Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 10, 1987, edition 1 / Page 8
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'r ' '""""" yi"11'11 in '"i!"-""" yi'i'ininiii 8The Daily Tar HeelThursday, September 10, 1987 latlg Star 95i ear of editorial freedom JILL GERBER.fitfor Amy Hamilton, Managing Editor Sally Pearsall, nm Editor JEAN LUTES, University Editor DONNA LONWAND, State and National Editor JEANNIE FARIS, City Editor JAMES SUROWIECKI, Sports Editor FELISA NEURINGER, Business Editor JULIE BRASWELL, Features Editor Elizabeth Ellen, Am Editor Charlotte Cannon, Photography Editor CATHY McHUGH, Omnibus Editor Editorials R egistered voters get results The University can be a place where students board quickly learn their OpJlIOn limitations. Instead of being one of 200, they become one of 22,000. And it is not itoo great a step to realize that they . are really one of several billion and may not, after all, change the world ' with the exercise of their vocal chords. Cynicism is not the inevitable or desirable consequence of this new found humility. Rather, it is time to realize what can be achieved as one : member of a large society. Students at Chapel Hill are now ; faced with a number of important issues. Locally, there is the noise ordinance, condemned fraternities, new highway plans that might demolish some fraternities and a potential tax on tickets to Smith Center events. At the state level, there is a need to safeguard and increase aid for education, the looming spectre of yet more tuition hikes and the ever unpopular drinking age. These are only issues that directly concern students. More remote issues deserve their interest, too. In the most extreme case, for example, they would face the draft in the unlikely event of outright war. Students need to demonstrate their responsiblity, in order that they may really be heard. This means working through the political channels that society gives them. Locally, two students are running for the Chapel Hill Town Council. Given that students are such an integral part of the town, it needs to hear their voice. Equally, students must take part in the town's political process to have a true right to be heard. Nationally, the country is preparing to choose the person who will lead it into the next decade. In past presiden tial elections, the 18 to 21 age group has been sadly represented. To vote in town elections, students must be registered. The same is true for state and national elections. To vote in a primary, they must register with the political party of their choice. Student Government's Voter Reg istration Project starts this Friday, with the presidential candidates' forum in the Smith Center. Students who attend will be able to register. They must be at least 18 and a U.S. citizen. An envelope mailed to their local address is sufficient proof of residence. Students must inform themselves as fully as practical and act on the issues they feel strongly about. The most effective, if least spectacular, way to do that is to vote. And to vote, they must register. :JRiot should freeze rivalry i There was a riot Saturday night at ;ffcC. State University. .What, was :WRDU giving away free refrigerator C-niagnets? No, something even more trivial happened East Carolina Diversity beat N.C. State in a football xgame. y: As if celebrating some kind of tribal '"tribute to intoxication, a frenzied mob ;6f about 2,000 ECU fans stormed the :field at Carter-Finley Stadium after tHe Pirates beat the Wolfpack. Fights ibroke out between fans. Goalposts rwere partially torn down. Afterward, tSjtate officials estimated the total amage at about $7,000. 1 Granted, Pirate victories in football tdo come few and far between. But even their victory were more significant irijan free refrigerator magnets, such reconduct has no place in college :feotball. On Saturday night, the tractions of the ECU fans only dimin fj'&hed the victory their team had won ;Oji the field. ;t;News of violence at athletic events tjisWlly spreads fast, and Saturday's tligly scene was no exception. Because itbe incident occurred at an Atlantic r:non sequitur Coast Conference school, it cast a negative light on the entire conference. Because the game was played between two members of the UNC system, it cast a negative light on the state of North Carolina. So far, State officials have been tight-lipped about the future of their series with ECU. If the riot were the first blight on the rivalry's 18-year history, it might make sense to tighten security and continue the series. One step forward would be moving the game from night to afternoon, so fans have less time to get drunk. But the riot was not a first in the series. A similar incident followed the Pirate's victory two years ago. Fearing an outburst before the game last Saturday, officials from both schools tightened security and asked students to be on their best behavior. Since these steps didn't accomplish much, State officials need to make clear that such conduct has no place in college football. It is time for State and ECU to put their heated rivalry in cold storage for a few years. Mike Mackay Keep the gene pool moron-free 7 Some of us are born to fame, some to f;. power, some to riches, and some of us are y 1 .born to or despite condoms. t. While everybody's favorite latex sock has :! never been a sure guarantee against ;3 parenthood or the other consequences of ;t excessive socializing, a recent story in The f :News and Observer of Raleigh had some ingntening news. - About 20 percent of several batches of !K;Condoms spot-tested by the federal