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10 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 WRITE A NEW CODE The mess with this year’s special election just goes to show that efforts to revise the Student Code largely have failed, and a fresh start is needed. It’s anew academic year, but student government still is facing the same ordeals and setbacks as always. Every year the Student Code comes into question, and every year the solution is the same futile revision of a section here or an article there. It’s time to stop trying to correct the Code it’s too far gone. The best way to save our ailing Student Code is to kill it and start afresh. Last year, Student Congress spent much of the year wait, the whole year rewriting and reword ing much of the Code. It’s painfully clear from this month’s disputes about special elections in the Student Supreme Court that the time was spent in vain. Interpretation of the Code is up to the Supreme Court, but deciphering a document sullied by years of piecemeal alterations is no easy task. Student Congress should save future representatives and Student Supreme Court justices the headache of correcting and interpreting our inadequate —and often flawed Student Code. In the time that Student Congress will waste revamp ing the Code, an entirely new Code —one that actually GETTING RIPPED OFF Many students were unable to purchase Homecoming Concert tickets while organizers are hogging more than their fair share of free seats. After years of disappointing acts, the Carolina Union Activities Board and the Carolina Athletic Association pulled off an impressive feat getting rapper Common to come to Memorial Hall for Homecoming. Despite some grumblings about the $40,000 price tag, students responded well 1,300 tickets sold out in just three days. But while we thank both groups for their work, members overstepped their bounds by claiming a disproportionate number of tickets for what could be one of the biggest shows on campus all year. It’s not that members shouldn’t be rewarded for their hard work. But 100 tickets? Give us a break. If this were the Dean Dome which seats more than 20,000 that might be one thing. But Memorial Hall, for all its beauty, seats just 1,434. That means that members claimed 7 percent of the seats. Common and his posse took just 20 tickets. Members should be rewarded for their hard work in a volunteer organization. But lots of people vol unteer on campus and in the community without expecting a reward hence the word “volunteer.” Every last person who had even a little to do with WORK IN PROGRESS UJIJ t While the town is doing a decent job with some projects to revitalize the downtown area, there are some aspects that are being neglected. Most reasonable people will agree that Franklin Street is in need of revitalization. The number of empty storefronts is a testa ment to that fact. But it requires both a more busi ness-friendly climate and a more secure feel. We’re happy that the Town Council has given the go-ahead to the mixed-use developments at parking lot 5 and the Wallace Deck. Admittedly, there are some valid concerns. Rosemary Street will be nar rowed by the project, and congestion could become a problem. Also, the nine-story complex at lot 5 will dramatically alter the skyline. But other projects in the past have done the same, and people will get used to it soon enough. In addition to that project, Rosemary Village and the Franklin Hotel also bring the promise of getting more people downtown. And there’s talk of trying to get a grocery store soon something that’s sorely needed. But there are some problems with downtown that need to be addressed. First, the parking situation won’t be improved under the current plan. The town is adding 400 new spaces, but that’s just not enough, especially when 233 housing units are being built 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. Address concerns to Public Editor Elliott Dube at dubee@email.unc.edu. Orange County Sheriff's Dept. * CHECK PLUS Guys are robbing folks in their cars late at night in Hillsborough? Well, the local law enforcement knows where in Hillsborough to wait to nap the crooks. Now there are three fewer folks wandering around taking stuff at gun and knife-point. ✓ New distribution bracelets are weak CHECK Bracelets that people can’t take off and give to their friends are a good thing. So are bracelets that might not cost as much. But they tend to pull out arm hair, and it’s questionable if they’ll last in the shower. / Low early voter turnout at polls CHECK MINUS Quite frankly, the lack of inter est in early voting doesn’t bode well for student issues in the elections. If we can’t even walk to Morehead Planetarium to vote, why should newly elected candidates listen to our concerns? serves its intended purpose could be written. Congress should not attempt to create anew Code on its own, though. What we need are nonstudents writing a solid and durable Code. That process might take a while, and students come and go; should Congress write the new Code, it would only become as confusing and superfluous as the old one. Those writing the new Code should be from within the University, and familiar with its inner workings. UNC has an amazing stock of constitutional experts and academics that dedicate their lives to creating documents such as these. These are the folks that can ensure that it will avoid becoming a quagmire when it should be a guiding light. The Code is decades old, and though there is something to be said for tradition, what’s the use of a historic code if it doesn’t work? There’s no reason to try to save the Student Code as it is. The patchwork corrections and years of frivolous modifications have muddied the wording of the