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4 • The Red and 8lack • Thursday, October 25, i990
OPINIONS
The Red & Black
Etlabliihtd 1893—Incorporated 1980
An indtpendtnl tludtnl neuipaper not affiliated with the Univertity of Georgia
Robert Todd/Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Rampey/Managing Editor
David Johnston/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Vote no
There will be nine proposed amendments to the
Georgia Constitution on the November 6 ballot. The
amendments appear in question form and are
summaries rather than the full texts. Question one on
the ballot will read:
Shall the Constitution be amended to provide that
the General Assembly may authorize lawsuits against
the state and its departments, agencies, officers, and
employees and to provide how public officers and
employees may and may not be held liable in court?
Sounds innocent enough right? Not to Tina Burton
of Lilbum. Burton was a state employee working in a
DeKalb county building several years ago when she
slipped on a chronically wet floor. The accident resulted
in a spinal injury which causes Burton periodic
paralysis and leaves her unable to work. When she
approached county officials about assistance, they told
her that they enjoy sovereign immunity in the case.
Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine rooted in the
old English concept that “the king can do no wrong,”
and is therefore above the law. The doctrine has been
abolished in 25 states but remains in effect in Georgia.
However, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that
sovereign immunity is waived to the extent of
insurance coverage. This is the only loophole presently
available to victims of sovereign immunity in Georgia.
The proposed amendment would allow the state to
get around that loophole by requiring that the General
Assembly rule on the liability of public officials and
employees. In other words, if this passes the General
Assembly will have to authorize any civil suit against a
governmnent official. It doesn’t sound so innocent now,
does it? Our nation’s founders set up the court system
to judge things like liability. Why give the good ole’
boys that power now?
Georgia voters defeated a similar but much more
clearly worded ballot question by 70.6 percent in 1988.
But this year, Attorney General Mike Bowers and the
General Assembly have worded the question to make
the amendment sound like it authorizes suits against
state officials and employees.
Vote no on amendment number one.
If you would like to read the full text of the nine
amendments on the November ballot, contact
Secretary of State Max Cleland’s office at 404-656-
2871.
Open your eyes
The University’s recycling program has hit a
potentially expensive snag. Through ignorance or just
laziness, many people continue to throw trash in
recycling bins.
As a result of this carelessness, the company which
collects our recyclable paper has threatened to charge
the University more money to sort through the trash to
get the recyclable paper. And, if there’s too much trash
to sort through, the whole bin will be taken to the
landfill.,So much for recycling.
What’s disturbing is that this isn’t an isolated
incident or the result of just a few jerks. It’s
widespread, it’s thoughtless and it needs to stop.
It’s not very hard to look where you throw your
trash. In fact there are more trash cans than recycling
bins. In fact the recycling bins are colored and labeled.
So open your eyes snapperheads.
We would hope that the University community isn’t
all talk and no action. We screamed bloody murder for
the University to “think globally and act locally,” but
when the ball is in our court we can’t even think at all.
The recycling program is a progressive and effective
effort by the University to do something about our
environmental problems. Now it’s up to us to see that it
succeeds. Look before you throw, and support the
recycling program.
STAFF
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QUOTABLE
"They've had enough letters from kindergarten and elementary
kids. There are 15,000 women on this campus. 425 willing to
write."
■ Melynda 1
.snHimi lottprs to soldiers In Seudl Arabia
’That’s what
get for ggam
’fcCH! I just
had an awful team
about the piophet
yourself at
bjedtiniSirr
In search of Biden’s tumor, democracy
WASHINGTON - Slippery Steps.
The ironv of the words printed on the sign
stood out like Zell Miller and Johnny Isakson at
a civil rights rally, but while on a trip to attend
a conference here last weekend, it became a
phrase that rang true in every part of this his
toric city.
Like so many good tourists, I visited the all
too familiar sites that portray a slice of Ameri
cana and what it stands for — the Washington
Monument, the House Where Lincoln Died, the
Hard Rock Cafe.
For some, a visit to the nation’s capital ef
fects a gut stirring of unbridled patriotism and,
for a brief moment, I, too, was cloaked in the
stars and stripes. But it became more apparent
throughout my trip that this garment could not
shield me from tne inconsistencies prevalent
here.
• While I sat in the Senate gallery, the Senate
president pro tern (who at the time happened to
be Wyche Fowler) had to call the Senate to
order several times because of the incessant
chatter of senators too busy to pay attention to
the proceedings. When, in a last ditch effort to
retain decorum in the chamber, he asked sen
ators return to their seats, many just left the
floor.
