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The Hrd ami Black
Friday. January I*. 19KT.
THE RED AND BLACK
Ettablished IH93 — Incorpttratcd IMO
Harry Montevideo, General Manager
Clarice Makemson, Editor-in-chief
James Kendley, Managing Editor
A" independent •tndcnr ru»,f„ii- - n..t iiftilnjte«l u »»•- t#ie t.'n,\r/,ii<
Absent-minded
Wednesday night, as anyone could have predicted, the In
terfraternity Council and the Black Greek Council officially did
not merge into one body.
Because of the absence of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, a BGC
fraternity, the Greek merger could not take place.
It is no surprise to anyone that the merger did not occur After
two years of finagling, working out details and rearranging social
calendars, the two organizations ran into still another road block.
Irving Dawson, president of Alpha Phi Aipha, also a BGC
fraternity, said the BGC would not merge officially with the IFC
until all the black fraternities were present Rightly so Without
the participation of all the BGC members, it would be a merger in
theory only
But what puzzles us is the reason for Omega Psi Phi’s absence
from the meeting that was to officially tie the knot, once and for
all.
IFC President Joe Fleming said he was unable to contact
members of Omega Psi Phi and that is probably why they did not
attend the meeting But knowing the closeness of the BGC
fraternities and their constant communication with one another,
we find it hard to believe that Omega Psi Phi did not know
anything about the meeting Even if Mr Fleming could not
contact them by telephone, surely the Omega brothers could have
found out about the meeting On such an important night for the
two organizations it is highly unlikely that Omega was unable to
read about the meeting in the newspaper or hear about it from
fellow black students.
Instead, we believe — but cannot verify — that the Omega
brothers got cold feet. Their absence was the only hurdle blocking
the merger of black and white Greeks. Had they truly wanted to
become one with the IFC, they would have made an effort to find
out when and where the meeting was.
Whether it was a planned action on the part of the BGC
fraternities or Omega’s individual decision, the absence of a black
fraternity leads us to believe that the merger is a long way from
reality.
In fact, Douglas Walker, vice president of BGC fraternity Phi
Beta Sigma, said, “We don't want to rush into anything, it's a
good idea, but we don’t want to rush it ."
Such words seem to echo the sentiments of the black frater
nities Thev are having second doubts about the merger, we
believe. Traditions, social practices and ethnic differences may
be behind the BGC's hesitation
The black fraternities appear to be giving up more of their
practices than the white fraternities And fraternities by their
very nature are steeped in tradition and practices.
However, the white fraternities seem to be walking around in a
cloud, unaware that the BGC may have doubts about the merger
Craig Potts, IFC vice president for public relations, said he didn't
see any problems with the merger - that everything was going
smoothly. "They’re here, they’re attending and they seem to have
joined us," he said
Well, obviously they haven’t joined Whether the two groups will
merge on Jan. 30 — the next IFC meeting — remains to be seen A
lack of enthusiasm on the part of the black fraternities and an
abundance of indifference on the part of the white Iralernities
seems to indicate that everyone is unsure
it appears to us that a lack of communication still exists bet
ween the two groups. Either the fine details that are bothering the
BGC need to be worked out or there never will be a unified Greek
community.
We are not implying that the IFC or the BGC is at fault, but
rather that there are still some bugs to be worked out
If communication between the IFC and BGC does not flourish,
unified Greeks will neve r become a reality. And if Greeks cannot
unify themselves, the rest of the student population will have a
hard time following suit.
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Opinion
Athens’ unique sounds worth hearing
Athens is a tow n to listen to
When I first pul that line to paper, about three
weeks ago while stopped at a red light, I was so happy
with the thought that it took the near-sonic boom of
the semi right behind me to snap me back into
reality
Very scary, what the sound of a truck big enough to
haul a small South American country can do to a
daydreamer at a red light
But it's not really an Athens sound If the soul is the
body’s melody, then Athens houses a soul at once a
Gregorian chant, a Motown single and a DeFranco
Family "song.”
