Articles written by David Ingram

BIRMINGHAM — Michelle Obama, wife of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, raised more than $250,000 for her husband’s general election campaign at a fundraiser here on Monday.

The fundraiser, held in Mountain Brook, lasted from just after noon until 3 p.m. and required a $1,000 per-person donation, $10,000 if you were hosts. Birmingham lawyer and former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party Giles Perkins provided his home and served as host to Mrs. Obama and hundreds of supporters who attended the event.

BIRMINGHAM — The Southern Baptist Convention ended its annual meeting Wednesday in Indianapolis with new beginnings.

The convention, which is the controlling body of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, made steps in hopes of rectifying recent membership drops, by electing a new president who promised to make “bringing people back to the faith,” his top priority.

BIRMINGHAM — The 20th annual Gay Pride parade, sponsored by Central Alabama Pride Inc. went off without a hitch Saturday, much to the dismay of Mayor Larry P. Langford.

Langford, a Democrat, originally said May 23 he would not grant Central Alabama Pride Inc. a parade permit, sign a proclamation for the annual celebration or allow banners to be hung on city property.

This is it.

This is the 27th time I write to you as editor-in-chief and the last. It is now my time to say goodbye.

My term as your editor is now at an end. It has been the honor of my life to be editor of this newspaper. I will continue to be grateful for the opportunity Auburn gave me to serve. I will never hold a position higher or a covenant more sacred than that of editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.

If you ask a single person what they dislike most about being single, typically, you won’t hear that it’s about being alone. Rather, that it’s about being the only one left alone.

It’s difficult when everyone from your group of friends becomes an “us” and you are the only “I” left standing.

For me, this is a very real predicament.

Lately, I’ve realized seemingly all my friends are in relationships.

LOS ANGELES — One possible solution to Auburn’s parking issue might be found near the plush houses and rolling hills on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. I traveled here over spring break and found numerous similarities between Auburn’s campus and that of UCLA.

UCLA has approximately 12,000 more enrolled students than Auburn, but the campus is significantly more compact, taking up 419 acres to Auburn’s more than 1,800. What I found, like Auburn, is that UCLA is becoming more and more of a commuter school. More students are choosing to live a little farther away from the close confines of campus and driving to campus everyday.

Finally, an SGA president who knows what they’re doing.

In a bold move Monday, newly inaugurated SGA President Lauren Hayes signed off on making the Student Action Network provisional status as an on-campus organization.

For the past three weeks, the Student Government Senate has taken up the issue of whether to grant provisional status to the Student Action Network.

The Student Action Network, led by graduate student and military veteran Mike Mulvaney, is a student organization standing against the Iraq war.

“This has been one of the saddest weeks in the history of Auburn University,” our President Jay Gogue said Monday.

A little more than a week has passed since we lost one of our own to a senseless act of unimaginable violence.

While covering the story around the clock since last Wednesday, I have been amazed at the reaction and steadfastness of this University.

When something like this happens, it shows the kindness of Auburn University.

When I came for my campus tour as a high school senior, someone tried to explain the concept of the “Auburn family.”

When I was at a bar last weekend, a guy came up to me. I hate stereotypes, but in this case an exception is key toward making my case. He was the stereotypical Southern fraternity guy.

He accused me and this paper of being, in many ways, anti-Greek.

While I was more than willing to respond, I was not about to engage in a debate at 1:30 in the morning at 17-16 .

So instead of an endless conversation, I decided to opt for a written statement to explain and defend the policies of this paper.

When I was younger, my parents and grandparents constantly told me great things about the University of Alabama.

I went to Tuscaloosa for football games, took the quintessential campus tour and chose to come to Auburn.

I chose Auburn because this University proved to me it could provide better opportunities, and now it’s time for Auburn to prove to the country it can provide an opportunity of change in direction on the Board of Trustees.