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LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN MISSISSIPPI IS TOMORROW, OCTOBER 3
S P The
Serving Southern Miss since 1927
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Volume 93, Issue 13
Incident at athletic housing leaves player injured after he fully understood what happened. “Right now I don’t know anything until the police get back with me, and tell me what they saw and what’s going on,” Fedora said. “We’re looking into it and we’re talking to guys, and we’ll know more as the police break down all their stuff.” Fedora said that he wouldn’t speculate on what suspensions would be if he found out that players were involved. Southern Miss athletic director Richard Giannini spoke to the Hattiesburg American
Tyler Cleveland Sports Editor
Hattiesburg police responded to reports of gunshots and a fight at the 38th Avenue apartment complex that houses the Southern Miss football players early Friday morning, the same night that Eagle linebacker Korey Williams suffered a broken jaw, a police department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. HPD spokesman Synaris Green said that officers responded to a call reporting a fight and several gun shots. Green said that no
Larry Fedora
Korey Williams
arrests were made and that those involved in the dispute had dispersed by the time officers arrived on the scene. After Wednesday’s practice Fedora said he was not yet finished gathering facts, but that he would discuss the incident
Wednesday, saying that he was aware of the situation. “I’m aware of the police report and coach Fedora and I have spoken about it,” Giannini told the reporter. “He and I have had discussions about the incident, but that’s between he and I and the football team.” A resident who lives near the 38th Avenue complex said he heard obvious gunshots at approximately 3 a.m. “I usually stay up late preparing for lectures and working on school work,” said Malachi Martin, who is an adjunct student
at Southern Miss. “It sounded like three or four rounds. It just startled the heck out of me. “That’s the first time in my entire life, other than hunting with relatives, that I’ve heard a gun go off near our house. With two kids and a wife, it just really scared me. Not long after that, I heard sirens. Then I heard more (sirens) that went on for 10 or 15 minutes.” A source close to Williams who asked not to be identified said that the New Orleans native suffered the broken jaw when he was hit in the face with a beer
INCIDENT continued on page 3
State begins to tax dining dollars Lesley Walters News Editor
A new state tax regulation was put into effect Wednesday that subjects “flexible spending accounts” included in student meal plans to sales tax. When Ararmark introduced a collection of new dining facilities to campus in 2004, it also introduced Bonus Bucks as a way to supplement students’ meal plans along with Dining Dollars, which have been around for several years. Dining Dollars and Bonus Bucks allowed students to purchase food on campus outside of the cafeteria without having to pay sales tax. The new regulation, which became effective April 1, defines a prepaid student meal plan, but also identifies Bonus Bucks and Dining Dollars as being “flexible spending accounts” with a declining balance. It goes on to say that the latter are no longer taxexempt. It states: “Prepaid student meal plans are only those plans that provide the student with a specific number of meals or meals for a specific period of time. Prepaid student meal plans do not include any meal plans or parts of meal plans that allow the student to purchase food on a declining balance account.” Kathy Waterbury, director of communications for the Mississippi State Tax Commission, said the agency wrote the administrative rule to clarify existing law regarding student meals and sales tax. “What the rule did is basically explain it to everyone ... so everybody’s on the same playing field,” Waterbury said.
bottle after leaving The Palace, a local night club on Broadacres Drive off of Hwy. 49. Earlier that night, police responded to a report of simple assault on at Broadacres Drive at 1:58 a.m., but the police report states that no arrests were made. A source close to the redshirt freshman linebacker said he suffered the injury when he was struck in the face by a bottle. “He went today to get it checked out,” Fedora said. “From people I’ve talked to it looks like it’s a four to six-week process. I don’t know if it’s
‘‘
If it makes you feel better about it, there are a lot of people that ain’t liking this. I’d imagine there’s going to be some push-back, and we can hope for a positive result, but you never know how it’s going to go.
’’
-Pat Foley Executive director of dining services
Waterbury added that “back in the old days,” a student paid for room and board, which included meals at the campus cafeteria. She said that when universities began offering flexible spending accounts and more places to eat on campus “they started going into competition with the private sector.” “There is no [tax] exemption when you go into competition with the private sector, and that was putting the private sector at a disadvantage,” Waterbury said. “So the legislature addressed this by setting to law the language … and clarify for people a little more so they understand.” In other words, if a student purchases a meal plan that includes unlimited meals in the Fresh Food Company, those meals are exempt from sales tax because the money goes directly to the university, a state institution. Since students can add an unlimited amount of money into a Dining Dollars account, and upgrade meal plans to include more Bonus Bucks, the flexible spending accounts are subject to the state sales tax of seven percent. Pat Foley, executive director
David Jackson/Printz
Top: Lindsay Smith returns Southern Miss student Sheena Allenʼs student ID in Seymourʼs Wednesday. Mississippiʼs tax law no longer recognizes Dining Dollars or Bonus Bucks as a part of tax-exempt university meal plans. Right: Southern Miss student Elena Robinson gets her card swiped at The Agora Wednesday afternoon. Dining Dollars and Bonus Bucks are no longer tax exempt, effect Wednesday, because of changes in the Mississippi tax laws regarding university meal plans.
of dining services, said that students who benefit from Bonus Bucks the most are those who like to eat later than the Fresh Food Company’s stays open or want to pick a meal from a menu instead of the all-you-can-eat buffet. He added that supplemental spending accounts on meal plans are “pretty standard” for the university dining industry. “The reason we have different plans with different amounts of Bonus Bucks is because we just want to appeal to as broad a spectrum of customers as
possible,” Foley said. “It just depends on your lifestyle.” Southern Miss is not the only university affected by the new regulation, Foley said. Ole Miss and Mississippi State have similar provisions in their student meal plans. “They’re all facing the same situation,” Foley said. “If it makes you feel better about it, there are a lot of people that ain’t liking this. I’d imagine there’s going to be some pushback, and we can hope for a positive result, but you never know how it’s going to go.”
Paint USM Pink begins this month Faculty, students begin prepwork
Samantha Montague/Printz
The College of Health decorates their building with pink bows in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The universityʼs Paint Southern Miss Pink Committee has organized several awareness activities that will take place through-out the month of October.
Campus events help spread word
Justin M. Sawyer
Craig McNeese
Printz Writer
Printz Writer
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a whole series of events to raise money and awareness of the disease are on tap throughout the month. Susan Bone, assistant director of wellness at USM’s Payne Center and co-chair of the university’s Paint Southern Miss Pink Committee which is in charge of coordinating the awareness activities this month, said while breast cancer is not that prevalent among young adults, knowledge of the disease and preventive measures are important for everyone. “[Breast cancer] warrants its own month because of the magnitude of the disease,” said Bone. “It brings people together to show their love and support for not only those who have survived breast cancer, but also for those who are no longer with us.” Jewel Tucker, who is the administrative secretary to USM President Martha Saunders and a breast cancer survivor, said events like those planned this month are essential. PREPARE continued on page 3
USM students are happy to do something to contribute to the ongoing fight against breast cancer by participating in walks, painting projects and increasing awareness programs throughout the month of October. “Breast cancer awareness is pretty much a campuswide movement in which everybody can be involved,” said Markeesha Overstreet, a sophomore accounting major from Mobile. USM’s Paint Southern Miss Pink has a full slate of activities scheduled this month to promote awareness and education about breast cancer, which results in about 40,000 deaths each year. Students have the chance to raise money and awareness by such activities as eating Yoplait Yogurt, planting pink roses or taking part in an awareness walk. As a residence assistant, Overstreet plans to team up with other RAs to do dorm-based activities throughout
EVENTS continued on page 3