2000-04-20 The Auburn Plainsman

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SPRING SPLASHES:
UPC brings week of
entertainment with
annual Splash into
Spring festivities/C2 §
TO MERGE OR
NOT TO MERGE?
Heilman settles on
merger consultant from
University of Nebraska/B2
Qfte^luburn Plainsman
Thursday, April 20, 2000
TO FOSTER THE AUBURN SPIRIT
Auburn University, Ala. .'36849 Vol. 106 No. 21, 40 paces
Officials want union west of stadium
Site on corner of Roosevelt, Donahue likely up for trustees' approval June 2
By RYAN LEE
Campus Editor
By the time its meeting was over Tuesday
morning, the University Building
Committee had selected a final site recom­mendation
for the new student union.
The proposed site for the new union is
west of Jordan-Hare Stadium and south of
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, David
Stejskal, a student member of the committee
said.
The Board of Trustees is expected to vote
on the site's approval at its June 2 meeting.
A C-zone parking lot is in the space on
.Roosevelt Drive and Donahue Drive where
the new union would be, but Stejskal said
STUDENT
the parking spaces lost because of the new
building would be replaced by other spaces
on campus.
Stejskal said he
was not sure where on
campus those spaces
would be relocated to,
but he was positive
parking spaces would
not be lost because of
the new union.
In January, the
committee narrowed the possible site for the
new union to two locations: the ROTC Drill
Field at the intersection of Thach Avenue
and Wire Road and the site of the current
UNION
union.
In February, however, the area occupied
by the Eagle's Cage was put back on the list
for consideration by the committee.
Despite requests from the Board of
Trustees to remove the centralized location
from the list of possible sites in order to give
the Stadium "breathing space," the six-member
committee voted unanimously to
recommend that location as the site of the
new union.
Stejskal said talks about the current site
west of the stadium began during spring
break.
"Over spring break it was mentioned to
Dr. Conner and so they got people to draw it
up on a map.
"Everybody involved seemed to have
liked the idea," Stejskal said.
Stejskal said the previous recommenda­tion
of the Eagle's Cage area had been elim­inated
and the possibility of that site was
dismissed weeks ago.
"The Eagle's Cage wouldn't have been
messed with," he said. "That was thrown
out a long time ago."
Stejskal reiterated the recent removal of
Tiger from the Eagle's Cage had nothing to
do with the process of selecting a site for the
new union.
The current recommendation is a compro­mise
between having a centrally located stu­dent
union and maintaining the beauty and
tradition of Auburn, Stejskal said.
"We wanted to find a compromise
between walking distance for students from
campus and parking.
"Both the Student Planning Committee
and the University Building Committee felt
this site was the best compromise," he said.
Stejskal said an added benefit to this loca­tion
is that it will be a "game-day center" by
being in the vicinity of the stadium, the col­iseum
and Plainsman Park.
The committee's recommendation is now
on the desk of President William V. Muse,
who must approve the site prior to its sub;,
mission to the Board of Trustees.
BOARD OF
Barron, alumni
dispute ALFA
involvement in
trustee reform
By ADAM JONES
Assistant News Editor
ALFA Insurance once had interests in the Auburn
Board of Trustees, and according to Sen. Lowell
Barron, D-Fyffe, some retired ALFA officials still do.
According to Barron, also a trustee, retired ALFA
officials are supporting legislation written by the
Auburn Alumni Association currently in the state
Senate that would remake the board and it's selection
process.
"1 do not believe that the new ALFA officials are
involved in this," Barron said. "Some old ones that
have been deposed are involved.
"That's my belief based upon the information that
. 1 have; and I believe it to be fac­tual,"
Barron added.
Barron would not elabo­rate
on who the "old officials"
are. When asked, he would not
give a reason why Auburn alum­ni,
students and faculty should
be concerned that those officials
do support the legislation.
Paul Till, director of pub­lic
relations for ALFA, confirmed Barron's presump­tions
about present ALFA officials.
"We're not involved with the Auburn trustee
issue," Till said.
Alumni association officials denied that ALFA is
involved with the legislation.
"To my knowledge there is no ALFA support," said
Bill Porter, president of the alumni association.
"I don't have any knowledge of that (ALFA
involvement)," said Dick McAdams, head of an
alumni association task force charged with gaining
support for the legislation.
"As far as old ALFA officials," McAdams said, "I
don't know who he (Barron) is talking about.
"I don't know what he means by being involved,"
McAdams said. "I've not looked to see who's sent in
money, but to my knowledge they have not given any
money."
McAdams did say, however, the task force went to
ALFA to seek support for the legislation, but ALFA
would not offer support.
"We have solicited support from virtually every
organization," McAdams said. "At best, I would say
they are neutral on the bill."
ALFA and the Board of Trustees are not strangers.
Former ALFA vice president Phil Richardson briefly
held a seat on the board until the resolution of a law-
> "I would consider this event to be on the same level as going to Toomer's Corner
and cutting down the trees there and selling firewood."
— Bobby Chesnutt, freshman in management information systems
WAR EAGLE VI MOVES TO VET SCHOOL
Federal agents
want closer
attention for
endangered bird
TRUSTEES
ASHLEY DULANEY/Photo Stnff
Above, one of the perches in
the aviary War Eagle VI,
Auburn's live golden eagle
mascot, stands empty. The
eagle, known as Tiger, has
moved to a smaller housing
facility, at the Southeaster
Raptor Rehabilitation Center,
where, at the right, she
now overlooks the College
of Veterinary Medicine.
JULIE MORRIS/Assistant Photo Editor
By JOE STALEY
Staff Writer
Auburn's golden eagle mascot is
no longer keeping her 24-hour
watch over central campus.
In a meeting Monday, April, 10,
between, President William V..
Muse, U.S. Fish and Wildlife offi­cials,
Southeastern Raptor
Rehabilitation Center officials and
members of Alpha Phi Omega, it
was stated that War Eagle VI,
affectionately known as Tiger,
would be removed from her home
of 14 years.
Her new home is the SERRC,
located near the College of
Veterinary Medicine on Wire
Road. The eagle was transferred to
SERRC by USFWS officials at.
about 9 a.m. Thursday, April 13.
Since the announcement, some
students and alumni have
expressed disapproval over the
move.
Bobby Chesnutt, a freshmen in
management information systems
Turn to EAGLE, A10
Four students threatened during break-in
Turn to ALFA, A10
By DANIEL JACKSON
News Staff
Auburn student Joanie Eichelberg said she had felt
safe at her apartment until Sunday morning when she
was assaulted and robbed by two men who forced their
way through the door after asking to use the phone.
Eichelberg, a senior in zoology, said she had just
returned to her Village Green apartment at 555 W.
Glenn Ave., with visiting friend Susaiine Schmidt when
they heard the knock on the door.
"It was about a quarter to five. My friend Sabrina
(Stelle) was already asleep on the couch, and my
roommate Kelli (Kauffman) was in the bathroom,"
Eichelberg said.
"It all happened so fast," Eichelberg said. "There was
a knock on the door. I thought it was one of our neigh­bors
or friends."
Eichelberg said her apartment door has no "peep
hole," so she opened the door.
"I immediately knew that I didn't recognize them,"
she said. "One of them said, 'Hey, who's in there? Can
I use the phone?'," Eichelberg recalled.
Eichelberg said she told him he "must be at the
wrong place." At that point, he started trying to push his
way in, she said.
"Next thing 1 know, I'm on the floor with my back
facing the door. He was dragging me by the hair,"
Eichelberg said. "I'm yelling the whole time."
Stelle got up from the couch to help her friend. "She
was hitting on him. Then she stopped and said, 'Oh my
god!'," Eichelberg said.
Stelle had seen that the intruder was carrying a pis­tol.
Meanwhile, Kauffman ran to her room to call for
help.
"I see him running down the hall and I follow him,"
Eichelberg said. "She (Kauffman) was going for her
phone. I saw her balled up in the corner of her room
trying to hand him the phone."
He ran into her room and pointed the gun in her
(Kauffman's) face," Eichelberg said. "I saw Susanne
and pushed her into the bathroom. As I shut the door, I
saw him standing over Kelli. His pants and his under­wear
were down below his backside. I thought he was
Turn to BREAK IN, A10
Editor: 844-9021 www.theplainsman.com Newsroom: 844-9109
INSIDE
Calendar B3 Jane Random C9
Classifieds B7-B9 Letters A9
CD Review. C6 On the Concourse..B3
Editorials A8 Sports Scoreboard..,D2
Advertising: 844-9102
Tms WEEK IN AU HISTORY*
1976: Former Gov. Albert Brewer, who served from
1968-1971, spoke to 450 students about Alabama affairs.
Speaking on the Auburn Board of Trustees, Brewer said, "SGA
is the most viable method of having input into the selection of
trustees. If the SGA won't do it, then create your own agency.
Group effort is the best way to make your influence felt."
fin the first place God made
HP
idiots. That was for practice! Pf
Then he made school boarcjl. Jf
— Mark Twain
COMING NEXT WEEK
The Plainsman surveys past
alumni presidents about
Board of Trustees reform
^Subscription: 844-4130 Mi Printed on recyclecLpaper
A2 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN Thursday, April 20, 2000
(JbeSuburnPlamsmaii
TO FOSTER THE AUBURN SPIRIT
Bill Barrow
Editor
Karlyn Bogie
Managing Editor
Beth Beasley
Assistant Managing Editor
Kristin Lenz
Copy Editor
Scott Parrott
News Editor
Ryan Lee Mac Mirabile
Campus Editor Features Editor
Tommy Peavy
Sports Editor
Sean Jarem
Adam Jones
Assistant News Editors
Frances Bowdoin
Jennifer Morris
Assistant Features
Editors
Erin Patterson
Associate Copy
Editor
Leslie Gaither
Justin C. Smith
Sally Tidwell
Assistant Copy Editors
Laura Douglas
Photo Editor
Rachel Davis
Amanda House
Assistant Campus
Editors
Alex Rainey
Matthew Pilato
Assistant Sports
Editors
Julie Morris
Assistant Photo Editor
David Patton
Business Manager
James Long
Assistant Business Manager
Holly Brown
Creative Director
Stephanie Suggs
Layout Coordinator
Shannon Wills
Classifieds Coordinator
Kendrick Gaines
Distribution Manager
Linda Adams
Lee Sargeant
Grant Summerlin
Account Executives
Joanna Artelle
Carlie Cranford
Lacy Kaufhold
Marc Lewis
Claire Rumore
Amber Strickland
Production Artists
Paul Kardous
Online Editor
The Auburn Plainsman is the official newspaper of Auburn University. It
is published an average of nine times perquarter. It is produced entirely
by students and operates from advertising revenue only. The opinions of
this newspaper are restricted to the editorial pages. Opinions found there
do not necessarily reflect those of the University Board of Trustees,
administration, faculty, staff, student body, student government or alum­ni.
Advertising information is found on page A9 of this issue. You can
contact The Auburn Plainsman at B-100 Foy Student Union, Auburn
University, AL; 36849-5343.
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NEWS BRIEFS
NATIONAL STATE LOCAL
Photos of Area 51 available
Photos are now available of
Area 51, the super-secret Air
Force test site in Nevada that is
notorious for sci-fi buffs and
conspiracy theorists for harboring
alien activity.
Photos of the site can be found
on www.terraserver.com, and
provide a satellite-taken photo­graph
of the base.
An open-skies agreement
signed in 1992 by 24 nations,
including the United States and
Russia, made possible the flight
of the satellite above Area 51,
which is closed for aircraft.
Aerial Images Inc., in partner­ship
with Kodak and other corpo­rations,
is sponsor of the website.
Army tests combat laser
The Army is testing a Tactical
High Energy Laser prototype that
may revolutionize the way battles
are fought.
In the test, a laser will try to
destroy a rocket as it streaks at
hundreds of miles per hour over
the White Sands Missile Range in
New Mexico.
The laser is a joint project
between the United States and
Israel, which wants to use the sys­tem
to defend its northern borders
against the 122mm rockets fired
by guerrillas based in southern
Lebanon.
First blacks to lead UA
newspaper, radio station
Joseph Bryant and Terrence
Siggers will become the First black
appointments for the University of
Alabama student newspaper and
radio station, respectively.
Bryant, 21, will become editor of
The Crimson White student newspa­per
and Siggers, 24, who goes by the
radio nickname "50 Tons of Black
Terror," will become manager of
WVUA.
No money budgeted yet for
teacher-testing program
Only 10 working days are left in
the Legislative Session, and law­makers
have yet to budget any
money for the state to buy or devel­op
a teacher test.
State School Superintendent Ed
Richardson had requested $3 million
either to buy a teacher test from a
test-making company or begin the
costlier job of developing one.
Gun stolen in 1936 found
A woman clearing out her utility
shed last week found a loaded
revolver that had belonged to her
late brother-in-law, which police say
was reported stolen 64 years ago in
Canada.
The .38-caliber, double-action
firearm was made by Hopkins and
Allen, and had om e belonged to a
deceased Canadian law officer.
Salem man charged with
marijuana trafficking
Lee County Sheriff's deputies
arrested Michael Jerome
Harrison, 44, for marijuana traf­ficking.
Sheriffs deputies found 63
marijuana plants outside his
home valued $126,000. Inside,
deputies found another 14 plants
valued at $28,000 inside.
