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MISSISSIPPIAN
Celebrating Our Hundredth Year | The Student Newspaper
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Oxford prepares for first Sunday alcohol sales
1911 |
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this week BISHOP HALL
OXFORD FILM PREMIER: JEWS AND BASEBALL The University of Mississippi Jewish Community will be playing a free screening of the new documentary film, “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story.” The film explores the connection between Jewish Americans and baseball, our nation’s most iconic institution. More than a film about sports, it is a story of immigration, assimiliation, bigotry, heroism, the passing on of traditions and the shattering of stereotypes. 3:30 p.m. - 5:10 p.m.
inside OPINION
FINALS
ALEX EDWARDS | The Daily Mississippian
This Mother’s Day will be the first time alcohol will be sold on a Sunday in Oxford.
BY DONICA PHIFER Online Editor
For the first time on a Sunday, you can take your mother to drink alcohol at a restaurant in Oxford. May 8 marks Mother’s Day, the first national holiday to fall on a Sunday since the Sunday alcohol sales law was passed by the city. Matt Smith, junior hospitality management major, said he plans to go out and drink Sunday. Although Smith is taking advantage of the new law, many restaurants on the Square, including the John Currenceowned Boure, City Grocery and Snackbar, will remained closed.
Currence’s fourth restaurant, Big Bad Breakfast, will be open but will not be serving alcohol. Restaurants that are open on regular Sundays will remain so with the addition of alcoholic beverages to the menu. “We’re not really going to be doing anything different than on a normal day, but we are looking forward to the opportunity for people who want to have a drink to come in and have one,” said Rob Carpenter, general manager for South Depot Taco Shop. Other businesses are following the same concept, opening for normal business hours but not preparing for large crowds. “We aren’t expecting that much of a fluctuation because of
alcohol sales,” said Ross Green, general manager for the Rib Cage. Ward VI Alderman Brad Mayo said he had no expectations for Sunday sales, but that the current law was the result of a compromise. “It’s not what everyone wanted,” Mayo said. “Some wanted Sunday sales every Sunday, and others didn’t want sales at all, but this is the compromise that we reached.” The push for Sunday sales in Oxford began in February 2010, when Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday and the Restaurant Association pushed for an exception to the no-Sunday sales law, Mayo said.
While the city granted the exception, the Mississippi State Tax Commission denied the request. The summer months in Oxford brought campaigns and open forums for both sides of the Sunday sales issue. “I just don’t agree with how they went about doing it by having special days or whatever,” Smith said. “I just think it’s all or nothing. I think it’s good for business owners in general.” The Oxford Board of Aldermen passed the law Dec. 7, 2010, and it was approved by the state in January 2011. With the adoption of the law, restaurants can now sell wine and liquor from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
LIFESTYLES
IN REVIEW: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Superintendent’s sudden death encourages OSB to improve BY LUKE TAYLOR The Daily Mississippian
Those who knew her described Oxford School District superintendent Kim Stasny as a tireless worker who had great compassion for the well-being of the Oxford community. Stasny, 55, died May 4 after an unsuccessful surgery to remove a brain tumor. “The Oxford School District has lost a wonderful educator, administrator and friend,” acting superintendent Brian Harvey said. Stasny was named superintendent for the Oxford School District in March 2009.
She previously served as superintendent in Bay Saint Louis where Hurricane Katrina devastated every school, destroyed four campuses and left two campuses with serious damage. Stasny lead the way to reassemble the school system in 70 days after Hurricane Katrina. Eighty percent of her staff was homeless, and four out of six campuses were severely or completely destroyed. For her efforts, Stasny was named Mississippi’s Superintendent of the Year in 2008. “Her life of service to family, friends, employees, and most of all, children, is truly one that we should all aspire,” Harvey said.
Oxford School Board president Buddy Chain said in the short time Stasny spent as superintendent of the Oxford School District, she had numerous accomplishments. “She was a pleasure for all to work with and will be sorely missed,” he said. Among her accomplishments with the Oxford School District were an emphasis on instruction and an improvement in the teacher evaluation process. Both internal and external communication within the district was improved, a new discipline hearing procedure developed and morale throughout the district improved during her tenure.
One of her most notable contributions was a comprehensive analysis of the future classroom needs of the district, which resulted in the school board’s decision to seek a bond issue to build a new high school. Chain said Stasny provided outstanding leadership in the bond campaign to provide funds for the construction. “God used Kim’s life to enrich the lives of those around her,” Harvey said. “She will continue to serve as an inspiration to all of us that knew her. We will all carry the responsibility of honoring her life of service with our own actions.”
SPORTS
Ole Miss baseball hosts No. 3 South Carolina