Meeting Health, Safety and License Codes in MIssissippi

Rebecca Ralph

Journalism 377

Running a fitness facility isn’t easy and with only a handful of them in such small town, Oxford’s most popular fitness centers, Anytime Fitness, Snap Fitness and Orion are under pressure to be the best.

Each fitness facility has regulations and strict rules that must be followed or consequences will follow.

The Mississippi Department of Health has a heavy checklist of regulations that must be met each year according to the Mississippi State Department of Health, Part III,- Office of Health Protection, Subpart 60- Professional Licensure.

“The purpose of these regulations is to safeguard the public's health, safety, and welfare by establishing minimum qualifications and creating exclusive titles corresponding to the level of qualifications for individuals who wish to offer athletic trainer services to the public.”

Some of the health codes that Anytime Fitness Club are required to meet are the following; "Gym equipment must be kept clean and wiped down, soap and paper towels must be available in the dressing rooms and bathrooms and around the gym. Drink Machines must be at a proper temperature and they must be clean and sanitary," Said Matt, an employee of the Oxford Anytime Fitness Club location.

Health inspections happen yearly at the Anytime Fitness Club, Snap Fitness and Orion fitness facilities, which allows the facilities enough time to fix violations of health, safety and license codes that have occurred.

When customers are unhappy and file a complaint, Snap Fitness employee Chelsea said "If we were to get a complaint, we would take whatever action necessary to satisfy them. Our customers make our business run and we are here to make their fitness time as enjoyable as possible."

When a code of health and safety is violated at any of the fitness gyms there is a fee that must be paid on top of fixing the violation in a timely manner.

"I believe they give us 30 days to correct any problems," said Matt of Anytime Fitness Club.

“One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment of not less than ten (10) days nor more than sixty (60) days, or by both fine and imprisonment for each violation,” says The Mississippi State Health Department.

Each fitness facility is required to renew their license as well. License should be renewed annually and the licensure year shall be construed as January 1 through December 31.

“A licensee who does not file, with the Department, his renewal application within the renewal period will be deemed to have allowed his license to lapse. Any person seeking re-licensure after allowing a license to lapse shall be required to meet all licensing requirements in effect at the time of the application for re-licensure. Also they must maintain an up-to-date list of all individuals whose license has been suspended, revoked, or denied, and make such list available to public inspection, and shall supply such list to similar regulatory boards in other states or jurisdictions; keep a record of all proceedings of the Board, and make said record available to the public.” says the Mississippi Department of Health.

When asked if any code violations have occurred lately and how many violations Orion can get, Larry, a fitness trainer and correspondent said, " No, no violations have occurred recently and we strive to keep our facility as clean and safe as possible. One violation is too many as far as we are concerned. All of our staff are licensed trainers and meet the regulation codes, and upon request we can provide anyone who asks with specific documentation proving so.”

The Mississippi Department of Health also has an online way of checking business licenses. The public can visit https://apps.msdh.ms.gov/licreviews/index.aspx and type in any business name to see if they are up to date on their licenses. According to the Mississippi Department of Health website, “This Mississippi State Department of Health website verification system is the official licensure verification site of the Division of Professional Licensure. The site contains data obtained from primary (original) sources and is updated daily.”

Public records can be requested from the Mississippi State Department of Health. Records can also be requested at each fitness facility. Records will provide you with the persons name, profession, social security number and details of their license. The public has the right to know if the facility they are about to invest their time and money in is a safe and healthy place to be.

Keeping each fitness facility up to date on codes and regulations is crucial. Oxford inspectors are doing their jobs by checking up on each fitness facility making sure codes are met, and making sure if codes are violated each facility fixes them. In the end, meeting these strict codes is benefiting the members because they can know they are in a safe and up to date facility and are under supervision of reliable and licensed trainers.

Word Count: 813

Photo 1: Inside Snap fitness facility

Photo 2: Outside Anytime Fitness

Photo 3: Orion Key Card Pass

The Downfall of Ole Miss Athletics

 

                                                                                                            Jackson Boyd

                                            

          Investigative Report

College athletics have been becoming more and more scrutinized as time has gone on. The importance and impact put on athletics on the college level causes fans to be more involved in what their perspective team is doing. It also opens the door for extreme joy and even more extreme disappointment.

