About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2009)
NORML goes up in a cloud of smoke By CAREY O’NEIL Thf. Red & Black This semester left a University marijuana advocacy group dazed and confused about its rights as a stu dent organization. The University chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws plans to appeal a sanction of two years probation, claiming the group was punished too harshly. After a hearing spanning two days, NORML was found to have violated University trademarks and failed to follow the instructions of University officials. NORML officers contest the deci sion, claiming the logo in question is a satire and the intellectual property of the artist. They said NORML did everything in its power to follow offi cials’ instructions. The logo depicts a cartoon bull dog smoking while studying under neath the Arch. On Feb. 11, University officials Tuition increase softens budget blows By BRITTANY COFER The Red & Black Fees, furloughs and increased tuition just a few of this semester's budget buzz words. Students, faculty, staff and administra tors all have been affected by the eco nomic downturn and resulting budget cuts at the University. University President Adams told The Red & Black in January there are no safe guards against further cuts in the budget. “While we’ve had financial challenges before, this one is deeper and tougher than probably anything we’ve faced in the last 20 to 25 years,” Adams said. About 450 faculty and.staff positions at the University were cut through attrition —a reduction of labor involving voluntary quits or retirement rather than layoffs or furloughs. “At present we are not anticipating any furloughs, but the state could order them,” said Tom Jackson, vice president of Public Affairs for the University. In March, University System adminis trators asked their legal offices to investi gate “any options available to us to give us flexibility in our faculty contracts,” said Board of Regents spokesman John Millsaps. Since tenured professor con tracts employ clauses protecting against furloughs, this was a way to find out what the system’s options were. As it turns out, the University System can, in fact, implement furloughs or time off without pay if the Board of Regents declares a state of exigency, a concept similar to bankruptcy. “If all employees were furloughed for one day, the University would save about $2.5 million,” Arnett Mace, provost and MMB George Gibson’s Mens Wear . 1059 Baxter Street 30606 Eastside Kroger Shopping Center • . 2301 College Station Road "• “•‘| VW. Master Card, 706-^4^-^^? American hxprcsx *1 Discover * v/v/ O iv JV/U^ Dine In •ToGo • Call-in Order I Tgriyaki Chicken I BlinLißSKlaU I Onion Soup, Salad & 2 sayc and a Soh Drink S H Nn< vniid wilh othr coupons B 'M.ki Su.hi Cholctv Tuna Roll Spicy Tuna Ro t I He .S v ,A Roll Awiiado Roll. Cucumber HoM. Salmon Roll , ',' . '■ ,'; ' -,/B ’ B Slump Roll Yellow Roll Bagel Ron '. S tnc. ; 1 , h „ W9SKC*mpfc*' •*** •?.•■ 8| MHHBHHBinHr „ ~ UppCflXtr ~,7, *"'' ' " ffgtij from the Center for Student Organizations contacted NORML via e-mail, asking the organization to cease distribution of T-shirts bearing the logo and to remove the logo from its Web site. Later in the week, CSO contacted NORML officers again, saying the organization could continue selling the shirts, but were barred from printing any more. On Feb. 16, NORML was contact ed by Joshua Podvin, assistant direc tor of student activities and organi zations, who asked for all unsold T-shirts. Podvin also gave the organi zation a deadline for removing the logo from the Web site. Wojciech Kaczkowski —a junior from Krakow, Poland, and president of NORML responded to the mes sages, saying NORML had sold all of its shirts and was unable to alter its site because the member who ran it was out of the country. After the deadline passed and NORML had not removed the image from its site, the organization was senior vice president for Academic Affairs told The Red & Black. Adams worked to secure funding from areas other than the University’s main operating budget. In February he announced 2 percent of auxiliary revenues would be assessed to redirect funds “to academic support to try and save jobs in academics.” The 2 percent fee imposed on athlet ics, housing, student activities, food ser vices, transportation and parking amounts to $5 million or $6 million, Adams said. Auxiliary services at the University generally bring in S3OO mil lion in revenue each year. In an expected effort to bring in additional funds to the University, the Board of Regents approved a hefty tuition increase in April for students not covered by the “Fixed for Four” tuition guarantee. Adams told the University