Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 24, 2008, edition 1 / Page 12
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12 THURSDAY, JANUARY ‘24, 2008 rj] SARAH HODGES I AM LEGEND, HEAR ME ROAR Sarah Hodges is a senior psycoiogy major from Durham. E-MAIL SEHODGESOEMAILUNC.EDU I doubt that God owns a Play Station The move from tradition to technologs is a fairly common occurrence in churches today. For example, many churches have changed from headsets for the hearing impaired to an induc tion loop that transmits the ser mon straight to their hearing aid. A lot of places are making tech nological transitions with the goal of retaining youth members into adulthood. However, the likeli hcxxl that these advances will draw people closer to their faith is slim. Growing up in Ken tucks, my family attended mass in a trailer with about 12 other local church goers. When we moved to North Carolina, my lit tle sister Rachel and 1 started AT-LARGE COLUMNIST to attend a Christian elementary sch<x)l complete with microphones and a giant organ. After six years of religion classes, youth group and mass twice a week. 1 was eager to move to a public high school while my sister chose to go to a Baptist high school. This led us to very different religious outlooks. While my view of church remains that of hymnals and established songs, hers is Power Point presentations of lyrics and Christian rock. With names like “Seventh Day Slumber" and “Demon Hunter." it is obvious that bands are trying to make religion look cool to youth. In fact, religion is expanding into every mass media territory in an attempt to give people an alternative to the secular media that the rest of the world con sumes. Religious-themed media are making their way into the mainstream with films like “The Passion of the Christ" and the “Left Behind" scries of books. I'm sure my sister and her friends from Inter Varsity are not the target audience for “Veggie Tales." hut they have a shelf full of the DVDs and were likely first in line at the premiere of their new movie earlier this month. While little research has been done on youth involvement in religious organizations, a 2007 survey bv Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 35 percent of American adult Internet users seek religious or spiritual info online, up from 29 percent in 2003. It probably won’t surprise you to leant that many churches have their own Web sites to keep people up to date on events and recruit new members to the church, but they are also posting podcasts of their sermons for a sort of “televan gelism on demand." Recently, South Carolina's St Andrew By-the-Sea United Methodist Church put up an ad looking for anew youth minister, but instead of the usual “UMC Youth Group ISO Hip Minister," the group put together a video montage for YouTUbe. IVo months and 1,300 hits later, they are still searching for a youth leader. No doubt they will find someone in the know when it comes to tech nology, but that's not always a plus. Some youth leaders seem to be taking this mentality too far. Many youth groups across the country have started to play Halo 3 dur ing their time together. Ministers relate the video game back to the message of the Gospel, but it doesn't seem worth all of the vir tual violence. These middle school boys might be more likely to make it out to youth group now, but it is more likely an excuse to play an M-rated game than to strengthen their relationship with God. Relating religion to technology might make kids who are genu indy interested in their faith feel better connected to the church, but those who come just to shoot up enemies on Halo 3 won't be any more likely to stick around for the long haul. I went to youth group through high school for two reasons: To see my friends every week and to goon white water rafting trips. If only they'd had an Xbox 360 at church, 1 might have grown up to be a more devout Christian with a knack for lucking some demon ass. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Mason Phillips, mphilOemail.unc.edu NC TRYIMf, TO I AMft I Capital importance BOT should make Carolina North a top funding priority University officials sub mitted plans for the first Carolina North building to the town Wednesday, finally laying on the table an issue that UNC Board of Trustees and Chapel Hill Town Council members have danced around more than a May pole. The proposed satellite cam pus, to be built on 963 acres in northern Chapel Hill, has loomed over every town-gown and BOT discussion since at least 2000, when the University formed its first concept plan. The BOT is meeting this week to determine the University’s capital priorities for the year. The board needs to make Carolina North first on that list By demonstrating a concrete commitment to the project. University officials will show both the General Assembly, which supplies partial funding, and town officials, who have yet to approve the plan, that UNC is serious about starting development and ending this decade-long waltz. We stand behind the pro posed campus, as it will boost You’ve got mail IFS makes right call on spam filter, listserv oversight As it turns out, Roy Williams isn’t the only Tar Heel worried about defense these days. This week UNC’s Information Technology Services plans to unleash anew. custom-filtering system to defend student inbox es from pesky Internet spam. The enhancement by ITS is a welcome move that should suc cessfully rid students of annoy ing e-mails, while not breaking the bank for the University. The upgrade improves upon a low-level protection filter put into place in early November that already blocks an astound ing 98 percent of junk e-mails while also proriding students the option of bolstering protection against adult-specific spam. Proofpoint, an e-mail secu rity- company, has signed on to dispense the security- changes for $120,000 per year over the next three years. Finally, students can be free Dude, where’s my car? Chapel Hill should reduce its towing penalties The limited parking and often inconspicuous “No Parking’ signs in down town Chapel Hill provide local towing companies with plenty of business. Fortunately, some much needed relief from costly tow ing