December 4, 2012 Volume 97 Issue 27

STUDENT PRINTZThe

SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927

www.studentprintz.com

INDEXCalendar ........................ 2News .............................. 3Feature ...........................4Sports...............................7

ART WALK

Page 5

Tuesday

75/57Wednesday

70/57Thursday

74/52Page 3 Page 7

BASKETBALLGARAGE SALE WEATHER

Two more Southern Miss students were arrested Thurs-day in connection with last week’s on-campus fight in-volving two guns that left two other students behind bars, including Southern Miss quarterback Anthony Alford. In addition, Alford’s original aggravated assault charges were dropped, and he was charged with conspiracy to possess a weapon on school property and hindering pros-ecution.

Curtis Williams, a 19-year-old from Sumrall, was arrest-ed and charged with felony possession of a weapon on school property, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Bradford Drummond, also 19, of Moss Point was arrested and charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Both were arrested Thurs-day evening and taken to the Forrest County Jail.

Alford, a freshman, and Ko-rey Hathorn, a junior, were ar-rested Wednesday afternoon after a fight was reported near the Walker Science Build-ing around 11 a.m. that day. University Police Chief Bob Hopkins said the fight, which involved four people, left no one injured. Though two guns were allegedly involved in the incident, none were fired.

Hathorn was charged with felony possession of a weapon on campus by a student and taken to the Forrest County

Jail Wednesday afternoon.Eddie Holloway, Dean of

Students at the University of Southern Mississippi, said the students arrested in connec-tion with the incident would be placed on interim suspension until a hearing with the Dean of Student’s o� ce is held.

“We’ll schedule a hearing and follow the steps from there,” Holloway said in a press conference Wednesday after Alford’s and Hathorn’s arrests.

According to the Hatties-burg American, per his bond, Alford is not allowed contact with any of the alleged victims or co-defendants in the case, and he is not allowed on cam-pus without written consent. His bond was set at $5,000 ac-cording to jail records.

Hathorn, whose bond was set at $10,000, also faces suspension and possibly ex-pulsion from the university pending a hearing with Hol-loway’s office.

Holloway said he was un-sure as to how the incident would affect Alford’s future with the Golden Eagle foot-ball team.

Two more charged in campus fi ght

ON CAMPUS

Mary Margaret HalfordExecutive Editor

This past September, Brandi Carter, a therapeutic recre-ation major at the University of Southern Mississippi, began her senior practicum at CARES School in Hattiesburg. Despite its close proximity to campus on U.S. 49, many students at USM have never even heard of the school.

“I would call it an alternative school, but the kids also have mental disabilities, “ Carter said. “A lot of them have been neglected and abused.”

Per the CARES School web-site, there are multiple branches of the nonpublic school, and the program describes itself as

a special education curriculum that also provides psychosocial services to its students. CARES is available to Mississippi chil-dren ages 6-18 who struggle in their native school and home environments.

The CARES organization serves students who have ex-hausted all available options of intervention targeted towards personal relationships and be-havioral problems. In addition, CARES schools work to help children who display an inabil-ity to learn but lack any proven link to intellectual, sensory or health factors. In other words, CARES schools help students who have reached the end of their ropes in their original educational systems and give them hope that they can suc-

ceed with the aid of personal-ized attention.

When one considers the struggles many of these chil-dren have endured, it’s not hard to imagine that the students at Hattiesburg’s CARES school tugged at the heartstrings of Carter. After just two months at the school, Brandi came up with the idea to adopt the en-tire school, which enrolls about eighteen students.

“I took it upon myself to take the idea to my friends and my sorority, AKA, to adopt the whole school,” Carter said. “We sent out an open invitation to groups on campus to ask them to bring certain items along with monetary donations.”

Greeks give ‘A Gift for Christmas’

GREEK

Ginny KramerPrintz Writer

SONGFEST

The ladies of Delta Gamma perform their 1960s themed routine, “The Corny Collins Christmas Show,” in Chi Omega’s 61st Annual Songfest. Delta Gamma took home the fi rst place overall prize while Tri Delta and Pi Kappa Phi took home fi rst place sorority and fi rst place fraternity.

Susan Broadbridge/Printz

See AKA, 3

Anthony Alford

CalendarPage 2, Student Printz Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Student Printz

The

Serving Southern Miss since 1927

� e Student Printz is published every Tuesday and � ursday during the fall and spring semesters. Signature O� set of Hattiesburg provides printing services.

