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♦ • The Red and Black • Thursday. October 11. 1990
OPINIONS
The Red & Black
Katabluhed 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent etudent neuxpaper not affiliated with the Univenity of Georgia
Robert Todd/Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Rampey/Managing Editor
David Johnston/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Lead — don’t follow
University President Charles Knapp, in his
attempt to complicate the simple issue of whether the
University should sanction or participate in
discrimination against homosexuals, has opened a
whole new can of worms.
In a signed opinion column in Friday’s edition of
The Red and Black, Knapp pointed out that the
Reserve Officers Training Corps on this campus must
follow U.S. Department of Defense policy, which
mandates discrimination against homosexuals. He also
pointed out that private businesses can legally
discriminate against homosexuals in their recruitment
and hiring practices.
Knapp went on to say that the “real question is
whether it is appropriate for this institution through
internal policy to attempt to cut off these entities from
access to our campus programs and graduates.”
The answer to this question is clearly yes. Such
action is not only appropriate, it is absolutely essential
to accomplishing Knapp’s stated goal of making this a
“great university.”
Great universities lead society forward, which is
exactly why this University should not wait until the
state and federal governments require a sexual
orientation clause in the official non-discrimination
policy.
In 1981, Rutgers University was one of the first
universities to adopt policies barring discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation in its educational
program and hiring practices.
A report released last year by the University
President’s Select Committee for Lesbian and Gay
Concerns at Rutgers said that joint or cooperative
programs with outside agencies which do not comply
with that university’s nondiscrimination policy “should
be terminated.” The report goes on to cite the ROTC as
such an organization.
Both Harvard University and Yale University
banned the ROTC in the mid-1970s because of its
discriminatory policy, and as many as eight mqjor
universities have denounced the anti-homosexual
policy.
Knapp’s opposition to the addition of a sexual
orientation clause to the University’s official non
discrimination policy is shocking in light of his usually
progressive stands on minority programs and
recruitment.
Knapp says that he would support, and possibly
even initiate, the inclusion of a sexual orientation
clause in an internal “human relations statement”
which would not be applicable to the ROTC and to
those private businesses which recruit on our campus.
This would not adequately address the problem.
Our university should do more than insure high-
paying jobs for its graduates. It should work to educate
the whole society about human diversity and promote
toleration and respect for all people.
While we recognize that the University “does not
exist in a vacuum,” sexual orientation has no bearing
on a person’s professional or academic ability. If we
recognize the injustice in discrimination against
homosexuals, then it’s hypocritical for us to continue to
allow it to take place on our campus.
We urge the University Council, at its meeting
tonight, to recommend the inclusion of a sexual
orientation clause in our official non-discrimination
policy, and we ask Knapp to reconsider his position and
approve such action for the sake of the University and
the society.
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—— ——^
-
"It's easy to get into these situations asttn®mit'fc*'ltttttmoiff
compl Icated. ’' ..
— Former secretary of state arid Umwirstv, inv. :ntr1trsBoi OBan
'Wiieti imttt®(Jliit , tnrSs,
knd so, ai dhds hour of peril
' ancient enemies must lay as*
their blood -Tends and cdnlhfl
a new,common (be tegste’...
Great speech, Mr.'&esidenlf
I I’m addressim
theTtemocrfe
tielfepudlicffis,
po you think the Arabs
and the Israelis will
buy it?_ —
Pedestrians inconsiderate to bicyclists
Ladies and gentlemen of the student body:
wake up.
If you look around, you’ll notice that the
number of bikers has increased significantly.
That should really come as no surprise. Biking
is a neat sport. Now that those legalized ban
dits who run the oil companies are jacking up
the prices yet another ten cents a gallon, biking
is a great way to save money on gasoline. For
all those who want to lose weight and look like
their favorite model, biking is great exercise.
Unlike cars, bikes don’t pollute the environ
ment with carbon monoxide, leading to global
warming and other fun atmospheric problems.
(If you don’t believe it, try to breathe in Los An
geles — the city with the most cars.) And, be
sides, biking is simply fun.
There seems to be at least one accident in
volving a bicyclist every quarter. One recent ac
cident occured because a pedestrian stepped
out in front of trnffic without paying attention.
This won’t surprise those of us who use bikes
regularly as transportation. If anything, I for
one, am surprised so few accidents occur.
Every day, trying to make it to my Russian
class on time, I have to had cross the bridge on
Sanford Dnve. And without fail, a group of pe
destrians attempts to cross the street without
looking.
I hove a strange suspicion may of them are
still mentally in bed, and it hasn’t occured to
them that there really is traffic on Sanford
Dnve. Yes, though the street is closed to cars,
there are buses and official University vehicles,
and of course, bikes. Most of the time I can
swerve U> avoid these people. There are times
when that means almost falling over.
It’s a simple fact of life that braking on a
Johnny
Laska
bike, while going downhill at any respectable
rate of speed, is not an easy thing. If you brake
a car to sharply, the tires screech and you
might spill your coffee. But if you brake i< b»
cycle too sharply, you might spill over, which 1
have almost done too many times to instead of
hitting Mr. and Ms. Sleepyhead
It makes me especially angry to see the
people I almost hit walk away blissfully un
aware that they came very close to being
sprawled across the pavement. Here I nm,
being responsible and making sure that I don't
hit anyone. The least they could do is woke up
and pay more attention to their surroundings
Maybe they need a few more cups of coffee in
Snelling or wherever they have breakfast
As a biker, I often feel as though I'm part of a
minority. It’s bad enough that some drivers yell
obscenities at bikers on the streets of Athens
But pedestrians often seem to think of them
selves as lords of all that they survey, able to
walk anywhere and everywhere with the assur
ance that we commonerB, those of us in a ve
hide of any kind, should step aside
(Metaphorically, of course.) and allow their
lordships to pass uiwcnttwti
1 car. imagine th* 1 dTvan^ nr BfeitHwn Street
tire of that attitude. Hltto Sanford
Drive is by ‘far the witpsi tjii Wpia uuma hare
and forget to look both wayw”
Don't even thidk utimitt iuggnaung I stop
ndmg my bike Wtthmit it;,IMlnever make it to
Russian on itma <Ckidhcmwa, ttia bua take* ftm
eveT to get from anywhere ttn anywhere. The
plethora of biker* whwia'ttnsto^.
So maybe thw will the tthe wear far people to
start pnying mon ntumtion Tfrta lbw. IIbelieve,
suites that periestnnnsrhiva ttta rrghtuifi way in
crosswalks This tinea mitt »gva them carte
blaeu'tu to cross, ii strum witumi ouknig, while
daydreaming about tie riHirgm Builttogs
kicking Alabama'* taste. »> (how-.i. I] might be
coming down a fail), amHQjjurttwantt avert whet
will happen iff U fanve tOT-itugitm faefe Dtm’t rak
me u> akin mv •knees uiwmi: waking you. up.
Courtesy is indeed a ma&&pftumadl two-way
street Yes, 'biker* id tan nem ttn lbam that.
Wearing helmets vhutuvorr the fatainm trend
is, can help apart* jynu {from ® aammanun.
Paving ntumtinn’tnthe rreatui^the woridlma ne
cessity
But the majority dfibkens 11 Hnum already do
their share of; paying attention Ahdiaveiy tune
1 hear about a bmyclu. ate aunt' involving a pe
destrian , the periestnmi wus’he^Tne oiearly not
paying attention. H rmiil^ diiidtt believe that
that's just eomcidensa
H#s time for 'the .pmemtrunu off ITGA\ to do
therr half df ’th»* twowajy Kraut ufl omirtoey.
Wake up, guys
Jnhnny luvekn im u seeniar n w-.huuw mujur.
Rest and relaxation scarce on vacation
So there we were, in Idaho. Yes, Idaho. And
what a long, strange trip it had been.
It had all started about a year before when I
decided to see a little of the United States with
my friends, K.T. and Jules. W’e planned, we
plotted, we thought of nothing else for months.
Leaving day finally arrived. We piled two duffle
bags, Jules’s huge Samsonite, one giant cooler,
three sleeping bags, three bikes, two road at
lases, and a tent into my Jeep. Then, realizing
we’d left no room for ourselves, we took it all
back out. We rearranged it all for maximum ef
ficiency, attaching the bikes to the front, and
tore across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana
(not necessarily in that order).
Somewhere in the general vicinity of New
Orleans — but nowhere near any campsites —
Jules mentioned she thought we might be lost.
"We are not lost," I said. ‘To be lost, you have
to know where you’re going in the first place,
and we don’t.”
"West,” K.T. said. “We’re going west.”
“Why didn’t we sit down with the map before
we left and plan this out?” Jules asked.
“Relax,” 1 said. “I will find a campsite.”
At 4 a.m. we found a Kampgrounds of
America campsite just outside Slidell, La., and
spent the next couple of hours trying to figure
out how to put the tent together.
“Spero said it wasn’t hard to do," K.T. said.
Sjpero is K.T.’s boyfriend and the proud owner
of one blue nnd-white, three-man Coleman
tent.
“What are these stick things for?" I asked.
“Why didn’t we sit down with the directions
before we left and figure this out?" Jules asked.
Just as the sun appeared over the tall Loui
siana pines and the temperature hit 84 degrees,
Elizabeth
Graddy
the three of us — along with a host of mosqui
toes and gnats — crawled into the tent for our
first night’s (day's?) sleep
It was a foreshadowing of things to) come A
day of intense driving would he followed bv
sleeping in the tent with our elbows in each
others’ backs and our faces smashed into nylon
walls. Frequently we would stop and Jules
would take 30 or 40 photos of everything — the
Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, the road,
the sky, passing cars, etc And if we came near
a mountain or a valley, K.T wanted to do some
thing physical to it — like hike it or climb it.
“Can’t we just look at it,” I would ask “Or let
Jules photograph it?”
After Chaco Canvon (6 miles) and Carlsbad
Caverns (3 miles), K.T wanted to do the Bright
Angel Trail down the Grand Canyon. We’d met
four cute guys from Australia up on the rim,
and I suggested hanging out with them at
Bright Angel Ixidge But nooooooo, we had to
hike 9.6 miles down to the floor of the canyon
Fortunately, the four cute guys from Australia
followed.
It was great fun camping on the canyon floor
with the simkee uiu; nto-muim, iuxt tu tha nv«r
which, we wave wiiriisi; nigm-w* i flush flood
at any moment But 11 oBuhB .n willy. fast that
what goes down must r.nnu up?, and: if we d
hiked to the bottom rthrtt nuaiu wa d: have to
hike ffhfvmiliHjuuigfttt tha tup.
Utm just uikemfaw. Ihiura* ’ IfcT said.
’‘Eight *’H «oui Hfflltuba aightt huum.*
’‘Why didn't we jjust Kii town Ibtfare we left
and make raservntions far those multi rcdaa?"
Jules noted
I wunuui nothing nurn thun tu ratum tu<avo
Illation But mr noon sun wm Lae Vogna. K.T
and H lost five inurum-um iniisnu tha mulatto
tables We spout the msofc wvan days in Cali-
forma Hiking <n nurm* Urriugn m« ^aquam*.
the Bedwnmta/tia^Hiuttih, uid. i «zubia uhunk
of Ban IPrancMwo
We'd coverall 1 ftvsgm m.i.day <miy tu and up
lost n PiuouiLUmd Amarroniys tho mad wa’d
taken wasn't oi. tia'lltomii.NtUilhill^nrMid atiiia. A
lot of roatis arenftvontha utiim,
*^Why <ddhib wa- jjistt «ti itiwn — m Julas
began hut Uanwhar- ilfibv timutuning Ui hypar-
vont.ilau If she coniidiutu bar ianttmua.
We foliowm' IKJT'b- MugjfiMUiin, avantuaily
making -nur way, autt off Iiiaitu and: into
Wyoming, whew we budi n lulosoal fight uvar
SEimethug: reuHv impunttontt — like whether to
change the oil dYuir ilUUU:milt»<m 3i{»0 miles.
The nrgumeut •undad — t» urguinanta often do
— with u* iaing; has trumte ttirnvar
But we w»m Timiv tu tgit: mvH tu <utoorgm »uid
— after ivhands iiibu-mnund: Wali,Cb> — we did
just that H^ureitiiimiHaelLikhui
KUxuhett Cirtultis imam itemmiutt tutu* *dllur at
The tied < unil /JitouM
Babb off-base on abortion
This letter is in response to-
Jeanie Babb's signed column re
garding the “apathv" of abortion
(10/9/90).
Apathy is defined by Webster’s
as beins the 'lack of feeling or emo
tion.” How dare Babb describe
women who make their own, diffi
cult, personal choices about their
"own flesh and blood” as being apa
thetic.
The apathy lies with those who
believe with blind ignorance that
“free pregnancy testing, coun
seling, shelter, clothing, emotional
support, sometimes job training
and placement, parenting skills,
prenatal care, Lamaze classes and
even legal and medical advice, “can
magically transform an unwanted
pregnancy into merely a "problem
pregnancy.”
Babb’s so-called “doctor's" per
formed unsafe, unsanitary, aan
gerous abortions foT their own
monetary reward at the expense of
the patient’s health and her ability
to conceive a wanted pregnancy in
the fiiture. Hence the term "back
alley abortion.”
Finally, to thnae Who dlaasity
themselves as prodife aatwisib
your time will be bast spent
helping uneducated mothers tm
poverty and welfnw situations to
better roiee their children as ip>
pneeil tu xniuuuung miliaa» shins,
mu. Aeg viurmowm; Where are we
oiuh tin iMtmei are lairn?
Bally Martin
junior. Buaneie