10The Daily Tar HeelMonday, October 3, 1988
96th year of editorial freedom
Karen Bell, News Editor .
MATT BlVENS, Associate Editor
KlMBERLY EDENS, University Editor
JON K. RUST, Managing Editor
Will Lingo, aty Editor
Kelly Rhodes, a ns Editor
CATHY McHUGH, Omnibus Editor
DAVID MINTON,
Give this idea a
The Council of Dormitory and
Floor Presidents is back.
Even if you happened to be living
in a dorm two years ago when this
council was formed, you probably
don't remember it. That's because not
much ever came of it. Less than a third
of the approximately 75 residence hall
presidents who were supposed to
attend the meetings bothered to show
up, frustrating the efforts of then
Residence Hall Association President
Ray Jones.
But RHA is trying again, and
organizers seem to have learned
enough from the failure of two years
ago to avoid repeating the same
mistakes.
The reasons for re-establishing the
council are sound. Encouraging repre
sentatives from different residence
areas to exchange ideas would make
RHA more effective in responding to
student needs.
The council could also promote
interaction between residence areas.
Under the current system, residence
area governors meet on a regular basis,
but dorm governments meet as a group
only within their own areas.
A meeting of dorm and floor
presidents could improve communica
tion among people involved in a lower
level of RHA, helping those people
better understand how the organiza
tion works, how they fit into it and
what they can do to make it better.
Senior Paula Zellmer, the RHA
executive assistant who is organizing
the council, hopes the group can serve
Welfare's, over
Aftef wo 'years of legislative dis
cord, Congress has finally put forth
a plan for the overhaul of the welfare
system. Conservatives and liberals at
last . have come to an agreement.
Though long overdue, low-income
families may now have a bill that will
"help them to help themselves."
The Family Support Act, sponsored
by Sen. Daniel Moynihan, D-N.Y., is
expected to be signed into law by
President Reagan next week. On
Friday, the bill passed in the House
of Representatives by an overwhelm
ing 347-to-53 margin. Just one day
earlier, the Senate had approved the
measure 96 to 1.
The bill would significantly restruc
ture the Aid to Families with Depend
ent Children program for the first time
since its creation in 1935. The main
provision requires single welfare
parents with children over three years
of age to participate in the Job
Opportunities and Basic Skills pro
gram. These parents, if unable to find
work on their own, would enroll in
state educational and job-training
courses.
Additionally, in two-parent welfare
families, one parent would have to
participate in a job search and, if
unsuccessful, would either work
I doubt 111 ever forget the morning of
Sept. 12, 1988. That date, you will recall,
marked the birth of Sports Monday, the
first all-sports back page in the esteemed
history of The Daily Tar Heel.
A wonderful sense of pride welled up
(such things always well up, don't they)
within me as I sat in class and saw people
transfixed by the back page, my back page.
From the first day I started working at
the DTH, back in August of 1985, people
have pestered me with one persistent
question "Why aren't there more sports
stories in the DTH?"
Answeringthat question would take far
too long as ft would require an in-depth
discussion of the ever-present spacial
restrictions placed on the newspaper,
particularly with regard to the sports
section. For the past century or so, just
about the only time you the reader could
see a sports story without having to plow
through a good six to eight pages of news
and features and such was following a UNC
football or basketball game.
But this year, all that changed. With a
supportive editor (Jean Lutes, who still
loves her Steelers even though she's well
aware of their putridness) and a gung-ho
general manager (Kevin Schwartz, who
loves his Boilermakers even though he's well
aware of their putridness), the DTH sports
Jean Lutes, Editor
KAARIN TlSUE, News Editor
LAURA PEARLMAN, Associate Editor
KRISTEN GARDNER; University Editor
SHARON KEBSCHULL, State and National Editor
MIKE BERARDINO, Sports Editor
LEIGH ANN McDONALD, Features Editor
KlM DONEHOWER, Design Editor
Photography Editor
second chance
as a source of information for council
members, who can in turn share
information with all dorm residents.
Ensuring that the dorm and floor
presidents understand their own
responsibilities would be a first prior
ity. For instance, Zellmer said, people
may not realize that forging names on
RHA treasury requisitions to fund a
dorm purchase is an honor code
violation. -
Zellmer also hopes to assign various
members of the council to other
campus organizations, so information
about the activities and opportunities
of other student groups can be fun
neled through the council to residence
halls. That information could pertain
to campus security, Student Govern
ment's tutoring program, Campus Y
sponsored volunteer projects or a host
of other campus activities.
