“The mixed-use student housing redevelopment project will contain approximately 1,300 beds aimed to meet the demands of UCF’s growing enrollment, and will feature state of the art amenities including a community center, restaurants and shops, a resort-style pool and parking garage,” said Gina Cowart, a vice president and spokesperson with American Campus Communities, the company building the project.

“The new development has received enthusiastic support from the local neighborhood and government as they are excited to have this new addition to the community,” Cowart told KnightNews.com

But while the new facility will be fancier and much more modern, not everyone is happy about the changes coming to The Plaza, across from UCF. Several popular college bars, like Knight Library, FUBAR and Underground Bluz, will be bulldozed to make way for the fancy new facility.

And some businesses, like Anmol Indian Cuisine and the Underground Bluz bar, were told they must close their doors by the end of this month, according to Bryan Eastman, Deputy Campaign Manager for the the Shayan Elahi for Florida House campaign.

The Elahi campaign held a press conference outside Underground Bluz Thursday, and alleged certain businesses, like Underground Bluz, were only given a few weeks of notice to move. “Anmol moved out last week as a result,” Eastman told KnightNews.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGtkCV1zSNk

“We have been accommodating and are working with the current retail tenants regarding the plans to vacate the shopping center for demolition, which should be underway by the end of 2012,” Cowart told KnightNews.com. “We have communicated all timelines well in advance of what is required by law so current tenants have ample time to find alternate locations or plans.”

Cowart also reiterated that the new facility will also have retail space for tenants — which students will also be able to enjoy. And there’s already interest.

“We are currently in the process of accepting and reviewing tenant applications for the retail space,” Cowart told KnightNews.com.

But before the new facility can open, there will be that inevitable period where The Plaza that so many students spent some of the best times of their lives will be filled with construction workers instead of college students.

While the demolition is expected the begin by the end of this year, Cowart said construction completion is targeted for fall 2014.

But while the future of The Station seems more certain than the classic bars facing demolition in The Plaza, it will have to compete — at least initially — with students who may want to hang on to what little time they have left living it up at the college bars that have become such a big part of UCF history.

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It’s still not clear whether Knight Library, FUBAR, Lazy Moon and other popular shops at The Plaza will reopen, or close their doors for good.

Check back to KnightNews.com for special coverage of these historic changes coming to the UCF area, and for updates on what the businesses will do.

See more pictures of the new plaza on the next page, below:

Day view of The New Plaza

KnightNews.com covered the wrongful death lawsuit the parents of the UCF football player — who died during a workout — brought against UCF’s private athletic association during last summer’s trial.

Even though UCF chose to privatize its athletics corporation as a direct support organization, which allows UCF to keep secret certain information that open records law would otherwise require UCF to disclose, UCF has insisted the private athletics corporation should be treated as a public state agency when it comes to a $200,000 cap on lawsuits public agencies enjoy. A reason UCF gave was because President John Hitt has control over the private corporation.

The judge disagreed UCF’s private athletics corporation should be immune to the full payment. That decision is one that UCF plans to appeal. See an interview with UCF spokesman Grant Heston we shot right after the verdict came down last year, where he discusses other issues planned for the appeal:

When you’re headed east on the 408 from downtown, you’ll now need to exit to the right on the 417 to head north to University Blvd.

Changes to 408/417 Interchange

The changes were made to improve the traffic flow on the 408 with new construction.

KnightNews.com checked with the Florida state licensing office, which confirms Sage Leaves has its “application in progress” at the address of 3900 N. Alafaya Trail in Orlando.

KnightNews.com will work to get more information on what students can expect from this apparent El Corral replacement, and then ask students how it measures up.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Michael Price wants a $532 refund for a 2009 computer certification course because the instructor’s syllabus promised 100 hours of classroom instruction, but he was only given about half that amount.

“The school promised 100 hours (of classroom instruction) and they failed to provide that,” Henry Kaye, Price’s attorney, told the Post, adding he believes the case will go to trial soon because PBSC refused to settle out of court for $400.

Price also accused his teacher of often being late to class and teaching on an outdated Windows 98 computer program.

PBSC refused to give Price his money back, because that’s not allowed when students complete a course, the Post reported.

Kaye told the Post PBSC is taking such a tough stance because it insists students don’t have the right to sue for educational malpractice.

PBSC refused to comment to the Post, and referred questions to its Miami-based attorney, which couldn’t answer the paper’s questions either, citing the attorney was out of town. It’s not clear why the firm didn’t call the attorney on his cell phone or get him in touch with the reporter over email.

Price told the Post he estimated he’s spent $2,500 on legal fees so far associated with the case. It’s not clear how much PBSC has paid.

Whether it’s just one shirt, or one thousand, Big Top has no limit.

But not only is it T-shirts that Big Top specializes in, they also print off shorts, hats, coozies, and tank tops.

Big Top caters to everyone, and will print off anything as long as you can design it.

Knightnews.com went to Big Top to learn more about them and how they makes their shirts. You can watch the video below:

The company uses a viral marketing technique to get the word about about its product, and it’s working at UCF. After it posted the UCF shirt, the company said it would organize presale when the post got 250 “likes” on Facebook. The posting had more than 500 likes within 14 hours.

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Now, the presale is on. An event on Facebook has been created with students posting what size they want.

Students seem excited, sharing their comments on Facebook for all to see.

“Rush shipping?” posted one student. “I want it for spring break.”

“I want one, I’ll pay whatever for it, I want it,” another student said on the Facebook page.

The shirt company is also making shirts targeted to other schools. At UCF, the shirts are being listed at $15 for pre-sale, and $17 if you don’t pre-order.

KnightNews.com will continue following the shirt sale and let you know the reception they get once they arrive on campus.

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Kimdotcom loses Call of Duty Spot

He was arrested in his New Zealand mansion when Megaupload was shutdown, around the same time the SOPA controversy hit a high in the United States, Yahoo reports. Several lawmakers have dropped support of the controversial legislation in the wake of protests from Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and others.

If you’re wondering who took his place in the Call of Duty rankings, it’s someone by the name Azaros.

Across the country, some shoppers fired guns, others broke broke down doors while yet another crowd of shoppers had to be pepper sprayed to put a stop to the chaos.

The shoes are limited edition Nike Air Jordan sneakers that first came out in 1996.

Of course Michael Jordan doesn’t play anymore, but his sons Marcus Jordan and Jeffrey Jordan are playing basketball at UCF.

The black and white shoes are officially named “Air Jordan XI Retro Concords.”

Weisselberger graduated from UCF in 2008 with a degree in Finance and Accounting.

UBIDUGO is an auction site that allows users to bid for trips. When a user doesn’t win an auction their bids are converted into travel points which go to buying the trips they bid on. In order to get bids users have to buy packages.

The site explains how the bidding process works: “Bids are purchased by you prior to bidding. Bids can be purchased individually or in bundles at prices that will be noted on the site. Each Bid provides you the right to place one bid on an auction item consisting of a travel experience, but the cost of the Bid is not applied to the final price paid for the auction item purchased. Payment for Bids can be made by credit card debit card or via PayPal.”

When asked about how he came up with the idea Weisselberger said, “One day I decided to create a system fair to the consumer where every single bidder was a winner. That’s how UBIDUGO came about, a new type of penny auction dedicated only to travel industry.”

The website launched on November 25 this year.

KNIGHTS is a special coupon for UCF students. It will give 50 percent more bids with the purchase of any package.