10The Daily Tar HeelThursday, October 25, 1984
Jeff Hiday. Editor
Joel Broadway, MunaKm Editor
Michael Toole, Associate Eda
MARK STINNEFORD, Associate Editor
m
Kelly Simmons, University Editor
Wayne Thompson, state and National Editor
MELANIE WELLS, City Editor
VANCE TREFETHEN, Business Editor
STUART TONKINSON, News Editor
Frank Kennedy, sport Editor
Jeff Grove, Arts Editor
Sharon Sheridan, features Editor
JEFF NEUVILLE, Photography Editor '
Don't take The
We noticed on The Cube yesterday
that STAND (Students Taking Action
for Nuclear Disarmament) is on the
move again. Are its members aware of
what another, somewhat similar group
at Brown University is up to?
Students there, through democratic
vote, have passed a proposal to ask their
university health service to stock "suic
idal pills," perhaps cyanide, for use in
the event of a nuclear war. The obvious
intent is that, upon holocaust, all those
unable to stomach the mess could easily
leave it.
Of course, there's more to the prop
osal. Those who drafted the referendum,
a group called Students Against Nuclear
Suicide, hope to illustrate to the country
that nuclear war is akin to suicide.
This, however, is an absurd, if noble,
cause. Stockpiling "suicide pills" illus
trates an attitude not of responsibility
or rationality, but of narrow, maniacal
paranoia. With this temper-tantrum
tactic, Brown students may as well have
threatened to hold their breath until
nuclear weapons go away.
And besides offering only a simplistic
solution to a complex situation, they are
defeatist in attitude as well. Although
Leaning the right way
The State Department's get-tough
statement to Philippines President
Ferdinand Marcos Tuesday is poten
tially the best move the Reagan admin
istration has made concerning the island
nation in some time. In expectation of
a report released yesterday that impli
cated the Philippines armed forces Chief
of Staff in the assassination of opppo
sition leader Benigno Aquino, the
administration said it expected Marcos
to prosecute all those found to be
involved in the plot, "no matter who they
may be." The statement, of course, is
just that: a statement mere words
but if it is followed up with the economic
sanctions that have been threatened
should Marcos fail to meet the demand,
it will send a long-awaited message to
an authoritarian government that has
abused the United States' friendship by
ignoring requests that it make its system
more democratic.
Still, the questions linger. Is it all a
political smokescreen? Has the report,
released by a 5-member board appointed
by Marcos himself, gotten to rotten core
of the plot or is it just sacrificing the
armed forces chief, Fabian Ver, and
other high-level military officials to head
off a calls for further investigations that
might implicate Marcos? Perhaps more
importantly, will the U.S. demand for
even-handed ness wither after the offi
cials are prosecuted and the problem is
safely under the rug?
Regarding the first question, there
seems to be some hope. The investigation
panel not unexpectedly lacked credibil
ity in the early going. But after it
broadcast hearings daily and took
testimony from almost 200 witnesses, the
Th Bottoivv Lin
Next time your parents balk about paying
your $100 phone bill, tell them things could
be much worse. They could have Robert
Divorky for a son. Divorky was recently
socked with a phone bill of $64,335.03. The
640-page bill had to be delivered in a packing
carton.
No, it's not that Divorky is a compulsive
dialer; nor has he been swept off his feet
by AT&T's suave pitchman, Cliff Robert
son. It seems that Divorky was the victim
of yackety desperadoes who used his credit
card number to test AT&T's claim: "Calling
anywhere, anytime. That's long distance."
Displaying its eternal mercy, the phone
company decided that Divorky won't have
to pay for most of the calls, which were
made to faraway lands including Switzer
land, Kuwait, India, Pakistan and the
Netherlands.
Within five days, dozens of people placed
more than 3,600 calls using Divorky's credit
card number. The phone company appar
ently figured that all the calls could not have
been made by Divorky. Within a span of
three minutes on Sept. 29, calls were placed
from Orange, N.J., Staten Island, N.Y., and
Fargo, N.D. All were billed, to Divorky's
account.
Still, the incident may have helped to
improve Divorky's social life. The 5-inch-thick
bill has become quite a conversation
2
(Mr flM
92nd year of editorial freedom
Pill
we're not planning to climb into a cement
cell for the rest of our lives, we would
try to maintain some kind of existence
before committing suicide.
