Novermber 22, 2010

Tensions were high for a number of reasons during the SGA meeting right after Home-coming. The frustration peaked, however, when Homecoming Chair Ashley Johnston laid into the senate for its lack of participation.

“I can count on two hands the number of senators who were involved with Homecom-ing,” Johnston said. “Only one-quarter to one-third of the senate was at attendance, and this makes us look really bad.”

Since then, The Vanguard has been inves-tigating this year’s Student Government As-sociation (SGA) senate involvement. Many of the senators agreed with Johnston, but no

Mathematics and Statistics Professor Dr. Satya Mishra passed away Oct. 22 after a three-year battle with cancer and having serving USA for almost three de-

cades.Mishra, who had

just retired from USA Oct. 1 because of his illness, was 65 years old.

Aside from serving as a statistics consul-tant for the USA and Mobile communities, Mishra was instru-mental in developing the Statistics wing

of his department and worked in hiring, tenure and promotion committees.

One of his colleagues said that look-ing back on his time spent with Mishra reminded him of how “on a personal level, it was remarkable to talk with the fellow.”

Mathematics and Statistics Profes-sor Dr. Scott Carter said that when he chaired the department, Mishra was an

involved, capable assistant to him from May 2002 to March 2009.

“He would come in once every two weeks and I knew I had to stop what I was doing and talk about the problems he came to me with,” Carter said. The types of problems Mishra concerned himself with were usually about improv-ing the quality of students at USA and getting the faculty’s quality recognized, according to Carter.

Mishra was a “deeply passionate, tough” professor with quick wit and ra-zor-sharp intellect, according to Carter. He was always fair to his students, Carter said, adding that students in turn showed respect for the professor.

“One of my Master’s students said she wanted to have a bumper sticker that said ‘I passed Mishra’s class,’” he said.

“He was generous with ideas,” Carter said. “He was generous with his personal wealth, too. He would always help some-body out.”

“He was a great professor and I wish now I had taken advantage of his help af-ter hours,” said USA alum David McK-enzie, who said he took Mishra’s Prob-ability and Statistics course. “He was one

See Etc. 6

Be a Responsible Pet Owner. Find Out How in ‘The Rant.’

The Vanguard Catches up with Lady Jags Head Basketball CoachSee Sports, p. 11

“Sarah Palin’s Alaska”:Political Move or Reach for Attention??See Opinion, p. 13

Inside Police Blotter p. 2 Etc. p. 6 Sports p. 10 Opinion p. 12 Distractions p. 14

VOLUME 48, NUMBER 17 November 22, 2010 Serving USA Since 1965

Correction:An article last week incorrectly stated that SA Group, LLC is responsible for the Dining Hall construction currently happening on campus. USA’s Facilities Management is currently overseeing the project. The Vanguard apologizes for this error.

Courtesy of John Adams, USA Public Relations

VanguardVanguardVanguardThe

USA Breaks Ground on Pediatric Expansion

Despite widespread opposition from both students and faculty, USA administration has decided to model next year’s academic calen-dar after this year’s. The key features that will remain are a week-late start, a two-day fall break in October, and Saturday exams.

This opposition is evinced in both the fall break surveys sent to students and faculty and comments made during the Faculty Senate (FS) meeting last week.

The Calendar Committee, which is com-prised of students and faculty, meets early each year to recommend an academic calendar for forthcoming years. The feeling, especially at the FS meeting, was that the administration made this decision against the recommenda-tion of the committee.

The announced calendar prompted a great deal of discussion at the FS meeting, culmi-

nating in a show vote of support for the pre-vious calendar committee’s recommendation. With a vote of 15 for, five against, and six ab-stentions, the vote to support a calendar that started on time and still included a fall break

was approved.The Vanguard spoke

with David Johnson, senior vice president of Academic Affairs, about the newly announced calendar.

“We needed to get next year’s calendar published,” Johnson said. “We usually pub-lish the academic calen-dar in late summer, and it absolutely has to be

done by mid-October.”Although the calendar committee isn’t set

to convene until early next year, Johnson said

he had to go ahead and make the decision to publish a calendar that is similar to this year’s. “We need to see how much disruption Satur-day exams actually cause,” Johnson said, add-ing that he doesn’t perceive universal opposi-tion to the new calendar.

The decision to start school a week late, Johnson said, was motivated by the climate in mid-August and the $50,000 in utility savings the University would see. Plus, Johnson said, “it’s more pleasant to go a week late in De-cember than a week early in August.”

With these considerations in mind, Johnson said he took the calendar committee’s recom-mendations and made the decision to start school a week late.

The fall break was a change the Student Government Association (SGA) has pushed for in previous years - a change that also gained support from the faculty.

But with these two delays in the school cal-

Johnson: Academic Calendar Same Next Year

Daniela [email protected]

Mishra

USA Remembers Statistics Professor

Alex WhalenASSOCIATE [email protected]

Civic leaders, University administrators and staff and administration the USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital gathered Wednesday morning to officially break ground at the site of the new 200,000-square-foot addition to the hospital. The new wing costs $72.6 million and will almost double the current size of the institution. SEE STORY ON P. 4. see MISHRA | 3

see CALENDAR | 3

Johnson

Senate’s Involvement QuestionedAlex WhalenASSOCIATE [email protected]

see SGA | 15

Friend The Vanguard on Facebook and follow us on Twitter:www.twitter.com/USAVanguard

2 November 22, 2010VanguardThe

VanguardThe

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11/11- Minor in Posses-sion of Alcohol/ Present-ing False Identification to PoliceAn underage student was found with an alcoholic drink and presented a fake ID to an officer at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

11/12-Public Intoxica-tionA male non-student was arrested for public intoxi-cation in the Gamma park-ing lot at 4 a.m.

11/12-Criminal Mis-chief/Damage to Private PropertyA vehicle was keyed on the

USA South Drive side of the Administration Build-ing parking lot with intent to damage property. The damage was estimated at $500.

11/14-Public Intoxica-tionA male student was arrest-ed for public intoxication in The Grove parking lot at 3 a.m.

11/15-HarassmentA Gamma resident report-ed receiving harassing text messages from an ex-boy-friend.

11/16-Theft of Property, 3rd DegreeA blue BMX bike was sto-len from Delta 5 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

11/16-Theft From Public BuildingAn iPhone was reported stolen from the Student Recreation Center. The item was valued at $320.

11/17-Assault, 3rd DegreeAn unknown subject caused minor physical injury to a victim by strik-ing her with a closed fist on Jack Brunson Drive at approximately 3:12 p.m.

P LICE BL TTER

Fool Me OnceTradition. It is something the Admin-

istration is quick to say “we don’t have enough of,” and, far too often, SGA is one of the few groups on campus that works to better this problem. Whether it is hosting Homecoming, Spirit Week, or the plethora of other events we co-sponsor to bring stu-dents together, we care about our great uni-versity and want to see it continue to grow and flourish. However, I think we are ne-glecting (or choosing to ignore) one of the greatest traditions on our campus, a tradi-tion that many of our Administrators live by and make decisions by on a daily basis. And what tradition is this? This would be the tradition of neglect-- neglect of student and faculty opinion in major decisions.

My first dose of this tradition came when I was a sophomore serving on the calendar committee. The committee, composed of various faculty, deans, and administra-tion, recommended a calendar for this year based on the original start date, contained a two day fall break and NO Saturday ex-ams. The committee was never contacted about the drastic changes implemented in this year’s calendar, nor did we EVER once discuss the idea of exams being held on a Saturday. So what brought about the week late start? We (calendar committee) were told that it was a change President Moulton wanted to see in the 2010-2011 calendar.

