12
Monday, February 28, 2000
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comments about
ouicwerage?
Contact the
ombudsman at
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or call 605-2790.
Scott Hicks
EDITORIAL PAGE EDTTOR
Katie Abel
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Jacob McConnico
CITY EDITOR
Board Editorials
Fair Move
Increasing voter turnout in student elec
tions is a good thing - except when the loca
tions of certain poll sites make it easier for
one group of students to vote and, as a result,
possibly give one candidate an unfair advan
tage over the rest of the field.
Student Congress should make voting fair
er to all students by closing the polls at Chase
Hall and Granville Towers.
Instead, Congress should continue to offer
ballots in the Student Union but add more
academic building poll sites. That way, no
one’s voice counts more than anyone else’s
and more people might decide to speak up.
The problem is that hosting poll sites in
Granville Towers’ cafeteria and Chase Hall
gives undergraduate residents - especially
those closest to those sites -a louder voice
than the rest of campus. That’s unfair to grad
uate students and to the 17,000 other students
who live off campus.
The unfairness is especially striking at
Granville, where its residents are primarily
freshmen and sophomores, predominantly
white and largely upper class - not fully rep
resentative of UNC’s student body.
The Chase Hall site - which serves the
roughly 3,000 residents of South Campus -
isn’t fair to most graduate students or off
campus residents, though at least it’s indis
putably more representative.
The numbers prove that the problem is
Prior Conviction
UNC’s administrators could learn a lot
about justice from another Triangle
university.
On Tuesday, a grand jury recommended
indicting five men, one of whom is Tyrone
DeAngelo Hoy, a Shaw University student,
on involuntary manslaughter charges in con
nection with the death of Antwan Merritt, an
18-year-old Shaw freshman.
On Wednesday, university officials said
they would not suspend Hoy before his trial.
University President Talbert Shaw told the
News & Observer, “We will not be judge and
jury before this case goes to court.”
And innocent until proven guilty is the
way it should be.
Unfortunately, UNC officials don’t feel
the same way.
The same weekend Merritt died, police
arrested UNC junior Daniel Sarrell and
charged him with first-degree arson in con
nection with at least one fire in Morrison
Residence Hall.
Sarrell’s suitemate and close friend Austin
Hollar told The Daily Tar Heel on Sunday
that before Sarrell was even indicted, the
University suspended him. Vice Chancellor
for Student Affairs Sue Kitchen confirmed
that Sarrell was no longer enrolled but would
not comment on what precise actions the
University had taken.
It is ridiculous for UNC to suspend some
one for simply being accused of committing
a crime regardless of what that crime might
have been.
aim Bailg ®ar Heel
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Rob Nelson
EDITOR
Office Tours Friday 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
real. In Tuesday’s runoff election, Student
Body President-elect Brad Matthews nar
rowly edged Erica Smiley by only about a 4-
3 margin at the Student Union and the cam
pus’ five academic building sites. At Chase,
though, Matthews defeated Smiley 2 1.
But Matthews’ margin of victory at
Granville is the real kicker. There, he blew
out his challenger by a whopping 7-1 margin.
Although Matthews won at all polling
sites, the Granville bloc overwhelmingly
tipped the scales in favor of him, proving that
these voters can make or break a candidate
in a way that no other group can.
No one constituency should have such
political clout.
The solution is simple: Limit poll sites
only to academic buildings and the central
ized Student Union. Every student has to
come to campus for class or lab, and students
would be more likely to vote if there were a
polling site on the way there.
According to the Student Code, it’s
Student Congress’ job to set poll sites.
Congress should forbid residential-based poll
sites now to make sure next year's elections
are fairer than in years past.
More centralized voting sites might incon
venience some students but would ultimate
ly make for a fairer and balanced electoral
process.
That’s the best of both worlds.
It’s fine for the University to start building
a case against Sarrell before he goes to trial.
After all, that’s how courts operate. But it’s
not fine for administrators to actually sus
pend him before a court has determined
whether he is actually guilty. According to
Orange County Clerk’s Office records,
Sarrell’s trial has been set for March 7 in
Superior Court in Hillsborough.
