Letters for 30 Oct

Sorry this is late in the day, but here they are (don’t know what’s wrong with the fonts):

TO THE EDITOR:

Please join me on Tuesday, November 6th and vote for Sharon Cook for election to the Carrboro Board of Alderman.   Sharon has been an active member of this community for over a decade.  She’s served as a volunteer in our schools, churches, and social service agencies.As your alderman, Sharon will continue to work to increase our commercial tax base to relieve Carrboro residents from the burden of paying the highest municipal taxes in the state.   Sharon serves on the town Planning Board and is an advocate for assuring that new developments do not negatively impact our existing neighborhoods.

Deanna Ravenscraft

TO THE EDITOR:

Leadership, vision, experience-these qualities define Mayor Foy, Councilpersons Strom, Ward, Greene, and Hill. Their accomplishments testify to their ability to focus on shared visions rather than individual proclamations.

In them, our environment has ardent champions and our neighborhoods are protected. This Mayor and Council are always open to input from the people that matter most-the citizens of Chapel Hill.

There are many important issues on the horizon. Carolina North is closer to becoming a reality, and we can benefit only by having knowledgeable and experienced negotiators.

Let’s vote for Chapel Hill by reelecting Kevin Foy, Bill Strom, Jim Ward, Sally Greene, and Cam Hill.

Del Snow

TO THE EDITOR:

Gary Wallach will make an outstanding advocate for all of our children.

Some of his advocacy efforts have found their way into the news and onto the web, including his defense against teacher assistant and gifted specialist cuts in 2005 and his challenge of the fairness of the latest redistricting plan. And of course, his service on the Frank Porter Graham School Governance Committee benefited a diverse constituency. His skill and wherewithal in the championing of accountability, openness, and transparency is a tremendous asset.

Any complex institution such as the CHCCS or the Exceptional Children’s Department (Special Needs) encounters breakdowns. Over the past two years, I have accompanied Gary to a half-dozen meetings he initiated with Superintendent Neil Pederson. Following the spotlight Gary directed to issues of concern, steps toward improvement emerged, in the form of solutions that are applicable elsewhere:

• How do we acknowledge breakdowns when it is not in the administrator’s interest?
• How can parents, who possess a unique and early view of problems, have an unfiltered advisory voice in these issues?
• How can we reduce the adversarial culture that too often rears its ugly head?

Concrete outcomes from those meetings included the formation of the Special Needs Advisory Council, an autism focus group attended by over 40 parents, and the hiring of an autism expert/consultant to review the program and recommend improvements.

As always, the long term outcome is only as good as the follow up, whether for the special needs community, or for the general population. In the four years I have worked with him, I have observed in Gary a rare level of persistence and determination to pursue the right thing for our children.

On November 6, please vote for Gary so he can apply that determination on behalf of your child.

John Huff

Chapel Hill

 

TO THE EDITOR:

Letter to the Editor,

As a founder of the Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, I pay close attention to elected officials’ support for civil liberties and civil rights for all persons. Particularly in this time when the federal government is chipping away at our rights, we need local leaders who are sensitive to safeguarding the rights of all in the community.

Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman is such a leader, one who can be counted on to advocate for and act to protect our rights and liberties. Please join me in voting for Alderman Dan Coleman on November 6.

Margaret Misch

 

 TO THE EDITOR:

Coleman supports community-initiated projects
Please consider voting for Dan Coleman for Carrboro Alderman. I support Dan primarily because of his respect and support for community-initiated projects such as the Carrboro Community Garden, Carrboro Greenspace, the ReCyclery, and the Really Really Free Market. Dan makes a habit of actively engaging with people involved such projects.
I also support Dan because he grounds his commitment to building the local economy not only in locally-owned businesses, but in locally particular interests and needs. He has a strong interest in creative approaches to local economic planning, such as those articulated through the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and has the energy, focus, and responsiveness to move forward with such approaches.
Dan stands out as the most receptive, most responsive, and most thoughtful representative currently on the board. His concern for Carrboro’s future is evident in his remarkable attention to details in proposed developments, and in his commitment to hearing and understanding residents’ diverse perspectives. Please join me in supporting Alderman Dan Coleman for another term.
Vinci Daro
Carrboro

 

TO THE EDITOR:

I urge you to support Cam Hill for Chapel Hill town council. Development in Chapel Hill is accelerating and is making much of my home town indistinguishable from any other town. Finding the balance between inevitable growth and preserving the special character of our town is our biggest challenge. Over the last four years Cam has shown that he is a hardworking, well informed, and sensible leader. Please vote for Cam Hill.

