Newspaper Page Text
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007 | The Red a Black
Laimi Morgan | Editor in Chikf
editor@randb.com
CoMn Dunlop | Managing Editor
me@ratuib.com
9 T Umphrost | Opinions Editor
opi n lonstgora lutb. corn
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Taking the blame
Inspired by the Virginia legislature ,
The Red & Black offers an apology
Saturday, the Virginia General Assembly
issued a formal apology for the poor treatment
of Native Americans and for the institution of
slavery.
In this spirit, The Red & Black would like to
offer up an apology of its own:
We, the editorial board of The Red & Black,
WHEREAS, 2007 marks the 109th anniver
sary of the Spanish-American war,
WHEREAS, the USS Maine was destroyed
and its destruction still harbors ill feelings
toward Cuba and the Spanish Empire,
WHEREAS, the end of the Spanish-American
War placed the United States among the grow
ing nations of the world,
WHEREAS, this helped steam forward the
Industrial Revolution,
WHEREAS, the Industrial Revolution led to
the use of child labor and increase in green
house gas emissions,
WHEREAS, those harmful greenhouse emis
sions led to a gradual warming of the climate of
Earth,
WHEREAS, this gradual warming did cause
an increase in the number and severity of hurri
canes during the summer of 2005,
WHEREAS, this season contained Hurricane
Katrina which devastated New Orleans and
other Gulf Coast cities,
RESOLVED, by the editorial board of The
Red &1 Black, we do herby submit our deepest
regrets for causing Hurricane Katrina, due to
our obvious involvement in the Spanish
American War.
RESOLVED FURTHER, we promise never
again to apologize for things no one still living
possibly could have caused or had any personal
involvement in.
Oscars unworthy
The Academy Awards show continues
to bore audiences , overlook talent
Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony
didn’t offer many surprises speeches were
kept short, Ellen’s hosting skills were funny but
inoffensive and Adrien Brody didn’t show up for
random makeout sessions onstage.
One of the biggest awards of the night was
for Martin Scorsese, who won the Best Director
Oscar for directing “The Departed,” after losing
out on an oscar five times before.
While we’re glad Marty finally got his long
awaited achievement, we were disappointed
some other people didn’t get any accolades,
specifically Kate Winslet and Leonardo
DiCaprio.
Also, the show needs to stay within the time
limit and skip the poorly-edited montages, the
backstage banter and the sound effects chorus.
But they also shouldn’t rudely usher people
off the stage during their speeches. After all, if
Oscar winners have made efforts worthy of
earning such a prestigious award, they deserve
enough podium time to thank the little people
whose faces don’t end up in “People” magazine
like God, Jesus, their spouses, middle school
English teachers, college drama professors, act
ing coaches, sound guys, grips, cinematogra
phers... hey, hey... I’m not done here... no really...
NEWS: 433-3002
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Reaching Us
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ADVERTISING: 433-3001
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Opinions
V '
Media always focuses on negative
It is estimated that 6 mil
lion Jews died in the
Holocaust. However, the
Athenal Flag-Messenger, in
all of their infinite wisdom,
reported there actually were
6,000,003 Jews killed in the
Holocaust.
I cannot help but write to
protest the absurdity of
such a claim and to shoot
back at a paper that is con
stantly taking shots at our
pristine, perfect publication.
As someone of partial
German heritage, it really
irks me that the Flag
Messenger won't lay off
Hitler and the Nazis for this.
I mean, clearly this is
another in a long line of
sneaky Flag-Messenger
attacks on the German com
munity and our supposedly
tumultuous history.
It is so typical of them to
ignore the fact that
Germany gave the world
Einstein, Beethoven and the
BMW and focus on the neg
ative.
In an article that is sup
posed to factually prove how
the Greek, err, I mean,
German community is a sta
tistical disappointment to
the University, err universe,
how can so many facts be
incorrect?
A simple Wikipedia
search shows that approxi-
Oscars not about good filmmaking
I had the choice between
watching the 79th
Annual Academy Awards
and writing a death penalty
research paper on Sunday
night. I should have picked
the death penalty.
I love movies. I've wasted
half my life slumped in a
chair watching celebrity
voiced dogs, big guys shoot
ing other big guys and fiery
explosions. And, of course,
the reason I’m currently sin
gle, Master Yoda.
But as much as I love
movies, I hate the Oscars.
Now, I could give so, so
many reasons why watching
this award show is a waste
of time: smug political ram
bling, lame jokes and actors
awkwardly trying to read
them, and this year, Ellen
DeGeneres.
One thing, though, really
struck me while watching
Sunday night: this is just
one big private club for the
movie industry. This was
self-importance on a scale
never before seen except
for last year, and next year
or (apparently) unless you
live in California.
Most of the nominees and
even the winners weren’t
actually terrible this year.
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
White misunderstands flag’s symbolism
Mr. White, your impaired
judgment of the
Confederate battle flag
prompts my own secession
from your words.
You argue against
Southern heritage, claiming
that we celebrate this sym
bol because of a military
defeat.
You are indeed wrong,
good sir. You are, in fact,
misrepresenting the original
meaning of the flag.
The original version
stood for, amqpg others,
J&X.
Paul Rehm
A
mately 5 to 6 million Jews
were killed at this time.
Does Wikipedia say it was 5
to 6.0001 million Jews? I did
n't think so!
It may have been a typo
for the Flag-Messenger to
report this many Jews were
killed instead of the typical
6,000,000 estimate, but the
fact remains that the staff at
the Flag-Messenger is com
prised of a bunch of Nazi
haters.
It also failed to mention
how many Jews were count
ed twice by accident, and it
did not mention how many
Nazi leaders lost their jobs
for their actions.
And let’s be honest, is
there any German here who
can claim they don't have a
friend or acquaintance who
has spat on a Jew in the
past year?
I know several!
This isn’t a Nazi problem,
it’s an earth problem!
fir
Josh White
A
Thankfully Julia Roberts
wasn't nominated, and
Martin Scorsese finally got
some acknowledgement. It
doesn’t matter, though.
The academy voters
aren’t your normal moviego
ers people who eqjoy get
ting lost in a story or a per
formance. They’re just a
bunch of movie industry
insiders. Why should we care
about the self-love fest going
on in the Kodak Theatre?
The academy doesn’t
even care about the winners,
people who often have
worked their whole lives just
to get a shiny little gold
man-thing.
They’re not really about
rewarding excellence in film
making. If so, why would
they shame winners off
stage with music but show
numerous long montages on
E-MAILING US
Questions, comments,
complaints? Hero’s where
to send them:
Letters I opinions@randb.com
News Tips I news@randb.com
fidelity, tradition and
respect for women.
In fact, one even can even
include the pillars to our
glorious University’s symbol:
wisdom, justice and modera
tion.
Red&Black
An Mrivndrat atudrai ar "paper wrvlaß It* llalvtntty of IlmruU ronauully
ESTABLISHED IHS. INDEPENDENT IH (I
Premier Bush and his
administration are doing the
best they can to fix it.
Sure, the Nazis are at the
center of the Jew hating cul
ture as they choose to
assemble in places that per
petuate such behavior more
than “normal” humans. And
perhaps we here at The
Black & Blue have made a
statistical error from time to
time at the expense of many,
including the German com
munity, but doggone it, who
cares?
The real story is all the
good the German communi
ty has brought the world:
things like Volkswagen, Fritz
Lang, Immanuel Kant and
most importantly, Hans and
Franz.
We at The Black & Blue
would rather rely on these
hard facts instead of the
silly, sketchy statistics of the
Flag Messenger and their
do-gooder staff.
Paid Rehm is a
columnist for The Red &
Black. If this column didn't
make sense to you, please
refer to the one that ran in
this space Monday. He is not
attempting to make light of
the Holocaust nor overly
attack the Greeks.
He's probably getting
dumped for writing this.
how the film industry has
changed the world and con
tinues to inspire us?
The show is about the
movie makers, not the
Oscar winners. This private,
highly-televised club is all
about the money.
It’s a business.
The whole point of the
Oscars is to remind you that
movies are such an impor
tant part of your life that
you need to watch more and
more of them. And never
stop. Just keep renting 'em.
Hell, even buy a few.
You see a tearful accept
ance; the industry smells a
sweaty roll of hundreds.
If a DVD has that Oscar
icon, the customer might
give it more than a once
over. It’s got that...thing...on
it. It’s gotta be good!
I think I know why Jack
Nicholson wears those sig
nature shades. He has to
ingest ungodly amounts of
substances just to sit
through this sham.
I really tried to be posi
tive with this column, but I
just couldn’t do it.
Josh White is a senior
from Carrollton majoring
in political science
Your feeble attempt to
attack the character of
Southerners who respect
the Initial content of the flag
should be ostracized.
Until you can base your
apparent disdain for this
symbol off other arguments
besides “Southerners look
like a bunch of losers” and
“Ted Nugent,” think before
you write.
JEFF PUTNAM
Junior, Duluth
1, AMn Balalinna
■ UDMC neBATVOiiB
Dale Hackler
A
Surveillance
has chilling
effect on us
I sooner expected to see
the JoUy Green Giant
tramping through
North campus whUe play
ing croquet with a tree as
a mallet and students as
balls than to see an anti
war rally on campus
Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Organized peace freaks
at the University? I could
n’t believe my eyes. I had
a camera, so I began tak
ing pictures. I needed to
convince myself later I
was not haUucinating.
It was a strange event.
People stood around Tate
Plaza holding anti-war
signs while waiting for
marching orders. A
woman yelled about war
crimes, and I heard the
name Hitler in her rant.
Near the anti-war stand
was a National Guard
stand advertising paint
ball. A large military man
wearing a beret stood by.
I was photographing
the scene when a girl
approached me and asked
if I took her picture. The
look in her eyes said
panic. I told her I didn’t
know, but if she wasn’t
holding a goofy sign, prob
ably not.
She asked if I had her
somewhere in the back
ground and wanted to
look through my pictures.
“You don’t want to be
associated with this kind
of crowd?” I jokingly
asked her.
“WeU, you never know,”
she said.
I assured her if my pic
tures were to be used, it
would only be in a photo
journalism class. She left.
Shortly after, I found
myself being pho
tographed. I quickly
raised my camera and
took pictures of the pho
tographer. He stopped
and we looked at each
other in a mutual agree
ment to leave one another
alone.
Suddenly, I realized I
had the same fear as the
girl I didn’t want to be
associated with this
crowd. I’ve read news sto
ries of police forces
involved in public surveil
lance. According to a doc
ument released in October
2006 by the American Civil
Liberties Union, the
Pentagon is involved in
surveillance of anti-war
rallies and groups “includ
ing Quakers and student
groups.”
Who wants their name
in some anti-terrorism file
drawer?
I mentioned this in a
conversation with a girl
who was walking through
Tate Plaza during the
rally. I then took her pic
ture, and it’s a good one.
She looks very nervous.
Indeed, the prevalence
of surveillance technology
today and the active, or
even rumored, surveil
lance of anti-war or other
politically inspired rallies
increases the probability
that few people want to
be associated, even acci
dentally, with a group of
slogan-chanting freaks
openly denouncing
actions of the federal gov
ernment.
There were only about
40 people involved in last
Wednesday’s rally, on a
campus of more than
30,000. It was a lame
group of sign wavers and
mumblers —a sad sight to
see. There probably are
many more people on
campus who are strongly
against America’s current
and prospective wars and
might Join in a public
expression of disapproval.
I wonder, what role
does surveillance play in
keeping people from such
events? It could be signifi
cant, and no matter where
you stand politically, this
is not good.
All of us should want
more peace freaks. Trust
me they make the
world much more interest
ing.
Dale Hackler is
a columnist for
The Red Ajßlack