Troy Davis case brings attention to death penalty

The execution of Georgia resident Troy Davis started much conversation in the South and throughout the nation about the death penalty. Davis spent more than 20 years on death row before his execution.


Controversy surrounded the case, as it was believed by many that the accused was actually innocent. Though Davis was the 33rd person executed this year, he was the one who brought the most attention to the issue of the death penalty.

“I think it’s controversial because it’s final,” said political science professor Joseph Smith. “If we find out later that, in fact, we executed the wrong person, there’s no way to remedy that at all. Whereas if you put someone in jail for life and later on find out you did it to the wrong person, you can let them out and they can live what’s left of their life in freedom.”

Smith also mentioned recent situations in Illinois where defendants were released off of death row after being found innocent. Illinois abolished the death penalty earlier this year.

Richard Fording, chair of the political science department, said the actual use of death penalties has decreased because of the challenges and the cases of those defendants who were exonerated.

However, Fording said there is still an overwhelming majority of support for the death penalty nationwide, although that support has softened in recent years because of the questions that are raised in high profile cases like Davis’.

“I think you do see disagreements about how extensive the support of the death penalty is,” he said.
Today, 34 of the 50 states still have the death penalty in place.

Alabama has the highest number of death row inmates per million of the population at 43.55, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Nevada is the second for number of death row inmates per million people, at 30.51.
Ten people have been executed in Texas in 2011, making it the No. 1 state for the most executions this year. Texas also holds the record for the most executions since 1976, when the Supreme Court resurrected the death penalty after a suspension of four years. Since 1976, Texas has had 474 executions, which is more than four times any other state.
Georgia has had only 52 executions since 1976, and the current death row population is 103. There have been five innocent persons freed from death row in the state of Georgia.
Davis’s case took over the social networking world in the days surrounding his execution in Georgia, and the University of Alabama student body was no exception.
Students took to their Twitter and Facebook accounts to voice their opinions on the case, the death penalty and our legal system, in general.
On Facebook, supporters of Troy Davis voiced their opinions in different ways before his execution. After his execution, however, a four-word chain status took over newsfeeds on both Twitter and Facebook, “I am Troy Davis.”
“I think in a case like this—the Troy Davis case—where the person being executed is black, I think it brings race and race relations into the debate as well,” Fording said. “It’s well known that if the accused is black and the victim is white, that depending on the state and time period you’re looking at, you’re several times more likely to be sentenced to death than some other combination of races.
“That’s one of the most robust social science findings in the literature. There have been tons of studies on this to show that this is the case, and yet the Supreme Court will not consider that evidence.”
A graph on deathpenaltyinfo.org shows that 56 percent of defendants who have been executed are white and 42 percent are black or Hispanic.
However, when looking at those numbers as a proportion of United States population, it’s clear that more black people get executed, compared to their share of the population. The rate is 0.64 per million of the population for blacks as opposed to 0.19 per million of the population for whites.
“The most comprehensive studies have shown that race is a factor in who gets the death penalty,” Smith said. “The race of the alleged murderer in conjunction with the race of the victim—those things can matter. And that certainly is controversial because of course, race should not be a factor in this.”

Mallet Assembly: a family

Fifty years after its inception as a project of Dean of Men John Blackburn, the Mallet Assembly remains one of UA’s most un-traditional organizations. From Palmer Hall—the Assembly’s dormitory—Malleteers have seen mixed reactions from across campus to the group’s unique attitudes and opinions.

Some members of the Mallet Assembly posing for a photo on
“The Stoop” on Sept. 21. / CW | Natalie Nichols

In its fiftieth year, Mallet still elects its own RAs and has its own written constitution, features that make the Assembly a truly self-governing student organization. Responsibility on the part of the individual, according to Mallet Minister of Information Marina Roberts, is the group’s general philosophy.

“We look deeper into you as a person and try to figure out who you are beyond whatever weird hobbies you may have, which is why I think so many students come here and feel an acceptance they never felt before,” Roberts said. “My advice to the students who have those misconceptions about Mallet would be to come around sometime and talk with us.”

