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■ QUOTABLE
4 • The Red and Black • Wednesday, January 24, 1990
OPINIONS
"One of the common myths Is that It's just a disease for gay
people or It's just something that someone else may get."
— Dr. Paul Peteet, a physician at the Gilbert Health Center,
speaking about AIDS
The Red & Black
Kitabkifud 1893—Incorporated 1980
An indtfMndtnl itwltnt n*uipap«r not aflllutftd with the Unioemty of Giorgio
Charlene Smith/Editor-in-Chief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Robert Todd/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Selling out
freedom
The legislative and executive branches of this
country’s government are engaged in a shoving match
over foreign policy. At stake are some hurt feelings,
some bragging rights, a little pride and a whimp image.
But more importantly at stake here are the lives of
several thousand Chinese students and the principles
I of this nation.
Soon after the Tiananmen Square massacre,
Congress moved quickly to pass legislation extending
the visas of the students for two years. President
George Bush vetoed the legislation despite its support
in Washington and the pleas of the students. Since
then, the Bush Administration’s clandestine efforts to
resuscitate U.S. relations with the People’s Republic of
China have come to light. Today, Congress hopefully
will overturn Bush’s veto.
Bush’s motivations for the veto are twofold and
neither is justifiable.
First, as a former ambassador to China and head of
the executive branch, Bush seems to think the
legislation attacks his personal expertise and infringes
on his executive authority. He must fight the whimp
factor on a grand scale.
Second, China is too big to be intimidated by gun
boat diplomacy and too big of a market opportunity to
have it mad at the United States. In essence, Bush sold
out the chance for freedom, indeed the chance for life,
these students had.
Bush’s actions raise serious questions about this
country’s, or at least its government’s, ideas of freedom.
To further the cause of democracy in Panama, Bush
committed U.S. troops to open conflict. Now faced with
a chance to peacefully further freedom’s cause, Bush
balked. This time it wasn’t profitable. This time there
were no drug lords to oust, only lives to save and a
principle to stand behind.
"Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free ...”
China is no Panama, but the Chinese students are
no less human. They deserve our protection, our
support and the chance to be free.
Safety first
The University’s efforts to educate its employees
about dangerous chemicals is a good starting point for
its commitment to environmental issues. The Public
Safety Division, as required by state law, is teaching
every employee on campus about chemicals they may
encounter on the job that could be dangerous — from
abrasive cleanser to chalk dust.
The best time to educate is before a lawsuit, before
someone gets hurt because they didn’t know the danger
of the products they were using. New regulations are in
the works that would require any employer to take the
precautions already in practice here.
These programs on how to handle chemicals should
improve safety on campus — a workplace for
thousands. The more employees know about the
chemicals they encounter everyday, the safer the whole
University environment will be and that’s the first step
toward a healthy world environment.
The quest to save Mother Earth begins in the space
immediately around us.
Since the University is making the environment a
priority by forming an environmental task force and
other ideas to promote awareness, it’s good to see it
starting in the right place — its own back yard.
owy, ifoat bran poesnt
REPUCE CHOLESTEROL.
THEN WTOEHEU. ARE
WE EKnHC-THl55TWF?J
to < buck
Consider the alternatives to drug bills
All these drug bills being proposed by our
legislators seem to be missing two important
aspects of winning the war against drugs:
proper counseling and treatment for drug and
alcohol problems, and education for the preven
tion of addiction and the spreading of AIDS.
Athens Rep. Karen Irwin, will address the Uni
versity System Committee (the committee in
the House of Representatives which drafted the
two drug bills affecting the University) today.
The two bills call for the expulsion of students
after a conviction for drug use, possession,
manufacture or distribution and for the expul
sion of student organizations caught using
drugs or condoning under-age drinking.
Irwin will ask the representatives who pro
posed these two bills to add provisions to them
for educating students about addiction and pro
viding the care needed to treat students for
drug and alcohol problems.
The revision proposals make sense for a va
riety of reasons. You can’t just expel students or
student organizations, with out offering the
counseling and medical treatment that may be
needed. Additionally, education and law en
forcement efforts to stop drug pushers are more
logical weapons in the drug war.
