The Crimson White - 2/26/09

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Walk-off homerun lifts Tide to victory in extra innings

Serving the University of Alabama since 1894

SGA | VP OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Vol. 115, Issue 94

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

Taylor, Fowler seek office Right of way

only secure in crosswalks

CW | Marion R Walding Collin Taylor, left, and James Fowler, right, are the two candidates running for the office of vice president of external affairs.

Taylor sets sights volunteer work, lobbying state, communtity growth

By Danielle Drago Senior Staff Reporter

Anyone who is a first year student or has studied late during finals with the “Study or Die” initiative has felt the effects of Collin Taylor on campus.

Taylor, the current director of recruitment for the SGA, said he helped to improve the recruiting programs and started the “Study or Die” initiative to serve the student body.

Now, Taylor, a sophomore majoring in secondary education and social science, is

vying for the position of vice president of external affairs, which he said he became interested in through his work with the SGA. “I want to seek continued growth [in the community].

As current director of recruitment I feel that I was always in the community seeing different needs and getting to talk to other students about what they would like to see going on campus. That’s what really encouraged me to run,” Taylor said.

See TAYLOR, page 2

Fowler proposes railroad quiet zones, Sunday sales, Dining Dollar Reform

By Danielle Drago Senior Staff Reporter James Fowler has been busy.

As a senator for the College of Commerce and Business Administration, Fowler has had his hand in many programs on campus, including the Ideas to Action initiative and student affairs. Now, as a sophomore, Fowler is seeking the position of executive vice president of external affairs.

Fowler said his experience is what propelled him to run for the position.

As a freshman, Fowler par-

ticipated in First Year Forum.

During his sophomore year he serves as a senator for the business college, where he was appointed to the position of protempore. Fowler is also a chairman for the student affairs committee, and helped to establish the Ideas to Action initiative.

“Through my experience, it became a passion of mine to see results. I like working with administrators and city officials to build relationships and make plans for the future. These are all things that make

See FOWLER, page 2

By Patty Vaughan Contributing Writer

Fast Facts

Over the past few years, Alabama’s student population has increased by thousands of students. With this increase came a growing number of cars, and an increase in the odds the two will collide.

“Students cross the street at any place they want to and they assume people will stop for them,” Ronnie Robertson, director of transportation services, said. “It’s difficult for us to make students aware that that is not always the case.”

If a pedestrian enters a crosswalk, then they have the right away and cars are obligated to stop, said Robertson. However, it is common sense for the pedestrian crossing to make eye contact with the driver before they step out into the street.

“If they [the driver] doesn’t see you and there is not eye

• If a pedestrian enters a crosswalk then the pedestrian has the right of way

• Cross at crosswalks, when the crosswalk says “WALK”

• Pedestrians not using crosswalks must yield to oncoming traffic

contact, I would be very hesitant to step out in a crosswalk,” Robertson said.

According to the State Codes of Alabama, pedestrians are obligated to use the signs “WALK,” and “DON’T WALK.” The codes also said that when there are no traffic-control signals, the driver should always

See SAFETY, page 2

CW | Norman Hunyh Rachel Hester, a sophomore majoring in marketing, and Garrett Henderson, a freshman majoring in vocal performance, use the crosswalk outside the Moody Music Building.

UA earns ‘C’ on Green Report Card

By Patty Vaughan Contributing Writer The University’s grade on the Green Report Card for 2009 went up a letter from last year.

In 2008, the Capstone received a D+ rating. However, this year the University was given a C. The report card is published by an the College Sustainability Report Card, an independent organization that assesses many universities, said Kristina Hopton-Jones, the director of the University Dining Service.

Some of the categories included in the report are administration,

UA weather

TODAY

climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement and transportation.

In the past, the University was only graded on the information that was offered on the Web. However, this year different departments at the University were actually contacted by the organization to gain more information that may not be on the Web. Bama Dining and Student Involvement were the categories that received the highest grades.

“Bama Dining has improved and expanded the recycling program to include all kitchens and all

INSIDE Today’s paper

Ad Team takes on binge drinking ...................3 Opinions: CW endorses Fowler for VP spot ...4

Cloudy

72º/54º

Friday

72º/52º

Scattered thunderstorms

Saturday

59º/36º

Scattered thunderstorms

Innisfree moves to new location ...................6 Baseball pulls out win in extra innings............9 Morgan gets pitching wisdom from dad ... 10 Bankhead brings in Jean Thompson .............. 13

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

operations,” Hopton-Jones said. “We serve more than 927,000 meals per year, and in the summer alone, food waste has decreased 25 percent.”

Bama Dining has set up so that all of their fryer oil goes into a biodiesel and all used ink cartridges go to local schools so they can receive money for recycling them, Hopton-Jones said.

Trays from the all-you-can-eat dining halls have been removed, which decreases food waste by 6,000 pounds per week and conserves about 12,000 gallons of water per week, HoptonJones said.

“We have implemented a

composting program in partnership with UA ground and arboretum,” Hopton-Jones said. “We send about 6,000 pounds of pre-consumer waste to the composite pile every week.”

Bama Dining has been working close with the SGA to help promote and educate the benefits of removing trays from the dining halls, HoptonJones said.

“We also worked with the SGA’s Office of Environmental Concerns and UA Recycling for Game Day recycling drive this fall on the Quad and in the stadium,” Hopton-Jones said.

Other SEC schools such as Auburn

University, University of Florida and the University of Georgia received grades such as B-, B+ and C-.

The University received a B in transportation.

“I think there are a lot of great things underway on campus by various groups and departments that have not been widely publicized,” Hopton-Jones said. “I think all areas will continue to be innovative and begin considering the best way to tell their stories.”

To read more and learn more about the Green Report Card one can visit the Web site at greenreportcard. org.

Candidates debate diversity, qualifications

By Martha Gravlee Contributing Writer On Wednesday evening, the concert hall in Moody Music Building was filled with the voices of candidates for the upcoming SGA elections rather than those of vocal performance majors.

Wednesday’s event, according to moderator and Crimson White Assistant Photo Editor RF Rains, marked a return to tradition for the Mallet Assembly.

“We used to have the last word debate every year,” Rains said. “It gives us good visibility and helps us stay true to the spirit of Mallet.”

Candidates for each of the executive SGA positions participated, including the three who are running unopposed. Each candidate introduced him or herself and defined what they believed the duties of their chosen office to be, as well as their qualifications.

The debate followed a question-and-answer format in which Rains posed a series of questions to each set of candidates in the contested races, giving both the opportunity to answer the question or rebut their opponent’s answer.

At the end of the debate, each candidate asked his or her opponent a question.

The debate lasted about for two hours, going nearly half an hour over the estimated time limit. Rains said she didn’t think it was a big problem.

“We got all of our questions answered,” she said. “I feel like it went over a bit, but overall, I think it went well.”

During the final segment of the debate, presidential candidate Kendra Key asked her opponent, Steven Oliver, what he thought the roots of a lack of diversity in the SGA were and how he would combat it should he be elected.

“I’m not really sure why,” he said. He spoke of implementing an application process for appointed positions, which would allow students of all races, sexual orientations and social groups to be a part of the SGA. The question Oliver posed to Key expressed doubt that she is qualified to represent students in all areas of campus life, pointing out that she spoke often about her work in environmental and international student affairs. Key replied by mentioning extensive work with other

Check out cw.ua.edu for video coverage of the debate

areas of the University, such as expanding parking spot choices.

The candidates for the position of vice president of student affairs were given the most popular questions among audience members. The room filled with laughter when Rains asked questions about the availability of birth control and abortion counseling, as well as whether excessive drinking is a problem on campus.

“I believe that if we were using condoms to promote student safety, we’re knocking out two birds with one stone,” said candidate Tyler Valeska.

On the subject of binge drinking, opponent Austin Creel said it was a choice.

“We’re from Alabama, we like to drink, we like to get drunk,” he said, a statement that Valeska later referenced, asking students to stay sober when voting.

SGA elections will be held March 3 and 4.

2

PAGE Thursday

February 26, 2009

TODAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

• Evening Conversations with Paul R. Jones — 5 p.m., Room 20 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library

• Public Night Sky-Viewing Session — 7 to 10 p.m., Moundville Archaeological Park

• Family Discovery Series Concert with the Tuscaloosa Symphony — 6 p.m., Moody Music Building Concert Hall

• UP presents Movies in the Ferg with “Quantum of Solace” — 2 and 7 p.m., Ferguson Theater

• “Henry V” presented by the UA Department of Theatre and Dance — 7:30 p.m., Gallaway Theatre, runs through Saturday with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Send announcements and campus news to cwnews@sa.ua.edu

Student Football Ticket Survey available online

A Student Football Ticket Survey has been developed by a Manderson MBA team in collaboration with the UA Ticket Office. All students currently enrolled at the University are encouraged to take this survey so student feedback can be used to better structure the student football ticket process.

The Web site to take the survey is studenttickets.speedsurvey. com. The survey will be open through March 6.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Binge drinking is a big problem across the nation at college campuses. College presidents are constantly trying to find a way to help students make wiser decisions during their experimental years.”

— Terri Henley, UA Ad Team advisor

BIRTHDAYS We want to list your birthday here. Send your name, birthdate, year and major to cwnews@sa.ua.edu. Put “birthday” in the subject line. And look for birthday greetings from us on your special day.

THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY 1993: At 12:18 p.m., a terrorist bomb explodes in a parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, leaving a crater 60 feet wide and causing the collapse of several steelreinforced concrete floors in the vicinity of the blast.

Although the terrorist bomb failed to critically damage the main structure of the skyscrapers, six people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured. The World Trade Center itself suffered more than $500 million in damage. After the attack, authorities evacuated 50,000 people from the buildings, hundreds of whom were suffering from smoke inhalation.

Source: history.com

THE CRIMSON WHITE EDITORIAL • Corey Craft, editor-in-chief, craft@cw.ua.edu, 348-8049 • Phil Owen, managing editor, owen@cw.ua.edu, 348-6146 • James Jaillet, production editor • Breckan Duckworth, design editor • Robert Bozeman, assistant design editor • Marion Walding, photo editor • RF Rains, assistant photo editor • Kelli Abernathy, chief copy editor • Paul Thompson, opinions editor • Dave Folk, news editor • Brett Bralley, news editor • Ryan Mazer, lifestyles editor • CJ McCormick, assistant lifestyles editor • Greg Ostendorf, sports editor • Ryan Wright, assistant sports editor • Eric McHargue, graphics editor • Andrew Richardson, Web editor

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• Drew Gunn, advertising manager, 348-8995, cwbiz manager@sa.ua.edu • Jeff Haas, territory manaer, 348-8044, territorymg2@ sa.ua.edu • Joe Greenwood, zones 3, (McFarland), 348-8735, smcwzone3-7@sa.ua.edu • Lance Hutchison, zone 4 (Northport), 348-8054, zone4@sa.ua.edu • Chris Green, zone 6 (15th Street), 348-6876, chrispgreen1@gmail.com

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TAYLOR Continued from page 1

Taylor said the position meant cooperating with outside communities.