And that doesn't even include the poignant sound of
my roommates whining, “Why don't you write a
column about your roommates 0 ’’
I told them I would use them when I had adequate
time and space to recount all their exploits Heh. heh
In any case, consider some of these sounds unique
to Athens
I have to begin w ith the one I hate the worst the one
that makes me wake up in a cold sweat, the one it
takes two solid shots of Yukon Jack to cure.
I'm talking about the Russell Hall 5am garbage
run
When I was a freshman and lived on the dorm's
third floor, those maniacal, metal-chewing sanitation
workers incensed me so. that I jumped out of bed
every day for three weeks to curse the extended
families of all the participants
Then I found out those high tech trucks came
equipped with volume controls I contented myself
with earplugs and gritted teeth for the rest of the
quarter
Tommy Tomlinson
The second most horrifying noise on campus was
heard by my roommate on a day when the powers-
that-be obviously decided he hadn't been living right
A University bus driver we will call only "Terrible
Terry" was careening as usual over hill and dale
when the fateful noise came over the bus radio like a
mandate from Hell
"Terry, you're about 10 minutes behind
Grinning. Terry pumped the gas pedal My
roommate swears on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit
calendar that tires parted with pavement as the
packed North-South bus floated in midair for two
bone-chilling seconds
Everybody — everybody - got off at the next stop,
leaving the bus in dire need of cleaning
While those sounds lay serious bad vibes on
students and normal humans alike, others are worth
a chuckle even after your third yellow slip at
registration
My personal favorite is the collective groan Only
two events warrant this particular bad-pun, why-did’
I gel up groan
Oneisa bad slash scene from a had horror movieat
the drive-in I heard this noise just last week w hen the
gore classic "House by the Cemetery" Movingly
spelled "House by the Cematary"' was playing here
There are starving filmmakers in India who would
kill for that w asted celluloid
The other groan-causer is the first day of many a
statistics class, when 200 students find out the
professor cleverly named Smith in the OpSTAR has
absolutely no grasp of the English verb
Other favorite sounds
• The mad laugh of the meter maids Lovely Rita
where are you?
• Two Russell roomies arguing the lyrical
motivations and qualifies of Quiet Riot and Motley
Crue Stopped me in my tracks
• The Bob Russo Sizzle II >ou listen carefully, the
Grill's burgers and Rocky’s pizzas make the same
noise llnimm
• The chipmunks Always. always the chipmunks
Do thev ever die. or do they squeak and sneak to a
Rodent’ Fountain of Youth under all that North
Campus ivy?
• The thundering crash of books in any large class
five minutes before its close By the way, if teachers
don't nip this in the bud. it gets worse I had an
economics c lass where people slammed their books
with malice aforethought 15 minutes before the
scheduled time, de facto ending the class
No one seemed to mind, including the teacher He
had no grasp of the English verb anyway
• And finally the sound wo Red and Black staffei ■
enjoy I h <■ most the infamous
joyous last typewriter
Click
Tomnu Tomhnst
The Red and P' ic
associate nt'us editor fn
The ‘new right ’ is hiding behind its ow n blind optimism
TO Tilt; EDITOR
Ij<ist Tuesday’s debate between Abbie
Hoffman and Jerry Rubin brought up
some points I’ve been thinking about
for a long lime Mr Rubin took up the
Yuppie position of self-interest and
greed Rubin claimed (bat today’s
generation has lost the idealism of the
’80s. and is now much more pragmatic
in out look
If one looks under the surface,
however, one finds that many of the
problems people (ought against in the*
’60s are still present today We still
have large numbers of poor in our
decaying inner-cities, racism still
persists, we are still sending US
troops to foreign countries for our own
economic advancement tor just to save
face), and our waterways continue to
be polluted The difference now is that
Reagan just gives us his “aw shucks”
smile and tells us how good we have it
The seary thing is that many people
actually believe him
Before I get accused of being a
bleeding*heart idealist. I’d like to
clarify some things I believe in self
Don t take away
TO TIIF EDITOR:
Time and time again we see college
football programs placed on probation
by the NCAA This is as it should be. for
without enforcement of a standard set
of rules, I suppose something terrible
would happen
However, my concern is not with the
evils of big college football, but the type
of punishment meted out by the NCAA
In almost every case, the offending
institution is ordered NOT to award a
number of scholarships In the moat
recent case, the University of Georgia
was ordered not to award M football
scholarships over the next two years
Now those young men who would have
gone to Georgia will still go to college,
most will go to smaller schools where
they will displace 14 tit her young men
who will probably go to even smaller
schools The effect will filter on down to
sufficiency and (Hilling yourself up by
your bootstraps The problem today is
that young people have become so
obsessed with making it rich and
having all the right toys that humanity
and compassion have gone right (Hit the
w indow People aren’t at universities to
learn — they’re here to get jobs
The ignorance on campus amazes me
sometimes A German friend of mine is
constantly being asked if West Ger
many is Communist, and some don’t
even know if it is in Europe
When my roomate told a senior he
was studying anthropology, the guy
actually said, “What’s that 0- ’ During
rush a few years ago someone told me.
