The Daily Mississippian | April 11th, 2024

Student leaders, volunteers inducted into Hall of Fame

Daneel Konnar, Azurrea Curry, Bailey Beaird, Caitlyn Horton and Genevieve Wilson, class of 2024 Hall of Fame inductees, pose for a photo on April 5.

KHARLEY REDMON thedmnews@gmail.com

Ten students were inducted into the University of Mississippi’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Gertrude C. Ford center on Friday, April 5.

Each year, students are selected from the pool of Who’s Who Among Students honorees by a committee in accordance with Associated Student Body policy. Selection is based on campus involvement, leadership, academic achievements and community service.

This year’s honorees are Zynub Al-Sherri, Clark Etzel, Caleb Bohannon, Emmie Burgess, Madeleine Ryan, Daneel Konnar, Azurrea Curry, Bailey Beaird, Caitlyn Horton and Genevieve Wilson.

Zynub Al-Sherri

Zynub Al-Sherri is a public health and health

sciences and Arabic double major from Oxford who hopes to pursue a career in the global health sector working alongside refugees. Awarded a Taylor Medal, the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship and Hattie Burke Jackson Scholarship, Al-Sherri serves as webmaster for the Muslim Student Association and president and founder of the Palestinian Arts and Culture Club. In addition, she has been a supplemental instruction leader for general biology and organic chemistry, a teaching assistant for the Arabic Language Flagship and an ambassador for the Health Professions Advising Office.

“I’m grateful beyond words, but this honor isn’t just my own,” Al-Sherri said. “Each and every one of my accomplishments, involvements and successes is evidence of the amazing community I’m in and the wonderful individuals and mentors I’ve been blessed with along the way. I would be nowhere without them.”

The Grove Bowl… Games?

RHEGAN VANHOOZER

CAMERON LARKIN

thedmsports@gmail.com

Ole Miss Football Head Coach Lane Kiffin has done it again. Never one to think conventionally, Kiffin has scrapped the traditional spring football scrimmage game and conjured up a new, engaging experience for players and fans alike. The first-ever Grove Bowl Games will take place this Saturday, April 13, at 3 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Kiffin believes the typical spring scrimmage does not offer much in terms of evaluation as the team’s spring practice concludes, and the event has only persisted for so long because of tradition, not utility.

Instead of the normal red-team-versus-blue-team scrimmage, the bowl will now feature seven-on-seven competitions and skills challenges. All competitions will be offense versus defense, with points earned in each skills contest. The student-athletes have drafted their teams and coaches, as per usual, but this year, there will be more fan involvement, according to a post-practice interview with Kiffin.

Ole

Solar eclipse captivates UM community

University of Mississippi students donned glasses and gazed into the sky with the hopes of capturing a glimpse of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.

Although Oxford did not have a view of the total solar eclipse (at peak totality, only 94.59% of the sun was covered) people still gathered in droves around campus to witness the phenomenon. The

next solar eclipse in the contiguous 48 states will occur on Aug. 12, 2045 — 21 years from now.

For many, the event brought a sense of community.

“I enjoyed helping out the Society of Physics Students and the Department of Physics and Astronomy and seeing the reactions people had when seeing the eclipse for the first time,” senior physics major Bryce Barrett said.

“I’m also happy to have helped others prepare for the eclipse

29, 2022.

by sharing my previous experience with one. As outreach coordinator, I helped the Society of Physics Students pass out eclipse glasses, flyers with viewing tips and information about eclipses and moon pies for anyone who wanted to see the eclipse.”

Eclipse glasses were a particularly hot commodity on Monday — looking directly at the eclipse with bare eyes could cause reti -

Miss Football Head Coach Lane Kiffin celebrates a touchdown during a game against Texas A&M on Oct.

Zynub Al-Sherri, Clark Etzel, Caleb Bohannon, Emmie Burgess, Madeleine Ryan,

PHOTO COURTESY: THOMAS GRANING / OLE MISS DIGITAL IMAGING SERVICES

continued from page 1

Clark Etzel

Clark Etzel is a public policy leadership major from Russellville, Ark. In his time at UM, he has been awarded the 2023 Barksdale Award and named a young Southern changemaker by Bitter Southerner Magazine. Etzel is a cofounder of undergraduate research journal Venture and chairman of the Trent Lott Leadership Institute Student Advisory Board and a traveling debater through the Ty Warren Debate Union. Outside of campus, Etzel studied in India, Israel and Italy.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be selected to the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame,” Etzel said. “I appreciate having these things celebrated and hope other students take risks and further their interests on campus.”

