14
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2003
BOARD EDITORIALS
SETTING PRIORITIES
As the University continues to grow and expand, it is vital that campus
leaders devote adequate resources to retaining and recruiting faculty.
f | huge onslaught of construction projects
I popping up in all comers of the campus says it
JL all: the University is undergoing many physi
cal transformations.
But the appearance of new buildings and the ren
ovating of older ones aren’t the only changes that will
be occurring in the coming years.
With many faculty members nearing the age of
retirement and others being lured away by lucrative
packages from competing universities, it is very like
ly that many of the professors leading classes at the
University today will not be roaming the same halls
one decade from now.
On top of that, many faculty and staff members
have gone years without a pay raise —a situation
that looks as if it won’t improve unless the state’s
financial picture magically recovers.
Granted, the number of professors reaching
retirement is a factor that likely cannot be overcome
easily.
But ensuring that faculty members have access to
all the resources they need and are well compensat
ed for their work is something that universities do
have some level of control over yet, it is an issue
that often poses many problems for campus leaders.
Perhaps one of the clearest indications that
improving faculty resources at the University should
be a major concern can be found in this year’s U.S.
News & World Report ranking of the nation’s col
leges.
A glaring figure in the report is the University’s
eight-point drop in the amount of faculty resources
found on campus.
The faculty resources ranking tracks salaries, the
percentage of full-time faculty members, the per
centage of faculty with terminal degrees, the student
to faculty ratio and class size.
Truth be told, UNC’s drop in faculty rankings is
not an anomaly among public universities, many of
which also are facing tough budget times.
The University of Virginia, which has frozen its
faculty salaries for the past three years, saw its own
ranking drop from 35 to 44, and officials there
believe it could fall again in the future.
Despite the importance of improving the avail
ability of faculty resources, however, finding a source
of funding for the projects is no easy task.
Again, with North Carolina likely facing another
multimillion dollar budget shortfall in the coming
year, it is unrealistic to rely on state lawmakers to be
the sole source for money.
State leaders should not and cannot be relieved
FOLLOW THE RULES
With some Student Congress members’ residency still unconfirmed,
it is imperative that Congress members improve their accountability.
after the debacle last spring regarding Student
j\ Congress members not living in their appro-
X Apriate districts, student leaders promised that
they would eliminate residency concerns. But the
problems have returned this year.
Five of the 26 members of Congress have yet to
provide proof of residency in their respective dis
tricts, Ethics Chairwoman Margaret Thomas said
Wednesday.
Thomas said she has given those members until
Tuesday, Congress’ first meeting of the year, to pro
vide the proper paperwork. Any members who don’t
meet that deadline will be asked to resign.
It is troublesome that it even has to come to that
point.
Part of the initial responsibility of being a mem
ber of Student Congress is establishing residency,
and the guidelines outlined in the Student Code are
pretty simple.
Congressional members have one month after
they are sworn into office to let leaders know where
they will be living during the upcoming school year.
With inauguration occurring on April 1, proof of dis
trict forms should have been turned in May 1.
At the very least, members should turn in their
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 editor and the DTH editor. The 2003-04
DTH editor decided not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials.
READERS’ FORUM
Job relocation a result of
economics, not government
TO THE EDITOR:
In response to Murray Pender’s
letter Wednesday, it is obvious that
Pender has never taken an eco
nomics course.
As anyone who has taken Econ
omics 10 can tell you, companies
strive to be as profitable as they can
be. You cannot expect them to do
otherwise.
That would go against our cap
italist system and our country's
most basic notion of personal free
dom.
While it is unfortunate that
companies such as Pillowtex are
relocating or closing, we have to
move on.
Textiles and similar products
simply can be made cheaper
and/or better in other nations
where labor is less costly. There is
very little to be done about it unless
Pender would advocate lowering
the minimum wage, which would
be a step backward in almost any
one’s book.
As for the executives, I highly
doubt that those in charge of
Pillowtex make $23 million a year.
While I could be wrong, that is no
reason to blame them. If executives
and other personnel couldn’t get
paid as much as they do, they
would simply stop being executives
or whatnot.
That means fewer qualified peo
ple to run companies. That means
completely of their responsibilities to ensure fund
ing for the UNC system, but university leaders can
begin to rethink how to prioritize the use of their
campus funds.
Boosting the amount of resources for faculty
members is a major goal of the Carolina First cam
paign.
Campus officials are hoping to raise between
$250 million and $350 million to pay for endowed
professorships and money for travel and research
opportunities.
The money raised from the campaign will go a
long way in addressing the needs of faculty mem
bers, but it will not solve everything. Campus lead
ers must look for other sources of funding.
Raising faculty salaries was a major concern dur
ing debates by the Tuition Task Force last year, and
one hopes that finding ways to increase their com
pensation will once again be a major focus if the
committee begins working again later this semester.
Once an appropriate source of funding is identi
fied, attention must then be turned to finding the
best way to spend the money.
An ongoing question remains as to whether more
attention should be devoted toward bringing in new
faculty or working to keep the ones that we current
ly have on board.
