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Red and Blacl/ editorial
cartoonist Mike Moreu
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Weather: Today, partly cloudy,
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Same tonight. Hey — only 13
shopping days 'til Rag Day.
FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1990 « ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 97, ISSUE 117
Council approves semester change
Charles Knapp: Will discuss
issue with Propst
By i.D. SqUILLANTE
Staff Writer
When the dust clenred and the confusion settled after
lengthy debate by University Council members Thursday,
semester conversion received approval.
The next step for to implementing a semester system at
the University is the University System Board of Regents’
stamp of approval.
Initially, some council members voiced concern that the
proposed system didn’t specify the intended conditions of
the proposed conversion.
“I think it’s a great fear for many that we don’t know ex
actly what we’re voting for,” said Tom Cooney, a math edu
cation professor.
He introduced an amendment to the resolution that
would’ve asked that the resolution be returned to the Uni
versity Council after getting the go ahead from the regents.
Then the council would vote again on the conditions, such
as workloads and academic calendars.
Knapp said he was against that amendment, which ulti
mately failed, because it would weaken his cose when he
presents the proposal to the regents. The regents wouldn’t
want to pass a resolution with such a stipulation because
then the board wouldn’t know exactly what it was ap
proving.
Knapp assured council members that the regents would
be approving the general semester concept and wouldn’t be
initially preoccupied with faculty workloads and calendars.
“You will be the ones who will develop the plan," he as
sured council members.
He said the Educational AfTairs Committee or a special
committee appointed by the University Council will de
velop the details of the semester system. The plan would
have to get council approval before semesters would replace
the quarter system.
“It would be professional suicide for me to implement a
semester system without faculty approval,” Knopp said.
In an 88-39 vote, council granted the resolution proposed
by the Educational Affairs Committee, which requests that
Knapp ask for regents’ approval that a semester system be
implemented.
However, how long it will take to get that approval is un
known.
Knapp said he would have to have informal discussion
with the University System Chancellor H. Dean Propst and
will have to consult with other University System school
presidents before a formal proposal can be submitted to the
regents.
'This will have impact all over the system and a lot of
preparation will be necessary,” he said. “Whenever I do
take it to the regents, it will be very, very controversial ”
The council also voted 66-45 in favor of a resolution that,
if passed by the regents, will give teachers the option to
award plus and minus grades. For example, a B-plus would
be calculated into a grade point average as a 3.33 and a B-
minus would be calculated as a 2.67 The system wouldn’t
include A-plus or D-minus.
The council also voted to urge Knapp to seek the return
of the Iron Horse, a sculpture that originally stood in the
Reed quadrangle in 1954, but was removed a day after its
unveiling after drawing intense protest from students.
Since then the horse has watched over a com field off
Highway 78, about halfway between Athens and Greens-
Please See SEMESTER. Page 3
Congressman Barnard keynotes opening
of UGA Complex Carbohydrate Center
Tenth District U.S. Congressman Doug Barnard, Jr.
(D-Ga.) gives the keynote address at Thursday's
dedication of the University's Complex Carbohy
drate Center. The center will explore new food pro
duction techniques, new ways to combat disease,
and plant genetics engineering.
Tiananmen protestors fail
to show for press briefing
UGA student protestors: During the Tiananmen protests
University students organized similar demonstrations.
By ANNE-MARIE FANGUY
Staff Writer
Three Chinese students who
protested in Tiananmen Square
last summer and were recently re
leased from prison failed to attend
a press conference Thursday in
Beijing, said Chinese University
student Gunn Weihe, a member of
the Federation for Democracy in
China.
Hou Dejian, Gao Xin and Zhou
Tou, hunger strikers in last sum
mer’s pro-democracy demonstra
tions in Beijing, called the press
conference to bring attention to the
continuing fight for democracy in
China, Gunn said.
“It’s obvious somebody i9 trying
to prevent them from speaking
out,” she said. “What’s happening
over there is still very tense.
Guan said Chinese students in
the United States are concerned
about the status of an executive
order from President George Bush
which came after he vetoed a bill to
extend student visas.
The April order guaranteed:
• Chinese citizens in the United
States at the time- of the order
wouldn’t be asked to leave until
Jan. 1, 1994.
• Job permits for Chinese stu
dents would be available.
• If students have trouble get
ting a passport extension, the
order promises to provide legal doc
umentation for them to travel
abroad.
Gunn said the order is “very flex
ible” and difficult to apply. She
said she knows students who have
gone to their local Immigration and
Naturalization Service office
seeking help only to be told the
order is too general to apply.
Loch Johnson, n University po
litical science professor, said an ex
ecutive order has the weight of law,
but can be revoked at any time by
the president. Chinese students in
America also are concerned with
allegations made by a Chinese em
bassy official who defected in May.
Xu Lin, a secretary at the em
bassy, disclosed documents he said
show the extent of Beijing’s at
tempt to intimidate government
critics.
The documents classify Chinese
students into five categories
according to opposition to the Com
munist Regime and make recom
mendations on how to treat each
group.
