6The Daily Tar HeelMonday January 24. 983
ELECTION
aih Star Hinl
A
Past student campaigns reflect national trends
CAMPUS
90th year of editorial freedom
JOHN DRESCHER. Editor
ANN PETERS, Managing Editor
KEN MlNGIS, Associate Editor
Rachel Perry. Unwmity Editor
Lucy Hood, cay Edit
JIM State and National Editor
S.L. Price, Sports Editor
Laura Suhrt. n Edit -
GEIAREH ASAYESH. Contributions Editor
Linda Robertson. Associate Editor
ELAINE MCCLATCHEY. Projects Editor
TERESA CURRY. Features Editor
Jeff Grove, Am Editor
Jane Calloway, weekend Editor
AL STEELE. Photography Editor
Who is? your CGC rep?
The Daily Tat Heel
Assistant Managing Editors: Alison Davis, Dean Foust and Jeff Hiday
Assistant News Editor Belinda Rollins .
Editorial Assistants: Alan Chappie and Lelia Dunbar
News Desk: Pete Felkner, Bob Kimpleton, Rita Kostecke, Karen Koutsky, Melissa Moore,
Donna Pipes, Lori Schantz, John Tonkinson, Kari Trumbull, and Mickey Weaver
News: Cheryl Anderson, Scott Bolejack, Keith Bradsher, Joseph Berryhill, Hope Buf fington,
, Stacia Clawson, Paul Cocke, Tom Cordon, John Conway, Ashley Dimmette, Charlie
EUmakcr, Pete Felkner, Bonnie Foust, SherrI Goodson, Steve Griffin, Ivy Hillard, Lucy
Holman, Charlotte Holmes, Dane Huffman, Bob Kimpleton, Kim Kleman, Rita Kostecke,
Paula Leonard, Lisbeth Levine, Stuart Long, Christine Manuel, Kyle Marshall, Gary Meek,
Karen Moore, Melissa Moore, Kim Morrison, Rosemary Osborn, Heidi Owen, David Poole,
Pamela Pressley, Lisa Pullen, Scott Ralls, Sarah Raper, Mike O'Reilly, Lori Schantz, Kelly
Simmons, Jeff Slagel, Susan Snipes, Don Solomon, Mark Stinneford, Susan Sullivan, Keith
Taylor, Lynda Thompson, Evan Trulove, Lea Watson, Mickey Weaver, Scott Wharton and
Jim Yardley. Lynn Earley, assistant state and national editor and Liz Lucas, assistant
University editor.
Sports: Jackie Blackburn, Michael DeSisti, Jamie Francis, and Kurt Rosenberg, assistant
sports editors. Frank Abbott, R.L. Bynum, Richard Craver, Paul Gardner, Brian Haneyi
Frank Kennedy, Keith Lee, Draggan Mihalovich, Linda Nixon, Kathy Norcross, Robyn
Norwood, Michael Persinger, John Pietri, Lew Price, Eddie Wooten and Tracy Young.
Features: Shelley Block, Karen Fisher', Cindy Haga, Karen Haywood, Kathy Hopper, Belinda
Rollins, Lynsley Rollins, Debbi Sykes, Mike Truell, Randy Walker, Clinton Weaver, and Edith
Wooten.
Arts: Frank Bruni, assistant arts editor; Ashley Blackwelder, Steve Carr, Jim Clardy, Todd
Davis, David McHugh, Jo Ellen Meekins, Mont Rogers, Karen Rosen, David Schmidt, Gigi
Sonner and D.F. Wilson.
Graphic Arts: Matt Cooper, Nick Demos, Danny Harrell, Janice Murphy, Vince Steele,
Suzanne Turner, Robin Williams and Denise Whalen artists; Charles Ledford, Jeff
Neuville, Zane Saunders and Scott Sharpe photographers.
Business: Rejeanne V. Caron, business manager; Linda A. Cooper, secretaryreceptionist;
Lisa Morrell and Anne Sink, bookkeepers; Dawn Welch, circulationdistribution manager;
Julie Jones and Angie Wolfe, classifieds.
