Newspaper Page Text
g£rr
volume 57 issue 5
Southwire brings dream for stadium one step closer
By Carlos Sellers
Staff Writer
csellerl @my.westga .edit
For the past two
years, there has been talk
about a stadium being
built for the University
of West Georgia. Many
say this will be a great
improvement to the
university, and they
are looking forward
to seeing this work in
progress. Donations
have been coming left
and right just to get this
project off the ground,
and now w ith the help of
Southwire, the “Dream”
will soon be one step
closer to reality.
“This has been a
persistent concern of
many students that we
play football at our
local high school,”
Andrew Leavitt,
associate vice president
of development and
alumni relations said.
“We hope to raise
higher the spirit and
pride of the students at
West Georgia.”
Stu Thorn, CEO
of Southwire, has
generously donated
the wiring for the new
complex.
“Southwire Company
Former UWG student's homicide
rocks Maine community
By Adam Disser
Staff Writer
gdisser I @ my.west get .edit
The homicide of
Benjamin Preston, a
former UWG student,
shocked his hometown
of Winterport, Maine on
Sept. 6.
An autopsy revealed
that Preston, 26, died of
“multiple blunt force
trauma, and upper
spine displacement.”
Steve McCausland,
spokesman for the
Department of Public
Safety, said the inflicted
trauma led authorities
to “label the death a
homicide.”
Preston was run
down by a pickup
truck in his driveway
Sunday afternoon and
was pronounced dead
later that day in Eastern
Maine Medical Center.
Although no
charges have been
filed, police say that
the truck was driven
by Nikki Thibodeau,
32, of Corinth, who is
engaged to Preston’s
sister Samantha.
Word of Preston’s
death spread fast in
his community of
3,800, and after it was
declared a homicide,
many individuals began
searching for answers.
Preston was a 1999
thbWest Georgian
is continuing its long
tradition of support
of the University of
West Georgia through
the donation of all the
copper wire needed
to build the Athletic
Complex," Leavitt said.
“We are grateful for
this valuable and useful
gift and look forward
to switching on the
electricity for our
first home game on
opening day.”
Thorn presented
the gift to UWG
President Dr. Beheruz
N. Sethna and Ray
Fulford, member of the
Stadium Development
Committee, who hosted
an event at his home for
the Major Gift Drive
and the Alumni Gift
Drive.
The upcoming
9,000-seat football
stadium will also
include a soccer stadium
for the UWG women’s
program. The complex
will include a women’s
varsity softball field and
extra fields for soccer
and football practices.
The facility will
also be equipped with
a gameday fieldhouse
and a high-tech press
box (approximately
graduate of Hampden
Academy. During his
stay at Hampden, he
excelled in several
sports, including
football, baseball and
track. He set many school
records in track and
rushed for 1,000 yards
for three years straight.
Underclassmen looked
up to him, and as stated
by Kayla DeGennaro,
“He was every little
girl’s crush.”
He also played
sports during his years
at the University of
West Georgia.
Ryan King played
on the Hampden
Academy football team
with Preston.
“Ben was a good
friend and a great guy.
He had his wild side,”
King said. “I didn’t
think he would go off to
college, but he did and
really persevered. Now,
as soon as he’s ready
to live his life, it gets
cut short. It’s hard to
believe that something
like this could happen.
Everybody is pretty quiet
about the whole thing.
People are not saying
much; everybody’s
pretty silent. We’re just
waiting to hear what
the police say. Nobody
knows the truth except
the people who were
there.”
In News
Multicultural panel
educates students.
WWW THEWE STG EG RGIA N .COM
Jll Jji ift lljil I
240 feet long) that will
house up to 12 special
suites.
“This gift-in-kind
(the wiring) will help
build the stadium, which
in turn will be a great
Multicultural panel educates students
By Fontez Brooks
Staff Writer
falridg I @my.westga .edit
Last week the Bonner
Lecture Hall
opened its doors
to a successful
Multicultural
Panel. The
panel featured
testimonies from
UWG students
from Mexico,South
Africa, Sweden,
Vietnam, the
United Kingdom,
Bulgaria,
Germany,
Japan, Bolivia,
Switzerland,
Puerto Rico, and
India.
Each student’s
testimony featured
a personal account
of their home
country and their
own thoughts on
the United States
and how they
adjust.
The Swedish
student stole the
show, giving the
students and even
the professors in
the audience a
laughbydiscussing
such things as
Abba, the Swedish
pop-band, Swedish
chocolates, the Swedish
furniture store, Ikea,
and his country often
being misrepresented as
Switzerland.
In Opinion
The case for life:
What is the unborn?
new facility for UWG.”
Sethna said. “It will
help us solidify in the
minds of students the
image of UWG as being
in the robust tier of
doctoral comprehensive
Afterwards, the
amazingly laid back
student from Bulgaria
refuted the myth that
Bulgarians speak
-.. rr '' . WiMfL v Vf .. JUf|n 1
Photo by Kimberly Hahn
German, and he educated
the audience on the fact
that Bulgaria is actually
the oldest country in
Europe.
A student from the
United Kingdom shed
In Sports
Braves face slim
playoff chances.
universities.”
For more
information on the
building of the stadium,
visit The Campaign
for a West Georgia
Stadium at http://www.
light on the fact that the
city where she is from
is well known for its
partying statistics, while
the Bolivian student told
the crowd that the legal
drinking age was non
existent, a statement
that raised interest
from the students in the
audience.
A common theme
In Entertainment
iPi
Art Department hosts
Brian Bishop.
Wednesday, September 19. 2007
Photo by Terence Pashm
westga.edu/~stadium/.
To make a donation to
the "Let’s Build a Place
to Call Home” football
stadium drive, contact
Dr. Andrew Leavitt at
678-839-6582.
throughout the night
was the fact that each
student, each from
completely different
backgrounds, had to
start learning
English at an
early age.
The cultural
diversity at
this school is
so much more
immense than
people think.
These students
have traveled
thousands of
miles from
home, and in
some cases much
farther, to go
to school here.
These students,
who have to deal
with being home
sick and having
culture shock,
are still working
hard to get an
education.
At the end of the
seminar there
was a question
and answer
session, and
someone asked
the panel if there
was something
that could make
their stay more
comfortable.
The panel responded
by saying “If everyone
could be as opened
minded and accepting as
possible, things would
go a lot smoother.”