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Reform act to blame for poor turnout
Few words accurately
describe the turnout of this
year’s student body presi
dential elections other than sim
ply disappointing. Voter turnout
dropped by 215 votes, derailing
the trend that doubled voter
turnout in the last two years.
Asa percentage of total stu
dents, turnout increased 15 per
cent between 2000 and 2002, ris
ing from 3,763 total voters to
7,421. The CCI laptop require
ments created polling places in
ever>' freshman room, and similar
increases should have been
expected in this years election
and in 2004 as seniors without
laptops are ushered out.
Something managed not only to
negate the momentum of this vot
ing trend but to counter general
enrollment increases as well. The
Daum-Larson Campaign Finance
Reform Act was likely the culprit.
To save the students from the
supposed anguish of three weeks
of campaigning, the legislation
Fans a factor in
teams success
North Carolina’s postseason
in the NIT had an unex
pectedly positive conse
quence, beyond bringing the
team to the brink of another 20-
win season. It has been revealing
to see just how important a true
home-court advantage can be
when the house is packed with
real fans tons of college stu
dents and ordinary folks who
love the team —and not the big
donor faux fans who have an
ironclad lock on most seats in the
arena during the regular season.
The mini-season that followed
the ACC Tournament was a
giddy event as real Heels fans
discovered one another and the
PARKE PUTERBAUGH
GUEST COLUMNIST
difference they can make when
given the chance.
• Real fans spontaneously erupt
in cheers and fill the arena with a
joyful, almost deafening din that
can throw a team off its game. I
saw at least three free throws
shot by opposing players in the
DePaul game missed on account
of the manic antics of the crowd.
They screamed, stomped and
hopped, jingled their keychains,
erupted in the wave and always
stuck around after the clock ran
out to sing the UNC fight song.
These vocal, participatory' Tar
Heel fans obviously lifted the
team’s spirits, as could be seen in
their play on the court and heard
in their after-game comments.
True-blue fans kept the team in
the Georgetown game with a
staggering display of energy that
made the Dean Dome feel like
the epicenter of an earthquake.
Rashad McCants only had to
raise his arms, and 20,000 fans
erupted deliriously. Do you know
how good that must feel? Can
you imagine how badly that
intimidates the other team? It’s
called the home-court advantage,
and it’s estimated to be worth 10
points per game. It’s also a pow
erful recruiting tool and an
incentive for players to stick
around. Unfortunately, we no
longer enjoy that home-court
edge at the Smith Center because
seats are occupied by wealthy
alumni willing to drag a pen
across a check.
By contrast to the real fans
who savored three rare chances
to attend Tar Heels games at the
Dean Dome, faux fans are a
jaded pack of deadbeats.
Engorged on Beefmaster franks
and barrel-sized cups of soda,
they wheezily occupy their seats,
adding nothing but poundage to
the arena as they fret privately
about the stock market, digestive
ailments and their golf game.
They show up late and leave
early. They stream for the exits
even when the score is tied with
many minutes left on the clock.
With three minutes remaining in
the Duke-UNC slugfest at home,
which had 21 lead changes, some
of them could be seen hobbling
out. They had to get their
Beemers and obscenely oversized
sport utility vehicles out of the
parking lot before the mass exo
dus, you see?
These are not the priorities of
real fans. They are the perquisites
of wine-sipping, cheese-eating
basketball dilettantes.
Stocking a campus arena with
college students is not only a way
of assuring more victories, but it
is the right thing to do. Look at
the demographics. The crow-
MATTHEW CALABRIA AND
RUSS JONES
GUEST COLUMNISTS
decreased active campaign time,
impairing candidates’ abilities to
reach students. In the past, candi
dates would use the three weeks
to make appearances at student
group meetings, visit sororities
and fraternities and subsequently
recruit campaign workers.
