14
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2003
BOARS EDITORIALS
BIDING THEIR TIME
The search for a vice chancellor of student affairs has taken longer than
expected, but it’s important for leaders to make a well informed choice.
University officials appear to be living by the
notion that it's better to take your time to get
things right when it comes to searching for
the campus’ next vice chancellor for student alfairs.
Chancellor James Moeser, Provost Robert Shelton
and 13 members from the Division of Student Affairs
met Monday to evaluate three candidates to fill the
position and to discuss the position in general. But
they failed to reach a final decision on any candidate.
A search committee presented its recommenda
tions on the candidates last week.
Shelton recently said the committee has three
possible choices for proceeding with the search: start
all over again, negotiate a contract with one of the
candidates or bring two candidates back for an addi
tional round of interviews.
The first option, Shelton said, could add several
months to the search. But Shelton and other leaders
said they do not want to rush to make a decision.
In a way, the decision makes some sense.
The vice chancellor for student affairs oversees a
wide array of campus departments and organiza
tions. Among these groups are the Carolina Union,
the Department of Housing and Residential
Education and University Career Services.
Given the tremendous impact the person selected
to fill this position will have on the campus commu
nity, it is extremely important that leaders not rush
to fill the position.
On the flip side, the fact that the vice chancellor will
serve an important role on the campus should give
leaders more impetus to hire someone.
Dean Bresciani has served as interim vice chan
cellor since Sue Kitchens left the University in June
2002 and by all accounts has done an admirable job.
But the term “interim” by its very nature means
temporary, so it is important to place a more per
manent official in the position.
Making a decision soon also could help to ensure
A POCKET PLEASER
A push by some campuses to discount tuition for classes offered during
nonpeak times is an innovative way to help students save some money.
Most college students hate having 8 a.m.
classes, but the prospect of paying less for
enrolling in them might make it a little eas
ier for students to set their alarm clocks early.
Several college systems across the nation are flirt
ing with the idea of charging students less money for
taking early morning or late-aftemoon classes.
The idea to charge less for these notoriously unpop
ular time slots is a creative way of dealing with low
participation in early-morning and late-aftemoon
classes and could be a boon for students' wallets.
The Oregon University System adopted a policy
earlier this year that offers a 15 percent discount on
classes scheduled before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m.
The university system plans to offer almost 25
percent of its undergraduate credit hours at times
during which students can get the discounted rate.
Officials said they believe Oregon system students
could save almost $1.5 million this year because of
the discount.
Leaders at West Virginia University reportedly are
looking into the prospect of discounting the costs of
classes in order to help students deal with rising
tuition.
Although the UNC system doesn't have plans to
initiate a similar arrangement at its campuses, there
would be several advantages should system officials
decide to do so.
The most obvious benefit would be a relief from
tuition increases in recent years.
Students in the UNC system saw a 5 percent
tuition increase for the 2003-04 school year, and the
possibility of being able to save a few bucks on class
es would be a welcome change.
Discounting classes also would benefit students
involved with many extracurricular activities or stu
dents who hold part-time jobs by creating incentives
to work during the day, giving them greater flexibil
EDITORS' 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
Workers highlight issues of
importance for community
TO THE EDITOR:
I am a graduate student in
UNC’s School of Social Work and
was fortunate to step outside of my
usual habits yesterday to attend the
teach-in that was held in front of
South Building concerning work
ers’ rights on campus.
First of all, I would like to
express my deep appreciation for
those members of UNC’s staff w'ho
were willing to take the risk of
speaking out about the difficulties
they are facing.
The amount of courage that takes
should not be overlooked. If your
goal was to increase awareness and
support, you can consider your
selves successful in your mission.
At the evening teach-in which 1
also attended, Sorien Schmidt of
the N.C. Justice and Community
Development Center made a salient
point that I think bears repeating.
She said moments like this
remind us that we are all responsi
ble for deciding what sort of world
we want to live in.
Like the panelists, I want a
world in which all workers make
enough to live.
There are many things I can do
to help bring about that world and
I encourage others to take similar
steps: wear T-shirts that support
UE Local 150 to send simultaneous
messages of support to workers
and concern to administration and
that many of the committee members are allowed to
stay involved in the search.