Opinions expressed in � e Student Printz are those of the writer and not necessarily those of � e Student Printz, its publications manager, USM, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the USM Board

of Student Publications.

Chief Copy EditorStormy Speaksstormy.speaks@eagles.usm.edu

Copy EditorJe� ery McClendonje� ery.mcclendon@eagles.usm.edu

News EditorTyler Hilla.t.hill@eagles.usm.edu

Sports EditorKyle Smithkyle.s.smith@eagles.usm.edu

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Mark Your Planner4 5 6 7 8

Good luck with � nals!11 a.m. I.D.E.A.L. Women Coat DriveUnion Lobby

11 a.m. Alpha Kappa Alpha Christmas Basket FundraiserOn Campus

10 p.m. SMAC Late Night BreakfastFresh Food Company

All DayDead Week Begins

11 a.m. Delta Sigma Theta Spirit of Giving Toy DriveUnion Lobby

11 a.m. Finals Stress ManagementTCC Atrium

11 a.m. AKA Christmas Basket FundraiserOn Campus

12 p.m.Gorilla De-Stressor Shoemaker Square

6 p.m. Soiree Cinema (Movie Night) -L’Association FrancaiseLAB 104

7 p.m.Episcopal Church Fellowship DinnerSA HUB Open Space 1st Floor

Scan with your smart phone to take you directly to The Student Printz website!

To submit your comment for the Student Shout-outs visit www.studentprintz.com

student SHOUT-OUTS

9 days until school is out for

the holidays!

News Student Printz, Page 3Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Downtown Hattiesburg will play host to the annual Holiday Art Walk on Saturday from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m.

In keeping with the usual beat, the art walk will feature a handful of lo-cal artists displaying and selling their work at and around various down-town purveyors.

“Downtown merchants and res-taurants will feature artists and en-courage visitors into their shops and galleries, expect artist demonstra-tions and light refreshments there,” Betsey Rowell, Executive Director of the Historic Downtown Hattiesburg Association, said.

“All businesses are involved, and

we really encourage people to shop local,” Asheigh Johnson, a senior at the University of Southern Missis-sippi and intern for the association, said. “Even if anyone comes out and spends $20, it’s great for downtown. Each shop and restaurant does something di� erent. It’s bene� cial to go into the shops and see what they have to o� er.”

Stores such as, but not limited to, Southern Fried Comics, Click Bou-tique & Gallery, SouthBound Bagel and Co� ee Shop and Twelve Oaks Accessory Garden have an impres-sive lineup of artists, all featuring artwork inspired from a multitude of genres.

Abby Kiker of Blue Abby Studios will be set up in front of Kress Gal-lery displaying her beaded, hand-

woven, one-of-a-kind artisan jew-elry; Amanda Sanford of Sanford Original Works of Art will be sell-ing her original paintings and pot-tery; Meghan Cochran will be pres-ent with her steampunk inspired jewelry; Buds Beads will showcase beads, necklaces, � eurs and crosses; and the woodwork of David and Brenda Trim will be on display, to name a few.

� e event will also feature more than just art, as the Downtown Farmers Market will be set up be-tween Main Street Books and Yokel Market selling winter vegetables, baked goods and much more. Like-wise, Debbie’s Jellies will be selling a variety of homemade jams and jel-lies for the holiday season.

Johnson added that as a fund-

raiser, Court Street United Meth-odist Church will be hosting a Vic-torian Candlelight Cafe, serving food for $5.

Members of the Mississippi Youth Challenge Step Team will be also perform during the event.

In light of the celebration, the Newman/Buschman Neighborhood Association has decorated the old, rusty trains located on the grounds of the historic train depot, which will be the site of the South Missis-sippi Art Association’s (SMAA) 36th annual art show 6 p.m.

� is event is a chance to support our local artists and businesses.

“Don’t forget, this is the holiday art walk, so it is geared toward the season,” Johnson said. “If anyone is looking for a unique Christmas

gi� , one can de� nitely be found downtown.”

Holiday art walk scheduled for weekendON CAMPUS

Paul WhitePrintz Writer

AKA, from 1The sorority that Carter is

a member of, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, traditionally adopts a family each Christmas season.

“This is our first time to adopt an entire school.” Carter said. “These are the only gifts some of these kids will be re-

ceiving. There were parents who cried once they found out we were adopting all of the students.”

