North Carolina Newspapers

8The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, March 19, 1991 (Up lath afar Hferi 95ri 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 WlNG, Editor MATTHEW ElSLEY, University Editor Peter F. Wallsten, City Editor WENDY BOUNDS, State and National Editor Devon HYDE, Omnibus Editor JoANN RODAK, News Editor KATHY MlCHEL, Photography Editor CHRISTY CONROY, Layout Editor Johanna Henderson, Managing Editor Convert UNC to amusement park Headlines alerting students and faculty of imminent budget cuts in education have graced the front pages of North Carolina newspapers in the past few weeks. They warn us of the irreparable damage that the most recent round of cuts will inflict upon the University's academic programs. And administrators and legislators promise to make more ominous headlines in the near future. Most students and instructors seem to have turned a blind eye to the forecasts of impending doom possibly because of apathy, possibly because many adminis trators have taken an "it's out of our hands" attitude. Members of the University com munity have given up trying to find rem edies because they've been told that there are no remedies to be found. But there is one solution which can "save" UNC: have a going out of business sale and turn the place into an amusement park complete with rides and entertainment. It's not as preposterous as you might think. We could include a petting zoo lo cated on Boshamer Field, to appease Sen. Jesse Helms (it's already fenced in!), and finally fulfill former Student Body Presi dent candidate Mike Strickland's dream of turning the Pit into a pond. In the center would stand a fountain sculpted in the likeness of Gov. Jim Martin spouting a steady stream of pennies. The possibilities are endless. Revenue from the sale of textbooks alone could fund the installment of an elevator and a balcony at the Bell Tower. Tourists would come from miles around to get a birds-eye view of what was once a prestigious academic university. And after they finished shedding those nostalgic tears they could coast back down to earth on our Carolina blue waterslide. Polk Place could be paved to provide those badly-needed parking spaces for the trailers and mini-vans. The Old Well could provide those weary campers with a water source for use in cooking and washing. The money raised from the sale of condomini ums built in Craige, Hinton James, Ehringhaus and Morrison Residence Halls (valuable because of their proximity to the Smith Center) can be donated to the state's Highway Trust Fund to ensure North Carolina tourists have a pleasant ride as they make their pilgrimage to this mecca of frivolity. Legislators in Raleigh have made it clear that they're willing to put academics near the bottom of their funding priority list. No one can truly predict the exact amount of permanent damage the University will sus tain in the wake of the budget slashing. UNC students can help minimize the damage from budget cuts by voicing their opinions to legislators and thinking of creative solutions to budget problems. But if students are willing to sit quietly while their education is being put on hold, they might as well make good use of existing facilities. CHA1BS I WW IKAQ fel Irag' , j Answering the stupid Spring Break 'Big Question' irector to personalize admissions Have you ever felt like a series of num bers at UNC? Many students experience this feeling of anonymity, often from the first step of the application process. Admission to UNC basically only requires students to supply their grade point average, SAT scores and a list of relatives who have attended the University. Numbers and connections seem to be the standards by which most applicants are judged. Unfortunately individuality is abandoned when it comes to weeding through the thousands of applications sent to UNC for review. But the newly appointed director of ad missions, James C. Walters, plans to change this seemingly impersonal process. As di rector of admissions and registration ser vices at Ohio University, Walters revital ized a sagging applicant pool: Freshmen application numbers leaped from 5,500 to 1 1,500 in eight years. By personalizing the admissions process, Walters not only increased the number of applicants, but also the diversity. During his administration, Ohio University expe rienced a phenomenal 98 percent increase in minority applications. Although UNC's minority application pool has increased in past years, the per centage of minority students is not even close to reflecting the population of North Carolina. Walters said he plans to make minority recruitment a priority when he assumes the position of admissions direc tor June 15. Judging from Walters' ideas, all prospective students will feel more comfortable applying to UNC. Along the lines of personalization, Walters suggests offering alternatives to admission when an applicant is denied and improving campus tours so the applicant feels more comfortable with the University campus. While these proposals may sound superficial, any special attention received during this nerve-racking time can be beneficial. But most importantly, applicants should receive admission to the University for their scores and their personal accom plishments. Instead of giving students with family ties to the University special atten tion, admissions should examine extracur