About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1996)
t t t ■ Lander’s ladies attack Rebels tonight - 6 The Red & Black An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community ■ INSIDE • Check out surf-rock Mermen • Stillpoint accepting submissions WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1996 • ATHENS, GEORGIA • VOLUME 103, ISSUE 74 Rail fate resolved today By ASNE GRAVER Staff Writer The future of the proposed Athens Commuter Rail Demonstration program is uncertain, even though funding for the project has been approved. Freight railroad CSX hasn’t authorized the use of its Athens line for passenger traffic, said Jim Kittrell, CSX vice president for state relations in Georgia. On the other hand, state representative John Scoggins (D-Athens-Clarke County ) said a meeting today with representatives from CSX’s corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla. would determine the fate of the program. Aji informal agreement was reached Feb. 1 between the Georgia General Assembly lead ers and other interested parties to try to run a temporary commuter rail service from Atlanta to three Georgia cities during the Olympics. The Assembly and Amtrak will each pay $1.5 million to fund the project. “Expenses have been minimized to elimi nate cost for the Georgia taxpayers,” Scoggins said. Norfolk Southern Railroad, which owns the railroad lines to Macon and Gainesville, has agreed to participate in the project. If CSX doesn’t allow its Athens line to be used, the whole project might fall through since it was approved as a package deal, Scoggins said. The program called for a daily round trip from Athens to Atlanta, with stops in Winder, Lawrenceville and finally Brookwood Station in Atlanta. Included in the $40 round-trip price are bus connections to MARTA. Amtrak will provide cars and personnel for the passenger traffic, Scoggins said. But as the CSX Athens line is today, it couldn’t handle passenger traffic in time for the Olympics, Kittrell said. “The line is really not workable under the current conditions,” he said “The maximum speed that could be achieved is 45 mph. It would take 14 to 18 months and big bucks to get a decent passenger service.” Both Kittrell and Scroggins said even if the project falls through, they will continue to work for an Athens commuter railroad. “We’re talking to the state about a long- range plan,” Kittrell said. “If we don’t get it this time, we’ll continue to work to get it sometime,” Scroggins said. CHAO HANQEN/The Red and Black Students find safety van helpful, slow MARK AO AMS/The Red and Black Thanks for the lift: Anoufhka Thomas, from Dubavy, steps out of an escort service van, after arriving at her destination. Driver John Crow (r) said there are two things people should keep in mind when using the escort service. He said people should be very patient when riding and they should have spare time. Crow also said the job was enjoyable. "The good of this job outweighs the bad," he said. “I really do meet a tremendous amount of people who are funny and smart.” By ANDREW HEALAN Staff Writer Safety comes at a price, and for many students using the University’s escort van, the price is time. While the service is helpful to students, many times it is not read ily available. Danielle Wesmiller, a freshman from Hampton, said she has experi enced delays with the van. “Of all the times I’ve called, I’ve had more turn downs than service,” she said. Wesmiller takes night classes and relies on the van regularly. “The line will be busy or they’ll say call back in 10 minutes,” she said. “Sometimes when I call back they’ll say call back in 10 minutes again Other times they’ll say there’s no escort van coming by any time soon, wait for the bus that is coming in 10 minutes.” Aaron Carter, a freshman from Madison, said he uses the van about twice a week. He said he experienced similar delays when trying to get a ride. “It will be busy or they’ll ask me to call back,” he 9aid. “Then, some times I’ll wait 15 or 20 minutes for a ride.” Carter said his success rate with the service hasn’t been very high. Out of 5 or 6 attempts, I usually get one answer,” he said. Drivers for the escort van service said they see some problems with the service. “People have a somewhat nega tive attitude towards the escort van," said John Crow, an escort van driver. “We catch a lot of flack because people don’t understand there’s only two or three vans run ning every night." Crow said the van should be used wisely by students. “It’s not for students to use to go downtown and get drunk," he said. But Crow said he thought the ser vice is beneficial despite its short comings. “It’s a good service despite the ratio of vans to students,” he said. “The little service we have can’t accommodate 30,000 people.” Corporal Mark Partridge, with public safety, said the escort van is getting by despite its small size. He advised students to be persis tent when trying to use the van. “Keep calling back,” he said. “The average wait is six minutes." “The resources are adequate for the number of people using it,” he said. “The night bus is the primary form of transportation. The escort van fills the gap.” The escort van runs three vans Monday through Thursday, and two vans on Sunday and Friday. It runs from 6 p.m. until 2 a m. Sunday through Friday, and goes to all buildings on campus and also serves Milledge Avenue. Last month about 1,500 to 2,000 people used the ser vice, Partridge said. Partridge said at this time there are no plans to add more vans. No new freshmen accepted this winter By BENJAMIN CARR Staff Writer The University accepted no new freshmen for winter quarter and may not accept any new freshmen in the spring, said the University registrar. Registrar Bruce Shutt said it was caused by the “continual problem of too many bodies” at the University. “Because of the numbers, we couldn’t bring any new freshmen in," he said. A policy going into effect for winter quarter 1996 bans all freshman transfers to the University, said