Newspaper Page Text
Page 4
The Hrd and Klark
Friday, »cpl :ia. mo
THE RED AND BLACK
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
Charles H. Russell, General Manager
Opinion
Mike Tidwell, Kditor-in-chief
Susan I.arcetti, Managing Editor
Train switch can’t top sperm bank
V
GCPA
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with thi* University of Georgia
Talk is cheap
U S Education Secretary Terrel Bell brought his national
campaign to resurrect American education to Athens last week
and his words made sense Well, sort of.
Speaking before an audience of some 800 educators from
throughout the Southeast, Bell said improving teacher-education
programs at American universities is the first step in improving
public education throughout the country. “Teaching isn’t com
petitive,” Bell said, “and students on this campus aren’t choosing
teaching because the money is in engineering and accounting and
law.”
Well said, Mr. Secretary. But talk is cheap in the double
speak parlance of the federal government, especially during a
presidential election year And although we support new efforts to
beef up the rapidly declining pool of qualified teachers, such an
effort will mean little if the federal and state governments don’t
reciprocate by improving the grassroots education system
To be sure, the need for increasing the quality and quantity of
classroom instructors is sorely apparent During the past 15
years, increased economic opportunities for women and
minorities have led a large number of these individuals to forgo
the once traditionally popular alternative of education. This
phenomenon, coupled with the gross disparity between private
sector salaries and education salaries, has driven public
education closer to academic bankruptcy.
Secretary Bell's contention that improving teacher-education at
American universities is a first step to solving the problem is a
half truth There can be no single first step There must be
several, simultaneous first steps that address all sides of the
issue.
Improved teacher-education will not make low teacher salaries
appear more attractive to bright college students Nor will it
revamp a monolithic public education system selfishly wedded to
the status quo
Real change will only come when the American public and
elected officials pay more than lip service to the rhetorically
popular issue of education Real growth in the number of qualified
instructors will only come when prospective teachers know they
will earn what they're worth through a merit pay system The
"rising tide of medioeracy" in public education will abate only
when increased discipline, dedication and longer school years
become part of the American education vision
Alone, improved teacher-education programs will accomplish
none of these goals. And although Bell is probably well aware
this fact, he can't expect universities to change their act when the
song remains the same in classrooms from coast to coast
Breath of fresh air
Students residing in University dorms now can inhale a breath
of fresh air every morning knowing that they are safe from the
clutches of lung disease University officials completed the
asbestos removal project in time for the first day of classes and
although ceilings are bare, the air is clean
The long and gallant efforts of a little-known group of students
last fall, Students For An Asbestos-Free Environment have
finally paid off They deserve another commendation and we hope
they are still here to see the fruits of their accomplishment SAFE
members who have graduated, we hope you have been informed
Dan Hallenbeck, University Housing director, said last week,
“We re happy and they're happy ” That's great There are
truckloads of happiness in our coliege dorms But our only con
cern is will those dorms be mausoleums of the future?
It took $1.5 million to get asbestos out of the dorms but how
much will it take to get asbestos out of lungs? It probably will take
millions to find a cure for lung disease or cancer. We now need
definite action on what asbestos actually does to the human body
and find a cure for lung disease
Then we can all breathe a little easier knowing that the good old
golden school days weren’t bad old legal contamination days.
Well. I'm back in the saddle again, back where a
friend is a friend; or however the song goes Back in
the Classic City for yet another round of academic
excitement unparalleled at my dear old alma mater
This begins my seventh lor is it eighth'’t year here
People continually grill me about how long I intend to
stay in school
"Is college the career you really want?" they ask,
"or is it just a lOor 15-year fling' 1
I figure to live about 60 more years This will give
me plenty of time to discover a cure for cancer, w in
the Pulitzer prize for journalism and star in the mini
series based on my ow n life In the meantime. I figure
I'll keep pursuing an education until I get tired of
dollar fifty pitchers at Abbott's, chicken dinners at
the ADPi house, Saturday afternoons between the
hedges 'and Wednesday all nighters working on
Between the Hedges, The Red and Black s Guide to
Georgia Football I. and romantic strolls through
north campus
I should get tired of it in, oh about 25 more years
Besides, attending the University does our state a
great service If not for us. Georgia Tech would have
the best football team in Georgia, and that would lie
more embarrassing for the state than finishing 44th
in high school SAT scores
The thought of returning to the University in early
September has earned me through many an August,
especially those times when major league baseball in
metro Atlanta consisted of watching Tony Kuhek and
Joe Garagiola bicker about the designated hitter rule
on NBCs Game of the Week
Even after going to school all my life. I get bored
with summer earlier and earlier each year This
year. I think it was around June 9th
The first fall trip back to Athens is always the best
I eagerly anticipate seeing that big Jack Davis
billboard heralding the Junkyard Dogs located
outside Bogart on US 29 The best part is noticing that
another year has been added under the heading "SEC
champions " Someday, we’ll see another year listed
under "National Champions
I'm always eager as well to see what has changed
on the University campus and surrounding com
munity Sort of like seeing what Santa left under the
tree
Last year, some major changes took place We got
a sperm bank, a new sorority and a new quarterback
And as my fall resolution, t promuse not to crack any
The thought of returning to the
University in early September
has carried me through many
an August, especially those
times when major league
baseball in metro Atlanta
consisted of watching Tony
Kubek and Joe Garagiola
bicker about the designated-
hitter rule...
