11.15.12

Thursday, November 15, 2012 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Vol. 119, Issue 57

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Briefs ........................2

Opinions ...................4

Culture ......................8

WEATHER todayINSIDE

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Puzzles .................... 13

Classifieds .............. 13

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CULTURE | PERSONAL FINANCE

25%

10%

10%

15%

Housing

Discretionary

10%Transportation

Utilities

Food

Saving

Mint is a personal financeapp. These percentages show the suggested amount of monthlyincome a student should spend, according to kiplinger.com.

By Courtney StinsonStaff Reporter

For many college stu-dents, managing money is an

ongoing struggle and can be hard to master in addition to classes and a busy lifestyle. Whether saving for the future or budgeting from week to

week, many students are tak-ing a pragmatic approach to finances, spending mainly on basic costs like rent and food and saving the splurges for special occasions.

Paige Bussanich, a senior majoring in psychology and political science, is primarily

using her paychecks to save for graduate school. However, Bussanich has more than just the cost of graduate school in mind as applying for schools and taking the GRE is expen-sive in itself.

By Jordan CissellStaff Reporter

If there is one thing Evan Smith knows about rebuilding a restaurant from scratch, it’s that the process is not an easy one.

“I’ll tell you what I’ve been telling everyone else about this stuff – I definitely don’t want to go through that ever again,” Smith, the general manager of Tuscaloosa’s Krispy Kreme

and a member of the family that opened West Alabama’s first location in 1960, said. “I know that for sure.”

Following the destruction of its building during the April 27, 2011 tornado, Smith and Krispy Kreme set to work on recon-structing at the same location on McFarland Boulevard. After the year-long process, the store reopened on Aug. 21 of this year.

Despite Smith’s arduous assessment of the rebuilding process, Krispy Kreme has not been alone in making its return.

Businesses still facing rebuilding barriersNEWS | TUSCALOOSA FORWARD

Restaurants continue to come back after April 2011 destruction

CW FileKrispy Kreme was able to reopen in its original location more than a year after being completely destroyed by the April 27, 2011 tornado. SEE BUSINESSES PAGE 2

By Alan AlexanderContributing Writer

Students who had 96 or more hours as of summer 2012 are eligible to purchase an SEC championship stu-dent ticket, according to an email sent to University of Alabama students who

qualified Wednsday.The University received

16,000 tickets and 1,920 were allocated for students, UA Director of Media Relations Cathy Andreen said. Eighty percent went to undergradu-ates and 20 percent went to graduate students.

Students who qualify can buy their ticket online or at the Tide Pride ticket office located inside Coleman Coliseum, open 9 a.m. through

5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Students must buy their tick-et by 5 p.m. on Friday.

The ticket office won’t offi-cially charge student accounts until after the Iron Bowl on Nov. 24.

The system for allocating the tickets is based off UA earned credit hours, meaning transfer hours were not calcu-lated into total hours. Taylor Jones, a senior majoring in finance, said it makes sense

that the system only recog-nizes UA hours.

“The students that have paid the most money to the University should receive the majority of the tickets,” Jones said.

Although undergraduates received the majority of the tickets, some seniors won’t be making the trip to the Georgia Dome.

Seniors with less than 96 hours didn’t receive SEC tickets Wednesday NEWS | SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

INSIDEHow much of the Georgia Dome will be

occupied by students? How does this game’s ticket allocation

match up to the Michigan game?

Wikimedia Commons

Ticket offi ce notifi ed students via email

SEE TICKETS PAGE 5

Students must make concerted effort to meet fi nancial goals on a monthly basis

By Camille CorbettContributing Writer

The United States’ judiciary may not be as accurate or safe as citi-zens may believe.

That was one of the main points capital pun-ishment mitigator and University of Alabama School of Social Work faculty member Joanne Terrell and death row survivor Gary Drinkard made in a lecture titled “The Death Penalty from a Social Justice Perspective”on Nov. 14.

The two activists spoke to a full audience in ten Hoor Hall on Wednesday night to discuss the unfairness of the death penalty within the state.

Lending a personal perspective to the contro-versial subject, Drinkard recounted his experience of being wrongfully con-victed for the robbery and murder of a junk-yard dealer in 1995 and later sentenced to death. After writing numerous letters to organizations for help, Drinkard was able to assemble his own dream team of attorneys to prove his innocence. He received an acquittal in 2001.

Drinkard said his case is a prime exam-ple of a person con-victed of a crime they did not commit and the

injustices of the legal system in the state. However, it is not unusu-al.

“His story is not unique to Alabama death row,” said Terrell, who also serves as a mitigator for indigent capital murder defendants. “[The legal system] doesn’t care who did it, they just want to convict somebody.”

“At least 10 percent of people down in death row haven’t done it. It’s very discouraging,” Drinkard, who now acts as a lobbyist against the death penalty, said. “There have been 141 people let off of death row proven innocent.”

Although the legal sys-tem can be proven faulty, Drinkard and Terrell explained that it is espe-cially so for low income people who can’t afford an experienced lawyer and become stuck with one who doesn’t care or doesn’t know how to han-dle the case. Additionally, someone is 10 times more likely to get sentenced to death row if it is a black-on-white crime.

“No rich person ever winds up on death row,” Drinkard said. “They have the money to get lawyers to get them out of it. The death penalty is racist and immoral.”

Freed death row inmate speaks at UA

NEWS | LECTURES

CW | Jingyu WanTwo activists spoke in ten Hoor Hall about capital punish-ment Wednesday night.

Gary Drinkard lectured on social justice perspective of legal system

SEE DRINKARD PAGE 5

SEE BUDGET PAGE 5

CW | Sarah Grace Moorehead

ONLINE ON THE CALENDAR

Submit your events to [email protected]

LUNCH

Beef BurritoFarfalle & Sausage Alfredo

BakeRoasted Pork LoinChicken TendersGarden BurgerSouthwest Garbanzo Bean

Cakes (Vegetarian)

BURKELUNCH

SteakHamburgersChicken Fajita PizzaVegetable SoupBaked PotatoesSteamed Brussel SproutsSouthwest Garbanzo Bean

Cake (Vegetarian)

FRESH FOODLUNCH

Buttermilk Fried ChickenChicken & Andoulle GumboMeatball PizzaBeefy Mac BakeMashed PotatoesSeasoned CornSun-dried Tomato Mushroom

Risotto (Vegetarian)

BURKEDINNER

Smothered ChickenGrilled Chicken SaladPepperoni PizzaWhite RiceStewed OkraOrzo SoupCarrot & Raisin Salad

(Vegetarian)

ON THE MENU

DINNER

Grilled BBQ TurkeyHamburgerFettuccine AlfredoSteamed BroccoliGarlic Mashed PotatoesOatmeal CookiesCapri Vegetable Blend

(Vegetarian)

LAKESIDE

FRIDAY

What: Breakfast with Jim Rainey, publisher of the Tuscaloosa News

Where: Reese Phifer 222

When: 9 - 9:50 a.m.

What: Veteran and Military Affairs Grand Opening

Where: 1 B.B. Comer

When: 2 - 4 p.m.

What: Resident Advisor Interest Meeting

Where: Paty Activity Center

When: 11 - 12 p.m.

TODAY

What: Homegrown Alabama Farmers Market

Where: Canterbury Episcopal Lawn

When: 3 - 5 p.m.

What: Battle of the Branches: Intramurals

Where: Presidential Park

When: 4 - 8 p.m.

What: Shenanigans and Beer Comedy Showcase

Where: Green Bar

When: 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

What: Saturday in the Park: Introduction to Native American Beadwork

Where: Moundville Archaeological Park

When: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

What: Women’s basketball vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Where: Foster Auditorium

When: 5 p.m.

What: Erik the Red & The Dudley do Right

Where: Green Bar

When: 10 p.m.

ON THE RADAR ON CAMPUS

GO

GO

Page 2• Thursday,November 15, 2012

ON

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The Crimson White is the community newspaper of The University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced by students. The University of Alabama cannot influ-ence editorial decisions and editorial opinions are those of the editorial board and do not represent the official opinions of the University. Advertising offices of The Crimson White are on the first floor, Student Publications Building, 923 University Blvd. The adver-tising mailing address is P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White (USPS 138020) is published four times weekly when classes are in session during Fall and Spring Semester except for the Monday after Spring Break and the Monday after Thanksgiving, and once a week when school is in session for the summer. Marked calendar provided. The Crimson White is provided for free up to three issues. Any other papers are $1.00. The subscription rate for The Crimson White is $125 per year. Checks should be made payable to The University of Alabama and sent to: The Crimson White Subscription Department, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White is entered as peri-odical postage at Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Crimson White, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated oth-erwise, is Copyright © 2012 by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copy-right laws. Material herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of The Crimson White.

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By CW Staff

The University of Alabama men’s basketball head coach Anthony Grant announced the signing of two prospects to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday during the first day of the early signing period. Center Jimmie Taylor and forward Shannon Hale are slated to join the Crimson Tide on the court for the 2013-14 season.

“We are very excited to have Jimmie and Shannon sign National Letter of Intent’s with The University of Alabama today,” Grant said. “They are both out-standing young men who come from quality families. They also have a passion and excitement level for Alabama and our basketball program.”

Taylor is a four-star recruit and brings an inside pres-ence for Grant’s squad next season. The cousin of for-mer Tide standout and 2002 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Erwin Dudley, Taylor is rated as the No. 6 center in the nation and No. 30 overall prospect by rivals.com. In March 2011, he was selected to the USA Developmental National Team and has twice been named as a 3A first-team all-state performer.

“Jimmie will provide for us the length and athleticism needed to be successful in the SEC,” Grant said. “He is a perfect fit for our style of play and understands what it takes to be successful, win-ning two state championships at Greensboro High School.”

Similar to Taylor, Hale, a 6-foot-8-inch 200-pound power forward from Johnson City, Tenn., is another player who should help in the post next season. He is listed as a four-star recruit by rivals.com and is ranked as the No. 19 power forward and the No. 93 over-all prospect by the same web-site. In addition, ESPN.com lists Hale as the No. 6 recruit in the state of Tennessee and as the No. 26 forward in the nation.