With less time, candidates sim
ply cannot reach as many stu
dents. Campaigns are forced to
change priorities as candidates
must choose between meeting
with student groups, attending
forums, visiting residence halls
and attempting to solicit student
support when there is barely
enough time to get out one’s
name. Student support becomes
less important because there is
simply no time to attract, organize
and mobilize new supporters. The
candidates then must fight a los
ing battle under conditions that
faced old farts who assumed
their seat assignments back in
1986 the spoils of having
donated to build the facility
weren’t exactly spring chickens
then, and the ensuing 17 years
have witnessed the steady gray
ing and atrophying of the live
audience for Tar Heels games. By
contrast, students remain the
same age, 18 to 22, year after
year. They bring youthful vigor
and excitement to the games.
It is time to bust the unholy
“gentlemen’s agreement” that
allowed a certain cohort of
wealthy individuals to purchase
what amounted to personal seat
licenses —and access to the best
seats, at that at the Smith
Center. Athletics Director Dick
Baddour, dutifully protecting
deep-pocketed alumni donors,
has talked about the need to
honor the big shots' light to their
courtside perches because, after
all, they paid for the arena.
That might be true, but could
the multitude of students stuck
in the nosebleed seats or their
rooms really care that the Dean
Dome was paid for with private
money? It would have been more
democratic and equitable if UNC
had taken some public money, as
N.C. State University did for the
Entertainment and Sports
Arena, so that students could be
a courtside presence at home
games like they are at virtually
every other ACC school.
It is baffling how this state of
affairs could have ever come to
pass, but I'd urge Coach Matt
Doherty, who seemed elated by
energy level at the Dean Dome
during the NIT games, to lobby
for a ticket redistribution scheme
that favors students and not gray
ghosts who have long since grad
uated. Perhaps anew athletics
director with conviction and
vision could make it happen.
Maybe the chancellor should
weigh in. A w'ord from the
arena’s namesake wouldn’t hurt,
either.
Let the oldsters have their sea
son tickets, but boot them to the
upper deck and give them a
gratis pair of opera glasses.
Whatever. Just make sure that
the low'er arena is packed with as
many students as possible, creat
ing 360 degrees of intimidation
for opposing teams.
I know, it’s a pipe dream.
Everything boils down to power
and money, and the Educational
Foundation and the Ram’s Club
hold the cards.
But you’d think that even they
might realize they’re hurting
their own cause, since future
donors might well resent their
treatment as second-class citi
zens, relegated to the upper deck
or behind the goal, if they’re
lucky enough to get tickets at all.
When the fund-raisers come
calling after they graduate, will
they have the same passionate
attachment to the Heels given
their bum treatment by the
snoozers in the lower deck and
the administration that allowed
them to be marginalized?
Remembering that this is sup
posed to be a “University of the
people," the student body should
exploit the momentum of the
past week, make some demands
and take a stand. You have noth
ing to lose but the distance sepa
rating you from good seats at the
Dean Dome.
Contact Parke Puterbaugh of
Greensboro at parkep@aol.com.
Viewpoints
discourage student involvement.
During the first week of cam
paigning in this past election,
candidates were only allowed to
circulate signature petitions to
secure funding from student gov
ernment. At the same time, they
were prevented from speaking to
groups, distributing handbills and
publishing their platforms on the
Web. Students were asked to lend
their names in support of candi
dates without being provided
with any information about their
relative experience or proposed
platforms.
Even students who wanted to
participate were refused the
information to do so.
The legislation’s hotly debated
“conflict of interest” measures
unreasonably hindered students’
abilities to participate in elections.
These policies prevent Cabinet
level executive branch members,
Student Congress members, the
Freshman Focus Council and top
ranking members of the judicial
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Protests not limited abroad
As a UNC student living in
Sevilla, I think it is impor
tant to add the experiences
we are having here to those
described in the March 26 Daily
Tar Heel article, “War impacts
study abroad experience.”
The author assumes that it is
the desire of most U.S. students
to avoid talking, thinking or
protesting the war against Iraq.
DTH staff writer Kirsten Fields
repeatedly mentions the frustra
tion of students at being “unable”
to avoid protests and conversa
tions about politics. I would like
to share a little of my experience
here in the hope of expanding on
what was shared in her article.
On Feb. 15,1 marched with
other UNC students, 350,000
Sevillians and 5 million
Spaniards to protest the war. We
carried a sign that read,
“Estudiantes de la universidad de
Carolina del norte decimos NO
Cramer denies APS leaders assertions
I was very interested to read the
(March 17) guest column by
Laura Walters, executive direc
tor of Animal Protection Society.
