Once again the traffic becomes backed up during class changes and busy afternoons in Auburn, especially at the corner of College Street and Magnolia Avenue. City Manager, Doug Watson said the city has considered plans to expand the intersection, but a law requires a certain number of parking spaces, and there would be no way to expand the streets because businesses are so close to the roads.
EACH announces price list for Drake visits
| ERIC KAMMERUD Campus Editor Now that East Alabama C ampus Health has moved into and taken over operations of Drake Student Health Center, some of the lingering questions about what will happen are being answered. At the top of the list of student concerns surrounding the outsourcing has been, "What will it cost?" Fees for office visits to the new Drake will range from $43-$159 for initial visits and from $31-$89 for follow-ups Dr. Frederick Kam, vice president for health delivery systems, said. "We think we are very competitive with the community, " Kam said. In a survey of local healthcare clinics, the average cost of an initial visit was about $74, with prices ranging from $41-$135. The fees at the student health center vary depending on the amount of treatment received during the visit. Treatment is ranked in five levels. Level one treatment includes simple procedures such as blood pressure checks, and level five treatment is usually reserved for complex emergency care. Kam said most students visiting Drake because of illness will r eceive level three treatment. Level three treatment costs $76 for the initial visit and $46 for follow-up visits. After paying the initial visit fee, patients pay the follow-up fee for all other visits, related or not. "Follow-up visits are the most common," Kam said. "Once a person has been here before, they pay the follow-up fee." Initial visit fees are higher because extra time must be spent collecting information on the patient's personal and family medical history and insurance. On later vis its such detailed questioning is unnecessary, therefore the cost is lower, Kam said. EACH is still looking into different payment forms for students to use. "We're working toward being able to take all insurances," Kam said. "But the big unknown is, what insurance do students have?" Most of the area healthcare centers accepted only a limited number, usually two or three, of insurance carriers. Kam said EACH is also trying to work out a deal with the Bursar's office that would allow students to charge medical expenses to their bursar's account. The two are currently trying to work out billing differences including the length of time before money must be collected from patients. Even though students will be footing the bill for their own medical expenses, the University will still be kicking in funds to support the new center. Of the $1.3 million that came from the $20 per quarter allocation from each student's tuition, $700,000 will still go to the health center. | The money will go to ensure that EACH doesn't lose too much of the money they will be putting into the health center, Kam said. "We agreed to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovation, and we only have a three-year contract," he said.< p> Once EACH recovers all of its renovation and updating costs and begins to turn a profit, they will split the profits with the University, and the amount the University pays might decrease, Kam said. According to Kam, EACH has a number of changes pla nned for the health center. The first, Kam said, will be to solve efficiency problems within the current health center. "Students have too many stops now before reaching a provider," Kam said. "We're doing the health- center shuffle, sending people upstairs, downstairs and all over the place." Kam said he hopes to cut out or combine some of the steps in order to make the center more efficient. In addition, renovations to the building will help the center operate more smoothly. Medical servi ces will be grouped together on the first floor of the building, Kam said, while the second floor will be reserved for administrative offices. Also, more examination rooms will be added. "We're looking to put 15-20 exam rooms where PACS was," Kam said. While he didn't give a specific date, Kam said renovations should begin soon. "We will renovate as soon as we can get an architect in," he said. And with the change in appearance there may come a name change. "It's up to the students," Kam sa id. EACH will look into changing Drake's name in order to get rid of any bad perceptions that may linger with the old name, he said. Once EACH becomes settled in, the health center's hours may change also. Kam said tentatively Drake would be open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday beginning in January. However, effective immediately, the health center will be closed from 12-1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays for weekly staff meetings. |
Ticket scans will become way of life for students
