Newspaper Page Text
1
i
I
■ QUOTABLE
4 • The Red and Black • Thursday. July 19. 1990
OPINIONS
The Red & Black
EstabluKui 1893—incorporated 1960
An mdtptPuUnl ttudfU \eutpaptr mot affxliaUd uxth tKt University of Gtorgui
Jennifer Rampey/Editor-in-Chief
Trevor Padgett/Managing Editor
David Johnston/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
World Class?
The limited “freeze” on University expenses, which
became effective July 1, and the proposed 3 percent
budget cut, which could amount to $7 million, will inev
itably put the University in a hard place.
Administrators have been asked to propose cuts in
areas that would cause the least amount of damage.
University System Chancellor H. Dean Propst has
called for the most drastic cuts to be made in equip
ment spending.
The University has been repeatedly pelted with
disappointing budgets and budget cuts for the past few
years. Any time there’s a budget cut request, it could
mean disaster for our educatinal potential. Propst’s re
quests for cuts in equipment is right on target if it ap
plies to frivolous equipment, such as lavish
landscaping and a water fountain on North Campus.
It is frightening to think that the cuts could inevi
tably affect the educational quality of this University.
Professors shudder at the thought of a salary cut and
many graduate students are afraid they may not get
their assistantships.
Propst has said that any vacant positions at the
University should be filled only if they are “immedi
ately critical” to the University’s operation. And no
plans have been made to fire current employees or fac
ulty.
But what about the long run. Gov. Joe Frank
Harris and the legislature have already got the Univer
sity on a tight rope with the budget approved in the
spring. The University already fails to pay professors
salaries comparable to competing schools in the South
east. Not to mention that if the University does hire as
many employees as it did in 1989, it will also be forced
to foot about a $600,000 bill for the ludicrous drug
testing requirement for new employees.
It’s impossible to become a world-class university
when the budgets keep getting lower. How about
making cuts in the athletic department or increasing
ticket prices for football games. Maybe state legis
latures and University officials should take a second
look at what they want the University to become and
just how they expect it to become that way without de
cent funding.
Save the Fire Hall
Athens, at its best, is both beautiful and inter
esting. The city’s unique combination of old Southern
charm and new South sophistication, resulting from
the presence of a large university in a medium sized
town, is one of our greatest assets. Preservation is a
very important issue in a city so defined by its historic
buildings.
The controversy over the proposed Clarke County
Civic Center, therefore, represents a very practical con
cern over the character of the Classic City. Athens is
marketed as a charming old Southern city, and there is
no reason to think that the present boxy, thoroughly
modem civic center proposal will be at all attractive to
potential out of town users.
Incorporation of the Thomas Street Fire Hall into a
new civic center design seems a perfect way to keep the
building from becoming a contradiction with its sur
roundings. The county commission must be more flex
ible in its response to citizen concern over this issue.
Commission Chairman James Holland’s description of
the fire hall’s destruction as a “done deal” reveals the
arrogance of a board whose decisions have gone un
questioned by the tax-paying public for too long.
In any case, it is just bad business to contradict a
marketing strategy which has worked so well for the
city for so long.
STAFF
NEWS: 573-1809
New* Editor. Wary Ratcliff*
Sport* Editor Jor Tully
Entertainment Editor Rachel Curry
Aaaoelat* Now* Editor QUabeth Graddy
Front Pag* Copy Editor David Johnston
Inside Copy Editor*: Nick Schweitzer.
Stephanie Smith
Graphic* Editor Howard Fore
Photo Editor Wayne Jackson
Photographer Marla Clay
Staff Writer*: Gwinn Bruns, J Leigh Burrell.
Carol Causey, Cathy Ferris, Patrick Flanigan,
Dan Pool. Jeff Rutherford, J O Squillante.
Beth Valinotl, Douglas Wood
Entertainment Writer David Williams
Sports Writer David Pace
Special Sect ion*/Trend* Editor Marla
Edwards
Editorial Assistant' Laura Roe
Cartoonist: Mike Moreu
ADVERTISING: 543-1791
Student Advertising Managers:
Kristi Burnham, Krichelle Halualam
Senior Advertising Representative: Rick
Huggins
Advertising Representatives: Jeff Hams.
