Newspaper Page Text
3
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
f E NEWS
IN A HURRY
Student found
dead in Bowdon
Hall
A freshman at the
University of West
Georgia was found dead
in her residence hall room
late Sunday night, April
16. There were no signs of
foul play.
Helena Harbridge, 18,
of Toronto, Ontario, was
discovered in Bowdon
Hall by her roommate and
several friends after they
failed to contact her. She
was pronounced dead at
the scene by the Carroll
County Coroner.
According to Chief
Thomas Mackel, director
of UWG Public Safety,
the Coroner’s preliminary
finding is death of natural
causes. An autopsy will
be performed Monday or
Tuesday at the state crime
lab.
If an immediate
finding is not determined,
toxicology testing will
take place and the results
of that testing could take
up to 90 days.
Harbridge was a
member of the UWG
women’s golf team and
the team was preparing
to travel today to the
Gulf South Conference
Tournament in Arkansas.
Golf Coach Jeff King
allowed the players to
decide if they would
participate and they
decided in a Monday
morning team meeting to
compete in Harbridge’s
memory.
Members of the
UWG Office of Student
Development were on
hand during the night to
offer grief counseling
for the members of the
golf team, other residents
Immigration issue not
unfamiliar with Georgia
By Tim Sowers
Guest Writer
tsowersl @my. westga.edu
The United States is a
nation of immigrants, and
immigration policies have
received much attention in
the past few weeks.
With an estimated 11
million illegal immigrants
in the U.S., the issue affects
many people.
The U.S. House of
Representatives passed a
bill in December that was
supposed to reform the
immigration process.
The bill makes being
an illegal immigrant
or assisting an illegal
immigrant a felony.
The bill also has no
guest worker provision
or nationalization process
provision and contains
plans for a 700-mile
security fence along the
U.S.-Mexican border.
A guest worker is an
immigrant who is allowed
to work for a time in the
U.S, but they have to return
to their country of origin
after a certain time.
The U.S. Senate has
taken a different approach.
TheSenate’sbill, being
debated now, focuses more
of Bowdon Hall, and
Harbridge’s friends. King,
other coaches, parents of
members of the golf team,
and Ed Murphy, UWG
athletic director, were also
at Bowdon Hall during the
night to offer support to the
students.
Debate team
places in top
percentile
The University of West
Georgia finished its 2005-
06 season placed in the top
20 percent of the nation.
The team of Jane
Munksgaard of Lincoln,
Nebraska, and Geoff
Lundeen of Grand Rapids,
Michigan, went to two
national tournaments and
advanced to 15th seed
at the National Debate
Tournament (NDT) and
at the Cross Examination
Debate Association
National Championship
(CEDANC).
This is the 34th
consecutive year that the
UWG debate team has
qualified for the NDT,
which is the fifth-longest
streak in the nation for an
academic debate team.
According to Dr. Mike
Hester, assistant dean of the
Advanced Academy and
debate coach, the UWG
debate team will get a short
rest before turning
its attention to the 2006-07
season. Next year’s topic
of debate will be revealed
in July.
For more information,
call Hester at (678) 839-
0623.
Students learn
to appreciate
the elderly
Service learning
experiences are frequently
incorporated into college
course requirements and
at the University of West
on the nationalization of
those immigrants already
here rather than on
punishment.
The bill outlines how
immigrants that have been
here for over five years
already can apply for
citizenship.
Immigrants here
between two and five years
have to leave the country
and then come back and
apply for citizenship.
Immigrants here for
less than two years are
required to leave.
To be eligible for
citizenship, immigrants
must pay back taxes plus
a fee.
The Senate bill also
has a section for a guest
worker program, which
would offer immigrant
workers residency for a set
period of time.
The bill also calls for
1,400 new Border Patrol
Agents by 2011.
What President Bush
calls for is very similar to
the Senate bill. It includes
his desire for a guest
worker program as well
as a way to nationalize the
illegal aliens already here.
Both bills agree on
the matter that the border
Georgia, students in
Deirdre Haywood-Rouse’s
course on “Aging, Past,
Present and Future” paused
to say thank you to the
community members who
made those experiences
possible.
Haywood-Rouse
requires 15 hours of “hands
on” experience for these
sociology students, and
the nursing and retirement
homes in Carroll County
open their doors each
semester to allow UWG
students to work with the
aging population.
Akosua Bota, senior
from Lithonia, said her
work at the Stewart House
allowed her to discover the
“mind and spirit” of the
aging process.
“It is a humbling
experience to try to
understand the what is
happening to both the
mind and the spirit of the
aging.” she noted. “It’s a
place where we all will be
one day and we must look
forward to it with grace.”
Teaera Rains, senior
from Macon, is thankful
for her experience because
itopened her mind to many
myths about the elderly.
“1 am not afraid of
older people, but I was
afraid of frail people,” she
admitted.
Tamecia Boyington
of Carrollton noted that
her work at the Stewart
House made her classroom
lectures and textbook
material come to life.
