DailyMississippian The
Friday, February 14, 2012
Overby Center to hold ASB presidential debates THE DM STAFF REPORTS thedmnews@gmail.com
The Associated Student Body presidential debates will take place in the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics auditorium beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16. The debates, which are sponsored by the Ole Miss chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Student Body Office of Communications, will also include campaign events by other candidates for the ASB positions. The event kicks off at 6:15 p.m. with a “Campaign Alley” in the main hallway of the Overby Center, in which students will have the opportunity to meet all of the candidates running for office. The campaign alley will run from 6:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Candidates for president and vice president will answer questions about issues concerning the Ole Miss student body. Presidential candidates are Kimbrely Dandridge and Kegan Coleman; vice presidential candidates are Mary Margaret Johnson, Samuel McKay and Emmalee Raineyl; candidates for treasurer are Garner Reesby and Rebecca Ruleman; candidates for secretary are David Horton and Emily Rast. Running unopposed are Matthew Kiefer for attorney general and Courtney Pearson for judicial chair. The ASB debates were first conceived by Andrew Scott, a former SPJ president, following the 2008 on-campus presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. The ASB communications office urges students to send questions for the candidates to its website, its Facebook and its Twitter @OleMissASB.
thedmonline.com
Vol. 100 No. 248
Students illegally downloading textbooks to save money BY ADAM GANUCHEAU Special to The DM amganuch@olemiss.edu
In these tough economic times, students are turning to an unorthodox way to save some cash by downloading online versions of their textbooks illegally. Textbook piracy is a growing trend among college students, and one that some would argue is fair game. One popular file-sharing website offers students over 6,000 textbooks to choose from. Joining the website is free and simple, and the website has over 40,000 members. Students upload their e-books onto the site’s servers, making the books available to all members. Though the legal and moral nature of textbook piracy is questioned by many, some students argue that the process is innovative and logical. An anonymous Ole Miss student, who illegally downloaded multiple textbooks this semester, said he feels no remorse for his actions. “The textbook industry is nothing but a racket,” he told The Daily Mississippian. “I feel that I have, in my own way, beat the system.”
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NORMAN SEAWRIGHT | The Daily Mississippian
College students have a lot of expenses, including buying textbooks, and cutting corners somewhere can ease their financial burdens. Websites that allow students to illegally download textbooks are popping up all over the Internet.
This student said he saved $600 just this semester by downloading the books online, which saved him from having to take out additional student loans. The process is quick and easy: a simple Google search for torrent websites and a couple clicks of the mouse lead to full access of several textbooks. “I have the same pages and chapters as everyone else,” the anonymous source said. “The only disadvantage is that I can
only access the book on my laptop, instead of having the hard copy.” One of the Internet’s largest websites devoted to textbook piracy, Textbook Torrents, was shut down this past summer. Since then, other websites have filled the void left by Textbook Torrents. The website was shut down by a legal group hired by the Association of American Publishers. Unlike music licensing compa-
nies that punish individuals who download music illegally, no publishing company has taken legal action against individual students who download textbooks illegally. The Ole Miss Bookstore, like other off-campus bookstores including Campus Book Mart and Rebel Bookstore, sells thousands of books a semester, either directly from the store or online. At See TEXTBOOKS, PAGE 4
ASB’s Two + 2 gives students the opportunity to meet new people BY GABRIELLE WELCH gawelch@olemiss.edu
The Two + 2 program creates the opportunity for students and teachers to meet in a casual setting by pairing two students who know each other with another two, whom they have never met. “The key to freshman year is meeting people,” said Doug Odom, an English junior who participated in the program this past semester with Samual McKay, a member of the Associated Student Body. Kaylen Addison, who is in charge of running the program, has participated multiple times and had a good time meeting a new person. “We realized that we had a lot of things in common, from our classes to some other involvements, and that helped conversation flow,” she said. The art of conversation is something that takes time to
master, but the only way to improve those skills is to practice them. No matter what business students go into, they will always be forced to meet and communicate with people they do not know. Jodi Gilles, an exercise science sophomore, has also participated in the program. “I want to be a physical therapist when I get out of college, so I will be meeting someone new every single day of my life,” Gilles said. “(The Two + 2 Program has) been fun. It’s getting me ready for being able to meet people, know nothing about them and get to know them, while being friendly.” It is important to feel connected on campus as well, which has been one positive result from participating in the program for biology major Urvi Patel. “I occasionally see most of
PHOTO COURTESY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENT BODY
A group of people participate in the Two + 2 program at the University of Mississippi.
the group members on campus, and we just chat a little bit,” Patel said. Gilles said the program has helped her feel more connected on campus. “Just by saying ‘hi’ to someone you run into on campus,
you can make their entire day better,” Gilles said. “It is certainly a unique experience that you aren’t going to get the opportunity to do anywhere else,” Addison said. “It’s just a great way to meet more people.”