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Kick Allen
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77 Years of Editorial Freedom
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Todd Coben
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THE DAILY TAR HEEL
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Bobby Newell
Laura White
Tom Gooding
Mary Burch
Art Chansky
Ron
Frank
Pete
The Failure
The Faculty Council will
consider today a resolution
concerning the recommendations
for the General College released last
week by the Merzbacher
Committee. That report, we feel,
the result of over a year's work, is a
poor contribution to the
educational stagnation of this
University.
The report approaches, rather
cautiously, the symptoms of this
educational mess without getting
down to the basic problems to
learning which exist here.
The problem, as we see it, is that
the University does not really
operate under the assumption that
each individual has his own
educational needs. Consequently,
the education here does not seem
to be able to cope with those needs.
Rather, the education UNC
seems to want to provide is one
which deals on a level which
assumes vague generalities and
truths about learning, and cannot,
consequently, matter in the real
world of human beings and their
very human, very natural questions.
This is the University which sets
up men with many degrees to map
out how life is, or is supposed to
be. Without trying to make such a
vast generalization which does not
apply to every academic, the
tendency at this institution is for
the presence of such a faculty.
And without trying to sound too
idealistic, it seems that a faculty
concerned more with the world and
its problems would be a whole lot
more beneficial to the students here
than a faculty which makes no
apparent effort to accept the arrival
of problems that the old world
never began to dream could exist.
Human beings today, especially
human beings who happen to be
college students, or of that age, are
not interested in answers to
questions which have ceased to
exist. They are interested in the
questions which they tthemselves
happen to have, and those questions,
obviously, are just as legitimate as
the questions of the old world.
Indeed, it is rather bombastic, to
say the least, of anyone who thinks
he knows what the answers are,
especially if he does not really
understand the questions.
To explain: There are two basic
ways of looking at education.
Either the education should be
made to adapt to the student, or
the student should be made to
adapt to the education.
The first method leaves plenty of
room for the fact that humans are
complex animals who can not be
classified as anything other than
living things. That kind of
education is flexible and pregnant
with the potential for aiding the
Agnew's Academy Award
The
government is going to
produce a 520,000 biographical
film about Vice President Agnew
for viewing overseas.
The 10-minute film, being
produced by the U.S. Information
Agency (USIA), will be shipped to
more than 100 USIA posts abroad
by the end of January and will
provide a sketch of Mr. Agnew,
concentrating on his career prior to
Why Complain?
About this problem of people
being killed in war: Who are they to
complain? After all, we're all going
to die. They're just lucky in that
they have a chance to be the first to
go, without all the mundane worry
Managing Editor
News Editor
Associate Editor
Arts Editor
Sports Editor
Johnson
Ballard
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Hatch Night Editor this issue
Of Education
evolution of human beings.
The second method, the one
which looks on students as merely
fuel for the great machine which is
the University, and the one which
happens to prevail at this
University, treats students more as
part of the machine than as
humans.
The University decides what
makes an educated man, and what
that educated man needs for
survival. Well, says the University,
the student needs such and such
and such a course. And without
that course, he cannot graduate.
And without a diploma he can not
"make it" in the real world.
Because the real world is like a
business corporation. It has to be
efficient. It has to run well, like a
machine.
And whatever happened to the
human approach to things? What
about a student who is- more
concerned with people, and life,
than with meeting his academic
requirements, because those
requirements happen to be
meaningless to him.
Well, say the cynics, such a
student can go somewhere else.
Well that suggestion isn't
acceptable to us: It seems that a
student should not have to go
searching out thoses oases in the
dark to find a real education. It
seems that .his University. should be .
viable enough to admit change and v
to allow within itself a growth
which reflects the changes and
needs of the world today and of the
young people who are part of that
world.
What this all means, simply, is
that the Merzbacher Report moves
this University almost nowhere
from where it has been for a long
time, which is nowhere. The world
is asking for an intelligent approach
to life, one which accepts the world
and its problems as being nothing
more than the, way things happen
to be.
And that acceptance leads us, to
suggest that an education
concerned with the realities of that
world, and the realities of the
people in that world, be the kind of
education we should see in colleges
today.
The Merzbacher Report,
however, is the product of a
somewhat different view of the
world. That is why the Faculty
Council should use the
consideration of the report as an
opportunity to see that some real
changes are made in the quality of
education here.
