The Crimson White - 4/21/09 by The Crimson White

SPORTS

LIFESTYLES

Tide heads to SEC tourney

Serving the University of Alabama since 1894

Vol. 115, Issue 120

Student solves rubik’s cube in freefall

Groundless solution

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Comics Corner – Ultimate Marvel

Contributed photo

Adam Morgan, a freshman majoring in computer science, free falling from 14,000 feet, shows off a Rubikʼs cude he solved during the plummet. By Kelsey Stein Senior Lifestyles Reporter

solve one in 47 seconds while free falling from a plane 14,000 feet in the air. Morgan, a freshman majorWhile most struggle to solve a Rubik’s Cube with infinite ing in computer science, accomtime on their hands and solid plished this feat when he skyground underneath their feet, dived for the first time on April Adam Morgan managed to 11. The video of his stunt has

been featured on a few blogs already. A member of the Army skydiving team scrambled the Cube on the way up as Morgan prepared himself for the jump. “I don’t remember much of the free fall,” he said. “I wasn’t

nervous about the jump itself, but I had a lot of pressure to actually do the Cube because if I didn’t, it would just be a complete failure.” During the jump, the strong winds proved obtrusive as they constantly forced his hands

into his body, he said. Solving the Cube while skydiving was still much harder than he expected, although he practiced beforehand by hanging out of the moon roof of a friend’s car as they sped down the interstate.

But Morgan said he enjoyed the practice, usually solving Rubik’s Cubes for three hours on an average day to relieve stress or boredom. “It’s funny that I do

See RUBIK, page 5

GYMNASTICS

In ’09, 2nd place isn’t falling short By Jason Galloway Senior Sports Reporter

coaching career,” head coach Sarah Patterson said. The misfortune started For a coach with four before the season even national titles and six SEC did, when sophomore AllChampionships, a second-place American Kayla Hoffman finish would typically lead to received offseason shoulder surgery that would eventudisappointment. But the Alabama gymnastics ally keep her out for half the team’s second place at the NCAA year. Then, three meets in, Championships last weekend, a meet in which the Crimson Tide Alabama would lose four rouscored a season high, signified a tines each meet for the rest grand end to a season filled with of the year when all-arounder Brittany Magee tore a adversity. “This is one of the most gratifying and rewarding season ends that I’ve had in my See GYM, page 8

UA weather

TODAY

INSIDE Today’s paper

100 Lenses presented today ......................2 Summer heat calls for hydration .................3

Clear

77º/52º

Thursday Clear

Friday Clear

83º/56º

New approach to campus journalism ................4 Traveling man brings contest ..........................5 Style by jury ..............6

83º/58º

What A-Day meant for the Fall .................. 10

P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 | Fax: 348-4116 | Advertising: 348-7845 | Classifieds: 348-7355 Letters, op-eds: letters@cw.ua.edu Press releases, announcements: news@cw.ua.edu

Changing Tides is a new online magazine focusing on issues on campus. The site will tackle a new issue twice a semester with feature articles, art, photography and video. This semester’s issue focuses on race relations at the Capstone.

UA Athletics Freshman Ashley Priess stepped in to lead Alabama to a secondplace team finish before claiming third in individual competition.

Today’s articles focus on this year’s SGA election and how other SEC schools deal with diversity in the SGA. Read more at:

CW.UA.EDU

It’s not all black and white Race and the 2009 SGA election By Chris Izor and Drew Hoover Changing Tides Staff At the University, 2009 will stand out as one of the closest SGA races, with the highest turnout in the school’s history in a race between a black woman and a white man. With a revamped online election system, the SGA elections drew heated competition and vigorous campaigning from both sides. The new method of election enabled widespread democracy and convenience, but it also demanded a closer examination of campaign practices, strong stances on important issues and a fight to the

very closing of the polls. The results not only told us who won the election, but also something about the changing character of the University itself. When presidential candidate Kendra Key reflects on her ability to have her voice heard on campus, one can sense a hint of frustration in her smile. “I had people come up to me while I was campaigning out there on the street and say, ‘I really believe you are more qualified, you’re a wonderful candidate, but you know I just can’t vote for you — you know how it is.’ They wouldn’t vote for me because they were told not to vote for me, but they knew deep down inside that I was a better candidate. And that kind of hurts.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair, adding, “I think there are a lot of apathetic students who know there’s no point in

CW | Drew Hoover Weeks after the election, a faded “Your Voice is Key” sticker still rests on a bench outside B.B. Comer Hall. voting because the ‘system’ is always going to win. And I think this election showed that the system is not fool proof; the system can be beat.” Key’s loss in the 2009 SGA

election was a blow to a long career of SGA involvement. Among other things, she served as a member of the inaugural First Year Council, was a

See TIDES, page 5

PAGE Wednesday

TODAY • Opening Ceremony for Black Belt 100 Lenses: Hale County — 1 p.m., 232 Ferguson Center •UA department of theatre and dance presents “Thoroughly Modern Millie” — 7:30 p.m., Gallaway Theatre, runs through Sunday

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

• Housing and Residential Communities present Crump, Shake, and Swing — 6 to 9 p.m., the Quad

• Art America 2009 inaugural art show — all day, Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art, through Sunday

• Bird Watching with expert birder Beth Motherwell — 8 a.m., UA Arboretum pavilion

• UP presents Arthouse Cinema: “Henry Poole is Here” — 7 p.m., Campus Programs Lounge

April 22, 2009

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I don’t remember much of the free fall. I wasn’t nervous about the jump itself, but I had a lot of pressure to actually do the Cube because if I didn’t, it would just be a complete failure.” –– Adam Morgan on solving a Rubik’s Cube while skydiving

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.

100 Lenses presented today By Hannah Mask Contributing Writer Students from Hale County who participated in the Black Belt 100 Lenses Project will be presenting their work today in the Ferguson Center, according to Elliot Knight, founder and codirector of the project. The Black Belt 100 Lenses Project is designed to give youths in rural areas a voice by providing them a chance to photograph what they believe are the positive and negative aspects of their town. Knight said the project’s goal is to be in 12 counties, and at the end of the semester it will be in five. “We give [the students] cameras and tell them to take pictures of what’s important to them and their community,” Knight said. “There’s usually

a pretty good mix. We see a lot of positive stuff that’s going on, but it also gives us a good idea of what they’d like to change.” Most of the Hale County submissions were agricultural, but the photographs’ subjects vary from county to county, Knight said. For example, in Greenville, several of the positive submissions focused on the catfish industry, which supplies jobs to many of the residents. The negative submissions, he said, focused on things like condemned and abandoned buildings. “Another thing a lot of students raised an issue about is that they don’t really have a lot of opportunities to do afterschool programs,” Knight said. He also said it is important to have the submissions displayed at the University for a number

of reasons, the largest being that many students at the University are not fully aware of the fact that a lot of the surrounding counties are agricultural. “At UA we’re 30 minutes from these rural areas in Alabama, but we’re oftentimes kind of in a bubble, and so people don’t really see what’s going on outside of our community,” he said. The Black Belt 100 Lenses Project’s Web site displays all of the students’ photographs and can be accessed at blackbelt100lenses.org. Knight said to get into the program, students have to submit a creative work of their choice, such as a poem or short story. From those submissions, an advisory committee made up of teachers and other community leaders choose about 20 students to participate in the project.

