything. An Amnesty International group member in Texas wrote, "You are not alone; dont lose heart. We pray for you. If you need anything, dont hesitate to ask." "Suddenly I felt as if the sweat drops all over my body were from a cool, comforting shower," remembers Nadeem. Soon the whole prison heard about the letter. The warden became polite. The guards ceased their abuse. In time, Nadeem was released. He marvels that "a woman in San Antonio wrote these kind words that proved to be a bombshell for the prison authorities." Amnesty International is an independ ent, impartial movement that plays a specific role in the worldwide protection of human rights. Its focus is letter-writing, on behalf of the prisoners.' ,;h i : t ' t A member of Amnesty-International never knows if the letter he or she writes will be the one that means freedom for a prisoner. Most dont. For months, even years, Amnesty International groups may hear only silence in response to their persistent appeals. Yet Amnesty International works, as evidenced by the thousands of "adopted" prisoners who have gained their freedom as a result of Amnesty International's efforts since its creation 27 years ago. ' The local chapter of Amnesty Interna tional held its intitial meeting of the year last night, Sept. 12. The next meeting will be Monday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. at the Newman Center, across from the Carolina Inn. All are invited to attend. Each individual, by acting collectively with this organization, can take a stand for human dignity. Those who join the efforts of Amnesty International are saying that they refuse to accept the torture, the humiliation, the silencing of another human being. In the face of cruelty and the arrogant abuse of limitless power, they prove to both the victims and the tonrien- ters mat compassion, justice ana respect for humanity remain aiive. ; Tom Rudin is the assistant director of the UNC Math and Science Education Network.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 13, 1988, edition 1
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