If the council functions as planned,
a wider range of information will travel
more quickly to a greater number of
campus residents.
However, none of these wonderful
results will be possible if the approx
imately 75 dorm and floor presidents
don't cooperate.
The council's first meeting is set for
Oct.. 11. As elected representatives,
council members have an obligation
to support RHA's efforts to improve
the system. Dorm residents should
hold them to that responsibility.
Otherwise, this year's Council of
Dormitory and Floor Presidents will
fizzle just as quickly as the council of
two years ago. Jean Lutes
toward a hih sclibol diploma or work
16 hours a week in a state work
program.
This bill is a substantial indication
of a renewed federal commitment to
low-income families. From the pers
pective of the welfare recipient, it
would restore the incentive to work
by providing the education and train
ing needed to compete in the job
market. And though it is an expensive
undertaking the program would
cost $3.3 billion for the first five years
proponents claim that the benefits
will far outweigh short-term costs.
But here a problem arises. When can
welfare recipients and society as a
whole expect to see these benefits?
Experts say the bill would not produce
results very quickly. Many provisions
would not even take effect until 1994
or 1995. Sen. Moynihan is less than
convincing when he points out, "But
pretty soon, by the year 2000, you have
something to show for it."
Still, the program is worth the wait.
Welfare recipients must not be given
a handout; instead, they must be given
the opportunity for a brighter future.
This will ultimately have a positive
impact on all of society. The Family
Support Act is an important step in
the right direction. Louis Bissette
4he last word .
department finally began to feel its oats.
First, we began beefing up our daily
sports coverage, sometimes even spilling
over to (Ooh!) a second page. Feedback
in early September was good, but there was
still that nagging problem of Monday's
paper. Trying to cram three days worth of
exhilarating sports action into the upper
portions of two pages wasn't enjoyable,
either for me, the editor, or my writers.
Then, it happened. We were sitting
around the office just killing time when I
uttered those two most magical words,
"What if?" And just as used to happen in
those awful Hewlett-Packard TV ads, a
brainstorm edged ever closer to reality.
"Sure, that's a great idea!" the ever
positive Lutes said in response to my
suggestion of an all-sports Monday back
page. "Ill get right to work on it."
The fact that the op-ed copy would be
taking up two inside pages rather than the
customary one back page helped our cause.
That conversation took place on a Friday
afternoon. By the same time Sunday I was
wrestling with the marvelous dilemma of
how to draw up the DTH's back page, my
back page. No longer would I be forced
to hack to bits the wonderful work of my
dutiful, ultra-talented staff. Unshackled, we
cried as one, "Eat our dust!" Mike
Berardino
due overhaul
Gorbachev moves for perestroika's sake
ast April, dean of students Anna
Trotskey of a Ukrainian .university
Jin the USSR told us of the Russian
literature read at her school! Pushkin,
Dostoevsky, Chekhov and recently,
Tostoy. The range of glasnost, meaning
"openness," she said, was great.
Trotskey was part of a Soviet delegation
which had lunch with a group of UNC
students in Lenoir Hall. A friend and I
told Trotskey that The New York Times
had reported that number-two Soviet party
leader and reform critic Yegor Ligachev
had decided to take an "extended vaca
tion." Our statement was translated and
a buzz spread up the table, interrupting
each conversation, until it reached the
leader of the delegation, a Ukrainian party
chief: He stared down the length of the
table at my friend and me, and used his
broken English to press us for details.
"Impossible," the Soviet official said.
"Comrade Ligachev is a good and loyal
party member. It cannot have happened."
We later learned that the Times report
of Ligachev's forced departure was greatly
exaggerated. Ligachev's position had, in
fact, not changed.
As of Friday, however, it has.
Swift action to move forward
Gorbachev had returned from a long
vacation during which Ligachev had been
reinterpreting the policies of perestroika,
or "restructuring." And Gorbachev's
realignments over the weekend imme
diately followed Soviet press reports that
Gorbachev, while visiting a factory in
Siberia, was heckled by workers impatient
for the fruits of perestroika.
