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4 • The Red and Black • Wednesday, April 23, 1997
OPINIONS
The Red & Black
Established in 1893 - Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Amy Frazier/Editor in Chief
Beth MacFadyen/Managing Editor
George Whitehurst/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Legal Affairs too busy to
worry about right of access
Once again, public access to University records
is up for debate, and those entrusted with protect
ing people’s rights are AWOL.
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation held
a workshop Tuesday to discuss public access to
University meetings and records. Among the par
ticipants were state Attorney General Mike
Bowers; Peter Canfield, an attorney for The
Atlanta Journal and Constitution; Tom Jackson,
public information director for the University; Les
Simpson, managing editor of The Athens Daily
News/Banner-Herald and George Whitehurst,
opinions editor for The Red and Black.
However, Vice President for Legal Affairs
Bryndis Roberts, who deals daily with these is
sues, didn’t bother to attend. Nor did she send any
representatives from her office to discuss freedom
of information at the University. Typical.
Professor Kent Middleton, moderator of the
event, said those planning the event offered to
hold the forum any day on which she could attend.
Roberts told them no day would be suitable.
Of course, almost we expect no less. After all,
she routinely takes the entire three days allowed
by Georgia law to respond to information re
quests. Legal Affairs always charges the maxi
mum allowed for copies of records. And, presum
ably on her orders, the office charges for editing
records of public hearings.
Instead of showing up and defending her ac
tions, Roberts ducked the issue. Meanwhile,
Bowers, her former boss, was defending the peo
ple’s right to find out what the University is up to.
Surely someone from Legal Affairs could have
spared time to discuss the area over which they
have jurisdiction. After all, Attorney General
Bowers drove all the way from Atlanta for this
event. We appreciate his participation and salute
his commitment to ensuring open access for the
public to the University’s business.
Too bad Vice President Roberts and her staffers
apparently don’t have the same commitment.
University Union provides
quality events for community
It’s amazing how many big celebrities have
traveled to Athens recently. In the last three
months, Conan O’Brien sidekick Andy Richter,
technology guru James Burke and Ireland’s musi
cal ambassadors, the Chieftains, have all stopped
in the Classic City to inform and entertain.
None of these events would have been possible
without the hard work and dedication of members
of University Union. Their efforts haven’t gone
unnoticed. For the third year in a row, the Union
has been voted “Best in the Nation” by the
National Association for Campus Activities.
Through their commitment to drawing in such
talented speakers and entertainers, University
Union has enriched the experiences of everyone
on campus and in the community. After all, educa
tion is about far more than merely sitting in a
classroom all day.
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■ QUOTABLE
'I don't see why we can't have birds or hamsters and stuff. They
can't get loose in your room."
Laurie Smith, a freshman from Roswell, on University Housing's
pet policy, which allows only fish in residence halls.
Indian culture sacrificed for research
I wonder how many of you are
aware that our anthropology de
partment stores the remains of
thousands of human beings. This
is their “collection” of American
Indians.
This is genocide. Tuesday,
there was an Earthfest gathering
at the Tate Student Center.
Several people may have spoke to
you concerning many important
environmental issues, and I hope
you decided to listen. One of the
issues discussed was the desecra
tion of American Indian sacred
burial grounds and how American
Indians feel about the remains of
their relatives being stored in
small boxes in our anthropology
department’s basement or shipped
between universities on loan.
You may have learned that
“genocide” is not an abstract con
cept in the world of history some
where, but right here. You may
have learned that genocide is per
sonal. Ask yourself, “What other
people in this country have to ask,
plead demand for others to return
the bodies of their dead?”
This is the height of cultural
genocide. The property of these
people is confiscated when they
are dug up and put on display or
lucratively sold to the highest bid
der (for which there is a large
market at home and abroad).
The American Indian has en
dured every negative onslaught
of this advancing civilization, and
now they are simple regarded as a
“commodity.” In many traditional
spiritual belief systems, these an
cestors still stand in the circle
with their living relatives. They
must be allowed to return to the
land in order to become fully part
of this circle. It is only for the
American Indian to decide. The
anthropology department, with all
cultural disrespect, is holding
these ancestors as prisoners of
war from the land and their peo
ple.
These people are not “relics” or
“artifacts.” They are people, just
like us, and for some of us, they
are relatives. I cannot conceive of
personally digging up the rela
tives of any people for any reason.
The anthropologists tell us that it
is for the good of “history.” I can
not think how storing the remains
of these people or unearthing
them from their graves has made
our society better. Science should
be about making us a better peo
ple.
