Monday, November 9, 2009 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Vol. 116, Issue 55

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P.O. Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom: 348-6144 | Fax: 348-4116 | Advertising: 348-7845 | Classifi eds: 348-7355

Letters, op-eds: letters@cw.ua.edu Press releases, announcements: news@cw.ua.edu

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

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

Sports .......................7

WEATHER todayINSIDE today’s paperPuzzles .................... 11

Classifieds ............... 11

Arts & Entertainment 12

Rain72º/61º

Tuesday 67º/49ºRain

From staff reports

UA students who want to buy Southeastern Conference Championship game tickets must be placed on a ticket request list beginning today. Students can go to actcard.ua.edu and add them-selves to the waiting list between 8 a.m. today and 5 p.m. Tuesday. To be placed on the request list, students must go to actcard.ua.edu and click on the “My Football Ticket” link. They must log into the “My Football Ticket” tab with their MyBama accounts. Once logged in, click on the “Request Ticket” option to get on the waiting list. Students eligible to add themselves to the ticket request list must be currently enrolled and have confirmed their schedule for the fall semes-ter and be able to attend athletic events under University policy. In addition to those criteria, students must not have gone over the restrictions set forth by the SGA for unused home game tick-ets or student guest upgrades. For the SEC Championship game, the SGA, with the support of the University administra-tion, will implement an “80/20” percentage to all students. Eighty percent of the student SEC Championship tickets will be allocated to under-graduate students, and 20 percent of the student SEC Championship tickets will be allocated to graduate level students. If the number of student ticket requests in

By Karissa BurschStaff Reporter

Most students at UA are used to several e-mails a semester asking them to par-ticipate in numerous surveys for the University to gauge student opinion.

Now, instead of being e-mailed several times a semes-ter or being asked to visit dif-ferent Web sites, a number of UA surveys are going to be located on one central survey location. Students can now log onto yourviewua.com to access

different University surveys. At this time, yourviewua.com features three surveys, the Student Choice Awards survey, which ended Oct. 31, a technol-ogy survey and a Rec Center parking survey. John Anselmo, a senator for the Culverhouse College

of Commerce and Business Administration and a junior majoring in political science, said the SGA Senate created the Web site to create a hub of surveys for students. “Students can get on and pick an issue that is important to them,” Anselmo said. “In this way, the SGA gets student opinions. As we make differ-ent surveys and get different

responses, each of these issues will be debated.” Since there are usually three or four surveys out at a time for students to complete, Anselmo said the SGA decided it would be good to get it all on one page. “The information will be dis-tributed to the administration,” Anselmo said. Anselmo used the technol-ogy survey as an example.

“A good number of studentsseem to be upset about UAResNet and that seems like ageneral consensus from what Iunderstand, so there are ques-tions on the survey about theResNet,” Anselmo said. “TheCIO here at Alabama will takewhat students tell him abouttechnology on the survey and

By Spencer WhiteAssistant Sports Editor

With a 73-yard Julio Jones touchdown and shutout fourth quarter defense, the No. 3 Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 SEC) won a dramatic 24-15 thriller over the No. 9 LSU Tigers (7-2, 4-2) to punch a ticket to the Southeastern Conference Championship for the second straight season Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium. “This was a great team win against a very good football team,” said head coach Nick Saban. “We knew that our destiny was ours in

terms of what we wanted to do, and we knew that it was about what we would do in the game.” With the victory, the Tide clinched the SEC West in consecutive seasons for the sec-ond time since the league split into divisions in 1992. The win also marks the first time Alabama has gone 9-0 in back-to-back seasons since the 1973-74 seasons under Bear Bryant. “It’s something a lot of guys don’t get to experience,” said senior kicker Leigh Tiffin. “To me that’s what it’s all about, being on a team that does something really special like that.”

The aggressive play calling that Saban talk-ed about during the bye week was evident in the early part of the game as Greg McElroy threw seven consecutive passes to open the Tide offense. The junior threw 25 passes in the first half — more than he threw in four com-plete games this season. “It was a different way to play our hand, but I thought it worked effectively and hope-fully surprised them a bit in the beginning and caught them off guard,” Saban said. Though the attacking offense helped to

Ticket info for title gamereleased

• Students must sign up for a ticket request list starting today.• Undergraduates will receive 80 percent of the allotted student tickets.• Tickets are $45, and students will be allowed to purchase only one.

FAST FACTS

Tide books trip to Atlanta

CW | Bethany MartinSophomore wide receiver, Julio Jones, brushes off an LSU defender on the way to a fourth-quarter touchdown. Jonesʼ touchdown gave the Tide a lead it would not relinquish.

SGA gauges student opinion on new Web siteYourviewua.com now available to students

By William EvansStaff Writer

On Saturday at the UA chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s house, a crowd of current and older fraternity brothers gathered in the courtyard behind the house to socialize and enjoy the atmo-sphere before the home game against LSU. The weather was warm, a band was set to play and food and drinks were being served. In addition to these ameni-ties, a reception was held this past Saturday in honor of Rusty

Quarles, a fraternity adviser to the SAE chapter at the University who passed away in 2002. “We’re really here to honor Rusty who kept this house run-ning,” said R.B. Walker, a mem-ber of the fraternity, former SGA president and a 2008 graduate. “He is the second father for gen-erations of young men.” Quarles’ widow Paula Quarles said her husband worked dili-gently to keep the fraternity out of trouble with the University and the National Panhellenic Council. “He made sure the boys were studying really hard, making

Fraternity holds reception to honor former adviser

See TICKETS, page 3

See FOOTBALL, page 8

See SGA, page 2

“We’re really here to honor Rusty who kept this house running. He is the second father for genera-

tions of young men.”

— R.B. Walker{ }

good grades and staying out of trouble,” Paula Quarles said. “As a fraternity adviser, he also assisted with fundraisers and philanthropy events so that the fraternity could do something good for the community.” Paula Quarles said that when SAE was kicked off campus in the 1990s, Rusty worked with

the University and the National Panhellenic Council to bring the fraternity back to campus. “This chapter is the founding chapter of SAE, and the house here on campus is full of his-tory,” Paula Quarles said. “Some of the first members of this chapter were in the Civil War, and others are even buried here

in Tuscaloosa, so it was really important to get the fraternity back on campus.” Before the band started to play Saturday, Marbury Rainer, one of Quarles’ pledge brothers, and some other fraternity mem-bers gave a speech to the crowd gathered in the courtyard about the importance of Quarles’ work. Rainer, as a representative of the 1966 pledge class, said Quarles’ dedication to the house and its members was exceptional. In order to honor Quarles and his contributions to the frater-nity, Rainer and his pledge class

raised enough money to name the courtyard after Quarles. To commemorate Quarles’ work for the fraternity, a plaque with his name engraved on it will be placed on the first brick col-umn next to the gated entrance of the courtyard from behind the house. Along with the plaque, Paula Quarles said that the Order of Omega, a national honorary for fraternities and sororities, pres-ents a fraternity adviser each year with the Rusty Quarles Outstanding Fraternity Adviser award at their banquet.

Check out pictures from the

Miss Corolla pageant

55

2 Monday, November 9, 2009 NEWS The Crimson White

The Crimson White is the community newspaper of The University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced by students. The University of Alabama cannot influence editorial decisions and editorial opin-ions are those of the editorial board and do not represent the official opinions of the University. Advertising offices of The Crimson White are on the first floor, Student Publications Building, 923 University Blvd. The advertising mailing address is P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White (USPS 138020) is published four times weekly when classes are in session during Fall and Spring Semester except for the Monday after Spring Break and the Monday after Thanksgiving, and once a week when school is in session for the summer. Marked calendar provided. The Crimson White is provided for free up to three issues. Any other papers are $1.00. The subscription rate for The Crimson White is $125 per year. Checks should be made payable to The University of Alabama and sent to: The Crimson White Subscription Department, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. The Crimson White is entered as periodical postage at Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Crimson White, P.O. Box 2389, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2389. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2008 by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of The Crimson White.

ADVERTISING

EDITORIAL

• Drew Gunn, advertising manager, 348-8995, cwbizmanager@sa.ua.edu • Jake Knott, account executive, (McFarland and Skyland boulevards), 348-8735 • Dana Andrezejewski, account executive, (Northport & downtown Tuscaloosa), 348-6153 • Andrew Pair, account executive, (UA Campus), 348-2670 • Rebecca Tiarsmith, account executive, (The Strip and Downtown), 348-6875 • Ross Lowe, Thomas Nation, & Allison Payne, account executives, (New media sales), 348-4381 • Emily Frost, classifieds coordinator, 348-7355 • Emily

Ross & John Mathieu, creative services, 348-8042

• Amanda Peterson, editor-in-chief • Will Nevin, manag-ing editor • Avery Dame, metro/state editor • Drew Taylor, admin affairs editor • Lindsey Shelton, student life editor • Alan Blinder, opinions editor • Steven Nalley, arts & enter-tainment editor • Jason Galloway, sports editor • Spencer White, assistant sports editor • Brandee Easter, design editor • Emily Johnson, assistant design editor • Jerrod Seaton, photo editor • Katie Bennett, assistant photo editor• Sharon Nichols, chief copy editor • Aaron Gertler, graphics editor

• Andrew Richardson, web editor

NEWS in briefCAMPUS | SGA, Campus Veterans Association host Veterans Appreciation Week In honor of Veterans Day, the SGA is teaming up with the Campus Veterans Association to host Veterans Appreciation Week Monday through Wednesday. On Monday, a card signing for veterans will be held in front of the Gorgas House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A parade for Veterans will take place on Tuesday at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, located at 3701 Loop Road East, at 1 p.m. A showing of the film “The Great Raid” and a question and answer session with veterans will take place Tuesday eve-ning at 6 p.m. at the Ferguson Theatre.

LOCAL | Barnes & Noble holds book drive to support local program From Nov. 1 through Jan. 1, the Tuscaloosa Barnes & Noble is holding a book drive to benefit Arts ’n Autism, which is a local after school and summer camp program. Each book is $3.99, and the goal is to have 1,500 books donated.

CAMPUS | Tri Delta holds late-night pan-cakes event Tuesday The UA chapter of Delta Delta Delta will hold its “Pancakes for a Cure” Breakfast Tuesday from 10 p.m. until midnight at the Beta Theta Pi house. Tickets can be purchased at the event for $5, and the cost covers unlimited pancakes. All proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Retreat, Halsey and Central Papers are sponsoring the event.

CAMPUS | UA launches new leadership program for students In Spring 2010, UA will launch a new student leadership ini-tiative called Leadership UA. Leadership UA, modeled after Leadership Tuscaloosa and similar community-based orga-nizations, will accept approximately 30 promising student leaders each year. Sophomores and juniors with interest in campus leadership are encouraged to apply. Applicants will be selected based on campus involvement, GPA and creative ideas for making improvements to the UA community with a team of their peers. Program com-ponents include monthly meetings with UA administrators throughout the spring semester, followed by a semester-long community based project in the fall. Program applications will be available at leadership.ua.edu beginning Thursday. Completed applications must be submitted to the Office of Student Involvement & Leadership by noon on Nov. 20. Finalists will participate in interviews during the week of Nov. 30 through Dec. 4.

MONDAY TUESDAY• Asian Studies Film Festival: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Alston Hall Room 30

• UA Percussion Ensemble Concert: 7:30 p.m., Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building

• ‘Swagger: The Construction of Gender and Race in Popular Culture’: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Alston Hall Room 40

• Literacy is the Edge Volunteer and Tutor Recruitment: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ferguson Center

CAMPUS this week

Send announcements and campus news to cwnews@sa.ua.edu

For more events, see calendars on Arts & Entertainment and Sports.

By Brittney Knox Staff Writer

Students who are searching for a way to give their time to the community can do so by vol-unteering with LifeSouth and Caring Days Adult Day Care. LifeSouth Community Blood Center will be host-ing the thirdannual Iron Bowl Challenge between Alabama and Auburn fans Nov. 16 through Nov. 19. There will be four loca-tions on campus and one set up in the Ferguson Center. The location in the Ferguson Center will be open all days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other loca-tions include on Capstone Drive in front of Gorgas, which will be open all days. The Sorority Row location will be open Nov. 16 and 17, Rose Towers on Nov. 17, Fraternity Row on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 and Ridgecrest South on Nov. 19. “The goal of the Iron Bowl Challenge is to get 400 donors, which is 100 donors each day,” LifeSouth Representative Blair Middleton said. She said one pint of blood has the potential to save three lives, which means that if LifeSouth meets their goal, they could potentially save 1,200 lives in four days. Middleton urged alumni, fac-ulty and students to donate, and she said donors would get a free T-shirt and be registered for a raffle to win a football auto-graphed by Nick Saban. “We seek volunteers to recruit people to donate blood, put up posters and tape them around town,” she said. She said that some people may have never given blood before, and she encouraged those people to come and

bring a friend. “In today’s society we have come up with many things to find a substitute for, but there is no substitute for blood,” she said. Caring Days Adult Day Care offers another volunteering opportunity close to campus. Caring Days is a non-profit organization that offers adult day care for people age 18 and up who have any type of memo-ry problem. “This place is to help those that may have a touch of Alzheimer’s and don’t want to sit at home all day doing nothing,” said Cheryl Ligon, research project coor-dinator with the Community Service Center. Ligon said she went out into the community to find some-where for students who may not have transportation to volun-teer. She said she chose Caring Days because it was close and thought it would be something students would enjoy doing. “My job is not only to find places and companies that need volunteers, but to place stu-dents in positions that they will like as well,” she said. Liz Marston, assistant direc-tor of Caring Days, said she would need volunteers to help interact with clients, play games and exercise. “We want them to have a fun day here, and the clients love to see young people come in to volunteer and help out for a few hours,” she said. She said they can always use an extra pair of hands to help and be interactive with the cli-ents. “At Caring Days there is a 5-to-1 client ratio, so it would be great having the extra help around,” she said.

By Sean AbdoliSenior Staff Reporter

Amy Frees, a senior major-ing in chemical and biological engineering, was named the winner of the undergraduate poster competition held by the Society of Women Engineers. The competition pit engi-n e e r i n g s t u d e n t s from across the country against each other. The purpose of the contest, a c c o r d i n g to SWE’s Web site, was to show how visual presentation is important to engineers in explaining their research. As the winner of the competition, Frees was award-ed a $500 cash prize.

Frees said she was excited to win the competition. “It’s like winning a great football game,” Frees said. “Getting to compete against students was an honor by itself, but winning actually adds a lot of excitement. Frees’ poster was based on research she participated in under Chris Brazel, an associ-ate professor in chemical engi-neering. The poster was named “Novel Materials for Triggered Cancer Therapy: Pulsed Release from Thermally-Responsive Polymer Gels.” Brazel said the research focused on battling individual cancer cells through heat and magnetism. Brazel said Frees earned the award with hard work. “She’s deserving,” Brazel said. “She can not only work in a lab but also present the research.” Brazel said the ability to

present research coherently is a valued skill. “Being able to explain our research to people in other fields is important,” Brazel said. “It definitely helps people see the potential impact of our work.” Frees said presentation is important in engineering. “It’s important to be able to explain your work to a broad audience,” Frees said. “If you’re working on such cutting-edge research, it makes it easier to show its [the research’s] appli-cations.” According the SWE’s Web site, the organization was founded in 1950 to promote engineering as a career choice for women. Frees, who attended the finals of the competition in Long Beach, Calif., said meet-ing other women in her field was a valuable experience. “Getting to network with

women in my field was pretty exciting,” Frees said. “It’s up to us, as women engineers, and programs like SWE to encour-age women to pursue engineer-ing.” Faced by underrepresenta-tion of women in engineering, Frees said she was optimistic. “I feel that great strides have been made to include women here at the University,” Frees said. Frees said winning the com-petition provided motive to encourage her own ambitions. “It was further encourage-ment to pursue a career in engineering along with the research experience provided in working on the project,” Frees said. Another bright spot of the competition, she said, was vis-iting the West Coast. “It was thrilling to be able to visit the Pacific Ocean for the first time,” Frees said.

By Sean AbdoliSenior Staff Reporter

Milton Nettles, a senior majoring in chemical engi-neering, won the Minority Scholarship Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The award is given to 14 undergraduates each year and includes a $1,000 scholarship and a year of mentorship from a professional in each student’s field of study. According to AIChE’s Web site, the criteria judged for the award is the student’s par-ticipation in AIChE, along with grades, career objectives and professional activities. Nettles said he has been active in AIChe by help-ing at events and conferenc-es. Throughout his time on

c a m p u s , he has won many a w a r d s , i n c l u d i n g being named the Student E n g i n e e r of the Year by the engi-n e e r i n g department and the Engineering Council of Birmingham earlier this year. He also serves as an ambassador for the College of Engineering and as a justice in the Academic Honor Council. Nettles, who grew up in Monroeville, said his back-ground helped make him suc-cessful. “I was raised by a single mother,” Nettles said. “She instilled in me work ethic, faith

and respect for people. I try to carry that with me in whatever I do.” Nettles said he is especially looking forward to the mentor-ship. “Any positive mentorship will be beneficial to my future,” Nettles said. He added that the professionals he would meet through the award would help him make connections. As for the future, Nettles said he hopes to use his education to serve rural communities like where he grew up. He said he plans to pursue a career in pri-mary medicine. “My passion lies with serv-ing underserved communities because I, myself, am a product of an underserved community.” Nettles said. Steve Ritchie, an adviser in the engineering department

and the faculty adviser for theUA student chapter of AIChE,wrote the recommendation forNettles when he applied for thescholarship. He said Nettleswas deserving of the scholar-ship. “We couldn’t be happier forsomeone like Milton to repre-sent our department,” Ritchiesaid. “People who’ve attendedconferences with him havecome back with nothing butglowing reviews.” Because of Nettles’ participa-tion with the Alpha Phi Alphafraternity, he said he will notbe able to attend the NationalStudent Conference AwardsCeremony in Nashville, Tenn. “I think I’ll have representa-tives going to the conference,so I’m pretty sure I’ll havesomeone able to accept theaward for me,” Nettles said.

