12The Daily Tar HeelThursday, March 30, 1989
fj Sailg alar nni
97th year of editorial freedom
- Sharon Kebschull, Edfor
: WlLLIAM TaGGART, Managing Editor
LOUIS BlSSETTE, Editorial Page Editor MARY Jo DUNNINGTON, Editorial Page Editor
JUSTIN McGuiRE, linirersify Editor JENNY CLONINGER, University Editor
TAMMY BLACK ARD, State and National Editor CHARLES BRITTAIN, City Editor
ERIK DALE ll??0, Business Editor DAVE GLENN, Sports Editor
CAR A BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor JAMES BENTON, Omnibus Editor
JVLIA COON, News Editor D A VID SUROWIECKI, Photography Edit or
Kelly Thompson, Design Editor
Abort minor consent bill
A bill requiring women under 18 to
get parental permission for legal
abortions has already passed the N.C.
House, and the prospect that it may
get by the state Senate in the near
future is a frightening one. The
Supreme Court has the right to
reconsider the legality of abortion, but
the meddling of the N.C. General
Assembly into the private lives of the
state's citizens should not be tolerated.
The chief sponsor of the bill, Rep.
Skip Stam, R-Wake, said he fears the
state will become a "haven" for minors
who want abortions but don't want
to tell their mothers. But to worry that
North Carolina will be flooded by
abortion-seeking teens is unrealistic.
Enough surrounding states have no
restrictions on abortion to render this
argument invalid.
What really appears to be the
objective of Stam and other legislators
who support the bill is the legislation
of morality and state interference in
the private decisions of young women.
This is not to say minors considering
abortion should not consult with their
parents before taking such a serious
step. But to force this consultation
would be ill-advised. Most will discuss
the issue with their parents, but this
state has proof of times when there
is good reason to keep the secret.
Testimony before a House commit
tee in February cited a case in which
a young woman's father beat her when
he found out she was pregnant. Even
if such a reaction is uncommon, young
women who find themselves in this
situation deserve the protection of the
law. For minors who fear the reaction
of their parents, a desperate and last
resort might be the infamous coat
hanger abortionists a possible
consequence lawmakers must
consider.
Supporters claim adolescents can
avoid the parental consent require
ment by getting the approval of a
judge. But this is also an unrealistic
loophole. Minors who are unwilling
to discuss the issue with their parents
are not going to take the issue to court.
Illegal abortions would seem to be a
less painful and embarrassing avenue
for many, or, as Rep. Sidney Locks,
D-Robeson, suggested, the law could
drastically increase teenage suicide.
While differing opinions on abor
tion are justified, the fact remains that
abortion is legal, and access to it must
remain open. Forcing minors to
inform their parents is a way for the
state to cloud the issue and intrude
in the private decisions of citizens. The
General Assembly has no business
legislating family values. William
Taggart
Errant friends, Frisbees: Springfestphobia
Soviets should seize reform
Although close to 1,000 of the 2,250
assembly seats were chosen by the
Communist Party in the first free
elections in the Soviet Union in 70
years, Sunday's elections show prom
ising signs for reform in the Soviet
Union.
Voters chose members for the new
Congress of People's Deputies, which
will meet annually to chose a 542
member, two-house legislature called
the Supreme Soviet.
The Supreme Soviet will be largely
comprised of the ruling Communist
Party, but the election of more
independent thinkers and reformists
should make the body more responsive
to the people, increasing the chances
for open clashes over policy and
ideology. This type of dialogue will
open the door for positive reforms
which would have previously been
unheard of under the dominant party.
The Supreme Soviet will choose a
president, presumably Mikhail Gorba
chev. Some argue the results were a
challenge to Gorbachev's authority,
but the results really indicate dissatis
faction with the party's hard-liners, so
Gorbachev should have an easier time
implementing his reforms.
Sunday's results sent the leaders of
the Soviet Union an important mes
sage: the people want reforms, and
they want them fast.
