8The Daily Tar HeelMonday, March 30, 1987
latiy
Star HM
95i year of editorial freedom
JILLGERBER, -ir
Amy Hamilton, Managing Editor
SALLY PEARSALL, News Editor
JEAN LUTES, University Editor
DONNA LEINWAND, State and National Editor
JEANNIE FAR1S, City Editor
JAMES SUROWIECKI, Sports Editor
FEL1SA NEURINGER, Business Editor
JULIE BRASWELL, Features Editor
Elizabeth Ellen, Arts Editor
Charlotte Cannon, photography Editor
KATHY PETERS, Omnibus Editor
Readers' Foirymni
. ' ! '
Editorials
Movement needs momentum
board
ophron
: The Carolina
Gay and Lesbian
Association began
its Tenth Annual
; Lesbian and Gay
j Awareness Week Friday. A panel
; discussion on religion and lesbians and
gay men, a lecture on homosexuality
; among Native Americans and an open
; discussion with an AIDS patient are
some of the worthwhile programs the
: group has organized for this week.
Today is also Blue Jeans Day, when
; the CGLA asks those who support the
j civil rights of all people to wear blue
: jeans to campus.
Most students aren't aware of Blue
Jeans Day, and of those who do know
; about it, few have let it influence their
wardrobes. A few ardent supporters
;of the CGLA have donned their
j denims especially for the occasion, and
;a few ardent homophobes have been
I very careful to wear plaid, polyester
;or corduroy to signify their disagree
ment with the goals of the group.
j Most students choice of leg-wear is
;not much of an indication of their
stand on the issue of civil rights, but
;a reflection of what the weather was
.'like when they awoke. Quite a few
; liberal, progressive students threw on
:a pair of shorts this morning ten
minutes before their first class, and any
number of anti-homosexual conserva
tives slipped into a pair of Levi's with
the same lack of thought.
A meaningful political statement
can't be as low-key and ambiguous as
wearing an ordinary article of clothing
on a day when hundreds of unin
formed or apathetic students will be
wearing the same thing. And
obviously, the CGLA doesn't want to
ask students to wear something out
of the ordinary that they might not
have available at home.
An alternative would be for the
group to set up a table in the Pit to
distribute some emblem that students
could pick up and wear as a sign of
open support for civil rights. An
obvious choice for this would be the
pink triangle, a symbol adopted by the
homosexual community as a state
ment of support for homosexual
rights.
The pink triangle is a powerful
symbol for all people. The Nazis in
Germany forced homosexuals to wear
it sewn on their garments. Today, it
can be a reminder of the horrors of
a society in which all civil rights were
eradicated a better reminder than
a common pair of blue jeans.
Students fighting for gay and lesbian
rights shouldn't be afraid to make bold
statements. Civil rights have never
been achieved by anything less.
Coke cans with mice nice
The Coca-Cola Co. is so nice.
The company has devoted some of
its soft drink cans to coirnemorating
the 15th anniversary of Walt Disney
World, the Orlando, Fla., theme park.
Those who plunk their 55 cents into
a vending machine will find shiny
aluminum likenesses and peppy des
criptions of Dumbo, Tinker Bell,
Snow White and the like immortalized
on cans of Cherry Coke, Diet Coke
and regular Coke.
i
; Habitual seekers of intellectual
stimuli who have already memorized
the nutrition information on the side
of a Diet Coke can protein, zero;
fat, zero; calories, zero; sodium, very
low will relish the inestimable social
lessons represented by their favorite
Disney characters:
: a "Have you ever seen an elephant
fly?" reads the description under a
bashfully posed, jauntily capped
pachyderm. "Dumbo does, by turning
an embarrassment into an advantage
and proving his ears are worth their
weight in more than just peanuts." The
reader will be heartened to learn of
a social outcast who managed to
overcome his disability and turn it into
a commercial goldmine.
"Spunky, flirty and always ready
for fun, when Mickey's girlfriend
speaks, youH find the little guy is
usually all ears," says the blurb under
a manic-looking Minnie Mouse mug.
So Miss "M" is not really the demure,
furry little rodent the reader has always
imagined, but a sleazy, domineering
temptress in mouse heels.
n "According to the Magic Mirror,
she's the fairest of them all but the
only fruit her good fortune seems to
bear is a poison apple courtesy of
the jealous wicked queen," reads the
description under a pursed-lipped
Snow White on a Cherry Coke can.
The reader is presented with the false
value that existence is wholly shaped
by outward appearance. And a woman
who lacks self-esteem to the point of
harboring an intense death wish
against a contemporary has a problem
not to be taken lightly.
The Coca-Cola Co. must be com
mended for its generous efforts to
entertain the public and promote
social good. And all while striking a
healthy deal with the Disney people.
