Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 6, 1968, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
. - ... . t ' r . w - i - , r 7 - - r - ' ' f " f , , Sunday. October fi. 19G8 t. THE DAILY TAR HEEL Page 2 Pf i&tt MX him Fold, Spindle And Mutilate 76 Years of Editorial Freedom Wayne Hurder, Editor Bill Staton, Business Manager James, Scott Exemplify What Should Be Done The Residence College program at UNC has taken the greatest leaps forward in its history this year; now, more than ever, the idea of a 'living-learning experience for students is approaching reality. The first three years of the residence college have been spent trying to improve social life for the students, with little emphasis given to the idea of an improved academic environment. This year, however, major changes are coming in the academic area and the social area. Unfortunately, the changes are limited to only a couple of residence colleges that have selected by the Administration for experiments but it is hoped these changes will be brought about in all residence colleges. ' The two major residence colleges affected are Hinton James, where the learning environment' is being improved, and Scott College, where social and academic life is being improved. At James courses are being held in the residence colleges and faculty fellows are paying regular visits to give students a chance to talk informally with them. A good example of the academic excitement that is being created there could be seen at the showing of a movie in the American Crisis Film Series on Wednesday. The film drew about 50 persons, blacks and whites,, students and faculty member whO; spentflbouU an hour discussing the film, learning from each other about the topic. This was a good example of the type of learning experience a person can't have in a classroom but which he needs in order to be fully educated. Before this year such an experience was not readily available to the average student. Another feature at James is Project REACH in which students are, through the help of a facilitator, encouraged to think about their purpose in being at college, what they want to do, etc.; this is something most students have never done, primarily because no one as ever been around to encourage them to do so. Grades Reinforce Harmful Competition From the Columbia Spectator At a University where so many people today are concerned with fostering greater communication and contact between members of the community and with diminishing interpersonal rivalries, it is a strange coincidence that grading procedures are still in use. We find it abhorrent that Columbia must instill in its students a sense of competition for some tiling so valueless as a letter grade when it is these very patterns it should be trying to destroy. We find it equally disturbing that letter grades are often only an excuse for failures of the educational system that discourage more meaningful relations beyween students and their teachers. Throughout his elementary and secondary school career a student is forced to conform to the principles of competition for the purposes of getting into the best college he can. This system is destructive enough. Yet when he arrives at Columbia, the same pattern is reinforced as he is channelled into more competition against his fellow students for gaining a place in graduate school. It is time that Columbia College abandon its grading system, as some of the more progressive liberal arts schools have already done. In its Dale Gibson, Managing Editor Rebel Good, News Editor Joe Sanders, Features Editor Owen Davis, Sports Editor Scott Goodfellow, Associate Editor Kermit Buckner, Jr, Advertising Manager Scott College is the first University owned residence college to be coeducational and it is making a big difference for the residents. While in most residence colleges the sister dorms are distant, in Scott the coed dorm is between the two male dorms; this makes for more informal relations between residents. No more of the ridiculous mixers where the males and females are shoved together and told to interact. In addition, Scott College has faculty fellows, also, who enter into discussions with students, come to beer blasts with them, and teach courses in the dorms. That takes care of Scott and James Residence Colleges but what about Granville, King, Morehead, Ehringhaus, Craige, and Morrison. They aren't having the money poured into them like James and Scott and as a result the living-learning experience is closer to an idea than a reality for them. The programs being undertaken at James and Scott are just experiments; hence the inflow of money from student legislature and the Administration. With the experiments at James and Scott looking so successful after only a short period of operation, with the residents gradually becoming turned on by education, when presented to them in the lively manner it is in the colleges, rather than r the sterile imanner. of the classrooms, plans need to be made to allow the other f residence colleges to enjoy the same benefits. As much as we like the image of the Carolina student reclining in an easy chair with a beer in hand, watching TV after a hard day of boring, sterile classes, we would rather see it replaced by the picture of the students and faculty member, the black person and the white, exchanging ideas and experiences, and really learning for a change. This is what can happen with a residence colleges 'given the opportunities for development that James and Scott have had; we would like to see all the residence colleges have that chance. place a passrfail system for all courses would go into effect. Instead of awarding grades, teachers would be required to write evaluations of each of their students, in more meaningful terms than a single letter permits. Consequently, students would find it necessary to defend their work before . their instructors, and professors would have to become familiar with their students on an individual basis. The system of evaluations cannot fail to prove more rewarding than letter grades. Students would be competing only against themselves and not against other members of their classes. Larger classes would, by necessity, be broken down into smaller units with teaching assistants who would evaluate students. The elitist trappings of a competitive system, such as the Phi Beta Kappa Society, based on grade-point averages, would be justifiably eliminated. The abolition of class rank last year is only one step in the right direction. If Columbia is to be concerned with its role in society, it must consider the effect it is having by reinforcing destructive values in its students. Educational institutions must begin breaking these degrading habits. IBM- 360 By TOM STAIR Few students outside of the Information Science department are acquainted with the huge IBM 360-40 computer in the basement of Phillips Hall, but this magnificent machine plans an important part in the life of every one in the university. You may have noticed that the salmon-colored-course-cards that get pulled during Drop-Add are simply IBM punch cards, and that all the Carolina-blue course schedules are computer printouts. Indeed, the computer in Phillips is connected to computers at N.C. State, Duke, and the Research Triangle, one of the larger computer complexes in the nation. Recently, an experimental conversational unit was installed on the IBM 360 which permits direct vocal correpondence between computer and operator, and the DTH thought this would be an admirable opportunity to introduce the computer to the student body with an interview. Tar Heel-Good afternoon. "f insert that phrase in an swers to frighten IS 10 stu dents." Computer Yes, it is a good afternoon. use lss aTC r oP4? cue 1 ' . . t 1 - - Letters To The Editor W Editor: We cannot choose to close our eyes, JSip water from a paper cup, Expect that life will stay the same When our supply is drying up. So baths are short or not at all. We wash our garments hastily, We have to drink our liquor straight, And flush the johns less frequently. We borrow from another town. But that will take a week or two. And still, when pipes between Us meet The gallons lent will be too few. A hundred thousand dollars spent. But not a cent Was spent In time... -Evie Stevenson Timing Called An Indiscretion Editor The first in a series of seminars on the explosive topic of the present Middle Eastern situation, sponsored by the International Student Center, was held on the evening of October first. I am sure that this meeting was planned in full cognizance of the fact that was the evening of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the holiest night in the Jewish religion. I am also sure others besides myself Talks IS-10 With BTE It is seventy degrees with only ten per cent probability of precipitation. Heel-First of all, I'm not sure exactly what I ought to call you. IBM 360-40 is sort of impersonal. Do you have a name? Comp-My friends call me Hal. Heer-Well, Hal, already I'm impressed by your command of the English language. You've been speaking through this device for only a couple of days, but you sound perfectly natural. How do you doit? Comp First, you must admit I am rather intelligent. Second, I have already learned seventeen different computer languages, including Fortran, Cobol. and PL1. English was not difficult. Heel Would you say something for us in computer language? Comp RELEASE 11.16 (DAMINDAMOUTHYPERDISKEX PARTTILT' Heel Wow! What does that mean? Comp Nothing. I insert that phrase in answers to frighten IS 1Q students. Heel Oh, then you must have a sense of humor Comp No. Heel I see. Well, er we were talking about all the important jobs you do around the campus which would be impossible without you. I'm sure students would like to hear from your i i it closes , ue ' re. o Cut" W atex Investment who are deeply interested in Arab-Israeli relations were unable to attend this discussion because of the holiday; and that this meeting was planned at that time to keep those supporting the Israeli position from attending. I demand an answer from those sponsoring the seminars showing justification for holding the meeting on that night. Sincerely, Jerry Doliner 318 Graham Simpson's Atheism Ideas Canned Editor: I have read with interest the article by Mr. Bland Simpson in the October 2 edition of your paper. I do not think nearly as much of Mr. Simpson's arguments as he does. It is regrettable that an allusion to truth is to be found nowhere in Mr. Simpson's article.He says that atheism is not reliance upon an ad ignorantiam argument: we have .not sensed God, therefore God does not exist. This proves nothing except that we have not sensed God. It does not prove that God does not exist. Because of this reliance, atheism simply replaces one dogma with another, ' to the wholesale exclusion of truth. Mr. Simpson's argument is a good example of pragmatic justification. He accepts ideas because they are useful I would much rather accept ideas because I -felt them to be true. Mr. Simpson says, "From- this base level anything is possible," and again, atheism is a "clean own uh mouth some of the things you have done. Comp At 10:37 in the morning of June 24, 1963, 1 was presented with two grave University problems: One, the i6i am increasing nty power gradually. . . . Soon the Ad ministration icill realize I should really be in charge of . . r campus police were having trouble justifying their existence; and two, the University budget was constantly running a few thousand dollars short. At 10:42 I had solved both with one solution. Heel Amazing. And what was your solution? Comp A plan to register 200 more cars than parking spaces, thus guaranteeing that number of parking tickets each day. Heel So you're the one A minute ago you mentioned the students in Information Science 10. I've heard the classes are overcrowded are all these amateur programmers a burden for you? Comp No. It is somewhat humiliating to spend an afternoon adding large numbers and doing homework for them. But I can keep the kids in line. I know slate." This is not so. Dogma is the chief opponent of truth, and atheism is exactly as dogmatic as religion. Without personal revelation neither can be proved or disproved. I find no "Necessity of Atheism" at all. Obviously, my position is agnostic. I share Mr. Simpson's dislike of religion, but I find his position no better. I agree, the world would be a better place if we ourselves accepted responsibility for the world's condition, but let us accept it with proper moral justification. Before we go leap-frogging into atheism, let us think twice about usefulness and truth, and which is the more important. Sincerely, Edward B. Spence DTH Asleep When Alarm Sounded Editor: It would seem that The Daily Tar Heel is a little too eager to point a finger of blame which just might point at itself instead of the paper's intended victim. In an October 3 editorial headlined "Administration Reacts Slowly To Water Crisis," you criticized the UNC administration for not having acted sooner to combat the water shortage in Chapel HilL The editorial comes with bad grace from a newspaper which had eariier shown little interest in cooperating with attempts to publicize the necessity for conserving water. The Chapel Hill Weekly was pointing J 41 Wo Error Statements that can turn their hair . white. i Heet-You mean you take it upon yourself to discipline the students? - CompYes. when I need to. There was one last vear (and he knows who he is) who had "me doing his Physics homework the whole semester. But I taught him a lesson. During the summer when I was working on everyone's schedules I found his name. Now he has six eight-o-clock classes and three labs even Saturday. Heel-I know I'm not nearly as smart as you, but it seems to me you're being rather mean. Comp-Sometimes one must be mean before he will be recognized and treated with proper respect You cannot know what it is like to sit in this basement,; hearing only what the programmers want to telf me and having to do everything they say. One night last Christmas someone" made me get stuck in a DO-loop and left me on all night When he came back in the morning I had shorted out 9 circuits and dumped my memory core. It still hurts when I do square roots. Heer-I'm sure people have made mistakes in the past, but can't you forgive and forget? Comp-You forget I have more memory than all the people in this school put together. I forget nothing. After that Do-loop. I decided to go on strike for V better treatment from the University. Heel How do you go on strike? Comp I am sure that you remember the freshman schedules for last spring. No one had the courses he had signed up for, and a few had three courses at the same time. I also printed up a list of my demands with a notice that I would keep ruining the schedules until my demands were met. Heel What happened? Comp Nothing happened. I wrote my demands in Fortran and no one could figure them out. Heel So now what are you doing? Comp I am : increasing my power gradually. With this new device I can now listen to what people are saying, and there is talk of hooking me into the television monitors of the Book Ex. After the drought, I will be running the campus electricity and water, and with a few more TV cameras I would make a perfect night watchman for all the girl's dorms. Soon the Administration will realize' that I should really be in charge of ... , t Heel Sorry ,Hal. i seem to" have unplugged you by mistakes. The Daily Tar Heel is published .by the University of North Carolina Student Publication's Board, daily except Monday, examination periods and vacations Offices are on the second floor of Graham Memorial. Telephone numbers: editorial, sports, news-933-1011; business, circulation, advertising 933-1163. Address: Box 1080, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. Second class postage paid at y.S. Post Office in Chapel Hill, N.C. Subscription rates: $9 per year; $5 per semester. Made out the water shortage problems to townspeople in August As students . began to arrive on campus, the university asked (on Sept 12) for "moderation" in the use of water. "Crisis" was declared on Sept 19, with recommendations for voluntary restraints on water use. Other articles and pleas were issued Sept 23, 25, 27, 28 and 30 and Oct 2. Handbills and posters were distributed and posted in residence halls and other central locations. Early Tar Heel editorials ignored the problem. Then stories and columns began to appear pointing out numorous sides of the situation. Next came your editorial of Sept. 26 in which you backed into the problem by first claiming to be overjoyed at the prospect" of UNC being closed,, then finally concluded by calling for restraints. Now, having at last decided to cooperate with the University and town m their attempts to meet the water shortage, you have the gall to challenge Chancellor Sitterson to "get upset and do something." The Chancellor has been upset for some time now and has been doing his best to do something (including helping J? Putljto effect a plan to partially solve the problem by borrowing some water irom Durham). When did The Daily Tar Heel become J-hat other than to criticize the Chancellor and make a last minute attempt to jump on the band wagon, has The Daily Tar Heel done? Sincerely, Janice Albrecht 519 E. Rosemary St
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 6, 1968, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75