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l*«Hr l \ The lied and Black. Thursday. September 22, It77
RANDY LOFTIS
Time for hogwash to quit
Editorials
The Red and Black
We need you
Welcome to the University of
Georgia. Home of the SEC
Championship football team.
Home of former Secretary of
State Dean Rusk. Home of the
world’s record for mass streak
ing. And home of Georgia’s only
collegiate daily newspaper.
The SEC championship does
not come easy. Neither does
being secretary of state. Anyone
can imagine the problems
involved in convincing 1500
people to take their clothes off at
the same time. And a daily
newspaper does not just magic
ally appear on campus each
morning.
All of these distinctions are the
product of a lot of hard work by
a lot of dedicated people. And
what can you as a new student,
or an old student, do to become
part of something which distin
guishes the University of Geor
gia from the 30 other state
supported institutes of higher
learning in Georgia? Well, it’s
too late to make the football
team. If you are a student now
it’s a little early to be concerned
about someday being a former
secretary of state. And if you’re
thinking about organizing ano
ther mass streak—forget it.
But there is still a way you can
become a part of what sets the
University apart from other
schools. Join The Red and Black.
We want you. We need you.
If you look at the by-lines on
the stories which appear in
today’s paper, you will notice
that many of the same ones
appear over and over again.
There’s a reason for that. We
have a very small number of
people doing a very great
amount of work.
We need help. And we need it
more this quarter than we’ve
ever needed it before. You see,
until this quarter we were a
“daily” newspaper which only
came out four days a week. But
starting this fall, The Red and
Black will be on campus every
morning that you are, Monday
through Friday.
We never have enough people
working on The Red and Black.
This fall the same number of
people who last year were
putting out four papers a week
are now putting out five papers a
week. And that’s why we need
you to help
It doesn’t matter if you’ve
never worked on a newspaper
before. It doesn’t matter if
you’re not a journalism major. If
you think you might be
interested in working on a
newspaper, come and see us.
We need people to write
stories. We need people to take
pictures. We need people to draw
cartoons We need people to
proofread pages. If you think
you may be interested in doing
any of these things, please come
see us.
You’ll be helping us. But most
importantly you’ll also be
helping yourself. Journalism is a
very competitive field these
days. When you get out of school
and start looking for a job, the
first question you’ll be asked is
what kind of experience you’ve
had.
We can tell you right now that
every year most of the best
summer internships and perma
nent jobs go to students who
have worked on The Red and
Black.
So help yourself and help us
too. Come to a meeting for
potential new staffers at The Red
and Black office, room 309
Journalism, on Sunday night at
7:30. If you can’t come then drop
by anytime. We’re almost
always there. We’ll be glad to
see you.
That Frederick Corbett Davison should
no longer head this university is a
statement that quite a few people would
agree with, I suspect The good doctor's
infamous memo of late May amply
illustrated the de
gree to which he
operates outside the
bounds of restraint,
or even of good
press What remains
now is to discuss
what can be done
about it.
First off. we might
trade him to Clemson for a president, a
first round draft pick, and a token
woman vice president to be named later
Failing that, we could trade him to
Atlanta's Lamar Ferrell Chevrolet to
work as a stand-in for Lamar on TV
commercials In trade we could get a
used car salesman, and perhaps inject
some better taste into the administration
Kandy Loftis is a former campus editor
of The Red and Black
The problem in getting any other
college to express an interest in picking
up our incumbent president is that his
inabilities to handle a complex situation
well just can t escape notice, no matter
how hard we try. When the faculty of the
College of Arts and Sciences sent Dr.
Davison its annual message—they don't
think he can administer his way out of a
paper bag—he had the bad judgment to
think a little muscle would solve
everything. If he had just put down his
mighty foot on the neck of Jack Stephens
and thrown him out of office ("Dr.
Stephens has expressed a desire to return
to teaching and research’’—remember
that hogwash?), all would be right.
The faculty would lie down passively,
and by pulling some kind of fancy
blackmail on George Simpson, he could
get his changes rammed through the
Board of Regents and he would be safe
come contract time in February. How
absurd.
But wait! The absurd idea seems to be
working. Jack Stephens has moved from
New College back to Park Hall to teach
Engligh and conduct research tb his
heart's content. The faculty is quiet,
reminding one of Mencken's description ** *
of opposition candidates in a bygone
election: "Each walked docilely up, and
bumped himself off.”
