The Crimson White Print Edition - September 21, 2023

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2A EDITORIAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Engagement Editor Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chairperson Chief Copy Editor Assistant Copy Editors Opinions Editor News Editor Ashlee Woods editor@thecrimsonwhite.com Carson Lott managingeditor@thecrimsonwhite.com Ronni Rowan engagement@thecrimsonwhite.com Jeffrey Kelly dei@thecrimsonwhite.com Jack Maurer Sarah Clifton Cassie Montgomery Victor Hagan letters@thecrimsonwhite.com Ethan Henry newsdesk@thecrimsonwhite.com Assistant News Editors Maven Navarro Jacob Ritondo Culture Editor Savannah Ichikawa culture@thecrimsonwhite.com Sports Editor Abby McCreary sports@thecrimsonwhite.com Assistant Sports Editor Bella Martina Photo Editor Natalie Teat Assistant Photo Editor Riley Thompson Chief Page Editor Natalie Marburger Chief Graphics Editor Shelby West Multimedia Editor Augustus Barnette The Crimson Wh is the community newspaper of The University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an editorially free newspaper produced by students. The University of Alabama cannot influence editorial decisions and editorial opinions are those of the editorial board and do not represent the official opinions of the University. Advertising offices of The Crimson White are in room 1014, Student Media Building, 414 Campus Drive East. The advertising mailing address is Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. The Crimson White is printed monthly, August through April by The University of Alabama, Student Media, Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. Call 205-348-7257. All material contained herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2023 by The Crimson White and protected under the “Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication” categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material herein may not be reprinted without the expressed, written permission of The Crimson White. The Crimson White, Copyright © 2023 Our View: Reaffirming our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion The Crimson White Editorial Board With the 10th anniversary of The Crimson White’s “Final Barrier” story, The Crimson White’s editorial board would be remiss not to take this opportunity to reflect and address The CW’s past and future as a publication. “We have called out administrative silence, but we have also legitimized it. We have raged against the Machine, but we have also excused it. Throughout those 125 years, we have centered white students and white stories. We are not enemies of the people. But we are not always heroes either. It’s long past time that we look inward and make sustainable changes to the way we do news.” The 2020-21 Crimson White editorial board wrote those words three years ago during a period of political turmoil, social unrest and uncertainty that spurred several companies, organizations and groups — like The CW — to address their internal diversity issues. Now, in 2023, The Crimson White is addressing our shortcomings since that piece was published, in an effort to reaffirm that promise those five women made to the University in 2020. What has worked At the time that piece was written, only two Black men and no women of color had held the position of editor-in-chief. Since then, two women of color have taken up the task of leading the student newspaper. If The Crimson White desires to put more diverse voices in and throughout the framework of the paper, those same voices must be in leadership positions helping create the necessary relationships. The Crimson White has also taken the time The Crimson White editorial board consists of Editor-in-Chief Ashlee Woods; Managing Editor Carson Lott; Engagement Editor Ronni Rowan; Opinions Editor Victor Hagan; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chairperson Jeffrey Kelly. to ensure that minority voices are included in our stories and images. Under the direction of former Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Griesbach, two race and identity reporters were added to our staff, designed to carry out robust and nuanced reporting of minority issues and topics on campus. The Crimson White also added the regular practice of source reporting modeled after publications like NPR and Wisconsin Public Radio. This was another way The Crimson White ensured that diverse voices were at the forefront of our reporting. What we’re changing However, what the current editorial board has found is that although you may have leaders of different shades, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, intentionality will always reign supreme in implementing true diversity, equity and inclusion. The Crimson White must strive to adhere to an ethical guideline built around care, nuance and tactfulness. With this in mind, The Crimson White has decided to create a mission statement that