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Friday, February 10, 2017
Volume 105, No. 85
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Students, faculty take stand against the travel ban
PHOTOS BY: CAMERON BROOKS
JONATHON GIBSON thedmnews@gmail.com
M
ore than 100 students and professors rallied Thursday under the flagpole in the Circle to show opposition to President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
A local branch of Academics United organized this demonstration in conjunction with other college campuses across the nation. Many Ole Miss students and faculty members there said had already been personally affected by Trump’s executive order.
Graduate student Saeed Arab is completing his fourth year of a Ph.D. in engineering science at the university, and said he must now put his graduation on hold because of the ban. “I just hope for a day when everyone can be treated equally,” Arab said. “A day when peo-
ple are judged by their intentions and actions, not by their religion or nationality.” “We are a diverse group of students, post-docs, and employees attending universities all across the United States,” Academics United said via Facebook. “We all have dreams
of not only receiving the best education possible, but also serving the nation that has granted us this valuable opportunity.” The group organized through social media sites to contact students all over. To protest the
SEE RALLY PAGE 6
Weathering the storm
Ole Miss running back signee Isaiah Woullard was nearly killed in a tornado that destroyed his home. But an offer from his ‘dream school’ came as he was picking up the pieces. BRIAN SCOTT RIPPEE thedmsports@gmail.com
The game he plays is fast and violent, leaving no room for fear or trepidation. Ole Miss signee Isaiah Woullard – Mississippi high school football’s all-time leading rusher – is fast and fierce. A running back, like his father Reggie who played for the Rebels in the 1970s. His high school coach Joey Hawkins calls him a “one cut” back, plowing over any defender trying to contain him. But in the early hours of Saturday, Jan. 21, Woullard
found himself held captive, trapped in a bathroom in his home in Hattiesburg. Moments earlier around 3:30 in the morning, his mother had awoken to storm sirens going off. Joyce Woullard flipped on the television as the power flickered on and off. There was a storm coming. The wind outside their home was howling loudly. The TV flipped back on long enough to display a map on the screen, she saw her sons’ school – Presbyterian Christian School – on the screen. She heard the meteorologist mention a tornado and then the name of a
nearby street. It was coming, and fast. “I’ve often heard when other people tell their experiences, that when they see a tornado or are in or tornado they say it sounds like a freight train,” She recalled. “Well, I’m glad I heard that because it sounded like a freight train. I could hear it coming so I hit my husband and said ‘Get up! It’s coming.’” Joyce and Reggie woke up Isaiah and his 14-year-old brother Cameron and got them into a bathroom. Fifteen seconds later, sounds of pop-
COURTESY: ZAC CHAMBLEE
Isaiah Woullard, Mississippi’s all-time leading rusher, smiles after signing with Ole Miss on National Signing Day. Woullard received an offer from the university on Tuesday, SEE WOULLARD PAGE 10 Jan. 31, the night before National Signing Day and just days after his home was destroyed by a lethal tornado.
OPINION
PAGE 2 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
COLUMN
The pen is a sword; the tongue is a rudder
JULIA GRANT
thedmopinion@gmail.com
There is an old phrase that reads “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Words might not injure us physically, but too often, we forget the humanity behind a simple statement. Earlier this week, I was sitting in a meeting when
the leader asked for a volunteer to fill a committee role dealing with numbers and finance. The criterion for this position? Someone who was “OCD.” Or consider the conversation I overheard from the boys behind me as we waited for the professor to begin her lecture. “The work load we have in this class is totally retarded,” one said to the other, as his partner grunted in agreement. Students with a busy week ahead of them sigh and say they’re “depressed;” the fact the Chick-fil-a truck doesn’t have real fries is “so gay;” the owner of a quick heartbeat claims she is having a “panic attack;” a tedious book makes one want to “kill himself.”
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These are usually said in passing, without any deliberate malice intended. And yet, the myopia surrounding these statements fails to acknowledge the callous lack of sensitivity towards the groups they actually describe. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is not a cute quirk that causes girls to keep their Erin Condren planners rigidly organized or someone to color-code his closet. It is a scientific diagnosis that regards the lack of certain levels of neurotransmitters. This shortcoming causes intrusive, repetitive thoughts that can often only be remedied through performing seemingly “compulsive” actions.
Julia Grant is a freshman public policy leadership and journalism major from Gulfport.
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I do not need to describe the pain mentioning suicide casually can cause to one who has experienced it firsthand in their life. These phrases we have so carelessly incorporated into our day-to-day language represent a failure to consider the impact our words can have on those around us. They turn some people’s real horrors into kitschy conversation staples, into nothing but overused clichés. A pen is a sword, and our tongue is a rudder. Use them carefully. Use them thoughtfully.
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Likewise, having the audacity to label something unpleasant “retarded” insinuates the equality of these descriptions, downgrading the special needs community to something repugnant or cumbersome. Calling something “gay” is just the same, reducing the dignity of an entire population by assimilating them with a convenient insult. Feeling down for a few hours about a tangible issue does not make one “depressed”— again, it is a clinical issue that certain individuals are chemically susceptible to. Moreover, a panic attack is a medical incident, not a commonplace swelling of nerves.
