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New system prevents trading football tickets
Unused tickets
may go to waste
By RAISA HABERSHAM
The Red & Buck
University students who do not
receive football ticket packages
in the fall will not be able to
FRONT SEAT
CONFESSIONS
Athens taxi driver histories
show multiple criminal offenses
By CAITLIN BYRNES
The Red & Buck
It’s 2 a.m. downtown and herds of University students have a
decision take a cab or drive home drunk. Thinking about the
DUI checkpoints and the risk they run driving, many students
take a taxi to stay safe.
These students, armed with nothing but a hot dog and blurry
vision, may not be as safe as they assume. After looking through
court and police records of each Athens taxi driver, The Red &
Black found more than a dozen current drivers with recent felo
ny convictions and countless more with questionable driving
histories.
“I haven’t had problems personally, but it wouldn’t surprise
me if they had a horrible history,” Corey Williams, a senior from
Suwanee, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
However, some students are not so lucky.
Nikita Smeshko, a junior from Smyrna, was in a taxi last week
end with a group of people he did not know. Two passengers got
angry about the amount of time the driver was taking, so they
got out of the car without paying, he said.
“The cab driver ran them down and an altercation almost
ensued,” Smeshko said in a phone interview Wednesday.
He said his past experiences have been good, but the week
end’s experience has made him wary.
“I felt kind of threatened and concerned that the cab driver
was being very aggressive,” Smeshko said. “I don’t know what
else he would do.”
See TAXI, Page 2A
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AUTUMN MCBRIDE | Tim Red * Black
Diamond Dogs fall to Jacksonville State
By BEN BUSSARD
The Red & Black
The Georgia baseball team gave
up 12 runs in the last two innings to
Jacksonville State, losing 16-8
Wednesday night at Foley Field.
Georgia (33-12, 14-7 SEC) had
revenge on its mind after the
Gamecocks upset the Bulldogs on
April 22 by a score of 9-7, but gave
up its first ninth-inning lead of the
season, falling to Jacksonville for
the second time in eight days.
With an 8-6 lead in the eighth
inning Georgia head coach David
Pemo called in closer Dean Weaver
to close out the game. But Weaver,
who was nine-for-nine in saves this
season, struggled mightily.
“We had the guy out there that
we wanted,” center fielder Matt
Cerione said. “Weaver has bailed us
out in a lot of games and he can’t do
mostly sunny.
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Red&Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
attend home games.
The new electronic ticketing
system, approved by the Athletic
Association Board of Directors in
February, will not have a dona
tion bank in the fall that would
put students on a waiting list for
unused home game tickets.
However, the Athletic
Association plans to implement
a donation bank system possi
bly beginning fall 2010 allow
BASEBALL
Jacksonville State 16, Georgia 8
it every time, but I still want the ball
in his hands when it counts.”
On Weaver’s second pitch,
Gamecock center fielder Daniel
Adamson drove in his third run of
the game with an RBI double down
the right field line to cut the lead to
8-7.
In the ninth, Weaver walked the
leadoff batter, then surrendered a
double to put the winning run on
second. JSU took a 9-8 lead when
left fielder Todd Cunningham tri
pled. But for the Diamond Dogs, the
nightmare had just begun.
Weaver allowed four runs and
only retired one batter when he was
lifted in favor of senior Jason Leaver,
who didn’t fare much better.
Leaver allowed five more runs,
RECENT RECRUIT
A Buford High School
offensive guard
committed on G-Day to
suit up between the
hedges. See page 6.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
ing students to donate unused
tickets for home games. Once
the donation bank is in place,
students who donate tickets will
not be reimbursed, said Tim
Cearley, director of ticket opera
tions for the University Athletic
Association, in an interview last
week.
Associate Athletic Director
Craig White said the new system,
which loads tickets on student
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DANIELLE HUTLAS | The Red a Black
A Many students frequent downtown bars and rely
on alternate transportation for rides home.
Bartender Jeff Rapier says the bar’s busiest times
are usually after midnight. As last call is declared,
patrons climb into taxis hoping for a safe ride —but
some drivers’ histories reveal DU Is and other
offenses.
and failed to record a single out.
Pemo brought in the third pitch
er of the inning, Earl Daniels, after
Leaver gave up a two-run single to
make the score 14-8.
Daniels walked the first batter he
faced then gave up a two-run single
as JSU extended the lead 16-8 before
finally retiring the side.
“When you have a one-run lead,
you can’t walk the leadoff hitter,”
Pemo said, “We walked too many
guys tonight.” *
Added Cerione: “We had them
right where we wanted them. It’s a
See TAXI, Page 5A
► Freshman pitcher Cecil
Tanner started Wednesday’s
16-8 loss and pitched 2.1
innings, allowing three runs
on six hits.
ON THE WEB
UGA HEROs reaches a
$1 million mark. Read
online how the money will
help children who have
HIV/AIDS.
Index
MylD cards, will disperse tickets
more effectively.
“Two good things have come
out of [the new system],” White
said. “We have created more stu
dent tickets that were limited due
to a certain allocation and we
eliminated the secondary market
students getting tickets and
selling them to non-students.”
With the new system, students
will not be able to sell their tick
News 2A
Opinions 4A
Kupets ‘best
collegiate
gymnast ever’
Senior Gym Dog
wins Honda Award
By TYLER ESTEP
The Red & Black
Go ahead and give Courtney Kupets
one more award.
Kupets, the senior Gym Dog who is
already the most decorated NCAA gym
nast of all-time, was named the Honda
Award winner Wednesday as the nation’s
top college gymnast.
It continues a three
year streak for Georgia
gymnastics, as Kupets
took the title a first time
in 2007 before former
teammate Katie Heenan
claimed it last season.
“I am humbled and
honored to win the Honda
Award for the second
time, especially since the
other finalists are such
amazing gymnasts,” Kupets said in a
release. “I am so happy that I get to
share the award with my teammates, my
coaches and our fans.”
Kupets missed the last half of the 2008
season after tearing her Achilles, but
when she has competed she has been
spectacular.
In her three years competing at the
NCAA championships, Kupets brought
home 15 All-American titles (the most
possible) and nine individual national
championships (the most ever), includ
ing four just a few weeks ago. The Athens
native is the only gymnast to win a
national championship in every event.
All that sparked coach Suzanne
Yoculan to claim that “there is no doubt
she is the best collegiate gymnast ever.”
“She deserves all of the individual
awards she has gotten, but she went
about her business with humility and she
always put the team first,” YOculan said.
“She has been a great ambassador for
the University of Georgia and for colle
giate gymnastics.”
This Honda Award, which automati
cally qualifies Kupets for the Collegiate
Woman Athlete of the Year Award, marks
the eighth time a Georgia gymnast has
claimed the sport’s top honor.
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KELLY WEGEL I The Ro * Buck
NOWHERE TO BE FOUND
Police are lacking leads to
find marketing professor
Georgia Zinkhan. Watch for
up-to-date reports on
www.redandblack.com.
Out & About IB
Sports 5A
It’s Thursday,
don’t pout.
Read our
Out & About.
Athens, Georgia
Vol. 116, No. 148
ets or give them to friends.
“Your ID has to match you,”
White said. “You can’t give it to
another student. It is a University
violation and you could lose your
student ID.”
“We will have scanners and
they will be able to tell if the ID
is current,” Cearley said.
A problem not resolved by the
See TICKETING, Page 3A
Crossword.. 2A
Sudoku 5A
KUPETS