Jim Vernon

 

 

Letters for October 29

TO THE EDITOR:

Our university is at a moment of tremendous change.  Not only is our state changing rapidly, but our University is as well.  We also face the selection of a new Chancellor which will lead UNC-Chapel Hill.  As students, the heart and focus of the university, we are the ones most affected by this selection and we must have a say in determining who our next leader will be.   

A committee of students has been formed to provide input to the formal search committee about what students want and need out of their next Chancellor.  We are working on an outline of characteristics we think should be found in the next Chancellor but we want and need your advice.  We want to know what makes UNC so special to you and how do you think it can stay that way.  We will be in the pit on Thursday and Monday.   Please go on our website (www.unc.edu/studgov) or stop by our table next to the pit to contribute.  We will be reviewing our proposal at a forum next Monday the 26^th, at 6PM in Manning 209.   Also, we encourage you to attend the open meeting of the formal search committee next Tuesday the 30^th, at 3PM in the Chancellor’s Ballroom of the Carolina Inn.

Help us guide the search for our next leader so that we may preserve all that is great about UNC.

Thanks.

Eve Carson

Student Body President

Matt Hendren

Student’s Search Advisory Committee

 

TO THE EDITOR:

 Just this evening (Oct. 24), two of my residents came to my door telling me that their suitemate had suffered an allergic reaction to a cookie she had eaten at Ram’s Head Dining Center.  I rushed to her room and found her sitting on the floor sipping water.  She had a slight fever and her face looked pale and my resident has a severe allergy to nuts, especially to peanuts.  She asked the baker if the cookie she was about to eat had nuts in it.  He responded with a simple, “I don’t know,” and went about his work.  Reluctantly, she ate the cookie and soon after vomited.  Her suitemate inspected the cookie and found bits of macadamia nuts inside.
Given the aforementioned situation, I would like to address Carolina Dining Services: Please know what you are feeding us!  I often times ask what something is, or what is in something and 95 percent of the time receive an “I don’t know” sort of answer as he/she continues with their work.  I am not allergic to any foods, nor am I a vegetarian, but plenty of people do fall under those categories.  Please be aware if you are feeding students an item that has some frequent allergen such as nuts, wheat, shellfish, soy, milk, meat products or egg so that those people are informed!  If the nuts in the cookie that my resident ate tonight were peanuts, this situation would be much more severe and become a legal one.

John Mundell
Resident Advisor
Spanish, Latin American Studies

 

TO THE EDITOR:

Could you please elaborate more on how the university investigates students who are suspected of illegal file sharing?  Just based on what I’ve read, it seems like unc is essentially spying on its own students at the behest of a third-party, non-governmental organization.  Would unc seek punishment against students that the NRA says have been thwarting the 2nd amendment (which of course is illegal) by downloading information about banning weapons via unc’s network?  Or perhaps more validly, would unc punish students who download information about something like sodomy, which is illegal in this state?

It seems to me that if the student is doing something illegal, then unc should only hand over information or seek punishment if the government is the party seeking that information, not some private entity that claims some civil damage to them.  If the organization truly has a claim to some damage, then they can get a court to request punishment or information about the students.

I just find it laughable that unc can say that illegal file sharing is an honor code violation while they simultaneously spy on their own students’ activities at the request of an organization that has absolutely no legal authority.  I guess that unc itself can’t violate its’ own honor code?