Some have called the cyanide solution
a "clean moral and political message"
that the Brown students care about the
future. If so, their voice squeaks with
immaturity.
Most people have at least a passing
interest in the nuclear arms issue, and
the taboo nature of suicide itself is
enough to arouse attention. We suppose
the brains of the Brown students cannot
be too severely faulted for their crea
tivity, nor even for their political
pragmatism, as media coverage of the
event has surely aroused some public
awareness.
But the exhibitionism and sensation
alism apparent in Brown's SANS is
something all student groups should
recognize and avoid. Ironically, it
employs an emotion identical to the
defense spending policy it condemns,
which also is based on fear. As students
we should at least demonstrate the
ability to reason with logic, and not
replicate the often ill-fated methods of
our leaders.
board won the support of many.
While there is some reason to believe
that the true culprits have been iden
tified, there is seems little reason so far
to expect a positive answer to the second
question. The administration distanced
itself from Marcos last fall after Aquino
was assassinated, but a $355 million aid
package continued, partly because the
administration wanted to do nothing to
encourage what was seen as a growing
communist threat.
Reagan echoed the philosophy in the
presidential debate Sunday night when
he said he knew that things happened
there that "do not look good to us right
now" but asked, "What is the alterna
tive?" The answer was what aides
admitted was an overstatement, "It is
a large communist movement to take
over the Philippines."
It is just this knee-jerk reaction that
has the U.S. government too often kow
towing to undemocratic regimes. This
behavior, of course, is not unique to the
Reagan administration. The same phi
losophy had the United States support
ing the Shah of Iran and fomenting
rebellion. Foreign policymakers seem
unable to overcome this short
sightedness. The reasons for that are the
stuff of lengthy political science debates:
the need to maintain military bases, to
protect U.S. business interests, etc. The
critical question that must be answered
now is whether the administration plans
to continue pressuring Marcos after the
election. The assassination, which has
brought the worst crisis to the Philip
pines, ironically has given the United
States a chance to do what is right. Let's
hope the administration doesn't blow it.
piece. "Everybody loves to see that thing,"
he said.
Southern Bell thinks the culprits may have
overheard the credit card number when it
was used by Divorky's former roommate in
a Chicago or New York airport telephone
booth. Think about that the next time you
want to get huffy with your roommate when
he or she eats all your Captain Crunch.
That's not healthy!
So, how's your love life? (Don't answer
that; even the DTH knows its limits.) But
have you had any cavities lately?
Oral bacteria associated with gum disease
and tooth decay can be transmitted by
kissing and touching, according to an Emory
University dental researcher who gets paid
to discover such things. Fourteen married
couples consented to the study, which
revealed that a "high percentage" of the
mates shared the same types of oral bacteria.
Steven Offenbacher, mouthpiece for the
American Dental Association, told group
members that many of these organisms die
rapidly when exposed to air reducing the
possibility they were transferred through
communal use of a drinking glass or
toothbrush. Though study findings are "by
no means conclusive," he said, they "suggest
the possibility that bacteria linked to gum
disease can be transferred by mouth-to-mouth
contact."
Ahem. And that's the bottom line.
Vote with conscience, not with wallet
By DALE Mc KIN LEY
Nov. 6 is right around the corner, and, judging
by recent surveys, it would seem that the'
American public is about to make a very serious
mistake, namely re-electing Ronald Reagan.
What makes this situation even more deserving
of attention is the fact that the youth of this
country form a major determinant in realizing
that mistake. It is not my aim to provide an
exhaustive list of reasons as to why Reagan's
re-election would be a major mistake, but rather
to focus on the reasons for support for Reagan
among the youth of this country.
Needless to say, there has been a major shift
in the thinking of America's youth since the
Vietnam era. In the '60s and early 70s the
majority of college-age citizens revolted against
the "establishment" and sought changes that
expressed anti-militaristic, socially aware and
individualistic goals. Their individualism,
however, was one that stressed freedom of choice
in all spheres of society, and sought to strive
forward toward a new sense of realism. Indeed,
it was the activism of these youth that created
much of the domestic resistance to the invol
vement in Vietnam. They forced change! '
Although the situation has dramatically
changed since that time, the force for change
has not. The youth of today's America also have
a goal of individualism, but it is an entirely
different individualism than our predecessors. It
is one that seems centered around pure self
interest, of what is good only for oneself
combined with a purely monetary motive.
