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\VI PMSDAY, APRIL IK, 2007
Domestic abuse alive in Carroll County
By Tracy Amnions
Staff Writer
tammonsl@niy.westga.edu
Fart 1 of 2
“You start a relationship
with someone, and they
have a violent temper, and
it doesn’t occur to you
initially. And then the next
thing you know, they’re
telling you that you can go
here and you can’t go there,
and you can do this but you
can’t do that, and rather
than cause any trouble, you
go along with it. And then,
one day he’ll push you
backwards. And you’re like
well it didn't hurt, it didn’t
bother me, it'll be alright.
And then the next thing
you know they’re busting
your lip. And it just kind of
evolves. It doesn’t happen
all at once, and you just get
used to it.”
For the sake of privacy
and security, the name of
the woman who spoke
these words shall remain
anonymous. But forthe sake
of awareness and prevention
of domestic abuse, her story
must be heard.
In the back comer
Apparitions and superstitions:
UWG ghost hunters investigate
By Angelica Campos
Staff Writer
mcamposl@my.westga.edu
“I go ghost hunting
just for rush of the things
you sense in the dark!" says
Ryan Hanson, sophomore
at UWG. Ryan is one
the UWG students who
call themselves “Ghost
Hunters”. Ryan says he got
interested in ghost hunting
after he and a few friends
went to a“haunted” insane
asylum, “that just sparked
it”. Hanson was also
the creator of West GA
Ghost Hunters, a group on
Facebook.com, where he
and his friends share their
I 1 1 8
Photo by Angelica Campos
UWG student Ryann Hanson lays on a morgue slab In the haunted, abandoned asylum in Marietta.
He considers himself, like a few others on campus, a ghost hunter.
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of a dim, smoky bar, this
woman recalled four
previous marriages filled
with violence and abuse.
She is now in her forties,
and the painful memories
are forever etched into her
mind.
Many would rather
kxik the other way and deny
that wife abuse is a serious
problem in theircommunity.
But this woman was bom
in Carroll County, and she
has spent all of her life here
since age 13.
Wife abuse has been
a nationwide problem for
years, and even though
abuse rates have come down
since the ‘7os, domestic
abuse is still alive—and it
hits right here at home.
According to
information from the
Carroll County Office
of Public Safety, every
month in Carroll County,
the Sheriff’s Department
responds to approximately
230 calls that stem from
domestic violence. Every
month in Carroll County,
the Carrollton Police
Department responds to
approximately 150 calls
that deal with domestic
ghost hunting pictures and
ideas for the next ghost
hunting activity.
The West GA Ghost
Hunters say they do it
for the adrenaline rush.
For them, haunted houses
and ghosts are not just for
Halloween. They don’t
dress up in black, or call
themselves “gothic”. They
are regular students who
like to visit eerie places.
The West G AGhost hunters
travel around Carrollton,
and the surrounding areas
in the search of paranormal
activity.
Unlike the Hollywood
Ghostbusters, these
students say they don’t
violence. Every month
in Carroll County, the
Department of Family and
Children Services receives
about 130 calls, and 63
percent of these calls deal
with violence in the home.
Every month in Carroll
County, it happens—women
are shattered, tainted, and
scarred with abuse, and it
all goes on behind closed
doors.
It all started with her
first husband, who she had
her first daughter w ith. “He
would choke me till I passed
out and drop me in the floor
because he didn’t like what
I was doing,” she said. She
tolerated this abuse for
months. “I was young, and
I didn’t know- I could do it
on my own —back then I
was only 19.” Finally, she
left him.
But her next husband
became even worse. She
had her second daughter
with this man, as well as
a second dose of abuse.
“We had a cordless phone,
and I dialed 911 and threw
the phone underneath the
couch, and it slid all the way
back to the wall, because
someone was gonna have to
carry cool weapons nor
wear cool outfits. Freya
Cole, a senior Mass
Communications student,
says “we just go in a group
with flashlights, but it is
still a fun time!” W hat they
do carry it is their cameras
in the attempt to capture
ghosts in a snap.
After the West GA
Ghost Hunters visit
cemeteries or asylums,
they arrive home and
take a closer kx>k at
their pictures, looking
for phantom shadows or
similar apparitions. Heath
Yates, a senior Mass
Communications student,
says “what you may see in
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come and help me, because
I couldn’t make him stop,”
she said.
“Well he didn’t see
me pick the phone up. They
could hear me screaming,
and they sent help. I sent the
kids to the backyard because
1 absolutely thought he was
gonna kill me—l mean
literally kill me. I was bent
backwards over the front of
the car, with a double barrel
shot gun pushed into my
stomach so hard I had an
imprint. I sent them to the
backyard so that if he did
kill me, they wouldn’t have
to watch.”
“Here I was, about
27 years old, with a gun
to my stomach, the kids in
the backyard hiding, and I
didn’t tell the cops. I don’t
know why, I just wanted to
leave. So I went inside and
got some of my clothes and
1 went to the shelter with
the kids.”
She spent about six
weeks at the Carroll County
Domestic Violence Shelter
with her two daughters. "If
a woman is in or has been
in a violent situation, she
can come to the shelter—
or if she needs immediate
those pictures is not alway s
a ghost. It is important to
pay respect to the death
and never try to make fun
or disrespect the ghosts in
any way”, he added that he
once "went ghost hunting
w ith a couple of friends at
a cemetery. I told everyone
to be respectful and
every thing. This one friend
name Jason did not listen
and he danced around the
entrance of the cemetery.
I told everyone we were
leaving and we need to
leave now, so everyone
loaded up. When I was
pulling out something
banged against the side of
the car where Jason was
sitting. I look back
and his window was
up. so 1 knew he
couldn’t have done
it. Also, I opened
the door to see if I
ran over a branch
that could have hit
my car. There was
nothing. I kind of
drove a little faster
away from the
investigation after
that little incident.”
Yates, shares
proudly his passion
for the paranormal
since he was a
young boy. Like
Heath, Freya, and
Ryan there are
many students who
now share the same
intrigue for spooky
places to explore.
safety,” said Martha Boyce,
director of the shelter.
The shelter provides
women and their children
with food, clothing,
limited transportation,
and counseling. “There
are support groups,
child programs,
parenting programs, life
skills programs, and
interventions,” Boyce said.
“We do everything we can
to reestablish them, to help
them find another place to
live.”
The length of time
a woman can stay at the
shelter varies. “We look at
her individual case history
according to her safety
needs,” Boyce said. But
the shelter is never empty.
"On any given day of the
year, we will have seven
to nine women and 15 to
IX children at the shelter,”
Boyce said.
Though it may seem
like a drastic step, coming
to the shelter is the right
thing to do, not only for
the woman, but also for
the children. “Especially if
there are children—never
overkxik the effects of
domestic violence on a
Relay for res life
By Cathy RobertvCooper
Coordinator of First Year
atul Academic Support
Programs
Pies will be flying...
into the face of a good
cause. Tomorrow, on
April 19th some of
the Residence Life
professional staff will
be taking whipped
cream pies to the face in
exchange for donations
to Relay For Life. The
fundraising booth will
be a component of the
Spring Fling event that
is taking place in Love
Valley.
This is the first year
that the Department
of Residence Life is
organizing a team
for Carroll County’s
Relay For Life, which
will take place on
April 27th & 2Xth.
The team is comprised
of students living on
campus and staff who
have come together to
help find a cure for
cancer. Any student
currently living on
campus is eligible to
join the UWG Res Life
team.
With the annual
walk a little over a
week away, the team
hopes to raise at least
SI,OOO through a
variety of fundraisers.
Team members in
Gunn Hall have raised
over SIOO through
Penny Wars; Arbor
Copyright Notice
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University of West Georgia. Opinions expressed herein are those of the
newspaper staff or individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of university faculty or staff.
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THE WEST GEORGIAN
child, because it becomes
a learned behavior,” Boyce
said. “If you want an
emotionally strong child,
don’t bring them up in
domestic violence.”
Back at the bar, she
light up another cigarette
and reflected on more
painful memories. She went
back to her second husband
after her time at the shelter.
"I felt obligated to keep the
family together. Eventually,
you get low self-esteem,
where you don’t think
you're worth anything, you
think you deserve it, or you
can't see the way out. You
convince yourself that it’s
acceptable.”
One night her husband
invited a male friend to the
house. The friend snuck
into her daughter’s room
and molested her—a seven
year-old girl. Her husband
knew about the incident, yet
did nothing. That was the
last straw—so she t<x>k her
kids and left him for g(xxl.
As time passes on
she enters two more
relationships where abuse
corrodes the home. Her
story will continue in the
next issue.
View’’s Hall Council
has raised over SIOO
through their step
show and through a
raffle drawing for
the Residence Life
Coordinator's parking
space. All members
of the UWG Res Life
team are currently
selling SI.OO raffle
tickets for a 50/50
drawing. The person
with the winning
ticket will receive half
the proceeds while the
remaining money will
be donated to Relay
For Life. A bake sale
will also be conducted
during the Spring Fling
event.
And then there
will be pies. For a
minimum donation
of $2.00 anyone can
select a Residence Life
staff member to test his
or her throw ing arm on
by taking aim with a
whipped cream pie. A
donation of $5.00 will
get you a little closer
to your mark. Some
people may think the
pies are a little much,
but when it comes
to curing cancer, the
Residence Life team
doesn’t like to take
any chances.
For more
information on UWG
Res Life’s efforts
to raise money or to
join the team, contact
Cathy Roberts-Cooper
at 678-839-6426.