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VOLUME 47-NUMBER 16 Quarter to be Extended BY MARK McCLOUD Two class days will be tacked onto the end of winter quarter to compen sate for days missed during Georgia's snowstorm two weeks ago. John T. Lewis, vice president, had originally announced that students would have to make up three class days on Satur days. Lewis said the reason for the change was to,' make it as least as in Board of Regents Will Hear SGA Protest BY MARK McCLOUD The Board of Regents will hear an appeal by West Georgia’s Stu dent Government over the Faculty Senate’s decision to return to the 50 nunute class schedule in their February meeting Michael Kay, SGA president received word Mon day from Henry Neal, executive No Homecoming Parade Again This Year BY JACKIE ELLIOT Due to several organizations’ lack of interest regarding the homecoming parade, the parade was cancelled this year,” says Lisa Kerley, chairperson of the homecoming committee. The homecoming committee, made up of 12 members, sent out question naires to every organization on cam pus. Each questionnaire consisted of six questions concerning participation of the organization in a parade or a yard display. Out of the 20 organizations question ed only 13 responded. Ten said they would participate in a parade; five would participate in a yard display. Two of the organizations responded that they would like to see a yard display and another three said they would like to see either the parade or the y ard displays. Due to this apparent lack of in terest" in participation the parade was cancelled However, homecoming festivities including the selection of a homecom ing queen w ill go forward and, as in the past, be the highlight of the social life of winter quarter. On Jan. 28 the candidates for homecoming queen will be announced at the basketball game. (See page 7 1. Also, on January 28 and 29, voting w ill take place for the top five finalists. Then, on Feb. 1, the names of the five finalists will fie posted at the Stu dent Center. Voting for homecoming queen will take place on Feb. 4 and 5. The winner will be announced at the halftime of the homecoming basket ball game on Saturday , Feb. 6. The game, which begins at 8 p.m., is with Albany State Cable-TV in Dorms in Planning Stages BY JIMMY ESPY Slowly and almost silently the pro spect of getting cable television for the West Georgia campus has been gathering steam. Recent activity in this area is still in the research and planning stage, but there is apparent ly serious discussion under way. The key individuals in the issue appear to be student government President, Michael Kay, Director of Learning Resources, Jerry Mock, Dean of Stu dent Services Bruce Lyons, and local cable systems manager Earl Hines. While nothing concrete has been planned, some information has become available. Several options are being considered concerning the wir ing of the campus. Two possible systems appear to be the most likely of the various options. One would call for the school to purchase it’s own antenna receiving equipment and wire the campus itself. The other would require a hook-up with the local cable television system Twenty CATV, Inc. If the first option is pursued, it will require that the school do all its own wiring of dormitories. Ideally, the school would then be able to produce some of its own programming through the already existing television studio located in the education center. Some form of receiving equipment would then have to be purchased and in stalled, probably a large antenna. If the second option is chosen, the campus would hook onto the local cable system owned by Twenty CATV, Inc. A cable hook-in would pro bably be fairly simple, as Maple See Homecoming Hopefuls Page 7 WEST GEORGIAN convenient as possible to accom modate working students." said, however, that if any other days are missed during the quarter, Satur day classes ould be scheduled. Classes were originally scheduled to end on Wednesday, March 10 with exams scheduled March 11-12, and 15- 17. Gasses will now be extended through Friday, March 12. Saturday, secretary of the Regents. The meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Atlanta “1 was shocked, at least they are going to hear it. I just can’t believe it." said Kay who didn’t expect the appeal to be acknowledged, i had a feeling he i Vice Chancellor Ver ; j. MkM 11 I-ack of organizational interest will keep a Homecoming parade sidelined for the third consecutive year and once Along with announcing the homecoming queen will be the nam ing of the winners of the banner con test and the staff-person-of-the-year awards. Homecoming week is filled with a schedule of events and entertainment that includes a concert featuring "Jasmine” at Z-6 on Feb. 2 at 8:30 p.m.; the movie "The Pink Panther Strikes Again” on Feb. 3. The five homecoming queen finalists will be introduced at the Ixmg Branch Saloon Feb. 3 and, on Feb. 4, a 'We want to do whatever we can to improve academic life in the residence halls'-Lyon. Street directly in front of the campus, is already wired. “It’s available now if the college wants it,” said Twenty CATV systems manager Earl Hines, "if the college sees fit.” Hines, who has had some contact with the school’s building maintenance and grounds supervision departments on the matter, says that he would have every room on campus wired within 30 to 60 days and could begin working almost immediately if given the word by the college ad ministration. The CATV service would provide channels 2,5,11,17,36 and 46. Channel 9c from Chicago also would be broad cast, as would space satellite cable services ESPN (24 hour sports), SPN ( movies, news, sports, talk shows), and C-SPAN (live House of Represen tatives) among others. The popular cable