10
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2005
SOURS EDITORIALS
SHOW SOME SPIRIT
It wouldn’t hurt students to stand up and let out a roar after a big
football play nor would it hurt students to show up for the game.
UNC is a basketball school. We certainly won’t
deny that. But having a legendary basketball
program is no excuse for being a lackluster
football fan. Sadly, it seems that many fans alumni
and students alike are exactly that.
If you had been watching the UNC-Boston College
football game on Saturday, and changed the channel
back and forth to another college game, you might have
noticed that, when it comes to football games, we are a
very quiet school. After a big play, Kenan Stadium hums
with excitement. Most other schools roar. Players from
other teams have commented on the relative silence of
our fans, and it’s not hard to see or hear why.
Then again, it’s hard to be loud when you have
trouble filling the stadium.
Last week, like so many before it, there were plen
ty of empty seats, despite the fact that tickets are free
to students. There are a few reasons for poor student
attendance. One is that we play a lot of noon games,
and many students are too hung over to make it.
Another is that students don’t know how to get in.
We can’t stop you from drinking too much on
Friday night, but we can try to help people who want
NOT VERY HELPFUL
While it might be a good idea to prepare for potential epidemics, the U.S.
government needs to realize that states don’t have trees that grow money.
The federal government is trying to pass the buck
to the state governments and is being danger
ously nonchalant in protecting Americans
from potential biological threats. President Bush
announced a plan last week that will force local gov
ernments to purchase 31 million flu treatment doses
and require that the states cover 75 percent.
This is too large of a health care and security man
date to thrust upon the states.
President Bush and Congress should work togeth
er to come up with anew plan that does not place
such a burden on the states.
The avian flu has been gaining attention in the
news as it spreads westward, and in the post-Sept.
11,2001 world, bioterrorism is a conceivable danger.
These events re-emphasize the importance of pre
ventative actions such as having necessary supplies
of vaccines available for the public.
But these concerns need to be seen as more than
health care-related these are national security
issues as well. And only one level of government can
handle such a security responsibility the federal
government.
This is not to say the states do not have a role in
TEACH THE MASSES
A recent court ruling in California reinforces and highlights the need
for schools to teach children essential facts about sexual education.
1 ecently, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals pro
claimed that parents do not have sole custody
%J3ver their children’s access to sex education.
But while a mandatory —and thoroughly education
al —program would be ideal, forcing it is unrealistic
and could lead to a watered-down version.
According to the court’s ruling handed down last
week, parents have “no constitutional right to pre
vent the public schools from providing information
on (the subject of sex) to their students in any forum
or manner they select.”
The case originates out of a lawsuit by California
parents angry about a survey including questions on
sex that were given to first-, third- and fifth-grad
ers.
The survey has merit. Officials said they were aim
ing to measure the students’ exposure to trauma so
that they could tailor services to meet their needs.
And that’s a good point. While many children
grow up in healthy homes, others experience first
hand psychologically scarring events that require
early intervention —and sex education probably
wouldn t hurt a lot of students who may be making
uninformed decisions.
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.
Boatright column dispels
stigma of mental illness
TO THE EDITOR:
I want to thank Sara Boatright
for addressing the issue of mental
illness among college students in
her column on Tuesday.
Diagnosed with both bipolar
disorder and ADHD, I not only
wrestle with myself, but also with
the pressure to hide what most
incorrectly view as a crazy person’s
disease.
Carrying the burden of mental
disease does not change me as a per
son; however, it does seem to change
how others view me. Most strug
gling with mental illness do
not seek pity, only understand
ing, support and the freedom to
embrace and openly deal with their
“demons” while they learn more
about them.
So become educated: www.
nimh.nih.gov/nimhhome/index.
elm. Or try Google.
You never know who’s bat
tling themselves while strain
ing to hide from the stigma
associated with the “chemically
unavoidable.” Instead of whis
pering about someone’s pre
scriptions and therapy appoint
ments, hug them and try to
understand. A little education
wouldn’t hurt either.
I’ve come to terms with my
demons, named them and am far
to go but don’t know how. It’s easy: take your One
Card to Gate 5 preferably more than 10 minutes
before kickoff, so you don’t bottleneck at the gate
—and walk in. That’s it.
If that piece of information solves the problem,
great. But there’s a good chance it won’t, since UNC
football lacks the fan tradition that other schools
even Duke, with its 1-9 record have.
With the construction of the Rams Head parking
deck, there’s nowhere to tailgate that doesn’t involve
a prohibitive amount of walking. The restaurants at
Rams Head don’t serve alcohol, and neither does the
stadium itself.
Another problem is that the best seats tend to go to
alumni that don’t know seem to know how to cheer.
This isn’t limited to football at last year’s Duke-
UNC basketball game, the only person standing up
during one crucial moment was Erskine Bowles.
We’d like to solve these problems, but they’ll take
time. More importantly, we’d like to see more stu
dents at the Nov. 19 football game against Duke. It’s
free for students, and, well, they’re Duke.
So get out there and let the players hear you.
the process. North Carolinians probably know best
about how to effectively distribute vaccines through
out their own state. But that does not mean we can or
should have to afford the cost of purchasing said vac
cines. In fact, arms of the state such as the National
Guard are much better at distributing relief than
purchasing or producing the actual supplies.
The current plan seems certain to guarantee
that all 50 states will never have enough vaccines
when they are arguably most needed, and it leads
to another preventable national crisis. The federal
government ought to step up to the plate.
A much better and more equitable plan would be
to have the states cover the costs of storing and dis
tributing the vaccines and the federal government
purchase vaccines. If Washington thinks covering 25
percent of the population is necessary, then it can
purchase the vaccines for the states.
Ensuring security from all threats, from micro- to
macroscopic, is largely the task of the federal govern
ment.
Passing responsibility to local governments may
be politically expedient with the ever burgeoning def
icit, but it is not how you best protect the country.
Regardless of the survey, the ruling speaks to a
larger issue our nation’s sex education program in
public schools. Sex education the basics, in addi
tion to learning life-saving information is essential
for teenagers to navigate confusing issues.
Hiding it will not prevent teenagers from trying
to figure it out for themselves. By educating them
about all their sexual options they can make better
and presumably safer decisions.
Still, not all parents are going to agree. And if
that means letting a small minority of students opt
out, then that’s going to have to be the solution for
now.
The schools have taken on the significant respon
sibility of giving students the information they need
to develop into intelligent adults with healthy views
on sex and to allow them the chance to make the
most well-informed decisions.
Do it right or don’t do it at all.
So if schools are going to do that, when many par
ents even responsible ones don’t even broach
the subject, then it needs to be a thorough, accurate
curriculum. If that means allowing some students to
put their heads in the sand, so be it.
from blushing.
I can only hope the same for
others, mentally ill or not. We all
carry some with us.
Jenna Seagraves
Junior
English
DTH opinion page is turned
over to very capable hands
TO THE EDITOR:
When I resigned as opinion edi
tor of The Daily Tar Heel, I thought
about asking for space in the news
paper to pen a farewell column.
After thinking about it, though,
I realized I’d be grandstanding.
And writing for the DTH, as
much as its critics love to say oth
erwise, isn’t about grandstanding
—and if it is, then you’re in it for
the wrong reasons.
Serving as a member of the stu
dent press is not only an honor but
also a serious responsibility; truth
is no less important on campus
than anywhere else.
So instead of getting into the
specifics of why I left, which are
best left private, I wanted to write
this short, simple letter to wish the
staff of the opinion page the best
of luck in their endeavors. They,
after all, will be the ones in charge
of separating fact from fiction, of
doing the sort of journalism that
Opinion
newspapers must do if they are
to survive in this wired world.
Whether you agree with their opin
ions or not, their mission deserves
our support.
I, for one, have faith. In fact,
judging from their exemplary work
of the last 21/2 months, I doubt the
readers will notice my absence.
Chris Coletta
Senior
Journalism
Relief Coalition mobilizing
to help earthquake victims
TO THE EDITOR:
On Tuesday, the Carolina
Earthquake Relief Coalition held
a vigil to mark the one month
anniversary of the devastating
earthquake in South Asia.
The 7-6-magnitude quake killed
more than 80,000 and left millions
of people homeless in Pakistan and
India.
To this day, only one quarter of
the 550 million dollars requested
by the United Nations has been
donated.
If the full amount is not received
within the next month, an estimat
ed 100,000 more people will die as
winter descends on the Kashmir
region.
CERC is asking commu
nity members to come togeth
er and support this cause
FROM THE DAY’S NEWS
Thank heaven that we are tough enough to bear the shame of
this, and strong enough to forgive ourselves.”
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, writer, on American inaction in the Sudan
EDITORIAL CARTOON
" THE DEMOCRATS shut DOWN THE SENATE - IT'S THE FIRSTTIME SINCE
9/ 11 THAT THE HOMELAND'S FELT SECURE !"
COMMENTARY
Chapel Hill should be more
honest about housing costs
I love the old cliche about a
“wolf in sheep’s clothing”
because, as anyone who
worked at The Daily Tar Heel last
year can tell you, I’m a pretty big
N.C. State University athletics fan.
And like anyone else who har
bors some sort of deep guilt, I can
appreciate the need to tuck some
things away when the time isn’t
right.
I have a few Carolina shirts in
my closet, and I can keep up with
the average UNC football fan
in a conversation about Connor
Barth’s resurgence against Boston
College. If you met me on the
street, you’d probably never guess
that I’m the type of guy who
wears red in the Dean Dome. I
understand the need to keep some
secrets under wraps.
But there’s basketball, there’s
football and then there are serious
issues that deserve a comprehen
sive discussion.
Here’s one: affordable housing.
But it’s disconcerting to see
an incomplete debate about real
issues such as affordable housing.
There isn’t a politician in
Chapel Hill who wants to discuss
the whole range of options for
providing substantial low-cost
housing options. They don’t want
to talk about clearing out green
spaces or setting up cookie-cutter
manufactured houses.
And local politicians don’t need
to consider all of the options at
the table because they’ve man
aged to tuck away the important
issues under boring and some
times progressive-sounding titles
titles such as “neighborhood
conservation.”
There certainly hasn’t been
anything as sexy as a “duplex ban”
in a while.
Besides, seats in Town Hall
meetings are about as full as the
student section at the RBC Center
will be in the next few weeks. So
who’s going to keep Chapel Hill
Town Council members account-
by attending our upcoming
events and donating.
PID sheets will be circulated
through classes during the next
two weeks. More information is at
CERC’s Web site: www.unc.edu/
- srathie/ceqrc/index.html.
You can also contact us at
shsheth @email.unc.edu.
SidSheth
Junior
Biology
Kamal Menghrajani
Co-President
Campus Y
UNC students don't deserve
to live in neighborhoods
TO THE EDITOR:
You think that students should
live in residential neighborhoods?
Why don’t you tell them to stop
throwing garbage in their front
yards.
They throw their beer cans in
front of my yard.
My elderly sister dared to com
plain at City Hall. Students came
and threw toiler paper in her
yard.
UNC doesn’t deserve any more
money from the state.
Britton Sanders
Chapel Hill resident
JEFF KIM
NO LONGER A VILLAGE
able to people who need afford
able housing?
Short-answer: nobody.
It’s clear to anyone that’s in
the housing market that costs are
tough in Chapel Hill, but instead
of engaging in frank discussion on
the issue, every council member
and every candidate for council
will talk about affordable housing
and neighborhood conservation
as if one helps the other.
That’s simply not true.
Neighborhood conservation is a
form of land restriction —and
when you restrict the supply of
land, prices invariably will go up.
Town leaders pay just enough
lip service to keep people in the
town from realizing what the real
trade off is between affordable
housing and the quaint Chapel
Hill style of life.
After all, the people that get
the most benefit from neighbor
hood conservation are the people
who are planning to live in those
neighborhoods for the rest of
their lives the second big
gest beneficiaries are the council
members who get their votes.
Property restrictions tie up
land that some residents might
want to sell, land that otherwise
might end up in the hands of stu
dents, developers and low-income
employees.
Economics professor John
Stewart argued in a guest column
two years ago that it’s Chapel
Hill’s attitude that’s keeping
anything from being done about
affordable housing. He argued
that problem was finding the
resolve to make the political trade
Speak Out
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Satty (Ear Hrrf
By Doug Marlene
off. The solution itself isn’t that
hard.
“It’s simple. Lower the cost of
producing these relative to the
cost of tract mansions. Let devel
opers take a piece of land, clear
cut it, use manufactured/prefab
instead of stick-built building
methods, drop the open space
requirement and let them build at
very high density. Taking 20 acres
and putting up 1601,100-square
foot starter homes then might be
more profitable than taking the
same 20 acres and putting up
30 ‘executive homes.’ If it was, it
would happen.”
It seems pretty clear that voters
want to build shelter for the poor,
but they want to do it without
cutting down trees. And local
officials are willing to let people
thiHk that it’s possible.
tiy making sweet talk to liber
als, local officials have discovered
that they can go ahead with their
own agenda items issues such
as keeping students off of their
own property by pretending
that they’re doing something
about affordable housing.
They sing lullabies about devel
oper requirements tacking on
“affordable housing” units onto
expensive development deals.
It’s great help for the lucky few
who get into those units, but it’s
not going to do much to solve
the aggregate problem. These
requirements drive costs up even
further for everyone else.
It’s unfortunate that none of
the candidates in this year’s elec
tion were willing to take a stand
for real decision-making on
affordable housing.
Unless there’s a culture change,
townspeople can expect elected
officials to keep talking about
affordable housing —but they
won’t see any substantive action.
Contact Jeff Kim
a senior economics major,
atjongdae@email.unc.edu.
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