So after asking students, faculty, and other administrators the verdict from the com-mittee was, “no-a week late start is not what we want.” However, the 2010-2011 calendar still reflected the week late start. Then, the administration quickly blamed Saturday exams solely on the two day fall break that STUDENTS wanted. This mas-querade has gone on far too long, and I, for one, am frustrated with giving and caring so much when essentially the decisions are made with neglect to the opinions of the people that are directly affected by them-students and faculty. SGA sent the admin-istration data early in October that reflect-ed student distaste with the week late start and Saturday exams. In conjunction with this data, the faculty senate recommended the administration implement a calendar based off of the proposal of the calendar committee (that did not include a week late start).

The SGA Senate and Faculty Senate both sent strong messages to the Adminis-tration this semester stating we did NOT like the calendar that includes Saturday exams, and just this week both groups found out that the 2011-2012 calendar will still con-tain Saturday exams, a decision that I find absolutely unnecessary and once again was made without regard to student and faculty input. The fact of the matter is, not a single administrator will have to be here for work

that Saturday, but faculty and students will suffer the consequences of the administra-tion’s decision for a week late start.

My second term on the calendar com-mittee begins soon, and I will be strongly voicing the opinion from the student body that a week late start is not necessary or wanted in the calendar. The administra-tion fooled us once by pretending to take our opinions into consideration while still implementing the calendar on their terms. When it comes down to it, President Moulton will have to decide which change stays and which change goes because there isn’t room in our calendar for a week late start and a fall break. You fooled us once by forming a committee, asking our opin-ions, and not implementing the changes we unanimously supported. So President Moulton, with the reinstatement of the cal-endar committee and the opinions on this matter stronger than ever, please don’t fool us twice. Let’s change this tradition of ne-glect by taking seriously the opinions of the students and faculty.

Kimberly Proctor, President Student Government Association (And for the Administrators who don’t

live by this tradition- Thank you! Thank you for making decisions that positively af-fect students and caring about our opinions by reflecting them in your policies!)

Letter to the Editor

“Do you see the burning smoke coming out of that chimney? That’s your family.”

Agnes Tennenbaum’s Hungarian accent was thick, but not enough to hide the sad-ness in her voice as she recalled her experi-ences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

Sitting in a chair in USA’s Main Library Auditorium, Tennenbaum, a Jew, told the crowd that had gathered about how a Ger-man woman, a guard in the concentration camp Tennenbaum was trapped in, barked at her and the other women huddled on the wet, cold floor that served as their beds about how their family members were no longer alive but mere ashes smoldering at the bottom of a furnace.

That was the day the Germans were burning Gypsies alive at Auschwitz, Ten-nenbaum said, and although she would never be forced into one of the furnaces, she was clinging to her sister and aunt for dear life. She said she forced herself to conjure up happy memories of her past to keep her sanity.

Their heads were shaved, and they looked more like “misplaced mannequins than human beings,” she said.

One day, guards took her group to a room with shower heads, and as Tennen-baum held on to her sister, she didn’t know whether to expect a hot shower or deadly cyanide gas.

“My heart galloped in my chest,” she said, describing how they waited and waited to see if they were chosen to die in those chambers. She said she wanted to yell and scream when hot water came pouring out of the shower heads, but no sound came out.

It was 1944, and she was just 20 years old. She would be subject to the horrors of Nazi abuse for an entire year before she would be liberated by Allied forces, she told her enthralled listeners. Until she was freed,

3November 22, 2010 VanguardThe

of the more approachable stats professors.”Mishra even endowed a Mathematics and

Statistics scholarship named after his first wife, Sushila Mishra, who died about 16 years ago, Carter said.

Outside of the math and statistics world, Mishra was an enthusiastic listener and play-er of classical Indian music.

“He always wanted to get the highest caliber Indian musician that he could in the community [to perform here],” Carter said. On occasion, Mishra would host small con-certs at his home.

The late professor was also a highly cited writer. The book Mishra co-authored, “Mod-ern Mathematical Statistics,” is a standard text in advanced probability and statistics courses, according to Carter.

Mishra was “very proud of how he main-tained his health,” the professor said. He was always active, doing “whatever he could to keep his body healthy.”

Also a priest, Mishra performed many Hindu weddings in the U.S. and officiated over Indian community ceremonies.

After earning his Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at the University of Gorakhpur, India, he earned Master’s degrees in Theoretical Mathemat-ics at Banaras Hindu University, India. In 1972, he graduated with additional Master’s degrees in Applied Mathematics from a joint program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachu-setts.

After earning his Ph.D from Ohio State University, he joined USA in 1982.

Mishra is survived by his wife, two chil-dren, daughter-in-law and two grandchil-dren. They have requested that instead of flowers, memorials for Mishra be made to the American Cancer Society.

Mishrafrom page 1

endar, students who needed to sit for ex-ams at the end of the fall semester would be disadvantaged without the inclusion of Saturday exams, according to Johnson.

“Lots of schools have Saturday exams,” Johnson said. “Let’s give it a chance and see how it does.”

The calendar committee will meet early next semester to discuss changes for the

2012 academic calendar. If the discus-sion up to this point is any guide, then it is highly likely that the committee will recommend a calendar that starts on time and includes a fall break while avoiding Saturday exams.

Dr. Jim Connors, FS chair, said he still has hope that the administration will make the changes students and faculty want.

“I believe the administration is listening to our recommendations and wants what is best for everyone,” Connors said.

Calendarfrom page 1

A Devilishly Good Time

Photos by Daniela Werner | Editor-in-Chief

USA’s Opera Theatre ensemble pre-sented its gala concert, ‘Divas, Divos and Devils,’ this past weekend at Laid-law Performing Arts Center. The pro-gram, directed by Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Thomas Rowell, featured 19 students singing pieces from works like ‘Guys and Dolls’ and ‘Candide.’ Above: From left to right, Nick Brown-lee, Krysten Chenoweth and Brandon Caten perform ‘Beauty School Drop-out’ from the musical ‘Grease.’ Left: Er-ica Washington sings ‘Twelve Children’ from ‘Dessa Rose.’

Holocaust Survivor: ‘I Want People to Know the Truth’


Daniela Werner | Editor-in-Chief

Holocaust survivor Agnes Tennenbaum, of Hun-gary, shared her story with a group of USA stu-dents, faculty and staff this past Friday.

see HOLOCAUST | 9

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com, select “Options” and click on “RSS Subscribe.”

USA broke ground on the $72.6 million pediatric expansion at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital Wednesday morning.

The new 200,000-square-foot wing, which will almost double the size of the ex-isting facility and allow the hospital to treat more patients in Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care and Surgery, will have four floors with bigger patient ar-eas, increased cafeteria and kitchen space, and more room for teaching University medical residents and students.

Part of the expansion is funded from the sale of USA’s Brookley Campus, which the USA Foundation has taken on.

Dr. Samuel Strada, dean of the College of Medicine, said the new space will im-prove students’ learning environment, al-lowing them much more opportunities to learn about clinical cases.

He said his staff expects to be able to have more small group discussions once the new wing is finished and that more spe-

cialized programs, like electives in pediatric specialties, may come out of the addition.

“Students will have the opportunity to work with several different specialties, like pathology and surgery,” he said.

The hospital itself is one of less than 10 hospitals in the U.S. that provide care specifically for women and children. The hospital admits 3,000 children annually and has the only Level One trauma center in the region.

During the ceremony, Moulton named five ingredients that he said make USA’s health service offerings great: talented phy-sicians; a first-rate staff; the USA Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health; the collection of physicians in the area who collaborate with USA and the “widespread support of civic leaders and philanthro-pists.”

The help of these people, he said, “will allow us to raise the level of patient care” the hospital offers.

The construction should take about two to two and a half years before it’s complete, Strada said.


Admin: SHC Switch to E-Records Beneficial to All

In the face of a student population that has peaked at 15,000, USA has had to make sev-eral adjustments.

A new dormitory and Dining Hall are under construction, a new Engineering and Comput-er Sciences building is being built, and now, the Student Health Center (SHC) has converted to electronic record-keeping for its patients’ files.

SHC Practice Director Beverly Kellen called the recent change to electronic records a significant improvement from the paper charts the SHC has been using since she began work-ing there in 2005.

