The Daily Mississippian October 20, 2022

Tenants forced to move around or move-out: the 4-1-1 on 514 Jackson

JENELLE DAVIS ELLE MUIRHEAD thedmnews@gmail.com

The more than 200 tenants of UNCOMMON, an apartment building located just off campus at 514 E. Jackson Ave., received an unexpected letter Oct. 12: The property had been purchased by Capstone Real Estate Invest

ments, and though initial email communications with resi dents stated nothing more than a name change, the building would now be immediately con verted into condominium units.

The new owner provided tenants with two options: either “break” their lease early and ac cept a gift card for $1,250, or choose to stay and agree to be moved around the building as

renovations take place. The let ter stated, in part: “This may in clude a different unit type and/ or floor, and could potentially include roommate changes due to the limited relocation options.”

Despite the options offered, many of the current tenants feel stuck and unprepared for the situ ation they are now living through.

Comedy scene stands up in Oxford

KHARLEY REDMON thedmfeatures@gmail.com

If you visit Moe’s Penny Bar on a Wednesday night, you’ll find what you’d probably expect.

Patrons sitting around the bar, enjoying drinks with their friends. Wings with celery, carrots and ranch being delivered to tables. Music filling the bar with life.

But at 8 p.m., something happens at Moe’s Penny Bar that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in Oxford.

At 8 p.m., Ayric Bradley walks up to the standalone mic in the corner of the venue and starts his now Wednesday night routine.

“It’s Open Mic Night at Moe’s

“Never failed to be a light in all of our lives”: Walker Fielder remembered by friends

MARY BOYTE thedmnews@gmail.com

On Sunday, Oct. 16, in the early hours between midnight and morning, Ole Miss stu dents Walker Fielder, 21, and Blanche Williamson, 20, were victims of a hit and run in the parking lot behind City Hall. Both students were rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississip pi, where Fielder succumbed to his injuries. Williamson was taken to Regional One Health in Memphis, where she continues to be treated.

Fielder, a member of Sig ma Chi and the fraternity’s rush leader, was well-known and well-loved on the Ole Miss campus. Hours before the incident, Fielder turned 21.

Friends and family at tended a visitation and fu neral Wednesday after noon, Oct. 19, in Jackson.

Gigi Yoste, an Ole Miss student and one of Fielder’s closest friends, described Fielder as the type of per son everyone strives to be.

“He had a contagious per sonality that drew people from all over closer together,” Yoste said. “He was by far the goofi est human I’ve had the pleasure to know. From his funny dance moves to his silly sayings, he al

ways made others laugh. Walk er always had a smile on his face, and he had a unique way of making others feel special.”

Yoste and Fielder have had different relationships since they met during their soph omore year of high school at Jackson Academy. Mov ing from a friendship to a ro mantic relationship back to a friendship, Yoste and Fielder always remained best friends.

Delisia Nicholas gets expressive telling a joke at a comedy show at Proud Larry’s on Sept. 19.

FLETCHER CANUP

MISSISSIPPIAN

Walker Fielder

PHOTO COURTESY: PARKWAY FUNERAL HOME

MARY BOYTE.

/ THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

One dead, one hospitalized after Sunday morning hit and run

MARY BOYTE thedmnews@gmail.com

Friends and family gath ered at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson on Wednes day afternoon, Oct. 19, to grieve the loss of Ole Miss junior Walk er Fielder. Fielder was the victim of a fatal vehicular hit and run early Sunday morning, Oct. 16, at City Hall in downtown Oxford.

Blanche Williamson, a UM sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., was also struck by the vehicle. She was transported to Memphis and remains hospitalized there.

Two individuals have been arrested in connec tion with Sunday’s incident.

Seth Rokitka, 24, of Collier ville, Tenn., has been charged with one count of manslaughter, one count of aggravated DUI, one count of duties of driver involved in accident resulting in death and one count of duties of driver involved in accident resulting in personal injury. Rokitka appeared before a Justice Court judge, and his bond is set at $1 million.

Rokitka was arrested and taken into custody Monday morning. His truck, which has been identified by Oxford police

as the vehicle that struck the victims, was found wrecked in Marshall County, Miss.

Tristan Holland, 18, also of Collierville, Tenn., was arrest ed Sunday evening and remains in the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Jail and awaits charges.

Since the event, there have been rumors circulating on social media that the hit and run was a premeditated attack. Howev er, OPD confirmed that Holland and Rokitka did not have any previous interaction with Fielder or Williamson, and the suspects and students were at separate establishments Saturday night before the incident. The de partment said that Rokitka and Holland failed to render aid to the injured students or call 911.

Oxford police responded to a call at approximately 1:14 a.m. Sunday from passers-by who indicated that two people were injured in the parking lot behind City Hall. The victims were immediately taken to Bap tist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi, where Fielder died.

Neither of the men arrested for their involvement in the fatal hit and run are affiliated with the university, according to an email about the incident sent Mon

ter people because of the im pact Walker had in our lives.”

day to the university communi ty by Chancellor Glenn Boyce.

“While there are no words that can alleviate the deep sor row that his friends and family are experiencing, please keep them close in your thoughts and prayers during this time of immense grief,” Boyce said.

In a Monday morning press release, the Oxford Police Depart ment expressed gratitude to the Oxford public for helping bring Holland and Rokitka into custody.

“We can’t express enough thanks and gratitude to the com munity, business owners and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners for their assistance,” the department said.

Mayor Robyn Tannehilll post ed a heartfelt address on Facebook Sunday evening urging Oxford cit izens to pray for Fiedler’s family and the female victim’s recovery.

“Oxford is a community that comforts those that need com forting,” Tannehill said. “Perhaps from practice and from times of trials that we wish we could pray away, but nevertheless, Oxford always steps up when things are hard and when peo ple need us. These two families need us. They need our prayers.”

who never met a stranger.

“Although I have had differ ent relationships with Walker throughout the past few years, he was ultimately and most importantly one of the very best friends I, and many oth ers, have ever had,” Yoste said.

Yoste said Fielder had a love for others that was felt by everyone he knew.

“Walker Fielder was real. He never tried to be someone that he wasn’t. Always loyal and kind and never met a stranger. He was a man of good charac ter and truly loved everyone,” Yoste said. “We are all bet

Lizzy Childress, an Ole Miss student, was one of Fielder’s long-time friends. Childress considered Fielder to be “her person” and said she is grateful for his friendship.

“I truly don’t remember a time when he wasn’t a part of my life. We both grew up in the Sheffield area (of Jack son). Our original crew con sisted of Sydney Guy, Ashlie Henderson, Sara Evelyn Mc Clintock, Will Thomas, Cyrus Manning and Walker. We were nicknamed the ‘Shef field crew’,” Childress said.

Childress, like Yoste, lovingly referred to Field er as “goofy” and someone

“Walker was simply the best. He was goofy, kind and made any serious situation light-hearted. He was the kind of guy who never met a stranger. He loved his people hard and never left a conver sation without telling me he loved me. I was so lucky to be loved by him,” Childress said.

Childress hopes peo ple remember Walker’s smile and positive outlook.

“That boy always had the biggest smile on his face. I think everyone should try to be more like him in the way he never took a day for granted and tru ly lived life to the fullest. I can’t wait to get a big Fielder hug again one day,” Childress said.

Sydney Guy and Zipporah Hawkins, Ole Miss students, were also among Fielder’s closest friends. Responding together to the Daily Mis sissippian, Guy and Haw kins said they had walked through every stage of life with him. They remember him as genuine and selfless.

