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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