Newspaper Page Text
The Red and Mack
Wednesday. April 21, 1>B2
Page 4
The Red and Black
W
GCPA
AiNM
•O so.smCI >M CSUM o
Established 1893 — Incorporated 1980
Charles H. Kussell, General Manager
Mack Browning. Editor-in-chief Tim Bonner, Managing Editor
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Ground Zero Week
We live in a nuclear age where the threat of
doomsday is no longer reserved for fantasy
tales.
To stress the consequences a nuclear attack
would have on a particular area, organizations
across the state are sponsoring Ground Zero
Week. In Athens, the Athenians for Clean
Energy and the University Catholic Center will
present Ground Zero Week
This week, people will learn what would
happen if a one-megaton bomb were exploded in
their city at ‘‘ground zero.”
It is doubtful any super-power would aim a
nuclear missile at Athens, but Atlanta, Warner
Robins (site of U.S. air force base) and St.
Mary’s (King’s Bay nuclear submarine base)
are all possible targets for an attack.
If, for example, Atlanta were the target of a
one-megaton bomb, a two-mile radius around
the city would be destroyed. Further out, fire
would inflict further destruction. In Athens,
people would be doused with massive amounts
of radioactive fallout. Death would be
inevitable. And, keep in mind, that one-megaton
bomb would be the minimum firepower that
could be launched. In a full-scale attack, the
Russians could launch 30 or 40 missiles. There
would be small chance of escape.
Ground Zero Week bears out the possible
futures of our generation or the next. They do
not look particularly encouraging.
And since the United States is not opposed to
winning a war in Europe by first employing
nuclear weapons, the dangers become even
more pronounced. Once it was thought that the
United States would have to fend off the Soviet
Union’s nuclear attack with our own weapons.
But with conventional forces in Europe out-
manned by Soviet forces, nuclear attack by
NATO countries seems possible.
SALT talks have bogged down. But it is clear
that nuclear arms must be controlled, else we
all face a holocaust.
World problem solutions
When Treasury Secretary Donald
Regan announced last week that
America’s economy was "dead in the
water,” I got a little worried
Maybe the economy really wasn't
dead, I thought, maybe it had just been
under the water (or a long time and only
looked dead.
But in every paper, I read the same
thing, so I guessed it must be true.
Gross. A dead economy
Another week or so and it's probably
going to start to stink something awful
A dead economy, in addition to the
stench, means more poor people. What
are we going to do about all these poor
people, I wondered
O me of litUe faith. The same
government that brought us a dead
economy has done something right It
has found a way to reduce the number
of poor people we have in this country.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number
of “poor" Americans could be reduced
by as much as 42 percent simply by
redefining what counts as income,
according to a new Census Bureau
study.
The report concluded that counting
government food, housing and medical
assistance as income would push
between 12 and 42 percent of the poor
above the officially defined level of
poverty.
Their income would appear to rise
because of the change in the calculation
methods, although it would not mean
any more actual money or aid for the
poor. Indeed, the change could mean
less for families which become
ineligible for assistance because of the
increased income calculation.
Well The logic of the Census Bureau
struck me as wholly without flaw, and I
said to myself, “Hey, why should poor
people have all the fun?”
There are a lot of problems out there
that need to be solved, and now I knew
just how to go about solving them
I decided to start with the Big Four:
fire, flood, famine and pestilence.
• Pestilence — Pestilence, I
reasoned, needed to be wiped out just
because it sounded so frightening I
never really understood what it was,
but I knew it wasn't something you
wanted to bring home to meet the folks.
Pestilence, I was to discover after
consulting Mr Webster's book, is just
what it sounds like: “any virulent or
fatal contagious or infectious disease,
especially one of epidemic propor
tions.”
Simple enough. All we have to do is
redefine “epidemic proportions” to,
say, 98 percent of the world’s
population, and voila — pestilence is no
more. I promise.
What if there ever is pestilence under
the new definition?
Fine. The 2 percent that are left
can sue me.
• Famine — World hunger has long
been a problem, but it actually has a
couple of quick, easy solutions,
People are hungry because they don't
get enough food Suppose we redefine
what counts as food? Specifically, we
should add “dust” to the list.