The University’s treatment of Sarrell sets a
dangerous precedent that could impact other
students’ futures. For example, a student
could be suspended or expelled if someone
didn’t like him or her and falsely accused the
student of cheating. That seems impossible,
but it’s no different from administrators
expelling Sarrell without giving him a chance
to defend himself.
Soon after police arrested Sarrell,
Morrison residents received an e-mail about
the arrest indicating that responsibility for
the fires lay with Sarrell.
Hollar said students began walking by his
suite shouting and throwing things into the
suite. The situation escalated to the point that
a security official had to stand outside the
locked suite, only allowing the suite’s resi
dents to enter. It was wrong of University
officials to assume an arrest meant a convic
tion. Not only is it unfair to Sarrell; it will also
make the University look pretty irresponsi
ble if a jury finds him not guilty.
Or maybe it’s all for the best. If Sarrell is
found innocent, he should have a pretty
lucrative lawsuit on his hands.
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UNC Gymnasts Win With Class
Looking back on their college careers,
most students will remember a handful
of classes that stand out as being particu
larly intriguing and inspiring - the ones that
made all the others worthwhile. For some it
will be a challenging philosophy class, for oth
ers an eye-opening art class.
For me, one of those college-defining class
es will be gymnastics, which I look under the
false assumption that in a semester I could
learn to perform a tumbling pass of hand
springs and flips. Even now, not a day goes by
that I don’t thank my lucky stars that I didn't
break my neck.
Back handsprings were particularly bad for
me. There’s a limited number of times you
can land on your head before something
important breaks. Indeed, hardheaded persis
tence took me dangerously close to that limit
in a number of events before I realized that
the parallel bars weren’t going to break before
my arms would.
It turns out, successful gymnasts start when
they’re about 3 years old and practice every
day afterward. If only I had known. When I
was 3, 1 took the oft-traveled baseball road,
and that certainly has made all the difference,
at least in my gymnastics career.
In fact, despite a heroic and patient effort
by my instructor, about the only thing I could
do with any success in the class was the warm
up jogging and maybe bouncing off the vault
springboard. But I did learn to value my
intact neck and the skills of real gymnasts.
So it’s with great joy and admiration that I
join the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies
today in celebrating “Brooke Wilson Day” as
declared by DiPhi. Wilson is the star of the
UNC gymnastics team, which will try Friday
to win its third consecutive home meet this
year.
I'he societies, which rank as the oldest
organizations on campus with their 1795 ori
gin, are debate and literary groups.
Historically they’re a prestigious lot around
here, boasting alumni like President James
Readers' Forum
APPLES Fee Increase
Worth It to Continue
Worthwhile Program
TO THE EDITOR:
On Feb. 15, The Daily far Heel
told students to “Vote No” to
APPLES funding. My stomach
dropped. 1 could not believe the
DTH would not support this group.
APPLES, Assisting People in
Planning Learning Experiences in
Service, is one of the best programs
UNC has to offer. APPLES not only
provides internships, alternative
Spring Breaks and service-learning
classes to students, but more impor
tantly, it allows the University to give
back to the community.
APPLES opens doors to the pub
lic sector and encourages students to
actively volunteer in their
community.
As the volunteer coordinator for
Volunteer Orange!, the volunteer
center of Orange County, 1 current
ly have three APPLES interns. I am
the only staff person at this agency,
working a mere 35-plus hours week.
What would I do without this
chance to increase my staff and
resources? Without these interns, we
couldn’t coordinate countywide vol-
Vicky Eckenrode & Cate Doty
MANAGING EDITORS
Thomas Ausman
DESIGN EDITOR
Megan Sharkey
GRAPHICS EDITOR
William Hill
ONLINE EDHOR
■
BRANDON BRISCOE
VOICE OF REASON
Polk, author Thomas Wolfe and a host of state
and national leaders. Precursors of today’s stu
dent government, honor court and library
were handled by DiPhi.
For Wilson’s part, she has been nothing
short of outstanding this year on the gymnas
tics floor. Her name is all over the UNC
record books; and she has performed several
rare tumbling passes, including one Friday
that has been performed only twice before in
NCAA competition.
After her performances she has to explain
patiently to dumfounded reporters exactly
what she did because they can’t tell how
many flips, spins and twists she does - it’s
incredible what these athletes can do.
