6The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday. February 20, 1985
latig
93 rd year of editorial freedom
Arni: Rk.khrt and
V.Jitir
Stuart Tonkinson
Bi:n Phrkowski
Dick Anderson
Jani-t Olson
Steve Ferguson
Vance Trefethen
Munuiihifi V.ditor
Associate liJitor
Assuciatv V.ditor
University V.ditor
News V.ditor
State and National Editor
1
Reagan's uneducated policy
The Reagan Administration's prop
osal to reduce federal aid to college
students apparently contradicts its
earlier push for tuition tax credits. The
cuts in grants and loans would harm
expensive private institutions at the
university level, and the credits would
benefit them at lower levels.
But the "paradox" meets in a single
end: the disintegration of public
education.
Both policies intend that families only
pay for what they get in education. The
tax burden of a public system won't rest
on those who send their children to
private schools, and expensive college
educations wont cost the government.
For primary and secondary public
schools, loss of revenues creates an
obvious threat. If reductions in federal
grants and loans pass Congress, the
dangers facing private colleges could
confront state-owned universities even
more fiercely.
With extensive cuts, students would
flood the state-owned universities and
Flaws in election laws
This year's Student Government
elections are fast fading into the past.
But before they pass from our memory
altogether, it would be worthwhile to
perform an autopsy of sorts on what
turned out to be a most turbulent
political season.
Disregarding the particular controver
sial personalities in this year's campaign,
there are characteristics in the elections
process here that encourage the non
constructive, negative campaigning
witnessed during the past elections.
. Negative . campaigning can be des
cribed - as - that which merely criticizes
candidates' personalites and positions
without offering serious, viable alterna
tives. This definition differs from
comparative campaigning, in which the
personalities and positions are compared
to illustrate the differences between
alternatives. Comparative campaigning
is constructive, when properly and
ethically done, in raising the conscious-,
ness of the electorate's choice. Negative
campaigning, however, is destructive.
Politics is a process of decision
making that requires consideration of
the different sides of an issue. Presenting
just the "negative" aspects of one side
of an issue merely sets the decision
making back. This destructive influence
in the politicals process is clearly
undesirable.
Yet the current election laws for
Student Government actually strengthen
negative campaigning. The most impor
tant characteristic of our election laws
is the limit on campaign expenditures,
which is $400 in the case of the pre
sidential race. Generally, this limit can
be beneficial to the political process by
preventing the availability of funds from
The Daily
Assistant News Editor: Cindy Parker
Editorial Writer: Marshall Mills
Assistant Managing Editors: Jim Greenhill and Amy Styers
News: Crystal Baity, Lisa Brantley, Tim Brown, James Cameron, Matt Campbell Joan Clifford,
Tom Conlon, Randy Farmer, Katy Fridl, Mike Gunzenhauser, Beth Houk Salhe Krawchcck,
Scott Larsen, Genie Lindberg, Guy Lucas, Jeame Mamo, Georgia Ann Martin Dora McAlpm
Andy Miller Marjorie Morris, Tom Morris, Kathy Nanney Janet .Olson Beth Ownley, Grant
Parsons, Ruthie Pipkin, Mark Powell, Karen Rogers, Rachel Stiffler Rachel Stroud, Kevin
Sullivan, Lisa Swicegood, Jennifer Trotter, Laura Van Sant, Kevin Washington Peter Weiss,
Scott Wharton, Leigh Williams, Lorry Williams, Laurie Willis, Kathenne Wood, Andy Trmcia,
assistant state and national editor.
Sports: Scott Fowler and Scott Canterberry, assistant sports editors. Tirn Brown, Tim Crothers,
Mark Davis, Paris Goodnight, David McCullough, Mike Persmger, Kurt Rosenberg, Mike
Schoor, Jim Suroweicki, Beth Velliquette, Mike Waters, Bob Young, Frank Kennedy, staff
writer emeritus.
Features: Marymelda Hall, assistant features editor. Mike Altieri Nancy Atkinson Tom
Camacho, Vicki Daughtry, Loretta Grantham, Elizabeth Huth, Amelia McQueen, Mary
Mulvihill, Tom Rose, Liz Saylor, Sonya Terrell and Lon Thomas.
Arts: Steve Carr, Mark Davis, Elizabeth Ellen, Ivy Hilliard, Eddie Huffman, Alexandra Mann,
Alan Mason, Sally Pont and Virginia Smith.
Photography: Nancy London, Jamie Moncrief, Jeff Neuville, Jonathan Serenius, and Stretch.
Copy Editors: Angela Gunn and Carolyn Wilson.
Production Consultant: Lynn Davis.
