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4 • The Red and Black • Thursday, January 18, 1990
OPINIONS
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
Don’t stop now
The University’s Environmental Task Force held
its first meeting Wednesday and began what could
prove to be a very positive relationship with the
Environment.
On the surface, the task force’s formation presents
an image of the University realizing a problem facing
our society and taking action to correct it. This, in
essence, is the purpose of a land-grant institution, and
University President Knapp deserves praise for his
initiative.
However, it’s too soon to celebrate. In the past, task
forces to study this or task forces to study that have
proven long on public relations and short on action.
Although Task Force Head Henry King Stanford and
the rest of the task force’s other members’ intentions
are noble, they still must deal with the quagmire of the
University and University System bureaucracy.
Ideas of curriculum and policy revision seem to
drag on forever before any true action takes place. It is
up to the task force, the University community and
mostly Knapp to prevent this task force from getting
lost in the shuffle and never heard from again.
Certainly the task force won’t revise the
University’s environmental curriculum overnight.
Their recomendations must be pre-empted by careful
study. However, the environment is suffering now.
It would be easy for Knapp to sit back and wait for
the task force, but we challenge him to do more.
Knapp has the authority to amend University
policies and can act now to lead the University into an
active role in environmental issues. Knapp can
establish recycling programs for the enormous amount
of paper products discarded daily by the University.
Knapp and the University can continue to work with
local governments to attack local environmental
problems.
Many people consider the biocontainment facility
and dismiss Knapp’s environmental concern as public
relations rhetoric. Considering the fact that Gov.
Harris’ assistant wasn’t at the meeting Wednesday, it’s
understandable that some don’t take Knapp’s
initiatives seriously.
Don’t let that happen, President Knapp.
In its efforts to extend the Oconee River Greenbelt
from Sandy Creek Park through the University
campus, the University has shown it can work with
local governments to solve local problems and local
concerns.
When University Food Services discontinued the
use of polystyrene products, the University proved it
could react responsibly to environmental concerns. At
the same time, the University community showed it
could take action and it does care.
The University has taken positive steps but it
cannot stop here. Faculty, staff and students must keep
environmental issues on the agenda and hold Knapp
accountable for the commitments made in his State of
the University address. Knapp must not let the
Unveristy down.
Deeds, not words, President Knapp. Don’t stop
here.
We apologize
The Red and Black apologizes for repeatedly
stating that Sigma Chi fraternity had been found guilty
of a hazing violation last spring. The fraternity was
found innocent.
Our information came from a University
administrator who made an honest mistake.
However, this correction does not change our
opinion that the recent judiciary decision to expel
Sigma Chi should be upheld on appeal. The fraternity
had been found guilty of other previous violations and
deserves to be expelled.
STAFF
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QUOTABLE
•This ic not a black holiday, nor Is It a white holiday. What we’re
celebrating is the triumph of the idea that people can solve prob
celebrating st _ Andrew young, former Atlanta
/m*.
-WERU>(BU*K
Action now to preserve environment
As we enter into the decade of the 1990’s,
now more than ever in world history, our envi
ronment is in danger. The time for action is
now.
Our world is besieged by toxic waste, air and
water pollution. Nuclear power plants produce
radio-active waste which cannot be disposed of
without damaging repercussions for centuries
to come.
We do not have to accept the killing of our
planet. We can change our damaging behavior.
We have the power to reverse the decades of
pollution. The torch of leadership is passing to
us- the young people of the world with a posi
tive vision for our future. Together we must re
fuse to aggravate the problem of pollution; we
must take swift and decisive action to correct
the mistakes of our parents and the genera
tions that believed earth was inexhaustible. It
is not.
Earth has a finite capability to cope with our
destruction of it. Our planet is not to be sub
dued, conquered or ruled over. It will die in the
process. Our duty is to nurture and revere
earth, and to treat it like the fragile living orga
nism it is. We must accept our responsibility of
cleaning up our world, and we must meet the
challenge to change our thinking and actions.
You are responsible for your part and you
must do it regardless of what others think or
Scott
Sacco
do. Taking action is more important than ac
ceptance by peers. There are many positive
things you can do. Do not help swell our land
fills or increase the need for raw materials by
throwing away aluminum, cardboard, news
paper or glass. These everyday articles as well
as some plastics are all recyclable. Separate
them from your other trash, and take them to
one of the recycling centers around town. Look
them up in the Yellow Pages to find one close to
you. Those of you who live in the dorm may not
be able to recycle, but you can refrain from lit
tering, and you can join an activist group such
as The Nature Conservancy or Greenpeace.
Environmental concern must start with your
immediate surroundings. It is not a cause far
away; it is in your own backyard. You may not
be able to help clean Alaska’s shoreline of the
crude oil spilled there by the Exxon Valdez de
bacle, but you can take action through your ev
eryday behavior. You can, for example, write
letters to your local representatives supporting
environmental action.
In the spirit of activism I urge you to protest
the building of the proposed Biocontainment
Research Center. President Knapp is trying to
get funding for the center which would incine
rate highly toxic and biomedical wastes on
South Campus. To help pay for the center’s op
erations the University proposes trucking bi
omedical waste to campus from regional
hospitals to incinerate on a fee basis. The Uni
versity has no plans for an environmental im
pact study to determine the dangers of waste
incineration on campus. University documents
show that the incinerator will only have a 95
percent efficiency rate. The same toxic chemi
cals tested on animals at the research center
will be released into the air we breathe on
campus. Eventually, they may find their way
into our water supply. You can help do some
thing about this by writing to NO HARM P.O.
Box 6693 Athens, GA. 30604 for information.
Taking action is up to all of us. Do not pass
the job to your children as so many generations
have . Do not stand by idle while Earth dies be
fore your eyes
Steven Sacco is a senior criminal justce major.