Workers have wanted to see quick
results in their standards of living. Gor
bachev's goals of cracking down on job
delinquency, alcoholism and lack of
productivity, while offering work produc
tion incentives and creative privatization,
will result in improvements for the USSR.
In long-term improvements, however,
which often mean tighter belts in the short
term. This has caused grumbling among
workers who have great expectations and
who have already tightened their belts
about as far as they can.
So Gorbachev did two things last week
one in the same positive spirit of his
Talk about
good service!
To the editor.
Yesterday I left my wallet
lying on the food line at the
Lenoir Hall. I missed it when
I started to pay but thought I
had just left it in my office.
When I couldn't find it there,
I returned to the cashier, Esther:
Jeffries, who was holding it for1
me. Garrett Watson, one of the
food service personnel, had
found it and turned it in to her.
We are fortunate to have per
sons like Watson and Jeffries
working on our campus!
JUDITH WOOD
Assistant Professor
School of Information
and Library Science
Newsflash from
the farm
To the editor.
As a dairy fanner and one
who knows about cattle, I
would like to inform Regina
Sutphin ("Tearing butterfly
wings
Cans, cards, crime, court and
"Wee seen a deterioration of values.
I think wee condoned what we shouldW
condemned." Presidential candidate
George Bush on the drug problem facing
the United States.
ODD
" think last year the (student) congress
did a lot of things that had an effect on
grad students, and with no graduate
student representatives, they're pretty
much left out in the dark." Wilborn
Roberson. elections board chairman, on
the open congressional seats in graduate
districts.
' ODD
"There are less people in here, and you
can go back as many times as you want.
It 's good food, and you get a lot of choices. "
Freshman Kevin Grotsky on the new,
improved food services available at Lenoir
Hall offered by our friends at the Marriott
Corporation.
nan
" We took the furniture with the intention
to take it back the next day. What gets
me is that they're saying the pledge trainer
might be in trouble. He didn't have
anything to do with it. " Frank Lewis,
a fraternity pledge, on the Chi Omega's
porch furniture that mysteriously appeared
in the foyer of the Beta Theta Pi house. ,
DO
"They are afraid that someone is going
to get an eye poked out which is obviously
a concern of ours also. " Nate Watson,
president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity,
on the decision to suspend the card section
during football games for a season. The
Sig Eps have traditionally organized the
card section. . .
Stuart Hathaway
I Spy
original reforms and the other in the
totalitarian style of past Soviet leaders. On
the positive side, he admitted that restruc
turing is not working exactly according to
plan, while at the same time he reaffirmed
his committment to perestroika.
In the old tradition, Gorbachev called
for special meetings of the highest govern
ing bodies at the end of the week. During
these meetings, several critics of Gorba
chev's reforms were given new responsi
bilities or removed, while others who
supported his reforms were promoted. At
the same time, six new commissions were
created to begin replacing the almost two
dozen Soviet ministries.
The most dramatic changes included the
resignation of Andrei Gromyko from the
office of President of the Supreme Soviet
and his withdrawal from the powerful 12
member Politburo. Gromyko's departure
set the stage for the election of Gorbachev
to the position of President, effectively
securing Gorbachev's control of the
government with another office whose
powers he plans to expand. Though they
retained their Politburo seats, Viktor
Chebrikov resigned as head of the KGB
to assume responsibility of a new commis
sion' dealing with legal matters, while
Ligachev was given charge of a new
commission on agriculture. Both men had
openly questioned the policies of glasnost
and perestroika, and many believe Gor
bachev's intent was to lessen their role in
ideological matters while still utilizing their
strong leadership abilities.
At the same time, strong allies of
Gorbachev were elevated. Vadim Med
vedev, a party secretary and staunch
Gorbachev supporter, became a full
member of the Politburo and was put in
charge of a new commission on ideology.
Anatoly Lukyanov was elected First Vice
President . by the Supreme Soviet on
Saturday and, with two other strong
Gorbachev allies, named non-voting
members of the Politburo establishing
a strong base of support for the Gorbachev
program.
Readers9 For mm
MfZ. SEMr OUT For PjzzA. CjJeT")
I . Mk&in-A ' " I JSf I I t J
and other cruelties,
Letters policy
Sept. 27) that calves cannot
swat flies away, no matter how
much room you give them.
