Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
November 18,1999
Vol. 107, No. 63 | Athens, Gborgia
Ht #5 I ^*30
Fair.
Friday gg
KICK THE HABIT
► Ever thought about
quitting smoking?
May save you some
but as
University health
officials are quick to
out, doing so
comes with other bene
ONUNtwwHLredandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
Class-action status a Jolt
INSIDE TODAY | News: 3 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 9 | Sports: 11 | Crossword: 5
Morehead said the case is still
in the procedural stage and
hadn't begun to address affirma
tive action.
“This is a long process," he
said “We will continue to vigor
ously defend our position."
Edenfield, who condemned
the University's policy in a sepa
rate ruling last summer, has yet
to rule on a temporary injunction
request by Parks. If granted, the
injunction would put an immedi
ate halt to the current admis
sions policy.
Edenfield could schedule a
hearing on the injunction any
day. said his assistant, Wayne
Williams.
— Contributing: Amanda
Brannon
Senior
found
dead
in van
Strong scent of
alcohol reported
on Smith 's body
By JENNIFER COPELAND
The Red a Buck
A 24-year-old University stu
dent was discovered dead early
Wednesday morning in a down
town Athens parking lot.
Peter Smith, a studio art
major at the University and
local musician, was returning to
Athens with some friends who
are members of the local band
Little Red Rocket. They were
returning from a show at The
Earl, a club in Atlanta, accord
ing to police reports.
Smith's girlfriend called 911
and reported he wasn’t breath
ing around 3:30 a m.
The responding officer found
Smith, a senior from Athens,
inside a white van in a West
Washington Street parking lot.
The officer said he smelled a
strong odor of alcohol on
Smith, according to reports.
Smith's girlfriend told police
her boyfriend was a heroin user,
the report said.
A cause of death has not
been released by police and the
Georgia Bureau of
Investigation crime lab is per
forming an autopsy.
When the officer arrived,
Smith’s eyes were closed and
his lips were blue, according to
reports.
Police found that Smith
didn’t have a pulse and admin
istered CPR. Smith did not
respond.
An ambulance arrived and
transported him to the hospital
at 3:38 a m.
Smith was pronounced dead
at Athens Regional Medical
Center at 4:33 a.m.
According to police reports,
witnesses who were travelling
with Smith said they left
Atlanta around 2:45 a.m.
Smith was asleep and snor
ing in the van until they arrived
at the Washington Street park
ing lot, the victim's girlfriend
told police.
Witnesses said they tried to
wake Smith but got no
response.
Police said they are continu
ing to investigate the death.
While Smith was enrolled at
the University, he had recently
stopped attending his classes,
said Rick Rose, assistant vice
president for Student Affairs.
fits, too. PAGE 9
Tau Kappa Epsilon claims brother
participated ‘freely,’police investigate
By CHANDLER BROWN
The Red a Buck
In a potentially devastating
blow to the University’s defense
of its embattled admissions poli
cy, a federal judge has granted
class-action status to a reverse
discrimination law suit.
Federal Judge Avant
Edenfield ruled this week that
the class-action status could
include any applicant who claims
“that UGA’s use of race and gen
der bonus points unlawfully dis
criminated against them," clear
ing the way for hundreds of past,
present and future applicants to
sue the school.
Four applicants — Jennifer
Johnson, Amy Bogrow, Ann
Beckenhauer and Lindsey
Donaldson — sued the University
earlier this year, claiming they
were unlawfully denied admis
sion because race was used when
considering their applications.
The class action status com
bines the cases and allows any
applicant — past or present — to
join the suit filed by Atlanta
attorney Lee Parks.
Although it’s too early to pre
dict the outcome of the case, law
experts say the class-action rul
ing could be detrimental to the
school's case.
“It’s certainly not good news,”
said University law professor Dan
Coenen, a constitutional law
expert. “The University was
arguing to have the case dis
missed and end this forever. They
lost.”
Richard Nagareda, a law pro
fessor specializing in class-action
cases, said the ruling left the
University facing an uphill court
battle.
"Anything is bad, short of a
dismissal,” he said.
Although University
spokesman Tom Jackson has
said the University was surprised
and disappointed by the ruling,
Acting Director for Legal Affairs
Jere Morehead warned the case
was far from over.
“Litigation has its ups and
downs,” he said. “We are going to
have some outcomes that are
positive and some that are nega
tive.”
HORSIN’ AROUND
By JENNIFER COPELAND
The Red a Black
Athens-Clarke police and the
University’s Greek Life Office are
investigating an incident of pos
sible hazing of a member of Tau
Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Police responded Monday to
complaints that fraternity men
were beating a brother in the
front yard of the South Milledge
Avenue fraternity house.
When an officer arrived at the
fraternity house at 7:43 p.m., he
witnessed a large crowd gathered
around Jason Holcombe, who
was lying on the ground covered
in leaves and dirt, according to
police reports.
His ankles were bound by duct
tape, and he was clothed in only
a pair of shorts, according to the
report.
The officer ordered the
onlookers to release Holcombe
and asked to speak to the frater
nity president, police said.
Tau Kappa Epsilon president
Brandon Powell told police
Holcombe had been a brother
since 1997 and was not a pledge.
Holcombe told police he was
freely and voluntarily involved in
the activity, according to reports.
But members of Delta Zeta
sorority, whose house is next to
the Tau Kappa Epsilon’s, report
ed the incident after Holcombe
repeatedly tried to escape.
Witnesses said Holcombe was
brought back by his brothers and
told, “If you untie the ropes
again, we will beat the shit out of
you,” according to reports.
Witnesses said the fraternity
men threatened to shave
Holcombe's eyebrows and that
the incident appeared abusive
and humiliating, reports said.
Powell told police Holcombe
was involved in a “lavaliere viola
tion,” according to reports.
Fraternity men give their lava
liere, a pin or necklace showing
fraternity or sorority letters, as a
symbol of dedication to their girl
friends, said Claudia Shamp,
coordinator of Greek Life.
“It’s the equivalent of giving a
promise ring,” Shamp said.
It’s not uncommon for frater
nity men to force a brother to
sing to his recently “pinned" girl
friend, Shamp said, but the vio
lence in this incident is extreme.
Holcombe’s brothers allegedly
were trying to take him to his
girlfriend's sorority house to sere
nade her, reports said.
“This is more reminiscent of
the ’60s or ’70s,” Shamp said. “It
has changed over the years.”
A hazing victim's willingness
to participate in the activity in
question doesn't rule out a
University policy violation, said
Eric Atkinson, fraternity adviser
for Greek Life.
A member doesn't have to be
a pledge for hazing to occur,
either, Shamp said.
The incident is under investi
gation by police and Greek Life.
JASON MCDANIEL | T.i K>n a Biara
A Brandon Betts, a sophomore from Dunwoody, feeds “Bandit” at Wednesday’s bake
sale at the Tate Student Center Plaza, which was sponsored by the equestrian team.
Money raised during the bake sale will be used on bills for the team’s horses.
Kickoff Saturday: two players go from friends to foes
By KEVIN CLARK
> The Rbd a Buck
Through sweat and tears of
Informal summer football work
outs, newly acquired Junior col
lege transfer Jamie Henderson
(prepared for the next step in his
ridiron career: playing defensive
ack in the SEC.
He soon would face some of
tie fastest and most talented
’ensive skill players in the
lountry, with many of them com-
hg from Tennessee and Florida.
When asked which conference
be he looked forward to facing
In the 1999 schedule, Henderson
iidn’t hesitate — Ole Miss.
“I’ve got a good friend who
E ball down there named
:er Taylor, so I want to ftece
the most,” Henderson said.
The kinship between
Henderson and Taylor spawned
through mutual friends in
Gulfport, Miss. Henderson left
Georgia's Carrollton High School
ms an All-State defensive back in
1997 to attend Mississippi Gulf
Coast College. Taylor, a year
nd in age, was a high school
", basketball and track
r at Gulfport High.
"I was friends with the quar
terback at the college,” Taylor
A Defensive lineman Jamie Henderson wM come face to
face with friend, Ote Mias' Syrriker Taylor (23), Saturday.
ered they had much In common,
especially a love fbr sports and a
said. “We met up to hang out this
one time, and he brought Jamie
with him.”
Through weekend “hang out”
sessions, both athletes discov-
flercely competitive nature. Tests
of their friendly competition were
often settled on the court.
“We’d hook up with (Taylor)
just right down the street and
we’d play basketball,” Henderson
said. "Or sometimes I’d just go
watch him play.”
Henderson acknowledged that
Taylor is the better roundball
player. He was so good, in fact,
that after signing with Ole Miss
as a free safety in 1998, Taylor
also joined the Rebel basketball
team. Despite the hype from his
comrade, Taylor gave some cred
it to Henderson’s game.
“Jamie can rebound real good,
and he’s got pretty good game,”
Taylor said. "But when he comes
out on the perimeter with me, I
know I can take him.”
Their last meeting came last
summer before Henderson
reported to Athens. The Bulldog
comerback said they talked
about what it will be like to play
against each other; even though
at one time both considered the
possibilities of becoming team
mates.
“I wish he could have come to
Georgia, but I don’t even know if
they recruited him,” Henderson
said. “That would have been real
ly nice. But going (to Mississippi)
was the best fbr him and coming
here was the best fbr me.”
All memories will be cast aside
Saturday when the Dogs battle
the Rebels — a team Georgia has
split the last 10 decisions with.
The long-awaited meeting for
both players would have been a
bit anticlimactic because they
each usually play on defense. But
all of that changed in the Rebels'
38-16 clobbering of Arkansas two
weeks ago. Taylor lined up at
wide receiver against the
Razorbacks and caught a 78-yard
touchdown pass on his first colle
giate offensive play.
But Mississippi coach David
Cutcliffe reaffirmed last week in
an Associated Press report his
new offensive threat will spend
most time on defense.
“We’re not going to take away
any of his repetitions on
defense,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ll
rotate him for a period when the
defense is working on something
else”
Lining up in front of Taylor is
an intriguing prospect for
Henderson, who originally hoped
to collide with his friend only on
punts and kickoffs. With five
interceptions on his rtesumte this
season, the Bulldog junior
beamed with confidence when he
predicted which man would get
the upper-hand on the field.
>See RIVALS. Page U
’A The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house is located on
the comer of Waddell Street and Milledge Avenue.
Fraternity seen
beating member
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