Frogger fears

After a bus accident Friday morning, a reminder to cross the street safely.

Friday was an interesting day on campus. The Ole Miss game was only hours away when a fire alarm went off at East Village Commons and University student Sakura Yamazaki was hit by a University bus at the intersection of Baldwin and Lumpkin Streets.

Some may wonder about rumors of getting free tuition in exchange for a love tap from a University bus, but the events that happened last week have put the severity of an injured student at the forefront of our minds.

We want to send our gratitude to Sgt. First Class Jeff Thompson, the rest of the Army ROTC cadets and other passers-by who helped at the scene of the accident. It showed a true chivalric and brave side to the University’s student body.

This also should serve as a warning to everyone else looking to get to their class or study session just a little quicker. We don’t want our streets to become a glorified version of Frogger, so please exercise caution when walking off the grass and onto the pavement.

Police also are crossing the road – to get to the other side and slap jaywalkers with $90 fines. University Police are on the lookout, as they are issuing tickets for those who do not cross streets using the pedestrian walks.

So do the safe and legal thing and do as your preschool teacher said – look both ways before crossing the street.

- Jay Butler for the editorial board.

Make it rain

In dry times, we resort to desperate measures – a note to Ma Nature herself.

Dear Mother Nature,

Hey, how’s it going? We know it’s been a while since we wrote to you, but this drought has left us confused. Why are you laying yourmotherly wrath upon Athens-Clarke County in the form of this massive water shortage, unprecedented in recent history? How’d our relationship deteriorate to this, after such a promising beginning?

Maybe you’re right – it’s us. Perhaps we should stop being so petty. After all, it’s not like you leveled a major U.S. city two years ago or anything. And it’s not like the only respite from this drought you’ve given us has been ill-timed downpours that soak us as we walk to class. Please understand we want to love you – we really do – but sometimes, you do things that get to us in that certain way. You’re unique like that.

Maybe we just don’t understand you. You’ve got to admit – you work in mysterious ways. And that confuses us sometimes, making us say things we don’t mean. That Opinion Meter piece about last summer’s heat wave? We had a bad day. Those complaints about the hurricanes a few years ago? Ancient history.

We admit it: we’ve said some hurtful things in the past. Now we’re facing a large-scale depletion of the ACC water supply, and you know what that means: showers using bottled water. We know how much you hate those plastic containers, though. We hate them, too, because we know they hurt you, and we’d never want that. Let’s make things right. It won’t be like before, we promise. Please make it rain. Love, The Red & Black Editorial Board

- Bill Richards for the editorial board.