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10The Daily Tar HeelThursday, May 30, 1991 98th year of editorial freedom Jennifer Wing, Editor MATTHEW ElSLEY, Associate Editor BETH TATUM, Features Editor JoAnn RODAK, News Editor DAVID KuPSTAS, Sports Editor Doug HOOGERVORST, Sports Editor GRANT Halverson, Photography Editor AliSA DeMao, Arts Editor Moore than bargained for Student Congress Speaker Tim Moore has a few lessons to learn about UNC. This is not Campbell University, a Baptist-affiliated school with conservative lean ings where Moore spent his first college years. At UNC, students value diversity and fosteracceptance. And although Chapel Hill may be a little more urban than Buies Creek, where Campbell is located, UNC students can still smell a skunk from a mile away. And something sure does smell about the resolution Moore sponsored last week to end funding for the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association. Moore must think pulling the wool over the eyes of UNC students is a simple task. He would have everyone believe that the timing of his resolution was purely coinci dental. The full congress was too busy to review the resolution in the spring session, Moore insists, and so he waited to intro duce it until the summer. Never mind that he just happened to have five appointments to the summer congress. He wasn't think ing of that at all. Yeah, right. Isn't it a trifle odd that four of the resolution's six sponsors were summer appointees? No, Moore would probably answer, he just appointed every student who asked to be on the congress. There was no way he could know they would back his efforts to homogenize the University, he would probably say. With that much malarkey flowing from Suite C, students should be getting pretty good with a shovel by now. The resolution passed 8-5 with one ab stention. And although it will only serve as Aborting women's freedom Rust vs. Sullivan: The plunge down the slippery slope toward abolition of repro ductive freedom begins. Last week, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to prohibit about 4,000 federally funded family planning clinics from providing any . information about abortion to women seek ing help. The decision forbids the clinics from listing abortion as an option for pregnant women and forbids counselors from pro viding any information about abortion to women who request it, even if a woman's physician believes abortion is the most medically safe alternative for her. If asked, clinic counselors must now tell women that abortion is not considered an appropriate method of family planning. The damning decision inflicts two prin ciple wounds upon women seeking repro ductive advice while it simultaneously be gins to strip them of their freedom of choice a move that appears to portend the outcome of future court decisions on the legality of abortion. First, once again, freedom and rights come with a price tag one that only those the largest pocketbooks can afford. Those people who can afford going to a private clinic will know all their options not just those alternatives deemed morally appro priate by five men sitting on a bench in Washington, D.C. The 5 million low-income women who must choose a public clinic dependent on federal funding are left in the dark. Younger patients without the years of experience to help educate them about their medical options will suffer the worst loss of all. Said one S.C. nurse to The Charlotte Observer: "I don't believe in using abor tion as birth control, but we have 1 1-, 12-year-old girls coming in here. Some of them have been raped. That option should be there for them." Note that clinic officials normally do not encourage women to have abortions (un less for health reasons). They only fulfill their jobs by offering three options to preg nant women: continuation of maternity care, adoption and abortion. If they withhold information about one option, abortion, as mmm, mam BusImss and advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director Bob Bales, advertising director, Leslie Humphrey, classified ad manager. a,,. in... rtH- Allison Ashworth. manaoer: Michelle Gray, assistant manager, Becky Marquette, receptionist. Clatsllled advertising: Angela Spivey, assistant manager, Scott Blankenship, Laura Richards and Thi Vu, assistants. Display advertising: Milton Artis and Chad Boswell, account executives. Advertising, production: Bin lesiw, hwhih. Stall writers: Laura Baum, Robert Brown, Lauren wesnui, swan Tabitha Togan, Eric Longley, Robin Lowe. Amber Nimocks. Melissa Kay Stallworth. Brooke Tyson and Jennifer Williamson. CoWofs7 Kenyatta uSoSIiSTXm Bailey, Chris and Rick Iwomey. Cartoonist Chris DePree. Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager. Distribution: RDS Carriers. Printing: Village rating. The Daily Tar Heal is published by Uw DTH Publishing Corp., a non UCnfww"tions about billing Of display advertising should reached at 962-0252. Editorial questions should be directed to " Ofllci: Suits Campus mall address: CB 52111 boa 41, Carolina Union a recommendation to the full congress to end funding for the CGLA, it has a little more bite than if it had just remained one of Moore's pet peeves. Moore knew full well what he was doing when he waited to introduce the bill in the summer. Attempts to make students believe otherwise are an insult to their intelligence. Moore has tried to brand the CGLA as a special interest group with little support from the University community. But the fact is that groups such as the CGLA ben efit all students in their efforts to break down stereotypes and provide education on other cultures and alternative lifestyles. Moore also has hinted at cutting funding for the Black Student Movement and other campus groups, so students should not be surprised if Moore uses his puppet con gress to pass all sorts of frightening resolu tions this summer. After all, who's going to stop him? CGLA's offices are closed for the summer, and other student organiza tions have skeleton summer staffs at best. Of course, Moore didn't think about this either when he saved his perfectly innocent resolutions for the summer. No one could be that devious, could they? Regardless, students can only hope that the full congress will straighten out the mess of resolutions that are sure to come with Moore's blessing this summer. And one would hope that the full congress also would rescind the power of the speaker to appoint summer congress members. It would be better to have no summer con gress than to have one that answers to every whim of a single power-hungry politician. the new ruline mandates, these officials shirk their responsibility to these women. Abortion is legal, and therefore it is an option. By tying clinics' hands with such a resolution, the court jumped ahead of itself and passed a moral judgment by eliminat ing abortion as a program "it believes to be in the public interest." (Majority opinion, Chief Justice William Rehnquist) Which leads to the second wound. Thursday's ruling indicates the mindset toward abortion of the newest member to the court, Justice David Souter, who voted with the majority opinion. The other eight justices are believed to be split 4-4 on whether to overturn the 1 973 Roe vs. Wade ruling establishing a woman's right to an abortion. Decision on this issue will most likely come in a year's time, and it appears Justice Souter will side with those judges ready to strip a woman of her right to choose what will happen inside her own body. Pro-choice advocates are left with pre cious months to launch an all-out cam paign for their cause. They have begun with intense lobbying asking Congress to pass an amendment to overturn Thursday's ruling. The amendment would require fam ily planning clinics dependent upon some $ 140 million in federal funds to offer "non directive" counseling on abortion as well as birth control. No option would be pre ferred, but all would be listed. The timer is set for about 60 days before this bomb set by five justices explodes, and before the government is able to put the regulations into action within the clinics. Two months in which leaders of family planning organizations must shift attention away from the women seeking their help and turn their time to convincing Congress to pass the amendment with a two-thirds majority in each House so the president cannot veto the measure. With women's reproductive rights now rolling toward certain obliteration, support should fall behind the fighting clinics as they position themselves against the odds, struggling to protect females by giving them all their options, not just a pre-deter-mined select few. tnisam, nsmey rogie. oraney udiMii, rdi,oii.,.", Palmer, Winifred Pease, Catherine Owens, JoAnn Rodak, David Rosen, Batlista. Lauren Chesnut, Leslie Gilbert, Patty Greene, Chris Shuping , - profit North Carolina corporation, Monday-Friday, according to dial 962-1 163 between B:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Classified ads can 962-02450246. the be 104 Carolina Union U.S. Mall address: P.O. Bo 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27815-3257 Qualified Asians . In tne aays wnen rrann runer uiaimiu mi UNC president, a Jewish student applied to the medical school. The student was in formed, in effect, that, although he was well qualified, he could not be accepted, since the school had already filled its quota of Jewish students. Many Ivy League schools at the turn of the century had set up quotas for Jews, under the theory that, if Jewish students were admit ted solely on the basis of merit, they would crowd out the less-qualified Gentiles. President Graham would not permit this sort of thing to happen at UNC, however, and he insisted that the student be admitted. I tell this story to illustrate how unenlightened we were at the beginning of the century. Nowa days, of course, universities do not discrimi nate against Jews. They discriminate against Asians. In his excellent book, "Illiberal Education," Dinesh D'Souza examines how the University of California at Berkeley, through its affirmative-action program aimed at increasing