University of Mississippi Dining Services

                                   By Ben Von Drehle and Jackson Boyd

Food is a necessity. It is important for everyone to receive the proper nutrients in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Mississippi has been considered one of the most obese states in the country for multiple years. Along with this, 2011 has seen more cases of illness caused by contaminated foods such as, food poisoning and the E-Coli virus. Is enough being done to provide safe and healthy foods to students at the University of Mississippi?

College students are known to put on weight during these unhealthy years of their lives by resorting to cheap fast food and binge drinking. This kind of lifestyle is not sustainable to staying fit and healthy. At the University of Mississippi there are two main food services that students ultimately depend on for their food needs. These two dining services are the Johnson Commons and the Student Union.

            The Student Union is comprised of many different food options, such as Subway, Chik-fil-a, Zoca, Bleeker Street, as well as many others. The Johnson Commons is more of a buffet style system that provides a salad bar, pizza buffet, desserts, grilled foods, etc.

The Student Union at The University of Mississippi

            Students who take advantage of these two food services pay a large amount of money at the beginning of each year so that they can eat whenever and wherever they want to, expecting to be served non contaminated foods.

            With this large amount of money comes the expectation that students will eat well. Students expect to eat well, and eat a lot. This means that food is not to be served after the expiration date, preserved properly, and all inspection grades comply with the state’s health department regulations.

Students seem to constantly choose the Student Union over the Johnson Commons because complaints of food poisoning. Alex Sands, a freshmen who dines on campus regularly, said,

“I choose to avoid the JC, I don’t always know if the food being served is fresh or if it has been sitting out for multiple hours.”

            When asked about inspections, food grades, and the re-using of food, Marketing Programs Manager, Joshua Halliday said,

“The J.C. is inspected on a regular basis in compliance with health department regulations as are all Ole Miss Dining locations.”

Students at Chick-Fil-A in the Union

On the topic of the current grade received by the J.C. in its most recent Health Department Inspection, Halliday said, “We have received an A for our current health department score and are in compliance with all health department regulations.”

When touching on the subject of re-using food, Halliday stated, “We make every effort to minimize waste in our operations by keeping accurate production and consumption records. In fact, we have very little waste in our campus locations. Our chefs have been trained on different techniques to monitor and reduce food waste.” The Student Union has taken multiple steps in making their facility better. The Subway on the top floor of the Union has been a huge hit with students. It is always fresh and it stays open late, providing a healthy alternative for students to eat a good meal if they get hungry at a late hour.

            Food quality and nutrition in the life of a growing early adult is vital. People can gain severe eating habits in the time that they are in college, which can ultimately haunt them for the rest of their lives.

            Upon our investigation, it was a vital point to get the opinions of those who work in the J.C. and the Student Union just to see what they might think about the food that is being served in their perspective places of work. Should more money and attention be put on the quality of food that is being served? What can we as an institution do to ensure that students will not get sick if they were to eat what is offered here at the University of Mississippi?

            When asked how important nutrition awareness for students at Ole Miss, Halliday said, “Ole Miss dining continues to strive to provide more nutritional information and healthier dining options. We have introduced nutritional identifiers in Johnson Commons highlighting nutritional information as well as launched other nutritional communication tools. We have also introduced ‘Toss it Up’ in the Union based on student feedback for a salad bar option.”

There will always be complaints when it comes to how good or bad the food services are on campus, it is easiest to take a poll. Asking a handful of students what they think of the dining services here on campus is the most beneficial way of finding out the general consensus.

            Ten students were asked their opinions on what they thought of the food provided by the University of Mississippi Dining services. They were also asked which place on campus they preferred to eat at, the J.C., or the Student Union. Surprisingly, more preferred the Johnson Commons then was originally expected. The final tally came out to be 6 students that enjoyed the Student Union, while 4 students preferred the Johnson Commons.

            Adam Liberto, a junior and Criminal Justice major at Ole Miss said that he always chooses the Student Union over the J.C. mainly because of the quality of food and the cleanliness of the Union.

            Liberto said, “The surroundings of the Union are more inviting in so many more ways than that of the J.C. The selection may not be ‘buffet style’ like the J.C. but the selections like Chik-fil-a and Subway always sounds better to me.”

            Another comment that stood out was from recent graduate Harrison Hunt.

Hunt, who was at one time a victim of food poisoning from the J.C. insisted that after his first month of school he refused to set foot in the Johnson Commons due to the way he felt after he ate their food. He said, “The selection does not seem fresh and the crowd that usually gathers there is relatively uninviting.”

Those who were in favor of the J.C. include sophomore Journalism major Meghan Pettigrew.

Pettigrew said, “I like the variety of food offered in the J.C. They offer a huge salad bar, which is something that is very appealing to my friends and me. It is never too crowded and I never really have to wait in any lines, which is something that is also very appealing to me.”

All these critiques and opinions that were heard allowed for a general overview of what students really think about what they are paying so much for, in terms of food.

Though there are all these varying opinions about the food on campus, that is not stopping the University of Mississippi Dining Services from trying to improve their product on a daily basis, as well as the way they go about serving that product.

