Newspaper Page Text
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Poge 4 Th* Red ond Black, Tuesday, Sept 29, 197C
REBECCA LEET
Pedestrian campus
The traffic problem on this campus
should not be an insurmountable prob
lem Now. while irritation over it is
running high, this adrenalin should be
channeled into action before people
become so dulled by the mess that
they psychologically relegate the
problem to the list of crosses to bear
like Coliseum registration final ex
ams and lousy Athens food
The Student Government Associa
tion is studying various ways to lessen
traffic congestion on campus The
Ked and Black wants to add its sup
port to any plans which move the Uni
versity closer to becoming a pedestri
an campus We (eel that, whatever
other stopgap measures might be
tried in the meantime, the time will
eventually come when a pedestrian
campus here will be unavoidable We
believe iherc is no need to wait until
the ven last possible time to make
this change
The Ked and Black
realizes there are verv real prob
lems involved in trying to close oft
some campus streets to motor vehi
cles i buses, police cars and Universi
ty vehicles excepted i The- major ob
stacle is the fact that many ol the
streets which need to he closed are
citv-owned streets Without city ap-
pmval. therefore, the University can
not close these streets or parts of
them.
An attempt was made last year to
win approval Irom the city to close
Baldwin Street running trom Hast
Campus Road to Lumpkin Street,
i Baldwin rims between Park Hall anil
the Fine Arts Building and between
the P-J Complex and LeConte Hall <
The city rejected the request
There is little reason why the city
should object to the closing of man',
streets or parts of streets which lie
within the bounds of the campus
Lumpkin Street. Broad Street. Thom
as Street and Fast Campus Road
form an easy horseshoe tor diverting
non-Umversitv traffic around campus
instead ol through it There is no rea
son why Baldwin Street. Sanford
Drive. Cedar Street and Ag Drive
could not be closed
We doubt very much that too mam
townspeople use these streets during
class hours anyway. It they do.
they re toolish because it takes more
time to go through campus than
around it And it s less nerve-racking
to go around.
The Red and Black hopes that every
effort will be made to move the Uni
versity closer to becoming a pedestri
an campus Every year the number ot
cars on campus increases — especial
ly now that graduate enrollment is
increasing so much This year lliere
are approximately 18.000 cars on
campus.
We believe the campus bus system,
so often delayed now by traffic stand
stills. would be an elficient and effec
tive transportation system it unneces
sary traffic were barred Irom the
streets. Admittedly, this is an expan
sive campus, but it doesn t take 15
minutes to travel through it when
there is no traffic.
Two hours enough
For years, men at the University
were required to attend three hours
more of classes per week than were
women, because KOTC was then
mandatory The men finally com
plained
To equalize the situation somewhat,
it was agreed that male students
would still attend three hours of
ROTC per week, but that their physi
cal education classes would meet only
two hours a week instead of three
Women still had to meet three hours a
week for physical education and.
when coeducational classes began,
they met three times a week.
