12 AThe Daily Tar HeelMonday, August 19, 1991
Wcp Saihj afar 1M
98th year of editorial freedom
Jennifer Wing, Editor
MATTHEW ElSLEY, Associate Editor
DAVID KuPSTAS, Sports Editor JoAnn RODAK, News Editor
GRANT HalveRSON, Photography Editor DOUG HoOGERVORST, Sports Editor
AlISA DeMao, Arts Editor
Moore than
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 smell a skunk a mile away.
And something sure does smell about the
resolution Moore sponsored to end fund
ing for the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Asso
ciation. 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 all that. 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 congress. There was no
way he could know they would back his
efforts to homogenize the University, he
would probably say. With that much
Force-fed
By the end of the month, the University
will make a decision on something dear to
the heart of every college student what
kind of food will be served in campus
dining halls for the next five years. After
receiving bids from three companies for a
five-year food service contract and send
ing proposals to the state contracts office in
Raleigh for clearance, the University will
announce which company will provide
meals for 22,000 students. This decision
will be made without ever allowing stu
dents to air their views on the proposals, to
examine the evaluations or even to know
what companies have placed bids.
State bidding laws draw a veil of confi
dentiality over the details of the evaluation
process, specifics about the bids and even
the names of the bidders. Discussion of
details supposedly could invalidate the
entire process. Meanwhile, members of the
Food Service Advisory Committee are dis
cussing the proposals and will recommend
the company that will best serve the stu
dent interests. How can discussion by the
public be any worse than a recommenda
tion by a group that is supposed to repre
sent the interests of the public?
The deadline for bids was April 25, more
than a month and a half ago. All informa
tion used in selecting the next contract was
received by that time, and any bids re
ceived after the deadline were not accepted.
Legally, none of the bidders should be able
to use information about other proposed
contracts to their own advantage. Legally,
they are unable to change their bids. To
claim that releasing details about the infor
mation these companies have provided
information one would assume already
makes their proposals look as attractive as
possible is ludicrous.
To say that public comment on the bids
and proposed contracts may adversely af
fect the selection process is an even more
absurd statement. Public comment certainly
may hurt the chances of one or more of the
bidders, but that should only strengthen the
selection process. If there is some reason
students would be unhappy with a certain
proposal, that should be taken into account
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The Daily Tar Heel's editorials are approved by the majority of the editorial board.
During the fall and spring semesters, the board is comprised of the editor, editorial
page editor and four editorial writers. During the summer sessions, the board consists
of two editorial writers.
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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
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.
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.
This edit is republished from the May 30
edition DTH.
decision
during the decision-making process.
Not to allow the public the students
who will be forced to live with the
University 's decision for the next five years
the opportunity to even be informed
about who has placed bids for the contract
is an open invitation to abuse of the system
by big business. Who is better qualified to
provide feedback on a proposal than whose
who will live with it?
Students who live in the residence halls
will be required to give this company their
business. A mandatory mealcard deposit
of $100 for each semester they live in the
residence halls gives them the right to have
some say in what food they will be forced
to buy and from whom they will buy it.
Marriott has said publicly that the corpo
ration has placed a bid with the University
for the meal service contract. When one
company makes it known that it is being
considered in the bidding process, does
that mean it has an advantage? Or does it
have a disadvantage? If the state and the
University are concerned with fair and
equal treatment for all bidders during the
selection process, it now becomes neces
sary to release the names of all the compa
nies that have placed bids.
What purpose does the hush-hush atmo
sphere of the present bidding system serve?
The window of time between the bid dead
line and the announcement of the new
contract is entirely hidden from public view.
Students should not have to worry that
under-the-table would that be the dinner
table? negotiations are going on after
the bids have been received or that special
interests are being considered. They should
not have to worry that dirty dishes are
being hidden from them in the selection of
their meal service. The present bidding
system is set up to protect the interests of
the businesses involved in the bidding and
not the public that will be forced to live
with the contract. If state law prohibits this
basic information from being released, it is
time to take a look at what, and who, our
priorities really are.
This editorial is reprinted from the June
13 edition of the DTH.
Mara Lee. Robin Lowe. Charles Marshall. Jeff McKinlev. Amber
Zoe Trofianis, J.J. Warlick, Erim Webb, Jon Whisenant and Ian
Greene, Tera Hensley, Mara Lee and Rick Twomey.
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Facing death at
Editor' s note : Police arrested Joel Cabrera,
21, of H-2 Royal Park Apartments and charged
him with assault, assault with a deadly weapon
and carrying a concealed weapon, according
to police reports. Carhrera was charged after
an altercation with employees of The Club and
a police officer on Franklin Street early Satur
day morning, reports stated. The suspect was
released after posting a $5,000 secured bond.
