8The Daily Tar HeelFriday, December 4, 1992
0
Established in 1893
100th year of editorial freedom
PETER WaixsTEN, Editor Office horns: Fridays 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
ANNA GruTTN, University Editor ASHLEY FoGLE, Editorial Page Editor
Dana Pope, City Editor REBECAH Moore, State and National Editor
Yl-HsiN CHANG, Features Editor WARREN HYNES, Sports Editor
ERIN RANDALL,. Photography Editor DAVID J. KupsTAS, SportSaturday Editor
AMY SEELEY, Copy Desk Editor DAVID COUNTS, Layout Editor
ALEX De GRAND, Cartoon Editor AMBER Nimocks, Omnibus Editor
JOHN CASERTA, Graphics Editor
A final appeal
Some things never change ...
; Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise, even in light of
media saturation and student outcry, that geology
Assistant Professor Kevin Stewart's tenure appeal
was denied this week. For anyone who remains
unconvinced that UNC's policy for granting tenure
is hopelessly skewed, the evidence is mounting up.
Even when it is not abused by the unethical, the
process doesn't work effectively.
, Something just isn't right here, and it's time that
the administration came up with some answers.
Chancellor Paul Hardin doesn't need to belabor the
obvious by telling his opponents that the University
does not punish good teaching. He has missed the
point. Some might joke that winning a teaching
reward is the kiss of death at UNC (which, in light of
' Stewart's case and those of Paul Ferguson and Michael
; Folio, is as ironic as amusing), but it is just that a
:joke and no more.
Similarly, no sane tenure policy critic is suggest
; ing that research is not important or that a professor's
: ability in this realm ought not be considered in tenure
decisions. Anyone with even a glimmer of under
standing about how a university operates (especially
a state-supported research institution) knows that
: cutting-edge publications and grant money make or
: break a school.
'.These are the two "arguments" that administrators
; continue to counter when they defend the Uni versity ' s
tenure decisions. Maybe if anyone actually was
proposing either of these notions that would be
: acceptable. But no one is, and it's high time the real
'issues were addressed.
; Let' s face it there are some valid concerns here.
The Stewart case is a perfect example. He's an
award-winning educator who is greatly respected by
the students in his classes and the graduate students
m his department.
Nothing not winning a Johnston Teaching
Award last year or a $50,000 research grant last
month could convince the College of Arts and
Sciences subcommittee that he should be retained,
even though the geology department twice recom
mended him for tenure.
That Stewart will leave UNC is almost a given
While he still has the option to appeal, the cost and
time involved in doing so all but rule this out as an
option for an underpaid assistant professor. Sadly,
given the black mark on his record and the lack of
available jobs, Stewart says he also might be forced
to leave academics when he is forced to leave the
University.
How many more losses will the academic commu
nity have to sustain before this process is re-evalu
ated? Why is a department's own assessment of their
colleagues' work and ability (as a teacher and re
searcher) not regarded more highly? Why are posi
live recommendations scrutinized by Arts and Sci
ences while negative reports (like the one the geol
ogy department was convinced to submit on Stewart's
third pass through the tenure hearing process) aren't
called into question? Why is there no faculty com
mittee in place to support professors in difficult
tenure cases like Stewart's or Ferguson's?
And most importantly, how can University admin
istrators continue to say in good faith that teaching is
valued just as highly as research?
It's time for some answers now.
Pack up and go
: Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood needs to pack up his
Washington office. a)
j Packwood, a known defender of women's con
cerns on the Senate floor, allegedly has been harass
ing women on his office floor for two decades. To
absolve himself of guilty feelings, he ordered an
ethics investigation and promised to obtain help for
his alcohol problem.
Packwood claims he is confident that after ad
dressing his problems he still can be an "extremely
effective" senator. In November, he was barely re
elected for his fifth term. What kind of rosy-colored
shades is he wearing to cover up his sagging, hungover
eyelids?
During the same years Packwood was cornering
women and forcibly kissing and fondling them, he
was an active proponent of women's issues, includ
ing the issue of abortion. Few senior Republican
senators supported the right of women to choose
abortion, but Packwood emerged as pro-choice. He
also had one of the best records in the Senate for
employing women on his staff.