CW | Marion R Walding The Black Belt 100 Lenses: Hale County Photography Exhibition will open today at 1 p.m. in the Crossroads Lounge in the Ferguson Center.

Chinese Club travels to Chicago Members learn about Chinese language education

THIS DAY IN ALABAMA HISTORY 1970: Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches and educational programs. Earth Day was the brainchild of Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness.

By Karissa Bursch Staff Reporter

members of the Chinese Club learning the Chinese lanat the University arrived in guage. Culver, Ind., in order to learn Ryan Bell, a junior majoring After a ten-hour car ride, more about teaching and in international finance, went on the trip and said it was a great way for the club to learn and gain contacts and recognition. The group went to Culver Academies, a college prep boarding school in Culver, because of the very advanced Chinese program they offer, Bell said. There the group met with Ning Schultz Wang, the academy’s main Chinese instructor. Wang has a seminar at the University of Indiana about Chinese language education, 㼣㼣㼣㻚㼟㼔㼕㼞㼠㼟㼔㼛㼜㻚㼎㼕㼦 Bell said. The seminar focuses 㻰㼛㼣㼚㼠㼛㼣㼚 on methods to teach and learn 752-6931 Chinese. 㻡㻞㻡㻌㻳㼞㼑㼑㼚㼟㼎㼛㼞㼛㻌㻭㼢㼑 Bell said the group learned

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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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methods and activities to actually use with students. “For first-year students it’s hard to pick up characters,” Bell said. “Wang said a firstyear student needs to grow a passion for the language and settle into the language. In the second, third and fourth year of learning, students can start taking on the harder stuff.” Bell said the club meeting will discuss the methods the group learned with their talk with Wang because about 80 percent of the students in the Chinese Club are American students trying to learn Chinese. From Culver the members on the trip traveled over two hours to Chicago in order to visit the Chinese Consulate and speak with the Consul of Education. Bell said the group and the consul discussed how the consul received her job and why she does that line of work. They also spoke about the Confucius Institute in China which is pairing up with American Universities to bring Chinese teachers in to teach. Universities must apply to the program. “Hopefully we can apply and receive the partnership with [the Confucius Institute],” Bell said. “Our Chinese language program on campus is growing. We now have about 70 or 80 students but only one professor and three teaching assistants.” Bell said he and a few other students were recently denied the next 400 level class for Chinese because, with only one professor teaching, they cannot offer it due to the need to offer beginning 100 level classes for beginner students. “We made a lot of progress on the trip,” Bell said. “We made contacts and learned about the Confucius Institute opportunities. Hopefully it’ll help the club members in learning the language.” Evan Heckman, a junior majoring in international studies and German, said he thought the trip was successful. “I believe this trip will help the University because this will help us better understand how to learn the Chinese language,” Heckman said. “Our main goals were to watch a seminar about teaching the Chinese language and to visit with a Chinese official in Chicago. Both of these goals were met.” Heckman said the Chinese Club is hoping to plan a trip to Houston, Texas, next fall since there is another Chinese Consulate there. This consulate’s region extends to the state of Alabama.

The Crimson White

NEWS

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Summer heat calls for hydration By Patty Vaughan Staff Reporter Temperatures are rising as summer nears and it is important for students to stay hydrated and maintain good health. “It’s important to drink fluids regularly,” said Lori Greene, assistant director of Nutrition Education and Health Services at the University. “If you are going to be outside, set some type of regular schedule to drink fluids like every 20 [to] 30 minutes. Drink eight [to] 12 ounces of water or other fluids.” Greene is only one of two sports dietitians in the

state of Alabama and works with UA Athletics. She said students who play sports during the summer should drink at least two cups (16 ounces) every hour before playing a sport or being active. “Generously replace the fluid and sodium lost after being active, and it is important to hydrate on a schedule instead of waiting until you feel thirsty during activity,” Greene said. For those who do not play sports and are just out in the sun, they should also be conscious of their fluid intake, she said. Greene said if students are outside and sweating a lot, depending on the activity they are doing, it is also good to replace sodium losses. “This can be replaced in the form of a sports drink or a salty snack like pretzels,” she said. Items that should be avoided during the summer

are things such as alcohol and caffeine, she said. She added if you do drink those things in the heat you should make sure you are well hydrated first. If someone does become dehydrated, he or she should visit the doctor as soon as possible, Greene said. Symptoms of dehydration include feeling faint or dizzy, having little urine output, nausea headaches and muscle cramps. Dehydration can cause serious problems but is completelypreventable.Greenesaidsheemphasizes the importance of drinking water on a regular basis and making sure that students keep to a schedule. “In general dehydration is preventable by drinking more fluids,” she said. You can learn more about how to prevent dehyCW | Drew Hoover dration and staying healthy at the University’s Stephanie Brumfield stays hydrated in the Student Health Center’s Web site at shc.ua.edu. warm April weather with a bottle of water.

UA automotive engineers receive award By Brittney S. Knox Contributing Writer The Society of Automotive Engineers has been awarded the 2009 Honeywell Outstanding Branch Award in the class-three chapter for the second year in a row. Tim Rose and Andrew Truitt, members of the Society, received the award yesterday in Detroit, Mich., at the awards ceremony. The chapter received a plaque and a $600 award. Tim Rose, the president of the chapter, said, “This award is a wonderful testament to the hard work of our chapter, officers and members.” Rose began his involvement with the program as a participant in the Mini-Baja and Formula events. The Baja competition is when the students build cars made for off-road racing. The cars are similar to a dune buggy. The Formula competition is when students build cars made for on-road racing where the cars are similar to a F1 car. Andrew Truitt, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said, “We received the award for the class three event

engineering and the science field. “With a continuously growing automotive presence in Alabama, I think it is important for our future engineers to show a high level of excellence at the University, which will lead them to a career in the future,” he said. Rose also said the chapter has also received the CCSO Crimson Star Award and the CCSO Foundations Award for Education.

Contributed photo Left to Right: Tim Rose-president of SAE, Ben Ritter – professor at Central Michigan, and Andrew Truitt – Communications Director for SAE. for chapters that have a little under 50 members, and we feel our chapter is a great representation of the University.” Truitt has also participated in the Baja and Formula events. “I have had a passion for cars ever since I can remember and when I got to college I knew I wanted to study more about them,” Truitt said. One area this award recognizes is collegiate branches that

show exemplary performance in community service and this chapter exhibits that through their participation with AWIM — A World in Motion, according to the release. This program is when members of the chapter go to a local school and help the students with science projects. Truitt said this is in order to teach the students about the opportunities there are in

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OPINIONS

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Paul Thompson • Editor

letters@cw.ua.edu

Misinterpretation to the extreme The past few days have held some somber anniversaries. Monday marked the tenth anniversary of the Columbine massacre. Sunday was the 14th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the Waco Siege and the day Charles Manson was sentenced to death. While these events differ tremendously from each other, they are all reminders that Americans have a history of committing terrible acts of violence against each other. A now two-week-old report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) describes that present social, political and economic conditions may increase the chances of another domestic terror attack by “rightwing extremists.” It states that there is no information indicating a currently planned terror attack, but “rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues.” These issues include the struggling economy and the election of a very liberal, African-American president. It compares the present situation to that of the 1990s, when an economic downturn and a Democratic president helped to stir up anti-government sentiment and led to the crises in Waco and Oklahoma City. The report includes listings of what these “rightwing extremist” groups could consist of, including hate groups, anti-government groups or potential single-issue groups focused on something like abortion or immigration. Nowhere in the report does it say “people who disagree with Obama are terrorists,” as you may have heard it described. Many have taken the definition “rightwing extremist” to mean anyone whose political

