8The Daily Tar HeelMonday, April 2, 1990
95i year of editorial freedom
Jessica Lanning and Kelly Thompson, Editors
JENNY CloningER. University Editor
Jennifer Wing, Forum Editor
Cameron Tew, City Editor
MYRNA MiLLER, Features Editor
Jamie Rosenberg, sports Editor
EVAN ElLE, Photography Editor
Steve Wilson, News Editor
MelANIE BLACK, Layout Editor
NANCY WykLE, University Editor
LynETTE BLAIR, Opinion Editor
STACI Cox, State and National Editor
CHERYL ALLEN, Features Editor
ALISA DeMao, Omnibus Editor
PETE CORSON, Cartoon Editor
JoANN RODAK, News Editor
ERIK DALE FLIPPO, Design Coordinator
James Claude Benton, Ombudsman
Fond farewell to Comar
Sergeant sewed students fully
One of UNC's most cherished family
members retired from the daily routine of
police work on Friday Sgt. Ned Comar.
After spending 15 years serving the Uni
versity as protector and informer about
campus crime, Sgt. Comar more than de
serves a life of tranquility in which to enjoy
himself. His dedication to students has
been genuine and his efforts to increase
safety awareness has been effective. Stu
dents and administrators will miss his
"fatherly" advice and memoirs from his
past, and all hope his retirement will
compensate for his years of service.
. Sgt. Comar came to UNC in 1974, and
has worked in campus safety for the past
1 5 years. Although Sgt. Comar worked
many other jobs before taking the UNC
position, it was only at the University that
he felt like a family member. He spent his
childhood in an orphanage, and there shined
in his hobbies of guitar playing and writ
ing. The orphanage was just the beginning
of precarious situations, as his life led him
to the Korean War. The Army taught him
the strictest form of structure, something
which he has loosely continued to adhere
to at UNC. Despite these years of order
throughout his life, Sgt. Comar brought a
relaxed atmosphere to University police
while keeping his job within professional
boundaries.
The period between the war and his
position in Chapel Hill brought him an
array of jobs ranging from print shops to
pipe welding. But possibly the most awak
ening event of his life stemmed from heart
: trouble convincing him of the impor
jtance of his life. Thankfully for UNC, Sgt.
.Comar made a dramatic turnaround, with
Ithe help of two heart operations, and has
since appreciated the frailty of human life
: which he displayed through his job at
UNC.
; The effect of Sgt. Comar may not be so
: noticeable to many students, simply be-
cause he often remained in the background
:of projects. Upon coming to UNC, Sgt.
Comar developed campus security pro
; grams in a time when campus security was
a relatively new concept. He focused on
safety precautions by showing films and
passing out pamphlets on some of the most
important issues for students. He constantly
stressed the importance of escort services
and ways to protect from campus theft. But
Sgt. Comar was not merely doing his job;
instead, he was fulfilling a higher moral
duty to students. His wish for Christmas
this year was for every student to return to
school with a foot locker to keep their
wallet in and to watch out for strange
people lurking around the residence halls.
Perhaps a simple wish, but one he truly
wanted for the students.
The Daily Tar Heel has especially close
ties with Sgt. Comar, as he was in charge of
sending police reports to the press. This
task let him get close to students firsthand,
and consequently let students get to know
him. Rather than just giving the weekly
police reports, Sgt. Comar would chat about
life, immediately allowing the reporter to
feel comfortable. Reporters remember
debating about the relevance of the Demo
cratic party and discussing tomato plants,
pictures of which hung on his office walls.
Sgt. Comar rebuilt tractors in his spare
time, a fact reporters picked up during their
visits. Even interviews with Sgt. Comar
about a issue on campus brought a flair of
personality. One reporter, when asking
Sgt. Comar about reasons behind assaults
on campus, elicited the response: "Whether
you're tipsy or you're sober, you've got to
learn to keep your hands to yourself and
take a lot of oral abuse."
Sgt. Comar wanted to protect students
because of the love he felt for them. Instead
of behaving harshly or coldly, he treated
students with respect and care. Sgt. Co
mar, enjoy your retirement UNC will
miss you. Jennifer Wing
Due to a production error, the editorial
"Students, 1; Politics, 0," (March 30) in
correctly stated that this year would be the
last year Student Congress would approve
The Daily Tar Heel's budget. DTH regrets
the error.
