“If it matters to the USA family, it matters to us.” VOL. 51, NO. 2JULY 9, 2012

VANGUARDTHETHE

In this Issue: Life, Page 4

Opinion, Page 7Sports, Page 9

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“The Vanguard USA”

Check out our digital edition

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CASSIE FAMBRO | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The Fresh Foods Co., new residence halls, Moulton Tower, Shelby Hall and the campus portals are all sources of questions in regards to USA fi nances.

See TuitionTuition, Page 2

Parking Parking services services fine policy fine policy to change to change Th ose with over $100 in fi nes will not be able to register

See ParkingParking, Page 10

By CASSIE FAMBROeditor.in.chief@usavanguard.com

USA tuition to rise 7.7 percentUSA tuition to rise 7.7 percentTrustees voted for the increase to compensate for reduction in state funding

INSIDE

Editorial: Alta Pointe let USA patients down by discontinuing residency to provide psychiatric services.

See Opinion, page 8.

►

Life Spotlight: Plan your beach trip in advance and you’ll have a better time.

See Life, page 5.

►

Sports: Check out our new Left of Center section for infor-mation on the Jags NCAA video game news.See Sports, page 9.

T hose shelling out the dough for college clutched their wallets in

defeat as the USA Board of Trustees (BOT) voted to raise tuition 7.7 percent for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The increased fi nancial burden stems from an over 30 percent reduction in state funding since 2007-2008. In 2007, USA received $139.7 million from the state. For 2012-2013, USA will take in only $98.3 million , according to PublicRelations Director Keith Ayers. With a difference of almost $42 million in fund-ing, the cost pendulum has shifted from the state to the student.

USA used to be considered a “state-funded” university, with the majority of its income received from the state. Since the recession began, it has become a “state-assisted” university, since the state simply does not have the money to be the primary source of income.

Every university in Alabama has raised tuition within the last four years, according to each university’s websites.

The Alabama Commission on High-er Education’s net payment estimator makes cost comparison easy between Alabama institutions, and the results are that USA is still the lowest institution to

By the

start of the summer semester 2013 at the University of South Alabama, any student with $100

or more in parking fees will not be able to register for classes. This news comes from USA parking services and USAPD Deputy Chief Derek Christian who want to make all students on campus aware of the change before it happens so no one is caught off guard.

“The changes we are talking about aren’t going to affect class registration until next summer. This summer semester is winding down so basically a year,” Christian said. We wanted to give the students time to work on any outstanding balances in the mean time because it’s hard to come up with that amount after you have already paid for everything else and you still can’t register because the ticket balance has changed yet again.”

Currently the limit for parking fees you are allowed to have before you register stands at $250.

“The larger picture is we want to help everybody get to a zero balance per semester. We want you to be able to get your balance down to zero before you register,”

Big news came last week for Mobile’s job market. Airbus

President Fabrice Bregier announced last Monday during a news conference that the company plans to build a $600 million aircraft assembly plant at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile. The fa-cility will employ 1,000 workers, which is good news for the local economy.

“The city known for ‘perpetual po-tential’ is about to become the city of perpetual motion. The Airbus project is nothing short of transformational, with broad ramifi cations for local gov-ernment, schools, real estate and the Port of Mobile,” according to an article posted July 4 on al.com.

This announcement also means

Derek ChristianParking Services

support is draconian,” Ayers said, echo-ing President Moulton’s statement at the BOT meeting. Many students question what tuition pays for, pointing to build-ings and landscaping as drains for their hard-earned dollars.

Not so, says Ayers. Tuition pays for the basic education process, which is composed of 80 percent salaries of fac-ulty and staff. BOT is not paid. Fees go to designated entities, athletics to athlet-ics, computer lab fees to lab upkeep and so on and so forth.

Another question reiterated by stu-

COURTESY OF CJ BENNET

By JAYSON CURRYjayson-curry@hotmail.com

By KALYN MCCLELLANkbm1001@jagmail.southalabama.edu

Airbus Airbus chooses chooses MobileMobile

See AirbusAirbus, Page 2

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attend. The University of Alabama is on average $870 less in tuition per year in-state.

In 2011-2012, Auburn clocked in at $8,698 a year in tuition, while Alabama hit $9,330. Troy leveled at $7,990 and Jackson State cost an average of $7,650. USA came in at $7,380, beating all aca-demically competitive institutions. For 2012-2013, tuition and fees will increase from $7,380 to $7,950, a difference of $570. “The cost of education is not a fi xed cost,” Ayers told The Vanguard.

“The erosion and function of state

• Tuition has gone up roughly 30 percent total in 3 years

• USA still has the lowest tuition in Alabama

• USA Faculty received no continual raises

• In fi ve years, USA has lost approximately $190 million in state funding

UA A

U Troy U

AB

USA

Comparative tuition costs in Alabama

AARON ETHEREDGE | STAFF ILLUSTRATION

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 20122

Continued from Page 1

Tuition goes up again

Continued from Page 1Airbus

Campus Campus GripesGripes► The amount of people

complaining about parking. The entire campus is only 1 mile across. I’m so sorry you have to walk an entire 500 feet from your car to class.

-Tyler Williams

►

►

►

Campus Alert mass messaging system needs to be mandatory and integrated into every student’s phone when they sign up--just as you have to have your JAG card, etc.

“Liking” a facebook page is not enough. Students can unlike the page, never like the page at all--then how will they get updates?

No reason that this shouldn’t already have been done--sirens you can’t always be around to hear. If you make it mandatory for every student, we know every student has a phone, and that will ensure most if not EVERY student is notifi ed when/if an alert is issued.

-Micah Caffey

Parking zones and tickets! If I have a central parking pass and its pouring down raining, I have to decide whether I want to get a parking ticket, walk across campus in the rain or just not.go to class at all!

-Kaitlyn Williamson

Want your Campus Gripe fea-tured in the next issue? Add us on Facebook and leave a com-ment when we ask for our next issue! Search “The Vanguard USA”!

dents is that if alumni can buy a bell tower and other projects, why can’t they support students?

In fact, they do, says Ayers. Alumni contributions make up the majority of the general scholarship fund.

A lot of their giving is “invisible” but our scholarship program is one of the most generous in the state, according to Ayers.

Pointing to Shelby Hall, Ayers ex-plained that it was paid for by a direct federal appropriation in a cause led by Senator Shelby.

The $42 million for the building did not come from tuition or state funding.

The project was a culmination of a decade of work with the University and the federal government.

When asked about public perception of the appearance and construction on campus, Ayers shed some clarity on the administration’s perspective.

“We want to give students the best possible educational experience. Should we not pursue these things because of perception? No.”

In response to other buildings, Ayers expressed disdain towards the notion of students and parents believing that their dollars paid for facilities such as the Fresh Foods Company or the new resi-dence halls.

In fact, they’re “auxiliary enterprises.” In other words, the rent of the residence halls pays for the residence halls. A stu-dent not living in a residence hall does not contribute a dime to the residence halls.

The same goes for meal plans and the building itself. Ayers gave another example, citing USA Children and Wom-en’s hospital.

The hospitals pay for themselves based on services received, Ayers said.

“We’re not reluctant to share how en-tities are funded,” Ayers responded when asked about fi nancial transparency. State funding is made up of two main sources, income tax and sales tax. With people out of work, income tax suffers.

If people are out of work, sales tax will suffer because people are not able to buy things.

President Moulton told The Van-guard that “the recession of the last fi ve years has had a devastating effect on state funding for higher education, as the sharp drop in tax revenues has shifted a greater proportion of the educational cost from the state to parents and stu-dents.”

Moulton stated that “no one wants to raise tuition.”

