Congress should be able to hold BOE accountable

TO THE EDITOR:
I take issue with the editorial Unethical behavior, part 1 which proclaims that it is unethical for two Congresswomen to add themselves to the Board of Elections listserv. First and foremost, the BOE is a public body, subject to open meetings and open records laws. Secondly, they spend a lot of your money, and someone should keep tabs on them.
Congress gave the BOE over $7,000 in August, $5,000 of which went to placing big yellow banners all over campus. They were supposed to be nice, durable banners with permanent clear plastic sleeves to place candidate s pictures and names so you could get to know your candidates.
But if you saw them you know that these banners were up for weeks before the recent Special Election completely blank. Only on the day of the election did the BOE finally put up anything. The sleeves turned out to be Ziploc bags, and the Ziplocs were duct taped to the banners. The pictures turned out to be grainy black and white computer printouts. Now the banners are staying up, year-round presumably, I guess so they can get rain and sun damaged, wind battered, torn down, or vandalized. We could have just as well piled up $5,000 of student fees and set it on fire.
Obviously, I take issue with much of what the BOE does. Like the fact that they uses your money to do campaign advertisements like those banners, but Congress already funds individual campaigns. Or the fact that the BOE banned the use of Facebook groups in campaigning. Or the BOE s useless Elections Laws Study Commission that only meets whenever they have to figure out a way to kill legislation I propose in Congress.
Like I said, someone needs to watch the BOE. Mr. Smith’s Edit Board even conceded this in an editorial weeks ago saying that adversaries in Congress would prevent election fraud by keeping an eye on a certain member of the BOE. Those same people are doing what the Edit Board said, keeping an eye on the BOE, yet now it s unethical?
And besides, no one has benefited more from lurking around on listservs and diving into Congress persons email accounts through public records requests than the DTH. The Edit Board said that I had cited a BOE listserv in a brief I filed with the Supreme Court. This was actually a complaint I filed against the BOE. But, I wonder how Edit Board knew the contents of my complaint since the only people my brief has gone to besides the Supreme Court has been the Board of Elections? I guess the so-called rules of ethics that the Edit Board preaches don t actually apply to them, just everyone else.
Ironic? Maybe. Hypocritical? You decide.

Tyler Younts
Chairman, Student Affairs Committee
Student Congress

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Minimum standards not sufficient for accessibility

TO THE EDITOR:
I would hate to be in a wheelchair on UNC’s campus. In fact, if I were somehow forced to use a wheelchair I would probably transfer. Our campus is embarrassingly wheelchair unfriendly. Popular buildings such as the UL and academic buildings such as Caldwell are built without much thought to a person with an injury or disability ? the restroom sinks are too high and the paper towel dispensers are out of reach. Having a stall large enough for a wheelchair is great, but could a person in one pull open the heavy door while turning at a tight angle to get into their designated stall? I think not. Someone in a wheelchair here would be forced to ask for help with almost every move they make.
Also, many of our classrooms do not have desks that a wheelchair could fit under. And even if there is a table, it is often in the front and used by the lecturer, not reserved or conveniently placed for disabled students.
Worse yet, someone in a wheelchair attempting to go to disability services in Steele would not be able to go into the front of their building without miraculously scaling three steps! If a building houses an office meant to help people in wheelchairs with disabilities, at least dignify the people using the office with the ability to go in the front door!
If UNC wants to attract ALL the great minds of our generation, we need to make every effort to build an efficient wheelchair-friendly campus.
An institution as esteemed as ours should not just meet the minimum legal requirements for accessibility; we should be making every effort to be 100 percent accessible to all who deserve to come here.

Katie Test
Senior
Communication Studies

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Integrity not enough to compensate for losses

TO THE EDITOR:
I am responding to Prof. Eugene Bozymski’s letter to the editor, dated
October 30th. I echo his thanks for all Coach Bunting has done for
UNC.
However, Prof. Bozymski is quite presumptive and misguided in
comparing our football team to that of the University of Miami. To
imply that the football team next year would “brawl at one of our
football games,” simply because we are terminating Coach Bunting’s
employment is both asinine and shameful.
I can imagine that if Prof. Bozymski is teaching his medical students
that a 25-43 record in treating patients is acceptable, as long as
they maintain “university integrity, character building, and loyalty,”
it may be time for the administration to make a change down in the
Medical School, too.

Eric Tucker
Senior
Music

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D0 you want t0 stop @ll those v1agrha em@1ls?!

