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4 | Friday, September 16, 2005 | The Red & Black
Brent Mosley | Editor in Chief
Jason Langbehn | Managing Editor
editor@randb.com
.... me@randb.com
Brian McDearmon | Opinions Editor
opiniom@randb.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1 893, INDEPENDENT 1980
Vive la resistance!
Athens store owner Danna Lea and her
frog Francois are putting up the fight of
their lives, because the county commis
sion decided Francois was a violation of
their precious sign ordinance.
The real question here is how can a
statue of a frog defy a sign ordinance?
Statue ... sign.
Statue ... sign.
We know they both start with ‘s,’ but
come on, this is a little ridiculous.
Hello, my name is Bob, and I’m a
Webaholic
According to a study conducted last
year, more students cited computer use
as a more significant hindrance to their
academic performance than alcohol.
It’s a good thing nobody told the Task
Force on General Education and
Student Learning, or else we might be
dealing with a crusade against week-
night Internet use.
“Evolution, Schmevolution”
History professor Ed Larson fulfilled
every political fanboy’s dream this week
by going on the “Daily Show” with Jon
Stewart. We understand that the
Pulitzer Prize is a prestigious honor
and congratulate Larson on his
achievements, but it’s the “Daily
Show”?!?!
The other football
The soccer team is off to an amazing
start — ranked, undefeated and having
its best start in eight years. They have
also outscored opponents 23-1.
The team also leads the SEC in total
attendance. Bleeding red and black
means more than just showing up to
football games, and the fans have done
a great job supporting the Lady Dogs in
their awesome season opener.
Double Secret Probation
It must be disconcerting to take a look
at the University’s Master Plan and find
your house has been mysteriously
replaced by bushes. But what’s really
upsetting is no one seems to know
what is going to replace the five frater
nities being moved from North Campus.
Students have a right to know what the
University is planning.
Way to keep going
Everyone should show their Bulldog
pride Saturday and hope for another
Georgia victory. But while we cheer our
team for their prowess on the field, we
should also cheer the resilience of the
26 players for Louisiana-Monroe who
come from areas hit by Hurricane
Katrina. Their determination to push
on during a time of adversity should be
an inspiration to us all.
Quote of the week: “I had the honor as a
Marine NCO of standing in this hall and giving
Noah his first salute. I will now give him his
final salute.”
— Rick Harris at a memorial service held
Sept. 9 in honor of his son, Noah, and Bradley
Arms, both of whom were killed serving in
Iraq.
Our Staff
NEWS: 433-3002
News Editor: Sara Pauff
Associate News Editor: Caroline Ervin
Sports Editor: Matt Borenstein
Variety Editor: Rebecca Rudolph
Out & About Editor: Katie Tanner
Photography Editor: Katie Foley
Chief Photographer: Lauren Carroll
Interim Editorial Adviser: Lori Johnston
Editorial Assistant: Jennifer Lowman
Recruitment Editor: Jessica Kennedy
Cartoonist: Bill Richards
Design Desk Editor: Jud Stacer
News Writers: John Caldwell, Grayson Irvin, Todd South
Sports Writers: Ryan Crawford, Jamie Cwalinski, Stacey
Lishok, Sean Morrison, David Pittman, Austin Smith,
Peter Steinbauer, Beth Zabel
Variety Writers: Krista Derbecker, Michelle Floyd
Page Designers: Anna Bentley, Elisa Bolin, Rachel
Boyd, Jennifer Burk, Marie Busch, Nicole Bush, Allison
Cianci, Katie Crowell, Liz Cunningham, Anna Felz,
Charlie Gasner, Erin Grosse, Lyndsay Hoban, Emilia
Liem, Tara Nelson
Graphic Artists: Anne Brogdon, Steven Murphy, Kevin
Patterson, Joe Rice
Photographers: Ashley Chapman, Emily Crawford, Sara
Freeland, Jordan Hadwin
Stringers: Danee Attebury, Sejal Bhima, Rebecca Bowen,
Jessica Bower, Ben Bridges, Alex Byinton, Cristen
Conger, Katie Crews, Katy DeLuca, Amy Edgerton,
Rachel Franco, Kathleen Frey, Ashley Fielding, Graham
Gaines, Audrey Goodson, Nicka Grimes, Deshaun Harris,
Megan Harrison, Danielle Hutlas, Sarah King, Jon
McGough, Stephen Milligan, Miles Moffit, Noona Oh,
Glenn Orman, Matt Quinn, Michael Robinson, Mandy
Rodgers, Emily Samuels, Dana Schmidt, Lauri Short, P.T.
Umphress
Copy Editors: Alison Boggs,Juanita Cousins, Krystel
Darnell, Anna Dean, Jennifer Gaynor, Jessica McClean,
Elisabeth Parrish, Chelsea Piper, Deepika Rao, Richard
Worthington
ADVERTISING: 433-3001
Student Advertising Manager: Joey Powell
Account Executives: Anne Marie Aycock, Cassie
Frank, Char-Lynn Griego, Heather Hammonds, Natalie
Lawrence, Stephanie Mayfield, Ryan McGinnis,
Meredith McKinney, Bryan Mierke, Miranda Wessinger
Advertising Assistant: Rachel Hickson
Student Classified Manager: Brittany Stathas
Circulation Assistant: Katie McAlpin
Advertising Director: Rick Chapman
Assistant Production Manager: Dan Earle
Production Staff: Andrea Askew, Erin Lindsey, Eric
Lothspeich, Alex Teh
Production Manager: Sam Pittard
Office Manager: Mary Straub
Assistant Office Manager: Valerie Hogan
Receptionist: Talley Andrews
Publisher: Harry Montevideo
The Red & Black is published Monday through Friday fall and
spring semesters and each Thursday summer semester, except
holidays and exam periods, by The Red & Black Publishing
Company Inc., a non-profit campus newspaper not affiliated with
the University of Georgia. Postal address: 540 Baxter St. Athens
GA, 30605. Fax 433-3033. Subscription rate: $195 per year.
Opinions expressed in The Red & Black other than unsigned editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not nec
essarily those of The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors.
Editorial board members include Brian McDearmon, Brent Mosley, Jason Langbehn, Jud Stacer and Deepika Rao.
Reaching Us
Phone (706) 433-8002 | Fax (706) 433-3033
opinions@randb.com | www.redandblack.com
540 Baxter St., Athens, Ga„ 30605
Letters should include name, year in school, hometown, phone
number, major or job title or other appropriate identification.
Letters should be no more than 150 words. All letters are
subject to editing for length, style and libelous material.
X oM &6T IN - ™
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Abviso,
Everyone deserves safe ride home
O n the University’s
Campus Transit Web
site (http://www.tran-
sit.uga.edu) written in
bright red letters are the
reassuring words, “Your
safety is our main concern!”
The exclamation point
obviously shows they mean
business.
And yet, in a town well-
known for its downtown
nightlife, it seems a bit
bizarre that there are hardly
any night bus routes run
ning to provide students
with a safe and guaranteed-
means of transportation
back home.
The only bus routes that
run at night are East-West
and Family Housing, both of
which stop at the Arch
downtown.
According to the Campus
Transit site, East-West Night
Route is “a continuation of
the day East-West route
service deviating to service
the Riverbend Parkway
apartment complexes after 7
p.m.”
This route is available
every 20 minutes until 12:05
a.m. at the College Park
Apartments and 12:12 a.m.
at the East Campus Parking
Deck.
The Family Housing
Night Route is available
every 20 minutes until 12:05
a.m. at University Commons
and 12:10 a.m. from Family
Housing building. Both
routes make their final
departures from the Arch at
12:29 a.m.
So what we have are
routes that, between the
hours of 7 p.m. and 12:29
a.m., provide people living in
University Commons, Family
Housing, the dorms on
Finley Street and Riverbend
Parkway apartment com
plexes with free ride to and
from downtown.
PT Umphress
That’s great — except for
the fact that many people
prefer to stay downtown
past 12:29 a.m. and neither
of those routes service the
numerous students living
along Milledge Avenue.
It seems a bit backwards
that there is a route taking
freshmen in the dorms
downtown, but not one for
the many of age people liv
ing along Milledge Avenue.
I myself am the vice pres
ident of a fraternity on
Milledge Avenue and thus I
am all too aware of the need
for safe transportation to
and from downtown, not
just for Greeks but also for
those living in apartments
along Milledge Avenue.
Greek students often fre
quent downtown for social
events at bars and would
probably appreciate a night
route that could take them
safely to and from events.
After all, safety is the top
concern for campus transit.
Because the buses don’t
run very late, only people
who live close enough to
downtown to walk back,
namely freshmen in the
dorms, will find a night
route worthwhile.
On top of that, some
would argue walking home
from downtown is not a ter
ribly safe option.
In the big picture, under
age drinking, though ram
pant in this great town of
ours, is a victimless crime.
For that, some would
argue it’s not a real crime at
all since nobody is being
hurt or threatened.
However, driving under
the influence is certainly a
danger to other people, and-
should be enforced as a
crime.
Drinking, both of age and
underage, will always occur
downtown.
This is a fact.
All I’m proposing is that
the University should recog
nize and accept this respon
sibly by providing its stu
dents — even the ones on
Milledge Avenue — with safe
transportation to and from
downtown, and not just
until 12:29 a.m.
Even if new Milledge,
East-West and Family
Housing night routes were
to eat up more gas by run
ning until 2 a.m., the fact
that they would only need to
operate that late Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays
makes it a worthwhile
investment. An investment
that could prevent students
from driving drunk and in
turn save lives. If Campus
Transit really has students’
safety as its top priority,
then it should take this sug
gestion to heart.
I also strongly suggest
the Student Government
Association do its best to
make this request a reality.
If this is something you
want to see happen, contact
SGA president Will Childs at
wchilds@uga.edu, SGA vice-
president Tucker Brown at
avington@uga.edu or
Campus Transit director
Ron Hamlin at
rhamlin@uga.edu.
— PT Umphress is a vari
ety stringer for The Red &
Black
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Accusation of rape requires certainty
Where does Cristen
Conger get off proclaiming
that women should not
question whether or not
they were raped before
reporting it to the police?
Like any crime, it should
be questioned before throw
ing accusations and report
ing things to the police.
It must be easy to dis
miss a life-damaging reputa
tion and possible jail time
from a false rape accusation
where you’re a girl who
would never have to face
such a situation.
Conger’s response to
Matthew Rathel’s letter say
ing women should make
sure they said “no” before
accusing? “I’ve known rape
victims and they said no.”
What a great argument.
I agree that rape is a seri
ous crime and should be
treated as such (who would
n’t?) but false accusations
should come with equal
penalties for equal damage.
— JOEL MICHAELS
Senior, Brunswick
MIS
Louisiana-Monroe
mascot offensive
Sports mascots are usual
ly animals (i.e. bulldogs,
tigers, falcons, etc.). They
are big goofy caricatures for
fans to imitate and wear on
T-shirts.
What does it mean then
E-MAILING US
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complaints? Here’s where
to point and click:
Letters I opinions@randb.com
News Tips I news@randb.com
for someone’s racial and cul
tural identity to be used as a
mascot?
What does it mean for
your people to be carica
tured and mocked and used
for costume?
What does it mean when
a football team calls itself
the Louisiana-Monroe
Indians?
Let’s put this into histori
cal context. Europeans
invade this continent, per
petrate the largest genocide
in history, decimate entire
nations of people, force
entire nations of people off
their land, steal their land
and use it for farms and
plantations then use them
as a football team mascot.
I’ve heard people argue
that Louisiana-Monroe
shouldn’t have to change
the name of their team
because it’s a “tradition.”
Don’t make me laugh.
Changing the name of
your football team isn’t
hard.
Surviving genocide and
centuries of racial and cul
tural oppression is hard.
Naming a football team
the “Indians” is a racist
insult.
— TREVOR ALMON
Senior, Augusta
Anthropology and Women’s
Studies
Rape story starting
to get repetitive
I know that The Red &
Black loves the the amount
of feedback it is getting
since you published your lit
tle rape story and the con
troversy it stirred up for
awhile, but do you think we
can move on to something
else? I’ve read the same two
or three opinions every day
for three weeks now.
Why don’t you guys
(opinionated students and
editors) hold a gathering or
something in the Student
Learning Center — a debate.
If all goes well maybe a
brawl will erupt and you’ll
have something else to
relentlessly beat in to the
ground.
Until then, I simply sug
gest creating an additional
page in the back of the
newspaper dedicated solely
to this issue.
That way I can chunk it
everyday and go on with
reading my paper.
— ALEXANDER HOPE
Sophomore, Griffin
Geology
Jennifer Burk
Don’t let
yourself go
unchallenged
I have never had a pro
fessor give me an A
that I didn’t earn.
That being said, I did
n’t have to work very hard
in many of my classes to
get those A’s.
Malcolm Adams, a pro
fessor in the mathematics
department, wrote in
Wednesday’s issue of The
Red & Black that evi
dence of grade inflation at
the University exists.
Although there are
surely professors award
ing grades to students
they do not deserve, I do
not believe grade inflation
is the main reason why
the mean) grade point
average at the university
has risen over the last 30
years.
Even though I don’t
believe teachers hand out
A’s like candy, I also don’t
think many make it too
difficult to receive them.
Take almost any 1000
level course, for instance.
Class usually consists
of a power point presen
tation, a lecture that
many sleep or do the
crossword through and
homework assignments
consisting of readings
that usually do not
appear on the test.
I’ve spent probably a
few hundred dollars on
books I’ve never read.
And if you’re really
lucky, the notes will be
posted on WebCT, and
there’s no attendance pol
icy, so you don’t have to
go to class if you don’t
feel like it.
In those cases, the stu
dents do all the work
(which is basically taking
four to five multiple
choice tests) and are
awarded grades based on
their performance.
Did they earn the A?
Yes.
Was this grade infla
tion?
No.
There are several pos
sible reasons why this
happens.
Maybe the professor is
overburdened with
research. Maybe the class
is simply too large for a
professor to make numer
ous assignments and ade
quately grade them.
And I’m not saying all
classes at the University
take about as much effort
as sucking your thumb.
I’ve had plenty of class
es that required me to
stay on top of my home
work, pay attention in
class and challenged me
both inside and outside of
the classroom.
The solution to discov
ering why we have higher
grades than we did 30
years ago isn’t as simple
as blaming grade inflation
and lowering grades
across the board.
Instead we — students,
faculty and administra
tors — must look at
teaching and learning
practices and ask our
selves if we are doing the
best that we can.
If the class is too large,
professors should be
awarded more teaching
assistants (or a teaching
assistant, period) to help
with the grading.
As students (and I am
guilty of this, too), we
shouldn’t seek out the
easy A on the Key, but
rather look for a class
that will actually teach us
something we can use in
the future.
Some of the classes I
value most at the
University were the ones I
had to do the most work
for.
If we change our work
ethic and still maintain a
high proportion of A’s, we
will know it was because
they were earned through
vigorous work and effort.
And all this talk of
grade inflation will be a
thing of the past.
— Jennifer Burk is a
page designer for The Red
& Black.