Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
March 14, 2003
Vol. 110, No. 127 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 57 | Low 44 | Saturday 51
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
MR. ROBOTO
>• A humanoid robot is
coming to the Georgia
Museum of Art. PAGE 6
► Maureen
Ferguson, a
second-year
Military Science
cadet from State
College, Pa., has
her Class A uni
form examined by
her superior at the
ROTC dress
inspection
Thursday afternoon
in front of the
Journalism
Building. The
dress-uniform
inspection is held
once a semester,
roughly a month
before the Military
Ball. The inspec
tions commenced
with a series of
instructions of how
not to get into
trouble over spring
break.
DRESS CODE
COLIN OWENS | The Red & Black
ACLU examines zoning policy
By KATIE REETZ
kreetz@randb.com
A proposal that would
require landlords to obtain
rental permits has captured
the attention of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
of Georgia.
In a letter to Athens Mayor
Heidi Davison and the Athens-
Clarke County commissioners,
the ACLU said the proposal
raises “red flags” for civil
liberties.
Asking the mayor and
commissioners to delay a vote
on the policy, the ACLU
expressed specific concerns
about requiring tenants to
sign and file sworn affidavits.
“We intend to review
whether the right to privacy,
the right against self-incrimi-
nation and the right to equal
protection under the law of
the U.S. and Georgia constitu
tions are infringed by this pro
posed law,” according to the
ACLU’s written statement.
The rental policy would
apply to residents in residen
tial single-family zones (RS).
John Barrow, District 4
commissioner, told the Athens
Banner-Herald the proposal is
meant to help identify people
who violate the law — be they
landlords or tenants.
“Landlords should be held
responsible for the trouble
they cause, and tenants
should be held responsible for
the trouble they cause,” he
said. “Getting to the tenant
through the landlord is the
long way around the bam.”
Patrick Fraser, a law
student who lives in the
RS-zone, said he does not sup
port the proposed policy.
“The new permit will
adversely affect people like me
who are trying to be financially
responsible,” he said.
Fraser is a homeowner who
shares his house with two
rent-paying roommates. He
said he supports the ACLU’s
interest in the proposed policy.
Although Fraser said
he does not feel the entire
proposal should be scrapped,
he said he thinks the
commissioners should enforce
existing laws before enacting
new ones.
“They have no right to
tell me what to do on my prop
erty as long as I’m not bother
ing my neighbors,” he said.
► See ZONING, Page 2
Cole: 1 know
I’m intelligent 7
By STEVE SANDERS
ssanders@randb.com
Tony Cole has broken his silence.
According to an Associated Press report, Cole said he
is apathetic about the ongoing situation in Athens.
“I don’t feel anything either way about the situation
with the Harricks,” Cole said in an interview with the
New Orleans Times-Picayune.
“(Initially) Jim Harrick Jr. was
suspended with pay. And coach
Harrick, if he is fired, he’ll receive the
million dollars or so left on his con
tract,” Cole said in the report. “But
look what they did to me.”
“I have a life to live, too. If I had not
pursued this, everybody would say,
‘Harrick’s not going to take any crap.
You see what he did to Tony Cole.’ But
I wasn’t going to let him walk over me.
It wasn’t right. I didn’t do anything.”
The report, released Thursday,
came out just a day after Georgia students and players
attended a protest donning signs and shirts that said
things such as, “Tony Cole sucks” and “Tony Cole can’t
read this sign.”
According to the report, the Times-Picayune said
Cole has been in seclusion in his hometown of Baton
Rouge, La., since the controversy broke two weeks ago.
He also told the Times-Picayune: “Trouble may follow
me, but I have success wherever I go. I can’t blame any
one for my situations, but my upbringing has always
been in the ’hood.”
Cole lived with various relatives and in foster homes
after his mother was institutionalized with mental illness
when he was 7.
“There’s nothing that’s going to change me. I know
I’m intelligent. I’m always trying to gain knowledge, wis
dom. If you ask me, I never was supposed to get this far,”
he said.
Maybe not, but Cole is much closer to the SEC tour
nament in New Orleans than the Georgia basketball
team is.
It appears that the fight for postseason play is over
for good with the NIT and the NCAA declaring that they
would only invite eligible teams and that the NIT would
not hold a spot open to see if Georgia was forced to play.
Mary Byers, one of the attorneys representing Steve
Thomas and Ezra Williams, said the injunction hearing
still is planned for Monday morning but that it doesn’t
look good for the players.
“We’re obviously really disappointed because there’s
not much we can do,” Byers said. “At this point, it’s pret
ty much pointless.”
Byers said her clients aren’t going to give up and that
they still will show up to the hearing Monday.
“We’re at a loss for what to do,” Byers added. “We feel
the University behaved cowardly and that they exploited
Ezra for four years. They let the players down. They
made millions off the players, and then they just let
them down. We’re stunned at the University.”
— Contributing: ESPN.com
COLE
University sets enrollment record for sixth straight year
By JESSICA LEE REECE
jreece@randb.com
Transfer students now will have
a harder time meeting criteria for
admission to the University.
Enrollment has reached a
record high, causing administra
tors to implement more stringent
admissions requirements.
This semester, a total of 31,384
students are enrolled at the
University, according to University
reports.
To help reduce the number of
transfers, these students now must
have a minimum 3.2 GPA (instead
of a 3.0) to be accepted, said
Bob Spatig, associate director
of Admissions.
“We had to cap the number of
transfer students,” Spatig said.
“It’s much more difficult to predict
the number of transfer students as
opposed to first-year students.”
Students also must have 30
transferrable hours, not including
advanced placement credit, and
at least one year at another college
or university, he said.
Spatig said all transfer students
will be admitted to the University
as long as they meet the criteria.
“While it’s competitive, it’s not
as selective as first-year admis
sions,” Spatig said. “Everyone who
meets (the requirements) is admit
ted as long as there are no red
flags.”
Red flags include things such as
ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
Incoming freshmen:
>- minimum 3.2 GPA
(up from 3.0 GPA)
Transfer students:
>■ 30 transferable hours (not including
advanced placement credit)
>- at least one year completed at another
college
convictions or school misconduct
records that could affect accep
tance, he said.
The 1.6 percent enrollment
increase over last spring
marks the sixth straight record
spring enrollment.
“How many students we
can hold is anyone’s guess,” said
University Registrar Gary Moore.
“But we’re still capped at 32,500.”
Out of the total students
enrolled, about 90 percent are tak
ing full course loads (12 credit
hours).
State funding is based on credit
hours, yet the money is not always
reflected in an exact 1-1 ratio,
Moore said.
The official credit-hour report is
due next week.
There was a 25 percent decrease
in undergraduate enrollment from
last spring.
The increase comes from
graduate enrollment, which rose
9.3 percent, and accounts for
the inclusion of the Gwinnett
University Center campus.
“We had an increase (of 487
students) in enrollment in the
graduate program last year,”
Moore said. “Some of that’s eco
nomically driven, some of it is a
concerted effort by the University.”
The University also reported
a 91 percent freshman-to-sopho-
more-year retention rate, a rate
Moore said is “hard to beat.”
Total enrollment for all
colleges and universities within
the University System of
Georgia increased by 7.1 percent to
233,098.
— Contributing: The Associated
Press
Police apprehend suspect in
Wednesday’s bomb threat
By AMY LEIGH WOMACK
awomack@randb.com
University Police have apprehended the
person suspected in Wednesday’s bomb
threat at Snelling Dining Hall.
Early Thursday night Scott Brock
Ollar, 31, of East Whitehall Road, was
charged with calling in a false public
alarm, said University Police Chief Chuck
Horton.
Prior to Ollar’s arrest, Horton said
evidence indicated Ollar was at the
phone booth outside Snelling Dining Hall
Wednesday.
Athens-Clarke County 911 received
information from a male caller stating
that there was a bomb at Snelling Dining
Hall at about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The dining hall was evacuated as
bomb-sniffing dogs and University
police officers searched the building for a
bomb.
Employees returned to work — reset
ting the dining hall for customers — at
6:47 p.m.
Students were allowed to return to the
building within 30 minutes.
Horton said he could not confirm
whether Wednesday’s bomb threat could
be related to the February threats to
Memorial Hall, the Physics building, the
Ramsey Student Center and University
buses.
“You can never say for sure until you
have all the facts,” he said.
— Contributing: Staff reports
COLIN OWENS | The Red & Black
PACKING UP
AND
HEADING OUT
◄ Ross Camp, a senior
from Douglasville, packs
up his Ford Explorer on
Thursday afternoon to
leave early for his spring
break trip. “I told two of
my teachers that I
wouldn’t be there on
Friday, but the other two
didn’t have an attendance
policy,” Camp said. To
learn about spring break
safety, see Page 5.
News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 6 | Sports: 7
INSIDE TODAY
Crossword: 5