govern- Kment 1 ailed to pass the leakage test. If as -many as four out of 1,000 condoms m a batch leaked water, the whole batch failed. That's a pretty scary thought, especially in -the AIDS-conscious 1980s. . An even scarier thought is that some where the federal government is paying somebody to fill thousands of condoms full Z of water to see if they leak. What a job. What do I dp for a living? I fill 1,000 condoms a day full of tap water, and swing them around my head to see if they leak. It's not real fulfilling work, but the hours i. are good and I get to work right out of my kitchen. ;s You know that the guy who has this meaningful and exciting job probably put holes in the first four condoms in every batch, just so he could avoid testing the other 9,996. Despite this startling news, the Surgeon General has warned that while the devices can fail, the greatest danger comes from their improper use. This is kind of a double whammy because anyone who can't figure out how to use a condom probably shouldn't be reproducing anyway. There are enough stupid genes floating around the gene pool as it is. While on the topic of stupidity, let's discuss those cardboard windshield covers that keep the sun off the dashboard. For mental midgets, the manufacturers enclose instructions for setting them up in the window. Seeing how difficult it can be to place a piece of cardboard on your dash, this is a very thoughtful gesture, especially when accompanied by this well-thought caution label: "Warning: Do not drive with screen in place" .. ' If you see somebody driving with the screen still in place, don't hesitate to make a citizen's arrest on the spot. Headers' Forumm Just a little bit of respect for marching band To the editor: As a trombonist with the Marching Tar Heels, I looked forward to reading Rachel Orr's story on student spirit at the Illinois game ("Soaking rain didn't sink student spirit during UNC football season opener," Sept. 8). But upon finding no mention of the band's contribution, I was appalled. After all, it was the band who started the majority of the cheers. It was the band who entertained amidst pouring rain at halftime with songs such as "La Bamba" and the James Bond theme. The band was first to enter and the last to leave Kenan Stadium. But the UNC attitude toward the band didn't really sink in until a snobbish girl made a remark on the elevator in my dorm about my trombone case taking up too much space. I thought surely that this cannot be the attitude toward the band because it really stinks! When I arrived on campus three days before the rest of the freshman for band camp, I was greeted with such warmth by the band that I felt right at home. The band has been like a second family, and I can't begin to think about how I would have adjusted without them. They helped me learn to march, and also showed me things about school that I wouldn't have picked up on my own. They are a fabulous support group. I couldn't believe the upperclassmen v when they said this bad attitude was prevalent. The University has a top-caliber march ing band. As the largest and loudest spirit group on campus, we support everything from football to volleyball. But how much recognition do we get? None at all! Instead, Carolina Fever won most of the attention, although most of the time they followed our cheers and their mike man almost swallowed the mike. How are we, the band, supposed to continue giving 100 percent to our athletic teams if we don't have student backing? As the Freshman Handbook for the Marching Tar Heels says, "Carolina Pride. That is what being a Marching Tar Heel is all about Pride for the University, Pride for the Band, and Pride for Self." Nothing made me feel better than when I was greeted at Hinton James with a yell from a second-story window. A girl called out, "Marching band was awesome today!" I was glad to see that the sacrifices of time and effort (not to mention all those wet clothes) had not gone unnoticed. I am darned proud to be in the band and I want to see UNC show some pride, too. I propose that Sept. 15 be a day to show support for the band. If you're in the band, wear your uniform, part of your uniform, or even your T-shirt to class. If you're not in the band, wear something Carolina blue and tell a band member that you're behind him. When the band travels to Georgia Tech and Navy, its members need to know that the student body is behind them. The Marching Tar Heels are the "Band of Champions" and we deserve UNC's support. After all, how can we be the "Pride of the ACC" if we're not the pride of UNC? MICHAEL TYE Freshman Biology Just be reasonable To the editor. Don't you hate it when you're working on a computer, and it won't give you what you're looking for? For those of you who don't work with computers, don't you hate it when you lose your money in a soda machine? A pay tele phone? Whom do you com plain to? It's so frustrating because you can't reason with an inanimate object. You're limited to what that computer or machine has been pro grammed to do. One of the only things worse than that helpless frustration is when you have to deal with a human being with the same mentality. On Monday, the second day of the David Bowie concert, my friend Doug and I went to pick up a friend at Hinton James. Our car was met at the bottom of the parking lot by two parking attendants. They told us we needed an "M" permit and to "move your car because you're holding up traffic!" I told the attendant to be reas onable since it was raining very hard and our friend was wait ing. I even offered her my wallet