Newspaper Page Text
1
TUESDAY
April 4, 2000
Vol. 107, No. 131 | Athens, Georgia
Showers.
High 59 | Low 33 | Wednesday 61
ONLINE; wwwjedan<t)Iack.coni
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
“CHILLING” CD
► The R&B takes a look at local
act Pelican City’s first release in this
week’s CD reviews. PAGE 3
*Pranks ... are not always harmless. They can go horribly awry.”
University President Michael Adams
Sheriff: Pledges fled fatal crash site
u
“This is a terrible tragedy. We join the Grantham family and Ben's many friends in mourning his loss.
If we learn anything in such a dark moment, it is that pranks and fun and foolishness are not always
harmless. They can go horribly awry, and there is no turning back from the damage done. The
University takes very seriously the responsibilities of our students to one another and of our student
organizations to abide by the law and our regulations. As we work through the grieving process, we
also must gather information on why and how this happened. From the perspective of the University's
student and organizational conduct codes, if there is responsibility to be assigned and disciplinary
action to be taken, it will be done in due course."
STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL ADAMS
University President
By CHANDLER BROWN
and KRISTEN WYATT
The Red a Black
Pledges in Ben Grantham's fraternity
left him dead on the side of a gravel road
Thursday after taking handcuffs off his
body so police wouldn't suspect hazing
in the death, the Oconee County sheriff
said Monday.
Two cars were trav-
cling with the Infiniti 1 _
QX4 that nipped alter J ' -
hitting a tree south of
Watkinsville at about Blfe, "
11:30 p.m., throwing fc* t v*~'%
Grantham and three RM »
Alpha Tau Omega Ljj ^ ji
pledges from the car. IJI 'JS
But when police got HL Jgpj
there, the driver was Y
gone, Sheriff Scott
Berry said GRANTHAM
Police suspect peo
ple in the other cars found Grantham,
20, a freshman from St. Simons and an
Alpha Tau Omega member, in the woods.
Someone removed a pair of handcuffs
that tests revealed he had been wearing
at the time of the crash, Berry said.
Grantham may also have been blindfold
ed, he said.
Then, the two cars fled the scene with
the injured driver, Walter David Penn, 20,
a sophomore from Marietta. They drove
Penn to St. Mary’s Hospital, Berry said,
where he remained in stable condition
Monday.
Two other passengers — Scott Lakas
and Rob Dailey — were left at the scene
with Grantham. Lakas wasn't hurt;
Dailey was in serious condition Monday.
Now, at least five police agencies and
the fraternity's national director are
interviewing fraternity members and
friends who may know what happened.
Georgia State Patrol is leading the
investigation, said Eric Eberhardt,
Oconee County’s assistant District
Attorney. Until that report is forwarded
to the District Attorney’s office, authori
ties won’t say if anyone will face charges.
They also won’t say whether drugs or
alcohol were involved.
Hazing is a misdemeanor that carries
a penalty of up to a year in jail, but if haz
ing contributes to someone’s death,
other charges will be added.
Meanwhile, the Alpha Tau Omega
national office and the University’s
Greek Life office started their investiga
tions Monday.
The fraternity’s national director,
Wynn Smiley, came to Athens from his
Indianapolis office Monday to meet with
police and interview members. He said
the chapter could face sanctions from
the University, from the national frater
nity or both.
“Our first response of course is to help
chapter members,” Smiley said. “I need
to get an idea of exactly what happened.
... It's premature at this point to discuss
any kind of sanctions.”
Greek Life Director Claudia Shamp
said she’ll start talking to fraternity
members when they return from
Grantham’s Monday funeral in
St. Simons
“The brothers are absolutely in
shock,” Shamp said. “They’re Just devas
tated. We’re trying to be mindful of that
and give them an opportunity to grieve.”
Grantham's aunt, Christy Felix, told
The Red & Black there won’t be funeral
services for Grantham in Athens. She
said the family will leave possible cam
pus memorial plans to the fraternity.
Fraternity president Jake Nash and
other members couldn’t be reached for
comment Monday. The driver, Penn,
declined to talk to The Red & Black
Sunday about the wreck.
Family friends of Dailey's said he’ll be
in the hospital for at least a few more
days, but that he will fully recover.
Shamp said there's no telling how
long the Greek Life investigation will
take. If officials there decide this could
be hazing, the case will be turned over to
Judicial Programs.
The group last appeared before stu
dent judiciary in 1996, when the fraterni
ty was put on social probation for a quar
ter after a female visitor broke her ankle
at a party at the River Road house.
“We’re doing as much as we can to
find out what happened,” Shamp said.
“But we want to do it in an appropriate
manner, and we don’t know when this
could be over.”
18 arrested in
weekend bust
By KATHLEEN BAYDALA
The Rbd a Black
Panic came to Athens last
weekend in two forms. Aside from
music and wild dancing, drugs
surged into downtown and sur
rounding areas.
In response, the Drug and Vice
Unit of the Athens-Clarke police
and the Clarke County Sheriff’s
Drug Task Force carried out a joint
undercover operation around the
Classic Center to halt illegal drug
activity associated with the
Widespread Panic concert being
held there.
The drug bust led to 18 arrests
on charges ranging from posses
sion of an illegal substance with
Intent to distribute to felony
obstruction. None of the 18 indi
viduals arrested during the bust
were students.
Sgt. Mike Hunsinger said offi
cers dressed in plain clothes sur
rounded the Classic Center and
waited to be approached by deal
ers.
“In this type of operation, pur
chases are made from Individuals,”
Sgt. Hunsinger said. “Then we
move in and arrest.”
He also said the Classic Center
was targeted by undercover offi
cers because of the audience
the Widespread Panic concert
attracted.
“This concert brings an element
of drug activity," Sgt. Hunsinger
said. "This type of population is
known for doing drugs. We were
MORE ON THE WEB
Visit us online for more
news on weekend drug arrests
www.redandblack.com
specifically looking for psychedelic
and hallucinogenic drugs.”
According police, they found
drugs such as nitrous oxide, mari
juana, ritalin. Ecstasy, psilocybin
mushrooms and klonipin on the 18
individuals.
One man, Matthew Chad
Gasway of Tupelo, Miss., was
arrested for violating the Georgia
Controlled Substance Act and
aggravated assault. Sgt. Hunsinger
said Gasway “struck the Clarke
County deputy in the head with a
bottle” upon being arrested for
possession of psilocybin mush
rooms with the intent to dis
tribute.
Two others, Aurora Stone
Mehlman of Cleveland Heights,
Ohio, and Samuel Wayne Boles
from Wilmington, N.C., were
arrested late Sunday night. When
an officer patrolling an alley off
Jackson Street approached the
subjects, "one subject saw him and
she threw something in a trash
can,” police said. The officer
searched the trash can and found
a “piece of cellophane containing
several pills,” which later turned
out to be Ecstasy. The officer also
found additional pills, mushrooms
and marijuana on the two sus
pects.
Holocaust Remembrance
HOLLY PICKETT | T« R.i. • Hu..
A Freshman Lynne Dubovsky and Juniors Tara
Rosenheck and Meredith Pease observe Holocaust
Remembrance Day Monday at the Tate Student Center.
Bar checks will
begin in late May
By MARK NIESSE
The Rbd a Black
A crackdown on underage
drinking won't start until the
end of May at the earliest,
instead of the original plan to
begin inspections in February
or March.
The city doesn’t want to
start inspections of bars,
restaurants, package stores
and grocery stores until after
they are given a chance to go
through training on how to
identify fake IDs, underage
drinkers and “at-risk”
drinkers, said Solicitor
General Ken Mauldin, who
prosecutes Athens misde
meanors.
“We were not going to start
any official compliance checks
until after certification,” said
Mauldin, who is leading the
program. “Our primary focus
is to get all the ... training
done.”
Originally, Mauldin said
training and certification of
bar owners could begin in
February and inspections
would start shortly afterward.
But trying to train bar man
agers in February turned out
to be overly optimistic.
The training is meant as an
incentive to bar managers and
servers, who won’t be pun
ished by law enforcement if
they are caught serving under
age drinkers, Mauldin said.
That’s why the city’s inspec
tions won’t begin until May,
when the training is under
way, he said.
"It’s important to have a
safe hospitality venue,” said
Ron Schwartz of Trumps
catering service, comparing
downtown Athens to the
Buckhead area in Atlanta.
“The concerns are the same.
We have 30,000 students here,
many who are underage. ...
We’re trying to be a leader
amongst college communities
by tackling these issues."
Two alcohol inspectors
were hired by the city as part
of a $140,000 federal grant to
raise awareness about drink
ing and curb its downfalls,
Mauldin said.
“We’re still working on it.
How to deal with someone
who’s drinking too much or
too fast — different tech
niques that professionals have
used over the years,” said Art
Jackson, director of the
Athens Downtown Develop
ment Authority. "Nobody likes
a drunk.”
Details on the training pro
gram for employees in the
alcohol business will be
worked out in the next week
or two, Jackson said.
About 100 businesses have
shown interest in the pro
gram, many of them support
ive of increasing awareness of
alcohol problems and cutting
back underage drinking in
Athens.
Pairings announced for gymnastics finals
By JOSH KATZOWITZ
The Red a Black
Following a region-win
ning 196.725 last Saturday,
the Gym Dogs picked up
some more good news
Sunday.
Seeded fourth for the
NCAA championships next
week in Boise, Idaho,
Georgia will participate in
the afternoon session of
the national semifinals on
Thursday, April 13.
With a start time of 3
p.m. (EST), the Qym Dogs
will face familiar foes
Alabama, LSU and BYU,
along with Oregon State
-1*1 H»] I k [tj Milk
Regional score
1. Alabama
197.30
2. UCLA
197.025
3. Nebraska
196.875
4. Georgia
196.725
5. Michigan
196.325
Utah
196.325
7. Oregon Slate
196.175
8. Iowa State
196.10
9. Penn State
195.925
tO. LSU
195.65
11. West Virginia
195.475
12. BYU
194.70
and Utah.
The evening session fea
tures Michigan, UCLA,
Nebraska, West Virginia,
Iowa State and Penn State.
The top three scores from
each session will determine
which teams make the
Super Six national finals
the following day.
“We have already seen
most of the teams that will
be competing in our ses
sion at one point or anoth
er this season,” Georgia
coach Suztuine Yoculan
said. “It Is like an SEC
meet all over again. At this
point, I think UCLA Is the
favorite to win It all, and we
did not want to have to
face them until the final
night. We love competing in
the afternoon because It
provides you with more
rest before Friday night
and more time to recover.”
The afternoon session
also looks to be the
stronger one — at least In a
historical sense. Combined,
the teams competing In the
daylight boast 18 national
championships (Utah with
10, Georgia with five and
Alabama with three), while
the moonlighting squads
have earned just one
(UCLA In 1997).
And although the com
petition promises to be
tight, the random draw def
initely favors Georgia.
The Gym Dogs will
begin with a bye before
they move to bars and
beam. Another bye will fol
low, but they finish off the
semifinals on their two
strongest events — the
Door and vault.
"By fat; this Is a great
rotation,” junior Amanda
Curry said. “It's the same
one Alabama had when
they won SECs. We’U be
able to sit out the bye at
the beginning when the
scores are typically lower.
Then when the scores are
higher, we’ll be out there on
our best events.”
4 The Gym Dogs
must face Andre*
Pickens and top-
in Thursday after
noon’s session at
the NCAA champi
onships. The Tide
has defeated
Georgia three-of-
four times the
teams have met
this season. Only
the top three
teams in
Georgia's session
advance to
Saturday's
INSIDE TODAY | News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 5 | Sports: 6 | Crossword: 5
