March_26_2009

SPORTS

Men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy discusses his team’s future, giving back his bonus and what went wrong this past season. See page 8 for details.

ENTERTAINMENT

Check out page 6 for our full coverage of this year’s South

By Southwest.

S P The

Serving Southern Miss since 1927

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Volume 93, Issue 48

Advisement helpful to some, a hassle to others Lesley Walters News Editor

Besides getting back to the proverbial grindstone – often grudgingly – many Southern Miss students have been spending this week mulling over degree plans, discussing options with advisers and scanning SOAR to get the first pick of available courses.

Advisement is a necessary process for many students, but to others, one that is more trouble than it’s worth.

“Advisement is pointless and simply a waste of time,” said Kyle Ross, a business maDaves jor. “I don’t even use my adviser anymore; instead, I create my own schedule.”

Anthony Smith, a computer science major and graduating senior, held similar sentiments.

“I don’t see why we have to get advised every semester,” he

said. “I usually just choose my own classes.”

Some students, however, like those in the nursing or education licensure programs, don’t have the luxury of a choose-yourown curriculum. David Daves, chair of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, said most students seeking education licensure are shuffled through a highly structured degree program.

Students majoring in elementary education, for instance, are grouped together into “blocks”

and pursue the curriculum at the same time during their last three semesters at Southern von Herrmann Miss.

This means their advisers are absolutely necessary in directing course selection, he said.

“It makes advising pretty easy, because it’s cut and dry,” Daves said.

Students interested in the li-

censure program can accidentally interrupt their degree plans long before those last three semesters, simply by taking unnecessary courses, if they do not have the assistance of an adviser, he said.

About 70 percent of the students in that program are transfer students from junior colleges, Daves said, and without the proper guidance often run into problems that force them to extend their stay at the university.

He added that his department has made efforts in the past few

Meryl Dakin Printz Writer

hicle/pedestrian accidents.

Although enforcement efforts of these areas have increased, complaints continue on a regular basis.

“A two-phase plan will be implemented to protect our pedestrians. Recently, this plan was shared with SGA, deans and Deans Council and the President’s Cabinet.

Feedback was positive and encouraging.”

The plan was fully implemented this week.

Earmarks secure millions for USM, state James Osborne Printz Writer

Mississippi is set to receive a bulk of the funds from the $410 billion Omnibus Appropriations Act, a spending bill full of earmarks for state funding, which President Barack Obama approved with his signature March 11.

Southern Miss alone will receive around $7 million in funding for university projects.

“All these projects will, in some way, impact both graduate and undergraduate students,” said Cecil Burge, vice president for research and economic development at Southern Miss. “These kinds of resources will allow the university to continue program and facilities development, all of which enhances the educational opportunities for our students.”

A significant chunk of the funding set aside for USM will go to science-related research and development, including $1 million for fuel cell research, another million for aquaculture research

INDEX

CALENDAR............................2 DIRTY BIRDS.........................2 OPINIONS...............................4 CONTACT INFO.....................5

and development, and still another for continuing development of the Forensic SciObama ence Program The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials is also set receive $2.24 million for developing advanced marine composites.

Further, $285,000 will fund math and science literacy efforts in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, and $1.5 million will go into the planning and design for a new nursing building. Another $570,000 will go to help facilitate start-up companies in the Hattiesburg area.

Other major state projects to receive funding include: $61 million for construction of Mississippi River levees; $31.5 million to continue work at the national strategic petroleum reserve site in Richton; $20.8 million to construct mooring cells for barges

ENTERTAINMENT.................6 ENT. CALENDAR...................7 SPORTS....................................8 SPORTS CALENDAR.............8

See ADVISEMENT page 2

USM researchers create self-mending polymer

USM TRAFFIC CHANGES

In a recent message sent out to Southern Miss students, the University Police Department issued the following statement: “It has long been known that the most congested areas among pedestrians and vehicles exist at Golden Eagle Avenue between Cook Library and OMH and 31st Avenue between Joseph Green Hall and the Liberal Arts Building.

“These areas have also been the scenes of several ve-

years to inform junior colleges of the necessary requirements for the program to avoid such problems in the future.

But for students without a clue as to what career path to follow, being undecided can create similar problems, either because of an array of unnecessary credits or a lack of several requisites – pushing graduation day that much farther away.

Since January, undecided majors have been fielded to the

along the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway; $10.4 million to the Sustainable Energy Research Center at Mississippi State; $10 million for the port of Gulfport.

Out of all the scheduled projects, the largest is likely the $205 million set to fund new construction on the existing federal prison in Yazoo City.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped secure much of the funding for his home state.

“With these funds we will be able to continue the important work of improving our state’s infrastructure, enhancing quality of health care and education and creating an environment to attract new businesses,” Cochran said in a press release.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan budget watchdog group, said that out of all the legislators in the U.S. Congress to secure funding through earmarks in the omnibus, Cochran and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) top the list at No. 1 and No. 2 re-

spectively.

According to its Web site, www. taxpayer.net, Cochran cinched a total of 205 earmarks for Mississippi. Even Wicker, who got $396 million through earmarks for the Magnolia State, credits his colleague with his second-place listing in the TCS study.

Mississippi is the third-highest-funded state in terms of “total earmark value” and fourth highest per capita, the TCS study indicated, “despite having only the 31st-highest population, according to census data.”

President Obama has also received much criticism for signing a bill with so many earmarks because he opposed the use of earmarks during his campaign.

But he defended signing the bill, saying that earmarks can be useful, and has promised to curb, not eliminate them. He did not go into details but said that he would work with Congress to eliminate earmarks or other specific items in spending bills that he believes serve no legitimate purpose.

Scratches on plastics will be a thing of the past thanks to a recent invention developed in Southern Miss’ polymer science department.

Dr. Marek Urban and Biswajit Ghosh are the primary scientists working on the project. Their recent invention is self-mending polymers, which can be used in car paint, flooring, touch screens, military equipment, and anything else requiring plastic coating.

During an interview, Urban tried to demonstrate how the self-mending polymers could even be used for furniture upkeep. He made his point about their practicality after accidentally scratching the leather chair that was, unfortunately, not made of self-mending polymers.

Urban said the polymers were first conceived a few years ago.

The goal was to create “smart materials” that are multi-functional and responsive.

Urban and Ghosh attribute the inspiration for self-healing plastics to the self-healing properties of living organisms. When human skin is scratched, the outermost blood flow is stopped by crosslinks of fibrin, a protein used to clot blood.

When plants are damaged, certain chemicals are activated to prevent further abrasions.

The same concept is used in the polymers. Urban described the process of the self-healing plastic as a dense net.

“You break one of the net lines, and as a result of the breakage, you create something that will be reactive,” he said. “You expose it to UV light and it will bind with a neighbor.”

Because the crosslinking reactions in the healing process are not affected by moisture, rain will not affect the repairs. According to a recent Chemical and Engineering article on the new invention, the process to should take less an hour.

‘‘

This is just the beginning. We’re excited because its good for the school, good for the students...and it’s a lot of fun.

’’

-Dr. Marek Urban

Urban said that there are two more systems set to emerge within the year that will build on the technology used in this project.

“I don’t like to send something out that’s not finished,” Urban said, explaining the delay. “I like to take the time to make sure it’s of quality.”

He demonstrated the ultimate goal of the new systems with a sheet of paper that he tore in two.

He explained that an object composed of the advanced self-mending polymers would heal itself when the two pieces were placed together again.

“This is just the beginning,” Urban said. “We’re excited because its good for the school, good for the students...and it’s a lot of fun.”

Making it ‘to the top’ Editor’s note: This is the fourth chapter in the five-part series regarding Raylawni Branch’s story.

