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4 « The Red and Black « Thursday. May 10, 1990
OPINIONS
"I don't believe the notion that teaching and research are com
petitive."
— University President Charles Knapp
The Red & Black
EitaMuHed 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent itudent vu ipape' not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Charlene Smith/Editor-irvChief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Hogai Nassery/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Out to lunch
As the dawn rises on the horizon, certain students
at this University await the noon hour with hope and
anticipation. They are the select few who will lunch
this day with University President Charles Knapp.
This is the opportunity most Dogs would drool for, a
chance to chow down with the Leader of the Pack
himself. It is also a chance to grill the Big Kahuna on a
couple of issues:
• First, how serious is Knapp about increasing the
presence and salary of female staff and instructors?
Allocating $100,000 in an effort to correct the gross
disparity is admirable, but inadequate. The current
statistics do not reflect well on the University or its
administration.
• Greek reform is an issue across the country, and
luckily, in recent years no fraternities or sororities at
this University have had to deal with tragic liability
suits. But this should not engender complacency. Ask
Knapp what he’s going to do with the changes proposed
by the University’s Self-Study Subcommittee on
Student Activities and Student Judiciary.
• One issue that almost everyone has heard of, but
few students actually understand, is the construction
of the University’s Biocontainment Waste Center.
Groups like XO HARME and SLEAP allege that the
University will be shipping in tons of biologically
hazardous waste, as well as conducting unnecessary
animal research at this facility. Administration
officials have been reticent about the issue, to say the
least. Ask Knapp how safe the facility will be.
• Someone will surely bring up the perennial
parking problem. Ask Knapp how he expects students,
or anyone else for that matter, to park on campus when
fewer spots exist than parking stickers distributed?
How far is Knapp willing to go to find a solution?
Pasting tickets to student windshields in this
inequitable and idiotic system, and then collecting
ungodly amounts of fines is practically a human rights
violation.
So, use the right fork, eat all your vegetables and
ask some good questions. Student interaction with
Knapp is rare, so take this opportunity to tell the Big
Guy what’s on your mind.
No smoking
Last month, the Student Association took a poll to
find out how University students felt about cigarette
smoking being permitted in the study lounge of the
main library. By a margin of 275-120 the students who
responded voted that smoking should be banned. The
SA is planning to act on those results and in light of
some news from the Environmental Protection Agency,
the sooner the better.
The EPA is preparing to release a report saying
second-hand cigarette smoke is responsible for more
than 3,000 cases of lung cancer every year. The report,
which is the result of an 18-month study, is the first
official confirmation of something nonsmokers have
long suspected.
The EPA’s findings should light a fire (so to speak)
under the SA and get them to move toward coming up
with a solution to the study lounge problem that would
keep nonsmokers from being exposed to carcinogens if
they don’t want to be. Right now, nonsmokers are
forced to endure the smoky, un-ventilated air of the
lounge if they want to eat, drink or socialize while they
are studying.
Of course, any solution to the study lounge problem
will require that the rights of smokers be observed too.
The best idea is to create smoking and nonsmoking
areas in the study lounge. This would allow everyone
access to the room while keeping smoke out of the eyes
— and lungs — of those who don’t want it there.
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1ERW1NATE MEASLES. ©
Hollywood plays it racially safe again
Last year might go down in the annals of
Hollywood as the year that Tinseltown — ever
the bastion of racism both in its minority hiring
practices and in its depictions of them on screen
— tried to mend its ways. Last year African-
Americans worked in the movie industry as
never before, as actors, writers and directors.
Since the only color that really means anything
in Hollywood is green, this sudden attack of so
cial responsibility probably results more from
the discovery of the crossover appeal of black
artists like Eddie Murphy and Robert
Townsend, than from an infusion of conscience
among movie moguls. Still, it is interesting that
the two most significant films of the year both
concerned race relations in America.
On the lighter side of the melting pot was the
winner of this year’s Oscar for Best Picture,
“Driving Miss Daisy,” a gentle, genteel story of
a 25-year relationship between an elderly
Jewish widow and her black chauffeur. The
movie is based mostly on the memories of a
white Atlanta playwright. It is a beautiful pic
ture, with great performances by Morgan
Freeman and Jessica Tandy. It is also easy on
the nerves — it delivers its message of cross-
cultural tolerance and interdependence softly
and subtly.
But recently, those aspects of “Driving Miss
Daisy” that made it special, its softness and
gentility, have generated a lot of criticism, and
not without some justification. “Daisy” depicts
a segregated South with most of the sharp,
painful edges of that era whittled to dullness by
the author’s nostalgia and white Southern male
perspective. Understandably, this kid-glove
treatment of American apartheid rankles those
who have less-thnn-fond memories of brutal
and humiliating institutionalized subjugation.
If it had been made by an African-American
there is no doubt that it would have been a dif-
Mark
Sheftall
ferent movie. Nevertheless, there is a place for
this film because it acknowledges the reality
that caring human relationships between
blacks and whites went on even under the
twisted circumstances of segregation. This is
something many critics, most of whom are geo
graphically and experientially far-removed
from the movie’s subject matter, often fail to re
alize.
While “Daisy” won top honors at the Aca
demy Awards, it wasn’t the movie with the
most impact in 1989. That prize belongs to
Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,"another
movie about race relations that was the oppo
site end of the spectrum from “Daisy.”
Gentle as a jackhammer, subtle as an air
raid siren, Lee’s film concerns one day in a New
York City neighborhood during which esca
lating racial tensions lead to a riot. It is an ex
plosive warning from the volatile ethnic boiling
pot of America’s big inner cities. “There’s some
thing wrong here!” the movie practically
screams.
“Do the Right Thing* was destined to be con
troversial from the start, if for no other reason
than it shows interracial strife on screen
without administering the traditional Holly
wood healing salve of a happy ending with a
tidy resolution. Also, Spike Lee is black, and be
cause of this he has a special duty in the eyes of
the world to be responsible and not make
movies that might influence members of his
easily impressionable race to do things that
they shouldn’t. One critic called Lee’s movie
“dynamite under every seat.”
“Do the Right Thing* was intensely scruti
nized by critics when it premiered. While it was
almost universally praised on its technical
merit, many reviewers chastised Lee for not
spelling out a positive message in his movie and
possibly implying that violence is a means to
achieve certain goals. Such criticisms sound
strange coming from people who fawned over
films like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The God
father.*
When it came down to Oscar time, “Do the
Right Thing” did not even receive a nomination
for Best Picture, a strange oversight in light of
its notoriety and critical acclaim. Considering
the tepid films that did get Best Picture nods,
the Academy was clearly making the statement
that serious pictures about race relations are
fine as long as they fit the traditional “safe”
Hollywood mode. This is unnacceptable.
In the coming decade every facet of this coun
try’s establishment is going to have to confront
the unpleasant reality of entrenched racism.
The Academy and Hollywood could have made
a powerful statement — one almost as powerful
as when “Midnight Cowboy," a frank movie
about male prostitution, won Best Picture in
1969 —and put itself at the forefront of the rest
of the establishment by at least nominating “Do
the Right Thing" for a Best Picture award. But
that didn’t happen, and once again the best
Hollywood can do is demonstrate now far it still
has to go before things in that town are the way
they should be.
Mark Sheftall is a senior in the School of Jour
nalism.
Religious deadlock throughout history
In 1965 political humorist/musician Tom
Lehrer commented on global religious strife by
singing:
‘The Protestants hate the Catholics/
The Catholics hate the Protestants/
The Hindus hate the Moslems/
And everybody hates the Jews”
The statement was made in the spirit of
satire, of course, but it presents an interesting
perspective to ancient squabbles. This different
view comes from reducing very complicated
conficts into simple assertions. I would go so far
as to call these statements over-simplified ste
reotypes. However, as with most stereotypes,
there is some social and hisorical facts on which
they are based.
I do not pretend to have a deep under
standing of the origins and edicts of the world’s
religions, or the conflicts in which they are cur
rently embroiled. My ignorance does not pre
vent me from understanding the picutres of
death and carnage that I see each evening on
the nightly news and read about in the morning
paper. The desire for a homeland and self-de
termination are great and certainly society le
vies a price for such things. But when payment
comes in the form of a bullet-ridden twelve year
old body, the deed to any piece of real estate
loses some if its appeal.
The 64,000 year old question then seems to
be, “How do we as Cromagnon/Medieval/Mo-
dem men keep these religious conflicts from
erupting into a call to arms?”. The easy answer
Brian
Johnston
would be to abolish all religion, but why would
any self-respecting zealot want to do that ?
Each is keenly aware that he is of God’s chosen
people. It’s perfectly fine for the great un
washed to turn their backs on God because
they’re gonna sizzle in the end anyway, but why
should the righteous do the same?
What should be done to avoid this unneces
sary bloodshed? The answer can be found in the
good ol’ U.S. Constitution. The doctrine of sepa
ration of church and state would go a long way
toward solving these national conflicts. During
the 1840’s at UGA, the Demoethenian Society
debated whether fervent nationalism or reli
gious zealotry is more dangerous. The noble so
ciety decided in favor of religion by a margin of
12-8. Individually these two institutions are
viewed as a major threat. Try then to imagine
the potential harm posed by their alliance.
Imagination, however, is not necessary, be
cause such a situation is reality in the Middle
East. Clashes between Jews, Moslems, and
Christians have been occuring for centuries
and continue almost daily. The governments of
these nations become involved in the religious
conflict and allow it to infuence their legislation
and military. Arguments over The Promised
Land, and to whom it was promised degenerate
into firelights.
The problem is by no means confined to the
Middle East. My background is Anglican (Epis
copal), which is viewed as a rather open
minded, sedate branch of Christianity. How
ever, its origins stem from Henry VIII’s break
from the Catholic Church over his desire to di
vorce his wife. This dispute led to many deaths
among those defending and opposing the
bloated monarch’s right to disobey the Pope.
The most recent extension of this fighting has
occured in Northern Ireland.
The U.S. is not completely free of such con
flict, but the threat of religious violence is less.
The relative calm in this country can be traced
to the separation of worship and legislation.
However, until other nations realize the
wisdom in this policy, more lives will be lost.
The only certainty in this sad affair is that com
bining religion and government is much like
downing a pint of vodka and climbing behind
the wheel of a Porsche. Let’s hope the 1990’s
aren’t just another deadly Saturday night.
Brian Johnston is a sophomore in the School of
Journalism.
Stupid planning Knapp forte
Once again it appears our dear
old school is run by doddering in
competents cocooned in adminis
trative chaos.
After already seeing their partic
ular brand of genius at work while
trying to buy two basketball
tickets, 1 assumed things could
only improve.
Unfortunately while watching
hundreds of students trying to get
measles shots at the Tate Center, I
realized that things were still in
the moronic vein.
It does not take a rocket scientist
to understand that twenty thou
sand students are not going to be
immunized by a couple of nurses in
a reasonable period of time.
This incredibly stupid piece of
planning only goes to show that the
gang on North Campus (Chuck et
al.), are entirely unconcerned with
students. Each student here knows
he or she is a number, but each stu
dent does not expect to be treated
as a member of a herd.
Ae fee-paying students and
human beings, we deserve to be
treated less as cattle (the result of
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half baked and half-assed ideas),
and more as members of this Uni
versity.
I hope you are listening Presi
dent Knapp, because more and
more people are catching a clue
and then measles will be the least
of your problems.
John M. Haworth
senior/psychology