10 Tht Daily Tar Heel Tuesday. April 26,
rvin demonstration
By JOHN RUSSELL
Members of three organizations the
Association for Women Students, the
Carolina Cav Association and the Women's
International League for Peace and
Freedom demonstrated outside Gerrard
Hall last Thursday evening. Inside, the
Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary
Societies were unveiling a bust of Senator
Samuel J. Ervin, Jr. before the societies'
regular membership and invited guests,
including Sen. Ervin. The demonstrators
protested Ervin's stand against the Equal
Rights Amendment, which was defeated in
the General Assembly earlier this spring. The
following is one account and interpretation
of the incident.
The problem was light. The spotlight that
shines from South Building into the Y-Court
was not working, and none of the three
campus policemen on the scene knew how to
turn the light on, why it was off, and what to
do about our request that the light be shone
on the demonstrators in the Y-Court. On
Cameron Avenue, ten yards from the
protesting men and women, carloads of
people drove by hurling obscenities and an
occasional water balloon toward the picket
line. Only the periodical flash of a
photographer's bulb or a television camera
gave light to the scene.
In an effort to right the situation 1 ran to
my car, drove it into the Y-Court, and turned
my headlights on the protestors, who were
circling in front of the rapidly filling Gerrard
Hall. The sudden appearance of my
automobile was interpreted as a hostile act
by the senior officer among the policemen.
There was no chance for negotiation; he
stood firmly upon the divine inspiration of
the campus parking code. No matter if
headlights provided the light he could not. I
moved the car when he threatened to do it for
me.
Senator Ervin was already in Gerrard and
the meeting was about to start. A few late
arrivals hurried into the hall. When a
protestor tried to enter the door with a sign, a
plainclothesman blocked the way. Almost
immediately a nervous representative of the
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies came
out of the hall and informed us that
admittance to the affair inside was by
invitation only.
It was obvious that the chanting outside
Gerrard would make it difficult for those
inside to hear the speakers. Conferring with
Greg Porter
Editor
Joni Peters, Managing Editor
Ed Rankin, Associate Editor
Lou Bilionis, Associate Editor
m
Laura Seism, University Editor
Elliott Potter, -City & State Editor
Chuck Alston, National Editor
Jack Greenspan, Features Editor
Jeanne Newsom, Arts Editor
Gene Upchurch, Sports Editor
Rouse Wilson, Photography Editor
Colleges leading nation
in solar energy movement
Colleges and universities around the nation are at the vanguard of the
solar energy movement. According to the College Press Service, solar
heated dormitories and buildings are under construction at institutions of
higher learning from California State University-San Jose to the University
of Texas.
Recently, the Community College of Denver, Colo., joined the energy
savers building the world's largest solar heated facility. The new complex, to
be completed in June, cost $12.5 million and covers 300,000 square feet.
The solar equipment cost $800,000 but Denver officials think it will pay
for itself in fuel savings over the next 12 to 15 years. The ray-gathering
equipment takes up about two-thirds the space of a football field.
Also, the new building is estimated to be two to four times as well
insulated as contemporary buildings. Its windows have been minimized to
conserve energy.
As President Carter tries to force the nation to come to grips with its
energy problems, such experiments in energy-conserving design are
welcome. We hope many more colleges and universities, including this one,
will join the energy pioneers.
It is only fitting that institutions of higher learning lead the way in the
energy-saving use of modern technology.
Tuition hikes bug students
It was a demonstration almost reminiscent of the turbulent Sixties
almost. Nearly 2,000 angry University of Miami, Fla. students occupied the
school's administration building last week, but not in protest of a war and
not brandishing weapons. Instead, their grievance was the administration's
alleged failure to adequately justify a recent tuition hike. And their arms? 40
loaves of bread and a supply of peanut butter and jelly.
The contrast of methods used by these students of the 70s with those of
their counterparts 10 years ago is stark. But their complaint, it seems, was
justifiable. The $200 tuition increase under dispute for the 1977-78 academic
year was the fifth increase imoosed by the university board of trustees in the
last six years. The tuition at Miami has escalated by $1,200 since 1970-71.