Advertising: Paula Brewer, advertising manager; Mike Tabor, advertising coordinator; Dee
Dee Butler, Sharon Duckworth, Keith Lee, Terry Lee, Jeff McElhaney, Doug Robinson,
Deana Setzer and Maria Zablock ad representatives.
Composition: Frank Porter Graham Composition Division, UNC-CH Printing Department.
Printing: Hinton Press, Inc., of Mebanc.
By SCOTT BOLEJACK
The long-running saga of "As the Thrill Turns (also titled, "All My
Council Members") appears to have reached its conclusion: It indeed
looks as if there will be a Chapel Thrill 83, that is, unless the Campus
Governing Council steals the student funds, elopes with the bands and
moves to Pine Valley or Port Charles. And to tell you the truth, it pro
bably wouldn't surprise soap opera addicts, uh, we mean CGC observers,
if the CGC did that or something equally flabbergasting.
Our characters started the lengthy, though not popular, drama late last
November and have since provided their viewing audience with enough
melodrama and poor representation to last a lifetime. See spring concert
chairperson Ben Lee catch spring fever and have a passionate affair with
the lovely Student Government Spring Concert. See the dastardly
Finance Committee ruthlessly end the romance. See the Knight in Shining
Armor, i.e. Student Body President Michael P. Vandenbergh, come to
the rescue of the poor maiden. See the student body rally to her cause.
See the council members realize their insensitive, cold conduct and revive
the lady. Oh, what drama.
In real-life terms, the handling of the 1983 Student Government Spring
Concert has not been one of the CGC's shining moments. In probably its
most important decision of the year, the council bungled every attempt to
give some serious, honest debate to the issue in which their constituents
were most interested. The spring concert was funded by the CGC only be
cause of some nifty political footwork by the student body president.
To unravel the tragedy, it's necessary to go back to the fall semester. In
late November, the Finance Committee adopted an I-don't-give-a-damn-about-you
attitude toward their constituents and voted down funding a
spring concert. "Even if every person in my district supported this, I
couldn't vote for it because I dont think it's going to make money, said
Finance Committee member Dan Bryson. And you thought they were
called representatives. Chapel Thrill '82, by the way, made $27,000.
Next, the CGC could not even discuss a bill asking the Finance Com
mittee to reconsider its earlier decision because more than one-third of
the CGC voted against any discussion. So the most important issue of the
year went undiscussed by the campus organization that is supposed to
discuss issues. The meaningful debate including just plain ol students
never occurred. And CGC members can't understand why their con
stituents get mad at them.
At this point the concert was revived by a petition calling for a referen
dum on the concert that would have overruled the CGC. Enough
signatures were collected, but a funny thing happened on the way to the
referendum...; , , . .
It never happened. Under threat of a referendum, the CGC Finance
Committee caved in quickly, which tells one a little about the political
fortitude of Finance Committee members. It also tells about their respect
for their own constitution, which says nothing about cancelling referen
dums. If the full CGC voted for funding the conceit (which also would
give it more control over the concert's fate), the student referendum
would be canceled by Vandenbergh, even though he lacked the constitu
tional ability to do so.
The Comedy of Errors continued. The CGC voted the approval of
funds and Vandenbergh canceled the referendum. The latest twist on this
strange but true tale is that CGC member Phil Painter may challenge
Vandenbergh's cancellation of the referendum.
It does appear, however, that there will be a spring concert. The lesson
to be learned from all this (there's always a lesson to be learned in soap
operas) concerns the competence of your elected CGC representative. For
most of the year the CGC sits around and talks about issues that may not
interest many students. But when the CGC does reach an important
issue, like a spring concert, students suddenly realize the fate of their
activities are left to a small group of students that may be out of touch
with the desires of their constituents.
Do you feel your CGC representative represented your district well on
the Chapel Thrill issue? Do you know who your CGC representative is?
Now, election time, it is even more important to realize that the CGC will
continue to function poorly and with disregard to its constituents until
there is more student participation in the decision-making process.
It is generally accepted that the mood of a nation is best
expressed by the results of its elections. Even at UNC,
where students seldom fit any one mold, campus elections
tend to reflect the trend of the nation as a whole.
From Daily Tar Heel editor to student body president
to campus elections in general, University students have
echoed the conservatism of the 1920s, the war fervor of
the 1940s and the anti-Vietnam sentiment of the 1960s.
