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8 Friday, March 24,1995 latlg aar BM Kell? Ryia EDITOR TTumasas Cambanis managing editor World Wide Web Electronic Edition: | A 1 http://www.unc.edu/dth/iiuleLhtini jJLI Established 1893 BBflfl 102 Years of Editorial Freedom What Would Mr. Jefferson Do? The defunding of “The Carolina Review” has raised questions about the efficiency and fair ness of disbursing student funds to student groups. But an even greater furor is occurring at another public school just to the north of us: the University of Virginia. Mr. Jefferson’s university is defending itself from a lawsuit begun by Wide Awake, a student Christian organization. At issue is whether religious groups can re ceive student funds, and what role student gov ernment organizations should have in choosing who gets what. Wide Awake was denied funding for fear that a state school sponsoring a religious group would run afoul of the establishment clause in the First Amendment. This is interpreted to hold that the govern ment, and by proxy, public institutions (i.e. public schools) cannot affirmatively support re ligion by giving them public money (i.e. student funds). UVA argues further that if it is forced by court order to fund all groups who desire it, the school will go bankrupt. Wide Awake’s lawyer, Mr. McConnell, ar gues that the denial of funding was an infringe ment of free speech. Studentfees, he suggests, shouldbe disbursed on a “content free” basis. Any legitimately reg istered student group should be allowed to re ceive funding. UVA’s argument of bankruptcy, he says, is silly. Not all organizations can, as a practical mat ter, be funded, but the school should not be allowed to deny funding because it approves or disapproves of the group. Finally, the establishment clause only ex pressly disallows “Congress” from “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...” First, argues Mr. McConnell, UVA is not Congress. Second, allowing a student group to receive money does not “establish” specific reli gion: all similar groups would be allowed an opportunity to receive funding. A ruling is ex pected in June. Lawyers love cases like this. Two valid and revered principles are at issue: the validity of free speech and the separation of church and state. Both sides have excellent arguments. UVA’s guidelines are inconsistent in form and unevenly applied. Even as Wide Awake was denied money, the Jewish Law students organization was approved. The difference? The latter was an “ethnic” orga nization. If Wide Awake were instead, the Black Mus lim Brotherhood, would that change things? Should the establishment clause only affect eth- Tar Heel Quotables “Too often, it seems that sports drives aca demics. In other words, the tail’s wagging the dog.” PAMELA CONOVER, leader of the study of undergraduate programs for the taskforce report for reaccrediting UNC Commenting on the darker forces driving academics at UNC “It wouldn’t be killing the goose, but it would be starving it.” D.S. MARTIN, UNC rice president for public affairs On the effect Hunt's proposed budget cuts would have on the University “I was kind of expecting it to be long. First they slaughtered us for an hour... they also took lunch when we were supposed to begin.” PATRICK WILLARD, co-chairman of B-GLAD On the challenges involved in achieving funding from Student Congress “This campus used to be a rich Southern . is Tara Servians editorial page editor Adam Gusman university editor Ryan Tkoinburg city editor Jenny Hennen state 4 national editor Justin Seheef sports editor Jon Goldberg FEATURES EDITOR Alison Mane! arts/diversions editor Peter Roybal special assignments editor Katbryn Sberer COPY DESK EDITOR Amy Ferguson DESIGN EDITOR Craig Jones photography editor Chris Anderson graphics editor Michael Webb editorial cartoon editor nically impure organizations? This doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, neither does the argu ment that free speech means free money. UVA did not deny Wide Awake the right to speak, nor to proselytize, nor to hold meetings. It just said the school would not pay for it. That seems fair, but only if fairly applied. As the Jewish law fund illustrates, it may not have been. Which brings us back to the Review. Here, too, the problem is the validity of the rules and their application. Rules that discriminate against specific groups, whether because of religious or political affiliation, seem half-baked and unfair. They become even more unfair when unequally applied. When the Review is denied but other, equally partisan groups are funded, the question of cen sorship due to content arises. Similarly, students have the right to wonder: Why