Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 27, 1984, edition 1 / Page 8
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8The Daily Tar HeelFriday, January 27, ivm 91st year of editorial freedom Kerry DeRochi, Editor EDDIE WOOTEN, Managing Editor CHAtLlES EllMAKFR, Associate Editor F 'RANK BRUNI, Associate Editor Kelly Simmons, University Editor . Michael Toole, City Editor . KYLE MARSHALL, State and National Editor KAREN FlSHER, Features Editor Michael DeSisti, Sports Editor Jeff Grove, Arts Editor MELISSA MOORE, News Editor CHARLES W. Lf.DFORD, Photography Editor 'Toronto Exchange' Mission possible? At 2 p.m. today, a group of courageous students will attempt to do what many before them have failed " mobilize you, their roommates and classmates into taking an interest in campus elections. This daring few will examine and study issues beyond ticket distribution or whether the top or bottom floor of the undergrad is best for finding dates. This group's platform will contain words such as nuclear power and military intervention. They'll mention far away places like South Africa or perhaps the Middle East. These students, you'll call them radicals, are the members of SEEDS (Students Effectively Establishing a Democratic System). With a little bit of luck, they'll blaze a trail through the haze of apathy you've built from the depths of Hinton James to the Suite C doors of the Carolina Union. SEEDS members hold no special talent; they don't have access to any hidden knowledge. They are simply a group of students who recognize the importance of issues on campus and around the world. Of course, you'll shrug off the efforts of SEEDS, or laugh quietly as they scuttle across the Pit, carrying brochures and other campaign paraphernalia. After all, how many of you have already drawn mustaches on those faces that smile down at you from your classroom walls? How many of you have thrown away a brochure or skipped over the elections articles in the newspaper? Sadly enough, most of you are far different from SEEDS members. Their main goal is to improve student government and thereby strengthen student autonomy. Yours is to run as far away from the Suite C mumbo jumbo as possible. They plan to sponsor candidates for seats on the Cam pus Governing Council. You plan to hide from the campaign forums and the candidates' speeches. But just remember, as you tuck away into your dorm room or your apartment, it's groups like SEEDS and the other students that take an in terest in this campaign wha may have the last laugh. They're the ones who realize the importance of Student Government and the power of allocating more than $250,000 to recognized campus organizations. They're the ones who'll simply shake their heads when you pick up the paper sometime this spring and discover your favorite group lost all of its funding. You'll only be able to wonder why. Deficit dodging Smart politics that solve nothing were served up to the American public last night from both political camps. In this election year, the Democrats are pointing vehemently to near-$200 billion budget deficits in hopes of making administrative fiscal responsibility the prime issue. And in his third State of the. Union address at the Capitol, President Reagan turned the tables, asking that both Republicans and Democrats join together to try to reduce the deficits while avoiding pet protectorates such as some defense and social spending areas. As the yearly deficits pile up, it is clear that something must be done to head off a national financial disaster, but the politics of blame and counter-blame probably will bury any improve ment in the budget picture. While the Democrats are doing everything possible to lay the blame for the deficits at Reagan's feet, Reagan neither denied nor accepted such a stigma Wednesday night. Instead, he put the Democrats on the spot. If they do not agree to the bipartisan effort to reduce the deficits, he can easily claim to voters that the Democrats will not cooperate to help the fiscal situation. The Democrats, however, do not want to participate in such a move, openly acknowledging that it might make them seem part ners in creating the deficits. Furthermore, any improvements in the deficit this year could hurt them at the polls because the voters may see any bright spot as a reason to keep Reagan in office. Nevertheless, the Democrats should strongly support the bipartisan committee and attempt to achieve fair and equitable cuts from both sides' projects. In striving for cuts, they must avoid ideologically sensitive areas during the election year to ensure that some progress is made. Despite Reagan's possible motives behind such a plan which Reagan says could trim as much as $20 billion from the budget this year and more in successive years, the real threats of high spending cannot be put aside for fear of political bruises. Already the interest payments on the national debt account for a hefty portion of the yearly budget, and as the deficits compound, that interest may become an