But students have not always followed the trends and have
often voted opposite the national mood.
In 1928, when Americans were still doing the
Charleston and the sun had not yet set on Wall Street,
students weren't concerned with issues and cared more
about mud surrounding the polling sites than they did
about electing an editor.
In fact, for perhaps the first time in University history,
the candidate for DTH editor ran unopposed. Walter
Spearman, who was later to become a journalism pro
fessor at the University, encountered no opposition in his
bid for editor and succeeded to the position without ever
having his name placed on a ballot.
The general complacency of the student body often was
reflected in the campus election as a whole. In 1932,
before the full effects of the Great Depression were re
alized, 26 out of 29 elected positions were filled without
opposition.
As America moved from the Great Depression to
World War H, UNC students got caught up in the war
fervor that was sweeping across America. A naval training
program was brought to the University and many students
enlisted.
As students headed overseas, campus organizations saw
their numbers dwindle drastically and special electipns
were called to replenish the ranks. Quipped one student a
few years later, "Back then it seemed as if we were having
elections every three months."
One such special election saw the University break the
long-standing tradition of "males only" in campus
politics. Twenty years before women started burning their
bras and 30 years before the Equal Rights Amendment
became an issue, a woman by the name of Katherine Hill
was elected editor of the war-mandated weekly Tar Heel.
Another woman, by the name of Glen Harden, tri
umphed in the conservative 1950s when she was elected
DTH editor. Harden, to make sure everyone knew she
was a woman, changed the letters format from "To the
editor" to "Madam editor." ' .
The victories of Hill and Harden may seem unusual
given the conservative tone of the '40s and '50s, but what
is just as unusual is the fact that the turbulent and more
liberal '60s produced neither a female nor a black editor.
It was not until the Nixon years of the early 1970s that
another woman was elected editor of the DTH. Susan
Miller overcame stiff competition from her male counter
part to become only the University's third female editor.
The conservative atmosphere of the 1950s may have
suffered a mild setback with Harden' s election as editor,
but the campus, as well as the nation, felt the effects of the
disease that was McCarthyism.
In 1955, Charles Kuralt, presently of CBS News, was
editor of the DTH. At the time, the paper was under in
vestigation by the Student Legislature on charges that its
circulation was mismanaged and that its liberal editorial
voice was not representative of the University community.
One legislative member even went so far as to say that
the DTH was "a second Daily Worker," a prominent
communist publication. Kuralt denied the charges, re
ceived support from several administrators and eventually
the legislative member withdrew his remarks.
The office of student body president, like that of the
DTH editor, often has followed national trends, but has,
on occasion, strayed from the norm.
In the 1932 election, when 26 candidates were unop
posed, the office of student body president experienced
one of its most hotly contested races ever. Haywood
Weeks, an independent candidate edged out All-Campus
Party hopeful Hamilton Hobgood 789 to 751 in what one
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Student voters go to the polls in mid '40s
student called the "biggest upset in the political history of
the University."
In 1943, as thousands of young men left for Europe
and the Pacific, Student Body President John Robinson
resigned his post to go to war as did Vice President Frank
Alspaugh.
In the 1960s, the office of student body president
reflected much of the student unrest triggered by dis
satisfaction with American society and fueled by the na
tion's involvement in the Vietnam war.
In 1967-1968 Student Body President Bob Travis led an
activist student body against conservative measures in
stituted by both the General Assembly and the University.
In 1968, Travis filed suit asking a federal court to enjoin
the University from participating in North Carolina's
5-year-old speaker ban law, which prohibited Com
munists and suspected Communists from speaking on
N.C. college campuses.
The federal court eventually overturned the speaker
ban.
Also in '68, the University passed legislation concerning
the use of illicit drugs on campus, legislation which stur
dent government, under Travis, initially approved.
But Travis withdrew his support of the measure when
he realized that campus administrators were more in
terested in punishing drug users than rehabilitating them.
The full student government then passed a bill withdraw
ing its support of the University legislation.
But while the student population of the 1960s was con
cerned about student rights, they were less than en
thusiastic over the rights of women and blacks.
No woman has ever been elected student body presideht
and it wasn't until 1972 that a black first ran for student
body president and won.
