10n"he Daily Tar Her! 'Friday. November 1 7
Jim Hi'mmkl. i:Jn
Sl'SAN M.M'NEY. Muuxmx M""
Geoffrf.y Mcx:k. .i..v.- lida
Beth Burrell.
Edwina Ralston, t 'iTtiiy nJfc
Rachel Perry. c:y Ma
Charles Herndon. ShivanJNaiiotut Edit
Clifton Barnes. Shw tun
Leah Talley. Am &Hu
Keith King. Ftaums fifow
Scott Sharpe. piMoxnphy eMuv
Ann Peters. sHfcfa
Chuck James, ombudsman
Wat
mxlu
89th year of editorial freedom
Belated honor
When America's Vietnam veterans came home in the early 1970s, they
were not greeted with a traditional heroes' welcome. No parades or
speeches about the glorious defense of a great country's honor. They re
turned to a nation that wanted to forget.
Americans chose to ignore the veteran's nightmares and drug addiction.
They did not want to hear the facts about the survivors: a divorce rate
twice the national average, 50 percent unemployment, more than 50,000
suicides. Almost as many men have taken their own lives as were killed in
combat.
Americans turned the other way in the hopes that maybe the memory
of that botched war on the other side of the world might go away.
America's treatment of those men and women has been a sad epilogue to
the long and senseless story of Vietnam.
America asked the soldiers of Vietnam to fight in a war that was not
popularly supported back home. Nearly nine million Americans served in
Indochina and 57,661 soldiers died. At long last they are about to be
honored by their country. In the last two years the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Fund raised $2.5 million toward its $7 million goal and chose a
design for its national monument.
It will be an unconventional war memorial paying tribute to the dead
of an unconventional war. When the construction is finished on the
Washington Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial, two black granite walls
will intersect in a V-shape. The simple design is poignantly appropriate.
Vietnam does not inspire images of heroic generals on horseback or the
bronzed Marines of the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Next Nov. 11, the monument will be dedicated. In January, they will
begin inscribing the names of the dead and this brief statement: "Our na
tion remembers the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country
of its Vietnam veterans."
Finally, the nation remembers. Hopefully, it will never forget.
Writing good
"I love being a writer," said Peter DeVries. "What I can't stand is the
paperwork." A recent survey reports that, like DeVries, high school and col
lege educators are having difficulty with their paperwork. Two Chicago
researchers have confirmed what many of us have known for years:
Many English teachers are more impressed with verbose, stilted writing
than the clear, concise prose they profess to teach.
In the six-year experiment, each of the 80 participating educators was
asked to rate pairs of student essays that were identical in everything except
linguistic style. One essay of each pair was marked by simple language
and straightforward sentences, the other by wordy language and complex
sentences. The researchers found that the majority of teachers rated the
wordier essays as "better organized, more mature and better supported."
The study also reported that teachers assume that verbal sophistication
reflects clear thinking and profundity. Because of this conclusion, and
other results of the study, the researchers suggested a certain degree of
hypocrisy exists in the profession that supposedly is committed to
teaching clear English.
Predictably, newspaper editorial writers have feasted on the results of
the study and have told English teachers to start practicing what they
preach, as teachers should. But newspapers haven't exactly been faultless
warriors in the battle against poor writing and misuse of the language.
Just last week, this editorial page misused words like "entitled,"
"authored" and "critiqued," as well as participating in the type of pur
ple prose used in the study mentioned previously.
When Maya Angelou, author of the best-selling book Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings, spoke on campus Tuesday night, she urged her audience
to read as much as they could. Angelou has given sound advice: One of
the best methods to improve one's writing is to read good writing.
The English teachers who participated in the Chicago study and in
deed, many of the English teachers on this campus would do well to
heed the advice of Angelou and another pretty good author, Henry
David Thoreau who said, "Simplify, simplify."
Sports c.oTULpcft services
By JONATHAN TALCOTT
To improve the cohesion in the Univer
sity's athletic programs, the Sports Club
Council's relationship with the physical
education and athletic departments should
be examined and possibly changed. By
strengthening the relationship with the
University's official sports programs, the
SCC could gain increased access to services
and facilities, becoming a more important
factor in Carolina athletics.
oca ley
, The SCC, a student run body involving
about 500 people participating in over 20
sports, has been looking for aid from the
University's athletic programs for five
years. Attempted integration into the P.E.
department has been one option that has
tried and failed both in the past and
recently. The same type of an arrangment
with the athletic department has not been
tried though both bodies could benefit
from it.