As The Daily Tar Heel has noted,
Ms. Walters has been under siege
because of her (alleged) incompe
tence in mismanaging the Chapel
Hill animal shelter and her well
documented history prior to com
ing to Chapel Hill.
The DTH has reported that
Ann Clark, South Sebastian
County deputy sheriff and animal
warden, concluded that “the con
dition of the shelter while super
vised by Laura Walters was bor
derline cruelty to animals,” while
Tommy Young, Sebastian County
Sheriff’s Department chief
deputy, said, “We realized we
were being charged way more
than the animal control officer
was saying we should.”
Letters from the only two vet
erinarians in Greenwood, Ark.,
have been submitted to Orange
County officials. Dr. Craig Smith
wrote, “Ms. Walters, came in to
town from out of no where, pre
sented herself as a qualified ani
mal shelter director.... She did
not seek any professional help. As
a result the disease control was
totally absent.... Parvo and respi
ratory infections were rampant.
branch from participating in cam
paigns. While certainly some
restrictions are warranted, too
many student leaders fell under
this blind blanket of “conflicts of
interest,” removing legitimate free
speech rights from our most
involved and informed students.
Student government members
have useful ideas and experience
that would make platforms richer,
more practical and more feasible.
Their opinions should not be
restricted. If the student body
president and the former speaker
of Student Congress are afraid
that student leaders might be dis
tracted from their duty, then they
should remove students in the
same way they would any other
who neglected their responsibili
ties. There is no reason why cam
paigning should be singled out.
Negative campaigning meas
ures must also be clarified. While
the Student Code clearly prohibits
spreading malicious content, cur
rent stipulations are ambiguous
SANDRA CHAPMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST
WAR IN IRAQ!” (University of
North Carolina students sav NO
WAR IN IRAQ!)
Parents took pictures of their
kids with us, young people came
up to us and practiced their
English, saving, “We are so happy
to see you here; we hope there are
more people like you in America,”
while others told us we must be
brave to speak out against our
government. It didn’t occur to
them that we would be afraid of
them, although it seemed logical
to be afraid of repression at home
given the crackdown on civil lib
erties in the United States.
On the 28th, the government
of Sevilla made this year’s theme
the struggle for peace. They
wanted an American and an Iraqi
to represent the hope for the
ELLIOT CRAMER
GUEST COLUMNIST
... The saving grace for the shelter
and its inhabitants was when Ms.
Walters moved to your fair city.”
Dr. M. W. Singer wrote, “I
believe she is grossly deficient in
the skills to keep a shelter in busi
ness.”
Rather than responding to
these critics, Ms. Walters has cho
sen to personally attack Judith
Reitman and me. She claims that
our intention is to “discredit
Animal Protection Society and
destroy the organization.” On the
contrary, Ms. Walters and the APS
board that supports her are doing
a remarkable job of self-destruc
tion themselves. Within the past
month, three board members
have resigned out of dissatisfac
tion with board policies.
Our aim was never to destroy
APS but to help reform it. In fact,
on Oct. 14 I said to the APS board,
“I suggest that the board reconsid
er its board nominations and con
sider supporting five of us nomi
nated by the membership. We
would be eager to work with the
current board to bring back com
munity support and assure a
bright future for APS.” Rather
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2003
about whether criticisms of plat
forms, for example, would consti
tute negative campaigning.
Candidates risk losing too much
in being negative, especially the
future endorsement of candidates
who do not make it to the runoff
election. Consequently, negative
campaigning generally takes place
among non-campaign workers
(sometimes a tough group to
define), and the Daum-Larson bill
awkwardly demands that candi
dates be punished for acts over
which they had no control.
Finally, the legislation lowered
the cap on candidates' spending,
eliminating some of the more
attention-getting attractions and
forcing campaigns to redouble
their efforts on cheaper —but
often more annoying campaign
tactics. Handbills, “dorm storm
ing” and posters were out in force
this year, but the pricey-yet-attrac
tive ideas that existed in previous
campaigns were made impossible.
