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Page 2 Thursday, March 31, 1966 "Wanta Buy Some Cookies, Mister?" Barrv Jacobs Johnson's Electoral Plan Doesn't Reallv Do Much is 20." Opinions of The Daily Tar Heel are expressed in its : editorials. All insigned editorials are written by the vi editor, letters and columns reflect only the personal jjj: x views of their contributors. $ ERNIE McCRARY, EDITOR ...... : vrr.'.'r.v.Vtiv.'.Ti ' ..-",.."."."""' Hot Spot On Campus The pressure is on in South Building. Particularly for Acting Chancellor J. Carlyle Sit terson. Once again he must rule on whether or not Her bert Aptheker and Frank Wilkinson may speak on campus. There is a chance that his first refusal could be interpreted to have been made on the grounds of .opposition to the dates requested, rather than the speakers themselves. A decision on the new invitation should carry no such ambiguity. Sitterson's position is especially precarious be cause of that little prefix to his title "Acting." He would like to see it shortened to "Chancellor," and his handling of this problem will undoubtedly have a great bearing on his chances of getting the job per manently. For that reason, he is proceeding with extreme caution perhaps too extreme. An extended delay in reaching his verdict could easily have the same effect as an immediate denial of the requests. Wheels Of Justice Turn Slow Seventh In A Series What is wrong with the Honor System? Witness it in action. A defendant in a Men's Honor Council trial Tues day night asked for an open trial. Four trials were scheduled his was to be third, starting at 9:30. The first trial was handled without difficulty. Two of the Council members had to leave then, however, (to be tapped into the Order of the Grail) and a quorum had to be recruited from Council mem bers attending the Roger Miller show in Carmichael Auditoirum. A Daily Tar Heel reporter was present at 9:15 to cover the open trial. He and about a dozen people the defendant, witnesses and investigators waited in the hall outside the Council room while the delayed second case was tried. And they stood there waiting until 12:45 a.m., when they were finally told that the third defendant would not be tried that night after all. "We can't start a case after midnight. It'll have to be tried after the holidays," a Council member said. He. neglected the fact that those waiting had been reassured even after midnight that the casev would be heard that night. ST At least one of the witnesses kept waiting all night had a quiz the next day. This might not be tragic, but it emphasizes the inconvenience and frus trations caused by the trial system. Despite their attempts at professionalization, the Honor Councils could yet use some lessons in courtesy. Conclusion of the series on the Honor System to morrow. Drugs Are Dangerous Dr. Ed Hedgpeth, director of the UNC Health Service, has asked the DTH to print the following letter: In the issue of The Daily Tar Heel for March 29, 1966, a front page article entitled, "Notice For Physi- cal Prompts Suicide Try," I notice the following state ment: "Beaumont said a nurse in the emergency room told him that even if the boy took all the tablets in both bottles it would not have killed him. The num ber of tablets in a small bottle of the sleeping pills This kind of statement strikes me as representing very careless conversation and thoughtless reporting. Lest someone reading this article gain the impression that the indiscriminate use of drugs may have no harmful effects, I hasten to state, and state emphati cally, that the indiscriminate use of drugs on the part of anyone is a very dangerous procedure to follow and may in a given individual be life-threatening. Drugs should be used only upon the recommen dation of one who thoroughly understands their ac tions, dosages and indications. 72 Years of Editorial Freedom The Daily Tar Heel is the official news publication of the University of North Carolina and is published by students daily except Mondays, examination periods and vacations. Ernie McCrary, editor; Pat Stith, managing editor; Barry Jacobs, associate editor; Ron Shinn, news editor; Gene Rector, sports editor; Bill Rollins, asst. sports edil tor; Rick Nichols, night editor; Grady Hubbard, wire editor; Jock Lauterer, Jerry Lambert, photographers; Chip Barnard, editorial cartoonist; David Rothman, col umist; Ed Freakley, Andy Myers, Bob Harris, Steve Bennet, Steve Lackey, Glenn Mays, Peytie Fearrington Carol Gallant, staff writers; Wayne Harder, Lytt Stamps, copy editors; Gene Whisnant, Sandy Treadwell, Drum mond Bell, Bill Hass, Jim Fields, sports writers; Jeff MacNelly, sports cartoonist. Second class postage paid at the post office in Chapel Hill, N. C 27514. Subscription rates: $4.50 per semester; S8 per year. Send change of address to The Daily Tar Heel, Box 1080, Chapel Hill, N. C, 27514. 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. Phil Clay Holy Galoshes! Why Was Batman 'In '? Now that the "Bat-craze" has subsided, perhaps an analysis of its origin is in or der. "Batman" is a unique combination of comic fiction, science fiction and fiction fiction. This combination yields a grammar school adventure series as childish as "Su perman" and as technologically exciting as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." Be fore the drama, millions of Americans sat from 8 to 80, from idiots to intellectuals and from all socio-economic strata. No TV show this winter attracted so much attention as "Batman." It was the time when every dorm television room was full and alive with inmates in this stupid captivity. Within weeks, the idea was pop ularized. Records, sweatshirts, "pin-ups," caps and pennants proclaimed that "Bat sman" was the new national hero. in "a way. not unlike James Bond. Adratorium on common sense was de clared so that such nonsensicals as "leap ing lizards" and "holy golashes" could sneak into our already cliched vocabulary. But