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12 FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2008 SAM PERKINS THAT'S WHAT Ht SAID Sam Perkins is a senior environmental studies and journalism double major. E-MAIL SSPERKINOEMAIL.UNC.EDU The most wonderful time of the year Nothing is finer than to be in Carolina in the spring. Freshmen soak it in. Savor it. Sophomores, juniors and seniors if you've somehow missed out or been caught up in classes during this time in previ ous years, be sure to make time to get outside. It's one of the pin nacles of the Carolina experience. With Southern spring here (Southern winter lasts only about two months), the campus has more green and festive colors than a Willie Nelson or Snoop Dog stash and its ensuing trip. First, those pesky winter wor ries are gone. Playing in the rain no longer carries the same hypothermic worries. For the past couple of UNIVERSITY COLUMNIST weeks I've been pleasantly able to leave all doors and windows to my house open, which makes the moments during which I watch TV or play video games as though I'm enjoying them outside. Now we have the ultimate excuse to feed the ADD we all possess to some degree we can relentlessly harass our professors to hold class outside. No longer must one worry, upon stepping out into cold weather, about nipples hard enough to cut diamonds. Yet, that remains a concern for schools north of the Mason-Dixon line, as even in the past week, they've been pelted with snow and bitter, freez ing temperatures. Nor must we lug jackets and worry about tripping over them or getting them dirty. But that's not the best change to come in fashion. It’s time to sunbathe. Bathing makes you clean. And cleanliness is next to Godliness. So don’t be afraid to gaze at the fine example set by sunbathers. They want you to look it’s their mission from God, granted to them in the name of cleanliness with the bod ies God gave them. I wish I had an excuse to go back and pass by the greens or any other South Campus green, but I have no such excuse, nor does the presence of a fiancee make it any more permissible, although she knows, as do most others, that it’s just about the spectating. Hmm, I haven't been down to the Smith Center for the reopened basketball museum, though... But as women’s skirts and shorts make a treacherous thigh high climb, especially in conjunc tion with ancient clips of basket ball games, it reminds me of the other beauty of this time of year NCAA tournament time. While other schools savor the football season, this is our time to shine. We are blessed to dominate a sport with a sanely organized (no unjust formula) postseason. Plus, we don’t have to endure any nasty or frigid weather to enjoy basketball. I can still look down at my shoes, a color between Carolina blue and ash gray, actually because they were Carolina blue, and I danced in the ashes after UNC’s victories over Duke and IDinois in 2005. Those memories of cool spring nights around warm bonfires on Franklin Street par ticularly with singed leg hair and inebriation will remain dear. Should our basketball team give us the chance for such a celebration again, make sure you’re not too drunk to savor and remember it Sadly graduation is a mere month away (for some of us), and so the opportunities to seal such memories are fading fast These are the moments for which we will be nostalgic 30 years from now, recounting to our children, their eyes rolling like wheels. If you have class all afternoon. I’m not saying you should skip class every so often to enjoy the weather as much as I’m saying you should think about what you want your spring after noon memories at UNC to be. This is the most wonderful time of the year, and as these are the most wonderful years of your hie, this is the most wonderful time of your life. Recognize there’s no better place to be. Don't let it pass you by. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Alex Lee, lobinOemail.unc.edu OPENING l_m— ‘SoV ZMB au. I want anew drug PharmFrees campaign for objectivity is a worthy cause We’ve been drilled with the “Just say no to drugs" slogan since our awkward years. Now an unlikely group of people doctors should practice what they preach. There has been a recent surge in relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine" kind of deal, where pharmaceutical companies give doctors goodies plugging the sheer greatness of their medica tions regardless of whether they are, in fact, great. PharmFree, an organiza tion of the American Medical Student Association and of which UNC has a chapter, wants to be the deal breaker and has the potential to do a lot of good for the industry by working to get drug promotions out of doctors’ offices. The group is working to eliminate the inherent conflicts Right to restraint Police must enforce restraining orders to protect victims The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that citi zens have no right to expect police enforcement of a restraining order. The estimated 1.3 million women a year who are victims of domestic violence in the United States are at risk if the court's decision is upheld. Since the ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union and Columbia Law Schools Human Rights Institute have filed a brief with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to call attention to what they call a civil and women's rights issue. While the LAC can’t enforce any future ruling, the case at least sheds light on the inad equate protection for domestic abuse victims in the U.S. For Jessica Lenahan, the plaintiff in the case, the lack of police enforcement of a restraining order against her ex husband resulted in the murder of her three young daughters. Residents should have some expectation that a restraining order will be enforced and that victims of domestic violence can With flying colors Color-coding is a nice attempt to ease airport delays Ybur trip through airport security might get even more colorful soon. In addition to the color-coded terror threat levels broadcast in security lines nationwide, the TYansportation Security Administration recently creat ed anew system to streamline travel through airport security by denoting airport experience levels by color in hopes of alle viating delays. Whether this works or not, it’s nice to see TSA trying some thing to improve the quagmire that is airport security. The system takes a cue from the slopes that surround the two trial airports in Denver and Salt Lake City, separating security lines into three “ability’ groups which follow the same color Opinion of interest that result when doctors take gifts from phar maceutical companies. Countless problems could arise if doctors prescribe a medicine for a patient, not because they think it’s the best medicine for the job but because they have some sticky notes from the drug company . Studies have shown that doc tors who have contact with drug representatives do not prescribe drugs in accord with guidelines established by expert panels. Also, while doctors indi vidually tend to claim they are immune to outside influences, they believe other doctors are adversely affected. The amount of money drug companies pour into promotion is absurd. They spend Sl6 billion every year pushing their prod ucts, money that could be put toward developing new drugs. PharmFree is taking active steps to combat this unnatural expect some level of police pro tection. This issue particularly affects women, as they are sta tistically more likely to be vic tims of domestic violence and to take out restraining orders. In 1999, despite the restrain ing order against him. Lenahans ex-husband took their daugh ters and killed them before he was killed by police after open ing fire on a police station. Lenahan called police upon discovering her daughters were missing. She asserts that she asked police to enforce her restraining order and retrieve her daughters, but they did not. She lost her first lawsuit against the Castle Rock. Colo., police, but in her appeal, the Tenth Circuit ruled that she had the right to police enforcement of her order under Colorado's mandatory arrest statute. Mandatory arrest statutes remove police discretion and require that police arrest vio lators of protective orders. In many states these apply specifi cally to cases involving domes tic violence allegations. Castle Rock appealed the coding that ski areas use. The first line is a green circle for families and people with little travel experience. The second line is the blue square or intermediate line, designed for passengers with high luggage or only casual traveling experience. The last line is the black dia mond line, designated for the ‘professional traveler." Folks in this line are business travelers, flying light and often. In trying out the new system, TSA is hoping to improve its public reputation. It is currently tied with the Internal Revenue Service and ranked second only to the Federal Emergency- Management Agency among Americans' most disliked gov ernment agencies. influence on physicians. The group wants current medical students to sign a pledge stating that they won’t take gifts from drug companies and that they will seek unbiased sources of information about new- prescriptions. While it might sound a little toothless, it also might be the best way to stop the problem for future generations. It certainly will be rather difficult to halt the unfortu nate habits of current doctors, but because doctors take oaths, such as the Hippocratic oath, pretty seriously, this could actually have an impact. Unfortunately getting drug companies out of doctors’ offices is a little like getting lobbyists out of Washington it’s unlikely to happen, but we should still try to do so. Fortunately PharmFree is leading that charge. We hope they find some success. Tenth Circuit's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 that Lenahan had no entitlement to police enforce ment of the restraining order. By upholding the decision not to act on a restraining order, the courts have all but taken away the legal protec tions afforded to the abused. The dissenting opinion assert ed that police failed to uphold Colorado's mandatory arrest law, which removes police discretion and requires that violators of restraining orders in domestic violence cases be arrested. For many victims, the only legal recourse for defense against an abuser is a restraining order. Law-s calling for the mandatory arrest of violators initially were created to protect victims but are useless if not enforced. North Carolina does not even have a mandatory arrest law in place. State and local authori ties should be providing more legal protection for victims. We hope that the Chapel Hill police would never use police discretion as an excuse to not enforce a restraining order. Somehow we don’t think adding color-coding is going to have a profound effect on peoples' perceptions of TSA. But public image is only a sec ondary goal. The first priority is speeding up security- lines. The system does seem a little simplistic, we will grant that, but as anyone who has been stuck in an airport security line when they- are rushing to catch a flight can attest: Anything to help cut down on delays is helpful. Also, the program does not involve any major costs because there is no expansion of the cur rent security checkpoints neces sary, just a little reorganization. Assuming the tests cut down on security lines, we hope the system is implemented across the country. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Thefact that Eves such a public figure ... makes it different. It forces people to confront the broad issues BILL STROM, CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBER 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.dMlytarheel.com/feedback UNC shouldn't rename its School of Public Health TO THE EDITOR: The Dennis and Joan Gillings School of Global Public Health, ever heard of it? You will if the administration at UNC School of Public Health moves forward with its plan to rename the school. Although Dennis Gillings was a member of the faculty in the past, the impetus for recogniz ing the Gillingses was a recent donation of SSO million that they made to the school. That may seem like a lot, but let s put it into perspective. Based upon data available on the School of Public Health Web site, the annual budget for the school is SlO4 million, which includes roughly S3O million in grants from the National lastitutes of Health and S2O (million) to S3O million from the state. Considering that the school has flourished as a public institution and promoted excellence for 68 years, a one-time gift of SSO mil lion doesn't seem like so much. In principle, the name change is WTong. UNC is a public insti tution, and the School of Public Health is the oldest among state universities. The school belongs to the people of North Carolina, not Dennis and Joan Gillings. Furthermore, my pride for Carolina runs too deep to forfeit my identity with UNC-Chapel Hill and to assume the Gillings name. I would no sooner support a move to rename our mascot. Rameses, as Dennis or to change the school colors from Carolina blue to Gillings green. Dustin Petersen Graduate Student School of Public Health Sex education is a crucial job for our public schools TO THE EDITOR: While reading Nathan Nyanjom's column (“Bring up bananas to your kids earlier,” March 26), I kept remarking what a good argument he was making until I read his statement, “It's the parents’ responsibility ... to make sure that their child is responsible when it comes to sex.” This statement presupposes that all kids have parents that care about their well being. Sadly this is not true: some parents are neglect ful, apathetic or even abusive. It (also) presupposes all kids have parents who are willing to accept the fact that their children might have premarital sex. Many parents believe that so much as mentioning sex to their children is synonymous with giving them permission to have (it), some thing that may be entirely against these parents' moral beliefs. Because these parents exist it is unrealistic to say- that sex educa tion “shouldn't be delegated to our children's teachers." It very well should be up to the tax-funded public education system to edu cate children who would other wise be doomed to ignorance. Nyanjom is right when he says that sex education in schools is currently lacking and needs to be re-evaluated. If the education sys tem doesn't educate these children about safe sex practices, then who will? Their parents? Only in a per fect world which. I’m sorry to say, we don’t live in. Emily Childress Sophomore Dramatic Arts SPEAK OUT WRITING GUIDELINES: ► Mease 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 250 words SUBMISSION: ► Drop-off: at our office at Suite 2409 in the Student Union ► E-mail: to editdeskOunc.edu ► Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27515. Conors 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 mne board members, the associate opinion editor the opinion edtor and the edtor. The 2007-06 editor decided not to vote on the board. altr Daily ear Hfri Kvetching board kvetch: v.l (Yiddish) to complain To the people at Lenoir Wednesday morning who just couldn't stop talking about stillborn babies, puberty and dildos with names: You might not know this, but people come to Lenoir wanting to keep their food in their stomachs. Can we please stop having let ters to the editor about immigra tion? Every day, immigrants this, immigrants that immigrants suck, immigrants kick (butt), etc. Can't we just get along? Why are both participants in the abortion debate male? Dear registrar: Do you think you could schedule registration on a day when someone might possi bly be in any office on campus? No? Shocking. Hey SRC: Why when I go to lift weights do i hear Elton John? I am in there to pump iron, not other men. Backward-hat boy at Student Stores: Please be less attractive; I'm going broke buying things from you every day. Dear UNC alumni: Is there not a charitable ophthalmologist willing to provide Lasik to our ACC Player of the Year, Mr. Hansbrough? Homeboy has probably spent a modest fortune on contacts. Dear fellow Ehringhaus resident It wasn't my fault that I had to park across two spaces. Your anger would be better directed at the guy who was parked in the space next to mine yesterday. Until they build a car that runs entirely on awareness, 'rais ing* it is not going to change anything. Last time I checked, I pay tons of money to take your class. So, I provide money for your pay check, and if I want to surf the Internet in class, you can't do anything about it. I’m mad at how, in the new and expensive Global Education Center, the toilet water is still quite yellow after flushing eight times. Get it together, UNC. Google Street View: At least let me wash my car before you per manently put it on the Internet. What's with people staring on campus? Give me my face back. Do University officials really think we will use less water if they stop refilling soap dispens ers on campus? Panhandling tip No 1: If you are going to ask me for spare change, make sine you are not taking on a S2OO Razr at the same time Send your one-to-two sentence entries to edit desk9unc.edu, subject line 'kvetch.' ahr Daily (Ear Hrrl Established 1893, 115 years ofeditorialfreedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR. 962 4086 ZUREICKOEMAILUNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS MON. WED.. FRI. 1-2 PM. ADAM STORCK OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCKOUNC.EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR. 9620750 TUGMANOUNC EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM TED STRONG 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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March 28, 2008, edition 1
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