East Alabama Medical
Center wins 15-year
court case
Former employees of East
Alabama Medical Center were
ordered to pay double the court
costs in a lawsuit that dates back
to 1984. The federal appeals
court ordered Max Stevens, a
former hospital engineer, to pay
the cost of litigation in hopes to
curb further appeals.
Auburn City Council
limits businesses tax
collection benefits
In a 7-1 vote Tuesday night,
the Auburn City Council voted
to lower the amount of money
big businesses receive from city
sales lax. As a result, city rev­enue
will expand by $18,824
dollars a year. It will only affect
businesses that collect sales tax
of about $28,000 a month.
I
Whatcha think?
Every week, we canvass the cant-pus
for students' opinions about
anything and eveiything.
www.theplainsman.com
"I think they should have activ­ities
outside more often. It is a
good way to pass time away
between classes and the free
drinks are great."
— Bill Welsh
Freshman, undeclared
"I wish we could have classes
outside because the classrooms
are always the wrong tempera­ture.
If it is hot outside, it is hot
inside. If it is cold outside, it is
cold inside."
— Arnold Zimmerman
Junior, marketing
"The bus transit is a pain. I
would be better off just driving to
class, but walking is also a pain."
— Rachel Thorton
Sophomore, transportation
"War Eagle! I just want to say
what's up to all my friends."
— Amy Smith
Junior, accounting
Teacher pay raise, education budget pass House
By LAURA SUSAN BAMBERG
Staff Writer
On the night of April 18, 2000, House mem­bers
in Montgomery were hard at work for edu­cation.
Their goal for the night was to make sure this
year's proposed budget for education was
passed.
This year, the revised budget planned on giv­ing
$4.3 billion dollars to the Education Trust
Fund.
"The Education Trust Fund receives money
for colleges, high schools (including private
schools), universities, and elementary schools,"
said Carrie Kurlander, press secretary for Gov.
Don Siegelman.
The House Ways and Means Committee has
been working diligently to stop "stealth pork,"
which is funding a lawmaker sets aside for use
in his own district.
"The pork you see is in the form of communi­ty
grants. The Tll-call-you-back-later pork' is
extra money put aside in a state agency," said
Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the
Alabama Education Association teacher's lobby.
"The head of a department gets the contact
with a committee chair who identifies himself as
the legislator. The legislator gives the instruc­tions
on how to spend the money," Hubbert said.
The main advantage of the revised budget is
all money spent has to be accounted for. If an
institution of any kind receives money, it has to
show, before the money is given, what it will be
used for.
A year later, a report has to be given before a
budget hearing, detailing what the money went
towards. If money is not accounted for, there
will be repercussions.
"If the House version prevails and an institu­tion
spends its money in any way other that what
it stated a year ago, the committee would proba­bly
penalize them and may charge them to pay
back the amount spent in an inappropriate way,"
Hubbert said.
Community grants, or line items, must be list­ed
in the proposed budget.
At the House meeting Tuesday night, several
spending goals were voted on and passed.
The House voted on another increase in fund­ing
for higher education. It voted on a 4 percent
pay raise for two-year employees and the equiv­alent
of a four percent pay raise for teachers.
This equivalent, however, did not apply
across the board. Other goals passed were
another $4 million dollars for the reading initia­tive,
almost double last year's amount.
More money is to be used for mediation for
the exit exam required of high school seniors.
This money will be used, for example, for tutor­ing
students, so they will have increased scores
on the exam.
House member Howard Hawk is hopeful. "A
few years ago, Governing Magazine said.
Alabama legislators had poor governing skills,.
worse than almost any other state," Hawk said.
House members have been determined to
change that expectation.
"We want a performance-based budget. Last
fall, we phased out 87 of 200 entities wanting
money. We revised the budget arid set new
spending goals. And we are trying to increase
funding for community grants and decrease line
items," Hawk said.
The House received a proposed budget from
the Senate, which "included no spending goals
or indicators," Hawk said. The House then
revised the Senate's budget and sent it to the
Ways and Means Committee.
"I suspect it will cause consternation in the
Senate. But the House will fight, strongly, to
hold it's goal. And we are told a good number
of Senate members agree that we arc going in
the right direction," Hawk said.
J
Controversy delays UA trustee appointment I
By CAMIE YOUNG
Campus Staff
The confirmation of the
University of Alabama's Board of
Trustees members is at a standstill.
Last week, a list of seven people
for appointment or reappointment to
the University of Alabama's Board
of Trustees was sent to the Alabama
Senate. One controversial name was
left off the list — Paul Bryant Jr., son
of the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant.
Senate President Pro Tern Lowell
Barron has not sent the names to the
Senate's Confirmation Committee
because of strong opposition espe­cially
from Gov. Don Siegelman.
"The governor has asked me to
hold those (names)," Barron said.
The new board members are nomi­nated
by present board members, but
they must be confirmed by the state
Senate.
Siegelman, as governor, is an ex-officio
member of the board.
State Rep. John Rogers of
Birmingham opposes Bryant's nom­ination
to the board.
"A lot of people do not want him
on the board," Rogers said. "He is
very insensitive to minorities."
According to Rogers, the entire
black caucus opposes Bryant's nom­ination
because of statements found
in a 1989 Esquire magazine article.
In the article, Bryant identifies the
customers of his racetrack in Greene
County as "your lower class of
blacks, your welfare blacks. You
want 'em to have enough room to get
in and out, but at the same time you
want to get as many in as possible."
Bryant denies making those com­ments,
but William M. Adler, the
freelance journalist who wrote the
article nearly a decade ago, stands by
what he wrote.
Cleophus Thomas, a member of
the Board of Trustees who is on the
list for reappointment, believes
Bryant.
"I found the charges unconvinc­ing,"
he said. "It is possible to be
misquoted. I don't think it should be
in the realm of the disqualifying
utterance."
Actually, in 1997, Thomas wrote a
letter to John Oliver, who was chair­man
of the nominations committee
at that time, recommending Bryant
for the next available seat on the
board.
Thomas attributes Bryant's
absence from the list of nominations
to a simple matter of supply and
demand.
"When you have a limited number
of seats, there are a lot of qualified
people who don't get on the list,"
Thomas said.
Karrie Kurlander, a spokeswoman Z
for Siegelman, explained Z
Siegelman's reasons for including j
him on the list. ',
"Gov. Siegelman believes that Mr.',
Bryant would be an asset to the Z
board and the university," Kurlander]
said. "He is a rich part of its histo-;
ry"
Rogers added another interesting;
twist to the plot. He said because!
there are not enough votes in the',
Senate to add Bryant to the list,",
Siegelman has asked Garry Neil J
Drummond, who is up for reappoint-',
ment, to resign from the board. ;
Siegelman's office has neitherZ
confirmed nor denied that allegation."
Drummond was unavailable for"
comment.
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Thursday, April 20, 2000 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN A3
University helps bring Christmas in April
By ANDREW REESE
Staff Writer
Christmas — in April?
That's right. Christmas in April:
one day of frenzied construction
work during which 300 volunteers
teamed up to renovate six homes in
Lee County for elderly and handi­capped
homeowners.
Although they have taken on annu­al
renovation projects before, through
the Communitas Outreach Program,
this is the first year students and fac­ulty
from Auburn's School of
Architecture participated in the the
April 15 event. They repaired a roof
on a house on Hemlock Street for an
elderly woman.
Christmas in April is a nationwide
effort to make the world a more liv­able
place. Last year, chapters reno­vated
or repaired more than 7,000
homes nationwide. Local businesses
donate materials or provide them at
cost to Christmas in April.
It's also a good fit with the School
of Architecture's commitment to
community service, David Hinson,
an associate professor with the
school, said.
"We've been involved in similar
projects for 13 years," Hinson said.
"What we found in the Christmas in
April program was a perfect match
for the school's mission."
The school offers programs like
Communitas to foster community
spirit and to encourage students to
understand they're designing build­ings
not just as expressions of art, or
as feats of engineering, but for peo­ple,
said Tarik Orgen, school head.
"It's important for professionals in
any discipline to lead their communi­ties,"
Orgen said. "(Christmas in
April) helps foster this spirit and
allows students to practice building
skills."
Many students who participated in
Christmas in April had not done con­struction
work before, and if they
had, it was probably through past
community outreach programs,
Hinson said.
"Christmas in April has provided
us with a great educational opportu-
LAURA DOUGLAS/Phofo Editor
Christmas in April brings volunteer workers to help renovate
homes and allows students to learn building skills.
nity in more ways than one," Hinson
said. "As a teacher, I sort of enjoy
watching students catch the bug of
community service,"
For student coordinator Kathy
Bunn, the bug has bitten hard.
"It's really great to give back to
Auburn," she said. "We're helping to
raise the standard of living, and we're
developing an ethic of community
service that we'll hopefully carry
with us into our careers."
New youth sports complex to open April 29
WILL SHURTZ
Staff Writer
If you build it, they will come.
While it may not be "The Field of Dreams,"
Auburn is eagerly awaiting the opening of the Duck
Samford Park Youth Baseball/Softball Complex on
Saturday, April 29.
"We're very proud of it," said Mayor Bill Ham.
"Once it matures, it will become a fantastic facility.
Eventually, we'll be able to add three fields. It will be
a great addition for everyone, not just baseball play­ers."
Apparently, the complex was a decade in the mak­ing.
The master plan for a new facility was made in
1990. After spending years acquiring and working on
the property, the project was voted for via referendum
in February 1997.
According to director of panes and recreation
Becky Richardson, it was time for a new complex.
"We had a growth in youth baseball and softball.
We had many scheduling problems due to the limited
space. A new complex was definitely something the
Auburn citizens had been asking for."
Scheduling wasn't the only problem, though. Just
like in the majors, little league baseball has fallen
prey to the home run renais­sance.
"The old complex was too
small for 11 and 12-year-olds.
Basically, they were hitting
too many homers. The fences
in the new park were pushed
back 20 feet," Richardson
said.
Duck Samford Park con­sists
of four lighted fields
with 200-foot fences and
grass infields. Each field has aluminum bleachers and
plenty of space for fans.
The City of Auburn had some help in starting the
new complex.
A grant from the Alabama Power Company and the
Auburn Tree Commission made it possible for the
planting of more than 1,000 trees. Tree Commission
member Bill Byrd arranged for the donation of the
"Better facilities
encourage more kids
to play, which in
turn, is good news
for all parties
involved."
— Bryan McBride
Auburn baseball manager
trees.
Coca-Cola provided scoreboards with timers for
league play.
Some areas of the complex are
already open. A system of walking
trails circle the fields and go through
the adjacent woods. There is also a
playground for children 12 and under.
The Auburn community is excited
about the park's opening.
Bryan McBride, a senior in man­agement
information systems and
manager for the Auburn baseball team
said "Better facilities encourage more
kids to play, which in turn, is good
news for all parties involved."
McBride, a connoisseur of baseball and parks,
made the long trek to Williamsport, Penn., last year to
see Phenix City take on Japan in the Little League
World Series. McBride, the Columbus, Ga., native,
added, "I come from a city that puts a lot of money
and effort into its youth facilities."
The ribbon cutting takes place this Saturday.
Local cemeteries
to be renovated
By ADAM JONES
Assistant News Writer
Auburn cemeteries will soon be receiving renova­tions
thanks to the work of volunteers and city offi­cials.
The Auburn Cemetery Trust, in association with the
Auburn Heritage Association, are planning to make
additions and restorations to some of the older ceme­teries
in the area.
"The Cemetery Trust was founded to try to raise
money to restore and preserve the cemeteries of
Auburn," said Jim McGowen, president of the
Cemetery Trust.
The group has already completed some projects
within the last year, adding new fencing at Memorial
Park and Westview Cemeteries. A retaining wall with
fencing has also been constructed around Pine Hill
Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Auburn.
Those projects represent more than $100,000 by the
Cemetery Trust and the City of Auburn. The City of •
Auburn matches the funds raised by the Cemetery
Trust.
"The city council chose to do that," said Becky
Richardson, Director of Parks and Recreation and ex-officio
member of the Cemetery Trust.
"The advantage is that a lot more will get done then
the Cemetery Trust or the city could do by them­selves,"
Richardson added.
The Auburn Heritage Association has also helped in
restoring markers inside Pine Hill Cemetery. The asso­ciation
raised $2,500 through fund-raisers, member-'
ship fees and donations from descendants of the
deceased. They also received a $2,000 matching his­toric
grant from the Historic Chattahoochee
Commission.
"Since 1995, the Heritage Association voted to take
Pine Hill as one of it's projects because it got in poor
condition," said Anne Pearson, president of the-
Heritage Association. ;
"We are concentrating on markers that the families
have died out, and we don't know who the descendants
are," Pearson said, who is also an ex-officio member of
the Cemetery Trust.
The $4,500 raised by the group was spent earlier this
week in marker restoration. Included in the project was
the restoration of Auburn's founder, Judge Harper.
Harper donated the 6 acres for the cemetery.
The Cemetery Trust, the Heritage Association and
the Auburn Beautification Board are planning further
projects which include: placing fencing along the Hare
Avenue side of Pine Hill Cemetery lighting improve­ments
at the entrance of Pine Hill, improvements to the
grass and landscaping at Memorial Park.
fc
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A4 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN Thursday, April 20, 2000
kj "This is what democracy looks like."
PROTESTS ERUPT IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
By MATT COMER
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. —More than 25,000
protesters converged on Washington D.C.
last weekend in hopes of disrupting the
IMF/World Bank meetings or to call atten­tion
to the decisions of these institutions.
