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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008
ri
NATHAN NYANJOM
A DIFFERENT ANGLE
Nathan Nyanjom is a senior biology
major from Columbia, Md.
E-MAIL NYANJOMOEMAIL.UNC.EDU
Reality
isn’t found
by looking
at a screen
Cash or check.
Paper or plastic.
To accept or not accept
that new Facebook request life
is filled with choices.
Contrary to these mindless deci
sions reject the friend many
of the choices in our lives pit a real
option against one that is seem
ingly realistic, and we make the
mistake of picking the superficial
latter, opting for a sports analyst's
opinion over our own or basing
our impression of camping on the
events of“ Survivor."
Despite being enticed by these
realistic, advertised alternatives,
we must stay real.
In large part the luxury of
choice has been
COLUMNIST
advancements that never seem to
stop. It was the invention and per
fection of the gasoline engine and
airplane that now give us several
options in deciding how to travel,
and Al Gore’s Internet now allows
us to use the time increment of
seconds when communicating
with people on the other side of
tile world.
That place. I’ll have you know,
is actually off the west coast of
Australia not China
Today concludes the first full
week of Lent, a time when many
people, for reasons either religious
or ethical, give up something of
daily importance for a period of
40 days.
1 gave up soda
Mitt Romney gave up.
I challenge each and every per
son reading this column to give up
"reality" and take on the real.
When it comes to food, we sat
isfy our hunger not with the Food
Network but with Bojangles. And
while this might he a no-brainer,
w e fail to make the same choice
when it comes to music entertain
ment: The decision of whether to
spend a two-hour break playing
Guitar Hero or learning how to
play a real, actual acoustic guitar
has become just that —a decision.
Although both forms of enter
tainment allow us escape for a
time from the topics of American
government and chemistry, the
You Tube age that we live in has
come to appreciate one’s ability
to press five colored notes just as
much as the skilled finger work
of Jimi Hendrix, and Guitar Hero
tournaments are becoming more
numerous than open houses on
college campuses.
I won’t even begin to talk about
air guitar.
It’s become more impressive to
witness a Johnny “green-button
demigod" Johnson than it is to
see a Taylor "G-chord-but-that's
about-it” Roger, and that needs
to be changed. Chances are good
that the second guy is a more
well-rounded human being, plus
he has two first names.
In response to those handful of
e-mails we receive each year from
the Carolina Athletic Association,
we have become more familiar
with the word "Unfortunately"
than “Congratulations." What is
even more unfortunate, however, is
the decision made by those receiv
ing congratulatory e-mails to forgo
their luck, opting out of witnessing
a victory in a less-than-desirable
nosebleed seat in favor of one on a
sofa in front of a television wider
than a theater stage.
We would never substitute a
ticket for a video game entitled
“Being at a UNC Game," and while
this option might be fictitious,
the “better seat" of a sofa would
leave one without the anticipation
that time outs provide or to feel
the vibration of the seat beneath
you as the crowd and band reach
full audible capability: They’d be
watching a Geico commercial and
reaching for another slice of pizza
“Reality" needs to be passed up.
Instead of talking to friends online
about the day. do it in person at
a restaurant Valentine's Day will
facilitate this face-to-face, real
communication, but the rest of the
year should, as well.
After all, our fathers didn't woo
our mothers with Guitar Hero.
They used guitars of their own.
Or Barry Manilow.
EDITORIAL CARTOON By Terrence Nowickl, The Western Front
OCKi
Standing for students
Bowles makes right call tying textbooks to tuition
If we didn’t know any bet
ter, we’d say the universi
ties are in cahoots with the
textbook publishers.
After one year under anew
textbook policy designed to cut
costs for students, UNC-system
President Erskine Bowles isn't
satisfied with the results.
Last week Bowies repeated his
ultimatum to campuses: Control
textbook costs or the Board of
Governors won’t approve tuition
and fee increases.
We applaud Bowles for tak
ing a strong stance on cutting
costs and generally standing up
for students.
While we're sure many cam
puses will complain about
tuition increases being tied to
controlling textbook costs, we
say it’s perfectly fair.
The university itself doesn’t
have to worry about textbook
costs. That’s a price borne pri
marily by the students.
For the students, however,
textbooks just augment tuition
costs. So when universities
don't take steps to control text
book costs and continue to
push tuition through the roof as
Another brick in the wall
GA should raise dropout age but allow for exceptions
It looks like a larger propor
tion of North Carolina's
youth are starting to agree
with Pink Floyd they don’t
need no education.
A report released Thursday
reveals a disturbing trend in
N.C. high schools: More stu
dents are dropping out before
obtaining their diploma.
A total of 5.24 percent of
North Carolina's high school
student body dropped out in
2006-07, an increase of 6 per
cent over last year’s numbers.
Recognizing this as a prob
lem, state educators are push
ing the General Assembly to
raise the minimum dropout age
from 16 to 18. Their defense is
that 77 percent of dropouts fit
into this age bracket.
The legislature should step
in and pass the minimum age
increase. It's an overdue reform.