The students weren't protesting the raise per se, but the president's and the
board of trustees' failure to sit down with student representatives and
discuss the necessity of the budget jump. The president rejected the idea of
meeting with the students to discuss the budget, negotiations stalled, and
nothing more was accomplished until the demonstration.
But it all ended peacefully enough. Police arrived but only a few students
were arrested, including the student body president.
A decade ago, 2,000 students demonstrating attracted greater media
attention. But the protests were of a different nature ones generally
demanding racial equality and the end to an undeclared war. The protest at
Miami is just another example that it takes economic concerns today to
budge the student of the 70s out of his chair and into the streets.
1977
people who identified themselves as
spokesmen for the Di-Phi, we proposed that
four or five demonstrators be allowed to
stand in the rear of the hall silently, holding
signs. The demonstrators outside would then
stop chanting. One spokesman said he would
take up the matter with other officials in the
hall, and come back with an answer. He
never returned, the program started, and we
continued to chant.
The Light that Shines
But we still had no light. I ran to
Playmakers Theatre, where the opening
night "performance of Once in a Lifetime was
between acts. Standing outside the back
door of the theatre were several musicians
taking a break. Near them stood a portable
stage spot, double-mounted, with a
convenor and an extension cord. Short of
breath, I quickly outlined my case to the
musicians; asking that they take me to the
stage manager so that I could ask him to
donate the spotlight to our demonstration.
Two of the musicians abruptly excused
themselves. The third thought for a moment.
B but we need it for the finale," he said.
Eventually, I returned to Gerrard Hall
with two small highlight spots I was able to
check out at the Union desk. The Di-Phi
spokesman who had not come back to
answer our original proposal was back
outside with Dean Boulton, who had just
arrived. The program had been going on for
an hour, and it seemed that the chanting
outside did indeed make it difficult for
people to hear. The leaders of the
demonstration, principally Betty
Ausherman of the Association for Women
Students, re-stated to Dean Boulton our
original position: let four or five protestors
stand silently at the rear of the hall with,
signs, and everyone outside would stop
chanting. Dean Boulton said that he thought
this was a reasonable compromise, and that
he would talk about it with the Di-Phi
spokesman.
From Gerrard Hall we could hear
sporadic, and then sustained applause. The
three campus policemen stood together a few
yards away, scuffing at the concrete and
talking among themselves.
Out of the hall walked a stocky man in a
three-piece suit. He drew a pipe out of his
pocket and strode toward the policemen; as
he struck a match the features of his face
were illuminated for an instant it was
Rufus Edmisten, the Attorney General of
North Carolina. The policemen came to a
OJar IM
84th Year of Editorial Freedom
Satin
separating
kind of attention as he approached.
Leisurely, Edmisten surveyed the general
calm of the Y-Court, drawing on his pipe.
And he spoke with satisfaction to his officers
of order at UNC. You men are doing a great
job here, a great job here. If any of y'all ever
need any help now, just give me a call in
Raleigh. Anytime."
No Compromise
The compromise plan was rejected. The
affair is by invitation only, the Di-Phi
spokesman said, and no one without an
invitation is going inside. The building is
lawfully reserved for a private meeting, and
p,
the police are here to enforce the law. The
spokesman proposed that everyone
demonstrating join the Societies, and discuss
this point at the next general meeting. Thus
do the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies
teach lessons in parlimentary procedure.
Tonight, it was clear, the dialectic would be
stalled in stage one. .
The picketing and the chants began again,
angrier than before. A well-dressed matron
emerged from Gerrard Hall, we thought at
first to chastise. She peered into the night at
the circling demonstrators, smiled curiously,
and then warmly and then she suggested
in a clear voice that everyone march to the
open windows at the side of the building near
the speaker's rostrum, and from there chant
inside. We would be far more effective, she
assured us.
