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Kristen Wyatt | Editor in Chibf
— — **~— editor (snrandb.com
Managing Editor
— —- me(fbrandb.com
Opinions Editor
............. opinions®randb.com
A Running back
Patrick Rasa rushed
37 yards Saturday.
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black's editorial board
The real winners
Bulldog fans stand behind the team
regardless of the final score
Thanksgiving break is over, and the leftover
turkey is gone, but the bitterness from Saturday’s
Georgia Tech game still
lingers.
We’re proud of the
Bulldogs for coming back in
the second half to give the
Yellow Jackets a tough game.
Even though the Dogs
were cheated out of a game-
winning field goal by a
moronic referee, we have no
doubt they are the better
team. Tech fans — for all
their disparaging, unsports
manlike behavior — can’t
match the pride we feel as
Bulldog fans.
It would have been nice to
end this turbulent season
with a win, but we’ll stand by our Dogs whatever
the score. Let’s continue to support our team in
whatever bowl game they play.
Saying goodbye
Uga Vs passing marks the end of an
era for Gecngia football fans
If you’re not a Bulldog fan, the hype surrounding
Uga V’s death last week probably seems a little
silly.
But few mascots have meant so much to their
institutions. How many schools can boast that their
mascots appeared in a major film and graced the
cover of Spprts Illustrated? What other mascot
actually got into a game by almost biting a player
on the opposing team? t
Uga V was not just a mascot — he had his own
distinct personality that shone on the field and in
front of the camera. He was an institution at the
University.
We were fortunate to have such an energetic,
charismatic little guy to represent us for nine years.
His passing marks the end of an era in Georgia
football.
A time to give
The holidays are tough on local
blood banks — do your part to help
The American Red Cross needs blood. You’ve got
some to spare. Let’s work something out, here.
There’s no better time to give blood than the
holidays, and the Red Cross is making it simple
and convenient for students to donate in Athens.
Blood shortages are common in December and
January — a time when hospitals need blood most.
There’s no excuse for local hospitals’ blood
banks to run dry this year when the Red Cross is
hosting seven blood drives this week alone.
Make time to donate this season. It’s a small,
simple way you can help provide real hope to those
who need it.
Our Staff
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Reaching Us
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letters should be no more than ISO words. All letters are subject to
editing for length, style and libelous material.
o o o o o o
Fwrvnbl*
O0-°
Pulpit no place for hate, prejudice
I t's purge time in Georgia again.
Time to root out all the evil
adulteratin’ in this state and
exorcise the homosexuals.
IH get the pitchfork, the
sawed-off shotgun and the torch
es, you bring the moonshine.
Yee-haw!
On second thought, let’s exile
all the heretics and impure
thinkers; that is, any person
who’s not a heterosexual Baptist.
Get off our pristine soil, or to
the dungeon with you.
It’s times like these I’m
ashamed to be a Southerner.
The Georgia Baptist
Convention has expelled — by an
overwhelming vote, I might add
— two long-standing Baptist
churcher because they do not
condemn homosexuality.
I am neither gay nor a Baptist,
but I'm able to accept the beliefs
and attitudes of others and show
some tolerance — a tenet of
Christianity proposed by Jesus
himself.
Jesus was a hard-core liberal,
folks.
Not convinced? Look at your
Bible.
Not once in the Bible does
Jesus denounce homosexuality.
Paul, the man who claimed to
spread Jesus' words, first sired
this spurious notion.
Why is it that those Georgia
Baptists, who claim to live by the
Bible’s words, use only those
passages that suit them in their
heterosexual crusade?
Hospitality is essential social
protocol inftised throughout the
Bible.
By expelling these two
churches, the Georgia Baptist
Convention is swiping the door
mat from under these churches’
ZACSPECTOR
A
feet and slamming the door in
their faces.
Some good ol’ Southern,
Christian hospitality, indeed!
And let’s get this straight: We
don’t live in Biblical times.
Seas don’t part anymore.
Burning bushes don’t start casu
al conversations with humans. _
When was the last time you '
saw a corrupt woman turn into a
pillar of salt?
Sodom and Gomorrah
couldn't possibly have been more
“sinful” than New Orleans or Las
Vegas, but you don’t see them
smote with fire and swallowed by
the earth.
nils country was founded on
the precept of religious freedom.
What part of the phrase “reli
gious freedom” enables us to
restrict others’ fundamental
beliefs?
Geinjgia Baptists felt the pres
ence of homosexuality in their
confederation was tarnishing
their chaste image.
Consequently, they ejected all
transgressors, regardless of prior
reputation in the Georgia
Baptist Convention.
President Abraham Lincoln
once said, "The dogmas of the
quiet past are inadequate to the
stormy present.”
Slavery and segregation are
over.
Communism failed (mostly).
Abortion is legal.
Except in Kansas, the Scopes
trial allowed evolution Into our
schools. Homosexuality is widely
accepted, not punishable by
death.
AIDS is not just a homosexual
plague — straight people can get
it, too. Women thrive in the
workplace.
Times have changed. Accept
it.
These overzealous Baptist
Conventions scare me.
In April 1997, when actress-
comedian Ellen DeGeneres came
out of the closet on her sitcom
“Ellen,” the Baptist Convention
decreed we should boycott
Disney (which owns ABC)!
Boycott Disney?
I’m sure somewhere in
Georgia children were crying hys
terically while their parents
tossed videos of “Cinderella,”
“Beauty & the Beast’’ and “Toy
Story” into the purging fireplace.
When two churches decide
gays and lesbians can serve as
their clergy without repenting for
who they are, the Georgia
Baptists should embrace these
congregations.
To survive in the next century,
the Georgia Baptist Convention
must accept reality and update
their views.
Acceptance — particularly
among fellow Christians —
shouldn’t have to be earned.
The Bible doesn’t teach preju
dice and intolerance, so why do
the Georgia Baptists?
— Zac Spector is a
graduate student in
mass communications.
Mailbox
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Smoking policy based on student input
Because the Residence Hall
Association has taken on smok
ing In the halls as a project for
the past three years, we have
thought about every alternative
possible to work best for all stu
dents.
The surveys we took at the
end of last year show that most
students would like a smoke-free
environment.
It would be nice If we could
have designated halls as smoke-
free, as a matter of fact, that Idea
was considered for some time.
But there are three problems
with that.
First, certain halls In each
community would have to be
designated for smokers.
Suite style, high-rise, coed, all
male and all-female halls would
need to be set aside.
This can’t work because there
Just aren't enough people to fill
each space In a smoking hall, and
there would be too many people
to try to fit In a non-smoldng
hall
Some people would be forced
to live In a smoking-designated
hall when they don't want to or
can’t because of allergies or
other health problems.
Second, a number of people
hide the fhet that they smoke
from their parents.
If mommy has to sign your
housing application, it’a more
than likely she won’t sign if you
want to live in a smoking hall.
Third, some people start
smoking In college, and this Idea
would definitely not work for
pus, are non-smoldng.
Residence halls are also gov
ernment-owned, and it’s odd
that these weren’t non-smoking
from the beginning.
This proposal was voted on
and approved by the residents of
most of these halls.
If this proposal was not liked
by any residents, then they
should have come to our meet
ings.
Maybe this could have been
different if representation from
all the halls was in attendance
like they are supposed to be.
Maybe this is a wake-up call
to the people In the residence
halls to start showing up and let
ting us know what their hall
thinks Is best.
The RHA Is a group of stu
dents that tries to make living on
campus a little easier, not a
group of mind readers.
HEATHER BEAMAN
Sophomore, Stone Mountain
Early chlMhood education
RHA
All government-owned build
ings, like every building on cam-
Affirmalive action still
an important solution
When Affirmative Action laws
came into being in the 1960s,
they were meant to help end the
discrimination against minorities
and women that was rampant
with federal contractors.
Frealdents Kennedy, Johnson
and even Nixon issued executive
orders that would Increase
minorities’ and women'* chances
at fair employment
These laws were later extend
ed to private businesses and uni
versities.
At the time these laws began,
the black enrollment at universi
ties and colleges was 7.8 percent.
Twenty years later black
enrollment is only 11.3 percent.
A 3.5 percent Increase over 20
years doesn’t Justify ending affir
mative action policies.
Yes, there needs to be some
adjustments in how minority stu
dents are recruited to colleges.
But affirmative action policies
need to remain in place until
such adjustments are made and
proven to be effective.
Tire minority population at
the University is small enough as
it is.
1 fear how abruptly ending
affirmative action policies would
affect the minority presence on
campus.
The University of Texas
School of Law saw its black
enrollment drop 88 percent in
one year after eliminating race as
an admissions factor.
Can the University afford to
see similar results?
ASHLEY MASSET
Freshman, Roswell
History
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erm mcclam
A
More than a
mascot: Uga V
remembered
T hey buried Uga V last
week quietly and somber
ly, the way you bury a rel
ative. It was a small, mostly
private ceremony at Sanford
Stadium. A few University
officials were there. So was
the athletic director, a minis
ter, some reporters,
Congestive heart failure
had claimed the English bull
dog, a lovably ugly thing who
served as the University's
mascot until about two
months ago.
Monday was a lousy time
for him to die — a day before
the Thanksgiving exodus, less
than a week before the
Georgia-Georgia Tech game
and with all of college athlet
ics still in shock over the hor
rific Texas A&M bonfire acci
dent.
So the old dog didn’t get
much press, or at least not
much that most of us noticed.
Even now, just days later, with
Uga V barely interred in the
side of the stadium, there’s
only a small mention of his
death on University Web sites.
And I wasn’t going to give
him much mind myself — it’s
not like a friend died, or even
a family pet. But 1 got to
thinking. And 1 figure Uga V
hasn’t been given his due.
There ought to be a more
public service, some kind of
memorial. Nothing ornate or
silly — it was, after all, only a
dog — but something notable,
a chance for those who care
to pay their respects.
Until then — or if you need
some convincing about why
you should care about a dead
dog anyway — think about
this: Even if you’re part of a
family tree with deep red and
black roots, Uga V was proba
bly the first Georgia mascot
you came to know.
His father, Uga IV, reigned
until 1989, when this year's
seniors were 11, not old
enough to develop real alle
giances of their own.
But you Jjnew Uga V.
You knew him in 1996
because the whole country
knew him. That was the year
he lunged at Auburn wide
receiver Robert Baker, inspir
ing the Dogs — the human
ones — to a four-overtime vic
tory and landing his tubby
image on T-shirts and plaques
and sports pages.
And you knew him, even if
you were still in high school, a
year later. That was when he
graced the cover of Sports
Illustrated, his tongue hang
ing out and folded into a fash
ionable S-shape, his jowls
appearing beside the words
“No. 1 Mascot: Uga V.”
And you knew him later
that year, during the swell of
popularity around the novel
"Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil.” That’s when
he appeared on the silver
screen, playing his predeces
sor mentioned in the book.
I know what you’re think
ing: Another rabid Georgia
Bulldog fan gone crazy.
Another fool who thinks
life is sports, who would pull
for Georgia against his own
mother, who thinks of hedges
as poetry and has lost all
touch with reality
Maybe, But even if you
don't like sports at all, if you
couldn’t tell Quincy Carter
from Jimmy Carter, you owe a
little to Uga V.
Toward the end of his
tenure and his life, he drew
attention to the University,
the same way a Pulitzer Prize
or Rhodes scholarship does.
He went just as far toward
making our degrees better
recognized, even more valu
able, as a great deal of the
academic Improvements the
University likes to cite.
And if nothing else, Uga V
was a small piece of your time
at the University. Remember
him as you remember your
room number In the dorms,
your first professor’s name.
He was, as they said at the
service last week, a damn
good dog. And, whether you
realize It or not, damn Impor
tant, too.
— Erin McClam is a senior
in Journalism. His column
appears on Mondays.
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