Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

4 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. Our Staff NEWS: 706433 3002 Ntw Editor: Alexis Garrobo Attociata Newt Editor: Melissa Weinman Sporta Editor: Tyler Estep Variety Editor: Whitney Kessler Flret ft Goal Editor: Ptiillip Kisubika Out A About Editor: Alec Wooden Photography Editor: Kelly Wegel Chief Photographer: Josh Weiss Chief Copy Edltora: Christina Graft, Shannon Otto Design Editor: Melanie McNeefy Online Editor: Paul Ruddle Online Protect Specialist: Joe Mason Recruitment Editor: Lauren Leschper Editorial Cartoonist: Si Richards Editorial Assistant: Claire Scully Editorial Adviser: Ed Morales News Staff Writers: Elyse Beasley. Krlslen Coulter. Carolyn Crist, Whitney Homans, Brian Hughes, Claire Miner. Daniel O'Connor, Pearman Parker, Samuel Steinberg. Sarah Watkins, Mandi Woodruff Sports Staff Writers: Matt Barksdale, Jason Butt, Lawrence Conneff. Marshall Ouncan Variety Staff Writars: Tamara Best, Elizabeth Diard, Charles Griffin, Jennifer Jackson, Anna Krakovski, Mandy Rodgers. Clarke Schwabe, Valentina Tapia, Rachel Photographers: Mke Comet, Lindy Dugger. Sara Guevara Design Doek: Cady Baker, Courtney Chouverme. Co*n Duniop, Lauren Edson, Katie Gasner, Lyndsay Hoban, Christina Lee. Cathryn Mclntosh, Dartme Oyemakinwa, Lindsey Peacock. Caroline Ruse. Kristen Shaw. Jennifer Taylor. Ashley Twist Opinions expressed h The Rod A Black other than unsigned editorials are the opinions o( the writers of signed columns and not necessarky those of The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. Afl rights reserved. Reprints by permission of Ihe extern. Editorial board members Include Matt Btandenburgh, Jay Butler. Juanita Cousins, Matt Grayson, Jacquelyn Greenwood, Bill Richards, JoAnn Anderson. Reaching Us Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fax (706) 433-3033 opinions@randb.com | 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. Stringers: Rusty Bailey, Aaron Barton, Kristen Boyd, Paul Cherian, Kevin Copp, Ryne Dennis, Lindsay Dobras, Robbins Exume, Frannie Fabian, Jenna Flndlan, Tyler Goforth, Lauren Grundhoefer, RWtard Hamm. Rebecca Hay, Sarah King, Rene Lautenschlager, Tom Marine, Joe Mason, liana McQuirm, Colter McWhorter, Brian Mink. Julia Norman, Jennifer Paxton, Denechia Powell, Samantha Promislotl, CoSn Smith, Harrison Wagener, Marlee Waxelbum, Emily Yocco Copy Editors: Tiffany Howard, Merldith Moon, Tiago Moura, Anna Rodriguez, Rebecca Rose, Kelly Shaul, Erin Summerlin ADVERTISING: 706433-3001 Account Executlvee: Abby Ammons, Rachel Causey, Irena Chernova, Morgan Copper, Tyler English, Jennifer Mendel. Lindsay Nichols, Amanda Ryan, Valerie Traber, Julie Turner Classified Manager: Erin Beasley Classified Adviser: Amanda Goforth. Danielle Towers Advertising Assistant: Ryan Roddenbeny, Diana Young Advertising Ohsctor Rick Chapman Web Developar: Nikita Smeshko Production Staff: Gary Bardizbanian Natalie Boyd. Jude Leung. Leslie Mintz Production Night Supervisor: Chri6 Lee Production Manager: Sam Ptttard Receptionist: Erin Beasley Assistant Office Manager: Lauren Afeert Office Manager: Mary Straub Publisher: Harry Montevideo The Red t Black e pUtohed Monday tvough Friday tril and spring semesters and each Ttxjraday rummer aamaaier, aicapi holidays and exam periods, by The Red & Black Pubiiehing Company Inc, a nonprollt campus newspaper not affmaaed wtti me University o! Georgia Subscription rale: $195 par year. Opinions IUhC . hJhHAJUMIio , : : : r— r 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 ttmdmt imtmpafm mrvimg the L'ntvemty of Georgia mmrmmity iitailiiiid iiii, imrmin its* 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