The Daily Mississippian - February 28, 2011

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MISSISSIPPIAN

CELEBRATING OUR HUNDREDTH YEAR | THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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THE UNIVERSITY

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MISSISSIPPI | SERVING OLE MISS

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OXFORD

SINCE

Student housing space may be slim for upcoming students BY CHARLES HALE ROBINSON The Daily Mississippian

As the spring semester progresses, many students are forced to consider next year’s living arrangements. Some of these students will find acquiring a room on campus difficult. The student housing application process for on-campus apartment living opened on Monday, Feb. 21, at 8 a.m. and closed before noon that same day. After only a few hours, all the campus-owned apartment spaces had filled up, including Northgate and Campus Walk. “A lot of people are trying to get

over here because it’s really convenient,” Campus Walk resident Taylor Bennett said. “It’s better than residence hall life because you can experience the off-campus life, but it’s on campus.” Returning students and upperclassmen who are still in search of on campus living are being encouraged to go online and place themselves on a waiting list and to begin evaluating off-campus housing options, officials said. With upperclassmen’s options limited, some students are looking to the residential college. “More current residential college residents are returning to stay in the residential college next year

than the year before,” said Daniel O’Sullivan, senior fellow of the Residential College. “Some upperclass students from other halls have applied for the fall, but it is unclear whether or not we will offer membership to all of them.” The residential college is nicer than some of the other campus options, resident Tony Stvartak said. “I stayed in Brown over the summer,” Stvartak said. “Brown in particular was smelly and loud, and I’d much rather be here.” Ole Miss is not alone in its rapid growth of student population, said Lorinda Krhut, director of the department of student hous-

ing. Krhut said this is a small but shared problem among most universities and colleges. “One of the main reasons universities are receiving larger freshman classes is due to the increase in minorities seeking higher education,” Krhut said. “Community colleges are also seeing increases in their populations. The economy may also have something to do with the increase. Individuals look for ways to make themselves more marketable in the job force and pursuing additional education can only help in that venture.” Now that Miller Hall is closed,

1911 |

WWW.THEDMONLINE.COM

this week FORD CENTER

BLACK HISTORY MONTH KEYNOTE LECTURE

The Black History Month Committee and the University Lecture Series presents Ntozake Shange. 6 p.m. Free FORD CENTER

SWAN LAKE The Russian National Ballet is bringing its acclaimed production of “Swan Lake” to the University of Mississippi’s Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts for one show March 4. 8 p.m. March 4 $20 Mezzanine/ Balcony (Gen. Adm.) Orchestra/Parterre tickets are sold out.

See HOUSING, PAGE 4

inside

OUT drivers wary of pedestrians

NEWS

STUDENTS PACK MEALS FOR AFRICA

BY KATE NICOLE COOPER The Daily Mississippian

said. “Any parking spaces removed from the Square will have to be replaced elsewhere, possibly in a parking garage. A parking garage would be one element of an overall downtown parking strategy.” There are currently two locations being discussed for a parking garage. One is behind City Hall, and the other is behind Oxford University Club. “Oxford is unique, but other American cities like New York, for example, have begun to reclaim some of the areas dedicated to cars for pedestrian use,” Akers said. The cost of a parking garage

Around 2 p.m. Monday a week ago, at least a dozen student passengers witnessed a cyclist cut in front of the Green Route OxfordUniversity Transit system bus and continue to ride in front of it while in the South parking lot. Once the driver stopped to let passengers off, the cyclist rode up to the doors of the bus and tried to confront the driver, but the driver shut the doors and drove away. This incident happened just an hour after a runner on campus stepped in front of another O.U.T. bus near the intersection of AllAmerican Drive and University Avenue. The driver was forced to slam on his brakes to avoid what possibly could have been a fatality. Although more serious than the usual encounters O.U.T. operators face, these events are just two encounters that they deal with every day. Ron Biggs, manager of O.U.T., said one of the most challenging but important factors that the drivers must keep in mind is to always be defensive drivers. Biggs said the complaint was made that the bus almost ran the cyclist off of the road as it was turning into the South Lot, then continued to ride in front of the bus while going through the parking lot. “I have to look at every situation from the driver’s aspect as well as

See PARKING, PAGE 5

See OUT, PAGE 4

FILE PHOTO | The Daily Mississippian

City takes action to solve parking problems on the Oxford Square BY KRISTIE WARINO The Daily Mississippian

The City of Oxford has implemented a plan to make the Square more pedestrianfriendly, by eliminating parking problems. “We are working on a longrange plan for parking in the city business district that could include a parking garage, pay parking and a more pedestrian-friendly environment,” Mayor Pat Patterson said. Oxford is home to about 20,000 residents, and parking has been a topic of discussion for the past 16 years. “Unless we want to revert to

horse and buggy, some historical concerns simply have to take a backseat to progress,” Parrish Baker, owner of Parrish’s Bar, said. “This doesn’t mean the “march of progress” has to trample all over the Square, but compromises must be made. The population growth is not slowing, nor the production of cars.” Since 2002, parking studies have been conducted on the City of Oxford, and have shown a need for additional parking. “The city has a long-term plan to eliminate some of the parking on the Square to create more green space,” Tim Akers, Oxford city planner,

LIFESTYLES

MEET CHARLES K. ROSS

SPORTS

OLE MISS BEATS ALABAMA


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