The following is a first-hand description of the
reported altercation by a Daily Tar Heel writer
employed at The Club.
The hammer of the ,45-caliberpistol clicked
audibly. Don't ask me how I heard it over
the bustling Franklin Street crowds early
Saturday morning, but the sound echoed in my
ears as if it were a freight train.
I was going to get it right there in front of
the NCNB Plaza while hundreds of people
looked on. All 20 years of my life, my two years
at UNC and my short stint as a bouncer at The
Club were going to end with the flexing of a
finger. And all I could say was, "Don't do it,
man, don't do it."
Profound last words, huh?
By the grace of God, that finger never flexed.
The hammer was pulled back. There was a
bullet in the chamber. But that finger never
flexed.
Instead, the gunman rammed the cocked gun
back in his pocket and bolted down the street.
We don t usually have too many problems at
The Club, which is pretty amazing considering
the mix of people who go there. I ve worked
there since February, and, with a few excep
tions, I've never had to deal with any major
problems.
I urge you to think about just
who would be the beneficiaries of
this program. As reported in The
Daily Tar Heel, the fee would go
primarily to the benefit of on-cam-pus
students, who represent fewer
than one-third of the total student
body. Why should the 16,000 off
campus students pay for cable tele
vision in the dorms, and why should
we pay for dorm residents to be
able to connect to the University
mainframe? (And won't fewer of
them be able to own computers
after spending $200 on this fee?)
Please do not try to point out that a
portion of the fee will go toward
improving the campus computer
labs and keeping them open 24
hours a day. Twenty -four hour labs
are not very useful to off-campus
students when the buses stop run
ning at I a.m., and I am sure that
the labs have a much higher usage
rate by dorm residents.
If you would like on-campus
residents to enjoy the luxury of
cable television, let them pay for it
(wasn't it just last year when they
decided they didn't want to pay for
it?) If you would like all the stu
dents not just dorm residents
to have access to the University
mainframe, set up a bulletin board
serv ice and give students thechoice
of spending the $80 to $100 for a
modem instead of forcing us to
spend $200 for what amounts to
nothing for most people.
Please think about the scale of
this fee. I have a computer which I
share with the two other students
in my apartment. Together, under
this proposal, we would spend $600
for"technology enhancement" that
would be of no benefit to us. With
that money, we could buy a mo
dem and 36 months of telephone
service, or more practically, pay
our rent for almost two months.
I truly hope that the administra
tion will see what a foolish pro
posal this is. Unfortunately, the
University has such a dismal record
on listening to student concerns
that I am already looking for some
thing to cut out of my budget to
. pay for this fee.
One piece of advice: I know it's
nice dreaming about new technol
ogy; I like to do it myself. I also
like to dream about having some
one else pay for it. I don't try to
Traditional values key
o alumni donations
To the editor:
From numerous news sources
we are reading that many of our
institutions of higher learning are
seeking to press upon the students
as Truth their own beliefs or the
school's prevailing ideology, in
stead of teaching students how to
search for Truth. We further read
that such institutions are actually
closed or hostile to conservative,
traditional values or biblical think
ing.
Wherever universitiescolleges
schools are fostering such a dam
aging atmosphere, the alumni can
be the catalysts for change. The
alumni may wish to write school
presidents and boards of directors,
with copies to the alumni's con
gressmen, suggesting that until the
school welcomesconservative, tra
ditional values or biblical think
ing, the alumni will be unable to
give further donations and will ask
their congressmen to consider any
such bias in proposed school grants.
MR. and MRS. PAUL HOGUE
Let individuals pay for
enhanced technology
To the editor:
I am writing toexpress my com
plete shock that the administration
ot tnis university would even con
sider the so-called "technoloev
enhancement" student fee. It is
going to be difficult enough for
students to cope with paying more
for tuition without the added bur
den of this unfair fee.
A compilation of all
the summer letters
The following two pages of
letters were published in the
DTH throughout the summer.
They represent various sides of
the issues raised about campus
and national issues during the
summer. More letters than ap
pear here ran over the summer,
but the following letters best
represent the diverse opinions
students expressed.
the end of a gun
Cullen D. Ferguson
Staff Columnist
It's a good thing.
I may be 6 feet 6 inches tall, but anyone who
knows me realizes that I'm just an overgrown
teddy bear. I'm not a fighter, and I never have
been. I got a job at The Club because I love to
meet people from all walks of life. And until
Friday, I was really beginning to like being
where the action was. I was beginning to feel
good about people in Chapel Hill.
Now, I'm scared.
