10The Daily Tar Heel Monday, March 20, 1989
ReaderslEoram
Sailg
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97th year of editorial freedom
Sharon Kebschull, Etfitor
William Tag g art, Managing Editor
LoUlsBlSSlTTE, Editorial Page Editor
JUSTIN McGuIRE, University Editor
Tammy Blackard, State and National Editor
ERIK DALE RlPPO, Business Editor
CAR A BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor
JULI A COON, News Editor
Kelly Thompson, Design Editor
Smith suspension shows class
Dean Smith couldVe caught a lot
of flak had UNC lost its basketball
game against UCLA Sunday night.
The coach suspended junior J.R. Reid
and junior redshirt Rodney Hyatt for
one game after they violated curfew
by "a few minutes" Friday night. UNC
won, so Smith escaped criticism but
regardless of the outcome, his decision
was commendable.
Reid and Hyatt went out after the
UNC victory over Southern in the first
round of the NCAA tournament and
did not return until after 1 a.m. The
team curfew is 1 a.m. two nights before
a game and midnight the night before
a game.
The suspension came as a shock to
many fans who were eager to see the
Tar Heels advance in the tournament,
and it certainly shocked Reid, who was
anxious to play against the much
improved UCLA team.
Smith has taken disciplinary action
against his players, including Reid, in
the past. Reid and Steve Bucknall were
not allowed to dress out for the 1987
season opening game against Syracuse
because of a scuffle at a Raleigh
nightclub. Even though it was a big
game between two pre-season favor
ites, it was early in the season, and
the loss of the two players did not
affect the entire season.
But Sunday's UCLA game was
if le ban barely enough
In what appeared to be an abrupt
policy" reversal by the Bush adminis
tration, the government has banned
imports of semiautomatic assault rifles
indefinitely, pending a review of
whether the weapons are being used
for sporting purposes. While this is a
step in the right direction, it is hardly
sufficient, and the motives behind the
decision are questionable.
The ban was announced by drug
czar William Bennett, who apparently
lobbied President Bush hard for the
decision. Bush, a member for life of
the National Rifle Association, pre
viously said he would not impose any
bans on semiautomatic rifles in a year
in which requests to import the
weapons are already triple the number
for all of 1988.
This ban may not last, because the
White House is calling it only a
"review" of importation policy subject
to change in the future. The ban only
stops the importation of foreign-made
weapons, doing nothing to hinder the
production of domestic models or
remove the estimated 88,000 weapons
already in the hands of private owners.
The decision is a blow to the NRA,
which fought a losing battle against
a similar measure in California. The
group has said it supports the govern
ment's review because it would put a
stop to the "media hysteria" surround-
Just about every day, those of us who
work on the editorial page get a phone call
or two from anxious letter writers, eager
to know when their letters will be published.
Although we frequently run a brief letters
policy as a part of our Readers Forum,
we realize writers want to know the odds
of getting printed before taking the time
to produce a typed, double-spaced mani
festo to drop in the little green box just
outside the DTH's door.
Editor Sharon Kebschull and editorial
page editors Louis Bissette and I decide
early each afternoon which letters to run.
We try to run as many different letters as
possible and to present a wide cross section
of views.
While we welcome letters expressing
diverse opinions, we do have some criteria
that we stick to when deciding whether to
run a letter. We do not run hand-written
or anonymous letters. Nor do we run
personal attacks on people; criticism of a
person's actions is one thing, but we give
no space to name-calling.
Most of the letters we get adhere to those
standards, leaving us with numerous letters
daily that are worthy of ink and newsprint.
Due to space limitations, however, only
about half of the letters we receive actually
appear in print. This is a pretty good track
record, considering that many newspapers
only print 20 percent to 30 percent of the
letters they receive.
Choosing from the "eligible" letters can
be difficult, but when we make our decision,
MARY Jo DuNNINGTON, Editorial Page Editor
JENNY ClONINGER,. University Editor
Charles Brittain, aty Editor
DAVE GLENN, Sports Editor
JAMES BENTON, Omnibus Editor
DAVID SURO WIECKI, Photography Editor
extremely important. The Tar Heels
embarrassed the Bruins earlier in the
season by handing them their worst
loss in history, and the matured Bruins
wanted revenge.
The pressure on Smith to win is
incredible. Though he has earned the
respect of virtually everyone in and out
of the basketball world, years of
success can be easily forgotten, as
former Dallas Cowboy coach Tom
Landry recently discovered.
