Thursday, February 16, 2012 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Vol. 118, Issue 89 since 1894 i 1894 P l e a s e r e c y c l e t h i s p a p e r • P l e a s e r e c y c le t h i s p a p e r • Briefs ........................ 2 Opinions ................... 4 Lifestyles.................... 7 WEATHER today INSIDE today’s paper Sports ....................... 8 Puzzles...................... 9 Classifieds ................. 9 Mostly cloudy 68º/52º Wednesday 67º/52º Chance of rain P l e a s e r e h i s p a p e r • P l e a s e s p a p p p p p e r 16 6, 2 2 2 2 20 0 0 0 01 01 012 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Servi ng t he Uni versi ty of Al abama s 6 6 2 20 0 01 1 1 12 S i h Ui i f Al b By Marc Torrence Sports Reporter @marctorrence The Alabama gymnastics team is usually only concerned with two colors: crimson and white. This week, though, they’re all about pink. No. 6 Alabama will host the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks for the Tide’s annual Power of Pink meet on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Power of Pink meets are designed to raise awareness for breast can- cer. “It’s not just a great SEC matchup between No. 5 and No. 6,” Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. “It’s for a greater cause. For our athletes to be involved in something like that, it sets a standard for what they want to do later on in their lives.” As part of Power of Pink week on cam- pus, Denny Chimes, the Ferguson Center Plaza’s fountain, the Student Rec Center and the exterior of Coleman Coliseum will be glowing pink all week. The gymnasts and coaches will also be taking part in various pink activities of their own, includ- ing sporting pink leotards for the meet. Power of pink Ten-year relationship with island country holds strong as professors finish visit By Jordan Cissell Staff Reporter [email protected]As of Wednesday night, the Bama Memes Facebook page had more than 2,000 “likes.” However, by the time this sentence hits your ret- ina, this tally will surely be an underestimation of the true number of students following the page. Since its creation Friday night by sopho- mores Billy Swift, Trae Story, Hunter Story and Chris Wilhelm, Bama Memes has attracted new Facebook fans and contributors at an explosive pace, and the trajectory shows no signs of falter- ing anytime soon. Internet memes are stock photos paired with humorous or satirical text, usually intended to provide social commentary. Max Dolensky, a Bama Memes contributor and freshman majoring in management information systems and music composition, feels imagery is key to memes’ wide- spread appeal. “Memes can be used to make points or jokes that just aren’t as funny in plain text,” he said. Contributors to the Bama Memes page cre- ate graphics specifically geared toward the often humorous and sometimes aggravating aspects of student life in the University of Alabama commu- nity. Newly-created Bama Memes page takes Facebook by storm By Kris Mitchell Contributing Writer The redacted names and confidential information of 500 Alabama residents were posted online last weekend by a group of hacker activists known as Anonymous. Anonymous leaked the stolen informa- tion, including social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers. “This confidential information should not have been on the World Wide Web,” said Eugene Syriani, an assistant professor of computer science. “Hackers will usually impersonate someone’s computer, but they don’t have to physically use that person’s computer.” In a statement, Anonymous said it did not plan to use the information, and it also claimed to have the redacted records of 46,000 other Alabama residents. Anonymous said it posted the information to protest “recent racist legislation in an attempt to punish immigrants as criminals.” “I think it’s a newer form of protest,” said Richard C. Fording, professor of political science. Fording explained that Alabama has seen many protests of its illegal immigration bill. “Many religious groups have also protest- ed the illegal immigration bill,” he said. Monica Anderson is an assistant profes- sor of computer science by day and a mage in World of Warcraft by night. “My husband and I tried to make our a son a healer,” Anderson said. “But it didn’t work out.” Her husband also plays as a virtual war- rior. His WoW account was hacked, and hackers looted years’ worth of digital goods. “My understanding of hacking, there’s two ways,” Anderson said. “There’s brute force, and there’s social engineering.” Hackers target Alabama websites in protest of bill MesserWoland/Wikimedia Commons; CW | John Michael Simpson and Katie Bennett By Briana Harris Contributing Writer Starting tonight at 6 p.m., students won’t need a car to get from campus to downtown Tuscaloosa. Downtown Express is a new bus service that will transport students to and from campus and various down- town locations. Peyton Falkenburg, SGA director of programming and advancements, said the goal of Downtown Express is to give on- campus residents the ability to travel downtown in the safest and most effi- cient way possible. The program will especially benefit UA’s international students, as well as freshmen and any other on-campus student who doesn’t have a car, said Matt Calderone, SGA deputy execu- tive vice president. Another concern on college cam- puses deals with students and alcohol, Falkenburg said. “If you go downtown to eat and have a couple of drinks, there is no reason for you to drive under the influence,” he said. “We have to find ways to reduce the amount of risks that stu- dents get themselves in to.” Originally, there was going to be one route on campus, but the SGA soon realized an additional need. “We decided to do one route that covered the north side of campus, but then we thought about the students on the south side of campus, living in places such as Burke, Tutwiler and the sorority houses, and we decided on two routes in order to cover them also,” said Falkenburg. Ralph Clayton, assistant director of Transportation Services, said he and his colleagues try to make the transit system as efficient as possible. “We strive to be efficient, but, of course, there are variables that we can’t control such as traffic and things like that, but we value the students’ opinions, and we welcome ways to make our transit system better,” he said. This service, which is being equally funded by the SGA, UA’s department of Financial Affairs and Transportation Services, will run for a month serving as the initiative’s pilot program. See PINK, page 5 Bus service offers students access to downtown By Rich Robinson Staff Reporter [email protected]A delegation of Alabama faculty traveled to Cuba last week to meet with academic collaborators in the island nation. The trip was part of the celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the Alabama-Cuban Initiative, a program that serves as the cultural exchange vehicle between the University and Cuba. The group spoke to faculty at three Cuban institu- tions of higher learning, which included the University of Havana, the Institute of Art and the University of San Geronimo. The faculty members also presented new pro- posals for projects on the island while reflecting on the past. The start of something unique Robert Olin, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, began organizing the trip last spring and has served as the driving force behind the project for nearly 10 years. University, Cuba sustain partnership See CUBA, page 3 See HACKERS, page 2 See BUS, page 2 Bama Memes Example of a Bama Meme created by UA students. Co-creator Swift, majoring in computer science, feels Bama Memes’ direct connection to its audi- ence’s shared experiences has been imperative to the page’s seemingly overnight success. This release is only meant to show the citizens of the state of Alabama the amount of incompetence that is taking place within the state government in Alabama. — Anonymous, in a press release BASEBALL/SOFTBALL BASEBALL/SOFTBALL PREVIEW PREVIEW 8 8 put a Meme in your Meme so put a Meme in your Meme so you can laugh while you laugh you can laugh while you laugh Scene Scene the the CONTINUED ON BACK SGA
Transcript
Thursday, February 16, 2012 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Vol. 118, Issue 89since 1894i 1894
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Briefs ........................2
Opinions ...................4
Lifestyles ....................7
WEATHER todayINSIDE
today’s paperSports .......................8
Puzzles ......................9
Classifieds .................9
Mostly cloudy
68º/52ºWednesday 67º/52ºChance of rain
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By Marc TorrenceSports Reporter@marctorrence
The Alabama gymnastics team is usually only concerned with two colors: crimson and white. This week, though, they’re all about pink. No. 6 Alabama will host the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks for the Tide’s annual Power of Pink meet on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Power of Pink meets are designed to raise awareness for breast can-cer. “It’s not just a great SEC
matchup between No. 5 and No. 6,” Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. “It’s for a greater cause. For our athletes to be involved in something like that, it sets a standard for what they want to do later on in their lives.” As part of Power of Pink week on cam-pus, Denny Chimes, the Ferguson Center Plaza’s fountain, the Student Rec Center and the exterior of Coleman Coliseum will be
glowing pink all week. The gymnasts and coaches will also be taking part in various pink activities of their own, includ-ing sporting pink leotards for the meet.
Power of pink
Ten-year relationship with island country holds strong as professors fi nish visit
As of Wednesday night, the Bama Memes Facebook page had more than 2,000 “likes.” However, by the time this sentence hits your ret-ina, this tally will surely be an underestimation of the true number of students following the page. Since its creation Friday night by sopho-mores Billy Swift, Trae Story, Hunter Story and Chris Wilhelm, Bama Memes has attracted new Facebook fans and contributors at an explosive pace, and the trajectory shows no signs of falter-ing anytime soon. Internet memes are stock photos paired with humorous or satirical text, usually intended to provide social commentary. Max Dolensky, a Bama Memes contributor and freshman majoring in management information systems and music composition, feels imagery is key to memes’ wide-spread appeal. “Memes can be used to make points or jokes that just aren’t as funny in plain text,” he said. Contributors to the Bama Memes page cre-ate graphics specifically geared toward the often humorous and sometimes aggravating aspects of student life in the University of Alabama commu-nity.
Newly-created Bama Memes page takes Facebook by storm
By Kris MitchellContributing Writer
The redacted names and confidential information of 500 Alabama residents were posted online last weekend by a group of hacker activists known as Anonymous. Anonymous leaked the stolen informa-tion, including social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers. “This confidential information should not have been on the World Wide Web,” said Eugene Syriani, an assistant professor of computer science. “Hackers will usually impersonate someone’s computer, but they don’t have to physically use that person’s computer.” In a statement, Anonymous said it did not plan to use the information, and it also claimed to have the redacted records of 46,000 other Alabama residents. Anonymous said it posted the information to protest “recent racist legislation in an attempt to punish immigrants as criminals.” “I think it’s a newer form of protest,” said Richard C. Fording, professor of political science. Fording explained that Alabama has seen
many protests of its illegal immigration bill. “Many religious groups have also protest-ed the illegal immigration bill,” he said. Monica Anderson is an assistant profes-sor of computer science by day and a mage in World of Warcraft by night. “My husband and I tried to make our a son a healer,” Anderson said. “But it didn’t work out.” Her husband also plays as a virtual war-rior. His WoW account was hacked, and hackers looted years’ worth of digital goods. “My understanding of hacking, there’s two ways,” Anderson said. “There’s brute force, and there’s social engineering.”
Hackers target Alabama websites in protest of bill
MesserWoland/Wikimedia Commons; CW | John Michael Simpson and Katie Bennett
By Briana Harris Contributing Writer
Starting tonight at 6 p.m., students won’t need a car to get from campus to downtown Tuscaloosa. Downtown Express is a new bus service that will transport students to and from campus and various down-town locations. Peyton Falkenburg, SGA director of programming and advancements, said the goal of Downtown Express is to give on-campus residents the ability to travel downtown in the safest and most effi-cient way possible. The program will especially benefit UA’s international students, as well as freshmen and any other on-campus student who doesn’t have a car, said
Matt Calderone, SGA deputy execu-tive vice president. Another concern on college cam-puses deals with students and alcohol, Falkenburg said. “If you go downtown to eat and have a couple of drinks, there is no reason for you to drive under the influence,” he said. “We have to find ways to reduce the amount of risks that stu-dents get themselves in to.” Originally, there was going to be one route on campus, but the SGA soon realized an additional need. “We decided to do one route that covered the north side of campus, but then we thought about the students on the south side of campus, living in places such as Burke, Tutwiler and the sorority houses, and we decided
on two routes in order to cover them also,” said Falkenburg. Ralph Clayton, assistant director of Transportation Services, said he and his colleagues try to make the transit system as efficient as possible. “We strive to be efficient, but, of course, there are variables that we can’t control such as traffic and things like that, but we value the students’ opinions, and we welcome ways to make our transit system better,” he said. This service, which is being equally funded by the SGA, UA’s department of Financial Affairs and Transportation Services, will run for a month serving as the initiative’s pilot program.
