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The Red and Black. Tuesday. February 22, 1977
SANDI MARTIN
Socialism is no benefit
Editorials
The Red and Black
Something's wrong
Something is wrong.
Student Government Associa
tion (SGA) presidential candi
dates met last Thursday to
participate in a political forum
at Mell-Lipscomb Thursday
night, but only 10 spectators
bothered to show up.
That in itself is not unusual.
Depsite a great deal of advance
publicity many such political
forums held in dorms last year
met with the same fate. How
ever, this is the first such debate
and will set the tone for this
week’s campaign, which will
culminate in the election next
Tuesday, March 1.
The reason so few people
showed up at the debates might
have been due to the lack of
advance publicity and a lack of
planning Even so, the fact
remains that two of the five
recognized candidates for SGA
president (Ima Duo has been
ruled out of competition by the
SGA elections committee, but is
appealing the decision) failed to
A trend has been established in
the last decade to reverse civili
zation’s practices that upset the
ecological balance between man
and nature. Man’s attempt to
proclaim dominance of nature
has failed, and he is again
attempting to fit his needs to his
suroundings, rather than vice
versa.
In keeping with this line of
thought, it has been often men
tioned that one Athens street in
particular is in violation of this
new policy, and is trying to
battle nature on its own terms.
Between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
almost every day, depending on
the weather and the time of the
year. Baxter Street is in direct
competition with the sun, bat
tling for the attention of auto
mobile drivers. The road lies
east to west, as the sun shines.
show up.
No enthusiasm of spectators
can be expected to appear out of
thin air if the candidates them
selves don’t appear. Forums will
be held throughout the rest of
this week. We urge all candi
dates to participate, despite the
possibility of a low spectator
turnout.
In addition to forums, this
paper is offering column space
this week for SGA presidential
candidates to state their views
and opinions on the issues of this
year’s student government cam
paign.
If voters are expected to make
intelligent decisions—if they are
to be urged to vote at all—can
didates must present themselves
for inspection. Otherwise, we’re
going to have a contest on to
decide whose campaign poster
has the greater demographic
appeal. And that’s exactly the
image from which SGA is trying
to steer away.
And with the steep angle
inherent in the street’s construc
tion, drivers leaving the Univer
sity in the evening can be easily
persuaded that they are literally
riding into glory.
We urge the Athens city coun
cil to seriously consider correc
ting this affront to the natural
elements, and request that either
a) a huge polarized screen be set
up at the intersection of Baxter
and Milledge, b) the council
issue an ordinance forbidding the
sun to shine after 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday, or c) that Bax
ter be slightly altered so as to
run north to south.
We stand foursquare behind
ridding this University of all
such petty annoyances and in
congruities with Mother Nature.
We invite your comments, too.
During a lime of crisis, reformers
always appear on the scene, saying they
have the magic solution to a complex
problem When England was going
through the first industrial depression in
the history of the
world in 1815. the
saviors appeared
from everywhere es
pousing their ideas.
It happened again in
1933 when this coun
try was in the midst
of the Great Depres
sion.
And once again it is happening in the
face of an unusually cold winter. The
weather has caused severe natural gas
shortages in many parts of the nation,
including Georgia, and has forced schools
to close and industries to cut back on
working hours.
Enter the reformers. "The obvious
solution to the natural gas shortage is
nationalization of the gas utilities," they
say "Big business is screwing the
consumer in this crisis, and we have to
protect ourselves."
Sandi Martin is executive editor of The
Bed and Black
But is nationalization really the an
swer? Probably not. There is no evidence
that when an industry is run by the
government it becomes more efficient, or
that its prices go down, or that it
distributes its services more equitably.
In fact, there is overwhelming evidence
to the contrary. In England, industries
have been nationalized since 1951, with
the net result being that the taxpayers
are slaves to the workers in those
industries. When the organizations were
first nationalized, the idea was to keep
sound business practices, but within 15
years the industries had given up those
ideas and begun yielding to political
pressures.
The basic problem in England is that
though the industries have been taken
over by the government, the employes
have remained in unions. The result is
that when the unions make demands,
they can’t be controlled by the limited
assets of an independant business. The
government has unlimited assets because
it can just raise taxes. In effect, the
unions control the people through their
ability to strike and make exorbitant
demands.
The nationalization of industries has
largely been the cause for the 25 per cent
inflation rate in Great Britain and
grossly unbalanced budget England is
facing bankruptcy in these days of
socialism
The situation in Sweden is similar to
that of England. Sweden is probably the
most complete example of a socialized
state in the world, but there are problems
in this utopia of cradle-to-grave care.
