Welcome back to Ole Miss for another semester. Whether you are a graduate student, a freshman or anywhere in between, I hope you will make the most of your time here in Oxford. I want to take some time to let you know what The Daily Mississippian is anticipating for the upcoming semester. This short list will give you an idea of what you can expect to see when you pick up The DM this semester.
• National Signing Day on Feb. 5. Will Ole Miss football and head coach Hugh Freeze be able to reel in another dynamic recruiting class in a couple weeks? We will be covering the ever-important day from many different angles. On Friday, at least 25 of the country’s top recruits will gather in Oxford for a weekend together. Freeze and his staff will try to sell these guys on Ole Miss. To continue building a competitive SEC program, it is of utmost importance to bring in recruits who can play, and more often than not, the ones who can play are nationally touted. Get ready for in-depth coverage of recruiting through signing day and after.
• Associated Student Body elections on Feb. 18. If you have picked up The DM regularly over the past semester, you have probably noticed that we take the ASB very seriously. They are our government and they make extremely important and pertinent decisions on a weekly basis. The students you will elect in a few weeks are the ones who will disburse around $200,000 to student organizations. As we all remember from last March and early in the fall semester, these are the students who will have the power to make huge decisions like changing the homecoming title “Colonel Reb” to “Mr. Ole Miss.” Be on the lookout for extensive coverage of the election and the ASB in general.
• Construction on the parking garage. Ground was broken over the winter break on the new parking garage that will be built with the new basketball arena just west of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. As many of you probably noticed this morning when you tried to park in that area, many parking spots were eliminated for the construction, which should be completed by the start of the 2014-15 fall semester. When the garage is completed, it will have 829 spots, which is just over 270 spaces more than it eliminated. Parking will always be a hot topic on campus, and we will keep an eye on how this construction changes an already-stressful parking situation.
• The transition of current ASB officers to newly elected ASB officers. I think we can all agree that last year’s transition was a complete disaster. The newly elected ASB officers were left with an absolute mess the first week they were in office with the “Colonel Reb” title situation. We will talk to the current and future officers about the steps they are taking to ensure a similar situation does not occur again.
• Spring athletics seasons. Will head basketball coach Andy Kennedy and the basketball team be able to repeat last year’s incredible run and win the SEC tournament and make the NCAA tournament? Will head baseball coach Mike Bianco get himself off the hot seat and make another NCAA regional? What about softball, rifle, tennis and track and field? As usual, The DM will provide full coverage of all spring sports.
These are just five of the hundreds of stories we will be covering this semester. As always, feel free to send us your thoughts and ideas. The DM’s editors’ email addresses are listed on this page to your left. We provide these stories on a daily basis for you, the readers. We love to hear your feedback. Have a great semester, Ole Miss! We are certainly looking forward to it.
Adam Ganucheau is a senior journalism major from Hazlehurst.