“Walker was the most gen uine person we knew. He was by far the most selfless per son and would drop anything he was doing to be there for someone else. His energy and smile were contagious. He never failed to be the light in all of our lives. We love and miss him so much, and there will never be a day that goes by that we won’t think about

him,” Guy and Hawkins said. Black ribbons gently sway in the cold breeze on the col umns of the Sigma Chi Fra ternity house and other fra ternity and sorority houses.

The loss of Fielder radiates throughout the campus. Out of this tragedy, his friends believe comes a reminder to live everyday like Fielder did.

“Walker lived every sin gle day like it was his last. He made everyone around him feel so loved and happy,” Guy and Hawkins said. “If we learn anything from this tragedy, we have to live like Walker did. He was just truly the most beautiful soul, and we were so blessed to be loved by him.”

One of the persons of interest is shown in security footage stills driving a double-cab pick up truck.

PHOTO COURTESY: OXFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT

UNCOMMON continued from

Savannah Wehman, a UM stu dent and UNCOMMON tenant, said the letter outlining the moveout was completely unexpected.

“At the end of September, we got notice that UNCOMMON was bought out by 514 Jackson and when asking the office if this would have any effect on the tenants, they told us no. There would just be some revamping and rebrand ing of the building, but the biggest change would be the name,” Weh man said. “About a week later, we came home to a note taped on our door and an email in our inbox. …

My roommates and I now realized that the banging and construction that you could hear throughout the building was not repairs but the beginning of the renovations.”

Elizabeth Wehman, mother of Savannah Wehman and the guar antor on her lease, did not receive an alert about the changes. When she found out about the buy-out and renovation process from her daughter, she was shocked.

“There are just so many fac ets to this that are inconvenient, expensive, unwarranted and I don’t understand why,” Eliz abeth Wehman said. “It just makes me mad that it’s trickled down so that the people that live there are the ones having to foot the issues that come with it.”

The following is an ex cerpt from the letter tenants received outlining the change and subsequent options:

OPTION 1: Terminate Your Lease Early & Receive $1,250!

(Limited Number Available)

You can terminate your lease early and move out any time between now and Decem ber 31, 2022, and we will pro rate your rent as of your move out day and waive all future remaining lease obligations.

For example, if you move out on December 15th, you will only owe rent and utilities through this day. All future rent and fur ther obligations are waived.

All we need you to do is take all your personal belong ings, throw out your trash, and turn in your keys to the office.

If you choose this op tion and move out on or be fore December 31, 2022, you will receive a $1,250 gift card.

We only have a limited num ber of early terminations avail able, so please consider this op tion and let us know via the link in this letter as soon as possible.

THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN EDITORIAL staff

RABRIA MOORE editor-in-chief dmeditor@gmail.com

VIOLET JIRA managing editor dmmanaging@gmail.com

ZACH SPOONER copy chief thedmcopy@gmail.com

HAL FOX MARY BOYTE news editors thedmnews@gmail.com

AIDAN GALLARDO sports editor thedmsports@gmail.com

OPTION 2: Choose Not to Move Out Early & Stay Through Your Current Lease End Date

Stay through your lease end date of July 31, 2023, and continue paying all your rental installments with no adjustment to your lease.

As previously mentioned, the renovation plan will most likely have you relocate to another unit mid-semester at least once, and possibly twice prior to the expi ration of your lease. This may in clude a different unit type and/ or floor, and could potentially include roommate changes due to the limited relocation options.

Stephen Denton, vice presi dent of Capstone Real Estate In vestments, believes that the deci sion to transform the apartment building into the condominium building — 514 Jackson — will pro vide the town a much needed asset with their 68 new condo units.

“Oxford is a special town, and a residence within walking dis tance to the Square and campus is one of the most unique and exclusive property ownership op portunities in any SEC market,” Denton said. “Our desire is that 514 Jackson will reflect the energy and buzz at Ole Miss and around Oxford and provide owners an op portunity to participate in the best Oxford has to offer in a central, secure and walkable location.”

The new building owners want ed to start the renovation process immediately, but developing such a lucrative property in a building currently occupied by tenants cre ated a problem. To best handle the situation at hand, management chose to provide tenants with the two options mentioned above.

“Regardless of which op tion tenants choose, we are ful ly committed to upholding our contractual obligations per ev ery tenant’s lease,” Denton said.

Elizabeth Wehman says the issue is one of those fine print details that you know might be a possibility, but never expect it to happen. Once the announcement came, they felt pressured to make a decision no one should have to make in the middle of a semes ter, and the development compa ny hasn’t been providing much help in such a stressful situation.

“You just feel like you move and you’re set for the next school year — check and done,” Eliz abeth Wehman said. “I don’t feel as though the residents were treated as customers, which essentially they are.”

While prominent members of the Oxford community such as Mayor Robyn Tannehill and UM

Chancellor Glenn Boyce have ex pressed their sympathies to resi dents in this situation, Elizabeth Wehman said the feedback from the new property management company has been nonexistent.

Her daughter, Savan nah, is feeling stressed in the wake of that silence.

“It is mid-October, midterms and finals are coming out, I have a job and so do some of my oth er roommates, and I simply do not have time to get up and move halfway through the semester, but I don’t have a choice,” Savannah Wehman said. “I no longer feel secure in my apartment knowing that they could choose to move me at their own convenience, and the money that is offered, but not guaranteed, does not cover the cost of moving, let alone the time and mental strain that it will take.”

Students who are now hav ing to scramble to find other ac commodations or prepare to be bounced around to different apart ments for the remainder of the school year say this couldn’t have come at a more disruptive time.

“This has been such a stressful time for myself, my roommates and everyone I have talked to that lives at UNCOMMON,” Madelyn Waguespack, a senior electrical engineering major from New Or leans, said. “My friend is even con sidering moving all of her classes online for next semester and just moving home. It is sad that some people are even considering this, especially during her senior year.”

Even those residents who would like to leave may not be permitted to due to the limit ed amount of move-out offers available. Residents who want to move out but weren’t offered the option have been put on a waiting list, where they hope to

eventually vacate the premises under the offer terms provid ing the $1,250 in compensation.

“I did find a place that I could get a lease at, but after only five days of knowing that we needed to leave, all of the move-out spots were filled up, so unless I’m able to get off of a move-out waitlist they created, I’m stuck here,” Chemistry Ph.D. candidate Athe na Flint said. “It’s caused a lot of unneeded stress. We’re all busy graduate students, and to be told that we have to either a) drop ev erything and move across town or b) drop everything multiple times in the spring to move ev erything we own across an apart ment building is very concerning.”

Many of the apartment com plexes geared toward housing students are either already at full capacity or don’t offer sixmonth leasing, leaving students to look at other city housing options that could potentially be more expensive compared to affordable student housing.

“We put our whole lives on hold from Wednesday-Friday, searching every apartment com plex and housing website until we found a new one,” Waguespack said. “We toured it on Friday and immediately contacted the land lord to rent it because we knew we needed to act quickly. The rent is the same, but the utili ties will be more expensive, and we will have to buy furniture.”

For the unlucky ones who weren’t able to secure a place to stay on time, they must now not only deal with being shuffled around the building, but also the chance of being separated from their current roommates and living with people they have never met.

“We’ll likely get roomed with people we don’t know during the

construction, which makes me feel unsafe and anxious on behalf of my rather skittish cats,” Flint said. “I’ve chatted with a few (UN COMMON tenants) in person and over text. They’ve shared concerns about being able to get to campus. Many have brought up concerns about safety, citing safety issues they’ve experienced at other com plexes and how UNCOMMON had felt particularly secure to them.”

One of the many reasons stu dents chose to live at UNCOM MON was its close proximity to campus. This allowed students without a car to not worry about transportation, and others to opt out of purchasing a parking pass and walk to campus in stead. If students with cars are forced to move far away from campus, they will now have to buy a parking pass as well.