Richard Epps, ' then a freshman journalism . and
RTVMP major from Wilmington, announced his can
didacy for student body president on Thursday, Feb. 3.
In his remarks to the DTH, Epps said, "Five years ago
I would have been very hesitant to run, but now I feel the
student body will vote for the qualified candidate regard
less of race." '
While it is true that campus elections often are represen
tative of larger national issues, it is just as true that they
often are nothing more than entertaining. Perhaps the
best example of fun in campus politics is the Blue Sky Par
ty formed here in 1971 to point out the apathy of students
and show the ineffectiveness of student government.
Pitt Dickey, then a law student from Fayetteville, ran
for student body president in 1972 with his running mate
Sage, a German shepherd.
Some of his campaign pledges included abolishing stu
dent government, erecting a weatherproof dome over the
entire campus and hanging a bicycle thief in the Pit each
Friday.
Dickey managed to force the presidential race into a
runoff, but he withdrew his candidacy shortly before the
second election was scheduled to take place.
In 1977, the Blue Sky Party fielded a triumvirate for the
student body presidency.
Like Dickey, the trio pledged to construct a Carolina
blue dome over Chapel Hill and to abolish student
government.
If elected, the three also promised to support the Carr
boro Research Academy of Sexual Studies, exempt all
varsity athletes from all academic requirements and
replace the Bell Tower with a giant rubber duck that
would play tunes for a nickel.
Their plans for election were thwarted, however, when
they learned that CGC laws prohibited more than one per
son holding the same office at one time.
The most clever of the not-so-serious candidates was
Michael Hollis, who ran for student body president in
1968. He too wanted to abolish student government and
he had the perfect plan to "do so.L " V s-'
Hollis was a senior and said his 'Juhegraduation would
sound the death knoll for student government. To insure
his success,' Mollis ran without a vice presidential running
mate thereby leaving no one to succeed him. -" -' -' '" l-
Alas, however, Hollis withdrew from the campaign
when he realized that he had not been clever enough. In a
statement to the DTH, Hollis said he realized in the nick of
time that his pledge to abolish student government was
just what the University administration wanted.
It's not clear whether this year's elections will follow any
particular trend, either nation or local. So far, two people
have announced their candidacies for student body presi
dent, and one student has announced her candidacy for
DTH editor.
Scott Bolejack, a senior journalism major frpm Ger
manton, is a staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Abortion letter hardly 'a modest proposal
To the editor:
I am extremely revolted by Phillip K.
Parkerson's letter, "A modest proposal?"
(DTH, Jan. 20). I am, however, more re
volted by Parkerson's tactics than by his
highly graphic language. Parkerson is ob
viously a disciple of the Congressional
Club school of truth distortion. By sar
castically arguing for abortion, in this sick,
disgusting way, Parkerson seeks to brand
all of us who are pro-choice as being
blood-thirsty murderers who can't wait to
knock our girlfriends up so they can have
an abortion.
The crux of the abortion issue is at what
arbitrary point one defines the start of life.
Parkerson completely ignores this, but this
is no surprise since he obviously is not con
cerned about the real issue, but only with
winning over more converts to his cause
with his emotional rantings. I am not a
doctor, but I believe the fetus is not alive
until it could survive outside the womb
without artificial aid. Again, I am not a
doctor, but I doubt this point is reached in
the first three months.
I am fortunate in that I have good, lov
ing parents who planned for me, wanted
me, raised me and eventually sent me to
college.
I do know that I would rather not have
been bom than to be born to parents who
didn't want me. There are a lot of people
out there who have sex, yet neglect to use
birth control. Do you want people irre
sponsible enough not to take these pre
cautions raising children? I don't.
T.D. Champion
Chapel Hill
Men and abortion
To the editor:
On Thursday, Jan. 20, 1983, you pub
lished a letter from Phillip Parkerson that,
although sarcastic, was anti-abortion. It
puzzles me that men seem to be so upset
by abortion and men are the leaders of the
anti-abortion movement. I wonder if these
men are men who always use birth control
when having sex or do they expect the
woman to' take the responsibility? There is
no 100 percent effective method of birth
control (other than abstinence) so I
wonder if these men who are so outraged
by abortion support public policies to help
women who have unplanned pregnancies
policies that would provide government
support for child care, increased welfare
payments, parental counseling, paid
maternity benefits, etc.? The record of
Sen. Jesse Helms shows very little support
for these kinds of policies. What about
you, Parkerson? Dayna F Dcck
School of Public Health
Durham
Attack of the Vulgar Lead
Pipes
Beans, beans, the Musical Fruit
The more you eat, the more you pool.