Acknowledging that he understands times are challenging, he maintained that

“Don’t get mad at the University. Get mad at the national, state and local lead-ers that we elect.” SGA Senator Stephen Purnell says students need to be proac-tive. “Higher Education Day is impor-tant.

We go there to remind them that there are faces behind the numbers, and that we are the future of Alabama and the United States.”

Still, many students such as Kayla Hawes are incensed. “This is crazy,” Hawes posted on The Vanguard’s Face-book page.

With the increased cost of tuition and general increases in the cost of edu-cation, the average USA student gradu-ates with approximately $25,000 in loans, which averages out to a payment of $265 a month for 10 years according to Public Relations.

Parents, students and those con-cerned about education cuts are encour-aged by administration as well as the stu-dent government to call and mail letters to the state legislature.

For a breakdown on how to pay for the cost of attendance, visit southala-bama.edu/moneyforcollege.

great opportunities for University of South Alabama students.

The Airbus news means that more USA engineering students will have the choice to stay in Mobile after gradua-tion and work with a local company.

In an interview, John Steadman, Dean of USA’s College of Engineering said, “For students, there will be plenty of chances for cooperative education allowing students to get experience at Airbus while in school.

The high visibility of Airbus and establishment of larger mechanical and electrical engineering presence in

sacrifi cing the quality of USA was unac-ceptable.

“USA’s faculty, staff, and administra-tion have worked together diligently to cut costs and do everything possible to ensure that USA remains one of Ala-bama’s best educational values when considering both cost and quality.”

Ayers takes the message one step fur-ther, calling USA “unequivocally the best value in Alabama.” Sophomore com-munications student says people should step back when expressing their feelings against a tuition hike.

Mobile allows us to both attract high-achieving students and gives us an op-portunity for our faculty to do cutting-edge research with Airbus.”

David Beverly, long-time resident of Mobile is also optimistic about Air-bus’ announcement. “Over the past decade, I have seen the economy in Mobile decline, causing many residents to move to other cities in search of work,” Beverly said.

Beverly has witnessed fi rsthand the effects of a faltering economy, having lost his job of 20-plus years after the closing of Courtaulds Fibers in 2002.

Fortunately, he was able to stay in Mobile, fi nding employment locally.

Mobile leaders and residents are cel-ebrating the announcement and antici-

pating the start of construction which begins next year. When complete in 2015, the Airbus plant in will manufac-ture A320 aircraft, a high-demand air-craft in the aeronautics industry.

SGA Presidential Address

USA,

Over the past two months your University of South Alabama SGA has been hard at work. The Senate just fi nished the summer round of appropriations, and are fi nishing up a majority of their duties this summer.

Senate, has also approved 3 Senate projects so far this summer and are working to fi nd other necessities around campus.

The Executive board, along with the governmental affairs committee, have been in close relations with the Higher Education Partnership in an attempt to keep the federal funding to the university as high as possible. A meeting with Happy Fulford and President Moulton gave way to some great implications for this fall’s govern-mental affairs committee. So be looking forward to some informational events in the fall..

I am happy to say that the revised lowdown is now being implicated courtesy of SGA Vice President Colman Wolf, and should be available some time in the next few weeks.

Also, the SGA would like to thank Dr. John Smith, Dr. Phillip Car (Faculty Senate), and Dean Wood (Dean of libraries) for their hard work and accommodation for extended library hours this fall!

SGA is already working on this years Homecoming! We hope to make it bigger than ever. Get excited! The theme should be released in the next few weeks.

Be on the lookout for available positions in conjunction with SGA starting this fall. We will have the new Freshman Leadership Council , Freshman at Large, Transfer at Large, as well as non senate committees that are available for you to get involved with.

The SGA hopes you are enjoying your ummer, and can’t wait for the fall. Go Jags!

-Parker S. Chastain SGA President

New Library HoursSunday: from 1:00 p.m. until midnightMonday - Thursday: from 7:45 a.m. until midnightFriday: from 7:45 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.Saturday: from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Why is there not a bathroom attendant in every restroom on campus? I can’t believe my tuition doesn’t pay for me being offered a mint or vial of cologne when I leave a restroom!

-JT Crabtree

SKYHIGHHOBBY.COM

3VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012

“University of South Alabama’s Student Voice”

Editor in ChiefManaging Editor

Life EditorOpinion Editor

Sports EditorLeft of Center

Senior ReporterWeb Editor

Cassie FambroAaron EtheredgeJake HowellNoah LoganPatrick HerringJT CrabtreeJayson CurryNaquita Hunter

Editorial

Distribution Manager

Johnny DavisDistribution

Advertising Manager

Advertising Graphic Designer

Wesley Jackson

Mark Crawford II

Rex McKay

Advertising

AdvisingAccounting

James AucoinKathy Brannan

Management

MissionThe Vanguard, the student-run

newspaper of the University of South Alabama, serves its readership by re-porting the news involving the campus community and surroun ding areas. The Vanguard strives to be impartial in its reporting and believes fi rmly in its First Amendment rights.

PAGE three

Send letters and guest columns to:

The Vanguard University of South Alabama

P.O. Drawer U-1057 Mobile, Ala., 36688.

Or

editor.in.chief@usavanguard.com

Letters and guest columns must be received by 7 p.m. on the Wednesday prior to the Monday publication.

Submissions should be typed and must include the writer’s name, year, school and telephone number.

All submissions become the property of The Vanguard.

The Vanguard reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length and clarity. Letters will be limited to 300 words. Letters and guest columns are the opinion of the writer.

The Staff Editorial represents

the consensus opinion of the Editorial Board, which is composed of the Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Copy Editor, Senior Reporter, and Opinion Editor.

All members of the Editorial Board have the same weight during weekly Editorial Board meetings.

The Vanguard has a commitment to accuracy and clarity and will print any corrections or clarifi cations.

To report a mistake, e-mail editor.in.chief@usavanguard.com.

The Vanguard is published Mondays during the academic year, except for exam periods and vacations, and is published twice each summer.

The Vanguard is supported in part by an allocation from student activity fees and operates in the Student Media Department of the Division of Student Affairs.

Issues are available at most University buildings and select off-campus locations.

The fi rst copy is free. Additional copies are $1 each.

PATRICK BIGBIE | STAFF METEOROLOGIST

Weather for July 9 - July 14Weather for July 9 - July 14

USAPD: 460-6312USAPD Police BlotterUSAPD Police Blotter

Editor’s note: Have a question for USAPD? Email us at editor.in.chief@usavanguard.com

06/05/2012Th e Grove Parking Lot10:22 a.m.Duty upon striking unat-tended vehicle

06/09/2012Th e Grove Parking Lot12:35 a.m.Th eft of property third de-gree ($500 or less)

06/10/2012Common Area2:30 p.m.Harassment

06/11/2012Mobile, Alabama6:26 p.m.Domestic violence third degree

06/14/2012Life Sciences Parking Lot8:27 p.m.Unlawful breaking and en-tering a vehicle

06/16/20125950 Old Sell Rd. (Mitchell Center)2:10 p.m.Domestic incident

06/18/2012Mitchell College of Business8:34 a.m.Burglary third degree

06/19/20126351 Tonsmeire Dr.3:03 p.m.Th eft of property third degree

06/23/2012Stadium Blvd.3:20 a.m.Possession of Marijuana fi rst class, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a concealed weapon without a permit.

See something suspicious? Report it to USA’s Police Department and help make a difference!

4 VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY. 9, 2012

JAKE HOWELL, JAGLIFE EDITORlife.editor@usavanguard.comjagLIFE

Celebrating freedom with a bangCelebrating freedom with a bang

On July 3, thousands of peo-ple fl ocked to the campus of

Mary G. Montgomery High School (MGM) in Semmes, Ala for Celebrate Freedom.

