LIFESTYLES
Fashion for Life shows off student designs
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
SPORTS
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Veterans, young players form Tide’s core
Serving the University of Alabama since 1894
Vol. 118, Issue 48
Failing students revealed in UA email Administrator fails to blind email addresses of students in mass email regarding midterm grades By Taylor Holland and Tray Smith The Crimson White
notifying them of their grade and potential ways to improve “How could it be that the time you don’t consider FERPA it. is when you’re sending emails with failing grades inStudents who received the volved?” Students who had at least email were not blind copied one failing midterm grade in it, however, and were able — Adam Goldstein during the Fall 2011 semester to see the email addresses of received an email on Oct. 26 other failing students. whether the email was a viola- outlined in federal law. Some of UA spokeswoman Cathy from the office of Lowell Davis, tion of student privacy rights those rights are included in the the assistant dean of students, Andreen did not comment as to
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$606 2011 BCS Price:
$456
$1,351
Game 7 Price:
Finals Game 5 Price:
$601
$686
Most students paid $5 for a ticket to Saturday’s game against LSU, but for some fans, the cost of attendance may be hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Statewide website al.com reported there were two tickets for sale on Stubhub.com for a seat in row 25 of the lower level north end zone for $10,423.14 each. The tickets are no longer available. Will Flaherty, director of
communications for SeatGeek. com, a search engine that pulls together ticket listings from all major secondary ticket websites, said the average ticket price of sold tickets on their website is $606. For comparison, tickets to Game 7 of this year’s World Series averaged $601 on SeatGeek, tickets to Game 5 of the NBA Finals averaged $686, tickets to last year’s BCS National Championship game averaged $1,351, and tickets to last year’s Super Bowl averaged $3,067.13, Flaherty said. “This is a demand we’ve
See FERPA, page 2
TPD to be in full force for LSU By Stephen Nathaniel Dethrage Assistant News Editor sndethrage@crimson.ua.edu
Super Bowl Price:
$3,067 Source: SeatGeek.com
CW | Taylor Stec
The Ticket of the Century By Taylor Holland News Editor newsdesk@cw.ua.edu
said. “Students’ email addresses are normally blinded and not visible to others receiving the message.” Andreen also said individuals who fail to follow established privacy procedures will be disciplined.
City leaders call for caution this weekend
Bama vs. LSU
Championship Price:
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, a federal law protecting the privacy of students’ educational records that was written in 1974 by then Sen. James Buckley. “As this situation demonstrates, it is essential to protect students’ personally identifiable information,” Andreen
never seen in our two years of doing this,” Flaherty said. “The ticket prices are astronomically expensive, but there are tickets still available. I think it really speaks to just how great these two teams are. They have two loyal fan bases and are a drivable distance away, which really allows people to spend more money on their game tickets.” Many UA students have posted their tickets on websites such as StubHub.com and Facebook Marketplace to make a profit. J Finley, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film,
said he was selling his ticket to Saturday’s game for $300. “This ticket and game tickets in general are a great source for extra income,” Finley said. “I don’t have a job, so this is basically like my paycheck. This ticket is one of the most valuable tickets I’ve sold in my four years of flipping tickets. I’d rather watch the game in the comfort of my home instead of standing up for three hours.” UA student Corey Neill said he was asking for $300 because that’s how much it’s worth to
See TICKETS, page 2
In preparation for Saturday’s “Game of the Century” against LSU in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson advise both students and visitors to practice extreme caution and responsibility. “Firstly, I’d just ask everyone to be responsible while they’re preparing to enjoy
your drinking, everybody can have a good time,” Anderson said. “The thing is to just act like responsible adults. If you do that, everybody will have a good time. No one will end up getting hurt, nobody will end up going to jail, and people can just enjoy a No. 1 ranked team against a No. 2 ranked team and just enjoy what this is all about.” Not willing to rely fully on the responsibility of the gameday crowd, however, both officials noted that the
“If you’ll be responsible with your behavior, your conduct, your drinking, everybody can have a good time.” — Steve Anderson, Tuscaloosa police chief
the game, especially with their alcohol consumption,” Maddox said. “Secondly, just be patient, especially in the case of a close game. Everyone will be leaving at the same time, and we imagine that it will take two or three hours to clear traffic fully.” Chief Anderson echoed the mayor’s advice and asked students and fans alike to be responsible and aware. “If you’ll be responsible with your behavior, your conduct,
police presence on campus before, during and after the game would be significantly increased. “The Tuscaloosa Police Department are adding additional personnel for the crowd the game will draw,” Maddox said. “We plan to employ a 15 percent increase in our police force that day. Other than that, we expect to have normal gameday operations.”
See CITY, page 3
Acoustic night attracts local, out-of-state musicians By Lauren Ferguson Staff Reporter
The Bama Theatre will host Acoustic Night tonight for Tuscaloosa residents to enjoy live music by Tom Evanchuck and Lena Dice. Tom Evanchuck, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, will perform a series of original songs at Acoustic Night during his tour of the South. His music genre consists of old blues, folk and Americana. “This is my first time in Alabama, and I am looking forward to the atmosphere. This is where the roots of my music are,” Evanchuck said. His inspirations for songs come from Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Paul Simon and Neil Young. The musician got his start at age five, after watching his cousin play the drums. After learning to play the guitar and le this
• What: Acoustic Night • Where: Bama Theatre • When: Tonight at 7:30 p.m.
We have regular attendees from Tuscaloosa that come to every one,” Allgood said. Lena Dice of Tuscaloosa will be performing a mixture of original and cover songs. “I’m more of a cover type girl. I’ve written my own songs, but I’m a perfectionist, so they are not ever finished,” Dice said. Inspired by her dad’s college band, Dice first started playing the mandolin and eventu-
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Please ec
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Tuscaloosa singer-songwriter Lena Dice will performat the Bama Theatre’s Acoustic Night tonight at 7:30 p.m.
ally moved to the guitar and singing. At age 16, she performed at an open mic night at Capture Studio Café and has been performing live ever since. “It takes a lot of heart and time. I’ve been really busy, but if you want it bad enough, you can do it,” Dice said. Her favorite artists for inspiration include Regina Spektor, Adele and the Avett Brothers. “I am going all out for Acoustic Night. I will be performing a duet with Connor Simpson of Adele’s ‘Someone Like You,’” Dice said. “It’s a little risky because it’s Adele, and she is an amazing artist, but we are taking a different approach and hope the audience likes it.” Dice will also play two of her original songs that evening.
Submitted Photo
See ACOUSTIC, page 7
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performing locally, Evanchuck now travels across the U.S. “Its exciting to play in states I’ve never been before. I’m getting into the fun part now where I get to spread my music,” Evanchuck said. “Musicians strive to play for new audiences, as opposed to trying to impress the same people over and over again.” Evanchuck performs three to four times a week at different venues in Cleveland, as well as weddings and other parties. “I’ve learned that it’s possible to be a fulltime musician and travel around,” Evanchuck said. “You can do it.” David Allgood, manager for The Bama Theatre, said local artists that bring large crowds are often booked with lesserknown out-of-town artists that are of equal caliber. “People know the high quality of artists that perform here.
P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 | Fax: 348-8036 | Advertising: 348-7845 | Classifieds: 348-7355 Letters, op-eds: letters@cw.ua.edu Press releases, announcements: news@cw.ua.edu
Briefs ........................2
Sports ..................... 10
Opinions ...................4
Puzzles.................... 13
Lifestyles....................7
Classifieds ............... 13
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GO ON THE
Page 2• Wednesday, November 2, 2011
ONLINE
ON THE CALENDAR TODAY
THURSDAY
What: Beat Auburn Beat Hunger Big Al Photo Shoot
FRIDAY
What: Ephemeral Visions:
What: Black and White in
Mari Muller MFA Thesis Exhibition
Crimson: A Symposium on Race and Sports
Student Center
Where: Art Gallery, Ferguson
Where: Bagby/Fitzpatrick
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Student Center
Room, Bryant Conference Center
Where: Plaza, Ferguson
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
VIDEO: PREPARING FOR THE GAME OF THE CENTURY: THE ACTION CAM Hear from President and CEO of ActionCam PJ Bennett what all goes into getting the aerial shots just feet away from the players during a live football broadcast.
