Newspaper Page Text
THE RED AND BLACK
VOLUME *4. NUMBER 79
Georgia’s only collegiate daily newspaper
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. ATHENS. GEORGIA :I0602
Frn 9. o
Inside
Baseball
season opens.
See p.6.
- m
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 22, 1979
Snow finally
falls, much to students’ delight
snowballs,
and cut classes
Snow clouds drifted over Athens
Tuesday morning, and lingered long
enough to drop a one-half inch layer of
snow over the city, before moving
eastward, according to the national
weather service in Athens.
The University got its share of snow,
which began falling shortly before 9 a m.,
and ending around 11:30 a m. Many
students took time out from classes to
walk in the “blizzard,” or to throw
snowballs at passing cars or other
pedestrians.
Temperatures were in the low thirties
Tuesday morning, but any chance of
snow accumulation passed as quickly as
the clouds were moving, as the
temperatures climbed near 40.
Sunny and cooler temperatures, with
highs in the low forties, are expected
Wednesday, the weather spokesman said,
and no further chance of snow flurries
exist.
No hazardous driving conditions were
reported in the Athens area Tuesday, and
Clarke County police had no accidents to
report. Athens police investigated several
minor accidents, but ‘‘they were not
caused by the snow," a police spokesman
said.
University police also reported a quiet
day as far as accidents were concerned.
Wire service reports indicated that
snow fell in other parts of the state,
including Atlanta, where a morning
snowfall in the downtown area caused
some traffic problems. Areas in the
northeastern region of Georgia reported
from two to three inches of fresh snow
Students threw
made snowmen
By TOM BARTON
City editor
Photo by DONNA MINCEY
It snowed, but what accumulation there was melted quickly
Photo by DAVID TULIS
This student looks In amazement at yesterday’s snowfall
Eerie
By KEN DENNEY
The mention of the word ‘'ceme
tery" is likely to send shivers down
the spine as the mind conjures up
images of ghosts and skeletons - and
the fear ol death. But many
University students do more than hear
the word: they live near a cemetery.
The Oconee Hills Cemetery on East
Campus Road rests beside many
apartment and fraternity houses
Founded on July 25. 1H49 and opened
on Mar. 1. 1856. Oconee Hills has
always been closely tied with the
University.
According to the book. The Oconee
Hills Cemetery. by Charlotte
Marshall, the beginnings of the
cemetery lie with the Jackson Street
Cemetery, across from the main
library.
WHEN ATHENS was just a small
village. centered around the
University, many citizens began using
a small, unused portion of the
University's property to bury their
dead.
This practice continued until,
according to the book, the graves were
being dug too close to the homes of the
president and two of the professors
The trustees of the University ordered
in 1849 that no further burials would
be allowed in the cemetery.
Does the ghost of a Confederate soldier gallop his horse across this bridge?
According to Dean William Tate,
who was president of the Athens
Historical Society in 1971. property
was purchased from the Lucas family
of Athens, whose home stood where
Reed Hall is today, to build a new
cemetery for Athens
Oconee Hills was founded in 1856
with 17 acres planned and ornamented
by Dr James Camak Four years
later it was incorporated by the state
legislature and in 1898, an additional
96 acres were purchased across the
Oconee River.
Dean Tate said that in the early part
of the 19th century, students who died
while attending the University were
buried in the Jackson Street
Cemetery.
"THOSE WERE the days before
embalming," he said “ You couldn't
ship a boy from ^>outh Georgia back
home - you had to bury them quickly
for sanitary reasons."
In 1838. three* students died and
were interred in the cemetery across
from the main library. Two members
of the Demostheman Society died in
See GRAVEYARD, p 2
Photo by DONNA MINCEY
Committees suggested
for academic problems
By JOEL BURKE
Assistant campus editor
A plan to create three separate
committees to look into the drop-add.
withdrawal, and advising problems will
be suggested to Vice President of
Academic Affairs M. Louise McBee, this
week.
Greg Jocoy. Student Government
Association (SGA) Minister to Consumer
Affairs said the three committees would
consist of about two students and four
faculty or administrators, and would
study these three problems "in depth
"Any changes would be implemented in
Fall," Jocoy said The three committees
would report to the Academic Affairs
Advisory Council (AAAC) on suggestions
to improve the current situation
A COMMITTEE to study the entire
registration problem, from the time a
student is accepted to when he passes a
course, will also be suggested to McBee.
Jocoy said.
Currently, students have 21 days to
withdraw from a course without
receiving a WF (withdrawing while
failing). In addition, students have three
days to drop-add
This past summer, the AAAC
decreased the withdrawal period from
half a quarter to 14 days for Fall Later,
during Fall, the drop-add period was
decreased from three to two days
After much student opposition, the
withdrawal policy was increased to 21
days and the drop-add to three.
STUDENTS ARE not satisfied how
ever Originally the drop-add period was
five days, but has decreased to three.
“ The drop-add period should be four or
five days." SGA Vice President Nancy
Neal said.
A minimum five weeks withdrawal
policy is a goal Jocoy said he and other
SGA members are working toward.