Lu Hong-Kai, a University stu
dent and vice president of the Stu
dent Union for China, said he
doesn’t know what group he falls
in, but that he isn’t too concerned
his actions here will cause harm to
his family in China.
However, Lu said he believes the
Chinese government has been
monitoring his mail to his parents.
‘They didn’t receive three let
ters. The government intercepted
them,” he said.
Lu, who will speak Sunday at a
rally and candlelight vigil in At
lanta’s Woodruff Park, said he will
deliver the message to Bush not to
support the current government
“(The speakers) will tell people
we’re not going to give up,” he said.
They’ll also request that the
Chinese government release pris
oners arrested during last sum
mer’s uprising and identify the
casualties, Lu said.
Lu said the Chinese government
recently passed a law requiring all
students who graduate from a uni
versity to stay in mainland China
at least five years before going
abroad to continue their education
The rally marks the eve of the
June 4, 1989 massacre in Tia
nanmen Square in which thou
sands of Chinese students were
killed by the Chinese Army.
An exhibit of media photographs
chronicling the massacre will begin
at 2 p.m. Sunday. The rally will
start at 6 p.m. and a memorial
tribute with various speakers will
begin at 7 p.m. A candlelight vigil
will follow.
A 7-foot model of the Goddess of
Democracy, the statue erected in
Tiananmen Square to announce
the students’ cry for democracy,
will be unveiled. The rain site is
the Martin Luther King Jr. Center
DOE urged to ensure SRP safety
The Associated Press
SAVANNAH — Environmental activists on
Thursday angrily denounced the Department of En-
ergy’s proposal to restart the Savannah River Site’s
nuclear weapons reactors, and local officials urged the
DOE to take extra precautions to ensure safety.
The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, U.S.
Rep. Lindsay Thomas and municipal officials from
Beaufort, S.C., all urged the DOE to take extra envi
ronmental precautions before restarting the site’s K
Reactor in December.
DOE officials were in Savannah to solicit public
comment on restarting the reactors, which have been
idled nearly two years for safety improvements.
Savannah River Site’s three reactors are the na
tion’s only source of perishable tritium gas for nuclear
weapons. Energy Secretary James Watkins has said
he would not allow restarts of the reactors until he is
satisfied with improvements at the site.
The weapons plant, situated about 100 miles up
stream from Savannah along the Savannah River,
also sits above an aquifer that provides drinking
water for much of the Southeast. Critics of the facility
say they fear rndiouctive or chemical contamination
could get into the aquifer.
UGA professors use DNA fingerprinting to find criminals
By CRAIG HESTER
Contributing Writer
The scene of the crime may be clean of
fingerprints, but if blood or semen is left
behind, two university professors may In*
able to identify the assailant by his DNA.
Wyatt Anderson and Sidney Kushner,
both University genetics professors, have
worked as expert witnesses in coses in
volving DNA nngeriprinting. However, it’s
not certain whether the method of identi
fication should be admissible in court.
As expert witnesses, Anderson and
Kushner are called to court for an objec
tive opinion to aid the judge or jury in
rendering a more educated verdict.
Validity of DNA
DNA fingerprinting is a process of
identifying criminals through DNA pat
terns taken from blood or semen samples.
The problem, Anderson said, is that un
like fingerprints, everyone doesn't have a
unique DNA pattern. But there are few
identical patterns.
Once a suspect's DNA pattern is
matched with that found at a crime scene,
Anderson and Kushner begin working to
determine how many people in the urea
could have the same DNA pattern. If the
pattern is rare, Anderson said, the
chances arc high it belongs to the suspect.
Currently, many states, including
Georgia, are determining whether this is
a valid identification method. Anderson
said DNA fingerprinting “is not some
thing certain, but it can be a powerful
tool."
Anderson and Kushner witnessed in an
ongoing case involving a rape and murder
last year.
An independent company did DNA fin
gerprinting of traces of semen and blood
from the crime scene, Anderson said. The
professors analyzed it and the case is now
before the Georgia Supreme Court to de
termine whether the DNA information is
admissible.
There are still many technical prob
lems to be ironed out with DNA finger
printing, but Anderson said he believes in
the process.
“DNA is often taken from a crime scene
and it may have been damaged or broken
down. But these are problems that can be
overcome," he said.
Other ethical questions
Anderson and Kushner aren’t the only
University professors who have done ex
pert witnessing.
For Charles Bullock, the Richard Rus
sell professor of political science, there is
a fine line between being an expert wit
ness and a gun for hire.
It’s a line he wouldn’t cross during his
three years of work as an expert witness.
Expert witnesses are paid to appear in
court by either the plaintiff or the de
fendant and aren’t commissioned bv the
court. Sometimes the pay is almost
nothing. Sometimes, “the sky’s the limit,”
Bullock BAid.
“In some ways, expert witnessing is not
very well adapted to the legal system,
which is by nature adversarial," he said.
“An expert is not supposed to be an advo
cate but many times lawyers prefer that
you would be."
Bullock was called in as an expert on
several cases involving the redistricting
of voting lines where the constituents
were disgruntled about the new lines.
Bullock gave opinions about whether the
lines were fair.
Please See DNA. Page 3