Volunteer opportunities available

• Title: Client Care Volunteer

• Purpose: Volunteers will assist with feeding, playing games, music, art and a variety of other activities. Volun-teers with musical, art skills and computer skills are a plus. Volunteers must be compassionate, protect confi dentiality, respectful, cheerful and creative.

• Community Issues: Health and medical issues, men-tal health, senior citizens (elder care)

• Type of Service: Companionship, direct service, outreach

• Minimum Time Commitment: 2 hours

• Contact: Liz Marston, 752-6840, liz@caringdays.org

• Web site: caringdays.org

Caring Days Adult Day Care

• Title: Iron Bowl Challenge Blood Drive - Public Rela-tions

• Purpose: LifeSouth Community Blood Centers is looking for volunteers for their 3rd annual blood drive challenge between Alabama and Auburn fans. They will have blood mobiles set up at 4 locations on campus and 1 inside set up in the Ferguson Center.

• Duties: Distribute fl yers, posters, etc. to different areas. Use contacts on campus to help spread the word about the blood drive. Make new contacts with various organiza-tions and send information to them on the blood drive. Contact various media outlets about the blood drive. Also, promote the Beat Hunger food drive.

• Requirement: Comfortable dress when distributing materials.

• Minimum Time Commitment: 2 hours

• Contact: Blaire Middleton, 834-3657

LifeSouth

Student wins award, mentorship

Milton Nettles

SGAContinued from page 1

take action. He will take it back and try to make positive change with whatever the survey pro-duces.” Anselmo said the site was not introduced in senate legislation form to keep the project internal to the SGA. SGA spokeswoman Anne Elizabeth Davis said your-viewua.com will benefit both the University and its students. “Having a centralized

UA student wins poster competition

Amy Frees

location for all SGA surveys benefits students because stu-dents will now be able to view and take surveys in one cen-tralized location,” Davis said. “The Web site is designed with the hopes to increase survey participation and create conve-nience for students.” Davis said student opinion was an integral part of creating projects in the SGA office, so the Web site was also important to the SGA. “We want to represent the stu-dents opinion, and through these surveys, we are able to receive

“We want to represent the students opinion, and through these surveys, we are able to receive valu-

able information and statistics in regards to students wants and needs.”

—SGA spokeswoman Anne Elizabeth Davis{ }

valuable information and statis-tics in regards to students wants and needs,” Davis said. Davis said although there are no similar initiatives in the near future, SGA will continue to look for ways to gauge student opin-ion. “The SGA is always looking

for new ways to better com-municate with the student body,” Davis said. “A central-ized location for future voting information is currently being implemented, providing non-partisan, unbiased informa-tion to help engage students in their government.

The Crimson White NEWS Monday, November 9, 2009 3

By Kyle D. PierceStaff Writer

UA students got an early reminder of the fall of the Berlin Wall Friday at a pre-sentation at the Ferguson Theater. The event, called “The Cold War & The Fall of the Berlin Wall: A Retrospective,” was a panel discussion and lec-ture with Rasma Lazda, asso-ciate professor of German; Margaret Peacock, assistant professor of history; and Steffen Guenzel, instructor in the department of English. All three of the faculty members lived inside the Iron Curtain of communism before the wall fell. A packed house at the Ferguson Center Theater heard the panel discuss many of the intricacies of the end of communism for Eastern Europe. The speakers

recounted stories about the hardships they encountered while living on the inside the Iron Curtain. Peacock told the story of an event that happened to her a few years before the fall. She was living in the west at the time, but she was able to secure a few trips back to the east to see some friends. Peacock said it was not until long after the fall of com-munism that she was able to see her “file” with the govern-ment, which included many hidden photographs from these trips. “I don’t want to see my file. I don’t want to know what they knew or thought about me,” Peacock said. “We felt like animals in a zoo.” The panel was a unique opportunity to hear first hand accounts of the “Peaceful Revolution” that occurred in the fall of 1989. It was

Professors speak about Berlin Wallsponsored by the Alabama-Germany Partnership, an alliance between many major Alabama and German busi-nesses, including Daimler AG who is the maker of Mercedes-Benz. The art department, especially professor Mark Stevenson, added to the theme of the discussion with a rec-reation of part of the Berlin Wall in the Ferguson Center lobby. This art, coupled with the introductory video, set the mood for the discussion. “Students today should learn about the different world with its weekly nucle-ar bomb drills in the darkest days of the Cold War,” said Barbara Fischer, a profes-sor in the German depart-ment and one of the orga-nizers of the event. “Today, it is unimaginable to live in a world divided by concrete, ideologies and minds.”

“We knew we wanted to do something, then the Alabama-G e r m a ny Pa r t n e r s h i p approached us with such a great thing,” said James Gardner, president of the UA German Club and a gradu-ate student in TESOL, when asked what happened to bring the event to campus. The event, together with similar events at universities across the nation, marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. According to the organizers, these events are intended to serve as a comparison to the lives many Americans life in the free west and tell a story of the much different world before the fall. “Berlin was like an island,” Peacock said. “After the end of World War II, the people of Berlin begged the West to not abandon the city, and they did not.”

Assistant professor of history Margaret Peacock shares her experience of living inside the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

CW | Tori Gordon

TICKETSContinued from page 1

either the undergraduate 80 percent or graduate 20 percent exceeds the allotted number of student tickets for the SEC Championship game, tickets will be distributed in descend-ing order based on UA earned

hours until the student ticket allotment is exhausted. On Wednesday, a list of students who are eligible to purchase tickets will be determined and the list will be posted on the Coleman Coliseum doors and at rolltide.com. Students can also check their My Football account to see if they have a ticket bal-

ance. Those who have a ticket balance of “1” are eligible to receive tickets. The distribution will be determined by the number of credit hours completed through summer 2009. Each student has the right to pur-chase one SEC Championship ticket. Students on the receiv-ing list must come by the

Ticket Office between Nov. 11 and Nov. 13 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. to purchase their tickets for $45. Tickets will be available for students to pick up at the Georgia Dome, with a valid photo I.D. or ACTion Card. Any questions should be directed to the Ticket Office at 348-BAMA.

Tourists visit the remains of the Berlin Wall at the eve of the 20th anniver-sary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday.

AP

Buy one sandwich of $4.89 value or more,

get one (with purchase of chips or nachos and large drink)

Good Monday/Thursday only, Coupon Reqired

(It’s her engagement ring finger!)

OPIN

ION

S

Monday, November 9, 2009

Editor • Alan Blinderletters@cw.ua.edu

Page 4

WE WELCOME YOUR OPINIONSLetters to the editor must be less than 300 words and guest columns less than 800. Send submissions to letters@cw.ua.edu. Submissions must include the author’s name, year, major and day-time phone number. Phone numbers are for verification and will not be published. Students should also include their year in school and major. For more information, call 348-6144. The CW reserves the right to edit all submissions.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Amanda Peterson EditorWill Nevin Managing EditorAlan Blinder Opinions Editor

“I feel like we played really well defensively, but

thereʼs always room for improvement — and it defi nitely

needs to improve be-fore we play Auburn and defi nitely before we play in the SEC

Championship.”

— Sarah Hughes, freshman majoring in

political science

“I think [quarter-back Greg McElroy] looked a little gun-

shy. I think we could have run them a

little more, but we beat them up.”

— Andrew Cotten, senior majoring in

business

“I was ready to see us dominate them, but we didnʼt do

that.”

— Chat Hamer,senior majoring in

business management

YOUR VIEW { }

Veterans deserve respect

OUR VIEW

In short: Military veterans have earned the right to our highest honors.

