The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Opinions

Hungry for honesty

Professor's hunger strike commendable, others should stand (or sit) for beliefs.

Some people are dying to talk to University President Michael Adams. One professor is going through great lengths - a hunger strike - to protest against the actions of the administration in what he calls a "culture of dishonesty."

Dezso Benedek, director of Asian languages, told The Red & Black Monday he is seeking justice and a culture of honesty. Benedek began his hunger strike Monday and said he plans to sit and teach outside Old College because the University stopped giving academic credit in the Chinese study abroad program he created. Benedek said the administration expected him to downplay the quality of the program to interested students.

Many of us might get riled up about upsetting things, but how many of us actually do more than complain? We find it commendable that a professor believes in his convictions so much that he's willing to give up basic needs such as food and shelter in order to stand up (or in this case, sit down) for his program.

Benedek has gone on hunger strikes twice before. The result of his March 1998 strike was a Korean minor. In 1996, Benedek said he braved snow. Last night, he slept outside through 38 degree weather. We hope Adams and other University administrators will warm up to Benedek soon.


- JoAnn Anderson for the editorial board.

Braking break-ins

Clothes, toothbrush, cable box? Pack tech toys when heading home for break.

Anyone who's ever spent even a day of Fall Break in Athens knows the feeling - a sort of hush covers all of campus. The Classic City transforms into a quiet wasteland and doesn't emerge from its hibernation until classes resume Monday morning.

Even students who don't care about the Georgia-Florida game head home, leaving dorm rooms, apartments and houses unguarded. You know it and, unfortunately for some, criminals know it as well.

Imagine a burglar who knew the fall date breaks for a number of schools in the Southeast and cleaned out the gadget-filled residencies of students across those campuses.

That'd be one smart criminal, and while obviously a stretch (we hope), the fact that five homes were hit (and hit hard) over the break certainly suggests students aren't the only ones aware of the break.

In this age of technological dependence, students who left their toys behind were hurt the worst. Athens-Clarke County Police said two adjacent apartments at The Retreat suffered more than $5,000 apiece in stolen goods, including a total of six laptops, a Playstation, an iPod docking station and a wireless cable box. Another burglary on College Avenue involved three laptops, two iPods and (gasp) a Wii.

Keep these incidents in mind when you pack your bags come Nov. 20 for Thanksgiving break. You might take geekiness to new heights when you roll out of Athens with all your gadgets in tow, but at least some no-good burglar won't be rolling into the pawn shop with all that and more. Just don't forget your cable box. Who knows what you agreed to in the contract if that baby got stolen?


- Matt Grayson for the editorial board.

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