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4 | Thursday, June 22, 2006 | The Red & Black
Colin Dunlop | Editor in Chief
editor (cvrandb.com
Lyndsay Hoban | Managing Editor
me@randb.com
Katy De Luca | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1 893, INDEPENDENT 1980
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
The more you know
Athens Clinic offers free HIV test this
week to watch the backs of Athenians
Sexually transmitted Diseases are not to be
taken lightly, especially one as serious as HIV.
This week, the Athens Clinic is offering free
HIV tests to those who want to be tested.
The test being used is a new and adminis
tered orally, so it requires no blood or needles
and is over 90 percent effective.
Testing should be the new cool thing to do.
Not only is it a good thing to protect yourself,
but it also is important to think about protect
ing others. If you plan on getting tested, tell
someone else to go, too. It’s always better to
know than to be left in the dark.
However, Athens Clinic isn’t the only one
offering HIV tests. The University Health
Center offers traditional HIV tests year-round
for a small fee, and results are available in
about 3 business days.
Whether you get tested or not, it’s still impor
tant to practice safe sex if you are going to be
sexually active.
Put me in, coach
Motivational career gurus are being
used to help graduates find jobs
College graduates are utilizing a new
resource to help them find their dream jobs.
For a weekly fee, students can hire a person to
help them find interviews and prepare for the
crazy post-graduate real world.
While the idea sounds like a win-win situa
tion, college graduates shouldn’t have to rely on
someone else to help them find a job. They sur
vived by themselves for the time they have
been in college, so why start now?
Yes, we admit the job market and post-colle
giate reality can be scary, but there are other,
more economical actions to help one find a job.
The Career Center, located in Clark Howell
Hall, offers many of the same services as career
coaches do, yet for a price any college student
will like — free.
Whether you need help getting your resume
together, finding an interview or even figuring
out what exactly you want to do after you grad
uate, the Career Center is full of people just
wanting to help.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t know exactly what
to do post-graduation. Nobody else really
knows either.
The beat goes on
Athens’ yearly music festival starts
this week to a rhythm all its own
Athens consistently has been ranked as one
of the top college music towns for years by
magazines such as Rolling Stone, and this
weekend is a shining example of why it’s earned
that ranking.
AthFest kicked off this week and lasts till
Sunday, with bands like The Whigs ready to
entertain the locals. Most shows are free, with
wristbands and small covers for some events —
it’s like a poor man’s Bonnaroo.
The festival can be a crash course in the
Athens music and art for those who haven’t yet
had the chance to seep it in. As Athenians we
need to appreciate just how good we have it
when it comes to the variety of entertainment
available.
AthFest is great for families and students
alike, so everyone should try and spend a little
time downtown this weekend.
Just remember, try not to drink that much —
there will be children around.
NEWS: 706-433-3002
News Editor: Cristen Conger
Associate News Editor: Jessica Jordan
Sports Editor: Alex Byington
Variety Editor: P.T. Umphress, Jr.
Photography Editor: Andy McFee
Editorial Adviser: Ed Morales
Recruitment Editor: Jessica Jordan
Design Editor: Andrea Askew
Online Editor: Thomas Houston
Chief Copy Editor: Jessica McClean
Cartoonist: Bill Richards
News Writers: Michelle Floyd, Lauren Morgan, David
Pittman, Brian "Aubrey" Smith
Sports Writers: Marshall Duncan
Variety Writers: Miles Moffit
Photographers: Leigh Auerbach, Waites Laseter III, Julia
Norman
Page Designers: Rachel Boyd, Nathan Evick, Tara Nelson,
Rebecca Rudolph, Jessica Luton
Stringers: Rebecca Ann Bowen
Copy Editors: Brooks Becker, Alicia Choi
ADVERTISING: 706-433-3001
Student Advertising Manager: Natalie Lawrence
Account Executives: Anne Marie Aycock, Irena Chernova,
Lindsay Nichols, Amanda Ryan, Travis Williams
Classified Manager: Kimberly Drew
Advertising Director: Rick Chapman
Production Manager: Sam Pittard
Office Manager: Mary Straub
Receptionist: Kimberly Drew
Publisher: Harry Montevideo
The Red & Black is published Monday through Friday fall and
spring semesters and each Thursday summer semester, except hol
idays 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 Colin Dunlop, Lyndsay Hoban, Katy De Luca, Andrea Askew, Jessica McClean,
Thomas Houston, and Tara Nelson.
Reaching Us
Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fax (706) 433-3033
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540 Baxter St., Athens, Ga., 30605
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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.
ETERNAL FLAMES
Editor’s Note: This cartoon appeared in the June 15 edition of the University of North Carolina’s The Daily Tar Heel.
Standards changes over the years
C ertainly, we all have
seen pictures or clips
of Elvis singing and
dancing. The vast majority
of clips I have seen of Elvis
have his voice muted while
the camera shifts between
his dancing and girls watch
ing him perform, mouthing
“I love you” with their arms
flailing above their head.
In the place of Elvis
singing is a local politician’s
voice explaining why Elvis
would not be allowed to play
in his town because of the
sexual nature of his gyrating
hips. The documentary
would continue to explain
the controversy created by
Elvis’ dancing because no
one had danced like him
before. Later the documen
tary describes Elvis’ position
as the King of Rock and Roll
because he was able to
combine black and white
music.
America was again in
controversy with the arrival
of the Beatles in the early
1960s. Originally the Beatles’
mop-top hair cuts were the
source of discussion, and
later some anti-Christianity
comments by John Lennon
once again stirred certain
factions of American society.
People could not imagine
performers not looking
clean-cut when performing.
The Beatles wore suits while
performing, but look at that
hair!
Later, the Beatles were
met with protest in
Southern states because
John Lennon noted what
he perceived to be
Christianity’s waning popu
larity.
Today, Elvis’ dancing
style looks silly and certainly
not provocative. Likewise,
the Beatles look overdressed
on stage by current stan
dards. Long hair is no longer
considered wild. As for
singers’ dancing, let’s say
people no longer need an
imagination to link it to sex.
Imagine a split screen
between Elvis dancing and a
50 Cent music video.
Michael Arndt
Now imagine a split
screen between The Beatles
performing and the Red
Hot Chili Peppers’ lead
singer with a single tube
sock protecting him from
complete nudity. This pro
vides an admittedly skewed
and limited evolution of
popular music trends in
America in less than a gen
eration.
This type of analysis can
be applied to other media of
entertainment — especially
movies and television. Both
have become significantly
more sexually explicit and
violent.
It is next to impossible to
watch primetime television
and not see references to
premarital or extramarital
sex. Movies, especially with
constantly improving special
effects, present disgustingly
graphic pictures of
mutilated bodies, decapita
tion and other degradations.
The obvious question is,
where will we be in fifty
years? Some will argue that
America’s moral character is
eroding.
This argument naturally
leads to the conclusion that
we need a return to the
morals and values that were
present in the 1950s and
1960s. This argument is par
ticularly weak because of
the widespread moral
wrongs of the 1950s and
1960s.
An example of this would
be the Civil Rights struggle
occurring during those
decades. Schools were seg
regated. Peaceful protesters
were abused or killed, lead
ers were assassinated and
politicians waited until the
last moment to act. So
thanks, but no thanks —
we’ll keep our morals.
What can be done? You
can’t un-ring a bell, but can
we deafen its volume? Can
we begin imposing restric
tions so we don’t have hard
core pornography playing on
ABC in 50 years?
The structures are
already in place to police
what images or songs are
being released to what audi
ences, but they need to be
strengthened.
Certain songs should not
be played on the radio, even
if it is the clean version.
There is no way we can stop
kids from listening to radio
stations, and they don’t
need to hear how many girls
you slept with, no matter
how impressive the number
is.
Cable television also
needs to be more judicious
about shows playing at
times when kids will be
watching. The movie ratings
need to rate more movies R
and fewer PG-13.
Some things go without
saying, but will be men
tioned for the sake of clarity.
First, parents should be
actively involved so they
know what their kids are lis
tening to and watching.
Parental involvement will be
more effective than any pos
sible bureaucratic measures,
but the bureaucracy would
provide assistance.
Parents also should dis
cuss with their kids about
separating entertainment
from reality.
Second, when I say “kids”
in this piece, I generally
mean younger than 14 years
old.
Lastly, I apologize for the
conservative nature of this
piece. I had a dream about a
beautiful wife, four kids, a
white picket fence in metro-
Atlanta, and well, I just got
carried away.
— Michael Arndt is a
senior from Snellville
majoring in history
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Chinese culture not shown accurately
I think it’s biased if a for
eign writer only writes about
party culture or poverty
problems and ignores the
rich history and classic style
when she is trying to intro
duce Athens to people who
had zero knowledge about
the Classic City.
In same way, the article
and picture with "Redcoats
Hit China" missed the very
point of why the Redcoats
went to China and why
The Red & Black is writing
about the journey. It
should be a journey of
communication and under
standing, not misrepresen
tation.
I am especially confused
by the picture in Kunming.
The Redcoats are in shining
uniforms marching in the
sunshine, while poor
Chinese with broken bags
are sitting in the shadows.
Kunming, the Spring City of
2000 years history,
impressed Marco Polo
but failed to impress the
photographer.
Finally, Chinese food
is far beyond chicken head
soup, which, unfortunately,
is the only Chinese dish
mentioned in the article.
Actually, I never heard of
E-MAILING US
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that soup during my 23
years in China. The point is,
according to my personal
experience in both East and
West, that almost every
mom cooks certain kinds of
uneatable food.
Chong Yu
Graduate Student
Shanghai, China
Paying customers
deserve respect
On June 1,1 bought park
ing for the summer thru ses
sion in Ell. I started class
es on June 8 at 9:15 a.m.,
and imagine my surprise
when I showed up for park
ing around 8:45 a.m. and
there was nowhere to park.
Apparently parking services
put all the orientation stu
dents in our lot.
I realize that you at park
ing services need to fill a lot
to capacity, especially for
the summer, but why do you
treat paying students like
this?
Now students are
forced to park in the far
reaches of the parking lot
and walk really, really far to
reach the busses because
the orientation temporary
permits have taken all of the
spaces.
Some days when I get to
the parking area late, I am
forced to take time to drive
around looking for parking
or just take the far away
parking space and take
extra time walking to the
buses.
I realize this is not your
problem because you proba
bly either have a really nice
parking space close to the
door or an assigned parking
space, but you know that is
not right to treat students
who paid for parking this
way.
What are you going to do
for us at this point?
Patricia Fredrickson
Senior, Athens
Social Work
Andrea Askew
▲
Big wedding
sounds like
a lot of work
I must have missed
some class like
Weddings 1101 growing-
up, because right now, I
feel like I am bumbling
around in the dark.
Sure, I’ve been to wed
dings. I've even been close
friends with the bride. But
come August, I get to be
front and center as a
bridesmaid for one of my
best friends in the world.
And I am so out of my
league it’s not even funny.
Saturday I get to
attend a lovely little ritual
known as a bridal shower.
This I am familiar with,
but as a guest only. I've
certainly never had to set
one up. Inviting guests,
dealing with food and
making sure everything
goes off without a hitch is
tough.
Adding to the difficulty
is the fact that I am the
one bridesmaid who lives
out of town, so I get to be
left out of the planning
proceedings. I really am
not a fan of having to be
told how things are going
to be instead of getting to
help plan them from the
beginning like the rest of
the girls.
I also wish I had a
guidebook or something
that instructs me which
present to bring to which
shower (since I have to go
to all of them). Or do I
even need to bring a gift
to the shower if I am
going to bring a gift to the
wedding? I feel like I
should get something just
for my bride as a ‘shower
gift’ and then something
for the both of them as
the ‘wedding present.’ But
I am just kind of improvis
ing. I hope it's the right
course of action.
Also, what are you sup
posed to do when you are
close with both the bride
and the groom? Or just
the groom? I have a feel
ing this question is going
to plague me over and
over again as I grow up
since I have a lot of guy
friends whose girlfriends I
am not that close with.
Too bad I won't get to be
a bridesmaid for them.
I know right now that I
would not able to handle a
big wedding. Now that I
think about it, it actually
would be kind of difficult
for me to even think of
enough people I wanted
to invite to warrant a
large event.
My family consists of
me, my brother, my mom,
my dad and my aunt.
That's it. I have a few
delinquent cousins, but
we don't talk about them.
I would only invite the
family and my best friends
to the wedding. No fuss,
no muss and a good time
to be had by all.
Some people dream of
a fairy-tale wedding, lavish
in detail and planned a
year in advance. And if
that is what you want
your perfect day to be,
then go for it. Set your
goals, and don’t settle for
anything but the best.
I'm far from cheap, but
to me, a huge fancy wed
ding sounds like a lot of
work.
Getting married to the
man I love should be a
time of relaxation and
nothing but happiness.
Stressing about making
sure every detail is perfect
does not sound like fun
to me. And I would
definitely be stressing
since I am kind of a per
fectionist.
In short, weddings
seem like a ton of trouble.
I am going to make my
parents very happy one
day when I want to have a
small wedding, preferably
at a beach resort or some
thing like that, then come
back and have an awe
some reception with all
my friends in attendance.
Plenty of good food, great
beer and fun music to
dance to is all I need.
“Grillz”, anyone?
— Andrea Askew is the
design editor for
The Red & Black