10The Daily Tar HeelThursday, February 8, 1990
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97th year of editorial freedom
Sharon Kebschull, Editor
JUSTIN McGuiKE, University Editor
KAREN DUNN, Stale and National Editor
TOM PARKS, Business Editor
Jamie Rosenberg, Svrfs Editor
MELANIE BLACK, Design Editor
Julia Coon, News Editor
EVAN ElLE, Photography Editor
Amy VVaJDA, University Editor
James Burroughs, Editorial Page Editor
Sheila Long, City Editor
CARA BONNETT, Arts and Features Editor
LlSA RE!CHLE, Omnibus Editor
Steve Wilson, News Editor
Pete Corson, Cartoon Editor
hp latly
Big bins
Recycling site needs quick approva
Each month, UNC "
generates 24 tons of
newspaper waste and
about five tons of -
board
opinion
glass. Such staggering figures suggest that
the University needs a recycling program
to make positive use of that waste, and a
proposal by the Tar Heel Recycling Pro
gram (TARP) and Chapel Hill's solid waste
planner offers just that. They created a
feasible plan to place a town-operated
recycling site on campus for old newspa
pers and glass bottles, but now they need
administrative support. With this much
waste being generated every month, the
University needs to grant speedy approval
to the plan.
Students already operate a successful
aluminum recycling plan. Areas such as
residence halls adopt small blue bins where
aluminum cans can be deposited. A few
students then empty the bins and take the
cans to one of 10 Orange County drop
sites; last semester, they collected about
1,200 pounds of aluminum on campus.
Such a system could be used with news
print and glass, but the potential for large
deposits of newsprint and glass demands
an improved plan. At least one large and
two small bins that would be emptied by
the town should be centrally located to
collect it all.
A central site would eliminate the prob
lem of accessibility, and the Physical Plant
is reviewing site proposals. If suggested
campus sites such as the parking lot be
tween Wilson Library and Kenan Labs or
the Bell Tower lot become a reality, stu
dents won't have to rely on a limited number
Fouling out of school
Exemptions only hurt student-athletes
The need for extensive reforms in intercol
legiate athletics has become an issue of na
tional concern, and while the opportunity exists
for UNC to be at the forefront of a sweeping
movement, a more stringent approach toward
student-athletics first must become a reality
here at home. The recent discussion of changes
in college athletics nationwide frustrates many
officials and die-hard fans reluctant to tame a
highly profitable and enjoyable business. Those
associated with UNC find it hard to believe that
problems exist in the student-athletics of this
excellent university, but a recent report by the
UNC Board of Governors demonstrates that
most system universi- bmhhmhhhh
SiHTecEc UNC must reinstate
and future of many .
students for the sake of education as the central
a winning season.
Although intercoiie- purpose of a student-
an important role
within the overall
athlete's college years.
composition of any uni- mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
versity, this should by no means supersede the
primary goals of education and service. In fall
1989, UNC admitted 13 of its 23 freshman
football players and two of its six basketball
players as exceptions to the minimum admis
sion standards. Likewise, N.C. State Univer
sity admitted six athletes with academic rec
ords below the standard. This does not provide
them with many students capable of surviving
a strenuous academic commitment combined
with athletics. In the end, the student-athlete
often emerges as the loser, betrayed by the
institution that claims education as its foremost
objective.
All UNC-system athletes admitted in 1989
met the NCAA academic standards as set forth
in Proposition 48 namely a minimum SAT
score of 700 and a 2.0 GPA. UNC, however,
has traditionally set standards higher than the
NCAA, including a minimum SAT score of
The Daily
Assistant editors: Diana Florence and Myma Miller, arts and features; Craig Allen, business; Cameron Tew, city;
Christy Conroy, Karen Dennis. Clcste Neal. Jeff Workman, Doug Zemel, design; Charles Brittain. editorial page; Staci Cox,
managing; B Buckberry, JoAnn Rodak and Cameron Young, news; Joseph Muhl, photography: Mark Anderson and Scott
Gold, sports; Kari Barlow, state and national; Sarah Cagle, Jason Kelly andWill Spears , university.
Editorial writers: Lynctte Blair, Julie Ganimill and Jennifer Wing.
University: Marcie Bailey. Debbie Baker.. Robert Brown. Chris Helms. Jeff D. Hill, Joey Hill. Stephanie Johnston, Stacey
Kaplan, Jason Kelly. Dionne Loy. Kenny Monleiih, Simone Pam. Jennifer Pilla, Myron B. Pills. Mike Sutton, Nancy Wykle.
City: Sieve Adams. Jennifer Dickens. Jennifer Foster, Samantha Gowen. Johanna Henderson. Kim Jaski, Jeff Moyer,
Elizabeth Murray, Erik Rogers, Cameron Tew and Christine Thomas.
