Newspaper Page Text
f
*
Complete coverage of Volvo tennis — 6
Red & Black
iependent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia Community
A-
o
Uw
o
o
O
Or «* *
a. >
o
Or Or
to 'fi
INSIDE
Unde Tupelo will bring
their brand of high
volume county-rock to the
40 Watt Club tonight.
8
Weather Today, mostly sunny,
70s, tonight, fair, low in the upper
40s, Fri.. mostly sunny, high In
the upper 70s. Speaking of
Friday; it's almost here.
a. " r
1 > < «
O £ "T >
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1990 • ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 98, ISSUE 27
tains after year of fire safety conflict
bu
the position w.
Le in a three-
y at the Uni-
its inception,
safety inspector
is still vacant and will remain so at
least until January — and that has
some University officials con
cerned.
After nearly a year of conflict be
tween University Fire Marshall
Frank Edwards and Physical Plant
over the correction of fire safety
code violations on campus, Ed
wards received a new job descrip
tion that relieved him of his duties
of inspecting University buildings
and on-campus construction pro
jects in April.
Those duties were split between
Physical Plant Architect Danny
Sniff, who inspects projects under
construction, and tne newly-cre
ated Fire Safety Inspector position
that has yet to be filled.
“(The Department of Public
Safety) hasn’t done any inspections
since April,” Public Safety Director
Asa Boynton said last week.
Even though the responsibility
of fire safety inspections ultimately
rests with State Fire Marshal
Thomas Eberhart, Boynton said,
the size of the University makes vi
olations common.
“That’s why it’s important to
have someone looking at it all the
time. This complex is too large just
to have a single state fire marshal
who will get over here when he
can,” he said.
Boynton said Eberhart has ran
domly inspected buildings two or
three times in the last six months.
Allan Barber, vice president for
Business and Finance, said that
until the position is filled, Warren
Safter, assistant director of Public
Safety, and Mary Mellien, depart
ment manager of Environmental
Safety Services, have temporarily
assumed the inspection duties.
They have accompanied Eber
hart on the inspections, Boynton
said, but neither is licensed in fire
safety and they lack the ability and
authority to perform inspections
alone.
Boynton said that Eberhart’s
schedule didn’t allow him to in
spect every building. Not having
an in-house inspector causes
threats to life and safety on
campus to last a long time.
“I don’t think it’s fair to the
people at the University to say,
*Well, the State Fire Marshall will
catch it.’"
Laws require every building to
be inspected once a year, he said.
University Personnel Director
Carlton James said he expects the
position to be filled by February.
Boynton said he’s sure there are
reasons for the delay in filling the
position, but it’s taking an unusu
ally long time.
Barber said a 3 percent state
budget cut led to a delay in filling
the position.
He said he decided after talking
with Boynton to fill another posi
tion in Public Safety and put the
inspector position on hold.
Edwards’ current duties include
training University personnel, in
vestigating fires and conducting
fire prevention programs.
Lab accident triggers safety questions
By LYNN BARFIELD
Staff Writer
The administrators of the chemistry building
are experiencing a bit of deja-vu after an explo
sion two weeks ago put the question of the fa
cility's safety back in the spotlight.
The explosion, which investigators said may
have been caused by a bottle of nitric acid not
connected to any experiment, injured four stu
dents and has administrators worrying about
stronger safety practices for students and fac
ulty who use the facility.
In March 1984, a three-man ad hoc com
mittee, asked to examine safety problems in the
building, released a report to former depart
ment head L.B. Rodgers.
The report stated that after months of inves
tigation, the building was found to be a health
hazard to those who used the facility.
Recommendations in the report included cor
recting ventilation in certain areas of the
building and setting up an effective system of
educating users of the building about safety
rules that are in effect when dealing with chem
icals.
The report also stated that occupants of the
building had complained of symptoms of toxic
compounds such as headaches, swollen joints
and unusual body pains. The committee re
ported that the sickness may be due to toxic
fumes that weren’t being released from the
building because of poor ventilation in certain
areas.
The chemical sciences department and Phys
ical Plant worked together to upgrade the ven
tilation system.
H.D. Peck, chemical sciences department
head, said the building’s ventilation has proven
to be better.
“We are nowhere near the problems of five
years ago,” he said.
The key wa9 to make the building more
modern and much safer, Peck said, with the in
stallation of better fume hoods in labortories.
He said problems still occur with smoke from
certain chemicals used in lab experiments, but
rectifying the entire situation would mean
building a new chemical facility.
