THE DAILY
MISSISSIPPIAN
Wednesday November 18, 2015
Volume 104, No. 62
T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S I S S I P P I S E R V I N G O L E M I S S A N D OX F O R D S I N C E 1 9 1 1
news
Vigil today at 12:15 p.m. under the flag pole in the Circle for victims of Paris terror attacks
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lifestyles
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Student art makes for great Christmas gifts
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Soccer to face Clemson Tigers Friday
Art therapy session raises PTSD awareness Additional parking now open AUSTIN HILLE
ahille1234@gmail.com
Derek Starnes works on an art project to raise awareness of veterans battling post-traumatic stress disorder.
SUAD PATTON-BEY
snpatton@go.olemiss.edu
The most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs estimate that post-traumatic stress disorder afflicts almost 30 percent of Vietnam veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War veterans, and 11 percent of veterans from Afghanistan. Melissa Skolnick, a graduate student in the higher
education program, feels the need to make a difference. Skolnick is in charge of planning events for Disability Awareness Month in April. “I am also very passionate about sexual violence on the college campus, and I also actually deal with PTSD, so for me that is where they intersected,” Skolnick said. Skolnick said many of those dealing with PTSD face discrimination. Mental illness
is still often perceived as a weakness, despite centuries of learning and the “Decade of the Brain.” “There is an extra round of stigma that comes with invisible disabilities, and oftentimes what sort of trauma leads to those disabilities,” says Skolnick. Skolnick got in contact with the UM veterans and military services office, where she teamed up with Aaron Rut-
kowski, president of Student Veterans of America at Ole Miss. Skolnick was inspired by a project in Indiana, where a Veterans Affairs hospital helped veterans struggling with PTSD using art therapy. “And there is a lot of literature around how helpful that can be for expressing— and sometimes used as part of cognitive behavioral therapy—
New parking lots located on Hill Drive, designated for students with commuter parking passes and Rebel Drive, designated for faculty and staff are open as of last week. The new student parking lot adds 71 additional parking spaces, with the intention of lightening the load for other parking locations around campus. “Any parking helps, and these will certainly do that,” Mike Harris, director of parking and transportation, said. “We have available parking on campus; however, it, at times, is not as conveniently located as some would like.” Adding additional parking locations for students and staff alike is a part of the University’s overall Transportation Demand Management plan which includes factors such as parking, buses, bikes and better pedestrian areas. The location and size of each lot is decided based on a variety of elements to ensure maximum convenience for students and economy for the University. “We have several departments which contribute to where parking is placed on campus,” Harris said. “It goes through a planning process and many different factors
SEE PTSD PAGE 3
SEE PARKING PAGE 3
PHOTO BY: THOMAS BURCHETT
SPECIAL TO THE DM
Busy weekends on campus lead to false fire alarms LAUREN LAYTON
laurenalislayton@gmail.com
Recent high school graduates now enrolled at UM may find comfort in the fact that a little piece of high school tomfoolery is sure to follow them to their college dorms: the pulling of fire alarms. Most upperclassmen have experienced the headache brought on by faux-flame-induced panic while living in their freshman dorm. Some freshmen have already had their own experiences this semester with the loud-speaker commanding their
attention, telling them to exit the building. Sophomore Kaitlan Burkhalter lived in Stewart Hall her freshman year. “I came home from class and was about to take a nap when I heard that man’s voice come on the alarm in my room,” Burkhalter said. “I was laying in bed and couldn’t believe it happened again. I was just glad it wasn’t at night this time.” Stewart Hall is an all-girl dorm and can be prone to problems triggering the fire alarm. Fire Chief Cary Sallis of Station No. 1 in Oxford said the station more
commonly deals with accidental alarms in girl dorms. Things like hairspray, hot showers and candles being blown out can set an alarm off. Sallis has been with this fire station for 25 years. Sallis said the number of false alarm calls the department gets depends on what’s going on in the community. “[On] big weekends we know we’re going to have calls…home ballgame weekends, a late game, a big game, or if Ole Miss wins,” Sallis said. “Because people are out there partying. we’ve gotten
PHOTO BY: LAUREN LAYTON
Sometimes firefighters respond to false alarms triggered by hair spray or hot showers. SEE ALARMS PAGE 3 Busy football weekends are known to lead to false fire alarms as well.