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■ QUOTABLE
4 • The Red and Black • Thursday, January 25. 1990
OPINIONS
"On the issue of China, the president has lost his credibility."—
Rep. Stephen Sotarz, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Foreign Af
fairs Asia subcommittee, on the possible override of President
Bush’s veto of China legislation.
The Red & Black
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent student neu s paper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Charlene Smith/Editor-irvChief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Robert Todd/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Pro Choice
State Rep. Mike Barnett, R-Lilbum, is expected to
introduce Georgia’s first anti-abortion bill since last
year’s Supreme Court ruling today. The bill comes as a
suprise to many in this election year; however, Barnett
has stated he feels “compelled” to sponsor it.
Once again, a vocal minority is attempting to
dictate the moral standards for the majority. It is a
woman’s choice whether or not to have an abortion. The
moral implications of that decision are hers to sort
through and live with, not the state Legislature’s.
Barnett’s bill is patterned after a 1986 Missouri law
which bars state employees from performing or
assisting in abortions not necessary to save a woman’s
life. The law also prohibits the use of public facilities
for abortions even if public funds are not used.
Barnett’s proposal not only invades the basic rights
and freedoms of choice, it also strikes directly at those
who are most harmed by abortion legislation. Women
who can afford them will always be able to have an
abortion. However, the women who can’t afford a
private hospital and a private doctor also can’t afford to
have the child they are carrying. Without access to safe
inexpensive abortions, these women are condemned to
unsafe, even deadly conditions.
If Barnett is so concerned with wasting state funds,
hasn’t he considered the cost of supporting these
children after they are bom? Whether raised in a
subsidized orphanage or by a family on welfare, the
state will support these children until they grow to
adults.
What is so ironic is that Barnett is also sponsoring
an amendment to Georgia’s Open Records Law because
he feels the current law is too invasive of individual’s
“confidentiality.”
Once again it is time to act. Hesitation now will cost
dearly in the future. Legislators are charged with the
representation of their constituents not just a vocal
minority. Make it clear to them that the citizens of
Georgia are pro choice. Don’t wait until its too late and
Barnett’s anti-abortion bill becomes a law.
Buyer Beware
When you sign up to join O’Malley’s Esprit, your
$45 is buying a health club membership, not a 24-hour
parking space.
The health club is close to campus, so many
students use their membership simply to park and
walk to class. The problem is that so many people are
trying to park there during prime class hours, that it’s
becoming a hassle to park there for either class or a
workout.
Recently Esprit management divided into a section
for students going to class and one for people working
out. While that seems to be a good idea on the surface,
it doesn’t work for those who work out and then want to
go to class. Esprit Owner Ken Fulghum should open
the lot, with no dividers so club members can park
there on a first come-first served basis.
Clearly, many students join the club just to have a
parking space and never even use the facilities. It’s not
the club’s responsibility to monitor who works out and
who doesn’t. Esprit is a business and, whether working
out or just parking, everyone pays the same fee.
Eric McPherson, a student dissatisfied with the
parking situation, is suing the club. He should have
taken a better look at the club’s parking facility if that
was going to be a priority for him. There are other
places to work out.
Just remember that parking is a headache all over
town, especially around campus. Any easy-access lot is
going to be crowded. Think about that before you join.
STAFF
NEWS: 543-1809
New* Editor. Soton Hill
Sporta Editor Gene Williams
EirtartAkwnant Editor: Giona Rowtothsm
Associate Nows Editors: Rand Pearson. Jennifer
Rampey
Front Pag* Copy Editor Clark Hubbard
Instd* Copy Editors: Robin Schweihart. Margaret
Wetton, Jennifer Wilkin, Robert Azuia
UGA Today/Wire Editor Oenso Padnia
Grapblc* Editor: 0*flt O’Kseff*
Photo Editor Petar Frey
Chief Photographer Wayne Jackson
Staff Witters: Gay* Barren. Wartsr Con. Elizabeth Oil,
Mans Edwards. AnneAdane Fanguy, Chns Gnmes.
