1/9/09

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SPORTS

LIFESTYLES ‘The Reader’ is an emotionally distant film

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Tide starts tough SEC roadtrip tonight

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Serving the University of Alabama since 1894

Vol. 115, Issue 70

Smokers say ‘No’ to restrictions By Danielle Drago Senior Staff Reporter At least 43 colleges around the nation have banned smoking on campus according to the Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights Web site, and some are eyeing the University as the 44th. “Other campuses have gone tobacco-free, and this would be my personal preference for UA,” said Margaret Garner, director of the Department of Health Promotion and Wellness at the Student Health Center. Many steps have been taken to limit smoking around campus. The first step was the policy to ban smoking inside a 30foot perimeter to entranceways of buildings. This step was

supported by the SGA, Faculty Senate and the Professional Staff Assembly within the past two years, according to Garner. Some say, however, these restrictions are not enough. “A few baby steps toward discouraging smoking have been taken by UA, such as trying to move smoking a certain number of feet away from building entrances, a policy that has been largely ignored and unenforced, as any visit to Gorgas or Ferguson will attest,” said Dr. Alan Blum, director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. “The University is way behind. It is probably either dead last in the SEC or among the lowest ranking

CW | Marion R Walding The University has imposed a smoking ban within 30 feet of entranceways. universities in the SEC for progressive policies on smoking. A ban [on smoking] is

See SMOKE, page 2

CW | Alden Jones Missing Art Contest judges Amanda Barnes and Jim Morrison look at a piece of artwork Tuesday afternoon at the Bama Theatre. The winners of the contest will be announced tonight at 6 at the Bama Theatre.

Missing Art Contest held tonight at Bama By Kelsey Stein Senior Lifestyles Reporter

9 p.m. and is sponsored by The Missing Ink, a Creative Campus Initiative publication UA students submitted a that endeavors to increase total of 42 pieces of artwork awareness of the arts among to The Missing Art Contest, UA students. The Missing which culminates tonight with Ink’s Web site, uamissingink. a showcase of all artwork at com, describes the publication as “UA’s official unofficial the Bama Theatre. The showcase will take online arts magazine.” “The main reason we’re place tonight from 6 p.m. to

UA students study abroad in Cuba By Jessie Gable Staff Reporter This semester, for the first time in the University’s history, a group of students will go to Havana, Cuba, for a study abroad program. Under Michael Schnepf, director of Alabama in Cuba and Spanish professor at the University, 11 undergraduate students will be spending three and a half months studying at the University of Havana. The University already had a license to be in Cuba, Schnepf said, and programs are already established in book and document preservation, archeology and water purification. All of the students are undergraduates who are either majoring or minoring in Spanish, Schnepf said, and each student will

See CUBA, page 3

UA weather

TODAY

INSIDE Today’s paper

Campus crime report .3 Our View: Smoking ban alienates students .....4 Tuscaloosa city council.5

Clear

50º/22º

Thursday Clear

Friday Clear

Lifestyles: ʻThe Readerʼ movie review ...........6

38º/14º

Sports: Menʼs Tennis to head to Kentucky .....7

38º/16º

Menʼs Basketball ready for SEC West ...........8

P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 | Fax: 348-4116 | Advertising: 348-7845 | Classifieds: 348-7355 Letters, op-eds: letters@cw.ua.edu Press releases, announcements: news@cw.ua.edu

having this event is to promote The Missing Ink, which features student and faculty artwork on the Web site,” said Stephanie Summer, editor-inchief of the publication and a senior majoring in public relations. The showcase of The

See ART, page 3

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS | PART ONE

Healthy eating, weight loss popular vows Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four part series examining several common new year’s resolutions and tips on keeping them. By Josh Veazey Senior Staff Reporter Students looking to lose weight in 2009 can find help in nutritional advice from the Student Recreational Center and Student Health Center. Lori Greene, the dietitian for the Student Health Center, identified several challenges college students often face in trying to lose weight and eat healthier, including lack of money, lack of time and lack of cooking equipment. “I think a lot of people either don’t know how to cook, or they

Healthy eating tips • Dietitians

are available at the Student Health

Center • Drink

plenty of water and don’t skip meals • Keep a journal tracking food eaten and progress don’t have the time to cook or they don’t have the money to buy the things to cook healthier meals,” Greene said. “Which leads to eating out more, or eating in the dining halls and choosing the wrong thing.” Greene said large dining halls usually offer healthy alternatives, but it can still be a battle of wills to eat right when everything is right in front of you and it is all-you-can-eat.

“I always tell people that I think it’s good that they don’t have trays anymore — so you can only carry one plate at a time,” Greene said. “So just get one entrée plate — maybe salad or something on the side, but only one entrée. A lot of times people go to an all-you-can-eat and get two, three, four entrée plates, and you don’t typically do that when you’re sitting down at a meal at home.”

Clara Verner Towers wrapping up work By Drew Taylor Senior Staff Reporter Clara Verner Towers, a retirement center for the elderly and disabled, is nearly finished with renovations, projected for an open-house showing sometime in the spring. The 13-story building, which was first built in 1973 as a retirement home for retired UA faculty members, features 200 apartments which house about 220 people. Stan Pate, owner of Clara Verner, Ltd., said this particular project has been very personal and close to him. “It is my personal belief that elderly people in this country deserve advocates,” Pate said. “I consider myself to be one of them.”

Pate said he first became aware of the building’s dire Clara Verner straits three years ago when Towers he found out that many of its residents were in danger of being evicted from the building shortly before Christmas due to a fire on the eighth floor. The state fire marshal then placed an order for the building to either upgrade its sprinkler system to specific fire code regulations or to move out of the building. It The Ferguson was later determined that the Center fire was accidental, possibly caused by an oven that was left on for too long. Pate said due to the concrete frame of Pate said there was a suffithe building, the fire was very well contained, limiting the cient amount of fire hoses on damage immensely otherwise. See CLARA, page 5

Jessica-Lauren Roberts, a dietitian for the Rec Center and a graduate student studying health education and promotion, suggested keeping a journal to make incremental improvements. “Maybe the first week, you decide that you’re going to eat one more fruit a day. And you try to do that for at least six days out of the week. And then, the next week, increase to two fruits a day,” Roberts said. “If we write it down, we get a really good sense of what our diet is like, and what we can change.” Roberts also suggested snacking when exceptionally hungry, and drinking water to curb appetite.

See HEALTH, page 5

Wachovia donates freshman scholarship By Martha Gravlee Contributing Writer

A new scholarship opportunity is open for entering freshmen. Some members of the class of 2013 will be awarded full in-state tuition scholarships thanks to a donation to the University from the Wachovia Foundation. “We are grateful for the scholarship support that the Wachovia Foundation has provided,” said UA President Robert Witt in a press release. “These scholarships will change lives as they

See MONEY, page 5


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