North Carolina Newspapers

10The Daily Tar HeelThursday, November 30, 1989 6 Ways to Disguise a Keg at Dry Rush 97th year of editorial freedom Sharon Kebschull, Editor MARY Jo DUNNINGTON, Editorial Page Editor JUSTIN McGwrE, 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 WlLUAM TAGGART, University Editor Jessica Lanning, City Editor CARA BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor Kelly Thompson, Omnibus Editor DAVID SurOWIECKI, Photography Editor Julia Coon, News Editor Preserving the village Council should create historic district board opinion The town of " Chapel Hill, along with the University therein, has long had - a national reputation for beauty and tran quility, but several factors that accompany a large college town contribute greatly to the slow disintegration of such beauty. Unsightly construction and developments and near-condemned fraternity houses on rundown lots are just two threats that can spoil the "village atmosphere" of Chapel Hill. In response, the recent proposal be fore the Chapel Hill Town Council to grant historic district status to a local neighbor hood is a wise protective measure for one of the town's finest residential areas. Despite some complaints from residents, the plan would benefit both homeowners and many UNC fraternities in the long run. The proposed historic district, tenta tively scheduled for a Dec. 12 council vote, would include the neighborhood around West Cameron Avenue and Mc Cauley Street the site of several homes and fraternity houses, one sorority, the Carolina Inn and the UNC power plant. The historic status would prevent physical deterioration of the area and its older houses and prohibit the construction of new build ings which would be out of place. The fraternities in the proposed area would undoubtedly benefit the most from the proposed district, as many town resi dents have pointed out. But those same residents would also benefit. Many of the included fraternity houses need fixing up. While most financial support for fraternity house renovations comes from alumni, such contributions probably would increase because any donations to historic district buildings are tax-deductible. There are drawbacks to the proposed historic area, but the importance of pre serving the town atmosphere outweighs the drawbacks, as most residents seem to realize. Of the 23 residents who voiced their support and concerns with the plan at a Nov. 20 public hearing, only eight were against the idea. The most common complaint comes from homeowners who dislike the idea of having to receive approval before making changes to their houses' exteriors. As part of the historic status, residents must first apply for a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission. While this may be inconvenient for many property owners, it is an inconvenience that will not occur very often and one that, in the end, upholds and protects the ap pearance of the community something all residents want. The two University buildings in the proposed area should not be included, however, because additional guidelines on these public buildings would only add to the already complex system of channels that characterizes the construction process within the UNC system. In this case, the town and University are better off retain ing their separate existence. A similar, successful historic district already exists around East Franklin and Henderson streets, the location of a neigh borhood much like the one now being considered. In this area and others, Chapel Hill residents should recognize the unique quality of this town and strive to preserve it through support of the historic district; as it stands, the "village atmosphere" is the responsibility of the villagers. Choice or copout? Schools of choice don't solve problem As part of President George Bush's effort to reform the nation's schools, the U.S. Depart ment of Education has been promoting schools of choice. Under the school choice program, parents would have a choice in where their children went to school, and they would be able to choose from specialized schools that cater to different academic interests. While schools of choice have worked in some areas of the coun try, the United States, and especially North Carolina, needs to attack the "education defi cit" at the root of the problem education budgets, teacher salaries, drop-out rates and children and adults who imh cannot read. A few weeks ago, U.S. Education Secre- -m i i i tary Laum Cavazos salaries, kids need more visited Charlotte to promote the schools of attention, and citizens choice program. A must be able to read. mer Wake County """""i Teachers need higher Giving students a choice in what they want to study probably will not improve drop-out rates and certainly will not increase student teacher ratios or increase teacher salaries. The nation's children are failing in the basics, as the high illiteracy rate in the developed nation of the United States shows only too clearly. The magnet schools in Wake County use a version of the choice system, but the choices they offer students are limited. The program was designed to lure white children into pre dominantly black schools to balance the schools racially with less mandatory busing. Wake County 's lim- School Superintendent Walter Marks, traveled with Cavazos. Marks now works with an urban school district on the San Francisco Bay; the district implemented