“Shannon provides great versatility for his size,” Grant said. “He has an abil-ity to play inside and out and like Jimmie is the type of player we target for how we want to play. Shannon also plays for one of the premier prep school programs in the country.”

Tide signs two four-star prospects on first day of early signing period

“In Tuscaloosa, 242 com-mercial structures were dam-aged, and 114 were destroyed,” Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said in an April 16 statement titled, “The Facts of Tuscaloosa’s Recovery,” on the Tuscaloosa Forward website. “Since April 27, [2011], 93 percent of the 242 commercial structures that were damaged have received repair permits, and 34 percent of the destroyed structures have received new construction per-mits.”

City of Tuscaloosa Communication Director Diedre

Stalnaker said she could not say for certain what percentage of the damaged or destroyed busi-nesses operated in the food ser-vice industry.

Both local institutions – like Hokkaido and Mike and Ed’s Bar-B-Que – and corporate chains – like Full Moon Bar-B-Que and McDonald’s – have joined Krispy Kreme in reopen-ing for business.

“It’s important to note that some restaurants have reopened in a different loca-tion, such as Hokkaido and Full Moon. Other restaurants plan to reopen with a different name – Mike & Ed’s will be Hoo’s-Q,” Stalnaker said. “Some restau-rants have reopened in the same location, such as Taco Casa and McDonald’s.”

Smith said family tradition

played a very significant role in Krispy Kreme’s decision to return to its old location.

“We were adamant about coming back to our same place there on McFarland, because that’s where my grandparents started it,” Smith said. “There was no question that we were coming back in that spot.”

This adamancy on location ended up substantially delaying Krispy Kreme’s return. Smith said the length of time spent physically reconstructing paled in comparison to the months spent working out pre-build kinks.

“When we started to try to rebuild, we found out we were in a flood plain, so we weren’t allowed to build. So we hired a water expert who did some research and proved to the city

that we weren’t in a flood plain,” Smith said. “Then there was another delay because the State Department was considering buying land along McFarland to widen the turning lanes. Once that all got straightened out, we got the building completed in only about four months.”

Smith said finances were not a significant factor in Krispy Kreme’s decision to rebuild, but the city of Tuscaloosa took mea-sures to aid the return of restau-rants for which money was an issue.

“The city of Tuscaloosa is cur-rently offering a Commercial Revolving Loan Program to assist businesses developing in areas hardest hit by the tornado, and restaurant owners are eli-gible to apply,” Stalnaker said. “The program is funded through

a FEMA hazard mitigation grantand offers recipients a zerointerest loan, ranging in amountfrom $20,000 to $200,000.”

As part of the TuscaloosaForward plan, the City plans to“create well-designed mixed-usecorridors that serve as attrac-tive gateways to the communityand support the city’s retail andservice needs,” according tothe plan outline. The Plan high-lights 10th Avenue, 15th Streetand University Boulevard asmajor corridors affected by thetornadoes, but Smith thinksMcFarland’s dense traffic flowmerits its inclusion in the list.

“You really couldn’t find a bet-ter location in town,” he said.

Smith said decreasing, or atleast more efficiently manag-ing, traffic flow would probablyprove more beneficial for res-taurants and businesses alongMcFarland Boulevard, as con-gested driving conditions candiscourage potential patrons.

Stalnaker said Tuscaloosa’shigh population and trafficflow serves as encouragementfor business owners facing therebuilding decision.

“Heavy traffic and a large stu-dent population – high potentialfor customers – are all examplesof incentives that could impacta restaurant’s decision to buildor rebuild in the recovery area,”Stalnaker said.

Smith echoed Stalnaker’s sen-timent. He said the University’slarge student population neverhurts when one is in the busi-ness of selling donuts.

“The City has been great, theUniversity has been great, andall of the Tuscaloosa residentsand students have been verysupportive. And they have let usknow it,” Smith said. “I’m justhappy we’re past it all, and we’reglad to be open again.”

BUSINESSES FROM PAGE 1

15th Street businesses doing well after rebuild

From MCT Campus

Facebook Inc. is launching a new application to help its users in the United States hunt for jobs. The free tool stems from a promise made a year ago by a coalition of government, employ-er and employee associations and Facebook to roll out an applica-tion that would help connect job seekers with open positions. The app gives users access to more than 1.7 million job post-ings in the U.S. that are culled from companies that list jobs on Facebook, including Branchout, Jobvite and Work4 Labs. The latest move has fueled talk that Facebook would enter the lucrative online recruiting market. For years, analysts have specu-lated that Facebook would har-ness its massive audience to enter that market and take on professional networking site LinkedIn and job-hunting sites

such as Monster.com. That specu-lation has only intensified as Wall Street cranks up the pressure on Facebook to prove it’s more than a one-trick pony. A Facebook spokesman said the Menlo Park, Calif., company is simply trying to make it easier for Facebook users to find and share job listings on Facebook. Marne Levine, Facebook’s vice president for global public policy, said in a statement that the app is part of a “broader effort to help people use social media to find jobs in the U.S.” LinkedIn Corp. doesn’t view the new Facebook job-hunting app as a shot across its bow, a spokesman said. “We don’t see this as Facebook getting into the professional net-working space,” the unidenti-fied LinkedIn spokesman said. “Facebook is aggregating jobs from various Facebook apps and putting them in one place.”

Facebook apps to help users search for jobs

Editor | Melissa [email protected]

Thursday, November 15, 2012NEWSNEWS

OPINION

CULTURE

SPORTS

Page 3

By Katherine LangnerContributing Writer

Thousands of prospective stu-dents visit the Capstone each year, all arriving with curiosity to see if The University of Alabama will make the right future home for them. One way potential stu-dents can see if they will assimi-late well into the University is through the use of college ambassadors.

Ambassadors serve as student representatives of each college at the University and provide poten-tial students insight into what the specific college is like.

Some of those colleges with ambassador programs include the Honors College, the

Capstone College of Nursing, the College of Engineering, College of Education, Graduate School Ambassadors and the College of Communications and Information Sciences.

Members of the Alabama Student Society for Communication Arts serve as the college ambassadors for the College of Communication and Information Sciences.

“The group is composed by students of different majors from within the college,” Hannah Hook, a senior majoring in com-munication studies and current member of ASSCA, said. “We serve as guides for incoming students and parents when they visit Reese Phifer.”

Hook said the program also mentors current students through their Ask ASSCA pro-gram, maintains alumni rela-tions and assists the school’s faculty with events hosted by the College of Communications and Information Sciences.

“I wanted to join an organiza-tion where I could meet other stu-dents within the College of C&IS, while also getting to know facul-ty, staff, prospective students and alumni,” Hook said.

Each spring, applications for ASSCA become available. From the application, candidates are then called in for interviews con-ducted by their faculty advisor, which determines acceptance.

The Ambassadors of the

College of Engineering have responsibilities similar to that of ASSCA. They also host alum-ni events, assist the College of Engineering with events and conduct tours of the engineer-ing facilities to prospective students.

“Our main daily focus is recruitment for The University of Alabama and the College of Engineering,” Shelby Cochran, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering, said. “I normally have one to two lunches per week. On average, I spend two hours with a family while taking them to lunch and on a tour.”

The application process for the Ambassadors of the College of Engineering requires applicants to submit an application with references and three essay ques-tions. An in-person interview then follows.

“Our students join the pro-gram because they themselves were recruited and love the idea of giving back to the College,” said Tyler Mathews, a senior majoring in civil engineering, is president of ACEs.

“I wanted to get more involved in the College and make sure we continue to recruit the best and the brightest in the coun-try,” Mathews said. “The idea of being placed in a position to be able to talk with others about the opportunities and success the University has given to me was extremely exciting.”

The greek community also has fraternity and sorority members that serve as representatives of the campus’ greek life to poten-tial students through the Greek Ambassadors program.

Greek Ambassadors shows students with a desire to learn

about greek life at the University.“The program is for high

school seniors and juniors, who might be on the edge of wishing to rush, or for those who are still thinking about where to attend school when they graduate high school,” said Ryan Snyder, a senior majoring in communi-cation studies and minoring in political science and vice presi-dent of administration for the organization.

Greek Ambassadors gives tours of fraternity or sorority houses and explains the tradi-tions and the day-to-day activi-ties of a greek student.

“The program is a great way for rising students to get a glimpse of greek life, and see a fraternity or sorority house as a high school senior,” Snyder said. “This excites them more about both greek life and college.”

Academic, greek ambassadors recruit students

Student organization raises diabetes awareness

CW | Margo SmithBlue ribbons were on hand for many to show their support for World Diabetes Day.

CW | Margo SmithCharts mentioning healthy food options were on handed out at World Diabetes Day on the Quad.

NOW Leasing forFall 2013!

www.HAEDWARDS.com205-345-1440

Live Large.

Editor | SoRelle [email protected]

Thursday, November 15, 2012OPINIONSNEWS

OPINION

CULTURE

SPORTS

Page 4

EDITORIAL BOARD

Ashley Chaffin Managing EditorStephen Dethrage Production Editor

Mackenzie Brown Visuals EditorDaniel Roth Online Editor

Alex Clark Community ManagerAshanka Kumari Chief Copy EditorSoRelle Wyckoff Opinion Editor

Tray Smith

GOT AN OPINION?Submit a guest column (no more

than 800 words) or a letter to the editor to [email protected]

GOT A STORY IDEA?cw.ua.edu/submit-your-idea

TWEET US AT@TheCrimsonWhite

The Crimson White reserves the right to edit all guest columns and

letters to the editor.

Will Tucker Editor-in-Chief

MCT Campus

UA, Aramark should let no UA student go hungry By Tray SmithSenior Columnist

For years, I have mocked the idea of the hungry college stu-dent. Who is going to take on the expense of college and not have money for food?

Conversely, if a student can-not afford food, why would he or she come to college?

Then, earlier this week, The Crimson White ran a story about students who struggle to pay for meals. Associate Dean of Students Lowell Davis said his office deals with two or three such cases a week.

That is an extraordinarily small number on a campus with 33,000 students, but it is still unacceptably high.