Artists: Bill Cokas, Deborah Kelly, Kelly Mclntyre, and David Sumner
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Paula Brewer, advertising director;
Tammy Martin, student business manager; Angela Booze, accounts receivable clerk; Terry Lee,
student advertising manager; Alicia Susan D'Anna, Greg Goosmann, Patricia Gorry Kelhe
McElhaney, Melanie Parlier, Stacey Ramirez, Doug Robinson, Rose Shacklett and Scott
Whitaker, ad representatives; Patti Pittman, classified advertising manager. Laura Bowen,
assistant; Jim Greenhill, office manager; and Cathy Davis, secretary.
Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager.
Production: Brenda Moore and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway, assistant.
Printing: Hinton Press Inc. of Mebane
Star mftl
David Schmidt
VJitur
Leigh Williams
Mark Powell
Lee Roberts
Frank Bruni
Sharon Sheridan
Ctty Editor
Business Editor
Sports Editor
Arts Editor
Features Editor
Larry Childress photo Editor
tremendously burden the system. After
tax-paying residents begin demanding
that the system admit their children
because they already support it finan
cially, the overcrowded universities
would close their doors to out-of-state
students.
When this happens, a stagnant,
narrowly focused student body results,
and the uni of "versity" would certainly
overwhelm the di. Even in-state students
suffer, because residency then restricts
freedom of choice far more than Edu
cation Secretary William Bennett fore
casted when he called for "divestiture of
certain sorts: stereo divestiture, automo
bile divestiture, three-weeks-at-the-beach
divestiture" before aid would be
granted.
Reagan's federalist policy could
fracture the nation's open network of
public schools into separate and unequal
factions. Public education is a founda
tion of American society, and it's our
responsibility as Americans all of us
to support it.
being a factor, by allowing all candidates
an equal monetary opportunity of being
heard and by keeping campus politics
within reasonable bounds.
If everyone operated consructively,
the limit would be an unmixed blessing.
But the expenditure limit places an
unfair restriction on the serious candi
date when negative campaigning occurs.
That candidate then must divert scarce
resources to counter the negativism or
simply not respond if the limit has
already been reached. In both cases, the
victim and the fairness of the campaign
suffer. Negative campaigning therefore
becomes very effective.
Unfortunately, no provisions in the
election laws limiting negative cam
paigning exist. Some might say that
controls on negative campaigning would
be a violation of the freedom of speech.
Some controls, however, could still
allow free speech but limit those forms
that are harmful to individuals and the
community's political process. The
federal elections law is a precedent of
this rationale.
What is needed is a prohibition on
any expenditure on negative campaign
ing. Unfair, untrue or misrepresented
negative campaigning could and
should be punished under the present
Honor Code. These interpretations
should be expanded to include any
expenditure on materials that are solely
negative towards a candidate, which
constitutes a harmful interference in the
elections process.
Winston Churchill said that demo
cracy is the worst form of government,
except for all the rest. We should
constantly try to improve this sacred yet
imperfect process.
Tar Heel
Pricely pain for would-be snow bunnies
By LORETTA GRANTHAM
Isnt it amusing how people will actually pay
for discomfort? In literal terms, Americans
everywhere feel no compunction in spending an
untold number of dollars on anguish.
Consider, for instance, the common winter
sport snow skiing. Of course, the slope posters
and brochures are enticing and filled with
breathtaking, candid photographs of lovely
vacationers whisking down the mountainsides.
But in reality, these folks are just expensively
dressed bundles of fright uncontrollably racing
to destruction.
Sure skiing is "easy and fun for the whole
family," but what about stopping? The most
popular method currently utilized by beginnerr
slope addicts is "body slamming." This includes
smashing into trees, fences, snow blowers, lift
supports and or lodge walls not forgetting,
by the way, that body slamming into other, skiers
is an much frequented technique of ski brake
invention for the amateur.
Despite this dilemma, as well as the freezing
cold, the wet socks and those awful lodge "heat-it-yburself
' sandwiches, fun lovers continue
signing checks and pulling out credit cards to
fund their weekends of ski-inflicted pain.
A few years ago I first ventured onto a
whitened slope with a church group. Ever notice
that a lot of people take their first ski trip with
a church group? Some say it's because of the
fellowship and economy of going with a crowd.
The untold story, however, is that most first
timers don't object too strongly to having a
clergyman around just in case.
Anyway, my initial struggle involved ski-boot
mobilization. This doesn't mean coming down
the mountain but walking around the lodge.
Because of their weird design, ski boots force
their wearers into a slightly squatted position.
Everybody knows, of course, that if you unlatch
the top few hooks, you can stand up with
reasonable dignity. But I, being a strong-willed
novice, attempted to get around without anyone
R FADER FORUM
Cabbage Patch
To the editors:
In Tuesday's article, "After 2
years, Americans still Cabbage
Patch crazy," the possible scenario
of the first Cabbage Patch kidnap
ping was dramatized. Well, here's
something interesting that the DTH
might have missed. This comes from
the Feb. 1985 issue of Omni
magazine.
