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WWW.REDANDBLACK.COM 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 —jHHCMHLj.. Hi 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 The£~\ 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 ON THE WEB Read about student felonies on page 7, and look at this week’s Crime Map at www.redandblack.com fndpY News 2 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 Mr 'HBg -V BLAKE LiPTHRATTi Te Red a Black •.. xjUr ill I ' w s.- a rms.'X**- ' aMfe > lbm lL I 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