Patients at the SHC will notice a change as soon as they walk in. They don’t have to sign in, which enhances patient confidentiality, she said. All that is required is a Jag number and student ID. Receptionists have access to all the demographic information on a student’s chart from that moment.

Tiffany Tucker, an SHC receptionist, said she’s happy to see the paper go.

“It’s not as big of a hassle taking care of all the information,” she said. “You just put in the J-number. It’s much easier and helps us stay fast-paced.”

Once patients reach exam rooms, doctors use small computers to input all of the recom-mendations and changes to history or medica-tions. Labs and radiology requests are ordered from these computers, also.

The fact that everything is typed and clearly displayed has been a tremendous help, Kellen said. Before the change, lab slips and chart info were handwritten – and occasionally they were difficult to read or were misfiled.

“With this system, sometimes things get deleted,” said Suzana Sogorovic, SHC medi-cal director. “We don’t have paper backups of medical records here but we do keep prescrip-tion pads and paper copies of prescriptions. With any computer, if it doesn’t work, you can’t get the information. But the prescriptions can be written even if there is no Internet or power.”

The electronically-written prescriptions are sent directly to the pharmacy, which eases the adjustment or correction of papers by doctors who may have forgotten to sign or fill some-thing out.

“The system itself prompts you – if you’re in a hurry you can’t just close it out,” Kellen ex-plained. “If [a doctor] gives you a shot, she has to document the lot number, which arm you got it in, the medication dispensed, everything. It won’t let you go onto the next step until you get all the documentation filled out, and you can’t close it until the doctor signs off on it.

“This really helps with human error – leg-ibility, mixups, etc. Once you filed a piece of paper there, it’s in a sea of charts and it’s hard to find.”

Continued at www.usavanguard.com.

Cal ThomasSENIOR [email protected]

USA Begins Work on Hospital Expansion

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6Vanguard

The

November 22, 2010

My love for animals drove me to seek a job at a veterinary clin-ic, and while I do enjoy the job about half of the time, the other half is spent in a state of worry, of being heartsick and furious at the same time.

Half of the vet visits involve responsible pet-owners, bring-ing in Fluffy or Dexter for their annual shots or to pick up heart-worm prevention. The other half of the visits to the vet turns my stomach, and it is for these pet-owners that I write this rant.

You want to own a pet? You want to take that little droopy-eyed Beagle puppy in the box at PetSmart home? Stop for a moment and check your bank account. Having a pet is not cheap. Annual and semi-annual vaccinations are the only way to keep your pet healthy, as well as having them on constant heartworm prevention.

Have you ever seen a dog that is suffering from heartworms? It is the most pitiful thing you will ever see, comparative only to the horrors experienced by a dog suffering from parvovirus. Both of these illnesses are easily prevented with a monthly pill or chewable, but it’s up to the owner to take this step.

If you don’t have the money for regular health care do not get a pet. It’s not fair to anyone, and you will eat your own heart out if you find yourself sitting in an examination room while the doc-tor explains that the only way to save your dog is with a $5,000 operation. Then you choose to euthanize. It costs about 1/100 of the price of the operation. Don’t have the money for vaccines and prevention or a way to provide necessary health care if something happens? You don’t have the money for a pet.

Spay or neuter your dog or cat. It’s that simple. It’s not going to change your dog’s personality or his love for you. But the rates of animal cruelty rise in accordance with the birth rate of unwanted puppies and kittens, and where is the justice in that?

Several months ago a local radio station reported that an entire box of puppies had been emptied onto I-10. It’s sickening even to write it. Someone did not spay his dog, she got pregnant and they didn’t want the puppies, so they dumped them onto a traffic-filled interstate?

If you are not a licensed breeder, spay or neuter your cat.Leash your dog, or fence your backyard. One of the most heart-

breaking scenes I have ever witnessed is that of an old man laying over his dog on the exam table, sobbing and covered in his dog’s blood; the dog was hit by a car, and the man had found him on the side of the road. His family pet, his friend of ten years; the dog died five minutes later. If only he had tied the dog up, or made sure the gate was closed.

If you have the money to raise a pet fairly, seriously consider adopting. There are some amazing animals out there who have nothing but love to give, and as cheesy as that sounds, it’s the truth. Breeders will always find a home for their dogs; we’ve gotten snob-by about animals and for some people, only designer dogs will do.

Have you ever seen video footage of a puppy mill? Have you seen the dogs living on top of each other, crawling through their own feces and urine and only really being allowed outside of their 3x2 box when it’s time to breed or give birth? And then, when the mother is too old to produce puppies, she is killed. You want a puppy that came from THAT litter?!

So you find yourself stuck in Mobile for the Christmas holiday break, or to be more politically correct, winter break.

Either way, only a few days of the long break will be devoted to the Jaweh of your choice, whether that is foot-ball or a guy in a robe. You will need things to do to keep you entertained, and, surprisingly, Mobile offers quite the selection.

One of the first things on the December agenda, which people can enjoy while still in school, occurs on Royal Street downtown: the North Pole Stroll sleighing into town Dec. 3.

The stroll is put together by local businesses and the Downtown Mobile Alliance. It includes live music from Veets, a construction of Dr. Seuss’ Whoville in the Renais-sance Riverview Hotel Courtyard, a scavenger hunt put on by the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center (details can be found on its Facebook page), and to top it off the

Royal Scam is sponsoring a snow fall coming from Har-grove Engineers & Constructors’ balcony.

This event is surely one for families, teens, college kids and adults alike. Snow on Royal Street, no matter its ori-gin, is surely a sight to see.

A fun, entertaining and free thing to do in Mobile, for those who like hard apple cider and Mobile people, is at-tending the Turtleneck Christmas party, usually hosted on Dec. 23 in a large tent on Old Shell Road. If you like waterfront activities, check out Christmas on the River, at Dog River Dec. 4.

One of the easiest places to view the event would be from one of the establishments at the mouth of the river, the Mariner Restaurant or the River Shack.

The big grand daddy of them all would have to be see-ing the City of Mobile’s New Year celebration on Royal Street. If you thought last year was fun, this year will be even better.

Here are the facts: The city is spending $100,000 on en-tertainment for the one-night party; the funds are coming from a BP PLC grant to help tourism along the Gulf

Laura Beth CalcoteETC. [email protected]

A Mobilian’s Guide to the Holidaze

BEING A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER

Colin McGeePHOTO [email protected]

The Rant Creativity For A Cure Raises

$1k for Cancer Patient

Photos by Colin McGee | Photo Editor

USA student-based organization Creativity for a Cure held a fash-ion show Saturday night in the Student Center Ballroom that raised $1,000 for 11-year-old cancer patient Lindsey Crawley (pictured left).The fashions, part of a collection called 'Angel's Kisses,' were de-signed by Crawley. Local seamstresses donated their time and fabric to make the clothes for the show. Dancers were featured at the event, as well.USA students Capri Abdo (pre-med major) and Bo Barton (nurs-ing major), who head Creativ-ity for a Cure, coordinated the event.According to the group’s website, Creativity for a Cure is a ‘soon-to-be’ non-profit organization that raises money for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Laura Beth CalcoteEtc. Editor

[email protected].


Tales of Futures Present:

Afraid to ask your doctor? Ask Dr. Cannon!

E-mail your health questions and concerns to Dr. Heather Cannon at [email protected].

Anonymous e-mails are welcomed.

Don Runkle has a shocking announcement for you, world: if you want cleaner, more efficient cars, electric cars won’t get you there. Gas engines will.

Mr. Runkle, the CEO of EcoMotors International, says his company has designed something called an “opposing piston, opposing cylinder” engine. He says the engine is smaller, lighter, less expensive, generates more power and has fewer working parts than conventional car engines.

While I’m sure you all are thoroughly versed in internal combustion engine theory, I’ll go over this crazy engine just in case it might have slipped your mind temporarily. Conventional four-stroke gasoline engines have pistons that move up and down in vertical cylinders.

