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6 TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2008 CHARLES DAHAN EYE CANDY Charles Dahan is a political science graduate student from California. E-MAIL CDAHANOEMAIL.UNC.EDU Apartheid comparison overstates the reality Many supporters of an independent Palestinian state are able to engage in productive debates and rational discussions about the Israel-Arab conflicts. Unfortunately, a radical fringe at UNC hijacked this discus sion. Speakers and presentations of Palestine Week compare the Palestinian situation to apartheid. The> replace emotional tales that exist on both sides of the conflict for actual reasoning and resort to counterproductive and illegitimate historical comparison that illus trates their ignorance and bigotry. The images of the conflict are well-known. Arab-controlled regions regularly complain of dis proportionate COMMUNITY COLUMNIST uses of force during conflicts, the inconveniences of checkpoints and the bulldozing of homes previously inhabited by suicide bombers. Israelis complain of the Arab states electing entities such as Hamas and Hezbollah that refuse to recognize their existence and Arab parents encouraging their own children to strap explosives and shrapnel to their bodies to kill Israelis on buses and trains. Arabs complain of ambulances stopped at checkpoints while Israelis note those ambulances are occasionally explosives-filled suicide bombs. Both sides attempt to create an image of victimization and, to varying degrees, might pos sess a legitimate claim. No honest observer would attempt to identify- the root of any individual Arab-lsraeli war. The creation of the disputed territories, however, is not up for debate. In 1967. Egypt and Jordan created an alliance agreeing to enter any bat tle the other fought In May 1967. Egypt dispelled United Nations peacekeepers from the region in the run-up to an invasion of Israel —a battle Israel initiated to take the position of the aggressor. Despite Israel's offer. Jordans King Hussein refused a non-aggression pact with Israel and entered the conflict with Egypt. The Six Day War ended with Israel capturing the territory from which the peace keepers w ere dismissed territory on w hich neither side previously laid claim. During the 200fi conflict Hezbollah militants stormed Israeli villages, fired missiles from declared civilian infrastructure (buildings without inhabitants or. conveniently for firing rockets, windows) and launched rockets into Israel to divert attention away from their plot to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Ironically, a UN com pound lies in between Israel and Lebanon to deter future conflicts. Comparing the conflict in Israel to the stmggle of blacks in South Africa Is not only incorrect; it is disgusting. Apartheid consisted of complete repression and the lack of any recognition of the rights of blacks, who made up 90 percent of the nation's population. Blacks in South Africa never possessed the option of eradicating UN peace keepers who enforced their sov ereign areas and never allied with foreign forces to attempt to destroy the entire South African state. Israeli Arabs may purchase land in Israel and hold frill voting rights, educational opportunities flourish (20 percent of the Haifa University student body and faculty are Arab) and certain areas such as the city of Bethlehem, the temple mount and East Jerusalem are either completely off-limits to Jews or entry is strongly- discouraged. The press in Israel is free and more critical of its own government than any in the world. Apartheid and the Palestinian cause share few institutional similarities. Apartheid dented any opportunities economic, social or political to South African blacks who were violently oppressed and fully dominated for nearly five decades. Those who drum up support for a cause by leeching off of the name of such a system are intellectually lazy at best and. through marginalizing the struggle of a truly dominated people, racist at worst EDITORIAL CARTOON By Terrence Nowicki, The Western Front nvMr 5 GEimaiH WTOKtGKTS WELL, 8 9f STATE OF THE UNION, I 1 G'UtGUT 1 K I J FOLKS! J H Carolina Second New chancellor should build upon first campaign When you aim low, it’s easy to exceed expectations. When you set the bar high, however, it becomes a bit more difficult. The latter is what occurred as the Carolina First Campaign, initiated in July 1999 and con cluded in December, handily eclipsed its original goal of $l.B billion by an astounding SSBO million. It would be cynical to label the Carolina First fundrais ing campaign as anything but another in a long line of fund raising victories for Chancellor James Moeser. However, it would also be remiss to leave out discussion of its shortfalls; primarily, the campaign feD short in the faculty support sector of fundraising by about SIOO million after raising its initial goal of S4OO million. The search committee for the new chancellor would do well to seek out a candidate who shares Human investment Higher ed should count toward welfare work hours North Carolinians who take advantage of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program are now able to count classroom hours toward their mandatory work requirement without agen cy supervision of study time. Unfortunately, baccalaureate and associate degree programs cannot be applied toward the education replacement program, only vocational and job skills training courses are allowed, and education is eligible to replace work hours only for 12 months. Both of these stipulations should be altered. There is no denying there is a strong correlation between education and income levels. Simply by attaining an associ ate’s degree, the median income you can expect to make is nearly SB,OOO more per year than if you had stopped your education after graduating high school. With a bachelor’s degree, the gap jumps to a little more than $19,000 per year. Vocational training is cer tainly important. The world needs plumbers and mechanics Look homeward, John When Edwards drops, he should head back to UNC The 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate has endured four losses or should we say four good old fashioned butt-kickings in the primaries so far. The most recent blow- to John Edwards' presidential ambitions came Saturday in his home state of South Carolina, which only gave him 18 percent of the vote, despite his big victory there in the 2004 Democratic chase. Sure, he has the best presi dential head of hair, but with out being overly optimistic, at this point in the race Edwards is a doubtful prospect for the Democratic bid he’s vying for. While we’re not campaign advisers or political know-it-alls, we don’t think it’s a bad idea for him to drop out Though, we Opinion not only Moeser s passion for learning, but also his commit ment to fundraising. The committee should hire someone capable of redressing shortcomings in faculty reten tion in the next fundraising campaign, estimated to com mence in 2011. Ironically, the people that often inspire students (and future donors) to seek out their academic dreams did not receive the faculty support donations sought out by the organizers of the Carolina First campaign in 1999- In order to retain qual ity- professors, their salaries must remain competitive; fall ing short of the SSOO million goal by 20 percent might push bright professors away from UNC. That is unacceptable. UNC professor salaries cur rently hover around the 50th percentile of peer institutions. Barring increased funding as much as it needs businessmen and scientists, and those can be fairly lucrative professions. But limiting people on wel fare to only these trades does them a disservice and decreas es the opportunities that they have to raise themselves to an income level that does not necessitate government aid in order for them to get by. Additionally, only receiv ing aid for one year of college could greatly increase students’ chances of dropping out of school. They should he able to get money for at least two years of education. Associate degrees generally are on a two-year community college track, meaning that if they are included as part of the program, the 12-month limit is not long enough to attain one. Even with vocational degrees, the one-year limit is not enough to complete some programs. Many- are less than one year, but people who chose to pursue a longer program shouldn’t be penalized for doing so. An unsuccessful college education —one that doesn’t must commend his Spartan approach of no retreat. But we hope that when (or if) the seemingly inevitable hap pens, Edwards heads back home to our quaint little university on the Hill. Our advice should not be seen as an attempt to exploit Edwards; political preferences aside, it’s beneficial to have someone in such a public eye vis ibly connected to Chapel Hill. In the time between losing the 2004 election and officially announcing his presidential run in 2008, Edwards was the head of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Previously, we argued that because Edwards spent too much time covertly campaign ing for the 2008 nomination, the from the state, which last year was very generous, it will take the efforts of private fundraising, which constitutes about 78 per cent of UNC s budget, to boost professor salaries to the 80th percentile as Moeser proposes. Nevertheless, the campaign outshined expectations and hauled in $2.38 billion, enough to make it the largest complete higher education fundraiser at any university in the South and the fifth largest in the nation. Money from the campaign has already begun to exact positive changes on campus. Among other things, the campaign has raised money to create 208 endowed professor ships, 577 student scholarships and 196 student fellowships. The fact that more than 193,000 public and private donors pitched in shows that UNC continues to reach and inspire people across the state, country- and globe. turn out a degree would be a waste of government money. The government would need to ensure that students receiv ing welfare are at least on track to graduate. Without this pre caution, people could simply tread water in school to ride the benefits being provided. The government should view an expansion of the program not as an extra expense but as an investment in human capital. In fact, if the government accountants are smart, they will write the welfare expense off as an investment an asset —instead of an expense. With higher education, peo ple become more productive at their jobs. Higher productiv ity of labor leads to growth in income per capita. In fact, according to eco nomic growth models, the way to achieve growth in income per capita is with some kind of labor augmentation in this instance, higher education. Investing in human capital makes the economy more pro ductive and society- as a whole better off, hands down. center didn’t actually' do a whole lot to fight poverty —a shame, given Edwards’ “TWo Americas" mantra. But regardless of whether Edwards used the center as a stepping stone to his campaign, there’s no doubt that it benefited publicity-wise from having his name attached. Maybe if he tries again, put ting his time into fighting pov erty instead of other Democrats, he can take concrete steps to unite the “Two Americas.” He has the potential to completely change the way Americans view poverty. He might even win the Nobel Prize and start a popular movement that gives him a viable shot at a future presidential nomination. Hey, it worked for Al Gore. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We have unfinished business before us, and the American people expect us to get it done PRESIDENT BUSH, ON HIS ADMINISTRATION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To read the full-length versions VISIT http://daifytarheelpublic.wordpress.com Post your own response to a letter, edrtorial or story online. VISIT www4laHytarheel.com/feedback Coverage of candidates should be fair and equal TO THE EDITOR: Asa journalism major I have viewed past articles written about John Edwards in as noncritical a way as possible. However, as a John Edwards supporter and co founder of Carolina for Edwards I feel the need to speak up after Jan. 25’s articles (“Students storm S.C.’ and “S.C. campaign almost done"). These articles emphasized the hard work being done by student groups supporting Democratic candidates. I and other members of Carolina for Edwards respect and understand how much effort these groups are putting into supporting their candidates because we have been doing the same type of work and much more since February 2007. Carolina for Edwards consists largely of student interns who spend 10 to 20 hours a week work ing at the national campaign head quarters. Club members spent a week of their Winter Breaks in lowa canvassing through two feet of snow and making thousands of phone calls for John Edwards. Fridays articles pointed out past calls and trips made by other orga nizations but failed to mention any of Carolina for Edwards extensive past efforts. Members of Carolina for Edwards spend their nights, weekends and breaks fundrais ing, e-mailing, phone banking and organizing for John Edwards, not just around critical times in the campaign but all the time. The corporate media some times needs to be reminded that there are three candidates in this race. Likewise the DTH needs to be reminded that there are three student groups supporting Democratic candidates, and they all deserve fair and unbiased rep resentation. Courtney Roller Sophomore Journalism Column didn't dearly show situation in the West Bank TO THE EDITOR: The recent column ‘West Bank tales from two Tar Heel alums,' (Jan. 28) should have been more appropriately titled “West Bank half-truths". To suggest that checkpoints and other defensive actions taken by Israel are actually a response to past atrocities and not a direct response to recent suicide bombings and murder ous terrorist shootings is ridicu lous and offensive. The authors then proceed to complain of their apparent effec tiveness and the resulting lack of more Jewish casualties. Being able to swim in the ocean or sav ing half an hour drive are not more important then preventing someone from having their body filled with shrapnel just because they took the bus to work. All of this is left out of the column. No doubt, anything pro- Jewish or pro-Israel will be left out of “Palestine week" altogeth er. So if half the truth (and that’s generous) is good enough, then this is the week for you. Rabbi Ben Packer Director JEMS SPEAK OUT WRITING GUIDELINES: ► Please type: Handwritten letters will not be accepted. >■ Sign and date: No more than two ptopte should sign tetters. ► Students: Indude your year, <na|or 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. SUBMISSION: ► Drop-off. at our office at Suite 2409 in the Student Union. V E-mail: to editdeskOunc.edu ► Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27515. terrors 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 edrtor and the editor The 2007-0S editor decided not to vote on the board ahr Bailti (Tar Hrrl Fans need to learn to lose and lose with some class TO THE EDITOR: I w-as a little upset when UNC lost its first game last week. I am a firm believer in a phrase I heard once when I was a kid. "You have to know how to accept a loss before you can truly become a winner." As I watched the highlights that night, I noticed the ESPN cameras showing some “Carolina Girls" crying after the loss. I believe in a way it kind of made us look weak as fans. Almost like we are expected to run the table this year (which would be nice). I don’t know if these students have done their homework, but to win a championship, the games that matter most are tournament games. Ideally it would be nice to be a No. 1 seed in said tourney, but losing one or two in the regular season is not so bad. I think it makes our players play harder and builds their character. Which brings me to my next point. Something 1 saw today leads me to question some of our fan’s character. In the day and age ofYouTiibe, it didn’t take long for Mary land fans to post the ESPN classic highlights of that game. There is one clip in particular, ironi cally the same clip of the crying Carolina Girls, but only this time with sound. In the beginning of the clip you can hear a Carolina fan shouting to the Maryland players to “Go back to the ghetto!" This is 2008, people. Haven't we gotten over that hump yet? Not every one who has comrows, or an Afro and tattoos is from the ghetto. College Park, Md., is a pretty nice place, last time 1 visited. Christian Thompson Freshman Exercise and Sport Science Priority registration is not a perk for student athletes TO THE EDITOR: Call me optimistic, but I still harbor the sincere hope that the editorial staff of the DTH will someday actually read the Priority Registration Policy that was endorsed by the Faculty- Council in December and there after stop making false claims about it (“Sporting their ben efits," Jan. 28). For example, the editors might be surprised to find that student athletes have not been granted priority registration as an “athletic perk’ but rather are among the various student groups who are listed as exam ples of groups whose unusual challenges with registration could make them eligible for priority registration. The priority registration policy is posted on the Faculty- Governance Web site. Editors: Please check it out. Steve Resnick Professor Psychology £l]r Imly (tar Hrrl Established 1893. 114 years of editorial freedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR, 962-4086 2UREICKOEMAIL.UNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS: MON. WED.. FRI. 1-2 P.M. ADAM STORCK OPINION EDITOR. 962-07S0 APSTORCKOUNC.EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR 962-0750 TUGMANOUNC.EDU ANDREW JONES PUBLIC EDITOR XWESAWOEMAiI.UNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN ARDIZZONE SARAH LETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON ELYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 29, 2008, edition 1
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