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A • VOLUME 97, ISSUE 107
INSIDE
A preview of the premiere
performance of the dance
department’s Young
Choreographer’s Series
tonight.
Weather: Stay Inside and drink.
Today, partly cloudy, 80s, tonight,
fair, 60s, Thurs., partly cloudy, 30
percent chance rain, 80s.
Students meet to discuss reorganization of campus NAACP
By SANDRA STEPHENS
Staff Writer
Concerned University students are
working to create another avenue to
combat racism and create equality.
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People Committee
for Re-Activation met with 75 students at
Tate Student Center Monday to discuss
re-establishing a charter of the organiza
tion on campus.
Shalondra Henry, a freshman pre
journalism m^jor and committee chair,
said the organization can guarantee all
minorities, not just African-Americans, a
chance for equality.
“It’s an organization for all people,”
she said.
The organization plans to address is
sues such as minority faculty recruiting,
promoting voter registration, bringing all
minorities together and making a posi
tive change in the world, she said.
The committee has received support
from faculty and the Department of Mi
nority Services and Programs, Henry
said.
The national organization requires 25
dues-paying members to establish a
charter.
"I’m sure there are going to be people
willing to work hard to make a change,”
she said.
BJ. Harvey, a sophomore business
mqjor and co-secretary of the committee,
said the organization will provide stu
dents with another voice on campus and
a way to do something about racism.
She said it's important that students
stand behind their words of support for
the charter.
“I think the power behind it has to be
committed students who want to change
things at UGA," she said.
Jackie Richie, a third-year law student
and a member of the Clarke County
NAACP, said being a part of a national
organization is valuable because of its re
sources.
“I don’t think you can have too many
organizations interested in bettering
conditions — whatever the conditions
may be," she said
Tracy SUnbaif/The R«d and Black
Erwin Greene, left, a freshman math major, gets the message as he
plays pool in the Tate Center gameroom on Tuesday. Nurse Practi
tioner Fran Beal, center, wants students to "get immunized, not ‘ mea
sles-teed.'” Health Services employee Ellen Letostak carries the sign
in the background. University students, faculty and staff, who are not
excused, have until May 18th to get a measles vaccination or face pos
sible suspension.
Council passes motion on smoking
By J.D. SQUILLANTE
Staff Writer
Smokers at the University could
suffer more headaches in the fu
ture, and coaches could suffer
fewer if University Council follows
its Executive Committee in
passing a motion that would limit
smoking on campus and another
that could cut back the number of
athletic scholarship recipients.
The Executive Committee voted
unanimously Tuesday in favor of
sending a motion to University
Council for a final vote on May 31
which, if approved, would prohibit
smoking in University buildings.
The measure would allow
smoking only in areas that the
highest-ranking administrator of
the building assigns afler consul
ting with the building’s occupant*.
The Committee also voted to
send a motion to University
Council that would ask University
President Charles Knapp to
submit a proposal to the National
Collegiate Athletic Association
that would make the number of
scholarships available to football
and basketball athletes relative to
their graduation rates.
The proposal would require
graduation of the recipient or the
passage of eight years before a
scholarship could be offered again.
Mathematics professor John
Hollingsworth, the proposal’s au
thor, said the proposal would en
courage the recruitment of athletes
who could perform well in the
classroom as well as the football
field or basketball court. It also
would relieve pressure on coaches
to "run off” marginal athletes so
their scholarships could be
awarded to new recruits.
Committee member Betty Jeon
Craige, comparative literature pro
fessor, said that although the pro
posal applies only 'to football and
men’s basketball, it’s a good start
at improving graduation rates of
student-athletes.
Poll: Faculty favors semester
A University Council poll of 1,974 faculty garnered 738 votes in
favor of a semester system conversion and 715 opposed. The results,
given to University Council Executive Committee members Tuesday,
show a 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent vote in favor of semesters.
However, Ed Davis, a mathematics education professor, conducted a
poll of College of Education faculty which he said is probably more rep
resentative of faculty sentiment.
"Faculty members may have been confused by the ballot given to
them bv the University Council that just asked them if they were in
favor of a semester system,” he said.
He said the ballot didn’t specify if faculty would still have to teach
the same number of classes per year on a semester system as they do
now.
"For many this would mean three classes a semester and that would
eat time they need for research," he said.
In the College of Education poll 73.9 percent of 149 respondents
were against a semester system that would require them to teach three
classes per semester. In a separate item, that same percentage was in
favor of a semester system requiring them to teach a maximum of two
classes per semester.
Executive Committee Chair Peter Shedd said provisions added ton
the semester proposal will clear up confusion for faculty and make a
second poll unnecessary.
— J.D. Squlilanto
ROTC is
accused
of gay
prejudice
By DARA McLEOD
Staff Writer
Although both students and fac
ulty at colleges and universities
across the nation are protesting
ROTC policies that discriminate
against homosexuals, ROTC ad
ministrators at the University say
they’re unaware of any opposition
to such policies here.
Students who enroll in either Air
Force or Army ROTC programs
must fill out several forms which
ask, among other things, if they
are or have ever been homosexual
or bisexual, or have had any desire
to engage in homosexual activities.
Students who answer "yes" to ei
ther question can receive credit for
ROTC courses, but are ineligible to
become commissioned officers in
the military after completing the
courses.
Maj. Keith Graham, Air Force
ROTC division chairman, said the
portion of the program that leads
to active military duty is selective.
Applicants must meet certain cri
teria, and one of these criteria is
that they can’t have homosexual
tendencies, he said.
“We encourage anyone at all
that’s interested in defense to take
our courses, but we do have that
policy if you’re going into the mili
tary —and we adhere to that
policy,” Graham said
'That’s the Department of De
fense’s policy and that’s our
policy.”