We ask the Faculty Council to
accept the possibility that there is
more truth to the world than the
combined knowledge which seems
to be their own private secret,
unbeknowst to the common man.
his emergence as a national figure
and glossing over domestic political
controversies, such as his recent
speeches on the press.
That is an incredible way to
spend S20,000 . . . unless, of
course, there is some real artistic
value in the film. Who knows? Mr.
Agnew may be up for an Oscar next
year.
about when it will be, and about
how to keep happy in the
meantime.
Unless, of course, people actually
exist who don't have to worry. And
they may exist.
Even- young man needs a hero from
time to time, and lately mine has been Ed
McMahon.
The fatherly announcer of the Tonight
Show is an established opponent of the
annual Christmas selling game.
He buys his presents on the 24th of
December and not a day before. It may
seem incredible to those of us who get
peptic ulcers on Thanksgiving if all the
yuletide bribes are not already wrapped
and put away, but shopping can be done
in one dav.
Johimv Kani
Cheek lute
'Do You Have A Pet
"Do you like it here in the U.S., Mr.
Kaan?" As soon as you hear this familiar
mispronunciation of your name, you
already know that you, are in business; for
the next twelve or twenty-four months
will be spent in clarifying innumerable
fantasies and myths that the natives have
about your birthplace.'
These fantasies are both amusing and
tantalizing. Largely, I take them as
amusing, knowing very well that they
have only recently started flying to the
moon. From, "do you have elephant
steak" to "do you have pet cobra," cover
a pretty amusing range of topics that can
be a worthwhile pastime. Looking back at
those instances of mispronunciation,
misprouncements, and fanciful myths, it
will probably, be a good idea to establish a
department of "International Fantasies."
Your work as "correption" agent,
however, is full of pitfulls, precisely
because the' natives have a hard time
accepting civilized ideas.
You are confronted with a variety of
attidues as you settle amidst the
Americans. First of all, you will get
patronized. This is the easiest and most
effective way to "make the foreigner at
home." Obviously, after a flight of sixteen
hours, the foreigner does iook dazed,
groggy and out of shape. What more, the
Pan American tags on his suit cases, and
his broken "Good Fud" English adds
pathetic colour to his general spectacle.
The easiest thing to do is to patronize
this ill-at-ease foreigner. There are two
choices available to' the foreigner to get
out of this. First, he can let them do it
and as a consequence, get invited to
American homes for Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and other occasions. The other
alternative is to reject it. This can be done
is various ways. One, isolate yourself and
become a member of the already existing
community of your own semi -assimilated
countrymen on campus. This particular
way will be boring because all you can do
is to talk about politics back home, good
old days, Saries available at the ABC store
in New York, and the price listing of Fiat
versus Mini-Morris, and, on occasion, have
"good-food."
Since you can't get trapped into this
familiar circle of "Home Economists,"
you can resort to another way, i.e., tell
everyone you are from Bronx and play
their game along their rules. Since you are
coffee colour, this gives your Broxian .
background a good deal of credibility. If
nothing, it is certainly more fun than
becoming isolated. At least, you will be
immune to questions concerning
"elephant steak" back home.
However, patronizing them in return is
not without danger. As soon as they
recognize or feel that you are playing
their game, too, they will immediately
make an expert out of you. Then you are
really in trouble for a long time because
you are asked intricate questions
concerning "current affairs" and are
expected to give scholarly answers.
Needless to say, an expert is also a scholar
by definition in the U.S. and as such, is
immediately assigned a particular area
(both geographical and academic) of
competence.
Since they have assigned me Southeast
Asia as my area of competence, the
immediate question I am asked is "Why
did Pakistan separate from India?"
Knowing very well that an answer based
on political-historical forces will only
elicit semi-informed questions, my best
answer is always "Both the Indians and
the Pakistanis lived for a long time and
decided it was time to get a divorce;" you
know, like two friends who hate each
other's guts just because they have been
together too long. Living apart helps. This
really clinches it.
Your real trouble concerns Vietnam.
"What do you think of Vietnam? My
usual repense, after a long period of
S Letters to the editor should :.
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fifty-space lines if possible. All
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All letter: to the editor are
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S the Daiiv I ar Heel. S
When you get right down to it. Dtc. 2 1
may be the only day of the year when
nobody is buying. From Christmas day
until the taxes are filed on Apri. 15, the
smiling giftees are reluming their bootv
for refunds or exchanges. And from April
15 to Dec. 23, the great push is on. But as
frr as I know, only Ed McMahon. in all
the world, has the unmitigated machismo
to wait until those last 24 hours.
