Opinion

End the exploitation: loopholes make it easy for employers to exploit day laborers; Carrboro right to push for just compensation

Thanks to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, a group that is often ignored might soon receive some support. The board approved a motion at Tuesday’s meeting to look into potentially cracking down on employers who don’t fairly compensate day laborers. This is a good first step. The board should look for enforceable ways to punish employers who exploit the work of day laborers.

Download this: e-books often cheaper alternative to print editions

Textbook prices are out of control.In the 2006-07 academic year, students paid an average of about $700 for textbooks. That’s more than triple the proposed tuition increase for the 2010-11 school year for in-state students at UNC.Textbook prices have skyrocketed over the past two decades at double the rate of inflation.

Cartoon for Jan. 21, 2010

Contact Connor Sullivan at cpsully@email.unc.edu

‘Darius’ tour met no rival to UNC's support

Michael Jordan, Eve Carson and Darius Weems. It was in that order that I gradually came to know and love all things Carolina blue. You can trust me because I know better than to say light blue or sky blue. It’s Carolina blue. While I wasn’t even born when Michael and Dean snagged a ring in 1982, I worshiped “His Airness.” (I can even tell you his childhood nickname, “Rabbit”).

Counter-viewpoint on SafeWalk: Program unnecessary

The new SafeWalk program has good intentions. But it is not a solution to an illusory threat. The program provides the student with two trusted peers, one male and one female, to walk him or her to an on-campus location during late-night hours when the student might feel unsafe.The walkers are trained by the Department of Public Safety and paid by the hour.

Viewpoint on SafeWalk: Safety should be addressed

The issue:  A student government program provides night owls with a pair of trained “SafeWalkers” to escort them home upon request. The program was designed to improve campus safety by keeping students from walking alone at night. Is this new initiative really needed?

Cartoon for Jan. 20, 2010

Put ticket policy in hot seat

The men’s basketball team is not the only thing in crisis in the Smith Center. There’s also a major problem with the seating policy. The majority of students is relegated to seats in the upper-reaches of the cavernous arena, while the court-side seats are occupied by major donors. And many student tickets go unused.

Review of entire Greek system needed for change

TO THE EDITOR:In response to Bob Winston’s letter, (“Greek review to focus on Greeks, not administration,” Jan. 19), if you want to have the best Greek system in the country, then it might be a good idea to examine the structure and operations of the University offices that interact with Greek organizations.

Monumental importance

The time has come for the Freedom Monument Project to move forward. UNC art professors Juan Logan and Lyneise Williams, along with landscape architect David Swanson, have designed a series of sculptural vignettes to be located near the state capital in Raleigh.

Advisory committee seeks input from UNC students

TO THE EDITOR:The student leadership advisory committee consists of 12 students that directly advise the vice chancellor for student affairs. SLAC was created in 2008 and serves as both a student voice to the administration and as a liaison between the two. SLAC addresses a broad range of issues on behalf of the student body, spanning from housing to dining to Greek affairs.

Pay attention, Tar Heels

It’s campaign season again. And to some students, it can seem like the only repercussions are annoying A-frame signs and badgering signature-collectors. But student body elections have consequences, and they give students a chance to impact University policy and campus life by choosing competent officers.

Change, religion are often at odds

In the society we live in, change is a constant. The need to adapt, adjust and reevaluate is ever-present. Organizations that survive are continually broadening their view of the world and expanding their mind to new possibilities. However, there is a large exception: religion.

Student giving essential to funding the University

TO THE EDITOR:

Relief for Haiti

If print isn’t dead, then it is certainly dying. It’s time the University went completely electronic with its admissions process.General Interest Meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Manning Hall — An open meeting for students interested in getting involved with relief efforts. For more details, visit the Facebook group “Students Supporting Haiti.” PID Drive

Problems with paper

If print isn’t dead, then it is certainly dying. It’s time the University went completely electronic with its admissions process. Each year the UNC admissions department sends out between 60,000 and 70,000 paper applications to prospective students.

Buy you a drank

The state of North Carolina should put the sale and distribution of liquor in the hands of the private sector. North Carolina is one of 18 “control states,” jurisdictions that directly control the sale and distribution of alcohol. In North Carolina, local Alcoholic Beverage Control boards manage the production and sale of liquor within the state.

For the new year, focus on getting ?t

You might have gone to the gym on the first day after Winter Break. If you did, then we probably bumped into one another on the track. It was packed in there. When I got to Rams Head Recreation Center, I was sure that I had actually stumbled onto the set of a National Geographic special.

Quick Hit that lampooned UNC’s value missed point

TO THE EDITOR:Is Eeyore the new executive editor of The Daily Tar Heel? Our school gets ranked No. 1 in the nation for “best value in public colleges,” yet you still complain about the cost and quality of the education. I don’t see the DTH reporting about the regular season losses after we won the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball championship. Why do it for this?

Cartoon about graduation was crass and tasteless

TO THE EDITOR:I don’t usually pick up The Daily Tar Heel because the level of vulgarity and obscenity only seems to get worse every time I do. That is why I sorely regretted viewing the paper on Jan. 13 in which Angela Tchou’s cartoon on academic advising blatantly reflected my preexisting sentiments toward our school paper.