Newspaper Page Text
MONDAY
February 19, 2001
Vol. 108, No. 107 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 57 | Low 401 Tuesday 69
ONLINE: www.redandblack.coni
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
ITS SO HARD TO
SAY GOODBYE
> Senior Lady Dogs played
their last regular season
home game. RAGE 8
Gym Dogs
roll under
the Tide
Alabama wins
197.5-197.35
By GENTRY ESTES
gestes@randb.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The
good news for the fourth-ranked
Gym Dogs squad exiting
Coleman Coliseum Friday night
was a 23-for-24 meet and a new
season-high score. The bad news
was that they lost round two of
the biggest rivalry in collegiate
gymnastics, as No. 2 Alabama
took a 197.5-197.35 decision.
After beating Michigan at the
buzzer the weekend before,
Georgia (10-1-1) saw the
Crimson Tide (11-1-1) nab a
photo finish this time around.
Trailing by .325 heading into
the final rotation, Alabama set
fire to the floor exercise to claim
the victory. The Tide turned in a
school-record 49.7, the highest in
the nation to this point.
The Gym Dogs, meanwhile,
smashed their previous high
score by seven-tenths with a
scintillating performance that
just wasn’t enough to turn
the Tide, who also enjoyed
their highest mark of the
season.
“I thought after floor, with a
three-tenths lead, that we would
win,” said Gym Dog coach
Suzanne Yoculan. “I felt pretty
comfortable, but we can’t con
trol what goes on over there (on
floor). We had a great meet
tonight. We did everything. We
didn’t take any difficulty out,
and we lost by a tenth-and-a-
half. To me, that’s a win.”
As the away team, Georgia
was stuck on the balance beam
while Alabama was igniting the
crowd of 8,588 on the floor. With
each Georgia bobble sending a
ripple through the spectators, all
six Gym Dogs still managed to
stay on the beam for a season-
high 49.225.
Said Alabama coach Sarah
Patterson, “I told them, ‘Georgia
is going to beam, we’re going to
floor. We got the crowd here.
We’ve got great routines, and it’s
one of our best events, so let’s
make it hard and take it over on
floor,’ and they did. I said it
would come down to Kristi
Lichey on beam and Andree
Pickens last up on floor, and
that’s exactly what happened.”
The lowest score of
Alabama’s six floor routines was
a 9.825. Each tumbling pass
received a thunderous response
from the Tide fans, leading to
some questionably high scores
for the final few gymnasts.
Despite nailing every routine,
Georgia, a higher-ranked floor
team, had received a 49.425 on
the previous rotation.
“The fans bring a
lot to the presentation
>- See GYM DOGS, Page 8
Bullseye
▲ Sim Ogtetree and his excavator make short work of the old Alumni House on
Rutherford Street to make room for a new building that will house study halls for
athletes. Story, Page 3
Dogs sweep Buccaneers
By CHARLES SHEPARD
cshepard@randb.com
The Buccaneers of East Tennessee State may
have invaded Foley Field over the weekend, but it
was the No. 16 Diamond Dogs doing all the
swashbuckling.
Georgia swept the season-opening series, winning
9-1 Saturday and 12-1 Sunday. Saturday’s game saw
an opening-day attendance record of 3,042 fans.
It took only two innings Sunday for the
Bulldogs to match their run output from Saturday.
An eight-run second inning — marked by fresh
man designated hitter Blake Bodenmiller’s and
senior first baseman Mark Thornhill’s singles, as
well as senior third baseman Andy Neufeld’s dou
ble down the right field line — gave the Diamond
Dogs a 10-0 lead.
Georgia (2-0) added two more in the seventh,
when pinch hitter Kris Edge singled home juniors
Jeff Keppinger and Adam Swann.
The Bucs (2-5) did everything they could to
help the Dogs Sunday. The first four of East
Tennessee’s seven pitchers walked 11 Bulldogs.
Starter Matt Hensley (0-2), who lasted only three
batters into the fateful second inning, was respon
sible for seven bases on balls.
Georgia’s first three runs were the results of
free passes with loaded bases.
But despite the few opportunities to swing, the
Bulldogs amassed 11 hits — two for extra bases.
“Considering all the walks, I think we swung
the bats pretty well,” said Bulldog shortstop
Keppinger, who got his first hit of the season with
an infield single.
Bulldog pitching was superb in both contests,
allowing only one run in each game.
With two high-scoring contests, the series was a
chance for starters and the bullpen to get some
pitches in, said pitching coach Daron Schoenrock.
“In games li^e (Sunday) you try to get the
relievers’ feet wet,” he said. “I was very pleased.
The command was good. They went out and
threw strikes.”
Juniors Jeremy Brown and Rob Moravek both
got their first wins of the season.
Brown struck out five and scattered five hits
over six innings Saturday in his first start as a
Bulldog. Moravek fanned seven Bucs and allowed
just four hits over five innings.
STEPHEN JONES | The Red a Black
▲ Pitcher Rob Moravek took the mound
in Sunday’s 12-1 win over the Bucs.
Diamond Dog newcomers were quick to con
tribute. Designated hitter Bodenmiller went 3-for-
5 with two RBIs on the weekend and reached base
all four chances Saturday. Lee Mitchell, the first
true freshman to play for head coach Ron Polk at
Georgia, went 2-for-3 over the two contests in a
back-up role.
Senior catcher Tony Burchett wowed the
crowd with his eighth-inning grand slam Saturday,
which put the game away for good.
Junior catcher/outfielder Doc Brooks and red-
shirt freshman Matt Woods were omitted from
both games’ lineups for academic reasons. Both
are out until requirements for unfinished class
work are met.
The Diamond Dogs are off today and will wel
come Wofford to Foley Field Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Richt Players
‘paying* for
their arrests
By SAMIRA J AFAR I
sjafari@randb.com
For Georgia head football coach Mark Richt, there’s only one way to
deal with the four players arrested since December — make them pay.
Richt, who was hired Dec. 26 to replace former
coach Jim Donnan, told The Red & Black Friday he
and the coaching staff already have dished out
severe physical punishment for the players during
spring training, among other repercussions.
“The individuals are in the process of paying it off
physically,” Richt said. “We wear them out early in
the morning. Things aren’t pleasant for them, but
they have to understand the consequences for their
actions.”
The most recent arrest was that of fullback
Verron Haynes, who is accused of assaulting and
stalking Brandi Gowdy, a University student and
mother of his 17-month-old daughter.
In addition to grueling physical training, Richt said anger manage
ment courses and counseling sessions “aimed at Verron” have been
scheduled for the spring.
The other three players arrested — running back Jasper Sanks
(who was exonerated on Feb. 9 by a Muscogee County solicitor), defen
sive back Terreal Bierria and defensive lineman Charles Grant — are
experiencing individual consequences as part of their punishments.
Assistant Athletics Director Claude Felton said last week the num
ber of arrests since Richt’s first day, though disappointing, “involve a
degree of coincidence” — officials wouldn’t say whether there was any
correlation between hiring a new head coach and the disciplinary
problems.
Richt also said he has spoken to the entire team about the signifi
cance of representing the University as athletes.
“The arrests certainly have put a little bit of a damper on the team,”
Richt said. “We’ve addressed the team about the importance of not
only affecting the good name of the individual player and the good
name of their families, but that of their teammates and the University
— and for them not do something that could destroy a team.”
Admittedly, every time an arrest occurs, it takes a stab at the team’s
image, Richt said. But he said he won’t let quick-fix attempts at
repairing image take the place of some old-fashioned, in-house
discipline.
“Image takes a beating every time something like this happens, but
we’re building a very strong foundation and have standards that are
set high,” the coach said. “There are certain things we don’t tolerate ...
Part of the college experience, in this football thing, is to make better
men out of them.”
But does this strict team regiment of training and speaker after
speaker on character education get the team down?
Richt said, “No.”
“I think morale is fine on 95 percent of the team,” Richt said.
“They’re working really hard in the off-season, and seeing that they’re
getting in better shape. The work ethic is up to high standards —
coaches want the players pushed to the limit.”
But despite the emotional and physical revamping of the team, the
dark question of player suspension will loom over Richt until the fall.
Richt has opted to wait for pending court decisions and look at the
“full picture” before making any decisions about game time.
“If a child makes a mistake you don’t kick them out,” he said. “If you
kick them out of the family, you have no chance to train him. We want
them to stay and succeed, we’re not looking to throw anyone off the
team.”
Richt added that if the disciplinary measures don’t improve the
behavior of the players, he isn’t willing “to save one (player) for the
sake of the team.”
“Our goal is to teach them right from wrong ... if they make a mis
take, we want them to overcome that with success in the end and be
productive people.” •
OFF-SEASON ARRESTS
>• Jasper Sanks was arrested Dec. 27 on a possession of marijuana charge.
>• Terreal Bierria was arrested Jan. 16 for failure to appear in a Carroll County
court for a 1999 underage possession of alcohol charge.
>• Charles Grant was arrested Jan. 20 on a pandering charge.
>• Verron Haynes was arrested Feb. 13 on charges of stalking, simple battery,
making harassing phone calls and criminal trespass.
Chen, Hunt emphasize student interactivity
SCHEDULE OF PROFILES
Editor’s Note: This is the seventh
part of an eight-part series of fea
tures profiling the candidates for
Student Government Association
president and vice president.
Elections will be held Peb. 21-22.
By DENA LEVITZ
dlevitz@randb.com
It’s time to put the “student”
back into Student Government
Association, say SGA presidential
candidate Tim Chen and his run
ning mate Taylor Hunt.
The way to do this — which is
reflected in the duo’s theme of “A
Campaign of Ideas” — is by listen
ing to what students want.
“Right now, SGA doesn’t really
represent the students,” said
Chen, a sophomore from Athens.
“It’s aU my thoughts, his thoughts,
and we argue about it. But SGA
► Richard Butler, Susan Maples —
Friday, Feb. 9
► Asma Anwar, Lisa Timmons —
Monday, Feb. 12
► George Azih, Aaron Tullar —
Tuesday, Feb. 13
► Lhoris Wilson, Trapper Key —
Wednesday, Feb. 14
► Chuck Richardson, Dixon Greenwood —
Thursday, Feb. 15
► Haytee Vance, Allie Smith —
Friday, Feb. 16
► Timothy Chen, Taylor Hunt —
Monday, Feb. 19
► Tundb Ezekiel, Daniel Carnegie —
Tuesday, Feb. 20
should represent student con
cerns, not members’ own self-
interests.”
Chen and Hunt will gauge this
through their Web site (www.arch-
es.uga.edu/-timchen). They said
that if elected, they plan to have
interactive features up and run
ning next month.
On the site, students can post
suggestions regarding campus
issues such as parking or the
freshman experience, said
Hunt, a sophomore from Dallas,
Texas.
Once the pair has “drummed
up support” for a specific idea,
they will take it to the administra
tion to get further support.
“The truth of the matter is that
administrators will be willing to
work with us on issues, but they
need to know that all students
care,” Hunt said. “They’re not
going to swing things for 40 stu
dents or even 40 elected represen
tatives until they know the stu
dents are behind them 100 per
cent.”
Lack of consensus is a problem
with SGA right now, Chen said.
Senators and other SGA mem
bers, he said, are too busy pushing
their resumes and individual agen
das to make a real difference in
students’ lives.
“We’re just two minds,” he said.
“We believe that the 30,000 minds
at the rest of the school have the
best ideas. That’s why the most
important thing we can change is
getting student backing on every
thing.”
As an incentive for students to
check out the Web site there will
be free food offers available as stu
dents log on, Chen said.
“(The interactivity)’s beneficial
for the students as well as benefi
cial for us because it gives us
issues to tackle,” Chen said, not
ing that local businesses also have
been eager to get involved. “They
get free advertising and it’s a good
target audience they can use.”
There also will be a scholarship
listing and a study-buddy program
featured on the site.
Hunt said the premise behind
the study-buddy program is that
students will be paired up with
someone else from their class to
study with.
“That’s a way to meet people,
and we would really like to
improve the quality of student life
here, make this a friendlier cam
pus,” he said. “This is accom
plished by getting students inter
acting with others, and getting
them more involved on campus.”
Another way Chen said they
plan to increase campus involve
ment is by making the Student
Activities Fair a weeklong night
event right after drop-add. The
fair currently spans a few hours on
a single day one month into the
semester.
SGA DEBATE
When & Where: Tonight at 7 in the
Creswell Hall TV lounge
Sponsored by: Residence Hall
Association
CHEN HUNT
tv
INSIDE TODAY | News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 5 | Sports: 5 | Crossword: 5
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