About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2007)
4 Fkiday, March a, 2007 | The Red a Black Ljursn Morgan | Editor in Chirk editorffl randb.com Colin Dunlop | Managing Editor mcWmndb.com PT Untphress | Opinions Editor opin hmsdcmndb.com Opinion Meter ,1 trrap-up of the week’s ups ant! downs Every silver lining has its cloud Earlier this week, the Student Government Association sent out its report with two very in-focus goals: 22- hour SLC and tax-free books. The Red & Black still loves these ideas but has jr\ just one concern: the SLC now will f \r? become the hangout for those who leave from the downtown party scene after 2 a.m. The only obvious way to deter this activity is to put a Waftle House in Tate 11. And on the subject of Tate 11.. . Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Students were sold on the promise of a 100.000 square foot Tate 11. Then there were delays. Then there was a cut due to rising construction cost, followed by the miscommunicated news of a second cut. Though architect project manager Joe Powell has given his word there will > — x be no more setbacks, The Red & f V Black's online poll (as of March 2) indi- \ cates 54 percent of respondents are not " so sure the building ever will get built at all. It seems those behind the Tate II project have a long way to go to earn back student trust —a path that hope fully will not be as long as the Tate II construction timeline. Naked gold men on your TV Although there weren’t too many sur prises at this year’s Academy Awards, Martin Scorsese finally was honored with a gold statuette for Best Director for “The Departed.” While this year’s Oscar ceremony topped the weekly r / "~\ Nielsen rating with more than 40 mil- v lion viewers, we still wish the show did- n’t run so long even with the short speeches, the show ran longer than three hours. Our suggestion for next year? Skip the extra montages and acrobatic displays, and let everyone fin ish their thank-you’s. You go girl! March is Women’s history month and there are many ways to celebrate the ~ gloriousness of girl power on campus. ) These are just a few of our favorite “you £ go girls”: Meredith Brooks, Nancy \J^ Pelosi, Margaret Thatcher, The Spice Girls, Princess Diana. Amelia Earhart and Demi Moore. This is the true story... ...of two University students picked to go on reality TV shows, to show what happens when college students stop acting educated and start acting real real foolish. We hope our readers under stand our problem is not with the stu dents who opt to throw themselves into f \yj> the proverbial meat-grinder that is real- ( / ity TV. but with the genre itself. Graduate Timothy “T-Mo” Rasmussen has his 100 grand, and junior LaMonte Ponder has his “Road Rules” adven tures —but will these shows make, shape or break our Bulldog brothers? Quote of the week: “I mean you wake up, scratch your butt a little, take a nap or two, accomplish some things, you might crash a car once, and by the end of the day, you get drunk and pass out.” Deputy Clementine Johnson of "Reno 911” on the making of "Reno 911!: Miami” NEWS: 433-3002 Am t or Aaarxioaa Am UAor raw Hnr Seorta tteßor Sam Starorj Vintey ffflw -xt* ftrxt- Out I Ka-n law wrote Pori PhoteOhy IMa OuN PAoaograplMr >ta V/~ar CNN Cooy ttoon tvrrrr CWo Amy Hrrrr. OAorgrUßor OnAntUAor /nMaav> Racntemonl UAo> msaUOxr URBAN CrT'Ornr R ABlAi UAoANAmtM 'lTrr* COTA UMANMMN E3te Sonor Nfiten a '•* Soar ’unu* Am N! 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Snana Vafcauaaaa Reaching Us Phone (7(Hi) 433-3002 | Fhx (706) 483-3083 opinions® randh.com | www.r(!dandblack.coni 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 OiteanaOraf >irhn GanwHam Raoaaateaa AArray teonara Crrtßia Honar Vwtey war teaoar Aaßma Arm •: aAowto A to .tm Maatcauxr fmn ttengrr. OaaaMkr Palallwjar jwatO’Comi SaraONaar rnntm“tar Uarr RaN Uwma Burr layer ffotm Conor Wrarteo Marty Rtrtgan Carona tejaa Sena Sfiarar Narmr Boanaar Sham Aten Att Mateo Martea Araaaaoaor MWaaa arrr jan Araaa BnanyiAAilay Fmly roeco Coy Cteaa Arta On wtm Comar unue rjn Cmara Graß 'Mf. 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First, consider Jilani’s impeachment event. It appears Jilani does not fully understand what impeach ment means. To impeach the president ~ which would not lead nec essarily to his removal from office would indicate the president has committed some criminal act, which is just not the case. I assume Jilani feels the president should be impeached because of the war, but there is no law against declaring war, which he did with Congress' initial approval Only recently, when pub lic opinion has changed about Iraq, has Congress bent to fit the public opin ion. Let's get another thing straight. The only people committing mass murder in the Middle East are the Middle Easterners. Jilani acts as though if the U S. pulls out of Iraq, conflict between Sunnis and Shiites magically will go away and everyone will get along. What Jilani fails to recog nize is, although our military is being attacked, we're not the targets they are. The sectarian conflict between the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds is a longstanding battle that isn’t going away. The bombs aren't concen trated to our bases, but in markets, schools, hospitals Mailbox E-tnail and tetters from oar readers Jilani column draws strong criticisms Zaid Jilani, In his Feb. 28 column, says, "Iran has never been an aggressor in its existence.” How are we to define aggressor? During the Jimmy Carter White House vacation, ■ Tehran students seized the American embassy in ‘79 until day one of President Reagan’s administration. According to Middle Eastern experts, Iran has seized United States diplo mats, ordered American hostages to be taken in Lebanon and abroad and supports a terrorist war against the U.S. and Israel. If those are not examples of aggression, then yes, Mr. Jalini is correct. The prob lem is, however, those acts and many others are acts of “aggression," to put it light ly. Whether Iranian support for terrorism is a good or bad thing apparently depends on your perspec tive. In his article, Mr. Jalini used the term “us” when referring to the United States, as well as “us” refer ring to “a generation of young Iranians.” Perhaps the“young Iranian” In the author sees no wrong in the aggressive actions of “the foremost state Sponsor of terrorism,” as concluded by a panel of Middle Eastern experts dur ing a Heritage Foundation discussion in late 2006. Given all of this, Iran's nuclear program is like a truck without brakes, speed ing downhill. This is unacceptable and f Jackson Elam ▲ and public areas to kill each other. The radical Muslims kill women, children and the elderly indiscriminately. Even in the last week, more dirty bombs are being used not only to inflict death, but also severe pain and suffer ing. A chlorine gas bomb was used recently that killed two and left 32 in a hospital coughing for air. These aren't the acts of people fighting occupancy, but murderers —and it’s their own people they’re killing. Next is Iran, which Jilani holds in such high regard He claims Iran "has never been an aggressor in its existence.” Maybe he has forgotten Ahmadinejad's calls to wipe Israel from the face of the Earth or his denial of the Holocaust. So why does Jilani care if Iran is compared to Nazi Germany? They didn't do anything wrong, right? But let's not forget about Ahmadinejad’s involvement in the Iran Hostage Crisis, his refusal to halt his nuclear program (despite demands made by the United Nations), Iran's overt support for the militant E-MAILING US Questions, comments, complaints? Here's where to send them: Letters I opinions@randb.com News Tips I news@randb com hopefully will be solved diplomatically. Unfortunately, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who by the way refers to the Holocaust as a "myth" and has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," has no intention of stopping Iran’s nuclear program. That, Mr Jalini. is aggression. CYLE COOK Junior, Stockbridge Criminal Justice R&B’s fashion advice a faux pas I cannot read the "fash ion advice” any longer. Let me preface all of this by saying I am sure Emily Samuels has a sincere love of clothing and shopping and is an all-around great girl; however, the Spring Fashion 2007 spread was nothing more than a retro spective on the way University students have dressed for years: guys In Polo shirts and girls in “pretty” dresses. Basically, what I am try ing to say is the “trends” Ms. Samuels put together could have Just as easily .Rod&Black All iiMf*|M iiil*'iil Niuik'til iM’ttMiwprr nmtaft lln* i Blvemily of fleonOa manually KNTAHUNH Kl> IMWti. INDKPKNDKNT IMO Hezbollah and the allega tions he is feedinv the insur gency in Iraq, ammig other things. Whether you believe Ahmadinejad knowingly is condoning these actions or not, the bombs and weapons being used to kill innocent people are being manufactured in Iran ("U S. • Says Raid in Iraq Supports Claim on Iran" NYT.com, Feb 25). So how is it Iran "has never been an aggressor”? Lastly, the war in Iraq is not an easy situation for anyone. President Bush wants to get out of there just as much as anyone else, but he recognizes the truth of the situation: if we leave now, the country will descend into total chaos with an all out civil war between differ ent sects inside the country. The real humanitarian thing to do is for the U S. to remain in Iraq until peace between the religious sects is achieved Otherwise, you'll see more killing, deaths and murders with no one to stop it. The Sunnis see their influence diminishing because they are the clear minority in Iraq after their repressive leader was ousted. Now, they'll do anything they can to keep what power they have, even if it involves strapping a bomb to themselves and leveling a market or school.— Elam is a junior from Martinez majoring in biology been pulled up from each of my friends' Facebook albums Let’s be honest. This real ly is not the first time the student body population has seen a low cut, geomet ric print dress. BIANCA SUNDELL Senior, Atlanta Fashion Merchandising Totten treads worn trails with column • Mr. Totten, it seems you have brought up the same subject that is discussed in The Red & Black every spring. In fact, last April I wrote a very similar letter to the editor when someone else complained about the possi ble racist treatment of some at the bars downtown. I would like to reiterate my point: a private business ran have whatever policy it wishes regarding who it serves. This is not illegal, as you seem to believe it is. I also would like to offer you the same advice I gave a year ago: you are free to open your own establish ment where you only let in people wearing silver chains, black shoes, mohawks or whatever quality you wish. You have this right, as does every other owner of a private business. CHRIS M. LINDSEY Junior, Grayson Political Sclonca H Chris Chiego The art of asking good questions After two months of fuU-time unpaid intern work last summer, I finally reached the goal I had been work ing toward: the chance to ask former President BUI Clinton any question I wanted, face-to-face. And I blew it. * Instead of the life changifg exchange I had imagined, I launched into a rambling, semi-coherent policy inquiry about some thing involving Venezuela, Russia and oU. * Consequently, I wasted everyone’s time and never got the info I wanted. We all have many chances to ask questions, whether to people of national stature or to a professor or feUow stu dent. Yet from what I have seen at the University and elsewhere, few of us are competent questioners. By keeping a few sim ple strategies in mind, you should be able to take (UU advantage of opportuni ties to draw out a speak er’s knowledge. Almost all good ques tions share one quality brevity. At a lecture dis cussing the potential for an avian flu disaster, the audience was subjected to a 10-minute tirade from a lady who thought she knewjnore than the healtMprofessional at the podium. Long-winded questions are unfair to the rest of the audience and confusing to the speaker. Do not ask a question in order to show off. The best question from my fel low interns at President Clinton’s question and answer session was sim ply, “What can be done to improve the United Nations?” which prompt ed a very interesting and insightful response. In addition to keeping the question short, avoid asking questions on topics so esoteric or specific that few people in attendance would care about them. At a campus event, one of the attendees continu ally tried to ask questions about what obviously was his area of specialty knowledge. His questions meant little to everyone else and were outside the scope of the speaker’s knowledge, but this ques tioner persisted in taking the discussion off track for a good 15 minutes. Keep your audience’s interests in mind and stick to broader topics, or at least easily explainable specific. Along with con sidering the audience, put your question in context with the rest of the ses-' sion. Since questions usu ally come after a presenta tion and in between other questions, circumstances may require you to change your question to some thing more appropriate. On the last question, for instance, ask for advice, solicit predictions for the future or make some other general query to tie everything up. I con stantly see off-topic and overly specific questions come up at the end, which deny the audience proper closure. Come up with another question, or sim ply let someone else get the chance to ask one. Students and profes sors alike should consider the following three essen tials when asking a ques tion: keep iLbrief, remem ber your aucfience and put your question in the con text of the other ques tions. The art of questioning takeß practice as well as trial-and-error hopeful ly with speakers other than a former president. A good question, how ever, can provide that golden nugget of knowl edge that makes a normal speech or lecture truly memorable and insightful. Chris Chiego is a columnist for The Red & Black
