STUDENT VS SQUIRREL

A War Of Two Worlds

A family pet is the glue that holds many households together. Much like a child, it is carefully taken care of and greatly loved by its owners. Whether it is the fluffy companionship of a dog or cat, or a more distant relationship with a fish or snake, pet owners dedicate a large chunk of their spare time and money to their beloved creatures. On the other hand, some family pets aren’t too fond of their providers.

The squirrels of the Ole Miss community can be classified as family pets, more specifically, unappreciative ones. According to the University’s Physical Plant, recent landscape changes have been altered by the furry pests. “They’ve tossed piles of pine straw around the trunks of trees. I’m guessing they’re looking for buried food from the winter,” states Robert Walsh as he trims tree branches in the Grove. Landscapers take hours of effort to make the campus attractive. The squirrels take advantage of what a beautiful habit they have to call home. Students don’t find them very friendly either.

“I’ve found myself almost stepping on one before. They’re so bold that it’s annoying,” says freshman biology major Kiara Washington. On an average day, you can pass up to 4 squirrels on your way to class. They daringly jump across your path and walk along side you. They pop from behind bushes and startle many, while squeaking in evil laughter. Washington believes that she speaks for the rest of the student body when she says, “They should realize that we’re the humans and we’re the ones providing them with a place to live. We could cut down all the trees on campus and leave them with nowhere to sleep!”

Tree-huggers call squirrels “gardeners of the earth.” The Rebels call them “gangstas”, as stated by a Facebook group created in 2006. The group, known as P.A.G.S.A.O.M. (People Against Gangsta Squirrels At Ole Miss), is a comical mockery of the meddlers that roam the lower inches of campus.

Though people like to make light of the human versus squirrel battle, it’s serious business on The University of Mississippi.

But where do these sneaky squeakers come from? The University established the Grove and the Circle before they chose to call it home, right? These are age old question that will constantly be asked by aggravated students. However, there’s no way to determine who has the right to command the land their own.

One of many squirrels that boldly roam campus stops to scold students.

Bacterium Infested Meat

It’s what’s for dinner.

The United States is a meat eating country, no doubt about that. According to Willtaft.com, the average American consumes about 200 pounds of meat every year.

Austin White, a human resources major at the University of Mississippi, said, “Meat is my favorite part of any meal. I don’t see how anyone could be a vegetarian. I know I couldn’t give up meat.”

Americans love their meat and aren’t anywhere close to giving it up. But how safe is the United States’ meat supply?

A recent study conducted by Lance B. Price, Ph.D. and his team of researchers discovered that the American meat supply which includes: chicken, ground beef, pork, and turkey is contaminated with bacteria known to cause skin infections Staphylococcus Aureus.

The dangers of contamination never occurred to Keaton Thach, a business management major at the University of Mississippi. Thach said, “I eat meat 5 to 6 times a week and I never thought about bacteria being in my food.”

The scientists found the bacteria after checking 136 packages of meat from 26 grocery stores in five different cities.

Of the bacteria they found 96% was resistant to antibiotics and 50% were resistant to three. In some cases the bacteria was resistant to six or more antibiotics, like penicillin or tetracycline.

While the bacteria can be known to cause death and serious infections, scientists urge the public not to panic, but take more precautions while preparing or handling meat or meat products.

Patrons of restaurants are suggested to make sure their meat is well done and if they are preparing meat at home they are to clean up and wash their hands immediately after they handle meat.

If the people of America aren’t careful they will be inviting people to the wrong kind of cookout. The deadly kind.

The very meat we love could be the death of us.

NO ROOM TO BREATHE

Roommates: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

College to many is a time to meet new people and make new friends, and what better way than starting with the person your going to live with, your roommate. Here at the University of Mississippi, freshman are required to live in dorms, therefore a roommate is required. Many incoming students attempt to find a roommate before entering the scary dorms, but others decide to test their luck and go random with the selection process.

"I think my random selection added to the mystery of college," freshman Jamie Bruchman said, "my roommate and I never met until move in day and I'll admit it was nerve racking." Bruchman said that it was a weird experience beginning his college life with a completely random person in the same room with him, but it allowed him to start anew and make a good friend right from the beginning. "My roommate and I have become close," Bruchman said, "we are really open with each other and can confide in each other when needed."

For others, however, the story has not been so sweet. For freshman Boty Sant, he and his roommate got off to a rocky start. Ironically, they had been best friends for years.

"We couldn't really agree on who got what bed," Sant said, "and for weeks I would get mad about how he always left the television on while I was trying to sleep."

This may seem like a bad situation, but one could never imagine what freshman William Stephens had to go through. Stephens was anticipating a roommate that was quiet, studious, and reserved. What he got was the complete opposite.

"I got a party animal, soon to be nicknamed "The Goose"," Stephens said, "he was going out every night, causing a ruckus when he came in during the wee hours of the morning, and one time he even urinated on our floor." Stephens recalled this memory with a grimace on his face. "Honestly, I cannot wait to move out," Stephens said, "I think I probably should've got to know my future roommate before selecting and actually thought about my decision."

As one can see, roommates can either be a benefit or a tragic story. It is all about clicking together that will make the college experience a good one for both people.

