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THE RED AND BLACK
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
Athens, Ga. Vol. 92, No. 10 Friday, October 5,1984 News 543-1809 Advertising 543 1791
Voter registration tops
predictions of officials
By KIM HAYS
Krtt and Black Sealoc Reporter
Student response to National Voter
Registration Day was three times the
number that registration organizers
had predicted, Clarke County Board of
Elections officials said Thursday
"About 340 people already have
registered today We only expected
about too," Board of Elections member
Harold Darden said
Darden extended the registration
hours to 8 p.m from 6 p.m to ac
comodate the additional people
Non-student volunteers registered all
students showing proof of permanent
Athens residence
"Even students that live in dorms can
register as Clarke County voters if they
declare their intent to make Clarke
County their permanent abode,”
Darden said
Darden said that although dorms are
not year round residences, students
who intend to stay in Clarke County and
attend the University are still eligible to
register
Darden said students had waited in
lines of as many as 10 people for 20
minutes in order to register
"People have been very patient so
far, they've even been telling as they
feel sorry for us having to stay so
busy," Darden said
University student Sara Miller said.
"I don't really mind the wait. 1 didn’t
even know this was going on today ."
Student Registration Volunteer Mary
Beck White said, "The booths have
been packed since I first got here (at 2
p.m .). I really don't think they've even
had time to get a rough count of
everyone who's registered so far."
White stressed the registration drive
was strictly a nonpartisan event.
"lama member of a student political
organization, but today I have no
political opinions I'm just helping
people register," White said.
University senior Tony Murphy said
he would have registered in Clarke
County for the upcoming election
anyway, but the College Square loca
tion was much more convenient
"I'm already registered, but I want to
switch my registration to Clarke
County because I'll be living here for at
least two more years," Murphy said
Darden said anyone who is already
registered must declare his former
registration while registering to vote in
Clarke County
“Simultaneoas registration is a
felony," Darden said "Registering
under two different names is also
illegal .”
Darden said a cancellation form is
included in the voter registration ap
plication
Students gather at College Square to register
Festival honors ‘forgotten’ music
string music
From Atlanta comes Hurt Dog, a
band that blends cajun, delta blues
and early country styles. And Cliff
Sheats, who has lived in Athens for
nearly 90 years, will represent piano
blues, a style he performed regularly
with his brother about 50 years ago
when they were popular entertainers
in town ,
With the interesting mix of young
and old, the festival promises to be as
much an educational opportunity as it
will be a good time, say members of
the Athens Folk Music and Dance
Society, a festival co-sponsor.
“It’s a lot more than a good time,”
says Ash Raymond, an AFMDS
member "One of the wonderful
things about this music is that you get
high as a kite when you listen to it, but
the real point is that this stuff is
almost a philosophical statement
when it's done well ”
And a cultural phenomenon, too
"It's unique in educational quality,
particularly because there are going
to be so many old timers and
authentic people," says AFMDS
President Joel Cordle. "It could be —
and 1 hate to say this — the last op
portunity to see some of these people.
They’ll have some interesting com
ments to make about their lives and
what music has meant to their lives,
what it was like to grow up loving
music 90 years ago in the mountains
and backwoods, or wherever they
come from."
With any luck, festival sponsors
say, the event will expose people to
folk music and its uniquely American
traditions That, in turn, may prompt
a growth in the organized folk scene in
town.
AFMDS started that trend more
than a year ago, when It formally
organized and sought members
Today it boasts a membership of 125.
comprised mostly of musicians and
dancers Cordle estimated that
University students make up 80
percent of the society.
Between now and the end of the
quarter, Sparky's restaurant will host
AFMDS' Monday night "Hoot,” a
time for musicians to "exchange
ideas and get out of the closet," says
Cordle
Barring an occasional concert at
Friends (Taj Mahal is set for Oct. 22)
and AFMDS' regular dances and
concerts, thi Hoot is the only op
portunity Athens' folk fans have to see
live music Its first show of the season
was last Monday; it will continue
through fall quarter
‘It could be the last
opportunity...to see
some of these people. ’
— Joel Cordle
Unlike last year, the Hoot now is
being booked in advance, but Cordle
stressed that musicians still will have
ample opportunity to showcase their
talents
He's hoping that the informal ex
changes between musicians will lead
to the formation of new bands
“The closings of the Speakeasy and
the Last Resort were what marked
the end of the folk era in town," he
said “But the Hoot has done a lot to
bring people out, whether they play
the guitar, bagpipes or whatever.