Jesse Bass Opinions Editor

Clyde Kennard was a black man, pining for education, who made history with his unsuccessful attempt to matriculate in Southern Miss in 1959. He chased his dream of college, but instead got a taste of conspiracy and prison.

In 1964, USM President William McCain ordered confiscation and destruction of all cop-

POLICY

THE STUDENT PRINTZ IS PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY DURING THE FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS. THE FIRST FOUR COPIES ARE FREE. EACH ADDITIONAL COPY IS 25 CENTS.

Though there is no clear date for the self-mending polymer’s public release, Urban said the team is working on the marketing portion now. They want to ensure the integrity of the project and “protect the intellectual property of the university,” he added, before introducing it into the market.

The polymer science department’s project has generated international attention. Beyond the write-ups in Forbes and the New York Times, Urban has spoken with the BBC, Austrian radio, Irish radio, and with the press in New Zealand. Ghosh’s and Urban’s article on their findings even appeared in the prestigious Science Magazine, a world renowned science journal.

For the latest Southern Miss news, see studentprintz.com

ies of the March 20 edition of “The Student Printz,” ransacking classrooms and archives in the process. The paper outlined the story of John Frazier, a black man who was turned away when he tried to enroll in the university.

The paper’s front page was reprinted without Frazier’s account or the photograph of his dark, bespectacled face.

See RAYLAWNI page 3

TODAY

TOMORROW

75/63

81/63

Page 2|News

www.studentprintz.com |Thursday, March 26, 2009

EventsCalendar TODAY

10am - Annual Student Art Show, Museum of Art 6pm - Fernando Vargas Cello Recital 7:30pm - Wind Ensemble Concerto Concert

FRIDAY

7am to 5pm - Mississippi Science Olympiad, R.C. Cook Union 8am to 5pm - Graduate Research Symposium, TCC 2nd floor All day - MT/CLS Club, World’s Finest Chocolate, throughout campus All day - Krispy Creme and Coca Cola Fundraiser, throughout campus 10am - Annual Student Art Show, Museum of Art 11am to 2pm - Money Drop for Mr. Esquire Pageant, Shoemaker Square 2pm - Groundbreaking Century Park, construction site on 4th street 6pm - Patrick Melvin Tuba Recital 6pm - Poetry Reading by USM students and faculty, Cafe Boheme

SATURDAY

All Day - Southern Miss Horn Day, Mannoni Performing Arts Center 8am to 2pm - Plant sale, east side of the Walker Science Building 9am to 4pm - Hubfest, Downtown Hattiesburg 9am - Auditions for Dixie Darlings, Payne Center 10am - Annual Student Art Show, Museum of Art 11am - Nu-Olympics and Catfish Fry 1pm to 4pm - ACCESS Rec Sports Club Soccer Practice, Payne Center 7:30pm - Symphony Orchestra Concert, Saenger Theater Downtown

SUNDAY

10:30am - French crepes breakfast, JavaWerks 1pm - Julie Evans Voice Recital, Marsh Auditorium 2:30pm - Ashely Henry and ELena Kokkinomagoulos Voice Recital, Marsh Auditorium 3pm - City of Hattiesburg Concert Band, Saenger Theater 4pm - Jonathan Rowe Trombone Recital, Marsh Auditorium 5:30pm to 7:30pm - Miss Krimson and Kream Pageant, TCC Ballrooms 7:30pm - Megan Distasio Clarinet Recital, Marsh Auditorium 8pm to 10pm - Residence Hall Association Luau, Freshman Quad

MONDAY

news in brief

All day - MT/CLS Club, World’s Finest Chocolate, throughout campus All day - Krispy Creme and Coca Cola Fundraiser, throughout campus All day - Belk Spring Charity Ticket sales, throughout campus 3pm - Founders’ Day Celebration, lawn of Administration Building 4pm - Nuria Rojas Piano Recital, Marsh Auditorium 8:30pm - Sax-Chamber Orchestra Recital, Marsh Auditorium

ADVISEMENT continued from page one College of Arts and Letters for advisement, said the college Dean Denise von Herrmann. Instead of looking at the change as a burden, she said the influx of advisees has provided an opportunity to practice some new methods in advising students.

Von Herrmann, chair of the Strategic Enrollment Planning Council sub-committee on advisement, said she and her colleagues have been researching the current national best practices to improve the process for Southern Miss students in the future.

For instance, she said, research shows that peers or peer-like advisers are more effective. Now that her college has seen an influx of advisees, master students from the College of Education and Psychology have been recruited to act as advisers, saving money and providing useful assistance to undecided students, she said.

She and her colleagues have also assembled an “advisement syllabus” for those undecided majors to come to advisement sessions well prepared. More than simply providing a to-do list, the

syllabus also outlines the purpose of advisement – an issue that von Herrmann said is the major cause of much complaint among students.

“I really think part of our problem is that we expect one person – either a staff or a faculty member – to do things that really ought to be handled by two or three different people,” she said.

She added that many people believe advisement should do more than just outline future course loads; some expect their advisers to act as mentors, offering advice

based on experience and expertise, and others seek direction in regards to campus resources like financial aid from their advisers.

Her advice to all Southern Miss students, regardless of major, is to go to their advisement sessions well prepared, take advantage of the time by asking questions, and make your expectations clear. If the adviser is ill prepared to provide the necessary assistance, she said, students should not be afraid to seek another adviser.

DirtyBirds

3-10-09 PAC Lot Hit and Run - Incident report on file.

Pinehaven Apt - Trespass - One verbal trespass warning was issued to non-resident.

3-11-09 Georgetown Apt - Disturbance - UPD responded to a domestic disturbance call, no arrests.

Pulley Hall - Welfare Concern - Follow-up investigation by UPD and Dean of Students office.

Championship Lane - Hit and Run - Incident report on file.

3-12-09 Kennard Washington Lot - Hit and Run - Incident report on file.

3-13-09 W Memorial Dr - Disturbance - One campus citation was issued for Noise Violation and one citation for Parking in Fire Lane.

3-15-09 Powerhouse Grill - Service Non-Criminal - UPD officers and the Hattiesburg Fire Department responded to a call of a gas leak in the building. The manager of the grill arrived and determined that pilot lights on kitchen stoves had gone out causing the leak.

3-19-08 Hillcrest - Suspicious Person - One verbal trespass warning was is-

sued to a non-student.

3-21-09 Pinehaven Apt - Vandalism - Unknown person(s) spray-painted graffiti on the outer wall of building L. 3-22-09 Chain Tech Lot - Motor Vehicle Accident - MS Uniform Crash report filed.

Pulley Hall - Disturbance - Referred to Dean of Students and Residence Life.

3-23-09 Freshman Quad - Petit Larceny - A student reported the theft a bicycle. The bike is described as dusty blue with a white basket on handlebars, a bell and compass attached, value of $1200.

Liberal Arts Bldg - Disturbance - Incident report on file.

Eagle Walk - Suspicious Person - Roderick Green, B/M, 32 yoa, Hattiesburg address was arrested and charged with Trespassing.

111 Fraternity Dr - Destroying Private Property - A resident reported a window in his parked vehicle was broken.

3-24-09 Jamestown Rd - Alarm - UPD officers responded to an alarm call at the president’s residence. Construction materials had fallen through a skylight causing the alarm to activate.

Early registration Plant sale this for veteran students week at Walker

Reslife to break ground on new hall

Sigma Nu to host Nu-Olympics

Founder’s Day celebrated this week

Children’s Book Fest hosts authors

President Saunders has implemented early registration for veteran students of Southern Miss. These students can sign up for summer classes beginning at 8am March 26, and fall classes beginning 8am April 9th. Saunders said, “Early registration will enable our V.A. students, who are all on a tight timeline, to expedite their education.”

Department of Residence Life will break ground at 2pm Friday, March 27 on a new, 864-bed, living-learning residential community at the construction site on West Fourth Street adjacent to the Rails to Trails. Faculty and staff are invited to attend.