If you don't think Christmas makes the
greed flow out of us like sap from a
newly sawed-down tree, let me tell you
jf
u u h.u m. . u u h i? n ; in
rather fruitless discussion, is that two
universities should be established in
Vietnam, It is obviously an unrelated
response .but its very unrelatedness is
likely to turn he topic to something else.
Usually, it turns their attention toward a
current university-centered topic,
"Hippies."
"What do you think of hippies? "I
think they should take more milk," is my
general response. The native, being an
avid verbal reasoner, will immediately
pick it up and will ask, "Do you mean
take milk, instead of .. . ?" "No, along
with . . .," is my expert advice.
Obviously, this is a sort of quaint idea
Ken Ripley
The
There once was a time when I thought
a front was a nice piece of lakeside
proper'y that someone bought from an
advertisement, usually in Florida.
Then I thought I was being
sophisticated when I discovered that a
front was a "coyer" for an organization
that wished to conceal its true
mission like Communist and CIA fronts.
I didn't even bother to worry about
"front" as opposed to "back." Every one
knows that kind of front.
But then I discovered a new type f
front. Since I have been writing columns
and people have been seeing my name in
a little bit larger-than-life t3-pe, a good
number of people have shown me another
example of a front.
This is the front one person wears
towards another that aspect of his
personality he reveals to someone else to
convey some kind of impression,
generally favorable to himself.
This type of front, I have found, is the
worst of all.
There are, of course, some types of
"fronts" which are not harmful or
dishonest the "roles" we all have to
play. Students, professional or career
people, even blue collar workers, all
conform to a set pattern to fulfill their
function in society.
Where such roles are honestly filled,
they are a beneficial necessity for the
continuance and smooth operation of
society. They provide order and stability
without necessarily blocking the way for
change, growth, and improvement.
But interpersonal fronts are of a
different nature. They are thrown up for
a variety of reasons, few of which are
good.
For instance, there are the fronts
people create to impress other people.
The braggart, the exhibitionist, the
bore all seem to fit nicely- into this area.
People try to be something they are
not or to enhance what good qualities
they do have to impress someone else.
I know I tend to do this. I've found
that wherever certain people I care for
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an absolutely true little s;crv.
Somewhere out in the great fortress of
Americar-a that e czll the mii'ffsi. the
town fathers got together and decided to
put on a Christmas show that would wow
the bejesus out of their kiddies.
They hired a portly and jo.iil yours
man to don a Santa outfit and parachute
out of a helicopter, down to a
supermarket parking lot where the town
children would be waiting to get -their
hands on the toys in his giant bag.
And so, on the appointed day, there
in1
Jt
sies
11 Si 'I il H
Cobra?
which immediately prompts further
question concerning the intake of . . .
back home. Yes, they take it back home;
as a matter of fact, they make an
extremely refreshing drink in summer out
of milk, cordimums, and .... It is cool,
homogenized and nourishing.
Some industry should explore the
possibility of mechanically producing a
brank of "Bhung-shake." It wouldn't be
too bad for people's emotional health.
Imagine, no ill effect on the liver that
usually accompanies liquor intake, having
similar toxic effect and- generally
invigorating. What's more, yet another
start of industrical enterprise, more
business, more dollars.
Fr omits PeopEe
come to expect me to be a certain way, I
am more likely to be that way. If my girl
friend likes me to be strong and take
charge, the chances are I will, whether or
not I am normally that way.
Then there are the fronts for
self-preservation. People maintain an
outward posture for self defense, or to
conceal what they really feel. A few
months ago, I met a girl for the first time,
and though I tried to be honest, by the
end of the evening both of us had
adopted masks. I found myself saying
things to impress her, and she adopted
the role most likely to turn me off.
Then there are the "public image"
attitudes. A salesman wears his sickly
smile; the businessman acts a certain way
in his dealings with others. I adopt a
certain role as a journalist as opposed to
those times I go to class, spt nd time with
my girl, or attend a meeting of some
group I belong to.
I suppose, just being objective about it,
that there isn't much we can do about a
lot of the fronts we put up. Probably
many of them are attached to the roles
we wear and are vital to our performance.