The man who was a heartbeat away from
ending my life didn't look sinister. I think he'd
been up to The Club once or twice before, and
he'd never caused any problems. Hecould have
been my neighbor or my friend. Nothing about
him screamed, "Beware of evil gunman!" But
I knew he was dangerous. Before I ever saw the
gun, the man punched one of my fellow em
ployees in the nose because he didn't want to
pay a lousy $3 cover charge.
Anyone who bashes in someone's face over
a $3 cover charge is dangerous in my book.
That's why we called the police. That's why
this overgrown teddy bear decided to chase the
man down Franklin Street. I felt rather heroic as
my oversized shoes flew off my feet. I felt as if
nothing could stop me. My bare feet slapped the
sidewalkas Idodged surprised and angry people.
I wasn't expecting a loaded gun to fall out of
the man's pocket and onto the street. I wasn't
expecting him to pick it up and point it at my
make that dream come true. I hope
you won't either.
MATTHEW J. CER VI
Economics
Senior
Education faculty noble
for adding to workload
To the editor
I would like to applaud the deci
sion of the faculty in the education
department to teach more classes
rather than suffer cuts in the num
ber of classes offered. Since the
cutbacks have begun, everyone has
been asked to cut back and do more
for less everyone that is, except
the professors. The students have
had to make do with fewer classes.
The administration and staff have
had to do with the same work with
fewer personnel, and the teaching
assistants have in some cases lost
funding for their studies entirely.
The faculty has continued to
teach the same paltry number of
classes without regard for anyone's
welfare but their own. Their re
ported concern for the reputation
of this university has not mani
fested itself in their willingness to
take on even a minimal amount of
extra work. I think it is high time
for everyone, including the profes
sors, to contribute to the allevia
tion of this budget crunch.
JENNY HILL
Class of 1991
Raleigh
Acting student body
treasurer resigns
To the editor:
In light of the current Student
Supreme Court case pending on
the office of Student Body Trea
surer, it has been quite evident that
members of Student Congress
deem it necessary to continue to
plague student government with a
host of barriers impeding vital ser
vices that we provide for the stu
dent body populous.
At the end of the 1990-91 school
year, my understanding of the po
sition of assistant to the student
body treasurer (Josh Siegel) was to
administer the Treasury Laws in
accordance with the Student Gov
in Chapel Hill
surprised face. I wasn't expecting him to very
calmly pull the hammer back.
But he did.
If I had any brains, I wouldn 't have followed
the man after he put the gun in his pocket and
ran away. But I did. He ran into the Hardback
Cafe. Pulling a surprised foot patrol officer
behind me, I followed him. Being the stupid
fool that I am, I failed to tell the officer that the
man had a gun.
Luckily, she was quicker than I. When the
man pulled the gun on her, she simply snatched
it out of his hand. I stared dumbly as she cuffed
him, and several police officers hustled in to
take the gunman away.
What I've learned from my near-death expe
rience is that to some people, a person's life
isn't even worth $3. To some people right
here in Chapel Hill it's OK to carry loaded
guns on a busy downtown street.
And we don't know who they are, what they
look like or whether they'll get annoyed just
enough to use their guns.
It almost happened early Saturday morning
to me. It did happen in front of Cat's Cradle a,
few weeks ago when several shotgun blasts
were fired from a moving car. Will it happeryo
you the next time you go out to have a good time
in Chapel Hill?
Think about it. And the next time you think
you're safe in Chapel Hill, think again.
Cullen D. Ferguson, a bouncer at The Club,
is a junior journalism major from Charlotte. To
top off his Saturday morning adventure, Cullen
searched the Franklin Street sidewalk and found
that his shoes had been stolen.
ernment Code and to help Josh
with administrative work while he
is in New York this summer. I am
also holding a full-time job in Ra
leigh this summer but agreed to
assume this added responsibility
because of my continued commit
ment to student government and
UNC. Further, my knowledge of
the treasury laws, the Student Ac
tivities Fund Office (SAFO), ac
counts receivable and payable, and
the budgetary process in allocat
ing summer school funds to stu
dent organizations was invaluable
in administering this position. In
so deciding to work with the ex
ecutive branch, I resigned from
my current position as Student
Congress representative effective
May 15.
However, it appears from Daily
Tar Heel articles that congress is
determined to create senseless ob
stacles and further encumbrances,
thus restraining others from per
forming their jobs effectively.
Therefore, pursuant to a tele
phone conversation with Student
Body Treasurer Josh S iegel, and in
the best interest of UNC's student
body, I have chosen to resign as
assistant to the student body trea-;
surer in an attempt to prevent fur
ther inconveniences to student or
ganizations and the SAFO office.
I have enjoyed serving in this
capacity and trust that you and
Josh can fully appreciate the na
ture of this resignation and will
move forward in an appropriate
manner.
KRISTINA SUNG
Senior
Raleigh
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