Thanks,

Trent McCotter

 

TO THE EDITOR:

Radical Islam Awareness Week, sponsored by the College Republicans and UNC Students for Academic Freedom, is in poor taste and counterproductive to the issues which it aims to address. No one would argue against the sentiment that terrorism is a real threat to our nation and one that we must take steps to combat and prevent. However, it is irresponsible to encourage Americans to view terrorism in the Middle East solely as a function of religious factors rather than social, political and economic causes. The vast majority of UNC students and Americans in general know little about the Muslim faith;  students should take a conscious effort to educate themselves about the religion, rather than blame it for  the politically motivated actions of a dangerous minority. This “Radical Islam Awareness” event will only serve to deepen the current rift that may make Muslims feel alienated in the first place and worsen the current state of affairs.

Anneliese Arno
Ben Buck
Service & Activism Committee of the Young Democrats

Reacting to Diversions and Lil’ Miss Burn Victim

Yesterday’s diversions section certainty caused quite an uproar.

Six phone calls were fielded at the DTH office yesterday morning with reactions to the cover story and the portrayal of “Lil’ Miss Burn Victim.” According to DTH Managing Editor Allie Nichols, this is the strongest response any news item has created all year. All six callers were upset and disturbed by the section, particularly paring the headline, “Create your own monster,” with the image of a simulated burn victim. The implication here was that burn survivors are, or at least look like, monsters.

Diversions is a weekly arts and entertainment section running on the inside of the paper each Thursday. For Halloween they wanted to do something different, fun and edgy. So using simple makeup they created, and instructed their readers how to recreate, a simulated burn. It would be an understatement to say this was a bad idea.

Burn survivors are a group in society that we don’t think about as being profiled or discriminated against, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t face these difficulties due to circumstances beyond their control. In his letter to the editor running today, Dr. Cairns raised a great point.

If the dive article had instructed readers on how to dress up like a minority, a homosexual or a quadriplegic the reaction would have been much broader and stronger because we all know not to discriminate or mock someone because of race, sexual orientation, religion, physical and mental handicaps or many other characteristics. We are always aware of potential discrimination in these areas, so of course Dive wouldn’t have done that.

This respect should have been extended to burn survivors as well.

It was inappropriate to make those that have survived a horrific burn the subject of a Halloween costume. Dive could have titled the same piece “Bloody Mary” or something else much more generic and this wouldn’t have been as big of an issue; nothing was gained by calling it “Lil’ Miss Burn Victim.”

Making matters a little worse was the timing. This weekend is a burn survivors reunion, an annual event hosted by UNC Hospitals. Dive editors didn’t know this at the time of publication.

I’ve talked to all three editors involved in overseeing the production of Diversions: Diversions Editor Bryan Reed, Assistant Diversions Editor Jamie Williams and Deputy Managing Editor Rachel Ullrich. To varying degrees all of them are apologetic. Both Bryan and Jamie are very sorry to have offended their readers, as well as burn survivors and their families. Bryan even posted a open apology on the Dive blog. Rachel, who had the least involvement with the piece but was the member of management to oversee its production, said she regretted using the word ‘monster’ but that she didn’t have problems with the burn aspect or the phrasing “Lil’ Miss Burn Victim” – sometimes you need to admit you were wrong.

More still needs to be done to correct the situation though. Thousands of copies of the paper have been printed and distributed; that is done and can’t be changed. But the article remains unchanged online. In the past the DTH has corrected mistakes it’s made online. This is usually done to remedy factual errors or to clarify something, but here removing the instructions for how to create “Lil’ Miss Burn Victim” and the visual that accompanies it would make sense and be respectful to those that have been hurt and offended.

There isn’t an anti-burn-survivor sentiment floating amongst Diversions’ writers and editors, and I don’t think that anyone is suggesting that there is. In this one situation, bad judgment was used when the decision to run “Lil’ Miss Burn Victim” was made. The Dive editors are seriously contrite and understand why this was a mistake. In their defense, this was run as a Halloween idea and not, say in the middle of March.

The broader lesson here is that all members of the DTH staff need to be more careful when writing about potentially sensitive subjects. Sometimes offending certain groups is even worn as a badge of honor. In many situations this is fine, especially when it is the opinion page upsetting people who disagree with their arguments. Other times, you just need to be smarter about what you print.