It was pivotal to make a visit to the University of Mississippi Student Health Center to get the reaction of those who experience first hand sickness of all types, including those that have to do with the intake of contaminated foods.

When Director of University Health Services and Nurse Practitioner Barbara Collier was asked about the frequency that she and those she works with deal with food related illnesses, she said, “We see a lot of food related illnesses all year long, however it can not be determined where the students got the illness.”

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, We have seen more cases of food illness in Lafayette County for 2011 than recent past. In fact, 2011 has seen a total of 129 cases, not including the months of November or December. This is the highest number of reported cases since 2003.

            The University of Mississippi Dining Services have the tough task of feeding students and faculty alike, as well as going about each step the right way. Knowing what to eat and how it can benefit you is a knowledge that the Dining Service is striving to make known to those who consume their product.

Word Count:1328

                                                         Side Bar Story

Mississippi has always been able to pride itself on being one of the fattest states in the country. For the past six years, Mississippi has ranked first in obesity rates and shows little intention to improving this statistic.

            Fried or Grilled? For people in Mississippi this should not even be a question. Obesity ratings have gradually increased everywhere across the country, but the south can claim nine out of the top ten fattest states.

           Obesity can lead to diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers and is a top concern for health officials in the state of Mississippi. According to the Mississippi State department of health, the leading cause for obesity is unhealthy dietary behaviors and physical inactivity.

According to npr.org, roughly 1 n 3 adult Americans are obese now. In Mississippi, 44 percent of kids are either overweight or obese. And 7 of 10 adults in the state are either overweight or obese.

           In this NPR article, Mississippi resident Sandra Shelson was interviewed about this problem that has literally consumed the state of Mississippi.

           Sheldon, in the article said, “For the sixth year in a row we remain the most obese state in the most obese country in the world, I guess making Mississippi the most obese place in the world.”

           This disease of obesity leads to other long-term issues that can eventually be life threatening. The most common diseases that stem from obesity are diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Representative for Mississippi, Steve Holland (D) who once weighed 359 pounds chimed in on the situation by saying, “We have a culture of easy living, good eating with fatback and lard and things like that. We like to sit on our porch, and we like adult beverages, we like our fellowship and that kind of thing, and when you put all that together over generations, you’ve got a bad health problem.”

           The issue of obesity has been brought to the forefront and is something that is a major issue in this state.  It is something that makes this state look glutinous and a state without self-control.

Banned Tobacco on College Campuses

Gjoko Dungevski
Kelton Brooks
Brandon Red
Word Count:1201

Students Voice Their Opinions

A new influx of college campuses around the country are deciding to make their grounds a smoke free zone. According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF), as of Oct. 7, 2011, there are at least 586 smoke free campuses across the U.S.

Different opinions flare at the University of Mississippi with the thought of their beloved campus becoming smoke free. As of today, Ole Miss is limited to “smoking zones.” These zones restrict students to be able to smoke in specific areas around campus.

While many might embrace a smoke free campus, a few outspoken Ole Miss students share their thoughts on the matter.

When Tyler Ferrell was asked about the new policy of creating UM campus smoke-free, he said “it’s not good, I don’t like it.” When he is with friends, though, he said that even then they use the designated smoking areas.

“I will stand up to it if the ban is enforced,” Tyler said. “I pay my taxes to the school and I’m entitled to have a designated smoking area.”

Unlike Ferrell, Sharon Miller, is a non-smoker. However, Miller sides with Ferrell on their disagreement of the potential school policy to become smoke free.

“Making campus a ‘smoke-free campus’ is infringing on people’s rights,” Miller said. “It’s not about smoking, it’s about being able to do what you’re entitled to.

Miller feels Ole Miss shouldn’t punish everyone because they have a lack of trust in a few individual students. Instead, she claims Ole Miss should embrace and encourage a person’s rights.

“Ole Miss should be proud that they are respecting people’s freedom to exercise their right to smoke,” Miller said.

Igor Zlatojev is a non-smoker, but believes the policy Ole Miss has in place at the current time is best suited for him.

“I believe that the designated smoking areas are far enough from the buildings,” Zlatojev said. “They need to be respected, but not removed.”

Zlatojev explains that Ole Miss makes decisions based on a few biased people.

“If people are allowed to drink on the grove at tailgating, then they deserve the right to smoke,” Zlatojev said. “Will they stop giving food to obese people just because of their physical appearance?”

Zlatojey, Miller and Ferrell agreed that if the university decided to completely ban smoking they’d stand together and protest Ole Miss‘ decision.

But why is Ole Miss, like so many other universities, debating a smoke free campus? One obvious reason is the negative health effects smoking has on the human body.

SMOKING KILLS

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking is the leading preventable cause of death.

The CDC reports that, on average, a smoker dies 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers. They die from cancer, heart disease, and lung diseases such as emphysema, chronic airway obstruction and bronchitis.


Kevin Cozart has seen firsthand what smoking can lead to. Both Cozart’s grandmother and father died from cancer.