Omni has an article on Connec
ticut exorcist Ed Warren who claims
that the Cabbage Patch doll has
What is this, junior
To the editors:
This past year UNC students have
been subjected to frivolous and
petty journalism that I hope will be
avoided under the new editors. A
prime example is the article by Vicki
Daugherty, "Relationship of giving,
taking and laughter" (Feb. 15),
regarding the relationship of two
roommates. I am sure that Allison
Beck and Debbie Street are thrilled
that they have been "best friends"
for ten years, but quite honestly, no
one else cares. Perhaps this shallow
subject matter would be appropriate
in a junior high school paper, but
No cheese giveaway here
To the editors:
I have a bone to pick with ARA
Food Services. No, I'm not writing
about the mandatory meal plan; I'm
upset by a much more basic issue.
Monday night, my roommate and
I decided to grab a quick bite to
eat after water polo practice. We
went to The Commons in search of
something cheap. Assuming grilled
cheese sandwiches to be one of the
cheapest foods, I checked the price.
I was shocked to see it was $1.05.
Then I checked the price of cheese
burgers 67 cents. Now, I ask you,
what should be more expensive, two
A makes
By GREG HECHT
About this time last year I was a skeptic
concerning the so-called vastly improving ARA
Food Services. I had eaten in the Pine Room
for two and a half years and felt that this
commercial distributor was a high priced, low
variety, and cheaply composed food organiza
tion. Even after having worked in a program
with ARA to find out people's complaints and
implement changes, I was still suspicious. After
all, why should I have suspected anything
different from my previous experience with
ARA? I suggested competition as a source of
improvement in a campaign as well as cooper
ation as I still do advocate on a smaller scale,
but I am happy to eat my words on some of
my complaints and some finer meals.
ARA brought in Tony Hardee to improve the
food services and after watching a year of real
improvements, I believe it. He and many fine
people under him such as Phyllis Smith and
Cheryl Pleasant Bey have responded to student
complaints and got students involved in the
process. A wider variety of entrees exists, even
wider than that of K&W. Prices have been
lowered on several items to try and let students
come out with a well balanced $3 meal, which
is not easy to do. If you go to K&W, as several
students in Student Government have, you will
find a list of items or entrees of roughly equivalent
prices or possibly lower. The prices are usually
within a nickel's difference one way or another.
Hardee made a conscious effort to do this as'
well as going to dorm government meetings to
gain input and make concrete reforms with such
input. There are more vegetables in the meal lines.
AR
noticing my oddly crouched position. I certainly
didn't look like a sexy snow bunny. I looked
more like I had a severe calcium deficiency.
Once I got the basics down pat' (and myself
out of the comforts of the toasty lodge) I decided
to conquer the lift. IVe never been so terrified
in my life until I witnessed those swinging,
airborne park benches in action. "Just relax and
sit right down as it bumps up behind you," said
the snow pros.
I relaxed all right and collapsed into the slush
before my lift seat even got near me. Embar
rassingly enough, the operator had to shut off
the motor for a few seconds so that I could be
scooped to safety. So much for beginner's luck.
My nerves began to regroup, however, at the
top of the slope. Sure, it was Sugar Mountain's
simplest run "Easy Street" but I suffered
no humiliation. I valued my life.
Kids: lovable tots or devil dolls?
been targeted by the devil. The
article sites that according to
Warren, one. of the dolls told its
owner, "You and I are going to be
together forever. I'm not just a doll
I'm the Lord of Hell." Warren
says that when he arrived on the
scene, the doll was levitating eight
inches in the air. Warren made the
sign of the cross and held out his
crucifix and the doll fell into its crib.
He then buried the doll and
sprinkled holy water on the grave.
Warren gives another example of
a case where a Cabbage Patch doll
tried to strangle its owner and of
another doll who induced "night
marish hallucination." In both
cases, Warren performed exorcisms
and buried the dolls.
Warren says these "diabolical
infestations" occur when the dolls
are bought by childless women who
treat their Cabbage Patch dolls like
real kids. Some buy clothes and
jewelry for their dolls and one
high?
this is a university. And I'm sure
most university students would
rather read articles more pertinent
to themselves as students, citizens
and human beings. So please,
Rickert and Schmidt, try your best
to limit irrelevencies that you print,
unless of course you plan to add
a social page to the DTH.
Oh, Allison and Debbie: hang in
there. Maybe you can have a double
wedding someday.
To the editors:
Fear not, for the DTH did not
draw my ire by placing the cross
word puzzle on the back page
Monday. In fact, my reaction was
quite the opposite. I was elated. All
day Monday, before I read your
disturbing editorial note, I bounced
around campus praising the talent
and acute observation of the fact
that for daily crossword doers, the
back page is an ideal, more access
ible location. Other crossword doers
agree: Arne Rickert was a doer too.