Is this the same man who has been accused of
standing on a woman's feet in an attempt to remove
her clothes, and who only stopped when she physi
cally resisted?
, TAR HEEL:
"I remain confident about the strength of
the contention, and nothing that I heard in
the rebuttal tonight has shaken my faith."
Speech Communication Assistant
Professor Paul Ferguson, after his
Monday night tenure appeal.
"I begin to wonder, and I can see how the
public would begin to wonder, what kind of
commitment there is on the council to build
affordable housing in Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill Town Council member
MarkChilton.
: . "It just seems those were comforting words
Someone so blatantly hypocritical has no place in
the U.S. Senate. No one could take him seriously
after at least 10 women have accused him of making
unwanted sexual advances. Not only does his pres
ence in the Senate make a mockery of a woman's
right to the utmost respect of her often-male boss, but
it also sends Americans a sad message about their
elected public officials.
Packwood simply should resign as senator. Why
waste the time and money of the Senate Ethics
Committee during their vacation time before the next
Congress convenes? The investigation is likely to
provoke bickering among senators who should be
spending their time resting up for the January whirl
wind of legislation. The men who will be returning to
a new Senate need not be bothered by a case that is
obviously bogus.
Packwood has asked the committee to investigate
whether the alleged harassment incidents and his
alcohol problem are connected. If he does not have
the good sense to decide that his actions were wrong,
he does not have the savvy to help make decisions for
the nation.
The best move Packwood could make would be
stepping back into private life. Private life is where
kissing and fondling should remain.
"I
OUOTABLES
to pacify Native Americans on campus.
Carolina Indian Circle President Kenric
Maynor, about plans for faculty diversity.
"I hope the plan will succeed in persuading
people who don't understand why Carolina
needs a BCC
Provost Richard McCormick, discussing
a final proposal for a free
standing black cultural center.
"I would certainly be interested in working
with the Hunt administration.
Former Chapel Hill Mayor
Jonathan Howes.
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Its no lie: VideoPhones would change our lives
I have to give my mom credit. This
year for Thanksgiving she decided
to forgo her normal procedure of
fashioning crude papier-mache models
of food and attempting to pass it off to
my family as a full Thanksgiving din
ner, which we always figure out any
way when we go into horrible gagging
and coughing fits. This year, she de
cided she was going to cook a wonder
ful and highly traditional Thanksgiving
dinner. She was so determined that it be
an authentic meal that she visited the
local museum's archives and found a
menu from a Thanksgiving dinner
served to the family of North Carolina's
colonial governor in 1698 and used this
as her template.
Unfortunately, the centuries-old list
was in poor repair, and in fact consisted
only of the last three letters of each item
on the menu, leaving my mom to ex
trapolate the rest of the words. She did
pretty well with figuring out most of the
courses, like cranberry sauce, gravy and
pumpkin pie, but it should also be noted
that our two main courses were a mon
key stuffed with ticking and candied
clams. Still, whatever doubts I might
have had about historical accuracy were
soon swallowed away along with my
first delicious mouthful of monkey.
Originally, I was planning to write
about Vogue magazine this week. I share
a house with three wonderful women,
and I can easily say that perhaps the
finest thing about living with girls is
that I can freely look through copies of
Vogue without looks of disdain and
threatening suggestions that I visit a
clergyman.
Aslwas scanning this month s Vogue
under the pretense of researching my
column but actually furtively scanning
the magazine for any stray nipples they
might have forgotten to airbrush out, I
saw something that stayed my gaze like
a plastic bag of potato salad hurled into
a brick wall.
It was in an article about the new crop
of nifty consumer electronics available
this year, like digital audio tape decks,
books on CDs, little dental implant com
puters, and, the object I found so grip
ping, AT&T's VideoPhone.
When I saw this product pictured in
the magazine, my jaw dropped open in
c
DTH independence plan
falls short of reality
To the editor:
I write in response to the editorial
Sending a coded message" (Nov. 24).
