Newspaper Page Text
WEST GEORGIAN
Volume 41 No. 8
Chancellor Plans
To Ask Students
For Suggestions
Shortly after West Georgia President Ward
Pafford announced plans to resign at the end of
the year last Wednesday, University System of
Georgia Chancellor George Simpson revealed
plans to be in Carrollton on Oct. 2.
Chancellor Simpson will be on campus to
solicit suggestions from representatives of the
students, faculty, alumni, and community,
concerning the naming of anew president, ac
cording to Mr Harry Murphy of the Chancellor’s
office.
According to Murphy, the last president to be
named in the university system was in Fort
Valley, and there the representatives met with
system authorities and proposed a recom
mendation to the Board of Regents.
A partial listing of those who were chosen to
meet with the Chancellor was compiled this
week, but Dr. Pafford would not release any
names.
However Lamar Chambers, president of the
student government association, said students
chosen to attend include Ray McConnel, Danny
Stewart, Carey Smith, and Cathy Washer.
W’hen asked what part he will play in the
selection of anew president for West Georgia,
Dr. Pafford said he was hesitant to say a lot
about his involvement in the process, and that it
is not his responsibility.
Continued On Page 18
Got’cha
Computer Folds , Spindles Hundreds At Registration
BY GARY WILLIS
Hundreds of returning students stood in line
registration day, some for as long as two hours,
to pay delinquent traffic fines before they were
allowed to enter the HPE building for
registration. The delay, which brought myriad
student complaints, was, according to Chief D.
H. Johnson, director of public safety, a result of a
business office request that the safety depart
ment be “more thorough” in its collection of
overdue fines.
Chief Johnson said that this is the first year the
business office has been keeping up with fines
and that the Board of Regents policy is that
students cannot matriculate while owing fines.
“Therefore, the business office asked us to put
forth a better effort to collect fines,” he said.
Kenneth Batchelor, director of fiscal affairs,
said that no special request was made of the
safety department to collect the fines, but the
procedure was “standard policy.”
Chief Johnson said, too, that it was not the first
time records have been flagged, but, he added,
“It was the most effective due to an increase in
manpower to handle the situation.”
But even with the “increase in manpower,”
the line was still long and sluggish and remained
in front of the department of safety building for
most of the day.
Jimmy Larence, a student with a 9:30 time
card who stood in line for over two hours, said,
Chieftain Organizes
John Murch, newly appointed editor of the
Chieftain, has announced that an organizatonal
meeting will be held on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in
conference room three of the student center for
all students interested in joining the 1974-75
annual staff. No experience is necessary and
paid positions are available. For further in
formaton, students should contact Murch in
room 213 of Tyus Hall, or Buell Cobb, faculty
advisor to the Chieftain, at extension 439.
We*t Georgia College, Carrollton, Go. 30117
|jr if j| 111
REGISTRATION This is one of 4646 students who enrolled for the
fall quarter. While present figures show enrollment figures down from
the 5201 registered last fall quarter, an increase is possible soon, ac
cording to the college registrar.
A controversial issue of in
terest to many students here
resurfaced last week at the
Carrollton City Council meeting.
Charles Cowan, owner of the
Wedgewood Inn on Highway 27,
asked Mayor Charles Lumpkin
"This is ridiculous. They’ve got
one or two people in there han
dling the fines of all these
students. And you know there are
a lot of students on this campus
owing fines.”
One student said, “I stood in
line for two damn hours and when
I got to the desk they said I didn’t
owe anything.”
Students also complained about
the raggedness of the line and the
fact that people were getting in
line at the front instead of the
rear.
Chief Johnson said that the real
3k ' Car i"
ri , JH
If 4 * '
FLAGGED!
This is only a small portion of the hundreds of students who were
nagged by the computer last week as they tried to register Officials
have promised to try and eliminate the possibility of such things
happening in the future.
Alcohol Issue Brews;
Council Makes Study
September 27, 1974
and the members of the council to
authorize a beer and wine
pouring law for restaurants in the
city.
In his statement, Cowan ex
plained that a large percentage of
Continued On Page 18
delay was that students asked for
a confirmation of the fines they
owed. This involved the pulling of
tickets from different files in
which they were listed
alphabetically and numerically.
Around 1 p.m., after collecting
over $1,400, according to Shirley
Askew, dispatcher for the
department of public safety,
students were allowed to sign
lOU’s stating that they would pay
the fines before Oct. 1. This
decision was made, according to
Johnson, because registration
Enrollment Down;
Rise In Tally
Possible - Parker
Enrollment at West Georgia College dipped
again this fall, according to preliminary figures
released by the Registrar’s Office. The decrease
is only slight and, in the next few weeks, at
tendance could climb back to the level set last
fall, according to Registrar Elizabeth Parker.
Miss Parker reported Wednesday that a total
of 4646 students are presently enrolled here but
she added that figure is subject to change.
“This figure is very indefinite,” she said. “I
expect it will go up some as soon as we get all of
the final totals compiled. I believe it should
reach 5000 students and possibly more within the
next few weeks.”
Last fall, Miss Parker reported a total of 5201
students were enrolled here. It is not known if
this fall’s attendance will reach that level or not.
However, enrollment here has been on a steady
decline since 1971, when attendance for the fall
quarter peaked at 6114.
Many factors have been contributing to this
steady drop in attendance, which is occuring not
only at West Georgia but at other colleges across
the state as well. The two primary factors have
been the discontinuation of the draft and the fact
that many high schools have become “com
prehensive” in the last few years. In other
words, the schools have programs which teach
students a trade, eliminating the need to go to
college.
A third factor that could be contributing
somewhat to this steady drop in attendance is the
increase in the costs required to enter a college.
In 1971, for example, the catalog cost for en
tering West Georgia was about $4lO. This fall,
however, that figure had risen to abbut $470 and
even higher in other cases.
Miss Parker added that she had “no idea” how
many freshmen entered the institution this fall.
She did say that a total of 2337 male students are
here compared to only 2309 females.
More comprehensive enrollment figues are
expected in about two weeks.
was being held up and it appeared that some
students might not make it through registration
in the time allotted.
But he said that it is not the last time that
records will be flagged.
“In the future we will be just as methodical.
We hope that students will come in during the
quarter and resolve their fines instead of hoping
to get through registration. If they don’t, we will
have long lines again.”
Because of the increase in the number of
registered vehicles this year and a change in the
traffic code, he said that he fears the situation
may worsen. Drivers are allowed five traffic
violations to accumulate per quarter before cars
are impounded. In the past the allowance was
only three.
“For what it’s worth,” Chief Johnson said,
“I’m opposed to impounding cars and taking
them off somewhere.”
He said that an alternative to impoundment
which he favors is the use of a device called a
“lock joc” which can be attached to the front
wheel of the car and prevent the driver from
moving the vehicle.
“The student can come by and pay his fines
and the device will be removed,” he said. “I
certainly think it’s a better way.
“It is not our purpose to viciously and vin
dictively write traffic tickets. We want voluntary
payments of fines. We’re simply trying to impose
the rules. We don’t want to make money that
way,” said Chief Johnson.
On the inside
features pg. 7
sports pg-13
editorials pg. 4