forum
Our goal is to serve as a public , to encourage and present new ideas.
debate
The debate itself is a lot of fun.
Editorial Page THE
STAFF EDITORIALS | STAFF COLUMNS | GUEST COLUMNS | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | CARTOONS
The editorial page is a chance for readers to have input into the content of the paper and to ensure that their voice is heard. When used properly, the editorial page is one of the most powerful instigators for change in a community.
By accepted practice at North Carolina State University, the Technician and all other media operated under the Student Media umbrella are designated public forums. Student editors have the authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.
Student Media OF
NORTH
CAROLINA
S TAT E
UNIVERSITY
Individual Non-Staff
) Guest Column
Individual Opinion A cartoon is like a visual column. Cartoonists work with the editorial page editor to determine the topic and edit it before publication.
( Cartoon
The only thing worse than N.C. State losing its fourth straight football game is having to deal with intoxicated Wolfpack fans. Thousands of students at this school do football right. They go out to the stadium parking lot four or five hours
blob, he wasn’t dealing with some maniac when he did his little stunt. But he didn’t know my husband weren’t the type to stop the car, get out and start a fight him. He didn’t know we wouldn’t over-react, possibly swerving into another vehicle, injuring the occupants. If I had just experienced that one isolated incident then I would have assumed it was just a case of Miami-loss syndrome.
I love showing my support for the Wolfpack, and I proudly flicked off the Seminoles band every time they started their archaic theme song every five seconds. I shout “Home of the Wolfpack” during the National Anthem. I don’t even mind a little verbal sparring (if good-humored) with the opposing team’s fans. But I expect my fellow Wolfpack faithful to not put me, my husband
Even after tailgating restrictions, drunken fans put a damper on Michele’s football fun
TECHniCiAn’S ViEW EW
Technician
On Thursday, the UNC Board of Governors dismissed any notion of a tuition freeze for the next academic year. On Friday, its members voted to ask the legislature for a 28 percent budget increase for the next two years. Once again, students and their parents will more than likely be stuck with the bill. N.C. State, among the other constituent universities, has already recommended requests for a campus-initiated tuition increase, which allows individual campuses to hike tuition up and keep the revenue for budget shortfalls. For this academic year, the BOG approved a one-time $300 increase for NCSU, but without a tuition freeze, students may face another hike next year. Critics – including former Gov. James Holshouser and former BOG chair Ben Ruffin, who proposed the freeze – say tuition increases hurt cash-strapped North Carolinians, who want to send their children to school, but just can’t afford it. Thanks to budget decreases that affect class sizes and sections offered, it is taking longer
of the UNC system, nor to their parents who pay taxes to support the oldest public education system in the country. The BOG needs to look seriously at a “tuition contract” system, where incoming freshmen sign a contract with their chosen university that sets their tuition rate that cannot go up or down for four years. That way, students and parents can financially plan for the four years how much they will pay in tuition and fee costs. If the system or university wants to increase tuition, the next incoming class would be affected. Along with a modest budget increase, the cost distribution would be spread out and the system would have a steadily-increasing income source. If not a contract system, then a set schedule of tuition increases based on economic trends should be set, so the system can give students an idea of when tuition will go up, and plan accordingly. North Carolinians have enjoyed quality higher education at WalMart prices. The state constitution mandates it. The BOG and the legislature
Our OpiniOn: The UNC Board of GoverNors ors shoUld CoNsider a ‘TUiTioN CoNTraCT’ sysTem, where iNComiNG NG sTUdeNTs kNow how mUCh Their TUiTioN will Be for Their foUr years aT a UNC sChool. To keep hikiNG Up TUiTioN every year defeaTs The pUrpose of a hiGher edUCaTioN “as free as praCTiCaBle.”
make TUiTioN TioN iNCreases reases fair
Viewpoint
Drunken fans still a hazard
pAGE 4• MOnDAY, nOVEMBEr 15, 2009
Staff opinion The staff editorial represents the opinion of the editorial board. While one individual, often the editor, writes it, the viewpoint represented is that of a group of people— the staff. The topic of the editorial often reflects something in the news, something that students are currently discussing. And it should be on something that students can influence, making a positive difference on the campus.
