16A
Tuesday, August 22, 2000
Kelli Boutin
EDITORIAI PAGE EDITOR
Kim Minugh
University editor
Ginny Sciabbarrasi
city editor
Board Editorial
Communication Is Key
Now that students are back in town, members of the committee
that will select the next provost need to hear them out.
Another year, another search. Another
search, more tight-lipped committee mem
bers.
If there was a lesson to be learned from
last year’s chancellor search, it is that open
ness is essential. But apparently no one was
taking notes.
The latest search on the University’s agen
da, the hunt for a replacement for retired
Provost Dick Richardson, remained closed to
the public during the summer.
But now that students are back in Chapel
Hill, that must change. As the members of
the University committee most impacted by
the provost’s decisions, students should be
given the opportunity to take an active role
in the process, even as the committee nar
rows its list of candidates, as sources have
indicated to The Daily Tar Heel.
Although two students sit on the 16-mem
ber committee, their voices are not enough.
Because the provost acts as chief academic
officer and sets priorities for the University’s
academic programs, his decisions have a
very direct impact on students’ academic
lives.
Jonathan Chaney Editorial Notebook
Due Punishment
North Carolina's decision to crack down on violent inmates
was a logical step in its efforts to make prisons tougher.
Serving hard time in North Carolina’s
prison system just got even harder for prob
lematic inmates.
That’s because the state wisely has begun
cracking down on misbehaving convicts by
removing special privileges.
Under the new rules instituted by the N.C.
Department of Correction on Aug. 1,
inmates who act out in our 76 prisons will
lose television time, canteen trips, visitation,
tobacco breaks during recreation, shower
time and exercise privileges.
The rules only apply to the worst inmates,
such as those who are identified as gang lead
ers, break prison rules or assault other
inmates or prison staff. Up until now, pris
oners who acted out were only segregated
from the general prison population, and few
privileges were restricted.
Since 1994, North Carolina has been less
lenient with cutting prison time for good
behavior, thus keeping violent inmates
where they belong: behind bars. But the
stricter laws have had a secondary effect.
Prisoner misconduct has risen since the
new laws went into effect. For instance,
inmate assault on prison staff jumped 52 per
cent between 1995 and 1998.
Inmates can no longer look toward short
er prison sentences and quicker parole
because of “good behavior.” Before 1994, a
prisoner sentenced to 15 years could get out
in a little more than four years for good
Have Your Say
/. The Daily Tar Heel welcomes submissions from its readers for the Monday Viewpoints page. Guest
columns should be 800 words, written by no more than two people and discuss an issue relevant to
W!K DTH readers. Submissions should be e-mailed to editdesk@unc.edu by 5 p.m the Wednesday before the
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ot. For more information, call Editorial Page Editor Kelli Boutin at 962-0245.
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Matt Dees
EDITOR
Office Hours Friday 2 p.m. -3 p.m.
All students must be given the opportuni
ty to speak out, regardless of the point to
which the search has progressed. If the com
mittee has indeed narrowed its list down to
five finalists, there is still time for students to
influence the final decision.
At the very least, committee members
must let the students know that they seek and
value their opinions. A forum similar to the
one held early last fall during the chancellor
search should be held so that students can tell
committee members what qualities they
would like in their next provost.
Once the finalists’ names have been
released, students should be an active part of
the screening process, whether it be by ques
tioning the candidates directly at a forum or
by submitting questions for the candidates to
answer in the DTH.
Whatever the means, communication
between the committee and the students
must happen soon.
The academic futures of 24,000 people
will be affected by this important decision.
The least the committee could do is let those
people have their say.
behavior.
Now, inmates are forced to actually serve
the sentences handed down to them. And
their true violent colors come out when they
can no longer anticipate an early release.
But the new rules will go a long way
toward making our prisons safer for the men
and women risking their lives to work there.
And the stiffer penalties will make life less
pleasant for inmates who continue to act out
violendy, even while behind bars.
The entire point of prison is to punish
those who harm society, and coddling
inmates is counterproductive to the state’s
reason for building correction facilities.