fees is in sight. In a public hearing next month, the Chapel Hill Town Council will consider several proposed changes to the town’s towing ordinance in response to a resident's petition regarding private-lot towing regulations. Under the revised ordinance, drivers who park in private lots would pay no more than SIOO to get their car back, a significant improvement over the $l5O that drivers must pay under the present ordinance. Opinion our reputation as a research University with top-notch facilities, faculty and students. Considering the scope and size of Carolina North, it’s wise to approach the plan carefully and even-handedly, taking the concerns of faculty, state officials and Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents into account. Yet with 2009 as the year UNC officials hope to break ground, it’s crucial to begin the sticky job of finding real dollars and cents to fund the project. University officials didn’t secure any state funds to back the project last year, which is why it is so imperative that the satellite campus tops the BOTs capital priorities. Last year, no UNC-system school received funding for more than its top two capital priorities. Carolina North was third on UNC's list. Third place for a 50-year project just isn’t going to cut it UNC expects to pay about $220 million during just the first 15 years, and that’s exclud ing private financing. Long-term cost estimates are nonexistent from obnoxious and exploit ative e-mails advertising every thing from once-in-a-lifetime telemarketing opportunities to human pheromones and sexual enhancement pills. The new system does not, however, block students from a barrage of unwanted listserv e-mails. In the most recent episode of the UNC listserv abuse saga, the School of Information and Library Sciences decided to promote its programs by adding 7,800 students to a bloated list serv, leading to a lengthy series of inbox-clogging e-mails. Finally, ITS has taken appro priate steps to tighten the reg ulation of listserv messaging groups, investigating any open listserv created with more than 2,000 members. Anyone who gets excited about new messages only to have his bubble burst by an onslaught of random listserv rants should Whether drivers are charged $l5O or SIOO to reclaim their towed cars, neither one is easy on the wallet, so they will still think twice before leaving their vehicles unattended without a close inspection of the lot’s parking signs. And since a SIOO fee is ade quate to deter illegal parking, a $l5O towing fee is excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, the combina tion of costly towing fees and limited parking is a deterrent to visiting the downtown area. Additional amendments, including limiting storage fees to S2O per day and allowing a driver to retrieve his car if he returns before it is attached to the tow truck, would make the process slightly less taxing on There’s no chance the General Assembly will fund the entire $220 million in one year; it will more than likely take many, so we need to get started now. Once at least some funding is secured, UNC will have a little more leverage to use to speed up the town’s approval process. The town has very real, prac tical concerns with the devel opment of the Horace Williams tract, including environmental protection and sustainability. The campus will bring an influx of traffic and residents to the town, which will strain existing fire, police, water and transportation resources. UNC has responded to the town’s concerns by redesign ing the plans to address some of the issues. Now it’s time for the council to start considering the plans for the satellite campus instead of talking about how it’s going to talk about them. This is a call to action, for both town and University offi cials, to settle disputes quickly so that Carolina North can get off the ground. find this change very relieving. As positive as these filter ing changes sound, there will always be students who prefer not to screen their incoming e mails. Fortunately, the filtering system allows these students the flexibility to control the inward flow of their own e-mails. These daring students can opt not to filter out adult spam e-mails. After all, the comedic value of a good penis enhance ment advertisement cannot be underestimated. It makes sense for ITS to provide students with the right tools to keep spam from clog ging up their inboxes. Like the great Morpheus, ITS has shown us the door to a spam-free inbox —but you have to walk through it yourself. But, if you prefer, you’re wel come to wait outside the door laughing at the steady stream of ridiculous sexual spam e-mails flowing into your mailbox. downtown patrons. The council certainly has the right idea when it comes to updating Chapel Hill’s tow ing ordinance, which does not currently regulate fees and only ambiguously explains the rights and responsibilities of the tow-truck driver and the owner of the car being towed. We hope that the town does itself and its taxpayers a favor by adopting the proposed amendments. Less restrictive towing ordinances will keep towing fees at a fair rate and help to ensure that customers of downtown businesses aren’t driven away by concerns about their vehicles being towed and the subsequent excessive towing fees. QUOTE OF THE DAY: 7 want to enjoy every moment because I dont want to have anything to regret” ENGUSH CLEMMONS, 17-YEAR-OLD CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To read the full-length versions VISIT http://dailytarheelpubßcwofdpress.coin Post your own response to a letter, editorial or story online. VlSlTwww.dailytarlieel.com/feedback Student athletes sacrifice much for their free gear TO THE EDITOR: I would like to respond to Andrew Ryan Cosgrove’s article on Wednesday, “Athletes receive several UNC perks," (Jan. 23). While it is true that student athletes at UNC do receive cer tain benefits, it would have been nice if Cosgrove would have also included some of the sacrifices that student athletes make. Asa student athlete on the men’s golf team, 1 would like to set the record straight by listing a few of the sacrifices that Cosgrove failed to mention: practice up to 20 hours a week (not includ ing voluntary practice time), workouts and practices at incon venient times like early Friday and Saturday mornings (which can really cramp weekend social plans), participating in random mandatory drug tests, having to miss multiple days of class and sometimes exams while travel ing for competitions (and occa sionally professors will not allow student athletes to make up these exams), limited number of classes to choose from during registration because of practice schedules and limited or no fall, Christmas and spring breaks. Finally, UNC is not alone in giving perks to student athletes. Many other fine institutions like UVa., Michigan, Cal-Berkeley and even Dook give student ath letes similar benefits. If UNC hopes to keep up with these programs in recruiting and fielding championship-caliber teams, we have to be willing to give student athletes similar perks. After all, they are giving not only their time but often their bodies “for the glory ofNCU." Barden Berry Senior Psychology Co-ed ‘fraternity’ needs to use inclusive language TO THE EDITOR: I was alarmed when I saw a Mu Beta Psi rush flier in the women’s restroom in the Student Union. Mu Beta Psi, a “co-ed fraternity," invites all female students using campus restrooms to “come out and meet the brothers’or “become a brother’ this spring. While it might be humorous that the flier was addressing “brothers" in the women's rest room, the language used makes women invisible. Calling Mu Beta Psi a fraternity implies that it is male-only and putting the word ‘co-ed’ in front is contradictory. Why not call it an organization? Referring to both the men and women as “brothers’ makes the females invisible. Why not call everyone members? Perhaps what disturbed me most is that for this flier to be in a women’s restroom it had to be posted by a female, a female who failed to realize that the language in the flier made her invisible. We must not fail to recognize the power that lies in language and the meaning behind the words we use. Also, when was the last time an organization of male and female students was called a sorority and all members were referred to as sisters? Staci Mitchell Sophomore Sociology SPEAK OUT MUTING GUIDELINES: ► Mease type: Handwritten letters will not be accepted. ► Sign and date: No more than two people should sign letters. ► Students: Indude your year, mejor and phone number. ► Faculty/staff: Include your department and phone number. ► Edit: The DTH edits for space, clarity, accuracy and vulgarity. Limit letters to 2SO words. SU EMISSION: ► Drop-off: at our office at Suit? 2409 In the Student Union. ► E-mail: to edrtdeskOunc.edu ► Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel m. N.C- 27515. EDfTOrS BOTfc Columns, cartoons and letter do not ractssartfy reflect the opinions o< lheMly Ur Heel or its staff. Eritoriiis*e the opinions sotety of the Diity Ur Beet eefito riel board The board consists of eight board members, the associate opinion trftor; the opinion editor and the editor. The 2007-08 edtor decided not to vote on the board 3hr Daily Oar Hrrl North Carolina needs to change its smoking laws TO THE EDITOR: The Jan. 22 editorial on the American Lung Association’s report card (“It’s called Tobacco' Road") ignores important facts in the tobacco control debate. North Carolina’s current tax rate on cigarettes is 35 cents per pack. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States costs the country $7.18 in medical care and lost productivity. In North Carolina the annual economic cost due to smoking exceeds $5 billion. Who pays for this? Every N.C. resident does. The benefits of raising the cig arette tax are enormous. Higher taxes make cigarettes more expen sive, which deter kids from start ing to smoke and motivate adults to quit In a state where 22 percent of adults smoke, and 20 percent of high school students smoke, North Carolina is facing a costly epidemic of death and disease that is entirely preventable. The editorial takes issue with the government telling private businesses how to operate, yet fails to acknowledge that many regula tions are put in place to protect public health, such as requiring employees to wash hands after using bathroom facilities, keeping dairy products refrigerated to cer tain temperatures and not allow ing rodents to infest kitchens. Smoke-free laws are a proven motivator to get adults to quit smoking and protect the public from the real health threat that is second-hand smoke. More than 11,000 North Carolinians die each year from smoking-related causes. It is time to acknowledge smoking as a seri ous public health hazard, pass a comprehensive smoke-free air law and increase our state tobac co tax, which are the best chances to help move the state forward to a healthier place. Susan King Cope Vice President for Advocacy and Programs American Lung Association of North Carolina Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility raises questions TO THE EDITOR: Since you all wrote an editori al supporting the establishment of the National Bio- and Agro- Defense Facility (“The business of research," Jan. 23), I was won dering: If it’s really just special izing in exotic and rare patho gens that threaten livestock and agriculture, why is it being run by the Department of Homeland Security and not the Department of Agriculture? Also, why is it Levd-4, which by your own admission *is designed to house the deadliest and most infamous of pathogens,’ if it's just researching bo weevils and chicken lice? I think people have a good reason to be concerned. Jodi Mills Library Technical Assistant Satty alar Brrl Established 1893, 114 years of editorial freedom ERIN ZUREICX EDITOR. 962-4086 ZUREICKOEMAILUNC.EDU OfEICE HOURS: MON., WED.. ERI. 1-2 P.M ADAMSTORCK OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCKOUNC.EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 TUGMANOUNC.EDU ANDREW JONES PUBUC EDITOR JONESAWOEMAILUNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SC ISM SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN ARDIZZONE SARAH IETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON ELYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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