Though I'vesuspectedfor years that the
DTH is to responsible journalism what
a cat clawing a chalkboard is to fine
music, I was surprised Mr. Wallsten
could wax so intellectually dishonest in
such a short space. Does Mr. Wallsten
really believe that any bill mentioning
the DTH merits lead editorial status?
Did Mr. Wallsten really think I could
resist commenting on his ludicrous.
though admittedly amusing, conspiracy
theory?
I feel I should apologize to Mr.
Wallsten. I might have offended him in
ridiculing his dreamy little loose notion
of independence. The DTH likes to think
it is an independent paper. Thinking is
good, and I encourage the DTH to do
more of it in the future, but thinking
something is true doesn't make it so. I
merely suggested that if the DTH ever
achieved truly independent status, it
would seem reasonable to suspect that
they could no longer receive the stu
dent-provided subsidy of free space in
the Student Union. After all, student
fees built the building, and the building
was not created to house self-supporting
independent papers such as the
Durham Herald-Sun, the Raleigh News
and Observer and a Chapel Hill Daily
Tar Heel.
A truly independent DTH might be a
more complex issue than Mr. Wallsten' s
non-fact-specific version of reality can
contain. To help make independence
seem more real, I offer a modest pro
posal to the "independent" DTH. The
moment the paper stops receiving fees
(the DTH still gladly receives student
fees), tnove out of tie Student Union
and donate the space to the deserving
student groups you so rightly rushed to
the defense of in your editorial. By the
way Mr. Wallsten, in ease it slips your
mind during the excitement of the big
move, be sure to turn off the lights and
leave behind all the equipment that stu-
Jason
Torchinskyl
Turn Your Head
and Cough
amazement, al
lowing my gum
and several for
gotten legos and
marbles to drop
out of my mouth
and bounce onto
the table. Why
do I find the
VideoPhone so
gripping? Be
cause of its tech
n o 1 o g i c a 1
achievement?
No. Because of the startling originality
of the idea? Hardly. It shocked me be
cause I realized that every year since
1961 AT&T has been telling the Ameri
can people that within a year or so,
every home will be equipped with a
VideoPhone. You don't believe me?
Reach under your seat and pull out any
World Book from about 1963 on. Look
up the "telephone" entry, and I guaran
tee you ' 11 find a bu Iky VideoPhone along
with the promise that by 1970 every
home will have one. I remember my
family's 1965 WorldBook spouted this
very dogma, when it wasn't trying to
convince me that man will absolutely
never be able to land on the surface of
the moon.
The VideoPhones that are announced
each and every year always remind me
of World's Fairs. VideoPhones are most
at home in the AT&T Pavilion' s "World
of Tomorrow" exhibit, existing along
side teardrop-shaped cars, food served
in freeze-dried pill form and metallic
jumpsuits.
I guess what it really comes down to
is that people just don't want
VideoPhones, perhaps .because the
thought of them reminds us of how Jane
Jetson, his wife, was forced to don a
rubber replica of her head whenever
she'd answer the Jetson's viewphone in
the mornings.
Viewphones are scary because they
force us to confront an unpleasant fact
about ourselves we lie a lot, and
always want to have the option to lie.
The viewphone, by its very nature, se
verely limits one's capacity to lie. For
example, with a viewphone you can't
tell your mom that you've just kind of
been studying all night when in fact
you've been dancing around naked in
your room with a furniture pad on your
head and a mouthful of Chiclets.
You'd pretty much always have to
tell the truth about where you're calling
from. It'd make answering the phone
like answering the door, just another
one of the unpleasant activities that
requires one to get the hell out of bed
and put some pants on.
But still, the big factor is truth. Not
that I habitually lie on the phone, but I
would be lying if I said that I've never
told somebody on the phone "Yeah, of
course I'm ready" as I lay half-asleep in
bed. This is the freedom the VideoPhone
would rob.
Crank calling, however, might actu
ally thrive in the environment of the
VideoPhone, since one would then pos
sess the capability to moon somebody
five states away, but most 900 numbers
would probably go out of business, most
likely for the same reason.