insupportable legacy that younger Americans will someday face. The Daily Tar Heel Assistant News Editor: Tracy Adams Editorial Assistants: Bill Riedy and Gigi Sonner. Assistant Managing Editors: Joel Broadway, Amy Tanner and Heidi Zehnal News Desk: Sallie Krawcheck, Sheryl Thomas and Clinton Weaver News: Dick Anderson, Diana Bosniack, Richard Boyce, Keith Bradsher, Amy Branen, Lisa Brantley, Hope Bufflngton, Tom Cordon, Kathie Collins, Kate Cooper, Teresa Cox, Lynn Davis, Dennis Dowdy, Chris Edwards, Kathy Farley, Steve Ferguson, Genie French, Heather Hay, Tracy Hilton, Andy Hodges, Jim Hoffman, Melissa Holland, Reggie Holley, Sue Kuhn, Thad Ogburn, Beth O'Kelley, Janet Olson, Beth Ownley, Cindy Parker, Ben Perkowski, Lin da Queen, Sarah Raper, Cindi Ross, Liz Saylor, Katharine Schultz, Sharon Sheridan, Deborah Simpkins, Sally Smith, Mark Stinneford, Vance Trcfethen, Chuck Wallington, Melanie Wells, Lynda Wolf, Rebekah Wright, Jim Yardley and Jim Zook. Wayne Thompson, assistant state and national editor. Sports: Frank Kennedy, Michael Persinger and Kurt Rosenberg assistant sports editors. Glen na Burress, Kimball Crossley, Pete fields, John Hackney, Lonnie McCullough, Robyn Nor wood, Julie Peters, Glenn Peterson, Lee Roberts, Mike Schoor, Scott Smith, Mike Waters, David Wells and Bob Young. Features: Clarice Bickford, Lauren Brown, Tom Camacho, Toni Carter, Charles Gibbs, Tom Grey, Marymelda Hall, Kathy Hopper, Charles Karnes, Jennifer Keller, Dianna Massie, Kathy Norcross, Amy Styers, Mike Truell, assistant features editor. Arts: J. Bonasia, Steve Carr, Ivy Hilliard, Jo Ellen Meekins, Sheryl Thomas and David Schmidt, assistant arts editor. Photography: Larry Childress, Lori Heeman, Jeff Ncuville, Susie Post, Al Steele and Lori Thomas. Zane Saunders, assistant photography editor. , - Business: Anne Fulcher, business manager; Angela Booze and Tammy Martin, accounts receivable clerks; Dawn Welch, circulationdistribution manager; William Austin, assistant circulationdistribution manager; Patti Pittman and Julie Jones, classified advertising staff; Yvette Moxin, receptionist; Debbie McCurdy, secretary. Advertising: Paula Brewer, advertising manager; Mike Tabor, advertising coordinator; Laura Austin, Kevin Freidhcim, Patricia Gorry, Terry Lee, Doug Robinson, Amy Schultz and Anneli Zeck, ad representatives. Composition: UNC-CH Printing Department Printing: Hinton Press, Inc. of Mebanc. By MARK STINNEFORD The Navy is probably still scratching its head about the time I went AWOL for a day. I keep the receipt to my bus ticket to Montreal to remind myself how close I came to desertion; To be honest, I didn't really go AWOL-. I was UA unauthorized ab sence. Service rivalry extended down to language: each service had to invent its own terms for the same idea. Soldiers went AWQL. Sailors went UA. And you wonder why it costs the Navy hundreds of dollars to replace a bolt on an airplane. Going UA was serious, carrying far greater implications than terminating em ployment at McDonald's by flipping off the chief french fry cook arid walking out the door. The Navy would always bring you back, fine you, demote you and not let you leave the ship for a while. The most serious cases would be sent to the "Marine Hotel" the brig. I did not seem a likely candidate to en joy the accommodations provided by the Marines. I was what the Navy called a "4.0 sailor." In terms of our modern military, it meant I showed up for work on time, kept my uniform reasonably neat, called officers "sir" and didn't smoke dope. Yet, deep inside I was bitter. I had sign ed on as a Navy journalist, but I found that a swab was the main tool of my trade. The closest I had come to jour nalism in my first eight months in the Navy was writing moronic missives for the ship's magazine urging sailors to pick up litter and send away for their absentee ballots. In my youthful arrogance, I saw myself as a gifted writer condemned to suffer aboard ship while less gifted acquain tances from my high school were bank rolled by their Daddies to enjoy the plea sures of college. But going "over the hill" was the fur thest thing from my mind when I left the ship on a sunny afternoon in March 1976. In fact, my boss had rewarded my dili gence by giving me the afternoon off. I decided to use the time to visit a friend at East Carolina in Greenville, a four-hour bus ride from Norfolk. In my shipboard misery I had de veloped Utopian notions about institu tions of learning such as ECU. Obviously, I was a bit discouraged by what I found in my friend's dorm. A baseball game was in progress in the hall, beer-soaked fresh men were wrestling with the pinball machines in the game room and "Tic-Tac-Dough" blared from an unseen TV. I returned to the bus more lost than ever. As I waited for a connection in Rocky Mount, treasonous thoughts snuck into my brain. "Who says you have to go back to Norfolk?" I wondered to myself. I tried to banish the thoughts, but they kept coming in louder and louder. A bus to New York was announced; I saw it as my deliverance