has been shared among the staff and now will be shared with the UA community. Staff members and contributors will work together to create and maintain a safe, diverse and collaborative newsroom that prioritizes accurate and compelling storytelling. The Crimson White will also be committed to covering historically underrepresented communities in media with tact and nuance. To best prepare staff members for professional jobs and internships in media, The Crimson White will also work to give contributors the chance to add bylines, while also giving them tools and training with industry professionals. This statement is a foundation for many of the new practices and elements The Crimson White has adopted this year. Arguably the most important move The Crimson White has made in our efforts to address our internal issues of diversity, equity and inclusion is the addition of a diversity, equity and inclusion chairperson. In the past, The Crimson White has not done an adequate job ensuring that these issues remain at the forefront of our minds in everyday coverage. The addition of this position not only to the staff but also to the editorial board is an intentional decision that underscores this year’s staff’s desire not only to grow as reporters, but to prepare our newsroom for the future. The Crimson White’s editorial board also acknowledges our failure in the past to be completely transparent about our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. That is something we want to rectify this year, so below is a list of other practices The Crimson White is implementing this year. Reworking our sourcereporting system. Under the careful guidance of The CW’s diversity, equity and inclusion chairperson, staff members and editors will record the race, identity and background of sources we use in our stories with a voluntary anonymous survey given to sources after interviews. These records will be compiled into a monthly source report available to the editorial staff to help us track our progress and hold ourselves accountable. In addition, The CW will create an end-of-year staff diversity report and source diversity report that will be available to the public. Increasing the diversity of sources and staff. This year, The CW aims to increase the use of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, women and other minority sources. Our goal is to incorporate at least two in our articles where their voices are needed and valuable, with one being an “expert” voice (a professor, faculty member, coach, player, etc.). With our recruitment efforts, the managing editor has updated the application process to collect demographic information, so The CW better understands what communities we’re not reaching and can strategize how to best recruit and retain diverse contributors. The information is shared only with the editor-in-chief and managing editor. Hosting multiple diversity, equity and inclusion training sessions spread throughout the year. The diversity, equity and inclusion chairperson and the editorial board will plan two to four training sessions centered on issues of diversity in media. These training courses are designed to help contributors, staff members and editors learn how to spot these issues and resolve them in a healthy manner. The trainings will also include writing and reporting workshops led by minority media professionals. Updating the current CW house style guide. The chief copy editor; the diversity, equity and inclusion chairperson; and the editor-in-chief will work together to update the current CW style guide. This will include a detailed section on how to ethically report on groups, events, organizations and issues that involve minority groups on campus. The updated style guide will pull inspiration from professional style guides from organizations like the National Association of Black Journalists, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association and adapt coverage techniques and terminology into our own style guide. Creating strategic partnerships. The Crimson White will look to build relationships with student organizations and leaders on campus. These relationships will serve two purposes: to provide the newspaper with a more diverse pool of potential applicants and repair relationships with certain community groups on campus. To further our efforts toward transparency, The Crimson White would like to share our in-house diversity statement that all editors have signed. The Crimson White would also like to acknowledge that the last three years show that while working toward creating sustainable change within our publication and upholding diversity, equity and inclusion in coverage, we’ve hit stumbling blocks and suffered various growing pains that are synonymous with the learning that’s needed to be truly equitable and inclusive. These growing pains will not deter us from continuing to work toward our goal of ethical and equitable coverage of the UA community.
