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■ QUOTABLE
4 • The Red and Black • Tuesday, November 6, 1990
OPINIONS
"Y’all vote tommorrow ya hear,"
Atlanta attorney Donald Hollowell at the annual Holmes-Hunter
lecture on Monday,
The Red & Black
EEstablished 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Robert Todd/Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Rampey/Managing Editor
David Johnston/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Just do it
Today is election
day, and once again
we’ve seen an election
cycle in which people
ages 18 to 25 are
ignored. Why?
Because we deserve to
be.
When the Student
Government
Association sponsored
a forum for the candidates in local districts 4 and 7 at
the Tate Student Center last week, only about 20
students showed up. These two districts were selected
for the forum because they have the potential to be
student dominated.
In a year in which democracy has made
unparalleled strides all over the world, it is incredible
that almost one half of all eligible American voters take
this valuable right for granted, and college students
consistently rank as one of the worst demographic
voting groups.
In 1988,17 years after passage of the constitutional
amendment which guarantees 18-year-olds the right to
vote, only 30.7 percent of eligible 18 to 24-year-olds
voted in the presidential election. The percentage for all
eligible voters was a miserable 50.1 percent.
It is a struggle to get a clear statement of objectives
for higher education from either of this year’s
gubernatorial campaigns. Why? Because we don’t
demand it.
Because we don’t demand it, it is hard to get specific
answers to questions about abortion funding, taxes and
the environment.
Because we don’t demand it, the drinking age isn’t
an issue at all.
By not exercising your right to vote you send a
message to politicians that you don’t count. You have
no say in government policy — and why should you?
Leave ’em alone
Don’t let all the election stuff wear you out because
there’s still more political monkey business going on
tonight.
As part of its regular monthly meeting, the Athens
City Council will vote on the fate of the Baldwin Street
vendors. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again,
keep the vendors on Baldwin.
The council must decide whether or not to accept
the recommendations of Joe Broadhurst, University
director of business services. Broadhurst, who says he
is concerned over student safety on Baldwin,
recommended the vendors be restricted to wider areas
of the sidewalks and away from the Baldwin Street-
Sanford Drive intersection.
Though on the suface his recommendations seem
practical, they are not. The most practical solution is
for pedestrians to use a little common sense.
Let’s be honest, the vendors have little or nothing to
do with the safety problems on Baldwin. The real
problems are people crossing against lights, stepping
out into traffic without looking, drivers whizzing down
the street honking and waving to their friends and not
watching the road and University buses which extend
over the curb and force pedestrians to flee in panic.
As we said before, the Baldwin vendors not only
serve as good examples of free enterprise, they provide
needed services and enhance the University
atmosphere. If the faculty and students didn’t want the
vendors around, then they wouldn’t patronize them
and these various street merchants would go out of
business. That’s how the system is supposed to work.
Leave the vendors alone, please.
VOTE
im
\
STAFF
NEWS: 543-1809
Rewa ■4tor: Jennifer Wilkin
Sport* (fitor: Randy Welker
Intertalnment (fitor: Coieen Brooke
Aeeoclete New* CfNore: Dare McLeod. Cutebeth
Oreddy
Wont Cage Copy (Star: Craig Heater
Inalde Copy Editor*: Chria Ciont*. Sharon BervOov.
Kym Tambourine, Margaret Weaton
UOA Today/ Wire latter: Uaa Kendall
Mete Editor: Maria Clay
Chief Photo#aphat: Tracy Stenberg
OrapMee Editor Stephen Moroakl
Staff Witter*: Onion Brune, Lynn Barfield, AJ
Olion, Patrick Flanigan. Chn* Orlmee, Lane* Helm*.
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Stephen*. Dana White, Stacey Mclntoeh
Sport* Writer Enk Schmidt
Trend* Editor: Marie Edward*
A i el at ant Trend* Editor Stephanie Smith
Between The Hedgeo Editor: David Paoe
Ataletant Between The Hedge* Editor Eric Qarber
Cart earn at: Me Moreu
Editorial Aealetant: Da* Da* Varga*
Opbitene oapreeaed In The Red and BUeb other than
unaigned edKonata are the opinion* of the wntar* of
•igned ooiumne and not neoetaaniy thoe* of The Red
and Black Publishing Company me. All nghta
reeervad. Reprint* by perm**ion of the edKora
ADVERTISING: 543-1791
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Advert I* big Aealetant*:
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Sam Jones: A poor man’s ‘tricky Dick’
“Of course I knew Jerry Voorhis wasn’t a
Communist, but what you don’t understand is
that the important thing is to win. ”
— Richard Nixon on his first smear campaign
Richard Nixon was a well-spoken young
lawyer with an impressive background when he
ran for Congress in 1946. His smear campaign
against 12th District California Representative
Jerry Voorhis became the model for unprinci-
paled candidates all over the country.
Voorhis was a popular Democrat whose
House colleagues had just honored him as their
“most hardworking member.” He was known as
a man who deeply cored about his district and
who always put the nation’s welfare above poli
tics. In 1939, Washington journalists voted
Voorhis “the most honest member of Congress.”
He was staunchly anti-communist.
Nixon had three things going for him in his
race against Voorhis: 1) Although popular,
Voorhis was a liberal Democrat representing a
very conservative Republican constituency, 2)
Nixon and his family were well-established in
the district and 3) big business and the press
were firmly behind Nixon.
Nixon himself distorted and outright lied
about his opponent’s voting record and endorse
ments. Nixon campaign workers placed phone
calls to registered Democrats in whicn the
caller simply asked, “Do you know Jerry
Voorhis is a Communist?” before hanging up.
Nixon won the race with a majority of 65,586
votes to Voorhis’ 49,994. Jerry Voorhis’ political
career was ruined, and he lived out his life in
obscurity.
Tenth District Congressman Doug Barnard
(D-Augusta) is being challenged todny by polit
ical newcomer Sam Jones. Barnard represents
a conservative Democratic district which
stretches from Augusta through a portion of
Gwinnett County. Jones, who variously claims
to be a business consultant, a marriage and
family counselor and a Baptist minister, has
sought throughout the race to link Barnard to
the calamitous savings and loan crisis.
Barnard is the chairman of the House sub
committee on government operations and con
sumer affairs, which oversees the regulation of
the savings and loan industry. As Barnard and
others began to document his seven-year cru
sade against savings and loan fraud, it became
apparent that Jones’ charges were ludicrous.
The more that’s become known about Jones’
very undistinguished past, the more ridiculous
he’s appeared as a challenger. His party’s
mainstream has deserted him. But Jones has
continued to receive a lot of attention in the dis
trict’s media because of the increasingly wild
and unsupportable charges he’s leveled against
Barnard and a barrage of unflattering reve
lations about his own past.
What has received little attention is the cam
paign of intimidation and defamation carried
on by anonymous Jones supporters.
Several weeks after Jones entered the 10th
district race, Barnard supporters around the
district began to get computer generated phone
calls which accused Barnard of savings and
loans crimes and marital infidelities. The mes
sage ended by asking for volunteers and contri
butions for the Sam Jones campaign.
Longtime Augusta Chronicle columnist Mar
garet Twiggs received a hate letter in Sep
tember. The letter is the first Twiggs has ever
received relating to a political campaign. It was
so menacing that the newspaper cnose to write
an editorial about it.
One passage from the letter, which was filled
with unprintable expletives, reads, “ Since you
are apparently a heathen woman, void of any
conscience, I will explain the facts of life in
simple language so you will be able to under
stand: The next time you write a bunch of lies
about Mr. Jones — we will get even, we know
where you live!”
Last month Barnard supporters received
threatening chain letters which began “Dear
sinner friend” and instructed them to pass the
letters on to “yellow dog Democrats.” They were
given the address of the Jones campaign and
told to send a contribution.
Last Friday, a friend of mine who is a well-
known Barnard supporter received a package
with, among other things, an orange Jone9
campaign leaflet with the hand-written remark
“100,000 of these were distributed last night.
What do you think of that, you smartass (exple
tive deleted)?” Barnard’s Athens congressional
office received the same orange literature in
plain envelopes with similar things written on
it.
Those of us who are familiar with members
of the Jones campaign staff aren’t surprised by
the tone this campaign has taken. Barnard had
to fight back at Jones’ distortions — and at the
viscious campaign of slander and threats — by
pointing out Jones’ questionable background.
If he hadn’t fought back he might have gone
the way of many of Nixon’s opponents — to un
deserved public humiliation and obscurity.
Jones has none of the advantages Nixon had in
’46 and he will lose badly today. But I hope he
and his supporters know how undeserving they
are of the American electoral process.
Harrassing and defaming men and women
who are respected leaders of a community is no
way to be elected to office in 1990. In The Red
and Black editorial board’s endorsement of Bar
nard on Friday, we called Jones “a joke.”
Well, the joke’s not funny.
David Johnston is the opinions editor of The
Red and Black.
Stuckey’s choices for new government
Today, UGA students have the chance to par
ticipate in Athens-Clarke County’s historic uni
fication election. The people elected today will
change the face of local government.
Altnough the basic plan has been set, it is up
to the new officers to work out the myriad of de
tails involved in unifying the city and county
systems. The CEO and district representatives
will decide which city and county laws will re
main in effect, including open container laws,
Sunday alcohol sales, the tree ordinance, and
the 100 percent freeport inventory tax exemp
tion. They will also determine the fate of impor
tant programs, such as county-wide recycling,
historic preservation, and economic devel
opment. It is for this reason that we must pay
careful attention to the candidates we choose to
elect today.
As students, we can have a substantial im
pact on the District 4, District 7, and CEO
races. My own personal choices are candidates
that I believe will do a good job in representing
student interests and concerns. They are:
District 4 - John Barrow. Barrow is a progres
sive candidate who has been at the forefront in
the fight to save Athens’ historic fireball.
During this summer’s heated debates with the
County Commission, Barrow distinguished
himself as an articulate speaker for the preser
vationists. As Athens’ first citizen to aualify his
home as historic, John not only talks about
preservation!sm, he lives it. Barrow’s stance on
the open container ordinance falls strongly on
the side of students. He has criticized the law’s
arbitrary enforcement and its inability to solve
the downtown litter problem.
Barrow, a local lawyer and native of Athens,
Stephanie
Stuckey
has long been involved in community and polit
ical affairs. Although some students may feel
the need to elect a student to represent us, it is
more important to elect a representative with
the experience and wherewithal to ensure that
student concerns are enacted.
At an early campaign forum, Barrow spoke of
his definition of a student. It is not necessarily
someone who is enrolled in classes, but
someone who questions authority and is open to
new ideas. In that sense, Barrow is a student
who can effectively represent our views.
District 7 • Cardee Kilpatrick • Although must
of the current sentiment towards elections is to
do away with all incumbents, there are a few
who have served their constituents well and de
serve to be re-elected. Kilpatrick, a city coun-
dlwoman, is one of these. She enacted the Five
Points area curb-side recycling program and
has been a consistent supporter of historic pres
ervation. Furthermore, she has been among the
most accessible representatives.
Kilpatrick has gone door-to-door and walked
her district tirelessly. She has been receptive to
■tudent concern!, and has always returned con
stituents’ phone calls. In the past, Kilpatrick
has supported students on open container laws,
longer serving hours, and aiding Athens’ music
scene. It is now our turn to return that support
and elect her to a seat on the unified govern
ment.
Chief Elected Officer — Gwen O'Looney. Like
Barrow and Kilpatrick, O’Looney has been a
long-standing advocate of student issues: his
tone preservation, recycling, and a referendum
on Sunday alcohol sales. O’Looney stands out
among the other CEO candidates, not only be
cause she is the only woman running, but be
cause she has fought the status quo and taken a
firm stance on critical issues. For example,
after it became clear that the open container or
dinance was being enforced on a discriminatory
basis, O’Looney moved that the city council re
voke the law, even though it was not on the
council’s agenda. Despite the support of a ma
jority of councilmemDers, ©’Looney’s motion
was vetoed by Mayor Chambers, and the ordi
nance remained in effect.
O’Looney also voted to designate the Hull
Street area as a historic district. Unfortu
nately, the zoning motion failed, thus paving
the way for the destruction of the Hull-Snelling
house to make room for a parking lot. A propo
nent of open meetings and putting important
issues to a referendum, O’Looney has been re
ceptive to constituents’ needs.
With Gwen O’Looney as CEO, and Barrow
and Kilpatrick as district representatives, stu
dent interests will be well served by the new
government.
Stephanie Stuckey ie a second-year law student.
Finger wrong
In discussing the American Col
lege Health Association's expan
sion of the definition of rape to
include coercion, Jeff Finger ac
cuses the ACHA of blaming ‘per
suasion” by men for “moral guilt"
felt by consenting women.
He claims that by raising an
issue of coercion, the ACHA ie “cre
ating a meyor problem in the
United State today.” The associa
tion, he thinks, would like to elimi
nate an individual’* accountability
for her own actions when she
“falls” for a man’* “pleae." In addi
tion, he euggeet* that date rape
does not truly exist beyond the
imagination of the ACHA.
Clearly, Finger’s callous view to
ward the topic of date rape belittles
a serious problem and altogether
■ FORUM
misses, and thus proves, the asso
ciation’s point. President Charles
Knapp's letter of October 29,1990,
agrees with the ACHA in that it
warns students against the real
“incidence-acquaintance rape.”
Knapp and tne ACHA do not try
to dissolve personal responsibility
but simply raise the issue to pro
mote awareness of, and a change in
attitude toward a crime which ex
ist* but is largely ignored by a
male-dominated society.
Erin McOoff
senior, political science