Elective surgery—surgery that can be
postponed without endangering the pa
tient’s health—is put off sometimes as
long as five years because of the
staggering backlog of cases Tonsilec-
tomies, vasectomies and hysterectomies
all have to be put off until the backlog is
cleared.
There are even examples in Sweden of
a person paying more taxes than his total
annual income, or paying 102 per cent of
the royalties earned on a creative
venture to the government
Obviously, socialism doesn’t seem to be
the right way. But very few people
advocate complete socialization in this
country. They just want the government
to take over monopolistic industries such
as the gas, electric, telephone and
railroad companies However, even with
limited socialism there are many prob
lems.
A common belief is that the govern
ment will run an industry more efficient
ly and more in the interests of the
average consumer than the ‘‘money
grubbing executives.” But in 1971 the
U.S. Postal Service was taken out from
complete control of the government and
became a semi-independant business
which has just reported a surplus of $85
million. That surplus will enable the
service to keep postal rates stable for the
rest of the year. The service’s financial
woes are far from over, but at least some
progress has been made by giving it
some independence.
Agencies that have stayed under the
total authority of the government do not
have such an impressive track record.
The idea of ‘‘an increase in size means
more work is accomplished" is preva
lent. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration had 28 employes in its
Atlanta Regional Office in 1975. Now it
has 43.
If the government believes more is
better now, it would be logical to assume
it would keep that attitude after it took
over industries. If a company is set up
with a profit incentive, it will try to cut
costs as much as possible in order to
receive higher dividends. The govern
ment would not have that incentive,
though, and be able to indulge in as much
“more is better" philosophy as it wanted.
The probable result would be more
people doing a less efficient job. It is
highly likely, also, that many self-perpet
uating jobs would be created; the kind
the feds seem to prize more right now
These would include evaluators and
inspectors whose job would be to exa
mine the employes and jobs periodically
to see if they are all necessary. Such
evaluators seldom conclude that a job is
not needed
Monopolistic industries are presently
controlled to an extent by the govern
ment in that they cannot raise their rates
without prior approval. This system
prevents robber barons from bleeding the
average person, and at the same time
allows the rules of business to work. It
works much better than total control
through nationalization.
Battling Baxter
leners'jlelters
'Avoid the annual SGA beauty contest'
TO THE EDITOR:
The annual SGA beauty contest is upon
us again and I wish to urge the students
to follow last year’s glorious example in
boycotting the elections We know that a
politician who capitalizes upon his or her
Madison Avenue image and gives us not
explicit information in the campaign
posters, endeavors to rely upon our
stupidity to choose somebody for an
office on the basis of their looks. They
must have the lowest respect for our
intelligence to so insult us
Surely such politicians whose pictures
and slogans such as "The Party's over”
are presented to us do not have the
integrity to be trusted in an office they
seek. Let’s boycott them all as we did
last year and let’s ignore any rules they
make when they enter office
BARNEY VINCELETTE
Math Dept.
'Moral rights
not legal rights'
TO THE EDITOR:
It appears that good, old Ed Green has
been busy in his strawman factory and
has just created a new model.
I noticed in Friday’s Red and Black
that SGA presidential candidate Green
has charged that the proposed SGA
constitution currently before the Student
Senate is a "sell-out of student rights of
controlling their own activities fees,
having an independent judiciary free of
administrative control, and making their
own rules and regulations for student
organizations.”
While I am willing to join Mr. Green in
his assertion that students have a moral
right to control these fees, that’s about
all those "rights" amount to; there are
no such legal rights except in Mr.
Green’s fertile imagination.
The student activities fee is only one of
several fees added to the fundamental
tuition fee or “maintenance fee " Other
fees in the same category are student
athletic fee transportation fee. and the
health fee. Checks or money orders in
payment of these fees are made out to
“University of Georgia " Please note the
recipient of these fees It is not SGA.
Dwight Douglas, or Ed Green.
As a creature of the state of Georgia.
University funds are not of a private
nature. They are subject to control by the
Board of Regents, which Section 64 of the
Reorganization Act of 1931 vests with the
management and government of the
University According to the University
Statutes, the president of the University
is "chief executive officer" and "medium
of communication" between students,
faculty, and the Board His decision in
interpreting University policy and sta
tutes is final, subject to appeal to the
Board
Regarding the budgeting of student
activities funds, the dean of student
affairs is vested by the University
Statutes with authority, "after consulta
tion with the members of his faculty and
appropirate administrative assistants,
(to) prepare annually a budget of his
school or college Who then has the
power to allocate 0 That legal right
resides with the Board, acting through its
delegated agents and employes, the
president of the University and the dean
of academic affairs
Who has the right to allocate these
funds'* I firmly believe that students
have the moral right to allocate them
However, all the rhetoric of Mr Green
added to his recent efforts to "Fire
Davison" and to question the voting
rights of regents will not change these
facts. If he really wants students to gain
these legal rights, he should convince the
regents and their agents to delegate the
authority for allocating student funds to
SGA. Otherwise, he should stop attacking
this strawman issue in the proposed SGA
Constitution.
ROBERT R. ( ROUT
Editor's note: Robert C’rout is an
independent candidate for the University
Council and for the Student Senate from
the graduate school, and is the campaign
manager for the Focus party.
‘SGA can be
beneficial'
TO TIIE EDITOR:
There has been much talk lately about
whether or not student government is a
powerless institution. Opponents of SGA
have attacked current members of stu
dent government by stating that they are
only seeking personal gain and noteriety
In all of their other arguments, these
opponents have labeled student govern
ment as worthless and ineffective These
critics may be justified in exposing those
who have misued or manipulated SGA
but they are wrong when they attack the
basic concept of student government.
There is nothing structurally wrong
with the Student Government Associa
tion What and who is wrong is the
student who misrepresents his constitu
ents and thereby tarnishes SGA's name. I
firmly believe that SGA can be beneficial
bul only if the individuals in it maintain a
sense of intelligent, yet guarded, opti
mism when represnting their fellows.
Student Government deserves to be rid
of the ignorant or careless representation
that it has worked under for a long time.
It also deserves a change to students who
are concerned about the dally needs of
students
Candidates should make a basic com
mitment to the students Defore they take
office and assume an oath to fulfill the
responsbilities required of them in SGA. I
vehmently believe that the first commit
ment of SGA members should be to the
students themselves.
The essential components of the Uni
versity are its students and faculty. Since
the University exists to carry on the
intellectual exchange between these two
groups, they must be given a significant
role in the functioning of the University.
Too often there are decisions being made
at the University that involve student-re
lated problems and activities, but fre
quently they do not include student-selec
ted representatives in the decision-ma
king process. These decisions are made
for students and about students, but not
with them
An institution that does not democra
tically include the participation of those
affected by a decision runs the danger of
being authoritarian. I am not proposing
that students should run the University
or that they alone make the decisions.
What I am saying is that SGA can be an
essential part in the balance of decision
making. It can provide the important
student input to those decisions that
affect student life at the University. It
serves better than any other forum as a
representative of student opinion on the
issues and ideas that surround their,
education By establishing an atmosphere
of mutual respect among students, facul
ty, and administrators, SGA can provide
a valuable channel for student partici
pant in the decision-making process
In one sense Student Government can
serve as a safety valve for the University
by providing faculty and administrators
with immediate warning of the problems
—academic, social—that affect the lives
of students. Properly dealt with on that
level they can improve the quality of
student life at the University and lead us
all back to the basic quest of all students:
making the most of their education
opportunities during their years at the
University.
G. GRANT RAESIDE
Editor's note: Grant Raeside is Ule
Focus candidate for administrative vice
president.
'Bus schedule
needs changes'
TO THE EDITOR:
Why do the night buses stop running at
10:15 p.m. if the library closes at 12:00
p.m .? It is a considerable inconvenience
to students without transportation at
night to get anything done at the library
when they arc rushed to catch the bus by
10:15 p m. Most of the time the brain has
just begun to click and you are really
comprehending by 10:00
Another valid reason to change the bus
schedule is the danger of rape. The
University campus has been noted for
having incidences of rape, therefore
safety should be enforced through trans
portation.
I believe that it would be to a
considerable advantage for the buses to
run until 12:00 p.m. on weeknights;
Monday through Thursday.
On Friday, since the library closes at
6:00 p.m. why are the buses running until
10:00 p.m.?
A compromise is offered: Those extra
five hours of driving unoccupied buses on
Friday (since a large per cent of students
living in campus dormitories leave for
the weekend) can go towards night bus
runs until 12:00 p.m on Monday through
Thursday.
Don’t these suggestions sound reason
able?
S. EGAN
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