Letters for October 26

TO THE EDITOR:

This Saturday the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center will host the 16^th Annual Adult Burn Survivor Reunion at Friday Center. This event celebrates the lives and accomplishments of countless numbers of burn survivors across the state. While this event acknowledges the challenges and successes of those who have survived burn injuries, the “Lil Miss Burn Victim” in today’s (10/25) Diversions section of the Daily Tar Heel serves only to perpetuate hurtful stereotypes of burn survivors. While Halloween is a wonderful time to dress up and have a good time, there are appropriate limits to what is acceptable in society. Imagine the uproar if students were instructed on how to convey a certain ethnicity, religion, or orientation rather than a burn survivor. Imagine a small child in the burn center with a serious burn injury who happens to see in the paper “how to make your own monster” and seeing themselves in the images portrayed. The North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center is one of the largest and busiest burn centers in the United States. Our mission includes is to provide care, support research, prevention and education in all aspects of burn injury. With this in mind, please do not condone harmful stereotypes of burn survivors and remember that October is fire prevention month.

 

Bruce A. Cairns, MD

Associate Professor

Director North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, UNC Health Care

 

Shirley M. Massey, Chaplain

Director of Aftercare Programs for Adult Burn Survivors

TO THE EDITOR:

We’ve just past the six-month anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy where 32 were shot and killed.  After the Virginia Tech shootings, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, the NICS Improvement Act, to make it harder for criminals and other dangerous individuals from buying guns by improving the Brady background check system.  This measure is now stalled in the U.S. Senate.

To protest this indifference, to remember the 32 killed at Virginia Tech, and to recognize the 32 gun homicides in the U.S. each day, members of the UNC community and local citizens will come together at noon, Monday, 10/29 on Polk Place near Wilson Library.

Join us.

Connie Padgett
Class of 1975

Staff, Carolina Population Center

Letters for 25 Oct

TO THE EDITOR:

To the editor:

I was disappointed to read James Edward Dillard’s column discouraging students from voting in local elections. Chapel Hill takes pride in good town-gown relations, but Dillard is attempting to draw a line between students and residents. Believe it or not, some of us venture farther off UNC’s campus than the bars on Franklin Street. Many of the issues which Town Council candidates will be facing, such as water conservation and pedestrian or bicyclist safety, affect us all. Dillard seems to believe that because we have elected Eve Carson as SBP, we can simply sit back and let her represent us. While we’re at it, why don’t we adopt the same mindset for national politics? We elected Bush, now we can relax and let him make our decisions! Yes, most of us will only be in Chapel Hill for four years. That’s still four years too many of political apathy. I hope that students will take the time to read up on local candidates, get involved with town events, and head to the polls as informed residents of Chapel Hill.

10/23/07
Fern Braun
Junior
Economics

TO THE EDITOR:

The out-of-state tuition hikes are getting out of control. UNC could raise OOS tuition a million dollars and still tens of thousands of OOS applicants would still apply to come here. There is of no concern for the deep-pocketed OOS applicants, but I worry about the current OOS students that never fathomed the possibility of hikes over a thousand dollars each year. As an out-of-state student about to make my early escape, I would like to warn all the OOS underclassmen to play it smart. No matter how much you voice against it, your tuition is going to skyrocket each year, so start planning your exit strategy now. Attaining instate residency is virtually impossible, so don’t bother. Instead, apply for study abroad each semester; you may never actually take classes at UNC, but you’ll save a bundle and see the world. Also, plan to graduate early even it if means getting transfer approval to take classes at your home state each summer. Don’t let these hikes get you down. Remember that it’s a privilege to go broke at such a fine institution.

Liz Thomas

Senior

Journalism

TO THE EDITOR:

In lieu of the recent university restrictions on smoking and the reasons justifying those restrictions, I look forward to the ban of diesel engines on campus. I reckon UNC would then also back the removal of high-fat and other unhealthy foods from Lenoir and elsewhere, but, then, where would we eat?

