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MONDAY
April 3, 2000
Vol. 107, No. 130 | Athens, Georgia
Scattered thunderstorms.
High 73 | Low 58 | Tuesday 63
ONLINE: www.redandUack.com
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PAGE 3
Four acts
get Day of
Soul nod
By BIANCA M. HENDERSON
The Red * Black
As the lights dimmed to begin the talent
show that would determine the opening
acts for April 27’s Day of Soul, the audi
ence’s expectations and excitement were lit
up by the diverse performances.
Blacstone, a five-member, all-male R&B
group, serenaded the ladies with a smooth
hook, questioning the crowd, “Who are you
gonna love?" — or better yet, who are you
gonna choose?
The acts were judged on originality,
appearance, audience participation and
overall performance by the panel of judges,
including Vanessa Smith, associate director
of Minority Services & Programs, and Tyler
Hemler, president of University Union.
The judges said they had a difficult time
selecting three out of the 15 acts perform
ing, so they allowed four winners instead.
Diyonna Johnson said she has been
singing since she was 18 months old and
was surprised to hear she was chosen as
one of the opening acts. The sophomore
from Lithonia sang “I Believe in You and
Me” by Whitney Houston.
“I was just in it to sing,” she said. “I tried
to bring something calm rather than the
usual hip-hop.”
The judges obviously didn’t want the
usual hip-hop. Though rap dominated the
show, no rap groups were selected. Dance
acts and singers prevailed in the battle to
see who will open for Destiny's Child.
Jacques Bells, a sophomore from Stone
Mountain and Sisqo impersonator, said he
put Jacques Bells and Company together
on the spur of the moment.
“We worked so hard, so I didn’t want to
let them down,” Bells said. “I also didn’t
want to let the crowd down."
Bells and his back up dancers, Marcus
Arnold and Anthony Pearson, both sopho
mores from Decatur, gave an impressive
impersonation of Sisqo’s “Thong Song"
dance, as well as a crowd-pleasing dance
number to Ginuwine’s “Ain’t None of Your
Friend's Business."
Another University dance act called 3 X
2, composed of three girls and three guys,
also grabbed an opening slot for Day of
Soul. Their performance was hill of energy,
driven by a fast-paced melody of down
South “booty shake" music.
“I felt great,” said Dion Hill, a sopho
more from College Park and member of 3 X
2. “We knew as long as we had the crowd In
it we would do good."
The judges awarded the No. 1 slot to
Nikki Harris, who sang a heart-felt version
of Erika Badu’s “Tyrone." The women in
the audience felt Nikki's “fed up" vibe as
they sang along.
"I was so surprised I won," said Harris, a
senior from Riverdale. “I just wanted the
opportunity to sing this song."
Last Wednesday's event had a great turn
out from Athenians to University students.
Heather Ricks, graduate advisor of
University Union, was pleased with the turn
out and crowd participation.
“We had an excellent show with impres
sive performances from the talent and an
impressive turn out by the students,” Ricks
said. “I am looking forward to an even bet
ter Day of Soul concert."
The winning acts from the talent show
will be performing with Destiny’s Child on
April 27th at 5 p.m. In Legion Field.
A Top left, the Gym Dogs celebrate after dominating Saturday night’s meet to
advance to the championships. Bottom left, Eileen Diaz helps the team to victory
with a 9.85 on the floor while Talya Vexler, right, concentrates on the beam.
Sticking the win
Victory secures Gym Dogs’ spot at championships
By DARREN EPPS
The Red a Black
At the start of the season,
Georgia gymnastics head
coach Suzanne Yoculan won
dered if her inexperienced
team would even get the
opportunity to defend its
national title at the Super Six
championships in Boise,
Idaho.
But after a season that
included 22 wins, Including
two over No. 1 Michigan
and another over No. 2
Alabama, capped off by a
dominating performance dur
ing Saturday night's region six
championships at Stegeman
Coliseum, Yoculan is
doubting her team no
longer.
“Aside from a few mistakes,
we did very well on floor and
on bars," said Yoculan, whose
team tallied a 196.725 to easily
defeat second-place BYU
(194.7) and earn a spot at the
national championships April
13-15. “It was a good meet. It
wasn't a great meet, but it is
hard to stay intense and
focused when you’re so far
ahead.”
After receiving a bye In the
first rotation and watching
Maryland, BYU, George
Washington and North
Carolina State post scores,
Georgia quickly erased any
GYMNASTICS
1 Georgia 196.725
7. BYU 194.700
1 Towson 194.325
4. Maryland 193.775
5. N.C. State 193.475
6. George Washington
191.650
‘advance lo nalionals
early confidence these teams
may have had, posting a 49 4
in its first event, the floor exer
cise.
Sophomore Talya Vexler,
who did not compete on floor
until this season, nailed a 9.925
to lead the Gym Dogs.
That, combined with senior
Caroline Harris and junior
Kristi Llchey’s 9.9s, gave
Georgia a comfortable lead
before the crowd of 5,672 could
settle In their seats.
“Different people came
through for us tonight,"
Yoculan said. “But we need
more 9.9s from the others if
we’re going to make a run at
nationals ”
The Gym Dogs extended
their lead on the vault during
the third rotation. Lichey
posted another 9.9, while
Brooke Andersen earned a
9.875 to help Georgia to a
team score of 49.250.
After a bye in the fourth
rotation, Georgia moved on to
the uneven bars, where
Andersen ended her out
standing career at
Stegeman Coliseum with a
9.95.
“I really wasn’t paying
attention to the score or how
our team was doing on bars,"
Andersen said. “It was my last
time ever to compete in the
Coliseum, and I wanted to go
out good."
Any chance of topping the
197-mark ended on the beam.
After watching her team blow
away the field in the other
three events, Yoculan could
only watch as Talya Vexler and
Cassie Bair fell off the beam,
both receiving 9.375s. Lichey,
however, ended the competi
tion with a 9.9 to earn the all-
around title with a score of
39.550.
“Kristi was hot tonight,
wasn’t she?" asked Yoculan.
“We need performances like
that at nationals."
Lichey also garnered
regional athlete of the year
honors.
"I didn't even know there
was such a thing," she said.
“But it’s great to be recog
nized. But now we’re just
thinking about winning the
title again.”
Freshman
killed as
SUV flips
By KRISTEN WYATT
The Red a Black
Friends and family of a
freshman who died in a car
wreck Thursday will gather
today in his home town of St.
Simons to remember Ben
Folsom Grantham.
Grantham, 20, was killed
on a gravel road south of
Watkinsville Thursday night
when his friend’s sport
utility vehicle flipped and hit
a tree.
Three other students were
in the car. Walter David Penn,
20, drove the Infiniti QX4 and
was in stable condition at St.
Mary’s Hospital Sunday. He
told reporters he was OK but
didn’t know when he’d be
released.
Rob Dailey, 18, was in seri
ous condition Sunday. The
fourth passenger, Scott
Lakas, wasn’t hurt, according
to Georgia State Patrol.
The accident happened
about 11:30 p.m. on Elder Mill
Road in Oconee County. Penn
apparently lost control and
ran off the road, a state
patrolman said. An accident
investigation team will begin
work on the cause of the
wreck Monday.
Grantham’s funeral ser
vices are at 11 a.m. today at
St. Simons United Methodist
Church. His fraternity, Alpha
Tau Omega, hasn’t yet
planned a campus memorial,
said Claudia Shamp, director
of Greek Life.
“It’s just a terrible
tragedy,” Shamp said. “It’s
difficult to deal with all of
this. Our first concern is just
the well-being of the mem
bers and doing what we can."
Shamp said her office also
will investigate the accident.
“Typically when there’s a
death involved, there’s an
investigation — that’s pretty
standard procedure,” she
said.
Grantham was the sixth
University student to die in
three weeks. Scott Lakas,
who was in the car, lost his
brother, Jeff, just a month
ago when he collapsed with a
heart attack over spring
break.
“It’s been a real rough
three weeks,” said Rick Rose,
assistant to the vice presi
dent of Student Affairs.
“We’ve got grieving students
all over the city. It’s one
shock after another. It’s
tough."
Rose asked students In
grief to call the University
Health Center mental health
clinic at 542-2273 If they’re
interested in free counseling.
“Any place they can find
comfort, we really want them
to go there,” Rose said.
Hot Summer Jobs
RAKHI DALAL I T>, Km • Bun
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summer Jobs and internships. Story, Page 3
Weekend wins over Vols boost Diamond Dogs’ confidence
By GRAHAM GARRISON
The Rid a Black
Opponents visiting Foley
Field might want to pack one
more Item that could help their
chances of victory this season
against the Diamond Dogs
the kitchen sink.
Tennessee (26-10) learned
that lesson the hard way in a
weekend series with Georgia
(19-10), dropping two straight
to the Dogs, 10-7 Friday and 11-
5 Saturday. The sweep improyes
Georgia's SEC record to 7-4 and
drops the Vols to 4-6.
It wasn't as If Tennessee
didn’t come out swinging In the
series. They did — hard — as
the Vols were able to break
Georgia starter Chris Clark In
the second inning of Friday's
game for six runs, all coming
with two outs.
“Since It was early In the
game, If I could get us through
maybe the fifth or six, then we’d
be alright,” Clark said.
The senior would do Just
that, holding the Vols off
through the eighth and allowing
Georgia’s bats to rally. The
Dogs chipped into the lead with
a four-run filth inning capped
off by a two-run blast by Josh
Hudson, his first home run of
the season, making it 6-4.
The turning point came in
the bottom of the seventh, with
the bases loaded and two outs.
Tennessee shortstop Stevie
Daniel nabbed a hard-hit
grounder by Mark Thornhill
and squared to second for the
out, but his lazy toss was beat
BASEBALL
Georgia 10, Tennessee 7
Geofgia 11, Tennessee 5
out by a darting Doc Brooks,
allowing a run to score. The
hustle kept the Inning alive, and
a two-run single by Andy
Neufeld catapulted the Dogs to
the lead at 7-6.
Brooks added a three-run
blast in the eighth to give
Georgia a 10-7 lead they would
hold behind relief pitcher
Jeffery Carswell (2-2).
Friday's win was Georgia
second come-from-behlnd vic
tory when down by six runs.
“We’ve been down before,"
Brooks said. “Anything can hap
pen In the game of baseball. We
Just have to keep playing, and
good things are going to hap
pen.”
All the wrong things hap
pened for the Vols. Seeing how a
huge lead didn’t work for them
the day before, Tennessee
would use Saturday trickery to
try and take one from the Dogs.
In the bottom of the fifth, a
Neufeld triple with no outs gave
the Dogs a perfect opportunity
to tie the game at 1-1.
Tennessee pitcher Brian Gates
would try and pull one out of his
hat to get NeUfeld off the bag.
“They faked the throw and
then all their players start
pointing to the dugout and
acted like the ball went down
the line so I'd get off the base,”
Neufeld said.
He didn’t budge, and Josh
Dorminy would drive him in on
an RBI single, leading to a
three-run Inning.
RBI singles by Mark
Thornhill, Kris Edge and Jeff
Kepplnger would give Georgia
an Insurmountable lead they’d
use to clinch the series with an
11-5 win.
Sunday's game rained out.
but It didn’t put a damper on
the Dogs’ confidence level for
the rest of the season. They’re
sitting one game out of the top
spot in the East behind South
Carolina (8-3 SEC).
“We’re real confident about
our team," Brooks said. “We’ve
got a good pitching staff, a good
defense and good hitters. If we
can put that together every
time we come out, we'll win."
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