T JETTER S TO THF EDITOR
Former president 's speech deserved bigger hall
To the editor:
The decision to relegate former
President Jimmy Carter's Weil
Lecture to the small confines of
Memorial Hall was shameful and
insensitive to students and the
community alike, especially in view
of the express theme of the lecture
which was American citizenship.
As Carter emphasized in his talk,
American citizenship is a right and
a privilege extended to us all, not
Abusive edit
To the editor:
We are shocked that the DTH
would print an editorial as senseless,
sarcastic and just plain derogatory
as "First daughter from Plains. . ."
(DTH, Oct. 23). Is this the way we
should treat a high school senior
who is simply considering attending
Carolina? Dubbing Amy a "celeb
deb" and repeatedly using her name
in a demeaning manner, the editor
ial pokes fun at her interest in
astronomy, and labels the Carter
family as 'ol' down home
Southerners."
The editorial heaps further abuse
on Amy and her father by encou
raging her to share her "opinions
on U.S. defense policy" in the Pit.
References are made to Uncle Billy's
urges to party and "how welcome"
the Carters were last time they lived
up North. "Daddy" is supposed to
appreciate North Carolina's "own
Mondale liberal."
The editorial next turns on our
own university. Granted, in any
large-scale university, problems
such as many curriculum require
ments and limited parking spaces
will arise, but the attack on our
football team, whose players prac
tice their butts off every afternoon,
is despicable.
If you are so unhappy here, dear
editor, we will gladly trade you for
Amy Carter, or even for her dog,
Grits!
Jenni Kilborn
Donna Lindsay
Mclver
Arms race needs a dose of nuclear sense
To the editor:
The nuclear arms race is by far
the most important issue facing
mankind. Overpopulation, environ
mental degradation, and the
national deficit are comparatively
trivial problems. Chapel Hill and
the UNC campus comprise an area
teeming with educated people, yet
it seems that many are as yet
uninformed or have not taken the
time to reflect on our nuclear
predicament.
During the National Annual
Week of Nuclear Education, Oct.
15-22, I was able to attend a Fr.
Drinan lecture, and a Dr. Helen
Caldicott film. On each occasion I
expected the auditorium to be full,
but only 160 people came to hear
Fr. Drinan, and fewer than 75
attended the Caldicott film. Hope
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Reagan's overt embracement of hyper-extended
capitalism provides the ideal environment for this
type of individualism to flourish. The change that
this approach brings is more change in the
participants' pockets.
What is most disturbing about this develop
ment is that the desire for more money in one's
bank account seems to have obscured what are
surely far more important issues. America's
youth have consistently voiced a concern about
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just to a select group of individuals.
His talk should have likewise been
opened to all who wished to hear
him.
The explanation provided by the
Daily Tar Heel for the decision to
hold the lecture in Memorial Hall
rather than Carmichael Auditorium
was the difference in cost between
the two halls. Are we then to
conclude that a former president of
the United States does not merit the
respect to the Carolina basketball
team?
I was among the foresighted who
arrived at 6:00 p.m. to hear the 8:00
talk, knowing full well as did
many others what the commun
ity response would be. I also
remembered last year when the
entire congregation for Kurt Wald
heim's Weil Lecture had to be
transferred from one inadequate
sized hall to another still-inadequate
Editorial mean-spirited, arrogant
To the editor:
The editor of a major college
newspaper is responsible for a
publication that reaches thousands
of people every day. The Daily Tar
Heel editorials should serve to
challenge or affirm student perspec
tive. So what was the meaning of
that "editorial" on Amy Carter on
Tuesday's back page ("First daugh
ter from Plains. . .", DTH, Oct. 23)?
Not only was it a poor repres
entation of UNC and a misuse of
editorial space, it was ugly and
arrogant. The DTH proudly pro
claims under its banner that it has
been "serving the students and the
University community since 1893."
Who does it serve by insulting the
guests of the University and offend
ing large numbers of the student
population as well?
Perhaps you would be willing to
write a defense of this editorial, so
that the University will have some
insight into your editorial philo
fully, the poor attendance at these
events was due to lack of publicity
and does not reflect the attitudes of
UNC students and residents of
Chapel Hill.
Something must be done to halt
the nuclear arms race. We are
adding at least five missiles per day
to our arsenal. Why? One of our
Trident subs possesses enough
firepower (24 megatons) to destroy
every major city in the northern
hemisphere. Do we need more?
