Newspaper Page Text
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The Red and Black, Wednesday, October 9, 1974
JOE DISCO
THE OPINIONS OF
THE RED AND BLACK
Sorry, no numbers
All the important people on
campus are probably wondering
why their phones have been so
quiet this quarter. All the rest of
you are upset because none of
vour friends from last year have
bothered to get in touch with
you.
It’s because no one can find
you or anyone else who lives
on campus.
The student locator is no help.
Locator’s usual response to a
number reqqest is "Do you know
the dorm she lives in?"
To this the frustrated response
is “No, lady, I wouldn't be
calling you if I did. I could just
call the dorm.”
Even though we’re already
well into fall quarter there are
no campus phone books. Last
year we were told that the delay
was caused by the use of a full
color cover.
This year that excuse cannot
Improve internships
The Georgia Intern Program
which was the brainchild of Gov.
Jimmy Carter’s administration
has run into several problems
which are keeping it from being
worthwhile as it could and should
be.
The intern program was de
signed to give students in Geor
gia's colleges and universities a
chance to get invaluable first
hand experience working with a
state agency for a quarter.
However, many students who
have participated in the intern
program reportthat it’s poorly
organized. The students com
plain the selection process is
inefficient, there is little or no on
the job supervision of interns and
Idealism can be recovered
be used. Sources in the student
activities office report that the
computerized magnetic tapes
have not even been sent to the
printer, yet.
Another spokesman for the
student activities offices said we
could “hope” that the books
would be ready for distribution
on Nov. 10.
So if there are no more delays,
we will be able to use them for
all of 17 days before classes end
for the quarter.
Hopefully, only a few students
will move at the end of the
quarter so the books will still be
useful winter and spring quar
ters.
Certainly there must be a
quicker way of making the
numbers of students living on
campus available to everyone
sooner. We hope a new way of
get the numbers printed will be
found so we won’t have to suffer
though this again next fall.
the work interns get stuck doing
is often just busy work for an
agency that wanted some cheap
labor.
It’s really unfortunate that the
interns are not put to better use.
Certainly they could benefit their
agencies more and learn much
more by doing important work
rather than typing or filing eight
hours a day.
We hope Ted Hammock, the
University’s coordinator for the
program, will work to see that
the program's rough spots are
smoothed out soon.
A well run internship program
would be an asset to everyone
involved in it. The state needs
such a program.
As we progress through the 70 s on
toward the twenty-first century, it may
prove useful to reflect upon, if but for a
moment — the lessons of history we have
learned in recent years.
As Michael Har
rington so eloquently
suggests in the cur
rent introduction to
his book. The Other
America, the early
60s held forth tre
mendous potential
for American So
ciety.
Never before in the history of the
republic had so many creative minds
marshalled forces to forge a new order.
Washington was teeming with young
intellectuals and dedicated students of
politics
A swift undercurrent of political excite
ment was sweeping from D C. out across
the nation From the heat of a late
Washington August to the cold silence of
winter, young political activists could be
seen in cafes and on street corners
guardingly clutching copies of the N Y
Times or the Washington Post.
As America approached its finest hour,
tragedy arose like a hunter in the
darkness to stalk our dreams of idealism
A brief 1000 days into his Presidency,
John Kennedy became the first victim of
the politics of violence
James Reston of the Times with keen
perception wrote that the real tragedy of
Kennedy's assasination was the thought
of what might have been. It was our first
painful lesson in the loss of potential.
As we collectively tried to forget
Dallas, a man by the name of Johnson
promised to end poverty and injustice at
home while pursuing a foreign policy in
Vietnem which would for himself prove
to be politically mortal Historians have
called Johnson the wrong man at the
wrong place in the wrong time of history.
He may well have been one of our
finest leaders had not Vietnam destroyed
his cherished Presidency At the very
time when the possibilities for social
change and reform in this nation were at
their best, the government turned its
energies, its minds and its resources
towards the Vietnam War
In the words of Arthur M. Schlesinger,
"Vietnam instructed us at horrible costs
and in the limits of our wisdom and
power in foreign affairs.”
Vietnam was our greatest national
tragedy. This opinion was sadly recon
firmed as one watched the Air Force jets
docking at home with bodies of dead GI’s
on board From inside lonely terminals
all across the nation, families awaited
the return of their loved ones — some
dressed in black, all in mourning
For the sake of legitimacy the Johnson
administration spoke of new gains made
in the rice fields or of quick victory that
American generals could foresee.
The reports to the American public
were always promising Results proved
otherwise.
Like the scandal of Watergate, Vietnam
GAIL HALL
Development Act helps
was significant because it forced us to
look at ourselves Morally speaking, we
had reached high noon and it was time
for a reexamination of America's consci
ousness.
For in the words of Schlesinger, the
historical event derives its uniqueness
from the fact that "it makes us confront
the contradictions between our creed and
our behavior, between the values we
profess and those by which we live."
Historically speaking, neither the Viet
nam War nor the Watergate scandal
were original examples in which a
conflict arose between. American politi
cal behavior and American political
ideology.
This fact tends to point up the greatest
crisis before America today — the crisis
of democracy. If we truly espouse
democratic principles to the world around
us then we must, in our political behavior
strive for consistency in word and deed.
Many intelligent Americans in the late
'60's came to the realization that there
was indeed a widening gap between
action and belief.
Those who were vocal in their opinions
concerning this breach in American
political conduct were visited with great
offenses by the government. We need
only mention the names of Philip and
Daniel Berrigan to serve as examples.
A new wave of disillusionment swept
across American society which called
into question former beliefs and values.
The subject of disillusionment was
explored in depth by an American
songwriter. Don Maclean, who grew up
during the turbulent sixties. His best-sell
ing song on the subject (“American
Pie") was an overnight sensation.
The fires of the high spirit which once
captured the imagination of countless
number of Americans in the early 60's
may never be recovered. But we can
move toward practicing in our political
behavior what we expound in our
political creed.
We can move away from the use of
violence as a means to an end and from
the use of deception as a means of
communication between the government
and the people.
Our national character which ultimate
ly is a reflection upon our own selves
must bear the legacy of what was lost in
the 60's. For the sake of future civiliza
tions when the challenges to man's very
existence will be substantial, these les
sons should be taken to heart.
if Happens • bq &ao mscoil
lellersE3elters
To say that the Housing and Commu
nity Development Act of 1ST4 could be
very helpful to the city of Athens and all
of its citizens would be an understate
ment The act could raise the quality of
life for many Athen
ians. and that is no
small thing
Possibly. $0 mil
lion will be given to
Athens over a period
of three years to aid
the city in local com
munity development
programs
The act will seek to improve the living
environment of Athens by altering cycles
of poverty, decentralization of poverty
areas and income groups, providing
decent housing for all citizens, providing
jobs for people of low and moderate
income and planning public facilities and
national resources in such a way so as to
provide the greatest usefulness and
availability to the citizen
The act is a potentially powerful bit of
legislation Let's hope that its effective
ness will not be smothered under the
debris of hastiness, misinformation and
actions which breed distrust among
citizens affected by the act.
As I talked with some citizens who
attended the first public forum on the
act. I could see small quantities of debris
already piling up
One thing to gather was hastiness.
Some people there felt overwhelmed by
the complexity of an act which the
average citizen won t have a chance to
grasp The average citizen won't get a
chance to learn about the fine points on
definition because the deadline is Dec I
One argument for getting the applica
tion in as soon as possible is that Athens
will have a better chance of receiving the
money from the US. Department of
Housing and Urban Development if it
beats other cities to the money
But. will this hastiness be at the
expense of more important things needed
for the success of the local development
program?
njjHE RED AND BLACK
Joyce Murdoch, editor
Eddie Brock Leslie Thornton
Business manager Executive editor
Deborah Blum and Betsy Neal, news editors: Steve Fox and Edie McLaurin.
associate news editors; Ed Kimble, city editor: Carolyn Tatum, state editor:
Miriam Pace, feature editor; Nancy Rogers, associate feature editor; David
Breslauer, photography editor; Rick Franzman. sports editor: Steve Burns and
Bill Eichenberger, associate sports editors; Ed Parker, wire editor; Allyn
Roland, copy editor. Brad McColl. art director: Stacy B. McDaniel, production
manager
IV 'led and Black, student newspaper of Ike
Iwtrr k) of Georgia. \lkm. I* published
oefcklt during summer quarter second claw
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»*hrr than the unsigned editorials. are the
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cartoon tats and are not necessarily those si the
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gents «r TV Kef ltd Mack. State national
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Hews < ontrikntians wtU be accepted V
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Nnhscriptioo rale la III per yoar.
Laws must be enforced'
If a very indepth attempt isn't made to
assure citizens that an explanation of al
the fine points and definitions of the act
will do made available to them, and that
they will have fair and equal representa-
tiop of their demands, then the program
will lack the support from citizens needed
to implement a successful program.
Another thing which, hopefully, will not
be affected by the desire to make the
Dec. 1st deadline, is the line of communi-
cation between the Community Develop
ment staff and the citizens who will be
affected by the act.
Some people at the first public forum
complained that the meeting place, the
community room of First Federal Sav
ings and Loan (Beechwood Branch) was
not in a very central place, made it very
difficult for some people to get transpor
tation there. Sure everyone can't be
satisfied.
And what about letting people know of
the meeting places and meeting dates'*
Will the staff have time to make sure
that everyone knows these things'*
Discrepancies in communication and
transportation channels, no matter how
innocent or unintentional, breed suspicion
among people who have learned to be
suspicious A great deal of time will have
to bo placed on letting people know about
the time and places of meetings.