If the state makes prisons as austere a liv
ing arrangement as they possibly can, per
haps it will entice released convicts to keep
out of trouble, 50 they will not have to return.
It’s such an elementary concept, but there
is so much resistance to toughening our
prison system. The American Civil Liberties
Union and prisoners’ advocates promise to
watch how the new rules affect inmates’ lives
and say they will not hesitate to challenge the
rules if they feel they go too far.
But the bottom line is that the state has
been moving in the right direction in the last
six years by making sentences stricter and
life in prisons tougher. And the new rules are
a nice addition.
Remember, we’re building prisons, not
Holiday Inns.
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For Truth, Look Past Propaganda
If there is anything I have learned during
my years at UNC, it’s that there are sever
al unflinching certainties upon which
every Chapel Hill student can depend.
Because of a recent personal awakening,
there is one certainty at Chapel Hill that I find
particularly disconcerting: The Department of
English will forever overlook the writings of
the late British author and philosopher C.S.
Lewis. Most likely this is because Lewis’ ideas
and writings are not always politically correct
and have an ideological slant different from
the “powers-that-be" at the department (so
much for intellectual diversity).
The oversight is a loss for students because
of Lewis’ amazingly light touch with a pen
and because of his unique perspective, but
more importantly because he writes entertain
ing fantasy that somehow manages to inspire
the reader to serious thought -and does so
more effectively than most books that are
expressly written to inspire introspection.
It was one of Lewis’ harmless-looking nov
els that forced me to look twice at some of my
most basic assumptions. In the first chapter of
“The Screwtape Letters,” an elderly devil
begins the arduous task of teaching his
nephew how to poison human souls. The
teacher’s first advice is to avoid any attempt to
use argument or rational debate to divert men
(and women) into the embrace of evil.
Screwtape (the elder devil) reasons that
engaging a man in true debate can only put
his mind in the habit of thinking beyond his
immediate experience - which might well
lead him to an honest search for truth.
Instead of debate, Screwtape advises his
charge to lead men astray with propaganda
and diversion. A devil’s job, he insists, is not
to convince a man that evil is “true,” but sim-
DTH ’OO-01: Big News, Bigger Goals
Another year, another DTH.
But it’s not just any year.
The academic term that will see the
true start of the 21st century is shaping up to
be an exciting nine months, both in your
world and ours.
Anew chancellor will be setting out to
carve his niche on the Hill. Freshmen will
serve as guinea pigs in the nation’s most ambi
tious campus technological initiative.
A fresh-faced basketball coach will make
his debut as the archbishop of our campus’
official religion.
A pivotal election will shape our nation and
herald anew era of politics in North Carolina,
marking the end of the Jim Hunt era and set
ting the stage for a hard-pitched batde in
Raleigh over the state’s voting districts.
And The Daily Tar Heel will be at the heart
of it all. Our mission is simple: to keep the
University community informed of the issues
and events that affect them, striving for accu
racy, balance and depth above all.
Rest assured we’ll approach all these issues
with this mission in mind.
But 2000-01 provides more than great news
for those of us toiling away in the newsroom.
The year also will see dramatic changes in
how we approach the news.
The most significant change is our com
pletely revamped Web site. When daily
tarheel.com is unveiled in a week or so, we
will be able to utilize the Web in ways we only
could have dreamed just a year ago.
Readers will be able to establish free
Internet-based e-mail accounts and planners,
Cate Doty & Lauren Beal
MANAGING EDITORS
Sefton Ipock
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Cobi Edelson
DESIGN EDITOR
Saleem Reshamwala
GRAPHICS EDITOR
■
CRAIG WARNER
HARSH LIGHT
ply to inhibit his search for truth by keeping
his mind occupied with what is “modem,”
“popular” or “pleasurable” instead of what is
true. Any effort by man to form a coherent
philosophy based on principles (even bad
ones) is to be discouraged, because the effort
(even if unsuccessful) will make him think.
“Remember,” Screwtape comments dryly,
“that you are there to fuddle him. The way
some of you young fiends talk, anyone would
think it was our job to teach.”
If the devils exist, they have been doing
quite a job of late. I discovered soon after
reading “The Screwtape Letters” that many of
my own “beliefs” were not based on honest
thought but on the effects of propaganda.
