12
MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2004
BOARD EDITORIALS
IMPROPER BUSINESS
Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine’s use of his N.C.
Senate office to promote his business to lobbyists was inappropriate.
Patrick Ballantine, R-New Hanover, spent 10 years
in the N.C. Senate, and for two of them, he was on
the payroll of Image Products Inc ofWilmington
and charged with finding new customers. For that two
years of work, he was paid about SII,OOO.
During that time, Ballantine peddled his wares to
a number of trade associations and lobby groups with
business before the Senate. Representatives from
these groups said that Ballantine was responsible for
securing at least three contracts for his employer.
Ballantine admits to meeting with these groups
while the legislature was in session but says that
referrals he made for Image Products never influ
enced his vote.
Though Ballantine did not break the law, there are
huge ethical problems with conducting such private
business while working for the public.
Legislative guidelines say lawmakers are not sup
posed to use their offices for personal gain, and in
this particular case, it is hard to tell where the law
maker began and the salesman left off.
Mike Bender, the company's president and a close
PROTECTING PRIVACY
Athletes and Athletics staff face intense scrutiny officials should take
extra precautionary measures to protect them from embarrassing leaks.
The release of a UNC athlete’s name in con
junction with information about his drug test
results is an invasion of the student’s privacy
and should be an embarrassment to officials.
Athletics officials should work with the Office of
University Counsel to devise a system to ensure that
lapses of this sort do not happen again in the future.
In an article published Wednesday. The (Durham)
Herald-Sun noted that an athlete recently suspended
from the team for a drug citation might have failed
a drug test before. The Herald-Sun cited a letter,
obtained through a public-records request, in which
the ÜBKersitr forgot to black out the player’s name.
The Setter, obtained bv the paper in July, was one of
12 sent to athletes sod their parents to notify them of
fisned dreg-test results. The Herald-Sun reported.
By requiring drug tests, officials assume responsi
bility for preceding foe privacy of the students tested.
Officials' inability to keep that information secure
undermines the trust students should have in them.
Director of Athletics Dick Baddour wrote in an open
letter to Tkr Heel fens that the incident was a mistake
and that “I have been told that the University has apolo
EQUITABLE FUNDING
The NSFs governing body’s recent decision to eliminate matching fund
It’s an unfortunate but widely known fact in the
scientific community that researchers also have
to be businessmen in order to secure funds. But
getting a grant from the National Science Foundation
became a little easier last week allowing researchers
to focus more of their efforts on science.
The foundation’s governing board voted last
Thursday to end the requirement for projects on
which the NSF requests applications. Unsolicited
proposals will still have to pay for 1 percent of the
research-grant money that they are allotted.
The decision showed solidarity with several orga
nizations, including the Association of American
Universities, which have been urging changes for sever
al years, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
The Chronicle reported that “cost sharing” mea
sures had been implemented in the 1940s for several
federal agencies to help them stretch their budgets,
but universities began to volunteer money on their
own to make their proposals more competitive.
The average cost for colleges has ranged from 10
percent to 30 percent of the total award.
Several attempts have been made by NSF officials
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 five 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.
HEADERS’ FORUM
Abortion undermines rights
of women and the unborn
TO THE EDITOR:
This is in response to Alyssa
Levine’s column stating how wrong
it was for Carolina. Women’s Center
to be linked to the Carolina Students
For Life. (“Change needed for equal
ity at the University,” Oct 12)
She feels this promotes greater
gender inequality. Asa member of
CSFL, I am proud to stand up for
the rights of the unborn and my
rights as a woman.
No circumstance justifies abor
tion. Allowing women the choice
of an abortion actually broadens
gender inequality.
Recently, CSFL hosted a life chain
near Franklin Street to silently pro
test abortion. Most of the opposi
tion to our protest came from men.
This was odd, since abortion for the
most part is argued as the choice of
a woman, since it is “her” body.
Some men see abortion as an
“easy way out.” One man com
mented, “Abortion makes up for
my mistakes.” This should outrage
any woman trying to stand up for
her rights it demonstrates how
some men disregard the woman
and her health by considering the
consequences they might have to
face if she keeps the child.
Levine wants the University
to stand up for the equality of all
humans, but why not begin by
standing up for the most innocent?
These children deserve the same
rights we have. Having an abortion
friend of the Ballantine family, told The (Raleigh)
News & Observer “Did someone shake my hand
because of Patrick Ballantine? Sure they did,” Bender
said. “Did someone take a phone call? Absolutely.”
In fact, involved parties agree that, at the very
least, the prestige of Ballantine’s office opened doors
for Image Products that would otherwise have stayed
shut, though lobbyists say they never felt pressured
to buy from the former Senate Minority Leader and
current gubernatorial candidate.
The public is left to wonder about the sincerity
of these assurances. Can we be certain the lobbyists
weren’t hoping for a favor when they awarded busi
ness to the friend of a prominent legislator? What is
the value of Ballantine’s word when he says his busi
ness associations did not influence his vote?
The public deserves to know the answer to these
questions, but the Senate Ethics Committee doesn’t
appear ready to answer them. The group of legisla
tors hasn’t met in five years, and it shows no indica
tion of doing so now.
