Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 11, 1975, edition 1 / Page 6
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t i LrJ i him d jWw l y The war: good news from the front Bill Bates' much-discussed "war on the administration" has taken a turn for the better, according to the latest reports from the front. The improvement has come not by default of "the enemy" but by the regrouping of the Bates administration. Bates has seemingly turned away from scattered shotgun blasts at unnamed administrators toward a problem-identification and solution-oriented approach. He has decided to first conduct negotiation and to save bombardment for particular instances of persistent abuse. What all of this entails for students is still murky, and definite action centered on specific issues remains on the other side of the horizon. But the opportunity for identification and realistic solution of perennial problems seems much closer than it did following the initial declaration of war on August 29. President Bates is to be commended for his reassessment of the rhetoric of war. He has made an effort, to contact various "student leaders" (it is interesting how that phrase must be placed in quotation marks because few students willingly describe themselves as leaders). He has consulted administration figures and tried to Remember The University and the town of Chapel Hill are inextricably connected. What is good for the University is often good for the town, and what is good for the town is usually good for the University. There are times when their interests collide, as in the conversion of residences to University offices or moves against fraternity and sorority houses in certain neighborhoods. Both progress together and cooperation in working out conflicts can be better guided if members of the University community exercise their franchise in the upcoming municipal elections. That exercise is contingent upon updating or initiating registration in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. (Fhr Satly 83rd Year of Editorial Freedom Cole C. Campbell Editor Jim Grimsley Managing Editor Greg Porter Associate Editor Ralph J. I race Executive Editor Jim Roberts News Editor Alan Murray Features Editor Susan Shackelford Sports Editor Barnie Day Projects Editor Joyce Fitzpatrick Graphic Arts Copy Editors: Janet Creswell. Ben Dobson, Autumn Dobies. Todd Hughes, Rebecca Shirley. Mal' Stinson. Student Graphics, Inc Dean Gerdes, Shop Foreman; Sharon Broom, production manager; Stan Beaty. typesetter; Carolyn Kuhn, ad composition. Printed by Hinton Enterprises in Mebane, N.C.the Daily Tar Heel publishes weekdays during the regular academic year. a Thursday, September 11, 1975 keep his declaration from straining relationships with the University officials beyond the point of repair. And now he has focused his concern for "student power" (another shopworn phrase) on a first step. Students interested in advancing student power and student participation should communicate their interest to Bates in order to involve themselves in the planned October 25 weekend conference retreat. That meeting may well be the molding influence upon the rest of the Bates administration. It may also determine the chances for success of Bates' proposed1 consortium of faculty, administration, alumni and students. That consortium, based on an earlier advisory structure, could prove to be a useful means by which necessary changes in the power structure and the decision-making process of this University can be effected. For now, it is enough that the Bates administration is accentuating positive steps instead of chasing ethereal accusations against faceless foes. And if Bates carries through on his indications that he will pursue issues one by one, a lasting contribution to the student condition may be forthcoming. November The registration - deadline, .for. Orange County is October 6. H ours and locations of registration centers are listed below. Chapel Hill Municipal Building North Columbia St. Thursday Sept. 11,18,25 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday Sept. 13,20,27 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 16,23,30 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Carrboro Town Hall Main St. Saturday Sept. 13,20,27 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Har Mnl News: Lynn Medford, assistant news editor. Writers: Art Eisenstadt, Chris Fuller, Bruce Henderson, Bob King, Vernon Loeb. Linda Lowe, Nancy Mattox. Greg Nye, Johnny Oliver, Tim Pittman, Merton Vance, Richard Whittle. Features: George Bacso. associate features editor; Robin Clark, assistant features editor; Critics: John Russell, critic at large; Rick Sebak, drama; Michael McFee, film. Writers: David Broadwell, Susan Datz, Bohdan Dowhaluk, Dan Fesperman, Marty Lagod, Liz Leland, Fred Michael Sue Ann Presley, Elizabeth Respess, Gloria Sajgo, Liz Skiilen, Bill Sutherland. Sports: Jim Thomas, assistant editor. Writers: Jane Albright, ' Kevin Barris, Brad Bauler, Mike Egan. John Hopkins, Bill Moss, Grant Vosburgh, Tom Ward. Graphic Arts: Martha Stevens, head photographer. Staff photographers; Alice Boyle, Charles Hardy, Margaret