Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 13, 1966, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 Thursday, January 13, 1966 Opinions of The Daily Tar Heel are expressed in its : editorials. All unsigned editorials are written by t h e : editor. letters and columns reflect only the personal views of their contributors. ERNIE McCRARY, EDITOR "Reapportionment? Wait'll FDR Hear? About This!"' David Rothnian .v ECU And The Single University Concept The Smithfield Herald The Johnston County Board of Commissioners has adopted a resolution which, in effect, declares opposi tion to the State's "single university concept." The Board's resolution does not specifically op pose the single university concept. It simply gives support to conversion of East Carolina College into an independent state-supported university. But the real significance of the Board's resolution should not be overlooked. What President Leo Jenkins of East Carolina Col lege is seeking is not simply an expansion at Green ville which would give the college university status. He wants East Carolina to become a university sep arate from the Consolidated University of North Caro lina. He challenges the validity of the single univer sity system. The single university concept has been formany adopted by the State of North Carolina. The concept is written into law. It calls for a single state-supported university with a single president and a single board of trustees. But the University of North Carolina is not confined to a single campus. There is the University at Chapel Hill, at Raleigh, at Greensboro, at Char lotte. The single university concept does not rule out University of North Carolina units in other communi ties. It does not rule out expansion of East Carolina College into the University of North Carolina is not confined to a single campus. There is the University at Chapel Hill, at Raleigh, at Greensboro, at Charlotte. The single university concept does not rule out Uni versity of North Carolina units in other communities. It does not rule out expansion of East Carolina College into the University of North Carolina at Greenville. The single university concept does oppose establish ment of state-supported universities separate from the Consolidated University System. In a democratic state, it is not wrong to challenge any policy of government. It is not wrong for Presi dent Jenkins to challenge the validity of North Caro lina's single university concept. Nor is it wrong for the Johnston County Board of Commissioners to chal lenge that concept. What would be wrong is hasty abandonment of the single university concept without careful study of the effects of the change in policy. Advocates of the university policy contend . that .the policy holds in check bitter rivalry among state-supported campuses in bids for legislative financial support. A single uni versity system discourages unwarranted duplication of educational functions. The economies of a single unitversity system enable the State to stretch its dol lars in the service of young people pursuing educa tion. The single university concept is advocated as a means of promoting state unity in a common cause. It is a concept that did not suddenly spring up in North Carolina. It has evolved under the wisdom of thoughtful leaders, from the time of Governor Gard ner to the present. In - recent times the concept has achieved fulfillment with the blessings of two gover nors representing divergent political factions. The con cept was promoted by Governor Sanford and is sup ported by Governor Moore. The issue raised by President Jenkins should be decided on the merits of : his proposal. President Jen kins and the county boards of commissioners that sup port him have the obligation to spell out what is wrong with the single university concept and to make clear how an East Carolina University separate from the single university system would serve the welfare of North Carolina. It will be tragic if the proposed conversion of East Carolina into an independent university triggers an emotion-packed controversy that leaves buried the arguments based on reason. Already there are signs that some of President Jenkins's potential support lies among Eastern North Carolinians who (1) are sec tionalists bitter over reapportionment and a shift of political power to the urban Piedmont; (2) are chron ic critics of the University of North Carolina at Chap el Hill and are especially angry just now over the re cent amendment of the Speaker Ban law; or (3) are inclined to believe, without cause, that the single uni versity system with headquarters in Chapel Hill is somehow involved in a conspiracy to impose Commu nism and racial integration on the people of North Carolina. President Jenkins, of course, is an enlightened ed ucator who has no spiritual kinship with people in our region who are afflicted with political paranoia. We may be sure that he bases his proposal on reason rather than emotion and that he identifies an in dependent university at Greenville with the economic and cultural advancement of Eastern North Carolina. President Jenkins deserves a full and fair hearing. Unfortunately, there is danger that his proposal could become a rallying point for embittered and frustrated people of the region who look longingly to the past instead of hopefully to the future and what the future conceivably could bring that is good for all North . Carolina. White House Has Bugs V TAA Hit L The White House has a new efficiency expert W. Marvin Watson Jr. Watson has reportedly been monitoring telephone calls of presidential staff mem bers. But, he claims, the only reasons he's doing this is his quest for the much-advertised I.RJ efficiency. This quest, Watson insists, also leads him to follow the comings and going of White House assistants. Columnists Rowland Evans and Robert No vak say Watson has unnecessarily invaded the privacy of LBJ's I staffers. But I disagree entirely. I'm sure he's I perfectly honest when 1 he claims he does ev J erytlS m the name