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The Red & Black
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• Interview with
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An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 16. 1998 • ATHENS. GEORGIA • VOLUME 105. ISSUE 79
Roberts fourth official to leave University
ty ERIN McCLAM
Staff Writer
Bryndii W Roberta, who has shaped the
Office of L«egal Affairs as its first and only
vice president, will quit the University at
the end of February.
University officials would not comment
specifically on why Roberta is leaving so
suddenly or what she plans to do next
“It’s my understanding that at this point
in her professional life, she desires to pur
sue other endeavors," said Tbm Jackson,
executive director of University
Communications.
Law School Dean Paul Spurgeon said he
was “saddened and surprised” by the
announcement of Roberts’ resignation.
“For the time that I’ve known her, she’s
always done a very professional job,”
Spurgeon said. “I’ve enjoyed working with
her on several projects, such as on develop
ment of admissions policies."
Spurgeon said even though he feels her
resignation will have an impact on the
University, he is confident the Department
of Legal Affairs will “move on.”
Roberts spoke with University
President Michael Adams on Thursday,
and a University release Friday announced
she “will leave the University" — terms
Roberts herself agreed to, Jackson said.
Roberts was on professional leave
Friday, the Office of Legal Affairs said.
Repeated attempts to reach her by tele
phone went unanswered.
Roberts, 40, is the University’s only
female vice president and was the first
black woman to hold a vice presidency.
For 10 years, she has been the
University’s point person on legal issues
ranging from employment to workplace
safety to University lawsuits.
She took a short leave from the vice
presidency during fall quarter, citing
unspecified health problems, the
Associated Press reported.
On Friday, Adams appointed Kimberly
M. Ballard, currently the assistant vice
president for legal affairs, to act as vice
president when Roberts leaves after this
month.
Ballard said Friday she will serve in
that capacity until the end of March, when
she will leave to accept a job at Valdosta
State University, where she will work as a
presidential assistant for legal affairs and
multicultural affairs.
“We worked really closely together," said
Ballard, who has worked under Roberts for
nearly two years.
“She really mentored
me."
Roberts was
named Vice President
for Legal Affairs
under former
University President
Charles Knapp, who
created the office in
1989. She was
Knapp’s special assis
tant for legal affairs
in 1987 and 1988, at
the beginning of his presidency.
In a statement Friday, Adams praised
Roberts for her time at the University.
“I express our warm appreciation to Vice
President Roberts for her many years of
dedicated service and wish her the best in
her future endeavors,” he said.
In an administration already undergo
ing a structural shake-up, three other high-
ranking officials have announced retire
ments since Adams took office in
September:
■ William F. Prokasy, the University’s
vice president for academic affairs, will
retire at the end of June. He has spent 10
years at the University.
■ Sidney E. Brown, who serves under
Prokasy as an associate vice president,
announced earlier this month that he’ll
retire in June, ending a 29-year career
here.
■ Registrar Bruce T. Shutt will retire in
June after 23 years at the University.
- Staff writer Andrew DeMillo
contributed to this story.
Roberts
Athens first
to host full
collection of
Di’s dresses
•
By DOUG GIUETT
Staff Writer
Though nearly half a year has passed since
the death of Princess Diana, her memory
remains quite vivid, as evidenced by an exhibit
of her dresses that opens today.
Sixteen designer dresses owned by the late
Princess of Wales will be on display at the
Classic Center from 10 a m. to 8 p.m.
The collection, which will travel around the
country after its stay in Athens, includes dress
es from British designers Catherine Walker and
Bruce Oldfield.
Exhibit organizer Kim Palmece of Ganzi
Productions said the collection covers a large
portion of Diana'B life.
They start from the very first couple of
years when (Diana) was princess, and continue
right up until the end of it,” Palmece said.
“Fourteen of them are owned by Maureen
Rorech — the anonymous buyer at Christie’s
who purchased 13 of the dresses (in July 1997)."
The People's Princess Charitable
Foundation, Inc. is the organization handling
management and fundraising for the tour,
which was founded by Rorech.
Though some of the dresses have been previ
ously displayed in Rorech’s hometown of
Tampa, Fla., Athens will be first to host to the
frill collection, Palmece said.
Palmece said the organization “wanted a
smaller city to show it the first time.” Although
several major cities are slated for the tour,
Athens was judged as having a population that
would be a big draw for the exhibit, she said.
The collection includes the famous Travolta
dress," which Diana wore while dancing with
John lYavolta at a state dinner in the 1980s.