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OPINION
THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017 | PAGE 3
COLUMN
Mississippi’s representatives exhibit our state’s spirit
NESTOR DELGADO
thedmopinion@gmail.com
Though Mississippi is a small Southern state facing constant criticism and condescension from the national media and coastal enclaves, our state’s congressional delegation is relevant and powerful, to say the least. Mississippi’s senators and congressman hold important committee chairmanships and facilitate the levers of power in Washington, D.C. Senator Thad Cochran is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which dictates how a large part of federal tax dollars will be spent. Senator Rod-
ger Wicker sits on Senate committees relating to the armed services, commerce, the environment and public works. Congressman Gregg Harper is the chair of the House Administration Committee. Congressman Bennie Thompson has served as both the chair and the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee. This is absolutely remarkable, given the fact that Mississippi is ridiculed as an unintelligent, unhealthy and uncultured state. Mississippi has her struggles and her challenges. Mississippi has seen evil acts committed on our soil. Despite those facts, for one to understand the reasons why Mississippians are in such positions of power despite a negative national view, one must understand what Mississippi provides for its people that can inspire this success. Whether from Mississippi or not, when one comes to our state, and the Ole Miss community, they notice
something unique. Mississippians are genuine, charitable and resilient. Our history, culture and most importantly, our people, reflect that notion. I imagine when Trent Lott, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker first stepped onto Capitol Hill to represent this great state, they were eager. Those men were eager to prove the critics wrong, to prove that we have more to offer this country than what we are portrayed as outside the South. They had an enthusiasm to prove the cynics wrong. This enthusiasm has lead congressmen and senators from Mississippi to rise through the ranks of the Congress, creating a humble pride that reinforces all
that is great about our state. Pride in the fact that voices of Mississippians, from the pipe fitter of Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, to the welder of Toyota, Blue Springs, can be heard in the halls of power. Two of our congressman, and both our United States senators, attended our great university. One has to think that Ole Miss had a role in inspiring them to do the great things they did.
Our state and our people have so much to offer, and we are lucky to have representatives in Congress who personify that. We all have a duty to follow in their footsteps to prove Mississippi is more than a statistic. Nestor Delgado is a sophomore public policy leadership major from Pascagoula.
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NEWS
PAGE 4 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
Educators respond to Betsy DeVos confirmation JACQUELINE KNIRNSCHILD thedmnews@gmail.com
The Daily Mississippian interviewed local professors and public school teachers in response to the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. DeVos is a Michigan billionaire whose support of voucher systems and other steps to make public schools more competitive has made her a stand out amongst President Donald Trump’s other controversial cabinet picks. Her confirmation has sparked campus discussions about the future of public schools and higher education’s role in shaping them.
Amy Wells Dolan, associate dean and associate professor of Leadership and Counselor Education, said she is also concerned about DeVos’s advocacy for K-12 voucher programs. “Advocates of voucher programs believe by introducing vouchers where you take public monies and redistribute them to parents for education, that would introduce competition to improve schools,” Dolan said. She said DeVos’ support for greater state’s rights in education could lessen the accountability in public education. “Our history shows us the negative effects, that discrimination is often felt on the local level, and historically we’ve needed the federal government to step in to help us protect the rights of all,” she said.
“In a lot of areas, it’s just not certain what her views are, or even how much she’ll be directing what’s happening,” said Neal Hutchens, professor of leadership and counseling education. Hutchens said he is bothered by question marks surrounding DeVos, whose resume lacks what many feel is the requisite background for the job. DeVos has never attended or taught in a public school. DeVos is a member of the nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) which supports the SAFE Campus Act, requiring victims of sexual assault to first file a complaint of sexual violence to the police in order for the school to begin investigation. “Leaving cases of campus sexual assault to the criminal justice system are problematic, because the privacy of victims could be at stake,” Hutchins said. “By taking away the power from victims to control how they feel best to response, in a way that’s a form of re-victimization.” Hutchens said the role of for-profit institutions is another concern, which some feel will have greater power and less taxes. “The Obama administration certainly made an effort to crack down on practices of for-profit education that seemed to take advantage of students,” Hutchens said. “Under the new secretary, we may see a reversal in the treatment of for-profit institutions.” Senior education major Jennifer Wolf, said she has always known she wanted to teach high school English, but the confirmation of DeVos has her worried about her future classroom. Wolf said her concerns are around the idea of school choice and alternatives to public education which DeVos, a member of the American Federation of Children, strongly advocates for. Without care, school choice could result in overcrowded and underfunded schools and many teachers without jobs, Wolf said. “There’s no part of me that can support giving monies to private schools because the majority are religious based and everyone has their right to do religion but that cannot be the main priority for our public schools,” Wolf said. “It is very un-American to say the least.” Wolf is also concerned about DeVos potentially giving state the responsibility of working with those who fall under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which guides schools in how to give children with disabilities the assistance that they need. “If it is thrown back to the states, that means the states can individually decide whether or not they want to give those assistances to those students or give that funding to other students,” Wolf said. ”Me and several other people that I have worked with in the school system will fight every step of the way.”
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THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017 | PAGE 5
Concert to benefit local women battling breast cancer
PHOTOS COURTESY: LEE DURHAM AND KAHLA COBB
LYNDY BERRYHILL
thedmnews@gmail.com
Every 21 days, Oxford residents Emily and Lee Durham and Kahla and Thomas Cobb head to doctor’s offices for another round of chemotherapy, waiting for the day it will be the last round. Emily and Kahla have both lost their hair and most of their energy, but they have gained a friend in the battle against cancer. They text, talk on the phone and discuss what it is like being a mother, wife and patient. The two women will meet for the first time at a joint benefit concert at 8 p.m. on next Saturday at The Lyric to help with the looming costs of cancer. Country artist Pat Cooper will be the entertainment and admission is $10. There will be additional chances to donate funds at the event. The proceeds from the event will be split down the middle between the two families and go toward medical bills, lost wages and other expenses. Between Emily and her husband, they have managed so far, but Lee said the future is uncertain. He said he realizes there will be thousands of dollars worth of medical bills to come. The two families are barely in their 30s. Both have small children and jobs. “I’m terrified,” Emily said. Emily has no history of cancer in her family. At 32, she is 18 years younger than most women who develop breast cancer, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Shortly after Emily was di-
agnosed last November, just a few days after her birthday, Kahla heard what she was going through and sent Emily a “breast cancer calendar,” so she could keep up with doctor appointments. Emily discovered a lump in her breast not long after she gave birth to her daughter Chloe. An additional biopsy of her liver in December determined her cancer had spread. Emily said she would get up and fix her hair and make-up every morning, but as she continued her treatment, her hair began to fall out in strands, then in clumps. “It was falling out so bad,” Emily said. “Every time I picked up my kid, (my hair) was getting all over them.” She knew she had to go ahead and shave her hair off all at once, instead of waiting for it to fall out. Her biggest fear was what her 6-year-old son would say when he saw her. “He said ‘Mommy, I love your hair cut,’” Emily said. “That tickled me pink because I thought my own son was going to be terrified of me, but he was not terrified at all.” Emily’s voice shakes a little when she talks about the future and her children. “There’s just no possible way I can leave my husband or my children,” she tells herself. “There’s no possible way I can give up.” Emily said both her and her husband were thought it would not happen to them, but want to urge other women her age to be proactive. It takes an hour for Emily and Lee to drive to the The Baptist Cancer Center. The
chemo takes up most of the day, and although Emily’s cancer is treatable, she will have to continue to fight the rest of her life. She now has stage four cancer. “I will never be cured of cancer,” Emily said. “There is a chance of it always showing its face again.” From the beginning of chemo, Emily said she could not help but feel inadequate as a mother. The medicinal cocktail she took each month to save her life was also giving her flu-like symptoms. Her bones ached, and at times, she said all she could do was watch her children play. “My body aches really bad,” Emily said. “My bones just hurt.” But Kahla’s friendship started making a difference to Emily. “She had been going through it longer than I had,” Emily said. “I was feeling real down about myself.” At one point, Emily said she felt lifeless. “I’ve never been that type of person,” Emily said. “I can’t get up and play with them … it makes me feel like a bad mom.” Kahla said she felt the same way at times. “This is only temporary,” Kahla told Emily. “You have to pray to God, he’ll get you through this and everything is going to be okay.” Emily said Kahla is inspirational to her and her family. Kahla said she reached out to Emily as a way to pay a kind deed forward. A total stranger had done the same for her and
she knew she had to reach out. Kahla said when she heard the similarities in her and Emily’s stories “it hit home” with her. Kahla is the owner of Bella Mia Salon in Oxford. Her and her husband Thomas, have five young children. She was diagnosed last September at the age 30, right before her 31st birthday. She now has stage three-A breast cancer that has spread to her lymph nodes. Kahla said she is surrounded by people all day, but there is a special comfort in knowing someone is going through the same thing. “I feel like I already know her,” Kahla said. “It’s hard because we haven’t met ... I feel like I already know her.” Emily’s husband, Lee, is helping plan the concert. He said he is thankful Emily’s type of cancer is very treatable, but she will have to spend the rest of her life taking hormone therapy. “Our families would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming, outpouring of love and support from family, friends, neighbors, the
community and strangers and ask to be kept in prayers,” Lee said. “I would like everyone to know the importance of cancer screenings, mammograms, and checkups with your healthcare provider whether you are feeling sick or not.” Lee said a tumor may not be evident or present itself until it has grown significantly if it is deep in the breast tissue. “Anyone is capable of developing cancer, regardless of age, sex, race or genetic disposition,” Lee said.