The event, which took place Monday night, was titled “A Gift for Christmas.” After just 30 minutes, about 30 toys and more than $80 in monetary

donations had been collected due to the generosity of AKA, along with various National Pan-Hellenic Conference or-ganizations.

Carter stressed the impor-tance of being charitable dur-ing the holiday season.

“Kids deserve a good and

happy Christmas,” Carter said. “If I’m privileged, why not help other people who are less privileged than I am?”

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Feature Tuesday, December 4, 2012Page 4, Student Printz

GROWING OUR OWN PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS

RURAL PHYSICIANSSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

FOR

SOPHOMORES AND JUNIORS

http://mrpsp.umc.edu

USM and Delta OPRU partner to fi ght obesity

HEALTH

It is no secret that the Uni-versity of Southern Mississip-pi prides itself on its passion for participating in leading research projects across the country. USM’s Department of Nutrition and Food Systems has been a partner of leading research projects in Mississippi regarding eating habits and pat-terns of Mississippians for more than 17 years.

For the past four years, the department has partnered with the Delta Obesity Prevention Research Unit (Delta OPRU) with goals of educating those in the Delta region of the state through two different nutrition education programs about eat-ing behaviors paired with at-tempts to change negative eat-ing habits.

Carol Connell, associate pro-fessor and lead scientist for the Delta OPRU, said the unit hopes to accomplish change and awareness among those liv-ing in the Delta regarding their eating habits.

“With the high rates of obe-sity and obesity-related chronic disease in our state and espe-cially in the more rural coun-ties including the Delta, this re-search has the potential to have

a huge impact on the health of the population,” Connell said. “We hope that our findings will reveal that one or both of the nutrition education programs are effective in changing dietary habits. If that is the case, we will then be thinking of ways to dis-seminate one or both programs to a larger audience.”

The Delta OPRU is a nutri-tion intervention research proj-ect in which the researchers are testing the efficacy of two dif-ferent nutrition education pro-grams with regards to chang-ing eating habits among people who agreed to participate in the research. The programs target mainly women’s volunteer and religious organizations, with a few men participants. The re-searchers wanted to determine which of the two education pro-grams would result in people improving their diet the most in terms of following the Di-etary Guidelines for Americans.

“In one program we focused on changing only two eating behaviors: eating less foods with added sugars and less high fat foods,” Connell said. “In the other program, we focused on changing the two in the first program along with three other eating behaviors: eating more fruits, eating more vegetables and eating more whole grains.

We wanted to see if it was easier and more effective to change only a few habits compared to changing several at once.”

Sara Pollard, a junior nutri-tion and food systems major at USM, said the work in the Delta has proven to be some of the most important work done regarding the eating habits and health of Mississippians and those in the surrounding areas.

“I think the work being done in the Delta is going to be really beneficial because it is impor-tant to understand the role that food plays in our overall health,” Pollard said. “Personally, I pay attention to information about my area a lot more than infor-mation from other areas, so having a research project like this done so close to home will hopefully have a more influen-tial impact on Mississippians.”

Although changing eating habits can be difficult, Connell hopes the program will change lives and believes it has the power to do so.

“Eventually, we hope that participants and their families and friends will benefit through better diet and physical activ-ity,” Connell said.

This project is funded by the United States Department of Ag-riculture, Agricultural Research Service. The team is expecting

October 2012 through Septem-ber 2013 to be its last project year. Students have been trained and hired by the team and have been assisting with research.

Students can keep up with re-search findings via journal ar-ticles and by visiting www.usm.edu/nutrition.

Carly Tynes Printz Writer

Student Shout-outs

To see your anonymous comment in � e Student Printz, submit it under the ‘Contact’ tab on

studentprintz.com.

”

“SGA: Stop taking your-selves so seriously. You’re a student run organiza-tion, not the United States government. And by that, we mean the whole school thinks you are a joke.

Hope we can get a decent football coach this time around. We’ve got faith in you, Hammond.

Why is it so hot outside? Last time I checked, it was December. Come on, Mis-sissippi.

Party on top fl oor of parking garage. 4 p.m. Wednesday. Be there or be a loser.

The library is a zoo.

No shave November is over. Please get rid of the eyebrow above your lip. Yes, I’m talk-ing to you.

To the managing editor of The Student Printz: Happy 22nd Birthday. Sorry you have nothing left to live for. Sucks to be old. But I wouldn’t know. 21TTT.