“I have sensitivity to a lot of smells,” Cozart said. “People don’t seem to care and get far enough from the building entrances, so I totally support the ban on on-campus smoking.”

Sandra Bentley, director of student health pharmacy explains the importance of education on the negative effects of smoking.

“Smoking has many side-effects,” said Bentley. “From minor cosmetic effects such as yellowing of the fingers, teeth, appearance of wrinkles, to major cardiovascular effects and problems on the brain and lungs.”

She also added that secondary smokers are more at risk than primary smokers because of the “hot” smoke that is exhaled by a smoker. “It does a lot of damage to someone who’s a non-smoker,” she said. “It’s as destructive as being a primary smoker.”

Although she was unable to retrieve any numbers regarding the current smoker-population on campus, Bentley said that approximately five years ago 30 percent were smokers.


BODILY EFFECTS OF TOBACCO

Unfortunately for current smokers, a smoke free campus could mean future withdrawal symptoms while on campus.

Nicotine, the ingredient that causes the fatal addiction, has a crucial effect on the brain.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the typical smoker will take 10 puffs on a cigarette over a period of five minutes that the cigarette is lit. As a result, a person who smokes about 1 1/2 pack (30 cigarettes) daily gets 300 “hits” of nicotine each day.

A variety of different brain chemicals are altered each time you smoke. However, if a smoker decides to drop the habit, the reduced nicotine intake will disturb the balance of the central nervous system, causing withdrawal symptoms.

Smokers at the University of Mississippi could possibly experience withdrawal symptoms because of the smoke free policy on campus.


These symptoms include:
· tobacco craving
· irritation
· anger
· increased appetite
· weight gain
· concentration problems
· depression
· tiredness
· constipation
· insomnia
· anxiety

The student health center has established programs that help students to quit smoking.

The cost of the program depends on the medication one requires. For example, the nicotine patches would cost 25 dollars every two weeks. The treatment would last for about three months, but it doubles the chances to quit smoking, according to Bentley.

Furthermore, the inability to quit smoking could end up causing smokers thousands of dollars more throughout their lives.

Nowadays, a pack of cigarettes cost more than $5 a box, with some states tacking on additional taxes that raise the price.

For example, New York City’s local taxes have pushed the cost of a pack to about $10.

According to befreesd.com, a person who smokes a pack a day burns about $31.50 per week, or $1,638 per year. A three pack a day smoker spends nearly $5,000 a year on cigarettes.


SMOKERS CAUSE EXTRA LITTER PICK UP

Health reasons aren’t the only positive outcome of a smoke free campus. Several universities have recently banned smoking on campus because of litter problems.

According to Treehugger, at least 4.5 trillion filter-tipped cigarettes are deposited annually somewhere in the world. Most smokers believe cigarettes are biodegradable, but they aren‘t.

The University of Mississippi-Desoto, which became a tobacco free campus in August, has seen improvement in litter since the ban of smoking according to Chris McCommon.

McCommon joined the housekeeping department back in the winter of 2008. He feels the amount of outside clean-up has decreased significantly this semester.

“It’s less to pick up for the workers,” McCommon said. “There were several cigarette butts or smokeless tobacco that was lying around.”

According to McCommon, the campus stayed “junked up” with excessive cigarette butts.

“Some of the workers don’t even have to deal with spending time to clean up cigarette butts anymore,” McCommon said. “It seems like everything is looking up as far as cleaning up.”

Isaac Moore, a former grounds crew member of Ole Miss-Desoto talks about the inconvenience of picking up cigarette butts here.

Here at Ole Miss, the amount of trash and litter cigarettes accumulated is a serious concern for Olivia Waggoner.

“As long as smokers go to the designated smoking areas and don’t throw their cigarette butts around, it doesn’t bother me,” Waggoner said. “We have a clean campus and we should keep it that way.”


**** A Side Bar Note***

Word Count: 365

As a faculty member of Ole Miss-Desoto campus, Chris McCommon is figured to abide by campus policies. Unfortunately for McCommon, the Desoto campus is tobacco free and he enjoys an occasional mouthful of chewing tobacco.

“It’s taking away the freedom of people trying to smoke or the people that have habits,” McCommon said. “The campus is trying to say ‘hey, break your habit.’”

McCommon admits that while students are forced not to use any tobacco products on campus, that some faculty members actually sneak around to certain parts of campus to have a quick fix to their addiction.

“We have to be very secretive if we’re going do anything,” McCommon said. “It’s a lot easier to get caught now then when they first made the campus tobacco free.”

Kale Boyd, a student and part time maintenance worker at Ole Miss-Desoto feels it’s unfair to students and other faculty members that stick to campus policy.

“I find it hypercritical,” Boyd said. “Other faculty members don’t do it as much, but they’re a select few that don’t abide by the rules.”

Boyd explained that a certain group of faculty members would sneak down to the basement where all the other workers have break and smoke cigarettes.

A faculty source that requested to stay nameless in fear of occupational repercussions stated that the very people forcing the issues, campus police, are the ones sneaking around, smoking in secret.

