Hattiesburg Mississippi

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“Sex in the Dark” Highlights Events Planned by Student Health Services

The phrase “condom fashion show” should easily suffice in grabbing people’s attention.

Student Health Services at The University of Southern Mississippi hopes the unconventional “contest” will do much more than that by helping raise awareness about the dangers of unprotected sex.

The fashion show is part of a special Sex in the Dark event sponsored by Student Health Services and the Southern Miss Activities Council from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10 in the R.C. Cook Union Building, Room B. The program will also include a panel discussion by campus “sexperts” who will answer questions submitted anonymously about sex and sexual relationships.

“The fashion show is just a fun activity that’s edgy enough to get people talking – which is what we want,” said Jodi Ryder, health education and promotion coordinator at Southern Miss. “Sex can be an uncomfortable topic and we want to create a fun, relaxed atmosphere to bring awareness to the risks and responsibilities that come with it.”

Ryder notes that the fashion show will consist of Southern Miss students modeling outfits they constructed from condoms supplied by Student Health Services. “Don’t worry, there are rules to make sure all entries are decent,” said Ryder. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner.

February represents a busy month for Student Health Services which also plans activities related to National Eating Disorders Week (Feb. 20-26) as well as the department’s annual health fair, set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the Union lobby.

When asked if she believes students are doing enough to protect themselves health-wise, Ryder said, “I would like to say yes but I don’t think that’s the case. That’s why we have these awareness events. When I’m out talking with students I realize how unaware they are of risks and dangers that come with certain behaviors. We offer a lot of education as well as clinical services at a price you can’t beat.”

For more information about Student Health Services call 601.266.5266 or visit http://www.usm.edu/healthservice/

Filed under: Hattiesburg, Medical, USM, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Jodi Ryder, Southern Miss Activities Council, Student Health Services, University of Southern Mississippi

Hattiesburg City Council Work Session Agenda for Feb 7th

WORK SESSION AGENDA

HATTIESBURG CITY COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 7, 2011

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:

A-1 Garbage Trucks – Delgado

A-2 Cottage Overlay District — Mayor

UPDATE AS NEEDED TO KEEP COUNCIL INFORMED:

B-1 Electronic Technology-Assessment
B-2 Recycle Program-Status Update
B-3 CHDO Report
B-4 Mississippi Development Bank
B-5 Report on conferences, seminars, etc.

Filed under: Government, Hattiesburg, City Council, garbage trucks, Hattiesburg Mississippi, meetings

TNA WRESTLING TO VISIT THE PINE BELT

HATTIESBURG – This Friday, February 4th at Lake Terrace Convention Center, Hattiesburg will experience TNA Wrestling Live!, as seen on Spike TV.

TNA, which stands for Total Non-Stop Action, is the second largest wrestling company in the world and is a leader in the sports-entertainment genre.  It is known for bringing fans closer to the action through impromptu autographs, fan interaction and superstar accessibility.

The show in Hattiesburg is part of the 2011 TNA tour, which will also visit other cities across the U.S. and the globe including Westbury, New York; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Glasgow, Scotland; and London, England. The event will showcase the talents of Mr. Anderson, “King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett, “The Monster” Abyss, Samoa Joe and more.

Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at the Lake Terrace Convention Center Box Office or online at www.LakeTerrace.com. Doors will open at 6:30p.m., and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.TNAwrestling.com or call 601.268.3220.

The Lake Terrace Convention Center is a Hattiesburg Convention Commission Facility. Since 1991, the Hattiesburg Convention Commission has been developing, operating and promoting tourism-related facilities for the Hattiesburg area. For more information, visitwww.HattiesburgConventionCommission.com.

Filed under: Featured, Forrest County, Hattiesburg, Sports, Hattiesburg Convention Commission, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Jeff Jarrett, Lake Terrace Convention Center, Professional wrestling, Samoa Joe, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Local Optimist Club Donates Reading Material to Children’s Center

As part of a community service project, representatives from the Hattiesburg Noonday Optimist Club delivered a basket of books to the Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern Mississippi on Monday, Jan. 31.

