12The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, April 26, 1989
uFt Satlg OJar -311
97th year of editorial freedom
. Sharon Kebschull, Editor
William Tag g art, Mana Editor .
LOUIS BlSSETTE, Editorial Page Editor MARY Jo DUNNINGTON, Editorial Page Editor
JUSTIN McGuiRE, lliirsiry Editor JENNY CLONINGER, University Editor
TAMMY BLACKARD, State and National Editor CHARLES BRITTAIN, dry Editor
ERIK DALE FLIPPO, Business Editor DAVE GLENN, Sports Editor
CaRaBoNNETT, Arts and Features Editor JAMES BENTON, Omnibus Editor
JVLIA COON, News Editor Da VID SUROVflECKl, Photography Editor
Kelly Thompson, Design Editor
Hardin faces a hard choice
Chancellor Paul Hardin told the
UNC Board of Visitors Friday that he
is considering postponing the start of
the fall semester for one or two weeks
to cope with state budget cuts. Before
such a decision is made, great consid
eration must be given to the disruption
it would cause to students, faculty and
employees.
The N.C. Office of Management
and Budget cut non-personnel funding
to the University by $3.2 . million
because of unexpected spending by
some state organizations and a decline
in state revenues. The cuts have
severely impaired the operations of
many University departments, as well
as libraries and computer facilities.
Some professors will even have to dig
into their own pockets to pay for
photocopying final exams.
The University won't be able to
make a decision about how to deal
with the budget cuts until the begin
ning of May, when it finds out whether
more money will come in from the
state. If the money doesn't come in,
everyone is in for some tough times.
Without more money, Hardin has
two options: he can decide to start
school late, or he can start it on time
with inadequate facilities and services.
Either way, everybody loses.
The provisions that would have to
be made if school were to start late
are staggering: simply informing all
students of the change and providing
for them to move back into residence
halls and apartments on the new date
is a monumental logistical task. Part
time, temporary and student
employees would not be paid because
they would not be working; library and
computer facilities could be cut back;
and the lost class time could signif
icantly reduce the material covered.
What little else Hardin could do to
make up for the deficit, including
shortening hours at Morehead Planet
arium, the Botanical Gardens and the
libraries, have even more drawbacks
if libraries are only open until 5
p.m., students and faculty will be
severely limited in the amount of
research they will be able to do. None
of these options would save as much
money as postponing the beginning of
the semester.
The big question in many students'
minds is why they are being forced to
pay for other people's financial mis
takes, especially when they have paid
money to attend this university and
use its services. That one probably
won't be answered.
Hardin has a tough decision ahead.
But if it's a choice between starting
school late or being forced to deal with
inadequate services at libraries, in class
or in on-campus housing, students
may have to opt to start school late
it's the lesser of two evils. We won't
know until May. Let's just hope the
check is in the mail. Kimberly Edens
SD1 a billion-dollar video game
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has
announced the Bush administration's
intention to scale down research
efforts on the Stategic Defense Initi
ative (SDI), but the administration is
still wasting too much time, money and
energy on the impractical Star Wars
defense program.
The SDI program is the brainchild
of the Reagan administration. In 1983,
Reagan said the United States would
establish a defense policy to make
nuclear weapons "impotent and obso
lete." Reagan and SDI supporters
envisioned a system in which space
based and some ground-based wea
pons would intercept enemy missiles
before they could reach the United
States.
The feasibility and strategy of SDI
have constantly been questioned by
scientists and military experts, but so
far, Bush has been loyal to Reagan's
goal of a space-based defense.
The Defense Department claims it
has the solution to the Star Wars
feasibility problems. New and sup
posedly smart space-based weapons
called "Brilliant Pebbles" would be
able to track missiles without much
need for guidance from outside satel
lites. Cheney said the Brilliant Pebbles
are much cheaper and more accurate
than systems now proposed for the
Star Wars program.