Feature Student Printz, Page 5Tuesday, December 4, 2012

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Several senior art and design majors at the University of South-ern Mississippi currently have their work on display in the Mu-seum of Art on campus. Some are displaying projects to the public for the � rst time, while others are having their work shown for the last time as students.

� e exhibits, which were created earlier this semester for a capstone class, will remain open until the end

of the semester. � e gallery features examples of painting, sculpting and graphic design, and the works range from installations to video. Artists include Karli Renz with oil paint-ings; Holly Loyd, Grace Kelly and Katie Peoples with sculptures; Skye Bailey, Franz Gambe, Kiza McDon-ald, Amanda Lucius, Nikki McClur-kin, Jesse McDonald and Pamela Vitteck with graphic design, which range from advertisements to album art to pictures of food.

“� is is the � rst time you get to work on a full body of work,” Peoples said.

Peoples’s exhibit, “Baptism by Fire,” consists of examples of a style of ceramics called raku. She de-scribed her works as her “objects of healing.” At the beginning of the semester, she explained, her early pieces o� en involved broken hearts with sharp objects, but as the semes-ter went on she created objects visu-ally similar to African � gures that are traditionally used to heal.

“It was cathartic for me,” Peo-ples said.

Loyd primarily uses a style of ce-ramics called slip dipping, but for the show she experimented with a

variety of materials and found ob-jects that she modi� ed.

“I have a hard time putting myself into my work,” Loyd said.

� ough her work has been ex-hibited in a few galleries, most of Loyd’s pieces were small. She tried to cra� her physical interpretation of a memory, but it ended up re� ecting a few of her own memories.

“I had been building parts for this, and the idea had been forming sub-consciously,” Loyd said.

� e concept that art is a re� ec-tion of the artist is not limited to a few students but is a common theme

that can be seen in many of the state-ments from the seniors who partici-pated in the gallery.

“It’s really about the pieces for me,” Peoples said. “I just want people to see it.”

� e gallery is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday through Satur-day on the ground � oor of the Fine Arts Building. For more informa-tion, call 601-266-4861 or visit the Museum of Art’s website at www.usm.edu/visual-arts.

Senior art students display work on campusON CAMPUS

Chase LadnerPrintz Writer

Michelle Graham and Bobby Graham of Petal shop at the 19th Annual United Way Santa’s Bargain Basement Garage Sale that was held in the Payne Center on campus this weekend at Southern Miss. The event, which was held Saturday, raised money for charities through Hattiesburg’s local chapter of United Way. The garage sale was only one of several Christmas-themed charity events that took place over the weekend at Southern Miss.

April Garon/Printz

ON CAMPUS

Feature Tuesday, December 4, 2012Page 6, Student Printz

Student Shout-outs

To see your anonymous comment in � e Student Printz, submit it under the ‘Contact’ tab on

studentprintz.com.

”

“To the girl in the Union with purple Converses and bright green tape on your backpack’s top strap: we apparently have a lot in common, my backpack had the same problem (and the same solution!) and I love my Converses. Too bad I couldn’t catch you before you left.

This coach business is like CAPITALISM. When there’s a profi t, a handful of folks share the rewards; when there’s abject failure, we all pay the price. Um, can you say Wall Street? Golden parachute? Taxpayer-fund-ed bailout?

To the girl in my own sorority that deleted me on facebook.. you’re cool. NOT.

Should have taken the guns away from the fi ght-ing men and let them fi ght bare handed in a controlled environment. Besides, you can’t fi x stupid.

Happy Founder’s Day to the Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 106 years of GREATNESS!

SMAC will host its last Late Night Pancake Breakfast of the semester on Dec. 5th in the Fresh, 10pm-Midnight! & Did we men-tion that it was a PAJAMA PARTAAYYY!!!!

To the football player who told me I should get the French Toast because I wanted it: You’re right, I did want it. And it was delicious. Thanks for the help deciding!

Thanks for getting the computers in the library to boot up in less than fi ve minutes. It’s amazing. I feel like I’m actually a part of the 21st century now. :D

To the two grown adults in the library speaking spanish, First of all you are on the 2nd fl oor you’re not suppose to talk loud. Also, I shouldn’t be able to hear you on the other side of the building! Get a room or go outside, it’s fi nals week for some of us and we would like quite. SILENCIO!

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Students cope with stress of semester’s end, fi nals

ON CAMPUS

At the end of each semester, college students face a culmina-tion of final exams, projects and papers. A jam-packed schedule mixed with dwindling amounts of sleep can cause stress and exhaustion. However, students can find ways to cope with the overwhelming workload and stay motivated.

According to Deena Craw-ford, director of Student Coun-seling Services at the Univer-sity of Southern Mississippi, an average of 100 more students come in to her office to seek help this time of year.

“Anxiety, depression and ad-justment issues are heightened this time of year,” Crawford said. “Students have a higher level of crisis and increased urgency.”

Crawford said SCS saw an in-crease of 150 students come in for counseling over the amount they saw the same time last year. For those who prefer self-help, she went over three main stress busters.

First, individuals have to stop negative self-talk.

“If you tell yourself, ‘I’m stu-pid, I suck or I’m going to fail this class,’ you are more likely to ful� ll that prophecy,” Crawford said.

Second, behavior needs to change realistically. Crawford

gave an example of stopping constant partying and going out.

“Instead of saying, ‘I won’t go out until January,’ just stay in one night and see how it makes you feel,” Crawford said. “Make realistic changes.”

Lastly, students should to ask for help if they feel they need it.

“Asking for help is some-thing college students struggle with because they are trying to become independent,” Craw-ford said. “Then they wait till the last minute and don’t know what to do. You should ask for help from someone unbiased that you trust.”

Students can make an ap-pointment at Student Coun-seling Services, located in Kennard-Washington Hall, by calling 601-266-4829 or vis-iting www.usm.edu/student-counseling-services.

Not only are professionals helping students cope with stress, students are helping each other.

Catherine Lamb, a senior psychology major, helped or-ganize the Sink or Swim event held at Wilbur Stout Hall last month. Participants shared tips for stress management at this event. For some attendees, studying in complete silence was the way to go, while oth-ers needed background noise. Some people did not choose to study in the library, while oth-ers went there to concentrate.

Still, some students are concen-trating not just on studying, but also on the future.

Caitlin Jackson, a senior pho-tojournalism major, battles to keep motivation to study.

“I think that the hardest part of being a senior is when the end of semester stress starts to set in, it’s really hard to fight off senioritis and find the motiva-tion to go to class, study and finish projects,” Jackson said. “I just have to keep reminding myself that I am still in school and there is still work to be done in order to graduate.”

Jackson shared her mantra that keeps her going.

“I’m graduating in May. I’m graduating in May. I’m graduat-ing in May,” Jackson said.

While Jackson is making preparations for graduation, graduate students are dealing with their own stressors. Un-dergraduates may view gradu-ate school as very different, but grad students also have finals and projects due at the end of the semester.

Graduate student Courtney Ingle has a myriad of confer-ences to plan, comprehensive tests to study for and papers that are much longer than un-dergrad assignments.

Ingle is a graduate student in the School of Mass Commu-nication and Journalism. She copes with stress by keeping in

mind that “my education can’t be taken away from me. I’m not guaranteed a job. It’s only my first semester in graduate school, but I have an education I worked hard for.”

There are many different av-enues students can take to cope with end of semester stress. Students should find what works for them and remember the reason for their stress - edu-cation - is worthwhile.

April GaronPrintz Writer

Visit our webpage to read more stories and to

read the stories on the go!

News Student Printz, Page 7Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Southern Miss suffers loss to New Mexico StateBASKETBALL

Southern Miss (6-1) was hum-bled by a 60-68 loss to the New Mexico State Aggies (4-4) on Saturday, halting Donnie Tyn-dall’s previously undefeated cam-paign as � rst-year head basket-ball coach of the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss defeated the Ag-gies twice last season, taking an 80-72 decision in the semi� nals of the Great Alaska Shootout and

winning a 74-66 bout at Reed Green Coliseum nine days later. By contrast, the Golden Eagles never saw a lead in this year’s re-match and were unable to cut the de� cit to less than eight points in the second half.

The Golden Eagles were led by senior forward Jonathan Mills, as he poured in 12 points to go along with his team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Daniel Mulling led the way for the Aggies, record-ing team-highs in points (21)

and rebounds (11). Center Sim Bhullar also chipped in by scor-ing 17 points and hauling in seven boards.

The Golden Eagles were overmatched down low all game long, as NMSU out scored Southern Miss in the paint 38-22. The Aggies also out re-bounded the Golden Eagles 32-22. Southern Miss connect-ed on 88.2 percent of its free throws but could not overcome its dismal 35.1 field goal per-centage. In contrast, the Aggies

sunk a prolific 56.4 percent of their baskets.

