In closing, I offer this excerpt from your
own May/June 2000 Review as the best
argument for leaving the memorial and
Silent Sam in place without modifications.
It was not made by someone who glorifies
the Confederacy but rather by a gentleman
who, in fact, takes issue with Confederate
images. While I have my disagreements
with him on some issues related to Confederate imagery, he is spot on with his assessment as far as Silent Sam is concerned:
John Shelton Reed, noted sociology professor and author of numerous books on the
South, predicted in an essay in 1988 about
Silent Sam that it was “only a matter of time
before somebody does come gunning for him.”
Reed told The N&O that he favors removing
the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse and also would support
removal of a more warlike Confederate statue,
which can be found throughout the South. But
Silent Sam, he told the newspaper, is different.
“He doesn’t honor a cause; rather, he
honors brave men who died in a war,” Reed
said. “The analogy to the Vietnam memorial
is not a bad one. Many of the people who go
to it, I’m sure, believe that the cause these
people died for was futile or wrong.”
Terry Boles ’ 72
Plano, Texas
How to reach us
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Fax: (919) 962-0010
E-mail:
CAR@unc.edu
Web:
alumni.unc.edu
Mail: P.O. Box 660
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514
A Tribute — and Thank You
— to an Unforgettable Professor
In the spring of 1948, I was approaching graduation from the School of Journalism. I was a rather naive farm boy, newly
out of two years’ military service, eager to
get out into the real world. I had no idea
how to go about finding a job.
One morning a journalism professor
stopped me as we passed in the hall. “How
would you like to go over to Raleigh this
afternoon and see The News and
Observer?” he asked. Like, wow! Has a cat
got a tail? I had never been inside a newspaper. Since grade school I had fantasized
about being a news reporter, an ambition
sparked by the comic strip “Jane Arden,
Girl Reporter,” in The News and Observer.
The ride to Raleigh was pleasant. The
professor knew how to ask the questions
that led you to tell your life story. The
tour was jaw-dropping. The clank of
typewriters (manual) in the newsroom, the
faces of bylines I
knew well
(Woodrow Price, Jay
Jenkins, Marjorie
Hunter, Jim Chaney,
Simmons Fentress),
the noise and heat of
the composing room
(it was the hot lead era). We ended in the
office of Sam Ragan, managing editor.
After some casual conversation, Sam
asked: “How would you like to come
work for The News and Observer?” Like,
wow! Has a cat …?
Updates with news about the University and
the GAA can be found on the GAA’s website
at
alumni.unc.edu and at
uncmobile.com.
Z. Bryan Haislip ’ 48
Tarboro
Stuart Sechriest ’ 35, who taught journalism at Carolina for 32 years, died in October
at age 97. For more, see page 74.
As Tuition Climbs, More Doors Close
“Catastrophe is a time of great opportunity.” So says an ancient Chinese proverb.
The makers of our North Carolina
Constitution would be sorely disappointed
in the 2011 session
of the N.C. Legisla-
ture and the UNC
System Board of
Governors. Article
IX (Education), Sec-
tion 1 (Education
Encouraged) pro-
vides: “Religion, morality, and knowledge
being necessary to good government and
the happiness of mankind, schools,
libraries, and the means of education shall
forever be encouraged.” Section 9 (Benefits
of Public Institutions of Higher Education)
provides unequivocally: “The General
Assembly shall provide that the benefits of
The University of North Carolina and
other public institutions of higher educa-
tion, as far as practicable, be extended to
the people of the State free of expense.”
None dispute that our governments are
in economic turmoil, though many dispute
the causes and disparage vehemently voices
that oppose their own. It is as if all mouths
are operating at full volume and all ears are
closed.
CAROLINA ALUMNI REVIEW
15
