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Auburn City Council changes open records policy

By Charley Gaines/ Staff Writer | September 7

Auburn City Council changed their policy for open records in a unanimous vote at Tuesday night's meeting.Council changed the policy to unify Auburn with state guidelines on open records.Although Auburn had a policy, it did not distinctly line up with Alabama's state policies. The new record is a written document formalizing Auburn's policies with state law.

Buds May Blunt Booze's Abuse of Brain

By Max Newfield / Staff Writer | September 3

The results of a University of California San Diego study claim adolescents who use marijuana may be less susceptible to brain damage from binge drinking."I was definitely surprised by the results," said Susan Tapert, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego, and one of the main researchers in the study.The study's goal was to research the capacity of the adolescent brain to process information efficiently after exposure to drugs and alcohol.Between 2007 and 2009, researchers studied adolescents ages 16 to 19.The subjects were divided into three groups: binge drinkers, binge drinkers who also used marijuana and a control group who rarely or never used alcohol or drugs.Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks in one sitting for men and four or more drinks in one sitting for women.The researchers were surprised to find the results of the study deviated from what they had hypothesized, Tapert said."We found that the damage to their white matter was right in the middle (of the results)," Tapert said, about the subjects who frequently used marijuana and alcohol.

Where Do All The Bikes Go?

By Helen Northcutt/Intrigue Editor | September 3

The benefits to biking on campus are numerous: it is good for the environment, it is cost efficient and it is great for the body.But, many students don't realize their bikes can be confiscated if they don't have the correct parking permits.All bikes, just like motorcycles and other vehicles on campus, need to have a permit or decal, which are free of charge.Students must know the make, color and serial number of the bicycle to obtain a parking permit.

Gameday Parking for Students

September 3

C-Zone Lot (Coliseum) -- All vehicles must be removed by 6 a.m. the day before a home football game.West / RO, C-Zone Lot (west end of Thach Avenue) \0xAD-- All vehicles must be removed by 6 a.m.

Ala. Advanced Placement Testing Rises

By Kendra Kelley / Assistant News Editor | September 3

The College Board, which administers Advanced Placement tests nationally, said the amount of students taking AP exams in Alabama has risen to 24.5 percent of all high school students.Alabama also leads the nation in increases of students who qualify for college credit with their scores with 21.1 percent of students.Gov.

Law Firm Donates Wii System to Rehabilitation Camp

By David Crayton/ Staff Writer | September 3

The greatest gift that can be given again and again is probably love.Of course, a Wii gaming system isn't too bad, either.The Beasley Allen law firm in Montgomery donated a Wii to Alabama's Special Camp for Children and Adults, which is near Lake Martin, Aug.

Toomer's Ten Welcome Downtown

By Samuel Solomon/ Associate News Editor | September 3

Most people who have ventured downtown at night realize that parking spots are scarce.And many people have probably succumbed to the temptation of parking somewhere where they could be towed when they can't find any other spot.However, with the institution of Toomer's Ten, resorting to parking in tow-away zones may be a thing of the past."The amount of parking relieved from the downtown area has been dramatic," said Thomas Stone, manager of SkyBar CafeToomer's Ten was originally designed to provide students a safe way of getting to and from downtown Auburn at night.However, these ten buses may be helping more people than just students.And despite the loss of several parking spaces in front of the bar, Stone said he thinks that the buses have created five to six times more parking spaces.

FEMA Demands Money From Baldwin County

By Samuel Solomon/ Associate News Editor | September 3

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has questioned whether funds allocated to Baldwin County were used properly for post-hurricane cleanup.According to the December 2008 Office of Inspector general report, Baldwin County received a total of $41.3 million for 2004 Hurricane Ivan and 2005 hurricanes Dennis and Katrina.The money came in amounts of $36 million, $800,000 and $4.5 million for the three respective hurricanes.Government auditors recommend in the OIG report that FEMA reclaim $10.5 million because the auditors suspected the county claimed $7.7 million in tipping fees from landfill disposal, $1.64 million on stump removal labor, even though most stumps were removed by homeowners, $1.06 million in interest earned from tipping fees, $28,569 in duplicate fees and $10,302 covered by insurance costs.Baldwin County claimed it gave money to contractors who were supposed to accomplish these tasks, but the report claims the money was eventually funneled back into the county's pocket.However, financial data contained in the county's audited financial statements for the 2005 fiscal year indicates that the county's solid waste fund, which includes the costs of maintaining the county's landfills, benefited from tipping fees related to the hurricanes.Federal regulations (44 CPR l3.22(a)(2)), prohibit the use of federal grant funds to accrue a profit."(Revenues in the Baldwin County Solid Waste) fund increased 3.25 times, from $4.7 million in 2004 to over $15.2 million in 2005, while expenses increased only 1.29 times, from $3.9 million to $5.0 million for the same period," according to the OIG report.Baldwin County disagrees with the OIG's allegation that it accrued interest on the money it received from FEMA, according to the OIG report.After reviewing claims by Baldwin County and the OIG, FEMA sided with the OIG on all issues except tipping fees and interest earned on the fees.FEMA will pursue a total of $5.8 million in reimbursements, $3.47 million from excessive tipping fees and $656,000 from interest, according to an Aug.