Davis said he would like to see a fund established so the Division of Student Affairs can help students in need.

Such a fund could go a long way toward solving the prob-lem entirely, because it would not need that much money to resolve the small number of cases the Dean of Students office handles.

However, the University would not need to tap its

financial reserves at all if Aramark, the corporate behe-moth the University pays to provide food services, acknowl-edged a real sense of obliga-tion to the community it serves beyond fulfilling its contract at the lowest possible cost.

Aramark runs Bama Dining and, beginning this year, all freshmen are required to buy an unlimited meal plan at a cost of $1,525.

That is an exorbitant burden on students already trying to pay tuition, and it limits stu-dents to vendors under Bama Dining’s control.

Students with the means to occasionally eat elsewhere will do so, though, because no one really wants to eat at the din-ing halls for every meal if they can afford something better. That means Bama Dining actu-ally profits more when its cus-tomers go elsewhere, because those customers have paid for an unlimited meal plan but aren’t using Bama Dining for all of their meals.

Allowing a food service company to profit more when students reject the food it is serving is a strange way to

structure incentives on a col-lege campus. However, if we are going to maintain this tremendously unfair and con-voluted system, we should at least do so with an eye toward the needs of our most vulnerable students.

The next best meal plan available covers 160 meals at a cost of $1,350. Freshmen can-not choose that option because of the unlimited meal plan requirement, but many of them will still eat fewer than 160 meals a semester.

If those students were allowed to donate all of their remaining meals below the 160-limit to struggling students, the hunger problem could be eliminated. Alternatively, Bama Dining could automati-cally roll those meals over into a special program for struggling students.

Bama Dining would still be able to require all freshmen to pay $1,525 for an unlimited meal plan. For those that don’t even eat the 160 meals provided by the $1,350 plan, though, Bama Dining would have to make up the difference by giving those meals to other students. In the

end, Bama Dining would sim-ply be providing at least 160 meals for every unlimited meal plan and could still pocket the $175 difference.

Bama Dining also gives stu-dents 10 guest passes with most of its meal plans and could allow students to donate their unused guest passes to hungry students.

Most college students are struggling financially because it is hard to attend class and maintain a steady, secure income. Some of us struggle more than others, though.

I was wrong about hungry college students.

They not only exist, but they have come to college to try to improve their skills and their prospects for success in life. We should not just help them; we should celebrate their drive and determination.

We should make sure they don’t have to choose between books and meals.

The University of Alabama is better than that.

Tray Smith a senior majoring in journalism. His column runs on Thursdays.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

It’s time the smoke cleared on the rules of on-campus smoking

Maybe I’ve been hood-winked. Maybe I chose to attend The University of Alabama under the wrong impression. You see, out of my numerous acceptance let-ters to various universities around the country, I chose the University believing that the prestige of the students here, along with their levels of ethics and hospitality, were held to a high standard. But perhaps I was wrong.

I learned the length of 1 foot very early in life: 12 inches, correct? A little later I learned about multiplication, so one 1 foot multiplied by 30 is equal to 30 feet, 10 yards, or (if you’re a metric fan) 9.144 meters.

Assuming that the students here on campus know basic mathematics, can anyone explain why it is that I walk out of lecture halls, libraries and dormitories and directly into clouds of cigarette smoke multiple times every day? An email reminding students of the University’s smoking policy was sent out on Oct. 30 stating, “The University of Alabama’s smoking poli-cy prohibits smoking in all campus buildings. In addi-tion, smoking is not allowed within 30 feet of entrances to buildings.”

So who or what is to blame? Surely it’s not ignorance, unless the vast majority of student smokers on campus are devoid of a crimson email

account. Are student smokers illiterate? Do they not know simple mathematics? Or do they simply not care? Any of these suggested explanations causes me to lose respect for some of the people here. The University’s campus either lacks the prestige and charac-ter I initially thought, or the vast majority of smokers here are collectively selfish.

Granted, not all students here smoke. And of those who do smoke, not all are as incon-siderate of their peers as oth-ers prove to be. So I do not, by any means, intend to insult the intelligence or the integrity of the student body here. But why do the non-smokers and respectful smokers not have the zeal and audacity to speak up against those that are self-ishly violating University policy? Why hasn’t the admin-istration been following this issue and actually enforcing their so-called policy?

Regardless of any ratio-nal explanations, the time is ripe for action. As student smokers continue to abuse the privilege offered to them, should the administration enact a smoke-free cam-pus policy, or will student smokers learn to respect the “regulations” the University supposedly enforces?

Stephen Hewlett is a fresh-man majoring in management information systems.

Why are the living so obsessed with the living dead?

By Tara MassoulehStaff Columnist

Zombies are making a comeback. What used to be confined to horror movies played strictly in October can now be experienced year round. Classic movies such as “Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead” have made way for count-less remakes as well as new interpretations such as 2009’s horror comedy “Zombieland” and AMC’s hit “The Walking Dead.”

The American obsession with the supernatural, i.e. vampires, werewolves, ghosts,

and zombies, has been around for centuries, dating back to our very colonization, which was influenced by tall tales and legends. However, despite our natural inclination toward the extraordinary and disturb-ing, the real reason we are so hooked on zombie movies, shows, books and games has nothing to do with zombies at all, but rather the ordinary people who are left to deal with them.

As with all good post-apoc-alyptic works, zombie movies are centered on the characters struggling to survive in the new world after civilization has been destroyed. And while

we all initially tune into a good zombie show or movie for the thrill and gore of moaning, dim-witted, half-rotted human corpses trying to eat people, we become devoted followers for a much different reason. We almost instantaneously become deeply invested in the characters that have been unceremoniously pushed into a world so depraved and raw that we find it almost unfath-omable. And despite these characters’ impending doom, we root for them to somehow survive and find happiness in what can only be described as Hell on Earth.

And it’s the same with lit-erature. Acclaimed fiction-ists such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe have been writing post-apocalyptic sto-ries since far before the zom-bie fad came into existence. In Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel, “The Road,” the appeal is the same. We are simply fascinated with tracking the decisions and morality of these characters who no lon-ger have laws, rules, govern-ment, or society to depend on for guidance.

We would like to believe that we would never turn to cannibalism, kill entire fami-lies for food, or partake in any other of the horrific incidents common to post-apocalyptic fiction. In other words, we all want to be the Ricks of “The Walking Dead” and never the Shanes. However, the small voice of doubt and paranoia reminding us that humans have been known to commit terrible deeds in times of des-peration sparks our interest and makes up our obsession with zombie entertainment.

Ultimately, it’s not the mind-less, bloodthirsty creatures called zombies that scare us into coming back for more, but rather it’s the cunning and resourceful, but altogether desperate human survivors whom we should be afraid of as they reveal the potential for evil that lurks just beneath the surface of each of us over-shadowed by years of tradi-tion and societal conditioning.

Tara Massouleh is a fresh-man majoring in English and journalism. Her column runs weekly.

MCT Campus

Showing hospitality in the face of loss is what makes Alabama specialBy Amber PattersonStaff Columnist

I would simply like to start this article with a huge Roll Tide! After a devastating Saturday home game where we were handed our first lost (yes, it still hurts to mention), I am incredibly proud of my fel-low students and their constant display of Southern hospitality and general kindness. I have noticed that on Gameday, our campus is a brighter place to be. I have been told constantly by opponents that have visited our school that we treat them with the utmost respect and generosity – before we typi-cally run them into the ground.

I would usually chalk up our carefree kindness to the fact that we are one of the top SEC football programs with 14 national championships under our belt; therefore, there is no need for us to be mean-spirited and tense. But after our heart-breaking loss, I knew that the University really was a school with a good heart. A Texas A&M player even stated that we as a school treated them like gold before and after the game. We are the true essence of Southern hospitality. From tailgaters who will kindly share their television, and maybe some food, to students with a kind smile, we are a very welcoming campus.

With all of this being said, I will acknowledge that some-times we do become a little rowdy after the game is over and all is said and done,

usually to the opponents’ dis-may. But that is in the spirit of sports and football. True char-acter is shown through adver-sity, and the fact that we were able to shake the hand of those who gave us a wakeup call says a lot about the character of our school as a whole. But please do not get confused – we were not run into the ground as wedo our other adversaries – butwere given a slight reality check.

The legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant said it best: “Show class, have pride and display character. If you do, winning will take care of itself.” As a student body, we embody this whole-heartedly. Showing character, when your world has been rocked to its core, sepa-rates the strong from the weak. As a team, I have no doubt that we will still come out on top because we are Alabama; it happened once – it definitely can happen again. Also, as a student, I am confident we will still show hospitality better than any school in the South.

Amber Patterson is a sopho-more majoring in public rela-tions and marketing. Her col-umn runs on Thursdays.

“True character is shown through adversity, and the fact that we were able to

shake the hand of those who gave us a wakeup call says a lot about the character of our

school as a whole.

“To say we are misinformed proves your ignorance. As an American we are entitled to our own beliefs

and values… If an incoming freshman makes a con-scious choice to be involved in these organizations,

that’s his right.”

NEWS OPINION CULTURE SPORTS Thursday, November 15, 2012 | Page 5

YOUR VIEWS{ }IN RESPONSE TO:

‘A Yankee’s point of view: some Southern traditions are not worth holding onto’

“As Americans, you are absolutely entitled to your own misinformed and ignorant beliefs and values.

No question about that. But as Americans, the rest of us get to call you out on it. That’s what’s great about

America. As to hazing… when one of these kids fi nally gets killed, their parents are likely to sue the school… so hazing is actually every student of the school’s (and every Alabama taxpayer’s) concern.”

– Chase Boyett – Brad Erthal

Of the 16,000 tickets given to The University of Alabama, only 12 percent of them were allotted for students. Students who received a ticket must have completed at least 96 UA hours as of summer 2012. 1,536 tickets were given to undergraduate students and 384 were given to graduate students. This compares to the season opener against Michi-gan, when UA was allotted 25,800 tickets and 1,600 were sold to students. However, only 800 of the student ticket holders received a seat in Cowboys Stadium while the other 800 received discounted standing room only passes.

