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Friday Sept. 11,
2015
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Daily Corinthian
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Vol. 119, No. 218
• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
Landing jobs
Corinth eyes employee raises BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
The Corinth Board of Mayor and Aldermen spent a couple of hours Thursday looking at possible scenarios for city employee pay raises. While there are two proposals on the table, Street Commissioner Philip Verdung is asking the board to give extra consideration to employees on the lower end of the pay scale in his department. He said the cost of living is rising and there is no incentive for people to do his department’s work at $8 an hour. “They can sit at home and draw a check and make more than they do working for us,” he said. A third of the department makes $8 an hour and “people cannot live off that anymore,” he said. The mayor and aldermen
are looking at an across-theboard raise of 3 percent or 40 cents an hour, whichever is greater, or 4 percent or 50 cents per hour. But, with differing circumstances across the various city departments, an across-the-board raise does not address some of the concerns. “All of the department heads have a different philosophy on what their department needs,” said Alderman Michael McFall. With that in mind, the board had some discussion of giving department heads a lump sum that they could distribute as they wish based on employee performance. However, with a Tuesday deadline for the budget, it is likely too late to switch to that approach. Please see BOARD | 2A
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Mississippi Silicon’s Mark Ivey talks with an interested person during Thursday’s job fair at the Crossroads Arena.
Fair matches employers with people MIS event benefits Oasis BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
North Pontotoc High School brought a busload of students to the Northeast Mississippi WIN Job Fair. The 24 students were among those looking to see what the employment field has to offer in today’s job world. “It’s not a bad idea for high school seniors to be introduced to something of this magnitude,” said Adam Todd, Director of the Governor’s Job Fair Network. “They can see what fields are being offered at this time and we hope some of the students are job ready now.”
NPHS teachers Brad Brown and Teneeshia Boyd brought a mixture of high school students from each grade to Thursday’s fair at the Crossroads Arena. “We want them to see what employers are looking for and what is available to them,” said Brown. “This is something that is required for them to get academic credit,” added Boyd. “The students are always excited to come to the fairs.” On Thursday, one student applied for a job while another applied for college. Close to 52 employers took part in the one-day event.
“We have a lot of employers who haven’t been here in a while and several first-time companies,” said WIN Job Center Case Manager/Custom Service Coordinator Amanda Johnson. Company human resource leaders were pleased with the fair. “Everything is going great,” said Mark Ivey with Mississippi Silicon. “We wanted to be here to tell who we are and what we are doing.” According to Ivey, the Burnsville plant is looking to employ Please see JOBS | 2A
BY STEVE BEAVERS
sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
J.C. Miles liked what he heard. The Milestone Information Systems owner then took action. “A Day to Remember” is being held at MIS on Saturday with proceeds going to the Oasis Medical Center. “A lady who was helped by Oasis was telling me about them and it sparked an interest,” said Miles. “Oasis is known for its Christian values and for helping steer couples in the right direction during pregnancy.” Tickets are being sold for a
hotdog lunch with chips and drink. Half of the $5 tickets for a party jumper will also be donated to Oasis. A donation jar will be available for those to donate to Oasis. “The whole day is for the entire family,” said Miles of the noon to 4 p.m. event. During the day, those who lost their lives during 9/11, veterans and babies who have been aborted will be remembered. The event will also involve a blood drive by United Blood Services. “We want to make this an annual event around 9/11,” Please see OASIS | 2A
Internship helps Ole Miss student prepare for graduate school term BY KELLEY NORRIS Ole Miss Student
OXFORD — University of Mississippi political science major Jacob Smith was accepted to the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science this summer at the University of North Texas. Smith, a senior from Corinth, was recommended to the program by his UM mentor, Matt DiGuseppe, assistant professor of political science. DiGueseppe describes Smith as an ideal candidate for the program that exposes and prepares exceptional undergraduates for graduate programs in conflict management and peace science. “Jake can often find the core of an argument very quickly and offer his own, often on point, critique,” DiGuseppe said. “In other words, he not only digests class material but has sharp criti-
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cal thinking skills that are necessary to generate, instead of consume, research. Knowing that Jake had plans to attend graduate school, I thought this program offered the opportunity for him to hone his skills and provide him with a competitive advantage over other graduate school applicants.” Faculty members in the UM political science department were readily available to answer questions and offer advice on participating in such an intensive academic atmosphere, Smith said. “The University of Mississippi did an excellent job of preparing me for the rigors of a condensed NSF program that describes itself as the first year of graduate school in an eight-week program,” he said. “I was as prepared as I could possibly be for the amount of work required on a daily basis due to Please see SMITH | 2A
Jacob Smith of Corinth presents his research on human trafficking at the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science at the University of North Texas.
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A $2,500 grant from the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development will aid local tourism efforts. Corinth Area Tourism Promotion Council Director Johnny Mattox says the funds will assist with advertising and the production of promotional literature.
The Hog Wild BBQ festival prepares to mark its 15th year. Country superstar Andy Griggs is the headline entertainer for the annual festival and cooking contest.
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