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The Red ami Black, Thursday, May 3. 1979
‘Perceptions
Registration is not needed
Cancel contract
with ATS
I ln a move of questionable
logic, the House Armed Services
subcommittee on military per-
• sonnel voted Monday to require
| military registration for all
males who become 18 on or after
Jan. 1,1979. The proposal, a part
i of legislation authorizing wea
pons purchases and establishing
military strength ceilings, must
still be approved by the full
committee before ii can see
action on the floor.
The measure is designed to
register males who become 18
immediately after the 1980
elections. The proponents of the
measure haven’t forgotten that
the draft age is the voting age,
and they don’t dare threaten
eligible voters with the prospect
of military service in Uganda.
Such a move would be political
suicide, and they know it.
The reasoning behind the
registration for military service
is to speed up the induction
process if the government was
ever forced to reincarnate the
draft in the event of war or some
national emergency. The pro
posal would also instruct the
President to make recommenda
tions as to what type of draft is
needed, how the registration
should be handled and whether
women should be required to
register.
The same subcommittee bare
ly rejected a proposal by a
Mississippi Democrat to draft
about 200,000 men a year into the
Army reserves. Supporters of the
reserve draft believe it would
encourage more and more young
people to enlist in the armed
services. Yet, some people claim
that the volunteer Army is
failing.
Admittedly, the volunteer
Army is not meeting its goal of
new recruits. What they don’t
tell you is that reenlistement is
up beyond expectation, making
up for the deficiency in new
recruit rosters.
Many staunch supporters of
the country’s military power are
alarmed that the strength of the
military is falling far below its
draft-time brawn. It seems to
them that the only way to regain
that once-glorious reign of
military superiority is to rein
stitute the draft, by almost
sneaking it past the noses of the
country.
Already the protestors have
banded together to prepare for
the battle against the proposals.
They carried signs reminiscent
of the anti-draft and draft-card
burning days on the Capitol
steps, and even into a House
office building. The protestors
claim the revival of military
registration is simply a step
toward resuming the draft, and
all indication is that they are
right.
Those people who argue that a
resumption of draft registration
is merely a precautionary
measure and not cause for alarm
aren’t fooling anybody.
The only imaginable reason to
register draftable men is in
preparation for a new draft,
something our country does not
need and should not stand for.
Bill Krueger
It’s time for the University to cancel its
contract with the Athens Transit System
As most students know, the University
contracts with ATS to provide unlimited
ridership for students. In return. ATS
receives $70,000 a year from the
University, which boils down to $3 a year
from each student
It sounds like a nice deal For $1 a
quarter (taken out of the student activity
fee) students can ride the city buses to
their hearts desire.
Hill Krueger is a former campus editor
for The Red and Black
But unfortunately not enough students
ride the buses to merit forking out $70,000
a year for the "service." The plan is
ideal for the small number of students
who ride the buses. But the greater
majority of the students, who do not ride
the buses, are losing a good chunk of
money which could be put to better use.
ATS obviously needs the contract with
the University. The $70,000 in University
money makes up about 18 percent of the
total $384,000 budget
ATS has had a history of financial
woes. To lose almost 20 percent of its
budget would be a fatal blow. The bus
system is already having to make
cutbacks in the area it serves because it
cannot afford to provide the amount of
service it has been.
ATS Director Jerry Mooney said in tnis
paper recently that “If the contract were
withdrawn, it would cause us to make
major budget changes, which would
mean route and schedule changes to
adjust to loss of revenue."
It's tough to say we should cut our
contract with ATS. realizing the effect it
could have on the system. But the
current contract favors only the city and
leaves the students on the short end of
the stick.
The $70,000 that is syphoned into ATS
annually could be put to much better use
in student clubs or organizations. When
people are constantly crying for more
money, why waste such a significant
portion of money for the benefit of an
insignificant portion of students.
There is so much that could be done
with that $70,000 that is being wasted by
the University supporting a struggling
bus system.
Students are calling for better lighting
on campus, but the reply is always
"there is not enough money.” Intra
murals need more money Last year
Impression magazine was not funded,
partially due to budgetary restraints
And with all these needs, we continue
to pour student money into ATS.
Students who use ATS regularly can
pay the fare like other Athens residents
do There is no reason students who don’t
ride the bus should pay for those few who
do.
Even those students who ride the buses
are not totally pleased Many complain
that the buses don't run frequently
enough or are not conducive to their class
schedule.
Tuesday night the Athens city council
approved the $70,000 contract with the
University for next year, so it is too late
to do anything now But University
officials should think twice next year
before renewing the contract with ATS
Letters
‘ Students need right to influence ’
Cambodia, Uganda
are exceptions
Jack Straus
TO THE EDITOR:
Friday, May 4 is the ninth anniversary
of the murder of four students at Kent
State University It was our govern
ment's reaction to students trying to
influence the system
Last year the Board of Regents reacted
to students trying to influence tne system
by implementing a policy to prevent
students from addressing Board meet
ings Preventing the democratic system
from functioning properly, as Nixon did
four days before the demonstration at
Kent State by ordering the invasion of
Cambodia against the will of the
American people, the Board policy
created a crisis The crisis culminated in
police severely injuring several students
from Atlanta Junior College and
arresting 24 of them last summer
Members of the Free Speech Task
Force are involved in litigation challeng
ing the constitutionality of the speaking
policy The free exchange of information
is vital to the proper function of our
government—from the University to the
President of the United States—and it is
urgently needed to prevent the develop
ment of crises like Kent State and
Atlanta Junior We want to secure
constitutional rights, especially the rights
to free speech and to petition our
government, and we encourage the
Athens community to speak out about the
activities of their government
To those ends we are sponsoring the
May 4 Memorial Students Rights Festival
on Legion Field this Friday There will
be informative speakers on constitutional
rights in the University community
including Gene Guerrero, Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of
Georgia Other speakers will consider the
Equal Rights Amendment, irresponsible
nuclear development, and environmental
issues Notable local musicians will
perform throughout the afternoon and
around sunset there will be a memorial
for the students who were murdered on
May 4th nine years ago
There is a lot of activity in Athens to
make government aware of our needs
The May 4 Memorial Festival will be an
excellent opportunity for people to learn
about the problems that face them, what
is being done, and how to get involved
DAVID SHELLEDY
To whom is
freedom owed?
TO THE EDITOR:
This is a rebuttal to an article by
Professor Richard H. Timberlake,Jr ,
(Red and Black. May 1, 1979). The
security of our nation is dependent upon
the success of its soldiers, and it is to our
soldiers that we owe our appreciation
Two centuries ago a small group of
dedicated idealists pledged their lives,
fortunes and sacred honor in dedication
to a document separating 13 colonies
from the most powerful nation in the
world to form a new nation. The
Declaration of Independence is over 200
years old. but what is its real meaning, to
whom does America owe her freedom,
and what must be done to insure the future
freedom of the United States 0
Imagine, if you will, a bleak frozen
dirty encampment where thousands of
poorly trained, ill-equipped men are
gathered, huddled together in small
groups for warmth against the bitter
cold. Members of their group die daily of
starvation, exposure and a variety of
untreated diseases Are these men
prisoners or slaves?
No. not at all. they could lay down their
arms at any time and be guaranteed
medical care, warmth and food. Why
then do these men so stubbornly accept
and endure such hardships' 1 These were
the brave men of Valley Forge who rallied
together for a common cause, a dram of
freedom, a desire to worship as they see
fit and the right to speak out against
oppression and injustice without fear of
persecution.
The mothers, fathers and sweethearts
of America have sent their young men to
the battlefields around the world to
answer this call America has sent a
cross section which personified our
nation. The rich, poor, middle class, the
scholar, the high school dropout, the
urban boy and the farm boy of all races
and creeds
Some went to return, others to carry
the scars of battle for a lifetime and still
others to the judgement seat of God
Whether a draftee or a volunteer the
American soldier is the single most
important figure in obtaining and main
taining the freedom of our country My
friend, without the blood of the soldier to
pay for it. and without the people of the
United States being willing to put on the
uniform of this country. "America"
would have become nothing but words
scribbled on a piece of old parchment, a
dead dream
SGM LEMUEL E. MORRIS
l S. Arm)
‘Citizens have
obligations 1
TO THE EDITOR:
On May 1. The Red and Black printed a
letter written by Professor Richard H
Timber lane opposing reactivation of the
selective service system In his letter.
Professor Timberlake refers to conscrip
tion as violating an individual's basic
constitutional rights The U S. Constitu
tion clearly states in Article 1. Section 8.
that our government has the right to
raise and equip an army. In addition to
understanding these governmental rights,
a citizen should realize a moral
obligation to serve his nation by a form
of civil service Too often men and
women demand the privileges of being
Americans with no thought of fulfilling
any public responsibilities.
Professor Timberlake insinuates that
the pending legislation is being railroad
ed through Congress. This is significant
since .a recent ABC Harris Poll indicates
that two percent of the American public
feels the same as Timberlake's "coalition
of militarist, political opportunists, and
liberal do-gooders."
The professor's vague reference to an
unspecified war seems to equate
conscription to a form of slavery. This is
a blatant insult to the American soldiers
who gave their lives in five previous
major conflicts throughtout the world.