University of Alabama UA student section University of Georgia

Students finishing in four years or graduating early could be at a disadvantage, as students who have been at the University for five or six years are likely to have more hours under their belts.

A fourth-year senior would need to have taken 16 UA hours for all freshman, sopho-more and junior semesters to be eligible for a ticket.

Chris Joiner, a senior majoring in biology, has com-pleted 95 UA hours and has 111 hours total. In addition to entering the University with hours from dual enrollment, he took a 12-hour course load at the University for two sum-mers. He only has 3 hours remaining to obtain a biol-ogy degree and complete the

University Honors program, but he still missed the ticket cut.

Joiner said he’s worked hard to be able to graduate in four years and is disap-pointed graduating on time means he won’t get to enjoy the championship or certain away games.

“ F i f t h a n d s i xt h year seniors shouldn’t ben-efit from their c i r c u m s t a n c -es, whether because of failed classes or changed majors,” Joiner said. “They have now have the opportunity to go to the SEC championship and pos-sibly the national champi-onship multiple times. I will leave the capstone know-ing I could never go to the SEC championship because

somebody else who has already had these opportuni-ties got a ticket.”

With some undergradu-ates having a better chance of receiving tickets because of their longer time of enroll-ment, Joiner said the system needs to be re-evaluated to

level the play-ing field. He believes the dis-tribution should be based on hours, but only for a period of four years.

“That gives everyone equal odds, over 4 years, to have

these experiences,” Joiner said. “We really do live foot-ball here, and it would hon-estly mean something to me to have an experience, such as an SEC championship, to cul-minate the final football ses-sion here at UA.”

TICKETS FROM PAGE 1

Some seniors won’t recieve Bowl tickets

SEC Championship Seating Chart

“Fifth and sixth year seniors shouldn’t benefi t from their

circumstances, whether because of failed classes or

changed majors.

— Chris Joiner

“In the graduate school process I knew how much I would need for each graduate application, so I would try to put a little bit away at a time,” she said.

Though Bussanich’s main costs are practical ones like rent and groceries, she uses her credit card for pur-chases like shopping and the occasional splurge, but she still manages to spend responsibly.

“I only buy something [on credit] if I know I can pay it off within a month,” she said. “So if I want to splurge or go shopping, I use my card for that, but I make sure I pay it off.”

To keep track of finances, Bussanich suggests keep-ing a ledger for transac-tions, especially when paying with checks, which can take time to process. Bussanich has also taken advantage of budgeting apps and online banking to help her manage her money and keep tabs on

her spending.Like Bussanich, Courtney

Webb, a sophomore major-ing in human environmental science, also spends most of her money on practical costs like gas and groceries. Webb takes a systematic approach to keeping track of her costs.

“I have a sheet where I write down my rent and all the bills and I know how much I’m going to make each week, so I calculate to make sure I have enough to pay my bills on time,” Webb said.

In addition to paying her bills, Webb also tries to set aside spending money and money to contribute to her church.

“I try to set a certain amount of money aside that I can spend and I try to stay within that, so when I really want something I have to sec-ond guess myself and ask ‘Do I have enough money to buy this?’” she said.

Though some students are only able to budget from month to month, senior inte-rior design major Megan Jones is saving what she can to ensure her financial secu-rity after graduation.

“I am saving for once I do

graduate, so in case for somereason I don’t have a job right off the bat, I will have some money saved up for a little while,” Jones said. “It depends on how much my bills are that month. Usually I put a third of each paycheck [in savings].”

While it appears many students prioritize costs like rent and food before spending their money, organizational communication instructor Caroline Parsons finds that students’ mismanagement of money can signal poor management of other areas such as time and grades. To avoid this problem, Parsons stressed the importance of knowing the difference between needs and wants.

“In the second half of the semester, people get into tight spots,” Parsons said. “If you don’t manage your money well, then all you’re resourc-es suffer as well, your time, your friends and you’re ner-vous. There’s this underlying tension when you know you haven’t managed your money well, so it’s very important to work with your parents to make a monthly budget and stick to it.”

BUDGET FROM PAGE 1

Many students try to save for future

He also said the death pen-alty sends the message that some people have more value than others.

In addition to the numer-ous holes within the moral-ity and legal complications of the death penalty, the speak-ers recounted the first-hand stories of the inhumane con-ditions of the death row in prisons. Drinkard said often administrators and officials turn their cheeks from the needs of the inmates.

“He said, ‘I can’t take it. It’s 103 degrees, I don’t even have any money to get a cold drink from the canteen. Last week someone died of a heat stroke, and the guards wouldn’t help

him,’” Terrell said one of her defendants on death row said to her before he gave up fighting his case and dropped all of his appeals.

Although Drinkard also experienced the harsh reali-ties of prison on death row, he did not give up fighting for his innocence, although he admitted he c o n s i d e r e d suicide.

“I distanced myself from death row. I wrote letters, watched TV I had penpals, and they would send me pictures, and I would project myself in their lives. It was my own world. But they knew me well there,” Drinkard said.

Drinkard and Terrell also

provided ways students should become involved in speaking against the death penalty.

“You have to lobby Montgomery, there has to be an organized persistence.

Normal people don’t know how the justice sys-tem works until it hits home,” Terrell said. “We need to find a way to fund the justice system across the board for all people in

terms of socioeconomic abil-ity. Another thing is we need to hold attorneys in both the prosecutor’s side and the defense side accountable for misconduct. Because the means do not justify the end.”

DRINKARD FROM PAGE 1

Survivor speaks on death row conditions

“ Normal people don’t know how the justice system works

until it hits home.

— Joanne Terrell

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University helps children learn business skillsYoung Entrepreneur Academy teaches middle, high schoolers lessons about starting their own businessBy Sarah Elizabeth TookerStaff Reporter

The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce are partner-ing up to host the Young Entrepreneurship Academy, a course teaching middle and high school students how to launch a successful business.

The Young Entrepreneurship Academy hopes to foster the ideals of entrepreneurship and innovation in young chil-dren in the Tuscaloosa com-munity, as students work in close cooperation with local business leaders, Loo Whitfield, director of educa-tion and workforce devel-opment at the Chamber of Commerce, said.

“The course is seven months long starting in November and meeting once a week for three hours in The University of Alabama’s AIME building,” Whitfield said. “We began recruiting students in

October, and this year there will be 12 students participat-ing, representing both city and county public schools.”

Two business professors on campus, David Ford and Rob Morgan, played vital roles in helping the program take off logistically, Whitfield said.

Ford, who has personal experience with running entrepreneur camps at the University, helped arrange speakers and field trips for the program.

“I have run a successful Entrepreneur Camp on cam-pus for high school juniors for five years, and this seemed like a natural extension and refinement of that camp,” Ford said. “I cannot think of a bet-ter way to spend my time than helping young people envision the opportunities and rewards of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.”

Ford also said the dean of the business school, Michael Hardin, provided financial resources to assist with get-ting the camp off the ground

in the first year.Morgan, whose daughter is

a participant this year, said he was eager to contribute because he felt nothing rep-resents the positive power of capitalism more than entre-preneurs. He arranged for the program to be held in the AIME building.

“I have a lot of admiration for the person who has the work ethic, passion and back-bone to start up their own business,” Morgan said. “I think it’s great that the young people in our community have an opportunity to get some exposure to that in such a well-designed program.”

The Young Entrepreneurship Academy was original-ly founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester and is now in 23 different states with 59 locations.

The course has a set cur-riculum developed for each different location to use to teach the program. It roots the students’ education in business theory, Gayle Jagel,

the CEO and founder of Young Entrepreneurship Academy, said.

“We teach young people how to make a job, not just take a job,” Jagel said. “The program identifies a student’s passions and what they’re good at and sees how that can intersect with a business plan.”

Whitfield explained the program ends with students applying for a business license in April and participating in an event called Investor’s Panel.

“There will be local busi-ness men and women at the Investor’s Panel who will invest their actual money to help launch the students’ busi-ness and marketing ideas,” Whitfield said. “The students will have six minutes to pitch their business plan in hopes of receiving some funding.”

This event has been a part of the program since it first launched, Jagel said.

“It was just like Shark Tank met the Apprentice met

American Idol,” she said. “I remember one child said, ‘My invention will change the world.’”

Jagel said the Young Entrepreneur Academy, which costs $395 per student, is a nonprofit organization and credits much of its suc-cess and affordability to dona-tions from national and local

Chambers of Commerce.“The United States Chamber

of Commerce said ‘We love what you’re doing, so what if we provide funding for local chambers to run programs in local areas,’” Jagel said. “That funding really helps so the students can afford to take this fabulous class for far less than it actually costs.”

CW | Caitlin TrotterLocal business owner Lee Henderson volunteers once a week to teach a business and entrepreneur class for local kids on campus.

UA student veterans tell stories of service, sacrifi ce

By Adrienne BurchStaff Reporter

As Grey Westbrook sat back relaxing at a table in the Ferguson Center, he resembled any ordi-nary University of Alabama student taking a break from a day filled with classes. But his experiences make him far from ordinary.

At 18, Westbrook decided to forgo attending the Capstone and enlisted in the United States Army. Six years later, he has final-ly returned to the University.

There are approximately 800,000 military veterans cur-rently attending colleges across the United States, including many who attend the University. These troops are able to attend advanced schooling and earn a college degree free of charge as part of the G.I. Bill.

For Westbrook, the college degree he is working toward was something he always thought he wanted. He was accepted to the University his senior year of high school, but over Christmas break he watched a movie that changed the course of his life.

“It was ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’” Westbrook said. “It made me real-ize the negative views of the mili-tary, and I thought maybe I can change that. Maybe I can make a difference.”

Westbrook spent three years in Iraq as an infantry fire team leader.

He worked 16 to 18 hour days, alternating between eight hour combat patrols, eight hours of tower guard and eight hours of rest. However, most of these rest periods were not spent sleeping,

but preparing equipment and getting his team ready to go on their next patrol. He said the most important thing he learned from his time overseas was not to take the small things for granted.