“They’ll be outside where students can’t see them smoking cigarettes. If you see them they’ll act like nothing is wrong,” the faculty source said. “But as soon as they see a student or even a specific faculty member using tobacco they poke their chest out and threaten to write them a ticket.”

McCommon says he notices particular faculty members becoming “more snappy quicker” when they’ve be unable to have their nicotine.

“I can do with out it,” McCommon said. “I think other faculty members are really having a problem with it.”

Boyd emphasized he didn’t mind if the campus was tobacco free or not, he’d just like to see everyone treated equally.

“I think if you’re going have a tobacco free campus, it should be enforced on everyone,” Boyd said.

A Woman’s Decision or the Governments Decision?

Rebecca Ralph

Jasmine Pratt

Courtney Foster

Jour 377

1,386 words

A Woman’s Decision or the Governments Decision?

Initiative 26 could have stemmed from numerous issues that citizens recognized as a problem. Some of the issues that may have pushed citizens to be in favor of Initiative 26 is the high number of teen pregnancy rates in Miss., the abortion center in Miss., and the fact that public funds are used for in-state abortions in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest, or fetal abnormality. 

Initiative 26 would have amended the state Constitution to define life or to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof. According to the New York Times, opponents who led the protest said the proposal would have outlawed all abortions, including cases of rape and incest, even if the mother’s life was in danger, and would have barred morning-after pills and certain contraception; and could have limited in vitro fertility procedures. Understanding the history of pregnancy and abortion rates in Miss., might help one to better understand the derivation of Initiative 26.

Contraceptive use is a key predictor of women's recourse to abortion according to an online article by the Guttmacher Institute. The article also said the group of American women who are at risk of experiencing an unintended pregnancy, but are not using contraceptives, account for almost half of all abortions in Miss. In addition, many of these women did not think they would get pregnant or had concerns about contraceptive methods. The remainders of abortions that occur among the much larger group of women in Miss., were using contraceptives in the month they became pregnant. Many of these women report difficulty using contraceptives consistently, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

“Abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures for women in the United States, pregnancy counselor,” Mary Turner* said. Turner also said she agrees with our state’s requirements to fund abortions in those instances.

Fewer than five percent of women obtaining abortions experience a complication, and the risk of death associated with abortion is about one-tenth that associated with childbirth.

In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman, in consultation with her physician, has a constitutionally protected right to choose abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. In 1992, the Court upheld the basic right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, it also expanded the ability of the states to enact all but the most extreme restrictions on women's access to abortion.

The most common restrictions in effect are parental consent requirements for minors, state-sponsored counseling and waiting periods, and limitations on public funding. In Miss., 57,000 women of reproductive age became pregnant in 2008. According to the latest statistics, Wright said 79 percent of these pregnancies resulted in live births and five percent in induced abortions. According to the latest Fox online report, Miss. now has the highest teen pregnancy rate.

“Last year, eight of my friends in high school became pregnant, and none of them were taking contraceptives,” Sabrina Gale said.

Gale is a student from Jackson, Miss. Miss.'s rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2008, 2,770 women obtained abortions in Miss. Abortions in Miss. represent two percent of all abortions in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Look at some more of CDC’s statistics here.

In Miss., as of Jan. 2011, the parents of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided, a woman must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided. Counseling must also be provided in person and must take place before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two separate trips to the facility. In addition, public funding is available for Miss. abortions only in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest or fetal abnormality.

Where Did They Go Wrong?

There’s an old saying that in polite social circles one should never discuss religion, politics, or sex. Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate and sex education is on its way to disappearing from most schools. Now, is an appropriate time to talk about sex and possibly find solutions to the problems.

Planned Parenthood in Miss. and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) have partnered to take a closer look at the information students are receiving in public schools, primarily teenagers. The messages delivered are by school-based, community-based, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs reaching youth across the state of Mississippi.

“We found that Mississippi school districts and the Mississippi Department of Human Services abdicate their responsibility to provide medically accurate information to students and instead rely on failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programming. Based on the evidence detailed in the report, a fundamental change is needed on how Mississippi educates its young people and prepares them to be sexually healthy adults, according to a recent SIECUS online article found here.

The National Vital Statistics Systems current data are from the 2008 preliminary file. All teenage births, of all races, 15 to 19 years of age, consisted of the most teenage girls becoming pregnant. If the Initiative 26 ballot had passed, leaving teenage girls with no birth control options, one could conclude that the number of teenage pregnancies might have increased.

The Department of Human Services, which is generally a trusted and accurate organization in each state, plays a large role in publicizing effective programming and information to teenagers and young adults; in addition, the Department of Human Service also provides teenagers and young adults with their accurate health information.

Mississippi’s state law does not require schools to teach sexual education. Many public schools in the state do not provide students information on prevention from HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or pregnancy prevention. However, if schools choose to teach any of these topics, state law requires that they stress abstinence-only-until-marriage. Students are therefore at risk of receiving inaccurate and biased instruction, which leaves young people at risk.

Felicia Williams, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Ala. and Miss., said “the state needs to focus on teen pregnancy prevention at earlier ages, while addressing Initiative 26.”

