8The Daily Tar HeelThursday, November 9, 1989
ul
97th year of editorial freedom
Sharon Kebschull, Editor
MARY Jo DunningTON, Editorial Page Editor
JUSTIN McGuiRE, University Editor
KAREN DUNN, Slate and National Editor
TOM PARKS, Business Editor
Dave Glenn, Sports Editor
MELANIE BLACK, Design Editor
TAMMY Blackard, Editorial Page Editor
WILLIAM TAGGART, University Editor
Jessica Lanning, City Editor
CARA Bonnett, Arts and Features Editor
Kelly Thompson, Omnibus Editor
DAVID SurOWIECKI, Photography Editor
ft
JULIA COON, News Editor
Forcing homogeneity
Bar's ban out of place in Chapel Hill
Now that much of
the visible public
outrage among angry
students and Chapel
board
opinion
Hill residents over the On the Hill dress
code has subsided, it's time to examine
what problems exist and where the respon
sibilities lie for solutions. During the past
two months, students and student groups
have complained of discrimination against
homosexuals at the local bar, whose code
will not allow patrons dressed entirely in
black and those who appear out of the
"mainstream" of typical On the Hill cus
tomers. While issues of discrimination are
often tough to discern, allowing the smoke
to clear before examining the situation in
this case brings other points to light.
On the Hill owner John Hopkins insists
that the dress code exists at the request of
many customers and for reasons of profita
bility; most of the people at the bar, accord
ing to Hopkins, wish to have similar people
around them, and those who differ from
this norm can detract from the bar's envi
ronment alienating customers and hurt
ing business. Hopkins has also said he is
not concerned with what kind of people
make up this "non-mainstream," and that
no direct discrimination against a particu
lar group, namely homosexuals, is intended.
: This is the odd reasoning that has many
students upset. Certainly there are typical
On the Hill customers, including members
of Greek organizations, who occasionally
wear black; while homosexuals may choose
to wear black, it is not a clear sign of
homosexuality. The obvious question is
how the management of a bar or better
yet, the doorman at a bar can summarize
a person's personality or sexual orienta
tion by the clothes on that person's back.
Partisan ploys
Martin should repay state for report
Democratic Party leaders have rightly Research on the opposition should be p
u i r t: -km i,: a r i i:j.t.)..t.tf kud. un
charged Gov. Jim Martin with taking advan
tage of his position as governor in the 1988
gubernatorial race between Martin and then Lt.
Gov. Bob Jordan. Democrats say Martin used
taxpayers' money to pay for extensive research
on Jordan's record, and party Chairman Law
rence Davis has asked Martin to reimburse the
state.
The research was conducted by the
governor's Research Office, which compiled
detailed reports on both Martin and Jordan. The
research was supposed to provide the governor
with basic information nmMnH
on the positions he had
taken in the past and
The report
the positions taken on. ... ,
legislative issues, ac- been written and paid
cording to former state
Rep. Charles Hughes, for by GOV. Martin's
who led Martin's cam-
paignresearchofficein campaign staff
The difference in the
reports was that the 20-page Martin report
stated his legislative proposals and executive
orders and how the proposals fared. But the 32
page Jordan report was filled with criticisms of
the former lieutenant governor, and it con
tained such comments as "Bob Jordan's school
package raised taxes which in turn will be
passed on to the consumer. Double talk. Flip
flop. ... If Bob Jordan says partisan politics has
nothing to do with his retreat from the Martin
proposal, then he's lying."
While research on top legislative officials is
a legitimate part of the job of the governor's
Research Office, the Jordan report undeniably
contains political overtones that could have
been quite advantageous to Martin's re-election
campaign. In fact, some of the research
was given to the governor's re-election cam
paign staff.
