Newspaper Page Text
Incoming student arrested
Beer, fake ID put
freshman in bind
By GRACE MORRIS
The Red & Black
By the second day of summer ori
entation, all students have donned
necklace name tags, attended hours
of seminars and posed for their new
student ID pictures. On June 18, one
freshman posed for a different cam
era than the rest of his classmates.
Samuel Weintraub, 18, of Roswell
didn't make it to the second day
because that morning, he posed for
a mug shot.
"I came out on the sidewalk with
the beer in my hand," Weintraub
said of his offense. "I had no idea
about the [open-container law), and
how strict it was.”
Weintraub said he went out with
friends earlier that night and stayed
with them almost the whole time.
Around 3 a.m., when most people’s
nights were winding down, Weintraub
said he stepped out of the Sideways
bathroom and no longer saw his
friends. The incoming freshman left
the bar with his drink in hand and
ran into an Athens-Clarke County
police officer instead of the people
he sought. “I was visibly drunk and
wasn’t being discreet at all,” he said.
“The whole time the cop was talking
to us, he said one of you will get
arrested.”
According to the police report,
when the police officer asked for
some form of identification,
Weintraub presented a fake Florida
As ‘Fixed-for-Four’
ends, new transfer
students pay more
By ALLISON WILLIARD
The Red & Black
Fixed-for-Four is about to be no more —and trans
fer students are feeling some of the effects.
In 2009, approximately 1,689 students entered the
University as transfers. This year, the number is pro
jected to be a little smaller somewhere between
1,150 and 1,250 students. Their entrance comes at an
unlucky moment as the SI,OOO tuition increase passed
by the Board of Regents will begin implementation
this fall. Only half of the student body those who
are juniors and seniors will be on the Fixed-for-Four
tuition plan that used to make the University so
appealing. Incoming freshmen, as well as rising sopho
mores, fifth-year seniors and transfer students will
experience the increase.
Kelly King, an incoming sophomore from Athens
Technical College, said she was perturbed by this
news.
“I graduated high school as valedictorian of my
class, but that was the year they stopped doing the
Fixed-for-Four that was usually entitled," she said.
Her mother, Ann King, was also a little distressed.
“Any time you have an increase of SI,OOO —and no
increase in the paycheck at home it hurts,” she
stated.
University admissions numbers have continued to
climb: 9,965 students were accepted for the class of
2014 an increase of 371 students compared to the
class of 2013. Yet as University President Michael
Adams stated in the May 19 budget update, state
appropriations for the University dropped 12 percent
last year and are projected to drop 18 percent for the
2011 fiscal year. It would appear that the University is
taking on more students with less money.
So how does this affect transfer students?
For many of the incoming students, hope is still on
the horizon. If students received HOPE Scholarships
at their previous institutions, they are still eligible
when they transfer to the University if their grades
and hours are up to standard.
Chris Babb, a transfer student from Georgia
Military College, said he has no worries.
“The tuition increase is not an issue to me,” Babb
said. “I’m on HOPE, so it really doesn’t bother me.”
Not all students, however, can be so lucky.
One such student is Robert Smith, a junior trans
ferring from Gainesville State College.
“I’m not on the HOPE Scholarship, so my dad is
paying for everything out-of-pocket,” Smith said. “It
really sucks,”
Others still don’t like the budget cuts, even though
they are on HOPE Scholarships.
“I don’t like the cuts because it means I have to pay
more in fees even though I have HOPE,” said Hone
Choe, also a transfer student from Gainesville State.
Jay Mooney, associate director of the Office of
Student Financial Aid, said that because HOPE is set
to pay a student’s tuition, the tuition increase is cov
ered, but fees are not.
“Though student fees have gone up, HOPE covers
the same amount it did when the legislature passed it
in 2003-2004,” Mooney said. “So students are respon
sible for covering what HOPE doesn’t.”
The process of applying as a transfer student is not
much different than that for an incoming freshman
in fact, it’s a little easier. Junior Danielle Shamroe, a
transfer from Gainesville State, said her application
was a breeze.
“There were no essays or anything it was pretty
easy,” she said.
Audrey Perdue, an incoming junior from the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said it was
the same process she saw her friends go through when
they applied to the University out of high school.
The requirements for incoming students are fairly
straightforward.
Incoming sophomores must have between 30 and
59 hours and a 3.20 grade point average or higher.
Junior and senior transfers must have 60 hours of
transferable credit and a 2.80 grade point average or
higher. The University provides a Transfer Equivalency
Search System where students can look up the classes
they took at any state institution and compare it to
University courses. Students are required to attend
one of the offered transfer orientation sessions, which
run every Friday from June 11 to July 23.
Despite budget concerns and tuition increases, the
University is still opening its doors to students from
across the state.
Whether they are new to college life or old dogs
looking for new kicks, the experience remains the
same.
driver’s license after stating previ
ously that he was only 18. He was
arrested at the comer of Broad and
Jackson Streets for underage pos
session of alcohol and having an
open container.
In the summer of 2008, two incom
ing students were in the same posi
tion as Weintraub. One of them had
his admission to the University
revoked, and the other was put on
probation. Since then, the University
has broadened its definition of a stu
dent in the Code of Conduct to
include “individuals admitted to the
University” in addition to current
students.