+ Staff Editorial
Editorial Page
Don’t treat the forum function as an afterthought.… [W]ho says we must act as if our thoughts are routinely superior to others? Shouldn’t we define our role…as widening the circle and bringing many others with valid opinions onto our pages and into the conversation? • Ronald D. Clark, Editorial Page Editor, Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) | The best editorials come from a resonant feeling about an issue or event—surprise, interest, horror, anger, humor—plus a confidence in yourself to express your reaction well. • Hap Cawood, Editorial Page Editor, retired, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News | I’m not just an editor or an editorial writer. I have to be a reporter too. As a reporter, I actively went through a mental process of pushing opinions aside. But with an editorial, you usually go into it with a perspective. What you’re doing with your reporting is testing that perspective, that preconception, against what you find out there. I’m not looking for information I can quote; I’m looking for a sense of whether I’m on the right track. • Jay Bookman, Associate Editorial Page Editor, The Atlanta Constitution
before the game, eat some chicken wings, Senior Staff Columnist listen to some music booming from their vehicles and have a few beers. Then they migrate toward the stadium to cheer on their team. However, I’ve noticed that we’ve got some absolutely moronic people at this school, and two of them have recently come into contact with my car after football games. After the Miami game, my hus husband and I were exiting the Cardi Cardinal Gibbons High School parking lot when a fan ran toward the front of our car. We were crawling along the road so we were able to stop before the young man got hurt, but one has to wonder what would possess someone to run at a mov moving vehicle. Of course, I assume the man was not all right in the head at the time he decided to charge our car like a raging bull. However, he is one of the reasons tailgating is now restricted to five hours before the game. He assumed, perhaps because my car is a measly little compact blue
After reading Emily Duncan’s column I felt the need to interject. She stated “...President Bush and many other Republicans have taken it upon themselves to decide what is right for America.” That is what politicians do, right or wrong. They decide, through legislation, what they think is right for the country. If what they legislate is unconstitutional, it is the job of the courts to strike down the law.
Comments on Emily Duncan’s church-state column
Carolina, I was surprised to find the article portraying this project so enthusiastically. While a modern pavilion to be “noticed and discussed” by the architectural community may have its place on the university campus, the Court of North Carolina is not that place. The court, misinterpreted in this article as “not well utilized” and “lacking a purpose” is not only continuously used by students but also provides one of few places on this campus for recreation and relaxation in an non-campus like setting. In short, it is a place of respite within the sea of red brick that is N.C. State. Additionally, as a student in the College of Design, I find it interesting that while the court is currently used as a learning tool for several aspects of design including the views it offers, the scale of the space, its circulation, a pavilion in this location, endorsed by the College of Design, will eliminate the existing views and diminish the feeling and natural openness the space currently exhibits. I believe Dean Malecha is mistaken, in reference to the pavilion, by saying “we don’t have enough of these kinds of places on campus.” The truth is, when it comes to the Court of North Carolina, we don’t have enough of these kinds of places on campus. Kari Miller, Graduate Student Landscape Architecture
needs to come up with a fair solution to this problem before some poor student sues the UNC System and makes the state’s Supreme Court interpret the constitution.
News Editor
features@technicianonline.com
Deputy Sports Editor
features@technicianonline.com
Sports Editor
Science & Tech Editor
Cynthia Marvin
Deputy Features Editor
Design Editor
Win Bassett
Design Editor
Photo Editor
Robbie Williams
I just have a few comments to make on Emily Duncan’s column on the church-state envelope. Her first comment with Bush in office was that he was not representing the majority as a whole. However if she had been watching some of the news that has been on, they have stated that millions of people came out to vote this time because they wanted Bush in office, particularly for his religious beliefs. I think that the other few million Americans were well aware of Bush’s agenda; thus I fully believe he is representing the majority here. Second is that Bush “and many other Republicans have taken it upon themselves to decide what is right for America.” Here I think Duncan is trying to say that the government is not doing what the majority of Americans want. How can this be if that same majority has the same or
She also stated “...Ones morals should not, and thanks to the principle of separation of church and state, are not allowed to be imposed on the government.” This is completely backwards. The government is the one who is not allowed to force religion on the people. The original intention of the separation of church and state was to prevent a statesponsored religion, not prevent religion from affecting the laws of the country. Unfortunately for her argument, our morals are the combination of hundreds of years and several religions. The fact is many of the laws are simply enforcing the morals of the people. For instance, the government and most Americans believe drug use is immoral. Legislators decided, right or wrong, that it is in the best interests of the country to make certain drugs illegal, thereby enforcing morals for the good of the country. Having said all this, isn’t marriage traditionally a religious institution co-opted by the government? So what right do they have to alter or support it? Ryan Parks, Graduate Student Plant Pathology
Christopher R. Dulin, Sophomore Aerospace Engineering
The coverage of Veterans Day by Technician was terrible. The “Veteran’s Day Tribute” consisted of nothing more than a picture (in which the cadet was at parade rest, mislabeled as attention). It seems to me that on Veteran’s Day, there might be a story or an article; yet even the commentary section was void of anything positive about our Armed Forces. Why can’t Technician make this more of a priority, especially when we have American troops actively engaged in a conflict overseas?