from the Navy. I rushed to the counter and bought a ticket, thanking the attendant much too effusively. I began to worry that he would figure out what I was up to and tip off the authorities. Sure enough, perturbed-looking sheriffs, deputies boarded the bus in Roanoke Rapids. I thought it was over. But they were looking for a runaway teenager, not a squid fleeing his ship. I settled in to enjoy my freedom ride. But the bus apparently was not the same make as the chariot that whisked Elijah to heaven. Little discomforts of bus travel began to appear. A rotund fellow boarded the bus and graciously offered his company. After ordering me to wake him in Petersburg, he began snoring. With each intake of breath, he leaned into me with greater force, pressing my face against the win dow until my head looked like a 'snail stuck to the side of an aquarium. I thought about waiting until Washington to wake him up, but didn't know whether I could do without air or circulation fnat long. .. The portly gentleman settled the prob lem for me by rousing himself in Peters burg and lumbering off the bus. I was dazzled by sunrise at the nation's capital. The bus cruised by the Pentagon. Somehow I missed the irony. What was I running from? The nation was at peace; the last troops had left Viet nam a few years earlier. Sailors were not engaged anywhere in the world, except for occasional skirmishes with Marines in bars in places like Subic Bay and Nor folk. I had vague thoughts of crossing the border into Canada. That was it I was a peace resister. Actually I saw myself as a resister of idiocy but began to wonder if Canada would grant me asylum for that. Maybe they would put me in one. By the time the bus reached New York, I had recognized the stupidity of going UA. I went outside the terminal to hail a cab to the airport. It was raining. No cabs. Destiny was obviously pushing me northward. I would have to desert the U.S. for lack of a taxi. I went inside the terminal and bought a ticket for Montreal; the man at the counter didn't even look up at me. Since I had no possessions but the clothes on my back, I bought a shoulder bag to make me look something like a legitimate traveler. As the bus left the terminal, I was join ed by a curly-haired man in his late 20s. . He was one of those kind and loquacious New Yorkers who belie the bad rap the state always gets. He must have pegged me as a military man. It wasn't difficult; in the mid 70s, the only men who wore their hair above their ears were service men, nerds and College Republicans. "Ever been in service?" he asked in the midst of a friendly conversation. , "No," I replied brusquely, hoping he thought I was a nerd. There was talk among the passengers that you had to have your birth certificate to get into Canada. I had no identifica tion other than my military ID; I didn't stand a chance of getting across the border. Snow was falling as we reached Albany. The dogwoods had been blooming in Virginia; "Enough," I thought. I dredg ed the remaining money out of my wallet and bought a ticket home to Norfolk. Fortunately, I was not booked into the Marine hotel when I got back to the ship, but I did receive a series of fatherly chats from my puzzled supervisor. My fellow workers didn't believe I had ever really left, surmising that I simply had become lost in the labyrinthine passageways of the aircraft carrier. I never thought about going UA again. I learned to accept my circumstances and actually began to enjoy the Navy. That may sound like a cliche, but it didn't make the lesson any less important to me. For its part, the Navy warmed to me. I was eventually blessed with a tour in Japan, for which I probably owe the Navy at least two. free recruiting com mercials. And I eventually made it to Canada with my Honorable Discharge in hand. I flew to Toronto for a vacation upon leav ing the Navy legally in 1981. "Ever been to Canada before?" the customs agent asked me at the airport. "No ... not really," I replied. The agent gave me a strange look, but I knew what I meant. Mark Stinneford, a junior journalism major from Raleigh, is a staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel. He urges you to join the Navy for more romance and adven ture than you've ever dreamed of. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Help out the new Elections Board To the editor: To the Student Body at large and especially to those intricately involved in the elections: There is, in all practicality except legislative confirmation, an Elec tions Board. With less than three weeks to produce a viable General Election this spring, those serving on the Board are fully aware of the tight time frame and have responded by immediately activating the procedures and responsibilities stipulated in the Elections By-Laws. Peti tion forms, nominating procedures and copies of the By-Laws were made available to the Student Body, in accor dance with the By-Laws, on Jan. 24. As such, we are on time for elections to be . held on Tuesday, Feb. 14. In effect, the Elections