10The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, April 6, 1989
latlg afar . 311
97th year of editorial freedom
LOUIS BlSSETTE, Editorial Page Editor
JUSTIN McGuiRE, University Editor
TAMMY BXACKARD, State and National Editor
ERIK DALE FlIPPO, Business Editor
CARA BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor
Julia Coon, News Editor
Sharon Kebschull, Editor
WILLIAM TAG G ART, Managing Editor
MARY JO DUNNINGTON, Editorial Page Editor
JENNY CLONINGER, University Editor
Charles Brittain, aty Editor
DaeClENN, Sports Editor
James Benton, Omnibus Editor
DAVID SURO WIECKI, Photography Editor
Kelly Thompson, Design Editor
Lend them your ears
Too often, students are left out of
the decision-making process even
when policy changes directly affect
them. Changes in education policy are
made almost every day, and the only
way to voice concern effectively is to
stay informed.
This weekend, student government
is giving UNC an opportunity to hear
two distinguished speakers present
their opinions on two of education's
most pressing issues minority
recruitment and retention and the
future of student aid.
The speakers are part of a three
day Student Advocacy Conference
hosted by Students for Educational
Access, an executive branch commit
tee. Tercel Bell, former U.S. Secretary
of Education, will speak Friday on the
future of student aid. This issue is
especially timely because of the eight
bills now before Congress which
propose major changes in the structure
of federal aid for education.
Many of the proposals say aid
should be gradually replaced by
national service, in which students
would earn vouchers to be applied
toward tuition costs by participating
in civilian or military service.
Students obviously have a stake in
the outcome of these proposals
because the future of aid is still
undetermined. To be effective in
Living out a sheltered life
expressing whatever opinions they
hold, students must have a working
knowledge of the issues which could
determine their future.
In the second lecture, Reginald
Wilson, the director of the American
Council on Education's Office of
Minority Concerns, will speak about
minority enrollment and retention
Sunday morning.
Though UNC administrators report
improvements in minority recruit
ment, many students remain unin
formed about minority relations
issues. By investigating and under
standing the issues, students can
intelligently voice opinions on the
existence of the Black Cultural Center
and the segregated Greek system.
But students should not only inves
tigate these areas. Effective represen
tation demands interaction between
students and policy makers. Students
should have a significant impact on
education policy, but they cannot
expect to be taken seriously until they
know the facts.
Students may say a rally against
apartheid or another international
controversy has no bearing on their
lives. But that excuse is not valid on
an issue as relevant to everyone at this
university as education. To influence
decisions, students must first show an
interest and be educated. Hear what
the experts have to say this weekend.
Chris Landgraff
f their wizard was a wizard who'd serve
Homelessness is a growing problem
throughout the world. In many Third
World cities up to 50 percent of the
population is without adequate hous
ing. In large American cities it can be
difficult to find a corner without its
"street people." Even Chapel Hill has
a homeless problem, as a DTH series
this week showed in graphic detail.
It is a problem without easy
answers. The town has leased the old
municipal building to the Inter-Faith
Council (IFC) for use as a homeless
shelter and soup kitchen, but the lease
will run out in one to three years,
possibly rendering the expensive
renovations of the building obsolete.
Pressure from some downtown mer
chants who are unhappy with the
proximity of the shelter has caused
people to consider the relative advan
tages and drawbacks of finding
another site. As always, money places
constraints on what is feasible.
Town officials seem genuinely
dedicated to working on provisions for
the homeless, an attitude which
contrasts sharply with that of federal
officials. (Ronald Reagan once said
the homeless people sleeping outside
the White House gates were there
because they wanted to be.) However,
town officials admit they have no basic
plans; the issue is "just being floated
around." Nor have they worked aid
for the homeless into the town's annual
budget. Defining a specific, well
researched course of action and
planning for long-term funding are
steps the town government should take
immediately.
Many downtown merchants, while
recognizing the need to address the
homeless problem, have expressed
their discontent over the shelter's
location at the intersection of Rosem
ary and Columbia streets. Their
concern over something that could
adversely affect their business is
understandable, but the desire to make
money should not obscure the fact that
there are human beings without a place
to live.
The IFC, the central group working
to provide facilities for the homeless,
plays a crucial role in providing the
shelter's organization and leadership.
It does all it can to raise money for
Chapel Hill's homeless. However, the
IFC's members must be wary of taking
short-sighted steps at the expense of
a long-term solution, such as a large,
permanent facility.
The top priority for the entire
community should be to turn the
widespread concern for the homeless
into meaningful action. It's often
difficult for people who have life's
necessities to comprehend that there
are those who don't the "have-nots"
who are victims of circumstances they
cannot master. Despite Reagan's
interpretation, most homeless people
are not merely lazy. Many need some
kind of help, such as medical attention,
job training or rehabilitation. Above
all, they need the basics food and
shelter. There is something wrong with
society if those who "have" are too
sheltered to recognize the plight of the
homeless and too selfish to extend a
helping hand. Mary Jo Dunnington
Leaders must respect rights
Very few things make journalists
angrier than when their rights to a free
press are challenged. For example, the
government has tightened up on access
to records that should be available
under the Freedom of Information
Act, and journalists have begun to
protest. But conditions are not going
to improve unless the politicians of
tomorrow are educated about a free
press today.
