Newspaper Page Text
Friday, October 15, aoio | The Red a Black
2A
Candidates meet voters with pre-game tailgates
By KATHRYN INGALL
Thi Red & Black
For anyone who thinks
Saturday in Athens is just
about the game on the
field, you’re missing out.
The real competition this
fall is at the voting booth.
Each gameday, the pros
pect of 90,000 voters gath
ered in the same place is
an opportunity too good to
resist for many politicians.
In Oeorgia this
November, a U.S. senator,
all 13 U.S. congressmen
from Georgia, the governor
and many other state-wide
positions will be decided.
Candidates trying to
convince voters reach out
through stickers, conversa
tions, handshakes and even
the occasional flyover mes
sage.
“I’m here to meet people
and answer their questions.
I’m supposed to be listen
ing, not talking,” said Sen.
Johnny Isakson.
Republicans Isakson
and governor-hopeful
Nathan Deal attended a
Republican tailgate at the
Wray-Nicholson alumni
house last Saturday. The
CRIME NOTEBOOK
Rape reported in Cre swell
Hall
A woman was raped in
Creswell Hall Wednesday at
about 2.30 a.m., according
to a University Police
report.
The University Health
Center reported the rape to
University Police after the
woman came to the Health
Center for assistance. The
woman told personnel she
knew her attacker and did
not want law enforcement
involved, according to the
report.
Wednesday’s incident is
the 17th reported rape in
Athens-Clarke County
since June.
It is also the second
recent rape reported first
to the University Health
Center. On Oct. 4, a female
student reported to the
Health Center that she was
raped in Mell Hall.
University Police Chief
Jimmy Williamson said ail
University officials, includ- .
ing University health offi
cials, are required to report
crimes committed against
students.
Student arrested after
driving without headlights
A University student was
arrested and charged with
underage possession after
police observed him driving
without headlights
Thursday, according to an
Athens-Clarke County
police report.
Officers stopped Terry
Dewayne Williams, 20, for
driving without headlights.
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event attracted around 100
people who could meet
candidates while enjoying
hotdogs and hamburgers.
“To me it’s really impor
tant to make sure you meet
who you’re voting for
because he’s representing
you in Congress or the gov
ernor’s pians ion,” said
Jared Peden, a member of
the College • Republicans’
executive board.
Political tailgates are
opportunities for politi
cians to meet their sup
porters and hear from their
constituents.
“Jobs and the economy
is by far the No. 1 issue on
people’s minds —and
obviously for young people
on a college campus who
want to have jobs when
they graduate,” Deal said.
Democratic candidates
also see tailgating as a
powerful campaign oppor
tunity.
On Saturday, the Young
Democrats plan to hold a
tailgate on Myers Quad.
"The most important
thing as a political organi
zation is you can't not do
it,” said Alex Foster, presi
dent of the Young
ON THE WEB
Police Document
While handing officers
his identification, officers
noticed a second license in
Williams’ wallet. Williams
pretended to not see the
second license when asked
for it, according to the
report. When asked why he
had the second ID, Williams
told officers he was holding
it for the owner.
Officers later smelled
alcohol on Williams’ breath,
and asked him to step out
of the car and arrested him
for underage possession,
according to the report.
Williams was transport
ed to Clarke County Jail.
Construction worker fight
results in simple battery
charge
A fight was reported
among construction work
ers near Stegeman
Coliseum on Wednesday,
according to a University
Police report.
Clifton Odum, an
employee of Choate
Construction, told officers
employee Joseph Smith
began insulting coworker
Jeffrey Lewis at about 7
a.m. Smith then punched
Lewis in the face, knocking
him to the ground, accord
ing to the report.
Smith was arrested and
transported to Clarke
County Jail.
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KATHRYN INGALL Tm Ku> * Buurt
▲ On Saturday, participants joined Johnny
Isakson and Nathan Deal in a Republican tail
gate. Candidates use gamedays to meet voters.
Democrats. "But it is a lot
of fun and you can get
together with other people
who are interested in poli
tics.”
Foster said campaigning
on gameday isn’t overly
competitive, but “when you
see a Republican handing
out stickers, your first
FAKE: Police use compliance checks in bars
► From Page 1A
early 20s the green light.
“There’s a lot of that going on
around since a lot of doormen and
bouncers are pretty connected
folks,” he said. "I tried to keep it to
a minimum with my staff since that
can get you in a lot of trouble.”
Trouble, indeed. After the shots
are gone and the spins subside, it's
not only the not-quite-of-age crowd
feeling the pain. The doormen can
be in for a sobering reality of their
own —one that can lead to fines,
community service and loss of a job.
To combat underage drinking,
the Athens-Clarke County Police
perform alcohol compliance checks
where an underage person attempts
to enter a bar and purchase an
alcoholic drink with a valid license
that states they are under 21.
“[lf] they went in and purchased
alcohol, it is the responsibility of the
doorman because he allowed them
into the establishment,” said Sgt.
Laura Lusk, adding that if the loca
tion does not have a doorman, the
responsibility falls on the bartender.
Lusk said punishment for fur
nishing alcohol to people under 21
varies, and the verdict often
depends on the judge.
“I’ve seen some fines higher than
others, some people receive com
munity service, some not receive it,”
she said. “That all depends on the
judge with what the fine will be.”