This seeming indifference to their work wees
highlighted further bv how oblivious the sen
ators were to those of us in the gallery. It was
as if they were working in a vacuum, nappy to
ignore their constituents. Although obvious
practical considerations prevent one from
speaking up from the gallery, had someone
dared to present their views, it wouldn’t have
mattered. They just didn’t seem to care.
On the way over to the Senate, I caught the
Capitol subway connecting Senate office build
ings to the actual chamber. I got in the only
available car where one man was already sit
ting. I remember distinctly how his legs were
stretched out, the unassuming brown suit, the
paucity of hair on his head. And as I looked in
the face of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., to illicit some
sort of response or acknowledgement that I, an
ordinary citizen that he serves, existed, he
buried his head in some papers.
• At night, in 30 degree weather the stark sim-
Hector
Vargas
plicity and great significance of the Vietnam
War Memorial serve as sobering tributes to
those who lost their lives in that war. Not only
does the wall honor these soldiers, but also
shows why we should avoid circumstances that
would necessitate erection of another one.
And yet, despite this awesome testament to
peace, President Bush continues to bring the
United States closer to war with Iraq. And for
what? To protect governments that are no
where akin to the principles of democracy the
United States purports to espouse throughout
the world? Or is it the purely economic and
material concern of protecting oil? Either way,
it entails disaster and death.
• A squirrel near the Reflection Pond jumped
onto the leg of man who was walking with his
wife. Almost intuitively, the squirrel climbed
toward the man’s pants pocket and, as if it had
found the pocket empty, immediately jumped
off.
It was fitting that the plight of this squirrel
was played out in the shadows of a memorial to
a president who tried to give to those who had
not. Haitians protesting here this weekend, the
myriad homeless, minority groups denied civil
rights legislation by the president, the elderly,
the poor, gay men and lesbians all are among
the many strange cousins to this squirrel. They
all are looking for assistance from the govern
ment, some assurance that their rights and
basic needs will be attended to, and like the
squirrel, they have returned from the capital
empty handed.
• The media, supposedly a vehicle to keep gov
ernment accountable, also has fallen into the
trap and even an award-winning student news
paper cannot escape.
The front page of Tuesday’s The Red and
Black, and other Georgia papers, shamelessly
pandered to the photo op of Georgia Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Zell Miller flipping
burgers in Athens instead of trying to get some
"beer on his proposed programs. Miller touted
his pro-education stance, as if that should be
enough for students to vote for him, but there
was nary a word on how Miller plans to im
prove higher education in Georgia especially in
light of the budget crisis that has forced reduc
tions in vital University services.
And The Red and Black’s opinions page was
no better. U.S. Rep. Doug Barnard, who rep
resents Athens and is up for re-election, was al
lowed space to vent his views on the national
budget crisis. Noticeably absent from the page,
however, was any mention nor even equal
space for Barnard’s opponent, Republican Sam
Jones.
As I walked up to the Jefferson Memorial, it
was hard not to notice the normally pristine
white marble steps were sullied witn pools of
water.
“Slippery Steps” the signs read.
It was appropriate that the phrase that char
acterized my trip to D.C. would appear at the
monument to a man who so fundamentally
shaped the ideals upon which this democracy
was founded. Jefferson knew their would be pit-
falls, detours and slips along the staircase of de
mocracy. He knew that with every step
forward, this country might be slipping back
two.
But Jefferson also hoped the will of the
people would check the lapses in the progress of
democracy. Although sounding extreme, a
auote in Sunday’s The Washington Post echoes
tnis sentiment: “Repression has two halves: the
will of those who oppress and the willingness of
those who are oppressed.”
Despite the ironies of a trip here, many still
would argue that this is the seat of the world’s
strongest democracy.
But I’m not so sure it hasn’t fallen on
slippery steps.
Hector Vardas is a first-year law student.
Drug ‘war’ shouldn’t target marijuana
As we sit in the midst of the war on drugs,
what we see all around us is a deliberate power
struggle. This is not the so-called education of
people towards the 'dangers’ of illegal sub
stances, it is brainwashing. Most of the govern
ment’s minrepresentations seem to be aimed
towards the safest drug of all. It’s the same sub
stance whose byproducts humans have been
using beneficially for thousands of years. This
plant is cannabis, hemp, marijuana.