“It’s not only looking at the outside community of Tuscaloosa and our state and what students feel like we can help out with, but also bringing the external community internal to the students and looking at issues that affect students right here on campus,” Taylor said.

In addition, he said student interests would be at the heart of the job.

“One of the main things about it is looking at the issues [in order to] lobby for students [and] what students want,” Taylor said.

Taylor has been under student recruitment for two years, where after his freshman year was appointed to director.

He also was a member of the

FOWLER Continued from page 1

me passionate to work for the students,” Fowler said.

Connections to officials off campus, Fowler said, is what sets him apart for the position.

“Through working in the senate I’ve been able to make the connections that we need for somebody in the position [of VP for external affairs]. I think it’s imperative that we have some-

undergraduate program and services standing committee, a group in cooperation with the SGA. “That gave me a lot of experience working with administrators across campus,” Taylor said.

Taylor said his most successful accomplishment on campus was his work to remold student recruitment at the University.

“A lot of times before [my involvement], I felt like there was just a committee there. What I really worked to do was to make sure we not only had programming, but we actually went out to schools and we got to talk to different students. Then we would host these different students to come on campus to have personal sit down with them,” he said.

Among Taylor’s goals if he were to be elected include expanding the Crimson Choice program and unifying campus.

Taylor said that housing, especially off-campus housing, was a major complaint among students. To combat this problem, he said he wanted to expand the Crimson Choice program, which inspects many different offcampus housing options.

In addition, the unification of campus was something that Taylor said was important.

“One of [my] biggest [goals] is unifying campus. We all have our busy schedules, we all participate in different organizations. But [I want to] make sure we reach out to everyone. [I want to] make sure that everyone is having a great time at the University,” he said.

Taylor said he also wanted to encourage service.

“A lot of students do participate in volunteering in the community, but that’s something that we can always increase.

There is always someone in the community that needs help,”

Taylor said.

Taylor said he aimed to increase student awareness as well.

“I hope to make the external community internal and make students more aware of what is going on in their surrounding community, and in the state. I hope to make sure that off-campus students feel like they are a part of the University. [I] want to make sure that we have the same tradition, the same UA family that we have here by bringing each student back in,” Taylor said.

Above all, Taylor said his passion for the job qualified him to take the position.

“I’m passionate about this issue. I’m passionate about UA and the community around us.

All we need is the right person in this job to get students in the community getting involved on campus, and I feel like I’m the person for that,” Taylor said.

one working who has those relationships. I’ve had meetings with Mayor Maddox and Councilman Lee Garrison and the University administration. We know each other by name,” he said.

Fowler’s goals if he were to be elected include plans to install a railroad quiet zone in Tuscaloosa, along with the city council, in order to make oncampus and off-campus housing more peaceful.

Fowler also plans to work with Mayor Maddox to develop a plan

to introduce Sunday alcohol sales to the city of Tuscaloosa.

“I feel like [Sunday sales] are an issue that students are concerned about. Students want their voice to be heard, and council members are really reaching out [to the University]. [My goal is] to have forums to let students have their voice heard,” Fowler said.

Fowler aims to expand the Crimson Choice program, the Bama Cash and Dining Dollar program, as well as the 348-RIDE services on campus.

“We’ve had seven times as many students use the [348-RIDE service] this year as compared with last year and we still have the same number of vans. We’ve got to work to add more vans to that route. Not everyone uses it because they are intoxicated, but if students who don’t designate a driver and are planning on using the service are told it will be an hour [until the van comes] there are many people on campus who say they will drive instead. That’s

dangerous. We need to add more vans, and that’s something that I’ve been working on” he said.

He also plans on starting an on-campus laundry program, in addition to obtaining a federal grant which will facilitate a textbook rental program.

Fowler said providing transportation to away football games was one of his priorities “We’d like to get our students together and go as a group. It’s going to be a lot more fun,” he said.

Fowler said that the biggest problem he wants to fix on campus is students worrying about finances.

“I think with the economic situation we are in right now, students are struggling financially.

Students shouldn’t be worried about monetary issues. They should be concerned with their schoolwork and exploring the college experience. We’re trying to increase the quality of student life and my platform is something that reaches all students.

These are things that are going to touch everyone,” Fowler said.

Fowler said that if elected, he would waste no time.

“If I’m elected, the day I get inaugurated — it’s go time,” he said.

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SAFETY Continued from page 1

yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. However, the code also states that a pedestrian shall never leave a curb while a vehicle is close at hand.

“Crosswalks provide a designated area that vehicle traffic should heighten their awareness to the possibility of pedestrian traffic,” said Chris D’Esposito, assistant director of transportation services. “Individuals should always avoid crossing in the middle of roads or between vehicles for the pure fact that a driver is focused on the operation of his or her vehicle and may be less aware of the possibility of pedestrians.”

The state codes also declared pedestrians that do not use crosswalks must always yield to oncoming traffic. Also, when a pedestrian reaches a crosswalk, they must follow it and not walk across the intersection.

“We’re concerned about student’s safety and we’re concerned about making sure that students do know what they can and can’t do as a pedestrian when walking across campus,” Robertson said.

Robertson said a student is at fault if they do not have the right away and they are hit, even if they are in a crosswalk.

Around campus there are lighted crosswalks with buttons that can be pushed. The University is unable to put these crosswalks everywhere, however, because they’re $30,000 apiece.

Along with the lighted crosswalks, Transportation Services have a project every spring to update the roads. Their first priority is to repaint the crosswalks and replace reflectors.

Robertson said he wished students would take advantage of crosswalks because it’s safer for students and drivers.

To learn more about the codes and traffic law of Alabama, visit legislature.state.al.us/ CodeofAlabama/1975/coatoc. htm. There is also a Safer Living Guide provided by the UAPD at police.ua.edu/slg.html.

The Crimson White

NEWS

Thursday, February 26, 2009

3

UA Ad Team fights binge drinking

By Sydney Holtzclaw Contributing Writer As students make their way to early morning classes Wednesday, they noticed 500 black Frisbees with blue less-than symbols lying in the grass of the Quad.

These Frisbees marked the first of many reminders The LessThanUThink Campaign, an initiative created by the UA Ad Team, will be displaying on campus this week in an effort to reduce the over-consumption of alcohol by college students.

Every year, the Ad Team is given a client, a set of objectives and a budget by the American Advertising Federation as a part of the National Students Advertising Competition, said Morgan Welch, UA Ad Team account executive.

“This year we are working with the Century Council to combat binge drinking,” Welch said. “It’s us up against binge drinking.”

According to their Web site, the Century Council has been working with colleges and universities for the past 10 years to create strategies to promote alcohol education on campuses.

“Unlike previous years in which the client for the competition has been a big profit

“We’re hoping to make a difference ... We’re not trying to get students to stop drinking; we’re just trying to get students to stop and think.”

— Terri Henley, Ad Team advisor

making company such as Coca-Cola, this year the client is a non-profit organization,” said Terri Henley, the team’s advisor. “Century Council is made up of a group of alcoholic beverage distillers who want to put out a message encouraging their customers and young adults to not drink excessively.”

After recently being named number 19 on the list of party schools in the country, the Ad Team said they feel the UA campus could benefit from the LessThanUThink campaign.

“Binge drinking is a big problem across the nation at college campuses,” Henley said. “College presidents are constantly trying to find a way to help students make wiser decisions during their experimental years.”

Welch said part of the problem was the perception gap in what is over consumption and what isn’t.

“Many students believe binge drinking is blacking out; however binge drinking, as defined by the govern-

ment, is four or more beers for a woman and five or more beers for a man in a two hour period.”

In order to fight binge drinking the Ad Team has decided to take an active role on campus for the next two days. The team hopes that by highlighting the comical but distasteful effects of consuming too much alcohol they will be able to get students to re-evaluate their drinking habits.

“This year we are taking a non-traditional approach,” Welch said. “We will be placing posters in bars and dorms.

We will have a street team on Thursday and Friday that will be passing out water and condoms wearing shirts with sayings such as ‘DRINK A LOT… of water.’ We are really going to saturate the campus with our ad campaign.”

Along with the poster and free hand outs around campus, there will be phrases written on bathroom mirrors and tissue boxes to serve as reminders to students as they go throughout their

daily routine.

The LessThanUThink Campaign has gained the support of local bars such as The Jupiter Bar & Grill, The Red Shed, Gallettes and Innisfree where team members will be posted placing less than stamps on the hands on those who enter to remind students to think about their need for another drink.

Co-owner of Innisfree Trip Rogers said that he has seen the level of bingedrinking significantly decrease in Tuscaloosa.

“I think the issue used to be a lot worse,” Rogers said.

“But, I’m not really sure how effective the campaign will be in continuing to decrease the level since the team will only be working for a few days.”

Rogers said he thinks the campaign was a great effort, but felt if the Ad Team was going to be able to make an impact on the community the event would need to take place semi-annually or over a longer period of time.

“However, I do understand the Ad Team is working on a deadline and are testing their market for the competition,” Rogers said. “I think it would be great to see this event take place more than just this once though, then the Ad Team would be able to really impact our community.”

Along with the local bars’ support, the campaign has also gained the support of the SGA. “The SGA has been so helpful in supporting our campaign,” Welch said.

Welch said the SGA passed a resolution to provide monetary support with their travels and printing through the Financial Affairs Committee.

“We hope they will support us in the implementation of our campaign in the future,” Welch said. “The SGA has been done a great deal in helping us get to competition this year and for that we are so thankful.”

“The students working on this project have been compiling information and researching since October,” Henley said. “This project is as close to a real life project as they will be able to get before graduation. It will really help to

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By Amy Castleberry Contributing Writer In conjunction with The Black Faculty and Staff Association Presents lecture series, the BFSA will host “Evening Conversation with Paul R. Jones.” The informal discussion will be held in 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, beginning at 5 p.m. tonight.