Kirk. Nan Parati, and Howard Shepard. John Branch. Stan Coss, cartoonists. Business: Reynolds Bailey, business manager; Elizabeth Bailey, advertising manager. Staff: Martha Buie, Ellen Horowitz. Mark Lazenby, Linda Livengood. Ralph Irace Grass In growing intensity, we as a nation and as a people have been afflicted with disaffection and disenchantment, the by-products of an alarming depth of political alienation between Americans and their national government. Much of the problem is attributable to the "New Left" which has propounded a reformist liberal ideology best known for its resourcelessness and benign view of man. The reformist liberal's understanding and toleration of the political universe conforms well to his narrow prejudices. With the end of WW 11, liberalism became a political orthodoxy and while the liberal intelligentsia proclaimed their ideology as profoundly self-righteous and tolerant to the concept of an "open society," their tolerance frequently did not include criticism of the truth . . . and reformist liberals portrayed liberalism as the embodiment of the truth. The results of reform liberalism are painfully evident today. Court edicts tear children apart from parental supervision; entire state legislatures sit helplessly by in astonishment as federal judges who hold office during "good behavior" nullify with the stroke of a pen laws enacted by the peoples' general assemblies. Institutions of higher learning after recovery from the upheaval caused by the imposition of earlier federal doctrines "explaining how it should be done," are convulsed anew with more spasms as Washington ideologues continue with their pronouncements and homework assignments for state governors and university officials. The number of abusive acts committed by faceless, avaricious federal agencies (HEW the star student) and a lordly federal judiciary are legion. Citizens throughout the country, Republican and Democrat alike, are forming vocal coalitions to restore principle in our political system for the pragmatism and political expediency that has pervaded much of the governmental apparatus during reform liberalism's period of prosperity. That movement is locally represented by a group called Citizens for Chapel Hill. The reformist liberal is easily identifiable. If a dog bites a man, the liberal takes the side of the dog, the criminal against the policeman, the black against the white, the striker against the employer, and so it goes. Carlotta du Val A candid interview Today, Carlotta du Val, the probing, provoking and proselytizing paragon of journalism, the poor man's Sally Quinn, explores the unpredictable world of academia in an enlightening but evanescent interview with that world renowned chemistry professor, Dr. Linus Paltry. Q. Dr. Paltry, the chemistry department is one of the largest departments on campus. Do you enjoy teaching? Dr. P. Teaching? Teaching? Please! 1 don't teach, I research. Q. But what about the two introductory lecture courses with 300 students each listed under your name? Dr. P. Oh, them. I may occasionally drop in during coffee breaks and lecture, but 1 don't teach. You're the first student I've talked to face to face in over three years. 1 don't need to teach those classes. The students are required to buy the textbook 1 wrote, 1 have advanced undergraduates to conduct classes, there are computers to grade labs and I have graduate students to grade exams and tally averages. What more is there for me to do? I let them use my name as an introductory course professor to make the undergraduate catalogue look good. Q. I see. How many professors, in both research and teaching, are in the chemistry department? Dr. P. The number fluctuates. Between the confusing mazes in the basement of Venable Hall, occasional lab explosions and surprise encounters with vats of hydrochloric acid, we have a roots in government The reformist liberal believes that all human and social infirmities can be solved by governmental intervention a bigger HEW, more programs, more forms to fill out, etc. The reformist liberal has an almost mystical belief in the power of government and only elliptically understands the nature and value of private enterprise. With Washington's battle axe, the reformist liberal believes anything capable of solution: race relations can be resolved by integrating schools and busing students across the county, poverty can be eradicated with the inauguration of a new HEW program, health improved with the socialization of medicine, etc., etc. The headlines in our newspapers however give convincing evidence that the gospel of reformist liberalism has failed, and failed miserably. Young people in increasing number today , are turning away from the "New Left," and rejecting the dispirited tenets of reform liberalism complete with all its banalities. Conservatism remains the principle ideology of most Americans. Liberalism is under attack from all directions for being destructive of individual and local governmental initiative in domestic affairs and for being a whipping boy in foreign policy. The youth of today do not want their future mortgaged by liberal political beliefs with