State and National: Crystal Bernstein, Jennifer Blackwell, Wendy Bounds, Wagner Dotto, Eric Lusk, Alan Martin, Kimberly
Maxwell, Glenn O'Neal, Jannctte Pippin. Kyle York Spencer, Emilie Van Poucke, Sandy Wall. Chuck Williams.
Business: Heather Clapp, Victoria Davis, Kevin Greene, Lloyd Lagos, David Lloyd. Becky Riddick, Vanessa Shelton.
Arts and features: Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci. Noah Bartolucci. Julie Campbell, Vicki Hyman, Mara Lee, Christina
Nifong. Leigh Pressley, Eric Rosen. Hasie Sirisena, Heather Smith, Brian Springer, Bevin Weeks, Laura Williams and Jessica
Yaies.
Sports: Neil Amato. Mark Anderson, Jason Bates, John Bland. Laurie Dhue. Chris Fialko, Christina Frohock, Scott Gold,
Warren Hynes, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupsias, Bethany Litton, Bobby McCroskey, Brock Page, Natalie Sekicky, Eric
Wagnon and Sieve Walston.
Photography: Jodi Anderson, Milion Artis, Schuyler Brown. Camille Daniels, Todd Diggs, Steven Exum, Carey Johnson,
Sheila Johnston. Stacey Kaplan, Caroline Kincaid, Kathy Michel .Catherine Pinckcrt, Kristen Skula and Ami Vitale.
Copy Editors: James Benton. Melissa Grant, Angela Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Jennifer Kurfees, Robin Lemz, Lisa Lindsay,
Amy McCarter. Walter McNairy. George Quintcro, Kristin Scheve, Joe Seagle, Bobby Secdlock, Sara Sparks, Chrissy Stidham.
Clare Weickert and Bruce Wood.
Cartoonists: George Brooks. Adam Cohen. Pete Corson. Alex De Grand, David Estoye, Greg Humphreys and Mike Sutton.
Production: Stacy Wynn, manager, Brandon Poe. assistant.
of willing individuals with transportation.
Better yet, if bins were placed in the lot
behind Davis Library and Hamilton Hall
or near the police station on South Cam
pus, students more easily could drop off
bottles or newspapers at their leisure. This
would allow more students to assume some
of the responsibility of recycling and aid
this town's concerted effort to recycle as
much as possible.
Obviously, the more collected, the bet
ter. The environment already suffers from
inadequate recycling of newspaper and
glass. Uncrushed glass and newspapers
take up the most landfill space of any
recyclable goods; recycling them would
change that and reduce the industrial and
toxic waste that is produced by virgin
paper and glass. Students have already
shown their concern for the environment
through major conferences and commu
nity action; this will give more a chance to
turn their concerns into action.
The DTH takes particular interest in
recycling, as it uses 100 percent recycled
paper and wants to support efforts to re
cycle on campus. However, the sheer vol
ume of newsprint makes it impossible for
this publication's staff to maintain recy
cling sites. The town will help in that
maintenance; now the University must
make its own commitment. TARP esti
mates that the revenue collected from the
newspaper and glass would pay for the
maintenance of the bins, so the University
has little to do but approve the site. Faced
with this strong student and town initia
tive, the University should strike now while
interest is high and approve a central site.
800, and last year NCSU raised its expectations
as well. In the past, all system schools have
adhered to these standards, but exceptions to
the rules are becoming more common at certain
universities and the effects are showing.
Students with poor grades in high school
and a sub-800 SAT score will undoubtedly find
this university and others like it to be extremely
difficult. While many people would argue that
the athletic prowess of such students gives
them an educational chance they otherwise
might not receive, the university, by admitting
such obviously underqualified students, instead
sets them up for failure. Dismal graduation
bbbbbbhrmbehbhhbhb rates of student-athletes
at many schools dem
onstrate the betrayal of
these starry-eyed fresh
men. Of the NCSU student-athletes
enrolled
in 1983, none of the four
basketball players and
only 43 percent of the
QBBnBBBHBBni 21 football players
graduated after five years; the total freshman
class graduated at a rate of 53 percent. At UNC,
all three of the basketball players enrolled in
1983 graduated, but only 63 percent of the 27
football players 18 of whom were excep
tions to minimum academic standards
managed to graduate after five years; in com
parison, the average class graduation rate was
75 percent.
The situation at UNC is certainly better than
at many universities, in that most coaches and
athletic officials here believe in the fundamen
tal importance of education and the special
opportunity which the ambitious student-athlete
can receive from the school. For exactly
this reason, the University and the system must
continue this tradition and reinstate education
as the central purpose of a student-athlete's
years at UNC. Only then can we carry the torch
of nationwide change. James Burroughs
Tar Heel
Conservatives
NMI report intended
to prove student force
To the editor:
The problems of non-faculty
minority employees have long
been ignored at this university. In
fact, to our knowledge there has
been no expression of student
concern on this subject at all. The
Network for Minority Issues
(NMI) of the Campus Y, repre
senting most organized campus
minority groups, recently released
a report to accomplish exactly this
goal. The report was not intended
to be a thorough or exhaustive
research report detailing specific
recommendations.