• Hundreds of protest groups and student
groups ranging from the United Auto
Workers Union, to the Revolutionary Anti-
Capitalist Bloc (or the Black Bloc Party),
got together during the weekend for a large
"protest that officially began Sunday at the
Ellipse in front of the White House at 10:30
a.m. The large gathering then had an orga­nized
march several blocks away from the
World Bank.
• Matthew Roberts, member and an orga­nizer
of the Mobilization for Global Justice
tailed the protests a success.
; "We have strived to protest by the means
'of civil disobedience," Roberts said,
j "There has been limited violence, but I
ifeel that we have called the world's atten­tion
to these World Bank meetings."
The main goal for most of the protesters
was to bring up questions about the actions
of the IMF and the World Bank.
; "The process
"to which offi­cials
are
appointed to
the World Bank
and the deci­sions
carried
out should be
questioned,"
Roberts said.
"These officials are appointed and not elect­ed
to their positions.
"These men make very important deci­sions
that affect the world and their deci­sions
should be kept in check by somebody.
"The whole process is undemocratic,"
Roberts said.
Han Shan, another leading organizer and
program director of the Ruckus Society
based out of Berkley, Calif., was working
with the protest group Mobilization for
Global Justice. Shan was in the Capitol for
three weeks leading up to the protests.
"We have had several weeks of confer­ences
in order to educate and make our­selves
ready for this weekend," Shan said.
"We have had classes on civil disobedi­ence
such as first aid classes for how to treat
people for pepper spray and tear gas, and
how to handle the police if worse comes to
worse."
"There have been some instances of what
could be called 'brutal action' made by cops
against peaceful protesters this morning
(April 16) and last night (April 15), but for
the most part, both sides seem to be showing
their composure during standoffs," Shan
said.
Shan was standing at the corner of 15th
Street and Alexander Hamilton Avenue at
11:30 a.m. during an instance of standoff
turned bad. Police in riot gear and police
riding motorcycles converged on a small
group of protesters blocking an entrance
into the barricades surrounding the World
Bank, the White House and several blocks
between them.
Police officers marched toward the pro­testers
who were chanting "This is what
democracy looks like," as helicopters
passed overhead. The police, using night
sticks, dispersed the crowd that sat in front
of the
entrance.
Several
p r o t e s t e r s
were arrested
or pulled out
of the way as
police vans
and motorcy­cles
passed
through.
Police then reinforced the barricades and
sprayed pepper spray at protesters that
closed in behind them. One press photogra­pher
received a head injury as he was
thrown to the ground and had to receive
medical attention.
A group of medics from the group Waake-
Up, an organized community group from
Colorado, treated protesters that had been
sprayed with pepper spray.
"This is the first serious incident today,"
said Tim Givens, a Waake-Up protester and
student at the University of Colorado. "We
had to treat seven people with eye flushes
"When police attack
protesters it is hard to
focus on the issues
and not the police."
— Han Shan
Program Director, Ruckus Society
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after they were sprayed."
The volunteer medics carried pouches
with gauze, bandages, mineral oils, alcohol
and water bottles to treat people for pepper
spray, tear gas and open wounds and were
present at almost all standoffs.
"It is incredible this hasn't happened more
often," Givens said. "This protest pales in
comparison to the action we had seen in
Seattle."
Washington, D.C. police formed a two-block
radius of barricades blocking the
streets leading to the World Bank, Saturday
night and Sunday morning. As many as 600
arrests were made in order to clear the
streets for the blockade.
"When police attack protesters, it is hard
to focus on the issues and not the police,"
Shan said.
"A lot of people have asked me if it is
important that we shut these meetings
down," Shan said. "That really wasn't our
goal, it was our mandate — but our goal was
always to shine the light of public scrutiny
upon these incredibly non-transparent,
unaccountable, financial institutions that are
affecting human rights, the environment and
labor standards around the world."
The Mardi Gras-type march had few
instances of violence as marchers carried
huge puppets in the likeness of President
Clinton, banners with slogans like "Spank
the Bank," and flags colored in black and
red like the Black Bloc Party's.
"The march is a celebration of our victo­ry,"
Shan said.
The aggressive Black Bloc Party moved
along the opposite side of the police perime­ter
separate from the official march route.
They smashed the windows of two
unmarked police cars parked on the street
and spray painted slogans such as
"Sweatshop Fashion" on the wall outside of
a Gap retail store. A police helicopter fol­lowed
these protesters, monitoring their
movements for most of the day.
Members of the World Bank and police
officials said the meetings were normal and
went as scheduled.
"If the IMF meetings went normal today,
I'd hate to see what they are like on a crazy
day," Shan said.
Protesters and
police clash at
the corner of
15th Street and
A l e x a n d e r
H a m i l t o n
Avenue in the
shadow of the
T r e a s u r y
Department.
P r o t e s t e r s
gathered to
block police
reinforcements
from entering a
b a r r i c a d e d
area spanning
two-blocks. An
e s t i m a t e d
1,300 people
were arrested
during the
protests.
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At Tiger Crossing just off Shug Jordan Parkway
1619 South College, Auburn
Thursday, April 20, 2000 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN A5.
Sol of Auburn offers fuel alternative
By DANIEL JACKSON
News Staff
With gas prices soaring to unbeliev­able
heights, motorists are looking to
the sky for an answer to their energy
crisis.
So the University's Environmental
Awareness Organization (EAO) shed
some light in the eyes of student dri­vers.
Two alternative fuel vehicles
(AFV) were displayed on the
Concourse Thursday, April 12, as part
of the EAO's Earth Week celebration.
AFVs use fuels such as sunlight,
electricity and hydrogen as an alterna­tive
to or in conjunction with petrole­um
to power the engine.
The Sol of Auburn, a solar-powered
car, was designed by University engi­neering
students to race in a cross­country
competition every four years.
A Toyota prototype was also featured
which uses a gasoline/electric hybrid
engine.
Team captain Orenthral Morgan
said the Sol uses a ^ _ — ^ _ _
solar panel on its
exterior to convert
photons from sun­light
into electricity
that runs the engine
and charges the bat­tery.
"You have a con­troller
that's in
between to channel
the energy to either
the motor or the bat-tery,"
Morgan said.
The solar car also uses a process
called regenerative breaking to
recharge the battery, Morgan said.
"When you're rolling down a steep
hill, you really don't need the motor to
drive the car," Morgan said.
"Regenerative breaking converts the
energy from the turning of the wheels
into electricity."
"A hybrid engine is two kinds of
propulsion systems put together," said
team member Jason Summers.
'This one (Toyota) has a gasoline
engine and an electric propulsion sys­tem."
An onboard computer monitors
the engine, Summers said.
"If it decides it's going to be run­ning
for a long time, it will cut on the
gasoline motor and recharge the bat­tery,"
Summers said.
"But if it gets into a low-speed,
stop-and-go situation like city traffic,
it will switch over to electric power.
So, instead of sitting at a stop light
burning gas in idle, the gasoline motor
is shut completely off."
Sushil Bhavnani, a professor in
mechanical engineering and faculty
advisor for the Sol project, said the
project started in 1989 and raced for
the first time in GM's Sunrayce in
1990. "We have built three cars, and
students are now in the process of
building a new car," Bhavnani said.
The current Sol placed sixth in the
qualifying round of the 1997 Sunrayce
and was featured as part of a solar
neighborhood at Walt Disney World's
EPCOT Center in 1998.
_ ^ _ - 1 ^ _ ^ _ — - _ "It is the
o n l y
A u b u r n
artifact to
ever be dis­played
at
EPCOT,"
Bhavnani
said.
Morgan
said the
current Sol
is made of a
carbon fiber composite which is
strong like steel but much lighter
allowing the car to travel up to 60
miles per hour on less than one horse­power.
Summers said a composite is sheets
of fabric layered with epoxy and
baked together to form a stronger,
lightweight material.
Summers said consumers will proba­bly
not see solar cars until lighter bat­teries
with greater storage capacities
are developed.
CONTRIBUTED
The Sol of Auburn converts photons from sunlight into
electricity to power the engine and charge the battery.
"When you say solar car
or electric vehicle,
people think of golf
carts. But you can get a
lot of power from
a solar car."
— Orenthral Morgan
Sol of Auburn team captain
"Once you have batteries with
enough storage capacity, you'll have
the speeds and the range of a regular
car," Summers said.
"Don't underestimate what the
solar car can do. When you say solar
car or electric vehicle, people think of
golf carts. But you can get a lot of
powei from a solar car," Morgan said.
Summers said the battery technolo­gy
used in the Sol is also used in
hybrid engines like the one in the
Toyota Prius. Like the solar car, the
Prius also uses regenerative breaking
to recharge the battery.
According to the Spring 1998 edi­tion
of Unlimited Magazine, the
Toyota Prius will be consumer ready
in the Summer 2001. 'The Prius, a
four-door, five-passenger sedan, uses
a gas/electric hybrid powertrain to
deliver 50 miles per gallon, a 100-
mph top speed and an 850 mile range.
The estimated cost of the Prius is
$18,500 with the heip of government
subsidy.
According to Unlimited, the Prius
has a 30-kilowatt electric motor for
low speeds and a 16 valve, 1.5 liter,
four-cylinder engine with 58 horse­power
for higher speeds. The two
power plants can operate indepen­dently
or together.
Summers said solar cars might be
next in line after the hybrids. "The
hybrids are starting to phase in now.
Honda has one partially on the mar­ket,
and Toyota is planning to release
theirs in the United States," Summers
said.
Because the hybrid still uses gaso­line,
it still produces some harmful
emissions. The solar car, however,
emits no pollutants into the atmos­phere.
Other zero emission prototypes like
the Ford P2000 and the Daimler
Chrysler Necar 4 use hydrogen to
power the engine. In these vehicles,
instead of smoke, you get water from
the tail pipe that is actually safe to
drink.
Many of these AFVs perform as
well as or better than gas powered cars
without the pollution. Consumers
won't have to hold their breath for
long because they are all expected to
be on the market in the next five years.
City to honor veterans past, present
By KIM REGIENCZUK
Staff Writer
The corner of Glenn Avenue
and Ross Street has been torn
down and fenced off and many
Auburn residents may be wonder­ing
why.
The City of Auburn is con­structing
a memorial to honor vet­erans
past and present on the cor­ner
across from City Hall.
The memorial will consist of a
; 15-foot high obelisk, positioned
in a central plaza surrounded by
brick sitting areas and a flagpole.
In keeping with a park-type set­ting,
the memorial will be land­scaped
with maple trees, Foster
Hollies and seasonal annuals.
Mayor Bill Ham developed the
idea for the Veterans Memorial
last year and implored the help of
retired Navy captain and Auburn
resident Jay Crowder to organize
a committee.
"Mayor Ham felt like the city
had been negligent in honoring
veterans in the past," Crowder
said.
The site was chosen on May 18,
1999, and Ham announced his
plan to a crowd of more than 400
people at the Mayor's Memorial
Day Breakfast held at the Auburn
University Hotel & Dixon
Conference Center May 31,1999.
Since then, the city has been
taking donations, mostly in the
form of brick pavers.
For $100, anyone can purchase
a brick and have it engraved with
the name of a veteran.
The bricks will be placed in
various areas around the monu­ment
and in the walkways.
Mariele Fischer at City Hall
said they have already sent in
their first order of about 110
bricks and are working on their
second hundred.
The Veterans' Memorial was
originally going to cost $150,000,
Ham said.
Hosey Construction Inc. (HCI)
then made a generous donation to
the memorial by providing labor
and construction management at
no cost.
"We think that's probably going
to save us about $50,000," Ham
said.
Dave Hosey, president of HCI,
was inspired to make the donation
by his father's service in three
wars.
"He joined the military at 17,
landed on Normandy, was shot in
the Battle of the Bulge and retired
a lieutenant colonel.
"This project's got a special
place in our hearts," Hosey said.
The memorial was to be com­pleted
and dedicated this
Memorial Day. However, Ham
fears the obelisk will not be ready.
"I think we're aiming for a July
4 ceremony now," Hosey said.
About three weeks ago, City
Council approved funds to pre­sent
an award to a veteran in the
area each year.
This year, Four-Star General
Jimmy Adams of the Auburn class
of 1957, will be presented with
the award and is scheduled to
speak at the dedication, Crowder
said.
A/BIBB
Through film
In English *3 Credits
No Prerequisites — Summer 2000
2 Sections
13892: T 9:20 -10:20 &TH 9:20 -11:30
13893: T 5:30-6:30 &TH 5:30-7:40
The Encyclopedia Brittanica defines cinema as Italy's
most important cultural export of the twentieth century.
Dr. Louise Katainen
6064 Haley, leave message at 844-6373; or
email=kataivl@auburn.edu
website=http://www.auburn.e(lu/%7Ekatarvl/
Summer 2000
READING FUN
Italian
Literary
Masterpieces
in English
*
FLIT 0399 - 3 credits
M WF@ 9:20 A.M.
(code=13891)
Dr. Louise Katainen
6064 Haley Center
844-6373; kataivl@auburn.edu;
www.auburn.edu/%7Ekataivl/
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BEAT
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Nobody makes
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The Office o f Admissions announces:
tudent Recruiter
Selections
Information Sessions:
Thursday, April 20
Foy208@3:30
and
Monday, April 24
Lowder 112 @ 6:00
Applications are
now available in Foy Union
and in the Admissions Office
APPLICATIONS DUE FRIDAY. APRIL 28.
