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Friday, January n, 2008 | The Red & Black
UGA TODAY
► Blood Drive. Sponsored by
the American Red Cross. 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. Main Library.
Contact: 678-227-4650
► Campus Coffee Hour.
Sponsored by International
Student Life. 11:30 a m. to 1:30
p.m. Memorial Hall Ballroom.
Contact: 706-542-7911.
>- Swimming and Diving vs.
University of Texas. 2 p.m.
Austin, Texas
► Meeting: Curriculum
Committee of the University
Council. 3 p m Peabody Board
Room. Contact: 706-542-6358,
tstone@uga edu.
► Observatory Telescope
Public Viewing. The 24-inch
telescope at the University
Observatory is open tonight for
public viewing. If it is cloudy,
there will be a talk titled “Pluto’s
New Family: The Kuiper Belt
Objects." 7 to 9 p m. Physics
Building Roof Contact:
706-542-2870.
jss@hal.physastuga.edu.
► Gymnastics at Utah. 9 p.m.
EST. Salt Lake City, Utah.
► Ice Dogs vs. Tennessee. 10
p.m. Atlanta Ice Forum, Duluth.
Contact: 706-410-2535,
www.ugahockey.com.
► Dawgs After Dark: All
Nighter. Sponsored by
University Union. Video game
tournaments, massages, Build-a-
Bear. custom pillow cases, giant
games, fun photos, obstacle
course. Breakfast food provided
Students free, all others $5 10
p.m. Ramsey Center. Contact:
union@uga edu.
Saturday, Jan. 12
• Seminar Introduction to
Immunohistochemistry for
Histologists and Technicians.
Sponsored by the College of
Veterinary Medicine.
Terminology, theory and tech
nique introduction and update for
histologists SIOO students. $125
non-students. 7.5 CE hours. For
more information and registration
visit http://www.georgiacenter
uga.edu/conferences'2ooß/'
Jan/12'immuno.phtml, Georgia
Center Contact: 706-542-1451.
► Swimming and Diving vs.
University of Texas. Time
TBA. Austin, Texas.
► Family Day: Modem
Landscapes. Sponsored by the
Georgia Museum of Art. Learn
about landscapes by touring the
exhibition, redefining the modem
landscape in Europe and
America, ca 1920-1940 and
working on a gallery activity.
Then use colors from the paint
ings in the galleries to create a
landscape while learning how to
blend colors and create different
textures. 10 a m to noon.
Georgia Museum of Art. Contact.
collardj@uga.edu.
► Memorial Celebration of
the life of Professor Andrew
Ladis. The distinguished art his
torian and beloved member of
the University faculty, who died
Dec. 2, will be remembered by
the University community.
Reception follows at the Georgia
Museum of Art. 2 p.m The
Chapel.
>- Men’s Basketball at
Mississippi State. Lincoln
Financial TV. 2 p m. ET
Starkville. MS
► Miss UGA Scholarship
Pageant. Sponsored by the
Student Government Association
and the Department of Campus
Life. University women compete
for $2,500 in scholarship money
and prizes. Emceed by Osjha
Anderson. Miss UGA 1999, with
an appearance by Ashley Foster,
Miss UGA 2007. $8 students and
$lO non-students, available at
the Tate Student Center
Cashier s Window or at the Fine
Arts Building box office on the
night of the pageant 7 p.m.
Fine Arts Auditorium Contact:
706-542-8514.
janthony@uga edu
>- Ice Dogs vs. East Carolina
10 p m Atlanta Ice Forum.
Duluth. Contact: 706-410-2535,
wwwugahockey.com
- Please send submissions for
UGAToday to news@randb.com.
Listings are published on a
first-come, first-serve basis
CORRECTIONS
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committed to journalis
tic excellence and pro
viding the most accu
rate news possible.
Contact us if you see
an error, and we will do
our best to correct it.
Kditor-in-Chief:
Juanita Cousins
(706) 433-3027
Jcousinsdv randb.com
Managing Editor:
Shannon Otto
(706) 433-3026
sottoru randb.com
Obama receives
Kerry’s approval
CHARLESTON, S.C.
Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, the 2004
Democratic presidential
nominee, endorsed Sen.
Barack Obama for the
White House Thursday in
a timely slap at Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton as well as
his own vice presidential
running mate.
Quoting a black
American hero in endors
ing the man who hopes to
be the first black presi
dent, Kerry told a cheering
crowd, "Martin Luther
King said the time is
always right to do what is
right." Now is the time,
Kerry said, to declare “that
Barack Obama can be, will
be and should be the next
president of the United
States.”
Kerry delivered his
endorsement in South
Carolina at a time, two
weeks before that state's
primary, when Clinton is
riding a wave of enthusi
asm following her victory
over Obama in the New
Hampshire primary.
Kerry said there were
other candidates in the
race whom he also had
worked with and respect
ed.
“But I believe more than
anyone else, Barack Obama
can help our country turn
the page and get America
moving by uniting and end
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▲ District of Columbia medical examiner’s office
personnel remove the first of four bodies from a
house in southeast Washington Wednesday.
Fbur girls discovered
dead in woman’s home
WASHINGTON A woman
found in her home with the
decomposing bodies of four
girls faces murder charges,
and authorities believe she is
their mother, officials said
Thursday.
Banita Jacks. 33, was
expected to appear Thursday
in D C. Superior Court, where
the charges will be formally
presented, prosecutors said.
“We are working on the
assumption that these are
her four children,” police
Chief Cathy Lanier said at a
news conference.
The bodies of the girls
ages 5,6, 11 and 17 were
found Wednesday when dep
uty U.S. marshals served an
eviction notice at the apart
ment. Medical examiner Dr.
Marie Pierre-Louis said the
bodies were likely there more
than 15 days, “based on the
insects that were found
there.”
Jacks, who faces four
counts of murder, could
receive a maximum sentence
of life in prison if convicted.
“I don’t think anyone in
the city can remember a case
involving this many young
people who have died in such
a tragic way,” Mayor Adrian
M. Fenty said.
How the girls died
remained under investiga
tion, but Pierre-Louis said it
appeared the oldest child
might have been stabbed in
the abdomen. The other
three children might have
been poisoned or asphyxiat
ed, she said. The medical
examiner’s office was trying
to identify the girls using
dental records or DNA.
The home where the bod
ies were found is in one of the
city’s poorest, most violent
neighborhoods. The block is
lined by virtually identical
apartment houses near
Bolling Air Force Base. About
one-third of the city’s homi
cides last year occurred in
the area, according to pre
liminary police statistics.
Mindy Good, a spokes
woman for the D C. Child and
Family Services agency, said
Wednesday that the agency
had received one report
about a family at that address
The Wire
ing the division we have
faced,” Kerry said.
Kerry dismissed Obama
critics who say the Illinois
senator lacks the experi
ence to be president. And
he took a swipe at Clinton,
saying, “Some have sug
gested in this campaign
that Barack is guilty of
raising false hopes.’ ... My
friends, the only charge
that rings false is the one
that tells you not to hope
for a better tomorrow.”
In last Saturday’s
debate in New Hampshire.
Clinton said in comparing
her ability and Obama’s to
fulfill pledges to bring
about change: “I think it is
clear that what we need is
somebody who can deliver
change. And we don’t need
to be raising the false
hopes of our country about
what can be delivered. The
best way to know what
change I will produce is to
look at the changes that
I’ve already made.”
Returning to the sub
ject, Obama said when he
took the microphone from
Kerry: “In the unlikely
story that is America,
there has never been any
thing false about hope."
Former Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina,
the third contender in the
Democratic presidential
race, was Kerry's vice pres
idential running mate in
NATION
in April through the city's
child abuse and neglect
reporting hot line.
“We made several attempts
to make contact with these
people. We were unable to
have any face-to-face contact
with them.” Good said. “On
the last attempt (in early
May), it appeared they were
no longer living at the
address."
Good said investigators
later found anew address for
the family in Maryland and
alerted county authorities
there of the report on the
family. She would not say
where the family was believed
to be living.
DC. Council member
Marion Barry, who represents
the neighborhood where the
bodies were found, ques
tioned why no one had
reported that four people
were missing.
“Somebody should have
known that some people
were not in school," Barry
said.
None of the children
thought to be living in the
home was enrolled in the
school system, said D.C.
schools spokeswoman Mafara
Hobson. One child at that
address had attended Stuart-
Hobson Elementary School
but withdrew in 2006 as a
fifth-grader, she said.
Larry Jones, who lives
next door, said a woman and
two or three children lived at
the home, but he had not
seen them since the summer.
He said the children appeared
healthy at the time.
Jones added that in recent
months he has noticed a
"strange odor" coming through
his vent. “We thought it was
probably dead mice in the vent
or something," he said.
Resident Rowand
Simpkins said her neighbors
tend to keep to themselves
and that she never saw the
woman or children.
* "It’s really a mystery,” she
said.
Associated Press
NEWS.
TOP STORIES FROM AROUND
THE STATE, NATION AND WORLD
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CHARLES REX ARBOCAST | Aasociatbd Prim
▲ Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-lll.) waves
after being introduced and endorsed by former Democratic presidential
candidate U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in Charleston, S.C., Thursday.
2004. Despite their politi
cal alliance, the two men
were not close personally
and differed behind the
scenes on campaign strat
egy in a race that President
Bush won.
Edwards responded to
word of the endorsement
with a diplomatic state
Rebels hand over hostages
Two flown
to Corneas
SAN JOSE DE
GUAVIARE, Colombia
Colombian rebels freed
two women held hos
tage for more than
five years, handing them
over Thursday to
Venezuelan officials who
flew them toward
Caracas where a trium
phant President Hugo
Chavez awaited.
Chavez said he spoke
by telephone with the
two women, Clara Rojas,
an aide to former
Colombian presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, and former
congresswoman
Consuelo Gonzalez.
