10
Monday, August 27, 2001
Opinion
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EstabßsM 1893 • 108 Years of Editorial Freedom
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Katie Hunter
Editor
Office Hours Friday 2 p.m. -3 p.m.
Kim Minugh
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Sefton Ipock
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Jermaine Caldwell
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Kate Hartig
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Lizzie Breyer
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Kellie Dixon
CITY EDrTOR
Alex Kaplun
STATE Er NATIONAL EDITOR
Rachel Cartel
SPORTS EDITOR
James Giza
SPORTS SATURDAY EDITOR
Faith Ray
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Terri Rupar
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Kara Arndt
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Beth Buchholz
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Josh Myerov
OMBUDSMAN
Concerns or comments about our
coverage? Contact the ombudsman at
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Readers' Forum
Ethical Guidelines
Needed as Scientific
Advances are Made
TO THE EDITOR:
While it may be true that Sen. Jesse
Helms has been a symbol of conservatism
for the past 6 years, it is my personal belief
that conservatism is needed now more than
ever before.
Mr. Slagle suggested in his Thursday col
umn that “it’s time we stopped fighting the
future and joined it,” but I would caution
against such an action.
Now granted, the future looks great on
the surface.
Advances in medicine have cured and
saved thousands if not more; technology
has revolutionized the way we do business
and live our lives.
And that is just the beginning, but even
now our technology is advancing so rapid
ly that humanity cannot catch up. With the
advent of genetics, humanity now possess
es, what most religions would consider,
“god-like” powers.
In the near future, we will be able to
mold humans as we see fit, which a propo
sition that is very frightening.
That is unless we take the steps now to
slow down humanity’s technological
Board Editorials
Minding Our Manners
The University might be the 800-pound gorilla in Chapel Hill, but it shouldn't throw its weight around
Chapel Hill is known for its diversity, its
beauty and its quaint, residential atmos
phere. With the University’s newly revised
development initiative and its aspirations to
accelerate its growth, the quality of life at
UNC and its surrounding areas is being
threatened.
UNC is locked in a struggle with town
residents and does not seem to be making
any attempt to play nice.
University officials submitted a propos
al to the Chapel Hill Town Council that
would eliminate the buffer zone included in
the 1980 permit to build the Smith Center.
Under the ordinance, a 10-foot fence
must remain around the building and the
school must maintain a 20-foot vegetative
buffer along Mason Farm Road.
The area under consideration is a poten
tial location for new student housing, with
room for 11 new buildings and over 1,900
paying bodies.
The land will almost certainly be given
back to the University, and the buffer zone
Forewarned Is Forearmed
Students should take care when looking for a place to park
Gus Mueller is at it again. The erstwhile
parking space purveyor who took heat last
year from Student Legal Services now
claims that his private parking lot leased by
UNC students is in good shape. He also has
reworked his business so that if students
aren’t satisfied with the lot, they can get
their money back without taking legal
recourse, he said.
That’s great. After admitting that his
business practices last year were somewhat
shady, Mueller now says he is trying to play
fair. But students should watch out for any
private parking enterprise, including
Mueller’s. Know what you’re paying for
before you write the check.
Parking spaces come at a premium for
UNC students, and many want to have
access to their vehicles. But be a savvy
shopper when looking for a place to deposit
your four wheels. University police recom
mend that you carefully examine a lot
before you sign on the dotted line. If that
sport utility vehicle is your pride and joy,
be smart and don’t leave it in an insecure
lot
growth.
Without a moral or ethical code to guide
humanity in how to use this awesome tech
nology, the result would be similar to giv
ing a small child a loaded handgun.
This step of establishing some form of
morals or ethics is paramount in any new
advances that we, as humanity, make.
Otherwise, we may find ourselves in night
mare years from now with no way of wak
ing up.
With that being said, I am not stating
that we should not “join” the future, but
rather if we do choose to join we should
develop moral and ethical guidelines first.
Chi Wang
Junior, Chemistry
LGBT Resource Center
Needed on Campus,
Homophobia Still Exists
TO THE EDITOR:
While one could probably write vol
umes about the ignorance displayed in Jon
Harris’ column, “No Special Attention,” I’ll
try just to hit the main points.
First of all, I’m glad to hear that Mr.
Harris thinks that MTV “commercial spots
and specials” has taught the straight com-
will be abolished. The new development in
this area will create havoc - adding to the
existing traffic problems near Mason Farm
Road, diminishing the natural beauty of the
land, and most importantly causing neigh
bors to cry foul, leaving them bewildered
by past University promises.
The Master Plan has already put a strain
on UNC/Chapel Hill relations, and this
ordinance will surely cause even worse
division between the school and the town.
All that is asked for by anxious communi
ty members is respect and appreciation for
their land.
