0 The Dally Tar Heel Friday. October 13, 1978
letters to the editor
Lou Bilionis, Editor
Chucx 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
Richard Barron, News FJitor
Betsy Flagler Features Editor
Mark Scandling, Arts Editor
Lee Pace, Sports Editor
Allen Jernigan, Photography Editor
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067 .Far of editorial freedom
Try a little toughness
Jimmy Carter's political stock may have.soared in the wake of his
triumph at Camp David last month, but if inflation the enemy whose
victories first dragged Carter down in the polls continues to roll on
virtually uncontested, the President's days on the comfortable wave of
popularity may not be many in number.
The latest statistics out of Washington show once again that inflation,
a powerful foe in nearly every American's mind, is running a ragged and
uncontrolled course throughout the country. The Department of
Commerce released its wholesale price index for the month of
September last week, and the news was far from encouraging. Overall
wholesale prices which in the end are the prices Americans strain to
meet each day at their grocery and department stores jumped a full 0.9
percent during September, the third largest monthly increase this year:
Food prices sparked the big increase, as products like beef and veal
became increasingly more expensive, registering an enormous 5.4
percent increase in price for the month. Meanwhile, non-food goods
rose only 0.6 percent in price.
After the September debacle at the cash registers, the underlying
inflation rate for the year rests in the 7 to 7.5 percent range; last year,
prices rose only 6 percent. And with government and private economists,
claiming the rate may break the 8 percent mark by the time all the figures
are in, the Carter administration, has been forced to draw ranks and
come up with a strong and effective battle plan.
When Carter campaigned for the presidency, he made his aversion to
outright wage and price control, like those used during the Nixon
administration, perfectly clear. He has reiterated his dislike of controls
throughout the past 18 months, relying instead on a voluntary anti
inflation program that calls on business and labor unions to hold down
price hikes and pay raises to a tolerable 5 percent. But as the figures
already mentioned attest, the plan has won few volunteers.
The time has come for Carter and his Council on Wage and Price
Stability the group called the Jawboners" for their designed role as
persuasive voices against price and wage hikes to reckon with the
obvious fact that American business and labor will not enlist in an army
against the country's strongest enemy, and must be pulled into the ranks
by a kind of conscription. Word from Washington over the weekend
indicates that the next approach to the inflation fight will put some teeth
in the jawboning; the' administration is considering a plan that will
permit government agencies to withhold contracts from firms that raise
prices above the president's desired level and will seek similar sanctions
for labor unions that fail to settle for more.moderate pay raises.
Such a plan, which boasts the muscle of wage and price controls
without many of the unsavory side effects that wreak havoc in a
marketplace, may be the best idea on which Carter and his economists
have yet landed. A little toughness, after all, can go a long way.
iHelmSq Mot
To the editor:
Richard Rand attacks. John Ingram
(D77, Oct. 1 1) by saying Ingram will say
almost anything to win a , campaign.
Helms latest little leaflet attacks Ingram ;
for attending seven out-of-state meetings
during his -six years as insurance
commissioner. Insurance companies are
nationwide, but the only industry not
subject to federal anti-trust laws. The
National Association of Insurance
Commissioners holds national meetings
to exchange information and plan ,
legislation. Why is Helms attacking this?
Rand calls Ingram's attempts to compare
Helms' 1978 campaign with Nixon's 1972
campaign "pathetic. Of course, Helms
campaigned for Nixon in 1972, and had
posters which said "I need Jesse Helms in
Washington Richard Nixon.
No one says Jesse Helms is personally
dishonest. But a person who has received
over $5 million in campaign
contributions vs. the $70,000 Ingram
spent to win the Democratic primary
should be looked at carefully. He raised
much of that money from scare mailings
to out-of-state special interest groups,
saying that Ingram was backed by big
labor, money. Ingram has received not a
vdime of money from national labor
unions so ' which candidate is saying
anything in order to win?
How has Helms helped students? He
has voted against the. Clean Air Act
Amendments, against educational
appropriations, against the voting rights
act extension, against the ERA
extension, and was the only senator in
1975 tovote no in committee or on the
floor to a bill which will make Chapel H ill
able to expand its bus service with the
same federal aid that the big cities already
get. i
Gerry Cohen
Brick bickering
To the editor: "
The designs of the workmen next to
Gerrard Hall have become quite clear:
BRICK. EVERYTHING. For those
naturalists who thought a simple path
was to be created, your hopes have been
squelched. This yellow brick road does
not lead to Oz. Only thewicked witch of
the South (Building) could be behind this
distasteful structure.
Action must be taken now if you are
ever to see the grass again. 1 urge all
students as they walk on this brick
monstrosity next week to pick up a brick
and throw it in the trash can. Your
actions can make a difference.
Cary Ulman
Big
ram, ay almost 6anyf Mm.
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Nix on asphalt
To the editor: ,
William Hall has an odd set of
priorities if he thinks turning McCorkle
Place into an asphalt eyesore "makes
perfectly logical sense."