Fuel and air are injected into the air gap between the top of the piston and the ceiling of the cylinder as the piston drops from the top to the bottom of the cylinder.

The piston then compresses the air/fuel mixture up to a certain point by moving back up to the top of the cyl-inder, at which point the spark plug fires, igniting the air/fuel mix and pushing the piston back down.

The piston travels all the way back down the cylinder (driving the crankshaft in the process), and starts back up again, pushing the ignited mixture out of the cylinder,

and the entire ordeal repeats. Typically this entire process is done to a multiple of

four pistons, with each one offset so that one piston is constantly being pushed down at all times.

Unfortunately, this means that the fuel/air mix is only ignited once every other time the piston’s crankshaft rotates (the crankshaft is the thing that moves the piston when it’s not explodey), which is pretty inefficient.

An opposing piston engine, on the other hand, has the pistons sitting horizontally, with the piston heads facing each other (almost smashing into each other).

This setup has the advantage of having an explosion with every piston “stroke” (that is, an explosion every time the piston reaches the top of its cycle), but it requires two crankshafts, making the engine bulkier than it should have to be.

EcoMotors’ opposing pistons opposing cylinders engine is the best of both worlds, in that it only uses one crank-shaft and has an explosion with every piston stroke.

The secret is the set-up: there are two opposing pistons on each side of the central crankshaft, so there is less movement (and therefore less wear-and-tear) on each piston.

This setup also lessens the heat loss in the engine and increases the power density compared to similar-sized conventional engines.

According to EcoMotors, their engine gives cars a 15 percent increase in fuel efficiency over standard gasoline engines. The biggest ‘breakthrough’ EcoMotors is touting is somewhat unconventional: using two of their engines per car, one on top of the other.

At lower speeds, only one engine would be utilized, but both engines would kick in at higher speeds. According to EcoMotors, this would give cars a 30 percent increase in fuel efficiency over conventional engines.

Runkle talks about improving the fuel efficiency even more by adding an electric motor for really low speeds (1-2 mph), creating what he calls a “tribrid system.” No hard numbers on how much it would improve fuel effi-ciency, but if the Chevy Cobalt I’m renting now is telling the truth, the miles per gallon is pretty much crap when you’re moving at really low speeds.

And while I appreciate having access to this informa-tion, I would really appreciate having my car back. Any time you wanna get on the ball, Bright’s Automotive!

EcoMotors is still testing the engine to get good num-bers for emissions and horsepower, and they are look-ing to have their engine used in other applications, like generators and tractors.

Who knows, maybe thanks to EcoMotors, future cars will get 28 miles per gallon instead of 21. The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!

Gabe GrimesSTAFF [email protected]

Gas Engines Not So Bad

Skipping Class Doesn’t Pay OffAs we near the end of the semester, one thing always

comes to mind: “If I wouldn’t have skipped that class, would I have jumped from an 89 to a 90?”

While losing grade points for a less-than-stellar class attendance record might not be a predicament for you, it haunts many a college student.

Students can cite multiple reasons for skipping class: be-ing hung over, road trips, illness, not wanting to be seen by that certain member of the opposite sex (upon which you failed miserably at hitting on last night at penny pitchers). We’ve all been there; we have all made strides or resolutions to not miss class again, yet we come up short in sticking with them.

If you’re lacking the will to sit through that excruciatingly boring biology lab, consider the following reasons to go to class.

Reason one: You are paying for these classes, and by not attending them you are wasting money.

Now, if your parents are footing your tuition bill, then

you may not think you’re doing anything wrong. But what parent – or student, for that matter – wants to pay a few thousand in tuition just so that the person who’s supposed to be earning a degree shows up for exams and makes a B or C.

With just a little more effort, you could have dragged you and your pitiful little “I don’t care” attire and found out exactly what you need to study to make an A.

News flash: Professors explain the material to you and how they want you to understand it; textbooks are just the reservoir of that information. Disclaimer: Some professors may not be the best at conveying what they want to you.

Reason two: Teachers give incentives to come to class. This really isn’t even an issue once you get to upper-level classes because professors and students both have an under-standing that if you do not come to class, you will not pass.

Being an upper-level student typically means you are of legal drinking age, though, and there are only so many nights when one can experience “Two for Tuesday.” The point of this is that an occasional quiz or bonus for atten-dance is an incentive enough for me to tell my liver “No, Whiskey Wednesdays can wait.”

For 100-200 level courses, I find it amazing to listen to

freshman talk to one another about how they skipped the last class and how “That’s so awesome, pound it.”

Silly freshman.For most people, the third and last reason you should

endure that painfully boring lecture is that college is one of the few (if not only) chances you have to improve the rest of your life.

I do not know of that many freshman drop-outs, buck shots or 1.0’s that have gotten a job instead of a well-qual-ified college graduate. If you leave college and the benefit of the parental pocketbook is still available to you, it’s even harder to earn a degree in a timely manner.

Ironically, when people do put themselves through col-lege the second time around, many of them talk about how stupid they were for missing so many classes before.

If none of these reasons have convinced you that you should attend the classes you pay for, or if “Two for Tues-day” is just too tempting to pass up, there’s a useful tool for you: skipclasscalculator.com. This website will calculate if you should even bother to roll out of your “always for one” bed and make it to class.

Paradoxically, you must first go to class a few times in order for this website to be effective.

Colin McGeePHOTO [email protected]

Nothing says fall quite like a warm apple confection oozing with the fragrant aromatics of cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Somewhere between a cobbler and a warm pudding, this dessert stands out among others while staying within the confines of traditional holiday fare.

Preheat the oven to 350. In a greased 8x8 baking dish, combine 2 medium peeled, cored and sliced apples. Sprinkle with three tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Top with ¼ cup of your choice of raisins, dried cranberries or dates.

In a separate bowl, combine one cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup brown sugar, one teaspoon baking powder and ¼ tea-spoon baking soda.

To the dry ingredients, add ½ cup milk, two tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in ½ cup chopped wal-

nuts or pecans. Spread batter over apples. In a saucepan, combine ¾ cup caramel ice cream topping,

½ cup water and one ta-blespoon but-ter, and bring to a boil.

Pour the caramel mix-ture over bat-ter and bake for 35 min-utes or until batter is set. Spoon serv-

ings in bowls over cinnamon, caramel or vanilla ice cream, and drizzle with more caramel ice cream topping.

Apple Goodness: Tradition with a TwistAshley SutterSTAFF [email protected]


she would be shipped to Allendorf and forced to handle poisonous chemicals with no protection for her skin, which eventually turned green and yellow from all the bombs and mines she worked on.

“I had never even had a screw driver in my hand before,” she said, recalling how she knew nothing about the task the Germans set in front of her and the other women in her group, many of whom were well-edu-cated teachers, musicians and housewives. The women would work on explosives while American planes would zoom over the roofs.

When Allied planes flew overhead, Ger-man guards ran, she said. That’s when her group would sing songs.

“That was our revenge,” she said. “How can you sing when we don’t know if we’ll be

blown up? They thought we were crazy.”Her family, she said, never made it out of

Auschwitz alive.“I’ll never return to Hungary,” she said.

That’s the place where she lost everything. It stole the magic of youth from her, she said.

Eventually, she married and bore one son. Although Tennenbaum has traveled around giving her testimony, she admitted that she and her husband never talked about what they saw in the Holocaust in front of their son because “I didn’t want him to grow up hating.”

History professor Dr. Dan Rogers, who teaches the History of the Holocaust, ar-ranged for Tennenbaum to tell her story to his class and guests in the Library Nov. 18. After a brief but detailed talk about what she experienced as the Nazis’ prisoner, she signed copies of one of her books for Rog-ers’ students and talked with The Vanguard for a little bit.

The smile on Tennenbaum’s face after she finished speaking to the group was brighter than one would expect from a person who’d seen what she had seen.