Laal bll wtm ROTC ilarM being
voluntary, nothing was done to cor
rect this situation It was an easy ov
ersight to make since the change had
been made years ago and the two
hours of P E. lor men and three hours
for women had become standard
But its time to correct the over
sight
It s time that coed and women's
physical education classes were cut
back to two hours a week like the
men's are. Some might say. instead,
that men's P.E should be increased
to three hours a week However, some
members of the men's P.E. faculty
sav the department hasn't the facili
ties or staff to do that now
Besides, for years now men have
been receiving only two hours of phys
ical education instead of three Evi
dently the practice was begun — and
has continued — because it was be
lieved and then proven that two hours
of P.E a week was sufficient
We agree
Progressive police
The University police dejiartment
is one ol Ihe most progressive campus
departments in the country Along
with the departments at Michigan
State University and Wayne State
University iMich.l. it has been a
model (or other institutions
Most institutions of higher educa
tion use either the local police or a
force ol high school graduates to
maintain the peace on campus Some
have no forces at all. except those
which are requested to (time on cam
pus during emergencies
Edward Kassinger. director ot the
Division ot Public Safety, ol which the
police are a part, believes that police 1
must be a part ot the community they
serve Theretore. the 1 University
requires all officers to have lor be a
candidate lor > a bachelor s degree
In .uldilion Kassinger believes that
campus police lepartments should
not have any involvement with enforc
ing University regulations except as
they overlap with established laws
He believes strongly in the concept ot
students as citizens'' with citi
zens' rights and responsibilities —
instead ol as children or wards which
the 1 University must look after
As a result of his translating philos
ophies into policies and practices, he
has turned his department around 180
degrees in the two years he's been
here Because ot their greater educa
tion. 'Indents used to disdain the less
educated kainpus kops" and the dis
dain was met by resentment Also, it
used to bc> that all the kops did was
given parking tickets and catch girls
sneakitu. in alter curtew Now with
the trivialities of parking tickets and
student misconduct mostly out of
their domain of responsibility, the
campus officers can concentrate on
the very real police problems which
exist in a community ot 30,000 people
Kassinger also believes it's part of
his job to help support — or at least
not hinder — lawful demonstrations.
The several large moratorium ob
servances last vear met with no ha
rassment from the campus force,
which is more than many universities
can buast
But the biggest test yet of the cam
pus force and Kassinger came last
May. during the large demonstra
tions Fortunately, it's an academic
question as to what would have h.ijv
poned if Kassinger and his men hadn't
been a buffer between the students
and the special riot police Irom the
State I’atrol Anyone who had any
contact with the patrolmen during
that time witnessed a group ready and
willing (or a confrontation It was
frightening
Many at the University, but espe
cially students, are quick to attack
the weaknesses of the University
while overlooking its areas of
strength and leadership The campus
police force is one group that has
earned the commendation it de
serves
Letters policy
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An opportunity to relate
Fred Davison has a tough job The
Georgia constitution and the mone-
larv needs oi the University demand
he Ik accountable to the state legis-
tlature and Board ol Regents Student
activism — new here now but growing
— demands he be accountable to a
new generation with priorities oftei.
drastically different trom legislator'
and Regents
Fred Davison has been president ot
the l niversitv of Georgia for three
years During that time he has proven
able to meet the challenge ol dealing
with legislators and Regents He has
yet to prove he is able to deal effec
tively with students
The President s State ol the Uni
versify address this Thursday give-
him an excellent opportumtv to begin
relating to students
It is academic to debate whether
h red Davison should have to be ac
countable to students The plain tact
is that il he tails to relate to them,
then the large demonstration which
oceured last Mav mav prove to have
been onlv the opening ol Pandora s
box The demonsrations which lollow
mav not be as peaceful or as relative
Iv undestructive. And as anv college
administrator will be quick to sav the
surest wav to get fund cutbacks Irom
slate legislators and alumni alike is to
have your campus racked bv one
demonstration after another
Fred Davison was the real object ot
last Mav s demonstration Kent Slate
provided the rallying point and the
Indochina War was good tor a few
obscene chants, bul Ihe issue quicklv
boiled down to forcing Davison to face
Ihe students He came oft miserable
the lirst night. Iinallv abandoning the
Academic Building bv a back door,
leaving the demonstration to his lieu-
on Davison turn students doun
tenants and a contingent ot menacing
slate troopers
For three years Davison has been
able to relv on his lieutenants, mainly
Vice President George Parthemos
Dean Luther Sims Dean William
Tate and more recently. Edward
Kassinger In varying degrees these
men are able to turn students down,
when necessarv Bui turning down is
not the same as turning off
Fred Davison cannot turn students
down without turning them off It is
an unfortunate inability Students
iiere are getting frustrated with the
seeming impenetrable nature ol the
L’niversilv — thev are increasinglv
irritated at its faults at the same time
as they are sensing the potential ot
their power
Before Davison can defuse a poten
tial destructive student frustration,
he must recognize it exists. Last
spring, one month before the demon
strations. this writer and another stu
dent sat in Davison s otfice and tried
to tell him that he would have a critical
communications on this campus it he
didn't do something He would say
onlv that the most serious problem
lacing the University was classroom
space
Without denting the University has
a classroom shortage, the incident is
indicative ol Davison's inability to
grasp realitv of student dissatis
faction - and his need to respond to it
in an intelligent sympathetic but not
necessarily accepting manner
Whether student malaise becomes a
constructive stimulus or a destructive
obstruction depends in part on the
awakening of Fred Davison
I hope Fred Davison will use the
opportunity Thursdav to talk tu stu
dents about issues which are impor
tant to them. It is the first rule of pol
itical speechmaking that the politican
talks about what the people are inter
ested in
And the relation between Fred Dav
ison and the students at the Universi
ty ot Georgia is verv much a political
relationship It is a tragic condition
But it is a real condition
Fred Davison must realize that
when he speaks Thursdav he will be
speaking mainly to students — the
state media probable won't pick up
his speech. So he doesn't need to wor
ry about oftending tax payers and
alumni. Hes tree to talk to students
about issues vital to the University —
and. most importantlv. draw the rela-
STEVE STEWART
Segregation academy challenge
Private segregation academies. "
however unloflv their founders motives,
may serve quite usefully as "safety
valves'' to isolate those who can cause the
most problems from the school desegre
gation buttle ground
That was tlx- gist of a statement made
here last spring by gubernatorial candi
date Jimmy Carter He was speaking in a
question-and-answer session at the Inter-
fraternity Cuuncils political forum, and
his questioner was obviously hostile to the
private school movement
Carter's answer i typically, as his ob
servers were to note as the campaign
progressed i was the kind that offended
nobody and satisfied many But it was
rare for that type of answer in that it
made good sense
The tendency among those more en
lightened on the racial issue is to be hos
tile-.-overtly nr overtlv-toward the pri
vate schools They represent, to many,
blatant racism- a last-ditch effort to make
segregation work when it's apparent that
racial separation is on its wav out It
seems that the perpetrators of private
schools are displaying the ultimate obstin
acy stripped any hope that segregation
will really work in the long run. they nev
ertheless are defying rare-mixing out of
pure principle And the prmcipk- is a most
deplorable one
The reasoning follows that segregated
private schools ought not to be atlowed-
that government ought to force them to
accept applicants of all races A step to
ward this has been taken with the lifting of
income lax exemptions formerly afforded
the private schools.
i agree- with that reasomng-or at least.
I think equalm in private as well as public
schools ought to be our eventual goal But
I think for the moment, se-gregated pri
vate schools do. as Carter suggested,
serve a useful purpose
Observation in one particular Southern
community bears this out This year, for
the first Ume. black and white students
have been thoroughly mixed in the public
schools
Anticipating this, some of the white
parents got together last January to or
ganize a private school They said thev
wanted to provide quality education This
If ‘he school opened in a brand-new
building with an enrollment of tOO-plus
and a headmaster reputed to be the win-
ningest football coach in the area I his
coaching prowess apjiarently having been
an important factor in his selection far the
jobi
The private school is going strong At
least, the football team has walloped op
ponents I suppose by now they have in
stalled air-conditioning in the windowless
building i the cooling equipment was late
arriving The private school may last three
or lour years or forever
Meanwhile, back at the pubbe schools,
whites and blacks are working hard to
make full desegregation work The spirit
of cooperation is rather remarkable be
cause there was originally so much resist
ance to this court-ordered mixing plan
There has been no fighung or similar inci
dents
And the private school seems to have
reinforced this there's a certain amount
of rivalry between the student bodies, and
I expect between their parents The pub
lic-school people are determined to make
their thing work-partly because they just
want to show the other crowd thev can do
it.
