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Tkr Red and Black
Wednesday, Sept,». 1*0
THE RED AND BLACK
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
Charles H. Russell, General Manager
Mike Tidwell, Editor-in-chief
Susan Laccetti, Managing Editor
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Blatant faux pas
Interior Secretary James Watt is a shallow, hateful man His
bigoted, grossly offensive comments last week not only show him
to be unfit for public office, but demonstrate that he is a very sick
man and should seek help far from the verdant lawns of
Washington, D.C.
Even by Washington standards, Watt’s words evoked the kind of
i'evulsion and disbelief usually reserved for Soviet rhetoric
Standing before a public gathering like some two-bit, late night
comedian. Watt described the government Commission on
Federal Coal Leasing as containing “a black, ... a woman, two
Jews and a cripple." Then, as if succinctly and unequivocably
deriding the concept of pluralist government were not enough for
crazy James, the secretary joined his audience in a rousing
chorus of laughter
Well, we want to laugh too We want to be able to laugh out loud,
knowing that such rude comments come only from small minds
too bigoted to take seriously. We want to be able to dismiss his
comments much the way most Americans dismiss the rhetoric of
the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis, knowing that such trash is so
foreign to mainstream American values that it can only amuse us
But we can’t laugh James Watt does not wear a white, pointed
hood or a brown shirt. Instead he carries the seal of approval of
the United States President and, unfortunately, the American
people.
There can be no excuse for Watt’s words. They were not, as he
claims, a mere joke turned into controversy by a media
establishment hungry for ammunition to discredit the Reagan
administration. The secretary is more than capable of handling
the task all by himself, thank you Or is he?
By accepting Watt's letter of apology, President Reagan has
given tacit approval to the secretary’s twisted haggling The only
obvious and prudent reaction to this matter, as even ranking
Republican senators have conceeded, is for the president to hand
Watt his walking papers and vehemently denounce his statement
as an affront to all Americans Reagan has done neither.
Humanitarian considerations notwithstanding, an expedient
politician like Reagan would at least, it seems, sever himself from
a cancerous political liability such as Watt.
When even this threat does not move the president, then we can
only conclude that Reagan approves of Watt’s way of thinking and
might as well have made the racist, sexist, bigoted statement
himself.
We are not laughing over that though either
Bus safety
University Public Safety Director Asa Boynton apparently
carried a big stick last spring when he warned University bus
drivers that he would not hesitate to cite them if they violated the
Georgia traffic code by allowing passengers to obstruct their
view Such conditions resulted in two bus drivers striking campus
pedestrians last spring and now, at long last, Physical Plan of-
ticials have heeded Boynton's threat and done something about
the situation.
All University buses now come equipped with a metal guardrail
that prevents riders from getting too close to drivers and thus
blocking their peripheral vision. This prudent action, coupled with
the recent construction of an indented curb pull-off for buses next
to the bookstore, may now make walking campus sidewalks safer.
We also support University officials decision to initial a study of
campus crosswalks and pedestrian and auto traffic. The $55,000
study, which will begin in October, has been long overdue and
may provide further relief for a campus traffic problem that often
makes crossing campus a hazardous adventure whether it be by
car or by foot.
Yet despite recent safety advances, Boynton still isn’t ready to
sit back and take a rest. The public safety director last week said
he would continue to enforce all Georgia traffic code violations "to
the letters of the law."
Thank you Asa Boynton.
w
GCPA
Opinion
Where have you gone, Patton?
