Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY
April 19, 2006
Vol. 113, No. 143 | Athens, Georgia
Scattered Strong Storms.
High 74 | Low 58 | Thursday 83
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
CUCKOO FOR
KLOSTERMAN
>- Pop culture writer
speaks at University.
VARIETY, PAGE 7
Regents to increase tuition
BOR votes yes
on $132 fee,
tuition hike
By LAUREN MORGAN
lmorgan@randb.com
Current University stu
dents will have to pay an
extra $132 per semester
beginning in the fall.
In a Board of Regents
meeting Tuesday, the
Regents with — the support
of Gov. Sonny Perdue —
voted to increase tuition and
fees for University students.
The current tuition for
full-time students is $1,819
per semester. A $91 increase
hikes tuition to $1,910.
The regents also voted to
increase student fees, which
are currently $495 per semes
ter.
Significant increases in
transportation and technolo
gy fees will raise fees to $536,
putting students out an
extra $41.
Ron Hamlin, director of
campus transit, said the
increase in transportation
fees reflects the rise in fuel
costs.
“Over just a couple of
years, our prices have dou
bled,” Hamlin said.
“We’re paying well over
two dollars a gallon.”
Incoming freshmen will be
paying even more than cur
rent students.
In an unprecedented
move, the regents voted to
fix tuition for incoming fresh
men at all University System
of Georgia institutions for
four years.
New students at research
institutions such as the
University, the Medical
College of Georgia and
Georgia Tech, will be paying
$1,946 in tuition per semes
ter.
The regents hope fixing
the tuition rate will prompt
students to graduate in four
>- See TUITION, Page 3
‘Not guilty’ pleas in Fish trial
By ASHLEY FIELDING
afielding@randb.com
Facing fewer charges than
before, four men arrested fol
lowing an investigation into
the death of Lewis Fish
pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Among other charges,
Jordan Redella, William
Cowan and Mark Olsen were
charged with keeping a dis
orderly house.
Charges of possession of
marijuana were not men
tioned at the hearings
because the men were never
formally charged with pos
session of marijuana by the
prosecutors, Athens-Clarke
County Chief Assistant
Solicitor General Kevin
Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said a “disorder
ly house” is one that is main-
PLEAS
Mark Olsen: not guilty to
charges of underage possession
of alcohol and disorderly house
William Cowan: not guilty to
charges of underage possession
of alcohol and disorderly house
Jordan Redella: not guilty to
charges of underage possession
of alcohol, disorderly house, pos
session of fraudulent identifica
tion and using fake ID to pur
chase alcohol.
Grayson Gordon: not guilty to
charges of possession of fraudu
lent identification.
tained for purposes of gam
bling, drinking or other mis
behavior.
“There’s no allegation of
any gambling,” Gonzalez
said. “They’re certainly
charged with underage
drinking.”
The four men were arrest
ed after an investigation fol
lowing the death of their
friend Lewis Fish, a
University student found
dead in his dorm room on
Jan. 22.
“My client had nothing to
do with the decisions that
led to Mr. Fish’s death,” said
Olsen’s attorney, Eric
Eberhardt. “It creates more
tragedy when we start drag
ging people into situations
they had nothing to do with.”
Eberhardt filed a motion
Tuesday to suppress any
physical or testimonial evi
dence obtained through the
search of 555 Riverhill Dr.,
stating that the search of the
residence was illegal, accord
ing to court documents.
Eberhardt and Olsen are
contesting the way in which
University Police went about
collecting the information
they are trying to use against
Olsen.
The motion will require an
evidenciary hearing that
must occur before the trial
date. Neither has been
scheduled.
The next step in the cases
of Redella, Cowan, Olsen and
Grayson Gordon is a status
conference hearing, sched
uled for 8:30 a.m. May 25,
Gonzalez said.
Michael Ian Crocker,
another student arrested fol
lowing an investigation on
Fish’s death, will be
arraigned in Athens-Clarke
County Municipal Court at 9
a.m. Thursday.
WINS ON THE DIAMOND
CHUCK THOMPSON The Red 4 Black
A Kyle Keen, a senior outfielder from Leesburg, hits a two-run double in the third inning of Georgia's 14-2 routing of
Mercer on Tuesday.
INSIDE SPORTS:
>- Baseball runs over
Mercer on Tuesday
night. Catch the high
lights. PAGE 10
>- Softball shuts out
Furman 8-0 in its first
game Tuesday.
PAGE 10
>■ Wicked wicket action
with the cricket club.
PAGE 8
WES JACKSON | The Red & Black
A Ashley Godfrey’s teammates cheer her on as she crosses home plate after hitting a
home run. The Lady Dogs beat Furman 8-0 in Tuesday’s first game.
KRISTEN D. FAIRCLOTH The Red 4 Black
A Katherine “Kitty” Burdette, a freshman from
Lawrenceville, poses for a portrait at the Lambda Alliance
office in Memorial Hall. Burdette is the director of out
reach for the group, which serves the gay and lesbian
community of the University.
Student speaks
out for her rights
By DESHAUN HARRIS
dharris@randb.com
On a sunny spring day,
freshman Katherine
Burdette might be relaxing
on an overstuffed couch,
reading a magazine, in the
company of close friends
between classes.
An ordinary scene, an
ordinary college activity, but
with a twist.
“I forget sometimes that
not everyone understands
diversity; not everyone is ok
with me being a lesbian,” she
said in an interview at the
LGBT Resource Center.
The center, located in
Memorial Hall, is a place peo
ple can get information on
lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender issues. It also is
where Burdette hangs out
regularly.
The office is equipped
with computers, racks fea
turing Girlfriends and Out
magazines — homosexual
interest publications — and
large green suede couches
perfect for mid-afternoon
naps.
Burdette, or “Kitty” as her
friends call her, is a biracial,
practicing Catholic with a
bubbly personality and a
secret crush on Olivia from
“Law & Order: SVU.”
“She’s just hot and nice. I
love that show,” she said.
Attending the University
was not Kitty’s first choice.
She wanted to attend Agnes
Scott College in Atlanta, but
a visit to the Athens campus
and her mother’s insistence
convinced her to apply.
“When I visited a friend
here, I met a lot of different
types of people,” she said.
“But when I got here I
was like, ‘Where is the diver
sity?”’
Kitty said she first had to
adjust to a campus with a
small percentage of black
students before seeking out
other members of the LGBT
community.
Once she became com
fortable, however, she found
the Lambda Alliance — an
LGBT student organization
— and became its Director of
Outreach.
Next year, Kitty will be a
resident assistant in Brumby,
and she said she is glad
University Housing is open
to people with diverse back
grounds.
Now, she said, the
University is a decent place
to be for a self-described
“triple minority” — a lesbian
black woman.
The existence of the
University’s Safe Space pro
gram, an orientation on
LGBT issues open to all
members of the campus com
munity, has made her feel
► See BURDETTE, Page 4
Tech students fight
against gay rights
Lawsuit targets anti-discrimination
By DESHAUN HARRIS
dharris@randb.com
As members of the
University’s LGBT commu
nity pushed for protection
under the anti-discrimina
tion policy last week, two
Georgia Tech students con
tinued a lawsuit aimed at
removing the policy from
their school.
The Alliance Defense
Fund, a legal organization
formed to “defend religious
liberty,” filed a civil lawsuit
last month on behalf of Ruth
Malhotra and Orit Sklar
claiming Georgia Tech is
violating their First
Amendment right by not
allowing them to speak out
against homosexuality.
Greg Scott, the national
media relations manager for
the ADF, said the lawsuit not
only seeks protection of
speech against homosexuali
ty but also protection for any
student group that wishes to
share its beliefs in a nonvio
lent manner.
“Why is some speech
treated as hate speech, while
many leftist ideas are viewed
as further discourse for the
marketplace of ideas?” he
said.
The 32-page formal com
plaint states Malhotra, a
member of the Southern
Baptist Church, and Sklar, a
Jewish student, feel Georgia
Tech supports particular reli
gious beliefs by funding
groups like the Pride Alliance
with the mandatory student
activity fee and operating the
Safe Space program.
Safe Space, also in
use at the University, is an
orientation program on
LGBT issues and is open to
all members of the campus
community. The purpose
is to promote a safe
environment for LGBT stu
dents.
Malhotra and Sklar, how
ever, feel the school
“(engages) in religious
counseling, instructs comm
unity members in what
they believe is the correct
interpretation of holy texts
on issues of homosexuality,
promotes the beliefs of reli
gions that favor homosexual
behavior and denigrates
religions that oppose this
behavior” by operating the
program, according to the
formal complaint.
Last year, Malhotra was
reprimanded by a school offi
cial for writing a letter on
behalf of the Georgia Tech
College Republicans criticiz
ing Coming Out Week, an
LGBT event, and two other
► See POLICY, Page 4
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