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M Inside: Two students start their own magazine.
The Red & Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
Three summer
movies fail and
one film passes
the Tobias test.
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THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1994 • ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 101, ISSUE 154
Portch takes over as chancellor
Stephen R. Portch
Athens visit
set for July 20
By KATHLEEN RAGAN
Staff Writer
Though he’s been on the job less
than a week, the new chancellor of
the University System has begun
planning the role of higher educa
tion in Georgia in the 21st century.
“A lot needs to be looked at in
terms of where do we want the sys
tem to head, what is our vision and
what will guide us,” said
Chancellor Stephen R. Portch in a
phone interview on Tuesday.
Portch said he plans to focus on
using strategic planning as a way
to approach important issues, such
as converting to a semester system.
“I think (the semester system) is
one of the strategic issues,” Portch
said. “I don’t think issues like that
should be dealt with in isolation.”
The new chancellor has set a
goal of visiting all 34 university
system campuses before his official
inauguration on Oct. 12. He’s
scheduled to visit the University on
July 20.
“I want to get a feel for the cam
puses, for programs and their
uniqueness,” he said. “I prefer to
walk and talk, rather than sit
around. Ill meet anyone who wants
to meet me.”
Portch said the University is an
important part of Georgia’s higher
education system.
“I think the role of a research
university is critical to the state,
nation and world,” he said. “It’s
important for people to understand
the mission (of a research universi
ty), while at the same time paying
attention to the needs of under
graduates.”
Portch spent Tuesday morning
walking the halls and introducing
himself to employees at the Board
of Regents offices in Atlanta. On
Tuesday afternoon he met with leg
islators and budget staff at the
Capital.
The former senior vice president
of academic affairs of Wisconsin’s
university system said he thinks
he’ll like Georgia and its warm cli
mate.
“Especially in January,” Portch
said.
Still “Automatic”: Weaver D’s expanding
MANDt WR10MT/ Tr>« Red and Black
Dexter Weaver, owner of Weaver D's, stands outside the Atlanta Highway building that will soon house his second
Athens restaurant. Weaver's service slogan, “Automatic for the People,” gained fame as R.E.M.'s last album title.
By ANDY PETERS
Staff Writer
Thanks to nationwide publicity
in the form of R.E.M.’s album
“Automatic for the People,” Weaver
D’s Delicious Fine Foods plans to
open a second location at the for
mer Katherine’s Kitchen on
Atlanta Highway in early
September.
When R.E.M.’s ninth album -
using the restaurant’s populist slo
gan as its title - was released in
October 1992, Weaver D’s experi
enced a tidal wave of new business,
said Dexter Weaver, proprietor of
the restaurant.
“Tourists from everywhere, all
over the country, came in saying
they heard about the place from
the album,” Weaver said from
inside his small East Athens
restaurant on the comer of East
Broad and Wilkerson streets, just a
stone’s throw from the Oconee
River.
The influx of sightseers made
many regular customers begin to
feel the restaurant was overcrowd
ed, Weaver said. Hence, he decided
to open the new location, which
will be called either Weaver D’s
West or Weaver D’s Upscale.
The phrase “Automatic for the
People” comes from Weaver’s ten
dency to say “automatic” after tak
ing a customer’s order. “For the
people,” he says, reflects his desire
to serve food everybody likes at a
cost everyone can afford.
The new building will feature
central air, a bigger dining room
and an expanded menu, including
steaks and grilled chicken “for the
people that are watching their
cholesterol,” in addition to old stan
dards like fried chicken, barbecue
and vegetables cooked in fatback.
Weaver said he expects plenty of
new business from the Sunday
church crowds and from football
fans on fall weekends.
However, Weaver seems to
spend as much time managing his
slogan-related affairs as he does
running his restaurant. The origi
nal “Automatic lor the People” sign
was recently sold at a music auc
tion in England, and a New
Hampshire-based computer soft
ware company has bought the
rights to the “Automatic” slogan to
market its products.
Before R.E.M. borrowed his slo
gan, Weaver’s restaurant in the
white cinder block house had been
unknown outside of Clarke County
since it opened in May 1986.
