No Free UGA Football for Lawmakers - Good or Bad?

Some legislators acknowledge the freebies can look bad, but they say the state's new ethics law will make it harder to mingle with constituents.

  Georgia legislators who want to sit in the president's suite above the hedges at Sanford Stadium next year will have to pay their own way, thanks to ethics legislation signed by Gov. Nathan Deal last week. The law forbids elected officials from receiving gifts or event tickets exceeding $75. University System of Georgia lobbyists gave state and local lawmakers more than $14,000 in football tickets in 2012, the Athens Banner-Herald reports. The paper quotes state Sen. Bill Cowsert, whose district includes Athens, saying the football games have been a good way for him to mingle with his constitutents. “I think it’s really going to change things," Cowsert is quoted saying of the new ethics law. "I think it’s going to make it tougher for the…

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Steve Rausch

7:29 am on Friday, May 17, 2013

Lawmakers need to start living like the rest of us so they learn how difficult it is to pay all living costs THEN have money for event tickets left over. Same with healthcare and everything else they pass laws about but choose to exempt themselves.   more ›

Guns on Campus: What Do You Think?

Three vocal Athens Clarke County commissioners say no.

Georgia Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) introduced Senate Bill 101 this past legislative session, which would have allowed guns on the University of Georgia campus as well as other college campuses in the state. On Tuesday, during the local legislative delegation's post-session meeting with the Athens Clark County Commission and Mayor, Ginn asked them if they had an opinion about the bill. How did they feel about having guns on campus? "Does the mayor and commission have a stance?" asked Ginn. "For me, it's a volatile issue. Between now and the next session, y'all maybe put that on the agenda for discussion." Commissioner Jerry NeSmith said that he supports the Second Amendment and that he himself has owned guns. He said he would …

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News Nearby

News Nearby: UGA Names 2012 Peabody Award Winners

"The latest Peabody recipients reflect diversity in content, genre and sources of origination," Holston says.

By Noel Holston Thirty-nine recipients of the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards were announced March 27th by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best in electronic media for the year 2012, were named in a ceremony in the Peabody Gallery on the UGA Campus. The latest Peabody recipients reflect diversity in content, genre and sources of origination. They include “Girls,” Lena Dunham’s HBO comedy-drama about the young and the feckless in New York; “Putin, Russia and the West,” a compelling portrait of a modern-day czar; “Rapido y Furioso (Fast and Furious),” Univision’s Mexican perspective on the infamous Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ …

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Regents Confirm Jere Morehead as New UGA President

Morehead will officially replace University of Georgia President Michael Adams on July 1, according to a news release.

  University of Georgia Provost Jere Morehead was officially named UGA's next president on Monday, according to a news release from the university system's Board of Regents. Morehead was announced as the sole finalist for the job last week. Morehead, who will replace UGA President Michael Adams, will take over on July 1, according to the release. “Jere has devoted the bulk of his career to the University of Georgia and he has a great passion for the University and its service to students and the State of Georgia,” Board of Regents Chair “Dink” NeSmith says in the release. “He knows the University and it became clear to all involved in the search that he is the right person to take UGA forward. He has tremendous challenges ahead and the …

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What Makes a Good Poem?

UGA graduate and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey's return to her alma mater got people thinking.

  Natasha Trethewey, a University of Georgia graduate and the U.S. Poet Laureate for 2012-13, was recently back on campus to deliver the UGA charter lecture. Her visit got some people thinking about poetry and its value. "I was not fond of poetry before coming into contact with Trethewey’s work," UGA senior Crystal Reese wrote for The Red and Black. But the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who was born biracial before that was legal and often writes on themes of racial identity, "has convinced many young, aspiring writers — myself included — that the world wants to hear of topics that may seem unimportant to our immediate communities," Reese writes. At UGA, Trethewey read from her work “Thrall" and talked about being the child of a black …

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Georgia Football vs. Georgia Tech: Triple Option, Round Two

For the Bulldogs, the hype about a possible national championship has begun.

Georgia's Athletic Director Greg McGarity might have been prescient when he asserted earlier this season that Georgia Tech, and not Florida, is really the Bulldogs' biggest rival. Who would have predicted a month ago that so much would ride on this weekend's in-state matchup? Georgia survived the easier of its back-to-back triple-option challenges by defeating Georgia Southern last week. Now the Bulldogs, suddenly catapulted to No. 3 in the BCS standings, must withstand a visit from Georgia Tech before turning their attention to the SEC Championship game, likely against No. 2 Alabama. And then, maybe, the national title game? Not so fast, says Georgia head coach Mark Richt. “Right this minute, all I can think about is Georgia Tech,” Richt …

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Georgia Football vs. Georgia Southern: Defending the Triple Option

The Dawgs will play for the SEC title in Atlanta no matter what. But to maintain any national title hope, they can't overlook their next two opponents.

Once again, the Georgia Bulldogs have overcome an early loss to South Carolina to earn their way to the SEC title game. But before heading down the road to Atlanta, the Dawgs host instate rivals Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. “We know we’re playing in Atlanta and that’s settled right now, but we know there’s a lot of work in the meantime, which is the job of getting better on a daily basis,” head coach Mark Richt said early this week. With eight wins, Georgia Southern is no slouch in the FCS league. Despite being the obvious favorite, the Dawgs expect a challenge both this Saturday and next. "Once a year," reports Seth Emerson of The Macon Telegraph, the Bulldogs face a triple-option offense "and all the cut-blocking and funky running …

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Georgia vs. Mississippi Football: It's Homecoming!

The triumphant Bulldogs return to Athens, back in the driver's seat in the SEC Eastern Division.

The Bulldogs did what they needed against Florida last week in what henceforth shall be known as the Hot Potato Bowl, but it wasn't pretty. The game produced more ugly turnovers than a remedial pastry class. Credit Georgia's resurgent defense for Florida's sloppiness. After a public chewing out by safety Shawn Williams leading up to the game, the Bulldogs were relentless. Junior linebacker Jarvis Jones' performance alone was enough to help earn him semifinalist status for two national awards, the Maxwell and the Bednarik. The next step for Georgia's emotional squad, heading into Saturday's Homecoming game against Mississippi, is to provoke fewer yellow hankies from the officials, Mark Weiszer reports for the Morris News Service. The Dawgs …

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David Manley

4:48 pm on Saturday, November 3, 2012

If the team evidences the intelligence, effort, and enthusiasm of the student body, it should win the SEC East. However, in the SEC Championship, Georgia may meet a similar fate without shame as the Greeks experienced at the Battle of Thermopylae should the Pachyderms be the adversary, but we can still hold out hope.   more ›

Charles Darwin Challenges Rep. Paul Broun, from the Grave

A University of Georgia scientist has mounted a write-in campaign on behalf of the famous evolutionary scientist. Who will you pick?

Charles Darwin, the father of the science of evolution, can't speak for himself or run for Congress because he's not alive (and not an American citizen). But a University of Georgia scientist hopes supporting Darwin in a write-in campaign can help get Rep. Paul Broun booted from his position on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. UGA plant biologist Jim Leebens-Mack has started a Facebook page promoting Darwin as a fantasy alternative to Broun, who was recorded last month dismissing evolution and the Big Bang theory as "lies straight from the pit of hell." Leebens-Mack told the Associated Press that the write-in campaign isn't serious, but the AP reports people behind the movement hope enough support could goad Congressional…

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Georgia Football Loses to South Carolina: Now What?

Is the season over for the Georgia Bulldogs? Or will a little adversity push them to great heights.

The Georgia Bulldogs have two weeks to lick their wounds after Saturday's loss to South Carolina, a game that was billed as a barn burner and turned out to be a tar-and-feathering. The Dawgs have a bye week this Saturday to reflect on what could have been and look ahead to visiting a hapless Kentucky on Oct. 20. The now No. 14 Bulldogs seem to be taking their humiliation in stride. "We've still got life. It's a long season. We've got more games to play," Malcolm Mitchell, a sophomore receiver, is quoted saying by the Macon Telegraph's Seth Emerson. "If we dwell on this game, we'll lose the next one, then lose the next one. We've gotta stay focused and keep pushing." Emerson reports that head coach Mark Richt is holding steady amid the …

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