The 20-year-old buffer zone has main
tained relative peace between town resi
dents and the University for years. The
removal of the buffer will not eliminate the
effervescent beauty of Franklin Street or the
joy of walking through the Arboretum, but
it could disrupt the way of life for Chapel
Hill residents.
The way in which the University has
managed to coexist with its surroundings is
Most private lots - including Mueller’s -
won’t absolutely guarantee a safe car, nor
will they insure what’s inside the vehicle.
Carefully read the fliers that Mueller and
his fellow entrepreneurs are passing out
across campus.
Last year, Mueller’s propaganda
promised security and a well-lit lot, neither
of which he provided.
This is what happened: Mueller’s park
ing lot, which he has operated since 1995
under the name Tar Heel Parking, is a par
tially paved property on U.S. 15-501 S. near
Southern Vdlage.
The lot was poorly lit and had no gates
or 24-hour security, which students alleged
Mueller promised them last year when they
leased spaces to the tune of S3OO. The lot
was also full of rubble and trash, remains of
Mueller’s pizza business that used to be on
the lot.
Twenty-six students, using Student Legal
Services, won a $5,200 settlement from
Mueller in the form of refunds and stopped
check payments. University police also
investigated Mueller for handing out solic
munity all that it needs to know about
“issues that affect homosexuals.”
I suppose that lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender students on this campus
who are going through the myriad chal
lenges of coming out in the South need
only turn on MTV to comfort, support
and aid them.
Moreover, Mr. Harris argues that an
LGBT resource center will be “use(d) as a
soapbox to lecture the Christian funda
mentalist right for disagreeing with their
lifestyle.” And?
The last time I checked, there were a
multitude of religious groups with their
own buildings on campus, the purpose of
which are to put forward an ideology.
What’s wrong with supporting the estab
lishment of a center that will present a con
tradictory philosophy?
Finally, Mr. Harris displays the ultimate
ignorance when he asks the rhetorical ques
tion of “does the need really exist for a cen
ter that will coordinate,” the goals of, “call
ing on people to have a more tolerant atti
tude toward those with a different sexuali
ty?” Yes, there is.
I challenge Mr. Harris to walk into any
Greek organization on this campus and
come out saying that he saw or heard no
displays of homophobia while there. (We’ll
forget about the religious organizations to
part of what attracts students and admirers
to the Southern Part of Heaven.
UNC is a powerhouse and wields
immense influence within the community.
It brings business to local establishments, it
brings color and excitement to the town,
and it brings an array of talent and intellect
to the community. The school’s mere pres
ence is paramount to the town’s survival.
However, UNC must not overstep its
boundaries in this matter. It should not take
advantage of its bureaucratic influence with
state legislators.
The N.C. General Assembly has sided
with UNC in past disputes, but the
University should avoid turning its plans
for expansion into a proverbial search and
destroy mission.
University officials need to appreciate
the Chapel Hill community and under
stand its concerns. It should maintain a
healthy relationship so that any necessary
expansion can be accepted by all involved
parties.
itation fliers in residence halls without
approval, a direct violation of University
policy.
Many of Mueller’s clients were fresh
men, who don’t get campus parking spaces
unless they have specific hardship circum
stances. This year’s freshmen and other
undergraduate students might want to think
twice about needing a car on or near cam
pus.
Chapel Hill is a great town for pedestri
ans, and everyone needs to experience
cramming seven South Campus residents
and their groceries into one lucky person’s
Honda.
If you do find a parking space and then
run into unfair business practices, SLS can
help. Mueller said last year he had never
issued refunds until SLS Director Dorothy
Bemholz began negotiations with him. The
26 students who won their cases were smart
to get SLS on their side.
So use your eyes, ears and common
sense when ferreting out that precious park
ing space. And remember that no matter
what you do, you park at your own risk.
which he himself alludes.)
More importantly, however, is the fact
that throughout his column, Mr. Harris has
completely ignored the good that an LGBT
resource center will do lesbian, gay, bisex
ual and transgender students on this cam
pus.
Rather than discuss such a center’s abil
ity to aid people in coming out of the clos
et to support diem when their friends desert
them, or comfort them when their families
disown them,
Mr. Harris seems content only to discuss
how such a center will affect him - by “call
ing on people to have a more tolerant atti
tude toward those with a different sexuali
ty.”
I suppose that MTV just wasn t very
good at teaching Mr. Harris to have any
sympathy.
Fred Hashagen
Junior, Political Science and Philosophy
Coverage of Helms and
Dole Unbalanced, DTH
Needs to Turn it Around
TO THE EDITOR:
I am disappointed in your coverage of
Sen. Jesse Helms’ retirement speech. You
My Body, My
Stem Cells: A
Tale of Science
Charlie floats freely in the comfy confines of his
mother’s uterine lining. Clinging to his placental life
preserver he postulates how to best fill out his blas
tocyst Stem cells sprout throughout his body with the
tenacity of those unwanted hairs he
will not live to scratch as a self-con
scious pre-teen.
Unbeknownst to Charlie, his
future lies at the bottom of the porce
lain bowl in his mother’s outhouse.
Thankfully, science’s Godless mitts
will be unable to take advantage of
Charlie’s untimely demise.
There should really be some sort of
law that prevents scientists from pok
ing and prodding our recently abort
ed children. These scientists remind
me of telemarketers calling at dinnertime. Can’t parents kill
their unborn child without being solicited by grave rob
bers?
The last thing Charlie’s mom needs as she watches her
son drown in the 2000 Hushes’ blue waves is a bunch of
lab coat jockeys preaching about how her son could have
saved thousands of lives. Thanks, but no thanks, nerds.
God is not a big fan of profiteering from murder.
Okay, perhaps my sarcasm is beginning to stretch thin.
But regardless of popular opinion concerning God’s will,
the government’s position regarding stem cell research
should be consistent with its stance on abortion.
Obviously the Bush administration disagrees with the
Roe v. Wade decision, but until the Supreme Court bestows
civil liberties on the unborn, fetuses condemned to death
have no rights.
Don’t get me wrong; I do not condone homicide in the
name of medical advancement. If the government extends
the protection of life to the fertilized embryo, I’ll toss a
bouquet of flowers into Charlie’s bowl and read his epitaph
as he whirls down the drain. But why should we pay more
respect to a dead fetus than a live one?
It’s not like record producers are invading abortion clin
ics to gather aborted embryos in an effort to start up anew
boy band. Scientists are making the best out of a bad situa
tion.
Is there a better way to glorify someone’s death than to
use his or her tragic end to save another’s life?
There is nothing better than to lay down one’s own life
for the life another. Hmmm ... Who said that? Oh yeah, it
was Jesus.
Now, I’m not sayingjesus said to get knocked up at a
frat party, abort your baby, give it to science, and float
through the clouds toward the pearly gates. That would be
just a bit crazy.
Rather, I’ll stress that an opportunity has arisen that
grants life from death. So as long as people insist on abort
ing fetuses nothing should restrain doctors from using
unborn embryos’ stem cells. Waste not, want not.
President Bush recently decided to support limited fed
eral funding for research on all stem cell lines currently
available for testing.
Bush’s reluctance to open the floodgates to all stem cell
research seems to be in response to ethical dilemmas the
process raises.
But, this is a brilliant political maneuver manufactured
by the government. True, Bush does not wish to anger his
pro-life allies, but his true motives he in the faltering Social
Security system.
Have you noticed the number of people clinging to life
these days? Many of these men and women would have
been dead before they reached 50 a century ago. Today’s
knowledge of diet, exercise and medicine has allowed our
nation’s geriatric citizens to live much longer and produc
tive lives.
Imagine how funding the research of a virtual panacea
could bankrupt Social Security. This would not be good
news for the administration. Sure it would take a while for
the research to produce Alzheimer and Parkinson’s wonder
drugs, but unlimited stem cell research will eventually lead
to Social Security’s downfall.
Sorry to go off on a tangent there, but who knows why
the government acts as it does. For all we know every
bureaucrat in Washington has been enslaved by Bill Gates’
extraterrestrial aliens and replaced by android replicas.
Well, let’s hope this isn’t the case. Perhaps Bush is just
trying to secure a few votes and donations to ensure anoth
er landslide victory in 2004.
Michael Carlton is a prime example of stem cells going to
waste, but he promises to cure most diseases by the end of
the semester. At least the real icky ones. Reach him at
carlton@email.unc.edu.
did not present a balanced report of Helms’
contributions to national foreign and
domestic policy.
Yes, Sen. Helms voted against many bills
that reflected the knee-jerk sentiments of
the day, thereby earning the nickname
“Senator No.” However, you did not men
tion his other nickname, “The Conscience
of the Senate.”
Ask yourselves, do you want a congress
man who every day wets his finger and
tests the winds of public opinion to see
which way he or she should vote?
I believe that principled individuals
make better leaders than those lacking
spines, and the commitment to principles is
arguably the hallmark of Sen. Helms’
career.
Next time, please report the facts and
leave the analysis to your editorial staff.
Additionally, you tagged Elizabeth Dole
as the wife of Bob Dole on the front page,
but waited until page 9 to mention that
Elizabeth Dole was a former presidential
candidate and failed to mention that she
was also the head of the Red Cross.
I hope this is not an omen of things to
come this year for the DTH; it is not too
late to turn it around.
Matthew Woolley
Graduate Student in Economics
iaily (Bar
MICHAEL
CARLTON
MOJOVIAN V.D.
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