About half of the protestors took her
suggestion. Unknowingly they drowned out
part of the speech of Albert Coates, one of
North Carolina's most distinguished
Kids must be careful
Pink bottoms can be educational
By GENE UPCHURCH
Beads of sweat broke out on the
foreheads of little kids across the
country last week when the Supreme
Court ruled that teachers could spank
them without going to court to answer
for charges of cruel and unusual
punishment. It's a sure bet that a lot of
teachers are wiping the cobwebs off
their rulers and paddles and that school
kids are being more careful when they
open their mouths.
The High Court said that little kids in
a school room aren't the same as
prisoners in jail, even though some of
the little kids might not agree, and that
only convicted prisoners have a
guaranteed protection from curel and
unusual punishment. So if teachers swat
a kid now, the kid will just have to grin
and bear it, rather than take the teacher
to court. .
It is true that before one can teach a
child, one must have the child's
attention. Children are notorious for
having short attention spans, if you can
get their attention at all. Often the only
way to divert a child's attention from it's
present occupation, such as throwing
things, making loud noises and
generally being naughty, is to attract his
attention with a slap to the broadside. It
is remarkable how quickly this method
brings order to a classroom. As soon as
the crying and giggles subside, order is
restored and teaching can proceed.
1 grew up in an era when some
teachers were afraid to spank children
public myth from public reality
advocates of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Outside we could tell that the meeting was
near an end. One of the campus policemen
said he had climbed up to examine the lieht
on South Building: it was not on because it
had a burned-out switch, he reported. He
had turned on the lights in the offices in
South Building to see if that would help. The
guests of the Societies filed out of Gerrard
Hall; I and several others went inside the
building and stood by the doors with our
signs. The newspapers were getting
statements from Betty Ausherman and from
the Di-Phi spokesman. Senator Ervin was
posing for pictures and signing autographs.
He even autographed one protestor's sign. It
' Staff photos by Joseph Thomas
read: was born just a poor country girl from
North Carolina, and thanks to you. Senator
Ervin. I'm going to stay that way. Someone
else gave him a sign to autograph that read
ERA in 79. He would not sign that one.
As 1 stood by the door with my sign, a
friend in the Di-Phi stopped to exchange
pleasantries and chat about the protest. We
exchanged wry observations, moving
outside to get some air. I asked him what
Ervin's speech had been about.
Oh, it was basically the same thing he said
at University Day a couple of years ago," my
friend said, squinting to accustom his eyes to
the darkness of the Y-Court. "You know
personal remininsces, the things the
University stands for. The old Lux and
Libertas theme."
My friend looked at me quizzically, for 1
must have been staring. "Is something
wrong?" -
"What does lux and libertas mean?" I
asked.
WILL THERE EE AW (pUESllCNS?'
and some freely exercised what they
considered their right on our behinds
daily. Looking back on my junior high
and high school days, it's surprising how
much more I learned under those
teachers whose philosophy was beat-now-
and-ask-questions-later. These
teachers commanded a student's
attention, because if they didn't get it,
the kid did. And when you're afraid to
move in a classroom because of what the
teacher might do to you, you often learn
something. You have to sit in the
classroom anyway and when you know
you can't think about what mean thing
you're going to do next, you have to
think about something. That something
might as well be the lesson.
My ninth-grade English teacher is a
good example of this. One missed
homework assignment meant a trip to
the front of the class for a stern lecture
from the end of a 12-inch ruler that left
and indelible impression on the seat of
the pants and mind of the student. Not
to mention the terrible feeling when you
looked out across your giggling
classmates to see your favorite girl
laughing at you too.
This same teacher had a punishment
when the whole class was being rowdy.
Reciting. Reciting and torture go hand
in hand. There is nothing more terrible
for a fidgety ninth grader to endure than
reciting. It may be torture and it may be
cruel and it may be unusual, but we sure
got quiet when she got that look in her
eye. And when we didn't get quiet soon
enough, she popped it to us. "The street
light is on; therefore, it is night. The
street light is on; therefore, it is night.
The streetlight is. . I learned where to
ft? k
W - i
P f s IN f
4toJawM
"Lux and Libertas? It means light and
liberty I think."
Lux and Libertas
When everyone had left, I went downtown
to RWs for a beer. The bar was packed with
people, a large number of whom, I soon
discovered, were members of the Di-Phi
discussing the outrageous demonstration
that had just been perpetuated against the
Societies. In the true spirit of debate I was
called upon to defend the protest, pointing
out that the demonstration was a response to
Senator Ervin's opposition to the Equal
Rights Amendment, and was not against the
Societies; that Senator Ervin, although
retired from electoral politics, chooses to
lend his name, his reputation, and his
considerable abilities as an orator to groups
that oppose womens rights. It was his
appearance on the same stage with Phyllis
Shafely just two months ago that in my
opinion gave anti-ERA forces the public
momentum to defeat the amendment in
North Carolina. Honoring Ervin at this
time, for reasons however innocent, is a
political act that provokes a political
response. ,
The 1 1 o'clock news came on the television
above the bar, and we could see the record of
the day flash by, without sound of course, for
no one could hear above the din.
Eventually, Sam Ervin's unmistakable
face beamed on the screen, behind him a
blurred portrait of some ancient Ruffin or
Morehead. Senator Sam was obviously
telling a joke, his jowls and eyebrows
animate, syncopated with increasing speed
as his punchline drew near. The Di-Phi
members crowded, to the bar, cheering. At
the end of his joke, the Senator's face
contorted to a full laugh; then, by television's
sleight of hand, his image dissolved, and our
protest came on the screen, a stand of signs
outlined against the night. The partisan
crowd lustily booed the demonstration, and
en masse ordered another round of beer.
A senator of the Dialectic and
Philanthropic Societies challenged me to a
game of pinball, but I declined. My thoughts
had turned to a passage from Swift that I had
read that afternoon, one which I had always
found difficult, but that I understood better
with the events of the evening. Happiness,
the Dean says, is that sublime and refined
point of felicity, called the possession of
being well deceived; happiness is, he
put semi-colons, therefores and commas
in this manner. I learned it in the ninth
grade and I've never forgotten it, so the
teacher's method of punishment can't be .
all that bad.
Basketball coaches are funny about
the way their nice, hardwood basketball
floors are treated. I learned this the hard
way after my friend and I ran across my
junior high school floor in our street
shoes one day. And that's a cardinal sin.
And he taught us what a cardinal sin it
is. His method was to take offenders of
various cardinal sins into his office,
quietly shut the door, ask them to bend
over and grab their own ankles, and
worked on their backsides enough to
impress upon them the. seriousness of
their crime. And it usually worked.
He had another punishment that was
designed to accomplish two things. He
would make rule-breakers do an endless
number of exercises sit-ups, pushups,
pull-ups until the kid convinced
himself never to ever break another rule
as long as he lived! Not only did the kid
learn his lesson, but he got in shape.
So kids had better watch out. Now
that the Supreme Court has banged its
heavy, black-robed fist down on the
table, there will be no place to hide. Try
as they may, it will be more and more
difficult for kids to be mean and
disruptive when some kind of bottom
slapping, knuckle-rapping discipline
will be waiting. And if those kids aren't
careful, they just might learn
something.
Sports Editor Gene Upchurch is a
junior journalism major from Durham.
N.C.
concludes and I think this is his phrase
the serene and peaceful state of being a fool
among knaves. I finished my beer happily
and left.
I respect Sam Ervin the man; it is Sam
Ervin the myth I cannot honor. As a civil
libertarian and as Chairman of the
Watergate Sub-Committee he rendered the
nation great service; his career is also marked
by a vigorous and sustained opposition to
equal rights legislation for blacks and
women. His mythographers celebrate the
former and ignore the latter. Sam Ervin is far
more comfortable than they are, I suspect,
with the curious rationale of his public
record. But I also suspect that he rather
enjoys being a certified myth and will
therefore keep quiet about the whole thing.
