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JIMMY JOHNSON
'Worry about s ilence ’
"The male mosquito buzzes but does
not bite," said one of my wiser cousins
last week "However, the female bites
but does not buzz.”
He paused while this knowledge of the
woods was absorbed "So you needn’t
worry when you hear a mosquito buzzing
around you Just worry when vou don’t
hear a buzz."
He turned and
walked away satis
fied that everything
had been neatly or
dered into place.
It can be a mis
take to make a point
about some situation
by using an analogy,
especially if there is a flaw in me
analogy — we might ought to worry when
there is a buzz since there may be a
silent female mosquito around also.
Still, when things seem calm it does not
always mean there is no cause for
concern — just a lack of buzzing does not
mean there are no mosquitos about to
suck blood from your innocently exposed
s]Tin.
The lands and waters of the state of
Georgia and the South in general are. for
the largest part, still unmolested. In most
places a person can still see the sky and
drink the water In most of the forest
animals still exist in a wild state.
But. like exposed skin in a mosquito
infested area, that land and water is
•threatened by something which, like the
female mosquito, we aren’t aware of
until after the Ijlood has been removed.
The silent enemy is the prevalent
attitude that mankind is master of all
that he surveys and that the earth is here
to be used in whatever way will elevate
the human condition.
Yea! Verily! even the lead off section
PAULA CHEATHAM
Student Affairs challenged
by evaluation committee'
The Office of Student Affairs has been
presented a challenge by its Evaluation
Committee which, if met, should go a fair
distance in improving the situation of
women and black students served by that
office. Having been
present to hear per
sonnel reaction to
the evaluation com
mittee recommenda
tions, I am rather
hopeful that Student
Affairs is ready to
take steady, sub-
stantial action for
improvement
The Office of Student Affairs is the
division within the University that serves
students in areas such as financial aid.
evaluation and testing, career planning
and placement, housing, health services.
Union programming and judicial affairs.
The Evaluation Committee formed to
assess the Office’s direction, goals and
procedures was composed of personnel
within the division, several faculty mem-
FIG NEWTON
bers, and four students, including this
writer. The committee worked two quar
ters before arriving at its series of
recommendations, the most significant of
which for women and minorities concern
measures to try to overcome discrimina
tion. These include affirmative action
hiring procedures for the office, proactive
programming to meet the special needs
and interests of women and blacks and
the mothballing of the present orientation
film which has both sexist and racist
overtones.
The policy of affirmative action in
hiring means that the Office of Student
Affairs will take positive action to recruit
women and minorities for employment.
The eventual effect this will have can be
twofold; women and minority students
will have more persons within Student
Affairs about whom they can feel
comfortable and more trustful, and
Student Affairs will have more personnel
who can recognize specialized needs and
plan courses of action to meet those
Fabulous Fox soon
to be rubble ?'
needs.
Another important idea regarding affir
mative action resulted from discussion on
the recommendations with Student Af
fairs' personnel That is the possible
extension of the affirmative action griev
ance procedure to students Presently
only students employed by the University
have channels of recourse if they feel
they have been discriminated against due
to race or sex. What is needed is a
similar grievance route for all students to
seek redress of such grievances. Such a
vehicle would enable students to bring
charges against faculty and staff as well
as other students. While there are certain
fundamental problems with the present
grievance procedure for employes (eg..
President Fred Davison appoints the
grievance hearing panel, which can give
an inherent bias to the panel), the
process can be improved and should be
extended to the student body as a whole.
There has been considerable discussion
about the Student Affairs orientation
film, the use of which the Evaluation
Committee recommended discontinued
Student Affairs solicited input from
women and blacks in special viewing
sessions and heard from both groups that
the film is offensive and insensitive
Beyond these considerations, there is
concern that it portrays the incoming
student as simple-minded and plastic It
has been argued by certain persons
within Student Affairs that the cost of the
present film prohibits scrapping it and
developing a new presentation However,
it is hoped that the Office will seriously
consider the harm such a film can do in
providing role-models and the alienation
continued use might bring from women
and black students.