Letter 'L 'for lousy
Wisconsin bill threatens fundamentals
It sounds like a mutant hybrid of "Ben
son" and "Wheel of Fortune."
'But for voters in Wisconsin, the latest
manifestation of the line-item controversy
is not a matter for sitcoms. The "Vanna
White veto" (no kidding, they really call it
that) allows Wisconsin governors to veto
specific letters, words, numerals and punc
tuation in bills approved by the state legis
lature. While the governors can not add
anything to bills, they can drastically
change their meanings. Voters can ap
prove a constitutional amendment Tues
day that will restrict their governors' right
to use the "Vanna veto." In the process,
they will make a major decision about the
balance between the legislative and execu
tive branches of Wisconsin state govern
ment. But how important is changing a couple
of commas? As the track record of present
Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson shows,
it can make a difference. Thompson, a
first-term Republican, used the "Vanna
veto" 290 times in Wisconsin's 1987-89
state budget alone. He also used the proc
ess to change a bill calling for a increase in
welfare spending from one to six percent.
His most famous case, however, came in
1988. Wisconsin's state legislature limited
the time a juvenile could be held in deten
tion to 48 hours, but Thompson changed
that drastically. He vetoed the words "48
hours" and most of the next four lines of
the bill, leaving only certain letters and the
word "day." As a result, the bill read "t-e-ri
day-s."
As funny as the method is, the "Vanna
veto" is obviously being used to tip the
balance of government in favor of the
executive's office. Surprisingly, the Wis
consin Supreme Court decided that the
veto was protected by its state constitution
in 1988, when the justices voted 4-3 in
Thompson's favor on a lawsuit brought by
state Democrats. They cited a 1930 provi
sion giving the governor the right to veto
any appropriation bill "in part."
The underlying issue, separation of the
powers of government, is not so cut and
dried, however. As any high school civics
student can recite, the basic structure of
American government was set up so the
legislative branch made the laws and the
executive branch enforced them. The veto
was designed to be part of a system of
checks and balances, not as a way for
governors and presidents to change the
contents of bills. Thompson's use of the
"Vanna veto" is in direct conflict with that
purpose.
But that was then and this is now. The
emphasis of our forefathers was strongly
on the legislative branch; considering the
tyranny of the British monarch, that's a
pretty understandable reaction. Today,
however, the focus has shifted back in
favor of the executive. Call it what you
want a need for hero worship, the inef
ficiencies of ruling by committee or just
the struggle between Republican gover
nors and Democratic-controlled legisla
tures but the trend is definite. The
debate over the line-item veto, as well as its
cousin the "Vanna veto," proves that the
support for stronger executives is wide
spread. The constitutional amendment before
Wisconsin voters will not completely solve
the issue; while it would prohibit the gov
ernor from striking letters and words in
order to change the meaning of a piece of
legislation, Thompson could still veto
numerals or entire sentences. For Wiscon
sin, this is a chance to decide whether the
legislature or the governor will be making
laws. For the nation, it is just one more
weight on the balance between branches of
government; one that is increasingly tip
ping in favor of the one over the many.
Kelly Thompson
Cooking seen as a religious experience
CARRBORO I had a surprise visitor
Saturday night an old friend from
10 years ago who, like me, survived
the ambiguities of Quaker education and is
now in the newspaper business.
As alumni of Greensboro's New Garden
Friends School, Tim Hampton and I share
some unique battle scars. By age 14 we were
both veterans of the 1970s New Age Move
ment, a cultural phenomenon that found fertile
soil within the Society of Friends.
New Age means many things to many
people, but to a bunch of kids growing up in the
1970s, New Age was generally defined as any
action culminating in the consumption of Deaf
Smith peanut butter and alfalfa sprouts on pita
bread. Other popular food options included
bulgar, tofu, lentils and anything organic pro
duced by goats.
Not that traditional Quakerism is in any way
New Age. Traditional Quakerism has nothing
to do with Windham Hill albums, re-evaluation
counselling or crystal therapy, but some
how or another it became a haven for a group
of people far-out enough to make Shirley
MacLaine look like Tipper Gore.
As kids at the Friends School, Tim and I
witnessed many strange things, including the
disintegration of numerous adult psyches
people whose lives fell apart soon after expo
sure to yoga, EST and macro-biotics. These
people were disillusioned by their lives. We
grew up disillusioned by their disillusionment.
