enrhe Daily Tar HeeiThursd-iv Oct- . ori
, Jim Hummel. UiM
Susan Mauney. mww
Jonathan Rich. vwh
John Drlscher. EJm
Bjwin a Ralston. t'MniTdf)-cJiVit .
John Royster. cuy EdiM
Charles Herndon. & jJ nu Efa
Beth Burrell. n et
Clifton Barnes, Mm
Tom Moore. Am Editor
Keith King. f(m
Scott Sharpe. phcwphy Editor
Ann Peters, spotiiiu Editor
Chuck James. OmiuWm
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89th year of editorial freedom
Rushing and drinking
Asking a group of 50 or so male students to meet in a social atmosphere
for two or three hours and not drink alcohol is requesting a lot, but most
fraternities recognize the Intrafraternity Council's formal rush rule of ab
stinence as one that is necessary. While no one believes the rule is never
violated, it is a bit surprising that IFC President Jim Maynard plans to
send a letter to a University administrator concerning one fraternity's vio
lation of the no-drinking rule.
Maynard and the University's adviser to fraternities have received about
10 complaints from various fraternities saying that the Zeta Psi fraternity
violated formal rush rules by having alcohol present before formal rush
hours had ended on the second night of rush. The Zetes weren't the only
fraternity to have alcohol present during formal rush. One rushee said he
saw drinking at two other houses, and surely there was drinking in small
amounts at many other houses.
Because the Zetes are not members of the IFC their ties to the
University were severed in February 1980 - they have no formal respon
sibility to abide by IFC rules. Although they are not required to follow
IFC rules, if the Zetes want to gain University recognition when their sus
pension ends, they should follow the laws of the IFC. To their credit,
the Zetes generally have.
There are good reasons for fraternities not to have alcohol present dur
ing formal rush, and the University expects all fraternities to uphold that
rule. When the Zetes come before the University in 1983, the University is
going to expect the Zetes to have followed IFC rules during their suspen
sion. , '
The Zetes, however, did only a small amount of drinking they had
already given out all their bids for the night, and only pledges and
brothers drank and It would be unfair to single them out. Because he
feels a responsibility to IFC members, Maynard said he would write an in
formal letter to the Office of Student Affairs in recognition that he re
ceived complaints about the Zetes' alcohol consumption. Maynard said
he would not criticize the Zetes in the letter, but merely would inform the
University that he has received complaints. For the sake of fairness,
Maynard should also mention that other fraternities governed by IFC
rules had alcohol present during formal rush, and that the IFC is equally
concerned with that.
Maynard rightfully wants the University to know that the IFC is con
cerned about the complaints he has received. At the same time, he must
make sure that he does not imply that the Zetes broke a standard that
other fraternities did not. It would be a double standard for the University
to hold this incident against the Zetes when they seek University recogni
tion. In the meantime, the Zetes should realize if they want to attain Uni
versity recognition in two years, they are going to have4 to play by the
IFC's rules now.
Breaking apathy
When a large number of students cast votes at the Law School in Tues
day's Campus Governing Council election, they could well have started
a break with traditional apathy in campus elections.
In the past, poll tenders have waited long hours for a piddling number
of students to vote. In September 1980, only 134 students voted for two
open positions on the council.
But this year, 196 students voted for one seat on the council. The
number, in District 1, represented two-thirds of the total vote in the race
for six council seats. The vote also exceeded the 171 votes cast in
February's presidential election in District 1.
Students at the Law School attributed the high turnout to the can
didacy of conservative Ray Warren. To counter Warren's campaign,
students banded together to form the Coalition for Better Campus
Government, which rallied behind write-in candidate Anderson Harkov.
Members of the coalition distributed fliers asking people to support
Harkov, which contributed to his receiving 83 percent of the vote.
Despite the political ideologies of the candidates, it is encouraging to
see students take an unprecedented interest in CGC elections. By assess
ing a candidate's views and opinions, those at the Law School correctly
placed importance on a position that can ultimately decide both the fate
of student organizations and Chapel Thrill concerts.