Caleb Bohannon

Caleb Bohannon is a public policy leadership and economics double major from Clinton, Miss. In collaboration with Period@ UM and classmates, Bohannon successfully advocated for the availability of menstrual products in main campus facilities.

In spring 2023, he also began a prison literacy initiative in which books were collected to be distributed to incarcerated individuals across the state. Bohannon holds the title of Mr. University and is a member of Mortar Board, the Black Student Union and Blacks in Political Studies and served on the Associated Student Body Executive Board. He is a recipient of the Ole Miss Circle Award

ECLIPSE

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nal burns, otherwise known as solar retinopathy, and in rare cases, it can lead to blindness.

Barret explained how the glasses protect people’s eyes.

“It’s very important that anyone looking directly at the sun wear the eclipse glasses. They have a special solar filter,” Barret said. “Unfiltered sunlight can damage your eyes, even with regular sunglasses. It’s worth noting that this applies with normal sunlight too, not just during an eclipse.”

Lydia Noah, a sophomore public health and health sciences major, echoed Barrett’s excitement and heeded his advice.

“I was so excited,” Noah

and UM’s 1848 Scholarship.

Caleb says he is grateful to have the opportunity to help broaden diversity efforts and “positively impact the perception of how others view this university nationally.”

Emmie Burgess

Emmie Burgess is a public policy leadership major from Fort Smith, Ark. Her proudest accomplishment has been advocating for menstrual equity by participating in Period@UM’s successful campaign for the university to sponsor menstrual products on campus. Burgess also worked as an impact producer on “Below the Belt,” promoting the UM screening of the film that focuses on closing the gender health gap. She serves as senior class vice president, president of the Columns Society and is a member of the Ole Miss Women’s Council, Delta Delta Delta sorority and Ole Miss Ambassadors. Burgess hopes to have left a legacy of joy. “My unwavering commitment to the university is continuously exhibited in the joy I have for this campus,” she said.

Madeleine Ryan

Madeleine Ryan is an international studies major from Memphis. Throughout her time at the university, she has served as ASB attorney general in the 2022-2023 school year and SEC Exchange commissioner. She also founded the ASB Future Leaders Scholarship, which raises money for candidates of campus-wide leadership positions. She is a member of Delta Gamma sorority. Ryan also studies Chinese and was one of the first students to study abroad in Shanghai, China, following the pandemic. Ryan was a Truman Scholarship Nominee, earned the

said. “I promised my grandmother that I wasn’t going to look up into the sky, but I was so excited I actually looked up and I saw a spark. I hurried up and put my eyes down, but I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope I’m not blind.’”

Fortunately, Noah was okay.

“I was so happy to find out I could see after I took my nap that day,” Noah said.

Freshman general business major Carson Sklenka agreed with Noah.

“I thought it was great. It was super cool to see,” Sklenka said. “I got my glasses, so it was a good time.”

For sophomore accounting major Connor Wilbur, the eclipse was underwhelming.

“I wasn’t expecting a huge thing, but I did expect the sky to darken more than it did. The

Lynda Mead Shea Scholarship for her thesis research abroad and has spent summers teaching Mandarin to middle and high school students through the National Security Agency’s Chinese STARTALK Program.

Daneel Konnar

Daneel Konnar is a public policy leadership major from Meridian, Miss. As executive director of the Student Activities Association, he sought to expand student activities to underserved communities and organizations on campus. As vice president of philanthropy for Phi Delta Theta fraternity, he helped to raise more than $95,000 for pediatric cancer and ALS research. He also served as vice president of the Columns Society, an Ole Miss ambassador and orientation leader, is an Ole Miss Women’s Council scholar and was voted Mr. Ole Miss in 2023.

“With family, friends and faculty pouring into me since the beginning of freshman year, I am indebted to the Ole Miss community for guiding me and pushing me and my peers to become the best version of ourselves,” Konnar said. “I hope I can continue to encourage my peers and younger students to pour into each other to make our university community a stronger and better place for all.”

Azurrea Curry

Azurrea Jeanna-Dale Curry is a secondary English education major from Gulfport, Miss. Curry served as a reading teaching fellow in Providence, R.I., and as a tutor to children in the Oxford-Lafayette area through JumpStart and Mission Acceleration. She has also served as president of the

dark cloudy sky didn’t help as it made the sky naturally darker and made it hard to know what was due to the eclipse and what was the weather.”