‘To do it properly, the building would have to
be replaced,” Peck said.
He said budget cuts have affected many new
renovations the building may have needed for
this year, except for improvements that began
before the proposed cuts took effect.
This means that $70,000 was cut from the
department’s supply and expense budget which
is used for any physical improvements that
Please See SAFETY. Page 3
toy/The Red and
Last minute
University graduate David Bozzina was so disappointed at the I
number of people who dressed up for Halloween that he decided
to "throw this stuff on my face and get a reaction."
Group of nearly 50 faculty to give input on education plan
By LANCE HELMS
Staff Writer
Among the people who will re
ceive copies or the Literacy Task
Force’s position paper “A More Lit
erate Georgia: An Agenda for Ac
tion" is the Literacy Faculty, an
interdisciplinary element of the
University’s education initiative.
The Literacy Faculty has gener
ated interest from close to 50 Uni
versity faculty members and
community educators, 20 of whom
came to the faculty’s first meeting
Oct. 23 and are the faculty’s “ac
tion-oriented” component, said
Donna Alvermann, a Literacy Task
Force member who coordinated the
faculty.
Other members act as interested
parties and will receive documents
like the position paper.
The action-oriented members
have developed goals and propo
sals for future activities that were
released Tuesday in an agenda.
Among other things, the agenda
listed things the literacy faculty
should do:
• Provide a forum for the ex
change of information, including
existing research, ongoing re
search, proposed research and
human and material resources.
• Become involved in the “real
world" of schools and communities
through school/community part
nerships like the task force’s asso
ciation with Benton Elementary
School in Nicholson.
• Develop interdisciplinary de
gree programs, beginning with a
graduate minor in literacy.
The faculty will meet again Dec.
3 from 10 a.m. to noon in Room TU
of the Georgia Center for Contin
uing Education.
At last week’s meeting, the fac
ulty broke up into small groups to
get acquainted and find common
ground as well os new perspectives
on literacy. They didn’t dwell on
procedure.
“We weren’t supposed to get
with people that we knew from cer
tain areas,” Alvermann said.
‘There was this willingness to
tackle a difficult task without
having a definition for literacy.
“It’s a really exciting time to be
in education."
Although the issue of student
membership hasn’t come up before,
she said, “Students know what stu
dents want to have, so I would as
sume students know what others
want to minor in."
JoBeth Allen, associate pro
fessor of language education and
coordinator of the faculty, said she
was exposed to a new idea at the
meeting — the concept of whole-
language education at the adult lit
eracy level.
Emily Calhoun, a coordinator in
the League of Professional Schools
who attended last week’s meeting,
said the literacy faculty coordina
tors have their work cut out for
them.
“I think it’s a real challenge for
the coordinators to pull together a
‘There was this
willingness to tackle a
difficult task without a
definition for literacy.’
— Donna Alvermann
Task Force member
group as diverse as that group
was,” she said. “We’re articulate
and we all had our own separate
reasons for being there. It can
mean a lot — I think it can make a
change.”
■ HEADLINER
Jones speaks out for adoption, against crime
By GWINN BRUNS
Staff Writer
Republican Sam Jones faces a
tough race against incumbent
Democrat Doug Barnard for the
10th District U.S. house seat, but
he says he’s ready for the chal
lenge.
“It was the situation calling
the man,” Jones said when asked
why he joined the race.
In an interview at his office in
Augusta, Jones explained that
after viewing Barnard’s involve
ment in the savings and loan
fiasco he felt someone should
challenge the incumbent. When
he saw no challenger, Jones
joined the race.
“Barnard was one of five in the
House of Representatives that
could’ve stopped the S&L
scandal. And in my opinion he
was paid not to do it,” Jones said.
If elected, Jones said, he hopes
to serve on the Banking Commit
tees, along with the government
affairs committee. Barnard is a
senior member of both commit
tees.
“For the next several years
these two committees will be the
focal point,” he said.
Jones, an ordained minister
who has been working the last
few years as a marriage and
family counselor, said that due to
his background he is pro-adop
tion rather than pro-choice.
*This is a very divisive sub
ject,” he said. “I want to see fami
lies who are unable to have
children, and ladies who are
having children and don’t want
them, to join together.
“For the sake of the child, I’d
like to see societies have a posi
tive mind-set about adoption,”
Jones said. “I’d also like to see tax
credits for adopting parents.”
Other issues that need to be
confronted are drugs, crime and
education, he said.
‘The number one issues I see
America focusing on are drugs
and crime," he said. ‘Tor the first
time in 50 years, a social issue is
going to top the list of America’s
concerns.