Those misconceptions, she said, are misguided. Roberts, a sophomore majoring in anthropology, believes typical students view Mallet as kids who play Dungeons and Dragons—sometimes, even, as second-class citizens on campus.

While Mallet Assembly has faced harassment through the years, one example comes from as recently as Sept. 13, when the Mallet Assembly sign was stolen from the building by a group of young men. Mallet’s president, Max Hill, attempted to stop the theft from happening, but was struck by a vehicle before he could catch the culprits.

“I would just like it if the general attitude of treating Mallet like an organization of second-class citizens stopped,” Roberts said.

Stopping harassment, though, can be difficult for a group with Mallet’s attitude toward campus issues—an attitude, according to Mallet historian Ethan Graham, that always challenges the status quo.

“As both individuals and an organization as a whole, Malleteers are always changing something,” Graham said. “Whether we’re changing ourselves through personal growth, changing the policies of the University through organized effort, or even changing the social landscape in the world all around us, we’re always seeking to forego the status quo—to make a difference of some kind. To put it simply, we’re always striving to break the mold.”

The Mallet Assembly bills itself as a group that allows an individual to unapologetically be who he or she is. In Palmer Hall, the Assembly has a common room, a basement full of arcade games, a computer lab, movie theater, piano and area where they conduct meetings and admissions interviews.

According to admissions chairman Spencer Carter, Mallet currently has 100 active student members and hundreds of alumni, some of whom were on campus as far back as the 1960s, that still communicate with current students.

Sujata Mulekar, a junior majoring in biology, said she was attracted to Mallet because of its camaraderie.

“It’s like a family,” she said. “Your family accepts you for who you are. I’ll keep in touch with some of the friends I met in Mallet for a long time.”

Harrison Hall, a freshman majoring in civil engineering, said, “In three days, I learned everyone’s name. Mallet pushed me forward to get involved in a lot of things and encouraged me to go out and meet people.”

Students interested in joining the Mallet Assembly can find information and the application online at www.mallet-assembly.org.

Written with Nick Jamroz.

9.22.11

print/web

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/22/mallet-assembly-a-family/


In the Sept. 22 edition of The Crimson White, the article “Mallet celebrates 50th anniversary” incorrectly identified Mallet’s historian, Ethan Graham, as Ethan Thomas.  The CW regrets the error and is happy to set the record straight.

Kirani James: a true champion

Kirani James ran for the University of Alabama track and fi eld team.
Though now a world champion, he still attends UA classes. / UA Athletics

There is only one student on the Alabama campus who can also call himself a certified professional athlete. His name is Kirani James, and he is the reigning world champion for the 400m in track.

James became the youngest person to ever win a world championship and is also the first person from his native country of Grenada to receive a gold medal at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea earlier this month.

“I think it was a very satisfactory performance,” James said. “I think that represented my country well, and I’m glad I came out with the win.”

Before turning pro, James completed two record-breaking seasons as a member of the Crimson Tide men’s track team. While on the track team, he won two NCAA outdoor championships in the 400m, was a three-time SEC Champion and was named the 2011 SEC Indoor and Outdoor Runner of the Year.

“I knew at the beginning of the fall that he was pretty much ready to go professional based off of how workouts were going and times he was performing in practice,” said Harvey Glance, James’ former coach. “When the season started, he set the world junior record at Arkansas, and then I knew that he was ready to go to the next level. That was a true indication.”

Glance said even though a lot of people doubted James’ ability to take his talents to the next level, there was never a doubt in his mind.

James does all of this in track – a sport that features some of the world’s greatest athletes but does not get as much attention or media coverage as other sports.

“It’s a sport that I like,” James said. “Although it doesn’t get the respect and exposure that it deserves, when people know what I do, they know they respect that. I think, being a track athlete, you have to be strong mentally as a person and be dedicated. There’s a connection between me and track.”

Success has come for James since he entered his teenage years. Through all of his achievements and accolades, he stays humble.

“What keeps me grounded is my family and being around good people,” he said. “I have great friends back home and here at the University. They don’t treat me like I’m different, and that helps me stay grounded. Representing my country and making everyone proud, I think those are the factors that keep me grounded.”