Kris Walz

Music Cataloger

Davis Library

TO THE EDITOR:

To the Editor,

With all of the concern and repetitive mass mailings about our current drought situation, one solution has been ignored: bottled water. Since bottled water originates outside of our region (usually the Coke bottling plant in Atlanta), it can be a valuable asset in our water conservation battle. I urge all residents to meet all of their drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning, and watering needs with bottled water. Best of all, if you fill your toilet with Perrier, you not only steal French water, but you get an instant bidet in the process. How European.

Graham Culbertson
Graduate Student

English

TO THE EDITOR:

Nuclear power is NOT inherently dangerous

 

Last Wednesday, I was disappointed by the DTH’s use of such flagrant bias in their reporting on Shearon Harris nuclear plant. Is it not the DTH’s job to report the truth with accurate, factual information? This is not the editorial page. N.C. WARN and the other groups heavily quoted in this article have information based very little in fact. It’s been hard for me to understand why an interest group is being quoted about the procedures related to shutting down a nuclear reactor. For your information, plants have several backup procedures that backup the backups when it comes to shutting down the reactor and most of them are not manual. It is the policy of the NRC to immediately shutdown any plant that does not comply with their standards, even if the issue has nothing to do with the current operation of the plant. There is no way that a fire in the control room could cause a nuclear meltdown. I would appreciate it if the DTH would keep their yellow journalism to the editorial page. We are living in an energy crisis and the public should be accurately informed about the options available to supplement nonrenewable resources. Keep this in mind; there are 103 nuclear plants in this country that have been operating for over 30 years with only one accident. Please, use an educated argument against nuclear for a change.

Camille Archie

 

Sophomore

 

Economics and History

 

 

Letters for October 24

TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Sir,
I was previously unaware that the Chancellor had designs to extend the smoking ban throughout all outdoor spaces on the university campus until I received today’s mass email “FORMAL NOTICE: Message from the Chancellor-New Smoke Free Policy Takes effect January 1, 2008″

This is a cruel and stigmatizing control placed onto a easily bullied minority. I can understand smoking in buildings to be unpleasant and potentially health damaging, but this is a step too far. Most regular smokers have little control over their habit and to force them to leave campus, when they could not possibly do any real harm to non-smokers outside, is ridiculous.
I suggest that those people with overly sensitive lungs should learn how to hold their breath.

Yours Respectfully

Alex Lim ‘10
Sophomore

Economics

TO THE EDITOR:

Yesterday’s column asking students not to vote was one of the worst ideas I’ve ever read in this paper. Local governments have a huge effect on our lives and it’s critical that we’re well-represented in them.

 

Governments like Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County affect us in ways we don’t often think about. The bus system helps us get to class and around the area. Local police protection determines whether it’s safe to walk at night. Planning policies affect whether we can afford things from food to rent and determine where we live and shop.

 

With local government holding so much influence in our lives, it’s critical that we step up and ensure that we’re well-represented in it. If we don’t show up, the politicians think they don’t have to represent us. That’s why voting is so important.

 

This summer, the county almost moved the downtown voting site to a distant senior center, stopping only after a flood of student-led opposition. Had they followed through, most students would not be able to vote now. Governments make choices like that every day, and we need to make sure they make the right ones. Our needs as students and members of the community aren’t going to represent themselves.

 

What can you do? Attend the candidate forum tonight at 7 p.m. in Wilson Hall 107. And most importantly, VOTE EARLY at the Franklin St. Post Office between 9 am and 4:30 pm over the next two weeks.