The Daily Tar Heel
welcomes reader comments
and criticisms. When writing
letters to the editor, . please
follow these guidelines:
CERO GRANDE
Junior
Political science
Week in Quotes
ODD
"The main focus of the program is to
educate students on campus about their
environment, and the amount of aluminum
collected is secondary. " Sonya Mum
ford, Student Environmental Action
Coalition recycling coordinator,, on the
goals of the aluminum can recycling
program.
"This is an abuse of our civil rights. We
weren 't infringing on the rights of others.
' We were holding an educational and
symbolic protest and the next thing we
know, we're in the Honor Court." Joey
Templeton, a bewildered defendant in the
Honor Court trial of the CIA protesters.
"We're a high quality product for the
average person. That 's, why we use the cow
motif . . . we don't use snob appeal."
Kathy Kennedy, manager of the new Ben
& Jerry's ice cream store to open on
Franklin Street, on how Ben & Jerry's will
compete with the other ice cream stores
available downtown.
BHD
"There are no stars on our team. Each
person has to do their job, and that's what
is going to make us win." Jennifer
Anderson, co-captain of the UNC field
hockey team, on the psychology of winning
games.
B B B
"We can't keep letting Dean Boulton
push this project aside. " Black Student
A familiar tradition
Soviet leaders have long sought to carry
political front. Democratic centralism, as
such a policy is called, was first demanded ;
by V.I. Lenin even before the 1917'
revolutions. Seeing the German socialist
movement splintered by open debate,
Lenin decided that his young party would
be free from such Dublic divisiveness. He
x -
insisted on party discipline, which meant,
issues would be raised, discussed and -resolved
privately, in committee. Taking
a remarkably similar position, Gorbachev .
now feels that public debate inside and .
outside the government only slows the ,
progress of perestroika. In an acceptance
speech on Saturday, Gorbachev warned
witiw v isxsm uiv ws, .
can no longer get by with just stormy ;
discussions and meetings and analyses of
the mistakes of the past," he said. "We
need practical movement ahead."
The tactics Gorbachev used to solidify
his position are all too familiar to a world
that has dealt with Stalin, Khrushchev and
Brezhnev. The totalitarian muscle dis
played by the general secretary proves that
Gorbachev had the power to rearrange the ,
upper ecneion qi soviet government, dui .
his means of doing so, through forced .
resignations and removals, harken back to
the purging of opposition by former ,
leaders.
Some viewed Gorbachev's moves as a
reaction to serious challenges to his
authority. His abrupt restructuring of the
highest councils of the USSR and his
realignment of top officials may be seen t
as an effort to remain in control. If this .
is the case, it was a desperate move.
It is more likely, however, that a .
frustrated Gorbachev got fed up with the ,
bureaucratic resistance by some of the
older, more conservative officials, the
impatience of the working class and the
lethargy of Soviet economic realities. In
a snon time, ne iook a numoer oi logical
steps to consolidate and enhance his power.
We can speculate why until we turn blue,
but the significant thing is Gorbachev won
his gamble and big.
Stuart Hathaway is a junior political
science and history major from Charlotte.
B All letters must be typed
and double-spaced, for ease of
editing.
B The DTH reserves the
right to edit letters for space,
clarity and vulgarity.
Remember, brevity is the soul
of wit.
the cow motif
Movement President Kenneth Perry on the
University's lethargy concerning the Black
Cultural Center.
"I'm trying to do a job, get things done,
make things happen. I'm for what Kenny
wants. We want for the same things to
happen." Donald Boulton, vice chan
cellor and dean of student affairs, on the
University's zeal to accomodate the Black
Cultural Center.
BBS
"It's regrettable that there has to be an
actual crime for people to want to educate
themselves on crime prevention. That's the
good thing about crime." Sgt. Ned
Comar of University "police on the campus
reaction to the armed robbery in front of
Carmichael Residence Hall.
B B B
" When you have people who are singing
and shouting at TV cameras, it's disrup
tive." Sharon Wiatt, University Career
Planning and Placement Services associate
director, on the behavior of the CIA
protesters.
BBS
"The point is that we seem to have a
gentleman here who is not willing to be
responsible or accountable for his own
campaign. We still expect an apology to
the voters of the 4th District for these
blatant untruths. " Mike Davis, David
Price's campaign manager, on the alleged
untruths uttered by Price's opponent, Tom
Fetzer.
Compiled by associate editor Laura
Pearlman.