We’ve met a lot of people and got
them out into the public just through
this event right here,"
Tickets /or the North Georgia Folk
Music Festival are |J/or adults, 12 for
senior citizens and kids between 7 and
12 yeara. Children under 8 are ad
mitted free. Music starts at noon, and
ends around » p m The rain date is
Sunday.
Sandy Creek Park is four miles
north of Athena on Holman Road, just
off Highway 441.
Blues, bluegrass musicians
find outlet for varied styles
Lawrence Eller (left) and Ross Brown (right) will perform at Saturday’s
Combined, the performers have
more than 750 years of musical ex
perience, and all are rooted in
traditional folk music
The line-up ranges from the con
temporary sounds of Athens’
Southern Crescent to the Irish/folk
tunes of Athenian Jim Dunning.
Blues and bluegrass also will be
represented From the Bald Moun
tains near Hiawassee come Lawrence
Eller and Ross Brown, a string outfit
with 55 years of experience
Guy Bruce, who will be 90 early next
year, will provide old-time banjo
picking, and from Dacula come the
songs of Gid Tanner's Skillet lackers
performed by his grandson Phil
Tanner and former Skillet Licker
member "Smokey" Joe Miller
All of these performers have been
featured during the past two seasons
at the Smithsonian's National Folklife
Festival in Washington, D C.
Other artists scheduled to perform
are Doc and Lucy Barns and the Rev,
Nathaniel and Sister Fleta Mitchell.
Joe Rakestraw of Athens will provide
music from the black-folk genre, and
Golden River Grass will play rural
By ROB KEYES
HrW and Klurlt Huff Wfiler
Somewhere in the shuffle, folk
music has been forgotten by most of
Athens' music population If not
forgotten, then certainly ignored
For a long time, according to those
who know, it was a prosperous form of
entertainment, with eager audiences
and players But in the past four
years, all that's changed, the two
clubs that regularly booked folk ar
lists closed, and — so far — no other
club has picked up the slack Thas. for
about four years, Athens has been
brimming with players with no place
to play
And while this sad state of affairs
shows no concrete signs of abating or
improving, it will be forgotten this
weekend, as the first annual North
Georgia Folk Music Festival gets
underway Saturday at noon.
A dozen performers from around
North Georgia are scheduled to
perform, and a crowd of about 1,000 is
expected to flock to Sandy Creek
Park, four miles north of Athens on
Holman Road, Just off Highway 441
Student claims
treatment of prof
unwarranted
By JOE CAFIERO
Krd and Black Senior Krportrr
Contradictions between University
administration statements and faculty
opinion continue to cause confusion
about why the head of the University’s
anthropology department drastically
changed the teaching and advising
status of a senior faculty member last
year.
Michael Mauldin, an Atlanta resident
and holder of a masters’ degree in
litical science from the University,
s claimed in several letters to
University President Fred Davison
during Ihe past several months that
Ben G. Blount, head of the University's
anthropology department, has
mistreated a senior anthropology
faculty member
Mauldin, who has taken classes in the
department of anthropology, has
written to Davison that he thinks
Wilfrid Bailey, an Emeritus professor
in the department of anthropology, is
receiving unfair treatment from
Blount The treatment is inconsistent
with Mauldin's large contributions to
the department of anthropology, Bailey
claims
But Blount, who refused to comment
on the specifics of Mauldin's charges
pending possible legal action, said he
thinks the former student's letter
writing campaign is a "bizarrely
motivated personal vendetta."
Blount said Mauldin flunked out of
the anthropology program and has had
a grudge against him for that reason
"All of the allegations about
wrongdoing on my part are total
fabrications," Blount said.
However, Bailey and another faculty
member, Albert Saye, a prominent
constitutional lawyer, say that Mauldin
was an excellent student when he
studied under their direction.
"1 couldn't imagine him failing a
class," Saye said in reference to
Mauldin’s dismissal from the an
thropology department. “I directed his
thesis, and it was a very good one."