Bill Mitchell, a graduate stu
dent from Locust Hill, S.C., had not
heard of Weaver D’s before part-
time philanthropists R.E.M. bor
rowed the slogan for their album.
“I just ate there for the first
time the other day. I probably
wouldn’t have known about it oth
erwise,” Mitchell said.
Mark Alexander, a senior from
Macon, said although he normally
tries to eat healthy food, he thinks
Weaver D’s does pretty well with
its soul food style of cuisine.
“I’ll be interested to see what
the new building looks like,”
Alexander said. “I ate there a cou
ple of months before R.E.M.
released their album, and he was
saying ‘automatic’ all the time
then.”
Police shedding more
light to prevent crime
By KRISTIN HUBERT
Staff Writer
The University’s Crime
Prevention Unit is waiting to
hear how much it will cost to
install several new lights around
campus in an effort to deter crime
and make students and faculty
fell a bit safer.
The most recent lighting sur
vey, which was completed by the
unit during the spring, calls for
additional lights to be added near
the coliseum, Family Housing,
the Hoke Smith Annex and near
Oglethorpe and Creswell Halls.
The Crime Prevention Unit
surveys the campus twice each
year, compiling a list of areas
needing better lighting. Crime
prevent on officer Lara Rupert
said this list is then sent to the
Physical Plant, where other loca
tions may be added.
The unit, along with represen
tatives from the Physical Plant,
then walk the campus noting
what types of lights and how
many are needed. Finally, an
estimate is submitted by the
Physical Plant as to how much
these recommendations will cost.
“A lot of times this list depends
on the budget,” said University
police Sgt. Mike Sproston.
According to Robert Bugbee,
associate vice president for busi
ness and finance, approximately
$75,000 is allotted for lighting
each fiscal year. In addition to
this year’s $75,000, the Crime
Prevention Unit will have an
extra $25,000 to spend, Bugbee
said. Only two-thirds of the
money allotted was used, so the
remainder will carry over to the
next fiscal year.
“Knowing that we have new
money coming in, then we would
expect all of the recommenda
tions to be finished and we’ll have
plenty for our fall lighting sur
vey," Sproston said.
The fall 1993 lighting survey
added an estimated $50,000
worth of new lights to campus,
Sproston said.
He said lights were added in
nine of the 10 suggested loca
tions, with equal focus on North
and South campus. Some of the
areas that received new lights
were near Dawson Hall on South
campus and the walkways
between Joe Brown Hall and
Park Hall on North campus,
Sproston said.
“Dawson Hall got a face-lift as
far as lighting goes," Sproston
said, adding that 15 lights were
added there.
Rupert said, in many
instances, the areas recommend
ed are the result of letters
received by the University police
from students or faculty con
cerned about poor lighting.
Bookstore thief makes second appeal
By STACEE DANIEL
Staff Writer
Nikia Thompson, one of three students who pleaded
guilty May 5 to stealing money from the University
Bookstore, climbed one more rung up the University’s
judiciary ladder this week when she appealed her one-
year suspension for the second time.
Thompson, a junior from Montgomery, Ala.; Jona
Rullet, a junior from Marietta; and Tamika Hicks, a
senior from Atlanta, were arrested on January 21 after
the Bookstore was audited and indiscretions were dis
covered by the Internal Audit Department. The women
were changed with stealing a total of $4,251.20.
According to Student Judiciary records, the
University suspended Thompson and Rullet until sum
mer quarter 1995 and Hicks until spring quarter 1995.
After the suspension period is over they will be placed,
for the remainder of their enrollment, on probated
expulsion. This means a violation of any other regula
tion will result in expulsion.
Despite her admission to stealing more than $1,900,
Thompson appealed to an administrative appeals panel
on May 31 that her sentence was too harsh. The panel
upheld the suspension.
Dwight Douglas, vice president for Student Affairs,
heard Thompson’s second appeal on Tuesday.
Thompson told Douglas the original punishment
would interfere with her education and force her to pay
back her student loan before she is financially stable.
“I admit I made a mistake, but it’s done, it hap
pened," she said. “I’ve given a lot of time and effort to
my studies. (One year) is a long time and I don’t know
if 111 be able to return to school."
Tony Cruz, an Athens attorney, represented
Thompson at the hearing.