Council the 25 percent in-state and 15 per- cent out-of-state tuition increases will create sl4 million in additional revenue for the University. The Board of Regents also voted to extend the SIOO special institution fee for the next academic year yielding $7 million for the University. The budget in 2010 beginning July 1 will operate at a level consistent to 2009, pending unforeseen circumstances, Adams said. “My position remains that we will coop erate with state leadership, and we will do whatever we have to do to make the bud get balance,” he said. “We will also coop erate in whatever form the cuts are required.” NEWS informed it was thought to be in vio lation of the University code of con duct, initiating the judicial process. NORML was offered a sanction of one year of probation so long as they admitted to the violations in ques tion. NORML decided not to accept the offer. At the hearing, Kaczkowski con tested the logo was not a trademark violation and the organization had done everything possible to meet officials’ demands. The University advocate claimed the logo and the organizations’ inability to meet officials’ deadlines were clearly in violation of University policy. Despite their troubles with the University, NORML members con tinue to petition for the decriminal ization of holding less than seven grams of marijuana. Kaczkowski said NORML hopes to have enough signatures on its petition to get this proposition on the ballot for 2010. ZINKHAN: Professor distinguished in advertising, electronic commerce ► From Page 1 when students needed help. “I knew George, he was a very gentle and decent human being in many ways,” said Richard Tansey, a former student of Zinkhan’s at the University of Houston. Tansey studied at the University of Houston for five years in the late ’Bos and early ’9os to get his degree. During that time, he took some of Zinkhan’s classes and went to him for class advice. He said he never saw Zinkhan even lose his temper. “George created a nurturing environ ment,” he said. “I would have never got ten a Ph.D. in marketing without George.” Tansey said Zinkhan must have been in a desperate situation to commit the crimes he has been accused of, and they are not characteristic of the’ “calm and gentle soul” he remembers. He remembers the George Zinkhan of April 24 the night before the shoot ings. He remembers a George Zinkhan who would leave his office with plans to throw softballs with fellow professors. He remembers a George Zinkhan more like the one who attended the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland. Zinkhan was born Feb. 17, 1952, and during the nearly six decades that fol lowed, he cultivated a knowledge for marketing into a steady career. r 'i Live with us and watch the *i Dawgs with our Tailgate Special! 1 SIOOO Signing I /a3Ppi9|| \ Bonus Through May 9th 42” flat screen TV mounted in I Iffe. f your den with a I f new lease! I . - . gp \ * •••*'•■ pfflH Watch the Dawgs and listen through the built-in surround sound system, while living in luxury with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and private decks at Beacon Hill! Each bedroom has its own full bath and walk-in closet. This offer, is good through May 9th. Just a few left and ready for you to move in! Please call Beacon Properties for details and your chance to be the ultimate tailsater! . Bew^nlkmtiertieu Mi7M?mhW4m The Red & Black | Finals Edition | Friday, May i, 2009 2008 -zooq He began teaching at the University in 1994 and won a 2007 Journal ol Advertising Best Article Award from the American Academy of' Advertising. The publication discussed recognition aspects of print advertisements. According to a Terry College profile of Zinkhan, “he has published more than 140 articles in the areas of advertising, promotion, knowledge development and electronic commerce.” And his passion for marketing spread into the classroom. “I never got a weird vibe from him,” said Kate Larson, a junior from McDonough, who spoke with him after class two days before the incident. She said everything seemed normal with his demeanor. He helped her with marketing research and even donated to a campus organization she is a part of, she said. “Of all the professors I have ever had, he would be the last one I’d think would do this,” Larson said. He has two children, ages 8 and 10, with his second wife Marie Bruce, one of the victims of the shooting. He also has two children in their 20s with his first wife, Lydia Stoiadin, who lives in Texas. He took classes at Swarthmore College and the University of Michigan. He taught classes at the Universities of Houston, Pittsburgh, Georgia and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He threw it all away on April 25. 3