{

By Alan Blinder

It’s rare, but American fiscal conservatives are set to agree with the Chinese prime minister. On Sunday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, speaking in Egypt, said, “We hope the United States will keep an appropriate size to its deficit.” The Chinese have their reasons for craving a lower American bud-get deficit, which, for fiscal year 2009, hit $1.4 trillion, an approxi-mately three-fold increase from 2008. China holds more U.S. gov-ernment debt than any other cred-itor, and they have $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. China has invested about 70 percent of the $2 trillion in United States dol-lars. Wen went back to basic eco-nomics when he spoke. Perhaps he was mindful of an old Chinese proverb: “A good debt is not as good as no debt.” We should embrace such a men-tality here. Interestingly, I think a large number of Americans do. A June poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal revealed that 58 percent of Americans believed the government should be more concerned about “keeping the budget deficit down even though it may mean it will take longer for the economy to recover.” That boils down to Americans saying, “We recognize that if we get into further debt, it will hurt us in the long term, and we’re willing to make some sacrifices now to avoid trouble later.” Congress spends a lot of time talking about how American edu-cation lags, but it seems that aver-age Americans (or at least 58 per-cent of them) understand basic economic principles better than Congress. Deficit spending is not unwar-ranted at times. Indeed, deficit

spending is probably a smarter tactic than tax increases during recession. But there is a catch: Deficit spending should be used to cre-ate or expand programs that will stimulate and rebuild the econo-my. (We should be wary of even that, since our government seems to employ a broad and expensive definition of what exactly will stimulate the economy.) Under no circumstances, however, should we engage in deficit spending in the name of social programs. On Saturday, the day before Wen spoke in Egypt, 220 United States representatives voted to spend in the name of a social program. 215 members — includ-ing 39 Democrats — had the good sense to see that, even though we need health care reform, deficit spending to create a public option was not the way to go about it. Democrats have rightfully been calling for health care reform for decades. Without doubt, we need an improved system. But, in pushing reform so quickly after winning power and failing to take the broader national pic-ture into account (besides their political aims), Democrats did the American people more harm than

good. I know exactly why Democrats acted as quickly as they did, and they used the same maneuver Republicans did in 2005 when the GOP sought to reform social secu-rity. Democrats moved to pass a bill while they still had politics on their side with reasonable approv-al ratings and sound majorities in both chambers. But sometimes, and this is a les-son both parties could and should learn, we have to ignore politics. We have to set priorities, even if that means pushing other issues to the side.

Democrats should have used their political capital to continue fueling an economic recovery. Ironically, I’m betting Democrats would have found expanded suc-cess at the ballot box next year had they spent their time creating economic solutions instead of a public option.

Instead, Democrats find them-selves with declining public approval (though, to be fair, there is always a honeymoon period for the newly elected) thanks, in part, to their pursuit of immediate health reform.

The American people under-stand that any debt, even a debt with good intentions (and I don’t doubt Democrats have good, albe-it flawed, intentions with health reform), is a losing scenario for the nation.

With some luck, the Senate will go back to basics and reject reform for now in the name of minimizing further deficit.

But I’m not counting on it, and I hope the Chinese aren’t either because Democrats appear poised to ignore numbers in favor of yet another social program.

Alan Blinder is the opinions edi-tor of The Crimson White. His col-umn runs weekly on Mondays.

MCT Campus

Iran appears ready to agree to ship its enriched uranium to France and Russia for pro-cessing into nuclear fuel.

This would be a positive step — perhaps the first positive step since the Iranian nuclear pro-gram became public earlier this decade. The United States should embrace this Iranian con-cession.

However, it’s only a positive step, not a posi-tive outcome. Taking enriched uranium out of Iran for fuel processing does little more than buy the West time in dealing with what more and more looks to be a covert nuclear weapons program.

Processing the enriched uranium outside Iran gives the West a better view of what is going on inside the nation. It means greater access to enrichment facilities. As International Atomic Energy Agency officials point out that the more they know, the better off everyone is. The West’s stonewall diplomatic tack toward the Iranian program from 2004 through this year did little more than decrease knowledge of the program, and the rancorous debate gave Iran cover and support at home for further develop-ing a covert program.

Inspectors have now visited the worrisome Qom facility, though their findings won’t be reported for a while yet.

Oddly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has used the fight to bolster his stature, is calling the new proposal a change from “confrontation to co-operation.”

He may be right, and this may be in the best interests of the United States, Iran and the planet. But, hand in hand with cooperation, we must remain watchful.

This editorial originally appeared in The Kansas City Star.

On Wednesday, the nation will pause to honor the armed services and those who have served during both conflict and peace-time. While the University will not be closed for the day, UA students should still take pains to say thank you. From engagements that elementary school textbooks chronicle like the Revolutionary War and World War II to forgotten conflicts like Korea to smaller interventions like Grenada and Somalia, the United States military has served this nation in a noble and virtuous way. While we set aside but a single day annually to remember the courage of our veterans, we should never decline an opportunity to remem-ber their valor when the chance arises. On Saturday, the University set aside a few moments before the Crimson Tide’s all-important game to honor the 13 souls who lost their lives in a murderous rampage at Texas’ Fort Hood last Thursday. Much of the crowd of 92,012 in Bryant-Denny Stadium did the right thing and stood silently. Even the LSU sections appeared quiet. But, in a disgraceful episode, the block seat-ing section remained abuzz. The collective failure of those seated in the south end zone to pause is an embarrassment to the University and a slur to the men and women who have served over the generations. While some probably showed appropriate respect, the section’s conduct as a whole is inexcusable and unbecoming of an American tradition to honor those who serve, even if we disagree with why they were sent to battle. Even though a certain section of the campus community demonstrated an adversity to com-mon decency, there are numerous opportuni-ties for UA students to honor veterans through-out this week. The SGA and Campus Veterans Association have taken the lead to coordinate Veterans Appreciation Week. Until 2 p.m. today, students can drop by the Gorgas House to sign cards for veterans. On Tuesday, there will be a parade for vet-erans in which students may participate. Later in the day, the Ferguson Center will be host to a documentary screening and a question-and-answer session with veterans. On Wednesday, which is Veterans Day, Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Nelson will speak at a reception in Alston Hall’s parlor for veterans. The event, presented by the SGA and CVA, is a fitting tribute. Throughout the week, students are invited to donate items for members of the armed servic-es. Bins will be placed in most residence halls, and we feel confident that the troops will be deeply appreciative of any donations. Our veterans and active troops merit deep and profound respect. While there were dif-ficulties giving such respect on Saturday, we hope the UA community will band together to give sufficient esteem in the future. Absolutely no less is ever acceptable.

Our View is the consensus of The Crimson White’s editorial board.

By Wesley Vaughn

In today’s political environment, one does not need to strain to real-ize the unhealthy reign of politi-cal hyperbole over intelligent dis-course.

George Orwell noted on the sub-ject that “political chaos is connect-ed with the decay of language.”

Our country is definitely walk-ing down this path. To what degree is debatable.

Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., called for “freedom fighters” to join her and Republicans in Washington, D.C., to help defeat the current health care bill before the House passed it Saturday. She subsequently trig-gered an avalanche of evoking exaggerations.

I recognize that the Republicans want to rile up their base, but Bachmann chose to call them “freedom fighters.” Dictionary.com defines a freedom fighter as an individual “engaged in armed rebellion or resistance against an oppressive government.”

I assumed Bachmann didn’t actually mean it in that particular sense. I assumed wrong.

During the Thursday protest, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader, said, “I do think there is a rebellion going on in this country.” He went on to pro-claim the health care bill as “the greatest threat to freedom” he has ever seen.

It didn’t stop there. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., joined in when he said, “You’re going to see an army of Americans fighting for freedom in this next election.”

Bachmann capped it all off with one of the dumbest names for a political rally ever. After much

deliberation, she decided on “The Super Bowl of Freedom.” I don’t even know how to interpret that one. Did the New England Patriots play in it?

But this event was all “organic,” according to Bachmann. Yes, she promoted and helped organize it, but real people attended. That qualifies as organic, right?

Adding to the hilarity, a Republican communications direc-tor told party members, “Please know that this is a ‘press event,’ ‘press conference,’ or ‘House Call on Washington’ but not a ‘rally’ or ‘protest.’”

When an event’s cry is “kill the bill” and attendees stage sit-ins in congressional offices, it’s a stretch to only call it a “press event.”

The event ended with a reported 10 arrests for unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.

Too bad that oppressive First Amendment doesn’t permit non-peaceful assemblies. I always thought the Founding Fathers sup-ported dictatorships.

All of this hoopla banks on the current democratically elected administration being classified as an oppressive government. Give me a break. Congress and the White House can barely impress their own supporters, let alone oppress its opponents.

If anything, the current minority party in Congress has bullied the politically weak majority into mak-ing major concessions on almost all legislation. A loud minority

with a mute majority sure does not seem tyrannical.

