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"" "" 8The Daily Tar HeelFriday, November 17, 1989 belaUgttlarltel 97th year of editorial freedom Sharon Kebschull, Editor MP V7 XT" MARY Jo DuNNINGTON, 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 WILLIAM TAGGART, University Editor Jessica Lannjng, City Editor CARA BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor Kelly Thompson, Omnibus Editor DAVID SUROWIECKI, Photography Editor Julia Coon, News Editor 5 VI W - - J i i yt. Cell deserves position But student concerns need attention Gillian Cell has " received Chancellor Paul Hardin's recom mendation for reap- - bcford opinion pointment as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, but not without opposition from several black student organizations opposition that highlights growing frus tration among black students over their welfare at Carolina. The UNC branch of the National Collegiate Black Caucus and the UNC Black Student Movement (BSM), along with other groups, voiced their opposition to Cell's reappointment on the basis of grievances with Cell's apparent lack of concern for minority students. Cell deserves the reappointment, but increased effort to answer recent black student and faculty concerns must be part of her agenda. Cell became Affirmative Action Offi cer of UNC in 1981 and served for more than two years, during which time she certainly recognized the problems of mi nority recruitment and retention of UNC faculty. In her current post, Cell has spo ken of her commitment to such issues, alhtough retention of faculty including non-minority has been poor in recent years. The responsibility for recruiting faculty, however, lies with individual aca demic departments, and Cell says the departments are constantly addressing the problem. Short of encouraging the depart ments, she is not immediately responsible. The student groups also express con cern for the African and Afro-American Studies Curriculum, which they claim has gone without an official chairman for four years. According to Cell, a committee is searching for potential chairmen to replace the acting chairman, but response to the position has been low. This is one of the greatest concerns among black students, A disappointing decision House approves unfair abortion limits Despite Sunday's gathering of nearly 300,000 people in Washington, D.C., to rally for women's freedom to choose safe and legal abortions, the U.S. House of Representatives approved two bills Wednesday that fly in the face of the recent political gains made by the pro-choice movement. These bills, which have strong support from the White House, prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions, even when pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. This action is disheartening, particularly in the wake of the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia last week, both of which saw the election of abortion rights supporters. In both races abortion was a major issue, and from the results it is clear that the majority of voters did not favor Banning funding for governmental restric- - . tionsoniegaiabortions. abortion means only Anti-abortionists, however, point to the those with money can Pennsylvania Legislature's vote pn:nv frpprlnm nf HinlrP such cases' aSain the Tuesday to restrict C1IJUJ "CCUUU1 Ul UlUllC. option would only be a abortion as a sign of mammnmummmmmnmmmin reality for women who public opposition to abortion. But neither this, nor the House's action, is a direct sign of how the public feels about the issue. While politi cians are supposed to act on behalf of those they represent, most elected officials are more swayed by lobbyists than by direct polling of their constituents. In addition, unlike the newly elected governors in New Jersey and Virginia, these politicians were elected prior to this summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision, which elevated abortion to a real campaign issue. The House's decision is also disconcerting because it blatantly denies the rights of poor women. While it is understandable that some people are uncomfortable with having their tax dollars fund abortions, there are others in this The Daily Tar Heel The Daily Tar Heel is published Monday-Friday, according to the University calendar. Callers with questions about advertising should dial 962-1 1 63 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Classifed ads can be reached at 962-0252. Editorial questions should be directed to 962-02450246. The Daily Tar Heel's office is in suite 1 04 of the Student Union. The campus mail address is CB 5210 Box 49, Student Union. U.S. Mail may be addressed to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 3257. Daily Tar Heel board opinion editorials are the majority view of the editorial board, which consists of the editor, the editorial page editors and assistant editor and two editorial writers. Signed editorials are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire board. Cartoons and columns representthe author's view. and with good cause. A curriculum that has suffered low student interest in the past must have leadership and direction before it can grow. The College of Arts and Sci ences must work to strengthen this curricu lum, and that starts with visible efforts to respond to student complaints. Black students also expressed concerns about Cell's past proposal to restructure the Office of Student Counseling, which provides academic advising and other counseling to minority students. When she made this proposal, the position of associ ate dean was vacant following the resigna tion of Hayden Renwick, a long-time fa ther figure to black students at UNC, and Cell desired a new approach to student academic support. Renwick' s departure was a great loss to both minority students and the University in general, and any replacement would find it difficult to fill his shoes. The support must come from somewhere, though, and University ad ministrators cannot overlook this. In January 1988, after Renwick's mi gration to Fayetteville State, Cell assured the BSM that UNC would continue to pro vide support and advice for minority stu dents. This promise has obviously not been forgotten, and Cell must live up to it. The main duty of the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, however, is to super vise the curricula of more than 50 aca demic disciplines, which Cell has done. Recently a study assigned by Cell sug gested changes in