Student Code, leaving it a maimed and paralyzed document. So instead of trying to fix this dog’s teeth, just get anew pooch. bringing Common here simply shouldn’t be entitled to a ticket. Or two. CUAB President Jonathon Benson said in an e mail that it is policy to reward members up to two tickets for their work in the process and for their overall involvement with the organization. Two tick ets? We thought the idea was to reward the people who did the work, not their friends. Hard work should be rewarded, but when a high-demand act comes to campus, board members should be mature enough to reason out a system by which those who did the most work, or have the most seniority, get a spot in the crowd. Others can wait their turn. That might seem unfair to some, but tell that to the students who will be shut out of Memorial Hall on Sunday. This is no different from grabbing more than your fair share of seats for basketball games. Volunteering for an organization shouldn’t automatically mean you get easy access to major campus events. So when it comes to bringing in popular acts, keep up the good work. But make sure you work out a system that is equitable next time. at the same time. All the retail space in the world won’t do any good if people can’t find a place to park before they shop. The other problem facing downtown is the ele phant in the room everybody sees it, but nobody wants to be the first to bring it up. Between the poor street lighting, the aggressive panhandling and the open drug use near the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets, it’s just not an inviting place to take a family after dark there was even a gunfight on Franklin last week. Chapel Hill seems willing to talk about improved lighting, as it should, and increased police presence also has broad support. But the town should also con sider passing some ordinances however politically incorrect that further crack down on aggressive panhandling and vagrancy. Business owners shouldn’t have to spend money removing syringes and human waste from their property every morning, which unfortunately at least one local business does. We think it’s great that the Town Council wants to improve downtown. But it’s important to keep in mind that there’s more to creating a thriving neigh borhood than just putting up new buildings. READERS’ FORUM Only the BOE knows bylaws enough to run the elections TO THE EDITOR: Lately, the Board of Elections has received merciless press in the DTH. The criticism is a little absurd coming from journalists who have never decisively stud ied Title VI Student Government General Election Laws. Their out side opinion should not merit the acknowledgement of any UNC students who what do they say demand democracy? Title VI is a confusing docu ment containing many contradic tory clauses. The board has spent countless hours trying to make sense of it and apply it fairly. Also, the drama surrounding the second seat in District 3 that was placed on the ballot after the compulsory candidacy meeting can be described as an attempt of goodwill that came back to bite the board. We decided to put the sec ond seat on the ballot because we wanted the empty seats in Student Congress to be filled as soon as possible. Nowhere in Title VI does it state that it is it illegal for the board to add an additional seat to the ballot. However, our decision to put the seat on the ballot was not well publicized, and therefore the board tried to remedy the situation by removing it from the ballot. In addition, I would also like Opinion to make it clear that the board has never and will never favor one stu dent group over another. The board’s interest is in running elections, not the partisan make-up of Student Congress. Every decision has been to keep the playing field level. The coverage given by the DTH has taken away from the Homecoming candidates. These six students have worked hard to be on the ballot and deserve more coverage than the BOE. They are doing great things and have plat forms ranging from hurricane relief to promoting oral hygiene. Give them some well-deserved coverage, please. In response to the suggestion that Nicholas Mosley (chairman) and Jim Brewer (vice chairman) should resign, I have two comments. One, Jim and I share the same position, so if you want top Board of Elections officials to step down, note that there are two vice chairs. Secondly, resig nation: good idea l’m sure an aver age student who has never seen Title VI would be well-versed enough to take over the job. And how does the board feel about being challenged to ensure a fair election? Well, in the words of David Noel, “Don’t even worry, we’re gonna make it.” Mary Boyd Harris Vice Chairwoman Board of Elections “/ don’t know that it was a totally fair election.’’ PABLO FRIEDMANN, student congress candidate, on invalidated district 2 results EDITORIAL CARTOON vane wise MU’ gIUMS's pass#* A tiny note * _ ...!