The DOD policy states that ho
mosexuality is incompatible with
military service because it “se
riously impairs the accomplish
ment of the military mission.
The policy states that the pres
ence of homosexuals adversely af
fects the military’s ability to
maintain order, discipline, morale
and public acceptance. It also
states that the presence of homo
sexuals interferes with the mili
tary’s ability to prevent security
breaches
Terrance Heath, secretary of the
Athens Gay and lesbian Associa
tion, said the military is doing it
self a disservice by eliminating
homosexuals who are willing and
more than capable of serving.
He said the intention of the nu
merous ROTC protests springing
up on campuses nationwide is to
put pressure on the DOD to change
its policies.
About 75 percent uf the U.S.
Army’s commissioned officers come
from ROTC programs and 40 to 42
percent of the commissioned offi
cerB in the U.S. Air Force are from
ROTC programs.
“It’s the same attitude that
ROTC: Follows DOD policy
existed a few decades ago when the
army was segregated,”
Heath said.
T really don’t know why there’s
no reaction on this campus. Maybe
it’s because some student* aren’t
aware of it or aren’t vocal about
some political issues — but I think
that’s changing," he said.
Capt. Mary Geurts, Air Force
ROTC executive officer, said her
personal feeling toward the policy
doesn’t matter. ROTC policy is
based on DOD policy, which is
based on the desires of Congress,
she said.
The DOD policy was upheld in
several recent court cases, and the
Supreme Court recently refused to
hear two cases concerning the
policy.
However, the findings of two
Pentagon-commissioned studies
question the current DOD policy.
One of the studies found that, in
terms of security, homosexuals are
as good or better than the average
heterosexual.
The studies were leaked to mem
bers of Congress afler the Pen
tagon rejected the studies in
January of 1989, according to a
Nov. 6 article in the Washington
Post. The Pentagon claimed the
studies were flawed and not in line
with its original request.
Davis Jones, a junior philosophy
major and member of Army ROTC,
said homosexuals shouldn’t be al
lowed in the Army regardless of
the findings of these studies. The
presence of homosexuals would
make other members of the mili
tary uncomfortable, he said.
“I think the policy is a good one
— I don’t think there should be
homos in the Army,” he said.
However Jones scud he suspects
there are a few homosexuals cur
rently in ROTC.
Music school hosts
seminar for bands
By COLEEN BROOKS
Entertainment Writer
If you are a local band looking
for ways to get ahead in the
music business, the University
and the Athens community may
be willing to help you out.
The University School of Music
hosted a seminar Monday at
North PJ auditorium featuring
guest spenker Edgar Struble ana
a panel of local music-related
professionals, who gave the in
side scoop on how to make money
in the music business.
Ralph Verrastro, University
music director, said the seminar
was a result of the combined ef
forts by the Athens Arts-As-In*
dustry Task Force and the
University to examine all the
facets of the local music commu
nity to "see where the arts might
go-"
He said that for the last six
months, the 15-person task force
assembled by the Chamber of
Commerce “has been looking at
the economic prospects and po
tential” of the Athens music
scene and “how the arts fit into
our community."
Verrastro said the task force
has come to the conclusion that
“the arts community in Athens is
very diverse and lacks cohesion”
and “the University perhaps
could do more to facilitate the
arts potential.”
He said he hoped the seminar
would be the first step in the Uni
versity’s effort to become more in
volved.
Edgar Struble is the author of
“Careers in Music: A Practical
Please See SEMINAR, Page 5
Female Creswell Hall residents find racial slurs
and profanity written on doors of 3rd floor hall
By MICHAEL W. McLEOD
Staff Writer
Racial and profane slurs left on the doors of a
hallway in Creswell Hall have residents and
University police lixtking for answers. The fe
male residents of Lightning Community on the
third floor of Creswell are working with police
to determine who has been defacing the doors
on the hall.
University police, residents and Creswell
Residence Life Coordinator Linda Hudson con
firmed that since last Wednesday the following
incidents have taken place:
• Wednesday night, Karen Myers of 307
Creswell Hall discovered the words “Buckw
heat lives” written on a message board by a pic
ture of a black baby she had posted on her door.
• Thursday night, Sorga Heinze of Room 310
discovered T— me" written on the message
board of her room and Jennifer McCloskey of
Room 304 found “Jennifer gives h—’ written on
a paper cut-out she had posted on her door.
• Sunday night, Kabanya Spears of Room
302, who was crowned Miss Black UGA in
April, found the word “black" in a congratula
tory banner that hung beside her door crossed
out and changed to read “white.”
Heinze said the hall residents didn’t report
the incidents to University police until Sunday
night. Police didn't release information on the
incidents until Tuesday.
Heinze said she turned the signs on the door
of Jennifer Fischer’s room upside down to see
how she would react. Heinze said she thought
Fischer, or some of her friends who’d been in
her room at the time, were involved in the
Sunday night incident.
Fischer’s reaction convinced Heinze that she
wasn't involved.
Fischer, the only occupant of Room 303, said
she thought what happened to her door was an
other example of previous incidents.
University police Detective George Ann
Ahmed said Tuesday afternoon Fischer is not a
suspect in the case, but some of her friends who
were in her room at the time of the Sunday
night incident are under suspicion.
Fischer said she had five friends in her room
Sunday night and thought none of them were
‘One of the things that came
out of this was to create a
neighborhood watch’
-Margaret Vanchiere
Graduate Assistant
involved in the incidents.
Heinze said she was sure the incidents were
all caused by the same person. When the pro
fanity was written on her message board, she
said the pen attached to the board was taken.
The other messages led on other doors
Thursday and Sunday were written with the
same pen, she said. She found it on the floor of
the hall afler the incident Sunday.
Please See CRESWELL, Page 3