news Tuscaloosa businesses rely on football season Ava Morthland Contributing Writer The economic impact of the football season in Tuscaloosa cannot be ignored. In 2022 tourists spent $895 million, with each home game weekend that year bringing in $20 million to $25 millionon average. Not only do game days completely change the atmosphere of Tuscaloosa, but they also leave a lasting effect on businesses on the Strip. However, the season can pose many challenges for business owners, and for some, the surge in game day sales is necessary to keep their businesses afloat throughout the summer and academic breaks. “Football season absolutely catapults us to another level as far as an increase in the sales and stuff,” said Tiffany Lewis, the current manager at the Publix location on the Strip. She said that part of managing a store like Publix during home game weekends is knowing how to prepare your stock to make sure you don’t run out. Lewis also said that students, families, alumni and fans start getting into town on Friday afternoons and stay throughout the weekend. She said Publix usually earns an extra $100,000-$150,000 during game day weekends. Although overcrowding and safety concerns have created an ongoing debate surrounding business closing times, local bars receive a boost from game day weekends. Daniel Shannahan, the general manager of Hoppers Corner Bar, described University-related tourism as “the lifeblood of this town.” Although Hoppers has a smaller occupancy and many local patrons, Shannahan has worked at other bars in Tuscaloosa where the approximately seven annual game days make a big difference. “In some places I’ve worked, you could pay your rent, your insurance, everything else on seven weekends, 14 days,” Shannahan said. Chris Coleman, a co-owner and general manager of Unique, said that although his bar is by no means dependent on game days, football helps bring in patrons. “Game day is really good for the city,” Coleman said. “The entire city takes a big bump with every hotel, restaurant, everywhere, bars, they’re all filled up.” Jimmy Wendlandt, a junior majoring in kinesiology, has been working at BamaStuff, a small business on the Strip that sells Alabama merchandise, for the past two years. “I know a lot of people come in. It’s kind of huge for the business,” Wendlandt said. James J. Cochran, a professor of statistics at the Culverhouse College of Business, said that without game days, a lot of businesses would be hurt and might go bankrupt. Rita’s Italian Ice and PJ’s Coffee are owned by Bill Getchell and share a location on the Strip. The businesses are enjoyed by students throughout the entire year, but during football season, they see a growth in sales and customers. “We have to make sure that we have enough money to get through December and into mid-January before we get started up with students,” Getchell said. “So yeah, we really need game days to help us get through.” Lewis expressed a similar view, saying that not having football season was “not an option” and that without it, there would be no need for the store to stay open. Businesses saw reduced football activity early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when tailgating was not permitted on campus and the stadium was only 20% full. However, even with the pandemic going on, Alabama football boosted the travel and tourism economy. Cochran said there are negative aspects to the boost to business brought about by Crimson Tide sports. One challenge he mentioned was preventing damage caused by overcrowding in businesses. “Keeping a place clean, and getting it cleaned at the end of the night, is a whole different story if you have a restaurant that’s full,” Cochran added. On game days, parking is frequently a logistical problem for employees. “Foot traffic is absolutely welcome. Is parking a nightmare? Yes,” Shannahan said, adding that his staff sometimes has to come to work an hour or more ahead of time “just to find parking in the area.” Safety is also a concern for some business owners. “Of course, you got adequate police officers and all that stuff out on the street, but we don’t have a presence coming in, walking through, you know, and that’s when we have most of the issues,” Lewis said. The increase in customers, and therefore sales, during football season, causes new owners, and even some experienced ones, to rethink strategies on how to best handle the situation. “We have to really start looking at our plan and going over it right and fill all the paperwork out on the last week in June because the middle of July is when we need to start having an inventory increase,” Lewis said. 3A CW / Shelby West She added that game days require extra support from staff. “Game days are what we call all hands on deck. Game days, man, we probably have about 30 [associates] total just on the front end,” Lewis said. For Getchell, getting enough workers to take shifts on game days is “one of the biggest tasks” his businesses have. “It’s pretty daunting,” Getchell said. “The amount of people that come in is triple to quadruple the amount on a regular daily basis.” While any surge in business comes with additional challenges, many local vendors believe the benefits outweigh any logistical concerns. “It does make it hectic, but the payoff is good enough that when you have enough business coming into town, it’s worth it to have a little bit of gridlock to make sure that you have a busy day,” Shannahan said.
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Page 7 and 8: sports The transformation of Alabam
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Page 13 and 14: Amanda Dunlap Contributing Columnis
Page 15: opinion Is an accelerated master’

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