8
Monday, August 29,1994
(Hit? lailg alar Urrl
Kelly Ryan HRTOR
fS)
I Established 1893
101 Years of Editorial Freedom
Don’t Settle for Cheap Reputation
The label “Best value for the money” again
can be stuck on the packaged UNC education.
Last week, Money magazine declared UNC’s
top ranking on their list of public school bar
gains. That title is not altogether unexpected
because the reputation of Chapel Hill has always
been that of a sound, affordable education.
At the same time, the University should not
stagnate in this comfort zone. UNC’s overall
ranking in Money magazine slipped, although
the University stayed tops among public univer
sities.
This award should provoke an increased com
mitment to provide an outstanding higher edu
cation, regardless of the competition.
The entire concept of ratings is based on
comparison. Butthemoreimportantfocusshould
be that of our own individual goals. The first
priority of any university is to provide the best
education possible within its financial con
straints. Studying other universities should be
more to check that our goals are cutting-edge
rather than to ensure that we’ve got five more
volumes in our library than University X.
To maintain the high standard of our talented
and ambitious student body, it is crucial that
prospective university applicants see UNC-
Chapel Hill as an appealing option. Any public
ity, like Money magazine’s recent article, is a
Chavis, Please Exit Gracefully
Just days after being fired as head of the
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People by its board of directors, Ben
jamin Chavis filed a lawsuit to get reinstated to
that position, claiming he was denied a proper
hearing.
Now, the organization, which he left $3 mil
lion in debt and from which he requisitioned,
without board knowledge, $332,400 to settle a
sexual discrimination case out of court, will face
untold thousands of dollars in legal fees. Chavis’
actions are inexcusable for someone as clearly in
the wrong as he is.
Benjamin Chavis has likened his dismissal to
a lynching and to a crucifixion. However, both
those terms imply that the victim is actually
innocent. As Chavis has never denied taking
these funds from the NAACP, his choice of
words is questionable.
Chavis has been widely criticized for his poli
cies. He took an innovative approach to the
ailing NAACP, trying to make it more of an
inclusive representative of America’s black com
munity.
Critics sprouted up faster than Chavis could
make policy after he invited controversial Na
tion of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to a sum
mit ofblack leaders. While Chavis’ new policies
certainly spawned discussion within the black
community and were bound to lead to some
“ JuMBE
■Buifcuu and AArartiaing: Kevin Schwartz.
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Assistant EdHors: Altson Maxwell, arts/dtvetsrons.
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sports Chad Austin and Alison Lawrence.
sportsaturday Ryan Thornburg state and national:
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| Kristen Laney. Sarah Mcßride. Jacob Stohler and
■ The editorials are approved by the majority of the editorial board, which is composed of the editor, editorial page editor and three editorial writers.
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positive way to spread the word.
A variety of different factors were studied
before the ranks were assigned. And in the search
forthe best overall bargain, the university’s weak
nesses can be drowned by its fortes.
Reform and improvements are needed in many
areas; UNC should examine these areas and do
its best to remedy them. The self-study currently
being conducted for UNC’s reaccreditation will
provide an excellent opportunity to pinpoint the
University’s weaknesses and propose feasible
solutions.
Increasing teacher’s salaries should be high
on the list ofpriorities, partly because professor’s
qualifications and work demands it but also
because this would attract a larger pool of pro
spective teachers. The ripple effect would mean
an improved education for students and eventu
ally better results.
Housing is another pertinent problem, and it
demands greater attention so that students can
be accommodated in dorm rooms rather than in
the comfort of TV lounges.
The list of areas that need improvement is
long, but perhaps this new feather in UNC’s cap
will tickle the university into tackling the prob
lems. After all, decent bargains can be picked up
in the Dollar Store Chapel Hill deserves a
better analogy than that.
changes, his financial misconduct and his un
ethical reaction have ruined his chance to rejuve
nate the NAACP.
The last straw for the board of directors,
which already had an adversarial relationship
with Chavis, was Chavis’ taking of group funds,
without permission, to quiet a personally embar
rassing situation; namely, the sexual discrimina
tion lawsuit of Mary Stansel.
Asitstands, Chavis shouldbe glad theNAACP
is allowing him to leave without facing em
bezzlement charges.
To add insult to injury, Chavis, in his lawsuit,
requested an emergency court order to tempo
rarily reinstate him as head of the organization
he mismanaged pending the conclusion of the
lawsuit. Judge Herbert Dixon declined. Thank
fully, someone has the interests of the NAACP
in mind.
Chavis has stated he will continue to work “in
the struggle of African-American people for jus
tice, freedom and self-determination.” Ifhe were
truly interested in these goals, he would drop his
lawsuit against the NAACP and let that group
continue its efforts toward them.
The NAACP, crippled by the continuing alle
gations against Chavis, needs time to regroup
and rebuild. This unifying was supposed to take
place under Chavis; now, his former organiza
tion needs peace and quiet to get on with its job.
THE DAILY TAR HEEL
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Printing: The Chapel Hill News
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EDITORIAL
ianwi.ifk "iwß® 6
Conservatives: Raise Your Voices for What’s Right
And God said, ‘Let there be light’: and
there was light.” Genesis 1:3.
