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4A | Thursday, November 9, 2006 | The Red & Black
David Pittman | Editor in Chief
editor@randb.com
Lyndsay Hoban | Managing Editor
me@randb.com
Lauren Morgan | Opinions Editor
opinions@ramlb.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1 893, INDEPENDENT 1980
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial hoard
What comes next
Republicans rule in Georgia while
Dems fight to reclaim House, Senate
Late Tuesday night, Republicans, Democrats,
conservatives, liberals and American voters
stayed glued to their televisions until the wee
hours of the morning.
Will the excitement on Capitol Hill and
across the nation continue throughout all the
newly elected officials times in office?
Moreover, University students should be on
the lookout for politicians to keep promises
they made on this Opinions page.
With Democrats regaining control of the
House and barely scraping by in the Senate
pending a runoff in Virginia, the political tide is
turning more blue in the Legislature. But in
Georgia, the state still bleeds red since Sonny
“Do” Perdue beat Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor with 58
percent of the vote.
In Perdue’s column we ran on Monday, the
governor promised to keep HOPE and Pre-K a
priority. “Georgia parents and college-bound
students can rest assured that I will only use
Lottery funds for these two important pro
grams as long as I am Governor,” Perdue said.
Students and voters need to check Sonny to
ensure that lotto funds keep going to those
who excel academically.
With Doug McKillip taking over the House
seat to represent Athens, students should ask
themselves if the Brain Train will ever become
a reality. McKillip said “Educating our children,
though, is the key to regional and statewide
prosperity,” so an Athens-Atlanta transit line
may never have tracks laid.
Newly elected senators Ralph T. Hudgens
and Bill Cowsert face the task of giving the
University proper representation in Atlanta
since Athens is split into two separate districts.
And the mayoral race is still undecided with
incumbent Heidi Davidson facing off against
Charlie Maddox in a run off vote on Dec. 5. At
least bar owners and partiers can breathe easy
for another month without fear of downtown
shutting down by midnight.
Students, keep an eye on these officials over
the next two to four years to check if campaign
promises are fulfilled. It’s your Athens, too.
Hoop, hoop hooray
Men’s basketball has their first season
game on Friday, go support them!
College basketball is a beautiful thing.
As enthusiasm for the University’s football
team dwindles, the men’s basketball team
starts its season this Friday against Southern
University, opening a new world of athletic
entertainment.
The fast-paced (and climate-controlled)
game is the perfect fix for Georgia sport specta
tors looking for a little excitement.
Plus, students can check out the third mas
cot the University only unleashes for winter
sports, Spike.
With Florida, LSU and Wisconsin making
trips to Stegeman this season, students have
the opportunity to watch some of the best
teams in the NCAA for next to nothing.
Only on a college campus can you get action
this close, this cheap and this convenient.
Next time you’re planning a night out, see if
you can work in a few hours to go support the
Bulldogs. You won’t be bored.
Stories from journalism boot camp
I t’s not real — that’s what
I kept telling myself as I
crouched behind a con
crete road barrier. There
were no bullets whizzing by.
Yet, every time I heard
the echo of M-4 fire, I hit the
deck, my heart beating
much faster than it should.
This wasn’t a war zone.
But “it’s the closest thing to
combat without blowing
stuff up,” as one sergeant
put it.
It was the National
Training Center at Fort
Irwin, Calif. — the place
where U.S. soldiers go to
customize their combat
skills to suit the realities in
Iraq. With 11 mock-Iraqi vil
lages set up in the Mojave
Desert, the NTC puts
American soldiers in Iraq
before setting foot there.
This summer, I went too.
Along with three other
students — Danee Attebury,
Emily Crawford and David
Pittman — I was sent to the
NTC by the Grady College’s
Cox Institute for Newspaper
Management Studies.
Our intention was to
learn about the Army and
whether becoming war cor
respondents was for us. The
Army wanted, through our
presence, to help train
American soldiers on how to
handle the press. Here I use
the word “handle” deliber
ately.
