The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current, May 26, 1997, Image 4

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Newspaper Page Text■ QUOTABLE 4 • The Red and Black • Monday, May 26,1997 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 Moderate victory in Iran may show promise for the future The election of a more moderate Iranian presi dent may be the first crack in the wall built up around Iran since 1979. Mohammed Khatami, who won a stunning vic tory on May 22 over the candidate favored by Iran’s reactionary religious establishment, will hopefully bring a broader perspective to the Iranian government. His aides describe him as a passionate reader of Western literature, philoso phy and newspapers. In addition, he has lived abroad and championed civil liberties during his campaign. A well-rounded leader is exactly what Iran needs in order to move from isolation into the much-vaunted “family of nations.” Here’s hoping Khatami’s election signals a turning away from the radical Islamic agenda that has poisoned Iran’s relations with the West for far too long. Take heart: Memorial Day classes only here temporarily Another Memorial Day has arrived and, as usu al, University students continue their toil without respite from the lash. But don’t look for the typi cal rant in this space about classes on Memorial Day. Before you brand us as traitors to the student body, listen up. We’d like to have today off as much as anyone. Heck, if there were no classes to day, we wouldn’t have had to interrupt our week end to come in and put this paper together. But instead of groaning about the present, we’re looking forward to the glorious resolution of this problem. Once the University adopts the semester system, those dastardly fiends who insist on Memorial Day classes will at last be defeated. Under the semester system, spring term will end long before Memorial Day, leaving students free, except for those who have entered the work force. So those of you with a long row to hoe at the University take heart, Memorial Day leisure time is a mere two years away, For those who will grad uate before then, remember: the only things in life you can be certain of are death and taxes. A day off is optional. Have a comment, criticism, complaint, compliment, et cetera? E-mail us directly at: Amy Frazier, Editor in Chief: edltorGrandb.com Beth MacFadyen, Managing Editor: meGrandb.com Erin McClam, News Editor: newsGrandb.com Chandler Brown, Associate News Editor: aneOrandb.com Tray Butler, Entertainment Editor: entertalnmentGrandb.com Patricia Heys, Sports Editor: sportsOrandb.com Sherry Abernathy, New Writers Editor: newwrltersGrandb.com George Whitehurst, Opinions Editor: oplnlonsGrandb.com STAFF NEWS: 543-1809 News ESNor trtn McClam Sports Editor: Patricia Heys Entertainment Editor Tray Butler Aaooclots News EdNer: Chandler Brown New Writers Editor Sherry Abernathy Chief Copy Edtter: Kimberly Ogtetree Front Page Copy Editor: Rachel Lister Inside Copy EdNoto: Benjamin Carr. Mary CHuffman Mary Sue Kopecko, Jennifer Shelley IMA Today Edtter: Susans Moreno Photography Editor: Katy Zimmerman Graphics: Greg Gatlin. Soraya Kramer Reporters: Ahby Brack, Ty Brown. Andrew DeMtlto. Shelley Hill, Andrea Jones, Corrina Stellttano. Danielle Underfarth, Kristen Wyatt •ports Writers: Jon Gallo. Cal Powell, C. Trent Rosecrans Entertainment Writers: Beth Haggerty. Josh Massey. Daniel Pulliam EdKertai Assistant: Chnatopher Sweat Opinions eipreesed m The Rad and Mach other than unsigned editorials are the opinions of the enters of signed columns and not necessanty those of The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. All rights re served Reprints by permission of the editors. ADVERTISING: 543-1791 Student Manager. Tyler Leach Advertising Assistants: Angela HoMer. Jamie West Advertising Directer. Amy Seiigman Special Prelects Coordinator: Jana Mobley Advertising Rspresentatfvee: Beth Beck worth, Ashley Collins. Patrick Ferns, Michael Johnson. Santa Law. Mark Lewis, Naomi Marcus. Florence Minis. Connie Min. Kim Nungesser. James Robinson Student Cl assets S Manager: Alice Coggin Production Manager Amy Dahlstrand Assistant Production Mew agar. Jay Tuten Production Staff: Jessie Drennon, Conan Gailaty. Lizzie McSween. Brittany Ramos PuMlohor Many Montevideo Office Manager Mary Straub Assistant OfSee Manager Sandy Castro Editorial Advteer Kathleen Fottwrth The Red and Meek is published Monday thrash Friday fall though spring quarters and each Thursday during summer quarter, with the exceptions of hotf days and exam periods, by The Red end Block Publishing Company Inc . a nonprofit campus news paper not affiliated with the University of Georgia Postal address: 123 N lacfcton St.. Athena. Qa. 30601 Fax MS-7261. Third class po*t*e paid at Athens. Ga Subscription rate: 175 per year ‘I don't feel bad about missing school. Memorial Day is a national holiday, and we have every right to celebrate it." - Laura Kurtz, a freshman from Athens, on celebrating Memorial Day. Parenthood too great a job to begin at 63 The family unit just might be the most valuable relationship we are given on earth. They are the ones largely responsible for raising us from childhood and guiding us through those troubling teen-age years. When we needed family the most, they were there. That’s why I’m confused about wanting to have a child at age 63. A few weeks ago it was an nounced the oldest known lady to give birth did so at 63. 'The lady do nated an egg that was fertilized in a laboratory dish using sperm from the 60-year-old husband, upon which the egg was transferred to her uterus. Anyone over 55 isn’t al lowed to have this process, but she lied about her age. Many are hailing this medical breakthrough since it gives women the choice to experience their youth one more time. Yet there must be others like me who view this with skepticism. In our society when you decide to bring a child into the world, most balance their interest with that of the child. On one hand, par ents partly want kids for selfish reasons. They provide adults with compassion and a sense of value and purpose. On the other hand, parents need to consider what’s best for the child. Is it wise to have a kid bur dened with likely attending his mother’s funeral before entering middle school? Is it right for the child to visit the nursing home when he wants to see mom? Who is going to drive the kid to tee-ball games? This child won’t be the only one to attend his parents funeral at such an early age, but his parents knew this was a realistic possibili ty upon conception. Most of our parents aren’t forced with such a decision. A less important issue is the fi nancial perspective. Can the child survive off the Social Security checks of his family or even pay for college? Where is the child to live once the parents are dead? Obviously, the child will be em barrassed in school when his par ents walk into the PTA meeting with a cane or in a wheelchair. Expect to be the butt of jokes when kids make fun of this child for hav ing parents who think a good time is playing bridge on Friday night. This might seem silly and superfi cial to us, but at such a young age, it doesn’t take much to scar a child. The point is this — is it fair to bring in a child placing these added burdens on their shoulder? Is it wise to have an 18-year-old who is in the prime of life and ready for an exciting future shack led with the burden of caring for his 81-year-old mom? No parent should voluntarily subject someone to these experi ences. These parents have focused on their interest as opposed to the child. Real love is putting one’s in terest about your own. These par ents have failed this requirement. This topic has little to do with abortion. I’m as staunch “pro-life” as the next Christian. The abortion debate centers on deciding at what point life begins. This topic con cerns if life should even begin. You can’t kill or decide to keep something if your not even at that point. In this particular case, the child should obviously live. Let’s just not put ourselves in another situation like this. Even at my young age — free, white and 22 — my parents are the most important people in my life. I realize they will die, and we will temporarily be separated until heaven, but it’s the values they in still in me that keep their memory alive. The same likely can’t be said of this scientifically-produced family. This child will never have the tight child-parent relationship that is intended. Look for a child-grand- parent bond to develop. While this relationship is need ed, in no way can it substitute for the discipline and sternness that evolves in the child-parent frame work. What seems right today can be second guessed tomorrow. This child enters a future foreign to any other. While we were worrying about addition and subtraction, this child will be worrying about its parents health. It’s unfair to bring a child into this world know ing the parents won’t have the op portunity to raise a child. Not only does the parent lose time spent with the child, the child loses the values and norms respon sible parents teach. - James Cook is a senior in jour nalism. His columns run on Monday. ■ LETTERS Make plans to defy bike ban I cannot believe that the University has stooped so low as to suggest that bikes be banned from Sanford Drive. Instead of looking into practical solutions, such as building a bike lane (since there seems to be plenty of money for parking decks and gi gantic athletic complexes) or putting fences along the sidewalks so pedestrians can only cross in des ignated areas, they decide to take the no-brainer, Newt Gingrich ap proach and just shut off the road without any debate on the matter. Well, bike ban or not, I will con tinue to ride down Sanford as I have for years, avoiding dangerous pedestrians whose parents never taught them how to look both ways, and perhaps arming myself with a few water balloons for any cops who dare get in my way! Krysia Haag Employee Cartographic Services U.S. guilty of own holocaust In response to Ute As beck’s May 19th column, I am a person with mixed ancestry from both Europe and America. I consider both conti nents to be the “Old World." I don’t think it is healthy for Germans to envy American patrio tism without first investigating the American holocaust. The difference between America and Germany is that here, the fascists won. For a German to "envy Americans for the ever-present pa triotism” is a wish to return to Nazi Germany. However, I believe most Germans (like Ms. Asbeck) would like to “undo” the Nazi-led holo caust. Since the lives lost cannot be replaced, most Germans have made a commitment that such a holo caust never be repeated. This strong opposition to fas cism, however, is not supported by most Americans, who either active ly or passively deny the part played by European invaders and the United States government in the holocaust on this continent. In the U.S., political prisoners are still held for their involvement with the American Indian Movement, while arms are shipped to oppressive leaders in South and Central America for the purpose of fighting other indigenous peoples. In this country, Indian names and icons are in widespread use as team mascots. While most Germans would probably find football team names like the Belsen Jews, the Rostock Rabbis and the Stuttgart Gypsies to be quite offensive, many Americans proudly flaunt their racist icons. The Germans, not the Americans, should be considered true humanist patriots. The Amencan holocaust began immediately after the European in vasion of North, South and Central America. It has resulted in bloody conflict, starvation, slavery and dis ease that has decimated every na tive population and in many cases, obliterated entire nations. The U.S. Census Bureau esti mated in 1894 that the U.S. had waged “more than 40” wars against native people. Furthermore, the genocide was not just state-spon sored. Numerous citizens played an active role. The Census Bureau re port called the death toll as a result of such actions “quite substantial.” My parents were both bom dur ing World War II. My mother’s old er brother even fought in the war. However, even years after the war, my mother was not allowed to at tend public school in this country, just as her older brothers and sis ters had been denied an education before her. They were denied an ed ucation because they were Houma. Perhaps since Americans are so busy reminding the Germans about their Holocaust (by building a Holocaust Museum), they have for gotten their own. I propose the Germans help the Americans re member their holocaust by building an American Holocaust Museum in Germany. Focusing international attention on the American holocaust will also help the Germans make good on their commitment to never let these sort of atrocities happen again. Thomas Hearty Graduate Student Astronomy ■ HOW TO REACH US ■ The Red and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them in the Letters column as space permits. All letters are subject to editing for length, style and libelous material. Letters should be typed and double spaced, and they must include the name, address and daytime telephone number of the writer. Please also Include student classification, major and other appropriate identification. Names may be omitted with a valid reason upon request. Send letters by U.S. mail or bring them in person to The Red and Black s offices at 123 North Jackson Street. Athens. Georgia 30601. ■ E-MAIL ADDRESS: Comments, letters to the editor and columns for consider ation may also be addressed to The Red and Black via e-mail or the internet at FORUMORANDB.COM The Red and Black is pleased to offer this service and hopes it will encourage a greater degree of communication between this news paper and its readers. Don’t leave courtesy at concert gate The weather is getting warmer, the birds are singing, children frolic gaily in the greenery and shirtless punks with long blonde hair whip out their instruments and go to work in front of large crowds. The advent of summer means many things, not the least of which is monster music concerts galore. June is a chance for the good, the bad and the country of the music in dustry to tour the land and give Kurt Loder something to talk about on MTVnews in the absence of a Marilyn Manson/Congress duel, scandalous nude Spice Girl photos or TLC setting something on fire. These shows can be fun for kids of all ages, but they rarely are. If the band doesn’t disappoint, the crowd will. Since bands will be bands, it’s useless to chastise the performers. The audience, on the other hand, deserves reprimand. Anyone who has been to a semi-large concert will testify to the fact that most concert- goers are either rude or really, real ly stupid. Since many music fans still appreciate a good concert, I feel a glimmer of hope for summertime. Simply remember that common courtesy is not to be left at the gate with your ticket stub. For the sake of common decency, never violently throw yourself into someone who seems content to be standing erect. You’re at a concert, not the roller derby. Whoever in vented moshing had a serious ax to grind. It’s great fun for the interest ed parties, but if someone is intent on grooving in solitude, let the man be. There is nothing more frustrat ing than trying to bust out fresh dance grooves when Joe Huge comes barreling into you. Why do you never see a mass outbreak of anything worthwhile, like the lam bada? The horrible mosh, however, reigns supreme, seizing more un willing participants than syphilis. It’s a terrible epidemic and should be quarantined. Along similar lines, if you are big and sweaty — please, in the name of all that is holy, keep your shirt on! It’s gross enough to leave a show doused in your own stank. No one wants to be wet from someone else’s exertion. That’s just plain nasty. For fashion’s sake, never wear the T-shirt of the band you are go ing to see, ESPECIALLY the tour T-shirts that are on sale at the time. There never fails to be a batch of Joeys wearing the still creased T- shirt they bought only minutes ago. This doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s fun, of course, but neither did the kid in elementary school who wore ZIPS way after they went out of style. You had no problem mak ing fun of him, did you? If you don’t have anything intel ligent to shout, don’t shout anything at all. If the majority of your mid show dialogue consists of “(Name of band), (Expletive) Yeah!,” then you should probably just sit quietly and listen to the music. No one wants to hear the stagnant chants of “Metallica rules!," even though Metallica does rule. Similarly, it’s OK to yell out a song request. If you don’t know the name of the song, however, don’t bother. For example, never say, “Play number 7!!!” If the band has more than one CD, no one will know what the hell you’re talking about, and you will look like a moron. It sounds crazy to think that someone could be so clueless, but it happens. If you want to crowd surf, be pre pared to accept the consequences. I once heard a surfer cry, “Everyone kept grabbing my crotch!" If you’re going to subject yourself to hun dreds of feely fingers, you must be aware that certain anatomical ar eas that were not designated as handles or supports may be so used. Finally, always take your neigh bor with a grain of salt. If he pours his beer on you, just smile and go “Whooo!" in your best Ric Flair voice If he’s wearing a tour T-shirt, just snicker quietly at him and point him out to others so that they can laugh quietly at him as well. And if you’re next to a big pasty wet guy, politely run away as fast as you can. If you want to go the ex tra mile, shout something about a doctor’s appointment as you sprint off. If someone happens to yell something stupid, simply grin at them and say, “I heard that!" And if someone insists on bump ing up against you, just pretend like you like it a lot. They’ll leave you alone. Rock on. - Blake McCormick is a sophomore in pre-journalism.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current, May 26, 1997, Image 4