8The Daily Tar HeelThursday, February 21, 1991
SHje ia Star
Phifosophy crf"fte.
year of editorial freedom
Jennifer
Stephanie Johnston, University Editor
CULLEN D. FERGUSON, Editorial Page Editor
Mark Anderson, Sports Editor
CHRISTINA NifoNG, Features Editor
Natalie Sekicky, News Editor
GRANT HALVERSON, Photography Editor
Jeff Workman, Layout Editor
Alex De Grand, Cartoon Editor
Don't laugh; harassment is no joke
Comments such as "She does that pretty
well for a babe," "Looking good, baby,"
"We didn't think a woman could handle
it," "Did ya' hear the joke ... " are all too
common at UNC, judging from a recent
survey. Conducted during the fall semes
ter, the survey showed that 91 percent of
undergraduate women participating had
experienced sexual harassment. Kathleen
Benzaquin, assistant dean of students, said
the surprising factor was that peers were
usually the harassers. Based on this infor
mation, faculty, staff and students need to
decide what kind of environment they want
at UNC. Even though the majority of un
dergraduates are women, it is obvious that
progress needs to be made.
Many people don't consider comments
about a person's figure or a pinch on the
rear sexual harassment. They shrug their
shoulders and joke about whether those
things could be considered sexual harass
ment. But people on the opposite end of
such threatment need to be vocal and forth
coming with complaints. Until action is
demanded, action won't be taken.
Students sexually harassed by a peer can
use the Honor Court to resolve the situa
tion. The Student Code forbids unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors
and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature when the conduct threatens academic
pursuit or "creates an intimidating, hostile
or demeaning environment for such pur
suits, employment or participation."
UNC ' s sexual harassment policy defines
sexual harassment similarly but applies to
students, agents, faculty and staff. The
imoking ban restricts businesses
A town ordinance requiring no-smoking
sections in Chapel Hill restaurants, hotels
and bars could lie ahead if town council
approves it. At a January council retreat,
Mayor Jonathan Howes proposed creating
smoking restrictions. Before a proposal is
drawn up, the town's present situation
should be reviewed. A public hearing and
study of the legality of an ordinance are
also necessary before a proposal is formed.
The underlying issue is whether or not
government intervention for the protection
of non-smokers is more effective than the
common-sense business practices of local
managers and owners. A look at the spe
cifics of the question indicate that a smoking
ordinance is impractical and unnecessary.
Many restaurants and other buildings in
Chapel Hill already have effective no
smoking policies that also respect smokers'
rights. With restaurants and bars, common
sense indicates that catering to both groups
means good business. Because a majority
of citizens in Chapel Hill and elsewhere are
non-smokers, the loss of these customers
because of an unpleasant, smoky environ
ment would damage business. When pos
sible, any sensible manager would ac
commodate non-smoking customers.
Many popular establishments in Chapel
Hill are small, but even in some large
restaurants and bars, the no-smoking sec
tion is not impervious to drifting smoke. In
small restaurants it's almost impossible to
effectively separate non-smokers and
smokers. Managers of these establishments
usually compensate by providing outdoor
Business and advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director, Bob Bates, advertising director, Leslie Humphrey, classified ad manager.
Business staff: Allison Ashworth, manager; Kimberty Moretz, assistant manager, Gina Berardino, office assistant; Michelle Gray, Annice
Hood and Becky Marquette, receptionists; Ken Murphy, subscriptions; Chrissy Davis, promotions manager.
Classified advertising: Angela Spivey, assistant manager; Laura Richards and Thi Vu, assistants; Brandon Poe, production.
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Advertising production: Bill Leslie, manager; Anita Bentley, Chad Campbell, Greg Miller and Lome Pate, production assistants.
Assistant editors: Mondy Lamb, arts coordinator; Jennifer Dickens, city; Kenny Monteith, graphics; Amy Seeley, news; Layton Croft,
Mondy Lamb. Omnibus; Jim Holm and Sarah King, photo; Neil Amato, Stewart Chisam and Warren Hynes, sports; Jennifer Dunlap,
university.