the System for Choice, intended to improve a 31,000-student district that was stagnant and low-achieving. And while the system in California has been successful in some aspects, similar programs in Philadel phia, Chicago, Boston, New York and Little Rock, Ark., led to segregation of races and of the rich and the poor. In Marks' school system in California, ele mentary teachers are complaining after only two years of the program that their students are not getting the basics they need. Some of the students are not at the reading level they should be, and the teachers union there has negotiated a reduction in the number of electives taught in the primary grades. ited-choice model has been successful and shows that schools of choice may work when they give students a way to concentrate in the areas in which they are interested. But until the federal and state gov- "B" ernments can find it in themselves to be truly committed to education in this country, the choice offered to students can only be limited. If not, it is easy to see how the children of doctors, lawyers and professors could end up at one school, while the children of blue-collar workers could end up at another school that specialized in vocational skills rather than in more academic pursuits. A badly handled system of choice could create a new American underclass, and segregation would again be a problem in the next century. Education in this country simply needs more funding to improve its quality. Our teachers need higher salaries, our kids need more indi vidual attention, and our population needs to be able to read. Creating schools of choice does nothing to address those problems, and those problems are eating away at the very core of our nation. Tammy Blackard The Daily Tar Heel Assistant editors: Diana Florence and Jessica Yates, arts and features; Sheila Long, city; Karen Dennis and Wendy Johnson, design; Charles Brit tain, editorial page; Staci Cox, managing; B Buckberry, JoAnn Rodak and Steve Wilson, news; Lisa Reichle and Richard Smith, Omnibus; Evan Eile, photography; Andrew Podolsky, Jay Reed and Jamie Rosenberg, sports; Kari Barlow, state and national; Sarah Cagle, Will Spears and Amy Wajda, university. Editorial writers: James Burroughs and Jennifer Wing. University: Cathy Apgar, Marcie Bailey, Debbie Baker, Lynette Blair, Robert Brown, Chris Helms, Jeff D. Hill, Joey Hill, Katherine Houston, Stephanie Johnston, Stacey Kaplan, Jason Kelly, Dionne Loy, Kenny Monteith, Simone Pam, Jennifer Pilla, Myron B. Pitts, Mike Sutton, Bryan Tyson, Nancy Wykle. City: Steve Adams, Julie Campbell, Jennifer Dickens, Jennifer Foster, Samantha Gowen, Johanna Henderson, Kim Jaski, Sheila Long, Jeff Moyer, Elizabeth Murray, Christina Nifong, Erik Rogers, Katherine Snow, Cameron Tew and Christine Thomas. State and National: Crystal Bernstein, Robert Berry, Jennifer Blackwell, Wendy Bounds, Wagner Dotto, Julie Gammill, Eric Lusk, Alan Martin, Kimberly Maxwell, Glenn O'Neal, Kyle York Spencer, Emilie Van Poucke, Sandy Wall, Chuck Williams. Business: Craig Allen, Heather Clapp, Victoria Davis, Kevin Greene, Lloyd Lagos, David Lloyd, Becky Riddick, Vanessa Shelton. Arts and features: Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci, Noah Bartolucci, Vicki Hyman, Mara Lee, Carrie McLaren, D'Ann Pletcher, Leigh Pressley, Eric Rosen, Hasie Sirisena, Heather Smith, Brian Springer, Bevin Weeks and Laura Williams. Sports: Neil Amato, Mark Anderson, Jason Bates, John Bland, Laurie Dhue, Chris Fialko, Christina Frohock, Scott Gold, Warren Hynes, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupstas, Bethany Litton, Bobby McCroskey, Brock Page, Natalie Sekicky, Eric Wagnonand Steve Walston. - Photography: Jodi Anderson, Schuyler Brown, Gina Cox, Steven Exum, Sheila Johnston, Tracey Langhorne, Kathy Michel and Catherine Pinckert E. Joseph Muhl Jr., photographic technician. Copy Editors: James Benton, Rebecca Duckett, Joy Golden, Stephanie Harper, Angela Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Jennifer Kurfees, Lisa Lindsay, Walter McNairy, Elaine Mosley, Debrah Norman, Heather Patterson, George Quintero, Kristin Scheve, Joe Seagle, Bobby Seedlock, Kelley Shaw, Chrissy Stidham, Clare Weickert, Bruce Wood, Steffanie Woodfin and Cameron Young. Cartoonists: George Brooks, Adam Cohen, Pete Corson, Alex De Grand, David Estoye, Greg Humphreys and Mike Sutton. Production: Stacy Wynn, manager, Greg Miller, assistant. "Hey! fool to" I'M , i. , "Tl's our little s)sler." WUHJ 111 Ufi UU I aim famrattHra fJUUMW Mi UUUU lffl 0 a B E i hi HI I '. n if s 1 0 . L ti, 6AC T.A.R.P. - i I! ' hi "Zi's our mascot." "K's our compose." "ThS a recycling bin." ''Ar...ocares?Wadajo'td:.1' Cooke brings melting pot to a boil Alistair Cooke became a favorite of mine back in junior year of high school. I had a demanding AP U.S. history class that year, but about once a month the teacher would replace the usual lecture with that great est of high school treats: a movie. The movies in this class were all hosted by Alistair Cooke. The class would file in on a movie day. We'd see the telltale movie projector, and smiles would break out all over. We'd softly chant, "Alistair! Alistair! Suh-weet!" Soon we'd all be watching Alistair, overdressed and on location, as he strove to put a human face on the events we'd been studying. Alistair always struck me as a pretty on-the-ball kinda guy. His insights on America