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4B | Thursday, December 7, 2006 | The Red & Black
David Pittman | Editor in Chief
Lyndsay Hoban | Managing Editor
Lauren Morgan | Opinions Editor
edi to r@rand b. com
.... rne@rarulb.com
opinions@randb.com
pinion Meter
—■ A wrap-up of the semester's ups and downs
Gameday — Alcohol = Not Happening
With the creation of family friendly
zones this football season, the adminis
tration learned one important sports
lesson: if you build it, no one will come.
We give props for the effort, but the
drinking culture might be too far
ingrained in the Bulldog faithful — in
which case, we suggest banning alcohol
on ... ha ha ha ha ... wow, we couldn’t
even finish that.
Gimme an ‘A’ for Amnesty
Suppose you and your friend are both
drinking underage and you suddenly
realize your pal’s had a few — or maybe
12 — too many and needs serious med
ical attention. Do you call the authori
ties for help and risk an MIP and the 16
tons of state and University punish
ment that comes with it, or do you,
drunk as you may be yourself, try to
take care of the situation yourself and
risk your friend’s life? If only the
University had an amnesty policy that
would forgive your misdeed for the sake
of the ultimate good deed — potentially
saving a life. Weighing the options, it’s
obvious that if the administration truly
cares about students’ safety, they’ll
relax their zero-tolerance policy to err
on the side of caution and potential sal
vation.
No green for Tate II
Keeping Athens beautiful is a big cam
paign with Athens-Clarke County, but
apparently the University isn’t as in
tune with the “Colors of the Wind.”
Getting Tate II LEED certified appar
ently is not a top priority for the Adams
administration. We guess the officials of
the University are trying a new recruit
ing tool: endless summer.
Chi Phi forever, phools!
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
again, and Mama Shamp will cover for
you. This fall, two words have dominat
ed our front pages: Chi and Phi — and
we’ve received no shortage of criticism
for it. Jim Carrey’s character in “Liar,
Liar” inspired our suggestion for mem
bers to stay out of the spotlight: STOP
BREAKING THE LAW -expletive
deleted-!
SGA — to be or not to be?
With the vote to abolish SGA (for
good) coming up, the organization has
its back up against the firing squad wall
and the blindfold halfway tied. Often
seen as a self-serving, self-perpetuating
group of powerless, bureaucratic
resumes padders, this is SGA’s chance
to prove it can be of some actual good
to the student body, OR it’s our chance
to band together as a student body and
say, “We’ve had enough.” The Red &
Black hopes current and former SGA
members will speak up on this debate
and prove that student government can
serve more than themselves.
O
Quote of the semester: “I actually wanted a
job working at Dairy Queen, but my mom
wouldn’t let me. All my friends had a job at
Dairy Queen and I was like “Mom, I want a job
at Dairy Queen.” And she said no, so I ran
track instead.”
— Tra Battle, Bulldog Safety
n.L
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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, 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, Chelsea Cook, 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 Upper, 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, Emily Yocco
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: Gary Bardizbanian, Natalie Boyd, Julie
Leung, Leslie Mintz, Brett Turner, Rebekah Twiss
Production Night Supervisor: Christopher Lee
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.
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.
Phone (706) 483-3002 | 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.
Paul Rehm’s 12 days of Christmas
S ing along, kids! It’s the
holidays and this is the
last paper of the non
calendar year, so let’s have a
Christmas sing-along to
honor the past year, shall
we?
On the 1st day of
Christmas my true love gave
to me, a running back with
VD. Wait, you mean we can’t
print that? Let’s try this
again...
On the 1st day of
Christmas my true love gave
to me, a column here ‘bout
once a week.
On the 2nd day of
Christmas Ben Mayer gave
to me, 2 thousand votes and
an SGA presidency.
On the 3rd day of
Christmas Mike Adams gave
to me, 3 very good reasons, 2
transfer to a school, some
where in the ACC.
On the 4th day of
Christmas UK & Vandy gave
to me, 4 freaking losses, 3
points from Bailey means, 2
extra wins and a New Year’s
Day bowl marquee.
On the 5th day of
Christmas Chi Phi gave to
me ... FIVE STU-PID
PLEDGES! 4 more arrests, 3
months in prison and 2
assault charges, are my pre
dictions for the next Chi Phi
spree.
On the 6th day of
Christmas, hey where’s our
fraternity? 6 lawsuits later
it’s ... FIVE MI-LES AW-AY!
4 the love of God, 3 months
of work, 2 get it right, we
attend a greedy uni-versity.
On the 7th day of
Paul Rehm
▲
Christmas Dennis Felton
gave to me, 7 improved play
ers, 6 wins already, FIVE
RETURNED STARTERS, 4
Brophy’s sake let’s get 3
upset wins, that’s 2 shots at
Florida and a ticket to the
NIT.
On the 8th day of
Christmas Dance Mar'thon
gave to me, 8 whining let
ters, 7 clarifications, 6 prob
ably didn’t work... FIVE
FACEBOOK FRIENDINGS!
4 more crazy e-mails, 3 fun
rebuttals, 2 of which got
published and a psychotic
parent who apparently can’t
read.
On the 9th day of
Christmas this paper gave
to me, 9 boring, pointless,
generic end-of-the year
columns in which the writer
talks about how much they
learned in the past year and
how much they love UGA
and how much they’re going
to miss everybody as they go
on to the “real” world and
how much ... Crap, where
was I? Oh yeah...
On the 10th day of
Christmas this job gave to
me, 10 bad suggestions for 9
of my next columns as I 8
my tongue and told 7 that
their clubs are 6 feet under,
how bout... FIVE ACROSS
THE EYES, 4-give me
friends cause in 3 minutes
I’ll be too drunk 2 consider
your suggestions for
columns on debate-team,
crew and rugby.
On the 11th day of
Christmas Mark Richt gave
to me, 11 wide receivers
with, 10 slippery fingers, 9
second chances, 8 more
than deserved, 7 is Matt
Stafford, 6 points would be
nice ... FIVE DROPS PER
GAME! 4 different QB’s, 3 of
whom saw PT, 2 threw too
deep, boy do I miss DJ
Shockley.
On the 12th day of
Christmas the University
gave to me, 12 more months
of columns, 11 thousand dis
gruntled fans, 10 angry row
ers, 9 expletives deleted, 8
dancing morons, 7 three-
pointers, 6 misplaced frats ...
FIVE FUTURE POLITI
CIANS, 4 crummy losses, 3
thousand angry teachers, 2
clueless “leaders” and a
semester of debauchery.
Ahh, that was fun. Now
kids, how about we head on
over to Atlanta and share
the joy of Christmas with
the Techies? Does anyone
know the words to “I Saw
Reggie Kissing Santa
Claus?”
— Paul Rehm is a
columnist for
The Red & Black.
He will perform this at
parties for a small fee.
Senators
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
say SGA serves its students
In response to Josh
Weiss’s column, “Student
Government is Ineffective,”
we wish to analyze the effec
tiveness of this organization
from an insider’s perspec
tive. Both of us have been
involved in SGA since our
freshman year and have
seen administrations come
and go, and we can honestly
say that this organization
has evolved over the past
few years.
SGA has accomplished
many tasks in the name of
the student body. Without
the efforts of the people
within this organization, we
would be facing fall semes
ters without a Fall break, we
would be without a tool to
plan our class schedules
(The Key) and we would not
have a voice in University
Council or access to the var
ious administrators on cam
pus.
We agree that all 33,000
students could individually
meet with President Adams
or Provost Mace; however,
SGA allows for an organized
voice. A government is only
as effective as its con
stituents.
In fact, Mr. Weiss came to
us earlier in the administra
tion asking to pass a resolu
tion in Senate allowing for
non-senators to debate any
legislation on the floor as
well as propose legislation
or amendments to the legis
lation.
We continue to encourage
all students to come and
give us constructive criti
cism. We can vouch for
everyone and say we are
open to concerns or new
ideas that will help us
improve SGA for the future
students of this university.
ABBY OAKLEY and
NISHA GUPTA
Franklin Senators
Freedom does not
mean acceptance
Ah, how I miss the Tate
preachers. How wonderfully
paradoxical to be made to
feel better in my own quiet
little way by someone cater
wauling at me about how
awful I am.
Mandy Morgan and
Alyssa Anderson have the
right idea about good
Christian PR. techniques.
However, Mandy was off the
mark on one key point —
there’s nothing, (pardon my
caterwauling), NOTHING in
the First Amendment
espousing religious toler
ance.
The document of limited
powers merely and specifi
cally says to Congress and
Congress alone, “Judge not”
and “Render unto Caesar ...”
Moreover, Thomas
Jefferson wrote around the
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same time that this country
would not flourish on the
strengths of religious dic-
tums or wishy-washy tolera
tion of every ideal.
He foresaw that we would
prosper through the stal
wart pursuit of the truth in
all things, entering every
idea into the marketplace of
discussion and weeding out
the flimsy, suspect and sim
ply wrong.
Enduring and endearing
as they are, amendments
and scripture are simply two
notes in a dissonant medley.
Truth is to be found in
minds, hearts and actions.
Whatever and wherever you
find it, go forth and live it.
TODD ZEIGLER
Alumni, Louisville, Ky.
Journalism
Congress pulled a
fast one on us
I am sure University stu
dents are relieved to know
that the federal government
is on the job protecting
them against pyramid
schemes like that of
Jonathan Mikula. But who
is going to protect them
against the world’s biggest
pyramid scheme — the one
run by the federal govern
ment and known as the
Social Security System.
Most will be given no
option but to pay into Social
Security their entire working
lives to fund a payout for
those older than 62 in the
hopes that there will be new
conscripts forced to pay
them at some unspecified
age.
When it comes to pyra
mid schemes the federal
government insists on a
monopoly. But to be fair, not
everyone is forced to con
tribute.
Our congressional repre
sentatives, who tell us what
a great deal Social Security
is for us, have decided that
they want no part of Social
Security for themselves.
DWIGHT R. LEE
Ramsey Professor of
Economics
Cops got schooled
by 88-year-old
In response to Shane
Vaiskauskas’ editorial, how
do you know that Ms.
Johnston “failed to properly
educate herself on firearm
usage”? Give me a break!
She must have had some
type of firearms training,
because she shot all three
cops, even while (as you so
succinctly put it) it was
dark and she was disorient
ed.
Maybe it was the cops
who needed a little more
training, like Self Defense
101 or maybe How To Spot
Someone Who Is Pointing A
Gun At You 101.
The fault here does not
rest with Ms. Johnston. She
obviously defended herself
pretty well.
CHRIS LINDSEY
Junior, Grayson
Political Science
Johnston’s actions
were justified
Shane Vaiskauskas article
concerning the tragic death
of Kathryn Johnston was
extremely misguided.
Instead of focusing on the
real issue of the police
department’s questionable
use of excessive force, he
gave us a lesson on how to
use a firearm.
He says that if Kathryn
Johnston had followed the
“rules” and identified her
target before firing, “she
would have lived to defend
her own civil rights.”
When a group of men
broke into her home unan
nounced in an unsafe town,
an 88-year-old woman react
ed the way many of us
would when she attempted
to protect herself from the
perceived threat as quickly
as possible. Instead of con
sulting a shooting theory
handbook, perhaps
Vaiskauskas should consult
the Fourteenth Amendment
to the Constitution where
they talk about every citi
zen’s right to Due Process of
Law.
KARL BRODER
Senior, Stockbridge
English/Pre-Law
Police just as
much to blame
I do not quite understand
why Shane Vaiskauskas con
demned an elderly woman
for her misjudgment, but
did not place any blame on
the rash actions of the
police. Yes, she shot the
police, but it was an acci
dent. I do not feel that she
deserved to die because of a
mistake she made. After
making it through 88 years
of life, Ms. Johnston did not
deserve to be gunned down
by zealous police. How
would you feel if that had
been your grandmother?
DENECHIA POWELL
Sophomore, Brunswick
Pre-Journalism
Lauren Morgan
Future R&B
editor’s year
in review
A round this time last
year, my now-ex
boyfriend proposed
to me.
I could be planning a
wedding, making a guest
list, registering for gifts,
etc., but I chose a differ
ent path.
Instead, I’m going to
be editor in chief of The
Red & Black.
Talk about a 180.1
threw out my chances of
double majoring in MRS
to work 40-hour work
weeks at the student
paper in the spring.
People tell me I’ve
made the right choice,
but I’m finally starting to
believe them.
It took someone get
ting down on one knee
and offering me a ring to
realize that I wasn’t ready
to settle, and my past
relationship forced me to
take a hard look at why I
was attending the
University.
I came to college to
become a journalist (a job
I’ve been dreaming of
since elementary school),
to join a sorority, make
some amazing friends and
partake in a bit of party
ing, then face the realities
that come with that
scene, i.e. hangovers or
watching an acquaintance
or two get arrested.
Sure I got to do those
things with my ex, but
then when things started
getting serious I saw my
life with him flash before
my eyes, and I didn’t like
what I saw.
When I knew I wasn’t
ready to be someone’s
wife-in-training, I finally
started living the life of a
20-something. Since last
December, I have gone
balls to the wall with my
college life. My grades are
in the toilet because of
my now-or-never attitude,
but it’s been worth it.
What’s a D in
Accounting compared to
a road trip to Mardi
Gras? Two C’s are noth
ing compared to going to
Georgia-Florida, even if I
had a test first thing on
Monday morning.
I bounced across the
British Isles during my
study abroad at Oxford
University, spent four
days working for the
Peabody Awards in New
York, visited the Lone
Star State twice (having
never been before), and
I’ll be going to Las Vegas,
Washington D.C. and
somewhere tropical for
spring break before I
graduate in May.
There’s always the
good ole R&B to blame
for my wavering 3.0 since
this newspaper holds me
hostage every afternoon
in its fortress on Baxter
Street, but I’d rather fail
out of the University than
miss out on working here.
To every student at the
University not graduating
this month, I pose a call
to action to you.
This fall, The Red &
Black’s editorial board
has encouraged you to
get involved with the
University, whether it’s
going to a less-popular
sporting event, attending
a Student Government
meeting, voting for our
favorite Bulldog fan or
telling President Adams
what you really think of
him at Open Mic with
Mike.
I could write editorials
until my fingers are blis
tered and shout it at the
top of my lungs from my
perch on Baxter Hill, but
I just want you, dear
reader, to savor the most
important lesson that I
can leave you with at the
end of the semester.
Just appreciate the
time you have here at this
amazing university.
And don’t let it come
down to a proposal to
realize what you want to
do. It’s just not pretty.
— Lauren Morgan is
the opinions editor for
The Red & Black