The act could possibly be a tremendous
test for Athens and other local govern
ments
Will local governments be able to take
care of their citizens'* More importantly,
will local governments be able to take
care of their poor and underprivileged'*
to the: e ditor
This letter is in reply to the-
Wednesday. Oct. 2 letter of Marc Davis
and his comments about the University
police department and what he calls the
their enforcement of archaic marijuana
laws.
The University police department did
not pass those archaic laws — as Davis
calls them, but the their functional
response is strictly related to law en
forcement The possession of marijuana
is still illegal in the state of Georgia, and
the police department is definitely taking
the proper action — even if arrests and
investigations are expensive in terms of
time, effort and money.
It also takes a considerable amount ol
time, ettort and money on the part ol the
police department to investigate the
simple thefts ol bikes, tape players,
toot hall tickets, etc but Davis wou'd
probably be* the first one to yell if he felt
that the police department was not
devoting enough time and effort to the
recovery ol a stolen article had that
article been stolen from him
I cannot take the statement that the
police department are inefficiently using
their resources Who is Davis to judge
the efficiency ol the campus police? The
University police department is not under
the direction of a bunch ol dummies
Those people know their job. and they
know it well.
If Davis knows how to better carry out
law enforcement on the University cam
pus. why is lie not in a position to do so**
Where and when did Davis acquire his
expert i ? > knowledge ol law enforce
ment'.’
Finally, this is in reply to Davis'
statement that the police department
should not stigmatize significant numbers
ol students with criminal records. The
students whose records are stigmatized
know the consequences of being arrested
for marijuana possession, but they choose
to ignore the law and are caught
Tough Luck'
The students did not come to the
University to smoke marijuana, and as
Daus also said, students come here for
the University to prepare them lor an
optimally productive life in society.
name: witiiiiki.d
Easy solutions
won't be used'
TO THE EDITOR
I was not extremely surprised lo learn
that there seem to be almost twice as
many cars on campus as there are
parking spaces (“Increased enrollment
adds to parking jam," The Red and
Black. Oct. 1/
It seems that I, like most other
commuters, are forever in search of a
parking space If commuter zones ideally
held their two to three cars per space per
day we are told that there would be no
problem The fact is that this system of
ideal parking does not work.
Two reasonable solutions to the prob
lem would be to ill limit the number of
cars on campus or (2) increase the
number of parking spaces. Neither of
these suggestions will ever be imple
mented They are too 3imple and serve
no useful purpose
We all know that a lack of parking
spaces causes people lo double park or
park in the wrong zone The disarrayed
parking then allows the campus police to
use their time in a semi-constructive
manner by giving parking tickets and
thereby raising revenue for the Univer
sity The mentality and resourcefulness
ol campus policemen is always a source
of great amazement to me.
DON MOItOAN
ONWARD had
no programs'
TO TIIK KDITOR:
Some comment has been made in the
letters to the editor about J Walsh s
threat to fire Paula Cheatham and Dottie
Lee Having some knowledge of what
goes on in the Student Government
Association, I feel compelled to speak on
this issue
Walsh's political career began as editor
of the Ag Hilltopper Since he was
involved in ONWARD last fall. Walsh
saw fit to slander a Coalition senator by
comparing him to cow manure.
By the end of winter quarter, Walsh
was wheeling and dealing with the IFC
and other groups He let the IFC pick the
business senators, while promising fund
ing to other groups.
Since the ONWARD platform seemed
to be lacking, they gave free lemonade as
an enticement to read it. Other methods
of buying votes consisted of having free
concerts and providing free beer Also.
Walsh and ONWARD were helped by the
mysterious Friends of ONWARD
After ONWARD won the spring elec
tion. they sought to involve Paula
Cheatham in SGA. Now Walsh has threat
ened to fire Cheatham. It seems power
breeds arrogance
ONWARD’s main issue last spring was
that SGA was too antagonistic to the
administration Beyond funding the Ag
Hill Council and other special groups, it
had no programs.
Coalition, on the other hand, tries to hit
at the heart of the problems at this
University. I for one prefer Coalition,
even though they tend to be overlv
activist, over Walsh’s Jimmy Carter-type
do nothing SGA.
Letters Policy
Letters to the editor should
•Be t>ped, double spaced on a
60-space line
•Be brief, to the point
•Include name, address and
phone number of contributor
•Be original, rather than
duplicates of letters to other
persons or publications
Names will be withheld for
good reason upon request, but
must bear the above information.
Letters are subject to editing
for style and libel laws as well as
for space limitations
Mail letters to The Red and
Black. 130 Journalism building.
University of Georgia, Athens,
Ga 30602, or bring by 130
Journalism building
l-ARRY MOTSINGER
