10
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Board Editorials
Drying Up
The recent rain will not solve all of the community's water problems, and the
University needs to do its part by toughening its water conservation measures.
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to spare.
Despite the recent decision by the Orange Water
and Sewer Authority to implement Stage 2 water
use restrictions, there is still an alarming amount of
waste throughout the University community.
The University is technically exempt from these
regulations as a state body. But as OWASA’s largest
client, UNC administrators are exercising their com
munity spirit wisely by choosing to voluntarily adhere
to the restrictions. More, though, needs doing.
Most of the Piedmont region of North Carolina is
currently in a period of “exceptional drought” - the
highest possible drought classification.
A few days’ worth of rain, no matter how needed,
aren’t going to solve a water shortage dating back for
years. The last time OWASA’s three reservoirs -
Cane Creek, University Lake and Stone Quarry -
were all full was June 2001.
While the El Nino weather conditions promise
a higher-than-average rainfall this winter, UNC
must take a more activist stance to ensure that the
campus community knows about the importance
of conserving water.
Carolina Dining Services has already started
using styrofoam plates in both dining halls, thus
eliminating the need for the spray dishwashers,
which consume up to 100,000 gallons of water
weekly in Chase and Lenoir combined.
Additionally, sprinkler usage has been curtailed.
Grounds department officials were unable to provide
an exact figure for the area of lawn irrigated each day
but said Monday that more than 100 acres of lawn are
watered with a combination of OWASA and well
water. Irrigation occurs at night to ensure that the
water seeps into the earth rather than evaporates.
No distinction is made, however, between the
Break the Silence
With more budget cuts on the horizon, leaders need to educate students
about their voting options and push them to vote in the Sept. 10 primary.
Without fail, aspiring campus politicians awake
from hibernation everyjanuary and start lecturing
about the importance of voting in elections.
But these politically involved students must have
setded down for an early winter nap because they
are strangely silent even though the election pri
mary is a mere two weeks away.
As students should be preparing to shape the
state’s future by voting, too many are ignoring the
unique opportunity to have their voices heard.
Because of a Republican lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of a Democratic redistricting plan,
legislative candidates are running in new districts on
Sept. 10 rather than the normal date in early May.
The legislative redistricting plan drastically
shakes up the entire N.C. General Assembly. Long
time incumbents, such as Sens. Ellie Kinnaird and
Howard Lee, both D-Orange, are running against
each other. The plan left other districts with no
incumbent whatsoever bucking for re-election.
State Board of Elections officials, noting that far
fewer voters usually show up for primaries than
general elections, are making even more dire pre
dictions for turnout this year because of the district
shakeup and change in dates.
But the swirl of semi-chaos surrounding the elec
tion means the time is ripe for student interests.
For the past two years, the N.C. General
Assembly has been dominated by efforts to cut
state spending and raise taxes as a response to
some of the worst budget shortfalls in recent his
tory. And early revenue projections show the
crunch is likely to continue for the next three years.
Legislators have slashed the budgets of numerous
departments, especially Health and Human
Services. While education largely was spared the
EDITOR'S NOTE:The above editorials are the opinions of solely The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board, which were reached
after open debate. The board consists of eight board members, the assistant editorial page editor, the editorial page edi
tor and the DTH editor. The 2002-03 DTH editor decided not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials.
Readers' Forum
Paying Reparations Not
Best Solution for Fixing
America’s Past Errors
TO THE EDITOR:
This is in regard to the article by Tiffanie
Drayton titled, “Millions for Slave
Reparations, Not a Cent for Media
Support.” Maybe the reason for the lack of
media coverage on the Millions for
Reparations rally is because the media,
along with the majority of the public, real
ize slave reparations is a ludicrous idea.
The Japanese, Jews and American
Indians have received reparations because
they personally have lost their homes,
money, etc. The idea behind reparations is
compensation for being directly wronged.
The notion that reparations should be
paid for slavery 137 years after the fact is
ridiculous. Greeks, Romans, Russians and
most Europeans have been enslaved at
some point in history. Why not give repa
rations to their descendants as well?
Being able to trace an ancestor back to
slavery is a ridiculous reason to demand
reparations as well. The question being in
what way have you suffered for your ances
tors’ being enslaved?
Much of my family either died in Nazi
concentration camps or lost everything to
them, and that was only 50 years ago. just
i?
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irrigation of decorative greenery, such as that on
Polk and McCorkle places, and the irrigation of
essential lawns, such as recreational sports fields.
Even in these Saharan conditions, water is being
wasted for ornamental purposes.
On the student level, there are notices in resi
dence halls warning about the water shortage.
But these fliers are posted on hallway bulletin
boards - vying for students’ attention with local
bands and refrigerators for sale.
