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The lied and Black
Thursday. June 23. I9XM
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Opinion
THE RED AND BLACK
Established 1893 Incorporated 1980
Frank Lynch, Fdilor-in-C.hief
Jim Fanner. Mana»in» Kditor
Sarali Hawk. News Editor
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TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE 0* AERIE PRESS
An independent newspaper nut ifflhaled with the Lniversitv oj Uto'fflu
Staff
Kdilnrial: 543.1809
Sports Editor Brooks Melchior
Entertainment Editor Cara May
Copy Editors Nicole Gustin. Louise Mulherin
Photo Editor Nat Gurley
Sports Writer Jeff Hart
Advertising: 343-1791
Advertising Director Robin Stoner
Senior Advertising Personnel Sharyn Curtis, Mike Wells
Advertising Representatives Clarke Carter, Jeff Duncan, Ned
Newell, Scott Scaggs. James F. Tomberlin.
Production Staff Cristina Feindt. Laura Callahan, Lisa Martin
Classified Sales/Receptionist Lori Morris
General Manager Harry Montevideo
0//ice Manager Mary Straub
THE RED AND BLACK i» published Tuesday through Fnday during the regular school
year, and each Tuesday and Thursday during summer quarter with the exception at holi
days and examination periods by The Red and Black Publishing Company . Inc . a non
profit campus newspaper not affiliated with The University of Georgia. 123 North Jackson
Street. Athens Georgia lOHOl Third-class postage paid at Athens Georgia Subscription
rate is S24 per year POSTMASTER Send address changes to IB North Jackson Street.
Athens. Georgia J0801
Opinions expressed in The Red and Black other than unsigned editorials are the opinions
of the writers of signed columns and not necessarily those of The Red and Black PuMishing
Co . Inc All rights reserved Reprints by permission of editors
Letters Policy
The Red and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them
as space permits Because of space limitations and legal consider
ations. all letters are subject to standard editing for libelous
material, length and Red and Black style Short letters are preferred
and stand a better chance of running
To be considered for publication, letters must be double spaced on
a 60-space line They also must include the name, address and day
time telephone number of the writer. Please include student classify
cation and major or other appropriate identification (professor.
Union officer, alumnus, etc I. We can omit your name in print for a
valid reason upon request
betters can be sent by U S mail or brought in person to The Red
and Black's offices at 123 N. Jackson St.. Athens. Ga 30601
THIS IS MAfcLE. SAY
"Mr; ma&le.
Marathon summer?
It’s just one week into this thing called summer quarter
and if you're already feeling totally worn out, there’s a good
reason for it:
The quarter has been shortened by one week, and to
make up for the lost time University administrators have re
structured the daily class schedule, tacking an extra 20 min
utes on to each class period.
If you didn’t notice the marathon you're caught in, you're
not alone.
Someone didn’t see fit to publicize the change, although
apparently the change was made by the books. Input was
sought from each of the schools and colleges, and a final
recommendation was made by a dean’s council last winter.
The change was initially recommended to benefit tea
chers who return to the University each summer for post
graduate work. It seems for many teachers, the University’s
summer quarter overlapped or cut too close to the time
when they had to return to work for fall classes.
That’s commendable. But what about the rest of us? Stu
dents taking a full load of three classes are in class three
and one-half hours a day. Add in two 15-minute class
changes, and that’s a four hour stretch. Students taking
classes that meet on alternating days are in an even worse
predicament. Some Tuesday-Thursday classes drag on for
three-plus hours at a time.
Let’s face it: attention spans are limited. Even the best
instructors have a hard time keeping a class alert for the
regular 50 minutes. Unfortunately, many professors not
used to the extra class time are struggling to fill the periods
or — worse yet — calling class short everyday.
That only hurts the students, who are paying the full tu
ition rate and deserve the same class time as would be re
ceived throughout the rest of the year. Also, the shortened
quarter puts class projects and term papers on a tighter
schedule, in addition to reading assignments and tests.
From an academic perspective summer quarter is tough
as it is, with the oppressive heat. Extending class time and
cramming a day-long schedule together don’t help the situa
tion.