Newsclerks: Kevin Brennan and Amy Dew
Editorial writers: James Burroughs, Staci Cox, Jen Pilla and Nancy Wykle.
University: Marcie Bailey, Elizabeth Byrd, Birch DeVault, April Draughn, Soyia Ellison, Ashley Fogle, Adam Ford, Brian Golson, Burke
Koonce, Matthew Mielke, Gillian Murphy, Jennifer Mueller, Cathy Oberie, Shannon O'Grady. Heather Phibbs, Steve Politi, Bonnie Rochman,
JoAnn Rodak, Karen Schwartz, Billy Stockard, Sarah Suiter, Carrie Weils, Michael Wilkins and Natarsha Witherspoon.
City: Jennifer Brett, Kris Donahue, Laura-Leigh Gardner, Chris Goodson, Cheryl A. Herndon, Nancy Johnson, Julie Malveaux, Amber
Nimocks, Nicole Peradotto. Nicole Perez, Erik Rogers and Dawn Spiggle.
State and National: Jennifer Davis, Karen Dietrich, Steve Doyle, David Etchison, Doug Hatch, Andre Hauser, West Lockhart, Eric Lusk,
Pete Simpkinson, Kyle York Spencer and Dacia Toll.
Arts: Isabel Barbuk, KM Bockley, Tere Ciippard, Grant Halverson, Anne Michaud. Kirk Medlin. Greg Miller and Jeff Trussed.
Features: Eric Bolash. Tiffany Cook, Karen Crutchfield, M.C. Dagenhart. Pia Doersam, Matthew Hoyt, Mara Lee, Ginger Meek, Mary Moore
Parham, An Rapport, Colleen Rodite, Kay Stallworth and Dawn Wilson.
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John Manuel, Amy McCaffrey, Bobby McCroskey, Doug McCurry, David Monroe and Bryan Strickland.
Photography: David Minton, editor emeritus; Evan Eile and Joe Muhl, senior photographers; Kevin Burgess, Jonathan Grubbs, Brian
Jones. Cheryl Kane, Keith Nelson, Linus Parker, Debbie Stengel and Susan Tebbens.
Layout Melanie Black, Shawn Fuller, Christy Hall and Robin Lentz.
Copy Editors: Mitch Bixby, Stephanie Brodsky, Laura Clark, Hardy Floyd, Lorrin Freeman, Angela Hill, Aimee Hobbs, Sarah Kirkman, Mitch
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Cartoonists: Deena Deese. Chris DePree, David Estoye. Chris Kelly, Jeff Maxim. Jake McNally and Mike Sutton.
Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager; Kristen Jones and Greg Thacker. assistants.
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Printing: Village Printing.
The Dairy Tar Heel is published by the DTH Publishing Corp., a non-profit North Carolina corporation, Monday-Friday, according to the
University calendar. .
Callers with questions about billing or display advertising should dial 962-1 1 63 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Classified ads can be reached
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Office: Suite
Campus mail address: CBf 5210 box 49. Carolina Union
WlNG, Editor
MATTHEW EiSLEY, University Editor
Peter F. Wallsten, City Editor
WENDY BOUNDS, State and National Editor
DEVON HYDE, Omnibus Editor
JoANN RODAK, News Editor
Kathy MICHEL, Photography Editor
Christy Conroy, Layout Editor
Johanna Henderson, Managing Editor
policies are designed to prevent serious,
purposeful harassment and, more idealis
tically, to create a harassment-free envi
ronment, Benzaquin said.
. Part of the problem may stem from stu
dents unintentionally doing or saying things
that make women uncomfortable. Differ
ing opinions on what constitutes sexual
harassment is another problem. Values,
gender roles and upbringing also affect
behavior and opinions about sexual ha
rassment. The most logical and effective way to
reduce incidents of sexual harassment is
through education and peer pressure. If
someone thinks a joke is offensive and
sexist, he or she should tell the person why
it's not funny and how it has a negative
impact. Educating people and communi
cating with them about sexual harassment
is the only way to gain greater sensitivity.