4:45 P.M. IN THE
ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Cate applications will not be accepted.
Please call Ryan Jackson (826-6006) if you have
any questions. ^ «
A6 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN Thursday, April 20, 2000
State water war heats up as deadline approaches
May 1 deadline approaches as Alabama,
Florida and Georgia negotiate a solution to
the 10-year-old tri-state water dispute
By GREGORY BROWN
News Staff
Alabama and Florida will have the option
of taking Georgia to federal court if stalled
negotiations fail to produce an agreement to
the 10-year-old "water wars" debate by the
quickly approaching May 1 deadline.
"We have not been successful in negotia­tions,"
said Walter Stephenson, one of
Alabama's alternate negotiators.
Georgia's increase of water consumption
has decreased the amount of water flowing
into Alabama and Florida leading to the dis­pute
between the states.
Alabama and Georgia's governors could
agree to push the deadline back explained
Stephenson. However, the deadline has
been put off twice before.
Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and
Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes have
agreed that an interim compact
could give the states more time to
continue negotiations.
However, agreeing on an
acceptable interim agreement has
proved almost as difficult as
resolving the dispute itself.
Georgia rejected Siegelman's
proposal of Alabama's February
9 water allocation proposal as a
10 year interim agreement. Siegelman has
said Alabama will not compromise further.
"It is more of a volunteer situation."
explained U.S. Representative Bob Riley,
R-Ashland, speaking of the negotiations.
The negotiations attempt to reach an accept­able
agreement before the dispute is taken
to court..
"Gov. Siegelman will do all he can to pro-
SlEGELMAN
tect Alabama's water rights," said
Stephenson.
The negotiations continue with a meeting
today in Montgomery to discuss the
Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) river
system, and a meeting tomorrow in Atlanta
on the Apalchicola-Chattahoochee-Flint
(ACF) system.
The ACF and ACT river basins both orig­inate
in Georgia, yet most of their water
flows downstream Alabama.
Washington based American Rivers
recently ranked the ACF basin as fifth most
endangered in the country in its annual rat­ings.
Georgia's increase in water consumption
has been attributed to the rapid growth of
the Atlanta metropolitan area. As Atlanta
continues to grow, so does it's need for
water.
Several of Georgia's long range
water proposals consist of plans to
construct dams along these rivers to
create reservoirs to quench
Atlanta's thirst.
The proposed West Georgia
Regional Reservoir perhaps poses
the most visible threat to Alabama
waters said William Deutsch of
Auburn-based Alabama Water
Watch. This reservoir would be placed on
the Talapoosa river.
The dispute is over more than just the
amount of water. "There is an intimate link
between Quantity and Quality," explained
Deutsch. As the amount of water flowing in
a river- decreases, any addition of pollutants
becomes more potent.
The decrease in water flow has con­tributed
to the classification of 15 Alabama
TENNESSEE
''X'* SOUTH
/ CAROLINA
ALABAMA
BIRMINGHAM
LEGISLATIVE
BRIEFS
MOBILE
Figure I. The AJabama-Coos?-TaJlapoosa (ACT) and die Apal«chlcoU-Chanahoochec-F!im (ACF)Basins.
FILE
Georgia's increase of water consumption has decreased the amount
of water flowing into Alabama and Florida leading to the tri-state water
dispute. The three states have until May 1 to reach an agreement.
river dwelling species as endangered.
Along with over fishing, poor river condi­tions
have lead to a significant decrease in
the Alabama Sturgeon population.
In addition to the amount of water
Georgia uses disagreements have arisen
over the method Georgia plans to reintro­duce
used water into the water systems.
Both Alabama and Georgia agree water
should be properly treated. Georgia would
rather take water from the Talapoosa river
and transfer it to the Chattahoochee. While
easier to accomplish, and more cost effec­tive
this type of inter-basin transfer would
have devastating environmental effects said
Deutsch.
Local Senator pushes legislation to protect rivers
By BRANDON EVANS
News Staff
Alabama's rivers, creeks and streams and the wildlife
contained within are suffering considerable damage from All
Terrain Vehicle motorists.
State Sen. Ted Little of Auburn is pushing forward a bill
that will make this "joyriding" activity a misdemeanor
offense.
"People trespassing and driving their ATVs do damage
to fish life, plant life and soil beds," Little said.
The main vehicles responsible are three-wheelers, four-wheelers
and jeeps. Sport Utility Vehicles have not been
noticed as presently problematic.
Little said he does not want to prevent farmers, cattle
drivers and hunters from using these vehicles in their own
streams on their own property. The primary problem is tres­passers
"joyriding."
Little took notice of this problem after being contacted
by several environmentally concerned individuals. One of
those was retired University zoologist Robert Mount.
Mount said there are rivers and creeks all over the state
that are being negatively effected by ATVs.
Uphappbe Creek is a wide sandy-bottom creek that is
crossed over by
Interstate 85 at the
Notasulga-Tuskegee
exit. People access
the creek at this spot
and proceed to ride
up and down it for
several miles.
In their wake,
they destroy fish
nests, disrupt the
ecosystem, kill plant life and damage invertebrate popula­tions.
Oil and other pollutants leak from the vehicles and
pollute the stream, as well as disturb swimmers, Mount said.
Mount also said that at certain areas the creeks become
impassable and the vehicles ride up onto the sandy banks,
causing damage there as well.
"People trespassing
and driving their ATVs
do damage to fish life,
plant life and soil
beds."
— Sen. Ted Little
D-Auburn
Pat Dye, former University football head coach who
lives near Uphappbe Creek, has also voiced objection to the
environmental damage caused by "joyriding" ATV
motorists.
Another waterway in Alabama
disturbed by ATVs, Mount said, is
Escawtawpa River in Mobile County. A
prominent Mobilian owned land around
the river and was forced to install barri­ers
to keep people from damaging the
river and its lifeforms.
Although Little is attempting to
pass the bill against ATVs, he said it
may be unlikely that it will become law
this year. About 1,400 bills are proposed every year and
only about 15 become law.
Little hopes the law takes effect because it is "good
environmental legislation."
Mount said, "The only people who would oppose the
passing of such a bill would have to be very selfish."
Mandatory Auto Insurance
passes Legislature
The Legislature passed a bill
Tuesday that requires car and
truck owners in Alabama to buy
liability auto insurance by June 1
or face serious fines and penal­ties,
and maybe even time in jail
for repeat offenders.
Gov. Don Siegelman said he
would sign the bill, which carries
a $500 fine and a $100 vehicle
tag reinstatement fee for a first-time
offender.
Lawmakers gave final approval
to the revision of last year's
mandatory auto insurance law,
retaining the June 1 start of the
enforcement, but delaying some
administrative provisions until
June 1, 2001.
The bill was sponsored in the
House by Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn.
Legislators block courtesy
legislation in House
Gov. Don Siegelman's courtesy
legislation hit a snag last week as
it was withdrawn from House
discussion.
The bill would require K-12
students to address their teachers
as "ma'am," or "sir."
Black opponents of the bill said
it had racial connotations.
Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham,
said the bill was a
reminiscent to the days of slav­ery,
where blacks were whipped
if they did not address their white
owners as "sir" or "ma'am."
The bill was withdrawn from
discussion by its House sponsor,
Rep. Frank "Skippy" White, D-Escambia.
Teacher pay raise passed
The state House approved bills
Tuesday that will give teachers a
pay raise next year.
The bill, approved 99-2, would
be based on experience, with new
teachers getting 1 percent next
year, increasing in steps up to 5.5
percent for teachers with at least
15 years in the classroom.
The House also passed bills
that would commit state fundn:?
for future teacher raises aimed at
the national average and overhaul
the teacher tenure law.
The bills will now go to the
Senate.
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A8 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN Thursday, April 20, 2000
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. •
(Eiieffiuburn Plainsman
SI-NCE 1 89 3
Editorial Board
Karlyn Bogie
Managing Editor
Bill Barrow
Editor
David Patton
Business Manager
u' Beth Beasley
Assistant Managing Editor
Mac Mirabile
Features Editor
Scott Parrott
News Editor
Tommy Peavy
Sports Editor
Rachel Davis
Editor-elect
Ryan Lee
Campus Editor
Kristin Lenz
Copy Editor
The expressions of this newspaper's opinion are restricted to these pages. The unsigned editorials represent the
majority opinion of the Editorial Board of The Auburn Plainsman. Staff columns, guest columns, and letters to the
editor represent the opinions of their individual author(s). Opinions on these pages do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the University trustees, administration, faculty, staff, alumni, student government or student body.
EDITORIALS
Barron's double talk:
nothing but a power play
Senator blocks reform to maintain power
Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, still holds
Auburn University hostage, maneuvering pub­licly
and privately to block potential reform of
-the Board of Trustees.
Barron, also a University trustee, spews forth
reasons for opposing the bill, but the more he
talks, the more his blatant hypocrisy and'poor
reasoning become clear.
'Any reason the Sand Mountain Slickster offers
for opposing House Bills 326 and 327, takes a
distant backseat to the real force behind his light:
a "selfish desire to hold on to disproportionate
power.
Consider the senator's following
statements and our responses.
• "I am on record supporting
trustee reform. I helped push
through these bills through the
Senate last year." Yes, senator,
you pushed the legislation through
— during the last few days of the
session, when you knew it would
not see the light of day in the
House.
Good timing, senator.
R "1 will let the process work." Is that why,
senator, you let the bills sit untouched for three
weeks, when you, as Senate pro tern, have the
right and responsibility to appoint them to com­mittee?
Is that why you appointed the bills to the
Finance and Taxation Education Committee, the
Senate's busiest committee your political pal
Hinlon Mitchem helps control?
• "The proposed changes would leave the
process up to the political winds in
Montgomery." Senator, are you referring to the
winds you helped stir from 1995-1997 when the
Senate Confirmations would not even vote on
then-Gov. Fob James' three different nominees
for Bobby Lowder's expired trustee seat?
Or, senator, do you refer to the winds you blew
lust year that forced Lowder's and Jimmy
IN SUMMARY
Issue: Board of
Trustees reform
Our View: Sen.
Lowell Barron still
double-talking,
blocking bill out of
selfish motives
Samford's reappointment to sail through the
Senate without even facing the same
Confirmations Committee that ignored Auburn
trustee seats for four years?
• "I'm not interested in writing Auburn out
of the Constitution. That will make us second
class to the University of Alabama." Senator,
you are masterful. When there is nothing else to
back you up, you play on a football rivalry to get
folks to think with their hearts instead of their
heads.
MB 327 is indeed "only" a statute. However,
the composition of the board and
term limits for its members is
included in ' HB 326, a
Constitutional amendment.
Besides, senator, Auburn
University is above that antiquated,
cumbersome and embarrassing old
document that you and your status-quo
colleagues refuse to scrap.
• "I've talked to three former
alumni association presidents
who oppose this." But, senator, when asked to
disclose those three names, you won't. Is that
because two of the three are your trustee friends,
Bobby Lowder and Paul Spina?
• "I have not studied the bills at length." This
one takes the cake, senator. If you had "studied"
the bills — you seem to have "studied" them
enough to assert that they would hyper-politicize
the process — you would know they are essen­tially
the same legislation you "helped push
through the Senate last year."
What side are you on, senator? It doesn't
appear to be Auburn's, the side the alumni asso­ciation,
SGA Senate, University (faculty) Senate
and this newspaper have already joined.
Senator, Auburn people do not want this insti­tution
dominated by a powerful few.
Auburn people.want these bills.
Sen. Barron and Co., Auburn is ours.
Give it back.
Tiger's in a new cage
Eagle's move from campus aviary to raptor cen­ter
disappointing, but it's no conspiracy
Auburn's famed live mascot has a new home,
but it's not being evicted in favor of a new stu­dent
union.
The golden eagle's traditional watch over cen­tral
campus is over because some officials think
she would be better suited by facili­ties
and care at the Southeastern
Raptor Rehabilitation Center.
We're not experts in zoology and
wildlife science, but we do know
this: the reaction of some Auburn
students is extreme.
The petition circulating to "save
Tiger," is well meaning. It is even
proper, because it's authors are
exercising their write to register
written opposition to a decision they detest..
However, the rumors of conspiracy theories and
power plays that accompany the news and the
•petition are unfounded.
Let's get two things straight:
1. The new student union has nothing to do with
the decision to move Tiger.
2. The new student union will not even be con-
IN SUMMARY
Issue: Tiger's move
off central campus
Our View: A tradition
is gone, but critics
should end talk of
erroneous 'new
union conspiracy'
structed at the "Eagle's Cage" site that has
received so much media and public attention.
Earlier this week, the University Building
Committee released it's final recommendation:
the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Donahue
Drive. They have no intention of
burying Tiger under a new build­ing.
3. Even if Tiger does not make a
permanent return to her aviary, it is
not fair to place the symbolic spirit
she has provided for the campus
over the animal's well being..
Members of the University
Building Committee,' WTW
Architects, SGA, the Board of
Trustees and every one else in this process love
Tiger's presence in the heart of the campus as
much as any other Auburn person. They are not
"out to get the bird."
So all interested students and alumni interest­ed
in seeing Tiger return to her campus aviary
must carry on in proper fashion, minus the need­less
hubub over false rumors of conspiracy.
