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Dogs scrap
* ¥-A
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An indepe
INSIDE
Where’s Jimmy Dean?
He’s with Marilyn and
Greta at Andy Warhol’s
exhibit at the High
Museum in Atlanta
8B
Weather: Goodbye tan, it's fall.
Today, mostly sunny, near 80,
tonight, fair, mid 50s, Wed., fair,
mid 80s.
, SEPTEMBER 18, 1990 « ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 98, ISSUE 1
hern Miss — IB
d & Black
per serving the University of Georgia Community
DHR to
comb
complex
By CRAIG HESTER
Staff Writer
I
Despite budget cuts, the Georgia
Department of Human Resources
is sending a representative to the
University to help investigate why
workers in the Biological Sciences
Complex are getting sick.
Earlier this summer, Rosemary
Woodel, office manager of the Zo
ology Department, began com
piling a list of employees “who
think their health problems are re
lated to the building,” she said.
The number is now' at 51.
Workers have cited symptoms in
cluding headaches, eye irritation,
nausea and insomnia.
James Drinnon, an environ
mental specialist with the public
health division of the DHR, will in
spect the building Wednesday,
running tests the University says
it is incapable of running.
“We just don’t have the equip
ment,” said Leonard Mortenson,
director of the Division of Biolog
ical Sciences.
“I hope they send him with all he
needs to analyze the building; I
want this thing over with once and
for all,” he said.
Drinnon was unavailable for
comment Monday.
University officials were told
Tuesday that a tight budget would
keep DHR from coming, and that
the National Institute of Occupa
tional Safety and Health would
sweep the building.
However, Warren Safter, assis
tant director of Public Safety, re
ceived word Friday that the DHR
will come and take charge of the in
vestigation.
Mary Mellein, manager of Envi
ronmental Safety Services, a divi
sion of Public Safety, said it’s
simply because the DHR is the best
qualified to inspect the building.
“Local officials would not have
the instrumentation or knowledge
to handle this,” she said.
Mortenson wants to move
swiftly to avoid the possibility of
exposing students who have labs in
Please See BUILDING, Page 5
Go with the overflow
Matt Mayberry, a junior pre-journalism major, sits here if I could." Students are living in study lounges
alone in overflow in Myers Residence Hall waiting to until they can be placed, and they share the rooms
be assigned a permanent room. "I like it because it with two to six other people. See related story, page
is one of the few rooms that has air conditioning, 2A.
and I have cool roommates," he said, "I’d stay in
OSHA to stay out of investigation
By CRAIG HESTER
Staff Writer
Employees complaining of illness in the Biological
Sciences Complex can only plead their case to Univer
sity officials; they are not protected by the federal Oc
cupational Safety and Health Administration.
An increasing number of workers in the complex
have been complaining of illnesses that could be re
lated to air pollution in the building. The Georgia De
partment of Human Resources will begin an
investigation Wednesday.
But OSHA won’t have anything to do with the in
vestigation because the agency has no jurisdiction
over the University, said Tom Brown, an OSHA safety
supervisor.
Any occupational safety standards at the school
must be self-imposed by the University, he said.
OSHA is a federal agency designed to govern the
treatment and working conditions of employees in the
private sector. It can’t control state, county and city
entities, Brown said.
But many states hove set up their own state-level
OSHA offices that must meet or exceed OSHA stan
dards, he said. Georgia isn’t one of those states, and
falls in line with Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.
“But, UGA has a very fine safety program,” Brown
said.
The role of watchdog at the University falls with
the Public Safety Division. They set up the Univer
sity’s safety plans to see to it that employees are pro
tected and protect themselves.
When it comes to the bio-sciences complex, Warren
Softer, assistant director of Public Safety, said the
University makes sure all employees are prepared to
handle hazardous chemicals.
“Our policy is a very reasonable approach,” Safter
said, adding that it has held up over the years.
“I have been here 10 years and we haven’t had a
problem of this magnitude,” he said, referring to the
number of illness complaints.
But OSHA has just developed a new lab safety
standard for the private sector that “goes beyond what
our (the University’s) current regulations are,” Safter
said.
Lead backer
arrested on
coke charge
Police say
gun found
By DAN POOL
Staff Writer
Norman Cowins, a Georgia
Bulldog starting linebacker, was
arrested Sunday night and
charged with possession of cocaine
with intent to distribute, according
to Athens police reports.
