6 ' The DaiY Jar Heel Monday. October 9, 1978
Lou Biuqnis, Editor
Chuck Alston, Managing Editor
Don Woodard, Associate Editor
David McKinnon, Associate Editor
Bernie Ransbottom, University Editor'
Mary Anne Rhyne, City Editor
David Stacks, State and National Editor
Righard Barron, News Editor
Betsy Flagler, Features Editor
Mark Scandling, Arts Editor
Lee Pace, Sports Editor
Allen Jernigan. Photography Editor
letters to the editor
latin
afar Uttl
86th year of edi torial freedorr
Tragic logic
Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith is in Washington this week to
lobby in Congress and meet with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance,
hoping to win U.S. recognition of the new biracial but still while
dominated government he has formed with three of Rhodesia's black
nationalist leaders. But with luck and a lot of persuasion. Smith might
instead be convinced to support the joint U.S.-British plan for bringing
peace to his beleaguered African nation.
At a news conference before he left for the United Stales. Smith said
he wanted to "put the record straight" for the American people. " I he
surest way to end the war is to give us recognition." "Smith said. "If s so
logical."
Smith's logic, however, is tragically typical ol the thinking u Inch led
his nation to keep its black majority in second-class status lor so many
years: which led Smith and his political all'ies to declare their
independence from Britain in 1965. in a move which brought U.N.
sanctions and almost universal condemnation: and which now threatens
to doom Rhodesia in a brutal and hopeless civil war already si .wears
old. '
In coming to the United States to "put the record straight." Smith
mistakes the self-serving sympathy of a few conservative senators lor the
groundswell of popular support his regime ncvci will enjoy in the United
States. And in pressing for U.S. recognition! ol his government he
mistakes as well the. effect recognition would have on the nationalist
guerillas, w hose war of attrition makes the possibility ol a just and civil
peace seem more remote with every passing day.
With a century of injustice as their inspiration, the guerillas could w ell
be led to inflict similar injustice on the people, of Rhodesia both black
and white unless their demands are given fair consideration. I he
Anglo-American plan, calling for negotiatio ns between all the political
leaders, offers the surest and indeed the only hope lor a united,
democratic, and peaceful Rhodesia.
Tied hands
Myron A. Farber, the reporter the Sew York Times dubbed "Our
Man in Jail." may be heading back to his cell in Hackensack, N.J..
within the next few days. And still, the debate over whether the reporter
can be compelled to surrender his confidential notes to a murder case
continues unresolved.
The Supreme Court, in a characteristic Friday announcement,
vacated an order by Justice Potter Stewart dated Sept. 26, 1978 that had
released Farber from jail, but has yet to hear or rule on a formal appeal
by Farber and the Times that contests the contempt-ol-court
convictions issued by N.J. judge William Arnold. Until then, the clash
between two Constitutional amendments will rage on, with Farber
calling on the First Amendment's guarantee of a free press and Dr.
Mario Jascalevich, the defendant in the rmurder trial, citing the Sixth
Amendment's assurances of a l fair and speedy trial-
As long as the high court refrains from hearing the appeal, Farber will
languish in jail and the Times will continue to pay $5,000 daily in fines.
And the public will grow even more tired of what it sees as an issue of
provincial concern to the press and a few odd others. So much news ol
newspaper battles, dating back to the Pentagon Papers case a few years
back, has dulled the spirits of all but those directly affected by the
countless court rulings on the rights of the press.
It is a shame. For the rights of the press are not privileges selfishly
protected, maintained and enjoyed by the press. Ultimately, those rights
dictate the kind of information Americans can expect to gather from
their own daily sources -the newspapers and broadcast networks.
When you tie the hands of the press, you tie the hands of the. public.
Indian Circle cite Mem wick9 integrity
To the editor: .
'1'hc Carolina Indian Circle would like
to go on record as supporting Haydcn B.