I think it makes better sense to have a
parking lot on the periphery of Chapel
Hill and supply busing to campus.
Mr. Hall is obviously baiting the
readers of the DTH in his letter,
especially when he describes the Davie
Poplar as a "lumberman's djeam. His
attitude seems offensive and ignorant and
makes me question why he should write
such a letter.
Abby Gruen
- Cameron Court
Quite quaint
To the editor:
Dear Mr. Clive A. Stafford Smith,
We Americans may not be able to, or
want to, speak the "King's English," but
we are damned well able to pronounce
words as they are spelled. We do not, for
example say "Woaster when it is spelled
Worchester, although we do say "Sussex"
even though we are well .aware it should
be South Saxony,
One further overservation: an
Englisher was, not too long ago, heard to
be discussing the beauty of "N iffles" while
visiting Niagra Falls, do not blame us in
the colonies for feeling this to be quite
quaint.
Patrick Fletcher
Delayed coverage
To the editor:
Some weeks ago Dean Hayden B.
Renwick made public that the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill rejected
qualified minority students. The
statements made by Dean Renwick were
certainly, important and they still are. I
would like to know why the Daily Tar
Heel failed immediately to cover Dean
Renwick's statements. I am sure you will
agree that it was more important than
football tickets and other such stories so
frequently printed on the front page of
the Daily Tar Heel. - .v ...
The students and faculty of this
University should be able to rely on the
Daily Tar Heel to report current issues
and controversies about this University.
We shouldn't have to search out past
copies of local daily, newspapers to find
information on important issues at
Carolina.
John Slade
Morrison Dorm
C.F. Prevention
To the editor:
Carolina Fever is a social disease and
I'm glad I didn't catch it.
Glinda Cooper
Chapel Hill
Letters?
The Daily Tar. Heel welcomes
contributions and letters to the editor.
Letters must be signed,' typed on a 60
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Letters ichosen..for publication are
s ubject to editing.,
College of Gar dim Senate race iroUin
Tine Week
By DAVID STACKS
Roman Catholics around the world could
have a new pontifical leader as early as
Sunday, if the Sacred College of Cardinals is
able to agree on a pope when the first ballot is
taken Sunday.
The 111 cardinals convene in secret
conclave Saturday behind the closed doors of
Michelangelo's Sistene Chapel to elect the
264th successor to St. Peter. As in the last
conclave less than two months ago, there
seems to be no clear frontrunner in the
election to decide who will lead the 700
million-member worldwide church.
Some non-Italians are mentioned as
papabili papal candidates to succeed the
late Pope John Paul 1. Non-Italians have
been among the 264 pontiffs, but not in the
past four centuries. Previous "foreigners
include 12 Frenchmen, 14 Greeks, eight
Syrians, five Germans, three Spaniards, an
Austrian, a Portugese, an Englishman and a
Dutchman.
Observers say most cardinals are not in the
running not because of their nationality, but
because they don't aspire to one of the most
demanding tasks in the world.
One of the major tasks facing the next
pontiff will be how to cut the cost of the
church's expanding global missions program.
Some critics say the Vatican state also must
reconcile its worldly wealth with its spiritual
role as one of the oldest established religious
faiths.
Meanwhile, Vatican officials are expected
to do nothing about Italian press demands
for an investigation into the death of 65-vear-old
Pope John Paul I and suspicion ot foul
play.
John Paul's doctor said the late pontiff
died of a heart attack Sept. 28, just 34 days
after his election. One ranking Vatican leader
said any further explanation would be an
embarrassing capitulation to popular
pressure. The press campaign began Oct. 1
when Italy's most respected newspaper,
Corriere della Sera, said in editorials that it
. has doubts and suspicions about the
circumstances of the pope's death. The press
clamor has been fueled by the general climate
of suspicion in Italy resulting from activities
of the Red Brigades and other terrorists.
President Carter, answering questions at a
nationally televised press conference
Tuesday, expressed his optimism toward the
Mideast peace talks underway in
Washington. 1
The chief executive said he is confident -Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat will not
allow "any single element" to interfere in
negotiations with Israel over the disputed
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Carter personally opened the peace
discussions that got underway in the nation's
capital Thursday. The defense and foreign
ministers of Egypt and Israel are representing
their nations at the latest round of;
negotiations.
The American president, whose popularity
rose dramatically after the Camp David
accords were announced last month, is
participating in the opening round "to
underline the importance that we place on it
and our continuing role in it," a senior White
House aide said. Government officials have
speculated the Washington talks could last
two or three weeks.
Republican Sen. Jesse Helms leads his
Democratic challenger, Insurance
Commissioner John Ingram, by a little more
than 7 percent in the race for the V .S. Senate,
according to a public opinion poll released
this week.
The report came as Ingram crisscrossed the
Tar Heel State in what has become a one
sided campaign effort. Helms has remained
in Washington in recent weeks, while Ingram
tours the state speaking to civic groups,
outdoor audiences and television viewers.
Helms is expected to hit the campaign trail
this weekend, after the Senate adjourns for
congressional elections next month.