Wilson has easily been the team’s top per
former this year. Indeed, it helps the team’s
score when one gymnast finishes first in all
four of a meet’s events, as Wilson did Friday.
Unquestionably, she and the entire UNC
gymnastics team deserve more credit than
they have received.
You ought to swing by Carmichael
Auditorium this Friday for the team’s final
home meet of the season.
You’ll surely be impressed. If the promise
of incredible acrobatics doesn’t appeal to you,
we’re matched up against Yale University- it’s
always fun to beat up on a pompous Ivy
Leaguer.
One enticement of a gymnastics meet is the
audience’s proximity to the action. In fact, the
protective padding extends into the
unteer projects such as Make A
Difference Day and Youth Service
Day. Without these interns, we could
n’t hold office hours for students at
the Campus Y.
Without APPLES, I wouldn’t have
this job. 1 interned at Volunteer
Orange! as a UNC undergrad. When
1 graduated, I was offered this posi
tion. 1 enjoy my job and give thanks
for APPLES. APPLES provides non
profit agencies throughout the coun
ty an opportunity for motivated and
professional student interns at a little
cost to our tight budgets.
In addition, students gain real
world experience and have the abili
ty to produce materials and programs
for these agencies.
Please do not be bitter about the
fee increase. APPLES deserves your
support. APPLE/S extends beyond
the walls of McCorkle Place. It
impacts community agencies, allow
ing us to expand programs, increase
publicity and improve efficiency.
APPLES volunteers and interns
help us effectively serve our target
populations. And we owe the best to
all citizens of our community.
Betsy Alley
Volunteer Coordinator
Volunteer Orange!
, uJljp lathj (Ear Mrrl
Terry Wimmer
OMBUDSMAN
Carmichael bleachers to save out-of-control
gymnasts. Presumably, any stray gymnast
caught by a spectator in the bleachers must be
returned.
Interestingly enough, there is no men’s
gymnastics team. So if the Department of
Athletics should decide it needs anew job for
Coach Bill Guthridge or Coach Carl Torbush,
there's one waiting to be created. Imagine the
possibilities if the players on those teams
learned gymnastics.
If you think a behind-the-back dribble is
impressive, just wait until you see Joseph
Forte’s new front-handspring dribble or Brian
Bersticker’s back-tuck dunk. Defend that,
Duke.
Indeed it’s a shame that thousands of peo
ple turned out to watch the basketball and
football teams struggle this year while groups
like the gymnastics team quietly meet with
success. Maybe if they’d start allowing specta- ,
tors to keep run away gymnasts ...
But not only do the gymnasts and other
athletes like them go about their business qui
etly, they also do it with class.
After Friday’s victory, there was no rest for
the weary. The gymnasts appeared at the
UNC Dance Marathon to lend their support
to a worthy cause.
And when the James Madison University
team visited for a gymnastics meet a few
weeks ago, the “Fighting Presidents” cheered
for their team as if they were 10-year-olds and
they could score points for cheering. The Tar
Heels performed with more dignity, offering
appropriate congratulations when it was due
without creating a silly spectacle.
So put an extra bounce in your step today,
remembering that you’re walking amid hun
dreds of people like Brooke Wilson who make
this place so great. Just watch the landing.
Brandon Briscoe is a junior journalism and
mass communication major from New
Orleans, La. You can send him tips and scores
out of 10 at brandon_briscoe@unc.edu.
Professors Should
Praise, Not Belittle,
Students' Grades
TO THE EDITOR:
Since when have students been
punished for earning high grades?
Most students, or at least the ones I
know, are generally praised and
rewarded for high grades.
UNC is, by national standards
(whether you believe the magazine
polls or not), an above-average uni
versity. We are an above-average uni
versity because the caliber of students
and faculty are likewise above average.
If only the top students are admit
ted into the University, then should
n’t they be capable of making top
grades on their own merit? '
Students at UNC work hard to
earn their grades.
Teachers and professors should
praise us for our commitments to our
studies, rather than belittling our aca
demic achievements.
Please Dr. Turchi, give us the cred
it that we deserve.
Stacy Sinclair
Sophomore
Journalism and Mass
Communication
(S>
A
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