and Americans were always clever, and he had a knack for describing us to ourselves that I admired. Since that class, I have read two books by Alistair about America, and with those books my opinion of him rose another notch. But now Alistair has let me down. A friend of mine got a letter from Alistair recently, part of a mass mailing. Alistair has attached his name to "U.S. English," which bills itself as "the new national organization formed to combat the divisive bilingual move ment in America." In the mailing, which included a newspaper clipping and a "survey," U.S. English says the federal government requires 375 U.S. juris dictions to provide ballots in languages other than English. It also charges that bilingual education programs, instead of helping immi grants make the transition to American soci ety, are being used by certain groups to resist the pressure of the great American melting pot. Apparently it's some sort of plot, led by "leaders of ethnic blocs, mostly Hispanic." U.S. English supporters argue that American society is in danger of becoming a "poly lingual babel," and they point to "the political upheavals over language that have torn apart Canada, Belgium, Sri Lanka, India and other nations." To combat "the insidious pressure from ethnic groups to displace English as our na- Matt Bivens Rat Salad tional language," U.S. English wants to outlaw bilingual ballots, restrict government funding for bilingual education to short-term transi tional programs, and adopt a Constitutional amendment making English the official lan guage of the United States. U.S. English hastens to add that the study of foreign language should be encouraged and that the right of people to use other languages should be respected. "U.S. English is no refuge for red-necked chauvinists," according to the mailing. But most of the arguments U.S. English advances are chauvinistic even if couched in flowery speech. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the people of U.S. English don't care much for immigrants in general. The immigrants pouring into this country are, it seems, plotting to make a farce of E Pluribus Unum out of many, one. To quote the mailing: "This anti-assimilation movement (a more accurate name than bilingualism) comes at a time when the United States is receiving the largest wave of immigration in its history." The message is clear: The immigrants are coming, and we need to let them know who's boss if we let them in at all. The main thrust of U.S. English can be seen in this quote from its guiding principles: "In a pluralistic nation such as ours, government should foster the similarities that unite us, rather than the differences that separate us." It's an interesting idea, isn't it? That the gov ernment should work to make us all more alike, so that we can live in greater harmony? But why stop with enforced English? The government could do so much more to foster similarities. What about all those divisive reli gious feuds around the world; why not make us all attend the same church? If similarity is so great, why not make us all wear the same clothes? Or listen to the same music? Read the same books? THINK THE SAME THOUGHTS? This isn't what U.S. English advocates. But it is the logical conclusion of their stated phi losophy. So I have a suggestion for them: why not let government worry about governing, and leave the similarities and differences of people to chance? Normally, I just would've shaken my head and thrown away this mailing. I'd have chalked it up to white-collar ethnocentrism, another misguided cause for people with too much time on their hands and a skewed sense of priorities. But in deference to Alistair Cooke, I read the mailing and I thought long and hard about it. And in addition to what I've already said, I came up with a conclusion and a question: The conclusion: Alistair Cooke has let me down for the first time since 1 1 th grade history, by actively supporting such a ridiculous cam paign. The question: Why is it that when two or more people gather together to support some rinky-dink cause, they inevitably start talking about amending the Constitution? Every time I hear dingbats talk about pasting another unnecessary amendment on the Constitution, I get a little more cynical. One of the hallmarks of our Constitution is its stabil ity, its resistance to whims and fads. (Inciden tally, we almost witnessed the end of that resistance with George Bush's push for an amendment on flag-burning.) I'm much more worried about the day we start amending the Constitution with impunity than I am about the Asian-Hispanic language bloc. That's a conclusion I reached while study ing U.S. history in high school. I can't help thinking that maybe Alistair should have spent more time studying and less time lecturing. Matt Bivens is a senior political science major from Olney, Md. Readers9 Foram Backlash against drinking age likely To the editor: I would like to comment on the recent articles in Omnibus con cerning facets of the drinking problem, primarily the first install ment concerning the legal aspects ("The law affects everyone: Chapel Hill nightlife: Fake IDs and underaged drinking," Nov. 9). Although I found the article infor mative, I felt it was a bit propagan distic, for it left out several key legal issues relating to the raising of the drinking age in North Caro lina to 21 in September 1986. I would like to