4 inam
Planning expansion,
remembering trees
i)f us are still true Ents, and
lively enough in our fashion, but
many are growing sleepy, growing
tree-ish, as you might say. . . . Some
of my km look just like trees now,
and need something great to rouse
- f I f t ff
mem: ana they speak only in
whispers.
-Treebeard, in
The lxrd of the Rings
It is easy to be sentimental about
trees, seeing in some Ents, or tree
shepherds, asJ.R.R. Tolkien does in
the above passage. And so it is easy
for policymakers to scoff at those
who speak up for trees and for the
preservation of trees as
"sentimentalists" and "non
utilitarian in outlook."
And so when a big institution like
a university decides to clear some
wooded land to build something like
a new st udent health center, it is very
easy for the planners to balance a
few dead trees against the larger
benefits to be enjoyed by the
recipients of the new facility.
But how does one balance the
intangible aesthetic values of a small
wooded plot against the concrete
benefits of expanded health
Trial by Suite C press
In advocating that the July 22
meeting of the Campus Governing
Council go into executive session,
Student Body Treasurer Mike
O'Neal argued that the rights of
potential defendants to a fair trial
could be jeopardized by the open
discussion of alleged violations of
Student Government treasury
regulations. He pointed out the
possibility of -media reports
influencing prospective jurors in an
honor court case and subjecting
defendants to "trial by press.
Whether or not his "argument
should exempt government
meetings from the state open
meeting) law, Mr. O'Neal's concern
for the rights of defendants is well
placed Both the legal and
journa
studied
istic communities have
the question of prejudicial
pretrial
publicity and have drawn up
guidelines to reduce the chance of
compromising the rights of
defendants. Publications mindful of
the rights of the accused report
crimes as alleged, not proven, and
refrain krom editorially directing a
verdict to the community.
Unfortunately, Mr. O'Neal's
associates in Student Government
do not 'share his concern for the
rights of others.
In the final issue of Student
Government's newspaper, Summer
Life, news and editorial
commentaries that are highly
One for the
When the good guys win, they
deserve all the credit they can get.
David Stewart and David Dunn
of the UNC Department of Geology
and Duncan Heron of Duke pooled
their expertise in seismic risk
analysis to convince the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to require
the installation of earthquake
monitoring devices at Carolina
Power & Light Company's
Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant
near Southport, N.C. That was a
victory for the good guys.
While it is true that earthquake
activity in the Eastern United States
has beei infrequent, the results of
such activity can be destructive.
Cole Campbell
Editor
83rd year of editorial freedom,
2 ThurSy, July 31, 1S7S
facilities?
The five acre plot of land wedged
between Kenan Stadium and the old
Nurses Dorm called "Meeting of the
Waters' is a pleasant interruption in
the large physical presence of the
health affairs complex. It envelopes
one of two walking paths to the
South Campus dorms and the major
path to Odum Village.
Plans to build a new Student
Health Service facility call for an
instrusion into "Meeting . of the
Waters' (or, more accurately, what
remains of "Meeting of the Waters;
all of the South Campus dorms
stand on what used to part of the.
park). Regardless of the advantages
of the expanded facility or the
particular architectural design
preferred by the SHS, we only hope
that the value of preserving part of
the natural expanse will not be lost
In the shuffle of papers, politics and
planning documents when the
Board of Trustees reviews the health
facility in August. Only if that value
is weighted fairly can any decision
about the new facility be said to begirt
the total interest of the University
community.
prejudicial to individuals and
organizations under investigation
for alleged treasury law violations
were published. In a news story
about investigations of the UNC
Football Club and the Graduate
History Society, three references to
possible violations were made. (One
was in the story's headline.) None
were qualified with "alleged,
"possible" or any other word
indicating that those accused had
not yet been convicted by an
impartial court.
; The morej5iatanttriaI by press
occurs on the editorial page, which
declares the accused organizations
(and by implication the
organizational leadership) guilty of
all charges. The lead editorial
charges that the groups "had
unquestionably violated student
laws.
That declaration ought to be
reserved for the student court after a
thorough examination of evidence,
intent and the individuals involved.