Century Park will be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2010.

Sigma Nu Fraternity will be hosting the Nu-Olympics and Catfish Fry benefiting St. Jude’s Research Hospital this Saturday, March 28th, 2009, on the USM Intramural Fields. Greek Games begin at 11:00 followed by the catfish fry at 12:00. Catfish Fry tickets are available in front of the library from 10:00am to 2:00pm every day this week.

The university community is invited to the 2009 Founders’ Day celebration on Monday, March 30th. The program will begin at 3pm in from of the Administration Building. The ceremony will include student and faculty recognition, Southern Miss Hall of Fame inductions, inauguration of the new SGA, and Centennial announcements.

This year’s Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival will take place April 1-3 at the Thad Cochran Center. It will host nine authors and illustrators whose works total more than 100 publications. For more information and festival schedule, visit http://www.usn.edu/bookfest.

The spring Biological Sciences plant sale will be held March 28 from 8am to 2pm on the east side of the Walker Science Building.

Proceeds benefit the BSC Teaching Gardens, Southern Miss Bludberrification Project, and the creation of new butterfly gardens at local schools.

Page 3|News

www.studentprintz.com | Thursday, March 26, 2009

RAYLAWNI continued from page one But when 1965 rolled around, times were changing. Paul B. Johnson was Mississippi’s new governor, elected the previous year.

After serving as lieutenant governor under the notoriously prejudiced Ross Barnett, Johnson changed his racial tune while campaigning for the state’s highest executive seat. From the top down, Mississippi’s wheels of change slowly began to turn when Johnson won the office.

Southern Miss began to catch on. It was time to embrace Mississippi’s future. The administration decided it was better to integrate voluntarily and peacefully than to be forced by a higher authority.

So the university accepted an application for the ‘65-’66 school year penned by the black hands of Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong.

Armstrong was an 18-year-old local girl. Because her mother was physically handicapped, Elaine wanted to stay in Hattiesburg during her college career.

Armstrong’s powerful, melodic voice fulfilled her desires. She earned music scholarships from the American Legion and The Elk’s Club, both totaling enough to attend Southern Miss.

But Elaine was frightened by the prospect of attending an all-white university alone in racist Mississippi’s middle ‘60s. The NAACP wanted someone to accompany her, to soothe feelings of hate and alienation from USM‘s student body.

The NAACP quickly found an excellent candidate and of-

fered to pay Raylawni’s tuition in exchange for her attendance of college with Elaine. Raylawni jumped at the chance.

Raylawni had longed for a college education for years. The desire heightened after her run-in with the supervisor of the unemployment office, where she was acquainted with the Federal Jobs Book. The book was filled with job listings -- all being but a tease to Raylawni because they required college degrees.

Raylawni had made it. She was accepted to the university.

The administration decided the school year would unfold as normal. No violence. No protest. Just another typical year at Southern, but with two black faces amongst the crowd of students.

Raylawni and Elaine were assigned six bodyguards for protection against potential threats on campus. None of the governing bodies above USM trusted each other, so two of the bodyguards were local police, two were state police, and two were federal.

The administration granted Raylawni and Elaine permission to come and go as they pleased, with no university grounds offlimits…Except the Wimpy’s hamburger shop in the University Hub building.

The administration explained that if violence broke out in Wimpy’s, the crowd at the gathering place could easily get out of hand, rendering the bodyguards‘ attempts at protection futile. Raylawni and Elaine agreed, although they weren’t quite clear on the exact whereabouts of Wimpy’s.

On their first day at Southern, the bodyguards escorted Raylawni and Elaine into Bennett Auditorium along with the rest of the student body for a freshman address by President McCain.

They used the side door, opening into the front row of seats.

As the two women and six men entered the room, the white students formed a wide bubble Courtesy McCain Archives around them. Like Former USM president William McCain oil and water, the

USM orchestra plays to combat national hunger Special to the Printz The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will participate in Orchestras Feeding America, the first national food drive by America’s symphony orchestras, at a March 28 concert set for 7:30 p.m. at the Saenger Theater in downtown Hattiesburg.

The symphony’s musicians, staff members and volunteers will collect non-perishable food from 6-7:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Saenger Theater prior to the 7:30 p.m. “Over the Rainbow” concert.

To date, more than 200 orchestras in all 50 states have come together to combat hunger in their communities through Orchestras Feeding America, and the number of participants is growing daily.

Jay Dean, music director for the symphony, said, “We all are feeling the effects of this economic crisis, but we cannot let that stop us from helping our neighbors in greater need. Our orchestra’s music uplifts people, but with this project we can do more to support the community that has supported us for so long.”

The food will be donated to the Edwards Street Fellowship Center. Acceptable donation items include dry soup, rice, powdered/canned milk, macaroni and cheese, cereal, peanut butter, beans, canned fruit and vegetables, tuna, canned meats, stew, soup, pasta, cereal, and fruit juices/sip-sized juices.

Nonacceptable are items in glass jars or bottles, unlabeled or dented cans, any open or resealed packaging, perishable foods, homemade foods, expired

products, monetary donations, clothing, diapers or other nonfood items.

After the food drive collection, the featured concert will team the orchestra with two of the most original writers working in jazz, Bill Murphy and Jeff Holmes, for an evening of original orchestral jazz. Classic standards, as well as new pieces that demonstrate the unique work of these two fine musicians, will be performed.

The Southern Miss Symphony is the only orchestra in Mississippi participating in the project.

Organized by the League of American Orchestras, which represents the nation’s professional, volunteer and youth orchestras, and Feeding America’s network of over 200 food banks and 63,000 agencies, the drive was inspired by the true story of the upcoming film “The Soloist.”

The film is based on the true story of the relationship between Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers, a gifted Juilliard-trained string player whose mental illness landed him among the homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.

The relationship has expanded to include staff and musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “The Soloist,” which also features the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a testament to the redemptive power of music and a reminder of the connections to the most vulnerable in the country.

The Symphony’s 2008-09 season is sponsored by BancorpSouth. Tickets for the concert are $20/$18/$16 ($6 for students) and may be purchased at the Southern Miss Ticket Office by calling 601.266.5418 or 800.844.8425. Tickets may be ordered online at www.southernmisstickets.com.

young black women were separated from the student body.

With a wide gap between black and white, President McCain spoke to the freshmen class of 1965. It would be the last time Raylawni heard McCain’s voice during her time as an undergraduate at USM. Wading through the college experience One day at a faculty meeting, the aptly named Canadian oceanographer and biology professor Godfrey Fish spoke up about McCain’s hesitance toward Raylawni and Elaine.

Fish didn’t understand the problem. They were two students eager to learn.

McCain, in turn, decided that Fish would deal with Raylawni and Elaine. He would advise them, he would help them, he would shoulder duties usually divided between many faculty members in the case of all other students.

So Fish became their adviser.

He set them up with a work-study program. He became an umbrella of comfort and assistance throughout the women’s career at USM. “He was like a father, friendly and kind,” said Raylawni.

She and Elaine made about $1 an hour cataloging plants and animals under Fish’s guidance. Raylawni’s family lived on the weekly $17 earned from this work-study.

Atop her wavering utility bills, Raylawni owed more than a week’s pay each month in rent.

Luckily, she had some help.

Bob Beech and Delta Ministries floated her canned goods and other foods when she came up short.

Former NAACP president Vernon Dahmer frequently sent boxes of groceries to help feed Raylawni and her children.

It was this way Raylawni and her family eked out a living.

Often without bus fare, Raylawni seldom escaped walking the 8mile round trip from her home to the university.

After walking to school one day about six weeks into the semester, Raylawni and Elaine sat in a campus restaurant passing time.

“Mr. Beazle!” someone shouted from behind the counter. Raylawni recognized the name from stories one of her brothers told about a boss at a menial job from high school.

“Elaine, you know that place they told us not to go?” asked Raylawni, “Guess what? This is Wimpy’s.”

Elaine’s eyes widened as surprise set in. “You’re kidding me.” said Elaine. “Where are our bodyguards?”

Although the women had been unknowingly patronizing Wimpy’s for weeks, they quickly scanned the room for their protection.

Then, Raylawni noticed something. One of the Hattiesburg police officers assigned to guard them that day was the very same officer she had to hold hostage all the way to the police station only three years prior. The trust was suddenly broken.

“Elaine, we’re in bad shape.

We might as well get rid of these bodyguards because that one guy, if he ever finds out who I really am, he’ll probably help somebody kill me,” said Raylawni.

Over the next several days, Raylawni and Elaine started dodging the bodyguards.

In the front door here, out the side door there; in the women’s bathroom, out the window on the other side. Soon, the bodyguards stopped looking and the two women were on their own.

The remainder of the year rolled along without incident--even without the armed men’s assurance of such.

“I was only called a nigger once,” said Raylawni. The circumstances were anecdotal and surprisingly benign.

During a baseball game in Physical Education one day, Raylawni was at bat. She was consistently terrible over home plate.

“I can’t hit a ball if you walked up and put it on the bat,” said Raylawni.

As she approached the plate, a faceless man in the bleachers shouted the epithet.

Raylawni’s knuckles turned white around the bat, pupils fixed on the ball with frustration. She hit a home run--a singular occurrence in her memory.

But mostly, the Southern Miss student body of ‘65-’66 ignored Raylawni and her ebony compatriot. They walked around campus that year as if they were invisible.

“I guess being ignored was good in a way,” said Raylawni.

A stack of problems After moving to Mississippi from Chicago as a youngster, Raylawni worked hard to develop her Mississippi Ebonics. Her proper way of speaking, gleaned from years of life in Illinois, made

Courtesy McCain Archives Raylawni’s photo from the ‘65-’66 edition of USM’s yearbook, “The Southerner”

her the butt of many a joke on the playgrounds of the Magnolia State.

This didn’t work out well for her later; enduring entry-level college English was painful. Her sitting in the back in most of her classes led to an ease of distraction from the task at hand, and didn’t help her already struggling academics.

She was poor. She cared for three children and walked almost everywhere she went. She ate mostly from the hand of charity.

She had family problems. She was romantically separated from her husband, Johnny Young, for the entire school year.

Young didn’t take kindly to Raylawni’s activism. For his entire life, he was decidedly removed from white culture. The idea of the civil rights movement didn’t sit well with him.

His family had a history of mental illness, and when Raylawni started tackling Hattiesburg’s segregation problem, Young’s latent disorders began to manifest themselves.

After Raylawni and Young’s mother observed an intense war flashback of Young’s, Raylawni took him to the Veteran’s hospital

in Gulfport. The hospital held him for 30 days and sent him back.

Then the real trouble started.

Young started threatening Raylawni’s life. He started removing the fuses from the circuit breaker in her home, crippling her ability to study after sunset. She legally divorced him during the spring semester of ‘66.

One morning after cooking her children breakfast, Raylawni called Vernon Dahmer to thank him for the food he sent over the night before. She was surprised that his phone was busy at 5:30 a.m.

She later found out through the news that a Ku Klux Klan-related firebombing had left Dahmer dead.

All this coupled with Raylawni constantly looking over her shoulder, watching her back, led to her decision to withdraw from USM after the first semester of 1966.

She was accepted to St. John’s Episcopal School of Nursing in Brooklyn, New York for the next fall semester.

Raylawni left her children with their grandmother and took off to New York.

Opinions

Page 4 opinions@studentprintz.com

Where’s the drive? Only you can make it happen Just the other day, I was sitting in Chili’s with my dad discussing my college education. He has always been a supportive parent, giving encouragement when needed and credit where credit is due.

I wasn’t surprised when he asked me, ever so slyly, if I was still toying with the idea of going to law school.

I had been considering it, and I knew I was going to make an attempt, but I wanted to wait and surprise him, let him know after I signed up for the LSAT and got everything underway. So my answer was vague and unsure.

He caught me off guard when he told me that if I got accepted, he

Ali Holston

Printz Writer

would buy me a brand new Mercedes.

Thanks dad, like I couldn’t get into law school without a new car hanging in front of me.

This especially surprised me because my sister and I have always been successful in school, needing only a few kind words to make it through any tough situation.

But my dad wasn’t the first.

For years, students have been

rewarded for doing well academically. But when do these rewards take away from the joy of teaching and learning lessons? Do we really have to get a reward or be bribed with a new car to do well?

In some city schools, reward programs are in effect. According to an article in the New York Times, students can bring home big bucks for doing well on tests.

Programs as such are clearly proliferating in America, especially in high-poverty areas.

Penn State Assistant Professor Barbara A. Marinak’s research leads her to shun the reward system. In a 2004 study, she found that rewards not arising directly from the activity in question harm

the rewarded’s desire to continue the activity.

Her study involved 75 elementary school children who were asked to read a book. Some were given the book as a reward for following the instructions, but others were given a token. Perhaps not surprisingly, the book recipients chose to continue reading when they were presented with a choice to engage in other, more recreational activities.

It is not just primary school students who are bribed. College professors have no problem enticing their students as well.

I was sitting in class just the other day when my teacher rewarded the students who actually

showed up to class on time with extra credit. She said she would repeat the reward periodically throughout the semester as a bonus to those who got out of bed early enough. I’m sure that when other students get wind of the extra credit, they will burn rubber on the way to class.

While the extra credit is greatly appreciated, we as college students should be responsible enough to make it to school without bribes. We should be able to get up on our own without juicy extra points hanging in front of us like meat hanging in front of a dog.

Seriously. Where is the passion?

Where is the fire? When did the

mere thought of success, being able to one day support yourself and a family of your own stop being reward enough? We as students should have enough drive and fervor to succeed for success’s sake.

Extra credit points are good, new cars are great, but in the end when you’re working for a huge law firm or hospital, you will be in the “real world,” and there won’t be someone their to pat you on the back or give you a piece of candy every time you do your job.

Make success happen on your own.

This is a column of opinion written

by Printz Opinions Staff Writer Ali Holston. Comments can be sent to printz@usm.edu

Hitler Revealed Richard Pachter MCT

Author Edwin Black is a child of Holocaust survivors. When he first saw an IBM card-sorting machine as part of an exhibit at the United States Holocaust Museum, he vowed to learn more about this machine and the role of its manufacturer. The result was 2001’s “IBM and the Holocaust,” a devastating account of the venerated American firm’s hand-in-hand collaboration with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government in identifying, organizing and exterminating Jews and others who were deemed non-Aryan and undesirable. Black’s exhaustive investigation, abetted by an international research team, resulted in worldwide headlines _ and stonewalling, obfuscation and denials by its subject _ which continues to this day.

Black’s next book, “War Against the Weak” (2003), studied the role of the fake science of eugenics and its rise in the United States in the early 20th century, which provided the rationale for Hitler’s racial policies. In shocking detail, Black related the subjugation, sterilization and murder of thousands of Americans solely on the basis of their race, country of origin or failure to pass culturally biased “intelligence” tests. This was fueled by xenophobia and ignorance, and supported _ astonishingly _ by corporate names like Carnegie, Rockefeller and others.

Black’s new “Nazi Nexus” uses these earlier works as primary sources. But this new volume offers a compact and highly concentrated dose of history that powerfully demonstrates the deleterious effects of the convergence of avarice and ideology, American-style.

The author’s premise is that American businesses beyond IBM were also complicit with Hitler’s rise to power, conquest of Europe and war against the United States and that many of their activities

continued through the war. In addition to doing business with the Nazis, philanthropic organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation, for example, contributed the equivalent of millions of dollars in support of German institutions devoted to eugenics, which served to legitimize racism by attaching a “scientific” basis for it, according to Black. The ties between German and American researchers in this area are astounding.

Black subsequently cast his attention to our insatiable consumption of petroleum in “Internal Combustion,” which also covered the role of General Motors in supplying Hitler with a fleet of vehicles that enabled the Nazi blitzkrieg across Poland and other nations. It was made possible, Black writes, by the close cooperation between the Germans and a wholly owned GM operation, Opel, which manufactured a light truck called the Blitz, hence “blitzkrieg,” the lightning attack.

Black writes about GM CEO Alfred P. Sloan, who not only collaborated with the Nazis, but worked hard to organize opposition to President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration whenever possible.

More than just a “greatest hits” offering, “Nazi Nexus” brings several seemingly disparate threads together to create a fuller portrait of this dreadful chapter of our history.

Though one may wish to see more details of other notorious American Nazi enablers (Google “Bush” and “Nazi” to read news reports of the former president’s grandfather’s collaboration, for example), Edwin Black has done more than his share.

If you missed his earlier books, this is a great place to begin, and if you read one or two but not the rest, “Nazi Nexus” ties them all together succinctly _ and frighteningly.

Richard Pachter is the business book columnist for the Miami Herald.

He can be reached at rap(atsign)richardpachter.com; more columns are available at richardpachter. com.

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Page 5|Opinions

www.studentprintz.com | Thursday, March 26, 2009

Greed and dishonesty at core of cash nightmares Jack Z. Smith

MCTCampus

Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who is said to have searched in daylight with a lantern for an honest man, might become quite discouraged in today’s world -- especially if he were regularly reading newspaper headlines or watching CNN. The world always has been amply endowed with liars and crooks. But it seems we’re exceeding historical norms in today’s troubled times -- and wherever we’re finding brazen dishonesty, its companion is unbridled greed.

In the past week, Americans have been outraged by the dubious morality of AIG shelling out huge bonuses totaling $220 million to hundreds of employees while the insurance giant accepts $170 billion in bailout money, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

While AIG might not have broken any laws in playing Santa Claus to employees who helped wreck the company’s bottom line and spawn a global financial crisis, most Americans regard the bonus payouts as a despicable, fundamentally dishonest action.

We’ve also been treated to the likes of Bernard Madoff, who will probably will spend the rest of his life in prison

as a result of his long-running Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say bilked investors of tens of billions of dollars (and apparently prodded two investors to commit suicide); and R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire whom the Securities and Exchange Commission says hoodwinked investors through a “massive Ponzi scheme” and whom the Internal Revenue Service says owes $226.6 million in back taxes, penalties and interest.

Then there’s Christopher J. Warren, a suspect in a nationwide mortgage fraud scheme centered in Roseville, Calif., who was arrested in February at the Canadian border with $1 million in Swiss bank certificates and $70,000

in cash stuffed in his cowboy boots; and Annette Yeomans, booked into jail this month in Vista, Calif., during an investigation of claims that she embezzled $9.9 million from a her longtime employer, a cabinet company, to pay for personal expenditures such as $240,000 for 400 pairs of shoes and $300,000 for designer clothing.

If you think about it, dishonesty and runaway greed are at the very heart of our economic nightmare, a wrenching recession that has resulted in 4.4 million Americans losing jobs, a stock-market meltdown, the cratering of powerful financial institutions, a severe credit crunch and soaring real estate foreclosures and bankruptcies.

The biggest trigger for the recession was a housing crisis brought on by an overpowering avalanche of dishonesty and greed.

There were real estate agents and mortgage brokers steering homebuyers into deceptively high-cost subprime loans; lenders making loans with hidden fees, balloon payments and interest rates resetting to muchhigher levels; appraisers artificially inflating home values; Wall Street firms selling pools of mortgage-backed securities without fully disclosing their risk; credit-rating agencies giving gilded ratings to those securities; and homebuyers lying about their incomes to get loans.

The ensuing housing crisis and collapse of home values from Florida to California fueled a much-broader economic meltdown.

Most of it could have been prevented by basic honesty and personal self-restraint against rampant greed, coupled with decent government regulation of financial institutions.

The sad truth is that disturbing flaws in the human character probably contributed more to America’s horrific recession than did systemic weaknesses in the economy’s infrastructure.

Jack Z. Smith is an editorial writer for

Bob Cameron, then an official with the College Board, said that in November 1983.

“I simply reject the notion that black and Mexican-American kids can’t learn. They can learn, and it’s our job to teach them.”

Carl Candoli, then Fort Worth public schools superintendent, pledged as much in May 1983 as the district worked to improve achievement and close gaps between white students and minorities.

“In many cases, economic concerns and lack of parental and community support combine with such factors as a language barrier, low attendance and high mobility to inhibit students in largely Hispanic areas.”

That’s what I wrote in 1982 in an analysis of the challenges facing Hispanic students and those trying to educate them.

When I dug out a file of old stories to share with an education researcher, it was startling to see how so many of the same problems continue to dog education.

But it shouldn’t have been so surprising.

People fear embracing change, even for a greater good.

Propose closing schools? Prepare for neighborhoods protesting the disruption.

Try to restructure teaching staffs?

Prepare for the indignation, complaints and commotion about job loss.

Suggest all-day preschool? Prepare to explain who’s going to pay for it.

President Barack Obama’s speech on education last week and the stimulus money being poured into public schools hold the potential to push educational improvement into higher gear.

He touched on key elements.

Investing in early childhood programs has become essential to help prevent young kids from getting too far behind too early. (And surely it’s better to spend dollars on the front end, preparing productive citizens, than to pay later for social services and criminal justice.)

Paying teachers extra, as an incentive to work in more challenging schools or as a reward for clearly making a difference is an innovation worth testing.

Evaluating students based on their thinking, problem-solving and creative skills is more meaningful than just measuring their bubble-coloring ability.

Using technology to track students’ educational progress can help provide

support to those who are struggling and advanced resources to those who are excelling.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan also has said that states and districts will have to “get dramatically better” to be eligible for grants from a special $5 billion fund.

Of course we want real reform that produces real results.

But I’m not persuaded that “real reform” can be achieved through national standards and more charter schools.

Meaningful reform involves so many smaller steps, from a consistent curriculum to tools that let teachers immediately pinpoint where individual students are having trouble.

It’s training teachers to engage students in their classes and providing technology to help with visual supplements. It’s conducting research to document what techniques work and why, whether they’re a longer school day or smaller class sizes. It’s understanding what outside distractions kids bring to school and connecting them with services that help them focus on learning.

And even dramatic change that produces meaningful structural improvement doesn’t show up immediately in the latest round of test scores. O b a m a was correct that turning around our schools is “our collective responsibility as Americans.”

But he also was correct about the element of personal responsibility: Students must show up, pay attention and stay out of trouble, and parents have to do their job.

“Government, no matter how wise or efficient, cannot turn off the TV or put away the video games,” he said.

“Teachers, no matter how dedicated or effective, cannot make sure your child leaves for school on time and does their homework when they get back at night. These are things only a parent can do.”Seems like some of the most fundamental drivers of change aren’t radical at all.

the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Readers may write to him at 400 W. 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76102, or via e-mail at jzsmith@star-telegram.com.

American education needs and deserves meaningful reform Linda Campbell MCTCampus

Gosh, the sentiments sounded so familiar.

“The foundation for American education has to be the home. No school can compensate fully for failure in the home. And we’ve had massive failure in homes in this country.”

That was Terrel Bell, then U.S. education secretary, speaking in Dallas in October 1983.

“There’s the danger that the public trusts standardized tests as the only way they can know how a local school is doing. ... I hope the focus is on learning and academics and rigor, and it will come ... that tests scores will improve.”

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Stars _ they’re just like us!

So trumpets Us Weekly magazine in a regular feature that pictures celebrities buying toilet paper and wearing sweatpants at the airport.

Now, famous people are joining the “micro-blogging” service Twitter, making them even more like us, or at least like a few million of us.

Of the famous Twitter accounts that have been verified as real, some of the active ones are Ashton Kutcher (aplusk), Demi Moore (mrskutcher), Shaquille O’Neal

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Linda P. Campbell is a columnist and editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Readers may write to her at 400 W. 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76102, or via e-mail at lcampbell@star-telegram.com.

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(THE_REAL_SHAQ) and Sean “Diddy” Combs (iamdiddy). In the past week, I’ve learned that Combs fasted for 48 hours drinking only natural juice, and that O’Neal was sad about losing a game on his birthday.

It’s riveting stuff. But I would caution against embracing the notion that celebrities on Twitter are just like us. Fans who think they are getting closer to their star crushes by befriending them on Twitter likely are headed for disappointment.

Social media such as Twitter are supposed to be two-way. In other words, these Web services should facilitate communication and build relationships among their members.

The Twitter twist on virtual friendships is that members can “follow” others, or sign up to receive their updates, without those people’s permission.

Within industry circles or groups of friends, the prevailing etiquette dictates that you reciprocate when you are followed. I’m happy to follow other bloggers and media professionals even if we’ve never met, and the resulting conversation can be interesting.

The normal rules of engagement do not apply to celebrities. Kutcher follows 55 people and has more than 292,000 followers, for example. This is not two-way communication.

In fact, the huge disparity between numbers of followers and followees means that celebrities are using Twitter as another broadcast system for their public relations needs.

Ian Corbin created celebritytweet. com in November to aggregate feeds from famous people. This

week, he launched a free iPhone application for his site _ all “for the good of Internet stalking,” as he put it. But he’s not buying into the mystique.

When fans get a response from celebrities, “they completely flip out about it,” said Corbin, 28. “They’ll say, ‘I got my first celebrity tweet!’ like it’s a badge or something. ...

You get as much communication if you go see Shaq play basketball and wait for him to come out and he says, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ “ Twitter enables celebrities to project an image of wanting to connect with fans. Sometimes they do just that. Moore recently had an adorable exchange with a 15-year-old boy from Knoxville, Tenn., who asked: “do you ever follow or talk to non working actors or famous people?”

Her reply: “of course we do do you?” before asking about his homework.

But even if celebrities are posting updates on social media without the filter of their publicists, they still have an image to maintain. The entertainment industry is a personality-driven business, and it’s naive to think that a Twitter account is exempt from a celebrity’s deliberately crafted persona.

Sending digital mash notes to celebrities in the vain hope that they’ll validate my wit is a fruitless pursuit that ignores many of Twitter’s benefits.

“Most of them are boring,” Corbin said of celebrity tweeters.

“There are so many more people that post links to interesting stuff or videos that are funny.”

This is a column of opinion written by Walin Wong.

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Entertainment

Page 6 entertainment@studentprintz.com

Eric Nagurney/Printz

Top left: Max Tundra leads the crowd in “So Long, Farewell.” Top Center: Crystal Antlers singer Jonny Bell leads a freakout at Waterloo. Top Right: Mae Shi at Emo’s provided one of SXSW’s best sets. Middle Left: Los Angeles Abe Vigoda run through a set at Mess With Texas. Middle Right: The Thermals rock out at Friday’s Mess With Texas party. Bottom Left: Vivian Girls’ Kickball Katy harmonizes out at Mess With Texas. Bottom Center: Psych-rockers Woods played Friday’s Pitchfork Party. Bottom Right: Vivian Girls’ Cassie Ramone belts during their set during at Mess With Texas.

Hype and excitement reigns at SXSW ‘09

L

Eric Nagurney Entertainment Editor

ive music capital or not, the press does not focus on Austin, Tex., that often. That is, except for one week in March (which just happened to correspond with our spring break this year), when the industry descends upon the city for South by Southwest (SXSW), one of the biggest music industry events in the world. During the event, the city’s venues hold showcases boasting bands ranging from the smallest local bands to musical giants.

However, seeing the latter generally required either an expensive badge or wristband, neither of which us at the Printz had. Thankfully, the festival held enough free parties that we were able to get a good feel of the proceedings, not to mention see lots of exciting new music.

Wednesday

Due to the huge variety of shows, SXSW is a good opportunity for artists to test new material. So it was at the Terrorbird/Forcefield PR party at Red 7. Portland punks The Thermals busted out half a set of new songs, all of which sounded like a nice continuation of their last record’s tightly coiled bursts. Without a backing band and with his piano’s delay pedal missing, Yoni Wolf (of hip-hop/indie rock alchemists Why?) sounded thin, but created excitement by premiering songs from his band’s next record, which he announced would be out in September. Party closers Beach House didn’t really impress with their old songs, which sounded somewhat off. Things turned around when they gave the surprisingly packed crowd a handful of consistently impressive new tracks, most of which kicked their typical slow-motion daze up in tempo.

With only one new song, Brooklyn hype band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart had to impress in a different way. The group has a lot to prove right now, as the hype has raised not only their profile, but people’s eyebrows, since their pleasant lo-fi pop can seem ordinary. Fortunately, they’ve taken the wise decision of raising both the bounciness and noisiness of their songs live, granting them extra heft.

thursday

Sticking Austin cult legend Daniel Johnston and veteran indie rockers The Wrens in the middle of the Paste/Brooklyn Vegan party of hyped bands like Passion Pit and The Avett Brothers is a little strange. I hate to say that I couldn’t really appreciate Johnston’s set to the full extent, as I’m not familiar enough, but he came off as the lovable weirdo I expected. His voice is still a thing of cracked, childlike beauty, even if he was a little too close to the mic. One need not be familiar with The Wrens to appreciate their set.

Tearing through a set of classics from 2003’s The Meadowlands, the Jersey boys brought more force and energy than bands half their age. Most notably, the bassist seemed to be bursting from the seams with excitement, with his constant pogo-ing, handings off of his bass to the crowd and leaping off tall speakers.

When it came to hype bands, I was most anxious to see Cambridge’s Passion Pit. Last year’s Chunk of Change EP was great, but their saccharine synth pop could go wrong when stretched over a full-length album. Their set quelled fears, as their new songs sounded joyfully infectious. More surprising was how engaging frontman Michael Angelakos was, providing one of the week’s most spontaneous, unhinged performances. He bounced around the stage with glee, eventually standing on top of his piano stool and wrapping his mic cable around himself.

Heading out of downtown for the Gigotron/Videothing party at cramped dive bar Club 1808 provided a nice change of pace from the more formal atmosphere of downtown. Baltimore spaz rockers Ponytail fed off the smushed crowd, providing as much energy as the week’s most pumped audience. Considering that the venue had no stage, it shouldn’t have been a big deal when pint-sized singer Molly Siegel hopped through the crowd. It was, for reasons both of excited communion and practicality: this was the first time many were able to see her.

With at least twice the room, the party’s outdoor stage was more comfortable, but the acts there didn’t lower the intensity. Halfway through their set, I had to wonder why synth punks Team Robespierre aren’t more popular. Their songs are as good as many acts focused on live parties, as is their ecstatic performance, with them spending as much time in the crowd as on stage. Though psych-rockers Crystal Antlers were able to contain themselves to the stage, their show was no less incendiary. While their recordings come off as homogenous, their live show amounts to one giant assault.

FRIday

Considering that their party at Emo’s was one of the fest’s most hyped, it’s odd that Pitchfork would relegate one of their most hyped live acts to before much of the crowd showed up. Much has been made of The Mae Shi’s live show and for good reason. The group enthusiastically ran through about half of their spaz powerhouse Hllyh before pulling out one of fest’s most intriguing live tricks: throwing a giant parachute over the crowd, under which half the band sang “I Get Everything I Want.” Like everything

‘‘

In an event that sometime comes off as a meat market with hoards of hype bands trying to sell themselves, seeing a truly genuine expression of musical enthusiasm was pretty beautiful.

’’

about them, the trick was lovably dorky. Speaking of lovably dorky, British MIDI pop mastermind Max Tundra basically epitomized that. His one-man band set up was as goofy as it sounds, while the music was seriously great. Only Tundra could lead a crowd through “So Long, Farewell” from “The Sound of Music” and get away with it.

Both Woods and Wavves were mostly unimpressive, while at the same time as the latter, Dirty Projectors were engaged in one of SXSW’s most talked about sets on Emo’s indoor stage, playing only new material. Part of me wishes I had ventured in for that, but King Khan and The Shrines made my sticking outside worthwhile. There were a lot of great performers at SXSW, but King Khan is one of the only true showmen. The guy seems to think he’s the Indian James Brown, which his soulful garage rock complements. Surprisingly, he didn’t play his doo-wop classic “Welfare Bread,” but I doubt anyone minded too much.

After giving up on getting into the Blackberry showcase, the best option was to check out Creme de la Creme’s hip-hop party at Malverde. With a new act popping on stage roughly every twenty minutes, keeping track of everything was tough. Most acts were consistently respectable up-and-comers, with some rising above (Pac Div’s perfectly coordinated triple mic attack), some falling below (Mike Posner and The Brain Trust’s terrible, sleazy pseudo-rap) and some just being unfortunately brief (Chicago’s Cool Kids only played three songs).

Despite the promising talent, the real stars of the party were two rap legends. First was homestate hero Bun B’s pop-in during Kidz in the Hall’s set, which made me wish he would have spit a few of his own tracks. Second was the party’s headliner, Wu-Tang member Raekwon. Nobody considers the Wu one of the most dependable groups in hip-hop, but Rae lived up to his legend. The guy ripped through Wu-Tang classics before wrapping up his set with a few acapella verses and a legitimately inspiring speech about hip-hop’s future. Raekwon’s been around for a while and he’s surely seen dozens come and go, yet he still seems genuinely in love with hip-hop.

Saturday

SXSW’s last day found me at the Mess With Texas party at Waterloo Park. A large outdoor locale like that can either kill or aid a group’s degree of engagement, typically favoring more easy-going acts. Jangly Los Angeles punks Abe Vigoda were hurt most noticably; their songs sounded fine, but the band seemed stilted and awkward. More fortunate were The Thermals, who benefitted greatly from either the sunny day or their eight shows of practice, delivering a reckless and powerful set. While Vivian Girls weren’t as ramshackle as expected, the afternoon provided the perfect atmosphere for the surfier side of their melodic lo-fi rock. Lastly, Thao Nguyen and The Get Down Stay Down provided a breezy set of country-tinged indie pop, with Nguyen exuding enough confidence to prove to me that she should be more famous.

One can’t see Israeli wildmen Monotonix without commenting in some way, be it enthrallment or disgust. Music-wise and performance-wise, the group couldn’t be more different. Their songs are very meatand-potatoes riff rock, nothing to take notice of alone. Their performance rejects everything traditional about rock ‘n’ roll, including notions of stages (they basically only used one to jump off it), drums (they typically aren’t played while being carried by the crowd), and whether or not you should show a crowd your rear end (common logic says you should not).

Though not nearly the week’s best set, Akron/Family provided one of its most inspiring moments and the perfect ending. Generally, I’ve thought of the group as underrated, as they’re treated as a member of freak-folk’s b-team. Their large, excited crowd suggested otherwise, with people going wild for their exuberant folk jams. As nice as it is to see an almost-embarrassingly genuine group get the respect they deserve, that wasn’t what gave the set its most inspiring aspect. For most of the performance, the drummer for ATL hip-hop MC B.O.B. could be seen at the side of the stage banging along on a cymbal. Akron/Family’s comment that the two groups had never met before suggested that this was not planned. Considering that Akron/Family and B.O.B. are basically polar opposites, the two have little to gain from each other. In an event that sometime comes off as a meat market with hoards of hype bands trying to sell themselves, seeing a truly genuine expression of musical enthusiasm was pretty beautiful.

Eric Nagurney is entertainment editor for The Student Printz. Comments can be sent to printz@usm.edu

Page 7|Entertainment

www.studentprintz.com | Thursday, March 26, 2009

Hub Fest celebrates Zoo Blues returns for music, wildlife Hattiesburg’s 125th Eric Naugurney

Eric Naugurney Entertainment Editor

T

he annual Hubfest event, taking place this Saturday, will be ho noring a Hattiesburg milestone this time around: the city’s 125th birthday.

To celebrate this historic birthday, the city will be holding a birthday party hosted by mayor Johnny Dupree at 12:30 p.m. in Town Square Park. In addition to the birthday party, Hubfest will encompass its usual array of music, vendors, food and art. This year, the vendor capacity has reached its maximum, topping out at 180 different vendors. “In the last five years, [Hubfest] has been focused on bringing in more quality art vendors to raise the quality of the festival,” said Katie Townsend, Communications Director of The Area Development Partnership. “We are continuing to encourage quality art vendors, but this year [we] have opened the festival up to a broader vendor list.”

Music has always been a big aspect of Hubfest, and this year’s lineup lives up to the tradition, containing 21 acts spread out across four stages. Acts range from altcountry veterans Blue Mountain to blues musician Vasti Jackson to cover band The Glitter Boys. “They should do [Hubfest] every weekend, it’s great for downtown,” folk singer Thomas Jackson, who is playing

the festival for the first time, said.

Events to be present at the festival provide attractions for a wide variety of interests. Main Street will play host to the South Mississippi Art Association, which will features works from local artists, while the association hosts the Children’s Art Show displaying work from area children in the Faulkner Building.

The parking lot of Willmut Gas will be a hot spot for automotive buffs, featuring displays of cars by the Hub City Corvette Club and motorcycles by the Joy Riders Christian Motorcycle Association. For those parents looking for child-friendly activities, Main Street Books will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” with a reading of the book at 2:00 p.m., along with other children’s activities and snacks.

Even as the latest in the over 20-yearold tradition looms closely, the Area Development Partnership has already started thinking about next year’s installment. “Each year we try to make Hubfest bigger and better than the year before, so we have already started thinking of ideas for 2010,” Townsend said. “It is too early to reveal any specific details, but keep an eye out!”

Hubfest will begin at 9:00 a.m. and last until 4:00 p.m.

W

Entertainment Editor

ildlife and wild music will come together this Saturday at the Hattiesburg Zoo’s recently revived Zoo Blues event.

Along with the usual array of animals and recreation offered by the zoo, the event boasts performances by a variety of blues artists, along with special activities planned by the zoo. The lineup of musicians includes Tommie “T-Bone” Pruitt, Blue Mountain frontman Cary Hudson, Mark Mann, The David Allen Band, and Doctor E and the Voodoo Kings, who are fronted by Southern psychology assistant professor David Echevarria.

Since its creation about eight years ago, Zoo Blues has gone from taking place at the zoo and attached Kamper Park to occupying Tatum Park to simply not being held for a few years. Last year, the Hattiesburg Zoological Society decided to bring the festival back, returning it to its original locale. “It was a great success, so this year we’re sparing no expense,” said Matt Carr, president of the Hattiesburg Zoological Society.