“People take for granted that they get hot showers, hot food and eight hours of sleep,” he said. “We were lucky if we got these things on a regular basis.”

Westbrook said it was the sense of camaraderie and the bond between troop members that made it all worth it.

“I was in a lot of crappy situa-tions,” he said. “But the guys you are with are what make it special. I may have been running drills out in Kentucky in the freezing snow, but I wasn’t the only one going through it. I knew the boy next to me was freezing his butt off too.”

Westbrook is currently work-ing for a degree in advertising but hopes to return to the military soon after graduation.

“I’m going back in the military,” he said. “I loved what I did.”

However, for other veterans, leaving the military and starting college represents a fresh start and the beginning of a new career. Zach Boyd, 25, is a Tuscaloosa native who enlisted in the United States Navy right out of high school in 2005. He was stationed on the U.S.S. Rhode Island subma-rine out of Kings Bay, Ga.

For Boyd, joining the military was a way to get away from the real world for a few years to fig-ure out what he really wanted to do.

“You don’t have to pay bills or make any real decisions,” he said.

Boyd discovered during his time

in the Navy that he was interested in finance, currently his major at the University, through serving as the command financial specialist.

Boyd said being back at school has been pretty different. He com-pared life on the submarine to the movie “Groundhog Day,” where the main character experience the same day over and over again.

“The same thing happens every day,” he said. “You don’t really know what day or what time it is or if the sun is out. I just knew when I started getting tired it must be getting close to the end of my watch.”

Coming back to school, Boyd left behind many of his closest friends and lost a lot of the cama-raderie he had built through his time in the service. He said he traded these friendships for time with his family, including his 2- year-old son, who was born two weeks after he was discharged.

For U.S. Army veteran Will Suclupe, the transition from life in the military to the University was difficult as well.

Suclupe worked in the U.S. Army Medical Department serv-ing two years in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He helped service members cope with the stress of combat and to better deal with traumatic experi-ences and mental health injuries.

“I enjoyed my experience to serve my comrades and to mini-mize, as best we could, the inju-ries that come from the over-whelming, life-altering experi-ence of serving in a combat zone,” Suclupe said.

Suclupe returned from over-seas in June 2009 and began attending classes at Wallace Community College in August. He then transferred to the University in January 2010 to pursue an undergraduate degree in social work. He said the transition from life overseas to life back in the states was difficult.

“I was released from active duty fairly quickly and started college rather soon,” he said. “There was little time to adjust from being in Iraq.”

Suclupe said it was difficult for him to relate to traditional stu-dents and he felt really isolated, but eventually he found help through the Campus Veterans Association.

“The CVA was helpful in providing the opportunity to develop friendships, but more importantly, it gave me a cause to help veterans transition at UA. It provided me many opportunities to continue to share my passion for helping our comrades,” he said.

The University of Alabama Office of Veteran and Military Affairs offers many resources to help assist veterans with the transition to University life. They will be opening a brand new office Friday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. in B.B. Comer Hall to celebrate the cul-mination of their Veteran’s Week.

Athletic training program provides fi rst-hand learningBy Madison RobertsStaff Reporter

Although athletics stand at the forefront of The University of Alabama, many fail to recognize some of those working behind the scenes to make it all happen: athletic training students.

The University offers a gradu-ate program for health studies where students must work as an athletic trainer for a sport within the University in order to graduate, Tina Meyer, a gradu-ate student in the program, said.

Meyer works as the graduate assistant athletic trainer for the University’s track and field team while also pursuing her master’s degree in health studies.

“I knew I wanted to get my master’s in a health-related field and to practice athletic training,” Meyer said. “I knew Alabama had a fantastic pro-gram, and who wouldn’t want to go to school here? It’s defi-nitely a tough program. It’s very sought-after. It’s a lot of long hours, but we all enjoy our job and have fun doing it.”

Meyer said her daily tasks as an athletic trainer require her to attend practice an hour before it starts and stay an hour afterward. She also evalu-ates injuries, participates in medical coverage in case of injuries and helps with athletic rehabilitation.

“You have to be hyper-orga-nized, definitely a people per-son,” she said. “You have to have the knowledge of anatomy and injuries. You have to be able to handle very real and immediate situations.”

Athletic training is also

an undergraduate major offered at the University through the College of Human Environmental Sciences.

According to the College’s website, the Athletic Training Education Program selects stu-dents for admission each spring. ATEP applicants must be stu-dents from the general health studies major.

About 20 students are selected to pursue the major each spring. While a 2.5 GPA is required to apply for the program, the aver-age of students accepted into the program in 2012 was 3.51, according to the website.

Trevyon Tellis, a freshman majoring in general health stud-ies, is applying for the athletic training program in the spring and said although it is a very cut-throat program, he is not worried.

“It’s a very competitive pro-gram because there is a lot you can do with an athletic training degree, but it doesn’t worry me because I know that I am capa-ble of succeeding,” he said.

Rita Polson, a freshman who is also planning to apply for the program in the spring, said she

is worried about the competi-tive nature of getting an athletic training degree.

“It’s a super-competitive field,” she said. “I am worried about it because if I don’t get accepted, I don’t know what other major I would go into.”

The six semester ATEP pro-gram requires students to accrue clinical experience. According to the ATEP website, students will do two semesters of experience at on-campus athletic training facilities and a minimum of one semester of off-campus training.

“Every semester, the under-graduate students switch clini-cal sites,” Meyer said. “They work very closely with the team athletic trainers and ath-letes for first-hand, on-the-spot learning.”

Tellis said he is excited to start his clinical experiences because the University has a great ath-letic training program, and he is thankful to be a part of it.

“UA is a championship school when it comes to athletic train-ing,” Tellis said. “Being in an environment where I would be working as an athletic trainer would just be unbelievable.”

CW | Austin BigoneyStudent equipment managers aid in practice drills.

CW | Caitlin TrotterGrey Westbrook is a veteran of the Iraq war and after spending four years in the military, is now contining his studies at the University.

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Harry Potter club celebrates books, promotes literacyAlabama’s Muggles Spreading Magic part of international Harry Potter Alliance nonprofi t organizationBy Jordan CissellStaff Reporter

For members of Muggles Spreading Magic, the mischief is never completely managed.

Muggles Spreading Magic is The University of Alabama chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance, an international non-profit organization devoted the J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series as well as to civic engagement.

Founded in 2005, HPA uses parallels from the “Harry Potter” world to “educate and mobilize young people across the world towards issues of literacy, equality and human rights,” according to HPA’s mission statement.

But why use Harry Potter to work for a cause?

“It really makes it more a p p r o a c h -able,” Emily Bradford, a junior major-ing in English and the head of the club’s R a v e n c l a w House, said, “ E s p e c i a l l y for people that may think vol-unteer work or community service seems bor-ing or like too much work.”

President Monica Day, a sophomore majoring in social work and co-founder of Muggles Spreading Magic, said the popular novel series and the virtues of its characters hold near-universal influence and

significance with the college-age demographic.

“Like a lot of people my age, we had the privi-lege to not only just enjoy ‘Harry Potter’ but to grow up with it. To me, it’s not just something I enjoy but it’s something that is a big part of

my life. It is something that transcends age, gender, sexual-ity, political affiliation and reli-gion,” she said in an emailed statement. “That’s why I believe ‘Harry Potter’ works so well as a model for charity work– the messages of Harry Potter [are] of friendship, love, hard work

and acceptance, and the idea that it’s those ideas that truly show good triumphing over evil.”

Day said the aforementioned “evil” for UA HPA this year is illiteracy in West Alabama.

“This semester we have focused largely on raising awareness for literacy,” Day said. “We’re in the works of throwing a rather large book drive and in talks with [the Alabama Department of Human Resources] to hold a panel for kids to present them with the idea of HPA and get them excited about reading and education.”

The club will also host its first Yule Ball, named after a celebration featured in the series’ fourth book, on Nov. 30, with proceeds going to the West Alabama Literary Council and its efforts to stock Habitat for Humanity homes with books. Day called the Ball the club’s “largest and most ambitious event.”

The group’s lofty goals belie its relative infancy. After mak-ing preparations since last year, Day and co-founder and vice president Noelle Brake official-ly founded the University’s HPA chapter at the beginning of this academic year.

“I’ve always been a huge ‘Harry Potter’ fan, and in the summer of 2011 I went to LeakyCon, which is a ‘Harry Potter’ convention that was located in Florida at the time,” Day said. “I remember being astonished at the amount of people that where there and how passionate everyone was about this story. It was there that I learned about the Harry Potter Alliance, and it was that experience that inevitably led to the conversation that started this all.”

Conversation is a crucial facet of Muggles Spreading Magic’s regular operation. The club meets every Tuesday at

7 p.m. in 120 Lloyd Hall to dis-cuss and formulate current and future projects, as well as participate in Potter-themed crafts and games, all with the aim of working more effectively together.

Just like the magical world’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the club is orga-nized into four houses, each with its own Head of House.

“Each house is in charge of looking for and coordinat-ing their own projects and presenting them to the rest of the club so we can all work together; they kind of work like committees within the bigger group, and are more special-ized,” Victoria Nunnelley, a

sophomore majoring in eco-nomics and the club’s art direc-tor and treasurer, said. “We are also planning on eventually having house points as well.”

The club’s work already holds the approval of every Potter fan’s ultimate Head of House: series author J.K. Rowling.

“The HP Alliance is, without doubt, the purest expression of‘the spirit of [Hogwarts head-master] Albus Dumbledore’ yet to emerge from the ‘Harry Potter’ fandom, and I am hon-ored and humbled that such great things are being done inHarry’s name,” Rowling said in a letter to HPA founder Slack displayed on the organization’sofficial website.

“That’s why I believe Harry Potter works so well as a

model for charity work - the messages of Harry Potter of

friendship, love, hard work and acceptance, and the idea that it’s those ideas that truly show

good triumphing over evil.

— Monica Day

CW FileStudents dress up for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 when it came out in the summer of 2011.