Boris Yeltsin is a prime example of
this message. Yeltsin was dismissed
from his position as a former Moscow
party chief because of his criticism of
some party positions. He was elected
to the Congress Sunday with close to
90 percent of the votes.
Though Yeltsin does not support
democratic ideals, he does represent
a voice for party reform. He has vowed
to fight shortages, environmental
degradation and "general burdens of
daily Soviet life." That someone could
voice such concerns is surprising, but
for someone to be elected on such a
platform is revolutionary.
And Yeltsin is not an exception.
Many "radicals" defeated powerful
party leaders. The mayor of Moscow,
the Communist Party leader in Lenin
grad, the president of Lithuania and
the commander of Soviet forces in
Eastern Europe were all beaten by
progressive reformers. Some of the
winners support such revolutionary
changes as abolishing the draft and
allowing a multi-party system in the
Soviet Union.
Despite the continued dominance of
one party in the Soviet Union, the
country is moving toward a more open
and representative system. In a volun
tary election, Soviet citizens had the
chance to elect the candidates of their
choice to over half of the seats in the
new Congress of the People's Depu
ties. The results will be a government
more tolerant of dissent and an
advance of much-needed reforms.
Chris Landgraff
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Kimbcrly Edens, Chris Landgraff and David Stames.
Assistant Editors: Jessica Lanning, city; Myma Miller, features; Staci Cox, managing; Anne Isenhower and
Steve Wilson, news; Ellen Ihomion, Omnibus; Andrew Podolsky, Jay Reed and Jamie Rosenberg, sports;
Karen Dunn, state and national; James Burroughs and Amy Wajda, university.
News: Craig Allen, Kari Barlow, Maria Batista, Crystal Bernstein, Victor Blue, Heather Bowers, Sarah Cagle,
Brenda Campbell, James Coblin, Staci Cox, L.D. Curie, JoAnna Davis, Blake Dickinson, Jeff Eckard, Karen
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Lawson. Rheta Logan, Dana Clinton Lumsden, Jeff Lutrell, Kimberly Maxwell, Helle Nielsen, Glenn O'Neal,
Sim one Pam, Tom Parks, Jannette Pippin, Elizabeth Sherrod, Sonserae Smith, Will Spears, Larry Stone, Laura
Taylor, Kelly Thompson, Kathryne Tovo, Stephanie von Isenburg, Genie Walker, Sandy Wall, Sherry Waters,
Chuck Williams, Leslie Wilson, Jennifer Wing, Katie Wolfe and Nancy Wykle.
Sports: Mike Berardino, senior writer. Neil Amato, Mark Anderson, John Bland, Christina Frohock, Scott
Gold, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupstas, Bethany Litton, Brendan Matthews, Bobby McCruskey, Natalie
Sekicky, Dave Surowiecki and Eric Wagnon.
Arts and Features: Kelly Rhodes, senior writer. Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci, Randy Basinger, Clark
Benbow, Adam Bertolett, Roderick Cameron, Ashley Campbell, Pam Emerson, Diana Florence, Laura
Francis, Jacki Greenbcrg, Andrew Lawler, Elizabeth Murray, Julie Olson, Lynn Phillips, Leigh Pressley, Kim
Stallings, Anna Tumage and Jessica Yates.
Photography: Evan Eile, Steven Exum, Regina Holder and David Minton.
Copy Editors: Karen Bell, B Buckberry, Michelle Casale, Yvette Cook, Joy Golden, Bert Hackney, Kathleen
Hand, Angela Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Karen Jackson, Janet McGirt, Angelia Poteat and Clare Weickert.
Editorial Assistants: Mark Chilton and Anne Isenhower. Amy Dickinson, letter typist.
Design Assistants: Kim Avetta, Melanie Black, Del Lancaster, Nicole Luter, Bill Phillips and Susan Wallace.