When asked what drives her to keep talk-ing to people about her experiences in Nazi Germany, Tennenbaum replied, “I want people to know the truth. Not too many, but some people still think the Holocaust never [happened]. I’m telling people the facts.”

As the last student in line to get her book signed by Tennenbaum began to say “Goodbye,” she told Tennenbaum that she was thankful she heard those stories that day. They made her grateful for her mother, whom she had just had an argument with before she arrived for Tennenbaum’s meet-ing.

“There’s only one mother,” Tennenbaum smiled at the student. “You can’t replace [parents].”


Holocaustfrom page 3

10Vanguard

The

November 22, 2010

Matt WeaverSports Editor

[email protected]

It’s easy to point them out in the crowd at USA football games.

One wields a silver sword and wears a bright white toga that’s hard to miss from the other side of the green. The other conceals his identity with a mask and dons a white cape with “USA” in giant red and blue letters.

Fans thank them for coming out to games, and football players check in with them to see which match-ups they’ll be attending.

Meet Toga Man, aka Sam Wicker, a 19-year-old Physical Education sophomore who played some high school football in Mc Comb, Miss. Jag Man, a 21-year-old who chooses to remain anonymous to the bitter end, played some high school soccer here in Mobile. Both of them eat, drink and breathe USA sports.

While they’re possibly a couple of the big-gest South Alabama Athletics fans to set foot on campus, they’re also two homegrown, down-to-earth guys who are always up for some ultimate Frisbee.

They will be seen at major basketball games, like USA’s Nov. 28 match-up with LSU, where they’ll be spurring on USA’s fans and holding up a dry erase board to inspire crowd chants.

Their favorite phrases for the board? “Run the play!” and “Read the sign!”

The Vanguard recently met up with the duo for an interview about the guys behind the garb.

The Vanguard: Explain how your game-day personas came about.

Toga Man: At the Halloween game last year, I couldn’t think of anything to wear, so I wore a toga. And then at the white out game, I didn’t have any white shorts or white pants,

so was like, ‘I’ll just wear a white toga again.’ And it just carried over to this year.

Jag Man: My cape was actually made by a fan and given to me. Jag Man’s been at ev-ery home game, and some away [games].

The man behind the mask [now] is not the man behind the mask last year. Jag Man is a tradition we hope to continue passing along every year. Hopefully, Jag Man will never graduate.

V: So you’re working to popularize the phrase ‘Eat ‘em up, Jags!’ instead of ‘South in your mouth.’ Does the crowd respond posi-tively to that?

JM: It seems to me that a lot of people are still kind of holding on to ‘South in your mouth,’ but everyone’s willing to change just

so we can have something everyone can agree on. Bruno’s isn’t going to write ‘South in your mouth’ on their window, but they may write ‘Eat ‘em up, Jags.’

V: What do you most enjoy about USA football?

JM: I like how South has a relatively new football program and that we’re part of shap-ing it into a positive experience for everyone.

V: And you feel like the Jag Man tradition is becoming a part of that?

JM: I’d like to think so, yes.TM: Besides the fact that they’re still un-

defeated, the games are really fun. I like how we’re starting to get a lot more fans consistent-ly. The fans were starting to get into it a little more, the last few games.

JM: It’s helped that we’ve had games that have mattered, that we cheered for. You know, instead of 72-0 blowouts every weekend. It’s great to … actually have to cheer [for the Jags in the fourth quarter].

TM: Coming here before South Alabama football last year … I was a huge Alabama fan. That’s all I basically wore. But then South Alabama athletics changed me.

This is my school – all or nothing. [Pauses] I still hope Alabama wins the Iron Bowl.

JM: I still hope Georgia State beats Ala-bama tonight.

TM: I disagree.V: What’s your gig at football games?TM: We try to keep the fans into it. On big

third-downs, [we] try to get loud to mess up the opposing offense.

JM: After every score, I run up and down the sidelines and high-five all the fans that are on the front row.

V: Literally every score?JM: Yeah, field goal, touchdown. I kind of

get out of the bleachers and just run in that handicapped [persons’] area.

TM: The no-running zone. [chuckles]JM: Yeah, I run in the no-running zone.

No one’s said anything yet.Continued at www.usavanguard.com.

On Nov. 19, The Vanguard caught up with women’s basketball head coach Rick Pietri in Baton Rouge, La., following the Lady Jags 69-38 victory over Southern University.

The conversation began with Pietri ex-plaining his priorities for the 2010 season.

“As always, our goal is to win the Sun Belt Championship,” Pietri said.

That’s likely a tall task as the Sun Belt re-mains one of the tougher mid-majors in all of college basketball.

The Jags are led by senior Christian Shel-ter. Shelter was last season’s top scorer and has always been a low-post scorer.

But Pietri will expect a little more out of his leaders this season, wanting to see more scor-ing and rebounding out of the Mobile native.

Senior point guard Siedah Banks has also improved her game and should help Shelter control the offense.

South Alabama added four new players over the summer, including 6’1” Taylor Am-mons and Ronneka Robertson. The latter is

a gifted player but is still adapting to Pietri’s system.

Another newcomer, Mansa El, mixes ac-curate shooting with great ball handling while Mary Nixon is a slasher in the paint.

“Mary is a very long, athletic player who is known for her defensive prowess in cover-ing perimeter players,” Pietri said. “We feel that with her height and length and the style of defense that we play she will give people problems.

“I also believe that her offensive game will emerge in time as well. She was very efficient offensively at Gulf Coast [Community Col-lege] and was able to score at the high school level, so we’re really excited.”

South Alabama’s strength should lie in a quick and accurate shooting team. Pietri worked with his team before the season began on taking more high-percentage shots.

On the other hand, the Jags are looking to do a better job on rebounding the ball. South Alabama is considerably taller this season and should benefit coming off the glass because of it.

Women’s basketball is prioritizing to win the Sun Belt Championship, which could prove to be a daunting task for the team.

usajaguars.com

Women’s Basketball Impressing Head Coach

How could this list of worst collegiate mascots get any worse than last week? Is this the best that these supposed insti-tutes of higher learning can muster? Can these accredited universities manage any better in part two?

5. Ohio State Buck-eyes

Everyone knows that The Ohio State University are the Buckeyes. But what ex-actly is a buckeye?

Well, it’s actually a nut that grows on the Ohio state tree. Those who have seen the OSU mascot can tell you that the charac-ter is just a guy with red pants and an enor-mously large head. So what makes him a nut? The mascot’s head is actually the rep-resentation of the buckeye. The only saving grace for this mascot is that the Buckeyes are traditional winners in every sport.

4. Presbyterian Blue Hose This was initially much higher on the list.

At first confused to be a blue water hose, Presbyterian is actually modeled after Brave-heart Scotsmen. The Blue Hose is the tradi-tional nickname for Scottish warriors due to the socks they wear in battle. So the name is terrible but the actual explanation works.

3. IPFW MastodonsFirst off, these guys fail at naming their

school. The official title is Indiana University Purdue Fort Worth and that’s not a typo. As for the mastodons, we know these monsters as an extinct prehistoric elephant. The his-tory is that a farmer a few miles off campus found a mastodon bone, and the land was later excavated by scientists from IPFW.

The only problem with this mascot is that if you’re going prehistoric, you have much better choices, like raptors and the T-Rex.

2. Akron Zips It’s surprising to find a Division-I program

on this list but the Zips were originally the Zippers, a popular 1960’s shoe. The Zippers were later shortened to Zips but the school was left with no image.

So the school decided that a kangaroo would do instead. Because you know, outside of Lebron, the kangaroo has to be Akron’s most popular export. The name works from a speed perspective, but these guys still fail.

1. Delta State University Fighting Okra

Delta’s original mascot was actually the Statesmen, but the story says that some of the students didn’t think it was intimidating enough. They apparently needed a mascot that was mean and green. Now, we’ve heard of the North Texas Mean Green in honor of Mean Joe Green and the Tulane Green Wave, but is okra the best Delta could mus-ter?