of "efficiency. The following dialogue I overheard re cently ought to prove my point (and, lest anybody doubt my intentions, let me say I overheard the dialogue not in the interest of snooping but with efficiency in mind. "Please, McGeorge me and the oth er gumshoes would like you to use that tapped telephone." "But I don't want my civil rights in vaded.? "Nonsense. LBJ is big on the efficiency bit, and he's complaining that White House security operations are costing too much money.'' "But ..." "And while you're at it, how about mov ing over to the other side of the room." "Hugh?" "You see, McGeorge, we'd like to eli minate the cost of that extra hidden mi crophone we have in there now." "I still say you're invading my personal liberties." "Never mind that at the moment I'm also asking you to use only that olive over there when you mux up your martinis. You see, that's the one we've got bugged." "What's next?" "Next, McGeorge, we'd like you to remove the picture of your wife and fam ily from your desk so we can substitute the one with the radio transmitter." "You needn't go to the trouble. The In ternal Revenue service had it wired for sound several months aeo." "Fine, McGeorge. That takes care of your office. Now about those travel costs. The President informs me you have stay ed well within your expense account, but my gumshoes who follow you complain they have exceeded their budgetary limitations. So please don't leave Washington unless it's absolutely necessary so we can spend less money keeping track of your where abouts." "What else?" "We want you to neaten up your desk, McGeorge. We've been having trouble late ly ransacking your papers." "I swear, I'm going to submit my re signation." "But why? If you follow the President's instructions, LBJ says he'll let you keep the lights on when you work late at night provided you pull shades down." The Student Speaks ' ( x Second class postage paid at the post office in Chapel Hill, N. C. 27514. Subscription rates: $4.50 per semester; SS per year. Send change of address to The Dally Tax Heel. Box, 1080. Chapel HOI. N. C, 17514. Printed by the Chapel Hill Publishing Co., Inc. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all local news printed in this newspaper as well as all ap news dispatches. Proposed Committee Can Cure Book Ills By ALAN BANOV You try to order your freshman math book, but the man at the Book Exchange says it might take weeks for it to arrive. You try to sell your political science book, which you've rarely used, but the man at the Book Exchange offers you one third the price you paid for it originally. You need a certain book for parallel reading for a course, but the Book Ex change never stocks it. Sounds like bad news, which it certain ly is. But how can you change this situa tion? The Cooperative Committee of Student . Government has. a proposal which will prob-. ably 'ameliorate these problems, after very extensive study of the book store systems at other schools as well as Carolina's, the committee has recommended to the Uni versity Board of Trustees that a faculty-student-administration board be establish ed to oversee the management of the Book Exchange. The board would include three student representatives appointed by the student body president for two year terms; three faculty members appointed by the chancel lor for two year terms; and the Univer sity business manager, the dean of campus affairs, and the chancellor or his appoint ed representative. The board would hold an open hearing at least once each semester to hear the many complaints about campus stores, would meet once a month, and could con duct an investigation of campus store op erations at any time. The policies of the board would be sub ject to the approval of the Executive Com mittee of the Board of Trustees of the Uni versity, but students would finally gain a voice in the policy decisions of the Book Exchange. The UNC Book Exchange has been criticized for charging too much for text books. Although publishers generally sug gest prices for books, other sores in the area have been known to charge less than the Book Exchange. Another valid complaint about the store's policies is its habitually low re-purchase payments. The condition of the book seems hardly to be taken into consideration for determining its value, for the exchange usually pays only from one-third to one half of the original cost of the book. Students have found other stores and fellow students paying better prices for their used books. And Ehringhaus last year conducted a free book swap for its resi dents in a very successful project. Like many services of the University, the Book Exchange seems more intent upon making a profit than serving students con veniently. The Book Exchange should be a viable institution, but its use of profits must also be examined. Some $400,000 of cumulative income in the University stores over the last few years has been earmarked for a new Book Exchange. However, students have yet to hear word one about when or where it is to be built. After this year, the fund for the new building should be adequate for the proposed structure, which might cost about $500,000. Some of the profits are supposedly ap propriated for scholarships and fellowships. The appropriations for this item totaled about $875,000 from 1957 through 1965. These profits are probably used wisely, but stu dents should be told what qualifications are required for the scholarships, so more might be able to share the Book Exchange's wealth. The Coop Committee, which was origi nally designed to propose a student operat ed cooperative book exchange, has exam ined such facets of the store's manage ment. It has concluded that the coop would be "unfeasible" here because of lack of funds, lack of permanent personnel, and lack of a store facility. In addition, a clause of the State's Um stead Act prohibits "any unit, department, or agency of the state government ... to purchase for or sell to any person, firm or corporation any article of merchandise in competition