The Auburn Plainsman

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The Auburn Plainsman A Spirit That Is Not Afraid www.theplainsman.com

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Vol. 117, Issue 35, 12 Pages

New indoor practice facility nears completion

Todd Van Emst / Media Relations

Auburn’s Athletic Department is in the process of completing a 92,000-square-foot indoor practice facility. The new $16.5-million, 120-yard facility will help reduce outdoor practices. The current indoor facility is only 40 yards. The project is slated to be completed July 27. The facility will also be used by other Auburn teams in inclimate weather.

Program provides tickets for heroes Courtney Smith Intrigue Editor

For many students and season ticket holders, spending a Saturday tailgating and going to a football game is a privilege often taken for granted. Gameday for Heroes is an organization based out of Columbus, Ga., that sends both current and retired members of the military to college athletic events. Jana Tarleton, director of Gameday for Heroes, said it all started in August 2009 as a community service project for the Columbus-Phenix City Auburn Club to send soldiers from the Army Wounded Warriors Program to a football game. After Auburn journalist Phillip Marshall wrote about their program on his blog, Tarleton said

All of these things impact not only the wounded, but their families are impacted in a major way as well.” —Mike Tarleton Vice President and Treasurer Gameday for Heroes

they started receiving calls from season-ticket holders across the nation who were unable to attend all of the games and wanted to donate their unused tickets to the cause. Tarleton said more than 400 military personnel have attended games over the past two years,

and it has not just been the soldiers that have been affected by the organization. “We get to hear their stories and learn about them and many of the stories will truly touch you,” Tarleton said. “You get to meet those that fight for our freedom and you get to put a face and a story with the ones we read in the newspaper or see on television.” Tarleton husband Mike Tarleton, who is vice president and treasurer, said the program has given him a greater appreciation of the sacrifices made by those in the service and their families. Because of the program, he said he has been able to meet and get to know some who were wounded in combat. “Some may be amputees, oth-

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Smoking ban gets Staff Council vote

Gnu’s Room becomes nonprofit

Kristen Ferrell Campus Editor

Sarah Layne Writer

The Gnu’s Room is strengthening its role as a community builder by becoming a nonprofit organization. The Auburn coffee and book shop plans to continue its mission of supporting literacy and will now have a better opportunity to serve the community as a center for the arts. “We love doing local events around town, but the change to a nonprofit organization will open up more fund trust for us to do this for people,” said Haley Bridges, employee at The Gnu’s Room. Owner Tina Tatum said this change was something she had been considering for a while. “We knew that as a business, we were bouncing along OK, but we wanted to expand some things that we were able to offer to the community,” Tatum said. Bridges said The Gnu’s Room will

ers have ongoing surgeries from shrapnel that remains in their bodies to this day while others may have post-traumatic stress disorder,” Mike said. “All of these things impact not only the wounded, but their families are impacted in a major way as well.” Mike said that the main objective of Gameday for Heroes is supporting the troops and America, not pulling for a certain team. “One thing we have to remember is we all love college football, but when it comes to Gameday for Heroes, this isn’t about the school and winning,” Jana said. “It is about sharing the experience with our military heroes.” » Read the rest online at

Christen Harned / Associate Photo

Alyssa Carodine, junior in anthropology and barista at Gnu’s Room, makes a drink with latte art. host events which will include local musical acts, poetry readings and book signings. It will even offer film and documentary showings that are not available in theaters. In addition to that involvement, » See nonprofit, A2

The Staff Council voted June 29 in favor of a smoke-free campus after months of preparation and surveys. Now that the three main governing bodies of the University have voted in favor of a smoke-free campus, the final smoking policy remains in the hands of President Gogue and a task force. “We were charged with letting the faculty voice their opinions,” said Nakeisha Janigan, chair of Staff Council. Janigan said to get the staff ’s opinions, the Council sent out a survey. The survey asked five questions pertaining to having a smoke-free campus and received around a 50 percent response. “Sixty-three percent of

campus was positive, 2 percent didn’t care and the remaining was negative or very negative,” said Michael Freeman, risk management and safety and Staff Council member who was put in charge of heading the topic for the Staff Council. Freeman also gave staff a chance to leave comments on the survey and said he received 193 responses ranging from comical to extremely angry. More than any other comments were those expressing a desire to have designated areas around campus. After giving his findings from the survey, Freeman presented the results to the Staff Council, and then they voted. Voting resulted in 60 percent of the representatives in favor of » See Ban, A2

Inside  Campus » A3  |  Community » A5  |  Opinions » A7  |  Intrigue » B1  |  Classifieds » B2  |  Puzzles » B2  |  Sports » B3

City crime rate falls Raye Hendrix

Associate News Editor

The rate of violent crime in Lee County decreased significantly from 2009 to 2010, according to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center. The Center recently released statistics for updated Alabama crime rates. As a whole, the state saw a 24 percent drop in robberies, a 13 percent decrease in homicides and a 20 percent decrease in rapes last year. Reported robberies in Auburn decreased to 13 from a previous 45. Opelika’s reported robberies decreased from 83 in 2009 to 31 last year. Lee County also saw a drop in burglary arrests from 101 to 55, and the number of robberies decreased from 35 to 25. Theft arrests dramatically decreased from 721 to 559. The number of reported rapes fell from 24 to 10, though the number of rape arrests rose from 6 to 11. Arrests on simple assault charges also decreased, falling to 673 from 713. Auburn Police Division Chief Tommy Dawson attributed these successes to the determination and resolve of the Auburn and Lee County police forces. “It’s just a lot of prayer and hard work,” Dawson said. “They take it very personally when crime is committed in our city.” Dawson said the Auburn Police Division gets a lot of support from the City administrators, and though the three are separate entities, Auburn, Opelika and Lee County police departments work very closely with one another. He also said the community plays a large part in aiding the Auburn Police Division with its work. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones shares similar sentiments with Dawson. “We’re very pleased to see that these numbers have gone down, especially because of the type of crime this is,” Jones said. “We like to think it might be due in part to people being more vigilant and aware of their surroundings.” Jones said that the leading contributors to violent crime are domestic disputes, but the police force does its best to aggressively deal with the situations when they arise. “You can’t point at any one cause,” Jones said. “Maybe it was because of the economy, maybe it wasn’t. There are all kinds of dif» See Crime, A2

Police offer citizens homesecurity checks Crystal Cole Managing Editor

Auburn residents will now have another way to safeguard their homes from intruders. The Auburn Police Division’s crime prevention unit has always offered security checks, but this summer officers began actively asking businesses and citizens if they wanted the service. “(The checks) are just our way of taking positive steps toward preventing crime,” said Capt. Tommy Carswell of the crime prevention unit. The assessments usually last 30 minutes and include checking for visibilty from the road, lighting, locks and other factors. Most of the outside factors are geared toward those who live in houses, but Carswell said anyone can request the service. Students who live on campus should not worry about re» See Security, A2 Recycled paper


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