What is the unifying factor, the
common element of all those icky
places where the hungry people hang
out?
Dust It's everywhere.
You figure these folks are bound to
breathe in a lot of dust. And if they
breathe through their mouths, why
that's just like eating.
Besides, if ketchup can be a
vegetable, why can’t dust at least be a
starch or something?
Another possible solution is
redefining "hunger.”
After all, how do we know if someone
is “truly hungry?”
The only real sign of hunger is
starvation, and the only real sign of
starvation is, well, death. Weight loss
doesn't count — those kids in Ethiopia
could all be on the Scarsdale Diet.
Therefore, anyone still alive might
not be “truly hungry,” and since most
statistics or opinion polls don’t include
the dead, hunger would be eliminated
• Flood — Another easy one to solve.
Redefine “flood stage” for all rivers,
streams, creeks, etc. Hike 'em all about
25 feet, and I’ll wager we put an end to
floods.
The government ought to get a kick
out of this one, too. Under this
definition, Noah would have had a hard
time qualifying for federal disaster-
relief funds.
• Fire — Somebody beat me to this
one. Fire has already been eliminated
— from the vocabulary of University
administrators.
“Hey, Fred, Did you hear about that
non-renewal that swept through
Kinko's last week? Boy, it was a
doozy."
David Nelson Is a staff writer for The
Red and Black
‘Cheerleader selection not based on ability ’
TO THE EDITOR:
It would seem that a university with
such a great football team would also
want a comparable cheerleading
squad Not so with ours. I was a spec
tator at the cheering cuts Tuesday,
April 13 The entire event was sicken
ing Exactly seventy girls tried out, and
forty girls were cut. I was a cheer
leader all my life, winning several
awards during high school, and I know
a good cheerleader when I see one Out
of the remaining thirty girls, I truly
believed that only thirteen deserved to
be chosen.
I'm not putting down the girls who
made the cut nor the previous
cheerleaders because I know how hard
they have worked It seems that a bet
ter (more fair) system could definitely
be conceived Since 1 was told by one
source that one of the judges was a high
school principal, I have been wondering
how many times Vince Dooley has sent
an Athens high school principal to
recruit football players. Tell me, how-
much could a high school principal
know about college cheerleading'’ Pro
bably about as much as a senile ex
ballet teacher knows about the half-
hack's responsibilities in the “flea
flicker" play.
The politics in this cheering ordeal is
unreal After seeing several excellent
cheerleaders get cut, I investigated the
matter further because 1 knew there
must have been some strings pulled
somewhere Of the girls that 1 knew
personally that made the cut, each one
was either a member of a sorority, was
friends with "the right people,” or had
a daddy that could get "anything his lit
tle girl wanted ' It's really bad that so-
called athletes are picked because of
who they know or whose daughter or
sister they were lucky enough to be I
thank heaven that football players are
picked on ability, otherwise Herschel
would still be in Wrightsville
It seems a little strange that our foot
ball team is (in my opinion) the best in
the nation, and our cheerleaders can't
even qualify for the contest The annual
"National Collegiate Cheerleader
Championships" features the five or six
best squads in the nation Georgia has
never been among them Why you ask'’
The answer is simple It is more than
obvious that the cheerleaders are not
picked on cheering ability. If in
dividuals are not the best, how can a
whole squad be the best?
I'm going to attend the next cut
Wednesday night and bring with me an
ex-cheerleader from the University of
Alabama She will look at the con
testants objectively, for she does not
know any of the girls. Unfortunately,
her choices will most likely differ from
the judges' choices, thus proving that
the right connections, not ability, are
necessary for making the UGA squad
It's a true shame that our University
has the potential to be the best in yet
another activity, cheerleading, but so
meone out there wants Susie-Q to be a
cheerleader, even though she doesn’t
even have enough coordination and
ability to run a straight line.
NAME WITHHELD
‘Maximizing
our freedom ’
TO THE EDITOR:
Some people fear that the individual
is to "ill educated, unreasoning, un
thinking. and misinformed" (C.E.