“Everyone I have talked to has been angry about this and feels like we were not even thought about in the decision,” Waguespack said. “If they had any care for the students that live here, they would have waited until the summer or next fall to do these renovations. It’s truly just shocking, confusing and upsetting to all of the residents.”

Converting student housing into condominiums is not a phe nomenon just limited to Oxford — college towns across the country have been experiencing this trend since the early 2000s. Despite the benefit the new condos may pro vide for interested buyers, it leaves student residents in trouble.

Elizabeth Wehman says that if this is the trend, a better approach should be used in the future.

“There is more to being a business and a member of the community than the bot tom line,” Wehman said.

JANE ROB PANNELL assistant sports editor thedmsports@gmail.com

HG BIGGS photo editor thedmphotos@gmail.com

ASHTON SUMMERS assistant photo editor thedmphotos@gmail.com

JUSTICE ROSE opinion editor thedmopinion@gmail.com

KHARLEY REDMON arts and culture editor thedmfeatures@gmail.com

WILL JONES assistant arts and culture editor thedmfeatures@gmail.com

ERIN FOLEY

LIBBY FLANAGAN design editors thedmdesign@gmail.com

SAVANNAH SHOOK visuals editor thedmvisuals@gmail.com

CAROLINE BEACH social media editor thedmsocialmedia@gmail.com

BRITTANY KOHNE multimedia editor dailymissmedia@gmail.com

S. Gale denley student media center

LARZ ROBERTS

Director of Student Media

DENNIS MOORE Editorial Director

ROY FROSTENSON Assistant Director/Advertising

JAYLIN JONES Advertising Sales Manager dmads@olemiss.edu

SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Owen Pustell

When it is decided that The Daily Mississippian will take an editorial stance on an issue, the following positions will make decisions as the Editorial Board: editor-inchief, managing editor, copy chief, sports editor and opinion editor.

FOLLOW US

THE DM INSTAGRAM @thedailymississippian THE DM TOONS

THE DM NEWS TWITTER @thedm_news

THE DM FACEBOOK @thedailymississippian INSTAGRAM @theDM.toons

Residents of 514 East Jackson Ave. received letters on Oct. 12 stating that their building was being immediately converted into condominiums.

HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Barksdale family honored at 25th anniversary honors convocation

AKILAH FRYE thedmnews@gmail.com

The Sally McDonnell Barks dale Honors College cele brated 25 years of the Barks dale family’s generosity at this year’s Fall Convocation on Oct. 13 in the Ford Center.

The event included words from Dean Ethel Young Scur lock; Associated Student Body President Lila Osman; Edrei Peña and Deshauna Lee Vaughn, co-presidents of the Honors College Minority Engagement Council; Andy Flores, president of the First Generation Stu dent Network, and Sepp Cecil, director of the Honors Senate.

The honored speakers for the night were three college alum ni: Markeeva Morgan, Patrick Woodyard and Sarah Barch-Gill.

Scurlock, dean of the hon ors college and associate pro fessor of English and African American Studies, welcomed the audience to convocation.

“My goal is to lead the charge in showing our deep gratitude for all of those who’ve shared their time, talent and treasure with our honors college. The success that we’ve experienced is not because of one person, one vision or one idea,” she said. “We are celebrat ing this milestone because of the hard work and diligent efforts

of many people like our fac ulty director Elizabeth Payne, our first dean, Douglass Sulli van-González, our world-class faculty members, our dedicated staff members and of course our remarkable students. We are for tunate to have a supportive senior leadership team at our universi ty, led by Chancellor Glenn Boyce and Provost Noel E. Wilkin.”

Scurlock specifically thanked Jim Barksdale for his family’s contributions, as the college was founded through an en dowment from Jim and Sally Barksdale, both UM alumni.

“Mr. Barksdale would nev er boast about how much he’s given to any organization, but tonight I want to take a moment and boast about what he’s given to our honors college. Since our inception in 1997, the Barksdale family has given over $36 million to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. These funds have helped us pay for schol arships, small honors courses, student research, travel and so much more,” Scurlock said.

Osman, an honors student, expressed her appreciation.

“As a member of the Sal ly McDonnell Honors College, the honors college building has seen me at my best and my worst. Regardless of what type of mood I’m in or what I’m study ing for, I’ve always viewed the honors college as a safe hav

en of some sort,” Osman said.

Osman described the overall experience of a honors college student.

“We’re there for each oth er at our best and at our worst, which is what defines us as an institution,” she said.

Peña and Lee Vaughn intro duced Markeeva Morgan, hon ors college alumnus and Boeing Company senior program di rector for executive transpor tation services and support.

“Twenty-five years ago, I was a bright-eyed freshman from ru ral Tate County, Mississippi, hon estly questioning whether I had made the right decision coming to the University of Mississippi, but my first-semester experience removed all doubt,” Morgan said.

Morgan spoke about what experiences opened his eyes to the individuality of the hon ors college and the university.

“While the experience here might not be unique, it certain ly is not common. I discovered that this experience provides our students with humble con fidence that enables us to over come fear and press forward through whatever challenges lie before us,” Morgan said.

Morgan listed many expe riences in his career that he feels were influenced by his experiences at the university.

“This helped me prepare for a fiery beginning of my career, fier

ier than I could have ever antici pated. In my mid-20s, it helped me lead a development program that changed the way the Navy designed systems,” Morgan said.

Morgan closed his speech with a statement on the impor tance of an honors community.

“Establishing preeminent honors education here has been more than transformative. It is revolutionary, producing a growing stream of citizen schol ars who are challenging their parts of the world,” Morgan said.

Flores introduced Sarah Barch-Gill, honors college alum na, poet and M.F.A. candidate at the University of Arkansas.

Before reading her poem, Barch-Gill expressed her gratitude to the audience.

“I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am to the Barksdales, to the honors college and all of you. I always wanted to be a writ er when I was a kid, but I had completely given up on that idea when I got to college. The honors college and all of my incredible mentors not only encouraged me and taught me to do what I want ed to do, but they also gave me space to grow not just as a writer but as a person,” Barch-Gill said.

Sarah performed a poem called “Ode to Ourselves,” which talks about the experience of be ing a student at the honors college.

Cecil introduced Patrick Woodyard, honors college alum

nus and Nisolo Founder and CEO.

“There are three messages that I want you to walk away with when you leave here. First, living our lives with a purpose beyond our self-interests is not only what matters most, but it’s also what makes us happiest in life,” Wood yard said. “Secondly, bringing you with the purpose behind Nis olo I want you to walk away with a better understanding of how broken the fashion industry is today, what it has to do with ev ery single one of us, and of course what each of us can do to change it. Finally, I want you to be en couraged to lean into your edu cation in the honors college and realize that what you’re learning is going to initiate your future in ways you cannot imagine today.”

Woodyard spoke about the faults in the fashion industry and how we can work with brands like Nisolo to create a better cli mate and environment for those who work in the manufacturing industry in different countries.

Scurlock closed the event with another moment of grat itude to all faculty and staff within the honors college and the Barksdale family. This year’s convocation was a momentous occasion to recognize the schol ars, entrepreneurs and creatives that the Sally McDonnell Barks dale Honors College creates at the University of Mississippi.

Lott and Barbour address divided nation

JORDAN ISBELL thedmnews@gmail.com

Former Sen. Trent Lott and former Gov. Haley Barbour spec ulated on the future and progres sion of the United States during a conversation on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Overby Center, mod erated by William R. Gottshall.

The two Ole Miss alumni, along with Scott Kilpatrick, executive di rector of the UM Center for Man ufacturing Excellence, discussed conflicting issues occurring in the United States, such as the divid ed political nature of the country.

Barbour commented on the ac cessibility of information and how it can negatively alter citizens’ percep tions based on false news coverage.