A delegation of Alabama faculty traveled to Cuba last week to meet with academic collaborators in the island nation. The trip was part of the celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the Alabama-Cuban Initiative, a program that serves as the cultural exchange vehicle between the University and Cuba. The group spoke to faculty at three Cuban institu-tions of higher learning, which included the University of Havana, the Institute of Art and the University of San Geronimo. The faculty members also presented new pro-posals for projects on the island while reflecting on the past.
The start of something unique
Robert Olin, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, began organizing the trip last spring and has served as the driving force behind the project for nearly 10 years.
University, Cuba sustainpartnership
See CUBA, page 3
See HACKERS, page 2
See BUS, page 2
Bama MemesExample of a Bama Meme created by UA students.
Co-creator Swift, majoring in computer science, feels Bama Memes’ direct connection to its audi-ence’s shared experiences has been imperative to the page’s seemingly overnight success.
This release is only meant to show the citizens of the state of Alabama the amount of incompetence that is taking place within the state government in Alabama.
Where: Sellers Auditorium, Bryant Conference Center
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What: What is your Iden-tity? Going Beyond Black and White.
Where: 232 Ferguson Student Center
When: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
What: Radiohead Tribute Con-cert with Jazz Chamber Music
Where: Moody Music Building
When: 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
What: Coffee Hour
Where: 121 B.B. Comer Hall
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
What: Habitat for Humanity Brush with Kindness
Where: Ferguson Plaza, Fer-guson Student Center
When: 12:45 to 4:30 p.m.
What: Crimson in Green: An Alabama Energy Forum
Where: 205 Gorgas Library
When: 1 to 6 p.m.
SATURDAY
What: Dance Alabama!
Where: Morgan Auditorium
When: 2 p.m.
What: Miss UA pageant
Where: Bama Theater
When: 7 to 9 p.m.
What: Regional Science Olympiad
Where: Ferguson Center
When: All Day
Maintenance work will be done at Paty Hall over the summer break, Tim Leopard, assistant vice president for construction, said. “We are going to be bringing things up to codes and standards like elevators, air condi-tioning systems,” Leopard said. “This doesn’t affect rooms or anything.” To minimize the impact on students, the work will be done over the summer, Leopard said. Eric Marable, a freshman majoring in theatre,
said he feels like people often put negative con-notations on Paty and say it needs to be torn down but they just need to check it out. “The rooms may smell funny, but it’s a dorm full of guys, and guys smell,” Marable said. “I feel like they give us a bad reputation. If people took the time and check us out, they wouldn’t put us on the bottom of the barrel. When you actually live there, you see that it’s a commu-nity.”
Summer maintenance work planned for Paty Hall
HACKERSContinued from page 1
BUSContinued from page 1
The University has been very supportive and willing to help this program, Clayton said. Falkenburg said that if the rid-ership numbers show sustain-able usage, Linda Gilbert, vice president of financial affairs, has agreed that Financial Affairs would fund the bus service in it’s entirety for the fall and spring semesters. “My hope is that we show great ridership, so that, maybe in the fall, we can have some more stops and some more buses so that we can keep our efficiency up,” he said. Although Downtown Express will soon be up and running, dur-ing the beginning stages of the program some were skeptical about how successful it would be in light of a past failure. “This idea has been tried before, and it wasn’t successful,” Falkenburg said. A past SGA administration tried to get a similar service started a few years ago called the E-Bus [Entertainment Bus], but the routes didn’t stick to
on-campus locations, and stu-dents had to pay with Bama Cash in order to use its services, Falkenburg said. “We really just had to show them why Downtown Express would be a success and how this time would be different from last time,” he said. Because of the success of the Downtown Urban Renewal Project, downtown Tuscaloosa has been revitalized, Calderone said. “I believe that the changes in the downtown area will help make the difference between the success of the E-Bus and the Downtown Express,” he said. Many local businesses are on board and are willing to help make Downtown Express a suc-cess, and the SGA Judicial Board will be playing games and giv-ing out prizes tonight, such as gift certificates and free meals at downtown businesses, to the students who utilize Downtown Express, Falkenburg said. There is also a UA App avail-able for students to download, called Transloc, that will track the buses so that students will have an idea of how close or far away the bus is.
Brute force, as its name implies, is a method in which hackers crack into a security system by using special com-puter software that tries every possible password until it suc-ceeds. Social engineering is commonly understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential informa-tion. Although Anonymous has yet to reveal how it hacked into the Alabama computer systems, hackers often exploit security flaws using these methods.
“Most people have bad pass-words,” Anderson said. There are standards on password security. Passwords should be longer than eight characters, avoid words in the dictionary and should use sym-bols and numbers, she said. “The same password shouldn’t be used for multiple websites,” Anderson said, but admitted that she has broken the rule for a few websites. The University of Alabama is not safe from cyber security issues, either. “I know there was a secu-rity breach at the University,” Fording said. “We had a faculty meeting about how to keep stu-
dents’ information safe.” According to a statement by Director Spencer Collier, the Alabama Department of Homeland Security is running a forensic analysis to find the culprits. “I doubt it’s possible to catch Anonymous,” Anderson said. “I don’t condone what they’re doing, but I’m glad they’re pointing out these flaws.”
PROTECT YOUR PASSWORDMake it longer than eight char-actersAvoid words in the dictionaryUse symbols and numbersDon’t use the same password for multiple websites
Twenty-one contestants will compete for the Miss University of Alabama title this Saturday at 7 p.m. Participating students will compete in cat-egories such as swimsuit/physical fitness, talent, evening wear and onstage questions. The winner will receive a full tuition scholarship, book schol-arships and additional gifts. Miss University of
Alabama acts as a preliminary round to the MissAlabama and Miss America competitions heldlater this year. The event will be held at the BamaTheatre, and tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for students and $5 for children and can be purchased inthe lobby that evening or from one of the participating contestants.
From MCTcampus
WASHINGTON – Nuclear a dva n c e s t r u mp e t e d Wednesday by Iran were not unexpected and their announcement may have been driven by domestic Iranian poli-tics, but they still could add to tensions over that country’s nuclear program, U.S. officials and experts said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the coun-try had installed 3,000 new centrifuges for processing nuclear fuel, had for the first time successfully installed Iranian-produced fuel rods in a research reactor, and would embark next year on the pro-duction of yellow cake, a con-centrated powder made from uranium ore and used in the enrichment process. At the same time, Iran said that it would end oil sales to six European nations if they refuse to sign long-term contracts and move to implement an embargo on Iranian oil scheduled to take effect in July. “We do not have any prob-lem in terms of finding custom-ers for our oil and selling it to other countries,” the state-run news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official, Hassan Tajik, as saying after meeting sepa-rately with the ambassadors of France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Iranian media portrayed the nuclear developments as show-ing that Iran has mastered the process that transforms urani-um ore into low-enriched urani-um, the fuel that powers nucle-
ar reactors. The same process also produces highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. But David Albright, a for-mer U.N. nuclear inspector who heads the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said that “none of these (announce-ments) are a surprise.” Other analysts pointed out that they came just two weeks before parliamentary polls and may be part of a bid by Ahmadinejad to boost his loyalists against arch-conservative candidates loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with whom Ahmadinejad has had a serious split. “Iranians have endured tre-mendous hardships as a result of their government’s nuclear intransigence, and the regime has to show to the public that there have been some ben-efits,” said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, refer-ring to international sanctions slapped on Iran for defying U.N. demands to halt its nuclear pro-gram. The Obama administra-tion also saw Ahmadinejad’s announcements as aimed at diverting popular attention from the impact of U.N., U.S. and European Union sanctions, which have begun choking Iran’s access to hard cash and forced the devaluation of the Iranian rial. “What’s clear is that Iran is under more pressure from sanctions than ever before,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Iranʼs newest nuclear advances could stoke tensions
Spring 2 registration is open through Feb. 17. Students can pick up extra hours in this shorter semester. Spring 2 classes, many of which are offered online, begin Feb. 13 and
end with the regular semester. To register, students can log in to mybama.ua.edu and link to course options by clicking on the Spring 2 logo.
Miss UA pageant comes to Bama Theater Saturday
Spring 2 registration open through Friday
VIDEO: CRIMSON CAFE
The Crimson White talks to the Crimson Cafe owners about their second reopen-ing in the past year.
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“I arrived to UA in the fall of 2000 as dean of Arts and Sciences,” Olin said. “Getting to know the 23 departments, it struck me how many members of the faculty had interactions with Cuba.” Stan Murphy, a Tuscaloosa attorney and the former senior counsel for the University of Alabama System, was also instru-mental in getting the program off the ground. “The Cubans recognize the University of Alabama as one of the most premier Cuban relation-ship schools that they have, includ-ing Harvard, North Carolina and American University. We are in a very select group.” Murphy said. “It’s something that distinguishes us from most of the other schools in the United States.” Murphy was tasked with get-ting the program its first license to travel to Cuba, which required months of working with the Treasury Department. He also organized the first exploratory trip to the nation in 2002, a visit that Olin attended. Since that time, under the umbrella of the College of Arts and Sciences, the program has sent over 150 facul-ty members who have interacted with some form of scholarship in Cuba. “We’ve sent dancers, theatre people, archeologists, plant biolo-gists, book artists, all kinds of people,” Olin said. The program was originally designed as a faculty-based opera-tion, but Olin explained that the University of Havana kept ask-ing where the Alabama students were.
Government push-back
Disaster struck the fledging group in June of 2004. According to a State Department memo from the period, President George W. Bush “restricted family and edu-cational travel, eliminated the category of fully-hosted travel and restricted remittances so
that they could only be sent to the remitter’s immediate family.” Olin explains that by the time the group was comfortable enough to do a student exchange, the regulations were so tight that there were only four universities still doing it. Alabama was one of them. “To its great credit, the University of Alabama did not stop their program,” Murphy said. “If anything, we strengthened the program. And the academics down there in Cuba remember that.” Since 2009, the University has had a study abroad program active in Cuba, which is available for students, regardless of major. “The Cuban government, they feel the number one institution that they feel the strongest and most reliable ties in the whole United States is the University of Alabama.” Olin said. “It’s funny, if you’re walking along the street and someone asks you where you’re from, and you say the United States, they say ‘Oh, you must be from Alabama.’”
Learning from the Cubans
The program works with many different organizations, but the University of Havana coordinates the majority of its operations. Alabama also works with the ministry of culture and the Cuban health system. Seth Panitch, the associate professor of Acting and the head of the MFA and undergraduate Acting programs at the Capstone, recently took a troupe of student actors to Cuba. His group worked through the initiative and collabo-rated with the Cuban Ministry of Culture. He has been leading Alabama theatre students to Cuba since 2007. “The experience of seeing another culture work on the same techniques as you is invaluable,” Panitch said. “To be able to see it wholly through their eyes opens up a wide range of possibilities for their own development.” Panitch also said to see the dedication that the Cuban actors
have when they are under far more difficulty than American actors reminds Alabama students how fortunate they are and raises their own level of devotion to per-sonal development.