Like Noah and Sklenka, junior economics and finance double major Braxton Allen found community in the event but agreed with Wilbur that the eclipse itself was underwhelming.

“It was a communal event, but I was underwhelmed,” Allen said. “The media hype made it seem as though the eclipse would have a greater effect on the sun’s ability to shine light, but I understand we were not in full totality.”

In spite of the cloudy weather, the event still carried special importance.

“The way people reacted back in 2017 is exactly like what

Honors College Minority Engagement Council and co-director of Miracle Family Relations for RebelTHON. She is a Stamps Scholar and a member of Delta Gamma sorority, UM’s chapter of the NAACP, Rebels for Christ Campus Ministry and the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program.

When reflecting on her time at Ole Miss, she said having the chance to love and be loved by this community is “immensely rewarding” and she hopes to inspire youth to engage fully “where their hearts lie.”

Bailey Beaird

Bailey Beaird is an allied health studies major from Dallas. Beaird served as the student representative for the Chancellor’s Standing Committee on Accessibility and is president of the UM Special Olympics Club. Beaird received the Associated Student Body’s “Making a Difference” Award last year for her efforts made within the intellectual and developmental disability communities. Beaird is also an executive for the Ole Miss Big Event, a fourth-year Ole Miss ambassador, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and was voted campus favorite in fall 2023.

“I hope my legacy at UM is marked by my advocacy for accessible education for individuals with intellectual and developmental disability,” Beaird said. “At the core of this passion is the belief that all people are created with innate values and rights, independent of differences. It is my dream that my advocacy work eventually leads to this community joining the Ole Miss family through the establishment of an inclusive higher education program.”

Caitlyn Horton

Caitlyn Horton is an accounting and finance major from Water Valley, Miss. Horton serves as the longest-sitting president of the National Association of Black Accountants, as well as the 2023 president of UM’s National Pan-Hellenic Council. Under her leadership, UM NPHC hosted the first Miss Black University Pageant and also became a nationally recognized council. Horton is a first-generation college student and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Ole Miss Women’s Council. She received the Collins Scholarships through the Patterson School of Accountancy and has been a two-time national scholarship recipient through NABA.

Horton hopes to “leave a legacy that matters” and to make a difference for other Black and female students pursuing opportunities in fields with less representation.

Genevieve Wilson

Genevieve Elise Wilson is an international studies and public policy leadership major with a French minor from Birmingham, Ala.

Throughout her time at the university, she has served Southern communities as an intern for U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, the Mississippi Delta-based nonprofit the Delta Health Alliance and the U.S. Department of State’s diplomat-in-residence for the Central South Region. She is a Stamps Scholar and is a member of the Columns Society. She also served as volunteer recruitment and retention chair for the Ole Miss Big Event and the vice president of community relations for her sorority, Delta Delta Delta.

happened here on Monday,” Barret said. “Watching people react in unison to a phenomenon like an eclipse is almost

as amazing to see as the phenomenon itself, and this is the kind of thing that reinforces my passion for physics.”

The 2024 solar eclipse on April 8.

FLETCHER CANUP / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Back on track: Ole Miss distance runner Caden Townsend navigates life as a student athlete

I have a lot of time to move around, rather than being in classes all day.”

The lives of most college students are hectic. Time comes at a premium, and balancing classes, extracurriculars and other obligations is often a struggle. For student-athletes — who regularly train six days a week — this proves to be even more difficult.

Freshman general business major Caden Townsend is a distance runner for the Ole Miss track team. His advice to students is quite simple.

“Do your homework,” Townsend said.

For Ole Miss distance runners, finding time to commit to school work can be difficult. During the spring season, which lasts from March to June, distance runners typically work out six days a week, with long runs of approximately 14 miles on Saturdays.

The Charlotte, N.C., native explained that he, like many student-athletes, initially struggled to balance track with school and social life.

“Especially in the beginning, it was hard to meet new people,” Townsend said. “I had my team, obviously, but I was so deep into the running culture at the time, learning and getting my footing. … So, for a while, I was more focused on (track) than social life.”

Townsend soon discovered that onlineclasseshelpedfreeuphisdays.

“I’m not a huge fan of online classes just because I don’t learn very well (in them),” Townsend said. “But I’ve learned that taking online classes eases up my schedule a lot. They give me a lot more free time. There’s still a lot of work, but

Townsend is on a scholarship for distance running at UM. He shared that he received scholarship offers from other big-name schools such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Furman University, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State University, but he ultimately decided to call UM his home.