TO THE EDITOR:
Are you getting so much spam to your UNC e-mail address that you want to abandon it? I was, too, until I discovered the UNC spam filter, and it has helped me regain control of my inbox. UNC has a great spam filter, but it is turned off by default for each person’s account. The reason is that it alters the way mail is delivered to you. As long as you’re okay with avoiding dozens of unsolicited messages daily, you should check it out. The filter gives each incoming message a spam score based on how spam-like the message and sender are. If the score is above a threshold that you customize, the message is trapped by the filter. If not, the message goes straight to your inbox. You can check the filter periodically to make sure that non-spam (i.e. ham) messages aren’t mislabeled as spam. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now, and the filter has worked magnificently. For more information, go to http://help.unc.edu/?id=5469 or simply search for “spam filtering service” on http://help.unc.edu.

Scott Hajek
Lab Manager
Psychology

Column promoted sexual objectification of women

TO THE EDITOR:
I am appalled by the utterly sexist October 27th op/ed written by Jordan Stone. While calling on women to dress even more scantily and provocatively than in the past, Stone ignores the fact that Halloween on Franklin Street is an opportunity for men to sexually assault women and without consequence. Stone’s sexualized costume suggestions encourage UNC students to value women for their sexual desirability and bodies. This is closely linked to the rape culture we live in. In an age when sexual violence on college campuses has become a national pastime, why do we continue to tolerate this kind of objectification?

Andrew Frost
Junior
Sociology

–__________

New Smith Center seating much too close for comfort

TO THE EDITOR:
Something has gone horribly wrong in the Dean Dome! An idiot (or two) has decided to add an extra seat on every row in the entire arena. My question: has the person who designed the new seats even attempted to sit in them? Not only am I five foot two and without enough leg room to keep my legs straight in front of me, but my neighbor’s legs inevitably end up in my lap. What will happen this basketball season to our older alumni, those who paid for the Dean Dome in the first place? Many are too old to stand for extended periods of time and will have no choice but to do so? I am well aware of the revenue this venture may be generating, but as someone who spends almost 20 nights a year cheering on my boys in blue in the Dean Dome, my personal space and I are personally offended by the new seating arrangements. If I need to rest during a timeout or during halftime this basketball season, you’ll find me in the aisle until we get to Atlanta.

Ashley Elizabeth Payne
Senior, Exercise and Sport Science

__________

Board contradicts itself on government intervention

TO THE EDITOR:
In the Oct. 26 editorial, “The Gay Marriage Blues,” the DTH highlighted the issue of gay marriage. The article lambasted the city council of Thomasville, NC for “defining marriage as strictly a union between a man and a woman” and praised the state of New Jersey for ruling that “gay marriage should be allowed in the state.”
The article criticized the folks in Thomasville, arguing that passing a resolution that affirms one side of the gay marriage debate was “a gross failure of the governing institution.” Near the end of the article, however, the DTH encouraged our state legislature to think about legalizing gay marriage. If the DTH thought such interference offensive when Thomasville argued against gay marriage, then why does the DTH encourage the exact same interference when its pro gay marriage?

Sincerely,

Dominic Ruiz-Esparza
Sophomore
History

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Congress not to blame for grad student complaints

TO THE EDITOR:
Ryan O’Quinn is quite mistaken about Student Congress.
First, it is not Congress’ duty to publicize elections; that falls under the duties of the Board of Elections. So while they have done a great job publicizing undergraduate seat vacancies, if they have not done so for graduate seats, blame them, not us.
Second, we have had one meeting last more than four hours, and most last fewer than three. They are held on Tuesday nights by tradition so that those running know when to plan to serve, and because no one with a life would come to weekend meetings except the one required weekend in February for Annual Budget proceedings.
Third, few of our proceedings are contentious and none is petty. What takes up the vast majority of our time are appropriation requests from student groups. But that doesn’t get reported because it’s not very interesting; only the disputed bills and resolutions are. Those are few and far between.
Graduate student complaints in the DTH’s letter columns of late seem to suggest that it is pointless for Congress to represent grad students. The problem with that is all of those appropriations come from your student activity fees; without graduate voices in the body, all of the undergrads decide how to spend your money. If you’re fine with that, don’t run for Congress, but if you’re not, then run yourself or recruit others to run.