| n SALLIE OWEN Assistant Campus Editor Students can curse and grumble all they want, but tick et scanning at football games is here to stay. "It was pretty sorry," Wade Thomas, 03CJ, said of scanning at the Louisiana State University game. He said it took 30 or 40 minutes to get in, and his ID had to be scanned five or six times. "The scanne rs on the coke machines in Haley Center work better," Thomas said. Tim Jackson, ticket manager, said, "What we saw (at the LSU game) was about as bad as it could be, and it really wasn't that bad." "The machines operated very well. We had a few pro blems at the very beginning because it had rained. We got those problems fixed before it ever got crowded," Jackson said. Katie Lintzenich, 04HRM, students around her complained. "I told my husband 'The University was trying to do this to keep peopl e out of the student section,'" she said. Last year they complained about that, she said. Jackson said he understood the students' complaints. "I'll be honest with you, if I was a student and I got there Saturday at kickoff and saw that mob of peopl e and I'm standing out there, I would probably be one complaining too. And I'm going to be saying it's this new system," he said. Jeff Howle, 03MT, said, "I think it takes a long time. I didn't like it because the lines were enormous." However, the ticket manager said scanning IDs didn't cause the delays. "Yeah, there were students backed up, but we were getting the students in the gates faster than they could get through the portals. That was my goal," Jackson said. "I thought it went well." Jackson advised students to come to the stadium early. "If 10,000 (people) come in a 15-minute period, there aren't enough gates in the stadium," he said. There are 12 student gates at Jordan-Hare. About 2,500 students had gone in the stadium 15 m inutes before kick-off against LSU, Jackson said. There are about 15,000 student tickets total. Then, "the rest of the thousands of students came in. Most of them got there right at kick off. We still got them in by the middle of the first quarter," Ja ckson said. | "A large, large number of students came at one time. Whether we open 50 gates and have no scanners, they're still not going to get there any faster," he said. Crowds are worst in the portals, he said. "I'd just as soon the students be waiting outside the gate as being packed in the concourse, because it's kind of dangerous when they all get clogged in there. There's not any space for anybody to walk or for the first aid ambulance," Jackson said. Thomas disagr eed. "We went up in the end zone and it wasn't too bad. Getting in the stadium was the worst part," he said. Howle said IDs were checked at the bottom of the portal he used, which speeded up the process. Jackson said he plans to tackle the congestio n inside by blocking portals when those sections are full. "We're going to try to stick barricades there and make the students go down to the other portals," he said. "What happens is after those seats start filling up, students will wait in line i n those portals for like 15 minutes to get into the stadium. Once they get in there, they have to walk around to the endzone anyway," he said. In addition to the new barricades, signs will be added outside the stadium to indicate which gates are for st udents, Jackson said. "You get a few folks that have regular tickets mixed in with the students," he said. Jackson said he was pleased to see fewer problems with IDs than he expected. "Most of our students now have gotten good IDs," he said. "The problem gate really never got backed up. Some students were coming up there like 'I got a problem.' I'd look at their ID, and you could tell that they didn't." Howle said he didn't understand why things were changed. "My biggest thing is I don't see why they make such a big deal about it," he said. When he went to a game at the University of Georgia last year, they weren't so strict there, Howle said. Jackson said Auburn students have ticket conveniences not found at other Southeastern Conference schools. Auburn is the only SEC school where students can order tickets by phone, he said. Students at the University of Florida who buy season tickets must stand in line to pick up a ticket each week. "It's not gonna do anything but get better," J ackson said. |
Rumors abound in arena investigation
| JIM ALRED Associate Sports Editor The fire which burned the Sports Arena to the ground last week has left fire officials and campus administrators scrambling in an attempt to pick up the pieces and move on. Although several media outlets across the state have proclaimed the cause of the fire to be careless ness by tailgaters, this is still only the probable cause of the fire and not the official verdict on the fire's origin. The official stance of the Auburn Fire Department and the Alabama State Fire Marshall's Office states, "The most probable cause of the fire was a barbecue grill placed too close to the building," reports from the Auburn Fire Department said. Although the cause is only listed as probable, the investigation into the fire's origin has ended. With the official report from the depa rtment being eagerly awaited by members of the University staff, the office of business and finance is jumping into high gear in an attempt to ensure the University receives all of the insurance it is entitled to. "My understanding is the original cost of the building was $165,000," Don Large, vice president of business and finance, said. "Over time, that value grew through inflation, and the building was valued at about $437,000." All of the gymnastics team's equipment was destroyed in the fire, bu t this was also insured. "The contents of the building were insured for $38,000," Large said. Unfortunately, depreciation and a deductible of $5,000 might limit the actual amount of money Auburn can receive for the contents. "It's hard to know w hat we'll ultimately get out of that. I hope we can recover a good bit of it though," Large said. The University may not ever see all of the money the contents were insured for, but there is a chance Auburn can receive