The event, which began in 2007, was organized and sponsored by Or-chard Assembly of God and many other local organizations and church-es.

Despite the threat of rain and om-inous thunderclouds in the distance, the Celebrate Freedom event went off without a hitch, attracting families from across the area with its promise of family friendly entertainment.

Students, including several from the University of South Alabama, were a major workforce at the event while others volunteered from local churches and organizations.

When asked about the event, Brit-tany Hamilton, a senior elementary education major volunteering with Forest Hill Church of God, said, “It was a good outreach event for the community. I enjoyed the variety of things that were there for all age groups.”

As Hamilton mentioned, there were activities for every age group imaginable.

Kids of all ages raced through the Kids Zone at the event, bounding from infl atable bouncy castles to a mobile petting zoo featuring goats, ducks, and a cow or two.

The infl atables were due to be closed down before the live entertain-ment started at 7 p.m.

The children and parents alike took issue with this, prompting event offi cials to reopen the attractions for an extra hour.

In addition to the infl atable castles, which afforded many parents with abundant photo opportunities, the kids were also treated to a rather in-teresting puppet show.

Hope Puppet Ministries, an out-reach group from Rainsville First Baptist Church in Rainsville, Ala, were on site in the Kids Zone to get the kids, and some attending police offi -cers, to dance to popular songs rewrit-ten from a Christian perspective.

The puppet show included num-bers like “Born Again” a rewrite of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” with

a puppet that bore an incredible like-ness to the pop star performing the song.

Parents who weren’t necessarily captivated by the petting zoo or pup-pet show were able to peruse various arts and crafts booths.

There was also an antique car show fi lled with an eclectic mix of vehicles driven in from around the community.

The main draw of the event, though, was the live entertainment.

A stage was set up in the middle of the MGM football fi eld where the bands Cross Country and 4-Him per-formed.

After Cross Country warmed the crowd up with covers of classic coun-try hits like “Wave on Wave” former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore spoke.

Moore spoke on, as the event’s name would suggest, the importance of freedom.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Cre-ator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Moore said, quoting the Declaration of In-dependence, as he began speaking of the freedom imparted by the found-ing fathers.

Moore then transitioned to calling attention to the “true freedom through Jesus Christ” that is avail-

able to everyone, even those in places where governmental freedoms are few and far between.

As Moore ended his address, event offi cials welcomed 4-Him, a popular Christian band native to Alabama, for a reunion performance.

The group, which disbanded in 2006, performed several of their most popular singles including “For Future Generations”.

Before singing “For Future Gen-erations” the band remarked how amazing of a feeling they had felt while performing the song to the “very people it was written for.”

The song, which states, “I must be a light for future generations,” echoed the need for leaders in this rapidly changing world.

A professional fi reworks display followed 4-Him’s rendition of the national anthem, sparking comments of pleasant surprise from event at-tendees.

The fi reworks burst into incred-ible arrays of shape and color above the MGM football fi eld.

Even those attendees who had ex-perienced much larger displays were impressed with the quality of the show.

This community event, which has grown from 3,500 attendees its fi rst year to expecting more than 9,000 this year, was a resounding success that brought a community together to truly Celebrate Freedom.

Semmes community celebrates Independence Day early with Celebrate Freedom eventBy JAKE HOWELLlife.editor@usavanguard.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLE PRUITTA professional fi reworks display followed the conert with an uproarious bang, complete with blinding fl ashes of color and an fi tting grand fi nale to Celebrate Freedom

Keith Moody rocks Keith Moody rocks The Blind MuleThe Blind Mule

Musician Keith Moody per-formed on June 30 at The

Blind Mule in downtown Mobile on tour for his latest album, “Dreaming Out Loud.”

Moody’s music, which he classifi es as rock and roll, fl ooded the building, am-plifying its engaging atmosphere.

Speaking about his latest record, Moody said, “This record is the one I think people should hear.”

With the issues the songs cover, he believes “people benefi t from knowing that other people think this way.”

“We’ve all been the girl in the song. You want to believe there’s something better,” he elaborated, speaking of his favorite track from the album, “One Big Ending,” which is about a girl wanting to escape her current life and being told it’s too late.

He says his newest record “is a meta-phor to represent the long way up—chasing your dream.”

When asked if he enjoys all that he does, he immediately replied with, “I love it.” His love and devotion to his music is evident when listening to him perform and in listening the lyrics of his songs.

Though Moody has been in the mu-sic fi eld for 14 years and has released multiple records, “Dreaming Out Loud” is the fi rst with which he put himself in the minds of others while writing the songs.

Despite a diffi cult journey, Moody continues onward. Being a “little guy” in a “business controlled by money” can be challenging just to keeping going.

“Not making enough money to get home is a sickening feeling,” he admitted.

His hardest obstacle thus far, how-ever, has been “getting people to listen.”

Moody said the best advice he has received is “be yourself.”

“No one else can be Keith Moody,” he declared.

This is most defi nitely the case.Moody’s music is one of a kind, and

it is not something to miss.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN RUSSELLKeith Moody is touring across the country promoting “Dreaming Out Loud.”

By ADRIANNA MANIACIamm902@jagmail.southalabama.edu

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012 5

IMDB.COM

Madea gets a “pat down” from an airport security guard enroute to New York City.

The “Elder Scrolls Online” is heralded by the “Dawnguard” expansion packBy BAILEY HAMMONDblh803@jaguar1.usouthal.edu

Fans of The Elder Scrolls fran-chise and MMO’s will soon have

a few new additions to the world of Tam-riel.

Bethesda Softworks released an ex-pansion pack on June 26, titled Dawn-guard, for the Xbox 360 version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This new con-tent is centered on vampires.

Already, players can fi ght vampires and even become one if exposure to the vampire virus if left untreated, but this expansion pack opens up new possibili-ties.

New monsters, new locations and new dangers have been added to spark the imagination of those already addicted to the game as it is.

Since its release, Dawnguard has gar-nered mixed reactions from gamers and game reviewers alike.

Some seem to like the DLC and oth-ers hail it as merely more of the same with the added bonus of a different form, i.e. the Vampire Lord.

According to Jason Schreier of Ko-taku.com, “If I had to summarize Dawn-guard in two words, it would be this: more Skyrim.”

For some people, that’s not neces-sarily a bad thing and those looking for

something different but still in the same vein as Skyrim are in luck.

In addition to releasing Dawnguard, and perhaps more exciting in general, is the news that Bethesda Softworks has been working on creating an Elder Scrolls MMO in conjunction with Zeni-max Online Studios.

That’s right, you read that correctly. The already massive world of Skyrim

is going fully online, and not only that, but the other regions as well. All of the different regions of Tamriel—such as Hammerfall, Morrowind, Cyrodiil—will be there for exploration.

The game is set about 1000 years before the events of Skyrim. It’s a time of unrest, and if you’re one of those players who actually stops to read the books found in-game, then you probably already have some ideas about what the storyline will be like.

There will be three factions: the Dag-gerfall Covenant, the Aldmeri Domin-ion, and the Ebonheart Pact. Players will choose one of the three and which fac-tion you choose determines what races are available for you.

If you’re interested in reading more about the different factions, go online to gameinformer.com.

The game will be available for play in 2013 (an exact date has not been set) and can be played on both PC and Mac.

HTTP://ELDERSCROLLSONLINE.COM/EN/

What more could a gamer want out of a fully online Elder Scrolls MMO than dragon-soul devouring, vampire viruses, and aarows to the knee?

“Madea’s Witness Protection” has its moments“Madea’s Witness Protection” has its momentsBy JAKE HOWELLlife.editor@usavanguard.com

Everyone’s favorite gun-pack-ing, Tyler Perry character is

back in theaters this summer in “Ma-dea’s Witness Protection.”

“Witness Protection” follows the normal Perry pattern for a Madea movie.

Perry’s Madea fi lms always strive for some sort of balance between drama and the comic relief offered by Madea and her hilarious family.

In “Witness Protection,” George Needleman, played by Eugene Levy, is a wealthy Wall Street investment bank-er with a beautiful wife (Denise Rich-ards), a senile mother (Doris Roberts) and two children.

Everything in Needleman’s life seems to be going right until he is un-knowingly set up as the fall guy in a Ponzi scheme used to launder money for the mob.

In return for his help and testimo-ny, Needleman and his family are placed in witness protection. Who bet-ter to protect the Needlemans than the always packing Madea?

The fi lm tries, but never really suc-ceeds in trying to make the audience care about the Needlemans.

The “serious” plot line of the mov-ie, the Ponzi scheme fallout, never seems all that serious. This is especially

evident when compared with the fam-ily dynamics, complete with a mother dying of cancer, in the last Madea fi lm, “Madea’s Big Happy Family.”

The fi lm as a whole just feels as if it was put together entirely too quickly and haphazardly. The Ponzi scheme plot line seemed to fade into the back-ground, overpowered by the antics of Madea and her brother Joe.

Not everyone, however, sees this as a bad thing,.

Lee Burley, a senior biology major, said, “I appreciate that they didn’t take time away from the humor pointless drama. It was nice to see a movie full of Madea and her insane antics.”

While the fi lm itself feels shoddy, the acting in this installment is some of the worst of all the Madea movies.

Eugene Levy and Denise Richards alternate between incredibly wooden performances and sheer ridiculous-ness.

Levy in particular seems to spend the entire movie in a perpetual state of semi-panic attack.

Madea’s and Joe’s parts, however, are what saves this movie. They are as

hilarious as ever.Madea’s fi rst bit of screen time,

which involves a carjacking attempt and her subsequent “lesson” to the would-be criminal, is fantastic.

Her reaction to learning that the Needlemans are white is explosive as she snaps to Brian, “I wanna know how the hell I’m supposed to hide fi ve white folks. If the police come in this neighborhood they don’t even come in a white car, they send a black SUV!”

This movie also offers the audience a glimpse of Madea outside of her na-tive Georgia as she and Needleman take an entirely too short trip to New York City.

Just imagine Madea trying to make it through airport security.

If more time had been spent weav-ing the dramatic side of this movie into the comedic, this might have been an excellent theater experience.

Instead, the audience is left with plenty of laughs and several large loose ends that are never tied up.

All in all, however, “Witness Pro-tection” is still worth seeing, especially to those die-hard Madea fans.

Weekly Lowdown

Want your event featured? E-mail the name, date, time, price, place and a brief tagline (under 7 words) to life.editor@usavanguard.com.

Include “Weekly Lowdown” in the subject line. E-mails must be received at least 7 days before the event.

• Campus Recreation and Outdoor Adventures: Canoe and Kayak on Perdido River $20 per student. $25 for faculty/staff/alumni.

Tuesday > July 10

Wednesday > July 11

Saturday > July 14

• JagBlast and New Student Orienta-tion 10 a.m. in the Mitchell Center

• Haines/Trout Book Launch Reception 4 p.m. in the Faculty Club

• New Student Orientation 8 a.m. in the Mitchell Center

Saturday > July 19

• Dive-in Movie: “The Hunger Games” 8:30 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center’s outdoor pool. Free popcorn and drinks.

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 20126

With summer in full swing, people are fl ocking to the Gulf Coast’s beaches in droves in search of long awaited rest, re-laxation, and fun. All too often, however, a beachgoer’s fun in the sun is interrupted by things that are not exactly fun.

Even those who’ve grown up on the coast’s white sandy beaches sometimes make mistakes that make for a disastrous and wasted trip.

Here are some tips that can help en-sure an unforgettable beach experience.

1. Plan aheadSpontaneous trips to the beach are

one of the benefi ts of living near the coast, but they are often prone to being derailed by weather or surf conditions.

Tabby Perry, a junior biology major, recommends checking the surf report before gearing up for a beach outing. “You never know if the water is going to be full of seaweed or jellyfi sh, or if there is a bad riptide. Swellinfo.com is a good website to try.”

Pay heed to warnings of rough surf conditions. Water is an incredibly unpre-dictable force of nature and, like it or not, humans are not adapted for fi ghting strong currents.

Riptides are one of the most danger-

ous hazards beaches have. They can pull unsuspecting swimmers far out from shore very quickly and exhaust them as they try to swim back.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s web-site, if caught in a riptide, swimming par-allel, not straight back, to the beach will enable swimmers to eventually escape the riptide’s grasp.

2. Don’t forget sun protectionWhile a nice tan might be in high de-

mand, it doesn’t change the fact that the sun can cause serious health damage.

According to the Environmental Pro-tection Agency, ultraviolet radiation, which causes sunburn, can damage the DNA found in skin cells. It is also linked to causing skin cancers such as mela-noma.

The best defense against the sun is to stay out it, which is, unfortunately, some-what diffi cult to do at the beach.

In order to reduce the chance of sun-burn, be sure to apply sunscreen liberally and often. Also, wearing hats and cloth-ing when not in the water can also help to protect against UV radiation.

UV radiation can also cause eye dam-age as well. Wearing sunglasses that block UV radiation can help prevent damage, like cataracts and macular degeneration, which can be caused by exposure to UV

radiation.3. Bring food and water“Every time I forget to bring food, I

kick myself. The sun saps a lot of energy so bring lots of water and snacks. Water-melon and strawberries are my favorite to bring,” says Maelynn La, a senior chem-istry major.

Water is a major necessity for beach trips as the sun and salt carry a dehydra-tion risk.

Food, however, is always fl exible. De-pending on the beach location, there are the options of restaurants right on the sand, such as the Hangout in Gulf Shores. Picnics on the beach are a favorite of many beachgoers as well.

Be warned, however, that whatever is brought onto the beach has to be carried both onto and off of the beach.

4. Don’t harass the wildlifeSomething an incredible amount of

people don’t realize is that, just like the Amazon rainforest, the ocean is a wild place, home to wild animals.

People often don’t associate the bot-tlenose dolphin, a common Gulf Coast resident, with wild animals thanks to movies and television portrayals.

These animals, however, have been known to become habituated to human and boat presence, especially if they’re fed. They are also known to attack hu-

Summer beach trips more fun with a little planningSummer beach trips more fun with a little planning

mans if they aren’t fed.Another thing that people don’t real-

ize is that it’s a federal crime to harass, which is any act that can cause injury or behavioral changes, marine mammals un-der the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Sea turtles also frequent Gulf Coast beaches in order to nest. Every species of sea turtle that occurs in the United States are considered endangered and are thus protected.

Sea turtles have extremely strong

JAKE HOWELL | JAGLIFE EDITORDolphins have sharp, conical shaped teeth and powerful tail muscles, both of which can do serious damage to humans.

By JAKE HOWELLlife.editor@usavanguard.com

bites that can do severe damage to ex-tremeties like fi ngers.

In short, enjoy the wildlife from a dis-tance. Don’t approach them, and, if they approach you, remain still and allow them to move along.

Be smart about planning your next trip to the beach. Take advantage of the tools and resources available in this age of technology in order to ensure that your next foray onto the white sands of the Gulf Coast is a success.

7

OpinionOpinionA STAFF EDITIORIAL

Alta Pointe let student patients down at USAAlta Pointe let student patients down at USA

The The Vanguard ViewpointVanguard Viewpoint EditorialEditorialBoardBoard

Editor in Chief Managing EditorOpinion EditorLife Editor Sports Editor

Cassie Fambro >Aaron Etheredge >

Noah Logan > Jake Howell >

Patrick Herring >

Counseling and Testing offers services to students that are free, yet priceless.

