On Monday the Red and Black reported about Saturday’s situtation on the Intramural (IM) Fields. The jist of the story is that the new gameday regulations on campus include using the IM fields as parking, to relieve congestion and improve safety around Sanford Stadium.
When SGA learned of the new parking arrangement last semester, SGA Press Secretary and Terry College of Business Senator Jeremiah Johnson began to work to stop the administration from using the fields for parking. It is his, and others’, beliefs that parking and tailgating on the IM fields will ruin the practice space for many of the campus sport programs.
The fields were first supposed to be used during the season opener against Western Kentucky, but soggy conditions caused the UGA administration to close parking on the fields in an effort to save them from muddy destruction.
This weekend parking was allowed, and SGA, under the leadership of Johnson, investigated the fields Sunday to determine their cleanliness and safety. Johnson is quoted in “IM fields intact after gameday”, in reference to the trash:
“We found a chunk of a tire, some tissues, banana peels,” said Johnson, who helped collect the trash. “Some areas had yellowed parallel stripes from cars being parked or burned-out grass.”
Still, Johnson said, even a few pieces of trash are too much.
I would like to congratulate Johnson for being one of the few honest people in SGA, but he must learn how to use Public Relations to his and SGA’s advantage. He should have said something along the lines of, “Well, we found quite a bit of trash and possibly hazardous materials on the fields, and the University did not meet its commitment of having the students’ rec areas cleaned up by Sunday.”
Perhaps Johnson needs to listen to a White House Press Secretary, who knowingly dodges questions while giving the quotes most likely to be shown on the evening news AND most favorable to the White House. Do they teach a Public Relations 101 class in Terry? Press Secretary Johnson, I would recommend you take it.
The Red and Black Editorial Board (“Our Take”) also ripped SGA for continually harping on a non-issue and not thanking the administration for doing the good job they did cleaning up the IM fields. UGA does have quite an issue to deal with on gamedays, and the parking solution has worked so far, with few consequences.
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