Cartoonists: Jeff Christian, Adam Cohen, Pete Corson, Bryan Donnell, Trey Entwistle, David Estoye, Greg
Humphreys and Mike Sutton.
Business and Advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director; Patricia Glance, advertising director; Joan Worth,
classified manager; Stephanie Chesson, assistant classified manager; Chrissy Mennitt, advertising manager;
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Subscriptions: Ken Murphy, manager.
Distribution: David Econopouly, manager; Newton Carpenter, assistant.
Production: Bill Leslie and Stacy Wynn, managers; Tammy Sheldon, assistant manager; Anita Bentley,
Stephanie Locklear and Leslie Sapp, assistants.
Printing: The Village Companies. . .
"TT ast year I wrote a piece on why I
could not attend Springfest. I feel
JJi compelled to revise it, as all of its
contents have remained true, and because
it was printed in a rather hard-to-find spot
of obscurity (last year I didn't quite have
a column I was given any leftover space
in the weather box).
I'd like to attend Springfest next
weekend, but I can't. I don't mean "can't"
in the physical sense, I mean more in the
way Thomas Wolfe was talking about
when he said, "You can't go home again"
(specifically, Wolfe was referring to the
incident when his parents painted the house
in psychedelic colors). So allow me to
justify my absence from this festive
occasion.
First of all, I always get hit in the head
by a Frisbee. Always. The first couple of
times I'm able to play it off and toss the
Frisbee back. But then I receive another
five blows to the head and inexplicably
take on the persona of Harry Truman. It
was suggested, in order to correct this
problem, that I simply wear a helmet. I
suppose that might work, but I'm just not
going to do it. I'm not wearing a helmet
at Springfest.
Secondly, I always lose the crowd I'm
with. Always. Realizing this, I took counter
measures at the last one I attended and
showed up with 100 of my closest acquain
tances. But within minutes, all of them had
disappeared into different branches of the
social circuit. Invariably, I am left alone
to walk the site in limbo. And the only
thing you can do when you're in such a
situation is to pretend to be looking for
somebody. If not, you hear the excruciat
ing whispers around you of, "Look, man,
David Rowell
Pardon Me
that guy came to Springfest by himself."
So to avoid this often traumatic expe
rience, I start making my rounds. It's like
shooting a moving target . I'm harder
to humiliate if I'm walking. But this gets
me into a third reason why I can't attend
Springfest. As I walk around in my "I'm
looking for someone" guise, my eyes
cannot make contact within a -15-foot
radius. I always have to be looking, say
50 feet ahead, with an expression of delight,
as if I see my girlfriend, Miss Hawaiian
Tropic, over by the stage. Naturally, I don't
see where I'm walking.
Which leads to reason number three: I
always step on someone. Always. Two
years ago my inability to make foot-ground
contact caused me to rupture two peoples'
colons (one of whom I knew), break eight
various bones and induce early labor in
one young mother.
I incite a game of Twister like you've
never seen. As I have hooked my leg
around some guy's back and my arm
behind a girl's neck, there is some little
voice inside my head reading the Twister
spinnerboard. "Left arm on drunk guy's
face. Right foot on girl in your psych class."
Besides that, I always step through the
top of someone's cooler. Not on, through.
They're never able to pull it off, and it's
reminiscent of the scene where Christopher
Robin, Rabbit, Eyeore, Piglet and Rue are
all trying to pull Pooh out of the hole he's
in. So I just walk around with two medium
sized coolers for shoes.
"Hey, Dave, thought you weren't going
to make it this year."
"Well,- it's my last year and all."
"Wearing your coolers again, huh?"
"See ya later, Joe."
No thank-you.
Now by this time, I am completely alone.
I've stopped pretending to be looking for
someone, and inevitably, I have ended up
on the outskirts of the crowd talking to
some guy in a turban, who came to see,
"Wot all da noise about."
