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4 | Monday, November 13, 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
Plastic bags costly for environment
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial hoard
Unsweet success
Athletes'graduation rates continue to
degrade University's academic image
Here we are again.
A little more than a month after news broke
of Georgia basketball’s low graduation rates,
further news comparing the rate of Georgia
student-athletes to all students makes the
University look that much worse.
The NCAA reported Thursday the University
only graduated half of the student athletes who
entered as freshmen in 1999 within six years.
When news like this is reported, it makes
every student at the University look bad, not
just football, basketball and baseball players.
Sixty-three percent of all Division I student
athletes and 73 percent of all University stu
dents graduated in six years, according to the
NCAA report.
Georgia’s low athlete graduation rates makes
the University look like a jock-riddled party
school, not an institution looking to improve its
academic image.
There is only one way to stop this downward
spiral — help the student athletes in trouble.
On Saturday, we saw a football team with a
completely different attitude take down the
Auburn Tigers.
If coaches can make this kind of turnaround
on the field, why can’t their players make the
same improvements in the classroom?
With facilities like Rankin M. Smith Student
Athlete Academic Center and tutors who are
more than willing to help out a letterman, there
is no reason they can’t apply the same enthusi
asm and drive for success to academics.
As we make a drive down the field, court or
other arena, we also should be driving towards
a degree.
Upset-a-palooza
Four Top 10 teams fall from grace
while underdogs everywhere rejoice
Hey, did you hear? Georgia beat Auburn, at
Auburn, by kind of a lot.
The Tigers’ top receiver was actually a
Bulldog defender — oh, how sweet Saturday
was.
The fall of our longest standing rival from
No. 5 to No. 15 (ouch!) is huge news to Georgia
fans, but it’s just a taste of the Top 10 topples
that took place across the country this week
end.
The action started Thursday with Rutgers’
beating Louisville 28-25 — the biggest win in
the school’s history. The post-game stadium
shot of ecstatic New Jerseyans rushing the field
was enough to give any football fan chills.
With the No. 3 Cardinals knocked out of
national title contention, we move our atten
tion to No. 4 Texas, who lost to Kansas State
45-42.
Not even a late-game Longhorn rally could
bring Texas out of its first half deficit.
Down in the swamp, Steve Spurrier’s
Gamecocks had a strong showing against
No. 6 Florida and out west, Arizona defeated
No. 8 Cal 24-20.
In case you’ve lost track, that’s four Top 10
teams taken down a few pegs and one team we
really wish had been.
Whether you’re a Georgia fan or not, this
weekend proved one timeless sports tradition
true — there’s always hope for the underdog.
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
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Stringers: Rusty Bailey, Ashley Beebe, Phillip Blume, Ann
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ADVERTISING: 433-3001
Student Advertising Manager: Natalie Lawrence
Account Executives: Anne Marie Aycock, Jacob Berton, Tyler
English, Irena Chernova, Laura-Leigh Gillis,
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Advertising Assistant: Jennifer Mendel
Student Classified Manager: Liz Cunningham, Candace Miller
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Web Developer: Nikita Smeshko
Production Staff: Gary Bardizbanian, Natalie Boyd, Julie
Leung, Leslie Mintz, Brett Turner, Rebekah Twiss
Production Manager: Sam Pittard
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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.
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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 Us
Phone (706) 483-3002 | Fax (706) 433-3033
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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.
E very minute in the
United States, we use
approximately 1 mil
lion plastic bags.
Target alone purchases
1.2 billion bags yearly for
their customers — add to
that Wal-Mart, Kroger, Best
Buy and almost every other
place you shop, and you can
start to see how our annual
total is more than 100 billion
bags.
They seem to be free at
the checkout, so why not
use them frequently as frivo
lously as we do?
Unfortunately, plastic bags
do carry a price — a higher
one than we should be will
ing to pay.
The environmental costs
of using plastic bags are
many and disturbing.
Plastic bags do not biode
grade, but photodegrade —
breaking down into smaller
and smaller toxic bits, con
taminating soil and water
ways and entering the food
web when animals acciden
tally ingest them. This poses
a threat to humans as well
as animals. In the central
North Pacific alone, there
are six pounds of degraded
plastic for every pound of
surface zooplankton.
Intact bags are no better.
Animals such as sea birds
and sea turtles (already
endangered) mistake the
bags for food and choke on
them, or get tangled up in
them to where they cannot
move or eat.
Bags pose other environ
mental hazards. In 2002
Bangladesh banned the use
of plastic bags after the
drainage of its capital city
clogged, causing massive
flooding. Pollution caused
by plastic bags is a rising
global problem.
Other countries around
the world have taken notice
of this growing issue and
developed policies to reduce
the waste and pollution
caused by the use of plastic
bags.