Several logical and appealing alternatives
exist. Why not use the taxpayers’ dollars that
would be spent to determine which students got
drug-related convictions on their spring breaks
to pay faculty members who would be assigned
the task of being on the faculty hearing com
mittee for student appeals? Why not use the
money to establish a better network for drug
education, counseling and treatment facilities
at the universities? Think about it, won’t these
students who are convicted for drug use or
under-age drinking already be punished
enough by a criminal record? What good will it
do to expel them and force them to give up their
education with out some sort of treatment or
counseling at the same time?
Expelling students for one year or perma
nently from any university, could only exacer
bate their drug problems and lead them down
the road to either more convictions for heavier
drug use of some sort, or a bleak future of
working at a hamburger joint for the rest of
their lives. After all, a criminal record closes
the doors leading to many careers.
Athens Rep. Lawtone Stephens, pointed out
that the University already has the jurisdiction
to expel students or student organizations for
drug use, so why should members of the House
of Representatives, propose harsher punish
ments instead of treatments and preventive
rograms? A university this size will always
ave drug problems of some sort, no new drug
law will solve the problem. If the representa
tives were genuinely concerned about the ac
tual issue at hand, rather than the public
image they’re trying to convey, they might re
alize that getting at the heart of the problem,
which is prevention and education, they could
actually make a dent in drug use on college
campuses across the state.
I propose that the University System Com
mittee, look at the situation realistically and
ammend their drug bills before they reach the
Senate for a confirmation vote. I’m not advo
cating the use of drugs any more than most
people oppossed to these bills, I just realize how
they could actually aggravate the present drug
problems, rather than solve them.
Laura Roe is a columnist for The Red and
Black.
Demand Environmental Impact Study
The cows may come, and the cows may go.
But the bull in this place goes on forever.
Nowhere is this axiom more true than the
roposed Biocontainment Research Center,
he Veterinary School is lobbying the federal
and state governments for $13 million to fund
the BCRC, a facility primarily to research dis
eases and chemical hazards involved in live
stock production.
The majority of BCRC research would be
livestock production. The assumption of BCRC
planners is that increasing meat consumption
is a desirable goal. However, most interna
tional experts agree that research on crops like
grains and legumes, not livestock, is needed to
feed the world’s growing population. Livestock
nutrition uses the earth’s limited resources ten
times less efficiently than crops.
Vegetable nutrition is healthier for people,
too. It has few of the health risks associated
with meat and provides all the protein. Predic
tably, American meat consumption has de
creased as we become aware that a meat-
centered diet hurts ourselves and our planet.
Other biocontainment facilities conduct re
search similar to the one proposed here. In
stead of risking research duplication, Georgia
should fund a proposal like LISA (Low-Imput
Sustainable Agriculture), a measure Senator
Wyche Fowler supports. LISA research can pro
vide agricultural methods for quality nutrition
that doesn’t compromise the environment.
The BCRC could compromise the environ
ment of Athens as well. Health risks exist due
to the possible release of hazardous substances
and the probable emission of incinerated toxic
Richard
Stenger
materials. The Vet School’s preliminary envi
ronmental report ackowledges that “the facility
does involve the risk of release of..pesticides,
chemicals, pathenogenic organisms and recom
binant DNA materials.”
The proposal includes two South Campus in
cinerators capable of hazardous waste burning.
The Vet School report suggests the incinerators
will release hazardous air pollutants within
state and federal standards. This doesn’t guar
antee safe emissions. Extremely lax state stan
dards merely woo industry into Georgia. Often
outdated national guidelines regulate only a
handful of hundreds of potentially hazardous
substances. University documents declare a
probable burn efficiency of 95 percent, meaning
the remainder could enter the air you breathe.
The Vet School is hindering public aware
ness of these risks. President Knapp’s office
told a Vet School associate dean to open BCRC
documents to the public after reports he had
denied access. In a later letter, the dean wrote,
"all persons reviewing the documents will be
kept under observation.” Significantly, he con
tinued, “it is necessary that the planning
process be finalized before any formal public
hearings are held." In other words, the Vet
School wants to build a potentially hazardous
facility near you without your imput.
