10
Tuesday, March 7, 2000
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Scott Hicks
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Katie Abel
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Jacob McConnico
CITY EDITOR
Board Editorials
Misplaced Protests
Students have the right to protest companies that recruit
students on campus, but the interview room is not the proper place.
In the midst of another blame game, UNC
lost sight of the real losers in Chiara
D’Amore’s Honor Court case.
D’Amore, a junior, was charged with will
fully furnishing UNC officials with false
information, misusing University property
and obstructing University operations. The
charges resulted from D’Amore’s involve
ment in a protest of Kraft dining the compa
ny’s recruiting trip last fall.
But while negotiations were hashed out
between D’Amore and University Career
Services Director Marcia Harris, attention
was focused on making peace with UCS and
appeasing Kraft, whose parent company
Phillip Morris has donated money to UNC
in the past. D’Amore agreed Thursday to
write letters of apology to these groups in
exchange for UCS officials dropping the
charges.
Although she issued a public apology, the
real losers in this battle, UNC students, were
largely ignored.
D’Amore’s actions, whether naive and
unplanned or malicious and calculated, hurt
students more than any other group.
She signed up for an interview that anoth
er UNC student, who actually had an inter
est in working for Kraft, could have used. Job
interview slots fill up quickly, and some stu
dents inevitably are turned away.
Although D’Amore quickly backed out of
the interview when she realized the type of
protest other students had planned, she must
be held to some degree of responsibility.
Following her “interview,” it is unlikely
Quick Fix
Triangle Transit Authority should not let its push for expansion of
bus service deter it from advocating for better mass transit options.
As an ever-increasing number of cars con
tinues to clog Triangle streets and highways,
improving public transportation has become
a necessity - no matter what the cost.
Recently, Triangle Transit Authority has
begun pushing for an aggressive expansion
of regional bus service, spurred by worries
about the future of commuter rail and pres
sure to cut traffic congestion in Research
Triangle Park. By 2005, the TTA wants to
triple its fleet and expand daily ridership
from nearly 2,600 today to close to 7,000.
But improving service would require a fee
increase within die next five years.
Residents of Wake, Durham and Orange
counties already pay a $5 vehicle registration
fee that funds TTA. The proposed expansion
would require an additional $4.
It is appropriate that vehicle owners pay
this extra money for improved mass transit.
These people are likely the ones choosing to
drive instead of take the bus, and they should
pay a few extra dollars for their contribution
to local traffic woes.
Besides, raising bus fares, which made up
about 20 percent of the cost of regional bus
service in fiscal year 1999, would only dis
courage people from riding.
TTA officials say this bus service expan
sion - which would include adding buses,
Readers' Forum
Loyal WXYC Listener, DJ Respond to Recent Criticism in The Daily Tar Heel, Speak Out About Merits of College Radio Stations
TO THE EDITOR:
I was entertained by Scott Benson’s let
ter to the editor concerning WXYC. I felt
the need to clarify a few things to him and
anyone else who might share his senti
ments.
First of all, in my opinion, WXYC and
other college stations in the area serve a
purpose unrecognized by many students.
That is, the purpose of enlightenment.
Much of the music played at WXYC is
music that has few other outlets. It might
not be palatable to Mr. Benson, but I
would find it hard to justify silencing it sim
ply because he wants one more radio sta
tion to play the latest Smash Mouth hit. So,
you see, playing unusual music is not due
to elitism by WXYC, but rather open
mindedness and a desire to provide the
community with something it might not
have heard before.
Second, nothing would give WXYC
more advertising revenue because it does
n’t run advertisements. What you hear dur
ing talk sets are called public service
Rob Nelson
EDITOR
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Matthew B. Dees
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
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SPORTS EDITOR
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FEATURES EDITOR
Kraft representatives were able to focus on
the student job candidates before them.
And whether or not Phillip Morris decides
to shell out funds for UCS in the future, com
pany officials will likely approach interview
ing UNC students with more caution. Other
companies could refrain from interviewing
UNC students for jobs or internships as well.
Ideally, of course, job interviewers would
treat all UNC students as individuals, mak
ing distinctions between interview candi
dates, but eliminating all bias might be
impossible.
In this batde for the truth, though, UCS
has shifted most of the blame to D’Amore,
an easy scapegoat. But UCS officials should
not escape so easily - they should also take
some responsibility for the incident.
D’Amore was not registered with UCS,
but she was able to sign up for an interview.
If a UCS official had checked the list of inter
viewees in advance, D’Amore could have
been denied an interview.
And UCS officials might want to consid
er stopping suspicious people dressed as
macaroni boxes decorated with cigarettes
from accompanying students to interviews.
D’Amore and other students have the
right to protest Kraft’s connection with
Phillip Morris.