Though Smith is not in any danger
of being fired, his actions Saturday
undoubtedly annoyed and even
alarmed a large number of Tar Heel
fans. But his decision demonstrates
firm committment to developing
responsibility among his players.
The rules governing the players are
made by the seniors on the team, and
they were all consulted before Smith
made the suspension. Reid and Hyatt
clearly broke the rules and should
suffer the consequences.
Despite the significance of the game
and the importance of a player like
Reid, Smith enforced a rule which
could have easily been overlooked. By
sticking to the rules which were clearly
spelled out to all players at the
beginning of the year, Smith has
increased the integrity of his already
worshipped basketball program.
Chris Landgraff
ing the issue, although it is unlikely
to support a permanent ban. But even
the NRA admits that a distinction
between semiautomatic "assault' rifles
and sporting weapons would be
difficult to make, so the review
proposed by the administration is not
feasible.
The ban is also tenuous because it
seems to be politically motivated. The
Republican Party is reeling after the
rejection of John Tower as nominee
for defense secretary, and the party
wants to regain its momentum.
Finally, Republicans are responding to
public opinion polls that show the
country strongly in favor of controls
over semiautomatic weapons. Realiz
ing that assault rifles are associated
with drug traffickers and violent crime,
even the most conservative politicians
should find it difficult to oppose the
ban at least for now.
As far as it goes, the ban is a
commendable effort to fight the
proliferation of weapons this country
has seen recently. But a complete and
comprehensive ban on the production,
sale and use of all semiautomatic
assualt rifles is the only logical solution
to the subjective process of determin
ing who uses semiautomatic rifles for
sport and who uses them as weapons.
William Taggart
the last word
we consider whether the issue is timely, how
much attention it has already received on
the editorial page, whether it is an issue
of which readers need to be aware, and how
' big of a "hole" we have to fill.
How well the letter is written also matters
in our choices. Well-written letters express
an idea or opinion clearly and intelligently.
While we do reserve the right to edit letters,
this usually means simply correcting
grammatical or spelling errors or cutting
a few lines to make the letter fit the page.
We cannot and will not rewrite a letter just
to clarify the point.
Once we've decided what to print, one
of us will always verify letters we don't
want to print letters under assumed names.
But a call to verify the letter is no guarantee
that it will run we will never promise
to run a letter. Writers can call to check
that their letter was received, but we cannot
guarantee anything.
Finally, despite our best efforts, some
times good letters never make it to the
editorial page. A letter that doesn't run right
after we receive it may still be used in the
next few weeks, but eventually it loses its
timeliness.
Don't let any of this discourage you from
writing a letter to the editor the next time
something inspires you to share your
opinion with your fellow DTH readers. It's
definitely worth the time after all,
opinions are what the editorial page is all
about. And we do value your opinions.
Mary Jo Dunnington
Justice not
To the editor:
In his letter to the editor March 9, Lee
Newcomb expressed support for the Bush
administration s decision not to intervene
in the management-labor dispute at
Eastern Airlines. While Mr. Newcomb is
certainly entitled to his opinion, I feel the
need to respond to some of his
contradictions.
As is typical of Americans, especially in
this Reagan and post-Reagan era, the
unions are portrayed as bad guys who
betray their members and, in the bargain,
make life difficult for the rest of us. It
would be easy enough, I suppose, to point
out a number of examples to satisfy this
interpretation; at the same time, however,
I believe it is a fundamentally bad reading
of history to find this to be the final
judgment of American labor
organizations.
My sense is that if we must find bad
guys, they are more recognizable by their
Respect goes
both ways
To the editor:
We agree that in the incident
Mia Davis (DTH, March 9)
and her sisters endured while
performing the Greek rite "The
Death March," the racial slurs
and physical violence should
never have occurred. Certainly
we would never condone these
actions under any
circumstance.
However, if respect is "due
courtesy or tolerance for things
I may or may not understand,"
please educate us. Why do
some fraternities and sororities
insist on interrupting our stu
dies or waking us at all hours
of the night and morning with
dancing, singing or chanting?
No one minds a good show,
and few wquld be disrespectful
to a group participating in a
"sentimental and sacred" event
if it were done within our
hearing at a time other than
"12:40 a.m."
