Letters 1/29
Article failed to properly characterize ASG walkout
TO THE EDITOR:
I wanted to comment about the article titled “Tensions come to a head at ASG meeting.” The article implies that the only delegates to walk out from the meeting were those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This is not the whole truth.
In addition to these delegates, the delegations from UNC-Pembroke, a Native American affiliated institution, and UNC-Chapel Hill also walked out. While there have been some underlying racial tensions in ASG, the premise of the walkout was out of respect to the issues the Student Body President of Fayeteville State University wanted to discuss. If HBCUs were not being taken seriously, they would have walked out of the Council of Student Body Presidents meeting Friday night, and not returned on Saturday.
However the most important point to be made here is that ASG was able to repair the situation. All of the delegations came back to the meeting. We were able to end the meeting appropriately, and respectfully. We had a very constructive weekend, aside from this single event. And while tensions may be high at the next meeting, I have never had more hope for ASG. We will be doing big things in the coming months and will be collaborating to help further all campuses’ interests in the N.C. General Assembly. We will work on these issues together, 16 campuses, one goal.
Andy Woods
UNC-Ch Delegate
ASG
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Column right to call for impeachment hearings
TO THE EDITOR:
In her Jan. 26 column, Linda Quiquivix finds it difficult to tell the difference between the politics of Democrats and Republicans. And I agree that impeachment hearings are needed.
If we are going to have a two party system, though, the Democrats will have to change their position on Israel/Palestine and on health care. If they can’t find the backbone for that, Americans who want real change will have to look to some other party to make it happen. The media, too, need to question and challenge the status quo.
Today’s students who look at the world and like what they see may want to leave things as they are. The rest of us had better hold the feet of politicians and the media to the fire, or we will get more of the same. My generation of UNC graduates has left a mess for our children. I hope the current generation of students will do better for the sake of their children to come, and for the rest of us.
Claiborne M. Clark
Class of 1973
Durham
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Columnist was careless to dilute meaning of ‘elitism’
TO THE EDITOR:
As much as I prefer Brianna Bishop’s column to Jordan Stone’s weekly parody (I hope) of an English major’s style, she seemed to be confusing elitism with partisanship in her Jan. 25 column.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines elitism as “advocacy of or reliance on the leadership and dominance of an élite (in a society, or in any body or class of persons).” Nothing about “seeking to undersand” one another here.
Let’s not dilute the word elitism into another meaningless shibboleth of contemporary rhetoric.
Henry Spelman
Freshman
Classics
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Statistics are meaningless when measuring diversity
TO THE EDITOR:
In response to Archie Ervins Jan. 26 column about diversity, I would love to point out the size of the gap between talking and doing, (also an issue with our government, but that is beside the point). I came to UNC under the assumption that I was going to be surrounded by a tossed salad of cultures and my eyes would be opened to many diverse backgrounds and ideas I had never heard of. Well, we all know what happens when we assume.
Although UNC has quite the collection of cultures, almost all of them are isolated. Walking to the Pit, you can spot mini-islands of every country, and I find this to be pathetic. The majority of the time, whites are with whites, blacks are with blacks, and you can find secluded congregations of Indians, Asians, Southerners, Yankees, and so on. Coming from a predominantly conservative white county, nothing has changed besides the diversity of the self-segregation.
I do not know whether this lack of interacting is due to fear of the unknown, laziness, or a comfort factor, but it has become apparent to me that UNC students need to step out there and hang out, eat lunch, or even date with someone of a culture different than theirs. It’s not a tossed salad if all of the ingredients are separated.
Martin Luther King Jr. fought to destroy the concept of segregation, but we are doing it willingly every day. We, as students in one of the country’s most diverse and intelligent universities, need to stop talking about this problem to our same color/gender/religion friends and branch out a little bit.
Drew Mossman
Freshman
Exercise and Sports Science
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New gym policy is unfair to faculty with children
TO THE EDITOR:
The new policy banning people below the age of 18 from using Woollen Gym and Fetzer Gym meant that my 10-year-old son couldn’t watch his dad play basketball the night of Jan. 25.
I wish Director of Campus Recreation Marty Pomerantz and Campus Recreation Facility Operations Manager Paul Dunlop had been there to see the look in his eyes and to have to explain to him why he couldn’t go into the gym he’d been in dozens of times before to watch his dad play. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to tell the kid. There were tears in his eyes in the car on the way home.
Making matters worse, I had just been allowed into the gym earlier in the week to play basketball with my 14-year-old son.
When I contacted Pomerantz about the problem, he apologized, but said the policy was to protect my child from injury. Funny, but he’s been going to Woollen for the past five years and has never been hurt.
Pomerantz says that they’re working on a policy to allow faculty to bring in guests such as children to the gyms during breaks like the summer. But this is a hollow gesture. Many faculty use breaks to travel with their kids since that’s the only time they’re out of school.
At a time when UNC has trouble retaining faculty members, particularly those with families, because of various policies, the policy is just another restriction to add to the list that will make faculty members like myself look for more hospitable situations.
There’s a simple solution to this problem. Create a pass for spectators to watch gyms that clearly states that the holder accepts all legal liability for any injuries while on the premises.
Without that, the time my kids have enjoyed in the past is gone, and UNC becomes a less family friendly place to work.
Chris Roush
Assistant Professor
Journalism