2010_09_14

The

S TUDENT P RINTZ www.studentprintz.com

SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927

Tuesday, September 14 , 2010

Q&A WITH NDERS PRESIDENT SA

Volume 95 Issue 7

ON CAMPUS

See page 4

M PHOTOS FRO AME FOOTBALL G

Freddie Lance Newman/Printz

See page 8

DITOR’S EXECUTIVE E WITH ENCOUNTER ETT JIMMY BUFF

Southern Miss alumnus Jimmy Buffett, middle, talks to USM students during his tour of campus with President Saunders.

Students meet Jimmy Buffett Ashlyn Ervin Printz Writer

studentprintz.com TODAY

92/68 TOMORROW

92/68 INDEX Calendar ...................... 2 Sudoku ......................... 2 News ............................. 3 Opinions ........................ 5 Arts & Entertainment 6 Sports ........................... 7

“I was really just in the right place at the right time,” said senior Jill Duckworth of her happenstance meeting with famous singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett on Thursday. “I grew up listening to him, so I recognized him,” said the communications major from Clinton, Miss.

THE PRINTZ TALKED TO JIMMY BUFFETT, TOO. GO ONLINE TO READ THE STORY: WWW.STUDENTPRINTZ.COM. Whether by word of mouth or the Internet, Buffett’s quiet visit soon made itself known to the campus.

“I actually heard that Jimmy Buffett was on campus via Twitter,” said Kyle Nixon.” I immediately sent a text message to one

of my best friends, Brett Haro, who is a huge parrothead.” (As any parrothead knows, Buffett’s fans call themselves parrotheads.)

The Internet, however informative, isn’t something Buffett seems so be embracing, though.

“I went in with my phone and [Buffett] was immediately like, ‘No camera phones! I don’t want you uploading these pictures to Facebook,’” said Brett Haro, a senior from New Orleans. Haro said Buffett told him no one seemed to want “old-fashioned” autographs anymore. “So I said, ‘Well, actually...’ and asked him to sign a beach ball and a Tshirt,” Haro said.

See BUFFETT, 3

BUDGET

USM undergoes examination Samantha Schott Executive Editor After President Martha Saunders’ announcement Aug. 30 of nearly $15 million in proposed budget cuts and faculty terminations, USM is “very much on the radar screen” of the national American Association of University Professors, said senior program officer of the AAUP Robert Kreiser.

“We do not have any accrediting authority; there’s no legal basis

to what we do,” Kreiser said. “But we’ve been doing it for over 100 years, and we have a very good reputation for conducting fair, balanced, objective investigations where they are warranted. Those investigations are usually taken quite seriously within the academic community because of the high quality of these reports.”

AAUP was founded in 1914 and has since served as a watchdog for university faculty across the nation, producing thorough reports on violations of tenure and academic freedom. Kreiser has worked for

the AAUP for 28 years and is also a professor of history at George Mason University in Virginia.

Kreiser said USM is in the “examination phase” of the AAUP’s process, which may or may not advance to the more serious investigation phase.

“This could lead to a formal investigation and a published report,” he said. “One course of action that we take in the most serious of cases is to authorize a formal investigation where a committee from other institutions visit the institution to conduct interviews, write up a re-

port, make an assessment…. It’s much too early to say whether we’re going down this road, but this is a matter that we take very seriously.”

Still, Kreiser said current actions at USM have caught the AAUP’s attention.

Kreiser listed the “worrisome” number of tenured faculty slated for termination, the vague criteria used to make such decisions and changes made over the past year that allow the administration more leverage in making such decisions.