I frankly don't know whether there
would have been any flare-ups had the
private-school people stayed in the inte
grated public schools Certainly most of
those in the private school would never
think of perpetrating violence, though
some might be passively obstructive
There is little doubt, though, that the pri
vate school has eased tensions And the
rivalry it has stirred up has been healthy
1 would tike nothing better than to see
the private school flop after three or lour
years There is some likelihood that i! will
do so, as parents tire of incurring its tui
tion expenses and become more reasona
ble on the racial problem
In addition, some people are in the pri
vate school because they really think it
offers better education-which may be
true in some cases, in this transition peri
od But I think the public schools will be
better than ever in a few years, and some
of these people will return to them
For lack of support, then, the private
school may eventually die
I think it will be desirable, loo. for the
government to require that private
schools be nondiscnminatorv This is a
logical extension of the philosophy behind
equal employment opportunity laws
There is no place in our society for a
quasi public institution that discriminates
on the basis of race
Eventually there won t be any private
schools with guaranteed segregation
Meanwhile, the private schools can keep
tensions down and inspire those who don t
want to cop out of the struggle to show the
die-hards a thing or two
tion between these issues and educa
tion here
Students don t want to hear a drv
speech about the structure ol the Uni
versity Sy stem or the B ard ol Re
gents — unless it is shown how that
sturcture affects hie and education at
this University
Students don t want to be lec tured
on the damage demonstrations can do
to University endowments Students
want to hear how Fred Davison or his
lieutenants are working lo alleviate
the conditions which make students
demonstrate
How the University is attracting
and rewarding good teachers — the
Law School and history department
debacles last vear are examples ol
how the opposite is happening
How academic advisement — a
major complaint from DIALOGUE
tor the past three years - is being
improved
What work is being done in the
areas ot curriculm revision — not just
the slight i albeit hardwom liberalize-
clum last vear. but the more conteni-
courses and majors,
porarv issues of interdisciplinary
courses and vajors.
How successful the black recruit
ment program has been in passing the
word that this University is open to
people ot everv race
What the University's service func
tion. UGA is contributing in the area
ot environmental quality - not only
pollution control bul in areas such as
penal reform and poverty .
The State ol the University address
Thursday is an opportunity tor Fred
Davison to demonstrate that he is
sensitive to the problems which en
gage students and involve the Univer
sity He needs to explain to students
what the University is doing and will
be doing — and. if the case be. whv we
won't be doing more
« $
| Stilted trash
TO THE EDITOR:
Allow me to commend Miss Leel on
her excellent column in last week's
paper Good intentions, but the Red
and Black does not live up to them
The interests of the students at the
University have been changing Wow!
It s about time you noticed But you
haven't noticed that vour paper hasn't
been oriented toward these student
interests. It is for this reason that
nobodv reads vour newspaper
Each week we gel the same stilted
trash. It's almost as if you were put
ting it out on an assembly line The
paper alienates students more than it
relates to them They can no longer
identify with the scope ot its cover
age That is why 'here are attempts at
present to establish undergiound pap
ers ori Uus campus.
Once in a long while you print some
thing worthwhile - as the history fi-
jsco. but much too often vou make a
big thing out of nothing as if you were
making it all up Your material
sounds like a bunch of lournalists
trying to play Drew Pearson with
material they know nothing about.
Too much eagerness to find contro
versy where there is none makes 10
per cent of your yellow journalism
and the other 90 per cent garbage
D.D.
Rebecca Leet, Editor
Jo Ann Rock,
Business Manager
Steve Stewart,
Managing Editor
W. t. loll, copy editor; Nancy Holt, newi editor. Ce* Howe. feature editor,
Job GiWs. sport, editor, Marvin Katzoa, photographic editor; Shoryn Kane
ond Rotrice Walters, associate news editors.
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