+'s +ht Oc+ober Report - . Fall, food and fun for that chilly cold and flu season More than once this week, I left work with the thought, “Hey! It’s cold enough to use the heater on the way home!” If, you know, my car heater actually worked. Car trouble aside, fall is finally here. Every year I am convinced it never is coming, that it will be 85 degrees and humid forever. But here we are, breaking out the long sleeves once more. Something about fall screams “Hey, get in the kitchen!” There are certain flavors that are out of place save for these few months. Pumpkin pie in the summer? Perish the thought. This is the time of year for applesauce cakes with maple icing, pumpkin bread and vegetable soups. Plus, now that midterms are done and term papers aren’t quite breathing down our necks, there’s just enough time to spend an afternoon spreading the happy smells of fall all across your kitchen. This is also the time of year when I learned how to cook. My English teacher decided that we should have a fun day of celebrating food after reading Clyde Edgerton’s “Walking Across Egypt,” before the stress of pre paring for Advanced Placement exams began. My best friend Ashley and I spent an afternoon in her kitchen preparing for this. I made the old-fashioned Betty Crocker apple pie with a lattice crust and she made combread in a cast-iron skillet. After some deliberation, we decided that the skillet should go on the range, not in the oven. Yeah. Luckily, the pie turned out to cover up the smell of scorched combread. The evidence was bur ied outside. You know how sometimes there is one definite sign that it’s a cer tain time of year? Well, it wasn’t really fall in my family until my mom made pumpkin bread. At least Carolina coaches have some sense of loyalty TO THE EDITOR: In another shameless attempt at self-promotion, the dirtbag from Durham has signed on to lead Team USA in the 2008 Olympics, forgetting all about the poor indi viduals he tricked into attending the worst place on earth. He’s basically said, “Screw the Blue Devils, this is about the K man.” But this isn’t surprising considering the K-first tradition. Remember the “back problem” he conveniently suffered before Duke’s worst season in 20 years? What about the public flirt-fest with the Lakers, just to get his rat like mug on ESPN? And who will ever get those American Express commercials out of their night mares? “I don’t think of myself as a basketball coach, I think of myself as a self-promoting media glutton who happens to coach basketball.” If he really cares so much about his team, why would he miss a practice to have a press conference in New York? When is the last time Roy missed practice to hold a press conference? I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is, would it be wrong to pull for France? McKenzie Sumner Freshman Biology AMY ROSSI LIFE OF SPICE It’s a simple recipe and you can do a lot with it. Toast it and butter it for breakfast, slice a loaf up as a side dish for dinner, or serve it as a dessert. If you’re feeling espe cially intrepid, use fresh pumpkin instead of the canned good. (I’ve yet to try this because I’m not so much with the knife skills, but I hear fresh is fantastic.) Granny's Pumpkin Bread Beat together: 4 eggs 2 cups cooked pumpkin 1 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup cold water Sift the following together, then combine with wet ingredients: 31/4 cups flour 2 tsp baking soda 11/2 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 3 cups sugar Bake in greased 8- or 9-inch loaf pans for 60 to 75 minutes. It makes two loaves. If you have any favorite fall rec ipes, please send them along. I’d love to try them and share them in the coming weeks. A Mountain of Kleenex While I am wicked happy for the season change, the amount of sniffling, sneezing and cough ing that is peppering campus classrooms suggests that another season is upon us well. I am in fact writing this from Speak Oat 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. ttHfp Daily (Ear lifrrl Established 1893 112 years of editorialfreedom RYAN C. TUCK EDITOR, 962-4086 RCTUCK@EMAILUNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS: TUESDAY, THURSDAY 1-2 P.M. PIT SIT: FRIDAY 12-1 P.M.. JOSEPH R. SCHWARTZ MANAGING EDITOR. 962-0750 JOSEPH_SCHWARTZOUNC.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 S NATIONAL EDITOR, 962-4103 STNTDESK@UNC.EDU DANIEL MALLOY SPORTS EDITOR, 962-4710 SPORTS@UNC.EDU Doily Sar Hwl By Philip McFee, pip@email.unc.edu a veritable throne of tissues. And it stinks. While you’re supposed to feed a fever and starve a cold, sometimes what can be most helpful is some comfort food. Soup, chili just something that makes you feel warm and taken care of. For me, the ultimate soothing food is homemade macaroni and cheese, baked in the oven with bread crumbs. Do not attempt if you do not have the energy to stand and stir: Baked Mac and Cheese 1 lb macaroni 3 tbsp margarine 3 tbsp flour 2 cups milk (skim is fine) About 1 lb shredded cheese Salt and pepper Bread crumbs (optional) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni as directed and drain. Melt the mar garine in a double broiler and stir in the flour. Slowly add the milk. Stir occasionally till the mixture thickens, then Eidd the cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. While the cheese melts, transfer the maca roni into a buttered 13 inch by 9 inch dish. Stir the cheese mixture till blended, then pour over the macaroni. Mix gently, then top with bread crumbs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. It makes a ton, so if you’re not a fan of leftovers, the recipe can be halved easily. And if you make it with a cold, feel free not to share. Hopefully that will help some of you battling the cold season feel a little better. Enjoy the beauti ful weather. And if you don’t do much cooking, these recipes are a pretty easy place to start. Contact Amy Rossi, a senior majoring in communication studies, a amrossi@email.unc.edu www.daiiytarheel.com TORRYE JONES FEATURES EDITOR, 962-4214 FEATURES@UNC.EDU JIM WALSH ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, 962-4214 ARTSDESK@UNC.EDU SCOn SPILLMAN COPY CO-EDITOR, 962-4103 CATHERINE WILLIAMS COPY CO-EDITOR, 962-4103 WHITNEY SHEFTE PHOTO EDITOR, 962-0750 JEN ALLIET DESIGN CO-EDITOR, 962-0750 DANIEL BEDEN DESIGN CO-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 ELLIOn DUBE PUBLIC EDITOR, 260-9084 DUBEE@EMAIL.UNC.EDU
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 28, 2005, edition 1
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