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6 The Dally Tar Heel Friday, September 30, 1977
Greg Porter
Editor
Ben Cornelius, Managlnx Editor
Ed Rankin, Associate Editor
Lou Biuonis, Associate Editor
Laura Scism, University Editor
Elliott Potter, City Editor
Chuck Alston, State and National Editor
Sara Bui.lard, Features Editor
Chip Enssun, Arts Editor
Gene Upchurch, Sports Editor
Ai len Jernican, Photography Editor
Proposed 1-40
People in Orange County these days are having a hard time figuring out
their state Department of Transportation. And it's easy to see why. State
highway officials have approved construction of a section of highway
through the county that would be nothing but a boondoggle.
If the transportation department had tried, it could not have picked a
worse spot to construct a section of interstate highway. In addition, the
actual need for the 20.4-mile link of Interstate 40 called alternate IB -for
the 20.4-mile link of Interstate 40 from Hillsborough to the Research
Triangle Park is seriously questionable.
The proposed alternate 1 B route would begin just east of the I nterstate 85
State Road 1009 Interchange at Hillsborough and run parallel with N.C.
Highway 86. It would then turn east from State Road 1733 to the Durham
County line at U.S. Highway 15-501, continue southeast to Jordan Lake
and then run east to the existing 1-40 link which now ends at the Research
Triangle Park.
The proposed 1-40 iink has resulted in considerable bickering among
Orange and Durham County officials and the Department of
Transportation. Durham vehemently opposed alternate route 4 that would
start the link in northern Durham, saying the interstate would simply add to
the congestion already present at the 1-85 and U.S. 70 interchange there.
The transportation department, however, has yet to adequately justify its
decision to run the section of interstate through the rolling countryside
between Chapel Hill and Durham. And it has shown a callous indifference
to Orange County officials and citizens who are obviously distressed with
the decision. Durham attorney B. B. Olive, who is leading the coalition
against alternate IB, said he was denied permission to speak before the
board on the day it chose the corridor. And Duke Environmental Law Prof.
Thomas Schoenbaum said the board did not receive lengthy statements of
pertinent information about the corridor through Orange until just before
the vote.
The 20.4-mile section of 1-40 would indeed give Chapel Hillians easier
access to Raleigh and the Research Triangle, but do the benefits outweigh
the costs? The highway would flow through undeveloped areas and force the
relocation of 94 families and 11 businesses. Alternate IB conflicts with
Orange County land-use' plans for the greenbelt sections of Duke Forest
where the highway would run. Interchanges would invariably be
constructed and thus the area would undergo unavoidable development.
Moreover the new highway wouod place new demands on water a
commodity not exactly abundant in this area because of the restaurants,
service stations and other establishments that would spring up along the
road.
Perhaps the most important question is the value of the highway itself.
State studies have shown that mainly local traffic would use the road. If that
is the case, why not upgrade N.C. 86 and continue the widening of U .S. 54
between Chapel Hill and the Research Triangle Park? Also, with gasoline
getting scarcer and prices skyrocketing, it's doubtful that a major four-lane
interstate would pay in the long run.
Alternate IB will cost the state more money, would require the most new
construction and is most damaging to the environment. I n addition, it is too
close to subdivisions, the University and the town. We find it hard to believe
that this is the only route available to the Department of Transportation.
Orange County organizations opposed to the 1-40 link are the League of
Women Voters, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the local chapter of the
Young Democrats, the New Hope Audubon Society, the New Hope
Improvement Association, the Friends' School, the Chapel Hill Women's
Club and both the Democratic and Republican Parties. UNC students have
the opportunity to express their displeasure over alternate IB through
petitions and a letter-writing campaign organized by Student Government.
The Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to allow the town to
be entered as a plaintiff in the litigations. We urge UNC students to join the
battle. Development projects in the past have been halted by citizen protest.
Alternate IB should be no exception.
Senate filibuster:
For the first time since 1964, filibuster
became the name of the game in the U.S.
Senate this week as two junior senators
are leading a ten-day stall in opposition
to deregulation of natural gas prices.
Democrats James Abourezk of South
Dakota and Howard Metzenbaum of
Ohio dragged the upper chamber
through its first all-night session since
the 1964 civil rights debates Tuesday,
then proceeded to continue the filibuster
after only a "shave and shower" break
Wednesday morning and a one-hour
dinner recess.