Here at The University of Mississippi there has been so much more misery with the success of out athletic programs than there ever has been excitement. The main athletic programs (football, basketball, and baseball) are mainly always at the lower tear of the SEC, and if we ever are expected to be successful prior to a given season, it seems like our teams find a way to screw it up.

When it comes to the football program, the teams of the new day and age haven’t come close to tasting the success of some of the teams of old here in Oxford.

According to secsportsfan.com, The University of Mississippi football program has only a handful of accomplishments. These include: Three National Championships (1959, 1960, 1962) Six SEC titles (1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, and 1963) One SEC Western Division Title (2003)

As recently stated, the success of the football program here at Ole Miss all came in the 50’s and 60’s.

Many various coaches have come to Ole Miss with high hopes of success, but realize that winning in a program like we have here is much harder than expected.

The firing of head coach Houston Nutt has been a hot topic as of late due to the constant struggles he has had leading the Rebels to victory.

Many fans want athletic director Pete Boone to resign from his current position. After an embarrassing loss to a horrible Vanderbilt team, rumor began to swirl about Boone calling it quits.

Parish Alford, writer for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo did an article about this certain topic concerning Boone and whether or not his position at Ole Miss was stable.

In the article Boone stated, “There is absolutely no accuracy to the question you were asking me about my resignation.”

The article went on to specify how under the leadership of Pete Boone and Houston Nutt, Ole Miss has consistently under-performed in the SEC.

The article ended with the comment, “It’s time for a change.”

It is evident that fans and alumni alike are sick and tired of the lack of success not only on the football field, but also on the basketball court and on the baseball field.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been glimpses of greatness here, however the keyword in that statement is “glimpses.”

In 2009, the football team was ranked sixth in the country and a sub-par South Carolina team derailed us.

We did go on to win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX that year, but that year just seems like the “year that could have been.”

An Ole Miss blogger who goes by “Jake” wrote a piece listing reasons and facts that show the potential firing of Houston Nutt to be logical.

Jake’s reasons were as listed:

1.His (Houston Nutt) record against Vanderbilt is 1-3

2.The style in which he lost to Vanderbilt. Made Vandy look like “world beaters.”

3.Jacksonville State loss

4.Having a football program that is the current laughing stock on college football. On ESPN radio recently they were literally laughing at the Ole Miss football team.

Jake had many other logical and true reasons why Coach Nutt is on the hot seat when it comes to keeping his job.

Thomas Schmidt, a long time Arkansas Razorback fan, who has been a follower of Houston Nutt for years said,

“I predicted that Nutt would give us two good years, like he did in Arkansas, and then our program would go to crap…look what is happening.”

Schmidt went on to tell me about how Coach Nutt, who has the arguably the three best running backs in the SEC, could never coach the talent that was available to him.

Schmidt said, “There was always a game here and there that Nutt would win, and upset an SEC juggernaut, and then the next game his teams will come out and completely lay an egg.”

With games against Alabama, Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi St. on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if Ole Miss will win another game the whole year, which in turn will definitely cause an uproar when it comes to the jobs of Pete Boone and Houston Nutt.

Anna Frost, Journalism major at Ole Miss is a girl that absolutely knows sports and Ole Miss football.

            When I asked Anna about the current state of Ole Miss Football and athletics she said,

“Sometimes completely starting over and revamping a program is beneficial to players and coaches alike. I am in no position to judge someone by how many games he/she wins or loses, but all that I am saying is that I agree with the masses in that it is time for a change.”

Ole Miss Athletics is a hot topic with many alumni and students on Campus and all over Mississippi.

People want to see Ole Miss succeed, like they did in the days of Archie and Eli. It is time for a change here at the University…Something needs to be done.

                                                Sources

www.secsportsfan.com/ole-miss-rebels-football-hostory.html

www.sunherald.com/2011/09/25/3460740/boone-no-accuracy-to-resignation.html

www.theolemissblog.com/2011-articles/september/reasons-ole-miss-should-fire-houston-nutt.html

Thomas Schmidt (501) 580-4445 Email: twschmid15@olemiss.edu

Anna Frost (615) 403-3510

Employee Freedom or Employee Injustice?

