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12 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008 Li NATHAN NYANJOM A DIFFERENT ANGLE Nathan Nyanjom is a senior biology major from Columbia, Md. E-MAIL- NYANiOMOEMAIL.UNC.EDU Make the most of yesterdays tomorrow I almost didn't come to UNC. After all the on-court effort Michael Jordan went through to convince me to come to his alma mater, making my AOL screen name "tarheelflava" in sixth grade and touring the school my sophomore year of high school, 1 received a letter from the University’s Admissions Board in February 0f2004 regretting to inform me that I’d been wait-listed. Fate-listed more accurately. After using Taco Bell as comfort food for a week, 1 realized that not going to UNC wouldn’t be too bad. The University of Maryland was dying to have me, and I quickly got excited about going to an in-state school AT-LARGE COLUMNIST where I could room with my best friends, be a 20-minute ride away from First Nyanjom Bank & Laundromat and generally have a greater knowledge of my sur roundings. Hundreds of Terrapins are bet ter than a lone Tar Heel, right? But then something special hap pened. After sending in a last-ditch additional packet containing let ters from almost every teacher at Atholton High School, I got an e mail in June, congratulating me on my acceptance into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The only decision I was left with was how to cut up a now-defunct red student ID card. My freshman year was amazing our basketball team won it all. Rugby provided me with a net work of friends I will hare forever, and I learned that UNC not onh offered the likes of Intro to Jazz, but allowed me to take it for aca demic credit. The next three years of college had a tough act to follow. My grades didn't There hare been too many people, professors and P2P drivers to list and thank for helping me get through college, but I will take four words of my last column to salute Professor Corey Johnson and Rick Baker. The first because 1 need a "C" in his anatomy class to receive a diploma-sized package in July. The second because he is a guy from New Jersey , and those kids need all the lovin' they can get. To the countless readers of mine still in high school, try out for any and every varsity sports team people will not know how long you spent on the bench when you’re here at UNC, only the fact that you played ball for some high school on the other side of the state and that your hoodie looks pretty cool. Regardless of our age, we all need to make the most of each and every day. Academic responsibili ties are paramount but it's impor tant that we take time to experi ence as many experiences as pos sible. While each of us knew Keith Shawn Smith, Jason Ray and Eve Carson to different degrees, the proximity of their lives to ours here at Chapel Hill echoes how fragile life truly is. Listen to Nobel Prize winner Oliver Smithies and all senior citizens talk: Their wise words will resonate with your later self. More importantly, do things that you love nowand have yet to personally experience. I certainly am no saint: Despite my impending graduation, I have no idea of what 1 am doing this fall or this summer let alone for din ner tonight I was simply a guy blessed with the opportunity to hare his face posted on the back oflTie Daily Tar Heel every Wednesday, as long as I produced 650 words on a topic that was interesting. I tried to make die most of my 15 minutes of fame, and I hope that any and all of you who tuned in especially you, Rachel McAdams appreciated what I had to say. I saw a bumper sticker yes terday which read. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yes terday how did it turn out?" HI let you know after I take Professor Johnson’s final. EDITORIAL CARTOON By Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner pr f6SWKBr>,. "i LJo h|teQ3a|®l tsfliafei Uii&l Csbss| GFfQrro. u§S IspAatwS!’ 1 , 'Rwl hbußy OJfIW WP~ 0 ffirfiSß** Anew hope? ASG must overcome divisions and refocus itself Another year has come and gone, and once again the Association of Student Governments has wasted it We’re looking to the newly elected ASG president, Greg Doucette, to change that trend. As an organization perpetu ally plagued by racial, social and other -ial divides, what the ASG really needs is to refocus itself on its mission as the voice of the 17 UNC-system campuses. If s a battle royale Unfortunately Doucette is already off to a rocky start. He won the vote 22-21 on a tiebreaker by the chairman of the meeting after a delegate who had originally voted for Doucette had been deemed ineligible. Doucette also has some wor ried that he is taking on too much responsibility by serving as N.C. State’s Student Senate president at the same time. This is ignoring the prob lems he would have were the student body president to step down at any point, which would leave Doucette serving on both the Board of Governors and the N.C. State Board of Thistees, which is not allowed. But at least this is nothing like last year’s election, when ASG delegates chose Cole Jones, who was charged with assault at the time and eventually convicted, to lead the organization until he later resigned in October. The group’s leadership prob lems kept it from getting any thing done until he resigned, Following the money trail Stud} 7 shows areas N.C. higher education could improve North Carolina has long prided itself on its strong financial com mitment to higher education. However, as a recent study demonstrates, the state is hardly harvesting the fruits of this substantial investment either in the realm of education or in the marketplace. The study, which focuses on both private and public univer sities of North Carolina, reveals a number of areas in which the needs and development of N.C. public universities seem to have trumped those of the students and residents, an intolerable mix-up that state public uni versity administrators would do well to fix. While we don’t necessar ily agree with every point the study makes, it raises several important issues for higher education in the state that need to be examined in detail. Show us the money North Carolina has outs pent most other states in terms of subsidizing higher education since 1970. In 2005 higher education expenditures con stituted 6.7 percent of the N.C. budget; nationally, that figure was only 4.3 percent. From an economic stand point, the state would certainly’ like to see a clear benefit to bal ance out the excessive cost of subsidization. One of the goals is to reach into as many ethnic and socio economic groups as possible to provide them with the oppor Opinion as Jones was effectively barred from his seat on the BOG. The ASG needs someone in the presidency who knows how to arbitrate, and we hope that Doucette is up to the challenge. Disunity is a perennial prob lem that tends to keep the ASG from getting anything produc tive done. In fact, we can think of one major accomplishment just one— in the past two years that can be credited to the ASG, the textbook resolution of March 2007 that was even tually adopted almost in its entirety by the BOG. It’s an example —and one we have cited repeatedly that shows that when it’s not bicker ing over Robert’s Rules of Order or having entire delegations stage walkouts, the ASG actu ally can do things that benefit students. Not breaking the bank It’s not like the group is lack ing in resources. It rakes in $1 from every UNC-system stu dent, totaling about $190,000 in student fees last year. But unfortunately, because of stringent spending restric tions imposed by the General Administration, the ASG has run enormous budget surplus es and has about SBO,OOO in reserves that it can’t invest and can’t give back to students, so it just sits and rots. In January system officials announced they would be screening all ASG spending, tunity of education. However, as the study pain fully points out, a mere 25.6 percent of the N.C. adult pop ulation has earned a college degree. Additionally, only 18.6 percent of high school fresh men go on to earn a college degree within a decade. The low percentage of adults with a college degree indicates that the state higher education system is not reaching out to all classes and portions of the population as intended. Alternately, it could also mean that secondary education pro grams in the state have not been successfully preparing students for the rigors of college, a point confirmed by North Carolina’s dreadfully low 50 percent col lege graduation rate. The cost of subsidization The state subsidizes a large portion of higher education in order to inform and prepare its populace for successful jobs and futures in the state. However, data indicates that higher subsidization of state uni versities is negatively correlated with economic growth, an ugly factor that certainly calls for the attention of administrators. Because of vastly bloated administrative and faculty salaries and perhaps an over emphasis on research, only about 30 percent of university expenditures go toward actual instruction, possibly devaluing the experience of a college edu cation in North Carolina. The researchers cited a study not because the delegates are spendthrifts but because their spending generally lacks focus. We never saw, however, pre cisely how that oversight was to materialize. Doucette needs to get cre ative and work with system offi cials to find something the ASG can spend its money on besides boosting its own officers' sala ries and travel expenses. Refocus and move forward In theory, having the ASG around to represent the uni fied voice of the UNC system is a good idea; lately it s just been an embarrassment. System officials met with the ASG back in September to try and straighten some of this out, and that might have had something to do with Jones’ resignation a few weeks later. It seems to have done nothing for the group’s long-term pre dicament, however. The ASG’s lack of focus is the core problem underlying its infighting and its inability to spend money usefully. If it could get that worked out, the rest of the pieces should fall into place. The ASG has the potential to be a strong advocate for stu dents and speak a collective voice for the university system. With all the issues facing the system, from tuition to textbooks to campus safety , there is a vital need for that voice to be heard. We know the group can get things done. Doucette, let's see it happen. in which UNC seniors showed only a 4.4 point increase over freshman on a test of civic lit eracy including American his tory, political thought and the market economy. Meanwhile, our devilish rivals in Durham actually saw a decrease in scores on the test from freshman to senior years, possibly demonstrating the neg ative neurological effects of four years of camping out painted head to toe in blue for basket ball tickets in Krzyzewsldville. A stream of solutions It’s clear that North Carolina isn’t quite getting the return it should be getting from its sub stantial investment in higher education. We’re not advocating that less money be put into educa tion, but surely the money’ that is being put there could be used more efficiently. For instance, putting more money toward instruction in both high schools and colleges would help with some of those ugly statistics. The study’s authors suggest providing incentive for the use of expensive university’ facilities during breaks. It also encourages universities to increase teacher loads and reward students for timely completion of degrees. We urge the powers that be to read the study and start making the higher education beast a bit less gargantuan and a bit more efficient so students and citizens alike reap the ben efits of its work. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Any landing you walk away from is a good one ” LEIGH BEADLE, CHAPEL HILL AVIATOR WHO WITNESSED PLANE LANDING MISHAP AT HORACE WILLIAMS AIRPORT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Feel strongly about something that has been printed? Post your own response to a fetter, edtaxial or story online. VBlTwww.daHytarheel.com/feedback DSP would do more harm than good for workers TO THE EDITOR: The sit-in at South Building did not have poor timing, just illogi cal backing. Students who support the Designated Suppliers Program are advocating policy that would ultimately damage the lifestyles of the “sweatshop'' workers whose cause they champion. Maybe Chancellor (James) Moeser realizes that joining the DSP along with the 42 other uni versities will effectively remove enough profits from these com panies that they will resort to layoffs or worsened conditions for their employees to make up the difference. Unfortunately, these compa nies are concerned with money and will do whatever they deem necessary to continue to make it Having said that, the truth of the matter is these workers are being paid what their labor is worth. In a capitalist system, dif ferent firms will compete for labor by increasing wages and better ing working conditions. At the same time, workers are demand ing higher wages. Eventually, firms will reach a wage that no other firm will exceed and that is accepted by workers: this is what the labor is worth. If firms have to sacrifice prof its, they will choose to hire less, pay less or let working conditions deteriorate. But if you care so much, use your “sit-in time" to work a job, and you can donate your hard earned money to help out these so-called “exploited workers." Kevin M. Wise Junior Political Science Gun control laws inhibit citizens' right to defense TO THE EDITOR: I have gotten used to The Daily Tar Heel’s juvenile posturing on the matter of gun control, but the letter published in the April 18 edition (“Sweeping gun con trol, draconian jail time needed") is absolutely appalling. The author may wish to live in a police state where people are jailed for exercising their civil rights, but I hope I shall never live to see it come to pass in the USA. There are thousands of laws pertaining to guns on the books now. Criminals, by defini tion, do not obey the law! Why should they care if some new “draconian" legislation threatens to put them in jail for possessing a gun when they are contemplat ing murder, robbery or rape? The only people penalized by gun control are honest people who are thereby denied their Constitutional (and natural) right to self defense. Look at what has happened in Britain and Australia since they enacted sweeping gun control and confis cation. Violent crime is way up because criminals know no one can resist them. The consequences in America of sweeping gun control would be horrific. What it really comes down to is we cannot legislate evil acts out of existence. We can allow ourselves to resist them. It is the duty of honest citizens to resist crime, just as it is our duty to resist the sort of tyranny proposed. Paul Thompson Class of 1980 SPEAK OUT WRITING GUIDELINES: fetters wN not be accepted ► Sign and data: 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. Lindt fetters to 250 words. SUBMISSION: ► Drop-off: at out office at Suite 2409 bi the Student Union ► E-mii: to edltdeskOunc.edu ► Send: to R.O. Box 3257. Chapel H, N.C., 27515. EMTDTS mm Columns, cartoons and tetters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Oaity Tar Heet or its staff. Editorials are die ojanwnssotety of The Daily Tar Heel edito rial board The board consists of nine board members, the associate opinion editor, the opinion editor and the etftor. The 2007-08 editor decided not to vote on the board ahr Daily (Tor Hwi Columnist targeted wrong issue underlying violence TO THE EDITOR: I found Tuesday's “Judge men by actions not societal stereo types’ column very dishearten ing. The guest columnists from Monday (Allison Harrison and Megan Rolfe, ‘Examining our role in violence prevention") never argued against new safety mea sures. They were trying to bring about awareness to the depths of the problems of violence. I also find it interesting that (Tuesday columnist) Charles Dahan states, “claims about promoting a gender-neutral discourse ... work to mask the problem of evil." If 95 percent of all violent crimes in the U.S. are committed by men, Dahan must be arguing that men are inher ently evil since they overwhelm ingly commit these crimes. The feminist perspective is much more positive toward men. They claim that the socialization of males and the masculine ideals society imposes on men are what enable these crimes no matter how few men actually commit them. Further, I think “basing safety policy' upon discursive theory’ is exactly what we need since thoughts are what change soci eties before policies catch up. Elyse Keefe Junior Political Science Coverage should reflect community demographics TO THE EDITOR: Saturday was the Carolina Hispanic Association's Noche Latina, our annual event to share Hispanic culture in an evening of food, family and fun. Chispa is among the largest cultural organi zations on campus and represents Latinos as well as those that care about Latino issues/culture on a campus that increasingly includes this demographic. We at Chispa find that events like Noche Latina create the opportunity to share our efforts and initiatives with the greater University community. Noche Latina is about the representation of a cultural group and the promo tion of diversity and unity, but it goes much deeper than that We were upset, however, that there was no (English) coverage on the event before or after and that it never made the in-print cal endar. As our community on cam pus grows, we are a little confused as to why our appearances in the DTH have dwindled to occasional mentions by La Colina. The deci sion to omit this event and others like it is irresponsible and only hurts the wider readership. In a state with a rapidly grow ing Latino population, it is impor tant to include proportional rep resentation in media and adapt to the social realities. We hope that as the Chispa and Latino popula tion grow, our presence in campus media will grow proportionately. Pedro L. Carreho Departing President Chispa Ronald Batres Incoming President Chispa ©jr Daily (Ear Brel Established 1893, 115 years of editorial freedom ERIN ZUREICK EDITOR. 962-4086 ZUREKXOEMAII.UNC.EDU OFFICE HOURS MON.. WED.. FRI. 1-2 PM. ADAM STORCK OPtflON EDITOR. 962-0750 APSTORCXOIWC.EDU JONATHAN TUGMAN ASSOCIATE OPMON EDITOR. 962 4750 TIKMANOUNC.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JESSICA SCISM TED STRONG SARAH WHITWORTH KATHRYN ARDIZZONE SARAH LETRENT DUNCAN CARLTON ELYSE MCCOY GRAHAM ROWE DAVID GIANCASPRO
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