A top linebacker in the South
eastern Conference, Cowins was
also charged with possession of a
firearm during an attempt to
commit a crime and possession of a
concealed weapon.
Cowins, 21, was in Clarke
County Jail Monday night
awaiting a bond hearing in Clarke
County Superior Court.
Magistrate Court Judge Micheal
Coleman denied Cowins bond
Monday morning because of the al
leged presence of a firearm during
the crime, a Superior Court
spokesperson said.
Cowins was arrested when offi
cers responded to a complaint that
someone was attempting to sell
drugs on the Henderson Extension
of Paris Street, police reports read.
These streets run through a large
housing project area.
Officers saw a vehicle with sev
eral men standing around and sit
ting inside it, reports read.
Officers approached Cowins’
truck and found “a brown bottle
with a substance they believed to
be cocaine,” Athens police Lt. L. H.
McCrary said.
McCrary would not disclose the
amount of cocaine found until more
laboratory tests are done.
Officers saw a handgun in the
vehicle, but Cowins didn’t attempt
to use it or avoid the police, McC
rary said.
Police reports read, “He (the of-
File
Norman Cowins: Was ar
rested on Sunday
Goff says he had no
choice but to suspend
linebacker Norman
Cowins considering the
circumstances
ficer) observed a gun barrel in the
bed of the truck.”
Head football coach Ray GofTvis
ited Cowins at the jail Monday af
ternoon, said Claude Felton,
director of sports information.
In a statement communicated by
Felton, GofT said Cowins has been
suspended from the team. Goff said
he would support Cowins, but
NCAA rules prevent direct action
by the athletic department.
“In light of the facts presented to
me, I have decided to suspend in
definitely Norman Cowins from
our football team,” Goff said.
“But regardless of the circum
stances, he’s still one of ours and
we are committed to helping him
through this difficult period.”
Budget shortfall
forces UGA cuts
By AL DIXON
Staff Writer
As a record 28,000-plus students
begin classes at the University this
fall, the faculty is forced to handle
the healthy student body with a
less-than-healthy budget.
As part of Gov. Joe Frank
Harris’ plan to recover from the
shortfall in Georgia’s revenue this
year, the University was asked to
shave $8.4 million from its $278
million budget for the 1991 fiscal
year.
In response to this request, Uni
versity President Charles Knapp
informed individual departmental
budget managers that they must
reduce their spending by 2.8 per
cent.
“Each budgetary organization
head is directed to determine the
areas of reduction, which in his
judgment will cause the least
damage," Knapp wrote in a June
18 memo addressed to vice presi
dents, deans and directors of the
University.
While leaving cuts up to indi
vidual department heads, Knapp
stated, “It will be University policy
at this time to avoid any forced
layoff of personnel.”
Charles James, associate dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences,
said the final 2.8 percent budget
cut each college faces is much
harder to make than it might seem.
“Salaries of our personnel com
pose more than 90 percent of our
budget, as is the case with all other
colleges in the University,” James
said. “So we must make the cuts
from the small remaining per
centage of the budget.”
In the wake of this tight budget,
individual departments must also
come up with the money to give the
faculty its promised 3.5 percent
raise.
‘This means we have to take
every opportunity available in
order to meet our share of the
budget cut, which is $1.4 million,”
James said.
Charles Knapp: Orders cuts
causing “least damage”
The college plans to eliminate its
funds for travel and new equip
ment, and is suspending its re
hiring practices, he said.
The budget cut is already having
a direct effect on students. For ex
ample, James said the average
Please See CUTS, 6A
Sipping Sundays may come soon
Street vendors may get ax
Thomas St,
Jackson St.
Park Hall
East Campus Rd
H1
Memorial Hall
S a n f o r d Dr.
n lnFine Arts Bldg.
Jj n |^p ne *
Lumpkin St.
City's ban would affect these sidewalks
Stephen Morotkl/The Red and Black
By LANCE HELMS
Staff Writer
Today could be the beginning of
the end for hot dogs on Baldwin
Street as the Athens City Council
scrutinizes vendors’ effects on tra
ffic in the county’s most congested
pedestrian zone.
The council’s Public Safety Com
mittee will meet at 6:15 p.m. today
to consider a proposed ban on the
vendors, who often concentrate
their activities at the corner of
Baldwin Street and Sanford Drive.
John Gundaker, who owns a hot
dog stand on Baldwin, said the pro
posed ban is unjustifiable and that
students will come to his defense.
