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4 » The Red and Black » Thursday, March 4. 1993
OPINIONS
■ QUOTABLE
"When you’re fasting, it really helps you focus your attention on
God, rather than the negative aspects of life, like getting a bad
grade on an exam, or a friend letting you down in some way."
-Azam Nizamuddin, Muslim student, describing Ramadan.
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
Atlanta’s stadium follies
Is Atlanta ever going to get a new stadium? It
seems like years since talk began about moving the
Atlanta Braves out of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
into a brand-new, improved venue of their own. No
more sharing with the Falcons and everyone else who
wanted a large forum. No more horrible field conditions
to battle when getting hammered by Doug Drabek or
David Cone. A fresh, clean place the Braves could call
home.
When Atlanta won the 1996 Olympic Games, the or
ganizers made sure everyone knew the city would have
a modem complex in which to hold the games. Well,
that Olympic Stadium has yet to be approved by the
powers that be in Atlanta.
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council finally ap
proved the building contracts for the new stadium. The
Fulton County Commissioners voted Wednesday.
Why has it taken so long for this project to get off
the ground? First, someone must pay off the debt in
curred by Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium before it can
be razed. Next, someone’s got to foot the bill for build
ing the Olympic Stadium. Cue the Olympic Games or
ganizers, who are shelling out $207 million just to have
the stadium ready for a few weeks in the summer of
1996.
Then there’s the problem of what design should be
used in constructing the new venue. Nothing could beat
the poor sight lines that Atlanta-Fulton County
Stadium is famous for.
Supposedly, the working schematic drawings for the
new venue are ready to go. All that’s needed is an OK
from all the parties involved. Enough bickering and
pettiness has already gone on between the interested
groups who have to approve the building contracts.
And people wonder why Atlanta might not be ready
in 1996. First you got to have a place to hold the games
before you can hold the event, don’t you? Clock’s tick
ing, boys.
Air peace
The story of U.S. efforts to aid besieged Muslim
communities in war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of
tragedy and hope.
It began with the hope that U.S. air-drops would
help push the warring factions currently at the United
Nations-European Community negotiating table closer
toward a cease-fire agreement. It is progressing with a
tragic tale of massacre and incomplete peace talks, de
spite the world’s desire to end the fighting.
In three drops, approximately 75 tons of food and
medicine have fallen over the eastern comer of Bosnia-
Herzegovina. According to reports, bands of Muslims
have trekked more than 20 hours in freezing weather to
reach the food and medical supplies. Military officials
are estimating that two-thirds of the parachuted sup
plies may have fallen short or wide of their mark.
Meanwhile, Bosnian Serbs have overrun at least
one Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, an
ironic counterpoint to the American endeavor. Despite
our efforts, the situation is now mired in bloodshed as
unconfirmed reports tell of mass killings of Muslims in
the mountain region where supplies have been dropped.
It has been announced that Russia has agreed to
send military transport planes to join the airdrop effort,
to operate from NATO bases in the region, representing
a new level of cooperation between America and our
formal cold war rivals.
Despite the current setbacks, America’s air drops
are a sensible, compassionate step. While, tragic, the
continued fighting in the region cannot bow our com
mitment to the peace process.
STAFF
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pdf y*«
WEDNESDAY
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Time to rid America of its Jim Crow traditions
Jim Crow,
I thought you were smarter than that. The
Cold War has ended, the Berlin War fell, the
student protests occurred in China (though lit
tle came of them), and now apartheid is on its
way out - the last bastion of governmental seg
regation (a boldface lie, but it sounded good).
And, now you rear your ugly head. I thought we
could hide you back in our country’s dark and
storied past along with Japanese internment
camps in WWII and the chattel system our
country clung to for so long. We consider our
selves the greatest country in the world? That
says something about the sad state of this
world, doesn’t it? We live in a screwed up world,
in a screwed up time, but at least we were try
ing or so I thought. Weren’t we moving in the
right direction? But now, Mr. Crow, you resur
face. I thought you were dead. Wishful thinking,
I guess.
We can never live in Rodney King’s utopia.
Human nature dictates we can’t “all just get
along.” But, getting along is on a person to per
son basis involving distinct personalities not
color of skin. I’ll cite the overworked example of
the children in the sandbox. They all get along
and play relatively peacefully, provided they
Tom
Callahan
share shovel and pail. Relatively peacefully that
is until, someone tells them otherwise.
Prejudice and racism are learned not innate.
That alone should give us hope. It’s learned at
home, in school, in society, wherever.
