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■ Nov. 3 ballot deals with more than the lottery -2
The Red & Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1992 • ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 100, ISSUE 27
Pi Kappa Phi suspended for one year
By RUSS BYNUM
Staff Writer
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity will be sus
pended from the University for a mini
mum of one year, according to a ruling
handed down by Student Judicial
Programs Director Bill Bracewell on
Monday.
The fraternity was suspended for "an
indefinite period* of no less than one year
for publishing a pledge pamphlet con
taining the slur “no niggers,* which was
discovered by University officials Sept.
22.
“To place a blatantly racial slur in the
context of this manual both trivializes
the new members’ education and violates
the policies of the University,* Bracewell
wrote in his final decision.
Bracewell presided over the fraterni
ty's administrative hearing on Thursday
Oct. 22.
“A new member attending his first
meeting in his fraternity, a meeting con
ducted by an officer and attended by the
president of the chapter, learns that non
white people are not to be a part of his
fraternity experience,* Bracewell wrote.
“This is not freedom of expression, it is
forcing the new pledge to either accept
this attitude or resign his pledgeship.”
During the time of suspension, the
chapter will not be allowed to participate
in any University-sponsored programs or
activities. The decision also suspends Pi
Kappa Phi from all chapter activities
with the exception of service and educa
tional programs.
The University will allow Pi Kappa
Phi to apply for reinstatement during the
summer of 1993.
Wesley Homey, the student advocate
who presented the University’s case
against the fraternity, said the result
was close to what was asked for.
“The final decision mirrored what was
recommended,* he said.
Pi Kappa Phi has five days to file an
appeal with the Office of Judicial
Programs.
Under University procedures, the
appeal would be heard by a three-person
panel consisting of Associate Vice
President for Student Affairs Dan
Hallenbeck and two members of the
Student Judiciary.
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity’s C.E.O.
Durward Owen declined to comment on
the ruling Monday night, “due to my lack
of knowledge of the ruling and substance
behind it.*
Owen said he had not previously been
notified about the ruling.
University chapter president James
“Tripp" Ackerman III couldn’t be reached
for comment. Other brothers at the Pi
Kapp fraternity house declined to com
ment on the ruling.
Bracewell wrote that he expects Pi
Kappa Phi to spend its suspension
“learning and teaching the value of diver
sity in a modem university" as well as
“developing for the Greek community a
comprehensive, year-long program pro
moting good human relations, celebrat
ing the value of diversity and combating
all forms of insensitivity."
Only six other fraternities have been
suspended from the University since
1980.
Leslie Bates, director of Minority
Services and Programs said he feels the
final decision will be a beneficial one.
“I think its a great decision. Its a win-
win situation for everybody," he said.
“The campus wins because it shows we
are not going to tolerate any acts of intol
erance. The fraternity wins because they
can learn new ways of behaving and new
attitudes toward people that are different
from them."
Bates said he hopes that a part of the
fraternity’s work will be for them to
develop a plan for all fraternities and
sororities that will encourage involve
ment of all races.
SGA junior senator Richard Martin
said he’s pleased with the decision.
“I’m glad the University acted swiftly
and decisively on the matter," he said.
“It’s unfortunate some individuals still
hold that negative opinion. It’s good that
the system has shown zero tolerance for
such attitudes."
Five years,
$1.2 million,
and still no
Civic Center
Exhibition Hall 22,500
Grand Hall 10,000
Ballroom 9,600
Dedicated meeting space 4,000
Lounge/Theatre room 2.75Q
Total 48,850
Auditorium 1,700 - 1,750
estimated at $17,000,000 which has been previously
collected through an optional sales tax.
Expected excess (deficit) of operating revenues
over operating expenditures = $363,500
Source: Market Analysis & Business Plan for a Proposed Civic
Center in Athens, GA. by KPMG Peat Marwick, management
consultants
V /
MIKE HAMMETT/Th* Red end Black
By MELISSA COLLINS
Staff Writer
When Athens-Clarke County resi
dents voted in support of a civic cen
ter in 1987, most expected to already
be using the facility by now.
But five years have passed and
$1.2 million spent without results.
“There is no telling how many hun
dreds of hours we (the government)
have put into that thing and we’re no
closer to it now than when we start
ed," Hugh Logan, 5th District com
missioner, said.
Now, there is debate about the fea
sibility of a civic center and whether
Athens-Clarke County would be bet
ter off without one.
Reacting to public demand, the
Athens-Clarke County Commission
ordered management consultants
KPMG Peat Marwick to conduct a
market analysis for the proposed civic
center. The Tampa, Fla., firm ana
lyzed the general feasibility of the
center, and the results were present
ed before the commission last month.