what was behind this facade? Why did this form of escapism attract so much more broad-based popularity than tradition al soap-operas or adventure-fiction pro grams. More particularly, why did my fel low Carolina Gentlemen become so caught in this craze? First, "Batman" is a modern man of high technical skill and constant heterosex ual intrigue. This is in contrast to tradi- Letters To . . . Critic Criticized Editor, The Daily Tar Heel: Mr. Ludwig's review of "The Importance of Being Earnest" was incompetent and ir responsible. One might find it amusing that he should with a toss of the hand dismiss Oscar Wilde at this late date and excuse him due to his youth and lack of experience. But I question his right to indulge in little clev ernesses (and in his own words, "camp") at the expense of those concerned with the production. And to say that the Playmak ers should not have at all produced this play is absurd and unconsidered. A newspaper review should in some way reflect the total effect of the play upon the audience. This review would have one be lieve that the play was not worth seeing hardly an accurate appraisal, judging from the generous laughter which actually occurred throughout the evening, and the enthusiastic applause following. It is, of course, a right of the reviewer to disagree with the general audience, but only if we are made aware of the credentials of the reviewer and only if he has stated his cri teria. I question the credentials of this crit ic; his criteria were neither expressed nor implied. I hope that before Mr. Ludwig under takes to review another play he will first gain some small understanding of theatre, and most important, some idea of the role of the reviewer, which is to instruct and to inform, not to ridicule. Lewis J. Hardee Save The Trees Editor, The Daily Tar Heel: I find the article concerning trees ad jacent to the proposed Student Union at Emerson Field amazing. The administra tion has lost all perspective on trees and it is appalling that the campus planner and the buildings architects have perpetrated or permitted this to happen. As a graduate architect I find the state ment that if the tree "... is in a work able place, it could be saved." The state ment should be if the tree is in a work able place it win be saved regardless of who tional heroes whose instruments are ar chiac and who seldom include women in the tragedy the way "Batman' does. In one moment, Batman may make love to a woman and when the momentary util ity is over, he will dispose of her like a Kleenex tissue. This is consistent with the college-man model as epitomized in "Play boy." The women in "Batman" are not h nocent, noble or loyal like Lois Lane in "Superman," but they are intriguing and more important, expendable. Another consistency between the "Bat man" model and the Carolina Gentlemen model is the idea of the technical over the supernatural. Superman would be disre garded by the Carolina Gentlemen. Sup erman's modes are angelic, his mores are Puritan, and he is technologically archaic. To the contrary, Batman is a genius. ' On another level, Batman is a typical "organization man." He embodies the traits that any successful executive might have. He is well organized, resourceful, pragmatic, amoral and insensitive to any social echelon but his own. Those who get in his way must be done way with with out gore and without remorse ("What a way to go-go.") Without the extra added characteristics i.e. "Bat-cave," "Bat-ray," and "Bat mobile", there are a lot of "Batmen': on this campus and in this country. They may The Editor died under it. Way back in the dark ages three or four yeas ago they were teach ing architects that buildings should be planned around trees I never dreamed my education would be obsolete quite so soon. Granted it may be wonderful to plant a whole group of trees and have them all mature at once a hundred years from now when no one even remembers who built the building, but what about the pres ent generation? For the convenience of the contractors and the architects the UNC campus may be soon divided into two well defined areas the new buildings with their new sap lings and the old buildings set in a grove of trees and for the next twenty years nev er the twain shall meet. Seems to me I learned something about integrating the old with the new too. Richard D. Tarbox Dept. of City and Regional Planning f -n i iyr iy- "n ir -thus l7H FIR5T71MEI n 1MB UP ON I 9t ONE MOMENT OF THE VEAK X THffl'OL'prratK MOUNP- j WATCH VSEU; NOW A W B Y C A P P GETTIN INTO ANY TROUBLE rv JV: 1 cjmrcy, AS BAD as Almost since the day it was written into the Constitution, the electoral college has been the subject of much abuse. Nobody really seems to like it; but, except for the change wrought by the 12th Amendment in 1804, nobody has been able to do any thing about it. The authors of the Constitution, unwilling t to trust the people with the election of the President, devised the electoral college as a sort of middle-man in the procedure. Thus as originally conceived, the electors would actually have a free choice in cast ing their votes. The growth of political parties, however, soon made this choice a mere formality. Electors were pledged to support the nominee of their party. They generally did as they were supposed to; and in 1800, when electors simply voted for two men, strict party voting resulted in a deadlock between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Following this near-fiasco, the one and only reform in the electoral college was made: separate ballots were required for presi dent and vice president. In the 12 years since the 12th Amend ment was ratified, the system of electing the president has come under almost con- be described as bright, amoral, apolitical, insensitive, lustfully heterosexual, loyal, handsome and physically fit. So it is no wonder that Carolina Gentlemen were crazed by "Batman." They saw a little of what there is in