The silence is deafening.
gized to the student-athlete in question.”
He also noted that University Counsel was responsi
ble for redacting names and other sensitive information
from the letters. University Counsel should have taken
the utmost caution to ensure that confidentiality was
maintained in the process of releasing records.
But the student in question had his tests required by
Athletics, had his information held by Athletics and will
continue to be under the supervision of Athletics not
that of University Counsel. Athletics should put pres
sure on other departments of the University to protect
die privacy of student athletes to the highest degree.
Athletes and department staff have come under
scrutiny in the past, and Athletics’ efforts to shield
them haven’t always been stellar. But this release inci
dent allows Athletics to take a stand and to push the
University further than an apology the department
should pressure University Counsel to ensure that such
a careless mistake not happen twice.
UNC owes a great dead to the staff and the athletes
who contribute here. Athletics should lead the way
in pushing officials to work to protect their privacy
in the future.
to alleviate pressure on colleges to pitch high match
ing funds, tiie Chronicle reported. Robert Killoran,
former president of the National Council of University
Research Administrators, told the Chronicle that some
agency officials might have applied pressure t raise
matching funds, but few university officials were willing
to point out the offenders because they feared losing
access to future funds. This new measure of complete
separation works to prevent anything of that sort.
Thomas Cooley, director of the NSF’s office of
budget, finance and award management, told the
Chronicle that the measure would allow smaller col
leges to compete for awards more fairly with univer
sities that might be able to foot more of the bill.
Research should be undertaken by the best people
for the job. Science shouldn’t be mired in petty business
practices that give incentives for academics to focus on
securing matching funds instead of their research.
The NSFs elimination of most of its matching funds
requirements for proposals might force the foundation
to make fewer grants available, but it should ensure
that money goes to the researchers with the best ideas
and not just the ones from the wealthiest institutions.
says your life is more important
than the life of your unborn child,
which is equivalent to saying a
man’s life is better than a woman’s.
The value of one person should
never outweigh that of another.
Women should be given infor
mation on the other options avail
able to them as well as the risks,
and it is the job of organizations
like the Carolina Women’s Center
to make sure women are informed.
I begin standing up for my rights
as a woman by standing up for the
equality of future women (and
men) otherwise not given their
chance at life.
Patricia Williams
Junior
Biology
Column portrays College
Republicans inaccurately
TO THE EDITOR:
Asa proud member of the UNC
College Republicans, I am extreme
ly offended by Matt Compton’s
Wednesday column (“College
Republicans become bit players in
their own farce,” Oct. 13) —but I
suppose the goal of it was to arouse
such passionate disgust.
I’m appalled that you seem to
side with the man who damaged
our nation’s flag. Thousands upon
thousands of American lives have
been lost in defense of that flag
and, to me, burning it simply dis
regards the lives lost and the loved
ones left behind with nothing but
Opinion
a folded flag.
In regard to the fact that we
seem to be the only ones “parading
around campus” with it proudly
displayed, that is simply a matter
of the choices of others. We fully
support anyone else who wants
to display their American flag
because it symbolizes the right
of each person on campus to pro
claim his or her views as loudly as
he or she likes.
We may not agree with the
Young Democrats, but I believe
you’ll be hard-pressed to find any
College Republican on campus
who would discourage them from
setting up a flag on their table.
As to the rest of your column,
you are simply an outsider looking
in on an organization making great
strides in the campus community.
I resent that you portray us as
a group of whining, sniveling chil
dren who complain to anyone and
everyone when things aren’t going
our way. We stand up for what we
believe in, and I’m not really sorry
if that offends you.
However, it is unfortunate that
you haven’t taken time to come to
a meeting or an event to discuss
with us what you think is wrong
with our organization. I suggest
you come to a College Republicans
meeting and see exactly what our
organization does before you sling
around accusations.
Jenny Stevens
Sophomore
Political Science
ON THE DAY’S NEWS
“In great matters men show themselves as they wish to be seen;
in small matters , as they are”
GAMALIEL BRADFORD, BIOGRAPHER AND HISTORIAN
EDITORIAL CARTOON
COMMENTARY
Debates highlighted Bushs
inability to admit mistakes
In fifth grade, I had my one
and only formal debate. We
were supposed to pretend we
were on the brink of the Civil War,
a choice that no doubt seemed
safely distant to most of us where
I grew up, in Colorado.
My parents’ house lay about
2 miles south of what back this
way was the Mason-Dixon line,
so I chose to represent the South.
It went pretty well through the
opening statements and one
round back and forth.
Then I got to my second major
point, which was that northerners
had no real moral claim against
racism, since they had plenty of
Ku Klux Klansmen up there, too.
My opponent, the dreaded
Rhonda Blankenship, flashed a
winning smirk and noted that
I must be quite a fortune-teller
the Ku Klux Klan didn-t-exisU
until after the Civil War.
I still remember the shame of
that defeat. Maybe that’s what
keeps bringing me back to watch
the debates every election season.