If the evidence of safety were firm, it should
stand up to public scrutiny. One way citizens of
Athens can ensure such scrutiny is to write
their elected officials as such: “Make the Vet
School file an Environmental Impact
Statement!" Due to the National Environ
mental Policy Act, or NEPA, federal agencies
must file an EIS on nuyor actions which signifi
cantly affect the environment. An EIS ensures
that competent, independent risk assessment
of a proposed facility like the BCRC takes place.
The Vet School claims there is not enough envi
ronmental risk. The only evidence? Their in-
house environmental report.
Significantly, in a rough draft to another
publication, one campus scientist defending the
BCRC had assumed the obvious, that the Vet
School had filed an EIS. It hasn’t. After a dis
cussion with a Vet School official, his remarks
were edited. No longer was an EIS “required."
It was "maybe required.”
Nonetheless, NEPA laws clearly would in
clude the BCRC. Its potential impact on the en
vironment would be significant. Ensure your
health. Make the Vet School file an EIS. Write
or call University bigwigs and your elected offi
cials today. You may not have another chance.
Richard Stenger is a columnist for The Red and
Black.
STAFF
NEWS: 543-1809
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The Rad and Wech a pubiianad Tuaoday through
Friday during tha mguiar acnooi yaar and aach
Thuradty during aummor quMr, with tha aioapoona
of houdaya and a»am ponoda. by Tha Rad and Biaca
Pubiiahinj Company ine. a norvpmf*t eampua
nr*loapar not afhuatad wtn ino umwamity of
Oaorg'd. 123 N. jachaon ft. Atna-a. Ga. 30601
Third e aaa poataga paid at Athana. Oa. Subacnption
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Opt at ana aiproaaad In Tha Rad and Paak othdr than
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Tribute not just a Black thing
■ FORUM
□ The Red end Black welcome* letters to the editor and prims them in the Forum
column as space permits. All letters ara subject to editing for length, style and li
belous material. Letters should be typed, doubleepaced and mutt Include the name,
address and daytime telephone number of the writer. Please include student dstsifl
cation and major other appropriate Identification. Names can be omitted with a valid
reason upon request Letters cen be sent by U.S. mall or brought in person to The Red
and Black s offices at 123 N. Jackon SL, Athens. Ga.
Recently I was in Atlanta partic
ipating in the Martin Luther King,
Jr. march to pay a tribute to a man
in whose ideas I strongly believe.
As I was walking through the
crowds I was confronted by a man
who was wearing a “lt’» a Black
thing — you wouldn’t understand”
t-ahirt. He then accused me of
being in the Ku Klux Klan.
I could not believe that someone
at a parade honoring such an open-
minded person could be so close-
minded. On one hand 1 understood
this man's anger toward me be
cause of hie suffering, but on the
other hand I was hurt because I
felt 1 had juat as much a right as
anyone else to be in this march
without being judged. Why else
would it be a national holiday?
Another reason I wanted to
march was because I am part of a
religion that has also been discrim
inated against throughout history,
the Jews. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was against discrimination, not
only against Blacks but against all
peoples who have been persecuted.
So aren’t I just as muen a part of
this parade as this man who called
me tne Ku Klux Klan?
It is on account of ignorant
people that discrimination comes
about. I only hope that next year at
the Martin Luther King, Jr. march,
before someone yells, "Hey there is
the KKK," they think about what
the day is all about.
Richard Cohn
sophomore, psychology
Bike story biased
The front page article which ap
peared Jan. 18 about the pedes
trian/biker accident was blatantly
biased on favor of the biker who co
incidentally happens to be a Red
and Black reporter. Melissa Deas
didn't see Michael McLeod as he
sped rapidly down Sanford Drive,
and appeared from behind a bua.
She had to be informed of what
happened to her since she didn’t
know what hit her. Your writers
didn't even bother to gather half as
much information about Dess' con
dition as they did about McLeod's.
Melissa has a broken nose, frac
tured skull and a broken cheek
bone. If ahe is lucky shell be able to
return to achool at the end of the
quarter to somehow catch up in her
honor's classes. Don’t you think
something should be done about
the careless speeding of our Athene
bikere such as Michael McLeod?
Shellle Slme
freshmen, undecided