10
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008
CHARLES DAHAN
EYE CANDY
Charles Dahan is a political science
graduate student from California.
E-MAIL CDAHANOEMAILUNC.EDU
N.C. sold
itself to
Google for
warehouses
Last year North Carolina's
state government offered
Google a tax break for up
to $260 million over 30 years. In
return those politicians increased
property values.
Not of property in North
Carolina —but in Mountain
View, Calif. And many out
standing tech companies, from
Motricity to SAP, located in the
Triangle are offering handouts to
California companies instead of
supporting native businesses and
educational opportunities.
For $260 million. North
Carolina is not receiving one
ounce of engineering might or
investment by Google to establish
entrepreneurial
centers for tech
nological, engi-
COMMUNITY
COLUMNIST
neering or business development
The headquarters of the company
Isn't relocating. Google isn't even
promising to hire a single comput
er science graduate to work on the
next big product service or adver
tising innovation in Lenoir, where
the massive server farms will be
built. For $260 million, you’ll be
receiving warehouses.
Granted, these aren’t any old
warehouses. These warehouses
house servers that store the
Internet activities of anyone who
uses Google products, as well as
cached copies of the Internet. In
language politicians might com
prehend. this is the sewage which
flows through the series of tubes.
Google could place these
servers anywhere. They placed
them in North Carolina because
politicians made land and labor
cheaper than what can be found
in China, India and Bangladesh.
Though the manufacturing might
of North Carolina is certainly on
the decline, the state government
is prolonging the economic hard
ship of rural areas by replacing
jobs in tobacco warehouses with
jobs in server warehouses.
Server maintenance isn’t
technologically challenging; a
Best Buy Geek Squad member
possesses the requisite exper
tise. About 200 employees will
run these servers. $260 million
distributed to 200 employees
over 30 years would result in an
annual salary of about $43,500,
while Google plans to pay just
more than $48,000. Not exactly a
bargain, particularly considering
this handout is going to a corpora
tion based in another state.
Leaders who hand $260 mil
lion to one of the nation’s most
profitable companies and in
return receive no guarantees of
investment bevond warehouses
are suckers. And they just made
labor in North Carolina cheaper
than most developing nations.
Don’t blame Google. It's an
amazing company that produces
innovative products that benefit
people. They make my life —and
yours more efficient They hire
the smartest folks and consis
tently outmaneuver other out
standing companies filled with
incredibly talented and intelli
gent people.
North Carolina is home to
a flourishing tech community
and continued investment by
the state in education will fur
ther the development of strong,
locally based companies. By get
ting into the business of divert
ing local tax revenue to foreign
corporations, the state govern
ment eliminates opportunities
to foster the local economy to
gains for Google.
And those gains mean an abil
ity to hire more employees to
high-paying engineering jobs.
Jobs that aren't going to Lenoir,
but to Mountain View. Jobs that
result in more engineers looking
for homes, and rising property
values in Mountain View.
Creating a culture of entre
preneurship and technological
excellence is the only way to actu
ally enter the modem economy
you can't buy your way in with
government handouts.
Unfortunately such a strategy
isn’t as immediate and politically
beneficial as paying off Google to
show up with their primary-col
ored logo.
EDITORIAL CARTOON By Don Wright Palm Beach Post
To infinity and beyond
State should go above NCLB standards, improve tests
North Carolinians' memo
ries of public education
are likely marred by one
particular test the writing test
But just because it wasn't the
best assessment of writing skills
doesn’t mean the state should do
away with the test altogether.
The Blue Ribbon Commission
on Testing and Accountability, a
group created by the state board
of education to review standard
ized testing in the state’s schools,
recently recommended that all
standardized tests not necessary
for graduation be eliminated.
The state hopes to make
other tests more in-depth, going
beyond the federal requirements
set by No Child Left Behind.
We're thrilled that the state
is taking initiative to exceed the
broad regulation of NCLB and
spend more time on bettering
the education of students; how
ever, inadequate tests should be
improved, not eliminated.
These tests, which Stephanie
It s called ‘Tobacco’ Road
Anti-smoking report doesn’t fairly examine N.C.
Nobody likes to get a fail
ing grade. Sometimes,
however, things aren’t
as bad as they initially seem.
North Carolina received
an F on the American Lung
Association’s 2007 report on
anti-smoking initiatives.
While the report points out
some areas in which our state
could improve, the bias of the
American Lung Association and
the needs of our state must be
considered in analyzing it
The report graded states in
four areas: spending on tobac
co prevention and control, cig
arette tax, smoke-free air and
youth access. North Carolina
received a C in youth access
and failed the rest.
Ironically enough, the state’s
highest grade is the one that is
Identifying an anonymous source
In the last few weeks of pro
duction, the Daily Tar Heel
has twice featured something
that had not been seen inside
its pages either this year or last:
anonymous sources.
The first of these came in the
Dec. 3,2007, front-page story
'Reed leaves mixed review." In
this article an anonymous faculty
member weighed in on the depar
ture of a former computer science
professor and administrator, Dan
Reed. The professor commented
on the supposed controversy sur
rounding die fact that Reed never
taught a class while at UNC.
