North Carolina Newspapers

8The Daily Tar HeelFridav. October 72. 1982 It r-Tm i iTTr sig (Bar 0i .year of editorial freedom John Drescher. Editor Ann Peters. Maturing Editor m i i Kerry DeRochi. ari Rachel Perry. VnhvniiyEduc ALAN CHAPPLE. City Editor JlM WRINN. Stoff and National Editor Linda Robertson. Spom Editor Laura Seifert. Editor KEHbmGS,Assoaate Editor Elaine McClatchey. promts Editor Susan Hudson. Features Editor Leah Talley. & Teresa Curry. Weekend Edit AL STEELE. Photography Editor (S)pot shots It is an unfortunate fact that the average voter is now acquiring most of his information about a campaign from television commercials. In cam- , paigns that should rely on debate, TV ads simply do not provide the ac curate information or depth needed to make an informed decision. The wave of distorted, negative ads that originated in the 1980 campaign and have continued are good evidence that either TV ads should be changed, or voters should dismiss them as the worthless propaganda that they are. In May the Republican Party had actors pose as former President Jim my Carter and House Speaker Tip O'Neill. The actors laughed with ob vious pleasure when a bespectacled attorney read a last will and testament that said how the Democrats had left President Ronald Reagan with a recession, high inflation and rising gas prices. At best it was a commercial done in poor taste that stretched well past any decent bounds of truth. : Closer to home, one need only watch the TV ads of congressional can didate Bill Cobey to see the more conventional form of campaign ads that distort issues and voting records. In an attempt to paint opponent Ike Andrews, D-N.C, as a free-spending liberal, one ad says that Andrews yoted against a balanced budget bill seven times. That is true. But five of the bills were so extreme that they would have sliced more than $60 million off the federal budget and substantially cut programs like Social Security and Medicare. The votes clearly were taken out of the voting environment. Even a Cobey aide said, "Nowhere does (the ad) imply that Cobey would have voted 'yes' on all of them." The purpose of the ad was only to make a candidate look like something he is not. Many Democratic organizations across the country have adopted the same type of distorted advertising. Those commercials show the shallowness of television and how inade quate the medium can be. Television provides action, movement and im ages, but frequently provides no depth. Short television commercials compound television's inadequacies. Television commercials and their influence, however, are here to stay. Reforms, such as requiring candidates to represent themselves on their commercials, could be enacted to increase candidates' accountability. Political television commercials may cost a great deal, but as they are now, many are worthless to the voter. ;. Dope croppers? Many North Carolinians might be a little surprised this week when they pick up the Oct. 25 issue of Newsweek magazine. The cover story is titled, -. "Guns, Grass and Money," and pictures a man wearing a red ski mask standing in the middle of a field of marijuana. In one hand, he holds a pitchfork; in the other, an M-16 rifle. The caption below him reads "North Carolina Farmer." But because only a small part of the story is about North Carolina, the cover is more than a little bit misleading. North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham, who said he would sue Newsweek if he could, has a right to be angry about the cover, as do North Carolina farmers. The cover gives the state a bad image for what turns out to be only a small part of the cover story. It wrongly im plies that the Tar Heel state is deeply involved in growing marijuana as a cash crop. Tobacco, yes. Marijuana, no. . The caption on the Newsweek cover gives readers a wrong impression in two ways. First, it can easily be interpreted to mean that many of the state's legitimate farmers are heavily involved in growing marijuana! That may be true for some farmers, t?ut for a small minority. In additiop, the Newsweek cover leads readers to believe that North Carolina is one of the most productive marijuana-growing states in the country. There ire 21 other states, however, that grow more of the illegal crop than North Carolina. Yet, Newsweek chose to emphasize a "North Carolina Farmer" on its cover. , ' The cover is also misleading because it gives readers the impression that much of the story content is about North Carolina. It isn't. In fact,, in the eight-page article only the first five paragraphs deal with North Carolina, and then the subject involves only one marijuana farmer in one part of the state. Instead of labeling the cover figure as a North Carolina farmer, jews week simply could have called him a "marijuana" farmer and left his location out of the caption. That would have better illustrated the main emphasis of the story. Readers expect more out of the second-largest news magazine in the country than a misleading cover '. - -A. . . i 'TV-, O-, At zr , is?a? p As in xJ i - v ml THAT im BH WHAT KSTAYIN(5 M COURSE ' LETTERS TO THE EDITOR iberals have their PACs L To the editor: Keith Bradsher, in his letter "Questions for Cobey" (The Daily far Heel, Oct. t8), has raised some interesting questions to which I, too, would like to know the answers, corKsrning campaign financing. While we await the answers, I would like to comment on two of the ques tions. ' . '-v.'-' ' Bradsher asks, "Is , it true that an overwhelming percentage of the Cobey's campaign funding comes from outside the 4th District? ' . What have political ac tion committees done to put Cobey in contact with Texan and Southern Californian millionaires in the first place?" Bradsher evidently feels it is reprehensible for a can didate to receive money and support from outside his own electorate. Or does he feel it is wrong only for such outside aid to come to Bill Cobey? I was an undergraduate in New England in 1972. Students at my college and others in the region were exten sively recruited to go to New Hampshire and tell the citizens of that state that their convention delestion should vote for George McGovern remember him?). - Stewart Mott is well known for his hefty financial con tributions to candidates all over the nation who agree with his own liberal views, including McGovern. In New Hampshire, again, the Democrat-dominated (at that time) U.S. Senate overturned the certified election of a Republican to the Senate and ordered a new campaign, in which the huge monetary and in-kind contributions of big labor from all over the country proved decisive in electing the Democrat. I do not wish to start a historical dispute, as I am sure such practices can be traced back to the Greeks. But, speaking from my own observation, I saw "outside in terference" on behalf of Democrats and liberals for many years before I saw Republicans and conservatives mount ing a comparable response. My point is that while one may deplore or support "outside interference" as an abstract stand, the public should pay no attention to finger-pointing on this issue from those with obvious partisan axes to grind. : Nationwide direct-mail campaigns have already begun, soliciting money for political action committees who are ' dedicated to unseating Republican Sen. Jesse Helms in 1982. Unprecedented sums of money are going to be pouring into North Carolina from all over the country in support of this effort. Ron Knight 510 Craige DSM coverage unfair Totheeditor: Thank you Daily Tar Heel for once again giving the Black Student Movement front page coverage with "Jenkins resigns over fight with BSM leaders," (77f, Oct. 20). Hooray! By why does it always have to be when there seems to be some disagreement within the organization? If the DTH is going to cover the BSM on the front page, I'd like to read an article on their upcoming Homecoming activities or their many cultural activities. My opinion is that the DTH hopes to present to its readers an organization that is always in constant unrest or disagreement internally. Well DTH readers, the newspaper is wrong. Let's try to get the right picture in the future! Sheila Miller v 722 Hinton James Academics and athletics Totheeditor: October 12. University Day. A day to reaffirm the -Keagan m Raleigh values that have made our University great. Two long lines of members of the University community attesting to these values: one to participate for an hour or so in the University Day ceremonies at Memorial Hall; the other to stand, sit or lie for hours and even days in order to get a good seat at the North Carolina State football game. The first line celebrates the values of education, inquiry, and service to the improvement of humanity.- The other indi cates the high value placed on athletics. ' I would like to see a positive side to the above juxtaposi tion: that education and pleasure both are important in the University. But when the latter takes precedence to the extent that students are willing to cut two days' worth of classes and risk additional lost time from illness due to poor sleeping and eating and exposure to the elements, the primary mission of the University has been subverted. Both the students and the athletic department, , whose . policies . reward such anti-education behavior, deserve criticism for this state of affairs. There must be an im mediate change in ticket distribution policies, perhaps to the random distribution method used for basketball. We must prevent any future instances of the long lines, missed classes and morning-after debris that have marred this week of annual rededication of the University to its highest purposes. M. Richard Cramer Sociology department Upset over towing Totheeditor: . I am a resident physician at North Carolina Memorial Hospital.. I parked my car in the S-6 lot to which I am assigned when I arrived at work on Friday morning, Sept. 24. 1 did not move my car that evening because I had on call duties at the hospital .Friday night; under such cir cumstrances one is usually unable to leave, the hospital hefore 1 1 a,m. the following day. Imagine my outrage when I learned that cars belonging to hospital personnel were being towed to other areas, . without the owners' knowledge or consent, in order to create parking spaces for football game spectators. I realize that sports are big business at UNC-CH, and I have pride, like any other Tar Heel, in our nationally- recognized teams. I realize that Rams' Club members make outstanding contributions to this University. I acknowledge that UNC has a responsibility to be a good host to the thousands of fans who flock to Chapel Hill on ; game weekends to witness Tar Heel victories. But the buck stops there. Health professionals on duty at NCMH, when they are able to leave after a night on-call, don't deserve the inconvenience and expense of locating and claiming a towed car that was parked in accordance with University regulations the day before. I have no objection to roping off certain lots for use of football game spectators. I have no objection to asking employees to park in alternate locations on game Satur days. But I object vehemently to the wholesale towing of cars when those cars obviously cause no hardship or in convenience to game-goers. I consider the towing that took place on Saturday a travesty and outrage, a ludicrous and asinine action that gives absolutely no consideration to individuals employed at North Carolina Memorial Hospital. Sports are truly king at UNC-CH on football Satur - days. - v' Stevens K. McCombs, M.D. - North Carolina Memorial Hospital By DA VI D McKINNON Going to see a president make a campaign speech may be the equivalent of going to the State Fair when you're a kid sort of an American tradition. I got to see President Jimmy Carter one time when he came to Wilson, and between the balloons and the blown-up rhetoric it was a real show, and it was only August. When President Ronald Reagan comes to Raleigh Tuesday a week before Election Day the huckstering will make the pitch men at the State Fair seem like, a bunch of Sunday school teachers with Bibles taped to both hands. And the president should be feeling as much at home as he can right now. In a hard-td-predict election ! year that is supposed to be a referendum on Reaganomics, the president is being politely steered clear of some states like California, his real home state where the economy is not thought to be a big plus for Republican candidates. In North Carolina, though, Reagan probably is still as welcome as your grandma, . especially among Republicans Helms Republicans: North Carolina and Helms have been good to Reagan. The state gave him his first primary victory over President Gerald Ford in 1976 and a big majority over Carter in 1980. Plus, nobody's getting very far saying Reagan has had to retreat from his conservative stands in the last two years with Helms loyally guard ing his right flank on issues like abortion and school 'prayer.-- . The president will be on the platform with people who share a .taste with him for campaigns with some tang to them, unlike the bland moderates who populate the Republican National Committee in Washington. There'll be some old-fashion whoopin' and hollerin' and ninnin' down of the Democrats in Raleigh on Tuesday; you can bet on that. In fact, it would be a little bit of overkill for the president to be scheduling a campaign stop in Raleigh just to campaign for Bill Cobey, the local Helms sponsored congressional candidate, especially after what Ike Andrews, Cobey's incumbent Democratic opponent, has done to his re-election chances himself with his DUI arrest last month. Even if Andrews had a realistic chance before the arrest and a lot of people thought he was going to lose anyway there doesn't seem to be any way he can pull it out now, especially given the smooth-ninning Cobey campaign. Cobey was able even before the DUI to turn the race into a referendum on Andrews by subtly shifting public focus on Andrews past problems with cam paign contribution rules and speed limits, and his perceived problem of being a "tag-along" in the Democratic party. Cobey was able to do all this not just because his own campaign is going to be the 'most well-financed in the state this year around $500,000 but because of his own nice-guy image, doubtless due to the fact that he really is a nice guy. With Cobey stronger than the smell of canned cat food right now, the president probably is coming because Republican strategists think with a Reagan visit, they can turn the rest of Eastern North Carolina into some kind of last roundup of the other incumbent Democratic congressmen. They probably think the ef fect of the Andrews incident also will spill over into neighboring districts in the East especially Rep. Charley Whitley's 3rd District, where a former Viet nam POW, Eugene "Red" McDaniel, is running a pretty strong underdog campaign, spending more than $250,000 so far. But the president's record may be just as valuable to the other Republican challengers, in North Carolina as, well as elsewhere. In the final analysis, most people who vote this year are going to vote on inflation more" than on unemployment, because that's what touches more people. And one thing Reaganomics has done is slow inflation. Nationally, a lot of people probably are going to look at the other Reagan economic liability, the recession, as the price we have to pay for the economic dislocation of the last few years. The high rates of apathetic and undecided voters this late in the campaign seem to reflect that the best pitch the Democrats could make hasn't scored many points, so it seems unlikely that the Republicans will lose more than 32 seats in the House of Representatives this fall, the average loss in midterm elections for the incum bent president's party. Step right up and see the Amazing Reagan, ladies and gentlemen! Folks just can't seem to get enough of him! David McKinnon is a second-year law student from Wadesboro. ' ' ' . U.S. may step up involvement m By CHIP WILSON More Marines may be going to Lebanon. That's what President Ronald Reagan hinted at during his meeting, with Lebanese leader Amin Gemayel at the White House Tuesday. The official word remains that Reagan will give "serious consideration" to Lebanon's request for a beefed-up peacekeeping force, which means more Americans should be added to the contingent of 3,400 U.S., French and Italian troops already patrolling the streets. Gemayel didn't talk numbers. But other Lebanese officials have stated as many as 20,000 troops will be needed to help protect the citizens of that war-torn nation at least until the last Syrian, Israeli and .Palestinian fighter is withdrawn. That may take, a while, Israel and Lebanon can't agree on the date of the withdrawal, nor on terms. The biggest stumbling block remains in a security agreement Israel wants Lebanon to sign as a condition for the withdrawal of its forces. Gemayel con tends such a pact would offend other Arab leaders, whose financial support he needs to build his fledgling government. Besides, with a peacekeeping force of so many soldiers, who needs a security agreement? GemayePs patience with Israel, the na tion he originally hailed as liberating Lebanon from its Palestine Liberation Organization captors, has worn to its last thread. The Lebanese now regard the Israelis as occupiers, who, perhaps, might be strong-armed into leaving with a little help from friends 20,000 of them. Trouble in EI Sslvsdor In another world hotspot, rebel leaders launched appeals for talks to tend the 12-day guerrilla offensive that has engulf ed most of El Salvador. getting government leaders' attention. Previous calls for a summit, issued at least once a day, have been ignored. Until now. . " No Halloween? Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, long the target of spite and satire for her stabs at gaining public attention garnered little criticism from colleagues and constituents THE WEEK IN REVIEW Jorge Melendez, who led intensive bat tles in El Salvador's Morazon Province against government troops early this week, now is leading : the call for a dialogue. In fact, the primary object of their offensive was getting the govern ment leaders to the bargaining tible, not to achieve a big military victory. Their chances of doing that have been hampered ; by the 5,000 government troops unsuccessful attempts at gradual, whittling away their enclaves in several villages. The government soldiers best ef forts, boosted by y.S.-provided warplanes, have thus fax failed. V Melendez says the guerrillas would not lay down their weapons until the govern ment restores the land and banking reforms instituted by the liberal army of ficers who overthrew the government of Carlos Romero in October 1979. The rebels scored their bissest coup in for suggesting the cancellation of Hallo ween in the Windy City. The Tylenol killings prompted that decision, as officials in Chicago and many other cities expressed concern over the chance of more copycat poisonings. This has doubled the fear over what never has failed to be a dangerous holiday. Mayor Byrne said more than 1 million fliers would go to churches, schools and libraries to urge children and parents not to allow trick-or-treating. But the town council in Dudley, Mass., took that a step; further and voted to make candy collec tion a criminal offense. "There's kind of a sick situation right now," , village chairman Bernard J. Wielock told The Associated Press. "It is the atmosphere around the world. It is sad." Meanwhile, state and federal officials have "good, tangible leads" in their at tempts to track down the man whose fingerprints were found on a threatening letter sent to the makers of Tylenol. Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner has identified James W. Lewis of Chicago as the prime suspect in the poisonings which claimed the lives of seven Illinois residents. . Cokor convictions It wasn't Halloween when former state legislator Ron Taylor took $1,550 in bribe money, but the culprits were disguised nonetheless. Taylor was sentenced to five years in U.S. District Court Tuesday for accep ting a bribeTrom what turned out to be a federal undercover agent. The charges stemmed from the FBI's investigation of corruption in Columbus County, codenamed Colcor. Federal grand juries have been handing down indictments on charges related to the probe, the most re cent of which came Wednesday. The 30-year-old Elizabethtown Democrat also faces a 40-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to unrelated charges , in the burning of warehouses owned by State Sen. J.J. Harrington. Harrington was a business competitor of Taylor's. Y :- ., - The Colcor investigation also turned up arson charges of its own. Three people were arrested Wednesday on charges of conspiring to defraud a St. Paul, Minn, fire insurance firm by deliberately setting a warehouse on fire. None of the most recent charges went to public officials. But the Colcor probe has implicated a large number of state . i jay i and municipal leaders. Former Columbus County commissioner Edward Walton Williamson pleaded guilty Monday to bribery. He was sentenced to 10 years. State District Court Judge J Wilton Hunt of Whiteville also is awaiting trial on bribery and racketering charges. , The investigation resulted from com plaints lodged by a Whiteville businessman who said Columbus officials may have been involved in racketeering. The first indictments were handed down in July, at which time FBI Special Agent Robert Pence announced more would come on other crimes including narcotics violations, possession of stolen property and counterfeiting. Sounds like a fun county. Tougher honor court - Look out the window the next time you get the urge to look over your classmate's shoulder. During 1981-82, 74 percent of students found guilty of academic viola tions either were suspended or expelled the highest such rate since 1955, when 75 percent of offenders received that sanc tion. That high figure resulted from a 1978 restructuring of the sanctioning laws set down in The Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, Ann Bowden, assis tant dean for student life, said Tuesday. Those new rules require that all students found guilty of cheating be suspended,' unless there are special cir cumstances justifying a lighter sanction. The new suspension and expulsion rate shows a significant increase from such years as 1978-79, when the conviction rate was 44 percent and 1973-74 with 0 per cent. Chip Wilson, a senior journalism and political science major from Gastonia, is an editorial assistant of The Daily Tar Heel.