But this new "savior" of SDI suffers
from the same problems the larger
space-based missiles do. Skeptics say
the reported low cost of the system
is a lie. Swarms of Brilliant Pebbles
would be needed to offer any degree
of protection, and Cheney admits that
no system can provide total protection
from attack.
But even if the system is affordable,
the implications of deploying Brilliant
Pebbles would be just as detrimental
as those of the larger space-based
missiles.
Experts say the Soviets would have
great incentive to launch a preemptive
strike against the system, or even the
United States, if they fear their
weapons would be made obsolete by
the deployment of a defensive system
by the United States.
Soviet countermeasures against a
space-based defense system would
follow deployment. This defensive
system would lead to an escalation of
the arms race because enemies would
strive to make their missiles faster and
less detectable in order to evade the
Brilliant Pebbles.
No one but the Reagan and Bush
yes-men seriously believe in the
advisability or feasibility of a space
based defense, yet Bush insists on
pouring money into these destabilizing
programs. There's nothing like spend
ing billions on a video game: Chris
Landgraff
Wednesday's guide to cyclical happiness
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Kimberly Edens, Chris Landgraff and David Starnes.
Assistant Editors: Jessica Yates, arts; Jessica Lanning, city; Myrna Miller, features; Staci Cox, managing;
Anne Isenhowcr and Steve Wilson, news; Ellen Thornton ,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, Sarah Cagle, Brenda Campbell, James
Coblin, L.D. Curie, JoAnna Davis, Blake Dickinson, Jeff Eckard, Karen Entriken, Deirdre Fallon, Mark Folk,
Lynn Goswick, Jada Harris, Joey Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Jennifer Johnston, Jason Kelly, Lloyd Lagos, Tracy
Lawson, Rheta Logan, Dana Clinton Lumsden, Jeff Lutrcll, 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, Fred Williams, Jennifer Wing, Katie Wolfe, Nancy Wykle and Faith Wynn.
Sports: Mike Berardino, senior writer. Neil Amato, Mark Anderson, Jason Bates, John Bland, Christina
Frohock, Scott Gold, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupstas, Bethany Litton, Bobby McCroskey, Natalie Sekicky,
Dave Surowiecki and Eric Wagnon.
Arts and Features: Kelly Rhodes, senior writer. Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci, Randy Basinger, Clark
Bcnbow, Adam Bcrtolett, Roderick Cameron, Ashley Campbell, Pam Emerson, Diana Florence, Laura
Francis, Jacki Greenbcrg, Andrew Lawler, Elizabeth Murray, Julie Olson, Lynn Phillips, Leigh Pressley, Kim
Stalling! and Anna Tumage.
Photography: Thomas Clark, Evan Eile, Chuck Ellison, Steven Exum, Regina Holder, Sheila Johnston,
Tracey Langhome, David Minton and Todd Scott.
Copy Editors: Karen Bell, B Buckberry, Michelle Casale, Joy Golden, Bert Hackney, Kathleen Hand, Angela
Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Karen Jackson, Janet McGirt, Angelia Poteat and Clare Weickcrt.
Editorial Assistants: Mark Chilton. 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 Donncll, Trey Entwistle, David Estoye, Greg
Humphreys and Mike Sutton.
Business and Advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director; Patricia Glance, advertising director; Joan Worth,
classified manager; Stephanie Chcsson, assistant classified manager; Amanda Tilley, advertising manager;
Sabrina Goodson, business manager; Dawn Dunning, Kristie Greeson, Beth Harding, Lavonne Lcinster, Tracy
Proctor, Kevin Reperowitz, Alicia Satterwhite, Pam Strickland, Pamela Thompson and Jill Whitley, display
advertising representatives; Lora Gay, In grid Jones, Shannon Kelly and Tammy Newton, sales assistants;
Kim Blass, creative director; Pam Strickland, marketing director; Genevieve Halkett, Camille Philyaw,
Tammy Sheldon and Angela Spivey, classified advertising representatives; Jeff Carlson, office manager and
Allison Ashworth, secretary.
