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4 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 Rmfdlor /anaCoum MocM In Mar Onto* >ir JpomWßor Aar 'Jmrtmj WW| ima -wsm Mum MIIMUb Wt4*'-vr. 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Reaching Us Phone (706) 433-3002 | Vhx (706) 433-3033 I 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 ISO words. All letters are subject to editing for length, style and libelous material. Our Staff QnkaGrtf Mo M. Oam Ham Rank rtaa Maw, >*mni PiatpPa ara Pabp jonaa Rapt Koßaa Pna K/am* AO> upara mcaLKon SharaManpc OmMar AaAarMgan OawOComa Sari 'mar janMAaMi Pkon Ml Main Qum lapa> BdM Com FfcPaaokon Hanop Mpn Comma Fkaa Sona SPaar Naßar Soman. Sara Nam Ma Narim. Manna Rkaßawn MdMaa Nanmaa Jam Waaa Broanp aopßap Emap Vooco CoppOaak UotOo MrhWCom EVjMfißar Onaana Cna l Tap Mo/a jam p Paaoodi CMM (Apr Mama r n ADVERTISING: 433-3001 IUM ttenagar WndVi McKfwy AccountEmcuDmt’j* CmpM nm Owrwt Ty*r f rtpst Uut unfi 3* CMHfr Rart* *omr Hanoi Kniwr irduy Nttot Arunda^rar CMWMHWI:GMnIfItVM<ITV Mnctor tat CMpmr whdii m*9m**> ftoduetto* M - Gr> Oraaonr Nttto Boyd JUM i**g UdolAnti KftW* Along Afodurton Mo* tMpwvtor CM* im tooduedo* llmpr Sun Ptvd OflkotfMfV Uvyfeaub AdUm Ofto llmfr M*y Ovdord ftewtonW KWDtdy Dm AuMMiv Htfry MorlfMdK TW AW I mm S OEMM MM* 9nm Ml* M M U| MM M cmp* r . • mmm m mm m MRtftayi *mmm NMwnXd— OKWtm ’4m ifimwmtmwm 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 Questions, comments, complaints? Here’s where to send them: Letters I opinjons@randb.com News Tips I news@randb.com 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 All liKkiriulriil uludi'tii in/ ,)i|K f m-rvliiß tbr llnlvmlly M GniißM ninßaolly 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