Editor | Lauren [email protected]

Thursday, November 15, 2012CULTURENEWS

OPINION

CULTURE

SPORTS

Page 8

Sophomore makes next-level Gameboy musicStudents take part in growing techno-music sensation, chipmusic starting to become more mainstream

By Becky RobinsonStaff Reporter

Normally, when you see someone fiddling on a Gameboy, it is safe to assume they are revisiting their favorite childhood games. But not Max Dolensky. If you see him with his Gameboy, there is a good chance he is making music.

Dolensky, a sophomore majoring in management information systems, said he started making music at a young age by figuring out the melodies of rock songs and video games.

By the time Dolensky entered middle school, his interest in music expanded beyond traditional instru-ments, such as the tuba and trombone he played in high school.

“I first got into electronic music when I was in middle school – I was really keen on playing NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and Sega games that I never had as a young child, and it coin-cided with my interest in band,” Dolensky said. “From there, I got into electronic remixes, then the process of repurposing the actual game consoles to create new music.”

To make music on a Gameboy, users can buy an inexpensive software pro-gram called “Little Sound DJ” online. Additionally, users need a rewritable cartridge that will be plugged into a handheld gaming system.

“The software itself looks like spreadsheet software,” Dolensky said. “Luckily,

everything is clearly labeled, so there isn’t a huge learn-ing curve. You are limited to making four sounds at once, which challenges you as a composer.”

Chipmusic, a form of creat-ing music with vintage gam-ing systems like Gameboy or NES, has a popular online following.

Brandon Hood, or “President Hoodie” to his online friends, is a friend of Dolensky’s who recently became interested in creat-ing chipmusic.

“What I’ve become known for within the chip commu-nity is creating and directing the Chiptunes = WIN proj-ect ,” Hood said . “The 70-plus tracks on the first two releases have amazing and wildly varying styles of chip-music, from some of the most well known artists in the scene to some extremely talented up-and-comers.”

There are many differ-ent styles of chipmusic, although all of it has elec-tronic roots. Dolensky said his favorite type of chipmu-sic to create is jazz, which he does under his online alter ego “the Bitman.”

“Sometimes I will do cross-genre covers of pop and rock songs,” Dolensky said. “I am currently in love with everything bass-heavy, but my favorite genre is funk.”

Chipmusic, while still a mainly online form of music, is beginning to take hold in mainstream culture. Chip artists have music festivals where they can showcase their work and perform.

Curt is Ware , or “Solarbear,” met Dolensky when Ware invited him to perform at a chiptune festi-val he planned in Lexington, Ky., called BRKFest2012.

“I’m really happy I [invit-ed him], since he had maybe the single most entertaining performance,” Ware said.

While Dolensky is busy with creat-ing chipmu-sic, he is also involved in other aspects of traditional music. He is involved with four Alabama b a n d s , including the Million Dollar Band, and is minoring in music.

Beginning to create your own chipmusic is rela-tively inexpensive except for the few pieces of equip-ment needed online. But if Dolensky has one piece of advice, it is to invest in rechargeable batteries.

“Last year I nearly went broke buying batteries,” Dolensky said.

For more information about chipmusic, go to www.noisechannel.org or www.chipmusic.org. For more information about Dolensky’s music, go to www.thebitman.bandcamp.com.

“The software itself looks like spreadsheet software. Luckily, everything is clearly labeled, so there isn’t a huge learning curve. You are limited to mak-ing four sounds at once, which challenges you as a composer.

— Max Dolensky

CW | Jingyu WanMax Dolensky, a sophomore majoring in management information systems, uses a Nintendo Gameboy to compose music.

CW | Jingyu Wan


By Alexandra EllsworthStaff Reporter

Emily Baxter is proud to be the daughter of a United States Army soldier. It is evi-dent upon meeting her that she loves her father, who is currently serving overseas in Afghanistan.

“Not a lot of people are like, ‘hey, I am an army brat,’” Baxter, a sophomore majoring in early childhood development and special education, said. “But I wear it on my sleeve.”

It is no surprise that, when Baxter’s father asked her to send some school sup-plies over for the children in Afghanistan, she immedi-ately set to work organizing and gathering supplies with her friends.

Baxter said her father and

his battalion work in an area where there are schools. He gets to interact and see the kids on a regular basis, she said.

“He noticed that they don’t have the basics,” Baxter said. “They don’t have paper. They don’t have pencils. They don’t have pens. He asked me if me and my friends wouldn’t mind sending some stuff over, and he said he would send me the address.”

Baxter immediately began thinking about the project, and recruited her friends to help. What started off as only Baxter and a couple of friends gathering sup-plies for her father sparked a much larger project, and resulted in the creation of an organization, Heart of School Supplies.

“So that is really how it

got started, by him just ask-ing if we could send things,” Baxter said. “And I really just started to think why just my friends, why not have oth-ers included as well? I know there are a lot more people on this campus with military backgrounds as well. My gears started turning, and I was like, we are going to do more than this.”

Baxter wanted to keep the organization military-based and decided to go through Veterans Affairs at the University. She emailed them that night and has received a lot of support there, but Baxter’s biggest support-ers and partners in Heart of School Supplies may be her friends who she first told her idea to, such as Estela Ceron.

“It was around midnight, and she said she got a call

from her dad and was just like, ‘I have this idea,’” Ceron, a sophomore major-ing in business, said. “And so we started putting some-thing together, and then we were like, ‘hey, let’s just do it big instead of small.’ I mean, these troops do so much for us, and here they are still thinking about others. Anything we can do to help them we are excited about.”

The next day, Brittany Sutton was on board with Baxter and Ceron, too.

“I was just like, ‘sure, why not,’” Sutton, a sophomore majoring in nursing, said. “I mean, it would be a good thing for me to start. I got her back. It’s true though, we stick together and we are going to help Emily, help her dad, help the troops and help the other kids.”

Even if Heart of School Supplies does not become a University organization, Baxter said she would be satisfied with what they are doing.

“If it doesn’t grown into what I call a ‘UA name-brand organization’ then it will still be the three of us, and maybe more people spreading the word about what we are doing and asking for dona-tions,” she said. “And even if we have to send them on our own, I mean, we did all this in the span of three weeks to a month.”

For Baxter, Ceron and Sutton it is enough to know they are helping others, even if it is mostly behind the scenes.

“My dad just wants to get these kids on track,” Baxter said. “They are in school

and he talks to them about what is going on state-wise. Basically, the kids are sitting in school trying to absorb everything and it’s like, here we are taking notes and find-ing pencils on the street. We want to be the people behind the curtain who are helping the soldiers help the community.”

Heart of School Supplies has a drop-off location in B.B. Comer at the Veteran and Military Affairs office. They will be taking all school sup-plies except retractable pens and scissors, although safety scissors are acceptable. All supplies must be generic and cannot have any UA insignia. The Community of Veterans Affairs has given full support to Heart of School Supplies and they will pay for shipping cost.

Students send supplies to Afghani children

By Marcus FlewellenContributing Writer

Right now, hundreds of millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs all around the world are cel-ebrating Diwali, a five-day Indian festival that commem-orates joy, freedom, spiritual enlightenment and the tri-umph of good over evil.

“Diwali is the last day of the Hindu calendar,” University of Alabama grad-uate student Gaurav Mehta said. “Diwali means ‘row of lamps’ in Hindu. It’s the fes-tival of lights that’s marked by four days of celebration, which literally illuminates the country.”

Mehta said during Diwali, they usually shoot firecrack-ers every night and people decorate their houses with fancy lights.

“The illumination of homes with lights and the skies with firecrackers is an

expression of respect to the heavens for the attainment of health, wealth, knowl-edge, peace and prosperity,” he said.

“Diwali festival is the only festival that unites the whole of India,” Abhay Lidbe, a UA graduate student, said. “All the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. While Diwali is popularly known as the ‘fes-tival of lights,’ the most sig-nificant spiritual meaning is ‘the awareness of the inner light.’”

For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festi-vals of the year and is cel-ebrated in families by per-forming traditional activities together in their homes.

Drishti and Bollywood Groove will be bringing some of those festivities to the Bama Theatre this Saturday night.

“ D r i s h t i - B o l l y w o o d

Groove Presents: Diwali – Festival of Lights” is a cel-ebration event for the Indian New Year and Hindu culture. Several local musicians will perform at the event, as well as the Bollywood Groove dance studio, which is run by Drishti volunteer Dibya Singh.

“Our Diwali show repre-sents our New Year in the Hindu calendar,” Singh said. “We are celebrating for the first time with help from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa. I have a small Bollywood Groove stu-dio, and we have prepared several dances.”

Drishti is a charitable organization that reaches out to meet the needs of the Tuscaloosa commu-nity. Every year, they host “Tuscaloosa’s Got Talent!” a talent competition and fun-draiser raising money for local charities.

“Every year, we pick a

charity to send all of our donations to,” Singh said.

For two years, Drishti sent their donations to the Brewer-Porch Children’s Center, a program helping special needs children and their families. This year, they sent the donations to Project Blessing, a nonprofit organi-zation that helps victims of the April 27, 2011 tornado, and Authentic Renovation Ministries, a charity that renovates and repairs the homes of low-income families.

“Every year, we have raised about $17,000,” Singh said.

Drishti hosted this year’s talent show at the Bama Theatre in April. Some of the winners from the talent show will be performing at “Diwali – Festival of Lights.”

“We have a wonderful bud-ding artist, Eric Willingham, performing some pop tunes and a country singer, Chase

Evans,” Singh said. “We invite everyone to come cel-ebrate the Indian New Year with us.”

The show will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets for the event cost $5, which includes a traditional Indian dinner.

Bama Theatre hosts talent show to celebrate Diwali

By Megan MillerContributing Writer

The sisters of the Theta Delta chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity invite University of Alabama students to participate in their third annual karaoke competition Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.

“Sigma Alpha Iota is a fraternity for women which promotes interaction among those who share a commit-ment to music,” Allison Jack, editor of the Theta Delta chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, said.

The Theta Delta chap-ter was chartered at the

University in 1994, and the fraternity has 116,317 initiat-ed members worldwide as of August 2012.

SAI at the University cur-rently has 26 active mem-bers, majoring in music per-formance, music education, music therapy, advertising, telecommunication and film, women’s studies, biology, chemistry and more.

