North Carolina Newspapers

10The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, October 4, 1989 97th year of editorial freedom Sharon Kebschull, Editor WILLIAM TAGGART, Managing Editor MARY Jo LXjnninCTON, Editorial Page Editor JUSTIN McGuiRE, University Editor KAREN DUNN, State and National Editor TOM PARKS, Business Editor Dave Glenn, Sports Editor Melanie Black, Design Editor TAMMY BlaCKARD, Editorial Page Editor JENNY CLONINGER, University Editor Jessica Lanning, City Editor CARA BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor Kelly Thompson, Omnibus Editor DAVID SurowiECKI, Photography Editor Julia Coon, Neios Editor Out of perspective Course requirements need changes While the General -College perspective system provides a broad liberal arts board opinion education, the College of Arts and Sci ences requirements hinder students inter ested in exploring other classes and oppor tunities. As a College of Arts and Sciences committee prepares a report on UNC per spective requirements, it should focus on the problems in the arts and sciences per spectives and take away those obstacles. The report is expected to concentrate on General Education requirements. Seniors enrolled in the College of Arts and Sci ences seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree must complete one General Education course in each of the five perspective ar eas, but none of these courses may be in the student's major. Freshmen dnd sophomores are required to fulfill General College perspective re quirements which provide students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge in a number of areas before they advance to the more specific requirements of a major field. These requirements are necessary (a necessary evil, many would say) to ensure UNC students are knowledgeable in sev eral disciplines, but juniors and seniors should be allowed to take courses that will help them focus on their major. As the system stands, upperclassmen must often sacrifice courses which would give them a broader grasp of their major because of perspective requirements. Help for homeless Sleepout's numbers SHOCkingly low On Monday night, about 20 students flat tened out cardboard boxes as makeshift beds and spent a night in the Pit to symbolize the hardships of the homeless. This move by the Student Homeless Outreach Coalition, a com mittee of the Campus Y, was a stirring way to increase awareness about the homeless situ ation. Unfortunately, only a handful of stu dents, administrators and Chapel Hill officials attended the sleepout to support the committee's efforts. Although the sleepout could not possibly compare to how the homeless actually live, the effort was an important symbolic gesture be fore concerned citizens and students attend a homeless march in Washington, D.C., this weekend to demand mmhhm conger the US' The sleepout should Despite SHOC , f xi x n members' surprise at have ShOWIl that College the turnout for the slee- pout, as members were predicting only 10 to 20 people, more people should have made an students realize they need to take effort to donate some " time to the cause. Merely three Chapel Hill officials made it to the Pit, and only one profes sor represented the administration's interest. Student participation could also have been greater, more than 140 students have attended SHOC meetings, but only a handful bothered to show up for the sleepout. Other students should also have participated to show their support for the march this weekend. Although this week is the notorious "Hell Week" when students face numerous midterms and papers, the wet weather is depressing and sleeping on cardboard may not sound fun, the act meant so much more than a few hours of The Daily Editorial Writers: James Burroughs and Jennifer Wing. Assistant Editors: Jessica Yates, arts and features; Kim Avetta, Karen Dennis and Wendy Johnson, design; Charles Brittain, editorial page; Staci Cox, managing; B Buckberry and Steve Wilson, news; Lisa Reichle and Richard Smith, Omnibus; Evan Eile, ptwtography; Andrew Podolsky, Jay Reed and Jamie Rosenberg, sports; Kari Barlow, state and national; Will Spears and Amy Wajda, university; Writers: Steve Adams, Craig Allen, Cathy Apgar, Marcie Bailey, Tim Bennett, Crystal Bernstein, Jennifer Blackwell, " Lynette Blair, Wendy Bounds. Stephen Bryan, Sarah Cagle, Julie Campbell, Terri Canaday, Heather Clapp, Judy Dore, Wagner Dotto, Mark Folk, Julie Gammill, Kevin Greene, Chris Helms, Joey Hill, Katherine Houston, Stephanie Johnston, Gabriele Jones, Stacey Kaplan, Jason Kelly, Lloyd Lagos, Tracy Lawson, David Lloyd, Rheta Logan, Sheila Long, Alan Martin, Kimberly Maxwell, Beth Meckley, Jeff Moyer, Helle Nielsen, Glenn O'Neal, Simone Pam, Jannette Pippin, Myron Pitts, Becky Riddick, Vanessa Shelton, Katherine Snow, Kyle York Spencer, Mike Sutton, Bill Taggart, Cameron Tew, Christine Thomas, Tim Truzy, Emilie Van Poucke, Sandy Wall, Chuck Williams, Nancy Wykle. Sports: Neil Amato, Mark Anderson, Jason Bates, John Bland, Laurie Dhue, Christina Frohock, Scott Gold, Warren Hynes, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupstas, Bethany Litton, Bobby McCroskey, Brock Page, Natalie Sekicky, Eric Wagnon and Steve Walston. Arts and Features: Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci, Noah Bartolucci, Clark Benbow, Shields Brewer, Gretchen Davis, Diana Florence, Cricket French, Wendy Grady, Vicki Hyman, Mara Lee, Tim Little, Matthew