Jonathan Reed leanings sit to the right of “center,” but the key word is not the former, but the latter. An extremist is defined as “a person who goes to extremes, esp. in political matters.” Makes sense, doesn’t it? The report emphasizes rightwing extremism because domestic terror is more likely to come from the far right than from the far left in these conditions. It is not a declaration of war against half of society, as it has been portrayed. If you want a more clearly defined example of “with us or against us,” look up a speech by George W. Bush (I prefer his Nov. 20, 2001’s speech to Congress for its clear “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”). In the words of MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann, “the man who sees absolutes where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning is either a prophet or a quack.” Those who feel this DHS report labels them terrorists are clearly not seeing nuances and shades of meaning and, well, let’s just say I’ve never been big on believing in prophesy. If you feel the characteristics in this report fit you frighteningly well, it still doesn’t make you a terrorist. Only your own actions can make you a terrorist. This isn’t “1984,” there’s no “thoughtcrime” and no thought police.

Remember, you’re American before you’re ideological, so don’t forget to put “Country First.” So, if that doesn’t satisfy you, let’s just say for argument’s sake that you’re a potential suspected terrorist. Congratulations, you’re a part of a group that, until 2005, included Quakers. Yes, I know, Quakers are pacifists, but it took DHS years to figure that one out. Don’t you feel so safe now the legal protections for suspected terrorists weren’t eroded during the Bush Administration? Oh, wait. You want to talk to a lawyer? You want to not be tortured? No dice. Turns out all this time you thought us liberals were being “soft on the terrorism,” we fought to protect their rights so it couldn’t happen to innocent Americans. Shoe, meet the other foot. DHS could have taken the politically correct way out and ignored the threat of “rightwing extremism,” but it instead took a look at the historical record. While Sept. 11 remains the costliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, the enemy was different than the one that struck in the second-costliest attack: April 19, 1995. Of the 168 people killed and more than 800 injured in Oklahoma City that day, many were certainly of America’s right wing, but they were not the extremists, only their killer was. The “rightwing extremism” and “antigovernment” sentiment we must fear is not akin to the ideology that makes someone vote Republican or attend a tea party, and it goes far beyond the ideology that makes Rick Perry want to separate his state from our great and proud nation. “Extremism” isn’t an American tradition. Let’s keep it that way. Jonathan Reed is a freshman majoring in political science and journalism. This is the final column in his series.

CW | Corey Craf

New approach to campus journalism launches By Victor Luckerson and Sam Grimes Here at the University the tides are always changing. Over the course of the 20th century, the Capstone evolved from an institution for privileged white males to a home for young men and women of all ethnicities, nationalities and social strata. Here in the 21st century, we are looking at a University fundamentally different from the one our parents might have attended. Students of color make up 17 percent of the University’s population. More than 80 countries are represented on campus. A non-greek, African American, female candidate for SGA President accrued more than 7,000 votes this year, more votes than were cast in total in any prior campus election. Increasingly, the University is host to a broad spectrum of student voices. Without structure, those voices become dissonant

and chaotic. Or worse, those voices are silenced and individuals recede back into their predefined categories. Instead of truly growing and maturing, the University simply becomes compartmentalized. Changing Tides provides a voice to the increasingly diverse student body, both directly and indirectly. An online publication, Changing Tides is dedicated to in-depth reporting and analysis of campus issues and culture. The Web site is not so much a lens as a magnifying glass — we will choose two topics a semester and engage with them in a careful, detailed manner over a series of weeks. Our coverage will raise many questions, and while it will provide some answers, the overarching goal will be to make our audience so well-versed on an issue that they can ask this burning question: “What can we as people invested in the prosperity of this University do to improve

this issue?” It’s a question that can’t be answered by an editorial staff, but it is our hope that Changing Tides can educate and enlighten people about certain campus issues. It can bring you the stories of the people affected by those issues. It can provide a forum for people to work out the answers for themselves. The indirect voice will be the staff’s. Our words, pictures, videos, audio slideshows and other multimedia will provide the context, the framework and the structure. But the direct voice will be yours, the audience’s. We want to afford you a space to discuss oft-suppressed campus issues. We hope people can use the narratives, data and analysis we provide to springboard into frank discussions and we will provide that forum to anyone who is willing to engage. Change is coming, inevitably. To be a part of it, visit changingtides.ua.edu.

Cheaper food options a must Here we are at the end of the semester, and everyone is completely burnt out on school. Another department where most UA students are lacking is the Dining Dollar department. Whether we spent them on Buffalo Phil’s, late-night Dominos or just lunch at the Ferguson Center every day, they are gone. If you still have them, I’m jealous. With finals coming up, there are a lot more people on campus meeting for study groups or spending time in the library. I expect the dining halls and vending machines to be frequently visited, which brings me to this week’s issue. Why must the University overcharge us for food? I mean

Jessie Landon obviously they overcharge us for everything — I mean look at tuition and parking passes — but something as necessary as food? We need food to nourish our learning brains and without it how can we take full advantage of our experiences at the University?

Yes, I know food is pretty expensive everywhere, but things are a little different on campus. For example: today in the Ferguson Center, I spent $7 on a freaking small bowl of salad and a Diet Coke. I made the salad thinking that it would be like $4 dollars and of course the fountain drinks are a ridiculous $1.39. SEVEN DOLLARS! And you guys totally know what small bowl I’m talking about, right? Come on. That pizza place, Bene Pizza and Pasta, is ridiculously overpriced. A plate of pasta shouldn’t cost $7 or $8. But the most outrageous choice in the Ferg food court is definitely Home Zone. I mean, you do get a good amount

of food, but $8 for a plate, and whenever you add a drink onto that, your total will be $10. Frankly, that’s a little too pricey for lunch if you ask me. The dining halls are so expensive if you don’t have a meal plan. Though you have a buffet style and are welcome to seconds, thirds and, if you’re brave, fourths, it is still a pretty steep price for those of us that only want one serving. It’s kind of depressing that the cheapest options in the Ferg food court are the food chains, like Burger King and Chick-filA. I feel like these should be the most expensive options for us to choose from. I mean I can go waste my money at these places and actually have options.

It seems that all healthy food is the most expensive too. The cooler along the wall over by the bottled soft drinks contains the healthy food and the food the University staff creates. A bowl of pasta salad is $2.39 and the bowl is barely half full. There is also the same size bowl of fruit for $5.39 and a berry bowl for a whopping $6.39. The vending machines are a little steep for my liking too. I mean, a bottle of water shouldn’t cost $1.25. I also don’t think that chips should be $1, but that’s much more reasonable than most anything in the Ferguson food court. But obviously everyone is still going to buy it no matter what, and that is why the University

gets away with ripping us off. We obviously need to eat, and it’s so impractical to leave campus and come back. As poor college students, we should have cheaper food options, because — let’s face it — we already give the University a lot of money. It’s a little silly to suggest to protest Bama Dining, but maybe a plea from numerous students will make an impression. I’ll start. So please, next year, can we please have some more reasonably priced food? Thanks, that’d be great.