Board is responsible for every aspect of the elections including locating polltenders, determining and publicizing polling sites and hours, counting ballots, investigating and validating violations of election regulations, etc. This Board, at present with eleven members, intends to carry out its responsibilities as proficient ly and defendably as possible. But the ef forts of the Elections Board do not ensure a perfect election. - Nor, contrary to a statement I may have made (appearing in the DTH, 12484), can I guarantee an election "as good as any." There always exist potential difficulties that may disrupt an election, regardless of the foresight in any overseeing body. Ir regularities due to human error, though perhaps not excusable, can occur anywhere in the process, from campaign work to the polling process to the direct duties of the Elections Board. However, I do offer a guarantee that the efforts of this Board will be earnest. With the intent to solicit cooperation for a successful election process, I believe it is the respon sibility of the candidates to know how the By-Laws affect them. It is the respon sibility of the campaign workers, the peti tioners and the voters to abide by and, to the best of their knowledge, to avoid violating any election regulations. And it is the responsibility of the Elections Board to do all in its capacity to facilitate and oversee the election process. In the remaining time, Elections Board commmittee work, tabulating ballots, tending polls and other tasks inherent to the election process need to be carried out. Any duly registered, fee-paying stu dent who is not a member of a candidate's campaign committee may carry out these duties. I request all eligible students to come by the Student Govern ment office, Suite C in the Union, and of fer their services. The help would make a tremendous difference in the load carried by the present Board. Please take note of the following list of election regulations: 1. Candidacy to an elected office is open to any duly registered, fee paying student, undergraduate or graduate. The candidate must be a constituent of the office for which heshe files a petition. 2. All duly registered, fee-paying students are eligible to vote. Senior class officers and CGC district representatives may be elected only by rising seniors and district constituents, respectively. 3. A student's signature may appear once and only once on a can didate's petition. Similarly, a stu dent may sign only a single can didate's petition. 4 . No person shall deface, destroy, alter or otherwise change any can didate's campaign materials before the election. 5. No campaign material may be placed on trees, shrubs or other plants. 6. No campaign materials shall be placed on University property in such a way as to damage that property. 7. Knowingly violating any of the above provisions and those others stipulated in the Elections By Laws is an Honor Code violation. All organizations wishing to sponsor a Student Government-sanctioned forum must schedule such a forum through the Elections Board. This is a facilitating measure to provide organization and op portunity for fair representation of all candidates. Call Student Government at 962-5201 to submit requests for forum scheduling. This will be done on a first come, first-serve" basis. Forum requests must be submitted at least three days before the requested date. Sanctioned forums may begin on Monday, Jan. 30. With the time permitted us, we, the Elections Board, shall endeavor to the best of our abilities to execute a smooth and constitutionally defendable elections process on Feb. 14. The success of these upcoming elections depends on the Board's ability to organize and ad minister quickly. But the same success depends equally on cooperation and faith from the candidates, their campaign workers antf the Student Body. We hope our efforts to provide an effective elec tion on Tuesday, Feb. 14, will induce an equal effort from each student to cast a vote. Andrew Sutherland Elections Board Prochoice? Thank Kremer To the editor: I was interested in the letter from Chris Kremer published in the DTH. ("Doc tors should go back to school," Jan. 20). In attempting to show that pregnant women are unlikely to commit suicide when denied an abortion, the following suicide rates are cited: 0.6 per 100,000 pregnant females 3.5 per 100,000 non-pregnant females 16 per 100,000 males As further support, Kremer cites a study which showed that "out of 13,500 Swedish women who were refused abortions, only 3 took their own lives." If this statistic is converted to the above units, we have the following suicide rate: 22.2 per 100,000 females denied abortions. This rate is clearly higher than any of those above. Kremer has tripped over his own statistical feet, and produced an argument for the opposition. Diane Wold, Ph.D. Statistician Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Chapel Hill THE WEEK IN REVIEW Reagan avoids hard choices By GIGI SONNER President Reagan painted a fairly rosy picture