Articles written by Lauren Banks

The Department of Music and the Auburn University Bands hosted the 2008 All-State Band Festival for the top junior and high school students in Alabama last weekend.

The Alabama Bandmasters Association sponsored the three-day event that began Friday night with a performance from the Auburn University Symphonic Band.

The free concert was performed for the participants in the festival, as well as the public at the Opelika Performing Arts Center.

May

The Boston Athletic Association hosted the 2008 Olympic team trials women’s marathon last Sunday, where assistant professor Heather May competed and finished a strong 65th out of 160 runners.

May, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, also ran the Chicago Marathon in 2006.

Beating the qualifying standard of 2:47:00 in the race with a 2:45:52 performance, May was able to compete in Boston’s Olympic qualifying event.

Tigers extend their overall record to 20-12 after taking the Arkansas series 2-1 in the three-game weekend

Auburn Basesball: The Auburn baseball team is 20-12 overall with a 6-6 conference record as of Sunday. The team takes on South Carolina this weekend. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR

Last weekend’s three-game series against Arkansas proved to be successful for the Auburn baseball team, whose high-intensity win Sunday afternoon clinched the series for the Tigers.

The closing game Sunday was the climax of the series as both teams had won a game of the series.

Arkansas lead by six runs going into the eighth inning when Auburn turned things around scoring four runs, taking the game into extra innings.

The Tigers came from behind to take the Razorbacks in Arkansas’ Baum Stadium with a 12-10 win in 10 innings.

Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater was proud of the tenacity his players showed throughout the game.

“All the credit to our players,” Slater said. “They never hung their heads, and they were in the game the entire time.”

Freshman Brian Fletcher from Fayetteville, Ga., was an integral factor in Auburn’s win Sunday, finishing the game 4-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

“Going to bat with the bases loaded is the situation I want to be in because they have to throw to me,” Fletcher said. “I got to take a hack at one, and luckily a bloop hit dropped in.”

Mike Bianucci No. 3: right fielder, slides into third base. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR

Last weekend, the Auburn baseball team won a three-game series against Tennessee by taking the final game of the series on Sunday 4 to 3.

Auburn advanced to 18-10 overall and 4-5 in the SEC. The loss dropped Tennessee to 16-9 overall and 5-4 in the SEC.

Starting pitcher for Auburn was Bradley Hendrix, a freshman from Birmingham, He pitched 5 and 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and two earned runs against 26 batters faced.

Auburn was shut out until scoring two runs in the eighth inning.

Michael Hurst, a sophomore from Vestavia, was the winning pitcher. Hurst came in at the top of the ninth, surrendering only one hit while throwing two strikeouts, shutting the Volunteers out for the inning.

“They told me to come in and throw strikes to get outs anyway I could, and I was able to get the job done,” Hurst said.

In the bottom of the ninth the Tigers trailed 3-2. Catcher Tony Caldwell, a freshman from Winter Springs, Fla., hit a run scoring double. Shortstop Matt Hall, a junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., hit a walk-off RBI single with Brian Fletcher, a freshman from Fayetteville, Ga., scoring the winning run.

Tigers go 8-3 during break to bring SEC record to 7-4

Following a seven game winning streak, the Auburn softball team was swept last weekend in a three-game series against division leader LSU.

The series opened with 10th-ranked LSU winning a double header last Friday, 8-1 in the first game and 5-3 in the second.

Saturday’s game, lasting only six innings, was a three-hit shutout bringing LSU to a 10-0 victory over Auburn.

Auburn dropped to 27-7 overall and 7-4 in the SEC and was swept for the first time this season.

Sarah Hamilton: a junior in wildlife sciences, studies while dangling her legs in the pool. Lindsey Davidson / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Summer is quickly approaching and many students are already making plans for the 12 weeks of warm weather.

While some students prefer vacationing or returning home for the summer, others find the summer months a prime opportunity to take classes and spend time with friends in Auburn. Registration has already begun for the full summer term, as well as for the two mini-semesters the University offers during the semester.

Although summer school seems like a bleak option for many, Adam Lombardi, a senior in sociology, actually prefers taking classes during this term.

“I’ve stayed in Auburn for the past three summers, and I love it,” Lombardi said. “It’s my favorite time because the atmosphere in Auburn is completely different than the rest of the year. It’s a lot slower, but with the right people around, its great.”

The slowness Lombardi remarks on is often a reason students opt to leave. Amy Galbraith, a sophomore in liberal arts, felt the slower-than-usual Auburn environment in the summer would be boring and prompted her to return home.

“I went back home to Atlanta last summer, and I don’t regret it at all,” Gabraith said. “Most of my friends left Auburn, so I would have been extremely bored if I stayed. I took classes at home, though, so I was able to get ahead with some courses I needed to take.”

Staying on track with school seems to be a predominant reason students decide to stay in Auburn over the summer months. Rather than working or leaving town, students who stay in Auburn tend to be focused on graduating and getting ahead with academics before the hectic fall semester starts.

New strands of fraudulent and potentially dangerous e-mail scams concerning the Internal Revenue Service have hit Alabama Internet users.

The e-mails, which inform the recipient of an alleged tax refund from the IRS, appear legitimate, according to Dan Boone, a media relations representative for the IRS.

The Web site Forbes.com annually ranks the fastest growing small and large metro areas in the United States.

This year, the Auburn-Opelika area placed sixth among the fastest growing small metros in the nation.

This ranking confirms what most residents are already well aware of: Auburn-Opelika isn’t such a small town anymore.

“Obviously we’re very happy,” Auburn Mayor Bill Ham said. “In a somewhat economically downturned time, we continue to be weathering the storm.”