The Mississippi Department of Labor enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. While it seems that most businesses in Oxford abide by this law, many restaurants and bars might be conducting their operations differently.

The average student in Oxford looking for a part time job yearns for a bartending position on the Square. The job requires little to no experience and the pay can be substantial on a busy night. On a slow night however, employees see little benefit from working long hours.

“Some days I will work for five hours and make nothing and other days I might work for three hours and earn over $200,” said Adam Skoog a bartender at The Levee. “In the end it all evens out.” 

Whether these wages eventually “even out” or not, this payment method is illegal according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is required for all employees in the state of Mississippi to earn a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In some cases for tipped employees who make over $30 in tips a month, employers are allowed to pay their employees a wage of $2.13 per hour only if they cover the standard minimum wage in that hour in tips. Al Hope, the Director of Human Resources in Oxford had this to say,

Lafayette County Courthouse

“I am not aware that such activity takes place in Oxford, employees must earn a minimum wage salary. Working for no salary equates to volunteering,” said Hope.

The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and youth employment standards. According to section 203 of the Fair Labor Standards Act,

“The term employee does not include any individual who volunteers to perform services for a public agency. If the individual receives no compensation or is paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee to perform the services for which the individual volunteered.”

The Cellar

"The Levee", "The Cellar" and "The Round Table" are all owned by Griffin Tanner. While it seems that Tanner pays his employees strictly off the tips they make, most of his workers lack experience and credentials to serve in the business.

“Basically I just needed to know a good amount of people in Oxford to bring in more business, other than that I needed no other qualifications or even a license to bartend,” said Skoog.

According to the Mississippi office of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a license is not required in order to bartend in the State of Mississippi.

“The law is different in every state but in Mississippi we require that the employee is at least twenty-one years of age and has no criminal record,” said Fred Johnson of the Alcoholic Beverage Control office in Mississippi.

The Round Table Restaurant and Bar

Griffin Tanner has been the owner of the Levee and Cellar for over eight years and with the opening of the Round Table last fall, these three popular bars on the square have made their share of good money. Griffin graduated from Ole Miss in May of 2002 and has definitely brought good business to the square, developing a group of devoted employees along the way.

“Griffin has been great to work for over the years and sometimes the pay is great, other times it is not, but I can not complain because this part time job is ideal for college students,” said Keaton Williams a bartender at the Levee.

Skoog describes this payment process and one could only relate this to a lemonade stand because at the end of the night the bartenders pour out the total tip money and divide them accordingly amongst each other.

“He is required to give all of his employees paychecks even if they are worth nothing, our wages are strictly earned from tips,” said Skoog.

These operations appear to have gone unnoticed to the Mississippi department of Labor due to the lack of recorded documentation by Griffin himself.

“When I was hired by Griffin I did not have to fill out any paperwork,” said Skoog.

The International Revenue Service requires all new employees to complete W-2, W-4 and I-9 forms in order to be hired. The W-2 form is used to report wages paid to the employees and the taxes withheld from them. This piece of documentation is non-existent at each of his three bars.

The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and youth employment standards. According to section 203 of the Fair Labor Standards Act,

"The term employee does not include any individual who volunteers to perform services for a public agency. If the individual receives no compensation or is paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee to perform the services for which the individual volunteered."

Word Count: 833

Disparities in Health Care

Jasmine Spratt

Jour 377

October 13, 2011

Word Count: 803

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health website, more than 18,000 black women receive yearly pap test screenings, however, black women are the leading carriers of cervical cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 to 2007, more than 500,000 black women died from cervical cancer. This raises concerns about whether or not the black women who get annual pap screenings, are being examined by good health care practitioners or is this due to disparities in health care.

Between 1999 and 2010 in Mississippi, more than 31,000 black women were screened for breast and cervical cancer according to the MS Department of Health. Since 2007, the number of death rates among races has varied, but there have been a noticeable decrease in the number of cervical cancer death rates in black women.

