Gas prices drying out students' pockets

Soaring gas prices have student travelers looking for cheaper transportation options. According to FAMU students, gas prices have had a costly effect on how much they pay for utilities, food, and airplane tickets.

Since gas prices have increased, FAMU has experienced an increased participation in the spirit bus, a charter bus funded by the Student Government Association that takes students to out-of-town games at a discount price. “I decided to travel with the spirit bus because everything was included and the prices were fair,” said Nicole Skeete, a senior health care management student from Orlando, Florida.

Commercial buses such as the Greyhound Bus Line provide a more cost-efficient means of travel for students who want to visit home. Greyhound travels throughout the country and runs 24 hours a day, with incentives such as the student advantage card and half price shipping for moving expenses. This is an inexpensive method of travel, according to Derrick Porter, a Greyhound manager. “It is convenient because we run everywhere,” Porter said. “It is cheaper than buying a gallon of gas.”

According to Porter, students can also purchase a non-refundable ticket that is cheaper than a regular price fare. A bus trip leaving on a Friday from Tampa to Tallahassee cost $47.50 regularly. With the student advantage card, the price would be $40.38 after taxes for a 247-mile trip. “The bus prices have not changed even though the gas prices have,” Porter said.

We wish you a happy Thanksgiving

All of us at Rattler Nation wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Dr. Ammons discusses FAMU sports on blog

Dr. Ammons has a wide-ranging interview with the HBCU Sports Blog. Listen in.

FAMU to offer Florida’s first M.S. in athletic training

Nationally, only five percent of athletic trainers are minorities. FAMU’s School of Allied Health Sciences (SOAHS) wants to change that.

SOAHS recently unveiled plans for a master of science (M.S.) in athletic training. Currently, Florida universities have six undergraduate programs in this field, but no master’s degrees.

According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, “accredited programs include formal instruction in areas such as injury/illness prevention, first aid and emergency care, assessment of injury/illness, human anatomy and physiology, therapeutic modalities, and nutrition…More than 70 percent of certified athletic trainers hold at least a master’s degree.”

Athletic trainers are in heavy demand at secondary schools, colleges, professional sport organizations, hospitals, private medical offices, military bases, law enforcement offices, and performing arts centers.

FAMU officials anticipate a high number of applications for this degree program once it is launched.

OT: Cookman fires football coach

Bethune-Cookman announced this afternoon that the school would not retain the services of head coach Alvin Wyatt.

Wyatt has served as the Wildcats' head coach since November 27, 1996 -- a span of 13 seasons -- and compiled a 90-54 redcord in that time. In 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach in school history with his 84th win, surpassing Rudolph "Bunky" Matthews, who had served as the head coach from 1946-1960.

"Today marks the end of an era in Wildcat football that many have enjoyed and celebrated...Alvin Wyatt has been the epitome of a B-CU Wildcat," said school athletics director Lynn W. Thompson. "He has given so much to this university, and it will be a tremendous challenge to find the right person to build on his legacy and take the Wildcat football program to new heights."

Wyatt's best season came in 2002, when he led the team to an 11-2 mark and a MEAC championship. In 2009, the Wildcats went just 5-6 with a 4-4 record in league play.

An alumnus of the university and a former football player with the school, Wyatt had a brief career in the NFL with the Bills, Raiders and Oilers.

Sun begins to set on Hollins' tenure as SID

Alvin Hollins worked his last FAMU football game Saturday, with the same good natured professionalism that he worked his first some thirty years ago.

Hollins has seen a lot in his 30 years at FAMU --- six different presidents, five head football coaches, and hundreds of wins. Alvin Hollins has bled Orange and Green, but as he begins to pack up his office, three decades of

For the past 30 years, Alvin Hollins has been a shoulder to lean on and a wealth of information for FAMU athletes, but budget cuts and a new administration decided it was time to go in a new direction. So just after Christmas, Hollins will close the door on three decades of service as Sports Information Director at FAMU.

You won't find many people who know more about FAMU sports than Hollins, and you won't find many people who have more friends on campus than Alvin. His coaches all loved him, and he loved working with them. Most of them at least.

"The secret to longevity is to work with everybody, even the people you want to strangle on occasion. You need to work with folks," Hollins said.

"I call him a walking encyclopedia. He's been around and understands, he's a good resource person," said current FAMU football coach Joe Taylor.

Alvin began his tenure on August 1, 1979. He witnessed the FAMU win against Miami, and the Rattlers short lived stay at the highest classification of NCAA football, he's been there to document it all.

