Newspaper Page Text
4 • The Red and Black • Friday, January 12, 1990
OPINIONS
■ QUOTABLE
“It's a little bad."—
Paul Miller, Council for Financial Aid to Education information di
rector on the University's fund raising over the past five years.
The Red & Black
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Charlene Smith/Editor-in-Chief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Robert Todd/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Educate voters
In his State of the University System speech
Wednesday, Chancellor H. Dean Propst said the most
important issues facing educators in the coming decade
will be the retention rates of students, the erosion of
competitive faculty and staff salaries, equal access to
institutions for African-Americans and the money, or
lack thereof, available to the system.
Propst asked, “Do we have the will to achieve the
best?”
Perhaps a more appropriate question would have
been, “Do our legislators and Gov. Joe Frank Harris
have the wisdom to let us achieve the best?”
For the past few years, Georgia’s lawmakers have
felt the need to starve the state’s education system to
death. They have ignored the long list of experts who
say that Georgia must drastically improve its ailing
education system if it is to improve the quality of life of
its citizens, attract industry and spur economic growth.
When critics questioned how the state would fund
the new Georgia Southern University, legislators
raised the hands, smiled and promised a commitment
to funding the project without affecting the existing
education budget.
Propst and the University System have a right to be
proud of their efforts in the face of shrinking support
from the Legislature and especially Harris. But the
time has come to say enough is enough.
The challenge facing Propst and educators at all
levels across the state is to use this election year to
their advantage. Educators must go out to the voters
and rally support for their cause.
It is up to Propst, the Board of Regents and faculty
from around the state to ensure education is on the
minds of every voter. Now is the time to hold legislators
accountable for their records on education.
Everyone in this state is affected by education: poor
families who hope their children can rise from poverty
through education, farmers who benefit from
Cooperative Extension, elderly from biochemistry and
medical research and the economy of cities which can’t
attract big corporations because the state’s education
system is so underfunded.
Who better than the state’s educators to give our
legislators a report card?
Concerns that some legislators will retaliate
against educators at the next session are valid, but can
be addressed by three arguments. If educators are
effective in their efforts, such legislators won’t be
present at the next session. If these legislators survive
the election, the voting public should be more wary of
them. Finally, what do you have to lose? Support to
education can’t get much worse.
Smoke together
Asthmatics, contact lens wearers and people who
just don’t care to walk around smelling like
smokestacks can now breathe a little easier in Park
Hall, where smoking has just been banned, following
recent bans in Brooks and Aderhold halls.
University regulations already ban smoking in all
public classrooms, auditoriums, seminar rooms,
elevators and other designated public areas in
buildings. This is a good policy that protects the rights
of non-smokers.
But to give smokers the freedom to take a puff on
campus, the University should provide designated
smoking areas.
That way, the smokers can indulge their habit
without making those around them uncomfortable or
even sick.
It’s up to the department heads to clear their
hallways of smoke. It’s up to the University to make
sure the smokers have somewhere to go.
There’s room for both on this campus.
STAFF
NEWS: 543-1809
Home toner. SuMn Hill
Sports Editor Gene Williams
Ext arts Inmart Editor Gloria RowtxXbam
Associate Nows Editors: Rand Psarson. Jennifer
Rampoy
Root Papa Copy Editor. ClarV Hubbard
InaMa Copy Editors: Michael Board. Robin
Sclwroikart Jennifer Wilkin
UOA Teday/Wlre Editor Oenise Padilla
Qrapblcs Editor: Dans O'Keeffe
Ptvoto Editor Peter Frey
CMof Ptetopapher wsyne Jackson
Staff Witters: Gay* Barrett. Walter Colt. Cluabeth DiM.
Mans Edwards. Anna-Mane Far***. Chrta Grtmee,
Joel Groover. Data McLeod. Michael McLeod, Laura
Roe
Sports Writer: Chris lencette
Special Seed one/Trends EdNor: Beth Graddy
A sals tint Special Sect Ion 8/Trends Editor
Andy Rogers
Edited* Assistant: MoIHe Batts
ADVERTISING: 543-1791
Stadaat Advertising Managers.
Knee Burnham. Beverly Taylor
Scott Donaldson. Lori Thurman
Senior Advertising Representatives: Soar. Fagan.
Kncheiie Haiuaiani, June Reynolds
Advertising Representatives Crag Dekehemeke.