Mental health is vastly over-looked in the college spectrum and Alta Pointe has failed USA. Spo-radically, Alta Pointe rotates its residents so that they can provide psychiatric services to USA students free of charge.

In early July, it was an-nounced that Alta Pointe residents would no longer be coming to the Counseling and Testing center on Wednes-days to see students.

While Counseling and Testing still has psychologists, the absence of residents means that prescrip-tions cannot be issued.

Romney out of offi ce. Back in the early days of the GOP nomination battle, Mitt Romney attacked Texas Governor Rick Perry for supporting a part of the DREAM act that would allow children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition of the state that they live in. “It shouldn’t be al-lowed,” Romney stated. “It makes no sense at all.” So there we have an example of Romney clearly stating that children of illegal immigrants should not have the same academic opportunity as their fellow class-mates. That was in September of 2011.

In December of 2011. Mitt Rom-ney claims if he is elected, he will veto the DREAM act if elected presi-dent. So four months later, he is still on the same stance, which might be a personal best for Romney. We do, however, see him support citizen-ship through military service. “ I am delighted with the idea that people who come to this country and wish

to serve in the military can be given a path to become permanent resi-dents in this country. Those who serve in our military and fulfi ll those requirements, I respect and acknowledge that path.”

Jumping to June 17, Mitt Rom-ney appeared on CBS News “Face of the Nation.” In an interview with Bob Schiefferr, Romney was asked three times if we would veto this bill or allow it. Three times Romney avoided the question.

Schieffer: “I think you said that this is just a short-term solution to a long-term problem. But would you repeal this order if you became President?”

Romney: “Well, let’s step back and look at the issue. I mean fi rst of all, we have to secure the border, we need to have an employment verifi cation system, to make sure that those that are working in this country are here legally. And then, with regards to the kids who were

brought in by their parents through no fault of their own, there needs to be a long-term solution so they know that their status is...”

Schieffer: “I won’t keep on about this but just to make sure I under-stand, would you leave this in place while you worked out a long-term solution or would you just repeal it?”

Romney: “We’ll look at that set-ting as we reach it...”

Even though this bill would give the same protection through higher education as the DREAM act of 2010 would, Romney doesn’t want to come out and say if he would re-peal it or not.

Last but not least, look at Mitt Romney’s interview with conserva-tive news source Newsmax.com on Friday, June 29th. “ For those that are here as the children of those who came here illegally, I want to make sure they have a permanent answer to what their status will be,”

After

years of p a r t i s a n politics pre-venting the D R E A M act of 2009 from get-ting any-

where, President Obama has now passed a version of his own.

According to the AP, this bill will give around 800,000 people a more sure and direct way to achieve full citizenship through higher educa-tion or two years of military service.

These people are not guaran-teed the citizenship yet but the fear of being deported is gone and I’m sure they won’t be complaining. As expected, the Romney cam-paign immediately came out fi ring at President Obama, calling the act an election year ploy to win the His-panic vote that will most likely keep

Mitt Romney’s favorite shoes are fl ip fl ops, his food crowMitt Romney’s favorite shoes are fl ip fl ops, his food crow

Noah LoganOpinion Editor

“And I’ve indicated in my view that those who serve in the military and get advanced degrees would certainly qualify for that kind of permanent status.” Okay, so now Romney does support protecting children of illegal immigrants with higher education. I don’t know what else to call this except for a full fl op on this stance.

The Romney Campaign will surely release a statement clarifying what Romney “actually meant” but that will not stop CNN, MSNBC, and other news sources from criti-cizing his already horrible reputa-tion as a fl ip-fl opper. Romney ap-pears to think political stances are “rent to own” and he can’t decide on one that he likes. For me, I am awaiting anxiously for the July, Au-gust, and October version of Rom-ney to clarify on what he actually wants the American voters to think he stands for.

Facebook Chatter:“Don’t Double My Rate”

I would feel a lot better if the amount of grant/loan money the government could give out wasn't cut like it was. A lot of students wasn't able to receive summer aid because of it. -Emily Deas

If you can’t afford something, don’t buy it. That includes col-lege. -Doug Roberts

We still live in a country where we have to shackle ourselves to massive debt in order to get an education. Whoop-de-doo, our debt is going to stay the same. -Tyler Henderson

With the likelihood of a bet-ter quality of life having a job you actually like rather than one you take just to pay the bills or sup-port a family, even if it pays what you consider to be “well”, student loans are one debt I wouldn’t mind having. -Andrea Baker

Dozens of patients were essen-tially abandoned with zero warning that are already on medications and now are at risk of not being main-tained.

By seeing students for free, resi-

dents provided a service that many students could not get.

The uninsured could be seen, and now they can’t.

This leaves a gap in mental

health care coverage for many stu-dents that rely on the residents.

An Alta Pointe source anony-mously spoke with us and told us that the 18-25 age group is crucial in the fi eld of psychiatry and a unique

demographic. What better place to

learn than a college cam-pus?

If the cost is an issue, then instead of leaving en-tirely on short notice, insti-tute a small fee.

If too many patients are an issue, institute an application process.

One of the four principles of medical ethics is benefi cience. “A practitioner should act in the best

interest of the patient.”Leaving the Counseling and

Testing Services offi ce without a valuable resource that its patients had come to rely upon is not in the best interest of the patient, nor is it ethical.

The Hippocratic Oath states “I will remember that I remain a member of society with special ob-ligations to all my fellow human be-ings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infi rm.”

What are you teaching the resi-dents by having them abandon their patients, Alta Pointe?

We appreciate the time, patience and kindness of the residents.

We want them back, Alta Pointe, and dozens of students need them.

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 20128

Children of Syria should be Children of Syria should be saved, not forgottensaved, not forgotten

Sixteen m o n t h s into the a n t i - r e -gime re-bellion in Syria, the world is at a loss over how to end the blood-bath un-leashed by

the dictator Bashar Al-Assad. Since the beginning of the

Syrian uprising, brutal repres-sion practices by the security forces under President Bashar Al-Assad’s authority have been utilized in stopping the upris-ing.

The number of casualties in the protests, according to Na-tional Organization for Human Rights in Syria, is 18,236.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that over 599 Syrian children have been killed. Another 400 chil-dren have been reportedly ar-rested and tortured in Syrian

prisons. The United Nation Human

Rights Council has reported that children have suffered se-rious violations and that Syr-ian State forces have shown little or no recognition of the rights of children in the ac-tions taken to quell dissent.

The detention and torture of a group of children accused of painting anti-government graffiti on public buildings in the city of Deraa in March 2011, was a critical factor be-hind the spread of protests countrywide.

Today, the situation on the ground is dangerously and quickly deteriorating, children rights violations are occur-ring across the country on an alarming scale during military operations against locations believed to be hosting protests.

On May 25, 2012 a new mas-sacre took place in the Syrian area of Al Houla after the town saw many anti-government protests.

According to the United Na-tions, 108 people were killed,

including 34 women and 49 children.

Those children were execut-ed from close quarter distances using knives by Al-Assad mili-tary (Shabiha).

Despite repeated calls for an end to the violence in Syria, children continue to suffer as a result of the crisis.

The free nations around the world have the responsibil-ity to protect Syrian children from the ongoing violence and to help them regain a sense of normalcy.

Given that Syrian regime have failed to comply with the peace plan of the United Na-tions special envoy to Syria Mr. Kofi Annan, and the Unit-ed Nation Security Council has condemned the massacre of Al Houla.