Dustin Ingalls
Speaker Pro Tempore
Student Congress

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Open letter of thanks to Coach John Bunting

TO THE EDITOR:
Thank you for all you have done for the University of North Carolina. You have improved the graduation rate and the character of the students on the football team and instilled in them a sense of discipline. It is truly unfortunate that the top administration of this University has totally abandoned the real mission of our academic university in favor of the almighty dollar. One would have thought that at least at this university integrity, character building, and loyalty would be assigned significant value. Alas, such is not the case and the university administration is no different in its search for the almighty dollar than any other institution. I do not believe the administration of this university truly understands the significance of this mid season firing.
Perhaps next year after a brawl at one of our football games, we can emulate Miami and suspend the players involved for one game along with a wink and a nod. It is indeed a sad day for the University of North Carolina and the football team.

Eugene Bozymski
Clinical professor
School of Medicine

I heard it through the grapevine that someone actually misses the Dating Blog. That means someone is reading the Dating Blog! The reason for the long hiatus is that I haven’t been getting any questions! So I’m just going to go off on tangents for this post, spin a yarn or two along the way, and whoever you are reading this will send me a question to answer for next time. So here we go.

I spent a semester in Barcelona a year and a half ago, and while I was there, I learned a really important skill. It was how to turn down men I’m not interested in. Now, in Barcelona, this consists of an incredibly disgusted look, a drink in the face, a sultry spin and strut away. The girls there can be cold, and that’s why the men look for American girls. They know we’re nice; they know we’re too nice.

When I was in middle school and high school, I very nearly did not have the words “not interested” in my dating vocabulary. If you found the nerve to ask me out, I was almost surely going to go on several awkward dates with you before I started avoiding you and you wondered what the hell was going on.

I couldn’t say no, even when I knew from the moment I heard it from that friend of your friend who wanted to know if maybe I thought you were cute that I wasn’t interested. But when you asked me out, I thought I was sparing your feelings by saying yes.

I have a friend who has now been dating a guy for four years. She started dating him because he broke up with his girlfriend and decided to send instant messages to every girl on his buddy list asking her if she’d be his girlfriend. Luckily, I heard that this was going on, and when i got an instant message from him, I quickly discovered that I really really had to sign off.

My friend down the line was not so lucky. She’s now been miserably dating a guy she just couldn’t “be mean” to for four years. *advice columnist’s note: if you can’t finally admit the real reason you said yes after four years, you may need more extensive therapy than the advice columnist can provide. There may be a bigger problem here.

Now, you’ve heard before that I read a lot of dating advice in other places. There’s something I learned in college that I didn’t know before. Men don’t want women to waste their time. They’d rather be turned down than strung along out of pity, and that makes perfect sense doesn’t it?

I’m proud to say that I am now a recovering pity-dater, clean and sober for a good six years. I hope I don’t relapse, but all around me, I see the signs that lots of girls are still off the wagon.

I’ve had plenty of guy friends who were despairing over why a girl would agree to go out with them constantly. And that’s a great question. Guys do not date girls out of pity. They know how to say “no way” through the magical words “I just want to be friends.”

So why can’t girls say this? I think we are so geared to be people pleasers, to be nice to everyone, to be liked by everyone. Part of it must be an ego trip — if you aren’t dating someone, you’ll lead someone on just to feel desired. But it’s something more than that. We’re scared of being the bitch, the cold ice queen shutting guys down.

So we nod on and on when we’re cornered at parties by a guy who can’t read those oh-so-subtle clues that we’re scanning the room and wishing there was a perky stewardess around to point out the closest exit.

And yet, as much as we don’t want to be the bitch, is it any kinder to lead someone on? To tell him that we didn’t really want to date him in the first place? That we just felt bad saying no thanks? Oh yeah, that makes you feel great.

So let’s learn not to be bitches, but to be honest. It’s in everyone’s best interest. It just amazes me that in a society where we’re constantly told to say no - say no to drugs, abstinence only, no means no - that women are not only never taught, but not allowed, to say no to a new relationship.

Send me questions guys!

-Alicia

I heard it through the grapevine that someone actually misses the Dating Blog. That means someone is reading the Dating Blog! The reason for the long hiatus is that I haven’t been getting any questions! So I’m just going to go off on tangents for this post, spin a yarn or two along the way, and whoever you are reading this will send me a question to answer for next time. So here we go.

