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Ophionf cf The DL'y Tar Keel axe cx$ rested cn iu edltcrid pre. A3
crrnsd.cdl!crLIs zrt ths ocxriions of the editor and the stolf. Letters tzd
columns reprtsenj crJy the opinions cf
Tom Gooding, Editor
Friday, December 11. 1370
Goev&iLce
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Doriwile in Ms place
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Nyle Frank will return to his
classroom to continue teaching the
courses he was suspended from last
week.
Dr. John D. Martz, chairman of
the political science department,
reinstated Nyle Frank after the
department's Grievance Committee
voted unanimously in Frank's
favor.
Frank was suspended because of
complaints Martz said he received
from students in Frank's two
sections of Political Science 41.
However, Martz was never able
to produce the individuals who
made the alleged complaints; and
Frank had almost fifty students
Administrators should go
to Poli Sci 95A class
Today's meeting of Political
Science 95A will determine what
direction the course should take
next semester and whether there
should be such a course as 95 A on
this campus. -
The answer to the first question
is unclear until the students
themselves evaluate the course. The
answer to the second problem is a
loud, clear "yes."
i t is no secret Jhat ,the University
administration did all it could to
keep 95A from being successful this
semester, and if they are given the
chance ; they will prevent the
4 ,f
7S Years of Editorial Freedom
Tom Gooding, Editor
Rod Waldorf ...
Mike Pamell .
Rick Gray . . .
Harry Bryan .
Chris Cobbs .
Frank Parrish
Ken Ripley . .
John Gellman
Terry Cheek .
Managing Ed.
, News Editor
Associate Ed.
..... Associate Ed.
Sports Editor
.... Feature Editor
. National News Ed.
Photo Editor
......Night Editor
Doug Jewell . Business Mgr.
Frank Stewart Adv. Mgr.
Dane Hart grove
ope yo.11 fiigi ve
11 11
Dear Mr. Nixon:
I received your letter of December 1,
1970 (copies to Secretary Laird,
Secretary Rogers, and J. Edgar Hoover). I
am writing to inform you that your
requests have been duly noted and are
under consideration at the present time.
However, some portions of your letter
were a bit ambiguous, in that there was
some doubt that you really meant what
you said. I would like you to clarify the
statements that I have noted as
ambiguous, in order that I may have
greater guidance in considering your
requests.
Since I am unable for a variety of
reasons to obtain such clarifications in a
personal interview or in a telephone
conversation, I suppose the best way for
me to reach an understanding with you is
to confront you with my impressions of
your statements.
At one point near the beginning of
your letter, you referred to your desire of
realizing the completion of the
Vietnamization process in the Indochina
the Lidiviiud contributors.
Committee
fl a n
willing to take the stand in his
defense.
Thus the case against Frank fell
back on the three vague charges
given by Martz when he suspended
Frank.
The Grievance Committee
investigated those charges and
found them to be without merit.
Dr. James W. Prothro, chairman of
the Grievance Committee, said he
did not feel "that any serious
charges were substantiated."
The suspension was made by
Martz "with genuine regret." We
suspect Martz regrets that decision
more now than when he made it.
However, the important thing is
that Nyle Frank is back where he
belongs in his classroom.
existence of the course next
semester.
For years administrators on this
campus have been talking about
"academic freedom" and speaking
in vague terms about the "pursuit
of knowledge."
But when they were faced with a
course that actually presented an
atmosphere of freedom in the
classroom, they objected to it.
We hope all of those
administrators, who,vyorked so, hard
this fall to kill the idea of 95A will
go to today's meeting.
They might learn something
about "academic freedom."
Good thing
free j lick
costs little
We would like to express our
appreciation to the folks who
brought us "The Graduate" at the
Union this week.
For a change, we were able to
attend a cinematic accomplishment
, ' of slightly higher caliber than "Elvis
Presley Meets Tammy."
But on the other hand, we were
charged seventy-five cents and had
to get in line an hour early.
It's a good thing we are
fee-paying students or there's no
telling what the Union might have
charged for their free flicks.
War. Your meaning on this point seems a
bit hazy; let me give you my impression
of your meaning.
I assumed by complete
Vietnamization, you meant that all of
Vietnam t should belong to the
Vietnamese, and that you intended for
the Vietnamese to have complete control
over their own affairs. If that was what
you meant to say, I commend you for
your attitude, and I give you my promise
that I and all my helpers will go to work
immediately -to help you realize
completion of this program at the earliest
possible date.
Your second request also raised some
questions in my mind. You asked for help
in bringing the nation back to the moral
principles and ideals of your forefathers.
Since your forefathers were governed by
many different sets of principles, I think
it might be politic for me to describe to
you the kind of ideals that your nation
should return to.
Your forefathers placed a high value
on individual freedom. They believed that
A ! ! It it 1 1
I have been in Chapel HHI for four
years.
I am sick of the University of North
Carolina.
I am tired of trying to be too many
things at once-student, journalist,
politico, etc.