I had embraced a lifestyle - not because I
thought it right, but because coundess maga
zine ads and music videos had told me it was
urbane and pleasurable. I had adopted politi
cal positions - not because I agreed with them
on principle after examining the facts, but
because I had never taken time to notice that
they were using catchy slogans to compensate
for weak ideas. And I had rejected religious
beliefs - not because I thought them false, but
because I knew they would be inconvenient if
they were true.
■
MATT DEES
EDITOR
make their voices heard through polls and
chats, instant message others in our virtual
community and access a portal to the rest of
the Internet. It is mere coincidence that this
change is occurring in conjunction with the
CCI, but a little luck never hurt anyone.
With a more connected campus, we will be
able to run additional content online and pro
vide up-to-the-minute news without fear that it
will go unnoticed.
Implementing these changes will take a
good deal of work and planning.
It also entails changing how we operate.
Instead of getting a story ready to hit the
stands the next morning, we will have to think
in terms of getting the most pressing news out
in a matter of hours. A daunting challenge for
any newsroom, particularly a college one.
But just as this campus is striving to stay on
the cutting edge of our dot-com society, so is
this campus’ newspaper. We hope you will
find your way to this site once it’s up and run
ning and that you find it useful.
We also want to hear what y’all think.
©hr Satly ©ar JIM
Josh Williams
ONLINE EDITOR
Brian Frederick
OMBUDSMAN
My situation is not unique to Americans
today. Our lives are increasingly governed not
by thought but by propaganda. You very like
ly believe you have an informed opinion on
controversial political issues like abortion and
gun control. But is your political view really
based on the facts and your principles, or
have you allowed the propagandists to scream
slogans in your ear until your mind submits?
As an example, a quick test: Do you know
what the law actually says about abortion?
Most people think they do, but a recent
Gallup poll shows that only 11 percent of
Americans accurately understand the law. Do
you know when the unborn’s heart begins to
beat, or when her brain waves are measur
able, or during which month of pregnancy she
begins to feel pain? Do you know what per
centage of abortions are due to rape or con
cern for the life of the mother? How can any
one form an honest opinion without knowing
these facts? They can’t. And neither can you.
The purpose of “Harsh Light” is to get past
propaganda and to glare with unflinching eyes
at the facts and conflicting principles that
should inform our views about politics, reli
gion and culture. In a democracy, where
power and policy flow from our mandate,
nothing is more essential than that. We the
People learn to think honestly about issues.
I am not unbiased. But I have reached
many of my biases through honest thought
and conviction, and I’m honored to have this
semester to converse (and argue) with you
about my biases and yours. But let’s steer the
conversation clear from the propaganda, eh?
Craig Warner is a political science major
from Latrobe, Pa. Reach him with questions
and comments at cmwarner@email.unc.edu.
Community relations programs that were
begun in earnest last year will be expanded
and hopefully improved. Please consider par
ticipating in such initiatives as the student and
faculty feedback boards and the Association
of Student Leaders. Stay tuned to this fine
publication for more information.
Lest you think we’re getting a bit big for our
britches, I hope this year also will set a prece
dent for teaching sound fundamentals of jour
nalism to our incoming writers and current
staff. In the daily push to put out a paper, it’s
easy to forget the basics. Our staff will work
with renewed zeal to establish a firm founda
tion of solid journalistic habits among our staff
before pushing them into higher echelons of
the craft. The effect, I hope, will be to avoid
overwhelming writers and having our paper
boast strong copy across the board.
Finally, don’t let my mug fool you.
Beneath the happy-go-lucky visage lies a
serious commitment to the ideals that makes
this business both great and difficult. It also
masks an undying devotion to this newspaper,
this campus and this state. The job of editor is
an honor I have difficulty expressing my grati
tude for in words. It’s one I think 1 can tackle,
with the help of my unbelievably talented and
dedicated staff. It should, at the very least, be
interesting.
With that, dear readers, I welcome you to
yet another year.
Matt Dees is a senior journalism and
political science major from Fayetteville.
Reach him at mbdees@email.unc.edu.