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10 MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008 A SARAH TRULUCK BEST BUDOtES MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Sarah Truluck is a senior English major from New Bern. E-MAIL TRULUCKOEMAIL.UNC.EDU Acceptance breeds an inclusive society At some point in our lists, living with a disability will touch all of us. w hether it is we who face this struggle or some one we know. Each day. individuals with intellectual disabilities struggle to lead a "normal" life that is, doing the things that many of us enjoy each day without a second thought, such as being accepted in the society that surrounds us and automatically picking up on social cues anti practices. Many of us might also know someone with a disability, perhaps through volunteering with Special Olympics, religious organizations, schtx)l or family. 1 he 1990 ‘ n - s^ rr%ealed that there are GUEST COLUMNIST 6.2 million to 7-5 million people nationwide with intellectual dis abilities. and these individuals have amazing things to contribute to society as well. Chapel Hill's own Kerry Hagner won a gold medal in this summers world Special Olympics in China, something that 1 certainly have not managed to achieve, and my interactions with the disabled community leave me continually amazed at their talents and ability to form friendships. The recent comments made by a University professor have made the disabled community and its advocates, both in Chape! Hill and nationwide, truly concerned about increasing awareness and educa tion about the difficulties and triumphs that people with intellec tual disabilities face daily. Although no one will dispute that living with an intellectual dis ability is harder than living with out one, this does not mean that those with intellectual disabilities cannot have an equal quality of life and positively impact as many, if not more, of the people around them than those without disabili ties. There are support networks, group homes and binding such as Medicaid to assist those with intellectual disabilities in achiev - ing their life goals and living much as any of as, here at UNC, would. In Chapel Hill, organizations like the Arc of Orange County and Residential Services provide opportunities and aid for those with disabilities. My friends with disabilities and I share interests such as Carolina basketball, seeing movies and simply hanging out in other words, we have little differences other than that those with an intel lectual disability have labels affixed to them that 1 do not, and the dif ficulties they face in being accepted in society make any day-to-day dif ficulties I might face seem trivial. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act passed, granting individuals with disabilities non discrimination in the workplace and in other public venues. However, this act means noth ing without our assistance if we believe every erroneous fact we hear about the inability of people with disabilities to have viable lives and to contribute to the society around them, we will continue to treat them with less than the respect they deserve. If we instead recognize that they do face chal lenges and that they have things to share with us, we can help improve their quality of life by being an understanding friend. In my own group on campus. Best Buddies, we foster friendships and help erase the constructed divide between those with intellec tual disabilities and those without. If we recognize their challenges, as our neighbors, family members and friends, we can further their quality of life by providing an accepting community. Things are changing for the bet ter, and one person, whether they have an intellectual disability or not, can have an enormous impact on the lives of others, as my work with Best Buddies has shown me time and again. By just accepting those with dis abilities as they are, respecting the challenges they face and reaching out a hand in friendship, we can help change things, one person and negative stereotype at a time. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Mason Phillips, mphil@email.unc.edu i 's jk|L • • •\Tv v ' Simplicity is beautiful Student Congress should pass hill to reform elections Student Congress is attempt ing to simplify campus election rules. It’s a move we've called for before, and we’re glad to see Congress finally making the pro cess easier on everyone involved. All that’s left is for Congress to vote to pass Rep. Val Tenyotkin’s bill Tuesday night, moving stu dent elections three giant steps in the right direction. We hope it does get passed. Many of the amendments to Title VI of the Student Code, which governs elections laws, arose in response to problems experienced this year. As before, students can solicit signatures for their petitions 28 days before the date of the election. The petitions arc due in a week and the Board of Elections has two days to certify the candidates. Under the new rules, candi dates will be able to campaign publicly as soon as the board cer tifies their campaigns, which gives us a 19-day campaign season. Previously, public campaigning began 21 days before the election. Take action Town economic plan is vague, hut at least its a start The impending departure of Schoolkids Records leaves another hole in the downtown Chapel Hill streetscape. Public forums on an eco nomic development strategy released by the Town Council concluded two weeks ago, but we thought we would add our voice to the discussion. With the flight of businesses from Franklin Street it’s encour aging to see that the council has a plan for the steps that should be taken to help spur increased economic development. Although the overall plan is vague, its existence means the council has at least implicitly acknowledged that there is a problem with economic devel opment in general and Franklin Street in particular. Now we just need a concrete plan of action. The draft is broken down into six main areas: transit and mixed-use development, green building, employment, town/gown, local business and diversity/social consciousness. All of these areas contain good ideas toward defining and Setting the standard UNC athletics teams deserve off-court praise, too Were all familiar with the endearing termi nology of “rocks for jocks," “meatheads," and “dumb jocks." Athletes tend to have the reputation of being a few fries short of a Happy Meal. But according to anew study, UNC’s student-athletes don’t fit that bill. Among the 65 NCAA men’s basketball tournament teams, UNC placed in the top 10 of graduation success rates. UNC, at 86 percent, was the only ACC team to achieve this. Duke University, we’d like to note, came in at 67 percent. Among these bottom 10, all under 34 percent, are several big sports schools with hefty athletics department funding Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, to name a few. Opinion but the use of campaign materi als was forbidden until 14 days lx-fore. Now that awkward period when candidates could campaign publicly but couldn’t use signs or other props is gone. Also, complicated definitions of public and private campaigning are being re-examined to make them easier to understand. Nineteen days will be more than enough time to campaign, espe cially if the really important part of the electoral process, big signs that clutter the Pit with uninspir ing but vaguely catchy slogans, gets extra time. We haven’t heard of anyone fighting this bill, and it seems likely to pass. We hope no one gets the dumb idea to try to stop it. The setup the new system will replace is truly a masterpiece of excessive regulation. Kristin Hill, a candidate for student body president this year, called it “kind of like having rules for the sake of having rules." The regulatory nightmare was so ridiculous that catching candidates in spurious violations became half accomplishing the town’s goals. A couple in particular stick out as important and should be first on the list. The plan calls for a retail anal ysis in order to figure out which gcxxls and services are success fill in the Chapel Hill economic market and which are not This information is impor tant in courting and placing new businesses to ensure that they will be able to sustain operations, a feat that has been less than easy in recent years. The town also is calling for the development of incentives for small and local businesses to help them succeed. Locally owned stores are more benefi cial to the economy because they keep revenue from sales in the community while also contribut ing to the commercial tax base. One of the more minute details of the plan that could have a profound positive effect is compiling a database of existing office space through out the town. This is a worthy goal because it allows the town to know the exact office availability it has to I jet’s look at it this way: About 3 percent of high school basket ball players will earn a scholar ship to a Division I school. And of those lucky enough to get a Division I scholarship, less than 3 percent will have a meaningful NBA career. The rest need tools to succeed in life, and graduation would certainly help with that. But UNC’s domination on and off the court doesn’t limit itself just to basketball. The women's field hockey team is another example. The entire squad received a National Academic Team Award for maintaining a team grade point average of 3.0 or better during the fall semester. And did we mention they were also undefeated and both the sport of student elections. Those violations often led to fines and other penalties, and they made running for office more an exercise in wading through the rules than actually campaigning. And. of course, the BOE got to spend its time investigating poten tial violations. We look forward to the board no longer being bur dened with working out whose A frame violated which start date. Maybe they can use some of that newfound free time to make sure that our special elections proceed without a hitch, since this bill transfers the job to them. The bill also cleans out obso lete language, including the rules gov erning campaign voice mails, and restores the option of using conventional ballot boxes should something go wrong with the electronic system. On the whole, we’re glad that the election process is being sim plified, and look forward to fewer violations in the future. We hope that Congress will look at this hill as a model for future reform. offer and can be used to show businesses that they have a place to move to in Chapel Hill. Filling office space is impor tant as it can help to decrease the labor flight of Chapel Hill residents to offices in Durham and Raleigh, taking their day time spending with them. Unfortunately, the plan is t(x> suggestive and doesn’t con tain enough directives. A fire needs to be put under the seat of Town Manager Roger Stancil to develop a plan, and it is the Town Council's prerogative and duty to exude a sense of urgency. One goal is to “consider offering guidelines" for pro moting green development. This is far too vague to be effec tive. Instead, the town should have cut out the wishy-washy language and call for the imple mentation of said guidelines. The Town Council overall has done well with its new plan for economic development. Now we just have to wait for the ideas to actually be implemented. Stancil, let’s see what you and vour staff can do. ACC and NCAA champions? We’ve all seen those com mercials during the big game that preach about how NCAA athletes will go on to succeed in something other than sports, and for us, it’s actually true. The UNC Department of Athletics really seems to help athletes juggle a hectic sched ule of practices, games, exams, classes and after-game victory celebrations. It always nice to be consid ered the exception to the rule. UNC not only has the brawn; we have the brains, too. Basically w r hat we’re try ing to say is congratulations. Not only do our athletes wear Carolina blue on the court, but they wear it off the court, too *t graduation. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It feels good to win these games , but were not satisfied were still very hungry." WAYNE ELLINGTON, UNC GUARD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Feel strongly about something that has been printed? Post your own response to a letter, editorial or story online. VISIT www.daifytarheel.com/feedback Public outcry can influence policy on the war in Iraq TO THE EDITOR: I am an Army veteran who served eight years. My response to those who condemned the war protest: l understand your concerns about the "walkout" being inef fective. To a great extent my generation has forgotten “what it means' to protest. It’s not about hurting the University. It’s about hurting our selves and hoping someone will wonder why. By participating in a walkout, I am choosing to put myself in harm's way because I can no longer abide an outrage, and I am willing to damage the powerful's expectations of my future in order to stir up some empathy from the world. I realize this only works if a massive number of people par ticipate. However, it seems people only act unified when faced with the fear of being forced to endure a horrible situation, or empathiz ing with someone you care for that has. Consider what ending the draft did. It limited the number of troops who could be called upon and forced us to rely on the reserves and heavy rotations of the active duty units in a long war in order to tie the president’s hands by making him feel the pain via public outcry. To some extent, it worked. Whether for better or worse, the midterm election changed policy in Iraq. However, with the fear of the draft removed, it also removed the public's vis ceral fear of having to fight the war. Thus, people are willing to disapprove in principle but not to the extent that it would cause them personal loss. I will not condemn the stu dents who are w illing to risk, if only symbolically, their future for something they think needs to be put right. It is only the smallest step, but at least they care about something other than themselves. Sean Hanea Senior American Studies Former Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army (1997-2005) Local businesses are what make college towns great TO THE EDITOR: I was first elated to open The Daily Tar Heel, for the seventh year as a UNC student, to see the annual “Carolina's Finest.” That was until I saw some of the so-called winners. Starbucks, Best Buy, Streets at Southpoint?! Call me an old fogey, but half of what makes Carolina great are the unique establishments, exploring the many hole-in-the-wall places and supporting local business. If these big business places are where the kids these days are conducting their business, what's the point in living in a col lege town? I guess even a more liberal university town doesn’t mind getting rid of the mom and pop shops. Let’s just put a Wal-Mart where the Pit Is while we’re at it. Who's with me? Maybe many of those who submitted their votes this year. Tim Schxcantes Graduate Student Public Health SPEAK OUT WRITING GUIDELINES: ► Please type: Handwritten letters will not be accepted. ► Sign and date: No more than two people should sign letters. ► Students: Include your year, major 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. h- E-mail: to editdeskOunc.edu >- Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27515. EDITOR'S NOTE: Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Daily Tar Heel or its staff. Editorials are the opinions soMy of The Daily Tar Heel rdiv rial board The board consists of nine board members, the associate opinion editor the opinion editor and the editor. The 2007-08 editor dedded not to vote on the bod ahr Daily ear Hrrl Immigrants don't have the same rights as U.S. citizens TO THE EDITOR: In response to “Attacking the wrong party" (March 17), the term “melting pot’ does not refer to immigrants just coming to the United States, but “melting" or assimilating into our culture. If all immigrants who came to the U.S. would do so through legal means and would absorb into our population, most American.- would be far less critical. In regard to the argument against the bills Sen. Elizabeth Dole introduced, legal resident do not enjoy the same rights as citizens. There are vast differ ences between someone allowed to live here and a citizen of this country and rightfully so. A large percentage of all drunk driving instances are accounted for by noncitizens. Having said this, the punishments for driv ing under the influence should be harsh, especially for these individuals. Legal immigrants should live here under a close watch and on a trial basis. We have to put up with the indiscretions of natural-bom citizens but are not obligated to deal with those of legal or ille gal immigrants. Why should we aecept individuals into this coun try and allow them the many ben efits of living in the U.S. if they will not acquiesce to our laws? Kevin Wise Junior Political Science War protest was useful in promoting conversation TO THE EDITOR: 1 am writing in response to Chris Buchheit’s letter to the editor (“Immediate withdrawal in Iraq would be detrimental, March 20). While I agree that a swift exit from Iraq would not be the best solution, I believe the protest was meant to be more symbolic of the increasing dissatisfaction Americans, espe cially young people, are feeling with our current situation. Buchheit makes the point that we have had an equally high num ber of military deaths throughout our last three presidential admin istrations. How are military losses an argument for staying in Iraq? Should this not. instead, be moti vation to take a stand against this gruesome pattern? While a few hundred student protesting are not going to end the war, it may have an effect on the decisions future presidents make about whether to engage in mili tary action, and as young people, this will prove very important. The purpose of the protest was not meant to pit students against each other or attack anyone’s personal beliefs but was rather a way to get students thinking and conversing about the war and the impact it has had over the past five years. The very fact that we are still discussing it shows that it has done just that, and I am happy to be part ofa campus that Is willing to make this conversation happen. Robyn Mitchell Junior Journalism QJhr Unity (Tar Hrrl Established 1893. 115 years ofeditorialfreedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR. 962-4086 2UREICKOEMAILUNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS MON.WEO.FRI 12P.M ADAM STORCK OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCKOUNC EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR, 962-07S0 TIKMANOUNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM TED STRONG SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN AROI22ONE SARAH LETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON ELYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
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