ShegnburiiiJlniiisiiinii
The Auburn Plainsman is tlie official newspaper of Auburn University. It is produced entirely by students and is
funded by its advertising revenue. Staff meetings are Wednesdays, 7 p.m. in B-100 Foy Student Union. For more
information cull 844-4130 The Auburn Plainsman (USPS 434747) is published by Auburn University, AL 36849,
weekly during tlie school year. The paper averages nine issues per quarter. The Auburn Plainsman is not printed
during class breaks. It is distributed free of cliurge to Auburn students and faculty. Additional copies are $.50.
Subscriptions are $35/year, $101 quarter. Periodicals postage paid at Auburn, AL. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to The Auburn Plainsman, B-100 Foy Student Union, Auburn University, AL 36849-5343.
Advertising Policies — Campus Calendar is provided as a service by The Auburn Plainsman to all University-chartered
organizations to announce activities. Announcements must be submitted on forms available in tlie office
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.in no tuter titan Monday. Submissions must be no more than 30 words and are edit­ed
to retain only pertinent information. Classified ads cost $.30/word for non-AU students, $.251 word for stu­dents.
Tliere is a 14-word minimum. Forms are available in the office during business liours. Deadline is Friday
at 4:30 p.m. Local advertising rate is $6.001'column.inch. National advertising rate is $8.50/column incli
Deadline for alt advertising space reservation is Friday at 3 p.m.
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JASON KEY/Art Editor
The Plainsman: just doing our job
Wake up Auburn. It's time for a little
lesson in newspapering 101.
This course is designed to inform
readers about how a newspaper func­tions
in a specific community. Each day
we will look at newspapers across this
nation to better understand their role i n '
society.
To begin our first class, we will nar­row
our search to a local paper that all
of us are familial' with, The Auburn
Plainsman. Please take out a piece of
paper and, a pencil; there will be a quiz
on this information at the end of class.
The Plainsman has been in existence
since 1893. Within that 107 year period,
tlie paper has seen the change of this
institutions name, from API to Auburn
University. The Auburn journalists in the
'30s tried it as a semiweekly publica­tion,
but it soon returned to Thursday
issue dates.
And since it's start over a century ago,
the paper has covered issues that some
people wish they hadn't.
In 1961, Plainsman editor Jim
Bullington wrote an editorial dealing
with the Freedom Riders bus burnings
in Anniston. The driving point of his
editorial was that racism needed to cease
and that integration was inevitable.
Bullington's words spread like wild
fire to white campuses across tlie South
and drew heavy criticism from
University President Ralph B. Draughon
and the Board of Trustees.
Three years later, Auburn University
was integrated, despite the wishes of the
board to remain an all-white campus.
Newspapers are fashioned to report
tlie news of its respective community.
Of course, not every story will shed
"good light" on tlie community.
People often think The Plainsman
should report only news that is in tlie
best interest of Auburn and won't make
die school look bad. But diat's not the
goal this paper. That's not journalism.
Now, what are some issues today that
we can use for class discussion?
"Yes little Bobby?"
KRISTIN
LENZ
1 • 'They usual­ly
have a story or
editorial on the
Board of
Trustees."
Good
choice, Bobby.
Pay careful
attention here
class. A lot of
hype surrounds
The Plainsman
——^———•— these days with
tlie proposed
merger of the departments of journalism
and communication.
One reason critics believe die " right-out-
of-the-blue" idea has surfaced is
revenge — revenge on The Plainsman.
OK class, listen to this scenario. This
University is a community. No one
would argue that. We're sort of a com­munity
within a community. And our
governing body is the Board of Trustees.
Now, it is commonplace for newspa­pers
to comment on the governing body
that presides over them. I think we can
venture to say what Auburn has is a rare
case in that not many places, especially
colleges and universities, have such
twisted politics in charge of such an
important aspect — quality education.
"Does anyone have any questions
about that information?"
"No. But what about endorsing SGA
presidential candidates? I mean, that's
not really fair?"
A newspaper has two types of articles:
news and opinion.
News articles include sports and fea­tures
and are written in an unbiased and
objective tone.
Opinion, however, is strictly die writ­ers
feelings on an issue, a University
policy, or in this case, a presidential can­didate.
Now, whedier you as a student think
diat it was in The Plainsman's poor
judgment to endorse a candidate, it is
also you're responsibility as a student to
inform yourself of each candidates qual­ifications.
People on this campus like to pride
themselves in the fact that the voters that
run to the polls don't just vote for whom
diey are told or who is the prettiest. If
diis is true, Uien no matter who was
endorsed, die student body should have
made a conscious decision on who they
diought was best qualified.
Well, were about out of time for today
but tomorrow we will have a quiz on the
material we discussed today.
One last point that I want you to elab­orate
on tonight, and the rest of your
life:
Newsflash: You are in college, proba­bly
20 or 22 years old, and you have
met a lot of people in you life. Well,
you're going to meet a lot more, and
each person is going to have an opinion.
What you need to realize is that to be
"grown up," to be "mature," includes
being able to listen to someone else's
opinion, and respect it. It is OK to dis­agree,
if no one disagreed then diere
wouldn't be any opinions.
When it comes to newspapers, espe­cially
editorials and personal columns,' ,
relax it's just an opinion.
Each week, The Plainsman runs
Letters to the Editor and Sound Off. And
each week, diere is someone complain-.;
ing that 77if Plainsman is unethical.
As Auburn's student newspaper, The
Plainsman allows tlie opinions of stu- ;
dents, faculty and others to be heard.
As Auburn's student newspaper, The
Plainsman has die duty to express its •
opinion to the students, faculty and oth­ers.
So the next time you think about criti-;
cizing The Plainsman, remember that its
opinion is that of only 10 people. Read
what tlie editorial board writes every
week. Either you'll agree or disagree.
But at least you'll be better informed
to make your own, sound opinion.
Kristin Lenz is copy editor of The .
Auburn Plainsman. You can
reach her at H44-910H and
lenz@theplainsinun.com.
Media produces prejudiced coverage
Considering today's date, I'll preface
this column by apologizing for its tim­ing,
not for its content.
How many times last month did you
hear or read, "Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin,
former member of the Black Panther
Party" when a news program or paper
mentioned the accused cop-killer?
What does "former member of die
Black Panther Party" have to do with
what Al-Amin was accused of doing?
Does the media ever refer to Thomas
Jefferson as "former slave holder and
statutory rapist"?
No. The media is trying to make the
public associate Black Panther Party
widi cop killing. Truth be told, in
December 1969 it was Chicago Police
officers, FBI agents and a spy who con­spired
to ruthlessly and unjustifiably kill
two Black Panther Party leaders, Mark
Clark and Fred Hampton.
When I read a story over spring break
about two African boys climbing into an
airplane's wheel well to escape their
country, I was shocked.
The two young teen-aged boys gath­ered
a bag of clothing, their birth certifi­cates,
report cards and a letter titled, "In
case we die ...". Then, they stowed
away on a business airplane headed for
Brussels, Belgium.
, These two boys wrote in their letter
that they were willing to risk their lives
for either a better life than the horror
they were experiencing, or to show the
world of the poverty and devastation
strangling Uieir homeland.
Their tale was shocking, but what
infuriated me
was that I read
this article on
March 19, but
the event
occurred July of
last year. I'd like
to think 1 am
well-caught up
on current
events, but
obviously the
" " • " " • — " " " " ^ • media didn't
think diis was an important issue.
However, every night for the past
four months I have turned on my TV
and I seen massive coverage of the
European-looking Elian Gonzales. The
people making a big deal out of this sit­uation
are not Latinos, but whites.
They are fighting like hell to keep
this boy in the country, just to spite
Fidel Castro. The irony behind this
whole thing is that die United States
doesn't sufficiently take care of any
immigrants or nonwhites that are
already in die country.
The only time the country and its
"liberal media" recognizes them is
when it gels them in its biased criminal
justice system while magnifying and
manipulating Uieir transgressions, or it
needs someone to blame for this coun­try's
problems.
Today's Africa is a direct result of
America's past, from die slaves we stole
in earlier centuries to the way we
orphaned our colonies at the end of the
Cold War. It is time America focuses on
its transgressions and use the media to
fix them, not to get in a pissing contest
with Castro.
Each day in this country's inner cities,
children are confronted by crime and
violence. Kids carry guns to school reg­ularly
and use them on school grounds
at a frightening rate.
Some good students carry weapons just
to feel safe in what is supposed to be a
learning environment.
But until white suburban children are
gunned down, as in Columbine and
Jonesboro, the media pays school vio­lence
no attention. Now, because upper-class
whites are affected by school
shootings, all of a sudden it is a national
crisis.
What diis country and its media is
saying is that the lives of nonwhites are
not as valuable as,diose in Columbine.
We don't have to address violence in
non-white areas because it doesn't mean
as much there.
Again, I am sorry if anyone out there
finds the timing article offensive. But
the media has been biased for far too
long and the way it continues to portray
and ignore nonwhites is the true
offense.
If the white media continues to care
only about white issues, every time is
the perfect time to criticize this injus­tice.
Ryan Lee is campus editor of
The Auburn Plainsman. You can
reach him tit H44-91IH and
lee @ theplainsman. com. a
Thursday, April 20, 2000 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN A9
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Mr. Boney, Ms. Davis: Congratulations, now save AU
This is an open letter to SGA President Lindsey
Boney and Plainsman Editor-elect Rachel Davis.
Dear Lindsey and Rachel,
Congratulations. You have both reached a high level of
student leadership. But let's put that aside.
As you move past post-election euphoria, I want to talk
to you about the coming year. I haven't the time left to do
everything I want to do for Auburn — that's the way it is
for all student leadership offices. So I want to pass on
• some advice to you.
Please listen to some friendly advice from a student on
the stretch run. (Remember, this is my advice. It will soon
be your year to help Auburn the way you see fit.)
1. Understand the importance of your voices.
Lindsey, you are now an ex-officio member of the Board
of Trustees. Rachel, you will be responsible for a publi­cation
that lands in front of 20,000 students, faculty, the
president, administrators, trustees, alumni, and the gover­nor.
Those are powerful voices — and awesome respon­sibilities.
Never, ever, ever underestimate the power of those
voices. Sounds a bit egotistical, but YOU WILL BE
IMPORTANT. That does not mean you are any brighter
than other students or have any entitlements they do not
You merely have the responsibility to make your voice
heard. When faculty, administrators, alumni and trustees
come calling on student opinion, they'll look to you first.
2. Learn Auburn history. Lindsey, as a history major,
and Rachel, as a journalist, you both know the impor­tance
of history. It's cliche, but "those who do not know
history are doomed to repeat it." Auburn history repeats
BILL
BARROW
itself often, because University
leaders at all levels have not learned
from others' mistakes. Don't add
your names to that list.
Both of you should spend
some time listening to and learning
from folks like President-emeriti
Harry Philpott and Wilford Bailey,
former Plainsman editors Neil
Davis and Jack Simms, Auburn his­torian
David Housel, history profes­sor
Wayne Flynt, professor/admin-
^^^""~~~—•"""""" istrator emeritus Taylor Littleton,
trustee-emeriti John Denson and Morris Savage and
Grant Davis, secretary to the Board of Trustees. Read, ask
questions, listen and learn. You, and Auburn, will be bet­ter
for it.
3. Know how pivotal this year is. Auburn will likely
be choosing a new president. Aubum will be choosing at
least one new vice president. Faculty relations with the
board are hecoming ever more tense. An administrator
once told me the tension is something "Auburn will never
get over." More programs may be merged or cut.
Students must play a role in that environment. Your
year may be the most divisive at Aubum since Hanly
Funderburk resigned the presidency in 1982. Play a role.
Don't think you do Aubum a service by "not adding to
the controversy." A lack of student involvement in the
future of the institution would be a controversy in itself.
4. Challenge authority when it is abused. DO NOT
be afraid to tell an administrator, trustee or government
official that students deserve and demand better. Granted,
editors are typically more bent toward confrontation, but
from my angle, Lindsey, presidents shy away from con­frontation
too easily.
Lindsey, your job is not to "fight" with administrators;
but is not to "cooperate" with them either. Your job is to
stand up on behalf of students and the Aubum they want,
need and deserve. If any student is getting a raw deal, you
must come to his or her defense.
Lindsey, your predecessor, Andrew Nix, spoke at
trustee meetings more than any of his immediate prede­cessors.
Build on that example. Speak more. Speak
strongly. Speak for students.
Don't be infatuated with your seat on the board. Don't
be intimidated by the wealthy, powerful people sitting
around you. Watching a star-struck president cozy up to
narrow-minded, power-driven trustees is disgusting.
Some of your predecessors have made that mistake —
and it did nothing to make Auburn a better place.
Rachel, you must pursue the truth. Don't let folks tell
you that the paper is "making Aubum look bad." You just
make folks look at Aubum, however ugly it often is. That
is your contribution to Aubum: exposing its people to
what's happening on the inside.
5. Don't waste time trying to "work together." Every
year, SGA candidates say the paper and SGA should be
on the same page. Hogwash. Both institutions exist to
serve students and make their experiences better, but they
accomplish that mutual goal in different ways.
So, for the sake of a healthy relationship between the
government and the media, remember these rules:
1. There is no official relationship between The Auburn
Plainsman and SGA.
2. It is the job of the media to serve as the ultimate check
on government — even student government — through
unbiased news coverage and editorial commentary.
3. The Plainsman does not always criticize SGA, but it
should always critique it. Rachel, know the difference as
a journalist. Lindsey, don't take constructive criticism
personally.