As many campus departments have learned, there
is no easy answer to that dilemma.
But if officials must make a choice, perhaps prece
dence should go toward examining ways to retain
current faculty members.
Part of the beauty of this University is the large
number of faculty members who have long, storied
connections to the campus. Many professors prob
ably can tell you stories about spending the vast
majority of their careers in Chapel Hill.
Letting faculty members know that campus lead
ers are aware of the numerous challenges they face
and are attempting to find ways to correct the prob
lems would go a long way in boosting faculty morale.
And chances are, their satisfaction will then aid in
recruiting new faculty members to the campus.
As campus officials are making plans to expand
the facilities found at the University, it is important
that they also devote the same amount of fervor
toward improving campus resources for all members
of the campus community, especially its faculty and
staff members.
All the construction in the world will mean noth
ing if the University does not have quality individu
als to lead the classrooms.
forms by the beginning of the year.
The congressional system is designed with stu
dents’ interests in mind. Student Congress deals with
many issues that have an impact on student’s lives
from election codes to student fees. Only by living in
their districts can members represent accurately
their constituents’ views in Congress.
In the future, student leaders need to do a better
job of stressing the importance of turning their
forms in on time.
In addition, ensuring that congressional members
live in their proper districts should be a top priority
for leaders within Student Congress this year.
Allowing the problems to go unresolved this far into
the school year is unacceptable.
Every year, student leaders do their best to earn
the respect and admiration of their peers and other
members of the University community, and the
members of Student Congress are no different.
But the surest way to put a dent in those efforts
is to not follow through with the requirements of
office.
Members of Congress must follow the rules that
they have set for themselves, be it their general code
of conduct or living in their correct districts.
fewer successful companies.
Finally, as a Republican, I resent
Penders accusations of corruption
in our government and my party.
To set things straight, corrup
tion is not a government policy,
much less advocated by the
Republican Party.
And in response to Pender’s
question, I support the Republican
Party (and my nation’s government,
no matter who’s in charge) because
we push for allowing businesses to
flourish in the United States,
employing more people in the
United States and North Carolina.
If Pender doesn’t like that, he can
settle it at election time.
Chris Cameron
Sophomore
Economics and Business
Administration
Republicans not only ones
to blame for big business
TO THE EDITOR:
This is in response to the letter
to the editor by Murray Pender. He
seems to be perpetuating the
Democratic myth that big business
owners are always Republicans.
There are many, many
Democratic big business owners
associated with government. Bill
Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, is
a Democrat. Bill Clinton always
supported big business and
allowed overinflated stock values
to promote a false positive econo
Editorial Page
my.
The result was a large crash in
prices, huge losses for many
Americans and layoffs when cor
rections were made.
Corporate crime also flourished
and then “crashed” (ie. Enron),
resulting in more losses for
employees and investors.
Major oil companies (BP,
Enron, Chevron and Exxon-Mobil)
all were contributors to the Gore
presidential campaign.
Donors associated with AT&T
and MCI have favored the
Democratic Party and only con
tributed to the Republicans when
there was a complaint.
Marianne Tioran
Technician
Dental Research
Union to work to represent
graduate student interests
TO THE EDITOR:
In the Friday issue of The Daily
Tar Heel, Graduate Student and
Professional Federation President
Dan Herman stated that recent
budget cuts have been largely
“invisible” to UNC graduate stu
dent employees.
We beg to differ.
It has become increasingly com
mon for graduate students to take
on teaching two or even three
courses a semester to make ends
meet.
Class sizes are becoming
ON THE DAY'S NEWS
“The schools ain’t what they used to he and never was.”
WILL ROGERS, actor
"OH.YEAH-THIS IS PARADISE AMD W£'£E NAKED, DAMCING VIRGINS, AND
MOHAMMED ATTA AND THE 9-11 HIJACKERS WERE RELIGIOUS MAKERS,TOO' "
POP CULTURE
MTV awards take the cake,
others left with the crumbs
Madonna slinks onto the
gaudy stage, off-key,
finally looking a genera
tion out of place. She creepily kiss
es Britney Spears and the newly
grotesque Christina Aguilera.
In the end, it’s all that last
week’s MTV Video Music Awards
will be remembered for.
But that would be missing the
subtle beauty of the VMAs, where
pseudo-artists, deserving and
otherwise, receive tiny astronaut
statues and nobody really cares.
See Beyonce Knowles dangled
by her feet high above the stage.
See Good Charlotte actually win a
People’s Choice Award thanks
for that, 14-vear-old girls every
where. It’s a hideous, glorious
sideshow, and it’s easily the best
awards show on TV. (Don’t worry
if you missed it; it’s on MTV right
now, I swear.)
That’s right: The VMAs no
longer are the guilty pleasure they
once were. In today’s world of
compromised awards shows, they
are now perhaps the lone genuine
pleasure, emphasis on the genuine.
