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Serving USA students and the University community since 1963
April 4, 2011 |VOLUME 48, NUMBER 27
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University of South Alabama’s student newspaper
SGA elections starting to heat up By Alex Whalen MANAGING EDITOR
The sheet signs all over campus and Facebook invitations can only mean one thing: it’s SGA election week. Some candidates for officer positions are running unopposed: Nick Lawkis (Treasurer), Jean-Pierre Arditi (Attorney General), and Jason Cord Fallon (Student-at-Large). Three candidates are running for President, and two are running for Vice President and Chief Justice. Last Tuesday, the candidates for officer positions answered questions from the Elections Committee and the student body about their qualifications and their goals if elected. The word of the evening was “communication.” Candidates spoke about bettering communication with administration, the student body, and within the Student Government Association (SGA).
Genny Roman | Associate Editor
see SGA | 4
Online learning getting new management system By Carey Cox
SENIOR REPORTER
The University is expanding its educational scope by implementing the Learning with Technology Plan. The plan demonstrates to the Federal Department of Education the University’s commitment to provide sound training for faculty, develop good processes to make sure electronic tools are accessible to all students and authenticate learners and appropriate security, David Johnson, senior vice president of Academic Affairs, said. Johnson said 11 percent of the University’s credit hour production is online and growing rapidly. Dr. Jack Dempsey, director of the Innovation in Learning Center, said there were 350 unique online courses last year. The University began delivering online courses through its University-wide system in 1998. Over the next three years, the University will transfer to Sakai, a learning management system with a research collaboration system and an ePortfolio solution, Dempsey said. More than 350 organizations use Sakai, including Oxford University, Rutgers University and the
Chick-Fil-A, Pizza Hut coming to The Market By Genny Roman ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Chick-Fil-A and Pizza Hut will soon be two new additions to South Alabama’s campus. Recently, the University signed contracts with both franchises. They are part of the anticipated design for the Student Center’s food court, currently known as The Market. According to Craig Stephen, Director of Food Service, the pricing for Chick-FilA and Pizza Hut will match the immediate area’s restaurant pricing. In other words, students will pay prices close to those of the fast food restaurants around campus instead of restaurant prices close to the downtown area, for example. Chick-Fil-A’s menu will carry the full menu of a regular Chick-Fil-A. Pizza Hut will initially carry their pizza and chicken wings, adding their pastas to the menu after a month in service. The food at each restaurant in the food court will be made to order, “here on campus, just like it would be at any one of those chains,” Stephen said. The new food court at the Student Center will also house Aramark’s Burger Studio. Burger Studio is a futuristic burger stand concept, where students can order their food from a touch-screen kiosk, making a see MARKET | 4
see ONLINE | 2
IPolice Blotter p. 2
Happenings p. 2
inside
Opinion | page 9 SGA Presidential Race The three candidates let students know why they should get your vote.
Etc. | page 13 Amazon Cloud Amazon’s use of cloud technology will let you take your music anywhere.
Arts & Entertainment | page 14
Spring Fling Coming Up Go Vegas-style with Jaguar Productions and lose your pre-finals blues.
Sports | page 16 Colin McGee | Photo Editor
This humble bovine uses poor grammar to advocate the more contemporary food choice.
Campus Pulse p.8
Distractions p.18
MLB 2011 Preview A small preview of what you can expect from the best and worst teams in the league.
JagLife p.19