the number of black and Hispanic students, man aged to discriminate against Asians. Berkeley noticed that the proportion of students who were black and Hispanic was less than the proportion of the general population who were black and Hispanic. The university decided to remedy the situation by making the proportion of different ethnic groups in the freshman class proportional to their numbers in the population as a whole. But setting aside a proportion of the limited freshman places for members of favored racial groups insured that there would be fewerplaces for people who do not belong to those groups. Asians consistently make higher grades and test scores than whites, blacks and Hispanics. If Asian applicants were admitted purely on the basis of merit, Asians would have a representa tion in the freshman which was greater than their share of the general population. A race based quota system, then, would result in fewer . , I. r . - 1 - ....... handedly Student Congress well lacking water To the editor: "You nevermissyour water 'till the well runs dry." This is how I feel about the 73rd Student Con gress. For the past two years, I served on Student Congresses that were both criticized by The Daily Tar Heel for our radical behavior and bureaucratic game playing (71st congress), and alternately accused of our do-nothing acqui escence (72nd congress). How ever, I am proud to have been a part of two congresses that never trampled upon individual student's rights in the manner that occurred during last week's Summer Stu dent Congress meeting. Previous congresses have en tertained the motion to restrict or curtail the CGLA in years past, but luckily those motions were de feated and exposed to be basically rooted in homophobic intolerance, not representative student govern ment. The facts remain that UNC has enough students interested in the CGLA to maintain its func tioning as a viable and fundable student organization. CGLA pro gramming is open to all students. For example, those of us who at tended last year's CGLA-spon-sored lecture by The Independent's Esther Carp can attest to the enter tainment, intellectual, and cultural value of CGLA-sponsored pro grams. Unfortunately, there are those who will not open their minds to new or different ideas. Social pa thology is not my sub-specialty; therefore, I will not attempt to of fer up reasons as to why this closed minded mentality exists. However, I will demand that discrimination not be practiced by my student leaders. As students interested in the free interchange of ideas at all levels, we cannot depend upon Andrew Cohen to defend our rights single- shunned in college admissions ihhhmmhHBMBHBH nf racial IllctlfV Eric Longely The Noise of Folly Asians being admitted. The Berkeley administration eventually had to concede that Asian applicants were being turned down while whites, blacks and Hispan ics with less impressive academic records were being admitted. As D'Souza rightly puts it: "It is mathematically impossible to achieve ethnic proportionality without decreasing 'overrepresented' groups" such as Asians. This is the problem that confronts Berkeley and other colleges which seek to increase black and Hispanic enrollment through affirmative ac tion. Advocates of affirmative action have long conceded that preferential admissions discrimi nates against whites. But this can be defended by pointing out that whites are merely paying the inevitable price for oppressing minorities for so long. Complaints about discrimination come with an ill grace from members of a race that has for centuries maintained legal su premacy and discrimination. As long as the burden of affirmative action falls on whites alone, its supporters can defend it as a painful but necessary program of compensation. But how can affirmative action be justified if it results, in discrimination against Asians a group that does not share responsibility for the treatment that whites have meted out to minori ties in the United States a group that has itself been victimized by discriminatory natu ralization laws and restrictive state laws on land ownership? Asians have not been associated with the oppressors in American history they have been victims. It is supremely ironic that they now face discrimination in the name in Student Congress. This then only in the bonds of matri mony), of course Mr. Moore would abhor same-sex relations. Afterall, what else is the CGLA if not a veritable sea of flesh bathed in hot oil, performing acts of unspeak able lewdness? In reality, CGLA is nothing more or less than an oracle, a source of information for interested mem bers of both the gay and straight communities: (1) CGLA provides phone numbers and addresses of gay-friendly physical and mental health services, gay-friendly clubs, religious organizations, and gay and lesbian political action groups; (2) CGLA publishes the newslet ter Lambda four times a year as a venue for diverse opinions among gays and lesbians; (3) CGLA spon sors weekly meetings on gay and lesbian issues, as well as a weekly luncheon and reading group; (4) CGLA conducts numerous out reach sessions to inform UNC stu dents about the gay and lesbian community; (5) CGLA sponsors Gay Awareness Week, and assists with fund-raising for AIDS projects and other gay and lesbian con cerns. Instead of distracting Student Congress from more pressing con cerns (like the disintegration of the education system in North Caro lina), Mr. Moore and his cronies fall the full congress must approve everything that was done in the summer. Find out who vour con gress representative is and let them know you are disgusted by what the Summer Student Congress has done. And remember, the Student Government Code provides a mechanism for the impeachment of a speaker or representative whose well has run dry. TODD WYATT Graduate Pathology CGLA educates about homosexual issues To the editor, I am writing in response to the recent machinations of our own Tim Moore and his congressional cohorts who managed to pass a resolution to defund the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association. This took place conveniently enough when CGLA members were out of town for the intersession. I for one was never contacted my an swering machine never recorded a message from Mr. Moore, who in cidentally claims his proposal was not based on any "moral" judg ment. That's right, Tim. Your tim ing is unethical, even immoral. But then, "politics is politics," and I can appreciate political savvy as much as the next person. I can also appreciate Mr. Moore's concern for "the letter of the law." I would love to be a law abiding citizen, but find North Carolina's sex laws woefully anti quated. If Moore is leading a law abiding sex life, then he is a para gon of virtue. Only people with a draconian morality fortified by ice water baths, hair shirts and flagel lation with birch switches after long sauna sessionscould possibly abide such laws as this state has concern ing sex. As anything but the missionary position is strictly prohibited (and What is the solution to this situation? It's times like these that I wish Harry Golden was still around. Golden was a newspaper editor in Charlotte during the civil rights era. A staunch opponent of segregation, he came up with sev eral tongue-in-cheek "Golden plans" for abol ishing Jim Crow laws while doing the least offense to white Southern mores. In the spirit of Harry Golden, I wish to offer my Longley Plan for Asians who want to avoid being discrimi nated against in college admissions. First, any Asian applying for college should legally assume a non-Asian name. He should also lie on the "race" section of his college application. This will make the college think that he is either white or a member of one of the favored minority groups. He will thus have a chance of getting his application considered on the basis of his academic record, and he need not fear that he will be rejected because the Asian quota has already been filled. In other words, I am calling on Asians to comm it massive civ il disobedience by conceal ing their race. But, you say, this involves fraud and deception. Yes, but such deception is a necessary counter-weapon against a deceptive system that engages in discrimination while professing to uphold fhe'principles of equal opportunity. Colleges have no business setting quotas for Asians. Why should Asians cooper ate with an iniquitous quota system by furnish ing the very information without which that system would be useless? Perhaps Berkeley is an extreme example. But the difficulties I have described arise wher ever a college adopts an affirmative action policy for favored minorities. The unfavored Asians get treated unfairly. When discrimina tion is promoted in the name of equality, it is time to ask some serious questions. Eric Longley is a junior international rela tions major from Durham. should come by the CGLA office this semester and see what we're all about. You might make friends with the very people you thought were your enemies. (And CGLA gives out free condoms with every visit!) KELLY CANNON Graduate English Letters policy The DTH welcomes reader com ments and criticisms. When writ ing letters, follow these guidelines: If you want your letter pub lished, please sign and date it. No more than two signatures, please. All letters should be no longer than 400 words. Remember, brev ity is the soul of wit. All letters must be typed and double spaced. Please include such vital sta tistics as your year in school, ma jor, phone number and hometown. Because The Daily Tar Heel publishes Thursdays, all letters should be submitted Monday by noon for publication that week. If you have a title that is rel evant to your letter 's subject, please include it. The DTH reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity and vulgarity. 4 -A TOE ENORMOUS CLLtM6WOF W ;V Tl ,T TOCVWS ECONOMIC REALITIES. fJ", . . k Jl( irewseuwii-uTOiNKOFME A ' ., -.4
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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May 30, 1991, edition 1
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