Military spending has increased
dramatically since President Rea
gan took office, and millions have
suffered due to cutbacks in social
programs. Stockpiling of nuclear
weapon? is both costly and irra
tional. Technological advances have
made the policy of deterrence
obsolete. The development of new
tactical weapons has given rise to
talk of a "winnable nuclear war" and
"limited nuclear war." Is this the
direction in which America should
be headed?
People, not nuclear weapons, are
the strength of America. We begun
the arms race. We can bring it to
an end. Public involement is the
key! Begin by educating yourself;
read available literature, attend
seminars, etc. Next, spread the
To the editor:
If you happen to know a Res
idence Hall Association Governing
Board member, or if you happened
to note the article on the RHA
referendum in the DTH Tuesday
("Dorms to vote on higher rent,"
Oct. 23), or if you happened to catch
a glimpse of the flyer in your dorm
on Tuesday, you might have
realized that there was an election
on that very day. Well, I do know
a member oi the RHA Governing
Board, so I read the DTH article
and saw the flyer but only
because I was looking for them.
Apparently not too many dorm
residents were that fortunate
because when I went to vote at 5
p.m., only about 80 residents from
the nine dorms in Olde Campus had
voted. Two people from my dorm
had voted, and the other person is
my roommate. Most notably, out
of those nine dorms, only three
dorm presidents had voted.
A referendum which affects stu
dent's fees and could make RHA
mm ifit
TUNNEL n I
the arms race and its impact on their future,
yet they consistently place it on the back burner
as a low-priority issue. The youth pay lip service
to the increasing deficit, choosing instead to focus
on short-term benefits. Yes, it looks as though
Reagan has succeeded in lulling the young into
sitting beside the fireplace and gladly accepting
his fairy tale of prolonged economic prosperity
and assured security through a massive arms
build-up.
If we would just take a minute to think about
what really counts for our future, it becomes
alarmingly clear that support for Reagan and
his policies can contribute nothing. What good
is it to spend $1 billion on a single B-l bomber
that will be obsolete in a few years when that
money could contribute to America's educational
system? How can we live in peace and security
when there is a continual reliance on massive
nuclear destruction as its foundation? Wake up
youth of America, you can make a change and
take this country on a new path of domestic
and global realism.
Nov. 6 offers that chance for change. It is time
that the real issues come to the surface and not
be obscured by Ronnie's rhetoric. I urge those
of you who side with Reagan to re-evaluate his
policies, putting aside their short-term benefits
and looking to what they provide for your future
and those of your children. Don't mortgage your
future! Let us look beyond our own selfish
interests and concentrate on those issues that
incorporate all of mankind.
Dale McKinley is a first-year graduate student
in international relations from Gweru,
Zimbabwe.
hall. Those responsible for these
decisions of location must be either
dreadfully naive or totally insensi
tive to the wishes of the univeristy.
I urge the DTH to make known to
us those responsible, and I urged
all those who were "locked out,"
estimated at more than 1,000, to
protest.
Joan Lenowitz
Carrboro
sophy. We're waiting.
Carol Mulholland
Jonathan Williams
Chapel Hill
Letters and editorial
columns should be typed 60
character line and triple
spaced. Deadline for contri
butions is 2 p.m. the workina
day before publication.
message. Talk to friends and rela
tives, write to local newspapers, and
call or write to your congressman.
Most importantly, vote on Nov.
6 for a new administration with
more "nuclear sense." We must
remind our government officials
that they work for us, and inform
them that we do not support the
nuclear arms build up.
Lawrence W. Canton III
Carrboro
Referendum vote not valid
independent of the Campus Govern
ing Council is a pretty significant
act. Residents have a right to know
what the people who represent them
and allocate their money are doing.
So why weren't the dorm residents
properly informed of the RHA
actions before the day of the
election? Surely RHA has direct
communication with the DTH.
Perhaps RHA President Mark
Stafford did not want to deal with
any arguments from the CGC.
Perhaps the DTH is not fairly
covering news we have the right to
hear. Whatever the reason, some
thing is wrong.
This election (if you happened to
be aware of it) was certainly not
representative of the opinions of the
dorm residents. I encourage Wayne
Kuncl, director of University Hous
ing, not to accept the results of this
RHA referendum vote.
Karen Rindge
Ruffin