Perhaps society isn't ready for complete
ho nest y.
And yet, I can't help- but be appalled at
the way people are separated from each
other because of their fear of exposing
themselves to anyone. I can't help but see
the hurt feelings, the crushed hopes and
disillusionments, the hypocrisy, and the
loneliness that arise because of the fronts
we adopt.
I know the front that bothers me a lot
is the one readers adopt when they
discover that they are talking to me.
Some seem trying to impress me, for
whatever motive. I get a little annoyed
and frustrated every time this happens,
however, because they won't allow me to
see them as they are.
Which is what sse all need to do to be
able to see each other as we art'. This
demands a lot of us, I expect. Il demands
that we be able to accept each other for
what the other is; it demands tolerance of
were the townstvorle and thejr txearnvr
offspring. The helioo
down came Sa-U wit
d over ar i
e a bound. I! ;
parachute never op-cned and ht? bour.tc:
several times-
One of the elders thought to stop tht
record that had bn playing :'He:t
comes Santa Claus. here comes Santa Cla-.i
... ' but he merely pulled the plug and
the strains died out lowly, going deeper
and deeper as a slowing record will do.
Where do you suppose the selfle?!
kiddks were all this time? That's right :
out grabbing all the toys they couU
perhaps giving an occasional thought ti
the dead Santa . .
It makes for an amusing mental pittur
until you think what a tragedy the who!
thing "turned out to be.
It is not so much the greed u
Christmas that is disturbing. After a'
commercialism is as American as appVi
pie. What really sticks in my craw isth.v:
to hate Christmas for any reason U to
become some kind of ogre in the eyesoi
the world.
I don't especially care what anybody
else does about the yule customs, but j
wish they would leave me alone. i
But In all fairness, the spirit u
Christmas has gien me one thing that
might never have received. 1
There is a fine art involved in swear in ,
It is not something that one picks i:
casuallv. It must be arduously learnt
and continually practiced to be tru'.
effective.
And I know of no other feat th.
comes even remotely close to putting uji
a Christmas tree for building a vocabulan
of four-letter expletives. It is impossib;.;
to decorate the tree without the studittj
use of profanity.
It is equally impossible to remove pir.
sap from the digital extremities unle
you mix a potent blend of lye soap anl
cuss words. jj
Heaven help the woman who objects 1 1
the males in her family for their wicke!
tongues. She quickly learns that the morf
obscenities aired, the faster the tree goi
up.
If you are one of the few weirdos wh j
joins me in objecting to the farce that 01 1
Christmasses have become, don't make
the mistake of blaming the whole thir'
on greedy advertisers. The greed is an
integral part of our fellow people, and U.?
oft-maligned advertisers are only takir
advantage of an overripe atmosphere.
What's the answer, you may want to
ask . . .
Well, I have no quick solutions, but
you might try what our family does. It's
easy enough. Everybody merely telL
everybody else how much money they
want, and we exchange checks for equal
amounts. It eliminates all that shopping
and ensures that nobody outspeni
anybody else.
Or else you can give toilet paper spoo
. . . They come pre-wrapped,
n
inexpensive, and take a
long time tc
open.
Then there was the man who La
always liked Christmas until one yea
when fifteen of his friends gave him th
same kind of hat as a present.
He said the immortal words,
Homburg ..."
B.ih
777)77
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other viewpoints and personalities.
The ability to shed our fronts demand
a certain sensitivity on our part, and a
willingness to drop the act and "tell cur
brother like it is." It demands that we
quit trying to fool others by impressing
them, and it requires us to back off from
our self-centeredness and show a little
concern for the thoughts, feelings, and
pain of another.
Come to think of it, looking over tht
ways we can drop our fronts, I see more
demands of us than a militant list of
grievances. It isn't easy to stop
pretending, to quit "playing the game'
with others.
Sometimes we like the fronts we wear.
Sometimes we get hurt when we drop oui
mask for someone, and he won't drop his.
When we drop our masks and our fronts,
we expose ourselves for good or bad, we
"come clean."
But there's got to be some honesty ii
our relationships somewhere. There ha
to be a first time for someone. First step
need to be made.
But then, how can we live our live
without some honesty, concern, anc
compassion dropping our fronts
hypocrisy, and sham?
Or can we?
-------.--!!t!!-!!!-!'.VV",.. i
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