For those freshmen (excuse me...
freshpersons) who have yet to experience Chapel
Hill’s liberal indoctrination process, I proffer
these words of advice: Be not seduced by the
power of the Dark Side.
For instance...
Don’t lend support to whatever Cause of the
Week our campus liberal elites decide to engi
neer.
Don’t trust any statistic which seems too
shocking to be true, e.g. spousal abuse doesn’t
really rise by 40 percent on Super Bowl Sunday.
Don’t wear self-righteous, meaningless rib
bons in the hope of demonstrating that you are
more compassionate than everyone else.
Don’t assume that men are violent, card
carrying members of Patriarchy Inc.
Don’t make signs which feature such hyper
bolic claims as “Women don’t have the right to
go out in public” (see last Monday’s DTH).
Don’t dedicate your life to promoting the
awareness—a popular word here on campus—
of us ignorant people less enlightened than your
glorious self.
Don’t sexually harass women in the manner
of Benjamin Chavis, Bill Clinton and Teddy
Kennedy.
And finally, never under any circumstances
portray yourself as a helpless victim of an “op
pressive” society unless you’re from Cuba,
China or other horrific countries where the in
terests of the state supersede those of the indi
vidual.
As should thus be apparent, I am a devout
right-winger, an endangered species on these
pages, to be sure. If you now stereotype me as
intolerant because of my deep conservatism,
just remember that such an act is the epitome of
closed-mindedness. Far from being the mind
less, reactionary dolts that our media portrayal
suggests, we on the Right are quite intellectually
fluent and possess a rich philosophical heritage.
What then are the canons of the American
Right?
Three aphorisms of conservatism are as fol-
llnion Films Belong on HBO,
Not in 'Diverse' Programming
TO THE EDITOR:
Fred Jones and the rest ofthe Carolina Union
Film Committee owe the UNC community an
explanation: How can they reconcile their stated
aim of “providing a diverse schedule of films”
with the fare they're offering this year? We’ve
had some lousy schedules in the recent past, but
this year’s selection reads like the catalogue for
Blockbuster Video.
Diversity? Thirty-two of the 50 films were
produced in either 1993 or 1994 i.e., practi
cally two out of every three were made in the last
two years. What conceivable logic, what delu
sions about contemporary achievement in film,
could justify such a monopoly of recent releases?
I’ve heard stories about the foreshortened sense
of history among the present generation of col
lege students, but this beats all.
The schedule’s geographical diversity is no
better. Forty-two of the 50 films are Made in the
USA (or the Western edge of it). The rest of the
globe is represented by two films each from
Great Britain and Spain, and one each from
France, Italy, Mexico and Vietnam. The only
director making more than one appearance is
Steven Spielberg, four of whose blockbusters
contribute to the diversity. And the committee’s
Statement of Purpose speaks of promoting “a
sense of being-in-the-world”! (Whatever that
means —a misprint for “being-in-the-mall”?)
It’s too bad. The year when the Union finally
updates its equipment, when we can at least
walk into the Union Auditorium without the
near certainty that the projector will break down
or the sound will be inaudible, we’re treated to a
schedule like that of any commercial theater.
I suggest the DTH perform a public service by
publishing the schedule of films showing at
Duke this year. That’s where many of us (even
diehard basketball fans) have had to go for
alternative films the past few years anyway. And
film committee members might see about pick
ing up English 42 (“Movie Criticism”) this se
mester. It’s probably closed, but I’ll bet any
instructor who's seen this year’s schedule will
gladly give you a seat.
TimLogue
GRADUATE STUDENT
ENGUSH
lows:
(1) Private Prop
erty Rights. The right
wing recognizes that
freedom and democ
racy are mutually
exclusive in a coun
try which ignores the
sacredness of per
sonal possessions.
Without private
property protections,
ballot booth democ
racy becomes a tool
m
LANCE MCMILLAN
RIGHT OR TARGET
of class envy as the majority is apt to rape and
pillage those individuals who prosper in the
name of sharing the wealth. Eventually, though,
no citizens are safe from encroachments on their
liberty and property. The collectivist spirit soon
feeds upon itself and the Leviathan begins to
devour the fortunes ofeveryone except the ruling
cadres in government.
History proves as much. The Russian Revo
lution began as a revolt against a repressive
aristocracy but ended with Lenin and the boys
confiscating the livestock of the lowliest farmer.
The appetite to seize and control was too vora
cious to be contained. Attacks on property rights
lead a nation down a slippery slope to tyranny
and public ownership of everything.
(2) Free Markets and Free Trade. Right
wingers believe that economic affairs are best
conducted without government interference.
Individual human beings act with diverse goals
in mind.
The variety of these actions —and the differ
ent subjective values attached to them ensure
that planned economies are doomed to failure.
Bureaucrats lack the knowledge and know-how
of an entrepreneur moved by the profit motive to
provide for human wants.
