12
Thursday, April 9,1998
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Lura Godwin ud Leak T3kmoD IMNAGNG EDITORS
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BOARD EDITORIALS
Democracy at risk
■ The 4th Circuit Court’s decision to invalidate voting districts in
North Carolina is unfair to both voters and candidates.
U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, if he
is of sound mind, will grant the emergency
request filed by the state to allow congression
al primaries to proceed as scheduled. A panel of
three federal judges declared the 12th congres
sional district unconstitutional because its
design focused on racial considerations.
N.C. Attorney General Mike Easley taiget
ed Rehnquist to receive the plea because he
oversees die federal judges who sit in the U.S.
Court of Appeals’ 4th Circuit, which includes
North Carolina. Rehnquist, assuming he
accepts some responsibility to the people of
North Carolina, will grant die stay to postpone
the redistricting until after the 1998 elections
and prevent all this turmoil.
The date for the primary is May 5, and the
General Assembly will not have time to redraw
the districts, much less have the new plan
approved, before this date.
Even if it wasn’t impossible, the General
Assembly would do its best to protect incum
bents and represent partisan loyalties, rather
than respect broad racial representation.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that incum
bency protection is legitimate for the legislature.
But when these now illegal districts were
drawn, there weren’t any African-American
incumbents. The lines were drawn with hopes
that soon there would be. The design will be up
The University should look again into imple
menting a deferred rush for fraternities and
sororities. The issue has been brought up in the
past, and UNC has chosen not to delay rush
until the spring semester. But with other
schools, such as the University of Virginia,
beginning deferred rush programs, the idea is
becoming a viable option that would help both
the students and the Greek system.
Deferred rush would provide potential
brothers and sisters a longer time to decide
which Greek organization to rush. Freshmen
who rush during their first semester do not have
a chance to familiarize themselves with the real
ities of each fraternity and sorority, as well as
those who wait and meet people throughout the
semester. It is important for students to know
exactly what kind of organizations they are
joining.
Often, fall rush carries with it certain oblig
ations that interfere with many of the new
responsibilities of freshman. Delaying rush
would give more adjustment time for these stu
dents. Freshmen deciding to rush in their sec
ond semester would have a better grasp on how
things work at college.
One argument against delaying rush is that
the Greek systems would be financially worse
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to the federal court, either to draw themselves
or designate to a neutral planner, if the state
fails to produce.
If there is no acceptable compromise, voters
could be called to vote in the May primary and
in another in September, unless the new dis
tricts are drawn and approved. Taxpayers will
be expected to fund each of these elections cost
ing about $3.9 million each.
“I know this is not their aim, but if the
judges are trying to find a way to cause the peo
ple not to come vote, they couldn’t have found
a better way to do it,” Rep. Eva Clayton, D-
Warrenton, representing the Ist District, told
The News & Observer.
She’s right. Democracy will suffer because of
voter confusion. Candidates can expect apathy
if voters are ignorant of where to vote or who
might represent them. At this point, the U.S.
Supreme Court has the power to avoid all of
this by granting the stay. The nonsensical fed
eral court ruling would only effect the 1998 and
2000 elections. Postponing the decision until
after this year’s elections will allow the General
Assembly ample time to redraw the unconsti
tutional districts.
Also, this way the N.C. House and Senate
will get some much needed practice. All dis
tricts will be redrawn according to the 2000 cen
sus anyway.
Don’t rush in
off, especially with the new sprinkler system
requirement.
Greek organizations are not going to be in
bad shape if rush is delayed. There will be plen
ty of people choosing to join one of the orga
nizations, but the prospect of helping a student
make the right decision for that individual
should be the main focus, not making as much
money. Greek life will survive
Another point against delaying rush is that
many freshmen do delay their decision to join
Greek organizations, so leaving it up to the stu
dent is the best idea. Everyone knows that more
information and more time is better when mak
ing a good decision.
It is also easy to want to get involved in
something quickly without thinking it through,
especially when at anew place and wanting to
meet people. If freshmen did not have the
option to make a hasty decision, the problem of
regretting it later on would never arise.
Going to college is not only about joining
one of the fraternities or sororities, but at the
same time, those who wish to are welcome to
do so. But the choice to rush should be made
after researching the Greek organizations on
campus and after allowing some time to pass to
figure out what activities to get involved with.
THE DAILY TAR HEEL
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EDITORIAL
Some TAs exceptional, many just bearable
While capitalizing on Appreciation
Week for Graduate and
Professional Students as a satisfac
tory column idea, I am going to start out writ
ing this week about the marvelous graduate
student teaching assistants at the University.