LIFESTYLES
PAGE 6 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
RALLY
continued from page 1 ban, Academics United planned marches and demonstrations on 52 American college campuses this past week. Legal battles and protests have crowded the two weeks since Trump signed an executive order banning 218 million people entry into the US from seven muslim-majority countries, according to major news outlets. The order was signed Jan. 27 and has been denied, blocked and restrained by a slew of courts nationwide, culminating with a federal appeal court’s refusal to reinstate Trump’s ban Thursday. Thursday’s ruling is the first from an appeals court on the travel ban, the highest court to rule on the ban yet. The decision will likely climb the appeals ranks and pass to the United State Supreme Court, which still only seats eight judges. A tie at this level would mean this appeal court’s decision stands. Graduate physics student Mir Emad Aghili said he was left wondering whether he would be able to see his family again. “There are a lot of innocent people that are affected by this ban,” Aghili said. “We all just want to complete our academic studies. We cannot see our families. We don’t know what to do.” Aghili’s family lives in Iran,
and usually visit him in America during the summer. However, since the ban lasts until late April, Aghili said he fears his family will not be able to make the trip. “When I called my mother after the order was signed, she was crying,” Aghili said. “She won’t see me for at least another year. Now I just have to stay until I finish my degree, and that could take a long time.” Faculty members joined the students in protest by speaking from the makeshift podium of the Circle’s flagpole. Professors of religion, science and more offered unity to the student crowd and a strong opposition to Trump’s order. Religious studies professor Mary Thurlkill addressed the crowd with a strong vindication of the Trump administration. “This order is shameful,” said Thurlkill. “This is not what America is. Families have been divided. People have been stranded. This is absolutely shameful.” The crowd held their chants as they listened to each speaker. Two students stood firmly holding hands, and others cried as these professors offered their support in fighting the travel ban. Physics professor Marco Cavaglia assured the crowd they would have the his support. “You are not alone,” Cavaglia said. “There will be people helping you. We will overcome.”
PHOTOS BY: CAMERON BROOKS
Students, faculty, and members of the Ole Miss community gathered for the Academics United - No to Visa and Immigration Ban rally in the University Circle Thursday afternoon. More than 40 university campuses across the U.S. participated in hopes to shed light on the impact that Trump’s immigration ban has on thousands of students and scholars. Many participants of the rally wore white to represent solidarity.
LIFESTYLES
THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017 | PAGE 7
Brewery on front lines for Mississippi beer policy OLIVIA MORGAN
olmorgan@go.olemiss.edu
Since Andy O’Bryan opened the doors of the Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley in 2013, he’s welcomed thousands of people into the old foundry, often giving tours to crowds of all ages and backgrounds until his voice gives out. “Just last week we had people from 23 states and three countries,” he said. Lately, however, he’s been using his voice in a role he never planned on. “I opened a craft brewery, I never thought I’d have to be a politician, too,” he joked. One thing all Yalobusha Brewery visitors have in common is that they’ve left empty-handed. This is no coincidence — the brewery is housed not only in an antiquated building, but also under an outdated legal atmosphere which bars direct sales in Mississippi breweries. Under the current law, the state of Mississippi mandates a three-tier distribution system for alcohol, meaning a brewer is required to sell the product to a licensed wholesaler, and in turn, the wholesaler sells it to a retailer. This means a visitor to Yalobusha can see where the beer is made, but must walk down the street to a retailer like B.T.C. Grocery to pick up a case. Just because O’Bryan can’t sell his beer on site doesn’t mean the taps are running dry, though. “What we do here is exactly what we’re allowed to do by law: We can give a tour and give away six six-ounce samples,” he said. While the tours from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. every Friday and from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday. “We’ve had something like 10,000 tours, most of them from out of state, and we need people buying a Mississippi product here and taking it back to where they’re from,” he said. This spring session, O’Bryan and other Mississippi brewers are working to push a bill through the Mississippi State
Legislature to allow for limited direct sales. O’Bryan estimates with the passage of the bill he could almost double his staff and resolve a competitive imbalance in the southeastern brewing industry. “All of the states around us have direct sales, so they are getting bigger and more financially viable, while they send their beer across state lines to sell against me in Mississippi while I’m operating with one hand tied behind my back,” he said. He also hopes to expand his market and distribute to contiguous states like Alabama and Arkansas. Yalobusha is working with other breweries and organizations such as Raise Your Pints and the Mississippi Brewer’s Guild to update the legislature. “I’d say the biggest obstacle was educating people about the regulatory environment of alcohol manufacturing in the United States and in Mississippi, and trying to get them to understand why these changes were necessary,” said Matthew McLaughlin, a lawyer for the Mississippi Brewers Guild. McLaughlin and his eight-member guild have been getting people into breweries and speaking at Chambers of Commerces across the state to get the word out about the bill. “I think it is going to open up a lot of different styles of beer, and different opportunities for the consumer to have a better and more informed experience when they go to a brewery, and go on a tour,” McLaughlin said. He also hopes to see an increase in the number of people drinking Mississippi manufactured craft beer from its current stance at 0.3 percent of Mississippi sales. The brewers are now halfway there. House Bill 1322 passed through the House of Representatives on Friday February third following a floor vote and has been referred to a committee in the Senate. O’Bryan said he encourages the people of Mississippi to reach out to their state senators in the next few weeks concerning the bill.
PHOTOS BY: ZOE MCDONALD
TOP: Kegs are pictured at Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley. BOTTOM: Bottles of Larry Brown Ale are pictured at Yalobusha Brewery in Water Valley. “It’s all over our website and all over our social media,” he said. “You can click and get access to the website email and phone number of your senators.” O’Bryan will be going down to Jackson in the coming weeks to assist in the passage of the bill. In the meantime, Yalobusha’s exposed-brick main hall is still probably more lively than the state Senate Hall. Just last March, they added live music on Fridays catered by local food trucks like Fergndan’s Pizza and Yoknapataco. Water Valley natives, folks from Oxford, tourists and students alike file
through the factory tour by tour, then hang out family-style on the long hardwood benches that transect the hall. Children are climbing on pews, playing hide and seek around barrels, and the consensus among many families in the crowd seemed to be that it is the perfect evening out because the kids could hop around freely without breaking anything, while mom and dad can enjoy some hops themselves. O’Bryan said he cherishes this familial connection his business has with the community. Yalobusha sponsors the Oxford Film Fest, Thacker Mountain Radio
hour and the brewery will host “Beer and Yoga” benefitting the Second Chance Animal Alliance of Water Valley this Sunday. For a $20 donation, attendees will receive a class led by Southern Star Yoga and a free beer to enjoy for a post-workout re-tox. The event will feature music from Andrew Bryant, and a donation of dog food will garner you an extra sample of beer. “We try to be as involved as we can,” O’Bryan said. “I’ve found that works better than any advertisements I’ve ever done – just getting to know the people around us.”
