VANGUARD
THE
“If it matters to the USA family, it matters to us.”
SEPT. 2, 2013
VOL. 53, NO. 6
Stimpson plans to have a ‘close working relationship’ with local universities
INSIDE
By STUART SOX sgsox@att.net
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► News: Director of public relations, Keith Ayers, retires. See Campus News, page 4.
► Life: Local coffee shops offer free fun alternatives. See JagLife, page 7
SAM ANDREWS | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sandy Stimpson celebrates his mayoral victory at Fort Whitting in downtown Mobile on Aug. 27.
andy Stimpson won Mobile’s 2013 mayoral election over incumbent Mayor Sam Jones on Tuesday night, Aug. 27. Stimpson, a businessman who has never run for political office before, led the race with 28,934 votes to Jones’ 24,582 votes with 97 percent of polls reporting. At his victory party at Fort Whitting in downtown Mobile on Tuesday night, Stimpson walked out to give his victory speech as a crowd of supporters cheered his name. “When we unite as one community from Tillman’s Corner to Trinity Gardens, downtown, midtown, Springhill, West Mobile… when we all come together, I’m telling you, we cannot be stopped,” Stimpson said in his speech. “My goals are ambitious, but together we’ll do it,” Stimpson said. After his victory speech, the crowd of supporters attending the victory party chanted “One Mobile.”
Meanwhile, at what supporters hope would be Sam Jones’ victory celebration, the current mayor discussed why he thought he lost the election. “Money is not what won the election. What won the election was really turnout. We expected to do a lot better in turnout… but now that’s behind us,” Jones said in his concession speech. “For the last 26 years, I had an opportunity to make a real difference in our county government, in our city government and in our community as a whole. It is perfectly possible [for Mobile] to be one of the greatest cities in the country, and we are headed in that direction. Let me ask all of you to join in making that happen,” Jones said. Jones also had some words of advice for the mayor-elect. “I think Sandy might want to listen to this. When you do these jobs, you have to put your ‘big boy’ pants on. You have to be prepared to deal with whatever the situation is,” Jones said. See Stimpson wins Mobile vote Page 2
USA reveals record-setting enrollment total ► Left of Center: Experience of a first-time fan. See LOC, page 8
► Sports: Recap of the Jaguar’s football game against the SUU Thunderbirds. See Sports, page 9
By STUART SOX sgsox@att.net
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t a press conference held on Monday, Aug. 26 at the Whiddon Administration Building, USA’s acting president Dr. John Smith announced that 15,311 students are enrolled as undergraduates this fall, a record for the university. The record enrollment for undergraduates is an increase of 428 students from last fall’s numbers. There are also 4,283 new students and 3,466 graduate students enrolled this fall, both of which are also record numbers for South Alabama. “The quality of the freshman class is the best ever with an average ACT score of 22.9, which is significantly above the state and national average,” Smith said. The state average ACT score is 20.4 and the national average ACT score is 20.9. Smith also added that there are over 500 students with an ACT score of 28 or above in this year’s freshman class.
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“We have a great story to tell at the university. We have excellent academic programs, a very talented and engaged faculty and staff, and a very vibrant campus life. You put all of that together, and it results in a record enrollment,” Smith commented. The president also made known the top five feeder schools to South Alabama. They are, in order, Baker High School, Murphy High School, Mary G. Montgomery High School, McGill-Toolen High School and Alma Bryant High School. Smith also added that South Alabama drew freshmen from over 300 high schools in the country. “We’re excited about the record enrollment. I think it’s a reflection of the hard work of the faculty and staff, our competitive tuition, our great scholarship program, our facilities. … It’s just a combination of all those things,” Smith said. USA awarded 2,693 degrees this past academic year, bringing the university’s total number of degrees awarded to more than 75,000.
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STUART SOX | SENIOR REPORTER
Acting President John Smith announces the University’s enrollment total and statistics for the fall semester.
In this Issue:
Life, Page 5 Left of Center, Page 8 Sports, Page 9 Opinion, Page 14