Alan Holcomb. Chris Munguia, Toby Myers,
Kipp Mullls, Maureen Musgrove, Lee Nettles,
Jane Rice
Aset. Editorial Prod. Manager Cnstlna
Feindt
Asst. Production Manager Mariena Martin
General Manager Harry Montevideo
Advertising Director Robin Stoner
Office Manager Mary Straub
Production Manager Judy Jordan
ClnseMeds/ Reception let Beverly Vaughn
The Red and Mack t published Tuesday throigh
Friday during the tegular school year and each
Thursday dunng summer querier. with the exceptions
of holidays and exam panods. by Tha Red and Black
Pubkshirig Company Inc. a nonprofit campus
newspaper nor affiliated with the Unfversrty of
George. 123 N Jackson St Athens. Ga 30601
Third dess postage petd at Athens, Ga Subscription
rate: S24 per year
Oplrdone upraised la The Red and Mack other than
unsigned erStotials sre the opinions at the waters of
signed columns and not necessarily those of The Red
and Week Publishing Company Inc All rights
reserved. Reprints by permission of the edrtors
"My roommate got back some of bis ground beef and cold cuts,
but I didn’t really get any of my food back.”
— Bruce Bergstrom, the victim of a hungry bandit
You iPtor/ it's
KEMciCwufw
Bush avoided S&L scandal during ’88 election
George Bush spent a lot of time talking about
the hazards of furlough programs and teachers
who didn’t say the pledge of allegiance during
his 1988 presidential campaign, and he never
missed a chance to reiterate his “no new taxes”
pledge. But Bush made little mention of the
simmering Savings and Loan fiasco even in late
1988, when it was clear to the Reagan-Bush ad
ministration that taxpayer funds would have to
be used to clean up the thrift mess.
In fact, Bush had knowledge of the S&L di
lemma much earlier. As Vice-President he was
appointed head of the administration’s task
force on deregulation and supervision of the
banking industry, working closely with bank
and thrift regulators.
The deregulation Bush was charged with
was in keeping with the promises that Ronald
Reagan had made in 1980 to ease government
regulation of business and industry. But in
1981 the Reagan transition team was already
warning administration officials that the
country could very well be facing a crisis in the
thrift industry. The administration, which used
what it called Cabinet Councils to conduct its
business, formed a council headed by then
Treasury Secretary Donald Regan to study and
recommend solutions for the problem.
The Cabinet Council came to the conclusion
that closing the insolvent thrifts — possibly as
much as 95% of the industry — would cost $100
billion and was unnecessary. They reasoned
that the high interest rates that were prevalent
Kevin
McGonigle
in the late ’70s and early ’80s would come down,
and that some of the thrifts would regain their
strength.
So, with White House approval, the council
decided to look for ways the ailing thrifts could
elude the government banking regulations
which required that bankrupt institutions be
closed.
Their solution was to loosen accounting rules
so that ailing thrifts looked healthy, and to
issue government notes that made insolvent
thrifts appear solvent. In addition, the notes
that were extended to the S & Ls were not
counted as part of the budget deficit.
In 1986 and 1987, then Treasury Secretary
James A. Baker III (who was soon to head his
best pal Bush’s presidential campaign) pro
posed a $15 billion S&L bailout plan, even
though former Treasury officials now acknowl
edge that they knew even then that the cost
would be at least $50 billion. Consequently, the
full scope of the problem was witheld from
members of Congress, who approved what they
thought was a reasonable $10 billion for the
bailout. Bush was thus able to avoid the in
creasingly serious issue during the 1988 elec
tion.
All the while, in an obvious conflict of inter
ests, Bush’s 35-year-old son Neil was serving as
a director of Denver’s Silverado Banking, Sav
ings and Loan Association, which was loaning
millions of dollars to some of his (Neil’s) closest
business associates. The failure of Silverado
will cost taxpayers at least $1 billion.
Congress began to realize the extent of the
problem in 1988 when hearings by tenth dis
trict Congressman Doug Barnard (D-Augusta)
and his subcommittee on government opera
tions, uncovered much of the fraud and miscon
duct which would result in the S&L crisis.
Barnard and Congressman Chalmers Wylie
(R-Ohio) soon co-sponsored the Regulator’s En
hanced Enforcement Powers Bill, granting gov
ernment regulator’s much more power over the
S&L industry. But Bush was already on his
way to victory in an issueless presidential race.
Where was George when S&L fraud was
reaching such scandalous proportions? Prob
ably saying the pledge of allegiance in a flag
factory.
Kevin C. McGonigle Ls a senior political sci
ence major.
We must all work together to save the planet
I consider myself to be an environmentalist.
By this I mean that I recycle, use products that
have the least amount of impact on the environ
ment, and I avoid driving my car whenever pos
sible.
