Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 14, 1977, edition 1 / Page 8
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r-ltf-T w M H L UJ, J , aMp up , - " IM)Milih"willllllll I I I II ---- - 8 The Daily Tar Heel Monday, November 14, 1977 Greg 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 Chip Ewssun, Arts Editor Gene Upchuhch. Sports Editor Allen ernIgan, Photography Editor Sty Battg Bar Hrrl 85th year of editorial freedom Bikers need more warning Beginning today bicyclists around Chapel Hill may find themselves in a novel position ticketed by police for a traffic violation. Those cyclists who didn't see a newspaper Friday probably are unaware that Chapel Hill police announced a crackdown Thursday on traffic law violations by bicycle riders and that the ticketing begins today. This means that those riders who have coolly ignored stop signs, stop lights and other right-of-way laws in the past will be rudely awakened starting this morning. We have no complaint with tightening the enforcement of the traffic code. Bicyclists should know already that the status which governs the operation of motor vehicles in North Carolina also provide that 'bicycles shall be deemed vehicles and every rider of a bicycle upon a highway shall be subject to the provision of this charter. . .' Police in this college town have tended to overlook blatant traffic violations as the number of bikes in Chapel Hill increased. But a rash of bicycle-related accidents since July prompted Chapel Hill police to take another look at their tolerant bike policy. So from now on bikers will be treated just the same as motorists and are subject to fines for v iolation and costs of court. The grace period during which bikers can get used to this new stringent policy should be significantly longer than three days, however. Though some bicyclists have violated laws in the past, lack of enforcement of the traffic code has also contributed to lulling bikers into bad habits of running stop signs or ignoring other rights-of-way. The situation is analogous to the crackdown on leadfooted drivers in North Carolina this August by the state highway patrol. Though a 55 mile-per-hour speed limit has been the law since 1974, numerous motorists were exceeding the limit by five or ten miles per hour. The highway patrol finally realized that speeding was becoming widespread and decided to begin strict enforcement of the 55 mile-perh-hour limit. But they also announced their decision one month in advance and gave warning tickets during that month to prod motorists back' into the habit of observing the law. Thus when the deadline arrived Aug. 15 and the grace period ended, the great majority of motorists were aware that the law they had neglected in the past would now be enforced. Chapel Hill police easily could extend their warning period another two weeks without significant repercussions. Police could issue warnings to reckless bikers to help them voluntarily comply with the law. Police Chief Herman Stone even said Thursday that "we want to get everybody to comply voluntarily. We don't want to start handing out violations, but we're planning a crackdown if voluntary compliance doesn't come about." If widespread violations have occurred, it's doubtful a three-day period is long enough to remind violators that they are now subject to ticketing just like motorists. A two-week extension and more publicity w ould be a fair and an effective way of reminding bicyclers that they must obey traffic laws. Hitting us where it hurts Kozol challenge important Jonathan Kozol, who spoke in Memorial Hall Wednesday and whose views appear on this page today, is more than a fresh breeze on this campus he's a bracing blast of Antarctic air. The controversial education reformer will say just about anything, and it's hard to tell when he's dead serious and when he is baiting his audience. But whether you believe, for instance, that he really expects the University to shut down and recruit minorities full-time, his message is clear. The University must not be complacent; it cannot rest on any laurels it may hav e won in 1 84 years if it is to remain great. We have recounted in this column before the story of the high school senior who asked UNC alumnus and New York Times Associate Editor Tom Wicker if the University is a good place to go to school. Wicker is said to have replied that Chapel Hill is a fine place, but"l think they're resting on their laurels down there." On Wednesday night, Kozol recalled a UNC administrator's claim that UNC is the leading university in the Southeast. "This may be true in terms of power and prestige," Kozol said, "but if this is the leading university, it ought to lead in areas other than grades, cash, buildings and grants. "The University should take the lead in ethics, for excellence without ethics is no excellence at all." Although Kozol prides himself on his controversial and provocative rhetoric, his assertion that the University should be a leader cannot be questioned. What must be questioned is the University's commitment to leadership in the development of higher education, political and social attitudes, affirmative action and other areas in which the University can have a great and positive impact on society. Kozol's commentaries may be laughed off by those of us who are proud of this University, but they should not be. Kozol insulted this institution, and we should have the pride to go out and prove him wrong. The Daily Tar Heel News: Tony Cunn, assistant editor; Mark Andrews, Mike Coyne, Meredith Crews. Shelley Droescher, Bruce Ellis, Betsy Flagler, Grant Hamill. l.ou Harned. Stephen Harris, K.ath Hart. Nancy Hartis, Chip Highsmiih. Keith Hollar. Steve Huettel. Jaci Hughes. Jay Jennings. George Jeter, Ramona Jones, W ill Jones, Julie Knight, Eddie Marks. Amy McRary, I liaheth Messitk, Beverly Mills, Beth Parsons. Chip r'earsall. Bernie Ranshottom. I:clyn Saiir. George Shadroui. Vanessa Siddle, Barry Smith, David Slacks. Melinda Stovall, Robert I homason. Howard Troxler, Mike Wade, Martha Waggoner. David Wallers and i d W illiams. News Desk: Reid Tuvim, assistant managing editor. Copy chief: Keith Hollar. Copy editors: Richard Barron, Amy Colgan, Kathy Curry. Dinita James, Carol I ee. Michclc Mecke. Lisa Nieman, Dan Nobles, Melanie Sill, Melinda Stovall, Melanie lopp and Larry l upler. I dilonal assistant: Vikki Broughton. Sports: Lee Pace, assistant editor; van 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. Dav id Ci al t. Peter Hapke. Ftta Lee, Nell Lee, Kimberly McGuire. Debbie Moose, Dan Nobles. Swan 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 V an Arsdale. Graphic Arts: Artists: Dan Brady, Allen Fdwards. Clill Mailcv, JoccKn Petlibone. I.ec Poole and John Tomlinson. Photographers: Fred Barbour. Sam Fulwood, M ichael Sneed and Joseph Thomas. Business: Claire Bagley, business manager. Michclc Mitchell, assistant business manager. I u Huskey, Mike Neville, Kim Painter, David Squiies and Howard I rosier. Ciiculation manager; Bill Bagley. Advertising: Dan Collins, manager; Carol Bed sole, assistant sales nuuugci. Steve Ciowell. classifieds manager; Julie Coston, Neal Kimball, Cynthia I cslcy, nne S hern I and Melanie Stokes. Ad layout: Evelyn Sahr. Composition Editors: Frank Moore and Nancy Oliver Composition and Makeup: UNC Punting Dept. Robert Jasmkicwie. super visot. Ruben Streeter, Geanie McMillan, Judy Dunn, Carolyn Kuhn. David Paikei. Join IVteis. Sieve Quakenbush and Duke Sullivan, Kozol cites war against first person American education a depersonalizing process Jonathan Kozol sheepishly came on stage Wednesday night. He squinted his eyes and perused his audience. Shifting from one foot to another, he scratched the back of his neck as if he were uncomfortable. But as he launched into his speech all signs of timidity dissolved, giving way to bold accusations against institutionalized education in America. "When I first started writing I was naive, innocent, liberal and gullible. I essentially told the people who had the power why they had the power and asked them to fix it so we could have the power. "IN QUOTES" By ROBERT TUO MASON "It's like going to the White House in '68, '69, 70 (Kozol cautiously avoided naming Richard Nixon) and saying 'The school system isn't working. We aren't turning out bold and courageous people like Tolstoy, Dickens, Thomas Jefferson, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger. We are turning out cold, lobotomized murderers and executives like you. Could we kindly have a grant to fix it?' "We turn to men who are perpetuating the system and expect them to give us a license for the revolution." Kozol suggested that action taken against the present educational system should come from concerned people within that system. After Kozol was fired for reading a Langston Hughes poem, "Ballad of the Landlord," to a group of third graders, a black leader in Boston told him "You were not racial chic. You were liberal dumb." Kool said that education in America attempts to transform human beings into automatons which will follow orders and not make trouble. Even instruction in elementary subjects harbors this depersonalizing process. letters to the editor "English is an indoctrinational subject. The public school system has waged war against the first-person singular. "If a third grade student is rude to her teacher, the teacher says Ms that any way to talk to MissO'Brian?' as if she weren't present, pulsating. It's as if she were locked up in the closet." Kozol concluded that, in a moral way. Miss O'Brian indeed is locked up in a closet. Another battle against the first person is apparent in instructions high school students are given regarding term papers. "The student will not use the word T except in the last sentence." "In elementary school they combat the first person with the third person. When you get to college, they get more sophisticated and use the subjunctive and the conditional. "1 went to the Harvard Faculty Club for dinner one day. A professor sitting at the table next to us was about to pour out his heart to his comrades. Instead of using strong language, he said, 'One might well ask if it could be proposed. . .It seems to me... There is a certain body that believes. . .Although it could be disputed.' "Convictions don't come easy at Harvard, where people are smart and witty and can put you down quickly. No one is going to punch you in the nosefora proposal. "The subjunctive, the conditional and the third person of self-abdication are the ideal rhetoric of men and women whose hearts are still and morals are still. "It is the perfect training for the Vietnam bombadier, and better yet, for the man who sent him there." Kozol said that cumulative records were detrimental to the education of the young. "A teacher will look at the record and see that someone has written that little Johnny is a trouble-maker. Then she will treat him accordingly. "Cumulative records should be destroyed every four i I it Jonathan Kozol years so that the child can have a fresh start. At the end of high school, the record should be destroyed forever. "The only test that should carry any weight should be an evaluation of the student by the teacher in the presence of the child, his parents and a mental health expert. "A purpose of school is to teach the child with what compassionate constraints and within what rational parameters to say no to certain things," Kozol said. "The world will not remember the good students who have learned to file through halls. It will remember the non-conformists who dare to say no." Robert Thomason, a sophomore journalism major from Kernersville, N.C., is a staff writer for the Daily Tar Heel. Professional theater usurps student opportunities To the editor: Last Wednesday David Adamson defended the Playmakers- Repertory Company (PRC) against charges raised in a DTH cartoon (Nov. I). In spile of his objections to the cartoon, the fact remains that the PRC has no legitimate right to be a part of the University of North Carolina. We do not deny that the PRC is able to pack Playmaker's Theater (just as a pro basketball team could pack Carmichael Auditorium). We do not deny the availability of second class opportunities for undergraduates to participate in the Lab Theater and in an occasional Student Union production. We do not deny the generosity of the Drama Deptartment in making available to students facilities not wanted by the PRC. We do deny the right of the Drama Department to use University funds, set aside for the education of students, to pay the salaries of professionals who are brought to this state to usurp the roles of students in an entire season of Drama Department productions. There was a time, not many years ago. when undergraduates came to this University hoping to become a part of the best drama department in the state and maybe, if they were good enough, to be cast in a leading role in a Playmaker's production. Students now arrive to find an inferior department with no undergraduate major and no chance to make a contribution to the once proud Playmaker's Theater. Undergraduates and townspeople are now relegated to the lesser opportunities well outlined by Adamson. It is neither the purpose nor the right of the Drama Department to pay the salaries or provide the facilities for a professional theater such as PRC. It is their function to provide a learning experience for the students on this campus, graduate and undergraduate. The funds which they receive are for this purpose. A professional theater would certainly be a welcome cultural addition to the Chapel Hill area, but in these times of limited University funds and facilities, the PRC has no right to usurp the educational opportunities once afforded students of the University of North Carolina by the once famous Playmaker's Theater. Steven Parris Dept. of Speech Communication Mark Greene School of Journalism Honor Code review To the editor: If the proposed changes in the Honor Code are to be properly discussed, then the entire University community has the responsibility to study the changes. Further, as many people as possible should contact the bodies that will be voting on the amendments. Tuesday at 4 p.m.. the CGC Rules and Judiciary Committee will meet for the express purpose of discussing the changes. 