Members of the Hattiesburg Noonday Optimist Club presented a basket of books to the Children’s Center for Communication and Development on Monday, Jan. 31. Pictured, from left to right: Jeff Evans, past-president of the local Optimist Club; Lori Burgess, speech-language pathologist at the Children’s Center; BreAnn Russell, speech-language pathologist at the Children’s Center and Jennifer Ducksworth, president of the local Optimist Club. (Office of University Communications photo by Van Arnold)

Jennifer Ducksworth, president of the local Optimist Club, noted that the contribution followed the organization’s theme for 2011: “Bringing out the best in kids.”

“We are constantly looking for ways in which we can enhance the lives of children in the Hattiesburg area,” said Ducksworth. “This is our small way of giving back to the community.”

The Children’s Center, a United Way agency, opened its doors in 1974 and currently serves approximately 80 children from the South Mississippi area. The center provides an interdisciplinary team approach to the assessment and treatment of communicatively and developmentally delayed children (birth to 5 years).

For more information about the Children’s Center call 601.266.5222 or visit www.usm.edu/childrenscenter/index.htm

To learn more about the Hattiesburg Noonday Optimist Club, contact Ducksworth at 601.266.6189.

Filed under: Featured, Forrest County, Hattiesburg, K-12, USM, Children’s Center, Children’s Center for Communication and Development, Hattiesburg, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Hattiesburg Noonday Optimist Club, Jennifer Ducksworth, Optimist Club, Optimist International, United Way, University of Southern Mississippi

DuPree to speak at PRCC Black History program

Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree will be the keynote speaker for the Black History Month Observance at the Forrest County Center of Pearl River Community College.

The program will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, in the multi-purpose room in Building 5 on the Hattiesburg campus.

In addition to DuPree’s speech, the program will include a performance by The Voices, PRCC’s jazz vocal ensemble, and a presentation by the Forrest County Center History and Humanities Club.

The program is open to the public.

Filed under: Government, Hattiesburg, Pearl River, black history, Forrest County Center of Pearl River Community College, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Johnny Dupree, Pearl River Community College

Upcoming Health Forums Focus on Issues Connected to Aging

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Issues involving our aging population will be the centerpiece of two public forums sponsored this week by The University of Southern Mississippi College of Health.

The first forum, titled “Healthy Aging: Options for Quality Care,” is set for 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27 in Ballroom I of the Thad Cochran Center. The second forum revolves around the 10th Annual Issues on Aging Conference scheduled for 8:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28 at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center in downtown Hattiesburg.

“In addition to the need to prepare our physical and social infrastructure for the rapidly growing population of people over 65, every one of us needs to be thinking and planning for ourselves and our families,” said Dr. Susan Hrostowski, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Southern Miss.

“We need to ask ourselves some hard questions about where and how we will live as we age,” she said. “Then to answer those questions, we need to educate ourselves about the options that are out there now and what’s being developed.”

Several local and state health experts will serve as guest speakers and lead panel discussions about the aging process during both forums.

The Jan. 27 forum is the first in a College of Health Forum Series presented by Hattiesburg Clinic. Other scheduled forums and topics include the following:

• Feb. 24, 5:30-7 p.m. in Ballroom I of the Thad Cochran Center: “Perspectives on Health Care Reform – Which Way Forward?”

• March 31, 5:30-7 p.m. in Ballroom I of the Thad Cochran Center: “Does Healthcare Have an Electronic Future?”

The Jan. 28 Issues on Aging Conference is being sponsored by the College of Health, the Southern Miss Center on Aging, the School of Social Work and the Pinebelt Association for Families.

For more information about these forums call 601.266.5103 or visit www.usm.edu/coh

Filed under: Featured, Forrest County, Hattiesburg, Medical, USM, Hattiesburg Clinic, Hattiesburg Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, USM

Museum of Art Opens With Iraq War Photo Exhibit by U.S. Soldier

Hattiesburg, MS – An array of eclectic media will fill the walls of The University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art for the inaugural exhibit of the New Year.

The opening reception for works by Hattiesburg photographer Lt. David Holland and sculptor/artist Claudia DeMonte begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 in the museum.

Lt. David Holland took 25 photos of life on the street of Baghdad during his tour of duty in 2008. (Submitted photo)

Holland took 25 gripping photographs of life on the streets of Baghdad during his 2008 tour of Iraq with the U.S. Army National Guard. For one year, Holland never went out in the streets without two things: his Nikon camera and rifle.

“While on missions, I was forced to view the world with a military mindset, ready to defend my country and my fellow soldiers and the countless innocent people that are helpless to defend themselves in the face of war,” Holland said.

Raised in a small town in North Mississippi, Holland discovered his passion for art and photography during his college days. Assigned as a military engineer, not a photojournalist, Holland felt compelled to document the hardships he witnessed firsthand in the poorest neighborhood of Baghdad. The exhibit titled, “Baghdad Beyond the Wire” offers an artist’s view of the capital of Iraq in the last years of the war.

“I was required to keep an engineer’s mindset. But I carried with me and continue to carry with me the mindset of an artist. It is from all three perspectives that my photography emerges.”

With thousands of photos from which to choose, Holland selected a few to display in Hattiesburg museums. Twenty more of Holland’s photos will be showcased in the new gallery on the first floor of Cook Library. Twenty others will soon be displayed in the Armed Forces Museum of Camp Shelby starting Feb. 15. A beautiful catalogue of Holland’s best 125 shots titled “Baghdad Beyond the Wire, Faces from the Fair Garden” will be available the day of the opening reception at the museum.

The Jan. 27 opening will also feature DeMonte’s showcase of a range of media from bronze sculptures to works made in fabric, pewter and wood. Her work forces the viewers to confront their own conceptions of global culture and the primitive. With each medium, she combines sobering commentary on the status of women in the world with lighthearted humor.

“For the last thirty years, my work has dealt with the roles of women in contemporary societies. Working in series, using various media, each body of work focuses on various aspects of gender issues. I want my work to challenge our ideas about women’s everyday lives and the concept of beauty in our global culture,” said DeMonte.

With more than 60 one-person and 300 group exhibitions nationally, DeMonte’s work is in numerous museum collections and public commission spaces. Southern Miss is showcasing a traveling display and retrospective of 30 years of DeMonte’s work titled, “Opera di Donna.”

“In Italian it simply means ‘work by a woman,’” said Dr. Jan Siesling, museum director. “It refers to her ancestry and its relative mystery will, I hope, stir the curiosity of our public.”

The museum is located in the Fine Arts Building on the Southern Miss campus in Hattiesburg. Admission is free and open to the public Tuesday-Thursday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 pm. For more information, call 601.266.5200.

Filed under: Camp Shelby, Featured, Hattiesburg, USM, Armed Forces Museum of Camp Shelby, Baghdad, Claudia DeMonte, Cook Library, David Holland, Hattiesburg, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Iraq, Jan Siesling, The University of Southern Mississippi Museum, U.S. Army National Guard, University of Southern Mississippi

WILLIAM CAREY UNIVERSITY STAFF AND STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN MISSION TRIP TO KENYA

Students and staff from William Carey University, in collaboration with a local Christian rock band called Flight From Below, participated in a mission trip to Kenya, Africa, from December 26, 2010, to January 9, 2011. The WCU participants were Tammy Dossett, the administrative assistant for the academic affairs office; and students Stephanie Pendergrass of Hattiesburg, Whitney Hunt of Franklinton, LA, and Daniel Maqueda of Hattiesburg, who is also a member of Flight From Below. Maqueda’s aunt, Amy Hurst McKelvey, is an alumna of WCU and missionary in Kenya. She invited the band to come to Kenya to perform and requested that a team from WCU accompany them to help with the children during a Bible conference for missionaries and Christian relief workers.

