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News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 9 | Sports: 14
INSIDE TODAY
Crossword: 5
MONDAY
August 19, 2002
Vol. 110, No. 1 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 93 | Low 69 | Tuesday 93
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
PARKING WOES
>• Parking problems
jump start the new school
year. PAGE 3
FEEL THE BURN
MATT ROTH | The Red & Black
▲ At the beginning of an early morning practice last Wednesday, redshirt freshman
linebacker Derrick White, from Union City, helps stretch Benjamin Watson, a junior
tight end from Rock Hill, S.C. Starting Monday, the shorter two-a-day practices will be
consolidated into one longer afternoon practice, which will start at 3:30 p.m.
Football expectations run high
Creswell resident dies
from ninth stay fall
By AMY LEIGH WOMACK
awomack@randb.com
As students moved
into dorms during the
weekend, many were
unaware of the tragedy
that struck a Univer
sity dorm community
Saturday morning.
“When my mom called
me (Saturday) night and
asked me about it, I didn’t
know what she was talking
about,” said Loletta
Turner, a freshman from
Milledgeville who moved
into Creswell Hall the day
of the incident.
At about 2 a.m.
Saturday, the Univer
sity Police Department
received an emergency call
from University Housing
employees, according to
a statement released by
the Department of Public
Safety.
Patrol officers and
emergency personnel
found Robel Solomon, 18,
of Atlanta, dead in the
loading dock area behind
Creswell adjacent to
Cloverhurst Avenue.
Solomon allegedly fell
from a ninth floor bath
room window.
“There was no visible
damage to the window,”
Police Chief Chuck Horton
said.
He said a group of
Housing employees were
taking a break outside
their office, near “where
the body ended,” minutes
before the incident.
“I think they heard a
noise and went to see what
it was,” Horton said. “No
body we talked to heard
anything like screaming or
a commotion.
“I have no reason to
believe there was foul play
based on the evidence
found at the scene,” he
said.
Horton said a “docu
ment” was found with the
victim. The content was
not disclosed at press
time.
He said Solomon’s body
has been sent to the state
crime lab for an autopsy.
It is not known whether
drugs or alcohol played a
part in the incident.
“We’re trying to piece
together a tragic event one
piece at a time,” Horton
said.
Horton said he was told
Solomon checked in
Friday. Solomon’s room
mate also had checked in
by Friday but had returned
home prior to the incident.
“They hadn’t even
spoken by phone,” said
Donald DeMaria, area
coordinator for the
Creswell Community.
DeMaria said the room
mate elected to move
to another dorm space
upon his return to the
University.
Richard Rose, assistant
vice president for Student
Affairs, said he notified the
Solomon family Saturday.
“It’s just real sad,” he
said.
Many students said
they were unaware of the
incident and some had just
heard word Sunday
afternoon.
“I thought it was unbe
lievable,” said Katherine
Guthrie, a freshman from
Woodstock. “At first, I
thought it was just a
rumor.”
Counselors from the
University were on hand
Saturday morning and
throughout the weekend
to work with staff
members and students,
said Jim Day, director of
University Housing.
The University commu
nity also is mourning the
deaths of two students and
an accomplished professor.
Students Marie Musgni,
22, of Athens, and Whitney
Mason Boyer, 20, of
Atlanta, died in unrelated
accidents.
>- See DEATHS, Page 3
By ANNE MILLIGAN
amilligan@randb.com
The fall forecast looks to be
favorable for Georgia football.
Ranked among the top 15 in
nearly every major preseason
poll, the Bulldogs are listed 8th in
the Associated Press poll. That’s
the highest preseason rank since
entering at 7th in 1982, a season
that marked Georgia’s
last Southeastern Conference
Championship.
“The players want to meet the
expectations,” said senior
Terrence Edwards, who shares
the Georgia record for touch
down receptions in a season
at nine. “We want that feeling
back.”
The anticipation surrounding
Mark Richt’s second year resem
bles 2000, when the reign of
predecessor Jim Donnan ended.
Donnan’s team entered the year
at 10th in the AP poll. He led
Georgia to an 8-4 (5-3 SEC)
record and finished ranked 20th
in the AP poll. Richt matched
those marks in 2001 with a final
ranking of 22nd by the AP
“Coach Donnan had to win.
Everybody knew that he had to
win, and you saw what happened.
He got fired,” Edwards said. “But
with coach Richt, if we don’t
meet expectations, I don’t think
he’s going to be fired because I
think coach Richt is going to be
here for a long time.”
Richt has remodeled the
Bulldogs’ training facilities,
bringing a new atmosphere to the
Georgia field house.
“The talent’s been here. You
can’t put a finger on what has
been wrong with the program,”
Edwards said.
Preseason All-American
linebacker Boss Bailey said he
sees a difference between this
year’s team and the Bulldogs of
2000.
“It’s a better team bonding
out here,” Bailey said. “A lot
of guys are leaning on each other
and really believing in one
another.”
Two SEC schools, Tennessee
and Florida, have topped Georgia
in nearly every poll and are
ranked 5th and 6th, respectively,
by the AP for 2002. That hasn’t
diminished expectations for the
Bulldogs to win their
first conference title in 20 years.
>- See FOOTBALL, Page 16
Tickets available for football season
Georgia’s football team began preparations
for the upcoming season Aug. 2, but for those
not standing between the hedges this
fall, tickets are available this week.
Today through Friday, upperclassmen
who bought season tickets last spring
can pick them up from Stegeman
Coliseum ticket booths three and four Hj?
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with their
student ID. Students also will be
allowed to bring one more ID.
New students can sign up for
tickets Aug. 26 at the same
booths at Stegeman from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with their
student ID.
Depending on demand, some incoming
students may receive a split season
package.
If so, information will be on the
outside doors of Stegeman Tuesday
evening.
All new students signing up Aug. 26
will receive their ticket package Aug. 28
at the same booths they purchased tickets
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Students who purchased away game tick
ets can pick them up Sept. 9-11 at the coliseum
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. New students can sign
up for tickets to the Georgia-Florida game only
on Sept. 30.
— Ben Egger
New routes for new year
By KIMBERLY BOWERS
kbowers@randb.com
Construction on campus and
the University’s new parking plan
will force several routes on the
school’s bus system to be altered
again this year.
The first major changes to the
bus routes occurred last
year with the closing of
D.W. Brooks Drive. This fall, the
bus system is being fine-tuned,
said Campus Transit Manager
Ron Hamlin.
The South Campus Loop bus
route still will be in service, but it
now will be called the East/West
bus line. The old East/West bus
route was eliminated.
Additional buses also have
been added to the Russell Hall
and Family Housing bus lines so
that the buses arrive more fre
quently, Hamlin said. The Orbit
bus will begin service an hour
earlier at 6 a.m.
Buses that used to go to the
Ramsey Center still will make all
CAMPUS TRANSIT
Campus Transit operates
34 buses on nine daytime
routes and six buses on
three nighttime routes,
averaging 3,000 route miles
and 1,600 daily bus trips.
Hours of Operation are from
6 a.m. through 1 a.m.
of their stops, but the
driver will take a slight detour. All
other routes will remain
the same.
Campus Transit also is offer
ing park and ride services from
the overflow parking lot at the
Women’s Athletic Center on
Milledge Avenue. From there, the
bus will take passengers to the
East Campus Deck where they
can catch other campus buses,
Hamlin said.
This service will allow people
without parking permits to get to
campus easier, he said.
“We are always trying to
improve our services,” Hamlin
said. “I hope we meet everyone’s
expectations.”
With all of the
changes, Student Government
Association President Sachin
Varghese said it would be
easy for students to get confused
during the first few weeks of
school.
SGA, along with the Graduate
Student Association, is trying to
remedy that problem by placing
maps of all the bus routes in
every sheltered bus stop on cam
pus, Varghese said.
Sheltered bus stops make up
about half of the 66 total stops on
campus, he said.
Previously, students would
have to board a bus in order to
pick up a map of the bus routes.
Now, passengers will know which
bus line to get on before their bus
comes, Varghese said.
“This is a really simple step we
can take to make it a whole lot
easier for people to get around,”
he said.
Construction continues
into final phase for fall
By STEVE SANDERS
ssanders@randb.com
and RACHEL VOTTA
rvotta@randb.com
Renovations to Broad and Baldwin
streets and facility additions to Sanford
Stadium are among the con
struction efforts that may hinder
students returning to campus.
After a summer filled with construc
tion, Baldwin Street has reopened to
traffic with many new pedestrian
safety improvements.
In an effort to slow down vehicles and
make pedestrians more visible, a raised
brick platform has been installed across
the intersection of Baldwin Street and
Sanford Drive, said Grounds Director
Dexter Adams.
The stairwell by Park Hall will be
closed for several days, and Herty Drive
will be used as a detour, he said.
Since January, D.W. Brooks Drive has
undergone substantial reconstruction
work to convert the former
roadway into a pedestrian greenspace.
Infrastructure work, including a new
waterline, storm sewer, sanity sewer
and data communication duct
bank, are scheduled for completion by
Nov. 1, said Scott Simpson, project
architect.
Sidewalks and all surface structures
should be completed by December, and
landscaping is scheduled to be finished by
March 1, he said.
The Athens-Clarke County govern
ment also had renovation projects of its
own this summer.
Lanes will be restricted on Broad
Street today and Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 7
a.m. The road is being repaved as part of
an ongoing infrastructure renovation pro
ject, with the final phase occurring next
summer at the earliest, said David Clark,
director for Transportation and Public
works for Clarke County.
Drivers can expect delays on Broad
Street between Wall and Thomas streets
and between College Avenue and
Lumpkin Street, according to the A-CC
Web site (www.athensclarkecounty.com).
Many athletic facilities also are receiv
ing face lifts, most notably the Sanford
Stadium Gate 6 renovation project on
East Campus Road and the construction
on the new men’s and women’s tennis
clubhouses.
Although the project will not be com
pleted by the Clemson game on Aug. 31,
fans should not be affected at all by the
remaining construction, said Assistant
Athletics Director Charlie Whittemore.
The $17 million project should be fin
ished by the second home game on
Sept. 21, he said.
The addition will provide more
restrooms and concession stands, a larger
first aid station and new gates that will
greatly increase the efficiency of fan
access.
“This will give fans much more relief in
the concourse area without concession
lines interfering,” Whittemore said. “It will
give people a shaded area to go to during
day games to get out of the sun, cool off
and socialize.”
The Sanford Stadium renovations are
the first of a series of construction efforts
to the stadium’s infrastructure.
The new men’s tennis clubhouse will be
in the same location as the old facility,
next to Court 1 at Henry Feild Stadium.
The women’s tennis program also will
boast a new clubhouse this spring.
The women’s facility will be construct
ed overlooking courts 4,5 and 6 of the Dan
Magill Tennis Complex, directly next to
the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
Construction is expected to be com
pleted by the time the Bulldogs host the
2003 NCAA tournament at the Dan Magill
Tennis Complex in May.
MATT ROTH | The Red & Black
◄ Workers like
Horacio Mendoza
have been
sweating since
April to beautify
the Broad Street
area of down
town. If all goes
accordingly, the
dust should
settle in
approximately
two weeks. The
final phase of
the downtown
construction
could be finshed
as soon as next
summer.