The impermeable sphere of privilege in ‘Girls’: An essay ZOE MCDONALD
thedmfeatures@gmail.com
This isn’t going to be the first essay about Lena Dunham’s millennial HBO series, “Girls,” which will premiere its sixth and final season Sunday, and I doubt it’ll be the last. In fact, feel free to drag me for writing this. It might be a testament to the show’s utter reach, one compared to “Sex and the City” or “Gilmore Girls,” or a testament to how quickly “Girls,” a show created by a very young Lena Dunham, attracted a devout audience. People turned to the show for its depiction of real-life
PHOTO COURTESY: CRAIG BLANKENHORN | HBO
women with real bodies having liberated sex. It forged new ideas in television. In just its first three episodes, the show dove into nudity, sex, abortions and STDs. “Girls” forced open people’s eyes. But in many ways, whether she meant to or not, Lena Dunham opened people’s eyes to a large crop of our generation in need of a self-reckoning. The series has specialized in taking privileged and narcissistic white people and putting them in real-world situations where they either flounder or succeed, usually with no façade of grace. The most sickening, and the most brilliant, aspect of Dunham’s “Girls” is the smallness
of each character’s world. Blinded by their own narcissism, these characters are on a quest for their true selves — their art — sometimes sacrificing their relationships to forge their messy paths. During the process, most viewers and millennials sit, cringing on their couches — both for Dunham’s characters and for the realization of how they would have acted in such circumstances. A regular viewer might feel disdain for almost every character at the end of some episodes. “Beach House” (Season 4, episode 7) is an excellent example. The series begins with the
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LIFESTYLES
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Glover join the cast for an episode as Hannah’s welldressed, college-educated boyfriend, he represented a small intersection of the black experience. That became even smaller when viewers found out his character was a staunch Republican. “Girls” is a window into what it is to graduate college and still not quite have “it,” but still have a cushy fallback in one’s parents or rich family. It’s another show that depicts a bourgeoisie lifestyle, sometimes with a satirical lens. But the show doesn’t just look at that lifestyle — it is that lifestyle. That is perhaps the root of the show’s addictive quality. “Girls,” like its characters, almost met its demise in the black hole of its own narcissism, yet it continues on its flawed path into its last season. Throughout the last five seasons, the characters have all had embarrassing lows and frustratingly long bouts of naiveté. But when they start to mature and change, as Shoshanna (the youngest char-
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protagonist, Hannah, in disillusionment as her parents try to cut her off financially after losing her post-grad internship. She begs to keep her funding, citing that she thinks she “may be the voice of (her) generation.” She goes on to clarify, “Or a generation,” before entering opium-induced sleep. She continues to pursue writing, contributing to and at one point joining a publication. She gets fired, but she also is accepted into Iowa’s writing workshop. She moves to Iowa but struggles to allow criticism. She moves back and becomes a teacher in New York by the end of season five. We’re told in the trailer for season six that she’ll begin writing for a magazine. Now, we’re left wondering whether she’ll look outside of herself long enough to finally become the voice of some generation. As all the “Girls” characters are in the process of maturing, Hannah seems to struggle with it on a fundamental level — a manifestation of her inherent
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narcissism. This is why we saw Hannah begin to befriend her middle school students, and this is a reason why we will continue to see Hannah struggle throughout the next season. Regardless, all the characters in “Girls,” even the males, serve as great examples of how narcissism and general disillusionment when it comes to careers and love permeates the millennial experience. All these characters are white. They come from seemingly privileged upbringings. They’ve attended college and are making rent in New York City even when they’re unemployed. In all that’s relatable in the show, in all the semi-accurately depicted millennial relationships, in all the shots of Dunham’s cellulite, in all the gritty dialogue, something still feels hard to attain. Dunham has said that, going back, she’d make a point to include more black characters. But would that have broken the sphere of white privilege Dunham has (I think both intentionally and unintentionally) crafted on the show? It doesn’t seem so. In fact, when she did have Donald
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PAGE 8 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
LIFESTYLES
THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017 | PAGE 9
‘Manchester by the Sea’ will destroy and renew you CALEB PRACHT
capracht@go.olemiss.edu
Grief. It’s something we’ve all experienced, albeit to varying degrees and under varying circumstances. It’s also the subject of renowned playwright Kenneth Lonergan’s latest film, “Manchester by the Sea.” As I write, I am still shaken by Casey Affleck’s momentous portrayal of tortured janitor Lee Chandler. At the onset of the film, Chandler is called home from his humble Boston life in the middle of shoveling snow by the tragic news of his brother Joe’s death. It’s a beautiful sequence: we watch the repetitive monotony of Chandler’s daily life as he deals with clogged toilets and rude tenants. Then, as they often do, a phone call changes everything. Suddenly Chandler is at the hospital in his hometown, then the morgue, then the funeral home, all the while dragging along his newly orphaned teenage nephew, Patrick. Patrick is played with depth and realism by Lucas Hedges, of “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” fame. Generating his own Oscar buzz alongside co-stars Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, Hedges