Sometimes human nature dictates, other
times it’s a combination of common sense, basic
economics and politics. Separate but Equal nev
er existed and never will. At least not while the
majority is in power. I take that back - never
will, just look at South Africa where whites
comprise 15 percent of the population. Without
equal (the same) facilities, full education cannot
occur. And, in my humble opinion, education is
the key to overcoming these pitfalls of society.
Yes, it will take time, generations maybe. But
one thing we do have is time. All the time in the
world. Nobody’s going anywhere, and with the
current trend of overpopulation, we have to get
used to living with each other. Yes, it will take
time, and it won’t be easy. But I say let’s give it
a shot. What do we have to lose? Yes, racism
sucks. So do something about it.
I firmly believe that if we stop making a dif
ference, we stop living. If we stop “sucking the
marrow out of life,” our soul dies. Just make a
difference whether it’s large or small.
Personally, I’d like to make a large difference,
but then again, I’m a dreamer.
Give it a shot. Make a difference. It sounds
like a Nike ad so maybe you should “Just Do It.”
Writer’s Note: This letter was written to a
friend who inquired about the wisdom of forced
integration considering the problems we’ve had
with it. It turns out that he wasn’t advocating a
return to de jure segregation but simply won
dering about the possibility of improving the sit
uation, so my faith in him as an intelligent,
open-minded human being was restored.
Tom Callahan is a freshman in pre-journalism.
Combatting that perpetual beast - pop culture
There’s been a dramatic increase in the vol
ume of garbage polluting our popular culture,
and we need to combat it to remain a viable
Western civilization. Although each generation
spawns new “art” that often affronts its elders,
American pop culture has been on a steady de
cline in taste for some time with a spiralling up
surge in movies and TV programs saturated
with gratuitously graphic sex and violence as
well as music extolling rape, cop killings, racism
and a generally hateful attitude towards society
at large.
Paralleling this steep descent in respectabil
ity has been an explosion of social pathologies
plaguing our society. While decadent art isn’t
the primary culprit, too much of it encourages
anti-social conduct. The disrespect for authori
ty, the violence, promiscuity, illegitimacy,
racism, sexism and cynicism corroding our cul
ture are reinforced by the valueless, hedonistic
message of too much pop entertainment.
How should we quell this tide of artistic ex
cess? First, by not succumbing to the meat ax
“solution” of censorship since many materials
outlawed have been great works of art. Indeed,
books by Twain, Joyce, Steinbeck, Huxley and
Orwell have been restricted by narrow minds,
and first-class films like “The Last Temptation
of Christ” and “Henry And June” have also un
fairly suffered the sting of censorship. As
Jefferson warned that “TTie price of liberty is
eternal vigilance,” we should guard against
zealots who would ban all but what is suitable
for “the sandbox” (Thurgood Marshall).
So speak out against destructive art, but re
search it first to focus your wrath on the real
crud and err on the side of freedom. Defend
Douglas
d
works facing censorship for political or sectari
an reasons, such as Salmon Rushdie’s “Satanic
Verses," for many take umbrage at any per
ceived slight (George Will calls them “the indig
nation industry”).
Remember that censoring something often
makes it a forbidden fruit and a bigger hit. The
sales of a 2 Live Crew LP soared after it was tar
geted by a Florida D.A. Nothing sells like con
troversy, and there’s a symbiotic relationship
between rock stars providing ministers with of
fensive product to rail against which boosts
church contributions and sales for the rockers.
So let’s regulate. Keep FCC standards re
garding TV, and boycott networks and sponsors
supporting offensive programs. With movies,
keep the ratings system, but put more informa
tion in ads informing parents of possible objec
tionable contents. Pressure record companies to
put warning labels on raunchy CDs, encourage
stores to limit such sales to adults and urge ra
dio stations to play disgusting drivel only late at
night - if at all. For the most misogynous, vio
lence-advocating noise, boycott businesses sell
ing such fifth. Most respond to even a few com
plaints.
To argue that any attempt at reining in
wretched excess is no different from going after
legitimate art is to give in to moral relativists
who generally hold traditional Western culture
in contempt anyway. Parents and educators
must impress upon the young the inherent
worth of quality art as well as how to distin
guish what’s within a broad range of morally tol
erable expression from what’s beyond the pale.