Under the current architectural
design, the center has a 1,750 maxi
mum seating capacity and a 4,000-
square-foot meeting space for conven
tion use - a size analysts said is inad
equate.
Ron Barton, senior manager at
Pete Marwick, said the civic center
could be built as proposed, but that it
would be too small to hold conven
tions, and the size of the theater
would preclude major entertainment
acts from coming.
“The problem is, to address these
concerns, you need more money,"
Barton said.
“It would be different if there was
an unlimited checkbook to use," he
said.
The analysis predicted that if the
project were built as proposed,
Athens-Clarke County could expect
an annual deficit in operating rev
enues of $363,500.
But David Pisha, director of the
Civic Center of Anderson, in
Anderson, S.C., said a deficit should
be expected, especially in the first few
years of operation.
“Probably 90 percent of the arenas
across the country lose money," he
said.
Pisha said his two year-old civic
center lost over $400,000 in the first
year. But that figure decreased to
$275,000 the next year, and the loss is
down an additional 45 percent this
year.
Darrell Day, manager of the
International Association of
Auditorium Managers in Irving,
Texas, said that the problem a lot of
facilities face is trying to be both a
convention center and a community-
oriented auditorium, a mission that
forces many into financial disaster.
Day said Athens should consider
focusing on only one type of service, by
increasing the size of the theater and
decreasing the exhibit arena, or vice-
versa.
“Not that I’m saying that it is right
for Athens, but sometimes the
smartest move is to decide to not have
a civic center at all,” he said.
Although Day said a feasibility
study is vital, Athens may be leaving
out one of the most important steps in
deciding on a civic center - a commu
nity focus group.
"It is important to have a focus
group so you can ask the community
if they will use the facility," he said.
Logan said that is what he has
been trying to do all along by having
a referendum on the issue. Although a
new vote doesn’t seem likely, he hopes
the commission will make a final deci
sion by December.
The largest group out there is the
group that wants to vote on the whole
thing again, and that includes
myself," he said.
“Almost every community has
debate over the merit of such a pro
ject, but I have never seen a project
this far along into the process that
still has this many problems," he said.
Is the lottery for Georgia?
Supporters square off against conservative opponents
By MELANIE THOMAS
Staff Writer
The proposed lottery on Georgia’s Nov. 3
genera] election ballot is seesawing between
warm welcomes from Georgians eager to have
the revelry of the lottery and a conservative
block fearsome of its consequences.
Gov. Zell Miller, who focused on the lottery
in his 1990 gubernatorial campaign, passed an
implementation law last winter describing the
details of the proposed lottery.
If passed, Miller plans a three-fold agenda to
benefit education such as college
scholarships, kindergarten for 4-
year-olds and new school construc
tion.
University President Charles
Knapp said, in a press conference
last week, that he doesn’t want to
take an official position on the lot
tery, but he supports the programs
designed with the lottery.
Knapp referred to the HOPE
Grant Program, which gives grants
equal to the amount of tuition at a
Georgia institution to students with
a GPA of 3.0 or above. The grant doesn’t have
to be repaid as long as students keep their
cumulative GPAs above 3.0 .
Knapp described HOPE as an “innovative
program that sends out all the right signals."
He said the program will focus students’ atten
tion more toward studying than partying
because of the money incentive and pressure
from parents.
“The HOPE program does impact the
University," he said. “But as president of the
University, on the lottery, I'm on shaky ground.
I don’t know if it will pass or not."
Anti-lottery activists said the lottery may
create more compulsive gamblers and that the
revenues may not be used to supplement edu
cational funds.
Miller’s plan allocates $200,000 of
unclaimed winnings to be used to treat com
pulsive gamblers.
Georgia Council on Moral and Civic
Concerns, a longtime opponent of gambling, is
a determined adversary of the lottery. The
group has propelled an aggressive anti-lottery
campaign through advertisements and bill
boards.
Dr. Garnett Wilder, senior pastor for First
United Methodist Church of Athens, is a
trustee on the Council and fears the lottery will
take away government funds from education
much as the Florida lottery did.
“To say that education is the purpose is just
a ploy," Wilder said. “In every state where the
lottery was instituted, within five years there
was no separate fund for education from the
lottery.
“There’s a lot to be learned from history," he
said. “And Gov. Miller thinks he’s going to be
the exception, but it’s still a tough fight because
the governor has promised every
body the moon."
Wilder described the lottery as
corruot and called it an "entering
wedge to the legalization of gam
bling in other forms."
Betsey Weltner, director of
Georgians for Better Education,
said she doesn’t believe in the com
pulsive gambler theory.
“There’s no evidence compulsive
gamblers will play the lottery a lot
more than anyone else," Weltner
said.