EDITORIAL
When: 10 a.m. to noon
What: Sustained Dialogue Where: Second Floor Student
What: Integrity Day
Lounge, Nott Hall
Where: Plaza, Ferguson Stu-
When: 6 to 7 p.m.
dent Center
What: Ring Week Where: Ferguson Student Center
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Peace Corps Information Session
What: Xpress Night: Open
Where: 313 Anderson So-
Mic at Starbucks
ciety Room, Ferguson Student Center
Where: Starbucks, Ferguson Student Center
When: 7 to 8 p.m.
pected Sources Lecture: View Vietnamese History through Art from Colonialism to the Present
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: 205 Smith Hall
What: Stories from Unex-
Victor Luckerson editor-in-chief editor@cw.ua.edu
When: 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Jonathan Reed managing editor jonathanreedcw@gmail.com Will Tucker assistant managing editor wjtucker1@gmail.com Taylor Holland news editor newsdesk@cw.ua.edu Malcolm Cammeron community manager outreach@cw.ua.edu Stephanie Brumfield lifestyles editor
ON THE MENU LAKESIDE LUNCH
DINNER
Steak Mashed Potato Grilled Mushroom Potato Leek Soup Beef and Broccoli Portobello Slider (Vegetarian)
John Davis chief copy editor
Drew Hoover photo editor Tyler Crompton web editor
Emily Richards 348-8995 Advertising Manager cwadmanager@gmail.com Brittany Key 348-2598 Territory Manager Amy Ramsey 348-7355 National Representative Classifieds Coordinator Lauren Aylworth 348-8042 Creative Services Manager
Office of Health Promotion and Wellness launches Twitter anti-smoking campaign The Office of Health Promotion and Wellness at the Student Health Center invites all students to follow the Smoking Cessation Campaign on Twitter @Time2Quit (use the hashtag #time2quitUA) from Nov. 1 to Nov. 17. The account will be used to encourage nonsmokers to encourage their smoker friends to kick the habit by promoting the Alabama Tobacco Quitline in anticipation of the Great American Smokeout. Toward the end of the campaign, an interactive Twitter competition will be held, with prizes being awarded to the winners. For more information, contact Alex McNair at atmcnair@crimson.ua.edu.
Will DeShazo 348-8041 Jessica West 348-8054 Ben Gordon 348-8042
By Andy McWhorter
The Crimson White is the community newspaper of The University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced by students. The University of Alabama cannot influence editorial decisions and editorial opinions are those of the editorial board and do not represent the official opinions of the University. Advertising offices of The Crimson White are on the first floor, Student Publications Building, 923 University Blvd. The advertising mailing address is P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White (USPS 138020) is published four times weekly when classes are in session during Fall and Spring Semester except for the Monday after Spring Break and the Monday after Thanksgiving, and once a week when school is in session for the summer. Marked calendar provided. The Crimson White is provided for free up to three issues. Any other papers are $1.00. The subscription rate for The Crimson White is $125 per year. Checks should be made payable to The University of Alabama and sent to: The Crimson White Subscription Department, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White is entered as periodical postage at Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Crimson White, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2010 by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of The Crimson White.
Section 30 of Act 2011-535, commonly referred to as the immigration law, states that a person conducting a business transaction must prove that he or she is either a citizen of the United States or is a lawfully present alien in the United States residing in
Alabama. Business transactions include, but are not limited to, purchasing or renewing license plates, purchasing Alabama certificates of title, purchasing or renewing boats or manufactured homes, purchasing hunting or fishing licenses or purchasing business licenses. Certain documents, including a driver’s license
Office of the Dean of Students seeks members for new initiative The Office of the Dean of Students is still seeking members for its new initiative launched specifically for students who are in foster care, are wards of the state or are emancipated. People interested in being a part of this program can contact Lowell Davis at 348-3326 or at lkdavis2@sa.ua.edu.
Applications are being accepted from freshmen and transfer students to take part in Ignite UA, a new community-building program created by the First Year Experience Office in The University of Alabama Division of Student Affairs. Ignite UA is a program that helps students become part of the University and surrounding community. Participants will complete four phases with the goal of developing relationships and skills that will last throughout their collegiate careers. Applications can be found at fye.ua.edu and are due back to 132 Mary Burke East by Friday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. Faculty and staff are encouraged to nominate first-year students by emailing the student’s name and contact information to parentsc2@sa.ua.edu.
WVUA to hold corn dog eating contest
Requirements for business transactions change under new immigration law
Lauren Gallas 348-8042 Coleman Richards Special Projects Account Rep
Baked Pork Chop White Rice Brussels Sprouts Taco Pizza Corn Dogs Stuffed Portobello (Vegetarian)
Applications now being accepted for new Ignite UA program
ON THE RADAR
Greg Woods 348-8054
Rob Clark 348-4367
Beef Stroganoff Southwest Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy Parmesan Chicken Pizza Four Cheese Pita Wrap Chili Con Carne Penne Pasta (Vegetarian)
In the Nov. 1 edition of The Crimson White, in the article “Campus housing still not at capacity following tornado,” Alicia Browne, associate director for information and communication, was incorrectly quoted. She said the University did begin the year at 96 percent of total capacity in residence halls. She was also incorrectly quoted as saying “dorm” instead of “residence hall.” The CW regrets the error and is happy to set the record straight.
In the Nov. 1 edition of The Crimson White, the article titled “ARDT works with local dance studio for show” stated that ARDT is working with The Dancer Centre for this week’s performances. ARDT is actually working with the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers, a non-profit organization who has produced “The Nutcracker Ballet” in Tuscaloosa since the early 70s. The Crimson White regrets the error and is happy to set the record straight.
Nikki Amthor 348-8742
Tori Hall 348-6153
LUNCH
CORRECTIONS
Daniel Roth multimedia editor
ADVERTISING
FRESH FOOD
LUNCH
ON CAMPUS
Tray Smith opinions editor
Evan Szczepanski graphics editor
BRYANT
LUNCH Beef Pepper Steak Barbecue Smoked Turkey Legs Steamed Yellow Squash Cornbread Dressing Pork Lo Mein Summer Vegetable Panini (Vegetarian)
Turkey Leg Cornbread Dressing Sauteed Spinach Sweet Potato Casserole Spinach, Ham, Feta Pizza Grilled Veggie Sub (Vegetarian)
Tony Tsoukalas sports editor
Kyle Carey design editor
BURKE
or non-driver identification, are used to prove citizenship. Alabama residents may check the status of their driver’s licenses or non-driver identifications on the State of Alabama’s Driver License Verification System website at alverify.mvtrip.alabama. govbefore submitting renewals for a license.
The hosts of “The Morning Drive” on WVUA-FM 90.7 The Capstone are giving away a ticket to the LSU-Alabama football game Nov. 5. Students who do not already have a student ticket can sign up for the contest Wednesday, Nov. 2, and Thursday, Nov. 3, in Reese Phifer Hall Room 288 at the WVUA-FM Studios between 8 to 10 a.m. Students must bring their ACTion Card and be a currently enrolled student. Students are then encouraged to post comments, photos and videos on Facebook explaining why they should win the ticket by tagging JTD and The Man With the Aluminum Voice in their post. 10 students with the best tags, photos and videos will be chosen to compete in a corn dog-eating contest on the balcony of Reece Phifer Hall Friday, Nov. 4 during “The Morning Drive.” Students chosen to participate will be notified Thursday, Nov. 3 between 6 to 7 p.m. For more information, go to wvuafm. ua.edu or www.facebook.com/jtdontheradio.