I spent a semester in Barcelona a year and a half ago, and while I was there, I learned a really important skill. It was how to turn down men I’m not interested in. Now, in Barcelona, this consists of an incredibly disgusted look, a drink in the face, a sultry spin and strut away. The girls there can be cold, and that’s why the men look for American girls. They know we’re nice; they know we’re too nice.

When I was in middle school and high school, I very nearly did not have the words “not interested” in my dating vocabulary. If you found the nerve to ask me out, I was almost surely going to go on several awkward dates with you before I started avoiding you and you wondered what the hell was going on.

I couldn’t say no, even when I knew from the moment I heard it from that friend of your friend who wanted to know if maybe I thought you were cute that I wasn’t interested. But when you asked me out, I thought I was sparing your feelings by saying yes.

I have a friend who has now been dating a guy for four years. She started dating him because he broke up with his girlfriend and decided to send instant messages to every girl on his buddy list asking her if she’d be his girlfriend. Luckily, I heard that this was going on, and when i got an instant message from him, I quickly discovered that I really really had to sign off.

My friend down the line was not so lucky. She’s now been miserably dating a guy she just couldn’t “be mean” to for four years. *advice columnist’s note: if you can’t finally admit the real reason you said yes after four years, you may need more extensive therapy than the advice columnist can provide. There may be a bigger problem here.

Now, you’ve heard before that I read a lot of dating advice in other places. There’s something I learned in college that I didn’t know before. Men don’t want women to waste their time. They’d rather be turned down than strung along out of pity, and that makes perfect sense doesn’t it?

I’m proud to say that I am now a recovering pity-dater, clean and sober for a good six years. I hope I don’t relapse, but all around me, I see the signs that lots of girls are still off the wagon.

I’ve had plenty of guy friends who were despairing over why a girl would agree to go out with them constantly. And that’s a great question. Guys do not date girls out of pity. They know how to say “no way” through the magical words “I just want to be friends.”

So why can’t girls say this? I think we are so geared to be people pleasers, to be nice to everyone, to be liked by everyone. Part of it must be an ego trip — if you aren’t dating someone, you’ll lead someone on just to feel desired. But it’s something more than that. We’re scared of being the bitch, the cold ice queen shutting guys down.

So we nod on and on when we’re cornered at parties by a guy who can’t read those oh-so-subtle clues that we’re scanning the room and wishing there was a perky stewardess around to point out the closest exit.

And yet, as much as we don’t want to be the bitch, is it any kinder to lead someone on? To tell him that we didn’t really want to date him in the first place? That we just felt bad saying no thanks? Oh yeah, that makes you feel great.

So let’s learn not to be bitches, but to be honest. It’s in everyone’s best interest. It just amazes me that in a society where we’re constantly told to say no - say no to drugs, abstinence only, no means no - that women are not only never taught, but not allowed, to say no to a new relationship.

Send me questions guys!

-Alicia

Don’t dismiss Da Coach in search for new head coach

TO THE EDITOR:
As far as the question of the next head coach of our football team goes, I believe there is but one obvious choice. What former head coach has won a Super Bowl ring, is a former NFL Coach of the Year and is more powerful than a hurricane? That’s right. Mike Ditka. Sure, he has no ties to the university, but Ditka has been out of a coaching job since 1999 and certainly is looking to get back in. After his three horrendous years in New Orleans, don’t expect the NFL to come calling. It may take a while for the move to take effect, but it is my humble belief that if Ditka were named head coach, UNC would win a minimum of five national championships in a row. In fact, I am confident that if Ditka was allowed only 5 players on the field, and Ditka was blindfolded, he could still beat Duke by at least 50 points. So, to Dick Baddour: Make the right choice and hire Da Coach.

Zach Brogadir
Sophomore
Economics

__________

Insighful column sheds a new light on world issue

TO THE EDITOR:
I wanted to write to commend Taylor Steelman on the best column published in the DTH this year. No, I’m not a serious Sudan activist looking for additional publicity. In fact, I’m not a member of SUDAN or any other activist group, I know little about the genocide in Darfur, and I don’t have a trendy green shirt.
I do, however, try to appreciate good journalism. Taylor’s column, unlike a number of this year’s columns, addressed a topic of importance both on campus and in the world at large. She took an unusual angle, foregoing the traditional calls for awareness to highlight the need for planning and concrete action in Sudan. Finally, she presented her substantive points clearly, while incorporating enough wit to hold the reader’s interest.
On an opinion page recently overtaken by the hullabaloo of Bunting’s dismissal, Taylor’s writing stood out as an insightful take on an issue that matters.