The Daily
Assistant editors: Diana Florence and Jessica Yates, arts and features; Karen Dennis and Wendy Johnson, design;
Charles Brittain, editorial page; Staci Cox, managing; B Buckberry, JoAnn Rodak and Steve Wilson, news; Lisa Reichle and
Richard Smith, Omnibus; Evan Eile, photography, Andrew Podolsky, Jay Reed and Jamie Rosenberg, sports; Kari Barlow,
state and national; Sarah Cagle, Will Spears and Amy Wajda, university.
Editorial writers: James Burroughs and Jennifer Wing.
University: Cathy Apgar, Marcie Bailey, Debbie Baker, Lynette Blair, Robert Brown, Chris Helms, Jeff D. Hill, Joey Hill,
(Catherine Houston, Stephanie Johnston, Stacey Kaplan, Jason Kelly, Dionne Loy, Kenny Monteith, Simone Pam, Jennifer Pilla,
Myron B. Pitts, Mike Sutton, Bryan Tyson, Nancy Wykle.
City: Steve Adams, Tim Bennett, Julie Campbell, Jennifer Dickens, Jeff Moyer, Sheila Long, Erik Rogers, Katherine Snow,
Cameron Tew.
State and National: Crystal Bernstein, Robert Berry, Jennifer Black well, Wendy Bounds, Wagner Dotto, Julie Gammill, Eric
Lusk, Alan Martin, Kimberly Maxwell, Jeff Moyer, Glenn O'Neal, Kyle York Spencer, Emilie Van Poucke, Sandy Wall, Chuck
Williams.
Business: Craig Allen, Heather Clapp, Victoria Davis, Kevin Greene, Lloyd Lagos, David Lloyd, Becky Riddick.
Arts and features: Cheryl Allen, Lisa Antonucci, Noah Bartolucci, Shields Brewer, Gretchen Davis, Cricket French, Wendy
Grady, Vicki Hyman, Mara Lee, Tim Little, Matthew McCafferty, Carrie McLaren, Elizabeth Murray, D'Ann Pletcher, Leigh
Pressley, Eric Rosen, Hasie Sirisena, Heather Smith, Brian Springer, Bevin Weeks and Laura Williams.
Sports: Neil Amato, Mark Anderson, Jason Bates, John Bland, Laurie Dhue, Chris Fialko, Christina Frohock, Scott Gold,
Warren Hynes, Doug Hoogervorst, David Kupstas, Bethany Litton, Bobby McCroskey, Brock Page, Natalie Sekicky, Eric
Wagnonand Steve Walston.
Photography: Jodi Anderson, Schuyler Brown, Gina Cox, Steven Exum, Sheila Johnston, Tracey Langhome, Kathy Michel
and Catherine Pinckert. E. Joseph Muhl Jr., photographic technician.
Copy Editors: James Benton, Rebecca Duckett, Joy Golden, Stephanie Harper, Angela Hill, Susan Holdsclaw, Debrah
Norman, George Quintero, Kristin Scheve, Joe Seagle, Kelley Shaw, Clare Weickert, Steffanie Wood fin and Cameron Young.
Cartoonists: George Brooks, Adam Cohen, Pete Corson, Alex De Grand, David Estoye, Greg Humphreys and Mike Sutton.
Production: Stacy Wynn, manager, Greg Miller, assistant.
Students upset about the dress code say
that the policy is poorly enforced, because
several people wearing black are often
admitted while some not wearing black are
turned away. The bottom line is that a dress
code of this kind is very silly, especially in
a town long known for its openness toward
people of all kinds and not just those in
some vaguely defined "mainstream." Such
policy hurts students and other patrons
who have no reason to be hurt.
But can accusations of discrimination
against homosexuals be made in this case,
especially now that the bar's management
is trying to cover itself with a blanket dress
policy? On the surface, the only discrimi
nation that appears to exist is that against
people failing to meet a dress code, and
that is perfectly legal. The On the Hill code
seems to be legally no different from a
restaurant requiring coat and tie. But this is
where student power enters the picture.
Student Congress recently passed a
resolution encouraging students to boycott
the bar to protest its dress code. Other
students are recruiting support from vari
ous campus groups. And several members
of the Chapel Hill Town Council have
criticized group discrimination at the bar.
