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The Red and Black
Monday. November 10, IWil
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A First Amendment issue?
The city noise ordinance doesn't sit well with
fraternities in Athens — understandably, since
it leaves them in the dark about exactly how
much and what kind of noise they can get away
with. Recent changes by the City Council to
make the ordinance easier to enforce still don’t
answer whether the law itself is
unconstitutional.
An Athens attorney who successfully
defended fraternity members charged with
violating the ordinance suggests that the noise
law may forbid "activity protected by the First
Amendment." That is an intriguing suggestion,
and we hope the opportunity arises for someone
to challenge the ordinance in the federal courts.
The framers of the ordinance clearly had a
worthwhile goal: protect citizens of Athens from
the noise to which they were being subjected by
too- boisterous student parties. Fraternities
were and are the most serious violators, and it is
safe to say the law was aimed at them.
But the City Council made several mistakes
when it adopted the law. It classified noise as a
nuisance, which technically made the noise
ordinance unenforceable, since a judge is
suppossed to decide whether something
constitutes a nuisance before police can take
action. That procedure works fine for things like
dead animals and stagnant water, but it's a bit
impractical to get a judge's ruling before
closing down a party. The party may be over
before the judge is out of bed.
Clarke County Magistrate Pierre Boulogne
pointed out that problem this fall, and the City
Council moved last week to correct it by
reclassifying excessive noise as an offense
rather than a nuisance.
But a more serious problem remains. The
ordinance prohibits "loud or unusual” noises,
including loud music, yelling, shouting, hooting
or whistling.
A recent amendment to the ordinance makes
it effective only during late-night and early
morning hours.
But a person who wants to have a good time
without getting into trouble is no better off after
reading the ordinance than he was before. What
on earth is a "loud or unusual” noise? The
answer is that it's all in the mind of the cop who
happens to be cruising around town, and
whether one gets cited for violating the
ordinance can depend as much as anything else
on what kind of mood that cop is in.
It is certainly unfair to subject the good people
of Athens to excessive noise; we don’t deny the
right of the city to make and enforce a noise law.
But by the same token, it is unfair to students
and particularly fraternities to subject them to
the whims of a police department charged with
enforcing a law too vague to understand.
Perhaps there is something the city can do to
clarify exactly how much and w'hat kind of noise
is prohibited under the ordinance. If so it should
act now.
The federal courts have struck down many
laws for the “vice of vagueness;” as it stands,
the Athens ordinance deserves to be added to
the list.
Give ’em a break
The Board of Regents is studying a plan that
would give many University graduate students
a substantial break on their tuition. Under the
proposal, now being reviewed by the regents’
staff, fully enrolled graduate assistants would
pay a flat fee of $100 per quarter. They now pay
the same fees as other students.
If the regents value quality in graduate
programs, and sincerely want to see those
programs improve, they’ll say yes to the
University proposal.
That move is by no means a foregone
conclusion, for the board turned down an earlier
plan that would have set a $50 fee for graduate
assistants. The board rejected that proposal on
the specious grounds that it would have cost the
University System some $1 million annually in
revenue.
That cutting tutition for graduate students
would cost money is evident. What the regents
ignored last time, and what they should now
take into account, is that the benefits will far
outweigh the costs.
The quality of educational programs at any
institution depends heavily on the quality of
students the graduate program attracts. Not
only does good research rely on bright graduate
students; good teaching often does too, for
graduates teach many lab and beginning-level
courses.
The University and other state schools are at
a disadvantage in trying to attract good
graduate students, for many of their
competitors have lower graduate tuition or
waive it entirely. The quality of University
programs cannot improve substantially until
that problem is solved.
The regents should give this latest proposal
their hearty approval.
‘Krueger has his eyes and heart open’
Follies of Mack the Knife 1
I was as pleased as anyone when
Herman Talmadge was voted out of the
Senate last year Not a lifelong
Georgian, I felt no special ties to the
Talmadge name or family
Quite the contrary, I was highly
disrespectful of the good senator,
particularly after his dealings with the
Senate Ethics Committee. Talmadge
represented old-style political
demagoguery, and I was glad to see
him go
Had I been a Georgia voter (l m
registered in another state). I probably
would have voted for Mack Mattingly.
Though I disagreed strongly with his
ideas and his support of Ronald
Reagan s ideas. Mattingly represented
to me a fresh face, someone who might
go to Washington without owing anyone
anything.
All I can say now is I hope you can
forgive my naivete
I hope you can forgive mine, but I
certainly now cannot forgive Mat
tingly's naivete. At least I hope his
problem is mere naivete and not
outright stupidity
This week, it was reported that
Mattingly has thrice tried to pass a bill
turning over some of Congress'
budgeting power to Reagan-appointed
department heads Rather than have
Congress set a budget for. say, the
Department of the Interior. Mattingly
wanted to tell James Watt. "OK. you
cut your budget by 9 percent from last
year. I don't care how you do it. just do
it —make the cuts."
Goodness, senator, has someone
hidden your copy of the Constitution?
