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Serving The University of Alabama since 1894.

The Crimson White

Serving The University of Alabama since 1894.

The Crimson White

Serving The University of Alabama since 1894.

The Crimson White

All content by Jared Downing

UA troupe ‘makes Shakespeare characters approachable,’ worth seeing

Jared Downing February 20, 2013

The University’s version of “Othello” turns the stage into a gigantic mood ring. It happens amidst a canopy of curtains and veils that melt from blue to green to scarlet to black, tracking the emotional...

‘Design For a Living’ entertaining, not substantial

Jared Downing February 6, 2013

The three lovers in Noel Coward’s play “Design for Living” are every bohemian college kid’s dream. They’re all successful artists. They live in decadent Art Nouveau apartments and Spartan painting...

Jazz story ‘Side Man’ a little off-beat, ‘can’t give off real spark of genre’

Jared Downing October 18, 2012

For a story about jazz, The University of Alabama’s current show “Side Man” is pretty glum. And for a show about ‘50s swingers, the narrator is kind of a dweeb. His name is Cliff Glimmer (Jacob...

Absurdity in ‘Fools’ performance leaves audiences laughing

Jared Downing September 27, 2012

The love interest in The University of Alabama’s new play is too stupid to sit down. I’m not exaggerating – she spends 30 seconds trying to remember how to sit down in a chair. The hero falls for...

Alabama law to require breathalyzers for convicted drunken drivers

Jared Downing September 26, 2012

Alabama is taking a new strategy in the fight against drunken driving: Stopping intoxicated drivers before they even start the car. A new law will require the cars of certain people with DUI charges to...

Off-campus housing sees construction boom

Off-campus housing sees construction boom

Jared Downing September 26, 2012

When sophomore Robert Burrs moved into his new place at East Edge Apartments last month, he didn’t have a washer, dryer or a refrigerator. Most of the bathroom fixtures were also missing, and the untrimmed...

Paty Hall residents unified despite negative conditions, reputation

Jared Downing September 11, 2012

Ask Jonathan Burpo about Paty Hall and he’ll tell you the entire floor smells like sweat and stale smoke. The air is thick and wet, like a locker room, making everything slightly damp. A rickety air...

Denny Chimes plays new song honoring national recognized scholars

Jared Downing September 6, 2012

The University of Alabama already honors nationally recognized students with scholarships and grants, but it is adding a new accolade to the list: a song played from Denny Chimes. Twice a day for the...

‘Fefu and Her Friends’ worth the traveling

Jared Downing April 11, 2012

“My husband married me,” says the elegant protagonist of UA’s new show, “as a constant reminder of how loathsome women are.” Don’t worry, the women of avant-garde playwright Maria Irene Fornes’...

TOMS introduces One-for-One iPhone cases

Jared Downing March 30, 2012

Editor's Note: The following article is a satirical piece written for the April Fool's Day edition of The Crimson White.  Popular shoe and eyewear maker TOMS announced plans last week for a new line...

Students go to sleep for ... a cause?

Students go to sleep for … a cause?

Jared Downing March 30, 2012

The cause of Wednesday's Sleep Out on the Quad event is still unknown, which brought nearly 50 students to the space across the street from Nott Hall. Theories of the purpose of the gathering, which lasted...

Get organized about procrastinating

Jared Downing March 29, 2012

When I came to the University of Alabama, it was hard to adjust to college academic standards. I would find myself rushing to class, missing homework and cramming late into the night for exams. I found...

‘Wonder of the World’ doesn’t disappoint

Jared Downing February 23, 2012

From the start of the University of Alabama’s latest comedy, I had one question: What the heck is aspic? According to “Wonder of the World,” it’s a reddish glob with fish chunks in it. It’s...

‘Noises Off’ starts slow, builds momentum

Jared Downing February 21, 2012

If you’ve never been involved in theatre, Theatre Tuscaloosa’s “Noises Off” might seem like a harmless play. Enjoy it. But if you have, imagine your theatre group, and think of the most dramatic,...

Romance on the road brief but leaves long-lasting memories

Jared Downing February 14, 2012

I had a little tryst in India. Her name was Alex, one of three German girls on leave from a volunteer stint in the South. The four of us blasted around Rajasthan as fast as we could, spending each night...