John Albright, the University’s assistant admissions direc tor. This was done as one effort to pare down University enrollment, which topped 30,000 during fall quarter, Albright said. The University’s winter quarter enrollment fell below 30,000 students, but admin istrators said work still has to be done to keep fall 1996 admission down. Total winter quarter enrollment reached 29,066, breaking previous University records. according to University statistics. Fall enrollment was 30,149. The enrollment drop was caused by students graduat ing, withdrawing for person al, financial or health rea sons or being dismissed, Shutt said. Tom Jackson, University director of public informa tion, said this isn’t a good sign for the University. “Compared to last winter, enrollment is up about 2.5 percent,” Jackson said. “There’s still a lot of work to do to get us down to 30,000, which is the target number." The University can’t sus tain an enrollment growth above 30,000 without an increase in resources, said University President Charles Knapp. The University System Board of Regents has indicat ed it will address the issue of system-wide enrollment this year, Jackson said. The admissions office is trying to reduce the number of University students by accepting fewer applicants for fall quarter 1996, Albright said. The admissions office is also examining borderline applicants on standards other than their high school grades and SAT score, Albright said. A look at hip-hop By KEITH DEMKO Staff Writer Editor’s Note: Next week, the Red & Black will talk with musicians who play regular weekly gigs around town about what they do to keep people coming back week after week. On any given night in Athens, students have a wide variety of live music from which to choose, but while rock, country, and blues music are featured regularly in downtown clubs, rap and hip-hop are almost nonexistent. Naville Powell, a sophomore from Carrollton who hosts the program “Power of Soul” on WUOG, said he plays rap and hip-hop not only to entertain, but also to spread the influence of this style of music in Athens. “When I took over the show, I tried to make it as infor mative as possible,” Powell said. “I try to play a lot of main stream rap now, so I can bring it back to the black commu nity." But when Powell offered his services to clubs around town, he said got a chilly response from club owners concerned about violence. From his own experiences, however, Powell said the perceived link between rap music and violence is a misconception. “At all the parties I went to my freshman year, there was only one fight, and that was between Georgia and Georgia Tech football players," Powell said. “This year, I’ve been to house parties where everyone got along great, both students and people from the community.” Beginning next Tuesday, however, Powell will start spin ning records at Club Oxygen’s new weekly hip-hop night Club owner Joshim Yuddin said the demand for hip-hop music is strong enough to support this new endeavor. “Athens is a diverse community, and all kinds of people were asking for it,” Yuddin said. “All kinds of students were Please see HIP HOP. page 45 An artist since birth AUCIA HANtCN/Th, fto and Slack Hangln' ait: Senior Langford Barksdale, stands by her work, ‘He's Always Changing,* which is currently on display at The Globe and will be auctioned Saturday at the Mental Health Benefit's art auction. Please see STUDENT, on page 6. Bulldogs ready to bite Fighting Tigers Dogs hope to ditch 0-5 road record By WILL HAMMOCK Staff Writer The Georgia men’s basketball team, 0- 5 on the road in the Southeastern Conference, seeks to change that mark tonight in Baton Rouge, La., when it faces the Louisiana State Fighting Tigers. “If we can just carry the momentum, attitude and intensity from the Tennessee game, then we can win," said Bulldog head coach Tubby Smith. The Bulldogs (12-7, 3-6 SEC) are com ing off an impressive 68-49 home victory over Tennessee and need this road victo ry to help their NCAA Tournament chances. “This game is very crucial because one thing (the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee) looks at is who is playing good at the end of the season," said point guard Pertha Robinson. “This is a good time for us to pick up some big wins in a row. LSU (11-9, 3-5 SEC) is led by 6-foot-5- inch junior guard Ronnie Henderson, who is first in the SEC in scoring at 22.8 points per game and is averaging 27.6 per game in the Tigers’ eight conference games. He has eclipsed the 30-point mark four times this season, including 31 in the Tigers' last game, a 71-66 victory over Ole Miss. “He’s a great player and we are going to have to find a way to slow him down,” Smith said. “We need to make him work on both ends of the court." Henderson, a shooting guard for the Tigers, has a three-inch height advan tage over Georgia shooting guard Katu Davis. Smith said he has not decided whether he will let 6-6 swingman Shandon Anderson guard Henderson. LSU head coach Dale Brown said he will limit the play of his starting point guard and team captain Randy Livingston to 20 minutes because of injuries Livingston, a sophomore, has suffered through numerous injuries in his brief career in Baton Rouge, includ ing tom knee ligaments and a broken kneecap. Brown said Livingston’s pre sent injuries are minor and have nothing to do with his knees. “If Randy Livingston is healthy, then it is a big factor because he is a tremen dous leader and a tremendous passer," Smith said. Smith is also working the motion offense more into the Georgia game plan. “I think the motion gives you a lot of freedom but it also takes a lot of think ing,” Smith said. “But once you are able to master it, you get shots that the defense just is not ready for. The players are working hard at it." Georgia has won its last five games against LSU. It defeated the Tigers 98- 89 in last year’s game in Athens in which Henderson scored 33 points and Carlos Strong led the Bulldogs with 30 points and eight rebounds.