Are the 9,000 summer students all that different than
those who attend during the rest of the year? Not really. For
most, getting out a week earlier in August probably doesn’t
make that much of a difference, but an extra week of school
would likely be preferred to marathon schedules.
If graduate courses in the College of Education are the
main classes in need of an abbreviated schedule, then why
can’t only those courses be changed and the other colleges
operate on a regular nine- or ten-week schedule?
Administrators say the same seven-week system will be
used next summer. We suggest that input and opinions be
gathered from all areas of campus, students and faculty in
cluded, before next summer's schedule is laid down in con
crete.
Is a shortened summer quarter in the best interest of all
colleges?
Oh, and if the decision is made to change the schedule
again, please let us all know about it.
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Frank Lynch
Michael Moreu The Red and Black
Some things can’t be taught
I have book-learned just about everything
there is to book-learn about this industry, if any
thing at all.
I've been considering that possibility for some
time. But now. as the final months of my formal
education wind slowly down, I’ve given in to the
fact that it’s a reality.
For two years I’ve been taking various courses
in the Henry Grady College of Journalism and
Mass Communication. First there was 101, then
260, 351, 352, 504. 530, and on and on. In each, I’ve
sought some kind of challenge or great reve
lation. For the most part, I never found it.
Yes, there have been enlightening lectures and
discussions. I’ve read the books and talked with
the professors, absorbing a lot of the detailed
kinds of things you need to know to make it in
journalism.
But mainly my two years as a student in the
College of Journalism have simply served to as
sure me this is what I’m supposed to be doing.
Behind every career decision, there’s got to be
some sort of hidden hunger or desire. I can’t
imagine being excited about economics or com
puter science. I do get excited about the news
paper business. That’s why it’s my major.
And it’s exciting going to class and working
with others who are equally excited about the
news.
Growing up, everyone considered me odd be
cause I was a kid who liked to read the papers.
All of the papers. Every paper I could get my
hands on.
When the family went on trips, I made it a
point to have a quarter ready each time we
stopped for gas or to use the bathroom so I could
buy the local newspaper wherever we happened
to be. At the end of the trip, I would lug the stack
of papers I had collected on the journey back
home and peruse them repeatedly, before
storing them safely under my bed or in my
closet.
1 once went on a cross-country trip to Arizona
You can only imagine the stack of papers I had
upon returning to Georgia.
In Texas, I sweated over the decision to pur
chase the Dallas Times-Herald or the Dallas
Morning News, or shuck them all and pick up the
neighboring Fort Worth Star-Telegram I bought
one of each
In New York for a week, 1 wisely alternated
day-to-day purchases of the Times. Daily News,
Post and Newsday, only occasionally giving in
and picking up two different papers in one day.
Still, I almost surpassed the weight limit on the
flight back home
I prized my papers like some kids prize base
ball cards or comic books. No one could touch
them When mom threatened to throw them all
out, I fought back heartily When dad said they
were a fire hazard and a haven for bugs, I ar
gued otherwise.
Before long, news of my love of newspapers
spread and other people started contributing to
the cause
People at school would go on trips and lug
back newspapers for me. Once, in high school, a
friend spent the weekend in Nashville and re
turned on Monday morning with a bulky copy of
the Sunday Tennessean It snowed that day, and
while trudging home through the deepening
drifts I slipped and fell several times, books and
notebooks going everywhere But not the Tennes
sean It was kept dry and secure stuffed inside
my jacket I read it by the fire when I got home
Several times my father would bring newspa
pers home from the office, brought in by co
workers who traveled around the country and
knew of my love
Likewise, a friend's father who works for one
of the airlines would go up and down the aisles
after the planes came in from long trips and col
lect all the out-of-town papers 1 might like to
read
As you could guess, the collection grew and
grew until there were several hundred newspa
pers stuffed in every conceivable place in my
room I could have held a one-man paper drive
and made a bundle, but I didn’t have the heart to
give up one of the precious publications.
Then one day a couple of years ago I woke up
and decided enough
was enough. I had
read and re-read
every paper dozens of
times, absorbing
every possible thing
about layout or design
or news content or or
ganization or what
ever. It was time for
a change.
In one afternoon,
unprovoked and to the delight of my parents, I
threw them out. Not all of them, mind you, but
most of them, keeping a few dozen that held spe
cial memories.
