The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/18/09 Section: Opinions

Civil classrooms

Professors should limit lectures to academics, not The R&B crime blotter.

Following multiple reports recently in The Red & Black regarding students arrested on felony charges, we have been notified about professors ostracizing these students during class time.

Further, we have been asked to stop publishing information about student felony arrests for the sake of the students involved.

We're the first to argue that students - even those arrested the night before - should be able to attend class peacefully with the intention of learning about the course subject, not about the latest crime blotter in the campus paper.

However, such incidents - those involving students getting ridiculed for information obtained from The Red & Black - are not the fault of the newspaper, but of a few professors' lack of professionalism in the classroom.

Since the beginning of the school year, we have stopped publishing details about underage students arrested for alcohol possession. But felonies - the most serious crimes - need to be reported.

Newspapers deliver information the public has a right and need to know, which in the University community includes students arrested for committing severe crimes.

Our news stories are meant to inform our readers, not to further incriminate our subjects, and we cannot stop serving as a watchdog for the public.

Nevertheless, professors can stop using the information to the detriment of their students. Classroom discussion should be confined to academics, and certainly should never stray to personal information students don't wish to share with their peers.

- Kelly Shaul for the editorial board

Faith in football

Even without "24/7," the Bulldogs are on track as a team to be reckoned with.

The Georgia football offense may not be led by the "24/7" duo of Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford anymore, but that is no reason to write off next season.

Following the preseason label as the No. 1 team in the country, the players themselves admitted the team lacked the fire and motivation on a day-to-day basis.

With the loss of the team's most recognizable stars, the new "star of the team is the team," junior linebacker Rennie Curran said.

And that may be exactly the medicine the doctor ordered.

Last season was marred by inconsistency and lack of discipline as the team was annihilated by Alabama and Florida and was downed by Georgia Tech for the first time in eight seasons.

This year, the team will be under the radar, so to speak, and will have the chance to sneak up on the competition and emerge as a serious competitor in the SEC and national picture.

Alabama finished No. 6 in the final rankings after starting No. 24, Utah and TCU are No. 2 and No. 7, respectively. Both are unranked in the preseason.

Senior quarterback Joe Cox has waited on the sidelines for four seasons to play, and we hope he will bring a fire and leadership that has been missing since the David Greene era.

So although the losses of Stafford and Moreno are certainly going to be evident, they are not reasons to lose faith.

In fact, the collective loss may even be a blessing in disguise.

- Michael Fitzpatrick for the editorial board

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