 

-Jake Anderson
President, UNC Young Democrats
Geology/Math Major
Junior

TO THE EDITOR:

Registration day (October 12) has come and passed for the November 2007 elections, but this year all hope is not lost. North Carolina recently passed a new law dubbed “Same Day Registration” (SDR) that will now allow voters to both register and vote at the same time during the early voting period (19 to 3 days before Election Day). Now groups who previously had difficulties with registration like people who have recently moved, military personnel, and even young adults will have this new option to make it easier for them to give their voice in elections. Personally I believe young adults aged 18-25 may be the greatest beneficiaries of this new law. Many are confused about voter registration all together: the deadline, where to go, what to do. In North Carolina, of the one million adults who are not registered, nearly 400,000 fall into the young adult category. Other SDR adopted states have seen improvements in their young adult voter turnout, and with this new law, North Carolina will hopefully reap the same benefits. With SDR, North Carolina may finally be able to lift itself out of its ranking among the 15 worst states in voter participation. If you are interested in voting but haven’t yet registered, take advantage of this new Same Day Registration law and go to one of your county’s early voting sites, show a proper form of ID, then register and vote. It is that easy!

Sarah Whitley Chapel Hill, NC

Junior

Economics

TO THE EDITOR:

TO THE EDITOR:

Once verdant and overflowing, Bolin Creek has shriveled into a succession of stagnant pools. Like the streams meant to replenish Orange County’s water supply, this creek now creeps along, like an hourglass running out of time. Drought, which has stricken most of North Carolina, has forced local authorities like OWASA to set limits on water use until the rain comes again.

Although restrictions highlight the importance of conservation by setting caps on spray irrigation and home or dormitory use, the fact that restrictions are needed at all reveals a greater dilemma: indifference. Water is a precious commodity essential to life, yet few will realize this before Chapel Hill’s water supply, currently at a little over half of capacity, runs dry.

Why does Chapel Hill need regulation to get the general population to conserve water? Wasting water is pointless (now illegal) and has no benefits while saving it could reduce bills and ensure an ample future supply. Yet water is left in pools, on sidewalks (Stop watering the sidewalk 9/19/07 DTH), and in the sun even at a time like this. Water is quickly changing from a common good into a limited resource. If no precipitation falls from the sky, citizens will look back on the long showers and green lawns with regret while struggling to find drinking water.

Name: Benjamin C. Bogardus

Major: Environmental Science

Letters for October 23

TO THE EDITOR:

As a longtime Friend of the Carrboro Branch Library, I urge all Carrboro voters to support candidates who are working for the proposed free standing library facility for southwest Orange which will be based in Carrboro and which will replace the two branches(McDougle Schools and Cybrary)which now exhist.Joal Hall Broun and Dan Coleman have voiced their support for the concept of this proposed enlarged library facility.Re-electing these two candidates to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen will, hopefully, ensure that the proposal becomes a reality and that the tax payers of Carrboro and southwest Orange will get the Library they have been wanting for over twenty years— and truly deserve.

Sincerely,

Nerys Levy

TO THE EDITOR:

The current extreme drought is in all likelihood just a foretaste of the massive environmental challenge that Chapel Hill faces in this time of global warming. The question before voters is who will be up to the task.  Mayor Foy and Council members Bill Strom, Sally Green, Cam Hill, and Jim Ward, who are up for re-election November 6^th, have shown that they have the knowledge, the vision, and the courage to make Chapel Hill one of the most environmentally responsible municipalities in the Southeast.  They have insisted on tough energy efficiency standards for new buildings. They’ve committed the town to major carbon reduction and convinced the University to do the same. They’ve instituted free bus service.  And they’ve taken an active role in broader environmental issues including calling for Progress Energy to come into compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s fire safety regulations. These good folks “get it” and have shown they can get it done. They deserve our strong support on election day and with increased public involvement in environmental issues afterwards. The challenges we face will require the best from all of us.

 

Pete MacDowell

 

TO THE EDITOR:

As members of the business community and active participants in Chapel Hill
events, including the Annual Community Dinner, we know it is important to
have a Council member like Matt Czajkowski. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber
of Commerce writes that “if elected, [he] will bring a coherent and
pragmatic understanding of local issues to the Council.” Matt is further
described by the Chamber as the “strongest and most attractive candidate for
the Chapel Hill Town Council.”

We urge concerned voters to help elect Matt Czajkowski, a longtime Chapel
Hill resident, chief financial officer of a local bio-tech firm and a
proponent of building a vibrant downtown. He will bring to the Council
long-needed financial experience, and address such issues as improving
quality of life, increasing green space, and encouraging bicycling as well.

