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10 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2008 CHARLES DAHAN EYE CANDY Charles Dahan is a political science graduate student from California. E-MAIL CDAHANOGMAIL.COM Designing Franklin Street is a bad idea Perhaps for all the talk of "development* on Franklin Street, the businesses that survive are merely those that respond to the demands of the residents of downtown Chapel Hill: homy, binge-drinking col lege students. Cheap, heart-bum inducing restaurants and smoky hookup bars filled with the fake-ID crowds fulfill the few desires of 18- to 21-year-olds, while T-shirt shops satiate the demands of their proud parents. Little else explains the inabil ity of mainstream businesses to find success on Franklin Street. The Rathskellers long and successful run cut short by declining quality COMMUNITY COLUMNIST and poor financial management rather than a lack of demand for such an establishment clearly demonstrates the demands of the local clientele. When think ing back to college, few students remember the pair of chinos they bought, whereas most fondly recall the boozy nights they spent in underground establishments of questionable repute. While such pontification is comparable to claiming knowl edge of the best play to call dur ing the final few seconds against Maryland, the efforts of med dling individuals often result in actual consequences regarding the appearance of Chapel Hill. Political actors and organizations should not attempt to influence through positive assistance such as tax breaks or nega tive roadblocks such as zoning restrictions the businesses that open on Franklin Street or the surrounding area. From the perspective of the businesses, opening a venture on the main drag of a college town is clearly risk). Liabilities are nota bly high, establishing loyal cus tomers is literally impossible as the residents almost completely turn over every- four years, and the fickle tastes of students are well known. The Gap on Franklin Street dealt with issues no other branches of the company faced, specifically concerns about patrons occasionally jumping over burning copies of The Daily- Tar Heel outside the front door at 1 a.m. While the popularity of stone-yvashed jeans might fade from year to year, in Chapel Hill light blue shirts misspelling Duke with a cruder term of similar intonation never go out of style. Attempts by the town govern ment and local organizations to spur “development" are counter productive. The idea that a com munity- might be engineered is nonsensical, and the types of busi nesses that local officials usually encourage are simply not logical additions to Franklin Street. While national brands no matter how hip or contemporary might briefly boost the cosmo politan image of Chapel Hill in the eyes of local elites, the barren storefronts that result create a cycle of failure that is counter productive. Thankfully, North Carolina passed legislation limiting emi nent domain to hinder a com munity from transferring existing businesses to alternative owners to maximize tax revenue. Yet methods of encouraging and discouraging commercial and residential enterprises, such as tax incentives and zoning restrictions, are wielded by local politicians and community- organizations. When 1 leave Chapel Hill, I won't remember how I procured a certain pair of pants but will fond ly recall fatty sandwiches at The Rat and cheese fries at Lindas. While I’ll lament the absence of such establishments for current students. I won't be so bold as to force those positive memories upon others. If those businesses don't succeed and future gen erations of Chapel Hill denizens prefer memories of shopping for cargo pants and trucker hats. I can’t imagine anyone qualified to stand in their way. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Don Wright. Palm Beach Post REIDBT! ’YOU Tying up the loophole Congress and treasurer work together on a good bill Reconciliation is some thing that Student Congress and the exec utive branch have struggled with lately. That’s why it is so encourag ing that a deal was brokered between Congress and Student Body Treasurer Jordan Myers that closed a loophole in a financial law. Congress Speaker Tyler Younts introduced a bill in mid- January that would have forced the treasurer to get the approval of Congress before making any financial allocations from the student government fund, since Congress is chaiged with distrib uting student fee money . However, the original form of the bill would have made it dif ficult for the executive branch to function effectively- by restrict ing its ability' to pay for logis tical costs, such as phone bills and printing fliers, particularly in the summer when Congress meets infrequently-. Enter the compromise. The original bill was split in two, and the restrictions on the trea surer were softened, meaning Time for anew era? UNC should issue ultimatum to apparel manufacturer Sometimes, it’s best to take things slow-. At its meeting last week, UNC’s committee on licensing did just that by recommending that the chancellor take more time before cutting ties with New Era, a licensed manufacturer of apparel for the University. The proposal to cut ties stemmed from concerns over recent allegations of labor vio lations against the company, including racial discrimination and firing workers for attempt ing to unionize. The company also has come under fire for its refusal to let members of the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights advocacy group representing 179 colleges and universities, including UNC, into the com pany's Mobile, Ala., plant. While it’s certainly an omi nous sign that New Era is not allowing workers' rights inves tigators into its manufacturing Freedom to speak Survey on openness is good news, but work s not done While some students might see UNC as a den of tree-hugging, Bush-bashing professors hell bent on discouraging alternate points of view, new evidence appears to suggest otherwise. According to a recent survey conducted by the Committee on Academic Responsibility-, a whopping 94 percent of UNC students agreed that their instructors "maintain an atmo sphere that promotes intellec tual freedom and welcomes diverse perspectives’. But although the study seems to disprove claims of classroom bias on campus and is certainly a good start for researching the subject, more investigation is needed before UNC can safely draw that conclusion. Opinion that he will retain the authority to spend money from the stu dent government fund for the day-to-day expenditures of the executive branch. The treasurer will also retain the ability to give student groups approval to used ear marked funds for something other than the explicit purpose for which they were allocated. For example, in the event a group wanted to put money- ear marked for bringing a speaker to campus toward putting on a different kind of event, the trea surer could approve that The treasurer will no longer be allowed to allocate money- to student groups out of the stu dent government fund without the approval of Congress. We are glad to see the com promise for two reasons. First the intent of the bill is a good one. If Congress has con trol over the allocation of funds to student groups but the trea surer is able to transfer money to groups without congressional approval, it in effect removes a significant amount of power from the hands of Congress. plant, the licensing committee made the correct decision by refusing to recommend the immediate cancellation of New Era’s contract. It can be hard, especially as a university, to resist the tempta tion to acquiesce in the face of pressure from activist groups with a bee in their bonnet, but by doing so, UNC now is better positioned to end any possible labor violations at the plant. Its recommendation that the chancellor issue an ultimatum giving the company the chance to allow the labor rights investi gators into the plant by the next licensing committee meeting in February could actually lead to better results for the workers. The appropriate result of the ultimatum, if it is not met, would be a termination of UNC’s contract with New Era. But by continuing its con tract with. New Era for now, UNC retains its influence over A positive overarching trend should not distract UNC from addressing possible shortcom ings in openness existing with in specific departments. The survey didn’t ask stu dents to identify their major, thus clumping students from varying majors into one group. Viewed from this broad per spective, it would be easy for committee members to over look departmental trends. Respondents as a whole might have experienced little bias in classrooms, but maybe political science majors felt particularly embroiled in professor bias. Interestingly; the survey found conservative students were not more likely to report bias than liberal or moderate students. The political makeup proba Because the primary pur pose of Congress is to allocate money to student groups, it doesn’t make any sense to rob them of that power. The extent of what Congress should have authority to do has been one point of conten tion with the executive, as it was during last year’s vetoed congressional spending caps, so it is good that this possible source of further conflict has been resolved. Second, we are glad to see Congress fixing a potential problem with the Student Code before it becomes a major issue. The loophole came under scrutiny after Mvers reim bursed Homecoming expens es without the approval of Congress, which had been talking about the possibility- of withholding money. While the Homecoming money- was not a major issue in itself, it drew attention to the discrepancy- in the law. We re glad that a deal could be made that helped to close the loophole before it caused any major problems. the company’s actions. Had the committee followed in the footsteps of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which canceled its contract with New Era last month, UNC would have lost its baigaining position with the company. Companies are more likely to listen to those who buy from them than those who don’t. Furthermore, it’s also impor tant to remember that there is often a trade-off between better labor standards and more jobs. If the audit reveals employ ees in the Mobile plant simply aren’t paid well, it’s probably a good idea for UNC not to can cel the contract and risk putting people out of jobs, particularly during this time of increasing economic uncertainty. If the audit turns up any thing much worse than that, however, it might indeed be time for anew era of manufac turers of UNC apparel. bly closely resembles the campus at-large. Of 1,000 surveyed, 38.6 percent described themselves as liberal, 35 percent moderate and 20.4 percent conservative. However, just because con servatives in the study aren’t more likely to report bias doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist Based on qualitative data supplied by respondents, not all classroom environments are open to alternate viewpoints. UNC should seek and directly poll minority ethnic and political groups on campus. How these groups perceive classroom bias on campus should demonstrate the true openness of UNC. Before handing out the party blowers and releasing the bal loons, the committee has a little bit more digging left to do. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I think anytime you talk about those two I’m a little biased, but I think its the greatest rivalry.” DICK VITALE. SPORTSCASTER, ON UNC-DUKE GAME LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To read the full-length versions VISIT http://dailytariteelpublicwordpress.coin Post your own response to a letter, editorial or story online. VISIT www4laHytarheef.com/feedback Bias didn't affect covering the end of Edwards' bid TO THE EDITOR: In response to the cacopho ny of voices crying foul against the alleged “liberal media,* too often I see news sources over compensating to appease such critics. In a Feb. 1 letter to the edi tor, ("Rudy Giuliani dropping out of the race was news, too") I see a perfect display of one such complaint. This time, however, the attack was aimed at The Daily- Tar Heel, for its disproportion ate coverage of Edwards' end of his campaign as compared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. John Edwards not only grad uated law school from Chapel Hill, he also represented this state in the U.S. Senate and has a major campaign office in Chapel Hill. The Daily Tar Heel has a responsibility to cover news that pertains to Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina, as well as this state, and I find nothing wrong with the cover age in the Jan. 31 issue. It is rel evant, significant and hits close to home. Those who cry foul and attack the "liberal bias" alleg edly abound in the major news networks are not defending bal ance and freedom of expression in journalism: they are merely attempting to undermine the media's ability to cover relevant events. In a media climate where Dan Rather is pushed out for one mistake in several decades and Bill O’Reilly is praised for several factually inaccurate arguments per broadcast, I feel that these cries of injustice are entirely misdirected. Ben Buck Freshman Political Science Gender-neutral language is a step UNC needs to take TO THE EDITOR: I was pleased to see that the guest column in Monday's paper was about gendered language ("Patriarchal language at UNC must be dropped," Feb. 4). I thought that the colum nist’s comments were insightful and inspiring. I was, however, frustrated to find that Chancellor (James) Moeser did not take the Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor’s petition as a call to action. It has been more than 30 years since the American Psychological Association enacted a nonsexist language policy, and top universities have had policies in place for quite sometime now. Changing “freshman" to “first-year” in official university documents is a simple change that would demonstrate com mitment to inclusivity and equality. As Win (Chesson) noted, we wouldn’t hesitate to change the word if it were “freshwhite." Why should "freshman" be any different? Hannah Allison Junior Anthropology SPEAK OUT WRITING GUIDELINES: ► Please type: Handwritten letters will not be accepted. ► Sign and date: No more than two people should sign letters. ► Students: Indude your year, major and phone number. ► Faculty /staff: Indude your department and phone number. ► Edit: The DTH edits for space, clarity, accuracy and vulgarity. Limit litters to 250 words. SUBMISSION: ► Drop-off: at our office at Suite 2409 in the Student Union. ► E-mail: to edrtdeskOunc.edu ► Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill. N.C, 27515. EDtTOirS MOTE: Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Dotty Tar Heel of its staff. Editorials are opinions solely of the Daily Tor Heel edrto rial beard The board consists of eight board members, the associate opinton editor, the opinion editor and the edrtor. The 2007-06 editor decided not to wore on the board (Ehr Baiiy (Ear Hrrl Senate should spend less time worried about sports TO THE EDITOR: On the eve Super Bowl XLII the Boston Herald reported more videotaping by the New England Patriots, this time, prior to Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams. The report by the Boston news paper joins a slew of videotap ing allegations held against the Patriots. Sen. Arlen Specter plans to meet with NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell soon to discuss this “Spvgate" issue. Who knows if an investigation will ensue? This December, former Sen. George Mitchell released a report that concluded a 20-month inves tigation on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. According to his report, he made it clear many professional baseball players had used ste roids. What could a lengthy investigation on the Patriots conclude? Does anyone really care because I do not What is wrong with these washed-up senators? Do they have nothing better to do than investigate the integrity of pro fessional sports? Although cheating in sports is an important issue (I guess) does it measure up to other issues this country is faced with? How about a 20-month investigation of the Bush administration for deceiving the American people and going to war with Iraq? Unsurprisingly, I doubt it will happen. Only in America do politicians worry more about the ethics of sports than the eth ics of preemptive war (or has the media's ballyhoo about our struggling economy caused you to forget we are still in war?). Never mind the thousands of young men fighting and dying for America’s ego, let’s figure out which baseball players used steroids and continue debat ing whether or not the New England Patriots (almost) unde feated season should be forever tainted. Casey EUis Junior Exercise GJ Sport Science Stop sexist language; don't say the word 'man' again TO THE EDITOR: 1 agree with Mr. Win Chessons column ("Patriarchal language at UNC must be dropped," Feb. 4); “sexist language" has got to go. For far too long, it has created a harmful mental environment pardon me, persontal environper sont for people of all genders. Sadly, UNC has been one of the worst malefactors oops, I mean, personfactors in this regard. If only everyone was as ada mant sony, adapersont about this issue as Mr. Chesson! Then, at last, UNC would have a mandate er, persondate to finally’make sexist language histo ry! I mean persontory, of course Will Schultz Sophomore History (Ehr Eerily {Ear Brri Established 1893, 114 years of editorial freedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR. 962-4086 2UREtCKOEMAILUNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS: MOW, WED. FRI. 1-2 P.M. ADAM STORCX OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCKOUNC.EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 TUGMANOUNC.EDU ANDREW JONES PUBLIC EDITOR JONESAWOEMAILUNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN ARDttZONE SARAH LETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON EIYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
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