A lot of time, energy and thought went
into those recommendations. But, then,
so was a lot of time, energy, and
thoughtfulness given to the 1970 Universi
ty self-study, which has been largely
ignored Which recommended a black
cultural center by 1975. (It’s almost
1975.) Which called for an increase in the
number of black faculty. (Though less
than one percent of Georgia's faculty is
black, according to the Affirmative
Action report > Black students reminded
the administration last winter that they
were being ignored; yet nothing has
changed visibly.
A recommendation brought before Uni
versity Council by Mike Simpson, a
student member from the law school,
that the Council investigate the black
students’ grievances was ruled out of
order at the winter meeting, overlooked
at the spring meeting, and the Council
didn’t meet this summer.
Student Affairs need not continue the
trend of oversight and inaction. In fact,
the Evaluation Committee members
seemed to have the energy and the
sensitivity it will take to provide better
services for minority groups and women
That energy and concern will have to
become contagious at all levels within the
Office of Student Affairs, particularly
among those w ith authority to act and to
modify priorities and directions. There
will he a lot of us watching to see if they
accept and meet their challenge
The Fox.
Shimmering neon lights shout its naTne
aiong Peachtree St. The Fox Theatre
Atlanta landmark The Fabulous Fox.
Soon to be rubble.
In Europe theatres I
fell to bombs; in I
America we use eco-1
nomics. In Europe H
they called it war; af
in America we call IgL
it progress War or
progress, it doesn’t j
matter The result is |
the same — destruc
tion.
As a child, I would wander through the
massive vaulted halls of the Fox marvel
ing at the thick wine carpet, the ornate
plaster walls and the flaming torch
lanterns. The uniformed attendants guard
ing the turnstiles completed the picture
of a Sheik's castle.
Also, the snack bar was different. Its
circular design allowed one to approach
it from any angle, guaranteeing us short
folks a higher percentage chance of
attracting the popcorn girl’s attention
Even the oaiuiooms weren't run oi (he
mill. They consisted of several large
rooms with wall-to-wall mirrors and
chairs for those who had to wait. The
chairs were what captured my attention.
They were slightly higher than ordinary
chairs and covered with a slippery silky
material. I used to see how long I could
perch on those chairs before I would slide
off It was great sport for those of us who
couldn't sit in those chairs and touch the
floor with our feet at the same time.
Who could forget the actual interior of
the theatre’ Aisles you could walk down
without your feet sticking to the floor
Plush seats The gigantic balcony. And
the roof The roof that rolled back to
reveal stars twinkling like silver dimes
overhead The roof that echoed the music
of the largest pipe organ in the world,
rising from the floor like Orpheus from
Hell
Just going to the Fox was as much an
experience as watching the movies shown
there. "The Reivers ’’ "Gone With the
Wind. " "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid." They were all flashed across the
oversized screen.
Oh, but movies weren’t the Fox’s only
claim to fame. There were vaudeville
and opera, ballet and burlesque I sat
nearly in the orchestra pit and saw
Puccini’s "Madame Butterfly" come
alive on that grand old stage The next
year opera was moved to the shiny new
of TI
Fie Newton is an assistant news editor
he Red and Black.
Civic Center and opera patrons shook
their heads after the opening perform
ance "Bad accoustics.” they said. "We
have traded atmosphere for more seats "
I suffered through "Faust" while tucked
away in a high seat in the Civic Center
and never went back Somehow part of
the magic of opera was destroyed for me
They are going to tear down the
Fox. reduce the grand old lady of
theatres to memories prostitute her
glamor The ghosts that haunt the
dressing rooms and wander silently
through the wide halls will wander the
Fox no longer.
A Constitution writer said only a fairy
godmother could save the Fox Well,
there aren’t many fairy godmothers
floating around these days, and miracles
seem to be at a premium. So, I guess it’s
left up to us common folks to find a way
to save the building from being razed.
The Fabulous Fox. soon to be rubble
Some call it progress I call it a shame
of the Good Book quotes God as giving
mankind full reign;
‘"Multiply and fill the earth and subdue
it, you are masters of the fish and birds
and all the animals And look! I have
given you the seed-bearing plants through
out the earth, and all the fruit trees for
your food ’ Then God looked over all that
he had made, and it was excellent in
every way.” (Genesis 1:28-1:31, The
Living Bible)
God. as you will recall, later came to
regret the wide range of authority he
gave mankind According to the Bible, he
felt it necessary to toss Adam and EJve
out of the easy life in Eden and, many
generations later, drowned everybody,
except Noah, his immediate family and a
lot of animals (The animals, one
supposes were so the Children of Israel
would have something to have dominion
over after the flood )
Given that solid backing from the Bible
it is not surprising to observe the way
mankind has treated the earth and other
living things of the earth.
It is not surprising that we. for the
largest part, are not trying to stop the
Jimmy Johnson is
The Red and Black
a former editor of
industrialization and pollution and defo
liation of the South. It is not really
surprising that nearlv everv chamber of
commerce in the South striving for more,
bigger and better industry.
We all know that development of bigger
farms, larger industry, better resort
areas will create new jobs, bring in new
money, new blood and improve the
human condition.
This is not to say that we are entirely
ignoring the ecological balance
Despite (for example) Chamber of
Commerce types in Brunswick who shout
at the top of their lungs when ecology is
mentioned, "Every time I see the
smokestacks of Brunswick, all I smell is
money," a real effort is being made to
avoid wreaking havoc upon the physical
environment.
Still, because of the silent enemy within
ourselves — that deep-seated attitude
expressed in Genesis as a directive from
on high to "fill the earth and subdue it"
— ecology minded people only seek to
reduce the amount of poison and garbage
dumped into the air. ground and water
The argument is that we should control
pollution lest we eventually kill ourselves.
When mercury filled fish float sideways
down the river only the fishermen are
worried. There will also be a few signs
that we need to curb the amount of
mercury before it starts killing us.
We never hear anyone shout that there
might be a responsibility of the part of
mankind to the fish of the world.
When a new industry starts tearing
down the forest to make room for their
buildings and parking lots, it is the
hunters and hikers who complain
No one ever considers the rights of
animals which lose their homes in the
onslaught of bulldozers and cranes.
The large timber companies make a
large point of their efforts to reforest the
lands they strip. But they don’t say that
they are returning to the wildlife and the
earth that which was taken because a
responsibility to non human life and to
the earth. The reforestation is so future
generations can have forests and wood
products and so the company can
continue to be a vibrant part of the
economy.
Unfortunately, the main thrust of the
ecology movement is aimed at keeping
the earth habitable for future generations
of humans.
That means keeping enough deer for
hunters and hikers but that is the extent
of the concern for deer
The tempered ecology movement seeks
to keep the water clean enough for future
generations of swimmers and fishermen
but it will tolerate a few polluted rivers
and a few thousand poisoned fish for the
sake of jobs and money.
There is more than one person who
looks at the undeveloped islands along
Georgia's coast and dreams of making
resort areas out of them "sc everyone
can enjoy them.” Think of all the money
and jobs that would be created by a
moderately priced resort area on Sapelo,
St. Catherine's or Cumberland Islands
Then, think of the enormous loss of life
and the rape of the earth that would take
place in such development. (And think of
what has happened wherever develop
ment occurs.)
Think of how that messiah of Southern
development. Henry Grady, described
Jekyll Island in 1886 "Jekyll’s is thick
with game. All manner of ducks fill its
bogs and ponds Quails make its thickets
musical. There are over two hundred
deer in one drove...”
Just as Grady hoped, money poured
into Jekyll and the South and today a
visitor to Jekyll is fortunate to catch
sight of a deer
Jekyll is a delight for the many
homeowners and thousands of visitors
but the rights of all the animals, the
island itself and trees which stand in the
way o! roads and buildings are thought
no more of than were the rights of
American Indians as settlers plowed
their way westward
It is time we rethink our priorities and
responsibilities which relate to the earth
and non-human life
We need to decide whether the earth,
the animals and the plants have a right
to exist unmolested by mankind before it
is too late for the decision to make any
difference.