“Another major area we’re
going to deal with is education in
order to compete in the world
market through science and
math," he said.
Jones has been confronted re
cently with two problems during
the Congressional race.
The Democratic Party of
Georgia has filed a complaint
with the Federal Elections Com
mission charging Jones with ac
cepting $4,000 worth of
laundered contributions from
Harold Mays, a Martinez busi
nessman.
And, the Barnard campaign is
attacking Jones for paying only
$686 in taxes for the past eight
years.
Scott Place, Jones’ campaign
manager, said the contributions
made by Mays and others aren’t
an issue.
‘They were all legal, and those
who contributed came before the
press and said the/d made the
contribution of their own free
will," Place said. “With regard to
Sam’s taxes, that’s an obvious
‘I want to see families
who are unable to have
children, and ladies
who are having children
and don’t want them,
to Join together. For
the sake of the child,
I’d like to see societies
have a positive mind
set about adoption.’
— Sam Jones
10th District Candidate
smokescreen. Barnard is trying
to avoid his involvement in the
S&L scandal.
*The bottom line here is Sam
has had his taxes prepared by a
CPA, and has never had any
problems.”
Sonny Quinn, Jones’ campaign
treasurer and longtime friend,
described Jones as having a ster
ling character.
‘‘He’s one of the few people I’ve
ever met that wants to be a U.S.
representative, and actually rep
resent the people."
Bill Thorne, executive director
of the Georgia Republican Com
mittee is also optimistic about
Jones’ campaign.
“I think the voters are ready
for a change," Thome said. “You
have to question the involvement
of Barnard in the S&L crisis."
Political science professor
Charles Bullock isn’t confident
about Jones’ chances.
Ninety-eight percent of all in
cumbents are re-elected, Bullock
explained.
Jones’ campaign strategy is
similar to what many challengers
do to gain voters, Bullock said. In
this case, he said, Jones points
out the campaign contributions
Barnard accepted from figures
such as Charles Keating and Mi
chael Milken, men who became
key players in the S&L crisis.
“What Jones is doing is saying,
‘Here are these contacts. Maybe
they are questionable,” Bullock
said.
Few students show
for candidate forum
By DANA WHITE
Staff Wnter
Of 28,000 University students,
20 attended a forum in the Tate
Student Center to hear seven can
didates for the 4th and 7th Dis
tricts in the unified Athens Clarke
government address student is
sues.
“You ask how to be effective —
pack the house,” said John Barrow,
a 4th District candidate.
The forum, conducted Tuesday,
was sponsored by the Student Gov
ernment Association and was open
to all students to hear candidates
who will be representing them in
the new government and ask ques
tions about student concerns.
Allen Cinder, SGA executive di
rector, said, "There was a surpris
ingly large lack of interest in
people actually attending, as in
students and faculty."
The candidates attended be
cause they are concerned about
students, who make up a large
voting block in the 4th and 7th Dis
tricts.
Candidates were asked seven
questions by moderator David
Herndon, a senior political science
major and executive producer of
the Rapid Fire television show.
Concerns addressed by the ques
tions included bike paths, historic
preservation, a tree ordinance and
improved communication lines be
tween the government and the
University.
Selective enforcement of the
open container ordinance was an
issue of general agreement.
Cardee Kilpatrick, a 7th District
candidate and current city council
member, said when the city passed
the ordinance, they were promised
that it wouldn’t be used for selec
tive enforcement.
“I fee) betrayed and I would not
support it in its present form," she
said.
Candidates also agreed on
having a referendum for Sunday
alcohol sales.
Danny Daniel, a 7th District
candidate, said he would support a
referendum and would also like to
see alcohol sales in grocery stores
made uniform in both the city and
county areas.
Candidates disagreed on an or
dinance limiting the number of un
related persons that can live in a
house. Presently, no more than two
unrelated individuals can live to
gether in a house in the county and
no more than four in the city.
Scott Davis, a 4th District candi
date, said it is illogical to have this
type of ordinance for this area.
How many people can live in a
house should be up to the property
owner, he said.
One audience member ques
tioned the safety of pedestrians on
Baldwin Street.
Michael Dioguardi, a 4th Dis
trict candidate, suggested that
speeds be lowered and yellow
flashing lights be installed, like
those at elementary schools.
There are more people hurt (on
Baldwin Street) than at elemen
tary schools,” he said.
The SGA will conduct another
forum for the chief elected officer
candidates at 7 p.m. tonight in the
Reception Hall at the Tate Center.