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a » The Red and Black « Tuesday. April 21,1992
BRIEFLY
■ UNIVERSITY
Commission to discuss parking deck at meeting tonight
The issue of who will manage the downtown College Avenue parking
deck tope the agenda for the Athens-Clarke County Commission meet
ing Tuesday night. The Athens Downtown Development Authority, com
prised of property and business owners located downtown, proposed a
contract in January allowing them to operate the parking facility. Joe
Burnett, executive director of the ADDA, said they are asking for the
contract to be approved which would allow them to oversee all of the
downtown parking operations. “To the public they wouldn’t see any
change like occasional users would. We’d like to see additional parking
which the public wouldn’t see through government control," Burnett said.
- Cat h lee n Egan
SEA members protest forest service policies in Atlanta
Several members of Students for Environmental Awareness will be trav
eling to the Region 8 Forest Service Headquarters in Atlanta today to
raise environmental awareness of forest service policies of the eve of this
year’s Earth Day. Tony Abbot, a recent University graduate and mem
ber of SEA said the group will protest a policy change that would elim
inate a level of appeal in the sale of timber by the government. As it
stands now, the public is allowed to appeal the sale of timber after the
decision has been made to sell it, but the possible policy change would
eliminate this appeals process. Abbot said the change is being proposed
because “there’s been such a large number of appeals in recent years."
Ali Jones, an SEA member and senior from Clemson, S. C., said this
appeals process is currently the main tool for environmentalists in the
protection of forests. Jones said forest service policy is important be
cause “so few of our old growth forests remain." - Gary Peeples
University celebrates Earth Day with outdoor displays
The University begins its celebration of Earth Day on Tuesday with an
outdoor display of more than 12 environmental outreach programs that
the community can get involved in. The day-long program begins at 8:45
a m. and lasts until after 4 p.m. at the Center for Continuing Education.
The program will be separated into three parts. The first will examine
environmental education, the second, community issues and the third
will focus on industrial environmental quality. The University depart
ment of services is sponsoring the day’s activities. - Theresa Walsh.
■ STATE
ATLANTA (AP): Environmental films win votes
They may never win an Oscar, but two filmmakers are winning votes for
environmental programs in Georgia. Jim Couch and Becky Marshall, the
in-house production crew for the state Department of Natural Resources,
prepare short videos that help dramatize the need to protect the envi
ronment. One recent triumpn was their filming of dilapidated house
boats that clog the Altamaha River in southeast Georgia. After seeing
their video, legislators passed a bill giving the boats’ owners five years to
move them. Gov. Zell Miller signed the bill into law Monday. DNR
Commissioner Joe D. Tanner credits other films with speeding the state’s
purchase of Sapelo Island in McIntosh County, selling outdoor writers on
the merits of higher hunting and fishing license fees, and promoting the
purchase of park land along the Amicalola River. The DNR’s Film and
Video Unit once made only educational movies for classrooms and pub
lic television. When Tanner took office last year, he saw it as a po
tential tool for persuasion. “When you can show somebody something in
stead of telling them about it, it really makes the case for you,” he said.
■ NATION
WASHINGTON (AP): Survey reveals surge in rapes, crime
An estimated 59 percent surge in rapes and attempted rapes and a sub
stantial increase in assaults spurred a dramatic rise in violent crime last
year, according to a Justice Department survey of crime victims released
Sunday. Preliminary figures showed there were 2.6 million completed vi
olent crimes last year, up 7.9 percent from an estimated 2.4 million the
previous year. Including attempted violent crimes, the total was 6.4 mil
lion last year, up 7 percent from 6 million in 1990. But depart
ment officials cautioned that the percentage increases could be mislead
ing because they translated in to only marginal rises in crime rates. The
Justice Department noted that its estimate of the total number of
crimes and attempted crimes last year — 35 million — was well below
the 41.4 million of 1981. The estimates by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics have shown a gradual decline in crime since its annual
National Crime Survey was begun in 1973. Still, the 6.4 million total
completed and attempted violent crimes was the third highest since 1973.
■ WORLD
PHILIPPINES (AP): Largest naval base in Asia disbands
The last of three floating drydocks was towed away Sunday, bound for
Japan, in a major step in dismantling the largest U.S. naval base in Asia.
Last September, the Philippine Senate rejected a 10-year lease for the
Subic Bay naval base, the last U.S. military installation in the
Philippines and one of the oldest and largest overseas bases. President
Corazon Aquino ordered the 8,500 troops to leave here by the end of the
year. Lt. Neil Brian, 30, of San Jose, Calif., said it will take about 15
days to complete the voyage to the drydock’s new station at Yokosuka,
Japan. The other two drydocks left Subic in February and March and
were relocated in Guam and Hawaii. They had been used to repair
U.S. warships operating in the western Pacific. After evicting the
Americans, Mrs. Aquino asked them to leave at least one of the dry-
docks when they close the base by the end of this year. But the Navy
refused, saying the equipment was needed elsewhere. Thousands of
Filipinos will lose their jobs when the base finally closes by Dec. 31.
