14
Thursday, September 14, 2000
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comments about
our coverage?
Contact the
ombudsman at
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Kelli Boutin
EDriORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Kim Minugh
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Ginny Sciabbarrasi
CITY EDITOR
Board Editorials
Parental Guidance
Rather than focusing on the need for parental supervision, a report
on media violence points fingers at the entertainment industry.
Shortly after the tragic massacre at
Columbine High School last year, President
Clinton ordered a report by the Federal
Trade Commission on the major media stu
dios’ marketing of violent entertainment to
children.
Unfortunately, the report mistakingly lays
blame entirely on the entertainment industry
instead of emphasizing the need for parental
supervision in their children’s lives.
The report, released Monday, charged
that the entertainment industry engaged in
“pervasive and aggressive marketing” of vio
lent entertainment to children. It found that
a majority of the best-selling youth-restricted
movies, video games and music were inten
tionally marketed to children as young as 12.
Although it stopped short of outlining leg
islative action, the report called on the indus
try to regulate itself and adopt stringent poli
cies restricting youth access to potentially
harmful media.
But the entertainment industry already has
appropriate safeguards in place.
Movies are rated based on content, with
age restrictions for films deemed unsuitable
for children under 17. And music with poten
tially offensive lyrics are branded with a
parental advisory on the front of the CD or
cassette.
The entertainment industry has given
adults the tools necessary to monitor their
children. Now it’s up to parents to use them
Ashley Holmes Editorial Notebook
Good Sportsmanship?
An incident in front of the Undergraduate Library on Friday
indicates that some UNC students should learn to act their age.
Sometimes, with all the suffering and
despair in the world, it’s easy to forget that
decency still exists. It’s easy to wallow in all
that is wrong in civilization.
But last Friday, I personally reclaimed my
faith in man. For last Friday, I was blessed
enough to witness a sterling display of a little
thing I like to call “humanity.”
Around 10 a.m., I was walking past the
Undergraduate Library when I saw two
physically fit young men examining the
brick-clad floor of The Yard. Apparently,
there was a loose, broken brick present.
But rather than ignore this deformity,
these two upstanding young men removed
the offending brick and placed it so that it
was raised well above the neighboring bricks.
I assume that these conscientious students
positioned the brick in this way to draw atten
tion to its deformity.
I’m certain they weren’t waiting for an
unsuspecting student to trip over it.
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
DTH reader! Submissions should be e-mailed to editdesk@unc.edu by 5 p.m the Wednesday before the
column will appear. Publication is not guaranteed.
For more information, call Editorial Rage Editor Kelli Boutin at 962-0245.
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Readers' Forum
Readers Strongly Respond to Kofi Bofah’s Sept. 11 Column ’Freshmen 101: A Survival Guide’ With a Mix of Outrage and Disappointment
TO THE EDITOR:
I was thrilled to see Mr. Hungigolo had
been invited back to The Daily Tar Heel
editorial page (Kofi Bofah’s Sept. 11 col
umn “Freshmen 101: A Survival Guide”).
While some may find Mr. Hungigolo’s
macho megalomania crude and distasteful,
I am confident that the more discerning
reader, like myself, can recognize the gram
matical originality and trenchant wit that lie
behind Mr. Hungigolo’s semiliterate vul
garisms.
For example, notice how Mr. Hungigolo
bravely abandons that confining straitjack
et of staid, conventional English when he
warns us that “it’s a limited amount of info
that I’m going to put in this DTH,” or when
he alerts us that he “gots to address (his) fel
las.” Joyce would be proud.
And of course, who can miss the inten
tional irony of someone who claims to
“stay on the perimeter and aim to be incog
nito” but who brags incessantly and a bit
too shrilly about his “tight major,” “fat
stock portfolio,” “mastery of THE GAME”
and “chronic weakness for the ladyz?”
Yet not only is Mr. Hungigolo among
Matt Dees
EDITOR
Office Hours Friday 2 p.rci. -3 p.m.
Kathleen Hunter
STATES NATIONAL EDITOR
T. Nolan Hayes
SPORTS EDITOR
Will Kimmey
SPORTSATURDAY EDITOR
effectively.
In light of the FTC’s report, the industry
should appease its critics and step up efforts
to ensure it maintains responsible rating sys
tems and marketing practices.
But the industry should not be held liable
for all the problems associated with media
violence.
Besides outright censorship, the industry
can do nothing but market its products con
sistently and ensure that ratings regulations
are followed.
The FTC report, and the criticism of the
entertainment industry, are knee-jerk reac
tions to tragedies such as Columbine. In the
aftermath of these events, the media became
a popular scapegoat for youth violence.
But the real problem lies in a lack of
parental involvement.
Parents should pay attention to the
movies, television shows, music and video
games their children buy.
And they - not the government - need to
use their own judgment when deciding what
entertainment their children view.