Disappointment in coverage of Veterans Day
similar values as those in office? Third, Duncan goes on to say that “...Bush will almost certainly erode the wall of separation between church and state.” In the United States, no one is forcing you to go to any church, however this country was founded on the Christian values of the time. For the most part those values have not changed. I hear they still pray before various meetings in Washington. This country does not force you to go to a church, it won’t kill you if you worship other gods, or no gods at all, but on the topic of gay anything and abortion, so long as there are Christians out there, they will continue to be fought over. Hansen Murphy, Senior Mechanical Engineering
323 Witherspoon, Campus 8608, Raleigh, NC 27695-8608 Editorial 515.2411 Advertising 515.2029 Fax 515.5133 Online technicianonline.com
Classifieds Manager
Technician (uSpS 455-050) is the official student newspaper of n.C. State university and is published every Monday through Friday throughout the academic year from August through May except during holidays and examination periods. Opinions expressed in the columns, cartoons, photo illustrations and letters that appear on Technician’s pages are the views of the individual writers and cartoonists. As a public forum for student expression, the students determine the content of the publication without prior review. To receive permission for reproduction, please write the editor. Subscription cost is $100 per year. A single copy is free to all students, faculty, staff and visitors to the campus. Additional copies are 25¢ each. printed by The news & Observer, raleigh, n.C. Copyright 2000 by the north Carolina State Student Media. All rights reserved.
Meghann Dominie
classifieds@technicianonline.com
Kasey Butler
Deputy News Editor
advertising@technicianonline.com
Advertising Manager
photo@technicianonline.com
Nick Pironio
design@technicianonline.com
Katie Graf
design@technicianonline.com
news@technicianonline.com
Clark Leonard
sports@technicianonline.com
news@technicianonline.com
Haley Huie
Deputy Sports Editor
Deputy News Editor
Josh Harrell
sports@technicianonline.com
sports@technicianonline.com
Tanner Kroeger
Kathleen Gordon
news@technicianonline.com
Greg Behr
Features Editor
Tyler Dukes
news@technicianonline.com
editor@technicianonline.com
Rebecca Heslin
Editor
The unsigned editorial that appears above is the opinion of the members of Technician’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor.
for students to graduate. They are constantly having to pay more for the same, or in some cases, fewer services. This is not fair to the students
WANT TO GET YOUR LETTER PUBLISHED? While we try to publish every letter to the editor we receive, we sometimes don’t have the space. We give priority to letters that are critical of the Technician and our coverage. We give priority to letters that discuss items of interest to our primary audience, the students at N.C. State. Lower down on the priority list are letters that praise our content, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to hear the good things too. CORRECTIONS When we make an error, we hope that our readers will point it out so we can correct it as soon as possible. Corrections or clarifications should be sent to corrections@technicianonline.com.
