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V' • I J First copy free \ olume 55 lssue S Black voting forum turns into political debate By Kristal Dixon News Editor kristaldi.xon@gmail.com The Political Action Committee of the NAACP held a forum on why blacks vote consistently for the Democratic Party last Tuesday. The program was designed to start a dialogue on the history of voting patterns among blacks, and to discuss whether or not this pattern will continue. However, the audience was treated to a forum in which local representatives of both political parties traded jabs over various issues such as the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina to the war in Iraq. Panelists for the event included Skyler Akins, president of the Young Democrats, Cameron Gibson of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and Terry Agnes and Bill Dees of the Carroll County Republican Party. The event started out innocent enough, when Kasim Ortiz, head of the NAACP’s PAC went UTV ready to go on air Safer'** 1 X ( ' tjfa *BM JBnk scihß 'S'W fs&L .: SSffm r BHRBBBBBWK ' w jgßglliMMM LW *y ._ Hnß .JB I , JSmH T J sw " ■■§■■■ \ 9 Photo by Terrance Rushin Daphne Burden, a freshman and pre-Mass Communicatons major, receives help from James Paul, UTV’s senior production coordinator. The television station started airing some programs this week. Free Verse aired Monday night at 11 p.m. (fazßtgjmn “The Student Voice at the University of West Georgia since 1934” through the short history of African-American participation in American politics. He recounted presidential reaction and inaction on the issue of racism, disenfranchisement, and discrimination against African-Americans. When Ortiz finished the short presentation, the floor opened for questions to be asked for the panelist and for audience participation. The burning question of the night, why do blacks vote Democrat, did not escape the thoughts of each of the panelists. “Politics change everyday and reasons for why blacks vote Democrat can change,” said Cameron Gibson, one of the panelists. Skyler Akins of the Young Democrats had another explanation. "The Democratic Party led the fight to pass Civil Rights legislation.” Representatives from the Republican Party did not let that piece of information slide without www.thewestgeorgian.com some critique. "We had both elements of parties fighting for the legislation as well, so I don't believe that one party can take full credit for getting it [Civil Rights legislation] passed," said Terry Agne of the Republican Party. Many audience members were more vocal about people being educated on who they are voting for rather than assigning allegiance to one party over another. "A lot of people aren’t educated in politics, so that is why it’s important to know who you're voting for,” said Jonathan Ashby, a UWG student. Another question that was posed was one of how students get their information. Somestudents said they watched debates between candidates, read the newspaper, and watched different network and public stations. While the forum was designed to specifically address the voting patterns of African-Americans, See POLITICAL, page 3 \ I I Photo by Kristal Dixon Terry Agne and Bill Dees of the Carroll County Republican Party answer questions from audience members at the forum hosted by the NAACP. / ASH UWG works to retain freshmen By Miranda Byrd Staff Writer m i randajbyrd @y ahoo.com With four-year graduation rates as low as 11 percent, along with a2O percent rate of freshman students on academic probation after their first semester of college, UWG has developed some new' initiatives to encourage the success of its students from the beginning of their college experience. With programs such as UWG 40, FYRST, Learning Communities, and the EXCEL Center already in existence, freshmen have many opportunities to learn what it takes to succeed at UWG. UWG 40 is a program that exposes freshmen students to various activities and academic guidance in the first 40 days of the fall semester each year. UWG sports, success seminars and volunteer opportunities are among many events on the UWG 40 calendar. According to Dr. Scott Lingrell, associate vice Wednesday, October 4, 2006 president for enrollment management, studies show that students who become involved on campus within their first few weeks are more likely to be successful as students. Freshmen who participate in at least 20 of the events during the 40 days, and who have kept a log of events attended in their UWG 40 Passports, are eligible for a drawing at the end of the program. UWG 40 ends on October 7. For more information visit the Office of Student Activities in the Campus Center. FYRST, or First Year Residents Succeeding Together, is a program through the Department of Residence Life that helps freshmen transition to college within a residential setting. Each student in the FYRST program meets with a Student Academic Mentor throughout the year to ask questions and receive advice about college. Along with FYRST, Learning Communities See FRESHMEN, pa^e .?