am I paying for any of these groups at all? Shouldn’t I make that decision myself, not an intermediary organization? If I don’t bowl, why should I support, say, the UNC Bowlers’ Club? The issue is especially tricky on issues of religion or morality. While it may be technically “fair”—in the sense of “equal”—to ask pro-life students to fund pro-choice groups, or vice versa, or for homosexuals to fund right-wing groups that oppose their right to be homosexual as long as all groups get a chance for funding, there must be a more efficient and less litigious way. Maybe a better method would be to allow students to choose for themselves. If a student wants to fund a group, religious or otherwise, he or she can directly by giving it money. Separation of church and state won’t apply because the state is not a party to the transaction; equity will be served by allowing every student to make his or her own decision as to what he or she wishes to support. No one’s freedom of choice will be harmed, because everyone will have an equal choice. An intermeddling institution, such as a congress or committee, complicates this simple exchange, politicizes the process, and causes litigation. The solution? Perhaps a voucher system so that students can specifically choose the groups they wish to sup port. Or a nonpartisan committee of teachers and students to decide funding. Or, in UVA’s case, a less restrictive reading of the establish ment clause, as black legal scholar Stephen Carter and others suggest. There are any number of reforms which could make the system more responsive to students and more equitable. The question UVA is doubtless asking, and which we should as well is: What would Mr. Jefferson do? men’s school— that’s when it really was a party school.” DAVffl ECKERMAN, member of the committee that examiner! student development services for the reaccreditation study On the improvement of the intellectual environment at UNC during the last 10 years “I looked up after I hit it, and [my parents] were just going crazy up there in the stands.” DAVID NEAL, a reserve point guard on (INC'S basketball team After hitting the first basket of his college career with 12.7 seconds left in the game against lowa State “I didn’t know I was pregnant until he just came out. I started to use the bathroom, and then I saw his head.” CHRISTY L SMITH, a freshman who gave birth in an Ehringhaus bathroom on Wednesday Commenting on what had to have been the biggest shock of her life EDITORIAL the. Tail, waging* ! / ... . if' ' ' Hie ABC Abacus: Simple Math for English Majors Fear. We know it well, but for us it does not come in the form of some hell-bent monster, ravenous for human flesh. Nope. We Ire not scared of the Boogey-Man, or Dennis Hopper, or even Coach K. (at least not this year). What really scares us, gives us the midnight chills, gets our hearts pounding, palms sweating, blood pressure rising is... Math. That’s right, plain old Arithmetic the kind we’ve been learning since kindergarten. Hey! We’re English majors. Put simply: Words good! Numbers bad! Hell, it was just lastweekthatwe realized that “the 18th Century” really meant “the 1700s.” This being said, how do we understand the factors of the world around us? We realize that math is an ever present element of life. We can’t seem to escape it. Numbers and equations and formulas are everywhere. So, how are we going to make it? Easy. First, we’ll hire accountants to do our taxes. Second, we never go out to eat without the 15 percent / 20 percent tip card. Third, we’ll use our powers and hypothesize our own Math. Sum of you will undoubtedly stop reading here; that’s mean. We invite the remain der of you to enjoy our little product. Welcome to English Major Math. (Please forgive us if we go off on a few tangents.) Category, The First: UNC LIFE What is the life-expectancy of a UNC student? [Sanity / (all-nighters + demands of syllabi + money problems)] + [(trips to the SRC) x (meals at the Healthy Bite)] - [(trips to The Rat), x (number of barkeeps you know by name)] What grade will I get on this exam? [(pages filled in bluebook) x (number of times you use the word “postmodernism”—correctly or not)] - [(number of times you call the instruc tor “Professor” instead of “Dr.”) x (Jolt Colas imbibed)] What are the chances of becoming Morehead scholar? {Dignity / [(asses kissed)x(aptitudeforcheesy small-talk)]} / [(failed jokes tried during inter view) + (number of times you use the word “like”)] Will myfavorite Chapel Hill Bandgo big-time like Hootie and Dave? [(number of “hotties” in the band) x (avg. length of hair) x (number of frat. gigs) x (audience’s inability to decipher lyrics)] +/- drummer who wears backwards