which they disagree. During the middle and late 1960's while New Left leaders were professedly opposing the Vietnam War, big business, and racism, their tactics (including the seizure and burning of academic buildings, brawling in the streets, intimidation and vulgarity) have proved counterproductive, and independent minded students have searched elsewhere for rational, alternative ways of changing America. Reformist liberalism is hollow, having no lasting, permanent ends. Reformist liberalism continues to blunder along, restrained by no fixed principles and renowned for its congenital capacity to delude itself with a perverted conception of the substantive order of our external realities. Our national Constitution was never intended to sanction the overreach of the federal government and the travesties of law hard time accounting for all of our professors. Every now and then an instructor who hasn't been seen for four or five years comes stumbling out of the basement with a bewildered look in his eye. The number varies. Q. Under these working conditions, is being a universitv chemist worth the risk? Dr. P. Oh sure. The applications from our research advance economic and human prosperity. Take our studies of vitamin C. It's a great cold preventative. I take at least two grams a day. Q. Are there any adverse side effects? Dr. P. Not really, the body sloughs off excess vitamins. It does turn my urine bright orange, though. Q. What is your reaction to recent studies with laboratory mice indicating that chemicals in marijuana make it hazardous to health? Dr. P. Weil, if you pump four ounces of anything into a two-ounce rat, he's probably going to die. Frankly, those marijuana studies don't bother me at all. I'm a boozer myself. Q. Let's look into some of the negative aspects of scientific research, such as chemistry's adverse impact on human lives through chemical pollution and the like. Dr. P. Please! You must understand that science is amoral. Science for scientists' sakes, and all that. We make no moral judgments regarding our work. Q. But Dr. Paltry, didn'tyou discover the deficiencies in sickle cells in order to further humanitarian goals? Dr. P. Yes, but that's different. 1 got a Nobel Prize for that. Q. Some critics have accused major by which the liberal theorists and practitioners alike have sought to control every aspect of our lives. Big government does big things, but for the ultimate ascent of what highest purpose? Socialism? Gasp. The reformist cants of the ultra-liberals are fast losing persuasion with the citizenry. The sentiment of the people and polity today is moving in the direction of taking government off our backs, giving us peace of mind and privacy, leaving our schools and representative assemblies alone, and reducing federal bureaucratic interference with the lifeblood of America private enterprise. We have now arrived at the disquieting realization that the federal courts, particularly the Supreme Court, have for too long usurped the powers of the legislative domain, especially in the fields of criminal law, education and taxation. Federal judges appointed for life ano accountable to no one have effortlessly seized the prerogatives and power of our elected representatives, not only interpreting law but in effect making law as if the courts were a second legislature of our national government. 1 don't know about you, but I don't recall casting a vote for a federal judge. If the more lofty character of our country is to be maintained and the political system cleansed of the government "cure-all" liberal philosophy that often has cured nothing in our society, we must re-examine ' our methodology for producing change. We must avoid the past and present errors of ultra-liberalism and reconcile ourselves to the incontrovertible fact that behavior and individual conscience cannot be legislated or manipulated through judicial tyranny. The people now know that power is safest in their hands, that decision and policy making is wisest in their own neighborhoods and not a judge's chambers, and that laws are most responsible in their own communities. With 1976, the bicentennial year of our national independence approaching, why not declare a second Declaration of Independence and restore moral freedom and spiritual growth in America? Ralph J. Irace, executive editor, is a graduate student from Farmington, Connecticut. with Dr. P university chemistry departments of "selling out" to industry by accepting industrial grants and conducting studies oriented toward the specific research needs of corporations and toward defending corporate products (and profits). Do you think that this loss of objectivity is true at UNC. Dr. P. Absolutely not. That matter was raised at our last departmental meeting, and both faculty members and industrial representatives agreed that such suggestions were offensive. Our conclusion was that scientific thought is as free and untainted as ever. We now have several studies conducted by the sociology department, under grants from the industries concerned, that support this conclusion. Q. What research projects are you currently involved with? Dr. P. 1 am trying to fuse 