Ben Lundin
Senior
Religious Studies

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Corporatization of college athletics has gone too far

TO THE EDITOR:
The firing of Coach Bunting just re-affirms that playing football at the college level is a business, not a sport. Coach Bunting ran a clean program devoted to instilling life lessons while trying to win games. UNC showed what it really cares about, winning. Winning is so important because of money. Money trumps character. Money incites athletes to risk their health to achieve an edge by taking performance enhancing drugs. Money equates success in the “real” world. Why not just give up on the charade? College athletes should just be paid for their time here. Classes could be optional, they would be employees during their tenure here that could be hired and fired depending on their performance. Instead of pretending to educate and develop responsible individuals just let coaches hire whatever thugs they can find to win and quit pretending that anyone cares about teams that don’t.

Pat Day
Art Lab Manager

_______

Article on Poverty Center missed key political angle

TO THE EDITOR:
Lindsay Michel’s article, “Center fights political tilt” (10/24), about the potential partisanship of UNC’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, was entirely uncritical of Jon Sanders’ critique of the Center. In the name of journalistic fairness and full disclosure, Michel should have explained that the John Locke Foundation, Sanders’ employer, is itself a partisan organization that actively promotes conservative and libertarian policy and does not regularly partake in “nonpartisan” activities. Most important, this article did not answer the question of whether Sanders takes issue with the Center because he believes it engages in partisanship, or merely because the Center promotes policies other than those that he advocates.

Joshua Davis
Graduate Student
History

__________

Thanks Coach for srong dedication, service to UNC

TO THE EDITOR:
Thank you John Bunting
I know that I’m not an average fan because I have only a passing interest sports for the most part. I’m not bloodthirsty after a loss, neither am I exceptionally thrilled about a win. My pride is not about how many teams I’ve seen us overcome or the number of points scored, but rather I am proud that we had such a kind and personable man as our head coach, one who held his players up to higher standards than other teams in our conference, both in academics and in personal responsibility. He did more than just coach the team; he gave back to his fans and supporters, just not always in wins. Some said he shouldn’t have been so strict on the guys and let them get away with worse grades or forgive their illegal activities and I disagree. We might be a public school, but we’ve got more class than a lot of private schools and I respect his decision to run his team with dignity and higher standards even at the cost he’s paying now. I’m proud of the team for holding themselves to those standards and living up to his expectations and I hope they continue to do so for the rest of the season and carry it on next season as well. This whole situation was handled very poorly and he deserved more respect than he was given this whole season. Thank you Coach Bunting for having a respectable program and I’m sorry that it ended this way.

Parker Wood
Junior
English Major

We’ve been following four freshmen this year to cover the phenomenon that is the dreaded “freshman 15.” Nikki Werking, 2004-05 deputy managing editor, warned me of a similar trend last year when I took on the role of managing editor — “The Management 15.” She explained that spending every waking moment in the newsroom meant eating fatty take-out food and not exercising (in fact rarely even standing). In years past we’ve seen many of our management members balloon. It happened to me last year.

So I was a bit surprised when I went to the doctor the other day. Somehow I’ve bucked the trend and actually lost 15 pounds since August despite not being able to recall any athletic activity sans for climbing over the brick wall that divides the ATMs from our office.

I don’t know what to attribute it to. Stress? I’m told that’s supposed to add weight. Not being able to eat dinner because I’m bogged down working? I usually just eat after work, which I’m also told isn’t the best idea. I did make an effort in the first few weeks to bring food from home, but that quickly subsided as I saw colleagues devouring Chinese food three times weekly.

I don’t know what it is, but it seems to be working. Thanks DTH diet.

From Assistant State and National Editor Allison Nichols:

The debate I attended Monday between Rep. David Price, D-N.C., and his Republican challenger Col. Steve Acuff never got nasty, but it was fairly informative. Despite the lack of mudslinging, yelling, protesting or rioting, the forum was pretty interesting.

The candidates articulated in their two-and-a-half minute responses to questions asked by Vote Carolina moderators and the audience their very different visions for the course of the state and the nation after the midterm elections.

In my 12-inch story in Tuesday’s paper I was not able to fully hash out their differences, their plans and their criticisms of the status quo. So, on the off-chance that someone, maybe a first-time voter or a student new to politics in this state or just a concerned citizen, turns to The Daily Tar Heel to arm them with the knowledge necessary to be an educated voter, I decided to use this blog to write more about the platforms of Price and Acuff.