“You don’t have to worry about blacks
in our fraternity, they have their own
These are the future business leaders
that Rubin claimed would show com
passion towards the poor once they
struck it rich Bull' They can’t even
sin* |»ast their BMW's
I applaud the Keagan administration
for its optimism Optimism is needed to
face a challenging future, but this does
not mean sweeping problems under the
rug for future generations to clean up
any scholarships
the smallest scholarship schools
Would it not be a happier solution to
suspend the offending coaches or
athletic directors for an appropriate
period of time in the case of serious
violations, such as those charged to
Coach Charlie Pell at Clemson and
Florida?
Better still, leave the athletic scholar
ships for those young people with
athletic talent and let them develop
their talents while earning a degree and
order the offending schools to fund ad
ditional non athletic scholarships from
athletic department funds
I have no quarrel w ith those penalties
involving bans on T V appearances,
bowl games or national rankings, but in
the case of scholarships, more has to lie
better than less
RICHARD H PILCHER
The whole problem with the new
right” is that it is hypocritical and
superficial Its members come out for
state's rights and then force states to
raise their drinking ages They want to
raise the speed limit, which will nullify
any gains made with the new DU! law*.
They are anti abortion, but pro-capital
punishment (figure that one (Hit > The\
have weakened our civil liberties 1 look
at the new school search decision which
Reagan supported' They appoint
people like Anne Burford and James
Watt to look over our environment
They invade a tiny country like
Grenada and claim that America is
standing tall again
Republicans would respond to this by
saying that we have economic growth
at home and respect abroad Economic
grow th for who and for how long 0 With
Reagan's cuts in public housing, rapid
transit and education dors a black
person living in the inner-city have a
shot at the American dream 0 Will
anything trickle down to him° Probably
not We don't need handouts, but how
can these people catch the en
trepreneunal spirit if they cannot read
and the police harass them constantly 0
Respect abroad 0 Maybe from pup
pets and allies like Guatemala. South
Africa. Honduras, the Philippines, etc .