TICKETS
FERPA
“I could definitely use the extra money for bills, but I would also love to go to the game myself,” Neill said. “I can remember paying $230, including an upgrade fee, to go to the Tennessee game when I had just transferred in and feel like this is a much more important game. I think it’s a lot of money for one game, but at the same time, I could see myself spending just as much if I didn’t have a ticket.” Doug Walker, associate athletics director at the University, said the face value of tickets to attend Saturday’s game is $85, regardless of whether the seats are on the 50-yard line or in the upper deck. The tickets to Saturday’s game sold out before the team ever stepped onto the field this season, and no public sale took place,
Adam Goldstein, an attorney advocate with the Student Press Law Center, said if the mass email was an accident, it might not be a violation of FERPA. “There’s one thing that makes this not a FERPA violation,” Goldstein said. “FERPA doesn’t prevent disclosure [of educational information]. It prevents a policy or practice of doing it.” However, Goldstein said students do have common law or state-based law privacy rights. Public disclosure of private or embarrassing facts could violate those rights, but it might be hard for students to show they were damaged by the release of this information, Goldstein said. “Everyone generally recognizes you have a right to privacy in your grades,” he said. “It’s another reason why FERPA is kind of a joke. It doesn’t prevent incidents like this. You can never be stupid enough to violate FERPA.” Lexi Papadelias, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering who received the email, said she
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he said. Media requests for the Alabama-LSU game have also increased, Walker said. For a normal game, anywhere between 300 and 350 credentials are given out. For the Iron Bowl, 400450 credentials are distributed. But for Saturday’s “Game of the Century,” Walker said he expects
credential requests to end up in the 625 range. “Everyone knows the winner of this game is in the driver’s seat to the national championship,” Flaherty said. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that we’ll see prices like this again for the SEC Championship game and even the national championship game.”
feels like it was a violation of privacy to all of the students on the email list. “Not doing well in classes is embarrassing,” Papadelias said. “And with all of the emphasis the administration has put on FERPA lately, it seems like a gross oversight.” On Sept. 28 of this year, University administrators cited FERPA in denying a public records request sent to the SGA for records relating to the resignation of SGA President Grant Cochran. “Without admission that the information you’ve requested would or would not constitute open records under Alabama law, you appear to be requesting only records that are linked or linkable to a particular student,” UA spokeswoman Deborah Lane said in denying the request. “Such records are prohibited from disclosure by federal privacy laws.” Goldstein said FERPA is often used to shield inconvenient information. “How could it be that the time you don’t consider FERPA is when you’re sending emails with failing grades involved?” he said. “FERPA’s always there when they don’t want to give you something.”
The Crimson White
NEWS
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
3
Alabama Reach provides support for students By Sydney Newman Contributing Writer Faculty members and students have been working since last fall to create a program to help students who have been involved in foster care, are emancipated or are wards of the state. The program, Alabama Reach, has a goal to provide support for these students while they are at the University. Lowell Davis, assistant dean of students and assistant to the vice provost, created the program. Davis, along with Karen Baynes-Dunning, a professor in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, has worked to find funding and support for the growing program. So far, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, created by Jim Casey, the founder of UPS, has awarded Alabama Reach with a grant to create a new initiative to find host families for the program’s students to connect with. All over the country, universities have introduced programs to connect these students with campus and community mentors, but according to Baynes-Dunning,
CITY
Continued from page 1 Chief Anderson said that increased presence would begin Thursday and continue until Sunday morning, when the last of the football crowd and the traffic and risks associated with them leave the area. “Starting on Thursday, leading up to a ballgame, we systematically increase the number of officers that are out, especially in the area of The Strip and the downtown area, to deal with the number of people coming in town,” Anderson said. “With a game like this, you have more people coming in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so we
the University of Alabama is the only known university to work toward a host family program. The host families will be available to their student for many “normal” family roles the student may not be privy to. The student may want to visit the host family to do laundry, have dinner or find comfort. There may also be cases where the student will join the family for holidays in the event that they have no one to go home to. In addition to the host family, students can be introduced to a community or faculty member to serve as a mentor and students can be matched with mentors who are leaders in the student’s field of interest. Lauren Bingham, a third year law student, has helped with background research, event planning, outreach and literature for the program. “Every student in Alabama Reach will have a mentor to provide support to the student in various areas of difficulty that accompany being a college student lacking a family support network,” Bingham said. “Professors and other professionals in the area are
volunteering to be the mentors to the students involved with Alabama Reach.” With the help of the Adva n c e m e n t Office, Alabama Reach has been able to provide the students involved with the program with emergency funding for those times when there simply is no way for the students to provide certain needs for themselves. Thus far, those needs have been anything from buying a pair of eyeglasses to fixing a computer to assisting with closing the gap on their bills during financial hardship. Along with the Student Alumni Association, the program has also provided students with care packages for back-to-school and exam packages at the end of the semester. Involvement in the Alabama Reach program is completely voluntary, and confidentiality requirements have created barriers. Students involved with the program have sought Davis for information, but with the Casey Foundation’s grant, student positions have been created to enhance the program and reach out to stu-
ramp up our numbers to deal with the crowd and safety issues starting on Thursday, and that will go into the early morning hours of Sunday.” The increased security is normal for home football games, but the hype surrounding the game and the nature of LSU’s fan base has necessitated more police presence than most games. “We know LSU travels large,” Maddox said. “I would imagine, obviously, we’ll have more than 100,000 people inside the stadium and tens of thousands outside, and it’s a night game. We anticipate a long day of festivities in the city.” “We have increased a large number of officers from what we normally use on a home
game day,” Anderson said. “This is because of the number of people that will be in town. We made the increase for security reasons and for traffic reasons.” Speaking to traffic concerns, Maddox asked everyone on and around campus to be fully aware of the officers serving them by directing traffic before and after the game. “There will be dozens of TPD officers manning intersections and directing traffic, so please, please be careful,” Maddox said. “The major intersections around the stadium will be manned by our police force, so please be mindful of that, and keep an eye out for those officers serving us.”
dents who may benefit. Maurice Foster, a junior majoring in psychology and philosophy, was one of the students placed in these positions. Foster said they are excited for what will happen through the program, and he hopes at least 75 percent of students who fall into these categories will be involved and that the program will help the students remain in school and graduate. “This student population
has overcome enormous obstacles in their personal and academic lives to attend The University of Alabama,” Bingham said. “As an organization, we want to recognize the strength of character it takes to pursue their educational goals. Alabama Reach is designed to alleviate the pressures that students coming from foster care experience. Alabama Reach hopes to provide an avenue for the necessary support to aide in
each student’s success at the University and beyond.” Monthly meetings take place for the students to learn about areas of assistance that may apply to them and to socialize with other students in the same situations. For more information on getting assistance from or information about Alabama Reach, contact Lowell Davis at lkdavis2@sa.ua.edu or Maurice Foster at mfoster1@ crimson.ua.edu.
OPINIONS
Alabama vs. LSU for dummies By Brad Tipper
Abolish the SGA, start anew By Wesley Vaughn @WesleyVaughn
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Editor • Tray Smith letters@cw.ua.edu Page 4
{ YOUR VIEW } WEB COMMENTS IN RESPONSE TO, “SGA IRREGULARITIES INCLUDED CHANGING GPAS”
“Hopefully, this is just the first drop in the bucket. It is about time information from this incident was released.” — Cooper Kennard
“I would say Iʼm shocked... but Iʼm pretty sure nobody is.” — Jeb
“But was there a hat involved in the sorting?” — robert_foster
Our Student Government Association—in which I only include the Senate and executive branch—has functioned as a primary campus-dividing force through its disproportionate makeup, questionable policies and contested elections. Along with failing to adequately perform its mandated duty of representing the student body’s voice to the administration, the SGA has proven by itself that it is no longer necessary and will continue to lose the trust and acknowledgement of students as long as it exists in its current form. Our SGA does perform admirable and helpful tasks such as provide funding for student organizations and partnering with student organizations for events, but these actions are not enough to warrant its existence. I propose that, with the dissolution of the SGA, a leadership council and an ancillary commission fill the representative void left by its absence. The leadership council would consist of organization presidents or ambassadors, which would allow for a much truer representation of all students. Winning an SGA election requires only a large group of friends and some handshaking. Becoming the president or ambassador of an organization requires proving both commitment and leadership to other students who have worked with you. This would be much more effective than elections based on college affiliation as well, since this affiliation does not matter much in the grand scheme of the SGA Senate anyway. The council’s responsibility
would be to propose and vote on legislation and resolutions and to consider all legislation proposed by students. Essentially, the council would replace the existing SGA Senate but without the need to bother with an executive branch. Two major hurdles with the council would need resolving though. First and foremost, an application process must be created for groups to gain a seat. This process would help avoid representation duplication as much as possible and the over-allocation of seats by setting a criteria that would require each group to prove in some way that it represents an unrepresented segment of campus. Secondly, students who are not members of a particular organization for differing reasons may not receive the proper representation. This problem has always existed and cannot be easily addressed. The commission’s responsibility would be implementing and enforcing legislation passed by the council. It would consist of students who would provide the legwork for the council’s vision. This branch would be the ideal opportunity for students who really want to answer and act upon the needs of all students. By removing the
MCT Campus
unnecessary inefficiency of an executive branch, the commission and council setup would create a clearer, more effective channel between students and the administration. The SGA must address its immature executive-legislative divide and its consequent lack of legitimacy. Basically, the SGA needs to rebrand itself while reconfiguring to optimize its function on campus. A leadership council and commission would help that, despite the radical and idealistic nature of the idea. But, for the SGA to more realistically regroup after a nasty past few weeks, it better take a page out of Don Draper’s book: “If you don’t like what they’re saying about you, change the conversation.” Openly discussing radical changes such as moving towards a council and commission setup for the SGA would only boost its reputation and bring in helpful outside opinions. This column should be declared null and void if the SGA adopts a proposed code of ethics, though; I’m sure that’ll do the trick. Wesley Vaughn is a senior majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs on Wednesday.