The senators were forced to
improvise, as a cloture vote Monday
prevented the use of the traditional
filibuster a series of endless speeches
and readings from phone books and the
like. Instead, Abourezk and
Metzenbaum drew up some 540
amendments to the bill which would lift
federal price controls on some newly
discovered natural gas. They brought 38
of these to a vote Tuesday evening a
record for one day and succeeded in
eating up even more time by forcing roll
call votes and quorum calls for each
amendment.
The marathon seemingly came to an
end Wednesday night when a
compromise was suggested by Majority
Leader Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia
and Sen. Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson of
Washington, chairperson ol the Senate
Tncrgy Committee. But the measure
tailed Thursday . driving t lie Senate into
its third-straight night session.
Slip
latUj
85th year of editorial freedom
link a threat
According to Metzenbaum, "all bets
are off on any new compromise plan
which would open the door lor
additional deregulation provisions.
Although a U.S. -mediated cease-fire
quieted the guns in south Lebanon
Tuesday, the outlook for peace in the
Middle East is at best still hazy.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail
THE WEEK
By LOU BILION1S
Fahmi told the United Nations General
Assembly Wednesday that if the
situation in the Middle East "remains
stagnant, an explosion will become
inevitable, an explosion that will dwarf
all previous ones with no one in the
world safe from its devastating material
and spiritual consequences."
A violation of the cease-fire
Wednesday further dampened hopes
which soared at the beginning of the
week concerning the prospect of
renewed peace talks in Geneva.
Palestinian gunners opened lire against
Israeli reconnaisance I lights over
southern Lebanon, but no casualties
were re ported.
I .ii lier m the week. Israel had agreed
letters to the editor
Satire on squirrel project
To the editor:
1 have noted with deep concern the recent
letter from Mr. Jim Pate regarding the study
of our local squirrel population ("Students
to catch, paint and study oology majors."
Sept. 28) and feel that it cannot be allowed to
pass without a resposible reply. I. est anyone
be unclear on this point. I do not propose to
promote the torture of animals. Indeed. I
advocate the adoption of legal controls on
animal experimentation such as those which
have enjoyed the support of scientists in
England since the reign ol Queen Victoria. In
any case, it is no more likely that a zoologist
would wish needlessly to destroy animals
than a poet would want to do away with
words, or a musician would break his
instruments. The techniques used in the
proposed study are standard, in part because
over the years they have been shown to be the
least destructive possible. The importance of
this lies not only in the desire to be kind, hut
also in the necessity of obtaining accurate
counts without destroying the sample.
As to the relevance of the research itsell.
Mr. Pate is correct when he states that
common sense tells us that the squirrels arc
here for protection and food. Whal
common sense does not tell us is to what
extent the population differs from
surrounding areas, whether there is an
exchange of individuals throughout variou
locations in Chapel (till, nor to what degret
further alteration of the campus
environment might promote or drive out our
friends. Surely the answer to the last
question is important lor anyone concerned
with local ecology. In passing lei us note that
Charles Darw in's study of variations in finch
populations of the Galapagos had little
"common sense" to it at the time.
Finally there is the darker side of Mr.
Pate's attack. Me explicitly equates Mr.
Seagle to the (icrman SS. which if repeated
could rightly be considered slander. Mr.
Seagle is a responsible student doing a
project under the supervision of a
responsible teacher. He will probably have
to suffer from the jibes of his accusers, and
no good purpose is served by subjecting him
tothis. Ad hominemargurnents.slanderand
parody do not generally serve to advance the
causes of academic freedom or intellectual
development. Such behavior is sophomoric
aty best, and at its worst it is downright
contemptible.
John P. Eylers
Department of Zoology
To the editor:
Regarding Mr. Pate's comments on
experimentation on the campus squirrel
population, the following points must be
made.
What seems obvious about natural
phenomena to the layman, or even the
trained scientist, is often very far from the
truth. Regulation of animal numbers in
varying environments is a topic of much
research and speculation in ecology, but
before you can determine how such
regulation works you must accumulate basic
data describing the existing conditions. Mr.