James’ last competition was at the World Championships in August. There, he posted a personal best time of 44.60 seconds in the 400m and defeated defending champion LaShawn Merritt for the gold medal. Merritt was seven years James’ senior at the time of the race.

As a pro, James has had the opportunity to travel the world and meet some of his favorite athletes.

“I get to see a lot of places,” he said. “I get to travel a lot and meet a lot of new people and athletes – athletes that I look up to and admire. It has a lot of advantages, and it is a lot of fun.”

James said the main difference between being a college and professional athlete is having to do everything on his own; there is no set schedule. As a professional, he says there is no time for immaturity.

James will have a month of rest until he starts back training. Until his next competition, which will be next year, he is still attending classes as a student and business major at the University.

James has accomplished almost everything possible for an athlete. One of his next stops will be the 2012 Summer Olympics – sports’ biggest stage.

“I think that right now, he is one of the favorites to win the gold,” Glance said. “Even though he’s young and just has a year of experience under his belt, I still think that he’s such a great talent and a blessed young man that good things are going to happen for him.”

print/web 9.22.11 (Headline story)

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/22/kirani-james-a-true-champion/

Students find hearth at Moundville

A group of UA students helped to uncover two hearths at the Moundville Archaeological Park this summer.

Senior Ross Owens excavates at Moundville. Students uncovered the
first hearth at Moundville since the 1990s. / CW | Submitted photo

The group, made up of a field archaeology class, excavated the hearths after using a research instrument called a magnetometer to reveal where they might be.

Ross Owens, a senior majoring in anthropology, was one of the students in ANT 269 who assisted with the dig. He and his teammate Traci Roller were two of the first people to work on excavating the hearth.

“A man named Chet Walker came earlier in the season and conducted a geophysical survey using a machine called a magnetometer, which senses magnetic disturbances in the natural soil stratigraphy and should, in theory, detect the presence of structures under the ground and hearths in particular,” Owens said.

The image produced by the magnetometer is largely unrecognizable to an untrained eye, but together with excavation leader Jeremy Davis, Walker was able to focus on a few features suspected to be hearths.

Hearths were generally where Mississippian Native Americans cooked their food, as well as the focal point of most Mississippian houses.

Davis, site director and graduate student whose dissertation involves Moundville excavations, said the group was looking for hearths as a better way to understand the magnetometer, referring to it as “ground-truthing.”

“The magnetometer does not lie, but we can’t know for sure what it has revealed until we’ve excavated it,” Davis said. “Until then, it’s just a map of amorphous gray blobs, some of which kind of look like the footprint of prehistoric houses.

“What surprised Dr. Blitz, Chet Walker, myself, and other Southeastern archaeologists was the amount and diversity of such features in the ‘plaza’ area of the site, a place we’d always thought of as empty,” Davis said. “In other words, the magnetometer revealed that the Moundville’s ‘plaza’ had not always been a plaza; it was once one of the more populous areas of the site.”

John Blitz, associate professor of anthropology, agreed that the group’s focus was to better interpret the magnetometer’s map.

“The special thing about this research instrument is that it gives us a way to look under the ground to see things that might be there,” Blitz said. “[The magnetometer] is giving us big maps of where hearths are without us having to dig everywhere.”

“With our initial interpretations ‘ground truthed,’ we can now be more confident about interpreting other aspects of the magnetometer map,” Davis said.

Along with the hearth, Owens said they also discovered three post-holes where wooden posts once stood.

“Two were on the outside of the hearth and one was actually penetrating part of the hearth itself on the western side,” Owens said. “This suggests that the hearth was covered up at some point and the family who returned had to replace a post, chose a random spot and it just happened to hit the hearth.”

According to Davis, the last hearth that was discovered at Moundville was found in the 1990s. For more information on the historical park visit moundville.ua.edu.

written with Heather Lightsey

print/web 9.20.11

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/20/students-find-hearth-at-moundville-2/

Online classes: for better or worse

About 400 online courses are available to University of Alabama students. These courses contribute to the large number of distance learning students and provide an alternative to the typical classroom setting. Nevertheless, opposing reactions arise when on-campus students are required to take courses online.