“Today, we have extreme polar ity. There is no middle,” Barbour said. “Everybody in this country

virtually has access to all sorts of information that you have no idea whether it’s accurate or not.

Rarely a week goes by that one of my friends sends me some article that’s no more true than the man on the moon. If people in the busi ness community are getting this stuff and believe it, then how much is that for several other people?”

To combat the increasing di vision, the panelists agreed that leadership and communication are vital to progression. They also said that there need to be more oppor tunities and examples of people being willing to engage with oth ers. Lott described this belief by sharing a plea he has consistent ly proposed to President Biden.

“One of the things I have urged President Biden to do is take the bipartisan leadership and get them to spend a weekend together to talk

about things and listen to each oth er,” Lott said. “And when you come out, you have an agenda that you’ve talked about and thought about.”

Lott also described his connec tions with other senators and peo ple in leadership positions. Despite sharing different political views, they have managed to maintain a friendly relationship, and Lott believes prioritizing the benefits of the United States regardless of one’s political stance is the key to developing a unified country.

“You got to get up and put yourself in the mirror every day and say, ‘What can I do today that will be the right thing for our coun try,’” Lott said. “I hope in 2024 (the president) has a message and will prove to be real leaders that will be unified. A president shouldn’t be a Democrat or a Republican. The president should be an American.”

Transitioning to Mississippi, Lott and Barbour are firm advo cates of the state’s people. Barbour described the determination and compassion of the volunteers who helped rebuild Mississippi after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster.

“My mother used to say, ‘Cri sis brings out the best in people,’” Barbour said. “We saw people whose homes were blown away, and they were worried about the little lady across the street. It was unbelievable the way peo

ple helped. And the most com mon thing they said was, ‘You got to be proud of your people.’” Lott believes residents of Mississippians’ social skills al low them to match up with anyone from any other state.

“Mississippians can compete with people and students from any where,” Lott said. “We engage, look at each other and do things like talk to people on the elevator. (People outside of Mississippi) don’t have that interpersonal skill like we do.”

PROUD PARTNER with OLE MISS DINING

Former Sen. Trent Lott (fourth from left)and former Gov. Haley Barbour (fifth from left) visited the Overby Center on Oct. 13.

JORDAN ISBELL / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Columns Society: a high honor with low recognition

CLAY HALE thedmfeatures@gmail.com

“I know that it’s a group of 15 men and 15 women who serve the university in some capacity, but I don’t know how they serve ex actly,” said Josh Barber, a junior at the University of Mississippi.

Many students on the Ole Miss campus are likely in the same boat as Barber. Even though the Columns Society is often dubbed one of the biggest honors on the UM campus, it seems strange that so many students are obliv ious to why the group exists.

In an interview with The Daily Mississippian, Columns Society President Preston McWilliams answered some of the questions students may have about the organization.

McWilliams is a senior from Ridgeland, Miss., and a gener al engineering major on a premed track with a manufacturing minor. His journey in Columns started in his sophomore year.

McWilliams explained the organization by quot ing the Columns constitution.

“The purpose of the Columns Society is based off of our consti tutional purpose as an institution dedicated to serving the Universi ty of Mississippi as a body of offi cial hosts and hostesses,” he said.

McWilliams also noted that as the official hosts and host esses for the university, mem bers of the Columns Society

have a set of core principles that guide the work they do.

“Through a commitment to the principles of humble service, leadership and integrity, the men and women of the Columns So ciety constantly serve their con stituents in a hospitable capac ity with a respectful, composed and positive demeanor, so as to promote the university in all of its functions,” McWilliams said.

For McWilliams, the best representation of this comes from an individual with a serv ing heart for their community and campus, even when those events can take up an impres sive chunk of their free time.

“Over the years, I have found that it really harps on the service aspect of our constitution. There’s a lot of events that Column So ciety members work that are not particularly glamorous and that can be a time commitment,” McWilliams said. “I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people who have never had any experience with the University of Mississippi or even the state of Mississippi. While you are dedicating some of your free time to the university, I think it’s really important be cause of the huge impact that you can have on the representation of our state and our university.”

Junior civil engineering ma jor and first-year Columns mem ber Ben Jackson shared some of the meaningful experiences from his time in the society thus far.

“The first big event I was able

to work with the Columns Society was when Dolly Parton was read ing to kids in the Ford Center for an event called Storytime with Dolly,” Jackson said. “We greeted guests and helped them find their seats. We passed out programs and then when they were on their way out, we handed out books to them.”

Jackson went on to discuss how he has had the opportunity to help with historically monu mental events, such as the 60th anniversary of UM’s integration.

“We worked a ton on events dealing with James Meredith and

his family. I was backstage helping the Meredith family and other big speakers for that event (The Mis sion Continues: Building Upon the Legacy at the Ford Center). This included helping them get from the green room into their positions to go on stage and get ting them situated when they were sitting on stage,” Jackson said.

McWilliams shared some words of advice to those interested in applying to the Columns Society.

“I would tell anyone who’s applying to just be very honest in their application. Just be genuine,

and I think that your qualities will shine through,” McWilliams said.

“If you’re looking for a way to give back to Ole Miss and serve in a way that you can see the positive im pact you’re making, Columns is a great organization to join for that.”

Applications for the Col umns Society are officially open until Nov. 1 on the ForUM.

Rabria Moore, edi tor-in-chief of The Daily Mis sissippian, is a part of the Columns Society but was not involved in planning this article.

UM community prepares for midterm elections

KAYLYNN STEEN thedmnews@gmail.com

As the 2022 midterm elections approach, the Center for Commu nity Engagement is now allowing students to use their mailing ad dress for all mailing needs this election cycle, eliminating a barri er for students living on-campus.

“We’re happy to not only help you fill out that form, whether it’s an absentee ballot or a mail-in ballot, and we’ll actually take care of postage for you,” the Assistant Director for Student Leadership in the Center for Community Engagement William Teer said.

Before, on-campus students needed to use either PakMail or purchase a P.O. Box in La fayette County in order to have a mailing address to register to vote or request an absen tee ballot in Lafayette county.

“Let’s also think about the fact that not everybody can afford to pay for P.O. Box. Not everybody can afford to pay that expense,” Teer said.

Mississippi’s voter registration deadline was this past Monday, Oct. 10, and the Andrew Good man Foundation and the UM Vot ing Ambassadors, both advised by Teer, doubled the amount of students they were able to register this semester compared to 2021.

“We registered over 90 stu dents and got almost 300 people to pledge to vote in the upcoming

midterm elections,” Teer said.

The AGF President Caroline Leonard hopes the new registra tion translates to students show ing up to the polls. “We want to have information sessions about what’s going to be on the ballot and why it’s important to vote… One of the things we’re trying to do is make voting day either an asynchronous learning day or an official school holiday,” she said.

Because younger demo graphics of voters tend to vote at a lower rate, people simply label young people as not caring. This disregards the accessibility is sues that college students face.

“I feel like college campuses can show larger systemic bar riers to voting in a very specific way. You’re seeing the issues that arise when your address chang es frequently or just how uncer tain things can be depending on what you have access to and what you’re used to,” Leonard said.

According to the Campus Vote Project, deadlines are a major obstacle for young people trying to vote, and they depend on their college or university to stay in formed about voting information. The organization provides a stateby-state guide for voters with all the information students need to be prepared for election day.

Whether students choose to register to vote in their hometown or Lafayette County, both bring their own difficulties. Students

who choose to register in their hometown have to navigate the absentee ballot system or make the trip home on election day.

“If you’re going to need to request an absentee ballot by mail, you need to make those orders now. You need to con tact your local circuit county clerk now, so you can accommo date time for that ballot to come in, for you to fill it out, and for you to send it back,” Teer said.

Sophomore Azalea Smith is currently registered in her home town of Miami, Fla., and she is dealing with the difficulty of navigating the absentee process.

“I had to first ask my parents where all my voter registration stuff was, then I had to go online and submit that I wanted to do a mail-in vote. You really have to be on top of the dates because if you miss it, you can’t vote, which makes such a big impact,” she said.

Smith considered chang ing her registration to Lafayette County, but ultimately chose to stay registered in Florida.

“I feel like I don’t know enough yet to vote here, but I do know a lot about what’s going on at home,” she said.

Teer makes the case for why students should regis ter to vote in Lafayette County.

“This is your home for the next four years, right? You go to school here. You actually pay taxes here based on when you make pur

chases and when that money goes into things like supporting local businesses or parking meters, and there are actual elected offi cials that determine policies that affect you as a student,” he said.

Leonard voted in Lafay ette County in the 2022 presi dential election, one she calls a “landmark” election. She recalls her professor canceling class, which allowed her to be able to vote without missing class.

“It was surprising to me be cause I went with my roommate and we stood in line for about an hour and a half, which is crazy to me just to see the turnout from that.”

Some students who live closer to Oxford choose to stay registered in their hometown because it is more convenient.

“I regularly go home back to Clarksdale, so it’s not inconvenient at all,” senior Kaitleen Noah said.

Students also have many fac tors to think about when it comes to making their plan to vote.

“What about your class schedule? What about your work schedule? You may very well find yourself in a situation where it’s election day, and I’ve got a shift and two classes,” Teer said.

Beyond the logistics of vot ing, advocates on campus like AGF and the UM Voting Am bassadors, want students to be “educated” voters, as well.

“One (website) is called Bal lotpedia. You can type in your ad

dress where you’re registered to vote, and it will pull up whatever upcoming election is approach ing. It will pull up exactly what the ballot will look like,” Teer said.

Teer offers a piece of ad vice to guide students when researching candidates.

“Pay attention to what the can didates say, but also pay attention to what they don’t say. If a candi date is choosing not to speak about a certain issue, or they’re choosing to maybe acknowledge the issue but not to speak about it direct ly, that’s intentional,” he said.

Both Noah and Smith consult with their parents when researching candidates.

“I mostly talk with my mom to be honest. From there, I do my own research and see what each candidate is standing for, information on them and things about them,” Noah said.

Midterm elections often lack the same level of urgency that presidential elections bring, lead ing to lower voter turnout. Despite this, voting advocates hope stu dents still see the importance of voting in this upcoming election.

“My hope is that they recognize that midterm elections are just as important, in some cases more so, because most of the decisions that are made by our government that most directly affect our day-to-day lives are the result of location elec tions that are voted upon during the midterm elections,” Teer said.

The 30 current members of the Columns Society.

PHOTO COURTESY: PRESTON MCWILLIAMS

Arts

Culture

Thacker Mountain Radio Hour celebrates 25 years on air

MEGAN FAYARD thedmfeatures@gmail.com

Thacker Mountain Ra dio Hour, a weekly live radio show which features literary and musical guests, will host a 25th anniversary show at The Powerhouse at 6 p.m. today.

The celebration show will span 60 minutes, hosted by Jim Dees and the Thacker Moun tain Radio Hour house band, the Yalobushwhackers, accompanied by the Thacker Horns with guest vocalist Mary Francis Massey.

Other special guests include author Deesha Philyaw, as well as the Southern Komfort Brass Band and native Oxford musi cal duo And the Echo. In addi tion to those acts, there will also be a top-secret surprise guest who has yet to be announced.

The non-profit radio show first aired in October 1997. The first show was broadcast from the classic Off Square Books location and featured author John Bently Mays and musician Tony Furta do. Since then, Thacker Moun tain Radio Hour has become a staple in the Oxford community.

“Over the years it kind of grew and more and more folks came to love it. Now, 25 years later, we are syndicated in three different states,” Katelyn O’Brien, executive director of Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, said. “It’s really, really blos somed from this one great idea.”

The show now broadcasts approximately 30 shows each year, mostly taking place at The Powerhouse, The Lyric and the original location, Off Square

Books. Thacker Mountain Ra dio has also grown beyond the Mississippi borders, offer ing Alabama and Tennessee listeners a chance to tune in.

Thacker Mountain Radio has earned its fair share of rec ognition. In 2001, the show was picked up by Mississip pi Public Broadcasting, and in 2005, it received the Governor’s Award for Broadcast Excellence.

Since the beginning, Thacker Mountain Radio Hour’s mission has been to celebrate and docu ment the diverse sounds and stories of the American South by combin ing Southern literature and music.

It has always stayed true to its roots, sharing a love of music and literature and having a good time doing it according to O’Brien.

“It feels really wonderful to give authors and musicians, par ticularly [musicians] from the American South, a platform so we can share and celebrate their tal ents with a broader listening au dience,” O’Brien said. “I don’t re ally know if there’s another show that’s really doing this, which also feels pretty special to be a part of.”

Thacker Mountain Ra dio’s loyal Oxford audience has helped to maintain the longevi ty of the radio show and is con sidered “the core” of its success. Jim Dees, long-time host of the radio show, said that Thacker Mountain Radio is proud to have reached the 25-year milestone.

“We did the 10th, then the 15th (anniversary show), and you always sort of think it may not last that long, and you’re al ways grateful and surprised. So, it’s a testament to the au

dience here in Oxford that has kept the feeling going,” Dees said. “If you don’t have an au dience, you don’t have a show.”

Dees also said that each previous anniversary show has been memorable, and he hopes that this year’s celebra tion won’t be an exception.

Previous broadcasts include a 2017 show at the courthouse in Sumner, Miss., which featured Dorothy Moore, Alysia Burton Steele and the Tutwiler Com munity Center Student Blues Band. The program has also welcomed artists such as John Grisham, Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, Grammy/Oscar winner

Paul Williams and many more.

Jeffrey Reed, broadcast and post production engineer at Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, said that the show’s consistent di versity is what pulls in the crowd.

“I think it’s all about the vari ety of music that we offer. We do a little bit of everything. It’s a big factor, being just off the Square and a free show that people can come to and see pretty much anything,” Reed said. “You nev er know what’s going to happen. You get a little bit of everything.”

The Oct. 20 celebra tion is expected to be a “blow out,” according to Dees, with Jackson-based Southern

Big Clown rocks the Grove

CAROLINE MCCUTCHEN thedmfeatures@gmail.com

Through its annual event Sar ahfest, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies aims to build community by celebrating diversity and artistic expression. This year, Sarahfest partnered with the Southern Documentary Project, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and Yokna patawpha Arts Council to show case the creative works of Chris tina Alison Huff and Big Clown in a pop-up film screening and concert event on Sunday, Oct. 16.

“Big Clown” originated in 2021 in a project from an ad vanced filmmaking class as a part of Huff’s MFA program in documentary expression at the University of Mississippi. Huff’s work was motivated by the fact that Mississippi is a place that often resists artistic creativity.

“In Mississippi, a lot of people have to create their own art and create their own weirdness, and that might look like doing DIY shows in warehouse type spac es,” Huff said. “I’m also drawn to the weirder parts of Mississippi, such as a band who dresses up as clowns and sings about some very serious stuff in Mississippi.”

Big Clown, the Memphis based

garage-punk band and subject of Huff’s documentary, shared their inspiration for songwriting and performing in the documen tary and throughout the event.

Within Big Clown’s reper toire, the musical group seeks to utilize punk rock as a means of political expression. Lucy Isa dora, the vocalist of Big Clown, expressed her frustration at the negligence and insensitivity of Mississippi government officials.

“Living in Jackson has been such a radicalizing experience because you see just what hap pens when the state government just completely does everything they can to starve a city, and something that is a big issue in Jackson is the infrastructure,” Isadora said in “Big Clown.”

The group’s first album, “Gains Weight,” began as an experimen tal session that resulted in the cre ation of an album over the course of one weekend. Going forward from that project, the group has shifted to developing long-term projects, but their extempora neous nature has remained a consistent quality of their music.

“Creating art is like this way of expressing yourself, and it be comes doubly important when you’re told not to express your self, both on a personal and a

metatextual level,” Mitchell said.

Big Clown adds excitement and entertainment to each of their per formances by approaching their art with a sense of passion and sponta neity. Many of their pieces include razor-sharp lyrics that dive into relevant topics ranging from men tal health to sociopolitical issues.

“It makes perfect sense that there’s a small but strong punk scene in Mississippi because of course there are like weird freaks making weird freak music in a place where peo ple think there’s nothing going on,” Isadora said in Big Clown.

The essence of Big Clown lies in their hard-edged melodies paired with an explosive sound, presenting ideas and emotions in a lyrically simplistic way that resonates with a range of audi ences. The artists’ zealous stage demeanor and stripped-down instrumentation plays a role in establishing the group’s engag ing personality. Often, inspira tion for songs arises from the group’s experiences in their mu sical careers and personal lives.

“Frogman is about a guy we met on our short tour who invented a dance that injured himself called the frog man,” drummer Zach Mitchell said.

Isadora stood at the forefront

of the band at the Grove perfor mance, wearing a face of bright clown makeup and a tiara. Each song Big Clown played only lasted around 90 seconds, but each track flooded the Grove with its erup tive energy and vibrant sound.

During the band’s live per formance of “Frogman,” Isa dora began hopping around and invited the audience to join

Need Help Getting

Security

Benefits?

Komfort Brass Band’s energetic performers setting the tone for the 25-year-anniversary show.

On the literary side, attendees can expect to hear from Deesha Philya, whose debut short sto ry collection, “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” was a final ist for the 2020 National Book Award and won The Story Prize.

For a local presence, synth-pop duo And the Echo will round out the show.

“There’s so much talent in this part of the country. You put that combination together, great audience and great talent,” Dees said. “We’ve just kept going. It’s been fun, or we wouldn’t do it.”

her. In the group’s final song, the vocalist concluded the set by climbing into a garbage can.

“The art that I love that comes out of Mississippi is not made by big name artists or anything like that. It’s people that I per sonally know or people that live otherwise very regular lives. I’m not interested in the allstars of the world,” Isadora said.

Can

R & B singer Effie Burt captured the audience with a variety of blues and jazz tunes during the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour in the Grove on June 27.

FILE PHOTO: HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Penny Bar,” Bradley says. “Give yourselves a round of applause!”

After cheers from the crowd, Bradley begins cracking his own jokes and soon after playing his role as host for the night, welcom ing other comedians to the stage.

Open Mic Nights at Moe’s Penny Bar are just a small part of the stand-up come dy scene in Oxford, a scene that in recent years has done nothing but pick up steam.

Much of the growth in Ox ford’s comedy scene is due to the work of Connor King.

King, a Jackson native, came to Oxford to study for his undergraduate degree at UM.

Although he had always been interested in improvisa tion, sketch comedy and com edy in general, King said he didn’t see many opportunities in Oxford until his senior year.

“I learned about an open mic night that happened over at the Blind Pig,” King said. “I went to go check it out, like a typical person finding stand-up comedy, and after watching it a couple of times, mustered up the courage to get on stage. I did okay enough that I thought it’d be fun to keep trying it.”

After his first open mic night in 2013, King contin ued to immerse himself in the comedy scene, doing more stand-up and joining the local improvisation group Laff Co.

Although comedy has re mained a side gig in his life, King works full-time as a systems ana lyst for a tech company. In 2016, he started the Oxford Comedy Instagram (@oxfordmscomedy), which has grown to become the go-to account for all informa tion about comedy in Oxford.

“Oxford Comedy is ba sically a social media vehi cle that I use to get the word out about shows,” King said.

The shows promoted on Ox ford Comedy include open mic nights and more organized shows booked by others and King him self. King first dipped into the business of booking shows when he traveled to Memphis with Laff Co. in his earlier comedy days.

“I work with comics that I really trust, and I have a sort of network of comedians that I work with generally in the south east,” King said. “Also, many people actually reach out to me about finding these shows.”

King said that Oxford is a spot where many comedians on tour hitting bigger cities such as Atlanta, Nashville and Memphis can stop in between.

“If you’re touring and gas ain’t cheap, you probably want to fill in a couple more cool spots,” King said. “So I have people that would just message me about doing shows. It’s sort of a self-sustaining ecosystem of different comedian networks.”

One of the recent shows that King booked was on Sept. 19 at Proud Larry’s. The show featured Delisia Nicho las from Pensacola, Fla., and Jawa Horn from Memphis.

Although Horn has a longtime connection with King, Nich olas was a newer comic on King’s scene who drove all the way from Pensacola for the Oxford show.

Nicholas, who was inspired to try comedy after seeing the show “Comedians in Cars Get ting Coffee,” had no expec tations for the Oxford show but was enthusiastic to get up on the stage and perform.

And that she did. Togeth er Horn and Nicholas kept the crowd engaged and laughing. Horn’s pop culture referenc es to “Star Wars” and “Eu phoria” and jokes about life as a dad kept the audience on their toes and laughing.

Nicholas offered up fresh content, jokes that wom en in the crowd could con nect to and a unique delivery.

The show at Proud Larry’s ended with the host, Tuck er Lawson, inviting audience members to try their hands at stand-up in an open mic.

The combination open mic and booked show style is some thing that is becoming a regular for comedy shows in Oxford.

King has made an effort to in corporate that style into the Open Mic Nights at Moe’s Penny Bar, with a secret open mic at the end of the month. On those nights, a booked comedian comes in to perform for the crowd in addi tion to those for the open mic.

The idea for secret open mics was inspired by the Secret Com edy Club in Oxford, which start ed in 2019 but was shut down by the pandemic along with most other comedy events in Oxford.

“I’m not expecting nor do I hope that people that want to see good comedy subject them selves to open mic comedy ev ery single Wednesday night, although we would love to have them there,” King said. “But we want to incentivize people to come, so we do a secret open mic at the end of the month. Basi cally, I just bring in a comedian that I’ve worked with before.”

Bradley was the first guest co median and expressed enthusi asm about the secret open mics.

“The first one was me, and the second one was Jeffrey Eggleston,” Bradley said. “Ox ford has a great little base to show so many different comedians.”

Although organizing shows, booking venues and connecting with comedians are all important parts of comedy in Oxford, the love for comedy and enthusiasm of everyone involved really are what has kept the scene growing.

Lawson, originally from Greenville, S.C., and now a law student at the Univer sity of Mississippi, chose to

come to school in Oxford partly for its comedy scene.

“It’s cool to come here and get to exercise a bunch of the chops that I’ve been pick ing up,” Lawson said. “Being around friends both in come dy and out of comedy, and just having that natural feel, I think it loosens me up and makes me think in different ways.”

Bradley, originally from Washington D.C., start ed standup in Oxford three years ago and has been able to watch the scene grow.

“I started about three years ago, and I’ll tell you it might have been like five, six or seven comedians. Now we’re steadily having 15ish,” Bradley said. “Ev eryone could only do like three minutes. I can see that (the open mic is) growing, but the Oxford comedy scene is also growing.”

The audience support for comedy in Oxford is grow ing as well. Patrick Hudgins and Julia Peters, who attend ed the open mic on Oct. 5, expressed this support and said that they would return to open mic nights in the future.

“Each performer is different. You kind of don’t know what you’re going to get,” Hudgins said. “We had a great time.”

On the subject of growth, King noted that not only is standup growing, but all types of comedy in Oxford are grow ing. King is a part of an im provisation comedy group that recently started up and meets monthly at The Growler.

“I’m very excited about watching them grow and get ting to witness cool new per formers and comedy in a way that we haven’t seen in Ox ford for too long,” King said.

To keep growth going, King, Lawson and Bradley encouraged people to try their hand at comedy.

“The cool thing about open mics is that you have every sin gle level of comedy there,” Law son said. “You have someone like me who’s been doing it for seven years, you have guys and girls, people that are coming off the street, and it’s the first three min utes of comedy that they’re ever doing. It’s really, really cool.” King ended with a piece of advice.

“I know it’s scary to think about what could happen when it goes bad. I would say to come to watch and just ob serve. You’re going to see good comedy, and you’re go ing to be excited about that.”

Sports

College football pick ’em: Week 8

No. 7 Ole Miss at LSU: Lars Andersen

Final Score Prediction: Ole Miss 31, LSU 21

LSU will remain competitive in this game, and maybe even dominant, for one reason and one reason only: Death Valley. For a team that has gone 5-2 so far this season, and is currently ranked third in the SEC West, only behind Alabama and Ole Miss. LSU may prove many ded icated Rebel fans wrong, as a squad that can legitimately spoil a lot of seasons moving forward.

Ole Miss looks to maintain its unbeaten record in Baton Rouge this weekend, and despite the challenge that an unranked LSU team offers, it can’t be overstated that the Rebels boast the top-rat ed wide receiver in the nation per PFF, two top-five running backs in the SEC and a capable signal caller in Jaxson Dart. The biggest weaknesses that the red and blue will suffer from is pre dictable play calling and a lack of consistency. In last week’s game against Auburn, the Rebels ran the ball 66 times, compared to only nine completed passes and two targets to Jonathan Min go, the best wide receiver in the nation by ranking. If Ole Miss can keep things interesting, and resist the urge to revert to ground-and-pound tactics alone when things get tough through the air, there’s no reason to believe the Rebels won’t con tinue on to 8-0 and hold their spot as a top team in the West.

No. 17 Kansas State at No. 8 TCU: Aidan Gallardo

Final Score Prediction: TCU 28, Kansas State 24

What a year it has been for first-year head coach Son ny Dykes and his TCU Horned Frogs. After a come-from-behind victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys last week at home, the Frogs are rolling and look like the best team in the Big 12. Led by arguably the best receiver in college football, Quentin John ston, their offense can give any defense trouble. Nobody saw TCU’s 6-0 start coming and their No. 8 ranking in the AP poll has their eyes set on more than just a qualification for a bowl game.

Let’s turn our heads to an other surprise team in the Big 12. The Kansas State Wildcats have looked great this season and former Nebraska transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez has looked solid running the Wildcats’ offense. Sure, Kansas State can put up some points. But their defense is what really has carried them to a 5-1 start. The Wildcats’ defense allows just 16.7 points per game, which is good for second in the Big 12.

I expect this game to be a close, gritty game. Even though Kansas State has a great de fense, I think that TCU’s explo siveness on offense will be too much for the Wildcats to handle.

No. 14 Syracuse at No. 5 Clemson: Caleb Harris

Final Score Prediction: Clemson 35, Syracuse 31

This showdown of the un beatens will provide a clear path for the winner of the ACC Atlantic division and a chance to play for the ACC champion ship. Syracuse football is back, as the Orange are sitting at 6-0 and are ranked in the Top 15 for the first time since 2018. Syr acuse is coming off of a home statement win against previous ly ranked No. 15 NC State 24-9.

The Orange are 50th in total offense, but their bread and but ter is played on the defensive side of the ball. They have held their last three opponents to just 29 points and have the No. 8 defense.

Clemson is no stranger to big games or close ones. The Tigers escaped with a win over Flor ida State 34-28 last Saturday. Clemson will not take this game lightly. Syracuse upset Clem son back in 2017 when the Ti gers were the No. 2 team in the country and look to do so again.

It will be a slugfest, but I expect Clemson to improve to 8-0 following this game.

No. 24 Mississippi State at No. 6 Alabama: Ian Sparks

Final Score Prediction: Alabama 42, Mississippi State 14

Both the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide are coming off tough losses to solid SEC East teams in Kentucky and Tennes see, respectively. Bama’s match up against the Vols was one of, if not the best game of this season to date, which saw Tennessee get its first win over the Crimson Tide in 15 years. What really hurt Alabama in that game was hor rid discipline, as they amassed 130 penalty yards on 17 offensive

drives, something head coach Nick Saban will be sure not to let happen again. In his first game back from injury, quarterback Bryce Young threw for a whop ping 455 yards and two touch downs against a stout Tennessee defense. Transfer running back Jahmyr Gibbs contributed with three touchdown carries and 103 yards, too, but the Tide couldn’t roll over the Volunteers on the “Third Saturday in October.” De spite having future-first rounder Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama’s secondary was exposed by Vols QB Hendon Hooker. It is worth mentioning that Hooker is like ly a Heisman finalist when the season comes to an end, but could the air raid offense of Mike Leach have the same success?

As for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs took their second loss of the season on the road at Ken tucky, and two fourth quarter touchdowns by Chris Rodriguez Jr. sealed the Dogs’ fate. MSU quarterback Will Rogers didn’t have a “Will Rogers” type of day, throwing for only 203 yards with a touchdown and a pick. While Rogers is a very good short- to medium-range passer, there have been questions about his ability to hit the deep ball, and

with the Bulldogs’ meager rush ing attack, there will be a need for him to find some of those chunk plays through the air.

For me, there’s no question in this. An angry Alabama team at home against an in-division rival rolls over the Bulldogs in a four-score victory. I find it hard to see the Bulldogs getting any closer than that unless Rogers can start to hit some of those deep passes, even with Bama’s secondary in not the best of form. However, if the Crimson Tide were to lose this one, the road back to first place in the SEC West goes through Oxford.

No. 9 UCLA at No. 10 Ore gon: Cameron Larkin

Final Score Prediction: Oregon 35, UCLA 27

Aside from Oregon’s Week 1 meltdown against Georgia, the Ducks have looked as good as any other Pac-12 team. UCLA, on the other hand, has two dominant wins over Utah and Washington.

As these two teams vie for the No. 1 spot in the Pac-12, this game could come down to the wire.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix looks increasingly comfort able in the Ducks offense as the weeks go on. In fact, Oregon has not scored under 40 points since the first game of the sea son. The Ducks have won an impressive 22 games in a row at home, and Autzen Stadium is infamously known as one of the hardest places to play.

In UCLA’s wins against Washington and Utah, quarter back Dorian Thompson-Rob inson had the Bruin offense looking unstoppable. The Bru ins have been a nice surprise in college football, as they started the season unranked with few Top-25 votes, and they have put everyone in the Pac-12 on notice.

UCLA has not played any where as hostile as Oregon, and Ducks fans understand the mag nitude of this game, so I expect the Ducks to come out firing on all cylinders behind a hyped up green and yellow crowd.

GRAPHIC COURTESY: LIBBY FLANAGAN / THE

Rebels awarded SEC weekly honors for the fifth week straight

AIDAN GALLARDO thedmsports@gmail.com

Another week, another pair of Rebels secure SEC weekly honors. It has now been five consecutive weeks in which an Ole Miss play er has won a weekly award.

True freshman run ning back Quinshon Jud kins was named SEC Fresh man of the Week after absolutely slashing the Au burn defense last Saturday.

