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4 I ThUMDAY. SEPTEMBER 24. lqfrg | THE RlP » BLACK
Chandler Brown | Editor in Chief
— criitor(a murib.com
Erin McClam i Managing Editor
— me(a rantib.com
Kristen Wyatt | Opinions Editor
opinUmxUi ranrib.com
Our Take
Majority opinion* of The Uni & Black's editorial board
Police, but no force
University police should treat us
right — not stop enforcing the law
Been arrested by a University police officer this
semester? Probably not. Arrests by University
police have plummeted from 60 in September last
year to one so far this month. And that arrest was
a visitor taken in for driving on an expired license.
Sounds great. Apparently nobody on campus is
driving drunk anymore. Maybe car break-ins and
bookbag thefts are a thing of the past. Or are the
officers simply too scared to arrest
anyone?
In August, a top
15 ^ University adminis-
\ ~ ^ trator reprimanded
the police for deal
ing with students
too harshly. Allan
Barber, senior vice presi
dent for finance and administration, said the
department needs to change its “working attitude
and philosophy."
We agreed with Barber’s points. One University
officer resigned last year after concerns he got in a
fight with two men at a Kappa Sigma party. And
last June, a University parent accused the police of
harassing his son and filing a “less than factual”
police report about his arrest.
That kind of behavior was unacceptable to the
administration, and it should have been. We must
demand that the police treat students, who have
never been away from home before, with respect
and understanding.
But now that the department has been censured
and arrests have all but stopped cold, what’s the
role of our University police?
University President Michael Adams responded
to the drop in arrests Wednesday, saying his mes
sage “has taken hold" with police to act more cus
tomer-friendly.
Was the censure a success? The real question
here is the role of a campus police force. If it’s not
supposed arrest students, what’s the point of hav
ing it at all? Why does Adams consider the drop in
arrests a move to a customer-friendly school?
What we need is a University police force that
enforces the law with compassion but still enforces
the law.
We’re complaining about the way police officers
treat us, not the fact that they arrest students
when they break the law. Encouraging the
University police not to arrest students only passes
the job to Athens-Clarke police.
If we don’t want officers arresting students,
there’s no need for them to be anything other than
a security force.
We hope the administration and police will work
together with the goal of protecting student safety
and respecting student offenders at the same time.
Right now, we’re not sure what the University
police are supposed to do. We bet they’re wonder
ing, too.
Our Staff
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Nathan SoBieim
Editorial Assistant: Shane Galantine
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Correction
Because of an editing error, an article in Wednesday’s edition of
The Red A Black incorrectly characterized astronomy professor
Jean-Pierre Caillautt as believing in “UFOs and alien abductions."
Caillault presented a lecture Tuesday night titled "Extraterrestrial
Life: Are we Alone?" Its goal teas lo give "convincing arguments
JOr both sides, and let the listener decide," Caillault said. The lec
ture didn't discuss UFOs or abductions. Also, a belief about evolu
tion in the story was misattributed. It should have been credited to
scientist Michael Behe.
Opinions
Red&Blank
Aa utefteadiW weSrei n•paprr tmmgter i enetwh elim*pa nasmr.
Forget Marietta — stay country
I broke down and did it. I
bought the Dixie Chicks’ CD
over the weekend, confirming
what most of my colleagues have
suspected all along: I’m country.
It hasn't been a big secret
around the office. As the lone
South Georgia representative on
staff here, I’m the authority on all
things south of Fulton County, as
Turner Field is as far south as
most of my co-workers have ven
tured.
I review all the country CDs.
But before I get too deep into
this, let me explain something.
I’ve dabbled in a few activities
normally reserved for country
folk, but to say I’m country, well,
that’s fibbing a bit.
True, I once participated in a
rat-killing at my uncle's hog farm
— I've even seen a rat so big, it
took a shotgun blast to the head
and kept running — and I’ve been
in the chicken house early a few
mornings collecting eggs.
I do enjoy eating good grits in
the morning. And I can’t help it if
I prefer Jerry Clower (God rest
his soul) to Jerry Seinfeld. I guess
it’s in the upbringing.
But a true country boy would
be seriously offended to hear me
cast myself in that same lot. For
example, I drive a Toyota (not a
John Deere, as some of my col
leagues would charge). And I do
own a couple of Prince and Rod
Stewart CDs, something certain
to raise a few eyebrows back
home.
Surrounded by so many city
folk, however, I do stand out. It
all came to a head when the
aforementioned Dixie Chicks
CAL POWELL
A
came to town a few months back
to open for Suzy Bogguss at
Legion Field.
At the time, I didn't know
what a Dixie Chick was. I’ve seen
plenty of Marietta Chicks on
campus. Thousands, in fact — as
any student here knows, you
can’t throw a rock on campus
without hitting a Marietta native
in the back of the head.
Marietta Chicks are every
where — there’s probably one sit
ting next to you as you're reading
this — but a Dixie Chick, I was
curious about.
Really, though, the main rea
son I went to the concert was to
hear my girl Suzy sing ’’Someday
Soon.”
Anyway, the three-girl group
put on a good, though somewhat
loud, show, as did Mrs. Bogguss.
And the music kind of took me
back to my roots, I guess
Pretty soon thereafter, I went
back to listening to the old coun
try music (most of the new stuff
coming out today is drivel that I
wouldn't be caught dead listen
ing to). Bought another Merle
Haggard CD. then a John Denver
one so I could hear him sing
“Country Roads” and my favorite,
“Back Home Again.”
I guess I also slowly drifted
back to my country way of talk
ing. using some of the phrases I
picked up as a young lad from my
raised-on-a-tobacco-farm kinfolk
in Thomas County — because it
didn’t take long before I started
hearing it from my co-workers:
“Why’s your hair wet, Cal? You go
swimming with Jethro in the
cement pond?” Or, “Cal, we
would invite you to go out to eat
with us, but the restaurant
requires you to wear shoes.”
(One note on the barefoot
thing: I saw a guy walking around
barefoot one time downtown,
and he stepped in the exact spot
where some guy had vomited the
night before. I could tell by look
ing at him that he wasn’t raised
anywhere near a town not within
30 miles of the Gap, so I asked
him where he was from just to
prove a point to my friends. His
answer? Marietta.)
But I digress.
Getting back to the subject
matter, the good-natured ribbing
I receive from my colleagues
doesn’t bother me. When you're
from South Georgia in a land of
suburbanites, it just goes with
the territory for most of us.
I enjoy being in the minority.
But I just noticed that I began
this column writing about the
Dixie Chicks and got all the way
around to a tidbit about a bare
foot Marietta man.
Oh, well. You know how we
country folk can ramble on.
— Cal Powell covers football
for The Red A Black.
Mailbox
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Not all Southerners conservative
Well, Hunter Towns did get
one thing right (The Red St
Black, Wednesday). As someone
bom and raised in a quintessen-
ttally Southern town (not, might I
add, the "metropolitan trash" city
listed below), I do resent anyone
telling me how to live.
As long as the people defining
my birthright as a native
Georgian are "conservative
Southerners” bent on maintain
ing the traditions of a region his
torically known for high teen
pregnancy and AIDS rates, back
ward racial values, extreme
poverty, illiteracy and govern
mental standards that are, in
practice, the closest thing to a
theocracy in this nation, I will
continue to resent it.
If rejecting the stranglehold of
the Christian Coalition. GOP and
NRA and disdaining the tradi
tional "conservative values" of
the Old South makes me a “liber
al and a freak,” count me uncate-
gorically proud to wear that label.
VICTORIA RUBIN
Sophomore, Marietta
Comparative literature and
linguistics
Wallace no hero to
blacks in Alabama
Reading the column by Hunter
Towns (The Red & Black.
Wednesday) left me disturbed
but not surprised.
I find it odd that an individual
would chose a hero in Mr.
Wallace, who blatantly went out
of his way to deny black students
the right to attend college.
I’m Southern. George Wallace
does not represent me.
Yes, in his later years. Wallace
apologized for his stance on seg-
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regation, gaining the forgiveness
of many people.
But he will always be remem
bered for the pain he inflicted on
so many lives.
That Is his legacy Let this be a
lesson to all of us: Sometimes the
things that you do In the past can
leave a bad mark on the life that
you live.
Don't try to sugrr-coat what
Mr. Wallace was all about.
It doesn’t do justice to the
Individuals who fought and con
tinue to fight for equal rights for
everyone.
Furthermore, there is no rea
son for you to single out liberals
and freaks as if they were the can
cer of society.
It seems to me that individuals
such as yourself are afraid
because you are becoming the
minority. Get a grip!
BRIAN CULP
Senior, EHenwood
Physical education
True Southern heroes
fought segregation
The column by Hunter Towns'
(The Red St Black, Wednesday)
made me want to toss my grits.
As a native Southerner I found
the sentiments expressed there
disgusting and Towns' twisted
(and I daresay naive) perspective
alarming.
I’m happy for Mr. Towns that i
he grew up "in a totally integrat
ed society," and I ask him to
point it out on a map so that I
might witness such a rare thing
with my own eyes.
The true Southern heroes are
the people who risked their own
well-being to change the world.
Those who participated in the
marches and protests of the civil
rights movement only to be met
with attack dogs and fire hoses
are the ones we should honor, not
racist good-old-boy politicians
like Towns' beloved Wallace.
Finally, Mr. Towns, I would like
to thank you for contributing to
the negative stereotypes of the
South as a haven for the back-
ward-thinking and intolerant.
MARY WILLOUGHBY
Junior, LaGrange
Sociology
Ken Starr exercising
too much power
How many of us voted for
Kenneth Starr? Yet he has been
exercising a tremendous amount
of power.
He has been driven by the
agenda of those opposing
Clinton. Starr did much more
than he was justified to do. He
created a situation where Clinton
was certain to lose eventually.
Starr continued looking for any
dirt he could.
This does not occur in just sit
uations The best Interest of the
public is no longer the primary
concern.
SUZANNE ROTHROCK
Graduate student,
Upland, Ind.
Genetics
GEORGE DANIELS
Sex scandal
overshadows
race problem
F inally Americans are able
to hear and see for them
selves what President
Clinton actually said to a
grand jury about his much-
talked about relationship with
Monica Lewinsky So what
else is new?
What we ought to be con
cerned about is how one U.S.
congressman, who happened
to be from my home state of
Virginia, explained why
President Clinton continues
to get support from African
Americans like me.
Rep. James Moran, a
Democrat, suggested that
blacks and whites have differ
ent standards of morality.
“There really is a difference
in terms of st andards of
morality and accountability
between suburbs and urban
areas that’s reflected In peo
ple that represent them.”
Moran said. "We see that in
votes on housing and welfare
reform."
Moran has since apologized
for his comments, published
last week in The Hill, a weekly
journal that covers the U.S.
Congress. But his views speak
to a lack of understanding
blacks and whites in this
country still have of each
other.
What has gotten lost in all
the media hype about
Clinton's relationship with
Lewinsky is the final report of
President Clinton’s initiative
on race, which was unveiled
Friday. Among its recommen
dations is the creation of a
permanent presidential coun
cil on race. I. personally, think
that’s a good idea.
The fact of the matter is in
the new millennium, it will not
be just a black-and-white
America. Most experts say our
nation's Hispanic and Asian
populations will continue to
grow by leaps and bounds.
How will people of differing
backgrounds be able to work,
live and play together?
That's the million-dollar
question. The first step comes
in understanding our differ
ences and yet the strength
that lies in such a diversity.
News flash — there won’t
be a white and black heaven
or a Hispanic or Asian heaven.
God made us all different for a
reason.
It is up to us to learn not
just how to simply go along to
get along, but how to truly
love one another.
Part of that love comes
with understanding that
where inequalities exist,
where lack of opportunities
abound, action must be taken
by not just those who are
under-represented, but those
who may be over-represented
and understand the value of
diversity.
The last thing I want to do
is to open up another discus
sion about affirmative action,
an issue that historically
spurs a flurry of letters to The
Red & Black by those on both
sides of the issue.
However, in the coming
months and years, it is reme
dies like affirmative action
that will need to be talked
about at length on campuses
like the University of Georgia.
Congressman Moran’s com
ments underscore why we
need to be talking about the
race commission's report.
Think what could be accom
plished if we addressed race
with the spirit and emotion
many of us have possessed in
defending our views on the
Lewinsky scandal. Recently,
one member of the race com
mission stated that much of
the work of the seven-member
panel has been overshadowed
by concerns about Lewinsky.
Forget about the racy
details of an affair in the
White House. Let us get back
to the business at hand. Issue
No. 1 on the agenda: how our
country will deal with the race
in the 21st century.
— Qeorge Daniels is a
graduate student in
telecommunications.
Alice Coggin s regular col
umn will return next
Thursday.