Joy Denton, KrtsUn Glude. Laura Hudgens, Rick
Hoggins. Grag Kaii.s, Leigh Riffs. Brad Ross. Sally
Young
Assistant Editorial Shod. Manager: Cnttma Feindt
Assistant Advertising ftod. Manager Mariena
Martin
Production Stall: Andy Ard. Laura Fnadrtch. Andrea
Man sour, Lorln Marsh, Elizabeth Mauti, Laura Miller,
Stacy Stenborg. Michelle Wogcit
General Manager: Harry Montevideo
Advert!sing Director: Robin Stoner
Omce Manager Mary Straub
Production Manager: Judy Jordan
C laasiAeda/Reception!st: Beverly Vaughn
Credt Manager Chuck Lyons
Clerical: Joanna Horton, Lesley Wschtel
The Had and Buck .s published Tuesday through
Friday during the regular school year and each
Thursday during summer quarter, with the exceptions
of holidays and exam periods, by The Rad and Black
PubHaNrg Company Inc. a non-profit campus
newspaper not affiliated wtth the University of
Georgia, 123 N Jackson St.. Athens, Ga. 30B01
Third class postage paid at Athens, Ga. Subscription
rate: S24 par year
Opinions expressed In The Red and Bsc* other than
unsgned edrtorteis are the opinions of the enters of
sgned columns and not nacassaniy those of The Rad
and Black Publishing Company Inc. All rights
reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors.
Was it a “Just
Cause” or
just ’cause?
The United States invasion of Panama was
yet another instance in the continuing saga of
imperialistic interventionism in Central
America (and elsewhere) on the part of the bul
lies from the North. Was it done “just ‘cause” or
were there legitimate reasons? The U.S. sup
posedly went into Panama and overthrew the
Noriega regime because Noriega was wanted
on drug trafficking charges in Miami, because
he had annulled the rightful election of Presi
dent Endara, because he had declared a state of
war with the U.S. and, therefore, the Canal was
in jeopardy, because a U.S. soldier had been
killed by the Panamanian Defense Force, and
because a U.S. soldier’s wife had been threat
ened with rape. A more realistic, alternative
point of view can be put forth on all of these
counts and more.
Surely other U.S. soldiers have been killed in
other countries and U.S. reaction has been
much more restrained, most noticeably in Leb
anon where 241 marines were killed and
former President Reagan withdrew remaining
troops.
The threat of rape to a military officer’s wife
is, of course, repulsive and terroristic, but to go
to war over such a thing? After all it was only a
threat.
The claim that the Canal was endangered iB
equally ludicrous. Supposedly the U.S. had to
Jean-Pierre
Caillault
protect its “interests” in the region and had to
guarantee safe passage for all ships through
the canal. In fact, the only day that the Canal
was closed in its long history of operation was
the day the U.S. invaded Panama!
Another reason stated for the invasion was to
help install the rightfully elected government of
President Endara. Never is it mentioned that
the Endara government is, in fact, a U.S. cre
ation, and that Endara benefitted from a $10
million campaign fund provided by the U.S.
government. The U.S. is occupying Panama in
much the same way as it has intermittently oc
cupied and terrorized much of Central America
throughout this century.
The hunt for Noriega as a “fugitive” from jus
tice is also maddening. The case for drug traf
ficking is a hypocrisy, since Noriega’s
involvement with drugs was conveniently over
looked when he was on better terms with the
U.S.
The U.S. should have followed the recent ex
amples from Eastern Europe and let the people
reach self-determination. Surely the occurences
in Romania should have dispelled any doubt
that a seemingly all-powerful despot could be
removed from office without the aid of foreign
invaders. This sentiment is not new; consider
the remarkable and often quoted statement by
former Marine Commandant General David
Sharp in 1966: “1 believe that if we had and
would keep our dirty, bloody, doller-soaked fin
gers out of the business of these nations so full
of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive
at a solution of tneir own.. And if unfortunately
their revolution must be of the violent type be
cause the “haves” refuse to share with the
“have-nots” by any peaceful method, at least
what they get will be their own, and not the
American style, which they don’t want and
above all don’t want crammed down their
throats by Americans.’
The final irony is that Bush’s invasion of
Panama helped turn keep, in the most perverse
way, his inauguration promise of “a new en
gagement in the lives of others.”
Jean-Pierre Caillault is an associate astronomy
professor.
Reagan is true “Man of the Decade”
Perhaps it is but pure coincidence that the
end of 1989, the end of the eighties, should so
vividly promise the end of the Cold War Era.
The images of revolution and revolutionary
change are seared on the collective retina: the
lone student facing a line of tanks in Beijing;
the East German communists voting them
selves out of power; the wide-eyed corpse of Ro
manian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu staring as if
indignant; the sledgehammer-wielding Ber
liners assaulting the Wall from both East and
West.
But, why 1989? Why was 1989 the year that
freedom triumphed over totalitarianism in
Warsaw, Sofia, Berlin, and a thousand humble
villages and hamlets in between?
Some observers point to the large numbers
and inarguable courage of those demanding
democratic reform. The cover of Newsweek, for
example, lauded the “People of the Year:
Standing Up for Freedom.” Newsweek makes
the subtle suggestion that “standing up” was
all Eastern Europe had ever needed do to gain
freedom.
