Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 1, 1982, edition 1 / Page 4
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4The Daily Tar HeelWodnesday. December 1, 1982 90th year of editorial freedom John Drescher. Editor Ann Peters, Mmi; Editor KEN'MINGIS. Associate Editor Rac:hel Perry, University Edit Lucy Hood. aty Editor JIM VRMH, Suite and N,itiotud Editor S. L . Price. Spom Editor Laura Seifert. n Editor Linda Robertson. Associate Editor ELAINE MCCLATCHEY. Projects Editor SUSAN HUDSON, Features Editor LEAH T ALLEY, Arts Editor Teresa Curry, weekend Editor t AL STEELE Photography Editor Frozen out State legislators do strange things sometimes, apparently to baffle their consti tuents. But when they banned the use of outside sources to help pay professors salaries, they bewildered us like they never have before. This is the puzzling picture: because of a tight state budget, this summer the N.C. General Assembly froze all state salaries, which includes faculty members at all state institutions. Although regrettable, given the current budget restraints a freeze was probably unavoidable. But the legislators went a step further. In an effort to make sure that no salary increases were given, the legislators blocked not only pay raises from state funds, but also from all other sources, including research grants from private and federal sources and receipts from hospital clinics. So if the U.S. Government wants to donate money to increase salaries at UNC, the University cannot accept the money. Why did the legislators do this? "The short of it," said Rep. J. Allen Adams, "is that we messed up, and we should correct it." But other legislators still back the restricting provision. They cling to the belief that no state employee should get. a raise in his current job if other state employees do not. In taking this position, they are foolishly letting overly rigid principle damage the best interests of this state. The UNC School of Medicine provides the best example. Because private practices generally pay far better, the school already was in a difficult position in keeping its talent from leaving. The freeze has made it even more difficult. About 12 faculty members recently have left the medical school and cited the freeze as one of the main reasons for their departures. These are some of the best faculty members the University has, the people who will teach the future genera tions of doctors in this state; Other academic sectors of the University communi ty which face stiff competition from the private sector are having the same pro blem. The legislature should seek not to reduce outside aid, but to increase it. Any aid from non-state sources reduces the strain on the state budget and makes teaching positions more attractive to the best professionals in the country. If the state is to build and continue to advance educationally and economically, the state must have top-quality professors. The legislature will get its chance in January to repeal its puzzling and destructive limitation of outside funds to help pay professors' salaries. And justice for all? By LINDA ROBERTSON Alex Charns has long, curly hair and a passion for surfing. He is opinionated and outspoken H- m attended the University of California at Berkeley. And on March 27, Charns stood in the road leading into Fort Bragg as a protest against the training of Salvadoran troops there. He was arrested for impeding traf fic. For the N.C. Board of Law Ex aminers, that last fact provided the justification it desperately needed to keep Charns, a UNC Law School graduate, from practicing in this state. In September, a three-member panel interviewed Charns to determine if he was morally fit to be a lawyer. The board ruled he lacked the qualifications of "general character and general fitness re quisite for an attorney" and denied him admission into the bar. Apparently the panel did not catch the irony of the situation. Charns' stead fastness in standing up for his personal principles, even in the face of certain punishment, demonstrates moral convic tion, not the contrary. That Charns had the courage, dedication and integrity to suffer the consequences of his beliefs constitutes the highest degree of ethical behavior. "I can't see any legal basis for their decision," said Charns, 26, a native of Livonia, Mich. "Most people don't find me immoral for protesting U.S. foreign policy. The board simply did not agree with my political beliefs. I think it hap pened out of ignorance and fearfulness." Charns has appealed the ruling and goes before the three original panel members plus eight others today. As far as anyone can tell, Charns' case is unique. Never before in North Carolina has a law school graduate been denied admittance into the bar because of civil disobedience. "I've been in the state civil liberties