The
S TUDENT P RINTZ www.studentprintz.com
SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927
October 6, 2011
Volume 96 Issue 13
ON CAMPUS
Miss USM to be crowned Saturday Arielle Edwards Printz Writer
Cabinet and is Pageant Director. Any woman currently enrolled as a full-time student at USM and in good academic standing with a minimum 2.25 GPA is able to participate.
“Because of our strength in advertising, we had more women than expected sign up,” Myers said. “I am thrilled that 18 talented young women will be vying for the title of Miss USM
2011-2012.” Preliminary to the Miss Mississippi pageant and the Miss American Organization, the Miss USM Scholarship Pageant is an opportunity for women to
showcase their talent on stage, win scholarship money and potentially represent their university as Miss USM. “It’s about having a passion for the university and wanting to better oneself as an individual,” Myers said. “It is an honor to be crowned Miss USM and also entails the responsibility of representing our university at Miss Mississippi.” Each year, the women who compete in Miss USM must raise at least $100 to donate to Children’s Miracle Network and formulate a platform. Junior Megan Tanner wants to compete in the pageant to become more involved with Southern Miss and the community. “I thought that I could represent Southern Miss in a positive and genuine way if I become the next Miss USM,” Tanner said. To help prepare for the
Eighteen Southern Miss students will compete for the title of Miss University of Southern Mississippi on Saturday at Bennett Auditorium. The contestants are competing for a $1,500 scholarship and the chance to represent Southern Miss at the Miss Mississippi Pageant held in Vicksburg in July. This year marks the 66th anniversary of the Miss Southern Miss pageant, and it’s one of the Student Government Association’s largest events. Much of the preparation for the pageant was done during the summer. “This fall was spent finalizing details, recruiting participants and working to boost the event’s name and advertising,” Mary Alice Truitt/Printz said Lacey Myers, who is Eighteen students who will compete in the Miss USM pageant Saturday rehearse in Bennett Auditorium Wednesday. part of the SGA Executive
See PAGEANT, 3
ON CAMPUS
Student death no longer homicide Almost three months after Southern Miss student and former SGA Vice President Lance Logan was found dead in a Hattiesburg apartment, the ruling of his death is no longer being called a homicide. “It was likely accidental,” said Forrest County coroner Butch Benedict. “As the investigation has gone on, nothing has proven to us that it was a homicide.”
Logan, 24, was found dead on July 14 at Point O’Woods apartment complex on North 38th Avenue. The death was initially called a suicide, then changed to homicide after an autopsy indicated Logan had a second gunshot wound to his arm, which the autopsy defined as a defensive wound. Now, after the Forrest County Grand Jury met in September and reviewed the evidence of the case, the ruling is no longer a homicide. Benedict told The Vicksburg Post he believes Logan was han-
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Mary Margaret Halford Executive Editor
dling a gun and dropped it. He thinks the “Western style” revolver, similar to a .22 caliber, went off when it hit the ground. Benedict added that the angle of the bullet was not consistent with a homicide, so the official cause of death is listed as “undetermined.” The grand jury has not released an official statement, and Hattiesburg police have not announced whether the case is officially closed. “While having the answers will not bring him back, it gives
his family and me so much more peace to know that there was no struggle,” said Logan’s fiancée Allie Barfield, a senior accounting major from Vicksburg. “Lance always made it a personal goal show his love for Southern Miss by leaving it better than he found it. The most important thing we can do now is to honor his legacy and his memory by putting passion and heart into everything USM.” Logan was a senior international business major and graduate of St. Aloysius High School in Vicksburg.
Lance Logan
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
WEATHER Thursday
87/58 Friday
86/59 Saturday
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INDEX Calendar ........................ 2 News ...............................3 Feature ............................4 Arts & Entertainment......5 Opinion............................6 Sports...............................8