baseball cap How bad will my “hell week" be? [Social Life / (level of instructors’ sexual repression) x (how many days remain until the ides of March)] + [(number of friends who are goofing off) x (how often you say, "I need a UNC Greeks Not 'Primary Culprit 1 in Academic Decline TO THE EDITOR: The cover story “Party School?” in the March 21,1995 Daily Tar Heel implies that fraternities and sororities are a negative influence on UNC’s intellectual environment. Specifically, in a large survey Greeks emerged as the “primary culprit” for “having a negative effect on the University’s academic atmosphere.” First, I have a response to that objection to Greek life, and second, a note about Greeks in general. Assume it’s true that three of four Greeks go to bars once a week while only one of four non- Greeks behave the same way. Do Greeks go more often because they’re Greek, or do they frequent barsbecausethey personally enjoy it? It seems that some people at UNC will drink during college, eitheratbarsorathome. Others, I suppose, either will not drink or will drink very sparingly. Of the first category, we find many people who tend to spend their nights “out,” not in their rooms. Those are the same students who are more apt to participate in rush. In turn, those same “rushees” are the seeds of another wave of Greeks. Therefore, more drinkers than non drinkers are Greek, and this reflects a personal tendency to enjoy “going out.” The fact that they are in the Greek system is not why they drink, and thus the cause and effect implied in the article is inaccurate. Even so, one might argue, fraternities and sororities collect drinkers if they do not create them. Perhaps, but what else does the Greek system collect? Greeks are not worse students than non-Greeks; theaverageGPAforGreeksis slightly higher. Students in Greek life have su perb access to career-oriented jobs by network ing with both alumni and other brothers / sis ters. Honors such as Gamma Sigma Alpha and the Balanced Man Scholarship are offered for academic excellence. Being Greek surely ex poses a student to more elements of the Univer sity than he or she would otherwise see. And the friendships are truly inestimable. Why did all the benefits of being Greek go unmentioned in the article? Because that infor mation is peripheral to the claim that fraternities FRANK GOTH & DOM CASUAL beer!”)] Duke Arrogance Level [(number of Mercedes in student parking lot) x (pride in the state of New Jersey)] - the basket ball team Section, The Second: LIFE LIFE How much money will I getfrom the folks? {[(number of calls) x (tears shed)] / time of calls} x [number of times you say, “I love you. ”) - (phone bill)] How soon will the world end? {Goodness / [(number of people who watch “Roseanne”) x (number of “Member’s Only” jackets still in use)]} x (number of weeks Sheryl Crow remains on the charts) Fat Grams in a Bojangles Chicken Filet Combo? [(number of gallons lost in the Exxon Valdez disaster) x (the national debt)] + evil - (purging number of trips to the “bottomless tea keg”) How do I know if I’m drunk? {[Willpower / (How many Madonna lyrics you can remember)] x [(dancing ability) + (diffi culty to recall the “liquor before beer ... beer before liquor” rule)]} +/- proximity to a toilet How depressed am I? (number of Cure albums owned) x (number of points Randolph Childress scored) x (number of times you say, “I need a beer.”) What are we gonna’ do tonight? (Theory of Relativity) E (Everybody in the group is indecisive) = M (Money you have) C (Cooperation of parties involved) (squared) Section, The Third: SPORTS AND EN TERTAINMENT What are the chances of Dean Smith getting a technical? {Patience / [(number of days Lenny Wurtz has been alive) x (prescription level of Lenny’s glasses) x (breaths Lenny takes in a day) x (num ber of times Lenny has had the “I’m a Blue Devil” dream)]} How well will Woody and Mick call the game? READEMJRCM 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. Send e-mail forum to: dth@unc.edu. and sororities are to blame for a poor academic setting. (They could both ruin the intellectual atmosphere and have great qualities.) Frankly, it’s the students who do the drinking, not the Greek letters, and any knowledgeable senior could tell you that many non-Greek drinkers often consume more excessively and more often than Greek drinkers. And Greek drinkers would still be drinkers if there were no Greek system! So where should the blame be placed? Provided that this University is to remain beautiful, academi cally prestigious, fun, popular and the home of well-rounded students, neither students nor ac tivities are to blame. The cranky faculty can go to Brown University if the