Uenvvick's recent expose in the Chih-I
Hill Wu.vnJt'r (Sept. 17) and the Daily
Tar Heel (Sept. 19) ol the Uniersitv
failure to implement a viable affirmative
action plan to recruit and admit minority
students. We share Dean Remvick's
frustration.' Wc as an organization
consistently have communicated our
concerns about the. failure ot the
University to attract and admit qualified
American Indians. North Carolina has
the filth largest population of American
Indians of all the 50 states. Despite our
efforts to bring this to the attention of the
University officials, nothing has been
done to reach out to Indian communities
in this state, liven though one out ol" every
100 North Carolinians is Indian, there are
less than 100 undergraduate and
professional Indian students on campus.
The University is under federal
mandate to increase minority student
enrollment. Dean Renvvick appears to be
standing alone in his effort to make the
U niersitys commitment to this mandate
a reality. We admire Dean Renvvick's
courage and integrity in dealing w ith this
issue. We call upon others who believe
that rhetoric is not enough to rally and
express publicly their support of his
efforts.
Carolina Indian Circle
Concert advisory '
To the editor:
At the end of last semester a concert
advisory group was formed for the
purposes of surveying student opinion
and preferences w ith regard to concerts,
of learning about the music industry, and
of working to establish a regular concert
program of high quality. At an open
meeting at 4 p.m. today in room 213
Carolina Union, we will make an'
announcement of the five major concerts
that we have planned for the rest of the
semester and will solicit more help. We
mu x . r.
THE"DAU '
urge everyone w ho is interested to attend,
voice his opinions and have questions
answered.
Geoffrey Hoare
Carolina Union president
Who's on first?
Tojhe editor:
In response to recent articles about the
first chartered social fraternity at UNC
("DKU was first" Dili Sept. 28 and
"Irat flag returns" J 77 Oct. 3). I would
like to set the record straight once and for
Grading contradiction evident
To the editor.
"Grade inflation" is admittedly a
problem. However, there is another
side to this coin which has not yet been '
considered.
According to the Undergraduate
Bulletin: "...the permanent grades
are .1 (highest level of attainment). 7?
( high level of attainment); ("(adequate
level of attainment), I) (minimal
passing level of attainment). . PS
( passed on the 'Pass-Fail' option), and
(failed unacceptable
performance)." (page 128)
However, in order to graduate,
"...the student must have a 2.0 (C)
average on all work attempted in the.
U niversity at Chapel Hill." ( page 133).
This means that a D grade is not
considered a "minimal passing level of
attainment." Indeed, a student who
receives Cs in 1 17 hours but a D in one
three-hour course would not be
eligible to graduate.
It seems to me that there is a
contradiction here. Either the
requirements for graduation should
be changed to conform to the official
designations of the meaning of the
grading system, or the meanings
assigned to grades should be changed
to conform' to the requirements for.
graduation.
At present, it is the official policy of
the University to fail all students who
are below average.
My personal feeling is that a grade
should be a confidential evaluation
known only to student and professor,
and not a matter of public record.
However, this is probably a Utopian
ideal in today's world. --.".--
N. A. Coulter. Jr., M.D.
Chairman, BM ME Program
all. Acknowledging the fact that DKE's
founding date was in fact April 5, 1851.
Phi Gamma Delta' remains the first
chartered social fraternity at UNC.
chartered on March 14. 1851.
After talking with Mike Martin.
University archivist, he informed me that
all fraternities were prohibited by the
University before Feb. 5, 1885. Because
of this, fraternity meetings prior to this
time were kept secret from the University,
and as a result, the University has no
records about them until Feb. 5, 1885.
Therefore, the only other reliable source
about the origins of fraternities is with
each fraternity's national headquarters.
Evidently, DKE national headquarters
claims that its Beta chapter at UNC was
chartered on April 5. 1851. I am not
disputing this in the least. However. Phi
Gamma Delta national headquarters
claims that its Epsilon chapter at UNC
was chartered on March 14, 1851, 22 days
prior to the chartering of DKE.
From this information, it should be
undisputedly recognized that Phi
Gamma Delta is in fact the first chartered
social. fraternity at UNC.