It’s because they don’t pretend
to be anything they’re not. Bizarre
freak show? You bet. Brazen popu
larity contest? Every category. But
a classy, merit-based artistic flag
ship? By no means, and it’s fine
with that, unlike the Emmys, the
Academy Awards or the Grammys.
It’s tough for me to admit. I live
for the Oscars, dedicated to fore
casting next year’s winners mere
hours after the show’s over
(“Return of the King,” clearly). But
the Oscars are a profound disap
pointment. An offense, really.
My trust was betrayed when
“Titanic” beat “LA Confidential”
for 1997’s Best Picture, basically
for its record S6OO million box
office run. Insult turned to injury
when “Gladiator” blandly bested
unmanageable as increased under
graduate enrollment has not been
met with the hiring of more teach
ing assistants.
Many teaching assistants are
paying for their own supplies and
photocopying. Some graduate stu
dents even have dropped out due
to budget-related funding cuts.
These issues are a lot more seri
ous than Herman’s lament about
lost travel funds. If that’s his top
priority as GPSF president, then
the serious issues of graduate stu
dent employees are not being
addressed.
Fortunately, there is an alterna
tive for graduate students seeking
a voice on campus. UE 150a, the
Graduate Student Employee
Union, has been fighting to organ
ize teaching and research assis
tants to speak out about academic
work at UNC.
This union is a chapter of the
same union fighting for better
working conditions for other UNC
employees, such as groundskeepers
and housekeepers.
Graduate student unionizing is
nothing radical; our peer public
universities have union-negotiated
contracts with their graduate
employees.
The University of California’s
campuses at Los Angeles and
Berkeley and the Universities of
Michigan and Wisconsin all have
far better pay rates (after cost of
living adjustments), reasonable
workload limits and superior
7 JTf ~
h v ~
BRIAN MILLIKIN
SO HOT RIGHT NOW
graceful “Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon” in 2000. “A
Beautiful Mind” over every 2001
nominee: pure vitriol. How I hate
you, Russell Crowe.
I’ve come to learn that Oscar’s
a slut. There’s the money, with
Miramax ushering in a deformed,
bloated, advertisement-driven
campaign season that begins
sometime next week (in an
attempt to curtail the mess, the
Academy bumped next year’s
show up a month to February).
And then there’s the popularity,
as fewer and fewer films that did
n’t break through have any sort of
shot at all. Actors now receive
awards based on career recogni
tion (Denzel Washington) and It
List capital (Gwyneth Paltrow, a
victor for “Shakespeare in Love”
while unknown Joseph Fiennes,
so great as the titular
Shakespeare, went unnominated).
Late September’s Emmys aren’t
much better, ignoring shows such
as “Homicide,” “Alias” and “The
Larry Sanders Show” time after
time in favor of an umpteenth nod
for “Frasier” and obligatory award
for “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
They frequently overcorrect their
mistakes and jump on the wrong
fads, rewarding “The Shield.” It
makes me cry softly at night.
The Grammys? I like to pretend
they don’t exist. It’s safer that way.
The shows just don’t have
awarding quality, innovation or
effort in mind. It’s sad, but every
health care and child care, thanks
to strong student-led unions.
UE 150a is independent of the
GPSF. Where possible, we have
worked with its leadership.
However, our stance is fundamen
tally different.
We believe UNC works because
graduate TAs and RAs do. We
advocate for a recognition of our
contribution to the University as
employees and will continue to try
to bring UNC policies up to the par
of our peer schools in this regard.
Interested students can join us
at our opening meeting of the
semester, Sept. 22.
Please check our Web site,
http://www.uelsoa.org, for details.
Thank you.
Lisa K. Bates
Graduate Student
City and Regional Planning
Jonathan D. Lepofsky
Graduate Student
Geography
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®fj? SaiLy (Bor Utri
“ That’s why I love
the VMAs, an
unlikely beacon
in a backward
pop world.”
one seems resigned to the situa
tion. Maybe if voters weren’t diver
sity-blind dinosaurs or we stopped
caring, things could change.
If everyone saw the awards for
what they really are inflated
promotions for the industry given
out by the industry we’d be off
to a good start. Less stock in the
so-called awards, more bawdy
and awkward stunts on stage.
That’s why I love the VMAs, an
unlikely beacon in a backward
pop world. They don’t put up any
false fronts or don’t purport to be
anything other than what they
are: a great chance to watch us all
sink lower and lower into MTV's
flashy, neon pocket.
Most of the nominated materi
al escapes my personal collection.
I kind of like Justin Timberlake’s
stuff, partly for Timbaland and
partly for the fantastic punch
lines it provides. I’m sad that the
White Stripes or the Roots didn't
win, and I’m glad I was asleep by
the time Metallica came on.
But none of that matters at the
VMAs. Quality’s not a factor;
taste rightly doesn’t register. 50
Cent grins a million dollars over
his many trophies and Madonna
kisses young pop starlets. It’s
lewd. It’s so wrong it’s right.
You won’t see that on the
Oscars, where right is wrong, and
I, for one, wish we did.
Contact Brian Millikin
at millikin@email.unc.edu.
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