Elementary school rhyme
Nobody can accuse me of hating food. I can do mas
sive barbeque hits, I can get into a little Hector's action
as well as the next man. But no matter how awesome the
pizza, no matter how whopping the Whopper, no meal
will ever be as much fun as lunch in elementary school.
How slowly the clock crawled as lunchtime approach
ed! Like convicts, we awaited liberation; like convicts,
we marched single-file to the cafeteria. Every man re
ceived identical servings. We sat at long tables in the hap
py comradeship of prisoners granted 25 minutes of free
dom. Food jokes dominated conversation "Oh no, dog
steaks again" but actually the food was pretty edible.
We loved the hot dogs and square pizza, the spaghetti
and thick, soft bread. Cakes and sweet rolls brought 20
cents on the open market. And who could forget those
wonderful, half-cooked, saltless, ketchupless french
fries? We were conditioned to love those fries.
So much for the good stuff. Anything green we called
Vomit Food. Green beans earned the name Vulgar Lead
Pipes, I guess because somebody thought they looked
like little lead pipes. Tossed salad became Vulgar Mess.
Peas (balls) and diced carrots (squares) were known as
Vulgar Balls and Squares. Peas alone were called, you
guessed it. Vulgar Balls.
You had to like Vulgar Balls and Squares.
We never knew if the stutt was as bad as we imagined,
because nobody ate it except for a few weirdos from
totalitarian families. Word passed down the table:
"Look, Timmy's eating his Vulgar Lead Pipes!" We
urged him on: "Sick! Foul! Perverted!" People piled
their Vulgar Lead Pipes onto Timmy's plate, forming a
stinking green mountain. I think Timmy ate it just to
gross everybody out,
MULTIPLE CHOICE
By RANDY WALKER
Every day they dumped Vomit Food onto our plates,
and every day we dumped it in the trash. The govern
ment made them do it, 1 guess.
Less offensive but equally inedible were the rock-like
Fudgies, hich were either fudge squares or chunks of
fried turf. Eating Fudgies was like eating asphalt.
Another common dessert was the Peanut Chew. They
should have called it Dog Chew; humans didn't have the
teeth to handle it.
On a typical day, after slurping our spaghetti and
gnawing our Fudgies, we were left with 15 minutes to
stare at the remaining food. For creative young minds,
the temptation often was too much.
Now, it was an unwritten law that if you played with
your food, the teacher could make you eat it. Nevertheless,
some budding chemists could not resist mixing their
Baked Beans and Cole Slaw to bring out the true dis
gusting flavor. For texture, you could toss in a little
ground-up Peanut Chew. A dash, or more likely a hand
ful, of pepper rounded out the recipe.
You poured the result into a plastic bag. The obvious
next step was to throw it. Here you had to calculate the
teacher's reaction some teachers really would make
you eat it. This prospect caused onlookers to urge on the
experimenter. I never had to eat it myself, but I remem
ber watching in glee as a colleague of mine was forced to
swallow the fruit of his labor.
Atmosphere. Some places have it, others don't. My
elementary school cafeteria had atmosphere. The Pine
Room doesn't, Spanky's doesn't, Slug's doesn't touch'
it. Tables for two, waitresses, menus, checks what are
they? I want to stand in line, pay a quarter and a dime,
and eat with my pals until the teacher calls time.
How low I have fallen in recent years! Not only do I
eat Vomit Food, I actually like it. I eat Vulgar Mess,
Cole Slaw, Vulgar Balls and Squares, even the Musical
Fruit.
But there's still one vegetable I don't like. I avoid it in
favor of other types. Though I ought to eat it, and I pro
bably need it, Timmy
do you still want my Vulgar Lead Pipes?
'i
Randy Walker, a senior journalism major from Rich
mond, Va., is a staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel.