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■ QUOTABLE
4 • The R«d and Black « Wednesday, October 28, 1992
OPINIONS
“I think It was very unfair for them to punish the whole group
for the actions of one person. I have many friends In that fra
ternity, and I don't think that they are racists.*
-Missy, a TrkOelt member, on Pi Kappa Phi’s punishment.
The Red & Black
Established in 1893 - Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Mike McLeod/Editor-in-Chief
Johnathan Bums/Managing Editor
Melody Willis/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Pay-up time for Pi Kapp
Fraternity Pi Kappa Phi, suspended from the
University for an indefinite period of no less than one
year on Monday, got exactly what it deserved.
After being discovered publishing and distributing a
pledge pamphlet that bore the words “no niggers” nearly
a month ago, the fraternity was in a unique position. It
was balanced on the edge of opportunity and loss. It
could have used this incident to launch a campus-wide
debate about the structure of our separatist institutions,
to look at itself and those organizations around them
that perpetuate the accidental, nonchalant attitudes that
so defines racism nowadays.
Imagine if Pi Kappa Phi, an organization made up of
more than 100 white males from the metropolitan sub
urbs of Georgia, had taken the lead in a self-examination
and battle against racism. It’s not that the fraternity
wants to be racist. Some chapters have black brothers.
At least one black student attended a Pi Kapp party this
year. Nearly all members would shrink and censor oth
ers from using the dreaded word they put in their litera
ture.
But their failure to stop the pamphlet themselves
and to open up once it was discovered only underlines
the attitude toward racism that is killing us today. The
fraternity circled their wagons around them and let no
one in, blaming one preciously protected individual for
the incident and offering only stiff, prepared statements
or “no comment” to anyone who asked.
Their failure was of leadership and of communica
tion. They shut down, switched to a fighting, defensive
mode (who wants to defend racism, anyway?), and took
their chances. This reaction extended all the way to the
top executives of the national chapter, who were rude to
reporters (and vice versa, admittedly) and wanted noth
ing to do in the way of communication with the public.
Unfortunately, Greek officials and Judicial Programs
officers shut out the public as well, just as they always
have when one of their organization gets in trouble, set
ting up an environment that encouraged the fraternity
to clam up and go on the defensive.
They just didn’t get it. They dropped the ball on this
one. And now they’re going to get it. What do you think
the chances of a reduced sentence on appeal, what with
the NAACP and state-wide press barking at University
President Charles Knapp’s door?
You’re absolutely right. They’re are out of here for a
year, and deservedly so. Isn’t part of being a fraternity
about leadership? Yes it is, and it’s time for Pi Kapp Phi
to get out of the way. Their failure to lead is blocking
progress on campus and in America.
Dawgmates for Playboy
Oh joy, Playboy is coming to town. Thanks to our
world-renowned reputation as party animals, Playboy
magazine is coming to our campus to find the Women of
Party Schools.
If you are the lucky gal, you get to have a pictorial
spread in the magazine’s Party School issue next spring.
Meanwhile, our university is getting reviewed for place
ment on the party list. Last year we crashed at 36th.
Where will we pass out this time around?
Magazine “reporters” have been interviewing select
people on campus about our opinions on the strain
places to have sex on campus, the wildest party tradi
tions, what our sexual and social climates are like, etc.
Hey, everyone knows we do everything dawg style, plain
and simple.
If any school doubts our serious dedication to party
ing, check out this Georgia-Florida weekend. Only we
would start celebrating the world’s largest cocktail party
at least a year ahead of time. Practice makes perfect.
And we should know.
STAFF
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NEWS: 543-1809
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Eco-Bogeyman isn’t worth all the hype or worry
The only thing that has been more persistent
than economic progress is pessimism that future
progress is impossible. From Thomas Mai thus in
the 18th Century and Paul Ehrlich today, we
have heard that human procreation is about to
exceed agricultural cultivation with widespread
starvation just around the comer. Even Vice
Presidential candidate A1 Gore has joined the
doomsday patrol by arguing that the end is near
unless we embrace the environmental religion.
Fortunately, all past predictions that we were
running out of resources and destroying our en
vironment have amounted to no more than an
effective way of frightening the naive. Incentives
provided by rising prices and profit opportuni
ties have fueled the productivity necessary to
overcome one resource crisis after another.
Yet, pessimism may now be justified, though
not because the problem of scarcity has over
whelmed the market’s ability to motivate con
tinued progress. The real threat comes from the
modern-day tendency of government to seize
upon predictions of impending disaster to im
pose restrictions on markets— product bans,
price controls, costly regulations— that increase
the chance of a real crisis.
When government responds to predictions of
cataclysmic events, incentives to engage in cri-
sis-mongering increase. Those who see their in
terests furthered by an expanded role for gov
ernment recognize that no claim of impending
doom is too outrageous to be taken seriously by
elected officials. The response has been increas
ingly outrageous claims. In a recent book, the
well-known environmental activist Barry
Commoner conveys the frightening message
that "the ecosphere is under an assault that is
intolerable in its present impact and likely to
end in global catastrophe if nothing is done to
stop it." Paul Ehrlich began predicting massive
starvation in the 1960s with his best selling
book The Population Bomb. With per-capita
world food production increasing, Ehrlich has
had to readjust the timing of his prediction sev-
Dwight efejtY/
Lee
eral times. He is now predicting that millions in
the United States will perish from famine by
1999. Vice Presidential candidate Albert Gore
Jr. is warning us that “Now, as we-are being
drawn toward the brink of ecological collapse,
we must be willing to consider drastic ecological
action."
Purveyors of an ecological doomsday recog
nize that sensational rhetoric is more effective at
mobilizing a political response than is serious re
search. Stephen Schneider, a highly publicized
environmental activist, stated candidly, “We
have to offer up scary scenarios, make simpli
fied, dramatic statements and make little men
tion of any doubts we may have. Each of us has
to decide what the right balance is between be
ing effective and being honest." If resources were
as scarce as hoftesty in doomsday rhetoric, we
would be in trouble.
Sen. Timothy Wirth of Colorado proclaims,
“We’ve got to ride the global warming issue.
Even if the theory of global warming is wrong,
we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms
of economic policy and environmental policy."
Unfortunately, “doing the right thing," whether
supported by theory or not, is extraordinarily ex
pensive. The estimated costs of the policies be
ing recommended to combat global warming are
as high as $3.6 trillion.
Isn’t this a high price to avoid the threat of
longer growing seasons, which would make Paul
Ehlrich’s predictions look even sillier than they
already are? Certainly global warning poses no
threat to human life that won’t be more than off
set by reductions in skiing accidents.
A particularly egregious example of crisis
mongering occurred when “60 Minutes” broad
cast a segment based on a report by the Natural
Resources Defense Council. This report claimed
that Alar in apples is “the most potent cancer-
causing agent in our food supply," and that “as
many as 5,300 children may contract cancer
from their preschool exposure [to Alar]." The ex
aggeration here is extreme. The California
Department of Food and Agriculture concluded
that Alar might cause three-and-one-half cancer
cases per 1 trillion apple eaters (a trillion is
more people than have ever lived on this plan
et). Yet sensationalism dominated science and
common sense, and Alar was withdrawn from
the market.
There is little hope of convincing those com
mitted to frightening the public to be more re
sponsible. Publicist David Fenton has boasted
that he created the Alar hysteria for the NRDC.
According to Fenton, “A modest investment by
NRDC repaid itself many-fold in tremendous
media exposure.” At a less materialistic level, it
can be emotionally satisfying to buy into the
doomsday message. For those seeking an outlet
for their missionary zeal, what could be as
morally uplifting as “saving the earth?”
Fortunately, the earth will be doing fine long
after it saviors are gone and forgotten.
Yet, the distortions and misinformation that
lie at the heart of so much environmental
rhetoric should be recognized for what they are
and countered with genuine scientific informa
tion at every opportunity. The most effective an
tidote to the political mischief so often motivat
ed by over-blown environmental rhetoric is a
well-informed public that refuses to be fright
ened by the eco-bogeyman.
Dwight Lee is the Ramsey Professor of Economics
and Private Enterprise.
Quayle’s values are idealistic
After my experience last year
writing a few letters for this news
paper, I had originally decided to
start this year off by writing a nice,
harmless letter on the cofaunction,
followed by others in a 12-part se
ries called, “The Parts of Speech."
Unfortunately, that exciting series
will never be written. My thoughts
were distracted by the front-page
article about Dan Quayle and
Murphy Brown in the Sept. 23 edi
tion.
The paragraph that caught my
eye was one in which a certain
Marc Hershovitz was auoted as
saying, “Dan Quayle saia that the
ideal situation is a mother, a father
and children, but ideals don’t al
ways happen." Now what’s curious
about this sentence is that
hershovitz, by his tone and alti
tude, seems to think he has refuted
or rebutted Quayle, simply by say
ing, “But ideals don’t always hap
pen." There are many people who
are under the impression that by
saying, “Ideals don’t always hap
pen,” they have refuted Quayle’s
speech.
Well, I am from an older school
of logic. I know that when people
say tnat ideals don’t always hap
pen, the only thing they could pos
sibly be refuting is a statement that
ideals do always happen. But who
ever said they did? Did Quayle say
ideals always happen? Of course
not. If he had, then it would be ap
propriate to respond, “But you have
your facts wrong. Ideas do not, in
fact, always happen." But Quayle
never said that ideals always hap
pen. He firmly believes that ideals
don’t happen often; the rest of the
“Murohy Brown" speech deals with
this fact. He does, however, believe
that ideals ought to happen- a very
different thing. And to the the ar
gument that ideals ought to hap
pen, it’s useless and silly to respond
that ideals don’t always happen.
Just how silly it is will be plain,
I hope, if I make a couple of analo
gies. Imagine if Quayle one day
said that having at least a 2.5 GPA
is ideal, and that those who make
less than 2.5 aren’t doing as well in
school. His detractors would burst
out with anger saying, “But doesn’t
he know that many students don’t
make a 2.5? How dare he insult
thousands of students by saying
they aren’t doing as well in school!
Ideals don’t always happen."
Suppose someday Quayle enters
a bathroom at a gas station—not a
likely event, but just suppose—and
he finds that the facilities are some
thing less than spotlessly cleqn. In
fact, he finds a dirty toilet with no
flush handle, puddles on the floor
and a complete absence of soap and
toilet paper. Quayle then says,
“Look at tnis bathroom! It would be
much more sanitary if the owners
would clean it and put soap and toi
let paper, etc." If this unlikely event
should occur, Quayle’s attackers
would be sure to turn red and yell,
“ You and your confounded ideals.
Don’t you understand the many
problems gas-station owners
face?It’s only your wealthy, shel
tered upbringing that gives you
this intolerable bias for things like
soap. Ideals like yours don’t always
happen.”
Any sensible person would agree
that ideals don’t always happen.
Students don't always make a 2.5,
gas station bathrooms aren’t al
ways clean and families don’t al
ways consist of a husband, a wife
and children. But any sensible per
son would also agree that these ide
als ought to happen and that the
world would be better off if they did
happen.
So, when Quayle says that cer
tain ideals of the family are indeed
ideals and should be sought by all
means, he is perfectly correct.
When his opponents try to answer
him by saying that these ideals are
unrealized, they are really agreeing
with him. He knows fall that these
family ideals are unrealized. But he
(and many others) wants them to
be realized. That is the difference.
His opponents, I fear, seem to think
that these family ideals are impos
sibly utopian or else that tney
shouldn’t be sought at all. We must
always repudiate this wild pes
simism by stating the irrevocable
fact that the ideal of husband, wife
and children living, working and
learning together is the best form of
the family and that it can be
■ FORUM
■ The Red end Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them In the Forum
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belous material. Letters should be typed and double-spaced, and they must In
clude the name, address and daytime telephone number of the writer. Please also
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bring them in person to The Red and Black's offices at 123 North Jackson Street
Athens, Georgia 30601.
achieved by those smart enough to
desire it and mature enough to
keep it.
Go ahead. Say that I’m stuck in
the 50s. Say that I’m enamored of
Ozzie and Harriet. Say that I’m an
unrealistic dreamer. I will yet con
tinue to say that there can be no ef
fective substitute for the family
with husband, wife and kids. Ever.
Stuart Buck
Sophomore, music
Approve Georgia lottery
After many years of debate, the
legislature, by two-thirds vote, has
put the lottery on the ballot this
Nov. 3. It’s Constitutional
Amendment #1. Gov. Miller and
the legislature have also already
passed a law providing that lottery
roceeds (which will be at least
250 million per year) may be spent
only to increase, not supplant,
spending on education.
Program #1: free tuition the
freshman year to any public college
or university in Georgia for stu
dents who had a B average in high
school and whose family income is
$66,000 or less, plus a loan for
sophomore tuition which doesn’t
have to be repaid if the student
keeps a B average (this loan would
be available next fall to qualified
UGA students); or two years free
tuition to any votech school, re
gardless of high school grades.
Program #2: a voluntary
prekindergarten for 4-year-olds
throughout the state which is now
available to only 14 percent of
Georgia kids. Forty thousand of the
100 thousand Georgian kids bom
every year are considered “at risk*
because of their circumstances. The
need for this program is obvious.
Program #3: the purchase of
much needed computers and labo
ratory equipment to improve
Georgia classrooms which today
mostly have equipment from the
1960s.
Thirty-four states already have
lotteries. It’s known that Georgians
spent more than $200 million in
Florida and Kentucky buying lot
tery tickets. Florida made $820 mil
lion on the lottery last year. There
has been controversy in Florida
over the spending of lottery pro
ceeds which were promised for edu
cation but have had to go for other
programs because Florida voters
refused to have an income tax. To
avoid this problem, Georgia is the
only state which has guaranteed
lottery proceeds by law to specific
education programs in advance.
Those opposed to the lottery
have alleged a series of evils that
will follow if the lottery is passed.
However, no credible evidence form
other states backs up these claims,
though modem lotteries have been
around since 1964. It seems to me
Georgians are as capable as New
Yorkers or Kentuckians or
Virginians and could handle a lot
tery without falling apart.
If there is any immorality here,
it is that Georgia got none of the
$7.76 billion dollars in lottery pro
ceeds which went to other states in
1991. Most of us know kids in high
school who may not be able to af
ford college or votech school with
out help. Moke the effort to vote
and ask others to support
Constitutional Amendment #1. We
spend enough money in Florida on
vacation. We don’t need to give
them our education money.
Gene Nicholson
Freshman, business