general education at UNC, which will benefit all students. Administrators must be responsive to students, and in this case, the grievances of so many students demand attention. The frustration of the minority groups is justi fied, but focusing the blame on Cell to block her reappointment is not the answer. country who are equally uncomfortable with paying for nuclear weapons. In the case of abortion, however, banning funding means that freedom of choice is only truly enjoyed by those who have enough money. And freedom is not something that should have to be pur chased. In addition, the House's restrictions extend to situations that have traditionally been less restricted those in which the woman seeking an abortion has been the victim of rape or incest. While abortion should remain an option for any woman, it is particularly hard to justify legislation that would force a woman who has already been through the trauma of rape or gHMHHm incest to carry to term an unwanted pregnancy unwanted because it resulted from a (in some cases brutal) crime. While the House's bills would only prevent the funding of abortions in could afford it. The decision in the House came after a long and bitter debate that some representatives understandably found disturbing. Rhetoric degenerated to the point of emotional name calling, one example being Rep. Henry Hyde's (R-Illinois) labelling of pro-choicers as "the pro-killer crowd" and "death squads of the left." This lack of professionalism only impairs representatives' ability to carefully weigh the options to ensure that people's rights are up held. The next time there is a gathering in Washington, let's hope it is made up of con cerned and informed officials who realize that restricting abortion in any way diminishes American freedoms. Mary Jo Dunnington DTH must make effort to find whole story To the editor: This morning I rejoice with the people of Namibia. Despite the grossly unfair rules de termining voter eligibility imposed by South Africa; despite President F.W. de Klerk's program of flying pro-DTA (Democratic Turnhalle Alliance) South Africans into Wind hoek to vote; and despite DTA and Koevoet intimidation during the last day of the election, South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) won a majority of the seats for the constitutional assembly. I hope the work of the assembly goes well, and that a constitution is ratified soon. I thank The Daily Tar Heel for printing the Associated Press story "Namibian nationalist movement wins big" (Nov. 15). Unfortunately, under the state of emergency that has existed in South Africa since 1986, the press is not free to cover events in South Africa and Namibia without interference by the South African government. On the local level, the media is totally controlled. And the threat of expulsion keeps the AP and similar news services in line. Often this can be seen in the labels used to Fans finally showed some spirit at game To the editor: I am writing in response to Curtis Hedgepeth's letter, "Bad sports spoil good football game," (Nov. 15). This is my first year as a member of Carolina Fever, and up until the game against USC, I thought there was no more school spirit to be found at football games. I'd spent all season watching stu dents show up for games not wearing blue, making cracks about the team and leaving after the first half. But that day, I saw hundreds of Tar Heel fans stand up and support Mack Brown and the foot ball team. It was wild, loud and yes, a little unsafe. But football games are supposed to be that way. Hedgepeth says that football should be fun, and for once, it really was. Football fans should be spirited, loud and supportive. If you find such behavior "unsports manlike," go sit with the alumni, or don't come to the games at all. JENNIFER LAYTON Junior English Fanaticism not cause of Penthouse ban To the editor: In response to Leon Lowder's letter, "Thank you, Mr. Tufts, for rescuing UNC" (Nov. 15) which ridiculed Rutledge Tufts' decision Meet challenge instead The black community needs to be discov ered and no longer brushed aside. For far too long, blacks have been slighted by white Americans. I am not referring to affirmative action cases, meeting quotas or racial equality. This slighting takes place in common every day social institutions. Black people, indeed, have a different culture, a culture that is in triguing if you allow it to be. Imagine a morning at UNC on your way to class. As you walk through the Pit and toward the quad, you notice a change. From the Pit to the quad, you have changed races. Usually, whites stand in the Pit and blacks around the Undergraduate Library. Why does this occur? Remember high school cafeterias? As you walk into the cafeteria of an "integrated" school, a clear segregation is seen. Blacks are seated in their area, and whites in another. Again, I implore you to ask why this segregation in an integrated society occurs. Since Martin Luther King Jr. and his "I Have a Dream" speech, America has taken great leaps in the right direction. Nonetheless, white Americans in today's society still have Readers9 Forirai describe the opposing groups. For instance, SWAPO is often described as leftist and the DTA as multiracial. Certainly neither label is completely untrue. Many members of SWAPO are leftist, some even Marxist; others are not. SWAPO is a diverse organization: some are Lutherans, some are Roman Catholic; most are black, some are white. Some believe in armed struggle; others are staunch pacifists. On the other hand, the DTA is indeed multi racial largely due to the violent intimidation of its "members" by the Koevoet (the South African sponsored terrorist group which has been incorporated into the Namibian national police) and DTA party leaders themselves. In a release from London's Namibia Communi cations Centre (NCC) entitled "Fresh Out breaks of DTA Intimidation in Namibia" (Nov. 11), examples of this violence are reported. One paragraph reads: "A more startling incident in the Kavango yesterday concerns the Chief of the Mbukushu tribe, Alfons Mayavero, who is eleventh on the to remove Penthouse from the Student Stores: While it is debatable as to whether the decision was based on the magazine's degrading depic tion of women rather than its liter ary merits, Lowder had no basis for attributing Tufts' decision to the religiously fanatical attitude he sarcastically suggested. It is unfair to assume Tuft's views on pornography or the basis of those