And at the end of the first session of
summer school I will gather up ray
belongings pick up my diploma from my
dean, get in my car and drive away from
here.
I have been in school for sixteen years,
and, quite frankly, I am tired of being
educated.
I am ready to get out of school and
learn what I want to learn for a change.;
There are a lot of things I haven't been4
able to do in my lifetime because I have
always been tied to the daily routine of
having a class to attend, a quiz to take or
a paper to write.
For some people I have met in Chapel
HiU since the fall of 1967, the life of
quizzes, classes and papers is the ideal
existence.
For me the academic existence has
become intolerable.
At some pofnt during each person's
life he reaches a point at which he can no
longer feels knowledge can be gained
through : following others; he begins to
believe that he himself is the only teacher
who knows how or what to teach. - .-
There are many men and women who-,
know more than I and who are quite able
to teach me what they know. r
I have found some of them on this'
campus, and I have spent the last three
years trying to get in their classes.
But this year I have begun to realize
that going to classes, taking notes on ja:
lecture and trying to pass someone
quizzes, is not going to teach what I want
to learn. -
It is only going to teach me what
someone else wants.me to learn. 1
And for too long now I have been doing
what other peo'ple want me to do. j,1.
After 16 years of the American
educational process I am beginning To
find it quite inadequate, and I have spenlX
much
of the last six months trying tW
examines
Com VEPshvoti
k snooi
the government is best that governs least,
because they wanted themselves and their
children to be free from domination by
an alien group of people sitting in a
far-away city. Besides which, they
believed in friendship, love, and Christian
charity, which, as you know, are also the
hallmarks of the Christmas season.
.
I hope that I have interpreted your
ancestral sentimentality correctly, sir. If
so, you may count on my support for this
program all year round, not just during
the Christmas season.
You also asked me to aid you in
straightening out the economy of the
United States. Of course, you realize that
the American economy is inseparably tie4
to the economies of the other nations of
the world.
In order to help you in your struggle
with American economic problems, then,
it would first be necessary to straighten
out the economies of the other nations
with which your country is involved. This
could best be done, in my opinion, by
giving every nation complete control of
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mmeiriry
. undo all the turn uncountable teachers
have done from kindergarten through my
senior year in this University.
It would be nice to slop right now,
leave school and get a job doing whit I
want for whom I want. But I cannot do
that.
When I came to this school I made a
commitment to a number of people who
mean a lot to me. I am going to finish this
semester, tolerate next semester and find
the easiest courses this University offers
during summer school.
I will remain Associate Editor of The
Daily Tar Heel until Easter vacation, and
not one minute longer. That is another
commitment.
When the next editor of this paper
Letter to the editor
ass
To the Editor:
I would like to offer some comments
on the column by Mr. Harry Bryan,
which appeared on the editorial page,
November 19, 1970.
(1) Mr. Bryan says that he was
"unlucky enough to barely qualify for
advanced placement" and was taking
Mathematics 31 as a first semester
freshman.. The Department .of
Mathematics regards Mathematics 31 as
the normal course for a first semester -freshman;
it is . certainly not advanced
placement course work. Mathematics 15
is essentially remedial, and its appearance
in this University is dictated solely bythe
realities of North Carolina high school
mathematics teaching. Thus Mr. Bryan i .
was what is considered a normal: first .
semester freshman. . JU
. (2) Mr. Bryan said, "..J soon found-if :
to be over my head," and "...I came-out-.
of , the course with a C." The grade ofCf
indicates' average work, and - Is a
jh
10 rsY vi
its own economic affairs, and by allowing
every nation to trade on an equal basis
with all other nations.
Besides providing for a maximum
amount of freedom in the area of
economics, such an arrangement would
simplify the financial problems of all
nations concerned, including your own
United States. Since simple things are
easily understood by all people, and I like
to help people with their problems, I feel
that such a solution to your economic
problems would be beneficial on all
counts. Should this view of the matter
prevail, you can count on my support in
handling your nation's economy.
You asked me for support for a
volunteer army. I- will give it to you on
one condition: that you establish
compulsory insane asylums for those who
volunteer to fight and die for any cause..
It has been my experience that nothing is
ever gained by violence but the
corruption of men's minds. . Your
recognition that all members of a
volunteer army would have to be either
CI
1 1 1 IS. .-r 1
- 1 I II I I
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takes control of this office. I w3 never
again enter it in an official capacity.
1 am tired or; hiving ptosis te3 me
that I am rumurrj; for editor of the Daily
Tar Heel
- 1 am eoL '
That statement wi3 not change in two
weeks, nor w21 it charge at any time in
the future. " -
During my sophomore year on this
campus I made two decisions concerning
The Dairy Tar HeeL One was that I could
probably never be elected to the office
and the other was that the job was not
worth the effort the campaign requires.
I . was Tom Gooding's , campaign
manager last spring. I am his Associate
Editor now. I will remain his Associate
size
satisfactory passing grade. It indicated to
me, and I would think to any faculty
member, that the course was not over the
head of Mr. Bryan.
