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22, 2010 | V
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D A I L Y
MISSISSIPPIAN The Student Newspaper
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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www.thedmonline.com
TOYOTA PLANT TO RESUME CONSTRUCTION BY BRITTANY STACK
Toyota has announced that the new plant in Blue Springs will resume construction after an 18-month delay. The plant originally broke ground in April 2007, but was suspended indefinitely in December 2008 due to a downturn in the automotive market. The downturn, marked by gas prices hovering near $4 per gallon and by fewer sales, made the addition of a tenth Toyota plant in the United States undesirable. “We first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed,” Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement regarding the Blue Springs Plant. “Now it’s time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi.” The announcement of the opening of the Blue Springs plant comes after a reported 19 percent rise in the sales of passenger vehicles during the month of May. The plant will be producing the Corolla, instead of the Highlander SUV that was originally intended, or the Prius Hybrid, which Toyota had announced in mid-2008. While the plans are to have cars rolling off the lines in late fall 2011, there is still much work left to be done. The Blue Springs Toyota plant originally was set to cost $1.3 billion to finish, but now will be finished on a budget of $800 million. Costs were able to be cut after deciding to manufacture the Corolla, which is less ex-
‘Spirit of New Orleans,’ photographs by Bruce Keyes from the book by the same name, presents a three-decade odyssey through the streets of the Big Easy.
FORD CENTER
THE KING AND I In this rich Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, English widow Anna Leonowens comes to Siam in the 1860s to tutor the many wives and children of the country’s king. She soon discovers that she and the king live in two different worlds headed for a collision. Part of the 2010 Oxford Shakespeare Festival’s A Royal Season. PHOTO COURTESY Image Builders Photography
pensive to produce than the Highlander or Prius. Also, many of the machines used for production come from a California plant that closed earlier this year. Most of the Corollas for the United States will be produced at the northwest Mississippi plant. The spring 2010 closing of a California plant sent most of the production of the Corolla to Japan. When the California plant closed, 150,000 units of the Corolla output were sent overseas. “We sincerely appreciate the patience and
the growing number of persons interested in learning the sport, Young said. “We’re doing this because of the amount of people who want to play, and to meet the demand of league play,” Young said. “For instance, on a Sunday afternoon when it’s nice outside, you can’t find a court because they’re always full. It’s a great situation to be having.” Young said the project is expected to cost $2.5 million. The cost could go up or down, depending on the economy. It isn’t expected to change drastically, however. The commission plans to take the issue to the Board of Aldermen soon because they will need the backing of the city to build the new courts. No date has been set for when that will be, but Young said he hopes for it to be within the upcoming month. The meeting is only to inform the community of the issue, and no vote will be taken during the meeting. It will be held 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Oxford Conference Center.
understanding shown by Governor Barbour and the people of Mississippi,” Inaba said. “With the economic downturn, we had a commitment to our team members and communities worldwide to make sure all of our existing plants were stable. With the return of stability to our existing operations in North America, it is time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi.” The Blue Springs plant will employ around 2,000 people in addition to the 60 already there in administrative positions. Other jobs will be created in the surrounding area as suppliers for the car factory.
Hospital hosts men’s health fair at UM Golf Course on Thursday BY RACHEL JOHNSON
The Oxford Park Commission will be holding a Tennis town hall meeting tonight to raise awareness about a possible expansion of the John Leslie Center. The meeting will discuss a plan to expand the center to include 21 courts and a new club house. “We’re going to be talking to the community and the city to let them know what we are as the tennis committee, Mike Young, program director for the Oxford Park Commision, said. “We just want to let them know what we’re going to do, who we are and what our plans are. We want to try to get some feedback as well from our community.” Young said that he hopes to the have the project started as soon as possible, but wants to build support from the community and allow aldermen and supervisors to know that this is a big need in Oxford. The current center offers tennis classes that have been forced to limit the number of participants and had to create waitlists for the classes because of
GAMMILL GALLERY EXHIBITION
Free, open to the public
Town hall meeting tonight concerning growing tennis facility needs in Oxford News Editor
B A R N A R D O B S E R VAT O R Y
Museum open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The Daily Mississippian
BY LANCE INGRAM
this week
The Daily Mississippian
On
Thursday, Baptist Memorial Hospital of Oxford will host its annual Men’s Health Fair at the Ole Miss golf course. The fair will run from 7:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and will offer discounts on golf rounds and information on men’s health issues. The golf course will provide a free cart rental with any round of golf and discounts on walking rounds. Pro shop manager Gerald Barron said reservations are not required for tee times, but can be made in advance or the day of the event. “We’re expecting a really good turnout from all the banners and advertisements they’ve had up,” said Barron. Baptist Memorial will be providing a number of services for men to take advantage of including blood work with a complete profile of blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides for $20 and PSA screening for prostate cancer for $25. The event is not only geared toward general health, but men’s screenings as well.
“Colon cancer is so rampant right now; we’re going to be giving lots of information about that,” said Melinda Gordon, director of marketing and physician’s services for Baptist North Mississippi. The fair is an annual event for the hospital, but this will be the first time it has been hosted at the Ole Miss golf course. “We hope to reach some guys who may not ordinarily come to a health fair,” Gordon said. “The golf course was very excited to have us out there to promote men’s health with their members.” Barron agreed. “The golf course is part of the community, and as part of the community we think it’s great to help support organizations who do this,” Barron said. The fair is part of Men’s Health month, and Baptist is holding a number of events to bring more information to the community about men’s health. “Men sometimes do not take care of themselves like we women do, and the more we can educate men in our community and make them aware that it’s imSee GOLF, PAGE 4
$14-$18, starts at noon.
inside OPINION
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TERRICO WHITE BEGINS GRIZZLIES TRAINING