with private enterprises." Campus opinion, evidenced in a poll conducted by Student Government's Com munications Committee, overwhelmingly supports the establishment of a student operated bookstore. Som 89.5 percent indi cate their approval of such a venture, and 78.2 percent said they were dissatisfied with the Book Exchange. The Board of Trustees has been present ed the proposals, and students would be wise to study them. Student support would be necessary in any sort of legislative ac tion or referendum on campus to effect these recommendations. If you want to see the services and prices of the Book Ex change improved, you should consider the proposals favorably. The proposals are hardly radical, and the idea for a cooperative store has been discarded at this time. Student representa tives on the proposed board would intro duce the students opinions on the Book Exchange for the first time. And the in vestigations conducted by the board would . certainly enable the. Exchange to seek so lutions for students' gripes. LETTERS The Daily Tar Heel welcomes let ters to the editor on any subject, particularly on matters of local or University interest. Letters must be typed, double-spaced and must in clude the name and address of the author or authors. Names will not be omitted in publication. Letters should be limited to about 250-300 words. The DTII reserves the right to edit for length or libel. Longer letters will be considered for "The Student Speaks" if they are of sufficient interest. How ever, the DTH reserves the right to use contributed materials as it sees fit. Flowers May Represent New Breed BY RICHARD KING TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Until late sum mer or early fall if I had been . asked, "Can anything good come out of Alaba ma?" the answer would have been no. Now I'm not so sure. The person in ques tion is Richmond Flowers, Attorney-General of Alabama, and about him the only reply is, "Well I'm just not sure." By now Flowers' name has become rel atively well known in the South and parts of the North. He has made the circuit of Ivy League colleges, appeared on national TV and been profiled in at least two na tional magazines. But despite his claim to say the same thing in all his speeches, whether in New Haven or Tuscaloose (where I heard him), Flowers is something of a mystery. Phy sically he is a large, rather good-looking man with a knack for vernacular and popular phraseology which stick in t h e mind. What he is trying to do is another matter. Strangely (or perhaps not so strangely) enough, those at the extremes, the George Wallace supporter and the civil righter, evaluate him similarly. To them, Flowers is an opportunist who has jumped on a bandwagon and is out only for his own po litical advancement. The segregationist reminds us that Flo wers was earlier noted for his skill in tell ing Negro dialect jokes and maintains that he is still a segregationist. Those at the other end of the spectrum claim he is not really sincere but that he has some ulter ior motive. To these people one can only say, "Yes, BUT." Opportunism and -politics are cer tainly not mutually exclusive in our sys tem of government and to say that Flo wers is an opportunist is like saying he is a human being. It tells us nothing about him really. To say that he has shifted his position is also a truism. Every Southern politican (here one can dare an absolute statement) who has ever been elected and served in the South has at one time or the other had to defend, usually openly and with a loud voice, the Southern Way of Life that is, segrega tion. Of course, here we could begin with President Johnson and go down the list. These objections to Flowers may very well be true as far as his personal feelings go, but they aren't very helpful otherwise. What to me is encouraging is that a Southern politician, in Alabama to boot, is vying for the political support of the Ne gro. If this is hypocrisy, it is one of the rare examples of hypocrisy which is to be welcomed over honesty. This is an hypo crisy which the South has seen precious little of. Again my point is that a public display such as Mr. Flowers has put on this fall is a change and one for the better, no matter how limited, petty, and inadequate it may seem to the dedicated civil rights advocate or the liberal Northerner. From reactions by Negro students to Flowers' talks in Tuscaloosa, I think there is little danger that the wool will be pull ed over their eyes; and they do not see Flowers as a kind of white Messiah. I think that Flowers' main appeal is to the much maligned (not altogether unjust ly) Southern White Moderate. He is some one they (the Moderates) can be proud of. He stands for "the Law" and moder ation. Flowers tells the Moderate that the Klan and Reverend King are at fault, that they both are troublemakers and just com plicate an already difficult problem. This is what the Moderate has thought all along and feels in his bones to be true. (To equate the Klan and King is ob viously a gross oversimplification, if not a lie. The ironic thing is that Flowers is con sidered a liberal or even a radical by some. This says more about the South's thinking on the race problem than any thing else.) Flowers may just be right, however. All his talk about the image of Alabama and the South being inaccurate may not be strictly correct, but by maintaining this he may rally enough support from vari ous quarters to win an election at some time in the future. Perhaps enough Southerners will finally get tired, from whatever impulse, of be ing the nation's whipping boy and try to change their image. To .repeat an earlier point about hyprocrisy: that the South even cares about its image is a sart, however small and hypocritical, which should be welcomed. At present Flowers is the man. He may be the forerunner of a new breed of Deep South politician. 'TJ 0 1W4. TV HX i 4 P-fr Hw-or.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 13, 1966, edition 1
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