12
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2004
BOA2UI EDITORIALS
THE FARMER’S FATE
U.S. lawmakers should institute a tobacco buyout as soon as possible,
and they should allow for federal regulation of the tobacco industry.
Members of the U.S. Congress are planning
to go into recess at the end of the week
meaning that they are running out oi
time to institute a tobacco quota buyout.
Tobacco can only go further downhill as a part of
North Carolina’s economic future. Growing public
health concerns about smoking and increased regu
lation of the tobacco industry have decreased the
power of big tobacco in the United States, and for
eign competition has created additional pressure for
the state’s tobacco fanners.
Quota levels the use of which dates back to the
Great Depression have fallen recently with alarm
ing consistency, and experts predict that they will
continue to drop. In short, time is of the essence for
fanners who are seeing their livelihoods diminish
before their very eyes.
things stand, fanners would be hard-pressed to
reduce their level of tobacco production or to leave the
leaf behind entirely. Despite the obvious decline of the
viability of tobacco as a cash crop, there is little incen
tive for the state’s farmers to switch to alternative crops,
and many formers are facing a shaky retirement
_ A buyout would change that —and it’s the respon
sibility of a House-Senate conference committee,
working to reconcile two vastly different versions of
a bill including a buyout, to give farmers the money
they need to adapt to the times.
_ Buyout language is part of a larger corporate tax
bill in both congressional chambers. The omnibus
measure is needed to end increasing penalty tariffs
on U.S. exports to Europe.
The Senate version of the bill is better than the
House edition in practically every respect. In addi
tion to including a provision for federal oversight of
tobacco, the Senate’s plan would pay farmers more
money. It would use $l3 billion taken from tobacco
companies to pay $8 per pound for quota holders
and $4 per pound for growers based on 2002 quota
levels. Senators on both sides of the aisle supported
their chamber’s legislation in a favorable 78-15 vote.
The House proposal, on the other hand, would use
$9.6 billion in tobacco excise tax money to pay $7
per pound for holders and $3 per pound for grow
ers. This version would give participating farmers
less money, it would come at taxpayers’ expense
and it would exclude a call for the Food and Drug
Administration to regulate tobacco.
House leaders in charge of moving the legislation
need to do a lot better.
Federal oversight of the tobacco industry must
take place. The practices of cigarette-makers have
been suspect for years, and the federal government
needs to have greater monitoring power over the
HAVE A CLEAN FIGHT
Though this year’s election is proving to be a most divisive contest,
people shouldn’t let ideological anger lead to verbal or physical abuse.
"TW‘‘T’ational politics certainly should provoke debate
at UNC, but members of the University com-
JL munity should work to ensure that they do not
cross the line in expressing their views.
The (Durham) Herald Sun reported Friday that a
post-debate argument between two UNC students
over whom Jesus would vote for in the election esca
lated into a physical confrontation that led to one
student being taken to UNC Hospitals.
We live in a nation that allows public debate, yet
there are certain parameters that citizens must keep
in mind when expressing their beliefs. Your rights
end where another individual’s rights begin.
Respect is key. It must exist in order to maintain a
viable and informative public discourse.
Respect demands tolerance. This doesn’t mean we
have to agree with the other’s beliefs it just means
that we must tolerate their right to believe it.
Tolerance and respect for each other’s rights
means that we must not get into physical confronta
tions over the things we believe.
Having a friendly or even a heated debate amongst
people with different ideologies is one thing, but act
EDITOR'S NOTE: The above editorials are the opinions of solely The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board, and were reached after open debate. The
board consists of six board members, the editorial page associate editor, the editorial page editor and the DTH editor. The 2004-05 DTH editor
decided not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials.
READERS’ FORUM
Fans proved to be a factor
in epic field hockey contest
TO THE EDITOR:
Henry Stadium housed what our
Coach Karen Shelton deemed “one
of her sweeter victories” in all her 23
years of coaching this past Saturday
afternoon. In an epic battle between
longtime rivals, UNC and Wake
Forest the No. 1 and No. 2 field
hockey teams in the country—com
peted for more than 100 minutes to
determine the final victor: the Thr
Heels. Through two periods of over
time, penalty strokes and a torrential
downpour, the teams played on.
After the game, as is traditional
in Carolina field hockey, the women
on the team were endlessly con
gratulated by parents and friends
at the habitual “tailgate.” While
everyone at the tailgate had some
thing to say about the heart, deter
mination and perseverance exuded
by the players, they could not stop
praising those same qualities in the
crowd.
And we could not agree more.
The crowd was spectacular and
deserves great credit for our vic
tory Saturday.
So, to all of those who gutted it
out, who never gave up on us, who
withstood the rain and humid
ity this past Saturday afternoon
at Henry Stadium, thank you. Go
Heels!
Carey Fetting-Smith
Co-captain
UNC field hockey team
quality of companies’ products. Neglecting to autho
rize FDA regulation at such an opportune time would
be a massive failure on Congress’ part
Proponents of FDA tobacco regulation rightly see
its inclusion in the corporate tax bill as a necessity.
Passing a buyout without including a provision for
federal oversight would be a major defeat, not only
for supporters of regulation but also for the public
at large.
Thankfully, senators supporting regulation have
threatened to filibuster any legislation that comes
out of the conference committee without the FDA
language. “Ade-linking of (the buyout and FDA
regulation) is simply intolerable and will occur over
my dead body,” Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, told The
Washington Post.
Elected representatives shouldn’t be protecting
companies that have made their fortune by selling
their harmful products and targeting young people
with their advertising. Instead, they should be work
ing to protect consumers. Members of Congress
would be adding insult to injury by both allowing
a buyout to fall by the wayside and neglecting to
address a major public health issue in the appropri
ate manner.
House leaders and the majority of the Senate
might disagree when it comes to FDA regulation. But
the core issue the proposed buyout isn’t a par
tisan one. North Carolina’s congressional delegation
and the state’s two major Senate candidates, Erskine
Bowles and Richard Burr, support a quota buyout.
If legislators make the right choice, tobacco farm
ers could get the resources they might need to leave a
foiling livelihood behind and to start anew.
But as is too often the case, a political game has
supplanted an honest drive to help a large number of
constituents. For formers, a buyout would represent
a bridge to the future. Lawmakers unnecessarily are
keeping the path to prosperity unclear.
Tobacco’s dominance as a cash crop in North
Carolina is seeing its last days. The quota system’s
death sentence has been prescribed for a while. It’s
time for members of Congress to realize that. It’s time
for them to give tobacco farmers a chance to take on
new ventures with as much stability as possible.
Quite frankly, it’s time for them to forget about
their political maneuvering and to make a commit
ment to men and women who have been supporting
the state and national economies for decades.
It’s up to U.S. lawmakers to get their act together
and to push a reasonable buyout plan through —and
it’s up to voters to keep track of who’s responsible
if Congress doesn’t take advantage of this golden
opportunity.
ing in a brutish manner is another.
We went wrong when we assumed that, in order
to get our message out to people, we had to beat our
beliefs into them.
Wf need to respect each other’s opinions
Republican, Democrat and independent alike, we are
all human beings with the natural right to believe in
whatever we wish to believe in.
If students aim to educate their peers about who
they believe would serve the nation most effectively,
they should do so in a manner that goes hand in hand
with a civil democracy.
We partake in a marketplace of ideas —not in a mar
ket where one ideology is more correct than another.
Emotions are high in this election and we are a
nation divided. But we live and participate in an
educational environment There is no room in our
academic climate for childish activities such as petty
fights over our preferred candidate.
Let’s keep the political debates out of the box
ing ring and make sure that the only punches we
are throwing are merely verbal not made out of
hatred and anger.