Story by: Matt Sigler

Ole Miss looses an Inspiring Teacher

Ole Miss Professor to Move On.

Antonio Reyes has been a teacher at Ole Miss since 2005 and has decided it’s time for a change. Originally from Cadiz, Spain Dr. Reyes moved to the University of Illinois in 2002 and earned his Master and Ph.D. He has been an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi for five years.

Dr. Reyes has accepted a job at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia that begins in August. He will be the only linguistics professor at the school and will be teaching Intro to Spanish Linguistics. He was pretty excited to talk about the move and ready to see anther part of the United States.

When asked about Oxford, Mississippi he had plenty to say. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to teach here, because now I know a lot of the negative sterotypes that I had heard are not true. The people are so nice and kind here and I have such great friends that I will sorely miss” he said there are plenty of other things that he will miss too, all of the festivals like Double Decker, the Oxford Film Festival, and tailgating in the Grove. “It is amazing how much alcohol people consume down here, and it’s not just the students I have friends in their forty’s and fifty’s that drink more than the students” he laughed.

Many students are going to miss him, just as he will miss them and the Snackbar his favorite restaurant in Oxford, not that he’s not going to miss all the food. There have been so many teachers to affect students in a postivie manner and Dr. Reyes has been one of the most amazing professors at Ole Miss during the last five years. Brooke Kimbro a senior at ole miss said, “Dr.Reyes will greatly be missed by all the students who have had him. He was a great asset to the university’s Spanish department as well as the Ole Miss community itself. He was always very positive and truly passionate about what he taught which made me as well as other students always look forward to coming to his class. His love for Spanish culture inspired me to study abroad in Spain a couple of summers ago and I am so grateful for being able to do so. The students at Washington and Lee are very lucky to have such a wonderful professor coming their way.” http://home.olemiss.edu/~areyesr/

Final Assignment Link

http://collegeagestudentkidnapped.blogspot.com/

this is the link to my final assignment

Sorry, Not Hiring.

Will You Have a Job this Summer?

In the back of every students mind, one can hear the repeated and much dreaded sentence from frustrated parents, “You must get a job this summer!” As the years progress, many more college students return home for the summer and find that they have been replaced in the work force and cannot get another job. With parents bickering, and a severe lack of money, students are wondering where they can get a job and who is taking theirs.

And the answer: New studies show that most of the summer jobs have been taken over by new workers in the U.S., illegal immigrants. Immigration has been researched back and forth by the Center for Immigration Studies. Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research at the Center said, “The evidence indicates that immigration accounts for a significant share of the decline in teen labor force participation. The decline in teen work is worrisome because research shows that those who do not hold jobs as teenagers often fail to develop the work habits necessary to function in the labor market, creating significant negative consequences for them later in life.” This is an issue because these teenagers are the future of our country.

Many teen-workers are losing in the fight to have a summer job they do not have as much work experience as some of their competitors. Some of the immigrants they compete against are in their mid-20s and have quite the work experience under their belts.

Michelle Forbert, a freshman at the University of Mississippi has worked at a tobacco store for the past two summers in San Angelo, Texas. She went to a public school and saw firsthand the amount of jobs that were being filled. “My high school was full of students from Mexico that already had families. The pregnant girls would sometimes have two or three children and their boyfriends would be working several jobs in order to support them. I couldn’t get my job back this summer after being away because my spot had been filled by one of the guys from my high school.” Michelle is not the only one feeling this strain.

In 1994, almost two-thirds of U.S.-born teenagers were in the summer labor force. In 2009, the number had dropped down to 45 percent. Over that same period, the number of teens not in the labor force rose from 4.7 million to 8.1 million. Teen unemployment is at its peak.

The issues with immigration don’t just stop at the domination of jobs, but delve further into issues such as crime, and tax dollars. Immigration has been a very controversial issue in the United States. Both racism and the people affected by immigration help make it such a tender subject. Researches and government officials are working to solve the problems with immigration.

Rising Gas Prices

How are they Affecting students?

Amid turmoil and unrest in the Middle East, gas prices have reached new highs. The average price for a gallon of gas in Oxford, MS is $3.78, which is slightly higher than the average for the Gulf Coast. Experts predict that gas prices will reach $4 by this summer. These prices are a huge increase from the $2.94 a gallon last year. But what does this increase mean for Ole Miss Students?

While the majority of college students do not drive as much as the average American, most do need a car to get around Oxford. English major Emily Lassetter said that she is feeling the effects of the rise in gas prices. "I am definitely still driving my car to get around town but I do not fill up my tank completely at the gas station and I think a lot more about where I really need to drive instead of just driving around randomly" Lassetter said.

The university has offered several transportation alternatives for students, mainly the OUT bus. "I think the OUT bus is a really good idea but I don't know the pick up times so I never use it" Lassetter said. Between raising gas prices and limited parking on campus many students have begun using OUT busses daily.

Gas stations are seeing the effects of the raise in price as well. At the Oxford Chevron on highway 6 the manager estimated that since the gas prices started rising, they have seen a 10 percent decline in sales. A clerk at the chevron foodmart near the square had a different opinion. "Every body needs gas and we haven't seen any slow down in our customers even though we have some of the most expensive gas in town" she said.

Britni Riley