12
Wednesday, November 29,1995
Saily Slar
HunaiiH Cuhlmhh EDITOR
Justin Scbeef MANAGING EDITOR
Justin Williams staff DEVELOPMENT
Worid Wide Web Electronic Edition
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I ill Kelly Jo Garner electronic editor
JL Established 1893
102 Years of Editorial Freedom
BOARD EDITORIALS
Stop Sta Ding Search
Who needs a vice chancellor for student af
fairs anyway? That’s what administrators are
telling us by their indifferent attitude toward the
search to fill the post left vacant when Donald
Boulton retired more than year ago.
The dean in charge of finding a replacement
still has not hired a firm to sort through the fewer
than 50 applications in hand.
There is no excuse for leaving the vital divi
sion of student affairs to atrophy within the
University’s administrative structure without a
permanent vice chancellor to lead it.
Interim Vice Chancellor Edith Wiggins has
stayed the course at student affairs since Boulton
retired. But as a temporary leader, she does not
have the authority to make bold changes.
Student Affairs is the administrative unit most
crucial to the quality of life of UNC students.
Housing, student government, transportation,
Unmerited Merit Pay
The basic principle of positive reinforcement
rewards “good behavior.” If all goes well in the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system next year,
Superintendent Neil Pedersen could reap hefty
bonuses more than 10 percent of his 1995-96
base salary for his good behavior.
Last week, saying a goal-and-incentive pro
gram would result in greater accountability of
the superintendent to the schools, the school
board approved Pedersen’s merit-pay package,
proposed by the superintendent himself.
Though greater accountability is a noble goal,
board members should have thought the pro
posal through before passing it. True, Pedersen
is in charge of the entire school system, but why
should he be rewarded for improvements that
are largely out ofhis control? A test-score bonus,
for example, relies more on solid teaching and
attention to individual students than on
Pedersen’s daily administrative duties.
Open Anns, Closed Wallets
The poor, tired, huddled masses immigrating
to the United States should not assume we will
welcome them with open arms, at least if we
follow the lead of recent Republican legislation
in Congress.
This legislation makes it more difficult for
children of legal legal — aliens to qualify for
Head Start child care. Instead of determining
financial need on the basis of family income, the
legislation uses calculations including the in
come of the person sponsoring that family.
Legal aliens who would otherwise qualify for
subsidized child care may not be able to rely on
their sponsor to provide the financial assistance
assumed in the proposed calculation. Even if
they can, this reliance perpetuates institutional
ized dependence on another person, pushing
them further from financial independence.
Immigrants who cannot raise money for child
care will be forced either to stay home or, more
likely, to leave their children untended while
they work to make ends meet.
Leaving children alone takes away the
opportuniy to learn anew language, customs
and ideals. By making it more difficult to attain
this early exposure, Congress is initiating a vi-
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the Student Union and the Campus Y are among
the organizations under the authority of the
division of student affairs.
It took a long time for the division of student
affairs to reach the level of respect it now has. But
if student affairs totters along without a perma
nent leader, the division will lose the stature it
was beginning to build.
The chairman of the search committee,
Stephen Birdsall, originally said we would have
anew vice chancellor by January.
Now he says there is no time limit on the
search. At the same time, Birdsall himself is up
for review. He should aim to put a close to the
vice chancellor search before his own term as
dean finishes.
Student affairs need a dynamic, strong and
impassioned leader who cares about UNC’s
24,000 students, and we need that leader soon.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro system is already
one of the best in the state. Only genuine efforts
will keep it that way. If Pedersen will get a bonus
for one specific program, he might neglect other,
just as necessary, programs whose implementa
tions aren’t attached to a couple thousand dol
lars.
In the past, the superintendent has received
merit pay based on less-specific goals, while his
contract limited other bonuses. But during the
next academic year, he could stand to gain up to
$9,000 extra if specific goals are met.
A sincere desire to improve the school system
and achieve the school board’s goals should be a
necessary quality of any good superintendent,
not contingent on monetary awards. Using cash
as motivation does not keep this desire true; it
suggests instead that the futures of Chapel Hill
and Carrboro children are not enough incentive
to improve the quality of their education.
cious cycle of unequal opportunity.
Ironically, the legislation was also meant to
curtail Pell Grants to college-bound legal aliens.
Congress decided, however, not to cut higher
educational opportunities, forgetting the serious
handicap they will create by limiting Head Start.
If legal aliens can overcome this early handicap
and excel in later schooling, then die govern
ment will help them. Yet, one must first have the
skills to qualify for a college education skills
developed in childhood before fretting over
how to pay for college. Congress is pruning the
seedling while agreeing to fertilize the tree.
Legal aliens provide an easy target for budget
cuts, as they should not necessarily receive the
same benefits as tax-paying citizens. This does
not mean they will not stay in the country. Tax
paying citizens will be faced with a growing
number of people who have been forced into
poverty by the denial of equal opportunities,
whether in education or in the job market.
Cuts must be made in the budget, but Con
gress should not take the easiest route. If they do,
their constituents, whose ancestors were once
themselves part of a tired, huddled mass, must
let them know how it feels to be unemployed.
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EDITORIAL
Political Third Party Must Challenge Assumptions
I feel compelled to write on an issue which is of
critical importance in American politics to
day but which seems to be in danger of being
co-opted by the establishment and thus defused
before it is ever given a chance. This issue is the
question of the need for a third political party.
It seems everyone today agrees with the need
of such a party as an “alternative” to the two
established ones. People regularly bemoan the
fact that there is no real choice in American
politics—either they say the two parties leave a
significant number of Americans feeling unrep
resented, or that the Democrats and Republi
cans are really only two wings of the same party.
They are both correct. The problem, however, is
not in the recognition of the problem but in its
proposed solution.
Ross Perot has been the focal point of calls for
a third party ever since his dramatic challenges
to both Geoige Bush and Bill Clinton in 1992.
With his latest emergence onto the political
stage he has promoted the idea of actually form
ing a much-demanded third party. He is being
hailed by many as a savior of the American
political system. Even those who do not agree
with his politics point optimistically to the fact
that he is at least opening the door for other
potential party options. In my opinion, how
ever, Ross Perot signals doom for any chance at
a genuine third-party movement in this country.
The third-party movement of Ross Perot will
serve the function of ending a debate which, if it
was ever really discussed to its logical conclu
sion, would make many Americans think twice
about their “frustration" with the two-party sys
tem. Why do we need a third party? Is it really so
we can finally pass such earth-shattering, revo
lutionary reforms as term limits, the line-item
veto or a balanced budget amendment? Is that
Zzjscm Mu u>bt> ft*
Attention Campus Politicos:
It's Almost That Time Again
Editor's Note: The author is chairwoman of the
Student Government Elections Board.
TO THE EDITOR:
Now that the election excitement has died
down, I would like to thank the 1,634 students
who came out to vote on Nov. 14. In the depths
of midterms, however, it is almost time to look
ahead to Student Government’s General Elec
tions in February. I would like to invite all those
interested in the elections process to get in
volved. It is a very complex process; however, it
is very rewarding and, I think, a lot of fun. If you
are interested in campus elections, or just have a
comment for the Elections Board, come by Suite
C in the Student Union, or call me at 962-5201.
Annie Shrnrt
SENIOR
. ECONOMICS
Give Thanks for Hockey,
Love and Marty Pomerantz
TO THE EDITOR:
Thanksgiving is a peat holiday, eh? There’s
nothing quite like sitting around a sturdy oak
table on a wholesome autumn day with a whole
bunch of friends, family and plump turkeys.
Sony, was that redundant? No sir-ree, you just
can’t beat that! (Except maybe for summer vaca
tion, spring break, Christmas break, Martin
Luther King Day, die Labor Day weekend or a
good game of hockey).
This Thanksgiving, my friends and I went
around the table telling each other what we were
thankful for. When it was my turn, I teared up
and said, “1... SNIFF SNIFF... wanna say...
SNIFF SNIFF ... thank the heavens above for
... SNIFF ... Marty Pomerantz, the director of
intramural sports because he gave us hockey
again!!!”
Then I started to cry uncontrollably and had
to excuse myself from the table. After a good
solid half-hour “happy cry,” I came back to the
table, lifted my chilled goblet of mead and
shouted, “Hallelujah!!! Amen!!! I say REJOICE
brothers and sisters!!! Amen!!!’’ Then, I drank
and cried some more. There was much rejoic
ing.
This was because no more shall Mr.
Pomerantz’s most noble deed go unnoticed and
uncelebrated. I rejoiced because this man is
unbelievably understanding. Mr., excuse me,
St. Pomerantz converted an old, run-down ten
nis court into an ethereal, inspirational gather
ing place for those who love the game (and it
sure ain’t baseball). He swung a deal with Michael
Kline, the gracious director of Transportation
and Parking, and divinely created a beautiful
asphalt rink that’s located just south of Craige
parking deck and open every day after 6 p.m.
Marty must have thought, “Ifl build it, they will
come.” Most weekends it’s available, are you
ready for this, all day! But wait, there’s more! It
has lights, so we can play hockey all night too!
Whooooo hooooo!!! (Actually only until 11
p.m.)
This ordinary man they call Marty is indeed
all? Can’t the
Republicrats do that ■IUaiBIBiIIHJMM
just as well as Perot? GUEST COLUMNIST
Is it a whole new party we need, or simply Ross
Perot’s cut-throat negotiating ability? If this is
the kind of dramatic change that gets Americans
excited, then we really are in trouble.
No, what is really needed is not another
establishment group to wedge itself into the ever
narrowing gap between the Republicans and
Democrats. What is needed is a party which
dare I say it?—actually challenges the system. Is
the American, capitalist, big-business system the
only possible one? Do people still think we really
have true democracy, when it takes treasure
chests filled with cash supplied by the likes of the
tobacco industry and the NRA (to name just a
few of the less than savory interest groups out
there), just to run for office?
Believe it or not, I am not a socialist. I have
never been accused by anyone of being one, and
most who know me would laugh at the thought.
Nevertheless, I do believe strongly in the need
for a group that challenges some of the funda
mental assumptions shaping our current politi
cal culture. I relish the thought of a party that
would make politicians like Bob Dole and Newt
Gingrich face the intellectual challenge of justi
fying their policies before genuine Social Demo
crats, ratherthantheirpunchingbag, Bill Clinton,
whom they have ludicrously labeled a socialist.
If they are truly up to the challenge, let them
defend capitalism and perhaps even reform and
improve it as a viable option to socialism. This
would be genuine reform and not the smoke and
mirrors they are trying to pass off on us now.
The danger I see in Ross Perot’s movement is
that he might succeed —and when he does, the
debate on the third-party issue will end. After all,
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,
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the right to edit letters for length, clarity and
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Hill, NC 27515 or e-mail forum to dth@unc.edu.
our savior. Before this rink, no things were, save
the eternal and the eternal abide. Hockey players
were barred from sidewalks, tennis courts, the
Union and yes, even Wilson Library. It was sooo
bad, that this campus failed to give the Woman’s
Field Hockey Team (We are not wortheee!) the
enormous respect they deserved for winning the
NCAA title just because they bore the scarlet
name, “hockey.” I mean, there weren’t any road
blocks on Franklin Street the night after they
made turtle soup out of the Terrapins. What the
hell?! For shame, people! Indeed, we were the
victims of a law-hungry and disrespectful system
gone mad!
Now, thanks to St. Pomerantz, all races, all
sexes, all life can at last come together as one.
Now, all can join in unity in love, in hockey.
Ahhhh. What is this crazy thing called love?
Love is chucking a hapless opponent into a
century fence while gently imprinting argyle
mesh patterns on his or her face. Love is spitting
out a central incisor, smiling and with blood
dripping from your chin, saying, “Wow, nice
hit.” Love is hockey. Hockey is love. Thanks be
to St. Marty Pomerantz for giving us love again!!
Amen.
Kevin Mark
MEDICAL STUDENT
Protecting Speech Does Not
Justify Funding Dogma
TO THE EDITOR:
Religious and non-religious factions of the
campus community seem to eye each other with
mutual fear and distrust. The tensions between
the secular society and religious faith were no
where more clearly apparent than in the recent
protests surrounding the funding of religious
groups here at UNC.
This year, Student Congress denied funding
to the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the
Muslim Student Association, because they re
quired members to profess a particular religious
faith before they could become leaders of the
organizations. Many religious groups, feeling
that their deeply held beliefs are under attack,
©fyr Sail}) Star
we will have one then, right? Wrong. We will
have what is desired by the establishment
another chip off the same block but draped, as are
the Republicans and Democrats, in a fig leaf
conferring “independent party” status.
Let’s face it United We Stand does not
want fundamental change any more than the
Republicrats do. They want to perpetuate the
system by adding a nip here and a tuck there. In
the end, the perpetuation of the system means
the continued suppression of any possible chal
lenges to that system.
What’s the solution? I cannot say for sure. It
will obviously take something other than Ross
Perot’s billions of dollars to change the system
fundamentally. What it will certainly require is
for the people to stand up and be counted. You
must realize how the system works and how
politicians convince you they are working to
“fix” it, when all they are doing is guaranteeing
their own survival through the maintenance of
the status-quo and the large corporations which
sustain them. Don’t let Ross Perot’s “outsider"
rhetoric fool you. For those who want genuine
change, or at least an open discussion of alterna
tives (a near impossibility in mainstream politi
cal culture), Ross Perot is one of the greatest
dangers around.
Real change is possible. But first people must
must become aware of the existing limits to its
realization and shatter them. The fact that a
social democratic, third option is, for the most
part, not even a viable topic of political discus
sion in America should make people stop and
think about the wide-open democracy they are
supposed to be living in. Hopefully this column
will open some eyes.
Richard Frankel is a graduate student in history.
have cried foul. They insist that recent Supreme
Court rulings prohibit such treatment.
However, if you go back to the Supreme
Court decision made last June which makes
funding of campus religious organizations pos
sible, you’ll see why the Student Congress acted
rightly in denying firnds to IVCF and MSA.
The court’s decision was a triumph for free
dom of speech. The religious organizations had
won what all Americans deserve: a level playing
field in the realm of public debate, in which all
student organizations, religious and non-reli
gious alike, had equal opportunity to express
their views.
So, if student groups have the right to Univer
sity funding for expressing their views, why is the
IVCF’s policy of requiring statements of belief
from its officers not acceptable to constitutional
law?
In the Rosenberger vs. University of Virginia
decision, the court drew an important distinction
between a “student publication," which has a
right to funding, and a “religious organization,”
which does not.
Theuniversityisobligatedtoprotectthespeech
of religious students, but it is not permitted to
promote religious organizations in themselves.
Religious students are fundable; churches are
not.
When Intervarsity and the Muslim Students
Association require members or officers to make
a declaration of faith, they are in effect behaving
like a church. Rather than providing a means of
expression for their members, they are imposing
a religious dogma.
They cross a very thin line, ceasing to be an
organization devoted to “news, information,
opinion,” etc., and becoming a bona fide “reli
gious organization” primarily focused at pro
moting a particular faith.
This might seem like silly hair-splitting, but it
is in fact the critical linch-pin of the Supreme
Court’s decision in the case. Only by drawing
such a distinction can the law provide freedom of
speech for all students, regardless of religion,
without raising the specter of state-sponsored
churches and the loss of religious freedom.
Student Congress did the right thing; by fully
abiding by the Supreme Court’s ruling, they took
the course that protects the rights of all students.
Gtorg Buehler
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Last Call
The editorial board of The Daily Tar Heel is
looking to fill its ranks for the spring semester. We
are looking for good writers with strong opinions
and a burning desire to cut through all the crap.
If this sounds like you, please come by the DTH
office in Suite 104 of the Student Union and pick
up an application. They are available in the front
office and are due today.
Members will be selected by Dec. 4 and begin
work when classes resume in January. Direct
questions to Editorial Page Editor-select Jeanne
Fugate or Editor Thanassis Cambanis at 962-
0245.
Think about it over your coffee, then get crack
ing.