SPORTS
LIFESTYLES
6
10
‘Twilight’ so bad its good
Monday, November 24, 2008
Men’s basketball gets Maui invite
Serving the University of Alabama since 1894
GAMEDAY IRON BOWL GAMEDAY HITS NEWSTANDS TUESDAY
Students find on-campus holiday fun
Vol. 115, Issue 62
Holiday travel brings risk By Josh Veazey Staff Reporter A UA study reported the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2007 as the fifth worst day for crashes in the state of Alabama in 2007. According to CARE Research and Development, of the 1,110 fatalities that happened last year on Alabama roads, 11 of them occurred over the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I’ve long thought it was particularly bad because people tend to compress their travel and there’s pretty high-traffic volume on one day of the year,” said Allen Parish, professor of computer science and director of CARE. “For Christmas, by contrast, people travel over a longer period. So you might go down to wherever you’re going a week before Christmas
see DRIVING, page 3
SAFE DRIVING TIPS: - Try to drive on four-lane highways instead of two-lane, even when traffic volume is high. - Maintain speed of traffic. - Avoid bulk of traffic, which can occur in the afternoon and early evening. - “Drive during the daytime, don’t drink, buckle up and be vigilante. I don’t know if there’s a better prescription than that.” Source: Allen Parish, professor of computer science and director of CARE Research and Development Laboratory
Up Hurricane Creek
By Victor Luckerson Staff Reporter
cashing in on the Black Friday sales at Birmingham’s Galleria Mall than actual Thanksgiving For Americans, Thanksgiving celebrations. Sophomore Saleh Alsaif is as natural as football and the American measurement sys- said he planned to study on tem. However, for international Thanksgiving Day. For students who do want to students, becoming acclimated to the turkey-carving, face- gorge themselves in the tradistuffing festivities can be tion of the holiday, though, the University does have some difficult. “My country doesn’t have programs in place to make this Thanksgiving,” said Ebrahim Thanksgiving a happy one for Al Hejji, a student from Saudi all who stay on campus. Housing and Residential Arabia. He said he planned to go to Tennessee and celebrate Communities is hosting an “Old Fashioned American the holiday there with friends. Freshman Hamad Alrajhi said he was more excited about See HOLIDAYS, page 2
BEAT AUBURN BEAT HUNGER
Bama wins food drive contest By Brett Bralley News Editor The Capstone beat Auburn University for the second year in a row in the annual Beat Auburn Beat Hunger Food Drive, raising 270,915 pounds, according to results from the West Alabama Food Bank. Auburn raised 212,195 pounds. Caitlin Looney, one of the student coordinators for BABH, said the victory is a tribute to the entire University and the Tuscaloosa community. “We were really were unsure of where we’d be this year, in terms of numbers, with the current [economic] situation,” Looney said. “But we were overwhelmed by our numbers, and Auburn, quite frankly, didn’t even get close.” BABH raised over 29,000 pounds more than what it raised last year. For the first time since 1999, the University beat Auburn last year by raising 241,336 pounds, while Auburn raised 183,017 pounds. Food donated from the University went to the West Alabama Food Bank, and donations from Auburn went to the East Alabama Food Bank. The drive, which was created by the Community Service
See HUNGER, page 2
UA weather
TODAY
INSIDE Today’s paper
Third grader gets published .................2 Opinions: Have a safe holiday road trip......4
Rainy
61º/38º
Lifestyles: Movie Review: ʻTwilightʼ..................6
Tuesday
56º/31º
Modern ensemble plays tonight .....................6
Wednesday
56º/31º
Sports: Volleyball loses to Florida .................. 10
Sunny Sunny
Womenʼs Basketball beats Hampton ............... 10
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
CW | Matt Abbey The Hurricane Creek Cleanup on Saturday, sponsored by New College and Friends of Hurricane Creek, helped to revitalize the Creekʼs sensitive ecosystem. Participants removed weeds from the bank, and cleaned up trash around the site. Right: Elrond Kullmann uses his ax to make a bench on the bank of Hurricane Creek while under that watch of Sarita Brown, a senior majoring in German studies. Left: John Wathen, the Hurricane Creekkeeper, discusses his tattoo, which represents the bottom and top of the aquatic food chain at Hurricane Creek. The tattoo depicts a snapping turtle and a hydrophyte, which means “spirit in the water” in Latin.
ON-CAMPUS HOLIDAY HOURS Residence Halls: Open Wednesday through Sunday The Ferguson Center: Wednesday - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday - 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday - 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday - 7 a.m. to midnight Sunday - 10 a.m. to midnight Student Recreation Center: Wednesday - Closes at 6 p.m. Thursday - Closed Friday - 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday - Closed Sunday - Normal schedule Bama Dining: Wednesday - Lakeside Closed, All food facilities will close at 2 p.m. Thursday - Home Zone in the Ferguson Food Court open 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday - Fresh Food Co. open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ferguson Center Food Court open 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday - Burke Dining Hall open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Lakeside open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ferguson Food Court open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Home Zone in Food Court 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday - Normal schedule Student Health Center: Wednesday - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday - Closed Sunday - 1 p.m.-4 p.m. UAPD: Open 24/7
City announces plan for Riverside amphitheater By Drew Taylor Senior Staff Reporter Students and Tuscaloosans alike will soon be treated to a new entertainment venue as the city has announced plans for an amphitheater to be built in the near future. The project is in its early stages and is projected to be complete by September 2010, said Mayor Walt Maddox in an e-mail. However, no definitive date will be determined until after the site work phase is completed in May 2009. Maddox said the idea for a project of this magnitude began in the late 1990s as the Tuscaloosa Riverfront Committee, which is part of the Citizens’ Task Force, began talking about building an amphitheater. City Councilman Lee Garrison served as a key proponent in the project as he incorporated it into the Riverfront Master Plan at the time. Earlier last week, Maddox traveled to New York City to be rated on a bond, due to the city’s need to borrow more than $14 million for the project. This would be repaid through utilizing 2 percent of the lodging tax. Maddox predicts the debt service will be $900,000 to $1.1 million per year over the next 30 years. Maddox said Friday that the city of Tuscaloosa signed Red Mountain Entertainment to run, book and promote the amphitheater. The signing would
entail training the staff and consulting the planning of booking artists. The city has also hired Davis Architects to take on the project, in accordance with the task force recommendations city council gave in August. The project will proceed by first constructing the substructure because the venue will be built over a defunct landfill. This requires drilling into 30 feet of bedrock, Maddox said, which will be a costly endeavor. After the bid for that is passed, the money left will go toward above-ground facilities. Maddox said the response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive so far and there are many good things that will come from having an outdoor facility like an amphitheater in Tuscaloosa. “We believe it will draw people to Tuscaloosa and help us fill hotels, restaurants and commercial entities,” Maddox said. “Further, it will serve as an economic catalyst for our riverfront and West Tuscaloosa.” According to an article in Nov. 17’s edition of The Tuscaloosa News, one aspect of the amphitheater that will be approached with care will be the roof, covering about 2,000 of the total 6,000 to 7,000 seats and opening up about 15,000 square feet. This would make the facility more conducive to year-round activities,
See PLANS, page 3