2005-06 YEAR IN REVIEW Where is Bowl win caps Gingers kept down Mike Jones? exciting 10-2 season by the man ENTERTAINMENT, Page 14 SPORTS, Page 15 OPINIONS, Page 4 Friday, May 5, 2006 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Vol. 112, Issue 127 ■ SEPT. 30, 2005 Katrina slams into Gulf Coast, T-town The Gates on passed through on Aug. 29. Stoneleigh Apartments and the and Hackberry Lane. During 12th avenue sus- Houses damaged, UA Though Tuscaloosa fared bet- Four Points Sheraton also lost the morning hours Tuesday, tained extensive takes in evacuees ter than southern areas of the power during the storm. University Boulevard was damage when state, damage and power out- Power was restored in most closed between Colonial Drive BY MARLIN CADDELL, STEPHEN DAWKINS, ages could be found through- dorms by mid-morning on and Devotie Drive. Hurricane Katrina LORI CREEL AND MIKE FAULK out the city. Aug. 30. “We understand that every- hit Tuscaloosa. The The Crimson White Most of the campus was Windows were blown out at one will have to be patient,” UA damage to the without power that night, Julia Tutwiler Hall, and there spokeswoman Janet Griffith apartments caused Students on and off cam- including most residence halls. were reports of a sinkhole that said, mentioning that some many of the pus woke on Aug. 30 to find Fraternities on Jefferson developed near the drainage students might still be without residents to move trees snapped in half, downed Avenue, the Stallings Center, ditches in its parking lot. power or have trouble navigat- to other apartment power lines and electrical the University Town Center on Several trees were also ing campus roads. “We thought the Strip, all sorority houses on downed on University it would be best to go ahead complexes. outages across Tuscaloosa — damage left by the remnants Colonial Drive, apartments on Boulevard near Colonial Drive. CW/ T.G. Paschal of Hurricane Katrina, which Ninth Street, Crimson Towers, Power lines fell on the Strip See HURRICANE, Page 10 ■ FEB. 16, 2006 ■ SEPT. 30, 2005 ■ FEB. 27, MARCH 13, ‘06 For more of the year in of sports, see SGA pres Page 15. Catchtheyear talks of CW/ Chris Otts Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken Swindle talks with an Machine investigator at the site of a shooting at the Venue 1215. Carroll says she was member of secret group designed to influence campus politics Men indicted BY MIKE FAULK Student Life Editor ■ [email protected] SGA President Mary Margaret Carroll said she in two Strip was once a member of the secretive campus group known as the Machine at a meeting of the UA Student and Campus Life Committee on Feb. 15. The statement marks the first time in at least shootings 10 years anyone has publicly acknowledged membership Paschal CW/ T.G. All victims survive shootings in the group, much less a BY MARLIN CADDELL, KRISTEN TROTTER AND CHRIS OTTS high-ranking SGA official. The Crimson White Machine members and can- didates backed by it usually deny the existence of the There were two shootings within three weeks group or say they have no on the Strip this semester, sparking increased knowledge of it. security at the popular night spot. Two men have “I used to be in the been indicted in the separate incidents. yrone Prothro’s acrobatic 42-yard to national prominence in 2005 and was Jason Michael Gardner, 23, has been indicted Machine,” said Carroll dur- Mary Margaret ing a discussion over wheth- fourth down catch over the back of later immortalized on canvas by artist for attempted murder in connection with a er to implement a proposed Carroll Southern Miss cornerback Jasper Daniel Moore. shooting near the Quick Grill stand on Feb. 26. SGA political party system. T Lukendrick Keyon Harton, 21, has been indict- “I’m seeing this from a large Faulk turned the tide in Alabama’s The catch was also named by Pontiac as ed with attempted murder, first-degree assault array of perspectives.” 30-21 comeback victory over the Golden the Game Changing Performance of the and two counts of second-degree assault in the In an interview that night, Carroll said many March 11 shooting outside the Venue 1215. students have a mistaken image of the select Eagles on Sept. 10. The play came to serve Year, earning a $100,000 donation to the Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken Swindle said campus political coalition of traditionally white as a symbol of the Crimson Tide’s return UA general scholarship fund. See SHOOTINGS, Page 2 fraternities and sororities and its purpose. She said it is not the “monster” it has been portrayed to be. “I was a part of a group that worked for the candidate they chose to support,” said Carroll, ■ VARIOUS DATES