Bringing change through scholarship
“The thing that the Cuban gov-ernment really likes about the University of Alabama is that through thick and thin, and with a lot of red tape, regulations and headaches, we’ve continued to develop our friendship and aca-demic exchange,” Olin said. “If you develop relationships aca-demically, it’s a step in the right direction.” Olin has lived this credo. During his time as a mathematician stu-dent, he traveled to a few Eastern block nations during the Cold War and developed a worldview about the democratizing nature of aca-demic exchange. Murphy said he also has a simi-lar view about the power of com-munication and academic dia-logue. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama School of Law where he teaches higher education law. One of the principal parts of his curriculum is about academic freedom. “The U.S. legal policy towards Cuba has greatly restricted fac-ulty members, scholars and researchers from the things that they should be able to do,” Murphy said. “Whether they are botanists or teachers of theatre or books or engineers or mathematicians, I am a great believer in the free and open exchange of views, and trav-el is critical to that. My personal view is that if you want to affect what goes on in another country, the best way to do that is to expose that country’s people as often as possible to your own values.” Olin recognizes that some crit-ics around the nation don’t believe this program should exist. But he has a simple response to those people as he looks back 10 years. “As a dean, my job is to help people succeed, and this project is doing that.”
The Crimson White NEWS Thursday, February 16, 2012 3A
By Andy McWhorterContributing Writer
Wayne Urban, associate director of the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama, said the plan Gov. Robert Bentley presented in last week’s State of the State speech for education policy might not be what the state needs. The plan includes protec-tion of certain programs, more local control, increased par-ent choice and the creation of charter schools, whose absence many cited as the cause of Alabama’s finish in last place for the federal Race to the Top program. “The chance of the legisla-tion passing is quite good,” Urban said. “The chances of its improving the educational outlook of Alabama are signifi-cantly lower than the chances of its passing. “Some in Alabama believe that having charter schools increases the chances of future federal funding. I am not sure if the governor believes this. Rather, I think he sees it as one
justification for charter schools, which he wants. Not having charter schools is not the only, or even the most important, reason that Alabama didn’t get Race to the Top funding.” Urban also said he feels skep-tical about Bentley’s proposed School Flexibility Act of 2012, which would give more deci-sion making ability to local school boards. “I don’t think the problems in Alabama – poor funding, poor achievement, poor graduation
rates, insufficient respect and remuneration for teachers – have much to do with local con-trol,” Urban said. “They are, largely, statewide problems, dependent, I would think, more on statewide policy improve-ments than on local involve-ment.” The 2012 legislative ses-sion of the Alabama State Legislature officially convened at noon on Feb. 7, the day of Bentley’s address. It remains to be seen whether or not the legislature will follow Bentley’s lead and pass his education reform proposals. Bentley also heavily addressed job creation and the Alabama economy. “I’m pleased to report that since we took office, 41,000 more Alabamians are work-
ing,” Bentley said. “We have recruited over 13,000 new, future jobs to Alabama. International companies from India, Germany and Japan and right here in the United States are investing more than 3.2 bil-lion dollars in our state and in our people.” Professor Richard C. Fording, chair of the political science department at the University of Alabama, said Bentley’s focus on jobs in his address makes sense because of the success his administration has found in that field. “There does seem to be agree-ment that the numbers that he’s talking about are accurate,” Fording said. “There does seem to be agreement that he’s been successful in that field.” Bentley and Fording agree
that the reasons for this suc-cess lie in Alabama’s focus on attracting business, despite stiff competition from other states. “We’ve done this, despite facing tough competition from other states, and with limited ability to offer incentives to businesses,” Bentley said. “There’s a lot of competition from other states, but we do offer, I think, here in Alabama, an attractive environment because of the lower costs associated with locating here, along with the tax incentives,” Fording said. Notably absent from Bentley’s discussion of job creation was any mention of the controversial HB 56, also known as the Alabama Immigration Law, which sup-porters have claimed helped lower Alabama’s unemploy-ment rate. Fording said that while Bentley could have claimed some credit from the law, its political backlash kept him away from it. “I think he avoided it because it’s not at the top of his agenda,”
Fording said. “He could have claimed some credit for it, butthe fact that he avoided brag-ging about it shows that it’s a political hot potato for him, and he doesn’t want to go there if he doesn’t have to.” Bentley went on to prom-ise that he wouldn’t raise taxes on Alabama families, while also promising that he would protect funding in a few key areas, including the Department of Public Safety and the Department of HumanResources. Bentley also prom-ised that he would not cut anyfunding from the Department of Corrections. “I will oppose any effort to raise taxes on Alabama fami-lies, and I will veto any tax increase,” Bentley said. “We will not cut one penny from the Department of Corrections.Not one single prisoner will be set free due to a lack of funds.” Fording believes that Bentley’s promises might go unheeded by the legislature. “Just because he doesn’t propose raising taxes doesn’t mean the legislature won’t,” Fording said.
Bentley focuses on jobs, education in address“The chance of the legislation passing is quite good. The chances of its improving the educational outlook of Alabama are signifi cantly lower than the chances of its passing.”
George Kelley has written a book bringing more attention to last year’s tornado destruction across the coun-try. His latest work was released last year and is titled “Ayn Rand Hates Tuscaloosa… (And You Too Joplin!)” Kelley made a visit to the Capstone Monday to talk about his book at the UA College Democrats general assem-bly. “I thought [Kelley] illustrated some interesting points,” said Robert Chirstl, a sophomore majoring in political sci-ence and history. “The correlations he drew between Ayn Rand’s philosophy and the GOP resonated with me. The Republican Party has become a vehicle for big business to manipulate policy to favor its own agenda. Kelley suc-cessfully identified what I see to be the Republican strategy - a fusion of conservative social values with conser-vative economic ideas in an attempt to divide the middle and lower class.” Kelley’s book has riled up some Republicans. The book refers to the ideas of Ayn Rand, who’s known by some as America’s most controversial individualist. Born in Russia, Rand was a well-known novelist and philosopher whose ideals were centered on objec-tivism. Rand died in 1982. All of her books are still in print, and her sales have totaled more than 25 million. As stat-ed on aynrand.org, “her vision of man and her philosophy for living on earth have changed the lives of thousands of readers and launched a philosophic movement with a growing impact on American culture.” Kelley wrote Rand’s way of approach-ing American living and her values were essentially one-sided or selfish. “These values are of Ayn Rand, and she lives thirty years after her death in the policies of the once-great Republican Party,” he stated. “Ayn Rand preaches no need to love your neighbor and demanded the individual live only for himself.”
According to Kelley, residents of Tuscaloosa and Joplin were in need of help from the government after tornadoes tore through the cities, but they did not realize that some of their elected officials are forfeiting provid-ing assistance for “neighbors to help neighbors.” Kelley’s book has gotten positive reviews on Amazon.com, and students feel it presents interesting findings and highlights important issues. “I found the title of the book intrigu-ing and decided to give it a try,” one Amazon purchaser said. “I was pleas-antly surprised at the level of detailed research the author has done and, at the same time, how he injected a level of humor and wit that kept me glued to this book for hours.” “When economic times become dif-ficult and our government forces onto the population austerity cuts, what gets cut?” Christl said. “Important programs such as disaster relief for places like Tuscaloosa. Just look at the comments made by Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor after Joplin. Cantor said that the U.S. could not afford to help Joplin with federal money unless we looked to make cuts from other programs. This is what I got from Kelley. Rand’s philosophy has changed the GOP for the worse, and as a result, all the rest of us hurt.” “It’s time to realize who Ayn Rand was, what she believed and how those thoughts corrupt our country to the detriment of those who vote into power her disciples. Ayn Rand hates America,” Kelley wrote. “America would be better off hating her back.” Kelley’s book can be purchased on amazon.com.
New book: Ayn Rand hates American ideals
CUBAContinued from page 1
It’s time to realize who Ayn Rand was, what she believed and how those thoughts corrupt our country to the detriment of those who vote into power her disciples. Ayn Rand hates America.
— George Kelley
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THIS WEEK IN SOCIAL MEDIATWEETS OF THE WEEK
tumblr TRENDING IN TUSCALOOSA#UABasketball
@Pmusic45: If players keep getting suspended at this rate, we aren’t
going to have any left #uabasketball
@UADennyChimes: I say to fi x our current basketball problem @KingJames retires from the NBA,
enrolls at #alabama & walks on for the next 4 years #dynasty
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Crimson Cafe is reopening on the Strip. What’s your favorite
restaurant on University Blvd?mycrimsonwhite.tumblr.com
@danyelkneecoal: “Nothing or anybody is coming close to that Phils sauce at Buffalo Phills!!! SORRY!!!”
— Nicole Hubbard,senior majoring in public relations
@kamikazii: “defi nitely anything BUT crimson café. Mediocre food and rude
service. #elrincon takes my vote. At least they smile there :)”
— Kamilah Marks, senior majoring in social work
In the past year, our global population has witnessed, through TV screens or first-hand, political revolutions that have completely changed the face of nations around the world. There was the Arab Spring, which saw Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia, among others, rise up against tyrannical gov-ernments that had oppressed their liberties for so long. In European countries, including Spain, Portugal and Greece, citizens protested against the instability that has brought their nation’s governments and economies into a fight for sur-vival. While many of these revo-lutions have created the change they called for, in our own coun-try, the movement for change has been stagnant at best. And it seems that the calls for eco-nomic and political transforma-tion will not be answered. The “Occupy Wall Street” protests, which started this past fall, have been ineffective in not only establishing and accomplishing their goals, but also in spreading their goals to everyday citizens throughout our country. While the Arab Spring had the support of a large majority of the involved
nation’s population, OWS has struggled to find the national support needed to be success-ful. Many across our nation agree that change in leadership is needed in Washington and that changes need to be made in order for our nation to con-tinue to be a world leader. The Occupy movement is still seen by onlookers as anything from radical to just a group of lazy, unemployed citizens. So, why has this movement, compared especially to the Arab Spring, failed to create the resistance needed for change to occur? On Dec. 17, 2010, the Tunisian Revolution began with the act of one man. Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, whom after years of mistreatment by government officials, lit himself on fire in front of a government
office. This act of self-immo-lation by Bouazizi prompted a revolution that led to the then Tunisian president to step down less than a month later after 23 years in office. This was not only the beginning of change for the government and people of Tunisia but also the start of what is now known as the Arab Spring. Though Bouazizi may not have known it at the time, his act would become the cata-lyst for revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa, leading to the toppling of three dictators and large transforma-tions to occur in the region’s politics. While I’m not encouraging members of the Occupy Wall Street movement to begin light-ing themselves on fire in front of the New York Stock Exchange, some type of action is needed by them to show that they are serious and passionate about change being made. While they set up their tent communities in cities across America and make claims against big business and its effect on politics, their claims fall on deaf ears without actions to give validity to their movement. Looking back to our nation’s first revolution, against the
By Charlotte Brown
In my business ethics class last week, we explored Rawls’ principle and the concept of veiled ignorance. My professor handed each of us a note card and told us to keep it face down. He then instructed us to take out a sheet of paper on which we would answer a series of yes or no questions. We were mak-ing decisions as to whether or not we wanted certain things to be allowed or provided in a society we were creating. It asked whether or not we would have things such as civil rights, unemployment benefits, gay rights, a welfare system, capital punishment, a flat tax system, the right to an abortion, etc.