‘‘If Dr McBee doesn t accept my
proposal, we (SGA) will form another
ad-hoc committee to make further
suggestions." Jocoy added
An SGA ad-hoc committee submitted a
report to the AAAC at its last meeting
suggesting a drop period of two days and
an add period of three Other suggestions
were a withdrawal period of five weeks,
giving a WA through WF depending on
the student s current course grade on a
student's final grade instead of a W or
WF. and conducting mandatory advising
workshops for advisors
AT THE upcoming Student Advisory
Council meeting in Rome. Ga.. the
proposed University system-wide core-
curriculum will be a major topic of
discussion Neal is working on an
arguement against the proposed core-
curriculum changes
Pharmacy loses money despite drug charges
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a
three-part series on the University Health
Service. Principal reporters are Ed
Grisan^ore. Nelson d. Ross. Marcia
Griffith. Cal Callaway and Jackie Glass.
The pharmacy is one department that
has recently been affected by the
increase in health fees. It is near the end
of the third month of the new
prescription-payment program Students
began paying for drugs November 14.
According to chief pharmacist Ted
Chaffin, it takes more time to charge for
a prescription than it does to make it.
“The decision to charge for prescrip
tions was a logistical hassle," Chaffin
said "It was put off as long as it could ”
He said that the prescription payment
was supposed to have been implemented
when he came to Health Services four
\ ears ago
CHAFFIN BELIEVES the volume of
prescriptions has been cut due to the
charge system. However, he said this
decrease was expected
"Studies of other institutions show a 15
to 20 percent decrease after the charge
system is initiated " Chaffin said. This
eventually levels back to a five percent
decrease he added Uhatlm said it is
difficult to determine the decrease in
volume since students began paying
because January figures' are the only
ones available
"These figures can't be compared to
last January because of the flu epidemic
at that time," Chaffin insisted
The pharmacy staff has increased
since Oiaffin's arrival four years ago
The staff now includes two full and one
part-time pharmacist
The payments for prescriptions will
stili not entirely help the pharmacy
profit wise According to Chaffin, the
service is still operating at a loss.
"THE PHARMACY will be able to
minimize its losses now that we are
charging." Chaffin said "The health fees
alone could not cover all of the drugs
needed."
The payment svstem has allowed the
Health Clinic to include several drugs that
were not previously provided, he said
The lack of certain drugs has cost the
center student business and will probably
do so in the future. One local pharmacist
said the University is "limited in what
they dispense."
Grant Dooley of Village Pharmacy said
the "limited" business he receives from
students comes when he is able to supply
a drug that the University cannot
There is a reason, however, for the
limited selection of drugs at the health
center.
THE CENTER, and other medical
institutions supported by the state, place
their drug orders through the use of a
formulary
The formulary is a list of which drugs a
hospital is supplied and which are
needed
"The idea is to keep the drugs ordered
to a minimum." Chaffin explained "If
you get too many drugs, then your funds
are exhausted and you don t have room
for the major items "
Despite limitations. Chaffin said the
health center has a "tremendous"
advantage in purchasing power over
retail pharmacies
The center is part of the Joint
Commission Hospital Association
(JCHA). The members ot JCHA include
all state medical institutions such as
state hospitals. University clinics, and
the Medical College of Georgia at
Milledgeville
THESE INSTITUTIONS, through a
state contract, are able to buy ,
pharmaceuticals in large volumes
For this reason, the center is able to
sell prescriptions at about one-third of
the normal retail price "In most
instances, we are able to get good
prices." Chaffin maintained
"We are able to bulk buy the supplies
we need for one year." Chaffin added He
said retailers cannot do this because of
overhead and expense costs. The state
can reduce its prices because of the
combined selling to 31 state institutions.
These reduced prices are a sore spot
for many retail pharmacies A local
pharmacist explained that “the govern
ment takes bids on different supplies for
hospitals and pharmacists " Because of
this, the state institutions pay only about
one-third of the usual price
"Because we are doing ten times as
much business, it seems like the retailers
should be getting the break," he added
"THE HEALTH CENTER is currently
on the good end of the low-price system."
Chaffin said
The brand names that are labeled on
certain prescriptions can be a big
influence on the drug prices
The concept of generic purchasing
comes into effect here Generic drugs are
prescriptions that are not identified by
their brand name and are sold at a
reduced retail price
Chaffin said he sees advantages and
disadvantages in the usage of generic
prescriptions
"The brand name of companies has
certain regulations that guarantee the
quality of the prescription." he said He
added that many generics are. in fact,
made by brand companies
CHAFFIN SAID he would like to see
Georgia state laws changed to indicate
brand names
Most retail pharmacies cannot use
generic labels. Laws require that
pharmacies carry many different brands
are prescribed by different doctors. “It
isn't fair that we have to carry ter.
brands of drugs." one pharmacist said
He said that the retailer often "stuck"
with more pills than they need to fill a
prescription
A new state law. however, may give
the retailer a price break
Until January of this year, it was
required that a prescription be filled to
the exact brand that the doctor
prescribes This allowed an institution
such as the infirmary to substitute a
generic prescription for a brand name
This has not had a major effect,
however Most doctors are not using the
substitution although most new doctors
have been educated to use the method.
"IT IS harder to know about the quality
of generics." Chaffin said “An advan
tage is that the records of generics can
be traced through the pharmacy school "
Prescriptions can be filled by doctors
who are not at the health center Students
must carry with them, however, all
previous records
"This is to make sure there is no drug
interaction. Chaffin said
