Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
April 13, 2006
Vol. 113, No. 139 | Athens, Georgia
Sunny.
High 84 | Low 58 | Friday 88
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
MAGIC SCHOOL
BUS
>- Stranded hand heads
hack to town after a
trouble-filled bus tour.
OUT & ABOUT, PAGE 2B
LAUREN FELTEN | The Red & Black
A Jeremy Ransom stops for a portrait outside the
Wesley Foundation building before its weekly praise and
worship session Wednesday evening. His shirt reads “Hi
Ya: It’s Ninja Time.”
Wesley ninja
strikes back
By CAROLINE ERVIN
cervin@randb.com
Ninja vs. Pirate day start
ed as an innocent way to
meet people and invite
them to the Wesley Found
ation, the United Methodist
group on campus.
Ninjas were supposed to
say, “Hi-ya doing?” while
pirates would introduce
themselves to students with
a “How arrrr you doing?”
Unfortunately for Jere
miah Ransom, the sopho
more detained by Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearm ag
ents Tuesday, he was intro
duced to an agent’s knee.
“I have a good bruise on
my back where he had his
knee on me,” Ransom said.
Camera phone photos
submitted to The Red &
Black by student Kathleen
Ruark showed an ATF
agent kneeling on Ransom’s
neck while other agents
looked on.
Ruark and a friend
noticed Ransom approach
Snelling Dining Hall, but
she dismissed the sight at
first: “There are random
people like that all the
time.”
Ruark snapped to atten
tion, however, when she saw
a man in a polo shirt and
khaki pants yelling for peo
ple to get down.
Though Ransom seemed
in good spirits about the
incident — he even changed
his Facebook profile picture
to a “wanted” poster featur
ing himself in the ninja gear
that got him in trouble —
but he said he is considering
a lawsuit.
Ransom said he plans to
meet with an attorney to
discuss possible legal action
against the ATF for their
treatment of the situation.
ATF Special Agent in
Charge Vanessa McLemore
could not be contacted by
press time.
Having dressed up as a
ninja for his part in Wesley’s
spirit week event, Ransom
was stopped by ATF agents
>- See NINJA, Page 3A
Council to discuss drug use
Required online alcohol ed
program could become reality
By LAUREN MORGAN
lraorgan@randb.com
In its last meeting of the
year, the Executive Comm
ittee of University Council
will address critical policy
changes concerning student
alcohol and drug use.
Freshmen and transfer
students will have to com
plete a mandatory online
alcohol education program
during their first semester at
the University, if approved by
the full University Council,
which meets later in the
month.
The Student Affairs
Committee, which has been
working on the proposal, said
if the program is approved
those students will not be
able to register for classes
until the course is completed.
Carole Middlebrooks, di
rector of the state office of
substance abuse in higher
education, said the online
program is one part of a com
prehensive program.
“The online program by
itself does not affect behavior
change,” she said. “It does
affect knowledge and atti
tude.”
Though the online pro
gram is a way to introduce
new students to a very impor
tant issue, Middlebrooks said
the online program makes a
clear statement of what the
administration expects from
its students.
Student drinking policies
are not the administration’s
only concerns. A number of
students are campaigning for
the addition of anti-discrimi
nation policies concerning
lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans
gender, questioning and ally
students, faculty and staff.
“There has definitely been
a lot more going on in the
past two months,” said
Chuck Cohen of the Lambda
Alliance. “We’ve been meeting
with a lot of people dis
cussing the non-discrimina
tion policy.”
University Council first
>- See COUNCIL, Page 5A
RIGHT ON TARGET
KRISTEN D. FAIRCLOTH The Red & Beack
A Kyle Blagg, president of the UGA Gun Club, fires off a round during the club’s weekly meeting at The Firing Lane
Wednesday night. In addition to meeting weekly to shoot, the club helps educate other school clubs and organizations.
Diamond Dogs fall to Georgia Tech 8-2
Suspended offender
stands by decision
By JESSICA LEVINE
jlevine@randb.com
A University student who
was suspended for not
divulging he was a regis
tered sex offender on his
application stood by his
decision Wednesday not to
state he was convicted of a
crime.
The Office of Judicial
Programs held a hearing to
determine if Joshua Clay
Oliver, a junior from Toccoa,
was guilty of furnishing false
information to the Uni
versity.
No decision was made
Wednesday, and the office is
waiting to hear the state
Attorney General’s opinion
on the case. The hearing will
reconvene at 1:30 p.m.
Friday.
Oliver pled guilty to
aggravated assault with
intent to rape in 2003.
When applying to the
University in May 2005, he
checked the “no” box in
response to the question on
the application that asks
whether the applicant has
>- See OLIVER, Page 5A
ALEX BYINGTON
abyington@randb.com
Georgia’s bats didn’t show
up Wednesday night as the
team fell to No. 14 Georgia
Tech. Georgia went 3-for-26
batting after the third inning
of game one of a three game
series.
The only Bulldog to have
an extra-base hit was fresh
man Gordon Beckham who
went a perfect 3-for-3 with
two doubles and two-RBIs.