UGA TODAY
Announcements
• Earth Day Exhibition
Sponsored campus environmental
outreach units starts at 8:30 a.m.
in the Georgia Center for
Continuing Education. For more
information call 542-1214.
Colloquia
• Humanities Center Lecture
James Dowd, sociology, will speak
on “Writing Late Capitalism: The
Novels of Don DeLillo” at 4 p.m. in
Room 261 of Park Hall. For more
information call 542-3966.
Meetings
• Advertising Club
Meeting at 7:30 p.m. in Room 412
of the Journalism Building. All
Adworks members should attend.
For more information call 549-
6994.
• Alzheimer’s Support Group
Meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Campus
View Church of Christ. Dr. James
Cooper, Ph. D. Pharmacy, asks
that participants bring a list of
all the medications that their
family members are taking and he
will discuss these medications.
For more information call 542-
9739.
• Asian American Students
Association meeting at 8 p.m. in
Room 213 of Memorial Hall
• Christian Campus
Fellowship
Meeting at 1080 Milledge Ave. at
6:15 p.m. for a free meal and 7
p.m. for Bible Study. For more
information call 548-9625.
• Gamma Beta Phi
Honor Society meeting at 6 p.m.
in Room 213 of Memorial Hall.
• Hispanic Students
Association meeting at 7:30 p.m.
in Room 406 of Memorial Hall.
• Neo Pagan Society
Meeting at 8 p.m. in Room 145 of
the Tate Student Center. For
more information call 369-1341.
• Pi Sigma Epsilon
National Sales and Marketing
Fraternity Annual Career in
Sales and Marketing Night at 6
p.m. at the Holiday Inn. For more
information call 548-4108.
• Student Government
Association meeting at 8 p.m. in
Room 139 of the Tate Student
Center. For more information call
543-8501.
• Women’s Coalition
Meeting at 7 p.m. in the Tate
Student Center. For more infor
mation call 613-8387.
Items for UGA Today must he
submitted in writing at least two
days before the date to be pub
lished. Include specific meeting
information - speaker’s title, top
ic and time, and a contact per
son's day and evening phone
number. Items are printed on a
first-come, first-served basis as
space permits.
Cinematic Arts works to please, inform
By STEPHANIE R. BAKER
Staff Wnter
Attendance at the Tate Student
Theater is down this quarter, but
the coordinator of Cinematic Arts
said that programming has very
little to do with that.
Coordinator Allen Tower said
the division was expected to break
even, but its purpose was to enter
tain and educate.
“To some small degree the low
attendance may be the fault of pro
gramming, but if we just showed
movies to make money we would
fulfill the entertainment part of
that purpose, at the expense of our
goal to educate."
Since fall quarter, Ron Boyter,
president of University Union,
said movies at the theater have
been playing to smaller audiences
and bringing in less money.
“Films have gone up a lot,"
Boyter said. “In an attempt to
keep prices low for students, the
Observers
By JONATHAN BURNS and
ROBERT HAAQ
Staff Writers
While a University forecaster is
warning of slow economic recov
ery, other economic observers con
tend that Athens may soon be
coming out of the hard times.
Jeffrey Humphreys, director of
economic forecasting at the
University, said the Athens econo
my is partially insulated from the
recession because of the large
amount of government-related jobs
in the area.
“One in four Athens workers
are in the government sector,"
Humphreys said, “compared to the
one in six for the state. That
shielded Athens for a while, but as
cutbacks in state spending took ef
fect, it began to have a negative
impact on local spending.”
Humphreys said a good indica
tion of the recession’s impact could
be seen in the decrease of taxable
sales, a large category that in
cludes retail sales.
“From the fourth quarter of
1990 to the fourth quarter of 1991,
taxable sales dropped 2.4 percent,"
Humphreys said.
“If you figure in inflation, that’s
a 6.6 percent decrease in taxable
sales.”
Humphreys said the recovery
would be a slow and gradual pro
cess in Athens.
“The University does provide
some resiliency," Humphreys said,
referring to the large Athens ser
vice industry, “but not immunity.”
But Paul Miller, director of eco
nomic development at the
Chamber of Commerce, said more
businesses are moving into
Athens.
“Well, last year was very slow,"
Miller said. “This year we’re start
ing to see the same number of in
quiries but we’ve seeing more
trips," Miller said.
He said Athens has been quick
to climb out of the recession be
cause the city is a medical center
for North Georgia.
Miller said Athens also has a
large industrial base with one out
of four jobs are in manufacturing.
Cinematic Arts division is now
asking the University for money.”
Boyter said that the Cinematic
Arts division was more indepen
dent of the University in more
prosperous times.
The way the division pays for
movies is dependent on the movie’s
performance.