Benzaquin and other administrators have
been conducting educational programs on
campus for a little more than a year, pri
marily targeting faculty and staff members.
A new administrator also has been added to
the University to deal with this problem.
Monday morning, Mary O'Melia will be
gin her duties as the University 's new sexual
harassment officer.
These are steps in the right direction, but
more changes need to come quickly. Roles
and opinions will have to change if women
are to stop feeling uncomfortable in soci
ety. The survey results have brought the
problem's scope to the forefront. People at
UNC should sit up, take notice and think
before they open their mouths.
seating, fans, air purifiers or other methods
to improve ventilation. In cases where such
measures are not in use, concerned cus
tomers will carry more weight with man
agers and owners than will a town ordi
nance. Another prominent obstacle to a suc
cessful smoking ordinance would be en
forcement. One must question whether the
prosecution of a person caught smoking in
a non-smoking section of a restaurant is a
deterrent worth police action, especially
when polite reprimands by managers or
other customers almost always suffice.
Greensboro residents passed an ordi
nance in 1989 that mandated no-smoking
sections in restaurants with more than 75
seats and enabled the prosecution of
smokers lighting up in no-smoking areas.
But public protest to the measure has put
the issue back on the ballot for Feb. 26, and
voters could return the decision of restau
rant policy to the private owners. It would
be a safe bet that a Chapel Hill ordinance
would experience the same treatment.
Business owners and patrons who could
be affected by a no-smoking ordinance
should attend public hearings and voice
opinions, and policy-makers should gauge
support or dissent. More importantly, in
the absence of unnecessary government
interference, managers and owners must
respect the health and comfort concerns of
their patrons. Likewise, patrons should
suggest changes in appropriate ways. If
restaurant and bar managers are smart and
want continued business, they will listen.
104 Carolina Union
U.S. Mail address: P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3257
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Saying farewells
For all things, there is a beginning and an
end, including the UNC experience.
The beginning for me was my first
campus visit. I was excited about visiting cam
pus, but I was peeved to the highest state of
peevivity about having to come during Spring
Break. My friends went to Destin, Fla., and I
got stuck on a campus visit. Oh well, I didn't
need a tan, anyway.
The Maxwell clan piled into the car one fine
Saturday morning, and over breakfast at
Shoney's, I found out my father and sister had
an ulterior motive for the visit: they wanted to
meet J.R. Reid. So very naively, I asked them:
"Who isJ.R.Reid?"Myfatherand sister laughed
at me. "Oh, he was only one of the top basketball
players in the country," my sister replied with
a smirk. I was disgusted for two reasons. First,
I hated that my 8-year-old sister knew more
than I did about sports. Second, I thought these
jokers just wanted to see the campus like I did.
We survived the trip to Chapel Hill, passing
the very same tree up 1-85 and 1-40 about 50
million times. And then, I'm embarrassed to
say, we turned into true live tourists.
My father got his little hands on a campus
map and became a maniac. Thanks to him, we
stopped at every corner, trying to figure out
where we were. My mother had a loaded camera
around her neck. Believe me, no one asked if
we were visiting; we definitely looked the part.
Meanwhile, I tried to be cool and look like a
college student. Didn't work.
Heaven knows, the campus visit was not just
a trip; it was an adventure. That weekend,
Carroll Hall became Dudley Hall and finding
J.R. Reid was the running joke. Sunday after
noon, we were harmlessly walking through the
quad and out of nowhere, a dog jumped out of
the bushes as if his tail were on fire and scared
the daylights out of us.
Next day. We got up at the crack of dawn. I
found it peculiar that there weren't many stu
dents out at 8 a.m. I now know why. During the
tour that afternoon, I walked around like a
mummy. I was scared to death, because that
admitreject letter hadn't found its way to my
mailbox yet. At the admissions information
session, my family went to meet the director
running the session, and he intimidated the
tarnation out of me. He held my future in his
hands.