In response to the article in the Nov. 10 issue regarding the pavilion to be constructed in the Court of North
Court of North Carolina not proper place for pavilion
I am writing in regards to the cartoon printed in the Nov. 11 issue. I am outraged Technician would print the image of a Native American icon being beaten by the wolf. I realize that these are mascots, but what Technician fails to understand is that this mascot represents a very specific group of people. Florida State actually pays the Seminole Nation for the use of their name and the image of a man. The person who appears as the mascot at games is a member of the Seminole Nation and is known to work towards an image that honors the Nation’s people as dignified and powerful. I realize that to most this is just one of a series of “go Wolfpack” cartoons, but ,to some of us, it is an assault on the work we are trying to do to dispel stereotypes and help others to understand the beauty of our people. What you see as a cartoon, we see as an individual. Additionally, I would like to point out that the feathers flying off the icon is particularly hurtful and offensive. A fallen feather is a very serious matter for us, not to be toyed with. Though you used it to show being beaten by a team, it has a much deeper significance to us. Jonathan Brunson’s column entitled “Racism still evident on campus” was very appropriately placed, as the image above offers an obvious example of the lack of cultural understanding and sensitivity. Jessica Sides, Tsalagi Nation Graduate student
Wolfpack comic offensive to Native Americans
Contact Michele at viewpoint@technicianonline.com
or my car in danger every time we leave a game. We will never get our tailgating privileges back if we cannot learn to enjoy the event and treat each other with respect. I left the Florida State game upset by our final home loss, but more so at the people who cannot put on the brakes on their irresponsible behavior I’ve railed against rampant alcohol abuse before, and I can only assume that the fans who attacked our vehicle were suffering from an overdose of some sort. If you’re going to act like an idiot, then stop drinking before you get to that point. Go to the game and cheer on your team but don’t be like the University of Maryland fans who threw batteries at the Duke basketball parents sitting in their arena in 2001. Have a good time and enjoy the thrill of sitting in a well-lit stadium on a Thursday night watching your football team make an attempt at beating a top-20 team.
To submit letters to Campus Forum, send your thoughts to viewpoint@technicianonline.com. Limit responses to 250 words. Technician reserves the right to edit for grammar, style, content and size.
Yet last Thursday I had another run-in with a presumably intoxicated fan. Once again, we were leaving the game amongst the mob of upset fans and as we drove out of the fairgrounds parking lot, some fan with a 10-cup stack of “Achieve!” souvenirs decided to use his cups as a bat and whack my car with them. Again, we have NCSU paraphernalia on our car, so it’s obvious who we root for. Yet my peers, my fellow football-watching, 20-somethings cannot keep their cups or their bodies to themselves. My husband actually stopped the car and turned around to make sure our rear windshield was okay. And I’m not going to pretend — I had to convince him to not get out of the car. I’ve learned from accidents in the past though. You just don’t know who you’re going to be getting into a fight with and you cannot risk even having a verbal disagreement anymore. We left the parking lot, but I have come to the conclusion that some of our fans need to either lay off the alcohol or learn how to behave in public places.
CampUs forUm
Michele DeCamp
Individual Non-Staff Member’s Opinion The editor often receives dozens of letters and has to pick some that are representative of the letters submitted. All letters are edited for length, grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Letters to the Editor
Also called the masthead, the staff box contains a list of all of the members of the editorial board and significant policies. It is printed on the editorial page every day.
, Staff Box
The act of actually writing an editorial is also more time-consuming than writing most news stories. News stories, for the most part, follow a formula. An editorial, on the other hand…demands more creativity, which often requires more time. • Jay Bookman, Associate Editorial Page Editor, The Atlanta Constitution | One of the best signs that you’re ready to write comes when you’ve talked to all of the various parties in the controversy, and you realize that you now know the issue better than any of the participants. • Jay Bookman, Associate Editorial Page Editor, The Atlanta Constitution | The argument found in a good editorial does not take the readers on as opponents to bash, but engages them as equals to converse with. • George B. Pyle, Columnist and Editorial Writer, The Salina (Kansas) Journal | An editorial is an argument. • George B. Pyle, Columnist and Editorial Writer, The Salina (Kansas) Journal | A good editorial series…should spur public debate. The editorial page is your pulpit. Use it well. • Meg Downey, Executive Editor, The Poughkeepsie Journal | My ideal editorial page is a newspaper counterpart to a lively dinner conversation. • Nancy Q. Keefe, Editorial Page Columnist, retired
Individual Staff Member’s Opinion Students on the paper’s payroll and who regularly contribute columns are staff columnists. They work with the editorial page editor to determine the topic and edit it before publication.