Subscriptions: Ken Murphy, manager.
Distribution: David Econopouly, manager; Newton Carpenter, assistant.
Production: Bill Islie and Stacy Wynn, managers; Tammy Sheldon, assistant manager; Anita Bentley,
Stephanie Locklear and Leslie Sapp, assistants.
Printing: The Village Companies.
efore I know it, here I am in the
rJL Last Column of the Year, and being
JJjta senior, I suppose I should wax
philosophic about traddling down the
Carolina cobblestones for four years with
the fresh Carolina flower-laden spring
breeze in my Carolina face, about the gay
old times in my freshman dorm, about
seeing dear old Rameses XV on the
football field, and about the lump in my
throat and the warmness that overcame
my heart when I sajw Carolina win the ACC
championship. Well, I hate to disillusion
everybody, but my freshman dorm was
Hinton James (which is halfway to
Pittsboro, for those of you who haven't
traddled that particular flower-laden half
hour walk to class), the only lump and
warmness I felt during the ACC champion
ship was probably my adenoids and a 104
degree temperature watching it in Jamaica,
not to mention the fact that I'm not even
graduating, so I haven't even got a right
to get all mushy and bleary-eyed about this
Southern Part of Heaven.
But I am getting older, and although
I'm not getting a whole lot wiser, I'm
getting a damn sight more crochety, and
a lot more willing to inflict a few more
tips to a happier and healthier life in place
of a gushy essay on seeing the Old Well
at dusk.
Expect the worst, and anything else is
a pleasant surprise.
This is my mother's favorite saying, and
it used to make me sick when I was
younger.
"Whaddya mean, expect the worst? How
do you expect me to be happy with a theory
like that?"
"You can expect the worst and still be
happy. It doesn't mean that things will turn
out for the worst, just that you're ready
for anything that might happen."
"Geez, Mom, if I keep thinking like that,
IH end up hanging myself or dropping the
hairdryer in the bathtub or somethin' . . ."
"Okay, take your birthday, for instance.
Is there anything in particular you want?"
"You know what I want, Mom."
"Well, expect the worst, and anything
else is a pleasant surprise."
. And then I knew it she and my dad
hadnt bought me the bicycle I had been
raving about for months, a blue Huffy
Sportster with tarantula racing stripes and
a big orange flag sticking up from the rear
Ian Williams
Wednesday's Child
wheel. Depressed and dejected, I sulked
with my Siamese cat for two days until
my birthday came, when I straggled into
the living room for the party. There,
shining in all its splendor, was the bike.
I was so happy that I rode it nearly all
day for months around the Iowa coun
tryside with a huge smile on my face.
So is happiness just a ratio of how close
reality is to your hopes? Probably not, but
if you expect grandeur and brilliance from
the things you experience movies,
roommates you havent met yet, DTH
columns you may be disappointed. Yet
if you expect little from your surroundings,
you're going to be delightfully surprised
when something wonderful sneaks up and
bites you in the butt.
Don't be a pain in the ass.
'This is especially important, as it seems
to be the equinox of Official Crap-Giving
Season around here lately. As you quietly
sit in the Pit, enjoying a tender moment
with a Nestle Ice Cream Crunch Bar, you
are suddenly jolted into the Miltonian
screeches and verbal flogging of a Pit
Preacher's private hell. You try to escape,
yet are met with the brain-curdling screams
of a man wielding a leather book and
condemning you and your suitemates to
a purgatory of blaspheme adulterers,
drinkers and people who don't floss
regularly. What kind of a quiet flower
laden afternoon is this among the
cobblestones?