Have you ever had a teaching assistant who
was by all means simply marvelous excep
tional in all ways?
Now I’m talking about academics here,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I have, in
fact, never sampled the finer sides of any of
my TAs, but that never stopped me from
dreaming! I’D never forget you, Chemistry
Lab Kevin.
Have you ever had a teaching assistant who
really went out of his way to be available for
every office hour scheduled? Or maybe you
were blessed with a teaching assistant in the
Department of Math who could actually
speak understandable English?
Perhaps you have had a TA who not only
knew and understood the material in class but
could also relate the information to you in a
half-dear manner?
Probably not, but hey, this is my fantasy
column, and, damn it, these kinds of graduate
school instructors do exist ... somewhere,
even if only in the minds of childish adoles
cents like me.
But enough of this talk of outrageousness.
I can honestly say that one of my teaching
assistants from last year had an absolute value
far less than epsilon (if you just understood
that, your science background is way too
extensive). She was a nice enough gal, and all
but her knowledge of the subject material was
a little ... 0h... lacking.
It is unfortunate that the University has this
strange notion that just because a person is in
graduate school he must understand the par
ticular disdpline you are studying.
Of course, whether he has a grasp of the
material does not stop him from grading your
■ ' --
Value of women's bodies not
equal to intellectual worth
TO THE EDITOR:
To Kimberly Kleyla and Phillip Mangum,
who wrote in support of Playboy, I can only
say that you left out the question of power in
soriety.
Setting aside “This magazine does not
exploit women” and “There is nothing sexist
about die human body”—wow, Phillip, you
have a career in spin control ahead of you!
The magazine has a tremendous amount of
money with which to spread its gospel of the
objectification of women. Is it really a “free
choice,” let alone “honor,” to be portrayed on
this “pedestal?”
The valuation of women for their bodies is
in feet not equal to the valuation of intellect.
It is quite the contrary, and it continues to
cause untold pain and suffering from the
inability to compete for the position of perfect
body. Valuing women for their bodies is a
crime, not a free speech issue.
Katie Anderson writes that it is indeed
degrading but that The Daily Tar Heel should
not censor it. The censorship occurs when
fabulously rich people can decide what we see
and hear, not when the DTH takes a stand
(which it didn’t) against this monopoly on
“free” expression.
Who is “felling victim to propaganda”
Playboy opponents? Or Playboy boosters?
Smells like Nike spirit
DmtUttmm
GRADUATE
COMMUNICATIONS
LoctaMip guns still unsafe;
only solution is total ban
TO THE EDITOR:
It seems to me as if the author of the April
7 editorial “Locked Away,” missed the boat a
little. Gun ownership in this country is a
right, not a privilege. At least that is how
many interpret the Second Amendment to
our Constitution. Not all in this nation were
shocked by the news from Arkansas.
Saddened, again, but not shocked.
Moreover, and not entirely contrary to
your claim that the issue is about a “veritable
rash of youth homicides and suicides,”
exams as if he was
the Master of All
Information.
Another TA of
mine loved to con
fuse our recitation
so badly that by the
end of the hour, I
usually had foigot
ten who I was. It
was a game for him
to store all infor
mation like water
in a fire hydrant
and when we least
| LAURIK SCHULTZ j
OfH CMCASO 6IIL
TOO MANY
expected it, to bring it forth like a ruptured fire
hose, spraying in all directions.
Last semester, I had a TA who valued the
syllabus more than all of us in the class com
bined. Perhaps you have noticed that most
TAs will put their e-mail addresses and phone
numbers on their syllabi.
During my first two semesters here, I e
mailed a TA of mine three or four times. He
didn’t reply to any of the messages. (Thanks a
lot, big guy!)
While they are not always to our liking, I
can honestly say that no teaching assistant has
ever bored me so thoroughly that I fell asleep
in one class and woke up in another. It does
happen, you know.
In reality, we can never expect all our
teaching assistants to measure up to our ulti
mate ideals. If they did, I would be taught
daily by superhuman men with the minds of
Albert Einstein, the personalities of Dennis
Miller and the bodies of any one of the
Baldwin Brothers. Something has to keep my
attention in class.
The best TA I’ve had was the darling I
wrote about in a column many eons ago. He’s
the one with the tattoo on his back that would
put a Rembrandt to shame.
While he wasn’t exerting all his angst for
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, doublespaced,
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 vulgari
ty. Bring letters to the DTH office at Suite 104,
Carolina Union, mail them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel
Hill, NC 27515 or email forum to: dth@unc.edu.
youths have been using guns to kill themselves
and others for quite some time now.
