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University improves in student retention rate
By CAITLIN BYRNES
The Red & Black
The University ranks third
among SEC schools in retaining
students through graduation,
falling short only to Vanderbilt
and the University of Florida.
“We’re better now than we’ve
ever been, but that doesn’t mean
we don’t want to be even better,”
said Jere Morehead, vice presi
dent for instruction.
Dropout rate is measured in
two ways: six-year graduation
Speakers give
their views on
abortion issue
Students encouraged
to bring questions
By TIFFANY STEVENS
The Red & Black
The University will host two well-known
speakers to debate the controversial issue of
abortion today in the Tate Student Center.
The speakers are Andrew Napolitano, a
Fox News senior judicial analyst and former
superior court judge, and Michael Waldman,
director of the Brennan Center for Justice at
New York University School of Law.
“Michael Waldman was chief
speech writer for President
Clinton, and he is now a presi
dential scholar,” said Jonathan
Gibson, coordinator for the
ideas and issues division at the
University Union.
“Judge Andrew Napolitano
is a Fox News [correspondent]
and I believe he is on CNN, too.
Ancj he is a Constitutional
scholar and an acting judge.”
University Union is hosting
the debate to keep students
informed on topics of impor
tance in larger society, Gibson
said.
“What our committee does
is try to look at issues that are
in our world today, and pro
gram events accordingly. We
decided abortion was still rele
vant to our times,” he said. “We
decided the only way to show
both sides was to have a
NAPOLITANO
WALDMAN
debate. The people we’re bringing for the
debate were not people we particularly had in
mind, but our agent found two well-qualified
candidates that were free to come and speak
at the University.”
Gibson said he hopes the debate will help
students understand some of the issues
behind the debate over abortion.
“The only problem with this topic is that a
lot of people know what they believe about
[abortion], so I don’t think we’re going to
change a lot of minds. So maybe we’ll reach
someone who doesn’t know what they believe
about the topic,” Gibson said. “This is just a
See ABORTION, Page 2
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KEVNEY MOSES | The Kid a Bute*
▲ Freshman sweeper Laura Eddy (center, right)
is congratulated Sunday after scoring her first
collegiate goal which was also the game winner.
So
p.m. showers.
High 681 Low 53
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Red&Black
* — — * ■ - ,
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
rate and first-year retention.
The University has an 80 per
cent six-year graduation rate,
meaning only 20 percent of stu
dents have not completed a
University degree after sue years.
“That’s very good,” said Libby
Morris, director of the Institute
of Higher Education. “Nationally,
everything considered, only
about 55 percent of people who
pursue baccalaureate degrees
graduate.”
But Morris said the number of
actual university graduates may
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time A Opinions 6
Thursday, October 15, 2009
be higher.
“There are stop-outs, not just
drop-outs,” she said.
“They also could have enrolled
elsewhere, and completed school
there.”
This means students who
begin their education at the
University, stop for several years
and then complete their degree
are not factored into the figure.
The University has also fared
well in fi-eshman retention. The
number of freshman students
who stay into their sophomore
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MOLLY WEIR | The Rio a Bute*
Freshman soccer player solid at new position
By DREW KANN
The Red & Buck
Dependable.
Composed.
In college athletics, such lofty
terms are usually reserved for griz
zled veterans, four-year starters,
players who have fought hard year-in
and year-out, down to the final whis
tle.
But a freshman soccer player? A
freshman playing out of her natural
position? A freshman playing, and
starting, at arguably the most impor
tant, pressure-packed position on
the field?
There must be some kind of con
fusion.
Not so. Meet Laura Eddy.
Eddy, the youngest of six siblings
DOGS OFF THE LEASH
WATERLOGGED
along with her twin brother, has the
pedigree for soccer stardom. Her
father, Mike, was a swimmer at the
University of North Carolina and two
of her siblings, older brother Bryan
and older sister Becca, went on to
play college soccer at Wofford and
College of Charleston, respectively.
“In everything we did, it was a
competition. Playing with my broth
ers, if we’d just go out and kick the
[soccer] ball around, it’d be aggres
sive and we’d get mad, but I think it
helped put me ahead of some people
in that way,” said Eddy.
On Sunday, Eddy got her first
taste of soccer glory at the college
level, scoring her first career goal, a
game winner in the final minutes of
play to lift the Bulldogs above
Mississippi State.
Former Lady Dog great
Saudia Roundtree is still in
basketball. See where she
has continued her career.
Page 7
Out & About 3
Sports 7
year is the same as Florida at 93
percent, behind Vanderbilt.
The University has improved
drastically In recent years, push
ing it further from some low-re
tention schools such as Arkansas
and the University of Mississippi.
In the past five years the
University has improved 11 per
centage points in its six-year
graduation rate, and has main
tained a solid freshman reten
tion.
“It’s a deliberate focus on the
undergraduate experience,”
In what is typically one of the driest times of
the year, the last 30 days have netted the
Athens area nearly 15 inches of rainfall.
Because of the unseasonably wet weather, the
University is relying on workers at the Physical
Plant to stay afloat. Workers labored Wednesday
to remove unwanted water from the McPhaul
Center after groundwater penetrated basement
walls. They have received between 30 to 40 calls
this week about other small leaks. Another
effect of the heavy rainfall is minor doorway
flooding around campus. The average rainfall
for an Athens October is under three and a half
inches. Just halfway into the month, 5.6 inches
of rain have already fallen.
Daniel Burnett
Turn to
Out & About
to see which local
band is making a
political
comeback.
Page 3
Vol. 117, No. 43 | Athens, Georgia
Morris said.
Policy changes, such as the
recent limitation on the number
of allowed student withdrawals,
have come from student-experi
ence research.
First-year retention coordina
tor Tina Venus said building a
strong foundation early on leads
to higher retention, citing two
University programs.
First-year Franklin College of
Arts and Sciences students on
See DROP, Page 7
Prior to arriving at the University,
however, the Atlanta native and 2008
graduate of the Marist School was no
stranger to success on the soccer
field.
Eddy, a four-year starter at Marist
playing center midfield, raked in
more than her fair share of hardware
in high school: two AAAA State
championships in 2008 and 2009, a
2008 selection to the NSCAA High
School All-American Team and, in
2009, Eddy was named the Georgia
State Player of the Year.
However, all of those accolades
were earned because of Eddy’s play
in the central midfield. Though she
was recruited to help shore up the
Georgia midfield, through 14 games
See SOCCER, Page 2
DEFENSIVE CHANGES?
Will there be a complete
overhaul of the secondary
this weekend for
Vanderbilt?
Page 8
Crossword 2
Sudoku 7