“I love the coach, love the team,” Townsend said. “(Ole Miss) had exactly what I was looking for. I’d say it was probably the best fit for me.”

This was no minor decision. Running track and cross country at the collegiate level requires considerable talent, and Townsend has achieved some impressive times in his track events.

“I ran a 4:08 (mile) in my junior year of high school,” Townsend said. “Then in my 3K, I ran 8:23, which converts to around an 8:54 two-mile.”

Townsend hopes to build on these times in the future. The current season, unfortunately, has been waylaid by an unanticipated obstacle: injury.

“I was running at practice, slipped on ice and broke my arm,” Townsend said. “I got fully cleared this Monday, so I’m back to the normal schedule of running every morning, but it’s been a process.”

The first month of recovery consisted of rest, medicine and rehabilitation. Once Townsend began to heal, he resumed lifting heavier weights to rebuild muscle in his injured arm. He phased back to running on a treadmill designed specifically for injured athletes.

“After a few weeks, I started running on a specialized

treadmill that, when you run, it feels like you’re running on less gravity,” Townsend said.

Although Townsend is on the path to recovery, his injury proved to be a major setback in his athletic career.

“Running is probably the hardest sport to get back into. Once you’ve stopped, you lose a lot of your fitness, and I’m still really trying to climb out of that hole,” Townsend said.

While Townsend will not compete in any more rac-

es this season, he has high hopes for the 2025 season.

“Next season, I want to go un-

der four (minutes) in the mile, probably under eight (minutes) in the 3K,” Townsend said.

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Caden Townsend

PHOTO COURTESY: CADEN TOWNSEND

William Magee Center offers addiction recovery resources for students

AARON BARROW STORY LEE

For many students, substance use can seem like the relief to common collegiate ailments like social anxiety and stress. But where should students turn if substance use becomes abuse?

The William Magee Center was founded on campus in September 2019 following the death of William Magee, a student who died following an accidental drug overdose. The institute provides students with the resources necessary for success and mental stability throughout their college careers.

Mason Glaze has spent the past several months working alongside students in the recovery process as a graduate assistant for the Collegiate Recovery Community. Glaze also served in a similar position at Mississippi State University, and he was surprised when he made the switch to the University of Mississippi.

“It’s just a different culture. I’ve been to several college campuses in my time, and there hasn’t been one that just kind of lives and breathes the party atmosphere (like Ole Miss),” Glaze said. “Harder substances are so easily accessible.”

In 2021, in Mississippi, there were 28.4 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. The national average that same year was 32.4 deaths

per 100,000 standard population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those on the UM campus struggling with addiction, there is help available. The Collegiate Recovery Community and the William Magee Center have collaborated to create a wealth of confidential resources for affected students.

“I think in every avenue, those resources and those organizations should be connected to the William Magee Center, to the (UM) Counseling Center. We should have every quick ability to engage with a student in whatever capacity,” Glaze said. “(We can) help them, find someone else that can, because we have so many abundant resources that are there to help students, and I just don’t think students are utilizing that.”

The UM Counseling Center offers one-on-one counseling to individuals who struggle with substance addiction. The center can be reached at (662) 9153784 to set up an appointment.

The Daily Mississippian reached out to the counseling center for further comment on the services it provides and the state of substance addiction on the UM campus, but representatives of the center declined to respond.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, shared their thoughts on the campus’s wellness

centers and what they have to offer.

“I think they give a wonderful resource to students that are either struggling with, have struggled with or have family who struggle with substance abuse to (have) a place where they can get support for these circumstances and a safe place that is free of temptations,” they said. “I think one of the biggest ways to show this resource to students is to make it more known that this is a safe space, free from judgment, where students will not be in trouble for any past or current actions.”

The Collegiate Recovery Community and the William Magee Center also educate students on the realities of addiction and what they can do to help.

“It’s all about education,” Glaze said. “This is important. And it’s as simple as saying ‘Don’t take pills that aren’t prescribed to you.’ It’s as simple as learning what harm reduction is.”

A large part of this harm reduction is Narcan training.

Narcan, also known as naloxone, is a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses. When administered correctly, it can reverse overdose effects, allowing time to get the victim to the hospital. A nasal spray, Narcan is easy to administer, and it can be requested for free from the Mississippi Department of Health or acquired over the counter.