According to Alabama news, Jones, a native of Bessemer and independent art collector since the early 1960s, donated his 1,700-piece collection of 20th century African-American art valued at more than $4.8 million to The University of Alabama in

“ We e n c o u r ag e all students, faculty, staff and the Tuscaloosa community at large to attend Mr. Jones’ What: BFSA hosts discussion and invite them to “Evening Conversation discover a greater appreciawith Paul R. Jones” tion for art and understanding of Mr. Jones,” Elliot said.

When: Tonight at “We welcome the community 5 p.m. to ask questions and underWhere: 205 Amelia stand Mr. Jones’s motivating Gayle Gorgas Library factors in giving his wonderful art collection to the university and how he began collecting. It is sure to be an October 2008.

The Brenda F. Elliot, treasurer exciting night.” for the BFSA, encourages BFSA Presents lecture series the University as well as the began in the fall of 2008 and Tuscaloosa community to serves the community as a attend the informal question monthly lecture series hosted and answer session, as well as by the Black Faculty and Staff Association. a reception.

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According to the BFSA Web site, the series was designed to promote and provide opportunities for networking among individuals and groups with the purpose of advancing educational dialog and opportunities, while the group’s mission is to serve as an advocate for educational equity, with emphasis on black students and

jump start their careers in the advertising and public relations field.”

Through the comical ads and efforts by team members the Ad Team is hoping the student body will understand the effects of over consuming alcohol and become more aware of the realities of binge drinking.

“This is a really short test market to just get the students impression on the campaign for our district competition, but we’re hoping to make a difference all the same,” Henley said. “The research the Ad Team students found showed most are not worried about the effects of binge drinking that will take place down the road. Instead they are worried about ruining the relationships they have now.

We’re not trying to get students to stop drinking; we’re just trying to get students to stop and think.”

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OPINIONS

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Paul Thompson • Editor

4

letters@cw.ua.edu

OUR VIEW

The CW backs Fowler for external affairs In a close vote, The Crimson White endorses James Fowler for SGA vice president of external affairs.

That is certainly not to suggest that we don’t think Collin Taylor wouldn’t make a great VP for external affairs, but we just couldn’t support him in the wake of Fowler’s platform.

We chose to endorse Fowler because he has a large number of platform ideas already in the works, not because he was necessarily better than Taylor.

For instance, Fowler has already started work on a railroad “quiet zone” between 6th Avenue and 12th Avenue. He said he has already entered into talks and won the support of the city, and that he had managed to get preliminary approval for the idea.

That impresses us. It shows a great deal of ambition and dedication to his ideas, and — among other things — that tipped our hand in Fowler’s favor.

Fowler also proposes

expansions to the University’s 348-RIDE service that provides free rides to students on and around campus. His plan, which he has already put into preliminary planning stages, would add one or two more vans to the fleet and would aim to lessen the amount of time students spend waiting to be picked up. We support this wholeheartedly. We certainly do not want students driving drunk, and that is — after all — the aim of the program in the first place. Shortening the

waiting time could never be a bad thing.

Fowler also has other grandiose programs that may well never see the light of day, but are helpful nonetheless. One in particular, a laundry service program, sounds great on paper, but it could easily fall apart in the tumultuous economic times we find ourselves in.

Taylor, by contrast, is focused more on what the University can do for the community.

As an example, Taylor said he would increase lobbying efforts in Montgomery aimed toward getting legislators to listen to the wants and needs of students. He also wants to ensure that students have access to the new amphitheater that the city is building.

Taylor would also institute a “volunteer week” that would help students find something to give back to the community they live in — all ideas that we support, even if they lack the specificity of Fowler’s.

Whatever the outcome of this election, we encourage the victor to work closely with the other, because both candidates have platforms that are — essentially — two complimentary sides of the same coin.

With that, we wish both candidates luck as we endorse James Fowler for VP of external affairs.

Our View is the consensus of The Crimson White’s Editorial Board.

O’Reilly hits safe targets after Oscars Before the Academy Awards, Bill O’Reilly predicted the winners of the five biggest categories on his show. Thank goodness, because I really wasn’t sure if “Slumdog Millionaire” was going to get Best Picture until O’Reilly confirmed it.

Stunningly, O’Reilly also managed to miraculously predict Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger. For Best Actor, O’Reilly chose Mickey Rourke for his role in “The Wrestler” or Sean Penn for his role in “Milk” — smartly doubling his chances of correctly calling the winner.

On Monday’s show, O’Reilly was proud to humbly declare himself “an oracle” for his predictions.

“It wasn’t even difficult,” he said, “Politics trumped talent in Hollywood. No way Frank Langella was not the best actor of the year.”

While Frank Langella’s performance in “Frost/ Nixon” was spectacular, it did not beat Sean Penn’s powerful performance as the first openly gay politician elected to public office, Harvey Milk.

O’Reilly claimed the Academy chose Penn over Langella because the “liberal-run” academy did not like Langella’s humanizing portrayal of Nixon.

Instead, the Academy chose to promote the supposed gay rights agenda of “Milk,” according to O’Reilly.

I’ve seen both and, all politics aside; Penn’s performance was the more believable of the two. Langella’s nasally-impression of Nixon made me cringe at times, whereas Penn’s fervent political rhetoric had me thinking I was watching a politician.

“The Oscars continue to demonstrate the wide gulf between the entertainment industry and the folks,” O’Reilly said criticizing the “liberal” infested Academy further.

True, the Academy does have a huge disconnect from popular culture. None of the top 10 highest grossing films in 2008 were nominated for Best Picture — “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” was most certainly robbed of a nomination.

But, if we are to let pop culture decide this one, “Milk” wins again as it grossed

Turney Foshee $28 million, while “Frost/ Nixon” earned just over $17 million nationally. “The folks,” it would seem, chose to wade through the murky “gulf” created by the entertainment industry to see Penn as Harvey Milk more than Langella as Richard Nixon. Numbers don’t have a liberal bias, right?

Really, O’Reilly was just angry at the acceptance speech made by Penn.

Penn started by joking, “I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often.” And after thanking a few people, made a short speech which one quote may summarize: “We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”

O’Reilly asked, “Whatever happened to a simple thank you?”

This begs the question of why O’Reilly didn’t criticize screenwriter Dustin Lance Black for his Best Original Screenplay win. Black made a very heartfelt and tearfilled speech telling gays and lesbians to never feel like they aren’t valuable members of society and that soon gay rights would sweep the nation.

So why didn’t O’Reilly criticize him too? Was he afraid of the potential backlash of attacking Black — a relatively unknown, gay writer — while Sean Penn was an easy-to-hate, safe target?

I can respect O’Reilly’s opposition to gay rights, but I can’t respect someone who plays it safe.

While O’Reilly may truly believe he lives in a no-spin zone, apparently it’s a no-guts zone too.

Turney Foshee is a sophomore majoring in journalism. He is a regular contributor to The Crimson White.

MCT Campus

A sticky situation Well kids, it’s that time of year again. The weather’s getting warmer and the sidewalks are getting chalkier; SGA election time, children.

Strategy surrounding the funfest that is the first week of March varies from handing stickers out, to chalking the Quad, handing out fliers, or if you’re last year’s presidential candidate Steven Saucier, none of the above. You see, after hearing about Cason Kirby’s landslide victory last year over Stephen Saucier I thought to myself; “How in the world did Kirby get 80 percent of the vote?” I soon came to the conclusion that it all boiled down to one factor: handouts.

Before you say anything, no, having stickers or fliers is not an analogy for having a platform, although it helps candidates to have them as well.

Back to the point, I’m sure you’ve noticed the stickers adorning both Kendra Key’s and Steven Oliver’s supporters this year. In fact, by the final day of voting the labels will be found rampant amongst the student body, much like the whores and whoremongers who are also found here according to Brother Micah.

Traveling to the Ferg that final day of voting is more of an obstacle course than anything else. Attempting to avoid getting campaign paraphernalia without having any

Dave Folk restraining orders placed against you will be a daunting task for all. On that premise I have compiled a list of techniques to keep in mind when you’re looking to go to class and not looking like a billboard.

The phone

as you trot past the poll workers, it tends not to work. Yes, they do have half a brain and can recognize that you’re in college, and there is no business deal over the phone that is “make or break.”

sans stickers.”

Positives to this are you probably wont get any papers while you’re “shredding” the Crimson Promenade.

Downside? You’re on a skateboard and not 13.

Javier Arenas

The videogame technique

M a ke the Cr i m s o n Promenade your playground.

While you may not run as fast, or even look like Javier (maybe your girlfriend was right and it is time for you to lay off the Golden Flakes) you can still act like him. Instead of giving them a chance to get that paper to you just blow past as you run on your imaginary field of prison orange Tennessee jerseys.

The positives to this are that it’s a little bit hard to get stuck when you’re running like you just got the reverend’s daughter preg-o. The downside?

Well, for starters, you might be the only person in March profusely sweating in line for Starbucks. This technique will also tend to make you look a little out of place, nothing your cargo shorts and flat bill don’t already do.

Oh, wait. You have to actually leave your room to get stickers.

Stiff Arm

It’s a slight variation of the Javier Arenas, but a tad more dangerous. Simply stroll along minding your business until the first person approaches with their hand outstretched.

At that point feel free to give them the old stiff-arm. It should send a message to all the other passer-outers as well.

Upside? It’s a little challenging to get a sticker on someone’s shirt when there is a palm firmly placed in your eye socket. Downside? All that quality time you’ll be getting to know Bubba at the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

This technique is just as the title explains. As the tired campaign workers attempt to hand you stickers and pamphlets you pull out your trusty phone and pretend to gab up whatever imaginary person you can think of on the other end.

“What’s that, Grandma? You say Mister Fuzzlesworth got Tony Hawk Dave Folk is a News Editor for ran over by the mail truck?”

While you may feel like a “Yo, brah, just hop on your the Crimson White. His column bad ass acting all significant board and ride into the sunset runs on Thursdays.

WE WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS Editorial Board

Corey Craft Editor Phil Owen Managing Editor Kelli Abernathy Chief Copy Editor

James Jaillet Production Editor Breckan Duckworth Design Editor Paul Thompson Opinions Editor

Letters to the editor must be less than 200 words and guest columns less than 500. Send submissions to cwopinions@gmail.com. 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.

The Crimson White

OPINIONS

Thursday, February 26, 2009

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In the cogs of the Machine

By Anonymous

Editor’s note: The Crimson White has independently confirmed that the author of this column is, in fact, a real student at the University. This column does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or attitudes of The Crimson White.

How many times does our generation look to the past and claim, “How could they allow such things to happen?”