See AAUP, 3

Calendar

Page 2

The

Student Printz Serving Southern Miss since 1927 Executive Editor Samantha Schott

samantha.schott@eagles.usm.edu

Web Editor Nathan Johnson

nathan.johnson@eagles.usm.edu

Managing Editor Meryl Dakin

meryl.dakin@eagles.usm.edu

Art Director Bryant Hawkins

john.hawkins@eagles.usm.edu

Chief Designer Christopher Bostick

christopher.bostick@eagles.usm.edu

Webmaster Chris Greene

chris.greene@eagles.usm.edu

News Content Advisor Chuck Cook chuck.cook@usm.edu

Writers Jonathan Andrews Earvin Hopkins Stormy Speaks Ashlyn Ervin Ashton Pittman Cade Morrow Hannah Jones Mary Margaret Halford Michelle Holowach Deonica Davis Sarah Rogers Photographers Jordan Moore Adam Rittenhouse Myesha Arrington Dusty Mercier Designers Lisa Gurley Taylor Fesenmeier

Find us online at

www.studentprintz.com The Student Printz is published every Tuesday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. Signature Offset of Hattiesburg provides printing services.

Opinions expressed in The Student Printz are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Student Printz, its publications manager, USM, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the USM Board of Student Publications.

Executive Editor 601.266.6431 News Content Advisor 601.266.4288 Advertising Manager 601.266.5188 Advertising e-mail printzad@usm.edu

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Mark Your Planner 14 15 16 17 18 Last day to drop halfsemester (8WI) classes without academic penalty All Day Men’s Golf (h) Sam Hall Intercollegiate Hattiesburg, Miss 10:00 a.m.

The Intelligent Eye - Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art 12:00 p.m.

Resume Writing Workshop Fleming Education Center Room 101

10:00 a.m.

The Intelligent Eye - Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art

10:00 a.m.

The Intelligent Eye - Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art

All Day Southern Miss Student Leader Reunion Hattiesburg, Miss.

All Day Cross Country @ Crimson Classic Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

Gulf Coast Career Night Gulf Park Campus

10:00 a.m.

The Intelligent Eye Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art

10:00 a.m.

The Intelligent Eye Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art

12:00 p.m.

University Closes Hattiesburg Campus

2:00 p.m.

Softball vs. Nicholls State Hattiesburg, Miss.

2:00 p.m.

Grand Opening for The Accelerator

4:00 p.m.

Softball vs. Jackson State Hattiesburg, Miss.

Volleyball vs. Miss. State Hattiesburg, Miss.

7:00 p.m.

2010 Centennial Arts Gala Lake Terrace Convention Center

46 Shelby Thames Drive, Hattiesburg

3:30 p.m.

Fall Convocation Bennett Auditorium

7:00 p.m.

Soccer @ Ole Miss

5:30 p.m.

Student Town Hall Meeting TCC, Ballroom I

7:00 p.m.

Oxford, Miss.

Football vs. Kansas

Hattiesbug, Miss.

7:00 p.m.

Volleyball Alumni Match Hattiesburg, Miss.

10:00 p.m.

The Intelligent Eye Reality Re-Seen by Bill Baggett Museum of Art

News In Brief:

McNair Scholars Program seeks applicants

The McNair Scholars Program is seeking undergraduate students to be a part of its program which is geared toward helping students become more interested in postgraduate studies. The program prepares students to be competitive by pairing them with faculty mentors who direct their research; holding and sending students to workshops and seminars; and preparing them for the GRE with a prep course.

To qualify, applicants must be first-generation college students and be income eligible or from an underrepresented group in graduate education with a 3.0 or higher GPA.Applications are available in McLemore Hall Room 202. For more information, call 601-266-6910. The deadline for applications is Sept. 20, 2010.

SGA to host town hall meeting to discuss cuts SGA will host a student town hall meeting from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, in Ballroom I of the Thad Cochran Center. Southern President Martha Saunders, SGA President Kasey Mitchell, members of the executive cabinet and chairpersons of the University Priorities Committee will be present to discuss the proposed university budget reductions for 2012. At the meeting, students may ask questions and voice their concerns.

Anyone who is concerned is invited to join Southern Miss President, Martha Saunders, and SGA President, Kasey Mitchell, along with members of the Executive Cabinet and the University Priorities Chairspersons for a discussion on the proposed university budget reductions for 2012.

SGA President, Kasey Mitchell, talks about her goal for this meeting.

“My goal for the event is to allow students an opportunity to get their questions answered and their concerns voiced,” Mitchell said. “I would like many students to be in attendance, but honestly even if there are only a few students there, I’d hope that those students would walk away feeling like it was a meaningful and purposeful event and get their questions answered, then I will feel that it was a success.”

