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ASHLEY STEPHENSON
Drinking Policy
Murky, Ignores
Real Problems
Students have always relished their
first tastes of freedom in a
Budweiser.
Finally out from under the watchful
eye of mom and dad, UNC freshmen
have embraced the promise of UNC,
where Purple Jesus is bom in multigal
lon trash cans and the wine flows like,
well, wine.
Many learn the fast lesson that even
though parental discipline is miles
away, the University police are right
around the corner to pick up where
the precious ’rents left off. Those
meant to serve and protect you now
take the form of demons who deny
and destroy your beer.
Two students early last week got
pinched. Word on the street was that
freshmen Jacki “Schlitz” Fritz and
Michael “Duff’ Dorfman attended a
party in a Hinton James Residence
Hall room. And yes, there was alcohol
present, and no, Fritz and Dorfman
didn’t touch a drop. Nevertheless, the
5-0 slapped them both with citations.
The two freshmen are calling
UNC’s alcohol policy unfair and the
guidelines murky.
And I have to second that emotion.
Item one is that if you haven’t been
drinking and the beer ain’t yours, you
shouldn’t get in trouble. Fritz asked to
take a breathalyzer, and the officer
refused. New rules should allow stu
dents to prove their innocence and get
off the hook.
Higher-ups have certainly not let
these youngsters know that UNC’s
alcohol policy means they can’t be in
the same room with beer if they’re
underage, even if they’ve been chug
ging Sprite like it’s going out of style.
Nay, officials need to clear up these
misconceptions so students can figure
out how to beat the system or stay out
of hot water.
UNC administrators have always
had a tough time figuring out how to
handle the inevitable drinking that
takes place on campus.
Buzzwords like “binge drinking”
have been shoved in our faces.
Honchos have told us they know we’ll
drink but don’t condone it -and
they’ll bust our asses if they catch us.
Fingers have been pointed at the
Greek community and the “ big
sports” emphasis at UNC. They will
tell you all these factors have been
eroding the intellectual climate.
Maybe they’re right. But University
bigwigs have been handling UNC’s
alcohol situation all wrong.
The events that shaped UNC’s
attack on alcohol unfolded in the early
morning hours of Mother’s Day 1996,
when a fire ripped through the Phi
Gamma Delta fraternity house, killing
five students. ,
Four of the five students killed had
blood alcohol levels higher than .08,
North Carolina’s legal limit. Some
people have contended that if they
had been sober, they might have
escaped the blaze.
In the wake of the tragedy and the
years following it, UNC unleashed a
slew of anti-drinking campaigns. First
they told students “Don’t Get Wasted.”
More recendy, it’s been the delightful
news that “2 out of 3 blow a .00 BAC.”
The result of such nonsense, which
ignores the notion that students
formed their opinions about drinking
long before enrolling at UNC, has
been the confusing slogan, “Don’t
Drink and Drink Responsibly.”
The Department of Public Safety has
been in cahoots with such anti-drinking
efforts, and the men in blue have been
part of the crackdown. Sadly, non
drinkers like Fritz and Dorfman have
been caught in the melee.
Too bad they aren’t the ones the
University should be worrying about.
I’m not asking UNC to condone
underage drinking, but I am asking
them to prioritize. If University police
and administrators want to really tar
get the harmful effects of alcohol, they
should crack down on the 21-year-olds
trying to drive their drunk asses home,
not on the 18-year-olds nursing their
Beasts. Much more harm can be done
behind the wheel than on the fourth
floor of Morrison Residence Hall.
To Fritz and Dorfman, my deepest
regrets. If I see either one of you kids, I’ll
look both ways -then buy you a beer.
Columnist Ashley Stephenson can be
reached at ashley2Wemail.unc.edu.
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DTH/ ARIEL SHUMAKER
Cem Ozdemir, a member of the lower house of
Germany's parliament, speaks Thursday.
UNC Alumna Films Father's 5 Wives
■
DTH/BRENT CLARK
"Five Wives" producer Jason Lyon acts in a
reunion episode of STV's "General College."
By Russ Lane
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor
A collection of old press clippings accompanies
the press information for “Five Wives, Three
Secretaries and Me,” a film airing on The Movie
Channel this month.
But the clippings weren’t just positive reviews -
instead, the clips showed glances of the public life of a
high society Texas family and its patriarch, Thomas
Blake Jr., known as “Blakey” to his family.
The clips evoke a kind of mystery. What lies
beneath the advertisement featuring one of Blake’s
wives? Who was the self-made Texan who was invit
ed to a global strategy session in 1962? What is the
truth behind a family whose social exploits are often
fodder for gossip columns in The Houston Chronicle?
Apparently, the truth behind the Blake family
eluded its only daughter, Tessa Blake, and her
friend, Jason Lyon, as well.
A project begun in 1994 and finished in 1999, “Five
Wives” was the brainchild of UNC alumni Blake and
Lyon. The duo turned the cameras on the Blake fam
ily, collecting more than 50 hours of footage in hope
of finding insight into the Texan clan. The documen
tary seems to succeed, but not without banging its
head on the “Southern code of silence” referenced
throughout the film.
Lyon said that although the film explores Texas’
high society and the lives of the various women ref
erenced in the title, it hinges on Blake’s relationship
with her father. “He is from the old-school Southern
establishment that doesn’t talk about anything and
it doesn’t really acknowledge having feelings, and
she’s from a kind of new generation that talks about
everything,” he said.
Although the pair graduated nearly a decade ago,
they still involve themselves in local culture. Several
Chapel Hill references are sprinkled throughout “Five
Wives.” In addition, Blake and Lyon - who met dur
ing their undergraduate days at UNC - shot a reunion
episode in March of STV’s “General College,” a col
legiate soap opera in which Blake acted and Lyon
wrote, directed and produced in the early 90s.
The two parted ways after graduating but reunited
by chance on a New York street and began the project
shortly thereafter. Lyon said he was thrilled for the
opportunity to work on the project, since it allowed
him to meet people he considered to be like cartoon
characters as described by Blake.
N.C. House to Revisit Electoral College Bill
By Talley Sergent
Staff Writer
Four months ago, during what might
have been the most controversial presi
dential election ever, state Republicans
and Democrats were divided on the
Electoral College process.
And today the debate continues.
The N.C. House of Representatives
will review amendments for House Bill
33, titled Presidential Electors by
District, before May 1, said bill sponsor
Rep. Wayne Goodwin, D-Richmond.
The proposed changes, if passed, will
divide electoral votes by congressional
districts. “(The bill) ensures the intent
and wishes of voters are reflected by
how the electors vote,” Goodwin said.
N.C. electors are selected based on
which presidential candidate wins the
most votes in the state.
German Official Talks Equality
Cem Ozdemir, the first Turkish-born
member of the German legislature,
discussed the hurdles many
foreigners must face in Germany.
By Rob Leichner
Staff Writer
About 40 people delayed the start of their
long weekend Thursday afternoon to listen to
a member of the Bundestag - the lower house
of Germany’s parliament - discuss German
society and identity.
“What does it mean to be a German?” asked
Cem Ozdemir, who said he had experienced
discrimination as a result of his Turkish back
ground, which made him the first Bundestag
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSET PICTURES
Thomas Blake Jr. (seated) was the subject of “Five Wives, Three Secretaries and Me,”
a documentary directed by his daughter, UNC alumna Tessa Blake (standing).
“It was sort of exciting for me to go and meet the
real people,” he said. “But in meeting the real people,
I had my own impressions of them, my own reactions,
so early on ... we spent a while talking about her
understanding of the people or the way she painted
people, versus the way I perceived them.”
Blake said collaborating with Lyon was vital, con
sidering the film’s subject She said Lyon’s input helped
her create an honest but responsible family portrait
“You walk that line as a personal documentary film
maker between honesty and privacy,” she said. “You
don’t want to be exposing people irresponsibly -and
I certainly didn’t want to make ‘The Jerry Springer
Show’ - so you have to be careful about that stuff and
weigh your need for honesty against everyone else’s
need for privacy, or even your own.”
“There’s a sense of unfairness with
the winner-take-all (system),” said Rep.
Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake. “It disenfran
chises the voters in the districts.”
The bill was approved by the N.C.
House Election Law and Campaign
Finance Reform Committee Feb. 28.
Weiss, co-sponsor of the bill, said the
vote was close and went along party
lines, supported by Democrats but not
Republicans.
But the bill, which was slated to go to
the House floor March 6, was sent back
to the House Committee on Rules,
Calendar and Operations and has not
been rescheduled.
Goodwin said the bill is not dead, but
the N.C. legislature has more “pressing”
matters to deal with, most notably the
SBOO million budget shortfall.
N.C. Democrats might be pushing for a
change in the system, but political experts
News ■
say any drastic changes are unlikely.
Lairy Sabato, a University of Virginia
American politics professor, said he
does not foresee any change in the elec
toral process because of the heavily
debated 2000 presidential election.
“Changing (the Electoral College) is
purely academic,” Sabato said. “It’s not
going to happen.”
Sabato said he doubted candidates
would even campaign in North Carolina
if it changed its electoral process because
candidates will spend time in a state like
Virginia where they can secure all the
electoral votes.
But Sabato also said that a change in
the electoral system in North Carolina
could make presidential elections in the
state more competitive.
But Republicans back the current sys
tem, which led to President George W.
Bush’s election even though Bush lost
member of Turkish descent.
“Even though I speak German, I am different
because I have a Turkish passport,” he said.
Although Ozdemir was bom in Germany, he
said he is considered a Turkish citizen under
now-changed German laws because his parents
are Turkish. He only became a German citizen
when he became eligible for a diplomatic pass
port as a member of the Bundestag.
Under current German law, immigrants can
become citizens after eight years of residency,
but they must forfeit their citizenship to their for
mer country. Many immigrants do not apply for
citizenship because of this rule, Ozdemir said.
“For them, their old passport is like remember
ing their childhood,” he said.
But children of immigrants can retain dual cit
izenship until their 23rd birthday, which is help
ing to reduce the discrimination against Turks
Blake said balancing privacy and honesty paid
off. Not only did most of her family consider the fin
ished product a fair representation, but Blake also
felt liberated from the Texan socialite trappings that
contradicted her more progressive lifestyle in New
York, where she directed avant-garde theater and
dated a black man.
“When we finally screened the film, there it was -
my point of view,” she said. “There’s no way to hide
from it, there was no way dress it up, there was no way
to pretend I was saying what (my father) was saying
or what the socialites were saying, and so now... I feel
like, ‘You can like me or you don’t like me, but you get
who I am.’”
See FIVE WIVES, Page 5
the popular vote to Democratic candi
date A1 Gore during the 2000 election.
Bill Cobey, chairman of the N.C.
Republican Party, tabbed the electoral
reform bill as the “sore-loser bill.”
“The system has been good to
(Republicans) as it has been to the
Democrats,” Cobey said. “It’s a conces
sion by the Democrats that Republicans
will win the presidential election (in
North Carolina) every year.”
But Sabato offered amends for the
electoral process. “There is only one
constitutional amendment that has a
chance - the abolition of electors,”
Sabato said. “I bet on nothing happen
ing though. Just because people talk
doesn’t mean anything is going to hap
pen.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Monday, April 16, 2001
and other immigrants, he said.
Many Germans do not want to accept immi
grants into society, Ozdemir said. They use the
differences in skin color, names and language as
means of separating the people.
Instead of getting citizenship and respect
based solely on the fact that they live in
Germany, Ozdemir said he feels that immigrants
should have to earn it by showing they want to
become integrated in German society. Language
is a potential uniting factor for immigrants and
Germans alike.
“We should force everybody that comes to
Germany to learn German and understand the
country,” he said.
One main reason Turks and other immigrants
are not faring as well as inhabitants in Germany
Seee OZDEMIR, Page 5
Expansion
Concerns
Residents
Amendments to a 1986
Orange County land use
plan could affect those
living near a local landfill.
By Isaac Groves
Staff Writer
Some Orange County residents
expressed worries about Chapel Hill’s
expansion into their neighborhoods at a
joint meeting Wednesday between three
local governments.
At the public hearing, the Chapel Hill
Town Council
introduced five
amendments to an
area land use plan
that the Town
Council, Orange
County Board of
Commissioners
and the Carrboro
Board of Aldermen
created in 1986 to
control the area’s
rapid growth.
The amend
ments would give
local officials the
option to use five
pieces of land
School board
ipember
NkkDidow
proposed using the
Greene Tract for a
new school.
between Eubanks and Homestead
roads near the Orange County Regional
Landfill for alternate purposes.
Amendments to the plan require the
approval of all three jurisdictions.
“This plan, for 15 years, has been an
enormously powerful tool,” said Chapel
Hill Hanning Department Director Roger
Waldon, who spoke for the three planning
departments and presented five changes
illustrating what can be done with the five
pieces of public land near the landfill.
But some Orange County residents
who live near the town landfill, located
just northwest of the Chapel Hill limits,
expressed concern that the planning
See JOINT MEETING, Page 5
Hispanic
Population
Seeks Clout
N.C. Latino advocacy group
El Pueblo is lobbying state
legislators for an increase
in Hispanic rights and access.
By Michael Handy
Staff Writer
The N.C. Hispanic population grew by
more than 300,000 over the last 10 years,
yet only one Hispanic currently holds a
seat in the N.C. General Assembly.
Despite the increase in the Hispanic
population and its influence in state
affairs, Hispanic leaders feel their voice is
still largely unheard in state government
Elena Askey, a Hispanic who works
in the office of Rep. Debbie Clary, R-
Gaston, said she sees growing Hispanic
influence in North Carolina.
Askey said many high positions in
the governor’s office are now held by
Hispanics and the state Senate recently
hired a special Hispanic adviser.
But she also said more representation
is still needed. “I wish the Flouse would
establish something like (the Senate
did),” Askey said. “I believe we are lack
ing in that department"
Rep. Danny McComas, R-New
Hanover, is the lone Hispanic holding a
Seee INFLUENCE, Page 5
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