The race is close enough, and there are
enough voters still undecided, to swing the
November election either way, the poll
conducted for a Raleigh newspaper shows.
Twelve percent of the voters questioned
said they were undecided, and another 4.5
percent refused to say how they plan to cast
their ballot. Less than 1 percent said they
would vote in other Taces but not in the
Senate race. The survey has an .estimated
margin for error of 4 percent.
The poll was released as Democratic
stalwarts from across the state adjourned
their annual Vance-Aycock weekend fund
raising festivities in Asheville.,
Gov. Jim Hunt had lavish praise for
Ingram at the Asheville event, but the state's
chief executive refused to attack Ingram's
Republican opponent. Similarly, Sen.
Robert Morgan asked voters to support local
and statewide candidates on the Democratic
ticket But faced with the risk of incurring the
wrath of his fellow member of Congress,
Morgan stopped short of an outright
endorsement of Ingram.
A new national assembly on. Wednesday
quickly elected Aristides Royo to be
president of Panama to assume executive
duties from the man who handpicked him,
Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos. '
The 505-member National Assembly of
Community Representatives, which has no
legislative authority, began a six-year term in
a sweltering gymnasium and gave Royo 452
votes. He was unopposed.
The election had been scheduled for several
months, and Panamanian leaders have said
there is no connection between Torrijos
stepping down and American opposition to
the Panama Canal treaties. However,
Torrijos was predicted to be elected to a
successive term as leader of Panama until
critics appeared strong enough to defeat the
treaties in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.
President Carter and his top foreign policy
aides negotiated the two Panama Canal
treaties, and the Senate narrowly approved
them earlier this year. The treaties mandate a
U.S. military withdrawal from the Canal
Zone and a return of the strip of land to the
Panamanian government by the year 2000.
Torrijos regime was marked by political
turmoil, American critics of his government
claim. The Panamian leader came to power
through a military coup d'etat in the early
1970s. .
With a recent statewide poll showing
diminishing popular support for the Equal
Rights Amendment, proponents and
opponents this week began gearing up for the
ratification battle in the 1979 N.C. General
Assembly.
The U.S. Senate last week concurred with
the House and approved a 39-month
extension of the March 22 ratification
deadline. Thirty-eight states must approve
the amendment by June 22, 1982, before
Congress can certify it as part of the U.S.
Constitution.
Pro-ERA activists in Tar Heelia; are
focusing their efforts on the defeat of state
legislators who voted against the amendment
in the 1977 General Assembly. Pro-ERAers
have spotlighted Sen. Jim McDuffie of
Mecklenburg County, w her was defeated for
re-election in the May Democratic primary
but is on the ballot next month as an
independent candidate. McDuffie had
promised to vote for ERA in 1977, but he said
no to it instead.
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Because other legislators who voted
against ERA are not up for re-election, it will
take more than a win in Charlotte to change
the legislative battle lines.
Leaders of North Carolinians United for
ERA and the Pro-ERA North Carolina
Women's Political Caucus have said their
groups may hire professional lobbyists to go
to Raleigh when the legislature convenes and
considers, the issure in January. Members of
North Carolinians United Against ERA do
not plan to hire lobbyists, but instead will
speak with key legislators to sway important
votes.
Meanwhile, a public opinion poll
published this week by a Raleigh newspaper
indicates citizen support for ERA has slipped
since the issue came before the General
Assembly in 1977. Of those interviewed, 51.1
percent agreed that the General Assembly
should not adopt the amendment, 37.1
percent disagreed and 1 1.8 percent were not
sure.
A similar poli in March 1976 showed 60.2
percent of voters approved of, ERA
ratification, 19.7 percent disapproved and
20. 1 percent were not sure.
The N.C, Department of Transportation
lays it on a bit thick, state employee E.D.
Walker says.
And his bosses, including Gov. Jim Hunt
DTHKathy Harris
and Transportation Secretary Torn
Bradshaw, apparently agree.
The subject was asphalt. Walker, entering
a state employees contest designed to reward
government workers who come up with'
money-saving suggestions, said he believes
the state could save millions of dollars each
year by using less ashpalf on highway
interchange ramps.
It's one of the most brilliantideas I've ever
heard," Hunt said, as he gave Walker a check
for $1,000 for coming up with the money
saving idea.
Until Walker's suggestion, it was standard
practice to pave interchange ramps with 12 to
17 inches of asphalt. But transportation
officials have learned from Walker that in
some instances, the amount of asphalt used
was more than enough for the actual traffic
loads on the ramps.
Walker's suggestion will save the state $3
million over the next seven years, officials in
the Department of Transportation predict.
On one ramp in particular, five inches less
asphalt will be a savings of $60,000.
"Not everyone thought it was such a good
idea at first," Walker said. "It just sort of
popped into my head" in July 1977 while he
was working on a roadway project, Walker
said.
David Stacks, a junior journalism major
from Blowing Rock, is state and national
editor for the Daily Tar Heel.