Worth searching for: Looking for an old friend

Worth searching for: Looking for an old friend

Jared Downing January 26, 2012

Leave it to a woman to come between best friends. We’d been through some tough scrapes, my passport and I. I’d written its number on so many visa forms and hostel ledgers I knew it by heart. It was...

Suicide rumors prove untrue

Jared Downing December 8, 2011

Exams are coming up, and the Internet is down all over campus. You’re panicking. The sparkle has worn off of this semester, and you just can’t focus on school anymore. If you don’t pick up your grades,...

UA's historic mound steeped in symbolism

UA’s historic mound steeped in symbolism

Jared Downing December 7, 2011

Alabama loves mounds. While ours isn’t the most important mound in the state, it’s close. It’s protected by an iron fence thing, adorned with luxurious shrubbery and marked by not one, but two plaques...

Visiting philosopher talks metaphysics

Visiting philosopher talks metaphysics

Jared Downing December 5, 2011

There was a basketball game going on when visiting philosopher Hud Hudson spoke Thursday night, but no one in his audience cared that they got inductive arguments instead of jump shots and possible world...

Personalized Packing: Travel the world like Frodo Baggins

Jared Downing December 1, 2011

I met a few German hitchhikers in southern Mexico. They were the talk of the hostel, tramping all the way from New York to Patagonia with nothing but backpacks, some clever couch surfing and their charming...

Student loans reduction

Jared Downing December 1, 2011

College students’ mountain of student debt just got a little smaller. Last month, President Barack Obama announced a plan to make paying off federal student loans cheaper and easier, cutting monthly...

Quad bricks last remains of forgotten antebellum dorm

Quad bricks last remains of forgotten antebellum dorm

Jared Downing November 29, 2011

Nobody passing the little brick structure on their way to Lloyd Hall Monday morning knew it marked what used to be one of the most important historical sites on campus. Why would they? It doesn’t look...

eTech Night shift keeps campus wired

Jared Downing November 21, 2011

When Professor Ed Stephenson gave his Friday lecture in the Biology Building auditorium, he didn’t have to worry about whether his cordless microphone would transmit or if the clickers wielded by his...

The Scene goes behind-the-scenes at the Amp

The Scene goes behind-the-scenes at the Amp

Jared Downing November 17, 2011

In its first season, the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater hosted 17 concerts, with acts ranging from  ZZ Top to “A Prairie Home Companion,” but all shows had one thing in common: each was run by three women....

Why is no one laughing?

Jared Downing November 10, 2011

With UA’s new musical “City of Angels,” I had a mystery on my hands. Sure, its 1940s Noir parody had a convoluted detective story, but this mystery didn’t involve a millionaire’s missing daughter...

Saban teams up with Habitat for Humanity to create Nick's Kids

Saban teams up with Habitat for Humanity to create Nick’s Kids

Jared Downing November 7, 2011

On the morning of April 27, 81-year-old Appy Jones left her little house near Rosedale Park. She came back to a driveway, a stoop, and nothing else. Last Tuesday, a team from Habitat for Humanity broke...

Baumhower creates world's largest bowl of gumbo

Baumhower creates world’s largest bowl of gumbo

Jared Downing November 7, 2011

What do you eat with the game of the century? The gumbo of the century. At least, that’s what chefs from across the Southeast thought when they made the world’s largest pot of seafood gumbo in the...

Bama Buddies builds bears for children

Bama Buddies builds bears for children

Jared Downing November 2, 2011

Looking for some Christmas karma? Try stuffing a bear. The third annual Bama Buddies campaign, a community service project hosted by the Source, lets students build stuffed animals for needy kids in Tuscaloosa....

Bama student finds expression through spoken word

Bama student finds expression through spoken word

Jared Downing November 1, 2011

It’s the weekly meeting of the student literary group the Inklings, and club president Will Gillette stands in front of a handful of other bookworms. They’re busy muttering lyrics and scribbling them...

A local constant in the midst of destruction

A local constant in the midst of destruction

Jared Downing October 26, 2011

The bridge is still there, but the rest is empty. There used to be a neighborhood, a lumber warehouse and Alberta Flea Market; now it’s just a field dotted with a few concrete slabs and one or two trees,...

Welfare-related drug tests prove controversial

Jared Downing October 24, 2011

Legislators across the nation proposed drug testing this year as a new hurdle for welfare benefits. Now, the state of Alabama may follow suit. According to a report by the Associated Press, Alabama lawmakers...

Expert cautions against 'eating with your eyes'

Expert cautions against ‘eating with your eyes’

Jared Downing October 18, 2011

It was just a quick bite between classes at Fresh Foods. First, I headed for the Southern Kitchen for some turkey leg, which came ­with carrots and brussels. Next door were some interesting-looking stuffed...

Animal Crackers: Calm down, Dr. Roberts

Animal Crackers: Calm down, Dr. Roberts

Jared Downing October 13, 2011

The best thing about the Department of Theatre and Dance’s current production of “Animal Crackers” is that it never stops trying to be funny. I was worried they would treat the Vaudeville-era farce...

How to haggle like Clint Eastwood

How to haggle like Clint Eastwood

Jared Downing October 6, 2011

When most people think of haggling on the road, they see something out of “Casablanca:” dingy market stalls packed with hookahs and brass pocket watches and manned by toothless shysters. This is pretty...

A day in the life of the Crimson Ride

Jared Downing October 4, 2011

It’s the end of an afternoon class block, and when Terrel Johnson’s bus reaches the soccer fields, the stop is full. He opens the doors and a dozen or so students stumble aboard. Most pass by, some...

‘Purgatorio’ engages through compelling anti-chemistry

Jared Downing September 28, 2011

Even before it started, “Purgatorio” gave me the creeps. It was the set – a sterile, white square that didn’t even fill up the Allen Bales’ tiny stage. With little more than a cot and metal chair,...

Arts organizations engage public at amphitheater

Arts organizations engage public at amphitheater

Jared Downing September 28, 2011

It was what happens when a circus meets a flea market, covering the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater stage in booths, banners, raffle tickets, carnival games, typewriters, quilts, Disney princesses, a robot and...

Miss Sorority Row pageant comes to Bama Theatre

Jared Downing September 22, 2011

Who’s the prettiest gal on Sorority Row? Hard to tell, but we may find out at Friday’s Miss Sorority Row pageant, starting at 6 p.m. at the Bama Theatre. Sixteen damsels will compete with feats of...

Miss Sorority Row comes to Bama Theatre

Jared Downing September 22, 2011

Who’s the prettiest gal on Sorority Row? Hard to tell, but we may find out at Friday’s Miss Sorority Row pageant, starting at 6 p.m. at the Bama Theatre. Sixteen damsels will compete with feats of...

Guatemala is the college student’s Costa Rica

Jared Downing September 22, 2011

Guatemala’s Cahabón River flows down the tiny valley of Semuc Champey like a shotgun slug. The streams from the valley fall into seven cascading pools of turquoise, so still you can hear the monkeys...

'Bear Country' fails to go beyond the caricature

‘Bear Country’ fails to go beyond the caricature

Jared Downing September 21, 2011

I’ll admit, I took a wrong turn down Old Greensboro Highway on the way to Shelton State and showed up a few minutes late for “Bear Country.” Outside, the usher tried to fill me in.“Bryant’s just...

Students learn about conflict in Uganda

Students learn about conflict in Uganda

Jared Downing September 20, 2011

Students learn more about ‘Invisible Children’ thanks to guest speaker In 1998, Agnes Aromorach and her parents left her village in Northern Uganda to escape a war that had raged for a decade. She...

Coal mining proposition could have devastating effects on drinking water

Jared Downing September 15, 2011

Coal mining on the Black Warrior River faces a new attack. The Birmingham NAACP sent a letter signed by 22 environmental organizations Tuesday imploring President Robert Witt and UA to halt creation of...

Author inspired by the number '4'

Author inspired by the number ‘4’

Jared Downing September 13, 2011

Creative Writing director Michael Martone’s new book is brought to you by the number four. Martone began “Four for a Quarter” when he was 44 years old. It’s a collection of 44 short stores that...

How to not get robbed: travel like you expect it

Jared Downing September 8, 2011

In Calcutta, on my way out of India, I met a New Zealander on a budget. He was fresh from the beaches of Thailand, where backpackers buy beer by the gallon bucket. In the height of merrymaking, he went...