Newspaper Page Text
THE WEST GEORGIAN WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 26. 1983
2
Opinion
WEST GEORGIAN
Ellen Wilson
Editor
Julianne Foster Craig Cunningham
Managing Editor Advertising Manager
Joe Cumming
Advisor
Still In The Dark
Student Government
Association.
Some have said that those
three simple little words have
become dirty words. I>ast
quarter our SGA president
came under fire when allega
tions that he had stuffed a
ballot box or two surfaced.
It seems that those allega
tions have been forgotten by
the SGA and possibly by the
students. Hut we haven’t
forgotten them yet.
We asked repeatedly in this
space if someone could
answer our questions about
the ballot stuffing incident.
And we asked repeatedly per
son to person, or we should say
reporter to organization and
And Not Satisfied
And just as we have been
thinking recently about the
now-ancient ballot stuffing
charge, we began to ponder
the out-put of our SGA.
What have they done?
Well, they have done a few
things. They’ve helped
students to register for major
credit cards. They’ve re
quested bus shelters for the
students. And they’ve gotten
some return on their requests.
They’ve helped some wheels
to start to roll on the re
creation of a yearbook.
They’ve given some feedback
to the Registrar about early
THAT Mwav HO.(* *H Mr bap autsiah bsma/h
Have you got something to say?
Say it here! Write a letter!
Letters will be accepted until Friday, 5 p.m.
\!vEST GEORGIAN
News Editor Thomas Ballenger
Sports Editor Jimmy Espy
Entertainment Editor Marsha Dyer
Features Editor Cindy Booker
Business Manager Vivian Couch
Photographers Fred Ledbetter, Betsy Kidd,
Bob Owen
organization leader...
We were answered with
silence.
We still don’t know what has
happened. We still wonder.
Not that we think anyone is
going to really answer our
questions any time soon, we’ll
ask them again.
We don’t like the idea of hav
ing a ballot stuffing allegation
stuffed under the rug. And
we’d like to be able to clear up
any doubts anyone may still
have about the integrity of the
man they elected to lead their
Student Government.
We can’t.
We just don’t have the infor
mation.
So what’s next?
registration scheduling.
They’ve done an awful lot of
talking and an awful lot of
listening. And...
We appreciate their efforts.
They have done well at the few
things they’ve attempted to
do.
But we still wonder just
what they are getting paid to
do.
And we still are not
satisfied.
Hut we are willing to wait
and see what the next few
weeks bring. Before we get
really upset.
A Few Ghastly Impressions ...
An Eye for an Eye.
That’s the title of the January 24
Time cover story.
In that issue of the magazine, Staff
Writer Kurt Anderson looks at the ins
and outs of the death penalty. The
story is highlighted by grey-screened
accounts of the lives of condemned
murderers, an exploration of the
history of capital punishment and
eerie black and white shots of our con
try’s death machines
Reading the story and the side bars
with it gave me a little chill The same
type of chill that courses through my
head when 1 accidentally bite down on
a piece of aluminum foil
Thinking about the death penalty
leaves my trund almost blank, the
metallic taste iri my mouth and a feel
ing of hopelessness floating uneasily
in my soul.
I don’t like death. And the state
condoned deaths of men and women
who have murdered repulses me
perhaps more than the heimous
crimes tliat death row inmates have
committed.
In the lime story, Anderson brings
out the point that the difference
between the two types of killing is, to a
degree, the difference between ra
tional thinking and irrational think
ing.
Murderers don't think like you ami
1 Somewhere in their pattern of
thought is some rationale for killing
another person.
And yet capital punishment seems,
to some, so sane...
The death penalty is inconsistent. It
always has been. In Anderson's story ,
Cindy
Booker
I hate to be one of those people who
say "I told you so" but, I told you
so!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a col
umn about a small creature called
Fuzzie Wuzzie and how he can predict
the weather. I'm sure that a lot of peo
ple laughed at the idea of a worm
predicting cold weather, especially
when an unnamed weather man was
predicting a mild winter.
I’m confident that those who laugh-
Staff Writers Libby Shaw, Reid Lipshutz, Jeff
Broadhurst. Jackie Elliot, Nancy Hudson,
Don Stilwell, Eric Warren, Angela Turner,
Joanne Morado, Calvin Houston, Zeke
McDaniel, Beverly Mcßrayer, Hogai
Nassery.
The West Georgian welcomes letters from its readers on topics of general
and campus interest Letters criticizing or praising editorial stands or opi
nions are also welcomed Letters must be signed by the author, typed and
must include a valid mailing address or telephone number for certification.
a woman of the law points out, Every
person sentenced to die comes from a
case fraught with errors. If you're
adequately represented, you don't get
death. It's that simple."
It may be simple, but how fair is it?
I know, nobody ever said life was
fair. I’ve heard that line over and over
again. But the word justice has some
other connotations in my head Maybe
my mental picture of the balance is
outdated
A jury of people who think like you
and I think can decide the fate of a
man or woman who took the life of
another Or, as the case may be, com
mitted some other heinous crime."
These are sane people, right
thinking jurors who hold the lives of
others in the balance. These are not
the people who kill when provoked on
the street, while robbing a store or ap
parently just for the sport of it These
aren't mass murderers
Maybe that’s what makes the un
thinkable that much more un
thinkable...
Our society is returning to the line
of thought that says yes to capital
punishment In a Gallup poll last fall,
72 percent of Americans said they
favored capital punishment I'm in
the minority.
I daresay I may be in the minority
among my own staff
That knowledge shocks me a little,
too.
What argument can I bring forth
that would change the minds of
thousands of people' 1
I, who have cried a thousand tears
for the squirrel I ran over late one
I Hate To Say It, But ...
&
Looking In
eil stopped doing so last Thursday
morning when the first snowflake of
the season hit them right square on
the head.
It didn't surprise me one bit. I was
prepared.
As I said in the Fuzzie Wuzzie col
umn. my mother and grandmother
have been predicting events for years.
The weather is just one of the many
things that they have foreseen.
For those w ho are now believers of
the old down-home way of predicting
what is going to occur, here are a few
more little helpful hints courtesy of
my mama....
Cobb Residents Not Entertaining
To The Editor:
last week I received a call from on
of the Admissions couselors. She told
me that while she, a prospective stu
dent and a set of parents were walking
down Front Campus Drive, they were
"entertained" by some of Cobb Hall's
residents yelling comments like
West Georgia sucks" and You don't
want to go to a dump like this.”
This incident brought two issues to
my nund. First of all, how many of
our students feel that West Georgia is
a dump'’ Why are they here if they
believe that? .Are they just wasting
Ellen
Wilson
night, for the pigeon I found shot dur
ing dove season, for the deer whose
head was left by the side of the road
and even for the spider I squashed
underfoot.
I, who daily consume the meat from
cows with liquid brown eyes, from
funny, stupid chickens and lambs
wrenched away from their mam
mas..
What can I say?
Death bothers me and yet 1 am a
party to the deaths of animals all the
time
What right has the 1 majority to
make me a party to a death I can't
believe is right 9
Majority rules, I know It is the
basis for our political system.
I feel helpless and dirty.
Yet I've done nothing wrong. And
my state has not yet made me as a
voting citizen, as a possible juror, a
party to the death of one of its present
118 men and women condemned to
death. Not yet.
When that day comes I'll shed a tear
for someone who might have killed
WEATHER
* When the goldenrod flower us first
seen in full bloom, it will be six weeks
till the first frost
* If it’s foggy for two days, the third
day it will rain.
NEW YEARS DAY
* Do not w ash clothes on New Years
Day or you will be washing for the
sick all year long.
* Everytime you go into a house on
New Years Day, you should bring
something with you. This means that
good things will come into your home
all year long
’ On New Years Day you should eat
eollard greens for green money and
blackeyed peas for good luck
* The one who finds the dime that
was cooked in the blackey ed peas will
have extra good luck.
LUCK
* Don’t sweep trash out the door
after dark It's bad luck. (You really
shouldn't sweep at all after dark )
* If you find a penny and put it over
your door, you w ill have good luck
* Place a horse shoe over your door
with the prongs up for good luck
Hanging it upside down will allow all
the luck to drain out
their time and their parents' money so
they don't have to get a job"’ I suggest
that if you do think West Georgia
sucks" or "it’s a dump" that you give
those of us w ho think WGC is a pretty
good place to work and go to school a
break. Either make some concrete
suggestions on things that can be im
proved or move on to other places.
The second issue concerns public
relations. While I'm sure nobody
student, faculty or administrate ex
pects prospective students to be given
a sugar-coated view of WGC, it's only
reasonable to expect a little common
certain instances, names will be withheld upon request. Unsigned letters
wiU not be considered for publication. Letters to the editor should not
SOOwordsand are subject to editing for style, clarity, libel and length
The West Georgian also welcomes guest editorials. Thev should not exceed
mUSt ** SU K bmltted tw ° weeks desired publication
AU guest opinions are subject to approval by the editorial board.
and edjt o nals should be addressed as follows: Editor. The
West Georgian. Student Center, West Georgia College, Carrollton. Ga. 30118.
Sl2 f TOW spaper which is published every Wed.
for a P 3 ® 6 space or sm£dJer For a half
25 W i reserve n ß ht 10 refuse Paid space due to
sd)opm 66551 mterest for the school. Deadline for ad space is Friday.
f X.
That’s Just It
me as easily as he or she took the life
of another And for my state which
allowed another death to happen,
which condoned that death and made
it right.
I’ve already cried tears for my
country.
I’ll continue to hope my tears are
notin vain.
I could have quoted for you facts
and figures out of Anderson’s article
I could have made logical arguments
for the abolition of the death penalty.
But the issue is an emotional one
That fact is inescapable.
And whatever rational argument I
came up with could be argued by so
meone who favors capital punish
ment My facts could even be tom up
by some person who would later kill
another person and sit along on death
row wondering.
I am left w ith a metallic taste in my
mouth and the image of a red, white
and blue bullseye in my head.
An eye for an eye....
* When you have company, you
should never watch them completely
out of sight when they leave. This is
sure to bring bad luck.
OTHER
* If a dog howls near your doorstep
three times in a row, you will hear of a
death w ithin the week.
* The Whip-poor-will (a North
American birdi will sing when it’s
time to plant corn.
* Never give anyone a knife as a
present. It will cut your friendship.
* When planting a garden, you
should plant Irish potatoes during the
period when there are dark nights.
This will give you more potatoes.
* To make a screech owl stop
screeching, you should turn your
pockets inside out, or tie a knot in the
comer of your bedsheet
* If you are running a cash register,
keep all the presidents' heads facing
the same way. Make sure that the
stack ls facing left. This will keep the
money coming in
Some of these "superstitions” may
seem a little far fetched to the non- or
semi-believer. But for those who still
doubt .remember the Fuzzie Wuz
zies .
courtesy. You, the students, are an
important influence on whether or not
a person decides to come to West
Georgia. Incidents such as the one
that happened last week (although I
know that kind of behavior is rare!
can make an instant impression that
West Georgia is full of rude, foul
mouthed people. I hardly think this Ls
the case. Besides, how would you feel
if it had been your parents who were
subjected to that kind of verbal
abuse'' Think about it.
sPeggy McHugh
.Asst Dir. of Res. life