DAILY HELMSMAN Spring Break 2011
The
Friday, March 4, 2011
Readership Program Extended SGA approves plan to continue free papers on campus next semester — for a (small) price
Vol. 78 No. 090
see page 5
Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis
www.dailyhelmsman.com
Philanthropy
Community
Alternative spring break aids the elderly Two 5Ks BY KYLe LACROiX News Reporter Rather than grabbing their swimwear and heading to a beach somewhere, 20 law students from The University of Memphis will spend their spring break in dress shirts and slacks, helping provide free legal service to elderly and low-income people in Memphis. The Public Action Law Society and the Cecil C. Humphreys
School of Law are sponsoring the alternative spring break. PALS, a student organization, planned and organized the program. Seventeen students participating from nine other universities including Vanderbilt, Florida State, University of Pittsburgh, and Chase College of Law will also participate in the program. “It’s a great opportunity to host other students and to increase awareness of the law school. And we have a fantas-
tic facility that we are excited to share,” said Anna RudmanSantos, Vice President of PALS and second-year law student. “It also heightens the status of PALS and increases the validity and recognition of our organization.” Under the supervision of licensed attorneys, the students will provide help with pro se divorce (divorce done without a lawyer), non-profit advocacy, wills and living wills for the elderly. Students will work
with non-profit groups CourtAppointed Special Advocates, RISE foundation and Literacy Mid-South. “We tried to think of ideas that students could participate in and see to completion,“ said Rudman-Santos. “A lot of them are paperwork oriented, and with the help it seemed like something they could finish as opposed to a large project where
see
LaW BReaK, page 4
Live wire
by Brian Wilson
Electrical fire damages South Hall dorm room
A half-dozen fire trucks responded to a blaze on the third floor of South Hall early Thursday evening. Students were evacuated, and thousands of dollars of damage were inflicted on the dorm where the fire sparked.
BY SCOTT CARROLL Editor-in-Chief AnD eRiCA HORTOn News Reporter Residents of The University of Memphis’ South Hall men’s dormitory, located at Goodman Street and Southern Avenue, evacuated the building Thursday after an electrical fire broke out in room 332 of the dorm. No injuries from the fire were reported, but two U of M students were left without housing and some of their personal possessions after the blaze. The fire, which flared up about 5:45 p.m., caused about $10,000 worth of structur-
al damage to the room and its residents’ property, said Wayne Cook, spokesman for the Memphis Fire Department. Lt. Traune Gipson of MFD said the fire, which was started by “too many things” plugged in to the room’s electrical outlets, heavily damaged a bed and desk in the room. Junior advertising major Walter Smith is one of two roommates displaced by the fire. Smith said as he entered South Hall, other residents told him the smoke alarm in his room was going off. “I ran upstairs, saw smoke coming from the room, and I opened the door and saw there were flames coming out from the right side of the room,” he said.
Smith said he attempted to smother the flames with a fire extinguisher before heavy smoke forced him to leave the room and pull the fire alarm. “The smoke just started to overwhelm me,” he said. MFD units put out the fire shortly before 6 p.m., but due to lingering smoke, South Hall resident advisers and firefighters kept students from entering part of the building for hours afterward. Smith’s roommate, who asked not to be identified, was sorting through a pile of burnt, ash-covered clothes outside South Hall’s main entrance as residents began filtering back in to the building Thursday night.
on, near campus Saturday BY CHRiS SHAW News Reporter Pedestrian pathways on and around The University of Memphis campus might be a little crowded this weekend, as runners of two 5Ks will traipse through campus and the surrounding area Saturday morning. Second Presbyterian Church will host their first 5K run, Miles for Mercy, which starts and finishes at Central Avenue and Goodlett Street, at 9 a.m. Less than a block away, Central High School’s Bridge Builders will fire the starting gun at the same time at Southern and Goodlett Street for their tenth annual Race to Erase Racism. Because the races are running different directions, Bruce Harber, director of police services, said that traffic around The University shouldn’t be affected. “The (Memphis Police Department) handles 5Ks all the time so I don’t think traffic will be effected,” Harber said. The similarities between the races on Saturday don’t end with their start time and U of M area location. While the direct benefits from the races are different, both are trying to make Memphis a better place. The Race to Erase Racism urges its competitors “to take the first step,” toward breaking down racial barriers in Memphis, said Will Vaughn, a senior at Central High School and Bridge Builders chairman for his school. “We want to take it to another level and have something in the community, especially in a city like Memphis where social and racial divides are everywhere,” he said. Second Presbyterian’s Miles for Mercy will donate all of its proceeds to inner-city ministries, specifically in the Berclair area. Chris Sheffield, one of the volunteers that made Miles for Mercy possible, and Vaughn both agreed that putting on a race is a lot more difficult than just running in one. “There are a thousand logistics that went in to making this a good run,” Sheffield said. “I’ve been running in the Race to Erase Racism for eight years but this is my first time putting it together,” Vaughn said. “It’s a lot different to be on the other side and having to do all the work.”
see
Races, page 3