Even worse are the little student Gods
who try desperately to squelch things they
don't understand by offering pieces of
literature in the paper steeped in medieval
Inquisition logic and advocating the
cutting off of entire student groups who
don't happen to gel with their reactionary,
insecure, tunnel vision of the Way Things
Just Are. I don't advocate a Blue Jeans
or a Wear Shoes Day (for obvious weather
and tetanus reasons); I'd just like to
advocate a Chill the Hell Out Day where
everybody just relaxes in the sunshine, does
well on exams, and gives their neighbors
each a Nestle Ice Cream Crunch Bar.
Happiness is a combination of fate and
energy.
Now I realize this sounds like one of
those quotes that you see on the wall of
some secretary's office cubicle with a
picture of some cutedoggy licking another's
ear, but it is a lot more useful than any
of those cheesy "Thank God It's Friday"
kitty-cat cliche posters.
Last Thursday, there was this "Kiss the
Ram" contest in the Pit, where you donated
charity coins to a certain name, and
whoever got the most coins donated got
to kiss dear old Rameses XV on the lips!
Expecting the worst I never thought
I'd come close to winning, being a nerdy
writer and all I decided to go to the
contest in the Pit that morning nonetheless.
Naturally and however, my morning
started as usual, with me sleeping well past
most people in this time zone, losing my
contact lenses in the toilet and being unable
to get my bike gears to stay in place.
Furiously pedaling my sloth-like piece de
merde bicycle to the Pit, I was greeted by
stragglers walking away and the contest
organizers, who said, "Wow, Ian . . you
won! Sorry you weren't here we had
Lisa Frye kiss it instead."
The energy of inertia let me down again,
and I was angry! Not because I missed
getting my picture in the paper with ram
mucus on my face, but because I was tired
of being late to everything in my life! Being
a month premature as a baby was the last
time I was early to anything.
Dejected and depressed, I walked over
to my mom's hotel room where she was
staying for the week.
"I'm sorry, hon," she said. "I know how
it feels. How's about we go out and get
something early for your birthday?"
My face lit up. I've been riding my new
bike with a smile on my face ever since.
Fate and luck play a large role in your
happiness, but IVe learned that you have
to have the energy to get off your butt
in order to make anything happen. So what
can I say? If you have small expectations,
good luck, a little energy and you're nice
to everybody, you may not be happy
but you almost always end up with a really
cool bike!
lan Williams is a senior music and
psychology major from Los Angeles who
wishes everyone in 16th grade a happy life,
and everyone else a happy summer.
Readers9 For em
Reading text
isn't teaching
To the editor:
I am writing this letter while
sitting in one of my classes.
Why am I not paying attention?
Well, basically, there's no need
to. My teacher is reading ver
batim from the textbook.
Every student who is admit
ted to this university is presup
posed to be literate. Why, then,
do professors and teaching
assistants alike insist on hold
ing class simply to spoon-feed
the prose from the textbook to
us word-for-word? We can read
the book at home! Please,
teachers, use your class time to
teach us facts that go above and
beyond the course reading.
I can remember a Psychol
ogy 10 teacher (who, inciden
tally, is no longer here) who
would stand at the front of the
classroom text in hand
and proceed to read to us as
if we were kindergarteners at
storytime. Some of the best
teachers 1 can remember never
even brought the text to class.
They had prepared their own
examples and problems before
coming to class.
I'm not sure if the teaching
problem is due to lack of
creativity and innovation, laziness,-poor
pay or just plain
indifference. But, believe it or
not, we students are here to
learn and the majority of us
enjoy a stimulating, thought
provoking class. Please don't
insult our intelligence or waste
our time by lecturing straight
from a textbook.
I understand that some of the
textbooks we use at Carolina
are excellent, but. if a teacher
insists on teaching strictly from
four years in Chapel Hill.
a book (especially one that's
not his own) he should not be
surprised if class attendance is
somewhere around 20 percent
on a sunny day. Those of us
who have faith in our own
reading comprehension skills
are laying out at the pool where
we can at least get a tan while
we learn from a book.
