Grape boycott
Daily
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82nd Year oj EUlitorial Freedom
All unsigned editorials are the opinion of the editors. Letters and
columns represent the opinions of individuals.
Founded February 23, 1S93
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President Nixon used to be a
millionaire. That is, until the
Internal Revenue Service demanded
5467,43 1 in back taxes, a blow to the
most solvent of Republicans. In a
society in which a man stands as tall
as his bank account, or at least his
credit rating, the public has
instinctively (and unintentionally)
cut to the quick. -
It was not the first blow to Nixon's
pocketbook pride. After Watergate
he was questioned on the S 10 million
San Clemente and Key Biscayne
expenses, on Pat's million-dollar
room rearrangement on the
presidential jet, and on the S60
million Republican campaign
expenses in 1972.
Two billion dollar cost over-runs
in the defense industry are ignored
while the value of old vice
presidential papers is discussed. '
Strangely enough until Watergate
broke out the public wasn't
concerned about Nixon's expenses.
In fact, they rather enjoyed them.
Two years ago Life magazine ran a
special series of color photos of San
Clemente. Now the same pictures of
swimming pools and palm trees are
the subject of derision. What once
was viewed with vicarious pleasure
is now viewed with scorn.
Michael Davis
Travesty
The genius shuffled toward the podium at
centerstage.
With a laborious, non-rhythmical gait he
approached the maze of tuxedoed bodies.
Although the moist California winds have
managed to preserve the lines of the
unforgettable face, the eyes were visibly
weary.
The moustache was gray an aged
remnant of the greasepaint smear that hung
under his nose in the days of two-bit movies
and five-cent cigars.
His fingers gripped the slack in the sides of
his trousers.
The audience rose from their seats. The
producers, directors, technicians and actors.
Their ovation was curiously automatic. Was
it cued?
Groucho's voice was hushed and throaty.
"Thank you" he repeated. He seemed
frightened. Sad. Overcome.
Gone was the snap and spark of his banter.
His knife-edge, witty ramblings are nothing
more than a memory. But on this evening,
what was there for him to say?
It was to have been a special Academy
1
Jean Swallow
North 'Carolina Scenes: a dean
Suddenly the sky fills with sweeping
clouds and in the sweat of an overcast sky,
the rains come down, flooding the campus
and pushing the students in the heavy winds.
I watch from my office, and I know Lang
must be disappointed. The rains mean she
will have to cancel her plans for the
afternoon.
But then again, maybe she won't. Maybe
she will go out in the rain. Maybe there will
be a kid out there, walking around in the
rain, lost and lonely and angry. And
knowing Lang, she will probably stand out
in the rain with the kid and talk with him.
This is a little stupid, I say to myself.
Damn fool not only won't come in out of the
rain, but she'll go out in it. Let the kid take
care of himself. A lot of the rest of us had to
make it alone. I am a little angry by this time.
But then, I know what Lang would say to
that. "Yeah, so you had to make it alone? So
did I. And 1 remember what it was like. And I
remember the pain. So I stand out in the
rain. So what? I get paid for it y'know."
Then she would grin. And I would grin,
because I know she would be out there even
if she didn't get paid for it.
Nanci Lang is one of the assistant deans of
Student Life. She is, remarkablyenough, not
so boused down with paper work that she
can't stand out in the rain if need be.
"It's no damn wonder kids leave the
school," she says. "They come in here as
freshmen and what are they? A number, on
in thousands and who cares? Who cares if
Friday, April 5, 1974
T"3 -
11 VU
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The same thing happened to
Eisenhower and his Gettysburg
farm after he was hit by the vicuna
coat scandal. Johnson managed to
escape much criticism of his ranch
house because he also managed to
escape any major scandals. Kennedy
didn't need to feather his own nest
while in office, he was too well-to-do.
Crimes and misdeeds do not
always strike the fancy or the
indignation of the public, but, once
they do, Americans become angry
landlords and expect an exact
accounting. And once the public is
driven to close scrutiny, even more
outrages are found.
People enjoy the excesses of their
leaders (the English even admired
the debaucheries of its kings) up to a
certain indefinable limit, and then
the process is reversed. Even
moderation becomes suspect.