remind everyone that the raising of the drinking age from 1 9 to 2 1 was mandated by the federal government in P.L 98-363 by requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation to withhold first 5 percent and then 10 percent of federal highway funding from any state permitting legal purchase or public possession of any alcoholic beverage by anyone under 2 1 . Let's not kid ourselves that money is critical to our highway program. North Carolina essentially had no choice in the matter. A quick read ing of the preamble of N.C. House Bill 141 from the 1985 session the bill that actually raised the drinking age makes this point clear. It mentions nothing about drunk driving, alcohol abuse or other related problems; all it mentions is the highway money North Carolina would lose. A clause was added to the state law stating that upon certification from the secretary of state of North Carolina, if the federal mandate is repealed by Congress or invali dated by a court (the latter of which not being likely given the U.S. Supreme Court's Dakota v. Dole decision), the drinking age auto matically goes back down to 19 for beer and wine without any action from the legislature being necessary. Keep this little fact in mind the next time you hear some state official go on a tirade about the "social problem" of drinking by 19- and 20-year-olds. I find it rather disheartening that the legislature would consider making consumption of beer and wine by 19- and 20-year-olds a misdemeanor. In fact, the federal law leaves a bit more leeway given the current text. Why not legalize possession in a private residence since only public possession by those less than 21 is required to be illegal? However, I feel that the higher drinking age is a manifes tation of the current "anti-chemical" mentality in the country. I further bel ieve that in several years a backlash is likely, and maybe, just maybe, by the time our kids hit college, they won't be turned away from Four Corners or He's Not Here because they are not old enough to drink. J. WILL SNYDER JR. Sophomore Political sciencephilosophy DTH needs to give all students. access To the editor: It seems that of late the DTH has consciously chosen to fill its editorial page with a plethora of conservative tripe that does not even deserve to be placed in any respectable newspaper. While there have been countless denun ciations of the CIA Action Com mittee, ignorant letters concern ing the insidious scourge of com munism, and most recently out right lies and misinformation about the situation in El Salvador grac ing the editorial pages of the DTH, letters and editorials that have sought to respond to this garbage have been silently pushed under the tables at the DTH's office. I am not exactly sure why the DTH has chosen to allow its edito rial page to be filled with such one-sided, and in most cases, his torically and factually incorrect nonsense, when there have been numerous pieces offered to bal ance the picture. If the DTH wants to pass itself off as a student news paper then it should respond to the opinions of the student body equally. Even though the DTH has always been thought of as a "lib eral" newspaper, its recent, highly selective editorial policy makes it appear as the sister paper of the reactionary Carolina Critic. The "alternative" editorial pieces are certainly needed to counter the trash of people like Sharon Sen telle, whose recent piece on the FMLN is nothing but a litany of lies justifying the death squad, U.S.-supported ARENA regime. Let's have equal access to our student newspaper, and then let the readers judge for themselves. DALE T. MCKINLEY Graduate student Political science Ticket distribution needs clarification Editor's note: The author is the president of the Carolina Athletic Association (CAA). To the editor: This letter is to clarify how today's special ticket distribution for the Central Florida and Tow son State games will be handled. The tickets being distributed to day are for the seats which are being added in sections 109, 110 and 111. Students who already have seats in the upper level for the Central Florida and Towson State games may go to the ticket office window at the Smith Center today between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. and exchange their upper level tickets for the new lower level seats. Each student may exchange up to two tickets. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today, students who have not yet picked up upper level tickets for the Central Florida and Towson State games may do so. (No exchanges will be permitted at this time.) Starting at 3 p.m., normal rules for ticket distribution will apply: Each student may get up to two tickets and proper identification is re quired for each ticket picked up. We at the CAA hope that the method of distribution used today will give first priority for the new seats to students who took the time to pick up tickets earlier. We also hope that by starting exchanges at 7 a.m., no student will have to miss class to get a chance at the new seats. More information will be provided early next week con cerning how tickets for the new seats will be given out for the rest of the games which have already been distributed. LISA FRYE Junior History Letters policy All letters must be typed and double-spaced, for ease of edit ing. Letters should include the author's year, major, phone num ber and hometown.