Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 6, 1969, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 2 !& ofer Sfoel 76 Years o Editorial Freedom Wayne Hurder, Editor Bill Staton, Business Manager Whites Hung If someone were to steal something from you or to harm you and you knew who the person was, what would you do? You'd probably try, to get restitution from the person yourself or get a policeman to do so for you. The black students on campus and across the nation, have tried to get restitution, just as you would if someone harmed or robbed you, but for some reason most whites across the country are getting very hot under the collar about the blacks' behavior. That white reaction was manifested here following presentation of the blacks demands. Because the blacks issued "demands" and not polite requests, because they were very strong in their language, and because they didn't accept the Chancellor's invitation to sit down and discuss the matter, they have been condemned as immature children and the substance of their demands have been lost in a storm over their style. Their style, contrary to what most whites believe, is not that of immature children, but of persons who have suddenly realized that some things of immense importance to them have been stolen from them or damaged. If you had an uninsured car stolen from you or an uninsured home burned down by an arsonist, you would probably be in a rage and not polite to the persons who committed the act. The ease with the blacks is wWse. They have been deprived of an existence as humans by white society for the last 350 years. They have been lynched when they stepped out of line or even cast a glance at a white woman; they have been cheated by their employers, store owners, and plantation owners; they have had to fight in America's wars knowing that they would return to a land where they would be treated like cattle, refused the franchise, banned from Sign-in, Sign The Women's Residence Council, faced with a choice between getting no closing hours now or never, took the right course Monday in agreeing for the present time to the Administration's demand that there be a sign-insign-out time. This sign-insign-out policy, it should be emphasized to the Administration, is strictly temporary, and women students should not tolerate any more resistance from the Administration on the elimination of the signing-in and signing-out policy. The WRC had passed a resolution calling for no sign-in and sign-out .policy, but the Administration quickly and tyrannically squashed this with a statement that women students would get no unlimited hours unless there was a sign-in and sign-out policy. For the sake of immediate implementation of the program, the WRC accepted this ruling for the time being and plans to wage a fight for elimination of the rule by next fall. However, in the process they added an amendment to their resolution that the Administration should pay close attention to That amendment reads: "At the January 14 meeting the WRC voted by an overwhelming majority to completely eliminate any sign-in or sign-out procedure for women participating in self-limiting hours. "The decision of the administration to require signing-in and signing-out is thus directly opposed to the wishes of the council. In effect, the alternatives Rebel Good, Managing Editor Joe Sanders, News Editor Harvey Elliott, Features Editor Owen Davis, Sports Editor Scott Goodfellow, Associate Editor Kermit Buckner, Jr, Advertising Manager - up On Style hospitals, cafes, etc.; their schools and teachers are denied their fair share of state funds; and then they are constantly told in books, TV programs, and real life that they are lazy, shiftless, without morals, without intelligence. Every educational institute of our society-the family, the schools, one's peer groups-have constantly reiterated that the black man is sub-human with such efficiency that the black man until lately was willing to accept the role. That day is over now, however, and the black man with the rage of a person physically emasculated by white society, is beginning to demand that something be done about the criminal acts of white society. One of the first steps the blacks have taken in this direction is to demand a change in the formal educational institutions of our society. That is what the blacks on campus are doing: they are demanding that the University recognize black history and culture through the establishment of a Department of Afro-American Studies; they are demanding that more blacks be admitted, that more blacks get the opportunity to advance in our society. If whites would stop being so overly interested in themselves and try just a little bit to look at things the way blacks have to they would discover a whole new world that they never conceived of. It is a world in which the old "Yah sun, boss" and the head scratching are out of place, in which the normal reaction is one of impolite demands for action. That is a very critical point for University administrators to remember. They showed a misunderstanding of this in Sitterson's reply to the BSM demands; we hope they won't continue to be engrossed in style to the neglect of' substance the next time they have to make a decision on this serious matter. - out Wrong given to the council were not rear alternatives considering the tremendous support among women students for self-limiting hours. "The WRC wishes to inform the administration that its position on the sign-in and sign-out policy has not changed and that the action of the administration indicates that the administration is still not ready to accept the WRC as a true representative-legislative body. "Thus, since the only alternative seemed to be the postponement of self-limiting hours until the fall, WRC has accepted the sign-in and sign-out procedure with the intention of working for the elimination of this through immediate study of the subject by a committee." This attitude of the Administration should not be tolerated by women students. It is an attitude that is epitomized by Dean of Women Katherine Carmichael's statement Tuesday concerning "the parental and societal obligation and expectation that a woman is fragile, small, and precious." That should be the University's attitude toward coeds, she said. That is wrong. While it is perfectly all right for an individual to have that attitude toward women, it is wrong, as Carmichael