A close relationship with the P.E. de
partment would seem at first glance to be
-extremely desirable for the SCC. Robert
Frye, assistant to the director of In
tramurals and the laison to the SCC, said
there were several foreseeable advantages
that the P.E. department had to offer the
SCC. "We could give the SCC higher
priority on facilities, help them to get
equipment at good prices, and offer them
the use of office space." Frye said.
SCC president Alison Pentz tends to
agree with Frye that there are some advan
tages, but she contends the benefits to the
council are not worth the sacrifices.
Pentz explained that she had worked di
ligently over the summer months to ar
range for a closer association between the
SCC and the P.E. department. She added
the advantages cited by P.E. department
officials were never clearly guaranteed to
the SCC should the sports clubs decide to
merge with physical education sports.
"When I asked for specifics on office space,
storage facilities, equipment priority, and
secretarial services, they (P.E. officials)
were unwilling to give us any guarantees,"
Pentz said. "If someone is not going to
possibly be used as a place to develop new
intercollegiate sports." "(Using the SCC to
develop new sports) could be a good idea
under certain circumstances," Swofford
said. "We presently have 26 intercollegiate
sports that are evenly divided between men
and women. We are also stretched finan
cially. So at the present, it would be finan
cially impractical for us to consider and
very difficult for us to do."
" We could give the SCC higher priority on facilities, help them to
get equipment at good prices, and offer them the use of office
space."
Robert Frye
give us specifics, it would not be worth the
risk to get involved with something we are
not sure of."
Pentz also cited the disadvantages of gd
ing under administration's control. "At
present, the SCC is one of the few com
pletely autonomous groups on campus,"
Pentz said. "We have $25,000 and we have
four students who get to say how that
money is spent. If we were to merge with
the P.E. department, they (would) want to
have an administrator oversee our budget.
We do not want them to have an adminis
trator to say how we can and cannot use
our money." '
Pentz is not the first one to try to gain
benefits for the SCC through the P.E. de
partment. In 1979, when the SCC first
received funding through the IM-Rec fee,
the P.E. department discussed the possibi
lity of a merger with then SCC President
Seth Ahlborn. After a few drawn-out dis
cussions, the SCC and the P.E. depart
ment found themselves at a impasse over
student autonomy and control. -
If the sports clubs were to come under
the authority of the athletic program, they
would have use of all facilities presently
controlled by athletics. Field priority
would also be improved by an arrange
ment with the athletic department.
The SCC is an important group because
of the necessary service that it performs for
more than 500 members of the University
community. However, the Council and the
school would benefit in many ways if the
SCC was either merged with the P.E. or
athletic departments. The SCC is presently
given $25,000 from the IM-Rec fee each
year to budget as it wishes. Perhaps some
of these funds could be used to support the
club if it went under the athletic depart-,
ment's authority. Alternatively, the SCC
could try to pin the P.E. department down
on specific benefits they would receive
should the SCC arrange a merger with the
Intramural offices.
Both Pentz and administration officials
see the advantages and disadvantages of a
new relationship. If Shields would offer
"If we were to merge with the P.E. department, they (would)
want to have an administrator oversee our budget. We do not
want them to have an administrator to say how we can and can
not use our money. '
. Alison Pentz
DIH lite photo
UNC rugby club is an active member of the SCC
SCC relationship with other sports programs debated
Ed Shields, Director of the Intramural
program, said of the attempts made in 1 979
that student control is the main reason
why the SCC is not part of the PE. depart
ment right now.
Another option for the SCC to pursue
would be to establish a financial or admi
nistrative tie with the athletic department.
Director John Swofford said the SCC could
the SCC the autonomy it wants and if
Pentz continues to clearly define the ser
vices that the SCC needs for its teams,
then the merger that could benefit all con
cerned could take place.
Jonathan Talcott, a sophomore English
and history major from Litchfield Conn.,
is a staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel.
St
aie
off
icials work to block tobacco tax
By JIM HUMMEL
' 'It 's as if we didn 't have enough problems these days
with Congress almost cutting out the tobacco price sup
ports now they want to raise the federal tax on ciga
rettes. You just can't win."
John Cyrus, N.C. Department of Agriculture.
Mention the possibility of increasing the tax on a pack
of cigarettes to farmers or state officials in North Caro
lina and you'll probably get a similar reaction to that of
Cyrus, who heads the tobacco affairs division for the ag
riculture department.
With the likelihood of the Reagan Administration's
achieving a balanced budget in the next few years fading
quickly, several congressional leaders and administration
officials have suggested the possibility of increasing the '
federal tax on cigarettes to generate additional revenue.
While the proposal is still in the discussion stage, strong
opposition from state officials to such a plan is already
ringing loud and clear. Considering the impact an addi- '
tional tax would have on North Carolina's economy, the
reaction is not surprising.
"Many states already have high cigarette taxes,"
Cyrus said. "A higher tax would seriously affect con
sumption and most tobacco states would see a downturn
in revenue."
For North Carolina the effects would be clear: The
state currently grows two-thirds of all flue-cured tobacco
in the United States (the main tobacco used in cigarettes),
manufactures one-half of all cigarettes and accounts for
43 percent of all grown tobacco. One-third of the state's
total agricultural revenue is generated by tobacco.
However, officials in both Raleigh and Washington
seem to agree that a cigarette tax increase largely hinges
on the success or failure of President Ronald Reagan's
economic program. "The proposal (for a tax increase) is
in an early stage now and one thing that I think might
work heavily against it is that Reagan doesn't want to in
crease taxes of any type right now," Cyrus said. "The
plan would go against the whole concept of his economic
program."
Gary Pearce, press secretary to Gov. Jim Hunt, said
the Reagan Administration would not be in a very strong
position to propose a tax increase, even though tobacco
has traditionally been an easy target.
state
"Reagan's people are now admitting that the tax cut
just passed was too large and now they want to raise other
taxes," Pearce said. "They admit the first tax cut was
intended to benefit the rich and that (the tobacco tax)
would be regressive and hurt the poor. So it's just not
rhetoric to be upset by any proposal to add a federal tax
to tobacco," he said.
Currently, the federal tax on cigarettes is eight cents
per pack, with state taxes ranging anywhere from two
cents per pack in North Carolina to 21 cents in Illinois.
"The average tax across the 50 states is 13 cents," Cyrus
said. "But in many states it goes much higher."
Because North Carolina has the lowest cigarette tax of
any state in the nation, some people have suggested an
increase on the local level to help offset some of the bud
get problems the Tar Heel state has had on its own.
Earlier this year, when Hunt was trying to find addi
tional sources of revenue for the state, an increased to
bacco tax was briefly mentioned, along with increases on
gasoline and alcohol taxes. Given the attitude of the
General Assembly though it is not surprising that such a
plan failed to generate much support. Cyrus said even if
a tax increase on cigarettes were to pass, it would not
help the state in the long run.
"It would be counterproductive and just not econo
mically feasible," Cyrus said. "An increase in the tax
would set off a round of price increases throughout the
nation, which would come right back to the state. You
would lose more money than you gained by the tax," he
added.
In light of the Reagan administration's recent budget
slashing, it is apparent that tobacco is going to be open
to attack in the coming years, whether it be in the form
of an increased cigarette tax or elimination of price sup
ports. For that reason both state officials and North
Carolina officials in Washington are trying to prepare
for the attack when it comes.
"Obviously, tobacco is open to attack," said Ann
Browder, assistant to the president of the Tobacco Insti
tute in Washington. "I don't think anyone thinks that
cigarettes should not be open to taxation. But I think
taxing to control an individual's habit by pinching his
pocket is wrong," she said.
"At this point an increased tax seems a long way off,
given the signals we've gotten," she said. "But it's diffi
cult to believe anything that's being said in Washington
these'days so we just wait and see."
Jim Hummel, a senior journalism and political science
major from Grafton, Mass., is editor of The Daily Tar
Heel.