(3) The class in which Mr. Bryan was
registered was over 100 in number, but
was not "nearly 150." Mr. Bryan
indicated unhappiness with the number
of students in this section. With this I
heartily concur; I would be delighted to
have . sections of no more than 30
students. This is impossible at the
moment. The permanent faculty of this
Department numbers 29, and we are
teaching 2400 students in Freshman
courses alone; in addition,.we teach a full
undergraduate and graduate program for
majors and perform the largest
undergraduate and graduate service
function of any department in the
College of Arts and Sciences. My own
class in Mathematics 3 1 numbers 83
r . students this term It is as large as this
because two sections are amalgamated so
limit
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pitl g your problems through Congress.
T am perfectly willing to help you with
this problem, sir, but I am sure you must
have realized when you made this request
that I could do nothing that might harm
one . human being in order to help
another.
. My advice to you on the problem is
this: take a vacation. Turn things over to
your vice-president for a month or so,
and go lie on the beach in Florida or in
California. A trip to Hawaii night even be
nice.
In your absence, Mr. Agnew could run
things admirably. Were he to address a
joint session of Congress in his capacity as
President Pro-Tern,; he would
undoubtedly create such a furor that no
work at all, let alone Democratic
opposition to your programs, could be
carried on. .
Such an action would undoubtedly
confused or mentally disturbed would
earn you my support in this matter.
Lastly, Mr. Nixon, you asked me to
free you from the problem of coping with
the leaders of the Democratic Party when
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Editor, but I will not become his
successor.
The past cf Associate Edi'or is as clcsc
as I want to come to being Elisor of Ths
Di:!y Tar Hat Thrrr are many r:.uor.s
for t!ut, and thry are the concern cf no
one but myself.
I wrote this coIam.fi not because !
thought the entire student body as
waiting breathlessly for me to announce
my candidacy, but because it was the b;st
method I know of to communicate these
thou-hts
seem to
to a number
of
reor.e wno
be laboring
tr the falje
assumption that I will be Ln the running
this spring.
I happen to write better than I can
talk, and I hate to write letters.
that we could free a teacher for an
undergraduate Seminar.
(4) Mr. Bryan's instructor was: a
tenured member of the Department. This
Department males a serioui effort to
teach as many freshmen as possible with
regular faculty; last year, for every
student taught by a teaching assistant two
were taught by regular members of the
Department. Furthermore, the problem
sessions to which Mr. Bryan alludes were
. regularly met not only by the graders for
the course but were also met by the
faculty member who is supposed to have
refused to answer questions in class.
These sessions were scheduled in the
evening, which meant that the faculty
members have regularly scheduled
sessions of this sort, and the reservation
of classroom space for this purpose b
handled by the Department in the same
way as reservation for regular sessions of
classes.
(5) Finally, I would like to take direct
issue with the statement, "The problem
was undoubtedly created by professors
who either didn't really know what the
students wanted out of the course or who
really didn't care whether the student felt
he was learning anything or not." The
problem is created by the birth rate and
the desire of students, in ever increasing
numbers, to learn. It is not as easy to
create capable new teachers as it is to
create babies. I would also like to pass on
a comment made to me within the past
two weeks by a mathematician at a major
neighboring university, a man who has
experience in several other universities,!
including some of the most prestigious.
He said that he had never seen' a
department with a greater devotion to the
problems of teaching than the
Mathematics Department at UNC.
No doubt , we are not completely
successful in our teaching. Certainly there'
are complaints about our courses and
about individual faculty members and
teaching assistants. Many such complaints
are passed on to me every day. 1 assure;
you that efforts are made to correct the
causes of complaints. I wish that all the
efforts were successful. I also wish that,
every student in every mathematics
course would earn an A. Neither of these
wishes is likely to be fulfilled on this
earth.
Fred B. Wright '
Chairman, Department of Mathematics
iVfri . . . .
The Daily Tar Heel accepts
letters to the editor, provided
they are typed on a 60-space line
and limited to a maximum of 300
words. All letters must be signed
and the address and phone
number of the writer must be
included.
The paper reserves the riht to
edit all letters for libelous
statements and good taste.
Address letters to Associate
Editor, The Daily Tar Heel, in
care of the Student Union.
I:
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regno
have a cathartic effect upon Congress;
consequently, you would probably return
in a month or so to find a calm, sober
congregation of legislators, who would all
be quite ready to settle down to work
again. However, the first item of business
might turn out to be your impeachment.
I hope that I have interpreted all your
statements correctly, and that we have
now made everything perfectly clear. I
look forward to seeing you on the
morning of December 25, 1970.
Merry Christmas,
Santa CI 2 us
P.S. I overlooked one of your more
urgent requests in my previous
statements. I am sorry to inform you that
I will be unable to provide you with a
rubber duck of the type used by the late
President Kennedy for bathtub
maneuvers. Instead, I am bringing you
one of our new life-size, life-like, talking
Millard Fillmore dolls. Like their
namesake, they do nothing. I hope this
meets with your approval.
S.C.
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