Newspaper Page Text
Page 2
- Wednesday, August 24,2005
UWG students living in style
" I
Photo by Jennifer Robinson
Wt Georgia’s new Arbor View Apartment complex, on the west side of the campus,
opened Its doors to students for the first time last Wednesday. Arbor View houses
over 600 students.
Fire safety - an important
lesson for UWG students
By Larry L. Peel
Staff Writer
gopherjunction@aol.com
Going to college
brings many new lessons
and challenges, but some
times the most impor
tant lessons are the ones
brought from childhood.
“Learn not to bum”
is the lesson kids learned,
and that is a lesson that
is brought home all too
often as news reports of
fatal fires, both off and on
campus, fill headlines ev
ery year.
Every year, students
pour into the dorm rooms,
apartments, frat houses
and sororities, most
having never before left
home. These students
often overlook the basic
necessities of safety in the
rapid-fire pace of college
campus life.
According to statistics
issued by the American
Society of Safety
Engineers:
• Each year, about
1,700 fires occur in
collegiate housing - on
and off campus -and about
150 fires occur each year
in fraternity or sorority
houses.
• Average Greek
housing property loss is
$580,000 per fire.
• The leading causes
of fires in dormitories are
reported as 1) arson, 2)
cooking and 3) smoking.
•In 2001, the academic
year with the most fatal
fires between 2000 and
2005, there were 2,530
reported fires in dormitory
properties causing six
deaths, 82 injuries and
$48.5 million in estimated
direct property damage.
• Thirty-three percent
So, you think you can write!
OK, come and prove it by reporting and writing news, features, sports
and entertainment stories for The West Georgian. See your name in
the paper; fame is yours for the asking. And, we pay you for every
story we publish.
What? You think you can edit too?
Several salaried editing positions will be open during the coming months, but you
have to get your foot in the door now, by joining the staff.
All interested students (any major) are invited to join us at our staff meetings,
every Monday at 12 noon. We’re located in UCC Room 111, adjacent to the food
court, or contact the editors at uwgpaper@westga.edu
The West Georgian
of dormitory fires are the
result of arson.
• Between 1999-
2001, the leading area
of origin for dormitory
property structure fires was
the kitchen (39 percent).
Another 22 percent started
in the bedroom; nine
percent began in a hallway
or corridor.
• 56 percent of injuries
from dormitory fires occur
when victims attempt to
suppress the fire.
• Smoke alarms
operated in 79 percent of
dormitory fires. However,
many times the alarms
were ignored by students,
who believe them to be
false alarms.
• Approximately one
half of those who die in
student housing fires have
high blood alcohol count
(BAC) values, a finding
that is consistent with the
disproportionate number of
deaths that occur in house
fires on weekends, when
people tend to consume
more alcohol, according
to the U.S. Department
of Health and Human
Services Report titled
“Alcohol and Health.”
Nationally, arson is
listed as a leading cause of
fires in Greek Houses, with
open flames listed second.
Students of the
University of West
Georgia are afforded many
opportunities to ensure
their safety, including
fire drills organized by
Theresa Jablecki-Kriel
with the risk management
office, and monitored by
the campus Department of
Public Safety.
According to Thomas
Mackel, Director of the
UWG Department of
Public Safety, the Public
Safety Department
offers fire safety and fire
extinguisher training to
any campus organization
or student group.
Mackel noted that in
the calendar year 2004
his department, along
with the Carrollton Fire
Department, responded
to 562 fire alarms in the
residence halls.
While specific figures
on false alarms were not
available, those alarms are
a major concern for the
Public Safety Department.
Mackel wants students to be
aware that fire alarms and
smoke detector systems are
there for their protection.
“Don’t tamper with
the equipment and if you
hear an alarm, lock the door
to your room and leave
immediately,” he said.
Mackel advises
students that when an alarm
is activated in a residence
hall or other campus
building, the Carrollton Fire
Department does respond.
False alarms are investigated
fully by the Department of
Public Safety as well as the
fire department.
For students who
feel that triggering a false
alarm is amusing or part
of a simple college prank,
Mackel said that setting off
a fire alarm when no fire is
present is a serious charge
which can result in a hefty
fine and jail time.
Students who have
information about anyone
setting off the alarm when
there is no fire should
contact Public Safety at
(678) 839-6000, or by e
mail at publicsafetyconfid
ential @ westga.edu.
Information can be
left anonymously by either
method.
%
Campus
Calendar
Wednesday, August 24
• Caricatures and free pizza -11 a.m. - 2 p.m., UCC
• Deadline for intramural track meet registration- 12 noon.