excitement is too much. I’m fairly sure the Final Four isn’t televised in Rhode Island. David Hathaway SENIOR JOURNAUSM/PHILOSOPHY Affirmative Action 'Horse* Is Still Far From Doing Dead TO THE EDITOR: This letter is in response to Tadd Wilson’s column, “Affirmative Action: Stop Beating a Dead Horse” (March 20). The original intent of (51 ft IlaUjj (Far Brel [(numberoftimesMickmentions “Beefmaster Hot Dogs”) x (number of times Woody men tions Pearce Landry’s GPA] x (number of times Woody and Mick disagree openly with the ref) - [(how often Woody messes up the score) x (Exxon commercial air-time)] How bad is this movie? (How many “Goobers” Roger Ebert ate while watching it) / [(minutes Jennifer Jason Leigh appears on screen) x (number of weeks it takes to air on "USA-Up All Night”)] +/- (this movie is “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”) “ER’s "chances of being America’s Number One Show? {(Melrose Place Popularity) / [(number of times Dr. Ross takes his shirt off) x (number of times Dr. Lewis gazes helplessly at the camera with those blue eyes)]} - {number of times ER jumps on the “Male Buttocks” bandwagon) Part, The Fourth: RELATIONSHIPS Potential dates for English Majors {(number of single women) / [number of beers) x (number of bars)]} - Athletes How good will the first date be?( Apply the FOIL method) F = number of times you chew your Food with your mouth open O = number of times you mention an Old flame I =Jndecision on where to go and what to do L = Laughability of jokes you tell The Patheticorean Theorem: You all remember the Pythagorean Theorem, which states, “If the square of one side of a triangle = the sum of the squares of the other two sides, then the triangle is a right triangle.” We say: “If the square of one person’s love for an other is = to the lust that the object of that person’s affection has for another + the lust that the lustee feels for the luster, then, that is a love triangle, and the first person is going to get screwed ... figuratively. Well, that about wraps it up here, folks. This is how we make sense of the world. We may not know our math, but there is one thing that we really wanted to study in college in earnest... women. For your benefit, we will now present that information for you. What have Dom and Frank learned about women in college? The empty set. Matt Olin (Dom Casual) is a senior English major from Matthews. Tim Miner (Frank Goth) is a junior English major from Charlotte. Future / [(Two guys) + (English degrees)] = No Money. affirmative action was to induce government assisted and/or voluntary action by public and private organizations to prevent the perpetua tion of formal, informal, or passively institution alized racial discrimination in the job market. Many would agree that preferential hiring quotas are not the best remedies for discrimina tory practices. In fact it can be argued that in many cases, affirmative action has either failed or proven ineffective in an “inherently unequal system.” The elimination or dismantling of “af firmative action” should, however, be reconsid ered because of socio-economic and political changes currently being seen in American soci ety. Those who advocate the dismantling of the system on the grounds of “reverse discrimina tion" often fail to recognize the feet that there are few viable alternatives altogether. If affirmative action programs are to be reconstructed, there are sure to be detrimental effects on minorities. The detrimental effects would not necessarily be as a direct result of the elimination of the system, but would instead result from other pro posed “program cuts,” “welfare cuts,” “social spending cuts,” “health care reforms” and “con servative programs” that are soon to be imple mented. These programs indirectly target the real vic tims of American society, despite inherentabuses of the system by some. The conservative direc tion of American society, coupled by a resur gence of racist ideologies of genetic and cultural inferiority and “scientific racism” (e.g. “The Bell Curve”) do not lend favorably to the concurrent dismantling of affirmative action and other such programs. While some may advocate the arguments denouncingthe supposedly “unfair” preferential treatment of minorities in various spheres, it remains painfully obvious that the “horse is far from being dead.” Combining statements ofboth bell hooks and Professor Stanley Fish, “Affirma tive action is a means of reducing inequalities” in an inherently unequal “capitalistic, racist, patri archal society.” Kevin Om-A-Shing FRESHMAN BUSINESS
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 24, 1995, edition 1
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