It’s completely and unbelievably unim-posing. Outside of the allergy-ridden, how

Listing The Worst Mascots In College Sports (Part 2)Jayson CurrySPORTS [email protected]

Jake WasdinSPORTS [email protected]

see WOMEN I 11


The Fans Behind The Face Paint

Colin McGee | Photo EditorToga Man and Jag Man can be spotted cheer-ing the Jaguars on at games and donning un-usual outfits.

Behind the costumes and face paint, Toga Man and Jag Man are just a couple of guys who love South Alabama Athletics.


In basketball there is one position that controls the offense and pace of the game, and that’s the point guard.

Those who run the point are catalysts who push the ball and set up plays. So far in 2010, it’s the point guard that has taken center stage in the NBA. It’s the “Year of the Point Guard.”

In addition to speed and passing, a good point guard must possess location. The full combination is often personifi ed in Boston Celtics’ guard Rajon Rondo, who is quick-ly playing himself into the history books as one of the best in the modern era.

He’s averaging a double-double per game with 15 assists and 11 points a con-test. In his fi rst fi ve games of the season, Rondo recorded a record 82 assists.

If the young guard keeps this up, he could fi nd himself a several-time all star, world champion and perhaps, someday, a hall-of-famer.

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul brings passing, scoring and defense to New Orleans. Paul is back to regular-season form following an injury-plagued 2009.

Paul led the Hornets to a 9-0 start before losing their fi rst game on Nov. 15 at Dallas. Paul is also averaging a double-double a game with 17.8 points, 10.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

With Paul healthy, look for the Hornets to fi nally challenge for a Western Confer-ence title.

With blazing speed and a scoring assas-sin’s mentality, the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose is posting numbers that place him in MVP contention.

Rose is averaging near 26 points and 9 assists a game. Blowing by the defense and making league centers look ridiculous, Rose is a threat to just about any defense.

The Bulls added size and shooting to their roster during the offseason and Rose has benefi ted with more options on the court.

The Bulls appear to be a deep team and should be a title contender when newly ac-quired Carlos Boozer is back on the court.

The rookie of the year award could eas-ily go to Wizards’ point guard John Wall.

The Kentucky University alum, just 11 games into his NBA career has even recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against Wash-ington on Nov. 10. Wall also fi nished the game with six steals.

Wall is averaging 18.1 points and 9.8 assists per game and ranks fourth on the assists leaderboard.

Look for Wall to surpass Blake Griffi n and Evan Turner for 2010-11 rookie of the Year honors.

In Miami, the Heat are tossing the po-sition around like a hot potato between Carlos Arroyo, LeBron James and even Dwayne Wade.

This swapping of point guards shows that Miami has fundamental depth but not a sure thing. Most teams use the scoring guard on the backup point but for a team to rotate three players make for a danger-ous playoff team.

The point guard is the most important spot in today’s game and these fi ve teams should benefi t the spoils during the play-offs.

VanguardThe

Sports Poll

Vote Now!

“I don’t think there is any doubt that Courtney Smith has all of the talent needed to play at the highest level. Size, speed and route-running - he has it, all and he should get

the chance to prove it at the Senior Bowl.”

- J.M. Thomas, Vanguard reader

LAST WEEK:Does Courtney Smith Deserve a Senior Bowl Invite?

Jake WasdinSPORTS [email protected]

When asked about the season so far, Pietri concluded that the team has a number of con-tributors, depth and improved shooting from a season ago.

“We stand to do a lot of damage over the course of a season if we keep playing with this kind of effort and intensity,” Pietri said. “In the preseason, I had hunches, and they haven’t proved me wrong yet.”

When asked which opponents were the teams’ most anticipated, coach Pietri said, “ev-ery game is important.”

“But as far as fans and spectators go, the four SEC schools will probably draw the most fans.”

South Alabama plays Mississippi State and Ole Miss at home and travel to Auburn and Florida.

“Playing in Auburn’s new facility will be a great opportunity for the team as well as my-self,” Pietri said. “The SEC has always been a tough conference over the years, including some number one rankings in the NCAA.”

The Lady Jags (2-1) next return home to host Mississippi State on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

South Alabama team updates, statistics and quotes can be found on Twitter @USAVG-SPORTS and on Facebook at The Vanguard Sports Section.

Sports Editor Matt Weaver contributed to this story.

Womenfrom page 10

NBA Basketball

www.greenascot.comChicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose has quickly established himself as a MVP candidate.

Basketball’s Year of Th e Point GuardSports Briefs

South Alabama Volleyball Falls at Conference Championships

The eighth-seeded University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (16-25, 21-25, 13-25) decision to top-seed-ed Middle Tennessee Thursday night in the opening round of the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships held at Alum-ni Memorial Gym on the Blue Raider campus.

With the loss, South Alabama ends the 2010 season with an 11-21 record. Despite the record, there were a couple of high-lights from the campaign as USA recorded six conference wins for the fi rst time in the program’s history.

The tournament was also the second in the last three years, marking the fi rst time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Men’s Hoops Split Against Southern Miss and Central Michigan

University of South Alabama senior Tim Williams scored a career-high 33 points and the Jaguars held off a pesky Central Michigan men’s basketball team in an 82-76 overtime win Nov. 20 at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars improve to 2-1 while CMU drops to 1-3.

“I thought the guys played really hard,” said acting head coach Michael Floyd. “We lost a little bit of our intensity going into the second half and that’s when Cen-tral Michigan made their run, but our guys showed some fi ght in overtime. I applaud them for paying attention to detail in what we wanted to do.”

Southern Miss held South Alabama to just 20 points in the fi rst half and exploded offensively as the Golden Eagles defeated the Jaguars 93-58 Nov. 16 at Reed Green Coliseum.

Southern Miss hit 68.8 percent from the fl oor in the second half and 54.4 percent for the game while South Alabama con-verted 28.3 percent for the contest.

Women’s Basketball Cruise to 69-38 Victory Over Southern

A strong defensive performance over the fi nal 10 minutes of the fi rst half and three-point shooting helped the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team cruise to a 69-38 road victory Nov. 19 over Southern University at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Christian Shelter led all players with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting and also pulled down fi ve rebounds for the Lady Jags. Shel-ter was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Southern was paced offensively by Han-nah Kador’s 14 points, 11 coming in the second half.

USA (2-1) will now return home to host the fi rst four Southeastern Conference opponents when the Lady Jags welcome Mississippi State to the Mitchell Center.

Tip-off versus the Bulldogs is set for Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 7:05 p.m.

-Wire Reports

Yes100%

12Vanguard

The

November 22, 2010

Alex WhalenOpinion Editor

[email protected]

Ever popular, energy drinks have become a staple in the life of teens and college students alike. Relying on energy drinks to stay awake for fi nals or get to work on time is not a new con-cept.

However, the recent popularity of energy drinks with alcohol in them has created a me-dia frenzy.

First of all, alcohol is a depressant. A depressant is something that reduces excit-ability and calms the nerves. Caffeine, on the other hand, along with Taurine and Ginseng, are stimulants. Stimulants cause excitability, nervousness and keep a person awake.

The danger of drinks like Four Loko is that the combination of a depressant and a stimulant negate each other. It’s called be-ing a “wide-awake drunk.”

It doesn’t make a person feel groggy and tired like a normal night of drinking does. Instead, it makes the drinker feel like they haven’t had that much and that they’re more in control.

What makes the effect worse is that these drinks are being marketed to people under 21. The demographic that consumes the most energy drinks is the high school age

group. Making bright, neon colored cans and pricing them cheaply directly appeals to a younger audience.

Promoting the drink as more of an en-ergy drink than an alcoholic beverage also hits a younger base.

What strikes me as interesting is that the media is treating alcoholic energy drinks like a new development. Tilt and Four Loko may have come about in 2005, but Sparks made its debut in 2002.