I consider myself lucky to have grown up in
the counter-culture. Had I grown up in the
mainstream I might have rebelled by dropping
out of society, growing my hair and existing
off of Deaf Smith peanut butter and alfalfa
sprout sandwiches. Having grown up in that
setting, however, I rebelled by joining the U.S.
IfSSL Daniel Conover
)
Conover's
Kitchen
Army, becoming perhaps the first Quaker tank
commander in military history.
The Army flat out didn't believe me when I
told them I was a Quaker. A sergeant asked me
my religious preference while I was in-processing
Fort Knox they inscribe it on your
dog-tags and when I said I was a Quaker he
gave me one of those "Look what crawled out
of the trash" looks.
"You're a what, boy?"
"Quaker, sergeant."
"Is that Protestant?"
"Sort of."
"You can't be sort-of Protestant," he said,
turning to his assistant. "Just write down 'No
religious preference," he told him.
A couple years later I met a guy with dogtags
listing his religious preference as Pagan, and I
saw on Geraldo a while back that satanists are
pressuring the Army for their own chaplains. I
guess the Army draws the line at letting avowed
pacifists make big guns go boom, and I hon
estly can't say that I blame them.
But I was always a bad Quaker to begin
with, and I'm even worse as a New Ager. I like
football, for instance, smoked two packs of
Marlboros a day for 10 years, and I've always
had a strong suspicion that Nostradamus was
nothing more than obscure.
But then again, I've never really been con
vinced that nuclear power is cheap and effec
tive or that Better Living Through Chemistry is
a fulfilling credo. People like Tim and me grew
up on the horns of a dilemma: Is it better to have
good karma or a good car (preferably with low
mileage)?
Both of us are presently satisfied with the
good car side of the equation; Tim drives a
1966 Caddy convertible, and the nearest I've
been to heaven was blasting down the Auto
bahn in Germany in my big old nasty Audi 100
at 125 mph. We've latched on to the tactile
truths of the material world, but it's a tenuous
hold.
Our parents are perhaps the most ambiguous
generation in history, and as I grow older, I gain
more sympathy for them (My own generation
is perhaps the most apathetic in history but, of
course, who cares?). I pity them their therapy,
their angst, their Robert Blye seminars, but I
suppose I thank them for not just handing usthe
flawed values they inherited. They may have
given us flawed values, but at least they were
original about it.
Unfortunately, they also gave us Deaf Smith
Hoagies, and I'm afraid I'll never forgive them
for that. ! ."! -
NEW AGE DEAF SMITH HOAGIES :
Deaf Smith organic 'peanut butter ;
bean sprouts
pita bread
raisins
Stir the peanut butter vigorously to mix the
oil back in with the butter. Add the raisins. Split
open the pita bread and spoon in the Deaf
Smith. Fill with bean sprouts.
Then toss the crap in the garbage and take
your kids out to a ball game, for chrissake.
Daniel Conover is a senior journalism ma
jor from Carrboro.
FORUM
Fraternity regrets
newspaper swiping
To the editors:
On Tuesday morning, March
27, around 7 a.m., the Sigma Phi
Epsilon Fraternity took a signifi
cant number of Daily Tar Heels
from several campus boxes. The
chapter believes that the reported
amount of newspapers missing far
surpasses the actual amount taken
by the fraternity. However, the
chapter does understand that the
nature of this incident makes this
difficult to substantiate.
The fraternity recognizes that it
used poor judgment and sincerely
regrets its action. The fact that the
incident occurred on election day
was only a coincidence and was
not intended to influence the elec
tion in any manner. The chapter of
Sigma Phi Epsilon in no way in
tended for its actions to harm The
Daily Tar Heel, its staff or any
related agencies or constituencies.
Sigma Phi Epsilon apologizes
for any inconvenience we may
have caused.
SIGMA PHI EPSILON
TV shows concerned
with news, high ideals
To the editors:
I was personally offended by
Alex DeGrand's cartoon in the
March 30th DTH, wherein he
belittled the two television shows
"Small Wonder" and "The
Bradys." I have watched the DTH
editorial and cartoon staffs make
ridiculous, unimportant statements
all year long, but I can be silent no
longer. There is no way this can be
called journalism. In a world where
momentous changes and occur
rences are happening every day,
every hour, the best idea DeGrand
can come up with is a childish
insult to two television shows. I
think DeGrand should stop watch
ing situation comedies and tune in
to the news more often.
