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■ QUOTABLE
6 • The Red and Black • Tuesday, February 13, 1990
OPINIONS
"People used to think 'Oh, condoms. Yuck.' But they can't af
ford to not take It seriously." —
Carolyn Phillips, a Junior psychology major commenting on Na
tional Condom week.
The Red & Black
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the Vnu ersity of Georgia
Charlene Smith/Editor-in-Chief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Robert Todd/Opinions Editor
EDITORIALS
Talking out of school
Education is an issue that definitely needs the
attention of Georgia lawmakers, but the Senate
Education Committee is going too far.
This enlightened group of individuals wishes to
improve the quality of Georgia teachers by dictating
education curriculum. The committee wants to limit
the number of courses undergraduates take on
learning how to teach and force them to take more
courses on the subjects they will teach.
That’s a fine idea that the Board of Regents should
follow up on — not the state Legislature. It’s not the
duty of lawmakers to decide how many hours of
teaching theory a University student needs to be a good
teacher. Legislators shouldn’t presume to be experts on
curriculum.
Alphonse Buccino, University College of Education
dean, said the legislators’ idea is a simplistic solution to
a complex problem that would weaken the state’s
strong education programs.
The University offers specialized classes to deal
with different levels of teaching. For instance, high
school teachers require different training than early
childhood education majors who will be expected to
teach several subjects.
Allowing the Legislature to mandate curriculum
now would set a dangerous precedent that could lead to
the government gaining too much control over
education.
While the Legislature is set on educational reform,
the Board of Regents should take advantage of the
opportunity to shape up the state’s education
programs. Now is the time to show legislators that it’s
the University System’s responsibility to work out its
own improvements. It’s the Legislature’s responsibility
to find ways to fund those improvements.
Seeing the light
Judicial Programs has taken an important step
toward cutting down the number of rule violations on
campus.
Last week, the Student Judiciary revised its policy
on the information it will release concerning the cases
it hears.
Before, all the judiciary could release was the name
of the organization involved, the charge filed, the
verdict and the sentence. Now the judiciary wall release
more details of cases and elaborate on charges. The
new reports are possible because they focus on
organizations, and won’t jeopardize the confidentiality
of individual students’ records.
The judiciary’s former policy hindered efforts to
curb University Code of Conduct violations and
covered-up transgressions . Faculty and students at
large had almost no idea which violations were
committed or which, if any, organizations were being
held accountable.
Under the new policy, the University community
will know the background behind the Judiciary’s
decisions and the history of organizations involved.
When organizations cry foul over judiciary verdicts, the
community will have access to the decision’s
background and not just the pleadings of that
organization. By the same token, the new information
policy also serves to protect organizations from overly
harsh punishments.
Any proceedings that occurred before the rules
were changed, however, still will remainThe judiciary
does punish a lot of students for serious infractions and
it’s high time the word got out that University students
are disciplined when the need arises. Getting the word
out about these violations heightens awareness by
acknowledging publicly that acts like hazing do occur
on this campus.
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^PRESIDENT DEKLERKl
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THESE ARE
THE CONSERVATIVE
WHnSTHUS-S!
A
Pro-lifers fail to see cause of problems
A couple of weeks ago, in College Squre, I at
tended my first Pro-Choice rally, complete with
anti-choice demostrators who sang, prayed and
symbolically walked around in circles. Afler the
rally was over, the two sides engaged in conver
sation.
One of the most amazing paradoxes I’ve ever
known was embodied in one of the men I spoke
to that night; one of the men who was demos-
trating against a woman’s right to the option of
safe, legal abortion. The man said he had no
idea how many children he had. He explained
that he’d been in the military some years ago,
and had been with several women.
He’d no idea if any of his couplings resulted
in pregnancy. He recited his story in the form of
a testimonial, given at church, saying his god
had forgiven him. Back then, in his salad days,
he hadn’t cared what happened to the women
he was with, or the children that might have re
sulted from pregnancy, but that night he knelt
in prayer.
Yet, this supposedly “changed” man was so
little changed. When asked, “What about the
women?”, he just shrugged an said “They were
prostitutes....just prostitutes.” Never mind that
they were women, and devalued in society.
Never mind thnt they were human beings.
Any one of the women he was with could be
dead today from a botched, illegal abortion. Any
Terrance
Heath
one of these women could be severly maimed by
the untrained, unskilled hands of an illegal
abortionist (probably male). Any one of these
women could be burdened with the responsibi
lity of raising an unplanned, unwanted child.
Any one of this man’s children could be growing
up unwanted and possibly even abused. Mean
while, their father is on another shore, saying
prayers.
His god may forgive mistakes, but his god
doesn’t erase them. This man may be “for
given,” but somewhere there may be a woman
dead or maimed, or a child suffering because of
his “mistakes.” Meanwhile he sits safe at home
with a wife and “legitimate" children and ab
solves himself of responsibility and shrugs off
accountability on his (probably male) god.
He stood there that night, smiling; failing to
see that, in his own small way, he contributed
to the problems that create the need for safe
and legal abortion as an option.
The people who would take away a woman’s
right to choose safe ad legal abortion seem not
to understand that the need for legal abortion is
a syptom of larger problems in our society. The
people who walk in circles on the anti-choice
side would do better to lobby for better pre
natal care for poor women, a friendlier welfare
system, early sex-education in public schools
and more funds to police child abuse.