referring to campaigns in previous years before she ran for SGA president. “I want to make it very clear that all it is, is people working for their friends.” Frat president, geology professor among ’05-’06 deaths Carroll said she has not had any role in the Machine since the 2004 SGA election. At least five students and forgotten. this week, said Meredeth lived casket was the hardest thing I’ve At the final debate of the 2005 election season, Paramedics found Marshall at the Downs, but had spent the ever done in my life,” Creel said. The Crimson White quoted Carroll saying the three profs died during Meredeth, a UA junior and former previous night at a friend’s apart- UA student James Andrew Machine hadn’t existed since the 1920s, but in academic year Kappa Alpha member, dead Sept. ment, also at the Downs, where Wren, 18, died Oct. 29 after he the interview, Carroll denied making that asser- 10 at the University Downs apart- his body was found. lost control of his car, accord- tion. “I wouldn’t have said that because that’s not BY MIKE FAULK, STEPHEN DAWKINS, TRACEY ment complex on 15th Street, The paramedics took Meredeth ing to The Daily Tribune News of true,” she said. MITCHELL AND KRISTIE BUSAM according to Tuscaloosa police. to DCH Regional Medical Center, Cartersville, Ga. Carroll said she chose not to mention her The Crimson White Lt. Loyd Baker of the Tuscaloosa where attempts to revive him Wren, who was from involvement in the Machine during her cam- Police Metro Homicide unit said were unsuccessful, Baker said. Cartersville, was in his first paign last year because she didn’t think it was The UA community saw the paramedics responded to a call Creel said he and Meredeth semester at the University. Wren relevant to the SGA. She said the group has deaths of a number of students Saturday that Meredeth was unre- were part of a tight-knit group of was planning on majoring in nothing to hide and that “humbleness” has been and faculty during the 2005-2006 sponsive at 120 E. 15th Street, friends from Dothan who grew up psychology, said Charlie Dennis, mistaken for secrecy and corruption. school year. Each were known for which is the Downs. together, and that he lived with a UA freshman who knew Wren their unique personal qualities Cameron Creel, a Kappa Alpha Meredeth last fall. and abilities, and those close to member who said he helped carry “There’s no doubt in my mind See MACHINE, Page 2 them said they would not soon be the casket at Meredeth’s funeral that toting my friend in that See OBITS, Page 6 ■ ■ ■ The Crimson White Box 870170 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Newsroom — 348-6144 Fax — 348-4116 Advertising — 348-7845 www.cw.ua.edu ■ Classifieds — 348-7355 ■ Letters, op-eds — [email protected] ■ Press releases, announcements — [email protected] online Friday, May 5, 2006 ■ NEWS 2 the night at businesses on the The extra officers will be Strip, in which UAPD officers CAMPUS SHOOTINGS Strip, Baker said. primarily on foot and will not drive by areas close to the Continued from Page 1 Madan said he was working answer calls in other areas. Strip. Tucker would not say at the grill when a customer They will be working over- how many officers had been Harton is thought to have tried came up to him and told him time, and the mayor said he assigned to the fringe patrols. to enter the Venue early March a Strip patron was urinating has requested funding from But UAPD will use “existing 11 but was denied because he in the back parking lot near the City Council to pay for the manpower to create greater brief the benches where Quick Grill extra officers. Previous patrols visibility” in areas near the IN did not meet the Venue’s dress code. customers sit. Madan said were a mixture of foot, car and Strip, he said. NEWS FROM THE YEAR The suspect left and he told the man dressed in bicycle, Swindle said. UAPD officers rarely returned, shooting four vic- camouflage, thought to be Maddox said he has a three- respond to incidents there tims with a 9-mm pistol, Gardner, to leave. part plan to bolster security because the Strip is under Secretary of State, British dignitary visit UA Swindle said. Employees of the Venue on the Strip, including add- TPD jurisdiction, Tucker said. Harton, originally from 1215 helped get rid of him, ing surveillance cameras to But, UAPD is in a mutual aid Oct. 24, 2005 Fayette, is thought to have fled Madan said. But he vowed the area, having the bars hire agreement with Tuscaloosa the scene and was picked up to come back to cause more an off-duty police officer and and Northport police to help Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British by some friends a few blocks trouble, Tyra said.