And if the Lord High Chancellor is‘ ,f . *
plotting this year to get rid of Davison, as
he reportedly tried to do last year before
The Great Slide Coup in December, he
certainly hasn't told me about it. ’’ * 1
So for as long as he wants the job,
Davison will remain employed and will
sit comfortably in Lustrat House Oh, I
don't doubt that he will leave the house*• *
now and then, to go home or to the
airport to get the hell out of town, when
the heat gets really bad. But he will 1
remain essentially an occasional sight,**
popping up once or twice a year to accept
an award, get a phony vote of confidence,
or fire a provost or a dean Shadowy,
mysterious Like the Lone Ranger • • '
But within that calm exterior, what?
His memo offered itself to two equally I
disturbing interpretations. If he really
believes that tripe, then he is*»
dangerously out of touch with reality ar.d
should be removed from office immedi
ately. If he did not believe it, then he
lacks the moral sense required to run a ••
university and spend public money, and
should be removed from office immedi
ately.
Let s look at the "truth” about the*,
situation, as put forth by Davison through
his office of public relations. They said
Jack Stephens resigned, but it was a lie.
He was fired. They said the problem was,,
that Stephens couldn't communicate, but
it was a lie. The problem was that the
faculty saw through Davison. They said
Fred Bates’ questionnaire was biased,,,
and that Bates was not very good at
doing surveys anyway All lies, but little
ones.
• f
The biggest lie of all was the most
important one. They said Davison's
concern was only for the good of the
University. Nonsense. Fred Davison was
out to save his own skin. He saw a”
political threat, real or imagined, in
Stephens and the Arts and Sciences
faculty. When the damaging question
naire results landed on his desk, Davison**
threw a temper tantrum. He derided
Stephens shamlessly. He attacked Bates'
professional competence. And it was all
to "improve communications, to insure'*
the flow to the faculty of proper
information." Utter hogwash
No, Fred Davison can serve little more
useful purpose as president of the •
University of Georgia. He has proven he
can sacrifice an educational unit that has
served well for almost two centuries for
his own personal well-being. If the Board' •
of Regents cared at all about—but of
course, they do not. They have no more
real concern with quality education than
their appointer, George Busbee, which is**
scarcely any. If they do, their
incompetence prevents them from doing
anything about it.
President Davison, take some advice.,
for once. Do us a favor. Go back to the
farm, and attend to your animals
BRYANT STRFT.F
A society of tinsel and glitter
SANDI MARTIN
More for less
bad for economy
A popular old adage intones "there is
no free lunch," meaning you don't get
something for nothing, but people still try
to find ways of coming up with a freebie
Of course, there is nothing wrong with
trying to buy furni
ture for less, clothes
for less or food for
less But when peo
ple get in the habit
of self-righteously
expecting something
for nothing it isn’t
good for the econo
my.
A case in point is the current energy
situation. CBS recently broadcast a three
hour program on the fuel crisis, and as
psrt of the program talked to the "man
on the street " People were asked if they
thought there should be mure exploration
(or natural gas tc build up dwindling
reserves, and the majority responded
with a resounding "yes!"
When many of these same people were
asked if they supported higher natural
Hand! Martin is a former editor of The
Red and Black
gas prices tb cover the cost of the
exploration, they turned around and
bellowed an equally resounding "no!"
They expected something for nothing
Some people felt the gas companies
themselves should foot the bill out of the
goodness of their hearts without passing
that cost on to the consumer Others
believed the government should pick up
the tab (stupidly overlooking the fact that
dtiiens' taxes like theirs are the
- government's source of income). Still
others Just didn’t see why it should cost'
any more to expand exploration for gas
reserves. Apparently they didn't realize
that most of the accessible gas has been
found, and today fields are discovered at
greater depths and in locations which are
harder and harder to reach
The government already regulates gas
prices, and if it continues to do so in the
manner suggested by the "man on the
street," we may get to the point that
Krone will want to produce the fuel. For
example, if It costs $2.50 to produce 1000
cubic feet of natural gas. but the
government will only let a company
charge $2.30 (or that amount, a company
would have to be crazy to stay in
business
Of course, the government could take
over our energy industries, as many
people have suggested, but it would seem
more logical to have a private company
interested' in efficiency for the sake of
profits running the show. The govern
ment doesn't worry about efficiency and
keeping costs down like a private
corporation because it knows it has a
steady source of income. The government
also has a distressing tendancy toward
ever-increasing bureaucracy that would
only mess up the way the energy
industries are run.
Actually, the reluctance to pay higher
prices in return for expanded natural gas
service Is just one example uf a very
common attitude People are in favor of
getting more as long as they don’t have
to pay for it.
There has been talk of requiring public
universities to have totally accessible
facilities for handicapped students.
