NEWS • 03
Waffle House on campus this
LIVING • 07
SPORTS • 11
ENTERTAINMENT • 15
PERSPECTIVES • 19
arrives University Career Services Football ekes out win Local hip-hop festival The Board of Regents needs week. highlights upcoming events. over Eagles in overtime. celebrates the underground. a student representative.
the
SIGNAL
VOL. 78 • ISSUE 9 • OCTOBER 19, 2010 REGISTER ONLINE FOR BREAKING NEWS AT
w w w. g s u s i g n a l . c o m Students rally against GILEE By MISHALL REHMAN Staff Writer
John Spink • Atlanta Journal-Constitution Members of the Georgia Board of Regents listen at last Wednesday’s meeting about allowing illegal immigrants to attend some Georgia colleges.
Chants ranging from “GSU say no to injustice!” to “Shut! Shut! Shut! GILEE down!” were heard in Unity Plaza on Oct. 12 as the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) rallied against the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE). The rally was a part of PSA’s campaign against GILEE, founded in 1992 by Dr. Robert Friedmann for the purpose of protecting the community for the 1996 Olympic Games. It was later expanded to prepare for possible terrorist threats and improve homeland security. To achieve these goals, the program exchanges policemen from Israel and the United States, specifically Georgia. Israeli police officers come to Georgia to learn anti-drug enforcement tactics and
American police officers go to Israel to learn counterterrorism tactics. GILEE is affiliated with Georgia State and is housed in the Criminal Justice Department, but the program is only open to law enforcement and not students. The PSA is strongly opposed to GILEE and wants the organization immediately shut down because they believe that the Israeli police system works to enforce apartheid against the Palestinian community. The PSA believes that police officials, both in the U.S. and Israel, encourage racial profiling of minority groups and that the tactics learned in these exchange programs will further enforce the oppression of minority communities in both countries. Members of the PSA such as Dawn Gibson, primary organizer of Cont. on page 06
GILEE
Board of Regents bans illegal immigrants By JESSICA MORRIS Staff Writer The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia passed a controversial proposal on Oct. 13, limiting access to higher education for undocumented students in five Georgia colleges. The Board passed four recommendations from the Special Residency Verification committee that requires five Georgia colleges— the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Medical College of Georgia and Georgia College and State University—to implement these recommendations because they are classified as “capacity constrained” or “limited access” schools. The first recommendation would require adding to all university admission applications an “Admission of False Swearing.” Students may be fined $1000 if found guilty of lying on any part of their application. The second recommendation was to add a “Tuition Status Declaration” to applications. This will ensure students are classified correctly for tuition, tax and financial aid purposes. Both of these recommendations passed unanimously. The more controversial proposals included a recommendation to verify the lawful presence of an applicant. The recommendation states that “University System institutions shall verify the lawful presence in the United States of every successfully admitted person applying for resident
tuition statuses.” If a student declares their tuition status on their application “in-state,” a college must then verify their lawful presence in the United States, unless they are applying for federal financial aid, which incorporates extensive verification practices. If a student declares their tuition status as “outof-state,” the college will not have to verify the student’s presence. The last recommendation states “A person who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for admittance to any University System institution which for the two most recent academic years did not admit all qualified applicants (except for cases in which applicants were rejected for nonacademic reasons).” This recommendation seeks to exclude undocumented students from “capacity constrained” or “limited access” schools. There was much discussion throughout the meeting with Board members and outside the meeting with observers on what exactly “qualified applicants” meant. Georgia State student Tim Squire commented during the meeting’s break. “How dare they call undocumented students not academically qualified,” Squire said. “I think that was atrocious because undocumented students have probably worked harder than any other documented students.” Both of these proposals passed 16 to 2. Regent James Jolly presented the
proposal to the Board and discussed the number of undocumented students in the University System. An audit found that out of more than 310,000 students enrolled in the University System, 501 were classified as undocumented. Jolly said that all of the undocumented students pay outof-state tuition rates, which covers the full cost of instruction. Jolly also said that the state makes a slight profit off of these students. “Let’s take a moment to look at the number 501,” Jolly said. “It is 0.16 of 1 percent of the total USG enrolled. While statisticians would see this percentage and validly note that it is statistically insignificant, we are not seeing it from this perspective. Instead, our view is that this small number shows that our processes are working, leading to identify undocumented students.” “We are not in the immigration business, nor are we equipped to serve as immigration authorities,” he said. “However, it’s the committee’s consensus the recommendations being brought forth to the Board today do strengthen our ability to ensure proper tuition classification of all students.” University System teachers and members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gathered outside before the meeting to voice their opposition to the proposal. “Nothing in federal law indicates that undocumented students not receive postsecondary education. The Department of Homeland Security Cont. on page 06 Immigrants
John Amis • AP Libertarian gubernatorial candidate John Monds, center, answers questions flanked by Democrat Roy Barnes, right, and Republican Nathan Deal at a Saturday debate at Atlanta’s Cobb Energy Center.
Students weigh in on gubernatorial candidates By SUCHI SAJJA Staff Writer After eight years of Gov. Sonny Perdue holding office, Georgia State students have conflicting opinions over who should succeed him. Georgia’s gubernatorial candidates are Democrat Roy Barnes, Republican Nathan Deal and Libertarian John Monds. An Oct. 7 poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Deal in the lead with 50 percent of the anticipated votes. Barnes followed with 41 percent, Monds had 3 percent, and 6 percent are undecided or voting for a different candidate. A former Georgia governor, Barnes’ political career began in the Georgia Senate, where he
served for eight years. He entered the gubernatorial race in 1990, but lost the primary to Zell Miller, who became governor. Two years later, citizens elected Barnes to Georgia’s House of Representatives, where he served until running for governor again in 1998. Barnes won the election and served from 1999 to 2003. He ran for re-election in 2002, but Governor Perdue defeated him. Freshman Nick Hicks appreciates Barnes’ campaign strategy gearing towards younger voters. “I don’t know much about politics, but I would probably vote for Barnes,” said Hicks. “He seems like he is trying to appeal to the younger generation by putting his ads on more Cont. on page 06 Candidates