Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
January 9, 2009
Vol. 116, No. 78 | Athens, Georgia
Jr \ Sunny.
High 58 | Low 36
ONLINE wwwjedandblack.com
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Former
employee
Terrie
Buckner
asks for
$1.3 mil
lion in
damages.
Univ.
employee
could pay
$1 million
Ex-co-workers
battle in court
By SHANESSA FAKOUR
The Red & Black
The University is consid
ering filing an appeal on
behalf of a staff member
who is court ordered to pay
$1.3 million in damages to a
former University employee.
After a three-day trial, a
jury found that the actions
of Karen Shetterley, the
University’s senior public
service associate in the
Georgia Center for
Continuing Education,
resulted in the false arrest
and malicious prosecution
of Terrie Buckner.
“The University believes
Shetterley was acting prop
erly” and within the bounds
of her duty as an employee,
Tom Jackson, vice presi
dent for public affairs, said
in a phone interview
Monday. Discussions are
underway as to whether
there will be a settlement
or an appeal. The deadline
for the University to file an
appeal is Wednesday.
As an employee of the
state, Shetterley is backed
by state insurance under
the department of admin
istrative services. The
insurance covers state
employees up to $1 million.
The marshal of the mid
dle district of Georgia has
received a writ of execution
from the U.S. District Court
demanding the debt from
Shetterley.
If an appeal is filed, Lee
Parks, Buckner’s lawyer,
will follow with a response
to the court, and the court
will make a judgement.
“We are very confident
the judgment is valid,”
Parks said in reference to
the jury awarding Buckner
$1.3 million in damages.
Parks submitted a reply
brief to the court in sup
port of Buckner’s bill of
costs and motion for attor
neys’ fees, which Shetterley
argued on Dec. 22.
Buckner is asking for
Shetterley to cover more
than $300,000 in attorney
fees.
In 2004 Shetterley was
Buckner’s supervisor when
Shetterley allegedly gave
police false information
regarding
See SHETTERLEY, Page 3
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JIM DIFFLY | The Red a Buck
▲ Members of The Buddy System, Mat
Lewis and Craig Sheldon pose downtown.
Reaching the
Newsroom
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Red&Black
An independent student newspaper sewing the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 189 3, INDEPENDENT 19 8 0
Indicted football player to transfer
By KRISTEN COULTER
The Red & Black
A former University
football player looks to
continue his collegiate
career even as he faces a
felony indictment in
Athens-Clarke County
Superior Court.
On Dec. 10, a grand jUry
indicted Michael Lemon
on charges of battery and
aggravated battery.
According to rivals.com,
Gym
Class
Clown
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DANIEL SHIREY ! The Red * Buck
▲ Abby Stack, a senior Gym Dog, goofs off in the foam pit. Stack serves as both the team’s leader and jokester.
Gym Dogs need ‘goofy, positive’
team leader ‘more than ever’
By TYLER ESTEP
The Red & Black
Gymnastics is supposed to be
a sport of finely-tuned perfor
mances, perfected execution and
refined elegance.
It’s supposed to be a very seri
ous sport.
Abby Stack didn’t get the
On the road again
page 7
See how the Lady Dogs fared
against Ole Miss in Oxford
Thursday night.
Lemon made a recruit
ment visit to North
Carolina State University
on Dec. 12. Lemon told
The Red & Black Thursday
the university accepted his
application. He plans to
start classes in May.
As for the indictment,
Lemon said in the phone
interview he has not
entered a plea because he
hasn’t talked to his lawyer.
After he was suspended
from the University in
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memo.
If anything, Stack, one of
Georgia gymnastics’ four seniors,
is a serious goofball, the consum
mate practitioner of anything
ridiculous, random or wholly
inappropriate.
“She’s almost cartoonish,”
said freshman Gym Dog Amber
Trani. “She’s very out there.
Artist puts sad memories to happy tunes
By KATIE ANDREW
The Red & Black
Start with half a cup of power pop
and a handful of harmonies, stir in a
viola, add a pinch of crazy animation
and Voila! A great night out.
Local artists Allison Weiss and the
Way She Likes It, Venice is Sinking
and The Buddy System are taking the
stage tonight at the 40 Watt to merrily
demolish conventional standards of
music —and look great doing it.
In the four years that Allison Weiss
has lived in Athens, she’s become
quite the lady about town.
Determined to gain headway in the
Michael
Lemon
plans to
attend
N.C. State
despite
possible
felonies.
August, Lemon transferred
to Georgia Military
Academy and played foot
ball for the school’s team
last season.
lllmj
She’s not afraid to do anything
whether she looks like an idiot or
not. She loves to have fun and
make people smile.”
Things can no doubt get a lit
tle stressful for a record-setting
gymnastics program, but as the
Gym Dogs prepare for a run at a
fifth straight national title, Stack
is there as the poster child for
comic relief.
“She’s the jokester. She has so
many jokes and she remembers
them and she tells them perfect
and we’re like, ‘Really Abby?
You’re really going to tell that
Venice is Sinking, Allison
Weiss, The Buddy System
When: 9 p.m. Tonight
Where: 40 Watt
Cost: $5 (21+), $7 (18)
More Information: http://www.4owatt.com
music business, Weiss has now collect
ed a sizable fan base that can’t get
enough of her lighthearted tunes of
love and loss.
“I think it’s catchy and easy to
relate to," Weiss said. “I like to say
that it’s your saddest memories sung
to the tune of your happiest.”
Now what?
page 8
The football season is over, but
we’ve got a 10-item to-do list for
Coach Mark Richt.
The aggravated battery
and battery charges stem
from a June 26 incident in
which Lemon is accused of
punching University junior
DeMarius Jackson five
times in the eye, according
to police reports.
The two were at a cook
out by the pool of The
Exchange apartment com
plex, and Lemon accused
Jackson of having a rela
tionship with Lemon’s
“girl,” the police report
After naming their 2008 summer
tour a grand success, Weiss and her
bandmates were ready to hit the
recording studio again.
“We released an EP in October,
which is the first release I’ve had with
a full band,” Weiss said. Until about a
year ago, Allison’s act consisted of her
and her younger brother A. J. Weiss.
“I just put up an ad on Craigslist
for my drum and bass players,” she
said. Responses came from ex-Winter
Sounds drummer Donovan Babb and
former Beyond Tomorrow bassist Alec
Wooden, and just like that, a band was
bom.
See WEISS, Page S
DR. BUTLER?
This Georgia guard shoots
for goals beyond the court.
SPORTS, PAGE 7
states. After the exchange
with Jackson, Lemon alleg
edly hit him repeatedly.
Jackson’s eye was seri
ously damaged, but he is
on the mend. His friend,
sophomore Dyci Manns,
said in a telephone inter
view Thursday that
Jackson’s eye is not com
pletely healed, but he is
able to see out of it.
Jackson was unavail
able for comment by press
time.
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joke right now?’ senior Courtney
Kupets said. “And sometimes
you really need that, you need
that kind of humor every once in
a while. Even if you have to tell
her, ‘That’s not appropriate,
Abby.’”
“She’ll do these skateboard
moves when we’re on vault like
across the tumble track,” junior
Courtney McCool said. “And she
can do any sport ever. She can
ski, she can skateboard, she can
play ball. She just adds so much
See STACK, Page 6
Index
UGA Today 2
Wire 2
Opinions 4
Variety 5
Crossword 2
Sports 6
Sudoku 7