ricular activities and teacher recommen dations. Hopefully, Walters will make the admissions process more than a name and number game. Although UNC application rates are strong at about 15,000, Walters' plans will improve the diversity and tone of the pro cedure a necessary improvement to a cold, impersonal system. SUNDAY, MARCH 17 I'm on the plane that's taking me from DaytonaBeach back to Chapel Hill. The flight is kind of bumpy, but it's not the bumpy flight that has me anxious and apprehensive. It's the knowledge of what is waiting for me in Chapel Hill. It's something every Carolina student can't stand and yet feels compelled to participate in. It's The Big Question: "HOW WAS YOUR SPRING BREAK?!?!?" This question, usually flung at me by someone rushing by on his or her way to class, always gets the same response. "Great! How was yours?" This year, it rained almost the whole week I was in Daytona, and I had some expe riences that left me even more befuddled than I was when I left Chapel Hill in the first place, but I'll probably glue that fake smile in place and respond to TheBig Question in the same manner. It's the American way. Besides, it's really hard to explain to anyone what my Spring Break was really like. Here are some highlights: Because of the rainy weather, I spent a couple of days browsing at indoor flea markets. These axe funny places. People pull up with a lot of junk in the backs of their trucks, set up some tables, and actually convince other people to buy the stuff. And they can sell anything. While looking through the piles of used cassettes, rusty kitchen appliances and huge machetes (on sale for $2 each in case you need to elimi nate that pesky next-door neighbor), I found some strange objects that modern technology has yet to find any use for. Like a long electrical cord with feathers glued to each end. Someone actually made this. Someone else actually bought it, decided to get rid of it and brought it to a flea market in hopes of convincing some one else to buy it. There was even a little index card on it that read, "SPECIAL! Was $2.99. Will take best offer!" I had one day to hang out at the beach, and it was another rainy one. I went to the place where MTV was taping drunk Spring Breakers racing through a bizarre obstacle course. I won't go into all the details, but one thing the con testants had to do was pull off their shoes, pull on a pair of flippers and bob in a plastic swimming pool for a plastic fish on televi- jenn Layton Just Work Here sion. Anyway, the weather was so damp and dis heartening that one of the camera people had to stand off to the side and hold up cue cards for the crowds to remind them to get loud and rowdy. When the red camera light blinked on, the guy held up cards reading, "Cheer! " "Clap !" "Make some noise!" When the cameras went off, everyone went back to hiding under rain gear and making feeble attempts to light their cigarettes or locate their friends. One guy tried to liven things up by tossing a couple of beach balls into the crowd. One of them deflated and the other got stuck in a tree. So when you turn on MTV and see a bunch of screaming, rowdy and obnoxious spring breakers at the obstacle course, try to put it in perspective. I had a job interview at Walt Disney World over break. The whole purpose behind Disney World is to keep the child in all of us alive. Everything there is geared toward chil dren. Every building has cartoon murals painted on the walls. Music from Disney movies is played endlessly over every P.A. system. And in keeping with this mood, the Disney people allow small children to run around unsupervised in the personnel office. Picture a huge room packed with people trying to fill out applications while the children of applicants who couldn't find babysitters run around kicking chairs, throwing toys and say ing things like, "Hey, lookit what I found in my nose!" "Eeeeeewwwwwww! I'm telling!" There I was, preparing for an interview in which I wanted to convince the interviewer how much I love the magical world of childhood when all I really wanted to do was drop-kick those little pests over the Magic Kingdom. I saw an interesting sign in the Daytona Beach airport on my way home. It was posted above the machine that X-rays carry-on lug gage. It said, "The security department has determined that poses a potential threat to security measures." The blank was a place for someone to slide in a card with something written on it. Now, this seems like a very important sign. Since flying makes me nervous anyway, I was anxious to know what could pose a threat to my security. But as time went on and nobody filled in the blank, I got the urge to slip my own little sign in that space. Imagine walking up to an airport X-ray machine and reading, "The se curity department has determined that tuna fish poses a potential threat to security measures." Or "nasal spray." or "diaper rash." What a great new word game for air travelers! Fun for the whole family! On the flight home, I began to feel sorry for the flight attendants. As each flight lines up for takeoff, they have to demonstrate all the safety features and give that same speech. What a mind-numbing job. I think the airlines should give these attendants a break and cut part of that speech out. Like the seat belt demonstration. Those seat belts are not difficult to figure out. Anyone who can't deal with