News Feature II (Revised)

In a little over a year, Hilary Davidson has seen what her efforts have led to.

After her father was killed by a driver who was text messaging on his cell phone in July 2008, the Arkansas State student went to her state representative and asked that something be done.

The result?

The state took action by introducing a bill in the state senate that would ban text messaging from all drivers.

That action was “Paul’s Law,” which was drawn up by state Rep. Ray Kidd, D-Jonesboro, with its objective to get texting outlawed completely.

It is known as “Paul’s Law” at the request of Davidson, whose father’s name was Paul.

“We hope and pray it’s going to save lives in Arkansas,” Kidd said.

In 2008 alone, Arkansas police reported 787 auto crashes that occurred involving cellular devices, but Arkansas has only been tracking cell phone roles in accidents since 2007, according to http://www.handsfreeinfo.com.

Anything other than concentrating on the road is dangerous while driving, but texting involves having the eyes on the phone the entire time, whereas talking on the phone can involve the use of a headset or a hands-free device.

It didn’t go through exactly how Kidd wanted, but it did manage to get teenage drivers disallowed from texting.

“Some law is better than no law,” Kidd said.

Kidd had wanted cell phones to be banned completely while driving, but revised the bill so that it had a better chance to pass in the state Legislature.

Conditions of the law say that 18 to 20-year-old drivers must have a hands-free device if they are to talk on the phone and are not to engage in “interactive communication,” which is defined as text messaging and typing.

Violators of the law can receive a fine of up to $100, and it is considered a primary offense.

With that being said, police officers will now have to employ new tactics to enforce these new laws.

It used to be easy to see if drivers on the phone usually because they will not drive as fast or will be swerving in and out of their lanes, but sometimes they can disguise whether or not they are on the phone by placing it in their lap or memorizing the keyboard and not looking at it.

“I’m going to have trouble enforcing it,” Springdale police officer Blake Reed said. “I’m not used to looking to see if people are on their phones.”

With a world increasingly relying on digital media and technology, some may argue that it’s hard to not constantly be on a phone or a data provider.

They may go so far as to say even while driving, because sometimes information doesn’t care if someone is in a car or asleep.

There are also those, however, that say there are worse distractions that can contain their attention in the car other than texting.

“I don’t think it should be illegal, because there are so many distractions possible while driving that aren’t illegal,” Gina Smith, a Fayetteville citizen, said.

Smith said she notices plenty of other things diverting drivers’ attention from the road other than sending text messages.

“There’s the radio, changing CD’s, reaching for purses, dealing with children,” Smith said. “I think people should be responsible with their actions, but I don’t think that texting should be illegal.”

Whatever the case, the fact remains that text messaging has caused accidents, and just like drinking while driving, if a person is caught texting while driving, they now have to pay the consequences.

Because when people’s lives are threatened, texting can take a backseat to keeping eyes on the road.

Just ask Hilary Davidson.