The Golden Eagles were also hindered by the 0-11 shooting performance of junior guard Jerrold Brooks. He missed all eight of his three-point at-tempts and failed to record a single free throw attempt. Mi-chael Craig and Neil Watson provided 12 and 11 points for the Golden Eagles, respectively, but they only went 6-18 from the field combined.

Southern Miss looks to re-

bound from its poor shooting performance tonight when it plays the second bout of a three-game road stint against Arizona at 8:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles will conclude their road trip when they take on Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. on Saturday before returning home to defend their current 17-game home winning streak against the Grambling State Tigers on Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles’ home winning streak is good for fifth best in the nation.

Je� HaegerPrintz Writer

Eagle baseball signs eight in early signing periodBASEBALL

Texas junior college catcher Matt Durst signed his intent to attend the University of Southern Mis-sissippi to play baseball two weeks ago, wrapping up the early signing period for the 2014 Golden Eagle signing class.

Durst is the last of eight players who have already signed a letter of intent to be a Golden Eagle next fall.

He played in 44 games last season behind the dish, hitting over .330 with 25 runs driven in with one home run. He did this a� er hitting .469 his senior year in high school with 15 home runs and no errors in 260 chances behind the plate.

Durst is not the only catcher com-ing, as high school senior Chuckie Robinson III has already signed with the Golden Eagles. � e Illinois native was named 2012 1st Team Under Armour Underclassmen All-American as a junior last season.

� e two catchers join utility play-ers Dylan Burdeaux and Will Wat-son, both from Monroe, La., as the early position player signees. Bur-deaux hit .400 this summer with � ve home runs for the La-Ark-Tx Mar-rucci team, while Watson hit over .500 last season as a junior with 10 home runs and 43 runs batted in, earning � rst-team All State honors.

Two junior college pitchers, Jones County’s Ryan Milton and Pearl Riv-er’s Christian Talley, have also inked their names as future Golden Eagles.

As freshmen last season, Milton went 6-4 with a 2.26 earned run av-erage, while Talley went 4-1 with a mere 2.37 ERA on the mound.

Two right-handed high school pitchers from Florida will be join-ing the Southern Miss pitching class next fall: Dustin Berrong from Ft. Walton Beach and Cooper Jones from Pensacola, Fla. Berrong racked up 11 wins as a junior last season, and Jones went 8-0 with a 1.14 ERA, leading his team to the 4A state championship game.

“I think it’s a tremendous recruit-ing class,” head baseball coach Scott Berry said. “I think we were able to balance it evenly between our pitch-ers and position players. � e over-all balance of JUCO and freshman players in this class provides help for the future and immediate help for us next season as well.”

� e Golden Eagle baseball team is currently preparing for the spring, and the coaches are also working o� the � eld, as the 2014 team has al-ready began to take form.

Barrett Negus Printz Writer

Jamierra Faulkner, a junior point guard, sails to the basket to score a layup at the basketball game against Mississippi State on Saturday, December 1st.

Jordan Moore/Printz

BASKETBALL

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Sports Tuesday, December 4, 2012Page 8, Student Printz

Southern Miss begins search for football coachColuMn

When a coach goes 0-12 in his first season as head football coach at Southern Miss, ending the consecu-tive winning season streak and the consecutive bowl game streak, he does not get to keep your job. Ellis Johnson found this out the hard way when he was fired last week.

The search for Johnson’s replace-ment has already begun, as a search committee has been set in place. The nine-person committee consists of Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeff Hammond and other key figures involved in the athletic department: Dennis Phillips of the Sports Man-agement program; booster Nick Welch; former Golden Eagle players Reggie Collier and Sammy Winder; and Jeremy McClain, among others.

Several potential candidates have been rumored to be in the mix. Here is my list of eight potential candi-dates (in no particular order) that could end up in Hattiesburg soon.

Blake Anderson (Offensive Coordinator,

North Carolina)

Pros: He is the current offensive coordinator for former USM coach Larry Fedora and Anderson ran the offense at USM for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. While at Southern Miss, Anderson’s offense was one of the best in the nation and many of Fedora’s (and Anderson’s) recruits are still on campus.