It is time to decide if the verses of
Genesis are the will of God or merely
wishful thinking.
It is time to look around for a mosquito
quietly flying about
MICHAEL SIMPSON
Grab education
where you find it'
/%?
So you studied diligently for years and
blew your mind on those SAT tests and
now you have arrived at the University to
reap the rewards
Then why are you so bewildered? Did
the orientation film
not prepare you for
tons of dope, sex
experimentation,
boring professors
and a roommate who
has a fetish for pea
nut butter and burnt
weenie sandwiches _
at four in the morn-
ing You. once voted most likely to
succeed, have arrived, and no one takes
your hand
Relax You’re in the boat with the other
4,000 freshman. What you need is a long
second look and a new orientation You
could start by learning wby you shouldn’t
go to college It is easy to see why the
University did not tell you. After all. they
are in the business to encourage your
higher academic endeavors, and besides,
they need your bread. But in the interest
of a balanced perspective, here are some
reasons why you shouldn’t be here
If you have come to the University to
be given a meaningful educational experi
ence you might as well split Nobody is
going to give you anything here You’re
even going to have to pay a dime to get
your checks cashed At best, this educa
tional system is designed to do little more
than expose you to general areas of
knowledge At worst, this University is
designed to hasten a nervous breakdown
Today the onl> meaningful educational
experience is the one you dig out
yourself And to get it you’re going to
have to sift through tons of meaningless
academic diarrhea designed to show you
your place in life rather than educate you
to its possibilities If you are here to go
through the motions of education, then
you are little more than a place holder,
waiting for what will essentially be a
meaningless degree
And speaking of meaningless degrees,
if you are going to college to help you get
a job. you don't have to unpack Any
trade school can do the same for less
money and time Most BA’s are of little
more value than your high school ring.
Employers are looking for ability, not
paper, when they hire
If you are still resolved to pursue an
education, your first major obstacle is
learning to cope with that most mysteri
ous of all creatures, the instructor,
'teachers come in all manner of shapes,
sizes and abilities Many students either
search for what is known as a "crip” or
accept the random dictates ot the
computer
However, a good step towaiu a real
educational experience is to search out
those professors who are willing and able
to "profess" knowledge and not just dish
it out like warmed over noodles Then if
you find a subject boring, tell the
instructor. Chances are. the teacher will
think so too Yet. sone of the most
exciting educational experiences are
those in which a teacher takes a
seemingly boring topic and makes it
relate And if the subject is making you
fall asleep, don’t just blame it on the
course or the instructor Look at your
own work If you are lin’d of those boring
lectures, think how tired the professor is
of reading your boring papers
Outside of the strictly academic pur
suits, you can find myriad experiences at
the University, and you shouldn't let
classes get in the way of the rest of the
college experience After all. the best
education available is that which teaches
you to cope with situations and people,
and those lessons are in more intimate
social contact than that which is offered
in the classroom
But, before you decide to score some
dope for your big pot party some advice^
Dope is easily found in Athens and the
University but so are narcs. The enjoy
ment of dope isn’t worth a conviction and
sentence so if you plan on involving
yourself in the drug scene, know your
connections Especially beware of doing
dope in the dorms R A s have been
known to turn in names of suspected
users, and there is nothing worse than an
unwanted intrusion into your leisure time
fun
Being sexually promiscuous is also an
accepted leisure time activity on campus
today But before you fall under the spell
of Aphrodite, a visit to the. University
Health Services will insure that a casual
exchange remains uncomplicated The
University Health Services offers coun
seling and contraceptives for both sexes
as well as abortion referral A periodical
checkup will also insure that "you don’t
give a dose to the one you love most."
With all the experiences available both
in and out of the classroom, there is an
abundant education at this University if
you are willing to search for and take the
responsibility for the results All that is
needed is for you to take your own life,
not by suicide but by grabbing on to it
Dont give it lo a class, an instructor, or a
textbook Don t hand it out to anybody
Search for your own answers and your
own attitudes Somewhere in the process,
if you're lucky, you will find a "meaning
ful educational experience ”