THE SEAHAWK/SEPTEMBER ZS, ZHOO
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Editorial Viewpoint
Safe Ride needs jump-starting
Photo was a bad shot by Wisconsin
By the Chicago Tribune
They say a picture is worth 1,000
words — but what’s it worth when the
picture is a big, fat lie?
An embarrassed University of Wis
consin has been providing the answer
ever since the student newspaper re
ported a promotional photograph was
doctored in an attempt to give the im
pression of a diverse student body.
A reporter at the Daily Cardinal no
ticed the sunny visage of Diallo Shabazz,
a black student, was reflecting light that
did not appear on the white, but shad
owed, faces of a Badger football crowd.
The picture was the cover shot for a bro
chure promoting the university to poten
tial students.
Paul Barrows, vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs, said that when admissions
director Rob Sehzer first presented the
image of an all-white crowd (wearing
Badger red) for the cover. Seltzer was
sent back to find something that better
illustrated the racial diversity of the
Madison, Wis., campus. The 40,000-
member student body is 10 percent mi
nority.
Seltzer’s office looked for a suitably
diverse shot, but couldn’t find one they
liked. Seltzer then had the publications
office digitally insert Shabazz’s picture
into the football crowd.
Adding irony to the issue, Shabazz is
a Badger senior who says he has never
gone to a U-Wisconsin football game.
He is also a leader in a program to im
prove campus diversity.
The mistake may have been well-in-
tentioned: To draw in a good mix of stu
dents. People of color often want con
firmation that they will not be alone or
unwelcome in a new place. But a lie is a
lie. This picture is a he.
Academia has been tripping all over
its good intentions of late — lowering
standards, inflating grades, putting up
with outrageous behavior from athletes
(and coaches). The Wisconsin adminis
trators shouldn’t need a textbook to
know that the altered picture was a cheat
and a lie, not just to the students they
were trying to lure in, but to the current
student body as well.
The university is now recalling as
many of the 55,000 mailed brochures as
possible, and is printing 100,000 more
with new covers. That new photo shows
the Memorial Union Terrace, a gather
ing place for all kinds of students. They
may not all be wearing Badger red, but
the photo will be true blue.
Cover of University of Wisconsin
admissions pamplilet, wliicli
shows tlie face of Diallo Shabazz
(at center left), a black student
whose image was electronically
inserted into the photograph. The
incident sparked controversy af
ter a Wisconsin Daily Cardinal
student newspaper noted several
inconsistencies in the picture, in
cluding light reflecting off
Shabazz’s face.
It sounds like a great idea: a reliable,
efficient way to remove students from
potentially dangerous situations down
town or at the beach, acting essentially
as a taxi service, but at with no extra cost
to the student body. The money to fund
this program would come directly from
the Student Government Association
(SGA). Such a program, dubbed Safe
Ride, was planned to begin this semes
ter.
Somehow, it just never happened.
Because the $8,200 the SGA put aside
for the project was not enough to hire
drivers and people to answer phones,
someone came up with the idea that stu
dent organizations funded by the SGA
should take this duty. Also not a bad idea,
only these organizations were chartered
in the days when there was no Safe Ride
program. The charters do have certain
rules and regulations for these organiza
tions, but acting as designated drivers
and answering phones probably wasn’t
in there. The amount of money each or
ganization receives differs as well. If the
underwater basket weaving club gets
$300 per semester from the SGA, and
the association for oceanic gymnastics
gets $1000, do the basket-weavers work
fewer hours than the gymnasts? And
what if the gymnasts only have three
members while the basket weavers have
50? These questions must be answered
before the program can succeed.
There are many, many other ques
tions. Where will the vehicles come
from? The program has been touted as
more than just a way to get drunk driv
ers off the road. It is also a way to get
unlucky sober people home, people
stranded by their rides or bored by a
party. An admirable goal, but what about
those underage students who have been
drinking? Will the police be waiting at
the Safe Ride stops, waiting to catch 19-
year-olds who have imbibed a bit too
much?
With the recent additions to the un
derage drinking laws, the local constabu
lary may have found a perfect way to
prove the law’s ‘effectiveness.’ While
Safe Ride is certainly not meant to pro
mote drinking, SGA needs to work with
the administration and the UNCW Po
lice to ensure riders need not fear pun
ishment for not driving home.
Even with the changes in the SGA’s
membership and in leadership, if the pro
gram were based on solid planning, the
implementation of the program would be
an easier goal to reach. The idea of Safe
Ride is a worthwhile one, but for now, it
seems it will remain only a good idea.
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