Obviously, making the necessary changes
costs a great deal of money, but the
people involved have differing opinions
on who should foot the bill
Handicapped people believe the gov
ernment or universities should pay all
coats, while university officials think the
government should foot the bill for
structural changes The officials believe
the government or handicapped students
themselves should pay for special
instructors
The government, of course, is not so
sure who should cough up the cash
Most agree it is a laudable goal to
make higher institutions accessible to the
handicapped, but good intentions often go
down the drain when bills arrive. People
expect something for nothing
There is nothing wrong with wanting to
avoid higher taxes, particularly since so
much tax money is wasted in the mass of
bureaucracy But services cost money,
and if we want the Great Father in
Washington to run everything for us, we
will have to pay.
It is estimated that over 40 pei cent of
a person's ir.wme now goes to taxes. If
we want more programs, that figure will
have to increase We need to either be
realistic and accept the increases, or
ccale down our expectations.
We can’t have it both ways
Few things are as frustrating as
holding a minority viewpoint You find
yourself arguing with people of every
description and when you look around for
reinforcements often there aren't any.
So. unless you like
the abuse, you keep
your thoughts to
yourself. You can
always tell a person
who holds an unpop
ular viewpoint He's
the one whizzing his
car through traffic
and honking &i
slower motorists because he can't wait to
get home and kick his dog
The frustration builds up, you see He
wants to speak his mind, huf he knows
the futility of arguing against the whole
world.
Bryant Steele Is campus editor of The
Red and Black
Such a dilemma nagged at me when,
after three intense debates to no avail, I
finally decided to shut my mouth about
Elvis Presley. His fans are too many and
too loyal.
The strongest reaction I could muster
when I heard of Elvis' death was simple
astonishment. I never cared for the
man's music and his death didn't nerve
me.
Lest you think I’m cynical, I wasn't
happy that he died. I just wasn't bothered
by it.
I tried not to criticize anyone for
grieving over Presley's death After all, I
was upset earlier this year when Paul
Desmond died, though I maintained
better control than most of Presley's
fans.
And while 1 could make a sound
argument that Desmond was a better
musician than Presley, in the final
analysis it's a matter of personal
preference. It's hard sometimes, but I try
to believe that everybody's entitled to his
preference
So the arguments I was engaging in
weren't over the extremes of Presley’s
mourners or his worth as a musician.
What had me in a rage was the attention
given the story by the press.
Days after the man was dead stories
about him were making the front pages
of newspapers while important news was
placed on inside pages The offense is
intensified when you know that the front
page of a newspaper is the last to be
"laid out." In other words, when
important stories are put on inside pages,
they are denied the addition of
late-breaking developments.
Presley's death was news. He was
popular, and his death was unexpected.
But the media went overboard.
My bottled-up anger had finally leaded
out in other ways and I was ready to
forgive the press and forget Presley
when Leopold Stokowski died last week.
Tiic relative inattention paid to the
matter got me angry all over again.
If you don’t know, Stokowski was a
conductor of symphony orchestras, one of
the greatest ever He was 95 years old at
his death, yet was still busy conducting
and recording He was a charismatic
character, considered a pioneer and a
maverick in the field of music.
Gossip columnists lambasted him for
his notorious love affairs. When he
contributed to the film Fantasia, critics
ridiculed him for cavorting with a kiddie
character like Walt Disney. Stokowski
continued doing things his way and for
once genius overwhelmed the critics.
If you could somehow take their
accomplishments and stack them side by
side, Stokowski’s stacks would be a
hundred times higher than Presley's.
Compare the men by quantity or quality,
Stokowski is the winner.
Yet the way the press treated the two
deaths you would have thought Presley
was the genius of the two.
Maybe, though, the press deserves less
criticism than I've heaped upon it. Due to
the nature of the business, an editor must
base his coverage not on the talent but on
the popularity of the two men Everyone
knows Elvis Presley; few know Leopold
Stokowski.
Of course, you can blame the press for
making pop musicians popular and
ignoring classical musicians. But the
large blame rests with public tastes
I'm not a snob who looks with disdain
on pop music I've already mentioned
Paul Desmond, a jazz saxophonist. My
likes run from Waylon Jennings ‘o the
Jefferson Starship.
But whether you're talking about
music, literature or art, you shouldn’t
end with the commercialism of pop
Unfortunately, we’re a society that
thrives on tinsel and glitter and ignores
things of substance. In America, a .
gourmet is someone who puts extra sauce
on his Big Mac.
In everything we do, we set our sights
on the mediocre rather than the .
exceptional.
Our schools teach us to be successful
and fail to teach us creativity.
A five hour film of a fly crawling
across a naked female body is called art.
and any freak that knows three chords on
a guitar is called an artist by slick
promotion men. >
Then a genius dies, and most people
don’t even know who he was.
Maybe it's best that way. Maestro If
you'd had mass appeal, people would be
making money now by plastering your
image or name on every imaginable
trinket and souvenir. 1 suspect you
wouldn't have liked that.
*
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