Many phobias have been linked to such
an unusual attitude towards this public
event. One that I have is Sunatickaphobia
(it stems from the latin word "ib"). Though
we don't know all the facts about this
disorder, it means that I have an acute fear
that, in the midst of bodies laying out, 111
be blocking everyone's sun. Why should
I screw it up for everyone else?
I also have Bikiniclaudaphobia. This
relatively common pychosis deals with how
I see myself in a group of scantily-clad
females. The phobia, in short, is that in
such a stimulating environment, I lose my
own identity due to lack of esteem and
take on a new, loathsome personality (my
direct fear is that 111 obnoxiously introduce
myself as "Iggy" and shout Helen Keller
jokes at the top of my lungs).
It's OK, though. So don't fret for me.
No, don't give me another thought. Ill try
to stay busy and productive. For as Balzac
said, "There goes another novel."
David Rowell is a senior RTV MP major
from Fayetteville.
Readers9 For em
Homosexuality
not a disease
To the editor:
When I went home for spring
break, a close friend of mine
told me she has decided to
become bisexual. Two of her
ex-boyfriends are now homo
sexual, and she has recently
dated two other gay males. I
don't understand this, but I
have to believe most people are
confronted with temptations of
homosexuality at some time in
their lives, although some
(myself included) are tempted
less strongly than others.
My mother, who is a teacher,
has mentioned to me that many
adolescents find themselves
with crushes on same-sex
teachers, although most forget
these episodes and live their
lives as heterosexuals. We have
convinced our society that
homosexuals are as far from
"normality" as we are from
"abnormality." Neither is true.
I shouldn't look at homosex
uality any differently than I do
my own lusts.
I see a lack of love coming
from others as well as from
myself. The Christian com
munity pushes homosexuals
away from God by condemning
them outright or viewing them
as sick, perverted or warped
instead of loving them as God
commands us. I didn't come to
Christ sinless no one can
but some people are convinced
that morality and Christianity
are exclusive of homosexuality.
Sin is sin; one is not worse than
another. Love is the answer.
JEFFPETTIT
Senior
Math
Sink swimsuit
issue
To the editor:
Tom Murray, and Keith
Hill's letter countered a pre
vious assault on Sports Illus
trated's swimsuit issue ("Bring
back the sports", March 20) on
the basis that the writer had
l ll rate you a sexshul
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gabbler and a father
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allowed six issues," including
one on Michael Jordan, to
elapse between the first appear
ance of the annual flesh fest and
her objection to it. This is a sad
commentary on the reasoning
abilities of the undergraduates
at this institution. There are a
lot of things wrong in this
world, and just because they've
been that way for a long time,
at least six issues, does not
mean they shouldn't be
changed.
The argument is not whether
Sports Illustrated provides
adequate sports coverage it
does nor is it whether
legitimate sports articles aug
ment the issue in question
they do. It is that the wet T
shirt pictorial, which even
advertisers for SI do not
attempt to disguise as anything
other than an opportunity for
its primarily male readership to
leer at scantily clothed females,
is offensive to women. No
matter how many issues of
Sports Illustrated . have
appeared on the newsstand,
this is wrong. No doubt avid
defenders of male debauchery
will clamor in response claim
ing either the swimsuit issue
photos are no more objection
able than the shots of men in
swimsuits, basketball shorts,
etc., that regularly appear in SI
(in spite of the fact that these
men are actually athletes), or
the issue is really a catalog from
which women may shop, or it
is a celebration of the form and
beauty of the female body and
is by no means degrading, or
it is not offensive because it is
tame by comparison to other
less reputable men's magazines.
Sure, and men really do read
Playboy "for the articles."
SHERRY LAURITZEN
Technician
Pathology department
Spring break is
not apathy
To the editor:
I suppose it's just a part of
the job. During their reign
Daily Tar Heel editors must
produce an introductory edi
torial, a farewell editorial, a few
spoof issues, and they must call
the student body apathetic.