In a community as open as Chapel Hill,
it is surprising that student patrons would
want a homogeneous nightclub environ
ment. But in a case such as this, the fate of
the bar lies in the hands of the individual
student; if close-mindedness and enforced
homogeneity are repulsive to certain stu
dents, then they can exercise the individual
right to boycott the establishment. In time,
the same misguided management who
devised the code may find that measures
originally taken to save business will in
evitably lead to its destruction.
Research on the opposition should be paid
for by a candidate's staff. If the Research Office
had done research solely to keep Martin abreast
of how certain leaders feel about issues, the
report would not have contained such inflam
matory language. Martin conceded that when
Hughes wrote the reports he was "maybe a little
more florid and partisan than he needed to be."
Martin is right Hughes was much too
partisan in writing the reports. As it was worded,
the report would have been appropriate only if
it had been written and paid for by Martin's
campaign staff. This is especially true, after
hhh Martin criticized for
should have
mer Gov. Jim Hunt for
using the state plane on
campaign trips Hunt
paid the state more than
$100,000 to reimburse
the government, and
Martins should follow
his lead.
But Martin and other
leaders of the Republi
can Party say they have no intention of reim
bursing the state, and they charge that this is an
attempt by the Democrats to gain attention. No
doubt, the Democrats are using the situation to
their political advantage, as would any politi
cian, but the fact remains that they have a valid
point.
Martin's office may indeed need research
and information on state political leaders, but
the Jordan report overstepped its bounds. The
document was partisan, and Martin owes it to
the taxpayers of North Carolina to at least
conduct an audit on how much money was
spent preparing the report, and if need be, to
reimburse the state. Since Martin called Jim
Hunt on unfair campaign practices, it's only
right that he should hqjd his office to the same
standards. Tammy Blackard
Tar Heel
nil
Please, no nestling in the
"No Alumni Center on Stadium Drive"
Some students may remember a sheet with
these words painted on it, hanging next to the
bank machines at the Student Union in 1987.
The sheet was part of a furious last-ditch push
to block approval for the construction of the
George Watts Hill Alumni Center. Students
argued that the Big Woods one of the most
beautiful parts of a campus famed for its natu
ral beauty should be left unmolested.
But the students lost this argument. That
should be obvious to anyone who finds them
selves on Stadium Drive. There, next to Kenan
Stadium, they'll see a fenced-off expanse of
dirt the future site of the Alumni Center. I
remember Douglas Dibbert, director of the
General Alumni Association (GAA), telling
the DTH that the center would be built with an
eye to preserving as many trees as possible. "I
am confident that the area will be preserved
and probably enhanced through natural land
scaping," he was quoted as saying. "The build
ing will be nestled in the trees."
I called Dibbert several weeks ago. The
center's $12 million price tag has almost been
covered by alumni contributions, he said. The
center will include ballrooms, meeting rooms
and a library and memorabilia room. And of
course, the center will provide new adminis
trative offices for the GAA. Right now, the
GAA is housed in a former apartment build
ing, which means that there are closets and
bathrooms but no public spaces. Dibbert said
they'd taken to covering some of the many
bathtubs with plywood for storage purposes.
Dibbert suggested I visit Alumni House,
where I could see a model of what the Alumni
Center would look like when finished. When I
checked out the model, it looked good, both at
eye-level and from above. There even seem to
be trees growing in between the two sections
of the building a nice touch. With the model
fresh in my mind, I walked over to Stadium
Drive and climbed the fence. I kicked around
in the dirt and thought about all the trees, big
beautiful trees that had to be cut down and
Frequent coverage of
protesters getting old
To the editor:
Each morning as I pick up a
copy of The Daily Tar Heel, I
wonder what sort of publicity
seeking antics from the CIA Ac
tion Committee I will have to stom
ach before turning the front page.
What visual representation of these
antics will prompt me to ask, "Why
must I be subjected to the same
news day after day after day?" I
feel as if I am being put through
Chinese water torture! (I beg the
Review's narrow focus ignored play's value
To the editor:
During this year I have read many DTH
reviews on artistic performances which at least
went to the effort to exercise journalistic integ
rity in the incorporation of three main charac
teristics: good points, bad points and a descrip
tion of the integral technical elements of lights,
sets, etc. However, in the most recent review of
the play, "Walking Across Egypt," ("Set
hampers play's emotional impact," Nov. 3), I
reached the ultimate level of disappointment
in my school newspaper. .
Jessica Yates presents her review as a sparse
summary that list characters' names and gives
an impersonal, narrow evaluation of the set
and overall meaning of the play. This review
focused on only two main points: the ineffec
tiveness of the set design and the inability of
the lead male character to adequately portray
his role. I do respect the right of a reviewer to
critique these aspects of this or any perform
ance, but I do believe that a well-structured
review should also include the positive aspects
so amply present in this play.
If Ms. Yates did not appreciate the play's
staging and set design, she has every right to
express her discomfort. Dr. Ferguson's inno
vative concept of extending the stage provided
a unique perspective from each viewing angle.
This was unorthodox in that performers' faces
were sometimes hidden, but the staging did not
J hinder the audience's perception of the action
Matt
Bivens
Rat Salad
dragged away for the building. And I realized
anew that, no matter how "well incorporated"
the building was in the woods, it simply didn't
have to be here.
Nestled. That's a word the administration
often uses when talking about the Alumni
Center. We're gonna nestle that sucker right
into the woods, like a baby in a crib. Of course,
the difference between nestling a baby into a
crib and nestling a building into a woods is
pretty obvious: you don't have to mangle the
crib to get the baby into it.
Originally an Alumni Center was to be built
near the Dean Dome. But our alumni tend to
think big, and every time the center was dis
cussed it seemed to grow in size. Officials
feared increased traffic and limited parking
would make access to the center too difficult.
They needed a new location.
In fairness, at first the GAA opposed the
move. They'd already started raising money
for the South Campus site, and they feared
contributors would think they were being inde
cisive and withdraw donations. But the ad
ministration the BOT and the Building and
Grounds Committee insisted, and by Sep
tember 1987 the GAA accepted the Big Woods
site, offered by then-Chancellor Fordham.
Furthermore, student representatives ap
proved the move: A committee that reviewed
the decision had seven students. Only four of
the students bothered to attend the most impor
tant meeting, and all four including Brian
Bailey, then-student body president ap
proved the move. Later, Bailey said he had
based his vote on the knowledge that the Uni
versity had long-term development plans for
Readers9 Forom
forgiveness of any student of Ori
ental heritage for the use of this
cliche.) We read of "crowds" that
these activists address but we never
see any evidence of their exis
tence. Perhaps the intrepid pho
tographers of the DTH could show
us these massive congregations.
The persistency and redundancy
of this daily coverage impresses
two points on me. One, that the
DTH staff is showing little or no
initiative or creativity in finding
newsworthy events and two, that
the CIAAC is actually following a
self-defeating course of action by
trying to force feed their ideology
on an already overstuffed student
body. I truly feel that in their later
years the principals in these ac
tivities will look back with wry
humor at the way they made a
name for themselves.
I was going to suggest the
CIAAC make a positive statement
about something, anything, but
then a frightening prospect oc
curred to me: They might not
approve or support any established
American institution! (As a re
minder the CIA is not the only
organization or practice that these
folks protest.)
So, whaddya say guys? Sur
or characterization. The set was designed by
Ferguson to allow the audience to become part
of the story's setting instead of detached ob
servers. I only hope that the student body still
contains some people who appreciate risk
taking to make new strides in developing
American theater.
If Ms. Yates did not see in Wesley the
stereotypical qualities that she expects from a
reform school escapee, again she is welcome to
show her dissatisfaction. Bin in order to gain
full enjoyment from a play, any audience
member should be open-minded enough to
know that each actor's personal interpretation
of their character is just as valid as any precon
ceptions that the observers had on arrival.
Personally I thought Brent Wilson did a mag
nificent job of portraying an adolescent search
ing for a life he had never had.
After this article reviewed these two weak
points, I awaited the praise or scrutiny of the
other main facets of the show and was left
unfulfilled. With only a cursory mention of
four hilarious characters who did not let their
humor become their only quality (Alora, Robert,
Pearl and Finner) and a quick pat on the back
for Hardy's performance that brought uproari
ous laughter to the same eyes that cried in the
last scene of the play, Yates blew off the
remainder of the cast. With nothing but stabs at
unfounded arguments did she handle the cri
tique of the play's text, which was so signifi
Q4
Arboretum
the Big Woods. Bailey said that made the
Alumni Center a "much more appropriate and
much more attractive" alternative to any other
construction project. Of course, Bailey opted
not to work for the most attractive alternative
of all: No development, ever.
Whatever his reasoning, Bailey did a ter
rible job of informing students of the decision.
Most students first learned of the Alumni
Center's move when a sign announcing the
construction was posted in the Big Woods.
That's when the petitions began, the sheet went
up over the bank machines and so on. Of
course, these efforts came far too late. Our
alumni who aren't known for their patience,
as Dick Crum can attest had already forced
the issue.
So there's plenty of blame to go around.
Student leaders Bailey and the seven others
on the committee share some of it. Chancel
lor Fordham and the administration should be
roundly criticized for offering the Big Woods
in the first place. And our ever-selfish alumni,
as always, deserve rebuke.
Of course, pointing figures at each other
doesn't do much for the Big Woods. There's
not much that can be done for the Big Woods.
But there are other beautiful places on
campus: the Arboretum, McCorkle Place, the
Forest Theater and the graveyard behind Cobb
lots, to name a few. And while it's easy to say,
"Oh, they'd never do anything to the Arbore
tum, or to McCorkle Place," who's to say for
sure? Maybe a new building say, a new
business school? snuggled into the Arbore
tum? Delicately planted, cuddled up next to a
bunch of flowers?
It's time we had a commitment, in writing,
from the administration from the chancellor
that these and other areas will always be off
limits to development. Come on, Chancellor
Hardin: prove to us that the Alumni Center was
a fluke.
Matt Bivens is a senior political science
major from Olney, Md.
prise us all with a positive state
ment about some aspect of Ameri
can life and culture. If you have
too much difficulty you may
choose motherhood! (Baseball has
gambling and apple pie has pre
servatives.) One final plea to the DTH: A
day without an article on the
CIAAC would be simply marvel
ous! I don't think I'm alone when
I implore you, "Please give us a
break!"
HUGH D.
GASSAWAY
Senior
Pharmacy
cant in this show because it was the world
premiere. And finally, the accomplishment
that transformed the basement of a building
with a bowling alley into an old southern home
with the aura of family was all but ignored. The
man responsible for this conveyance to an
other world was Paul Ferguson, the director,
with the help of his staff, musical committee,
stage manager and assistant director.
Don't get me wrong I loved the Moses
metaphor. But as a Carolina student who may
or may not derive my opinions about artistic
events on campus from a review, I need to
know more than your interpretation of the
work's true meaning (which is very much open
to speculation) and the few things you didn't
like. As far as I'm concerned, this review
neglected all the wonderful qualities of a pro
duction that thoroughly deserved praise.
Fellow DTH reader, do not stop reading the
reviews that this staff offers. Only realize that
there are other possible interpretations. Do not
take their words as law, because, as the world
premiere of John Justice's new play has shown,
several gems of artistic entertainment can and
do get unjustly persecuted. (I'd conclude with
a religious metaphor but I think we've read
enough of those. Don't you?).
ANGELA M. COIN
. Sophomore
Political sciencespeech communications