14
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2008
n
SAM PERKINS
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID
Sam Perkins is a senior environmental
studies and journalism double major.
E-MAIL: SSPERKINOEMAIL.UNC.EDU
Heed
the voices
that boil
your blood
UNC is liberal. No one will
challenge that However,
especially during elec
tion season. UNC becomes about
as receptive to conservatives as a
Southern Baptist church would be
to Elton John.
I came to UNC as a liberal
person, but my disappointment
has been in the difficulty to find
diverse thought in a marketplace
of ideas where anything nonliberal
is tucked away in the back. But the
contrast is something we need.
After four years here, all my
views have been reworked but
with little thanks to the efforts of
the University. UNC desperately
needs to encourage both sides of
the spectrum,
and that means
bringing in
UNIVERSITY
COLUMNIST
some voices not everyone might
want to hear.
A year before I came to UNC,
I spent a summer working for
Habitat for Humanity, picking up
supplies and donations in an old
27-foot truck with a basted radio
capable of picking up only one sta
tion. And on that one station, I was
exposed to the omnipotent bril
liance of Rush Limbaugh.
Just kidding; I think Limbaugh
is an idiot But a lot of people don’t
A lot of people listen to him and
form their opinions off thoughts
like his. It was insightful to hear
how he and those who call in think
about issues. listening to his show
became a thought-provoking expe
rience, valuable in that it forced me
to reconsider my own views, but
above all else, let me in on how the
other side (the Right) thinks and
thereby allowed me to refine how
I develop my counterarguments to
view's opposing my own.
UNC botched a similar, prime
opportunity a year and a half
ago when John Ashcroft visited
campus. Aside from the embar
rassing display of hospitality (or
lack thereof), inconsiderate stu
dents ruined an opportunity to
really absorb and understand the
mind-set of such a powerful man
in government who many felt had
done the nation and world wrong.
They were depriving themselves
of the opportunity to intellectually
engage the man firsthand.
last year, my global issues
class compiled a panel of a dozen
students, including myself, who
supported the war in Iraq... in
front of a lecture hall of at least a
couple of hundred who despised
people like us.
For about an hour, students
brought even- question (and com
ment) they could to discredit us
and try to make us see the igno
rance of our views.
My view is that President Bush
botched the war and started it in
the first place to benefit his cor
porate cronies. But its the human
rights atrocities that get to me, and
1 am glad that at least there is a
chance of justice there now.
Such are my views on the war.
1 don’t know if I changed anyone’s
mind, but I was at least able to
explain and expose people to a rel
atively suppressed view on a cam
pas vehemently in opposition to
the war. For those who remained
unchanged in their views, at least
they reconsidered their own views
and ultimately better know and
understand the opposition they’re
attacking.
Besides, who would want to
hear a panel of people agree with
everything the audience thinks for
an hour straight? It’s one reason
there’s such a fascination (yes, we
all have it, whether or not we stop
and engage) with the Pit Preacher.
Of course practically no one agrees
with him. and it’s not like he’s in a
position of authority. But it’s still
interesting to listen to the polar
opposites of our own views to help
us refine and improve our thought
I’m not saying UNC should
invite Neo-Nazis or bring back the
KKK’s David Duke just to diversify
the speaker landscape. People like
Ashcroft add so much perspective,
and with many Bush administra
tion members out of real jobs in
less than a year, there ought to be
some very interesting speakers
available, and it wouldn’t hurt us
to hear what they have to say.
EDITORIAL CARTOON By Alex Lee, lobinOemail.unc.edu
Live in your own reality
SDS draft protest was misguided and unproductive
The last year that the U.S.
military draft was in
effect, Roe v. Wade over
turned state bans on abortion,
the Watergate scandal raged on
and the Sears Tower was com
pleted in Chicago.
Since then, six presidents
have taken office and the U.S.
has changed drastically, front
bell-bottom to Apple Bottom
jeans and from “Bad. Bad Leroy
Brown" to “Soulja Boy."
Yet, for some reason Students
for a Democratic Society decid
ed to speak out about the dis
continued practice Thursday,
almost 35 years later, with a
19705-style protest of its own.
The charade, intended to
galvanize students in support
of withdrawing all troops from
Iraq, suffered from a lack of
tact and was far too over the
top to be taken seriously.
SDS members created their
own “draft cards" under the
guise of the “UNC Draft Board,"
collected them from the crowds
and tore them up.
The entire display was per
formed with biting sarcasm,
completely overshadowing the
Still not a good idea
Principal shouldn't have held separate assemblies
A heated confrontation
between a black girl and
a Latino girl at Dillard
Drive Middle School in Raleigh,
which included intimidation
through threats with gang sym
bols. led to a dramatic response
by principal Teresa Abron.
She held two assemblies, one
for black students and one for
Latinos, to address the schools
standards for students and its
policy against gang activity.
The w-hite students didn't
attend either because they
weren’t part of the problem.
Judging from the delicacy
of the racism issue in America,
segregating the middle school
students was not the best deci
sion on Abron's part.