Country music makin’ cool comeback
As history etches itself across the face of
Eastern Europe, a revolution takes place right
here at home. This revolution also bodes an
apocalyptic period for the world. I’m talking
about country music becoming cool again.
Maybe this trend has escaped you. Maybe
you haven’t stayed on top of the country music
scene like you would have if you were — like
myself — from South Georgia. But add up all
the facts.
FACT: Dolly Parton, that blond paragon of
twang, has launched her own brand of peres
troika on Americans. She has done this by
luring even cynics into her amusement park,
Dollywood, where she inculcates them into the
country mindset with biscuits, roller coasters
and Conway Twitty as her tools.
FACT: Randy Travis (doesn’t he look a lot
like a young Reagan?) is winning the battle in
the hearts of women in every state from Cali
fornia to New York. He sings what these op
pressed women want to hear. For instance, in
Forever and Ever, he promises to love you even
if all your hair falls out. He’s charming, al
though no one would accuse him of intelligence
(once again, the resemblance to Reagan).
If these facts don’t convince you that some
thing of gigantic importance is afoot, maybe
seeing how close this revolution is to home will.
FACT: Our very own alternative radio sta
tion, 90.5/WUOG, has taken up the cause. Not
one to pledge allegiance in a wishy-washy way,
the formatters leaped into the fray with such
artists as George Jones and Patsy Cline. That’s
radically country.
FACT: Rumor has it a University professor
has written a country song. The title is The Day
They Double-Dipped Daddy, and it’s about a
University alumnus who treks to the 40 Watt
Club to attend a Hank Williams music revival.
Mistaken by police for an underaged college
student attempting to pass himself off as a real
person (with rights and stuff), the alumnus is
arrested and dipped in Pabst Blue Ribbon until
he confesses to underaged drinking; drinking
while driving; public drunkenness; drinking
while walking; drinking while standing on his
head; two counts of littering; grand theft auto
involving a 1972 blue Monte Carlo with orange
flames spray-painted on the side; the Water
gate tapings; and aiding and abetting Lee
Harvey Oswald.
Are these facts a string of unrelated coin
cidences? I don’t think so. Astute social com
mentators will agree: Something’s going on
here, and we should keep our ears peeled. You
heard it here first.
Graddy is the special sections editor
for The Red and Black.
Boggs’ column misses mark
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and Black s offices at 123 N. Jackon St.. Athens. Ga. ^
Luke Boggs column of January
12 concerning "Man of the Decade”
misses the mark, and by a long
way. There can be no doubt that
Ronald Reagan had a great impact
on America and the world during
the 1980s. For example, he armed
the Nicaraguan Contras; he sent
weapons to Iranian terrorists; he
carried America’s budget to histori
cally high deficits and he forsook
America’s homeless and underpri
vileged.
My real qualm with Boggs’ ar
ticle, though, is not his praise of
Reagan, but his disrespect for
former-President Carter. This
“muddle-headed dreamer,” as
Boggs refers to him, moved the
world toward greater cooperation.
Carter’s “muddle-headed’* dreams
were actually idealistic and achie
vable visions of a better world.
Boggs’ most preposterous claim
is that Carter “mumbled quaint
pleasantries about human rights.”
President Carter pursued and con
tinues to pursue the causes of
human justices around the world.
One needs only to consider Carter’s
recent efforts in Ethiopia or in
Latin America to see that he does
not mumble, but, to the contrary,
speaks and acts with boldness and
distinction.
I submit that, of the two, Ronald
Reagan and Jimmy Carter, it is
President Carter who is “true Man
of the Decade.”
Geoffrey Dillard
sophomore, political science
Simply verbage
Christopher Phillips’ article on
Jan. 16 which attacked Luke
Boggs’ assertion that Ronald
Reagan is the “Man of the Decade”
of the 1980s is, in my view, simply
an over-use of verbage.
Phillips doesn’t address specif
ically wny he feels Boggs’ assertion
is wrong. Rather, the letter is just a
personal attack on Boggs. If Phil
lips desires to bring clarity to the
issue, he should have cited con
crete evidence for why he feels
Reagan is an inappropriate choice
for “Man of the Decade.”
Phillips’ letter suggests an over
whelming lack of understanding
and appreciation for what tran
spired during the 1980s and the
dramatic role that Reagan played
in the events of the decade.
Phillips seems not to understand
the impetus Reagan gave to re
forms that have taken place, some
of which are: the normalization of
relationships with Communist
China, the establishment of
working relationships with Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev, and
Reagan’s bold move to silence Li
bia’s Khadaft and his band of inter
national terrorists.
Mr. Phillips, I suggest that be
fore you ore hyper-critical of
Ronald Reagan and Republicans in
general, you ask yourself this ques
tion: In the last quarter century,
how many times have the Amer
ican people called on a Democrat to
provide leadership in the form of
the President?
Will Hubbard
senior, public relations
Careless owners
After rescuing several stray dogs
from playing in traffic and seeing
many more dead on the side of the
road, we are left to wonder why
people, mainly fellow students,
adopt dogs in the first place. They
assume, it seems, that animals
have a natural aversion to moving
traffic. However, a simple drive
from Athens to Atlanta proves that
assuption false. Then there are
those who feel that it is cruel to
keep a dog tied. This is only true if
the animal receives no affection or
exercise. We just ask that before
any “animal lovers” fall in love
with and adopt an adorable puppy,
they consider the 10 to 15-year re
sponsibility they are assuming. If
you cannot afford at least a few
daily walks, inevitable veteri
narian bills and, yes, the guilt of
leaving a dog home alone at least
four or five hours a day, please
adopt a goldfish instead.
Derek Volk
sophomore, speech communications
Amy Volk
sophomors, history