The attacks are unwarranted and
simply infantile. The Brady fam
ily represents one ideal for family
life in America today, with a suc
cessful marriage, financial well
being, the learning experience of
growing up and helping one an
other, and in general a stable, happy
home environment. The public
should emulate this fictitious
family, not ridicule their seeming
innocence. "Small Wonder," while
granted is on a lower intellectual
level, is not a silly show about a
robot whom everyone thinks is a
human child. Each episode pres
ents a message or a moral we all
should know and live by. The show
reminds us, children and adults
alike, what simple rules we should
adhere to if we are to be kind and
humane. These two shows carry a
message seldom found in movies
and television today, but DeGrand
has obviously not learned it. I feel
he should grow up and write about
important issues if he wishes to
call himself a journalist in any
capacity of the word.
DANIEL W. JOLLEY
Sophomore
Economics and History
Student Union product
of ail students
To the editors:
" don't think people realize
what student government does for
them. We wouldn't have a (Stu
dent) Union without government,
and Chapel Hill wouldn't have a
bus system." Bill Hildebolt, as
quoted in DTH 327.
The preceding quote surfaced
in The Daily Tar Heel during the
rush to elect this week. Hildebolt
no doubt refers to the participa
tion of the student body president
in the formation of the Student
Union and the bus service. I fear
that his comments might be mis
interpreted to indicate that the
ongoing activities of the Union
are coordinated by the office of
the student body president. As a
member of the Board of Directors
of the Carolina Union for the last
three years, I've become aware of
the inaccuracy of this. These years
have taught me that:
1. The Carolina Union is an
excellent example of cooperation
among students, faculty and Uni
versity staff in achieving a shared
goal in this case the provision
of quality educational and enter
tainment programs for the Univer
sity community.
2. These results are attained
through the efforts of an enthusi
astic group of students quite di
vorced from campus politics.
Representatives of the student
body president and of other cam
pus political organizations serve,
and contribute positively, on the
Board of Directors as do fac
ulty representatives. However, the
creative work, and the effort nec
essary to bring the creation to life,
is due to the Carolina Union Ac
tivities Board with the assistance
of Union staff. These are the people
who make Union activities pos
sible. 3. One of these enthusiastic
students could easily be you. The
Student Union really is a union
an association of students united
in a common purpose. You al
ready finance Union activities
through your fees. You're wel
come to relax there, and to attend
any program. Even more impor
tant, you are always welcome on
the committees of the Activities
Board to help plan future events.
In this sense, the Union is student
government by the students and
for the students.
President-elect Hildebolt's
quote carries the unfortunate con
notation that the Student Union is
a gift from "student government"
to the University community. My
observations suggest the opposite;
the Union is a gift from the Uni
versity community to itself. It's a
wonderful gift, because it improves
with use. If only we could say that
for the bus system!
PATRICK CONWAY
Department of Economics
Religious groups fail:
to fulfill convictions '
To the editors:
I write with a plea for response
from minority groups on how to
end segregation in campus minis
tries and other campus organiza
tions. I am involved with two minis
tries here at UNC as a member of
one and a committee head of an
other. Both groups are sadly under
integrated, and it is not because we
haven't tried. We have had innu
merable planning sessions discuss
ing minority promotion, but still,
the minorities that attend from time
to time rarely stay to become regu
lar members. In effect, we hurt for
the wholeness that only a racially
and ideologically well-integrated
group can have. -''
I decided to ask for a response
from minority groups when I real
ized that a whole courtroom of us
whites cannot justly sit around and
decide what blacks, Native Ameri
cans, Asians or any one else looks
for in a ministry or social group.
Please tell us: What can we do
that would attract you to our min
istries? How could a new mixed
ministry be started? What do you
look for in a social group? On the
other end of the scale, how could
we fit in with your organizations?
In what ways would any of these
questions threaten the right to
minority distinction? In what ways
can we involve you in our groups
without threatening your individu
ality? Please respond to 227 Avery or
to the DTH. Your responses will
be taken seriously and will be
implemented into our push for
positive integration. We must put
an end to subtle racism. I pray that
we can begin by choosing not to
segregate ourselves.
We are One in the Spirit! ',
DARREN HICKERSON
Sophombre
Radiological Science