So what? Wei the other day, a friend of mine
asked me a question which has been gnawing
at me ever since. The question was and I quote,
“Why worry about recycling? There are so many
more important things to worry about.” I re
sponded, ‘Don’t worry about it, just do it.” The
attitude implicit in my friend’s question is one
of disregard, disrespect, and a basic lack of un
derstanding for the planet on which we live.
I am not trying to suggest that we all adopt a
radical lifestyle and exclude all the modem
technological advances that are abundant in to
day’s society. I am trying to get the message
across that the resources of this wonderful
planet are not infinite.
If we don’t recycle what we use, and mini
mize our impact on the planet, then very soon
there will be nothing left to take. The resources
we must protect include clean air, clean water,
and arable land on which to grow food. Even
though this is a natural process, we are accele
rating it at a phenomenal and unacceptable
rate. This rate can and must be slowed.
It is easy to live an environmentally respon
sible life in Athens. Recycling bins are available
Stephanie
Wolk
on campus and around the city, and city busses
are free to University students. By walking or
riding a bicycle, people can improve tneir
health and reduce the University’s traffic and
parking problems.
Education is the key to awareness and con
cern for the environment. We are all respon
sible for the state of our planet. The recent
Earth Day festivities must serve as a catalyst
to provoke all of us to work for the preservation
of this planet, and all of the forms of life depen
dent upon it.
All it requires is a little bit of common sense
to realize tnat if we don’t act today, then what
will we tell our children when they ask why
their home is on the verge of complete destruc
tion? It does not matter what part of the polit
ical spectrum we occupy, or what our religious
beliefs may be, for if we have no home in which
to live, neither these nor any other pursuits will
exist. It is vital for us to remember a quote from
Chief Seattle, “We do not inherit the Earth
from our fathers, we borrow the Earth from our
children.” Our children deserve to hnve the
planet returned to them in an inhabitable
state.
Organizations like the Students for Environ
mental Awareness, Athens Clean and Beau
tiful, the Sierra Club, the Georgia Conservancy
and the Georgia Environmental project all need
your financial and physical support.
You can write your elected representatives
about environmental issues which concern you.
Our elected officials cannot read our minds,
and they cannot represent us without the
knowledge of our concerns. It is our duty as citi
zens to proride them with this knowledge.
The University must serve as a flagship on
the environment for the Athens community,
and the state as a whole. We should go forward
full force with the recycling program and
greatly expand environmental education.
Stephanie Wolk is a senior political science
major.
Ode to the UGA squirrels
■ 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 wnter. Please include student classifl
cation, major, and other appropnate 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 read your recent article on the
squirrels on campus and was re
lieved to learn that University
management does nothing to artifi
cially control their population.
I came here from Delaware as a
graduate student in management
in September ’88.
In October ’88 on a lonely
Sunday, I strolled through center
campus and was struck by the
beauty of my surroundings. I sat
down and wrote the enclosed poem.
Nine little animals
Scampering about
Seeking treasure
Amongst the leaves
Jumping, hurrying, scurrying
In the cool breeze
With sunshine, stately buildings
Large trees, birds above
Grass below
Nine busy squirrels and me
The beauty, peace and serenity of
An October Sunday
Center Campus
UGA
Carolyn Fasnaugh
graduate, management
Dead Days
Amen! Your editorial about the
“week before finals” hit a soft spot
in my ailing overstudied body.
Many students feel that this last
week before finals is unproductive
for students and professors. I feel
like a piece of jello which has been
taken out of the refrigerator this
weekend to slowly cool off again.
Somehow the weekend isn’t as re
freshing as others because I know
that 1 just can’t shut the “refriger
ator door” on all my studying.
So why don’t we have this week
to get better prepared for the cru
cial exam period? Other schools
call this a “reading period” where
students are given time to catch up
and prepare for their finals. In this
situation, students are given the
option to determine their own des
tiny.
We all know that in many cases
the final will make or break our
grade. So why does the current
format leave so little time for stu
dents to better their chances on
exams?
Edwin B. Peabody, III
sophomore, political science
Leave Horse
I would like to add my voice to
those opposing the proposal to
move the Iron Horse to the
campus.
Like the famous bronze figures,
King and Queen, which were
sculpted by Henry Moore and
placed in one of the vast moors of
Scotland, the Iron Horse can main*
tain its monumentality in wide
open spaces, a rare attribute of
sculptural figures.
In the field on the Curtis farm,
the Iron Horse is magnificent. In
the more intimate landscape of the
campus, it is likely to appear crude
and overpowering. The maligned
students who protested its place
ment there may have been valid
critics.
John W, Linley