Mississippi editorial roundup

By The Associated Press

Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:

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Dec. 3

The Sun Herald of Biloxi on guns not allowed at Mississippi Coast Coliseum:

Guns are everywhere. Well, almost.

You can’t carry a gun in courtrooms. They aren’t welcome in many businesses. Public school students aren’t allowed to bring them to school.

And as of Nov. 29, you can’t take a gun into the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

We wish we lived in a world where people would not attempt to carry a firearm into an entertainment venue. But we don’t.

So the Coliseum staff, we believe, has made a sound decision. But it’s one that will work only if all guns are kept out of the building. That’s why the staff will require all Coliseum visitors to go through a metal detector.

Common sense tells us that guns, alcohol and the sometimes raucous entertainment hosted by the Coliseum would be a volatile, and potentially dangerous mix. And most entertainment venues don’t allow guns. This is nothing out of the ordinary.

The Coliseum has more than adequate security. No one should feel they have to carry a gun there to be safe.

We know there are those who disagree. And just to be clear, we are fine with gun ownership. If we weren’t, we’d probably choose to live somewhere other than Mississippi. We know Mississippians love their guns. We have many hunters. We have many people who legally carry for personal protection.

But, too many criminals, who have lost their right to carry a gun, are armed. And it would be tough for the Coliseum security detail to tell who can legally carry and who can’t.

And so we support the Coliseum staff in its effort to keep the emphasis on giving South Mississippi a safe place to go out and have a good time. We ask that our friends and neighbours on the Coast co-operate with the people tasked with checking for weapons. That will help everyone get in before the fun begins.

Online: http://www.sunherald.com/

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Dec. 3

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal of Tupelo on the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library:

Mississippi State University, and in conjunction Northeast Mississippi, earned a spot on the national academic map following the dedication of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Williams’ Collection of Lincolniana.

Visitors, along with university and elected officials, gathered for a ceremony on Nov. 30 to officially open the library at the university’s main campus in Starkville.

The library is on the fourth floor of MSU’s Mitchell Memorial Library and houses the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Museum, the Williams’ Collection and the Congressional and Political Research Center.

The Grant Library is a $10-million, 21,000-square-foot expansion of Mitchell Memorial Library that includes an auditorium, research room, office spaces, a conference room, a processing room and a climate-controlled storage unit, as reported by the Daily Journal’s Emma Crawford Kent.

The Grant Museum is an interactive experience that presents the four eras of the 18th president’s life. The museum contains sculptures along with Grant’s personal letters and documents that visitors can interact with digitally.

The Grant Presidential Collection consists of some 15,000 linear feet of correspondence, research notes, artifacts, photographs, scrapbooks and memorabilia, as noted by information provided by MSU. There also are 4,000 published monographs on various aspects of Grant’s life and times. The collection housed at Mississippi State is the largest single collection of Grant’s papers and additional items in the world.

The museum also features artifacts such as Grant’s White House china and one of the library’s most prized pieces, the “Seven Mile Funeral Cortege of Gen. Grant,” a book of photographs from Grant’s funeral procession through New York City.

The Williams’ Collection, which was made possible by generous contributions from retired Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and President of the Ulysses S. Grant Association Frank Williams, contains rare historical memorabilia, artifacts, signed documents, ephemera and original and early mass-produced artwork related to Lincoln and the Civil War.

Overall, the Williams’ Collection contains more than 12,000 published volumes of historical writing on the Civil War and Lincoln.

It is considered the largest privately owned holding of Lincoln research and display material.

As Mississippi State officials noted during the ceremony, the library and collections finding a home in Mississippi is fitting.

“Our university offers a unique opportunity for the study of the Civil War not from a Northern perspective, not from a Southern perspective, but from a truly American perspective,” said MSU President Mark Keenum.

The opening of the Grant Library makes MSU one of six universities nationwide to house a presidential library.

That statistic alone should bring great pride to all those who have worked to make this project a reality, as well as all Northeast Mississippians who can add one more impressive feat to the long list of landmarks and accomplishments found throughout our region.

The library gives one of our region’s most valuable assets, Mississippi State University, a unique opportunity to pioneer research on the Civil War and two notable presidents.

Online: http://www.djournal.com/

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Dec. 5

The Commercial Dispatch of Columbus on the holiday season:

Christmas is a fixed date on the calendar, but while we all recognize Dec. 25 as the day, there is no agreement on when the Christmas season begins.

To our chagrin, some retailers consider the day after Halloween as the beginning of the Christmas season, and consumers are tempted to begin their homage to the season by shopping as early as Thanksgiving, or the day after, also known as Black Friday. Some families have long considered the weekend after Thanksgiving as the day to decorate their homes.

We believe the best harbinger of the season is the Columbus Christmas Parade.

Monday, the parade again rolled down its familiar route from the Columbus Soccer Complex, east on Main Street and back down College Street as hundreds gathered to watch the 60 entries — one of which was a horse-drawn carriage bearing Grand Marshal, MUW President Dr. Jim Borsig — slowly travel down the parade route on a pleasantly chilly evening.

The parade is one of those times when the greater Columbus community comes together under the best of all circumstances — no agendas, no grievances to air or causes to promote. It’s just a chance to get together and enjoy each other’s company, a community Christmas party where holiday wishes are exchanged between float riders and onlookers.

It is now just three weeks until Christmas and most of us will find ourselves caught up in the chaos that accompanies the season — shopping, parties, events, travel — all compressed into a span of a few short weeks. There will be so much to do and so little time to do it, it seems.

So Monday’s Christmas Parade gave us a moment to take a deep breath, kindle the Christmas spirit that sometimes gets lost in all our busyness and enjoy the arrival of the Christmas season before we descend into the inevitable madness.

The parade is a tonic of good cheer that fortifies us for what lies ahead over the next few weeks.

‘Tis the season, the parade tells us.

We are ready.

Online: http://www.cdispatch.com/

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