ENTERTAINMENT
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Thursday, February 5, 2009
OPINIONS
Our columnists discuss the proposed stimulus packages on page 4.
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NATIONAL SIGNING DAY ‘09
Volume 93, Issue 37
USM host for month of ‘empowerment’ Groups across city provide events Meryl Dakin Printz Writer
David N. Jackson/Printz
Golden Eagles Head Coach Larry Fedora signs a T-shirt for Ashley Ulerich during signing ceremony where Southern Miss welcomed 22 new players. See more on page 8.
Deadline approaching for climate commitment Lesley Walters News Editor
As a part of the climate commitment President Martha Saunders signed nearly a year ago, the university is quickly approaching its deadline to account for all of its greenhouse gas emissions. The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) requires that its signatories develop a plan to “achieve climate neutrality.” Before a university can meet that goal, however, it must be aware of what its current contribution to climate change actually is within a year of signing the ACUPCC. To do this, the Office of Sustainability has enlisted the help of a local physicist and several undergraduate students to complete an inventory of carbon emissions on Southern Miss campuses. The first step was to establish a “campus carbon calculator” said Larry Lee, chief officer of sustainability. He found a model for the CCC used by students at Stetson University in Florida as part of a capstone course. “I approached Dr. Rex Gandy and he took off with the idea –
created a class and took ownership of the process,” Lee said. “I am terribly grateful to not only have a scientist overseeing the process, but also our dean of Science and Technology. This is truly a success story.” Gandy, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy, said the university began offering a “special topics” undergraduate course to help track carbon emissions on campus. During the fall semester, around 10 undergraduates led by a biology graduate student, Bridget Napier, completed an emissions inventory of the Hattiesburg campus, Gandy said. This semester, Napier is leading a class of four undergraduates to do the same on the Gulf Coast campus. “It requires a lot of hard work and the gathering of a tremendous amount of information,” Gandy said. “The university community has been very supportive of the efforts of these students.” The students were required by the ACUPCC to track all emissions on campus, including those from electricity, heating, and commuter and air travel. Lee agreed that the challenge facing these students is
In observance of Black History Month, USM is hosting an array of educational, recreational and entertainment programming throughout the month of February, centered on the theme “The Empowerment of the Black Man and Woman.” Tiffany LabonSims, coordinator of the Office of Minority Affairs, is just one of the many organizers of this month’s events who hope students learn and appreciate more about black contribution to American society. “This year’s programs are designed to inspire all members of the campus community-administrators, faculty, staff and students to go forth and empower not only themselves, but those around them,” Labon-Sims said. The City of Hattiesburg will host its 10th annual fundraising banquet in celebration of Black History Month at the Jesse L. Brown Lodge No. 1450, beginning at 6 p.m. on Feb. 21. Contact Marshall Bell at (601) 583-4912 for more information. Mayor Johnny Dupree will be the guest of honor, and shared his personal view that “life should be celebrated – every day, every week, every month – of Americans.” Mayor Dupree will also sit as one of four panelists at the upcoming roundtable discussion: “Is racism dead since the United States elected an African-American President?” Erik Fleming, former U.S. House candidate, Melvin Mack, mayor of Laurel, and Dr. Curtis Austin, USM director of the Center for
Black Studies, will also serve on the discussion panel. The College Democrats, hosts of the discussion, invite all students to participate Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Union Hall of Honors. Melissa Carpenter, secretary of Student Services and College Democrats adviser, explained the format of the forum. “Students are preparing the discussion points, but there’s also going to be a segment where the audience will be able to ask questions,” she said. She added that this will be the first planned roundtable discussion on such a topic. “It’ll be up to the students to continue it, but they really wanted to start it during Black History Month,” she said. Also included in the events lineup is the Civil Rights exhibition at the downtown Train Depot. The “Hattiesburg Remembers the Freedom Summer of 1964” exhibit began Wednesday and will run through Feb. 28. It will feature original photographs taken by Herbert Randall, Jr. These photographs, taken during the summer of 1964, illustrate Hattiesburg during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. VisitHattiesburg, The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries, the African-American Military History Museum, and the City of Hattiesburg are sponsoring the exhibit. The exhibit is free to the public and will be open Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information, call the Lake Terrace Convention Center at 601.268.3220.
