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LIFESTYLES
Legislators decide on medicinal marijuana today
SPORTS:
Grant to bring up-tempo style to Tide basketball
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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Comics Corner column takes on ‘The Invinceable’, ‘Kickass,’ and ‘Blankets’
Serving the University of Alabama since 1894
Parking permit prices rise
Vol. 115, Issue 108
Womanless Beauty Pageant
By Victor Luckerson Senior Staff Reporter
Student football tickets go on sale Monday From staff reports
Next year, prices for parking permits will increase across the board. Commuter permits will rise from $145 to $165, residential permits will rise from $175 to $220, perimeter permits will rise from $100 to $120 and reserve permits, used in special locations like the ten Hoor and Ferguson Center parking decks, will increase from $350 to $400. Ronnie Robertson, director of transportation services, said the increases were part of a five-year business plan that was presented to the UA Board of Trustees in 2006. “Parking services is an auxiliary,” Robertson said. “We receive no state funding from the University. We have to have a plan in place in order to provide growth for the campus.” Robertson said the revenue generated through parking permits was used to build and repair parking lots, parking decks and roadways. So far this school year the University has generated $2,954,000 in revenue through parking permits. This year 14,490 students purchased parking permits; however, Robertson said the number was down slightly from last year. He attributed the decrease to a rise in CrimsonRide use. “Three or four years ago as a freshman, you would have probably had a car,” he said. “We’re not saying don’t bring a car, but [using the CrimsonRide] is a good opportunity.” Robertson stressed that a fall in permit purchases would not directly lead to an increase in prices, though. “We included that in our business plan, a possibility of reduction in permits,” he said. The newest project being funded by permit dollars is the parking deck being constructed under the new Ridgecrest South dormitory. The $16 million structure, which will house
See PARKING, page 5
PARKING PERMIT PRICES FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS
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CW | RF Rains Robert Burgess (left) and Nick Janzen (right) wait offstage at Monday nightʼs Womanless Beauty Pageant. Burgess is a junior majoring in social science and secondary education. Janzen is a freshman majoring in international studies.
Students will be able to purchase football tickets for the 2009 football season starting at 7 a.m. Monday, according to a UA News release. Currently enrolled students can purchase one student season ticket package that will include all seven home games. Packages will cost $35. Students must complete the student ticket order form before they can purchase tickets. The form is available online only at rolltide. com. Click on Tickets at the top of the page, then Football, then Student Tickets next to Football. Click on Register under Option 1. Students will need their CWID numbers to register. On Monday, students should return to the site and click on Option 2 to order tickets. Students who do not pre-register before purchasing tickets will have to do it Monday morning before buying tickets, the release said. Pre-registration began Tuesday. Students are encouraged to place their order as quickly as possible, according to the release. Students may place ticket orders even if they have not registered for fall 2009 classes. However, students must meet the requirements listed at studentreceivables.ua.edu/Student_ Eligibility_Athletic_Events.html.
Help Desk warns about virus By Sydney Holtzclaw Staff Reporter
2004 — 2009 Parking permit prices 2004: $60 for commuters, $60 for residents 2005: $80 for commuters, $80 for residents 2006: $100 for commuters, $100 for residents 2007: $125 for commuters, $175 for residents 2008: $145 for commuters, $175 for residents 2009: $165 for commuters, $220 for residents Source: CW archives, Auxilary Services
UA weather
TODAY
INSIDE Today’s paper
SGA remembers past year ........................2
Partly cloudy
72º/52º
Thursday
74º/49º
Scattered thunderstorms
Friday Clear
70º/43º
Marijuana legislatoin to be discussed today...3 Lecture on religion held today ......................3 Opinions: Suggestions for a healthier spring .....4 Lifestyles: ʻComics Cornerʼ ...................6 Basketball to be more upt-tempo next year .8
P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 | Fax: 348-4116 | Advertising: 348-7845 | Classifieds: 348-7355 Letters, op-eds: letters@cw.ua.edu Press releases, announcements: news@cw.ua.edu
With the April Fool’s Day virus set to take effect today, Ashley Ewing, director of the information and security compliance department of the UA Office of Information Technology, and Richard Corbett, student consultant for the UA Help Desk, have tips for students and faculty members to protecting their computers and personally information. “There are three main ways to protect your computer from viruses,” Ewing said. “The first is to install reliable antivirus software, such as Symantic and McAfee. These programs are
reliable due to their automatic updates and weekly system scans, which are very important components of antivirus ware.” The UA Help Desk offers such reliable software with their free antivirus protection CDs. Corbett said the free CDs not only offer programs for Windows operating systems but also Virex, an antivirus program specially designed for Macintosh operating systems. The second thing Ewing suggests is ensuring your computer is set to use patches, small pieces of software designed to fix problems with or update computer programs. “The most important thing
for students to know about patching is that their operating systems can be set to automatically send out patches if a flaw is detected in a virus scan,” Ewing said. “Despite what some have been told this is important for both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh Systems.” Corbett said Macs are just as susceptible of contracting viruses as PCs and less vulnerable at the same time. “Since Macs have a different operating system, they are less likely to get a virus that is specifically designed to damage PCs,” Corbett said. “But as Macs become more popular and as Macintosh continues to make hardware changes it
is likely these computers will be specifically targeted or hybrid viruses will be designed to attack both operating systems.” The final step that should be taken to protect your computer from viruses, Ewing said is to make sure you have a personal firewall. To ensure your computer is equipped with a firewall Ewing suggests checking the computer’s security center, such as Microsoft Security Center for computers on Windows platform. “To check if your computer has firewall click Start on the desktop of your computer. You
See VIRUS, page 5
Bama Dining listens to students By Patty Vaughan Staff Reporter Bama Dining will be making huge strides in the upcoming years to improve food services on campus based on the recommendations from students, staff and faculty members, Bama Dining officials said. Aramark, a national corporation that has been in charge of Bama Dining since 1996, has created a new patent-pending program called MarketMATCH. This will be the first year that Bama Dining has worked with MarketMATCH and the idea behind it is to take the ideas and concerns from those on campuses and apply them to the dining. “MarketMATCH is a master plan and a process that has taken about year,” said Kristina Hopton-Jones, director of University Dining Services.
MarketMATCH had corporate people come in and conduct intercept surveys, a Web chat room that consisted of about 40 students and had UA President Robert Witt identify some upper administration for them to interview and an online survey to get a real sense of how customers felt about the dining service here on campus, Hopton-Jones said. When all of the research was conducted, people in Aramark who had never visited the campus and took a very blinderstype approach made recommendations based on the data collected. “This is a three to five year plan,” Hopton-Jones said. “It is a living and breathing project so no recommendations for the north residential building have been conducted because that’s 960 students who haven’t come in yet.”
A new idea that has been recommended but not finalized is possibly taking out the wall that divides Fresh Food Company and the Food Court in the Ferguson Center. They would make it one large food court, which provides more seating. “This is huge and it’s something we still have to research and look into,” Hopton-Jones said. “We know we’ll have to build another Fresh Food Company somewhere around there but there’s not much space so that’s a challenge.” Another idea that has just been a recommendation is adding technology to the food ordering service. The idea of possibly using mobile devices to order has been put on the table for discussion. One item on the list that has been finalized is a new eating area in Lloyd Hall. Something
like Panera Bread will be available students and quick graband-go food will be available as well. “We’re really excited about that location because it’s on the Quad,” Hopton-Jones said. “We wanted something really fresh and semi-healthy because people run, walk or play Frisbee there.” Another aspect that will be implemented is longer hours for the dining halls, said HoptonJones. Next year they plan on making the lower dining part of Lakeside open much later. Last week MarketMATCH gave their final presentation of what will be and could possibly happen in the years to come. Hopton-Jones added that they plan on keeping up with the MarketMATCH program because in three years there
See DINING, page 5