The University must have a large publicity push
that includes fliers on every residence hall bath
room door warning students about the restrictions
and the need to take personal responsibility for
their own water use.
The need for smart water use becomes even
greater when one factors in economic costs.
Drought and heat waves over the last four years are
estimated to have accumulated an economic cost to
the state equivalent to Hurricane Floyd - roughly $6
billion to $9 billion. Federal disaster drought relief
is available to more than 70 counties through the
Farm Service Agency, but it is only for farmers to
apply for loans to cover actual agricultural losses.
This recurring pattern of drought begs the ques
tion of how to make the most of the expected ele
vation in rainfall this winter.
All water companies, including OWASA, need
to apply for funding to focus on the long-term
replenishment of the water supply and education
of N.C. residents about water conservation.
As of Monday, the OWASA water supply is
down to 113 days. If we continue with our current
water consumption pattern, there won’t be a single
drop of OWASA water when we come back to
school next semester.
worst, it was not immune to the budget-cutting fever.
Current budget proposals cut UNC-Chapel Hill’s
budget by at least 3 percent outright. Other indirect
measures, such as a proposal seizing $7 million of the
University’s overhead receipts, only add to the pain.
And this comes after both the House and Senate
increased tuition systemwide by 8 percent for in
state students and 12 percent for their out-of-state
counterparts. Both bodies also signed off on a S3OO
campus-specific tuition increase at UNC-CH.
Student leaders have preached about the impor
tance of lobbying on countless occasions.
But no lobbying campaign - regardless of how
skillfully handled - can substitute for the election of
a candidate friendly and attentive to student interests.
UNC-CH Student Body President Jen Daum,
who spent roughly five minutes at the Morehead
site Monday morning casting her ballot, said stu
dent leaders plan to set up a table in the Pit and tell
students about the location. Try again.
Daum’s right about the need to begin publiciz
ing the upcoming primary elections.
But she also needs to take a more activist role by
discussing candidates’ voting records and explain
ing how to obtain an absentee ballot from any
where in North Carolina.
Responsibility, though, does not lie with Daum
alone. Campus political groups, including the
College Republicans and Young Democrats,
should also popularize the vote. And Jonathan
Ducote, UNC-system Association of Student
Governments president, should put some of our
student fee money to work by pushing students on
other campuses to join the voting crusade.
Sleeping away this chance to support student
friendly legislators would be a horrific waste.
because my grandmother was devastated by
the Nazis does not mean I have the right to
demand the German government pay me.
Yes, slavery was a horrible thing, but
there is no way a government can repay
everyone they have wronged in the past.
Besides, money isn’t the answer and will in
no way help something that happened
over 137 years ago.
The thing that should be done is to edu
cate people so nothing like slavery can
ever happen again.
Rebecca Hill
Junior
Biology
Summer Reading Meets
Goal of Giving Students
A New Perspective
TO THE EDITOR:
I am very disappointed with the way that
groups have taken to Carolina’s summer
reading. I admit to being very surprised
when I heard that the Quran was going to
be the choice for this year’s freshmen. At
the same time, I felt that UNC was justified
in choosing a topic that would otherwise go
unheard of for many of the students.
Many people don’t understand that the
point of Carolina’s summer reading is not
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Bowles' Campaign Misleading;
Colors Past Clinton Connection
I’ve always been infatuated by listening
to Democrats but have never been
able to put my finger on exactly why.
A psychologist might argue that deep
down I am struggling with
some sort of repressed socialis
tic tendencies; however, I think
my fascination with listening to
members of this party is largely
due to the raw entertainment
value they provide every time
they open their mouths.
And this election year,
Democratic U.S. Senate candi
date Erskine Bowles has not
disappointed. But with Bowles,
the things he says are not near-
ly as amusing as the things he fails to
mention.
The former White House chief of staff
and UNC alumnus paid a visit to campus
Monday evening and, as he has done
throughout his campaign, made little
mention of the fact that his White House
service occurred during the administra
tion of President Bill Clinton.
In fact, Bowles spent nearly four years
working with Clinton not only serving as
his chief of staff but also as deputy chief of
staff and as an administrator with the
Small Business Administration.
Now, being the astute political observ
er that I am, I realize that there is a sim
ple explanation for Bowles’ behavior:
Clinton is highly unpopular among N.C.
voters and never once carried the state in
to impose religious or cultural beliefs.
Regardless of what book is chosen, the idea
is to introduce anew perspective to stu
dents coming in from all around the coun
try and the world.
UNC has such a diverse population,
and having this reading program is a way
to help students understand what they will
see when they arrive on campus.
In high school, we read selections from
the Bible, and as a Buddhist, I was some
what resistant to the reading because I felt
that the text itself was out of place in the
classroom.