In 2010, Mississippi started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program, according to an online Mississippi Health Insurance article. Since Mississippi’s unemployment rate is relatively high and the wages tend to be low, this could be a leading factor in why many black women are suffering from certain medical problems at higher rates than other racial groups.

“Our state faces economic and health disadvantages, such as poor health status and affordable health insurance,” said nursing graduate, Rayelle Jiles. Jiles said she believes that if more health departments promoted their health care services offered and their costs, more women would go and become more educated on their health status.

According to an online article by the Urban Institute, looking at the number of public health measures, Mississippians have poor health statuses compared to residents of other states.

Based on a recent statistic conducted by the Mississippi Department of Health, more black women are screened yearly for pap, breast, and cervical exams than any other race. During 1999-2010, fewer than 18,000 white women were screened for pap, breast, and cervical cancer.

The most recent statistic performed in 2007, stated that 40, 598 women died from breast cancer, with white women being the leading mortalities, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Black women who are seen regularly by their doctors are able to start early treatment for such illnesses as breast or cervical cancer, because they realized the importance of annual screenings,” Mary Spratt said. Spratt, a 50-year-old African American woman, said she always makes sure she is seen yearly for breast and pap exams.

Research shows that individuals from medically underprivileged races are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage diseases that might have been treated more effectively or cured if diagnosed earlier, according to the NCI.

Among Asian, American Indian, and other races, excluding black women, white women hold the leading number of people screened for breast and cervical cancer. Although cancer related deaths have declined for both whites and African Americans living in the United States, African Americans continue to be the leading mortalities that die from most common cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.

White women have the highest incidence rate for breast cancer, although black women are most likely to die from the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, black men have the highest incidence rate for prostate cancer in the United States and are more than twice as likely as white men to die of the disease.

Many cancer statistic analysts believe that cancer health disparities are due to lack of health insurance or limited access to effective health care. According to the NCI, the most obvious factors in cancer health care disparities are associated with a lack of health care coverage and low socioeconomic status. A person’s socioeconomic status is often based on income, education level, and occupation. Financial barriers often prevent individuals or groups from obtaining effective health care.

Studies have found that socioeconomic status, more than race or ethnicity, predicts the likelihood of an individual's or a group's access to education, certain occupations, health insurance, and living conditions, all of which are associated with the risk of a person surviving cancer.

According to the NCI, lack of medical coverage, barriers to early detection and screening, and unequal access to improvements in cancer treatment may contribute to differences in cancer survival between black and white women. Additionally, recent NCI-supported research indicates that aggressive breast tumors are more common in younger black and Hispanic/Latino women living in low socioeconomic status areas.

Hispanic and Latino women in Mississippi had the lowest number of women who get annual pap, cervical, and breast exams, according to the Mississippi department of health website.

Spratt said there should be more health care awareness that promotes and protects the health of all Mississippians. “It is imperative that women, young or old, of any race are mindful of the importance of getting yearly exams, Spratt said.”

SOURCES

Mary Spratt 662-315-1552 marysprtt@yahoo.com

Rayelle Jiles 601-291-4130

http://www.cancer.gov “Cancer Health Disparities”

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/statistics/race.htm

http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/1592.pdf

http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/2434.pdf

“Using restaurant inspection records to make informed decisions”

"Shipley's Do-Nuts, one of the few establishments in Oxford that failed its most recent restaurant inspection"

By: Jennifer Wilson

Imagine this: It is Friday night. You are excited to get together with your friends and go out to eat. Everyone agrees on your favorite restaurant. You eat, you drink, and you go home happy. Five hours later, you are in your bathroom, violently ill, revisiting all of the wonderful things you consumed from that restaurant hours earlier. Later on in the week, your uncle, who works at the Lafayette County Health Department, mentions that the restaurant you dined at had recently been given a failing grade on its health inspection due to rodents and bugs found in the kitchen. The question is, if you had known about the failing grade before dinner, and the circumstances behind it, would you still have chosen to eat at your favorite restaurant?