Parents and teachers are also aware of the high pregnancy ratings and lack of education teens receive. Many parents and teachers may desire that schools provide sex-education to students. However, some parents and teachers may not think sex education should be taught in school.

“I don’t think it should be frowned upon and pushed aside. Our children need to know about it and the side effects. Sometimes, it’s better if a child hears it from someone other than their parent because then they know it’s not just their annoying mom or dad trying to have ‘that talk’ with them. They can hear it more than one time and hopefully have it embedded in their brains,” Heather Graham said.

Graham is a single mother of one child. Graham said she thinks sex education should be taught in public schools and private schools.

 “I want to teach my own children when I think it is an appropriate time to talk about it. Sex is a tough and touchy topic and I fully think parents know what is best for their child and when it is best to educate them about sex. It also interferes with some family’s religious views,” Wright *said.

Wright is the mother of two teenagers and a science teacher in Jackson, Miss. Wright said she does not agree with sex education being taught in public schools.

According to an online article by SIECUS, some researchers suggest increasing communication and coordination between the Mississippi Departments of Health, Education, and Human Services in order to update the health education standards. Researchers also suggested that it would be beneficial to provide curricula, public health resources, and teacher training to school districts that choose to provide sex education.

Initiative 26 Video Jour 377

Courtney Foster

12/2/11

955 words

(sidebar story)

MTV’s Teen Series: Is Fertility Worth the Fame?

 

Recently, MTV has been accused of glamorizing indecent sexual behavior among teenagers. This glamorization has grown to the point that teenage females have been attempting to get pregnant in order to appear on the MTV series “Teen Mom” “Teen Mom 2,” and “16 and Pregnant”. The network has recently gone a step further in making sex, drugs and alcohol use acceptable, if not expected, behavior among teens as in the series “Skins.”

According to The Paly Voice, the shows present young female American teens in situations that many teen drama predecessors have covered. The shows are centered on teens having premarital sex and leading destructive lifestyles. However, the public outcry is due to the fact that it seems these girls are not ashamed to share their personal obstacles of dealing with teen motherhood with the entire country.

Bailey Cassidy, writer for The Paly Voice states that “The publicity and attention that these young girls generate from the media essentially glamorizes teenage pregnancy. Years ago, teenage pregnancy was portrayed as shameful.”   

An episode of “16 and Pregnant” that debuted on December 28, 2011, second time mother, Markai Durham is faced with the decision to keep, abort, or give up their unborn child for adoption. Making the decision to terminate her pregnancy, the teenage mother excused her decision telling MTV:

“God gave me 3 paths to take abortion, adoption, or raising this baby along with my first born child. I chose this path and I think about how stressing things would have been if I hadn’t made the one I’ve made.”

The Republican National Coalition for Life touches base on the series declaring that these mothers are protesting that they are doing the right thing by getting abortions.

“Though MTV has promised that its reality shows will show ‘all sides’ of the teen pregnancy and abortion issue, it hardly seems to be living up to that pledge,” the RNC for Life said.

The pilot episode of the “Skins” series starts with one of the main characters making numerous phone calls in an attempt to find a girl for his friend to lose his virginity to. These calls eventually lead to a plan that involves buying a large amount of marijuana and then re-selling the drug at a party.

“Skins” does not differ much in that nothing negative comes from these wrong doings. No arrests are made, no life lessons are learned, and no regret is felt. Instead, the teens that have broken laws without care end up strengthening their friendships and enjoying a life that is seemingly free of consequences or repercussions.

These shows have even raised concerns regarding child pornography and teen pregnancy laws. The New York Times describes child pornography as “any visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” The characters in the show, most of which are under 18, are shown simulating sex. So can MTV get in trouble for child pornography? Even if MTV was pressured into censoring episodes of the show, could they get in trouble for having shot the footage in the first place?

The public opposition to these new series has affected the network’s marketing. The New York Times states that one of MTV’s most consistent advertisers, Taco Bell, has announced that it will pull it’s commercials from any future episodes of “Skins” in an effort to disassociate itself with the series. MTV is not only under parental pressure over its new series, it is also under financial pressure. If more advertisers join Taco Bell in its boycott of “Skins,” MTV will have to make a decision as to whether or not these series are worth broadcasting.

The Times’ quotes a Taco Bell spokesman stating “We advertise on a variety of MTV programs that reach our core demographic of 18 to 34 year olds, which included the premiere episode of Skins. Upon further review, we’ve decided that the show is not a fit for our brand and have moved our advertising to other MTV programming.”

So, are these shows hurting our youth? MTV explains that they are just filming what American teens are actually doing, which some may be. Teen development expert Doctor Logan Levkoff tells The Paly Voice that even though MTV illustrates the harsh realities and consequences of teen pregnancies, there are other pop culture contributors that influence these teens.

“There are more pregnant teens in pop culture than ever before. They are on the cover of magazines, getting paid, getting endorsement deals, and becoming calendar models,” Levkoff said.

“There is no fear or shame in teen pregnancy anymore.”