“The courses we facilitate are for distance learning students, not necessarily on-campus students; however, a lot of them do take them,” said Rebecca Pow, associate dean in the College of Continuing Studies. “Our goal is to develop from a distance learning perspective. We want to help in students’ process of getting their degree.”

Pow said each department determines whether or not the courses are required. There are departments on campus that have mandatory classes that are solely available online. Journalism, advertising and public relations students are required to take the online based JN 150, a mechanics of writing course.

Wilson Lowrey is the creator and professor of the course.

“I think there are ways to try to get around that problem of a lack of face time,” he said. “Some things absolutely don’t lend themselves to [being online], and some things I think can. I think 150 is an area — because students have had a lot of this stuff before — is something that can be taught that way. I understand it’s difficult for some.”

One of the major student complaints about the course is that it is online. The lack of resources and manpower available to take the course into the classroom has given students the opportunity to explore online classes.

“We teach about 600 or 700 students every year, so we don’t have the space or the faculty to teach something like that,” Lowrey said. “It’s one credit, and students can take it as many times as they want. The goal is to try to hammer home some basics before they get into their writing classes.”

Khristie Stauffer, a senior majoring in public relations, has taken JN 150 and is currently enrolled in an online business course, Marketing 300. Stauffer did not like the journalism class being online.

She said she opted for the online course because of the number of hours she’s taking and the flexibility that it offers.

The College of Commerce and Business Administration has a general business degree program that is available entirely online. GBA 300, a business communications course, is the only online-based course that on-campus GBA students are required to complete. Jennifer Humber, academic advisor and coordinator in the college, said the lecture part of the course is online, while students come on campus for the lab portion.

“GBA 300 is a writing course, so the lecture is pretty straightforward,” she said. “They like having the lectures and the PowerPoints to review. Because the lab is required on campus, you’re getting that classroom experience and the one-on-one attention that you need in the lab, because those are smaller classes.”

Any business course that is required for general business majors, such as MGT 300, are offered for online. FI 400 and EC 400 are the two other courses that are only available online. Humber says many students opt to take FI 302 online, although it’s available in a classroom setting as well.

“A lot of students request the online class for Finance 302 because they have more resources,” Humber said. “They can look at the assignments over and over again. They can do it on their own time. Finance 302 is a very time-consuming class, and so students like the flexibility.”

Whether online classes are beneficial is a question that garners many answers. For freshmen, the transition from highly structured high school classes to online classes can be confusing.

“It’s pretty difficult to do stuff online,” Stauffer said. “It’s a lot of self determination … They should have one or two options for online, especially for freshmen. I don’t know if I could have done it if I was a freshman.”

She suggested having a big lecture class and possibly splitting the class into labs once or twice a week, with graduate students as teachers.

Lowrey stated the possibility of providing assistance through graduate assistants and suggests students set aside time each week for the course. He opens his office for students from the beginning of the year, has multiple help sessions throughout the year and also offers video demonstrations. The department is doing an evaluation of JN 150 this semester.

GBA 300 is an upper-level course composed of mostly juniors and seniors.

“Online courses are not, by any stretch of the imagination, easier than on-campus classes,” Humber said. “Nothing’s different as far as the curriculum is concerned. The difference is, you have to be dedicated to sitting down and dedicating the time. You have to be dedicated to take online classes.”

print/web 9.15.11

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/15/online-classes-for-better-or-worse/

Deadline for free debris removal assistance nears

The deadline for Tuscaloosa residents to apply for free property damage clean-up is Thursday, Sept. 15. The voluntary demolition program is a part of the city’s “Final Push” to remove debris at no cost or insured cost for landowners.

“For the city, we want everything to be cleaned up,” said Robin Edgeworth, Tuscaloosa legal affairs administrator. “It’s about helping people to get their houses torn down if there are houses that need to be. We want people to view this as an option. We want to give them an option to move forward.”

In order to apply, property owners must fill out an application and have a copy of a photo ID, proof of ownership and insurance policy. Proof of ownership can be a deed, tax record, mortgage payment book, etc.

