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MONDAY
January 7, 2002
Vol. 109, No. 78 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 43 | Low 27 | Tuesday 48
ONLINE: www.redandblack.coni
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
AN ABRUPT
ENDING
>■ Locals react to
Spurrier’s retirement
from Florida. PAGE 7
Tara Baker
honored in
dedication
ceremony
By RACHEL VOTTA
rvotta@randb.com
Tara Baker, a University law student
slain last year; was honored recently with a
grave marker dedication ceremony in
Fayetteville.
“A grave dedication ceremony is done to
honor a member of our chaptei;” said Betty
Harrah, Regent of the Augustin Clayton
Chapter of the National Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution
(NSDAR), the group which presented the
dedication Saturday.
U
“Tara wanted to be a judge
because she hated injustice. The
one thing she loved the most,
justice, has not been served. ”
LINDSAY BAKER
Father of Tara Baker
Baker was a member of NSDAR as a
descendant of a founding family, Harrah
said.
“The ceremony usually occurs sooner,
but we waited because there had been no
significant change in her case,” said Virginia
Bakei; Tara’s mother. “We wanted this to
bring her case back to the public eye.”
On Jan. 19, 2001, Tara Baker was found
dead in her Deer Park home in Athens,
which was set on fire to allegedly cover up
the slaying, according to police. The case
remains unsolved.
“We’re asking everyone to consider
January as a month of prayer for the
(Georgia Bureau of Investigation) to
uncover something,” Virginia Baker said.
The first to speak at the ceremony was
Lariy Peevy, associate vice president of
enrollment of Georgia colleges and
universities.
Peevy knew Tara Baker through his
daughter, Ashley. The two girls were sisters
in the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
Peevy gave Tara’s mother a new diploma
from Georgia College and State University,
where Tara completed her undergraduate
degree.
The original diploma was lost in the fire.
Tara’s father, Lindsay Bakei; also spoke.
‘Tara wanted to be a judge because she
hated injustice,” Lindsay Baker said. “The
SARA MILLER | The Red a Black
▲ Tara Baker's father Lindsay and mother Virginia speak to fellow
mourners at the memorial Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville. The mys
tery of Baker’s death still has not been solved.
one thing she loved the most, justice, has
not been served.”
NSDAR officials then dedicated the
marker and Tara Baker’s brother and sister
unveiled the stone.
Her gravestone is decorated with violets
and an insignia for Tara Baker’s involve
ment in Alpha Delta Pi sorority, a bronze
NSDAR insignia, the scales of justice to
represent Tara Baker’s career ambitions
and a full-grown angel because her family
considered her their angel, Lindsay Baker
said.
The family chose to leave the back of her
grave plain and smooth because, they said,
Tara had complained that graves do not tell
a person’s story.
The family plans to engrave Tara’s story
once they know what it is.
“Once we know what happened to hei;
we will heal faster,” Virginia Baker
said.
U.S. Taliban
agent could
face treason
By GREG BLUESTEIN
gbluestei@randb.com
American Taliban agent John Walker could face
treason-like charges from U.S. courts, according to
University law professor Ron Carlson.
Walker, a 20-year-old Washington native, was cap
tured in late November during the Qala Jangi
prison revolt in northern Afghanistan.
The revolt eventually resulted in the death of
CIA operative Mike (Johnny) Spann — the first
American combat-related death in Afghanistan.
“Treason is one of the few crimes directly defined
in the Constitution,” Carlson said.
A treason sentence requires either a court admis
sion or two eyewitness testimonies, making the con
viction a daunting task for prosecutors, he
said.
Aside from a direct treason verdict, Carlson said
the prosecutors have a veritable “menu” of charges
to select from.
Justice Department.officials told The New York
Times that Walker could be tried as an “enemy bel
ligerent,” or face charges for providing material sup
port for a terrorist organization.
Carlson said those charges involve American citi
zens performing “turncoat roles and active hostili
ty” against the United States.
Loch Johnson, a University political science pro
fessor, said while Walker might not face direct trea
son charges, he will be charged with synonymous
crimes.
“I think he’ll be convicted of some sort of trea
son,” said Johnson, a CIA expert. “There are lots of
fancy legal terms for treason, but there is a fine
line.”
If prosecutors decide to try Walker as a enemy
belligerent, he could face the death penalty — a
charge Johnson said Walker probably won’t
receive.
“I don’t think he’ll get capital punishment,” he
said. “I think the judge and jury will feel sympathy
for him. He’s a young, impressionable guy.”
Carlson said he agreed.
“Unless he is shown to be directly involved in
causing the death of Spann, it will be hard for 12
(jurors) to concur this is a death penalty case,” he
said.
Becky Kay, a freshman from Marietta, said she
felt Walker deserves capital punishment.
“He’s a traitor to the U.S.,” she said. “I think he
should get the death penalty.”
MORE INSIDE
>• The latest developments in the war on terrorism. 3
Class withdrawals now can be done online
By JEREMY CRAIG
jcraig@randb.com
Starting this semester, students no
longer will use paper forms to withdraw
from classes, but instead will use OASIS,
according to University officials.
“It’s the next natural step,” said Gary
Moore, University Registrar. “We process
around 8,000 to 8,500 withdrawal slips per
term. It takes a lot of reviewing of signa
tures and a lot of time.”
The new system should eliminate the
tedium of the paper process, he said.
The Registrar’s Office hopes to do away
with paper withdrawals this semester.
“When the forms are used up, we won’t
order them anymore,” said Bill Marshall,
Associate Registrar for Operations.
“We hope students will have a modicum
of problems, if any,” Moore said. “Not every
one application will come off without a
glitch, but if there are any problems, stu
dents should come by the Registrar’s
Office.”
The new system also resulted in the
University’s first official policy to use e-
mail for official communications, Marshall
said.
The University requires faculty members
to register a preferred e-mail address
for official communications, such as
withdrawal notices, he said.
“Some of the faculty were a little resis
tant to the policy,” Moore said. “There were
concerns that they are registering an e-mail
address that is not secure.”
Marshall said precautions have been
taken to ensure a safe system.
“OASIS does not specify to the student
what the e-mail address of the instructor
is,” he said. “All links in an e-mailed with
drawal notice are unique and require
verification.”
To withdraw from a class or from the
University, a student uses the “withdraw
from classes” option on OASIS. The stu
dent then selects the classes he or she
wishes to withdraw from.
OASIS will alert the student about the
consequences of withdrawal before pro
cessing the request.
The student’s instructor will receive the
withdrawal notice requesting the final
grade of “W” or “WF” and the last date of
class attendance via a unique Internet link.
If a student withdraws because of a fam
ily emergency or health problems, that
information will be included in the notifica
tion e-mail.
Withdrawals due to involuntary military
activation will be automatically processed
with no further action from the
instructor.
Gym Dogs exceed expectations, set national record
By ANNE MILLIGAN
amilligan@randb.com
The Georgia Gym Dogs
set a national record for high
est point total in an opening
meet when they defeated
Nebraska Sunday at
Stegeman Coliseum 196.875-
196.350.
“I knew that this team had
the potential to score high,”
Georgia coach Suzanne
Yoculan said. “I did not think
that we would compete in
the first meet of the season
with so few mistakes.”
The score surpassed
Georgia’s previous best of
195.95, recorded in a season
opener against Auburn in
1993.
“It’s nice to come out and
show everyone that we can
go and blast off a score like
that at the first meet,”
sophomore Cory Fritzinger
said.
Fritzinger, the reigning
NCAA vault and bars cham
pion, won Sunday’s all-
around competition with a
39.525.
The Gym Dogs also capi
talized on an impressive
debut of fresh talent.
Redshirt freshman Kinsey
Rowe posted a 39.475 in the
all-around competition.
“I was just really excited
to finally get out there and
have a chance to make a dif
ference,” said Rowe, who was
sidelined last year due to
injury.
Freshman Michelle
Emmons recorded the meet’s
highest score on a single
event with a 9.975 on floor.
She hit the routine under
tremendous pressure after
Loren Simpson, Georgia’s
initial competitor on the
event, fell during her
performance.
“That was a big routine for
her to come back and hit
that floor routine after Loren
had already fallen,” Yoculan
said.
Because the Gym Dogs
were inconsistent in practice
and plagued by injury
throughout the fall, Yoculan
said she was impressed by
the team’s opening
performance.
“I wasn’t surprised with
Kinsey or Cory’s perfor
mance because they haven’t
been injured all fall, and they
have done the repetitions,”
Yoculan said. “I just thought
overall that the team as a
group wouldn’t have the con
fidence that it would take to
score this.”
Last year, Georgia gradu
ated four All-Americans who
played pivotal roles. The 2002
squad must fill the gap creat
ed by their absence.
“We have unbelievable
competitors on our team,”
Yoculan said. “Kinsey Rowe
can replace the leadership
that we had last year. She’s
got tremendous leadership
skills and a great
personality.”
Nebraska’s only victory
came on bars, where junior
Julie Houk scored a 9.925 to
win the event.
The 6th-ranked
Comhuskers never have
defeated a Georgia gymnas
tics team. The Gym Dogs
lead the all-time series
17-0.
Georgia is 14-4-1 in season
openers under coach Yoculan
and has won 14 of its last 16
opening meets.
▲ Kinsey Rowe performs her floor exercise at the
Gymdogs first meet Sunday afternoon.
INSIDE TODAY | News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Ve iety: 5 | Sports: 7 | Crossword: 5