The delay in forming a search committee and the
time taken to reach a decision already have caused one
student representative former Student Body
President Jen Daum to leave the committee.
Another student representative graduated during the
selection process but remained on the committee.
Matt Tepper, current student body president, is
the sole student member of the committee now.
Still, if there is one thing to be gained from the
indecision, it is that leaders will have more time to
make sure they make the right decision.
It also opens the door for the campus communi
ty to offer more of its input. Several forums were held
earlier this semester to allow students, faculty and
staff to talk directly to the three candidates and offer
input into who should fill the vacancy.
These events were a good way to reach out to mem
bers of the UNC community'but drew some criticism
for the lack of publicity and interest from students.
It is important that if campus leaders decide to con
tinue their search, they make an extra effort to seek
input from the general public by increasing awareness
of potential forums and by offering more information
about the role of the vice chancellor.
In addition, students should take a more active
role in voicing their opinions about filling a position
that has a tremendous impact on campus.
But whatever decision is made, it is important for
UNC leaders to be upfront with members of the
campus community about how long it could be
before a final decision is reached.
The position of vice chancellor for student affairs
is one that campus leaders hopefully will not have to
fill again for a long time.
So it is best that leaders and the campus commu
nity as a whole feel comfortable and confident about
whatever decision is made.
ity when trying to arrange classes around their work
schedules.
The plan also could reduce some of the competi
tion for classes taught during popular time slots.
After seeing a mid-morning or early afternoon
class fill up, many students tend to put off taking the
course until the following semester rather than
enrolling in an off-peak time section.
Professors often have complained about this trend
because they have empty seats in their 8 a.m. class
es, while in their noon classes, they have students sit
ting in the aisles.
Being able to attract students to classes occurring
at all times of the day will help to ensure that profes
sors’ time and classroom space is used efficiently.
However, a switch to a plan to discount some class
es should not come without careful consideration.
Colleges and universities adopting the plan would
have to ensure that they maintain a variety of qual
ity courses at all times during the day. Cutting back
on the number of courses during unpopular time
slots because students will now pay less for them
would be detrimental.
Oregon officials appear to have protected their stu
dents' interests in this area by offering a wide array of
classes during both normal and off-peak times.
Discounting classes also might compel some stu
dents to sign up for off-peak classes in order to save
money instead of taking courses of interest to them.
But campus leaders could limit the number of dis
counted classes students could take in order to ensure
that students don’t abuse the privileges.
There are many good reasons to support a plan
similar to the one in Oregon and other areas of the
country, but the idea is anything but perfect.
If UNC-system leaders decide to enact a dis
counted class plan like those on other campuses,
they should proceed carefully.
getting to know the individuals
who work so hard to keep our cam
pus running.
You can also educate other peo
ple about the results of the N.C.
Justice Center report that clearly
show 60 percent of people in
North Carolina are working but
not getting by. Finally, you can
write to legislators asking them to
support living wage legislation
(such as bills H 37, H 468, 5742),
and let Chancellor James Moeser
know where you stand.
All of these seemingly small
actions make a big difference. If
you don’t think so, just ask the next
“housekeeper” you see.
Marie Dessommes
Graduate student
School of Social Work
Journalists to offer insight
on covering war at forum
TO THE EDITOR:
I would like to take the opportu
nity to let the Carolina community
know about this fall’s James M.
Johnston Issues Forum, Headlines
from the Front Lines: Covering
international news in times of crisis.
This is a free public issues forum
presented by the Carolina,
Johnston and Pogue Scholars and
will feature addresses and a panel
discussion between four UNC
alumni who have worked as for
eign correspondents in such global
hot spots as Israel, the Balkans,
Editorial Page
India, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue
will moderate the panel in addition
to sharing some of her experiences
anchoring the news from various
locations in the Middle East.
Donna Leinwand of USA Today
who recently returned from Iraq,
where she covered the war from
Baghdad and also from Central
Command in Qatar, also will speak.
Colin Soloway wnrked extensive
ly in the Balkans before traveling to
the Middle East where he broke the
story on American Taliban John
Walker Lindh for Newsweek.
Los Angeles Times correspon
dent David Zucchino won a
Pulitzer Prize for his work covering
welfare recipients in the United
States and was embedded with a
military unit during the war in Iraq.
