Editors take over The Big Apple

At the end of Spring Break, the editorial staff of The Student Printz left for NYC12, a College Media Association convention in the heart of New York City. As we left Hattiesburg early Saturday morning, we left the paper in the hands of our staff and considered calling Mayor Bloomberg to ask him to raise the security level alert in honor of our visit. Mississippi is coming to New York. Hairflip, y’all.

Once we arrived, we got caught in gridlock traffic in the middle of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Fun fact of the day:  New Yorkers don’t throw beads or moonpies at parades. What do all the trashy girls do at parades if they can’t flash the NYPD? #thoughtsofwisdom

On the first night out, we met Batman in Times Square, broke into NBC Studios (oops), went to Rockefeller Center and ooed and awed at the sights of the Empire State Building. We pulled a Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. #empirestateofmind

We all woke up bright and early to attend unique journalism sessions such as “Can you say suck my d**k in the newspaper?,” “From Lady Gaga to Godspell” and “How to not alienate the black folks.”  Let’s just say that in every meeting each of us attended, everyone had heard of Southern Miss. #blackface #where’syourgreencard?

In light of all of the media attention USM has received in the past year, we asked students from across the nation what they thought about Southern Miss.

Students from Georgia Tech said they knew more about our athletic achievements than anything. Students at Harrisburg College in Harrisburg, Penn. said they heard about the blackface incident, but they believed the only reason we received media attention is because USM’s southern location. They had a similar racial inciden but didn’t receive any national attention.

The recent “Where’s your green card?” scandal was brought up in the “Covering hate and bias in the media” session. Southern Miss was used as a primary example of a university dealing with a race-based incident.

Then, the night began. After eating an expensive dinner at Hell’s Kitchen, we soon realized that we would have to take Hannah Jones’s picture in front of EVERYTHING. Tall building? Burrough?  Hot dog stand? Hannah’s having a photo shoot. If the photo was a tad bit blurry or her hair was blowing in the wrong direction or her scarf appeared dissheveled, we were retaking the picture, and she dared you to complain. #diva #model

If Justin Mitchell bought one more piece of clothing, he would have had to ship his luggage back. We’re fairly certain H&M had to re-stock menswear after he went four separate times to buy colored skinny pants and high socks.  And everyone was so tired of hearing about how much he loved Chelsea. We get it, he thinks he’s cultural and artsy.  #carriebradshaw

You can’t leave Mary Margaret Halford alone at any point in time.  Aside from not being able to read a map, hail a taxicab, or naviagte the subway system, she also caused a riot in an Irish bar and had around 20 men from Dublin crowd around her and chant. Concerned? Not really. And that’s not even the best part. When we woke up the next day, Mary Margaret and Justin Sellers were nowhere to be found. Why? Because M.M. insisted on going to The Today Show, repping her letters and sweat pants. #must’vebeenaDG

If we stopped somewhere (and by somewhere we mean anywhere), Justin Sellers had to have a Jack and Coke or a white Russian. Twelve Jack and Cokes later, our token ginger decided that he would attempt to flirt with the sassy men at Therapy, a gay bar close to our hotel, in order to get free drinks. When that failed miserably (his cowboy boots and vest were his Achilles Heel), he thought it would be a good idea to set the token gay up with a random from the bar. Justin Mitchell found out later that his love interest was, in fact, homeless. #sorrybro

So, what did we learn from our trip to the city that never sleeps?  The media is still very important. We, as journalists, will always be expected to deliver accurate, unbiased news. Speaking with students across the nation, we discovered that people will remember your name, no matter what the circumstance. From Hattiesburg to The Big Apple, Southern Miss To the Top!