BOR approves expansion of Butts-Mehre, new professorships

The Board of Regents met June 10 for their monthly gathering and approved requests from the University of Georgia to expand and renovate the Butts-Mehre Building. The Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall is home to the University's trophies and awards. It serves as a museum and administrative center for the University's athletic activities.

The Regents also approved requests to establish nine new professorships at the University.

Click here to read more about the June 10 Board of Regents meeting.

*Photo courtesy of The Red & Black archives

Univ. searches for Zinkhan's replacement

First paper of the summer semester was a success. We had the expected glitches and setbacks, but all-in-all, I think everything went well.

My first night officially as managing editor was a little nerve wracking, just because I didn't want to mess anything up. But I think I did a good job and I think things will run more smoothly next week and will continue to get easier as the summer progresses.

The news editor and I teamed up for a story on how UGA plans to fill the vacant position left by George Zinkhan. It was difficult to get in touch with all the parties needed to give us a coherent answer, but we pulled through and I'm happy with the finished product.

Click here to read what UGA plans to do about filling Zinkhan's position as the Coca-Cola Co. Chair of Marketing.

Daylong manhunt yields no Zinkhan, more questions

I can now say that I have not only covered national news once, but twice. And today's was breaking news.

Police found George Zinkhan's 2005 Jeep Liberty late yesterday and spent the entire day today canvassing the area where it was found — about 2 miles from his home.

I was covering the happenings alongside reporters from the Associated Press, USA Today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Athens Banner-Herald, WSBTV, CBS, FOX News and a few others. It is unfortunate that in journalism the biggest tragedies cause the best stories, but I'm glad I've had the opportunity to get such great experience covering news as it happens.

Click here to read my article based on in-the-field updates of the George Zinkhan manhunt.

Now for my photos, taken with my phone so the quality isn't the greatest:

Bruce 'binding force' to theater

This is such a sad story and it's one that is affecting so many people in the Athens, Ga., community. On Sunday I visited with Marie Bruce's neighbors and spoke to them about how they remembered her.

Click here to read the obituary I wrote for Marie Bruce, who was killed Saturday afternoon at the Athens Community Theater.

*Photo from ajc.com

Athens shooting: my amateur photography

As many have already reported, there was a triple homicide yesterday around noon in Athens, Ga. The suspected shooter has been identified as George Zinkhan, a University of Georgia marketing and distribution professor.

Three people died in the shooting at the Athens Community Theater. They were Marie Bruce, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague.

During the time of the incident, I was visiting a friend in Kennesaw and I received an urgent text message from The Red & Black's editor-in-chief calling all reporters to help. I was able to get back to Athens, but not in time to do much in the way of reporting that day.

Today, a group of Red & Black reporters gathered in the news room and discussed what our coverage of this event would look like for the rest of the week. My assignment was to write an obituary for Marie Bruce, George Zinkhan's wife. Accompanied by a few fellow staffers, I went to the neighborhood and spoke to her former neighbors.

Here is some of the amateur photos I took while on the scene:

Confusion cleared up: 12 credit hours constitute full-time status

My Wednesday article on the Board of Regents' decision to increase tuition to a new model where students are charged a flat 15-hour full-time rate created an uproar on campus.

Problems arose because of tricky wording, incomplete information and a myriad of misunderstanding between the high-ups. During my interviewing and analysis of Regents documents on Tuesday, it appeared that students would be required to register for 15 hours in the fall to be considered full-time students – a change from the traditional 12 credit hour requirement.

However, after many phone calls and even more confusion, I confirmed with several sources that the 12-hour requirement would remain the requirement for full-time status.

Click here to read my article explaining how the tuition changes (and credit hours) are affecting UGA students.

Regents approve changes to instruction schedule

At Wednesday's Board of Regents meeting an interesting change was made to the semester requirements for Georgia colleges and universities.

Before the meeting, semesters were required to be a minimum 15 weeks in length and must be at least 75 days long. The decision made by the Regents axed the day requirement, which seems odd since 15 five-day weeks equals 75 days.

I asked the Regents spokesman if this change could be to free up the possibility for faculty furloughs in the fall. He said that was not the case, but said he did not know why the change was made because he was not in the meeting where it was changed.

Click here to read about the happenings of Wednesday's Board of Regents meeting.

Board of Regents increases tuition, keeps $100 fee

The decision made Tuesday by the Board of Regents is going to have a lot of students upset.

Students not on the state's "Fixed for Four" tuition guarantee plan will be paying a hefty increase in tuition come fall. In-state students not on the plan will pay 25 percent more and out-of-state students will be paying 15 percent more.

This is because the Regents created a flat tuition model which charges students a flat rate for six or less hours and for more than six hours of class credit.

Click here to read more about the tuition changes made at Tuesday's Board of Regents meeting.

Lottery loss

I stressed myself out over nothing. Turns out this little story I pitched on comparing states with lottery funded tuition assistance scholarships turned out to be pretty good after all.

I went into it thinking I'd find that Georgia's neighboring states with similar programs – Tennessee and Florida – would be facing the same worries as we are. But I was wrong. And at first that scared me. My initial reaction was "Oh no! I don't have a story."

But, you see. That is the story.

And after fearing that a crucial interview would fall through (but luckily it did not) and worrying all day, I got it done – and on deadline too!

Click here to read about how three Southern lottery funded tuition scholarships are faring in the economic downturn.

Adams vetoes University Council's provost input

What was supposed to be just another Executive Committee meeting yesterday turned into an opportunity to push along a story about the provost search at UGA.

Last month the University Council passed a motion which would effectively give it a larger role in the provost hiring decision. UGA President Michael Adams immediately expressed that he did not agree with the decision, a four-part proposal with the final part calling for a recorded vote by the council on their pick for provost.

At the committee meeting yesterday, the chair read a letter dated April 1 from Adams stating that he had decided to veto the council's decision. Adams cited Georgia's "stringent open records law" as his main reason for vetoing the motion.

Click here to read my article on Adams's decision to veto the council's motion.