more than the insured amount on t he Arena. "The building was insured for $437,000, but there is a replacement value clause in the policy and we're looking into' that to see if we might actually get more," Large said. While the University is dealing with the insurance problems surro unding the building, a few other people are also wondering about how much money their car insurance will cover. Some unlucky fans attending the game returned to the Sports Arena parking lot to find their cars had been damaged by the intense heat of the fire. "Right now we have a total of about 24 vehicles damaged from the fire," Bill Nevin, Chief of the Auburn University Police Department said. "Most of the cars were damaged from the heat. The heat was so intense it melted plastic lenses on the car s, and in some, even melted their vinyl tops." |  DJ BONDS/Photo Editor Of the 24 cars damaged, most received minor damage, while a few others were moderately dam aged. "One car received extensive damage on its right side. The entire right side of the car practically melted and the tires caught fire and burned," Nevin said. "That car is probably totaled because in addition to the exterior damage, a lot of the in terior melted. Two or three other cars received damage from the intense heat and we estimated their damage to be about $2,500." Owners of the damaged vehicles must wait for the reports to come back from the police department before they can file claims with their insurance companies, Pete Pepinsky director of University Relations., said. As the fire marshall appears to be pointing fingers at careless tailgaters for the cause of the fire, rumors continue to circulate about several incidents with tail gaters and their grills. "We had a report on two different occasions that there were people in the lobby of the Telfair Peet Theatre with a grill, but we were never able to identify anyone," Nevin said. "After the second report we came and secured the building. I'm not sure why the building was unlocked in the first place. It's not one of the designated buildings for fans to use restrooms in." Police also heard rumors of fans grilling under overhangs at the coliseum and in the lobby of the scien ce building. Nevin blames the carelessness on the intense rainstorms which hit Auburn prior to the football game. "We had a few more problems with tailgaters ,but this is a direct result of the bad weather," Nevin said. "If we caught them grilling w here they weren't supposed to, we just had to run them off." The campus police also had a few problems with fires last year prior to the Auburn-Alabama game. "Last year the only problems we had were that some people camping out before the Alabama ga me lit some fires because it was so cold," Nevin said. "We had to put some of them out because they weren't lit in a contained area." |
Auburn senior dies in auto accident
| JENNIFER ELLIOTT News Staff Christopher Young, 22, 04PA/CJ , died Wednesday, Sept. 25, in an auto accident on East Glenn Avenue east of Bent Creek Road. "(Young) proved to be not merely a good student, but one blessed with a true love of inquiry. He was intellectually adventuresome and courageous. He was honest and hard working. He became my friend and soon my good friend," Clifton Perry, Hudson professor of philosophy and medical ethics, said. With plans to attend law school, Young assisted Perry in studying for the Bar exams, Tibor Machan, professor of philosophy, said. While attending his first philosophy class taught by Perry, Young developed a passion for philosophy, Joan Young, Christopher's mother, said. "He generously gave to everyone he knew and he helped me and members of the philosophy department more than he realized," Perry said. Aside from his academic achievements, Young was well rounded. "I ran into him every where around Auburn at the University swimming pool, the city pool, the mall, at the two coffee houses. I used to joke about how he must be following me. He said no, it was I following him," Machan said.
"He enjoyed all outdoo r sports," Joan Young said. "He loved mountain biking and working out with weights," she said.
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Young was also a second year member of the water polo team. Joan Young said she plans to assist the water polo team in raising funds to allow the team to participate in tournaments. She hopes to establish a spring tournament in memory of her son. "He swam everyday. He loved swimming," Joan said. In addition to Young's academic and athletic involvement, he worked at RadioWorld. "One of his grea test loves was radio equipment," Mrs. Young said. "He was a happy, carefree, full- of -life child. He was my best friend," she said. Young was the oldest of two children. He graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1992, Joan Young said. Nol a Hays of the Auburn Police Department said Young was discovered at approximately 6:22 a.m. on Sept. 25. The police found his 1991 Nissan NS2000 turned over on its side. He was pronounced dead on the scene by Deputy Coroner Bill Harris. At press time, Auburn police were still investigating the accident. "I, the other members of the philosophy department, the members of Auburn University's Water Polo team and his other friends will miss him very much," Perry said. "Auburn University, on that Wedn esday, lost a student from the student body, but the community lost much more than that one student," Perry said. Joan Young said, "He will be missed by hundreds of people."
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