President Saunders to deliver address

Faculty, staff and students are invited to the 2010 Fall Convocation, set today at 3:30 in Bennett Auditorium. The event includes a State of the University address by President Martha Saunders and a year-in-review video of campus events. Refreshments will be provided following the program. Offices on the Hattiesburg campus will close if possible, but classes will continue as scheduled. Faculty and staff are encouraged to make every effort to attend.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

News

Bryant Hawkins/Printz

Jimmy Buffett and President Martha Saunders walk into the Administration Building on Thursday.

aaup, from 1

“From what we have seen thus far, including coverage of the press in Hattiesburg, national press and also the various documents we’ve thus far gotten from some of the faculty members who’ve been targeted for layoff suggest serious grounds for concern,” he said.

Secretary of USM’s chapter of the AAUP and professor of anthropology Amy Young expressed similar concerns.

“One of the things I’m beginning to hear is what the cabinet decided to cut is very different from what the UPC recommendations were,” she said. “It’s upsetting some people who worked very hard on that committee.”

Kreiser said the AAUP has been receiving letters from USM faculty almost daily. Based on these and other information gathered, the faculty role in the decision-making process seems not to have been what it should have been, he said.

“It’s not clear, for example, how the criteria for release were decided on - who decided them, whether they’re being followed consistently from one department to another,” he said.

Based on the number of tenured faculty recommended for termination, little respect seems to have been paid to the principles of tenure, Kreiser said. He said it also appears little effort seems to have been made to help these faculty members find other positions within the university.

Young said the USM chapter has met with President Saunders and Provost Bob Lyman requesting that

“

the appeal process follow AAUP guidelines. Young said the chapter also made other requests to the two administrators.

“We have begged that they find other things to cut other than tenure and tenure track positions, only because when you do things like that you damage the reputation of the university,” Young said. “While

write the administration a letter.

“In the best of all possible worlds, these things will get happily resolved,” Kreiser said. “I’m not optimistic that that is the case. I expect this is something we’ll be dealing with in the weeks and months ahead.”

USM political science professor and member of the local AAUP chapter Allan McBride said the impact of the AAUP’s work is difficult to define.

If USM were placed on the AAUP’s list of sanctioned universities, “It just kind of puts us out there with a scarlet A on our shirt,” McBride said. “‘These people have done bad things.’ I think universities don’t like that, but it doesn’t often stop them from doing whatever they’re going to do. I guess you could call it serious but does it have a real impact on the university? I don’t know.

Young said religion is the only program she suspects could be saved because of “the outcry of the students.” Concerning the tenured faculty, she suspects only those in the religion department have a chance, she said.

“When the economy gets better and they start trying to recruit future faculty, it’s very likely will be a good chunk of good people who wouldn’t consider even applying because tenure here is so weak,” she said. “I think more tenured faculty will get cut next year if they get away with it this year.”

We have begged that they find other things to cut other than tenure and tenure track positions, only because when you do things like that you damage the reputation of the university.

-Professor AmyYoung it’s true that we’re not the only university doing this, it’s still considered very drastic.”

Kreiser said another concern are changes made within the past year that allow the administration “greater discretion for making decisions of the sort that President Saunders announced.” Kreiser said USM has not declared financial exigency, which the national AAUP website defines as an “imminent financial crisis which threatens the survival of the institution as a whole.” According to the website, the AAUP recommends that a university declare exigency before releasing such a high number of tenured faculty.

Kreiser said the AAUP is currently gathering and reviewing USM documents, while paying attention to what’s happening on campus. The next step, should the AAUP see the need to, would be to

”

Page 3 Buffett, from 1

Nixon said he didn’t get an autograph, but he was able to take a picture, which he hopes will be printed in The Printz or the yearbook.

Duckworth, who hurried to finish a quiz so she could meet Buffett, also got a picture for proof.

“I told him that my dad wasn’t going to believe I met him, so we took a picture,” Duckworth said. “Then I called my dad and pretty much my whole family.”