The other was on Jan. 9, in a
page-6 article about a support
group for those with unbeatable
sexually transmitted illnesses
CSTI discussion group to address
misconceptions’). In this instance
a graduate student with herpes
was quoted anonymously speaking
about the need for the group.
According to DTH Policies,
writers cannot use anonymous
sources unless, *1) there is no alter
native method of obtaining the
information 2) and said informa
tion is important enough to aban
don our core ideal of always iden
tifying any piece of information or
any quote (as) not self-generated.'
The editor-in-chief decides when
these criteria are met
This policy is designed to pre
vent anonymous sources from
Opinion
Knott, assistant to the super
intendent for community rela
tions for Chapel Hill-Carrborro
City Schools, called “a mile
wide and an inch deep,” cer
tainly should get a face-lift.
The commission said that
students should be tested on
more contemporary mate
rial and that tests shouldn’t be
used to punish low scores, but
instead be used diagnostically.
Some tests that the commis
sion suggested be abolished
include the fourth, seventh and
10th grade writing tests. Many
of the states standardized tests
are not ideal measures of com
petency, either because of the
approach or the grading meth
ods. However, the exams can
and should be improved.
The writing test must look
for more than mere adequacy
of the five-paragraph model
and should examine instead
that students can successfully
write a persuasive essay, even
the most important to improve.
While everyone has the right
to make his own decision regard
ing whether to smoke, steps to
keep children from starting the
habit are vitally important
especially since tobacco is illegal
for minors to buy.
Prevention and control are
also areas that the state should
and could improve. While North
Carolina does still rely on tobac
co as a major part of the econ
omy, if a large number of state
residents start using it and suffer
the detrimental health effects,
the state will end up footing the
hospital bills.
Some other areas of the report
have an anti-tobacco-state slant
that one would expect from the
American Lung Association.
North Carolina has the sev
ANDREW JONES
PUBLIC EDITOR
appearing in the paper, except in
rare circumstances. Using anony
mous sources calls into question the
accuracy and credibility of an arti
cle and the paper; readers should
view any article using these sources
suspiciously.
In the Reed article, the criteria
for using an anonymous source
were not met The faculty member
in the article was quoted as saying,
"UNC had a lot of publicity about
(Reed) coming, and in the early
press releases, the teaching was
really played up... Everyone was
led to believe that we were getting
this really great teacher."
The professors quote was helpful
in explaining why students might
have been upset that Reed didn’t
teach any classes at UNC, but quot
ing him anonymously made it seem
as though he was being critical of
Reed, something his words did not
seem to bear out
The quote was not valuable
enough to the story to have been
used without attribution.
if not in the proper form.
The greater problem with ren
ovating the N.C. testing methods,
however, is the NCLB monster
looming over every public school
classroom in America.
The program began with the
best of intentions to bring all
public schools up to a passing
achievement level and ensure
that no children fall between
the cracks in the system.
Instead of helping, however,
this underfunded program is
making the education process
more difficult for some schools
and students.
Fortunately, the state board
of education has realized that
adhering to NCLB isn’t bettering
the education of N.C. students.
To the benefit of all kids
in the N.C. public education
system, the state is centering
its efforts on education rather
than punishing schools for low
test scores, finally accomplish
ing what NCLB should have.
enth-lowest cigarette tax in the
country, at 35 cents per pack.
But there’s good reason for
that. The state would be signing
its own economic death warrant
if it heavily taxed one of its major
products.
N.C. smoke-free laws also are
fine as they are. The state banned
smoking in state government
buildings and public schools but
not private buildings.
That’s the way it should be.
Private business owners should
decide for themselves if banning
smoking is good for business
and let the free market dictate
the outcome.
While certainly not the bea
con of anti-smoking legisla
tion, the state isn’t as bad about
addressing smoking as the latest
report would make it seem.
The decision to grant anonym
ity to the graduate student in the
STT support group article was,
however, the correct one.
This anonymous student
had been responsible for asking
Campus Health Services to create
the group, and her quote further
explained that need. Allowing
the quote to run without a name
attached respected her privacy.
Nothing would have been gained
from knowing her identity.
Given the scope of the news that
the DTH generally covers, anony
mous sources are not necessary for
its reporting, and reporters should
be able to collect the necessary
information “on the record."
When this isn’t an option the
paper should make sure to pro
vide enough information about
the source to allow readers to
determine his credibility.
In the Reed article, for exam
ple, citing the source as a ’faculty
member" was inadequate. This
could have described an art
professor commenting on a com
puter science issue. The article
should also include why a source
requested anonymity, giving
readers insight to his motives.
By citing nearly all of its sourc
es of information, and providing
as much of a description as possi
ble when it doesn’t, the paper will
best serve its readers in disclosing
where their news is coming from.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“I've talked to a lot of girls —with
(Mitt) Romney, I think its the
way he looks”
TYLER SMITH, MERCER UNIVERSITY STUDENT, ON S.C. PRIMARY
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Mobile command center
is a waste of our money
TO THE EDITOR:
I could scarcely believe it
when I read that the Department
of Public Safety had created their
own mobile command cen
ter ("Retrofitted P2P ready for
action,” Jan. 18).