We abhorred the idea of slavery. How is it possible that our ancestors ever degraded their fellow men to such an extreme extent, all with the consent of society? Surely we would have been up in arms to abolish this revolting practice.

We remember the feminist suffrage movement and scoff at the backwardness of the American people. How could they have been so complacent while half the populace was excluded from the electorate?

Surely we would have taken part in the strikes. We look at the Civil Rights era in utter vexation. How could our very

own grandparents condone such blatant inequalities?

Surely we would be among those involved in the sitins; we would be leading the marches.

But perhaps we should consider that we are not, in fact, the exception to the generations. Admittedly, the open discrimination of our grandparents’ day has certainly become taboo. But its underlying racism has nonetheless survived.

As a member of a sorority on campus, I am brokenhearted by its involvement in “Machine” politics and shocked at the complete indifference of the majority of my student body. My own pledge sisters blindly vote for whom they are “strongly encouraged” to vote for, without ever questioning the inherent immorality of such practices.

Without appealing to emotions, I will let history speak for itself.

Theta Nu Epsilon was introduced at the University of Alabama in 1888 as a secret society composed of elite white men from various

fraternities on campus. When the SGA was formed for the first time in 1914, Theta Nu Epsilon, along with its fraternity voting bloc, soon came to be known as the “Machine,” as it aimed to control the SGA. With few exceptions, the Machine has hand-picked almost every SGA president since.

What is perhaps most disturbing is the hate crimes interwoven throughout the Machine’s history.

In 1976, fraternity members dressed in white robes were seen burning a cross on the lawn of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, known to openly support African-American candidate Cleo Thomas.

In 1983, John Bolus challenged the Machine and soon discovered that his phone had been tapped; an FBI investigation led to two arrests.

In 1986, independent SGA candidate John Merrill was elected president; he later discovered a Machine-backed senator breaking in to his office in what many newspapers dubbed “Bamagate”.

Most disturbingly, in

November 1992, another cross was burned at the residence of Minda Riley, a member of a Machine sorority who had decided to run for SGA President against the wishes of the Machine. In January 1993, after refusing to drop out of the race, she was assaulted by a masked intruder at her home and hospitalized. The intruder told her that she had “f---ed with the wrong people.”

The University of Alabama SGA was disbanded for four years, returned in 1996, and has been dominated by the Machine ever since. The group today works much like its predecessors, meeting in secret and deciding candidates to back.

Each fraternity and sorority, including my own, has two liaisons who convey the Machine’s wishes to the members of their respective sorority or fraternity. We are then “strongly encouraged” to vote for candidates posted in the back room of our house. Most would truly be surprised (I hope) to discover how many people you will pass this week

on the Quad chalking for a candidate whose only qualification they are aware of is that of being a “white frat guy.”

Throughout its history, the University has had 92 SGA presidents. Just six have been women. Only one has been African-American.

The complete and total exclusion of minorities by the group that controls campus politics undeniably raises moral questions. The concentration of power in the hands of elite whites is reminiscent of the era that produced the Machine, an era in which hatred was encouraged and political participation was discouraged, an era that we claim to have moved past.

Like previous generations, we have the opportunity to ignore what’s going on right in front of us — what will not be so easy to ignore is our own children asking: “How could you allow such things to happen?”

The author of this column is a senior.

A diamond in the rough

By Liz Lane

Sunday, the world watched as the 2009 Oscars were presented. Just four days later I can already see fashion trends mimicking the star’s red carpet attire, minus Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Glenda the Good Witch” look. I couldn’t help but wait for Parker to tell Miley Cyrus to click her mermaid-fin dress together to send the Disney Princess home.

However, if there were an Oscar for red carpet trend longevity, it would go to diamonds. The stone really is forever.

Recently, Penelope Cruz weighed in at 26 carats wearing ruby and diamond earrings, diamond ring and a diamond bracelet.

Renee Zellweger wore a glimmering Cartier diamond broach, while sporting diamond art deco bracelets, all for the low, low price of $563,000. Not bad for 40 carats.

Clean, bright, translucent and unbreakable, it’s no wonder these stones are so valued.

Not only that, but the diamond is a symbol firing emotions. These emotions are tied to relationships wealth and

happiness. However, these rocks also symbolize their own antithesis: dirt, rubble, grime and death.

In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, the aftermath of war still plagues the population. In 1991, the Revolutionary United Front and the government of Sierra Leone engaged in war — not for land, oil or weapons of mass destruction, but for diamonds.

The war ended in 2002, but according to Elle magazine, ex-child soldiers stand on unpaved streets where “motivational messages” hang over their heads on handpainted billboards. “Prevent malaria, protect your family by sleeping under an insecticide treated net every night.”

Forget advertisements for McDonald’s, just staying alive is something the new Sierra Leonean government has to advertise.

Up to one third of Sierra Leone’s population was displaced because of the stone.

Sierra Leone has taken last place on the United Nations Human Development Index, which, according to UN.org, measures education, adult literacy and life expectancy among many other factors.

The war has ended, but the

“The diamond is a symbol firing emotions. These emotions are tied to relationships wealth and happiness. However, these rocks also symbolize their own antithesis: dirt, rubble, grime and death.”

aftermath is almost as persistent as the diamond on the red carpet.

The United Nations enacted the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme to stop diamond trafficking in conflict zones. Money used from these diamonds went toward funds for rebel weapons.

In 2003, the United States, the main consumer of diamonds, joined the KPCS, leading to Sierra Leone legally exporting $125 million dollars in diamonds.

The mining company, Target Resources, is helping the community progress through creating a mining market as translucent as the diamond itself.

The company works toward social responsibility, giving employees fair pay while generating jobs.

Tiffany and Co. purchases diamonds from Target Resources, spurring Sierra

Leone’s economy and investing in their wellbeing.

Tiffany’s recently launched a program to close mined-outholes dug by small scale artisanal minors, now stagnant breeding grounds for diseases like Malaria, the number one killer of children younger than 5 in the region.

Many charity organizations have come into place, including St. George Orphanage, allowing children to reconnect with families. Volunteers frequently visit children in gangs and prostitution living in the streets of Freetown. The children choose to go with the volunteers. Once there, the children are rehabilitated.

While Sierra Leone’s population struggles to recuperate from conflict diamonds, they are not alone.

Angola, Liberia and The Democratic Republic of Congo also have been victimized by war caused by diamonds.

5

While many restrictions such as the UN’s KPCS have limited blood diamonds, illegal diamond trafficking still is in existence.

Why? Any country can join KPCS, even if that country does not meet the requirements. This allows conflict diamonds to pass through undetected.

Liberia has since acted as an underground system to import these diamonds.

While diamond organizations and the UN have decreased the amount of conflict diamonds, the only way to be sure your diamond has not victimized a community is to look for a certificate of origin, or to buy a diamond produced from a laboratory.

Diamonds were Marlon’s best friend, and made “Let me see your grills” a number one song. They connect people together, and made our 2009 Oscar nominees shine on the red carpet.

Just make sure your diamond is complementing your look of love, not war.

Liz Lane is The Crimson White’s Fashion Columnist.

Her Column runs bi-weekly Thursdays.

Sex column leaves much to be desired

By Holly Kennedy

The Crimson White’s new sex columnist, M. Green, is terrible at her job and she should just quit. Her anonymous column gives us lame jokes and bad advice, and then she pretends she’s doing us a valuable service. Bad throwaway lines about the “mattress mambo” and inexplicable contempt for those who prefer not to listen to music while they have sex are not good substitutes for content.

It shouldn’t matter that Green is an apparently straight girl who prefers pretty conventional sex. I shouldn’t be able to figure that out from her column, either. The swipes at the kinky and the implications that all women are looking to settle down with a nice husband (even years from now) are uncalled for.

If you’re writing a sex column, the only thing you should care about is consent.

Who cares if your roommate likes being tied up and whipped by his girlfriend (or boyfriend, or girlfriends, etc.) so long as they’re both (or all) into it and he’s considerate about not leaving his used condoms lying around?

It seems as though Green’s trying to cuddle up to us by uniting us against those people who are into weird stuff (certainly not any of you, dear readers). People have different desires, and that it even comes to pointing this out is embarrassing for Green.

Green can’t even give us good advice when she gets around to trying. She says we should talk about sex and be careful about STDs, but God forbid she go into detail on either of those subjects.

At the very least, she could tell us that the Health Department offers free STD testing and that West Alabama AIDS Outreach does free, anonymous AIDS screenings.

She could tell her readers to consistently use condoms and dental dams, even with partners they trust. She could tell us that Spectrum and Choice Alabama both give out condoms on campus, and call for the University to provide them, too.

Even if she didn’t go into advice for navigating the tricky territory of sexual interaction (I’d offer this: ask permission first), Green would still be giving us some information we could use.

Holly Kennedy is a junior double majoring in philosophy and German.

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The Crimson White

In style and substance, Jindal’s speech panned

By Beth Fouhy The Associated Press NEW YORK | Insane. Childish.

Disaster.

And those were some of the kinder comments from political pundits about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his response to President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night.

Jindal, 37, a Rhodes scholar and son of Indian immigrants, is considered a rising star in Republican ranks and a likely 2012 presidential candidate. GOP leaders, looking for a fresh face for the party’s image, tapped Jindal earlier this month for the highprofile task of rebutting Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress.

But in both style and substance, Jindal’s speech has drawn flak from Republicans and Democrats alike.

His criticism of government

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spending for emergency economic relief has been widely panned, especially given his state’s receipt of billions in federal assistance after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And Jindal’s voice and earnest, awkward delivery have drawn comparisons to Kenneth Parcell, the geeky page on the NBC comedy “30 Rock.”

Indeed, a new Facebook group titled “Bobby Jindal is Kenneth the Page” had already attracted more than 1,800 members Wednesday afternoon.

Republicans had high hopes for Jindal after his appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he delivered a forceful, concise critique of Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan and explained his decision to reject some of the money allotted for his state. He also impressed observers when he spoke to reporters after a meeting with Obama and other governors at the White House Monday.

Jindal spoke from the governor’s

mansion in Baton Rouge, and critics pounced on his remarks almost immediately, panning everything from his overly folksy demeanor to his complaint that Obama’s plan to revive the economy was “irresponsible.”

David Brooks, a conservative New York Times columnist who has criticized aspects of the stimulus plan, nonetheless called Jindal’s arguments “insane” and tone-deaf given the dire economic challenges the country faces.

“To come up in this moment in history with a stale, ‘Government is the problem, you can’t trust the federal government’ is just a disaster for the Republican Party,” Brooks said on PBS’ “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.” ‘‘It’s not where the country is, it’s not where the future of the country is.”

Fox News commentator Juan Williams focused on Jindal’s delivery.

“It came off as amateurish, and even the tempo in which he spoke was singsongy,” Williams said, adding that the content of the speech was “very simplistic and almost childish.”

Penni Pier, a political communication specialist at Iowa’s Wartburg College, said Jindal’s presentation was overly colloquial and his message of less government and more tax cuts was substantively thin.

“It sounded like the same old rhetoric — we had tax cuts the last eight years, and look where it got us,” Pier said. “Jindal was also trying to be so familiar, he lost credibility. Obama is familiar, but at the same time always a statesman.”

To be sure, Jindal had a tough act to follow in Obama, a naturally gifted orator whose argument for vast federal intervention to stem the nation’s economic crisis was widely praised. A CNN poll taken after his speech found 92 percent of viewers had a positive

reaction to it.

Rush Limbaugh, arguably the nation’s most prominent conservative voice, defended Jindal on his radio show Wednesday while acknowledging that “stylistically,” Obama had outshined Jindal.

“The people on our side are making a real mistake if they go after Bobby Jindal,” Limbaugh said. “We cannot shun politicians who speak for our beliefs just because we don’t like the way he says it.”

Jindal was headed to Disney World Wednesday with his family for a vacation. But his chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, said his boss had prepared carefully for the speech and that his message was strong.

“It’s a challenge for anybody to follow Obama. The guy is one of the most gifted speakers of our generation,” Teepell said. “Bobby’s his own harshest critic. He’s always looking for ways to improve.”

Police: Miami music teacher kills family, self

By Matt Sedensky Associated Press Writer MIAMI | A gifted musician and teacher whose piano students included his neighbors’ kids fatally shot his wife and two daughters then himself in the family’s Miami home, police say, leaving those who described him as friendly and helpful to wonder what happened.

Police haven’t released the names of those killed

Wednesday morning, but neighbors identified them as 53-yearold Pablo Josue Amador, his 45-year-old wife, Maria and their youngest daughters, Priscila and Rosa, 12 and 11. A teenage son escaped the shootings uninjured, calling 911 at 5:58 a.m. as he fled the home, police said.

A biography of Amador posted on a Web site advertising his piano classes says he began studying music in Havana and later earned a degree in the U.S. The U.S. Copyright Office lists 36 compositions by him and a set of photographs.

The songs he wrote, many in Spanish, included titles such as “Beautiful Boy” and “Rose of Love,” as well as numerous religious selections.

Sarait Betancourt, a 44-yearold school bus driver who lives near the family, said Amador was a Cuban immigrant who has been giving her two sons,

“He was a marvelous person and a tremendous professor, people would enter the house, and you just breathed peace.”

— Sarait Betancourt, a 44-year-old school bus driver who lives near the family

ages 9 and 10, piano lessons at his home once a week since 2006.

“He was a marvelous person and a tremendous professor,” she said. “People would enter the house, and you just breathed peace.”

Amador’s two slain daughters, his 16-year-old son, Javier, and a college-age daughter all excelled at piano and performed together at church and home as Los Galileos, Betancourt said. Amador said on his Web site that he produced 13 CDs of his children performing.

Authorities have not confirmed that there is a fourth sibling, nor released any personal information about the family.

They have not said where the son is now.

Gregorio Montesino, who lives nearby, said music could always be heard coming from the house and children often played in its in-ground pool. He said Amador always waved to greet him.

Amador also said on his Web site that he sang tenor with the Greater Miami Opera chorus and was a soloist at Kendall United Methodist Church, though officials at both places weren’t able to confirm that information.

Christina Ruiz, a 23-year-old social work student who lives next to the family, described him as a “regular dad” who helped her grandmother jumpstart her car several times but who was known to complain when he was bothered by noise

or work being done on her house.

Neighbors said Amador also worked at a music store. His wife had nursing degrees and officials at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis confirmed she was the director of education there, teaching about spinal cord injuries and answering calls from patients looking for the right doctor.

By afternoon, all the victims had been carried out of the white ranch with gray trim.

The only sign anything had happened on the quiet street of modest single-family homes was the line of TV satellite trucks and towels draped over the two minivans parked in the family’s driveway, apparently placed by police to block the license plates. But the questions continued.

“It confuses me,” said 48-year-old Thelma Vallecillo, whose 13-year-old daughter took piano lessons at the house.

“I don’t understand.”

Attorny General Holder: Closing Gitmo won’t be easy

By Devlin Barrett The Associated Press WASHINGTON | Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Guantanamo detention center is a well-run, professional facility that will be difficult to close — but he’s still going to do it.

Holder visited the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Monday and spoke to reporters about his trip during a news conference Wednesday.

Closing Guantanamo, he said, “will not be an easy process.

It’s one we will do in a way that ensures that people are treated fairly and that the American people are kept safe.”

President Barack Obama

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selected Holder to lead the new administration’s effort to close the detention facility within a year.

Much of the year will be spent reviewing the individual case histories of the roughly 245 inmates, the attorney general said.

“It’s going to take us a good portion of that time to look at all of the files that we have to examine, until we get our hands around what Guantanamo is, and also what Guantanamo was,” he said.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who is trying to keep Guantanamo open, said he was encouraged by Holder’s remarks.

“I believe as more time goes

by there is a chance the administration will grow to realize that we need Gitmo and must keep it open. More time will allow facts to replace political rhetoric,” said Inhofe, who is pushing legislation seeking to bar any Guantanamo detainees from coming to the U.S. Holder said his visit to the site was instructive. He met with military officials and toured the facilities, including the court setting where military commissions were to be held until Obama suspended them.

He said he did not witness any rough treatment of detainees, and in fact found the military staff and leadership performing admirably.

The Crimson White

NEWS

House OKs $410B spending

By David Espo The Associated Press

WASHINGTON | The Democratic-controlled House pushed through a $410 billion measure Wednesday that boosted domestic programs, bristled with earmarks and chipped away at policies left behind by the Bush administration.

The vote was 245-178, largely along party lines.

Republicans assailed the measure as too costly — particularly on the heels of a $787 billion stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed last week. But Democrats jabbed back.

“The same people who drove the economy into the ditch are now complaining about the size of the tow truck,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., pointing out the large increase in deficits that President George W. Bush and GOP-controlled Congresses amassed.

From the GOP side, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas said the legislation was “going to grow the government 8.3 percent ... but the family budget which has to pay for the federal budget only grew at 1.3 percent last year.”

The debate occurred one day after Obama told Congress in a prime time television address that he intends to cut deficits in half over the next four years, and one day before he was submitting tax and spending plans for the coming year.

Officials said the president’s first budget would call for a permanent tax cut of $400 for lower- and middle-class workers and $800 for families, a break modeled after the temporary provision in the economic stimulus legislation.

He also will seek $634 billion over 10 years as a down payment on health care reform, the start of an effort aimed at providing coverage for an estimated 48 million uninsured people. Achieving that goal could cost much more.

Obama also intends to ask lawmakers to approve a new cap-and-trade system of limits and pollution allowances, especially for industries such as utilities with coal burning power plants. The program would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while generating revenue that could help finance other elements of an ambitious agenda that includes health care and education reform.

The spending bill that cleared the House drew the support of 229 Democrats and 16 Republicans. There were 159 Republicans and 20 Democrats opposed.

In a symbolic bow to the recession, Democrats included in the spending measure a prohibition on a cost-of-living increase for members of Congress for the year.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Body rots in hearse, funeral director charged

By Jay Reeves The Associated Press

AP Photo|Charles Dharapak White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs takes a question during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009.

Overall, the legislation would provided increases of roughly 8 percent for the federal agencies it covered, about $32 billion more than last year.

The bill is intended to allow smooth functioning of the government through the Sept.

30 end of the fiscal year. The Senate has yet to vote on its version.

After persuading lawmakers to keep earmarks off the stimulus bill, Obama made no such attempt on the first non-emergency spending measure of his presidency. The result was that lawmakers claimed billions in federal funds for pet projects — a total of 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Majority Democrats declined to provide a number of earmarks, but said the cost was far smaller, $3.8 billion, 5 percent less than a year ago.

Among the earmarks was one sponsored

by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who secured $200,000 for a “tattoo removal violence outreach program” in Los Angeles.

Aides said the money would pay for a tattoo removal machine that could help gang members or others shed visible signs of their past, and anyone benefiting would be required to perform community service.

Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said the bill included at least a dozen earmarks for clients of PMA Group, a lobbying company now at the center of a federal corruption investigation.

“It’s simply not responsible to allow a soon-to-be-criminally indicted lobbying firm to win funding, all borrowed, in this bill,” he

said. No charges have been filed against the firm or its principals, although the company’s offices were raided earlier this month, and it has announced plans to disband by the end of the month.

Federal prosecutors are investigating PMA Group’s founder and president, Paul Magliochetti, who is a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds defense programs.

In remarks on the House floor, Republican leader John Boehner urged Obama to veto the legislation, citing earmarks.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs responded only in general terms whether that was possible.

“There is great concern in this building and by the president about earmarks,” Gibbs said. “Without having looked specifically at a piece of legislation, I’m hesitant to throw out that four-letter word, ‘Veto.’“ After eight years without control of the White House, congressional Democrats also used the legislation to target several policies of former President Bush.

Under the bill, Mexican-licensed trucks are banned from operating outside commercial zones along the border with the United States. The Teamsters union, which supported Obama’s election last year, had sought the move. The Bush administration backed a pilot program to permit up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers access to U.S. roads.

7

BIRMINGHAM | A funeral director accused of leaving a woman’s body to decay in a parked hearse after her relatives failed to pay the bill was arrested on a felony charge of abusing a corpse, police said Wednesday.

Watson and Sons Funeral Home embalmed the remains of Edna Kathleen Woods, 52, after she died of natural causes in November 2007, said Gadsden police Sgt. Jeff Wright. Relatives wanted the body cremated but failed to sign the necessary paperwork or pay owner Harold Watson Sr., he said.

After storing the corpse at his funeral home for more than a year, Wright said, the 76-year-old Watson decided to move it because he couldn’t reach the woman’s family.

Someone complained about a foul smell near downtown Gadsden, about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham, and officers on Tuesday found the woman’s remains in a cardboard box that was inside a

locked hearse parked on a piece of property that Watson owns.

Watson was arrested after officers tracked the hearse to him. The body apparently was in the hearse for about two months, and the battery had been removed so no one could move the vehicle, Wright said.

Funeral directors with unclaimed bodies can file a petition to have counties dispose of remains.

“He knows better. The family wouldn’t pay him, so he just got rid of it,” Wright said.

Watson was free on bond and did not immediately return a message left at his funeral home. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.

The head of the state office that regulates Alabama’s funeral industry said Watson could lose his director’s license if convicted.

“We don’t have many cases this bizarre,” said Warren Higgins, executive secretary of the Alabama Board of Funeral Service. “We’re just waiting to hear more from the authorities in Gadsden.”

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

SPORTS

Greg Ostendorf • Editor

crimsonwhitesports@gmail.com

8

MEN’S BASKETBALL | ARKANSAS RECAP

Gee’s hot hand leads Tide to lopsided win

By Ryan Wright Assistant Sports Editor

With a man in his face, Alonzo Gee set his feet in the corner to toss up a heat check.

Across the court, Senario Hillman raised his right hand and pointed down, signaling to count the shot before it even left Gee’s hands. The 3 pointer fell in just as cleanly as the four that preceded it — in the first half.

Gee took the court against Arkansas as hot as he left in last Saturday’s double-overtime win over Mississippi State to help the Crimson

Tide avenge an earlier loss by routing the Razorbacks 88-67 Wednesday night.

Gee broke his career-high 3-point record, four, by sinking 5-of-6 in the first half.

Gee followed up last week’s 28-point, SEC Player of the Week performance with a 23point, 7-board game in 28 minutes of play.

“After I made that first shot I knew it was going to be a good game for me,” Gee said.

“It’s a great feeling. I thank my teammates. It felt great to make some shots.”

Nobody was more impressed with Gee’s play than Arkansas

head coach John Pelphrey.

“Gee got those guys off to a great start,” Pelphrey said.

“We didn’t have much of an answer. Gee, when he is playing well, is as good as anybody in our league. He’s a special player.”

Gee’s hot shooting rubbed off on his teammates. The team shot a blistering 59 percent from the field for the game. Hillman was the Tide’s second-leading scorer with 13 points. He also dished out a career-high seven assists.

Arkansas was in the game for all of four minutes. The Razorbacks jumped out to

an 8-3 lead that ended up as a catalyst for Alabama. The Tide exploded on a 20-2 run and doubled up the hapless Razorbacks 49-23 by the half.

Three Alabama players — Gee, Hillman and Yamene Coleman — had reached double digits in scoring by intermission. Trying to play catch up, Arkansas hoisted 14 3-pointers in the first half but made just one for a dismal seven percent clip from beyond the arc.

Alabama stretched the lead to as many as 30 points before winning by a final margin of 21.

The win marked Alabama’s largest margin of victory in an SEC contest since 94-53 win over Auburn in 2005.

Every player on the Tide’s roster played and scored.

“Tonight is something that hasn’t happened to us in league play,” Pelphrey said.

It’s a statement that takes on more meaning when it comes from the coach of a team that is now 1-12 in SEC play.

The game served as retribution for Alabama. Arkansas’s lone SEC win came against Alabama in late January, Philip Pearson’s first game as interim head coach. With three games remaining, the win keeps the door open for the Tide to finish with a .500 mark in SEC play.

“I think we’re finally getting over that hump,” Gee said. “We’re playing better than we have the last couple weeks, and we’re still getting better.”

Alabama moves to 15-12 (5-8) with three games remaining before the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas, a far cry from the team that knocked off

CW | Drew Hoover Alonzo Gee led all scorers with 23 points against Arkansas Wednesday night. The senior made five 3 pointers, a career high, in the first half alone.

Oklahoma and Texas earlier this season, falls to 13-13 (1-12).

Forward Demetrius Jemison hit the floor and clutched his ankle in the second half. Pearson said it was just a sprain and that Jemison could be ready for the

Tide’s next game against Ole Miss.

Alabama is now 5-2 against SEC competition at home. Alabama will play Ole Miss on the road Saturday at 3 p.m. The team is riding a 7-game losing streak on the road.

The Crimson White

SPORTS

Thursday, February 26, 2009

9

BASEBALL

Matthes provides late-game heroics for Tide

By Greg Ostendorf Sports Editor

to a 7-0 lead midway through five, and it looked all but over. However, Wells thought As if hitting for the cycle otherwise, as he brought his wasn’t enough, Kent Matthes team in and talked to them was at it again Wednesday before they came to the plate. night, this time hitting a walk“We talked to them about off home run in the bottom of ‘don’t try and score eight runs the 10th to cap off Alabama’s here,’ ” Wells said. “Just one improbable comeback win pitch at a time and get some over Nicholls State, 8-7. base runners.”

“My adrenaline is still kind That’s exactly what of flowing right now,” Matthes Alabama did, and behind a said. “This is actually a first two-run home run by center in back-to-back nights. I’ve fielder Tyler Odle and an RBInever hit the cycle, and I’ve triple from freshman Taylor never had a walk-off homeDugas, the Tide scored four run. I’m really trying to just runs in the fifth inning and take it all in right now.” found themselves right back The senior, who hit for the in the game. cycle in the Tide’s 11-4 win After putting another run Tuesday, was the first and on the board in the eighth last batter to step to the plate inning, Alabama trailed by in the 10th, as he took a 1-0 just two heading into the final fastball and smashed it off the inning. scoreboard to capture the vicDesignated hitter Ryan tory.

Rhoden got things started “He’s hot,” head coach Jim when he took the first pitch Wells said. “He got a nice off his backside and made pitch, zoned in on it and got his way to first. Jake Smith it out of here. For us, it was followed that with a double definitely the right guy at the over the centerfielder’s head right time.” to score Rhoden and trim the When asked which accommargin to one. plishment was more special, Junior Cal Tinsley came in CW | Jerrod W Seaton to pinch run and moved up Matthes laughed, but pointed out that the win was the most Kent Matthes(22) hit a home run in extra innings to give the Tide the lead. to third after a costly throwimportant thing. ing error by Colonels’ pitcher “I think the cycle is prob- that much more special for us like a team who was still reel- field, and Nicholls State took Dale Dickerson on a pickoff ably harder, but the walk off to come back late and then get ing from back-to-back losses advantage, stringing together attempt. Three pitches later, was great, especially since we the win.”

Dugas grounded out to the over the weekend. The Tide base hit after base hit. got a win,” he said. “It made it The Colonels jumped out shortstop to bring in Tinsley Early on, Alabama looked made mental errors in the

and tie the game.

“The biggest thing tonight was us coming from behind,” Matthes said. “We were down 7-0, and it would be really easy to shut it down right there, but we were able to get some stuff going.”

Three different Alabama relievers combined to get through the top of the 10th inning and set the stage for Matthes’ walk-off blast in the bottom half.

After the game, Wells emphasized the importance of winning these close games, but he also knows that he can’t overlook falling behind by so much early in the game.

“The one thing that you always want to be able to do is come back, and we weren’t able to do that against Southeast Missouri,” Wells said. “During the course of the year, it’s good, and it’s good to do it early. You just would like to eliminate the things that caused the deficit in the first place.”

The Tide remains home this weekend for a four-game set against Illinois-Chicago with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday.

Reed, Waller lead Auburn past Ole Miss, 77-64 The Associated Press AUBURN |Quantez Robertson dribbled up the court, nearly lost the ball in mid-air and heaved it toward the basket left-handed as the halftime buzzer sounded.

That momentum-changing 3pointer and Tay Waller’s sevenpoint surge to open the second half helped Auburn coast to a 77-64 win over Mississippi on Wednesday night, the Tigers’ fifth win in six games.

DeWayne Reed had 19 points and Waller added 18 for the Tigers (18-10, 7-6 Southeastern Conference), who started a 26-5 run with Robertson’s awkward 3-point heave against Murphy Holloway to cut the halftime deficit to four points. “(The defender) got his hand on the ball a little bit and I was able to get the ball in the air,” Robertson said. “It went in for me.”

So did just about everything else for Auburn for a few minutes after the half, while Ole Miss (15-12, 6-7) went cold.

Waller hit two 3-pointers and a foul shot in the first 57 sec-

onds of the second half to give Auburn the lead for good and a young Ole Miss team never recovered.

The Tigers set the standards for most wins in a season during coach Jeff Lebo’s five-year tenure, and tied the mark for most SEC victories. The 15 home wins also matches the most in the 41-year history of BeardEaves-Memorial Coliseum.

The Rebels, who led by as many as nine points in the first half, were just 1-for-17 shooting to open the second half.

They missed 13 in a row at one point.

“We just broke down,” said Terrico White, who led Ole Miss with 24 points. “Coach is always telling us the first five minutes of the second half are the key to winning the game.”

With two freshmen and two sophomores starting, the Rebels seemed to start losing their cool during that span with some on-court bickering, careless turnovers and few open shots.

“Us being aggressive and taking it to them, they kind of got flustered,” Robertson said.

“They were kind of confused on how to guard our screens and how to get through plays.

We just tried to keep doing that and keep getting them frustrated.”

The two teams opened the game tied for third in the SEC West. Ole Miss had earlier handed Auburn a 19-point loss, its worst of the season.

Waller was scoreless in that game and missed all five 3point attempts. He hit four 3s this time, taking advantage of teammates’ screens to open the second half.

“Coach ran a play for me and I hit the first one and he ran another play for me, and I hit it too,” Waller said.

Korvotney Barber had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Auburn, which has boosted postseason hopes that once seemed a longshot with its recent run and also got a little redemption from the first meeting.

“They whipped us pretty good down at Ole Miss,” Barber said. “They were more physical than we were.”

Rasheem Barrett had 10

points for Auburn. Reed didn’t commit a turnover in the game and had three assists and three steals.

Lebo said Robertson’s shot gave the team “a positive vibe” going into the locker room.

“He kind of lost it going up and then just threw it up there,” Lebo said.

Zach Graham and David Huertas scored 15 apiece for Ole Miss. Huertas only scored two points in the second half, going 1-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

Malcolm White added 18 rebounds for the Rebels, who committed 23 turnovers.

They shot just 25 percent in the second half — including 4-of-18 3s — after hitting half their shots before the half.

Ole Miss was coming off wins over Tennessee and Georgia by a combined 38 points but couldn’t sustain that hot play.

“We couldn’t score,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “When you can’t get it close to the basket, we live and die on the jump shot.

“You’re just not going to be able to win SEC games when

Barkley not worried about jail sentence The Associated Press

absence, Barkley resumed his studio analyst role for TNT NEW YORK | Charles Barkley last week.

The latest development in says he’s not worried about serving a brief jail sentence Barkley’s legal woes came as after pleading guilty Monday to charges of driving drunk.

The 45-year-old former NBA star pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from his arrest in late December in Arizona. He’s set to begin a five-day sentence March 21.

“I always knew I’d have to do time,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “It’s not something I’m worried about.”

The Hall of Famer must pay more than $2,000 in fines and attend an alcohol treatment program. Under Arizona law, he’ll also be forced to install an ignition interlock device on his vehicles.

“I’m not even thinking about it,” he said of the jail sentence. “When it happens, it happens.”

Barkley was stopped by police Dec. 31 shortly after leaving a Scottsdale nightclub. He was arrested after failing a field sobriety test.

He had a blood-alcohol level of .149 percent, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 percent in Arizona.

After a six-week leave of

he is promoting a new television series on Golf Channel called “The Haney Project,” in which renowned coach Hank Haney tries to help him

improve his swing.

“I made a mistake and just have to take the beatdown,” Barkley said. “It is what it is.

It’s 100 percent my fault.”

you commit as many turnovers as we did. Just careless with the ball at times. A number of times we had possession of the ball and they just took it away from us.”

The Tigers, the SEC’s worstshooting team from the foul line, made 22 of 29 free throws.

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10 Thursday, February 26, 2009

SPORTS

The Crimson White

SOFTBALL

Pitcher’s success stems from dad’s wisdom

By Britton Lynn Contributing Writer

Charlotte Morgan has been playing the game of softball since she was 7, but it wasn’t until she was 13 that she took the game to a different level.

After one of the pitcher’s top rivals back at home in Moreno Valley, Calif., roughed her up after one inning, Morgan decided would never lose that badly again. Her father asked her how hard she thought her rival had been working and if Morgan had been working just as hard. She realized she hadn’t.

“My dad just sat me down and told me, ‘If you want to be the best you’re going to have to work at it. It’s not going to be handed to you.’ Ever since [that experience] I set my mind,” the junior said.

Since then, Morgan’s work ethic brought her to Alabama,

a division one team that’s ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Morgan is one of the hardest working players on the team, all because of her role model, her father. Morgan talks to her father before every game, which she said keeps her simple-minded.

“Me and my dad have been hitting my whole life,” Morgan said. “If I’m struggling or if I’m doing well, I can look to my dad for whatever I need.”

Morgan said her family is a big part of her life. When she visited colleges, she was looking for more than just a place where she could improve in softball; she was looking for a place to call home. Morgan contributes her positive experience in Tuscaloosa so far to her teammates, who have helped her forget about being 2,000 miles away from home.

“Having my coaches and my teammates here makes it

Junior Charlotte Morgan pitches against Notre Dame on Feb. 14. The Tide shut out the Irish 10-0.

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so much better,” Morgan said. “[My team] makes school and all the stresses that we have not that big.”

Morgan said she hopes to play softball after college for the Olympic, national, or even another country’s professional team if the opportunity arises. Her goal is to compete in softball as long as her body allows her, then go on and teach it to others.

“You don’t have to be a certain size or have certain talents to play softball,” Morgan said. “We have girls from 6 foot to 4-foot-10, [girls with] speed to girls who hit with power. Anyone can play [softball] if they work hard at it.”

Morgan’s mindset of constantly finding ways to improve each time she plays and to “never stop learning” has led to great success

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during her career at Alabama.

As a sophomore she was one of the top 10 finalists for the American Softball Association/ USA Softball Player of the Year. She was also a first-team Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American. Morgan is also the only player in the country to rank in the top 30 nationally in batting average, home runs and earned run average. Last year, Morgan led the nation in total RBIs with 79, setting both the Alabama and SEC singleseason records.

Morgan recently visited her family back home in California when the team participated in the Cathedral City Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. Morgan’s pitching led Alabama in winning four of its five games in the tournament and.

Morgan’s advice to aspiring college softball athletes, advice she no doubt learned from her dad: “Don’t let anybody or anything stand in [your] way.”

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LIFESTYLES

Thursday, February 26, 2009

11

COLUMN | UNDERGROUND CINEMA

Kung-fu film unadulterated fun

By Matthew H Glasscock Contributing Writer

“Master of the Flying Guillotine” is the second installment of director Jimmy Wang Yu’s “One Armed Boxer” kung fu franchise. I have to be honest with you — I am not a connoisseur of kung fu films, but I am willing to learn. Sure, I have seen the obligatory Bruce Lee films a few times, and I adored Zhang Yimou’s “Hero,” but aside from those few mainstream standards, I am a total n00b. I understand there is quite the cult following for many of the more obscure films and I am beginning to see why.

This film was unadulterated entertainment at its best.

If you are looking for a dense plot or a weighty melodrama, you may want to pass on this one. But, if you are in search of something a little more lightweight, then this is the perfect picture for you.

“Master of the Flying Guillotine” doesn’t waste any time getting to the good stuff.

OK, it may forgo conventional cinematic canons such as character development, coherent direction or focus, but it is

still a blast to watch. The film is peppered with disorientating edits, corny acting, goofy sets and gratuitous violence, but it doesn’t matter because these guys are having fun.

The story is simple. The One Armed Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu) has killed the two disciples of a blind Imperial assassin (Kam Kang). This apparently happened in the first film, but a flashback quickly catches the audience up. The Blind Assassin is the master of the flying guillotine, a truly unique weapon that cleanly decapitates its targets. It has to be one of the coolest weapons I have ever seen in a film.

The Blind Assassin swears vengeance on the One Armed Boxer, and there you have it.

The Blind Assassin leaves his secluded shanty in the mountains and sets off to settle the score. Rumors abound that the One Armed Boxer will be attending a kung fu tournament sponsored by the Eagle Claw school, and so the assassin, armed with his flying guillotine, eventually blows into town. During his brief stay, the Blind Assassin kills every one-armed man with whom he comes in contact, and

apparently this town is plagued by an inordinate amount of one-armed men.

I did have a hard time nailing down who exactly was supposed to be the protagonist and who was the bad guy, but after a while I realized it didn’t matter. Neither character really has any redeeming qualities nor does anything remotely noble. The One Armed Boxer basically cheats to win his fights and often seems cowardly, but the Blind Assassin is portrayed as a cold-blooded murderer. Your guess is as good as mine as to which is the good guy. There was also a slight anti-avian theme I picked up on that may have been inadvertent. But either way, many birds were abused during this production.

The highlight of the film is during the aforementioned kung fu tournament. The participating fighters all have bizarre names and even more bizarre attributes. A few are priceless, and to avoid spoiling it for you, I will say no more.

This film has inspired many and Quentin Tarantino is probably the most obvious

case. The Blind Assassin is a dead ringer for Pai Mei from “Kill Bill Vol. 2.” During the tournament I also became increasingly aware that I was watching the inspiration for the “Mortal Kombat” video game franchise.

This film was clearly a lot of fun to be a part of and it translates into the viewing experience. After a few minutes, you forget you are watching a poorly crafted film and throw your reservations out the window.

I enjoyed this film from the opening scene to the final credits, and if you’re looking for a mindless, easy flick, I highly recommend this one.

‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ Director: Jimmy Wang Yu

Starring: Jimmy Wang Yu, Kam Kang

Release: 1977 Runtime: 93 min.

lib.verycd.com

Woman in Morgan Freeman crash not his mistress

By Derikk J. Lang The Associated Press

“I have been labeled as the other woman and have been accused of having caused the breakup of Mr. Freeman’s marriage,” Meyer said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I had hoped and prayed that Mr. Freeman or his representatives would have set the record straight and cleared my name, but they have not done so and that is why I have chosen to come forward to tell the truth about our relationship.”

In the days after the accident last August, Freeman’s

lawyer, Bill Luckett, told media outlets that Freeman and his wife of 24 years, Myrna ColleyLOS ANGELES | The woman Lee, had been separated since who was with Morgan Freeman December 2007 and were getthe night of a car crash that ting a divorce. Several media injured both of them insists outlets reported that the 48she was never romantically year-old Meyer was Freeman’s linked to Freeman and is suing mistress. the actor for negligence.

Meyer said Wednesday she Demaris Meyer and her met Freeman the night of the lawyer, Gloria Allred, held a accident at a dinner party news conference Wednesday at the Bayou Bend Golf and announcing that Meyer has Country Club that she had filed a lawsuit against the been invited to by Luckett.

71-year-old Academy Award Meyer said Freeman had been winner. a “perfect gentleman” that evening and agreed to let her stay at one of three houses on his property, so that she “would have an easier drive to work the next morning.”

Allred said the accident occurred when Freeman was driving Meyer’s car with Meyer in the passenger seat from Luckett’s home in Clarksdale, Miss., to Freeman’s property in Charleston, Miss., some 40 miles away.

Meyer would not comment on whether Freeman was drinking that night or specify what caused the accident that left the actor with a broken arm, broken elbow and shoulder damage. Meyer’s injuries included a broken left wrist, right scapula and a torn labrum.

“The accident and its aftermath has literally changed my life in every respect,” Meyer AP Photo | Reed Saxon said. “I sustained numerous injuries. I was unconscious Attorney Gloria Allred displays accident photos as her client, following the accident ... I Demaris Meyer, looks on at a news conference in Los Angecould not take care of myself les on Wednesday, to discuss a lawsuit against actor Morgan for several months. I have not Freeman stemming from an accident in which she was seriously injured while he was driving her car in Mississippi in 2008. been able to go back to work and still am suffering both

physically and emotionally as a result of the accident.”

The lawsuit claims that Freeman failed to keep a proper lookout, maintain attention, keep the vehicle under control and obey the posted speed limit.

Meyer is suing for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, permanent disability and property damage.

Allred did not specify how much in damages that Meyer, who worked as an executive assistant, is seeking with the

you

lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court in Northern Mississippi. She said that Freeman has only provided “minimal support” for Meyer following the accident.

Freeman, who won an Oscar for his performance in 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby,” costarred in last summer’s “The Dark Knight.” His screen credits also include “Bruce Almighty,” ‘‘The Shawshank Redemption” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”

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Freeman and Meyer were traveling on a dark, two-lane highway that cuts through the expansive farmlands of the Mississippi Delta when the car ran off the side of the road, authorities said last August.

The vehicle flipped several times but landed upright in a ditch about five miles west of Charleston.

“We’re confident this will all be resolved,” Freeman’s publicist, Ken Sunshine, said Wednesday.

12 Thursday, February 26, 2009

LIFESTYLES

The Crimson White

COLUMN | COMICS CORNER

Watch the ‘Watchmen’

By Robert Bozeman Assistant Design Editor Editor’s Note: This is a special edition of Comics Corner.