Reineke, April 8) to know what addi
tional constraints he is willing to accept
in exchange for additional freedoms.
These same people feel that perhaps
freedom would be maximized if a group
of "well educated, reasoning, thinking,
and informed" (C.E Reineke, April 8)
people decided what freedoms to offer
and contraints to impose upon the in
dividual I believe that this is pseudo
intellectual B.S, The American system
believes that you know what you want,
that you are the most knowledgeable
person in the world concerning your
desires, and that it should be left to you
to decide what you wish to strive for
The American system is not perfect.
It can and should be improved upon
through the democratic process, yet in
light of the alternatives, it is the one I
choose for myself
Forrest Shealy
Agricultural economics
‘Health fee
unrealistic 9
TO THE EDITOR .
As a faculty member and a parent
who has paid to send five children to the
University, I read your report on fee in
creases with some mixed emotions. As
a faculty member I recognize that my
salary is influenced by the income from
tuition Tuition increases deal with the
effects of inflation and an attempt to
provide competitive salaries to faculty
and staff which will allow the Universi
ty to “compete in the market place." As
a parent of a currently enrolled student,
increases in any fees effect me.
Your article identified five areas of
increase. The increase in tuition fees
(15%) reflect inflation and an attempt
to reach a standard ratio between tui
tion and other income sources which
has been desired for some time. I can
appreciate the need for this action. The
transportation fee increase (7%) really
docs not keep up with the anticipated
rate of inflation. The housing increase
(12%) may slightly exceed the inflation
rate presently being anticipated but
hardly seems unrealistic. The Student
Activity Fee increase (76%) is, ! am
sure, related to the opening of the new
Student Center and an expanded pro
gram. However, it does seem to be an
excessive increase even considering
the changes. The Health Fee increase
(43%) seems to me to be the most
unrealistic.
As a parent who has a comprehensive
health insurance plan for my family, I
wonder if the University really should
make available all the expensive pro
grams, or if many of them could be
reduced or made a responsibility of the
individual student I have always felt
that the University Health Service
should be primarily a service to provide
emergency care, short term or tem
porary care for brief health problems,
and not deal with long term or serious
problems which should be assumed by
the individual.
R.T. Bowen
Professor of Physical Education
* College Press Service
LOOK, RQU. k COUPlfc OF WFLfcS
CW6R THB FlRfcPUCfc IN CASfc OF
IS ONfc THINS, BUT THIS
IS RIDICULOUS//
MILITARY
Nuclear proposal worth considering
Four former government officials
have urged the United States and its
allies to seriously consider a pledge not
to use nuclear weapons in Europe
unless the Soviet Union uses them first
The idea has some pitfalls, as the
former officials themselves point out,
but the Reagan Administration made a
serious mistake in dismissing the
proposal abruptly.
The proposal is outlined in an article
by Robert S. McNamara, former
defense secretary; McGeorge Bundy,
one-time White House national security
adviser; Gerard Smith, veteran arms-
control negotiator, and George F.
Kennan, former ambassador to
Moscow
This country has deliberately avoided
(a no-first-nuclear-strike pledge) in
Europe, not because of any callous
American willingness to make Europe
a nuclear battleground, but because
defense planners have been unsure of
NATO's ability to stop even a con
ventional, non-nuclear invasion by
numerically superior Soviet forces
without recourse to nuclear weapons.
Thus, the best way to keep the
Russians from being tempted into
aggression was to suggest that nuclear
weapons indeed would be used to stop a
Soviet attack.
This policy continues to be supported
by the European allies, including West
Germany.
The former officials propose opening
a dialogue with the allies — especially
West Germany.
They warn that less reliance on
nuclear forces would require stronger
conventional forces, and that, unless
Americans and Europeans (have) the
political will to pay what such forces
would cost, abandonment of a no-first-
use policy would not be practical.
Editorial reprinted from Los Angeles
Times by United Press International.
Government should
COMFORTABLE IGNORANCE
r CANT UUtfC
'Au'd 50 MCMtUt))
A6AIH4TGAYS . /7~f
*. , yj talk ABOUT
\ J MejvOittD.LOOK
\WMO JUST WAKED
J\s*,
0*4 my GOSH! THE KU KLUk
KLAN ! DOM'T LOOK,'
WHAT ARE THEV tXHNGfl
ART ROCHE
w DAVID 7HEAU.
save Social Security
The latest news that Social Security is
again in “big trouble" should come as
no great fiscal shock. Because of
unemployment and the consequent
reduction in monies to the government,
other agencies are also confronted with
problems of great magnitude
The one gnawing aspect of Social
Security, however, is that workers who
have paid into the system for years
appear to be the most threatened
That's unfortunate — to put it mildly.
Social Security, when started, was
only meant to assist retired workers —
not to guarantee them a total livable
wage.
Intervening years, of course, have
brought dramatic changes to the Social
Security system and, likewise, spawned
many misconceptions about the intent
of the system itself. But that still
doesn't excuse the fact that the
government is committed to “make
good" on those investments.
If we can afford to spend billions in
foreign countries, we can certainly
afford to keep the Social Security
system afloat.
Editorial reprinted from Woonsocket
(R.l.) Call by United Press In
ternational.
Departments
Editorial: 543-1809
Assistant photographs editor Nancy Shepherd
Editorial page edito r Brian Jaudor
I’GA Today coordinator Librarian Elaine Dukakis
Cine/ropy editor JuatinGillia
Copy editor* Ann Deacon. Ale* Johnson David
Nelaon Jack Threadgill
New* editor JanHullirvp
Associate new* editor Bob Keyes
Sport* editor Jackie Crosby
Entertainment editor Chuck Reece
Photography editor Sam Walton
Assistant news editor* Sylvia Colwell Mark B
nomag
Art director Art Roche
Training coordinator Steve Goldberg
Assistant sports editor Steve Corrigan
Advertising: 543-1791
Advertising manage* David Raines
Sale* Training mamige* Vickie OBnen
National /naide Sale* Jay Bordet!
Advertiaing repreaentativea Doug Bailey. Jeff
Herring Phyllis Pope. Jean Mane Wilson.
France* Wall. Charlea Guilbeau. Olga Fennell
Production: 543-1791
Production manager Stephan A Board
Production naff Karlean Chatter. Sonya Boltin. Joy
Pennington. Bill Krueger Dara Sawyer Brenda
Cleveland. Emily Westbrook
Contributions
The Red and Black, an independent student newspaper not af
filiated with the University of Georgia is published Tuesday
through Friday - with the exception of holidays and examination
periods — by The Red and Black Publishing Co . Inc . an tndepen
dent, non profit corporation The Red and Black is printed by
Walton Press, Inc . Monroe. Ga Second class postage paid at
Athens Ga 30801
The Red and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them
as space permits Due to space limitation and legal considerations
all letters are subject to standard editing for libelous material and
length Short letters are preferred To he considered for publics
tion. letters must be ty ped, double spaced on a 80-space line They
must include the name, address and telephone number of the
writer Please include student classification and major .ir ap
propriate identification ‘professor Union officer, etc We can
omit your name in print for a valid reason on request
Letters should not exceed 2 1 , double-spaced typewritten pages
The Red and Black also prints guest editoral columns under the
same conditions that apply to letters to the editor Column*, should
not exceed four double-spaced typewritten pages
Columns and letters should be addressed TO THE EDITOR. The
Red and Black 123 N Jackson St Athens Ga , Mini liters can
also V delivered to the editorial office at the above address or
deposited many of The Red and Black » classified ad boxes on cam-
pus
Opinions expressed in The Red and Black other than unsigned
editorials, an- the opinions of the writers <>i signed columns or car
toons and are not necevsarilv ihmr of The Red and Black
Publishing Co . In*
The entire contents o* The Red and Black are copyright 1*2 by
The Red and black Publishing to. Inc All rights reserved
Reprints by permission of the editors
Inquiries concerning article* that have appeared in TV Red and
Black should be made at the editorial offices S41 18W In
quiries about advertising should be made at the business office.
404 V43 17*1
Subscription rate is 124 per year Call 404 543 I7kl for informa
bon