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Vol. 75 No. 20
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www.theminaretonline.com
February 20, 2009
Curtain Call For Boathouse Privacy UT Students Turn Into Heroes Over Night
By Ellery McCardle News Editor
From left: Brittan Spence and Danielle Salm Photos by Charlie Hambos
Fire Marshals: It’s curtains for resident decorations By Mel Steiner A&E Editor
Privacy doesn’t come cheap, especially in the Boathouse, where fire marshals have ordered residents to remove the curtains
separating individual living areas. Signs posted around the Boathouse say students have until Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. Residence Life is recommending costly solutions such as room dividers and changing screens. Brittan Spence is upset about the expense. “We should be able to have our privacy without paying extra for it,” she said. Lexa Andreu summed up her thoughts on the policy change. “The fact that people are leaving because of this, really upsets me,” she said. “I really hope UT does the right thing here and helps us out and doesn’t neglect us.
We’re still 15 voices.” The Boathouse costs $1,450 per semester. The room dividers will cost the students an additional $100 - $200 at Wal-Mart and Target. “It started with a faulty fire alarm,” said Austin Ashby, a freshman resident. The alarm went off four times, and the fire department came to inspect it. They commented that the sheets were a fire hazard and needed to be removed immediately. Students, like Andreu, said the fire officials were blunt and to the point. Another resident, See “Privacy”
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A Life Celebrated . . . By Charlie Hambos Asst. Editor-in-chief
ROTC cadets sat silently in the center rows, gazing at a picture of Victor Strizzi, the comrade they had come to honor. Soon, the Strizzi family, escorted by uniformed men and women came down the aisle. They wept at Strizzi’s picture, which gazed back at them, bringing back the memories of the man, the friend, the leader and the soldier. The sophomore was killed Tuesday in a motorcycle crash on Bayshore Boulevard. Chaplain Anthony Wig-
gins, Capt. USAF, welcomed the mourners. “We are here to honor Victor, to salute him,” Wiggins said. He also read a scripture that resonated through the minds of the friends and family. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am,” he read from the Gospel of John 14:1-3. Then, Dean of Students Bob
They thought it would be just another Friday night drive, but soon, three UT sorority sisters and their friends would help save the lives of a mother and her two young children. UT students and members of Alpha Gamma Delta Jessica Novy, Megan Smith and Laura Welch, along with two other friends, Alec Matthews, a junior at USF and Anthony Varano came upon a crash scene and helped the victims. The group was headed south on I-75 when they passed smoke in the median, said Jessica Novy, one of the Alpha Gamma Delta sisters. “We noticed a flipped over vehicle,” Novy said. Seeing no emergency personnel, she told the pick-up’s driver, Anthony Varano, to turn around. “We just saw a cloud of dust, so I think we got there right as it happened,” Novy said. When the group rushed back
Strizzi
Inside ...
See “Strizzi”
By Derrick Austin Commentary Editor
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Welcome to post-white America! We’re not post-racial; postwhite would be a more accurate term.
Water Main Breaks [3] New Radios for Security [2]
Economy Commentary [8] Athlete Numbers [15]
Password Peril [11]
Women Win Five Straight [14] Blogs from Overtime [15]
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--Jessica Novy, Student Witness
to the scene, AGD member Megan Smith said they didn’t even know what they were looking at was an overturned Volkswagen Beetle. “I couldn’t make out that it was a Bug, it was so destroyed,” Smith said. A screaming 2-year-old was lying on the side of the road next to the car, having been ejected. Meanwhile, the mother was trapped in the car, drifting in and out of consciousness. An off-duty Hillsborough County firefighter had stopped and dialed 911. See “Heroes”
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From left: Jessica Novy, Laura Welch, Anthony Varano and Megan Smith Photo by Charlie Hambos
Post-White, But Not Quite Post-Racial Ruday spoke of the grief the university community is feeling. “I bring heartfelt sorrow to the Strizzi family from Dr. [Ronald] Vaughn,” Ruday said. Ruday said Strizzi would have wanted his friends and family together.
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I checked his vitals, his pulse and breathing and he stayed okay.
Lily Allen CD Review[10]
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer .”
“Post-racial” has been bandied about since the election of our president as if on Jan. 21 Americans woke up in the Promised Land. Granted, as years go by, Americans grow even more progressive and accepting but I don’t think we are—or can be—post-racial. Still, what exactly describes the climate of our country? It can’t be ignored that our generation marks the beginning of a new cultural shift in our awareness and handling of issues of race. We’re not beyond race, but I See “History”
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News.................[1-4] Commentary....[6-8] Editorial..............[6] A&E................[9-12] Sports...........[14-16]
[Ralph Waldo Emerson]