6 The Daily Tar Heel Tuesday, October 25, 1977
Gsj-g Porter
Editor
Ben Cornelius, Managing Editor
Ed Rankin, Associate Editor
Lou Bilionis, Associate Editor
Laura Scism, University Editor
Elliott Potter, City Editor
Chuck Alston, State and National Editor
.
Sara Bullard. Features Editor
ClHT fcrnsuN. Art Editor
Gene Ufchurch. Sports Editor
Allen Jernigan, Photography Editor
Glorified egg-throwing match
The farce of student input
When the Faculty Council met' Friday and summarily rejected an
embarrassingly modest request for a two-week extension of the drop period,
the policy-makers put an end to an issue which made everyone involved look
silly. The council came out with egg on its face because it proved once again
a rubber stamp for its all-powerful Educational Policy Committee, because
it refused to listen to reason or interpret its own data in a valid manner and
because it expected students to march in the streets and prove they wanted
and merited a reasonable drop period.
Student Government, emulating its faculty counterpart, also came out
with egg all over its face. Neither Bill Moss and his cronies nor the Campus
Governing Council (CGC) operatives could find a faculty spokesperson tQ
present their hastily drafted proposal until the last minute. At one point
things became so absurd that a CGC member marched into the Daily Tar
Heel composition room and in a ridiculous attempt at prior restraint,
demanded an article be cut to leave out the account of her particular
mistakes.
Over the last months of egg-throwing, we at the Daily Tar Heel felt silly
having to demand the obv ious. We felt silly covering to the hilt an issue that
ought not to have been an issue in the first place. Had the Faculty Council
and its educational policy tribunal not been recalcitrant and unconcerned
about anything but grades, all that wasted time and news copy would not
have been necessary.
Some would say the student body also deserves a little egg on its face for
failing to speak out for its rights. The Faculty Council members said again
and again that students other than those of Student Government and the
Daily Tar Heel just didn't care. The Council's attitude was that, until
students jumped up and down and raised hell, they would make whatever
policy they pleased. Reason was deemed unimportant only the desires of
the faculty and the lack of student unrest were considered important factors.
Those who preferred to be entertained at home never believed in"student
input" in the first place. Those who have beat their heads against the Faculty
Council wall for so long have lost what faith they had. We have realized the
farce of the whole egg-throwing match.
Enough with the logistics;
let's get down to the issue
Sunday, the student Supreme Court rendered a decision based on a
painfully obvious principle.
The court struck down a 1976 Campus Governing Council (CGC) act
which required a campuswide referendum to alter student fees.
The reason behind the decision was an obvious and unanimous one:
the student constitution states, "The Council shall have the power to, with
the approval of the Board of Trustees or the Board of Governors, determine
or alter student fees."
But why was the decision necessary?
Simply, the court's ruling has cleared up a confusion which completely
muddled the question of a fee increase. Opponents of a fee increase accused
the proponents of trying to ram through a hike without a legally required
consent of the student body, By the same token, proponents claimed that the
anti-increase forces were demanding something above the law. W hile all this
was going on, the real question Is a student fee increase needed? was
ignored.
The Supreme Court's ruling does not mean that the CGC arbitrarily will
decide to squeeze an additional $2.50 per semester from every student. Like
all legislative bodies, the CGC is politically accountable to its constituents.
Moreover, the Board of Governors of the University system is very reluctant
to give sanction to any alteration of the fee structure without adequate
justification which would include some expression of student support.
The court's decision also does not rule out an advisory referendum.
Indeed, it is more than likely that such a referendum will be held before the
CGC decides on the fee issue. Again, the accountability of the CGC is
important. Although the constitution grants the council the ultimate power,
common sense requires that the CGC determine the sentiment of its
constituency before moving.
. We welcome the Supreme Court's ruling in the hope that, with the
logistics clarified, the real need for a fee increase will be considered.
The Daily
News: Tony Gunn, assistant editor; Mark Andrews, Mike Coyne, Meredith Crews, Shelley
Droescher, Bruce Ellis, Betsy Flagler, Grant Hamill, Lou Harned, Stephen Harris, Kathy Hart,
Nancy Hartis, Chip H ighsmith, Keith Hollar, Steve Huettel, Jaci Hughes, Jay Jennings, George
Jeter, Ramona Jones, Will Jones, Julie Knight, Eddie Marks, Amy McRary, Elizabeth Messick,
Beverly Mills, Beth Parsons, Chip Pearsall, Bernie Ransbottom, Evelyn Sahr, George Shadroui,
Vanessa Siddle, Barry Smith, David Stacks, Melinda Stovall, Robert Thomason, Howard
Troxler, Mike Wade, Martha Waggoner, David Watters and Ed Williams.
