^/4c2> LIIG '/ -\ c^sa±TawJc Serving UNC-Wilmington Since l 948 /h/s^ Qc>f4 (^7 , 3J ^ ME Llll , Number 1 4 Inside This issue... 1 Speaker motivates new graduates/2 Online book bargaining gaining momentum/5 Junior Craig Callahan aids in Seahawk victories/9 News OP/ED 4 UNCW Life The Scene Classifieds Sports 9 New parking lots may reduce frustrations Jason Rollins The university collects approxi mately $450,000 in paridng fees and fines each year, and this year that num ber could be even higher. The increasing number of parking tickets issued this year— an amount al ready at $242,585, as of early January, according to Dick Fauson, director of Auxiliary Services—has given rise to increasing smdent paridng ftustrations. Dick Scott, assistant vice chancellor for Business Affairs, recendy hosted a fo- nm in the Warwick Crater Stage to discuss the ongoing problem of park ing with students. The event, sponscHed by the Student Government Associa tion, focused on getting student feed back on what they felt coukl make paik- ing on campus more efficient after the parking pr^lem hit its peak this fall semester. “UNCW originally planned on 1,600 incoming fieshman this semes ter. What we got was 2, 000, (which was) 400 more than expected. We are struggling to keep up with our student body,” Scott said. To help combat current problems, administrators expect to have two new lots completed by the fall 2002 semes ter. One of the lots will be for commuter students, located across from the SEE Parking, Page 3 Cars in the parking lot of the University Union wait for a chance to park. New lots may cut down on waiting next fall. Local Tote-em-in Zoo faces scrutiny SARAH VAN SCHAGEN f f‘ mother have shared a friendship with an living at the Tote-em-in Zoo. Shari Mongold and her 2- usedtostop by the zoo every few other side of On Sept This leopard is one of the many animals at the Tote-em-in Zoo on Carolina Beach Road. feathered ftiend in very poor condition. Acaxding to the repcrt Mongold sent to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the emu’s eyes “were not visible because they were glued shut with dried blood,” and there was “dried blood down his neck.” Mongold said she alerted two workers about the emu’s conditiMi. Alongold aixl her daughter returned to the zoo SepL 16 and found the emu had died. “My daughter and I were in tears. That emu used to come up to us and eat out of our hands,” Mongold said. She filed a report with PETA within a week of the animal's death. Jerry Brewer, owner of the Tote-em- in Zoo, said he tried to administer medi- See Zdo, Page 3 Fire damages elevator panel Heather Grady An electrical fire on Dec. 13 in the Graham side of Grahamlett Hall cut into student study time but left no one injured. Resulting from a short circuit in the electrical relay panel, the small fire caused the room, the el evator shaft and the nearby hall ways to fill with smoke. “The fire was in a self-con- tained room,” said Sgt. Gunnar Matthews, with regard to the spark that began the fire in the room behind Graham’s elevator shaft. Students were evacuated from the building at around 5: 30 p.m. that afternoon. The Wilmington Fire Department responded with five fire trucks to the scene of the incident and set up fans to venti late the building. Students were let back in at about 6:45 p.m. “Essentially, there was not a lot that could be done to prevent (the fire),” Harts said, since the circuits basically stuck in an open position and overheated. The fire caused about $40,000 of damage to the control panel and will be completely replaced. “(The dorm) will get an im proved elevator control panel and (improved handicapped accessi bility controls),” said Stan Harts, director of the university’s Envi ronmental Health and Safety de partment. The elevator was built in 1977 and installed when not all the handicapped code regulations in place today had been mandated. Therefore, the new control panel will provide easier access for stu dents and visitors with disabili ties, Harts said. A new control panel was ini tially expected to be completed by February; but Harts said, it might reach completion earlier than previously anticipated. f?ANDALL LIBRARY UMCW