But elsewhere on campus, turnout was again low. In one district a can
didate was unofficially elected to the council with one vote. These
students would do well to learn from Tuesday's vote at the Law School
before next year's campaign, when all 27 seats on the council will be up
for election.
The Bottom Line
Auction bust
The United States government is
hoping that someone, somewhere
would like to buy five busts and an
oil portrait of former Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger.
The government may be more suc
cessful getting rid of a brass cigar box ,
from Thailand or a silver gilt Russian
liqueur set. These items and many,
many more were gifts from foreign
countries to U.S. officials that they
were prohibited by law from retain
ing. The gifts have been kept in storage
since 1977, when the federal law was
passed. The government first offered
these items to federal museums and
then offered the remaining 182 gifts
up for auction.
One item, a Piaget gold watch
valued at $6,000, was given to former
U.S. chief of protocol Henry Catto
from the nation of Oman.
Other items included a watch from
the King of Saudi Arabia and a pic
ture from Mexico given to Kissinger
made from duck, quail and cardinal
feathers.
Roy Markon, an official of the
Government Service Agency, said the
By MARK MURRELL
A macabre Irish ritual has repeated itself 10 times
since May. Last spring, Bobby Sands became the first
Irish nationalist to die in the Maze prison near Belfast in
a five-month hunger strike. After Sands, the hunger
strikers' names became much less important. It was their
number that mattered.
While the English reveled in the pageantry and cere
mony of life through the summer, Ireland observed its
ritual of death time after time. It was always the same.
After 60 to 70 days without food, the prisoners would
lapse into unconsciousness, and their families would en
dure an excruciating vigil that ended in death. The
garbage-can lids would clang on the streets; black flags
would droop from windows of houses adorned with
posters of the dead; the black-hooded honor guards
would come to take the body away, and the violence
would begin. Some wondered if it would ever end.
Late last week, the prisoners announced an end to the
hunger strike in the Maze prison's H-block. The six re
maining strikers had been thwarted by families who
refused to watch their sons and brothers die after lapsing
into unconsciousness. The publicity and concern that the
deaths caused around the world is likely to wane now,
but this is a most crucial time for the hunger strikers.
Negotiations about prison reform can now begin with
the British government, which adamantly refused to
grant any concessions as long as the protest continued.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Prior said this week
that now it was almost certain that some prison reforms
would be introduced. He did not, however, elaborate.
Some speculate that prisoners will now be allowed to
wear their own clothes and be given a greater voice in
what type of work they do.
Those are only two of many demands made by t
strikers, and by far the least important. It is doubtful
that the British government will recognize them as
political prisoners the strikers' most important de
mand because to do so would recognize the Irish
Republican Army as a legitimate political organization.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been ,
steadfast in her refusal to recognize the strikers as
anything more than common criminals, although some
have even been elected members of Parliament. Most
have been convicted of "non-political" crimes
murder, bombing and weapons violations, she said.
The nationalists also demanded to be able to associate
with the more than 400 other IRA prisoners in the Maze,
to be able to write letters, to have more visits and to be
eligible for reduced sentences.
Their claim that they are political prisoners while
not at all accepted by the Thatcher government is
true. The Irish Republican Army and its political arm
Sinn Fein are undeniably terrorists, but they are never
theless politically motivated by understandable grievances.
Letters to the editor
government hoped to make between
$40,000 and $60,000 from the auc
tion. "This is like a garage sale," he
said. "We've accumulated gifts for
several years, and it's time to dispose
of them. Much of the good stuff has
been snapped up. But the beauty is in
the eye of the beholder."
Well, we know of one person who
would consider those Kissinger por
traits beautiful. But we hope he'll
save at least one for somebody else.
Ticket splitting
Local elections have often been
known to divide communities in half.
But the Greensboro City Council
election seems to be splitting one can
didate in half.