The karaoke competi-tion will be held in the Instrumental Rehearsal Room, Room 204 in Moody Music Building. It is $2 to watch the competition and $5 to compete, either as an indi-vidual or as a group.

“Everyone is welcome to

attend, and all proceeds go toward our continued sup-port of local music programs and SAI philanthropies,” Jack said.

YouTube videos will be used for musical accompa-niment and the lyrics will be projected onto a screen. Individuals can compete or sing in a group of two to four. There is no limit on song length or constraints on genre.

First, second and third place prizes will be awarded. First prize is $30 in cash, and second and third prize will be a $20 gas gift card and $20 gift card to Mugshots. The second place winner will get

their choice from the two gift cards and the third place win-ner receives whichever one remains.

Ballots will be passed around to audience members and the audience will cast their votes for the winner of the competition.

“The Theta Delta chapter’s focus for the semester was to support music education, and this is one of the final fundraising projects of the semester,” Cindy Simpson,

president of the Theta Delta chapter of SAI, said.

Jack said she hopes for a large number of participants.

“The concert has always been a great time in past years,” Jack said. “We are hoping for our largest turnout yet this year and would love to have some new participants.”

The chapter will also be selling Christmas ornaments and baked goods before the Hilaritas holiday concerts on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 2

at 3 p.m.SAI sisters will be in the

Moody Music Building lobby 45 minutes prior to the per-formances. Homemade baked goods can be purchased for 50 cents each, and orna-ments, hand painted and decorated by SAI sisters, can be purchased for $2 to $4. All proceeds collected will go to support the Theta Delta chapter’s efforts to fur-ther music education across greater Tuscaloosa.

Music fraternity to host karaoke contest, sell baked goodsThursday night’s proceeds benefi t efforts to further local programs, Sigma Alpha Iota philanthropies

By Asher Elbein

Sloppy. Deeply self indulgent. Fascinatingly trashy. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s “American Horror Story.”

The latest show from “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy has a simple set up. Each season, horrible things happen to a dif-ferent group of people. In the first, a slightly unstable fam-ily moves into a haunted house, where various ghosts make their lives even more miserable. Over the course of the season, twisted psychosexual scenarios are played out, blood is spilled, and a gimp-suited maniac runs around alternately molesting and murdering people. The sec-ond season switches cast and location, centering in a horrible insane asylum, with all that entails. It’s all terribly thrilling.

AHS’s anthology-style set up is the best thing about it. The writers burn through events at an absolutely reckless pace, throwing out plot twists like they’re going out of style. In fact, the show seems to be com-prised entirely of plot twists. A

fire like that needs to be fueled, and so at any given time the plot elements shoveled into the boiler range from the strange to the insane. The current season alone has mixed demonic pos-session, serial killers, aliens and Nazis into a catch-all stew of American cultural fears, served piping hot and seasoned with dominatrix nuns.

If any of the above strikes you as familiar, it probably should. Ryan Murphy has claimed in interviews that his show draws from a wide range of influ-ences, which is something of an understatement. “American Horror Story” steals from clas-sic horror cinema like a magpie steals shiny objects, and with about the same level of shame. It’s clear that the writers love scary movies, and they’ve been very diligent in picking through the last forty years of chillers looking for effective scenes. A lumpy stew of events does not make a story, though.

If “American Horror Story” is unpredictable, then that comes less from clever set up than it does from arbitrary plotting.

There are parts of “American Horror Story” that feel almost aimless, bereft of the forward drive that makes a good story sing. Things do happen, occa-sionally even in sequence, but the connective tissue is missing. The series is perversely unwill-ing to play by any consistent set of rules, which makes it difficult to care about the events unfold-ing onscreen. Often, the only reason to watch is sheer curi-osity about what’s going to get thrown at you next.

To be fair, this very craziness makes for a fairly entertaining show. It’s helped that everyone involved knows their business, and the show’s cinematography and visual storytelling is very slick. The actors tend to chew the scenery, but given the mate-rial they’re asked to say, it’s hard to blame them.

Watching “American Horror Story” is very similar to listen-ing to a decent band play an endless amount of covers. At first you’re charmed to hear things you recognize, but after a while, you wonder when you’re going to hear something new.

‘American Horror Story’ often triteCOLUMN

CW | SubmittedDiwali, the festival of lights, marks the last day of the Hindu calendar.

Page 10 | Thursday, November 15, 2012 NEWS OPINION CULTURE SPORTS

Tide travels to NYC for 2k Sports Classic Championship

By Charlie PotterContributing Writer

The Alabama men’s basket-ball team will travel to Madison Square Garden in New York City to compete in the championship rounds of the 2k Sports Classic. The Tide will be joined in the Big Apple by the three other host teams: Oregon State, Purdue and Villanova.

Alabama will face Oregon State on Thursday, Nov. 15, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to go to New York and play in Madison Square Garden in a great tournament,” head coach Anthony Grant said. “We’re playing a very tough opponent in Oregon State. I’m really impressed with their team.

We’re looking at a veteran team, a very well-coached team.”

With the game being played in the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena, there will be plenty of distractions for Grant and his players, but he has approached this matchup with the same mentality as any other game.

“This is game three for us,” Grant said. “The thing I talk to our guys about is every court we play on is 94-by-50, and the rim is going to be 10 feet from the ground. We’ve got to focus on the things that we need to do to give us a chance to win.”

The Tide did a poor job of rebounding in its last game against West Alabama. The Tigers out-rebounded Alabama 41-38, and Grant showed great displeasure in his team’s efforts on the glass.

However, the Tide’s relentless-ness on defense has picked up where other aspects of its game have left off. Senior guard Andrew Steele attributed the team’s phys-ical, defensive mindset as a key to its early-season success.

“The thing we try to work on is our defense,” Steele said. “I think that’s the biggest area we’ve improved on. Understanding how hard we’ve got to play. Understanding our defense is going to give us a chance to win every game.”

Alabama will need its defense to play well when it faces Oregon

State’s Ahmad Starks. Starks, a junior guard, has averaged almost 26 points through the first two games of the season for the Beavers, scoring a career-high 33 points.

“He does things to help their team,” Grant said. “He’s a guy, another veteran guy for their team, that we’ve got to do a good job of being aware of where he is, trying to prevent his opportunities.”

The outcome of Thursday’s game will affect who, when and on what network the Tide will play on Friday, Nov. 16. If Alabama defeats Oregon State, it will play the winner of Purdue vs. Villanova at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2 in the championship game. If the Tide loses to the Beavers, it will face the loser of the other game at 4 p.m. on ESPNU in the consola-tion game.

But Grant said he and his team are solely focused on the immediate future.

“Our focus will be strictly on Oregon State,” Grant said. “Some of our assistant coaches will start preparations in terms of watching the other teams and being pre-pared for whoever we would face in the second game.”

Some of the players on Alabama’s roster played in Madison Square Garden while competing in the NIT tournament two years ago, but for some, this will be their first experience in the storied arena.

Men’s basketball team will go to Madison Square Garden, scheduled to face Oregon State on Thursday

MEN’S BASKETBALL

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By Zac Al-KhateebStaff Reporter

After Alabama’s game against the Texas A&M Aggies, the freshmen on the team experi-enced something they’d never seen before at the Capstone: a loss.

For Alabama head coach Nick Saban, it was imperative for his team that his older players, as well as the younger ones, were able to handle the loss appropri-ately and put in a good week of practice for Western Carolina.

Saban said so far this week,

his team hasn’t had a problem with it and has been putting the right mental and physical ener-gy into practice.

“It’s about how everybody responds to looking forward,” Saban said. “I think players have certainly responded. They prac-ticed well yesterday, actually did a good job today.”

Senior tight end Michael Williams shared the sentiments of his coach. He said this week was one of the most energetic weeks of practice he’d seen so far this season.

Williams also said this week

could provide some challenges to younger players who’d never experienced a loss and said it was the responsibility of the older players to make sure they went into practice with a good attitude.

“Kind of more of a challenge to our leadership to come out and have team practice when you have a lot of young players who haven’t experienced a loss before,” Williams said. “We took it upon ourselves to come out, practice with high energy, and right now we’ve got three good days in.”

Players share mixed feelings about early start

Another interesting factor that could play into Alabama’s game Saturday against the Catamounts is the early start-ing time. With kickoff set for 11:21 a.m., it will mark the earli-est game start for the Tide since last year’s season opener against Kent State.

Saban said he thought the early start wouldn’t have too much of an effect on his team, though it may change its pre-game schedule some, such as moving a church service from

before the pre-game meal at 7:30 a.m. back to Friday night.

“It’s a little different circum-stance than what they’re used to, but maturity goes a long way in terms of how people adjust to their circumstances, and hopefully our team will show the maturity we need to play,” Saban said.

Senior defensive lineman Quinton Dial said he didn’t know how the early start, the earliest he’s ever had for a game, would affect him on the field.

“I don’t know man, it’s my first one at 11,” Dial said. “11 o’clock,

rolling out of bed and playing.”Despite this being the earliest

game he’s played in, Williams said he didn’t expect too much of a difference in his own pre-game schedule, other than an earlier wake-up call. Williams said he liked the idea of getting in and out of a game earlier in the day.

“You got to wake up; you get ready to play and you go into the game, and once you hit the sta-dium, anything about you being sleepy changes right there,” Williams said. “Me personally, I like it. You get to get up, play hard, get out.”

Saban, team responding well to loss in practice

By Jasmine Cannon

It all started with Dwight Howard. Then there was Steve Nash. And Los Angeles Lakers fans were claiming their throne back atop the western confer-ence of the NBA.

The season started and Lakers fan’s smiles and opti-mism turned into frowns and constant complaints. It is true Los Angeles won zero games during the preseason, but most people don’t think of the pre-season as a serious measure of what the regular season will be like.

The regular season start-ed and the Lakers continued their losing ways. They lost to the Mavericks, Blazers and Clippers before getting their first win against the Pistons. The Lakers then lost to the Jazz and two days later Lakers exec-utives announced the firing of head coach Mike Brown.

