News from the Red and Black

Basketball on its most basic level is simple.

If you put the ball through the hoop more times than your opponent, you’ll win the game.

Somehow the Bulldogs made more buckets than their opponents in yet another game, but they still managed to lose to LSU 61-53 on Wednesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Although Georgia (12-15, 3-10) shot less than 40 percent from the field, it managed to make three more baskets than LSU.

Gerald Robinson

But another slow start to the game combined with allowing 30 free throw attempts to the Tigers (17-10, 7-6) proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.

“It’s hard to win when you don’t come as prepared to play as you need to,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “I just felt like we got off to a very poor start and we played uphill from that point. Certainly they had more free throw attempts than us, but we have to have a more mature mentality when we come to the gym.”

The Bulldogs’ lack of preparation was imminent from the get-go, as LSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Georgia scored its first points of the game with 17:07 left in the first half.

As they have all season, the Bulldogs missed easy points near the bucket as they failed to reach double-digits until more than midway through the first half.

Georgia didn’t quit, though, as it fought back to keep the game close, led by an unlikely candidate — freshman John Cannon.

Cannon, who had played only 28 minutes all season, was forced into action due to foul trouble by the Georgia frontcourt, and he managed to take full advantage of his opportunity on the court.

Although Cannon did not light up the stat sheet, he came off the bench and infused his team with the one thing they had been lacking — energy.

Cannon came in and brought down rebounds, had a key block, and even showed off a post move or two on his time on the court as he help lead the Georgia comeback.

“John has been practicing really well,” Fox said. “He’s had a real hard [time] learning the system of play. It’s been tough for him and he’s made a lot of progress there and I thought tonight he played pretty well when he was in the game.”

But the Bulldogs’ attempt at a comeback was short-lived.

Georgia managed to cut the LSU lead to just three, 45-42, with 6:49 left, until for a second game in a row, an opponent made back-to-back 3-pointers.

On Sunday against Vanderbilt, it was John Jenkins with the six straight points, and on Wednesday it was the combination of Andre Stringer and Ralston Turner that put the dagger in the Bulldogs comeback attempt.

“We got it back in a position to win the game after the slow start,” Fox said. “That was kind of the mission — to get back and have a chance to win it, but they made those back-to-back threes which really hurt us.”

Georgia senior Gerald Robinson ended with a team-high 17 points as he and freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — who scored 10 points — were the only Bulldogs who ended with the night in double figures.

The Bulldogs will come back home for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Florida.

Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The #14 University of Georgia Bulldogs baseball team hosted the Georgia State University Panthers at Foley Field in Athens, Ga., on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012. The Bulldogs beat the Panthers 4 – 1.

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

ALLISON LOVE/Staff

C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

Behind the arm of a freshman pitcher, the Diamond Dogs looked like they were headed for a close, one-run victory through most of Wednesday’s game.

But as is so often the case, one big inning changed everything.

Georgia garnered a 4-1 victory over Georgia State Wednesday night, thanks to the strong pitching of starter Pete Nagel and the bullpen, and a three-run seventh inning that put them over the top.

Following a 4-1 win over Georgia State at home, the Diamond Dogs are still undefeated. ALLISON LOVE/Staff

But Diamond Dogs head coach David Perno acknowledged Georgia State’s play when explaining the team’s slow start.

“You gotta give credit to them. We had a lot of resistance,” Perno said. “You gotta be able to win those games at home, and we hung in there.”

Second baseman Levi Hyams was responsible for a two-out, two run homer in the seventh that gave Georgia fans a chance to relax and the team a path to victory. He credited his focus during the at-bat to his veteran status, drawing a contrast with batting in a clutch situation earlier in his career.

“[In] the bigger situations where you’d need to get a hit… I’d feel the nerves and the butterflies flying around,” Hyams said. “Now it’s just like, breathe, relax, and I can talk myself through it.”

The game might have been less tight had the No. 9 Diamond Dogs (4-0) been more successful in the fourth inning. After loading the bases with one out, the Diamond Dogs only scored one run, and that came off a walk.

According to Perno, the team missed a big moment that inning.

“[You] just don’t get a whole lot of opportunities like that,” he said. “When we get them hopefully we’ll do a better job of taking care of business.”

Perno and his team praised Nagel’s performance, going five innings with one hit, one walk and no runs. But he downplayed his role in the win.

“I was trying to spot a fastball offspeed and just let my defense work,” Nagel said. “And they made good plays all day.”

Nagel’s performance didn’t surprise Perno, he said.

But for a freshman’s first start, it was different than he expected.

“I thought we would potentially be in more counts, bad counts and tough situations,” Perno said. “But he controlled the count the whole way through.”

Overall, Nagel is part of a pitching staff that allowed only one run to the Panthers (3-2) Wednesday, and only six runs in the first four games.

And the Diamond Dogs couldn’t be happier.

“These guys are doing so well for us. We’re really proud of them,” Hyams said. “They keep doing their job [and] it makes our jobs as hitters easy.”

Even when the Diamond Dogs get in more dramatic and difficult situations, the team has stayed competitive in every game.

Perno praised the pitching staff for doing what it needs to do to keep them there.

“We’re throwing strikes. That’s the biggest thing you want to see from the guys,” he said.

But the team isn’t exactly thrilled with the necessity of late-inning excitement.

“Next time we’re gonna try to jump out early,” Hyams said. “These late ones are giving me panic attacks, I’ll tell you that.”

Former Georgia diver Chris Colwill placed ninth in the preliminaries of FINA World Cup on Tuesday and helped the U.S. earn its second spot in the 3-meter event at this summer’s Olympic Games in London.

Along with securing his country a spot, he clinched a berth for himself in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Chris Colwill

Colwill was a member of the 2008 Olympic team and is no stranger to long competitions.

“I knew it was going to be a long day,” he told Georgia Sports Communications. “It was a little tough waiting 45 minutes or so between dives, but I did my best to keep my mind off things. I stayed above 70 points on all my dives, and I’m happy with how I did.”

Colwill finished with a final score of 444.95, competing against 58 other divers and taking over four hours to complete the event.

He scored consistently on each of his six dives, averaging more than 70 points on each one.

The U.S. now has eight total spots in the diving events at this summer’s Games – the maximum a country can qualify for.

The World Cup will continue through Sunday, while the U.S. Olympic diving team will be selected in June.

Alabama has beat out Georgia for another top 2013 in-state prospect.

Tyren Jones, a 5-foot-8, 190-pound running back from Alpharetta, chose the Crimson Tide on Tuesday over offers from Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, among others.

Jones, considered by most publications as the state’s top running back, led Class AAAAA in rushing last season after amassing 2,375 yards and 34 touchdowns for state runner-up Walton High School.

Tyren Jones

Alabama also holds a verbal commitment from the state’s top-ranked linebacker — Reuben Foster of Troup County — who the Bulldogs are still actively pursuing.

The Bulldogs are expected to go head-to-head with the Crimson Tide for multiple Peach State prospects, including the nation’s top-rated prospect in Robert Nkemdiche of Grayson, the state’s top-rated defensive tackle in Dooly County’s Montravius Adams and one of the state’s most electrifying running backs in Norcross’ Alvin Kamara.

Without Jones on board, the Bulldogs still have a plethora of targets at running back, including Kamara, Elbert County’s Tyshon Dye, Grayson’s Wayne Gallman and Florida native Greg Bryant.

The Georgia’s women’s basketball team’s season-long rebounding woes came back to bite them once again in its loss to Florida on Sunday.

Having kept pace on the boards with both South Carolina and Vanderbilt, the Lady Dogs were out-rebounded 42-32 by the Gators.

In Southeastern Conference play, Georgia ranks eighth in rebounding margin, getting out-rebounded by 1.6 boards per game.

ANDY LANDERS

The Lady Dogs’ inability to effectively rebound at this time of the season is something that frustrates Georgia head coach Andy Landers.

“It’s no secret [that] it’s what we have to work on,” Landers said. “It’s what’s keeping us from being as good as we can be. It’s as simple as that.”

Landers went into the game against Florida knowing the Gators were one of the conference’s best rebounding teams.

The emphasis he put on the Gators’ superb rebounding has only increased his exasperation.

“When you go into a game against a team that you know is a very good rebounding team and you’ve stressed it for days and minutes before tip off and then you go out and don’t rebound the basketball, it’s troubling,” Landers said.

The inability to rebound the basketball has hindered the good work the Lady Dogs’ do in every other phase of their game.

They have the fourth-best offense and fourth-best defense in the conference, but have failed to separate themselves from other teams because of their inability to crash the boards.

“When you’re in close games it ends up being a game of possessions,” Landers said. “You look at the stats sheet of the Florida game, we outshot them from the floor, we outshot them from the free throw line, we had less turnovers. Look at all your stats [and] it boils down to one thing — they had 10 more rebounds than we did. They had eight more offensive rebounds than we did.”

Georgia’s leading rebounder is junior Anne Marie Armstrong with 6.2 per game.

The Lady Dogs’ post players are juniors Jasmine Hassell and Tamika Willis, who average 5.9 and 3.2 rebounds per game, respectively.

Landers said earlier in the season that the long shadow of Porsha Phillips — the Lady Dogs’ leading rebounder from last season — is still cast over the team whenever they go for a rebound.

The head coach stated again on Tuesday how much this year’s team has struggled to get over that loss, even entering the last month of the season.

“This group of players got spoiled last year,” Landers said. “We go down to Florida last year [and] Porsha Phillips gets 17 rebounds. We don’t have a 10-rebound-a-game player. We could have, but we don’t.”

Over one month after being arrested for domestic violence, Georgia defensive back Sanders Commings has reached an “informal resolution” with the University’s Office of Student Conduct.

According to the resolution, Commings has agreed to be on six months probation, attend an alcohol and drug education course, participate in an anger management program and perform 25 hours of community service.

Sanders Commings

Commings was arrested on Jan. 21 and charged with domestic violence/simple battery.

According to a copy of the informal resolution obtained by The Red & Black, Commings “engaged in physical abuse, physical intimidation, coercion, and/or other conduct that threatened or endangered the health or safety of another person.”

The resolution states that a violation of probation “will likely result in suspension from the University of Georgia.”

Commings is accused of hitting his girlfriend in downtown Athens.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 22 for charges stemming from the January incident.

Georgia coach Mark Richt has suspended Commings for the first two games of the 2012 season, which will cause him to miss the Sep. 1 game against Buffalo and the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference opener against Missouri on Sept. 8.

Documents

From the sidewalks of Athens to orphanages in Kenya, the University’s chapter of Nourish International is working to build communities.

The group works to empower college students to fight global poverty through sustainable development, said Michelle Paterick, print media chair and a junior psychology major.

The organization’s community service model was developed by a student at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2003, said Sarah Miller, chapter coordinator for the national office of Nourish International.

Ruby Kendrick performs for Nourish International's Sidewalk Symphonies at Kelly's in Athens on Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011. The University's chapter of Nourish International hosts Sidewalk Symphonies with local artists throughout the year. ELIZABETH WILSON/Staff

During the school year, students plan business ventures to raise money, she said. In the summer, students travel to other countries to work on service projects with the residents of those communities.

“We seek to do social ventures, where the goal is not only profit, but social interaction and good for the community,” she said.

This year, the University’s chapter’s main fundraiser is called Sidewalk Symphonies.

“We find local artists and bands to play at local restaurants on nights they might not make as much money,” Paterick said.

The fundraiser benefits everyone involved — the restaurants get more customers, the musicians get an audience and Nourish gets 15 percent of the profits from the night. The University chapter also hosts cookouts after football and basketball games to raise money.

With the money it raises, the group will travel to Kenya this summer to build two greenhouses. One will provide a sustainable food source for an orphanage. The other will produce food for a school, for the students to eat, or sell, to raise money.

“For a lot of kids, the school feeding is the only meal they get, at lunch time,” Paterick said.

Nourish’s service projects are designed to be sustainable, so they will last longer than the students’ summer visit. In 2010, University students created a sustainable agriculture project in Ecuador that is still in progress, Miller said.

“They’re still producing peppers and onions, and still producing a source of income for the community to sell,” she said.

Paterick and Miller emphasized that Nourish believes communities are best equipped to address their own needs.

The executive board of the University of Georgia's chapter of Nourish International at Walker's downtown on Feb. 3. Nourish International has been on campus for the past two years. Courtesy Nijal Kuruvilla

“We talk to them about appropriate solutions rather than come in and try to solve their problems, because they know better than we know,” Paterick said.

The University’s chapter is still recruiting students to travel to Kenya this summer.

Working with Nourish can be helpful for almost any major, Miller said, including international affairs, anthropology, sociology, pre-med, public health and business.

Nourish differs from other service organizations, Paterick said, because instead of participants asking donors to give money, Nourish’s business ventures give donors something in return.

“We try to find ways that we can implement these business ventures without just asking for money,” she said. “We’re always trying to provide a service.”

For more information:
uganourishinternational.com
uganourish@gmail.com
Informational meeting Thursday Feb. 23 at 5.p.m., location to be announced

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that Jeremy Lin’s game winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors on Valentine’s Day was my favorite sporting moment of my lifetime.

I can only imagine I’ll remember where I was when that miraculous shot dropped in the same sepia-toned nostalgia-vision my parents must remember the moon landing in.

Disregard the fact that it was a regular season game in mid-February, strike Lin’s eight turnovers from the record, forget the fact that Toronto had less than 10 wins — the country and I have a new underdog to cling to and revere and publish thousands of newspaper articles about — not unlike this one.

PATRICK DEEHAN

A week has taken place between that fateful shot and now, and the deafening buzz surrounding Jeremy Lin has since faded to a dull roar. With this, the quintessentially American process of deifying an athlete only to quickly cast them aside has begun anew.

Perspective has been gained, and that karmic dagger into the Raptors’ hopes is starting to look more like the barely-contested, straight-ahead shot to end a game between mediocre teams that it was.

Like so many sports stories, Jeremy Lin’s quick start has received far too much coverage for its own good. A vestigial trait left over from the early florid days of sports journalism in which a baseball recap often read like an epic poem, hero-making is one of the sports media’s favorite pastimes — perhaps second only to tearing those same heroes down.

One must only look back to last fall and its Tebowmania to understand that Jeremy Lin is simply the most recent tabula rasa for America to vicariously imprint itself upon. Linsanity is just the most recent burgeoning star to experience the last name-mental illness portmanteau phenomenon.

This is not to discount Jeremy Lin or his accomplishments. I love watching him play, and I think his success is more sustainable than that of last season’s faux-underdog miracle run.

Tim Tebow was a first-round pick, whereas Jeremy Lin was undrafted D-League fodder until he decided to become an all-star two weeks ago and saved a team’s doomed season as well as the career of a once-praised, then-beleaguered, now-vindicated head coach.

I almost feel guilty perpetuating the comparison between Lin and Tebow. In fact, I think we should embrace and indulge the 24-hour sports news cycle’s obsession just this once.

After all, in a time in which basketball players are ranked for college and pro potential as early as middle school, and every three star offensive lineman is parsed by thousands of armchair scouts every signing day, who knows how many true out-of-nowhere underdogs we have left?

Make no mistake, this is that rare phenomenon where the actual story is truly as weird and unlikely and organic as the story being reported.

So embrace the Linsanity. Next up, Troy Tulowitzkiphrenia.

— Patrick Deehan is a junior from Milton majoring in political science

A lot of fights weren’t started because of David Hooker and Raytheon Rawls.

As mediators, both Hooker and Rawls have successfully helped resolve an array of conflicts all over the world.

The Institute for African American Studies is hosting a lecture entitled “A Mediator’s Work,” a conversation between Rawls and Hooker as a part of Black History Month.

Raytheon Rawls

Rawls and Hooker, both faculty at the University’s Fanning Institute, have mediated conflicts locally, nationally and internationally; and the lecture will highlight the work of a mediator and how mediation skills can be used in different conflicts in society.

“We want people to know that a process exists that people can learn and use to make real and significant positive changes in their world,” Rawls said. “Whether it is in schools, religious environments, home environments or communities, people can take the energy that conflict emits and use it for positive change.”

Hooker has worked in Senegal, Nigeria and Eastern Europe, among other conflict hot spots. He also is working in Mississippi with people wanting to do healing work around the murders of three civil rights workers in the ’60s. Rawls has worked in Kenya and Liberia around women’s issues in conflict resolution and has worked with many University departments to help resolve conflicts.

Organizers hope to show the everyday usefulness of conflict resolution.

“I would like [students] to take away an appreciation of the complexities of conflict resolution,” said Freda Scott Giles, interim director in the Institute for African American Studies. “And perhaps apply some of the ideas that Dr. Rawls [and Hooker] talk about to their own situations and to have a greater awareness of how difficult it is to reach an understanding when two different parties, or more, are in the conflict, even if you are from the same culture and speak the same language.”

Rawls, Hooker and Chris Carlson, a mediator in private practice, recently mediated the conflict of the Atlanta School Board and were widely credited with resolving interpersonal issues and supporting the governance team, Rawls said.

Students who attend the lecture can expect to hear more of a narrative about mediation as opposed to a list of statistics and facts. They can expect to get first-hand experiences of conflicts on a local as well as a global level.

“It’s really a conversation,” Rawls said. “[About] how we got started, why we think the work is important and some interesting stories about work we’ve done.”

“A MEDIATOR’S WORK“
Where: 407 Memorial Hall
When: 12:15 p.m.

America’s young women need a new role model. Gone are the glory days of the Tina Feys and Hilary Clintons — we now require a modern heroine who is more in tune with our struggles.

Someone younger. Someone more connected to us through social media. Someone who’s not afraid to express herself artistically or sexually. Someone who dared explore the mysteries of love at a young age.

It’s Courtney Stodden, of course, who fits the bill like no other, and there is no scarcity of wisdom to be gained from her.

Alina Yudkevich

Born in 1994 and married in 2011, she has been scorned, called the “Child Bride.” But certain civilizations would have considered these nuptials to be in no way shameful. And her 51-year-old husband couldn’t agree more.

The fairytale began when the ageless bombshell wrote her first fan letter to teen idol and syndicated television heartthrob Doug Hutchison. Stodden’s mother carefully monitored the correspondence to keep it PG, according to an ABC report.

It was a match made in Heaven. Indeed, Stodden and Hutchison made sure to leave plenty of room for Jesus while appearing in public prior to their wedding night, allegedly at Doug’s insistence ["Doug Hutchison, 51, and Courtney Stodden, 16, dish on controversial marriage," ABC News, July 15, 2011].

Here Stodden demonstrated her commitment to always respect the wishes of her elders. And of her parents.

The couple earned a pretty penny at their wedding, the photos of which come highly recommended by anyone who’s ever read a tattered celebrity gossip magazine in a waiting room. Courtney created a demand and provided the supply, teaching young girls more about go-get-’em entrepreneurship than all the American Girl books combined.

But she wasn’t done.

Her debut single “Don’t Put It On Me” waxes poetic about the delicate dynamics that arise when other women’s partners admit their attraction to her. She croons about the beauty of freeing yourself from jealousy and respecting fellow women — and then something about how thankful she is for American soldiers. She delivers this thought-provoking audio-visual feast in a pink bikini, perched on the edge of a small boat.

Courtney’s Twitter prowess puts every so-called social media mogul to shame. Her tweets highlight the importance of literacy — alliteration in particular — and creative expressions of sexuality.

Writes the budding auteur on Twitter: “Lubricating my limber legs with a creamy lotion that electrifies my luminescent captivation, lustrously. It’s Slippery Saturday! XOs! ”

Courtney is a woman of her word. Accused by the liberal media of having implants, she volunteered to get an ultrasound of her boobs on live television. And to quell rumors that she is secretly a 35-year-old performance artist, Courtney immediately produced a birth certificate and proudly displayed it on the many television appearances that would soon follow.

Checkmate, Obama.

In addition to her age and breast size — the airbrushed abs are still up in the air — Courtney proves to us the existence of true love and the benefits of dedicating your existence to absolutely nothing else.

Perez Hilton, known for his cold heart and gotcha journalism, once asked her what her education or career ambitions were, if any.
She boldly responded, “I am already majoring in Doug… or should I say he’s majoring in me? My dreams? They are delicious! Math? 17+51=SEXY LOVE!”

There is no man too big to admit crying at this sentiment.

Courtney Stodden is a beautiful, half-naked enigma wrapped in an American flag. She is a tale of rags to riches the likes of which America has not seen since the days of Horatio Alger.

Above all, she lives by what she preaches. It’s an alliterative life full of love and sequences of tweets sexualizing everything from Santa Claus to altogether intangible concepts. Every message she sends brings us closer to enlightenment.

Walk around in a G-string bikini. Juxtapose subtle references to your elderly lover’s bodily fluids with Bible verses about the glory of God’s creations. Say nothing in interviews merely stick your tongue out suggestively to substantiate your spouse’s points.

—Alina Yudkevich is a senior from Marietta majoring in film studies and advertising

A University student’s car was broken into while parked at a house on Trailcreek Street Friday night, according to an Athens-Clarke County Police report.

The student went to her boyfriend’s house on Trailcreek Street on around 8 p.m. When she left around midnight, she noticed “her front passenger door ajar and items from her glovebox strewn about the vehicle,” according to the report.

Though she did not find anything stolen initially, she found her black Jansport backpack containing a “Research and Methods Psychology” textbook and folders containing school papers missing on Monday.

She called police Monday afternoon to file a report. The officer dusted for latent fingerprints but found none, according to the report.

 

Documents

ACROSS
1 Obeys
6 Iranian rulers’ title of old
10 “Be quiet!”
14 Worship
15 City in Texas
16 Hold __; clutch
17 Lasso wielder
18 Once again
19 Discontinue
20 Radiant
22 Have ambitions
24 Ameche and Johnson
25 Cooked over a grill
26 __ have a clue; is in the dark
29 Review of the financial books
30 Climbing plant
31 Connery and Penn
33 Work
37 __-do-well; bum
39 Cowboys’ event
41 Company symbol
42 Concluded
44 Takes a break
46 Ancient
47 Wipes off wood furniture
49 Motifs 51 Georgia’s capital
54 Equipment
55 One who sends via the USPS
56 Wizard
60 Bit of land in the sea
61 Creative notion
63 Scoundrel
64 Celebrity
65 No longer valid
66 Was wild about
67 Religious splinter group
68 Becomes firm
69 Water jugs

DOWN
1 Actress __ Helgenberger
2 “American __”
3 Slangy denial
4 Is fearful of
5 Pulpit orations
6 Graceful waterbirds
7 Remain pending
8 __ bandage; elastic wrap
9 Pres. William __ Taft
10 Surgeon’s workplace
11 Up to the time that
12 Stow away

13 Was optimistic
21 Bury
23 Dirt
25 Public transports
26 Eat
27 Hot chamber
28 Black-__ peas
29 Peru’s range
32 Vital artery
34 Sound of an explosion
35 Eye flirtatiously
36 Curtain holders
38 Highest level of warning
40 Furry swimmer
43 Sand mound
45 Put in leg-irons
48 Thin cord
50 Prior to this time, in poetry
51 Wrong; faulty
52 Take a little bite
53 Purple shade
54 Hockey scores
56 Peddle
57 Talk wildly
58 At any time
59 Cincinnati team
62 Payable now

Want the answers? Click here.

Click here to download a pdf of today’s puzzle.

Athens-Clarke and the surrounding counties should soon see a boost from one of the world’s leading manufacturers.

Caterpillar, a manufacturer of industrial equipment, expects to break ground for a new plant within the next several weeks said Jim Dugan, a spokesman for the company.

The project, which is planned to be completed late in 2013, is expected to bring around 3,200 jobs to the area between the plant and its suppliers.

Jeffery Humphreys, director of the University’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, said the development will have a major impact on the local and state economy.

As Caterpillar — a manufacturer of industrial equipment — moves to Athens, it bring with it nearly 3,200 jobs. The construction of their Athens plant is expected to be complete in late 2013. JUSTIN JOHNSON/Staff

“The immediate benefit is that it expands the economic base,” Humphreys said.

The initial expansion will come as jobs are filled in the construction of the plant, which will be located at the intersection of old US 29 and GA 316. In the long term, though, employee incomes and employee spending will have a substantial economic impact, according to Humphreys.

“The larger economic base leads to work for more part time positions and positions for related services,” he said.

The project comes at a time when manufacturing positions in Georgia had been on their way out.

“We’ve lost a number of jobs in Northeast Georgia and Georgia as a whole during the great recession,” Humphreys said. “Most of those were related to construction manufacturing, but there was a broad based downturn.”

This trend was blunted to some extent in the Athens area, but not wholly avoided.

“Much of this can be attributed to the presence of the University, but even the University was not enough to shield the city from a downturn,” Humphreys said.
However, the manufacturing sector saw growth last year that many others did not, he said.

Mayor Nancy Denson said attracting Caterpillar to the area was the result of a joint effort by Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties and the state of Georgia. The two counties equally split the costs of incentives intended to draw the large manufacturer.

Denson said the incentives included the counties’ respective economic development authorities initially paying for the property and waiving 90 percent of the property tax, which will be gradually transferred to Caterpillar. The counties also agreed to cover the full cost of road, water and sewage extensions.

“The thing to remember here is that for 30 years that property has been empty,” Denson said. “Now we will be receiving 10 percent of a $200 million investment that will increase over 20 years.”

Dugan said that Caterpillar’s decision was based on a number of other factors as well.

Considerations for the company included proximity to ports in Savannah and Charelston, and state funded training programs, such as Georgia Quick Start. Perhaps the biggest factor, though, was the existing labor pool.

“It’s a buyers market and we have a plentiful supply of workers,” Humphreys said. “Some will need specialized training, but I’m sure there will be no problem filling positions.”

Denson said the largest beneficiaries of the Caterpillar plant will be the unemployed and underemployed in the area.

“These are the kind of jobs that have not been available in the area in almost a generation,” she said. “Now these jobs will be available for people that want or need to stay in Athens.”

University Chief of Police Jimmy Williamson said he has noticed an upswing in the amount of driving under the influence charges between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Williamson said in these morning DUI cases involving alcohol, the individual was typically drinking responsibly the night before.

“Typically if they are arrested on impairment of alcohol, in some of the cases we find out that they were really responsible during the evening when they were partying and drinking a considerable amount of alcohol, and went home by taxi or friend or walked,” he said.

University Police have seen a rise in morning DUI's. According to University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson, some students might try to drive after attempting to sober up with sleep the night before, but are sometimes still impaired. C.B. SCHMELTER/Staff

The problem is when the individual wakes up and does not realize that they are still impaired, according to Williamson.

“After several hours of sleep, they get up to drive to work or class and didn’t realize they were still impaired,” he said.

Williamson said high tolerances allow students to consume much larger amounts of alcohol than what police are used to seeing, and because of higher tolerances, students think they are more sober than their Blood Alcohol Content would indicate.

“After sleeping a few hours, students think that they are fine, but they’re not,” he said. “Their alcohol levels are still high.”

Williamson said the only way to truly sober up is time.

Robert Ross, alcohol and other drug counselor at the University Health Center, also said an individual’s level of tolerance does not affect their blood alcohol content level.

“Only time helps you get sober,” Ross said. “You can eat all the raw eggs you want, but time is the only thing that helps.”

Ross said a problem among students is not being aware of a normal drink size and that students forget the amount of alcohol that they are actually consuming is higher than they realize.

“If you’re drinking a 16 ounce solo cup full of some sort of mystery punch and if it is 16 ounces and no ice, you could easily have 10 ounces of liquor in there,” he said.

Ross said if an individual does the math, then there could be as many as eight drinks in one solo cup.

“It’s a problem, it’s here, not knowing how much alcohol one is consuming,” he said.

Ross said students should ask their bartenders to measure the amount of alcohol that is put in their drinks so students can keep track of how much alcohol they consume.

Ross said 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor is the size of one drink and that the body can only process one ounce of liquor per hour.

“Your level of tolerance does not affect your BAC,” he said. “You could have a really high tolerance, but you’re still going to have the same BAC as someone with a low tolerance.”

Nicholas Egisch, a junior international affairs major, said it ultimately comes down to the person driving the vehicle.

“If you wake up and you’re still slightly inebriated, hungover or know you have alcohol in your system, entering your vehicle puts you at risk and others as well,” he said.

Joseph Gunnison, an international affairs major, said he would never drive if he had more than one beer and considering the safety of others is also important.

“In Athens you have to be extra careful,” he said. “You have to worry about other people’s safety too.”

Gunnison said if he is going to drink heavily, he will not even bring his car keys.

Ross said plans such as these these lower the risk of DUI for students.

Still, Williamson also said there is nothing wrong with drinking if an individual is of the legal drinking age.

“Just drink in moderation and drink responsibly,” he said. “Everything we see typically has alcohol and drugs involved, and when it’s alcohol, it’s the overconsumption that causes problems for folks.”

Southern rock returns to its roots.

Dash Rip Rock — comprised of guitarist and lead singer Bill Davis, bassist Patrick Johnson and drummer Kyle Melancon — will take stage at The Melting Point.

“I love Athens because it’s, to me, it was always sort of ground zero for Southern pop music,” Davis said. “And not just because of R.E.M., but a lot of other bands that were there around the same time, like The B-52’s and Guadalcanal Diary. We always felt like it was sort of the birth place of the kind of music that we mostly unify with, which is poetic, Southern pop music.”

Playing in such a monumental town, directly connected with the band’s style, adds some pressure.

Dash Rip Rock was recently inducted in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, but the group still gets excited to return to Athens, which it sees as the ‘ground zero for Southern pop music.’ Courtesy Dash Rip Rock

“The first time we ever played in Athens it felt like we were going to some sort of historical landmark,” Davis said. “It has this kind of small town feel to it, but so much great music has come out of there and the music has gone worldwide. So Athens is pretty much recognized as being the birthplace of new Southern music. So when we’re there, we feel like we have to behave accordingly.”

And on top of birthing Southern pop music, Athens also provided Davis with some memorable nights.

One such performance took place back when the band first entered the spotlight, with its 1995 song “Lets Go Smoke Some Pot.”

“One of my favorite shows was at the Georgia Theatre and it was a completely sold-out audience,” Davis said. “The fire marshal came in and made everyone leave right before we went on stage … And so we were sitting there going, ‘Oh my God, our entire audience just got kicked out of the door.’”

After a heartbreaking exit, Davis said, the band’s fans’ perseverance saved the day.

“We were talking to the club owner trying to figure out what to do, and he said, ‘Well let’s just let everybody back in after the fire marshal leaves,’” Davis said. “‘And we’ll count and make sure we don’t go over the capacity.’”

Another Athens show at the 40 Watt stuck with Davis — where the presence of R.E.M.’s Mike Mills graced the audience.

“Eventually he came up and talked to us and for us that was kind of our first contact with a rock star,” Davis said. “So it was very heady.”

Although now Davis might not be so star-struck — Dash Rip Rock was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in January — the band’s modest beginnings explain its nerves.

“We were students at LSU, and I was working at the college radio station, and we saw some cool bands come through town and we wanted to be just like them,” Davis said.

With Davis’ passion for music a constant factor in his life, in college he made sure to surround himself with as much of it as possible.

The inspiration for the band’s name also came about early on, from Davis’ childhood neighbor.

“I grew up in Baton Rouge and there was an old television show called ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ on TV and one of the actresses lived in my neighborhood,” Davis said. “It was the actress that played Elly May Clampett, and she lived in my neighborhood. I used to see her out working in her garden. And on the television show, her boyfriend was named Dash Riprock, and so I thought it would be really cool to name our band after her boyfriend, who also lived right around the corner from my house.”

Only fitting then, the band plays various styles of Southern music, Davis said, mashing them into their own high-energy ways.

“We play country, we play Rockabilly, we play what I would consider Southern pop which would include bands like R.E.M. or Drive-By Truckers,” Davis said.

And what it lacks in numbers, Dash Rip Rock makes up with in energy, setting it apart from other Southern bands.

Even when playing some golden oldies, the band never tones down its ampage.

“At a live show we’re known to pull out maybe old country songs, but also give them our own treatment which really sort of involves making them faster, songs by Hank Williams, Patsy Cline or George Jones,” Davis said. “We like to take country music and make it super fast and energetic.”

It mostly sticks to its originals, though, with 15 albums under its belt, and two in production to pull from.

And even though a vein of high energy runs through all of its songs, when cupid’s arrow strikes, the band’s knees can’t help but bend.

“If we see a band we love doing a certain style of song, we may try to emulate it just because it’s something that we’ve fallen in love with,” Davis said. “But we do pretty much keep it within the energetic, Southern rock thing.”

At this performance, however, the band will play mainly from the two new albums still in progress.

“We’ve just really been working hard on them, and we love the new songs,” Davis said. “They have a newness to them that make us want to play them all the time.”

The Melting Point is another new thing the band is looking forward to — returning to Athens and reuniting with old friends.

“We just haven’t been in Athens in years and years and we’re very excited to be returning and playing at The Melting Point,” Davis said. “We’re always excited to break in a new club.”

DASH RIP ROCK

Where: The Melting Point
When: 8:30 p.m.
Price: $5 (adv.), $7

Trombone takes center stage.

Joshua Bynum, a professor of trombone, will perform his second recital at the University, accompanied by a little “singing.”

“The trombone is a versatile instrument, capable of producing many different colors,” Bynum said. “I try to emphasize the singing quality of the instrument.”

Bynum will be accompanied by Anatoly Sheludyakov, staff accompanist in the Hodgson School of Music.

University trombone professor Joshua Bynum will give a musical performance set to a non-musical theme: ‘something old, new, borrowed and blue.’ Courtesy Joshua Bynum

“One of my favorite aspects of performance is working with other musicians,” Bynum said. “Anytime you play with others, the more you play together, the more instinctive you become. When you reach that point, there is a synergy that can be very special.”

While putting together his program, Bynum followed a theme.

“I wanted to choose a program that features music compiled from various sources,” he said. “As I began choosing repertoire, a theme began to emerge: something old, new, borrowed and blue.”

Not that much music was written for the trombone prior to 1945. Many composers instead focused on more on traditional instruments, such as violin, piano or voice.

But that’s not a problem for Bynum.

“Trombonists are notorious for stealing great music from other sources,” Bynum said. “Vocal repertoire is my favorite because there are so many correlations between the trombone and voice.”

For the traditional section of his program, Bynum chose a composition by Paul Hindemith.

“[His] trombone sonata is one of the ‘war horses’ in our repertoire, and is one of the few original works for our instrument by an established composer,” Bynum said. “This piece features an interesting juxtaposition of character between the active piano and stoic trombone voices.”

For “something new,” Bynum chose four pieces by a French composer to represent a timeline from the Baroque era to the 20th century.

“Jean-Michel Defaye’s ‘Pieces in the Manner of…’ series is both relatively new and under-performed,” Bynum said. “These pieces feature clever homage and quotation by composers from various stylistic periods.”

Aaron Copland’s national folk songs symbolize the “borrowed” part of Bynum’s program.

“Aaron Copland’s old, American songs are so beloved and offer so much stylistic variety,” Bynum said. “These are tunes that we know, but we don’t know how. I find myself returning to them time and again, and always come away surprised at the musical fulfillment to be found in such ‘simple’ music.”

Hollywood composer William Goldstein will color Bynum’s recital “blue.”

“This piece was written for the U.S. Army band in the 1960’s and was intended as a voice of unapologetic optimism during a time of great strife in our nation’s history,” Bynum said. “There is a wonderful balance between epic and tender moments that culminate in a wonderful, jazz-inspired finale.”

Another key component to any faculty recital is an investment of time.

“[Bynum] is a prodigious practicer,” said David Zerkel, professor of tuba and euphonium. “He is so slammed with his studio teaching and coaching that he sometimes needs to do his practicing at home, late into the evening. He wants to be the best performer and the best teacher he can be.”

One of the great results leading up to a performance is its process.

“I believe it is very important to keep pushing yourself as an artist,” Bynum said. “This drive keeps you sharp, and can also increase your effectiveness as an educator. The more you put yourself in that position, the better able you [are to] help motivate students to perform. It’s really hard to tell students to do something if you’re not doing it enough. I view myself as a lifelong student of music. It’s about the process, not the destination. You’re constantly trying to make things better.”

Bynum also subs and plays as an extra musician with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he has been offered the opportunity to travel and play at several universities and venues in the Southeast, such as the University of South Carolina.

“He is very much in demand as a player,” Zerkel said. “The word is out that there is someone really special here.”

JOSH BYNUM

When: 8 p.m.
Where: Ramsey Concert Hall
Cost: $5 with student ID

Students gathered this afternoon to discuss — over nachos — local concerns with Athens Mayor Nancy Denson and University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson.

Students at the event “Nachos with Nancy,” asked Denson about the proposed mixed-use development including a possible Walmart, the Caterpillar acquisition and the image of students in relation to the Athens-Clarke County community.

About 75 students gathered at the event — most from the Student Government Association.

Freshmen such as Melanie Parham came to Nachos with Nancy to discuss local issues with Mayor Nancy Denson, including the downtown Walmart and the new Caterpillar plant.

SGA member Darien LaBeach began the night’s discussion by asking the mayor if she thought there was confusion among the public concerning the Walmart.

“I do think there’s a lot of information out there,” Denson said, “and I think people also have a bias against the name Walmart.”

Denson reminded the students present that Walmart itself will not own the Armstrong & Dobbs property on Oconee Street. Rather, the plan calls for a mixed-use development with an “anchor” store — where the proposed Walmart would be.

“There was also [more] retail space, something around 230 or so apartments, and then underground parking,” Denson said. “What I saw had been done beautifully. The entrance to it had been planned so it would be directly across from an open area that would probably have fountains or plants — but it was what they said they foresaw as a gathering place for the community where there could even be small concerts or things like that.”

Students also expressed concern that, while Walmart may bring jobs to the city, the development may also bring with it increased levels of poverty since some think Walmart pays only minimum wage to its employees — not living wage.

Walmart’s website says an average full-time hourly associate makes about $12.43 per hour.

In response, Denson said Walmart offers entry level jobs — positions that are key in securing future jobs for uneducated individuals. She gave Caterpillar — the large equipment product line — as an example.

“There are people who might be given a job at Walmart who would not be considered for a job at Caterpillar because they have not developed those job skills that they need. They’ve not developed what we call ‘soft job skills’ — understanding how to properly dress, to get to work on time,” Denson said. “We all start out at a lower job level than we want to.”

She said the Walmart, therefore, would not bring in more poverty, but would help to alleviate already existing poverty by instructing people on how to become “valuable” enough in the job market to support their own families.

Denson said she believes this approach will slowly help wean individuals off governmental support.

The mayor also addressed concerns about the fate of small business owners downtown. She said the free market of downtown Athens should be allowed to run its natural course without governmental guidance. She also stressed many local businesses may have nothing at all to fear since their specialized merchandise could not be purchased at a Walmart.

“Government cannot be in the business of limiting competition,” Denson said. “Fear is not always rational. There may be some losses as a result of Walmart — but it is the free market system that we live in.”

She also said new traffic resulting from the development should not be an issue since the developers are required to submit plans of any traffic modifications to traffic engineers before they can be made.

Amongst piles of Willy’s nachos and questions concerning the new development, students also raised questions concerning tax incentives the city offered to Caterpillar in order to secure their business.

The mayor said Caterpillar will pay about 10 percent of the total property taxes. Each year, the rate will adjust slightly until Caterpillar owns all the property and pays full taxes on it.

Denson said she was happy to talk “with students, rather than at students,” and kept a conversational tone throughout the event.

Georgia’s women’s basketball team goes into the last two games of the season needing to win both if it hopes to get a bye in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The No. 18 Lady Dogs (20-7, 9-5) are looking forward to facing both Ole Miss and LSU inside Stegeman Coliseum.

“It’s so much easier to play when you’re at home with your crowd and somewhere you’re used to playing,” junior Anne Marie Armstrong said. “We’ve just got to use that to the best of our advantage.”

Andy Landers

Georgia is 11-2 at home this season, with those two losses coming against conference-leading Tennessee and second placed Kentucky.

Sophomore Khaalidah Miller said that being able to finish the season at home has a big affect on the Lady Dogs going into tournament time.

“Our last game last year was an away game,” Miller said. “Just being able to be in a home atmosphere with all your fans who are going to be cheering you on the entire game is really going to help us and keep us energized.”

Armstrong said that there is one other reason the Lady Dogs want to win their last two home games of the season.

“We need to come out with two wins and close out this season on the right note,” Armstrong said. “[It’s] Meredith’s senior night on Sunday, so we need to send her out on a good note.”

Landers saying goodbye to a ‘really good friend’

On Monday the announcement that Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis is going to retire at the end of the season became public.

Fanning-Otis has been coaching for 36 years spending time at both Tennessee-Chattanooga and Kentucky before moving onto Mississippi State.

She is the all-time winningest coach at MSU with 608 victories.

Fanning-Otis was coaching at UT-Chattanooga when Georgia head coach Andy Landers was in his first coaching job at Roane State in Tennessee.

“I’ve known Sharon darn near 40 years,” Landers said. “I’ve always admired and respected the way she ran her programs. There’s never been any clouds or conversation about not doing things the right way, so you’re losing a really good person, a really good coach and a really good friend.”

Georgia holds steady in polls

Despite losing for the first time in the month of February on Sunday, Georgia is still sitting at No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.

The loss to Florida did, however, end the Lady Dogs’ aspirations of winning a regular season Southeastern Conference championship.

It also changed the Lady Dogs’ predicted regional destination in the NCAA Tournament.

While at this stage ESPN’s bracketology is pure conjecture, the predicted regional seeding in the tournament often gives a good indication of where the chips will fall in March.

ESPN’s Charlie Crème has the Lady Dogs as a No. 4 seed in the Tallahassee regional, where their first round matchup would be against Florida Gulf Coast.