These Americans were not slaves—they
were free men and heroes.
Finally. Professor Timberlake argues
that governments using conscription to
supplement their armed forces have had
national economics undermined. For
some reason, the professor seems to have
overlooked the country of Switzerland
which has one of the highest standards of
living in the world. Switzerland also has
universal male conscription.
The letter's final paragraph refers to a
draft as being a "threat" to the "lives,
careers, and freedoms" of America’s
youth. Professor Timberlake should
realize the much stronger danger to our
personal liberties presented by the threat
of foreign aggression
CHARLES W. ROBINSON. JR.
PLAUDY M. MEADOWS. Ill
‘The fault is
in the game 1
TO THE EDITOR:
Mr David Cousart's complaint about
the University golf course (Red and
Black. April 26) is misdirected. He should
fault his game His letter identifies him
as a golfer who apparently cannot strike
the ball from a lie on early spring
common bermuda grass so as to hold the
green One of his problems may well be
that he is used to playing on bluegrass.
Unfortunately, the golf course super
intendents of private, semi-private,
municipal, public, resort and other golf
courses in this country are plagued by
such unfounded criticism from self-pro
claimed experts' of his kind all the time
Such people don't know (but think they
do* the basic principles of turf manage
ment.
I point out that I have no connnection
whatsoever with the University golf
course and haven't played it or visited it
in two years but my advice to Mr.
Cousart is to play any golf course as he
finds it and adjust his game to it. If he
does he’ll enjoy the game a whole lot
more!
GEORGE M. KOZELNICKY
Asst. Prof, of Turfgrass
Diseases & Genetics
Last Tuesday. April 24. marked the
commemoration of one of the most
infamous violations of human rights ever
recorded - the Holocaust Thirty-four
years ago six million Jews and five
million others were murdered in Nazi
death camps. Even today the mere
mention of names such as Dachau,
Buchenwald, and Auschwitz send tremors
through those who understand the
magnitude of the horrors that took place
there.
Jack Straus is a second year law student
In observance of International Holo
caust Commemoration Day, President
Carter delivered a speech in the Capitol
Rotunda He remarked that "the world
must never permit such events ever to
occur again. To truly commemorate the
victims of the Holocaust we must harness
the outrage of our memories to banish all
human oppression from the world."
These are grand words which set forth
a lofty goal. But now we must ask
ourselves it we have made progress in
achieving that goal, and if not. what we
can do to reach it. It is my contention
that we have quite a long way to go
During Carter’s own administration
two massive human rights violations
went virtually unchallenged the carnage
in Cambodia and Uganda
No one really knows how many people
died in Cambodia - the most conservative
estimates claim that the Pol Pot regime
was responsible for 1,000.000 deaths As
for Uganda, Amnesty International
estimates that up to 300,000 deaths
occurred under the bloody reign of Idi
Amin. We did very little to discourage
both atrocities.
But what could we have done? Military
intervention would not have been
practical and we had no economic
leverage in either country. Of course we
should have refrained from backing
Pnempenh's appeal for international help
in repulsing Hanoi. In the long run it's
probably good that Vietnam ousted Pol
Pot. And we should have been more
supportive of Tanzania's reprisal against
Idi Amin That conflict drained up to
$1,000,000 a day from Dar es Salaam’s
economy, one of the 25 poorest in the
world.
However, there is really little we could
have done America just doesn't have the
international leverage that it once had
and it is doubtful that we will ever have
that again. The world is changing. The
nations are becoming more interlocked
and a new international order is being
formed. What we need now is a
leadership that can find America’s place
within that order and give us credibility
abroad as a nation with clearly defined
policies.
We must also encourage more freedom
and adherence to human rights through
whatever means we now have available
Expansion of trade by encouraging more
experts will give us an economic weapon
that increases our ability to take action
against repression. The Senate should
heed Carter’s admonition to ratify the
International Treaty on the Prevention
and Punishment of Genocide And we
must continue to speak out against all
forms of oppression wherever found
As we ail know, a treaty will not
prevent another Holocaust And raising
our voices will probably not discourage
the Hitlers, the Pol Pots, and the Idi
Amins - history teaches us to expect
them in any generation But we’ve still
got to try. If we don’t, these words of
Martin Niemoeller on the Hitler regime
will surely return to each of us:
"In Germany they came first for the
Communists, and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn't
speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then
they came for the trade unionists, and I
didn't speak up because I wasn’t a trade
unionist. Then they came for the
Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I
was a Protestant. Then they came for
me, and by that time no one was left to
speak up.”
in Red and ‘BlacK
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