Newt Desk: Reid Tuvim, assistant managing editor. Copy chief: Keith Hollar. Copy editors:
Richard Barron, Amy Colgan, Kathy Curry, Dinita James, Carol Lee, Michele Mecke, Lisa
Nieman, Dan Nobles, Melanie Sill, Melinda Stovall, Melanie Topp and Larry Tupler.
Sports: Lee Pace, assistant editor; Evan Appel, Dede Biles, Bill Fields, Skip Foreman, Tod
Hughes, Dinita James, Dave McNeill, Pete Mitchell, David Poole, Ken Roberts, Rick Scoppe,
Frank Snyder, Will Wilson and Isabel Worthy.
Features: Pam Belding, Jeff Brady, Zap Brueckner, Amy Colgan, David Craft, Peter H apke, Etta
Lee, Nell Lee, Kimberly McGuire, Debbie Moose, Dan Nobles, Stuart Phillips, Ken Roberts,
Tim Smith and Lynn Williford.
Arts and Entertainment: Melanie Modlin. assistant editor; Hank Baker. Becky Burcham, Pat
Green, Marianne Hansen, Libby Lewis, Ann Smallwood and Valerie Van Arsdale.
Graphic Arts: Artists: Dan Brady, Allen Edwards, Cliff Marley, Jocelyn Pettibone, Lee Poole
and John Tomlinson. Photographers: Fred Barbour.Sam Fulwood, MichaelSneed and Joseph
Thomas.
Business: Verna Taylor, business manager. Claire Bagley, assistant business manager. Michele
Mitchell, Secretary-Receptionist. Liz Huskey, Mike Neville, Kun Painter, David Squires and
Howard Troxler. Circulation manager: Bill Bagley.
Advertising: Dan Collins, manager; Carol Bedsole, assistant sales manager; Steve Crowell,
classifieds manager; Julie Coston, Neal Kimball, Cynthia Lesley, Anne Sherril and Melanie
Stokes. Ad layout: Evelyn Sahr.
Composition Editors: Frank Moore and Nancy Oliver.
CcMUXMitkon and Makeup: UNC Printing Dept. Robert Jasinkiewici, supervisor; Robert
Streetex, Geanie McMillan, Rusty Baiaih, Judy Dunn, Carolyn Kuhn, David Parker, Joni
Peum, Steve Quakenbush and Duk.e Sulliv an.
3ljr
85th year of editorial freedom
Tar Heel
Geneva conference must
To the editor:
Over the past few months, much has been
made of the rights of the Palestinians. The
State Department has contended that a
homeland for the Palestinians is a good idea
and President Carter has stated that the
rights of the Palestinians must be
recognized. Lost in all this discussion of
Palestinian rights is the question of Israel's
rights. Presumably, if one is going to
propose an equitable solution to the Middle
East problem, Israeli rights also must be
given fair consideration.
Foremost among all of her rights is Israel's
undeniable right to exist as an independent
state! In recent years', some Arab states have
claimed that they now do not dispute this
right, but, the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), which purports to be
the representative of the rights and desires of
the Palestinian people, still maintains that '
Israel does not have the right to exist. Even
the most "moderate" PLO leaders readily
admit that a Palestinian homeland would be
the first step in their attempt to dismember
the Jewish state. Israeli acceptance of PLO
demands would be tantamount to suicide.
The answer to the problem of the
Palestinians is not to create a country for
them, but instead to provide them a home in
Jordan. Palestinians are, in fact. Arabs and a
significant proportion of Jordan's
population consists of Palestinian Arabs.
Israel has stated that she would go along
with this proposal for obvious reasons, but
surprising support also has come from
moderate Arab countries like Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and Jordan who also have had first
hand experience dealing with PLO
terrorists. They recognize that the PLO is
dangerously radical and could pose a
significant threat to their countries if given
enough power.
