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WEDNESDAY
April 27, 2005
Vol. 112, No. 150 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy/wind.
High 70 | Low 44 | Thursday 76
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
SHAARA AWARD
>• Professor, Civil War
fiction author, receives
award for novel. PAGE 7
MISS POPULARITY
MELISSA GOLDEN | The Red & Black
A Shouts of “stop pushing” are heard as Miss UGA Deondra Rose signs autographs at
Oglethorpe County Middle School Tuesday morning after speaking to the students about
leadership. This visit was one of seven she has made to area elementary and middle schools
since being crowned Miss UGA. “It was a nice way to end off the semester,” Rose said.
Dogs return to Turner Field
to face Jackets, giant crowd
Catcher Jason Jacobs, left, and outfielder Kyle Keen
celebrate a score during a game earlier this month. The
Bulldogs will face off against Georgia Tech tonight at 7 in
Atlanta.
By DAVID PITTMAN
dpittman@randb.com
When the Diamond Dogs play
tonight at Turner Field, the home of
the Atlanta Braves, the team should
be used to playing in the large
stadium and in front of a crowd 10
times the size it normally does.
Georgia (21-18) and No. 7
Georgia Tech (30-10) play at 7 p.m.
in Turner Field in the Spring
Baseball Classic for Kids, and
roughly 20,000 tickets already have
been sold for the game, said event
spokeswoman Renee Fraley.
Head coach David Perno said the
Bulldogs should be ready for the
huge crowd. Last year’s game
against the Yellow Jackets at Turner
Field was the second highest
attended college baseball game in
history, with a crowd of 28,836.
One of Georgia’s games against
Texas in the College World Series
last year was the third highest
attended college baseball game
ever.
“Once you get so many people in
there, a few thousand more is not
going to make a big difference,”
Perno said.
Perno added there is not much
difference playing in Foley Field —
which has a capacity of 3,291 and a
crowd Perno said is “right on top of
you” — and a large major league
stadium.
“Those places (like Turner Field)
with all those people, it doesn’t get a
whole lot louder, even though
there’s a lot more people,” Perno
said.
At least one Georgia player said
he looks forward to playing for large
crowds.
► See CROWD, Page 8
LAUREN CARROLL | The Red & Black
BASEBALL
vs. Georgia Tech
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Turner Field
Tickets: $10 general admission
TV: Fox Sports South
Lt. Gov. hopeful speaks on campus
By GRAYSON IRVIN
girvin@randb.com
After years of
building his
political reputa
tion as a
Republican lob
byist and cam
paign manager,
Ralph Reed has
decided to put
his own name on
the ballot.
Reed, a
University alum
nus and candi
date for lieutenant governor, will
speak at 7:30 tonight in
Room 102 of the Student Learning
Center.
Andrew Dill, the current chair
man of the College Republicans,
who are hosting the event, said he
thinks Reed is attempting to
launch a political career and grad
ually reach a high office.
Dill said Reed has spoken at the
University before, but this is the
first time he will speak while on
campaign.
u
“Candidates know that
coming to speak to College
Republicans may pay
dividends in the long run. ’
CHARLES BULLOCK
Richard B. Russell
PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
“The timing now is a lot bigger,”
Dill said.
He added that Reed has the
campaign advantage of both local
and national recognition.
Charles Bullock, Richard B.
Russell professor of political sci
ence, said Reed has a chance to
launch a successful political career
if he can distance himself from an
incident involving a Texas Native
American casino.
Reed’s former business associ
ate Jack Abramoff is under Senate
investigation for his dealings with
the Texas tribe.
Bullock said candidates can
often benefit from college visits.
RALPH REED
Organized by the University’s College
Republicans
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Student Learning Center,
Room 102
“Candidates know that coming
to speak to College Republicans
may pay dividends in the long run,”
Bullock said.
He said those “dividends” may
come in the form of young, enthusi
astic volunteers for future cam
paigns.
Reed began his political career
when he served as chairman of the
University’s College Republicans
during the early 1980s.
Since graduating, Reed has
occupied a number of political
positions. He served as director of
the Christian Coalition from 1989
to 1997 and was chairman of the
Georgia Republican Party in 2002.
Recently, Reed directed the 2004
Bush-Cheney campaign as chair
man of the Southeast region.
REED
Foundation may
hold onto funds
By SARA PAUFF
spauff@randb. com
The University Foundation could
legally continue to manage the
University’s $475 million endow
ment, despite severing ties with the
school, a University official said this
week.
“It’s an option,” said Steve
Shewmaker, vice president of Legal
Affairs at the University.
The Foundation’s Board of
Trustees meets today at 2 p.m. in
Atlanta. The chair of the
Foundation’s executive board,
Lynda Courts, did not return phone
calls as of press time.
Several trustees said they intend
to continue managing the money,
even as a group independent of the
University. Three trustees said they
felt an obligation to keep going,
even with the split, The Associated
Press reported.
Shewmaker said the possibility
of the Foundation continuing to
exist and to manage the funds
would be part of a continuing
discussion.
“They could continue to manage
the endowment,” he said. “It’s like
having bank accounts in two
places.”
Shewmaker said in that case, the
University would start a new foun
dation with new money.
“Donors could decide where they
want to be,” he said.
The University Foundation’s
total assets come to about
$694 million for 2004, according to
documents from the organization’s
Web site. Assets include not only
the endowment but anything the
Foundation owns. The organiza
tion’s expenses, including general
operation costs for the Foundation
board and the Capital Campaign,
totaled about $33.8 million, accord
ing to the Web site.
University President Michael
Adams said Monday that the new
foundation would be equally
responsible and manage the
endowment well.
Steve Wrigley, senior vice
president for External Affairs who
handles fundraising, said none of
the endowment would be in
jeopardy because all funds have to
be used to better the University.
The Board of Regents instruct
ed Adams to separate the
University from its fundraising arm
after the Foundation did not sign a
memorandum that details the rela
tionship between the University,
the Regents and the Foundation.
David Bass, director for the
National Center for Affiliated
Foundations, said he hadn’t seen
anything exactly like this split
before.
Bass said governing boards and
foundations have had squabbles
before, but he was not personally
familiar with any of them splitting.
Bass said some universities
have multiple foundations to man
age their endowment. He said the
University of Virginia, for example,
has more than 20.
Bass said in many cases “those
assets will be invested as one
pooled fund.”
“Various foundations will pool
their assets and invest them collec
tively,” he said.
Bass added that university
foundations often can invest
money in ways the universities
can’t, but said foundations also
provide a “stewardship role.”
Expert discredits claim
library fire was accident
By CAROLINE ERVIN
cervin@randb .com
and BRIAN McDEARMON
mcdearmon@randb.com
A fire expert who took the stand
Tuesday ruled out the possibility
that a fire in the Main Library two
years ago was set by accident.
Jason Allen Nelms is charged
with first degree arson in connec
tion with the July 2003 fire that
closed the library’s second floor for
more than a year and, according to
University officials, caused more
than $12 million in damage to the
building as well as books and valu
able documents.
District Attorney Ken Mauldin
called fire experts Mickey Hunt and
Charles Vaughn from the state
Insurance and Safety Fire
Commissioner’s Office to the stand
Tuesday.
In a 50-minute video played for
the jury, Vaughn conducted a “test
burn” — using books and boxes
from the library — to determine the
plausibility of Nelms’ claim he may
have accidentally started the fire
with a cigarette and matches.
In the video, Vaughn failed
repeatedly to light a book with a lit
cigarette, nor could he light a stack
of boxes using several matches.
The stack caught fire only after
he held a lighter to it for many
seconds.
“This fire was not an accidental
fire,” Vaughn said. “It takes an
intent to set the number two fire
(site) and the boxes.”
Earlier in the day, Mauldin
reviewed photographs of the library
taken within 24 hours of the fire as
Hunt and Vaughn talked about
what they found when they investi
gated the scene.
The men were questioned at
length about evidence they said
suggests three separate fires were
intentionally set on the second floor
— a linchpin of the prosecution’s
case the fire was the result of arson.
“In my opinion, they were all
set,” Hunt said.
The notion that there were three
separate “points of origin” came
under attack during cross-examina
tion, as Nelms’ attorney Gerry
Brown tried to poke holes in Hunt’s
ability to determine with absolute
certainty where the fire began.
Hunt had testified that he
believed the main blaze — labeled
point number one — began toward
LAUREN CARROLL | The Red & Black
A Fire investigator Mickey
Hunt, left, confirms for
District Attorney Ken
Mauldin that the photos
being submitted as evidence
in the Jason Nelms trial are
the same photos that he took
inside the library after it
burned two years ago.
the back of the room, a few feet
away from a desk with a computer
and other electrical appliances.
The relatively sound condition of
the desk and the absence of
damage to the electrical outlet
behind the desk, Hunt said, indicat
ed that electrical equipment was
not the root of the fire.
“This number one is only an
approximation, it could just as easi
ly been down here,” Brown said,
pointing toward the vicinity of a
desk on a floor plan of the area.
“Right,” Hunt replied.
Brown also questioned whether
another of the three fires could have
been started by hot melted plastic
from the ceiling falling on a book.
Vaughn discredited that idea in
his testimony.
The prosecution called Karey
Paul Turner, an acquaintance of
Nelms’ from the streets, and Nema
Etabar, who worked at the Stage
Door Vintage Clothing store at the
time. Both said they witnessed
Nelms burning objects on different
occasions.
Turner claimed to have seen
Nelms setting something on fire
downtown the week before the
library fire; Etabar said he wit
nessed Nelms burning paper
around 1:30 p.m. the day of the fire
outside of Stage Door before hear
ing him announce a few hours later
that he was headed to the library.
Nelms declined to testify and
closing statements will begin today.
News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 6 | Sports: 7
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