product HBO would not be available immediately, but might be added later if demand is sufficient. Hines suggested an approximate charge of $4 a room per quarter. This rate, substantially lower than the nor WEST GEORGIA COLLEGE, CARROLLTON, GA. 30118 March 13, has been added as an exam day in addition to the original schedule. Spring vacation will begin March 18 Graduation ceremonies are still scheduled for Sunday, March 21 at 3 p.m. Students who missed four class days because of two-hour block classes will have to make up work in accordance with the instructor and academic dean. non Crawford) would call the president and stick with it, (the decision) but he didn't. Isn’t it great?” Kay said. Kay had filed an initial appeal with President Townsend in early January but was denied on the grounds that the president believ ed there were "sound academic again, the election of a homecoming queen will be the highlight of the winter event. concert by Erin Isaac will be held at Z-6. These concerts at Z-6 are free for ID card-holders, $2 for those without. The homecoming basketball game with its halftime coronation will be followed by a dance featuring the Mighty Majors” and "Tara”. ’The dance will begin at 10 p.m. and last until 2 am., $2 admission charge for students and $3. for non-students. A number of students interviewed on campus expressed disappointment at the cancellation of the plans for the homecoming parade. mal cost, results from bulk rate charges being in affect. A large new market, like a college or a hotel, is able to get the cable service at a con siderably cheaper price than in dividual households. According to Dean of Student ser vices Bruce Lyon, the cost of CATV service would result in a direct users fee to be added on to the normal dorm fee each quarter. If the school sets up it’s own system, then the expense would be shouldered by the school itself. “We want to do whatever we can to improve academic life in the residence halls,” commented Lyon. Whether or not the administration chooses to go with CATV or a system of its own, much will depend on the reaction of the student body. First, there will have to be a definite sign of interest on the part of students living in the dorms. The administration will have to be confident that there will be enough support for even slight in creases in dormitory fees. Also, the ability of the school to do some of its own programming is considered very LEWIS reasons to return to the 50-minute class period.” The Student Advisory Commit tee, a committee composed of the state college’s student government presidents and vice presidents, is also scheduled to meet February 10. “I think it’s a very ignorant thing to do because homecoming is not homecoming without a parade,” said freshman Doug Andrews. And Rodney Crawford, junior, said, “I feel that no homecoming parade Is like Christmas without Santa Claus. Also, I feel that the organizations should be ashamed for not participating in a homecoming parade.” While homecoming has been the big event on the West Georgia campus, there has not been a homecoming parade since 1978. important by some of the cable pro ponents. The desirablility of such a system seems obvious, but funding will have to come from somewhere. There is currently no great high level involvement concerning cable television on campus. All parties seem willing to proceed at a patient rate, going one step at a time and making no expensive mistakes. Pro gress has definitely been made since last year when it wasn’t even a major priority on anyone’s list. The student government has now made it a priori ty and will surely press the matter as much as the student body demands. Cable seems to have solid support now in each of the offices where it has been looked at, most notably in the offices of Learning Resources and Student Services. Georgia State Students Protest Hike BY MARK McCLOUD Student Government president Michael Kay says he will decide next week whether his officers will participate with a group of Georgia State students to protest a tuition increase that the Board of Regents plans for next fall. The increase would occur annually until students were paying 25 percent of the total cost of general operations. Governor George Busbee en dorsed the 15 percent hike for all University System institutions last October to begin next fall. Most opposition to the increase is WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1982 203 Students Flunk; 88 Earn Perfect GPA BY ELLEN WILSON Out of 4533 undergraduates, 306 peo ple were sent notices of dismissal for academic reasons following fall quarter, according to Vice President and Dean of Faculties, John Lewis. About one-third of these were given administrative waivers or readmitted on appeal. “Actually, only about 202 or 204 students were dismissed,” lA'wis said. At the same time, 88 students had perfect or 4.0 cumulative grade point averages (GPA). Of these, 57 were freshmen, 24 were sophomores, and seven were juniors or seniors. Full time students who do not pass at least five hours in a given quarter and freshmen failing to earn a cumulative GPA of at least 1.6 after attempting 45 hours will be dismissed according to the 1981-82. Undergraduate Catalog. "Students other than freshmen will be evaluated quarterly on the basis of cumulative GPA for the total number of hours attempted...A student failing to earn the cumulative GPA required for the total number of hours attemp ted...will be dismissed,” according to the Catalog. Any student who has attempted between 1 and 45 hours and whose GPA is below 1 .6, one who has attemp ted between 46 and 90 hours whose GPA falls below 1.7 and one who has attempted 91 to 136 hours and has a GPA under 1.8 will be dismissed. At the end of fall quarter, 684 or 15 percent of the