The war on drugs would be a good idea — in
forming the public about such evil drugs as
crack, alcohol, cocaine, tobacco and heroin. But
for tens of thousands of years cannabis has
been the most popular substance in terms of
medical, recreational and household use. Not
one person has died as a result of marijuana
usage.
Our own loved and trusted government, that
which is near, dear, red, white and blue to our
hearts, is deceiving us. Along with the Part
nership for a Drug Free America, the US Gov
ernment is witnolding information about
groundbreaking studies done on long-term
marijuana usage.
Two government studies have shown quite
clearly that there is no harm to the human
brain or intelligence by regular usage of mari
juana, thus disproving common conceptions
about its effects. This is exactly why the results
were not made widely known. The studies were
done, in part, on Jamaicans, a people widely
known for their frequent and religious use of
the cannabis bud. The Jamaican results
showed that marijuana actually produced poei-
Stasi
Valos
tive social atitudes, and it proved no link to
criminal behavior, nerve deterioration, and no
‘gateway’ effect, the theory that marijuana
usage leads to the use of harder drugs.
Our government is blatantly lying to us.
They are lying to us in the privacy of our own
homes, between portions of ‘The Simpsons.”
The infamous commercial that shows “the
brainwaves of a 14-year old," followed by “the
brainwaves of a 14-vear old after smoking mar
ijuana” is a fake. The brainwaves shown in the
last part of the commercial belong to someone
in a coma! Ask any doctor. They will tell you
that the waves of someone who has been
smoking marijuana are very distinctive. Called
Alpha Waves, they are much livelier than
normal brain waves, due to the increased sen
sory input to the brain during the “high."
Whv should the government be so anti-can
nabis? Hemp as a fiber has been a part of our
country’s heritage for centuries. The original
American Flag, “Old Glory” was made entirely
of hemp fibers by Betsy Ross. George Wash
ington and Thomas Jefierson both grew can
nabis on their plantations, according to colonial
law. In fact, according to the film “Hemp for
Victory,” produced by the US Department of
Agriculture in 1942, George Bush was saved by
the plant he is so determined to destroy. When
Busn was a pilot in World War II, his burning
plane went down over the Pacific. As he bailed
out, little did he know that 100% of his par
achute webbing and virtually all of the rigging
and ropes of the ship that pulled him in were
made from US cannabis hemp.
Varying mariiuana and hashish extracts
were the second and third most prescribed
medicines in the US from 1842 through the
18908. Cannabis extract medicines were pro
duced bv Squibb, Parke-Davis, Lilly, and many
other American and European companies.
During this widespread use of marijuana as a
medicine, there was not one reported death
from cannabis extract medicines, and virtually
no abuse or mental disorders reported.
To do your part, be active. The more voices
are heard, the better are our chances of re
gaining our constitutional rights. The Univer
sity has its own chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Lawb. Go to a legalization group meeting.
Even if you do not personally use mnrijurtnn,
you must agree that the legalization of hemp is
vital to our earth’s life, the lives of our brothers
and sisters, and maybe even you one day.
Stasi Valos is a freshman journalism major.
UFORUM
US in need of
I would like to applaud Don
Rodgers for his recent article in
The Red and Black (10/19/90). I
agree, the U.S. political system is
in need of an overhaul, or at least
an alternative to a stagnated one-
party system. However, I believe
that Mr. Rodgers’ argument relies
too heavily on the American public
and it's political apathy.
The American public is begin
ning to get fed-up, if not down right
angry. Witness the popular fury
‘second’ party
that handed David Duke a surpris
ingly large though losing vote in
Louisiana and, more significantly,
the equally racist John Silber a
stunning victory in the Democratic
gubernatorial primary in Massa
chusetts. Angry people will strike
out with whatever weapons are
available to them, unfortunately
effective weapons are hard to come
by in a country under one-party
rule, run in the interests of the rich
and corporate.
You can't have substantial polit
ical change without a political
movement and, in the end, without
a political organization. In Canada,
the social-democratic New Demo
cratic Party (NDP) is the alterna
tive to the Liberate and
Conservatives. In September,
angry voters in Ontario, Canada's
industrial heartland, kicked out
the ruling liberals and handed the
power to the NDP and its leader
Bob Rae, who campaigned with the
forthright declaration that he was
a socialist. There is no NDP here,
but if people are not to turn in des
peration to the hatemongers such
as Silber and Duke, the 90’s will
have to see the forging of populist-
radical grass roots coalitions.
There is anger, and a vacuum
waiting to be filled.
Larry Hopewell
UGA Visual Arts