But others argued that it was to be seen
as a literary text and not meant as a reli
gious text, and since I was the only non-
Christian in the classroom, there were no
uproars. I simply thought of it as an oppor
tunity to learn something new.
To see the reaction that some Christians
have taken against reading this really
upsets me because if reading the Bible is
OK, why shouldn’t it be okay for students
to read the Quran? Reading the Bible in no
way made me question my own beliefs.
Reading a book does not change a per
son’s beliefs. It simply opens the door to a
different perspective. Perhaps what these
people who are so adamantly opposed to
reading it should consider is that they are
simply afraid to learn about something
new. Whatever the reason, it does not
either of his presidential bids.
Given that, it seems only politically
savvy that Bowles might want to down
play his association with Clinton.
However, his efforts to erase
“the Clinton years” from his
past have gone far past simply
ignoring them.
For example, in one of
Bowles’ initial campaign ads
that aired earlier this summer,
he not only omitted any video
clips of himself and Clinton
together but assembled an ad
that included a scene with him
and U.S. Senate Minority
Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
MICHAEL
MCKNIGHT
RIGHT OF WAY
chatting. The campaign eventually pulled
the ads after Lott publicly expressed cha
grin for them.
But the Clinton bullet isn’t the only
one Bowles has been dodging lately. He
has also made little mention of the fact
that he did a complete 180 on whether to
grant President Bush “fast-track” trade
negotiating authority.
“Fast-track” authority, which passed
Congress earlier this year, will expedite
trade negotiations between the United
States and foreign nations by forcing mem
bers of Congress to vote trade agreements
either up or down instead of modifying
them as they were formerly allowed to do.
While working in the White House,
Bowles lobbied Congress to grant the
very same privilege to Clinton. “Fast-
change the fact that UNC is diverse and
that they will have to face different kinds of
people sooner or later, including those for
whom the Quran is their life’s meaning.
Kang-Shy Ku
Sophomore
Medicine
The length rule was waived.
Quran Controversy
Promotes Stereotype of
Ignorant, Bigoted South
TO THE EDITOR:
I am a fifth-year senior at the University of
Maryland. I was just reading about the con
troversy involving the Quran being assigned
to students by a University professor.
I just think the controversy speaks to the
closed-mindedness that is characteristic of
the South and that is also characteristic
with those who don’t understand anything
about the cultures who are involved with
this new war we are facing. I have close ties
to Mississippi, so do not assume I’m some
“Yankee” speaking about the South.
But I feel this gives people another rea
son to say the South is still backward. I
urge all student leaders to help dispel
stereotypes and get your student body to
(Ehp laily (Tar MM
track is ... a prerequisite for seizing the
trade opportunities before us around the
world,” Bowles said in 1997 when the
issue first emerged.
Today, Bowles sings a different tune.
“I’m not going to support any fast-track leg
islation, any slow track, no track,” he told
The (Raleigh) News & Observer last week.
Bowles has also shirked responsibility
for his involvement in the corporate
arena. In a July press release, Bowles’
campaign blasted Republican frontrunner
Elizabeth Dole for supporting a proposal
that would allow individuals to invest a
portion of their Social Security payrolls
taxes in the stock market.
The Bowles’ campaign dubbed any
effort to privatize Social Security as “risky.”
And for once, he is right.
Social Security privatization is a risky
proposition - at least if Erskine Bowles is
the person managing your money.
The New York investment bank where
he was a managing partner until he
resigned to run for the U.S. Senate is now
being sued for losing more than SIOO mil
lion for the Connecticut state employees’
pension fund on two bad stock picks.
If he doesn’t start being more honest
with N.C. voters about the issues and his
past, Bowles’ campaign is headed for one
place - the gutter.
Michael McKnight has never been more
happy to be a registered Republican.
E-mail him at mmcknigh@email.unc.edu.
be more sensitive and willing to learn
about religions that may not be their own.
I think the controversy is absolutely
juvenile and reminds me of the arguments
that many high schools face with contro
versial books in their curriculum.
We are all are adults and should be able
to decipher between learning about others
and blatant imposing of a religion on a
group of people.
Are we not allowed to learn about each
other’s differences?
But people have singled out a certain
religious group and for many decades they
will be looked at as an “evil” religion as one
top official in the Bush administration said.
People who study Islam are not the enemy,
a particular section of that community is
our enemy, but not an entire religion.
Christians have been part of the KKK
and church bombings and other religious
ly driven crimes, but no one has ever
called Christianity an “evil” religion. Why?
Because many of us understand the basics
of Christianity even if we aren’t Christian.
I was crying right along with my fellow
Muslim students on Sept. 11, and to blame
a religion for what has happened is crazy.
Miesha Lowery
College Park, Md.
The length rule was waived.