The real issue here invokes the old
acronym, NIMBY Not In My Back Yard.
Ask voters what they think generally about
politicians. They will say that most politicians
are not doing a good job, with the exception
of their local representatives. They’ll tell you
that drugs are a problem in this country, but
not in their neighborhoods.
The problem is not going to be solved by
safety measures. Locked-up guns are useless
for self-defense. If kids and criminals can get
into gun cabinets, surely they can unlock trig
ger guards. I favor both repeal of the Second
Amendment and a ban on privately held guns
of any type. Get the NRA concubines out of
Congress. Get politicians’ sad-faced sound
bytes off of television and out of the papers.
I propose that we conduct an experiment.
Make it last, say, 20 years. Place a total ban on
privately owned guns. Anyone caught with
one gets shot with his or her own gun right in
the kneecap (both knees for anyone caught
with large dips or automatic weapons). Then,
ship them off to Bikini Atoll with a Band-Aid,
some antibiotics and a jug of water. When that
island fills up, start putting the convicts on the
other nudear-testing grounds. If that doesn’t
work, bring them all back and send me there.
David Thompson
SECOND-YEAR SCHOOL OFLAW
Up Satly Oar Hrel
Southern society and his supremacy as a grad
uate student, he was busy pushing us beyond
the limits of sanity to be the best Latin stu
dents ever.
He was not shy about voidng his disap
proval of us. On one badly done homework
set of mine he wrote in striking red ink: “Plain
out laziness just won’t cut it.”
Still to this day, that assignment adorns my
bedroom wall as a constant reminder of my
mediocrity and as a tool that inspires me to
work hard, so I am never pushed below the
floorboards of disapproval again.
Most of the time I feel sorry for my TAs.
They are under a great deal of pressure, and
they do spend most of their lives huddled
away in carrels somewhere in Davis Library. I
suppose I wouldn’t care all that much for stu
dents I was teaching if I had to put in all the
slave labor hours they do.
I do not think that you should worship
your TA for the long hours they spend trying
to advance their knowledge and complete
their advanced degrees, but at least admire
them for the hell they go through while they
are here.
I consider myself lucky this semester, all
my TAs are more than knowledgeable about
the subjects they are teaching, and they have
approachable personalities. A few have office
hours I could never attend if my life depend
ed on it, but at least they answer my e-mail
when I have questions.
I suppose I haven’t been completely fair.
Most TAs try their best to help you under
stand confusing material, and some will even
bring you doughnuts to class if they think it
will calm your nerves.
You just have to draw at straws when sign
ing up for classes and hope you pick a good
one.
Laurie Schultz is a senior biology major from
Chicago.
Computer plan bad for UNC;
details must be made public
TO THE EDITOR:
When I read The Daily Tar Heel’s writeup
of the April 2 meeting of the People for
Computational Freedom, I felt that they left
out quite a few of the major points we had to
make.
1) The Carolina Computing Initiative is so
poorly publicized and its details so sketchy at
this point that the administration can easily
claim that everyone misunderstands it. The
UNC administration has to spell it out. They
should put it on-line where everyone has
access to it.
2) If the University requires that every
entering student purchase a computer of a
specific type this will pose several problems.
For example, this is tantamount to adding
$2,000 to the fust year tuition for each class
entering in the year 2000 and beyond. If a stu
dent already owns a computer which is not
exactly the right brand name that student will
be forced to buy the computer the University
requires. What kind of message is that sending
to the parents of prospective students?
3) Who is charged with determining the
best value for a computer?ls it a single person?
A committee? Isn’t the computer user (who in
the end will be the one buying the machine
anyway) the best person to determine value?
4) With a strong base of different comput
ing systems already in place on campus, won’t
someone need to retrain professors and stu
dents on how to use new systems? In the
Physics, Astronomy, and Math departments,
67 percent of their computers are Macintosh,
28 percent are Unix machines or hubs and
only 5 percent are PC clones. That is a lot of
retraining and thousands of dollars spent on
new computers, not to mention new software!
5) If you are concerned about having to
learn or buy new computing systems as a pro
fessor, student, or staff member at UNC or as
the parent or older sibling of someone who
may be affected by the Carolina Computing
Initiative, please get involved. People for
Computational Freedom needs you. Contact
us at drewg@email.unc.edu or
elijah@email.unc.edu.
Michael Niece
CLASS OF'97
MOREHEAD PLANETARIUM EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANT