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Monday, October i, 2007 | The Red a Black
Juanita Cousins 1 Editor in Chief
editor@randb.com
Matthew Grayson | Managing Editor
me@randb.com
JoAnn Anderson | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black's editorial board
Frogger fears
After a bus accident Friday morning, a
reminder to cross the street safely.
Friday was an interesting day on campus.
The Ole Miss game was only hours away when
a fire alarm went off at East Village Commons
and University student Sakura Yamazaki was
hit by a University bus at the intersection of
Baldwin and Lumpkin Streets.
Some may wonder about rumors of getting
free tuition in exchange for a love tap from a
University bus, but the events that happened
last week have put the severity of an injured
student at the forefront of our minds.
We want to send our gratitude to Sgt. First
Class Jeff Thompson, the rest of the Army
ROTC cadets and other passers-by who helped
at the scene of the accident. It showed a true
chivalric and brave side to the University’s stu
dent body.
This also should serve as a warning to every
one else looking to get to their class or study
session just a little quicker. We don’t want our
streets to become a glorified version of Frogger,
so please exercise caution when walking off the
grass and onto the pavement.
Police also are crossing the road to get
to the other side and slap jaywalkers with S9O
fines. University Police are on the lookout, as
they are issuing tickets for those who do not
cross streets using the pedestrian walks.
So do the safe and legal thing and do as your
preschool teacher said look both ways before
crossing the street.
Jay Butler for the editorial board.
Make it rain
In dry times, we resort to desperate
measures —a note to Ma Nature herself.
Dear Mother Nature,
Hey, how’s it going? We know it’s been a
while since we wrote to you, but this drought
has left us confused. Why are you laying your
motherly wrath upon Athens-Clarke County
in the form of this massive water shortage,
unprecedented in recent history? How’d our
relationship deteriorate to this, after such a
promising beginning?
Maybe you’re right it’s us. Perhaps we
should stop being so petty. After all, it’s not
like you leveled a major U.S. city two years ago
or anything. And it’s not like the only respite
from this drought you’ve given us has been
ill-timed downpours that soak us as we walk
to class. Please understand we want to love
you we really do —but sometimes, you do
things that get to us in that certain way. You’re
unique like that.
Maybe we just don’t understand you. You’ve
got to admit you work in mysterious ways.
And that confuses us sometimes, making us
say things we don’t mean. That Opinion Meter
piece about last summer’s heat wave? We had
a bad day. Those complaints about the hurri
canes a few years ago? Ancient history.
We admit it: we’ve said some hurtful things
in the past. Now we’re facing a large-scale
depletion of the ACC water supply, and you
know what that means: showers using bottled
water. We know how much you hate those
plastic containers, though. We hate them, too,
because we know they hurt you, and we’d never
want that. Let’s make things right. It won’t be
like before, we promise. Please make it rain.
Love, The Red & Black Editorial Board
Bill Richards for the editorial board.
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Opinions
IUhC . hJhHAJUMIio , : : : r—
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Iran deserves apology, respect
In the Sept. 28 column,
“Iran leader crafts
ignorant legacy,” the
authors make a number of
erroneous claims used to
justify placing Draconian
sanctions on Iran, which
would cause much misery
for its people.
First of all, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad has said the
Holocaust did happen
but those who question it
shouldn’t be imprisoned
(as they are in Europe),
and the Holocaust is
improper justification
for Israeli oppression of
Arabs.
Second, he never
has caUed for Israel to
be “wiped off the map”
if you know Farsi, he
called for the “occupying
regime” to be removed
meaning that Iran’s presi
dent agrees with United
Nations Resolution 242,
that Israel should imme
diately end its illegal occu
pation of Palestinian lands
and return to its 1967 bor
ders.
More importantly,
Ahmadinejad does not
control Iran’s foreign
policy the Ayatollah
does, and he has endorsed
the Arab League’s posi
tion that Israel should
be recognized and rela
tions should be normal
ized providing that it ends
its illegal occupation of
Palestinian lands.
The rights of Jewish
citizens in Iran are fully
protected —a num
ber of them serve in the
Parliament, the largest
Jewish charity hospital in
the wprld is in Iran and a
number of the Ayatollah’s
friends and advisers are
devout Jews.
The authors quote
Benjamin Netanyahu’s
Scalpers taint culture of honesty
How much are your
footbaU memo
ries worth? For
many Georgia faithful,
time spent between the
hedges is priceless, but
for a growing number
of University students
call them the unfaith
ful even the slightest
financial profit is enough
to forfeit their college
football Saturday.
Scalping of football
tickets by students is
a major problem on
this campus, despite
University policy against
it. Asa transfer student
in 2004,1 received tick
ets to three home games
Georgia Southern,
Marshall and LSU.
For the rest of the sea- .
son, desperate to watch
the Bulldogs, I was at the
mercy of scalpers who
exploit their fellow stu
dents.
I attended every home
game that year, but paid
a heavy price —most
notably SIOO to watch my
team fall to Tennessee.
Three years later, the
scalpers still have no con
science, but they have
grown in their boldness.
These opportunists now
have the audacity to go
public with the prostitu
tion of their tickets.
Several groups go
online to Facebook to
“exchange” football tick
ets. One group, “The UGA
Ticket Buy/Sell/Trade
Mart,” promotes itself
as a place where you can
“feel free to scalp yourself
bald.” The group’s mes
sage board is filled with
posts by students offering
w
Zaid Jilani
absurd assertion that Iran
—a country that has never
committed the crimes of
genocide, aggression, or
occupation is compa
rable to Nazi Germany.
While Netanyahu served
under Prime Minister
Begin, he gleefully execut
ed the order given to him
about Palestinians waving
their national flag (which
Israel outlawed): “Break
their bones.” Quoting
a man who has gone on
record as supporting the
torture of children to lec
ture us about war and
peace is ridiculous.
There is one Iran-Nazi
link. When the CIA over
threw Iran’s democrat
ically-elected leader in
1953, they used actual
Nazi manuals to train the
installed Shah’s brutal
SAVAK police force. The
SAVAK were given lists of
socialists and communists
by the CIA and tortured
and executed them and
their families.
All of this was done
with U.S. taxpayer dollars,
with support by Israelis.
If another country did
this to us, wouldn’t we be
angry?
And yet, Iran has
approached the U.S. gov
ernment several times for
direct peace talks (the last
attempt being in 2003);
every single time the U.S.
has refused to meet with
Patrick Yawn
“These opportunists
now have the audacity
to go public with the
prostitution of
their tickets. ”
tickets for the best offer.
I am disheartened by stu
dents eager to auction off
their tickets, but at least
I comprehend the finan
cial motivation behind it.
What I don’t understand
is the University’s position
on scalping.
Yes, the University
Athletic Association Web
site warns “price gouging
other University students
who want to support our
football program will not
be tolerated,” but the
ticket office makes no
apparent effort to catch
students who do so.
The student tick
et manager, Kelley
Lawrence, told me the
University relies on stu
dents to turn in their
peers for scalping.
Lawrence said in
an interview the office
receives only a couple of
calls a week from students
complaining about ticket
Red&Black
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them. America refuses to
forgive Iran for ousting the
dictator it forced on the
Iranians, and for defeating
Saddam Hussein in the
Iran-Iraq war when the
U.S. funneled money and
guns to Iraq that killed
hundreds of thousands of
Iranian citizens.
There is no evidence
Iran has violated any
international agreement.
The Ayatollah has deemed
nuclear weapons to be
immoral by Islam (and I
think the authors would
apee that they take reli
gious law seriously in
Iran).
The hysteria about Iran
from the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
and the oil lobby (which is
extremely upset that Iran
has signed on to oil deals
with China and has start
ed selling on the euro)
shouldn’t be encouraged
by student leaders.
After all, the last
time the Democrats,
Republicans, and AIPAC
agreed on something, we
invaded Iraq. According
to the prestigious medi
cal journal Lancet, a mil
lion people have died as a
result of that. H.R. 1400:
Iran Counter-Proliferation
Act of 2007 is a cruel pack
age of economic sanctions
that could escalate into
war. Instead, we should
apologize to the Iranians
for the suffering we’ve
caused them, confront
Israel on its illegal occu
pation, and have face-to
face negotiations with the
Iranians over their peace
ful nuclear program.—
Zaid Jilani is
a sophomore from
Kennesaw majoring in
international affairs.
scalping. We all know
as Lawrence must know
the majority of bad
guys are not being caught.
I propose the ticket
office offer rewards for
students who iden
tify these price gougers,
accompanied by tangible
proof, of course.
Rewards could include
a small discount on a
ticket purchase or a guar
antee that helpflil stu
dents can purchase bowl
game tickets at the end of j
the season, or away game
tickets of their choice for
the following season.
If there is a reward,
students will be moti- i
vated to blow the whistle
on offenders. We could
shut down price gouging ;
this way.
I realize opponents
of my idea will argue
the University’s current
indifference indicates it
will not really try to stop
ticket scalping. However,
I believe the University’s
apathy is due to its cur
rent ignorance of how
much money is being
made on the resale of its •
tickets. •
If the University really i
cares about the interests
of students, it will become ;
more proactive in fighting
scalping.
After all, if we can’t
rely on the University to :
enforce its own policies
on underhanded activities j
such as ticket scalping,
in what sort of “culture of
honesty” are we living?
Patrick Yawn is a i
senior from Savannah ;
majoring in newspapers.
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from
our readers
Humanity shown
after accident
Walking to class
Friday morning, I heard
something over the din
of my headphones, only
to turn and see a crowd
gathering around a girl
who had been hit by a
bus at the crosswalk
in front of Park Hall.
I was amazed at the
great humanity of those
nearby, as several people
quickly came to her aid,
calling 911 and holding
her head still until help
could arrive.
A group of ROTC
officers were nearby as
well, helping the hand
ful of students attend to
the girl. Other students
generously consoled
the bus driver, very
shook up over the inci
dent. The incident left
me shocked, but most
importantly left me feel
ing admirable of the
kindness and human
ity all these strangers
exhibited towards those
truly in need of some
help. Best wishes to
all those involved for a
speedy recovery.
MATT BERRY
Junior, Marietta
Political Science
Child care issue
opens argument
In response to the
headline “Take our
kids off our hands” in
the Sept. 28 edition of
The Red & Black, there
is plenty of room for
debate on the issue of
affordable child care on
the University campus.
Thankfully, you spared
us from any meaningful
dialogue while informing
us of your own opinion
on the matter.
To those who see
the child care initiative
as unnecessary and a
“personal responsibil
ity issue,” I wonder
how you feel about the
HOPE Scholarship? Are
you consistent in your
critique of the “welfare
state, as it subsidizes
the new SUV your par
ents bought you?” It
would be nice if The Red
& Black would promote
a more meaningful dis
cussion the day follow
ing the rally. However,
I understand it lacked
the usual drunk, frat boy
that you tend to prefer
in your coverage.
PETER HOSSLER
Graduate Student,
Bloomington, Ind.
Geography
U.S. should not
tiy to satisfy Iran
The Sept. 28 col
umn about Iranian
“President” Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad’s visit to
the United States was
an admirable stand by
the three authors
the leaders of Dawgs
for Israel, College
Republicans and Young
Democrats, respectively.
They stated unassail
able truths about totali
tarianism. They said the
perverse regime in Iran
“cannot be appeased,
contained, or ignored.”
It is tragic that a por
tion of the University’s
population will reject
their argument. In the
past year on this cam
pus we’ve witnessed
“anti-war” protests
calling for immediate.,,
withdrawl from Iraq and
appeasement of Iran’s
nasty theocracy.
If these protestors get
their wish, one thing is
certain the frightening
consequences of appeas
ing the ugliest ideology
on the planet for Israel,
the U.S. and the world
will be on their hands.
It is pathetic that some
students are so infatu
ated with third-world
totalitarianism and
imbued with the rhetoric
of genocidal maniacs
that they cannot find
the strength to defend
themselves, the country
providing their freedom
and security or our dem
ocratic ally, Israel.
BRADLEY ALEXANDER
Senior, Macon
Political Science