America. Gotham City could be any American city. But alas, the craze has subsided. Why did it happen in the first place. Was it be cause it disturbed the viewers? Was it be cause spring turned the mind of the Caro lina Gentlemen to his own adventures? Was it because a few weeks of this madness was enough? One doubts that any of these was the real reason. It rather seems that the whole thing was so ridiculous as to cover up the disturbing dilemma that a craze for such nonsense indicates- - David Rothman Great Society Okay I'm for the Great Scoeity, but this is ridiculous. Uncle Sam will foot a $2,550 bill so that 200 Oregon high school students can listen to lectures by columnist Walter Lippmann, United Auto Workers president Walter Reu ther and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. It's not that these three men won't be educational far from this. But the fed eral government underwriting lectures by them? I'm a staunch Democrat, yet some thing within me says that the government paying for these talks is just as bad as fi nancing the students' exposure to Barry Goldw2ter, Ronald Reagan and Sen. John Tower. The whole affair has has a nasty smell to it, tespecially considering Lippmann, Reuth er and King's political affiliations. This is all part of Project Prometheus, a $100,500 farce named after the mythical Greek who brought fire to mankind. Only $6,000 comes from Southern Ore gon College, where the students will room, and the Jackson County intermediate edu cation district. Uncle Sam pays the rest. The program will feature classes in 28 subjects (including "human manipulation in the 20th century" whatever that means, THI5 & THE MOMBfT OP MOMENTS THE 5&iNKIM6 OF A NEW SEASON THIS 1$ A MOMENT TO SAVOR 1 TIT i , i i GET UP THERE hHD PITCH, VOU BLOCKHEAD.' ImiertTftUA MOWEHT TO- I MIGHT SMOKE A BIT TOO tONT GO ONE THING- I NEVEfc RUN AROUNb J COME OFF rr. FLO. I'M NOT isr- VI LO C ,M TW Na !c. J mm Mm. L TM tinual fire. Basically, there have been three major criticisms: a candidate can get a majority of the popular vote and still lose; the process is undemocratic, and the people should be able to vfcte directly for the president; a candidate who gets 49 per cent of the votes in a state gets none of the electoral vote. In 1964, another criticism was voiced when Alabama Democrats vot ed to have unpledged electors, rather than electors pledged to vote for President John son. The people of Alabama, it was charg ed, were denied the right to vote for the President. Johnson has now joined the ranks of the opposition; and, in keeping wfth his char acter, he proposes to do something about it. He has offered a constitutional amend ment which would keep the electoral Al lege, but do away with the electors. Each state's entire electoral vote would go to the candidate with the highest popular vote. Johnson's plan solves only part of one of the three problems mentioned earlier. The people will, in effect, be able to vote directly for President. However, the elec tion would still be undemocratic since votes in different states would hae different weights. The Johnson scheme obviously does nothing to remove the other two ab jections: a candidate can still win the pop ular election and lose the Presidency, ajid a candidate with 49 per cent of a state's vote still gets nothing. ; Since Johnson's proposed changes real ly don't get at the heart of the electoral inequities, it is hard to escape the con clusion that politics is behind them. The major effect of such changes would be to make unpledged elector movements diffi cult, if not impossible. ' Groups dissatisfied with both major candidates would have to put up a third candidate as an alterna tive, rather than simply running a slatelof unpledged electors. - It will be much easier for the two ma jor parties to attack a third candidate, such as Gov. George Wallace, than to attack the idea of unpledged, or independent, electors. It will be harder for the dissidents to con vince the people to vote for someone than it would be to convince them to vote against both candidates by voting for independent electors. . ; There are certainly many things wrong with the present electoral system. It tan be unfair, and it has resulted in some strange elections. Any changes, however, should correct the evils and produced a better-Bysteml ' The ' President's proposed ; changes 'are jaof orjft, f he trouble,., '. u j V v c. r m Goes Too Fan besides politicians' pulling strings)-4n addition to Shakespearean plays, visits to a music festival and six "cultural" movies. So it can't be entirely bad. Nevertheless, Republican criticism, at least for the moment, seems well justified.. "It would be nice if my boys could get this kind of expense-paid cultural enrich , ment," said Rep. John Byrnes of Wiscon sin, the father of six children. He suggested that "a private foundation should be paying for this kind of thing. "It really doesn't make sense to spend taxpayers' funds on such frills while the na tion is fighting a war in Viet Nam." ' The Great Society can continue despite the war, but it's quite obvious that a lot of states could make much better use of the funds like North Carolina or, indeed, Mississippi (think what a splash Dr. King could make down there!) Meanwhile, one can easily discover the Herald Tribune's policy by reading be tween the lines: "Judging by the initial reaction on Cap itol Hill, Project Prometheus is likely to draw white-hot Republican fire against the Johnson administration." An obvious understatement. Hopefully, though, the educational ex periences provided the students will sooth Project Prometheus' critics. But if the students don't come out ahead. ?t least one group will: Their 14 teachers, who are each to be paid $200 a week. MUCH, AN'N 3-3 f ...SHE'D M
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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March 31, 1966, edition 1
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