Many people may not know, but full restaurant inspection reports are easily accessible and free for public viewing. These reports provide consumers with important findings about the places they may choose to eat. Citizens can view not only the overall grade a restaurant received from an inspection, but also the entire checklist utilized and the specific reasons why an establishment passed or failed. This information can help consumers decide which restaurants they consider safe to visit.

“I had no idea I could see all of that information online,” said Mary Coker, Ole Miss student.

“I would definitely want to know if my favorite place to eat had failed an inspection and if I could get sick from eating there. I can always find a new favorite,” she said.

There are a total of 36 factors that determine whether an establishment passes or fails an inspection. According to the details of a recent restaurant inspection record obtained at msdh.ms.gov, some of the items on an inspector’s checklist include: “Food Contact Surface Cleaned, Sanitized”, “Food Received at Proper Temperature” and “Insects, Rodents, and Animals Not Present.”

These three items, along with the other 33 questions listed on the report, help inspectors determine whether a restaurant is safely distributing food to consumers. According to msdh.ms.gov, one of the objectives of Mississippi’s food protection program is to identify any critical violations or risk factors that are present during the inspection. Critical violations are defined as “problems that consist of practices that could, if not controlled, result in a food borne illness.”

There are also violations listed on the inspection report that may not cause an immediate food borne threat to the public. Violations of this type include: “Permit/Last Inspection Posted” and “Sewage/Waste Water Properly Disposed.”

These and other such violations can contribute to an establishment receiving a failing grade on an inspection. Some people believe that violations of this nature lead to unfair representations of a restaurant.

Shipley's Do-Nuts, located on South Lamar Boulevard, failed its most recent restaurant inspection on Oct. 4, with a “C” grade, the lowest possible grade. The Mississippi State Department of Health website states that a C means “critical violations were found, but some or all were not corrected during the inspection,” or that “critical violations were repeated from recent previous inspections.”

Shipley’s received a “not in compliance” mark for the following points on the checklist: “Adequate Hand Washing Facilities Supplied/Accessible”, “Proper Cold Holding Temperatures”, “Hot And Cold Water Available/Adequate Pressure”, “Plumbing Installed/Proper Backflow Devices”, “Sewage/Waste Water Properly Disposed”, and “Permit/Last Inspection Posted.”

Ann, an employee of Shipley’s, who did not provide her last name, expressed that she does not feel that the failing grade provides an accurate representation of the establishment. Also, she believes that customers may get the wrong idea of Shipley’s ability to provide excellent customer service and satisfaction.

“I think we might have been graded improperly,” she said. “We have tried to take care of those issues and we always serve our customers to the highest quality.”

Christine Wilson is an Oxford resident and former server at many restaurants, including Chili’s Bar and Grill. She said that, in her experience with inspections, some violations on the report do not endanger the customer’s health, but they can cause the establishment to receive a failing grade.

“I would want to know why a restaurant failed the inspection,” she said. “When I worked at Chili’s, employees did not always remember to put lids on personal drink cups, and that counted against us as a violation. Apparently, there was a chance that not using a lid could somehow cause a transfer of germs to the customers. Honestly, we were not endangering anyone’s health.”

Although Shipley’s, along with City Grocery, McAlister’s Deli, and a few others, have all failed inspections this year, none of the businesses listed have had violations critical enough to close them down.

John Luke, director of food safety for the Mississippi State Health Department, said that it is up to the inspector to determine if an immediate closing of a restaurant is necessary.

A restaurant could be immediately shut down by, “any violation that has no temporary solution and could constitute a public health threat,” Luke said.

Certain health inspection violations can put consumers in danger and cause an establishment to lose its permit to serve food. It is up to the health officer to determine such threats. Otherwise, consumers can use the public inspection reports to decide if they want to eat at a specific restaurant.

“I’m the consumer, let me decide based on the actual facts of the report,” Wilson said.

Decide for yourself at http://msdh.ms.gov/food/default.aspx.

Word Count: 912

Meghan Hutchinson - Story #2

Students gather outside the Ole Miss Student Union for a pep-rally during elections.

The Investigations of Ole Miss Elections

It is the season of election time on the Ole Miss campus! People are lined up on the sidewalks passing out flyers and stickers for the candidates they are supporting. What most people really don’t know are the rules and regulations that each candidate has to stand by, in order to run a proper and legal campaign.