Applications can be picked up from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the courtyard lobby of Tuscaloosa City Hall or found at www.tuscaloosaforward.com. On the website, there is a link to the application under the recovery information and voluntary demolition tabs. Applications can be mailed to the City of Tuscaloosa with attention to incident command at P.O. Box 2089, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. Mailed applications have to be notarized.

After applications are received, they are reviewed by the city, FEMA and the state for eligibility. If residents receive insurance proceeds for demolition or debris removal, they will have to pay that to the city to assist with cost.

Researched criteria include the area being considered a health or safety hazard, a public nuisance, and the damage being solely from the April 27 storms.

“I would encourage people, if they are hesitant to call because they have questions about the program, to call if they have questions,” said Nicole Counsell, Thompson consulting services representative. “We can guide them in the right direction whether it’s demolition or making a recommendation to the steps they can take to move forward.”

Counsell said the main thing people need to make sure of is that they have all the proper documentation. Debris removal is a big part of the Tuscaloosa’s move toward reconstructing after the tornado. Edgeworth said clean-up is the next necessary step in the city’s plans to “move forward.”

“Tuscaloosa cannot move forward as long as there are obstacles in front of us such as debris and houses that need to demolished,” she said.

Counsell said if homes that need to be demolished are left standing, it could provide safety hazards for the community at large. There have been around 350 homes declared a nuisance.

The application deadline has the possibility of being extended if there is an influx of people expressing interest. The process for removal can begin after Tuesday’s City Council meeting. There will be a vote to approve the clean-up for 31 properties.

For more information or for assistance on the Voluntary Demolition Plan call 311 or Incident Command at 205-248-5040.

ONYX rolls through UA

After months of preparation, ONYX, the annual event sponsored by the National Panhellenic Council and the Black Student Union, hit the Capstone last week. Over 700 students participated in ONYX, as well as 20 student organizations.

The event kicked off with the NPHC convocation and pancake eat-off competition at Lakeside Dining Hall. Marcus Ayers representing the Beta Eta chapter of Omega Psi Phi won the eat-off.

“ONYX 2011, by far, exceeded my expectations,” said Courtnee Davis, president of ONYX. “I was delighted with so much joy to see all of the ONYX team’s hard work come full circle.”

Davis was on the ONYX committee last year and said she wanted it to be bigger and better this year. The main goals for this year’s ONYX were to bring together all minority groups on campus and provide a platform for freshman students to get involved in organizations early on in their college careers.

“This year I wanted to showcase as many minority organizations as possible along with NPHC greeks,” Davis said. “The turnout was amazing. I felt such unity.”

“We definitely accomplished all of our goals for this year, including getting freshmen involved,” said Jahmir Jones, vice president of ONYX. “However, we still have a long way to go. If ONYX keeps going at this rate, we will have a fully engaged minority population on campus.”

Jaquan Howard, a freshman from Opelika, Ala., majoring in biology on the pre-medical track, said he’s glad there are events like ONYX on campus.

“ONYX really opened my eyes to a lot of different organizations that I didn’t know about,” Howard said.

The block party was the premiere event for day two. Each organization was judged on creativity for the table-decorating contest. The Lambda Zeta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta won the competition with a duck-fishing contest.

Each organization also had a video and a presentation with the fraternities and sororities performing to compete in the stroll off competition. The Theta Delta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma and Delta Sigma Theta took the trophies for the stroll off.

The NPHC also sponsored a giveaway of prizes including gift cards to surrounding restaurants and businesses.

The week ended with a pool party at Riverside.

Jones and Davis said they hope ONYX continues to grow in the coming years.

“I hope that the event continues to get bigger and better, I hope that it remains fun, and I hope that more people attend,” Davis said.

Jones said, “My favorite moments from this year’s ONYX was seeing all the ONYX planning committee thoughts turn to action. It was good to actually see almost every minority organization present at this event, and to see everyone eager to see what we had in store. As for next year, I hope that the committee takes measures to involve more students and more organizations in ONYX, as to make ONYX a more well-rounded event.”

Jones also said that ONYX is meant to inspire and encourage individuals to go past the status quo and actually make a difference, adding that he hopes students will continue to make it better.

web/print 9.6.11

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/06/onyx-rolls-through-ua/