Until this country is made friendlier to
women, children and the poor, the need for
legal abortion wll continue to exist; and even if
all of these things come to pass, there will still
be n need for safe and legal abortion. There is a
plethora of reasons that move some women to
seek abortions, and they are too many and too
personal to analyze. Unlimited access to safe
abortions from trained people is the only way to
accommodate these circumstances.
Limiting or prohibiting abortion is like put
ting a band-aid on a cut throat: it doesn’t solve
anything, and someone dies anyway.
Terrance Heath is a junior English major and a
guest columnist for The Red and Black.
Time to re-evaluate defense spending
Changing times mandate changing ideas.
Now that unilateral democracy appears to be
on the horizon, it is time to re-evaluate our de
fense posture as a world superpower.
President Bush is proposing an increase in
“Star Wars” and other strategic-weapon
spending because he says the United States
must always be wary of dangers and threats
from hostile forces.
I think Bush needs to take a long, hard look
at what he’s saying.
Are two new multi-million dollar long-range
nuclear missile systems needed to deter an un
defined source of hostility?
It’s expected that Bush should approach the
situation cautiously. An air of skepticism is
naturally required to ensure world peace and
national security. Afler all, the Cold War lasted
a long time. But General Secretary Gorbachev
has signified time and again his intention for
reform, negotiation and peace. Gorbachev has a
genuine affinity for the common folk, the
masses in his own country, in the Eastern Bloc
nations and throughout the world. His unpreci-
dented achievements have convinced most
world lenders of his credibility. The decision of
Maresco
the Soviet Central Committee to allow for
multi-party elections in the Soviet Union surely
stands as testimony of sincere intent.
Bush should continue research and devel
opment of strategic weapons systems, but not
to the extent of paranoia. I needn’t mention
that there are pressing domestic issues, such as
the national deficit, the homeless and the AIDS
epidemic, all of which are in desperate need of
increased federal funding.
Bush should heed the advice of House Armed
Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin, who
calls Bush’s 1991 military budget proposal a re
sult of “old thinking.”
As we arc all well aware, the United States
has the single-handed capability to blow up the
planet many times over. How can we find it
sensible to increase a defense budget in lieu of
the astonishing events in the global policy
arena of the lost 12 months.
Does Bush think the Soviets are lying about
their intentions to promote better relations
with the West and reductions in conventional
os well os strategic arms? Does he suspect a
Communist or facist plot underlying the demo
cratic reforms in nearly all Communist coun
tries? If not, what possible reason could there
be to continue the wasteful spending of tax
payer’s dollars on weapons sysytems to protect
us from an invisible enemy? In the face of the
apparent willingness of the Communist world
to change, a continuing build-up of U.S. mili
tary might makes us look like the big bully.
Please Bush, rethink your position on mili
tary spending. The Communists have made
their gesture of peace. It’s time for us to make
ours.
John Maresco is a columnist for The Red and
Black.
Schaefer program offensive
■ 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 of 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 St., Athens, Ga.
I was at the Tate Center for the
“Is Gandhi in Heaven?” program.
When the evening ended the ques
tion was left unanswered, but not
before it was used as an excuse to
exhort one and all in the audience
to “receive Jesus” and obtain a pas
sage to heaven. I find it very sad
that a man of Dr. Henry Schaefer’s
stature should feel the need to ridi
cule other religions or famous
public figures in order to validate
and justify his own beliefs. By
doing so he has offended me and
others like me, both Hindu and In
dian. I should also point out that
he failed to provide coherent and
relevant responses to several crit
icisms from the audience.
As I did that evening, I would-
like to stress that hinduism is one
religion that doesn’t depend on
putting down other religions. I say
to Schaefer and all who read this
letter, “Let all beliefs, yours and
mine, stand and be accepted on
their merits. It is more important
to be sensitive to the pride and feel
ings of our fellow human beings."
Fortunately Gandhi was a
Hindu and was cremated after his
death. He was thus spared the
agony of spinning in his grave,
Monday night, after Schefer’s
“hackiography.”
Yeshwant D. Sanzglrl
graduate student, college of phar
macy
Defining "unborn”
I read the letter written by pro
lifer Dean Clark in The Red and
Black (Jan. 31) and I must say that
I totally disagree with his view.
The existence of a soul is purely
rooted in one's own religious be
liefs. An athiest would certainly
not be convinced of such an exis
tence. How could one prove the
existence of a soul? I think that it is
virtually impossible.
There are lots of experiments
that are performed on nerves re
moved from a living organism so a
functioning central nervous system
isn’t an indication that life exists.
Therefore, since there is a clause in
our Bill of Rights that guarantees
the separation of church and state,
which allows the individual to
choose his or her own religious be-
l
liefs, I feel that pro-lifers are
merely trying to impose their own
personal beliefs on everyone else.
No one should have the right to
decide what another does with her
unborn children. I stress the use
and understanding of the term un
born!
Q.W.
graduate student, chemistry
Graddy on target
Just a word of thanks for Eliza
beth Graddy’s column condemning
Bush’s China policy. It needed to
be said, and she said it well.
What a jerk!
Sanford W. Wood
Athsns
■ CORRECTION
Friday’s editorial In The Red and Black contained Incorrect Infor
mation. Liza Getzinger Is the mother of assualt victim Dana Get-
zinger.
It is the policy of The Red and Black to correct errors of fact
that appear in its copy. Opinions Page corrections usually
appear in the Forum section.