News Feature II

FAYETTEVILLE—Driving down the road, the person operating the vehicle sends a text message to one of his friends, trying to figure out what they will do on a boring Monday night.
Unbeknownst to this 25-year old male, a young girl is attempting to cross the road.
And with his eyes on his iPhone instead of what’s in front of his car, he hits the little girl with his car, killing her instantly.
This is the danger of text messaging while at the control of a motor vehicle.
The state of Arkansas recognized that fact by making it illegal earlier this month to text on a mobile device while driving.
Anything other than concentrating on the road is dangerous while driving, but texting involves having the eyes on the phone the entire time, whereas talking on the phone can involve the use of a headset or a hands-free device.
In 2008 alone, Arkansas police reported 787 auto crashes that occurred involving cellular devices, but Arkansas has only been tracking cell phone roles in accidents since 2007.
The state decided to take action by introducing a bill in the state senate that would ban text messaging from all drivers.
A law, “Paul’s Law,” was drawn up by state Rep. Ray Kidd, D-Jonesboro, with its objective to get texting outlawed completely.
It is known as “Paul’s Law” at the request of an Arkansas State student whose father was killed by a driver who was texting and hit him.
“We hope and pray it’s going to save lives in Arkansas,” Kidd said.
It didn’t go through exactly how Kidd wanted, but it did manage to get teenage drivers disallowed from texting.
“Some law is better than no law,” Kidd said.
18 to 20-year old drivers must have a hands-free device if they are to talk on the phone and are not to engage in “interactive communication,” which is defined as text messaging and typing.
Violators of the law can receive a fine of up to $100, and it is considered a primary offense.
What has become interesting, however, is how police officers will enforce the new laws.
It’s easy to see if drivers on the phone usually because they will not drive as fast or will be swerving in out of their lanes, but sometimes they can disguise whether or not they are on the phone by placing it in their lap or memorizing the keyboard and not looking at it.
“I’m going to have trouble enforcing it,” Springdale police officer Blake Reed said. “I’m not used to looking to see if people are on their phones.”
With a world increasingly relying on digital media and technology, it’s hard to not constantly be on a phone or a data provider.
Even while driving, because sometimes information doesn’t care if someone is in a car or asleep.
Some people even feel that there are worse distractions that can contain their attention in the car other than texting.
“I don’t think it should be illegal, because there are so many distractions possible while driving that aren’t illegal,” Gina Smith, a Fayetteville citizen, said.

Revised News Feature I

It’s a Wednesday afternoon, nearing 5 p.m., and you know you’ve forgotten to do something.

In years past, it wouldn’t have mattered, but now it does.

You’ve forgotten to redeem your ticket voucher to get a ticket into the big game with Georgia on Saturday, and now you’ll be stuck in your dorm watching it on ESPN.

No student wants to face this dilemma.

That dilemma was the way in which UA students received their tickets.

Instead of just purchasing a ticket that would be taken to the game along with scanning their ID card, students were required to buy vouchers that would be redeemed on the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday leading up to that week’s game.

Upon returning your voucher, the student receives the actual game ticket that in previous years, they had just received from the beginning.

University officials said that the reasoning behind the change in administering the tickets was a trend that had developed in the previous couple of seasons.

Even though the Hogs were performing well on the field, the student section wasn't filling up like it was supposed to.

With a change in both the head football coach and director of athletics, a serious look was taken on how to increase the efficiency of ticket sales and get students in the seats.

The athletic department figured that if the students weren’t going to fill up the section that it could sell the unused tickets just like any other ticket in a different section of the stadium and make more money.

It seems like a viable solution to pouring more money into athletics and getting the stadium to capacity on game days, but it’s not necessarily the most popular idea with students.

“It’s just a hassle,” said UA sophomore Chelsey Humble.

Other UA students have not liked the fact that they have to make the effort to go down to the ticket office or other locations on campus to redeem their vouchers.

They’ve cited long lines and only having that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get it done as major drawbacks to having the voucher system.

“It’s a bit of a hassle, but if they fill up [the stadium], then I guess it’s alright,” UA sophomore Collin Sanders said.

Sanders is a former walk-on football player for Arkansas who now watches from the student section. He said he noticed a definite increase in the quality of the section and the passion of the students who came out in droves to the Georgia game.

Some students, though, are on the other side of the fence.

They feel that the change is doing a lot of good for not just the students, but rather all of the 74,000 people that on average attend Arkansas home games in Fayetteville.

“I think it’s a good idea,” UA junior Drew Marshall said. “It allows people who actually want to go to the game to go, and helps us fill up the student section which we never could before.”

Another positive for Arkansas students, was that the ticket price remained the same.

The economy may be in a recession, but it still only costs $1 for entry.

Whereas at other Southeastern Conference schools, it costs the same, if not more, as normal game tickets for students to watch their fellow students perform.

So while the voucher system may not be the most popular or the easiest option, the objective has been fulfilled of getting students in the seats.