The most recent disturbing incident
took place at Duquesne University in
Pittsburgh. The editors of The Duke,
the student newspaper, were locked
out of their offices by the-student
government after the paper ran an ad
the government disliked. The Catholic
school's government had asked the
paper not to run the ad for contra
ceptive counseling services at a family
planning clinic.
University newspapers deserve the
same treatment as any other profes
sional papers, and no one would think
to lock the offices of The New York
Times or The Washington Post
because of an ad they found distaste
ful. There are other proper ways to
express disappointment, such as
writing a letter to the editor. If students
are mad enough, they can simply stop
reading the paper. But there should
never be government interference in
the business of the press such
crossover is dangerous and violates
First Amendment freedom.
That danger was obvious to the
student journalists, but apparently the
rest of Duquesne has yet to realize it.
It is a lesson that should be learned
now, because the politicians will have
to deal with things they don't like in
newspapers for the rest of their lives.
Sharon Kebschull
I he world would be a great place if
it wasn't for a few individuals. After
JL all, what would Iranian extremists
be without the Ayatollah? Sure, they'd still
be a bunch of mindless boobs with
genuinely bad facial hair, but they wouldn't
be so mean and evil if they didn't have
a leader telling them to be. "
What if the Ayatollah got on the
loudspeaker one day and said, "Hey, I just
read the neatest book. It's by some guy
named Rushdie .and if I were you, I'd go
out and buy it." Then there'd be a riot,
as Iranians seem to be fond of riots, but
this one would be a different kind. It'd
be a friendly riot, as people went running
and pushing to go out and get "Satanic
Verses." Instead of Ismael and Muhammed
yelling, "Kill Rushdie! Kill and Death! Kill!
Kill! Kill! Kill!", they might be openly
chanting, "We want paperbacks! We want
paperbacks!" ;
The best thing that could happen to these
hapless puppets is for the Ayatollah to eat
some Chilean grapes (and by the way, how
much longer can this guy go on? He's two
years older than Grandfather Mountain!).
What's so sad is that these kinds of people
don't even know anything but a life full
of violence and hatred. It's like the Wizard
of Oz. Remember the Wicked Witch's
guards? All they did was march around,
singing, "O-ree-o. Oooo-re-o" and take
orders from their leader. That was all they
knew.
So there they were, chasing after
Dorothy and her friends because the witch
was screaming for them to do so. But
Dorothy got lucky and hurled some water
on her. Then the witch melted. She was
done away with. Remember what hap
pened then? One of the guards leaned
down, saw the witch was gone, and said
David Rowell
Pardon Me
in disbelief:
"You killed her."
"I didn't mean to," Dorothy said.
"Honest."
"Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of
the West. Hail Dorothy!"
For the first time they were free, and
just within those few moments, they felt
how glorious it was. They weren't really
bad people at heart. They were just
misguided. So up and down they went,
singing, "Hail Dorothy! Hail Dorothy!"
You have to admit they weren't the most
original group of people, and you certainly
wouldn't want them for dinner guests, but
at least they were on the right track. That's
all we can ask for.
If Dorothy's bucket had been filled with
confetti instead (accidently left on the set
by the Harlem Globetrotters), then they
would have been captured and ended up
as assorted-characters casserole. Life
would have gone back to the same old
routine for the guards, because there wasn't
one among them who would rebel or even
think to rebel against the witch.
And so the Iranian radicals and any
other buffoon infantries like them run
through the streets promoting violence
because their leader is piping that kind of
warped philosophy. I don't contend that
these people are not ruthless and mon
strous individuals. They are. :
But while we grew up reading "The Cat
in the Hat" and "Horton Hears a Who,"
they were being brought up with "Assault
Baby: 101 Ways to Protect Your Crib."
What chance did they stand?
In the United States, Bazooka Joe was
a kid wrapped around gum who told god
awful puns to his friends. In the Middle
East, Bazooka Akeem was a kid who told
bad jokes to his sidekicks about annihi
lating the community. And theirs didn't
even come with gum.
I'm not saying all the world needs is some
Rambo type to run into the Ayatollah's
palace wearing a blue skirt and carrying
a pail of water. If that would solve
everything, we would have sent a super
S. W. A.T. in there to hold him down while
Salmon Rushdie showed him his new pop
up book. Besides, there would just be
someone meaner and less photogenic to
take his place.
But maybe someday, amid all the insane
fighting and general bad behavior, one
involved soldier or citizen will realize that
somewhere, buried deep underneath his
helmet, he has a brain, struggling to tell
him this lifestyle is madness. Maybe hell
develop some concern about all the
needless bloodshed, and before long, hell
know he has a heart. Then in time, he might
have enough courage to point out to those
around him how absurd their state of
affairs has gotten and that action needs
to be taken to turn things around and fight
the ruling hand. What would be next?
"I don't think there's anything in that
black bag for me."
There would be peace and harmony. A
place you could visit. They might even call
it a home.
David Rowell is a senior R TV MP major
from Fayetteville.