of America in his State of the Union address Wednes day. "There is renewed energy and optimism throughout the land," Reagan said. "It is time to move forward again, time for America to take freedom's next step." He proposed relatively modest steps, however, for dealing with two of the major problems the country faces: the federal deficit and taxes. He called for bipartisan negotiations with Congress for a three yearj$100 billion deficit-reduction plan, but White House aides said that any substantial agreements would be difficult in an election year. The upcoming budget plan will include a $180 billion deficit. . The major area of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats is the federal tax. Reagan is opposed to raising taxes, while Walter Mondale, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidental nomination, said Wednesday in New Hampshire that he would raise the taxes of the wealthy and of corporations. In his address, Reagan avoided the issue for the time being by. announcing a new study of how the federal tax code could be changed. Reagan called for a similar study last year, but gave the study no deadline. This year's study, to be carried out by Regan, is due in December after the elections. Reagan also asked for "line item" authority to veto selected congressional projects without killing en tire money bills. In support of the space program, he proposed a permanent manned space station costing $8 billion over 10 years. He also promised more research on environmental problems, including increased funds for acid rain research. Although Reagan hasn't officially declared that he intends to run, he sounded like a man with the up coming elections in mind, cautiously avoiding hard political choices in favor of bipartisan commissions, year-long studies and aid for more research rather than action on environmental problems. In what can only qualify as understatement, Reagan said: "We must bring federal deficits down, but how we do that makes all the difference." Meese nominated On Monday, Reagan nominated Edwin Meese III to become the next attorney general. If approved by the Senate, Meese is expected to follow the same law-and-order approach to the nation's judicial problems William French Smith did. Smith resigned from the post Monday. As one of the "Big Three" White House aides, Meese was Reagan's closest liaison with the political right. He is known for his role in trying to retool the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights according to Reagan's liking and for his support of tax exemp tions for segregated private schools. Although Meese is not expected to differ greatly from Smith in his approach, the White House staff will probably feel the effects of Meese's departure. The White House staff has often been troubled by the differences between the "pragmatic" James Baker and the more orthodox conservative Meese. But when asked if Meese's departure would leave a void at the White House, spokesman Larry Speakes said: "All of us are conservatives over here." Great Decisions Although saying the chances of war have increas ed since U.S. introduction of Cruise and Pershing II missiles in Western Europe, noted Kremlinologist Gerald Hough said the public image of Reagan as a warmonger was false. nuugn, puuuuu science professor from Duke and a member of the Brookings Institute, spoke as part of "Great Decisions '84," which is being sponsored by the UNC Office of International Programs. "Great Decisions" is a program establish ed by the Foreign Policy Association, a national, non-partisan, non-governmental group. This is the twelfth year "Great Decisions" has come to Chapel Hill. "He's not as dangerous as his rhetoric suggests," Hough said of Reagan. "He's from the right wing of the Republican Party, and he holds the old isola tionist attitude." Nevertheless, Hough said diplomatic relations bet ween the United States and the Soviet Union have been made pathological and unpredictable by the deployment of Pershing II and Cruise missiles in Western Europe. He said the missiles have increased the chance of war from one in 50,000 to one in 25,000. . The "Great Decisions" lectures will continue until March 13. The Office of International Programs should be commended for bringing the program to UNC. A A . Protest march It has been 1 1 years since the Roe vs. Wade deci sion legalized abortion. About 200 people marked, the anniverary by marching silently through the UNC campus protesting the legalization of abortion. Donna Turner, statewide president of Women Ex ploited by Abortion, returned to Chapel Hill to speak before the march began. Turner spoke last semester during Human Rights Week. Carolina Students for Life, the Chapel Hill Sancti ty of Life Committee and Maranatha Ministry were among the groups represented. Ctgt Sonner, a junior English major from Nor folk, Va., is an editorial assistant for The Daily Tar Heel.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 27, 1984, edition 1
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