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Thr Red and Black
Tuesday. Jan. 18, 19K3
THE RED AND BLACK
Established 1893 — Incorporated 1980
Charles H Russell, GeneraLJIanager
Chuck Reece, Editor-in-chief
David Nelson, Managing editor
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GCPA
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An independent student newspaper not a//i/iated with the University of Georgia
The past's lessons
While we must reserve blanket judgment of Students for
Student Representation’s proposed constitution for a revived
student government until that document is made public, we want
to remind SSR of one intensely pertinent fact:
It was no mere coincidence that the University's last student
government died less than a year after its power to allocate
student-activities funds was taken from it.
That government lost all effectiveness when it lost allocation
powers. We fear a new government without at least some power to
allocate funds would be doomed to ineffectiveness from the start.
SSR is not the villain in this story. Bill Mendenhall, associate
vice president for Student Affairs, said last week that he had told
SSR members “that getting it (allocation power) tied in would
create muddy water.”
Translated, that means most University administrators, con
tinuing their traditional disregard of student voices, intend not to
have their power infringed upon. Despite some abuses of the
allocation power by the old government, the administration was
out of line in taking those powers; efforts at curtailing the abuses
through negotiation were far too minimal.
Again, by taking allocation power out of the realm of any new
government, the administration is out of line still.
If SSR intends to give students a government that will ef
fectively represent their concerns in the formulation of University
policy, that government must have some source of strength —
some clout. Without allocation power, what will be the source of
that clout?
“They (the last student government) had become a decadent
government," SSR member Sam Harben said last week. "They
were corrupt. They had the right (to allocate activity fees) taken
away,”
Some truth is in Harben’s words. But Sam Harben is a fresh
man, a man not barely in high school when the old government
fell. Whence comes his information about the old government?
Probably from few other sources than the administration itself,
and the administration's version of the story is self-serving cer
tainly.
SSR President Scott Klosinski said last week, “They're (ad
ministrators) certainly not going to give it (allocation power)
back to us right away. It’s going to have to be earned back.”
Mr. Klosinski, the allocation power was not taken from your
group. It was taken from the old government. You and your group
need not right the wrongs of people long gone from this campus.
And if the administrators are already assuming that a new
government would misallocate funds, then, Mr. Klosinski, they
are insulting you and the other SSR members.
SSR need not suffer such administrative abuse.
We urge SSR to fight for allocation power over activity fees
when the group takes its proposed constitution before the ad
ministration. Should the administration insist on withholding full
activity-fee allocation power, then a compromise giving a new
government partial allocation power should be SSR's goal. And
the terms of any such compromise should include turning over full
allocation power to the student government after it has "proven
itself."
SSR would do well to remember the words of the philosopher
George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.”
SSR's intentions seem good: It wants a strong government to
give students more voice in University affairs. Such a govern
ment, however, should not come at any cost the administration
stipulates. Santayana talked about that, too: "Fanticism consists
in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten vour aim."
Testing neurosis over asbestosis
I think I've about got this asbestos situation figured
out.
University administrators have to have some pro
ject going at all times that appears as though it will
never be completed For a long time, and even now to
an extent, the new student center filled this bill quite
adequately
However there is now tangible evidence that the
shell of a building, if nothing else, will soon be com
pleted
Enter asbestos. It’s been the controversial item,
bone of contention and social event of the 1982-83
academic season thus far, and everybody who's
anybody knows all about the asbestos controversy
Are you anybody? If so, who?
Here’s how you can find out.
Get out your No 2 lead pencils and take this handy-
dandy asbestos quiz.
1. Chrysotile asbestos is:
a Bad Very bad It can kill you if you even look at
it.
b. Really great stuff Me and the missus eat a big
bowl of it every morning for breakfast.
c. The material that was sprayed onto the ceilings
of eight University dormitories in the ’60s
d A utility infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays.
2. The white powdery substance falling from the
ceilings of certain dorms is:
a. Very bad. It can kill you if you even look at it.
b. Of great concern to us. We have called for exten
sive testing to determine exactly what the substance
is, but I'm sure it’s really nothing
c. Five to 10 percent asbestos, a single fiber of
which can casue asbestosis and kill you some 20 to 25
years down the road.
d. Sugar! There’s sugar falling from the dorm
room ceilings, and the Dogs have won the SEC!!
3. When will the University move to eliminate the
asbestos hazard?
a Soon, or so help me, we’ll blow up every one of
the contaminated, lung-rotting dorms. And I don't
mean maybe
b Hazard? What hazard? When the tests are com
pleted then we ll know if we have a hazard. Quit over
reacting
David Nelson
c When Florida wins the SEC football crown.
d When the bowling alleys at the student center are
operational.
4. The U.S. Attorney General’s Asbestos Liability
Report states:
a The gravy-sucking, pig-dog administrators will
pay for all this.
D Report? What report - ?
c. That if schools think they can't remove asbestos
because it costs too much, they should consult with
attorneys and consider suing the asbestos manufac
turers to finance the removal
d. Do what?
5. What is SAFE?
a. A group of concerned, selfless and dedicated
students whose sole purpose in living is to rid this
campus of the dread asbestos, which is bad and will
kill you if you even look at it.
b. A bunch of troublemaking punks
c. Students for an Asbestos-Free Environment
d. What umpires yelled 130 times last year when
Rickey Henderson tried to steal bases.
6. Where is the asbestos on campus?
a. Everywhere. And it will kill you if you even look
at it.
b. We aren’t exactly sure if there is any asbestos
here at all. We've called for further tests because our
earlier tests to clarify our initial tests showed that
our conclusions thus far have been inconclusive.
c. In eight dorms - Boggs, Church, Hill, Mell,
Lipscomb, Brumby, Russell and Creswell. Asbestos
was removed from the ceilings in three floors of
Creswell and from Bolton Hall over the summer
d. It ain’t in McWhorter
7. Is offering room transfers out of the con
laminated dorms really a feasible way of dealing way
the problem?
a. No.
b. Yes.
c. No.
d. Can they move me to Stegeman?
8. What are the odds on someone who lives or lived
in one of the asbestos-containing dorms dying of
asbestosis?
a Horrible. All will die — especially those who
looked at the stuff.
b. Probably infinitesimal. And besides, you could
step off the curb and be hit by a car and killed tomor
row. Let’s put this in perspective.
c. It's hard to say. Asbestos use really started to
rise after World War II, and the number of asbestos-
related deaths have started to rise dramatically in
the last five to 10 years.
d. Take the asbestos and 121 / 2 years.
. Evaluating your answers and some advice for you:
If most of your answers were "a,” you’re probably
a hyper-paranoid SAFE member. Calm down and
listen to some of your fellow members with cooler
heads.
If you answered ”b” to most questions, you are pro
bably a University administrator — more than likely
in the housing department Resign
If you choose ”c” most often, you are obviously
very well informed. You may even be a newswriter
for this paper. If so, meet your deadlines.
And if you picked “d’’ an awful lot, you either write
for our sports desk or probably should. Don’t get too
upset over all you’ve heard. There are worse things
than asbestos — remember, Herschel graduates
after next year.
David Nelson is managing editor of The Red and
Black.
7 think your generation is hung up on rights'
TO THE EDITOR:
With reference to your editorial of
Jan. 12. "Ditch Water," in which you
attack a federal law which withholds
government scholarships and student
loans from those who refuse to register
for the draft, I refer to your fourth and
fifth paragraphs.
You state, "Enforcing the draft-
registration law through such un
constitutional methods, in short, sucks
ditch water For both pragmatic and
constitutional reasons, the law should
die in the courts or be repealed
"In the particular case of student
resisters, we can only conclude that
men of enough intelligence to be in
college have declined to register for
their own moral reasons. Should a man
value his moral desire not to kill more
highly than he regards 'the fate of
democracy,' then we believe he should
have that prerogative. And while some
would call education a privilege, we
regard it as a right. A better-educated
populace must be a part of America’s
inevitable economic retrenchment
from the smokestack industries ”
As a 56-year-old person who has lived
a little longer than you and most of your
readers, I would like to suggest my
reaction — and I believe the reactions
of my peers
First I think your generation is hung
up on “rights.” The right to govern
ment-sponsored education with no
regard to personal willingness to
defend and protect that government is
both ludicrous and indicative of the
state of the “me generation." In fact
your idea of the "right to education” vs.
the “privilege of education" disturbs
me. I believe this country/government
was founded on the opportunity to enjoy
certain things and to pursue personal
goals, but in the real world you are
going to find few “rights."
As a veteran of World War II who had
more than a few personal friends who
died so you jieple could whine about
your rights of crib-to-grave security,
free or subsidized education included,
with no obligation to those who made
your existence possible, I want to go out
and get sick. My guess is those who
don’t register just don’t want to be
bothered Those great moral decisions
"not to kill" ring hollow to me. 1 wonder
how many of those morally opposed
people would serve in a non-combat
area. My guess is few would. They just
don't want to be bothered. But they
want all their “rights."
BILL FRANKUM
Coordinator of Services.
University Housing
4 Problem is
a legal one 9
TO THE EDITOR:
You have forgotten to mention the
law-abiding conscientious objector in
your editorial concerning legal
withholding of student loan funds. The
problem here is legal, not moral. All
eligible men who fail to register for the
draft arc criminals.
The Selective Service System
provides the conscientious objector
with a non-military option. The
Selective Service System allows the
objector to perform a period (usually
two years) of civilian service.
TO. MULHERIN
Senior, Economics
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Plain folks and the death penalty
Last summer, two letters arrived for me at the of
fice of The Macon Telegraph, where I was working as
a reporter About two weeks earlier, the newspaper
published a series of stories I wrote addressing the
death penalty in Georgia.
Specifically, my series examined the appellate pro
cess and (he role it has played in the recent debates
over the death penalty; I talked to lawyers and others
intimately involved on both sides and I examined
court decisions on various capital cases since 1972,
w hen the U.S Supreme Court ruled the death penalty
as previously employed was unconstitutional
The two letters, both written by women, touched
opposite ends of the seemingly endless debate over
the death penalty The inauguration of a new gover
nor last week struck me as a proper occasion to
publish, in part, what each writer felt when con
fronted with the issue
It seems to me Gov. Harris, as the state official
bearing ultimate responsibility for seeing an execu
tion carried out. might be interested in knowing how-
divisive the question remains Plus, I am interested
in continuing this discussion and feel these ladies’
comments might prompt some feelings from readers
First, a woman from Hawkinsville, Ga :
"Dear Mr Hulelt, ” she began "I have just finished
reading your article (about Patsy Morris, an Atlanta
woman who coordinates death penalty defense work
in Georgia) I would like to ask you just one question,
for starters."
Had I or Mrs Morris "ever taken the time to con
tact. interview or sympathize with” the families of
two women slain in separate Middle Georgia murder
cases’ 1 the writer inquired
The two cases she mentioned were familiar to me,
though both had been tried several years before I
joined the Telegraph in 1981 Local juries convicted
two black men of murder in one case where a pair of
middle-aged white women had been brutally-
assaulted and beaten to death
Skip Hulett
In the other case, two black men were convicted of
abducting and shooting to death a white 19-year-old
college student who worked as a clerk in a conven
ience store.
In both cases, the defendants were sentenced to die
I was acquainted with the cases only as one might be
having read newspaper accounts of them To this
day, I have never talked with anyone connected with
the cases other than the lawyers involved
My Hawkinsville correspondent continued, "Have
you ever had a beautiful 19-year-old daughter, or a
beloved mother, abducted, tortured, mutilated and
murdered?" She inquired if I "ever give one single
thought to any aspect of murder, other than saving
the criminal?"
She closed with the suggestion 1 write articles on
"how crime has increased since the death penalty
was abolished" or "how much it is costing taxpayers
to house and feed criminals while many of them are
drawing Social Security benefits while their families
get Welfare benefits."
As a postscript, the woman wrote, "if one execution
deters crime for two weeks and we have more than
1,000 people on death row (nationally), one execution
every two weeks would deter crime for more than 30
years By then somebody should get the message "
About three days later, the second letter reached
me. "This subject is one we would like to lurn our
heads and have disappear; however, it has to be
faced again and again," began the wriler, who iden
tified herself as an employee of the Superior Court of
Butts County.
“Living in the county which houses the electric
chair, and working in Ihe office which has become
overwhelmed with paperwork as a result of habeas
corpus hearings. I am aware of this unique problem."
by which 1 assume she meant the massive amount of
legal activity surrounding this one small facet of the
criminal justice system.
"It is evident we do not have the stomach for the
death penalty. In my opinion, it is far better not to
have to take the risk of executing one innocent per
son Death cannot be undone, " she opined
Perhaps, she suggested, "we could extract a better
penalty through work/restitution endeavors
regardless of the fact that human life cannot be
restored even through reciprocal death."
My Butts County correspondent concluded, "The
American public is somehow fickle — demanding an
accused pay the ultimate penalty, and then after in
carceration the feeling seems to be one of sympathy
for the inmate rather than the victim."
If any of you out there feel you have something to
add to either side, I wish you would let me know with
a letter to the Red and Black. Until I know what you
might think. I’ll keep my own feelings to myself
Ship Hulett i* in undergrad/graduate school limbo