Well, it sure looks like we are,
since less than one quarter of
us vote, and it isn't only the
alumni who don't cheer at
basketball games. That's the
way it is, and it won't change
because the DTH pointed it
out. Anyone who truly is apa
thetic won't care, and it's an
unfair label to those who do
allow themselves to get
involved.
Involvement takes many
forms. For some, racism and
homelessness are too far
removed, fortunately or unfor
tunately depending on how one
views these things. However,
housing, parking and student
tickets are immediate enough
to engage students. Maybe
when those concerned students
graduate from college they'll
also graduate to more mean
ingful issues. Maybe, but only
if they are now given a chance
to voice their opinions instead
of being ridiculed for speaking
out. Don't be so quick to call
people shallow. Nor should all
students be seen as apathetic
because they stepped off their
soapboxes to enjoy spring
break. We are first and fore
most college youth, enjoying it
while we can.
ANNE BLEYMAN
Senior
English
esearch is primary to quality teaching
To the editor:
Recent controversy over the history
department's appointment of Jim Leloudis
to a permanent professorship has under
handed ly resulted in a Gary Freeze vs. Jim
Leloudis match. Leloudis has received a
position teaching N.C. history. Junior
Gene Davis has circulated two petitions
with hopes to first "influence (history)
department officials to offer Freeze a
permanent position in the future if one
becomes available" ("Students protest
professor's leaving," March 20) and second
to rally in favor of students having more
input in the choosing of professors. If
students want more voice in the hiring and
firing of professors, then such petitions are
needed for those sole reasons and not
reasons of one professor, Gary Freeze,
alone.
I have not taken a class under Freeze
but I hear from fellow students that this
man is an entertaining professor with
beneficial teaching skills their opinions
are respected. But, instead of prolonging
Dr. Freeze's disordination to the history
department, it is time to focus on the
exceptional qualities that the appointee
possesses. As a freshman, I came to this
university looking forward to some courses
and dreading others, namely history. I was
pleasantly surprised to find out that history
was not a shuddersome requirement; but
an event that I actually looked forward
to for 50 minutes, three times a week. I
credit my newfound interest to Jim
Leloudis, instructor of History 22 three
years ago. Mr. Leloudis presents history
in the mode of storytelling and concen
trates on all aspects of the past, including
art, music, people and their communities.
There have been accusations regarding
-Jim Leloudis' qualifications regarding
N.C. history. Jim Leloudis is a native
North Carolinian, and he has exhausted
years of thorough and intensive inquiry
into the lives and historical backgrounds
of North Carolinians. This research is
invaluable to his teaching abilities and
instructional worth. Such study resulted in
Leloudis' co-authoring the book, "Like a
Family: The making of a Southern Cotton
Mill World," and . acquiring innumerable
awards, including the Beveridge Award,
for his dedication. In the March 22 issue
of the DTH ("Demand quality responsi
bly"), I was shocked to find the DTH board
agreeing that "undergraduates are not
.interested in who does the best research
... what is important to undergraduates
is excellent teaching . . . without strong
teaching skills their research is meaningless
in the classroom." Without strong research
background, professors are unable to teach
anything current or in-depth iri the
classroom. Research is a large portion of
teaching and should be of primary impor-:
tance alongside teaching skills.
In the four years that I have known Jim
Leloudis, his competency has been quite
apparent. Besides researching North
Carolina history for several years by
extensively interviewing Carolinians about
their textile backgrounds and receiving a
distinguished award for hisco-authored
book, he has been publishedin several
highly regarded history journalsand has
executed presentations concerning the
importance of oral history to classes
outside the history department.
All students who had the privilege to
take History 22 three years ago with Jim
Leloudis know of his peerless teaching
skills, his ability to bring the past to life
in one surpassingly informative, absorbing
lecture and his indisputable eligibility for
a permanent professorship at this univer
sity. Those Freeze students and others who
have not had the Leloudis experience, give
him a chance he is an exceedingly
qualified professor and most definitely
worth a person's time.
PATTY GRIGGS
Senior
Speech communications Philosophy