After everyone completed the answers, we turned over the note cards to find out who we were in that society. For some class members, the answers they wrote down dramatically impacted the well being of their life in that society. How different would those answers have been had they known the person on the other side of the card? What if nobody knew who he or she would be in a society when they were setting the standards? It made me think: What if the University of Alabama could be that future society? What if we, as students, were respon-sible for writing a code of eth-ics for UA? What would our University look like if students had to decide what the rules
and principles of our campus would be before they knew who they would be on campus? What rules would you create? What practices would you put in place? What if you had no clue which organizations you would join? What if you didn’t know whether or not you were male or female, black or white, out-of-state or international, A&S or C&BA, greek house leg-acy or first generation student, Christian or Muslim? What if you didn’t know if you would hold a leadership position in Spectrum, NPHC or SGA? What ideals would you want our campus to embody? What would be the governing princi-ples that we all decide to abide by? Think about the rules you
would want in place if you didn’t know your fate. Think about what you want our campus to be, what our campus should be in order to give a fair chance to everyone. As the SGA election season comes into full swing, I think the above questions are more important than ever. As stu-dents, we have the opportunity to evaluate candidates based on the values we think our campus should aspire to uphold. Blonde or brunette, pearls or TOMS, cargo shorts or Costas – our campus should provide equal opportunities for all students. This is not to say that pearls can’t be worn with TOMS or that cargo shorts and Costas can’t go hand in hand.
We should learn to appreci-ate and respect the needs of those outside of our social cir-cles. When choosing an SGA candidate, we should consider who has these ideals in mind; someone who will embody a culture of understanding and acceptance. Just like Rawls’ principle, I want our campus leaders to consider what is best for the student body as a whole and not give priority to their personal interests and interests of groups with which they are associated. What kind of society do you want to live in?
Charlotte Brown is a senior majoring in marketing and management.
By Stephen Allen
Some SGA officials are look-ing to put a ban on smoking on campus. They cite a variety of reasons, from health concerns to the nuisance of smoking to the fact that it is damaging to the paint of many of the buildings on campus. Smoking is a harmful activity, so why not ban it? I say that the unintended consequences and the difficulty that implementing this rule would pose are good reasons not to ban smoking on campus. First, I am a non-smoker. I have no skin in this debate. I am still a bit concerned that the SGA may make a bad move. I could go on and on about how it bugs me that the SGA, or anyone else, would tell me what I can and cannot do with my own body. However, I think the pragmatic case against
a ban is more compelling. The first and most obvious problem with a ban on smoking is enforcement. How is the SGA
or the University going to effec-tively police every inch of the UA campus to make sure no one is taking a smoke break? It is not as if thousands of stu-dents addicted to nicotine are going to suddenly quit smok-ing or refrain for several hours a day (or the whole day, if they live on campus) simply because the SGA banned smoking. If you police the streets, people will smoke behind buildings or in their rooms where they cannot be caught. And if they smoke in their rooms, this leaves a lin-gering and unpleasant smell in the residence halls that the University and future students will have to contend with. Just as bad, in my opinion, would be the fact that the ban would be enforced to some small extent. Thousands of students would continue to smoke on cam-pus, but probably only a handful
would ever be caught and pun-ished. Those who are caught and punished would not be flagrant offenders but simply those who were just unlucky and smoking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rules such as this, ones that cannot be fully enforced, have been struck down by the Supreme Court when they have taken the form of federal law. A smoking ban on a single public university is a far cry from tyr-anny, but the idea that a rule that cannot be evenly applied to all people should not be applied to anyone is applicable to even a simple smoking ban. There is a compromise that would be much more easily enforced and go a long way to helping fight the health hazard and nuisance problem that sec-ondhand smoke creates. Think and try to remember where you
always find yourself when you are stuck inhaling large amounts of smoke. For me, it is always at the bus stops where when one person is smoking (as they fre-quently are), all the others at the stop must sit there and inhale all the carcinogens the person is breathing out on them. Instead of a campus-wide ban on smoking, it should be banned at bus stops. This way, it is enforceable, as officers could focus on a relatively small num-ber of focal points. It will likely also be obeyed and will force smoking to occur in more wide-open areas where the concentra-tion of smoke will not cause pass-ing bystanders to choke on their own breath. I think this should work well enough for everybody.
Stephen Allen is a freshman majoring in electrical engineer-ing.
(WEB COMMENTS)
In response to: Birth control debate
about health, not premarital sex
“If pregnancy was a male responsibility and function, this
would NEVER have been an issue. Birth Control, abortion… There would be no rules, no laws, no
opinions on what a male could or could not do with their bodies!”
— PamB1
“The HHS mandate has made the religious exemption so narrow
that Catholic churches, charities, hospitals,
and businesses owned by Catholics will be forced to purchase something that is
against their religion. Liberty is guaranteed to us in the Declaration of Independence, and that
is the issue.”
— pico87
Occupy movement ineffective at achieving goals
MCTcampus
British government’s control over the American colonies, revolutionaries made it clear through their actions that they were not going to give up until independence was achieved. A prime example the OWS could take some notes from is one that all of us have learned about since elementary school. The Boston Tea Party, led by colo-nial revolutionaries in response to taxation by the British gov-ernment, was the action needed to spark change and show that they were not going to back down from their demands. OWS’s demands are similar to those of our forefathers; they want independence from what they see as unfair, unjust actions against the citizens of our nation. But instead of leading a charge against the corporations that they speak against, they use their Apple Macbooks and iPhones to express their ideas over Facebook while drinking Starbucks coffee. If they want to create the change in which they seek, why not follow the actions of those Americans before us and hit their opponents where it hurts – in their wallets. The efforts by the OWS are going to continue to be ineffective without any real
Campus-wide smoking ban not realistic for UA
CW | Sarah Papadelias
Students must determine values of our community
action. It is easy for our nation’s leaders, both in politics and in the business world, to continue to disregard the cries of the movement when they aren’t being truly affected by the cur-rent actions being taken. The Occupy movement as a whole needs to take a step back andconsider what goals they hold the most dear, then think about how they can achieve real change through garner-ing more support and making those they fight against real-ize they’re serious about the change that they seek.
Brad Tipper is a sophomore majoring in political science and economics. His column runs biweekly on Thursdays.
• Women’s Basketball vs. Kentucky: 6:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa
•Swimming and Diving SEC Championships: All Day in Knoxville, Tenn.
SPORTS this week
By Rodmehr RahimizadehContributing Writer
The Alabama women’s basketball team will host the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats tonight in one of its two final home games of the 2011 season. In the teams’ first meeting, the Crimson Tide fought back from a 25-point halftime deficit to lose 82-68 in Lexington. Junior guard Meghan Perkins said the team is ready for the rematch. “This is a second chance for us to do everything right that we did wrong last time,” Perkins said. “The coaches have been watching film, and we’ve been working on things we need to work on.” The Tide’s 1-11 conference record makes the game even more impor-tant in turning around a less-than-average season. Head coach Wendell Hudson said a win over a top-10 team would be huge for both morale and momentum going into next season. “These last four games are extremely important in transitioning into next season and the outcome of this season,” Hudson said. Neither team has a significant size advantage over one another, and the game may come down to guard play. The Tide is led by guards Perkins and Jasmine Robinson. Perkins and Robinson have averaged 9.4 and 11.1 points per game this season, respec-tively. Hudson said the key to win-ning for the Tide will be keeping its
star guards out of foul trouble. “With the limited amount of play-ers that we have, we can’t afford to get into foul trouble,” Hudson said. With the loss of Ericka Russell due to injuries and the overall lack of depth on the roster, it will be largely up to the starting five to play smart basketball. “We’re capable of beating them, we just need to stay out of foul trouble,” Perkins said on the key to victory. On top of focusing on this game, the Tide is thinking about the future and ending the season on a positive note. A win against Kentucky would be seen as another step closer to the Tide gaining momentum for the rest of the season and into next year. As long as the starters can stay out of foul trou-ble, the Crimson Tide can finish the season on a strong note. For Hudson, the season hinged on Alabama’s shooting ability. “We just had a missed layup here and a missed shot there,” Hudson said. “And we’re not too far away from winning and finishing a couple more games.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Tide hopes to go out with a bang
CW | Pete PajorAlabamaʼs Jasmine Robinson cuts between two LSU defenders for a layup.
CW | Pete PajorAlabama guard Jessica Merritt drives past LSU defender Theresa Plaisance.
“This is a second chance for us to do everything right that we did wrong last time. The coaches have been watching fi lm, and we’ve been working on things we need to work on.”
“It’s fun for everyone. You can use it as an opportunity to create aware-ness,” Patterson said. “The ladies are painting their cars pink on the windows to encourage students to come to the meet. They’ll wear pink. I’ll be in pink all week.” Alabama has come to embrace the pink. The Tide is 16-0 when wear-ing pink, including three wins against Florida, Arkansas and Auburn. The gymnasts say that, while it is just another meet, there is an extra element to competing for more than just their team. “For me, it’s an honor, as a female ath-lete, to be able to give back to this issue and to promote it through a gymnastics meet that we love to do already,” junior Ashley Sledge said. “It really just takes the pressure off of us. It’s more of a joy that you get to compete for so many peo-ple who have survived such an illness. They give me a motivation.” Senior Ashley Priess, echoed Sledge’s sentiments.
“We always look forward to the pink meet because it’s so awesome to take the focus off ourselves and put it on the people who really deserve it,” Priess said. “I feel very blessed to be an ambas-sador to inspire women.” The meet will be no walk in the park, however. Arkansas brings the No. 5 team in the country to Coleman Coliseum to chal-lenge the unbeaten Tide. The Razorbacks have three losses on the season, but all came to top teams and in meets in which Arkansas posted scores of 196.700, 196.175 and 195.875 (Alabama scored a 196.000 last week against Kentucky last weekend, in a win). Patterson gave the team two days off of practice this week – the first time she’s done that all season – to give her athletes extra time to rest up before a big meet. But all of the festivities sur-rounding the meet just give the team extra fuel when it returns to practice. “I think they feed off of each other,” Patterson said. “The fun part of it and the awareness and people being excited about it, that makes practice that much more fun.”
PINKContinued from page 1
The UA Student Recruitment Team will serve as host to
prospective students and student athletes through tours,
lunches, informational sessions, and
gameday activities.
Members of this team will provide guidance and offer
insight to students and their families regarding campus
life, student involvement, athletics, and
the enrollment process.
MANDATORY CONVOCATIONWe will discuss the selction process:
Wednesday, February 29 at 8:00 p.m. in 20 Alston Hall
Failure to attend will result in automatic disqualification of the applicant.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
1ST ROUND INTERVIEWS: MARCH 5-72ND ROUND INTERVIEWS: MARCH 19-21
FRIDAY MARCH 2
For more information and to download the application, please visit:http://gobama.ua.edu/uastudentrecruitmentteam
Formerly known as the Crimson Belles and Beaus
6A Thursday, February 16, 2012 SPORTS The Crimson White
Tide looks to get second win of season in match with OwlsBama to play fi rst home game Friday against Rice University
By Chris MoranContributing Writer
The No. 23 Crimson Tide started off the season with a 4-3 loss to No. 15 University of Texas on Jan. 28. However, they bounced back a day later with an impressive 4-1 win against the University of Arizona. Even though the Tide hasn’t played since Jan. 29, they will hope to ride that momentum into this Saturday’s matchup with Rice University. “We do have momentum going into this weekend,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We played with a lot of confidence and a lot of authority against Arizona. I really feel like we’ll be ready this weekend.” Although the Rice Owls are ranked No. 69 in the country, Coach Mainz said she believes they are very underrated as a women’s tennis program. “They’re good,” Mainz said. “They had a big win over LSU 5-2, they had a good win over FIU, and they’re very well coached. They’re not 69 in the country; they’re a good, solid team. It just goes back to the fact that you’ve got to prepare the same every week, and you can’t overlook anyone.” With Rice being a quality opponent, the Crimson Tide is focusing on every aspect of preparation for this weekend’s match. “We’re working week to week on our fine tuning,” Mainz said. “The way I mea-sure our program is by how much better we get each and every week. If we’re improving not just our weaknesses, but also enhancing our strengths, then good things are going to happen,” The Crimson Tide has per-haps one of the best problems a team could have – too much depth.