1 he brothers of Phi Gamma Delta
Wayne Hardee, historian
Garbage
To the editor:
In reference to last week's article by
those insidious people of DETECT about
the need to clean up campus, we at
GARBAGE have but two words to say
DROP DEAD. We at GARBAGE are
dedicated to the total trashing of
America. Soon our colors the
picturesque red. white and black of
littered Old M ilwaukee cans -will spread
from sea to polluted sea.
Despite those who think our stand
preposterous, the majority is with us. The
same silent majority ' that gave us
overwhelmingly, magnificent Richard
Nixon (still a gf'eat man despite attacks
on his name by communist subversives)
supports us at GARBAGE. Just look at
the UNC campus at any time and it is
obvious the majority is with us. Even
University policy favors garbage as
shown by the almost total absence of
trash cans around campus. So let's have
no more of this trash about cleaning up
America and get down to some serious
old-fashioned littering like we, the
majority, really want.
Many people have yet to realize some
of the positiv e aspects of garbage. Fact 1:
abundant garbage reflects superior
partying. One readily can see this by
mountains of beer cans and other trash
after all good parties. Fact 2: garbage
creates jobs for America. Garbagemen,
trashstabbers. janitors and a pile of other
jobs all rely on our garbage. Fact 3:
garbage helps feed our diminishing
wildlife population. Take for example the
superior job New York Ciry has dune for
its rais. . .'....','..."'.'.-;'..
Lastly, in the unforgettable words of
Steve Martin "Never no, always carry a
litter bag in your car. If it gets full you can
just toss it right out the window."
Brian Monday
x Jim Edwards
David Coe
Frank Wells
Teague Dorm
P.S. Just think, this DTH you are now
reading may later be strewn somewhere in
support of our cause.
UN p rof ge ts fi ."ff; 3pe lifestyle
In Quotes'
Br CA M JOHSSOS
Three years ago the United States withdrew the
last remnants of its once-huge personal
commitment to South Vietnam.
With Viet Cong forces closing in on Saigon,
many Americans feared a brutal, repressive regime
was about to be forced on the South Vietnamese.
American officials had long warned that the
Communistes would stage a bloodbath if the
United States were to leave.
Delegations from other countries have visited
Vietnam since the U.S. departure, but it was not
until this summer that the government of Vietnam
allowed a mission sponsored by the United States
into the country.
One of the members of the delegation was
Mildred Kaufman, an associate professor of
nutrition at the UNC School of Public Health.
Kaufman, chairperson of the food and nutrition
section of the American Public Health
Association, was a member of the Study Mission,
of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration ant J
Refugees which visited Vietnam between July 3 I
and Aug. 7. The mission, designed to study healt'h
and refugee conditions in Vietnam, was sponsore d
by Sen. Edward Kennedy. D-Mass.
The delegation visited both South and Nor th
Vietnam, including Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi
Minh City, formerly Saigon, irr the south. Triey
also visited communal farms in the country's ide
and a refugee camp near the Cambodian bonier.
Kaufman said she doesn't' feel Vietnam is a
police state. "We were allowed lotake pictures and
no one ever stopped Us," she-said- "When some
spare minutes came. 1 used the opportunity to w a lk
along the streets and look at the shops. 1 neve r hmd
the feeling I was being followed! When we'di walk
on the street, people, especially1 children, i,vould
mill around and gawk at us and ask.
'Russian. ..Russian?' In Hanoi we had very little
impression ot military presence. I he only p lace v v.
saw soldiers was near the Cambodian border."-
Vietnamese and Cambodian troops have
clashed along their common border for the past
. year. Recent reports indicate Vietnam is massing
forces on the Cambodian border for a major
offensive into its Communist neighbor's territory.
The mission visited an interment camp lor
refugees from Cambodia, where the Communist
government is said to be brutally repressive. "We
saw some shelling near the camp," Kaufman said.
"We could see craters created by the shells less than
one-half mile from the border. We were frightened
because the shelling was quite random."