union a long time and I've never seen anything like this," said Daniel Pollitt, a UNC Law School professor. "During the '60s, two students arrested during a dime store sit-in were told to go before a grievance committee. But they were ad mitted. In the early '50s, a man was ar rested for violation of the Neutrality Act for recruiting people to fight for loyalist Spain. He was also admitted. Usually it takes a record of fraud, deceit or theft to deny someone a license." Charns also cited a case earlier, this year in which a Buncombe County man who had been arrested in a Barnwell, S.C., nuclear waste protest was admit ted. In California, a man arrested on several occasions for civil disobedience is now an attorney. . Charns is in good company. Henry David Thoreau regarded civil disobed ience as a moral obligation and duty. Saint Thomas Aquinas practiced it in the 13th century. The Quakers of colonial America refused to pay military taxes, abolitionists disobeyed the Fugitive Slave Law during the 1850s, and in 1872 Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting before it was legal for women. Charns can .also count Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. among his predecessors. "The board did ask me a couple good questions about civil disobedience," Charns said. "I also told them my grand father was convicted of high treason against the Third Reich for smuggling Jews out of Poland. I explained that my family history had something to do with my beliefs and actions. But they didn't seem to care." When Charns moved to Chapel Hill from the more progressive atmosphere of Santa Barbara, it took him awhile to ad just, politically and culturally. After the rigorous first year of law school, he had more time to devote to activism. He was second year class president of the Stu dent Bar Association; he organized pro tests when the FBI and Shell Oil Co. recruited on campus; and in the wake of the Greensboro shootout between Ku KIux Klan, Nazi Party and Community Workers Party members, he founded the Coalition for Social Justice. Now he faces his greatest challenge yet. "I've been faced with situations I wouldn't have encountered in Califor nia," Charns said. "This whole ordeal has taught me a lot about survival and how politics really works." Charns' activist past was of particular interest to the board. "They intimated I belonged to certain subversive organizations," he said. "What does that have to do with my fitness to practice law?" By deliberately distorting the issue, like the House Un-American Activities Committee did 30 years ago, the panel reduced the entire interview to nothing more than a political inquisition. Charns also has what the rank and file might consider unorthodox views about the legal profession. He doesn't think the American system of justice works. "It is flawed because you have to pur chase justice," Charns said. "Only peo ple with money can get a fair shake when it comes to justice." That belief has shaped Charns' career goal of doing criminal and civil rights work for indigents. Charns made the most of a bad situation when he went to jail in June, a rare sentence for a first time offender. At the Sampson County jail, known as one of the worst facilities in the state, Charns drew up asimple list of demands on behalf of the inmates, in cluding several migrant workers. They were denied such things as soap, clean towels and the right to make phone calls. Charns was moved to a Petersburg, Va., prison for the remainder of the 10 days he served of his three-month sentence. 4 "Alex just responds very strongly to what he thinks is wrong," said second year law student Polly Passonneau, who also attended the Fort Bragg protest and organized a petition drive for Charns. "Even people diametrically opposed to Alex's Beliefs signed the petition when they realized something much larger is at stake." Specifically in question is the screening process all law graduates ( must go through. J When those convicted of possession of drugs or drunk driving are admitted while one with a minor traffic offense is not, it is an indication that the board needs clear-cut standards rather than prejudicial discretion. The hypocrisy of the Charns' case is reflected in the fact that attorneys tem porarily disbarred for embezzlement, forgery and other ethical offenses are practicing today while Charns may never get the chance. Only a warped double standard of justice is keeping Charns out, because his political ideology ' doesn't jibe with that of the good 'ole boy network. Their decision only fuels widespread contempt for the law profes sion. "Even my father hates lawyers," Charns said. "I would like the public to respect lawyers, but only if they deserve it." Numerous people have vouched for Charns' character, including the dean of the law school, various professors, his probation : officer and Adam Stein, North Carolina appellate defender, whom Charns worked for one summer. He goes into the hearing with "qualified optimism." The board has a chance to redeem itself and prove that its initial decision was just an aberration. By speaking out, Charns has exposed ine quities that he and others can change. North Carolina needs a lawyer like Alex Charns, someone concerned enough to shape the world, instead of letting it shape him. Linda Robertson, a senior English and journalism major from Miami, Fla., is associate editor of The Daily Tar Heel. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR pay pruieswrs salaries. r H 11 H 1" 1 1 Brave New Miss World 1 ne I iinU IS gone Maybe they should have called it the Miss Unworldly pageant this year, Mariasela Alvarez Lebron, from the Dominican Republic, may have Bugs Bun ny's teeth and a chin that rivals that of the Wicked Witch of the West, but her purity is uncontested and that earned her the beauty title Nov. 18 in London. Germany's losing representative had her own suggestion for modifying the an nual event. "They might as" well rename the contest Miss Virgin World," she said. "All they want is a safe, little virgin who will trot around visiting hospitals for them. And that is what they got. It was a farce." It was rumored that Miss Lebron would receive a diamond-studded chastity fceJt, instead .pf, JhQ traditional crown,, but that idea was rejected due to logistical problems and television considerations. If the bitter complaints of the losing con testants are any indication, a paper sack might have been more appropriate. "There is something strange about her face," said Italy's representative. "Her mouth is too big and her chin sticks out." A Miss World official conceded that part of the reason for the switch in judg ing policy was because some recent winners had made "unladylike" headlines. One quit a few hours after, winning to live with her 52-year-old boyfriend. Another recent winner turned out to be an unmarried mother who was named in a divorce case. So long, sexpots and Miss Out of This Worlds. There's more money in posing for Playboy centerfolds, anyway "We've got to realize that they're no longer looking for a beauty queen to do this Miss World job," said an employee of one of Britian's biggest bookmaking chains, who put Lebron's odds to win at 10-1. "They're looking for a nun." "I am a virgin and proud of it," said Lebron, who is doing her best to make the world safe for virginity. "I will remain so until I am married. I was not the most beautiful. But perhaps I was the most complete." Where have you gone, Xaviera Hollander? ACROSS 1 Tableland 5 Intrigue 10 Small barracuda 14 Stable dinner 15 Solitary 16 Musical passage 17 Golf hazard 18 Farm workers 20 Motor 22 Coiffures 23 Part of QED 24 Ethical 25 Heart regulator 23 Seed coating 32 Cross 33 Relatives 34 Stroked a golf ball 35 Gershwin 33 Fixes 33 Finale 39 Certain artist 41 Bill and 42 Instance 43 Hindu master 44 Sketched: var. 43 Surfeited 43 Discharge 49 D.C.VIP Yesterday's Puzzle Solved: coiwiipH a m eTd Is" WKm AM IE.V A 0.1 P A.R.1 PAL IjYjwT I SlYj lAL.il E L L; AP I E yLL MmITOi Mi JL Kfl P i N E MRUS ALE iljeTA a I v IT o? Tf up a "ilir 61 o Mn STljvt Is nit a h o.ii 1 ; !hTE TUX illlN D.S1 j TEN'0"w! p A D E ; .0 P E Av.ll' sIcTu B Id I V E R 1J4NJ If MTp Q Hf 1 T E A S HhTnTH JflTTOTiML jeI y 1 r I e I 12882 52 Perfumed bag 55 Large reptiles 58 Before gram or meter 59 Sound from a piggery 60 Fits like a 61 Famed lion 62 Golf gadgets 63 Sigmoid letters 64 Tinted DOWN 1 Speck 2 Make by working 3 Horse-drawn 4 Sought to attain . 5 Custodian 6 carte 7 Good: Fr. 8 Secure firmly 9 Austrian composer 10 Tanager or fever 11 "On Gold en" 12 Taro root 13 Russian news agency 19 Gap 21 Viet 24 Threatened 25 Noses 28 Blood channel 27 Young animal hide 29 In a fur tive manner 30 Edgy 31 Summed up 34 Courses 36 Lace-edged collar var. 37 Charged . particle 40 Commandeers a vehicle 42 Got along 44 Hazards 45" Yankee Doodle dandy" 47 Sidestep 49 Bluebonnet 50 Pennsyl-, vanla city 51 Not any 53 Other 54 Contempt ible person 53 Alamos 57 Mother of Seth 1 12 13 4 5 p fi fi 1 1Q 111 12 13 u" """" TT " " TT" """" " li ' "ii " """"" r T$T" - 21 22 - 23 -- mmm mm mhw m l- mmm swum. Iran- . - - -taw- --mtwici 25125 27 28 2r"io31 32 """" 33 """" ,34 "" 35 38" " """" " "" 37" " """" 38 ' " 39 iaT" """" 41 " ji'f"" 43 """" """"" "" " " 44 """"" " " 45"" 48" 47 " 48 " 491 50j 51 """" " j 52 sT'lsT- 55" " """" " "" 58 57 " j58 59 - 60 - ; 61 " ; ! i . 62 ! ,63 64 E 3 I I 1 1. j To the editor: I do not think that four students should have the power to decide what the rest of the student body should or should not have. On Nov. 23, 1 saw the Finance Com mittee of the Campus Governing Council do just that. I think that any question of : major importance to this campus should at least be presented to the full CGC. Four students Vince Steele, Lori Dostal, "Doc" Droze and Dan Bryson decided not to let the full CGC make a decision about a spring outdoor concert and instead took it upon themselves to cancel Chapel Thrill. This decision was not based on UNC administrative disapproval. Dean Boulton, vice chancellor for student affairs, gave his approval personally to the chairman of Chapel Thrill concerning the innovative 1983 proposal. The decision could not have been based on financial risk, as at least one member seemed to have felt. Chapel Thrill is the only student government funded project which returns the funds appropriated to it. Furtherrnore, Chapel Thrill '82, with its marginal talent, proved the financial soundness of such a project by not only returning the students' funds, but also by turning a profit. . Most importantly, the decision was not based on whether or not the students wanted a show. Thousands of students were polled before the Finance Commit tee's meeting, and a vast majority showed, interest in having a concert. I have studied the 1983 proposal for a spring concert, and I believe it would have worked. It was well thought out, prepared and presented. The proposal made to the Finance Committee members (seven were there) was detailed and carefully presented, but to no avail. The Finance Committee did not give its full attention to Ben Lee, Spring Concert chairman, during his speech; the members of the CGC rudely chatted among them selves during the presentation and did not follow along the written proposal as Lee read it to them. When the budget came up for review, Finance Speaker Charlie Madison requested that it not be reviewed item by item. To end the meeting's discussion, the Finance Committee members each pulled out speeches prepared in advance stating their opinions on the proposal.! found this odd because almost every member had drawn a conclusion before being presented with the final proposal. These people had made up their minds without ever opening them to the new ideas. I feel that the majority of the UNC cam pus had no representation during the Finance Committee's decision concerning this event. I know my district represen tative was not active in this decision. i This issue should have gone before the full CGC so that I and every UNC student would have been fairly represented. I plan to attend the last meeting of the full CGC this semester (today) to see if something can be done to correct this mistake.-1 urge all students to attend this meeting and state their views. Allison Moore 335 Cobb Dorm Capricious decision To the editor: As a member of the (I assume now defunct) Chapel Thrill publicity commit tee, I want to express my amazement at the . Campus Governing Council Finance Com mittee's arbitrary and capricious decision not to fund our annual spring concert. . Prior to the meeting at which this dictate was announced, I had never attended a CGC committee meeting. Judging by . the size of the meeting room they don't ex pect, or encourage, an audience of any size. Perhaps that's the problem deci sions are made without enough student in put. Every UNC student should attend a CGC meeting to see for themselves how the affairs of the student body are handled by our so-called "representatives." Two attitudes were worthy of note. CGC member Dan Bryson stated that even if every one of his constituents wanted the money appropriated for this concert, he still wouldn't vote for it. This makes one question his dedication to representative democracy. I hope his voters remember his attitude if he runs for re-election next year. Another CGC member stated that she was against student fees supporting a con cert that all her constituents won't necessarily support. She has a legitimate point, but don't her constituents have a say in this matter? The move to allow the entire CGC to vote on this issue allot ting money for a spring concert would've given the students the chance to have their say about where their student fees are spent. Because of this small minority of the CGC, there probably will be no major outdoor concert in Chapel Hill in 1983. The fact that they voted against allotting the money for this event is upsetting, but even more disturbing is their decision not to allow the entire CGC to vote on this issue. If the constitution of our school allows a simple majority of a committee to prevent an appeal of their decisions to the CGC, then it's time to change that constitution. I urge' everyone to contact your CGC representative and tell him or her how you feel about having this concert in the spring. Maybe the issue will be taken up again, and the entire CGC can vote on the matter this time. Then we can see what the students want. Barbara Sheppard 314 Winston Financial Junta To the editor: I am writing by way of comment on the recent outcome of the Campus Governing Council Finance Committee's verdict regarding the future of the 1983 Chapel Thrill. To conclude that their verdict was. "ill-considered" would surely do them wrong. After all, they did give the matter their undivided attention for a full one-and-one-half hours quite long enough ' to reach a decision that would dismiss the work of a Chapel Thrill Committee in ex cess of at least. 300 hours. Their decision is given all the more weight when one takes into account the caliber of students who sit on the "finan cial junta." It would be well for all of us to tread humbly in the paths of these student demigods as they stride with confidence about the halls of the Carolina Union. And that one particular member of the junta should write a letter to The Daily Tar Heel containing 17 spelling mistakes ought, in no way, to influence their opin ion of their competence as a group where financial matters are concerned, for that is their domain. They are to sit in judgment over the financial feasibility of particular student projects and to dispense funds accordingly. MOW MANY MORE SHOPPING PAV5 UNTIL CHRISTMAS? 1 h """-hJUAT DID Y I TwcNTY : l YOU TELL y I k. AAC TUAT I m mm m - - -a z r it j r m m ( BECM5E YOU V justaskepme! f I REALLY A I PIPN'T WANT 1 n TO KNOW DOONESBURY by Garry Trudeau YOU ROCCO? MMZ. 775 kJJTVll-r I PUX&. L5055NT Y0UHAVBSOMB MSRCHAtVtSZTD YOU GOT woavi am all tw way our H5F51FI OKAY, ROOM lOt. CORALMOTEL, ACROSS TH& S7F58T.N mm'UTES. I &CUS5M5, CAM GET SOMZVOt SORRY. A30RT. I I OtBTJ.15 ' I " I- i 1 1 1 I i f 1 ' J Unfortunately, on the issue of next year's Chapel Thrill (which was to be en tirely different from last year's in terms of goals and management) the junta spent most of its time making value judgments on the advisability of having another spring concert. This committee was not in stituted by the rest of the CGC to exercise their seven consciences, but to exercise their brain cells over the purely financial aspects of an issue. n - If a value judgment is required, it should surely be made by the CGQ as a whole which would then represent a" fat greater number of the Carolina student body. But no, the junta decided against even allowing the rest of the CGC to exer cise its opinions, feeling that its own opin ions were the ones of real importance. And of course their views are important since they control the purse strings. However, it also , gives them a con siderable amount of power within the stu dent government bureaucracy, though the likelihood of a coup led by Dan Bryson in a bid for ultimate student authority is, I think, somewhat slim. It also is interesting to note that throughout the deliberations surrounding this issue, Student Body President Mike Vandenbergh and his executive remained remarkably inconspicuous despite supporting the idea of Chapel Thrill. Will they do anything? Probably not, as it already is almost too late. However, if Vandenbergh had appointed an organizer for Chapel Thrill a month earlier than he did, the story might have been different. As it was, Ben Lee presented an excellent proposal and awaited the decision of the junta's mighty minds, only to come away deeply disap pointed. Of course, it would be too. much to ex pect the Finance Committee, as fellow students, to use the knowledge gained from their official positions to ensure the success of good programs rather than con demn them in a rushed decision. - But in the melee of student . "realpolitik" and bureaucracy, should one expect anything at all? For my part, 1 have every confidence that the student financial junta is really the very best in all possible worlds. C.R.M. Cameron 203 Carr Street Take your ID To the editor: As final exams impend, many students . will be coming to the Undergraduate Library to catch up on or' review their Reserve reading. I would like to remind all who plan to check out materials from Reserve that they must have their student identification with current validation sticker in their hand when they sign for their materials. Students who have' lost their . IDs or their validation stickers can obtain re placements during normal business hours at 105 Hanes Hall. , , Our ID requirement is for the pro jection of the students. It allows us to follow up on those few people who would monopolize the books, articles and homework solutions needed by so many people. Our student assistants are required both to check for current registration and to match the signature and ID number on the Reserve card with that on the ID. Stu dent cooperation with the ID rule will help relieve the stress we all feel during this busy time. Anne Fields UL Reserve Librarian
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 1, 1982, edition 1
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