Brooke Chestnut of
Lithonia said one resident
taught her a card trick she
now uses on everyone she
knows!
“The job is strenuous
but I now know it’s great
work,” Chestnut said.
Haywood-Rouse
noted that “Attitude
Determines Your Altitude”
and she thanked the
nursing/retirement home
administrators for helping
needs securing.
However, they
disagree on what the
appropriate response is to
those immigrants who are
already in the country or
that want to come to the
U.S.
Georgia has recently
taken its own approach
to issues surrounding
immigration.
The Georgia
legislature passed
legislation that will
put severe penalties on
businesses that employed
illegal immigrants.
The legislation also
bars illegal immigrants
from receiving social
services such as Medicaid.
This issue is important
to Georgians as the
immigration population is
increasing at a rapid rate.
The immigration
issue is one that has the
possibility to affect the
lives of many Americans
and is not going to be
resolved any time soon.
The Senate bill and the
House bill are very different
and the differences will be
worked out.
No action will be taken
until Congress returns from
recess on April 24.
students determine if
working with the aging
population is the career
field they truly want to
pursue.
“I want my students to
know if they like this work
or not before they go into
it,” she noted.
The honorees for the
appreciation activities
included Jewell Simpson,
Carrollton Club; Cheryl
Crouteau, Carrollton
Manor Inc.; June Hale
Carrollton Nursing &
Rehabilitation Center;
Prisilla Terrell for Danielle
Jenkins, Carrollton Senior
Center; Roberta Brown,
Cottage Landing; Teresa
Johnson, Merrill Gardens
of Carrollton; Barbara
Armstrong, Oak Mountain
Village; Kim McDonald
and Jeanette Rogers, Pine
Knoll Nursing &
Rehabilitation Center; and
Gail Gamer, The Stewart
House.
Mascot tryouts
set for
next week
Tryouts for the first
ever Wolf sideline mascot
for the University of West
Georgia will be held April
28 and 29 to select three
UWG students to serve as
the official mascots and to
wear the costume during
the 2006-2007 academic
year.
According to Dr. Tara
Singer, vice president for
university advancement,
the lead Wolf will perform
at all home football
games and all home men
basketball games and will
receive a stipend of SSOO
for the year.
The lead Wolf will
also attend mascot camp
during the summer and will
represent the university in
mascot competitions and
other official events.
The first alternate will
Greek Week 2006!
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Photo by Katie Ferguson
Alexa Izzet and Melinda Bellemare draw the Alpha Xi Delta crest in front of the UCC
as part of a Greek Week contest.
perform at all womens
home basketball games
and volleyball games and
will receive a $250 stipend
for the year. The second
alternate will perform at
all home womena€TMs
soccer games and home
baseball games and will
receive a stipend of $250
for the year.
Try-out candidates
must be currently
enrolled UWG freshmen,
sophomores or juniors
(not graduating before
May 2007). A height
requirement of 5'6 through
6’l ensures proper fitting
of the Wolf costume.
Candidates must have a
2.5 cumulative grade point
average.
“Previous experience
as a mascot will be a plus
but it’s not required to
tryout,” Singer noted. “We
will be looking for students
with a creative approach
to interacting with the
public."!)
Informational
meetings for interested
students will be held at
the University Community
Center (UCC, Room 210)
at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday,
April 19, and on Thursday,
April 20, at 5:30 p.m. in the
Sanford Hall Conference
Room.
A completed
application, which can
be found online at http://
mascot.westga.edu, should
be brought to the meeting.
“Students must
either attend one of the
information sessions or
contact my office between
now and April 21 to turn
in their application and to
schedule,” Singer said.
Tryouts will be held
during the week before
finals on Friday afternoon,
April 28, and during the
afternoon on Saturday,
April 29.
Tryouts will consist of
an interview session with
university administrators,
HU*at On'nr yum
a skit competition, and
an improvisational
opportunity.
For more information
or to schedule a tryout,
contact Victoria Gunther
at vgunther(®westga.edu
or call (678) 839-6447.
ARAMARK
shakes up
dining hours
With the projected
fall opening of its new
Campus Center and an
increased emphasis on
enrollment management
and retention, the
University of West Georgia
is focusing on expanding
weekend activities and
services for students, and
its dining service provider
is extending its hours as
part of the effort.
Beginning in the fall,
the university will offer
weekend meal service at
its Real Food on Campus
restaurant in the Food
Service Building (Z-6).
In addition to new
hours from 10 a.m. to 7
p.m. on Saturdays and 10
a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays,
the Z-6 facility will also
extend its dinner service
until 8 p.m. Monday
through Friday and its full
fare lunch service until 4
p.m.
Currently, light-lunch
service begins at 2 p.m.
and the restaurant closes
at 7 p.m. on weekdays.
The university
developed the new service
plan based on student input
gathered through focus
group meetings conducted
by ARAMARK.
For more information,
contact ARAMARK at
(678) 839-6496.
All meal-plan pricing
is pending approval by
the Board of Regents of
the University System of
Georgia.