conveys the angst, confusion, and all-around emotional displacement of Patrick Chandler with a precision beyond his years. Speaking of Williams, not once have I seen a better performance from our favorite “Dawson’s Creek” alumnus. She plays Lee’s estranged exwife whom he must confront when he returns to his small fishing town. Their relationship is underpinned by an unspeakable tragedy, the pent-up emotion of which radiates through both her and Affleck’s eyes. When it is revealed about halfway through the film, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. This tragedy is the crux of Lonergan’s exploration of grief and guilt. How do we live normally after the fact? Can we? The setting of Manchester is somehow equally as important to the film as the bravado of its actors. Manchester is a quintessential New England town, dusted by snow and nestled on the water. The small town haunts Lee Chandler like a specter, his tragic past bubbling up in every crack of his voice. The most powerful scene is one of the simplest. New England winters are so cold that the ground is impenetrable, and
PHOTOS COURTESY: FACEBOOK.COM/MANCHESTERBYTHESEA
thus burials must be postponed and bodies frozen temporarily. Lee is bothered by this but accepts it, while his nephew Patrick is severely disturbed by the fact that his father’s body will be in a freezer for several months. One night, Patrick goes to the fridge for dinner, and frozen meats fall out on the floor and he struggles to get them back in. He is overcome with emotion and starts shaking, crying and gripping his head. Lee tries to comfort him, but the boy is inconsolable, so Lee simply pulls
up a chair next to his bed and sits there. No words, no hugs, just the solemn silence of a father figure who doesn’t know what to say. Many of us have experienced this awkward stoicism, when the pressures of masculinity make the men in our lives seemingly emotionally illiterate. Affleck captures that moment. His performance is absolutely transcendent. I am usually rather impartial come the Academy Awards, but not this year. If Affleck doesn’t win Best Actor, watch Twitter
for #NotMyBestActor, as I’m liable to get it trending. On a serious note, go see this movie. Go alone, like I did, and during the day if you can. All too often do we drift through our collegiate lives in a neurotic haze, but “Manchester by the Sea” will jar you out of it and gently return you, but not without first reminding you of your humanity by immersing you in impossible suffering for two hours. Bring tissues.
A+
Elephante brings EDM to Oxford again
AUSTIN HILLE
thedmfeatures@gmail.com
EDM up-and-comer Elephante is coming one show closer to establishing Oxford as his second home, playing his third show in two years tomorrow night at The Lyric. “Every time you go to a new place, it can be hit or miss, but for whatever reason, Ole Miss has been very good to me,” Elephante said. “After the show last fall, it went so well, and we were planning out this tour and we talked to people in Oxford and they were like, ‘Yeah, we should do it again.’” Elephante played his last show in Oxford right before releasing his debut album, “I am
the Elephant,” a project that has elevated his career to new heights as of late. “That album was like a work of love for a long time. I came up doing remixes for a long time, so it was definitely a little scary putting out that much
original music,” Elephante said. “It’s been incredibly gratifying to hear people know my music, singing it at shows. It’s been everything that I could have dreamed of, and I am just grateful that people are tuning in.” With new music and more time to perfect his craft, Elephante has also worked on improving his live show experience since his last stop in Mississippi, testifying that attendees should expect a much more cohesive performance overall. “We’ve worked on a bunch of new visuals, there’s a lot of new music; it’s a lot more cohesive experience,” Elephante said. “Before, it was like I would just show up and play some songs and it would be fun, but this is more a ‘proper show’ kind of
feel.” With 2017 just beginning to pick up speed, Elephante has big plans for what the coming months might hold. Besides finishing up this most recent tour, he hopes to see a wave of new content hitting the shelves shortly. “I’m working on the next EP, got a bunch of new music coming out,” Elephante said. “I’m releasing a new volume of my mix series this week in time for the show. Hopefully that will be out before I head on down. Yeah, just a lot of touring, a lot of music, hopefully like a Grammy or three. But, we may have to save that for next year.” But more than anything, Elephante said he urges all students to come out, enjoy the
show tomorrow night and be a part of the exciting EDM revolution taking place across the South and the world. “I feel like I have connection with Ole Miss, as strange as it sounds. I played as many times in Oxford as I did in L.A. last year... I feel like the college and I have a bond, and after the last couple of shows, it’s only going to get stronger,” Elephante said. “People in the South and other areas that aren’t as familiar with EDM are just ready for dance music. It’s just a matter of finding the right time and putting on the right shows.” Elephante takes the stage tomorrow night at The Lyric. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the show starts at 9. Tickets are on sale now for $5.
