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4 | Tuesday, October 12, 2004 | The Red & Black
Katie Reetz | Editor in Chief
editor@randb.com
Glenn Orman | Managing Editor
mp@randb.cmn
Kimberly Bowers | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
A list of grievances
Faculty send letter, petition to Perdue’s
office, hope to sway governor on cuts
A letter from University faculty equates the
impending budget cuts to a kind of death sen
tence for the University — we couldn’t agree
more.
Nearly 200 University faculty compiled a let
ter to Gov. Sonny Perdue explaining the $68.7
million in budget cuts will cause irreparable
damage to the University.
The letter, along with a petition signed by
about 200 faculty members, will be delivered to
the governor’s office today. The Board of
Regents will decide today how to distribute the
cuts amongst educational institutions — mean
ing this is the last day for Perdue to change his
mind.
The faculty letter should hit the right chord
with state officials because it threatens the
right things — the University’s reputation and
funding.
The letter states, “UGA will become a third-
rate institution unable to attract and retain
the best faculty; budget problems will spiral as
our ability to bring in outside grants implodes;
national rankings will plummet; businesses will
avoid moving to Georgia because of its inferior
commitment to education ...”
Students and faculty can tell Perdue and
government officials all the educational horror
stories they want, but until they see the lower
number on the ranking sheet or the paycheck,
they won’t really feel the sting.
Most faculty have been at the University
longer than the current crop of students and
will be here for many years more. They have
seen it go through ups and downs, and they
have usually taken them complacently.
But not now.
The fact that faculty are showing their anger
and fear should send shockwaves through the
state legislation.
Whether they want to admit it or not, the
faculty know more about how this University
works than politicians. If they say cuts will
drastically lower the school’s quality, then peo
ple should believe them and act accordingly.
Also, if Perdue ignores their concerns, what
message is he sending to them.
England ignored the colonies’ list of
grievances to the king, and it didn’t work out
to well for them. We’re not saying there will be
revolution, more like a mass exodus.
The state already cannot afford to pay teach
ers enough and now they expect them to take
on more teaching loads without a good expla
nation of why.
Faculty who get better or equal offers at
other institutions may leave — as they have
every right to.
It would be great to make legislators truly
understand the drop in educational quality and
student and faculty satisfaction that will come
with budget cuts.
But since they aren’t in our shoes, we must
threaten the things they can understand.
If they cuts millions from the budget, the
University’s ranking will go down and its fund
ing will taper off.
Hopefully Perdue’s pocket book and ego are
enough to convince him to lessen the unrea
sonable budget cuts.
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^.Zelcfc, tuck OOF 4k*- fag- feb\esT)
Reeve a real superman off-screen
O ur generation lost a
great hero on Sunday.
At the age of 52,
Christopher Reeve died. To
our generation, he is best
known by his alter ego:
Superman.
For almost two genera
tions, Reeve embodied the
Man of Steel on the silver
screen from 1978 to 1987.
His portrayal of the caped
superhero was as iconic in
1980s popular culture as
Harrison Ford’s Indiana
Jones and Mark HamiU’s
Luke Skywalker.
Beyond “Superman,”
Reeve also starred in clas
sics like “Somewhere In
Time,” “The Aviator,” and
“Noises Off.” Recently, he
also made guest appear
ances on the Superman-
based television show
“Smallville.”
In 1995, a horse-riding
accident left Reeve para
lyzed below the neck.
He promised the world he
would make every effort to
walk again.
I believed him, and why
shouldn’t I? He was
Superman, and Superman
always told the truth.
Reeve became a globally
recognized spokesman for
spinal cord research, and
good to his word, never
stopped striving to help
others. Even as debilitated
as he was, Reeve was the liv
ing embodiment of
Superman, always thinking
of others before himself,
especially paralyzed chil
dren.
Reeve formed the
Christopher Reeve Paralysis
Foundation that has raised
$48 million for neuroscience
research.
MICHAEL FRENCH
▲
In the 21st century, the
media is plastered with
celebrities who have no wish
to be role models. There is
no heart with up and com
ing movie stars and singers.
It’s about the contracts, it’s
about the money and it’s
about personal gain.
Reeve was as genuine a
person as the superhero he
played. Richard Donner, the
director of Superman: The
Movie, often commented on
Reeve’s inherent nobility
and integrity as one of the
main factors in casting the
then unknown actor.
He conducted his life
with dignity and without
scandal or controversy.
Even before his accident,
Reeve was a common sight
in children’s hospitals, visit
ing with terminally-ill kids
who wanted to meet
Superman.
After his accident, Reeve
revealed he had even more
to give back, to share and to
teach us. He lobbied
Congress for better medical
insurance coverage for vic
tims of such accidents, and
he even went before his
peers at the Academy
Awards and told an entire
industry more films with a
social consciousness need to
be made.
Reeve never waivered
from his goals, he never gave
up, and he persevered until
the end of his life.
It’s a powerful legacy; an
example I hope to continue
living by. The Superman I
grew up with didn’t betray
me. He inspired me as a
child with values of selfless
ness, social responsibility,
idealism and dauntless
courage. These values,
often scoffed at by my jaded
peers as “dorky,” were values
Reeve also embraced in his
real life, and he was respect
ed for it.
Today, I still believe in
those values, and I have
watched a man I admired,
respected and idolized go to
his grave with those values
intact, even in the face of
great hardship.
For all nine years of his
paralysis, his wife remained
by his side with his family
around him, supporting him
without fail. I doubt Reeve
has any regrets, and if he
did, I cannot imagine what
they would be.
I hope I can conduct my
life with half the integrity
and courage, for if I can, I
will be a very rich person
indeed. I may not be a
superhero in the end, but
that’s all right. To be a true
superman is to wear a pair
of boots only Christopher
Reeve could fill.
He was an inspiration to
countless children and a
superhero to a generation.
Our world was made better
by his presence. I will miss
you, Mr. Reeve. Rest in
peace.
— Michael French is a
news stringer for The Red &
Black
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Richt needs to use both QBs’ abilities
As I am neither a former
nor current University stu
dent — in fact I am only the
spouse of a faculty member
— I can understand if my
comments on last
Saturday’s football game
against Tennessee fall on
deaf ears. To paraphrase a
popular saying, I may not be
a University supporter, but I
play one at home.
It seems to me that Mark
Richt is guilty of a common
psychosis that plagues
many coaches: they are
slaves to time-honored
traditions.
Despite how I personally
feel, I will not get into a dis
cussion over who should be
starting at quarterback for
the University. Richt is the
coach, so not only is it his
call, he should be more
knowledgeable on the sub
ject than anyone. I will say,
however, situational QB
substitution should be con
sidered by the University
coaching staff.
There are simply times in
a football game where one
player, and his particular
talents, are preferred over
another. Everyone who fol
lows football knows of third-
down backs, goal-line/short
yardage backs and ends,
etc. Why not a short-
yardage QB?
If at no other time during
the game, D.J. Shockley
should have been given the
nod to QB the team during
the final drive. Given his
effectiveness earlier in the
game, leading Georgia to
it’s first touchdown, he
probably should have been
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given even more time in the
game.
And if not for the entire
final drive, definitely for the
final play.
With only 10 or so yards
to go on the final play of the
game, the Bulldogs should
have taken a page from the
Atlanta Falcons’ playbook,
inserted Shockley into the
game (which would have
probably caused the Vols to
take a time-out) and rolled
out Shockley to one side of
the field with a
receiver/back paralleling
him downfield for a pass. It
would have caused one or
more of the following to
occur:
1. Remove the effective
Vols rush from the play for a
longer time that a straight
drop-back by the QB;
2. Given one more threat
(D.J. running) for the
defense to consider, and;
3. Opened more options
for scoring, other than the
lame pass that was fired to
no one in particular on the
final play
But, of course, a move
such as the one I just
described, which would
have removed the team’s
“leader” from the huddle at
such a key moment, would
be frowned upon by football
purists who buy into the
whole “QB=Team Leader”
mantra.
It’s a shame that the
quarterback position is the
only one in football that, for
the most part, refuses to
insert the best skilled per
son for a particular circum
stance at any given time.
I would hate to think the
avoidance of a QB contro
versy motivated Richt to
avoid using Shockley more,
especially on the final
drive/play of the game.
Craig Washington
Houston, Texas
Not all Christians
like gameday group
I would like to respond to
Zack Polanski and let him
know the people with the
signs and megaphones on
gameday are not just offen
sive to foreign exchange stu
dents. That group of people
is just as offensive to right
wingers and Christians as it
is to anyone else.
I would like Zack to
know they are a very small
group which should not be
considered as a true repre
sentative of Christianity
Despite what that group
shouts through their mega
phones, the true message of
Christianity is not of hate
and condemnation.
Greg Tanner
Senior, Gainesville
Religion
VAUGHN WILSON
▲
Majority rule
not always
ruling right
A lot of controversial
issues here lately
have all surrounded
majority rule. A great
example is the gay mar
riage amendment that is
currently being debated
on the state and federal
levels.
Many conservatives
claim the majority of
Americans are against
gay marriage and thus
gay marriage should be
banned. Well, if a majority
of Americans are against
gay marriage then it
should be law right?
The answer is no. I
would never claim the
American people are
dumb, but the fact is the
American “majority” has
been wrong a lot in the
past.
One can look at the
issue of civil rights for
example. If America had
gone with simple majority
rule then the majority of
white Southerners would
have voted to keep segre
gation in the 1950s and
1960s.
Another great example
of flawed majority rule
can also be seen in the
civil rights era when
many white Southerners
(and a large portion of
white Northerners)
opposed interracial
marriage.
Our founding fathers
set up the Constitution
to avoid mob rule so a
frantic majority could not
step all over the rights of
the minority. They did
not intend the legislative
process to legislate
morals or values.
Whenever America strives
to legislate based on sim
ple majority rule and
nothing else, it’s wrong.
Conservatives are also
hypocrites when it comes
to majority rule. Some
Republicans say we
should amend the
Constitution to save mar
riage from utter destruc
tion by activist judges.
What many conserva
tives don’t like to tell you
is a vast majority of
Americans support a ban
on assault weapons in
this country President
Bush did not reauthorize
the assault weapon ban
claiming it hurt gun
owners.
So my question to con
servatives is if pure
majority rule is such a
great thing when it comes
to gay marriage, why
can’t you apply these
same rules to the ban on
assault weapons?
The answer is liberals
and conservatives alike
are both guilty of using
majority rule when it is
convenient to their cause
and this is wrong.
America should do
what is right no matter if
5 percent of the popula
tion is in favor or 95 per
cent is in favor.
Where is all the yelling
when it comes to “activist
judges” in such cases as
Brown v. Board of
Education or Roe v.
Wade? These cases, at the
time, were very controver
sial and the judges who
resided over these cases
were also claimed to be
activist judges. They
faced the same criticisms
as judges do today.
The more judges who
take a role in moving for
ward progressive social
issues, the better off our
country is. The vast
majority of Americans
now support civil rights
and a woman’s right to
choose because of the
same activist judges that
so many conservatives
love to complain about.
I hope and pray our
legislators and judges,
whether it be gay mar
riage or any other social
issue, will do what is right
no matter how many peo
ple agree or disagree with
the issue at hand.
— Vaughn Wilson is a
sophomore majoring in
Social Science Education.