6. Every once in a while, talk off-the-record. You
operate independent of each other by nature, but there is
no harm out of sharing ideas as student leaders. You can
both gain an appreciation and respect for the other's view,
though it is healthy and necessary for the free exchange
of ideas that you sometimes, if not often, disagree.
7. Above all, love what you do and work for AU. You
both love Aubum —: but you will value Aubum more
than ever a year from now, because you will have invest­ed
unfathomable time and energy fighting against power­ful
odds and powerful people to preserve and enhance the
University's tradition, quality and integrity.
Good luck, friends. Aubum will soon be on your,
watch.
WAR EAGLE,
)jZt07iT~
Bill Barrow is editor of The Auburn Plainsman.
You can reach him at 844-9021 and
harm w @ theplainsman. com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SGA should
take on more
'activist' role
Editor, The Auburn Plainsman:
Last week, The Plainsman published an
article concerning the SGA's recent efforts
to evaluate and increase student awareness
of its projects ("SGA evaluates roie by
'meeting five people'). The article suggested
that the outcome of these efforts had per­plexed
SGA officials like Administrative
Vice-President Sarah Gholston who report­edly
thought,"Oh my goodness, people do
not know what we do."
With the election only recently concluded,
I would like to recommend my own modest
proposal that the newly elected members of
the SGA might adopt to increase their rele­vance
in the eyes of the student body.
Most campus organizations can be divid­ed
into different types: clubs and interest
groups or, as I prefer to call them, activist
groups. Clubs generally pursue goals related
only to the interests of its members, while
the goals of activist groups involve the
interests of everyone in society. Activist
groups always publicize their activities since
they usually need popular support to achieve
their goals. Conversely, many elitist clubs
keep their activities secret and shun new
members in order to maintain the appear­ance
that their group is somehow "special".
Now, I do not wish to suggest that the
SGA has taken on the appearance of either a
club or an activist group. However, even the
most well-intentioned governments have
fallen into the trap of behaving like clubs
because the government itself is a kind of
exclusive club. Other factors may also be
involved. Some cynical Aubum students
contend that the members of the SGA
Delong to elitist clubs and have thus entered
public office with a "club mentality."
Student government officials, they argue,
may belong to clubs that force potential
members to endure a lengthy interview
process, pay large dues, and demonstrate
certain social graces. They may even hold
nidation rituals, insist on grueling confir-nation
processes, and encourage members
o engage in a decadent and degrading
ifestyle.
I reluctantly admit that such clubs may
:xist in some comers of Aubum and may
:ven have the power to influence elections
vith the size of their membership,
lowever, to claim that members of the
5GA, the representatives of the entire stu-lent
body, have emerged from elites is a
idiculous and insulting proposition hardly
leserving of speculation!
Nevertheless, the members of the SGA
nay want to adopt some of the methods of
ictivist groups to increase awareness of
heir projects. To begin with, the SGA might
ictually want to focus less on publicizing
he- service and entertainment projects men-ioned
in the article, such as blood drives
md pep rallies. Campus elites often run
imilar projects in a self-serving effort to
mprove their negative public image. Some
>eopIe may mistakenly suspect that the
veil-meaning projects on the part of the
JGA are also shallow attempts to gain posi-ive
exposure.
Like an activist group, the SGA should
nstead pursue fervent activism on campus
ssues, no matter how controversial.
Members would have to look no further
han The Plainsman for a successful model.
*k large number of students and faculty
Scored The Plainsman for many years
because of its halfhearted reporting report
on several campus issues, such as declining
funding and systemic corruption among the
Board of Trustees.
However, its editors have recently taken
part in radical attempts to uncover these
problems, with resulting increases in local
and even national exposure. Every effort to
interfere with The Plainsman's more
extreme coverage, from letters (see last
week's "Editor's SGA endorsement abuse of
power") to censure, has merely served to
increase its prestige.
I have no doubt that the popularity of the
SGA would immediately soar if it took
equally public stances on similar issues. At
the very least, the students would become
more aware of the SGA's activities because
they would all receive tremendous coverage
in the local and state media. Imagine, for
example, the coverage President Boney
would receive if he condemned the short­sighted
politics of trustees like Bobby
Lowder and called for board reform. Or he
could vociferously defend the board's
actions. Either position would gamer media
attention, but, once gain, only if the SGA
demonstrated highly visible activism regard­ing
these issues.
Commiserating with students every week
on the Commons and similar projects,
although certainly an absolute joy to every­one
involved, must be employed in conjunc­tion
with highly public activism in order to
produce results.
The exact shape of this activism, of
course, remains an open question. With any
luck, the new members of the SGA are
already preparing their positions on the
board, Spades, the elimination of campus
departments, and all of the other key issues
facing Aubum. Like our risen Savior railing
against the money-lenders, I am sure that
President Boney will proudly lead the SGA
in a public crusade in all of these areas, not
just to raise awareness but to secure the
future of our great University.
Bradford Carmack
Senior, psychology/political science
Merger would
destroy AU
journalism
Editor, The Auburn Plainsman:
By this letter, I urge the Aubum
University Board of Trustees not to merge
the Department of Journalism with the
Department of Communication and put
journalism accreditation at risk. The possi­ble
detrimental effect upon accreditation,
loss of stature of the University, and dimin­ished
quality of education far exceed any
cost savings that may be effected by the
proposed merger.
When I started at Auburn in 1971, jour­nalism
was a division of the English
Department and had three faculty members:
Paul Burnett, Mickey Logue and David
Housel. All three were excellent instructors
whose dedication to the field and to us stu­dents
was remarkable, but we knew journal­ism
was a stepchild. We journalism students
were thrilled when Jack Simms came
aboard and the program received depart­mental
status. The hiring of Simms and ele­vation
to departmental level showed that the
University was committed to upgrading the
journalism program at Auburn.
We felt pride that our journalism depart­ment
took a nuts-and-bolts approach that
prepared us to hit the street ready to produce
good copy for our employers. While we
learned the history of our field and its prin­ciples,
we did not spend much time studying
"theory." We learned to be reporters and not
journalism teachers. During my time as a
reporter for The Decatur Daily and The
Associated Press, I was always thankful for
the practical, matter-of-fact instruction we
received.
As a Plainsman reporter, I interviewed
the dean of the School of Business-Dean
Horton, I believe — about his efforts to
achieve accreditation for that program. I
came away with great appreciation for the
value of accreditation to an academic pro­gram.
I believe accreditation of the journal­ism
program is more valuable to the
University, the program and the students
than the projected dollar savings would be.
Aubum should not sacrifice accreditation of
the journalism program.
I fear that merging journalism and "com­munications"
would move the journalism
program backward. Many, if not most, of us
studied journalism because we had a burn­ing
desire to report news. The journalism
faculty, for its part, has always hand-crafted
students into effective print and broadcast
IASON KEY/Art Editor
journalists. I cannot claim familiarity with
the "communications" discipline, but I just
cannot envision communications majors
having a burning desire to "communicate"
or wanting to be hand-crafted into a "com­municators."
I do not believe these pro­grams
or their students share enough simi­larities
to make a good match.
Aubum journalism currently enjoys con­siderable
status among Alabama newspa­pers.
Its status is growing regionally and
nationally because of the contributions of its
graduates. Rheta Grimsley Johnson and
Cynthia Tucker from my era come to mind,
but Barbara Crane of The Wall Street
Journal is worth mentioning as well. Any
move the University takes now concerning
its journalism program will receive strong
coverage to the Communications Board's
heavy-handed attempt to punish Lee Davis
for The Plainsman's informative, coura­geous,
and evidently truthful articles on Mr.
Lowder's influence at Auburn.
Alabama news media would inevitably
view merger of journalism with communi­cations
as another vindictive act against
journalism at Aubum, regardless of what the
true motives would be. Public relations
problems have not been rare at Aubum late­ly;
unfortunately, this particular matter
might actually affect job opportunities for
Auburn's journalism graduates.
Eliminating the department would be per­ceived
as downgrading the quality of the
program and the graduates themselves. That
would be a shame.
Journalism and communications must not
be merged.
Steele Holman
Plainsman Editor 1975-76
'Big three9 make
ridiculous
threat on paper
Editor, The Auburn Plainsman:
When I read about the intent for the
schools of journalism and communication to
be joined, I immediately knew who was
behind it and why.
How some powerful individuals can hon­estly
believe that they are immune to
accountability is beyond me. This action by
Lord Lowder, Duke Barron.and Sir Samford
is obviously a direct attack on The Auburn
Plainsman. This is an extremely underhand­ed
and vengeful act on the part of the big
three.
I am reminded of a presently appropriate
statement by Mark Twain: "In the first
place, God made idiots. That was for prac- *
tice. Then he made school boards." If the
individuals trying to squelch our (students) '
first amendment rights believed they were
making right decisions, they would have
nothing to hide.
Instead, the guilt-laden trustees are
attempting to abridge the power of The
Plainsman so that students will be unin­formed
and ignorant of matters that affect
them more than anyone else. These trustees
apparently think we have no brains and can­not
think for ourselves. This ideally dances
on the line between free speech and com­plete
governmental control.
The blatant fascism shown by the trustees
to defend their senseless decisions should
prove to all of us the desperate need for
trustee reform.
Thomas Jefferson once wisely
declared,"Were it left to me to decide Z,
whether we should have a government with-,
out newspapers, or newspapers without a ,.
government, I should not hesitate a moment
to prefer the latter." We are the students of. „
Aubum University, and we demand to be
informed on the tyranny of these domineer­ing
trustees.
Students are never considered when these,
decisions arise, but peer institutions' policies
are always at the top of the list. Well, I'd
like to see respected universities who have '.
combined these schools and prospered from
it. Maybe we should ask Vanderbilt how ~jj
they would do it. The board should never •'
even consider doing something that will
jeopardize accreditation statuses. I came to
Aubum University to receive a quality edu­cation,
and I wonder if my major will be
accredited when I graduate. Money spent
acquiring a non-accredited degree is money
wasted.
Provost Walker stated that accreditation
agencies should not "be dictating adminis­trative
structure of a university."
Accreditation agencies know what is best
for college curricula and structure, not a
group of wealthy administrators. And to
those "yes men" at the disposal of the
trustees: even Pinocchio could think for
himself when Gipetto cut his strings.
Richard McVay
Freshman, chemical engineering
LETTERS POLICY
Mail letters to the Editor to B-100 Foy '<
Student Union, Auburn University, Ala., •
36849, e-mail them to letters@theplqins-man.
com or bring them to Plainsman
office in person. Deadline for submission
of letters is Tuesday prior to publication
at 3 p.m. Letters are not restricted to stu­dents.
All letters received via e-mail or
regular post must include the author s
name, address, and telephone number. All
letters will be verified. Names of the
author may be withheld upon request of
the author and agreement of the editor.'
Letters that are not published in the print
edition are often posted at The Plainsman
Online, found at
www.theplmnsman.com.
l£
Thursday, April 20, 2000 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN A10
EAGLE Continued from Page One
said, "Tiger has been a long standing
tradition here at Auburn. If we lose
Tiger, then we are losing an important
part of Auburn, and of the Auburn tradi­tion.
3 "I would consider this event to be on
the same level as going to Toomer's
Corner and cutting down the trees there,
and selling firewood. That's just not
Sght," Chesnutt said.
« Despite some rumors to the contrary,
the decision to move Tiger is not related
to the site of the new student union.
; Monday, the University Building
Committee released that it will recom-
Jjiend to Muse the union be constructed
Sne the corner of Roosevelt and
Donahue Drives, not on the Eagle's
Sage site.
« When asked if Alpha Phi Omega felt
that the decision had anything to do with
•ehoosina the site of the new union, head
ragle trainer John Ward replied, "If the
JJnion goes there, the eagle moving off
JS'ould have created an easy solution to a
2hore complex problem. However, we
3o not necessarily think that had any-
Biing to do with Tiger."
Z. Endangered species are only allowed
*o be maintained in captivity after being
•granted a special permit by the USFWS.
•fa addition, to house a golden eagle, the
•eagle must be found incapable of living
jn the wild.
• Ward said Auburn was able to get
3"iger in 1986 because she had experi­enced
undue exposure to humans as an
xaglet and was then deemed unable to
Survive outside of captivity.
— According to a statement issued by
lERRC through the College of
-Veterinary Medicine "the US Fish and
Wildlife Service ordered that the permit
to keep War Eagle VI be transferred
from the Alpha Phi Omega Service
Fraternity to the Southeastern Raptor
'Rehabilitation Center."
SERRC has said Alpha Phi
Omega can continue a meaningful role
4n the continuing care of Tiger, under
the guidelines provided by USFWS.
- Ward said because Alpha Phi Omega
was concerned for the well-being of
T'gcr, they would continue to work with
lier at SERRC's facilities.
• Geoff Hill, previously the official per­mit
holder, said there was not an order to
transfer the permit by USFWS.
"I voluntarily requested that the feder­al
collecting permit, which allows Tiger
to be maintained at Auburn and which I
held from 1993 to 1999, be transferred
to Joe Shelnutt, (head of SERRC)," Hill
said.
Hill felt Shelnutt was probably more
qualified to hold the permit than him­self.
"I hope that Alpha Phi Omega and Joe
Shelnutt will be able to work together so
that students and fans will continue to
be able to see and enjoy Tiger," Hill
said.
, Ward said the administration was in
favor of the transfer of permits. Before
the meeting, Muse had sent the group a
letter notifying them of the situation, he
said.
The statement released by SERRC
expressed that health and safety issues
were top priority.
