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16 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2005 DESERVING BETTER The core of the American government is the United States Constitution —and citizens should be sure to educate themselves about their rights. September 17 has once again passed with rela tively little acknowledgement from the public at large it was a day ignored. For those who are part of the growing number of the “historically illiterate,” Sept. 17 marks the signing of the United States Constitution, essentially the day that coincides with the birth of our republic in its current incar nation —and the document which guarantees the freedoms and liberties we hold so dear. And yet, we barely noticed. The apathy toward a day that is so important and inspiring is embarrassing. But we might be on the road to recovery. Last December, Senator Robert Byrd, D- W.Va., attached an amendment to a spending bill that mandates that all American schools receiving federal funding must “hold an educational program.” Though that does not say much and certainly does not guarantee that children will be looking forward to Constitution Day with glee, it is a small and proper gesture. It is appropriate that we take a single day to remember that one living document has guided this nation for more than 200 years and guaranteed our most fundamental rights. HELPING THE STATE The Area Health Education Centers program is an example of how the University can serve the statewide community and improve health care. AHEC, the University’s Area Health Education Centers program, is looking to expand its reach in order to keep up with the ever-grow ing demand across the state for medical workers. The expansion will allow AHEC to train more students for work in the medical field, while also educating rural health care workers and alleviating shortages in medical personnel. In short, the upgraded AHEC will be even more of a shining example of how the University can serve the state of North Carolina. The AHEC program sends doctors, nurses, phar macists, dentists and other health professionals across the state not only to treat patients, but also to educate and train rural health care workers in newer technologies and to disseminate information on recent medical developments. Students of the allied health fields turn to AHEC for clinical field experience. And expanded enroll ment in UNC’s professional schools creates a need for more available clinical sites where students can get field experience. The expansion of AHEC personnel will provide more opportunities for students to receive the nec essary experience while also offering a service to CROSS AT OWN RISK Students and the Department of Public Safety should both make sure that pedestrian safety 7 —and not costly citations remains a goal. The University’s Department of Public Safety is again making an effort to improve the safety of pedestrians on campus. Coming on the heels of a psychology student’s being hit while crossing at the intersection of Columbia and Franklin streets, a heightened awareness by the campus police might be a good way to go provided that citations are not handed out willy-nilly. Theoretically, students can be fined for jaywalk ing. Citations could amount to up to $l2O slO for the actual citation and sllO for court costs which would cause a considerable sucking sound to be heard from students’ bank accounts. Granted, the citations might only be written if a student is cross ing outside a crosswalk and forces oncoming traffic to break. But as soon as those break lights flare, stu dents are eligible to be fined. It’s not anew policy, but it’s one that DPS could end up enforcing more vigorously this school year. DPS will have a period of warnings before they begin handing out tickets to students whose crime essentially is taking a shortcut to class. Which is good, considering that construction —as well as freshmen still unfamiliar with the layout of campus EDITOR'S NOTE: The above editorials are the opinions solely of The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board and were reached after open debate. The board consists of four board members, the associate opinion editor, the opinion editor and the DTH editor. The 2005-06 DTH editor decided not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials. Increased efficiency can lead to devaluing workers TO THE EDITOR: The team cleaning system is another step in the corporatiza tion of the university and the dehumanization of the housekeep ers’work experience. It transforms cleaning operations into precision machines. Does that make our housekeepers into mere cogs in the machine? The characterization of the housekeepers’ concerns as human nature when dealing with change is patronizing and condescend ing. While it might be true that there are no stopwatches involved in this process, there