It wasn’t until I came to school here and began
taking journalism classes that I realized just
how much I had learned from reading all those
newspapers all those years.
Jaff Hart
See, journalism isn’t something you can learn.
Books can be written about style and refered to
as guides, but they can’t instill in a person the
desire or ability to communicate, to see the pos
sibility of stories in ordinary people, to maintain
the liberties of a free press
Journalism has to be firmly rooted, cultivated
and nurtured to perfection, and even then there's
no promise anything will come of it.
Too many people chose a major, especially in
journalism, because they think it will be fun or
interesting. Whenever I meet someone like that,
I warn them that there had better be something
more to it, some kind of inner love or desire or
drive or whatever, or they will likely never make
it.
That’s something you just can’t learn from a
textbook
Frank Lynch is editor-in-chie/ of The Red and
Black.
Take mom’s advice
and wait to grow up
What ever happened to the good ol' days when
a person could just sit back and relax?
No nagging parents wanting to know if you’re
eating right or if you washed your clothes this
week No bosses calling you in to work when it’s
pouring down rain. No errands to run at eight
o'clock in the morning and then having your car
break down in the middle of the busiest intersec
tion in town.
All these problems are a result of my getting
older and not listening to my mother She used to
say, ‘Don’t you ever grow up or I’ll ground you
for life."
Well, I waited 24 years to grow up because of
her threat and now I wish I had listened
It seems like just yesterday I was calling my
friends to play football at the big field or to go to
a movie without having to worry about anything
but having a good time
Nowadays when I want to see a movie, I have
to consult my daily planner notebook to see if I
can fit it in.
I used to dream of the day when I would be old
enough to go gambling or drinking but I didn’t
realize the kind of problems that were associated
with doing grown up’ things
If you want to do something like gamble, you
first have to have a job to cover your inevitable
losses ($300 in less than 12 hours > Then you have
to get permission from the boss to leave the
working establishment, usually involving having
to give nothing short of your firstborn Once the
bribery process has been finished, it’s time to
check Uie usually depleted budget to see how
much money you can afford to lose
The next problem is trying to get the car in
working order to make the long drive to Atlantic
City, scum capital of America and the city least
likely to have a public bathroom The car, of
course, will demand several hundred dollars
worth of work from a mechanic who fixes it just
long enough for you make it there and back be
fore needing a second round of repairs
Now that you have arrived in Gambling City
it's time to find a room At $120 a night, the card
is called upon to perform its duty, pushing you
further into debt
After putting the luggage away and giving $10
to the kid who looks like he's been trying to de
velop his own new drug, you smell, and hear, the
sounds of panicking people (the smell is that of
new, crisp money).
You unconsciously open the door and walk
down the hall to the elevators Quickly you jump
out of the elevator and run to the first crap table
you see. not realizing you don’t know how to play
craps
Next you walk over to a blackjack table and
slap down $50 to start.
Five minutes and ten
hands later you find
yourself digging in
your pocket for more
money.
This process con
tinues throughout the
evening until sud
denly you realize that
there is nothing left
and you sit staring at
the table wondering "What happened? I had $300
bucks and all 1 have left to show for it is a $120
room, starvation, and a horrible drive back
home.”
Again, all these problems are a result of my
getting older and not listening to my mother,
who used to say "Gambling only leads to
gangsters."
I’m just tired of always
having to act my age and of
having mounds of
responsibility poured on
me.
I still don't know what that means but its prob
ably true. I’m just tired of always having to act
my age and of having mounds of responsibility
poured on me I just want to go back to to the
time when having a job was never considered
and money was no object.
Things were so much easier then
No entrance exams or 10-page finals on the
meaning of life. No worrying about whether she
has some sort of disease or the shot that follows.
Trying to convince yourself that life won't be a
complete failure.
Bring back the days of rollerskating (maybe
not) and the excitement of your first date What
about the time when you had that real big party
when your parents were out of town and the
place got trashed, and then seeing your parents
drive up two days early and their sheets were
still unwashed?
So unless you want to end up poor with a dead
end job, trying to support four illegitimate kicto,
think before you start to grow up
You'll be a lot better off in the long run.
Jeff Hart it a hopeless sports writer for The
Red and Black.