He understood our plight. We were
happy. And the weather was so nice
that day.
The prospect of no loneer having
S. Smith
Chapel Hill
slices of bread with a piece of cheese
or a bun with cheese, along with
a slab of meat (soy beans?) in the
middle? Maybe after a few more
years of formal education, 111 be
able to understand this situation.
Until then, 111 wonder why this
university continues to allow one
food service to establish a monopoly
that can only hurt the pocketbooks
of the students who own meal cards
or buy food on campus.
Greg Camp
Ehringhaus
a believer out
there is a cleaner kept caleteria, more fruits have
been added to the" snack bar stores, etc., these
seem like little details, but altogether they become
vast improvements in the system and they came
about by ARA talking to students and students
talking to ARA. If you have a gripe with the
service, you will find that Hardee will talk to
any student about it and take action if warranted.
I know. When Student Government talked to
ARA about hiring more students, ARA coop
erated in a student employment drive that
increased student employment in the food service
by more than 25 percent the next year. They
initiated and paid for most of the program. The
next time you have a complaint, talk to Hardee
or another ARA administrator. You might find
a person who is responsive to your complaint
and concerned about students' nutrition and
relative costs.
If they were not concerned, they would pull
out of UNC. ARA has not made a profit since
it has been here and is still not raising prices.
In addition you will find out that ARA did not
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Youngsters of no more than five years raced
past me, so I hoped that everyone would just
think I was tall for my age. So what if I was
the only one on the hill old enough to have a
driver's license? This was a new game.
It took nearly 40 minutes for me to edge to
the bottom of the incline because I spent most
of my time in a prone position if you know
what I mean. Thank goodness I had coated my
old Levis with Scotchgard. No, I didnt have one
of those sleek Spandex body suits.
As I carefully placed each portion of my
bruised frame next to the lodge fireplace that
evening, I thought to myself, "Why had I spent
hard-earned money on a day's worth of suicide
attempts?"
No one had approached me about the U.S.
Olympic Ski Team tryouts; no gorgeous blond
ski instructor clad in a L.L. Bean nordic sweater
had asked me to join him over a cup of coffee;
no one had done anything but snicker and say,
"You OK?"
I was not only out of money thanks to
transportation, ski rental, equipment insurance,
hotel bills, three cans of Scotchgard, hot
chocolate, locker fees, lift tickets, Ben-Gay and
Band-Aids, but I was also thoroughly disgusted
with myself. -
I had planned to become the next "Suzy
Chapstick," but all I had accomplished was
personifying the agony of defeat.
Yet with all this clouding my past, I still go
back when I can afford the trip. Yes, I have
a dream one day 111 leave Easy Street for
whiter pastures. Maybe 111 even go to the top
and give old "Tom Terrific" a run for his money.
Of course, if I want to blow money on painful
experiences without having to migrate westward
to colder temperatures, there's plenty of local
alternatives like ARA food (a $100 meal
plan?!), a paid subscription to the Phoenix or
an F-lot parking permit. But for now, I think
IH just save up the bucks for spring. I hear grass
skiing is a cinch.
Loretta Grantham, a sophomore journalism
major from Greenville, is a staff writer for The
Daily Tar Heel.
woman, Warren says, even had a
whole nursery. Warren explains
that the devil looks on such behav
ior as a sign of human weakness
and is trying to take advantage of
the situation.
I cant wait for when the dolls
start rotating their heads all the way
around and vomiting pea soup!
Tommy O'Brien
Morrison
'DTH' cross words
to fumble around, folding my paper
every which way, thus preventing
me from ever actually reading the
paper, thrilled me to no end. "Now,
I thought, "I can both attempt to
do the crossword each day and read
the paper!"
But much to my dismay, I learned
that the placement was only due to
an oversized ad.
Arne, you tricked and deceived
me. I almost thought you were one
of us. I almost thought you
understood.
Amy T. Schutz
Winston
of a skeptic
J mTz .
request the $100 mandatory meal plan. The UNC
administration and the state agreed on this to
help pay for the Lenoir renovations. Most
schools in the country have a mandatory plan
and usually a full plan. Otherwise, operators have
a difficult time making money, and yes, ARA
is a commercial distributor. Still, ARA did not
ask for the mandatory plan, but if we were going
to gain an improved food service the state
required us to have some plan. One hundred
dollars is miniscule in comparison to the benefits
received from the new Lenoir and Commons.
In addition, students were involved in a survey
two years ago and they dramatically voted for
a mandatory plan to gain renovations.
All this praise of ARA is not to say do not
keep a watchful eye out. It is to say thanks.
Hardee and crew have made a believer out of
a skeptic. I feel they have been responsive to
students' needs and will continue to be.
Greg Hecht is a senior political science major
from Atlanta.
Letters? JAk