Articles written by Sarah Lambert

Students afforded opportunities for quick registration by on-campus organizations

Taylor Hill, an Auburn graduate, provides a way for students to register outside the Student Center: Kalyn Ballard, a freshman in nutrition; Kelly Anderson, a freshman in biomedical sciences; and Morgan McKean, a freshman in journalism, complete their forms. Morgan Thacker / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

Oct. 24.

This is the date that should be on all students’ minds who still have “register to vote” on their to-do lists. 

Darius Slusher, who works for the Lee County Board of Registrars, said this is the deadline for Alabama voters to register for the upcoming presidential election. 

“Registration forms have to be either here with us or postmarked by that date,” Slusher said. 

Students can find Alabama voter registration forms sitting on the Foy Information Desk in the Student Center. 

Russell Warren, a senior in public relations,: hands his donation card to a Winn-Dixie cashier, supporting the organization Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Morgan Thacker / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

Winn-Dixie shoppers can purchase more than just food this month — they can purchase something that will make a difference in a hurricane victim’s life.  

Winn-Dixie has implemented its Neighbors Helping Neighbors program and is collecting donations from customers as they check out.

Lewis Haywood, store director of the Winn-Dixie on South College Street, said all customers have to do is fill out a card at the register with the amount they want to donate.  

The card is then scanned, Haywood said, and the amount of donation is added to the customer’s total. Customers can donate anywhere from 50 cents to $500, said Patrick McSweeney, a spokesman for Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.

Haywood said the donations go directly to the American Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Fund.  

What Direct TV and the local channels don’t know is that Jim Buston is no ordinary customer.  

Buston, the assistant city manager of the City of Auburn, is actually researching satellite as an alternative to cable.

“I’m trying all these avenues myself, and then I’m reporting them as I see what happens,” Buston said.

Buston’s at-home research project is just one of many attempts on the part of the city of Auburn to bring variety of choices to its residents.

When Buston subscribed to Direct TV, they told him no local channels were available. He could not get ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox.  

A representative told him Direct TV did not support the installation of antennas; another told him they did. An antenna was installed Saturday.

Buston also sent a petition to Columbus and Montgomery’s local channels.  

He needed their permission to get ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox from another city, because the satellites don’t pick up Columbus and Montgomery’s TV stations.

Auburn is also trying to entice Knology, another cable company, into coming to the city.  

Grant Weingarten, a freshman in biomedical sciences: plays with a puppy as he volunteers with IMPACT at the Lee County Humane Society. Morgan Thacker/ ASSISTANT PHOTO

Thirteen thousand Auburn students were involved last year. Some did it for the spirit points. Some were required for their classes. Others, like Kristin Vega, did it for that cliché, but charming, warm fuzzy feeling. 

Vega and her 12,999 fellow students were volunteers for IMPACT. 

IMPACT is an organization that helps students give back to the Auburn-Opelika area through community service.  

Vega, this year’s IMPACT director, said the most popular projects are Storybook Farm and the Humane Society. 

Vega said in order to volunteer, all students have to do is fill out the waiver form that can be found online.

Students under 19 must also get it signed by their parents.

Vega said this year, IMPACT will start a calendar on its Web site that lists all volunteer opportunities offered through Auburn. 

This calendar will include SGA events, REACH, fraternities and sororities, Circle K and any other organizations asking for student volunteers. 

Vega has been a volunteer since her freshman year. 

“I’ve really loved taking the time to get out of this self-centered college atmosphere and think about other people for once,” Vega said.

Mother of Marine shares book about Fort Benning, in honor of her son, leaving the audience inspired

Auburn High School graduate Billy Stelpflug was killed in the Beirut terrorist bombings in Lebanon, Oct. 23, 1983.

He was 19 years old. 

Ten years later, his mother Peggy Stelpflug undertook a project to honor her son, a lance corporal in the Marines. 

Peggy Stelpflug gave a lecture, Thursday, on her book “Home of the Infantry: A History of Fort Benning.”

She and co-author Richard Hyatt began writing it in 1993.     

Peggy Stelpflug’s lecture took place in Special Collections in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.

The lecture was sponsored by AU Libraries, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts (also known as Pebble Hill) and the AU Bookstore.

The “Book Talk” was free and open to both students and members of the Auburn community.

University offers Chinese course. Praise is offered as high expectations are met by department and  students.

Xiè Xiè Nín.

These words were spoken by thousands of Americans who traveled to China for the Olympic Games. Now, they are also spoken by Auburn students.

This fall, approximately 30 students are enrolled in FLNG 1010: Elementary Chinese I.

According to Robert Weigel, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages, they are only the second batch of students to have this opportunity.

An elementary Chinese class was first offered in fall 2007. Last spring, Elementary II was available to students. 

Learning Chinese will certainly be a challenge for students, said this semester’s instructor, Carolyn Fitzgerald. 

“There is a lot of memorization. There are a lot of Chinese characters, and you also have to learn the pronunciation,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said she wants her class to be more interactive. Monday’s class was just that.

Last Tuesday, Susan Neill of the Atlanta History Center delivered an address to students.

Her illustrated lecture, “Gone With the Girdle: Freedom, Restraint and Power in Women’s Dress,” was open to all interested students and took place in Foy at 12:30 p.m.

The lecture was sponsored by the AU Women’s Studies Program as part of Women’s History Month.

“My specialty is women’s history, and to me, every month is Women’s History Month,” said Ruth Crocker, the director of women’s studies.