I’m a little worried, because someone
needs to tell Mattingly that in a
representative democracy, the
legislative body sets the budget
Responding to criticism of his
legislation. Mattingly said turning over
the budget to department heads would
not be surrendering Congress' power to
the executive branch because — he
really said this — department heads
“are not part of the executive branch
I can imagine the incredulous looks in
the faces of the people who heard that
startling revelation Questioned twice
whether a department head was a part
of the executive branch, Mattingly
finally admitted, "Oh. yeah. I guess he
is."
Were that an isolated incident, you
could forgive the senator But that type
of ignorance has been with Mack as far
back as his 1980 campaign, when he
claimed that Zimbabwe was part of
South Africa
The thought of giving James Watt
' carte blanche over the Interior budget,
without any oversight from Congress, is
horrifying at best. Even if one agrees
with Watt’s policies, one should be able
to see the danger of handling budgetary
responsibilities over to faceless
bureaucrats who are protected from
the voters' reach.
We learn in public administration
courses that budgeting is the best way
to keep track of legislators' views.
Congressmen are forced to make
decisions on politically explosive issues
when they have to decide whether to
fund a project or not.
All the hot air aside, if you want to
find out how Howard Baker feels about
the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, you
see if he voted to fund it. If you want to
know how Ted Kennedy really feels 1
about slashing defense spending, see if
he has really voted to slash it
Turning over budgeting decisions to
political appointees would be the first
step in a slow but steady walk toward
totalitarianism.
I'm not suggesting that Mattingly is a
Soviet sympathizer But surely, even he
must recognize what his hills would do
to the authority of the legislative
branch of the government
Mattingly says we should do it his
way because the Congress owes some
special allegiance to passing Reagan's
programs Horse hockey. The country
may have elected Reagan last year, but
there were plenty of Congressmen
elected who opposed Reagan's views.
Congress owes Ronald Reagan
nothing Quite the contrary, it should
carefully examine Reagan's proposals
to be sure they are actually best for the
country. Just because it bears the
initials RR does not make it gospel.
Mattingly's stance reminds me of the
political cowardice I saw some of my
hometown county commissioners
exhibit this summer when they wanted
to turn over their budget hassles to the
county executive The executive, to his
credit, refused to let the commissioners
off the hook.
Frankly, I'm a little surprised
Mattingly would want to give up the
“glory" of personally passing the
president's exalted programs Or
perhaps Mattingly is just hedging his
bets, in case the California rancher-
actor-horseback rider isn’t so popular
by 1986
Tom Lee is editorial page editor of The
Red and Black.
115 ANOTHER OHEOF YOUR CH6CK5 PROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE,,,
A day in the life of death
: TO THE EDITOR:
: Bill Krueger's article "University
; Integrated by Definition Only." Nov J,
; shows that he not only has his eyes
; open, but his heart as well.
Work done by people like Ralph E
McGill is not regarded with esteem
because of its unpopularity, or because
it will inconvenience us somehow to
• make efforts to understand other races
I beyond our own. This is particularly
! true in relationships between blacks
; and whites Arbitrary skin color robs us
! of incalculable mutual coexistence
; Other immigrants like the Jews, the
; Irish, the Italians, and even
; Hispanics have been totally
’• integrated into the so-called "white"
’ society simply because you cannot
■ differentiate one from another by just
looking at them
; The days of civil rights marches are
; over There will never be another
• Martin Luther King Jr to do our
• homework for us
I It is up to us to utilize whatever
advantages we have now — our youth
and ability to accept changes ifor the
; better). If we do not change now,
; someday when we are old, we will
; watch our children and grandchildren
go through the same life we were
supposed to have made better for them
CHAMBERLAIN C. DIALA
Graduate Student, biochemistry
'Reconciliation
everyone’s job’
TO THE EDITOR:
There are bigots on this campus.
There are also those who can honestly
say they are not bigots I am a strong
supporter of integration, and have
always believed that if both races can
learn to ignore color rather than be
conscious of it, the varieties of skin hue
will become (as they should; no more
important in defining a person than
hair color
Segregation is not always evident in
calling people "white" or "black ” To
some, it is a mere description, as one
would say "blonde" or "brunette." It is
not necessarily a derogatory
classification, unless you choose to take
it as such.
So is it true that, as the president of
the Afrikan Student Union puts it, “the
Caucasian is the guilty one and
everything is his doing - ’" And hence it
is not the black students' duty to
attempt reconciliation with white
students?
Slavery is over in America Prejudice
is not All too many whites on this
campus are bigots, and Emmett Dennis
seems to be one too. as he condemns
each person with white skin as "the
guilty one."
It is every person's duty to reach out
a hand of reconciliation, or how else can
hands be shaken and reconciliation
take place’
DOKIK BARGMANN
Junior, political science
‘The majority
discriminates’
TO THE EDITOR:
I'm writing to comment on Bill
Krueger's article "University
Intergrated by Definition Only" in last
Tuesday's Red and Black.
