6/13 Letters: NC gerrymandering an obstacle to legislative progress in North Carolina

Regarding “Supporters of nonpartisan redistricting process gather at NC legislature” (June 5): I love peanut butter. I’m passionate about it. Recently, I noticed I was out. As I got into my car to drive to the store for more, I noticed a front tire was flat. But I really wanted peanut butter, so I decided to drive with a flat tire. It didn’t work out well – I had to drive very slowly, it was hard to steer, I was weaving all over the road. Finally I stopped. I decided it would be more efficient to take the time to change the tire, and then drive to the store.

My peanut butter is whatever issue people are passionate about – health care, education, voting rights, etc. The flat tire is the gerrymandered General Assembly. Until North Carolina can end gerrymandering and get a General Assembly that truly represents the will of all residents, the issues voters are passionate about will not be addressed fairly – everyone will keep struggling along on a flat tire and not get peanut butter.

Solution? The “spare tire” is House Bill 200, but legislative leadership won’t let it come up for a vote. That’s like taking away the jack to install the spare.

UNC admins overstepped

I could not agree more with “History censored at Carolina” (June 8). It hit the nail on the head; administrators have no business canceling a course.

Allow me to emphasize the point: The brain trust on a college or university campus resides solely within the ranks and preview of the faculty regarding curricular matters. Quality faculty who are recruited and hired go through a rigorous faculty/peer-review process; this factor alone is what makes a university great. The main mission of any academic administrator is to secure sufficient resources for the faculty to do their work. In other words, they “work” for the faculty. This is how a great university operates, not the other way around.

With regard to the creation or development of a course or an entire curriculum, that privilege is the sole responsibility of the faculty. Faculty also decide if a course should be offered or canceled. Neither the administration nor the Board of Trustees should ever censor, delete or diminish a course appropriately created by the faculty. That’s not how a university works.

Importantly, it should not be how a great university like UNC-Chapel Hill should operate.

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "6/13 Letters: NC gerrymandering an obstacle to legislative progress in North Carolina."