AT&T knows deep down that man
kind is not morally ready for the
VideoPhone. They just can't bear to
admit it, so every year they improve the
VideoPhone, make it smaller, clearer,
cheaper, introduce it at the Consumer
Electronics show, and then quietly for
get about it. They've been doing this for
about 30 years, so I guess it makes those
big lugs feel better. This year, they even
decided to show of one in Vogue before
it's tossed in the giant warehouse of
VideoPhones, whose location is only
known in legend. It's beautiful, in a
way.
By the way, speaking of sophisti
cated technology, this week I mounted
a big, metal pinhole camera on Franklin
Street. It's on that kiosk-thing where
every band staples things in front of that
bank next to Subway and across that
alleyway from School Kids and the
Carolina Coffee Shop. I mention this
because I urge everyone to take a pic
ture of themselves or something with it
Instructions are mounted right on it
Turn the crank, open the shutter, wait
close the shutter, skip away. Okay?
Give it a try. You'll be famous. Don't
steal it, either. Thanks. Solidarity.
Jason Torchinsky is a senior art his
tory major from Greensboro.
dent fees paid for over the last century.
Perhaps the DTH was too close to the
bill (BRJ-74-075) to read it properly.
The bill I voted against simply called
for a referendum to delete every single
reference to the DTH in the Student
Government Code. The net cast by the
bill was too wide and would have cre
ated chaos in the code. The referendum
did not fully explain the results of pas
sage. The bill had no provisions for
filling in the student slots lost from the
DTH Board of Directors. The bill de
leted special subsequent funding legis
lation related to the DTH. What really
puzzles me is that despite the DTH's
call "for congress members to take a
stand ... by supporting a referendum to
omit the DTH from the Student Gov
ernment Code," the DTH itself said
nary a word at the Student Congress
meeting where I was surprised and dis
appointed to find that this great piece of
moral legislation had been quietly with
drawn from consideration.
With a humble nod toward Mark
Twain's enlightened style, I am forced
to conclude, "First God created idiots;
that was just for practice. Then he cre
ated the DTH Editorial Board." ,
MICHAEL A. KOLB
Law
University tenure policy
needs to be balanced
To the editor:
I wish to express my opinions about
the purpose of a university. An excel
lent university is a community of schol
ars involved in four major areas: Teach
ing current knowledge to undergradu
ates, graduate and professional students,
postdoctoral associates and each other.
Training people how to team through
out their lives. By learning how to learn,
we can develop our knowledge base
and skills for years to come. Describing
and summarizing current knowledge
by writing textbooks and preparing re
views. Producing new knowledge,
which involves planning a project seek
ing financial support, investigation,
analysis and publication. My observa
tion during three decades spent in uni
versities is that at high quality universi
ties, these four areas are commingled.
Universities exist because there is a
minimum size in terms of number of
people and facilities needed to maintain
a vigorous community of scholars. Few
significant discoveries are made by
people without access to a university or
research institute. Any institute of higher
learning that considers its mission as
primarily in the first area is providing
little more than short-term job training.
There are several misperceptions
about the role of universities in society:
Relevant knowledge is static and codi
fied, a view that has become anachro
nistic since the Renaissance. If it were
true, there would be no need for new
books. Students attend a university to
pass exams and get degrees. This short
sighted and unwise vie w is often adopted
by students, administrators and legisla
tors. There is necessarily a conflict be
tween teaching and research. On the
contrary, in an appropriate environment
one learns best from researchers who
are making forefront discoveries. They
do research out of curiosity and a desire
to understand the world around them,
whereas a faculty member who does
little research and hides behind the mask
of a classroom teacher abuses the trust
that comes with the award of tenure.
The main purpose of tenure is to assure
a permanent job for the faculty mem-,
ber. True, a tenured faculty member
will have job security, but tenure pro
vides no guarantee of salary increases,
research support or professional ad
vancement. The major reason for uni
versity tenure is that it allows a scholar
to pursue knowledge based on personal
judgment of what is worth knowing.
Many institutions (four-year colleges,
schools of education, scholarly pub
lishing houses, research institutes) need
personnel in only one area. A high
quality university needs faculty with
broadly based and proven scholarly
abilities.
WILLIAM J. THOMPSON
Professor
Physics