Student groups rarely have the
time, expertise, resources or en
ergy for such a project, and fur
thermore, this is not their purpose.
Rather, the report was intended to
voice student opinion on this topic:
to state that student do recognize
that there is a problem with the
poor treatment of black housekeep
ers, that they don't endorse uni
versity wages that force many
maintenance workers to live be
low the poverty level, and above
all, that they are committed to
working with the administration
to combat institutionalized racism
on all levels.
The expectation that NMI
should have done "more original
onors building has honorable intentions
(Editor's note: The author is the chairman of
the Honors Program Advisory Board.)
To the editor:
I am troubled in two ways by the DTH's
recent editorial ("Honorable Intentions: But a
new building is hard to justify," Feb. 2) regard
ing preliminary proposals for improved hon
ors facilities on campus. I am disappointed that
a student newspaper would take such a nega
tive position on a proposal whose sole purpose
is to enhance the undergraduate student expe
rience. Furthermore, I am disturbed by the
editorial board's confusion regarding the proc
ess by which the University plans to meet its
facilities needs.
In its editorial, the DTH board in effect asks
the question, "Do the more than 1 ,000 under
graduate student who participate in some as
pect of the Honors Program deserve better
facilities?" The DTH board says they do not, at
least not until the day when "state fiscal con
straints" magically evaporate and when, pre
sumably by the same miracle, the land area of
North Campus suddenly doubles. Reading this
editorial, students must get the idea that there
is a single-file line (stretching from South
Building to the Legislature) in which all units
on campus stand waiting to have their facilities
needs addressed. If you're not at the front of
the line, the editorial suggests, you don't get
anything. The DTH sees the Honors Program
as trying to jump the line ahead of other pro
grams that also have serious facilities needs.
Fortunately for everyone, particularly under
graduate students, the process doesn't work
the way the DTH editorial board imagines it
does. But unfortunately, the editorial board's
misunderstanding of the process of facilities
planning and funding has prompted it to take a
misguided and shortsighted stand on a facility
that would benefit thousands and thousands of
undergraduates for decades to come and that
will not compete in any way with the equally
serious space needs of any other group or unit
on campus.
First, let's make it clear (which is the edito
rial does not) what kind of facility is being
discussed for the Honors Program and why
such a facility is needed. The Honors Office
doesn't just "schedule classes," it plans a 1 20
course curriculum for 600 Honors Program
freshmen, sophomores and juniors and for
more than 200 other students who take honors
courses each year. The Honors Office over
sees 50 departmental honors programs through
out the university in which more than 200
students participate each year, handles Gen
eral College advising for 400 freshmen and
rtVPf f I
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Readers' Forum
research" is highly unrealistic. In
order to warrant the attention of
administrators, a research project
would require over a year's work
(as did the reports used), not to
mention money. In its report, NMI
used the most recent and pertinent
statistics and information avail
able. Both the University and pri
vate institutes have conducted
extensive research and interviews
on this topic in the past two years.
The report was not a "mere compi
lation of other reports," but rather,
it made appropriate use of that
information that was already avail
able and intended for just these
purposes.
As part of its research, NMI did
conduct student interviews, and
this is plainly stated in the report.
Again, these interviews were
conducted for the purpose of de
termining student opinion on this
matter and not to make the report
more interesting or emotional.
Specific steps of action do need
to be taken by students to demon
strate their commitment, and in
deed already have been: NMI is in
the process of facilitating the train
ing of students from various stu
dent groups to advise and repre
sent minority employees in using
the grievance procedure as a means
of remedying existing problems.
But this was neither the focus nor
the purpose of NMI's report.
The purpose of NMI's report
was simple. Unfortunately, the
University administration has
chosen not to prioritize this prob
lem since it has not heard the stu
dent voice. One University offi
cial, when asked what concerned
students could do with respect to
the problems of minority employ
ees on this campus, responded that
at the student level we could do
nothing. The purpose of this re
port was to prove that we can, and
that we will.
SHILPI SOMAYA
Sophomore
EconomicsInternational studies
BANU OGAN
Junior
Biology
Attention candidates
SBP, DTH, CAA president,
RHA president and senior class
president candidates who want
their platforms printed in the DTH
next week must turn them in to
the letters to the editor box by 5
p.m. today. They must be no more
than two typed, double-spaced
pages.
