Often when I read or hear an ambiguous and obfuscated pronouncement from a group of politicians, I wonder if they are incapable of clarity or if they simply do not wish to say exactly what they mean. A recent case in point is the Chapel Hill Town Council. See if you answer the following questions:
(1) Exactly what constitutes "more than four unrelated persons?"
(2) Could I move in with a family of four (for example, husband, wife and two children)? Here, although there would be more than four people in the unit, I would be unrelated to only four of them and each of them would be living with only one person to whom they were unrelated.
(3) Could two sets of quadruplets from different families share an apartment? Although this would mean eight occupants, each person would be living with only four persons to whom he was unrelated.
(4) What, exactly, does "related" mean? Recently I met a group of my cousins. Although they were all either siblings or first cousins of one another they are all my second cousins thrice removed. Would the Town Council deem them to be related to me?
(5) If the Town Council really meant no more than four UNC students, why did they not just say so?
J.T. MacQueen
Class of 1962