Terry Barry, a Greensboro charac
ter of some reknown, is running for
city council using the slogan "I'm
schizophrenic and happy."
A Barry victory would pose some
interesting political dilemmas. If his
district is reapportioned into two dis
tricts, could he run in both? Could he
run in both the Republican and Dem
ocratic party primaries?
And that's the bottom line.
Perhaps if the hunger strike has achieved anything, it
will have drawn so much attention to the problems of
Northern Ireland that Margaret Thatcher will be unable
to simply continue to ignore one of her country's oldest
problems. -
Of course, it is ludicrous to think that the British will
just pack up and leave Ireland within the next few years.
It is not often that 800-year struggles end overnight.
The latest wave of violence started 12 years ago, and
after this constant strife, there is a desire for peace on
both sides. But the views differ so much on each side
that a working compromise seems far away.
When Margaret Thatcher was visited by John Hume,"
a Catholic from Northern Ireland, this summer, Hume
brilliantly summarized the entire situation.
"What you say is entirely correct from your point of
view," Hume told her. "What I am saying is entirely cor
rect from my point of view. The gulf between is what is
called the Irish problem."
British domination is certainly not a new problem for
the Irish. The recent hunger strike is not the first. People
have given up their lives in this struggle for centuries.
It is too soon to tell if Bobby Sands and his nine
followers will have any impact on the British position in
Northern Ireland or on the conditions in the Maze
prison. More than likely, little will have been really ac
complished once negotiations end and concessions if
there are any are announced.
10 many; tne aeains seem aciiacics. lw um ioiiuma
of the strikers, once behind them, began to feel late' this
summer that their men were dying' in vain.
But these were not the first Irishmen to fight the
British through such protest. In 1920, Thomas
McSwiney, an Irish nationalist who starved to death in a
British jail, explained the Irish hunger strikers' position.
"It is not those who can inflict the most, but those
who can suffer the most who will conquer,'. he said.
Sixty years later, many on both sides have suffered.
But none have yet conquered, and it is doubtful if
anyone is even winning. Ten men have given up their
lives since May, and to the world they now seem impor
tant. But their .martyrdom is likely to fade as the years
pass and as others follow them, protesting a situation
that seems to change only in its degree of severity. It is an
existence for which there is no easy remedy. Everyone
knows that something should be done, but no one even
knows where to start.
Bobby Sands and his followers arbitrarily picked a
time to start a desperate protest. It was in many ways ab
surd and has accomplished little in concrete solutions,
but it made people all around the world stop in awe,
listen to arguments and begin to think once again about
the situation in Ireland. However fragile and small an
achievement that is, it is at least a beginning.
Mark Murrell is a senior journalism and English major
from Jacksonville.
Be bate urged for factual Carrboro election
To the editor:
Having lived in Carrboro on and off ?
for the past seven years, 1 have observed
Carrboro politics and perceive the coming .
election to be a divisive one for the com
munity. I would also like to say that I am
not a member of either the Carrboro Coa
lition or the Association for a Better Carr
boro. It is interesting to listen to the statements
issued by all Coalition candidates, and it
is not difficult to determine where each
takes his position. The voters of Carrboro
deserve the truth and more information
with which to make informed decisions. I
would suggest a series of debates, so that
candidates will be encouraged to be fac
tual. Recently Sonya Lewis, without know
ing the candidates for the Association for
a Better Carrboro and before the release
of its position paper, accused her op
ponents of being against the bus service
and for exorbitant box fares. Such com
ments are not given from a fair or open
mind.
The facts concerning the Carrboro bus
system are the following: The Carrboro
bus tax referendum authorized a 10-cent
tax on property to support bus opera
tions. The 1981-1982 Carrboro budget
provides the following sources of funds
for bus servicce: UMTA Grant, $65,630;
property taxes, $65,025; 196-1981 reve
nue sharing, $27,200.
During the next two years, inflation
will add an additional 3 cents to the tax
related cost of the bus system. But the
Carrboro tax base will not begin to grow
until 1983-1984. The conclusion must be
that there will be a higher cost fare to
riders and that Lewis is not aware of the
financial intricacies of the bus system.
