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Wednesday, January 16, 2008 I The Red * Black
Juanita Cousins I Editor in Chirk
mitnnfvrumUt.com
Shannon Otto | Managing Editor
me@rmuib.com
Melanie Me Neely | Opinions Editor
op in ions@ 1 m mib.com
Our Take
Mujorit// opinions of The Red it 1 Black's editorial board
An all-around 10.0
Gym Dogs take a timeout, training
young gymnasts for Special Olympics
In the Special Olympics, everyone is a win
ner, and this year’s event is sure to be a posi
tive and uplifting experience. But it must be all
the more wonderful when your trainer is on a
nationally-renowned gymnastics team and is a
world-class athlete.
Thanks to a two-year partnership between
our Gym Dogs and the Special Olympics, chil
dren in the area surrounding the University, as
well as some from as far away as Elberton, have
the chance to do work with our University’s
gymnasts.
We heartily commend the Gym Dogs who
participate in the program, giving a bit of their
time each week. In doing so, they bring enjoy
ment to the lives of others who face more
unique life difficulties than the rest of us.
Such compassionate giving of oneself
empowers our society and makes our world
immeasurably better.
The Gym Dogs serve as examples the rest of
us should seek to emulate. As the Dalai Lama
said: “If you want others to be happy, practice
compassion. If you want to be happy, practice
compassion.” Clearly, these athletes strive for
greatness on and off the mats, and we applaud
their generosity.
Whatever the outcome of their 2008 season,
the Gym Dogs’ actions make them champions.
Matt Brandenburgh for the editorial board
Criminal crashers
Some pesky guests may outstay their
welcome, while others get you arrested
Picture this: a close friend from out of town
pays a visit to Athens. “Sure, you can stay with
me,” you say. However, unbeknownst to you,
they’re carrying illegal paraphernalia weap
on, drugs or alcohol —and a University
employee happens to catch sight of it and con
tact University police.
Or imagine this scene: an out-of-towner
squatting on your couch for the weekend
attacks mascots Hairy Dawg and Spike during
a men’s basketball game, as two visitors did in
December 2006.
Whether or not you’ve spent any time with
the guest, if they’re staying under your roof,
they’re your responsibility. You can —and likely
will suffer the consequences.
We’d like to remind all University students to
mind their visitors. According to Regulation 14
of the University conduct regulations, “allow
ing, condoning, permitting or providing oppor
tunity for a guest to violate University conduct
regulations” is both the host and guest’s
responsibility. Students can be found criminally
responsible if they aid or abet a visitor’s activi
ty.
Just this week, two visitors at East Campus
Village were charged, one with possession of a
weapon on school property and one with pos
session of marijuana.
This also applies to visitors in dormitories.
Guests must be escorted 24 hours per day.
Violators should find themselves before their
Area Coordinator, Residence Hall Director or a
Judicial Hearing Officer.
To avoid these unnecessary violations, we
recommend brushing up on the University
Code of Conduct. It can be found online at
http://www.uga.edu/judicialprograms/code.htm.
And please, control your guests.
Shannon Otto for the editorial board
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Opinions
STOVES NBRofb ' V o*ol* T6CK SYVM6S
Don’t let ignorance steer vote
Mark McAfee
claimed in his
column published
Monday that "the two
most experienced candi
dates, Joe Biden and Bill
Richardson, have had to
drop out (of the presi
dential race] for lack of
funds.”
Although he may be
correct in regard to Gov.
Richardson, he omitted
one small detail in regard
to Biden.
In February of last
year, Sen. Biden was dis
cussing Barack Obama’s
candidacy with a reporter
from the New York
Observer, and he said, “I
mean, you got the first
mainstream African-
American who is articu
late and bright and clean
and a nice-looking guy ...
that’s a storybook, man.”
Perhaps Biden’s flac
cid campaign and “lack of
funds" had something to
do with this gaffe and the
tsunami of bad press it
generated.
McAfee’s caricature of
Obama wasn't quite as
lowbrow or as insulting as
Biden’s.
Was his column sup
posed to be ironic?
He opens by saying
he’s “not the only igno
rant white racist ... afraid
of Obama’s popular
ity,” and then, bizarrely,
“rephrases" his first para
graph "with the usual
opening a white male
needs to use these days
when he says he probably
won’t vote for Obama: I'm
not actually a racist.”
I guess I’m just con
fused because after
we've been assured
McAfee is not a racist
not only does he create
an outrageously unfair
and simplistic caricature
of Obama, but he also
refuses to discuss a single
other candidate in any
sort of depth.
Do the candidates
(plural) lack experience?
Or is it just the senator
from Illinois?
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
LGBT crowd too small for big business
In response to the edi
torial board’s opinion on
the closing of Detour, I
have to ask if any of them
took economics. One of
the first things about
starting a small business
is to find a demographic
wide enough to sustain
your business.
The lesbian, gay, bisex
ual and transgender com
munity is not big enough
In Athens to sustain an
LGBT bar for a continued
period of time.
Detour and
Boneshakers were cen
tered on young crowds
that couldn’t support it
year-round. Bars are hard
to keep open for a long
time period, much less an
LGBT bar.
Even though this is a
progressive coUege town,
we Uve In a very conserva
tive state. For every one
openly gay guy or girl,
there are a handful of oth
ers who refuse to come
out of the closet for fear
Alex Busko
“My rage stems mainly
from the fact that I
simply cannot
understand why people
... place such an
emphasis and exert
such an
unconscionable
amount of energy on
the pontificating about
race in this election. ”
My rage stems mainly
from the fact that I simply
cannot understand why
people students, vot
ers, journalists and media
outlets place such
an emphasis and exert
such an unconscionable
amount of energy pontifi
cating about race in this
election.
Obama has darker skin
than people of European
descent because his genes
code for a larger amount
of a pigment called mela
nin.
What is it about
Obama that elicits such
bizarre statements from
people such as Biden and
McAfee?
Why do they and oth
ers feel so compelled to
point out his mastery of
the English language, or
the fact that he’s a “clean
and nice-looking guy"
with “superior dental
work”?
Maybe I’m delusional,
but "these days” when I, a
white male, disclose that
I don’t particularly like
E-MAILING US
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of rejection from family
and friends.
I am not belittling the
LGBT community’s plight.
It must be hard to feel safe
and comfortable in down
town Athens. However,
don’t insult myself and
others like me who think
that when a bad business
plan foils, intolerance is
the first thing that comes
to mind.
Maybe in a more liberal
time at the University,
will we find an LGBT bar
becoming a safe haven for
its community for years to
come.
JAY BUTLER
Sophomore, Johns Crook
Political Science
Red&Black
An Independent student newspaper serving the University ofttenryia community
ESTABLISHED (111, INDEPENDENT III#
Obama or plan on voting
for him, I’ve never even
slightly felt the need to
preface my words by say
ing that I’m not racist.
Anyone who thinks I’m
a bigot because I disagree
with policies and convic
tions of a black man must
live in a very strange
world.
McAfee said he won’t
vote for Obama because
he’s “been watching
[emphasis added] this
presidential race pretty
closely," which is telling
because it’s apparent by
the end of his column that
he gets the better part of
his political “knowledge"
from television.
Anyone who’s under
the illusion that TV can
adequately inform a
voter of the numerous
issues and intricate
policy positions should
consider reading the
work of a media scholar
by the name of Neil
Postman.
An hour-long news
program with 20 minutes
of commercials has no
choice but to distill all
complexities into bite
sized images.
Of course, Mr. McAfee
and millions of others
believe “experience” and
“change” are the most
important issues in an
election such as this.
Of course a slick rube
like George II can win
reelection by convincing
us that renegade homo
sexuals are plotting a ter
rorist attack on the sanc
tity of marriage.
As long as we remain
passive consumers
averse to the time-con
suming process of reading
books, magazines and
newspapers and think
ing about what the words
mean we’ll remain just
as obtuse and incom
petent as the people we
elect to lead us.
Alex Busko is a
news writer for
The Red & Black.
Too much drama
for Sudoku fans
Vast numbers of The
Red & Black mysteriously
were not in their bins for
students to grab on their
way into class. I wonder
where they could have
gone.
Better yet, who on
earth would have taken
them (hence, the sar
casm)?
I'm sure it had noth
ing to do with the sen
sitive nature of one of
your headlines (“Student
cocaine charges linger").
Obviously, this is not
your fault, but Tuesday/
Thursday classes are long,
and I need that Sudoku
puzzle to make the
teacher think I am taking
notes.
ELIZABETH EZZELL
Senior, Atlanta
Magazines
Josh White
▲
Distractions
disrupt SLC
study habits
Yes, I know you can’t
wait to get totally wast
ed tonight.
I also know you need
a ride downtown, and
your mom’s just whiney,
because you definitely
are not talking too much
on your cell. Except that
you are.
I’m in the Student
Learning Center right
now, trying to read a
bloated 50-plus page
treatise on the con
sequences that risk
management strate
gies might have had on
developing countries
after World War II and
during the advent of
modem globalization.
So shut your mouth.
What are you even
doing here?
I’m here because I
want a quiet, well-lit
place to study. You
obviously just want an
uncomfortable wooden
chair and a room with
decent acoustics.
You’ve reached your
goal now, everyone
within earshot can learn
that you are an incred
ible moron.
We’re not learning
much else here, so why
not?
You want strange
young men and women
to feel your pain,
since the BCS was all
“screwed up.”
I’ve got a very boring
and longwinded research
article to get through,
but you can’t stop get
ting important phone
calls, like the one from a
friend “or, like, what
ever, you know" —of
yours, who’s wondering
if you're still studying in
the SLC.
After five minutes of
explaining to your phone
pal that you are, in fact,
still in the SLC, you
hang up.
But the fun’s not over
for you yet. Pretty soon,
your “Crank That" ring
tone lets everyone know
you have another very
important conversation
in your near future.
Sure enough, yes,
your girlfriend wants to
spend another six or so
minutes discussing din
ner plans and to make
sure you’re not mad at
her about last night.
You aren't angry at
all in fact, you feel
generous enough to offer
an extensive, extremely
detailed explanation on
why you dislike your 3:30
class. Not just to her,
but to everyone within
100 feet.
God, I haven't even
gotten past page five
yet.
You finally hang up
on your girlfriend, who
probably just called you
from the Main Library
computer lab, and you
get back to “work.”
What’s new on
Facebook?
You’d better finish
updating your favorite
quotes, because that
thick crust pizza you’re
eating tonight with
out ground pork. I hope,
because I know it makes
you “queasy as hell”
surely will put you to
sleep.
A nap’s not a bad
idea, though. You’ll need
one before hitting the
bars.
Wait... what’s this?
You’re leaving?
Now I can read in
peace. Hmm, so that’s
why economic risk often
is hidden. OK, I get it.
Ah, this feels good.
Hold on ... is that
another phone? But
you’re gone, so it can’t
be yours.
That’s it. I’m logging
off.
Josh White is a first
year graduate student
from Carrollton
majoring in public
administration.