“We realize this was bad and she’s trying to put it
behind her," he said. “It was a temptation that could not
be resisted, created by the management."
Cruz said the amount of publicity the case received
had an effect on the initial decision made by William
Bracewell, director of judicial programs.
“Her sentence was too harsh because Mr. Bracewell
did not accurately pick up on all the facts,” Cruz said.
“He (Bracewell) was focusing on a number. Over the
course of a year there was one course of conduct, not 77
different accounts,” Cruz said in reference to the 77 void
ed cash register transactions that Thompson used to
steal the money.
Henry Bryan, manager of the University Bookstore,
said the cashiers voided transactions after accepting
cash for purchases. As the customers left the store the
cashiers pocketed the money.
In Atnens-Clarke County Superior Court, each
woman received 12 months probation, eight hours of
community service a week for 26 weeks, and payment
to the University for the amount stolen.
MAMOt WWOMT/ Th* Rod And BUc*
Nikia Thompson stole more than $1,900.
L
u
SPLOST
could fund
wider roads
on campus
By MICHAEL CASS
Staff Writer
University students may
work for improvements in
Athens-Clarke County by sub
mitting requests and attending
town meetings this month con
cerning the use of funds that
will be generated if voters
approve a 1-percent sales tax.
If passed, the tax could
directly affect student life by
funding projects to widen
Baxter and Lumpkin streets
and repair the downtown infras
tructure.
A citizen committee appoint
ed by the ACC Commission is
accepting proposals until July
18 for projects to be funded by a
special purpose local option
sales tax (SPLOSTj, which
would raise approximately $64
million over a period of no more
than five years if approved in a
November referendum.
The 33-member committee
and the ACC Manager’s Office
are also hosting a series of meet
ings to gather citizen opinions.
Two meetings will be held today
- at the Morton Theater at 183
W. Washington St. at 8 a.m.,
and at Cedar Shoals High
School at 7 p.m.
Russ Crider, ACC manager,
said students who do not vote in
the county are just as eligible as
county residents to make
requests for SPLOST funding.
“We’re not checking creden
tials,” Crider said. “You don’t
have to be a registered voter.”
Voters rejected a 1-percent
SPLOST proposal last
November. The commission is
hoping that increased public
input regarding the formulation
of the referendum will lead to
greater voter confidence this
fall.
But students and others
should do their homework
before submitting a proposal.
They must provide a project
description; estimates of costs
and annual operating expenses;
the sources of those estimates;
SPLOST funds requested and
additional funds committed;
project objectives; and justifica
tion for the request, including
information about effects the
project would have on the
Athens-Clarke County tax base.
The SPLOST committee will
choose the projects that voters
will decide on in November,
selecting requests totaling $64
million. That figure is based on
estimates of the revenue the
county could collect from a 1-
percent tax over five years.
Approximately 60 proposals
have already been submitted.
Scott Hill, a member of
Students for Environmental
Awareness, said his organiza
tion would take advantage of an
opportunity to propose the cre
ation of bike lanes in Athens.
“We definitely would love for
bike lanes to be included,” Hill
said. “If we had bike lanes on
there, that would be a great way
to pay for them.”
One student said she would
support the tax if its implemen
tation decreased her chances of
hurting cyclists while driving.
“We need bike trails all over
the place," said Stacey Graddy,
a senior from Lilbum. “I’ve come
close to hitting several people."
Crider said the committee
has received no proposals
requesting funding specifically
for bike lanes.
But citizens and government
agencies have proposed widen
ing Lumpkin and Baxter streets
and Barnett Shoals and Epps
Bridge roads; improving the
infrastructure in the downtown
area by resurfacing streets,
repairing sidewalks and correct
ing drainage problems; and
spending more than $2.6 million
to upgrade Recreation and
Parks facilities.
John Colson, a doctoral stu
dent from Athens, said he will
approve of the SPLOST if the
government follows through.
“If the commission demon
strates responsibility in doing
what it proposes to do, I don’t
have a problem with it," Colson
said. “I ride my bike a lot, so Td
like to see Lumpkijr and
Agricultural Drive widened. But
if it turns out to be another gov
ernment boondoggle, I’ll lose
confidence*
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