The Tar Heel Thursday, May 21, 198717
Editora
Hart: looking out for No 1
Gary Hart began his second presidential
campaign last month by proclaiming to be
the standard bearer for a new age of politics
an age in which ability, and ideas, not
personality and character, would determine
who governed. Yet, Hart declared his
candidacy amid rumors of womanizing and
evidence of unpaid debts from his 1984
campaign. In an attempt to revert attention
to Gary Hart, Man of Ideas, from Gary
Hart, Man About Town, he challenged the
press to follow him and report on any
extramarital affairs. The Miami Herald
answered Hart's challenge and his relation
ship with Donna Rice became front-page
news.
Whether Hart committed adultery is
unimportant. It is important that he put
himself in a situation in which the facts could
easily be misconstrued. By so doing, Hart
called into question not only his character,
but his judgment. Hart's poor judgment cost
him dearly, but it cost Hart's campaign staff,
the forgotten men and women of any
campaign, much more.
Political campaign workers are filled with
motivations, often conflicting, from idealism
and patriotism to ambition and opportu
nism. But one characteristic unites the
different motivations of men and women
within a campaign, the willingness to
sacrifice. Campaign staffers work long hours
and face numerous crises as the immovable
deadline of Election gay approaches.
Hart's campaign staffers were working
from California to Maine raising money and
preparing for the Iowa caucuses, the New
Hampshire primary, and the Super South.
Meanwhile, their candidate, with full
knowledge that the womanizing issue could
destroy his candidacy, chose to sail from
Miami to Bimini with an actress and then
r-Off the Record
spent part of a weekend with her in
Washington. Evidently, Gary Hart, Man
About Town, did not believe that his lifestyle
lent credibility to the womanizing rumors.
This callous disregard for the sacrifices and
aspirations of his most ardent and loyal
supporters says more about Gary Hart than
any of his ideas.
As the situation deteriorated during the
days following the weekend rendezvous,
Hart's staff attempted to gather the facts
and respond to the mounting accusations.
Hart's actions reminded one staffer of
March 1984 when the press broke stories
about his name and age. "It's happening
again," the aide said. "We cant get a straight
story out of him."
Although his staff and volunteers were
willing to make tremendous personal
sacrifices to help him, Hart was apparently
unwilling or unable to make any sacrifices
for them. Hart came across as an insensitive
man who cared not for individuals, but only
for his own entertainment and ideas.
As he left the political arena, Hart
complained that press scrutiny "is clearly
one of the reasons many talented people in
the nation opt out of public service." The
press did not force Hart out of the race.
He requested unusual personal scrutiny, and
the press merely showed Hart to be what
he is a selfish man with a tremendous
intellect, but poor judgment and limited
compassion.
Gary Hart no longer has to worry about
press scrutiny. Today, Gary Hart is what
he should be, a private citizen. And he has
plenty of time to stop thinking about himself
and start reflecting on the pain and
disappointment he brought into other
people's lives.
Stye alar Mni
Sally Pearsall Editor
Stephanie Beard Managing Editor
LisaLorentz News Editor
Ron Crawford University Editor
Mike Berardino Sports Editor
Rick Radford State and National Editor
Joanne Gordon Arts and Features Editor
Steve Matteson Photography Editor
. Staff
Tom Ballus, Chip Beverung, James Burrus, Eric
Fullagar, Edward Gilgor, Michael Jackson, Laura
Patterson, Sherrie Thomas, Wendy Widener.
Letters
Will sanctions really help?
An easy way to improve your GFA
Welcome to summer school.
Go ahead, read this paper. No need to worry
about assignments or due dates or whatever else
that professor is droning on about. Studying and
taking "notes are not the way to get through Carolina.
For those of you who haven't caught on yet, the
easiest way to graduate from this esteemed
institution is by brown-nosing or butt-kissing.
The best way to describe this age-old Carolina
tradition is probably by example. For instance,
think back to elementary school, when there was
always a "teacher's pet." This kid always compli
mented the teacher's new dress or volunteered to
dust the erasers. But as soon as the teacher was
out of the room, her "pet" called her names and
threw spitballs just like everyone else except he
got away with it. And while you wrote, "I will not
call Mrs. Jones a fat Frankenstein,". "500 times; he I
got to go make bulletin boards or practice his poem
for the PTA program.
Well the teacher's pet grew up and came to
Carolina. Now called a brown-noser or a butt-kisser,
he or she follows the motto: Don't know the material
know the professor.
So now the brown-noser goes from class to class
raising his hand to ask as many questions as he
can possibly think of. -These questions dont have
to be intelligent. Quantity counts more than quality.
The experienced butt-kisser tends to save the best
questions until there are only one or two minutes
left in the class so everyone has to stay late to hear
the answer.
After class, the brown-noser will stand in line
with all the other brown-nosers and wait for a chance
to talk with the instructor. These two-minute
conversations range from complimenting the class
to flattering comments about the instructor.
The most interesting thing about brown-nosing
is that it often works. Brown-nosers do seem to
get better grades. Why? Because many instructors
simply can't tell the difference between a brown
noser and a genuinely interested student. This is
seldom a problem for other students.
So if you want to get good grades without having
to learn too much, maybe you should give brown
nosing a try. Summer school, with its small class
sizes, is a great time for a novice to take up the
sport.
But don't expect to end up with many friends
or an education..
Editor's note: Off the Record is a column created
by the editorial board for its own devious purposes.
To the editor;
A great deal has been said
during the past year about the
"positive" impact that economic
sanctions would have in forcing
the apartheid government in
South Africa to reform its racist
policies. Yet, experts now contend
that the punitive sanctions are
having the reverse effect and the
imposition of sanctions has con
solidated the government in its
retreat from meaningful, if indeed,
any reform.
The South African Roman
Catholic Church, one of the
outspoken voices in support of
sanctions a few months ago,
recently reported this finding and
has further concluded that eco
nomic sanctions will "become very
hurtful to the economic and,
therefore, the social fabric of the
country."
Bowing under the pressure of
the noisy and emotional crowd in
this country that has advocated
sanctions as the "moral" policy to
affect change in South Africa,
General Motors, IBM, Coca
Cola, and other corporations have
pulled out. GM, you might
remember, was the company that
established the Sullivan principles,
a standard of respect for human
rights and civil liberties. But GM
has left South Africa, and U.S.
influence in the reform process
may have left with it.
William Raspberry, a liberal
columnist with the Washington
Post, has written that since sanc
tions were imposed by the Con
gressional override of President
Reagan's veto last year, there has
been "an end to any pretense of
serious reform."
. Most importantly, blacks are
being punished by the economic
sanctions, the very people that
sanctions were supposed to help.
Black unemployment in many
parts of the country is rising. In
the Eastern. Cape, it is running at
50 percent. So much for our faith
in economic sanctions.
BILLPEASLEE
Class of 1987
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