Isn't that nice? J.G.
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Chris Chapman, James Farrer, Michael Krass, Brian McCuskey and Grant Parsons
Editorial Assistants: Julia Coon and Sharon Kebschull.
Assistant Managing Editor: Stephanie Beard
pNews: Holly Baker, Jeanna Baxter, Matt Bivens, Eric Bradley, Tom Camp, Paul Cory, Meg Craddock,
J Phil Craig, Laurie Duncan, Kimberly Edens, Mark Folk, Kristen Gardner, Maria Haren, Lindsay Hayes,
jiSusan Jensen, Kelly Johnson, Michael Jordan, Sharon Kebschull, Robert Keefe, Jennifer Klump, Laura
Lance, Cornelia Lee, Brian Long, Mitra Lotfi, Tom McCuiston, Leigh Ann McDonald, Justin McGuire,
i Dan Morrison, Lee Ann Necessary, Rebecca Nesbit, Mary Paradeses, Laura Pearlman, Becky Riddick,
.Debbie Rasa, Andrea Shaw, Amy Stock, Clay Thorp, Neil Watson, Nicki Weisensee and Bill Yardley.
;,Jo Fleischer, assistant university editor. Ruth Davis and Michael Jordan, wire editors.
Sports: Bob Young and Patton McDowell, assistant sports editors. Scott Fowler, Scott Greig, Laura
! Grimmer, Dave Hall, Andy Podolsky, Jill Shaw, Chris Spencer and Langston Wertz.
; Features: Jessica Brooks, Eric Chilton, Hannah Drum, Carole Ferguson, Jennifer Frost, Melissa Furr,
Ronnie Gontram, Laura Jenkins, Jeanie Mamo, Corin Ortlam, Lynn Phillips, Anne Raugh and Kathy
Wilson.
(;Arts: James Burrus, Scott Cowen, Andrew Edmonson, David Hester, Marty Michaels, Beth Rhea,
1 Kelly Rhodes, Alston Russell and Rob Sherman.
i Photography: Charles Carriere, Tony Deifell and Julie Stovall.
j Copy Editors: Karen Bell, Laurie Duncan, Lisa Lorentz, Toby Moore, Belinda Morris, Sherri Murray,
' Karen Smiley, Marielle Stachura, Rachel Stiffler and Kaarin Tisue.
Cartoonists: Adam Cohen, Bill Cokas, Greg Humphreys and Trip Park.
Campus Calendar: Mindelle Rosenberg and David Starnes.
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Patricia Benson, advertising director; Mary
i Pcarse, advertising coordinator. Angela Ostwalt, business manager; Cammie Henry, accounts receivable
clerk; Ruth Anderson, Michael Benfield, Jennifer Garden, Ashley Hinton, Kellie McElhaney, Chrissy
i Mennitt, Anne Raymer, Julie Settle, Peggy Smith, Kent Sutton, Amanda Tilley and Ashley Waters
J advertising representatives; Tammy Norris, Angie Peele, Stephanie Chesson, classified advertising
representatives; and Mary Brown, secretary.
, Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager.
i
Production: Bill Leslie and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway and Lisa Poole, production assistants.
I Printing: The Chapel Hill Newspaper
'Bigot Mint9 becomes aU-consumiii1
I he recent glut of letters on the back
page of the DTH concerning Tom
JLL Camp's column and the incident at
Hinton James has forced us to examine
racism and discrimination here at UNC.
Certainly, no one argues that prejudices do
not exist, or that there is no racism or
discrimination in the United States, for there
certainly is. But 1 think the recent contro
versy raises some very serious questions,
much more serious than the alleged racism
in Camp's column or the supposed discrim
ination by a desk monitor at Hinton James.
For the DTH and the hapless desk attend
ant, being accused of racism, bigotry and
discrimination is a new experience. Unfor
tunately, being an outspoken conservative,
1 have become all too accustomed to being
unfairly labeled such things as a racist
because I do not support divestment, or a
bigot and a homophobe because 1 do not
support student funding of the Carolina Gay
and Lesbian Association. The implication
is that 1, or any conservative, for that matter,
is simply hostile to blacks or homosexuals,
or to whatever group happens to be making
the accusation. 1 can give testimony that this
is completely false, but why bother? Are
these people listening? Are the authors of
the letters attacking Camp and the desk
attendant listening? Of course not.
And why not? The reason is worth
considering. If you are against bigotry, you
should actually welcome evidence that there
is less bigotry in the world than you had
feared. And you should show your open-
minded ness, your own generosity, your own
refusal to be bigoted, by allowing the man
Keith Poston
Guest Writer
Team shouldn't
get grief
Editor's note! The author is
captain of the UNC wrestling
team.