BARBIE STUCKEY
Junior
Business administration
CGLA not in
the closet
To the editor:
In response to Jay Wagner's
letter, "CGLA should give
details of student fee use" (April
21): the Carolina Gay and
Lesbian Association's budget is
a public document. It is avail
able for the asking at the
Student Congress office and at
the CGLA office, and it is
published in Lambda. Students
who are interested and willing
to spend some time construc
tively can examine it just as
they can attend our events
(which are publicized), read our
newsletter (which is distributed
around campus and in local
businesses, and sent to sub
scribers) or visit our office, in
the Union. We make our mate
rials and facilities available but
do not insist that anyone take
advantage of them; however,
those who choose to promote
anti-CGLA sentiment wjthout
first gathering basic informa
tion have every opportunity to
do so.
LISA HEINEMAN
Graduate
History
LIZ STILES
Senior
Political science
Letters policy
The Daily Tar Heel
welcomes reader comments
and criticisms. When writing
letters to the editor, please
follow these guidelines:
B All letters must be typed
and double-spaced, for ease of
editing.
a All letters must be signed
by the author(s), with a limit
of t wo signatures per letter.
B Students should include
name, year in school, major,
phone number and home
town. Other members of the
University community should
include similar information.
B Place letters in the box
marked "Letters to the Editor "
outside the DTH office in the
Student Union.
Chapel Hill needs driver's ed refresher
l his is Raleigh Road. This is your
brain on Raleigh Road. Any
JJ. questions?
Yeah, IVe got a few, like why do I have
to risk life and limb to get to and from
classes? Have you had too many brushes
with death when a little lady in a turbo
station wagon unexpectedly takes a right
down Manning Drive just as your foot
leaves the curb? (Hello, Chapel Hill, turn
signals are not there for your amusement.)
Have you ever waited in front of Phillips
on the curb of Cameron Avenue until
youVe got an army of 20 or so to charge
out into the crosswalk? One person might
not make a big enough dent in a fender
for drivers to consider stopping, but a
whole herd? Now we're talking serious
damage and inconvenience, buddy.
I'm a second-year resident of Hinton
James (and proud of it), and I therefore
have the well-toned calves of a professional
pedestrian. For the umpteenth time today
I had to jump out in the face of on-coming
traffic just so I could cross the street and
make it to my morning classes. In the
continuing struggle between motorists and
Jean Gowen
Guest Writer
pedestrians, the rules of fair play that we
studied so diligently to pass the written
drivers exam when we were 15 seem to
have fallen by the wayside. So, in an
attempt to prevent a few broken bones and
subsequent lawsuits, here's a refresher
straight from Chapter 20 of Motor Vehicle
Laws of North Carolina.
1) A pedestrian has the right-of-way at
all crosswalks and at intersections whether
the white lines are painted on the street
or not. This means that those of you sitting
in dry air-conditioned comfort have to
stop, not swerve, not speed on through with
your finger stuck out the window.
2) Pedestrians opting to cross the road
at any other point must yield to motorists.
This means no diagonal ambling across
Manning Drive in front of the U-bus. Just
because this is a student town does not
mean pedestrians have the right-of-way all
the time.
3) When crossing an intersection with
the green light, the pedestrian has the right-of-way
not the Volvo making a left turn
at 60 mph just 'cause he's bigger.
4) Red means stop. Green means go.
Yellow does not mean "go really fast" and
it is not a challenge to drivers to see if
they can get through the intersection before
the red light zaps 'em.
Chapel Hill is full of pedestrians (just
in case you hadn't noticed yet). Even you
drivers become pedestrians as soon as you
park you car. It is my sincere hope that
every Tar Heel who has ever had his heart
in his throat because someone was trying
to get to work on time will take this vow
with me: Whenever I drive, I will always
be aware of pedestrians and their rights.
So, if we could all just play by the rules,
maybe we'd get to work or class having
uttered fewer colorful expletives. And then
we won't have . to train Hinton James
freshmen in guerilla crosswalk tactics!
Jean Gowen is a sophomore biology
major from Cornelia, Ga.