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UWG police cracking down on campus alcohol abuse
By Johnathan Davis
Staff Writer
jdavis23@my.westga.edu
“All of the ‘date rapes'
I’ve worked in 32 years
have been alcohol related,
as have events of vandalism,
fighting and medical calls.”
UWG Police Chief Tom
Mackel said. "Last year,
we cited or arrested 166
for consumption underage
alone.”
According to Mackel.
the alcohol problem is one
of the most serious issues
facing the UWG student
body. Citations have
increased, and more students
have found themselves in
a holding cell for alcohol
related offenses.
The campus police
New addition to Callaway building officially breaks ground
By Brittany Reid
Staff Writer
breid2 @ my. westga.edu
While the UWG
Wolves were ecstatic about
Homecoming Week, there
was another special event
going on in the midst of all
the excitement. On Sept.
29 at 6:(X) p.m., the official
ground-breaking ceremony
for the addition to the
Callaway building took
place. University president
Dr. Beheruz Sethna and
professor of geology, Dr.
Hollabaugh, were the two
speakers at the event.
Sethna spoke of the
past success the geoscience
Public Safety improves emergency call pillars
By Johnathan Davis
Staff Writer
jdavis23@my.westga.edu
Innovations in
technology are typically
aimed at improving
speed, ease, and
access to the user.
However, at the
same time, these
innovations can also
bring cost savings.
For the
Department of
Public Safety, this
is the case with the
new technology
being brought to the
UWG campus. New
technology is being
implemented in the
emergency pillars
around campus,
and with it comes a
decrease in cost and
a much-improved
response time.
The older
technology in the
pillars is a simple
analog cellular
phone; many of the
pillars have been
installed in locations
where landline
connections are either
cost-prohibitive or
impractical.
Additionally,
land-line connections
to these locations
would cost around
S3O a month,
whereas the cellular
systems cost only
$lO a month and require
less installation cost,
according to UWG
Police Chief Tom
Mackel. This has
enabled the university
to install 34 pillars at
important locations
around campus, a large
have a particular focus on
alcohol abuse prevention
because of the myriad
problems it leads to;
excessive drinking can lead
to impaired judgement,
which causes an increase
in assaults, sexual offenses,
and property crime. It
can also lead to medical
problems.
In addition to an
increase in arrests and
citations, police are seeing
an increase in calls where
they had to call emergency
medical services to the
scene, due to extreme
intoxication.
UWG police are doing
this. “Not because we want
to ruin anyone's fun, but to
keep them from harming
themselves or others,”
department has had
locally and regionally,
with students presenting
abstracts and posters of
various geoscience projects
at regional and national
meetings. He also spoke of
the contributions the new
building will make to the
university with the increase
in functional laboratory,
classroom. and office
spaces.
Hollabaugh expanded
on more contributions
in detail as he spoke of
what the new wing will
bring to the geosciences
department.
"The new addition
to the Callaway building
number for a campus
the size of UWG.
However, the
analog cellular phone
technology within these
pillars is not without
problems. According to
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Photo by Johnathan Davis
Mackel, the time it takes
one of these pillars to
connect to emergency
dispatchers can be as
high as ten or fifteen
seconds.
In a serious
situation, such as a
sexual assault ormedical
Mackel said.
Students should be
fully aware that the police
take underage drinking very
seriously, because there
is an increased danger for
underage drinkers. Those
who consume underage
will be tested on a portable
breathalyzer, and if they
register a Blood Alcohol
Content measure of 0.1 or
higher, they will be arrested;
those caught drinking
underage w ith a lower BAC
will be issued a citation.
Providing underage students
with alcoholic beverages is
also a crime, punishable by
a fine of up to SI.(KX) and
12 months imprisonment.
As well, driving while
underage and having any
measurable BAC is a ‘Zero
will allow the various
areas of the geosciences
department to unify under
one roof,” Hollabaugh said.
For example, currently,
the geographers at West
Georgia are stationed in
a building that is over 50
years old. The add-on to
the Callaway building will
allow the geographers to
relocate and station their
work alongside the other
branches of the geosciences
department.
The new wing of
the building will come
with two new labs which
geographers. geologists,
biologists, and planners can
use to conduct their studies.
emergency, these
precious seconds could
make all the difference.
In light of this, changes
were necessary in order
to further protect the
safety of students.
New digital
technology, like
the kind used in the
phones used in offices
around campus, will
enable an almost
instantaneous
connection time
to emergency
dispatchers, reducing
the response time.
This will lead to
increased safety for
students by increasing
the chance that
criminals could be
caught in the act and
by ensuring medical
personnel will
respond much sooner.
Also, knowing that
police can act sooner
than ever before will
increase deterrence,
thus stopping criminal
activity before it can
start.
Finally, this
technology will
decrease the costs
of the pillars, not by
mere dollars, but by
reducing the monthly
costs to the electric
bill, eliminating the
monthly telephone
costs, making each
pillar almost entirely
cost-free after the
initial installation of the
new technology.
The reduced cost
can then be used to make
more improvements,
further increasing the
safety of students and
faculty throughout
campus.
Tolerance’ offense that
will lead to arrest, a fine
of S3(X) to SI(XX). a one
year suspension of one’s
license, 20 to 40 hours of
community service and
mandatory completion of
an Alcohol or Drug Use
Risk Reduction program.
The issue is serious on
college campuses, with a
mix of underage and of-age
students; underage drinkers
have lower alcohol tolerance
than older upperclassmen,
as well as less experience
drinking, and so can have a
harder time recognizing the
signs of intoxication.
Underage drinkers
may be more suceptible to
peer pressure from older
students, and risk alcohol
poisoning when drinking
The building w ill also come
equipped with features
that will further enhance
present and future studies
of maps, rocks, global
warming, exploration
for oil and natural gases,
environmental problems in
local areas, and more.
Members of the
geosciences department
can also look forward to
new computer labs and an
innovative water quality
lab which will allow them
to increase their chemical
analysis of water and
provide them with the
ability to conduct stronger
hydro-analysis.
Theexpanded structure
ASCAP files lawsuit against Rome Street Tavern
By Tracy Ammons
Copy Editor
tammons / @>n \ westga. edu
The Rome Street
Tavern and Grill in
Carrollton was recently
informed of a law suit filed
by the American Society of
Composers. Authors and
Publishers, and owner Sam
Lenaeus has so far declined
to pay thousands of dollars
in settlements.
The lawsuit stemmed
from an open microphone
night that took place in
November of 2(X)6, where
an ASCAP representative
spotted patrons playing
their own versions of
popular music by artists
John Mayor and Tracy
Chapman.
Since November,
ASCAP has sent notices to
the Tavern, requesting that
Lenaeus pay royalties and
warning the restaurant about
future open microphone
performances that play
ASCAP-licensed material.
"Their letters that they
sent were the types of things
that looked like Publishers
Clearinghouse, or a pitch
to buy some CDs from a
record label, so that stuff
just got put in the trash over
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the same amount that would
make another student
merely ‘buzzed’.
Under Georgia law,
attempting to purchase
alcohol or possessing
alcohol while under 21 is
punishable by six months
imprisonment and a S3(X)
line. Additionally, one can
be sentenced to complete
an Alcohol Risk Reduction
program within 120 days
of conviction; failure to
complete carries its own
punishment, which is an
additional S3(X) fine and 20
days imprisonment.
Misrepresenting one’s
age, either through use of
deceptive statements or
false identification, carries
a fine of SI,OOO and a year
imprisonment. Giving your
will also come with anew
entrance and an open area
where students can gather
and socialize.
Additional features
include incorporating food
serv ices like those that are
active at the TLC, a spacious
lobby with glass windows,
anew giant plasma screen
for announcements and
geosciences updates, and a
porch-like area for people
to relax outside.
After explaining the
various benefits that the
new structure will bring to
West Georgia, it was time
for the ground breaking
ceremony to officially
commence.
and over again." Lenaeus
recently told a reporter
from the Times-Georgian.
Lenaeus would have to
pay a minimum of SIO.(XX)
for legal representation;
the suit was filed in federal
district court in Newnan.
ASCAP offered the
Tavern a $9,7<X) settlement,
and then recently lowered it
to SS.7(X). but Lenaeus still
declined to pay.
Lenaeus feels that
ASCAP annual fee would
not be appropriate for his
business, because the fee
would be evenly distributed
to all ASCAP artists, but he
said the Tavern would never
play most of the material
that falls into the broad
scope 0f300,000 musicians,
songwriters, and music
publishers that constitute
ASCAP material.
"I’d rather have the
money go to the specific
artists we listen to,” he told
the Times-Georgian.
When he asked an
ASCAP representative
for a list that included all
ASCAP artists and material,
he was refused and told
that ASCAP covers pretty
much everything. Lenaeus
said this claim seemed
preposterous.
ID to someone underage
to purchase alcohol carries
its own SI,<XX) fine and a
year imprisonment, as well
as a one year revokation of
your license. Retailers are
authorized to confiscate
the identification and to
detain offenders until police
arrive.
jt J§
Sixgoldenshovelswere
used to break the ground
during the ceremony, and a
few alumni participated in
the actual ground-breaking
itself. This w-as a special day
for these former students ,
because the ceremony took
place alongside the 39th
annual pig roast that is held
traditionally for the alumni.
About 35 people attended
the event and over half a
dozen alumni were in the
audience.
According to
Hollabaugh, construction
of the building should be
completed around August
of 2008, just in time for fall
courses to start.
ASCAP also targeted
25 other bars and facilities
across the U.S. —businesses
in California, New
York. Florida, Indiana,
and Atlanta night club,
Sanctuary, were also sued
for similar infringements.
“They’re using these
26 businesses to make
an example of us, and
intimidate other businesses
into paying their flat,
annual fees,” Lenaeus told
the Times-Georgian.
However. ASCAP
feels differently. ASCAP
Vice President and
Director of Licensing
Vincent Candilora said
the 26 targeted businesses
were ones who repeatedly
refused ASCAP warnings.
Candilora also noted that
ASCAP is not profit-driven,
because it gives 80 cents
of every dollar of ASCAP
royalties to their associated
artists.
"We’re talking about
playing someone else’s
music, someone else’s
music who relies on
royalties to make a living,”
Candilora told the Times-
Georgian.
As for the Rome Street
Tavern. Lenaeus is yet to
surrender.
Photo by Kim Hahn