Before elections start each candidate is well aware of what rules they have to follow once campaign day starts. According to Olemiss.edu candidates are allowed to use social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and blogs. Candidates may not use any webpage related to Ole Miss. Candidates may use flyers, but flyers can only be posted with tape, staples, or pushpins. The flyers cannot attack any other candidate. There is also a size limit to the flyers; they are only allowed to be 8.5 x 11 inches in size. Other rules of elections are, no buying food or alcohol, no mass emails to students unless the emails are personalized, and campaigning is not to take place within 60 feet of any classrooms.

Last fall (2010) the Ole Miss campus held their annual elections for Miss Ole Miss, Colonel Reb, Homecoming Queen, Senior Class Officer, and Campus Favorites. When elections were held last year, the voting showed that there would be a run-off for Homecoming Queen. The run-off would be between three candidates, Diana Price, Christin Gates, and Douglas Strahan. When it came time to vote for the run-off between the three candidates, it was brought to the Associated Student Body that Strahan had exceeded her limit of expenditures.

The Associated Student Body of Ole Miss has created the ASB Code and Constitution. Within this code and constitution, it explains the campaigning rules and regulations, and it also explains the rules regarding expenditures. According to the constitution of the Associated Student Body, the spending limits for Miss Ole Miss, Homecoming Queen, and Colonel Reb is $600. When the candidate is certified, certifying officials will issue three expense vouchers, on which all the candidates will state campaigning expenditures, and will attach all receipts necessary. Any omission, falsification, distortion, or misrepresentation on the required voucher

by the candidate or any of his agents shall automatically disqualify the candidate from the election or from the assuming the office or honor.

The expense reports, which candidates submit to the Elections Commission Chair, must include the valid receipts for all campaign expenses incurred on or before the Monday preceding the first primary for that report, and all expenses incurred throughout the campaign for the second expense report, including the firm or person from whom campaign materials were purchased or donated. Copies of the candidate’s receipts must be stapled to the expense voucher in an orderly manner. Any candidate whose campaign expenses total more than the limits prescribed under law, upon proper determination of the Elections Commission Chair, will be subject to a fine equal to three times that amount of overspend. The prescribed limits are for the duration of the elections, including run-off. If the overspent amount is found to be blatant and grossly in excess of the limits 10% or more over the candidate shall be disqualified. States the constitution of the Associated Student Body.

Senior Lauren Steele from Memphis Tennessee is a member of the ASB and was on the elections committee during the time of the 2010 elections for homecoming queen. “Whenever we have campaigns we are in charge of making sure all the rules are in our code are followed.”

“If the rules are not followed then we have to seek the actions that follow per somebody breaking them.”

“Most rules that are not too significant are never brought to the election committees attention unless it is a big violation. We never actually have had somebody be disqualified in the history of campaigning until last years homecoming election.”

Last year, when the homecoming elections were going on, it was brought to the elections committee that homecoming queen candidate Douglas Strahan was found to be breaking the rules. Caleb Herod who is chief of staff on the Associated Study Body committee at Ole Miss was apart of the elections committee during last year’s election and was informed when it was brought to the committee’s attention that Strahan had violated the rules.

“When Douglas ran for homecoming queen, she was well aware of the rules and regulations concerning her expenditures. Somebody on her committee failed to turn in an invoice for flyers, and stickers or something to purchase to campaign with.”

“The committee had an invoice that was split and was failed to be turned into the elections committee. It was discovered that Strahan went over her spending limits by a simple call to the company where she purchased her stickers and flyers.”

The rules and regulations are taken very seriously during elections. And the elections committee followed their procedure by calling the stores or companies from which the candidates had purchased campaigning material. It was discovered that Strahan went over her $600 budget, and her allotted 10 percent.

Strahan was given a chance to appeal, and the judicial chair over-ruled her appeal. They found that it was not fair for Strahan to move on with the campaign because she had violated a major rule during the elections.