If ignorance or innocent
infringements of regulations are
behind the alleged violations, the
court and not the Student
Government press is the appropriate
agency to judge those involved. If
those charged are found not guilty,
again it should be the court which
declares them so. Until then,
presumption still rests with the
accused that they are innocent.
good guys
When the destructiveness threatens
the integrity , of a nuclear power
station, possible coolant or of
radioactive material from the
station could produce deadly
emissions of radioactivity
threatening the nearby
communities. Earthquake
monitoring can forewarn the plant
operators and permit a shutdown of
operations which would reduce the
likelihood of disaster.
Stewart, Dunn and Heron earned
out their research and lobbying on
their own time, paying all expenses
from their own pockets. For this,
their time and their concern, they are
to be thanked.
Elliott Warnock
Managing Editor
Jim Grimsley
Associate Editor
Harriet Sugar
Associate Editor
Ralph I race
Contributing Editor
Lynn Medford
News Editor
Greg Porter
Features Editor
Jim Thomas
Sports Editor
jsepout!
Deliberation best
ash
Is the Campus Governing Council a
featureless and leaderless body suitable only
for delaying what should be dynamic
decisions? If so, the Council is just now
demonstrating a willingness to move beyond
that. Hopefully, the CGCs movement
toward independence will continue.
The case in point is a recent CGC decision
not to permanently expel two groups
accused of treasury law violations from this
year's Student Government budget. In this
column, I will attempt to review the
circumstances of the decision, the executive
branch's reaction to that decision and some
basic issues raised by both.
Earlier this summer, Student Body
Treasurer Mike O'Neal discovered what he
interpreted as violations of student treasury
law by several organizations receiving
student funds. The matter was referred to the
student attorney general for investigation
and slated to be brought before the CGC.
By the time of the CGC meeting, two main
issues had jelled. Would the matter ,be
handled in open or in secret? And would the
groups' funds be temporarily frozen,
pending further investigation, or would they'
be kicked out of the budget permanently and
immediately?
During the meeting, the council voted by a
narrow margin to move into executive
(closed) session on a motion by Student
Body President Bill Bates. 1 opposed the
action as a violation of the state open
meetings law and the students' right to know
how and why their representatives act. Bates,
O'Neal and others pressed for a closed
session to protect the rights of individuals
Congress in
oo many cooks
Last week. Congress rejected a partial
lifting of the current embargo of U.S. arms
sales to Turkey, pointing up once again the
alarming fact that U.S. foreign policy
remains if not in total disarray, at least
somewhat in a state of confusion. This move
should be the cause of no little concern on
the part of Americans.
Other events of recent days, (the
announcement that the Soviet Union is to be
allowed to purchase somewhere around 10
million tons of U.S. grain despite the well
known consequences of another U.S.-Soviet
grain deal or two not long ago this year,
and President Ford's highly controversial
current trip to Helsinki for the purpose of
endorsing a declaration by the European
Conference on Security and Cooperation)
have been discomforting as well.
But the continuing arms embargo is
perhaps the most lamentable case in point.
Following last summer's Cyprus crisis, the
pro-Greek lobby in this nation mobilized its
influence in the halls of Congress and,
despite strident efforts on the part of the
State Department to prevent it, managed to
get U.S. military aid to Turkey cut off.
This move was mightily decried by
Secretary of State Kissinger and with good
reason for the result was not sheepish
acquiescence on the part of the Turks. The
arms ban simply served to undercut
diplomatic efforts to reach a real solution to
the Cyprus problem, at the same time
threatening U.S. interests in one of the most
vital areas of the world.
It is an historical fact that Russia has long
sought control of the crucial Dardanelles
straits as a means of gaining quick and
convenient entry into the Mediterranean.
Stalin, tried ardently to gain such control"
during and after World War II, for he and
each Soviet leader after him recognized that
if the Dardanelles could be placed under the
influence of the USSR the key to the crucial
. Mideast would be in Soviet hands.
'just Ubw AWT o?
fHSSE 5oU"Z. &ANS
pip YoVJ EKTf
-GAS FUftE-S-
Dan
Besse
involved in potential judicial action.
However, names of individuals involved
were not even mentioned in the closed
session, and the names of the groups
involved were discussed only afterwards.
After the closed session, the council
defeated, on a tie vote, legislation which
would have removed the groups involved
from the budget for a lull year. The basic
question involved here concerned whether
individuals or the groups as a whole should
be held responsible for the alleged violations.
In my opinion and, 1 assume, the opinion of
the ethers who voted no, the information
available at that point did not justify the
assumption that the groups as a whole were
guilty. We instead voted to remove the
groups until the Jirst fall CGC meeting,
pending the attorney general's reporU - -v--.