Perhaps Miss Davis and her
sisters, as well as other Greeks
who participate in this sort of
event should reconsider the
time of night at which they
begin their ceremonies. And
perhaps, too, they should re
phrase their definition of
"respect" to include- the idea -that
showing respect for others
does not mean giving up one's
own right to study or sleep in
peace and quiet in one's own
room.
BRENT WALSTON
Sophomore
Education
MINDY STINNER
Junior
Education
Peepholes not
necessary
To the editor:
The $10,000 going to waste
for gates around the arboretum
is nothing compared to the cost
of installing peepholes in dorm
doors. Just like the gates
around the arboretum, instal
ling 3,400 peepholes in dorm
room doors appears to be a
good idea. However, once the
cost of such an undertaking is
considered, this good idea turns
into an extremely expensive
one. According to the housing
department, the cost per door,
including labor, is $5. This
works out to be $17,000.
Spending $17,000 and 850
hours (IS minutes door x 3,400
doors) to install peepholes is
ridiculous, since most college
students are smart enough to
ask who's at the door before
they open it. They are also
smart enough not to open the
door for strangers. My apart
ment door does not have a
peephole, and I have no prob-
Criticism of
To the editor:
I am writing in response to the March
7 editorial "Congress constricts Yack."The
opinion in this article is that the Student
Congress does not have the right to tell
the Yackety Yack what to print. I find it
hard to believe that an editorial stating the
board's opinion is so unclear and ignores
important questions that the reader may
have.
First of all, the board says "There is a
fine line between responsible financial
influence and editorial control." The board
goes on to say that Congress crossed that
line by decreasing funding of the Yackety
Yack. Here, the board makes the false
assumption that the audience agrees with
it on where the fine line is between financial
influence and editorial control. This line
may be drawn in different places depending
on how much of the funding comes from
Congress, which leads to my next point.
The board leaves out some figures that
are essential to this editorial. For example,
it does not tell the reader what percentage
of the Yackety Yack's funding comes from
Student Congress. Since the reader does
not know this, he is unable to establish
in sight for
pinstripe suits and boardroom seats than
by their blue collars or banners expressing
working class unity. Our basic history texts
do not do justice to the actual events which
mark the trials of workers in this country.
Much mention is made of strike disrup
tions and the like, but little is made of
employee lock-outs, management-inspired
racial and ethnic tensions, horrendous
working conditions, starvation wages,
work-related diseases and child labor,"
while such "unnecessary" extras as security,
dignity and meaningfulness are trivialized.
These conditions have long been sup
ported by the. political system in this
country, often to the point of using official
force to maintain the status quo. Adherents
of the doctrine of laissez-faire sometimes
forget that basic requirements of our liberal
economic structure are provided or
supported by the political sphere for
example, the legal code, law and order,
the monetary system, fiscal policy, etc. In
Sister Sam.
lem asking who's at the door
before opening it.
The age-old practice of ask
ing who's at the door before
opening it has apparently
worked very well up to this
point. According to a fairly
recent DTH article, Kathleen
iBenzaquin, the associate dean
of students,'? knows of -no
reported rapes in UNC dorm
rooms. And though "dorm
rooms are thought to be the
frequent site of date or aquain
tance rape," it should be bla
tantly obvious to anyone that
peepholes will riot prevent
rapes when the victim knows
her attacker.
I suspect the main reason for
the installation of the peepholes
in dorm doors and the gates
around the arboretum is to
lessen the school's liability from
suit-happy students who might
sue UNC if they were raped or
assaulted. It's sad that the
University has to spend $27,000
to protect itself from students
who don't have the common
sense not to walk in unlit places
at night or to ask who's at the
door before opening it. Neither
peepholes nor gates will save
any lives or prevent any rapes.
People who let strangers into
their room now will continue
to do so, and people who cut
through the arboretum at night
will continue to do so. The only
thing the peepholes and gates
will help prevent is a successful
lawsuit.
JIM HOCK
Senior
Journalism
Intervention
sometimes good
. To the editor:
In a March 9 letter, Lee
Newcomb makes the claim that
laissez-faire "is and has been the
fundamental doctrine of the
American economy for over
200 years." We're not econom
ics majors and so we're not sure
if this is true or not. However,
we do know that there have
been instances where the U.S.
government intervened in eco
nomic matters.
-For example, the; govern
ment intervenes in the market
place of secondary education.
Those of us who attend state
supported schools tend to think
that this is a good thing.
Perhaps Newcomb feels that
such obvious violation of
laissez-faire is a bad idea.