#endsga
Safety is a two-way street By Jessica Bailey As a disabled student on campus, I drive to class. This puts me in a constant struggle on the road with my peers. As pedestrians, they seem to believe they have the right of way, everywhere, always. Not only on foot, but on bikes as well, which are classified as vehicles and are supposed to abide by all vehicle rules. Too many times I will be driving, and oblivious pedestrians, often on their iPods or phones, step out in front of me, causing me to hit my brakes to avoid striking them. Bicycles constantly zip diagonally through four way intersections like
they’re invincible. When you are home, do you step into streets randomly? No, because you don’t expect cars to automatically stop for you. I understand this is a college campus, where many don’t have cars or prefer to walk. Additionally, I would love to reduce my carbon footprint, but unfortunately, driving is my only option. Jessica Evers’ story in Thursday’s paper was largely irrelevant to the quest for pedestrian safety because of details included only after her pity party: she was jaywalking. She was in the wrong. She could have easily walked to the proper crosswalk, waited for her turn, and crossed safely, but instead, she
thought she was an exception to the rule. Consequently, she was struck by a driver who wasn’t expecting her to be in the middle of the street. While drivers are sometimes at fault, pedestrians don’t have a right to complain about safety if they don’t practice it, too. Their recklessness is not only a danger to themselves, but to drivers as well. The road is for cars. Take responsibility for your own safety. Be smart, use crosswalks, follow the rules, and thereby reduce accidents. Do your part. Safety is a twoway street! Jessica Bailey is a senior majoring in studio art.
The college football season as we know it has essentially been boiled down to this weekend: Alabama vs. LSU. “The Super Bowl of College Football” is what’s being thrown around as the unofficial, but fairly received, name for this matchup of perennial powerhouses. The winner will claim the top spot in the rankings and be on track towards a national title. But it won’t be decided until Saturday night, after an endless amount of CBS forced TV timeouts. If it hasn’t already been evident from the season thus far, both Alabama and LSU are unbelievably good football teams. So good, in fact, that it is a shame both of them can’t come out of this game alive. Obviously, this can’t happen. One team (Alabama) must win. So, I think the best course of action in approaching Saturday’s game would be to take an unbiased look at how the two teams compare. First come the coaches. Nick Saban is a no-nonsense perfectionist whose face only shows two emotions during a game – determination or anger. Les Miles eats grass when the game is on the line and has to rely on trickery to pull out the close game. Just the fact that Miles walks the sideline in a big purple windbreaker gives the advantage to Saban. Now onto the next key matchup. In the players department, Alabama once again has the edge. While it’s almost impossible to point
If it hasn’t already been evident from the season thus far, both Alabama and LSU are unbelievably good football teams. So good, in fact, that it is a shame both of them can’t come out of this game alive. — Brad Tipper
out a specific player on either side of the ball who could be considered the best on the team, one player does shine somewhat above the rest: Heisman Trophy candidate Trent Richardson, who by my numbers has only been tackled enough times to count on one hand. Richardson had half of Ole Miss’s defense looking for where they left their ankles and is one of the main reasons for the Tide’s success this season. LSU’s defense and their “Honey Badger” defensive back will even have a tough time stopping Trent. The last aspect of this matchup is the fans. While Alabama has the obvious advantage, with the game being at Bryant Denny, that is still not going to stop the LSU faithful from coming in the packs for which they are so well-known. LSU fans always travel well, even when they’re not going to their own game. In fact, I think there might have been more LSU fans than Vanderbilt fans at homecoming. Even those who can’t fork over the big money for a ticket into the game will still make sure they’re in T-Town to yell “Geaux Tigers.” (For the proper pronunciation, watch “Swamp People.”) But when it comes down to it, the seemingly endless sea of crimson that is going to engulf Tuscaloosa on Saturday will make even the most avid of Tiger fans overwhelmed. So with everything considered, Alabama should win the game. Though I will admit that my analysis of each team might be a tad biased, the combination of all these elements makes our team just too deadly to lose. Don’t get me wrong; I know LSU is a great team. I’m not saying we’re not going to have to earn our victory, but I am sure Saban is not letting his birthday get in the way of preparing his team to go out and get the win. In the end, we can all be sure of a few things on Saturday – both teams will be out on the field, working their hardest to pull out the win; “Thunderstruck” will be played in Bryant-Denny; and Gallettes will have a cover charge comparable to the prices tickets are being sold for on the corners of University Boulevard. Roll tide, y’all.
Brad Tipper is a sophomore majoring in political science and economics. His column runs biweekly on Wednesdays.
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WE WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS Letters to the editor must be less than 300 words and guest columns less than 800. Send submissions to letters@ cw.ua.edu. Submissions must include the author’s name, year, major and daytime phone number. Phone numbers are for verification and will not be published. Students should also include their year in school and major. For more information, call 348-6144. The CW reserves the right to edit all submissions.
Defeating fall
A letter to The University of Alabama student body and SGA
By Gaines Rowe
By Jay Humphries
In the late fall, many of us are prone to depression that is traceable to the changing of seasons. We become more sedentary as the days become shorter and colder. But, one incident in particular this fall lightened my mood. The squirrels are manically laboring over burying the acorns the numerous oak trees on the quad have scattered. We have all done it: adjusting our steps to crush those same acorns. I was busy walking/crushing when I saw an older man in front of me. He was not following the accepted social norm of making your gait slightly more awkward to crush a few acorns. He was leaping from acorn to acorn in an apparent attempt to crush each one in his path. The absurdity of an adult – old enough to be my grandfather – engaging in this activity compelled me to chuckle as I walked away. A glance back at the man and he had stopped stomping – probably out of embarrassment. Reflecting on the situation, I am sad that I might have diminished a source of pleasure in that man’s day. But, his actions left me with an invaluable lesson: we should all cling to the simple joys in life, even if they may seem silly to others.
Quite frankly, I am disappointed in the actions of many of my fellow colleagues, peers and, most importantly, friends. The tampering of First Year Council applications represents a display of great individualism and selfishness by some of my fellow senators.
Gaines Rowe is a freshman majoring in accounting.
We must start working together as one student body, as one SGA and as one University of Alabama. — Jay Humphries
University of Alabama. In the words of legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, “A great unit, whether it be football or any organization, shares the same heartbeat.” I think it would be a great service to Coach Bryant for us, as students, to start sharing the same heartbeat. To do this, we need to take a lesson from our undefeated football team. Every Saturday, that group of men comes to the football field displaying great unity. As students, we need to start bringing that same winning attitude and passion that infiltrates Bryant-Denny Stadium on game day to the classroom, workplace and particularly to the SGA office on a daily basis. We need to prove to the rest of the United States that we represent more than a school built around football. Rather, we have the potential to represent the number one student body, the number one SGA and the number one University. To do that, we, as students, as an SGA and as a campus need to all share the same heartbeat.
If the information pertaining to the tampering of FYC applications did not come out, many freshman leaders would have been denied acceptance to our First Year Council program. To move forward from this scandal, we must not give up. We must hold our heads high, work harder, and continue to move forward. From this day on, it is pertinent that there is no individualism or selfishness left in our Student Jay Humphries is an SGA senator from the Government Association. We must start working Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business together as one student body, as one SGA and as one Administration.
The Crimson White
NEWS
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
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Beat Auburn Beat Hunger plans upcoming events By Elizabeth Manning Contributing Writer UA’s Beat Auburn Beat Hunger is drawing to a close and has organized several major events to boost donations and meet its goal of 250,000 pounds of donated food, said Wahnee Sherman, director of UA’s Community Service Center. “We are coming up on the end of the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger campaign, so we want to make a strong final push to collect as much as we can,” Sherman said. “We have some great ways for folks to get involved this week.” As part of this push, the Community Service Center and its partners have hosted a number of events supporting the drive to raise awareness and involve more students and will continue to hold more this month. Halloween night, students dressed up in their costumes and went door-to-door “canor-treating,” collecting donations for the drive. A photo shoot with Big Al will be held today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ferguson Center Plaza. Any participating students will use canned donations in a photo with Big Al. The photos will be uploaded to Facebook, and the most “liked” photo will win a $100 gift card for Bama Dining. Students must donate cans to the drive to be eligible for the competition, and those wishing to vote on the photo can go to the BABH Facebook page. The University’s first campus-wide BABH 5k run/walk kicks off this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the outdoor pool parking lot. The top three female and top three male runners will be awarded at a ceremony following the race, and door prizes will be given out. Participants in the race can register at the Community Service Center, Room 346 in the Ferguson Center, or register online at BABH’s website, beatauburnbeathunger.ua.edu. Preregistration is $15 dollars,
IF YOU GO ... • Photo Shoot: Today, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Ferguson Center Plaza
• BABH 5k: Sunday, 1 p.m., pre-registration $15, race day $20, Recreation Center Pool
• Concert: Friday, November 11, 7 p.m., Capri Theatre, Montgomery, tickets $15
• Donations: Cans and monetary donations are accepted at all events and many locations across campus
Photos by Sarah Papadelias Above: Phi Mu sorority won second place in the CanFormation competition benefitting Beat Auburn Beat Hunger last year. Organizations were asked to make structures out of cans, which would later be donated. Right: Engineers Without Borders won first place in CanFormation last year.
CW | Megan Smith Left: Candidates were placed on buckets to help raise money for the event. Whoever raised the most was pelted with pie. Above: Ashley Jordan, 18, donated to Beat Auburn Beat Hunger at the Ferguson Plaza last year. while registration the day of the race is $20. Also, a concert will be held at the Capri Theatre in Montgomery, and students from both universities are invited to attend. Doors will open at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 11, and the show will begin at 7:45. Tickets are $15 at the door, and stu-
dents bringing can donations will be entered in a drawing for door prizes. The concert will feature Nashville country artists, including Melissa Duvall, Emma Jacobs and Liz Moriondo. Brianna Weekley, a junior majoring in public relations, is considering going to the concert.
“I listen to bluegrass and folk, and it’s for a good cause, and plus I support anything that has to do with beating Auburn,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of the donation locations, but I definitely plan on donating now.” According to a press release by the Community Service Center, BABH began in 1994,
in collaboration with Auburn University, and has raised over three million pounds of food for families in the state of Alabama who are in need of resources. The drive uses the rivalry between Auburn and Alabama to foster community outreach in students at both universities. Both monetary donations
and cans are accepted at numerous locations across campus, including at most Bama Dining locations. Offcampus housing and some businesses in Tuscaloosa are also holding events to support the drive. Additional donation locations will be set up at various sporting events on campus.
want to enhance your
Dining Experience? Look for our dining survey happening on campus today! Everyone that completes a survey will receive a free Bottled Beverage and automatically be registered to win an Apple iPad.
6
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
NEWS
The Crimson White
Bama Buddies looks to build bears for children Sophomore David Phelps leads this year’s Bama Buddies campaign, which seeks to bring groups together while making stuffed animals for children.
By Jared Downing Staff Reporter wdowning@crimson.ua.edu
Looking for some Christmas karma? Try stuffing a bear. The third annual Bama Buddies campaign, a community service project hosted by the Source, lets students build stuffed animals for needy kids in Tuscaloosa. David Phelps, who heads this year’s Buddies campaign, said the program gives organizations a service opportunity while fostering cooperation between isolated groups. But, of course, it all comes down to the kids. “In the end, it’s not about the builder,” Phelps said, “it’s about the child receiving the bear.” The finished bears will be passed on to local charities that will distribute the toys to kids in the community, including Tuscaloosa’s One Place, which aids poor communities, and RISE Tuscaloosa, a program for disabled children. The scheme is simple. Organizations can buy raw materials for $10 a bear and either host their own stuffing party or participate in the Bonanza, a community stuffing event set for Nov. 18. There are
Submitted Photo eight species to choose from, including a lion, a frog and a panda. There’s also a koala. “It’s got really intense eyes,” Phelps said. Individual students will be able to make their own bears at a table in the Ferguson Center starting Nov. 7. Stuffing is a quick and easy operation; customization isn’t as deep as the
program’s ads (“Stuff a pirate bear!” “Stuff a royal bear!”) imply. But according to Maegan Stewart, participating with the Association of Nursing Students, even a little effort can make an enormous difference to a child. “It gives each person an opportunity to put a piece of themselves into the communi-
ty and say, ‘I made this. I gave this,’” Stewart said. The campaign brought in about 750 bears in its first run, but the number dropped significantly the next year. Phelps and his team are new and don’t know the cause of the drop, but that hasn’t dented their confidence. This year, they aim for 1,000 bears. Project Coordinator Mary
Katherine Sweeney said publicity is vital for reaching such an ambitious goal. “We’re just trying to hit more people with it and really get the word out,” Sweeney said. This year, the team has ramped up its publicity with a new marketing campaign, cooperation with the Honors College Assembly, and its own
website. According to Sweeney, while the April tornado has made students more community-minded, organizations could overlook Bama Buddies in the flurry of new service projects. “[With] so many service projects going on, everyone can’t participate in everything,” she said. “We want people to know about it and that it’s not very hard to prepare.” Phelps said Tuscaloosa needs campaigns like Bama Buddies more than ever. “Naturally, these bears will be going to tornado victims,” he said. “While it’s not publicized as a tornado relief initiative, we’re expected to help in that relief process.” So why not just take the 10 bucks and go to Toys-R-Us? Bama Buddies isn’t just about building a bear, but building a community. “Knowing that someone specifically made it for you, that someone took the time and the money,” Phelps said, “that can really speak to how much the child is valued.” Organizations can sign up for Bama Buddies at thesource.ua.edu until Nov. 18. Individuals can participate in the Build-a-Thon Nov. 7 through 19 in the Ferguson Center lobby.
Tornado-affected businesses face uncertain future Some businesses destroyed in the tornado attempt to rebuild, others look to move to places like Northport By Andy McWhorter and Ashanka Kumari The Crimson White When an EF4 tornado tore through Tuscaloosa last April, it left businesses, homes and lives destroyed in its wake. Now, six months later, much of the debris has been cleared, but the damage has yet to be repaired. In place of Southern institutions like Hobby Lobby, Full Moon BBQ and Krispy Kreme, there remain bare foundations and scoured patches of earth. Some businesses have gathered the pieces and started rebuilding, while the status of others remains less clear. New construction is somewhat scarce in tornado-
Paul Collins. “We’re steadily getting back our clientele,” Collins said. “It’s a day-to-day process. Things are getting a lot better.” Collins said that Full Moon BBQ is looking to rebuild but at this point does not know where. According to its corporate website, Hobby Lobby, another site destroyed on April 27, is temporarily closed, and their reopening will be announced at a later date. Steak-Out’s phone number goes directly to a generic answering machine, and their store has been taken off the list of locations on Steak-Out’s website. Six months after the initial destruction, there has been little new construction.
“We had a lot of small businesses relocate to Northport almost immediately after the storm. There are a number of larger businesses that might be relocating here, but that has not come to pass yet.” — Katherine Ennis affected areas of Tuscaloosa, and affected businesses seem unsure of their future. CVS, which had its building damaged in the tornado, is one business that is slowly recovering. After moving employees to one of six other CVS locations in the Tuscaloosa area, the pharmacy began using a CVS-owned RV, which was last used during Hurricane Katrina, to serve as a temporary location. Manager Emily Hadden said CVS is considering the possibility of rebuilding the location in January. “CVS does have a standard building,” Hadden said. “Every time they rebuild one, it’s the current building.” The rebuilt CVS, which would follow the business’s updated standard, would also expand from 1200 square feet to 1500 square feet. Katherine Ennis, director of planning in Northport, Ala., said some businesses have moved out of the area. “We had a lot of small businesses relocate to Northport almost immediately after the storm,” Ennis said. “There are a number of larger businesses that might be relocating here, but that has not come to pass yet.” Full Moon BBQ, which was completely destroyed by the tornado, is another business that is slowly recovering. After reducing its staff from 50 down to the original 20, Full Moon relocated to a temporary location at 2231 Veteran Memorial Pkwy. in early August, said manager
According to a map issued by the City of Tuscaloosa on tuscaloosaforward.com, only a small fraction of permits issued for damaged parts of the city have been new construction, while the vast majority is “repair” and “demolition.” The reluctance of businesses to begin rebuilding right away may have to do with the possibility of changes in zoning regulation. At an open house Monday night at the Bryant Conference Center, Lee D. Einsweiler, a representative of Code Studio, the consulting firm hired by the City of Tuscaloosa, presented new zoning regulations that would amend the old code, which, according to John McConnell, Director of Planning and Development Services, hasn’t been changed since 1972. The new zoning plan would create three “village center” locations at 10th Street and I-359, 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard and Alberta City, all of which were in the path of the tornado. Tuscaloosa real estate developer and political force Stan Pate objected to the new zoning regulations, saying that Code Studio does not understand what Tuscaloosa needs. When asked about the possibility of zoning regulations affecting rebuilding, Hadden said, “We haven’t really heard anything about zoning…I don’t know how that’s going to affect the way our building looks or where it’s going to be located.”
CW | Jonathan Reed Johnny McCoy, left, and Matt Hawkins in front of the new Full Moon BBQ restaurant. Matt Hawkins, the manager, likes the new restaurant. “It’s a little bit slower because we don’t have a drive-through or a dining room, but it’s good, and we’re glad to be back. McCoy, the pit-man, was inside the restaurant that was destroyed by the April 27 tornado. “We were watching the news- James Spann- as the tornado got close and closer. Our manager, Paul, told us to get in the cooler and about three seconds after we got in the cooler, it hit.” McCoy is happy to be back at work at the new restaurant. “It’s different, but it’s okay; we will be alright until we rebuild somewhere else. Brian [the owner] is an awesome guy. During the tornado, he was very nice to his employees.” CW | Drew Hoover
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The Crimson White
LIFESTYLES
Artist discusses work, ‘possession of images’ Fred Stonehouse to showcase work on campus Stonehouseʼs paintings are influenced by his interest in the subconscious dream state. His work will be featured in the Sarah Moody Gallery through Nov. 21.
By Julie Fry Contributing Writer
The Sarah Moody Gallery in Garland Hall is showing a selection of work by Fred Stonehouse, an artist whose artwork has been shown in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Rome, Italy, and in “Juxtapose” and “Art in America” magazines. The artist now teaches at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Stonehouse spoke to Alabama students and teachers at a lecture last week about his artwork, which he has been making for more than sixty years. He has had 160 solo exhibitions. “When they said that the other night, I was surprised, and then I realized that I’m old,” Stonehouse said in the lecture. But the artist’s arms are decorated in tattoos, and he speaks with energy. Fred Stonehouse created his first piece of art in his aunt’s encyclopedia. In the encyclopedia, he saw a picture of Saturn that was so beautiful he had an impulse to color on it to “possess the image.” This is how Stonehouse thinks of art-making – a need to possess images. Even when he tries to emulate the work of another artist, the piece becomes something else because his style unconsciously comes out. “My work is peculiar, odd,” Stonehouse said, “but you can’t say it’s not distinctively me. It is my language.” But Stonehouse compares his work to any other art form. “Everything has been done before; it’s impossible to be completely original. We are all having the same conversation, but in a different voice,” Stonehouse said. History, personal and social, are important to Stonehouse, as he creates art in his own voice. He strives to “race by in panic to get to the image. Re-think things we left behind, idioms, and bring our own experience.” Stonehouse first realized his passion to possess images at a supermarket, some small-town 1960s equivalent to Walmart or Publix, where he was walking around with his mother. He found a plastic dinosaur that he instantly desired. His mom would not buy it, and seeing as he had no money, Stonehouse put the dinosaur in his mouth
Submitted Photo and carried it out with him. Certain images became themes in Stonehouse’s paintings, such as the skull. Stonehouse fixated for a while on the skull because it is a cliché image in art and attracts him because he wants to see if he can bring new life to a “misunderstood, overused” image. He grew up around a lot of skulls tattooed on the motorcyclist figures of his childhood. The skull also appeared to him in Mexico, on people wearing skull dance masks. Many of the characters in his paintings have masks, double rows of eyes, big teary eyes or bat wings. Such a character in the Sarah Moody gallery is the subject of one painting called “Last One In,” which depicts a person with wings and an angry face who holds two heavy fruits. He sits naked like a baby in the seat of a jungle tree. The selection of paintings in the Sarah Moody Gallery has a dream-like mood, said Stonehouse, who is interested in the subconscious dream state, where images come into your head rather mysteriously. “Dreams are free to do anything…there is no limit of physics. I hope [the paintings] can be open-ended,” Stonehouse said. Dreams also use recognizable symbols, and symbols that have a humorous and dark meaning appear in Stonehouse’s work.
A painting called “Dream of the Cross (Veracruz)” features a nightmare bat with a human face and torso, flying through a landscape bearing pointed teeth. Stonehouse told the lecture audience that this bat made a young kid cry the minute he saw it. “I was amused that I still have the ability to bully kids,” Stonehouse said. Although the painting has a scary subject matter, Stonehouse paints for a humorous idea and ideas of myth. People have asked Stonehouse if he worships the devil, because a theme in some of his paintings is the image of a horned head. The artist references pop culture all the time. For example, “HotStuff,” the devil in a diaper, was part of his inspiration for the devil character. Mythical monsters in the cultures of Mexico, Germany and Italy, as well as traditional dancing masks and spirit-heads, have inspired Stonehouse when he travels, because they can relate to people’s association with dreams and childhood. Stonehouse incorporates words from these languages in his work. The show in Sarah Moody is open on weekdays until 4 p.m. The exhibit will remain up through Monday, Nov. 21.
ACOUSTIC Continued from page 1
Submitted Photo Musician Tom Evanchuck will be performing with Lena Dice at the Bama Theatreʼs Acoustic Night.
“I choose what songs I play based on what they say. It usually conveys how I am feeling,” Dice said. “It’s another way to express your thoughts through music and doing something you love.” Acoustic Night was started five years ago by a student in the UA Creative Writing Department and has since drawn crowds as large as 100 to the shows. The event will take place in the Greensboro Room of The Bama Theatre and will have a cash bar and casual café atmosphere. “The interaction between the audience is very intimate,” Allgood said. “It’s like someone bringing a guitar and keyboard into your house. It’s so much better than a bar.” Doors open at 7 p.m., and tickets will cost $5. All proceeds will go directly to the artists. “We encourage UA students to come and enjoy the music,” Allgood said. “Acoustic Night promotes original musicians and offers something different to the community.” For more information, visit www.bamatheatre.org.
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
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COLUMN | MUSIC
LIFESTYLES
Ham Bagby provides experience to a youthful scene By Trey Irby
When meeting local musicians in Tuscaloosa, many students are surprised to find that these artists are in the same age range as they are. The guy who wrote “Sassprilluh Champagne” is barely out of college, the buzz band in town has a vocalist barely born in the 1980s and gigs can even be headlined by people that can’t legally drink at the bar they’re playing in. Tuscaloosa, for lack of a better term, is a place of youth. This makes Ham Bagby, leader of Ham Bagby and the Siege and all-around Tuscaloosa music maven, a rare exception. Bagby is 33, a parent to a little
boy named Milo and is ubiquitous in Tuscaloosa, which seems awfully time-consuming. “You get into a groove when you have a job and have a family,” Bagby said, “And at the same time, having to play gigs, too, with not much time for practice. You have to just get comfortable enough with the music that you can play with whoever.” Bagby is extremely comfortable. He got on stage for an unplanned two-song jam session on Oct. 22 with the amazing Birmingham rap group The Green Seed. With no prior knowledge, Bagby figured out how to play the textured vinyl cuts by ear, the type of ability that obviously comes with years
of experience. “When I was much younger, I moved away from here and moved back to Montevallo, where I went to college when I was 19,” Bagby said. “I lived in a log cabin and had power and a refrigerator and stuff, and I had nothing but a clock radio. I studied and played guitar to radio stations that I could pick up. A lot of it was [Birminghambased] 95.7 Jamz.” Bagby chose this lifestyle on purpose to, in a way, give him a musical tutorship. It sounds pretentious, but it is true that taking away the elements of our daily life on purpose can create focus, and in Bagby’s case, this is when he made a realization.
“It was at that point that I realized that contemporary music is essentially the same thing from early country and blues stuff through jazz to now,” Bagby said. “It’s more stylized than it is musically different. The beats are the same, the notes are the same, the keys are the same.” Bagby listed Run-DMC’s “Raising Hell,” which had the rap-rock collaboration “Walk This Way,” a penultimate track of the 1980s and the first true test of altering the forms of rock and rap. This makes it all the more jarring but somehow sensible when Bagby’s new record has a country ballad that is an ode to “dropping the soap.” The
record, entitled “’S***’s Crucial’ is Track Ten,” will be released soon, with a mix of crudely funny songs and “more soulful stuff.” “I haven’t done a record in five years, and I know that I’m older than a lot of the bar room guys right now who are doing what I do,” Bagby said. “I haven’t had new products – I just play gigs. For a while, I haven’t even thought about a new record. I just kind of write songs every once in a while, and I look five years later and realize that I have these songs and haven’t recorded them.” It’s crucial to get songs recorded, guys.
‘Relief at Rounders’ to raise money with music Students turn class project into relief
Page 8 • Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Editor • Stephanie Brumfield lifestyles@cw.ua.edu
LIFESTYLES this week
WEDNESDAY • Acoustic Night featuring Tom Evanchuck and Lena Dice: Bama Theatre, 7:30 p.m. •ARDT: Morgan Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
• Art Night: Kentuck Art Center, 5 p.m. •ARDT: Morgan Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. • Red Rover and Belle Adair: Green Bar
FRIDAY • ARDT: Morgan Auditorium, 5:30 p.m. • NeedToBreathe: Bama Theatre, 8 p.m.
By Heather Lightsey and Hanna Roberts The Crimson White A group of UA students have organized a relief concert tonight at Rounders to benefit the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund. The concert, titled “Relief at Rounders,” will feature musical acts ranging from the Sean Rivers Band, a country band well-known for its song “My Mind on Tuscaloosa,” to Bo Latham, a hip-hop artist who will premiere his song “4/27/11” live for the first time. Other acts include The Trophies, Wynt Earley and DJ Houndstooth. The students organized the concert as part of their music management class led by music professor Pam Penick. Bo Latham, one of the students in Penick’s class and a Tuscaloosa native, helped organize the event after having his home destroyed by the storm of April 27. “I truly believe this could be a beautiful story of struggle, perseverance, hope and unity,” Latham said. In addition to the musical performances, merchandise from the relief group T-Town, Never Down will be available for purchase. All proceeds from T-Town, Never Down merchandise will also be donated to the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund, as
Band members discuss musical influences
well as five percent of all Rounders’ By Sophia Jones sales Wednesday. Contributing Writer Lindsay Knight, a junior majoring in nursing, said that while she was Several genres of music will be repnot a student at the University at the resented at Rounders tonight for the time of the storm, she was devasstudent-organized “Relief at Rounders” tated to hear about its effect on the concert, including country, rock and hipTuscaloosa community. hop. Every performer, with the excep“I think [Relief at Rounders] is a tion of Wynt Earley, is a UA student. great relief event,” Knight said. “A Bo Latham, hip-hop artist and one of lot of students go to Rounders, and tonight’s performers, helped organized it is a well-known the concert as part of a spot on The Strip. It class project. seems like an easy “Usually for the music and effective way to management class proj• What: Relief at raise money for a ect, a group of students Rounders good cause.” will rent out a small Dillon Dyer, a orchestra room and do a • Where: Rounders on junior majoring in twenty-minute show for The Strip public relations, their friends,” Latham agreed that Relief at said. “I thought, why • When: Tonight at 10 Rounders is a great not do something cooler p.m. way to help out the and bigger than that, community while still something that could • Cost: $5 cover being able to have fun give back to the comwith friends. munity. So, we came up “This was a time that people will with the idea to have the tornado bennever forget, a time that will be a efit.” burden on many people’s hearts,” Latham will release his new song Dyer said. “4/27/11” at the concert. The concert starts at 10 p.m. and “Relief at Rounders is the perfect platlasts until 2 a.m. There will be a form for the release,” he said. “People $5 cover fee at the door. All of the will be coming to this concert to have a cover charges will go to benefit the good time, but obviously to support the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund. city too, because we still need it. The Extra donations will be collected. song ‘4/27/11’ is my way of taking what
IF YOU GO ...
we went through that day and putting it into one song and one time to share it with everyone, taking the memories we were forced to make on that day and moving on to make new ones.” Latham, a public relations major from Tuscaloosa, has been writing music since the age of 10 and was first inspired when he heard a Tupac song. “The first time I heard a Tupac song, I really related with the passion in his voice, his passion for music and for where he was from,” Latham said. “I try to find meaning in the everyday… Whether I’m sitting at a bar or picking up rubble from a tornado, I say to myself, ‘Okay, let me take this moment and resonate it with my music.” Sean Rivers, a UA senior, will perform his song “My Mind on Tuscaloosa” that he wrote for his friend Loryn Brown, who died in the storm. Conner Barnes, who goes by the name of “DJ Houndstooth,” will also perform at the event. Barnes, a New College senior with a depth study in music and entrepreneurship, is a Tuscaloosa native. “When Bo called me and asked if I was interested in this event, I was totally on board,” Barnes said. “Relief at Rounders will be a good way for people to come support good music and a good cause at the same time. Tuscaloosa is where I grew up, and we don’t want people to forget about the tornado.”
9 Wednesday, November 2, 2011
LIFESTYLES
The Crimson White
Fashion students’ designs hit the runway T
he University’s apparel design program featured 26 seniors studying fashion in the “Fashion for Life” show last night at Bryant Conference Center. The students were required to take part in the fashion show as part of their final apparel design class, for which they created five garments from scratch to make 10 different looks.
Photos by Drew Hoover
SPORTS
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Team practices same way, avoids hype
Page 10 • Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Editor •Tony Tsoukalas crimsonwhitesports@ gmail.com
By Laura Owens Senior Sports Reporter lkowens@crimson.ua.edu @laurako_O
While the game Saturday between Alabama and LSU has been labeled “The Game of the Century,” the Crimson Tide players are focused on tuning out the hype and facing this week’s opponent like they have every other team. “We’re going to do the same, prepare every week like it’s the national championship,” senior tight end Brad Smelley said. “It’s just the next game is the most important game. We’ve tried to downplay the hype a little bit. It’s all about us and what we do. If we execute, we’ll have a good day on Saturday.” Defensive lineman Jesse Williams said to avoid some of the buzz he listens to music as he walks around campus. “[Students] know a lot of the time that you don’t want to talk about the game all the time, especially during class,” he said. “I just try and be polite and not knock anyone off. I try long
sleeves, long pants, with a hoodie usually works. Like I said, headphones, walk fast, and the tattoos are a little intimidating, so it kind of works to my advantage.”
lar season or different conferences and stuff like that, but they just know it’s a huge game, and I’m sure whatever the outcome, they’ll start to get an idea of how crazy it is over here,” he said.
According to rankings and stats, LSU will be the most talented team Alabama has played this season, and getting behind early to the Tigers could be much more costly. “Obviously, we don’t want to get behind in the game, but as far as that’s A recent rival Slow starts concerned, if that’s just how it goes in the game, we’re going to have to bounce In the past couple of years, as both In the past couple of games, the Tide back and keep playing,” Smelley said. teams have risen in national promi- hasn’t been starting strong, letting “Just because we get behind that nence, this game has grown in impor- opponents get early points and early doesn’t mean we’re going to stop fighttance. Over the past decade, Alabama leads. Both Ole Miss and Tennessee ing.” is 3-7 against the Tigers, having lost last scored first in their respective games year’s game 24-21 in Baton Rouge, La. against Alabama. The game against Heisman voting “It’s always a smash-mouth game,” Tennessee was also the only game this Smelley said. “We love playing in it, and season Alabama went into the half [LSU] has kind of become a pretty big without a lead. While all the hype has been around rival. Everybody hypes us this game, so “I don’t really make much of it,” running back Trent Richardson as a we’re excited to play in it, ready to get Smelley said. “We’ve had games where Heisman trophy candidate this year, after it and compete with these guys.” we came out rolling, and a couple of center William Vlachos revealed forWilliams said the people back in games where it took a quarter to get mer Alabama running back Mark Australia don’t quite understand the rolling. I think we’re ultimately being Ingram’s vote for the Heisman trophy magnitude of this game. efficient and getting all 11 guys on the last year. “They grasp the concept, but with- same page. We usually got that done. “Ingram actually voted for me last out it being the national championship, That slow start, just got to push through year for Heisman,” Vlachos said. they don’t really understand the regu- it.” “Seriously.”