Background

Price has been a U.S. Congressman for almost 18 years. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee. A UNC graduate, he likes to mention when speaking on campus that being in Chapel Hill during the era of sit-ins and the Civil Rights movement made a great impact in shaping his political awareness and beliefs.

Acuff, a graduate of Carson Newman College in Tennessee, joined the Air Force during the Vietnam War and served for 30 years. He then was the operations manager for Express Food Group. Acuff said he is not a professional politician, and even if elected he still will not be a professional politician when working on Capitol Hill.

Jobs for college graduates

Acuff said college graduates benefit when the economy is healthy. He thinks that the economy and the job market works best when Americans are turned loose. He thinks Americans are very good at growing the economy through entrepreneurship and innovation when they are freed of government regulations.

Price agreed that an overall strong economy will benefit job-seeking college graduates. He said public policy in North Carolina has made a huge difference and been part of the state’s success story. But, he added that several policies need to be amended at the federal level, including more support of small businesses and ending the practice of rewarding companies for moving offshore.

Illegal immigration

Price advocates a balanced approach to illegal immigration. He said there must be more serious enforcement of laws in existence — including a more significant effort at the border. He said the underlying problem with our immigration policy is that there is a mismatch between official policy and America’s employment needs. Price favors a program that will allow, on a case-by-case basis, immigrants to receive legal status.

Acuff frames the immigration debate in the context of the war on terror, saying he brings military eyes to the problem. His priority is securing the border immediately, and his greatest concern is that we do not know who is coming into the country.

Ethical standards for politicians

Price said he has been part of a “gang of four” legislators who have proposed new rules for ethical standards. He said not only are new guidelines needed, but the rules already in existence must be enforced.

Acuff observed that corruption is an equal opportunity employer, meaning that it has affected both major parties. He facetiously quipped that the best way to handle the problem would be to shoot a corrupt politician and put his or her head on a stick.

Free trade and the North Carolina economy

Both candidates agree that the clock cannot be turned back on globalization. Acuff said he’s sympathetic to folks who have lost jobs because of free trade agreements, and his priority is educating them so they can find another line of work.

Price said the state and the country are both well-served by aggressive and responsible free trade policy. He emphasized that we should not make trade agreements that put American workers and firms at a disadvantage.

Stem-cell research

Acuff said he does not believe in saving a life by killing another. He supports adult and umbilical cord stem-cell research, but does not support research in which fetuses are terminated.

Price was very passionate in his defense of stem-cell research. He said that in his extended family he has had relatives with three major diseases that scientists say might benefit from stem cell research. He also criticized Bush for vetoing “lifesaving research” as the first and to-date only veto of his presidency.

Federal government’s role in education

Price said that although the government should serve a role in easing the financial needs in higher education, he does not want to see it micromanaging universities or their budgets. He said there is a federal role but it should be a supportive role.

Acuff commended school teachers for their work, but he thinks there is far too much bureaucracy in education. He said he would shut down the U.S. Department of Education in an instant.

For more info, you can visit the candidates’ Web sites. And remember to vote on Nov. 7.

Voter guide is great, but it should include Durham

TO THE EDITOR:
Thank you for including VoteCarolina s voting guide in Monday s paper! It is an excellent resource for students, faculty, and staff for the upcoming election.
Please consider including races in Durham County in your next voting guide as many UNC students reside, and thus vote, in Durham County.

Katie Borders
Graduate student
School of Medicine

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Bunting lead with dignity, Baddour is the problem

TO THE EDITOR:
Like many other Tarheel fans, I have mixed feelings about the termination of John Bunting. Six seasons is plenty of time to measure the value and success of a college football coach and John Bunting is clearly not the winner that UNC feels it needs. That said, Bunting leads this program with such dignity and has so much love for UNC that I can feel nothing else upon the news of his dismissal except shame. Mostly, I am ashamed by the way our athletics department has repeatedly heralded the local boys (Bunting, Doherty) as heroes when hired only to fire them in the most disgraceful ways. Very few of us were confident in either of these men from day one and neither achieved the success Baddour projected. Three things need to happen to amend the disgrace of firing John Bunting in the middle of the season. First, we need to recruit and hire a proven head coach. Secondly, we need to secure John Bunting’s excellent recruiting class. Finally, we need to re-address the status of Dick Baddour. Count this as my vote for Baddour’s dismissal.