for collateral, so if we did park there she could confiscate it. She told us to move the car or they would call the police. Why can't people be reaso nable? Why do they have to act like the computer or soda machine which can only do what it is programmed to do? I realize there are many rules governing parking during a concert or basketball game, but these attendants need to place themselves in our shoes. They need to use some common sense once in a while and try to appear human instead of acting like some senseless computer. LENNY BERNSTEIN Senior Math Speech Communications Panty raids go both ways To the editor: In response to a recent letter written by an ultra women's libber ("Sexism prevails on campus," Sept. 3), whose name will remain unspoken, concern ing the Teague panty raids, I have a question: Is that a hint of jealousy I detect in your voice? Of course we would not want to leave anyone out. However, from a historical perspective, let me correct your prim and proper attitude. Teague panty raids are a tradition which was established long before any present student spent day one at this university. Also, if I have anything to do lip f I sNt 9mcl tf i fi ola ! fl nroA i.5wes ) tW Ld4A cm bck maim, M i with it, they will continue long after we have graduated. The primary reason behind these raids are to better associate Teague freshmen with the cam pus on which they live. These young men have been given a rather unimaginative tour of lecture halls, libraries and (heaven forbid) Lenoir Hall. What we have given these eager young minds is a general idea of where the important build ings are located: the residence halls. I hope you will notice I did say "residence halls" and not "women's residence halls." On our journey across campus we identified the men's halls, including Lewis, definitely not the women's. These gentlemen are our worthy rivals not only in life, but intramurals, which are larger than life. I hope you notice that I did not mention females as some intangible objects. Are we sexist for not wanting to raid the men's halls? Raiding men's halls! What a concept! Sounds like an idea Parker girls and other women's halls have already used. Teague has been raided three times so far. We are now waiting on number four from Parker. We accept these raids; we enjoy, them. While raiding Parker, I seem to remember some rather "offensive" cheers from the residents. They even told us, "Take it off!" Can you explain this? Don't be a hypocrite. Maybe you're jealous, or you didn't know the tradition, or maybe you just don't know the people you live with. All the women watching this raid or contributing from their wardrobes did so voluntarily. Maybe Carolina or Parker just isn't your speed. Maybe Mere dith or Liberty College would be. Personally, the only com plaint I've heard is yours. Actually, I have been compli mented on my rather cute derriere. GARY PAYNE Senior English Letters policy The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments, ideas and criticisms. We ask only that you follow a few simple guidelines in exchange for access to this unique public forum: n All letters and columns must be signed by the author, with a limit of two signatures per letter or column. B When submitting letters or columns, students should include the following: name, year in school, major, phone number and the date submitted. Other members of the University community should give similar information. o The DTH reserves the right to edit for clarity, vulgarity, disparity and verbosity. Parking policy forces late-night studying To the editor: We're writing to find out the reasoning, if there is any, behind the new parking policy at UNC. On Tuesday evening we parked our cars in front of Cobb dorm at 8:30 p.m. and began walking toward our favorite study dungeon, Davis Library. Then we saw him, an orange-clad traffic Nazi busily scribbling down several tickets. We asked him what he was doing, and he replied, as he ran to his next victim's car, that he could and would write tickets until 9 p.m. Now, our question to anyone who might know the answer: What is the sense of denying students access to a parking space, thus access to a place to study, thus access to knowledge that will be useful in future years or at least in tomorrow's pop quiz? This is a university, people come here to learn. We learn by studying, but apparently someone does not want us to do so because they cut off the first and most essential part in accomplishing anything at UNC obtaining a parking space. We can understand the need to control parking during the day. Anyone who purchased a parking permit will agree that it is nice to find a spot in your assigned lot. This is why we need the people in orange vests. Keeping the lots controlled until 5 p.m. made sense, keeping them controlled until 9 p.m. does not. People living off-campus need to study on campus at night. With most bus routes ending service at 1 1 p.m. and some as early as 6:30 p.m., this is not an acceptable way to get to campus. Therefore, students are forced to drive, only to find that they cannot park on campus. This leaves off campus students two options: begin studying after 9 p.m. or study in the usually less than ideal setting of an apartment. Off campus students should not have to choose between these options. They deserve equal access to campus and the current policy denies them this right. CHRIS KOONTS Senior Chemistry BRIAN MIXON Senior History Anthropology
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 10, 1987, edition 1
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