These days, failing to earn
a high school diploma is the
equivalent of securing a lifetime
Be cool; stay in school
PR campaign for middle schoolers won’t be effective
Education officials across
the state teamed up
last week to talk about
possible solutions to North
Carolina’s increasing high
school dropout rate.
One of their proposed solu
tions included the creation of
a public relations campaign
to hammer into students the
importance of education for
their future career options.
According to Jim Phillips,
the chairman of the UNC-sys
tem Board of Governors, the
program w’ould specifically tar
get those awkw’ard youngsters
known as middle schoolers.
When all’s said and done, pub
lic relations campaigns targeted
at students will have a hard time
being successful. Sure, we’ve all
heard the phrase, “Don’t be a
Opinion
they've done in recent years, the
cost to students skyrockets.
Smart students who are con
sidering costs when they look
at colleges will include text
books in those estimates.
It's therefore to each univer
sity's benefit to do what it can
to limit textbook costs. Not only
does it help keep actual costs to
students lower, it makes a nice
selling point to prospective
applicants.
While publishers releasing
new editions of textbooks every
year doesn’t help anything,
there's still a lot universities
can do to help keep textbook
costs to a minimum.
While Bowles is pretty much
our hero right now, the 56.7
percent of UNC professors
who submitted their textbook
orders late last year are not.
I .ate textbook orders mean
the bookstores have a reduced
selection on the used book
market, so fewer used books
are available for students, thus
driving up the overall cost.
It’s just not that difficult
to submit a textbook order.
Professors can do it online
at McDonald’s, if you’re lucky.
In the modern economy, the
standard requirement for edu
cation is on the rise, with the
university baccalaureate degree
becoming the key to a decently
paying job, just as the high
school diploma was 50 rears ago.
Idly standing by while children
handicap their job marketability
at 16 is socially irresponsible.
While some people argue that
raising the age requirement is
pointless because you can’t force
kids to learn, at the very least the
state can make it a little harder
for them to ruin their lives.
Take it from another angle:
These kids are making life
altering decisions at 16. Now
think of the quality of decisions
made at that age. Were you
mature enough to understand
the implications of your actions
on the next few decades of your
life? Survey says: no.
There also are social effects
felt by the rest of us. Medicaid
fool, stay in school." But when
was the last time you heard a
kid say, “Wow, you’re right, I
shouldn't be a fool" just because
they saw a cheesy poster?
Officials said one of the best
public relations approaches
they can take is to utilize school
space because there is a captive
audience for poster campaigns.
Basically it’s a pitch to stay
in school advertised in school.
Except the kids who are in
school don’t need someone tell
ing them to stay in school; it’s the
kids skipping class at the local 7-
Eleven who need the guidance.
Put the posters up next to
the Slurpee machine. That way,
when kids get brain freeze and
have a moment of self-fulfill
ment, they can look to the poster
and realize their life suddenly
from the comfort of their living
rooms while kicking back with
a Diet Coke and a showing of
“Masterpiece Theater."
The textbook plan adopt
ed by the BOG last year also
included a mandatory' textbook
buyback program for introduc
tory classes.
Most campuses, however,
implemented more of a pilot
program, choosing what quali
fied as an introductory course
and keeping the program rela
tively small.
At UNC, for instance, only
about 50 classes had a guaran
teed book buyback.
And while we’re sure that
helps a fair number of stu
dents, particularly freshmen
taking more general education
classes, the fact still remains
that most classes are not intro
ductory classes.
Luckily, UNC-system stu
dents have Bowles to advocate
for their interests. The Board
of Trustees sure isn’t doing it.
Of course, if textbook controls
have to be in place before tuition
can be raised next year, we bet
the BOT will be all for it.
and prison costs from these
dropouts amount to $169 mil
lion a year in North Carolina.
Keeping these people in school
is good for the budget.
It's true that some people, due
to events outside their control,
are forced to drop out in order
to provide for their families.
This is something the GA needs
to take into account and provide
for when rewriting the laws.
As such, the GA should per
mit exceptions for students with
verified parental permission.
Regardless, children are mak
ing decisions at 16 that affect the
rest of their lives. Forcing them
to delay that decision might not
make them all graduate, but it
will give them time to recon
sider their educational options
before making that decision.
It's time for the GA to get with
the times and fix the legislation.
The state as a whole will benefit
from keeping young adults in
the school. So do it for the kids.
has meaning: higher education.
It w’as noted that the cam
paign would need to involve
up-to-date and “down wit it”
media avenues.
State Superintendant June
Atkinson said the campaign
should utilize the medium she
jokingly called “MyFace."
If education officials decide
to use mainstream media (e.g.,
MvSpace, Facebook, YouTiibe),
they are going to have a hard
time getting kids to look at it
unless it features scandalous pic
tures of their friends or an awk
ward nerdv kid doing something
embarrassing on camera.