a seat belt shouldn't be attempting air transportation in the first place. And I love the subtle threat they've added to the speeches since flights became designated as non-smoking: "This is a non-smoking flight. The aircraft lavatory has been equipped with a smoke detector for your safety." Right. It's not for our safety, it's so they can nab you if you dare to light up. They prove this with the ominous warning that comes next: "Federal Law prohibits tampering with the smoke detec tor on an aircraft lavatory." So there's my Spring Break for those of you with The Big Question upon my return. It wasn't relaxing, it wasn't exciting, and it cer tainly didn't make sense. There's only one thing I'm sure of right now. I need a break to recover from Spring Break. Anyone second the motion? Jenn Layton is a senior English major from Ontario, Canada. Spring Break can pose a potential threat to security measures. Editorial Policy The Daily Tar Heel's editorials are approved by the majority of the editorial board, which is composed of the editor, editorial page editor and five editorial writers. Business and advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director Bob Bates, advertising director; Leslie Humphrey, classified ad manager. Business staff: Allison Ashworth. manaaer. Kimberly 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 Hoards and mi vu, assistants; Brandon roe, production. Display advertislna: Lavonne Leinster, advertising manager Heather Bannister, Chris Berry, Kelly Bohart, Chad Boswell, Carrie Grady, Ashleigh Heath. Carole Hedgepeth, Vicki Isley.Trish Parrottand Dawn Rogers, account representatives; Blass, creative director.WXlon Artis, Laurie Davis, Maribeth Layton, Brooks Spradling and Stacy Turkel, sales assistants; Deborah Bumgamer, proofreader. Advertising production: Bill Leslie, manager; Anita Bentley, Chad Campbell, breg Miller and Lome Kate, production assistants. Assistant editors: Mondv Lamb, arts coordinator: Jennifer Dickens, city; Kenny Monteith. araDhics;kmi Seeley and Emilie Van Poucke. news. Layton Croft. Mondv Lamb. Omnibus; Jim Holm and Sarah King, photo;fiei Amato, Stewart Chisam and Warren Hynes, soorts;Dacia Toll, state and national; Jennifer Dunlap and Steve Politi, university. Newsclerks: Kevin Brennan and Amy Dew Editorial writers: Liz Byrd, Staci Cox, Andre" Hauser, Jen Pilla and Nancy Wykle. University: Laura Williams, senior tw7ters;Marcie Bailey, Birch DeVault, Soyia Ellison. Ashley Fogle, Adam Ford, Brian Golson, Burke Koonce, Matthew Mielke, Gillian Murphy, Jennifer Mueller, Cathy Oberle, Shannon 0'Grady. Heather Phibbs, Bonnie Rochman, JoAnn Rodak. Karen Schwartz. Billv Stockard. Sarah Suiter. Carrie Wells 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 and Dawn bpiggie. State and National: Jennifer Davis, Karen Dietrich, Steve Doyle, David Etchison, Doug Hatch, West Lockhart, Eric Lusk, Pete Simpkinson, Kyle York Spencer and Dacia Toll. Arts: Isabel Barbuk. Kitt Bocklev. Tere CliDoard. Grant Halverson. Anne Michaud. Kirk Medlin. Greg Miller and Jeff Trussell. Features: Eric Bolash, Tiffany Cook, Karen Crutchfield. M.C. Dagenhart, Pia Doersam, Matthew Hoyt, Mara Lee, Scott Maxwell, Ginger Meek, Mary Moore Parham. An Rapport Colleen Rodite, Kay Stallwortn. Beth latum and uawn wnson. Sports: Kenny Abner, Jason Bates, A.J. Brown, Robert Brown, Eric David, Jay Exum, Doug Hoogervorst, Matt Johnson, David Kupstas, John Manuel, Amy McCaffrey, Bobby McCroskey, Doug McCurry, David Monroe and Bryan Strickland. Photography: David Minton. editor emeritus; Evan Ejle and Joe Muhl, senior photographers; Kevin Burgess, Kevin Chignell, Jonathan Grubbs, Brian Jones, Cheryl Kane, Keith Nelson, Linus Parker, Debbie Stengel and Susan lebbens. Lavout: Melanie Black. Shawn Fuller. Christy Hall and Robin Lentz. Copy Editors: Lisa Lindsay and Steve Wilson, senior copy editors; Mitch Bixby, Stephanie Brodsky, Laura Clark, Hardy Floyd, Lorrin Freeman, Angela Hill, Aimee Hobbs, Sarah Kirkman. Mitch Kokai, Jennifer Kurfees, Amy McCarter, Susan Pearsall, Natalie Pooljerri Potter, Chns Shuping, Angela Spivey, Kenyatta Upchurch, Clare Weickert and Mike Workman. Cartoonists: Deena Deese, Chris DePree. David Estoye, Chris Kelly, Jeff Maxim, Jake McNalty and Mike Sutton. Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager; Kristen Jones and Greg Thacker, assistants. Distribution: RDS Carriers. Printing: village Printing. The Daily 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 at 962-0252. fcditonai questions should be directed to 962-rjZ4bU24t. Office: Suits 104 Carolina Union Campus mail address: CBI 5210 box 49, Carolina Union U.S. Mail address: P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3257 Efforts of RAs wasted on housing controversy To the editor: I have been following this far cical controversy concerning the cancellation of the $400 meal packages for new RAs, and up to now, I have contented myself with observing the melee in the center ring of the circus we call UNC. Now, however, as the protests continue and the debates ever more heated, I find myself compelled to respond to two relevant points of this controversy. First, in response to Frank Sutton's letter March 8, "Housing avoiding complaints of SRC RAs," I must duly inform you that Frank misinformed you; Al Calarco, as sociate director of the Department of University Housing, did indeed meet with the