Readers9 Forirai
Demand for
blood is urgent
To the editor:
We would like to inform
students of the "serious need"
of 0, O-, B, and B- blood
types for the Carolinas Region
of the American Red Cross.
These blood types and others
are used daily for the needs of
hospital patients. Without ade
quate donations, elective
surgery must be postponed,
research of blood diseases is
hindered, and trauma patients
are placed in grave danger.
"Serious need" means that
there are no reserve supplies of
these blood types. Currently,
donation supply of the afore
mentioned blood types is just
matching patient demand.
There are no reserves of these
types in case of emergencies.
The UNC campus Bloodmo
biles supply over half of the
donations for our chapter,
therefore student participation
in campus Bloodmobiles is
critical at this time, especially
for students, faculty, or staff
who have these blood types.
The next Bloodmobiles on
campus are: Apr. 11 and Apr. .
12 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
in Great Hall, Apr. 12 from
4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Hinton
James, and Apr. 19 from 4:30
to 8:30 at Carmichael dorm.
These Bloodmobiles are also
the last ones to count for UNC
in our Bloodbattle with other
ACC schools (like Duke, State
and Virginia).
The act of giving blood is
very easy and usually takes less
than an hour, but can make a
difference for so many people.
Please donate.
CASEY COPP
Junior
Early childhood education
KAREN COURTNEY
Junior
Psychology
Don't ignore
positive efforts
To the editor:
"Racism, one of the most
baneful and persistent evils, is
a major barrier to peace. Its
practice perpetrates too out
rageous a violation of the
dignity of human beings to be
countenanced under any pre
text. Racism retards the
unfoldment of the boundless
potentialities of its victims,
corrupts its perpetrators, and
blights human progress."
(From the Baha'i peace
statement.)
Recently there have been a
lot of letters about the unnum
bered experiences of negative
racial interaction on campus.
No doubt we have all seen these
problems and there are no
logical arguments for racial
discrimination. There may be
many who are apathetic or even
callous to the tension between
races on our campus, but
hopefully they are a shrinking
minority.
It is important to be aware
of the injustices that occur, but
it is equally necessary that we
do not ignore the positive
efforts that are being made.
, EXXON VALDEZ
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Maybe rather than focusing on
the negative facets of interracial
campus attitudes, we should
take a break- and look at the
helpful movements that exist.
Friendships between blacks
and whites, social interaction
and even formal organizations
are here and are on the increase.
All these avenues exist for
improving our critical frustrat
ing situation.
I do not want to come off
as a Pollyanna, but I do wish
that we could take time out to
appreciate the efforts some are
making and get involved in
these. I firmly believe that our
nation is crippled by' this con
tinuing ignorance and nothing
is going to change until we
make it change personally.
"The earth is but one country
and mankind its citizens."
JOHANNA MERRITT
Junior
Psychology
Help for our
housekeepers
To the editor:
There are about 1,300 state
employees who earn less than
the federal poverty level for a
family of four. And surprise,
surprise 246 of those are
UNC housekeepers. You know
who I'm talking about. I'm
talking about those men and
women who mop our
bathrooms and clean our toilets
after all-campus bashes such as
Burnout, the men and women
who clear away boxes left in
the, half by people who ignore
the signs asking them to take
weekend trash out themselves,
the men and women who scrub
the sinks and microwave ovens
after we have spilled unknown
substances inside them and left .
them to be baked or hardened.
Some of these people have
worked from early in the morn
ing to 4 p.m. every weekday for
10 years, performing these
tasks that we so often fail to
appreciate.
What do you do if your
housekeeper is ill? Say, on
Monday, after this weekend's
Springfest and Beach Blast. If
you get sick this weekend and
miss the toilet or trashcan or
sink, you can rest assured that
by about 8 or 9 a.m. on Mon
day it will be cleaned up, and
youH be left with a good story
"I was soooo drunk after:
Springfest!" Do you realize
how small the pay is for those
who clean ' up after our
excesses? One housekeeper,
who has worked here for 14
years, takes home $329 every
two weeks that's $8,554 a
year. In 14 years, she has taken
home less than $120,000. How
would you like to tell your
parents that you'll make
$120,000 in 15 years?
By now, I hope you're asking
what we can do about this
situation. Rep. Anne Barnes of
Orange County has made it
easy for us. She has proposed
a bill to the General Assembly '
requiring that the employees
who receive less than $11,612
a year the family-of-four
poverty level should be given
raises bringing them up to that
level. We, as students, can ask
the administration to support
that bill; we can ask Brien
Lewis to make it an issue. If
we don't take this chance to
support our housekeepers, we
may soon see the last of those
friendly faces who do our dirty
work for us, as they quit work
because, as one housekeeper
asserts, "People on welfare
make more money than us."
KAREN ANDERSON
Senior
Russian East European
studies
Letters policy
B Students should include
name, year in school, major,
phone number and home
town. Other members of the
University community should
include similar information.
Q All letters must be typed
and double-spaced, for ease of
editing.
D Place letters in the box
marked "Letters to the Editor "
outside the DTH office in the
Student Union.
r 1 V ClL fiP? SBWS
New Nautical Terminology