All those candidates except for
senior class who want to go
through DTH endorsement in
terviews on Saturday must sign
up on the sheet outside the DTH
office by today at 5 p.m. Candi
sophomores, collects and distributes informa
tion on academic scholarships and fellowships,
sponsors (through its students advisory board)
the overnight visit to campus of more than 75
outstanding prospective students each spring,
administers a program of financial support for
outstanding undergraduate research, provides
a home for Phi Eta Sigma (the freshman honor
society of 300 members), and receives visits
and inquiries from hundreds of prospective
students and parents each year. That's not all
the Honors Program does, but it is enough to
refute the DTH's characterization of it as an
office that merely counsels and schedules
classes.
As Dean Allen put it in an earlier DTH
article, based on the number of students served
and the number of courses taken, if the Honors
Program were an academic department it would
be the largest in the College of Aits and Sci
ences. Furthermore, our honors program
reaches a greater proportion of students than
any other honors program in the country. Quite
simply, no other program on campus benefits
as many students in as many ways with as small
a staff and as limited a facility.
Over the past three years, the number of
students participating in the program has ex
ploded in response to student demand and as
Dean Allen has opened the program to more
enrolled students, initiated a junior-year hon
ors curriculum and encouraged all students
w ith at least a B average to take honors courses.
Even though the number of incoming fresh
men invited into the program has been in
creased by a third, there is still not nearly
enough room to accommodate all the students
who would like to begin their honors work
immediately. At the level of senior honors, 60
percent more students are pursuing graduation
"with honors" than was the case only four
years ago. The Honors Program is one of the
university's most important recruiting tools in
helping to attract some of the nation's most
gifted students to Carolina.
What kind of facility should these student
have? And what kind of a facility did more than
250 students sign a petition last year requesting
the University to provide? Certainly one where
their four advisers don't have to crowd into the
same 8-by-10 foot office. But these students
also deserve a facility with seminar rooms
devoted not to graduate courses but to under
graduate classes honors and other classes.
They deserve space for meetings, visiting
speakers, receptions the kinds of interac
tions among students and faculty that extend
learning beyond the classroom. An honors
New euro0
dates also should turn in to the
editor's box any campaign mate
rial or information they want the
editorial board to review before
doing the interviews.
Candidates will be asked to
present a five-minute platform
and answer questions from the
editorial board.
Letters of endorsement will be
due Sunday at 3 p.m. The DTH
will print two letters per candi
date for SBP, DTH, CAA and
RHA candidates, and one letter
per senior class candidate. Let
ters must be no more than one
typed, double-spaced page.
Editorial Policy
The Daily Tar Heel's board
opinion editorials are voted on by
the board, which is composed of
the editor, editorial page editors
and assistant editor, and two edi
torial writers. The opinions re
flect the board's majority opinion.
Signed editorials do not necessar
ily reflect the entire board" s opin
ion. The Daily Tar Heel has three
regular staff columnists. Their
opinions also do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the board.
The DTH occasionally runs
guest writer columns, which are
simply long letters to the editor
that do not respond to a previous
letter, editorial or article.
center would not be an honors dorm, and it
could be used for a broad range of student
activities, not just honors activities.
The DTH editorial implies that such a facil
ity would have to compete with other projects
for state funding, even while acknowledging
that an honors center would not be built with
state funds. If housed in a new building, an
honors center would not use state funds and
would not compete with any other building
project currently under review or envisioned
by any group on campus. Fundraising efforts
would not conflict with efforts to build support
among alumni and other friends of the univer
sity for any other project or program. The
proposed honors facility is but one aspect of the
University's efforts to improve the quality of
undergraduate life and facilities. Thus the
crowning irony of the editorial is that its oppo
sition to an honors facility is based upon an
assumed battle for scarce resources that, in this
case, simply doesn't exist! Let me say it again,
addressing the pressing and legitimate needs of
the 1 ,000 students each year who benefit from
the Honors Program would not affect any other
building plans or require the reallocation of a
penny of the university's or the states's "finite"
resources.
Finally, to compound its confusion, the DTH
board even put a proposed honors center on the
wrong site! The site suggested by the
University's facility planning and design of
fice was not between Manly and Grimes but
rather on the barren patch of ground between
and behind Grimes and Ruffin, where now
even weeds will not grow. Far from detracting
from the appearance of this part of campus, a
well-designed and properly scaled building
would complement surrounding buildings by
completing the quadrangle already bounded
on the other end by Stacy Residence Hall.
Although the DTH chooses to see facilities
planning in general as an endemic conflict
between students and "the administration," as
in the case of honors we have students, faculty
and administrators all working together to
improve the undergraduate experience. An
honors facility is still in an early stage of
consideration. I would hope that as the DTH
comes better to understand this process, they
will also come to support a proposal that could
have enormous benefits for many present and
future students.
RICHARD A. SOLOWAY
Professor
History