The eight-member team that participated in the mission trip to Kenya pose in the airport before leaving on December 26, 2010. (left to right) Mark Wheat, Flight From Below’s drummer and a Presbyterian Christian High School student; Chandan Bangar, Flight From Below’s guitarist and a Northeast Jones High School student; Whitney Hunt, a WCU student from Franklinton, LA; Daniel Maqueda, Flight From Below’s bassist and a WCU student from Hattiesburg; Marshall McKellar, Flight From Below’s vocalist and a Belmont student; Stephanie Pendergrass, a WCU student from Hattiesburg; Tammy Dossett, the administrative assistant for the academic affairs office at WCU; and Misha Nielsen, a USM student.

WCU sponsored Dossett for the trip, and each of the other team members participated in various fundraisers to raise sponsorship, most of which involved assistance from local churches. The team served in a variety of ways in Kenya, beginning with teaching Vacation Bible School for missionary children whose parents were at the conference. Next, the team served in Maasai Land near Tanzania, by leading worship in two different churches and ministering to children at an area school. Before the team even left the U.S., they raised money for a mission project in Maasai Land, and the money was donated to a building project that will serve as a school for local children during the day and a Bible college at night.

The team also visited children at an aids orphanage before going to the last mission project in the Kibera slum. In Kibera, the group led activities for local children and met some of the children’s needs in various ways. One team member assisted a young man with medical treatment. Another team member gave his guitar to one of the music leaders to enable him to continue ministry in the Kibera children’s club. Additionally, others paid for one year of tuition for needy students, and for their supplies.

Filed under: Church, Featured, Hattiesburg, Religion, William Carey, Amy Hurst McKelvey, Daniel Maqueda, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Kenya, Maasai, Stephanie Pendergrass, Tammy Dossett, Whitney Hunt, William Carey University

Regional Dance Conference to be Held in Hattiesburg

Hattiesburg - Dance Teachers United, a non-profit dance organization for dance teachers and students in the South, will make its way to back to Hattiesburg’s Lake Terrace Convention Center next week for the tenth year to hold its annual conference.

More than 25 studios from Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi will be represented at this regional conference.

Dance competitions will be held on Friday and Saturday, January 28 and 29. On Sunday, January 30, guest teachers from across the country will offer workshops for dance instructors in attendance of the conference.

“The workshops help us expand our knowledge in dance from different areas of the country,” said Beverly Smith, secretary-treasurer for Dance Teachers United.

Local dance studios will be represented as well. According to Jennifer Odom-Townsend, owner of On Your Toes Dance Studio of Petal, her studio will enter more than 70 students in the competitions.

“Dance Teachers United is such a rewarding, Christian dance program,” said Odom-Townsend. “Much of our success as a studio comes from our involvement with Dance Teachers United and the encouragement that they provide. It’s great to host this program right here in the Pine Belt.”

The Lake Terrace Convention Center is a Hattiesburg Convention Commission Facility. Since 1991, the Hattiesburg Convention Commission has been developing, operating and promoting tourism-related facilities for the Hattiesburg area. For more information, visitwww.HattiesburgConventionCommission.com.

Filed under: Arts, Featured, Hattiesburg, Beverly Smith, Competitive dance, Dance, Hattiesburg Convention Commission, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Jennifer Odom-Townsend, On Your Toes Dance Studio of Petal

Southern Miss Baseball to Hold Annual Banquet for Dugout Club Members

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss baseball team will hold its annual preseason banquet, Sat., Jan. 29, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Thad Cochran Center.

Second-year coach Scott Berry and the entire 2011 Golden Eagle baseball team will be in attendance for the event.  The program will include an autograph session, a sit-down dinner, a live and silent auction, as well as guest speaker, former US Army General and current Southern Miss athletic administrator, Jeff Hammond.

The event is open to Dugout Club members only and the cost of the event is $20. Fans can join the Dugout Club that evening, but seating is limited to 400 people and individuals are encouraged to purchase their tickets early. The cost to join the Dugout Club is $100 for single individuals and $125 for couples.

For more information, please call Southern Miss Director of Baseball Operations Michael Shields at 601-266-6542 or email him atMichael.shields9@gmail.com.

Filed under: Featured, Forrest County, Hattiesburg, Sports, USM, Dugout Club, Hattiesburg Mississippi, Jeff Hammond, Michael Shields, Scott Berry, Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball, Sports