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Page 2 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.