Jessie Landon is a junior majoring in journalism. This is the last column in her series.

Finally, a spokesperson for southerners By Walker Pritchard Thank you Asa Brandon. Thank you for finally officially defining southerners as white, southern and conservative. Thank you for giving me somebody to thank for finally standing up and sharing our strong conservative opinions in the wake of these liberal attacks that are practically sponsored by The Crimson White. Those liberals are the same pack that want the name of this paper changed to The Crimson Rainbow to include not only all colors, but sexual orientations as well. The nature of these attacks has been very condescending indeed, and deserve rebuttal. I have been rabid over the portrayal of southerners in media and am eternally grateful that we now have a spokesman.

But we must press further, Asa. Step up for the others demonized in these films. Southerners, men prone to riddles, fat men brought up by penguins, jokers, district attorneys who have acid accidents, all of these men have been unfairly portrayed by media and it is time that we stand up and say “enough is enough.” The obvious and only logical conclusion drawn from this portrayal in the “Hulk” movie is that all southerners are innately evil. And since this is an obvious attack on southerners, our only next inference, as Asa has found, is that liberals are incredibly intelligent. Pay no mind that southerner and liberal are not opposing relational characteristics damnit! Stick to my reasoning. Calling Tea Party attendees “bloodthirsty” is absolutely immoral. These are patriots. Patriots

know that the best way to protest irresponsible spending is buying millions of bags of tea to throw on the ground. You’re damn right Asa! These liberals claim to care about child health but only after the child is born. Screw that! Life begins at conception! I personally buy life insurance policies for my unborn after the first trimester. I can’t wait for the day when some strong southerners like Asa and myself run this country. My first order of business will be that all women must save everything related to their period for government testing. If any of the eggs flushed out are in fact fertilized, this woman will be charged with murder. Plain and simple. I must also share my abhorrence of the way in which the media treated Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol. How could

Time magazine go so far as to cast this 16-year-old’s single motherhood in a negative light. The only facet in which Bristol deserves rebuke is in her nonapplication of the abstinence only policy. Maybe she needs more teaching but right now the media should be focusing on getting this teenager a husband. I say Bristol Palin should be the next Bachelorette. That is not only great publicity for Sarah, but it will also solve the only problem with her daughter’s pregnancy. And what if Sarah had been a lesbian? What do you have to say to that Time? I bet that completely irrelevant and hypothetical example sure turned your face red. I must, however, correct Asa in his one and only mistake in his article. He says, “it is never all right to demean someone ... regardless of their sexual

orientation, religious conviction or lifestyle choices.” In the next paragraph he explicates, “Hunting moose and attending NASCAR races are lifestyle choices just as homosexuality is a lifestyle choice.” This slight inconsistency is easily cleared up however. He mistakenly separated sexual orientation and lifestyle choice in the first quote and showed our true ideal in the second. Every sexual orientation is a choice and that is a scientific fact. I can clearly remember when I was a young man of 7 and definitively decided to be straight. What a glorious day. And I must take it a step further. I believe that it is not only sexual orientation that is decided upon. It is clear that no state is innate in humans. Sociopathy, psychopathy, mental retardation, physical handicaps, all of these are choices by

the lazy and the freaks of society just to be different. I am glad that we poor white southerners finally have a spokesman for our kind. I feel like the only place I can go to make a black or Jew joke is every bar on campus. Every time I come around a corner I think I’m going to run into some huge lumbering black man, stoned, foaming at the mouth and desperate for nothing more than to rape something. Or maybe one of the gays. Some rainbow wearing drag queen that might try to hit on me. I am glad that the LGBTs are a minority and I will continue to ignore their pleas for equality alongside my compatriot, Asa. We “southerners” have been too long a minority in this town. We demand equality!

Walker Pritchard is a senior majoring in Spanish.

WE WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS Editorial Board

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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.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

‘Vagabond’ brings contest to Gorgas By Patty Vaughan Staff Reporter One man has been traveling the country to help the students and to live the dream he’s always wanted. Daniel Poynter is a philosophy graduate from Purdue who has been traveling from college to college hoping to make a difference. He and three friends created a business called the Digital Literacy Contest in summer 2007. In 2008, when Poynter graduate from the University, he was able to travel around the country due to the support of

libraries. The rest of his friends remain as undergraduates at Purdue but still helping him. Poynter said the contest is designed to have students and faculty members participate in a 30 minute question survey in which they have to find the answers all on the Internet. “The questions range in difficulty, but it’s all about being literate in the 21st century,” he said. The point of the contest is to help libraries around the country in addition to helping no student fall behind. The students who do well in the contest are interviewed by Poynter and others and then

libraries have it can really open their eyes. “These questions allow students to use the library databases and they usually walk away realizing how much information is available to them on a regular basis,” he said. Poynter said he has traveled to at least eight different colleges since he first started traveling including Brown, Northwestern and Cornell. Poynter added that the Internet is a prosthetic for our minds or an extension of our nervous center and that this is the first contest where people use it that way. The community has

asked to help students who have a more difficult time finding things on the Internet. “We basically find out what makes these students tick when we interview them,” he said. “Then these students go out and help students who have trouble processing so much information. It’s a good way to educate people and bring about democracy. No one is left behind.” He said libraries at Purdue spend about $14 million on books, labor and databases, which are typically only used by graduates and faculty members. He said by teaching students about the resources

tripled since it was first created Poynter added. “We remain in contact with the students interviewed and we encourage students to join the clubs [at] their library that basically asks the question, ‘How can we change?’” he said. Poynter also has a personal motive to come to different universities. “It’s a chance for me to meet visionary students, he said. “I want them to participate in a discussion with them on the future of humanity and the future of technology. I’m not saying that I’m a visionary person but I just want to meet them.”

RUBIK

TUSCALOOSA CITY COUNCIL

Continued from page 1

something that stresses other people out to relieve stress,” he said. Morgan’s father, who has solved Rubik’s Cubes since the early 1980s, first taught him how to solve them, and it quickly developed into a hobby. It now takes Morgan an average of 22 seconds to solve a Cube with a personal best of 15.09 seconds. Not only does he have the well-known 3x3 dimension Cube, but also everything ranging from 2x2 to 7x7. He has participated in two competitions and is considering organizing one on campus if he can generate enough interest. “Even if I just have a Rubik’s

TIDES

Continued from page 1 College of Arts and Sciences senator and chief policy adviser for Cason Kirby. “[As SGA president], I was hoping to bring some unity to campus,” Key said. “I feel that there’s a large part of our campus that doesn’t feel like they’re represented by the SGA.” Many different people understand the problem of the SGA not representing all students, but not everyone sees it in the same light as Key. Dave Folk, news editor for The Crimson White, works closely with the SGA. In trying to represent all students, he said, “I think they’re trying hard. It’s not just on the side of the SGA — it’s a two-way street. When you have students who don’t care, obviously the SGA can’t reach out to someone who’s not looking to get talked to in the first place.” Did race affect this past SGA election? “It definitely played a role as far as it goes from coverage to mobilizing voters,” Folk said. “This year it was independents versus greeks and almost felt like it was black versus white. Not to such an extent, but a lot of people were excited about