“I think people here in the United States rec
ognize that one the most," Palmece said.
The exhibit’s Athens debut is a sort of “pre-
kickofT to the show’s major opening, which
takes place in Washington, D C., in June. The
dresses will travel around the world for two
years before returning to London in 2000, on
what would be Diana’s 40th birthday.
The dresses will then be given back to
(Princes) William and Harry for them to do as
they choose" she said.
Admission is $14.50. Proceeds from the show
Will go to charities Diana supported — AIDS
research, children’s issues, breast cancer — as
well as the one considered to be her most cher
ished: the worldwide effort to ban land mines.
"Once we go international, a lot more of the
money will be steered toward that charity,"
Palmece said.
Classic Center Marketing Director Kris
Bakowski said setting up the show was “quite
time-consuming" but worth the effort.
“We were real pleased that they would look
at the Classic Center as the place for exhibiting
the dresses,* she said.
The Classic Center hosts the collection
uirough March 1.
0-House RA object
of nine hate crimes
By MATTHEW QRUND
Staff Writer
University Police are expressing concern
over the increased number of hate crimes
that have occurred against a resident assis-
ttint whose door was set on fire three times in
the past three weeks.
According to University Police, there have
been 15 hate crimes reported on campus
since fall 1995. Of these incidents, nine have
been directed at Oglethorpe House RA Jerry
Kennedy.
University Police Chief Chuck Horton
expressed concern about the crimes that have
been directed at Kennedy, saying the fires
were “most likely" hate crimes.
Kennedy, whose door was set on fire Jan.
22, Jan. 26 and Feb. 8., said police are inves
tigating the fires as hate crimes because he is
openly gay.
“As the numbers would probably indicate,
one person generally doesn’t get that much
done to them,” Horton said. “That’s a rare
case and it concerns me a lot when people use
fire to resolve their conflicts. That’s scary
business.”
Horton said Kennedy is the first student
in many years to be singled out like this.
“He’s certainly had more (harassment)
than anyone else I’ve known of,” Horton said.
Kennedy said Thursday that even though
he’s been harassed before, he’s never been
harassed in such an extreme way.
“I’ve received many threats and notes in
the past,” Kennedy said. “The thing that
angered me the most about this was whoever
did this risked everyone here in order to get
to me."
Although many homosexual residents
have been harassed in the past, last week,
Joshua Stewart, co-director of the Lesbian,
Gay and Bisexual Student Union, said he
hasn’t seen a problem this severe before.
“I’m not surprised that somebody’s being
harassed, but I am shocked by the severity of
this,” Stewart said. “This is just a very notice
able symptom of a larger problem here on
campus.”
According to police, of the nine incidents
which occurred against Kennedy, there were
three cases of arson and the rest were harass
ing phone calls and incidents of criminal tres
pass.
However, the incidents involving fire con
cern police the most.
“When you set a fire, it’s not just Mr.
Kennedy who bc-comes the victim. It’s every
one in the dormitory," Horton said. “You don’t
know if it’s one person, or if the fires are
spawning each other.
“That’s the million dollar question,” he
said.
Of the six other hate crimes that have
occurred, University Police said most of the
cases have been isolated.
Among these incidents, there have been
cases involving harassing comments, simple
battery and assault and a bomb threat with
racial comments.
Despite the fires -- that are still under
investigation — University Police said they
are not taking any increased measures to
protect Kennedy.
“We, along with housing, are certainly
concerned about his welfare as well as every
one else in the dormitory,” Horton said.
“Our hope is that we can bring it to some
resolution,” Horton said. “I’ve said repeated
ly, we take a very dim view of anyone who
sets a fire for whatevei reason. If we catch
them, they are going to be arrested for first
degree arson, no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
- Staff writer Andrew DeMillo
contributed to this article.
Former student wins Emmy award for project
By MARK NIESSE
Staff Writer
As a bottle of salsa struts by, tortilla
chips holler and stare.
The chips — overcome with desire —
work together to form a body and ask the
beautiftll salsa bottle to dance to the tune
of “Nacho Man," until the big burrito
boyfriend notices.
When a bowl of chips is the hero in a
love triangle with a burrito and a bottle of
salsa, spicy things are bound to happen.
This story, competing against nation
wide contestants, has won a second-place
student Emmy award for non-traditional
animation. The short movie — “Mamita
Rica" — was put together by University
graduate Chris Higgins, who is now work
ing for Turner Production Effects making
TV animation for the Dimer network.
Last year, Higgins put together the
story in a three-dimensional computer
animation project as his thesis to gradu
ate from the animation department
“It allowed me to come up with humor
ous character relationships, the 'what if
scenarios you might think of when sitting
down in a Mexican restaurant," Higgins
said. “I think most everyone can at least
relate to chips and salsa."
Higgins’ production — which won him
$1,000 in film equipment and $1,000 cash
— combined efforts by the drama, art,
music and computing departments
“'Mamita Rica’ is a completely original
work produced by students at the
University," said Mike Hussey, an assis
tant professor in the drama department
who assisted Higgins.
"In music, we encouraged students to
do the soundtrack," Hussey said. “It forms
a wonderful blend when you bring drama
into computer animation as well."
Higgins also received help from David
Koffinan, an assistant professor in the
Lamar Dodd School of Art.
"It sounds easy, but it's actually corn
ea
A scene from Chris Higgins’ film,
“Mamita Rica.” #
plicated and time intensive,” Koffman
said of the project, which took a year to
complete. “We had to make the characters’
movement look convincing, like human
movement."
Mark Jordan, an information analyst
at University Computing and Networking
Services, put the project together to make
the finished product. He also worked to
put Higgins’ two-minute movie on the
Internet, which is available at
http://www.uga. edu/ucns/dms/chiggins.
html.
Higgins is happy with the success of
the movie and said it’s one of the main
reasons he got his job.
“I had to have a senior thesis project in
order to graduate for interdisciplinary
studies in three-dimensional animation,”
Higgins said. “It worked both as a way to
graduate as well as a reason to explore
something that I’d been thinking about.”
He looks forward to an all-expense
paid trip to Los Angeles in March, where
he will receive his Emmy from the.
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
“They’re looking for the next genera
tion of the best college students," Hussey
said. “We’re getting the University’s name
out there in a really big way.”
Gym Dogs score three 10s in win against
Ballard (I) cheers as Kim Arnold
s a perfect 10 on beam.
Georgia sweeps
Saturday’s meet
By SCOTT HARTMAN
Staff Writer
A new scoring system was supposed
to curb the number of perfect 10s award
ed this year and keep scores down.
Apparently, nobody told the top-
ranked Gym Doga.
The team’s previous hign score of
196.960 was shattered Saturday against
Alabama, aa the Gym Doga notched
three 10a en route to scoring a 197.9, the
highest score in the country all season.
“I’m not surprised* head coach
Suzanne Yoculan said. The team was
really sharp. We had very few mistakes.
It was just a team effort all the way
through.”
Kim Arnold registered 10s on both
the balance beam and the floor exercise,
vaulting her to the all-around title with
a score of 39.675.
The Portland, Ore., native’s 10 on
beam made her just the third Gym Dog
ever to post such a mark on that appa
ratus, Hie others being junior Karin
Lichey and former Gym Dog Heather
Stepp-McCormick
The team pouted a 49.326 on beam,
its second highest score of the season,
ind counted no mark leas than 9.8.
“Everyone just did so awesome,"
Arnold said. "We looked great on beam."
In her first competition since tearing
her anterior cruciate ligament last sea
son, sophomore Brooke Andersen record
ed a 9.8 on the vault.
“Being able to have Brooke out there
just adds more depth," Yoculan said. “We
can mix up the lineup and rest people.”
With Andersen back to go along with
freshmen Suzanne Sears, Amanda
Curry, Kristi Lichey and Kathleen
Shrieves, the Gym Dogs’ depth encour
ages the squad to practice with intensity,
Yoculan said.
“Having more depth creates a situa
tion in the gym where everyone has to
work hard to stay in the lineup* Yoculan
said. They know that they have to work
hard all the time."
Junior Karin Lichey. who took a 10 on
vault, said utilizing a different lineup is
important to the team.
Alabama
“It’s wonderful to have a team with
this much depth,” Lichey said. “Having
different lineups that can go every meet,
that can score 197, is just great."
In fact, Yoculan said her squad has
multiple top lineups
“1 think we’ve got four or five ’A’ line
ups," she said. “That's what makes this
team so special."
Senior Julie Ballard said Saturday's
display of depth aids in building confi
dence for the team.
“It alao builds our confidence as team
members, knowing that we can put in
anybody and still score the same thing,"
Ballard said. “Us being confident in each
other makes a big difference."
This Saturday, the Gym Dogs travel
to Auburn, Ala., for a tri-meet with the
Tigers and Radford.
*