The attorney .'general's staff had not
formed a final opinion; they were still
investigating, and they had more
information already that they could give the
council. Yet the press was made for
immediate and final CGC decision with half
the council present, half the facts available
and more than half of the proceedings
cloaked in secrecy, all in the dregs of
summer's end with most of the students
away.
Why? To intimidate organizations into
toeing the treasury line? 1 agree that rules
should be enforced, but only in the full light
Richard
Whittle
For years the United States has striven to
retain the friendship of Turkey, not only in
order to prevent the loss of the straits, but
also to enable an American presence in
Turkey so as to stem Soviet expansionist
urges. Now Turkey has taken over U.S.
bases on its territory as a result of the arms
embargo. Not totally, for Turkish leaders
certainly realize that it is Congress, not the
Executive branch, which seeks to blackmail
them into cooperation. But, if Congress does
not reverse its present position, the Turks
will have every reason to make that takeover
complete.
The questions here are not as simple as the
pro-Greek lobby would have them seem. The
issue is not whether the U.S. should sell arms
to other nations and then let them be used for
"offensive" purposes. The fact of the matter
is that the Turks did not use their American
supplied arms in an act of open aggression.
The invasion of Cyprus came in response to a
coup d'etat against the Cypriot government
sponsored by the then-ruling Greek military
junta, which the Turks felt threatened the
interests not only of Turkish nationals on the
island but, because of the location of the
island, their own national interests as well.
Of course, it is also a fact that the Turks
did not cease their military activity once the
immediate danger to their nationals had
been averted. But their initial response does
not strictly fit the definition of unprovoked
aggression. So the premise for the embargo
is ambiguous at best.
Another major issue involved here is the
question of whether the Congress or the
Executive is to determine the course of U.S.
foreign policy. And it is a widely held belief
A If rm
action
by
diplom
J I
of
day and before students' eyes, with
fairness and reason. "The Rules' are not an
end in themselves, and if past actions by
some organizations were taken in ignorance
of them, this should be taken into account
when considering alleged violations. In
fairness, O'Neal must be commended for
toning down his recommended action
against two other groups later charged with
violating treasury laws.
This column is in large part a response to
an editorial by President Bill Bates in his
newspaper, Summer Life, In it, he pointed to
the
CGC
as waffling over important
decisions, bending to special interest
pressure and in danger of lapsing into the
status of a mere appropriations agency. This
invues a look into the real purpose and status
of the CGC.
CpC is the legislative branch of student
government. Like Congress, it is designed to
act as a check on hasty and unwise decisions
by :he executive and to expose decision
processes to the public. It is supposed to
debate,, not rubberstamp the president's
decrees as it has done too often in the past.
The CGC is not in danger of lapsing into
an appropriations agency. That is what it has
beei. It may be beginning to move away
from that. To do so, it must continue to
scrutinize carefully all issues presented to it.
It must also develop initiatives in areas that
coniern most students, working both in
cooperation with the president and
independently. Hopefully, both will happen
this
fall.
Dan Besse, speaker for the CGC, is a
junior political science major from Hickory.
acy:
s
g B
among political scientists, historians and
others that, in an age such as ours in which
the speed of events more often than not
necessitates the ability to react quickly.
Congress is simply incapable of the task.
By attempting to exert too much control
oveif foreign policy Congress hinders more
thari it helps, for a legislative body, by
nature, responds to ever-shifting public
opinion. And the great majority of the public
lack's the information and judgment to be
able, to dictate the tactical maneuvers our
nation's foreign policy must employ if it is to
be successful.
This is not to say that the public should
not influence broad-range strategy; the
principles and goals the U.S. is to pursue
over the years. But public opinion changes so
rapidly and on such an emotional basis
that it would be impossible for the country to
maintain a coherent, well-planned foreign
policjy if that opinion were allowed to dictate
each and every step along the way.
The proper way for the public to influence
foreign policy is to elect leaders whom it
trusts to implement that policy in a manner
consistent with the nation's long-range goals
and in accord with the principles Americans
endorse. The proper role for the Congress is
that of supervisor, to insure that the public's
broader goals are pursued. And the proper
role of the Executive branch as its very
nam; indicates is to formulate and carry
out the specific measures which will achieve
those goals.