Consequently, while public
future between the two countries.
I met a man from Iraq who fled
the Hussein regime eight years
ago and came to Spain but was
tired of the suffering of his people
because of the U.S. embargo and
this new war that continues to
devastate the country. Together
we spoke about peace. I feel lucky
to live in a country where there
exists a space for dialogue, for
these two countries to come
together and for people to speak
of the real causes of this war with
out fear of repression because I
don’t see that freedom at home.
Being abroad during this time
is an experience that most people
will never have seeing our
country the way the world sees us
and in some of the hardest and
most controversial moments.
No one has told us that the
safe thing to do is stay away from
demonstrations, only to use our
heads and our right to free speech
than cooperating, on Nov. 4 the
APS board illegally took voting
rights away from the membership,
giving them to the board. This was
done at a so-called “open" meet
ing, and no explanation has ever
been given as to why the bylaw
change could not wait one week
until the regular meeting at which
I and other “lame duck” nominees
were introduced to the board.
Ms. Walters is lying when she
says that my “40-year relation
ship with the Schopler family has
fed (my) interest in revenge on
APS staff and board members." In
my 25 pages of correspondence
with the APS board, I find NO
mention of him. At the APS
November board meeting, I
praised the statement of APS
board member Virginia Ellington
who wrote, “Why can’t we work
WITH the Piedmont group let
them use our aviary, raptor cage,
duck pond, etc. until theirs is up
and functional and let them take
care of wildlife while we continue
our exemplary care of domestic
animals.”
Unfortunately, Ellington has
now resigned and Laura Walters
has been unwilling to cooperate
with Schopler’s organization.
As has been publicly stated,
the Piedmont Wildlife Center has
11
funding does level the playing
field, limiting spending only
decreases voter turnout because
candidates can no longer pique
students’ interests.
Essentially, candidates have less
time, less money, less freedom and
fewer resources to educate stu
dents about their campaigns. Toss
in a little bad weather, and 2,000
students just don’t vote. Though
Student Body President Jen Daum
suggested in The Daily Tar Heel
that the snow and this year’s slate
of candidates could be responsible
for low turnout, student govern
ment does not get canceled in bad
weather. Low voter turnout is not
an act of God. In this case, it was
an act of poor policy.
Contact Matthew Calabria, a
sophomore political science and
public policy major, at
calabria@email.unc.edu. Contact
Russ Jones, a junior political sci
ence and Afro-American studies
major. at rjones@email.unc.edu.
wisely. Many of us are exhilarated
to have an opportunity to stand
united with millions of people,
something that I have never done
in the United States.
The reality of the situation
today permeates every conversa
tion and every classroom, as it
should. I don’t want to escape the
situation we live in, and I think
most of us enjoy the opportunity
to talk and share our thoughts
with people from a different cul
ture.
I have felt nothing but respect
and curiosity from the people
here, and many of us find the
constant spirit of protest against
the actions of the Spanish and
U.S. governments inspiring, cre
ative and a healthy part of
democracy perhaps a spirit we
can bring home with us.
Contact Sandra Chapman at
schapmn@email.unc.edu.
no involvement with PAWS
(http://www.ourpaws.org), our
group, and we have no involve
ment with them. Our lawsuit
deals with the APS violation of
state law in denying us our rights
as members of APS. Our addi
tional concerns are with the mis
management of the Orange
County Animal Shelter by APS,
given its county funding of over
$450,000. Laura Walters closed
the APS wildlife program in July,
dismissing Schopler and his staff.
It is clear that the APS wildlife
program is dead and that the
$450,000 animal shelter contract
with Orange County is in jeop
ardy. Ms. Walters says, “The APS
is not about self-serving people
who only wish to ‘win’ at any
cost.” No, it is about an incompe
tent and corrupt board who have
hired an incompetent director
without checking into her past
dismal record.
Dr. Schopler has moved on; we
have moved on. Laura Walters
has not moved on, but we hope
that she will.
Elliot Cramer is president of
the board of directors for the
Piedmont Animal Welfare
Society. Contact Cramer at
cramer@email.unc.edu.