Six to eight years later, the FDA came out on November 17 to call for companies Charge Beverages Corp, New Century Brewing Co., Phusion Projects and United Brands Co. to alter their beverages or risk seizure. Phusion, who manufactures Four Loko, has already opted to cut out caffeine, ginseng and taurine.

The New York Daily news cites Four Loko as having the equivalent amount of alcohol as three beers and as much caffeine as three cups of coffee.

Phusion says that its Four Loko has only the same amount of alcohol as many craft beers and as much caffeine as a tall cup of Starbucks’ coffee. Phusion goes on to say it promotes safe drinking by encouraging moderation.

When alcohol is involved in any situa-tion, it becomes an uncertain situation. The problem with energy drink based alcoholic beverages is that it’s incredibly diffi cult to tell when you’ve had too much.

The FDA comes right out and says that these drinks mask intoxication so well that it makes people more likely to drive drunk thinking that they’re sober when, in reality, it’s the “wide-awake” drunk effect.

Students need to keep in mind that re-gardless of how you feel after drinking an energy drink with alcohol, the same amount of alcohol that is in three beers is still af-fecting you. It’s not just one drink, it’s really three.

The bans across the country and the new FDA sanctions are in all reality just going to make what’s left of the original Four Lokos more popular than ever. People will still be mixing vodka and Red Bull and rum and coke.

The take home message is that caffeine will impair your ability to judge your level of intoxication.

It’s ultimately not up to the government to tell people what to drink; it’s up to the people to learn about the interactions and pay attention to percentage of alcohol con-tent in any drink.

The parties and the drinking might be fun, but when you get behind the wheel thinking you’re fi ne and kill a family of four with a newborn, you have to live with those choices.

Especially with the holidays coming up and drinking being more prevalent, plan ahead, know your limits and be safe. It’s not just your life at stake.

Dr. Johnson, when you apologized to the Faculty Senate on Sept. 15 for making the academic cal-endar without consulting them, we thought you

would right the problem next year. You even made a nod to this when you told us in July

that the schedule with Saturday exams and no dead days could be re-evaluated for next year.

When you announced this week that USA would have the same academic schedule next year despite almost universal opposition from faculty and students, we drew the logical conclusion: that you don’t know what it means to apologize.

According to our big, fancy unabridged dictionary we have at The Vanguard offi ce (resources we understand you probably don’t have access to), an apology is an “ex-pression of one’s regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another.”

To use it in a sentence: “The students made an apol-ogy to Dr. Johnson after leaving 554 voice mails on his answering machine protesting Saturday exams.”

Now that you understand what it means to apologize, we hope you won’t make the same mistake this year by apologizing for something you plan on doing anyway. See, the crucial component of an apology is the “regret” part, and usually that means you won’t do it again.

So we hope you take this lesson to heart.We hope you won’t utterly ignore what students and

faculty say about the changes to the academic calendar they have to work under. You say we should give Sat-

urday exams a chance, just “see how much disruption Saturday exams actually cause.”

Of course, it probably won’t cause much disruption to your Saturday drinking martinis on the lawn. It prob-ably won’t hurt you to be without dead days to study for exams, either.

It’s also always a great idea to make a decision to keep a policy before seeing how much disruption it causes.

We hope you won’t cause all of this disruption for the sake of a measly $50,000 next year.

In the grand scheme of a budget of more than $6 mil-lion, $50,000 does not make very much difference.

We also hope you don’t make bogus excuses like it be-ing “more pleasant to go a week late in December than a week early in August.”

After all, that’s not really what we’re talking about. Because we also move the schedule back a week in the spring semester, you’re really trading a week in August for a week in May.

Average temperature for the week of Aug. 16: 88 degrees. Average temperature for the week of May 6: 84 degrees.

Is that four degrees really worth it?We understand how not knowing what an apology is

would have led you to apologize for disregarding every-one else’s interests even though you do the same thing next year. We just hope you don’t do it again.

Or maybe you just don’t care.

OUR VIEW$50k Not Worth Our Grief

Ali AlrabehFreshman

Mech. Engineering

Eunice JacobJunior

Biomedical Sci.

Kenneth BoehmeFreshman

Comp. Engineering

Patrick SennSenior

His./Journalism

I know construction is a good thing, but it would be better if they didn’t block off entrances and exits to campus. And they haven’t updated the Jag Tran maps at the stops to refl ect the new route changes.

The only problem I’ve seen is the Jag Tran system. The fi rst few days they only had like three or four shuttles. But I’m pretty sure they’ve fi xed that, I see them all the time now.

The construction is great, but I don’t like the Humanities Building. All these new buildings on campus and the one with the most classes is the oldest building on campus.

I’d like to see the Jag Tran system improved, it makes you late. I waited for 45 minutes the other day. Maybe they should get more buses or more routes.

What problem(s) do you see on campus that you would like addressed in the future?

Loco Loko: Th e Crazy Mix of Caff eine and Alcohol

Rusty SarhanFreshman

Business Mgmt.

Something random that makes me mad is jaywalking. People just walk into the streets and expect me to stop. I don’t want to honk my horn and seem like a jerk, but sometimes there’s a cross-walk 10 feet away.

CassieFambro


POINTCOUNTERPOINTSarah Palin’s Alaska

Editor’s Introduction: Already breaking audience records, ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ has generated a lot of discussion on all sides of the political spectrum. This is funny (although not necessarily surprising), since the show has no overt political message whatsoever. Palin’s unsuccessful run for vice president and involvement in the Tea Party movement’s grassroots campaign strategy, however,

has solidified her as a part of the American political landscape. The real question, then, is will a show with Palin and her family fishing and flying around Alaska do anything positive for her future political aspirations - whatever they may be? Is this a brilliant move that will earn her future votes or just a blatant attempt at undeserved attention? We leave it to you to decide.

A Brilliant Move Nothing but a Smokescreen I’m no fan of reality shows or

Sarah Palin. The combination of the two is about as tolerable as walking across campus with your sock crumpled up in your shoe.

But “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” is a surprisingly brilliant move politically.

A major goal of any public figure is to be seen as a “real” person, someone who is relatable and shares the same core values as their constituents. The gen-eral voting public is often more swayed by who a candidate is than what they represent.

This is precisely the strength Palin’s reality show plays to. Images of the former vice presidential candidate living her life, interacting with her oddly named children, and dealing with relatable issues all go a long way toward making her seem like a “real” person.

You can argue that the show is scripted and heavily edited so as to show only Pa-lin’s best features. In that sense, the word “reality” doesn’t seem fitting. But as far as reality shows go, it’s par for the course.

With this show, Palin can show her audi-ence exactly what she wants them to see while at least giving off an air of genuine-ness. The balance is delicate, though. She has to let the viewers see enough of her flaws for the show to be taken seriously while still appearing idealistic to a certain extent.

This show is like one of those political ads with the candidate’s American family in front of their American house with dis-tinctly smug American smiles. And when you combine the nature of her show with

the grassroots political involve-ment she’s been such a part of, the result is even more pronounced.

What better way to reach com-munities and get people talking about you than through a televi-sion show. When you’re acting like an actual person in an intimate setting with your audience, they actually start to believe what they’re seeing.

I have seen some blogs denouncing

Palin because she’s out there fishing with full makeup and a perm. They claim it takes away from the reality of the reality show.

My contention is that it prepares her audience for what they will see when Palin is back on the political frontlines. Full makeup, prom queen perm, and pantsuit - the tools she will need for battle.

There’s also a subtext present through all this that carries an interesting message of core American values. Watching Palin trek through the large expanses of Alaska taming the wilderness as she goes, I can’t help but think of the early settlers to this country.


The President of the United States is a role that carries with it, quite literally, the weight of the world. A man or woman in this po-sition is both in a global spotlight of the present and is guaranteed to be dissected under the magnifying glass of history. This is a unique person who must be the face of a nation to the world as well as an example at home.

