SPORTS
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Swimming and diving set to compete in SEC championships
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
See coverage of a lecture by Bryan Norton, a course on professional business etiquette and the Mardi Gras ball on
CW.UA.EDU
Serving the University of Alabama since 1894
Vol. 115, Issue 89
Mardi Gras Party
SGA ELECTIONS
Board confident in online voting By Victor Luckerson Senior Staff Reporter
Fast Facts •
March’s SGA election will In the 2003 SGA not be the first University elecelection, 4,567 votes were tion to be conducted online. cast fraudulently due to Beginning with online voting, causing the Homecoming in 2001, the University routinely conductneed for a do-over ed online Homecoming and A similar situation SGA elections. However, a controversy in spring 2003 led arose again in the 2003 to a return to paper balloting. Homecoming elections, JVote, a Java-based plug-in, leading to the abondonwas the voting tool used in the ment of online voting 2003 SGA election. On election day several dozen students This year’s elections will complained that the program be the first since 2003 to had told them they already be held online voted when they hadn’t, raising suspicion of vote tampering. A few days later The Crimson White concluded that 4,567 of the votes could not be properly accounted for and may have been fraudulent. The election was voided and a paper election was held in the Ferguson Center several weeks later. Though no culprit was ever named, it was determined that someone used a list of social security numbers and birthdates to commit the fraud. The election predated the current MyBama Web site and campuswide IDs, so students had to use personal information to log into the voting Web site. Problems also arose during Homecoming in fall 2003 with a separate, e-mail based voting program. These controversies
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CW | Marion Walding and graphic by Eric McHargue
LEFT: The Zone in Bryant-Denny Stadium Tuesday evening was decorated for UA Housing and Residential Communitiesʼ Mardi Gras celebration for students. It lasted from 8 p.m. to around midnight and had a seven-piece jazz band to provide the atmosphere as students danced and ate.
RIGHT: Students enjoy their food and socialize with one another at the Mardi Gras celebration. Although tickets were sold in
advance, they changed the process to asking for a donation at the door. Ticket proceeds will go to local charity Tuscaloosaʼs One Place, a private, non-profit agency that helps thousands of Tuscaloosa area families each year.
See VOTING, page 3
State considers UA to implement new audit program texting ban By Victor Luckerson Senior Staff Reporter
By Danielle Drago Senior Staff Reporter
A bill prohibiting text messaging while driving may soon be enacted by the state legislature. State Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, proposed the bill, which would ban text messaging by drivers of all ages, and if convicted four times within two years, a driver could lose their license. Under the bill, a driver would be fined $25 for texting or talking on a phone without a hands-free device
Fast Facts • Cell phone ban would fine $25 for first offense, $50 for second, $75 for third and count for three license points each offense
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Four offenses in a two year span would result in license suspension
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The ban would be for drivers of all ages
See PHONE, page 3
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is to create a four year plan,” DegreeWorks you can make SGA Secretary of the Senate sure you’re going to graduate Meg McCrummen said. “With See DEGREE, page 3
TUSCALOOSA CITY COUNCIL
INSIDE Council votes on new historic designations Today’s paper International Involvement Week ......................3
Thunderstorms
What is DW? It’s DegreeWorks, the new degree audit program launching at the University in June that will help students find the proper classes for their major. “It takes so much confusion out of advising and registration,” SGA Secretary of the Senate Meg McCrummen said. “It’s incredible.” DegreeWorks will replace Tide Navigator, the current degree audit system. “Tide Navigator just isn’t meeting our needs,” said Mark Nelson, vice president for student affairs. The search for a Tide Navigator replacement began years ago when the registrar’s office saw several
presentations of degree audit software. Last year DegreeWorks was chosen as the program that best fit the University’s needs, Nelson said. The software, developed by SunGard Higher Education, includes several unique features administrators hope will streamline the advising process. DegreeWorks will include a standardized checklist for each major so students can see what their requirements are. “It sort of mirrors the check sheet system a lot of our colleges are using,” Nelson said. The program will also allow students to develop a four year schedule to ensure they have the proper classes lined up to graduate in four years. “One thing that is always brought up is how valuable it
Opinions: Problems with eLearning.................4 Help promote culture awareness................4 Friday the 13th movie review .....................5 Sports: Swimming and diving.......................6 Menʼs basketball bounces back.........................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
By RF Rains Assistant Photo Editor A majority of the council’s time Tuesday night was spent discussing two new historic designations. The Alabama Book Store on University Boulevard was unanimously declared a Historic Property. David M. Jones purchased the property fifteen months ago from the granddaughter of the architect David Whilldin. Jones’ family has leased the building since 1942 when they converted it from a restaurant to a bookstore. He says they have made no changes to the building’s exterior except to add awnings. Original City Association officer Linda Roberts spoke in favor of the measure, “mainly because of Mr. Whilldin and his importance as an architect.”
The Alabama Book Store was originally built in 1939 by David Whilldin, who also designed the Bama Theater, the RBC Ventura Building and the gate to Legion Field in Birmingham. The building already has state historic designation and has been recommended for national historical designation. The Birmingham Preservation Society will be putting out a book on Whilldin some time in the future. More contention surrounded the vote to expand the College Park Historic District to include all of College Park on University Boulevard and the College Park Shopping Center on Queen City Boulevard. The property had been a historic buffer zone, a designation that carries less stringent regulations than those governing a historic zone. Properties
surrounding historic districts are often zoned as historic buffer to ensure that the Historic Preservation Society has a say in the appearance of the buildings. Preservation Consultant Linda Ball said, “This is not a zoning issue. This is about protecting historic property.” She said College Park should have been included in the historic zone all along. David Harrison and Gene Carpenter, property owners in the area, sent lawyers to speak against the designation on their behalf. “With all due respect,” Harrison’s lawyer said, “this is a zoning issue.” Both representatives argued there was nothing of historical significance on their properties so historic buffer should be adequate in protecting the College
Park Neighborhood’s character. Harrison’s lot is empty, and College Park Shopping Center sits on Harrison’s. Harrison’s representative said he has “no nefarious intentions for his property.” He said he does not want to build on it and is afraid that the historic designation will “limit the prospects of selling [his] property… How far will the HPC go?” The vote was 4-3 in favor with Taylor, Almond and Lundell dissenting. Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the Tuscaloosa Airshow on April 4. General admission is free but reserve tickets can be bought online at Tuscaloosa. com or at the Tuscaloosa Water and Sewer Department. Reserve seats are $20 and grandstand tickets are $10. The council recognized February 2009 as “Career and Technical Education Month.”