views when they have not been stated. I don't think Rutledge Tufts ever indicated that he gives a damn whether or not Penthouse purchas ers spend "an eternal life in hell." Lowder seems to be blindly assuming that any opposition to pornography is rooted in sexual repression through religious mo rality. This is a terrible generaliza tion. Opposition to pornography is not opposition to sex. It is, rather, an expression of respect for hu man sexuality an assertion that men and women are capable of a higher level of intimacy than a centerfold could ever provide. Perhaps the First Amendment does protect the readers, or shall I say viewers, of Penthouse and other pornography. But while these people can stand by the constitution and label themselves liberal or sexually unrepressed, labeling all those who oppose pornography as the opposite is completely un founded. Assumptions like Leon Lowder's that all opposers are probably the same guys we see preaching in the Pit each week are hasty generalizations. As stated by Jason Toth, whose editorial appeared in last week's U. Magazine insert in the DTH, "When we argue for restricting pornography, we need not adopt some Victorian notion of moral ity. Quite the opposite is true. In restricting pornography we affirm that sexuality is, indeed, good and deserving of respect. We affirm that sex, when connected with intimacy and affection, is worth while." JOANNA SIMONI Sophomore Psychology Pro-choice rally was not overly euphoric To the editor: The editorial titled "Uneasy euphoria: Having abortion rights is not exciting" (Nov. 15) was unnecessary and muddled. The editorial, which was concerned with the pro-choice rally in Wash ington, D.C., last weekend, urged us to feel some reserve about the strength of the showing. Sharon Kebschull confused some impor tant ideas. First, it is not helpful to refer to a group as "anti-abortionist," because this implies that there is a contingency of "pro-abortionists" people who. actively con done abortions. These people, presumably, think abortion is great and everyone should try it. The absurdity of such an idea is obvi ous. The issue is made more con Angela TYicker Guest Writer anxieties or apprehensions about making good relationships with black Americans. We, the white majority, need to reach out to our fellow Americans of a darker color in order to ease their inhibitions and anger towards us. Also, blacks need to step out of their shells and exhibit their talents. Some blacks need to relin quish their hate and anger toward the white population. In his review of Kochman's "Black and White Styles in Conflict," David Willem best explains a solution: "Understanding another groups's cultural style is often the most parsi monious way of knowing that group and gain ing its trust." We, as Americans, black and white, need to pull together and learn about our differences in order to gain trust for each other and to broaden America as a nation. By under standing each other, we can then live a more peaceful existence together. DTA's list of candidates in the election. When two women, Enetha Theiyero and Cecilia Nore, failed to return the two-fingered DTA salute to a passing bus of DTA supporters the chief is alleged to have alighted from the bus and beaten the women himself. Others joined in with sjamboks (rawhide whips). The women are presently recovering in Andara Hospital." The DTH, by limiting itself to the Associ ated Press, cannot provide balanced reports on South Africa and Namibia. The unfair advan tage that South Africa enjoys through its con trol of the press should offend every reporter on your staff. As journalists, you know the value of varied sources of knowledge. I, as a reader, expect you to make use of other sources of information, as well as the AP. Resources are everywhere: the NCC, the American Office on Africa in Washington, Africa News here in North Carolina, and even Namibians and South Africans in the triangle area. LARS KJESETH Graduate student Mathematics fusing than it needs to be by the word choice in writings like Kebschull's. There is no question of whether or not abortion is good. It's not. No one wants to get preg nant so she can get an abortion. It is more sensible to refer to "pro choice" and "anti-choice" factions. Kebschull wrote, "It's hard to believe that pro-choicers honestly believe that abortion is not a form of murder." This illustrates her confusion of the issues. I know many pro-choice advocates who believe abortion is killing; many of them would never have an abortion. They do not believe, however, that their moral defini tions ought to be imposed on ev ery woman. I was sad to see the editor's confusion of the issues and undisciplined use of political and moral terminology undermine the positive force of the rally. I'm not sure anyone needed a reminder not to be happy. I did not notice an overwhelming sense of glee at the rally. Although there was an undeniable feeling of ex citement that so many people cared enough about the issue to haul themselves to D.C., I saw several people throughout the day who were sobbing uncontrollably. No, having an abortion is no cause for gleeful happiness, but having the power to make one's own deci sions about one's body is exciting, and that should not be denied. ZOE PARKER Senior English of quotas While discussing differences in an inter view about the Black Student Movement, Chris Brown pointed out some minority aspects. He said that sometimes white people unconsciously do not see black people. Because of the few relationships white people have with black people, the dark color signals obscurity. I must admit that before arriving at UNC, the black friends I had were few and far between. None theless, the new friendships I have formed here are exciting. The differences sometimes strengthen the relationships. Black people have emotions, personalities and other characteris tics similar to white people. It is not a quota that I am asking you to meet, rather a challenge to conquer. Beginning to break down the wall of prejudice that has remained for centuries will take time. Once this breakdown occurs, the freedom of this nation will be regained. This is freedom of becoming a unified, peaceful community, rather than a plethora of varied races and cultures clashing with one another. Angela L. Tucker is a freshman in liberal arts from Charlotte.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 17, 1989, edition 1
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