Cube in public with a friend or something, it definitely starts conversations,” he said. Morgan has taught an estimated 40 or 50 friends how to solve Rubik’s Cubes, and though none are as serious about it has he is, many do it casually. Anyone is welcome to look him up on Facebook if they are interested in learning to solve Rubik’s Cubes, or even to speed solve them, he said. “If you’re really determined to solve it, you’ll learn more quickly,” Morgan said. “The fastest I ever taught someone was in less than an hour, but it usually takes a day or two.” You can watch Morgan solve the Rubik’s Cube during free fall at youtube.com. Adam Morgan jumps from a plane, beginning to solve the cube. Kendra’s campaign — some of them were excited more or less because it was Kendra Key running, not really for the platform. It was more or less people who were supporting her just to beat the Machine, because they didn’t want the other guy to win.” Former SGA President Cason Kirby said he is optimistic about the election results. “I would like to think that our students are to the point where race is not a factor for any outcome in casting their votes. But I’m not sure we’re to the point where that’s a reality,” Kirby said. The pictures of the U.S. Capitol on Kirby’s desk display his ambition, but he manages to be human and conversational. About the SGA and diversity in general, Kirby said, “It’s easy to say with any group that you don’t necessarily reflect the ideas of those that don’t look like you, but I would certainly challenge that within our administration. We’ve been able to bring together a diverse group that really represents a range of background.” Key offered a different viewpoint. “First, the SGA absolutely does not have diversity,” she argued, showing sudden firmness. “I think that leadership should reflect the population, although if the representatives

He also said his dream has finally come true now that he has started this business and can travel. “Hitchhiking and vagabonding has been a dream and now I can actually do it.” The contest will be held in 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library today from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be $200 in prizes and a free dinner. You can also register by going online or texting 41411: signmeup your@email. com To learn more about the Digital Literacy Contest or register for the contest, you can visit their Web site at Digitalliteracycontest.org.

are truly representing the population, I’m OK with there not being diversity in leadership. I, at the present moment, do not feel our SGA has historically been an SGA of all students.” According to Key said, many minorities feel uneasy about trying to become a part of the SGA simply because the sitting SGA, at least on appearance, does not seem to reflect their background. This problem runs deeper than just race. Corey Craft, editor-in-chief of The Crimson White, sees the issue more broadly. “I think the perception of the student body is largely that the SGA is controlled by a group that only wants to perpetuate its own interests,” Craft said. “The greater student body therefore assumes that the SGA doesn’t have their interests in mind, therefore not getting involved, therefore becoming apathetic, and the SGA ends up only representing the SGA by default because the greater student body has shunned them. It’s sort of a vicious cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way.” Flipping the pages on the corner of one of his own newspapers, Craft addresses the issue of impartiality in journalism. “Of course, the paper as a

whole and the editorial board does eventually endorse a candidate. There are more implicit accusations of bias toward one candidate or another for that reason, but I do think we try to be fair, and the endorsement process is very involved.” When asked about The Crimson White’s coverage of the aftermath of the election, he said, “While we had complaints about both campaigns from the other sides, which was reflected in our coverage of the immediate aftermath of the election, what we saw was that there were a larger number of complaints directed toward the Oliver campaign; there were a larger number of Key supporters out there documenting those complaints.” Craft noted some students wrote to the opinions page claiming that both sides of the campaign had many violations, but he said, “We didn’t see that, to be quite frank. We were reporting the facts as we were told the facts.” Despite accusations, Steven Oliver was not found guilty of any violations that would cost him the election. The SGA president tried to appeal to various demographics during his campaign. “We talked to the Theatre Honor Society,” he said. “We talked to Apwonjo. We talked

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to just anyone we could get out to — Blackburn and all them. We probably could have improved a little on that, but we tried to.” Oliver took office as the new SGA President on April 7, and as far as he is concerned, race played no major role in the election results. “I don’t think so,” he said, “I think it was based solely on experience and plans we had for the next year. I really do, I truly believe that.” He expressed happiness that the University is moving past its racial history. “Let’s look at what her plans are, what my plans are, look at what we’ve done in the past,” he said, leaning back. “I think it’s been a great thing — I don’t think we need to play that card all the time.” As far as race and his own campaign, Oliver said he looks to represent everyone. “We had a lot of minority students helping out with the campaign,” he explained. “It may not have been on the campaign staff, but that was only a few people. We reached out to every group.” Visit changingtides.ua.edu to read more from SGA president Steven Oliver and Kendra Key and learn the perspective of everyday students.

The Tuscaloosa City Council met just over a half hour Tuesday night covering routine business. The Filling Station was permitted to use of a lot on 23rd Avenue in the Downtown/ Riverfront Overlay District as a bar. The bidding process for some construction on the future intermodal facility ended. Harrison Construction company won a minor contract for work that was not anticipated at the beginning of construction. David Turner presented an aerial photograph of the municipal airport taken during the air show to the council. The photo illustrated how many people attended. On May 25 starting at 8 a.m. the third annual Mayor’s Cup 5k Run and Fitness walk will be held. Registration is $18 and all money goes to the Tuscaloosa pre-K initiative. You can register online through the city’s Web site or 7 a.m. the day of the race. The council will not meet May 5 because members and city officials will be attending the Alabama League of Municipalities Conference. Detailed minutes from council meetings can be found on the Tuscaloosa city Web site.

LIFESTYLES

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Ryan Mazer • Editor

ryan.mazer@cw.ua.edu

Style by jury Selected students’ works displayed at art exhibit By Josh Hedrick Lifestyles Reporter

Hunting through jumbled item bins in thrift stores and perusing estates sales could not be farther from a curricular activity for most students. But for Ginger Baker, a junior majoring in art, it is just another part of her course work. “I use a lot of found objects in my art, so I spend a lot of my time looking through thrift

stores and garage sales for pieces that stick out to me,” Baker said. “I’m really collecting stuff all the time, looking for inspiration wherever I can find it.” Inspiration struck in the form of a dress slip discovered in an area thrift store and a gold-lined wall clock found in an antiques store. The artist then created a sculpture that combined the two objects, by dipping the dress in resin that cemented the garment in place. “A lot of my work is very conceptual, but also very personal. I’m interested in expressing feminist ideas through a personal narrative,” she said. “It represents the inescapable effects of time and what that experience is like from a woman’s point of view.” Baker is one of 12 Bachelor of Fine Arts candidates in the University’s department of art

and art history whose works have been selected for display in a downtown art gallery. The wide range of studentcreated art is being exhibited today through May 8 at the Harrison Galleries located at 2315 University Blvd. The public is invited to a reception for the BFA students to be held May 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit is the product of a juried process, as students’ works were pitted against each other to have the best among them selected by a panel of jurors composed of Art Department faculty, as well as gallery owner Jim Harrison III. The exhibit represents pieces selected by jurors from a variety of artistic mediums including sculpture, painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography and more. BFA students face a more rigorous curriculum with more requirements than regular art majors, said visual resources curator for the department of art and art history Rachel Dobson.