A slew of upset parents gath
ered at a school board meeting
"Riesday to protest the segregat
ed assemblies, complaining that
bad examples were set for their
children, some of whom felt put
down by the assemblies.
Farewell, Fidel
End of Castro’s reign opens door for change w ith Cuba
Miami wasn’t exactly
erupting with fire
works Tuesday fol
lowing the news that Fidel
Castro won’t seek re-election
we use that term very loosely
—as Cuba's president.
The odds are strong that noth
ing about Cuba's current politi
cal situation will change as long
as the elder Castro remains alive
and working behind the scenes
although his brother Raul, since
acquiring power, has shown
some desire for reform.
His resignation, however,
gives the U.S. a unique oppor
tunity to mend a monstrous
fence by finally removing the
embargo and the travel ban. ,
While we're not justifying
anything Castro has ever done,
he’s rightfully resentful of the
Opinion
two speakers and showing a
total lack of respect for both
current and past soldiers.
As in its previous protests,
including marching on a mili
tary recruitment center and
sitting in on the office of Rep.
David Price, D-N.C., because
he voted to continue funding
the war, SDS failed to target
the appropriate group and did
so in an ineffective manner.
It’s OK to disagree with the
war in Iraq. It's a bit of a mess,
without a doubt. But regardless
of whether or not anyone agreed
with the premise of going to
war in the first place, the fact
remains that we’re there now.
That fact isn’t going to
change, and further debate
on the issue must be framed
accordingly to be at all useful.
The draft has absolutely
nothing to do with the current
war. The U.S. hasn't had a draft
since Vietnam. Protesting the
draft, therefore, is a useless
demonstration of ignorance.
Calling for the immediate
removal of troops from Iraq is
also foolish. It arguably might
have been better if the U.S. had
We understand that Abron
had the safety of the students in
mind when she decided to sepa
rate the assemblies, but unless a
combined assembly would have
resulted in a mass conflict, it
probably would have been bet
ter to focus the assembly toward
the whole school at once.
It should take much more
than two seventh-grade girls
arguing and flashing gang
symbols to explicitly separate
the entire school by race.
Keeping the students togeth
er would hare been a sign to the
students that they need to get
along they’re stuck at that
school together, and they’re
just going to have to learn to live
with each other regardless.
Plus, middle schoolers are
still at an impressionable age
and are constantly looking to
adults around them to estab
lish their values and morals.
If they see authority figures
separating everyone bv race to
U.S., alluded to in his latest let
ter as “an adversary which had
done everything possible to get
rid of me.”
Little does he know', the
ClA’s top-secret plan to slowly
kill him over 50 years with an
intestinal disease has finally
come to fruition.
In all seriousness, however,
the Cuban embargo and travel
ban have been grossly ineffec
tive at trying to undermine
Castro’s authority-.
Instituted in 1960 to counter
the nationalization of Ui>. assets
in Cuba, in 48 years the embar
go has not only failed to unseat
Castro but in fact managed to
impair Cubans and Americans.
Meanwhile, the rest of the
world is taking advantage of
trading opportunities with the
never intervened to begin with,
but pulling the troops out now
will only send Iraq into greater
chaos with greater loss of life.
Instead of simply complain
ing or arguing for solutions
that defy - reality, SDS needs to
take a close look at the facts.
If the group actually pro
posed viable solutions or even
just initiated dialogue that bet
ter reflected the situation at
hand, it might actually create
change in the right direction.
As it stands, however, SDS
comes off as a group slightly off
its rocker pushing an unrealis
tic, heavily ideological agenda.
It’s impossible to get any
thing useful done with that
kind of reputation.
If SDS truly wanted to
engage students on the topics
of the w ar in Iraq and military
recruiting, it should do so with
facts and figures and by pre
senting both sides of the issue
fairly, so students can decide
for themselves what to think.
And if they- have time between
printing fake draft cards and
making posters, they could also
check what decade they’re in.
solve conflicts between races,
students have little impetus to
integrate on their own.
And at a school w'here race
relations already are apparently
a problem, separating the stu
dents will only perpetuate the
growing cycle of conflict.
The community uproar that
occurred should be a reminder
to everyone that civil rights in
our country are still a relatively
new and very potent issue.
Racism hurts all parties
involved, and we aren’t even a
full generation out of the Civil
Rights Movement.
Yet no matter how' gaping
the wounds of racism still are,
Brown v. Board of Education
overturned the “separate but
equal" doctrine 54 years ago, and
the spirit of that ruling should
have been followed.
After all. how are people ever
supposed to reconcile with each
other when the reaction to con
flict is further separation?
island sitting 90 miles off the
coast of Florida, puffing on
fine Cuban cigars while U.S.
businesses and farmers in the
Southeast watch as they miss
out on a valuable market.
The travel ban, tightened
by the Bush administration in
2004, also is more of a punish
ment to individuals wanting to
visit Cuba than a productive
political measure.
UNC s study abroad program
in Havana, limited to 14 people
as it is, is one of the few that
exists in the country because of
these restrictions.