Nuclear arms race heightens threat of war
By ANN PETERS
The threat of nuclear war, by calculation or miscal
culation, is a real and present danger. Europeans have
spoken out by the hundreds of thousands through
demonstrations in London, Rome, Brussels and Paris.
Their main concern: Europe will become a nuclear
battlefield.
Perhaps they are aware of things that most Ameri
cans are ignoring. U.S. and Soviet leaders are deter
mined to win a race that has no winner. Whether the
nuclear arms gap is an actuality or a perception is
hard to say. Is it possible that in the attempt to deal
from a position of strength, as President Reagan says
is a necessity, that we will bring on a nuclear con
frontation? The more money we spend on arms, particularly
nuclear weapons, the less secure we tend to think we
are against other nations, especially the Soviets, and
the closer we come to the brink of our destruction by
a nuclear war. '
A game is being played with the lives of millions of
people. And the game is based on the idea that the
leaders of all the nations will act rationally in the
event of incidents misinterpreted as threats of a nu
clear confrontation. But in a high-stress situation, ra
tionality is lost in all the confusion.
The introduction of the U.S.-Soviet treaty by the
U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency states:
"Despite the most elaborate precautions, it is concei
vable that technical malfunction or human failure, a
misinterpreted incident or unauthorized action, could
trigger a nuclear disaster or nuclear war." The Navy
has a variety of terms for possible accidents
nucflash, broken arrow, bent spear, dull sword, fad
ed giant. Between 1950 and 1980, 32 accidents were
reported by the Department of Defense.
Is it true that the United States and the Soviet
Union are not the only countries with nuclear arms
or the ability to produce them. India, China, Britain
and France exploded nuclear weapons in recent
years. Other nations are expected to have nuclear
weapons by 1991.
If these nations acquire weapons, though possibly
aware of the dangers of a nuclear confrontation, the
threat for a total war will increase. It would not be a
war to gain the property of the other nations or to
subdue them. Destruction would be the purpose, per
haps mutual destruction once the other nation has
the power to strike back.
Et
large
Scientists estimate between 70 million and 160 mil
lion Americans would die in a nuclear war 20 mil-,
lion to 30 million more if the Soviets launched an at
tack also directed against urban centers. The U.S.
population is 226 million, meaning that 30 percent to
70 percent of the population would die immediately.
Within 30 days of the actual attack, more people will
die from disease and lack of medical care and food.
The death estimates are the immediate concerns.
But long-term environmental disruption would ac
company a nuclear war.
Public awareness and consciousness of the possi
bilities and effects of a nuclear exchange are drastic
cally needed at this time. The public should also over
come the fear that events are beyond its control. Peo
ple, with considerable influence over national issues,
can turn anger and concern into power.
As Albert Einstein said, "We must never relax our
efforts to arouse in the people of the world, and es
pecially in their governments, an awareness of the
unprecedented disaster which they are absolutely cer
tain to bring on themselves unless there is a funda
mental change in their attitudes toward one another
as well as in their concept of the future. The un
leashed power of the atom has changed everything
except our way of thinking
Increasing nuclear arms defies rational thinking
and understanding of an arms race's potential des
tructive power. Americans seem to be in a trance, not
realizing that they are on a course of self-destruction.
Once a war is begun, civil defense administrators
will have no hope for protecting millions in the
United States. The only real protection is to stop the
possibility of such a nuclear confrontation before it
becomes a reality.
Races are acceptable when we are dealing with
horses, track competitions and greyhounds. But an
arms race creates an air of paranoia and irrationality.
Dr. Howard Hiatt, of Harvard University's School
of Public Health has said, "War must be dealt with
as. an unbeatable epidemic for which , there is only
one approach that of prevention." .
Americans should adhere to the words on a memo
rial at Hiroshima: "Rest in Peace for the mistake will
not be repeated." If a nuclear confrontation oc
curred, by technological failure, human error or fore
thought, there would be no chance to correct the mis
take to give back the lives of millions.
The problem has been identified. Nuclear war is
potentially the most destructive force ever used by
nations against each other. People must gain a better
understanding of the magnitude and implications of
a nuclear war. Only then can the alternative of peace
by truly realized.
Ann Peters, a junior journalism and political science
major from North Miami Beach, Fla., is Spotlight
editor for The Daily Tar Heel.
x.jcJ