She said mission members talked in t rench to
several Cambodian refugees with no interference
from Vietnamese interpreters. "One was a woman
'vvhose husband Viad been a gynecologist in Phnom
Penh. The words coming out of her mouth were so
awful we couldn't believe it. She told us how she
saw her husband killed right in front of her, and
how she and her three little girls were taken to a
collective farm. She said she had to work from
before daylight to the middle of the day. w hen she
got a little rice. Then she was brought back and had
to work unt il alter dark.
"She decided if she had to work like that w ith so
little food, she'd die. She told how her girls and two ;
other women and their children walked to the
Vietnamese border. She thought it was a miracle
she got there, and when you looked at these
toddlers, you wondered how they made it."
Kaufman said the Vietnamese are feeding and
caring for the refugees better than they. care for
their ow n citizens, who must live on a diet of 1.500
calories a day. She said the group visited a market
in VungTaiu near Ho Chi Minh City. y
"They told us the average pay of Vietnamese
-workers is 60 dong a month, but 10 eggs cost 7
dong and a chicken 40 dong. A young woman told
us a lot of the prices, but 1 couldn't believe it. It
takes all their money to survive. They're, basically,
rice eaters, but they eat sweet potatoes, corn and
manioc (a plant with edible roots). A Vietnamese
w oman told me manioc fills the stomach, but is not
particularly enjoyable."
Kaufman said the best-led people live on the
collective farms, w here individuals are allowed to
have private garden plots. "They're' trying to get
people to move back to the country. A lot ol people
moved to the cities for safety during the war. There
is not' enough work in the cities because it's not,
a particularly industrialized societyVietnamese
leaders are trying to relocate people back in their
old villages, or send them to 'new economic zones.
which are collective farms. It didn't look like slave
labor they were doing. They seemed quite proud of
what thev had. The farm we saw was quite
impressive, with a fish pond, squash and leafy
vegetable gardens."
But Kaufman said most of the Vietnamese
population is undernourished, which causes them
to be susceptible to communicable diseases. "The
Vietnamese minister of public health made it clear
that communicable diseases we've w iped out are a
major health problem there. We saw cases of
tuberculosis. V.t).. and cholera. -We heard of
leprosy cases, too.
Another health problem in Vietnam stems
directly from the war. "There is an evident
relationship between the use of defoliants by the
U.S. in the war and the .incidence of liver cancer
among the Vietnamese." Kaufman said. "1 was
impressed when the Vietnamese doctors presented
the liver cancer problem in a scientific way. They
gave us case histories and we saw patients."
Kaufman said the doctors emphasized their lack
of medical supplies and up-to-date medical
manuals. She met one of Vietnam's top cancer
specialists. Dr. Ton That Thong.
"It was most pathetic when he pleaded for
medical texts." she said. "He said the one thing he
wanted more than, anything was a subcriplion to
the 'Sew lingland Medical Journal. We're
recommending giving them aid in food and
medical supplies through our own charities and
through the United Nations."
Kaufman said she felt the Vietnamese were
trying to impress the mission.members in the hope
of receiving aid. " They were trying to put their best
foot forward, trying to get messages back to the
United States." she said. "I've never been in any
place where I've seen such graciousness and
hospitality. No doubt they were displaying the
showcases. In a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, a
couple of us stuck out heads in the door of an
operating room. Apparently the doctors had left a
patient on the table w hile they conferred w ith us."
Kaufmann said aid may help the United States
influence the Vietnamese leadership. "We weren't,
particularly enamored of the Communist idealogy.
but the United States has spent so much in
Vietnam trying to fight for the independence of the
Vietnamese and stop their domination by. the
Chinese and the Russians.... By peaceful means we
could influence them more favorably than we did
by military might." v
Cant Johnson, a senior Journalism major from
Aberdeen, is a staff writer for the Daily Tar Heel.
Chi ma
.... i
S1 Mildred Kaufman
v . -Jf S) South
n&'Q Ho cm vnh r
V if
Quip ef
DTHKathy Harris