Now it's Alvin Hollins turn to his head to the sidelines. After 30 years on the field, it's time to do something else. FAMU is a better place because of Alvin Hollins, but it won't be the same without him.

Keith Miles, the radio voice of FAMU summed it by saying, "We couldn't let this season pass without saying how much we appreciate the hard work and years of service Alvin Hollins has given all of us."

Still #1: FAMU volleyball keeps MEAC crown

FAMU won its ninth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball championship, defeating Maryland Eastern Shore in a 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 20-25,25-23) win in the championship match Sunday in the Coppin Center on the campus of Coppin State (Md.) University.

FAMU football season over

FAMU came up short in its quest to enter the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Head Coach Joe Taylor had hoped that the Rattlers (8-3, 6-2 MEAC) would receive an at-large invitation.

"They take four teams from each region, and this region already has (Appalachian State,) South Carolina State and Elon," Taylor said. “We were told it was between us and Liberty for the fourth spot, and Liberty lost while we won.”

The playoff bracket released by the NCAA today has SCSU facing off against Appalachian State and Richmond taking on Elon.

Despite the disappointing outcome, FAMU’s future is very bright. Seniors Curtis Pulley, LeRoy Vann, and Robert Okeafor are receiving national buzz as potential NFL draftees. FAMU also has very notable up-and-coming stars such as redshirt freshman QB Martin Ukpai.

FAMU too strong for B-CU

The FAMU Rattlers played strong in a 42-7 rout of Bethune-Cookman in the 30th Florida Classic at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.

A crowd of 59,418 fans witnessed the Rattlers (8-3, 6-2 in MEAC) storm to a 28-0 halftime bulge behind the running of Classic MVP Philip Sylvester and the excellent play of redshirt freshman quarterback Martin Ukpai, who made his first collegiate start in place of senior Curtis Pulley.

Sylvester ran for 21 yards on 19 carries, scoring on runs of five and 42 yards, while Ukpai rushed for 66 yards on 10 carries and one TD, on an 11-yard run.

Ukpai, a native of Plantation, Florida, went 8-for-11 passing for 151 yards and one TD, tossing a one-yard pass to Kevin Elliott.

The Rattlers took a 7-0 lead on Sylvester’s five-yard run with 6:53 left in the first period, but used a 21-point second quarter surge to put serious distance between themselves and the Wildcats.

Bethune-Cookman (5-6, 4-4 in MEAC) got on the board with 6:57 left in the game on a one-yard plunge by Androse Bell, but the Rattlers closed out the scoring on Eddie Rocker’s one-yard run with 3:18 left.

The Rattler Defense picked off three passes Saturday - a 76-yarder by Curtis Holcomb, a 21-yarder by Michael Creary and a seven-yard pick by Qier Hall – while holding B-CU to 83 yards rushing and 176 through the air.

FAMU improved to 20-10 in the 30 Florida Classic games and is now 48-16-1 overall in the 65 games played against Bethune-Cookman since 1925.

Martin Ukpai became the first redshirt freshman quarterback to start a FAMU game since Tony Ezell in 1988.

SGA leases buses to promote FAMU

Just as the afternoon sun begun to fade into a deep orange, two, large buses adorned in orange and green with the FAMU logo and an enormous Rattler, drove onto the FAMU Set.

“I had an opportunity to get on one of the buses when they arrived on campus and I was just in awe,” said Brandon Hill, a junior philosophy student from Lake City, Fla. “I think they will be a wonderful addition. The buses stand out when they are parked, so I know that while traveling on the interstate, they will have a great impact.”

The new 56-seat charter buses were leased by the FAMU Student Government Association (SGA) for recruitment trips and other SGA activities.

The lease of these buses will alleviate FAMU-SGA from having to rent buses when traveling with students. According to Henry Kirby, associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students, the buses will also promote the FAMU Rattler brand as they ride into cities across the United States.

“FAMU is a brand, and to have these bright buses pulling into cities in North Carolina, Alabama and even across Florida will increase the visibility of the university as we continue to recruit the best and brightest students,” said Kirby.

The recruitment team is comprised of SGA officials, the FAMU Connection, Presidential Ambassadors, the FAMU Royal Court and representatives from the FAMU Office of Student Affairs.

The lease of the buses was funded by 2008 Activities and Service Carry Forward Funds, which were approved by the FAMU Board of Trustees. The multi-year lease cost a total of $450,000.

The new buses made their inaugural trip to Tampa, Fla. for a recruitment fair and then to Orlando, Fla. for other recruitment activities during this weekend’s 30th Annual Florida Classic.