A Geneva peace conference is a necessity if
Middle East problems are to be solved. Arab
and Jew must meet face to face to examine
and discuss their differences. While the PLO,
which is committed to the destruction of
Israel, should not be at any peace
conference, representative Palestinians (like
mayors, civic leaders, etc.) should be allowed
to come and declare their views. In
accordance with that, the rights of Israel
Of rocks, webs and 'Angel'
Thomas Wolfe remembered...almost
Bv JON SASSER
Thomas Wolfe attended the University of North Carolina from
1916 to 1920, along with 1,136 other students. So far, 1,135 have
published accounts of their undergraduate days with him. I had
planned to let my role in his life remain unrecorded, but at the
insistence of both my friends, 1 have jotted down these memoirs.
1 am the last person to write of his acquaintance with Thomas
Wolfe. Some might say 1 am the last person one would expect to do
so, but they don't know me like 1 knew Tom.
Thomas, who stood 6 foot 7 in his stocking feet (and 6 foot 4
barefoot), entered the University as a 15-year-old freshman in the
fall of 1 9 1 6. It has been written that he was the greenest of all green
freshmen. This is one of the misunderstandings I wish to clear up.
Tom was actually aquamarine. Some writers merely confused him
with his friends, Paul Green and Edwin Greenlaw.
He'd planned originally to go to Princeton or Virginia, but his
father sent him to Chapel H ill. That's one thing we had in common.
Carolina was my second choice; I didn't get in at ECU.
Tom was the object of many pranks our freshman year. When we
were inducted into Di-Phi, he was conned into delivering an
acceptance speech. After 20 minutes of shouting and waving his
arms, he pointed at the picture ofZcb Vance and declared he would
hang beside it one day. He never did, although his portrait is there
now.
One of the main reasons he liked me was because 1 was the only
one around to listen to his life story when the football game was out
of town. I stayed in Chapel Hill to study, and Tom couldn't go
home on weekends. In fact, he once told me he couldn't go home at
all.
We'd usually go up to the Shack (the oldest state university
building in America) and knock off a few beers. Whenever Tom
started drinking, he couldn't stop till he reached immortal
drunkenness. Then he'd have to tell me about some babe he knew
back in Hendersonville. I don't remember her real name; he always
called her "Angel."
Time passed like a leaf, and October came, bringing huge
prophecies of death and life. Tom turned in his paper. It was about
some spiderweb he once threw a rock at, but I didn't see the point.
Nobody liked the story, and Tom was miserable all winter. But
soon the light wind of April fanned over the hill, and we took our
final exams.
Tom spent the summer taking care of his father in Asheville. and
1 got a job cleaning stables in Raleigh. I was proud of my w ork, but
Tom soon would catch up with me.
He and 1 met several professors the next fall who would influence
our entire lives. Tom was really impressed with Horace W illiams,
Proff Koch and Edwin Greenlaw, but my favorite was Hamilton
Hall. He was a towering figure with a face hewn from granite. He
should be respected and the primary one is
her right to survive as an independent state.
Harrison Kaplan
303 Stacy
Affirmative action must continue
To the editor:
Paul-Henri Gurian's letter ("Close the
gap," Oct. 2 1 ) clearly points out the purpose
of affirmative action programs they are
designed to bring about a state of affairs
where whites and minorities may compete
more or less equally for various
opportunities. However, his statement that
"racism is a fact of life in the United States"
demands a systematic explanation of the
interplay of forces which are by no means
limited to individual instances of reverse
discrimination (such as the Bakke case) but
letters to
involve an overview ot the affirmative action
program seen as a whole. Mr. Gurian does
not pay sufficient attention to the fact that as
a result of the (partial) institution of a
systematic program of affirmative action
white people are indeed being denied a great
many benefits over which they once
exercised monopoly control.
To judge the merits of affirmative action
on the basis of preferential admissions
policies alone is a great error. No one claims
that a period of preferential admissions
policies will allow equality of opportunity in
the future; rather this is only one small part
of a comprehensive program requiring
efforts in the fields of minority health care,
legal aid. affirmative action hiring practices,
improvement of primary and secondary
education in minority areas, improvement of
the physical environment of the ghettos and
the reservations and other areas where
minorities are now found in high
concentrations, among many other
individual programs. A piecemeal approach
which focuses on one of these areas to the
exclusion of another cannot be successful.
The success of each part depends upon the
success of the others. Thus, the social
engineering required to bring about a
Jon Saxser,
Trail, N.C.
a
respect Israel's rights
situation where minorities and whites may
compete solely on the basis of past
performance is almost unimaginable.
Yet if we believe in the virtue of equality of
opportunity we must begin such a social
engineering required to bring about a
situation where minorities and whiles may
compete solely on the basis of past
performance is almost unimaginable.
Yet if we believe in the virtue of equality of
opportunity we must begin such a social
engineering program. This requires more
than huge outlays of money it requires
white people to accept many sacrifices in
their private lives. It means being denied jobs
and educational opportunities solely on the
basis of being white. These are the sacrifices
which must be made.
The indications are that white people are
the editor
not willing to make such sacrifices to ensure
the future equality of opportunity. Protests
against busing, the popularity of Bakke's
position, dissatisfaction with the welfare
state clearly demonstrate this. This means
that while espousing the virtues of "equal
treatment" white people are actively fighting
against the only method known which can
bring equal treatment about. The active
suppression of methods which can make
equality of opportunity possible is racism.
It is tragic that white people must make
great sacrifices to make an ideal a reality.
Such sacrifices were made during World
War II. It is simply a question of thinking an
ideal worth sacrificing something for.
Reluctantly, we have been willing to sacrifice
tax dollars to support the welfare system, but
for how much longer? Mr. Bakke appears
unwilling to sacrifice his future in the
medical profession. White families appear
unwilling to sacrifice neighborhood schools.
We must admit that we see alleviating the
plight of minorities in this country as a
grat uitious philosophical gesture rather than
a concrete problem which will demand great
effort.
Whether white people are justified in
feeling this way or not is beside the point.
,522.4-973
4TH flop p. y
I5TH Ff-oofl.
' 1" a k
I I ls I r fYdfJ
1 1 rrJ VIAE' i
r l . I -. r
was the biggest slide on campus.
Tom's roommate, Edmund Burden, died that year and went to
the hills beyond. Tom was so upset that he refused to sleep in his
room again. I set up a cot, and he moved in with me. It's a wonder
that the entire dorm didn't move out; the stench wasn't confined
just to Tom and Edmund's room.
He was never quite the same after that. You'd see him walking the
pavements of the little town in the barren night, muttering, "Which
of us has known his brother? Which way is the nearest men's
room?" It's my personal belief that, had he known his brother and
father were going to d ie shortly thereafter, he wouldn't have wasted
so much sympathy on Edmund.
Proff Koch began producing a couple of Tom's plays (from
where 1 don't know) and wanted us to perform in them. 1 knew they
were far below Tom's potential, so I didn't bother with them. Of
course he enjoyed hamming it up.
We pledged Pi Kappa Phi that spring. Tom claimed he enjoyed
the camaraderie of this crowd, but I knew better. He never quite got
the hang of being a frattybagger. He'd frequently show up for
mixers wearing a chartreuse leisure suit, and Al Shirtz would have
to hustle him upstairs to change.
Time passed like a river flowing, and soon we were juniors. It
passed like the forgotten hoof and wheel, and we became seniors.
Tom got to be the big man on campus, and girls constantly harassed
him at the Bacchae, begging for autographs. He was elected to
several offices, including Tar Heel editor.
It was about this time that he began his obsession with the ghost.
Many have speculated that the ghost in his novel was based on one
thing or another, but I can now conclusively clear up this mystery.
Tom had very little help with the Tar Heel. In fact, some think he
wrote it all himself. This is, of course, utter nonsense. Whenever he
was running behind and needed an article, he'd call me up. Not
wanting to take any credit from him, I became his ghost writer.
Thus when Tom began mumbling or raving about his ghost, he was
merely in need of a filler story for his paper. This can be attested to
by modern critics who assert that his stories in the Tar Heel showed
little of the creative genius apparent in his later works.
Time passed as men pass who will never come back again, and
graduation day soon arrived. I'll always remember that day. the last
time I ever saw him. He'd just read some story about a creek and a
clock, and folks were predicting he'd be a great literary success. He
came over to me, and we solemnly shook hands. He reassured me
that I'd be the biggest hoof and wheel on Wall Street by 1928, and 1
blurted that he'd probably be a Nobel Prize-winning author by
then.