During this past summer. I spent my unemployed
hours (which, by the way, consisted of every hour of
the summer i indulging myself in some books that I
had been wanting to read for some time However,
because of school-related assignemnts. I could
neither start nor finish The last one I chose was
Ladislas Farago's "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph."
which was the book on which the 1970 movie “Patton"
was based
Since I had first seen the movie. I was extremely
interested in this complex man - a man who revered
God yet took His name in vain, who both kissed
soldiers and slapped them, who was called "Blood
and Guts" despite his low casualty rate, whose
military exploits made him a man of action, but
whose poetry showed him to be a man of quiet con
templation My reading the book merely confirmed
the attitude I had after viewing the movie, for I still
admired the general's principles and, even more
importantly, his actions
Now, as fate would have it, about two weeks after I
was immersed in Patton's life and ideas, the
Russians shot down Korean Air Line's flight 007 The
dastardliness of this event probably caused Patton to
turn over in his grave (if he hadn't been reincarnated
again), and I'm sure if he were alive he would have
girded himself with his pearl-handled Colt 45
“Peacemakers" and marched towards the Kremlin
I thought, at the time, that Patton would have
definitely viewed the airliner’s destruction as an act
of war
“An act of war"’", I again thought to myself A
passage from the biography leapt quickly to mind
"I really believe that we are going to fight (the
Russians i. and if this country does not do it now i in
19451, it will taking them on years later when the
Russians are ready for it and we will have an awful
time whipping them "
Patton, who was a great student of history and who
The dastardliness of the Soviet
incident probably caused
Patton to turn over in his
grave
even believed he had lived in several preceding
centuries, possessed a remarkable vision of the past
Did he possess a vision of the future, too’
There is a great fear — not only because of the KAL
incident, but also because of the Soviet aggression in
Afghanistan, because of the Soviet interposition in
Poland, because of the Soviets' suspected complicity
in the attempted assasination of the Pope, and
because of the ousting of "spies" by both countries —
that the simmering differences between the United
states and the Soviet Union will boil over into armed
confrontation It would even be foolish to disavow the
possibility of war because history is a panorama of
hostilities that explode whenever opposing societies,
values, and traditions have been further separated
and alienated by the passage of years and the in
crease of nationalism In short, a quick review of
history shows nations adopt war when diplomatic
tolerance is fully drained
If a war is in our future, then Patton's statement is
exceedingly accurate — we will have an awful time
whipping them Not only have they increased the size
and strength of their army, but they have also
developed nuclear weapons — and. of course, if one's
opponent has and is willing to use nuclear weapons,
then the size and strength of his army may not be too
important It is extremely difficult to whip an enemy
when he can whip back with the touch of a button
The waging of war has changed since Patton's
statement, and the Russians have adapted well to
those changes And what further changes will be
made in the future’ I'm pretty sure that it will
become even more difficult (if not impossible) for
one opponent to whip another I'm not sure if the two
superpowers can now literally blow up the world —
perhaps they can do no more than lay waste to
civilization — but I have enough confidence in
modem technology that man can devise weapons that
will be capable of making Mars the third planet from
the sun
It is easy to look at the past and. by juxtaposing it
with the present, say what should have been done
But the more I think about the present problems
between the United States and the Soviet Union, the
more I wish that General Patton had been allowed to
saddle up his Third Army, ride it eastward toward
Moscow, and (as he was fond of saying>. hold the
enemy by the nose w hile he kicked them in the pants
Brian Jarvis is a graduate student in (he English
department
Narrow-minded security questionnaires illustrate
disgraceful and appalling Georgia legislation
TOTHF EDITOR:
When I first read David Nelson's
column "Communism is alive at the
University," my reaction was disbelief
Could il possibly tie true that such an
appalling and disgraceful law could
actually exist in the Georgia law books"
What is the policy if someone has.
within the last ten years, been a
member of the Communist Party’
Horrors, he just might contaminate the
entire campus!