“It won’t go that far,” Gundaker
said. ‘The people will rally against
this nonsense.
The proposal, submitted by
Athens Police Chief Mark Wallace
at the city’s request, recommends
banning street “peddlers” on the
stretch of city-owned Baldwin
Street between Lumpkin Street
and the intersection of Thomas
Street and East Campus Road.
Wallace asked the University to
take similar action against vendors
on Sanford Drive, which is owned
by the University. The ban would
be in effect Monday through Friday
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Wallace cited “numerous com
plaints” to Athens police from stu
dents and faculty about vendors
contributing to congestion at the
intersection of Baldwin Street and
Sanford Drive.
But Maj. Joseph Lumpkin of the
Athens police couldn’t give an ac
curate tally of the complaints,
which he said were verbal and
therefore not on record.
“We don’t have any statistics,”
Lumpkin said. “I would think there
are dozens (of complaints), but we
didn’t catalog and record them.”
The vending issue came before
the council when Judy Masters, a
part-time instructor in the College
of Journalism and Mass Commu
nication, wrote a letter to Athens
Mayor Dwain Chambers at his re
quest after they discussed the
matter over the phone.
In the letter, Masters said she
once saw a “rolling dress-hanger
stand as you would see in a formal
shop blocking the sidewalk, forcing
pedestrians to pass it by stepping
into the street and traffic.”
Gundaker said a passerby asked
the vendor named in Masters’
letter to move his dress stand,
which he did.
Masters also complained of “Bo
hemian youth” on a blanket
making jewelry for sale and “a
Please See VENDORS, Page 5
By DANA WHITE
Staff Writer
Despite local restaurateurs’ desire for alcohol sales
on Sundays, County Commissioner Jewel John said
legal problems posed by city-county unification will
prevent the Clarke County Commission from taking
any action until January.
John said the Athens Area Restaurant Association
submitted a petition containing 68 signatures from
restaurants and bars in the city and county on Sept.
II.
But the ordinance was put on hold because the new
voting districts created by Athens-Clarke County uni
fication will present legal difficulties.
John said the referendum would have to pass in
both the city and the county because the restaurants
and bars are located in both.
Since new voting districts have been drawn and
there is no separation of city and county, a vote of that
nature isn't possible, she said.
The Restaurant Association will have to bring the
request back after Jan. 14 when the new government
takes over, she said.
John said there would probably have to be a special
election for a referendum on the liquor sales. How
ever, she said the restaurants might want to wait and
call a referendum at the next regular election.
Sam Mixon, manager of The Grill, said, “People are
appalled when we tell them that we can’t serve them a
beer with their meal.”
He said many people from out of town ask for beer
with their meals. An ordinance allowing restaurants
to serve alcohol on Sundays would have a good effect
on business, he said.
Tom Drew, bartender and assistant manager of
Gus Garcia’s Restaurant and Cantina, said he doesn’t
think an ordinance allowing alcohol sales on Sunday
would hurt the downtown area.
Drew said serving drinks with food would be good
for business —especially in a college community.
“We would probably re-open on Sundays,” he
added. “I’m for it.”
Student raped after party, attacker flees
By JOEL GROOVER
Campus Correspondent
A University student was
raped Saturday afternoon when
she became separated from her
friends after leaving a fraternity
party, Athens police said.
The 21-year-old student, whom
police said was intoxicated, had
apparently become lost about
5:30 p.m. when she was ap
proached by an unknown white
male.
The man began walking with
her and struck up a conversation,
said Hilda Spratlin, public infor
mation assistant for the Athens
Police Department.
The two continued walking
until “they came to a wall approx
imately five feet high and she fell
off of it with suspect on top of
her,” according to police reports.
“Suspect raised her clothing
and raped her,” the reports read.
“She struggled but was unable to
free herself.”
The student “wasn’t familiar
with the area,” Spratlin said.
“She just kind of fell off the wall.”
The attacker fled on foot, and
the student flagged down a car
and was taken home.
She then was treated for minor
cuts and scratches at Athens Re
gional Medical Center.
To protect her identity, the
Athens Police Department won’t
disclose potentially identifying
information, such as the name of
the fraternity house the student
had been to or the name of the
person who took her home.
The police also refused to spec
ulate as to where the rape most
likely took place, saying only that
it may have occurred near the
house of the unnamed fraternity.
The student described her at
tacker as in his 20s and under six
feet tall, with a medium build. He
had dark curly hair and wore a
white shirt and beige shorts.