Seagle's study has the potential to do this.
What difference does it make that the
researcher is an undergraduate rather than a
Ph.D. candidate? Scientists learn by doing,
and this independent study is likely to be an
important step in Mr. Seagle's studies. His
work will now be hampered by the ridicule
generated by this ill-reasoned attack.
As a zoologist I take as much pleasure as
anyone from the campus population of
playful squirrels. Many methods of capture
and marking exist which cause the animals
no harm whatever. They were designed that
way on purpose to avoid adding another
variable to the experiment.
I resent the association of scientists with
the German SS. American Nazi Party and
Compromise
deregulation
to permit Palestinians to participate in
the peace talks, provided that they were
not members ol the Palestinian
i.inerauon
Organization (PLO).
Though
observers looked upon the
Israeli concession with optimism.
Israeli concession with optimi
Fahmi told the U.N." I he proposal I
unified Arab delegation. . .is of
ora
fAi uu ul.il. liuliliii ... in in 1 1 vi
of no
neneiii uinessine ri.u participates wtin
the rest ofthe parties on the same level."
i i':. i i ii
Diplomats and followers alike
mourned the death of Steve Biko
Sunday in King William's Town, South
Africa.
Biko. the hero of the black power
movement in South Africa and one of
the first to publicly protest that nation's
policy ol apartheid, died in prison Sept.
12 reportedly from a seven-day hunger
strike.
Reports, however, allege that Biko
may have been beaten to death.
Approximately 15.000 black
followers gathered in a soccer stadium
in King William's Town on the day of
Biko's burial and listened as speakers
indicted the Vorster government for his
death. Leaders of the black power
movement warned that the loss of their
hero "has left us boiling hot with grief,
boiling hot with anger, boiling hot with
impatience."
for the third time in the past twelve
the Marquis de Sade. this emotional
diatribe generates more heat than light and
ceases to he an amusing parody when it
degenerates into sick hyperbole.
Mr. Pate refers to science as a "sterile
religion." by implication responsible for all
t hat is evil in modern society. Science creates
the knowledge, technology the means, and
capitalism and advertising the market. If Mr.
Pate dislikes electric pencil sharpeners, he is
free not to buy one. If he is upset about
pollution, let him put the blame where it
belongs on those citizens who demand
and those companies which supply power,
goods and consumption far in excess of their
needs or the capacity of the planet to
maintain.
Kenneth H. Bynum
Department of Zoology
The facts on marijuana?
To the editor:
It has always seemed to me that the
general trend of knowledge and
understanding in this society, with the
awareness, so to speak. This should be
along the way. has been to move steadily
toward the field of general improvement and
awareness, so to speak. This should be
especially true in our universities. It also
seems that there are always those persons
who cannot accept this continual change,
who somehow feel a moral obligation to
impede progress somehow at some point
along the road. Such is the apparent attitude
of the person who recently wrote a letter to
the editor ("Get Straight." Sept. 28) on the
subject of the High Noon Society.
This person, with a courageous display of
moral fiber, held his "strong opinions" in
check until, having been enlightened by
Reader's Digest, decided it was time to
speak. But surely the noble weed has more to
offer the casual user then the "fatigue" and
"nerve deadening," "headaches" and "the
jitters." and "five to ten in the pen" that the
author so eloquently spoke of. For is not.
there are thousands of people around the
school who are simply gluttons for physical
abuse and enjoy flirting with a supposed
prison term.
To this poor hung-up student, may I
suggest that you and some of your friends
spend an evening in a rousing game of Bong
98? Find out the real facts before you
fails to end
engineered
months, the House voted Tuesday to
prohibit the use of federal funds to pay
for abortions unless the mother's life is
in danger.
The House rejected Senate wording in
the bill which would allow funding of
abortions in cases of incest, rape or in
cases where a doctor declares it
"medically necessary."
Signs indicate that Confucius may be
making a comeback in China altera 15
year spell of disfavor.
Reports from Peking in a Communist
newspaper maintain that lower level
party officials have ' reversed their
thinking on Confucius, who was. for a
time, considered "sinister and cunning
but rotten to the core."
The anti-Confucius campaign was
initiated by the late Chairman MaoTse
tung. Mao opposed Confucianism on
the grounds that it locked the Chinese
people into old. outdated traditions and
customs which impeded progress.