Later, we walked to Franklin Street to get
souvenirs, and I refused to buy anything. I
didn't want to jinx myself. Anyhow, as we were
walking up Columbia, I swear I saw this tree
"In-depth" coverage of
GPSF assists decision
To the editor
I would like to express my ap
preciation for the in-depth cover
age of the race for Graduate and
Professional Student Federation
president by The Daily Tar Heel.
Without the informative candidate
interviews and incisive analyses of
their qualifications, I would not
have been able to make an intelli-
f gent choice. The DTH prohibited
me from basing my decision on
some silly criterion such as which
candidate's name is easier to pro
nounce. Thank you.
RICHARD LOMBARDY
Graduate
School of Pharmacy
Vandalism, incidents
wrongly labeled racism
To the editor:
The most overused word on this
campus is racism. "Racism" has
become the scapegoat, cover-all
catch phrase for any incident in
volving Americanized Africans.
The statues in front of Davis Li
brary, product placement at Rite
Aid, the defacing of a poster in
Alexander Dorm, art and vandal
ism have all been conveniently
labeled "racism."
If Rite Aid wants to move their
black hair care products, they
to business as usual at Carolina
Kimberely
Maxwell
Strictly Business
walking. I said something to my mother, and
we said jokingly: "J.R. Reid." My father and
sister looked up, and lo and behold, guess who
it was? You got it.
So back to Marietta we went, satisfied after
visiting UNC. Then this prime little letter
showed up in my mailbox from Undergraduate
Admissions, and my parents were thrilled. Life
was excellent. And I found out my neighbors
went to N.C. State. The start of a great and
hilarious rivalry.
Sol had the Carolina experience. For me, the
last four years have been wonderful. There
have been some not-so-great times, such as
underwhelming grades and a roommate who
felt I was inferior because of my skin color.
But then there were the water UZI fights in
Cobb, the weekend Great Hall parties, setting a
record for the most men in my room sophomore
year at one time (six, or three men for two
women. Yeah!), being obnoxious at football
and basketball games and staying up late talk
ing to friends. The mixers in Morehead Cellar,
especially when my friend Steph was there;
games of truth or dare with guys who could spot
a lie a mile away; Halloweens on Franklin
Street; seeing my friends get married; and just
acting stupid.
And now for the end. However fun these
years have been, I must thank those who made
it all possible.
First of all, I must give thanks to God. My
faith in Him and Jesus Christ have helped me
deal with the good and bad. There have been
times I've just wanted to cry because my
problems were more than I could handle. He
gave me the strength to keep going and put a
smile on my face. He's also responsible for the
rest of the people that I must thank, too.
There's the Maxwell clan from Marietta:
Gary, Carol and Stephanie Maxwell. I respect
my family, but most of all, they're just great
people. My parents are two of my best friends,
and the support they've given me has been
irreplaceable. My family has backed me 150
percent, and when I get my diploma May 12,
my name will be on it, but their names will be
behind it. I love them for everything they've
should be able to do so without
explanation. Making the move to
deter theft shouldn't be labeled
"racist." The move sounded more
like good business than racism. If
the moved product had been
"Shampoo for Whitey," no fuss
would have been made.
. If some moron wants to slash a
poster, he should be able to with
out being labeled a racist. The hei
nous act sounds more like vandal
ism than racism. Had the poster
advertised a workshop on the life
and beliefs of David Duke, it would
not have warranted a letter from
the housing director and would
never have hit the pages of The
Daily Tar Heel.
Partly to blame for the recent
racist fervor is the DTH. An inci
dent was blown out of proportion
when Jennifer Dunlap devoted four
4-inch columns on the front page
Feb. 18 ("Malcolm X poster van
dalism called act of racism") to an
act of senseless vandalism and la
beled it racism. Dunlap made a
mistake in attempting to label the
slashing of the Malcolm X poster
"racist" when she called other
slashings in the same dorm "in
discriminate." A serious editing
mistake was made when Matthew
Stewart's quote was published. To
say that anyone who slashed a
poster of a black man would do the
same to a black student is ludicrous.
Thanks in part to the DTH, any
thing this year that could possibly
be labeled "racism" has been and
has also gained pages upon pages
of print that only fuel the fire in
those who cry "racism" at every
turn.