“It’s kind of strange," Boyter
said. “The division pays a flat fee
or they pay a percentage cut de
pending on how well the movie
does. The flat fee is around $500
and the percentage split is 60-40,
which means the agent gets 60
percent and we get 40 percent. We
do the percentage split if the
movie does very well."
Boyter said that lately a good
night at the Tate Center Theater
is a night when the division brings
in $200 or $300.
Tower said he feels Boyter’s es
timates are low.
A group of 60 students chooses
the films that play at the theater.
The students apply for positions
each quarter and are selected by a
committee of University Union
employees and former group mem
bers.
Shawn Wheeler, student affairs
program advisor for the Cinematic
Arts division, said the group is di
vided into subcommittees that are
each in charge of choosing a differ
ent kind of film.
“At the beginning of each quar
ter the subcommittees meet and
make up lists of films they would
like to see the following quarter,"
Wheeler said.
“They go through a process of
cutting down the lists until they
have the right number for the
quarter.”
Wheeler said that students can
tell what kind of movie is showing
by what day of the week the movie
is showing.
“On weekends we show newer
films, midnight movies are cult
movies, on Sundays we show for
eign films, which includes both
classic and new foreign films, and
on Wednesdays and Thursdays we
show classic pictures,” Wheeler
said.
Although Wheeler is a
University employee, he said that
his role is strictly advisory and
that the students make all the de
cisions.
“I like the fact that they show
more classic movies," Steve
McNeil, a junior from Savannah
said. “But sometimes they play
these really weird movies, these
cult movies, and some of them are
really bogus.”
“I think they do a pretty good
job with pleasing people with un
conventional tastes," Deanna
McGinnis, a Junior from Norcross
said. “That’s fine when you want
to see something that wouldn’t be
shown in a conventional theater.”
: Athens’ slump may end soon
Harold Roberts, a public service
representative at the University’s
Small Business Development
Center, agreed Athens’ economic
stability stems from many indus
tries located here.
Roberts, who consults en
trepreneurs about starting and
running their own businesses, said
the industries provide a kind of in
sulation from the effects of the re
cession.
“I’m not sure if they (local busi
nesses) are totally aware of that
advantage,” Roberts said.
Roberts also said there is a
large turnover of business estab
lishments. “I see a lot of business
es opening and closing," Roberts
said.
“Our role is in trying to mini
mize the failure of small business
es," Roberts said.
Richard Floyd, owner of
Perrot’s Hair Salon, said his busi
ness is less vulnerable to the re
cession than other businesses.
“Everybody is going to get a hair
cut," Floyd said.
Floyd said the success of his
business hinges upon developing a
clientele, then lowering his prices
so they will keep coming back.
“Fortunately for this type of
business, we deal on a one-to-one
basis,” Floyd said.
Floyd said he opened his shop
on Jan. 1 and began to build a
clientele list early on by relying on
customers from his old job.
“I moved here and they fol
lowed,” he said.
Floyd decided to start his own
business because of the thrill and
freedom of being his own boss.
“I think it’s fun and always ex
citing,” he said.
Some businesses do better than
others, according Josef Broder, a
University professor of agricultur
al economics.
But, he warned, the Athens
market is deceptive. He said there
is a lot of money here but also a
lot of competition.
Broder said the competition
stems from businesses who are
quick to locate here because of
Athens’ atmosphere.
“People see it as a vibrant
Kosta Milosevic and Melanie Walker of Gizzmo’s gifts.
place," he said.
Broder said the type of business
is a great determinant for who will
stay open after the move into the
city. He said Athens consumers sa
vor diversity and home grown
uniqueness.
“You’ve got to be creative," he
said. “They want something truly
unique."
Gizmos Inc. merchandise man
ager, Cindy Karp, stocks the new
downtown store with new and
trendy gifts and novelties.
She said the store’s successes
depends on the unique merchan
dise.
“We fill a niche where there’s a
big void," Karp said.
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7th Annual Golf Tournament
April 26, 1992
Green Hills Country Club
Proceeds will benefit Project Hope & Children's Miracle Network
Sign-up at Tate Center: April 21-23
Cost: $55.00 tax deductable (non-student). $30.00 UGA student
2 man scramble
Shotgun start 8:30 a. m.
2 Fights • no handicaps
Possible fotfeifure of fee if late
PEROT
fo
A committee is being formed on UGA's
campus to gather the necessary signatures
to put Mr. Perot on the November ballot in
Georgia. We need your help for a campus
petition drive to be held on April 30th.
For more information call:
404-543- I 323
Donations arc urgently needed. $25, or as much
as you can afford, can be sent to: Perot Petition
Commiltcc/P.O. IJox 1621/Athcns, GA/30G03
Donations are nol lax deductable and must be non-eorjiorale
I Paid for by the Perot Petition Committee of Northeast Georgia
ATHENS
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