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PAGE 10 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
the street where the damage wasn’t as bad. continued from page 1 Most of their neighborhood sought refuge there. Isaiah recogcrashing boomed around nized an elderly man that them. Chunks of the roof was his next-door neighbor. were being ripped off of He had a gash on his calf, their home. Debris was fly- and Woullard could see the ing and walls were caving in. panic in his eyes. Reggie got up to go to the “He told us that they’re next room to grab a mat- trying to find his wife,” Isatress to put over their heads. iah said. “We were just prayThe force of the wind was so ing and hoping.” great it picked him up off of The man’s wife had gotten the ground and threw him trapped under a pile of deagainst a wall. bris and died in the storm. “He literally felt the wind The Woullards waited at pick him up in the air, so the house until daybreak he laid down and put the and the rain subsided. They mattress over him,” Joyce made their way down their said. “Meanwhile, we are in street that now looked like a the bathroom and Isaiah is war zone, all the way to see screaming ‘Dad, Dad!’ and it the remains of their Nellhad gotten quiet.” wood Street residence that A couple of minutes went Reggie and Joyce built – by. There was no response. one they’d called home for “I’m okay, y’all stay there, 16 years. please stay there,” they fi“Everything was torn in nally heard him say. half. TVs were broken. CabTwenty harrowing min- inets, drawers were thrown utes pass as the storm de- outside,” Isaiah said. “Chairs stroyed everything in its were all over the house. Evpath, including the Woull- erything was broken. It was ard’s home. Cameron was all gone.” gripping his mother so He’d run through defendtightly it sprung pain. He ers and opposing backfields began to tell everyone he hundreds of times, absorbloved them. ing harsh blows en route to “After the big winds came the end zone. But on this
is just gone,” Joyce said. “I wanted to try to salvage some pictures and things that can’t be replaced. Pictures of our family.” To add another dimension to all of this, it was crunch time in recruiting season. Isaiah’s dream was to attend Ole Miss, but an offer hadn’t come yet, and it was largely due to the stigma that comes with skill players in a private school league. “It drove me all the time,” Isaiah said. “There wasn’t a day that it didn’t cross my mind. I thought about it all the time. When I worked out I thought about it, in the games I thought about it. It was always on my mind.” He’d gone to bed every night for the last year wondering if the offer would come and why he was passed over. Getting overlooked was something he’d deal with all of his life. But now all of that seemed minuscule. Just hours after he’d laid his head down to sleep that night, he got in the back seat of a car as his family took off with all of their belongings in two trash bags, not knowing where they were headed. Uncertainty was wracking Isaiah’s 18-year-old brain on multiple levels. “What do we do? We are homeless. We don’t have anywhere to stay. We have nothing. It’s just like, what do you do? It was very overwhelming,” Joyce recalled. “We had no structure, no normalcy, being uplifted like that. Trying to wash what you did salvage to have some clothes to put on.” Joyce said in the days after, she’d be out running errands and find herself driving toward Nellwood Street before remembering that it was all gone. They had no home, and really no direction. A family friend took them in for the next six nights.
“He literally felt the wind pick him up in the air ... we are in the bathroom, and Isaiah is screaming ‘Dad, Dad!’ and it had gotten quiet.” – Joyce Woullard
in, we got out of the house because the roof and walls were caving in and we didn’t want to get hit,” Isaiah recalled. “So, we walked in the dining room. It caved in on us. Then we went out of the house.” The four left the bathroom to a heavy, chilling rain pounding down on them in pitch black darkness. A wall in their dining room had caved in. They had to get out. The family made a break for a neighbor’s house up
eerie morning, Isaiah and his family were trudging through the pieces of their material life, trying to salvage anything they could. Passing through there dining room, where months earlier they’d hosted family Christmas, their favorite holiday. Now, the walls were caved in and a neighbor’s electricity box sat in the middle of the rubble. “Everything that you’ve worked so hard for, and everything that you’ve accumulated through the years
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Isaiah was scheduled for an official visit at Ole Miss the next weekend. Maybe then the offer would come. But how would they even make it? His humble nature surfaced. He fully understood the gravity of the situation. “Mama, I don’t guess we will be going to Ole Miss are we? We don’t have to. I understand.” “No. We are going, I don’t care what we have to do. We are going.” Friday, Jan. 27, the Woullard family hopped in the car again with everything they owned, and traveled
PHOTO COURTESY: 247SPORTS.COM
north to Oxford. Escaping the harsh reality they faced, it was a change of scenery – one more pleasant than passing by the the remains of their now shattered home. “This is good. We need this,” Joyce said she thought. “It was an escape, a change of pace not going to see your destroyed home every day. It was a nice escape. We felt that we needed to go. Isaiah was so excited about going.” They took their tour of Oxford and Ole Miss, Reggie entering the same stadium he used to play in. The Woullards returned home
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THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017 | PAGE 11