First of all, I would like to
compliment him on speaking out on a
problem everyone at the University
knows exists I am a freshman and
assumed when I got to college that
things between blacks and whites would
be different than high school. I learned,
soon enough, that the majority of
University students discriminate
against skin color
In my wav of thinking this is narrow
minded. hypocritical, and totally out of
date We are the near future for our
country and should be setting an
example of harmonious existance
between all men It is time that we re
examine our values and begin to
change
JAMI CANTRELL
Freshman
I’ve ridden my bicycle through a
local cemetery to and from school for
almost two years. But only the other
day did I happen upon my first funeral
there
A cemetery is supposed to be a quiet,
restful place I don't know why. It's not
like you're going to disturb any of the
tenants. This particular funeral,
however, was far from serene.
Workmen were clearing land for an
apartment complex about 50 yards
away from the grave, and the
bulldozers and chainsaws never quit.
You could hear trucks and cars moving
along the nearby highway And the
strains of beach music from a nearby-
fraternity stereo did not add to the
solemnity of the moment
Of course, some of those in at
tendance were crying, while one child,
dressed in an uncomfortable black suit,
kept fidgeting at his mother's side He
didn't want to be there any more than
the guest of honor. There were lots of
flowers and an impressive coffin It all
looked kind of ridiculous to me, because
the dead man could not have cared less
about any of this
Think of all the millions of people who
have died since the dawn of civilization,
many of them buried in the ground
Think of all the land taken up by
cemeteries Think of all the flowers
placed at the graves Think of all the
tombstones Think of all the money
spent on funerals All to the memory of
dead people
The pyramids of Egypt and Central
America are just big crypts A lot of
people died so that the bigw igs could
have a proper place to rest. The Vikings
had an interesting method of disposal
They put the body in a ship with all his
possessions, including his wife Then
they set it on fire and put it out to sea
Some American Indians had an early
form of cremation They'd put the body-
on a platform and burn it
Burning certainly takes care of the
space problem of cemeteries and
pyramids Modern cremation puts the
ashes in a jar. They could remain
i pardon the pun I with a relative to put
on the mantle as a great conversation
piece. Better yet, it could he sprinkled
in some symbolic location, such as the
sea, Yankee Stadium or the Grand
Canyon. You might not be able to take it
with you, so why not just stay with it?
Cemeteries and funerals, however,
serve a purpose: they make the sur
vivors feel better People are scared of
what's going to happen after they die
That's part of the attraction of religion
— it tells them what's in store But in
cemeteries, people have a concrete
destination They can even pick out the
exact spot. They know where they'll be,
they know they won't be alone and they
know their surv ivors will have a focal
point to help them remember
So now that the relative is well taken
care of, why do the survivors grieve’ A
part of it comes from the loss of the
person, particularly if the survivors
feel the person went prematurely
Some of the sorrow comes from the
reminder of our mortality Why do we
have to be reminded’ We all die Death
is a part of life. Just because each day
brings you closer to your death, is that
any reason to let the rest of your life get
ruined’
Judeo-Christian philosophy pervades
the country It says, in various forms,
that you go to heaven w hen you die And
if you're an atheist, you don't have to
worry The survivors should be happy
The person is in heaven, or at least free
of the problems of this world
What is needed in America is the
tradition of a big party for a wake Get
everyone together with food, drink and
music to celebrate the memory of the
dearly departed Either that or
celebrate being free of a problem
If I die unexpectedly and don't leave
a will, then cremate me and throw the
biggest party anyone has ever seen this
side of the Georgia-Florida game
Joe Krakoviak it a staff writer/or The
Red and Black.
Editorial: 543-1809
Chi*/copy editor Sylvia Colwell
Copy editors Kbit)* Dukakis Kate Wyatt J<
Lmm
\ew» editor EdLegge
As so. mfewwi editor David Nelson
Sports editor Mack Browning
Erf'taimm*nt editor K*v in Bicfcnrll
P*ob,ed-to- Nancy shepherd
4n director Lorn Print on
Teaming coordinator Andna KmH*
Amtfanf n*»t #dft«r« I>*ros* Seales Bob Key*
4 MiMant «port* editor MikeChrmlemen
Amttant photo editor Bill Tumbhn
Editorial pap* editor Tam Lee
Wire editor ( hris Tirgret n
L’GA Today coordinator Maeveen Behan
Lib»o'ia« Jan Hulling*
A d vertising: 543-1791
Adverrump manofer David Karnes
Sa'ea T’ammg manager Vickie O Brian
Ciaaai/iedod mannpe' Paul Pendergrass
Adve'iiainf repreaentat'.ea Lee Ashworth. Doug
Bailey Jeff Herring l.isa Lmdgren MartMakmry
Production: 543-1791
Production m«inope» Stephan A Beard
Asaiatant production manager Lna K Morgan
Production ata// Karteen ( halker. Sonya Boltin. Joy
Pennington Bill Krueger. Dara Sawyer. Brenda
Cleveland •
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