If we are to continue to have any standards at
all, we must reaffirm that Vonnegut is far su
perior to Bret Easton Ellis, that “Last Tango In
Paris” is art while “Debbie Does Dallas" is not,
that there’s good heavy metal (Led Zeppelin)
and then there’s ugly garbage (Ozzy Osbourne),
that there’s fun, clean rap (Young M.C., Kid *N’
Play) and then there’s racist/anti-police crap
(Ice-Cube, Sister Souljah, Ice-T), and that
there’s thoughtful rebellious music (Gang of
Four, KRS-One) as opposed to pseudo-rebellious
tripe peddling homophobia and racism (Guns
*N’ Roses).
Deciding what’s appropriate isn’t an exact
science. Decent people differ on matters of dis
cretion since no two of us draw the line sepa
rating decent from indecent along quite the
same path. But the pendulum in recent years
has swung too far towards embracing the ni
hilist assumption that there are no valid mea
sures of good and evil, right or wrong. And we
are reaping the bitter fruit of this dangerous
trend with ever-lower levels of mutual- and self-
respect in contemporary American society.
Douglas Young is a doctoral student in political
science.
Homosexuality not a choice
FORUM
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Athens, Georgia 30601.
David Nance (Feb. 16 letter)
makes some problematic comments.
First, he says, "Homosexuals are
made, not bom.” OK, for argument’s
sake, let’s assume that some people
are bom straight but are somehow
miraculously transformed into ho
mosexuals. Is it not then equally
likely that some people are bom ho
mosexual but transformed into het
erosexuals? Why not, if sexuality is
something that’s made, not inborn?
Second, he maintains, “there is
no physiological difference between
homosexuals and heterosexuals."
How on earth could he know this?
Researchers haven’t even se
quenced the entire human genome
yet. No one has discovered all the
similarities and differences between
every human, and it’s ridiculous to
suggest that they have.
Third, Nance seems to think that
Christians should try to convert ho
mosexuals into heterosexuals. He
says, “Your friends and mine [i.e.
homosexuals) are lost and headed
for eternal separation from God and
we’re doing nothing about it." One
assumption here is that homosexu
als don’t have to be homosexuals;
they can be “saved" from their sex
uality. The idea is that queers
choose to be queer, so they can
equally choose to be straight.
Obviously, this is wrong. Queers
don’t choose to be queer. And here’s
a simple little test that proves my
point: Ask yourself whether you
choose to become attracted (in a ro
mantic sense) to an individual or
whether it just happens. Do you say
to yourself “OK, today I am going
to fall in love with so-and-so," or do
you just fall in love with the person?
Obviously, you just fall in love with
them. You don’t make yourself fall
in love with someone. Now, ask
yourself whether the people you’re
attracted to tend to be women, men
or both, and you have the answer to
the question of whether you’re
straight, queer or bisexual.
Finally, I wish Nance all the
happiness and health in the world
with regard to his sexuality, but I
ask him with all due respect to keep
his big fat nose out of my business.
S.D. Freedman
Senior, political science
Homophobia frightening
What will it take for us as a com
munity to stand up against hatred
and bigotry? We watch as Strom
Thurmond and Sam Nunn bolster
their political fortunes by playing to
people’s fears and leading the
charge against lifting the ban on ho
mosexuals in the military. Jewels
Leahy, as an “ambassador of Jesus
Christ,” bashed gays as she “shed
light into the darkness" (Feb. 3) and
used all sorts of Bible verses to at
tempt to legitimize her bigotry. It
was interesting that she took the
first part of St. Paul’s (of whom
many consider his ’thorn’ to be his
own homosexuality) letter to the
Romans out of context. Is it surpris
ing to anyone that this atmosphere
of intolerance that is fanned by po
litical leaders and bolstered by oth
er supporters of discrimination in
the name of God contributed to the
recent attack of a student in down
town Athens? The student had a
“canyon” ripped into his jaw be
cause someone thought he “looked
like a homosexual."
’The tide of history is going
against the supporters of injustice
and oppression. Just as time proved
Strom Thurmond wrong on his
stand against basic civil rights for
African-Americans, it will again
prove him wrong in his battle
against homosexuals. It may be
more “popular* at the moment to
join the chorus of persecution, but
the inherent weakness in the argu
ment supporting discrimination will
ensure its eventual defeat.
It is truly scary that there is not
a united voice of outrage when a
hate crime occurred in downtown
Athens. It is not enough to simply
excuse yourself because you do not
feel affected. Evidently someone can
be beat up and sent to the hospital
based on what they look like. Are
you safe? If not, take a stand
against the current of intolerance
that is so evident today.
Queiry Glover
Gracfciste student, historic preserva
tion