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12, 2013 | V
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MISSISSIPPIAN T h e S t u d e n t N e w s pa p e r
of
The University
of
M i ss i ss i p p i | S e r v i n g O l e M i ss
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Oxford
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1911
Free parking ON the Square Getting prepared The Oxford Board of Aldermen restored 30 spaces from city-regulated 2-hour parking limit to free status last week and is considering adding bus parking for venues.
for severe weather
After a tornado touched down in Hattiesburg Sunday evening and swept through the University of Southern Mississippi campus, University of Mississippi officials are raising awareness on campus of how to respond to emergency weather conditions. BY BRACEY HARRIS braceyh@gmail.com
ANNA BRIGANCE | The Daily Mississippian
BY PETE PORTER tjporter@go.olemiss.edu
Oxford Mayor Pat Patterson and the Board of Aldermen decided to remove an ordinance passed in November that added 30 spaces to city-regulated, twohour parking in last Tuesday’s board meeting. These spaces, which are located on Jackson Avenue near city hall and along Monroe Street, have been restored to free parking after the Downtown Parking Council determined there was an insufficient amount of free spaces available. “Parking around the Square continues to be a work in progress and more changes could come down the road,” Patterson said. Parking on the Square is a challenge for both University of Mississippi students and Oxford residents, especially for those who work on the Square. Accounting junior Brooks Cunningham has worked at three restaurants on the Square and
said parking for employees has become a nightmare. “It has become such a struggle just to find a legal spot that I just have someone drop me off — otherwise the first thing I see when I get off work is another parking ticket,” Cunningham said. A new parking area has recently been opened behind the Oxford University Club to help with the parking problem, but city planner Tim Akers said the new area hasn’t been used much because most people don’t know it’s there. “That parking area is open now,” Akers said. “It stays around 50 percent open now, but I think it’s because people just don’t realize it’s open yet. We put up some signs to direct people there now.” The board was also presented with the first reading of a proposed ordinance that would allow for long-term tour bus parking for artists performing at local venues. Proud Larry’s and Lyric em-
ployee Morgan Monroe said the ordinance would be very helpful to businesses on the Square by making it easier for artists performing to get back and forth from their buses. “The artists are allowed to park next to the venue to unload equipment, but once it’s all out they have to park far away from the venue,” he said. “If they’re coming here to play and bring business to Oxford, they should at least be allowed to park close. It doesn’t make any sense.” The ordinance would allow artists to park their tour buses in one of three designated busparking areas from 3 p.m. the day of their performance until 8 a.m. the next morning. The proposed bus parking areas would be on Harrison Avenue next to Proud Larry’s, 10th Street next to the Oxford Eagle and North 11th Street next to the Lyric. Both the Harrison Avenue and North 11th Street locations have met opposition from city offiSee SQUARE, PAGE 4
The University of Mississippi’s Crisis Action Team was formed in 2008 and is responsible for monitoring possible threats to the Ole Miss campus and students’ safety. The most common concern, however, is weather. Associate provost and team member Noel Wilkin said that campus may undergo 20 tornado watches during the course of the year. This past week, the university sought to promote Severe Weather Awareness Week, which was declared by the Mississippi Emergency Management Association. “The most important thing for people to understand is that we take our safety and the safety of our community very seriously,” Wilkin said. “I hope all faculty, staff and
(FILE PHOTO) PHILLIP WALLER | The Daily Mississippian
students will also take their safety seriously and do what is necessary to learn how to respond to given emergencies on our campus.” Political science senior Emilie Edmonds, a New Mexico native, said she has had to learn to prepare for severe weather in Oxford. “It wasn’t until my junior year where we actually had See PREPARED, PAGE 4
A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S
Tornado hits Hattiesburg HATTIESBURG — A tornado tore through Hattiesburg on Sunday as part of a wave of severe storms that downed trees, damaged buildings and injured more than a dozen people. The twister traveled down one of Hattiesburg’s main streets and mangled homes, commercial buildings and structures on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Emergency officials said at least 10 people were injured in surrounding Forrest County and three were hurt to the west in Marion County, but they weren’t aware of any deaths.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said it appears that a single tornado caused the damage in those two counties and Lamar County. Hundreds of homes are damaged in Forrest County, along with a couple dozen in the other two. Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency. Flynn said the sheer scope of the damage was slowing their assessment. “The problem is, it was so strong that there’s so much debris that there’s a lot of arSee TORNADOES, PAGE 5