It became urgent for the free nations around the world to take serious action to pro-tect Syrian children from the killing machine of Al-Assad regime.

Mohammad Ammar Al-ZarradAdvertising Assist.

June 28 will be one of those days in our nation’s

history I’ll never forget. I was working at the hospital that day, sitting at my computer, incessantly clicking the refresh button on my browser waiting for Google news to update me on the Supreme Court’s deci-sion regarding the Patient Pro-tection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or “ObamaCare.”

After some tense moments and an incorrect report by CNN regarding the decision, I finally heard the news at about 9:30.

The Supreme Court upheld the mandate; exactly the deci-sion I was hoping for.

Yes, you read that correctly, I support the decision by the Supreme Court. Actually, the individual mandate is about the only thing from the PPACA that I do find appealing. In fact, if I had things my way, the tax

penalty for not purchasing in-surance would be much higher than its current limit.

While many of my conserva-tive colleagues will spend the coming months griping that our rights are being taken away, a few of us will still remember that this decision is essentially a win for conservatives. After all, the individual mandate was originally “our” idea.

In 1989, the Heritage Foun-dation, a strongly conservative think tank, made public a piece entitled, Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans.

This document was pub-lished to provide an alterna-tive to the democrats’ plan of employer based mandates and a single payer system. It reads:

If a young man wrecks his Porsche and has not had the foresight to obtain insurance, we may commiserate but soci-ety feels no obligation to repair his car. But health care is dif-ferent.

If a man is struck down by a heart attack in the street, Amer-icans will care for him whether or not he has insurance. If we find that he has spent his mon-ey on other things rather than insurance, we may be angry but we will not deny him services - even if that means more pru-dent citizens end up paying the tab.

A mandate on individuals recognizes this implicit con-tract. Society does feel a moral obligation to insure that its citi-zens do not suffer from the un-availability of health care.

But on the other hand, each household has the obligation, to the extent it is able, to avoid placing demands on society by protecting itself.

As I read the arguments pre-sented by the Heritage Founda-tion, I can’t help but agree with what they have to say. Ironical-ly, neither could Mitt Romney when creating the Massachu-setts plan.

Even Newt Gingrich sup-ported individual mandates in the 1990s.

To conclude, I would pre-fer a national system based on private health savings accounts (HSAs) similar to Singapore’s (rated sixth in the world) and I do believe an intact PPACA will one day lead to a single payer system, which no conservative wants.

It’s also my hope that the PPACA will be dismantled en-tirely for reasons such as a lack of cost controls, a potentially intrusive Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and the job killing requirements it places on em-ployers.

However, until that day comes, I choose not to be a hyp-ocrite and to support the indi-vidual mandate.

After all, there’s nothing more “right-winged” than man-dated individual responsibility.

Conservative doctor supports PPACABy ANDREW SCHNEIDEReditor.in.chief@usavanguard.com

You always hear that it is rude to talk about money. It is of-

fensive to talk about religion. You al-ways hear that it is not polite to talk about politics. Well, in this column, all bets are off. In this fi rst issue, we will talk about “Obamacare.”

In the June 28 decision of The National Federation of Indepen-dent Business v. Sebelius, the Su-preme Court handed down a ruling that both confused and angered many people. Before we delve into the decision, let us take a moment to go back to the beginning of the story. In March of 2010, President Obama signed the controversial Health Care Bill into law. Its offi cial name was the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but, it is more commonly known as Obam-acare.

The charges against the Obama Administration were varied. “They’ll kill Grandma! The Death Panels, Dear God, the Death Pan-els! It’s Communism!” Some com-plaints were a bit more reasonable. Many were concerned that the Act would make it diffi cult for doctors to stay in business. Why should I have to help pay for other people’s

health care? Almost instantly, the lawsuits began. Attorney Generals from all over the country, includ-ing Alabama, fi led complaints. They claimed the law, which required that all Americans have health in-surance or pay a penalty, was un-constitutional. This requirement is the Individual Mandate. Some said that Congress had overreached its powers. In the end, 26 States joined together against Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In late March of 2012, the Su-preme Court heard oral arguments. Almost everyone thought it had gone badly for the Obama Admin-istration. The common wisdom was that the Individual Mandate, the heart of the law, would be struck down. This would have left the Act toothless. However, on June 28 of 2012, the Supreme Court had a sur-prise for us. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the Affordable Care Act.

The surprise was that the 5th vote in the 5-4 decision was Chief Justice John Roberts. He was ap-pointed to the Supreme Court by George W. Bush in 2005. Roberts can usually be counted among the conservative Justices, but in June of 2012 he stepped out of charac-ter. Roberts joined with Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan; “aka, the liberals”. Though, I believe his motives were more in line with wanting to support the rule of law by not overturning a le-gitimately enacted piece of legisla-tion. They declared that the “penal-ty” in the Act was in fact a Tax, and thereby allowable under the Tax Powers of Congress.

So, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, now what? Though it will not take full effect until 2014, some provisions of the act are already in place. You cannot drop children from coverage, you can stay on your parent’s insurance until you are 26, and you cannot be dropped for pre-existing conditions.

When the Act takes full effect, all Americans will either have to have private insurance, insurance from their employer, or through a Gov-ernment subsidized program. Here is my take on the whole matter; I am not big on new taxes, but I think it was the right thing to do. If the only thing the Act did was to allow those with pre-existing conditions to receive treatment, then the whole thing is justifi able.

So I say, good job Mr. Roberts.

By COLIN AL-GREENEcalgreene@comcast.net

Good job, Mr. Roberts

PATRICK HERRING, SPORTS EDITORsports.editor@usavanguard.comSPORTSSPORTS

9VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012

By JT CRABTREEjtc804@jagmail.southalabama.edu

EA Sports’ latest installation of their college football vid-

eo game, NCAA Football 13, is set to be released on July 10. The popular video, which has been in production

since 1993, will feature 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffi n III of Baylor.

Many fans of the game will note the ability to play as any previous Heisman Trophy winner, for any team. Also added to the game for this season will be the newest schools

joining the Football Bowl Subdivi-sion (FBS) for the 2012-2013 foot-ball season. Among those schools are Texas-San Antonio, University of Massachusetts, Texas State, and South Alabama.

But there’s one problem. South Alabama was not included in NCAA Football 13.

Julie Foster, a communications manager for EA Sports, said South Alabama was not included due to them not receiving “confi rmation that they were changing to a full FBS schedule this year until it was too late for inclusion in NCAA Football 13.” Foster went on to add that South Alabama will indeed be included in NCAA Football 14.

However, Jag fans did not react kindly to this. Members of the web-site JagsJungle, an online message board, started uproar in the video game community, including the cre-ation of the #FreeSouthAlabama Twitter campaign.

South Alabama being left out of NCAA Football 13 was the best thing that could have happened during the Jags fi rst eligible year to appear in the game. The publicity gained from EA Sports’ mistake has brought the

EA Sports to roll out red carpet for South AlabamaEA Sports to roll out red carpet for South Alabama

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.Electronic Arts, makers of the acclaimed NCAA Football series, is set to make up for leaving USA out of the 2013 installment, shown above.

Track stars Schwartz, Johnson named All-Americans Track stars Schwartz, Johnson named All-Americans

By JAYSON CURRYjayson-curry@hotmail.com

The South Alabama women’s track and fi eld season has come to an end but as the year closes out, there

is much to be proud of. This season, the USA women were led by two female athletes that have been named All-Ameri-cans in their respective events.

Seniors Lindsay Schwartz and Laitifah Johnson both re-ceived the honor of being named to the All-American team after their performances in the 2011-2012 track and fi eld season.

“These two women have worked very hard over the past

four years,” said track and fi eld head coach Paul Brueske. “It has been fun watching them improve and develop into national level competitors.”