* Staff Column
Member’s Opinion Non-staff members can write a guest column. They work with the editorial page editor to determine the topic and edit it before publication.
Fact vs. Opinion FACT | A PIECE OF INFORMATION PRESENTED AS HAVING OBJECTIVE REALITY OPINION | A VIEW, JUDGMENT, OR APPRAISAL FORMED IN THE MIND ABOUT A PARTICULAR MATTER
OPINION IN A NEWS STORY
The paper’s opinions are for the editorial page alone. They do not carry over to the news pages. For example, if the Technician endorses a candidate for student body president on its editorial page, that endorsement will have no bearing on news stories about that candidate. If a newspaper is to maintain its credibility with readers, news and opinion must stay separate. Most papers go so far as to have a strict separation of its news and opinion staffs. Editorial writers don’t write news stories, and reporters don’t write editorials.
NEWS VS. EDITORIAL
There is another division that warrants discussion: the one within the editorial department that separates news from opinion. Opinion, of course, shows up throughout the newspaper in columns, which express personal views, and in reviews, such as those of computer games, movies, music, restaurants, theater and television. Those are marked either as criticism or with the author’s photograph rather than a byline. It’s the newspaper’s institutional views, as formulated and expressed by the editorial board, that the paper keeps separate from its news reporting. So, when you see an editorial praising or criticizing Student Government, don’t expect the page 1 account of that issue to contain similar judgmental language. The two sections, news and editorial, are quite separate, written by people in different sections of the paper.
OTHER PLACES FOR OPINION
do we publish a wide variety of viewpoints on the editorial page, but we have message boards and commentary slots on our Web site. Anyone can comment on almost any article posted on the site. After all, our goal is to serve as a public forum, to encourage debate and present new ideas — conservative, liberal, moderate, anti-Technician, pro-Technician, whatever. The debate, itself, is a lot of the fun.
A PUBLIC FORUM
EDITORIAL BOARD
The paper’s editorial board decides the positions taken in the staff editorials. While perhaps not as diverse as the campus, they do come from a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints. Discussion around an editorial topic is often lively and spirited. The editor, hired by the Student Media Board, chairs the editorial board meetings. The editorial board consists of the paper’s top editors. They don’t sign the editorials they write, because editorials express the collective thoughts of the board rather than those of one individual. Editorial board members meet each afternoon on days before the paper comes out to discuss the stories, photos and artwork that will appear in the next edition. Those meetings are open to the public by appointment. When deciding on editorial opinions, majority rules, but most opinions reflect the vast majority of the opinions of the editorial board. The editor has the final say if the group cannot come to concensus.
EDITORIAL TOPICS
The topic chosen for editorials often reflects discussion of people and events going on around campus, issues that are
Our goal is to serve as a public forum for student opinion. To that end, not only
important to students. Generally, an editorial writer proposes a stand, which should reflect thorough research and weighing of the facts. The board then debates the issue before nailing down a position. After hearing all sides of the issue, the board always should be asking itself: “What is in the best interest of our primary audience, the student body at N.C. State Univeristy?”
But the editorial page isn’t just a forum for staff opinion. Indeed, the staff editorial is but one item on the editorial page. The Technician is a public forum for student opinion. As such, guest columns, letters to the editor and other items appear on the page daily to reflect the wide array of viewpoints on campus.
SEPARATION FROM BUSINESS
All newspapers are businesses, even the N.C. State student newspaper. The Technician makes money, mainly, by selling advertising. The newsroom, however, operates completely separate from the business side of the operation. The newsroom has nothing to do with advertising. It’s that separation that may cause you to sometimes see news reports revealing unflattering information about a frequent advertiser — or detailing the accomplishments of a business that never advertises. That separation of the news coverage from the newspaper’s financial interests is necessary to protect the paper’s credibility. RESOURCE: Jane E. Healy, editorial page editor, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, jhealy@orlandosentinel.com
Student Media OF
NORTH
CAROLINA
S TAT E
UNIVERSITY
By Bradley Wilson • Coordinator of Student Media Advising • ©2006 N.C. State Student Media