Auburn Celebrates College Colors Day

By Patrick Dever / Assistant Sports Editor | September 3

Gov. Bob Riley has declared tomorrow is College Colors Day in Alabama.College Colors Day is a national movement of students wearing their college or university's school colors to help kick off the college football season.The movement encourages Auburn fans to wear orange and blue throughout the day.The University has announced that tomorrow will be an All Auburn, All Orange day.Kelley White, a sophomore, said she definitely thinks encouraging students to wear Auburn blue and orange before athletic events gets people pumped.White said she thinks it says good things about Auburn when people see the photos and everyone looks like they support the school."I think it's great, it gets everyone involved, everyone's excited," said Kenny Quinlan, a sophomore in finance, about organizations that are independent of universities getting involved in college athletics.

Alabama's Film Incentive Bill to Help Filmmakers and Film Students

By Lindsey Grubbs/Staff Writer | September 3

Alabama's newest Film Incentive Bill, signed into office in March, will not only offer tax incentives for filmmakers, but increased opportunities for film students as well.Gov.

Auburn Space Research Institute Works to Develop Cheap Solar Power

By Kendra Kelley / Assistant News Editor | September 3

The Auburn University Space Research Institute has been working on developing ways to lower costs associated with using solar power.One of the institute's projects involved installing solar panels on the roof of Opelika's T.K.

Auburn Boarders Seek Equal Rights

By Olivia Martin / Associate Intrigue Editor | September 3

Section D.4 of Traffic and Parking Regulations: Use of skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, etc.

New Carmike Cinemas in the works for Opelika

By Max Newfield / Staff Writer | August 28

Cinema buffs in Opelika now have another opening day to mark in their calendars.Last week, Carmike Cinemas Inc. announced their plans to build a new movie theater in Opelika at the intersection of Exit 58 of Interstate 85 and Highway 280 across the interstate from Tiger Town."We expect it to be another jewel in the crown that is Opelika," said Al Cook, director of Economic Development in Opelika.The future site of the cinema is in the Capps Landing development, which currently holds a Hampton Inn and a Holiday Inn Express.

Developer to Build 'Convenient' Parking Deck

By Brittany Cosby/Campus Editor | August 27

The main complaint of students with the beginning of each school year continues to be parking on campus. As Auburn's campus progresses with the new dorms and new coliseum, parking decreases.The University does provide some parking and operates on a successful transit system, but one group of investors wants to simplify it further.The businessmen of Donald H. Allen Development Inc. have decided to provide another option for students and faculty to fix this growing problem.

SGA Implements Transit Program

By Blake Hamilton/Associate Campus Editor | August 27

The "Toomer's Ten" Late Night Lines of the Tiger Transit system have made a splash among the student body.

Village Opens With Problems

By Brittany Cosby/Campus Editor | August 27

The Village residence halls finally opened their doors to students as promised at the beginning of this semester Aug.

New Beers Debut in Auburn Restaurants

By Aubrie Davis/Staff Writer | August 27

The Gourmet Beer Bill that passed in May 2009 raised the alcohol by volume restriction from 6 percent to 13.9 percent so high gravity beers can be sold in convenience stores, liquor stores and bars.However, Free the Hops, the organization that was so instrumental in getting the bill passed, is now looking to tackle Alabama's restrictions on container size, brewery location and beer distribution.Free The Hops: Alabamians For Specialty Beer is a non-profit organization aimed at bringing quality beers to Alabama.FTH began in 2004 by Alabamians not involved in the alcohol industry.

Special Olympics Pushes Its Campaign to End the "R-Word"

By Michael Hansberry/Staff Writer | August 27

"That's retarded."It's such a commonly-used phrase that most people don't even notice how often they use it.But, what some people may not realize is those words can adversely affect others.This past March, the Special Olympics began an international "Spread the word to end the word" campaign to raise awareness "of the impact of the thoughtless, hurtful use of the word 'retard,'" said the campaign's Web site."The campaign's goal is to help change attitudes across the nation about special Olympians, and also those with special needs," said Allison Hall, director of the Lee County Special Olympics program.