UM Garden Club, Grove Grocery fight food insecurity

ALIZA WARNER thedmfeatures@gmail.com

It’s growing season at the University of Mississippi. A collaboration between the UM Garden Club and Grove Grocery will expand the UM Campus Garden, located directly behind Residential College South, to grow produce for the Grove Grocery food pantry.

This new initiative is a recipient of the UM Green Fund, which financially supports sustainability projects on campus. Past project recipients of the UM Green Fund include the UM Compost Collective and the implementation of water fountains in several campus buildings.

This collaboration was initially established in an effort to promote student involvement in the university’s garden and provide food for those in need.

“If you talk to the majority of students, they would really have no idea that we have a campus garden,” senior international studies and Chinese double major and Campus Garden Coordinator Sydney Woodard said. “I wanted to find a way to kind of reach out to the Ole Miss community and engage more students while also ideally filling a void.”

Before this new collaboration, Grove Grocery typically purchased fresh produce from Oxford Community Market.

However, fresh produce is still sometimes difficult to obtain.

Grove Grocery Student Director Andie Udziela is a senior biochemistry major. Udziela thinks the new partnership between the campus garden and Grove Grocery is a significant step toward increasing nutritional food in the Grove Grocery pantry and the capacity of the campus garden.

“It’s really difficult to get fresh produce to people who struggle with food insecurity because it’s not as shelf-stable as other options,” Udziela said. “So it’s a really unique opportunity that we have right now to make sure that people are not only getting food but also getting stuff that’s going to truly benefit their health.”

The UM Garden Club is also working to establish a stronger relationship with Grove Grocery. UM Garden Club President and senior pharmaceutical sciences major Astra Hahm explained that in addition to the many benefits of having a garden on campus, the space can be used to obtain fresh food for students’ meals.

“The great thing about the campus gardens is that anyone can rent out a garden bed, even if they are not a part of the garden club,” Hahm said. “While growing produce does take time, it is a cost-efficient way to get food. The on-campus garden can be very help -

“We were able last semester to get Narcan into every fraternity, every sorority all over campus, which is a huge deal. Universities across the South have been trying to do that for the better part of two years, if not more,” Glaze said. Glaze says honesty and openness are essential steps to

begin any recovery journey.

“You just need to talk to people. I think one of the biggest problems is people will tell health professionals or mental health professionals half of the story, and so they’ll give you half of the answers,” Glaze said. “If you don’t tell them the whole thing, they can’t give you the correct help.”

ful as it provides students another avenue to get food.”

Food insecurity is still a prevalent problem in the Oxford community. According to a 2023 Feeding America report, which presents data from 2021, the food insecurity rate in Lafayette County is estimated to be around 13.3%.

Feeding America defines food insecurity as the lack of access to an adequate amount of food.

The Ole Miss Collegiate Recovery Community’s sober tailgate tent in the Grove on Sept. 24, 2022.

PHOTO COURTESY: MASON GLAZE

Sydney Woodard

PHOTO COURTESY: SYDNEY WOODARD

GARDEN PROJECT

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The Oxford Community Garden seeks to remedy this issue in a similar way to Woodard’s new garden initiative — by providing space for individuals to garden and food for the local pantry. Duncan Gray, head of the food pantry division at the Oxford Community Garden, explained that individuals cultivating personal plots of land is one of the garden’s sole purposes.

“The idea is that pretty much anybody could come in and work the land,” Gray said. “Most of the plots are done by individuals.”

In this garden, four large plots are set aside just for the Oxford Food Pantry, and this garden has produced results, with about half a ton of fresh vegetables provided directly to the pantry in the past year, according to Gray.

The types of produce provided depend on the season. Currently, cabbage and collards will be harvested in the next five to six weeks. Once the weather gets warmer, vegetables like beans, squash and tomatoes are next to be planted and harvested.

When harvested for the food pantry, the produce is raw, fresh and unprepared. Once in the hands of the Oxford Food Pantry, volunteers and employees wash it and package it to be sent to families in need — a process that Grove Grocery also does when they acquire fresh produce.

Fresh produce is always in demand. According to Oxford Food Pantry Executive Director John

Kohne, the pantry feeds around 700 families monthly. While packaged food donations are essential, clients also want fresh and nutritious food, which gardens successfully provide.

“My clients will come in, and actually, their eyes will light up when they see that there’s fresh vegetables,” Kohne said. “The locals, really, they love it, so we try to make sure that’s (vegetables) available too as well as the basics.”