The most distressing thing is that
once crimes are recognized and.
explored, the dry-rot is found to
have spread farther than was
thought. Such is the case with
Nixon. One crime leads to another,
to his brother and to his own back
taxes. The entire political process
seems hollow and infirm.
of a tribute
Award presentation to Groucho Marx and
his deceased brothers. Last year, the
Academy paid homage to Charlie Chaplin
with all the splendor of a freaking
coronation.
The Groucho tribute was a travesty. A
disgrace. A slip-shod, tacky, meaningless
smattering of horseshit Hollywood style.
All the holy Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences could afford for America's
comic genius was a few awkward minutes of
mindless teevee dribble.
But somehow, Groucho rose above the
plastic and false.
It seems that you really can't maim a
genius. You can't camouflage a presence.
You don't brighten the shine of a star by
tossing tinsel at it.
Groucho's tribute was not paid Monday
evening amidst the superficiality of the
Academy Awards.
The Marx Brothers have been enshrined
for the past 40 years at the box office. The
laughter that to this day resounds
throughout a screening of one of their films
is the true measure and tribute of their
greatness. '
they have had an extra mattress in their
room for 10 days and can't get it moved out?
Who cares if they get a Dear John letter?
Who cares if they are lonely, or if they don't
know what they are doing?
"Listen to me, Jean, if I make one kid feel
better, even only once a week, then I've
earned my pay. People look at me and say,
you couldn't possibly know how it feels to be
rejected. But they are wrong. Not only that
but I remember how it feels, I remember it
well."
1 look at her and 1 think to myself, 1 can't
believe that. I say, "1 can't imagine you ever
having to eat alone."
She explodes in emotion. "1 know it.
Nobody ever does. But there was a time. And
now that it's over . . . "fr
"What happened," I say, still dubious.
And so she tells me the story of going to a
school nobody ever heard of, a school that
didn't even have a football team, when all of
her friends were going to Vassar and
Radcliffe. She tells me about nearly flunking
out and her parents cutting her off
financially. She tells me about the months of
eating alone, being alone and lonely.
And then the story changes. She tells me
about spending a lot of time with prison
inmates and their families. She tells me
' about reading for the blind. She tells me
about traveling for a national sorority,
sweeping into a town and three days later
leaving again, having fixed the troubles
there.
Speakers for the United Farm
Workers Union will be in the Pit at
noon today to tell you their plight
and to ask you for a small
inconvenience on your part
namely, supporting the new boycott.
The boycott is new in the sense
that it just started last year and so far
has received almost no publicity
here in Chapel Hill; and also in the
sense that this is the second big
boycott, the First one being in 1968
1969. Grapes and wines are the
mainstock of this boycott, although
Iceberg lettuce is still being
boycotted.
The grape boycott of 1968-1969
was quite successful, as it reduced
significantly the prices of grapes,
Gerry Cohen
IPriinnigiFy
Voters in this year's Democratic primary
in Orange County will face nine races,
Republicans, three. Many of the races
provide difficult choices but three are easy.
For state House of Representatives, Trish
Stanford Hunt and Edward Holmes clearly
lead the field for the two seats. For Sheriff,
CD. "Buck" Knight should be re-elected.
And for State Supreme Court, James Exum
can provide a more progressive judiciary.
Hunt and Holmes are just completing
their first term in Raleigh. Hunt has been
strongly committed to progressive issues,
voting for tax reform and special interests,
for better schools and against the death
penalty, for the Equal Rights Amendment
and against lowering taxes for big business.
Holmes has built a cautious and moderate
record. A Chatham County resident (the
district is Orange and Chatham), he has done
well in representing all people. Two years
ago, Hunt got the bulk of the student vote,
while Holmes did not, at least in the primary.
The opposition to Hunt and Holmes
comes from Douglas Holmes, who might be
best known for running twice for mayor of
Chapel Hill against Howard Lee.
In 1971, Doug Holmes refused to
campaign. In 1973, he ran the kind of
campaign that makes one ashamed to be
involved in politics. In the guise of offering
voters a choice, Holmes took positions that
were ludicrous. He made unresearched and
untrue statements time and time again,
statements that hurt conscientious people.
He has not shown the commitment or
capability, in my mind, to be state
representative. His platform now is a lot
more progressive than just last fall. If he is
suddenly so different, are we to take this
platform seriously?
For Sheriff, CD. Knight has opposition
from former County Commissioner Bill
Ray. Knight has run a conservative
department, and, of course, looks like a
southern sheriff. But in the last 15 years he
has been sheriff, he has kept his office out of
scandal and reasonably unpolitical. He
could have run the sheriffs department
better, but he seems to be interested in the
welfare of the prisoners, which is one of the
main functions of his department.
He also has the technical knowledge and
ability to be the sheriff in what is essentially a
small and rural county.
Knight is also campaigning for support for
building a new $750,000 jail, a county facility
that is sorely needed. The present jail is in
need of replacement.
Bill Ray did a good job as county
commissioner. But he does not have the
She tells about the nights she spends
talking to kids, helping them just being with
them when they can no longer stand to be by
themselves. She tells me of moving so much,
leaving so many friends behind. She tells me
about coming back to the office in the early
hours of the morning to do the paper work.
. All this time I am watching her very
carefully. This cannot be a dean, I say to
myself. This person can not be a part of the
Administration. And then she props up her
feet on her desk and the buzzer rings. Her
secretary says there is a person to see her. Is
he a student, she asks? Turns out, he is not.
The door remains closed.
The secretary apparently knows where her
priorities are. "The students are the
University," she says. "The more I help them,
the more I help myself."
Perhaps she is not such a Pollyanna, after
all, I think. "You really believe that don't
you," I say, a little incredulous.
"Yeah, I do," she says.
The conversation is getting a little heavy. 1
am not prepared to take this, suddenly
realizing that she was here when I was
coming up, realizing that I could have had
some help, realizing I could have had a
friend, if only I had known.
So I make a crack about her style cf dress
that makes her look more like a student than
a dean. She flips me the rod. And she grins.
And I say to myself, Nanci Lang, you are
one cool person, one cool person.
a,
thereby dealing an economic blow to
the growers which is the whole
purpose of the boycott.
By putting economic pressure on
the growers, the boycott hopes to
force them to sign contracts with the
UFW rather than with the
Teamster's Union.
From 1970-1973, the growers had
signed contracts with the UFW, but
these were not renegotiated even
though most of the field workers
wanted the UFW and Cesar Chavez,
not the Teamster's Union, as their
collective bargaining agent.
A lengthy discussion of the strike,
the arrests and the living conditions
of the migrant workers is not needed
here. You can hear that today in the
race motes
knowledge necessary to be sheriff. If elected,
I'm sure he will work hard, but I believe that
he has not brought himself up to date with
the kind of training the job he is running for
demands. I reject the notion that only
incumbents can seek political office. But
here we" have a qualified incumbent, who,
while by no stretch of the imagination a
liberal, does the job he is paid to do.
In the Supreme Court race, Exum faces
opposition from Reginald Frazier, a black
attorney whose claim to fame was endorsing
Richard Nixon, and losing for lieutenant
governor and W.A. Hedrick, a Court of
Appeals judge.
Exum, a 38-year-old Superior Court judge
from Greensboro, has been on the Superior
Court for seven years. When elected, he was
one of the youngest judges in North Carolina
history.
He has forged what I think is a consistent
and compassionate record as a judge. He has
stood put for court reform and for fair and
equal justice for all citizens. He deserves
support.
Two days of voter registration remain:
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Monday
from 9 a.m. to 5 p. mi, at the Municipal
Building in Chapel Hill, and Saturday from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., registrars will be at the
Carrboro Town Hall.
Letters to the editors
Food co-op complications
To the editors:
I am pleased that the idea of a student food
co-op did not die aborning. Yet, I wonder if
the idea's initiators are not more sanguine
than is warranted about problems involved
in organizing and running a co-op.
It was stated in DTH article (April 2, 1974)
that prices charged to co-op members w ill be
wholesale cost plus 10 per cent. This mark
up in itself is realistic; assumptions about
what costs this mark-up can cover are not. It
seems the 10 per cent mark-up is to cover
operating expenses and loan repayment.
Will it also cover sales tax? The N.C.
Department of revenue has determined that
a co-op is a retail merchant. Therefore, it
must collect 4 per cent sales tax on the
amounts members pay for food. I doubt
that a CGC-supported co-op can afford to
So disguise
Nanci Lang
Assistant Dean oj Student Lije
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Pit. But here's a list of what the
UFW is asking you to boycott:
Table grapes from California,
Arizona. New Mexico and
Colorado, Iceberg lettuce, Gallo
wines (Gallo, Pais a no,
Thunderbird, Ripple, Boones Farm.