suggests, to impose restrictions on women designed to make them conform to that attitude. Women students should be free to develop themselves as they want-whether they want to be small and fragile or be strong and self-reliant. It is their right to make that decision. The University is infringing on that right and should stop. THE DAILY Bobby Nowell Cozza: The Demise Of A Good Cause Mike Cozza doesn't appear any more disheartened than usual about things these days, although his lengthy battle to win a presidential pardon for his conviction in the now-famous Fort Bragg "propaganda distribution" incident, is apparently all but dead. If you remember, DTH Reporter Cozza was covering the anti-war activities of UNC members of SSOC at the base when he was arrested and later convicted along with several SSOCers who were handing out anti-war literature. Monetarily speaking, the fine wasn't much $50. The incident was not one to cause immediate national or even state repercussions. For those who were actually distributing the leaflets, the case was virtually open-and-shut: it was clear violation of federal law. However, in the case of Cozza whose only piece of "anti-war literature" was folded in the breast pocket of his jacket there was no case. But a U.S. Commissioner himself not a lawyer asserting that because Cozza "knew what was going to happen and went along with it," he was just as guilty as if he had taken part, convicted him anyway and hit him for fifty off the hip. Started Ruckus Now, Mike Cozza is normally a very quiet individual, slow to anger and very business-like. But in his justifiable anger over his erroneous conviction, he started a ruckus for a pardon that eventually involved dozens of senators, congressmen and other political figures on the local state and national level. Fifty dollars isn't a large sum, as we've said before, and certainly in most cases would not be sufficient grounds for any kind of legal struggle. Except in Mike Cozza's case, so flagrant a repression of journalistic rights threatens the very concept of freedom of the press. Cozza admitted that to try for an appeal would cost much more in legal fees than he paid in fines so he decided to go to the top, right to then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was only right. The principle more than the individual was at stake. Along the way, Mike won a lot of influential supporters. Chief among these was N.C. Senator Sam Ervin, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. When such a for Chase coo red COe cpe tke -food isn't Cold, i-qS-h, t5S Erica Meyer Ralph McGMPmpheti, JomirmaUsi Atlanta is a citv of wide struts whito columns, sunlight and an air of sftivity. Its primary voice, until Monday night was newspaper publisher Ralph McGill. ' He wrote a daily editorial, which ran down the left of the front page of the "Atlanta Constitution". His prose, strong and smooth, spoke forcefully for human rights, reason and all that is good and just The Daily Tar Heel is published by the University of North Carolina Student Publication's Board, daily except Monday, examination periods and vacations and during summer periods. Offices are at the Student Union Bldg., Univ. of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. Telephone numbers: editorial sports, news-933-1011; business,' circulation, advertisting 933-1163! Address: Box 1080, Chapel HOI N. C. 27514. ' Subscription rates: $9 per year; $5 per semester. We regret that we' can accept only prepaid subscriptions. Classified ads are $1.00 per day prepaid. Display rate is $1.25 per column inch. Second class postage paid at U. S. Post Office in Chapel, N. C. TAR HEEL super-hawk as Ervin can find it in his heart to call Cozza's conviction "an unfortunate error." and write LBJ urging executive clemency, it seemed pretty clear that Cozza was completely innocent of any wrongs against the federal government. And Mike had high hopes that he would get his pardon. However, it is Cozza's misfortune that by the time Ervin and other legislators had swung into his column, a change in the White House was nearing. In a&race against time and the approaching Jan. 20 inauguration date, Cozza's case became grounded in red tape. His incident remained a small one in the mountain of more important papers assailing the President's desk. LHJ Never Saw It In spite of the support of Ervin and others, it is quite likely that Cozza's bid for a pardon never reached Johnson. He lost the race against time. You see, the request had to have a recommendation from the Pardons Division of the Justice Department to speed up the process. It did not get a recommendation. Whether it did not because of the conservative sympathies of certain Pardons Attorneys notably the particularly notorious "Infamous" T. Oscar Smith will never be known. Anyway, without any priority among the papers reaching Johnson, Cozza's appeal never had a chance. And now that Richard Nixon is president, the valuable patronage of Ervin, Nick Galifianakis, B. Everett Jordan, and other Democrats becomes worthless. Cozza acknowledges that his chances for a pardon from Nixon are at best "minimal." Cozza and his chief spokesman, Robert Pace of Chapel Hill, are still trying to get help from the only influential N.C. Republican, Charles R. Jonas, but the gallant fight is all but finished. Just a little incident. Fifty dollars worth and inestimable loss in integrity. A minor miscarriage of justice. Could happen any time. Remember that, college editors. If it could happen to a DTH reporter, it can just as easily happen to one of yours. food No ! n4 ?? in Southern journalism. McGill, a Pulitzer Prize winner, died Monday night of a heart attack. He was 71. To those who knew him as an institution of the liberal press, it was as though Stone Mountain itself had gone. Liberal Georgians, often lonely in their small town outposts, looked to him and Atlanta. They always knew, that behind them, unconsciously present, Ralph McGill was there. He attracted new voices to Georgia. Young, idealistic men came to Atlanta, making it a peaceful oasis compared to Birmingham and other large, old Southern cities. He made it possible for change to come to Georgia now he is gone. The remaining forward moving Southerners have lost their shield. They are alone in Wallace country. One Southern editor's wife referred to McGill as "the 'daddy' of us alL" He had the courage to wield the largest weapon available for the sake of dignity. Julian Bond, the Negro Georgia legislature who turned down the Vice-Presidential nomination because of his age (28) said, "McGill set a standard for discussion of racial matters that in his time was never equaled." He was called a prophet (Ralph Abernathy) and a forceful fighter for human rights (Lyndon Johnson). His xnd 5iijpec( over- . i 1 1 i D Kwrx;,M'T'v.'v.