“A lot of the students who are BFA [candidates] tend to be a bit more directed, and know they want to be artists,” Dobson said. “Their requirements demand more of an intensive focus on hours spent in the studio creating.” And other than the education and ability, one of the most important things aspiring artists need is experience and exposure. The BFA program gives serious art students the step up they need for one day realizing their professional artist ambitions, she said. While there are several venues across the University campus, such as the Ferguson Center and Moody galleries, the exhibition in the downtown art gallery is a new event for both student artists and art department staff and faculty membersf. “This is the first time we’ve had an exhibit like this at an art gallery and we couldn’t be more excited,” Dobson said. “It’s a way for us to incorporate our work within the

community and [Harrison Galleries own Jim Harrison III] has been absolutely great and helped out so much.” A painting by Ginny Leigh, a BFA candidate and junior, will also be on display in the gallery. “It’s a piece I did from a photo I took of one of my friends right after he wrecked his bike and got a little roughed up in the crash,” Leigh said. It is an 18-by-24 inch acrylic painting that depicts the work’s namesake, Parker, with a black eye he received in the crash. She said she was just at the right place at the right time to be able to capture such a raw moment, and capturing it on canvas was all the more stirring. “It really is a great opportunity,” Leigh said. “Having something I created out on display in a real art gallery for everyone to see is pretty amazing.” “It has been a great working and competing on this project,” said sculptor Ginger Baker. “You get a look a look at what it’s going to be like once you

get out of school when you realize there is more to it then just following the parameters your professors give you.” The public is encouraged to attend the exhibit’s reception. “That’ll be a fun part of the overall experience too, getting to have friends and strangers come and see my art and ask me questions,” Baker said. “Everyone comes out with questions and it’ll be a really social event.”

FAST FACTS What: First Annual BFA Juried Exhibition in UA’s department of art and art history

When: Opens today and runs through May 8, with a reception on May 1 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Where: Harrison Galleries at 2315 University Blvd.

‘Desperate Housewives’ death draws no crowd been off the air with original episodes for a month, and ABC says the serial often takes awhile to build up steam when it returns. ABC has debuted an unusual amount of new programs in recent weeks, almost like a fall season, with similarly mixed results. The new product is partly a reflection of last year’s Hollywood writers strike, which delayed production of many series, and partly a test-drive of new shows that might make the fall schedule. Of the new shows, the Bob Saget comedy “Surviving Suburbia” seems the best bet to return. It had a bigger audience than anything on ABC except for “Desperate Housewives” and “Dancing With the Stars” last week. The quirky cop drama “The Unusuals” and the remake “Cupid” had virtually the same sized audience — just over 6 million — but ABC executives are said to be much higher on “The Unusuals.”

The drama “Castle” did better, but is on the bubble. ABC has already pulled the comedy “In the Motherhood” off the air and, since its audience was roughly the same last week, “Better Off Ted” may be better off dead. CBS won the week with an average of 9.9 million viewers (6.3 rating, 11 share). Fox had 9.3 million viewers (5.5, 9), but easily won among its prized 18-to-49-year-old audience. ABC had 7.5 million viewers (4.8, 8), NBC had 6.3 million (4.0, 7), My Network TV had 1.6 million and the CW had 1.5 million (both 1.0, 2) and ION Television had 620,000 (0.4, 1). Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision had 3.9 million viewers (2.0 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 11.4 million (0.6, 1), Telefutura had 720,000 (0.4, 1) and Azteca had 180,000 (0.1, 0). NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.4 mil-

lion viewers (5.6, 12). ABC’s “World News” was second with 8 million (5.4, 11) and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.9 million viewers (4, 8). A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of April 1319, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 24.38 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 24.11 million; “Dancing with the Stars,” ABC, 19.46 million; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 15.72 million; “Dancing with the Stars Results,” ABC, 15.24 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 15.03 million; “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 13.85 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 13.56 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 15.03 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 13.23 million.

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The Crimson White

LIFESTYLES

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

COLUMN | COMICS CORNER

“Ultimate” imprint makes for fun, light reading By Robert Bozeman Assistant Design Editor

In 2000, Marvel launched a new Comic Imprint known as Ultimate Marvel with the release of “Ultimate SpiderMan.” The following year, “Ultimate X-Men” and “The Ultimates” (The Avengers) were released. The Ultimate Marvel line — which now includes an ongoing Ultimate Fantastic Four series as part of their main repertoire — was

released as a way to re-introduce old characters to a new audience. There were many smaller changes made to ‘update date’ characters; for instance, there is a mini-arch in which Colossus deals with his homosexuality and the judgment that comes from Nightcrawler. Many of the characters are younger and their series are marketed towards a younger audience. Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are high

school students. Most of the X-Men are younger, collegeage students. However, the reimagining of the Avengers, “The Ultimates” limited series, is more adult, but not quite dangerous enough to be solely for adults. The writing is pretty clean; it is nothing special, but nothing really bad either. “Ultimate Spider-Man,” written by Brian Michael Bendis, hasn’t had any flaws since its conception, but it fails to really impress as

anything special. However, it fits the purpose Marvel originally had for it. Bendis does a good job making the characters likeable, but the whole thing feels too much like a weird tribute album to the original. It is a really light read, though, so there isn’t too much investment required on the part of the reader. The highlight for writing is probably the first limited series of “The Ultimates” by Mark Millar. He really brings to life the struggle of Captain America to adjust to life in the 21st century from someone who fought in WWII. Some of the most entertaining writing, however, comes from the “Ultimate Fantastic Four” line, which ended on issue No. 60. Millar and Bendis team up with Adam Kubert and the characters really feel right — the kidding between The Thing and The Human Torch never seems forced, and the whole series, especially the beginning, has a light mood.

One of the nicest things about the Ultimate Marvel imprint was that there was no convoluted back-story that you had to know to enjoy the stories. It was just Spider-Man or Cyclops in a fresh, fairly well-written setting. However, Marvel may be destroying one of the strongest things they had going for the Ultimate Universe. There is a new imprint-wide event that is going to change everything about the Ultimate Universe: Ultimatum. Now instead of being an

avenue for new readers to get into Marvel characters with no convoluted back-story, they are writing sweeping series that include every book in the imprint, and that do nothing but sell more books and make the stories less accessible. Overall, I would suggest reading the early trades for a fun read, with a nice contrast of darkness from “The Ultimates.” When things get hairy closer to “Ultimatum,” you can decide for yourself if it’s worth your while to continue onward.

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Summer comedy highlights The Associated Press NEW YORK | As much as tentpole action films dominate the summer, comedies, too, are a staple of the season. In warm summer nights, waves of cackling have long floated out of multiplexes playing “Caddyshack,” ‘‘There’s Something About Mary” or “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” Judd Apatow recalls going with his summer camp to see Bill Murray in “Stripes” as “one of the great moments of my entire life.” “There are a lot of gigantic movies with budgets well over $100 million that come out during the summer,” said Apatow. “There’s a lot of excitement and spectacle. But I think people also enjoy something less intense and fun and funny.” Apatow has become a summertime regular, having directed “Knocked Up” and produced “Superbad” and “Stepbrothers” — all of which, he notes, benefited from coming out late in the season when people were “a little burnt-out” by the blockbusters. On July 31, he’ll release “Funny People,” starring Adam Sandler as a stand-up comedian who finds out he has a terminal disease. Seth Rogen co-stars. “It’s a human comedy,” said Apatow. “It’s about the normal struggles that people face in their lives. It’s funny and relatable.” Apatow also produced “Year One” (June 19), which Harold Ramis (“Groundhog Dog,”

‘‘Analyze That”) directed. It stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as Roman Empire era wanderers with girl problems. It’s not the only time-traveling comedy this summer. In “Land of the Lost” (June 5), adapted from the campy ‘70s TV series, Will Ferrell plays a scientist who leads his team (including Danny McBride) through a time warp and into an alternate dimension where dinosaurs (among other things) exist. Then, there’s yet another alter ego of Sacha Baron Cohen’s. On July 10, he returns with “Bruno,” the lone film this year with an umlaut that American moviegoers are likely to flock to. “Bruno” is Cohen’s followup to “Borat,” which in 2006 earned more than $128 million at the domestic box office and caused a cultural stir. In “Bruno,” Cohen again flings a character from his TV series “Da Ali G Show” into the real world, where director Larry Charles’ cameras capture his interactions with seemingly unknowing citizens. The culture clash of his gay Austrian fashion reporter might be even greater than that of his Kazakh journalist. Just as entertaining will be the sideshow of Cohen’s in-character interviews and the possible ensuing lawsuits (which resulted after “Borat”). Coming June 5 with less fanfare and star wattage is “The Hangover,” about a group of

friends who find themselves trying to put the pieces together after a wild Las Vegas night. Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as a trio of groomsmen looking for their missing friend, it’s a kind of “Dude, Where’s My Buddy?” “It sticks to a very simple detective format, almost like a mystery, like a Hardy Boys kind of thing,” said Helms. “You’re trying to figure out with the main characters exactly what happened.” Such summer comedies afford actors and comedians a chance to turn a small part or a cameo into a career breakthrough. (Remember McLovin?) “The Hangover” is the first major movie role for Helms, who graduated from “The Daily Show” to “The Office” and now to more movies. This summer, he also has a part in “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” (Aug. 14) and makes an appearance in the cameo-stuffed sequel: “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (May 22). “The Goods,” which is produced by Ferrell and Adam McKay, stars Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames and James Brolin. Other anticipated comedies this summer: — “Extract,” Sept. 4: The Mike Judge (“Beavis and ButtHead,” ‘‘Office Space”) comedy stars Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig. — “Whatever Works,” June

19: Woody Allen returned to New York to shoot this film, starring Larry David (“Seinfeld,” ‘‘Curb Your Enthusiasm”). — “The Boat That Rocked,” Aug. 28: Richard Curtis (“Love Actually”) directs this period comedy about a 1960s illegal radio station. — “Dance Flick,” May 22: The Wayans brothers satirize the recent slew of dance films like “Step Up.”

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SPORTS

The Crimson White

MEN’S TENNIS

Tide travels to Auburn for SEC tourney By Laura Owens Contributing Writer The Alabama men’s tennis team will head to Auburn Thursday to compete in the SEC Championship Tournament. The tournament will run through Sunday. Each year, the tournament is held at a different school’s location. The Tide, having just defeated Auburn this past Saturday, will turn right back around to play again in Auburn. Although it is not a home court advantage, playing in state gives the team a leg-up. “It’s pretty much an away match for everyone,” said freshman Ricky Doverspike. “It’s not just going to be about Auburn and Alabama. It’s going to be about the whole SEC. We’re going have a lot of fans there since we have a lot of support around Alabama. I think that’s going to help us through it.” Alabama starts at the No. 5 seed, taking on Vanderbilt at the No. 12 seed. Though Vanderbilt has struggled this season, head coach Billy Pate predicts them to be more competition than

people might expect. “It’s always harder to beat a team twice,” he said. “They’ve had some tough losses. They’ve improved though since we played them. I think they actually had a bad day against us. They’re competitive.” The Tide faced Vandy earlier in the season and won 6-1. Because of the outcome of their first match, the team is confident in their abilities to take the victory again. “We’re playing Vanderbilt first round, and we beat them pretty handily last time we played them,” Doverspike said. “But we’re taking ever match one at a time. We can’t look past Vanderbilt.” In the tournament, the top four teams in the SEC get a bye the first round. This is the third year in a row that the Tide has just missed the cut, coming in as the No. 5 seed. Also for the past three years, Florida has been the No. 4 seed, waiting for the winner of Alabama’s match in the next round. This gives the team even more motivation to beat Vanderbilt. Earlier this season, Alabama

played Florida in Tuscaloosa and lost 5-2. If they advance, the team will have a chance at redemption against the Gators. Senior Mathieu Thibaudeau hopes for the rematch in order to get his own redemption. “I’m looking forward to playing Florida again,” he said. “I lost both my matches last time by a small margin, and most likely, I’ll play the same players again. I can’t wait get my revenge on those guys.” Additionally, if the team is able to beat Vanderbilt, it could be enough to secure the spot in the top 16 teams nationally. For the NCAA tournament, usually the top 16 teams host a region. As of now, the Tide ranks No. 15 nationally, and with a victory against Vanderbilt, they may get picked to host a region. “We’re right there with anybody, we’ve proven that,” Pate said. “If we win the SEC Championship, we’re competing for the national title. All the teams that are competing for the SEC Championship UA Athletics |Kent Gidley that have a legitimate shot at it means you can win the national Saketh Myneni and the menʼs tennis team will face Vandy for the second time this season in the first round of the SEC tournament. title if you win the SEC.”

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Tiffany Welcher earns All-SEC Second Team Honors UA Athletics BIRMINGHAM | Alabama women’s tennis sophomore Tiffany Welcher was named to the All-SEC Second Team on Tuesday. Welcher has played No. 1 singles all season for the Crimson Tide, where she’s collected 10 wins and has also

added 13 victories in doubles. “Tiffany is very deserving of this award,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “She does her work quietly and takes care of business. It is nice to see the conference and coaches around our league recognize her contributions to our program. She continues to improve while facing

everyone’s best players week in and week out at the No. 1 spot.” Welcher, currently ranked 79th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Singles Rankings, has faced 12 ranked players throughout her sophomore campaign and picked up wins against four

of them. One of her best performances of the year came just weeks ago when she beat 32nd-ranked Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(9). Welcher also put forth great effort against No. 9 Chelsea Gullickson of Georgia forcing her to a third set. The Clarksville, Ind., native

was named SEC Player of the Week on March 4 for her performance in Alabama’s match at 21st-ranked TCU. Welcher beat No. 85 Macall Harkins 6-2, 6-2, which helped the Tide to a 4-3 win over the Horned Frogs and its best start in program history. This is Welcher’s second All-

SEC recognition as she was named to the All-Freshman Team last season. The Tide returns to the court Thursday when it begins play at the SEC Tournament in Fayetteville, Ark. Alabama will take on Auburn in the first round, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.

Howard named NBA Defensive Player of the Year The Associated Press

lando Magic center was talking to Patrick Ewing and Dikembe ORLANDO, Fla. | It is a question MubomboThe once great big Dwight Howard will never forget. men were giving Howard some Early this season, theOr- tips, and Mutombo asked him a

recalled Tuesday. “I said, ‘I want to be one of the greatest players.’ And he said it starts with defense.” Mission accomplished. The 23-year-old Howard became the youngest player to

win the NBA’s defensive player of the year award Tuesday. Howard was only the fifth player to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season, a goal he set in training camp. “A lot of guys don’t want to go

up [for blocks] because they’re afraid of getting dunked on,” Howard said. “Dikembe and Patrick told me, ‘As many times as you’re going to get dunked on you’re going to have more blocks.’“

The Tide needed help from other gymnasts to create depth, ones who had not yet continued from page 1 emerged as All-Americans. Alabama’s freshmen answered that call. ligament in her left knee. Ashley Priess and Geralen When Hoffman started to work back in, another All-American, Stack-Eaton stepped into the Kassi Price, fractured her fin- all-around role, while Caitlin Sullivan and Rachel Terry also ger. started to take more weight in the lineup. As the season progressed, half of the Tide’s routines belonged to freshmen. “I think [the freshmen] were huge,” Patterson said. “Now they have a taste of it, they know what it’s all about. I look to them to continue to perform in that fashion.” The first meet in which Priess and Stack-Eaton both performed in the all-around was the annual pink meet against rival Auburn. Alabama had lost its last four SEC meets and had dropped out of the top 10, a rare occurrence for this esteemed program. “Toward the beginning [of the season], I didn’t think [the success we ended up having]

was possible,” said junior AllAmerican Ricki Lebegern. Watching Alabama in the pink meet, however, made it seem like nothing had ever gone wrong. The Tide crushed its season-high score and sent No. 5 Auburn home with a losing deficit of more than a point. By the end of the regular season, Alabama worked its way back up to No. 5 and had regained its confidence. “It definitely says a lot about our team and it shows a lot of character,” six-time All-American Morgan Dennis said of her team’s turnaround. “We’re fighters. We have that desire to win.” Alabama’s motto became “finish strong,” which is exactly what the Tide did to end the year. On March 21, Alabama upend No. 1 Georgia to win its sixth SEC Championship in school history. Two weeks later, the Tide won the Northeast Regional Championship and entered nationals as the No. 3 team in the nation.

Halfway through the Super Six NCAA Championship last Friday, Alabama found itself with a thin lead over the competition, making a national championship, which seemed virtually impossible two months ago, a real possibility. In the end, Alabama scored a season-high 197.575 and was the only team to hit all 24 routines, but Georgia’s near-flawless 49.625 on the vault gave the Gymdogs a comeback victory to win their fifth consecutive national title. “I couldn’t have been more proud,” Patterson said. “In our sport, if you go out and hit 24 of 24 routines, there’s nothing more you can ask of your athletes.” Only one of those 24 routines (senior Ashley O’Neal’s floor routine) will not be back next season, and with the graduation Georgia’s Courtney Kupets, the best gymnast in the country, Alabama could likely be the favorite to win a national championship in 2010.

simple question. “He said, ‘What do you want to be remembered as, the great dunker who won the slam dunk contest with a Superman outfit on, or do you want to do something better than that?’“ Howard

GYM

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SPORTS

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Greg Ostendorf • Editor

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FOOTBALL

Looking back to peek ahead By Spencer White Sports Reporter

With the conclusion of spring football practice for the Alabama Crimson Tide at last Saturday’s A-Day game, the next four months will be bleak and cold for fans of the gridiron despite the warm weather and cloudless skies. The sounds of popping pads and screaming coaches disappears from the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility fields and will be replaced by the clanging of weight room barbells and wheezing linemen as the players begin the long summer grind of conditioning and weightlifting to prepare themselves for August’s fall camp. In the meantime, coach Nick Saban and his assistants will spend time between the highways of the southeastern United States, recruiting talented prep athletes and organizing their annual summer football camps. All that is left for the legions of fans to do for the dog days of summer is to sit and speculate, rewatching their TiVo’d A-Day telecast and analyzing every position on the field to construct a picture of the 2009 Crimson Tide. To save some time, here is a position-by-position look at the Crimson Tide A-Day performers and what Alabama fans can expect to see at the position groups when fall camp rolls around. Quarterback: With a solid performance last Saturday, redshirt junior Greg McElroy erased any lingering doubts about who would be starting behind center in Atlanta against Virginia Tech. Barring unforeseen disaster, the gunslinger from Dallas is Saban’s man to

replace departed captain John Parker Wilson. Of bigger concern to Tide fans should be who would replace McElroy in the case unforeseen disaster. Neither redshirt freshman Star Jackson nor walk-on Thomas Darrah looked close to ready for SEC competition. Running Back: Despite having the two returning rushing leaders from last season, Mark Ingram and Roy Upchurch, sidelined with injuries, Terry Grant and the rest of the tailback stable were unable to take advantage of their absence on A-Day, with no back averaging three yards per carry. It appears that Ingram and Upchurch will have nothing to worry about come fall camp but their recovery from hamstring and neck injuries, respectively, and the arrival of 5-star RB Trent Richardson from Escambia, Fla. Wide Receiver: Once again, sophomore sensation Julio Jones took about five minutes to show who the No. 1 receiver for the Tide is, catching a long McElroy bomb in the first quarter to put the Crimson team up 7-0. The picture on who will play opposite Jones, however, is still a little murky. Marquis Maze had some acrobatic catches in a losing effort for the White team, but questions remain about whether he has the size to be a true outside compliment to Jones in 2009. Offensive Line: JUCO recruit James Carpenter looked solid in his debut at left tackle, replacing future NFLer Andre Smith. Carpenter held senior defensive end Brandon Deadrick to zero tackles on A-Day, but struggled at times in pass defense holding back rushing linebackers. Of greater concern to Alabama fans should be the

interior line, which was consistently demoralized by big nose tackle Terrence Cody and senior defensive end Lorenzo Washington. Comfort comes in the realization that the big uglies on the O-line will not face a better defensive front seven than they saw last Saturday at Bryant-Denny. Defensive Line: What a difference a year makes. A position group filled with mystery and doubt coming into the 2008 A-Day game emerged last Saturday with three senior starters and provided consistent pressure in both the running and passing game, stuffing the first team running backs all day and occupying offensive linemen to allow a consistent linebacker rush which led to four sacks on McElroy. The second team was equally impressive, as Marcell Dareus, Damien Square and Josh Chapman had their way with the second team offensive line to the tune of 8.5 tackles and two sacks. Linebackers: This is a special group, led by middle linebackers Rolando McClain and Dont’a Hightower, who combined for 11 tackles, three for loss, an interception and two sacks at A-Day. Senior Cory Reamer provides spiritual leadership for the group, while Eryk Anders has emerged as a consistent pass rushing threat in situational plays. And that does not include returning Jack starter Brandon Fanney and young and coming talented players like Jerrell Harris and Courtney Upshaw. With the arrival of highly touted freshmen Nico Johnson and Tana Patrick in the fall, the future for the Tide’s linebacker core looks very bright indeed.

CW | Norman Huynh The annual spring scrimmage gave several players the chance to prove themselves as potential started in August Secondary: The biggest surprise for the secondary on ADay was the sight of sophomore Robby Green at free safety. Manning the position left by departed All-American Rashad Johnson, Green had a couple of rookie mistakes, including a botched coverage that led to Julio Jones’s touchdown catch, but overall was impressive in his debut, racking up two tackles and an interception off a Dont’a

Hightower tipped pass. Green appears to have locked up the spot alongside Justin Woodall in the defensive backfield, and will depend on the experience of the senior safety at the Georgia Dome in September. Special Teams: As a three year starter, it is expected for Leigh Tiffin to make the field goal opportunities given to him, and the always lagging fear of an Arkansas 2006 relapse cropped

up again last Saturday in an 02 demonstration at A-Day, as Tiffin missed from 33 and 55 yards. It was difficult to get a read on the punting situation as there was no live rush and the returners could not be tackled, but Javier Arenas looked outstanding as usual and returning starter P.J. Fitzgerald caused some head scratching with a paltry 35.2 yard average on his punts.

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