Although no high-ranking party
officials have yet to publicly welcome
the comeback, some have admitted that
the anti-Confucius campaign was
misdirected and exaggerated.
II the comeback fully materializes, it
would be a fine birthday present for the
philosopher, who turned 2.528 on Sept.
Lou Bilionis, a junior economics and
I njilish major from Kitchburg, Mass., is
associate editor for the Daily Tar Heel.
unfair to scientific study
categorically condemn something. And as
you seem to like to pit your "facts" against
"myths." here are two more for you:
Myth: l etters such as yours will convince
the student body of the terrible dangers
inherent in marijuana use and strike fear into
the hearts of the High Nooners at the mere
thought ol "five to ten in the pen."
I act: Around here a person won't go to
jail at all for his first possession offense. And,
as evidenced by the inefficiency of 1 5 years of
antipot propaganda, people are simply going
to smoke pot if they want to. and with as
little inconvenience as possible.
So get straight yourself and realize that
when a set of values is. no longer viable, it
changes, and we either follow or are left
behind to cling to dated concepts and
outmoded systems. And besides, who says
Bong 98 isn't an enriching experience?
J. E. Dowdle
2.121 Granville South
To the editor:
I'pon reading the cerebral rumblings of D.
C. Malic, we were impressed by his grasp of
the gravity of the marijuana problem on
campus. Indeed, such decadent practices as
marijuana inhalation, alcohol consumption
and other forms of social interaction are in
direct opposition to the prescribed goals of
the ultimate collegiate experience.
We're w it h you, D.C.. in the belief that the
only path to a fulfilled, enriched life is to
undergo a four-year hibernation in the
bowels of Wilson Library, emerging as
forthright, upstanding members of the
community (and consequently too boring to
be of interest).
In addition to his fatherly interest in the
futures of a segment of the University
student body (the "H igh Nooners"), we want
to applaud Mr. Malle for promulgating the
dangerous side effects of the sinister "reefer."
If more students would enlighten themselves
by reading that trailblaz.ing beacon of
intellectual liberality. Reader's Digest, we
would not find it necessary to expose those
facts that he so carelessly omitted.
Fact: Marijuana usage causes
uncontrollable urges toward matricide.
Fact: Marijuana smoking results in spinal
curvature.
Fact: Marijuana usage, in conjunction
with masturbation, causes sterility and
blindness.
Fact: Prolonged smoking of marijuana
ten-day marathon over
by two junior democrats
- x " 1 -v l. '
turns the human brain into instant grits.
Now that we recognize just how
dangerous marijuana can be. we are able to
realize the absurdity of D. C. Malle's
opinions. Our advice to Mr. Malle and
others like him is this: next time you feel the
urge to dictate lifestyles, consult the latest
edition of Reader's Digest ("I am Joe's
Rectum"). Thusly directed, your future
letters to the editor may be of some
relevance.
Bill Musgrave
107 Graham
Tim Shelton
108 Graham
Drop forum
To the editor:
I am very sorry to hear that the
Educational Policy Committee has decided
to propose retainment of the four-week drop
period ("Drop unlikely to be extended,"
Sept. 27). This is a grave concern to most
students on this campus because many
classes have not had a test or a paper due
until midterm. The committee's open
meeting was an excellent way to hear from
the student body, but it was announced lets
than a week ahead of time, and when it was
announced, the date was listed incorrectly.
The committee could have used the other
avenues of communication available on this
campus if they really wanted to hear the
views of those other than Student
Government. Speaking of Student
Government, these individuals are
representing the student body's interests, so
their views should be listened to with that in
mind.
1 suggest that another hearing be held at
which concerned students could voice their
reasons for an extended drop period. The
Campus Governing Council would provide
an open forum in which these views could be
later presented to the Faculty Council. I urge
all concerned students to watch for the date
of this proposed hearing and attend so that
your opinions can be heard. I hope the
Faculty Council ' ly listens to the
student's needs and looks at the Student
Government proposal with an open mind.
This issue is of upmost importance, and
hasty decisions would not be in the best
interests of students or faculty.
Sonya J. Lewis
CGC Representative District 12