is a little black book. As presented to housekeep ers it contains 447 individualized cleaning times. If this effort to impose a corpo rate system on our housekeepers for the sake of efficiency reflects the administration’s vision for employee working conditions, then how long can it be before they start to think about all the administrative or clerical support that could be done so much more efficiently elsewhere? It’s the housekeepers now. It could be you next. David Brannigan Groundskeeper The UNC School of Law did host a panel discus sion called “Confirming Justice: The Supreme Court Confirmation Process” —a move that certainly brings UNC within compliance. But it was a passable start. The Constitution deserves a bit more fanfare. A seminar at the School of Law might or might not have brought in the crowd, but the University should have showed more initiative and done something closer to the heart of campus. If we can have a week to familiarize students with the Honor Code through events in the Pit, certainly we can have a reading or some other acknowledgement of the Constitution in the Pit or even on Polk Place. Constitution Day might not have the glamor of fireworks or parades, but it lets us remember how important that document really is the extent to which it has protected the American people and has shaped our nation’s history cannot be overstated. So could we all stop for a moment and, if some of us have not done so, peruse the Constitution. As Senator Byrd, in his passion, put it best: “It’s the anchor, the compass, the guiding light.” patients and medical workers across the state. Part of UNC’s responsibility as a state university is to serve the people of North Carolina. Expansion of AHEC fiirthers UNC’s commitment to these goals. Tom Bacon, AHEC’s director, told The (Durham) Herald-Sun, “You can only do so much sitting in Chapel Hill or at Duke.” That sums up the situation quite nicely. Sitting in an ivory tower or a state-of the-art hospital has a limited effect on the state’s rural communities. AHEC is one of UNC’s foremost public service programs. It will need between $lO and sl2 mil lion more during the next few years in order to accomplish its desired expansion. Currently, $44 million of the $l5O million is provided to AHEC through state appropriations. This price tag may seem steep, but the services AHEC provides are well worth the money. Being a public institution, UNC has an obligation to serve all the state’s residents. There is no better way to serve than to heal and educate all in need across the state, especially in those areas that need it most. After all, if North Carolina doesn’t have its health, what does it have? is a serious factor in jaywalking. Closed sidewalks and tight schedules make for a propensity to dash across the street and hope for the best. Of course, that is no excuse in the eyes of the law. Fleet-footed students need to keep in mind that they could be ticketed by roving campus policemen next time they don’t wait for the light on Manning Drive or casually saunter across Cameron Avenue on the way to their next class. Getting stopped by a DPS agent, whether to get a warning or a ticket, is an easy way to be late to class. Safety comes first, and DPS hardly can be blamed for wanting to improve it, especially since there were 24 injuries reported last year in situations where pedestrians foolishly thought that they would be vic torious when playing chicken with an automobile. At the same time, campus police should be under standing. Young scholars can’t and probably won’t always cross in a crosswalk despite the fact that in a crosswalk students are safe while being drunk on the power to stop traffic. But if students make a good faith effort, perhaps DPS will refrain from handing out too many citations. Students need to be aware of coming cuts in aid TO THE EDITOR: Programs that you care about Pell Grants, Federal Work Study and LEAP are being under funded. Lenders want to charge you higher interest rates for your student loans, and financial aid is on the chopping block. If you’re on Pell Grants, LEAP or Federal Work Study pay attention. The binding levels for these programs will be frozen until 2013, despite more students’ going to college and rising tuition. If you’re on student loans, pay attention. The lenders want to raise the interest cap on stu dent loans from 6.8 percent to 8.25 percent, costing the average undergraduate borrower $3,300 more. If you’re on a federal finan cial aid program, pay attention. The Budget Reconciliation Act includes up to sl3 billion in cuts to student financial aid pro grams. Sept. 20 is the national call-in day for students. Call your fed eral legislators and tell them that student aid programs need to be strengthened, not weakened. Ginny Franks VP of Legislative Affairs ASG Opinion Current Pledge fails to separate religion