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4 1 Wednesday, January 16, 20021 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
Decent disclosure
Athletic Association should continue
being honest with fans and students
The University has seen many of its own fall
victim to rape in past years.
When such a violent and horiffic crime occurs
in our small community, the public responds in
many ways.
There is, of course, a sense of sorrow for the
victims who endure the nightmare.
There is an element of heightened personal
safety and security.
There is an interest in the victims of these
crimes, which yields a desire to see the criminal
sought out and prosecuted.
Currently there is an investigation of a
University student who reported she was raped
in McWhorter Hall by an acquaintance and
almost raped by someone unknown to her.
Claude Felton, associate athletics director,
said that there were student-athletes “involved”
in the case.
Suspecting any person associated with the
University in a situation like this would tarnish
the reputation of our institution.
This is especially true in the event that an ath
lete, a visible representative of the University, is
under suspicion.
However, in crimes as serious as rape, it is
important to be forthcoming with any informa
tion about violent activity, even if it damages the
image of a program or the University.
If athletes are involved, they should not be
given any special treatment or discretion that
sometimes accompanies other questionable
activities.
In addition, fans and supporters have a right
to know if a person they are paying money to see
and support is involved with a crime as serious
as rape.
Thus far, the Athletics Association has been
forthcoming and timely with the information it
has released about the incident.
Felton was among the first spokesmen to indi
cate that members of the program he represents
were involved in this incident.
The names of these suspects have not been *
released. But if the Athletics Association contin
ues this ethical means of disseminating informa
tion, we are confident we will be told the whole
story.
Even if it hurts to hear it.
Reach the middle
University welcomes middle school
students in for a campus tour
In an effort to increase diversity, the
University welcomed students from a rural mid
dle school in Georgia.
This program could benefit the University by
attracting an unrepresented demographic, and
more importantly, it could inspire children in ill-
performing schools to consider college as a real
istic choice for the future.
This type of program shows that the
University is interested in attracting minority
students, and is doing something about it.
During their trip, the students toured the
dorms, the Ramsey Center and some of the
older buildings on campus.
Continuing and expanding programs like
these brings promise for a more well-rounded
student population in the future.
' Our
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Editorial board members include Samira Jafari, Kathleen Baydala. Jaime Sarrio and Mack Wiliams.
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think TtorgBit
SPOWUtR flW wwt uep on
fijASmrigtPtiitEDSWiW
MACK UllufttK&lePl
CBM.
Senior’s logic gained and shared
E ver since senior year
began, I’ve been ditching
bits and pieces of my logic
all over this campus.
You can find part of it on
Herty Field, where I recapi-
tated a decapitated snow
man the last week of winter
break.
Some of it is lying on a
bench in Park HaU, where I
formulated a plan to get in
touch with my inner starving
artist before going to grad
school.
But the worst incident in
my loss of logic occurred
while I was still preparing for
senior year.
I signed the lease on an
apartment I couldn’t afford. I
wasn’t thinking about the
rent at first.
My roommates and I were
taken in by the utter cool
ness of a downtown loft and
its big city qualities — the
trash chute, the hardwood
floors, the way we would get
to say, “Just a second, and I’ll
buzz you up!” to our visitors.
But moving in showed us
that “loft” is an ancient word
derived from the Latin for
“no closets and bad parking.”
I hang my clothes on a
piece of rope held up by two
nails, my roommates and I
lug our groceries across three
lanes of traffic and through
all this we try to retain some
of those feelings of coolness
we had on the day we moved
in.
I learned some things
from my illogical decision.
First, that I had to take
responsibility for it. I got a
job to help pay the bills.
My parents took note of
this and said, hey, if you’ve
got another source of
income, then we’re not going
to chip in on your checking
account anymore.
Second lesson: if you’re
Laurie Hopkins
A
paying the rent yourself,
you’ll take great pride in your
home.
I realized this when some
of the other students in my
building took up a new
hobby — putting their fists
through the wails.
Maybe someone else can
enlighten me as to the appeal
of this activity.
The holes were’t too big at
first, but one day in the fall I
returned from a weekend in
Atlanta to find an entire side
of wall tom to pieces and
lying on our front stairs.
It sat like that for three
days. The residents of the
floor below have caught on to
this pastime as well.
If they keep this up, every
single wail of this 100-year-
old building is going to be on
the ground and I’ll be the
first to get mad.
After all, I’m the resident
nut who’s been known to
recycle the beer bottles
strewn across the stairwell
and briefly consider how
much I’d embarrass myself if
I started mopping the floors
in the main hallway.
Nobody dares punch a
hole through a wall when I’m
wielding a mop.
Yep, I’m founder, presi
dent and sole member of the
Building Beautification and
Guerrilla Defense
Committee.
The neighborhood, at
least, is interesting.
Leaving the East Campus
Parking Deck and all its
dizzying qualities behind me,
I walk to class while hopping
over the square holes being
dug for new trees on the
Broad Street sidewalks.
If you stand at my living
room window at 11:30 on a
Friday night, you’ll see the
parade of khakis and black
bootcut pants on their way
to the bars.
Then, three hours later,
you can overhear many an
anecdote of an bar flirtation
gone wrong.
On a sunny weekday after
noon, you might see one of
the more interesting locals
trying to tap dance in his
loafers across Broad Street.
He sings, he waves, he
asks you how your day is
going and he makes no
attempt to cover his missing
eye.
There are things to be
said for being a little self-cen
tered during your senior year.
You’ve made it through
dorm bathrooms and dining
halls and three years of trying
to fight through the North
Face backpacks to grab a
coveted spot on the bottom
stair of the Orbit bus.
And one day, when you’re
walking down the sidewalk
and realizing that after you
pay the rent you’ll have a $20
food budget this month, you
might see a certain member
of a certain band.
And you can think, hey,
that’s Michael Stipe, walking
down MY street in front of
MY building.
And it may not be worth
the price of your rent, but
you’ll feel slightly more funky.
Some things defy logic.
— Laurie Hopkins is a
senior in English.
Mailbox
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
| Air security requires ‘accountability’
When I opened The Red &
Black to the Opinions page
Tuesday, I got a good giggle.
Usually I snicker at the
ridiculousness of the editori
als printed in the newspaper
of an institution of higher
learning, but Tuesday it got a
little more intriguing.
Through the majority
opinion (“Securing the air,”
Jan. 15), I got a glimpse into
the minds of the editorial
board, which has now found a
way to rationalize one of the
worst ideas in the long and
proud line of bad government
plans.
I am talking about the fed
eralization of airport security
screeners.
First, let’s examine this
newly federalized position.
In the Department of
Transportation’s job listing
for this position, the educa
tion requirement is simply to
“possess a high school diplo
ma or general education
diploma or have one year of
any type of work experience
that demonstrates the appli
cant’s ability to perform the
work of the position.”
Excellent! .
Does fast food work quali
fy little David Drop-out for
the position?
Senate Majority Leader
Tom Daschle said in a recent
speech in favor of federaliza
tion that, “You don’t profes
sionalize unless you federal
ize.”
I am sure Bill Gates, Jack
Welsh and other great PRI
VATE businessmen agree.
Any educated person, with
the exception of college pro-
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fessors, knows that federal
ization is completely bad.
If you were to put a private
company, with responsibili
ties for profits and duties to
their customers in charge of
90 percent of government
work, it would get done bet
ter and more efficiently.
Accountability is the sole
reason. When a person
screws up in a private busi
ness, it is observed and some
one takes care of it.
When a person screws up
while at work for the govern
ment, he or she is only one
person in a million-person
bureaucracy and it is often
overlooked.
Such will be the case with
airport screeners.
If one truly wants to
understand this new federal
ization, look no further than
good old-fashioned politics.
Democrats have just
bought themselves many
thousands of votes from
these “federal” employees
and their families.
Just as welfare and Social
Security beneficiaries most
often vote for the liberals who
continue to line their unem
ployed pockets and sign their
food stamp cards, these new
unqualified employees of the
federal government will cer
tainly vote for the democrats
who got them these nice new
benefits at tax payer expense.
Andy Stancil
Sophomore, Buford
Political Science
Today’s commercials
reflect consumerism
In response to “Ads insult
ing to college students,” (Jan.
15), I call on people to boy
cott reading anything that
Mr. Estes ever writes again.
First off — NEWSFLASH
— we are living in a commer
cialized society where we are
told everyday what clothes
are cool to wear, what sports
drink to buy and how one
should act in certain public
situations.
The “idiots” that created
the recent Dell commercials,
have probably received signif
icant promotions, for accom
plishing what all marketers
strive to achieve, that is a
memorable series of ads that
constantly remind the con
sumer of their product.
Honestly, dude, would you
rather be watching lame
1960s style commercials, or
the more creative and often
times entertaining modem
type?
Oh, on a side note, in my
book, anyone who is married
to Courtney Cox can’t be a
loser.
David Porter
Freshman, Chattanooga
Pre-Med
\
Greg Woods
A
Spending
time away
from TV
M y jaw drops as the
remote slips from my
grip and hits the floor.
I feel it — my brain is
rotting while I watch this
trash.
The credits roll after
TNT’s special showing of
“Mortal Kombat:
Annihilation.”
The movie had a budget
of $30 million, however
there is no amount of
money that can bring back
the two hours I wasted on
the couch.
For the first time in a
while, I turn off the televi
sion earlier than usual.
I stumble into my room
and try to prevent my
brain from leaking out of
my head.
With a perplexed look
on my face I lay down until
my wits are about me
again and I suddenly real
ize something horrifying —
I’ve tortured myself with
bad movies on several
occasions.
I’ve sat through “The
Toxic Avenger,” “C.H.U.D.
H - Bud the Chud,”
“Michael Jackson’s
Moonwalker,” “Wild Wild
West” and oh, no ... what
have I done with my life?
Most of us have been in
this same position.
We are tortured because
we allow ourselves to be.
We go to these movies like
drones and slap down $7
and two hours time, never
to be regained.
Yet as we do this, some
body somewhere is sub
jecting themselves to poor
entertainment and simul
taneously asking, “I won
der what people did before
television.”
It’s time to answer that
question, or at least try to.
I say people do things that
are long lost these days.
They took the time in
their evenings to make
wonderful meals — not just
microwaving a frozen din
ner while suffering through
the latest episode of “Pop
Stars.”
On a boring evening, an
individual may have actu
ally gone to a library for
pleasure.
There are bike paths at
the University intramural
fields. There are student
clubs and university activi
ties with poor attendance
and membership.
Athens, and the world
that surrounds it has so
much more to offer than
images on any sort of
screen.
But you must take the
first step.
Turn down opportuni
ties to stare mindlessly at
bad movies.
Don’t just lounge on the
couch when you’re bored.
As painful as it is for me
to say, it’s probably a good
idea to put down that
video game controller for a
while.
Instead, create. Don’t
just space out.
Don’t allow your short
time in college to be
wasted.
Go have some coffee
and play chess with a
friend. Go climb a tree on
North Campus. Go for a
walk with a purpose
OTHER than exercise.
Do things that make
you feel good and fulfilled,
and don’t just take up
time.
Most of all, regardless of
what people tell you, there
are abundant opportuni
ties for good conversation
all around us — we just
have to be sure to keep our
eyes (and our minds) open
for it.
I must admit, this is
easier said than done.
However, it’s either
make your life more active
and have countless memo
ries to share; or it’s sit dor
mant during the best years
of your youth and only
have the plot lines of hor
rid "Saturday Night Live”
movies to share. Tough
choice — and it’s all up to
you.
— Greg Woods is a
junior in English. His
column appears on
Wednesdays