UA AthleticsAlex Clay serves the ball ahead of the Tide’s matchup with Rice
Alabama basketball: Where does the Tide go from here?
With Alabama’s loss to Florida Tuesday, it seems as if the Crimson Tide will need a mira-cle to make its first NCAA Tournament appear-ance under head coach Anthony Grant. Looking back to the start of the season, Alabama seemed destined for a return to prominence. No one expected Alabama to shock the world, but no one thought they’d be caught in the dire straits they’re in now. So, with that in mind, let’s look at the steps Bama took to get here.
Step one: the preseason hype
The AP Poll had Alabama listed as the No. 19 team in the country. A look at their schedule showed Alabama had the audacity to schedule nonconference powerhouses Georgetown and Kansas State, as well as a Final Four team in VCU. The schedule seemed challenging, but it was nothing the Tide couldn’t handle. Indeed, Alabama exploded out of the gates, earning wins against its first seven opponents, includ-ing wins against VCU and first-place finish at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament. With a No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll, everything seemed to be going according to plan.
Step two: the disillusionment
Then came the Georgetown Hoyas. Entering the game, no one had found the blueprint for beating Alabama. Exiting the game, the entire nation found the game plan to defeat the Tide: Take away the inside, and force the team to make shots. They weren’t able to. Alabama lost a close one in Tuscaloosa, 57-55, but was unable to recover for weeks. Following the loss to Georgetown, Alabama lost three of its next four.
Step three: the rebound
After what seemed like merely a skid in its schedule, Alabama was able to recuperate and win its next five games, including two in the SEC. The teams weren’t overly talented, but that’s not what mattered to Tide fans. The only thing that mattered was that Alabama got back to winning. Over the five-game stretch,
Alabama won by an average of 18 points a game. Everything seemed to be back to normal.
Step four: another (big) bump in the road
Following its five-game win streak, Alabama hit another huge roadblock on the season, los-ing four straight conference games. At first, it seemed acceptable, as they fell to talented teams in Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Kentucky. A fourth-straight loss to a mediocre South Carolina team, however, revealed that the losses weren’t so much a testament to their opponents’ talent, but to the Tide’s own short-comings as a team.
Step fi ve: a new hope
Alabama was, once again, able to overcome a skid in its schedule to win its next three games, all in the SEC. Again, the teams were nothing to write home about, but after losing four straight games, the Tide would take all the wins it could. With the regular season wind-ing down, Alabama needed to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume any way it could.
Step six: When it rains, it freakin’ pours
Suspensions to heavy contributors Tony Mitchell, JaMychal Green, Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele led to an improbable 67-58 loss to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, a team Alabama had beaten by 16 earlier in the season. Though Grant allowed Releford and Steele to play against Florida, it simply wasn’t enough. Florida crushed the Tide and sent it reeling into the remaining of its schedule. This time, Alabama had no answers.
Step seven: pending
This is where the season will be won or lost for Alabama. The Tide still has a chanceto salvage its season if it wins the remainder of its schedule. And if they make it happen, itcertainly won’t be according to plan. But thenagain, when has anything gone according to plan this season?
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Coach Mainz said she has confidence in every one of her eight players. “Alexa Guarachi has been playing really well,” Mainz said. “We moved her up to number one, and she is very capable of playing number one. Mary Anne Macfarlane is a stout number one as well, and they both play with the mind-set needed for that position. I’d have to say that everyone is playing really well. They all want to be here, and I have
eight players that could all play in the lineup.” With this weekend’s match being the first home match of the season for the Tide, the team is more than ready to get out and play. “We’re excited. We’ve been on the road for a long time, and we’re ready to play on our home courts,” Coach Mainz said. The Crimson Tide plays Rice University this Friday at 1 p.m.
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The Crimson White LIFESTYLES Thursday, February 16, 2012 7A
By Ebony JonesContributing Writer
The second annual Birmingham Fashion Week kicked off on Thursday, Feb. 8 and ended with a grand finale Saturday night, Feb. 12. The show took place in downtown Birmingham at The Pepper Place. Fe atu r e d d e s i g n e r s Christopher Collins, Lauren Leonard and Jeff Garner debuted pieces from their new collections. Emerging design-ers from The University of Alabama campus, includ-ing Mandi Faulk, Lindsay Cornelson, Shannon Warren, Kelsey Carnes and more were featured. “After many months of prep-aration, to see my designs come to life on the runway is another level of amazing,”
said Kelly Druce, a junior majoring in textile design who also had the opportunity to showcase her designs in the BFW fashion show Friday night. Guests beat the winter weather in their faux furs and gathered under the heated white tent where the show took place each day. Designers, stylists, retailers, models, boutiques and other Birmingham residents all came together to celebrate fashion, as well as raise money. Supported charities included Camp Smile A Mile, a camp to help children diagnosed with cancer, and Alabama Forever, a storm relief to communities in Alabama. Birmingham Fashion Week was created a year ago by former Project Runway con-testant Heidi Elnora. Today,
Elnora designs classic south-ern weddings dresses for brides around the world. A collection of her bridal gowns were displayed on Saturday, Feb. 11 during Bridal Day. On Saturday, brides from all over gath-ered to see top wedding day fashions from Bella Couture, The Clothes Tree, Kathy G. & Company and even Mr. Burch formal wear for men. The first 100 brides lined up to receive a swag bag, which consisted of many wedding day items. Styles included one-shouldered necklines with an encrusted broach, low-ruched floor length dress-es, diamond accents along the waist, sweetheart necklines, short teacup-style wedding dresses and draped coral and navy bridesmaids’ dresses. Up and coming trends head-
lined BFW’s nightlife. Leopard prints, magentas, neutrals and stripes paired with yel-lows all ruled the runway. The 2012 emerging designer winner Megan Kaple was thrilled to see her hard work take home the title. Like last year’s emerging designer win-ner, recent graduate William Bradley, Kaple is a UA student majoring in textile design and stated that a trip to Italy for a drawing class inspired her pieces debuted in the show. “I wanted to design a collec-tion that vibrant, young trav-elers could wear,” Kaple said. “Deisogni, meaning car of the dream, is the name of my collection, which started out as an inside joke between a friend and myself. The car was old and beat up with a bumper sticker that read ‘deisogni.’ It stuck with us the remainder of
By Ashley Chaffin
“Arrested Development” fans celebrated the official announcement of the show’s continu-ation from writer Dean Lorey and star Jason Bateman in December 2011. For those of you who haven’t seen it, “Arrested Development” is a sitcom that aired on Fox from November 2003 until February 2006. During that time, it won six Emmys and a Golden Globe, but it somehow never reached the ratings Fox need-ed to keep it going. It was eventually cancelled, so Fox could continue airing “Family Guy.” Since the cancellation, the show has gained what can only be called a cult following. In that time, there have been numerous rumors from fans about an upcoming movie. Some of the rumors have been even been confirmed by vari-ous stars and the creator. This time, with the entire cast signed on, it seems we can all get excited for a new season. The 10-episode fourth season will air exclusive-ly on Netflix in 2013 and will be followed up with a movie. Since I watched the show in 2008, I’ve longed to hear the words “STEVE HOLT,” yearned for the introduction of “The Final Countdown” to take me into a magic show and prayed for the day I could spend more time with my favorite “never-nude analrapist.” However, now that I’m actually going to see my dreams come true, I’m wary. Can “Arrested Development” live up to the past? A lot has changed in the past six years, but if done cor-rectly, the new episodes could give audiences a great wrap-up for a show many felt was left hanging. I’d say the chances of “Arrested Development”
being just as great as it used to be are high. The actors are all great – since the show’s cancel-lation, Jason Bateman and Michael Cera have become household names, and Michael Cera’s role in everything else is just a continuation of his character, George Michael. Plus, the beauty in “Arrested Development” is the continuity of jokes throughout the show. It’s not a sitcom you can just pick up a random episode and understand; the character develop-ment and jokes all build off each other. I’m interested to see where they take the show – if they’re going to pick up from where they left off or if they are going to acknowledge the break and pick up six years after the fact. Personally, I’m hoping it’s the latter. Its sub-tle inclusion of real life situations (see its com-ments on “Family Guy” throughout the entire third season) is one of the many things I love about the show. I would expect the writers and actors to approach the new episodes very cautiously, knowing their audience is bigger and more obsessed than ever before. I am hoping I can go into the new season with an open mind and few expectations, but considering I’ve been fol-lowing the possibility of the movie since 2008, I’d say my expectations are already extremely high. For anyone who has yet to see “Arrested Development” or caught a random episode on TV without having truly being introduced to the characters, the entire series is on Netflix instant streaming. Be warned, though: The say-ing “There are two types of people in this world – those who love ‘Arrested Development’ and those who don’t” is true. I would hate to be one of those who do not.
COLUMN | TELEVISION
After long wait, Bluth family fi nally returns to the screen
Birmingham Fashion Week features students
our travels. I want my clothes to radiate fun and adventure.” Birmingham Fashion Week wrapped up Saturday night with a grand finale where all
the winners, including Kaple, were announced. Following the show, attendees were invited to an after party in downtown Birmingham.
SubmittedModels at Birmingham Fashion Week show off trends from around the Southeast.
By Rebecca HowardContributing Writer
Exposed Musical Festival Winter Tour 2012 is coming to the Green Bar this Friday, unit-ing experienced and up-and-coming local metal bands. The music festival that showcases head-liners such as SkinKage and Society’s Plague hopes to bring downtown Tuscaloosa a flare of metal. Matt Newton, lead vocalist of Society’s Plague, who described their sound as melodic metal, said the festival is a great opportunity for new talent to be heard with the accompani-ment of headlining bands to draw in the audi-ence. “Ultimately, it’s an audition,” Newton said regarding the local bands. “The festival gives back to the community. It can be a great benefit to the local music scene.” The Winter Tour 2012 is a 30-day tour, reach-ing different cities across the country, and hopes to provide the venue with a unique blend of metal music. Frank Brown, lead vocalist of SkinKage, said their sound is American metal with melodies that carry it through. “We’re just metal; we’ve got a little bit of fla-vor,” Brown said. Through the time spent on the tour, Brown said they have enjoyed the advising process the most between their band and the newer tal-ent. “I think it’s really a big mentoring process,” Brown said. “You just want to support any scene that you’re in. I think that’s really all within the metal community, and it’s not just a matter of one scene. We let everyone know who represents us that we represent them, too.” The tour has helped promote the headlin-ing bands, as well, and allowed them to give back. With SkinKage and Society’s Plague’s
upcoming album releases, the festival will attract new fans, as well as the devoted. “Exposed Music Festival has by far given us an opportunity,” Brown said. “They set it up and really get our name up and made all of this happen.” After releasing two albums, including “The Devastation at Hand” and “Away with the Tide,” both produced by Jamie King, Brown said SkinKage hopes to release their next album early this fall. Newton said after Society’s Plague released their EP, “The Mercy Untold,” and full stu-dio length album, “The Human, The Canvas,” they reviewed how their fans responded and are incorporating more intricate melodies into their next album. Newton and Brown said they are excited to bring metal to Tuscaloosa. The band members in Society’s Plague are from Lexington, Ky. and said they are happy their visit is during basket-ball season rather than football season. “We have fun with local bands and sports,” Newton said. “How’s your basketball, how’s your football? Then we both just cry.” In addition to the publicity and fan draw from the event, Society’s Plague and SkinKage value being able help the new bands get started. “Obviously we’ve all been there before,” Brown said. “We make sure to try and help with advice and with their form.” Doors for the event open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.