Victor and Carol Minton

TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Editor,
I had the opportunity to get to know Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman while working on the new community garden at MLK Jr Park.  The Carrboro Community Garden Coalition would not be where it is today without Dan’s leadership. I greatly appreciate how Dan reached out to engage with the garden’s organization as well as with his personable and thoughtful leadership style.
I urge Carrboro voters to return Dan Coleman to office on November 6.

Thank You,
Jay Hamm

TO THE EDITOR:
Dear Editor,
I am writing to support the re-election of Mike Kelley to the CHCCS board.  Mike has been an effective and tireless advocate for our schools and he thus deserves our vote.  I know Mike both personally and professionally.   He is smart, articulate, and responsive.  I urge us all to support him on election day.
Lawrence Marks

Letters for October 22

Finally doing my job. Here are today’s uncut letters. 

TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Students:
 
I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how much I appreciate
your support this football season.  In our first four home football games,
the student section has been loud, energetic and extremely appreciative of
our young team. 
 
Seeing the new Tar Pit section in the end zone filled well before kickoff is
an inspiration to this team and our coaching staff.  A great atmosphere,
which includes a loud and boisterous student section, can truly help our
team perform better and can be an intimidating presence for our opponents.
We¹ve also started to hear positive feedback from prospects visiting campus
and from those watching on TV on how impressive the student section has
been. 
 
We¹ve got two home games left so let¹s keep packing the Tar Pit and cheering
on the Tar Heels as we build a winning football program together.  I¹ll see
you again on Nov. 3 when we face Maryland on homecoming.
 
Sincerely,
 
Butch Davis 
Head Coach

TO THE EDITOR:

Our state is currently experiencing a draught of epic proportions. Governor Easley has called for cautious restraint in our daily use of water. City and county municipalities are within a month or so of exhausting their supply of water and will be shortly instituting mandatory restrictions. So can someone explain why when I look out my office window– industrial sized water sprinklers saturate the field hockey playing field for hours during midday? To make matters more frustrating the field is ARTIFICIAL! I have been informed that water helps create ideal playing conditions. Another theory is that water prevents the field from cracking under the heat.

Whatever the reasons may be – can this contemptuous action seriously be considered as cautious restraint? Perhaps the field hockey team and the athletics department can endure the same sacrifices Governor Easley has called upon the citizens of North Carolina and help manage this crisis.

 

Adam Ronan

UNC School of Law

 

TO THE EDITOR:

Once verdant and overflowing, Bolin Creek has shriveled into a succession of stagnant pools. Like the streams meant to replenish Orange County’s water supply, this creek now creeps along, like an hourglass running out of time. Drought, which has stricken most of North Carolina, has forced local authorities like OWASA to set limits on water use until the rain comes again.

 Although restrictions highlight the importance of conservation by setting caps on spray irrigation and home or dormitory use, the fact that restrictions are needed at all reveals a greater dilemma: indifference. Water is a precious commodity essential to life, yet few will realize this before Chapel Hill’s water supply, currently at a little over half of capacity, runs dry.

            Why does Chapel Hill need regulation to get the general population to conserve water? Wasting water is pointless (now illegal) and has no benefits while saving it could reduce bills and ensure an ample future supply. Yet water is left in pools, on sidewalks (Stop watering the sidewalk 9/19/07 DTH), and in the sun even at a time like this. Water is quickly changing from a common good into a limited resource. If no precipitation falls from the sky, citizens will look back on the long showers and green lawns with regret while struggling to find drinking water.

Name: Benjamin C. Bogardus

Major: Environmental Science

TO THE EDITOR:

VOX Sex Toy Party- Not Just About Choice

 

We find it interesting that the undersecretary of Carolina Students for Life failed to see the educational side of the VOX Sex Toy Party. As a college publication, the DTH has a job to provide stories that are objective but also interesting to the student population. The choice to cover a sex toy party was not tied with whether the event was pro-choice or pro-life, but rather with the fact that it was a topic that people may want to read about. The sex toy party took a very serious subject, sexual health, and put a fun spin on it.