They have played a major role in turning our women’s track program around here at South Alabama.

Johnson, an Escambia, Fla. Native, competed in the throws events for the Jaguars. After having competed at a high level in her fi rst three years on the USA roster, Johnson saved her best season for her last at USA.

Johnson credits her faith and her work ethic for her suc-cess in her last season at USA.

“In the throwing events you have to focus on being re-laxed and duplicating the technique you’ve learned in prac-tice. My faith helps me because I know that I am in the hands of God and that whatever happens to me will be for my good. Then I would have to say my work ethic takes care of technique. I have to say I worked hard this season coming to practice early and staying late.

“The technique was engrained in my muscle memory.”Johnson, who wasn’t a highly sought after recruit out of

high school has accomplished more than most thought she could as a track athlete.

“Although I was good for my area in high school in shot put I wasn’t close to being the best in the state. I always planned on going to college and continuing in track even if I

had to walk on, but when Coach Brueske presented me with a scholarship and a chance to learn a new event (hammer) it was an opportunity I wanted to take,” Johnson explained. “I never fathomed I’d compete at Nationals even though com-peting at Division One track meets is ultimately like compet-ing at Nationals.”

Johnson had multiple top three fi nishes in throw events including a fi rst place fi nish at the Coach “O” invitational in the shot put and the hammer throw.

Johnson was named All-Sun Belt Conference in both events and also became the fi rst female thrower from South Alabama to advance to the NCAA championships. Johnson would later fi nish 17th in the hammer throw at the NCAA fi nals, held in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Me being the fi rst Hammer Thrower in South’s History to advance to Nationals is a testament to the knowledge and skills Coach Paul Brueske brought to South Alabama as I was a part of his fi rst recruiting class,” Johnson said.

Johnson was voted in as an NCAA honorable mention All-American.

“It feels awesome to be considered an All-American,” Johnson said. “I missed Second Team All-American status by one spot but I have to give God all the glory. It has been a great year.”

Johnson will be eligible to compete in the indoor track

events next season but her outdoor eligibility is done. John-son plans to continue her hard work and push herself to do even better next season.

“Coach has a motto ‘Last throw, best throw’ and I liter-ally want to make my last throw as a college athlete my best,” Johnson said.

For Schwartz, her season and career ended at USA with a trip to the 2012 USA Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Schwartz has competed and dominated the Heptathlon event the past two years and her senior year was no different. Schwartz broke the USA school record in the event at the Texas Relays earlier in the year and never looked back.

She was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team af-ter winning the Heptathlon event for the third consecutive year at the Sun Belt championships.

Schwartz then went on to compete at the NCAA cham-pionships. While competing in Iowa, Schwartz recorded a career best 5606 score in the Heptathlon, fi nishing 10th and was named a second team All-American for the second straight year.

With her performances, Schwartz gained a chance to compete at the US Olympic trials where she fi nished 14th while recording three personal best records in the seven events and breaking her own points record at USA with a 5614 total.

South Alabama football program into the national spotlight, more so than if they were originally included in the game. Writers from Yahoo! Sports, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated have all spread the news of South Alabama’s exclusion, prompting EA Sports to respond to the situation.

Their solution was surprising.EA Sports responded to their

mistake through a letter sent to the Athletic Department, promising to “roll out the red carpet for South Alabama in 2014.” The treatment to be received by South Alabama is that which is usually reserved for the pre-mier programs in the country, such as Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, and USC.

EA Sports detailed six things that they will be doing to recreate the Jags in NCAA Football 14.

1. EA Sports will meet personally with the Athletic Department to cre-ate the team introduction that ESPN announcers Brad Nessler, Rece Da-vis, and Kirk Herbstreit will talking about as part of the pregame presen-tation.

2. EA Sports will meet with the coaching staff to accurately recreate the South Alabama playbook.

3. EA Sports will be adding South Alabama’s mascot “South Paw” to the game, where he can be seen on the sidelines during games, and be used in the “Mascot Mash-Up” game mode, where players control a team made entirely of mascots.

4. EA Sports will perform a “Sta-dium Scan” of Ladd-Peebles Stadium to give South Alabama the most accu-rate stadium in the game it can create.

5. EA Sports will videotape the team and cheerleaders as they run out onto the fi eld during pregame in order to replicate it as accurately as possible.

6. EA Sports will perform a “Crowd Recording” of a South Ala-bama game this coming 2012 season and use that to create the stadium sounds and crowd chants heard in the game.

All of the things EA Sports has promised to do will bring an extreme sense of realism to the game for Jag fans. Many fans expressed that the er-ror made by EA Sports is worth wait-ing a year to have preferential treat-ment and play as South Alabama for the fi rst time in an NCAA Football video game.

Th e University of South Alabama’s exclusion from NCAA Football 13 has prompted Electronic Arts to “roll out the red carpet” in the 2014 NCAA series

Courtesy of Public Relations

Laitifah Johnson (Top) and Lindsay Schwartz (Bottom)

VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 201210

By PATRICK HERRINGsports.editor@usavanguard.com

Freese named to MLB All-Star lineupFreese named to MLB All-Star lineup

David Freese played third base at USA for two short

years after transferring from St. Louis Community College. Since leaving South, Freese has made quite a name for himself in the MLB.

Last year saw Freese play the role of hero in the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. After recording MLB postseason records with 21 RBI and 50 total bases, he was named

the World Series M.V.P. He also took home the Babe Ruth Award as the M.V.P. of the postseason.

His pace hasn’t slowed this year as the first half of the MLB season came to an end. Freese was voted onto the National League roster for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game. Freese and Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish were named to the All-Star roster after garnering the most votes in the All-Star Game Final Vote, which let fans choose a player from each league to play in this year’s All-

Want us to follow you? Tweet us @USAVGSports

@USAVGSports

CJ Bennett @CJbennett1

Defi nitely got better today!! Them #Jagaurs coming this year boy

Ellis Hill @Eazy_E13

What’s for lunch? Oh well guess its the cafe...

Darrius Morrow @DMorrow_4:

When they hate, they might as well be cheering. All it does is just #motivate me!

Kolton Peavey @OmgItsPeavzilla

Call me high maintenance but our player lounge can be a lot better after seeing some other schools.

Bj Scott HimSelf @Bj_Scott_1

I’m beginning to be a nerd I lost sleep because I didnt feel good about my test. 93. I missed one.

Jake Johnson @JakeJohnson540

A true warrior uses adversity to break though the barrier that will make him a champion #365

USAJAGUARS.COM

Freese fi elding a ball during his USA playing days.

Star Game.Freese beat out some of the best

in the game in the Final Vote, includ-ing Braves veteran Chipper Jones and Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper, amongst others.

His numbers alone warrant a spot on the All-Star squad. He ranks second among NL third baseman in all major categories, including home runs (13), RBI (50), batting average (.285) and hits (81).

During his tenure at USA Freese lettered twice (2005-06), and was honored as the 2006 Sun Belt Con-ference Player of the year to go along with All-American and All-Sun Belt recognition. South also went to two consecutive NCAA regional tourna-ments with Freese at third base.

In his senior year he recorded 99 hits and 73 RBI, which still rank sec-ond and third, respectively, in the school’s single season record books.

Following his senior season, Freese was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the ninth round (273rd overall) of the MLB draft.

After a couple of years in the mi-nor leagues, Freese was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 2008 season.

But it wasn’t until opening day in 2009 that he made his major league debut. That season didn’t work out well for Freese as he was dropped

back to the Cardinals Triple-A squad in Memphis.

The 2010 season didn’t go much better for Freese as he was injured after only 70 games and was forced to have two ankle surgeries.