Green Bar hosts metal music festival Friday
Ultimately, it’s an audition. The festival gives back to the community. It can be a great benefi t to the local music scene.
It’s an old stereotype that any guy in college worth his salt can play the guitar. However, it is not every day that a stu-dent and his guitar become a fixture of The Strip asked to perform week after week. Birmingham native James Borland, a sophomore majoring in finance, found an outlet not long after arriving at the University of Alabama. Borland plays an eclectic repertoire of covers around Tuscaloosa and has recently been fea-tured weekly at Rounders. After teaching himself guitar dur-ing his sophomore year of high school, Borland said that it was a talent show fundraiser that sparked his interest in performing for a crowd. “I really liked the whole vibe being on stage and playing for an audience gave off,” said Borland. “I just played a simple song on guitar and sang along, but it was really fun up there.” Borland said he was hooked and first performed publicly at UA during a frater-nity rush event during the beginning of his freshman year. Then in the spring, he found the opportunity to play at the Red Shed twice with a close friend. Borland
played once with his friend and the sec-ond set solo, catching the ear of the bar’s sound technician. The sound technician, who also worked at Rounders, passed on word to owner Grant McCabe that Borland was well-suited to playing in a bar environ-ment. Borland said he was called after an act cancelled their night at Rounders, and he jumped on the opportunity. After that, Borland has since become a weekly staple to Rounders regulars. Borland said his friends describe him as sounding reminiscent of his favorite artist John Mayer but with twinges of the likes of Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews. He said he lends his voice to some of their songs – bar standbys such as “Wagon Wheel” and “Jack and Diane” – and some requests he’ll take to heart and learn for an upcoming show. However, Borland likes to mix things up from time to time. “I like taking songs that no one would think I would play and put my own twist on it,” said Borland. “I’ll take some Michael Jackson songs or some rap songs and put my own twist on it. Well, I’ll try to sing those songs at least.” Borland’s mother, Laurie Borland, said the core of their musical family can be found in her parents, both graduates from the Birmingham-Southern College conservatory of music. Her mother was
a concert pianist, and her father was a high school band director and musician capable of playing a wide range of instru-ments. Laurie said she fell in love with the flute as a result and aimed to give her three children a similar musical push. “By the time that [my kids] were able to start reading, I knew it would be a big advantage for them to start,” said Laurie. “All three of my kids took piano lessons and quickly became very musical.” Laurie said Borland’s interest in piano was waning by high school, but after her oldest daughter was given a guitar that she rarely played, James fell back into music. “The guitar just sat here until James asked if he could play it one day,” said Laurie. “Next thing I knew, he came down to the kitchen and wanted to play some-thing for me.” Laurie said she expected a musical talent in Borland but was surprised and didn’t expect his vocal prowess. She said she couldn’t be more excited for his son making his way into the world of music but was also proud that his dedication to studies still comes first. “I don’t know about my writing being that great yet, but I love it,” Borland said. “We’ll see. As long as I finish school first, who knows what’s next.”
Sophomore James Borland brings his voice to The StripSoph-more James Borland has made a name for himself playing and sing-ing on the strip.
• Journey 2: The Mysteri-ous Island (PG)• Safe House (R)• Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace 3D 3D (PG)• The Vow (PG-13)• Big Miracle (PG)• Chronicle (PG-13)• The Woman in Black (PG-13)• The Grey (R)• Man on a Ledge (PG-13)• One for the Money (PG-13)• Red Tails (PG-13)
• An Abstract Theory and Brendon Jones: Green Bar, 10 p.m.
• Improbable Fictions presents Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well”: The Bama Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
PUTS MEMES IN THE SCENEPUTS MEMES IN THE SCENE
USES THEM ALL CORRECTLYUSES THEM ALL CORRECTLY
• El Cantador and Dead Legs: Green Bar, 10 p.m.
SATURDAY
Staredad is based on a comic created by KC Green called “Dad Wasps Oh No.” The standard staredad meme features a kid telling his dad something, and the conversa-tion ends in the dad just star-ing at his son from behind his chair.
Staredad
These commercials ran interna-tionally for the first time in 2009, but the first ad was uploaded to YouTube in April 2007. The ads for Dos Equis beer end with the phrase “I don’t
always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” The captions play off of the phrase starting with “I don’t always…” and ending in “But when I do…”
The Most Interesting Man
in the World
The photo is a generic stock image for blogs and advertisements from 2010. The first time the image showed up on Quickmeme was July 2011 making fun of beer signs in dorms. It read, “Hangs 20 beer signs in dorm, only ever tasted Miller Light.” Now, the captions refer to typical college freshman ste-reotypes.
Uber Frosh/College Freshman Philosoraptor
The first Philosoraptor was posted on YTMND in 2007. It depicted the “Jurassic Park” velocirap-tor holding a Plato book. It reappeared on 4chan in 2009. Urban Dictionary describes the most popu-
lar of philosoraptor images as “an image macro with a picture of the philosorap-tor’s head, one talon poised under its chin, as it ponders the deeper questions of the universe.”
The first Baby Godfather appeared in February 2011, on Reddit, with just the image asking for someone to do something with it. Originally, the captions were quotes from “The Godfather” movies; now, they depict an intimidating baby talking about baby things. For example “He stole my ‘Finding Nemo’ blanket? He’ll be sleeping with the fishes tonight.”
Baby Godfather
“We think it’s taken off quickly because students were looking for an outlet to share inside jokes and campus-related humor,” he said in an emailed statement. “The best memes on the page are the ones only UA stu-dents can understand.” Swift cited one such meme, featur-ing a picture of the character Boromir from “Lord of the Rings” with the text “One does not simply stay connected to UA WiFi,” as an example of the page’s Alabama-centric bent. Students seem to be having no trou-ble connecting to Bama Memes. “I like how anyone walking around
on campus can understand what it’s about. If you’re here for a month, you run into things and understand where they’re coming from,” said Alex Austin, a senior majoring in journalism. “When I go through and look at the memes on the page, I say, ‘Yep, been there. Yep, been there’,” Gordon Maples, a senior majoring in history, first found out about the page this past weekend from observing his friends’ activities through his Facebook news feed. “Not all of them are well-executed,” he said, “but most are really funny. There are a lot of good inside jokes.” Swift said Bama Memes has already received some criticism from what he deemed “meme elitists” concerning incorrect use of pictures to convey cer-
tain jokes or meanings, but he insists the page’s primary goal is user enjoy-ment. “Many people have expressed anger or disapproval because the page does not use memes correctly. To all the haters, we apologize if all the memes posted are not used perfectly. But many people find them funny and that’s what matters,” Swift said. “For every one person who complains about a meme not being used correctly or says we are idiots, there are a hundred people who think the memes are funny and get something positive out of it.” A campus-oriented meme page is not unique to the University. According to Dolensky, in the past five months, col-lege meme pages have been popping up at schools across the country. In fact,
Auburn University’s page inspired the creation of Bama Memes. “We decided to create the page after seeing the Auburn Memes page,” said Swift. “There wasn’t a Bama Memes page yet, so we just thought we’d start it.” Swift is unsure of how long Bama Memes can maintain its rocket-pow-ered ascent, but he feels the page is starting from a solid base from which to grow. “Facebook is a great platform because almost all college students have an account, and ideas spread very swiftly,” he said. “Hopefully, [Bama Memes] will grow on its own as people share it with their friends. We invite anyone who loves the University of Alabama to join in on the fun.”
MEMESContinued from page 1
The episode Fry first makes the face in is in season two and is called “The Lesser of Two Evils.” The first time the image was used, it ran with the caption “Oh! I see what you did there.” Now, the meme appears to be a question of wheth-er something is one way or another. For example, “Not sure if song is skipping or remix.”
Futurama Fry
Photos from the Bama Memes Facebook page and knowyourmemes.com
Dugas keeps his bat at a 45°angle to avoid unnecessary movement in his swing.
Dugas keeps his back straight, creating a level swing.
Dugas alignshis knuckles onthe bat to increase power and bat speed.
Dugas bends his knees at a comfortable level, allowing him to step into swings and generate power.
Dugas squares himself up,placing his feet at shoulderlength apart. This gives himbalance at the plate andgenerates power in his swing.
45°
CW | Mackenzie Brown and Taylor Stec
Dugas passes up Cubs for senior year 2012 SEASON PREVIEW
on’t judge him by his size. Standing in at5-foot-7 and 175 pounds, Crimson Tide cen-terfielder Taylor Dugas is one of the mostimposing players in the batting box. Thegritty dirt-dog hustles in the field and fights
for every inch at the plate. Coming back for his seniorseason, Dugas represents everything Alabama baseballis about. Dugas receives praise from everyone around him forbeing the hardest worker on the team and being theperfect leader for a team that has the potential to breakthrough to the Super Regionals, a goal that narrowlyslipped through the Tide’s grasp last season. “He’s the heartbeat of this baseball team,” junior sec-ond baseman Kenny Roberts said. “Everyone knowswhen Taylor’s on the field. He brings so much energy,and his work ethic is insane.” Dugas is the “first guy in, last guy out” player coacheslove to have. “Day by day, I’ll get here an hour or an hour and a halfearly before practice,” Dugas said. “I always go down tothe cage and hit. Then, I come out and make the best ofeach practice. Sometimes, I work on things after prac-tice: bunting, hitting and taking fly balls.” Alabama almost missed out on having one more sea-son of Dugas’ services after the conclusion of the 2011season. Dugas was selected in the eighth round of theMajor League Baseball Amateur Draft by the ChicagoCubs. Dugas eventually decided to skip the MLB andreturn for his senior season at the Capstone. “Coming back, I knew we were going to have a greatteam this year,” Dugas said. “I also had the opportunityto finish school and graduate in May, which I am going
to do. I had said that if the money was right, I was goingto go. But, it didn’t work out, and I’m glad I am here formy senior year.” Head coach Mitch Gaspard added, “That was so criti-cal for us getting him back, being that guy that leads byexample and the way he goes about his work each day.” Dugas is also the prototypical senior leader, espe-cially for Roberts. Roberts is in his first year with theCrimson Tide baseball program after transferring fromMeridian Community College in Meridian, Miss. “I would say he’s the only one that’s taken me underhis wing,” Roberts said. “Him being the leader, he hasto bring in the new guy. He’s shown me a lot in this pro-gram, and he’s helped me out a lot.” Gaspard said, “The good thing about Taylor is, notonly does he lead by example, he’s not afraid to vocalizeand let the guys know how to do things and what thework ethic here is all about.” Now, Roberts gets the honor of hitting behind Dugason opening day when the duo open up the season in the1-2 slots in the lineup. “Not only do I have opportunities to drive him in, butI have opportunities to hit pitchers’ mistakes becausepitchers focus a lot on him as a base runner,” Robertssaid. “He steals a lot of bags because he always gets onbase.” Dugas has had some national success in the leadoffposition for the Tide, but his personal success is not hismain priority. “I always set goals at the beginning of the season,”Dugas said. “The main thing is, the results will takecare of themselves. There are things I want to get to byplaying day by day, one pitch at a time, and the resultswill take care of themselves.” Even with Dugas’ mindset of winning overtaking hispersonal goals, one of those goals still reigns supreme. “Leading this team to Omaha [is my goal],” Dugassaid.