Thursday, August 25
• TVucker hats -11 a.m. - 2 p.m., UCC
• Women’s Soccer, UWG vs. Armstrong Atlantic - 5 p.m.
• Welcome back track meet - 5 p.m.
Friday, August 26
• “Friday After Dark” - 8 p.m., UCC
Saturday, August 27
• Women’s Soccer, UWG vs. Florida Southern -3 p.m.
Events are taken from web-published university calendars and sports
schedules, press releases and from information sent to The West Georgian
by event organizers. Organizers wishing to list an event may e-mail the
details, as far in advance as possible, to uwgpaper@westga.edu.
'Go Greek/ says UWG's
Panhellenic President
By Crystal Farrer
Staff Writer
cfarrerl @my.weslga.edu
“When it is all you
can think about Go
Greek!” This year’s theme
sums up everything about
Panhellenic Recruitment.
Formal Recruitment
is right around the comer.
This year, Panhellenic
President Lauren Smith
expects between 150 to
200 girls to go through.
To be eligible for
Recruitment, students
must be enrolled in at least
12 hours at UWG and have
at least a 2.0 GPA. These
girls can be either freshmen
or upperclassmen.
There are six
Panhellenic sororities on
West Georgia’s campus.
Those are Alpha Xi Delta,
Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta
Delta Delta, Kappa Delta,
Phi Mu, and Chi Omega.
Each is represented in a
Recruitment Booklet that a
committee has put together
for the girls registered.
The book also
Rachel Lasseter Uzmann, 1985-2005
Contributed by family
On Thursday, Aug. 11, Rachel
Lasseter Uzmann hugged, kissed and
bid her family farewell.
She had gathered with them
in Rochelle for her maternal
grandmother’s funeral and was heading
back to Savannah where she lived
with her mother, Lauran Lasseter, her
father, Mark Uzmann, and her sister
Alison Uzmann at the Isle of Hope.
Rachel had been very happy during
the last few months and seemed to be
finding a direction for her life. She
finished her second year at University
of West Georgia in the spring where she
discovered “Philosophy” and thought
it may play a part in her life. She
waitressed this summer at Ozzi’s near
the Isle of Hope while she contemplated
her future.
Rachel was a free spirit. She was
proud of her independence and she
wanted to sample life’s options in
search of her own path. Rachel was
boundless energy that flashed into our
lives, touched our hearts, and flashed
out again.
Her gifts were a smile that
overtook her whole face and a
friendship she offered to everyone.
When your sense of loss and grief
become overwhelming, Lauran, Mark
contains advice about
what to wear during
recruitment, questions
to ask, dates, times and
more. Girls going through
will receive a booklet
when they are divided into
groups of ten to 15 and
assigned to a Rho Gamma,
or recruitment guide.
Rho Gammas are
sorority girls who have
disaffiliated with their own
chapters completely. They
have trained all summer
and are dedicated to helping
the girls going through the
recruitment process.
They have to abide
by a closed-contact policy
which does not allow them
to talk to any sorority girl
at all on campus.
Not only do the Rho
Gammas abide by a closed
contact policy, but sorority
women on campus have to
abide by one as well.
“No sorority woman
is allowed to speak with
a potential new member,
meaning any girl who
is eligible to go through
recruitment, until the
Rachel Lasseter Uzmann
and Alison ask you to remember that
her heart beats on in the body of a 19-
year-old Pennsylvania girl. It was one
of her final gifts.
About 30 minutes outside
Rochelle, Rachel lost her life in an
auto accident. She is survived by her
grandmother, Mrs. Doris Uzmann of
Conway, S.C., a host of aunts, uncles,
cousins and friends.
A memorial service was held Aug.
17 at the University of Georgia Marine
Education Center and Aquarium, in
Savannah.
In lieu of flowers, the family
requested that a contribution be made
to the Rachel Uzmann Scholarship
Fund, c/o Savannah Bank, 400 Mall
Blvd., Savannah, Georgia 31406.
<2Jfye ItU'et Ok'uryian
process is over,” Smith
said. “This ensures that
every potential new
member can have an
unbiased opinion and a
fair chance while going
through recruitment,”
An Early Bird price
for recruitment is SSO until
Aug. 19. Then the cost
rises to $75.
Events are planned
from Aug. 23 until
formal recruitment starts.
Recruitment lasts from
Sept. 1 to Sept. 5. ■
Smith’s advice to the
girls is to “come in with
an open mind and just be
yourself.”
More information
about Recruitment,
is available from
the Panhellenic/IFC
information table, set up
during “Welcome Week”
on the lawn in front of
the library or from the
Department of Student
Activities, Room 200 in
the UCC.
Students should ask
for the Greek Advisor,
Melissa Shaw.