The Democrats failed to respond to the GOP’s sensational language or even their protests. It took a fellow Republican in Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., to come out against the use of Holocaust images during Bachmann’s event.

Eventually, one, just one, Democrat condemned the protes-tors’ imagery and Republican poli-ticians for allowing it.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the matter, but only after a reporter asked him about the recent protest.

Calling for an army, freedom fighters or a rebellion should not be tolerated. American poli-tics may be extremely stupid, but that doesn’t mean that every belief or action in this country needs an extreme labeling.

Republicans do not deserve all the blame though. They are simply taking advantage of their opposi-tion’s silence and refusal to refute. Democrats not standing up for themselves or for decent political discourse damages our country just as much as the words and actions of the Republicans.

We are experiencing the decay of language. With this, political chaos can only follow. I can’t wait for 2010.

Wesley Vaughn is a sophomore majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs weekly on Monday.

The decay of political language

Hold reform to hold budget defi cits

Calling for an army, freedom fi ghters or a rebellion should not be tolerated.{ }

West must keep watching Iran

GUEST EDITORIAL

MCT Campus

Alan Blinder

The Crimson White NEWS Monday, November 9, 2009 5

Elizabeth Nix crowned as 74th Miss Corolla Friday

Top left: Katherine Gates, so-prano, entertains the crowd during intermission. Middle: Pageant winner Elizabeth Nix poses with former Miss Corolla Abbey Vaughn. Top right: Winner Elizabeth Nix celebrates with her fam-ily. Bottom Left: Runner-up Ileana Tapanes waits for the pageant to begin.

Photos by Daniel Owens

6 Monday, November 9, 2009 NEWS The Crimson White

By Allen G. Breed The Associated Press

FORT HOOD, Texas — A key U.S. senator said Sunday he would begin an investigation into whether the Army missed signs that the man accused of opening fire at Fort Hood had embraced an increasingly extremist view of Islamic ideology. Sen. Joe Lieberman’s call for an investigation came a day after classmates who participated in a 2007-2008 master’s program at a military college said they com-plained to superiors about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and what they considered to be his anti-Ameri-can views, which included his giv-ing a presentation that justified suicide bombing and telling class-mates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution. “If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance,” Lieberman, an inde-pendent from Connecticut, said on “Fox News Sunday.” He should have been gone.” Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wants Congress to determine whether the shootings constitute a terrorist attack. Army Chief of Staff George Casey also warned Sunday against reaching conclusions about the suspected shooter’s motives until investigators have fully explored the attack. “I think the speculation (on Hasan’s Islamic roots) could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” Dr. Val Finnell told The Associated Press on Saturday that he and other classmates participating in a 2007-08 mas-ter’s program with Hasan at the

By Becky BohrerThe Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded Sunday toward the Gulf Coast with 105 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges. A hurricane watch extended over more than 200 miles of coastline across southeast-ern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Louisiana’s gover-nor declared a state of emer-gency. Authorities said Ida could make landfall as early as Tuesday morning, although it was forecast to weaken by then. Officials and residents kept a close eye on the Category 2 hurricane as it approached, though there were no immedi-ate plans for evacuations. Sunday evening, Ida was located 445 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and mov-ing northwest near 12 mph. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Ida brushing near Louisiana and Mississippi, then making landfall near Alabama before continuing across north Florida. Yet many residents took the forecast in stride. “Even though we’re telling everybody to be prepared, my gut tells me it probably won’t be that bad,” said Steve Arndt, director of Bay Point Marina Co. in Panama City, Fla. In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal had declared a state of emergency as a precaution, and the National Guard was on high alert if assistance was needed. New Orleans wasn’t included in the hurricane watch.

But officials were encourag-ing residents to prepare for potential gusts of 60 mph by removing any tree limbs that could damage their homes and securing or bringing in any trash cans, grills, potted plants or patio furniture. Nearly 1,400 Louisiana residents are still living in federally issued trailers and mobile homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita; nearly 360 units remained in Mississippi. “FEMA stresses that those in temporary [hous-ing] units should not take chances,” Federal Emergency Management Agency spokes-man Andrew Thomas said. “Leave the unit behind and evacuate to a permanent struc-ture that will better withstand tropical weather systems and the associated winds.” Mississippi authorities warned residents to be vigi-lant. Authorities were monitor-ing conditions to see whether any evacuations of lower-lying areas or school closures would be necessary. “It is likely we will at least be hit with strong winds and some flooding in our coastal counties,” said Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Officials “do not want anybody to be caught off guard.” Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Womack said forecasts called for tides of 4-7 feet above normal and rainfall totals of 5-7 inches within 24 hours, which could mean flooding along the coasts and along rivers. Alabama emergency man-agement officials did not imme-diately respond to phone mes-sages. In the Florida Panhandle,

By Karen Hawkins The Associated Press

CHICAGO — A Northwestern University professor and jour-nalism students who spent three years investigating the case of a man convicted in the 1978 kill-ing of a security guard believe they have evidence that shows prosecutors put the wrong man behind bars. But in the quest to prove his innocence, they may have to defend themselves, too. Cook County prosecutors have outraged the university and the journalism community by issuing subpoenas to pro-fessor David Protess seeking his students’ grades, his sylla-bus and their private e-mails. Prosecutors claim since the team was made up of students, they may have been under pres-sure to prove the case to get a good grade. It’s a first for Protess and his investigative reporting stu-dents, who have helped free 11 innocent men from prison, including death row, since 1996. Their work is also credited with prompting then-Gov. George Ryan to empty the state’s death row in 2003, re-igniting a nation-al debate on the death penalty. “Why are we talking about our grades when we should be talking about whether there’s an innocent man in prison?” said Evan Benn, a former Protess student mentioned in the state’s subpoena. None of the students has been individu-ally subpoenaed. The prosecutor’s office — led by Anita Alvarez, who last year was elected Cook County state’s attorney on a reputation for toughness — said it’s just being thorough, and wants to determine if students may have skewed their findings to get a good grade. “It’s been framed as a witch hunt or a fishing expedition, and it’s not,” said Sally Daly, spokes-woman for Alvarez. “We’re engaging in a discovery process as we would in any criminal investigation.” Northwestern’s lawyers have filed a motion to quash the sub-poenas, and the judge may act on that Tuesday, when a hearing is set to hear arguments about whether there should be a new

APTodd Wilson, center, of Ipswich, Mass., plays with his daughter Nicole, 7, in the pool as the waves crash onto the surf as hurricane Ida passes the resort area Sunday in Cancun, Mexico. Ida has grown into a hurricane for a second time as it moves over the Carib-bean.

APCol. John Rossi speaks during a news conference at Fort Hood headquarters in Killeen, Texas, Sunday. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is suspected of opening fi re on fellow sol-diers during a shooting rampage on Thursday.

APNorthwestern University pro-fessor David Protess, founder of the Medill Innocence Project, talks with journalism students at a reporting strategy session in Evanston, Ill.

Late-season hurricane takes aim at Gulf

residents in Bay County and Panama City were being advised to secure boats and prepare for storm surges that could reach 2-3 feet. Heavy rain, wind and possible flood-ing was also expected. “You really don’t know until it gets close how you’re going to be affected by it,” said Brad Monroe, Bay County’s deputy chief of emergency services. Ida wasn’t expected to pack the wallop seen in 2008 when

hurricanes Gustav and Ike pelted the Gulf Coast back-to-back. There have been nine named storms this season, which ends Dec. 1. Ida is only the third hurricane to form, and neither of the others threatened land. Ida wasn’t expected to direct-ly threaten New Orleans, where unflappable fans at the Saints football game seemed unaware a storm was approaching. “We’re used to tropical

storms,” said David Clements of Chalmette, La. “That’s why we have a dome.” Earlier Sunday, Ida’s wind and rain whipped palm trees in the Mexican resort city of Cancun. Fishermen tied their boats down, though tourists seemed to regard it as a minor setback. “It’s not what we expected,” said Kathleen Weisser, a nurse from Fernley, Nev. “We wanted sun. Instead we have liquid

sunshine.” Mexico had canceled all watches and warnings for the country Sunday evening. Ron Kaczorowski, of Chicago, said his daughter was forced tomove her beach wedding inside because of the storm. He said he had tried to reassure his disappointed daughter that thenasty weather would make herwedding stand out. “I told her, ‘How many people get married in a hurricane?’”

Ill. prosecutors seek journalism students’ grades

trial in the case. In the prosecu-tion’s response, they argue that Protess and his students aren’t journalists and therefore aren’t protected by reporters’ privi-lege. John Lavine, dean of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, considers that argument chilling. “I don’t think the prosecu-tion in a criminal case ... or the defense ever ought to be able to say we decide who is a journal-ist,” Lavine said. “They should never have that right.”