Does the administration have so little
faith in its ow n form of government that
it runs scared from any opposing
views’ Why not have every citizen of
Georgia fill out such a form’ Perhaps
line us up and have us hum "The Star
Spangled Banner ""
I am ashamed that such a law could
exist in a government that supposedly
prides itself on decency and fairness
No one. not even if his blood runs true
red, while, and blue, should be made to
sign such a blatantly narrow-minded
document
SUZANNE HI. \MTI \ltl>
•sophomore, Pre-Journalism
Departments
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PntrfcHt
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Totnm> Stma
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Senior Reporters Hi tan Hrasorrll and Stacy
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Contributions
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Build-down proposal is advocated
President Reagan's response lo the Soviet Union
for its downing of a South Korean airliner with 369
people on hoard is probably about all we could have
hoped for His response was firm, bul restrained The
President obviously wanted lo make it a case of the
Soviets against the world instead of the Soviet Union
against the United States
The important question for now regards the future
relationship between the United States and the USSR
What course should our fulure policies in regard to
the Soviets'
It has been suggested that the South Korean
airlines massacre strengthens the argument for
reaching a nuclear freeze agreement with the
Soviets Incredible’ II is hal'd lo believe thal after
such a brutal demonstration of the Soviet Union's
paranoia and their lack of concern for human life,
that anyone could seriously advocate a nuclear freeze
agreement with the Soviet Union
A nuclear freeze, al this point, would turn our
commitment to the security of our NATO allies into a
joke The Soviet Union has the NATO countries in
Western Europe verv much under the gun. so to
speak A freeze would also leave the United States in
an inferior position to that of the Soviets in the
nuclear balance of power
A total freeze of the research and deployment of
new weapons is not (he best answer The rhetoric of
the pro-freeze campaign assures the American
people that both the United States and the Soviet
Union have the capability to destroy each other five
or six times over I think they are missing the point
What difference does if make how many times one
side can destroy the other’ Once is quite enough,
thank you very much
The question that people should be asking is: At
what point is one side impelled to use their weapons’
The point al which the Soviet Union uses force is
obvious They use force w henever they can get away
The terms of this proposal are
a bit more promising than
those of a nuclear freeze
with it They knew that they could get away with
shooting down KAL flight 007 There was nothing
concrete that Reagan or anyone else could do to them
short of starting a war
The largest single problem in any arms control
agreement with the Soviet Union, especially a total
freeze, is the problem of verifying that they actually
follow the terms of the agreement Without
satisfactory provisions for verification, the United
States could be freezing while the Soviets go on
building
The best method of verification is that of on-site
inspection American and Soviet officials could in
spect the nuclear arsenals of each country and
determine if the guidelines of the agreement are
being followed It is very unlikely thal the Soviets
would agree lo on site inspections because of their
extreme need for secrecy and distrust of the west An
arms control agreement without an agreement to on
site inspections would be foolish and irresponsible on
(he part of the U S
The Soviets have upheld their government w ith lies
for many decades They will not tell the truth about
their government and its practices to their own
people How did they handle the questions concerning
the death of flight 007’ They lied II was a week
before they admitted shooting down the airliner and
then only because the evidence was so over
whelmingly against them The world cannot expect
them to be truthful about their nuclear weapons
program unless it is verified by the outside world
A possible alternative to a total nuclear freeze is
the nuclear build-down proposal endorsed by Georgia
Senator Sam Nunn The terms of this proposal are a
bit more promising than those of a nuclear freeze
agreement A nuclear build-down agreement would
call for the United States and the Soviet Union lo tear
down two weapons systems for every new weapon
system they deploy While reducing "the number of
active systems of both countries, it would allow
research lo remain active and for the upgrading of
old. out-dated equipment
President Reagan has expressed interest in some
parts of the build-down proposal It has also gamed
the support of several congressmen from Georgia
including Georgia Senator Mack Mattingly and
Representative Elliot Levitas
It would seem that the build-down proposal has a
much better chance of getting by Congress and the
President than does the nuclear freeze option
Passage of such an agreement would likelv depend on
provisions for verification Without opportunities for
on-site inspections of Soviet nuclear weapons
systems, even the more sensible nuclear build-down
agreement w ould be a risky proposal at best
Kerwin Swint is a senior in the school of Arts and
Sciences