Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 5, 1991, edition 1 / Page 8
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8The Daily Tar HeelThursday, September 5, 1 991 98th year of editorial freedom Jennifer Stephanie Johnston, University Editor CuiXEN FERGUSON, Editorial Page Editor Mark Anderson, Sports Editor CHRISTINA NlFONG, Features Editor Alex De Grand, Cartoon Editor MlTCH KoKAI, Copy Desk Editor GRANT HaLVERSON, Photography Editor MATTHEW ElSLEY, Special Assignments Editor WlNG, Editor Steve Politi, University Editor Peter Waixsten, City Editor Wendy Bounds, State and National Editor MONDY LAMB, Omnibus Editor Jennifer Dickens, Layout Editor Amy SEELEY, Copy Desk Editor KATHY MlCHEL, Photography Editor JoANN RODAK, Managing Editor Vote with your heart Student Congress Speaker Tim Moore has suggested that the student body be allowed to voice its opinion by referendum on whether to allocate student fees for the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association. Well, why not vote? It is students' money at issue, and students should have a say in who gets it. Of course, that's what Student Congress is for, but Moore must feel that on such a sensitive issue, a more grass roots approach is needed. So if there is a referendum, make sure to vote, but as with all things think first. The campus majority will be allowed to have a say in how a minority group will exist and get its message across. A danger ous precedent could be in the making. The underlying purpose of going to col lege is to get an education. Nowhere is it written that all of that education must come from a classroom. One of the most impor tant lessons is that people have different iews and values and that they are not Automatically wrong because their views clash with yours. ; The CGLA, Black Student Movement, Carolina Indian Circle and the still young Carolina Hispanic Association have incom mon the purpose of educating others about their cultures, lifestyles and beliefs and to Eradicate the misconceptions others have. The CGLA does not exist to promote ille gal sexual practices. The BSM does not e;xist to promote rap music. The Carolina Indian Circle is not there to teach the fine art of scalping. These organizations do exist to break down the ridiculous stereotypes others hold. They are there to teach. And because of their educational purpose, it would not be accurate to label these organizations spe cial interest groups. They are there for the good of the entire student body. While some people may not like it or want to believe it, a significant number of homosexuals live and study on this cam pus. And guess what, people, they're not just isolated to Chapel Hill. In your life time, you will encounter lesbians and gays in all walks of life at work, parties, your children's school, sports teams and civic clubs. Everywhere. And take note, many major companies such as IBM have poli cies that protect homosexuals from dis crimination. Depending on where you work, you may have no choice but to work next to a homosexual or lesbian. The CGLA is trying to tell us this. Listen up. The organization is small, and striving against prejudice is a monumental task. With the stigma attached to homosexuality in our society, raising funds on their own would be very difficult for CGLA mem bers. The results of this potential referendum, no matter what the outcome, should be taken with a grain of salt. Students have a strong record of weak turnout for any kind of vote. This referendum is non-binding. The students themselves do not really de cide anything. As a student body that is striving to understand, tolerate and appreciate indi vidual differences, it is our responsibility to endorse funding the CGLA. We must continue the American tradition of major ity rule with minority rights. Otherwise, your neck may be on the chopping block next. Students foul out i The inevitable has happened. Carolina students no longer find men's varsity bas ketball an enthralling, spiritual experience. Seriously the proof verifies it. According to figures from the athletic department, students last year picked up all of their allotted tickets for only two home games. Even the eagerly anticipated Duke and N.C. State games failed to draw the maximum number of students. Obviously, basketball is becoming passe at this campus. And quite honestly, stu dents seem pretty darn selfish for not snatch ing up their tickets. Sounds pretty absurd, doesn't it? Caro lina basketball will never die and students know that. But the alumni and general public don't know that. When faced with statistics such as 1,776 unclaimed tickets for the