2011 started off much better for Freese. He was hitting .320 before being hit by a pitch that fractured his hand. The fracture caused him to miss the teams next 51 games.

But Freese didn’t lay down or take it easy after returning from the injury. He returned to the starting lineup and finished the regular sea-son with a .297 batting average.

Then the Cardinals made the playoffs and made their historic run with David Freese firmly planted in the spotlight.

Making the All-Star team for the first time is one of the smaller ac-complishments in Freese’s short ca-reer, but certainly not one to scoff at either .

He joins Luis Gonzalez (1999, 2001, ’02, ’03, ’05), Lance Johnson (1996) and Jon Lieber (2001) as the Jaguar alumnus to attain All-Star sta-tus.

This year’s All-Star game, the 83rd installment, will be held Tue., July 10, at Kauffman Stadium – home of the Kansas City Royals.

Parking services policy to changeContinued from Page 1

Christian explained. “Right now the balance is $250 and then that will drop to $100 and that will eventually drop to $0, and that way we can help students to not carry around hundreds of dollars in parking tickets to graduation and then not be able to get a transcript and grades.”

Christian explained that the change in the limit on parking fees was less about the money and more about the changes USA wants to make on campus.

“We don’t really want the money; we want the behavior to change. We want to change into a walking campus.”

The advanced notice of change comes in an attempt to get the information out to all students who do owe parking fees. USA Parking Services does not want to surprise any student with substantial fees.

“We’re not trying to keep

it from you, it’s not a secret,” Christian said.

“We want you to have the information now to put yourself on a budget, to pay one parking ticket at a time to keep that balance down and you can register when you can.”

For students who do have parking fees that need to be paid, Christian said to go to Student Accounting located in Meisler Hall. Student accounting will accept all forms of payment and would be the easiest and most convenient place for students to pay.

USA Parking Services will also make getting a parking permit and paying for parking tickets easier for students starting this fall.

“We are in the middle of upgrading the software yet again and for this fall our plan is to have permits online and payments online,” Christian said. “A person should be able to go online and pay.”

JT CRABTREE, LOC EDITORjtc804@jagmail.southalabama.eduLEFT OF CENTERLEFT OF CENTER

11VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012

The 2012 season marks the fi rst year of the Jags playing a full

FBS schedule, including a full Sun Belt Conference schedule. They will be playing teams like Mississippi State, NC State, and Hawaii, among others. Sounds like a rigorous schedule for a fi rst year FBS team, but FBS nonethe-less.

But for some reason this wasn’t good enough for EA Sports, who somehow managed to forget to put the Jags in their edition of NCAA Football 13. Apparently it’s not in the game.

So why did they not get in? Is it a conspiracy? Did the university not do something, like submit paperwork in time, as was previously reported by Kevin McGuire of Examiner.com? (Later proved to be false) EA Sports added Texas State, UMass, and Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), who the Jags open the season with on August 30. All three of those teams are the same sta-tus as South, playing a full FBS sched-ule, as well as full conference schedule, but not eligible for postseason play. So why were the Jags left in the dark?

Julie Foster, a communications manager for EA Sports replied to ques-tions with “South Alabama was a pro-visional member of FBS last year and

did not play a full FBS schedule,” she wrote in an email. “We did not receive confi rmation that they were changing to a full FBS schedule this year until it was too late for inclusion in NCAA Football 13. South Alabama will be in-cluded in NCAA Football 14.”

Receive confi rmation? South Ala-bama announced in 2009 of their in-tentions to join the FBS. Before UTSA formed a team. Before UTSA had a fi eld to practice on. Before UTSA even had a logo.

Basically, EA Sports screwed up. They made a mistake. It happens; there are humans behind the computers af-ter all.

While it indeed is disappointing that members of the South Alabama football can’t play as virtual copies of themselves this year, there is a bright side to this. The exposure.

Jaguar fans took to social media and the story caught fi re. Fans used Twitter and Facebook to send mes-sages to EA Sports asking them to add South Alabama, or at least respond as to why they were left out. Twitter was set ablaze by Jag Nation using the #FreeSouthAlabama hashtag. Sev-eral websites, including CBS Sports and Yahoo! Sports, wrote features on South Alabama being omitted from the game. And most media outlets were supporting South Alabama

In fact, they were just as confused as us. CBS Sports writer Jerry Hinnen said “[Jags fans] not surprisingly take issue with that…and we don’t blame them.” Graham Watson of Yahoo! Sports said “This is ridiculous. South Alabama is the only new FBS team left out of the game despite being the fi rst of the four to join an FBS league.”

That exposure forced the hand of EA Sports, and they fi nally responded after about a week of silence. And did they respond.

EA Sports is going to basically make South Alabama one of the most realistic teams available to play in NCAA Football 14. EA Sports is go-ing to come to a game this coming sea-son, fi lm the team run onto the fi eld, and recreate it in the video game.

Sounds good right? No it doesn’t. Not in comparison to the rest of what EA Sports has promised.

They are going to recreate Ladd-Peebles Stadium, home of the Jaguars, in NCAA 14, as well as our very own South Paw. South Paw will even be available in the “Mascot Mash-Up” game mode. Can you imagine a team with 11 South Paw’s on the fi eld at one time?

The best part of all this; EA Sports is going to record the crowd during a game and then put what they hear into the game. Think about it. You could

be in a video game. What you say at a game could be heard for years to come through NCAA Football. What you say could be heard by millions of people around the world. How great would it be to hear the kickoff chant of “U-S-A! South in your Mouth! Go Jags!” booming every time someone plays as South Alabama on NCAA Football.

How cool is that?!South Alabama obviously came out

on top of this debacle, and the rewards will defi nitely help the Jags to gain ex-posure on a national level. But after everything that has happened, Jag Na-tion really does need to send a hearty “Thank You” to EA Sports. Thank you for messing up, which gained at-tention in its way, and offering to cor-rect it, which will help South Alabama for obvious reasons.

By JT CRABTREEjtc804@jagmail.southalabama.edu

#FreeSouthAlabama campaign works #FreeSouthAlabama campaign works Jaguar Fans come together to get South Alabama added to video game

ARCHIVE PHOTOMembers of the Jaguar football team take the fi eld before the start of a game during the 2011 season.

Welcome to Left of Center. In the future, you will fi nd

things here that may not necessarily fi nd in your usual sports section.

The goal of this section is to provide you guys with things going on in the sports that may be a little off the beaten path. They could be interviews with players and coaches. They could weird sports stories. They could even be as simple as a game recap with a weird twist.

But what you can bank on seeing as a reader is for people’s voice to be heard on sports. Sports are tightly wrapped around fan involvement, and without fans, sports would have no audience. We want to hear what you have to say about South Alabama sports, and how it affects you.

But this doesn’t just go towards on the fi eld performance. We don’t want people screaming in emails to us after a call or game doesn’t go in the Jags favor. We want to know what’s on your mind about everything sports related.

Are the Jags your favorite team? Maybe Alabama or Auburn is more your team. Do you like going to basketball games? What was your greatest experience at a South Alabama sporting event? What is your favorite thing about sports?

To help with us with this, we need your help. What we will do is every other week or so we will propose a question; a question asking your view on something going on in the sports world.

Now this isn’t necessarily a place to rant about how you can’t believe how overpriced concession stand food is. This is a place for Jag Nation to let their passion for South Alabama be exposed.

So, for the fi rst fall issue of The Vanguard, we ask this:

What is your favorite thing about South Alabama Athletics? What do you like to do during games?

Send us your response to jtc804@jagmail.southalabama.edu and we just may use in our next issue.

Not your Not your typical typical sportssports

By JT CRABTREEjtc804@jagmail.southalabama.edu

EA SPORTS

12VOL. 51, NO. 2 / JULY 9, 2012