   “Even if MTV shows all the hardships, they’re still being supported in so many ways. The way we bring people into fame for really not doing anything has created a culture where it is exciting to be a pregnant teen and the fact of the matter is that most multitudes of teen moms that appear in the media reduces the shock that used to be associated with teen pregnancy. There is no fear or shame in teen pregnancy anymore,” Levkoff added.   

 These MTV series are just another example of the widening gap between pop culture and traditional values. In America, behavior that was stigmatized a few decades ago is now presented as perfectly acceptable and even encouraged by television, movies and music. Current films entitled “No Strings Attached” starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, and “Friends with Benefits” starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, encourage a sexual relationship with no emotional or romantic strings attached. On television in the fifties, couples were always shown having separate beds, but now the “friends with benefits” relationship is much more expected

These are the teens that MTV is affecting by valuing ratings gained from portraying these illicit practices rather than considering the affect their programming has on their audience.

 Watch Fox News’ views on MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” series here.

Teach for America motivates children to succeed (sidebar)

By: Dina Halligan, Jennifer Wilson, and Meghan Hutchinson

In America, 16 million children face poverty every day. A child’s economic background obviously affects every area of his or her life. But an increasing body of evidence disregards the idea that kids cannot succeed because of money and shows that children from poor families can achieve at the highest levels of education. It suggests that students living in poverty can succeed, as long as there is someone to push them. That is where Teach for America steps in.

Lack of motivation is a big part of why kids succeed or fail in school. A truly dedicated teacher can often help his or her students become motivated and inspire them to achieve. Teach for America’s mission is to ensure that children living in poverty get a quality education by providing them with outstanding teachers who are dedicated to helping them learn. The organization has shown improvement and success in areas all around the country.

For example, in New Orleans, only 30 percent of students scored at the basic or above level on statewide tests in 2000. Since that year, Teach for America has become increasingly more involved in the area. As of 2010, 53 percent of students from the same schools scored at or above the basic level on statewide tests.

This evidence suggests that it is possible for children to do well, even if they come from a poor background or don’t attend the best schools.

Christopher Johnson, English teacher at Itawamba Agricultural High School, believes that students can achieve greatness if they have teachers who want to see them succeed.

“Many students in Mississippi do not have the same opportunities that kids in other states have,” said Johnson. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t perform at the same levels.”

Teach for America volunteers strive to help children do just that.

Mary Alex Street, an Ole Miss senior majoring in liberal arts, has decided to become a part of Teach for America starting next year. She said that she got involved with Teach for America because it was an organization she heard about in high school and it was something she immediately knew she wanted to apply for after graduation.

“When I heard about the internship at Ole Miss I immediately applied and was very, very lucky to get it,” Street said.

“Mississippi has got to do something about its public schools and I think Teach for America has done a great job of bringing people from all over the country and even right down the road to schools in Mississippi that desperately need motivated and excited young people.”

Street encourages Ole Miss students to get involved with the Teach for America.

“This is the perfect opportunity for Ole Miss students because we are right in the middle of it. There is so much potential for leadership and initiative in our state and Ole Miss alumnae should be the ones who start that change, and the classroom is a perfect place for that to start.”

Word Count: 496

Educational funding may affect student performance

By: Dina Halligan, Jennifer Wilson and Meghan Hutchinson

Lacking opportunities
A small group of eight students sit in desks arranged a semi-circle around their teacher. Posters of famous poets and writers decorate the otherwise bland walls. One student has his head face-down on his desk. The topic of the day is Hamlet.

“What do you think is the importance of providing comic relief to the audience through inclusion of the ‘Grave Digger’ scene?” asks the teacher.

“Well, me and my friend were talking about that..,” starts the boy with his head down.

“My friend and I,” interrupts the teacher, shaking his head.

Chris Johnson, who teaches several Accelerated English and Advanced Placement English courses at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, MS, doesn’t let a grammar mistake go uncorrected in his classroom. He is one of the few instructors at IAHS that teaches accelerated courses.

“We don’t have many AP classes,” Johnson said.

“A lot of students who could do well just don’t have opportunity here, or in many schools in Mississippi.”

This sentiment is held by many teachers and administrators in the Itawamba school district who wish that there were more chances for their students to excel and prepare for the types of classes they will encounter in college. More educational tools and opportunities could be provided if a greater budget was provided to the school.

Although there may be a few reasons why some schools provide a plethora of diverse opportunities to their students and some schools only a few, the one big reason is money.

The numbers game
In 2010, Mississippi received $532,253,342 for all elementary and secondary level public school programs, according to ed.gov. That may seem like a lot of money, but, in comparison, New Jersey, received $1,129,150,316, more than twice as much as Mississippi was given.

With that drastic a difference in amounts, it would be hard to believe that public school funding has no affect on students and the educational opportunities provided to them.

“Other states, with more funding, might have more diversified programs available to their students, so those students get more experience with advanced courses. Also, that may give them an advantage when taking state tests, the ACT, and the SAT,” Johnson said.

The proposed correlation between funding and achievement can be seen through reviewing those scores at act.org. In Mississippi, the average score on the ACT was 18.7. In New Jersey, the average score was 23.7. Although five points is not a large number, it can make a world of difference when students begin applying to colleges and for scholarships.