“We were just a little off.
We came out a little flat. We
never really got in a rhythm
on the mound and offensive
ly,” senior Jason Jacobs said.
Jacobs was 0-for-4 on the
night but did hit a monster
blast that was caught by the
wind as it died at the warning
track in center, something
head coach David Perno call
ed a “turning point” for his
Bulldogs.
Freshman pitcher Iain
Sebastian never really looked
comfortable, giving up three
walks, three hits, and three
runs in the first inning.
In his only inning of work,
Sebastian threw 44 pitches as
Tech brought all nine players
to the plate, with the biggest
hit being a two-run single by
freshman designated hitter
Luke Murton.
The Diamond Dogs re
sponded in the top of the
second, putting two runs
on the board with a double
by Beckham.
Tech extended its early
lead in the bottom of the sec
ond on an RBI-single by sen
ior left fielder Steven Black
wood, who was the Yellow
Jackets’ leading hitter with a
4-for-5 night.
Moreau came in to replace
Sebastian, and except for the
single by Blackwood, he shut
down the Tech hitters for the
next four innings.
But in the bottom of the
fifth, after Moreau was re
placed by fellow freshman
Steven Dodson, Tech scored
two runs off a double by
Wieters as the Rambling
Wreck extended its lead to 6-
2 after six innings.
“We got to do a better job
pitching out there than that,”
Perno said of the inning.
“That was demoralizing right
there — it was the nail in the
coffin.”
“We can’t dwell on this,”
Perno said, adding he was
thinking instead about the
upcoming series against the
No. 18 Vanderbilt Comm
odores and 6-foot-6 sopho
more left hander David Price,
who Perno called “the best
college pitcher in the coun
try.”
Even with the loss, Perno
and the rest of the team know
they still have two more
opportunities to beat Georgia
Tech — once in Athens on
April 26th and again at
Turner Field on May 10th.
KATIE KERNS | The Red & Black
A Kenyae Reese, the graduate adviser for Pandora, ven
tures into the Pandora storage closet Monday. The closet
contains the University yearbooks published up to more
than 100 years ago.
Yearbooks’ heyday a fast-fading memory
By ELINOR COWAN
For the Red & Black
The Pandora yearbook
storage room is bursting.
Yearbooks are stacked on
top of each other, almost
lacking space for an observer.
One look into the room illus
trates the recent trend in the
publication and sales of col
lege yearbooks.
Once an important life
force in the college communi
ty, yearbook sales have de
clined, causing many schools
to forgo their publication.
Established in 1886, the
Pandora is a long standing
tradition at the University,
but like other college year
books, it continues to strug
gle.
Yearbook interest has
declined both in the South as
well as other parts of the
country.
For example, the
University of South Carolina
has abandoned its yearbook
“The Garnet and Black,” and
MORE INFORMATION
To purchase a yearbook, fill out
the order form on the staff's Web
site, www.uga.edu/pandora, or fill
out a form at Student Activities
Business Office in the Tate
Center.
For previous years’ books, call
706-542-6396.
the University of Arizona and
Arizona State University are
both relinquishing their pub
lications.
But even with declining
yearbook sales, many schools
persist.
Florida State University
made headlines in 2004 by
bringing back the “Rene
gade” yearbook through a
unique co-operation program
with Taylor Publishing in
which the company will give
the school $15,000 to bring
back the yearbook, and it will
keep 90 percent of its profits.
However, in this age of
instant news, the yearbook
isn’t getting the attention it
did in previous generations.
At Georgia, even the dedi
cated Pandora staff cannot
prevent the yearbook from
falling prey to this college-
wide trend.
Sales are dwindling with
only 500 copies of the 2005
Pandora sold.
For the first time this year,
the Pandora was partially
financed by an allocation
committee.
This contribution allows
the yearbook staff to sell the
book at a lower price than
years past. Last year’s book
sold for $40.
This year’s Pandora is $15
for the first 1,000 people and
$40 for those who purchase
after.
So far, yearbook sales have
just approached 900, not yet
reaching the staff’s goal.
Selling the book is daunt
ing as the staff tries to under
stand the reasons behind the
decline in interest in college
yearbooks.
At the University, the main
adversary of the college year
book could be the sheer size
of the school.
“At a school like UGA, it is
so hard to identify. There are
so many other things to get
involved with,” said Kenyae
Reese, the graduate adviser
for the yearbook.
“Also, many of the clubs on
campus have their own direc
tories.”
The directories Reese
refers to, like Greek Life’s
Greek directory and the
Student Government Asso
ciation’s new student record,
all represent a smaller por
tion of the large university
population.
Some individual schools
on campus even maintain a
yearbook for their college.
The College of Pharmacy
annually publishes the
“Georgia Pharmacist Maga
zine,” which includes photo
graphs of students and
>- See PANDORA. Page 3A
News: 2A | Opinions: 4A | Variety: IB | Sports: 6A
Crossword: 5A
INSIDE TODAY
Sudoku: 7A