but not from most At least Reagan is
predictable Unfortunately Reagan’s
people didn't learn anything in college
either because if they had they would
realize that the United States not the
Soviet Union is the main cause of sociaf
unrest in I .a tin America
Unfortunately, people do not want t.i
hear had news Our actor president
says everything is rosy and millions
believe him He seems like such a nice
man Hopefully this is just a cycle we're
going through and education, com
passion and culture will come to be
valu<*d again
I don’t like the blind optimism oi the
Republicans or the wish> washiness of
the Democrats. Maybe someone with
new ideas will emerge in 198H In the
meantime question authority, don't
believe everything your president tells
you. and learn as much as you can
about the world around you
NEAL BEUTION
Senior, political science
Letters policy
The Bed and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints
them as space permits Due fo space limitations and legal con
siderations. all letters are subject to standard editing for libelous
material, length and clarity Short letters between 20 and 60 lines
are preferred
To be considered for publication, letters must be typed and
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Please include student classification and major or appropriate
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or Snelling dining hall
Passive resistance solves social ills
A prostitute stands outside the American Legion
Hall, a young boy keeps watch as a cocaine deal is
made in an abandoned hoarding house. This is
Auburn Avenue at its worst
There is another side to "Sweet Auburn." though
Just across the street from the Legion Hall is the
original home of the Southern Christian leadership
Conference, and down the street is the beautiful
modem complex lhal houses the Martin Luther King
Jr Center for Nonviolent Social Change To many,
these organizations represent the hopes of an op
pressed people that future generations might come to
this impoverished Atlanta neighborhood and say
“this is how it used to be"
Rev King must have thought often about h'is
childhood here w hile he campaigned for civil rights in
the early 19S0s The pangs of hopelessness thal bite
the hearts of America's poor must have stayed
always on his mind The sad downcast faces’ of
useless old black men must have driven him to
accept without complaint the handcuffs and
blasphemies that society threw in his path
Next year, on Jan 15. the same government that
jailed Rev King and labeled him a subversive and a
possible Communist will belatedly honor his birthday
as a federal holiday The reason for this apparant
about-face is not a sudden spasm of conscience on the
part of Congress, but something called the political
will of the people How that political will came to be
changed is the story of a great man and a powerful
idea — an idea that is becoming more and more rele
vant to modem social problems
The idea that fueled the civil rights movement
originally came from another American rebel. Henry
David Thoreau His essay "On the Duty of Civil
Disobedience" was the acknowledged inspiration for
Rev King s mandate for non-violent social change It
was after reading this essay that Rev King realized
thal "non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral
imperative as is cooperation with good "
Gandhi also acknow ledged a debt to Thoreau. and
the movement that he led to gain Indian in
dependence from British colonial rule utilized
exactly the same idea — passive resistance
What is passive resistance, and how did it help to
bring about these historical movements? Simply put.
passive resistance is non-violent non-cooperation
with perceived evil, be it racial oppression or colonial
exploitation
The aim of passive resistance is to publicize a
problem by forcing the authorities to recognize the
problem and its opponents Often the result is
violence on the part of the authorities, as was the case
when Rev King led peaceful protest marches in
Alabama only to be attacked by firehoses, trained
dogs and police officers with nightsticks The same
thing happened at Kent State, in India, and more
recently, in response to anti-nuclear peace demon
strators in Europe
The effect of passive resistance in each of these
cases was to reveal the existing powers for what they
really were — oppressors In each case the violent
reactions of the respective governments legitimized
and reinforced the complaints of the resistors
Today we face social problems on a worldwide
scale that dwarf those of the past While hundreds of
millions of people are starving and over a billion are
malnourished on this planet, the fruits of mankind's
accumulated knowledge are being hoarded by
amoral political superpowers
The scope of the disparity between the haves and
have-notes of this world is numbing while the in
dustrial nations spend $! trillion a year on ar
maments. less than Si billion is spent annually on
population control
The resources of our world are not "up for grabs "
They are the birthright of every human being on
Earth. It is the greed of the empowered industrial
nations and their citizens that robs the children in
Ethiopia of their very lives Their futures are stolen
so that materialism and consumerism can thrive
elsewhere In a very real sense babies are dying so
that a select few can drive fine cars and wear fancy
clothing
On the occasion of the 56th birthday of her husband
Coretta Scott King used her position to again shine a
light on the famine in Africa and on poverty in
general I don t believe that too much can be said
about this problem, nor do 1 believe that it is
somebody else s problem , it is rooted in our
backyard and in the glorified material aspirations of
each member of our society
The 550 hairdos, the expensive clothes and cars and
alt the gaudy status symbols of our culture are evil,
ugly reminders of the limitlessness of human greed
We are no technological saviors to the world — we are
thieves who advertise our plunder and degrade our
victims with shameless self indulgence
Our luxury is purchased at the cost of human lives
What great value we put on our jewels and furs and
the handsome missiles that rise phallus-like to
protect them, and what little on our souls
I realize that I don’t have the solution to the in
terconnected problems of world povertv and war, and
I don't expect my passive resistance to bring me
anything but criticism and pain.
But at least I know in my heart that I’m not a part
of the problem
Preston Coleman is a junior in fhe School of Jour
nalism