I want someone to look worse
than I felt back in fifth grade. After
watching three rounds of John
Kerry going head-to-head with
George W. Bush, I’m starting to feel
a bit better. Even for the pros, it’s
hard to keep everything on track
Bush seemed out of his element.
Presidents often get coddled into
thinking they can do no wrong, and
by carefully screening crowds and
limiting his press events through
out his first term, Bush might have
been softened up even more than
some of his predecessors.
The easy floater questions sud
denly came high and inside like a
Roger Clemens fastball, and the
soothing scroll of a teleprompter
was nowhere in sight.
At times, he simply didn’t seem
to know what he was talking about.
During the second debate,
Criticism of Bush's record
on women on the mark
TO THE EDITOR:
I would like to echo the senti
ments of Emily Batchelder in her
column last Friday (“President
is chipping away at reproduc
tive health care,” Oct. 8) pointing
out the inadequacies of the Bush
administration’s policies on wom
en’s health.
It seems hypocritical to denounce
abortion and family planning with
out providing financial assistance
to those families that would be
drastically affected by bringing
another child into the home.
Not only do President Bush and
his right-wing Republican friends
oppose equating men’s and wom
en’s health care, but they also don’t
support the continuation of wom
en’s equality in the workplace.
During the past four years, the
Equal Pay Initiative has halted.
Women still earn only $0.77 to
every SI.OO a man earns in the
workplace. The Child Care Tax
credit has not been expanded to
meet the needs of working parents
and their children under the Bush
administration.
John Kerry and John Edwards
will change all of this. Senator
Kerry was the co-sponsor of the
Women’s Health Equity Act which
provides the best health care to all
women.
Senator Kerry and Senator
Edwards support the women’s right
to choose and family planning ini
DAVID HAVLICK
OVER THE HILL
responding to a question about
tax cuts, Kerry pointed out that
the Republicans include certain
dividend payments as if they were
small business earnings. Kerry
noted that Bush had counted as a
small business because of an SB4
check from a timber company
investment.
Bush mocked Kerry in his
response. “I own a timber com
pany? That’s news to me! Need
some wood?”
Afrit-turns out, Kerry-had a—-
better handle on the president’s
investments than the man himself
did. The president’s 2003 finan
cial disclosure form showed he
received SB4 for his partial own
ership of “LSTF, LLC,” a limited
liability company organized “for
the purpose of the production of
trees for commercial sales.”
Kerry’s source, www.factcheck
org, noted that their article omit
ted the fact that LSTF wasn’t in the
timber business when the presi
dent’s received his SB4 check and
that it was designated on his 2001
tax return form as coming from “oil
and gas production” business.
Speaking of timber, Kerry
managed to appear confident
and steady on most issues-with
out falling into the woodenness
that plagued Al Gore four years
ago. And after the first debate,
Republican tacticians largely aban
doned the Kerry-as-flip-flopper
taunt they’d used for months. Sixty
million Americans had just seen the
challenger sound so resolute that
tiatives. Both Senators Kerry and
Edwards support balancing the pay
gap so that men and women earn
the same amount for the same
work.
Kerry and Edwards support
expanding the Child Care Tax cred
it to provide adequate child care to
3.5 million children in America.
Don’t let the “W” is for “Women”
fool you.
To find out more on this issue
and many more, come out to the
Festival for a Better Future from 2
p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 24 on McCorkle
Place.
It is sure to be the biggest
political event in recent UNC his
tory. Gene Nichols, dean of the
UNC School of Law, and Allan
Gurganus, author of “Oldest Living
Confederate Widow Tells All”, will
speak. I hope to see you there.
Blakely Whilden
District 6
Student Congress
TO SUBMIT A LETTER: The Daily
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them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC
27515 or e-mail them to editdesk@unc.
edu.
abr Boily (Ear Rrri
the sandal slander no longer fit.
After three surprisingly substan
tive debates, what might be most
shocking is not that we face yet
another close election in just fifteen
days, but that some voters still can’t
seem to make up their minds.
After all was said and done,
if you still can’t decide which of
these two men would be the more
thoughtful, competent, honest
leader, or which represented your
positions better issue by issue, then
I would direct you to the straight
forward question asked late in the
second debate by Linda Grabel.
Asking Bush to think through
the thousands of decisions he has
made in the past four years, she
requested simply, “Please give three
instances in which you came to
realize you had made a wrong deci
sion, and what you did to correct it.”
What-eame next was-eerie. Bush m
seemed to be at a loss to think of
any substantive mistakes from his
first term. He acted as if Grabel
sought to lure him into another
question about Iraq. His response
whittled down to this: “On the big
questions, about whether or not we
should have gone into Afghanistan,
the big question about whether we
should have removed somebody in
Iraq, I’ll stand by those decisions
because I think they’re right. It’s
really what you’re when they
ask about the mistakes, that’s what
they’re talking about.”
No, Mr. Bush. It’s not just about
Iraq or the mistakes you’ve made
there. It’s about being human. It’s
about recognizing that even the
president of the United States is fal
lible. It’s about learning on the job.
And if you can’t manage to learn
and be president at the same time,
then I urge us all to help you con
centrate exclusively on the former.
Contact David Havlick
at havlick@email.unc.edu
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