Newspaper Page Text
I
4 * The Red and Black » Thursday. June 23. 1994
OPINIONS
QUOTABLE
'Things are still very confusing, but confusion and uncertain
ty are yet better than war.'
- Han S. Park, University professor of political science, on ten
sions between North Korea and the West.
The Red & Black
Established in 1893 - Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Russ Bynum/Editor-in-Chief
Travis Rice/Managing Editor
EDITORIALS
GA license law needs
a speedy overhaul
Bad wording makes for bad law, as state legisla
tors are learning after catching earfuls of bile and
venom from every Georgia university that hosts
foreign students.
That’s because the General Assembly passed an
amendment that has prohibited foreign students
and researchers from obtaining Georgia driver’s li
censes during their stay here.
Legislators say the law, which requires foreign
ers to have U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service employment authorization to obtain a driv
er’s license, was intended to prevent illegal aliens
from getting Georgia licenses.
The lawmakers apparently didn’t know that the
bulk of foreign students and researchers who at
tend American universities often don’t receive
these authorization papers, leaving many students
from abroad in a bind.
State officials say they hope to amend the
amendment soon so that these students can begin
applying for their licenses by July.
Until then, the University and the Board of
Regents must continue to push the legislature to
fix this mistake as soon as possible.
As for the rest of us, surely we can put common
courtesy to work where the legislature’s fore
thought and brain power failed.
If you see visiting classmates or neighbors who
have to wait on the bus to pick up groceries or who
have to take a long walk home late at night be
cause they can’t get a driver’s license, offer them a
ride.
It’s just one way of showing our foreign students
that their hosts at the University aren’t as apa
thetic to their problems as our legislators can be.
University students
shouldn’t give up HOPE
According to University administrators, about 60
percent of the students who received a HOPE
scholarship to pay for their freshman year here
didn’t make the grade to keep it for a second year.
The failure of these students to maintain a 3.0
GPA and remain eligible to keep their scholarship
to the University is a tragedy.
But is it so tragic that the minimum GPA re
quirement should be lowered to keep fewer stu
dents from losing HOPE?
That’s the dilemma the state now has to deal
with now that HOPE recipients have found that
keeping a “B” average is far more difficult in col
lege than it is in high school. And the word “aver
age” seems to be at the crux of the matter.
Is the HOPE scholarship program meant to en
sure that all average students in the state can pay
for a college education? If so, then the state must
realize that the average GPA lies more in the “C”
range than the “B” range.
Or is HOPE a program that serves as an incen
tive for students to strive for higher academic
achievement? If this is the case, the 3.0 GPA re
quirement should stand, letting student recipients
know that they are receiving the scholarship in re
turn for above average performance.
Either way, both students and educators are
learning from the HOPE dilemma that using finan
cial incentives to get students from high school
into college isn’t enough.
Retaining those students once they’ve entered
college is equally important, and equally difficult.
STAFF
NEWS: 543 1809
Sports Editors: Josh Kendall
Entertainment Editor: Scott Tobias
Copy Editors: Stephen Hall, Barbara
Wieland
UGA Today/Wire Editor: Chris Sweat
Editorial Assistant: Hilary Higginbotham
Graphics Editor: Rob Shapard
Photography Editor: Mary Sams
Chief Photographer: Mandi Wright
Reporters. Leah Ball, Michael Cass,
Stacee Daniel. Keith Demko, Kristin
Hubert, Kathy Ragan
Sports Writer: C.J. Johnson
Entertainment Writers: Jennifer
DePrima, Jonathan Edwards
Opinions expressed in The Red and
Black other than unsigned editorials are
the opinions of the writers of signed
columns and not necessarily those of
The Red and Black Publishing Company
Inc. All rights reserved Reprints by per
mission of the editors.
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The Red and Black is published Monday
through Friday fall though spring quarters
and each Thursday dunng summer quar
ter, with the exceptions of holidays and
exam periods, by The Red and Black
Publishing Company Inc. a non-profit
campus newspaper not affiliated with the
University of Georgia, 123 N. Jackson
St., Athens, Ga. 30601. Third class
postage paid at Athens. Ga. Subscription
rate: S3<J per year.
O.J. overkill and a nightmare in Buckhead
It’s a precarious and frustrating situation for
a journalist to find himself learning of the break
ing news event of the year from a legion of drunk
en yuppies in Buckhead.
But that’s precisely the kind of nightmare sev
eral Red & Black staffers and I faced on Friday
as we tried our damnedest to celebrate the 21st
birthday of one of our own amidst the confusion
and clamor that reigned in the hours before 0 J.
Simpson’s arrest in Los Angeles.
TTie first news of the “chase” hit a former R&B
editor and myself over her car radio speaker as
a disc jockey, his happy-talk voice riding the beat
of hip hop drums in the background, announced
that the football star was fleeing police on the in
terstate while holding a gun to his own head.
It sounded like a joke.
But when we arrived to join the swirling
masses of Buckhead’s weekend warriors, it was
obvious that O J. was in deep stuff.
Outside the clubs, bouncers and valets con
stantly sprinted across the street to the nearest
club that had a television, then raced back to tell
bartenders and doormen the latest on Simpson’s
situation.
And here we were: a group of newshounds try
ing to throw down and party while the year’s big
story buzzed all around us on the lips of the up
wardly mobile and inebriated, as well as on the
television screens whose sound was muted by the
blaring ostinato of disco drums and bass.
Finally we found a TV set with close-cap
tioned text scrolling across the bottom, telling us
Russ
Bynum
that Juice had surrendered before he could harm
himself - and luckily before we heard the news
from the beer-baited vocal chords of the local rev
elers.
We kept watching the silent set over beer and
nachos, commenting on the strange sequence of
events and our frustration at being relegated to
the sidelines.
But, with some reflection, it’s obvious that the
sidelines were exactly where we needed to be.
Not because we’re neophyte college journalists,
but because there was nothing we - or most of
the out-of-town reporters who descended upon
L.A. like a pack of carrion-crazed predators -
could have added to the story.
The only news media to break any real devel
opments in the O J. story were the local newspa
pers and television stations.
The Los Angeles Times, quoting unidentified
police sources, first told us that Simpson was the
target of the murder investigation and would
likely be arrested within days after the slaying.
Such tips were nothing less than the result of
long-term relationships between the Times’ re
porters and L.A. police officers who knew they
could anonymously leak information to the paper
without risk of being revealed.
The Times’ reporters and editors, on the oth
er hand, knew their police sources well enough to
be certain they could be trusted and the infor
mation would be accurate.
Against this kind of home turf advantage, the
other journalists who flocked to town just to get
a piece of the O.J. action didn’t stand a chance of
contributing to the coverage.
Regardless, they chased their egos to
California, not to serve the readers and viewers
back home, but just to say they were there and
stamp their bylines on the only story in America
that mattered at the time.
The end result was a traffic jam of mass me
dia overkill that only damaged the credibility of
the few pros capable of doing the job right.
We at The Red & Black, however, had no
means of giving in to temptation and rushing to
join the West Coast feeding frenzy. Instead we
rode out the party, packed ourselves into a sin
gle car and left Buckhead for home - which
worked out for the best.
After all, does the world really need another
version of the O.J. Simpson story?
Russ Bynum is editor-in-chief
of The Red & Black
Short takes on life for a long, hot summer
In honor of summer being a shorter session,
this column is a series of shorter than usual ob
servations. During the “regular season” (a term
our editor has coined for the three other quar
ters of the year), each of these ideas might have
developed into a full column. But in the mean
time here are some short takes on life:
•Having never before attended the
University during summer quarter, I was
slightly apprehensive that it “just wouldn’t
seem the same” on campus as it does during a
“normal” quarter. However, these fears were
quickly put to rest when I stepped into the Tate
plaza on Monday and was accosted by those
guys pushing the Atlanta Joumal/Constitution
“Have you signed up for the paper yet?
Would you like a free paper? Have you signed
up for the paper yet?”
Yep, I thought, just like normal.
•The Today Show, which broadcasts live
from New York City, just this week moved to a
new street-level studio that has glass walls on
the sides adjacent to the street and sidewalk.
NBC is promoting it as a “window on the world”
and is hoping viewers will be more likely to
watch the morning show because cars and peo
ple will be going by in the background. I think
the network has made a terrible misjudgment
of modern American society and will soon have
to put the show on a tape delay. While the NBC
executives are counting on passers-by to wave
in the window to add to the atmosphere, they
will be surprised at how much their gimmick
will be misused. The problem will not be with
flashers and goofy college kids, but rather with
the political nutcases of the world. Watch for
abortion protesters, religious zealots, left-wing
conspiracy theorists and fringe political parties
to try and use the instant access to live nation
al television as an easy way to stage political
protest in front of the eyes of the nation.
•While I still support his general policy di
rection, I find that less and less these days do I
like Bill Clinton. My growing distaste for him as
a man and politician stems not from anything
he has been accused of, but from how he has re
acted. Grow a backbone, Bill.
•I really like those Warner Brothers after
noon cartoons: Tiny Toons and Animaniacs.
'Though I don’t get to see them often, when I do,
I laugh like crazy. However, I can’t stand the
commercials they run with them. Fox 36 runs
the same stupid toy commercials over and over.
It also runs the same promos for other cartoons
over and over and over again. Despite the huge
teenage and college audience these cartoons
draw, all the commercials are insipid, overly-
loud kiddie commercials. It’s almost enough to
make you permanently change channels.
Travis Rice is managing editor
of The Red & Black.
For more cheese in your summer, try 0’Bar
Athens in the fabulous summertime. For the
lucky few of you who’ve decided to stick around
(literally, with the humidity) for the first time,
you’ve probably discovered that this is the best
season for partaking in some of the Classic City’s
more unique rituals, such as finding a legal park
ing space, choking on kamikaze gnats and catch
ing a toxic buzz from the stagnate Lake Herrick
stench.
Despite the rush of excitement that the afore
mentioned events have provided, I still felt like an
ominous void in my Clarke existence needed to be
filled. Therefore, with the exodus of the masses, I
thought it would now be safe to embark for a lo
cal establishment, which some folks might swear
was created before the arch. In order to protect
the innocent (and myself from silly libel), I'll re
fer to this infamous place as “0’Bar.”
Let the truth be known beforehand, 0’Bar has
developed a reputation for being cheesier than
Wisconsin. However, unlike good ol’ cheddar, it
unfortunately has not been pasteurized to protect
against various infectious diseases. Nonetheless,
I wanted to see the show, whether fact or only fic
tion, for myself.
In all fairness to O’Bar, I believe my visit oc
curred on “East Tattnall County Night,” which I
determined from the distant glow of neon
Camaroe in the parking lot. As a wise friend of
mine once concluded back in *90, “Old Camaroe
never die, they just get uglier.” Of course, some
one else also said to never judge a book by its cov
er (or a bar by its Camaroe), so John, my brave
companion, and I journeyed inside.
Located literally on top of the Oconee River,
Dave
Henson
O’Bar is truly a beautiful facility which rivals
some of Buckhead’s best. But don’t let the placid
scenery fool you for a minute, because, as I had
predicted, the clientele I encountered would make
nature-boy Mark Trail swallow his compass.
To say that Mary Kay must be a worshiped
goddess at O’Bar would be an understatement.
Most of the patron 8 I
came across obviously
purchase their heavy-
duty hair spray by the
truckload out at Sam’s
Gub. Being an environ
mentalist, I soon became
concerned that a gaping
hole might be forming in
the ozone layer directly
above the building, so we
decided to take advan
tage of the cheap drink
specials to help ease my
fear of imminent death.
After polishing off a
few bottled Buds, John and I chose to humor our
selves by deciphering some of (YBar’s fasci
nating rhetoric. While most of the neighboring
conversations were actually civilized, and there
fore boring, one suave winner at the bar made our
odyssey worthwhile. This dolt, whom we affec
tionately named “Teeth,” had more pick-up lines
than a Mack Truck assembly plant. Yet, in a
rather sad statement about modern society,
Teeth later hooked up with “Dumpy Butt," and
they scurried away in a whirlwind of passion.
In retrospect, I kinda enjoyed my experience
as an observant spectator at O’Bar, due ip part to
the choice drink offers, which are certainly not
native to Buckhead. However, before hailing a
trusty Your Cab to check it out this summer, be
ready to accept the bizarre surroundings with a
grain, or perhaps a bucket, of salt.
Dave Henson is a junior in journalism
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