It was stated that Strahan was not reported to the elections committee for going over her budget. The other candidates did not report her, in order to get more votes to win. Steele says that the fact that Strahan was reported was not done by sabotage. “There is always dirty business going on in politics. The reason that the committee is there is because we took an oath in the beginning that we would follow all the rules regardless of our affiliation with it, or our personal alliances. The situation was black and white, we had to follow the rules.”

Ordering a birth-certificate using different methods. Pros and Cons

Word count: 793

Ordering a birth-certificate online is much more convenient but not necessarily faster, Ole Miss students claim.

A recently conducted investigative report showed that ordering your birth-certificate online is a much “less troubling” way to get your birth-certificate.

There are many ways of getting your birth-certificate. Some of them include: online applications, telephone, fax, credit card or in person at the Mississippi State Department of Health office (MSDH) in Jackson at 571 Stadium Drive.

Two of the online websites through which one can order birth certificates are www.vitalchek.com or directly through the MSDH website, www.health.ms.gov.

Both websites have a user-friendly interface. In both instances the information displayed is concise and self-explanatory. Both directories provide a set of useful links to supplemental ways of applying for a birth-certificate besides the online applications.

You don’t need to be a computer expert in order to find those websites or order your birth-certificate through them. The easiest way to find them is either by entering the exact URL in the address bar of the explorer or “Google” the terms.

Everything is just a few clicks away. And the best part of the online orders is that in case one needs other personal documentation, it is all available on the same pages as the birth-certificates, for instance death certificates, divorce records and the option to make modifications to a preexisting birth or death-certificate.

Also, orders can be done through telephone, fax and mail. Which one is most convenient to you? Well that depends mostly on the availability on other factors such as a vehicle, telephone or the internet. But the great advantage nowadays is that these means are available almost everywhere.

Ordering by phone, however, might save one the trip to the department but it can turn out a bit of a backslap too. The official MSDH website claims that the usual hold time for a VitalChek operator is between 20 and 30 minutes. Even the website recommends online ordering instead of telephone orders.

Although the means of acquiring the birth-certificate may vary, the information required to submit is the same.

According to the MSDH operators one needs the following information: full name, date of birth, gender, city or county of birth, father’s full name, mother’s maiden name, relationship to person inquiring for the record, purpose for this document, signature, address and of course the payment. Payment varies based on the process you choose.

The certified copy cost 15 dollars and for each additional copy of the birth-certificate individuals have to pay an additional five dollars. The birth-certificate may be used for proof of age, for applications for traveling documents (i.e. passports) or any other legal purposes.

The most common payments are usually credit cards but one can pay also with cash, money order or with a check.

If a person needs the certificate very quickly, he or she can order with a credit card 24/7, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The only advantage of obtaining the birth-certificate in person is that it can be issued moments after the payment is done and the order is placed, claim the official website of MSDH.

But this is not always the case, is it? Some of UM’s students said that they have applied in person but they got their certificates five to 10 days later.

Not all Mississippi citizens believe that ordering it online is more convenient than ordering in person.

This questions the convenience factor of obtaining this document. Considering other expenses such as gas and most importantly time efficiency, one might reconsider driving to the official offices. If waiting time is practically the same it is cheaper to order it by phone or fill an online application.

Even though Sharon White, a graduate journalism student at UM, admits that online orders can be more convenient, she uses the traditional way of obtaining such personal documentation – personal visit to the office.

“I rely on picking it up myself,” Sharon White said.

“I have my certificate since Sept. 14, 1965, so I cannot recall how much I paid for it,” she said. “My mother got it for me but I believe that we had to wait about a week or so in order to get it.”

Cordero Roberts, also a student at UM, admitted that he has a birth certificate obtained from Cleveland. He said that he had to wait about the same time as indicated by Sharon, “about a week.”

He added that “unless you live in a city where the office is in a close range,” it is better to do it online than to make the “one or two-hour drive and wait in the lobby for just as much time for a five-minute application.”

By Gjoko Dungevski

Sources:

http://www.health.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/31,0,109.html

http://www.vitalchek.com/express-birth-certificates.aspx

(601) 576-7981 – (MSDH) Mississippi State Department of Health

Sharon White: swhite@olemiss.edu

Cordero Roberts: crobert@olemiss.edu