For our rotation at the
NTC, we were part of an
Army unit dedicated to
teaching soldiers how to use
reporters on the battlefield.
As a band of pretend jour
nalists from different news
outlets, we showed them
how to take our weapons —
notebooks and cameras —
and make them their own.
During our first days
there, smaller units of the
training brigade were sent to
villages across the desert
where they would run the
same simulated missions for
hours.
We made small talk with
soldiers, chatting about
desert weather and how they
missed mom. As a rule, we
reserved meaty questions for
sergeants and higher. It was
open season with anyone
Brian McDearmon
whose collar had bars.
Between missions, train
ers asked us how lieutenants
and captains performed.
Were they confident? Were
they cocky? About their
answers — Did they offer too
much information? Were
they consistent? And was
their message positive about
U.S. military progress in
Iraq?
Platoon leaders and com
pany commanders who did
n’t get their lines right would
get a talking to. Then we’d
do the mission again —
another opportunity to
rehearse their answers.
When bombs went off, the
relationship between the
press and Army got edgier.
While talking to a couple
of soldiers at a checkpoint
outside one village, a sniper
opened fire on troops inside
the town. My reporter’s
instinct was to first peek
around the tank for a look,
then head for the action.
But the sergeant in
charge wasn’t having it. In
no time I was crouched low
with a private’s hand around
the back of my neck being
whisked from humvee to
humvee away from the fight
ing.
As an embedded journal
ist, I agreed to wear an Army
leash, and it wasn’t long
enough to get the story.
The unique media train
ing soldiers get at the NTC
underscores the nature of
America’s fight in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where victory
hangs as much on image as
on body counts
Planners at the NTC
know that to beat the
enemy, the U.S. military
must win over Iraqis and
defeat the perception that
it’s there to rule the country.
They also know that
keeping troops in Iraq long
enough to achieve this
requires managing public
opinion at home.
To be sure, all Americans
have a stake in this fight,
and democratic success is
the best outcome for Iraq
and the United States.
But spending almost a
month inside the U.S. mili
tary spin machine has me
fearful for the balance
between the military’s
strategic need for a compre
hensive public relations
strategy and the American
public’s need for independ
ent, accurate reports about
the war.
Despite their message of
cooperation and partnership
with the press, the Army’s
focus seemed to be on con
taining journalists and
restricting the flow of infor
mation between them and
soldiers on the ground.
When thousands of
American soldiers and Iraqis
have died, when our war
spending is costing the
country hundreds of billions,
when a thinly spread mili
tary weakens our capacity to
respond to North Korea and
Iran, it’s imperative that
journalists in Iraq be allowed
to give us the full picture.
During one firefight at the
NTC, a burly lieutenant with
a short fuse for reporters
hustled me into a building
and ordered three soldiers
with rifles to keep me there.
After several minutes of
weighing my options, I made
a break for it and was thank
ful to get away without eat
ing a mouthful of sand.
In those few moments of
captivity, I didn’t witness the
battle, I didn’t get photo
graphs. An Iraqi boy had
been shot, but it wasn’t clear
whether the insurgents or
the Americans were respon
sible. I didn’t get the story I
should have.
But that was make-
believe. I worry that many
embedded journalists in Iraq
are kept away from the real
stories our public needs.
— Brian McDearmon is
the news editor for
The Red & Black
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Cowsert fan doesn’t support coverage
NEWS: 433-3002
News Editor: Brian McDearmon
Associate News Editor: Audrey Goodson
Sports Editor: Jamie Cwalinski
Variety Editor: Shanna Ward
First & Goal Editor: Peter Steinbauer
Out & About Editor: Matthew Grayson
Photography Editor: Andy McFee
Chief Photographer: Scott Childs
Chief Copy Editor: Jessica McClean
Design Editor: Andrea Askew
Online Editor: Thomas Houston
Recruitment Editor: Lindsey Peacock
Graphic Artist: Randy Glance
Editorial Assistant: Katherine Tippins
Editorial Adviser: Ed Morales
News Staff Writers: Nita Cousins, Brian Hughes, Joe Mason,
Sara Pauff, Kelly Proctor, Aubrey Smith
Sports Staff Writers: Matthew Borenstein, Alex Byington, Tyler
Estep, Megan Harrison, Phillip Kisubika, Sam Steinberg
Variety Staff Writers: Sejal Bhima, Krista Derbecker, Michelle
Floyd, Miles Moffit, Emily Samuels, Kelly Skinner, PT Umphress,
Rachel Webster
Photographers: Heather Finley, Danielle Hutlas, Caroline
Kilgore, Tom O’Connor, Colin Smith
Design Desk: Lauren Albrecht, Rachel Boyd, Marie Busch, Nick
Ciarochi, Katy De Luca, Nate Evick, Rachel Forbes, Charlie
Gasner, Lauren Leschper, Melanie McNeely, Tara Nelson, Diane
Park, Rebecca Rudolph
Stringers: Rusty Bailey, Ashley Beebe, Phillip Blume, Ann
Cantrell, Lawrence Conneff, Carolyn Crist, Marshall Duncan,
Robinns Exume, Amy Farley, Laura Galbraith, Alexis Garrabo,
Katie Golden, Christina Graff, Charles Griffin, Christopher
Homer, Elizabeth Humma, Danielle Hutlas, Megan Kojima,
Whitney Kessler, Sarah King, Elyse Koenig, Lauren Leighton,
Jessica Levine, Abbi Libers, Adam Lipper, Jessica Luton, Shaina
Mangino.Pearman Parker, Abby Peck, Joel Penn, Allie Petit,
Scott Reid, Mandy Rodgers, Sonia Sharan, Kimberleigh Stan,
Alexandra Walker, Josh Weiss, Trevor Williams, Alec Wooden
Copy Desk: Brooks Becker, Alicia Choi, Colin Dunlop, Tiago
Moura, Shannon Otto, Elisabeth Parrish, Chelsea Piper, Amy
Winnett
ADVERTISING: 433-3001
Student Advertising Manager: Natalie Lawrence
Account Executives: Anne Marie Aycock, Jacob Berton, Tyler
English, Irena Chernova, Laura-Leigh Gillis,
Char-Lynn Griego, Rachel Hickson, Meredith McKinney, Lindsay
Nichols, Amanda Ryan
Advertising Assistant: Jennifer Mendel
Student Classified Manager: Liz Cunningham, Candace Miller
Advertising Director: Rick Chapman
Web Developer: Nikita Smeshko
Production Staff: Natalie Boyd, Julie Leung, Leslie Mintz, Brett
Turner, Rebekah Twiss
Production Manager: Sam Pittard
Office Manager: Mary Straub
Assistant Office Manager: Mary Cranford
Receptionist: Kimberly Drew
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.
I would like to express my
surprise and disappointment
with the article The Red &
Black published
“Redistricting Works for
Cowsert as he downs Kidd.”
I volunteered for Mr.
Cowsert and he is a very
genuine, honest and dedicat
ed person.
While volunteering, I was
able to experience some
dirty campaigning that Jane
Kidd and her campaign took
part in. I felt that your arti
cle was very biased and
focused more on Kidd bash
ing Cowsert than on
Cowsert’s victory. I believe
that Cowsert will do a great
job as our new state senator.
SERENA NEUMANN
Sophomore, Marietta
English and political
science
Samuels’ column
needs a makeover
Let me preface this by
saying: I applaud Emily
Samuels for her vigor and
interest in men’s fashion and
providing fashion advice.
However, I do not find it
amusing that she would
wish to address the topic in
such a childlike manner. I
believe that men are not as
fashion “unconscious” as she
seems to think. Do not give
us tips as if we were children
or did not possess the ability
to successfully, and fashion
ably, dress ourselves.
If you are going to
address this topic all week,
please approach it with the
same respect and candor as
you do when looking up
trends and tips for yourself.
WHITNEY CLAY MONTFORD
Junior, East Dublin
Advertising and consumer
journalism
Mascot scares fans
and small children
I found myself trembling
with excitement as I stood
in the stands to watch my
first men’s basketball game.
A fan next to me mentioned
the mascot Spike was to
appear soon, and letting my
own naivete get the best of
me, I foolishly wondered,
“Another cute mascot?!”
I was startled and fright
ened, clinging desperately
onto my friend in the seat
next to me as a 9-foot fiend
with the head of a dog, body
of an ogre, came storming
out. The thing called “Spike”
made Victor Frankenstein’s
monster seem like a child’s
toy. It spastically bounded
across the floor, occasionally
amputating one of its legs,
for the simple amusement of
imitating dancing or bounc
ing. If Spike, or should I say
Satan, can dismember him
self for sheer entertainment,
what’s next, besides, of
course, head butting the
beast that is two times our
size. Hey kids, here’s an
idea: let’s go outside and
play hot potato with
grenades and then wrestle
grizzly bears.
MARY RICKER
Freshman, Roswell
Spanish and biology
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 David Pittman, Lyndsay Hoban and Lauren Morgan.
reaching
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IS
Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fax (706) 433-3033
opinions@randb.com | www.redandblack.com
540 Baxter St., Athens, Ga„ 30605
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Letters should be no more than 150 words. All letters are
subject to editing for length, style and libelous material.
s
Phillip Blume
A
Freedom of
press dies a
slow death
T o the public, jour
nalists are less
respected than
lawyers or salesmen.
That’s according to a
Harris Poll that lists the
occupations Americans
view as “most prestigious”
—those that “most help
others.” Even actors and
entertainers are more
esteemed.
Why do so many
Americans view journal
ists with contempt?
Yes, we have had our
liars and cheaters, and
fabricated stories some
times slip through.
But with more than
1,500 daily newspapers
and thousands of other
news sources in our coun
try, broad condemnation
of the “liberal media” is as
unreasonable — and
unpatriotic — as blaming
all U.S. soldiers for the
abuses of a few at Abu
Ghraib.
At the Grady College,
we’re learning to become
more transparent, trust
worthy journalists. In just
a few years, we will pro
duce your news. We want
to be completely open and
accurate about the infor
mation we give you. Our
jobs depend on your confi
dence in us.
But we — all Americans
— stand to lose much
more. If Americans lose
faith in independent jour
nalism — a foundation of
democracy — the press
will weaken dramatically.
And the next casualty will
be our freedom.
Since the invasion of
Iraq, many politicians —
President Bush included
— have denounced the
media for “undermining”
U.S. war efforts.
Why are Americans so
quick to join in this stone-
throwing, but slow to
question Bush’s program
to monitor journalists in
the Middle East?
Have you heard? Little
more than a week ago, on
Oct. 28, the government
began monitoring wire
services and publications
such as the New York
Times and the Washington
Post for “negative” and
“positive” coverage. This
isn’t the U.S. equivalent of
Russia’s crackdown on
freedom of the press — for
now.
It is, however, a mas
sively misguided program
that will “out” publica
tions the government
views as undermining the
war.
Government should not
be in the business of
defining what is “good”
news. When American
troops lacked body armor,
the media covered this
“bad” news. But it got
equipment to our boys in
the field.
Media reports of pris
oner abuse at Abu Ghraib
did not flatter our military.
But they reminded us
Americans that we must
not lower ourselves to the
level of our enemies.
Even in a democracy,
we and our press are not
invulnerable. Studying
journalism in Spain last
year, I observed the
proposition of a bill that
would require journalists
to be licensed by the
state.
If Americans grow
much more cynical toward
independent journalism,
you soon may witness the
same debate or, God for
bid, the death of press
freedoms right here in the
country where they were
born.
Along with University
colleagues, I’m graduating
next month. I don’t know
if any of us will join the
ranks of American
reporters killed in war or
the nearly 200 journalists
worldwide martyred for
pursuing truth since 2000.
But if some of us do,
will you value our sacri
fice? Will you value jour
nalism?
— Phillip Blume is a
stringer for
The Red & Black