Newspaper Page Text
OPINION
THURSDAY, JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2018 • Page 7
Policy change may end love affair between UGA and Delta
Atlanta’s home-based airline,
Delta Air Lines, was the recipient
of the University of Georgias 2018
Friend of UGA Alumni Award
and transported the team to Los
Angeles for the 2017 Rose Bowl
game. However, with Deltas new
service and support animal policy
which specifically bans “bull type
dogs”, the long-standing love affair
between UGA and Delta may have
just come to a screeching halt.
On June 20, Delta announced
its new policy that is set to go
into effect July 10. The airline’s
official website says the airline
will “enhance its restrictions”
by introducing a limit of one
emotional support animal per
customer per flight and no
longer accepting “bull type
dogs, hedgehogs, ferrets, insects,
rodents, snakes, spiders, sugar
John Hewitt
johnh@dekalbchamp.com
gliders, reptiles, amphibians, goats,
non-household birds, animals
improperly cleaned and/or with a
foul odor and animals with tusks,
horns or hooves”.
To place what was named the
2017 top college mascot in the
county by USA Today in the same
category as insects, rodents, snakes
and spiders may even be insulting
to Georgia Tech fans. It is most
certainly insulting to UGA fans
and owners of the many bully
breeds.
According to the American
Kennel Club’s top breeds report,
the French bulldog is the fourth
most popular breed and the
bulldog is the fifth most popular
breed. Delta’s classification of “Bull
type dogs” would include some of
our nation’s most-beloved breeds
such pugs, Boston terriers, English
bulldogs, Boxers, Staffordshire
terriers and American bulldogs.
Unless Delta plans on requiring
DNA testing to prove a dog’s
genetic makeup, the decision
making will presumably be based
on a Delta employee’s visual
assessment of the animal or on
what the dog’s owner represents the
dog to be.
Delta’s discriminatory policy
of banning bull types is as absurd
as the “one drop rule” that was
commonly observed in the early
history of our nation. Any person
who had, or was assumed to have,
one drop of African or Native
American blood was considered
non-White. Will any dog with a
wrinkled snout be considered a
bull breed by Delta employees?
Discrimination of any kind,
in any form, is unacceptable,
but Delta’s new policy that
prohibits the mascot of the
nation’s first chartered university
is discriminatory to its core. For
Delta Air Lines, which often touts
its commitment to diversity, to
single-out one broad-based type of
dog certainly is a narrow-minded
approach to policy making.
Expect extreme turbulence,
Delta. UGA fans and others around
the globe love their bull type dogs
and if Uga can’t fly on Delta, fans
probably won’t either.
Lessons learned from my summer internship at The Champion
My thoughts before becoming
an intern were all over the place. I
thought it was going to be easy and
hard at the same time, but I knew
it wouldn’t be doing a few things
then going home an hour later. I
knew a lot of work had to be done
on my part. I knew I couldn’t come
in thinking this would be an easy
grade for class. I knew I had to show
everyone what I could do and the
skills I have picked up over the last
few years in college. I genuinely
came in with the mindset of
developing new skills to improve in
areas I struggle in and to experience
being in an actual office.
I was scared at first because I
didn’t know what to expect and was
afraid I wasn’t going to do a good
job. My fear of failure gets the best
of me sometimes. But when I came
in, it was relatively easy to adjust.
The workers and reporters here are
welcoming and made me feel like I
was a part of the team.
The reporters are constantly
giving me feedback on how to
better myself as a writer, the do’s
and don’ts of the journalism world,
Morgan Ware
Summer Intern
and life skills. They even made me
sit and think about my life plans
after I graduate from college-as it’s
approaching faster than I would
like. The reporters told me how
important it is to know exactly what
I want to do and to have a backup
plan just in case my original plans
don’t go well. Now I am mapping
everything out so I won’t be stuck
after graduation asking myself “what
now?” I really appreciate their kind
words and feedback because it is
definitely turning me into a better
writer and person.
At The Champion a few
adjustments had to be made so I
could become familiar with the
way things are done. Being taught
to write a specific way for so long,
the different style of writing and
the pace of how many stories are
completed was different than what
I’m used to.
In school I work on one story
for a week or two but during
my internship, the pace is much
different.
I was told to produce three
stories a week. At first I thought it
was going to be impossible to do
but now I’m getting the hang of it.
I’m not at the speed I want to be,
but am making progress and before
my internship is over I will be better
than when I started.
The style of writing was a major
change for me because my professor
has a set layout on how she wants
our stories to be written but when I
started my internship, I immediately
noticed the different style of writing.
I am still trying to maneuver
and use the style of writing that’s
expected at The Champion but it’s
going to be hard to adapt back to my
professor’s way of writing.
While at The Champion I’ve
noticed that I like finding new topics
to write about, getting good quotes,
getting feedback on my stories and
learning what to do differently next
time, reading other reporters’ stories
and what their style of writing is.
I treat this internship as if it were
my job. I show up early to make a
good impression, try to perform
my best at each task I’m given,
and get my work done in a timely
manner. When my internship is
complete I plan on combining the
skills I learned at school with those
I learned at The Champion. This will
make me a better writer. I have also
learned that I am becoming more
confident in the stories I produce.
Before, I often questioned if my
copy was good enough.
This internship has been a big
opportunity for me because I hope
it will help land me a job after
graduation. I am happy to have had
this opportunity because it was a
reality check for me. This experience
made me realize that I need to
buckle down and plan my future.
This internship was what I needed
to sharpen my skills to get me ready
for a future job in the journalism
world.