1 he committee encourages anyone with an interest to come at the above time to Room J()2 of the Carolina Union. C hip Cox Chairman Rules and Judiciary Committee Popular joke To the editor: Your recent article concerning the jurisdiction of UNC police ("University police criticize restriction on authority," Nov. 10) seems to raise a number of interesting questions. In the first place, the basic purpose of the University police is to insure the security of the campus, and in this regard Security Director Marvin's limit of jurisdiction does, as he has said, make a lot of sense. 1 would also hope the Chapel Hill Police Department is sufficiently large enough to effectively patrol its own jurisdiction. One complaint cited in your article pointed out that one officer felt "kind of BUT. OFFICER, WASN'T Dot dumb" when witnessing a crime and being unable to do anything about it. In the case of a crime serious enough to call for arrest, anyone can legally detain someone who has committed a crime until the proper authorities arrive by placing them under citizen's arrest. This simple procedure is in fact the only true authority that most private security guards have. If a serious infraction of the law occurs. University police should either arrest the responsible party under authority granted them by CHPD, though now limited by Marvin's new policy, or detain them until the "proper authorities" arrive whether on or off campus. In cases of a less serious nature (traffic violations, for instance), it would seem that the University police should be I'M SOftS 1 OV& So concentrating their efforts toward campus security rather than issuing citations or hassling students who are out drinking oh weekends (two examples of police practices which have recently come into questions at times). Is the popular joke of a policeman ever ready to write a ticket or hassle someone at the slightest provocation becoming a reality? Are University police upset because they no longer feel completely effective as law enforcement officers or are they disappointed that their badges and uniforms may have lost some of the authority they formerly symbolized? Richard D. Klimkiewicz Jr. 8 Old West r TV v 5 ERA information To the editor: ERA is still here. The statewide effort hardly missed passing during the last legislative session. Two North Carolina senators, John T. Henley and J im McDuffie, changed their votes at the last minute, and the bill went down to defeat. This time it is important to insure firm commitments from our legislators. North Carolina United for ERA (NCUERA) has information available concerning the voting records of state legislators. With primary elections coming up in May, we must be sure to support those candidates, incumbents and new candidates, who are pro-ERA. To find out how the candidates for election in your home county feel about the ERA, write to: NCUERA, Political Information Committee. P.O. Box 1628. Raleigh, North Carolina 27602. Here at UNC, the ERA Committee of the Association of W omen Students ( AWS) w ill be actively working witlv-NCUERA to get I RA ratified by the State l egislature in earlv With a concerned and dedicated effort, we will Jo it. The efforts of the AWS Committee for the ERA will center on : 1) fundraising, 2) distributing information about the ERA itself, 3) collecting and disseminating information concerning the views of candidates towards the ERA who will be running for election in May 1978 and November 1978, and 4) expanding efforts to include other campuses around the state in the ERA effort. These are just a few of the objectives of the ERA Committee, and there is certainly room for new ideas. Anyone who is interested in joining the committee or who has suggestions about the future direction of the ERA campaign should attend the ERA Committee meeting Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the AWS office in Suite D of the Carolina Union. With your help, we can get the ERA ratified in North Carolina in 1979. Kathy Paramore Joel Davidson Co-Chairpersons ERA Committee of AWS Senate debate To the editor: Finally, next vear. vve North Carolinians are going to have our cnance tu gei iu w u national embarassment, Senator Jesse Helms. But who will be the Democratic nominee to run against him? Three leading Democratic candidates for the Senate will speak and debate at UNC this Friday. State Sen. Lawrence Davis of Winston-Salem, former banker Luther Hodges Jr. of Charlotte, and State Sen. McNeill'Smith of Greensboro will take part. A reception is scheduled for 1 1 a.m., wjth. the candidates' debate following at noon Friday in the law school building. Everyone is invited. Y'all come and help get rid of Jesse! Bruce Tindall Secretary Orange County Democratic Party The Daily Tar fleet welcomes letters to the editor, l etters must be typed, double spaced, on a 60-space line and are subject to condensation or editing for libelous content or bad taste. l etters should not run over 50 lines (300 words) and should be mailed to the Wi 7ur Heel, Carolina Union.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 14, 1977, edition 1
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