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4 | Tuesday, January is, 2002 |The Red&Black
Samira Jafari | Editor in Chief
editor@randb.com
Kathleen Baydala | Managing Editor
me@randb.com
Jaime Sarrio | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Securing the air
This Friday, airports will undergo a
change as a security bill takes action
Airline patrons traveling will have to submit
their bags to screening, all of them.
In November, Congress passed the aviation
security bill, expanding the government’s power
over airline security.
The deadline for airports to begin checking all
baggage, both carry-on and cargo, arrives this
Friday, although it is uncertain how prepared
airports are to deal with the anticipated
gridlock.
The bill also requires all baggage screeners to
become federal employees and gives the
Transportation Department the authority to
allow pilots to carry guns in their cockpits.
Airline spokesmen are hesitant to predict how
intense delays will be, but it is the patriotic duty
of airline passengers to endure the inconve
nience for the benefit of safety.
In the meantime, it is the government’s
responsibility to equip all airports, not just the
large ones, with adequate explosive detection
technology to decrease the wait.
The federalization of baggage checking
employees was met with the most debate from
members of Congress.
We, however, support this measure as a means
to ensure persons holding this important posi
tion will meet federal requirements and will be
financially compensated. If the government has
control of this position, it will be able to set the
standards of training and will be more capable
of continuing education about airline safety.
Conversely, we do not support the admittance
of any weapon onto an aircraft, by any employ
ee.
This will only make the terrorist’s job easier by
smuggling the weapon on board for them.
The idea that pilots could join the conspiracy
and make use of their guns must not escape rea
son.
It may seem like a worst case scenario, but
the events that transpired on Sept. 11 have
greatly expanded the perception of terrorist pos
sibility.
Lessons from naivety must be learned, some
times the hard way.
Supreme gamble
The Georgia Supreme Court struck
down a law banning video poker
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a
law banning video poker is unconstitutional.
According to the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, the number of video poker
machines increased in Georgia after South
Carolina outlawed them.
This prompted the Georgia Legislature to
pass legislation banning video poker, based on
existing laws that regulate gambling.
Since the ruling, lawmakers will likely re-vamp
the controversial law so that it will pass through
the courts.
We’re glad that the Legislature is devoting so
much time to video gambling instead of dealing
with real problems like education and
unemployment.
Everyone knows that video poker is the cause
of all these problems anyway.
The sooner they rid the state of these vile
timesuckers, the better off we’ll be.
Our Staff
NEWS: 543-1809
News Editor: Amber Billings
Associate News Editor: Jamar Laster
Sports Editor: Russell McLendon
Variety Editor: Parker Davidson
Recruitment Editor: Dena levitz
Photography Editor: Megan Lovett
Chief Photographer: Monira AMtaroun
Photographers: Brooke Morris
Online Editor: John Nelson
Student Director of Online Operations: Frank Harris
Editorial Adviser: Chris Starrs
Editorial Cartoonist: Mack Williams
Copy Editors: Robin Fuller, E.J. Ree, Lacey While,
Angela Lestar, Courtney Wondrasek
News Writers: Lana Panter. Jennifer Moore, Greg
Bluestein. Rachel Votta. Melanie Horton,
Mitchell Graham
Sports Writers: Gentry Estes. Amber Shaw
Variety Writers: Leah Newman, Kyle Wehrend, Jon
Tonge
Stringers: Mathew Hunt, Chase Thomas, Renee Brock,
Erin Sellers. Jessica Reece, Jeremy Craig, Amy Leigh
Womack. Anne Milligan, Ben Egger. James Gallagher,
Dan Tomayko, Michelle Kalejita. Art Wettz. Sieve
Sanders. Chris Carlson, Rosanna Ackerman
ADVERTISING: 543-1791
Advertising Director: Michael Spohn
Advertising Manager Samantha Steates
Special Projects Manager: Cattlin Murphy
Advertising Representatives: Darcey Topham, Chris
Stone, Tiffany Wolfe, Stephanie Kahn, Jonathan Tolbert,
Hillary Bowick, Gena Bamabee
Advertising Assistants: Ashley Carson, Adam Ellis
Student Classified Manager: Leah DeKoskie
Classified Sales Representative: Melissa Coursey
Production Manager: Sam Ptttard
Assistant Production Manager: Benjamin Corriere
Production Staff: Jennifer Hagler, Rachel Margoiis,
Andrea Allen, Alex Teh
Publisher: Harry Montevideo
Office Manager: Mary Straub
Assistant Office Manager: Elizabeth Burgstiner
Receptionist: Betsy Rogers
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and spring semesters and each Thursday summer
semester, except holidays and exam periods, by The Red A
Black Publishing Company Inc., a non-profit campus news
paper not affiliated with the University of Georgia. Postal
address: 123 N. Jackson St. Athens GA, 30601. Fax 548-
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Opinions expressed in The Red A Black other than unagned editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not nec
essarily those of The Red and Black PubfcsNng Company Inc Al rights reserved Reprints by permeswn of the editors
EdNorial board members rckxte Samra Jafari. Kathleen Baydala, Jaime Sarrio and Mack Wliams.
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Ads insulting to college students
A friend bought an
extremely expensive DeU
computer recently.
I’ve heard from several
others that DeUs are at the
head of the class in
computers these days.
I believe that, but I’d
never buy one.
The computers are fine,
but the advertisements
make me sick — so much
that I’m boycotting the
product.
Buying a DeU would
encourage the idiots that
concocted the low-brow,
inteUigence-insulting
commercials featuring the
guy straight off the box for
“Dude, Where’s My Car?”
“Dude, you should have
bought a DeU,” the guy says.
He’s meant to sound dumb
and/or wasted.
That’s cool to us, ya
know.
I caU on people to
boycott DeU and any other
company that insults your
inteUigence while trying to
seU you something.
Start a list of every time a
commercial annoys you so
much as to hurt the
product’s image.
Then, remember never to
buy it until the ad campaign
stops.
Imagine if everyone had a
list — no one would ever
make a coUect caU again.
Between the barrage of
has-been stars like that
loser who is Courtney Cox’s,
husband, the entire coUect
calling industry would
perish.
It would serve them right,
because who actuaUy thinks
those Carrot Top ads are
funny?
Not all ads are like this.
Some commercials are
attractive because of good
E-mail,
Almost Eden
The University has come
to another roadblock in fol
lowing through with its con
struction projects.
It’s not hard to see why
this is, considering the num
ber of ongoing and recently
“completed” buildings, ren
ovations, and amendments.
The one project that
affects me directly, is the
recent addition to the State
Botanical Garden of
Georgia — the Heritage
Garden.
For those who have not
seen this new display gar
den, it truly is a beautiful
design.
The ornate brickwork
that dominates this land
scape is truly beautiful, yet
it is offset by two large exca
vations near the entrance to
the garden itself.
These gaping wounds in
the earth were made in an
effort to repair broken
water lines which supply the
irrigation system for the
Heritage Garden.
Four months later after
one failed attempt to rectify
this problem, the garden is
still without water — and
electricity!
An electrical conduit was
severed during a botched
repair mission.
The dilemma is now
this — the University main
tains that the contractors
are to blame and so the
University’s Physical Plant
won’t touch the project.
The contractors have not
shown their faces in almost
two months.
Meanwhile the plants
suffer, and the beauty of the
cinematography.
Others can be
surprisingly clever.
But the worst ones are
the ones like DeU that, in a
transparent effort to
become hip, dumb
themselves down so as to be
attractive to our age
bracket.
This is highly insulting
because that usuaUy means
someone like the DeU
“dude” is hired to pitch it to
us dummies.
The lowest example is a
Ford ad that first aired a
couple of months ago, invit
ing you to “get your rave on”
in the new Ford Focus.
Get your rave on? ~
That doesn’t make any
sense. Did “raver” people
flock to the stores and line
up to party in a Ford?
Do free hits of ecstasy
come with each purchase?
Is it even possible to “get
your rave on ”in a car, much
less one named Focus?
In actuaUty, the men who
probably liked this commer
cial are old, bald, wrinkled,
wealthy and incredibly out
of touch with the target
audience.
I can just imagine
someone at a board meeting
saying, “Why don’t we teU
’em to get their rave on?
Isn’t that what kids do?”
Another one chimes in,
Questions, comments,
complaints? Here’s where
to point and click:
Letters I opinions@randb.com
News Tips I news@randb.com
R&B Online! fbarris@randb.com
Garden is diminished.
How many futUe e-maUs
must be sent to those in
charge at the University to
get results?
Ryan McNeill
Alumnus
Curator, Heritage Garden
Fans should support
team at every game
This letter is in response
to the great fan turnout we
had as our Bulldogs faced
Tennessee last Saturday.
What a wonderful sight
to see so many come to
watch us knock off
Tennessee again at home.
But what bothers me the
most about last week’s
game is that why does it
take a key matchup
between two SEC rivals for
us to fill Stegeman?
Where were all of you
during our exhibition
games, or better yet, for the
SEC opener two weeks ago?
Everyone knows that
only three games a year see
a packed house such as
Saturday — Tennessee,
Kentucky and Florida.
That’s simply ridiculous!
My friends and I have
“Yeah, it’s a concept they
could really relate to.”
Everyone accepts the
idea and starts patting each
other on the back, thinking
all these kids turning 16 will
want their first car to be a
Ford Focus.
Insulting.
What I call “all kids are
stupid ads” are at the top of
my list.
Also on there are any
commercials that exploit
cute little children to sell
something.
I’m talking to you here,
Pepsi.
I’ll forever drink Coke
because that little girl is
beyond annoying to me.
The latest additions to
my list are these overly
patriotic ads meant to profit
from the deaths of
thousands of people.
What could be more
American?
Go rent “Roger and Me”
if you want to know how
patriotic General Motors
really is.
These kinds of ads are
exceptionally annoying to
me, but each person’s list
would be different.
You all have ads you hate.
We would be performing a
public service by helping to
rid the world of intelligence-
draining material.
Like television isn’t bad
enough in this area.
Oh no, we need the Dell
“dude” to be a role model
for our stupid younger
generation.
I say don’t let them get
away with it.
They need us a lot more
than we need them.
been religiously attending
ALL Georgia basketball
games in our four-year stay,
and continue to support
our team through thick and
thin.
Doesn’t our team deserve
that sort of support from
the entire student body?
Our students and fans
should show such enthusi
asm for every game of the
season.
Jotwan Daniels
Senior, Douglasville
Management Information
Systems
Anwar’s dishonesty
to blame for *woes’
This morning I opened
the paper to see Asma
Anwar’s editorial on her
“parking woes,” (Habitual
violator busted,” Jan. 14),
Her recent article only
confirms my belief that
Asma has a lot of growing
up to do.
I don’t care if you try and
beat Parking Services —
they do screw over
students.
But don’t whine when
you get caught.
A simple $50 commuter
pass could have saved her a
lot of headache.
But instead, we are sub
jected to an article where
she complains about the
unfairness of the situation
when she was the one being
dishonest.
Dawn Ashby
Senior, Duluth
Finance
Jason Wilson
▲
Smokers,
dispose of
your butts
T ty doing something next
time you’re walking
along the sidewalks of
downtown Athens.
Try to count to 10
before your eyes come
across a cigarette butt rot
ting on the ground.
Depending on the time
and location of your walk,
you might be lucky if you
can count to three.
It would seem that one
of the lesser-known side
effects of nicotine addic
tion is that it produces a
delusionary belief in the
addict’s mind that his or
her cigarette evaporates as
soon as it touches a solid
surface and thereby dissi
pates into a harmless gas.
Either that or the smok
er’s just being a jackass.
I support the legaliza
tion of most drugs and the
decriminalization of them
all, so I’m certainly not in
favor of the current trend
that desires to make
cigarette smoking illegal.
However, as a supporter
of legalization, I must also
preach responsible drug
use.
If you want to smoke
marijuana, fine, just don’t
drive around while you’re
under its influence.
If you want to smoke
crack, your life is yours to
throw away, just don’t
break into my apartment
to get money for your drug.
And if you want to
smoke cigarettes — no
problem—just have the
common courtesy to use
your drug in a respectful
manner.
There are trashcans on
every comer downtown.
Is it really that difficult
to put out your cigarette
and toss it in one of those
trashcans?
The problem that I have
with cigarette smokers
really isn’t their fault.
Like a dysfunctional
family’s maligned
stepchild, I glare at my
favored brothers with a
contempt that is fueled by
nothing other than pure
jealousy.
I would love to be able
to just walk down College
Avenue with a bottle of
Vodka in my hand, and just
drink away with a song in
my heart and the wind at
my back.
But no, that’s illegal.
However, it is perfectly
legal for a cigarette smoker
to walk in front of me and
force me to breathe his
carcinogenic fumes until I
am able to get past him.
And I know people who
would love nothing more
than to be able to just sit
in the privacy of their own
homes and smoke marijua
na or drop acid without
fear of having the police
bust the door down and
seize all of their belong
ings.
But no, those drugs
have been deemed illegal
for an adult to use in his
own home.
It is, however, perfectly
acceptable for cigarette
smokers to sit in a restau
rant and fill an entire room
with their malodorous
exhalations.
But as I said, my hostili
ty isn’t really their fault.
Sure I’m a little bitter
because my drug is neatly
contained in a bottle and
yet its use is restricted to
bars and home consump
tion, while their drug satu
rates the surrounding air
like a filthy blanket and yet
its use is tolerated in all
open and public areas.
As always, it’s the gov
ernment I’m pissed off
with — not you. But for
God’s sake, pick up your
cigarette butts!
Do you really have to
show such callous disre
gard while flaunting your
position on the top rung of
the drug ladder?
Just crush them on the
trashcan and toss them
in— it’s very simple.
Freedom comes with
responsibility. Start exer
cising some.
— Jason Wilson is law
strident in the class of2003.
— Gentry Estes covers
men’s basketball for
The Red & Black.
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