A privileged few
No school has the perfect recipe for producing high- achieving students who score perfectly on standardized tests and are fully prepared for college. But there are some schools that are provided with a greater amount of funds than others, which helps to open up possibilities for advanced classes and diverse course opportunities.

One of those schools resides in New Jersey, where the public school budget is twice that of Mississippi’s. Moorestown High School offers several advanced classes and excellent teachers that help to inspire their students perform at the highest levels.

Moorestown High School, located in the town Moorestown, is known for its high achieving students. The school prides itself on the fact that 95 percent of seniors attend college after graduating. Moorestown has also been honored with the National Blue Ribbon School award, which is given to schools that have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. Additionally, over 60 percent of the district staff holds advanced degrees.

Beth Glennon has been a math teacher for 20 years at Moorestown High School. She believes that public schools in New Jersey are very strong.

“We have a long tradition of providing a quality education to everyone who attends our school,” Glennon said. “Low level children, children with special needs, AP and honors students, they all receive the same quality education.”

New Jersey public schools, like Moorestown, have proven in many ways that they can provide their students with the skills that they need to succeed in the future.

For example, also according to act.org, 37 percent of public school students in New Jersey have met or exceeded the College Readiness Benchmark score in all four subjects, while in Mississippi only 10 percent of public school students have met that benchmark. These scores measure students' progressive development of knowledge and skills in grades 8 through 12 and help predict a students’ preparedness for college.

Could this be because they have more money?

Vicki Dugan, a fourth grade teacher at Lumberton Elementary School in New Jersey, believes that the amount of funding their state and school receives could definitely be an aspect of why their students are such high achievers. However, she feels that quality teachers can do more for a school than any amount of money.

“I have been teaching for a very long time and I like for my students to like me, but I make sure they respect me.” Dugan said.

“I have learned my own lessons of what is right and what is wrong, and I know that getting along with my students helps them improve with their academic success.”

An unclear solution
It is hard to fix a problem when there is not one concrete cause. In the case of a schools’ combined student academic performance, there can be many reasons why one school outperforms another. There can also be many reasons why an entire state full of students does not do as well on standardized tests as another state. Some of those reasons include: socioeconomic status, cultural differences, quality of teachers, school funding, and educational tools.

Ellen Cook, guidance counselor at IAHS, explained that there are countless reasons why one student, school, or state outperforms another.

“I believe socioeconomic status is the strongest reason why Mississippi performs so poorly. Students who live in poverty just don’t do as well due to cultural standards,” Cook said.

Not everyone feels that poverty equals low scores. Teresa McNeece, superintendent for the Itawamba County school district, thinks that Mississippi students can achieve at the same levels of students in any state. She believes that in her district, and in Mississippi as a whole, funding plays a huge part in academic performance.

McNeece explained that every state’s funding has been severely cut in the last two years and there are two ways to make up the difference: raise local taxes or make cuts in the schools. Itawamba had to do both this year; they raised taxes and cut school personnel.

“When you have to cut teachers and classes, you are going to affect student performance,” McNeece said.

McNeece also said that more advanced courses in her district would be greatly beneficial to the scores produced by her students, but the current amount of funding does not allow classes to be added.

“I think our ACT scores could be raised if we could offer more advanced courses in our high schools. We have a disadvantage in that we aren't able to offer as many as we would like due to a lack of funding.”

McNeece expressed that there is no easy solution to the problem. In fact, the whole thing is a catch 22.

“Funding is often based on student performance, but it is hard to raise student performance without an adequate amount of funding,” McNeece said.

“I just want to see our students achieve all they can and leave our schools prepared for whatever the future holds for each of them.”


Word Count: 1,256

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsfQymEwJsY

Mississippi Animal Abuse is Only a Slap on the Wrist

By: Dina Halligan

Mississippi Animal Abuse is Only a Slap on the Wrist

Big blue eyes, fluffy thick fur, and a wagging tongue hanging out. As the saying goes dogs are mans best friend. So who would ever want to hurt a dog, let alone any animal?

“Do you see this face? Look at this darling face,” says Terri Rue who adopted her pet dog Apollo from the Oxford Lafayette Humane Society. “I don’t know how anyone could be abuse something that is this darn cute!”

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) website, A New Jersey study found that in 88 percent of families where there had been physical abuse of children, there were also records of animal abuse.

Animal abusers that are convicted can be found on multiple websites such as pet-abuse.com where anyone can find local and nation wide animal abusers.

According to pet-abuse.com in 2006 a Columbus veterinarian, Samuel Wilcox, was fined for misdemeanor animal cruelty chargers. Former employees of Wilcox testified that they saw him repeatedly kick an Australian shepherd after it bit Wilcox on the hand.

“I think that this information should be public,” says Rue. “I have a right to know who these sick people are and I don’t want them around my furry baby.”

“Our animal control officer keeps file of people who have surrendered animals to us and their name is on our computer system,” says Riki Roederer a kennel attendant at the Oxford Lafayette Humane Society.