Many areas, such as
Ireland and Scotland, have
started taxing plastic bags
— a customer is charged 20
Emily Taliaferro
“While it may cost you
more on the front end,
saying no to plastic
bags will benefit you
in the long run, in
both the impact on the
environment and on
your pocketbook. ”
cents per plastic bag they
use to carry home groceries
or other items. Scotland
anticipates a 90 percent
decrease in plastic bag
usage by early 2007.
Other countries, such as
South Africa, have taken a
more aggressive stance —
with up to $10,000 fines or a
jail sentence for companies
or shops using plastic bags
and strict penalties for con
sumers as well.
While completely abolish
ing the use of plastic bags
would probably be ill-
received in our economy,
there are some actions that
each of us can take.
First, take a look at the
stash of bags you have
around your house, apart
ment or dorm, and reuse
them. Use them to carry
your lunch, take out your
trash or take them back to
the grocery store to carry
your groceries home. Or, if
you can’t find anything else
to do with them, recycle!
Currently, less than .67
percent of plastic bags are
recycled in the U.S.
Take the little extra step
to prevent your plastic bags
from joining 100 billion oth
ers in landfills each year
where they’ll never biode
grade.
Second, purchase sturdy,
environmentally friendly,
reusable bags. They come in
a variety of sizes and fabrics
— nylon, mesh and canvas
— and some are quite styl
ish. There are different bags
made for different uses
(from lunch bags to produce
bags), and thermal bags can
help you keep food at safer
temperatures when trans
porting.
Find a bag that suits your
personality and taste — it
can be an expression of not
only your concern for the
environment but also your
individuality.
A wide assortment can be
found online at Web sites
such as Reusablebags.com.
Some stores have even
begun to carry reusable
bags that you can buy at the
checkout and bring back in
next time. While it may cost
you more on the front end,
saying no to plastic bags will
benefit you in the long run
in both the impact on the
environment and on your
pocketbook.
Less plastic bag usage
would reduce waste disposal
costs and reduce the cost to
retailers who are spending
upwards of $4 billion a year
purchasing these bags —
and all of these costs are
being passed on to you, the
consumer.
It may take a little
thought, some extra plan
ning and a bit of effort on
your part, but hey, isn’t it
worth it? What is at stake
includes animals, the envi
ronment, the oceans, the
planet and thus you.
So for your next trip to
Kroger, take an extra
moment and bring a bag or
two from home.
It’s one small way to be a
part of the solution.
For more information
please visit sackingtheenvi-
ronment.org.
— Contributing
Gary Baker, Nancy
Bartlett, Alison McLaughlin
and Rachel Michaud
Putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional
I t’s been suggested, most
ly by my mother, that I
have poor taste in the
guys I’m romantically inter
ested in.
I choose to believe that I
date men from whom I will
learn a lot of valuable life
lessons at once.
Because the looming
thought of graduation has
made me a more introspec
tive person, I’m going to sac
rifice my dignity on the altar
of education for journalistic
excellence and share a few
memories and valuable les
sons from my past
romances.
BOYFRIEND 1
I had an awkward phase
that lasted the first 18 years
of my life.
I literally was one of the
most socially awkward peo
ple ever until the second
semester during my senior
year of high school.
It was at that time, the
computer-nerd cutie in a few
of my AP classes worked up
the nerve to ask me to prom,
and I managed not to die of
shock and say “yes.”
We dated for several
months until he broke up
with me right before we were
going to different colleges,
leaving me completely dev
astated.
We didn’t talk for about a
year and a half and I was
glad we started again
because he really was an
important chapter in my life.
He was the first boy who
ever made me feel beautiful.
He was the one who made
me realize I was worthy of
being paid attention to.
Despite the pain of high
school heartbreak, I would
n’t trade that awakening for
anything.
BOYFRIEND 2
Ah, the first great love of
my life.
For some people, dating
is like being on the Love
Boat — fun, sun and laugh
ter.
My first “serious” rela
tionship draws comparisons
to the Titanic — looks great
on the outside, but the foun
dation is shaky and I still
refused to admit anything
was wrong, even as the
water started to gather
around my ankles.
When I say this was a bad
Rachel Boyd
When I’m ready to
be in a relationship
again, I have a lot
more confidence in
myself and know I
won’t put up with crap
I never should have in
the first place.
relationship, understand
that I don’t mean he forgot
my birthday and didn’t like
my parents.
I’m talking emotionally
abusive, cheating on me
constantly with numerous
girls (who knew he had a
girlfriend) and on the rare
occasion, physical abuse.
Even worse, he was a
charming, good-looking,
charismatic guy, so no one
really could see the emo
tional turmoil I was going
through, which included
anorexia, depression and the
belief that maybe this was
all in my head and this was
what a relationship was sup
posed to be like.
There comes a point in
every girl’s life when she
realizes exactly what she is
willing to sacrifice to main
tain a level of romantic secu
rity, and I did what I had to
do to make the relationship
end.
By the time he and I
broke up in a soap-operatic
fashion, I truly believed I
had no personal strength
left, nothing to offer any
body.
But I learned I was
wrong. I spent a lot of time
in self-reflection and finally
learned that no matter how
together your boyfriend
seems, abuse is never okay
to put up with and if you
can’t trust someone, you
should never stay in a rela
tionship with them.
It’s difficult if not impos
sible to love someone if you
can’t trust them.
And for the record, I’m
not sorry I fell in love with
him. I got a chance to open
my heart and be completely
vulnerable with someone,
and I don’t regret that —
next time, I just hope the
object of my affection is a
worthy one.
BOYFRIEND 3
He was the rebound
boyfriend. Apparently I was
n’t as secure with myself as I
thought, and I decided that
my safest option this time
was dating a guy I met at
church.
Our days were numbered
before we even began.
First, I was still emotion
ally vulnerable from my last
relationship and had no
business inflicting myself on
anyone.
Second, guys who are in
debt to two banks, divorced,
addicted to numerous drugs
and still believe at the age of
29 they are going to make it
as a rock guitarist are not
long-term boyfriend materi
al.
I couldn’t stand his poor
choices, and he got mad
because I wouldn’t baby
him. I ended things without
regrets and was glad I didn’t
let myself fall into what
would have been another
destructive relationship.
THESE DAYS
My love life in the past
few months has been a mix
ture of stop-and-start dat
ing, occasional flings and
currently, a crush that
makes me feel like a high-
schooler again and includes
the giddy giggling and the
joy of just having something
fun in my life that isn’t so
freaking dramatic.
I’m optimistic about my
romantic future, mainly
because I meet a lot more
guys who are decent human
beings and nice friends.
When I’m ready to be in a
relationship again, I have a
lot more confidence in
myself and know I won’t put
up with crap I never should
have in the first place.
And if I’m really lucky,
Mom will like him, too.
— Rachel Boyd is a
page designer for
The Red & Black
E-mail, letters and faxes
from our readers
Professor’s
crime was a
humane act
I think that it’s impor
tant for people to under
stand why Professor
Richard Fayrer-Hosken
rescued the two horses
when he did. Those horses
were donated to the
University on the condi
tion that they would not
be used for inhumane
research.
Professor Fayrer-
Hosken removed those
horses from University
property so as to save
them from a planned
experiment to stick
catheters in their eyes,
thus causing pain and
potential blindness.
Professor Fayrer-
Hosken is a hero, not a
“horse thief,” and The Red
& Black should let stu
dents and faculty know
this
TIFFANI N. WARREN
Freshman, Cumming
French and linguistics
Shacking has
strings attached
After reading “No walk
of shame with guy
friends,” from Friday’s Sex
in the Classic City, I was
shocked.
According to Ms.
O’Hara, there are no “real
consequences” of shacking
with someone you just
met, kissing or more. I
would like to ask what she
believes is a “real conse
quence”?
Besides the emotional
effects, wouldn’t you con
sider an STD or an
unwanted pregnancy a
consequence?
According to the
University Health Center
website, “Young adults
age 20 to 29 have account
ed for 20 percent of all
AIDS cases reported in
Georgia from 1981 through
June 2003.” Deep french
kissing is not excluded
from ways to get AIDS.
Yes, shacking can be fun,
but consequences need to
be realized and we cer
tainly don’t need to be
saying “...kudos to you if
you should be so lucky to
find yourself waking up in
someone else’s bed.” For
more information visit
http://www.uhs.uga.edu/se
xualhealth/STI/aids.html.
SKYE GESS
Sophomore
Peachtree City
Political science
Scared of Spike?
Take the bench
Dear Mary,
I quite enjoyed your let
ter about how our beloved
mascot made you so utter
ly and absolutely terrified
that you had pee trickling
down your leg at the first
men’s basketball game.
I can completely relate.
After the first fateful game
that led me face to face
with the threatening mas
cot known as Spike, I usu
ally run away from all
inflatable toys and struc
tures alike — just kidding.
I actually am not petrified
of our mascot.
Moreover, I love that
inflatable bundle of joy for
all of the humor, spirit and
all around confusion that
he represents as he con
torts himself and bounces
on his head. Spike is a
mere representation of the
wonderful school in which
we attend.
If you cannot handle it,
I suggest you sit men’s
basketball season out or
just buy some Depends.
You decide.
KATE KOTSKO
Sophomore
Eureka, Mo.
Spanish and social work
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