All four journalists will speak
about the risks and rewards of inter
national journalism, the challenges
of meeting deadlines across time
zones, and the dangers of being an
American abroad in some of the
most hostile parts of the world.
The forum will be held Sunday,
Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. in Carroll 111.
This is an amazing opportunity
to learn about one of the most
exciting, consequential, and influ
ential fields in the world today. I
hope that students and faculty
alike will take advantage of it
Laura Thompson
Sophomore
Undeclared Major
ON THE DAY’S NEWS
“Indecision is often worse than wrong action.”
GERALD FORD, former president of the united states
EDITORIAL CARTOON By Andrew Johnson, johnso4o@email.unc.edu
./*> i j
1
POP CULTURE
Middle ground needed to
quell downloading desires
Remember that scene from
the end of “Scarface” when
Al Pacino jumps behind his
desk and lords over a ridiculous,
disgustingly opulent mound of
cocaine, plunging in headfirst?
I refer to it whenever I try to
describe Napster in all its deca
dent 2000 glory. It really was like
a drug: three years ago, my room
mate and I were downloading
songs by the hundred. A bad day
at class? Have 200 more songs. It
wasn’t a free-for-all, it was better.
And like a drug there was,
inevitably, a heavy price to pay.
But I still can’t believe the
delirious Napster heights. We’d all
bought CDs before, right? How’d
we fool ourselves into thinking
that Napster was OK? We should
have known that nothing is free,
especially nothing that good.
Don’t give me any of that self
righteous crap about how the
music industry owes you, about
how the musicians and the com
panies make enough money as is.
We were wrong. We still are, and
we have to admit it.
People seem to confuse their
excuses for file-sharing over
priced CDs, repetitive drivel from
the popular blockbuster machines
—as actual, plausible justifica
tions for file-sharing, which
they’re anything buti
It’s a petty crime whether or
not you paid $lB for the new
Staind (in which case, they proba
bly do owe you some kind of
reimbursement.)
I say people, but I mean today’s
youth computer-literate, subur
ban street toughs aged 12 to 25. To
my knowledge, it’s all just a clash
between millions of kids and a
gaggle of corporate attorneys (and
Metallica’s Lars Ulrich). Parents
just get the subpoenas; they never
get the free music fruits.
Students stand to lose in
UCS move to South Campus
TO THE EDITOR:
I was shocked and disheartened
to recently learn that after two
years of renovations, University
Career Services has been asked by
the University to relocate to South
Campus in a few years.
Asa senior, I was thrilled to have
the facility up-and-running and
accessible in Hanes Hall.
The new offices excellently
accommodate the extraordinarily
helpful staff of UCS as well as have
a very professional atmosphere,
building confidence in students
that use the facility.
While offered and used by all
ages, the majority of students that
visit UCS are upperclassmen who
live off-campus or in North
Campus.
If UCS moves to South Campus,
it will not be nearly as accessible
for students’ appointments during
busy days between classes.
Moreover, it would be sad to
lose the perfectly developed and
renovated office space for the UCS
staff.
Students who have not been to
UCS, I encourage you to go in
order to experience the friendly,
professional and helpful staff, take
advantage of the resources and to
see the new facility.
It is my hope that the University
can reevaluate its relocation plan
so that UCS can stay a central asset
1 ImtKl
Ur i
BRIAN MILLIKIN
SO HOT RIGHT NOW
But the music industry isn’t
without its faults in the matter.
Even if the kids fired the first
shots, the Recording Industry
Association of America’s confused
responses have featured a unique
lack of understanding and fore
sight. Its recent tactic is a barrage
of subpoenas for users sharing
large quantities of files (including,
notably, a 12-year-old ’NSync fan).
It’s a shock and awe campaign
(this is America, after all).
The RIAA is playing a danger
ous game. It’s teetering on the
brink of alienating its all-impor
tant consumer base, betting that
popular demand for their product
will survive the scare tactics. I
wish that weren’t true, but it is. If
MTV wills it, it will happen.
The RLAA’s offer of amnesty to
offenders is a double-edged sword
as well, requiring a confession of
guilt that could be legally permis
sible in a lawsuit from, say, Lars
Ulrich. Chuck D calls it “Gestapo
tactics,” and that’s not far off.
Downloading will be a menace
for many years to come, but I’m
not afraid for the music industry.
I am afraid that downloading
individual songs legally from
services such as Apple’s iTunes or
illegally from any number of con
voluted shareware programs is
killing the album as an art form.
Rubber Soul introduced an era
in 1965 when entire albums could
be strong from song to song, a
practice in which I still revel. But
to the University.
Catalina Garretdn
Senior
Art and Journalism
ATTENTION
The Daily Tar Heel Editorial
Page is soliciting guest columns for
its Oct. 6 Viewpoints section.
The page will explore the topic
of academic freedom and what
steps the University should take to
welcome input from all segments
of the campus community, regard
less of their background.
Columns must be no longer
than 600 words and should be e
mailed to editdesk@unc.edu by
Thursday, Oct. 2.
Any column not selected for
publication might run on the DTH
Web site.
For more information, contact
Editorial Page Editor April Bethea
at adbethea@email.unc.edu.
TO SUBMIT A LETTER: The Daily Tar Heel
welcomes reader comments. Letters to the
editor should be no longer than 300 words
and must be typed, double-spaced, dated and
signed by no more than two people. Students
should include their year, major and phone
number. Faculty and staff should include their
title, department and phone number. The DTH
reserves the right to edit letters for space,
clarity and vulgarity. Publication is not guar
anteed. Bring letters to the DTH office at
Suite 104, Carolina Union, mail them to P.O.
Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 or e-mail
them to editdesk@unc.edu.
Hatty Star HeH
“How’d wefool our
selves ?... We should
have known that
nothing is free...
nothing that good.”
recent trends in popular music
toward here-today, gone-tomor
row singles, married to a song-by
song digital landscape, might
make the album irrelevant.
In a recent interview, Outkast’s
Andre 3000 said he’d like to see
the downloader be forced to accept
his entire record, and that com
forts me. Maybe if Dre had been
there at the start, whispering sweet
nothings to Shawn Fanning in the
Napster creator’s Northeastern
dorm room, then this entire crisis
could have been adverted.
But talk of the future is specu
lative at best. No one knows how
or if file-sharing will transition
from the illegal sector to the legal.
Instead, I reflect on the past,
on the hedonistic Napster heyday.
I suspect that the unreal speed at
which we downloaded the files
w'as because we knew deep down
that it was wrong and that the
door eventually would close.
I’ve since integrated file-shar
ing into my routine, downloading
the occasional song, a litmus test
before buying into anew band.
Most of my MP3s now come from
my own CDs, a right to which no
music mogul can lay claim.
I think moderation is the key:
download a few songs, buy a CD.
Give us a few and we’ll give back.
Listen to the music, but don’t let
the drugs get to your head.
Contact Brian Millikin
at millikin@email.unc.edu.
Established 1893
110 years of editorial freedom
ahr Hotly (Tar Hbrf
www.dailytarheel.com
ELYSE ASHBURN
EDITOR, 962-4086
OFFICE HOURS 2:15-3:15 PM MON.. WED.
DANIEL THIGPEN
MANAGING EDITOR. 962-0750
JENNIFER SAMUELS
PROJECTS MANAGING EDITOR. 962-0750
APRIL BETHEA
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR. 962-0750
BROOK R. CORWIN
UNIVERSITY EDITOR, 962-0372
KATHRYN GRIM
CITY EDITOR, 962-4209
CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR, 962-4103
BRIAN MACPHERSON
SPORTS EDITOR. 962-4710
MICHELLE JARBOE
FEATURES EDITOR, 962-4214
NICK PARKER
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, 962-4214
ALEX OBREGON
COPY EDITOR, 962-4103
BRIAN CASSELLA
PHOTO EDITOR. 962-0750
MICHELLE KUTTNER
DESIGN EDITOR, 962-0750
MICHAELA IDHAMMAR
GRAPHICS EDITOR, 962-0750
KRISTEN OLIVER
ONLINE EDITOR. 962-0750
BEN COUCH
SPORTSATURDAY EDITOR. 962-4710
JOHN FRANK
PROJECTS TEAM LEADER, 962-0246
ERIC GAUTSCHI
OMBUDSMAN
If you have any concerns or comments
about our coverage, please contact Ombudsman Eric
Gautschi at gautschi©email.unc.edu or 918-1311.