2
The
Vanguard
January 28, 2008
Students from around nation enjoy Mardi Gras Sidra Rasool CONTRIBUTING WRITER sr510@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
Mardi Gras season is now approaching its final week of revelry of the 2008 year, putting an end to a season that was as fast coming as it was going. With every Mardi Gras season, there is always something new to add on to the rich extent of traditions and activities synonymous with the season. Since its formal inception in 1840, Mobile alone has formed more than 100 mystic societies, or civic organizations dedicated to holding parades, masked balls and charity events for the pleasure of its members and society. New organizations are being formed every year, each catering to a certain demographic in our Southern society: African Americans, neighborhood subdivisions and, yes, even the SPCA (dubbed the “Mardi Paws”) parade for pets. So what is the impression of Mardi Gras on students representing other cities and states? Sam Garrison, a freshman in electrical engineering originally from Flourtown, Pa., gives the overall experience two thumbs up. “It is a great opportunity to have good, clean fun. It is a long standing tradition in Mobile, from what I have learned, and I'm glad to see a city as proud of its history as Mobile is,” Garrison said. “I would say that my favorite aspect [of Mardi Gras] would be spending time with my family, my mom especially. I love just being able to go to the parades with my family and have a good time. The stresses of the work day and school day just don't seem to matter when you're hootin' and hollerin' for beads and moonpies.” So although Mardi Gras is not quite as historically rich and internationally well known as other worldwide gatherings, it, nevertheless, has a positive impact on tourism and the impression outsiders receive when they visit the city. “I didn’t know what Mardi Gras was when I came here,” Marion Lanster, a Wisconsin resident and chemical engineering major, said. “When someone told me about it, I thought it was for children. When I actually went to a
Sidra Rasool / Contributing Photographer
Crowds of people hover over the passing floats to grab their goodies consisting of beads, moonpies and the occassional rose as the Mardi Gras society the Polka Dots roll through downtown Mobile.
parade, it was probably the most fun thing I’ve experienced in Mobile.” However, there are some negative aspects about Mardi Gras that many can probably relate with. “My least favorite aspect of Mardi Gras is trying to get out of Mobile afterwards,” Garrison said. “The pedestrians act completely oblivious to the cars moving down the street and step out into traffic like there is nothing that could possibly hurt them. Some of the drivers are out of their minds, too. On my way home from the Order of the Polka Dots parade, a
driver decided he/she was three lanes too far to the left and insisted upon nearly hitting my car and cutting off the cars behind me to get into the far right lane. It was crazy!” Hoping that we all keep safety in mind when we hit the streets in this closing week of Mardi Gras, do not forget to appreciate and enjoy the fact that Mardi Gras provides our city with not only fresh entertainment, great food and welcome company, but it is also a way to stimulate Mobile’s diverse economy and tourism. And getting a day off from school also helps.
Improved, uniform signage part of ‘master plan’ Doug Little STAFF WRITER slayertidus21@aol.com
The Humanities building, Meisler Hall and the Student Center/bookstore are probably the three most searched for buildings on campus by students, prospective students, employees of the University and visitors on our campus. These buildings attract much more traffic to and from themselves than any other buildings. With more traffic, signs and way-finding tools are very important in order for those who are going to or coming from these buildings can find their way. Chris Willis, director of facility management, and his team are working on this issue and are trying to find a balance between maintaining the beauty of the campus, while making the signs as noticeable and helpful as possible. With a 44-year-old campus, there is an array of different architectures, including different styles of signs for different buildings, from the old, run-down sign in front of the Humanities, to newer signs like the one by the archeology building. “We are doing some
Leigh Patton / Managing Editor
Signs around campus are hard to find especially when it comes to Meisler Hall and the Humanities building.With new signage improvements on campus, students, faculty and visitors will hope to see where to go.
work now to try to come up with a standard signpost for our street signs … and as we do that we will standardize our street signs,” Willis said. The plans for new, standardized signs are encompassed in the master plan for USA. “A master plan is where a campus tries to plan all of their future developments,” Willis said. It is essentially a futuristic blueprint whose primary goal is to allow efficient development of a campus. The developments in a master plan could be future dormitories, future utility needs and new classroom buildings, among other things. USA’s master plan also contains a note about a need for long-term for signage and way finding. The construction of portals is another idea in USA’s master plan. “These are more noticeable and distinct entrances to the campus,” Willis said. They could be built on Stadium Boulevard, North Drive and South Drive entrances to the campus. The portals themselves would be built like this; there would be a brick monument outlining both sides of the entrance, letting people know they have indeed reached a main entrance of the University, and there would be a sign somewhere around the portal directing those to where they need to go. “The portal lets them know that this is USA, that they’ve come into the right campus, and they’ve come into a main entrance, not a back-service road,” Willis said. Some modifications to the USA Bookstore are also contained in USA’s master plan. An addition to the USA Bookstore toward Meisler Hall, around 3,000 square feet, would be made and form a corner of the Student Center Amphitheater. Along with the addition to the bookstore, the retaining wall next to the parking lot near the post office would be taken down and terraced so that a slope is open and people who park in that lot can see and have signage to find their way to Meisler Hall. When asked about the significance of Meisler Hall in this situation, Willis replied, “Meisler Hall is one of the most popular destinations, particularly for new people on campus to get to, and yet it is hard to find with our current parking and traffic, so as we modify the bookstore, we are also are trying to open up the view and the parking so that people who park in the bookstore or Student Center area can easily see and make their way to Meisler Hall.”