While the school district
should not sit back and watch
dropout rates continue to rise,
we doubt a public relations cam
paign will get the job done.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It just happens to he a hot spot for
us, which we try to keep an eye on ”
KENNETH LENNON, COMMUNITY SERVICES OFFICER FOR
NORTHSIDE, WHERE A MAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED TUESDAY
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Bake sale in the Pit was
sexist and discriminatory
TO THE EDITOR:
So, I was leisurely strolling
through the Pit (Monday) when
I saw a sign for cookies. It was
about lunchtime, and I figured I
would buy one to help out a stu
dent organization.
When I w alked up to the table,
a young lady proudly stated,
“That’s right, cookies are 75 cents
for women and SI for the guys!”
I later found out that this sort
of thing is apparently called an
equality bake sale. 1 am from rural
North Carolina, and up until now
I have never heard of such sales.
I decided to look up some facts
online and found that, on average,
for every dollar a man makes, a
woman makes about 88 cents.
These sales are apparently
used to raise awareness and pos
sibly to equal out the pay-wage
differences.
The thing I still cannot seem
to get my mind around is this
one little thing: Isn’t this “equal
ity” bake sale illegal? Is this not
an organization discriminating
against males simply based on the
assumption that they are males?
Since when has discrimination
become OK if one believes they
are being discriminated against?
You’ll have to forgive me for
getting so up in arms about this
whole thing, but I have appar
ently been living under the incor
rect assumption that such things
are NOT allowed to take place in
the land of the free.
Oh. and just so you know, I
did not buy a cookie.
Lance Dunlap
Freshman
Undecided
Ban on driving would be
better than smoking ban
TO THE EDITOR:
Before the smoking ban, one
would perhaps walk by a few spo
radic smokers a day on campus.
However, common sense sug
gests that in the two seconds that
it takes to walk past a smoker, it
is highly unlikely that the sec
ondhand smoke would be detri
mental to one’s health.
Nevertheless, the University
has decided that it must be obses
sively protective of the health of
its students, faculty, staff, etc.
In consideration of this, 1 pro
pose anew policy that w’ould ban
cars within 100 feet of buildings.
There’s no such thing as a “right
to drive." Driving is a behavior, not
a condition of birth, and it isn’t
constitutionally protected. Courts
often find in favor of people who
get hit by a car in accidents.
Policies like this aren't intend
ed to punish drivers or make them
quit. Their intent is to protect
pedestrians from being injured
or killed in an accident
Though it is well known
that driving is dangerous, car
accidents still killed more than
45,800 people in 2005, includ
ing 6,200 pedestrians.
Additionally the amount of
carbon dioxide emitted by cars
has had an untold effect on the
environment, contributing to
global warming.
If everyone rode a bike or took
the bus to campus instead, it would
be of great benefit to all of us.
Lynda Yang
Senior
Computer Science
SPEAK OUT
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opinion edhor and the editor. The 20Q748 edhor decided not to vole on the board.
Ehr flatly (Ur Rrrl
Illegal immigrants should
not get resident tuition
TO THE EDITOR:
From a practical standpoint
l’d even go so far as to say a
constitutional standpoint the
debate over whether or not ille
gal immigrants deserve in-state
tuition is absolutely absurd.
Illegal, undocumented,
ever term you choose to describe
them, the fact is that they are not
in compliance with legal direc
ti ves.v
The United States is a nation
of laws and, as such, should not
be expected to provide special
treatment to those individuals
who break these laws.
I am a resident of North
Carolina, but I have a number
of close friends at UNC who pay
considerably higher out-of-state
tuition.
What’s more, the University
(just passed) a $1,250 increase
in tuition for non-North Carolina
residents.
Most of those students come
from honest, law-abiding par
ents who, as citizens, pay taxes
at every level, including in their
home state.
How can we possibly demand
more money of them while hand
ing what amounts to an educa
tional discount to immigrants
who not only pay no taxes, they
aren’t even obeying the law?
Proponents of this ridiculous
concept of in-state tuition for
illegal immigrants, noble though
they might appear, miss the cen
tral point these individuals
have, by their very presence here,
broken the law.
As such, there can be no jus
tification for offering them spe
cial benefits, especially w'hen our
own citizens struggle to afford
public education.
Ryan Collins
Freshman
Political Science. Economics
Someone needs to occupy
empty Smith Center seats
TO THE EDITOR:
According to the box score,
there were only 20,767 people at
Sunday night’s game. The Smith
Center seats 21,750.
Now, I am not that good at
math, but I pulled out my TI
-3003 and determined that there
were 983 people (students,
alumni) who could have been at
the game who weren’t.
Just wondering why this is
happening at an ACC game. I
hope this is not a problem with
the student section but a prob
lem with the “wine and cheese"
section.
Seriously, can we put our
degrees together and come up
with a solution that allows stu
dents to put a little effort into
getting basketball tickets?
This doesn’t seem to be a
problem at any other school
other than UNC, and frankly all
of us students are sick and tired
of this crap every year.
There should be no reason for
a thousand empty seats in the
Smith Center whatsoever.
Ali Mehrizi
Graduate Student
Pharmacy
(Tltp Daily (Tar Hrrl
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