Newspaper Page Text
flection countdown
6 days till the election!
Mock campus election predicts winners -
5
School of Art seeks independence - 2
The Red & Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
INSIDE
UGA theater presents
“Carnival,” a musical
involving an orphan
and a traveling circus.
6
Weather; Possible morning
rain, other than that, it's
weather biz as usual.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1992 • ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 100, ISSUE 28
Two more rapes reported
More rapes reported
in last 2 weeks than
in prior 12 months
By ROBERT HAAG
Staff Writer
Police are investigating two more
reported rapes of University women, in
addition to three recent sexual attacks
under investigation.
Police are also hoping that blood sam
ples taken from a suspect in Texas will
match those of Jennifer Stone’s killer.
One of the recently reported rapes
occurred Sunday; the other happened Oct.
15. In all, five rapes have been reported by
University women in the last 13 days. In
comparison, only four rapes against
University women were reported in the
past 12 months, from September 1991 to
September 1992.
• A University woman said she was
raped in a Southeast Athens apartment
during an Oct. 15 party by a man known
to her.
The 19-year-old victim told police she
went to the bathroom and passed out from
drinking. When she regained conscious
ness, she said she was in the suspect’s
bed, and he told her they had intercourse.
• Police spokesperson Hilda Sorrow
said a second University woman was
raped Sunday at 3:40 a.m. in her
Southeast Athens apartment by an
acquaintance. Police met the 23-year-old
victim at the hospital, where she told
them the suspect was still at her resi
dence.
When police arrived at her apartment
they found the suspect asleep in the vic
tim’s bed. However the suspect has not
been arrested. *
• In another rape investigation, police
said there is not enough evidence to arrest
a 23-year-old man suspected of the Oct. 21
rape of a 19-year-old University student.
The University woman said the sus
pect, whom she had dated, slapped and
raped her on Oct. 21 in a boarding house
at 1025 W. Hancock St.
But lack of evidence against the sus
pect has forced police to go for the lesser
charge of simple battery, said Maj. Gerald
Guntharp, head of the Criminal
Investigation Division of the Athens-
Clarke County police. A warrant has not
been sworn out for the suspect on the bat
tery charges.
• Police also lack physical evidence in
the investigation of the rape of a
University student in a west downtown
alley. Athens Regional Medical Center
was unable to obtain physical evidence
from the victim.
“There are some inconsistencies that
we haven’t worked out yet,” Guntharp
said. “Taking a bath could have eliminat
ed the evidence."
• In the fifth ongoing case, the victim
of an attempted rape and battery at the
Sigma Phi Epsilon house on Oct. 16 has
examined photographs of all fraternity
members. But the visiting student was
unable to identify her attacker, Guntharp
said.
• Police hope blood samples from a sus
pect in Texas match those of Jennifer
Stone’s killer, Guntharp said.
Investigator Sgt. W. J. Smith returned
with the blood samples from Houston on
Friday. The police are waiting for the tests
to come back from the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation lab in Atlanta.
The suspect’s name was given to police
by one of the two men formerly charged
with “theft by disposal” for possession of
cameras stolen from Stone’s downtown
apartment.
“He’s just another person which we
have to eliminate (as a suspect) or go for
ward with,” Guntharp said of the Houston
suspect.
Guntharp said the man, whom police
would not name, was very cooperative.
“We don’t want to release his name. He
may be completely innocent,” Guntharp
said.
He said the man worked in Athens for
a time, before moving to Texas.
“He’s kind of a wanderer,” Guntharp
said.
Guntharp also said the police have not
made any arrests in any of these investi
gations.
“We have made no arrests at this point,
but the investigations are continuing,” he
said.
Taxi driver
By KELLY DANIEL
Staff Writer
A recent altercation between two Your
Cab Co. drivers has left one concerned
about University students’ safety and the
other facing battery charges.
Judy Peck, a part-time driver for the
company, swore out an arrest warrant
Tuesday morning against full-time driver
PJ. LaFever on battery and simple battery
charges. Peck said LaFever punched her
repeatedly after an argument over a fare
last weekend. At the court hearing, Peck
had a black eye and her left cheek was
slightly swollen.
Peck said she wanted students to know
about the incident since Your Cab Co. is a
popular carrier with the college crowd.
The students are our responsibility and
we're supposed to get them home safe,"
Peck said. “I honestly believe (LaFeveFs) a
danger, and the thought of some of them
being drunk and getting into her cab and
saying something to set her off worries me.
I don’t want a student hurt.”