208Pb82 with 79Se34 yielding alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays and 89Y39 and 197Au79. Q. Huh? Are there any immediate applications? Dr. P. You bet, honey, I'm trying to change lead into gold! Q. But, that's impossible Dr. P. Nothing is impossible in this age of Teflon, pyrex flasks, difluoro diphenyl trichloroethane and orange flavored Tang! Q. The purpose of this research seems only to satisfy human greed. Dr. P. Oh, I don't know. 1 might get another Nobel prize. Carlotta du Val is a pseudonym for a pusillanimous fanatic from North Carolina. She is a graduate and professional student. Buses; hrift or largesse? To the editor. William L. Boone's letter to the editor attacking my position on the bus system lacks any knowledge at all of transportation. Mr. Boone asks if the 12,000 figure cited as high ridership is "representative." In fact, during the last two days, ridership has been over 13,500, and seems to be continuing to rise. Our cost per mile for operations competitive with or less than that of other systems in the South. At rush hour, all the buses are being used, and there are no empty buses. Mr. Boone seems to think that a bus with six riders at 10 p.m. can somehow be moved to 8:30 a.m. Of course, that same bus was already running at 8:30 a.m. Mr. Boone's statement that "public transportation is not a vital need" demonstrates an incredible insensitivity to our community's problems. We are talking about buying ten additional buses because on a number of routes 50 people are being left standing w hile 100 are on the bus. Last week, the state called on Chapel Hill to spend millions in local funds to buy land for widening roads. Mr. Boone does not utter one peep about this huge subsidy to the automobile, nor does he ask how much revenue is raised by spending $30 million in state and local money on roads. (None.) It seems only when there is a subsidy which might help the poor, the black, and the elderly, does Mr. Boone find it "wasteful." M r. Boone tries to destroy the issue by saying the buses should be run at "the lowest cost." The important issue is, how much money is the community spending on transportation? How much do we have to spend paving roads and ripping down trees to satisfy the gluttony of the automobile, and how many years of gasoline are left? That is why we have set low fares. And that is why there is a subsidy. , Gerry Cohen Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen More buses To the editor; , ,WT . I was appalled by Mr. Boone's insensitive condemnation of the Chapel Hill bus system yesterday. Mr. Boone's "Los Angeles mentality" is dangerous in these times of what he himself recognizes to be an "economic mess." Mr. Boone states point blank (if you remember) that public transportation is not a vital need in Chapel Hill. Perhaps Mr. Boone would prefer that all 20,000 students drive their cars into campus everyday. Can you imagine the compounded confusion and anarchy? Perhaps he would prefer that everyone in Chapel Hill drive their cars into town for errands and work everyday? The unavoidable result would be hundreds of gas-hungry polluters roaming the streets of Chapel Hill wrestling Over spaces to park. (1 do not look forward to. the day when maddened, crazed gangs of space-thirsty Chevies cruise the streets of Chapel Hill, in broad daylight, looking for weakly Hondas or Toyotas to bully out of a parking space.) Furthermore, the current "economic mess" is due in large part to an energy shortage. The fuel efficiencies of public transportation over private are enormous. To eliminate public transportation, through inaction or mandate, would only aggravate energy shortages; and, even ignoring that, is ridiculously wasteful. If serious shortfalls materialize, without public transportation, Chapel Hill would be caught flatfooted; plus local shortages would be made more severe with a more significant dependence upon cars. Moreover, more automobiles and less public transportation, will only further environmental degradation to our atmosphere, a suicidal course of action. Finally, there is a more personal dimension to the issue. What of all the off-campus students without automobiles (like me) who absolutely depend upon a functioning public transportation system? Should we learn to hotwire stray cars or should we grow a bigger thumb? Will you give me a ride into campus everyday, Mr. Boone? Public transportation is vital to a large segment of the Chapel Hill population, and 1, for one, am very grateful for an inexpensive, convenient source of transportation. There is a very pressing and urgent need for an efficient, accessible, and inexpensive public transportation system in this country to attract riders and eliminate the automobile malady from which this nation suffers. More support political and financial is needed for public transportation, not less. Rescheduling and revaluation may be in order, but it is foolish, shortsighted, and insane for anyone to suggest that "we just do without it" J. Walker Smith - M-ll Colony Apts.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 11, 1975, edition 1
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