“We do make everyone who adopts from us go through an application process. It’s a front and back page that tells us a little bit more about them and about how the animal will be taken care of,” says Roederer.

“Most of the time you can tell if an application is filled out kind of sketchy,” says Roederer. “We can tell if the people seem like they aren’t very good pet owners, and we’ll check into that before we let them adopt from us.”

While researching the public information of convicted animal abusers on ASPCA.org and pet-abuse.com it is clear that not many people get serious sentences when they are convicted of animal abuse. Most convicted abusers get a fine of a few 100 dollars and that’s it.

“In Mississippi animal cruelty and abuse is only a fine, basically a slap on the wrist. They were working on making it a felony but they only have made it so far to where the second offense is a felony,” says Roderer.

Cara Horn is an intern at the Oxford Lafayette Humane Society and thinks that this punishment isn’t even hard enough.

“I think that the punishment should be harder,” says Horn. “I see too many animals come into and out of the shelter, these animals need a loving caring home.”

According to pet-abuse.com there are only four states without felony provisions for cruelty to animals and Mississippi is one of them. In the state of Mississippi the maximum amount of jail time is six months; compared to the states of Alabama and Louisiana where the maximum amount of jail time for a convicted animal abuser is ten years

“I personally would lock them away forever depending on what their abuse was, however any abuse period is not okay,” says Roderer.

Unethical conduct in public schools

Side entrance of Lafayette High directing the level of grounds

By: Kelton Brooks

Administrative staff employed in the Oxford School District must strictly abide by the Mississippi Educator code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct policy.

This policy discretely elucidates any ethical and unethical conduct that faculty and staff must be aware of during the hiring process.

According to the Mississippi Code of Ethics policy, “Ethical conduct is any conduct which promotes the health, safety, welfare, discipline and morals of students and colleagues.

“Unethical conduct is any conduct that impairs the license holder’s ability to function in his/her employment position or a pattern of behavior that is detrimental to the health, safety, welfare, discipline, or morals of students and colleagues.” http://www.jackson.k12.ms.us/teachers/mde_educator_ethics_conduct.pdf

In Greenville, MS, a former high school football coach, Dwight Bowling, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Aug. 16 for molestation charges against teenage boys, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The boys were between the ages of 13 and 18.

The officials who worked the case said that the 13-year-old boy who was with Bowling at the time of his arrest accused him of improper touching.

Bowling accounted for eight Mississippi sexual offense statues, according to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) http://www.rainn.org/files/reportingdatabase/Mississippi/MississippiStatueofLimitations.pdf

Five of the sexual charges Bowling was charged for, had no limitations on prosecutions.

This means that if a victim was assaulted 20 years ago, his or her sex offender could still be charged on any day.

Ex-teacher and music minister John Langworthy was charged Sept.7 for sexual crimes in the Jackson and Clinton area that he committed in the 1980s, according to the Mississippi Link.

Langworthy was charged with eight counts of sexual gratification of lust and six counts of fondling children.

He had sexual relations with at least five boys between the ages of eight and 12 years old.

“Every year I have an authoritative figure to address the Code of Ethics policy to my staff,” said Michael Martin, Principal at Oxford High School.

“I’ve been here for about four and a half years and there haven’t been any accusations of improper conduct,” Martin said.

Martin was reluctant to go into detail about the protocol of the policy if a teacher or staff member was accused of charges of sexual relations, but he later said that anything that is deemed unethical is listed in the Code of Ethics policy.

According to Standard 4, Educator/Student relationship of the Ethics policy, an educator should always maintain a professional relationship with all students, both in and outside the classroom.

“The only way we allow texting between students and teachers is if a coach sends a mass text to his team about sports preferences or if a teacher solely speaks on school matters,” said Patrick Robinson, Principal of Lafayette High School.

This conduct is unethical if “soliciting, encouraging, participating or initiating inappropriate written, verbal, electronic, physical or romantic relationship with a student,” occurs, according to Standard 4.2 number 6.

This detail is emphasized in example number 10 of ethical conduct, “electronic communication such as texting.”

Robinson is strongly against the use of profanity and/or sexual language which he reiterated many times.

“I simply do not condone it, I take great offense to it,” Robinson said.

Standard 1.2 number 3 under Professional Conduct reads, “Inappropriate language on school grounds or any school-related activity” is considered unethical.

Due to the rising factor of social networking, the Code of Ethics policy was revised in January 2011.

“I encourage my staff not to “friend” current students on Facebook, if the student has graduated, that is beyond my control” Robinson said.

Robinson did go on to say that “If an action such as this is discovered, the law has to investigate and I must follow proper procedure of the ethics policy.”

Standard 4.2 example number 11, “invitation to social networking.”

Robinson has been an administrator in the Mississippi school system for 21 years, but this is his first year at Lafayette High.

Prior to relocating to the Oxford School District, he was in the Jackson School District when he did recall an occurrence between a teacher and student.

However, Robinson refused to go into further detail about the matter.

“To my knowledge, there has been no incident of such a case here, and I plan to keep it that way.”