How does a person go about proving he or she is capable, let alone worthy of such a position? Over the years we have seen many different approaches to this answer; for the most part, the method has been to get out on the campaign trail, wooing the people, and lauding one’s own qualifications. Behind this frontline act, however, has been a sense of proof in the pudding.

Recently Sarah Palin’s reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” is being

considered by many to be her unofficial cam-paign kickoff. Although there is much about the show that is interesting, this sort of thing is inappropriate and in the long run will hurt her politically.

Showing the nation a glimpse of her hu-manness, her family, and her disapproval of the creepy neighbor through a scripted lens is akin to using a purely emotional tirade within

the context of the debate. It is a device that distracts from the issue by appealing to what is comfortable and easy.

Although seeing Todd and Sarah Palin take their daughter and niece on a fishing trip is fun and maybe even heart warming, what it has to do with running one of the most powerful nations in the world is negligible, at best.

As a strategy for acquiring votes or drawing the nation to her side, it may work for a while. After all, such

gimmicks win many debates. But the people of the United States are

gimmicked out. They are tired of being knuckle bumped, glad handed, and told the same opaque generalities that drew them in this last time around.

Our current President has not done himself or the position any favors with his conduct there. His approval rating is still very low, even after an intense interview with John Stewart of the Daily Show. He last trip abroad to India and then to the G20 proved that his plans have little substance.

The international community is not buying what he has to sell anymore. This is because, just as a rhetorical gimmick in a debate has little or no substance, a mere sales pitch without an actual product behind has no force.

President Obama seems to be a nice guy who has made the mistake of trying to be “one of the guys” with our entire nation. This tactic works for a salesman but not when we need a leader capable of standing in that lonely place at the head of our nation.


Clearing the AirBy Alex Whalen

[email protected]

I made the mistake a few weeks ago of taking the Cleverdon Parkway detour around Stadium Boulevard to Old Shell Road. I knew it was a bad idea, I just

didn’t know how bad until I got close to The Grove. After 15 minutes of bashing my head into the steering wheel, I decided to never go that way again.

But last week I realized the reality of the situ-ation when I was trying to get on campus from Old Shell Road: it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s downright dangerous.

I don’t know why USA thought they could close Stadium Boulevard while doing nothing to facilitate the flow of traffic and still expect everything to work out.

Let’s start with the intersection of Hillcrest and Old Shell. If you’re driving from Hillcrest, the arrow that’s painted on the street indicates that you can only make a left turn.

I figured this had to be an oversight and went straight anyway onto Cleverdon. Nobody honked at me or hit me, so I assume my deci-sion was OK. But why on earth hasn’t anyone updated the street to reflect this?

The next light on Old Shell is Stadium Boulevard, so that way is right out. And trying to get on campus via Mitchell Center Drive is just as futile if there’s any traffic at all. The left turn lane is too short to accommodate the extra traffic trying to go that way, which blocks off the entire left lane, disrupting the entire flow of traffic.

This leaves us with Jaguar Drive, the street that goes by the old Student Rec Center. Getting onto the street isn’t so bad, but trying

to make a left turn onto South Drive is an absolute nightmare. Any breaks in the traffic are usually offset by someone crossing the street really slowly.

But the most frustrating part is that these problems don’t seem that hard to fix. Extend-ing the left turn light at Mitchell Center Drive would ease up traffic there both for classes and events at the Center. Putting a four-way stop sign at Jaguar and South Drives would make that a much more pleasant option while quell-ing the nearly uncontrollable desire I have to run over someone there.

As for the intersection of Old Shell and Hillcrest, a few things need to happen. First and foremost, whoever is in charge of painting stuff on the streets needs to paint a straight arrow on Hillcrest. But this is only a minor detail com-pared to what needs to happen with the lights at that intersection.

Rather than wait for a break in traffic to turn left and dealing with people who don’t know what turn signals are, the order of the lights need to be changed.

Instead of having both directions trying to cross Old Shell at the same time, the lights should be adjusted so they go one at a time. You could still have both directions of Old Shell Road going – this would just affect Hillcrest and Cleverdon.

This would allow a greater volume of traffic to make it through in a given amount of time (which, by the way, should also increase). People could just turn left without waiting, and the traf-fic waiting to go straight wouldn’t be delayed.

Typically this kind of move ends up delaying both directions more, but I don’t think that will happen here. Most of the delay stems from having to deal with oncoming traffic. Remove this from the equation and traffic will move a lot more smoothly.

Now you may be thinking these ideas are pretty stupid, and you may be right. But the bigger question is: Why the hell am I even hav-ing to write about this in the first place?

The stupid thing is trying to jam four streets of traffic into three without adjusting the lights to facilitate the flow of traffic.

I Love Traffic!$

AlexWhalen

tlc.discovery.comSarah Palin’s Alaska has been a big hit on The Learning Channel. But will the success of the show translate into a successful future in poli-tics?

ToryAlbertson

14Vanguard

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November 22, 2010

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Do hilarious things come to mind when you see this photo? E-mail your funniest caption to [email protected]. The winner will be published in the next edition!

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one could place the blame on any one particular source.

One of ways SGA tries to ensure senate par-ticipation is through mandated office hours. Paige Perry, the senate pro tempore, is in charge of setting these office hours.

“I increased the office hours from 20 [per se-mester] to 30 because I know how easy it is to get office hours during Homecoming,” Perry said in an interview with The Vanguard. Despite the low participation levels during Homecoming, Perry said that about three-fourths of the senators have completed their office hours for the semester.

“There are so many different ways to get of-fice hours,” Perry said. “Some senators have three times the number of hours they need.”

Perry noted that with any student organiza-tion there will be different levels of involvement, but the blame for low senate participation in key events can’t be placed squarely on anyone. She later added that this SGA doesn’t seem as cohe-sive as in years past, but she is hopeful this prob-lem will be addressed soon.

The Vanguard also spoke with Johnston to clarify the remarks she made during that SGA meeting. “I was aggravated during Homecoming. We have football and we’re spending this money to put on events, but we can’t expect students to come if the SGA doesn’t,” Johnston said.

Johnston has never served on the SGA, but says that she’s one of those people who sees something that needs to be done and does it. She also pointed out that when someone takes on the position of senator, it’s their job to be involved and work for their constituents.

When asked where the blame for a lack of motivation lies, Johnston mentioned several sources.

“We hear student complaints, but when I look at the percentage of students who vote in SGA elections, it’s disappointing,” she said.

Johnston also mentioned that the Executive Committee (EC) could be doing a better job of motivating the senate, but added that it’s not en-tirely the EC’s fault.

“It’s up to each senator to get motivated, I have to get motivated myself,” she said.

Regarding the EC’s role in motivating sena-tors, The Vanguard spoke with one of its mem-bers, SGA President Kim Proctor. Proctor said that Johnston’s comments were justified based on the high senate participation during last year’s Homecoming.

She also said that the lack of senate involve-ment is not limited to Homecoming, and even the discussion during meetings is limited to the same people every week.

“The process is hard and especially for those senators who are new. But they each represent someone. From a student perspective, I would be disappointed in some of these senators,” Proctor said.

Proctor also thinks the office hours system needs to be revamped. “Office hours are what Paige [Perry] and [SGA Vice President] Colin [Al-Greene] utilize to motivate senators. But mandating things isn’t really my policy.”

Instead of having a set number of hours to be met, Proctor thinks the student body could better be served by setting specific goals and pushing for involvement in all sectors of student life.

One topic that kept recurring during this in-vestigation was the role Al-Greene plays as SGA vice president and senate president. Several sena-tors, who wished to remain anonymous, felt that his leadership skills and ability to motivate were subpar.

The Vanguard managed to reach Al-Greene via phone, but he declined to comment immedi-ately. As of print time Sunday night, he had not returned our phone calls.

As for the future, senate leaders are hoping to focus more on teaching the skills needed to be a good senator.

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Novermber 22, 2010