Senate to investigate Ft. Hood shooting

Uniformed Services University complained about his com-ments, including that the war on terror was “a war against Islam.” Another classmate told the AP on Sunday that he com-plained to five officers and two civilian faculty members at the university. He wrote in a com-mand climate survey sent to Pentagon officials that fear in the military of being seen as politically incorrect prevented an “intellectually honest dis-cussion of Islamic ideology” in the ranks. The classmate requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, the FBI will probably look into whether Hasan attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept.

11 hijackers in 2001 at a time when a radical imam preached there, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the inves-tigation is ongoing. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center,

confirmed Sunday that Hasan’s family participated in services at the mosque in Falls Church, Va. Abdul-Malik said the Hasans were not leaders at the mosque and their attendance was utterly normal, and he did not know whether Hasan himself ever attended services there.

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Page 7 • Monday, November 9, 2009

Editor • Jason Galloway crimsonwhitesports@

gmail.com

TUESDAY

FRIDAY

THURSDAY

• Men’s Basketball vs Augusta State: 7 p.m., Tuscaloosa

• Swimming and Diving vs Auburn: 2 p.m., Auburn, Ala.

•Women’s Basketball vs Tennessee Tech: 5 p.m., Corpus Christi, Texas

•Volleyball vs Ole Miss: 7 p.m., Tuscaloosa

SPORTS this week

By Marquavius BurnettStaff Writer

The Crimson team domi-nated the White team 70-35 in the women’s basketball scrim-mage on Sunday, outscoring the White team 41 to 16 in the second half. Head coach Wendell Hudson said the Crimson team was so dominant because they did not make as many mistakes as the White team. “They had fewer turnovers,” Hudson said. “They got on a roll and had a little bit more chemistry. They also didn’t let up and took pride in finishing the game.” Junior leader Tierney Jenkins said the Crimson team was able to play well because they played their usual game. “We played together,” Jenkins said. “We were aggres-sive, and we didn’t care who scored. We just played our game.” The biggest surprise from the game was the play by soph-omore Kayla Robinson. She led both squads in scoring with 16 points. She also pulled down six big rebounds and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line. “Kayla was a surprise,” Hudson said. “We are going to need more of that type of play from her throughout the sea-son.” Robinson said she just wanted to prove to herself and everyone else that she can per-form. “I was tired of being just a back up player,” Robinson said. “I wanted to get more playing time. I wanted to show coach and the team that I could pro-duce.” The Crimson team had five of their seven players score

in double figures. The White team only had one, LaToya King with 15 points. The White team’s main problem was not being able to take care of the ball. They had 21 turnovers to the Crimson team’s 10, and the team also committed eight more personal fouls (22) than the Crimson team (14). Since the Tide lost their first exhibition game of the season, Hudson said his staff has made adjustments on little things. “We worked on not fouling so much,” he said. “We cleaned up all that reaching and cut out the silly fouls. If you look at the box score from the exhibition game with North Alabama, free throws kept them in the game.” Hudson says the team is improving, but after watching the Crimson and White game he said the team’s biggest weakness will be in the post. “Our post play needs work,” he said. “We have been incon-sistent at scoring the ball down low. Our perimeter game will be okay, we just have to score inside.” Jenkins and Robinson said they hope to step up and fill in that void. “My main thing is to rebound,” Jenkins said. “Even if I’m not scoring, I still need to rebound and also be a leader. I’ve been here for three years and I have to take on a bigger leadership role.” “I have to dominante the post,” Robinson said. “I have to rebound offensively and defen-sively.” This year’s team is dedicated to being better than last year. Robinson and the team know what it will take to improve. “We have to be consistent,” she said. “And we cannot be selfish.”

Crimson rolls over WhiteWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Dedrea Magee dribbles the ball down the court during the Crimson-White womenʼs basketball scrimmage Sunday. Mageeʼs Crimson squad dominated the White team.

CW |John Michael Simpson

By Ralph D. RussoThe Associated Press

NEW YORK — Over the past decade, Oklahoma has rarely been out of the AP Top 25 and Stanford has rarely been in.

On Sunday, the Sooners and Cardinal sort of swapped places.

Oklahoma dropped out of the college football poll for the first time since 2005, and No. 25 Stanford moved into the rankings for the first time since 2001.

The first six spots were held by major college football’s six unbeaten teams, with Florida, Texas and Alabama making up the top three for the second consecutive week. Florida received 39 first-place votes, Texas received 10 and Alabama 11.

TCU moved up two spots to No. 4, bumping No. 5 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State back a spot.

The Horned Frogs have their highest ranking since Oct. 15, 1956, when they were also No. 4.

The top six in the BCS stand-ings were the same as the AP Top 25, except Alabama was

second in the BCS standings and Texas was in third.

Oklahoma had managed to stay in the rankings this season while losing three close games without star quarterback Sam Bradford, but Saturday’s 10-3 loss at Nebraska dropped the Sooners to 5-4 and out of the media poll.

Since 2000, the ‘05 season had been the only one in which Oklahoma spent any time unranked. The Sooners lost two games early and were out of the rankings from mid-September until the final poll. Oklahoma won its bowl game and finished 8-4 that season.

Notre Dame and California also dropped out after losses.

The rest of the top 10 is Georgia Tech at No. 7, fol-lowed by Pittsburgh, LSU and Ohio State.

Iowa dropped seven spots to No. 15 after losing for the first time this season, a 17-10 upset

Oklahoma out of AP poll, Stanford in

at home by Northwestern. The Hawkeyes fell out of the national championship race but are still in control of their Big Ten title hopes. Iowa and Ohio State play in Columbus on Saturday with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.

Stanford (6-3) moved into the rankings after knocking off Oregon 51-42 to become bowl eligible.

“We were confident. There was definitely no fear going into this game,” Stanford run-ning back Toby Gerhart said.

The Cardinal finished the 2001 season ranked, but haven’t been since. That was also the last season Stanford played in a bowl.

Oregon fell seven spots to No. 14.

No. 24 Clemson also made it into the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Tigers (6-3) beat Florida State 40-24 to take control of the ACC’s Atlantic division race.

South Florida moved back into the rankings during an off week.

Southern California starts the second 10, followed by Miami and Houston.

Utah, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Penn State and Virginia Tech are 16-20. The Nittany Lions dropped eight spots after a 24-7 loss at home to Ohio State.

Joining the three new teams in the final five were No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 BYU.

“We were confi dent. There was defi nitely no fear going into this game.”

— Stanford running back Tony Gerhart{ }

Icon SMI | Bob Stanton

Stanford running back Tony Gerhart carries the ball against Oregon. Gerhart had 233 yards and three touchdowns against the Ducks, who were ranked in the the top 10.

SATURDAY

• Men’s Basketball vs Cornell: 1 p.m., Tuscaloosa

• Football vs Mississippi State: 6 p.m., Starkville, Miss.

• Women’s Basketball vs Air Force or Texas A&M—Corpus Christi: TBA, Corpus Christi, Texas

• Women’s Cross Country, NCAA South Region Championships: All Day, Tuscaloosa

• Men’s Cross Country, NCAA South Region Championships: 6 p.m., Starkville, Miss.

move the ball down the field and gain yardage, the Tide always seemed to hit a road block on the LSU side of the field, and Leigh Tiffin’s 28-yard field goal in the second quarter were the only points the Tide put up in the first half. “We moved the ball well, changed field position a lot in the first half, but it didn’t pay off in points,” Saban said. Meanwhile, the Bayou Bengals’ sophomore quarter-back Jordan Jefferson con-nected with tight end Deangelo Peterson on a 12-yard touch-down pass to give LSU a 7-3 half-time lead. The Tide drove into the red zone as the half closed, but Kelvin Sheppard intercepted McElroy’s pass to Colin Peek with 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter. “We like to get our tight end involved against the middle linebacker,” McElroy said. “It was a little frustrating, but the way we were able to rebound and bounce back was really nice.” The Tide came out of the lock-er room at halftime with a bang, receiving the opening kickoff and driving 81 yards, topped off by McElroy’s touchdown pass to Darius Hanks from 21 yards out for a 10-7 lead. The Tide defense held on the ensuing LSU drive, but the Tigers downed a Josh Jasper punt inside the Tide 1-yard line, which would lead to a safe-ty after McElroy was called for intentional grounding. The 10-9 deficit became a 15-10 lead for LSU after Stevan Ridley scored on an 8-yard rush on the Tiger drive following the free kick. With the Tide still down 15-13 and 10 minutes left in the game, Jones finally burst out of the funk that has seemed to domi-nate his sophomore season, tak-ing a McElroy screen pass on the first play of the drive and burst-

FOOTBALLContinued from page 1

Quarterbacks – 3.3 Cumulative: 3.29Greg McElroy has faced more than his fair share of criti-cism, including from this staff, but give the beleaguered junior credit after Saturday’s 276 yard, two touchdown per-formance against a top 25 pass defense. The interception at the end of the first half, and the nearly disastrous almost-pick late in the fourth, lower the grade slightly.

Running backs – 4.0 Cumulative: 3.74Mark Ingram once again put on a magnificent perfor-mance against a quality opponent, tallying 144 yards on 22 carries. Freshman Trent Richardson did well on limited carries, including a crucial two-point conversion after the Tide scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Wide receivers/tight ends – 4.0 Cumulative: 3.41The Tide pass-catchers had arguably their finest perfor-mance of the season, finding open routes all game. Julio Jones finally had the breakout game Alabama fans have expected all season, and his 73-yard catch-and-run touch-down was the play of the game.

POSITION grades

ing down the sideline for the go-ahead touchdown. Freshman Trent Richardson converted for two, and the Tide had regained the momentum and the lead, 21-15. Jones finished with four catches for 102 yards. “I expect to make those plays,” Jones said. “We had a good game plan going in, and it was able to open some things up for us out wide, and I was just able to make a play.”

From that point, sophomore Heisman Trophy candidate Mark Ingram and the Tide defense carried Alabama to the finish line, as Ingram finished with 145 yards, including two on a critical fourth-and-one play from the LSU 45-yard line with less than seven minutes remain-ing in the game. The crucial run was made two plays after a tense review of a potentially game-altering pass from McElroy to Jones that

appeared to have been inter-cepted by Patrick Peterson. The play was ruled incomplete and held up under review, but it left a tense silence in the sold-out stadium for several minutes. “Well, it was kind of like an ‘oh shoot’ moment,” McElroy said. “Sometimes they’ve got to go in your favor, and that call did.” Tiffin booted his third field goal of the game, a 40-yarder, to give the Tide the final 24-15 lead

and, in the process, break the Alabama career scoring record held by former kicker Philip Doyle. “Those kind of things take care of themselves,” Tiffin said of the record. “I just try and go out there and do my job.” LSU’s last chance at victory was snatched away by sopho-more safety and Louisiana native Robby Green, who intercepted Jarrett Lee’s pass with 2:04 left in the game

to ice a magnificent fourth quarter defensive effort in which the Tide held LSU to nine total yards and no points. “They came out fired up in the first half and we went pound-for-pound, blow-for-blow,” Green said. “We never lost our intensity from the beginning of the game to the end of the game.” The Tide travels to face Mississippi State (4-5, 2-3) in Starkville Saturday. The game is

CW | Katie BennettThe Alabama defense waits for LSUʼs Jordan Jefferson to snap the ball. The defense held the Bayou Bengals to zero points and nine total yards in the fourth quarter.

Offensive line – 3.3 Cumulative: 3.13The front five had some trouble opening up running lanes early in the game, but provided solid pass protection for most of the first half, allowing McElroy time to throw. The line gave up what could have been a crucial safety in the shadow of the goal line in the third quarter, but wore down the LSU defense in the final frame.

Defensive line – 3.8 Cumulative: 3.93Terrance Cody and company surrendered only 95 yards on the ground, but it was over their season average. Until Charles Scott was injured, the LSU back was able to con-vert too many 3rd-and-short situations that kept Bayou Bengal drives alive. Marcell Dareus’s two late sacks were crucial to keeping momentum in the Tide’s favor.

Linebackers – 3.8 Cumulative: 3.9Rolando McClain had another outstanding outing, racking up nine tackles and a quarterback hit. Nico Johnson recorded a 15-yard sack on Jordan Jefferson that killed an LSU drive and led to Jefferson leaving the game. Tiger freshman phenom Russell Shepard was adequately contained on the edges for the entirety of the game. Only Cory Reamer’s surrendered touch-down in pass coverage keeps the group from a perfect grade.

Defensive backs – 4.0 Cumulative: 3.71The biggest defensive threat for the Tide heading into thegame was the talented LSU wide receiver core, and theAlabama secondary made sure the threat did not become apromise. The LSU passing offense was held to a meager 158passing yards, and much of the credit goes to the excellentcoverage by the Tide defensive backs.

Special teams – 4.0 Cumulative: 3.71Saturday was by far the shining moment of the Tide’s spe-cial teams for the season. Trindon Holliday never threat-ened to break a long return on kickoffs, and Javier Arenashad a crucial midfield return that set the Tide up for itsfirst score of the game. Senior kicker Leigh Tiffin’s threefield goals provided the winning margin of victory andplaced him atop the all-time UA scoring record books.

Coaching – 3.8 Cumulative: 3.66The offensive game plan to begin the game set the tone ofaggression that head coach Nick Saban had preached aboutregaining all week, starting off the game with seven consecu-tive passes and 25 in the first half and opened the defense upfor the run in the second half. On defense, the Tide simply con-tained LSU, forcing the Tigers to attempt to make big plays,which they could not do often enough late in the game to win.

8 Monday, November 9, 2009 SPORTS The Crimson White

205.342.4868woods-n-water.com

On Hill Behind Wal-Mart on Skyland

The Student Government Associationand

The Office of the Dean of Studentswill honor the memory of

Carly Lauren Johnsonwith a Denny Chimes Memorial Tribute

4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

November 9, 2009Family, Friends, and members of the University community are invited to

gather near the chimes.

*In the event of rain, the location will change to the steps of the Rose Administration Building

By Jason GallowaySports Editor

Criticism doesn’t usually faze Julio Jones, but the soph-omore wide receiver wanted nothing more than to prove his most recent skeptic wrong in Saturday’s 24-15 victory over LSU. Jones’s 73-yard touch-down catch with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter put the Crimson Tide ahead for good and put a clamp on LSU cor-nerback Patrick Peterson’s mouth for the rest of the game. “Julio actually got real mad at one point of the game,” said quarterback Greg McElroy. “[Peterson] I guess was talk-ing a little bit. [Jones] said, ‘Yeah, they say I’m not great, well we’re going to show them right now,’ and he sure did. He

made a great play in the key moment of the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run so fast down the line.” When it appeared nobody in the Tide’s receiving corps was going to step up this sea-son, Saturday’s game saw Jones record his first 100-yard receiving performance of the year, Marquis Maze haul in six passes for 88 yards (all in the first half ) and Darius Hanks make a fantastic 21-yard touchdown grab in the front corner of the end zone to give Alabama its first lead of the game. “We want to continue to feature [Jones], but I’m really pleased with the way the rest of our receivers played in the game,” said head coach Nick Saban. “They all made some big plays… and that’s what we

need.” Alabama’s 276 passing yards against the Tigers was the first time the Tide broke the 150-yard barrier since week four, and there were still missed opportunities for even more big plays through the air. McElroy missed a wide open Maze streaking down the side-line in the first quarter, over-threw Jones in the end zone in the second quarter, did not see a wide open Maze in the end zone on his interception near the end of the first half and put too much on a trick play pass to Brad Smelley in the third quarter that also could have gone for a touch-down. Despite the miscues, how-ever, the Tide’s receivers kept getting open, and the passing

FOOTBALL | SIDEBAR

e e a 8 t

--s s e d

f t -

p -

The number of first half passes thrown by Greg McElroy against the Bayou Bengals, more than in four complete games this season.

25THE CRIMSON TIDE by the numbers

With 144 yards on Saturday, Mark Ingram recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game in 2009.

5The number of yards the LSU offense gained in the fourth quarter. The Tide offense also held onto the ball for 10:56 of the 15 minutes.

9

The number of SECWest teams other thanAlabama to repeat asdivision champ since theinception of the champi-onship game in 1992.

0

Receivers step up in Tide victory

game produced the explosive plays Alabama has been look-ing for since the first month of the season. “It was a big level of empha-sis this past week to get it in

[the receivers’] hands and let them make plays just like we were able to do at the begin-ning of the year,” McElroy said. “We have great talent. We

never doubted that. I have a lot of faith in those guys, and any time I can get it in their hands, they have the ability to go the distance, which happened a couple

CW | Katie BennettJunior wide receiver Darius Hanks angles toward the end zone after catching a third-quarter pass from quarterback Greg McElroy. Hanks would score on the play.

The number of years since the Tide has recorded back-to-back 9-0 starts, dating back to the 1973-1974 seasons.

35

The difference in Alabama’s total offensive yardage (452) and LSU’s (253). Alabama has out-gained all but one oppo-nent (Tennessee) this season.

199

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10 Monday, November 9, 2009 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Crimson White

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Jim Carrey’s Scrooge collected holiday donations from movie fans with his new take on “A Christmas Carol,” which took in $31 million to open as the weekend’s top movie.

The Disney animated version of the Charles Dickens classic knocked the King of Pop out of the No. 1 spot as “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” slipped to second place with $14 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Sony’s “This Is It,” presenting rehearsal performances Jackson shot

before his death last June, raised its domestic total to $57.9 million. Worldwide, “This Is It” has taken in $186.5 million.

Featuring Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and also as the three holiday ghosts that show Scrooge the error of his miserly ways, “A Christmas Carol” came in on the low end of Disney’s expectations for opening weekend.

On the other end of the spec-trum, Lionsgate’s acclaimed drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” had a spectacular start, pulling in $1.8 million in just 18 the-aters, averaging $100,000 a cinema.

That compares with an $8,418 average for “A Christmas Carol” in 3,683 the-aters.

“Precious” had a record average for films opening in 10 or more theaters. Others that have averaged $100,000 or more typically debut in only a few cinemas.

The weekend brought a rush of other new movies, led by George Clooney’s comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” which finished at No. 3 with $13.3 million. The Overture Films release is a satiric look at U.S. military efforts to create “warrior monks” who can predict the future or

walk through walls.Debuting in fourth place with $12.5

million was Universal’s “The Fourth Kind,” starring Milla Jovovich as a psychologist studying alien abduc-tions in Alaska.

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden’s sci-fi tale “The Box” opened at No. 6 with $7.9 million. The Warner Bros. thriller centers on a couple given a mysterious box that can provide them $1 million, but at the cost of a strang-er’s life.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com.

Final figures will be released Monday. 1. “A Christmas Carol,” $31 million. 2. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” $14 million. 3. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $13.3 million. 4. “The Fourth Kind,” $12.5 million. 5. “Paranormal Activity,” $8.6 mil-lion. 6. “The Box,” $7.9 million. 7. “Couples Retreat,” $6.4 million. 8. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $6.2 mil-lion. 9. “Where the Wild Things Are,” $4.2 million. 10. “Astro Boy,” $2.6 million.

By Kerie KerstetterStaff Writer

Like a spectrum of light, the Friday night concert at Moody Concert Hall was colorful and diverse.

The Fall Spectrum Showcase, put on by the Moody School of Music, was a free event that began at 7:30 p.m. The show featured a sampling of all the different departments within the School of Music. The selec-tions ranged from classical to jazz, and performers included both students and faculty.

“The purpose of the concert was to see all the different things going on with music at our school,” said Will English, a freshman majoring in tele-communications and film and a member of the Million Dollar Band.

The show began with the

“Star Spangled Banner,” performed by the Alabama Faculty Brass Quintet. Other performing groups included the Alabama Wind Ensemble, Capstone Woodwind Quintet, Percussion Ensemble, Cavell Trio, Huxford Symphony Orchestra, University Singers, Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Standards Combo. The musi-cians played from various spotlighted locations in the concert hall, including differ-ent parts of the stage and dif-ferent tiers.

Many students said they liked the concept of hearing a sampling from the various music departments all in one show.

Bess Rhodes, a freshman majoring in chemical engi-neering, said the performers succeeded in showing the tal-ent and diversity of the Music

School. “I have a lot of friends

involved in different music programs, so I come to most all of the music performances, but it was neat to see it all at once.” Rhodes said.

The Fall Spectrum Showcase lasted two hours, and ended with an energetic finale by the Million Dollar Band. Band members lined the aisles on all levels of the Moody Concert Hall as they danced and played multiple game day favorites. Songs includ-ed “I Want You Back” and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, as well as “Get Ready” by the Temptations. The band ended with “Yea Alabama” in the spirit of Saturday’s football game against Louisiana State University.

“The whole idea is to get excited for the game and to

get people interested in the band and what we’re doing,” said sophomore band member Anna McCullers. “We had fun doing that tonight. As much fun as you can have, we had it.”

Organizers said they hope the concert aroused interest in the various music programs at the University. Students can visit music.ua.edu to learn more about the different departments and upcoming events.

Many performing groups from the Fall Spectrum Showcase will be hosting concerts this week. The UA Percussion Ensemble per-forms tonight at 7:30 in the Moody Concert Hall, and the Jazz Standards Combo per-forms Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. also at Moody. Visit the Web site for more information.

Spectrum brings UA musicians together

The Million Dollar Band was the grand fi nale at the Fall Spectrum Concert Friday night.

CW | Bethany Martin

Carrey’s ‘Christmas Carol’ wraps up $31M weekend

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 12 • Monday, November 9, 2009

Editor • Steven Nalleysmnalley@crimson.ua.edu

FRIDAY

SUNDAY

SATURDAY

• Softball vs Tulane: 2 p.m.•Men’s tennis vs Arkansas: 4 p.m.

• Men’s track and field vs Auburn: 12 p.m.

•Gymnastics vs Georgia: 2 p.m.

• Swimming vs Tennessee: 12 p.m.

A&Ethis weekend

By Steven NalleyArts & Entertainment Editor

What if Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso met? That’s the question the Alabama Theatre department will set out to answer when they

begin performing “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Gallaway Theatre. In the play, Einstein and Picasso are both on the verge of revolutionary ideas when they cross paths in a French bar called the Lapin Agile, and they meet

other famous figures, including a man from the future who may or may not be Elvis Presley. Steve Martin wrote the play in 1993. The play will run from Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m, and on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

By Bryan BofillStaff Writer

The United States gov-ernment has funded a lot of questionable programs over the years, but a secret psy-chic soldier program? George Clooney plays the role of one such supposedly psychic sol-dier in his latest film “The Men Who Stare At Goats.”

The premise for “The Men Who Stare At Goats” comes from a 2004 book of the same name written by Jon Ronson, who has investigated connec-tions between the U.S. and the creation of psychic soldiers. Some of the information is true, and most won’t believe

UA Theatre Department performs Martin comedy

Runtime: 93 minutes

MPAA rating: R

Release date: Nov. 6

CW critic’s rating:

Bottom line: ““The Men Who Stare at Goats” is funny when it isn’t bogged down by less-in-teresting dramatic scenes. The ending and pacing hurt an otherwise compel-ling story.

‘THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS’

“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” is debuting at Galloway Theater. Steve Martin wrote the script for the play in 1993.CW | Daniel Owen

‘Men Who Stare at Goats’ suffers pacing issuesClooney, other psychic ‘Jedi’ hilarious most of the time

it actually happened, but, believe it or not, some of it did happen.

This is the idea: Lt. Django (Jeff Bridges) is asked after his military tour in Vietnam to head a U.S. government-spon-sored psychic warrior pro-gram, dubbed “The New Earth Army” to compete with those commie-loving Russians. Lyn Cassady (Clooney) signs up for the program and flourish-es as a psychic soldier under Django.

Lyn develops skills that will aid him in preventing potential skirmishes, such as remote viewing, looking into the future, passing through walls and the ability to stop the heart of a goat just by staring at it.

Now, we fast-forward to the present day. Lyn has been reactivated and ordered on a new mission in Iraq accompa-nied by newspaper journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) who is desperate for a story.

Because of Lyn’s thick-head-edness, Wilton and Lyn find themselves in the middle of the Iraqi conflict, trying des-perately to reach their desti-nation.

“The Men Who Stare At Goats” is a laughably good time. You’ll find that direc-tor Grant Heslov and the cast put a lot of effort into making this movie work. The mix-ture of alleged happenings of U.S.-funded programs with the naïve and hilarious cast makes for a great comedy.

The training of these psy-chic soldiers — “Jedi war-riors” as Lyn calls them — often involves hippie and countercultural procedures to help them tap into the power of the mind. They med-itate, dance to the hard rock music of Boston, and ingest large quantities of psycho-tropic drugs, usually LSD, to help them achieve their goals.

One major flaw in “The Men

Who Stare At Goats” is that it struggles in its pacing. Most of the time you’ll be laughing and giggling at the quirky and amusing retorts by the cast, but some scenes do seem a lit-tle stretched and lost. During the more emotional scenes you’ll be wondering when the next funny moment will hap-pen, but it won’t come for a while.

It’s a hit-or-miss film. The story is compelling at first but comes to a crash landing in the end. The star-packed cast carries the plot all the way to the finish line.

But the film is memorable. After watching it, you can’t help but quote it over and over again. If there is one thing that is missing in this film, it’s Kevin Spacey, who is utterly hilarious.

“The Men Who Stare At Goats” is a trip and well worth the cost of admission despite the new hike in ticket prices at the movie theater.

MOVIE REVIEW | MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS