SUMMER DM SCHEDULE:
‘It’s not a restaurant, It’s a pizza joint.’
P. 4
Campbell enters senior season as top punter
P. 8
Check us out online at theDMonline.com
T H E D A I LY
W
e d n e s d ay
, J
u l y
DURING THE SUMMER, THE DM WILL PUBLISH THREE DAYS A WEEK, TUESDAY–THURSDAY, DURING THE FIRST, SECOND AND FULL SUMMER TERMS.
18, 2012 | V
o l
. 100, N
o
. 318
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
and
Oxford
since
1911
Who keeps Ole Unemployment claims Miss beautiful? drop nationwide Ole Miss is known throughout the U.S. as “America’s Most Beautiful Campus,” but less is clear about what exactly goes into maintaining that title. BY ADAM FLAHERTY gaflaher@go.olemiss.edu
The University of Mississippi’s beauty is well-known across the country, but how it is kept beautiful is more of a mystery to most. Keeping Ole Miss’ “America’s Most Beautiful Campus” title, as it was named by Newsweek in 2011, is in fact a complex financial and logistical operation. The campus is maintained by the University of Mississippi Landscape Services
The weekly total for unemployment claims dropped to its lowest level in four years.
Department, which operates under the Office for the Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance. The mission statement of the department sums its role up well: “Our Mission is to provide professional services to the university, which ensures that its natural splendor is well maintained, environmentally sensitive and aesthetically pleasing to our customers. Our objective is to expand See LANDSCAPING, PAGE 5 GRAPHIC BY CAIN MADDEN | The Daily Mississippian
BY KAYLEIGH SKINNER kaskinne@go.olemiss.edu
PHILLIP WALLER | The Daily Mississippian
Landscaping workers spread mulch on campus Friday. In the fiscal year 2010, over 1,053 trees, 10,381 shrubs and 8,760 yards of sod were planted on campus.
As of July 7, initial claims filed for unemployment benefits across the nation dropped dramatically, hitting 350,000 by the end of the week, according to data released by the United States Department of Labor. This is the lowest level in four years, a sharp decrease from the 392,000 filed the week of June 16. The sudden drop could
be due to circumstance, but the four-week average also dropped by 9,750 to 376,500. In 2008 when the nation’s recession first began, weekly claims for unemployment benefits were above 400,000 and peaked at 667,000 in March 2009. The week of June 30 saw Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maryland with the largest decreases in initial claims filed. Florida and Pennsylvania supplied
statements listing the cause of the decrease: fewer layoffs in a variety of industries including agriculture and manufacturing. “If claims are dropping that much, it seems more people are finding jobs,” Robert Newsom, a legal studies major at Ole Miss, said. “Hopefully this means it will be easier for students to find jobs once we graduate.” Other students are less opSee UNEMPLOYMENT, PAGE 4
Ole Miss alumnus chosen as VP for Teach for America Billy Crews, newly chosen vice president of Teach for America, hopes to close the academic achievement gap in the Mississippi Delta. BY DAVID KENNEDY davidoakridge@gmail.com
University of Mississippi and Oxford public school graduate Billy Crews returns home after 30 years as a public media executive and education advocate to join Teach for America’s Regional Staff as vice president in the Mississippi Delta region. “It was the opportunity to work for Teach for America that
brought me here, but my commitment to Teach for America is rooted in values planted in me since my childhood in Oxford and the Ole Miss campus,” Crews said. Crews recently resigned from his position as the chief operating officer in the Tupelo Independent School District after realizing what he offered as a community builder wouldn’t make a significant impact “a sys-
tem with a lot of tradition.” Before his transfer to TISD, Crews was the CEO for Journal Inc.’s publication of the Eastern Daily Mississippian Newspaper, the largest owned newspaper in Mississippi. In the 1970’s, Crews’ efforts initiated the Mississippi Reading Improvement Program by raising over $1 million. The program was eventually included in the state’s education reform plan
as a way to help students across Mississippi avoid falling behind in reading. Crews said his new job will give him an opportunity to work with an organization that shares his genuine passion for education. “There is a number of forces and factors and key constituents that all have to work together to increase our educational level across the board,” Crews said.
Crews named outstanding teachers, outstanding leaders in the school building level, state leadership in the educational community and political leadership as some of the things that are necessary for educational improvement, both in Mississippi and throughout the U.S. “One key is to attract the best and brightest across this counSee CREWS, PAGE 5