Comics Corner runs on Wednesdays.

The most important thing I can say in rebuttal to Josh Veazey’s fluff-ridden antiWatchmen movie rant is this: don’t see the movie if you are going into the theater wanting to hate it.

That said, all accounts have

Zach Snyder getting the tone and motifs of the book exactly right. Ninety percent of the scenes from the trailers can be found almost verbatim in the book, and if the trailers seem to have too much action, that is probably because executives typically push for more action-oriented trailers to help fill seats. This should come as no surprise.

Snyder has been loyal to the source material; he has not modernized the setting and he

didn’t let the film be anything but R-rated. The few irregularities that we know of so far, particularly those about the ending, change nothing of the meaning or impact of the story; they only make it more palatable for the big screen.

And while there are a few things I noticed that I didn’t like, mainly the change in outfit of the Silk Spectre II, which seems to have no silk, are trivial and definitely won’t keep me from enjoying the film,

much less going to see it.

Furthermore you cannot blame Snyder for the film adaptation of “300” being one-dimensional, overblown or homophobic. You can, however, blame Frank Miller because that is exactly how he wrote it. I can only hope the “Watchmen” movie is as true to the book as “300” is.

Snyder is infamous for his love of slow motion, but that shouldn’t be seen as a detriment to his films. His

visuals are sublime. If nothing else, “300” was a visual masterpiece and the way Snyder slows down and lets you really take in a beautifully detailed scene can be breathtaking.

This is probably the truest way to transpose a comic onto the big screen.

The biggest risk “Watchmen” runs of being a failure is if the story is too inaccessible to people who have not read the graphic novel; it needs to stand alone and be a complete

story by itself while being able to accurately reflect the book.

“Watchmen” will be a great success if it is both accessible to new audiences and satisfying to veteran readers.

It must be a daunting task to translate “Watchmen” into film. It is large and complex, and would probably never make a great movie, but since it is inevitable that it be translated into film, I am very pleased with what I have seen so far.

VIDEO GAME REVIEW | ‘NOBY NOBY BOY’

Bizarre game elicits confusion

By Adrian Morris Contributing Writer

Thursday, Feb. 26th

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“Noby Noby Boy” is bizarre, unique and somehow relaxing. It’s a hard game to explain and my default answer to any question about it is, “I don’t know.”

Keita Takahashi, creator of “Katamari Damacy,” has attempted a few times to explain what “Noby Noby Boy” is about, but even he is at a loss for words.

When asked on the PlayStation Blog why he made “Noby Noby Boy,” Takahashi replied, “Seriously, I don’t know.” He also said, “By making an undefined and ambitious game, I want the player’s reaction to be something like, ‘I don’t know why, but it’s somehow interesting. I can’t stop playing.’ ” “Noby Noby Boy” has one goal. Girl wants everyone to be connected, so she needs help from Boy to grow and reach each planet in the solar system. The distance traveled between planets by Girl is the factual distance.

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concolemaster.com From developer Namco Bandai, “Noby Noby Boy” was released worldwide on Feb. 19th for the Playstation 3.

Boy is a worm-like creature that can theoretically stretch infinitely. Boy, you and players online, report the length you have stretched to Girl. The more you stretch, the farther Girl grows. Four days after “Noby Noby Boy’s” release, Girl grew 384,403 km and reached the moon.

The “enjoyment” in “Noby Noby Boy” stems from the fundamental mechanic of how to stretch further. Both analogue sticks control the corresponding end of Boy’s body. Pushing the analogue sticks in opposite directions will stretch Boy. The more you stretch, the harder it will be to stretch farther.

Boy can eat objects to grow and stretch. Boy can also creatively use objects to stretch.

For example, I stretched around an entire level.

My favorite example involves wrapping Boy around a donutshaped cloud and letting the tail end snap off. After it respawned, I ate it and grew.

Another time, I suspended myself and stretched as far as I could until the map zoomed out to show Earth.

Levels generate random amounts and types of objects and place them on a large square grid. One level I played had 90 percent of the surface covered with spinning tops.

The tops kept falling from the sky because they were constantly falling off the grid and respawning in the sky.

“Noby Noby Boy” has only one or two songs, but they do make the experience relaxing.

My largest complaints are the lack of purpose and the controls. I wish there were other reasons to play other than growing Girl or obtaining the small list of trophies.

The “Grand Theft Auto” series allows you to have “fun” in a sandbox world without feeling the need to complete missions. Stealing cars, shooting strangers and running from cops gives you the feeling of accomplishing an immediate “goal” in a world that’s affected by you.

“Noby Noby Boy” has the same sandbox style gameplay, but it lacks the feeling of satisfaction. You can report how many meters you have grown, but that is it. The reward may take weeks or even months to experience depending on how long it takes to reach the next planet.

But the larger issue is the controls. Some buttons do multiple things. R1 rotates the camera and, if held, it zooms in and out using the SIXAXIS. L1 only rotates the camera left, but when held with R1 it rotates the camera vertical-

ly. When Boy was too long, I fought the camera because it focused on the center of his body and not his head. Other control issues involve trying to stretch, rotate the camera and fly using R2 and L2 at the same time without zooming in some direction.

While I do not think most people will enjoy “Noby Noby Boy,” I think it deserves a chance. After all, no other game will let you eat its manual. If you do not want to pay $4.99 for “Noby Noby Boy,” then my suggestion is to find someone who has.

If “Noby Noby Boy” sounds like it might be for you, then join the Girl’s workforce. I am both proud and ashamed that I contributed 15,000 km toward the moon, but I intend to contribute more as myself and other Boys help Girl journey to Mars.

‘Noby Noby Boy’ Platform: PlayStation 3; PlayStation Network CW critic’s rating:

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LIFESTYLES

Thursday, February 26, 2009

13

BANKHEAD VISITING WRITERS SERIES

Piven to attend Bankhead brings Thompson tonight grievance hearing

By Kelsey Stein Senior Lifestyles Reporter

The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series will continue tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Bama Theatre with a book reading by author Jean Thompson.

The event is free and open to the public.

Thompson’s short stories have been featured in magazines such as “The New Yorker” and anthologized in “The Best American Short Stories,” according to her Web site,

other collections of short stories, as well as three novels.

The short story collection What: Bankhead Visit- “Who Do You Love” was a ing Writers Series brings finalist for the 1999 National Jean Thompson Book Award. The novel “Wild Blue Yonder” was selected as When: Tonight at 7:30 a New York Times Notable Book and ranked among Where: Bama Theatre the Chicago Tribune’s Best Fiction books.

How much: Free Authors who participate jeanthompsononline.com. in the Bankhead Series are Most recently, Thompson chosen by current UA stuwrote “Throw Like a Girl,” dents and faculty members. a collection of short stories Through the installments published in June 2007. Her in the series, they strive to other works include three bring talented writers to

If you go...

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• • •

Tuscaloosa to read their work publicly for the benefit of the University, as well as the entire city of Tuscaloosa, said Steve Kowalski, a third year graduate student who handles administrative duties for the series.

“It is difficult to underestimate how important storytelling is in our culture,” Kowalski said. “… The experience is different from watching a play or seeing live music.

This is the author’s words in the author’s own voice. It is a rare chance, one that should not be overlooked.”

The Associated Press

composed of five actors and five producers, could resolve the case or one (or both) of the two parties could file for arbitration.

Piven departed the critically praised production of Mamet’s comedy in December, less than two months after the show opened on Broadway. His doctor told the show’s producers that Piven was “seriously ill” — possibly from eating too much raw fish — “and unable to fulfill his contractual obligation to ‘Speed-the-Plow.’”

Jeremy Piven will again be center stage in New York.

Piven plans to attend a hearing Thursday at Actors’ Equity Association on a grievance filed by the producers of “Speed-the-Plow,” which the performer quit after his doctor said he was suffering from mercury poisoning.

Both sides are expected to present their case during the proceedings, which will be closed to the public.

The grievance committee,

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Ryan Mazer • Lifestyles Editor

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ryan.mazer@cw.ua.edu

Flicks to catch COBB HOLLYWOOD 16 •“Confessions of a Shopaholic” (PG) •“Coraline” (PG) • “Fired Up” (PG-13) • “Friday the 13th” (2009) (R) • “He’s Just Not That Into You” (PG-13) •“The International” (R) • “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” (G) •“My Bloody Valentine” (R) • “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (PG) • “Push” (PG-13) • “Slumdog Millionaire” (R) • “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” (PG13) • “Taken” (PG-13) •“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” (PG-13) • “The Wrestler” (R)

By Tyler Deierhoi Lifestyles Reporter The first Tech-Is-Art Expo will debut on Friday, March 10 in 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library.

The event starts at 6 p.m., with setup beginning at 5 p.m. The expo is a chance for students who create art, using technology as a medium, to meet other individuals that share their interests. Students interested in participating have until March 6 to submit their work for consideration.

The expo was created to give students with an appreciation for art and technology a chance to submit and present their ideas to attendees during the event. Although traditional art of technology will be considered, the main focus is on art involving an electronic medium, such as electronic music or a computer case-mod. Students who enter the contest will be eligible for one of three $500 grants from New College and Creative Campus.

The grants will help fund students that want to do more research and expand on their original ideas.

Tech-Is-Art was the idea of Creative Campus interns Josh Sahib and Paul Hanninen. The two developed the event after hearing John McGowan talk about similar projects at other universities.

McGowan is the chief information officer and vice provost of the office of information technology.

“Originally, we wanted to do a kind of bigger, splashy tech event,” said Sahib, a graduate student of American studies and library sciences.

“After meeting and talking with each other, though, we wanted to do something a little more grassroots.”

Hanninen, a senior majoring in English, hopes the expo will help create a lasting community that will continue to work and become self-sufficient.

The two also said that one of the goals of the event is to inspire collaboration among students.

“Campus is really fractured,” Sahib said. “With

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this event, you could have an engineering student who’s been working with electronic music end up collaborating with a musician. If it weren’t for events like these, it might never happen.”

Though similar events have been done before at other schools, this is the first event of its kind to take place at the University.

“If we’re able to wow some people then it would make sense to continue,” Hanninen said. “Hopefully, this will turn into something that can be done every semester.”

The two have said that there is no strict definition of what they are looking for.

“If someone has something they think might remotely qualify, they should e-mail us their idea,” Sahib said. “We’d love to be surprised.”

Students interested in participating should submit a proposal and sample of their work to Sahib and Hanninen at joshsahib@gmail.com and pwhanninen@gmail.com.

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