Many of the students who met Buffett were fans.

“I didn’t know exactly what to say,” said Denver Taylor, a senior history major from Hattiesburg and self-proclaimed parrothead. Taylor was lunching at the Fresh Food Company when he heard of Buffett’s visit and immediately called President Saunders’s office to confirm.

“I said, ‘Is Jimmy Buffett on campus right now?’” said Taylor. “She [Saunders’s secretary] said, ‘I’ll put it to you like this: I can’t say yes, but I can’t say no.’

So I took that as a yes.”

“I’d only ever seen him before in concert,” said Haro, who waited for Buffett in Vice President of Student Affairs Joe Paul’s office. “My sister is an even bigger fan than I am, so I immediately called to rub it in her face,” Haro said.

After searching the campus for Buffet, Taylor finally found him surrounded by a group of students.

“It’s like your life has just become complete,” Taylor said.

“It’s like meeting one of your heroes, someone you’ve always admired since you were a little kid. That was really one of the high points of my life.”

“We didn’t really talk much about his visit, just that he was having lunch with Dr. Saunders and that their relationship has evolved since the oil spill recovery partnership that Southern Miss has with him,” Nixon said. “I’m still not sure why he was here. I’m waiting for Martha Saunders to make an announcement or something,” Nixon said.

greek life

Girls break mold Mary Margaret Halford Printz Writer

College Panhellinic Council (CPC) sorority recruitment at USM has generally been comprised solely of white women, but this year, a few black women broke the mold and pledged CPC sororities.

Senior transfer student Latoya Thompson was one of the black women who went through recruitment and received a bid from Alpha Delta Pi on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

When asked about her reasons for going through CPC recruitment, Thompson said, “I transferred from a historically black school where we didn’t have CPC. I wanted to do something different and really show you don’t have to be white to rush a predominantly white sorority. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Thompson also said that she was very nervous going into recruitment. “I almost didn’t go,” she said.

“But I called Maria Morris and Lisa Moore in the Greek Life Office and they were so encouraging.”

Lisa Moore, assistant director of Greek Life, said that each year she encourages girls to keep an “open mind” when selecting recruits.

“I think race is a part of every [university] or high school,” she said. “There are going to be people that look different and have different backgrounds, but part of the college experience is to meet different types of people.”

Along with black women participating in recruitment as potential new members, two black women also became Gamma Rho Chi’s, or

recruitment guidance counselors.

Wendy Martin, president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., became a Gamma Chi this year, despite her membership to a National PanHellinic Council sorority, or NPHC sorority.

Martin also said she had feelings of anxiety going into CPC recruitment. “The first Gamma Chi meeting I felt really uncomfortable because I only knew a few people, and I was also worried about how my group and the rest of the CPC organizations would take to me.”

Despite her nervousness, however, she said things worked out well for her. “I think it turned out great,” she said. “Overall I had a very positive experience and that’s because the Gamma Chi team this year was so welcoming to me.”

Martin also said she had mixed feelings about the outcome of the black women that went through recruitment. “We wanted everyone to have open minds and hearts and not see color, but in some cases I’m really wondering if it was color that affected some decisions,” she said.

Brettany Payne, president of Phi Beta Sigma Sorority, Inc., also an NPHC chapter, became a Gamma Chi with Martin for recruitment.

She was very pleased with the outcome of the black women who went through CPC recruitment.

“None of the African-American girls were released from the system, and three are now happily a part of CPC sororities,” she said.

“It’s 2010! So it’s about time people are judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.”

News

Page 4

budget

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

President Saunders addresses concerns Meryl Dakin Managing Editor Editor’s note: Many questions have come up in the wake of USM budget cuts announced Aug. 30. Printz writer Meryl Dakin took several concerns posed by readers and asked President Saunders and Provost Bob Lyman to answer them.

Concern: Proposed program cuts at USM are carved in stone.

Response: USM has until June 30, 2011, to finalize program cuts, Saunders said. Until then, the executive cabinet will work to find alternative routes to save the programs on the chopping block. The executive cabinet met Monday to devise a plan for faculty who received terminal contracts and personnel from programs expected to be eliminated to make

appeals. Appeals can be made by any “initiative” set to be terminated.