Carolina Women's Center
will take on relevant issues
TO THE EDITOR:
During a time when the
University is working diligently to
recruit and retain female faculty,
students and staff, I am concerned
that the incident involving a faculty
member’s association with Playboy
may chill the climate for women at
Carolina.
Chilly climate refers to women
feeling like “other” in relation to
their male colleagues that their
viewpoints are somehow less impor
tant, that they must push harder for
benefits that men obtain automati
cally and that they are left out when
important decisions are made.
Relationships between faculty
members and students are a critical
component of the learning environ
ment, and students look to faculty
members as role models of ideal
conduct within their disciplines.
The Carolina Women’s Center
serves the campus by providing
programs that promote positive
relationships between men and
women, help women to feel safe and
encourage understanding of critical
issues of importance to women.
While Professor Malcolm Forbes
has apologized for the “mess” his
conduct has generated, I would like
to offer the services of the Carolina
Women’s Center for discussions of
the concerns about sexism in soci
ety that this matter has raised.
What are pornography’s effects
on men, women and society at
large? Hqw are appropriate bound
aries drawn between men and
women in an educational setting?
When students feel insulted by a
faculty member’s conduct, how
can they deal with this internally
and safely with the faculty member
or others?
To this end, the Carolina
Women’s Center will offer sev
eral brown-bag sessions during
October and November to discuss
these matters. Facilitators who
understand these topics will lead
the discussions and generate ideas
that will help students, faculty, staff
and administration explore these
issues both in a broad context and
in relationship to their own lives.
I invite you to visit our Web site,
http://www.unc.edu/womenscen
ter, for dates and locations.
Diane Kjervik
Director
Carolina Women’s Center
Voting is just one of many
ways to make a difference
TO THE EDITOR:
I disagree with Michelle Jarboe’s
column on why it is important to
vote. I don’t disagree that voting is
important. However, I do disagree
when she says that “Election Day is
the one day you and I will be able
to influence history” and that “only
once every four years will you affect
the nation by making a statement”
by voting.
She says excuses for not voting
Opinion
ON THE DAY’S NEWS
The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
MALCOLM X, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
EDITORIAL CARTOON
miwiwbihh WMiiwaH By Steven Oklesh, elven@email.unc.edu
A ancua phiuups sroieeftM
COMMENTARY
When 500 words about Yeats
must face a jury of your peers
Let’s say you’ve just finished
writing a personal narrative
about the time you treach
erously bet a thousand dollars on
the wrong side of a Carolina-Duke
game in the Dean Dome. Would
you want the story read by a pro
fessor or by a whole class of your
fellow students?
Most creative writing classes
and some journalism courses at
UNC would use the latter “work
shop” approach.
Typically, you complete a writ
ing assignment, and instead of
just turning it in to the instructor,
you make copies for each class
mate, pass them out and listen
as the whole class critiques your
work.
Chris Roush, a journalism
professor, usually eschews these
peer critiques even though his
classes often involve short writing
assignments.
“My concern,” he said, “is
students hearing feedback from
other students... that may not be
the correct feedback.”
Daniel Wallace, who wrote
the novel “Big Fish” and teaches
creative writing at the University,
agrees that this is reason enough
to limit the time spent on peer
review. “I feel like I know more
than (students) do, and that’s why
I’m the teacher,” he said. “I like to
do most of the talking.
“If you let the students lead the
workshop, it’s like the blind lead
ing the blind.”
But the knowledge of instruc
tors is not necessarily without
limits.
Angie Luvara, a senior studio
art major, found this out the hard
way after turning in a photography
assignment
“I did photos of skateboarders,
and my teacher was anti-skate
boarder, I think,” she said. “And he
just said, "These look like photos
are “poor masks for thinly veiled
apathy or laziness.” Statistically
speaking, your vote really doesn’t
matter all that much.
I’m not suggesting that people
don’t vote. What I am suggesting
is that if every four years the only
thing you do to “influence history”
and “make a statement” is voting,
then you are the lazy one.