"I know ." he said. "But then again. 1 might move up to teaching
English I or clerking in an Intimate Bookshop."
senior, is political science major from Indian
The fact is that they are getting fed up with
continuing sacrifices they are presently
forced to make and are angered at the
prospect of more of the same. If minorities
are able to demonstrate their ability to
compete on the basis of merit at some point
in the future so that these programs may be
discarded, then the racist arguments that
Bakke advocates will have lost their force. If
affirmative action is unsuccessful or if it is
discarded too soon, equality of opportunity
clearly will emerge as an impossibility and
racism will become the rule obvious to
everyone.
Stephen A. Bernheim
Jerome F. Page III
128 Johnson St.
Libraries need support
To the editor:
I would like to respond to your recent
articles and editorial concerning the decline
in book acquisitions at UNC. Several factors
should be considered before coming to hasty
conclusions about the relative positions of
the UNC libraries among those in the South
and the nation as a whole. I do not believe
that the figures the Tar Heel cited took into
account possible variations in the definition
of a book or volume. For example, what one
library would consider a book, another
might count as a pamphlet. A library with a
largTnumber of books might purchase more
duplicates than slightly smaller libraries.
Also, there is no way to determine from the
statistics the quality of the material at the
various libraries.
However, I believe that the state and the
University community should do more to
support the UNC libraries. One very
concrete way for students and members of
the faculty to do this is to join the Friends of
the Library. Support through the Friends
helps enhance the quality and the image of
the libraries. Student membership costs only
$2 per year. Applications may be obtained in
Wilson Library.
If you are concerned about the state of the
UNC libraries, why not do something about
it?
Maury York
207 Hillcrest Ave.
Carrboro
Filibuster the
true power of
legistlators?
By ROBIN McWILLIAM
A student knowledgeable in these matters
writes me:
The day of the filibuster has come at last
yea, even to Carolina's governing council.
For years legislators have had to sit back and
watch vetoers manipulate bills. Finally,
however, the legislator's true power is
recognized.
Take the politician's most obvious quality
verbosity a quality that shouldn't be
suppressed by restriction to the raising of a
hand. If he is allowed to speak, the politician
shouldn't be restricted to, "1 don't think a
wire service would be beneficial to the
station, so I say 'nay' to this budget." N, let
him say what he means:
"Unaccustomed as I am to public
speaking, my constituency, my colleagues,
my class mates and I yes, we all must in
a most emphatic and deliberate manner
convey our feelings. Our feelings of disgust,
pain and mortification that one man, one
sole man, one man on his own, one marv
alone should have the right to cut off our legs
from under us, leaving us impotent,
powerless.
"This president would have us all believe
that because he has acted, spoken and
performed in a gentlemanly, courteous,
chivalrous manner that we should perform
in like fashion. No, no, this must not be so.
Don't you see that the image of one such as
me is at stake? If we want to if it is our
desire we must act in any way to
accomplish our goal.
"So I shall continue to talk about this vital
issue until I get my way. There's freedom of
speech in this land, is there not? It's an
amendment number... uh... well, one of
them. No one can prevent, dissuade or stop
me. As you can see, my vocabulary is
extensive, despite governing council
meetings that give me no time to vent it in six
hours.
"Tonight, though, I come into my own,
my true maiden speech begins."
That's the spirit! With speeches from our
legislators (actually, pseudolegislators, it
now appears) like this, their natural talent of
verbosity, so vital in these persons, should be
encouraged.
Eventually, something is done: he either
gathers enough support or the president
gives way. Now I hope it's the former,
because there's no reason for the president to
stand fast purely because he's made a
decision. Inconsistency isn't such a bad thing
and in this case it would help the student
body to have faith in the president.
In some instances, the top executive will
recommend an alternative budget, perhaps
(for example) omitting an item he
disapproved of in the original. In such a case,
however, we can always argue he is in effect
exercising item veto power. Quite frankly,
we're furious when someone tries our own
game of constitutional chess against us.
If our form of sulking is to hold a
filibuster, why should anyone complain? It'll
get us our own way, fairly quickly, in an
honorable manner, still supporting the
student body president really (a minor
disagreement, that's all), making sure all the
year's budget is spent wisely in our opinion
and yours I'm sure.
Mine?
Robin McWiiliam, a junior, is an
interdisciplinary studies major from
F dinhurgh, Scotland.