sperm bank jokes this year
I won’t make any guarantees concerning sorority
jokes, but I promise not to connect them with sperm
banks
This year's preclasses campus scouting report
hasn't turned up anything that could possibly top that
combo, but a few differences have caught my
attention
First and foremost, we finally have our new student
center Sort of It hasn't fully opened yet. which
continues a fine University tradition the student
center that isn't If it ever does open, freshmen, be
sure not to enter through the far left door, or the
sperm bank will close your account
Sorry, had to get one in I promise, no more are
coming Oops, sorrv again
The bookstore bus stop has been moved, about loo
feet toward Sanford Bridge Physical Plant even
carved a little niche out of the sidewalk for it. I guess
their rationale is -less sidewalk, less chance of buses
bomping pedestrians on it Or perhaps they have a
more devious motive tricking sleepy-eyed students
on their way to first period, unaware the sidewalk has
been shaved, into venturing into killer bus territory
where it's fair game to pick them off On a more
important and relevant note, the toy train at Chow
Goldstein s now circles in the opposite direction from
last year A waiter told me. in an exclusive interview
that they took the train down to clean it, and just "put
it back on the tracks backwards "
Sounds like what went on last year on the real train
tracks going to the Physical Plant.
Hot lanta. in the form of Buckhead Beach and
Benmgan's, has moved closer to Athens Some of us
may nev er go home again Then again, some of us»
may have to make one trip back, to retrieve our L L
Bean drinking glasses
All that white stuff has been vacuumed out of the
ceilings in eight University dorms Too bad I'll miss
Nancy " I just pray the room's other two occupants
don't come dow n with chest colds 19 years from now
Mi Hedge Avenue has been widened, Athensstyle
I probably to better service the hordes and the horde
mongers traveling between there and Benmgan's'
To "widen the street, the city merely painted
another line on it Gad. and to think the feds are
w asting millions of dollars doing construction work to
w iden the Dow ntown Connector in Atlanta
The Dawg House is gone Disappeared Leveled, is
more like it I don't know w hat the demolition crew
used on it. but we should definitely include the
mechanism on our MX warheads And I'll resist the
temptation to suggest that somebody took the
structure home in a daw ggie bag
One thing about Athens hasn't changed, though
Chase St Cafe still serves up the best barbeque and
black eyed peas in town every Thursday Resident
After Hours specialist Jim Tremayne owes me lunch
now that the Dodgers have clinched the division, and
it s now time to collect
See you in two weeks Take it. Nelson
Ed Thomas is assistant sports editor of The Red and
Black
£ XO CANPM IttT Tel glr>
Tax hike may improve young minds
Somewhere in that mountain of legislative bills left
over from the last session of the General Assembly-
sits House Resolution 91 The bill’s name obviously
doesn't speak for itself but the impact it could have on
education would be enormous And HR 91 is expected
to be a hot topic during the 1984 session that begins in
January
HR 91 calls for a I cent increase in the statewide
sales tax Sponsored by former Rep Marcus Collins.
D-Pelham, the revenue raised by the legislation—
about $400 million- would go to education A miracle
might be awaiting students in this state if legislators
wake up and see this is the only solution to poor
education in Georgia
The state Department of Education, the Board of
Regents and even U S Secretary Terrel Bell have
said that more funding is needed for education
Georgia, which has one of the lowest per pupil ex
penditures in the country, is sure-fire proof of that
need Students at our state elementary , secondary
and high schools are getting a second rate education
Scholastic Aptitude Test scores reflect that
At the higher education level, the University-
Systems budget is shrivelling up Rep Lauren
"Bubba" McDonald. D-Commerce, is predicting
enormous shortfalls in the amount of revenue
generated by the state this year Falling short of
projections means bad news for next year's budget
And things don't look too good in the future either A
smaller budget not only necessitates continuing
tuition hikes, but will mean the state strays further
and further away from its committment to the
regent's funding formula Result the equipment
shortage and major repairs so badly needed on many
buildings in the system's 33 schools will continue to be
neglected Like a snowball, the problems are only
Citizens want improved
education, but don’t want to
pay for it. What other
alternative do we have?
going to get progressively worse unless something
happens soon
It's been more than a year since we heard the
campaign rhetoric of wonderboy Joe Frank Gov
Harris was elected on a no tax increase platform and
unless every institution of learning in this state
collapses to the ground, don't expect him to raise
taxes
No. instead we must get real and pay for our own
problems HR 91. although it doesn't soothely pacify
the ears, may just subtly improve young minck
True, nobody wants more taxes A recent statewide
poll concluded that citizens want improved education
native do we have'’
HR 91 will not bode favorably for higher education
until some revisions are made As it currently stands
in the Senate Banking and Finance Committee, the
$400 million would be earmarked for public
education — excluding the upper echelons with
constitute the University System School Superin
tendent Charles McDaniel already has qualms with
the bill because it also would roll back property taxes
in the same amount as the generated sales tax
But lawmakers are kicking around different ideas
to make this principal work More than likely the
property tax rollback will be altered but legislators
.f! 50 , consider higher education when refining
L he i~! s * ore •* anuar > Public education is supported
by both state and local monies But higher education
is only supported by whatever the General Assembly
appropriates And as the pool of potential dollars
becomes smaller, the regents have little to fall back
on except tuition increases A portion of the $400
mil ion supplement, if donated to the regents, would
spell R E LI E F
, A sf e H n ' T? ,ra here and a penny extra there is going
^.lll e . preserver of Georgia education And
h ‘ gh * r .and lower education need financial
he p. both should be treated equally If pennies are
th * ,Vk0 ,lers “'en each will help the
outer CO leges can tram better teachers to provide
I?’ 1 ” l [' st , ruc,lon ,0 students, and better students will
g aduate from state high schools and be qualified to
pursue a college education The copper coins we now
disregard could provide our educational cure
Black LaCC, "‘ “ ,h * ’ narl aging editor /or the Red and