“Mike was very hard-working and dedicated, but we felt it was in the best interest of the team to make a change at this time,” said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak. “We appreciate

Mike’s efforts and contributions and wish him and his family the best of luck.”

The search for a new head coach began immediately and Lakers fans got excited once again when legendary coach Phil Jackson’s name was brought into the conversation. However, much to the chagrin of the fans, Jackson was not named the new coach and Mike D’Antoni was.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, to be honest,” Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant said. “I think we are all thinking it was gonna be Phil [Jackson]. It probably caught Mike [D’Antoni] a little bit off guard, too. But I’m excited.”

Jackson said he was heav-ily considering taking the job and was given the choice to let the Lakers front office know whether or not he accepted the position by Monday morn-ing. He got a call Sunday night that they had chosen D’Antoni instead.

D’Antoni has coached three different NBA teams in the last 10 years and has won zero championships. He did coach

new Lakers point guard SteveNash, who won two MVP awardsunder his reign in Phoenix. He also led Phoenix to the west-ern conference finals twice, but never to the NBA finals.

It’s known that Brown is adefensive-minded coach, whileD’Antoni specializes on theoffensive end. It’s my assump-tion that the Lakers felt as if the lack of chemistry on the offense was subsequent to Brown’scoaching style, which hindered them from winning games.

I’m not really sure if that’sthe case, but I do know that the NBA season is long – a mara-thon, not a sprint. I also knowthat the beginning of the sea-son can mean a lot as you try to observe how your team will be after the all-star break headinginto the playoffs.

I’m not a Lakers fan by anymeans, and their failures havenot caused me to lose any sleepat all. Nash needs to get healthy,Bryant needs to be a team player, and Howard needs to be mature if the Lakers want to reclaimtheir western conference domi-nance. But in the mean time,go Thunder!

A brighter day to come in Los Angeles?COLUMN

By Sean Zak

This past Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. – just like many other Fridays every fall – hundreds of thousands of people awoke from their work– or school– induced slumber.

Not because the work-week had finally ceased, not because a beautiful, sunny weekend was in its approach and certainly not because Sean Zak was in town (although that’s a pretty good reason). It was because Alabama football was ready to host another home game, their fifth of the season.

There were a few storylines leading up to the game, so a fair amount of buzz could stand as reason for the excitement. But it was just another SEC football game, after another week spent ranked No. 1 in the nation, so why did so many people suddenly rouse?

Because football in Alabama isn’t just a fun event every other weekend where alumni bring their family or where students get disgracefully drunk and cheer cuss words back and forth.

It’s way different. In Alabama, football is a way of life.

Given an opportunity that few, if any, Wisconsin stu-dent journalists are offered, I jumped at the chance to take in a weekend immersed in Tuscaloosa for the Alabama-Texas A&M football game. I’m glad I did because it opened my eyes even wider to the world of college foot-ball, one normally limited to the 608 area code.

I briefly met a pair of foot-ball fans in the airport who were traveling from Boston, simply out of respect from the rumors they had heard.

This pair, like myself, needed to verify the lore surround-ing the tradition and prow-ess of Alabama football.

As soon as classes were out on Friday afternoon, the footballs came out on nearly every front lawn of the 26 fraternities that line the campus. Bryant–Denny Stadium– home to the Crimson Tide football squad– may rest in just a corner of campus, but there is not a more important building to The University of Alabama.

How could I tell? It was guarded at each entrance like the baby doll of a 6-year-old girl.

It was only Friday after-noon, more than 24 full hours from the start of the game, and there was already the feeling that everyone in town was waiting for s o m e t h i n g , kickoff in particular. But there was all Saturday morn-ing to wait too, and no tail-gate I’ve ever attended could compare.

On campus there is an open park known as “the Quad.” The park is rarely open because, normally, it’s flooded. Take Bascom Hill, flatten it out, multiply it by about 15 and litter it with hundreds of tents, loads of food vendors and about 100,000 college football fans. Take everyone from Spring, Dayton, State, Johnson, University, Randall, Breeze and Lathrop Street and throw them into one area. That’s the “Quad.”

Located directly adjacent to the stadium, “the Quad” is

the place to be from Friday afternoon to the early hours of Sunday morning. ESPN Radio held it’s popular radio show “College GameDay” there, and while it certainly attracted quite the audi-ence, the masses of tents held even greater attraction. The University sponsors some tents, dressed to the nines with flat screen TVs showing, you guessed it, SEC football.

Other tents are set up by the thousands of Bama fans, consistently displaying their version of Southern hospital-ity with a beer or a plateful of chicken wings, jumping at the first ounce of a conversa-

tion about the victory over LSU the prior weekend or how bad rival Auburn is vthis season.

There may have been a presidential election on Tuesday, but the game that everyone was

waiting for, tailgating for, was the biggest spectacle in the state, just like it is every week. As I took my seat in the end zone of the stadium, it, and the countless number of fans, enveloped me like Camp Randall never could.

The 101,000-plus fans–every one of them consid-ered themselves as lucky as myself to be on site, witness-ing Alabama football live. They weren’t there to social-ize with roommates, see old friends or to enjoy the after-noon. They were there to watch a football game, invest in their lives, never miss a play, and throw their heart into the air through cheer-ing, screams and delight.

Only the delight came in

extremely small portions. Alabama, ranked No. 1 in almost every poll imagin-able, was facing Texas A&M, the new blood in the SEC that would surely fal-ter at the sheer intimida-tion of Alabama football and Bryant-Denny Stadium.

But A&M jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter. If I was surprised– holding no allegiance to either team other than the Alabama sweatshirt I pur-chased the day before, sim-ply to fit in– then everyone else was in utter shock.

The Tide wouldn’t be denied its chance to rule as they crept back into the game, though failing to ever take the lead.

As the game wore on, it was glaringly visible how invested each of these people was in their Crimson Tide. A holding penalty was worse than a car accident; a touch-down rivaled Christmas morning. If I had to guess, many of these fans receive gifts of Alabama gear on Christmas morning.

Eventually, too many criti-cal mistakes in the most cru-cial of times cost the Tide, as they fell 29-24. My Alabama experience was over.

Camp Randall and Madison are great, but in every way that Alabama was drastically different, it was equally just as amazing.

Without a professional team within 200 miles of

Tuscaloosa, the Tide repre-sents the hope, joy, elation or devastation of the lives of millions of people.

Football is what they live for, and as Texas A&M did the seemingly impossible, the Aggies temporarily ruined the lives of millions. That is, until next Friday afternoon.

Sean Zak is a junior major-ing in journalism and com-munication arts. He is also the associate sports editor at the Badger Herald at the University of Wisconsin. What do you think of Alabama football? Let him know by emailing him at [email protected] or on Twitter @sean_zak.

COLUMN


Wisconsin student journalist on Alabama Gameday: ‘Tide represents hope, joy’

“It was only Friday afternoon, more than 24 full hours from

the start of the game, and there was already the feeling that

everyone in town was waiting for something.

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Editor | Marquavius [email protected]

Thursday, November 15, 2012SPORTSNEWS

OPINION

CULTURE

SPORTS

Page 13

By Billy Whyte

Dear Lane Kiffin,

I know it’s been a while since you’ve last heard from us. Last time we saw you back in 2009, your Volunteers would have ended our chance at an unde-feated season if it weren’t for two blocked field goals by the great Terrence Cody. We know your time in our illustrious con-ference may have been brief, and there are still lingering feelings following your betrayal and subsequent fleeing of our fellow SEC brethren Tennessee. However, you have now found yourself in a peculiar position that will offer you a chance of

redemption in the eyes of the Southeastern brotherhood.

As you already know, the SEC has won the past six national championships, a streak we hold very dearly here in the heart of Dixie. It’s not so much a showing of our dominance over the rest of the country, but a regional pride we hold over those smug Northerners and Midwesterners who used to continuously look down upon not only our football teams, but our society as well. With our loss to new conference frater-nity member Texas A&M last Saturday, the SEC’s streak is not only on life-support, but completely out of our hands.

This is where you and your

Trojans come in. In order for us to get back in the National Championship game, two of Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame have to lose. As much as we would love to believe Kansas State might lose at Baylor or against a surging Texas team, neither team has the overall talent or defense capable of taking down the Wildcats and Heisman front-runner Collin “Optimus” Klein.

This leaves Notre Dame and Oregon as the two teams that have to lose. And coincidentally enough, your Trojans will play both of them (assuming you beat UCLA Saturday, whom we wholeheartedly believe you will crush).

Notre Dame we aren’t wor-ried about. “Touchdown Jesus” may have been able to carry the Irish to a couple miraculous wins so far, but Notre Dame’s luck won’t be able to will them to another victory against your high-powered offense in the Coliseum. Notre Dame has an SEC-caliber defense, but their offense is only decent at best, and hasn’t seen anything like next year’s potential No. 1 overall pick Matt Barkley and the top receiving duo in the country, in Marqise Lee and Robert Woods.

Beating Oregon will be a tough task. Their no-huddle offense and athleticism is near-ly unstoppable. However, you

have already played one close game against them, and your familiarity with their up-tempo attack should give you a bet-ter blueprint than anyone else, and a chance at stopping them. And when push comes to shove, you have the only offense in the country capable of outscoring them. We both know that when it comes to the Pacific coast, Southern Cal is the true beacon of college football. It’s time to put those pesky Ducks back in their place.

I know what you are think-ing: What will you get by help-ing us out? Why is it important to help keep the SEC’s streak alive? For one, by beating Notre Dame and Oregon, you will

provide your team redemp-tion after failing to live up to preseason expectations. You will also earn the respect and admiration of the most power-ful football conference in the country. If there is going to be a usurper to the SEC’s hold on the BCS, we should at least beallowed a chance to defend it. Otherwise, we will have a newand potentially unworthy ruler this year that could send the college football landscape into chaos.

Good luck, Lane Kiffin. Your USC Trojans not only hold ours and the SEC’s national champi-onship aspirations, but the deli-cate balance of college football in your hands. Fight on Trojans.

COLUMN

An open letter to Lane Kiffi n, USC Trojans; help keep the SEC’s streak alive

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