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Wednesday, November 1,2006
NEWS
IN A HURRY
A DAY
donations
announced
The 2006 A DAY for
West Georgia campaign
raised more than
$505,000 with more than
$42,000 raised from local
businesses on A DAY,
Oct. 19, to help support
the University of West
Georgia.
For 24 years,
community and campus
volunteers have collected
donations for the A
DAY for West Georgia
campaign. More than 100
university and community
volunteers began A DAY
with a kick-off breakfast
and ended with a victory
celebration that included
the unveiling of the
Thirteen Oaks Society
Donor Wall in the Campus
Center.
This year’s A DAY
chair, Rocky Lipham,
was excited about the
success of the fund raising
alliance.
“How blessed are
we for the relationship
between this institution
and our community,”
Lipham said to the
volunteers at the A DAY
NAACP holds forum
on affirmative action
By Kristal Dixon
News Editor
kristaldixon @ gmail.com
Students came out
to hear a discussion on
affirmative action last
Wednesday night. The
forum, hosted by the
political action committee
of UWG’s NAACP,
featured a diverse group of
guests invited to speak.
Dr. Jack Jenkins, the
special associate to the
president on minority
affairs, Dr. Scott Carter,
professor of psychology
and Nesie Abdulai,
president to UWG’s
NAACP, were among the
panelists.
Another participant
was Mr. Jackson (first
name withheld), a
representative of the
Carrollton NAACP
chapter.
Students in the
audience and the panelists
were given specific
questions to ponder.
One such question was
if anyone believes if the
United States should change
its current affirmative action
initiative.
“There has to be a
revision to enhance it.
When dealing with race,
it looks different than it
did 50 years ago. I think
it should include more
guidelines according to
class,” Carter said.
Jackson took a
slightly different direction
than Carter.
“There are people who
have been discriminated
against who come to courts
and they are without power.
Affirmative action is like a
watchdog,” Jackson said.
Victory Celebration.
“Thank you for all your
hard work and dedication.”
Dr. Thomas Hynes,
UWG’s acting president,
was enthusiastic about the
2006 A DAY celebration.
“The university had
a number of reasons to
cheer and give thanks
during the victory
celebration. A DAY always
provides opportunities to
celebrate the partnership
of the university and the
community,” said Hynes.
During the celebration,
the unveiling of a plaque
from the 1908 Carroll
County Grand Jury
recognized the 22 grand
jurors who understood the
value of education and
supported funding for the
Fourth District A & M
School.
The evening also
honored the descendants of
the members of the grand
jury.
Aquote from the Grand
Jury was added to the donor
wall, which reads, “We
deem it the patriotic duty of
all citizens to join hands in
moral and financial support
of this institution so heavily
fraught with the possibility
of good to own and to
generations yet unknown.”
The amount of A DAY
donations will significantly
contribute to faculty
and staff development,
student scholarships and
undergraduate research.
Dr. Jenkins gave a
more personal account
of why he believes that
affirmative action is needed
in the United States.
“Affirmative action
has allowed people like me
to get my foot in the door,”
he said.
Enforcement of
affirmative action was on
the minds of the panelists
as well.
Some of the panelists
believe that while mending
affirmative action should be
a pressing issue, enforcing
the current laws we have
now is more important.
“We can create more
laws, but until we enact
them, we can’t enforce
them. If we can’t do that,
then they are no good,”
Jackson said.
One student in the
audience asked a question
relating to the topic of
affirmative action in
the educational system,
particularly at the college
level.
“How do you explain
the fact that I was passed
over for being accepted
in UGA, but many of my
black friends, who had
lower GPAs than I did,
were accepted,” he asked,
Some of the panelists
were quick to correct the
student in saying that
UGA’s system was not
affirmative action, but
rather a quota system.
“It’s easy to take
something and twist it
into something that isn’t
accurate. By UGA not
accepting you that was not
affirmative action at work.
That was a quota system,”
Abdulai said.
Jackson took that
Judo club wins
praise in N.
Carolina
On October 7, 2006,
the West Georgia Judo Club
attended the Waynesville
Fall Brawl located in
Waynesville, NC. Under
the instruction of Charlie
Happy Wheeler, the West
Georgia Judo Coach, eight
out of eight competitors
brought home medals and a
team trophy.
The members
of the club are currently
preparing for an upcoming
tournament in Peachtree
City, Georgia.
The West Georgia
Judo Club is not a newly
established organization.
The club has been active
on campus since 1972.
The school offers two
judo classes: Beginning
Judo I & Intermediate Judo
11. Both classes meet every
Monday from 7:00 pm to
8:40 pm.
The judo club has an
hour workout on Mondays
after the class is dismissed
and Wednesday nights
from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
The judo club is essentially
separate from the class
although the members do
work out as well during the
classes.
West Georgia students
are encouraged to attend
point further by adding
that affirmative action
is not about moving one
person out and replacing
that person with another.
He explained that
affirmative action was
about leveling the playing
field to disenfranchised
groups in American
society.
Another topic that
was discussed was reverse
discrimination and whether
or not if it’s created out of
affirmative action.
Some of the panelist
pointed out that many
proponents of this
argument view minorities
as already having an equal
level in the playing field.
However, as some
pointed out, there are still
many minorities, mainly
from poor backgrounds,
who are yet to benefit from
affirmative action.
“Affirmative action,”
said Jackson, “is about
who’s qualified or not.
It’s not about reverse
discrimination.”
Elizabeth Anderson,
a member of SGA,
asked the panelists why
is it perceived that the
affirmative action is a black
issue. Abdulai provided a
sobering realization to the
audience.
“Affirmative action
is seen as a black issue,
but there have been
many people who have
benefited from it who are
not black.”
She pointed out
that Dr. Janet Clark,
former political science
department chair,
participated in last year’s
See FHIM, page 3
and participate in these
workouts.
No prior judoor martial
arts experience is required
and you do not have to be
in the class to come and
workout with the club. You
interest can range from just
exercise to self-defense.
All you will need
to bring is comfortable
clothing, flip flops, and
a water bottle. Monday
nights would be a great
opportunity to get started
since they are still in the
introductory stage.
If you can’t make it
Monday, you can attend
the Wednesday practices.
The club is located in the
gym across from the soccer
field, called the Student
Recreation Center.
If you have any
questions please feel free
to e-mail Shavelle Jenkins,
the president of the judo
club and the class TA, at
judo@westga.edu. You
can also check out the judo
club’s website at http://
www.westga.edu/~judo/.
Dept, holds
lecture on
men, wolves
The Department of
History and the University
of West Georgia will
present its annual faculty
and student lecture on
Campus Calendar
Wednesday November 1
• Sidewalk Chalk Contest, UCC, 12 p.m.
• NAACP Political Action Committee, UCC 311,6 p.m.
• Judo Club, Student Rec Center, 6:30 p.m.
• SAC Multi-Cultural Committee, Campus Center
Boardroom 105, 6:30 p.m.
• Lambda, Pafford 302, 7 p.m.
Thursday November 2
• SGA Meeting, Campus Center 302, 3:30 p.m.
• Gamma Sigma Sigma Meeting, UCC 311 & 312, 6 p.m.
Friday November 3
• UWG 1930 sand 1940s Reunion Luncheon, Z-6, 10 a.m.
• MSA Weekly Meetings, Campus Boardroom 105, 1:30
p.m.
• Parking Appeals, Campus Center Boardroom 105, 3 p.m.
Saturday November 4
• Homecoming Parade Line up, Tyus Parking Lot, 9:30
a.m.
• Downtown Community Celebration, Adamson Square,
10 a.m.
• National Alumni Awards Luncheon, Campus Center Ball
room, 12:30 p.m.
• Tailgate Party, Grisham Stadium, 12:30 p.m.
• African-American Alumni Reception, Campus Center 6
p.m.
Monday November 6
• SAC Executive Meeting, Campus Center Boardroom
105, 4:45 p.m.
• BSAFaII Meetings, UCC 210 & 311, 5:30 p.m.
• Judo Club, Student Rec Center, 6:30 p.m.
• BSA Programming Committee, Campus Center 302, 7
p.m.
Tuesday November 7
• Midterm elections, Lower Level Z-6, 7 a.m.
• SAC University Traditions Committee, Campus Center
302, 5 p.m.
• Women of Diversity, Campus Center 104, 5 p.m.
historical events, Thursday,
Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in
the Technology-enhanced
Learning Center, room
1303. Author and historian
Dr. Jon Coleman will be
the guest lecturer.
Coleman, an assistant
professor of history at the
University of Notre Dame
and the author of “Vicious:
Wolves and Men in
America,” will lecture on
the relationship and history
between men, wolves and
other predators.
His talk, “Animal
Last Stands: Empathy and
Extinction in the American
West,” will center on stories
surrounding the deaths of
famous last animals in the
nineteenth and twentieth
centuries.
The wolf has been
adopted recently as the new
UWG athletic mascot and
this topic may be of special
interest to the campus
community. Everyone is
welcome.
“These taleschronicled
the deaths of exceptional
vermin: wolves, bears,
and mountain lions,” said
Coleman. “The legends are
a record of the convoluted
sentiments that extinction
called forth in early 20th
century America, and they
can serve as guides into the
fractured emotions animals
continue to evoke today.”
Coleman is the 2005
recipient of the Dunning
Prize from the American
®l|e Hleat ti&eorgum
Historical Association and
the W. Turrentine Jackson
Award from the Western
History Association.
Formore information,
contact the UWG
Department of History at
(678) 839-6508.
Name contest
begins for
mascot
Will it be Big Bad,
Big Blue or Wild Thing?
What about Howlie,
Wolfie or Willie? Those
are just a few of the names
that University of West
Georgia students and
others can ponder in the
“Name the Wolf Mascot”
campaign launched this
week at http://www.
uwgsports.com.
The big blue Wolf
has become a welcome
sight at university events
this fall as it hugs and
dances its way through
the crowd, but so far it
does not officially have a
name.
To help with the
Name the Wolf Mascot
campaign, two UWG
students who have worn
the Wolf Mascot costume
anonymously since August
will reveal their identities
to thousands of UWG
students via a photograph
at the voting site of http://
www.uwgsports.com.