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The Ked and Black
Tuesday, April 28.1981
The RecJ and Black*
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Established 1893
Incorporated 1980
Charles K Russell. General Manager
Brian O'Shea. Editor-in-chief Justin Gillis, Managing Editor
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia.
Cooperative planning
President’s Reagan’s proposed budget cuts
will not hurt enrollment, so the University is
“not worried;” however, those who care about
higher education — not just survival of institu
tions — should find this apathy disconcerting,
indeed, such an attitude reflects a lack of con
cern for the system of higher education in the
state and higher education in general.
The University System was created and
organized under the Board of Regents to keep
education out of the political process and to en
sure some state-wide education planning. These
two goals have become somehow lost in the
shuffle.
The state has too many schools and colleges,
or it will when the baby boom ends, but the
regents have not made plans to close any of
them. Instead each institution president is
allowed to take his institution where his whim
dictates.
The University takes advantage of this in
dependent school mentalitv because it is good at
“playing the survival game ” The state
legislature, which is full of University alums,
seems to give the University whatever it needs;
moreover, the University has far more ap
plicants in any given year than it could accept,
and the school’s research programs enjoy
strong financial support.
But what about the other schools which have
no hotline to the legislature? Surely some of
them need funding and state support as much as
the University, and just as surely, some of the
schools should be closed.
'MK Vlfe SHOULD BkCK ON kWHILE m NWte AMRICA SAFS FOR ftMOCMT
Honor Southern culture,
not Confederate bitterness
Rather than ascertain which schools should be
closed, which programs should be consolidated,
and encouraging cooperation between the
state’s colleges and universities, the regents
seem content to let the “market" determine
which schools will survive. When the Reagan
cuts pass Congress, students on financial aid
will not have as much money for college, and
they will flock to community colleges and
relatively cheap state universities. Those who
are best able to compete for students in hard
times will survive. After a few of the “weaker”
schools disappear, the “market” would
stabilize, and the survivors would have their
pick of students.
But the fighting will not stop there. State
legislatures and the Congress may decide that
higher education should sustain further budget
cuts, and the cycle of school attrition will con
tinue.
As a Pennsylvania state official noted recent
ly, “Higher education doesn't have much clout
in the state legistlatures right now. Colleges and
universities will have to work together as an
education enterprise to get money for educa
tion.”
If the Board of Regents adopted a system of
planning for the University System, then Presi
dent Davison and other University officials
might begin to worry about the problems of the
University System, indeed they might begin to
worry about enrollment and funding Continued
inter-school fighting and duplication of pro
grams are not the answer.
For four years during the 1860s, a war
based on ideas better left forgotten
ripped apart the nation. For the past
few weeks, a billboard at the corner of
Broad and Thomas streets recalled that
war, stating, "Lest Ye Forget." The
sign, sponsored by the United
Daughters of the Confederacy,
publicized Confederate Memorial Day
April 26 The University celebrated the
day by hauling out and displaying the
12-foot-long Constitution of the Con
federate States of America.
While the idea of honoring individuals
who fought and suffered in wars is not
wrong, the spirit behind the sign and
Confederate Memorial Day twists that
idea into one of retaliation. Instead of
praising courage, the holiday tears the
scar tissue of old wounds by recalling a
time when states and races fought each
other. The sign, meanwhile, conjures
up battle images, and raises the
question of what should be
memorialized.
Lest ye forget the valor of the soldiers
who fought to protect their homes and
families'’ Lest ye forget the bravery of
great-grandma who hid the last sack of
seed from the damn Yankees so that the
fields could be planted come spring?
Lest ye forget the sacrifices a region
made in trying to preserve its society?
The National Memorial Day already
Andt-la Krtwson
performs this function and no
honorable reason exists for com
memorating the Civil War one more
time than any other war Southern Civil
War soldiers deserve no more
recognition than World War I soldiers
or Vietnam soldiers
The holiday only perpetuates a
rivalry between northern and southern
states and revives the idea that states
should be sovereign, even if that
sovereignty includes subjugating one
race's freedom to another's comfort.
The implication of those three words on
the billboard is revenge, rather than
honor
Certainly the South has a distinctive
heritage worth honoring with a regional
holiday Our friendliness, our food, our
respect for the land even with the
growth of cities, our dialect, our war
heroes and our writers all deserve
recognition. But these attributes are too
great to be based on retribution for
defeat in a war fought for unjust
reasons. If we want to honor our
heritage, we should do it with a
celebration, rather than a threat.
The sign tells Southerners to
remember, and in one aspect it is
correct. We should remember the Jim
Crow laws during Reconstruction, and
the bombings of black churches and
schools in the 1950s. We should
remember the struggle over school
integration and the march through
campus on Martin Luther King's bir
thday during which a fraternity spread
the confederate flag on its lawn. We
should remember how far we've come
towards the goal of equality, and how
much further we have to go.
Confederate Memorial Day is
inappropriate for honoring the South or
reminding us of the struggle for
equality. A southern history week
would give more time to honor
everything about the South that
deserves honor and would avoid con
notations of states' rights and
discrimination. Next year, perhaps we
could forget about Confederate
Memorial Day and celebrate our
southern heritage in a more honorable
way.
Andria Krewson is news editor o/The
Red and Black and a Southerner.
Monthly day off would give Davison
time to study, learn about campus
Letters
In this era of faculty lawsuits, student
cynicism and funding shortages, the
life of a University president is a busy
one Indeed, against this backdrop, we
should be amazed that our president,
Dr. Fred Davison, has time to breathe
or tie his shoes during his busy days
Yet Davison found a spare hour last
week to spend with University students
in Brumby Hall, during a University
Union-sponsored "Evening with the
President ' Davison actually found
time to discuss with students the events
and non-events of the day.
Perhaps such an exchange at another
university would be less surprising —
perhaps even commonplace — but
President Davison is a very busy man,
and he seldom has time to shoot the
breeze with his students
Consider that the president is
responsible for 22.000 students, several
thousand professors, 13 schools and
colleges each with separate depart
ments and a delightful host of deans
and vice presidents His day is jammed
with appointments, phone calls and
letter-writing so that no matter how
much he might wish to sneak out on
campus, he cannot
If President Davison is ever to escape
the chains of office, he will need help —
student help The president needs a
group of once-a-month helpers to give
him a day out of the office, kind of a
monthly "President's Appreciation
Day " On his day out, the president
could spend time talking to professors
and students and keeping abreast of
campus trends and events
The details might be difficult to work
out, but my basic proposal goes like
this: Some campus group, perhaps a
service fraternity or the University
Union, IFC, etc., could organize the
President's Out of the Office Program
(POOP hereafter > to run Lustrat House
for one day per month. Of course,
replacing the president, even for just
one day, would take several people —
one to answer the phone, one to sit in the
president's chair and look official, one
to attend luncheons and important
meetings, one to propose new rules to
the University Council, one to lobby
area legislators for funds and one to
perch atop Lustrat House with a pair of
field glasses to make sure the deans
stay in line.
The helpers' group could also
schedule useful activities for the
president during his day off. They could
show him north and south campus,
arrange for him to visit classes in
different departments or take him to
lunch in Bolton Hall to see how the
students live. The president could tour
research labs on south campus, but
give him a gas mask if he goes to the
Chemistry building with its faulty fume
hoods; the purpose is to enlighten him
to the University's problems, not kill
him with them
They could even take him to the
Bookstore and show him the prices of
books and supplies, or take him to the
offices of professors who are never
around because they are off publishing,
performing research or attending
professional conferences
Should the president become bored
with his job. we could arrange with
other universities for a University
President Exchange; we could trade
him to Auburn, for instance, so that he
would know the next time we were
about to lose a football coach.
This plan could only help; the
president might learn to like his job
better if he weren't constantly tied to
his desk With his monthly day off.
President Davison might learn to enjoy
strolling on north campus, talking to
students and visiting classrooms
POOP would give him a perspective on
life at the University he could never
gain by hearing about programs and
problems second-hand.
In exchange for helping the
president, we could benefit from
broader communication between the
campus and the administration. Those
of us down below might discover that
someone up there actually cared And
those up there might begin to realize
that even a large university can be run
without a cold, over-complicated
bureaucracy.
And maybe, just maybe, the
president might find two or three hours
to spend with students the next time he
wanders out on campus
Brian O'Shea is editor-in-chie/ of The
Red and Black.
1 Athens is tolerant enough of constantly noisy students ’
‘Use rickshaws
instead of cars'
TO THE EDITOR;
Regarding Tim Bonner's recent
editorial on the Athens noise ordinance,
let me see if I got the line of argument
correctly
1) Loud partying is an activity that a
large number of students enjoy and
participate in.
2) This is a college town, in which
students live and spend their (or their
parents'’) money
3) Consequently, the local authorities
should be tolerant of loud partying Any
attempts to place (and enforce I limits
upon this form of enjoyment are
"ridiculous." "a joke.” and constitute
"sticking it to us. all of us."
Well, Tim, while I am overwhelmed
by the force of your logic, I am
bewildered at the narrowness of your
vision. Why restrict yourself to the
noise ordinance, when the same
argument also condemns speed limits,
restrictions on drunk driving, drug
abuse, passing bad checks and (with
only minor extrapolation) laws against
rape, murder and mayhem?
Actually, Tim, all that came across
was your determination that, now that
you are all grow n up and off at college,
no one is going to tell you how to act
Okay All of us have to work through the
problems of adolescence The basic
difference — one you seem to have
missed — is that you will only have to
go through adolescence once (we hope).
Athens, on the other hand, is con
demned to face a never-ending stream
of adolescents who will spend a few
years here celebrating their
childishness before moving on to make
room for still others All things con
sidered. I think the town has been quite
tolerant!
BRUCE CASTER
Doctoral student, accounting
‘Our city’s laws
lack consistency’
TO THE EDITOR:
It has recently come to my attention
the total and obvious lack of consisten
cy in which the Athens Police Depart
ment enforce their restrictive and
undefined ordinances More specifical
ly I’m disgusted and fed-up with the
noise ordinance (11-2001).
My disgust is borne by the fact that
determination of what constitutes
enough noise to be termed an invasion
of the rights and privacy of others is left
solely to the "arresting" officer. Why
should my organization receive a cita
tion for noise while playing a stereo in
side with one door open while another
organization can hold and publically
advertise a casino, sell beer (both
federal offenses >, and play loud music
both inside and out with no police action
whatsoever?
I would hope that the city will strive
to work with the University when the
council votes to pass ordinances that
work against the students and organiza
tions that support them with charitable
time and money Hooting in the street is
illegal according to Athens law, but
please, before the police go arresting
anyone, let us in on the big secret;
what’s a hoot and perhaps more impor
tant, who gives one?
RILL THORNE
President. Tau Kappa Epsilon
TO THE EDITOR:
I have devised a plan to solve three
problems which face the University and
the city of Athens: lack of parking
space, congestion caused by
automobiles, and the energy crisis The
answer to all these problems is to
bring rickshaws to Athens Everyone
could park their cars off campus or at
lots located near the downtown area
Then people who are out of work could
take them where they wanted to go in
rick-shaws (Not only would the
unemployed get a job but they would
also get a great aerobic work-out )
If the pilot project worked here in
Athens, it could be tried on a larger
scale, say in Atlanta. Or a system of
"Rickshaw Shuttles" could be set up
between cities and work similar to the
pony express The possibilities are
limitless!
NAME WITHHELD
'MY FATHER P&5ED IT ON TO ME. SO I 3UE5S I’LL HAVE TO FYSS
IT ON TO YOU AND YOU'LL HAVE To PASS IT ON To YOUR KIDS.
I WHO WILL PASS IT ON TO THEIR* KIDS. WHO WILL ... "
Departments
EDITORIAL 543-1809
Cops Mum a Cynthia Bagwell Steve (Goldberg
John Lackic
Newt editors: Tim Bonner Andna Krewson
Feature* editor Elaine Dukakis
sport* editor Mack Browning
Eafrrtatamewt editor Chuck Reece
Pheto editor Larry Catchall
Art director Cliff Chandler
Aeeectate aews editor Virginia Lynne Anderson
Assistant new* editors Scot: H lacoba Joe
Irakevtak
Assistant tport* editor Tom Lee
Assistant photo editor Lo
Editorial page assisUst Laura Otto
Hire editor. I GA Tedav coordinator Allyson Hams
Ukrartaa Con Bargmann
ADVERTISING 543-1731
sales-Tralnlag director Linda Spikes
Asst advertising director Shelley Sandlin
Advertising representative* Mary Brindley. Jeff
Herring Jake Reiss Joan Wilson. Lisa Luidgren,
David Raines
... PRODUCTION M3-1791
Product** manager Bill Krueger
Production «uff Brenda Cleveland. Candace
Marshall Sonja Bolton Marilyn Lewis Usa
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