on Sunday and checked into a hotel, their third move in a week. There was still no offer. National Signing Day was three days away. “It was disappointing. Just knowing how much he wanted it,” Joyce said. “We were strong. We kept our faith. We knew God had a plan and we were going to hold out. We said ‘Isaiah keep your head up’ and he is such a strong kid mentally. It takes a lot to get him down. He doesn’t let what people say get to him. He just keeps working.” That’s what Isaiah is known for. When all else fails, he goes to work. He immerses himself in his craft. He’s 5-foot-9-inch, 195 pounds and can’t control that, but he can harness his work ethic. “He rushed 1,191 times for us. That’s almost 300 times a year. He rushed for 8,334 yards, the most in Mississippi history and he never missed a practice. The guy never missed a practice or a game,” Hawkins said. “He’s durable. He’s tough. His work ethic is just off the charts. You wouldn’t believe what we are doing in the offseason right now and he’s right there with us.” Tuesday, Jan. 31, It’s just hours away from national signing day and still no offer from Isaiah’s beloved Rebels. Joyce noticed a change in his demeanor. She could tell he was getting discouraged. Perhaps, they should go get something to eat. They decided on Crecent City Grill. The mood at the table was quiet. Everyone was distracted by the same thing. Was a phone call coming? Isaiah’s phone rang halfway into the meal. It was Ole Miss head football coach Hugh Freeze, and he bore a scholarship offer. The son of a preacher was going to be a Rebel like his father. “It was almost like a dream,” Isaiah said. “Wow, this is going to happen. I told him that he wouldn’t be disappointed.” His family was overcome with emotion. For the first time in the two weeks since
their lives were turned upside down, the Woullard family celebrated. The offer represented an opportunity, but more so an invaluable boost of morale to a family that certainly needed it. “I was just so happy for him,” Joyce said. “I didn’t want to see him continue to go through that, and to get the call and not be disappointed after everything that had happened I was relieved. I was so happy to see a smile on his face.” This time he hadn’t been glanced over. Someone gave him a chance, which is all he needed. Isaiah went to bed that night with a sense of peace. His wildest dream had come true. He was going to play in the SEC, in his home state, at his father’s school and represent his community, one that is currently healing. “Isaiah is so loved in this community. Everyone loves him,” Hawkins said. The family is currently in an apartment, and more settled than they’ve been in weeks. Joyce and Reggie are thankful for some semblance of normalcy. “At least we know where we are going every day now, for a while anyway,” Joyce said. “At least we can put some clothes in our closet or something and actually have things we can reach for. We have a dresser we can put clothes and stuff in as we need it.” Isaiah Woullard is no longer overlooked. He’s an SEC running back. He kept his faith and maintained his strength, weathering all of the storms thrust in his path. “It helped out a whole, whole bunch,” Isaiah said. “That’s really what life is, a whole bunch of ups and downs. I’m just glad it turned out the way it did.”
PHOTOS COURTESY: JOYCE WOULLARD
This is where Isaiah Woullard’s family home, completely destroyed in the January tornadoes, used to be.
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PAGE 12 | THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN | 10 FEBRUARY 2017
Ole Miss baseball position preview: infield ETHAN WRIGHT
thedmsports@gmail.com
With just a week before the season opener, Ole Miss Baseball is looking to iron out any and all remaining roster kinks. One area that seems somewhat set is the infield, which looks like it could be one of the most exciting in the nation. Beginning with first base, the Rebels are looking at true freshman Cole Zabowski to take the reins. The 6-foot5-inch leftie looks to have a good feel for the ball on the plate, showing already that he can hit to all fields. The 19 year old also has a good bit of power stored in his athletic, 225-pound frame. Zabowski was the No. 3 ranked first baseman coming out of Georgia and will look to add to the talent of the infield and learn from the veterans around him. Returning to second for the Rebs will be junior Tate Blackman, one of only four Rebels to play in all 62 games last year. Blackman’s experience will be key on a team where three-fourths of his teammates are underclassmen. Blackman will look to build on an exceptional 2016, a season in which he hit .322 and boasted 21 multi-hit games. He also showed more power over the fall and could very realistically bump those numbers up even more. The 6-foot right-hander has above average speed and is a decent defender, but will more than likely rely on offensive heroics and time-worn experience to help lead his younger teammates to important wins. Rounding out third will be one of the only players more experienced than Blackman, senior and undisputed leader Colby Bortles. Bortles will be returning to the position he made 61 starts at last year (he started one game at first) and will look to build on his success from 2016. The 6-foot-5-
PHOTO BY: CAMERON BROOKS
Tate Blackman throws to first base after fielding a ground ball in a game last season. Blackman joins third baseman Colby Bortles, first baseman Cole Zabowski, and short stop Grae Kessinger, to complete the infield for the upcoming season. inch slugger led the team with 21 doubles, blasted eight homers through the season and hit his way to a .475 slugging percentage. The veteran’s power and big-game experience will be vital to the team’s success, while his above average defensive play will be enough to sustain and win games. Replacing fan-favorite Errol Robinson at shortstop is no easy task, but if anyone seems
up for the challenge it’s freshman, and Oxford High standout, Grae Kessinger. The No. 2 overall recruit in the state, Kessinger has all the tools to excel on both sides of the ball. During fall ball, he proved his ability to hit to all fields, while also showcasing the athleticism and instincts that make him a truly talented defender. That talent, it seems, may run in the family. The fresh-
man will be the fourth in his family to play baseball at Ole Miss. The most notable among them being his grandfather, Don, who was a sixtime All-Star and two-time Gold Glove recipient for the Cubs. Kessinger certainly has big shoes to fill, both at his position and within his family, but if anyone can do it, it’s the blonde, lanky but supremely talented shortstop.
Ole Miss will face a variety of challenges throughout the long baseball season, but with a talented infield and more than capable backups—both Ryan Olenek and Will Golsan have extensive experience as infielders—the Rebels are set to open the season with talented playmakers, both young and old, on offense and defense.
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