Some decisions we have to
make are difficult. This one seems
easy to me. Bottom line — it is
morally indefensible for any group
of people to withhold the deceased
ancestors of another group of peo
ple. This is racism. The American
Indians are portrayed as “things”
of the “past,” and therefore their
properties are the spoils of war. I
hope you came to Earthfest and
listened to the perspectives of
some very much alive American
Indians. Stand with them in their
struggle to retrieve their ances
tors’ remains and all of their prop
erty. Some people have expressed
“white guilt” or a feeling of help
lessness regarding this situation.
I always tell the truth. Though
they cannot undo the deeds of yes
terday, they can take the right ac
tion now.
What matters are the decisions
each of make today and every day
of our lives. If you have occasion
to walk past Baldwin Hall, ask
yourself if it is a place of study,
with true teachers, or a morgue
with undertakers. Ask yourself if
if this is how you wish your col
lege tuition money to be spent —
financing grave-diggers. Some of
these anthropologists told me they
offered the remains back to a few
of the tribes and that the tribes
did not respond. I told them the
tribes did not dig these people up,
and therefore shouldn’t have to
incur the expense for an immoral
act they didn’t commit.
I think the University is oblig
ated to pay to undo damage they
inflicted on these people and their
descendants. If the University can
afford to build an Animal Health
Research Center, which will con
tain biosafety level three diseases,
they can finance proper ceremoni
al reburials of these people.
These people once walked the
very lands we now walk, and
many of their descendants walk
among us today. It’s time we
demonstrated the proper respect
for all they have endured and for
all they are today. It’s time we lis
tened to their heightened aware
ness on Southeastern and global
environmental issues. The sur
vival of these people is very much
connected to who we all are today.
- Pam Miller is pursuing a sec
ond degree in Special Education.
■ LETTERS
Police grants
not good news
This is in response to your edito
rial on April 21 titled “Federal block
grants for ACC police good news”.
The last thing this town needs is
increased police activity, or more
money for the police. Athens al
ready has a police force that most
military dictators would envy, and
around 270 community watch
groups. I think we should stop and
ask ourselves do we really want a
policeman, or a police informant on
every comer; or even roving bands
of gung-ho “citizen police.”
From my work with the Legal
Aid Clinic, I see that many, if not
most people, who are arrested here
are arrested for some kind of vic
timless substance use or possession.
The rest are arrested for shoplift
ing, traffic offenses or domestic dis
putes. Our clients make up the
vast majority of defendants in this
county’s criminal system, and they
are uniformly poor, and mostly
black. They are arrested in their
own neighborhoods, where most po
lice activity is concentrated, and
they pose no threat to the middle-
class college community at all. The
police pull their guns and use force
on these poor, uneducated people
routinely and unnecessarily, and
they hardly ever read them their
rights before questioning. I could
go on.
This sort of fawning over the po
lice, as you did in your editorial,
never ceases to nauseate me.
Professor Eugene Wilkes at the
Law School coined the term “Cop-
suckery" to describe this kind of ex
treme deference toward the police.
And, of course, the adherents to
this way of thinking would be “cop-
suckers.* But it is a seriously
flawed world view, and it is playing
a part in the rapid erosion of our
civil liberties. A right taken away
from a passenger in the car of a sus
pected criminal, is a right taken
away from every passenger, in
every car, forevermore. The more
power, money and expensive toys
we give to the police, the more they
will use them against their own
people. That’s their job, and they
do it all too well here in Clarke
County.
Tommy Smith
Third-year Law student
Kitchel column
way off target
The Red and Black opinions
page on April 18 provided a perfect
example of just how unique a coun
try America is. Only in America
could a completely brilliant article
be placed side-by-side with a col
umn that borders on sheer idiocy.
First, I would like to thank
David Francis for writing the best
column that I have seen in The Red
and Black in a long time. I, too,
have learned a great deal from
Looney Tunes. Wile E. Coyote has
helped give me a never say die atti
tude, while Droopy has taught me
not to let my emotions get the better
of me.
However, all the enjoyment I got
from the Looney Tunes column was
completely sucked out of me when I
read Rob Kitchel’s whine-filled com
plaint about Atlanta sports fans.
True, Turner Field has not been
sold out, but that doesn’t mean no
one is supporting the Braves.
People do have responsibilities in
this world, so a trip to the stadium
may not be plausible. Besides, I am
more than content to watch a game
on TBS in the comfort of my living
room. As for fair weather fans, I am
a New York Jets fan How many
people will freely admit that? But
enough about me.
Rob seems to feel that the
Northern sports fans are much bet
ter than the fans down here. Well,
let’s consider post-championship cel
ebrations. Sure, when the Braves
won the Series things got a little
crazy down here, but apparently in
the Northern part of this country’ a
championship is an open invitation
to loot and pillage.
In conclusion, Rob, if you like the
North so much better, I will leave
you with the words of one of the
greatest Americans to ever live,
Lewis Grizzard, “Delta is ready
when you are ”
Donnie Holliday
Sophomore
Math Education
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paper and its readers.
irflgra from London
Guinness is
more than
ust a drink
Common travellers’ wisdom says
that if you ever go to Dublin, there’s
one thing you must do: visit the
Guinness Brewery. Most people I
know are split over Guinness. Some
think it is the most nasty and bitter
drink you can get, and there are
others who just love it.
Me? I’m in the middle. While I
like its flavor, it is really thick and
filling. I refer to it as “A meal in a
glass.” If I have more than one, I’m
ready to go to sleep, but that didn’t
stop me from seeing its home. So
my two friends, Una and Troy, and
I scurry up to the ticket counter,
pay our two pounds (and get our
coupon for a free pint after the tour)
and let the adventure begin.
Like most tourist traps, the
brewery offered little more than
good PR. There was a brewery ail
right, but we didn’t actually get to
go in. Rather we had to guide our
selves through a museum of sorts
that explained the history and the
process of making Guinness. The
making process section of the muse
um was indicated by a life-sized
wood cut-out of Arthur Guinness
(I’m guessing) who has the words
“Now let us make a pint of
Guinness” written behind him.
Now I’m not much into brewing
beer, I’m more into the consuming
end of the business. So, I didn’t find
all that science stuff very interest
ing. And it’s not like Guinness is go
ing to reveal its exact recipe. On one
of the informative signs, I learned
that the stout of all stouts is made
with barley, water, hops and yeast.
Yeah, so is Old Milwaukee. That
didn’t tell me too much. But if I had
a drink like Guinness I wouldn’t be
telling everyone how to make it
themselves either.
But the highlight came shortly
after we had been wandering
around, for there was an education
al 15-minute movie, titled
“Reflections on Guinness.” Like I
could pass that up.
So we take a seat in the small
showing room and eagerly await to
learn exactly how one reflects on a
drink.
In no time, the lights dimmed
and a big pint of Guinness appeared
on screen. This pint of the seeming
ly cool and refreshing drink kept
showing up periodically during the
film. And it always looked hazy as it
faded in and out. Una said that had
to be Guinness vision. Whatever it
was, it sure made me thirsty (its in
tention, I’m guessing).
Anyway, this film strip informed
me that by visiting the brewery and
having a complimentary pint at the
end we’d become “honorary
Dubliners.” It was such a relief to
know that magical pint would make
me a part of Dublin, rather than
just being a tourist.
Well, the strip was full of such
thought-provoking wisdom such as
“Guinness is as reflection of Dublin
herself.” Hmmm. Deep.
Well, I did learn some things,
though. I learned that Arthur
Guinness founded the brewery in
1759. And I learned how the
Guinness family through the gener
ations has done a number of philan
thropic works, and all other sort of
cheerful things
Oddly enough though, the film’s
narrator had a British accent.
There was no Irish brogue in his
voice. I felt like I was getting
ripped-off I mean, according to the
strip, Guinness and Dublin go
hand-in-hand, yet it’s some guy that
sounds like a Brit who’s telling me
this?! Geez.
Anyway, some more praise was
lavished on the product. This time
there was an excerpt of an old letter
from a soldier in the Napoleonic
Wars who thought he healed better
because of Guinness. At this point
the film cut to a wax figure of a sol
dier. The figure didn’t move — the
narration was read while we looked
at the figure. This was done
throughout the presentation, and it
added an extra pinch of campiness
to an already campy affair
After the strip we took off for the
pub to get our free pint. The consen
sus was that this was the best pint
ever. It had much more flavor and
bite than the stuff you get on tap in
the states (or even in London for
that matter). And our last stop? The
gift shop, of course. I didn’t know
you could put the Guinness label on
so many un-drinking related items,
such as ties and socks. I got some
postcards.
All in all, it was a tourist trap.
But for two pounds I got the best
pint of Guinness in the world.
- Carrie Gibson is a junior
studying abroad this quarter.