Maryland game and a shocking 54 1 for the Duke game, it certainly appears that students simply don't care anymore about our men in blue and white. The alumni and general public consider just being in the Dean Dome an honor. When they hear students complain about lousy upper level seats, these folks see this as selfish. They fail to understand that students camp in cold and often rainy weather just to get a stab at lower level seats. They don't see how boring it is to sit in the stratosphere, where it's sometimes impossible to identify the players on the court and to determine who fouls whom. But these gripes have been around since the grand opening of the Student Activity Center, and the situation still has not changed. That leaves students with two options if they want any decent chance at getting seats in the Dean Dome. Students could make an effort to receive more lower level seats; they could protest, write letters to alumni, boycott a game. If these low pickup rates continue, the Dean Dome may decrease the number of student tickets. Why shouldn't alumni and mem bers of the public get a larger share if students don't want the tickets anyhow? On the other hand, students could try to pick up all the available tickets allotted to them. After graduation, getting tickets to basketball games will be costly and much more difficult, so maybe students should appreciate what they have now. Many students believe that after the first day of student ticket distribution, it's use less to try to get tickets. But in fact, the leftover student tickets remain available for three days, so students unable to camp out can at least get something. Perhaps if the athletic department or the Carolina Athletic Association publicized this fact, more students would pick up tickets. Getting the tickets is a chore, the seats are lousy and, in general, it can be a pain in the butt. Students evidently feel this way based on the dismal pickup statistics. Sit ting in a bar with a wide-screen television and beer to boot sounds infinitely more attractive than the dead, upper-level Dean Dome seats. But if present trends continue, students could be fouled out of the Dome. Business and advertising: Kevin Schwartz, director; Bob Bates, advertising director; Leslie Humphrey, classified 3d manager; Allison Asnwonn, oustness manager. Business slall.'MichelleGray.assisranfmdnaoerGinaBerardino.and Laurie Davis, office assistsntsXbrissy Davis, promotions manager. Classilied advertising: Becky Marauette. Jennifer Terry and Laura Richards. representativesChiS Camobell. production assistant. Display advertising: Ashleigh Heath, advertisingmanager;Chad Boswell, Carrie Grady, Cathy Osmers.MarcieBai ley, AngelaGray, Robert larson. uavio Honmann, ttrooks apraonng, Miiion Anis, inarione weaver, uraa onagers ana I nsn parrott, account representatives; Heather BannistercreaftVe director; Maribeth Layton, sales assistant. Advertising production: Bill Leslie, managersystem administrator; Anita Bentley and Lorrie Pate, assistants. Assistant editors: Andre Hauser, editorial paoe.Ginger Meek, feaftres; Kelly Thompson, layout; Vicki Hyman and Mike Long, Omnibus; Jim Holm, photo.HH Amato, Stewart Chisam and Warren Hynes, sports, Dacia Toll, slate and national; Ashley Fogle and Bonnie Rochman, university. Newsclerkt: Kevin Brennan and Amy Dew. Editorial writers: Doug Hatch and Jen Pilla. University: Birch DeVault, Soyia Ellison, Amy Eslinger, Adam Ford, Deborah Ann Greenwood, Heather Harreld, Beverly Kinlaw, Jerry Mclnnis, Matthew Mielke, Marty Minchin, Jennifer Mueller. Gillian Murphy, Cathy Oberle, Shea Riggsbee, Bonnie Rochman, Karen Schwartz. Jennifer Talhalm, Howard Thompson, Jon Whisenant.Tina Wiegerink, Dawn Wilson and Michael Workman. City: Chris Goodson, Cheryl A. Herndon, Amber Nimocks and Nicole Perez. State and National: Lauren Chesnut, Steve Doyle, Brandy Fischer, Anna Griffin, Vicki Hyman, West Lockhart and Eric Lusk. Arts: Layton Croft, Charles Marshall and Ian Williams. Features: Beth Tatum, senior writer. Josh Boyer, Yi-Hsin Chang, Stephanie Claytor, Priti Chitnis, Tiffany Cook, Brian Coulthard. Melanie Gettys, Matthew Hoyt, Thomas King, Mara Lee, Robin Lowe, Mary Moore Parham, Kimberly Perry, Winifred Sease, Tonia Trest, Radha Valsal and J.J. Warlick. Sports: Scott Gold and Jamie Rosenberg, senior miter, Jason Bates, A.J. Brown, Eric David, Jennifer Dunlap, Jay Exum, Christina Frohock, Stuart Gordan.Dave Heiser, Doug Hoogervorst, Matt Johnson, David J. Kupstas, John C. Manuel, Amy McCaffrey, Bobby McCroskey, David Monroe, Kelly Noyes and Bryan Strickland. Photography: Kevin Chignell, Steve Exum, Garth Fort, Brian Jones, Sarah King. Keith Nelson, Debbie Stengel and Susan Tebbens. Copy Editors: Lisa Lindsay, senior copy editor; Jim Eanes, Hardy Floyd, Tera Hensley, Aimee Hobbs, Noah Hoffman, Jennifer Kurfees, Mara Lee, Amy McCarter, Susan Pearsall, Rick Twomey, Kenyatta Upchurch, Emilie Van Poucke, Nancy West and Mike Workman. Layout: Shawn Fuller Graphics: Chip Sudderth. Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager; Lisa Relchle, assistant. Distribution: RDS Carriers. Printing: Village Printing. The Daily Tar Heel is published by the DTH Pubhshina Com., a non-Drofit North Carolina corooration. Monday-Friday, accordina to the University calendar. Callers with questions about billino or disolavadvertisino should dial 962-1 163 between8:30a.m.and5 Declassified adscan be reached at 962-0252. Editorial questions should be directed to 962-02450246. Office: Suit 104 Carolina Union Campus mall address: CBI 5210 toi 49, Carolina Union U.S. Mall address: P.O. Boi 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 2751S-3257 c Studying is not the road to employment To the editor: As a 1991 UNC graduate, I would like to give a heartfelt word of advice to the current' student body, especially the new freshmen: Don't study. I busted my hump for four years, convinced that good grades meant a good future. I marched across Kenan Stadium last May, bran dishing a 3.5 as my blood -drenched medal. And guess what? Nobody cares. This summer I have been re jected for everything from high profile professional work toa minimum-wage job at a record store. Whatever "background" or "cre dentials" it is that employers' "present needs can effectively uti lize," good grades at UNC ain't it. Of course the recession has made job searches impossible right now, but that alone doesn't account for the market's indifference toward good grades. If you want proof, apply for a staff position at UNC, as I did the application asks nothing about college performance or GPA. Even the University itself doesn't care how well I did, now that I'd like a job with it. And my application didn't warrant so much as a form letter. If you need to maintain a mini mum GPA for a scholarship or admission to business or graduate school, then by all means, study hard. Or do it if you're really here for the sake of learning, as I pro fessed to be, at the time. But if I had it all to do over again, I think I'd blow off my classes and slide by with Cs. In stead, I'd concentrate on getting work experience, collecting resume ornaments, "networking" for fu ture job connections and all that stuff I ignored so I could study. I wouldn't be a Phi Beta Kappa to day, but I might not be unemployed, either. DONALD C. TRULL B.A., English Class of 199 1 Majority of students didn't vote on CGLA To the editor: With regard to the article that you ran in The Daily Tar Heel ("Students may have voice in CGLA future," Aug. 30), you close the article with the statement, "Stu dents voted on the same issue in 1988, and the majority of students voted against CGLA funding." As I recall, only about 5,000 students voted in that election. Of those that voted, a majority voted against CGLA funding. That is NOT the same thing as the majority of students on campus. Please keep your figures cor rect. If there are some 22,000 stu dents on campus, the vote against CGLA funding in 1988 represents approximately 10 percent or 2,500. Thank you. MARIO GAGNON Graduate Musicology Editorials frivolous, lacking substance To the. editor: Does the editorial staff at The Daily Tar Heel have nothing more important to do than criticize the generosity of one man? Really, we know that the DTH is desperate for a controversial topic, but maybe it should stick to such problems as the all-important UNC ONE CARD, or the life-threatening loss of the milkshake machine in Lenoir. The DTH is just reaching too far, and it's just too obvious. For example, in "Donating Money to Nephrowhat?" (Sept. 3), if the doctorpatient relationship between BIythe and Spangler is "completely speculative and un important," then why bother men tioning it? Bringing up such a point in an argument shows the immatu rity and inexperience of the edito rial staff. It's no big secret that there are budget problems at this school; the DTH did a fine job of making that clear to freshmen this July in a special edition, but its relevance to Spangler's donation is inconse quential. Donating the money to such a "narrow segment" of UNC gives the gift a real chance of making a real impact. We understand that the editorial staff has daily dead lines to meet, but try to be some what more thoughtful about what to write. And students at UNC