Lusk said there are approxi
mately 303 establishments in
Athens-Clarke County holding alco
hol licenses. Between Jan. 1 and
Dec. 31, 2009, police held 236 com
pliance checks, 28 of which resulted
in alcohol being furnished to the
undercover operative.
"Our goal is to see them twice a
year, but at least once,” she said.
Lusk said the police presence
during last year's 236 checks of the
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NEWS
instinct is to hand out
stickers right next to
them.”
There is a strategy
behind campaigning on a
gameday, said John
Wallace, who was handing
out stickers for attorney
general candidate Sam
Olens on Saturday.
approximately 300 total establish
ments in the county have likely
resulted in fewer alcohol-related
incidents. Last year, nearly 90 per
cent of alcohol compliance checks
resulted in establishments’ accu
rately checking identification.
“If we heard there’d be under
cover cops going around, we’d text
each other and say. ‘Hey, there’s
cops going around, make sure to
check those things thoroughly,'"
Allred said, adding the text warn
ings would light up doormen's cell
phones a couple times monthly.
“When the thing about the No. 1
party school came out, the cops
definitely stepped it up. *fhere were
a lot more arrest they were crack
ing down a lot harder.”
But according to Gregg Raduka.
director of prevention/intervention
with the Georgia Underage Drinking
Prevention Initiative, the measures
only save lives.
“There’s a lot of violations of the
underage drinking laws that hap
pen via retailers,” Raduka said,
adding police checks can help.
He said if retailers are more
aware of the liability of serving
underage drinkers, they'll be less
likely to turn a blind eye to selling
them alcohol. And this need for
awareness has recently increased.
“Especially since the University
of Georgia was rated the No. 1
party school by the Princeton
Review, my sense is that the com
munity is going to get more cau
tious,” he said. “The University, I
would assume, would be more cau
tious about stepping up measures
they would like to see taken to
make access tougher.”
But according to Annie DeCelles,
a senior from Alpharetta, gaining
access into bars as a freshman was
as easy as shooting fish in a keg.
“We used to pass back like four
times in a row at Barcode and they
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He hands out stickers at
the tailgate for voters
already likely to vote
Republican, but switches
to push cards or infor
mation brochures at the
gates of the stadium for
those who may not be
familiar with the candi
date.
Either way, the goal is to
engage voters.
“We’re trying to get peo
ple to stay in there and go
all the way down the ticket
and not be aware of the
line behind them," Wallace
said, speaking of the ten
dency of some voters to
only vote on high-profile
races.
For campaigners trying
to spread the word about
lesser-known candidates,
name recognition is the
biggest battle.
Justice David Nahmias,
a candidate for the state
Supreme Court, was at the
tailgate. He has attended
political events across the
state both Republican
and Democratic —and
says running a nonpartisan
race can have its challeng
es.
“People who come to
this know a lot of people,
and the hardest thing is to
get the word out,” he said.
“If they come to something
like this, they’re probably
interested in politics.”
Matt Wilson, running
against Nahmias for the
Supreme Court seat, also
had his supporters working
hard on Saturday. His
daughter Elizabeth Wilson,
a Junior magazines major,
was passing out handouts
and stickers to people on
their way to the game.
She and Claire Miller, an
alumna and family friend,
said their strategy was to
make a personal connec
tion with people.
“It’s out of my comfort
zone, but it’s been really
fun,” Wilson said.
The combination of poli
tics and football is not new.
Isakson remembers going
to his first political tailgate
in 1964 for Barry Goldwater,
who was running for presi
dent against Lyndon B.
Johnson.
“Anytime a lot of people
are together, it’s a good
time to shake hands,”
Isakson said. “Plus I'm a
Dawg myself."
wouldn’t even do anything," she
said, noting that the scheme worked
almost every time. “Literally, my
friend Kristin, who’s black, would
get in with white girls’ IDs.”
However, with Lusk and other
law enforcement officials on what
some believe to be heightened
patrol in the wake of the No. 1 party
school title, not every establishment
seems quite so lenient.
Corey Ripley is the general man
ager of The Loft and Pauley’s two
establishments downtown that
serve alcohol. He said doormen
undergo training and supervision
before they can watch the front.
“We’ll have training shifts for two
to three weeks at the door before
they’re down there by themselves,”
he said, adding the employees are
taught to check for dress code,
excessive drunkenness —and fake
IDs. “We make sure to train them to
the best of our ability. Obviously at
nighttime, it can get really hectic
and it can get you down sometimes
when you’re at the door, doing the
best you can, just trying to make a
dollar and follow the law.”
Amanda Williams, a University
senior, said though she is of age and
a regular patron of Pauley’s, she
still gets asked for her ID.
“I don’t mind,” said the Columbus
native. “They can get in trouble if
they’re not asking for IDs. It’s defi
nitely still worth coming here.”
When it comes down to drinking
before age 21, the ultimate decision
may not lie with doormen, bar man
agers or the police —but with the
underage drinkers themselves.
“If people have a way to think
they're gonna be deviant and think
they can get away with it, they’re
gonna try it,” Allred said. “More
than likely, you can do it and no one
will find out. It just comes down to
personal morals either you'll do
the right thing or you won't.”
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