students who had at tempted between 1 and 45 hours had cumulative below 1.6. Of students who hud attempted 46 to 90 hours, 181 or 8.9 percent had cumulative GPAs lower than 1.7. Of students who had attemp ted over 90 hours, 82 or 1.8 percent had cumulative GPAs of less than 1.8. Out of 4533 undergraduates enroll ed, not including the above totals, there were 555 students, 12.2 percent, who had cumulative GPAs under 2.0. These students have been placed on academic warning. The reason that the number of students who were sent letters of dismissal and the numbers of students whos GPAs are not up to par do not coincide, according to Ix'wis, is that the school "normally gives students Drinking Bill Withdrawn; TougherD.U.l.Laws Seen FROM WIRE REPORTS Senator Joe Thompson, D-Smyma, has withdrawn his controversial bill which would have restored the legal drinking age in the state of Georgia to 21. He said he realized that the pro posal had no chance of passing. Thompson instead will concentrate on passing tougher drunk-driving laws. Thompson was the sponsor of the bill that raised Georgia’s drinking age from 18 to 19 two years ago. Thompson said he will introduce bills later in the legislative session that would cut the blood-alcohol content level from .10 to .05 as the legal limit for prosecution. Thompson said some states have a .08 limit while many foreign countries have a .05 standard. “Drunk-driving is the number one problem of highway safety,” said Thompson. “The probability of hav ing an accident is twice as great with a blood alcohol content of only .05 per cent, one-half of the presumptive level of intoxication in Georgia. It’s seven times as great at .10 percent,” he add ed. Georgia law now allows violators to plead nolo contendre, “no contest”, to driving under the influence on their first offense. Maximum fine on first offenders is a SIOOO fine and/or a year in jail. However, most violators now being voiced by the Georgia State student government. Rallying behind the slogan, “We refuse to take a hike”, Georgia State students plan to hold meetings on several of Georgia’s state college campuses. "Inasmuch as students are currently faced with financial aid cutbacks that have already forced one in three to take fewer courses or drop out of school com pletely, we feel the timing of such a recommendation is highly ques tionable” read a press release from Georgia State’s SGA. Larry Alcoff, an SGA senator, has MO#OtrT OCCAMtIAIOft u S POSTAGI PAN) (AMOtIfON GAOOCiA AtMAf? m lift 45 hours to prove themselves. Those students in the 1 to 45 hour classifica tion who have not completed three quarters are not subject to dismissals.” “Students in that category were sent notices of academic distress.” According to sending such notices is a matter of courtesy rather than practice because “warnings are already stamped on the grade report.” "A student who is dismissed or denied readmission has the right to appeal. The appeals procedure is in itiated by mailing a letter to the Chairman of the Appeals Subcommit tee of the Academic Policies and Pro cedures Committee in care of the of fice of the Vice President and Dean of Faculties,” according to the catalog. The 100 students who won their ap peals this year had several reasons for appeal according to Lewis. These included deaths in the family, auto ac cidents and GPAs “so close to stan dards that we gave them a second chance,” Lewis said. “The appeals committee hears all kinds of stories; there isn’t a story they haven’t heard,” he said. “A dismissed student who is read mitted on probation must attain the cumulative GPA required for general enrollment or make significant pro gress toward doing so (earn a GPA of at least 2.0 in at least 10 hours of course work during the first quarter of re-enrollment. Otherwise the stu dent will be dismissed again. A stu dent showing significant progress may continue to be enrolled on proba tion in order to earn the required cumulative GPA so long as the stu dent continues to make significant progress each quarter. When the stu dent meets the requirement for regular enrollment he or she is no longer on academic probation,” the catalog says. According to the catalog, "A dismissed student may apply for re admission for any quarter beginning 12 months or more after the date of dismissal, or the summer quarter following the first time he or she is dismissed for academic reasons. In either case, the student will be placed on probation.” 'We want 1o eliminate the 'free' first time' -Thompson pay a fine of around SIOO. “We want to eliminate the ‘free’ first time. 'The way it is now, your first offense is really a freebie,” Thompson said. Under his bill, no first offender would plead no contest, and judges could probate or suspend sentences only in hardship cases. Instead of the SIOO, the minimum fine would be $320, and the jail sentence would be reduc ed from 10 days to two days. Second offenders would also be fined up to SIOOO. On their third offense, violators could lose their license for five years. Thompson said judges aren’t really imposing any jail sentences for first time offenders, so he was more in terested in seeing them lose their licenses for a mandatory 60 days. His bill would make two-day jail sentences optional on first offenses and mandatory on the second offense. declared the proposition “ar bitrary” and said it was decided upon without considering student input. Georgia State senators are declaring that the current hike reflects a lack of respect towards the reality of students as con sumers. They are also recommen ding that the Board of Regents hold a series of public hearings in the educational centers where the greatest number of students would be affected by the increase. This would enable the Committee on Continued on page 10