McCafferty, Carrie McLaren, Elizabeth Murray, D'Ann Pletcher, Leigh Pressley, Eric Rosen, Hasie Sirisena, Heather Smith, Brian Springer, Bevin Weeks and Laura Williams. Photography: Steven Exum, Regina Holder, Tracey Langhorne and Kathy Michel. Copy Editors: James Benton, Susan Comfort, Rebecca Duckett, Joy Golden, Stephanie Harper, Angela Hill, Susan HoUsclaw, Anne Isenhower, Dcbrah Norman, George Quintero, JoAnn Rodak, Kristin Scheve, Joe Seagle, Kelley Shaw, Clare Weickert, Steffanie Wcodfin and Cameron Young. Cartoonists: Adam Cohen, Pete Corson, Alex De Grand, David Estoye, Greg Humphreys and Mike Sutton. Business and Advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director; Bob Bates, advertising director; Leslie Humphrey, classified ad manager; Kirsten Burkart, assistant classified ad manager; Janet Gordon, Angela Spivey, classified assistants; Amanda Tilley, advertising manager; Sabrina Goodson, business manager; Allison Ashworth, assistant business manager; Lora Gay, Kristi Greeson, Beth Harding, Lavonne Leinster, Tracy Proctor, Kevin Reperowitz, Alicia Satterwhite, Pam Thompson and Jill Whitley, display advertising representatives; Kim Blass, creative director; Pam Strickland, marketing director; Sherrie Davis, Ingrid Jones, Shannon Kelly and Tammy Newton, sales assistants; Laura Richards, typist. Subscriptions: Ken Murphy, manager. Distribution: RDS Carriers. Production : Bill Leslie and Stacy Wynn, managers; Anita Bentley, assistant manager; Brian Campbell, Stephanie Locklear, John Nipp and Greg Miller, assistants. Printing: The Village Companies. Double majors frequently have to attend summer school or spend additional semes ters complying with requirements with no connection to their major or interests. But there are two good ways to give students a broad enough education while allowing them to focus on specific areas. The University should allow students to count perspective classes as part of their double major. The journalism school does this now, along with requiring students to have a concentration of three courses in a specific area. University officials should also build on the success of UNC's "cap stone course" program by offering more of the courses to ensure that students are given the opportunity to explore their inter ests and still receive a diploma in four years. Capstone courses attempt to round off a student's educational experience by offering an interdisciplinary approach to many subjects. If a student is in the College of Arts and Sciences, these courses can satisfy the five perspective requirements, even if the classes are taken to fulfill a major. The College of Arts and Sciences should be applauded for its effort to improve the perspective requirement system. Now, as the committee prepares its report, mem bers should seriously consider students' concerns and recommend changing the curriculum to allow juniors and seniors to fully explore a major through classes which would satisfy both major and perspective requirements. uncomfortableness. It should have made a state ment to students, Chapel Hill officials and the homeless that college students do care and do realize they need to take action. Despite the scanty participation in Monday night's sleepout, SHOC should be praised for its fast-paced efforts to increase support for the homeless. Already the committee has imple mented truly effective projects such as vol unteer committees for the Chapel Hill home less shelter and has inspired more than 90 students to participate in Saturday's march. Although the grave situation has been a con cern for many students, a student-run commit tee focusing on the homeless problem is an excellent way to generate support and aware- maummmmmmmmmm ness in Chapel Hill. But even with 140 committee members, SHOC cannot singlehandedly win the battle in Chapel Hill. There are at least 220 homeless people in Chapel Hill. The town's permanent shelter is action. mmmmm'l'mmmmmm now under renovation, forcing a temporary one to take its place. But even the larger permanent shelter will be insuf ficient for Chapel Hill's needs so insuffi cient that residents are rotated every five days to serve more people. The level of student and administrative support for the homeless, as shown Monday night, is unacceptable. Perhaps the combina tion of deterrents just discouraged people from participating in this one activity. There are still many ways to help the homeless in Chapel Hill; the march on Saturday is one example. The homeless cannot accept excuses. Jennifer Wing Tar Heel Congress deserves praise for resolution To the editor: ' I am delighted that the UNC Student Congress gave the N.C Legislature its opinion on abor tion legislation. Currently the reproductive rights of the women at this university are threatened. It is entirely appropriate that the UNC Student Congress stand up for the rights of people at UNC. A DTH editorial and a few let ters to the editor have complained that it is somehow improper for the Student Congress to give its opinion on abortion. I do not understand these complaints. I support people who defend ouff freedoms. The complaint that "it is not the right forum" sounds like an effort to silence dissent. It does not befit a thoughtful, informed electorate to worry and fret "are we proper in expressing ourselves?" Does the DTH want North Carolinians to sit around while others make all the decisions our society is faced with? Wake up, people! A de mocracy requires input from ev eryone. I encourage everyone reading this letter to consider your own opinion on abortion, poverty in Chapel Hill, the wars the United States is involved in and disposal of the radioactive waste UNC generates. I encourage you to consider your opinion on prob lems in our society and to become informed about these issues. Then follow the example of the Student Congress act. DENIS THOMPSON Graduate Genetics Columnist's words were way off-base To the editor: In his Sept. 28 column, "Things Hurricane Hugo Forgot to Hit," Matt Bivens expressed several of his opinions about South Caro lina. He stated "nobody gets ex cited about South Carolina," and he referred to it as "the armpit of the nation." His statements couldn't have been any farther off base. I am from the South, and I take pride in that fact. North or South Carolina, Georgia or Ala bama, the South possesses a beauty, history and culture that is unique to the United States. South Carolina, like all states in the South, has too many redeeming qualities to list here. It is not the armpit of the nation. Mr. Bivens, you are a resident of Maryland living in the South by choice. Southern taxpayers, my parents included, are paying for a large part of your education. Show some respect or, to coin an old phrase, "Yankee go home." C. GLENN WALLACE Senior Accounting Criticism of activist one-sided, unfair To the editor: I write in response to Debbie Baker's Sept. 29 article on the subject of James Meredith taking a job with Sen. Jesse Helms ("Activist sold out by taking job with Helms"). I would like to ask a few questions. 1. Is it possible that in taking a job with Helms, Mr. Meredith is trying to change a political situ ation in which blacks have come to be taken for granted by the Democratic party and written off by the Republican party? Could Mr. Meredith by trying to achieve a position of greater political lev erage for blacks? Should Mr. Meredith have called Debbie Baker and asked her permission first? 2. Does disagreeing with Ms. Debbie Baker on complex issues like integration automatically make James Meredith a hypocrite and turncoat to the movement for which he was shot? Should Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young and other prominent black leaders be made tc pass the Debbie Baker hypoc Discrimination surfaces "Let the CIA stop AIDS." Through a rifle sight, two figures participate in (presumably) homosexual intercourse. We have all seen shirts or stickers with a similar message at huge fraternity gatherings or in small South ern towns. But never at On The Hill. On The Hill is a bar in Chapel Hill that changed ownership a few months ago. The new manager replaced live rock bands with DJs and dance singles. Funky, punky or ex perimental styles got people on the dance floor for the first time since the space was remodeled. Progressive music began to attract progressive people, and by the end of the summer, the bar was filled with students and townies tired of classic rock and with little interest in mainstream culture. This group included but was not restricted to homosexuals. It was a place that people from diverse backgrounds could feel comfortable and enjoy alternative music, attire and com pany. Last Tuesday a friend of mine who was a bouncer at On The Hill said the manager was afraid the place was becoming a gay bar. He and the other employees who worked the door were instructed to charge certain patrons more money to get in. The idea was to discourage homosexuals and their sympathizers from coming to the bar. If men wore all black clothes, had long hair or earrings, they were to be told a higher cover charge. My friend resigned that night. Since then, another ac quaintance with a somewhat radical hair style, told me the new bouncer tried to charge him $4 to get in a 1 :20 in the morning. Curious as to whether the place had really instituted a discriminatory policy, my room mate and I went to On The Hill Saturday night. My black-clad, earring-sporting friend was no longer working the door, of course. He had been replaced with a conventionally dressed young man in a blue button-down oxford. But Readers9 Forum risy test before they are allowed to run for office? 3. When Debbie Baker writes that Meredith will " ... lose the respect of his people," does she really mean that blacks are so homogeneous and unthinking a group of people that the only opin ion they can muster about James Meredith is hers? At which per son ought Carolina's black com munity be more angry? 4. Lastly, is it possible that James Meredith is a person, not a corporeal symbol? Should a man who has received more than his share of verbal and physical abuse in defense of equality be able to take any job he wants without being slandered by a woman who has decided in her own court of proper conduct that Mr. Meredith has strayed from the party line? What right has a woman who at tends a University that actively (if clumsily and insensitively) re cruits black students to stand in judgment over a man who risked his very life to get to class? MARK PIERCE Senior English Insults to southern state are getting old To the editor: As a South Carolina native and resident until four years ago, I am sick and tired of jerks who, for some unknown reason, are al lowed to take up space in the DTH ridiculing and insulting my home state. Last year it was the city editor; now it is this Matt Bivens person. These people obviously lack the brainpower or the jour nalistic creativity to come up with anything of a socially redeeming value with which to fill their allot ted space. Their motto seems to be "when the creative juices dry up, sling mud!" Bivens wallows brow deep in the mud when he refers to South Carolina as the "armpit of the nation." And he must have hallu cinated the SAT story upon fin ishing his fourth six-pack of cheap Jean Dobbs Guest Writer On The Hill was still blasting out dance music so we stepped in line. When we reached the bouncer, he told us I could go in for free, but the cover for my roommate was $2. I pro tested, "That's discrimination," to which he replied, "Discrimination exists. There is noth ing you can do about it." Discrimination does exist, but that fore warning did not prepare me for the rest of the evening. We got to the door feeling irritable from his words. The room was crowded. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I focused on a mark edly different clientele. Lots of baseball caps and blond hair. My disappointment was matched with claustrophobia as I thought, 4They have Four Corners. Why are they here? They have Bub's, Spanky's, Molly's, HSB and Trolls. Why did they have to monopolize another place I used to enjoy?" I decided to quell my anxiety with an Amstel Light and see what happened. Perhaps my first impression spoke of my own prejudice. As I stood in a corner talking to friends, I began to notice things. There was a tension between the girls with big hair and the guys with long hair. People who stood in the middle of the floor last week were hanging around fringes this week. The unique-looking DJ did not seem to be having much fun. The manager looked uptight and spoke unpleasantly to the DJ. I decided to ask him what was up. "They are telling me what to play; they never have before. My manager told me never to play that song again." I asked him if he would be quitting. He said he could not take much more of this. "I am not gay, but I don't like what they beer, for only very numbed gray matter could concoct such a limp attempt at humor. (And it is with great generosity that I attribute gray matter of any kind to Bivens.) And "nobody gets that excited about South Carolina"? Only about 12 million people who visit the beautiful Grand Strand beaches alone each year approximately 10,000 of whom come all the way from Canada (Myrtle Beach Cham ber of Commerce figures). This does not even include the number of visitors to our beautiful mountains, lakes and our Riverbanks Zoo which is among the top ten zoos in the nation. My mamma taught me "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all " a lesson obvi ously not taught up there in Olney (?), Md. Though we of South Carolina definitely deserve an apology, last year's city editor didn't have the guts or grace to offer one, so we won't expect anything from the likes of Bivens either. Some minds are just too small. ALECIA COLE Senior Journalism We goofed Friday's board opinion ("Bill out of bounds") incorrectly stated that the Student Congress resolution supporting a woman's right to have a legal abortion was passed unani mously. While the Student Affairs Committee unanimously supported the resolution, the voice vote taken of the full congress included some dissent. The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error. Letters policy The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and criticisms. When writing letters to the editor, please follow these guidelines: ; All letters must be dated and signed by the author(s), with a limit of two signatures per letter. All letters must be typed and double-spaced, for ease of editing. at local bar are trying to do here." I interviewed a disgruntled patron. He told me the doorman was not only using different cover prices, but also turning suspected gays away with claims of a dress code. "They'll make anything up to keep them out." I was truly aggravated by this time but the worst was yet to come. I had seen an employee tidying up, but I had not noticed anything other than the fact that he was clean-cut and that I had never seen him working there before. Then I read his t-shirt. "Let the CIA stop AIDS." The rifle sight. What had heretofore been a tolerable tension in the room became unbearable in light of this violent image and I realized that the rumors were probably true. In one week On The Hill turned from an open minded bar to an actively discriminatory busi ness with homosexuals as the target of unfair practices and downright fascist intent. It is difficult to know how to respond to a moral affront of this kind. My roommate did not get the refund I demanded. Other patrons were confused. If they stopped coming, then the bar would surely become dominated by conven tional people and provincial bigotry. But if the "Independents" continue to patronize On The Hill (those of them who can get past the doorman's "dress code"), then the business would continue to profit, despite its discriminatory practices. Should we divest or keep our economic power base and demand equal treatment? I realize that the business world is governed by the size and constituency of a given market, but if what I have heard and seen is true, accountability to the marketplace has eclipsed responsibility to ethU cal management at On The Hill. Jean Dobbs graduated from UNC in Decem ber, 1988. She is a resident of Chapel Hill.