12
Tuesday, August 27,1996
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JeaiM Fugate EDITOR
Office Horn, 2-3 p.m. Fridays
Graham Brink managing editor
World Wide Web Electronic Edition
http^/www.unc.eduydth
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JL Established 1893
103 Years of Editorial Freedom
BOARD EDITORIALS
Single sexed out
■ As four female cadets enter South Carolina’s Citadel, the school
demonstrates honorable regard for the law and opportunity for progress.
The Citadel took a step forward for equal
opportunity education Saturday when four
women—Petra Lovetinska, Nancy Mace, Kim
Messer and Charlotte native Jeanie Mentavlos
entered the institution with this year’s fresh
man class. Both the institution and the four
celebrated freshmen have demonstrated the sort
of resolve necessary to make the Citadel just as
successful as a coeducational entity.
Citadel officials made it clear that their pri
mary concern in admitting the women was to
obey the law; specifically, the Supreme Court
ruling that publicly financed single-sex educa
tion was unconstitutional. However, the school
must comply not only with the letter of the law,
but also with the spirit of it, by working to make
the changes necessary to accommodate women.
The four women must also attempt to under
stand the culture of the military institution and
live within it. Citadel officials have acted admi
rably in understanding that the decision to in
clude women has been made and that it is their
job to implement it. The school reportedly has
taken 56 actions to welcome the women and
brieftheupperclassmen about integratingwomen
successfully into the school’s community.
The young women have displayed aggres
A healthy Bill?
■ President Bill Clinton’s unwillingness to release his health records
has created a strange and unnecessary political issue.
Everyone knows health is a presidential cam
paign concern—or, at least for 73-year-old Bob
Dole. But what’s the big hubbub about President
Bill Clinton’s health?
In a move that no one seems to understand,
Clinton has failed to follow Dole’s lead in mak
ing his medical records public.lt is time to hand
over the records and get on with the real issues of
the campaign.
Clinton’s health, whatever the condition, is
certainly important, but the nation is really wait
ing for answers on issues ranging from welfare
and immigration, to the war on drugs.
If there is nothing to hide, this is likely to be
the one issue the campaign season that can be
resolved by simply releasing the information.
The deliberate delay has Republicans cheerfully
proclaiming Dole’s proven health and placing
suspicion on Clinton, while the rest ofus wonder
why the president won’t just prove he’s a healthy
guy and kill the issue.
As it turns out, Clinton’s current reticence
about his medical status is nothing new. A re
quest The New York Times made back in 1992
for a complete copy of his health records and a
personal interview is still “pending.”
White House spokesman Mike McCurry has
insisted the president is a “healthy 50-year-old
white male.”
When pressured further by a reporter,
McCurry read some statistical results from
Clinton’s most recent tests, including his choles
terol count, pulse rate, blood pressure and a few
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Quis Yltes EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Junk Griswold UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Lava Godwin city editor
Erica Btshcan STATE & national editor
Andrew Park SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS HUTOR
Robbi Piekeral sports editor
Joseph Robson SPORTSATURDAY EDITOR
Jessica Banov FEATURES EDITOR
Melissa Mihos akts/diversions editor
Jaba Corbin copy desk editor
Miebad Kanarek COPY DESK EDITOR
Amy Qnattlebanm DESIGN EDITOR
Ryan Matthes photography editor
dris Kirkman GRAPHICS EDITOR
Robin Linehan EDITORIAL CARTOON HXTOR
Robin Berholl STAFF DEVELOPMENT
sive attitudes and athletic prowess what may
have been the ingredients lacking from Shannon
Faulkner’s abortive attempt at being the first
woman to complete the Citadel’s educational
program. The determination expressed by both
the four women and the institution must be
sustained if the latest initiative is to be a success.
We must also remember the new educational
choice provided for women has come with the
elimination of one choice for men to receive
the Citadel’s unique educational experience in a
single-sex setting.
This decision may be the first step towards the
elimination of a whole range of educational
options: black colleges, women’s schools and
all-male institutions not yet forced to change.
Nearly all educational institutions are, to a de
gree, publicly funded, and the precedent set in
the Citadel ruling may be applied to them in the
future.
Obviously our leaders will have to weigh the
sacrifices inherent in such radical changes.
Becoming an equal opportunity society may
mean the sacrifice of a range of opportunities.
But four women entering the ranks of an honor
able, law-abiding institution sheds a sense of
renewal and hope on that sacrifice.
other details. An individual in the private sector
might well bristle at the suggestion that he is
obligated to disclose the full details of his medi
cal status to the public.
However, people aspiring to the nation’s high
est public office should be forthcoming about
such personal, and pertinent information.
We expect presidents and candidates to make
full disclosure of the state of their health.
There has been no reason to suppose that
President Clinton’s health is unsatisfactory, or
that a doctor should prescribe anything other
than fewer Big Macs.
So what possible justification could the White
House give for not simply handing over the
records? So far, none. It may not be at the level
of suspicion reached by travel-gate or file-gate,
but whose to say Washington politicos won’t
soon leap on the chance for a health-gate
Clinton officials may soon be wishing they
had responded sooner. After all, had the Repub
lican challenge been immediately answered by
evidence of a clean bill of health, the Dole cam
paign would be accused ofhavingplayed politics
with a nonissue.
Perhaps Clinton doesn’t want to bend to pres
sure from the Dole camp.
But, he loses political ground by giving the
public cause for suspicion.
We wonder why he does not do what one
Washington reporter said, “Just do it. I mean,
it’s so easy.”
At least, it should be.
EDITORIAL
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One way to ditch our silences crossing the Pit
‘lsn't it great how we can all sit and laugh here in the
same club together, black and white... And not under
stand each other? It could only happen in America.*
-Richard Pryor
As you sit in class, in the Pit, on the
toilet, wherever this week, take a
moment and look around. Look
around and think about how distant we are
from each other.
As diverse as this campus is, there is NO
real interaction between ethnic groups, not
even during that swanky week designated for
“race relations.”
In class, check out who you sit with. Look
at how your Women’s Studies class is 90
percent women, how your African-American
Studies class is 90 percent African American.
In the Pit, notice the black people in front of
the Undergraduate Library and on the wall to
the right of Lenoir, Native-American folks on
the comer next to the black people, Indian
students in one comer of the Pit, tie-dye non
conformists in another comer; a lot of white
frat boys and sorority girls on the wall across
from the UL; and basketball and football play
ers in front of it.
Appropriately named, the Pit represents a
ditch between your group and mine, no matter
who we are, and no one is crossing it. We each
occupy our own little territory. The bound
aries are so set we might as well design flags
and hoist them above our plots. Unofficially,
we party with our own groups. Great Hall is
Black Hall. Fraternity Court is White Court
and the Cabaret is for “everyone else.”
Before you think I’m ready to advocate
some corny We-Are-the-World, let’s-all-hold
hands, can’t-we-all-just-get-along solution to
“the racial issue,” let me say, I like this.
It’s cool that we’re different. We must de
velop organizations and atmospheres to sup
port our unique interests, otherwise we face
Independent book store not
threat to UNC Student Stores
TO THE EDITOR:
A small number (15 or so) of professors and
graduate teaching assistants on this campus
help support the existence of the independent
bookstore, Internationalist Books (onFranklin
Street), by ordering our course books through
them.
For reasons that utterly baffle me, Student
Stores apparently sees this practice as a threat.
By underhanded means (since they neither
asked the instructors involved nor the staff at
the Internationalist), Student Stores found out
which courses had placed orders with the
Internationalist and what books had been or
dered for this fall semester.
Student Stores then ordered the same books
(still without informing the instructors in
volved) and stocked the books accordingly
under the appropriate course orders.
Is the existence of other book stores in town
an outrage Student Stores cannot tolerate?
Does it harbor some monopolistic fantasy of
driving stores like the Internationalist from
town? (We are talking about the elephant
trying to stamp out the mouse here.)
Independent booksellers are a vanishing
breed, and the advantages of diversity in
bookselling are similar to diversity’s advan
tages in other markets and other nonmarket
activities. Different bookstores will stock, high
light and value different books at a time when
over 55,000 new books are published in
America alone each year.
If certain professors choose to spread the
money generated by students’ buying course
books around town a little bit, Student Stores
would do well to recognize that it would do
better serving the needs of the customers who
come to it, than in trying to serve customers
who have chosen to take their business else
where.
John McGowan
PROFESSOR OF ENGUSH AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
English professor stands with
Tall Figures of the Earth'
TO THE EDITOR:
The first chapter of Jesse Stuart’s 1938 auto
biography “Beyond Dark Hills” is entitled
assimilation the
disintegration of
identity.
. Curricula must $D C ,
be developed by and fc
about women and
people of color be
cause every building _
is already named
after a white man. \
Every bust outside
every department HiijuiuiuluLiii&fl
depicts a white guy. AIRING DIRTY
We actually need LAUNDRY
more support for our
individual groups.
However, if the Women’s Studies classes
continue to overflow with women and the
African-American Studies classes fill up with
African Americans, society willnot really leam.
Men will still believe Mike Tyson was inno
cent and somebody will still confuse Harriet
Tubman with Maya Angelou.
I hear my senior classmates acknowledge
that most learning in college comes from inter
action with people outside of class the four
in-the-moming arguments in your dorm or in
Miami Subs about religion, gender and race.
But if you’ve only argued with a few people in
a few classes, what have you learned? What
did you get out of Carolina’s diverse extra
curriculum, other than a lot of parties, a few
basketball games and a tattoo from some guy
named on Franklin Street named
Stormshadow?
What I want you to do for me is take a risk
this entire year, especially if its your senior
year. Do something different. Cross some
boundaries. Jump in the Pit between your
group and another. Black people, go to He’s
Not this Thursday. Listen to some Beck. White
people, go to BW-3 next Tuesday. Listen to
some Nas. If you’re Asian, I want to see you in
READEMIRUM
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.
Bring letters to the DTH office at Suite 104, Carolina
Union, mail them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC
27515 or e-mail forum to: dth@unc.edu.
“Tall Figures of the Earth.” In it, Stuart de
scribes ancestors from both sides of his family,
and his spare, beautiful prose convinces the
reader that many of his forebears were indeed
giants epic eaters, drinkers, fighters, work
ers Kentucky mountain people of huge
dimensions. And it becomes obvious that Stuart
sees his own life in the context of theirs; he
knew from early childhood that he had large
boots to fill.
This past July 31, a giant of this earth and
the University community passed away, leav
ing those of us who knew him with a void in
our lives. Robert Addison Bain joined the
English Department at UNC in 1964, where
he taught composition and American litera
ture for 32 years.
Although he retired from full-time teaching
in 1991, he continued to teach part time until
December 1995. During his years in Greenlaw
Hall, he won every significant award for un
dergraduate teaching the University offers; he
wrote and edited over 15 books; produced
countless articles, chapters, and papers; taught
writing workshops throughout the state, pri
marily for public school educators; directed 17
doctoral dissertations, 49 master’s theses, and
30 honors essays.
In addition to his contributions to our com
munity, he was in 1982 and again in 1993
visiting professor at universities in Spain, a
country with which he fell in love.
Saily iar Hffl
Great Hall; if you’re Native American, come
with me to a Sangam mixer. Leam something
new about a group of people.
As you cross each group’s little moat, be
real. Be frank and honest. Masking your
thoughts tears down our bridge. Say exactly
what’s on your mind, then listen.
Asa little kid with a big ol’ Afro, I had an
uncanny knack for letting people know exactly
what was on my mind, whether they wanted to
know it or not. I’d get in trouble for saying stuff
people usually keep to themselves. Let’s all say
what needs to be said even if we air our own
dirty laundry.
One positive discussion I’ve had here at
UNC was with a guy from South Carolina
about his Confederate flag. Even though he
probably thought I some kind of militant and I
thought he was ignorant for whining over a
war that ended 130 years ago, we understood
each other. I burned his flag and he shot me
with his hunting rifle, but we were honest.
White people, admit you’re mad that O.J.
got off. Black people, list the reasons you know
he didn’t do it.
Even as elections approach, remember: the
most destructive repercussion and dangerous
force in America is not the Republican Party,
Ross Perot or the Arch Deluxe, but your si
lence. If you don’t speak up and say what you
believe, you’ll lose. Ten percent of the people
must not be allowed to dictate your future.
Within Richard Pryor’s cynicism is the sharp
splinter of truth that says communication is
essential for UNC and America to survive.
End note: Dante Calabria and Harry
Connick Jr. tie for first (in what was a tight
race) for the Honorary Black Man of the Year
Award.
Richard Harris is a senior journalism major from
Hercules, Calif.
As impressive as they are, even these num
bers and honors fail to capture the essence of
Bob Bain. He was, to borrow James Still’s
phrase, “the pattern of a man.” He always
balanced scholarly acumen with earthy com
mon sense and pointed insight with kindness.
He was that rare combination of gifted writer
and skillful editor. Never in the years that I
knew him —as professor, mentor, editor and
friend did his native wit fail him, and I
delight to think that he has graced heaven with
a spirited profanity or two during the past few
weeks.
He taught me, and countless others, not
only ho w to read and write but also how to live.
The essence of the man was that he cared
when he didn’t have to about his students,
about his colleagues, about public school chil
dren. His was a vast and passionate heart.
How, then, can we honor the passing of a
giant? Hamlet says of his dead father:
‘A was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.’
Nor shall we. But we must, here in the
kingdom that we shared with Bob Bain, strive
to marry reflection to action, to leaven thought
with compassion. For when a tall one dies, all
who follow are forced to grow.
Terry Roberts
UNC PH.D., 1989
DIRECTOR. NATIONAL PAIDEIA CENTER
Searching for meaning?
Consider sharpening
your editorial skills
Are you tired of keeping silent on local issues?
Do you have a knack for spouting off your thoughts
on international news? Fear not for The Daily Tar
Heel is here to help you apply those gifts.
Let the word go forth: we need mail. In order for
the Reader's Forum to fulfill its role, readers need to
get involved and enlighten us with their thoughts.
Letters to the editor should be dropped off at Suite
104 of the Student Union. Keep 'em short.
If you aspire to something even greater, con
sider applying for the editorial board. A few spots
have opened up, and we will soon be looking for
writers. Applications will be available Wednesday.
Pick them up at the DTH office.