The new collaboration between the campus garden and Grove Grocery is already underway at UM. According to Woodard, plants are bedded and expected to be ready for the campus pantry in the next two and a half months.

Although Woodard’s time at the university is coming to a close, she hopes to inspire others to become involved in the project so that it can continue to flourish.

“I’m a senior, and Andie (Udziela) is also a senior, so we are going to have to say goodbye to this project by the end of the summer,” Woodard said. “And right now, I’m hoping that I can or we can both set it up in a way that the next people can maintain it and it will be a program that is more widely available and well-known on campus.”

Woodard encouraged others to tend to the garden so that it will grow for years to come.

“With gardening, I think one of the most fruitful parts of the experience is staying with it and seeing the progress in front of your eyes,” Woodard said. “So maybe every week you go back and water, you go back and weed and by the end, you have this very tangible product that you can say, ‘Hey, I was part of this process.’”

GROVE BOWL

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Each sorority and fraternity on campus will have a designated captain to compete with and against the athletes. The Grove Bowl Games will also feature an obstacle course, dunk competition and a hot dog eating contest.

There will even be an appearance by Joey Chestnut, the national champion and 16-time winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

How did Kiffin manage to swing for the hills and land Chestnut? The fun-loving and innovative head coach put it quite simply.

“(I did it) kind of how everybody does it: I just DM’d him. (I just) slid in his DM’s,” Kiffin said.

Students at the University of Mississippi are stoked for the upcoming festivities.

“Adding different games to the Grove Bowl could totally get more fans to come. It’s not just about football anymore, so more people might be interested,” freshman allied health studies major Carson Carter said. “Plus, adding new ideas like fan contests and famous guests like Joey Chestnut could make it much more fun and exciting.”

It seems Kiffin is trying to make the Grove Bowl an all around entertainment day for fans and family rather than just a football event.

“The dunk contest sounds super cool to me. I personally would enjoy watching those crazy dunks, and all the hype around it would be

awesome,” Carter said. “It’s not just about football skills, it’s about showcasing athleticism and entertainment, which sounds really fun to watch.”

With the No. 1 transfer class in the country and pre-season rankings as high as No. 5 according to multiple sports sites, the Rebels’ upcoming 2024 season is highly anticipated. Even with the innovative changes, fans will still have the opportunity to see some new and familiar faces play on the field.

The Grove Bowl Games will showcase some new talents such as former Alabama defensive back Trey Amos and former Florida defensive end Princely Umanmielen. With 2024 being quarterback Jaxson Dart’s senior season, all eyes are on him, and the games will provide a great opportunity for fans to see the talent behind Ole Miss’ starting QB.

The overarching goal of this twist on the spring scrimmage is to bring in a larger audience.

“We want the fans to be there – especially the students,” Kiffin said. “We want the student section just like it is on game day.”

With free admission, free parking and concessions open on both sides of the stadium, organizers hope to make this Saturday in April look like a Saturday in September. And, to make the Grove Bowl Games even more enticing, Ole Miss Athletics will hold a spring clearance sale in the stadium, with apparel and merchandise as much as 75% off.

So, the question is: Will you be at the first-ever Grove Bowl Games or be a square on the Square?

Integrity or entertainment: Will the NCAA ban prop bets?

LUKE DUNAVANT thedmsports@gmail.com

In the world of college sports, where student-athletes are inseparable from campus community and frequently interact with fans, concerns have arisen that prop bets may negatively influence players.

A prop bet is a wager in which bettors place individual bets on a player to score higher or lower than a certain number of points, and the same goes with assists, rebounds, blocks and steals.

San Diego State University Athletic Director J.D. Wicker acknowledged that outside pressures may lead players to try and cater to fans’ bets.

“Our student-athletes are going to class, (and) they’re more available in the community,” Wicker said in an ESPN story on the subject. “So there’s a lot more opportunity for one of them to be pressured, for them to have something negative happen because maybe they miss the free throw or they miss the over, the under, all those types of things.”

Ole Miss’ football program has taken steps to educate and better equip its players to deal with college sports prop bets.

“I don’t have a ton of knowledge in that area, so when I don’t, we bring people in for that,” Kiffin said after Ole Miss Football’s Tuesday practice. “We had someone speak to the SEC coaches about this (at SEC Spring Meetings), and I thought that they did a great job. They’ve worked with the NFL, they’ve worked with other colleges and they were people that knew how it worked.”

Students at the University of Mississippi are skeptical that the state will pursue a ban on prop bets.