However, they should protest outside the
interview space by staking out Hanes Hall,
holding parades through campus or organiz
ing the infamous candlelight Pit vigil.
Because when protesters ambushed Kraft
last fall, everyone lost.
shortening time between arrivals on existing
routes and expanding service to the outer
reaches of Wake and Durham counties - is
part of the first phase of a regional transit
plan that was approved in 1995.
This phase also includes a regional rail sys
tem, which has been delayed because of
troubled negotiations with the state
Department of Transportation and the freight
railroads.
Although a regional rail system would be
the ideal solution to the Triangle’s traffic
woes, the problem begs immediate attention.
Obviously, light rail will not be coming to
the Triangle anytime soon.
Right now, all the area has is buses, and it
would be better to expand the existing sys
tem than to let the traffic problem fester
while officials wait for the Federal Transit
Administration to give the green light to the
rail system.
However, the TTA must not get so caught
up in the frenzy of expanding and promoting
bus service that it forgets that a growing met
ropolitan area such as the Triangle cannot be
served by buses alone.
Improvements to the existing system
should be a stopgap measure to relieve the
local traffic headaches until new and better
mass transit options can be added.
announcements. They do exactly that
which Mr. Benson claims WXYC fails to
do - provide information about campus
events, concerts and the like. They even
give away tickets to local rock shows.
I’m curious as to exactly what folks like
Mr. Benson want to hear from WXYC.
What does he consider mainstream, and
how is it not provided by the numerous
commercial stations in the area? And how
much has Mr. Benson actually listened to
WXYC? I submit that the problem might
lie with Mr. Benson, not college radio.
I would like to end this letter with two
points. First, Mr. Benson is absolutely right.
There is not a decent radio station in the
Triangle. There are in fact many great radio
stations in the Triangle. WXYC (89.3) and
WXDU (88.7) for truly enlightening, wide
varieties of music, WNCU (90.7) and
WSHA (88.9) for jazz, blues, gospel and
more, and even N.C. State University’s sta
tion, WKNC (88.1), has its merits.
Finally, many people do recognize the
potential at WXYC. All it takes is an open
Opinions
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Shooting Down the Media’s Agenda
Air travel is statistically the safest form of
transportation. So why are more peo
ple afraid of flying on a plane than dri
ving in a car?
Because studies have shown that individual
perception of the world is highly influenced
by media content, disparity in media coverage
clearly is a factor.
The sheer magnitude of a plane crash
makes it more newsworthy than the average
car accident. Consequently, it isn’t difficult to
understand why some people have an inflated
idea of the danger of flying and might overes
timate plane crash frequency.
More timely examples of how media cover
age might lead to public misperception are
last week’s Michigan and Pennsylvania shoot
ings.
Disclaimer: If you are incapable of sus
pending emotion in favor of rational thought,
go to the crossword puzzle now.
For those of you still with me, let’s look at
some evidence of anti-gun bias in the main
stream media.
A University of Michigan study of more
than 1,500 consecutive gun-related articles in
The New York Times, The Washington Post,
The Wall Streetjournal, The Los Angeles
Times and other newspapers found the
National Rifle Association frequently was
tagged with negative adjectives, such as
“feared,” “arrogant” and “radical.”
In addition, NILA officials were identified
by proper titles less than 20 percent of the
time, compared to Handgun Control and
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People officials, who were properly
identified 64 percent and 73 percent of the
time, respectively.
Another study done by the Media Research
Center focused on major network morning
and evening news shows between June 1997
andjune 1999. Of the 654 stories dealing with
gun policy that aired during this period, 91
percent expressed an anti-gun point of view.
ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired 93
gun policy segments, 92 with a pro-gun con
trol angle.
Unfortunately, media vilification of
firearms is grounded more in knee-jerk emo
tion than rationale.
Murder rates in countries such as Mexico
and South Africa are more than double that of
mind and a little patience. The last things
this area needs is yet another mindless,
generic “mainstream” station. That’s why
Stroke 9 puts out CDs.
James Hepler
Class of 1996
The length rule on letters was waived.
TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing in response to Scott
Benson’s letter concerning WXYC (89.3
FM), UNC’s student-run radio station.
Benson specifically criticizes WXYC’s role
as a college radio station. Essentially, the
purpose of college radio is to provide the
listening audience with music that is not
available on other radio stations or media
outlets. WXYC has operated with this
mind-set since the early 1980s, contributing
to the success of many now-mainstream
acts, including REM and The Fugees.
WXYC has consistently been ranked
one of the nation’s top college radio sta
Thomas Ausman
DESIGN EDITOR
Megan Sharkey
GRAPHICS EDITOR
William Hill
ONLINE EDITOR
JONATHAN TRAGER
THE LIBERTARIAN LETTERS
the United States, despite the fact that both
governments actively restrict citizen gun
ownership.
