THE DAILY
MISSISSIPPIAN
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Volume 104, No. 68
T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S I S S I P P I S E R V I N G O L E M I S S A N D OX F O R D S I N C E 1 9 1 1
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One of the best seasons in Rebel soccer history Page 8
Wintersession offers Food Bank hours to change for break unique opportunities ISABELLA CARUSO
igcaruso@go.olemiss.edu
As the holiday break approaches and most students are planning winter break adventures, internships or jobs, others will be in the classrooms taking courses offered through the University’s annual winter intersession. Kenneth J. Sufka, professor of psychology and pharmacology and research professor at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has taught winter intersession classes since 2005. Sufka will be instructing a general-level psychology course over the intersession term. He has proven that individually, the majority of his intersession students receive overall higher grades than his regular-term students. “Intersession courses have highly concentrated content with frequent testing, leading to better performance,” Sufka said. Sufka said to be mindful of students, he would never attempt to instruct certain advanced courses during the intersession term. “The science of student learning tells us that you really need to take some time off between study sessions and you do not have the luxury of doing that with a 2-week intersession course,” Sufka said.
During intersession courses, students are only required to focus on one class, which can help with success because there are less distractions and interferences with attendance and study requirements. “If you are a disciplined student, you can focus the entirety of your being on mastering the content of your class,” Sufka said. He said winter intersession courses are beneficial for those who can budget it into their finances by getting ahead, catching up on credit hours or finally enrolling in a class that was filled to capacity during the semester. “There is less competition for those really hard to get classes during winter intersession and also for getting into a class with a really good teacher that everybody wants to have,” Sufka said. Intersession courses meet for three and a half hours each day for 10 days, which is the same number of contact hours during a regular semester-long term. The material for each course remains the same and no information is edited out or added in from the semester-long course. Cynthia Joyce, assistant professor of journalism, will be PHOTOS BY: ROYCE SWAYZE teaching a course with a less traditional set-up called “Media Mississippi is the second-most food insecure state in the country, with approximately 21 percent of people struggling with hunger, including Ole Miss students. The UM Food Bank is dedicated to aiding students in need every season, but especially during the holidays. Casey Foley SEE INTERSESSION PAGE 3 (top) and Taylor Delaney (bottom) volunteer at the food bank by receiving and stocking food from a donor. SEE PAGE 3
‘Lifelong learner’ retires, leaves large shoes to fill DEVNA BOSE
dbose1@go.olemiss.edu
PHOTO BY: ROYCE SWAYZE
Vicki Mahan, longtime assistant director for the university’s counseling center, is retiring at the end of this semester.
After spending decades of her life on the Ole Miss campus as both an undergraduate and graduate student, as well as working in the university’s counseling office, Vicki Mahan is retiring. Mahan has served as the Employee Assistance Program Coordinator since 1997 and as the UM Allies Coordinator since 2001. The extensive work Mahan has done here over the years helped transform the EAP program to what it is today, taking it to new heights. The Michigan native and Ole Miss alumna moved to Mississippi in 1979 after marrying her then-husband and started a private counseling practice in Oxford. Mahan finished her bache-
lor’s degree at Ole Miss, and also acquired a specialist’s degree in education. Her career began in the Water Valley and Oxford school districts as a special educator. Later, she found herself at the alternative school, formerly known as The Learning Center, counseling as much as she taught. After obtaining her master’s degree from Ole Miss in counseling, known as educational psychology at that time, she began working at the counseling center on campus. By 1993, she was a graduate assistant, writing proposals to expand the EAP program at the counseling center. It had just been created and there was a half-time EAP position available. Mahan took the position and quickly made it full-time. It took about
10 years to expand the program to what it is now: a full-service, three-tier EAP. Today, it is a counseling and treatment service available to all faculty and staff. “I’m so proud of that,” Mahan said. “This program came from nothing.” Throughout her years here at the University, Mahan said, more than anything, her job has given her an education. “From beginning to now, I’ve learned here,” she said. “People who work for universities are lifelong learners, but these have been years of great social change.” During her stay, the UM Allies Program, a support program for LGBTQ individuals, was created. Mahan served as the staff advisor. “In the beginning, we had to move their weekly meetings from
room to room from fear of people with hate on their minds crashing and causing trouble. Through Allies, I was so excited to see people from every realm of the University come together to give students the best opportunity to get an education,” Mahan said. Mahan said the stigma around mental illness has evolved as well. The counseling center used to make special accommodations for people who didn’t want to be seen coming in or out of the counseling center, but they don’t have to do so nowadays. One of her favorite parts about her job is the family atmosphere at the University. “This is our little community,” Mahan said. “The counseling cen-
SEE RETIRES PAGE 3