With both Hubfest and Zoo Blues taking place this Saturday, the day will be a busy one for Hattiesburg entertainment. For those interested in both events, the city’s trolley will be running between downtown and the zoo throughout the day. Since the Hubfest festivities conclude at four and Zoo Blues ends at eight, the two events give Hattiesburg residents opportunities for music and unique events all day. “What other venue in town can say, ‘We will be feeding the Jaguar at four, right before the performance of Tommie “T-Bone” Pruitt?’,” Carr said.

Money raised from Zoo Blues will go towards the zoo’s upcoming projects, particularly the construction of a multimillion-dollar Asian exhibit housing two species of tigers. “It is because of the generosity of our members and sponsors that the Hattiesburg Zoo has continued to grow and be such a wonderful family-friendly and educational facility,” Carr said.

Admission will be $5, with an allyou-can-eat crawfish boil costing $25.

Sports

Page 8 sports@studentprintz.com

FIVE YEARS IN Eustachy sees progress in adversity Andy Hess

T

Executive Editor

The hardwood has not bbeen een kind to Larry Eustachy since arriving at Southern Miss five years ago.

Even though his original goal of raising the bar of Southern Miss basketball to the heights of the football and baseball programs has not been accomplished, the 53year–old thinks mediocrity is not acceptable. ‘‘I hold myself accountable,’’ Eustachy said. ‘‘I have never thrown anyone under the bus and I will take the hit for this year. I know we have all the pieces in place and I look for a big soar next year from four league wins to more.”

The Golden Eagles won 15 games this season after the Golden Eagles won 20 games two years ago and 19 games last season.

Eustachy and the Golden Eagles struggled early despite having all five starters back. Three players were ruled ineligible while Sai’Quon Stone and Jerome Clyburn suffered seasonending injuries.

This season the Golden Eagles’ lineup featured four guards and a bench that featured a walk-on. ‘‘I have never worked harder, even when I was the national coach of the year, than I have this year,” Eustachy said. “We are short-handed and people have to play too many minutes and out of position. If we played 30 minutes, we would have 20-someting wins. But we play 40 minutes and we wore down.’’

Eustachy made headlines when the university announced Feb. 28 that

he would not accept his $25,000 bonus due to his team’s poor play and the current economic climate.

“I just felt particularly during this recession that we are in and the situation our school is in, it just didn’t go right with me to accept anything above and beyond my normal contract,” Eustachy told the Associated Press.

Southern Miss athletic director Richard Giannini never had a coach return a bonus and was not expecting the check to be returned.

“It’s a first for me, I just think it reflects positively on the type of individual Larry Eustachy is and the fact that he knows the economy is down,” Giannini told the Associated Press. “We’re all struggling with it and he was the one that came to me and wanted to donate that back to the university.”

Despite the struggles of basketball program, Eustachy is confident that his team is one step away from making a sea change.

Even with the possible departure of junior guard Jeremy Wise, who is considering declaring for the NBA draft, he feels the roster will be strong.

The Golden Eagles will return with starters R.L. Horton and Sai’Quon Stone along with Southern Cal transfer Angelo Johnson and four other players who redshirted this past season. ‘‘I want to take this program further than it has ever gone and do it consistently,” Eustachy said. “I would like to complete my career here by giving the fans something they have never seen, winning and getting to the next level on a consistent basis. ‘‘There is no question that we have everything in place,’’ he added. ‘‘The key is you do not want to get there, but you want to stay there. The future is really bright and there will be more talent at Southern Miss next season than there’s been in a long time.”

Printz file photo

Larry Eustachy made headlines in February when he returned his $25,000 bonus to the university because of his team’s poor play.

EUSTACHY

BY THE NUMBERS 2004-05

OVERALL

2005-06

OVERALL

2006-07

OVERALL

2007-08

OVERALL

2008-09

OVERALL

11-17

10-21

21-10

19-11

15-17

C-USA 2-14

C-USA 3-11

C-USA 9-7

C-USA 9-7

C-USA 4-12

USM FOOTBALL

The return of the Nasty Bunch?

USM looks to revamp defense in fall Tyler Cleveland Sports Editor

The Southern Miss football team finished their fifth spring practice on a cold and rainy day at M.M. Roberts Stadium Wednesday in better shape than Monday, according to Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora.

“I’m much more pleased with the effort I got today,” Fedora said. “We didn’t make nearly as many mistakes.

We put the ball on the ground once there at the end but other than that we played pretty clean football.”

The football might have been clean, but the weather couldn’t have been nastier, with the temperature down nearly 20 degrees and a second day of heavy rainfall in Hattiesburg.

“The weather is something you deal with,” Fedora said. “We know we’re going to have to play some games in rain, some in extreme heat, some on mud and some on asphalt.”

Fedora said the solid practice will be a good lead in to the team’s first scrimmage Friday in Madison, Miss. on Friday.

One emphasis that Fedora has made clear this offseason is improving the pass defense.

Last season, Southern Miss ranked

fourth in Conference USA, but 85th nationally defending the pass, allowing an average of 261 yards per game.

“It’s too early to tell how much we have improved,” Fedora said. “We lost two guys that saw a lot of time, but we have guys that are capable of stepping up.

“I’ll know a lot more after Friday’s scrimmage.”

The Eagles were 54th nationally against the run, allowing just under 140 yards per game, but struggled when it came to rushing the quarterback, averaging under one and a half sacks a game.

“I like what I’m seeing on the defensive side of the ball,” Fedora said following Wednesday’s practice in the rain. “Roshaad Byrd is showing a lot of improvement, and I really like what I’m seeing out of (safety) Eddie Hicks.”

The oft-criticized defensive ends had a slow start last season, but, according to Fedora, showed signs of improvement in the last four games and in the New Orleans Bowl.

“We got off to a really slow start,” Fedora said. “But over the course of the season we were getting more pressure and it changed the game in the bowl game.”

David N. Jackson/Printz

Southern Miss defensive coordinator Todd Bradford leads the defense in a drill during Monday’s practice. The Golden Eagles will participate in an open scrimmage Friday in Madison at 5:30 p.m.

The departure of pass rushers Eric Phillips and Demar Dotson left openings at end and defensive tackle, and there are several players that are vying for starting spots.

Anthony Gray returns as the sack and tackles-for-loss leader, with six sacks and seven and a half TFL’s, and sophomore Rolando Barragan and freshman Logan Hickman should help cement the middle of the

defensive line.

Barragan said his emphasis this spring is to get healthy, and that the defensive line has a chance to be significantly improved going into the 2009 season.

“I think we’re more mature now,” Barragan said. “We’re a year older, and we know how important our improvement is, I mean it all revolves around the defensive line.”

Defensive ends Cordarro Law and Roshaad Byrd will presumably man the end positions, but they might have a tough time holding off redshirt sophomores David Boyce and Deddrick Jones.

That improvement could help a revamped USM secondary slow down opposing offenses though the air.

Senior Eddie Hicks returns as the leading tackler, and was tied for the

team lead in interceptions (four) with sophomore cornerback Justin Wilson.

Senior Andre Watson and juniors Chico Hunter and C.J. Wilson will likely battle it out for playing time at the No. 2 cornerback position.

“We’re tinkering with everything right now,” Fedora said. “We need to get these guys in some game situations and see what we have.”

CALENDAR

Friday

Saturday

•Baseball vs. Central Florida, 5:30 p.m., •Softball vs. Memphis, 1 & 3 p.m., USM Orlando, Fla. Softball Complex •Baseball vs. Central Florida, 3 p.m., Orlando •Track in Alabama Relays, All day, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Sunday

Tuesday

•Baseball vs. UCF, 10 a.m., Or- •Baseball vs. Troy, 6 p.m., Troy, Ala. lando, Fla. •Women’s tennis vs. Auburn, 6 p.m., Auburn, •Softball vs. Memphis, 1 p.m., Ala. USM Softball Complex