On the other hand, countries such as
Israel, New Zealand and Switzerland (where
there are an estimated 600,000 fully automatic
assault rifles) have widespread firearm owner
ship, and each has a relatively low rate of vio
lent crime.
Looking within our own borders, records
show that during the first 30 years of this cen
tury, U.S. per capita handgun ownership
remained stable while the homicide rate rose
tenfold. In contrast, during the roughly 30
years between the alcohol and drug prohibi
tion periods, handgun ownership rose by 250
percent while the homicide rate fell by more
than one-third.
Clearly, private firearm ownership does not
cause violent crime. In fact, there is a growing
amount of evidence that proves the contrary.
In 1992, University of Chicago Law
Professor John Lott and graduate student
David Mustard analyzed crime data for more
than 3,000 American counties. They found
that while concealed-carry laws (whereby
individuals may obtain a permit to carry a
weapon on their person for protection) had
little effect in rural areas, urban areas saw a
substantial reduction in homicide and other
violent offenses.
Lott and Mustard extrapolated that if all
states adopted such laws, there would be
approximately 1,800 fewer murders and 3,000
fewer rapes annually.
Criminologists such as Florida State
University’s Gary Kleck estimate yearly
instances of defensive gun use to be between
1.5 million and 2.5 million. The vast majority
of these cases involve brandishing the weapon
without even firing a shot, whereupon the
tions, winning “College Station of the
Year” from Gavin, a major industry trade
magazine, in 1995. We also receive a
steady stream of compliments from listen
ers around the globe who are able to listen
to the station through the Internet. WXYC
was the first radio station to broadcast 24
hours a day on the Web. (Yes, Brian
Frederick, we have done our research and
have concluded that the people at KJHK
are liars.) Our mission is primarily educa
tional, which is why we are located on the
low end of the radio dial and also why we
do not feature advertising (Benson alludes
to “advertising revenue” in his letter).
Mr. Benson also bemoaned the lack of
information about campus events and
local cultural happenings available on
WXYC. This is surprising, since DJs read
public service announcements about local
events every single hour. WXYC also reg
ularly plays the music of artists touring the
Triangle. DJs also give away several pairs
of tickets to local concerts on a daily basis.
Furthermore, WXYC was instrumental in
Vicky Eckenrode & Cate Doty
MANAGING EDITORS
criminal hastily retreats.
Of course, most media outlets won’t openly
advocate an outright firearm ban. Instead,
they cloak their agenda in additional “con
trols” aimed at reducing accidents and pro
tecting children.
In reality, firearm accidents are extremely
rare.
According to the National Safety Council,
accidental deaths caused by a firearm account
for a mere 2 percent of the annual total.
Because less than 100 of these fatal firearm
accidents involve children, and roughly 140
million American homes (45 percent) contain
aj least one gun, it seems most gun owners
already know how to be responsible with their
weapons.
Perhaps more people should crusade
against swimming pools, because 500 toddlers
drown each year.
Thankfully, the recent Pittsburgh and
Michigan shootings have given opportunistic
politicians a chance to climb on their soap
boxes and demand more gun control laws,
such as gun locks.
Just ignore that trigger locks increase the
probability of accidental discharge from drop
ping the gun. Also ignore that burglars in
Canada, where law requires firearms be
locked up within the home, are three times
more likely to break into an occupied home
than American burglars, who surveys show
are afraid of being shot by an armed resident.
If you think individuals who stockpile
weapons in their closet are “gun nuts,” I agTee.
Nevertheless, the right to keep and bear
arms is crucial in a world where law enforce
ment officers can promise only to act after a
crime has been perpetrated, hardly a consola
tion if you’ve already been robbed, raped or
killed. Yet government constantly tries to curb
this right and undermine personal responsibil
ity by capitalizing on irrational fears.
And by intertwining straight reporting with
advocacy based on extremely rare tragedies,
the media has proven it is often an all-too
willing accomplice.
Jonathan Trager is a senior journalism and
mass communication major from Long Island,
N.Y., whose parents wouldn’t let him play with
toy guns as a child. Please send Charlton
Heston jokes to trager@email.unc.edu.
giving early publicity to many local artists
such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers and the
Archers of Loaf.
It is unfortunate that WXYC’s presence
on campus is not more visible, but writing
misinformed letters to the DTH will hardly
help. If anyone has comments or sugges
tions, please feel free to send e-mail to
wxyc@email.unc.edu. And, as always, our
DJs accept requests 24 hours a day at
962-8989. Thanks for listening.
Todd Ito
Class of 1998
Ito is a WXYC DJ.
The length rule on letters was waived.
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