-...".v.".."i.v.v...-.".-..' ............ The fuse to the nice relations powdcrkeg on this campus burned shorter last week after Chancellor Sittcrson responded to the Black Student demands. The Chancellor's response was framed with a desire for equality in the university, but it also seemed set in a tone that would not enrapture conservative members of the state legislature. Several blacks on campus have now eallcd the Chancellor a racist: A front page editorial in the DTH said he made a tragic error; And George Vlasits. writing in the Radish, labelled the response "academic rhetoric." Vlasits. who is SSOC's Chapel Hill Held worker and who supposedly rims leftist activities around here, wrote under the subtitle "On our way to S.F. State?" and his editorial gives the impression that the new left hopes we arc. As of Tuesday, when this column went to press, nothing dramatic had disrupted the campus. But there were meetings scheduled by the Black Student Movement and by SSOC to decide what they will do to express their dissatisfaction. The rumors - depending on which of them you listen to hold that disruption of basketball games, a strike by black students and university employees, and a take-over of South Building arc all possibilities. The shame of this atmosphere of threats is that the parties engaged in racial dialogue may be forced to harden their positions, and come to view the other as unreasonable. As this happens confrontation becomes more and more a T-f 4ae5 former co-worker Eugene Patterson, now managing editor of the Washington Post, said "he was loved by his friends and respected by his enemies ... a man who said what he thought and stuck by it ... a man vou had to respect." Intangibly, Ralph McGill was all of that and more. He had the best platform to speak from available in Georgia, he was a professional, in the noblest sense a true journalist. He spoke and it echoed. He was heard by the poor and the idealistic, he spoke Letters To To the Editor: I feel it is time to air some winter complaints about the Undergraduate Library. AH of them are in some way connected with the heating and ventilating systems. First; the upper level is kept unnecessarily warm and, while the other 2 levels are relatively tolerable, all are unpleasantly stuffy. Second; the dryness of the air combined with much walking on carpets exposes one to the disagreeableness of receiving an electric shock on touching a bookcase or doorhandle. Third; on at least 3 occasions while in the lower level, I have distinctly smelled exhaust fumes sucked in from South Road by the air vents. 1 Thursday. February 6. 1969 Mike Cozza On efusing Powderkegs vv-Xv W-W.V.VSV...V..V.VV.V...'AK...Ji possibility. While the polities of disruptive confrontation may be exciting, working out the problems with calm and respect is certainly more of a challenge. So far the major drawback to a calm approach is that the facts have been obscured by the threats, and many students arc operating under tragic misconceptions. Too many whites think the BSM demands were out-of-line and reflect a discrimination-in-reversc. while too many blacks think the Chancellor refused their demands categorically. Neither could be further from the truth. The blacks did not demand separate housing or a separate student union or separate anything else. UNC is not San Francisco State. The BSM did make 23 demands, but only a few were entirely unacceptable to the administration. Obviously the Chancellor could not lire CO. Cathcy or Howard Henry or pay the BSM a $7,000 indemnity for money it didn't collect at the Carmichael speech. And obviously the BSM knew these demands would be rejected. y But the Chancellor could and did respond favorably to many of the other demands because they merited favorable response. Stripped of rhetoric, these demands sought more black athletes, rr rc scholarships for black students, greater availability of courses in black heritage and culture, an exchange program with black and African universities, and more blacks in the university decision-making aparatus. These demands were not absurd, and Chancellor Sittcrson did not refuse them. He stated agreement with most and cited progress that the university was making on many. His statement that "the university intends to be responsive to the educational needs of all . . . races, colors, and creeds," was not framed in a racist context. This is not to say that everything is coming up roses between the Chancellor and the BSM. Sitterson's refusal to re-evaluate entrance requirements and his vague response to demands that the university play an expanded role in improving conditions in the black community are far from acceptable. But the over-all disparity between what the blacks demanded and what the Chancellor responded with is not as big as many people think. If lines of communication are kept open, and if the blacks and the administration will work with just a little good faith, the situation is not hopeless. There is no need for the powderkeg to explode. and the eloquence of his words prevailed where no other voice could. It is hard to properly convey tragedy and loss in print. Maudlin phrases and flowery prose would only be an insult to the traditional clean, clear writing of Ralph MaGiU. So this editorial will not attempt a somber finish, it will only stop. They buried Ralph McGill yesterday afternoon-but only his body, not his words. The Editor Unfortunately none of these conditions is condusive to studying. The first may help one to get some sleep the second may help in waking up, and the third (in sufficient quantities) may facilitate one's slow death. Come now librarians! Any library has a basic obligation to its users: reasonable comfort. A library is not a hotho? for the cultivation of students. It is and .should be a functional and comfortable shelter m which the student can nurture his brain without environmental flack Sincerely, Michael D. Larapen
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 6, 1969, edition 1
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