Speaking of his experience
since the revision, University
Police Chief Jimmy Williamson
said, “Over the years we have
caught some students at
every orientation. We treat
them like any other suspect,
though, and don’t ask them
whether or not they are an
incoming student.”
According to Kim Ellis,
associate dean for judicial
programs, this was precisely the goal
of the revision to view all judicial
code offenders as students so that
punishment discrepancy could be
eliminated.
“It was to assure that once you
are admitted to the University, you
are a student,” she said. “It was also
so that [lncoming students] would
carry themselves and act with the
conduct expected of a University
student.”
The new definition of a student
was tested for the first time with the
arrest of Michael Houck last sum-
Augusta alumnus
killed by drunk driver
By PATRICK HOOPER
The Red & Black
On June 19, University
alumnus Jordan Griner
was hit and killed by a
drunk driver in Atlanta.
Griner was driving two
of his co-workers home
after a night of celebration.
He was the designated
driver.
Griner dropped off
Patrick Smith and Brendon
DelToro less than half an
hour before the fatal
crash.
“His last act was mak
ing sure we were alright,”
said DelToro, another
Fellow working with Griner
at the governor’s office.
Griner began as an
intern before earning a fel
lowship in constituent ser
vices. He was just about
to start his second fellow
ship, said Chris Schrimpf,
the Governor's press sec
retary.
The crash occurred at
the intersection of W.
Peachtree and 17th Street
in the early hours of the
morning when suspect
Christa Scott ran a red
light and hit his car,
according to an Atlanta
Police report.
Scott was unharmed.
The officer noted the smell
of alcohol on her breath
when she asked if Griner
was alright.
Scott would later be
charged with failure to
obey a traffic light, DUI,
reckless driving, and homi
cide. Once in custody, she
blew a .229, which exceeds
the legal limit of .08 blood
alcohol content.
Griner, however, was
sober.
Scott was eventually
released on bond, as
reported by the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution.
After the accident,
Griner was taken to Grady
Memorial Hospital and
declared dead at 5:11 a.m.
He was 24 years old.
Griner was a 2004 grad
uate of Cross Creek High
School and a 2008 gradu
ate of the University, hav
ing received a bachelor’s
degree in history and a
minor in philosophy.
“He was always really
willing to help people,
always joyful,” said Geales
Goodwin, executive direc
tor of the University
Judiciary.
Griner had been a mem
ber when Goodwin was
first coming in. She said he
was the type of person who
did everything he could to
help people and make their
days brighter.
It was in this memory
that members of the judi
ciary held a candlelight
vigil at the Arch earlier this
week. The judiciary will
honor Griner at their end
of-year banquet, Goodwin
said.
Schrimpf did not work
with Griner often, but he
said that Grlner’s co-work
ers had nothing but praise
and kind reviews to offer
him.
He spoke of Griner as a
NEWS
mer. Houck’s admission was not
revoked, but he received probation.
During his freshman year, he com
mitted a second offense that landed
him suspension for the rest of his
spring semester and the upcoming
fall semester.
When asked whether Houck’s sec
ond offense made anyone rethink
the revised student definition, Ellis
said, “I don’t know if that was
rethought that sort of thing is dis
cussed by Michael Adams’ cabinet.”
Since Houck’s suspension, how
ever, the Office of Judicial Programs
has amended Its policy on second-
time alcohol-related offenses.
Second offenses will now be
heard by a judicial council on
a case-by-case basis rather
than receiving automatic sus
pension.
In regards to Weintraub’s
first-time offense, Ellis did not
say anything conclusive on
whether he will receive proba
tion like Houck or whether his
admission could be revoked.
“I believe [revoked admis-
ns
WEINTRAUB
slon] depends on the timing of the
violation, and that would ultimately
be up to the Office of Admission,”
she said.
On his end, Weintraub is waiting
with uncertainty as to what his con
sequences will be.
“All I heard at orientation is that I
can lose my admission for this,” he
said. “Don’t go downtown during
orientation, period. If you’re going to
do something like that, just be smart
and make sure to talk to people and
find out what you can get away
with.”
very business-like and seri
ous young man, but he was
obviously very happy to be
a part of the governor’s
office.
Griner’s good will and
earnest nature did not
escape the notice of
Governor Perdue, who
mourned the loss of “his
enthusiastic smile, joyful
personality and willingness
to help others” in an offi
cial statement.
Perdue’s statement
went on to highlight the
perils of drinking and driv
ing, which deprived the
state of “a bright and shin
ing star.” Governor Perdue
closed by wishing that this
tragedy might remind peo
ple of the cost of driving
under the influence.
Griner was laid to rest
on the afternoon of
Wednesday, June 23 in his
native Augusta.
DelToro was one of his
pallbearers. According to
DelToro, the chapel was
frill.
“He was one of the kind
est, friendliest people I had
ever met,” DelToro said.
“He always had a smile on
his face.”
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CORRECTIONS
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committed to journal
istic excellence and
providing the most
accurate news possi
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see an error, and we
will do our best to
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Editor-in-chief:
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