To the editor:
1 understand the need for
objective reporting on the
outcome of athletic events and
the need to editorialize on
overall team performance. But
as a wrestler who has recently
completed his collegiate
athletic career, I take offense
to the personal attacks levied
at the members of the basket
ball team in Scott Fowler's
"The Far Sideline" ("Heels left
longing again," March 23).
The UNC wrestling team was
ranked fifth in the country
throughout the 1986-87 season.
On March 19-22, we too were
competing in an NCAA tour
nament in which we aspired to
dethrone the nine-time national
champion, the University of
Iowa. And while our goal of
winning the tournament was
not unrealistic, we did not
attain it; we placed seventh.
The score attested to the fact
that we, as a team, did not
wrestle up to our capabilities.
But this was not due to a lack
of effort. Placing seventh out
of all the country's collegiate
wrestling programs, an overall
impressive performance,
should not and did not leave
us ashamed.
An article conveying a sense
of disappointment with our
tournament performance
would not have been out of
bounds. But if the writer
instead had resorted to point
ing fingers and levying personal
attacks to say we did not live
up to expectations, I would
have taken offense. But fortu
nately, jabs such as, "If you feel
compelled to point fingers for
the Tar Heels' latest travesty,
youH need two hands," were
withheld from the report on the
wrestling tournament. Fowler
did not resist this compulsion
in his story.
While the final score made
it painfully clear that the Tar
Heels came up short, why must
Fowler choose phrases such as,
. . who blew UNC's last
chance for redemption by tak
ing and missing an off-balance
two-point shot" that do not do
justice to our players' efforts?
Why should Ranzino Smith
have to open up the DTH and
accused of bigotry to defend and explain
himself.
The key to this puzzle is that most of
the people who make loose charges of racism
or bigotry do so for fun and profit. It is
much easier for supporters of divestment,
for example, to call anyone who opposes
them a racist than it is to sit down and
explain why the opposition should support
divestment. They themselves typically hold
all the real earmarks of racism and bigotry:
the closed mind, the reluctance to look
closely, the eagerness to prosecute, the
sloppy logic designed only to prop up a
foreordained conclusion, the inability to
contemplate another side of the question at
hand and sheer obsessiveness. In a word,
it never occurs to them that it may be wrong.
They are content as long as they belong to
a group that sanctions their behavior. Their
real definition of bigotry is "whoever
digresses with us." This is about as bigoted
an outlook as it is possible to have. The
idea that all closed-mindedness is on one
side is hardly the mark of an open mind,
is it? Yet we have to live with the oppressive
presumption that this is true. Conservatives
constantly have to prove that we don't
practice vices in which liberals may indulge
with impunity.
There was a brief moment when conser
vatives held sway. It is generally referred
to as "the McCarthy era." We don't even
have a name for which tne much longer era
in which we still live, when loose charges
and even official presumptions of bigotry
and racism are treated as normal. If Joe
McCarthy accused you of communism, at
least he was talking about something specific
and definable. You could say "Prove it." And
the burden of proof was on him. If he were
even technically wrong, he stood a price to
pay in disgrace, and he certainly has paid
it. Today nobody remembers when he was
right.
By contrast, charges of "bigotry,"
"racism," "homophobia," etc., are nebulous.
Nobody is quite sure what they mean, but
they arouse group hostilities that can hurt
the accused. And the burden of proof is on
the defendant. There is no clear criteria of
truth, which makes the charges all the harder
to refute. And the accuser seldom pays any
penalty for false, loose, or downright
malicious accusations. Virtual slander can
be cost-free.
Do not be duped into believing that one
side has a monopoly on the good and
righteous. One day, you may have to defend
yourself from charges of racism only because
you question the logic of divestment, or be
labeled a "homophobe" or a bigot simply
because you do not want your student fees
funding the CGLA, so be prepared.
No wonder bigot-hunting is a popular
sport. But we may be looking for bigotry
in all the wrong places.
Keith Poston is a sophomore political
science major from Fayetteville.
BAH HUMBUG
NO NOISE
VvPWi iTT E TIM NEDS
THERAPY AT THE V
I BURN CENTERjg
we m i i ii iwmmmr m mm i mi l .r fiii m
read this, when it was the only
shot he missed all day?
It is not as if the team
members had planned to have
a bad day. And Fowler, who
has never experienced the pres
sures of the quarterfinals of an
NCAA tournament, has no
right to imply that they did.
While the outcome of the game
needed to be reported and
relevant statistics needed to be
told, I feel that the overall tone
of Fowler s article is uncalled
for. Let our goal be to have the
best basketball season possible
and not harp on missed chan
ces. Hats off to Dean Smith and
the 1986-87 basketball team.