and state TO THE EDITOR: The issue of the Pledge of Allegiance is not one of compro mising between two polarized groups the issue is protecting the rights of all Americans by rein stating religious neutrality. The original text was written by a socialist, Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, in 1892. It was not until 1954 that Congress added “under God” to the text they adopted as the official pledge in 1942. The change came after lobbying by prominent Christian groups that advocated an oath separating America from atheist Soviets. This made it a bla tantly religious affirmation, which was not what Bellamy wanted. The current wording of the Pledge is unconstitutional. The court was correct that the Pledge’s use as a daily ritual is coercive. The Judeo-Christian deity is the idea in which one must believe in order to pledge allegiance to our flag. Even if they or their parents oppose it, most children will not abstain from the mass recital of the Pledge, due to peer pressure and an inclination to follow teach ers’ instructions. Dustin Ingalls Junior Political Science FROM THE DAY S NEWS “If we don’t have the orders in, we cant offerfull buy-backs and students have to buy new (books).” KELLY HANNER, supply store manager for textbooks at student stores, on textbook buyback policies EDITORIAL CARTOON BEfeTj .. IvgJ Seeking: Ethical columnist for vacant Tuesday position I’m sure that for many of you, this is the first place you flipped to curious to see what would be in this space since we fired our Tuesday columnist for journalistic misconduct. Well, as the one in charge of the editorial page this week, it falls to me to solicit applications for a replacement columnist. So that’s where you, dear read er, come in. If you’re opinionated —and I know that a lot of you are because I get to read every single letter to the editor —and inter ested in working for The Daily Tar Heel for the remainder of the semester, then you need to keep reading. Hell, the rest of you can just keep reading for kicks. I’ll try to keep it relatively entertaining. The Tuesday columnist open ing is an at-large position. That means he or she gets to write about pretty much anything. That could be anything from bashing your favorite political opponent all the way to writing “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” a thousand times or so. OK, well maybe not that last one. I somehow doubt that readers would find that kind of repetition very scintillating. And for all those conservatives dty Hatty (Tor Ueri PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS STAFF Business and Advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director/gen eral manager; Megan Gilchrist, advertising director; Lisa Reichle, business manager, Ellen Withrow, business assistant; Amy Fuschino, retail sales manager. Customer Service: Emma Assistant Editors: Ben Pittard and Tanner Slayden, arts & entertainment, Brianna Bishop, Meghan Davis and Jake Potter, city; Lindsay Naylor and Leila Watkins, copy; Rachel Ferguson and Fred Lameck, design; Julia Furlong, features; Bobby Sweatt, graphics; Kurt Gentry, multime dia; Clint Johnson, online; Chris Cameron, opinion; Ricky Leung and Alison Yin, photography; Derek Howies, Alicia Jones and Al Killeffer, sports; Erin Gibson, Eric Johnson and Sarah Rabil, state & national; Katie Hoffmann, Lindsay Michel and Jenny Ruby, university. Arts & Entertainment: Becca Moore, John Coggin, senior writers; Andrew Chan, William Fonvielle, Alan M. Hayes, Whitney Isenhower, Harry Kaplowitz, Stanton Kidd, Blair Raynor, Rachel Richey and Mike Sullivan. 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Photography: Brandon Smith, senior photographer; Steve Andrawes, Gillian Bolsover, Sara Lewkowicz, Kate Lord, Ray Jones, Brandon Maynard, Alexandra Montealegre, Brady Nash, Logan Price, Raj Saha, Isaac Sandlin, Rachel Shaver, Crystal Street and Val Tenyotkin. Sports: Briana Gorman, Sport Saturday editor; ISN #10709436 OFFICE: Suite 2409 Carolina Union ■fjlßtrr CAMPUS MAIL ADDRESS: CB# 5210, Carolina Union JWNk U.S. MAIL ADDRESS: P.O. Box 3257, _tS| Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3257 Wjß&ra The editorials are approved by the majority of the editorial board, which com prises the editor, editorial page editor, the associate editorial page editor and seven editorial writers. The Daily Tar Heel is published by the DTH Publishing Corp., a nonprofit North Carolina corporation, Monday-Friday, according to the University calendar. Callers with questions about billing or display adver tising should call 962-1163 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Classified ads can be reached at 962-0252. Editorial questions should be directed to 962-0245. Speak Out We welcome letters to the editor and aim to publish as many as possible. In writing, please follow these simple guidelines: Keep letters under 300 words. Type them. Date them. Sign them; make sure they're signed by no more than two people. If you're a student, include your year, major and phone number. Faculty and staff: Give us your department and phone number. The DTH edits for space, clarity, accuracy and vulgarity. Bring letters to our office at Suite 2409 in the Student Union, e-mail them to editdesk@unc.edu, or send them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27515. All letters also will appear in our blogs section. ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR out there who don’t think they’ll have a chance think again. I myself am a conservative and serve on the county Republican Party’s executive committee. So don’t go assuming that you’d be walking into the lion’s den unac companied because of the Tar Heel’s reputation. We also accept all majors. I’m certainly not going to abandon my beloved economics or anthropol ogy for journalism. Reading over this, I see I have extra space, so let me expound on some of the fringe benefits of working at the good ol’ DT of H. We have rocking parties. If you’ve ever wanted to be the cool est person in the room, then you need to come to a DTH shindig. We also pay top dollar for colum nists —and by top dollar I mean no dollars. Throw in laboring alongside charming wordsmiths Jennie See, Katie Slusser, account executives. Advertising Production: Penny Persons, manager, Cindy Huntley, ad production coordinator, Beth O'Brien, assistant; Michelle Rial, assistant: Debbie Rosen, assistant. Sam Shepard, assistant Sport Saturday editor; Jacob Karabell, Brian MacPherson, David Moses, Brandon Parker, senior writers Matt Estreich, columnist; Gregg Found, Kristin Pratt, Gaby Remington and John Zhang. State & National: Megan McSwain, senior writer; Matt Bowies, Amy Eagleburger, Erin France, Stephen Moore, Seth Peavey, Kristin Pratt and Whitney Isenhower. University: Kelly Ochs, Emily Steel senior writers; Kathryn Bales, Kelli Borbet, Don Campbell, Georgia Cherry, Katie Cline, Hilary Delbridge, Katherine Evans, Shari Feld, Katherine Hollander, Stephanie Newton, Stephanie Novak, Brandon Reed, Daniel Wilkes and Erin Zureick. Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager. Printing: Triangle Web. Distribution: Triangle Circulation Services. (Elir Hatty (Ear Hrrl By Philip McFee, pip@email.unc.edu such as myself, and you’ve got a stellar workplace. If you’ve read this far, then most likely you’re interested in applying to fill this space once a week I know you didn’t make it this deep into a giant block of text because of my amusing anecdotes. Applicants should compose a 700-word sample column. Again, it can be on virtually any topic that would be of interest to the casual reader though I would offer up as a tip that hackneyed issues such as abortion or-the death penalty are unlikely to attract attention. Send that sample and a one line description of a couple other ideas you’d like to write about to editdesk@unc.edu with “colum nist application” in the subject line. You can also drop them by our office in Suite 2409 in the old Student Union. Remember: We’ll contact you. Please don’t pester us. We do read everything we get eventually, but you’ll have to give us time. So send in those applications unless you want me to struggle to fill this space every week. Contact senior Chris Cameron at ccameron@email.unc.edu. Wift Hotly (Ear Hrrl www.dailytazheei.eom Established 1893 112 years of editorialfreedom RYAN C. TUCK EDITOR, 962-4086 RCTUCK@EMAIL.UNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS: TUESDAY, THURSDAY 1-2 P.M. PIT SIT: FRIDAY, 12-1 P.M. JOSEPH R. SCHWARTZ MANAGING EDITOR, 962-0750 JOSEPH_SCHWARTZ@UNC.EDU REBECCA WILHELM DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, 962-0750 BECCAO7@EMAIL.UNC.EDU CHRIS COLETTA OPINION EDITOR, 962-0750 EDITDESK@UNC.EDU BRIAN HUDSON UNIVERSITY EDITOR, 962-0372 UDESK@UNC.EDU TED STRONG CITY EDITOR, 962-4209 CITYDESK@UNC.EDU KAVITA PILLAI STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR, 962-4103 STNTDESK@UNC.EDU DANIEL MALLOY SPORTS EDITOR, 962-4710 SPORTS@UNC.EDU TORRYE JONES FEATURES EDITOR, 962-4214 FEATURES@UNC.EDU JIM WALSH ARTS 8t ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, 962-4214 ARTSDESK@UNC.EDU SCOTT SPILLMAN CO-COPY EDITOR, 962-4103 CATHERINE WILLIAMS CO-COPY EDITOR, 962-4103 WHITNEY SHEFTE PHOTO EDITOR, 962-0750 JEN ALLIET CO-DESIGN EDITOR, 962-0750 DANIEL BEDEN CO-DESIGN EDITOR, 962 0750 FEILDING CAGE GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA EDITOR, 962-0246 CHRIS JOHNSON ONLINE EDITOR, 962-0750 ONLINE@UNC.EDU KELLY OCHS WRITERS' COACH, 962-0372 EMILY STEEL WRITERS' COACH, 962-0372 ELLIOTT DUBE PUBLIC EDITOR, 260-9084 DUBEE@EMAIL.UNC.EDU
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 20, 2005, edition 1
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