"The current housing for War Eagle
VI, her care, and her chronic health
problems are of utmost concern. The
bird suffers from recurring 'bumble-foot,'
a chronic foot infection caused by
inadequate husbandry practices,"
according to the statement.
Allen Jenkins, of Sutton Aviation
Research Center, located in Oklahoma,
defined bumblefoot as an infection of
the foot caused by sitting on the same
perch or a puncture from the eagle's
talons.
"This condition is frequently found
with a vast majority of captive birds,"
Jenkins said.
Shelnutt and Ward both said Tiger VI
had the bumblefoot condition when she
arrived at Auburn, but that the disease
has subsided.
Shelnutt said he felt Tiger was endan­gered
by living in her current location
and that Alpha Phi Omega had violated
conditions of the permit.
"The current situation involves secu­rity
issues with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife housing guidelines and with
health issues," Shelnutt said.
USFWS officials could not be reached
for comment.
Shelnutt would not comment on spe­cific
violations although he did say that
Tiger would be better off at SERRC's
facilities.
Ward that Alpha Phi Omega was not
given a chance to correct any violations.
Alpha Phi Omega has taken care of
the Auburn's eagles for 40 years and
was currently taking care of Tiger VI
before she was taken. The A.E. Hamer,
Jr. Aviary provided by the fraternity, is
the largest open air aviary in the nation
built for a single bird, second only in
size to an aviary located in the San
Diego Zoo.
Ward said Tiger VI is now being
housed in a cage which is only a fraction
of the size of the aviary and goes with­out
public interaction on a daily basis.
Ward said there has never been any
problems with the health or safety of
Tiger VI in the past.
Shelnutt agreed. "Other than the bum­blefoot
problem, there have been no
immediate health problems with Tiger,"
she said. "This group of Alpha Phi
Omega trainers, is the best group ever to
work with her."
Another concern Shelnutt expressed
was over the issue of education.
"Captive eagles are only to be used
for educational purposes. Legally, birds
of prey can only be used for conserva­tion
education," Shelnutt said.
Ward said, "What better way to edu­cate
the public about Eagle awareness
and conservation efforts then using a
nationally recognized symbol such as
Tiger.
"We usually do (an average of) 40
free, educational seminars a year to
inform the public," Ward said.
Shelnutt said he "had not been aware
of Alpha Phi Omega's educational
efforts."
According to the SERRC Web site,
the cost for SERRC to publicly show its
birds is between $100-$250 for a 45-
minute appearance in Alabama and sur­rounding
areas. The cost for eagles is
higher.
Shelnutt said, "This bird will be uti­lized
like any other bird among our col­lection,
for educational purposes. We do
charge to do a program."
Ward stressed Alpha Phi Omega had
"always worked for free, using dona­tions
and raising money to fund their
projects."
"I am not sure if money is an issue
here or no., I only know that people will
have to pay to see Tiger in the future,"
ALFA Continued from Page One
suit between trustee Robert Lowdcr and for­mer
Gov. Fob James.
James appointed Richardson to fill
Lowder's seat on the board after his term
expired in 1995, but the state Senate never
confirmed the appointment as required by the
Alabama Constitution.
The Lowder family's relationship
with ALFA began with Ed Lowder,
Bobby's father. The elder Lowder
helped start the company, but cut all
legal and financial ties with company
after losing a political struggle among
its shareholders.
Lowder told The Birmingham News
in 1999 that "(he) wasn't about to
give control of (the) board to ALFA."
The state Supreme Court ruled Lowder
could retain his seat on the board until James'
nominee was confirmed by the Senate.
James made two more nominations for
Lowder seat before losing his bid for re-elec­tion
in 1998. Neither nominee ever came to a
vote in the Senate Confirmations Committee
or on the floor of the Senate.
Gov. Don Siegelman reappointed Lowder
in 1999.
Barron also has a history with ALFA.
Barron sued ALFA after finding out it
launched an investigation in 1997 probing
into his personal and professional life. Barron
contended ALFA was finding dirt on him and
Sen. Mitchem, D- Albertville, to get them to
support Richardson's appointment to the
Board.
Mitchem was the chairman of the Senate
Confirmation Committee that
never voted on James' appointees.
The DeKalb County jury
found the ALFA investigation
invaded Barron's privacy.
The jury ruled that Alfa, the
Alabama Farmer's Association,
and former ALFA executives |
Goodwin Myrick and John Dorrill,,
pay Barron $15.2 million in dam­ages.
Phil Richardson has denied supporting thel
alumni association in any way in its attempts |
to pass board of trustee reform.
Myrick and Dorrill could not be reached for j
comment.
"No ALFA (official) is behind this,"!
McAdams said. "They have not had any influ-]
ence on the task force at all.
"The insinuation is that they are stirring upl
alumni to do this," McAdams said, "and theyl
had nothing to do with the the writing of this]
bill."
BARRON
B R E J A ^ K . I ] \ ^ Continued from Page One
going to rape her.
"Then Sabrina knocked on the door and said
they were gone," she said.
According to Eichelbcrg, Stelle said she
grabbed a cordless phone and had a "tug-of-war"
over the phone. Then he went and got his
friend from Kauffman's bedroom, and they ran
out, she said.
Eichelberg said Kelli told her the intruder
with the gun had pulled out a mask and put it
on after he cornered her in the room. "It
seemed stupid since we had all already seen
his face," she said.
"Kelli said he looked around, grabbed her
keys and wallet and ran out of the room,"
Eichelberg said.
"They didn't expect to find all four of us
there. We're pretty sure they watched us walk
up from the car. They thought there were only
two of us in the apartment," Eichelberg said.
Eichelberg described both men as black
males in their twenties, standing about 5-foot-
10.
Eichelberg said she is currently trying to get]
out of her lease with Cary Pick Realty.
"One of our neighbors said there had beer
11 break-ins at our complex this school yearj
All I know is that I'm not going to spenc
another night there," Eichelberg said.
Eichelberg said she confronted a representa-l
tive of Cary Pick with the information and was
told that the tenants were not warned becausq
they were afraid it would cause panic.
"People need to know to be on their guard,'!
Eichelberg said. "They don't need to be paral
noid. They just need to know that they are no|
perfectly safe."
Drucilla Cooper, spokeswoman for thJ
Auburn Police Department, said, "Our detec|
tives are actively investigating the case."
Cary Pick officials were unavailable fo
comment.
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INSIDE CAMPUS
• Students have their say
on the Concourse/B3
• Greeks take steps
toward integration/B4
• Lindsey Boney takes
office, sits down for Q&A/B6
Thursday, April 20, 2000
Qllie^uburn Plainsman
www.theplainsman.com
Student fees up across the board
By AMANDA HOUSE
Assistant Campus Editor
As students prepare for the first semes­ter
at Auburn in the 21st century, they'll
pack their bags and empty their wallets.
This fall, student fees, from tuition to
housing, will once again be on the rise.
Tuition
On April 7, the Board of Trustees
approved a resolution to increase tuition
once again.
Students will be paying an additional
5.3 percent for classes next year.
"It's part of the financial plan to get
tuition to the regional average," said
Marcie Smith, assistant vice president
for business and finance.
The financial plan states, "tuition rates
at Auburn University (will) be increased
by six percent per year during the period
of 1999-2004." The plan allows for the
increase to fluctuate between five and
seven percent.
When students look at their first bill
for fall, tuition will seem as if it
increased more than 5.3 percent. With
the switch to semesters, the University
converted current fees to a 15-week
term, multiplying them by 1.5. The
University then added the 5.3 percent
increase.
The board also chose to allow under­graduate
students to pay tuition in two
installments and graduate students to pay
in four installments.
Undergraduate students can pay half
their tuition in August and half in
September, said Nina Goodman, manag­er
of billing receivables for the bursar's
office.
Housing
Students living on campus this fall will
possibly feel more of the brunt of
Auburn fee increases than students living
off-campus.
Overall, housing fees will increase an
average of 3.34 percent.
The highest increase will affect stu1
dents living in single rooms on the Hill
and undergraduates living in two-bed­room
apartments in the Village.
Currently, single-room Hill residents
pay $800 per quarter. Next year, resi­dents
will pay $1,255 per semester, an
increase of 4.6 percent.
Two-bedroom Village apartments cur­rently
cost $625 a quarter. They will
increase to $985 a semester next year,
also an increase of 4.6 percent.
"The actual initial rate looks big," said
Kim Trupp, associate director for
Housing and Residence Life. "It's a very
minimal increase."
The rent for only one set of on-campus
housing is not rising next year — the
Extension. This is due to the change in
number of students per room in the
' apartments.
"The Extension apartments are con­verting
to double occupancy versus a
quad [room]," Trupp said.
She said there's "no way to compare"
the prices for this year and next year.
This rise in housing costs, however, is
a smaller increase than this year's
increase from last year. Housing costs
rose an average of 3.78 percent from the
1998-1999 school year to the 1999-2000
school year.
See FEES on the next page
UF's choice
narrowed to
four names
By AMANDA HOUSE
Assistant Campus Editor
James Moeser, chancellor of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, and Elson Floyd, president of
Western Michigan University, have taken their
names out of the running for the presidency of the
. University of Florida, leaving President William V
Muse and three other candidates for the job.
Moeser accepted the chancellorship of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Friday.
According to the Independent Florida Alligator,
UF's student newspaper, Elson dropped out of the
race to stay at WMU "because of the concern his
candidacy had generated at that university."
The Alligator also
reported UF will not reopen
the search. Instead, it will
move ahead with the four
remaining candidates.
Those candidates
include Muse; Anthony
Catanese, president of Florida
Atlantic University; Peggy
Meszaros, senior vice presi­dent
and provost at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University; and Alan
Merten, president of George Mason University.
UF named Muse one of six finalists for its presi­dency
on April 4.
Muse has told The Plainsman he is not sure he'll
take the UF position if it's offered to him.
"I haven't yet decided if I would be interested in
that opportunity," Muse said. "I have a lot emotion­ally
invested in Auburn. I don't have anything neg­ative
to say about Auburn. We have made progress
here, even through trying times."
Muse will be in Gainesville for formal interviews
April 25-27.
The Florida Board of Regents is expected to
announce its choice May 17.
At press time, Muse had not returned from a
Study Abroad trip to Italy with the School of
Architecture, Design and Construction. He will
return to campus today.
Who's No. 1?
MUSE
JULIE MORRIS/'Assistant Photo Editor
Reaching for the top ... Dozens of Aubie hopefuls competed this week to see who
would wear the costume next year. Three students were named Auburn's mascot
Tuesday night during callouts at Cater Hall. Turn to B4 for the complete story.
Section B Campus Desk 844-9118
Ryan Lee, Editor
10 pages
Nontenured
faculty issue
addressed
Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part
series examining nontenured faculty at Auburn.
By CAMIE YOUNG
Campus Staff
Auburn instructor Barber Bancroft rarely
knows if he has a job until two weeks before a
term begins.
One summer, the part-time employee of six
higher education institutions — Alabama State
University, Troy State University, Faulkner State
University, Alabama Central Community
College, Southern Union Community College
and Auburn University — ended up without a sin­gle
class to teach.
"I wasn't going to draw welfare," Bancroft
said. "I wasn't going to sit around and say 'Woe
is me.
So the professor of English took his doctorate
and found a job as a cook.
Tuesday, Bancroft and 24 other faculty mem­bers
attended an American Association of
University Professors forum entitled "Nontenure
Track Faculty and Academic Freedom."
For more than an hour, audience members dis­cussed
issues involving nontenure-track faculty
with panelists. The panelists included: Provost
William Walker; University Senate President Jo
Heath; Susan Roberson, who taught English as a
nontenure track instructor at Auburn for 11 years;
Carole Corsby, who began her career as non­tenure-
track faculty; and David Teichert-
Coddington, who spent 25 years as a nontenure-track
research fellow in Fisheries.
The main concerns of the forum included acad­emic
freedom and the lack of recognition of non­tenure-
track professors.
"They feel that they are invisible members of
the faculty," Roberson said.
Administration and faculty members have been
working toward a solution to the problems of
nontenure-track employees for years.
Bert Hitchcock, professor and former head of
the English department, has dealt firsthand with
the problems of part-time and nontenure-track
employment.
"There have been some serious cutting of cor­ners
with serious ethical consequences around the
country," Hitchcock said.
But he defended his department, saying the
department pays more than the usual part-time
pay and admitting that the situation is not ideal.
Hitchcock blamed the problem on budgeting
issues.
"We've been forced to use an increasing num­ber
of instructors," Hitchcock said. "They won't
give us enough money to do it."
Current English department head Dennis
Rygiel, on the other hand, attributes the depart­ment's
need for more nontenure-track employees
on a combination of three factors.
First, the number of graduate teaching assist-antships
has decreased, requiring more teachers.
Second, the number of filled tenure positions
has decreased. And here is the kicker — enroll­ment
has increased. Basically, there are more stu­dents
and fewer teachers.
"No department is more affected by enrollment
increases than the English department because we
teach four core classes," Rygiel said.
Every student has to pass through the English
department at least four times to graduate.
Therefore, the department needs more teachers —
See ISSUE on the next page
Consultants agreed on, headed to Auburn
LAURA DOUGLAS/P/iofo Editor
Interim department head of journalism, Jack
Simms has led a grass-roots campaign during
the last month trying to prevent a merger
between journalism and communication.
