Final Project

Can He Make A Comeback?

A look at Colonel Reb, his future at Ole Miss, and the people that support him

In 2003 Colonel Reb was removed as the official mascot of the University of Mississippi. Seven years later he is now replaced by the Louisiana Black Bear. Many people are against the Louisiana Black Bear but haven’t taken action to show the administration how they feel. Except for one group, the Colonel Reb Foundation.

The members of the Colonel Reb Foundation have gone out of their way to show the Ole Miss administration how upset they are about the new mascot. They have made a billboard, passed out stickers at games, made radio ads, and most recently they held Save Colonel Reb Week.

Save Colonel Reb week was held April 25 through April 29. It was a week filled with on-campus activities that promoted the reinstatement of the beloved mascot. The activities included a pool party, a Black Bear hunt on the Square, and a rally to deliver 4,100 petitions to Ole Miss Chancellor, Dan Jones.

“It (Save Colonel Reb Week) is to show students that there is still a fight alive for the Colonel,” said Brian Ferguson, executive director of the Colonel Reb Foundation. “A lot of students believe they were deceived by the administration and there needs to be something done.”

He and the rest of the members of the Colonel Reb Foundation believe that if they continue to push the administration and not give up that Colonel Reb will one day be reinstated as the official Ole Miss mascot.

Others disagree. Katura Finn, freshman journalism major, thinks Colonel Reb is a lost cause. “I don’t see the point…the administration got rid of him for a reason and I don’t think they will ever bring him back.”

Brian Ferguson still has faith that Colonel Reb will come back. He looks to other schools like Purdue and the University of North Dakota for inspiration. There is also a state legislative bill trying to pass that would make Colonel Reb the official mascot. “As long we get the support of alumni and half of the student body, we will fight for Colonel Reb”

sources: Brian Ferguson, executive director of the Colonel Reb Foundation, colonel@saveolemiss.com

Katura Finn, student, 678-315-3971

video of Black Bear Hunt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ims2netsU

Storm Season

Impact of record storms still being measured

By the CNN Wire Staff

May 4, 2011 10:22 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Weather Service says at least 178 tornadoes were spawned by the April storms
• When field surveys are completed, the number could be closer to 305, the NWS says
• Alabama was hard-hit by tornadoes; at least 249 people were killed there, officials said

(CNN) -- A week after a record number of tornadoes swarmed through much of the Midwest and the South, killing hundreds of people and devastating villages and towns, residents and officials in the region were still trying to measure its impact.

"It will take us several weeks to get accurate numbers on property losses," said Yasamine R. August, a spokeswoman for Alabama Emergency Management. "Entire communities are gone."

At least 178 tornadoes were part of the weather that raked the region April 27-28, making it the largest recorded tornado outbreak in U.S. history, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

The total blew away the previous record of 148 tornadoes in the April 3-4, 1974, outbreak, the weather service said.

Last week's twisters caused 327 deaths, making it the third-deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history, behind outbreaks in 1925 and 1932, with 747 deaths and 332 deaths respectively.

National Weather Service field teams confirmed the record tally from the late April outbreak, but tornado damage surveys were continuing Wednesday and the number was expected to rise. The service estimated there could have been as many as 305 tornadoes in the outbreak.

Among the hardest-hit states was Alabama, where officials said at least 249 people were killed and 39 of the state's 67 counties were designated for disaster assistance. More than 3 million chickens lost their lives.

"Our number priority is debris removal," said Alabama Emergency Management Director Art Faulkner. "That is the first step absolutely monumental task."

He said 98,000 customers remained without electricity, more than half of them Tennessee Valley Authority customers in the northern part of the state, where TVA lost two major power transmission lines.

But, he added, "We are remarkably well." He noted that supplies were coming so fast that some counties were turning them away.

The requests local to state authorities in Alabama were mostly predictable -- trucks of water, ready-to-eat meals, tarps, ice, baby food. But some were a bit rarefied, including a request for 1,000 rounds of ammunition for National Guard troops in Cullman County (canceled); 1,000 5-gallon containers of virgin olive oil by Walker County to be used by locals and volunteer agencies (completed); and 10,000 gallons of milk to the Cordoba Veterans of Foreign Wars in support of disaster relief (denied).

After the storms had picked up, shaken and slapped back down her neighborhood of Alberta City in eastern Tuscaloosa, Sarah Chovnick walked through it and took pictures of the wreckage. "The center, the heart of Tuscaloosa, had been struck down by Mother Nature and had been left no ground to stand on," said the University of Alabama student who works at a news station. "I've never been as scared as I was when I walked out into the center of Tuscaloosa and saw it was gone."

In Tennessee, 36 fatalities were reported, the state emergency management agency said.

In Shelbyville, the Times-Gazette was trying to help residents pick up the pieces by serving as a collection point for photographs found in Bedford County and the newspaper reported collecting nearly 100.

Late Wednesday, the White House announced that President Barack Obama had signed emergency declarations for affected counties in Tennessee and Mississippi. The declarations authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

As of noon Wednesday, more than $10 million had been authorized or disbursed to survivors across the affected states, with the bulk of them in Alabama, said FEMA Administrator William Craig Fugate.

"We expect those numbers to continue to go up as people register," he said. But, he added, "I want to be very clear about FEMA assistance, we're not designed to make you whole."

The tornadoes were equal-opportunity storms, he said. "It got the mobile homes, it got the ranch-style, middle-class house, it got the apartment complex, it got the affluent folks. It didn't matter. It's where the tornado went."

But he said the toll of death and destruction would have been higher had it not been for good planning, accurate weather predictions and timely communications.

"I heard this many times: The local TV, the local radio stations saved lives by getting the word out," he said. "Many people had enough time to leave the area."

In Mississippi, 36 storm-related deaths and 163 injuries were reported, the state's emergency management agency said in a news release. Spokesman Greg Flynn said more than 1,000 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged.

Mississippi emergency management spokesman Brett Carr said the sewage system in the northeastern city of Smithville, population 900, was being operated with backup generators and that electricity was restored to much of the city on Tuesday.

The turnout from volunteers has been overwhelming, he said, with 1,800 people -- some from as far away as Chicago -- volunteering their services during the first few days.

In northwest Georgia, emergency management spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan said the city of Trenton was still under a boil-water order and 155 homes in the town of 5,000 residents were without power. Dade County schools were shut due to the lack of water.

At least four apartment complexes, comprising nearly all of the town's rental housing, were no longer habitable, she said. Dade County schools were closed.

Throughout the state, 15 people died and 115 were injured, she said. "It just makes you sick to the heart," she said. At least 500 homes were destroyed and 800 others were left with "major problems," she added.

This story has a major impact on myself and it should for the rest of the Ole Miss student body. It is by pure luck that Oxford was not hit and destroyed by a tornado. I still cannot believe the amount of damage that was caused in just a few hours.

Life-Size Barbie

College student Galia Slayen, did something that could change the face of Barbie forever. She made a life-size version of the popular doll. The Barbie had an 18-inch waist and a 39-inch bust, which honestly, looks disgusting. The life-size version looks like a grotesque joke. Slayen went on the popular HLN show, Dr. Drew to show her creation. Slayen says she made the life-size Barbie to show the unrealistic standards that little girls are given from an early age by playing with Barbie dolls. She believes that those unrealistic standards are the reason so many girls are suffering from eating disorders and body issues. She wants everyone to see this model so they can see the kind of standards and pressure we are putting on girls and hopefully we will challenge these standards and push for healthier body standards.

Boys and Girls Club Easter Egg Hunt

Here is my video from earlier today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9uuIwtul_o

RIP Flipcam

Cisco announced today that they will no longer be producing Flipcams. Flipcams are tiny inexpensive video cameras that film moderate quality videos. Such Flipcams are great for student journalists as myself or anyone else that loves to film, but hates expensive cameras. Some people blame the unpopularity on all the recent smartphones that have video recording abilities or on digital cameras that come with video recording options. Regardless the Flipcam was a great product and it will be dearly missed. The full article, courtesy of "Yahoo.com" is below.

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - 04/12/11) - As part of the company's comprehensive plan to align its operations, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO - News) today announced that it will exit aspects of its consumer businesses and realign the remaining consumer business to support four of its five key company priorities -- core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. As part of its plan, Cisco will:

• Close down its Flip business and support current FlipShare customers and partners with a transition plan.
• Refocus Cisco's Home Networking business for greater profitability and connection to the company's core networking infrastructure as the network expands into a video platform in the home. These industry-leading products will continue to be available through retail channels.
• Integrate Cisco umi into the company's Business TelePresence product line and operate through an enterprise and service provider go-to-market model, consistent with existing business TelePresence efforts.
• Assess core video technology integration of Cisco's Eos media solutions business or other market opportunities for this business.

"We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy," said John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO. "As we move forward, our consumer efforts will focus on how we help our enterprise and service provider customers optimize and expand their offerings for consumers, and help ensure the network's ability to deliver on those offerings."

In connection with the changes to the consumer business, it is anticipated that Cisco will recognize restructuring charges to its GAAP financial results, with an aggregate pre-tax impact not expected to exceed $300 million during the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2011. The charges will be disclosed in upcoming earnings conference calls and quarterly Form 10-Q filings. Additionally, the company expects this will result in a reduction of approximately 550 employees in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO - News) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the company's plan to align its operations in support of its network-centric platform strategy, Cisco's consumer focus going forward, the maximum size of the anticipated restructuring charges, and expected employee reductions. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including, among other things, how well we execute on our strategy and operating plans, business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, customer markets and various geographic regions, global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment and other risk factors set forth in Cisco's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on limited information currently available to Cisco, which is subject to change, and Cisco will not necessarily update the information.

Shooting in Alabama

CNN) -- One person was killed and three others, including a woman in her 90s and a 4-year-old child, were injured Wednesday in a shooting on the campus of Southern Union Community College in Opelika, Alabama, police said.

All the victims are members of the same family, police said.

Suspect Thomas Franklin May III, 34, was arrested without incident about three hours after the shooting, after he approached a television crew on campus, Capt. Allan Elkins of the Opelika Police Department said.

CNN affiliate WSFA said its crew was on the scene when a man approached reporter Cody Holyoke and said, "I'm the guy you're looking for."

The crew immediately left the area, drove to a nearby parking lot and called 911, WSFA said. Police arrived, took the man into custody and searched his white Jeep, according to the station.

Elkins said earlier the shooting was believed to be domestic violence-related and the public was not in danger.

Police didn't provide the relationship between victims and suspect.

Shortly before 4 p.m. CT, police responded to a report of a shooting on the campus, which is about 60 miles east of Montgomery, Alabama, Elkins said.

Officers found a 36-year-old woman shot in the right arm; a 63-year-old woman who had been shot in the upper torso and was later pronounced dead; and a woman in her 90s who was shot once in the back and once in the neck and was flown by helicopter to Columbus Regional Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia, Elkins said.

In addition to the three adults, a 4-year-old child was cut by flying glass. She was transported to East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika for treatment, police said.

Officers believe the 36-year-old woman is a student who was being dropped off or picked up, but authorities were still trying to confirm that, Elkins said.

All the victims were from Lee County, where Opelika is located,Elkins said.

Powerful Storm Effects Many, Kills Eight

(CNN) -- The severe storms that pummeled much of the South on Monday night left at least eight people dead in three states, officials said Tuesday.

Local authorities reported one death in Mississippi, six in Georgia and one in Tennessee.

Severe winds and pounding rain also toppled trees and power lines, knocking out electricity in some areas.

Mississippi had one fatality when a tree falling into the road hit a 20-year-old man, said Copiah County coroner Ellis Stuart. Damage was reported in 20 counties, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.

In Georgia, 70 counties reported damage, as did 43 in Tennessee, according to state emergency management agencies.

In Georgia's Butts County, the sheriff's office reported two deaths -- a man and his son -- after a tree fell on their apartment building.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said one person was killed and two others were hospitalized in the Greston community in Dodge County.

In Atlanta, a tree fell on a car, killing a man in the northwest part of the city, Atlanta police said. A large tree in a private yard was uprooted and fell on a passing motorist, who was driving alone, the Atlanta Police Department said. When emergency vehicles arrived, "it was apparent that that person was deceased," police spokeswoman Kim Jones said.y

There also was one fatality in Colquitt County and one in Irwin County, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said.

The storms knocked out power to 147,000 customers statewide, the Georgia Power Co. said early Tuesday

In Memphis, Tennessee, an 87-year-old man died when he came into contact with a downed power line in his yard, according to power provider Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.

The National Weather Service said it received nearly 600 reports of severe winds across the Southeast on Monday, 19 instances of suspected tornado-related damage and 72 reports of hail.

Reports of funnel clouds poured into the weather service's office from Sumner County, Tennessee, CNN affiliate WZTV-TV in Nashville reported.

"It got so bad, I grabbed my son (and) got him in the closet," Chuck Carter told the station. "We always go to the closet when we think there is a tornado in the area."

In southern Kentucky, a line of uprooted trees dotted damaged roads. No injuries were reported, however.

Melvin Pendley wondered how to repair his home, which had its roof blown off.

"The ceilings are collapsed in the bedroom and half the living room," he told CNN affiliate WBKO-TV in Bowling Green. "Half of the inside is still OK right now. With all this rain, we don't know what's going to happen now."

This story obviously has a lot to do with Ole Miss students. Terrible storms like this one will continue to happen throughout the spring. Ole Miss students need to briefed on emergency storm drills so that terrilbe deaths will cease to happen.

Ole Miss Idol Finals

Ole Miss Idol finals were held last night in the Student Union food court. Six talented finalists competed for the prize but LaTonya Herron reigned supreme with her awe-inspiring renditions of “Hero” by Mariah Carey and “Summertime” from the musical, “Porgy and Bess”. Along with bragging rights, Herron also won five hundred dollars and has the opportunity to sing all over campus for different events.

The night was full of phenomenal performances. The night kicked off with two performances from last year’s Ole Miss Idol winner, Matt Duck. He performed a hauntingly beautiful version of Adele’s, “Someone Like You”. Then he performed a much more fun number, “Heartache Tonight”, by The Eagles.

Then came a performance from another former Ole Miss Idol, Dominique McClellan, who was named Ole Miss Idol in 2009. He sang the Maroon 5 classic, “She Will Be Loved”. Before he performed he informed the large crowd that he would be appearing on a very popular reality competition this summer. While he could not tell the crowd which show he was going to be on because of contract reasons he did reassure the crowd that, “ it is going to be big and you will all know about it.”

The six finalists sang two songs of personal choice in two rounds. Both rounds went in random order. The songs ranged from Broadway classics to pop songs to Motown standards.

The night was full of many surprises. After performing a nearly flawless version of Celine Dion’s “I Surrender”, Tiffany Boyte was exiting the stage when the stairs literally collapsed underneath her causing her to fall to the ground. She was a great sport about it. She hopped right up, brushed herself off, and took a bow, which resulted in a huge round of applause from the audience. Other surprises were much less dangerous. Some of the contestants spiced up their performances by doing costume changes in between rounds.

Boyte did just that. When she came on for her second round to sing “Proud Mary” she was channeling her inner Tina Turner not only in her costume selection but in her dance moves too earning her one of the most entertaining performances of the night.

However the most entertaining performance of the night, without a doubt, goes to Jacob Hickman. In his first performance he made the girls swoon with his version of “Lost” by Michael Buble. For his second selection he sang “I Feel Good” by James Brown. He showed off his great dance moves then showed off some other skills. He threw his sunglasses and his jacket into the audience to reveal a Superman cape. His performance had everyone laughing and dancing.

Though Hickman had the most entertaining performance, no one could touch Herron’s vocals according to Ole Miss student, Ty Penny, who was been to every Ole Miss Idol this year. “We all knew she was gonna win from the beginning. When the singing is that phenomenal, you don’t need dance moves and everything like that. All you need is awesome singing and that is what she has had from day one, truly amazing singing.”

This is the seventh year that the Student Programming Board has put on Ole Miss Idol.

“It’s such a great thing to happen on campus. It is a great way for shy students to get involved or for students to inspire other students,” said Chase Aertker , the co-director of entertainment for the Student Programming Board.

Story Idea

My story idea is to cover the Ole Miss Idol finals tonight. I will talk a member of ASB that is involved with planning the event and I will also talk to a member of the audience. I will try to get an interview with some of the contestants.

Severe Weather Season

It is finally spring again which means warmer weather, flowers blooming, and for many it means severe weather season is beginning again. Severe weather always happens in the transition seasons, Spring and Fall, but for the Spring it becomes especially dangerous because March marks the beginning of tornado season.

Tornado season typically lasts from March to May.

Even though Mississippi is not technically in Tornado Alley, it still has one of the highest rates of tornadoes. In fact, according to WLOX.com, tornado season is more dangerous and causes more damage than hurricane season. According to NEMS360.com, Mississippi is the number one expected place on the planet for tornadoes to occur. Many students of the University of Mississippi were shocked to find this out. California native Meghan Reid, 19, thinks, “The University should really warn us about these kind of things. It is very unsettling, especially for students like me that are from the other side of the country and have never experienced anything like a tornado before.”

Many meteorologists blame the high chance of tornadoes on the very cold winter that Mississippi had. The worst tornado seasons have always happened after the coldest winters.

Along with tornadoes Mississippians can expect flash flooding (which is the number one killer), hail, severe thunderstorms, and maybe even earthquakes. Yes, earthquakes. Last Sunday a 4.7 earthquake shook the little town of Greenbriar, Arkansas. The effects were felt all the way in Memphis. Scientists expect the quakes to only get worse which means that Oxford could start feeling quakes in five years.

To add to risk of earthquakes, the New Madrid fault line runs right through Memphis which only 75 miles from Oxford. Some students like Michael Bernard, 20, thinks “the risk if an earthquake in Oxford is very possible and very scary. More students should be aware of this risk.”

However, the most dangerous factor might be an unprepared student body. While the administration might assume that students know how to react in severe weather, Reid and many out of state students do not know what to do in a tornado. “I would be absolutely terrified,” said Reid.

While the RebAlert texts are a great tool, I believe the University needs to take severe weather safety a step further by teaching all students how to react in emergency weather situations and running more drills. This could easily be done at freshman orientation or in EDHE classes.

Till the University decides to make some changes in severe weather education, students can learn more about these storms and how to survive at www.redcross.org.

word count: 430

Dead Baby Dolphins

Since January, 24 dead baby dolphins and six adult dolphins have washed up on the shores of Mississippi and Alabama. This number is much larger than it has ever been in the past. In past years the there were no dolphin deaths reported in January and one only one in the month of February.

While it isn't uncommon for baby dolphins to wash up on shore, they are the most common marine animal to do so, it is very odd for it to happen so soon. They don't start washing up on shore till March.

Many people are quick to point the finger at BP and their massive oil spill that happened last summer; however, none of the dolphins were found with oil on them. That does not mean that BP is innocent. The cause of the dead dolphins is still in question.

Autopsies are being done on all of the dolphins but it will take some time to get the results from the lab.

All of these deaths make one wonder, what species is next? Is it just a sad occurrence of nature or is there something more serous going on? Is there any weird supernatural connection to the huge amount of dead birds in Arkansas and the dead fish in the Gulf? Or is this BP's fault?

Only time and lab results will tell.

Reaction To "Reporting To Conclusions"

I think that "Reporting To Conclusions" is a very bold and refreshing article. I agree with the author, Rem Rieder, about how journalism has gotten "mushy" and that we need more people like Anderson Cooper that are going to look at the evidence in front of them and say the truth, no matter how many people it offends or how incorrect it is according to the rules of journalism. I think that having journalists speak their opinion on certain subjects would be a great way to get more people interested in the news. However, having journalists no longer be unbiased would be a double-edged sword. It is a great thing when their is chaos and controversy happening in a foreign country, but when that unbiased writing is used in American and local papers I believe chaos would ensue. People might start cancelling their subscriptions to certain newspapers because of what a certain journalists writes for that newspaper. It would cause so much upheaval and bipartisan ism that the reason the reason journalists became biased would be forgotten and lost in the controversy. So until our country can become more united I think having journalists write with a biased nature would only fuel the fires of bipartisan ism.

Reaction To "Reporting To Conclusions"