The Congress should lift the arms
embargo against Turkey before the damage
already done to the U.S. in that part of the
work! becomes irreparable. And it should
confine itself in the future to its proper role.
This would be one step, however small,
toward restoring some order to the currently
confused U.S. conduct of foreign affairs.
R chard Whittle is a graduate student in
journalism.
pod.
c
Grade
inflation
explained
To the editor.
There are two aspects of the recent
discussion on inflation of grades that appear
not to have been discussed.
- First, under the previous dean, the office
of the College of Arts & Sciences ev idently
made it clear at one point that all new faculty
appointments were to be based upon
numbers of enrollments in classes. At least
this was reported to our faculty by our
chairman. Departments immediately began
to shift from emphasis upon quality to
emphasis upon quantity. Courses were
instituted that would attract large
enrollments, and existing courses were
modified. Teacher-student ratios in many
freshman and sophomore classes jumped, in
some instances students enrolled were
tripled.
Second, the professional adv isor system in
South Building has permitted many students
who were threatened withanFaD,and
even a C to drop courses well into the
semester, even as late as the final
examination period. Although advisors in
South Building have sometimes denied that
this permissive policy has existed, case
studies are easily available to show that the
practice has been widespread. It seems fair to
say that, in recent months, students have
found it more difficult to drop a course late
in the semester without the permission of the
instructor.
If teacher-student ratios were what they
had been in the late 1960's and if all of the
C, "D". and "F" grades that should have
been issued were on record instead of drops,
the averages on grades would probably look
much as they always have.
Written by a professor in the English
Department, name withheld by consent of
the Tar Heel.
We need communication
To the editor.
Effective communication between faculty
and students at Chapel Hill is at an all-time
low. What is the University's purpose for
existing in the first place? 1 always thought it
was the function of higher education to help
prepare students for more meaningful and
useful lives as citizens in society.
At Carolina the educational process
outside the classroom has degenerated to a
state of utter collapse. Where does the
student go, outside the classroom, for
information and advice pertaining to courses
and curriculum? To his or her faculty advisor
of course. Now there is only, one catch to
that just where, when and how do you
contact your dear concerned advisor?
There is more to education than in-class
instruction. There must be improved
communication between faculty and
students. Just recently, I made at least a
dozen bonafide attempts to see my faculty
advisor with no success. Finally in
frustration 1 went over my records with the
department secretary, only to discover that I
needed three electives instead of one to
graduate. In addition it was discovered that
six hours had been lost in the transfer from
junior college to Carolina.
Meanwhile my advisor was in
Washington, D.C., ostensibly on some type
of academic business. Does the University
exist to provide the faculty a forum for
circulating their particular philosophy or to
afford students an opportunity to grow and
mature in their knowledge and educational
development? Supposedly, the university
system in North Carolina is funded bv;
student tuition fees and tax money for the
purpose of educating the youth of North
Carolina. The U niversity is not a private club
set up to satisfy the intellectual indulgences
of faculty scholars at the expense of the
students without whom the university would
not exist.
Could you imagine a doctor-patient or
attorney-client relationship with only a bare
minimum of communication? Is society
becoming so technologically impersonal that
people do not see the need for personal
human contact? Many medical malpractice
suits have been caused by a lack of
communication; by the same token many
students are victims of nothing less than
educational malpractice.
If faculty members are too busy to advise
students, why should not the administration
(if they're not too busy) provide alternative
advisors for students. Another solution
might be for Student Government to aid
students in need of academic counseling.
But before any progress can be made
students must snap out of the apathetic
lethargy that seems to affect most of middle
america today. The system will change and
hopefully improve only if individuals take
part as leaders and not as followers.
Marion Merritt
Foxcroft Apts.
Calendar
Voter registration is held each Thursday,
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. at
the Chapel Hill Municipal Building, on North
Columbia Street.
Any student interested in becoming a
counselor for the Women's Health Clinic in the
Student Health Service for the academic year
should contact Katie Newsome Campbell, in
Suite C of the Union, from 2-4 p.m. Monday
through Thursday.
There will be a meeting to discuss the
formation of a Triangle Area Women's Union
at 7:30 on Monday. August 4. at the Durham
YWCA, 515 W. Chapel Hill Street.
The Carolina Gay Association is holding a
Coffeehouse from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday
August 1 at the Newman Center on Pittsboro
Street.