Vanguard The
VOLUME 48, NUMBER 6
For a glimpse into the spirit and pageantry surrounding USA’s first football game, turn to page 11.
Serving USA Since 1965
September 6, 2010
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS
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Enrollment Up 250 Daniela Werner
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF danielawerner87@gmail.com
USA Jaguars Send Pikeville Bears Into Hibernation
To see photos and read about Saturday’s victory for the Jags at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, turn to page 10.
Colin McGee / Photo Editor
USA’s fall enrollment has hit a record high of 15,007 students, USA President Gordon Moulton announced at the Mitchell Center Aug. 31. The number marks a 250-student increase from last year’s enrollment. Overall, USA’s enrollment has increased nearly 30 percent in the last decade, according to a USA press release. “Our growth reflects the quality of our institution,” Moulton said at the University press conference. “There’s an element of interest on our campus that we didn’t have before.” When asked what he thinks caused enrollment numbers to grow past the 15,000 mark, Moulton said he believed that it is the quality of USA’s academic programs, especially ones that require certification (like Engineering, Nursing, Accounting and Medicine). These programs compete with other schools nationwide, Moulton said. Paired with the University’s “competitive tuition prices,” USA offers students a quality place in which they can earn their degrees, he said.
Daniela Werner / Editor-in-Chief
USA President Gordon Moulton announced Aug. 31 that this semester’s enrollment reached a record high of 15,007, which is 250 students more than last fall.
“The quality of our students attracts better quality faculty,” and vice versa, he said. Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services David Stearns said he also besee ENROLLMENT | 12
Old Shell Road Construction Seeing Its Share of Problems Cameron Adkins
ASSOCIATE EDITOR cja501@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
The construction project for widening Old Shell Road between Hillcrest and Schillinger Roads is on schedule for a Dec. 30 completion date, according to Mobile City Councilwoman Gina Gregory. “The students and the faculty or any of the other staff members that work at the University of South Alabama will tell you that it is long overdue, so I’m really happy to see it,” Gregory said. “[Alabama Department of Transportation has] done a good job. They have worked with the residents and the business owners out there to make it as easy as possible for them.”
Inside
Police Blotter p. 2
Correction:
An Aug. 23 News Brief reported that funds paying for the campus entrance portals currently being constructed on campus come from a $1.2 billion bond issued to USA in September 2008. The bond’s actual amount is $112 million.
The project plans to widen Old Shell Road and repave it. “It’s just an incredibly traveled corridor, so it needed to be widened. It was on the city’s and the county’s future plans for this project to be done,” Gregory said. ALDOT’s 9th division in Mobile has put Assistant Division Engineer of Construction Matt Ericksen in charge of the project. Several utility problems have arisen since the start of the project on April 20, 2009, such as fiber optic ducts falling into drainage routes and drainage redesigns to accommodate those issues, according to Ericksen. “Once we get through that we’ve got the see CONSTRUCTION | 5
Arts & Entertainment p. 6
Colin McGee / Photo Editor
The City of Mobile is repairing the deteriorated sections of Old Shell Road that frame the south edges of USA’s main campus. The repairs are scheduled to be completed Dec. 30.
Sports p. 12
Opinion p. 15
Jag Radio: Launch Date And Future Plans
Catch The Football Season Opener Highlights
See Arts & Entertainment, page 7
See Sports, page 10
Distractions p. 18
Sudafed: Medicine Or Menace? You Decide See Opinion, page 16