Although no economic system is perfect due
to the fact that uncertainty of the future makes
economic forecasting imprecise, free enterprise
allows for the best allocation of resources be
cause it is consumers, i.e. everyone, who are the
ultimate sovereigns of such an arrangement. If
READERS’FORUM
The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and
criticism. Letters to the editor should be no longer
than 400 words and must be typed, double-spaced,
dated and signed by no more than two people.
Students should include their year, major and phone
number. Faculty and staff should include their title,
department and phone number. The DTH reserves
the right to edit letters for space, clarity and vulgarity.
General Assembly Should
Lower Taxes, Not Spend
TO THE EDITOR:
The General Assembly showed its true colors
when it redistributed about $ 1 billion of our extra
money.
They didn’t even seem to give a serious thought
to some sort of tax relief.
Speaker ofthe House Dan Blue opposed any
tax cuts this year as did other key House leaders.
Governor Hunt suggested that some sort of tax
relief may be possible next year.
The reasons given for no tax cuts this year
included a need to maintain a responsible fiscal
posture and a lack of time to examine the issue.
This last excuse is somewhat interesting, since
the legislators did manage to find the time to get
through a cornucopia of pork barrel items.
Based on information from the John Locke
Foundation, here’s a list of some of the pork that
was dished out this session:
President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare,
got $5 million to improve the Elizabeth II site in
his hometown ofManteo, plus sßoo,oooto build
the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum at Cape
Hatteras.
Speaker Dan Blue, D-Wake, an NCCU alum,
snagged $8 million for anew biotechnology
center at North Carolina Central University.
House Majority Leader Toby Fitch, D-Wil
son, got a hold of $3 million for his hometown’s
Hath) ©ar Hppl
the people demand something, then that product
will be supplied. Ultimately, government inter
vention creates the very problems which oppo
nents of the market use against capitalism: in
equality, monopolies, the business cycle, scar
city, inflation, etc.
(3) God. For conservatives, morality is de
rived from superhuman instincts prompted by an
Almighty Being. The designs and forces of this
Deity are too great for man truly to appreciate
and comprehend. When the human race loses
touch with this spiritual element, secular man
itself becomes a god whose will and passions are
not to be challenged or checked. Restraint is a
moral construct which loses its foundation when
reverence for Divine purposes diminishes
why not fulfill every appetite and desire imagin
able if this life isn’t a temporal one, but our only
one?
Social chaos is the result of such a breakdown
of the moral order. Lack of restraint breeds
disillusionment, anomie and a pathological use
of violence, e.g. the inner cities. The law-abiding
are thus forced to submit themselves to a treach
erous authoritarian regime for the simple reason
of immediate physical security. Freedom, then,
cannot exist in a society devoid of morality
and God.
I realize that most citizens at large and stu
dents on this campus are apolitical and only
want to be left alone to live their daily lives (a
conservative impulse in itself). However, the
time for passivity has passed. Throughout this
campus and the nation, our institutions are con
trolled by social planners who are confident in
their ability to give us health care, educate our
children, make us more tolerant, spend our money
more wisely than ourselves and the like... We
must act.
In the words of Ludwig von Mises, this
century’s greatest economist and a champion of
liberty, “Everyone, in his own interest, must
thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual
battle.” Let the games begin.
Lance MacMillan is a junior political science major
from Atlanta, Ga.
new recreation center at the Eastern North Caro
lina School of the Deaf.
Senator George Daniel, D-Caswell, a
Wolfpack alumnus, grabbed $6.5 million for the
N.C. State basketball emporium being built in
West Raleigh. The legislature also voted itself a
50 percent increase in their own pensions, which
will result in us paying an extra $776,000 each
year to fund this increase.
With a $1 billion surplus and about 7 million
North Carolina citizens, the average household
could have expected about a S4OO tax cut. The
cut could have come in several forms. Some may
argue that S4OO is just a drop in the bucket, but I
would respond to that by simply saying, “Think
of what YOU could do with that money."
I find it very offensive and condescending that
many government officials feel that they know
how to spend my money better than I do.
As you can see by the pork barrel projects
mentioned above, instead of offering a tax break
that would benefit all the people ofthe state, the
legislature chose to redistribute the wealth to a
select few, many of whom just happen to be
within the jurisdictions of powerful House mem
bers.
In 1991, the corporate tax rate was increased
from 7to 7.75 percent to help close a $1.2 billion
budget deficit. At that time the state had also
promised to roll back some of the taxes they
raised, as soon as possible. North Carolina now
has one ofthe highest corporate income tax rates
in the Southeast, which may hurt the state’s
effort to attract new businesses or keep existing
businesses and jobs in the state. We’ll never
know for sure how much that played in Mercedes’
decision to locate in Alabama.
Have you also noticed that Ohio has a Honda
plant, Kentucky has a Toyota plant, South Caro
lina has BMW, and Tennessee has a Nissan and
Saturn plant, while poor ol’ N.C. has nothin’?
Hmmmmmm
The truth of the matter is that North Carolina
is already gaining a reputation as ahigh-tax state.
In a competitive global economy this is NOT
good. With all the talk about the economic devel
opment plans the State government is consider
ing, maybe the easiest and most efficient plan to
implement would be to simply CUT TAXES.
GtntGalin
UNC MBA
CLASS OF '93