Todd Listwa
Class of 2000

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Firing Bunting sends the wrong message to UNC

TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing to express my dismay at the decision to fire Coach John Bunting. After coming to Chapel Hill in 2001, Coach Bunting convinced many talented recruits to come to UNC over the next few seasons. Sadly, some of the most talented of those players did not live up to their responsibilities in the classroom and off the field. These were not hooligans who were running around out of control; rather they were young people who made bad decisions or failed to make the grade. Nonetheless, their actions were unacceptable, and despite their abilities as football players, Coach Bunting dismissed them from the team. It is critical to note that Coach Bunting did not recruit players who had a track record for transgressions. We are not talking about a situation similar to when another ACC school signed a player who had been arrested almost a dozen times while he was in high school. Coach Bunting has been victim to decent young men making poor decisions. Due to those dismissals, this current team has weaknesses in certain areas. The reality is that this situation is one that many football programs would experience if they upheld the standards set by Coach Bunting. Unfortunately, many programs adhere to lesser standards. To fire Coach Bunting sends the message that UNC coaches should not set strict standards for the conduct of team members. The clear incentive is for coaches to set standards that keep players somewhat in line but do not affect wins and losses too much. Considering the many positive things Coach Bunting has accomplished — including cleaning up the program as well as achieving very respectable on-field results in 2001, 2004, and 2005 — he should not have been fired at this point. That decision sends a disturbing message to the UNC community.

Jon Ward
Graduate student
School of Law

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Poor timing will only hurt the flagging team morale

TO THE EDITOR:
I’m disappointed to learn of the timing John Bunting’s termination. Such poor timing in firing Bunting will completely drain the morale of a team that is already struggling enough. If a coaching change needs to happen — fine. But at least wait until the end of the season if a change in coaching isn’t made now. As an alumnus of UNC and a proud Tar Heel fan, I hope that Dick Baddour has enough sense to recruit a coach who can build a solid team and succeed in Bunting’s footsteps. If not, Baddour should be fired. Enough is enough.

John McAllister
Class of 2005

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Good move by Baddour in decision to let Bunting go

TO THE EDITOR:
Dear Mr. Baddour,
Thank you so much for putting John Bunting out of his misery. When I attended the open forum with Chancellor Moeser and asked him about the football program, he gave me a very cryptic “no comment,” and I was worried that Bunting would be kept for another year. Thankfully that is not the case. I applaud you for your quick response to the embarrassment that is the 2006 UNC football season.
Good work Dickie and Go Heels.

Eugene Rossitch III
Sophomore
Political Science

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Writer apologizes for remarks in previous letter to the editor

TO THE EDITOR:
I would like to apologize to Kevin Robinson for my attack on him in my letter published in the Monday, Oct. 16 in the Daily Tar Heel. He and I have since talked and he is neither a jerk nor a racist.
My anger over the new Woollen Gym policy was misdirected at Mr. Robinson.

David Straight
Reasearch Asst. Professor
Biology

From the desk of Ted Strong, senior writer:

Today I went and got the police log. At the station I selected what I felt were the 12 incidents or arrests that had the highest news value. Then I missed my bus.

So I walked into town with Tom Jensen, who happened to be headed that direction just as the bus failed to stop long enough for me to catch it. Tom’s been involved with politics in town for a while now, and I interview him pretty much every few months because of something or other. In case anyone wonders, this is the same Tom Jensen who writes the column in The Chapel Hill Herald. This time we got to chat, no interview involved.

At any rate, Tom and I talked about a whole range of things, including the police reports I had just finished reading. One of the things he wanted to know was: When you’re reading the reports, how do you select which will make it to the paper.

I gave him a summarized version, because walking up the hill into town tends to cut my verbosity, but I feel like it’s a process that deserves some explanation for the general public.

They weren’t necessarily the 12 most serious offenses, though to be sure, double felonies got extra points. The decisions I made were ultimately based on a variety of factors, including the severity of the offense, the prominence of the people involved (no one today was particularly famous), uniqueness, representativeness, insight into the human condition, etc. In the end, it’s a reporter’s job to make an in-the-field judgment call. I do my best but undoubtedly could do better, as is the case in pretty much every decision made on the fly, with minimal review and by one person. In the end, every report is not evaluated on every news value; instead, a reporter mulls it in his mind like he might swish a drink in his mouth. The tasty drink gets drunk and the compelling story gets printed.

One thing that disappointed me was that today I had to leave behind a bunch of DWI’s.
Seriously, there must have been close to 10. But they happen every day, and I knew I only had 10 inches, and there were a bunch of other crimes today. Still, in a perfect world, we’d have the space to run all of those.

We’d also run the handful of car breakings-and-enterings that were reported. I noticed a couple of Hondas, they’re pretty common targets, but some other stuff too. Left them though, same reason: no space.

And of the 12 I decided to write down, nine didn’t make it into the paper — eight or so inches is a finite amount of room, and important incidents also are often lengthy.

A brief rundown of the three that did make, and why they made it:

*A homeless man was arrested on charges of selling counterfeit crack to a police officer, according to Chapel Hill police reports. — felony, homelessness, odd crime

*A teenager arrested on felony charges of trying to pass a photocopied $20 bill, according to Chapel Hill police reports. — felony, odd crime, perhaps-not-terribly-well-thought-through-crime. Also, the report states that the suspect volunteered to be searched (in an “adversarial tone”) and that the bill was then found in his pocket.

*A homeless woman was arrested on charges of drunk and disorderly conduct after passing out in the middle of a road and cursing at EMS and police personnel who tried to assist her, Chapel Hill police report. — really a commentary on the human condition, tragedy averted, homelessness, odd crime (well, actually, odd circumstances leading up to crime)

Now, here are some of the items that didn’t make it:

*At 12:38 a.m. Sunday police received a report of gunshots coming from a parking lot on East Rosemary Street, according to Chapel Hill police reports.

*A man living on Gellen Place reported that his green 1997 Ford Escort, valued at $5,000, was stolen sometime between 10 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday, according to Chapel Hill police reports.

*Michelle Nichole Mize, 28, of Plano, Texas, and a sales associate for Extreme Chemical Company, was arrested at 3:48 p.m. Saturday on charges of soliciting without a permit, according to Chapel Hill police reports.
Reports state that Mize, who was arrested at 138 Essex Road after a resident complained she was selling cleaning supplies without a permit, was transported to Orange County Jail in lieu of $160 secured bail and is scheduled to appear in District Criminal Court in Hillsborough on Nov. 13.

*Favio Montelongo, 45, of the streets of Chapel Hill, was cited on charges of public consumption of alcohol at 3:20 p.m. Saturday at Town Parking Lot Five on West Franklin Street, according to Chapel Hill police reports.
Reports state that the “subject passed out in a town parking lot after consuming a malt beverage on town property.”
According to reports, Montelongo is scheduled to appear in District Criminal Court in Hillsborough on Dec. 11.

*Damian Leotis McFadden, 31, of Raleigh, was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, speeding and driving with a revoked license at 8:33 p.m. Saturday on East Franklin Street near Estes Drive, according to Chapel Hill police reports.
Reports state McFadden possessed a one-gram “blunt” valued at $10 and was released on a written promise to appear at District Criminal Court in Chapel Hill on Dec. 12.

*A Chapel Hill woman reported that five pounds of ground meat was stolen from her freezer sometime between 1:50 p.m. Thursday and 1:50 p.m. Saturday, Chapel Hill police reports state.

*A Chapel Hill man reported that 13 alcoholic beverages were stolen from his garage between 7:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday, according to Chapel Hill police reports.
Reports state that the loss consisted of six hefenweizen, valued at $10, six microbrews, valued at $10, and one white wine, valued at $25.

I don’t really know what to say except that these didn’t seem as important or as telling as the three that made it. Obviously, they have some value, that’s why I’m putting them here. The thing to remember about police logs is that tomorrow we could end up running a report of one stolen flowerpot because nothing else happens, so expanding the log so that we can run 25 incidents a day is probably not a viable long-term solution.

Of course, even if we ran every incident that was of importance to even a single reader, perhaps 80 percent of the reports I read would never leave the station. Most of them are only the very edges of stories, or very, very, very boring stories, or the edges of stiflingly boring stories.

“How can public information only touch the edges of a story?” you ask. Easy: The real story might not fit into any of the boxes on the form, and so no one knows to ask for it. Or it might be redacted, because protected parties are involved. Or it might be that the interesting part doesn’t involve the police. Or it might be a thousand other things. Reporters only can find the stories they can see, and only some things are visible in police reports.

In the end, the police blotter is and always will be an imperfect picture of the world of crime. What we can hope for is that whatever small part of that world is shown through this window is not distorted by it, and that we show the most relevant part of the world we can.