It feels as if this has been a weekly occurrence for Judkins, who has now earned three SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

In Ole Miss’ 48-34 vic tory over the Tigers, Jud kins rushed for 139 yards on 25 carries and two touch downs. He also caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart, which was also Judkins’ first colle giate receiving touchdown.

Judkins currently ranks second in the SEC and 11th in college football in total rush

ing yards (720). Given that he’s just a freshman, Judkins’ ceiling is practically limitless.

Defensive end Jared Ivey was named the SEC Defen sive Lineman of the Week after serving as the anchor for the Rebels’ defensive line.

In his game against Au burn, Ivey had four total tack les, one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. The stat sheet might not jump out at you, but if you were watching the game, you could see that Ivey was con stantly giving Auburn’s of fensive line trouble. Ivey also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the game.

“I just was shocked,” Ivey said in Monday’s press con ference about his reaction to earning the SEC weekly honor. “And then I went to Twitter, saw and then just retweeted it. Saw Quinshon (Judkins) won offensive too, so I’m super proud of him.”

Ivey is the first Rebel to earn a defensive SEC week ly award this season, and he joins Judkins, Jonathan Mingo, Nick Broeker and Micah Pettus as the team’s

need more news?

weekly honorees this season. Ole Miss goes on the road to play LSU on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 2:30 p.m. CDT on CBS.

Ole Miss running back Quinson Judkins rushes for a first down during a game against Auburn on Oct. 15.

HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Women’s golf captures second team title of the season at The Ally

JANE ROB PANNELL thedmsports@gmail.com

The Ole Miss women’s golf team took home “The Ally” team title at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss.

Ole Miss sat at three-over and six strokes behind tour nament leader SMU follow

Andrea Lignell was a vi tal piece in this win, as well as throughout the season. She brought home her second med alist finish of the year with a 213 (-3) scorecard to come out on top after a back-andforth battle over three rounds.

Lignell’s consistency is the key factor to her success, shoot ing all three rounds under

(E) on the week as the tourna ment-leader in par-four scoring (-3). This marks Hume’s first top-5 finish since her individual win at the 2020 East Lake Cup.

Chiara Tamburlini had yet another strong showing at The Ally, finishing with a three-round scorecard of 220 (+4) which left her tied for tenth on the individual lead erboard. Tamburlini has been a solid player for the Rebels, with six straight top-10 fin ishes since last year’s Gator Invitational and 14 straight top-20 finishes dating back to her performance at the NCAA Championships in May 2021.

Natacha Host Husted pushed her way into the top20, finishing tied for 13th due to a strong final round of 70 (-2) and a scorecard of 221 (+5). The sophomore has shown this fall season, finishing in the top20 at all three tournaments.

Freshman Nicole Gal fol lowed suit and capped off her scorecard with a 73 (+1) during the final round to finish tied for 25th overall at 10-over par.

Elle Johnson and Ellen Hutchinson-Kay compet ed as individuals at The Ally, finishing tied for 27th and 57th overall, respectively.

CLASSIFIEDS INFORMATION

PART-TIME HELP WANTED

NOW HIRING DRIVERS

ing Monday’s rounds, with a first round score of 292 (+4) and a 278 (-1) in the second round. Despite strong winds and freezing temperatures, the Rebels logged an even round of 288 on Tuesday to pull ahead and find their second team ti tle of the fall season with a three-round total of 867 (+3).

The Rebels never let up through 56 holes, leading the field in total birdies (44), to tal pars (174) and par-four scoring (+15), ultimately be ing the only team to finish two of its three rounds under par.

par (71-71-71) in West Point and finishing eight of her nine rounds under par this season.

“I honestly don’t even think Dre (Lignell) knew she was in the running to win it,” said Ole Miss head coach Kory Henkes. “When she finished, I told her she had won and her reaction was just like, are you serious? It’s been pretty cool to be able to see her get two wins this se mester, and she’s just playing some fantastic golf right now.”

Ellen Hume was also a huge factor in the Rebels’ win, fin ishing tied for third with a 216

“It was a huge team effort to be able to come from be hind to win today,” Henkes said. “We started six shots back and ended up with a two-shot win, and that just shows the incredible fight this team has. It was really cold and windy out here today, but they all just brought good attitudes and played some great golf.”

The Rebels will make the trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to round out their successful 2022 fall season. The Battle at the Beach three-day tournament will be held at the Club Camp estre Golf Club on Oct. 28-30.

Puzzles by KrazyDad

HOW TO PLAY

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 with no repeats.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

EASY

CROSSWORD PUZZLE BROUGHT

BY DOMINO’S

Crossword puzzle provided

Andrea Lignell competes during the 2021 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.

PHOTO COURTESY: TODD DREXLER / SESPORTSMEDIA.COM

OPINION

The story outside of breast cancer

DAVID RAMSEY thedmopinion@gmail.com

Margaret Hurley grew up in Elkhart, Ind., surrounded by 10 brothers and sisters. After graduating high school, she married Ron Hurley and moved across the country as her husband finished a de ployment in the Air Force. Two sons and a daughter later, Margaret and her hus band settled in Marietta, Ga., where Ron served as an airline pilot and Marga ret, a stay-at-home mother.

When her husband’s job as an airline pilot went south, Margaret immediately got to work as a high school jan itor to support her family

and her daughter’s dreams of earning a college degree.

Margaret has become known for her hard work, outrageous sense of humor and her lively, lovable per sonality and stubbornness.

To me, Margaret Hur ley is Grandma Maggie.

My grandmother, like any grandmother, spoiled me as a child and never let me leave her house without a good laugh and a full stom ach. She served me ice cream for breakfast and taught me fun games. She helped build my character, teaching me how to show my intentions through action and work hard without the smallest com plaint slipping my tongue.

In 2017, my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer

and, after a long battle, entered remission. Last year, her can cer returned. This time stage 4.

Since her diagnosis in 2017, I’ve been introduced to the side of Breast Cancer Awareness Month that makes my heart ache not only ev ery October…but every day. Since October has started and the movement of breast cancer awareness has again come to its annual forefront, I can’t help but think about what this month represents.

Is breast cancer aware ness simply a time when pink ribbons, bracelets and football uniforms come out?

Breast cancer awareness is often unsung because it has become so effectively integrat ed into our lives. The move ment not only funds efforts

reduce reuse Recycle your dm

for the research and treat ment that goes into the hun dreds of thousands of Amer icans diagnosed a year but also gives the families of those diagnosed a sense of support.

While my grandmother continues to battle, this month of awareness has granted me, my family and everyone involved in Marga ret’s life a community. When a beloved family member is diagnosed, October becomes more than just a symbolic ges ture of awareness. A new, un deniably harsh reality forces families to adapt, to support one another through an inev itable series of ebbs and flows.

I urge those that haven’t been affected by breast can cer in one way or another to reach out. Reach out to fami

lies, those who are diagnosed and your community. Every person with breast cancer is more than a diagnosis. They have a story. Margaret has a story. Only when those stories are told can our society begin understanding the depth of people’s lives and situations.

I’m genuinely thankful for my grandmother and many other family members battling cancer. Every October since 2017, I am reminded that it is a blessing to all of us that there is a month meant to commem orate and spread awareness to wards such a prevalent issue.

David Ramsey is a soph omore majoring in integrat ed marketing communica tions from Madison Miss.

Opinion Policies:

Columns do not represent the views of The University of Mississippi or The Daily Mississippian. The Daily Mississippian welcomes letters to the editor, which should be emailed to thedmopinion@gmail.com. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. They may be edited for clarity, brevity and libel. Thirdparty letters and those with pseudonyms or no name will not be published. Letters are limited to one per individual per month. Letters should include contact information, including relationship to the university, if applicable.

GRAPHIC COURTESY: SEDLEY NORMAND / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN