Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 19, 1996, edition 1 / Page 12
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12 Thursday, September 19,1996 Wcp latly ©ar Mttl Jeanne Fipte editor Office Horn. 2-3 p.m. Fridays Graham Brink managng editor 'V World Wide Web Electronic Edition http://www.unc.edu/dtli JL 103 Years of Editorial Freedom BOARD EDITORIALS Student dividends? If the UNC system resembles a company, ignoring the concerns of employees and “stock holders” (or students) is simply bad business. Last week, the UNC-system Board of Gover nors appointed three committees to search for a replacementforsystemPresidentC. D. Spangler. The actual search committee is composed en tirely of BOG members. The other two commit tees have only one student between them, a fact that BOG Chairman C. Cliff Cameron explained by saying, “It’s sort of like the board of directors of a company. You don’t consult employees and stockholders before electing the CEO.” It is true the 16-school UNC system is some what like a corporate body. And BOG members —most of whom, like Cameron, have a back ground in the corporate world will likely bring a good deal of expertise to the search process. Members will pursue a system presi dent that has the skills and experience it takes to run a sprawling university network. However, input from university employees and students would ensure that he or she is also committed to their issues and thus to the life of the university. Whoever assumes Spangler’s position will come into the system having been chosen only by executive decision, not with student and staff Here we go again. In case anyone hadn’t noticed, OJ II: The Civil Trial started this week. Like any sequel, it is not likely to be as creative or drama laden as the original. Again in the lead, naturally, is OJ himself. However, OJ II will be different for various reasons, and in many ways better. It will not be the media circus the first trial was. No cameras, or even sketch artists, will be allowed in the courtroom. The format is also different. In the criminal trial, the jury had to find OJ guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” This time, they must only find him liable “by a preponderance of the evidence.” Many believe the civil trial will afford a fairer forum to look into the night that Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were so brutally murdered. Whereas the first trial became a refer endum on racism and the Los Angeles Police Department, one hopes this trial will focus on the one issue that matters: Did OJ kill these people or not? The sequel will also afford the chance to tie up one of the key loose ends the original left hang- BAROMETER One in a hundred 4 Call it destiny. Author and historian S ran^'n was recently honored by representatives of local universities with * 1 the "Historian of the Century" award. Civilized agenda? * The jury is out on the Carolina Civil Liberties Union's desire to become more involved in our university community. Hopefully they'll do more than just tell us how unfair the world is. why mean people are bad and how everything is about "rights" (not responsibilities). (SIS J$ approval. This condition poses an immediate handicap for the new system president, as he or she will face a legacy of exclusiveness generated by their own hiring. A president having a posi tive rapport with employees and students from the outset would gain a sense of confidence and direction, making the transition from Spangler to successor smoother for everybody. Although incorporating students from the 16 system schools into the search process may sound like a daunting task, BOG members could ac quire widespread, meaningful participation via a surprisingly feasible fashion. The Association of Student Governments could select more students to join ASG Presi dent John Dervin in the search process. These students could act as liaisons to the ASG as a whole and to their respective schools, thus pro viding student views and reassuring students that they have a voice in the selection. The UNC system may bear some resemblance to a corporate body, but that is no reason for the BOG to conduct the presidential search like a stereotypical big business. The system repre sents a merging of corporate and academic worlds. Its new leader must be chosen by repre sentatives of both. OJ, the sequel ing: Was there a police conspiracy to frame OJ? On the first time around, OJ’s defense team convincingly showed thepolice and prosecution’s mistakes. The civil trial will put this theory to the test. In the criminal trial, due to different rules of proce dure and evidence, the defense lawyers could argue that there was such a conspiracy whether or not there was any evidence to that effect. This time will be different. What they cannot prove they cannot propose. The judge has given the defense team until Monday to provide a brief outlining what evidence they have that a police conspiracy exists. If they can provide no such evidence, they can’t argue that theory. OJ II will be interesting not only for what the lawyers tell us, but for what they do not. Will we hear about police conspiracies, cops planting evidence or compromised blood drops? In the first trial all these themes were featured promi nently. If they are not in the current trial, that is an indication of whether they were legitimate theories, or the rhetorical guiles of clever law yers. We might just see OJ II clarifying the controversial plot of its predecessor. No chance for Perot - A bipartisan commission's unanimous WE Mjf decision to exclude Ross Perot from the presidential debates is a sharp wound to the Texas billionaire's campaign for president, mac-daddy, world leader and pesky race spoiler. Spatial relations Relief has arrived for astronaut % Shannon Lucid. After a record-breaking ~ six months in orbit, the space shuttle Atlantis is returning her to earth. Now the 53-year-old biochemist will have to get reacquainted with gravity. Cbris files KXTORIAL PAGE editor Jink Griswold university editor Lon God™ city editor Erie* Beshears state 6 national editor Andrew Puk SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR Robbi Piekenl sports bxtor Joseph Robson sportsaturday editor Janet Buoy FEATURES EDITOR Me&ssi Hißos ARTS/DIVERSIONS EDITOR Jala Corbin COPY DESK EDITOR Michael Kuarek COPY DESK EDITOR Amy Quttlebum design editor Philip Moliro GRAPHICS EDITOR Robin Lisehan editorial cartoon editor Robin Berhok STAFF DEVELOPMENT EDITORIAL h XjWLr.* r' '% fj, Felony murder, the United States vs. you and me Ever heard of felony murder? It sounds like a crime more cruel than ordinary murder. But that’s not what it means. Felony murder is the crime of participating in a felony in which someone dies. People have even been held responsible for their own partners’ deaths when they’re killed by a robbery victim. A victim suffering a heart attack could also constitute felony murder. Suddenly, simple robbery charges become murder. Let’s say you’re 15. You live with friends in a poor section ofWashington, D.C. You rarely see your parents; they’ve been charged twice previously with physically neglecting you. Your record is clean, but you grow up sur rounded by crime. It is summertime. Every day is the same. Almost. Let’s say I’m a 17-year-old bad-ass who’s already been jailed twice for carjacking and sexual assault. I was lockedup until two weeks ago. I carry a gun and don’t look scared to use it. I’m older than you. I’m more experienced, and you respect me. During the past two weeks, I’ve started hanging with you. I drive you around town, get you some beer and introduce you to friends. You start to trust me. One morning, I pick you and another kid up to go for a ride. “You boys want to make some cash?” I ask. “All we’ve got to do is ride up on somebody and make him empty his pockets. It’s easy.” Yourfriend, who is 16,100 ks scared. You’re thinking about what to do, but suddenly I stop the car and jump out. “Get on the ground and empty your f pockets!" I shout to a guy on the sidewalk. He runs. I chase him momen tarily and return to the car. I’m slightly embar rassed. You’ve made up your mind; this is a bad idea. But I’m persuasive. I bring the car up to where a mailman is eating lunch in his truck. “Come on!” I demand. Your friend gets out with me, and the two of us walk slowly toward Misinformation within article hinders efforts at education TO THE EDITOR: I am writing to clarify a statement that I made at the rally held by the Coalition for Economic Justice on Sept. 12 in the Pit. I was misquoted in The Daily Tar Heel article, “Housekeepers’ supporters say privatization linked to racism” (Sept. 13). The article said that I thought racism was behind Chancellor Hooker’s decision to investigate outsourcing housekeepers. I was then quoted as saying, “What do you want to call it —classism ... Look who’s in that class. Anytime you have supervisors call you niggers, that’s racism.” It appears to me the DTH took quotes from my speech out of context by putting several quotes from different parts of my speech to gether. Let me clarify what I said at the rally. First of all, I was talking about the racist policy of the General Administration and the Outsourcing Committee to study privatizing seven job categories that are made up of 65 percent African-American jobs, not about a direct decision by Chancellor Hooker to do the study. Second, I explained the case of how super visors at East Carolina University have called the housekeepers “niggers, ” not supervisors at UNC-Chapel Hill. I pointed out that ECU has privatized management of housekeeping to Marriott. In the future, the DTH needs to make sure that it accurately reports on events because misinformation keeps us from being able to adequately educate the UNC commu nity about why we are opposed to privatization. Barbara Prear TEAM LEADER HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT Candidate Dole has lost his way/ in state of desperation TO THE EDITOR: Republican presidential nominee Robert Dole recently proposed a 15 percent “across the board” tax cut for all Americans. He has apparently, in his desperation to close Presi dent Clinton’s double-digit lead in the polls, forgotten the views he held while occupying the Senate seat from Kansas. During 35 years the truck. You’ll later claim you left the car at this point and walked home. The police theory, however, is that you stayedinthecarand may have been the getaway driver. When your friend and I ap proach the mail man, a neighbor comes by to ask RICHARD RAY HOBSON'S CHOICE aboutthe mail. “Hell, let’s get ‘emboth,” I say. I pull a gun from my waistline and step toward them. Your friend follows a few steps behind. I do all the talking. “Get down on the ground! Empty your pockets!" The neighbor complies immediately, but the mailman struggles get ting out of the truck. I can’t see that his keys, attached to his belt by a chain, are in the truck’s ignition. He’s panicking and can’t get loose. The man on the ground empties his breast pockets frantically. He won’t stop talking “Don’t shoot me. Don’t shoot me. I’m doing it. I’m doing it.” He makes me nervous. I flash the gun back and forth. Within seconds, I hear a woman’s voice behind me. “I’m calling the police,” the woman shouts. I turn toward her for half a second. Before I look back to the two men, I get nervous. My finger squeezes the trigger. The moment lasts forever. My eyes focus and I see the mailman bleeding on the ground. I’ve shot him in the head. I turn and run. Your friend goes back to the car. We escape for the moment. We didn’t get a dime. A few days later, the mailman dies. You’re picked up by the police on an anony moustip. They question youforhours. “You’re small potatoes, ” they tell you. “ We don’t want you. Tell us you were in the car, and we’ll let you go.” After 10 hours, you break down. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, whatever,” you say. 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. 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. as “Senator Dole,” he earned the reputation as a staunch deficit-hawk. This refers to his unre lenting effort to minimize the government’s debt. Dole’s tax plan ignores this nation’s overwhelming debt and irresponsibly decreases the amount of revenue available to the govern ment. Recently, on a Sunday morning talk show, Richard Darman, former economic advisor to both Presidents Reagan and Bush, stated that Dole’s tax plan is “unrealistic.” He further mentioned that Reagan’s “supply-side” tax plan of 1981, the inspiration for Dole’s current economic plan, was a failure. Darman con cluded by saying that Reagan’s 1982, 1983, 1984,1986, and 1987 budgets called for, and ultimately invoked, tax increases to recoup the enormous amount of revenue lost in the 1981 tax cut. Despite the rhetoric from the Republi can Party, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Finally, what is Dole’s “number one” prior ity? Is it taxes, the deficit, or another drug war? He has apparently failed to put much thought into any of them. When asked to explain his tax plan in more detail, Dole reverts to the mechanical, and frighteningly vague, state ment: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way and Kemp and Dole know the way. ” Depend ing on his audience, he promises that Social Security and Medicare will not be cut; and to others he promises that college loans are, in ®lje Sails ®ar Heel You cup your fingers over your lips to hide them from any hidden cameras, a tip you got from a gangster movie after all, you’re only 15. They formally arrest you. You’ve been locked up ever since. You turned 16 in jail last month. Normally, you’d face juvenile charges and couldn’t be held past your 21st birthday. But this victim was a mailman, which means fed eral court. Unless you testify against me—and ratting often carries a death penalty of its own in this city—prosecutors will charge you as an adult and seek life without parole. If you’d been 18, they’d push for death. Even if you don’t get life, a conviction for “felony murder” would make it hard to ever find employment. Terms like that tend to cany a certain stigma about them. In a few months, the case of U.S. vs. You will go to trial. To get you on felony murder, the government will show that you partici pated in a felony, and someone died. And what is it you did? You failed to judge me accurately after two whole weeks. You failed to see that I didn’t care about life as much as you did. My life’s already unraveling, and now I’m taking you with me, all because you sat in my car. And I’m not just taking a month, or a year, or five years of your life; I’m taking it all. The death ofanyman is tragic. Often,people are at fault and deserve punishment. But “kill them all?” I don’t think so. Look hard before you judge. Felony murder isn’t fair. It is an archaic law that began in England and has since been abolished there. But in our nation’s capital, it lives on. This story is true. The names and identities have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty, some of whom are one in the same. Richard Ray is a senior journalism and creative writing major from Greenville. fact, sacred. Along with these unrealistic and ever changing “reassurances,” Dole promises yet another audience a large increase in mili tary spending. How can one drastically cut taxes on the one hand, increase spending and simultaneously reduce a colossal national debt? Simply, it is impossible to reduce the national debt when the revenue available to the govern ment is reduced and subsequently avoid the elimination of many necessary and valuable government programs. Gearly Robert Dole has lost his way. Zachary Kamykowski SOPHOMORE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Remember Tupac Shakur as more than an ordinary rapper TO THE EDITOR: I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about the passing of Mr. Tupac Shakur. I am sorely disappointed because many do not seem to view 2Pac’s death as a loss; furthermore, some even seem happy that he is no longer of this world. First ofall, no one deserves to go out the way that he did, despite their lifestyle. Sure, he did lead a life that caused many to raise their eyebrows and shake theirheadsin disapproval. However, one must realize that 2Pac was more than an ordinary gangsta or rapper. He was a spokesperson for millions of people, world wide had his albums not sold, he would not have been the megastar that he was. As far as his intense rivalry with the East Coast, especially Bad Boy Entertainment and Mobb Deep, perhaps he did take it a little too seriously. However, despite his lifestyle and his lyrics, 2Pac was one of the most respected rappers of all time. How should we remember him? We should remember him as a trooper— as someone unafraid to stand up for what he believed in, regardless of criticism. Hopefully society will realize the results of this type of lifestyle, while not focusing on 2Pac’s mistakes but on improving the type of government and society that produced him. The rap industry certainly will not be the same without the presence of Mr. Tupac Shakur. Joey Weeden JUNIOR POLITICAL SCIENCE
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 19, 1996, edition 1
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