Another reason these events are
blown out of proportion and la
beled "racism" is that blacks, un
like whites, have an organization
that, like it or not, is seen as a
spokesman for all blacks on cam
pus. The Black Student Movement
comes across looking just plain
silly when they raise such a fuss
over things as simple and mean
ingless as statues, shampoo and a
defaced poster.
JONATHAN MOSS
Freshman
English
DTH coverage creates
news, sensationalizes
To the editor:
Racial tension is widely recog
nized to exist on our campus. It is
a phenomenon that should be
brought to our attention and dis
cussed through the medium of our
campus newspaper. However, it is
disappointing to see that the new
Daily Tar Heel editor feels she can
fulfill this obligation by "creating"
news on this subject. The "new"
DTH has carried on last semester's
tradition of fabricating sensation
alistic news stories with its front
page report on the slashing of a
Malcolm X Workshop poster. Re
member the graffiti-marked Gantt
done, but I love them more for the people they
are.
Then there's the rest of my family: the Gentrys
and Maxwells in Tennessee, the Stevens in
Alabama and Texas, the Martins in Michigan
and the Prothros in California. They never
forgot the importance of mail in a student's life,
along with their support and guidance.
I must thank the awesome friends I've made
here, and I wish them the best in the future. A
special thanks to Gina P. (Thanks for taking me
to RPM Nissan and missing "In Living Color."
And you thought I forgot!), Kimberley M. (Can
you believe there are two of us?), Lawrence D.,
Debbie K. and Tonya C. To all of my T.A.'s,
instructors and professors, especially in the
School of Journalism, thank you for not only
putting up with me but for helping me.
A big thanks to everyone in the Office of
Undergraduate Admissions for three years of
paid and unpaid work. I've enjoyed working
with all of you; that's why I hang around so
much. Thanks for the many laughs and the great
food (I'm sure excellent culinary skills are a
prerequisite for a job in that office).
I can't forget Charles and Clara Darvin and
Shedrick and Charlene Sanders, my parents
away from home, who have helped me out of
many a jam. Thank you very much to Angela
Lee in the basketball office. Also, to all those
people who lived with me, again thank you for
putting up with me; I know I'm not easy to live
with.
I'd also like to thank those who doubted me, ;
because telling me what I can't do makes me :
work harder to prove you wrong. And it sure is :
fun.
As I get ready to head out of here, I hope I ve ;
made you laugh and think a little about issues in ;
the past year. I hope you all realize that pretty
soon the problems of the world will be ours to
solve. My most sincere apologies to those that ;
I have offended in the process.
I don't know what my future holds; actually, ;
I go into convulsions each day I check the;
mailbox because I'm waiting to hear from law ;
schools. Wherever I may be next year, though, ;
I know that my blood will always run Carolina ;
blue. Best wishes to all, and I am outta' here! ;
C'ya! :
Kimberley Maxwell is a senior journalism
and political science major from Marietta, Ga.-'.
who prays that she doesn 'tget jerked out of line '
at graduation.
posters of last semester? Such acts
are deplorable, but the coverage of
such "news" is a feeble attempt to
create a story that will only serve
the interests of the DTH.
Future headlines in this series
may be "Sexist graffiti found in
men's restroom at night spot" or
"Mustache and goatee found drawn
on DTH editor 's campaign poster."
Better yet, the next time the DTH
wants a provocative headl ine, they
could pay me to deface a random
poster or write some graffiti in
order to help create some news.
Then the staff could pretend to
thoroughly investigate the matter
and gather the ill ustrious com merits
of campus figures such as politi
cally correct Wayne KunclThe
editorial page would thereafter be
filled with enlightening debate and
counterdebate over the "atrocity."
As a progressive paper, the DTH
must continue to address race-related
issues but also must recon
sider its potentially detrimental
practice of creating "news" on this
sensitive subject.
BOB GERBER
Senior
Undecided
Letters policy
D Please sign and date letters.
D Letters must be typed.
D Please include year in school,
major, phone number and home
town. O Brevity is the soul of wit.