It’s become fashionable to blame the
media for the problems exhibited by our
youth. But it’s time for parents to stand up
and take responsibility for their children’s
well-being.
The entertainment industry is not a
mommy or a daddy. And it’s not the evil
institution this report makes it out to be.
Imagine my surprise when I walked by the
same brick an hour later and saw a large
group of well-known athletes staring intendy
at the brick, as if it had hypnotized them.
I’m sure these students were staring at the
bricks so diligendy because of shock - aghast
at the injuries that could have ensued. It’s
amazing how our campus is home to such
acts of decency and caring.
Athletes often get a bad rap at Carolina;
people accuse them of receiving special treat
ment and privileges. But after what I had the
pleasure of witnessing on Friday, disparaging
words concerning the basketball or football
team will never escape my humble lips.
Now, I can’t possibly list all of the people
who participated in this act. And I’m sure
that those involved wouldn’t want me to.
Base motivations such as recognition or fame
had nothing to do with this good work. No,
those good Samaritans know who they are.
And I think that’s reward enough.
the DTH’s most witty columnists, his advice
is uncommonly sage.
All freshman women certainly need to
know the value of “JIGGLIN’” and
“PRAT” asses if they are to have any hope
of catching a man as worthy as Mr.
Hungigolo.
By empowering the female community
to achieve what is necessarily their highest
aspiration, Mr. Hungigolo does feminism,
and us all, a valuable service.
And while in his latest column Mr.
Hungigolo coyly refuses to offer men like
myself any advice of comparable value, I
can only hope that in future columns he
will overcome his reticence.
Jason Yackee
Graduate Student
Political Science
TO THE EDITOR:
I have read The Daily Tar Heel ever
since I first moved to Chapel Hill in 1993.
I have read lots of good articles and lots of
not-so-good articles. But I cannot recall an
article that was as devoid of intellect and
Opinion
(Hit? Hath}
Established 1893 • 107 Years of Editorial Freedom
www.unc.edu/dth
Jermaine Caldwell
FEATURES EDITOR
Ashley Atkinson
ARIS St ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Carolyn Haynes
cm DESK EDITOR
Love, Loss and the Elections Board
This week, more than any week in recent
memory, has been characterized by its
losses.
Indiana lost a gem of an individual in head
coach Bobby Knight (whose class is probably
only rivaled by David Allen Coe).
The Broadway show “Cats” finally ended
its run after 19 years.
The show is about as old as I am, so hope
fully I will not also die this week.
The U.S. Department of Justice lost their
case against Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese scien
tist they accused of spying for China. It is
good to know that ourjustice Department
holds tight the idea that all Asians are the
same.
The University of South Carolina lost its
longest losing streak in Division I college foot
ball. I can say that coming from South
Carolina, it is always a time for celebration
down there when we stop being worst in
something.
Craig Warner must have lost his mind
before writing that column Tuesday on hate
crimes. Yikes!!
And, perhaps most importantly The Daily
Tar Heel lost one of its favorite stories -
Marissa Downs.
That’s right. Marissa, fodder for many a
DTH article, was put out to journalistic pas
ture this week when Jeremy Berkeley-
Tuchmayer was appointed the new chairman
of the Elections Board, a position that Ms.
Downs was originally nominated for.
For freshmen and first-time readers of the
DTH, there was a huge fuss surrounding
appointing Ms. Downs Elections Board chair
woman last semester.
Brad Matthews (he is the student body
president here at UNC - like Gerald Ford,
but only for the University) nominated Ms.
Downs for the position of Elections Board
chairwoman.
In short, the idea was canned by Student
Congress, and the DTH devoted a large deal
of print to the issue, especially noting Mr.
Matthews’ and Ms. Downs’ “romantic
involvement.”
While I can sympathize with both sides of
the issue, I always felt bad for Marissa. Here is
a person trying to live an active and involved
life at UNC, but her private life kept re-
purpose as Kofi “I think I’m Tupac” Bofah’s
column in Monday’s edition (“Freshmen
101: A Survival Guide”).
What a waste of ink. I saw no discernible
point made in the piece, not to mention
plenty of serious grammatical butchering
throughout it.
As far as I could tell, this column was just
an excuse for Bofah to show off all the lingo
he learned from the latest No Limit albums.
The article was like a bad, dime-a-dozen
rap video, with Bofah bragging about how
smart, tough and irresistible he is.
Like any lame rap video, it also con
tained the objectification of women, more
cliched, poorly used slang than one can
comprehend -and even the obligatory gun
reference.
The readers of a paper at this University
deserve better.
There was talk in the past of ways to
improve the intellectual climate on campus.
I think the climate just got colder as Bofah’s
diatribe hit the presses.
Finally, Bofah should take it easy on
freshmen, since he was one just a few years
ago, and will be one again in another realm.
Sefton Ipock
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Cobi Edelson
DESIGN EDITOR
Saleem Reshamwala
GRAPHICS EDITOR
rfTS.