SPORTS
this weekend FRIDAY • Women’s Volleyball vs Florida: 3 p.m., Gainesville, Fla. •Swimming & Diving vs LSU: TBA, Baton Rouge, La.
SATURDAY • Football vs LSU: 7 p.m. •Women’s Rowing: All day, Chattanooga, Tenn. The Crimson Tide practices Tuesday afternoon.
CW | Harish Rao
UA STUDENT MEDIA
The Crimson White
SPORTS
11
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Crimson Tide practices on Tuesday for their next home game against LSU. Alabama (No. 2) will play LSU (No. 1) this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
CW | Harish Rao
Free Photo with Santa When: Saturday, November 5th, Noon - 2:00PM Where: SUPe Store Tent on the Quad Tell him what you want this year (Besides a Bama National Championship, of course).
12 Wednesday, November 2, 2011
SPORTS
The Crimson White
VOLLEYBALL
Tide volleyball faces tough competition on road By Morgan Upton Contributing Writer The Crimson Tide volleyball team will travel to Florida and South Carolina for this weekend’s matchups. The Tide will travel to Gainesville for Friday night’s competition. Head coach Ed Allen expects a tough match from the Gators, who have lost two games in a row. “It’s always a difficult place to play,” he said. “Probably increasingly more difficult after the two losses. They’re looking to come out of a slump pretty quickly. We think they’ve got as much talent, if not the best talent, in the league.” Florida’s senior setter Kelly Murphy, who had the highest hitting percentage in the first matchup against the Tide, is also rumored to be a frontrunner for Southeastern Conference Volleyball Player of the Year. Alabama will have help in the form of junior Kayla Fitterer, though, who is returning from a minor injury that kept her out of the first games against the Gators and Gamecocks. “I’m excited to get out there,” Fitterer said. “I haven’t played them all year, and it killed me from the bench watching them play against us.” The Tide’s lineup will be shuffled around this weekend, putting much of the focus on senior Stephanie Riley. “This new lineup requires
CW | Margo Smith Left: Andrea McQuaid (3) and Katherine White (14) block at the net during the Tideʼs game against Florida Sunday afternoon. Above: Alabama played host to Florida Sunday afternoon in an SEC matchup at Foster Auditorium.
Stephanie to play in all six rotations and run a 5-1 around her, creating a defensive challenge for us,” Allen said. The 5-1 rotation is a tougher
serve-receive rotation than the normal 4-2 rotation. Fitterer said practice would be extremely important this week in preparation with the new lineup.
“We need to finish with a strong week of practice,” she said. “We need to just work on us right now, especially this week with some changes in the lineup.” Riley is the lone senior for this year’s Tide squad. With six games remaining in the season, and the fact that she is now a key player for the weekend, Riley has an opportunity to
influence the team. “My main goal throughout the whole season was just to impact this program in anyway I can,” Riley said. “Coach and I talk a lot about how I might not exactly be here to see the results of our hard work this year, but he keeps reminding me that I do have an impact. I want to make sure that I keep working hard and putting
everything out there so I can set an example for the girls next year and have an effect on where this team goes in the future.” Alabama will play at Florida on Friday at 3 p.m. and at South Carolina on Sunday at 12 p.m. before returning to Foster Auditorium for the last home games of the season.
MEN’S TENNIS
Tide gears up for national indoor championships The Crimson Tide menʼs tennis team heads into the National Indoor Championships fresh off a dominant performance at home.
By Chad Troyan Contributing Writer Alabama’s men’s tennis team is on fire, coming off an impressive performance at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships. The Tide collected seven wins during day one, six of which were in singles competitions. Alabama’s day one singles winners included Jarryd Botha, Daniil Proskura, Carlos Taborga, Michael Thompson, Stuart Kenyon and Harris Barnard. The Tide’s only doubles victory on day one came from the Harris Barnard/Stuart Kenyon pairing, who beat Furman’s Nate Collins and Tyler Droll. The men had a breakout day during the second day of competition. The Tide collected 20 wins, 12 of which were in singles competition. Alabama’s Thompson, Ta b o r g a , Proskura, Vikram Reddy and Rens van der Vis each had two victories. Kenyon and Barnard each added another victory to the already impressive performance on day two. One of the many high points of the day, however, was the Tide sweeping all eight of the doubles matches. Coach Billy Pate acknowledged that even though they will face tougher competition moving forward, he was still happy with the overall performance.
CW| Amelia J. Brackin “I was pleasantly surprised,” Pate said. “We had a lot of bright spots, including sophomores Carlos Taborga and Daniil Proskura.” The Tide finished the competition with four wins on the final day of competition. Alabama collected three of those wins in doubles. Senior Vikram Reddy tallied Alabama’s sole singles win during the final day of the competition. Despite a good performance overall by the Tide, Pate still believed there were some things that could have gone better.
“We still left a few wins out there,” Pate said. With the Fall Championships over, the Tide now looks forward to their next match in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships. This competition will take place Nov. 3 through 6 in Flushing, NY. Some teams being represented in this match include Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pepperdine and the University of Southern California, the reigning national champion. Pate said there are three keys to success heading into their upcoming matches. “The first would have to be mental toughness,” Pate said. “We need to be able to keep our composure.” Pate said he believed the second key to success would be being able to start the day with energy and keeping their focus, as well. He said the last key would be up to the athletes. “They need to focus on controlling the things they can control,” Pate said.
DOWNTIME
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2011
PAGE 13
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14 Wednesday, November 2, 2011
SPORTS
The Crimson White
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Tide chemistry relies on old names, fresh faces By Laura Owens Senior Sports Reporter lkowens@crimson.ua.edu @laurako_O
HOOVER, Ala. – With the 20112012 basketball season only a couple of weeks away, it seems Alabama’s team identity this year will be a mix between polishing the old and breaking in the new. While last year’s team put up impressive defensive numbers – including holding opponents to an average of 59 points per game and 39 percent from the field – the new class of players features some shooters as well. Freshmen Trevor Lacey and Rodney Cooper both came out of high school averaging more than 31 points a game, while Nick Jacobs and Levi Randolph each averaged around 20 points per game. “Last year, we only had one [main outside shooter], and this year, I think we have at least three or four, so I think it’s going to make it easier for everybody,” said senior forward JaMychal Green. “I think we’re going to be a great offensive team this year also. The defense won’t just have to pack it down on me. When they’re knocking down shots, it’ll make the game easier for myself.” Last season, Alabama’s 12-4 run in the SEC wasn’t enough to counter its 13-8 nonconference schedule, which kept the Tide out of the NCAA tournament, to the team’s surprise. “Beating Georgia two times in a row within one week, I thought we would get in before them,” Green said. “We were hurt, but Coach Grant kept us focused, getting us ready for the NIT, and I think the NIT was a great experience for us also. We went in with a chip on our shoulders, just to show them that even though we didn’t get in [the NCAA tournament], we’ll still go in and compete.” Head coach Anthony Grant said he hoped the team could take the knowledge they gained from postseason play and pass it on to the younger guys. While
JaMychal Green and Trevor Releford celebrate during the Tide’s NIT quarterfinal victory against Miami.
CW | Margo Smith the Tide does return its three top scorers in Green, junior Tony Mitchell and sophomore Trevor Releford, Alabama also added five freshmen to its roster. “When you look at the six guys that return from last year that had a chance to participate in [the NIT], I think it did a couple of things,” Grant said. “Number one, the experience of playing in the postseason is invaluable. Number two, hopefully it adds to the hunger that they have.” Green is the team’s only senior and will certainly be looked to for leadership. However, Grant
said he also expects leadership from the younger players. “I define leadership as influence, and they all have an opportunity to influence their teammates,” he said. “They have an accountability that they have to themselves and to each other, in terms of impacting our team and meeting the expectations that we have on a daily basis. Certainly, with Myke, Tony and Trevor, they’re our most experienced guys. You would expect them to provide that leadership, but I think all of our guys will have a part to play when it comes to that.”
Top right: Trevor Releford drives against Ole Miss at home last season. CW | John Michael Simpson Bottom right: JaMychal Green goes up for a shot against Georgia. The Tide beat UGA two times in one week last season. CW | Jonathan Norris