LaFever was arrested yesterday and
released on her own recognizance. She
faces charges of battery, simple battery,
criminal trespass and a traffic violation at
a preliminary trial scheduled for January
1993.
LaFever said she had no comment on
Peck’s statements, other than to say “I
think the whole thing’s ridiculous.”
The incident occurred just after 3 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 18. Peck said she had been
dispatched to the Chi Psi fraternity house
at 320 Lumpkin St., where she picked up
University students Tom Ewing and Stacy
Graddy. LaFever was also dispatched to
the same location and arrived minutes
later. Three students got into LaFeveFs
van, but it was the two in Peck’s car that
angered LaFever, Peck said.
LaFever accused Peck of stealing her
fare. The fare in dispute amounted to $3.
beaten by
“It’s not a matter of money to me,”
LaFever testified. “It’s a matter of princi
ple.”
LaFever told Municipal Court Judge
Michael Coleman that she proceeded to fol
low Peck’s car into the University
Commons apartments, where Peck was
delivering Ewing and Graddy. The van
pulled in behind the car, blocking it in the
crowded parking lot, Ewing testified.
“The van was dangerously close to us,”
Ewing said. “I paid my cab driver and we
were getting ready to get out of the cab
when Ms. LaFever approached my cab
driver and said This is the last time you’ll
ever steal a fare from me.’ Then they both
told us to get out and go inside.” Graddy
would not comment and was not present at
Tuesday’s hearing.
Peck said LaFever came up to the driv
er’s side window, which was cracked, and
ordered Peck out. When Peck refused, she
said LaFever reached through the window,
unlocked the door and opened it.
“She grabbed me by my hair and tried to
pull me out of the cab,” Peck said. “When
that didn’t work, she just proceeded to
stand there and punch me in the face four
or five times. Then she told me, *Next time
it will not be on company time and HI fin
ish it.*
Ewing told the court he and Graddy had
left the cab and started up to his apart
ment.
“1 turned back towards my cab and Ms.
LaFever was striking my cab driver,” he
said. “I didn’t have a clear view, but I could
see her throwing punches. TTie only way
she could have not hit her (Peck) would be
if she just missed."
LaFever claims she never touched Peck.
“Was I throwing punches or was I ges
ticulating vehemently?" she asked Ewing.
Turning to Judge Coleman, she added, “I
had every intention of intimidating her. I
did follow her, I did pull into University
Commons, 1 did rant and rave and I did
colleague
Battered driver: Judy Peck
scream. I did tell her to get out of her car
because I was going to beat her butt. But I
did not, in fact, hit her.”
The altercation ended when Peck
backed her cab into LaFeveFs as she
attempted to drive away. Ewing said
LaFever’s van was very close to Peck’s car,
and that the fender bender was possibly
unavoidable.
Peck told the Red and Black last Friday
that she drove downtown after the inci
dent, looking for a policeman. Her cab kept
going dead, she said, and she finally left it
on Washington Street, near the police
headquarters. The next morning, the front
grill and fender of the vehicle were tom
away from the main body frame. The cab
company confirmed the vehicle damage.
“I didn’t wreck that car," Peck said.
LaFever said Peck did.
*1 suggest that that’s how her face got
battered and bruised,” she told Judge
Coleman. “If she bumped and bruised her
face, it was from her wrecking that car. It’s
not from anything I did to her.”
Aftermath of Pi Kappa Phi racial slur
Most students approve
suspension of fraternity
By RUSS BYNUM
Staff Writer
Students and administrators expressed mixed reactions to the University’s mini
mum one-year suspension of Pi KAppa Phi fraternity after it published a pledge pam
phlet containing a racial slur.
Student Judicial Programs Director Bill Bracewell, who presided over the frater
nity’s Oct. 22 administrative hearing, handed down the decision Monday. According
to the University’s disciplinary policies, the fraternity has until Monday to file an
appeal.
100 Random Student Responses to
Pi Kappa Phi Ruling
Tate Center Plaza 10/27 afternoon
A statement written by
Pi Kappa Phi’s C.E.O.
Durward Owen said the
chapter has not decided if
it will appeal the ruling.
However, Owen’s
statement said the organi
zation has two main prob
lems with the decision.
The University’s rul
ing is similar to an entire
collegiate athletic team
being placed on probation
when one or two players
illegally accepted money
from professional agents,”
Owen wrote, referring to
the organization’s previ
ous assertion that the
pamphlet was the work of
a sole individual.