Perhaps Newcomb would
rather try to get an education
in the open marketplace, seeing
as public education is jeopard
izing the right to free compe
tition for schools like Duke and
Harvard. Imagine how low
private college tuition would be
in a perfect, unsubsidized edu
cational marketplace, free of
nasty government interference!
Newcomb also criticizes the
AFL-CIO for being self
centered. The doctrine of
laissez-faire that Newcomb
espouses states that there's
nothing wrong with self
centeredness. The theory is that
if each member of a society acts
in his or her self-interest, then
benefits will naturally flow to
everyone. Perhaps Newcomb
should reread "The Wealth of
Nations" and check out a
history book or two as well.
The Great Depression, for
instance, is a well-documented
example of the marketplace's
potential for spectacular fail
ure, where the total collapse of
Western civilization was pre
vented only by government
intervention.
potential for sabotage, appar
ently on the part of union
members. In the interest of
relevance and fairness, we
Congress unclear, unfounded
a position on the issue. For example, if
the Student Congress funds 10 percent of
the Yack, then it would be ridiculous for
it to oversee the printing; however, if it
funds 90 percent, it is in more of a position
to tell the yearbook whit to do. Also, the
editorial talks about "the predominance of
white Greek organizations at' the expense
of smaller, more diverse groups." Here, the
reader wants to know the ratio between
white Greek groups and smaller, more
diverse ones. Figures such as these would
be very helpful in convincing the reader.
Later, the board states that "the book
isn't what Congress thinks it should be."
This statement does not support the thesis
because it is not followed by details;
therefore, the reader is, left clueless as to
what Congress thinks the book should be.
Also, it implies that Student Congress is
using its funding power to coerce the
Yackety Yack into printing what it says.
Unclear statements within the editorial
cause confusion and make the argument
even less convincing. For instance: "Just
because the Yack must charge for its
publication does not mean Congress
should tell it what to do with that money."
average workers
more specific cases, this doctrine has
perhaps been honored in the breach as,
often as in practice; its application has been'
rather selective over the course of time,
and often against the interests of workers. .
The Eastern employees are tired 6'
dealing with incompetent management,
which is all too willing to redress it's'
mistakes at the expense of the workers,
Frank Lorenzo, with his emphasis oh"
breaking the unions, rather than trying tq'
put the airline back on its feet, has simply-,'
been the focus needed to rally the workers'
in support of just demands long overdue
Will justice never roll down like waters
for the average worker in this country, or '
has this too become subject to "trickle!
down"?
hugh singerline:'
Graduate
Political sciencp.
won't bring up the violence
perpetrated by management in
the history of labor relations:
But we'd like to point out that1
there has been no mention of.
sabotage by the union and it's
quite unfair to accuse them of
planning any, unless Newcomb
has some evidence that isn't
available to the rest of us. v
True, the AFL-CIO is hva
position to perpetrate sabotage,
if they want to, but who says
they want to? George Bush is
in a position to blow up the
world in five minutes, if he
wants to. However, we
wouldn't dream of accusing
him of wanting to, even for the
"moment of glory" Newcomb
says the union is after.
ARTIE SPARROW
Senior
Undecided
T. RISTIN COOK5
Junior
Journalism
Letters policy ;
The Daily Tar Heel
welcomes reader comments
and criticisms. When writing
letters to the editor, please
follow these guidelines: ;
D All letters must be signed
by the author(s), with a limit
of two signatures per letter. ;
o All letters must be typed
and double-spaced, for ease of
editing. J
o The DTH reserves the
right to edit letters for space
clarity and vulgarity
Remember, brevity is the soul
of wit.
a Place letters in the box
marked "Letters to the Editor
outside the DTH office in the
Student Union.
The board is actually trying to say that
just because Student Congress funds the
book does not mean it can tell them what
to print, but the wording of the statement
is hard to understand.
Also, the board overlooks an obvious
analogy, therefore making this argument
weak. The federal government funds the
roads and for this reason, it oversees the
maintenance, building and usage of the
roads. The board needs to tell why the
funding of roads is any different from
funding the Yack.
Though the editorial has a strong point;
the argument is weakened by vague
statements and false assumptions. The
readers are not given enough information,
to make their own decisions, which makes
the argument very one-sided. The function
of the board is to inform the readers and
give them a chance to agree or disagree
with the board's opinion.
LISA BARBOUR
Freshman
Undecided