Carlo Rossi, Eden Roc, Red
Mountain, and Triple Jack),
Frania Brothers wines and Guild
wines.
You may take the attitude, "Well,
it won't make any difference one
way or another what I do," but that
defeatist approach never changed
anything.
Boycotting is like voting. One
individual's action isn't all that
significant, but what is important is
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run afoul of state law.
How will the food get to Battle House?
Are transportation costs covered by the
mark-up? Or are drivers who bring the food
to Battle House expected to provide the use
of their vehicles gratis? The round trip
distance to the Raleigh Farmer's Market is
60 miles. If drivers are paid 10 cents per mile
(government rate), $6 must be paid for each
buying trip. With a 10 percent mark-up, the
co-op would have to buy $60 worth of food
to cover transportation alone. Too, the co
op will have to buy scales, bags, etc., before
there can be any talk of paying back the
$1600 loan.
Furthermore, I question the advisability
of starting the co-op this close to the end of
the semester. Co-ops need some measure of
continuity, not only in leadership, but also in
membership. Most students will leave
shortly for the summer; thus, it will be
difficult to get continuity.
I raise these questions because some of
them apparently have not been fully thought
through. These problems will have to be
solved if the money is not to be frittered
away. Nor are the questions frivolous; 1 have
worked closely with one.of the local food co
ops since its founding; these were some
problems we had to solve.
I would like to see the proposed co-op
come into being, but not at the cost of
wasting any part of the $1,600 contributed
by all students on this campus.
Jan Westerik
Rt. 3 Box 85
Hillsborough
Philosophy can
broaden world
To the editors:
As a graduating senior 1 would like to
offer an important suggestion to all the
sophomores and juniors who are trying to
plan their course schedules for next
semester: Take a philosophy course.
1 am not a philosophy major but this
semester I am in my sixth course in that
department. Like most of the students I
know my" initial impression of philosophy
was that of a specialized, esoteric discipline,
both inaccessible and irrelevant to normal
people. However, as an educational
viewpoint, this opinion is a relatively recent
American development. Throughout most
of Western educational history, philosophy
has been viewed in the same way as art or
music an area in which some initial work
and study would result in great life long
enjoyment.
It's important to know how to think. The
ultimate nature of space and time, for
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the action of a group made up of
individuals.
And, really, boycotting isn't that
much of a personal sacrifice at all. It
simply invokes buying one product
instead of another. There are plenty
of wines to choose from.
What is more worth it to
yourself? ensuring a lack of some
personal inconvenience or helping
out in something you believe is
right?
You can bring about a change.
But only if you take action yourself
and don't rely on everyone else's
participation.
Why not show some solidarity
and positive action as a community
and support the boycott.
WF50e R f?oom vok
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example, has little if any practical relevance
to anything you will ever do; but having to
think through problems in such an area will
result in an improved ability to think
logically (always helpful in other subjects),
and in an increased appreciation of the
interesting puzzles involved in being a
person in this world. Think about it.
Tom Morris
G-6 Kingswood Apts.
Chapel Hill
Health services
found creditable
To the editors:
I've heard several people complain about
the student infirmary. I've complained
about it before myself. It seems that the lines
are endless and that the doctors are
interested more in getting you out of the
office than in helping you.
For some doctors and maybe in some
instances, "these complaints are .well
founded. A little while back, however, 1 was
sick. 1 stayed in the infirmary for about two
weeks. 1 believe. The doctors and nurses
were busy, or course, but they took time out
to talk with me as well as perform all their
neccessary hospital tasks.
1 was happy to leave because I was well,
not because I hated the infirmary, or the
doctors and nurses. This time and in this
instance they were good good
professionals and good people.
Jeff Freese
425 Cameron Avenue
The
Daily
Tar Heel
Jim Cooper, Greg Turosak
Editors
Kevin McCarthy, Managing Editor
Michael Davis, Associate Editor
Jean Swallow, Associate Editor
Ken Alien, News Editor
Harriet Sugar, Feature Editor
Elliott Varnock, Sports Editor
Tom Randolph, Photo Editor
Bob Jasinkiewicz, Night Editor
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