It has been the role of this University, in
the distinguished periods of its history, to
separate public myth from public reality.
When Southerners are perennially attracted
by the myth of an agrarian economy, it is
economists and sociologists from Chapel
Hill who insist that we attend to the realities
of the industrial age. When North
Carolinians claim that we really don't need
this tax measure, that our roads or our
schools or our hospitals are the best in the
world, it is the educators and researchers
from Chapel Hill who bring forth the figures
to say it isn't so. And when others claim that
civil rights legislation is unnecessary because
our Negroes or our women are happy,
people from Chapel Hill are in the forefront
of educating social awareness in North
Carolina. If Lux and Libertas should remind
us of anything, it should be to guard against
the intellectual complacency that denies our
heritage and legitimizes myths at the expense
of people.
We pay homage to myths while women in
North Carolina are legally second-class
citizens; while black people rot in our state
prisons under dubious circumstances and
excessive sentence; while trade unions are
chased from our borders and our workers
are paid the lowest industrial wage in the
nation; and while our legislators, with a few
exceptions, year after year aspire to
mediocrity and achieve it with unfortunate
success. These things speak to our
conscience. And as an academic community
predicated upon the unflinching pursuit of
truth and the historical mission of leadership
in this state and in the South, we ignore
reality at everyone's peril.
John Russell is a senior English major
from Greensboro, N.C.
Pay raises
mean quality
By LARRY BRITT
For many younger students, growing up
and attending the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill was always the thing
to do. An education at UNC was expected
and most always desired. And why shouldn't
it be?
The athletic programs are superb, the
campus beautiful and the town unlike all
others. What's more, there's no place in the
state where you can see as many beautiful
girls in one day as you can at UNC.
Of course, we must not forget our
educations because there are surely those
among us who attend UNC for just that; an
education, a quality education.
But for the younger students whose shoes
we once filled, a quality education at UNC
may slip away. While the walls and benches
remain, low salaries are driving enthusiastic
and talented professors away. And when all
the surveys are conducted and the reports
completed, it's the professor that insures the
quality education, not a school's reputation.
Next fall, several professors will not return
to UNC. Some, of course, will retire. More
significantly, though, others will take similar
jobs at other institutions, or perhaps go into
business. Their primary reason is simple and
easily understood. More money can be made
elsewhere.
We all know money isn't everything. Yet,
with today's rate of inflation, even a
resourceful professor would be hard pressed
to pay his bills without it.
In the past four years, for example, UNC
faculty salaries have increased by only 18.5
per cent while the cost of living skyrocketed
32.3 per cent. In 1975, national salaries for
professors rose by an average 7 per cent. But
a N.C. General Assembly short of fuodjs
managed a less than 1 per cent pay raise.
With disappointing salary information such
. as this, we might wonder just how much
longer the quality professors will be at UNC.
The problem we face is a serious one
because while low salaries drive professors
away, they make it difficult to attract new
academic talent as well. In addition,
tomorrow's salary forecast is no clearer than
today's. In fact, it's very unlikely that the
General Assembly will provide an adequate
salary increase for professors.
At this point, a 6.5 per cent pay hike seems
likely. But this low figure would do little
more than keep UNC professors far behind
in work compensation. What is needed
instead, is a 10 to 15 per cent salary increase
each year for the next several years. With
such an increase, we would stand a much
better chance of keeping the professors we
now have as well as attracting new ones, thus
preserving the quality education at UNC we
so .often boast of and defend.
According to William Friday, president of
the entire UNC system, "It's the quality of
teaching and research personnel and
supporting staff that really makes the
difference in education the quality of
education." But, unless the General
Assembly approves a substantial pay hike,
some of these professors may slip away,
taking with them the quality" education we
came here for; the education younger
students now look forward to.
Larry Britt is a senior journalism major
from Fayetteville, N.C.