Weltner said that because gambling is ille
gal in Georgia, towns on the Florida side of the
Georgia-Florida line are benefiting from
Georgians who play the Florida lottery.
“It’s a boom for business of all kinds,"
Weltner sad. "Several thousand retail outlets
will sell tickets with a commission of five per
cent each sale."
Betty Whitten, associate vice-president of
Academic Affairs, said she has doubts about the
lottery.
"My personal position is that we should
think long and hard as individuals, if we are
taking education seriously, by wanting to pay
for education with cigarette taxes, alcohol taxes
and gambling," she said.
Jeff Pollock, a senior from Albany, said he’s
very concerned about the lottery because he’s a
music education major and plans on teaching.
“I would rather my money definitely be com
ing from somewhere rather than depending on
whether someone does or does not gamble,'
Pollock said.
Pollock said the quality of education has
decreased in all the states it’s been passed in,
including Florida.
If you’ve got the time and money, Athens has the antiques
By MICHAEL BERGEN
Contributing Writer
Students wanting to decorate their
abodes in a most unique way have quite a
selection in the Athens antique scene - all it
takes is a little time, money and patience.
“Antique shopping is like going to a his
tory museum, but you can touch things,"
said Karen White, owner of Second Time
Around antique store in College Square.
“Once you dig around and find something
you really like, that really makes you happy.
It’s the best feeling."
White’s store is one of several antique
shops located in the downtown area alone.
Her shop specializes in what she calls
“ladies’ things" - jewelry, hats and pocket-
books that date back as far as the 19th cen
tury. Still, many know the shop as the one
with the toy poodle frolicking in the front
window.
“Once winter comes, I'll have both my
poodles sitting in the front window," she
said. “Since I nave a boy and a girl poodle,
we might be having puppies, too! 4
There are several antique shops, without
puppies, in the downtown area, with an
abundance of ancient artifacts ready to be
purchased.
Evans Brothers Furniture and
Appliances, on Washington Street, near the
40 Watt Club, is like a huge, old warehouse
jam-packed with rocking chairs, tables and
desks. Owner Billy Evans said his store car
ries a little bit of everything.
“And if we don’t have it, well order
it for you," he said.
One of the store’s oldest pieces is a late
17th century pine table that’s been feather
painted. And for Braves fans with money to
bum, the shop also has a collection of prim
itive tomahawks and arrowheads.
Young’s Antiques, at 1379 Prince Ave.,
has been in the business for three years. It’s
a smaller shop than most others and carries
general antiques - furniture and vintage
clothing - and specializes in antique fire
place equipment and lighting fixtures.
Owner Carl Young said that while his store
may not be big, he doesn’t feel threatened by
other antique businesses in town.
The antique business is different than,
say, the grocery store business," Young said.
“It’s not so competitive. We help each other
out, recommend each other’s stores to suit
our customer’s needs."
White said she also feels customers’
needs are more important than competition.
“I don’t see the problem with helping each
other out," White said. “If I don’t have some
thing a customer wants, HI send him or her
to the store that I know does have it. The
people we deal with in this business are just
nice."
At Lazy Dog Antiques, at 1739 Lexington
Highway, that laid-back, friendly attitude is
the golden rule.
Owners Nicki Combe and John Gingerich
have an entire house set up with hundreds
of general antiques, and will let you roam
through it as peaceful music drifts through
the air.
“We have a big selection of vintage
clothes at good prices," Gingerich said. “And
our selection of glass and other beads is the
largest in Athens, maybe even the state."
Lazy Dog’s collection of clothes is priced
with students in mind, and they carry a
huge number of antique books and historical
and political objects dating from the Civil
War. And while a lot of their pieces are from
the 1930s and ’40s, the shop has a brass
campaign button from the Stephen Douglas
presidential campaign of 1860.
Blue Moon Books, on North Jackson
Street, also carries hundreds of antique
books on subjects ranging from medicine to
fashion.
Owner Judy Hall said most of her cus
tomers are students and professors, who
come in and browse through her collection of
old postcards, collectables, and trinkets dis
played on huge wooden tables she acquired
from older stores around the area. The shop
is an antique in itself, and adds to the atmo
sphere of discovery and intrigue that Hall
hopes to create with her merchandise.
But not all antique shopping is as
relaxed.
Manse Antiques, on N. Hull Street, is for
the more upscale antique shopper looking
for early to mid 19th century decorative
American furniture, art, silver and lighting.
Owner James Carter has set up an entire
floor of his home, which has been named a
historical landmark, to show off his vast and
exquisite collection.
“We wanted people to be able to see the
pieces in a decorative setting," Carter said.
“It just looks better."
Karen White, and her poodle Gizmo, create that laid-back atmo
sphere at “Second Time Around’ antique store.