The goal was to educate the students about STI awareness, current events, and abortion facts. Since many students come to Carolina with an abstinence only education, we find it very important to teach the campus about STIs; especially since according to the Guttmacher Institute, college-age students account for nearly half of all new STI cases each year. By throwing a party that advocates safer sex, we hope to increase condom use on campus, letting abortion be a last resort method, albeit a method a woman has access to.

With this being said, if Carolina Students for Life are so gung ho about not letting women have abortions, shouldn’t they be supportive of a sex toy party that advocates ways NOT to become pregnant in the first place?

 

Katelyn Bryant-Comstock & Laura Andrews

Co-Chairwomen for VOX- Voices for Planned Parenthood

 

Letters to the editor for the past two weeks

Sorry to those of you who have checked this blog recently for unedited versions of letters. I’ve been slacking off for a bit, but I promise to be better after Fall Break. So enjoy your break, and please read my column.

- Andrew

Elephants … That deserved a letter!?

I got slammed in the comments section on Wednesday’s letter about elephants and the N.C. Zoo.

Everyday – at least the Monday through Friday that the DTH prints – I get the amazing privilege of choosing which letters get published and which don’t. Sometimes this is really easy; when your inbox only has four letters, choosing which ones to print is a piece of cake. Other times decisions actually have to be made.

The elephant letter is a perfect example of this.

I probably had 10-15 letters to choose from yesterday, but they only covered 5-6 different issues. Ever since Chris Willet’s letter ran in response to this article on UNC religious groups and homosexuality, there has been a firestorm of responses, only one of which has been published. The rest of the letters in my inbox were in response to this issue.

Back to elephants…

So faced with many letters about religion and homosexuality I published a letter about elephants and PETA’s assertion that caging elephants (and likely any animal) is inhumane. Apparently many of you would have made different a different decision.

Furious had this to say:

THIS was printed instead of one of the undoubtedly MANY MORE letters on homosexuality and religion?
Nice job, DTH
Well done, really…

And Unbelievable agreed with Furious, but with a little twist:

I totally agree with Furious.

What a waste of paper space and readers’ time. Just an opinion, but I would think the readership of this publication have many more pertinent things to worry about than elephants.

That being said, I’m sick of reading the BS about homosexuality and religion. Can the DTH come up with nothing more than the same old hackneyed subjects to debate?

Pathetic.

Most everyone else that commented on the letter online seemed to agree with Mr. (or Miss) Unbelievable. What on Earth was I thinking to publish a letter from a PETA campaign letter writer about Elephants? How I dare I waste precious letter space and your time with such garbage?

What it comes down to is that if I can help it, I won’t publish another letter on the homosexuality and religion issue. A few comments about the elephant letter picked up on this. The homosexuality issue is played out. Aside from the people that continue to send in letters about it, I don’t think anybody cares.

Homosexuality and religion are two issues that most people have really strongly held and deeply felt views on. When you merge the two, you’re just dealing with an issue that no one is willing to budge an inch on.

In response to the article on UNC religious groups and homosexuality, two letters were run. These two letters represented two opposing viewpoints and encompassed most of the arguments both sides are making. Therefore I consider them to be adequate coverage of the debate. There is no on going news story here. The initial article was seemingly written with no time peg; I’m not even sure what purpose it served (maybe more on that some other time, we’ll have to see what I learn over the next few days, but I digress).

So, really I see no reason to continue the debate in the letters to the editor section. I find PETA’s opinion of the N.C. Zoo to be more deserving of a letter; at least it says something new.

Issues that people get impassioned about arise relatively frequently on the back page, and they’re kind of easy to spot in advance. For example the anti-lower-the-drinking-age column that ran today is likely to get some responses, which will probably in turn get counter responses.

What you can generally expect to see with letters about these issues is one or two letters supporting either side. More than this and people will get fed up and bored. Less than this and readers will feel they didn’t receive adequate overage.

Once the issue is done, it’s on to bigger and better things … like elephants.