What need could they possibly
have for such a thing? The likeli
hood of a shooting is statistically
slim, and 1 certainly don't fore
see any major terrorist attacks or
hostage situations on our idyllic
campus.
I don’t even believe that
Mohammed Taheri-Azar’s drive
through the Pit justifies such
expense. Besides, how would the
DPS ever fit an old P2P bus into
the Pit anyway? It's not practical.
Their name would suggest that
the Department of Public Safety is
committed to the most basic prin
ciple of “protect and serve."
The thought of the “aggressive
tools,” as DPS spokesman (Randy)
Young put it, being employed
anywhere near our campus is
not reassuring, but frightening.
What real justification exists for
a mobile command center?
Hopefully the DPS doesn’t have
delusions of grandeur like their
French counterpart over two cen
turies ago. It almost seems as if the
DPS is antsy for more action that
the typical peace officer sees.
I guess dispersing parking
tickets and yelling at me for for
getting to wear a helmet isn’t
thrilling enough.
They absolutely “needed” a bus
with big screen LCDs, DirecTV
and Internet access. The only
thing more ridiculous than this
command center is that we as
students have paid for it
When you see the command
center rollingby, I hope you pic
ture the 1,3tfc,000 blue books
that its price could have bought.
Tom Van Antwerp
Sophomore
Business Administration
Rogers Road community
deserves fair treatment
TO THE EDITOR:
It’s about time something was
done for the people of the Rogers
Road community (“County waste
plans faulted,” Jan. 18). Rev.
(Robert) Campbell spoke in one
of my classes last semester, and
this situation is much worse than
people realize.
The landfill has contaminated
most wells in the area (the water
is so bad it has been reported to
cause skin reactions), yet residents
are denied basic services such as
city water and sewage. On top of
all this, they have no bus service.
The town says it's too expen
sive to extend these services
to Rogers Road, and residents
have even been told that they
will become acclimated to the
pollution. Disgusting.
The University community
(which accounts for about a
third of the waste that goes to
the landfill) should realize that
even if measures are taken to
improve the situation at Rogers
Road, our huge volume of waste
is still going to be shipped out
and dumped on other vulnerable
communities if we don’t reduce
consumption.
Kay Loeven
Sophomore
Studio Art, Anthropology
SPEAK OUT
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
The Daily Tar Heel or its staff. Editorials are the opinions solely of The Daily Tar Heel edito
rial board. The board consists of eight board members, the associate opinion editor, the
opinion editor and the editor. The 2007-08 editor decided not to vote on the board.
Qlbp Sailii (Ear Hrri
Dean Smith's effigy was
not hung because of race
TO THE EDITOR:
Your 1965 entry in the time
line for “Chapel Hill and UNC
ready King celebrations," (Jan.
18) regarding Dean Smith’s effigy
is wholly incorrect and draws a
totally inaccurate inference in pro
moting your civil rights history.
Coach Smith was hung in
effigy by disgruntled students
for losing to Wake Forest.
Your Nov. 6, 2007 story,
“Woollen’s Witness,’ details the
circumstances regarding the cur
rent peril to the tree where the
event happened.
Coach Smith later became a
champion of civil rights as you
correctly noted, but to imply that
the Woollen Gym sports incident
was racially motivated is to be
both historically and morally
dishonest
Sadly, since the November
story, absolutely nothing has
been done by Facilities Services
to correct or ameliorate the con
struction conditions around this
historic green campus landmark
which may ultimately perish as a
result of senseless neglect.
F. Marion Redd
Class of 1967
Don't cry over blue books
and online degree audit
TO THE EDITOR:
I’m honestly taken aback at
such complaining lately in the
DTH. Every day there is another
article or two with some new
thing that UNC does that is just
terrible.
There is a good reason for
most of the things they do. They
limited printing because we were
wasting tons of it. They took
away free bluebooks and scant
rons because people waste them!
Get over it
Do you really think they are
trying to make money by charg
ing a few cents for each? They
just don’t want people to not
take five, put them in their desk
at home, crumple them up and
throw them away.
And in regards to ‘Dazed and
confused," (Jan. 17)... come on. It’s
not that dramatic that they took
away the online degree audit You
know the classes that you’ve taken,
and it dearly states what you need
to graduate in the Undergraduate
Bulletin, which can be found in
the bookstore, as well as online.
Stop complaining so much
and just look it up for yourself.
I’m a double major in Biology
and Spanish and have known
from my first year here what
dasses I need to take. Take a few
hours and look it up.
We all got into Carolina. I
think we should be intelligent
enough to figure it all out
Now that’s not to say that
you shouldn’t double-check that
stuff every once in a while with
an adviser, but honestly, in my
experience, I tend to know more
than they do.
Marianne Lennon
Junior
Biology, Spanish
lolly ear Hrrl
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