“He’s the heartbeat of this baseball team. Everyone knows when Taylor’s on the fi eld. He brings so much energy, and his work ethic is insane.”
— Kenny Roberts, junior second baseman
D
Despite unimposing size, outfi elder looks to lead off successful season
SOFTBALLSOFTBALL4B4BTide aims for OmahaTide aims for Omaha
BASEBALL BASEBALLBraud sets pace for Braud sets pace for
softball teamsoftball team6B6B
• Avg: .349
• Runs: 60
• Doubles: 20
• Triples: 4
• HR: 8
• RBI: 33
• On Base: .455
TAYLOR DUGAS STATS
2B Thursday, February 16, 2012 SEASON PREVIEW The Crimson White
Alabama hitting coach Andy Phillips could not hide his excitement entering his second season as the hitting coach at
his alma mater. “I love this place,” Phillips said. “I deeply care about this university, and I deeply care about our kids.” Head coach Mitch Gaspard is reaping the rewards of an Alabama baseball program that is rich in tradition and
that is now producing assistant coaches for him. “He and [assistant coach] Dax [Norris] are two guys that were All-Americans here at the University of Alabama,” Gaspard said. “That doesn’t happen very often.” After his career at the
Former Yankee a hit as newest Tide coachUniversity, where he posted a .356 career batting aver-age and set the career home run record, Phillips went on to have a successful Major League Baseball career, including a four-year stint with the New York Yankees, which included a 2006 season in which Phillips played in 110 games. Phillips’ MLB experience is benefitting the Tide off the field, in recruiting and nation-al recognition, just as much as it is with on-the-field produc-tion.
“That’s the one thing we feel good about here,” Phillips said. “Having experience at the major league level, we feel good about getting guys here and developing them to be able to have success at the highest level.” Gaspard added, “Most of the guys [Alabama recruits],
they know that. They’re going to get on the website and see it. If they don’t know already, and they are from Alabama, their dad knows it. It’s really not something we have to pro-mote a lot because they typi-cally know that already.” Phillips’ players are enjoy-ing the experience of being coached by him. “It’s the best thing ever,” junior second baseman Kenny Roberts said. “Not only did he play here, he’s played with the Yankees at the highest level. For me, to have a guy of that
caliber coach me, it’s the best thing ever. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here.” Roberts’s learning experi-ence stems from a dedication Phillips has to installing a spe-cific ideology about hitting. “We put a lot of emphasis on our lower half,” Phillips said. “I believe the swing
starts from the ground up, so we focus a lot of how the lower half of the swing functions properly.” Now that Phillips has had the entire fall and the spring preseason to establish his philosophy, he hopes to see improvements in specific areas. “I think our consistency, hopefully,” Phillips said. “I think, top to bottom, we have improved. Our guys that are back have improved, and we’ve added some pieces that are going to enhance our lineup. I think consistency and run scoring will certainly be something that hopefully improves from last season.” Phillips is enthusiastic about smaller aspects of the game, such as consistency, thanks to another large part of his philosophy as a coach. “I’m not much on concern-ing myself with results,” Phillips said. “I’m not going to look up at how many runs and how many hits we are get-ting, but the quality of the at-bats. That’s what the focus is on, that we’re getting quality at-bats and we’re not giving anything away.”
Players praise philosophy and approach of new hitting coach and Bama alum Andy Phillips
After a four-year major league career with the New York Yankees, Andy Phillips returns to UA as hitting coach. WikiCommons MCTCampus
“I love this place. I deeply care about this university, and I deeply care about our kids.”
— Andy Phillips
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The Crimson White SEASON PREVIEW Thursday, February 16, 20123B
By Marquavius BurnettSports Editor
@Marq_Burnett
Alabama baseball head coach Mitch Gaspard is entering his third season with the Crimson Tide. In his first two seasons, the Tide made trips to the NCAA tournament. During our talk, Gaspard said having experienced position play-ers will help carry a young pitching staff, and his main goal is to have the team compete hard every night.
The Crimson White: What did you like about last season, and what were some things you think the team can improve on going into this year?
Mitch Gaspard: We knew last year was going to be a transitioning year because we lost the bulk of our position players. Last year’s team was built around our pitching staff. Our start-ing pitching held up well and had a good year. They carried us because we had an inexperi-enced offense. Our position players gained valu-able experience last year, and we are flipping the script this year. We are much more experienced from a position standpoint, but we are extreme-ly young on the pitching mound.
CW: Your first two seasons here, you’ve made the NCAA tournament. Talk about that post-season experience and how it will help the team moving forward.
MG: Our goal at Alabama, every year, is to con-tend and have an opportunity to get to Omaha for the College World Series. To do that, you do have to have guys with experience in that arena. We have six guys who have played in Super Regionals. That experience helps most in your daily work in what you do in your fall prepara-tion and early spring. Those guys are able to help the new guys and show them the way. That experience helps build confidence.
CW: Speaking of experience, you have Taylor Dugas and Jared Reaves returning this sea-son. What’s it like having your two best play-ers back for their senior year?
MG: As a coach, it’s comforting. Taylor Dugas could be the best leadoff hitter and centerfielder in the country. He’s a two-time All-American and has played in nearly every game since he’s been on campus. Also, it’s comforting to have Jared. He’s our three-hole hitter. That’s two great places to start. Those guys have been in a lot of different situations, and that gives you a lot of comfort heading into the season.
CW: You talked about the youth of the pitch-ing staff. What are you and your staff doing to get these young guys ready for the SEC run?
Baseball Coach Gaspard aims for Omaha bid
UA Athletics
“Our goal at Alabama, every year, is to contend and have an opportunity to get to Omaha for the College World Series.” — Mitch Gaspard
Coach Mitch Gaspard works with players during a game.
MG: The biggest thing for us is a lot of teaching. Our preparation has to be consistent. Next step for us is in game experience. They’re going to see all of that stuff we’ve been teaching come to frui-tion on the mound this season. We have to learn and get better from outing to outing. The SEC is a tough league to pitch in for a veteran guy, but we’re talking about six or seven young guys.
CW: The team was picked to finish third in the SEC West this season. When you see those rankings, do you think it’s a fair assessment of your team’s talent?
MG: All preseason rankings are all based on what you have coming back. Where we’re picked right now is a very fair assessment. When you look at the SEC and particularly the western
division, Arkansas returns nearly its entire team. LSU returns its entire pitching staff. You can really juggle up and see how it falls between ourselves, Ole Miss, Auburn and Mississippi State. It is what it is.
CW: Every coach wants to win a champion-ship, and you obviously want to win the SEC. For you personally, what would make this a successful season, outside of winning a championship?
MG: We have the nucleus for a terrific staff, notonly now, but as we move into the future. I would like to see six or seven of those guys establish themselves this year as SEC-ready so we can puta staple on our pitching staff over the next two or three years. The biggest thing for me is having ateam play hard every night and play as a group. Every time you go onto the field, you feel like you have a chance to win. All I ask is that you do the right things on the field and play your tails off every night.
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For the seniors on the Alabama baseball team, this is it. Thankfully for those seniors, the Tide is also field-ing what is perhaps its deep-est team in recent memory. Head coach Mitch Gaspard, in his third year with Alabama, has brought in a talented recruiting class. He’s brought back the core of a team that went 35-28 last season. This, coupled with a productive fall and spring, should help the Tide have one of its most suc-cessful seasons in years. “What’s comforting is our position players, they got experience there,” Gaspard said. “Certainly led by [Taylor Dugas] and some other guys. So, there’s a lot of excitement with our team, with our coach-ing staff right now to take that first step of getting better as we move throughout the sea-son.” One of Alabama’s key returning players this season is senior Taylor Dugas, who led Alabama with a .349 bat-ting average, 60 runs, 84 hits and eight home runs. A certain amount of luck was involved in bringing in the right personnel for Alabama. Dugas had to make the deci-sion between entering the draft or returning to school for his senior season. Dugas was drafted in the eighth round of the MLB Draft, fol-lowing an All-American sea-son. Despite the offer, Dugas elected to return for his final season with the Tide. “The main reason I decided to come back to school was I knew I’d be graduating in May,” Dugas said. “Also, com-ing back to this team, I knew this team was going to be real-ly good this year. We had our ups and downs last year, but guys got better throughout the season, and I was excited to come back.” Gaspard was also able to bring in a group of young pitchers. Indeed, Gaspard said he has confidence in his pitch-ers, many of whom are fresh-men. One of these freshmen, Taylor Guilbeau, will start the Tide’s first game of the sea-son Friday against the Florida Atlantic Owls. “Really, our anticipation of this group is with our young pitching staff,” Gaspard said. “[We] have to see how those guys can go out and how they
perform for their first time. First collegiate start, first collegiate time to take the mound.” Fifth-year senior Jon Kelton said the youth on the team would be one of his team’s biggest strengths throughout the season. Kelton said the younger players on the team have a good mindset and a good group of seniors to lead them. Another benefit is that many of the young players will get some early-season experience, which could prove beneficial as the season wears on. “It always helps to get ‘em in early,” Kelton said. “Even when you’re an older guy, when you get those games in early – get some playing time under your belt, get those pre-season jitters out of the way – it always helps. So, I know
that we got a lot of guys really ready to play.” Despite the team’s youth, Kelton said he’s never seen a deeper team during his time playing at UA. “This is without a doubt, in the five years that I’ve been here, one of the deepest teams as far as the young talent we’ve brought in and the older guys we’ve got on the mound and position-player wise,” Kelton said. “So, it’s going to be exciting this year just to see it all pan out.” Dugas echoed his team-mate’s thoughts. “I really think this team’s going to be better,” Dugas said. “We got a lot of guys back with a lot of experience. Even though we’re young on the mound, I really feel like this team’s got a lot of poten-tial and a lot of big things
coming our way.” The Tide will need that depth this year, as it will have to traverse the always-diffi-cult SEC schedule, as well as a tough nonconference slate. Last season, the Tide suffered through the SEC portion of its schedule, going 7-14 in-confer-ence, despite a 35-28 overall record. “When you look at the league, you look at the rank-ings now, there are six teams ranked in the top 25 [from the SEC],” Gaspard said. “Obviously, it’s the elite tal-ent that’s in this league hat. Also, from playing one anoth-er, you’re so battle-tested throughout the league when you get to postseason play, you’re so prepared to go into regional.” Another issue from last season Alabama will need to
address is its batting. The Tide seemed to have to scrounge for runs last year, and success on the plate this year could determine the overall success of this team. Dugas said he believes the offense will play a much larger factor in the team’s success this year, how-ever. “Last year, we played a lot of small ball, bunted a lot,” Dugas said. “We didn’t hit as well as we should have at times. This year, after what I’ve seen this whole fall and spring, we can really swing the bat. And I really think this offense is going to carry us far this year.” Still, the prevailing thought on this team is not to look ahead into the season, but to take the season one pitch, one inning, one game at a time. “It’s one game at a time,”
Kelton said. “That’s the way we’ve always been the most successful, just focusing on one game, one inning.” But despite all the big talk, all the expectations and progress made during the preseason, one thing stands above all else for this team: finally getting the season started. “We had a great fall,” Dugas said. “It’s going to be excit-ing to get started and play-ing some new faces…Overall, expectations are always we want to win the SEC. We feel like we got a good shot at com-peting for that this year, and going into the postseason, the goal is always Omaha. But we know we’ve got to take that one day at a time, and we understand that it’s a process of getting there, and we just got to get better every day.”
CW | Margo SmithBrett Booth, Andrew Miller and Jon Kelton run the bases during last yearʼs 9-0 victory over Northwestern State.
CW | Margo SmithInfi elder Austen Smith swings at a pitch last year against Northwestern State.
For questions, concerns, or to report potential stormwater violations contact the Office of Environmental
Alabama head softball coach Patrick Murphy has been one of the most dominant forces in collegiate softball for years, leading his team to three Women’s College World Series appearances in the last four years. Murphy took the time to talk with The Crimson White and answer questions on the 2012 season.
The Crimson White: Do you ever feel the pressure to final-ly get over the hump and win a national championship?
Patrick Murphy: I’m lucky to be at a place like Alabama that
has the resources, the facili-ties, the players and the sup-port staff to make that possible. But I think the pressure I put on myself is a lot more than the outside pressures. I want our team to be the best prepared and the healthiest they can be. I don’t want to make the mis-take that screws it up for every-body else. I want to be at my best at all the games, be ready to play and have them ready to play. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that no one sees.
CW: Make the case that Alabama will be the 2012 national champions.
PM: We have great senior lead-ership. We have six seniors
returning that are terrific. They’ve been through two Southeastern Conference championships and two World Series. Every situation you could be in, they’ve been in it. Number two, we’ve got a very good pitching staff that I think will take us a long way. They all said, “No way. That’s what you want: competition.” They’ve been very good in practice. They realize the depth on the team is probably the best we’ve ever had, and the talent is probably the best we’ve ever had as a whole, with 20 kids that can play.
CW: When you were promot-ed to head coach in 1999 after only two seasons in Alabama softball history, did you ever
expect to have the titan pro-gram you have now?
PM: I probably have to say no. I never dreamt of this. The fans from the football capital of the world, the college football capi-tal of the world, they come out
to watch women’s softball. It’s huge. We have the best fans in college softball.
CW: Your recruiting classes of late have been phenom-
enal. Does that make you feel more stable when it comes to future success of your pro-gram?
PM: Two years ago, I called my mom and said, “Mom, I’ll have a job until 2014.” She
said, “Oh, good. You got a new contract?” I said, “No, we’re getting a pitcher.” It’s called fast pitch for a reason. When you’re able to get good pitch-ers, you’re able to stay in the
game. One of our sayings is tra-dition never graduates. If we lose a Kelsi Dunne, Jackie Traina is right there. We lose Whitney Larsen at shortstop, Kaila Hunt is right there.
CW: A big sign of good team chemistry is when teams havea lot of nicknames amongst each other… Is that the case for Alabama softball?
PM: I always tell them that ifthey get a nickname, it’s a signthat I like them. If I call them by their real name, their last name, they’ve got something toworry about. But if they have a nickname, it’s a good sign, and pretty much everybody has a nickname.
“I’m lucky to be at a place like Alabama that has the resources, the facilities, the players and the support staff ...”
— Coach Patrick Murphy
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6B Thursday, February 16, 2012 SEASON PREVIEW The Crimson White
For junior outfielder Kayla Braud, softball isn’t just a sport. It’s a way of life. Growing up in a family filled with softball and baseball players, it didn’t take long for Braud to become involved in the sport. “My mom went to Louisiana-Monroe, pitched there and met my dad who played baseball there,” Braud said. “Growing up, they were really big into softball. My cousin was my biggest role model ever. She’s seven years older than me, and I started being her bat girl for her team when I was four.” Braud grew up in Oregon and said leaving her tight-knit family to play at Alabama wasn’t easy. “The biggest thing about coming to Alabama was the family aspect,” Braud said. “I was used to family being around all the time, and now, I have a whole new family.” Braud impacted the team
Experienced Braud looks to build on previous successes
The spring season brings with it new styles. This season, the Crimson Tide’s baseball team will fashion a lineup based more on power than last season’s small-ball approach. The Tide only hit 23 home runs all season, but with six returning starters and an influx of new talent, the team figures to drive the ball more this season. The new 2011 NCAA standard placed on bats has made it more difficult to hit the ball out of the park. In its first season with the new bats, the Tide also dealt the departure of power hit-ters Jake Smith, Ross Wilson and Clay Jones. This resulted in an efficient, yet boring, lineup based on sacrifice bunts and well-timed base running. This year, I expect a little more sizzle in the Tide’s line up. Leadoff hitter Taylor Dugas will return to the lineup for his senior season. Dugas defied logic last year, leading the team with eight home runs, despite the dulled bats. This year Dugas will be playing to improve his draft status from last season and should be the key to the Alabama lineup. Dugas is an ideal leadoff hitter for any lineup. At 5-foot-7, the speedy centerfielder is always in the top of the league in on-base percentage and poses a treat to steal anytime he reaches base. If Dugas con-tinues the power he demonstrated last season, he will prove deadly for opposing pitchers this season. The Tide also returns its No. 3 hitter from last year, Jared Reaves. The senior shortstop hit an impressive .340 last season, while driving in a team-high 47 RBI. Reaves will be the key for the Tide this season, as the team will rely on him to knock in Dugas. Though he only hit four home runs last season, Reaves is in his second season after transferring form Southern Union Community College and should now be more confortable with SEC pitching.
The Tide player with the most upside is sophomore Austen Smith, who displayed his raw power last season, hitting five home runs and knocking in 44 RBI. At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, Smith is built like a power hitter. I not only expect Smith to increase his power numbers in his second year, but also to improve his aver-age as well. If Smith, who batted a respectable .297 last season, is able to make more contact, he could be one of the premier hitters in the SEC. Perhaps one of the biggest pieces to the Tide’s lineup will be Meridian (Miss.) Community College transfer Kenny Roberts. The talented second baseman batted .399 with 12 home runs, 48 RBI and 96 runs scored this season – Roberts also posses good speed on the base paths, stealing 21 bases in 26 attempts while at Meridian. Head coach Mitch Gaspard said he plans to use Roberts in the two-hole of the lineup. “I think he’s going to be a terrific offensive player,” Gaspard said in an interview with The Birmingham News. “He’s a guy that has power, kind of a Kirby Puckett-type guy.” The switch in offensive philosophy should bring an exciting team to Sewell-Thomas Stadium this spring as the Crimson Tide looks to achieve something that never goes out of style – winning.
Offensive changes, experience key to Tide’s success in 2012
Kayla Braud makes a catch at the wall in a game last season.
Photo by Jeri A. Gulsby
upon arrival. She became the leadoff hitter, hitting .500 as a freshman. After an entire career in the infield, Braud joined the outfield her sopho-more year. “When you go in the out-field, it’s like a little unit,” Braud said. “Our outfield coach [Alyson Habetz] does a really great job of making you feel like you’re part of something really special, and I think that’s really cool. We‘re like a little family out there. A little family that’s part of a big-ger family.” As a natural competitor and player, the switch was seamless for Braud. She had only one error the entire sea-son. Assistant coach Alyson Habetz said she was excited to have Braud in the outfield. “I think Braud was born to play in the grass,” Habetz said. “She didn’t need a whole lot of practice to get good at it, but she works real hard though. She’s a competitor. She’s going to go for the ball. She’s not afraid to dive, and she has great game sense.” Habetz wasn’t the only one to rave about Braud’s position
switch. Head coach Patrick Murphy also said Braud is a special player. “She’s a great athlete,” Murphy said. “Anywhere you put her she’s probably going to be good, but I think left field fits her very well. She’s got good range. She’s got the arm of a left fielder, but she does great for us out there. She’s just one of those kids that she’s fine wherever you put her.” Braud works hard off the field to better herself. Not only does that motivation come from within, but also from her teammates’ efforts. “I’m really driven by being there and playing my best for my teammates,” Braud said. “I’m motivated every day. I see people on my team every single day pushing themselves and getting better, and I’m inspired to do better. People say all the time ‘I want to win for my team,’ but with this team, there’s nobody else I’d rather play for and work my butt off for and push myself for because when we collectively win and do things together, it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
The switch in offensive philosophy should bring an exciting team to Sewell-Thomas Stadium this spring as the Crimson Tide looks to achieve something that never goes out of style – winning.
CW | Margo SmithBrett Booth, Andrew Miller, and Jon Kelton run the bases during Sunday afternoon’s 9-0 victory over Northwestern State.
New additions and veteran hitters give Tide a potent offenseBy Tony Tsoukalas
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The Crimson White SEASON PREVIEW Thursday, February 16, 2012 7B
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8B Thursday, February 16, 2012 SEASON PREVIEW The Crimson White
By Miranda MurphySports Reporter
Sophomore pitcher Jackie Traina brings a rare two-way dynamic to the Crimson Tide softball team. “She’s so valuable,” head coach Patrick Murphy said. “Even when she doesn’t pitch, she’ll be hitting, and even when she does pitch, she’ll still be on the lineup.” Traina has already made her presence known this season, striking out a career-high 15 batters against Jacksonville State and only allowing one hit during the game. The 3-0 win against Jacksonville State took her record to 3-0. In the batter’s box, Traina put together a 28-game hitting streak last season, which was the second longest in school history. “When she gets on a hot streak hitting, nobody can get her out,” Murphy said. Last season, she had a 19-5 season with a 1.70 ERA on the mound last season. She also averaged over one strikeout an inning, sitting down 190 batters in 156 1/3 innings of work. Murphy said he believes
Traina is capable of breaking all of the pitching records at the school. “I told my friend that I have a kid that’s our version of Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram,” Murphy said. “She’s that good in our sport. If she played foot-ball, she would be up for the Heisman trophy.” Traina was recently named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List and earned the MVP at the Mardi Gras Invitational. Traina showed her patience and power at the plate last year when she drew 29 walks, while also hitting 15 home runs. “She’s a great teammate, but she’s also very level-headed,” Murphy said. Traina said her goal as a pitcher this year is to just help out her team any way she can. “We always say that if the other team never scores, then we’re going to win,” Traina said. “My job is to keep the team in the game.” Traina said the competitive-ness of the game gives her the passion for the sport. “I like being in tough situa-tions, especially on the mound,” Traina said. “I like being able
to compete in life and on the softball field. When things get tough, that’s when I have the most fun.” Murphy said he first saw Traina as an eighth-and ninth-grader, after her coach at the time mentioned he should keep up with her. “He was right,” Murphy said. “We started following her, and you could tell she was going to be good.” When the pressure gets to Traina, she said her team is always there to help her. “I lean on my team,” Traina said. “I always tell them what’s on my mind, like if I’m not hav-ing a good day. Having such a great team behind me relieves the pressure on me.” Traina said she is constantly growing as a player during her time on the team. “I had to catch on quickly to how fast the game goes,” Traina said. “I’m having a lot more confidence in myself as a pitcher and as a hitter here.” Though focused on the dia-mond, Traina still knows how to relax. A native of Naples, Fla., she said she can be found on the beach almost every day during offseason.
Traina leads softball with deadly arm, strong swing “I try to stay away from soft-ball as much as possible, so I can relax and try not to think about it,” Traina said. “That way, when I get back, I feel reju-venated.” Murphy said one of her best qualities is that she’s a great teammate. “I’d love to play behind her if I was a defender because she gives it everything she’s got all the time,” Murphy said. Traina and the Tide will play next at the SEC/ACC/Big XII Challenge in Auburn, Ala., Friday through Sunday.
UA AthleticsJackie Traina celebrates with her teammates after hitting a home run.
CW | Mitchell HughesPitcher Jackie Traina earned the title of MVP at the Mardi Gras Invitational and made the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List.
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