Newspaper Page Text
INSIDE
Jared Bailey talks about
the Athens music scene
and how it has changed.
14
Weather; Stay Inside and drink
hot toddies while studying for
your exams. Just think — it's
almost over!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1990 • ATHENS, GEORGIA
41
FINALS EDITION
The Red & Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia Community
Is It Christmas yet? Ayn McLaurin contemplates Christmas season while at Tate
Student Center. The junior political science major 'pines’ over the tree's beauty.
Univ. police have crime stats
By DAN POOL
Staff Writer
The University of Georgia Po
lice Department is doing every
thing possible to make campus
crime statistics available — all
campus crime statistics.
Police Chief Chuck Horton
said Wednesday he was tired of
people accusing the University of
failing to report crimes.
“We’re not trying to hide any
thing; we're not being told to
hide anything; we wouldn’t hide
anything if we were told to hide
anything," he said.
“Certain people seem to think
that there are these horrendous
crimes that we’re hiding,” but ev
erything that happens is open to
thepublic and media, he said.
The statistics were already
handed out to incoming students
at orientation meetings and had
already been reported and made
available to anyone who wanted
them when recent federal laws
were passed requiring these
things.
The department has begun
mailing these statistics to local
media to go one step bevond re
quirements, Sgt. Richard
Good son of the police depart
ment said.
The Clery bill will require all
colleges and universitiies who
receive federal aid to compile
statistics beginning in Sep
tember 1991 and to publish
these reports beginning in Sep-
Campiis Crime Stats
13.0%
32.6%
tember of 1992.
Goodson said, “In order to
better serve our community and
to obey the spirit as well as the
intent of recent legislation, this
information is being made avail
able (through mailing) for easier
access."
Horton said,“Monthly crime
statistics have always been
available for anyone to see at the
station, but most people don’t
care to see these statistics.”
The statistics for this year,
which include October, show 580
total complaints which are di
vided by the type of crime.
University police have re
sponded to 114 complaints of
criminal trespass as the most
common complaint. The depart
ment has made only three ar
rests, but more important,
according to Horton, is keeping
“undesirables" off campus.
■ Bodily Injury
Q Sex Offenses
□ Burglary
[3 Vehicle Theft
0 Larceny
EJ Property Damage
ED DUI
ttaptoa M«Mkl/Th( tod and Black
Other crimes that are promi
nent on the list include burglar
ised cars, 44 complaints; driving
under the influence, 52 com
plaints; and underage drinking,
64 complaints.
The University didn’t have
any kidnappings, homocides or
armed robbery, but did have sev
eral violent crimes.
There were 16 reports of
simple battery, one rape and one
attempted rape.
University police Capt. Mitch
Jones said it was too early in the
year to draw anv conclusions
from the statistics because of the
cyclical nature of many crimes.
Jones is also quick to point out
that the police department isn’t
trying to fool anyone into
thinking that this is a total count
of crimes that affect students in
Athens.
Athens won’t escape
cuts from recession
By AL DIXON
Staff Writer
Athens can’t expect to escape
the bite of tne nation’s
slumping economy, thanks in
part to the budget cuts the Uni
versity has made, said an econ
omist at the University’s
College of Business Adminis
tration.
Jeff Humphries, director of
economic forecasting at the
business school, said
Wednesday that he believes the
country is now in a recession,
and Athens won’t be able to
avoid it
Humphries cited the 24-point
drop in the Consumer Confi
dence Index and the 0.6 percent
drop (after adjusting for infla
tion) in Georgian’s personal in
comes as indicators of the
recession. He also said that in
September the state experi
enced a loss of 1,800 jobs,
bringing the state’s unemploy
ment rate to 6.6 percent.
The Consumer Confidence
Index is a national survey to
measure the consumers’ confi
dence in the economy. October’s
24-point drop was the largest in
the history of the survey, Hum
phries said.
“Just because of the large
number of government jobs in
the city, Athens is not recession
proof,” he said.
“In past recessions, Athens
has exhibited some resiliency.
But it’s economy still saw some
effects of the recessions,” he
said.
Humphries said he expects
the Athen’s economy to be hurt
even more than usual during
the economic troubles he ex
pects to come because the cuts
in the University’s budget will
f irevent it from being the stabi-
izing force it usually is on the
economy.
The University won’t prop
up the economy like it usually
does during hard times," he
said, “But it won’t drag the
economy down, either.
The University’s budget cut
is not the only factor working
against Athens’ economy, but it
is one of the largest,” Hum
phries said.
He said one of the most direct
impacts of the lagging Univer
sity budget is the freeze on new
hiring and the jobs that are
being led unfilled.
Between the months of Au
gust and September, when the
budget cut first began taking
effect, the Athens unemploy
ment rate increased from 4.8 to
5.7 percent, he said. The state
also experienced a 0.9 percent
increase in unemployment over
the same period.
In addition to the hiring
freezes, the University’s lack of
funds will affect the Athens
economy in many other ways,
Humphries said. The cuts in
the travel expenses of Univer
sity employees, the freeze on
buying new equipment and of
fice supplies, and the decrease
in construction and convention
activities will all hurt local
businesses.
“I think the nation is defi
nitely in a recession," He said.
“It began in October and should
continue through the first and
probably the second quarter of
next year.”
“Most economists have ac
cepted that we are in or soon
will be in a recession,” Hum
phries said. Thev are now ar
guing over how deep it will be
and how long it will last."
Joe Burnett, director of the
Athens Downtown Devel
opment Authority, also has
seen the negative impact of the
University’s budget cut on the
Athens economy.
Athens has a service-cen
tered economy, based on retail
stores and other consumer serv
ices, as opposed to a manufac
turing-based economy, Burnett
said. “So normally this city is
not affected immediately by a
slumping national economy.
“But because of the decrease
in the amount of money the
University is putting into the
economy, some businesses are
already beginning to be af
fected," he said.
The fact that the University
is not hiring is beginning to
have a ripple effect on the
whole economy," Burnett said.
Lewis Shropshire, general
manager of the Holiday Inn lo
cated at the comer of Broad and
Hull, said his business is begin
ning to feel the effect of the
tightening of government
spending.
“It’s hard to attribute our de
cline in business directly to the
University," he said. “But we
have noticed a flattening out of
all government travel.
“Judging from future book
ings, we expect the decline to
continue, but only until about
the second quarter of next
year,” Shropsire said.