“I said hello to Clara
and Consuelo, who were
thrilled.”
The Red Cross, which
was involved in the han
dover. confirmed that
rebels of the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or
FARC, had turned over
the women. It said the
mission was headed to
the Venezuelan border
town of Santo Domingo
before flying the women
to waiting relatives in
Caracas.
It was the most
important hostage
release in the Colombian
conflict since 2001, when
the FARC freed some
300 soldiers and police
officers. Chavez said he
hopes the mission opens
the way for the release
of more hostages.
“Venezuela will con-
‘Lost’ star freed after 18 days
LOS ANGELES Former “Lost”
star Michelle Rodriguez has found
her way out of jail.
Rodriguez was released from a Los
Angeles County women’s jail in
Lynwood on Wednesday after serving
18 days of a 180-day sentence for vio
lating probation in a drunken driving
case, authorities said.
She was released early under a
program that deals with jail over
crowding by allowing nonviolent
female inmates to serve as little as 10
percent of their sentence.
The same thing happened two
years ago when Rodriguez served just
one day of a 60-day Jail sentence for
probation violation.
As many as 50 women a day are
released early, sheriff's spokesman
Steve Whitmore said.
"She was treated the same way we
do with all females because of the
extent of overcrowding," he said.
Rodriguez was sentenced in
October for failing to prove she had
done community service and for
drinking while wearing an alcohol
monitoring device.
The judge who sentenced
Rodriguez ordered that she serve the
entire sentence. The judge was con
sulted about the early release but the
ment: “Our country and
our party are stronger
because of John’s service,
and I respect his decision.
When we were running
against each other and on
the same ticket, John and
I agreed on many issues.”
Kerry had withheld his
endorsement, hoping to
WORLD "
tinue opening the way
for peace in Colombia.
We are ready, and in con
tact with the FARC, and
we hope the Colombian
government under
stands. I’m sure they
will understand.” Chavez
said. "The world wants
peace for Colombia.”
Rojas was kidnapped
in February 2002 while
campaigning with
Betancourt in a FARC
dominated region of
southern Colombia.
Gonzalez was abducted
by the FARC in
September 2001 near
the city of Neiva.
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe authorized
Venezuela to lead the
rescue mission despite a
bitter clash with Chavez
over his involvement in
Colombia’s half-century
old guerrilla conflict.
In November, Uribe
abruptly ended efforts
by Chavez to broker
a swap of 46 high-profile
hostages including
Betancourt and three
U.S. defense contractors
for hundreds of jailed
rebels. He accused
Chavez of unauthorized
direct contacts
with Colombia's mili
tary.
But relatives of the
hostages urged Chavez
to continue, and the
FARC, which deeply dis
trusts Uribe, rewarded
his efforts by offering to
release the two women
and Rojas’s 3-year-old
son, Emmanuel who
Sheriff’s Department had the final
say when jail safety was involved,
Whitmore said.
“The sheriff supports, obviously, the
desire to have inmates serve their full
sentence,” but the county has only one
women’s jail and it is
“bursting at the
seams,” Whitmore said.
Rodriguez was on
probation after plead
ing no contest to
drunken driving, hit
and-run and driving
on a suspended
license in connection
with two Hollywood
Incidents in 2003.
While still on proba
tion, she spent five days in a Hawai'i
jail in 2005 after pleading guilty to
drunken driving there, which led to
her one-day jail term in Los Angeles
for probation violation.
Rodriguez appeared in one season
of ABC’s “Lost." Her film credits
Include “The Fast and The Furious,"
"Blue Crush” and “Girlfight.”
Associated Press
have an impact on the race
and avoid the fate of fellow
Democrat A1 Gore, the
2000 nominee who
endorsed Howard Dean in
2004 shortly before the for
mer Vermont governor’s
campaign imploded.
Associated Press
was fathered in captivity
by one of her guerrilla
captors.
That fell through:
The FARC accused
Colombia’s U.S.-backed
military of sabotaging
the handoff with opera
tions in the area, while
Uribe’s government said
the guerrillas backed
out of the deal because
they didn’t have the
child hostage.
Chavez immediately
sided with the guerrillas,
calling Uribe a “puppet”
and “lapdog” of
Washington. DNA tests
later proved the rebels
did not have Emmanuel, !
who has been in a
Bogota foster home for
more than two years.
Still, Uribe's govern
ment bent to domestic
and international pres
sure to open its airspace
for the new Venezuelan
rescue mission and sus
pend military operations
in a Vermont-sized slice
of jungle in southeast
ern Guaviare state, a
FARC stronghold.
Colombian Defense
Minister Juan Manuel
Santos said his troops
held their fire as
they saw the Venezuelan
helicopters land just
more than a mile from
where they were sta
tioned, adding that
troops would wait until
sundown before resum
ing operations.
“The minimum we can
do is offer all sides the
tranquility that we’re
going to respect all the
ground rules,” he said.
Associated Press
NAMES & FACES
RSI
RODRIQUEZ
