By Brittany Boddy AIDS Services Coalition Outreach center is a government-funded organization that provides free Aids and HIV testing to people in Hattiesburg and surrounding areas. Tony Jones, HIV Testing Coordinator, discussed his job at the organization as well as the importance of knowing more about testing, and the disease itself. “Mississippi is number one in the nation for new infections among ages 13 to 24 year olds, that is a very scary statistic,” said Jones. He explained that there are two main attitudes that people have about getting tested. “The main attitude is if they're gay, “I’m gonna get it eventually anyway so what does it matter,” he said. “Or either the attitude, “If I get tested and find out, I will have to change what I am doing and I don’t want to…so it’s best to not know.” ASC has educational forums, health fairs, community involvement events and condom distributions. The organization not only has projects and events but also housing for people with this virus. Connie Miller, Support Service Coordinator for the ASC housing coalition for persons with Aids and HIV, explained the housings for people who have the disease. “We offer housing opportunities for persons whose HIV positive or have a member of the family that’s HIV positive,” said Miller. The housing helps the clients find jobs, helps with medication, and gives them a place to live until they get on their feet. ASC reaches out to different communities, high schools and colleges to inform both teens and adults about the disease and the steps they can use to keep themselves protected and safe. By Andre'El Brown, Myka Barnes, and Brittany Boddy
By Kiyana Collins Cystic Fibrosis (also known as CF) is a life threatening disorder that corrupts the lungs and the digestive system. It is genetically inherited and limits the ability to breathe due to a thick buildup of mucus. Some common symptoms of CF include frequent coughing or wheezing, poor weight gain or growth, and lung infections including pneumonia and bronchitis. 17 year -old Sydney Loper was diagnosed with CF at the age of 3. Throughout the course of her day, Sydney takes 30-35 pills along with breathing treatments and chest therapy twice a day to help maintain her health. Growing up with CF, Sydney had a hard time in school with her fellow peers. She began homeschooling her freshman year of high school, due to complications with her health. "It started with students not understanding " Sydney goes on to say, "and they would just come up, and be like , 'oh she's just missing for no reason, and she's gone die when she's 21.'" "That was the hardest part for me." Using Cystic Fibrosis as her platform, Sydney participates in pageants where she has been crowned several times. Her mother, Johnna Loper, who is her biggest supporter, helps Sydney with her day to day strife with CF. "Everything that Sydney tries or does, she succeeds," Johnna says, "Everything she does, she amazes me. She doesn't give up just like her pageants, she started in January. She said she wanted to do it and she has put a 110% in it, you know, she amazes me." To this day Sydney is the healthiest now than she has ever been in the past. She continues to compete in pageants with Johnna by her side. Kiyana Collins Mandesha Thornton Mason Graves By: Brittany Roberts Every year nearly 12,000 people travel through the Hattiesburg train depot. The Grand Hall is located inside of the depot, which is used to accommodate receptions and events. The train depot was first completed in 1910, built in an Italian Renaissance style. In 1998, the transfer of the depot took place, after a negotiation between the city of Hattiesburg and Norfolk Southern Railway. Repairs of the station took place in the summer of 2000 and was completed by 2002. Repairs include, the original flooring, other historic features such as the Grand Hall. More repairs took place down through the years. In April 2007, the new and improved railway station was celebrated the night before by a Grand Gala black-tie, and has been a success since then. The train depot offers public transportation through their city bus. “Being able to get off the train and get on to a public transportation, it makes it not only comfortable but convenient”. Said Marquita Burkett, a train depot employee. Burkett said working at the train depot gives her a better experience with people who are and who are not from Hattiesburg. Her job only consists of handling tickets and checking bags, but she often feels like a counselor, because different people comes in and talks to her about anything. The Hattiesburg depot now has a wireless network zone and makes nearly $830,000 a year. By: Alexis Calomese, Brittany Roberts and Sarah Day
By: Sarah Day Working in an animal shelter has its ups and downs. Ginny Sims experiences these hardships on a day to day basis. Sims studied Photo Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi. After she graduated she started her career journey working at a non-profit organization that went out of business. Soon she found herself with a lot of spare time. “I was choosing between Netflix, or keeping my sanity and getting out of the house. So I started out as a volunteer here, at the shelter. I did adoption counseling and was part of the pet photography project.” Sims realized fairly quickly that she wanted to be at Southern Pines Animal Shelter every waking hour that she could. Now Sims works as the Shelter director. “I waited until there was a job opening and became a volunteer coordinator and kind of worked my way up from there because I knew that, one thing was for sure, I wanted to wake up and come here everyday.” Sims explains having a community that is willing to help is vital when it comes to taking in animals who need placement. "Without the community helping take in these animals, there is just not enough room.” Southern Pines performs routine transports twice a week. “It’s never sad, we’re always happy. I have had transfers of my own load up and head to more northern states , and I know that they are going to have a chance at a home and at a good life.” The shelter is an open admissions shelter and in South Mississippi it has its challenges. “People tend to use the term ‘kill’ and ‘no-kill’ shelters but I really prefer limited-admissions and open admission, and there’s a need for both.” Southern Pines accepts all animals. There are no age limitations, behavioral requirements, or health standards necessary to surrender an animal, because of this they are often forced to euthanize animals in order to protect the health and safety of their general shelter population. “Euthanasia is always in the back of our mind, we know that every adoption special that we host, every plea for fosters, volunteers, or adopters is a desperate motion to keep from having to euthanize, because we don’t want to do it,” Sims says, “when you run out of space they have to go somewhere and for us, we understand that there are worse things than euthanasia. There are worse lives and worse suffering.” Sims and the rest of the workers at Southern Pines know that when the animals come to their shelter they are cared for and loved, even if it is not a permanent stay. By: Brittany Roberts, Sarah Day and Alexis Calomese
By Brittany Boddy Mccomb Native continues the legacy of her mother by hosting their 39th annual summer camp, Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine, is a five day, four night camp for both mentally and physically handicapped children and adults ranging from five to 85 years old. Margaret Ann Morgan, whose mother Rebecca “Becky” Morgan founded the camp in 1976. “I’ve been going to camp since I was born, my mom started the camp in 1976 with a group of folks in the community and church and through bridge development, which was basically a school for special education kids in the 70s,” said Morgan. The campers get to participate in activities such as swimming, dancing, and arts and crafts where they can be themselves without the hindering of their disability. She also mentioned that Camp Sunshine counselors are assigned to one or two campers for the week. Their main responsibility is to bathe and feed their campers. Their overall goal is to make sure that they are the campers’ buddy for the week. In the past two years, there have been about 130 counselors and about 110 campers attending camp. Counselors consist of 9-12 grade students and some college students. She begin behind the scenes work in April, three months before the camp starts to prepare for camp in July. Matching counselors with their campers is one of the main factors in a successful week. She matches each counselor with each camper depending on the campers disability and the amount of experience the counselor has with the camp. Along with the help of the community, Morgan hopes to keep the legacy alive. By Andre'El Brown, Myka Barnes, Brittany Boddy
By: Kiyana Collins The Edward Street Fellowship Center’s Food Pantry serves emergency food to 1,000’s of residents. They currently serve clients from the following counties: Forrest, Lamar, Wayne, Covington, Jasper, Jeff Davis, and Jones. Various people from the community along with different organizations and companies help out by donating food and volunteering their time to make it such a success. The Fellowship Center is currently overseen by Executive Director Ann McCullen. Along with providing food services the center also operates a thrift store, pet food bank, elementary school tutoring, health screenings all while providing after school programs for the youth. The fellowship center’s mission statement is “to provide services to struggling families who are confronted by life circumstances beyond their capacity to overcome without a helping hand. The ministry is centered on a commitment to strengthening families and meeting special needs in the greater Hattiesburg area.” The Edward Street Fellowship Center is located on Edward Street in Hattiesburg, MS and operates the Food Pantry every Thursday and Friday from 9 am- 4pm. By: Mason Graves, Mandesha Thornton and Kiyana Collins.
By: Brittany Roberts
Hattiesburg High School hosted a multimedia workshop from June 14 to June 21, mentoring students from across the state. The workshop consisted of 16 selected high school students, who studied under professional journalists about how to produce in television, radio, and newspaper. The students covered the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which took place in August 2005. The students heard from journalists who covered the storm, and heard from residents who experienced the storm. The high school students were interviewed by USM students afterwards. They had a chance to share what they experienced and remembered about hurricane Katrina. Pontotoc resident, Ana Grace Warren, remembers the cleaning up process the adults took on. The students also shared what they thought of the workshop and how it benefited them. Warren Central student, Charlie Robinson says, “I learned to write better, learned to interview, and take pictures better.” The workshop is free to selected students, and students with an interest in multimedia production are encouraged to join the program and increase their knowledge for their future.
Sarah Day, Alexis Calomese and Brittany Roberts
By Myka Barnes
During the summer, students may be enjoying time off but 16 high schoolers participated in a week-long workshop which taught them the ins and outs of the journalism field. In June, the University of Southern Mississippi's Mass Communication and Journalism department hosted their fourth Multimedia Journalism Workshop. Kielee Clement, a Hattiesburg native, said that she got involved in the workshop at USM's freshman orientation. Clement said during the workshop she was able to do more than just writing, she had the chance to interview professional journalists. “Tuesday is when we hit the ground running. I woke up and we got to participate in the radio and we got to put the radio package together. After that we got to go in the production room and afterwards we got to write leads and articles," said Clement. Participant Peyton Neal said interviewing USM graduate and former CNN reporter Kathleen Kope inspired her group. “She (Kope) had to cover her own hometown, which is Bay St. Louis and she told the story of the gulf coast that many people didn’t get to hear," said Neal. "My group personally is doing a story about her and her broadcasting style." Both participants said the workshop prepared them for the work that is expected in the journalism field. Clement will be a public relations major in the fall at USM. Neal wants to write news editorials.
Myka Barnes, Andre'El Brown and Brittany Boddy
Mississippi High School Students Participate in "Remembering Hurricane Katrina" Journalism Workshop7/1/2015
By Kiyana Collins
The University of Southern Mississippi department of Mass Communication and Journalism hosted the “Remembering Hurricane Katrina” multimedia journalism workshop June 14 through 21. Students with an interest in media were invited to participate in this workshop where they learned to cover news topics, respond to press releases, and proper news style writing.
Although students spent the week learning how to cover new stories, they also had a chance to tell their own stories, particularly stories about their experiences during Hurricane Katrina. During the event, students also had a chance to engage in activities and listen to different professionals from the mass communication and media industry. They also had the chance to gain information by asking any questions or voicing opinions they had. High school sophomore A.J. Magee (15, Hattiesburg) shared how the storm brought him and his loved ones closer together. “I didn't really lose anything, but I did gain some relationships skills with my family. It brought us closer together. Everybody was under one roof and everybody got along .. cause we had to.” High school graduate Michael Edmonds (18, Yazoo City) said that his neighborhood received damage from the storm. “Shingles got loose, one window busted," Edmonds said. “We had one neighbor, we had to help them out of their house. A tree fell on their house. We had no water, no electricity, but we had gas." Both Edmonds and McGee also shared how to prepare for such a storm in the future. "Never think that the storm is going to be a small one anything can happen, be prepared," Edmonds said. McGee shared a quote from guest speaker Tim Isbell, photojournalist for the Sun Herald, to express his feelings on how to prepare for future storms. “The best way I’ve heard it put was by Tim Isbell, ‘Prepare for the worst thing that you can ever imagine and then realize that you can never imagine the worst thing that could possibly happen,’” Edmonds said. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The workshop is an annual event sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund and hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism.
Blog written by Kiyana Collins
Sound edited by Mason Graves Sound script and narration by Mandesha Thornton |