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Wednesday, January 14. 2009 I The Red & Black
Carolyn Crist | Editor in Chief editor@randb.com
Chelsea Cook | Managing Editor me@randb.com
Shannon Otto | Opinions Editor opinions@randb.com
Our Take
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Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Back up the rules
We do not agree with the Less Safe rule,
but the state should enforce its own laws
We’re all familiar with “Over the limit, under
arrest” that catchy phrase advocated by the
state of Georgia warning us not to drive drunk.
But what about “under the limit, under
arrest?”
Joseph Fu, the head of the University’s math
ematics department, was charged in August
with DUI under the Less Safe process.
Under this process, a driver who is pulled
over and given a Breathalyzer test still can be
charged with DUI even if his breath sample
is less than the legal limit.
According to documents obtained by The
Red & Black, Fu drove the wrong way on a one
way exit ramp. At the Athens-Clarke County
jail, he was given a Breathalyzer and received a
.057 gram result less than the .08 legal limit
for those over age 21.
However, last Friday, Fu went to court and
his charge was lessened from DUI to reckless
driving.
Although The Red & Black does not agree
with charging drivers who blow less than the
legal limit with DUIs, the state should enforce
its own laws.
Clearly, Fu was too impaired to be driving
traveling the wrong way down a one-way street
isn’t exactly safe.
If Georgia isn’t going to invoke the Less Safe
process, then the rule shouldn’t even be a pro
vision in the state’s DUI law.
We in no way advocate drunk driving, but the
Less Safe process appears to be nothing more
than a scare tactic.
Shannon Otto for the editorial board
So long, fountains
The University's saving water, but we
still miss the North Campus fountains
North Campus fountains, we knew ye well.
As drought conditions continue and the
fountains remain off, yet another year starts
without your flowing waters.
Herty Field is bare. The courtyard next to
Old College is empty. The Founder’s Memorial
Garden is stark.
When will we see them again? Gone are the
days of misting wind during the spring. Gone
are the sounds of rushing water as background
noise between classes.
It’s hard to believe that students who
weren’t even here before the pumps ran dry
haven’t seen your gloriousness.
It’s even more tormenting to know that if
this trend continues, whole classes could grad
uate without dipping a toe into your cool water.
The University says it has conserved 150 mil
lion gallons of water between November 2007 to
October 2008 in a campus-wide effort to cut
back on water usage.
That’s wonderful. We’re just sad the foun
tains were victims.
In other cities around the state, public foun
tains have been funded by recycled water from
private donors.
Surely there’s an alum who would donate
water and team up with the University’s
Physical Plant to ensure it’s properly recycled.
In the meantime, we’ll be waiting. Because,
as the University says, every drop counts.
Carolyn Crist for the editorial board
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
Tebow column ‘pathetic’
(This letter is in
response to Tuesday’s col
umn, “Tim Tebow inspires
confidence in sport.”)
I take issue most with
Michael Fitzpatrick’s
sensationalist praise of
Tebow, who he considers
his “last hope in athletes.”
What a pathetic statement
coming from a writer who
is surrounded on a daily
basis by athletes who are
just as worthy of praise.
Mr. Fitzpatrick brings
up Tebow’s mission trip
and asks, “How many high
profile athletes do you
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know who would do that?”
I can name 20 Georgia
players who, just last May,
spent a mission trip in
Honduras. The attitude
of submissiveness in this
column (“Next season, all
that Georgia fans can hope
is that their daddy doesn’t
beat them too badly”)
was disgusting, and I am
embarrassed to call Mr.
Fitzpatrick a fan of this
team.
PAT O’BRIEN
Sophomore, Savannah
Pre-Business
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Opinions
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Avoid tragedies with better public transit
My old friend Brice had
always been a daredevil.
When I was 14, he was the
kid who would pick up his girlfriend
and I as we snuck out from our par
ents’ houses late at night.
Soon after, he bought a Ducati
motorcycle and raced the thing
until it was totaled. He was what he
would call a “nerdbasket,” but
decided to go for the most sought
after girl in our high school— and
got her.
He accepted any challenge. And
he wasn’t afraid to show any of his
scars.
So it came as a shock to all of us
when Brice’s death on Dec. 30, 2008
was the result of an unchallenged
risk —a drunk driver.
He and two friends were return
ing from an alleged night of bar
hopping, and were driving on a
main Atlanta road when the vehicle
crashed into a large brick mailbox.
My friends and I immediately
entered Kubler-Ross’ second stage
of grief: we were furious.
It was a difficult emotion
because the driver was our friend,
too —a good person who we love
and knew had no ill intentions.
But as I sat across the aisle from
Brice’s sister and mother at his
funeral, and felt my friend’s tear
soaked hands on mine, it really
occurred to me how much blame
there was to place yes on the
driver, but also on the state of
Georgia.
According to alcoholalert.com,
32 percent of all 2006 Georgia driv
ing fatalities were alcohol-related
(The actual amount was 539
deaths.)
This number sounds relatively
small until the percentage is com
pared with that of other states
especially states with well-estab
lished public transit systems.
In New York City, for example,
where the Metropolitan Transit
Authority says that more than 5
million people use the subway every
day, the percentage of alcohol-relat-
Multitasking drivers especially dangerous
One cloud-based
experience,” is the
future for those of
us addicted to a life in the
touch screen.
Our “clouds” float
around all our favorite
digital devices, uniting
even the most bitter of
Blackßerri.es to their cov
eted i-Enemies.
Our “clouds” entertain
us, inform us, direct us
and insulate us in a
comfy, cushiony world of
WiFi wonder.
Oh, the places you’ll go!
When your TV, your TiVo,
GPS and Palm Trio will
follow!
Never has the concept
of a “virtual reality” been,
well, this nauseatingly
realistic.
An Asustek chairmen
described the “digital
home” at the 2009
Consumer Electronics
Show, according a
Monday New York Times
story. “Every wall
becomes a display,” he
said. “The mirror should
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become a screen. You
already watch the mirror.”
OK. It’s gone too far.
Wake up. Get out from
underneath your digital
rock and take a look
around.
No one can shave and
watch football in the same
mirror.
When we say we are
“multitasking,” we are
actually shifting focus
between different activi
ties in rapid succession,
according to a study by a
professor of psychology at
the University of
Michigan. As those activi
ties become more com
plex, “the brain has a
severe bottleneck,” the
professor said in an
October 2008 New York
Times article.
The fact is, we are less
Our Staff
Chelsea
“We can try and limit the
amount of alcohol
consumed by young adults
... but giving them safer
options to get home would
be ... much more
progressive.”
ed fatalities decreases to 27 per
cent. (Actual amount: 483.)
In California, where Los Angeles’
public transit is comparable to that
of Atlanta, 32 percent yielded more
than 1,500 deaths.
Allow me to state the obvious:
cities with more accessible and
practical public transit options
yield less alcohol-related driving
fatalities.
And without them, it only makes
sense why Georgia’s young adults
are choosing to drive home intoxi
cated.
Using drunk logic, choose one of
the following options:
A) Call an expensive cab. (Have
you ever taken an Atlanta taxi
across town? Believe me it isn’t
cheap.)
B) Sleep at drunken location.
C) Call mom at 3 a.m.
D) Risk it.
Although I’m not attempting to
justify option D, I just want to
emphasize how limited our options
are. Because Atlanta’s MARTA sys
tem operates in only a dysfunction
al X-shape, it is mainly used by
commuters with no other mode.
It is also highly inaccessible to
Atlanta neighborhoods, especially
efficient and less focused
when we force our brains
to “multitask.”
And in my opinion,
driving is one of those
tasks that require liter
ally undivided atten
tion.
Take, for example, my
mother —a prime exam
ple of why the National
Safety Council’s recom
mendation to ban cell
phones is right-on. Her
digital “cloud” is more like
an aura, emanating from
her in rings and dings at
every step. She’s text-sav
vy and iEverything-happy,
with a touch-screen com
puter next on her list.
But I can’t imagine a
more frightening place
than the passenger seat of
her car.
She checks her e-mail
on the phone. Types in
addresses on the naviga
tor. Calls every member of
the family on the
Bluetooth. Sends a few
text messages. Toggles
with the iPod hook-up to
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540 Baxter Street, Athens, Ga. 30605
those of the middle and upper
classes.
In Athens, this is only com
pounded when our city bus routes
stop at 11 p.m. and our Campus
Transit won’t cross Broad Street.
Although any options to amelio
rate this problem would be immedi
ately disbanded because of budget
cuts, it’s impossible to ignore that
the University also doesn’t want to
support transportation to the
Athens bar scene.
But at the same time, this
means it is not supporting a safe
ride home.
We can try to limit the amount
of alcohol consumed by young
adults and even underage teens,
but giving them safer options to get
home would be a much more pro
gressive line of thought.
And imagine, if there were an
accessible alternative to getting
behind the wheel, the dangers of
drunk driving would be taken much
more seriously.
Because Georgia drivers have
gotten away with it so many times
prior (I’m talking to my PEERS,
here), it’s only natural that they will
continue to do so until a lesson is
learned the hard way.
Because legislators face a deficit
close to $2 billion for 2009, it is less
likely than ever that the transpor
tation problems in cities such as
Atlanta and Los Angeles will
improve.
Although I sincerely believe that
better transit systems would
reduce drunk driving incidents, I
know we will not see change any
time soon if ever.
So I also want this column to
serve as a salute to those who, in
the past, have helped a friend get
home safely or even just know
better than to take such a risk.
It’s unfortunate that our options
are so limited that these efforts can
now be seen as commendable.
Chelsea Cook is the managing
editor of The Red & Black.
the radio. Checks her
e-mail again. Gets mad at
the navigator for telling
her the wrong directions.
Makes another phone call
... it’s a vicious cycle.
I ask her why she must
save these tasks specifi
cally for the car, and she
tells me, this is the time
she cuts out for these
things. It’s the only time
she has to do them.
Is it possible that we
now consider driving a
passive activity?
We are forced to sit still
and the passing of cars is
rather monotonous after a
while.
I suppose a quick look
at my e-mail at this stop
light would do no harm?
I invite you to unplug
yourselves for a bit, and
consider strapping your
digital “cloud” to the
backseat when you’re
behind the wheel.
Hayley Peterson is
the associate news editor
for The Red & Black.
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