About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2009)
4 Friday, May i, 2009 | The Red & Black | FINALS EDITION Carolyn Crist | Editor in Chief editor@randb.com Chelsea Cook | Managing Editor me@randb.com Shannon Otto | Opinions Editor opinions@randb.com Opinion Meter A wrap-up of the semester’s ups and downs Obama's Inauguration A The Red & Black sent an editor to this year’s ceremony, and it was an tK? experience like no other. Not only did we celebrate the inauguration of our nation’s first black president, but a wave of change that many of us had been waiting on for eight years. Firing Felton The University fired Dennis Felton the jg day after a 26 point loss to Florida. Our only question: what took so long? ( / -+0 Georgia basketball fans are dying for a winning team again. Good luck, Mark Fox. Lodging complaints Dorm residents pay up to $3,000 per semester for a place to live on cam- i p pus. The editorial board believes that a certain standard should be met V when it comes to living accommoda tions, Mold, leaky toilets and pipes and pests should not be found in the dorms. Snow day The blizzard of ’O9 hit Athens hard in the beginning of March, leaving fl campus a mess. Though we’re glad \ f the University decided to cancel class t J Monday, it should have considered conditions for the following morn ing. When it gets colder at night, ice refreezes, and students bombarded the health center with broken bones. All fired up The University got a little paranoid and charged the campus chapter of rTHi the National Organization for the \ p 2 ’ Reform of Marijuana Laws with trade- j mark infringement, budding from an illustration of a bulldog smoking a joint in front of an arch. After NORML lost a formal hearing, its probation was lengthened from one year to two. We find the University Judiciary’s treatment of NORML a bit half baked. Tuition increase The Board of Regents approved a tuition hike and re-approved the SIOO [ -A fee, yielding s2l million in additional —\ revenue for the University. Though we y support raising tuition and the extra funds it will generate, we feel students were not given adequate notice. Just as with the SIOO fee, the Regents have made a decision affecting students without seeking any student input. Gym Dogs win again The Gym Dogs won their fifth con- J) secutive national championship last month with former head coach Suzanne Yoculan at the helm for the final time. Seniors Courtney Kupets, Tiffany Tolnay, Paige Bums and Abby Stack also will be sorely missed. Kudos to the team for their record tying performance, and good luck to new head coach Jay Clark. Stafford's No. 1 Georgia football players made out well in last weekend’s NFL Draft, r _ with quarterback Matthew Stafford [ / signing a S7B million deal with the Detroit Lions. Good luck to Stafford, Knowshon Moreno (now a Denver Bronco), Mohamed Massaquoi (Cleveland Browns), Asher Allen (Minnesota Vikings), Corvey Irvin (Carolina Panthers) and Jarius Wynn (Green Bay Packers). And to the remaining Bulldogs here in Athens we can’t wait for next season. Town & Gown shooting Our University is still mourning the loss of Marie Bruce, Ben Teague and Tom Tanner. April 25 will be a tragic anniversary for Athens, and an annual f reminder for the University, that we aren’t immune to school shoot ings. With alleged shooter, Professor George M. Zinkhan still at large, many families are still waiting for justice. Go to redandblack.com for any updates. Quote of the semester: “I’ve got to go drink a whole lot of beer tonight and pass out. That’s my only chance of sleeping is going to be to pass out.” Gym Dogs head coach Suzanne Yoculan after the meet against Florida. Opinions expressed In The Redi Black are the opinion* ot the witters and not neceetarty mow ot The Rad an) Black PrAAshing Company Inc. AH rights reserved. Repnnts by permission ol the editors. NEWS: 706433-3002 Naws Editors: JoAnn Anderson,'Kristen Coulter, Hayley Peterson Sports Editor: Jason Butt Variety Editor: Cameron Hubbard Photo Editor: Waites Laseter Design Editor: Cady Baker Out & About Editor: Whitney Kessler Online Editor: A.J. Baumann Chief Copy Editors: Tahnl Segars, Kelly Shaul Editorial Cartoonist: SM Richards Recruitment Editor: Tamara Best Editorial Adviser: Ed Morales Opinions Editorial Assistant: Megan Otto Senior Reporter: Brian Hughes Staff Writers: Katie Andrew, Becky Atkinson, Rusty Bailey, E. John Barrett, Kayla Beck, Christopher Benton, Brittany Binowski, Rachel Bowers, Jessica Brown, Helen Burdette, Daniel Burnett, Alex Busko, Ben Bussard, CaitKn Byrnes, Brittany Color, Angela Dasher, Ryne Dennis, Zach Diaid, Dallas Duncan, Courtney Ebert, Ruth Elmore, Marianne English, Mknl Ensley, Tyler Estep, Shanessa Fakour, Michael Fitzpatrick, Brittany Forrestal, Brians Gerdeman, Vivian Giang, Sara Goodman, Manik Gupta, Raisa Habersham, Vincent Hampton, Christina Khouri, Laurie McGowan, Grace Morris, Carey P. O'Neil. ® r Bit'' "MB in the Classic City Decide what you want in a companion Everyone can breathe a big sigh of relief. The semester is over. Which means no more classes, homework or avoiding that ex on North Campus summer is here. As I look forward to pool-side activities and trips to Florida, I’m really anticipating new begin nings. As one school year ends and another begins, more things change than just your course schedule. The summer is a wel comed buffer between classes and a wonderful opportunity for alacrity, not just of the physical variety. Sure, some students use the summer to achieve bronzed skin and lose those last few pounds keeping them out of their True Religions. But the kind of expedition I’m referring to is on the emo tional level. After my last final I’ll be on a plane headed for Florida for a much needed break. Upon my return I will look at the two months of swimming and working as a chance to really decide Media doesn’t report its own scandals It turns out that many —most of the military analysts for ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and Fox (in short, every major television news outlet) are not the independent voices we have been led to believe. It’s not terribly surprising. The talking heads we’ve seen on TV ana lyzing the war, many of them retired generals, rather than objective judges of the situation, are mouth pieces for Pentagon spin. Not only that, many of them are on the payroll of military contractors who benefit from increased arms spending. One even testified before • Congress, saying that we need to buy more armored vehicles coin cidentally, the same ones that his clandestine employer manufactures and sells. Yes they’re convincing us to escalate the conflict, to put more tanks on the ground and choppers in the air, so they can line their own pockets. But then again, that’s hard ly surprising. (Am I the only one who thinks it’s terribly sad that I’m no longer sur prised to hear that media outlets are on military payrolls?) David Barstow, a New York Times reporter, won a Pulitzer on April 20 for reporting on this flagrant corrup tion. When the story first appeared, there were Congressional inquiries, Our Staff Fletcher Page, Mercedes Parham, Nick Parker, Michael Prochaska, Wynn Sammons, Ashley Sanders, Courtney Smith, Miranda Standi, Tiffany Stevens, Michael Terry, Marie Uhler, Katie Valentine, Utsav Yadav Chief Photographer: Daniel Shirey Photographers: Renee Aylworth, Jason Broom, Allison Carter, Jake Daniels, Jim Diffly, Courtney Ebert, Frannie Fabian, Travis Hurt, Blake Llpthratt, Autumn Mcßride, liana McQulnn, Danielle Moore, Kevney Moses, Lesley Onstott Scott Young Design Desk: Christopher Anthony, Lauren Bellamy, Matt Brandenburgh, Katie Gasner, Melanie McNeely, Thomas Nesmith, Tahnl Segars, Haley Temple Samantha r^SHEITON what I want out of my time here. I’ll admit that I don’t plan on being single for the duration of my college career —but I don’t just want to fall into a spot like I have in the past. I would like to really think about what I desire in a companion. Of course I have a gen eral “type,” but as far as truly deciding what my best match could be, I guess I’ve just been too busy to consider what attributes in a guy are a good fit. After all, with school, a job, friends and family filling the majority of my time, I’ve settled for conve nience and overlooked red flags that could have pre dicted impending doom. That guy in class, the one from the gym or my coworker were easily accessible and opportune. But I have learned, after the texts and tears, that mjr Phillip Brcttschneiper condemnatory responses from the at-the-time Democratic presiden tial candidates, allegations that the Pentagon was producing illegal domestic propaganda, and, and and... Wait. I don’t remember hearing a thing about this. Why didn’t I hear about it in the news? That’s right it’s bechuse none of the media outlets involved report ed on it. Not a single word. CNN even ran a story on the Pulitzers, mentioning a little about each win ner and what they won for except, curiously, David Barstow. Not a single word. Even during election season, when every small hand gesture deserved an hour’s analysis, the candidates’ comments on media corruption and Pentagon propaganda were deemed too minor to report and discuss. How many of us heard about the propaganda we were swallowing and the corruption in our media? We’ve grown too reliant on the 24-hour cable news cycle, and so that which it does not wish to tell us, we simply Editorial board members Include Shannon Otto, Chelsea Cook, Marcus Crawford, Carolyn Crict, Michael Fitzpatrick. Megan Otto, Chris Ra, Kelly Shaul and Drew Wheatley ADVERTISING: 706433-3001 Advertising Director: Natalie Mitchell Student Ad Manager: Claire Scully Territory Managers: David Allen, Chris Mervifle, Julie Turner Account Executives: Katherine Blackstad, Alia Chemnet, Andrew Cole, Stacey Friedman, Matt Gonglach, Catherine Merritt, Jennifer Mllazzo, Pamela Peterson, Jennifer Rooks Classified Menager: Amanda Goforth Classified Advisers: Kristen Coulter, Carey O’Neil Advertising Assistants: Emmy Bateman, Stacey Joseph, Cambri Steadman Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fax (706) 433-3033 opinions@randb.com | www.redandblack.com 540 Baxter Street, Athens, Ga. 30605 there is a reason we didn’t work out, and I ignored that reason the entire time I dated them. When you see some one every day, whether in class or at work, it’s easy to click because there is a very strong commonal ity between you —but my advice is to recognize when the unity that brought you together is the only thing connecting you. It might appear like a pretty fool-proof indica tion to see, but after you add dates and kisses into the equation, the stop sign turns to a yield, and after enough time together, you can’t even see it anymore. But just because the variable cautionary precur sor is out of sight, doesn’t suggest the obstruction disappears on down the road it just means it’ll shock you more when you hit it. I’m not saying dating someone from your biol ogy lab, job or building is automatically a bad idea; rather, don’t let regular sightings be your only link. I can attest to the simplis tic union formed by con sistent engagement, but will not hear. This seems to be an ongoing theme that we have yet to fully grasp: do not trust the mainstream media. Dan Savage said that Fox and CNN acting as opposing sides of a coin could be a good thing, but because both were implicated in this case, neither reported on it. Every mqjor broadcast news net work was implicated, so not a single one of them could be bothered to report on it. When we look only at the conservative or liberal label, we fail to remember the problems of the underlying structure. If you rely on corporate news net works for your information, you will hear only what their owners want you to. It is time to diversify, and find new, smaller more independent news sources. People say print news is dying. Perhaps it is time for broadcast news to die as well. The reins of broadcast news are held in the hands of a few select companies. It is a corporate oligarchy, and that which its masters and sponsors do not want you to hear, you will not. Does it scare you? Yeah, me too. Phillip Brettschneider is a sophomore from Marietta majoring in anthropology and English. I’ve had to learn the hard way that it doesn’t make a real connection, it makes a convenient one. When you put a puzzle together, you need all of the pieces present... but it also helps if you have the box. Right now, I have half of the pieces, and some where out there, someone has the others. But if we don’t have the box to show us the picture, it’s unlikely we’ll ever be put together. So while I’m baking under the sun and run ning electrophoresis on DNA fragments, I also will be considering the type of person that I’m compatible with, ergo, finding the box to my personal relationship puzzle. We all know that Athens is pretty desolate in the summer; so in the absence of a large dating pool, June and July might be the perfect time to, if you’re single, look inside and fig ure out what makes you happy, and in turn, who could make you happy. Samantha Selton is a junior from Auburn majoring in newspapers. Circulation Manager Jason Whittier Production Manager: Sam Pittard Assistant Production Manager: Julie Leung Production Staff: Gaty Bardizbanlan, Josh Barnett, Priscilla Kathe Lauren Leschper, Leslie Mintz, Jade Walter Receptionist: Amanda Golorth Assistant Office Manager: Lauren Albert Office Manager: Erin Beasley Publisher: Harry Montevideo Tha Rad A Black is published Monday through Friday fan and spring semesters and each Thursday summer semester, except holF days and exam periods, by Tha Red A Black Publishing Company Inc., a non-pto campus newspaper not affiliated with the University ol Georgia Subscription rate: (195 per year.