There are much more effective
things that you can do every single
day of the year to change fire way
government is run. Engaging oth
ers in debate or writing letters to
editors of newspapers and maga
zines are just a couple of examples.
So vote Nov. 2, but then go out and
do something that will really pro
duce change.
Philip Hensley, Jr.
Senior
History
Viewers should distinguish
between style, substance
TO THE EDITOR:
While trying to decipher a bipar
tisan consensus as to the “winner”
of Thursday’s presidential debate,
friends and acquaintances from
both sides of the aisle informed me
that Kerry was the victor.
For some time now I have had
a budding suspicion that today’s
politics touts style over substance.
I would agree that, in style, Kerry
was a clear winner: He was tall, his
oration was precise and his words
were underscored with panache. If
ROBIN SINHABABU
MAYBE PARTYING WILL HELP
from a magazine.’”
Her classmates were quick to
counter the derision. “Everyone
in the class told him, *No, you’ve
never seen a skateboard magazine
these don’t look anything like
that,’” she said.
It’s true that what you get out
of a class is proportional to what
you put into it.
But with workshop classes,
your educational rewards are a
more complex function of what
15 other students invest. Only the
most earnest effort attracts the
most useful criticism.
The trouble is, these classes don’t
always bring out the most earnest
efforts. I know I have occasionally
turned in assignments of which I
was not particularly proud.
This was not to my advantage,
as I sat silently while my class
mates pointed out the deficiencies
in my work of which I was already
aware. Furthermore, they felt
obligated to suggest ways to fix
the piece or build upon it, though
I had no intention of looking at it
again.
Wallace, whose class I have
taken, rightly frowns upon such
delinquency. “If (students) don’t
bring their A game, it’s their fault,
and there’s nothing I can do about
it.”
On the other hand, knowing
that others will analyze your work
can be an incentive to produce
something of quality. Faced with
the task of producing something
for a whole class to read, one
we were to judge the debate and
the debater on such characteristics,
Kerry would get my vote.
Yet, as I know them, debates
serve to inform the public about
the candidates’ substantive and
ideological policies. When I probed
a little deeper as to why people
thought Kerry had won, their
answers uniformly cited a presi
dential presence or his way with
words.
I am dismayed. Candidates
should be evaluated by what they
say, not how they say it. With
two debates remaining, I urge
every American to listen to what
the candidates are saying, rather
than how they say it. Style might
trump substance in Hollywood,
but not the White House. Watch,
listen and choose wisely, my fellow
Americans.
Joshua Diver
Professional
School of Law
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edu.
Daily (Ear Drrl
wouldn’t want to be thought of as
a dull writer or worse, a poor
speller.
Perhaps the great cosmic chal
lenge every workshop instructor
faces is to turn the seemingly indi
vidual nitpicking directed at one
student’s paper into lessons useful
to all the students.
I’m taking a journalism semi
nar in which the instructor, a vet
eran newsman, constantly broad
ens the discussion of one paper
by framing it with an anecdote or
generality about writing.
Not only does this increase the
utility of the workshop, but it also
maintains students’ attention and
interest essential for keeping
the fire of comments and criticism
alive.
Wallace follows this technique.
“If ypu run a workshop really well,
it’s possible to use sort of a uni
versal criticism of stories where
you’re not just talking about one
story, but you’re talking about all
stories,” he said.
This technique seems most
useful in classes in which students
are making aesthetic judgments,
such as those dealing with art
or creative writing. The less of
an objective sense of merit that
exists, the more useful a work
shop likely is going to be.
Creative writing, art and jour
nalism classes are, in a sense, trial
runs for work that’s intended for
a public audience. It’s definitely
useful for students to have that
audience recreated for them in a
classroom.
“Writers don’t always know
where their mistakes are,” Wallace
said. “When someone else points
them out to you, it becomes clear.
“The final destination for your
work is another reader.”
Contact Robin Sinhababu
at rsinhab@email.unc.edu.
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