Bailey also said that Mauldin per
formed very well in the classes he took.
Barry Wood, assistant vice president
of Development and University
relations Thursday said Mauldin's
series of letters were a "long, con
voluted affair."
“He has mailed a series of registered
mail letters making a lot of statements
about the department head of an
thropology,” Wood said.
Wood said that Mauldin had been
dropped from the department of an
thropology for failing to meet depart
ment requirements Mauldin sub
sequently petitioned for and was
granted readmission to the depart
ment, Wood said
“He's just the sort of person who
won't take yes for an answer,” Wood
said.
In a letter to Michael Olien, the
graduate coordinator for anthropology,
dated March 9, 1984, Mauldin claims
that Bailey's testimony at his read-
mission hearing was "the most costly
five minutes in Dr Bailey's career as
an anthropologist "
Bailey said he thought he had taken
the side of his department in the
hearing
But shortly after, Bailey was trans
ferred from his regular office to a
much smaller one. In addition, his
permission to direct graduate theses
was revoked, and two graduate
students he was advising at the time
were threatened with dismissal from
the department if they didn't complete
their theses within a few months,
Bailey said.
“The pressure put on the young ladies
seems to me unwarranted,” Bailey
said, explaining that under department
rules, the two students should not have
been subject to dismissal within such a
short period of time.
Bailey also said he had been
scheduled to teach a class in the an
thropology department in fall 1983, but
shortly after his testimony on
Mauldin’s behalf, the class was can
celled.
"It’s called 'The History of An
thropological Theory,"’ Bailey said.
“It's a course I've taught for many
years It has always been a required
course for graduate students."
Bailey said the class hasn't been
taught since fall 1983, when his
arrangement to teach it was cancelled.
Committee may select
election board members
By jil McCullough
RH and Black Settlor Reporter
In the wake of several complaints and
a lawsuit filed by a local attorney
Athens Mayor Lauren Coile has ap
pointed a three-member subcommittee
to consider possible future ap
pointments to the county's Board of
Elections
Under a proposal now before the
Clarke County Commission, a special
subcommittee of the Athens City
Council would, in 1988, start par
ticipating for the first time in ap
pointing Clarke County Board of
Elections members
Third ward council members John
Taylor and Lewis Shropshire and fifth
ward councilman Calvin Bridges make
up the committee, which would
recommend candidates to the city
council for the three available ap
pointments starting in 1988
The' Clarke Countv Commission
currently makes three of the five ap
pointments to the board. The City
Council makes none
"We made some suggestions that we
be equal with the county in our relations
with the board," Bridges said Thur
sday. “We are striving for better
relations with the Board of Elections.”
The county will make three ap
pointments to the board this December,
while the local Democratic and
Republican parties will make the other
two
The city's proposed appointments in
1988 will be followed by alternating
appointments by the county every four
years
“I think the alternating opportunities
for the city and county to make board
appointments is a good idea and one
which we hope will be given serious
consideration," Shropshire said
At the very least, the city wants to
have the right to review the way its
portion of a joint ballot is handled.
Bridges said.
"If the city of Athens is having an
election, why can't it be a total elec
tion,” Bridges said. "The Board of
Elections is doing a fine job, but the
voters need to see a (separate) city
ballot as well as a state and county
one."
"I'm not saying it is the Board of
Elections' fault, but more than 500
people went to thepolls in the Fifth ward
Calvin Bridges
in the last election who did not vote in
the city election at all," Bridges said.
Athens attorney Mike Thurmond
brought suit against the Clarke County
Board of Elections Aug. 21 because of
what he called "violations of election
procedures." during his unsuccessful
bid for Georgia State Congress
Among Thrumond’s requests were
more voter registration sites in Clarke
County, more polling locations and
better voting machines.
Thurmond also made an inquiry into
the makeup of the Board of Elections,
saying he was dissatisfied with the
board's size Thurmond proposed a
seven-member board.
With the new appointments, the city
council subcommittee members said
they feel they will be given a little more
leverage in appointing people who are
concerned about city elections.
“There is absolutely nothing wroeqj
with the job being done by the present
Board of Election members," Coun
cilman John Taylor said.
“I only hope they (the county com
missioners) will let us participate in
future alternate appointments," he
said