Heart month kicks off James Prillhart Printz Writer
David N. Jackson and Jesse Bass/Illustration/Printz
The ACUPCC requires that its signatories develop a plan “to acheive
climate neutrality.” impressive. “Our students are learning very real skills, something that will benefit them greatly in the future, and receiving academic credit for doing so,” Lee said. “How many students can put on their résumé, ‘completed carbon emissions research for an entire division-1, doctorategranting research institution?’” Since the ACUPCC requires an updated report of carbon emissions for the university every other year, there will be more opportunities for students to participate in the study in the future.
More than adding an item to the “accomplishments” section of their résumés, however, the work of these students will help Southern Miss meet its goals and may influence other universities around the country “embark on similar initiatives,” Gandy said. “Just going through the process of carbon counting will raise general awareness of the issue of climate change,” Gandy said. “In the long run, this effort will lay the groundwork for the university to significantly reduce its carbon footprint.”
February is American Heart Month, and with poor health and obesity common challenges for Mississippians, some organizations are urging awareness and education of heart-health. USM President Martha Saunders recently sent a campus-wide e-mail urging that student, faculty and staff wear red T-shirts every Friday during the month to promote heart-health awareness. The Office of Human Resources on campus has already distributed several red T-shirts to faculty and staff. But awareness of heart disease does not by itself lower a person’s risk. Jodi Tate, a health education promotion coordinator at Student Health Services, said
heart health can be maintained by implementing a few lifestyle choices. She suggested Saunders exercising regularly and eating healthy food that is low in cholesterol and saturated fat. Food items that bear the American Heart Association symbol have been screened and verified to be low in saturated fat and cholesterol, according to its Web site. Any exercise is helpful, Tate said, but cardiovascular workouts in particular can improve your heart’s health and help you lose weight. The AHA suggests swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, See HEART page 3
Single students invited to speed-date for scientific study Lesley Walters News Editor
Tonight, 20 single Southern Miss students will participate in the first of several speed-dating sessions being offered throughout the spring semester – all in the name of science. Virgil Zeigler-Hill, an assistant professor of psychology, is one of the faculty supervisors of the speed-dating sessions.
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He said the free quasi-dating service is actually an experiment being used to study first impressions in romantic attraction. Any student can sign up for the sessions, which take place in Owings-McQuagge Hall Room 111 from 6 to 8 p.m. most Thursdays for the rest of the semester. Each student will participate in 10 four-minute dates and fill out evaluations of
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their partners. After the session, some students may even be matched with other compatible participants. And just in time for Valentine’s Day. “That’s more of a coincidence, to be honest,” ZeiglerHill said. He and his fellow faculty supervisor, David Marcus, both came across a study conducted at Northwestern University a
few years ago and found the idea interesting, but “neither of us had done much with it,” he said. “Then Katie Payne, a graduate student, came along and was interested in doing this for her dissertation,” he said. “Then she designed everything, and she is really the driving force behind it.” A fourth-year doctoral student of clinical psychology, Payne
said the main focus of the study is to determine how personality traits affect attraction. She said the speed-dating method is different from other previous studies because it places participants in “real-life circumstances.” “Research on initial romantic attraction in the past has just been in a laboratory,” she said, “and it’s usually been strangers kind of evaluating photos or information and never actually
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meeting the people.” The dating sessions will take place in a classroom, Payne said, but it will look nothing like a laboratory. She said the room would be decorated to feel more comfortable with mood-music and dim lights. Payne said she will gather data from the evaluations that participants fill out between
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