“

grams and tenured faculty to be cut will be made public once the appeals

We will then retain necessary faculty or employ instructors to offer those courses for the length of time necessary to ‘teach out’ the major.

-Provost Bob Lyman

Saunders said the executive cabinet will hear appeals after the regularly scheduled executive cabinet meeting each Monday until all cases have been heard. A final list of pro-

”

process has been completed.

Concern: The administration has ignored and broken the tenure system to fit financial needs.

Response: While states like Louisiana are trying to weaken the tenure system, making it easier to fire tenured professors to help cut the budget, USM has preserved all protocol of tenure, Saunders said. Saunders said the tenure system is well established here and she has no plans to alter it during her administration.

Concern: USM is unconcerned for students whose majors have been tentatively cut. They will either choose a new major or they will leave USM. Response: The university is obliged by law to teach out the students whose majors have been cut, Saunders said.

“We will begin by assessing the needs of students in the affected majors, in terms of courses needed and faculty appropriate to teach those courses,” said Provost Bob Lyman.

“We will then retain necessary faculty or employ instructors to offer

President Martha Saunders/USM photo

those courses for the length of time necessary to ‘teach out’ the major.”

Concern: This teaching-out process will result in sub-standard educations for those affected.

Response: “We will ensure, and our accrediting agency will require, that all instructors have the necessary credentials to offer quality instruction in the affected majors,” Lyman said.

Concern: The new gateway to campus used money that should have paid for professors.

Response: Partial funding for the Centennial Gateway came from the Edward J. Langton family, who donated $200,000, according to a USM press release on March 30, 2010. Langton and his wife, Lynda, are both life members of the Southern Miss Alumni Association. The Langtons are also members of the University Foundation’s Honor Club, and Ed Langton served as president of both the Alumni As-

sociation and USM Foundation boards of directors.

Saunders said this alumni donation was specifically for the construction of an entrance gate for the centennial year. She said alumni donations cannot be redirected if they are specified for a purpose.

The second source of money for the entrance, according to the press release, came from the anonymous Gold Leaf Society, which donated $17,777.77.

Unspecified alumni donations usually go to student scholarships, Saunders said. She said, too, that unspecified donations are more common. Saunders said when she is asked where money would be best spent, her answer is always student scholarships. Since she has been in office, USM has raised $12 million in scholarship money, she said.

The office that handles alumni support is the Vice President for Advancement, Bob Pierce.

Look for Part Two of this story in Thursday’s issue.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Opinions

Page 5

ON CAMPUS

Scholasticus clausalam linguae latinae culpat Hic facta sunt,

tenure expellere (lingua, quae apud illam academiam ex quo Jeff Rogers MCMX docebatur, ex quo funPrintz Writer datio illius academiae). Professor, qui super CCX scholasticos habet, et qui meret super DC deProfessor Marcus Clarcus narios in academiam per annum? habet CL scholasticos linguae Ut Cicero inquit, “Damnant quod latinae, V scholasticos linguae non intellegunt.” Ne intellego nec graeci, et in tempo vernum paene logicum nec rationem pro illam LXX schosententiam, lasticos et continuo h i s t o r i a e Ut Cicero inquit, “Damnant illa damnare habet. Illa donec logiquod non intellegunt.” academia cam sobriam constituet offertur. Ne super DCLXXX denarios per tamen credo, illi sententiae facicursum. Ergo, Scholastici linguae unt, momentum educatio antiqlatinae ipsi academiae dinumer- uitae in academia intellegunt. ant super C denarios (ne lucra Tam fundamentae certae ad morex codicis continetur). Autem tam damnabatur, et cum illis opsalarium Clarki ex latinae est portunitas pro bono educationis XXXMX denarii solum. Professor moritur.

Clarkus est professor cum tenure, The English version of this qui meret super DC denarios in opinion is available online at academiam per annum. Ille pos- www.studentprintz.com. sit uno alio professor (paene duo) per annum dinumerare.

This was an article of opinion by Hic quaestio est, Cur constituebat illa academia Jeff Rogers, a writer for the Student professor linguae latinae cum Printz. Email questions or comments to jeff.rogers@eagles.usm.edu.

Watch the student town hall meeting streamed live on our website at

www.studentprintz.com.

RESULTS OF OUR WEB POLL NOTICE OF ENACTMENT OF UNIVERSITY PARKING RULES AND REGULATIONS

Do you think Jimmy Buffett graduated from USM? Vote your answer at studentprintz.com!

The University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg, Miss. hereby gives notice of enactment of the University’s Traffic and Parking Regulations for the academic year 2010 –2011. These rules and regulations are enacted by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, State of Mississippi, and are effective from and after Aug. 15, 2010. The full text of such rules and regulations are on file at The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Parking Management, located in McLemore Hall and the Joseph Anderson Cook Library.

Page 6

Local

Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Bianchi’s is bringing in the dough Ashlyn Ervin Printz Writer Just three years ago the building where Bianchi’s Pizzeria now stands was abandoned, occasionally inhabited by squatters and bums. “We’re interested in reinvigorating downtown,” said Tom White, co-owner of Bianchi’s and 206 Front.

White and his father Joe opened Bianchi’s and have continued to keep the restaurant very familyoriented. “The [pizelle] iron used here was Tom’s grandmother’s, and they still use her recipe,” said Charles Lester, general manager of the store.

Pictures of Joe and Tom White’s family hang on the wall, illustrating their heritage by showing pictures of the family in Italy and then, in later years, in America.

Framed news clippings of family recipes from years ago seem to foreshadow Bianchi’s, as well as provide inspiration. The names of family members even show up on the menu in the form of pizzas.

“I’d started out working at 206 Front,” said Lester, who came to Mississippi from New York.

“What really sold me about working here was the wood-burning oven. We cook almost everything in there.”

Katy Rigby, an employee since January, said the “real” ovens are rarely used. “Not unless we’re really busy, usually just during Hub Fest or an art walk,” she said.

“People really seem to like the art walks; we leave all the doors open and people just come in,” Rigby said. “I really like being downtown – the quietness; sometimes, the festivals; and I’m excited about the parade passing

through now.

“My favorite moment in the store was definitely when there was a wedding dinner here, and it was only supposed to be a small 100 or so person party and ended up having a line out the door to get in,” Lester said. “It got so packed I ended up closing down the restaurant, and they were the only ones there.”

Lester said couples are not an oddity at Bianchi’s. “We see so many couples coming here for their first dates, coming back and getting engaged here, and sometimes even having their wedding parties here,” he said.

After USM’s first game on Saturday, White mentioned their football specials. “You can get a pitcher of beer and a 16-inch pizza for $20.95. And a lot of people don’t realize we have TVs in the back to watch the games,” he said.

Dusty Mercier/Printz

Katy Rigby, an employee of Bianchi’s since January, prepares a pizza on Sunday. Bianchi’s is a locally owned pizza eatery, located in downtown Hattiesburg.

White added that they started the football specials last year.

Brandy Byrnes, a server who’s been with Bianchi’s for about a month, said she’s taken advantage of the pizza-making atmosphere.

“I usually make my own pizzas with alfredo, basil, black olives and artichoke,” she said. Byrnes said that she was a server at Chesterfield’s for two years and did not know about Bianchi’s until she got the job. “I think people just don’t really know about it,” she said.

Lester said most things are made in store. “I think we make everything except the French bread and muffaletta bread,” he said. Pizza dough is tossed and made into pizzas, and then the excess dough is cut and used to make Pizza Fitta, a beignet-style treat.

This downtown restaurant offers more than a table and a server.

“This is about food; it’s about giving people a unique, handcrafted pizza experience,” Lester said.

Sports

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Page 7

Rugby

USM rugby team begins season Cade Morrow Printz Writer Southern Miss is known for having great athletics, but one of the sports that often goes unnoticed is the rugby team.

Southern Miss’ rugby team played in a tournament recently against Mississippi State and Auburn. Although they lost both games, the team believes there are plenty of positives to look to in their effort, and they believe the future is bright for Southern Miss rugby.

Josh Neely has been a staple of the rugby team since he has been at Southern Miss. He was reluctant to join the rugby team at first, but he has fallen in love

with the sport since he joined, he said.

“I was unsure about joining because I thought I might get hurt or something,” Neely said. “Once I realized that I wouldn’t break when I got hit, I fell in love with it and I haven’t looked back since.”

Neely said he thinks that despite USM’s two losses, a lot can be said for their performance.

“MSU and Auburn are two divisions above us in rugby and they barely beat us,” Neely said.

“So we did really well.”

Neely is adamant in his belief that Southern Miss has the potential to be an elite division three rugby program this year.

“There is no team in our

Jordan Moore/Printz

Senior Barbara Foster tosses the ball to a teammate during practice on Wednesday.

golf

Jordan Moore/Printz

Kevin Bradey, a freshman business major from Brandon, Miss., completes his drive at the annual Sam H. Hall Intercollegiate Tournament on Monday.

conference that we shouldn’t beat this year,” Neely said. “We could honestly have a premier team in our division.”

The rugby team is working to be one of the best teams in their division, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of room for improvement.

Tray Ruffin has been on the team for several years, and he said he is excited about the rugby program’s future.

“It has made me a better person and made me a leader,” Ruffin said. “I used to just be a guy that followed everyone and now I’m about to become president of the rugby team and that says a lot.”

As president of the rugby team, Ruffin said he is hopeful that he can get more people interested in rugby so they can field a larger team.

“Right now we only have 15-16 consistent players on our team and it takes 15 to field a team,” Ruffin said. “If we can get 20-25 consistent guys out there to provide competition at practice, that will make this team a ton better.”

James Bueno Da Silva is a student at Southern Miss who has taken a big interest in rugby.

James said he got into rugby because in his home country of Brazil, rugby was the closest

Jordan Moore/Printz

Ali McCoy tries to maintain possession of the ball during a “ruck” drill at women’s rugby practice Wednesday.

thing they had to football.

“Rugby is more popular than football in Brazil and there are a lot more leagues and clubs,” Silva said. “Football was always one of my favorite sports and I decided to take up rugby in its place.”

There are many newcomers to the rugby team this year, but they are always looking for newcomers to join the team.

Tray Ruffin says that one reason students should consider joining the rugby team is the family atmosphere.

Sports

Page 8

football

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

USM wins home opener

Jordan Moore/Printz

Freshman running back Kendrick Hardy makes his way down the field during Saturday’s game against Prairie View A&M.

Christopher Bostick/Printz

Wide receiver DeAndre Brown fumbles during the third quarter. Brown caught for 100 yards with one touchdown when Southern Miss took on Prairie View A&M.

Bryant Hawkins/Printz

USM’s Desmond Johnson stops a run from Prairie View A&M during their matchup on Saturday.

Bryant Hawkins/Printz

The Southern Miss football team enters the field before Saturday’s game against Prairie View A&M. Bryant Hawkins/Printz

USM’s C.J. Bailey prepares to run the ball past Prairie View A&M’s Chris Adingupu during their matchup on Saturday.

Southern Miss Sports: Upcoming Games Tuesday

Wednesday

All Day Men’s Golf (Sam Hall Intercollegiate)

7:00 PM Volleyball vs. Mississippi State

Friday

7:00 PM Football vs. Kansas 7:00 PM Soccer @ Miss. State All Day Men’s Tennis Tournament at Lafayette

Southern Miss Weekend Box Score Volleyball:

Bryant Hawkins/Printz

USM’s C.J. Bailey powers through Prairie View A&M defense Chris Adingupu, left, and Deddrick Jones, right, during Saturday’s game.

See more photos online at www.studentprintz.com

9/10 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette W, 3-1 9/10 vs. Mississippi L, 3-2 9/12 vs. Samford W, 3-0

Soccer:

9/12 vs. Jackson State W, 6-0

Football:

9/11 vs Prairie View A&M W, 34-7