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Wednesday, February aB, 8007 | The Rbd a Black
Lmwm Morgan I Editor in Cmir
editordinmdb.com
CoHn Dunlop | Managing Editor
medcrandb.com
PT UmphrtM I Opinions Editor
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red d’- /Hack's editorial board
A space odyssey
Arising from m iscommunication,
news of Tate II cuts were not founded
Despite its best efforts, it appears Tate II is
not shrinking after all at least, not this week.
While the news that the building will be the
once-shrunk 85,000 square feet rather than the
twice-shrunk 75,000 square feet is a relief to
students, who are footing the bill, the mix-up is
certainly cause for concern.
The original reduction from 100,000 to 85,000
square feet was due to a rise in building costs.
If the project continues to waffle on its details,
this miscommunication will become reality.
Students, who are paying a nominal $25 fee
for the building, will likely never see its benefits
as students. The issue, therefore, is the sinking
feeling that Tate II is becoming a bait-and
switch, except that none of the victims of the
scam will be around to complain about it. New
students will enjoy Tate II regardless of the
sacrifices made in its design. It’s up to the cur
rent students who are paying for Tate to hold
the University to the promises it made.
Students were promised a 100,000 square
foot facility, then forced to accept a 15 percent
cut due to rising building costs, inflation and
other similar phenomena that should have
been included in the initial planning.
Worse yet is the inherent risk that errors in
communication by the various University bod
ies involved in the project could lead to more
sacrifices being made in the final building.
Tate II cannot risk any more setbacks, delays
or cost increases. The project needs to acceler
ate to ensure future students can get the most
benefit from current students’ money.
Reality check, yo
Does winning a reality TV show about
white rappers make you a winner?
University alumnus Timothy “T-Mo”
Rasmussen was crowned on Monday night as
the triumphant champion of the VHI reality
show “Ego Trip’s (White) Rapper Show.”
While we sincerely applaud Shamrock —as
he was called throughout the show’s competi
tion for beating out all nine of the other con
testants, we must call into question the true
intentions of VHI in creating this show.
It’s great that T-Mo scored himself SIOO,OOO,
and we’re sure his friends and family are as
proud of him as he is of himself. We, as Bulldog
family members, wish him well in all his
endeavors rap-related or otherwise. However,
one would have to be completely delusional to
not realize that, as serious as folks on reality
shows might take themselves because the show
is indeed reality for them, it is in fact exploita
tive, cheap entertainment for viewers at home.
It’s the trainwreck effect. These shows get
viewers by presenting them with an uncoopera
tive mix of the most absurd, socially awkward
and emotionally unstable people they can find
basically, not your everyday, normal people
from reality —and they wait for the fur to fly.
The drama is built in, but occasionally stirred
up by producers and final editing.
You would have to be an absolute moron to
think that the men behind the curtains of reali
ty TV shows are truly interested in showcasing
legitimate talent, and not exploiting those who
think they have it. VHI is particularly guilty of
doing this, and we truly hope T-Mo can succeed
after this to prove he wasn’t just getting played.
NEWS: 433-3002
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Opinions
Israeli actions often misunderstood
I never had slept with an
M-16 rifle in my hotel
room or been patted
down by a security guard
entering a pharmacy. Never
before had I been forced to
walk through a metal detec
tor to get into a shopping
mall. But this was Israel last
year.
The M-16 was carried by
a soldier friend, who, like all
soldiers in Israel, is never
without his weapon.
Why a metal detector?
Because the mall had been
hit by a terrorist missile a
few months earlier.
I had a lot to learn about
Israel and so do many
Americans. The tension in
Israel the weapons, the
constant watching for dan
ger made clear to me a
reality that I think escapes
many Americans.
We who are safe and
warm, thousands of miles
from the Middle East, don’t
understand why Israel takes
the aggressively defensive
posture it does. We also do
not understand who is
responsible for the continu
ing friction with Israel’s
Arab neighbors.
Let me be clear l’m an
American Jew. My family
includes people who sur
vived the Holocaust, the
communist regime of Poland
and found Israel the only
country willing to accept
them. So I look at Israel
from a special perspective.
Nevertheless, it is clear to
me that there would be less
confusion in American
minds about what’s happen
ing in the Middle East if
they experienced what I did
Mailbox
E~nuiil and letters from our readers
Shamrock’s mad mic skills payin’ bills
So Shamrock was gettin’
dogged by The Red &
Black, they said he was lame
and were tryin’ to crack.
WeU he Just won a 100
G’s, who says you get paid
by having degrees?
He went to the Bronx
reppin’ A-Town, he did what
he did and he held it down.
Maybe his degree was
good toUet tissue, It seems
having rap skills is the prin
ciple issue.
He graduated as a
Bulldog ya see, but now we
‘bout to see his video on
MTV.
He was the last man
standing on the "White
Rapper Show,” it seems peo
ple can’t resist his pimp
tight flow.
He went on there and he
crushed everything, our
UQA grad is gone be rockin’
some bling.
So Red ti Black, why
don’t you give him some
props, cuz it seems he ain’t
no white rapper flop.
Written by WESTON VER
STEEG, Junior, Macon
Broadcast flaws
Mixad and Produced by
TONY WANNA, Junior,
AlpflMulUli l/twiflreiry
Plus-minus needs
to have A-pluses
The Feb. 26 article "Plus
minus grades a mixed bag
for students” shed some
light on a highly debated
matter, but I would be inter
ested to know the number
of As that could be consid
ered A-pluses.
A
Jk^
David Beckman
▲
in my 10-day tour of Israel.
One day, I stood in a con
crete bunker on the
Lebanese border, staring
across 100 yards of no man's
land at terrain held by
Hezbollah terrorists who
have dedicated themselves
to killing Jews. A few
months earlier, another 21-
year-old, an Israeli soldier,
stood where I was standing,
only he was fighting for his
life.
One day, I stood at a
marker in Rabin Square in
Tel-Aviv, marking the place
where Prime Minister Yitzak
Rabin was murdered in 1995
murdered because he
tried to achieve peace
between Israel and its Arab
neighbors.
Another day, on a misty
morning, I stood atop Mt.
Herzel, the burial site of
Israel's fallen soldiers and
prime ministers, as a securi
ty guard told of his brother
in-law who died in combat,
leaving behind his wife and
unborn son. Each grave we
walked past had its own
story, he said —a story of
dying for their nation's free
dom and the dream of peace
for their children.
I soon began to feel the
Israeli spirit for the first
E-MAILING US
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The harshly criticized
system could be successful
with some tweaking, namely
to reward those students,
albeit a small population,
who put forth that real
effort to make above a
stand-alone A.
EMILY SAEGER
Sophomore, Valdosta
Pre-Journalism
Military losers not
shameful in defeat
Excuse me, Mr. White,
but your description of
Confederates as "losers”
could be seen as extremely
offensive (if I had a thin, lib
eral skin) and it thoroughly
disgusts me.
As it is, it just shows
Ignorance. Of course the
Confederacy lost, but that
does not make the brave
men who fought for It “los
ers," as you so eloquently
put it. Let me explain.
By your logic, Texans
(and really all Americans)
should not be proud of the
glorious defense of The
Alamo by “rebels” against a
tyrannical Mexican govern
ment.
The 7th Cavalry should
not still be viewed as having
ReS&Black
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ESTABLISHED Mil*, I NIIK I* KNI) EN T I UH <i
time. Eating dinner with
cousins, sharing hotel rooms
with soldiers, I learned they
are sick of constantly living
in fear, with sirens sending
them to bomb shelters and
fearing for their lives when
stepping on public buses
terrorists might target.
That is why, fellow
Americans, this tiny nation
of 7 million, surrounded by
100 million Arabs, has been
threatened too long with
invasion —■ has suffered too
many terrorist attacks.
Present-day fear comes
off a horrible past.
Asa Jew, I can tell you
where Israel’s stem stance
originates in the
Holocaust. To this day, a
common teaching among
survivors and their families
is, "never forget and always
remember.”
In Israel, I found an
entire population who
understands this teaching
and the familiar threat of
extinction posed by the
neighboring countries.
Some Americans see
Israel differently, as need
lessly militant and aggres
sive with neighboring
nations.
What these critics need
to understand is that Israel
wants no more missile
attacks, no more suicide
bombings, no more inva
sions, no more rocks thrown
in the streets and no more
fighting for peace, or,
indeed, survival.
David Beckman is
a senior from Roswell
majoring in journalism and
mass communication
a proud history, because of
its defeat at the Little Big
Horn.
From your high and com
fortable perch, your logic
suggests Pearl Harbor sur
vivors and Vietnam vets
should just hide in the clos
et because they lost their
battle/war (through no fault
of any of those veterans).
There are many exam
ples, but just these few
should show you how ridicu
lous your argument is.
It dishonors many, from
the common Confederate
soldier to Robert E. Lee. Jim
Bowie to Davy Crockett and
my father and grandfathers.
I'd be proud to stand
with these “losers” anytime,
anywhere. An honorable
defeat against overwhelming
odds is nothing to be
ashamed of.
MICHAEL KENNEDY
Sophomore, Savannah
History
Case of the sudoku
Mondays a drag
Whatever happened to
the easy sudokus?
Every Monday, I eagerly
open the paper to find an
easy level sudoku to do
while pretending to pay
attention in biology, but all I
And are ones that only
sudoku ninjas can hope to
complete.
Please bring back easy
sudoku Mondays!
REBECCA GARNER
Frashman, Grayson
Foraigf Language Education
[E
Zaid Jilani
A
Americans
must stand
up for peace
On March 26, the
Campus Greens
wUI be hosting
World Can’t Wait Drive
Out the Bush Regime
speakers, including active
duty soldiers who served
in Iraq but now are
opposed to that bloody
occupation and oil war.
The speakers will speak
in favor of impeaching
President Bush and
against the next war
the one against Iran.
In Gabriel McDonald's
Jan. 23 column in The Red
& Black, he claimed that
war with Iran is “probably
necessary.” I don’t know
what it says about this
young man that he uses
the same diction for mass
murder that someone
might use to describe eat
ing daily multivitamins,
but I do know his argu
ment is terrible.
McDonald talks about
"history repeating itself”
and Iran transforming into
anew Nazi Germany. He
fails to mention that Iran
has never been an aggres
sor in its existence; mean
while, the United States
has used CIA interference
to topple democraticaUy
elected Persian leaders in
the past. When that failed
in 1979 to suppress the
country’s independence,
the U S. armed and direct
ed Saddam Hussein to
viciously attack Iran.
I’d recommend that
McDonald drop the Nazi
analogies in the future
because in this case, it
would make us the Nazis.
The Washington Post
reported that in 2003, Iran
approached the U S. for
talks. Flynt Leverett of
the National Security
Council called it a “serious
... respectable effort to lay
out a comprehensive
agenda for U S.-Iranian
rapprochement.”
The Bush administra
tion promptly rejected
this offer. It stepped up
support for anti-regime
terrorists within Iran and
recently raided the
Iranian consulate in Iraq
—a major war crime.
...the morally
insane elites of
society have used
lies and hatred to
make war.
You can’t control
Iranian oil with peace.
The administration
(falsely) claims that Iran
is funding the Iraqi insur
gency. A recently leaked
British Ministry of
Defense survey of Iraqi
public opinion found that
65 percent of those polled
supported attacks against
occupying soldiers. It isn’t
Iran’s fault that our troops
are dying in Baghdad. It’s
a fact of life that an occu
pied people will fight back
against their occupiers.
Iraqis will fight for the
independence of their
country as much as we
fought for ours.
From Nero and Hitler
to Blair and Bush, the
morally insane elites of
society have used lies and
hatred to make war.
In the coming weeks,
you will be told that
Iranians are a very threat
to our way of life. Iran’s
rich history, culture, art,
philosophy and music will
be erased; they will be
replaced by a false selec
tive picture of Islamic
extremism bent on
destroying the West,
"We the People” can
stop the war criminals in
Washington from attack
ing Iran, from butchering
our human brothers and
sisters in Tehran.
It won't be easy, but an
entire generation of young
Iranians who want to
peacefully embrace the
West is counting on us.
Zaid Jilani it
a freshman from
Kennesaw majoring in
International Affairs