WILLIAM MCKINNEY
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
emerging for full public view.
And I would be willing to wager that her
private life has gotten as much attention in the
paper as any student (save Kofi Bofah whose
weekends, according to his column, continual
ly trump mine in excitement week in and
week out).
I think, latently, a good deal of this ordeal
was due to the fact that Marissa was a woman.
And as a woman, she was unable to, in
some people’s eyes, put her mind over her
heart. I am quite sure if the nominee had sim
ply been a guy pal of Mr. Matthews, litde
attention would have been paid to the issue.
But the facts of the relationship, and the
SBP race itself, begged for a knock-down,
drag-out fight with the DTH. At times it
resembled a war of attrition between Student
Congress, the executive branch and the DTH.
All the bases for juicy journalism were cov
ered: collusion, political favors, romance and
angry partisan feuds.
I sat down with Marissa to hold sort of a
wake, a funeral celebration (as a McKinney
with Irish roots, I felt this was rather neces
sary).
Here are some excerpts of our chat:
William: I have to know, after reading the
DTH for a while, I have gained the feeling
that you are the root of all evil. Is this true?
Marissa: Yes.
W: So you don’t even like puppies, bunnies
or sunny days?
M: They are the bane of my existence.
W: So do you think that the DTH could
have just been upset that you don’t write for
them anymore?
M: Oh, that could be it. I thought it was
curious that the DTH acted like I was an evil
temptress out to woo the student body presi-
Instead of telling freshmen they are
nothing, he should prepare himself to be in
their exact same position when he leaves
college and walks into the real world.
Even though Bofah is a business admin
istration major, in the real world of busi
ness, everyone always starts out at the bot
tom -just like freshmen -and no major in
“Life” is going to give him any clout there.
Let’s all remember to keep it real smart
when we keep it real from now on.
Steven Stewart
Acquisitions Assistant
Law Library
TO THE EDITOR:
Kofi Bofah’s piece “Freshman 101: A
Survival Guide” was apparently mistitled. It
should have been called “Ode to Myself.”
Maybe Bofah thinks freshmen are “wack
and hot-headed” and “run around f-—g s
-t up,” but he does nothing to amend this
situation.
Rather than offer freshmen advice to
“read, learn, and live” by, Bofah brags
about his statistics, his scholarship money
Cate Doty & Lauren Beal
MANAGING EDITORS
Josh Williams
ONLINE EDriOR
Brian Frederick
OMBUDSMAN
dent.
W: Because he is a really important guy,
right?
M: Oh yes, “the apple of my eye,” (a DTH
quote).
W: So if you hadn’t been able to spellbind
Brad, who would you have gone after?
Chancellor Moeser?
M: Maybe.
The Chancellor was a fallback. First would
have been (Carolina Athletic Association
president and overly dramatic, but I got the
point when I read it, guest columnist) Tee
Pruitt.
With Tee, I could have won the homecom
ing queen election and ruled UNC high atop
the new bleachers he created for me.
W: Why didn’t you just declare yourself
SBP?
M: That’s not the real position of power.
Vice-chairwoman of the Elections Board is
what it’s all about.
W: Oh right, I forgot.
So are you upset about losing out to new
Elections Board Chairman Jeremy Berkeley-
Tuchmayer? I hear you are making threaten
ing calls to him late at night.
M: I was actually trying to seduce him. He
mistook it. I was just sabotaging the process as
usual.
W: Well, that makes sense. Hey, who is
your favorite columnist?
M: William McKinney.
W: Mine too.
While we are talking about newspapers,
did you get tired of the DTH always putting
your name in the same sentence with “roman
tic relationship?”
M: Yeah, what was the other one they
used?
W: “Queen of the Night,” maybe?
M: Ha ha. You know, the DTH can be a
real ambulance chaser sometimes. When are
they going to just pat someone on the back?
W: Today.
Farewell Marissa. Fare thee well.
William McKinney is a sophomore history
and political science major from Greenville,
S.C. If you are interested in writing his column
next week, please e-mail him at
wmckinne@email.unc.edu.
and his female conquests.
Why is this in The Daily Tar Heel? This
is not journalism; it’s Ebonics nothingness.
It’s completely degrading to women and all
human beings in general.
Girls aren’t, as Bofah insists, Upper Deck
trading cards or scenery to be gawked at.
Bofah rejects grade point averages as a
source of pride for freshmen, yet he boasts
about his.
Bofah implores freshmen to “take this
information here and ... read it aloud at
Lenoir and discuss it on the yard,” but he
offers nothing worth discussing.
Instead, we were left baffled by his
Neanderthal mind-set and his complete
lack of ability to communicate using the
English language.
Sarah Sanders
Freshman
Education and Journalism and Mass
Communication
Amanda Fisher
Freshman
Journalism and Mass Communication
®atlii (Bar HM
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