“I don’t see a world where there isn’t sports betting in college,” Cooper Chapman, a freshman business major, said. “People would be outraged, warranted or not, and the NCAA would

lose a lot of its viewer base.”

Grant Ward, a freshman engineering major, feels similarly.

“For Mississippi specifically, we are just now getting to a point where we might be able to bet online,” Ward said. “I don’t see Mississippi taking a stance that will undoubtedly cause outrage among the general public.”

This debate has gotten all the way to the top of the NCAA, as President Charlie Baker weighed in on the matter.

“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes and professional athletes getting harassed,” Baker said in an X post. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many have responded by banning college prop bets.”

Purdue basketball player Carson Barrett received an Instagram direct message from a fan telling him to kill himself for making a three-pointer that put Purdue over the

betting line, according to reporting from The Athletic.

People frequently harass players publicly on social media when the players do not reach a certain stat. You can see this on X any time a player performs poorly in one game.

In another instance, the integrity of an NBA game was called into question when Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter was caught taking the under on his own stats. In simple terms, he bet that he himself would score below a certain number of points. He is accused of intentionally missing shots to make this happen.

No official report has been released on the NBA’s investigation of the situation.

Baker closed his statement on X with a promise that the NCAA will address the problems created by prop bets.

“The NCAA is drawing the line on sports betting to protect student athletes and to protect the integrity of the game — issues across the country these last several days show there is more work to be done.”

61- Experience again; 65- I’ve Got ___ in Kalamazoo; 66- Greeting; 68- Revise; 69- Count (on); 70- Foreign; 71- Receiver Jerry; 72- Old vitamin bottle abbr.; 73- Makes lace; 74- Golf pegs, northern English river;

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Opinion: Is the world ending?

JUSTICE ROSE thedmopinion@gmail.com

In the past week, the continental United States has experienced severe coastal storms, tornados, hailstorms on the West Coast, earthquakes on the East Coast, a once-in-a-generation total solar eclipse and the imminent emergence of billions of cicadas. With so many extraordinary natural phenomena occurring simultaneously, many people are anxiously pondering, “What on earth (pun intended) is going on?”

Is the rapture predicted in the Bible’s Book of Revelations coming to fruition? While I am no prophet, these could perhaps be the signs our savior is returning to collect the few anointed souls who still roam amongst the heathens. Oops … the bottled-up Southern Baptist escaped me for a moment there.

is one anybody who has watched the TV news, picked up a newspaper or been online has likely encountered in the last two decades — climate change.

Think of the many armageddon-esque disasters which have happened recently, and many of them can be linked to climate change.

The wildfires that turned much of Oregon into a living hell in 2020? 2023, the hottest year ever recorded? Seasonal droughts which have become routine in the southwestern United States? The 2021 winter blizzard that infamously left Texas and other unprepared states in disrepair? A tornado ravaging Rolling Fork, Miss., just over a year ago? A snowstorm that left Oxford incapacitated earlier this semester? All of this can be traced back to climate change, at least to some extent.

much of the country will be driving low-emission Priuses or electric vehicles come 2036 in accordance with a federal mandate, we will not begin to see real change in our environment until the time George Jetson and his upper-class futuristic family peak out in the 2060s.

Certainly, all of this sounds incredibly daunting, especially to those who have not had the chance to “live life” yet. You know, accomplish career goals, build a family of their own, travel the world and other things a reasonably motivated young person might look forward to.

Seriously, though, the aforementioned never-before-seen locust swarm is a sign of genuine concern. While the cicadas that are emerging are not those of a ravenous species, they will arrive as a biblical torrent of insect flesh, beating wings and beady little eyes. To add salt to the wound, they are genetically programmed to never shut up.

Unusual weather patterns will become more common in coming years as the effects of environmental degradation, which began decades ago, continue to manifest.

Many of the gasses and pollutants expelled from cars, factories, planes, etc. take both many years and excessive emission to have an effect on the environment. The climate change we are seeing today is the result of decisions made many years ago.

It’s poetic, really. This predicament we are in as a people, as Earthlings, teaches us a valuable lesson: Big mistakes require big clean-ups. This tenet can be applied to nearly everything, from relationships to studying to driving a car to cooking dinner. This situation also serves as a direct challenge to the popular proverb, “time heals all wounds.” From analyzing our issues and the projections that research has given us, it’s safe to say that time plus corrective action might scab over a handful of flesh wounds on an already badly battered body.

Though it is mischievous fun to offer up biblical retribution for our collective sin as human beings as the cause of these events, it is an unlikely answer. Even if it was the rapture, University of Mississippi students would still be expected to attend their 9 a.m. lecture classes.

An answer our science-minded readers will appreciate more

These gasses, too, remain in the atmosphere for a long period of time. So, many of the measures taken by citizens and regulations implemented by governments will take decades to have a noticeable effect on our world. So, although

At any rate, spring showers yield summer flowers. So, stay optimistic during these uniquely trying times. I’d even say appreciate the flowers a little more — we don’t know for sure if they’ll be there next year.

Justice Rose is the opinion editor. He is a junior journalism major from Madison, Miss. See our opinion policies at thedmonline.com

• Former Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

• Former Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

• Practiced at his privately owned law firm for 45 consecutive years - located at the same place, being the Oxford Square, Downtown, Oxford, Mississippi.

• Still practicing at his privately owned law firm for over 50 consecutive - located at the same place, being the Oxford Square, Downtown, Oxford, Mississippi.

• Taught the Mississippi DUI Law and 5 different Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure courses each and every semester at the University of Mississippi for 29 consecutive years.

• Taught the Mississippi DUI Law and 5 different Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure courses each and every semester at the University of Mississippi for 29 consecutive years.

• A member of the Chancellor’s Trust at the University of Mississippi since 1981.

• A member of the Chancellor’s Trust at the University of Mississippi since 1981.

• Former Municipal Prosecutor for the City of Oxford, Mississippi for over 6 years.

• Former Municipal Prosecutor for the City of Oxford, Mississippi for over 6 years.

• Former Municipal Court Judge for the City of Oxford, Mississippi for 8 years.

• Former Municipal Court Judge for the City of Oxford, Mississippi for 8 years.

• Former Vice President and President of the Lafayette County Bar Association; member of the Mississippi Bar Association, etc.

• Former Vice President and President of the Lafayette County Bar Association; member of the Mississippi Bar Association, etc.

• Appointed by the Mississippi State Bar to the Mississippi Commission on Attorney Ethics and Attorney Violations of the Canon of Ethics and All Mandatory Rules concerning the Practice of Law. Occupied the positions of Vice Chairman and Chairman, served for 18 years.

• Appointed by the Mississippi State Bar to the Mississippi Commission on Attorney Ethics and Attorney Violations of the Canon of Ethics and All Mandatory Rules concerning the Practice of Law. Occupied the positions of Vice Chairman and Chairman and served for 18 years.

• A Founding Member of the National College for DUI Defense conducted at Harvard Law School.

• A Founding Member of the National College for DUI Defense conducted at Harvard Law School.

• Selected as one of the Top 50 DUI Attorneys in Mississippi by the National Advocacy for DUI Defense.

• Selected as one of the Top 50 DUI Attorneys in Mississippi by the National Advocacy for DUI Defense.

• Selected as one of the Top 10 Best Attorneys of Mississippi in for Client Satisfaction Award by the American Institute of DUI/DWI Attorneys.

• Selected as one of the Top 10 Best Attorneys of Mississippi in for Client Satisfaction Award by the American Institute of DUI/DWI Attorneys.

• Selected as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Organization.

• Selected as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Organization.

• Recipient of the DISTINGUISHED AWARD OF MERIT for 1989 from the Mississippi State Bar given to one Attorney in the State each year for outstanding contributions to the practice of law.

• Recipient of the DISTINGUISHED AWARD OF MERIT for 1989 from the Mississippi State Bar given to one Attorney in the State of Mississippi each year for outstanding contributions to the practice of law.

• Voted “Best Attorney in Oxford, Mississippi” in the Grove’s Choice Awards.

• Voted “Best Attorney in Oxford, Mississippi” in the Grove’s Choice Awards.

• Member of the American Association of Premier DUI Attorneys

• Member of the American Association of Premier DUI Attorneys

• Member of the National League of Renowned Attorneys - Top 1%

• Member of the National League of Renowned Attorneys - Top 1%

• Awarded the United States Congressional Medal of Distinction by

• Awarded the United States Congressional Medal of Distinction by RNCC.

• Member of the American Jurist Institute - Top 10 DUI/DWI Attorney for Mississippi

• Member of the American Society of Legal Advocates - Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers in the State of Mississippi

• Selected by the Attorney and Practice Magazine as one of Mississippi’s Top 10 Attorneys, et cetera.