Owen also wrote that
the decision contains “a
significant paradox* by
suspending Pi Kappa Phi
“as a University of
Georgia organization
while at the same time
requiring us to do things
on their list as a recog
nized organization.”
In his written decision,
Bracewell specified the Pi
Kappa Phi chapter must
develop a year-long pro
gram for the Greek com
munity as a condition of
its readmission to the
University. The program «n« hammett/t* n«d bi«*
must promote human relations, diversity and education about racial sensitivity.
In some ways this provision mirrors what Pi KAppa Phi’s national office ordered
the chapter to initiate and fund: service and social projects emphasizing interracial
Greek relations.
The decision is simply saying that if Pi Kappa Phi wants to do these things, then
this will make sure they do them," said Ron Binder, advisor to fraternities. The sen
tence puts the burden on them because they have to do this to have their application
approved in the fall of *93."
But Bracewell said his decision requires more of the fraternity than it had previ
ously agreed to. “Certainly the program will contain the things they do to satisfy their
national organization," he said. “But what I’m looking for is a model program that will
be useful to any organization at the University. T^eir experience is going to be of
value, not only to them but to the rest of the campus."
Bracewell said he is now working on the specifics of the program with Pi KAppa
Phi President James Tripp" Ackerman III, who could not be reached for comment.
University students voiced mixed reactions to the ruling.
“My wority is that you can’t punish ignorance," said Interfratemity Council
President Michael Burnett “I was glad they put education into the sentence. It will
let others know that this will not be tolerated.”
George Bailey, University National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People president, said the sentence meets the expectations of his organization, which
collected over 1,000 signatures on a petition calling for Pi Kappa Phi’s suspension for
three years, or no less than one year.
“We applaud the verdict rendered by Mr. Bracewell," Bailey said. “It is an indica
tion that tne University will not tolerate such behavior.”
But Scott Jenkins, a senior from Atlanta, said he cannot understand why the entire
fraternity is being suspended.
“I don’t see a reason why they had to punish the whole," Jenkins said. “It’s just a
word. It’s not like someone threw a bottle at them or did them any harm."
Others said the ruling was not harsh enough.
“Discrimination is a federal offense, so I think the whole fraternity should be taken
away," said Bobby Fryer, a senior from Marietta. “Once the suspension time is up, it’s
just going to be back to business as usual.”
Staff Writera Lori Wiechman and David Twiddy contributed to this article.
— ,mm m
Wade McGuire, senior
No. 1 singles netter McGuire returns to team
By JOHN GIBSON and
PHILLIP RAMATI
Staff Writers
The Georgia tennis squad got a major
piece of good news Tuesday when it was
announced that senior Wade McGuire
regained his eligibility to play this fall.
McGuire, the nation’s top-ranked singles
player, was thought to be lost for the fall
schedule because he hadn’t completed cer
tain course requirements, but was reinstat
ed after completing two independent studies
begun this summer. McGuire, a commercial
recreation major, didn't have the required
number of hours to be eligible as a senior.
“I feel like Fve grown up during this
ordeal,” McGuire said. Tm ready to take
over responsibility of being team captain.”
"Wade applied himself and was able to
make up some work in a shorter period of
time than we anticipated,” said Georgia ten
nis coach Manuel Diaz. ‘He was able to com
plete two independent study courses, in
addition to carrying a full load this quarter.
We’re extremely pleased with the effort he
put forth in taking care of this.”
McGuire said he didn’t fail a course;
rather, he didn’t realize he was behind in a
Management 351 independent study until
he met with his advisor.
”1 know it didn’t make the University look
well," said the Richmond, Va. native. ”It
didn't look good for my coaches or my team
mates, either, but I think by finishing the
courses earlier than anticipated, I think that
academics (are shown to be) a strong part of
the athletic department and the school.
McGuire didn’t practice with the team
while he was ineligible, but did work out on
his own. He will participate at this week
end’s NorthRiver Clay Invitational along
with teammates Mike Sell and Craig Baskin
in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where he was the run
ner-up last year to Alabama-Birmingham’s
Frank Schaffner.
‘1 just didn’t feel like a member of the
team when I wasn’t practicing,” McGuire
said.
“It’s great to have him back,” said junior
Bobby Mariencheck, who teamed with
McGuire to form the No. 2 doublet team in
the nation this preseason. ‘I know it’s going
to be a great year now.”
“Bobby and Hector (Nevares) did a great
job of helping the team out while 1 was
gone,” McGuire said.
McGuire was the NCAA singles finalist
last year, while leading the Dogs with a 45-
10 record at No. 1 singles and doubles play