Joel Groover, Dare McLeod. Michael McLeod, Laura
Roe
Sports Writer: Chris Lancene
Special Section*/ Trends Edit or Beth Graddy
Assistant Special Sections/Trends Editor
Andy Rogers
Editorial Assistant: Moll.* Batts
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Production Staff: Andy Ard, Laura Frtodnch. Andrea
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WHICH HARPY REPTILE CAN MOST RATIP1Y
CHANGE 115 COLORS TO 1AKKH THOSE
OF A NEW ENVIRONMENT?
LEE
ATWATER
i
i
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9
Sitting on left side of the fence is In’
According to a recent poll conducted by the
Higher Education Research Institute and the
American Council on Education, liberalism is
once again fashionable among U.S. college stu
dents. The results of the survey, which involved
296,000 freshmen at 587 schools, show this
year’s national freshman class to be one of the
least conservative in years, and one of the most
politically active in decades. That’s good news
to an unreformed liberal and die-hard bleeding
heart like myself.
For the past eight years (particularly the last
four), admitting you are a liberal has been like
admitting you enjoy dicing gerbils in a blender.
“Are you really a liberal?” People would often
ask, their expression one of shocked incredu
lity. It was as if anyone who thought rationally
could not possibly strike anything other than a
conservative political stance. Well, maybe I’m
nuts, but my political orientation does fall a
little left of center, and I’m kind of proud of the
fact that it does.
Maybe if I had been raised as a conservative
I would have remained one throughout life. But
I like to think that would not have been the
case; that I would have eventually outgrown
my conservative views as I matured. Certainly,
when I came to college, I tried to maintain an
open mind and be receptive to every idea. I
Mark
Sheftall
think that if the ideas of the conservative camp
had appealed to me at that time, then indeed I
would have been one of their number.
For some reason, however, the arguments
and stances of conservatives always bothered
me. I’m not much of an idealogue, and I don’t
have a firm grounding in the philosophical and
historical arguments that underlie the two po
litical camps, so all I can say is that conserva
tism just didn’t feel right to me.
It always seemed to me that beneath the se
mantics of any conservative argument is a swir
ling reservoir of fear and loathing, that pulls
and drags like an undertow. Fear and loathing
of the Communists, fear and loathing of the un
derclass, fear and loathing of big government,
you name it. I realize that, in some ways fear
and loathing are the ties that bind — they unite
us in war, for instance, — but they are also the
ties that constrain and eventually strangle the
national soul.
The other thing that always bothered me
about conservatism was its inherent lack of ide
alism. It always seemed like a cynical political
philosophy, one tailored for the overdog and not
suited to the young and their angry, virile en
ergy. I always felt as if conservativism looked
back to a rose-colored past for solutions to prob
lems, or at best remained too firmly rooted in
the present. Because change — in some cases
even rapid, revolutionary change — is to me a
positive thing, I found conservatism, for lack of
a better word, boring.
Now, please understand that Fm not making
an argument for or against conservatism. I’m
simply giving a very personal explanation of
one individual’s reasons for sitting on the left
side of the fence while getting a few things ofF
my chest that have weighed heavily these last
eight years. My reasons are more emotional
and impressionistic than political. But I won’t
lie to you. If the political pendulum swings the
other way sometime soon, it might not be so bad
to be on the inside looking out for once.
Mark Sheftall is a columnist for The Red and
Black.
U.S. standards of decency regressing
The Soviet Union, South Africa, Paraguay
and Libya have a higher standard of decency
than the United States. Our nation is now clas
sified with Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Rwanda, Ban
gladesh and Barbados. This is because
Americans supposedly consider the execution of
juveniles and tne mentally retarded within our
‘evolving standards of decency*.
If this is our position after over 200 years of
progress, in which direction exactly are we
‘evolving? Not only is the United States the
only Western industrial nation which still prac
tices capital punishment, but it is the only one
that executes children. Last June, amidst pro
tests about the Chinese massacre of their
young, the Supreme Court here ruled by a vote
of 5 to 4 that the execution of juveniles over 16
and the mentally retarded was constitutional,
and it was what the American public consid
ered decent.
This is not decent; this is horrific. The issue
here is not the death penalty itself, although
many of us who oppose the death penalty
harbor strong hope that one day it will be abo
lished. The issue is redemption. Should a deci
sion be made to end an individual’s life based
on an action taken when he or she was techni
cally and legally just a child?
Our lawmakers don’t think that an 18-year-
old is responsible enough to consume alcohol.
However, those same politicians and bu
reaucrats feel that if an 18-year-old commits a
crime heinous enough, he or she should be put
Hogai
Nassery
to death. This defies logic. A juvenile, by defi
nition, is only beginning the maturation
process that culminates in becoming an adult.
At an age when they are just learning to drive a
car, the Supreme Court says that the State can
electrocute them.
Many of us were shocked and frightened by
the brutal rape and beating last year of a
woman jogging in Central Park. Her assailants
were juveniles. Those five Supreme Court jus
tices might feel that these juveniles should be
tried as adults, and if convicted, executed. But
should our primitive thirst for vengeance deny
a 16-year-old his chance to redeem himself?
Our prison system, as overcrowded and brutal
as it might be, at least claims to be involved in
some kind of rehabilitative effort. Is prison not
punishment enough for a child? It affords the
opportunity for reform and regret. Many Amer
icans do have faith in human nature; we believe
that a 16-year-old can change. At the very least,
he deserves a chance.
Even before the ruling, our justice’ system
was executing convicted criminals with the IQ
of a seven-year-old. This policy and practice
brings shame to our nation. What is the value
of our culture, our technology, our development
if it yields such brutality? The Supreme Court
legitimized our government’s barbarism, and
even worse, implied that this type of response
was what the people expected and wanted. This
is an insult to enlightened and compassionate
Americans, who believe that an individual who
is mentally retarded or of limited mental com
petence should not be executed.
This decision does not reflect well on our so
ciety. The United Nations Economic and Social
Council adopted a resolution, also last year,
that recommended that UN members
strengthen the safeguards protecting the rights
of those prisoners facing the death penalty. As
citizens of this country, it is up to us to demon
strate to the Supreme Court and all politicians
that these practices do offend our sense of de
cency. Please write your representatives and
district attorney, calling for an end to the exe
cution of children and the mentally retarded.
The United States should be setting the stan
dards for humanity in the world, not violating
them.
Hogai Nassery is a columnist for The Red and
Bloch.
Foundation report thorough
■ FORUM
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and Black's offices at 123 N. Jackon St., Athens. Ga.
Having followed Robert Todd’a
reporting for the past year I feel
compelled to comment on the
shabby teatment he has received
from Nik Edes, Vice-President for
Development, for Todd’s recent
coverage of University of Georgia
Foundation spending practices.
When Jan Kemp brought forth
her most recent accusations con
cerning University athletes, Todd’s
reporting was accurate, even-
handed and thorough.
As a principle in that issue, I can
personally attest that Todd be
haved in a more professional
manner than most of the working
press.
Todd ap(>ear8 to have continued
these practices in his later work.
Edes himself notes that Todd spent
four months researching the Uni
versity of Georgia Foundation-
piece.
Surely if Todd and his editors
had been willing to sacrifice
quality for a down-and-dirty, at
tention-grabbing story, the piece
could have been run in its entirety
in the last issue before quarter
break.
It is apparent to me that Edes
failed made covering the facts of
the story an exercise in dealing
with "smoke and mirror” ac
counting where entertainment and
meal expenses are presented by
Edes as 1 percent of the total Uni
versity budget instead of as almost
10 percent of the University of
Georgia Foundation monies not de
voted to scholarships.
Edes only cried “foul” when Todd
assembled the indisputable facts to
resent a picture that Edes would
ave sold his own mother to avoid
having made public.
Michelle Stevens
graduate student, counseling and
human development
Wear a helmet
Most people in the bicycling
community have had their
“brushes with death.” Whether or
not it was the biker’s fault we all
know it happens. The majority of
people who commute on bicycles
don’t wear helmets. I was one of
these until recently I had more
close calls than were to my liking.
OK, so maybe I do pound down
Sanford Drive sometimes but the
fact is, despite riding style, experi
ence or skill, the potential for an
accident is there. The odds are
going to be against the cyclist, al
ways. This year we already have
had many publicized reports
ranging from close calls to debili
tating injuries. Please, if you cycle
seriously or just ride to school, buy
a helmet and wear it. Some feel too
cool to wear them but most just
don’t take the risk seriously. I
bought one yesterday, and despite
the change in routine, I feel better.
Remember, even a bumper tap can
be the kiss of death for a cyclist.
Robert Kuhn
senior, geology