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TUESDAY September 30,2003 Volume 134, Number 178 Award-Winning Newspaper 2003 Better Newspaper Contest INSIDE TODAY McCaffs hosts MSC faculty guests McCall’s Tastes to Remember on Watson Boulevard hosted a recep tion Thursday evening for faculty from the new nearby Macon State College Warner Robins Campus. Business, page 6 A k T * Relief group helps out after Isabel Five, members of a local disaster relief group headed out about day break Friday morning to travel to Gloucester, Va., to assist units feeding vic tims and other relief workers during the after math and cleanup of Hurricane Isabel. See page 2A Mary Ann Cosby Myrtice Wells Gray Linda Beasley Johnson Obits, page 3A INDEX BUSINESS 6A CLASSIFIED 6B COMICS 4B CROSSWORD 4B OBITUARIES 3A OPINION 4A SCHOOL NEWS 3A,5A TV LISTINGS 4B WEATHER .2A PERIODICAL liillilliitilliiilniiililliliil 1 * Georgia Newspaper Proved MAIN LIBRARY UGA ATHENS GA 30602 3-OIGTT 306 Serving Houston County Since 1870 Y Mtmsttm Some jf (LLtje .jjmtrmu LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Perry hosts Walk America Participants raise about $14,000 By Luci Joullian HHJ Staff Writer PERRY - Around 150 par ticipants turned out Saturday morning to take place in the 2003 March of Dimes Walk America fundraiser. The fundraiser, which has been held in Perry for over 10 years, is designed to raise money to save babies from premature birth and other health threats. Participants, who raised approximately $14,000, walked an almost three-mile course beginning at the courthouse square in Perry and winding through downtown. Sponsors of the Perry Walk America included Graphic Packaging, The New Perry Hotel, The Bank of Perry, Family Beginnings at Perry Hospital, Perry Exchange Club, Robins Federal Credit Union, See WALKAMERICA, page 5 A Volunteers to patrol fairgrounds Mounted Search and Rescue team to work parking lots during Fair By Emily Johnstone HHJ Associate Editor PERRY - Members of a Middle Georgia Mounted Search and Rescue team will be head and shoulders above the crowds in the parking lots during the Georgia National Fair this year. Eight to 12 members of the team will be patrolling the areas on weekends, keeping a sharp eye out from atop their horses for fairgoers who need help. Steven Shimp, chief of security at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter, said these volun teers are a welcome addition to the grounds and he is happy to have them in the saddle. “This is a fantastic idea,” Shimp said. Phillip Hammock came up drjl i Idß • ..j JgjL* : Jgss- :jjjj&M- Iffly j/BBBjp j *T* w *p l v *'*" '* •) •»/ J V HHJ/Emlly Johnstone The Mounted Rescue Patrol will be helping Agricenter security keep an eye out for falrgoers In the parking lots dur ing the Georgia National Fair. Pictured are Phillllp Hammock, Dee Selph (sitting on Ricky), Randy Ratteree, Celia Tamker, Harry McKinley, Agricenter Security Sgt. Terry Hayes, Chief Steven Shimp and Administrative Assistant Virginia Gay, and Peggie Dixon (seated on Skipper). www.hhjnews.com \l J 7 #\nß HHJ/Luci Joullian Two-year-old Robert Kinnas, one of the Walk America ambassadors, prepares to spin the Chick-fil-A prize wheel with a little help from his father, Chris. with the notion while at the fairgrounds recently on business connected with the local Red Cross. Shimp liked the idea, and Hammock’s fellow members on the search and rescue team are excited about it, too. Shimp said the mounted patrol will be able to see things those on the ground cannot and, equipped with radios, will be able to let security personnel know about various things going on about the 800 acres of parking lots. The lots are usually filled to capacity on busy fair days, Shimp said. The patrol will be able to relay information about peo ple who cannot find their vehicle, have locked their keys in the car, need medical attention or a multitude of other things. ABE t y- f; ;/; •* j /-ftp Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter Chief of Security Steven Shimp takes his first-ever horseback ride atop Skipper under the tutelage of Mounted Search and Rescue member Peggie Dixon. The group and their hors es are no strangers to work ing among lots of people and in various situations. As a matter of fact, mem bers have assisted in a num ber of searches for missing persons, Hammock said. About four years ago, this group of horse enthusiasts, who also have a desire to help their fellow man, joined together to form the team. See PATROL, page SA an Evans Family Newspaper .inn. TWO SECTIONS • 16 PAGES Dems: Don’t link HOPE to SAT By The Associated Press ATLANTA Democratic leaders are opposing a plan by Gov. Sonny Perdue to tie HOPE scholarship money to students’ SAT scores, saying it would keep good students who perform badly on standardized tests - including many blacks - from getting state financial support. “There are any number of ‘A’ students who don’t test well,” said Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. “This is the wrong approach to the challenges we face.” All students in Georgia with a B average or high er receive full tuition to a public college and money for books and fees. Technical school students are also eligible and stu dents who go to private colleges can receive a $3,000 annual grant. But with the cost of the program growing rapidly in recent years, the HOPE program is expect ed to outpace revenues from the Lottery program that pay for it. A state commission was formed to look for ways to pre serve the program while saving money. Perdue last week sug gested to the commission that funds being paid out to Georgia college stu dents be reduced by requiring high school stu dents to get a minimum SAT score besides keep ing a ‘B’ average. That’s an idea opposed by many Democratic leaders. They say test scores of black students have his torically been far below the state average and well below the average scores of white students. According to officials at the University of Georgia, only 1,500 blacks in Georgia scored above 1000 on the SAT in 2001. “I am certainly going to ask the General Assembly to oppose tying the HOPE scholarship to ... the SAT,” Taylor told The Atlanta Journal- Constitution for a story in Monday’s editions. Perdue has not suggest ed a minimum score requirement for obtain ing a HOPE scholarship. But he has said that only about a quarter of stu dents with SATs below 1000 keep the scholarship after their first year in college because their grades dip below a B. Those who score higher are more likely to keep the B average and thus keep the scholarship, he said. Rep. Kathy Ashe, D- Atlanta, a member of the House Democratic leader ship, said the SAT is a national exam not tied to the curriculum that Georgia students are taught. Therefore, the test is not a good bench mark for determining whether a student should receive state support. 50c