Cons: No head coaching expe-rience. Like many on this list, An-derson is young and hasn’t had any head coaching experience. Also, one has to wonder how the defense will look under Anderson, as the defense will be one of the most talked about aspects of the team this offseason.

Bobby Petrino (former Arkansas Head

Coach)Pros: Bobby Petrino would bring

an immediate boost to the pro-gram. His record speaks for itself, as he is 75-26 in his career as a head coach with two BCS game appear-ances and three top-10 teams. With the talent that is already on campus, Petrino could get the Eagles back on track in a year.

Cons: Everyone knows the bag-gage that comes along with hiring Petrino. Leaving Louisville and At-lanta like he did and the recent off the field issues at Arkansas would make one wonder if it is worth dealing with everything. If he found success early at USM, and kept

clean, he wouldn’t be at USM long before he jumped ship for a larger, automatic-qualifying school.

Todd Monken (Offensive Coordinator, Oklahoma State)

Pros: Monken’s offense puts up numbers. The fifth ranked overall offense, fourth ranked scoring of-fense, and seventh ranked passing offense is the main reason he is so appealing. Oklahoma State played three quarterbacks this season and all three posted 1,000 yard passing seasons. Also, let’s not forget that this is the same situation Fedora was in before he came to USM.

Cons: Similar to Anderson, Monken has no head coaching ex-perience and the defense would still be a question. Monken also has very little experience as a coordinator, spending on the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator and the rest of his career as a position coach.

Neal Brown (Offensive Coordinator, Texas

Tech)Pros: Brown is another offen-

sive coordinator with another po-tent offense. Brown coached the second ranked passing offense, the 12th ranked total offense, and the 16th ranked scoring offense in the country this season. Brown has spent five seasons as an offen-sive coordinator- two at Troy, and three at Texas Tech.

Cons: Once again, no head coaching experience. Although he has more experience than Monk-en, he is still relatively young on the coaching scene. Defense is once against a question as he is an offensive mind.

Jason Simpson (Head Coach, UT-Martin)

Pros: Prior to Simpson taking the UT-Martin job, the program was at rock bottom having lost 45 consecutive games. Simpson got the program straightened out. Simpson’s .569 winning percent-age looks impressive considering the situation he inherited. Simp-son is also an Ellisville native, and a former baseball standout for the Golden Eagles.

Cons: While his offense was ranked in the top 30 in the FCS, his defense was ranked 79th. Simpson has had several toped ranked offenses, but rarely is his defense very impressive.

Curt Cignetti (Head Coach, IU Pennsylvania) Pros: While only at the Divi-

sion II level, Cignetti has made an immediate impact for IU Penn-sylvania. In his two seasons at the school, Cignetti is 19-4, including 10-1 this season. A former Ala-bama wide receiver coach (2007-2010), Cignetti has spent time under some impressive coaches in his career. His is a defensive minded coach with the number one ranked defense in Division II.

Cons: No Division I head coaching experience. He is suc-cessful at Division II but FBS football is a different business. Cignetti’s offense isn’t exactly lights out either, ranking 47th in Division II.

Eddie Gran (Associate Head Coach,

Florida State)Pros: Gran is one of the best

special teams coaches in the country, and has spent 26 years as an assistant coach, 23 of those have been at the FBS level. Gran also coaches running backs at FSU and has coached running backs at multiple SEC schools, producing many NFL running backs throughout his career.

Cons: Although he has been a coach for 26 years, he has never held a head coaching position. In fact, Gran has never held an offensive or defensive coordi-nator position, either. It’s not common for such a coach to be announced as a head coach but it could happen.

Tyrone Nix (Defensive Coordinator,

Middle Tennessee State)Pros: A former Southern Miss

athlete, Nix is one of the most respected defensive coaches in college football. Nix spent ten seasons at Southern Miss from ’95-’04 before spending the next seven seasons between South Carolina and Ole Miss. Over his coaching career, Nix has had sev-eral top ranked defenses at every school he has been at. Now at Middle Tennessee State, Nix has to be looking for a bigger job.

Cons: No experience as a head coach. Although he has been a coordinator for 12 seasons, Nix has never been a head coach, which makes you wonder why. Is he waiting for the right job- like his alma mater? Also, will a larger school scoop him up as a coor-dinator before Southern can get their hands on him?

Kyle SmithSports Editor

This was an article of opinion by Kyle Smith, a writer for the Stu-dent Printz. Email questions or comments to kyle.s.smith@eagles.usm.edu.