rejoice in the fact that Spangler was prudent enough not to donate his money to UNC's own Daily Tar Heel. EDWARD MARSHALL Freshman Industrial Relations and Italian Let town council know feelings on helmet law To the editor: BICYCLISTS ! ! The town coun cil of Chapel Hill is proposing an ordinance that would mandate that all bicyclists wear helmets. AH council members are for this ordi nance, which proposes a $15 fine and ticket for violation. If you are opposed to this ordi nance, you may let the council know. They have put a public hear ing on this subject on the agenda for the Sept. 10 meeting that starts at 7:30 p.m. at the town hall on Col urn bia Street and Airport Road. This ordinance will most likely pass unless there is voiced opposi tion. JIM BOYLE Graduate Biomedical Engineering Ordinance would save lives, prevent injuries To the editor: I am writing in regard to the proposed bike helmet ordinance that will be heard by the Chapel Hill Town Council in a public hear ing next week and District Attor ney (Carl) Fox's pledge to ignore it if it should become law. I think it is ridiculous for a so-called law enforcement agent to flatly refuse to enforce any law that does not strike him as particularly pressing, especially one designed with the safety of Chapel Hill residents in mind. Equally appalling is the view of The Daily Tar Heel'seditorial staff that the town council shouldn't "waste it's time passing the ordi nance" so that police officers, also onbikesthesedaysandrequiredto wear helmets, won't "waste their time chasing down helmetless bik ers." Your editorial ("OutFoxing town council," Sept. 4) states with some illusory authority that cy clists cannot travel at high enough speeds to "seriously injure anyone other than the rider." Where have you been? Cyclists can not only reach speeds equivalent to what an automobile is legally allowed in Chapel Hill, but can stop with enough force to propel the rider through the windshield of a car! Also many cyclists find that wear ing a helmet increases their aware ness of the caution necessary to safely navigate a bike through crowded and oft dangerous traffic And pedestrians are another issue entirely! Weaving to and fro amongst them can, and quite regu larly does, lead to altercations with the pavement. Helmets protect thecyclist from serious head injuries caused some times by even minor collisions. They are a necessary addition to every cyclist's wardrobe,, and if the ordinance is passed, I hope DA Fox will come to his senses and enforce it as it was intended; as a safety regulation, not a criminal act. No one wants the police having to write myriad tickets and put out APBs, as stated in your editorial. It would be much like this state's mandatory seatbelt law, according to which officers of the highway patrol are not hunting for drivers without seatbelts. When a driver is stopped for another moving viola tion, the of fleer may write a seatbelt ticket only as a secondary offense. The helmet law would be enforced in that manner, with any cyclist who is endangering pedestrians, motorists or other cyclists being written up for violation of the hel met code. I hope to have clarified for some of you daredevils out there (and in the editorial staff room) that hel mets for cyclists are a benefit, not a detriment, and that DA FOX is being ridiculous if he thinks the police would be taking away from other investigations to write hel met citations for every nondescript cycle on the road. STEVEN LUXENBERG Freshman Philosophy DTH doing good job covering minorities To the editor Mr. Teel, if you ever find that dictionary, look up the word "ig norance" ("DTH stories, letters harp on racial issues," Sept. 4). Perhaps it is your lack of years, but don't you know that what is printed in the Readers' Forum are contri butions from the readers? State ments made in letters to the editor come from the pens of readers. Therefore, if someone writes a let ter, and Ms. Wing prints it, she is doing her job. She is allowing the reader to express himself without distorting his words. And if the description of someone as being black appears in The Daily Tar Heel, and Mr. Teel is offended by it, he'll have to deal with it. After all, I am black and damn proud of it. Mr. Teel, there are probably many things you don't know. For instance, this is the first time in five years that so much coverage has been given to minority issues. There have been times when newswor thy minority issues went ignored by the DTH. This year some things have changed. I am sure some people, like yourself, are unsettled by the amount of coverage given minority issues this year. Some would say enough already, leave it alone, ignore it, you folks are cre ating more tension by addressing these issues right, Mr. Charles Murphy ? ("UNC black leaders pro mote separation," Aug. 30). That idea is bullshit. If you are going to stick your head in the sand and hope these problems (racial insensiti vity, big otry) will go away, then I recom mend you avoid the real world. The way to deal with a problem is to confront it, learn what must be done to solve it, and put these solu tions into practice. Could this be done with a media blackout (sorry Xan, there's that word again)? I think not. To the DTH and Ms. Wing, you folks are making a strong effort to cover a variety of issues. Keep up the good work. STERLING R. THOMAS Senior AFAMEnglish School of Medicine also suffers from budget cuts To the editor This letter responds to Scott Romine's letter "Money from do nations should be redirected" (Aug. 30). Scott has not only called upon the misappropriation of the chancellor's donation to the Uni versity system, but he himself misappropriately claimed that the "Medical School" is the "only part of the University that has not been severely hurt" by the budget cuts. As a member of the staff and student body, I am aware of the problems that have resulted from the budget cuts. In response to his question, "where do I apply to med school?" Where is easy, you go to room 130 MacNider. Once there you are told the steps you must take to apply. But, first, you usu ally ask for information about the school, and you are told we cannot give you information because we have been unable to reprint bro chures since November. But I can add your name and address to the several hundred other requests that we have received in case, by some miracle, we can reproduce these brochures in some timely fashion to be of any use to the students. Secondly, you have to find out about the MCAT, AMCAS and various other items that are needed to "apply to med school." So you contact the office and request ad ditional time that is taken away from our other requirements. If you are familiar with the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Office, you know we have two staff people doing the job of five. We must: a) cipher through ap proximately 2,300 applicants for interviews; b) set up interview times and invite about 500 of these applicants for interviews; c) put their applications together, while checking for letters of recommen dation and transcripts (all of which must be acknowledged); d) coor dinate committee members to re view the applications, then meet as a group to discuss each application in detail; e) etc. ... We must also respond to ques tions such as: "have my letters come in?", "when will they review my application?" and "why haven't I received a supplemental applica tion yet?" Applications must be pulled out of the stack to answer these questions. It takes that much more time to get applications back to where they were. Plus, it takes time from otherapplications, since we must abandon the stack of ap plications on which we are cur rently working, and it takes more time to get back to where we were. This makes the admissions pro cess take longer and office proce dures pile up. I invite all of you to come by the office to see just how piled up work can become. Is Scott so narrow-sighted that he can only see problems that di rectly effect him? I am not endors ing the appropriation of the chancellor's donation, and I am aware that the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Office is not the only area to be effected by this budget. For example, I personally called the Graduate School to ask for a copy of the GRE application packet and was told that since I am in this area, and they have them in their office, they would not take the time to send me one, not even through campus mail which is free. I feel that Scott should investigate better who he is attacking when he is moved to write a letter to the editor. The UNC School of Medi cine Admissions Office did not receive the funds, we indeed are separate from the Center for Ex cellence in Nephrology. What makes Scott think he is better apt than the rest of us to designate who should receive funds? Scott, are you aware that no positions on this campus received their cost of living raise this year? This happened as we sat by and watched the cost of living actually increase in our sales tax, rent, child care, etc. One word of advice, think before you speak (or write). DEBRA ROHEN Secretary Committee on Admissions
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 5, 1991, edition 1
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