Granville Residence College RAs March 6, but, and I cannot stress this enough, his visit was in no way connected with the present controversy. He simply accepted our weeks-old invitation to attend a staff meeting, meet us and have dinner with us, and this is the first-hand knowledge of one of those RAs. That's all he was there for. Thus, this is not an "arbitrary display of subversion as yet another example of the hypocrisy of the Department of University Hous ing," to use Frank's quasi-revolutionary, "bourgeois-pig" language. Secondly, what strikes me as absolutely hysterical is the innate wastefulness of this whole debate. Al Calarco had to cut $40,000 from his department's budget, and new RA meal plans were among them. Now, granted this may not have been an optimal choice, but what is all of this effort on the part of the old RAs really accomplishing? Al Calarco and housing do not have the money to return and, thus, are backed into a corner, forced to deal with the onslaught with as much grace and poise as possible. Therefore, the RAs are essentially "barking up the wrong tree." I have read of the campuswide unrest in the DTH, and as a Granville RA, I have even wit nessed it among members of the Granville staff, and what amazes me is the profound waste of all of this. Frank Sutton and the other proponents of this debate have been ever so ready to criticize and denigrate the Department of Uni versity Housing (their employers), but when it comes to concrete, constructive measures, they are found to be seriously lacking. If all of the effort spent on breaking down and being critical of Al Calarco, L.D. Newman and the Department of University Housing were channeled into raising money for the $ 1 6,000 cut, there would be no need for this debate. No, I do not believe such a course of action absolves housing from responsi bility for their decisions, but the present level of debate is unnec essary and ludicrous. Thus, to follow my own advice, I am concurrently mailing $ 1 . 1 3 to University Housing for the fifteen minutes it has taken me to write this letter (RA salary: $4.50 per hour multiplied by 25 percent). If Frank Sutton, Raj Narayan and the others would follow the same policy, then the basic desire for the $16,000 would be met while still allowing them to attain their goal of having housing justify their decision to cut the new RCA meal plans. Until the proponents of this self-defeating debate arrive at a potentially more successful and positively constructive avenue of inquiry, their efforts are seriously wasted and only serve a negative, non-constructive purpose. NEAL BRIAN MCCALL Junior Business Administration Dance curriculum ignored by University To the editor: "Forty Sections Cut From En glish Department," "Foreign Lan guage Sections Eliminated" have read the headlines the past couple of weeks signs of the University's effort to curb spend ing during one of the most drastic budget cuts many of us have ex perienced. There are certain areas of the University, however, that were ignored before the budget crisis and should have been left untouched. The dance curriculum is one of these areas. By laying off instruc tor Killian Manning for the 1991 92 academic year, the University will reduce its dance classes by nearly 50 percent. Not only is Killian an incredibly knowledge able, effective and enthusiastic teacher, but she was exposing stu dents to an ART FORM conve niently hidden in the physical education department next to the likes of jogging, aerobics and bowling. The recognized fine arts at UNC include visual art, drama and mu sic. All of these have separate de partments within the University, and the students of these depart ments have all the amenities they need to explore and learn about their hobby or soon-to-be profes sion: access to the department at all hours of the night for work when inspired, private theaters for the sole purpose of theater perfor mances, practice rooms and concert halls designed only for the music, drama or visual art departments. WHAT ABOUTDANCE?! There is no adequate studio for a normal class (it is closet sized with im properly laid marley floor) much less an exclusive one only for dancers to use when practicing or choreographing. A piece choreographed by Marian Turner from the repertoire of UNC's modern dance group, Modemextension, was presented at the Southeastern Regional of the American College Dance Fes tival and was selected from more than 20 student and faculty cho reographed pieces (all coming from well-known dance departments) to END the gala concert of the festi val. There was NO DTH coverage despite two phone calls by a member of the dance group to the arts person of the DTH. If it had been women's soccer or track as the best out of 20 teams, it would have been a different story. Dance is ignored as a legitimate art at this University, and the lay ing off of Killian Manning is just another sign. UNC has not lost just another aerobics or bowling in structor, UNC has lost one of the most influential and inspiring dance choreographers and teach ers the Triangle has to offer. BANU OGAN Senior Biology Letters policy When writing letters, please follow these guidelines: a Please sign and date letters. - O Letters should be no longer than 400 words. O Letters must be typed. Include year in school, major and phone number. The DTH edits letters for space, clarity and vulgarity.