However unintentionally, this message in
sults the long-suffering peoples who have al
ways yearned for freedom, but remembered the
bloody streets of Budapest in 1956, Prague in
1968, and Beijing in 1989, and recognized that
courageous demands for liberty, though nat
ural and just, protect no one from the guns and
tanks of a determined despot. Under commu
nist governments of old, an expression of
“people power” was nothing but a brave flare
that summoned the army and the secret police.
Time magazine’s year-end award was dif
ferent, but similarly confused. Trumpeting So
viet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev as the
messianic “Man of the Decade,” the editors
overlooked another deserving world leader that
they failed to understand for eight years and
have tried to forget since last January.
Beginning in earnest with "The Speech” for
Goldwater 25 years ago, Ronald Reagan put
forth the peace-through-strength doctrine that
made the Cold War unwinnable in the minds of
Soviet leaders and helped forge the hope of the
1990s:
"Where then is the road to peace?” Reagan
asked. “Well,” he answered, “it’s a simple an
swer after all: you and I have the courage to say
to our enemies (that) there is a price we will not
pay, there is a point beyond which they must
not advance.” When the people of the United
States put Reagan behind the desk in the Oval
Office, he brought with him the “simple an
swer” of 1964 that his predecessor never found.
Only ten short years ago, when Soviet power
reached its menacing zenith in the invasion of
Afghanistan, the White House was occupied by
a muddle-headed dreamer who literally smiled
at the sight of Soviet expansion in the Western
Hemisphere (Nicaragua) and mumbled quaint
pleasantries about human rights.
In Ronald Reagan, the Soviets met someone
altogether different. With his program of con
ventional weapons construction and nuclear
weapons modernization, his attention to the
threats to freedom posed by regional conflicts,
and his initiative to develop a system of strat
egic defense, Reagan buttressed strong words
with actions.
When he succeeded in deploying American
Pershing II and cruise missiles in Western Eu
rope, Reagan more securely tied the fate of the
NATO allies to the U.S. and made even less
likely the chances for a conventional Soviet in
vasion or nuclear blackmail of the continent.
When he supported the freedom fighters of Af
ghanistan and Nicaragua, Reagan made clear
his resolve not to concede any nation to the
proxy and regular army force of the accurately
described “Evil Empire.” When he launched the
Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan threw
open the doors to a new arena of competition in
which the Soviets had little chance for victory.
It was this strength, the strength of the West
and her leader, coupled with the absolute
failure of Marxism to deliver the social and eco
nomic goods, that beckoned and prodded Mik
hail Gorbachev to negotiate for peace.
Before the British Parliament in 1982, Presi
dent Reagan asked his hosts to consider how,
through strength, the West might affect the
“permanent prevention of war” and help to es
tablish “conditions of freedom and democracy
as rapidly as possible in all countries.”
Strange how the possibility of that future
now greets us in the person of a curious and
hopeful young boy, brought on the shoulders of
the man of the decade, an American president
named Ronald Reagan.
Luke Boggs is a senior history major.
Rotation policy explained
■ FORUM
□ The Red and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them in the Forum
column as space permits. All letters are subject to editing for length, style and li
belous material. Letters should be typed, doublespaced and must Include the name,
address and daytime telephone number ol the writer. Please Include student classifi
cation and major other appropriate identification. Names can be omitted with a valid
reason upon request Letters can be sent by U.S. mail or brought in person to The Red
and Black's offices at 123 N. Jackon SL. Athens, Ga.
In response to Tiffany Shine-
man’s leter questioning the local
music programming at WUOG—
90.5 F.M. (Forum, 1-9-90), we feel
that we should clear up any mis
conceptions concerning our local
music rotation policy. While it is
true that we don’t accept local
music requests except during
Sound of the City and Block Party,
we feel that we strongly support
the growing Athens music scene.
We don’t accept local music re
quests during format hours due to
the fact that this privilege was
abused in the past. Bands, wanting
to hear their own songs, constantly
harassed the disc jokeys, angering
them as a result. Hence, today’s
bered and put into a rotation box.
Each disc jokey is required to play
one local artist an hour in the order
of this box. In order for bands to be
heard at different times of the day,
these songs are rotated once a
week. Thus, the listeners are al
lowed to hear newer bands as well
as old favorites. This policy iB ex
plained to each band. We feel that
we are not making it “harder for
bands to receive airtime”but
simply making the airwaves a lot
fairer. If you have any questions
concerning our programming, feel
free to give us a call (542-7100).
Lynn Metcalfe
program director, WUOG—90.8 FM
K. Lorrel Manning
aeeletant music director, WUOG—
90.5 FM
Students fortunate
With regard to your “Publish or
Perish” editorial of December 1,
1989: Students at the University of
Georgia who bemoan the fact that
the pressure to publish detracts
from the time that their professors
can devote to teaching should look
on the bright side of things. After
all, they could be paying a great
deal of money to attend an institu
tion where the pressure to publish
is even more intense than at UGA.
Pity the poor students at places
like Harvard, Princeton, Yale and
Duke!
William M. Leary
professor, history
INDIS