JOE SILVESTRO
Senior
Speech Communications
Use freshmen,
not criminals
To the editor:
In response to the letter of
Patrick Anders and Dal Spar
row ("Replace animals with
criminals in the lab," March
25), we must disagree with the
conclusion that criminals
represent the optimal substitute
for animals in scientific
experimentation.
Whereas we also are opposed
to infliction of unnecessary
pain and suffering upon inno
cent animals, we feel strongly
that some forms of research are
necessary in order to promote
the interests of the population
in general. Sacrifices must be
made. Using criminals, how
ever, is not the answer to
society's search for scientific
knowledge.
Given the very nature of
convicted criminals, their expe
rience does not represent that
of the general populace. First,
their physical histories (i.e.,
probable drug and alcohol
abuse) are likely to cause
discrepancies in experimental
drug testing data. Second, the
very fact that these convicts got
caught and hired poorly trained
lawyers in their defense indi
cates that they are less able to
cope with mental duress and
strain, and are not good sub
jects for a forced participation
program. Finally, some of these
convicts might actually be
innocent, and it would be cruel
to end their lives unnecessarily.
We recommend another group
of society be chosen to partic
ipate in these experiments:
college freshmen.
Yes, college freshmen. Expe
rience shows that this societal
sub-group doesn't mind infor
mal experimentation but is
young enough not to have been
destroyed by its efforts thus far.
Its "value added" is often lower
than that of convicts, who are
wholly supported by the state
for years and years. Thus
society's costs would be lower.
Also, there are more freshmen
than little white rats. Lastly, it
is apparent that some of them
have such a strong sensitivity
to the "abuse" of animals that
they might be very willing to
lay down their bodies (in part
or whole) in order that other
critters remain free and happy.
The benefit for the
researchers is that their results
would no longer be skewed by
any personal feelings developed
toward their subjects. This has
often been the case with little
white rats. Researchers would
then treat the freshmen in the
way advocated by Sparrow and
Anders as non-entities.
We know where our sympa
thies lie. Our question is:
Anders and Sparrow, how far
are you willing to go to protect
"Fluffie?"
MATT NITZBERG
Graduate
Business Administration
CRAIG BARBER
Graduate
Business Administration
Letters policy
. B All letters and columns
must be signed by the
author, with a limit of two
signatures per letter or
column. Name, year in
school, major and phone
number should be
submitted.
B All letters must be
typed, double-spaced on a
60-space line, for ease of
editing.
B The DTH reserves the
right to edit letters.
DTH film reviewers display incompetence
To the editor:
I would like to express my exasperation
with the DTH arts desk, specifically its film
reviewers. The quality of the film reviews
in the DTH this year has been a great
disappointment, and I have found it
especially difficult to sit back helplessly as
quality filmwork continues to be dismissed
by negligent criticism.
The most recent example, Kelly Rhodes'
review, "Lackluster plot, poor acting rust
Tin Men' "(March 24), is representative of
the string of feeble attempts to judge new
films. Rhodes, as do most of her fellow DTH
reviewers, has a curious idea of how one
should discuss a film's merits. In the
aforementioned review, she limits her
criticism to an assessment of the actors'
performances and to the number of belly
laughs they were able to provoke. Since film
is a director's medium, it is confounding that
there was no mention or discussion of Barry
Levinson and what he intended to do both
as writer and director of the film. Can we
really assume we can discuss a film with
virtually no regard to the script, art design,
editing, music or direction?
My purpose is not so much to discredit
Rhodes as it is to point out what I believe
to be the major problem with the ever
widening field of film and theater criticism.
In a time when every newspaper, magazine
and local news station, however small, feels
compelled to establish an entertainment
' guide as a consumer service, reviews are
necessarily reduced to capsulized overviews
that in the end say nothing.
The best critics make expert use of what
little space they have. But the rest too often
sacrifice argument for personal preferences.
What is most often missing is real under
standing of the elements of film and how
the film maker manipulates them. Without
ihis, the critic cannot possibly know what
he (or she) is talking about. To my mind,
not to know this is as irresponsible as
covering a news event with little regard to
getting the facts right.
The DTH reviews, 1 fear, are symptomatic
of this current devaluation of film criticism.
Rhodes' pronouncements are only so much
personal opinion, and the reader comes
away annoyed at having indulged her. She,
like so many others, does not persuade.
I would be interested in seeing occasional
reviews written by members of UNC's
Radio. Television and Motion Picture
faculty, as they are in a better position to
assess films. But if the DTH insists that the
"cinema" column remain a student venture,
1 would just as soon prefer it be dropped
altogether, better to leave the task of
discriminating film quality to the individual
than to promote questionable and insuffi
cient exegesis by inept reviewers.
ANDREW ADE
Graduate
Comparative Literature
V
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