The days of the Cold War
are over, and Castro no longer
poses even a miniscule threat
It’s time for the U.S. to step up,
be the bigger party and put an
end to this nonsense.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The ability to he able to dance is
a sign of solidarity. ... (This) is
something I couldn V pass up .”
ERIC JOHNSON, DANCE MARATHON PARTICIPANT
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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VISIT http://dailytarheelpublic.wordpress.com
Post your own response to a letter, editorial or story online.
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U.S. should adopt stricter
gun control laws for safety
TO THE EDITOR:
In response to Wednesday’s
letter to the editor (“Prohibition
of concealed carry hurts campus
safety," Feb. 20), it is dangerously
irresponsible to suggest that a
tragedy similar to those at Virginia
Tech and Northern Illinois
University could be prevented at
UNC by allowing students to carry
firearms with them to class.
We need to instead use these
shootings as an example for
why we need tight and strictly
enforced gun control laws.
Seung-Hui Cho had been diag
nosed with both depression and
selective mutism and displayed
troubling behavior throujffiout his
childhood and at Va. Tech. Steven
Kazmierczak had been prescribed
a cocktail of anti-depressant and
anti-anxiety drugs.
These students were com
pletely unfit to own guns, and the
suggestion that they, as well as
similarly unstable people, should
be free to carry firearms around
campus is one of the most convo
luted arguments I have read.
If we truly want to be able to
go to class without feeling like
“sitting ducks," we need to follow
other industrialized nations in
adopting strict gun control laws.
Consider it no coincidence that
in comparison to other developed
nations we have higher rates in
both firearm ownership and in
gun-related homicides.
I cannot think of a single
instance in which I would feel
safer if every undergraduate was
walking around with a handgun.
George Diameter
Sophomore
Political Science
Williams obviously is far
classier than Krzyzewski
TO THE EDITOR:
I was so inspired by Mike
Krzyzewski’s comments about
what he doesn't do regarding inju
ry reports that I wrote down some
things Roy Williams doesn’t do:
Doesn’t w-hore himself out
to American Express, General
Motors or any other company
willing to pony up big bucks and
increase his recruiting power.
Doesn’t remain completely
smug about the behavior of a
player who commits a flagrant
and vicious foul at the end of a
game where the outcome has
already been decided.
Doesn’t act completely remote
and inaccessible to the local and
national press and then complain
about unfair media coverage.
Doesn’t make subtle below
the-belt comments without hav
ing the decency to refer to a team
by name.
There you haw it Roy Williams,
a class act all the way.
Dylan Thurston
Manager
Carolina Union Box Office
CORRECTION
Due to a reporting errof, the
Wednesday editorial 'Super bad
idea* mistakenly stated pledged
delegates are bound to a particu
lar candidate They can techni
cally vote for whomever they
want, but they are chosen with
the understanding they will sup
port that candidate. The Daily Tar
Heel apologizes for the error.
SPEAK OUT
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Uhr Daily ear Hrrl
Kvetching board
kvetch:
v.l (Yiddish) to complain
'Fun night out with my
boyfriend" and "Vagina
Monologues' do not belong in
the same sentence.
To the lone boy in absolution
Monday night: Do me.
The rest of the class could care
less about all the movies you've
seen; we want to win some
candy. Calm down.
Props to the UL for offering free
blue books; now I can utilize my
pocket change for its proper allo
cation, purchasing Dutch Master
Cigars from the gas station.
I was OK with spending a
quarter more than girls had to
... but those cookies sucked!
You have to wonder what the
guy who left Boyz II Men knew
that the organizers of Spring Fest
didn't...
Kudos to the Wolfpack. Force
us to unneccesarily use tons of
water to de-State-ify our Old
Well, (screw) the drought...
next time though you should
probably tell your boys to win.
So I’m apparently too sober to
get into the substance-free com
munity. Seriously, housing, WTF?
Dear Carolina Review: I know all
of your writers think that they're
terribly witty (especially their
jokes about the Men at Carolina
program turning men gay!), but
they're still just as ridiculous as
they were in high school.
UNC, please design anew com
mercial to air during basketball
games. If the voice-over isn't
creepy enough, I think the mul
lets are a clear indicator that
the promo is a bit outdated.
Whenever people hand me fliers
in the Pit they're pretty much
saying, 'Here, YOU throw this
away."
That's right, I took the elevator
to the fourth floor: knee surgery
does that to you. Next time,
think before you try to impress
your girlfriend.
I can't ever get any work done
because I'm always trying to
keep up with the online
comments responding to letters
to the editor.
Daily Tar Heel, why is it that
you constantly harass the ASG,
but when things are going well,
you are nowhere to be found?
Do you find conflict that mudf
more interesting than progress
for the students?
If UNC smokers invested all the
time they spend creating stupid,
flawed analogies for the campus
smoking ban into quitting smok
ing I think we’d all be better off.
Send your one-to-two
sentence entries to edit
dtsk9unc.edu, subject
line 'kvetch.'
ahr Sailii aar Heel
Established 1893.
114 years
of editorialfreedom
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EDITOR, 962-4086
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