By RYAN LEE
Campus Editor
John Heilman, dean of Liberal Arts, and the journal­ism
faculty met last Friday to discuss who Heilman
would bring to Auburn to serve as a consultant for a
possible merger between journalism and communica­tion.
In what both parties called a calmer meeting than
ones in the past, Heilman told faculty members he has
contacted Will Norton, dean of the College of
Journalism and Mass Communications at the
University of Nebraska, to evaluate the impact a merg­er
would have on journalism's accreditation. Norton
agreed to visit Auburn's campus as early as next
Friday.
"Journalism indicated they were approving of him
and would support him as a visitor," Heilman said.
Interim head of journalism, Jack Simms agreed with
Heilman, saying, "We said we (the journalism faculty)
would go along with Norton."
Simms said Friday's meeting with Heilman "was
more restrained and low-key, and some things were
thrown out that kind of gave hope."
Heilman said, 'The journalism faculty hoped there
would be a written charge for Norton when he visits.
Norton agreed it was a good idea, and so my next issue
to work on."
Along with Provost William Walker, Heilman has
completed working on a formal release outlining their
reasoning behind their recommendation to study a
merger of the departments, which they brought before
the Board of Trustees April 7.
When interviewed Tuesday April 11, Heilman told
The Plainsman the outline would be released Friday
April 14. At the meeting with the journalism faculty
that Friday, he told them it would be released either
Monday or Tuesday.
Wednesday at noon, Heilman and Walker's com­mentary
was released, citing a the small size of the two
departments, the apparent growing relationship
between the two and technological advances in the
industry as reasons behind their recommendation.
Heilman said the outline was an important issue and
took time to develop thoroughly. "We've decided to
issue a statement and we've tried to take due care in
regards to time," Simms said.
"I just think it's a joke," Simms said of the statement.
"I mean, you have to get the provost and dean togeth­er
to figure out why they're doing this?
"They don't know why they're doing this? It was
announced over a month ago and you don't know why
you're doing it?" Simms said.
"We have never been told why you're doing this and
we'd like to know. I don't think they're going to tell us
anything we don't already know," Simms said.
Last week, Simms said the merger was an attempt by
some Board of Trustee members to get revenge on The
Plainsman for criticizing the board in recent years.
Simms continues to believe Heilman and Walker are
taking orders from trustees.
"If they want to use the story that probably is true,
which is they are doing this because the board said so,
that would be a logical explantation," Simms said.
Trustee and Sen. Lowell Barron said he knows noth­ing
of a plot from board members to retaliate against
journalism or The Plainsman, and said, "I encourage
people to produce evidence. We're not bad folks. We
do our best at a difficult position to hold.
"People are just witch-hunting," Barron said.
"People need to lower their voices and stop making
accusations because that doesn't help anybody's cause.
"That's not the way you do business. We've got an
excellent board with very bright people on it, that's
what (people) need to be talking about," Barron said.
Despite numerous attempts, trustees Bobby Lowdef
and Jimmy Samford were not available to comment on
the accusations against them from Simms.
Walker is still declining to talk to any media about
this situation until it is completed, a stance he first took
April 10.
COMING NEXT TJ3JJRSDAY — More programs to be merged: Poultry science and animal and daijy science
THE NEXT PAGE THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN Thursday, April 20, 2000
ISSUE Continued from Bl
AH Greek Week Proceeds go
to the Leukemia Society.
2000 Greek W^tC^f ^
Schedule
Sunday, April 23rd
Monday, April 24th
Letter Day
Grc,eeee k Walk and Team Dinners -Lp *"^
* Starts at 7:00 PM
_••»•*•&,
Banners go up
Pnilanj^opyjpxojeets„
JT "»•*.
Tuesday April 25th
.„>-•
T-shirt sales Concourse 10-3
Penny Drop Concourse 10-3
Aubie's Ice Cream
Pratse^and Worship: Ampitheatre/8PM
if it rairis: AGR house
X.­T-
shirt Sale! Concourse 10-3
Penny Droil Concourse 10-3:
PhilanthropyProJects
Cadre Project ^Concourse 10-2
Miss Greek Week Pigeant: SAT 7PM
Aubie's Ice Cream /
» ! f w a « f f i : i w « t >R'
Wednesday, April 26th
Pin Day
T-shirt Sales Concourse 10-3
Penny Drop Concourse 10-3
Philanthropy Projects
Blood-Dnve^Haley Renter 103^
Program: Leukemia Survivor
4, BB113A/8:00 PM
Aubie's Ice Cream ^
whether they are tenured or not.
Do students in the core courses get second-class
teachers and, therefore, a second-class education?
If nontenured employees are second-class teachers,
then the answer is yes.
Bancroft, a nontenured employee, agrees with both
Rygiel and Hitchcock. According to Bancroft, both a
lack of teachers and a lack of money force the depart­ment
to hire instructors.
"It's quite a bargain," Bancroft said. "We are highly
trained and, in most cases, highly motivated labor —
just what you need when you are tightening a budget.
"It's not really a problem," Bancroft said. "It's a solu­tion."
With student enrollment in flux from quarter to quar­ter,
faculty employment is in flux as well.
A few years ago, the University Senate attempted to
alleviate the problems of non-tenure track employment
by creating a new category of instructors.
According to Heath, AAUP regulations state that
after seven years of full-time employment, a teacher
receives automatic, or "de facto" tenure, whether he or
she deserves it or not. In most cases, after five years,
non-tenure track employees are either fired or made
part-time in order to bypass de facto tenure.
An ad hoc committee of the University Senate pro­posed
a new classification of nontenure track employ­ees
— the auxiliary professor. In six years, the employ­ee
will come up for promotion. Either he or she is pro­moted
or fired. But once the auxiliary faculty is pro­moted,
he or she is ineligible for de facto tenure.
The proposal was voted down by University Senate,
mainly due to opposition from the English department,
according to Heath.
Both the University Senate and AAUP continue to
look for a solution.
In the meantime. Bancroft will continue to teach his
LAURA DOUGLAS/P/iofo Editor
Barber Bancroft, a nontenured faculty
member, lectures his English class.
classes, driving his red truck from campus to campus.
He will do what he can to survive, just as the University
does everything that it can to survive.
"I will never be tenured," Bancroft said. "You need
to get to a point where you do your own work for the
love of it."
Bancroft has a different briefcase for each of his six
campuses. He does all he can to help his students get
the best education they possibly can, including meeting
students who need extra help on essays as late as 10:30
at Mellow Mushroom.
Promised between $900 and $1,000 for each course,
Bancroft has taught, on average, four courses a quarter
at at least two institutions year-round, since he received
his master's degree from Auburn in 1981.
He was written four novels, yet he receives health
benefits through his wife's job and has little hope of get­ting
his own.
"I am second rate. I know that they feel that way,"
Bancroft said. "I don't see myself as a victim.
"I'm a scholar. I'm a teacher. I'm a writer," Bancroft
said. "I have found a way to make it work."
^
T h u r s d a y , A p r i l ( 2 7 t h T-shirt Sales Concourse 10-3
^ - :'^^™~^PeTitr5rDrop~'eoncourse 10-3
y~v Philanthropy Projects
Blood Drive Haley Center 10-3
Volleyball Tournament: 1st Round V
mti&ay, April 28th
Saturday, April 29th
ZTA's Big Man on Campus: SAT 7PM
Aubie's Ice Cream
T-shirt Sales Concourse 10-3
Penny Drop Concourse 10-3
Philanthropy Projects
Volleyball Final Round: TBA
Aubie's Ice Cream
The Greek Games: IF 11^3
FEES Continued from Bl
Tiger Transit
When the University decided to
begin the Tiger Transit bus system
in 1997, students saw an additional
charge of $10 on their bursar's bill
every quarter. The price eventually
rose to $ 12 a quarter in winter 1999.
Beginning this fall, students will
see a Tiger Transit fee of $22 per
semester on their bill.
Since the summer session is
shorter than a semester, the bus fee
will only be $15.
Overall, students who attend the
University year-round will pay an
extra $11 per year. Students who
take classes during the regular nine-month
school year will pay only an
extra $8 per year.
Tiger Transit fees are increasing
for two reasons, said Jim Ferguson,
vice president for administrative
services.
The first reason students will
receive a larger bill for the bus sys­tem,
Ferguson said, is because
semesters are five weeks longer
than quarters.
The second reason is because
Tiger Transit will be run by a new
contractor next year.
Groome Transportation will take
over the bus system starting this
June, using 16 new 2000 vehicles.
Fifteen of the buses will hold up to
32 passengers, where as the 12
buses Tiger Transit is currently
using only seat 25, said Ferguson.
"The 30 to 40 percent increased
capacity should improve our relia­bility
and timeliness," Ferguson
said. "We'll have belter service
overall.
Ferguson also said the University
is not planning on raising the Tiger
Transit fee again during the next
three years because it has "factored
in some funding for growth" into
the new bus system budget.
"Our goal would be to keep it at
$22 per semester and $15 per sum­mer
term for three years," he said.
"We should be pretty good for three
years," he said.
Career Development Services/Student Success Center • 3 0 3 Martin Hall • 844-4744
Who Wants to Win...
free - Career Connections?
Where do on-campus interviews
for career employment take place?
• ^ A; Foy Student Union V"x ^: Haley Center Basement*/*
<• PLAY THE GAME~>
V C: Mary Martin Hall ME Cater Hall
>
O Five winners
chosen weekly
(one win per student)
Submit your FINAL ANSWER here at;
www^auburn.eclu/ccireer/
Click on 'Student Services1
O Winners w i ll
be notified weekly
O CareerConnections - your link to on-campus interviews & resume database
Let us be your
CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Your Final Answer...
to getting the job you want!
Career Lifeline!
peez eoumeiom
Application Deadline: May 12
< Peer Career Counselors work with CDS Counselors to assist • Work lOhrs • Academic year 2000-01 »Must have a GPA of 2.5 or better
students in learning about possible majors and careers. • Pay rate $8/hr • Must be a rising junior or senior • Paid 5-week Summer training program
See web site for application/information: www.auburn.edu/career/6o to "Students'; then "What's New'
Thursday, April 20, 2000 THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN B3
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Child Study Center is a
half-day preschool for chil­dren
ages 2 1/ 2 to 5 1/ 2. The
center is currently taking
applications for 2000-2001
•classes. Call 844-4696.
Does Food Control Your
Life? Assessment and referral
services for individual coun­seling.
Assessment and brief
screening for on-campus
body image and food issues
support group. Call Student
Counseling Center at 844-
5123.
Lifeguard Certification
Course, Lifeguard review
course and CPR/PR will be
taught through the Outreach
Program Office on campu's
starting April 10. Call 844-
3108 to sign up.
Glomerata Staff Openings
for Section Editor, Copy
Editor, Business Editor, and
Photography Editor.
Applications due April 7.
Interviews April 10-14.
General staff applications are
always available.
Didn't Receive a Census
Form? It's not to late! Call 1-
800-471-9424 to get a form.
You deserve to be counted so
please fill out your census
i form.
The Auburn University
Speech and Hearing Clinic is
having a free speech, and
hearing screening,
Wednesday, May 3, from 1:30-
4 p.m. No appointment neces­sary.
Summer Instructors Wanted
who are interested in offering
art, dance, drama or music
classes for all ages at the Jan
Dempsey Community Arts
Center. Please contact us by
April 21 at 887-4938.
Looking for a home cooked
meal? Auburn Christian
Fellowship is the place for
you. Free dinner, Thursdays
at 6 p.m. 315 S. Gay St. Call
821-3963.
Tiger Day Picnic 2000 will be
held April 21 from 11:30 a.m.-
2 p.m. on the Foy Union lawn.
In case of rain, it will be held
in 246 Foy Union. Free food
and prizes. Everyone is invit­ed.
The Southeastern Raptor
Rehabilitation Center is hav­ing
an orientation April 27 at
7 p.m. in 144 of the Large
Animal Clinic. Contact 844-
6025 or 844-8082.
Rape Aggression Defense
Training will be held May 2,
9, 12 in 213 Foy Union from 6-
10 p.m. Free to female AU stu­dents,
staff and faculty. There
will be a charge for all other
females. Contact 844-5123 or
844-4158.
A Small Business Clinic will
be held May 3 from 6-9 p.m.
in 108 Business Building. The
clinic is sponsored by SCORE
and the Small Business
Development Center. Call
745-0168 or the Chamber of
Commerce.
Attention all Sci-Fi Fans! The
Klingon Assault Group is
scanning this quadrant for
new members. Check us out
at: www.auburn.edu/~ben-toam/
KAG or call 844-1589.
The Society for Creative
Anachronism studies and
recreates the combat, furi and
feasts of the Middle Ages. Go
to: www.auburn.edu/sca or
call 826-5747.
Amnesty International. Be a
visible presence against the
death penalty! Meet in
Montgomery on Friday, April
21, at noon on the steps of the
capitol building to participate
in a protest.
MEETINGS
Advocates for Disability
Awareness has biweekly
meetings on the second and
fourth Wednesdays of the
month at 4:30 p.m. in 1227
Haley Center.
The Auburn Gay and
Lesbian Association meets
Monday nights at 8 p.m. in
2208 Haley Center. All are
welcome. For information,
please e-mail
auburnstorm@gay.com.
or www.auburn.edu/~ben-ton/
KAG.
Alcoholics Anonymous
meets every day in the
Auburn/Opelika area. For
meeting times and places call
© Save
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CROSSING
(FORMERLY COLLEGE PARK I)
626 SHUG JORDAN PK