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10 FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008 SAM PERKINS THAT'S WHAT HE SAID Sam Perkins is a senior journalism and environmental studies double major. E-MAIL SSPERKINOEMAIL.UNC EDU Give UNC some sweet summer lovin’ Before college, yes, it felt great to purge the disease of school from vour life. But as a Tar Heel, UNC becomes a part of you. Don’t take a break from this relationship. So if you haven't locked up your summer plans, remember that whatever you do, you can do it (and make sure you do it at least once during college) in Chapel Hill. Of the three- summers I’ve had during my four years at UNC, I’ve spent two and half in Chapel Hill. And while it can absolutely suck at first, the downtime of the campus and town actually brings out the finer jxiints of both that you can easily miss while saturated in the social scene of tens of thousands of students. UNIVERSITY COLUMNIST First and foremost make sure you take courses during at least one or two summers. One-month courses are great if you want (or more likely need) to really focus on a given area. Even better is the Carolina Courses Online option. With CCOs you can knock out some of those annoying General College perspectives in a far more intellectually stimulating manner than in a huge lecture hall. And not only an- they a financially sen sible option, you can do them from absolutely anywhere. Last summer 1 studied abroad in England but also took two CCOs - HIST 151 and POU 101. .And, under a pleasant dose of Big Brother, paid far more attention and enjoyed it tar more than I would have ever expected. Both classes required a few contributions a week to discussion forums on Blackßoard, and it made for great discussion and much more interesting learning, especially when you get blunt contributions from people who obviously had a glass of wine at the computer or stepped away from beer pong to write up a post Plus, unlike in lec ture halls, you get good opportuni ties to respectfully and construc tively tell “that guy" to shut up. When you need a break from academics, summer in Chapel Hill is the prime time for one of the University’s relatively hidden gems the disc golf course. 1 hate to tell people about it because it’s nic est when it’s not too crowded, but you can access it from either the Outdoor Education Center or UNC General Administration parking lots. It’s a great way to get out for a few hours and try anew sport Plus, you’re under tree shade for most of the course. Exploring Battle Park is another good outdoor excursion. Sticking around in the sum mer also lets you utilize a dwelling for which you have a 12-month lease. Or perhaps you can just help someone else out by taking up a sublease. That also allots you a trial period with some roommates. Either you make some friends and potential future roommates, or you get out of there in a short period of time. While you can probably watch our men’s baseball team in the College World Series in June, there aren't exactly summer sports at UNC. But the Durham Bulk are playing just down U.S. 15-501 in a really nice minor league park. It’s the best baseball fix you can get in North Carolina. Finally, especially if you're an out-of-stater, take advantage of the diverse landscape North Carolina has to offer. One weekend, drive 1-40 East a few hours and fill out that farmer's tan with some time at the beach. Another weekend, drive 1-40 West a few hours and get up to the highest elevation east of the Mississippi River. Not only can you soak in a nice temperature drop in the N.C. mountains, Mount Mitchell has recorded snowfall during every month of the year. So don't worry about the town being dead boring. There are fall backs in the area. If you completely exdude UNC from your summer life, you’ll regret it later on as you cheat on your beautiful campus with which you've developed such an intimate relationship. Because nowhere else can you get this kind of sweet, hot, sweaty, tender Carolina lovin’. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Alex Lee, lobinOemail .unc.edu ~~A iMorerans bbmre: ||jg SBS& An engaging goal UNC serves community well, hut more can be done Y&u've heard it before during Board of Trustees tuition debates and in that long-running commercial nar rated by Charles Kuralt UNC is the University of the People. But how well does UNC real ly live up to that designation? UNC-system president Erskine Bowles’ UNC Tomorrow aims to better the state in a variety of areas, and the cur rent focus in the brainstorming process is on public outreach and engagement. UNC must strike a balance between public service to the community and academic ser vice to the students. This is not, however, a zero-sum game. It is possible to increase service without detracting from academics. The best way to achieve this balance is by incorporating pub lic service with academics and by encouraging professors to make service part of their own academic and teaching efforts. And no matter what the num bers show, there’s alw-ays room to build on the University’s ser vice to the community. From the masses Students play an integral part in fulfilling UNC’s role as the University' of the People. They tutor local kids at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, volunteer with the Inter-Faith Council soup kitchen and build houses with Habitat for Humanity. The numbers for student participation in public service A failing success Lottery should be kept despite its shortcomings The N.C. Education Lottery is the quint essential example of bureaucratic incompetence. And that’s not even us saying that. It’s the Office of the State Auditor though in somewhat kinder words. It appears that the NCEL management did almost noth ing right except ensure that revenues exceeded expenses. Despite the near-abject fail ure of the lottery, it’s not time to give up on it just yet. We’re going to temporarily ignore the fact that the lottery was a poor idea from the start and work from the basis that we must now make the best of having it. As hard as it might be to believe given the auditor’s report, the lottery did in fact make money for education, and it would probably cost the state more to terminate the program than to continue run ning it at least for now. The condemning report According to the report from the state auditor, the NCEL had four main weaknesses that were rather all-encompassing. They included, and we quote: “no documented revenue fore casting methodology, no formal strategic plan, no ongoing mar keting or operational research and no foil-cost accounting of promotional events.” Naturally we think they should do these things. It would probably help solve some of the Opinion are hard to quantify- as there are an array of groups under many administrative umbrel las working locally, statewide and abroad. According to the Cabinet report from this year’s APPLES Service-Learning Program, more than 1,600 students par ticipated in nine service-learn ing programs during the 2007- 08 school year. That’s nearly 10 percent of UNC undergraduates. Other organizations, such as The Campus Y and Public Service Scholars, which requires students to complete 300 hours of community ser vice in order to graduate with that distinction, contribute to a culture of service on campus. Top-down example In order to truly serve the community, UNC must exer cise top-down leadership by example. Professor-initiated and -led programs and centers for research allow UNC to give back to the state. A perfect example is the Scholars’ Latino Initiative, cre ated by religious studies profes sor Peter Kaufman, which was designed to help high school students apply to college and find ways to pay for it. Unfortunately Kaufman is leaving to take a job at the University of Richmond, in part because of the UNC sys tem’s policy against financial aid for illegal immigrants. While this particular program was stymied, it’s a prime exam bureaucratic incompetence. The lottery has been in operation since March 2006 but thus far has failed to meet revenue projections. Part of the problem more than likely has to do with the fact that the NCEL management appar ently has no idea how it comes up with its forecasts. According to the report, there is no formal documentation for the 2008 fiscal year sales fore cast, but at least someone had the sense to lower the projec tion to $957 million, after fall ing $325 million short of the $1.2 billion projected for 2007. However, NCEL spokes woman Alice Garland said the lottery is currently $lO5 million above where it was at this time last year and should surpass its projection; there might be hope yet for meeting a goal. Unfortunately that still means the forecast was way off. Additionally it’s particularly difficult to evaluate the effec tiveness of promotional tech niques without market research and full-cost analysis. Promotion is hard to do well; given the lottery's lackluster per formance overall, it would fail to surprise us if the NCEL wasn’t getting its moneys worth. Money for something Forecasting accuracy aside, the lottery has made money for education. In the 2007 fiscal year, the NCEL transferred more than pie of the kind of professor-led service initiatives we would like to see more of at UNC. We all know about the “pub lish or perish" mentality in high er education, but imagine the change in the community if the primary goal was to develop new and better ways to serve. UNC also can fulfill this role through the creation of pro grams and centers for research aimed at the common good. The possibly soon-to-come Center for Public Policy will unite professors and leaders from across the state to take on issues directly affecting the state of North Carolina. This is the sort of system wide program that could best handle the changes confronting the state as it works to address issues pertaining to health care, education and the economy. More than money These service initiatives, whether they be performed by students or faculty, don’t just need money thrown at them. The University should never try to fill its service role through mere dollars and cents. While money helps, the real commit ment must come from human capital, and this can be done without hurting academics. The time, energy and ideas the University can give to the community are far greater and more effectual than any amount of money school or system lead ers could appropriate. That’s w’here we need to focus to enact real change. $325 million to education, or roughly 35 percent of gross sales, the target percentage. As long as this money is sup plementary to and not replacing existing appropriations, then it’s certainly not doing any harm. The money was spread across the state to fund More at Four programs, additional teachers to reduce class size, more school construction and need-based college scholarships. And while a tax on the gen eral populace might be more efficient and less regressive, given that we have the lottery, it’s good to know it is actually doing something. Cost-benefit analysis While shutting down the lottery now is a tempting pros pect, the state would still have to pay some of its fixed costs. Those who have won prizes paid out over a period of time would still have to be paid, tick et dispensers for 5,800 retailers would go to waste, and contracts would have to be canceled. But if the lottery continues to operate, it is not only covering its costs but also making money for education even if it’s not making as much as it could because of poor management. Maybe with some time and some common-sense sugges tions, such as fully account ing for costs, the NCEL will be somewhat less incompetent a few years down the road. If not, we 11... then it should probably be sent to the wall. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What are they going to say? They haven't made a decision” ROY WILLIAMS. BASKETBALL COACH, ON HIS PLAYERS’ NBA DRAFT THOUGHTS 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.dadytarheel.com/feedback Ice cream vomit-fest sends wrong signal on poverty TO THE EDITOR: I am appalled at Nourish I ntemational’s fundraising event, the Maple View Challenge. The event this weekend is a marathon of sorts. Participants run from campus to Maple View’s Carr boro store, eat a pint of ice cream and then run back. I don’t think I’m wrong about what the event will entail: run ners first shoveling ice cream into their faces, then running back to campus, perhaps vomit ing on the way. I wonder if the runners will discuss alleviating world hunger before or after they slam four scoops of Rocky Road. I wonder if Nourish could explain vomiting ice cream for money to an impoverished fam ily desperate for food. It is possible that the Maple View Challenge will raise need ed funds for international relief work, and in that sense, I am glad Nourish organized it. However, I am extremely dis appointed that such a progressive group would sponsor an event like this. It epitomizes first-world gluttony. It tells us that simply spending money, rather than also reducing consumption, can effec tively fight poverty. And to top it all off, a sign advertising the event in the Pit today asked women if they had ever eaten a whole pint of ice cream after a tough breakup, sug gesting that such a “skill" might be useful in Nourish’s competition. From such a well-known, well respected and progressive group on campus, I’d expect better. Erita MacKenzie Senior Biology, Inti. Studies Sweeping gun control, draconian jail time needed TO THE EDITOR: Jason Blatt’s letter on April 15 (“Handgun registries don’t help increase public safety") only addresses part of what is needed. This country needs a federal gun control law as comprehensive in its own way as the Civil Rights Act —one that makes registra tion mandatory, prohibits pur chase without a permit proving competence in use and storage and prohibits purchase without a background check that covers medical conditions, as well as social behavior. It must cover all purchases, no loopholes, period. Then we must back the law up with serious consequences. There should be no such thing as misdemeanor illegal posses sion including possession of an unregistered gun —and no probation after a crime with a gun or a second offense. This proposal would not keep a mature, sane, law-abiding citi zen from owning a gun. It would make law-abiding types help keep our country fit to live in, as opposed to Brazil. The jails may overflow for a while, but that’s where the law less belong. It would work about the same as a driver's license. There are 32 gun homicides every day in America. That level of gun violence means every day not just April 16 should be a national day of mourning for both sides of the gun issue. LaMotteAkin Chapel Hill 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 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 ML N.C., 27515. EMTOTS NOTE: Columns, cartoons and tetters 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 nine board mentors, the associate opinion editor, the opinion editor and the editor. The 2007-08 editor decided not to vote on the board ahr Daily ear Hrrl Kvetching board kvetch: v.l (Yiddish) to complain Girls with great big shades. Think they look like movie stars. Like, yeah, whatever. • I’m pretty sure I’m not a coal miner, so why do my hands always look like I am one after I read your paper? I feel the black lung coming on. I know you’re trying to be sneaky, girl who comes in an hour late every day. But the door is at the front of the room. WE CAN SEE YOU. I hope I get a scholarship so I'll be able to afford blue books and scantrons for my exams. Please don’t write your autobi ography with the honey mus tard on my sandwich. , New construction is good, but is spending three hours drilling into a brick wall outside my dorm room really a good use of tuition money? Your profiles of potential candi dates in the chancellor search contained the phrase, “Christ could not be reached by the deadline.’ Yeah, I’d imagine he’s pretty tough to get up with. Nursing school, if I’m still ask ing how to properly weigh a diaper, then don't you think it’s a little ridiculous to expect me to know how to put a needle in someone's pericardium? Loreleis, enough with the e maiis. I'm not going nor have I ever gone to one of your con certs. Next time don’t schedule it during our Final Four game, so I car reuse the “my imaginary pet iguana is sick and can’t be left home alone, or he’ll eat my toe nail clipping collection' excuse. Thanks, DTH, for giving us the nutrition guide to campus din ing —with 10 days left in the school year. To the girl who offered to swipe me into Lenoir That was very kind of you! Thank you so much! Middle school teacher with a thousand kids in Lenoir, this is our cafeteria, and you have absolutely no right to intimidate students who go here to give up their tables to a bunch of snotty-nosed brats. Yby! It's spring! Now I get to look like a prude in my shorts and T-shirts while alt these other girls prance around wearing glorified napkins as “chesses.' Please don’t vote if you are the type of person who gets that incensed because someone is making sure you're registered to vote. 1 have always been a firm believer in disenfranchising morons. It's great that you guys are doing it yourselves. Send your one-to-two sentence entries to edit desk9unc.edu, subject line 'kvetch.' ©f* Satin ©u* Srrl Established 1893, 115 years ofeditorialfreedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR. 962-4086 ZUREICKOEMMLUNC.EDU OfTICE HOURS MON,. WED . FRI 1-2 PM. ADAM STORCK OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCKOUNC EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750 TUCMANOUNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM TED STRONG SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN ARDIZZONE SARAH LETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON EIYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 18, 2008, edition 1
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