I reiterate the need for a debate, so that
both sides will have an opportunity to
present their stands in a factual manner.
Celia Pistolis
Carrboro
Maverick lawyers '
To the editor:
After reading recent articles in The
, Daily Tar Heel concerning the Law
School, we feel that it is necessary to set
the record straight. Contrary to the thrust
of recent articles, most law students are
interested in the practice of law and in
finding jobs upon graduation. Only a
handful of our number are throwbacks to
the 1960s protest culture.
Most law students realize that nuclear
weapons are a fact of life, and most are
not interested in dismantling the FBI.
Most law students are also able to make it
through the day without having the ir
resistable urge to make a public political
statement. In short, not everyone at the
Law School has the same views as Alex
Charns or Anderson Harkov.
Steve Schoeberle
and 10 other law students
The Daily Tar Heel welcomes
letters to the editor and contribu
tions of columns for the editorial
page.
Such contributions should be
typed, triple-spaced, on a 60-space
line, and are subject to editing.
Column writers should include
their majors and hometowns; each
letter, should include the writer's
name, address and telephone
number.
JPaiPCOTOire be wasted.
By LYNNE THOMSON
In a town full of joggers and physical-Fitness enthusi
asts, the Parcourse, an 18-station fitness trail at the old
Chapel Hill Country Club golf course, is a great place to
enjoy beautiful scenery while getting in shape.
But the poor condition of the course provides health
enthusiasts a good chance of injuring themselves and
then taking the course's owner, Student Government, to
court.
The possibility of getting hurt on the course is real.
One area where participants are instructed to jog is pit
ted with holes 3 feet wide and more than 2 feet deep. The
holes are so overgrown with grass that a jogger would
not see them until he had already injured himself. Fur
ther, the secluded location of the course means that an
injured runner could spend a long time there before any
one could find him.
The course also includes equipment that would not
hold the weight of someone doing the suggested exercise
and steep gravel areas where one is supposed to jog.
The course is clearly unsafe, and Intramural Director
Ed Shields has acted property in posting a sign warning
potential users to avoid the course. The problem is that
Shields cannot close the course because it belongs to Stu
dent Government. It was bought for $6,600 in 1979 with
student activities fees. "
But the allocation only covered the purchase price of
the course's equipment. The next year, the Campus
Governing Council had to allocate $500 to pay for trans
portation costs; the course equipment had been held for '
six months at Raleigh-Durham Airport until the shipping
charges were paid.
The allocation also did not cover the cost of construct
ing or maintaining the course. It was set up by volunteer
students and members of Delta Tau Delta fraternity,
with help from the Physical Plant.
The lack of maintenance and poor placement of the
stations has led to the present problems, Shields said.
Portions of the course are in areas that stay muddy for a
week after a rainfall, and the layout of the course is er
ratic. In addition, there is a lack of directional signs, and some
one wishing to run the course would have to be clairvoyant
or very industrious to even find some stations.
The Parcourse could be a real asset for Chapel Hill.
Similar courses in Raleigh are very popular, and Shields
said that the course gives a workout that is more com
plete than jogging. The course is in a beautiful wooded
area, free from the dangers and exhaust fumes that
plague runners on city streets. 7
The course should be taken over by the physical
education department, which could use it for physical
education classes. The department could then use the
resources of the Physical Plant to get the course in shape
and its own staff to maintain it. Student Government
does not need to be in the physical fitness course
maintenance business, because it does not have the
equipment nor the protection from liability it would
need.
Physical Education Department Chairman John Bill
ing is planning to tour the course this month with a
representative of the Physical Plant to determine what it
would take to get the course in shape.
The cost of repairs is sure to be high, but administra
tors should remember that much student money and
volumeer work has already been invested in the course.
It would be a shame to tear it up.
Lvnne Thomson, a junior journalism major from Raleigh,
if a staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel.