The Daily Mississippian February 23, 2023

MISSISSIPPIAN THE Daily

Prohibition or permission? Mississippians at odds over the best methods to protect transgender youth

Hotty Toddy Hoopfest returns for year two at Ole Miss Campus Recreation

It was so much fun just because all the teams that were brought in were from different areas. We formed some good friendships, so we could scrimmage. It was a lot of fun bringing a bunch of teams together and having it in our town.

- Sydney Foster

House Bill 1125, known as the Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act, passed the Mississippi State Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is expected to sign the bill into law imminently.

If enacted, HB 1125 would prohibit youth under 18 from receiving gender transition surgeries and prescriptions for puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. The law would also prohibit the “use of public funds or tax deduction for gender transition procedures.” Physicians who violate these standards would lose their medical license and can face civil lawsuits for up to 30 years after the day the standards were violated.

If Reeves signs the bill, it will go into effect immediately.

The legislation has made

headlines both in-state and nationwide, compelling those who oppose the legislation to demonstrate against it. On Feb. 11, approximately 50 residents of the Oxford-Lafayette community gathered in front of City Hall to rally against the bill.

The rally was organized by the University of Mississippi Democrats and Oxford High School’s Gay Straight Alliance. The rally featured speakers from both organizations, local drag queen Fendi LaFemme, and Jose Reyes, who represented Justice for Jay Lee.

Thomas McGaughy, inclusion, equity, diversity, accessibility coordinator for the UM Democrats, described being transgender in Mississippi as “longing for acceptance, longing for normality, longing for healthcare, longing for resources and even just longing for a safe space.”

McGaughy’s speech at the rally highlighted the fear that

many trans individuals feel throughout their daily lives. He said the bill is a legal attempt to “kill off the youth” that don’t fit into a stereotypical conservative ideal.

“The only common treatment for transgender minors are hormone blockers, which delay the onset of puberty in children with clinical gender dysphoria, allowing them to choose if they want to seek transitionary care as an adult,” Eli Nordstrom, president of Oxford High School’s Gay Straight Alliance said.

Following the news that the bill had passed in the House, Sybastian Smith, organizing director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in a Feb. 11 statement to the Campaign for Southern Equality that “governmental overreach

TREVOR TERMINIE thedmsports@gmail.com

Club and intramural basketball teams from colleges across the country will descend on Oxford from Feb. 24-26 for a chance to advance to the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s national championship tournament at the second annual Hotty Toddy Hoopfest, hosted by Ole Miss Campus Recreation.

The regional tournament, which is one of eight in the NIRSA Championship Series for basketball, will take place at Turner Center for pool play and South Campus Recreation Center for playoffs. The tournament will have three divisions: Men’s, Women’s and Unified, which is a partnership with College Special Olympics. Ole Miss hosted the re -

gional for the first time in 2022. Amanda Alpert Jessee, associate director of Campus Recreation-Programs and co-director for the tournament, said that hosting again in 2023 is a testament to the success of last year’s tournament.

“The fact that this is our second year, we do have some returners, and our staff have seen it happen before just means that we can make it that much better,” Alpert Jessee said. “Last year, not everyone knew what tournaments were like and how we could make it unique to Ole Miss. Since we have seen it, we should be able to kick everything up a notch.”

In Hotty Toddy Hoopfest 2022, Mississippi State won the Men’s division and Georgia Tech won

HOUSE BILL

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has a tangible and lasting effect on many marginalized communities. People seek medical care from doctors, not politicians.”

Though speakers at the Feb. 11 rally stated that the effects of hormone blockers are completely reversible, the medical consensus is varied, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Some experts believe that genital underdevelopment may limit some potential reconstructive options. Research on longterm risks particularly in terms of bone metabolism and fertility, is currently limited and provides varied results,” the AAP says in its policy statement.

The AAP also stresses the importance of social and legal affirmation as well as providing a safe environment for children to question their gender identity before pursuing other medical options.

Ethan Robertson, president of UM Democrats, said in his rally speech that HB 1125 denies transgender youth the freedom to be themselves and is “subjecting further restrictions to bodily autonomy in Mississippi.”

Reyes supported Robertson’s statements, saying the bill is being strategically passed to limit individuality and oppress the queer community.

“We deserve to feel accepted and embrace our queerness in our state that proudly deems itself to be the hospitality state,” Reyes said.

The final speaker at the rally was Rosa Sanchez, a trans student attending Oxford High School and a member of GSA.

“Right now, as we speak, I have one more refill on my testosterone blockers, and soon enough I will not have any more,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez emphasized the importance of community support and acceptance of trans youth.

Though she counts herself lucky to have a supportive family, Sanchez described the roadblocks HB 1125 would place on her healthcare, as she would have to pursue care out of state should the bill become law.

Data collected and published by The Trevor Project

from a survey of nearly 34,000 LGBTQ+ youth in the United States estimates that approximately 53% of LGBTQ+ youth in Mississippi seriously considered suicide and approximately 20% attempted suicide in 2022.

“Evidence shows that transgender or nonbinary youth who experience discrimination have higher rates of depressive mood, seriously considering suicide, a suicide attempt and multiple suicide attempts,” American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr. said in a statement.

A peer-reviewed study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2020 was the first study of its kind to examine the association between access to pubertal suppression and measures of suicidality.

Data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, found that while more lengthy studies were needed, “access to this treatment was associated with lower odds of lifetime suicidal ideation.”

After hearing about the bill, Sanchez said something in her “just snapped.”

“It just made me angry knowing that something that is necessary to me to make me feel like a human being is being taken away from me,” Sanchez said.

When asked what they would say to those who might not understand why people felt the need to rally, Oxford resident Al Favilla said, “It’s about making sure that as socially supportive as we are to everyone that we are materially supportive and that people are able to access the care and the changes they need to truly be themselves here.”

McGaughy repeatedly asked why such a bill exists in his speech. One of the forces behind HB 1125 is Mississippi Advocacy Group, led by president and CEO Lesley Davis, an attorney and mother of three.

“This bill came out of an organic concern across our state from educators, physicians, parents, lawmakers, those severely harmed by such treatment and many others,” Davis said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian.

She continued, “I didn’t have the capacity at age 16 to

consent to a tanning bed, much less to my taking big pharma drugs that could permanently sterilize me or make me anorgasmic for the rest of my life.”

The concerns expressed by Mississippi Advocacy Group and lawmakers sponsoring HB 1125 echo recent re-evaluations of healthcare for gender dysphoria in several European countries, including Sweden, Finland and England. While these countries have emphasized the need for further research, none have reversed their policies to the point of banning access to puberty blockers and hormone treatments.

“Absolutely, we (Mississippi Advocacy Group) believe that people experience gender dysphoria. We understand this can be excruciatingly painful and that those who suffer from it and their parents will do essentially anything to ease this pain. It is our deep compassion for these individuals that motivates us to act.”

Davis also argued that the studies performed lacked an exploration of alternate methods.

“None of these studies have a comparison arm of children randomized to compassionate counseling/therapy that encourages ‘waitful watching’.... that failure is entirely driven by ideology, not scientific inquiry,” she said.

“It is even more disturbing that the trans-activists then ignore the Swedish longitudinal study that showed that transgender patients who carried through with both medical and surgical transition had a suicide rate 19 times higher than their peers,” Davis said.

The Swedish study concluded that “even though surgery and hormonal therapy alleviates gender dysphoria, it is apparently not sufficient to remedy the high rates of morbidity and mortality found among transsexual persons. Improved care for the transsexual group after the sex reassignment should therefore be considered.”

In response to comments saying those who support HB 1125 are transphobic, Davis said, “Instead of name calling, I would invite folks to honestly look at what is happening to these children. These treatments are sterilizing, chemically castrating and are sex-

ually destructive to our young people … children in Mississippi struggling to identify with their biological sex need compassionate and empathic mental healthcare services, not the irreversible and harmful sequelae of puberty blockers, hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery.”

Davis said that conversations with people opposing the bill has strengthened her compassion for those who struggle with gender dysphoria; yet she has also “listened intently to those who suffer

today from the harm caused by these decisions to pursue medical and/or surgical transition made too early in life.”

Those like Sanchez who rallied in Oxford on Feb. 11 fear that lawmakers in Jackson want to erase their existence from the state they call home. Advocates like Davis fear that treatments are being prescribed for children that are not backed by adequate research.

Pending Reeve’s signature, HB 1125 will realize the hopes of some and the fears of others.

More opportunities for Mississippi

Al Favilla holds a sign reading “Experimental? Essential. Trans-affirming healthcare saves lives. Stop HB 1125.” at a rally on Feb. 11.

HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

‘Pot Goes Public’: Panelists discuss legalization of medical marijuana

FOX thedmnews@gmail.com

The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics organized a presentation and a panel of experts called “Pot Goes Public” to discuss and answer questions about the legalization of medical marijuana in Mississippi on Feb. 22 in the Overby Center auditorium.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there. One of the functions of a journalism

Mitchell also highlighted the fact that the University of Mississippi was the only place in the country with federal permission to grow marijuana until recently. All approved research on marijuana across the country used marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi until a rule change was implemented in 2016 that allowed other growers to produce marijuana under the control of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

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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

LIZ HAYWOOD online editor

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LARZ ROBERTS Director of Student Media

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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.

THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN EDITORIAL staff

ANNA GRACE BOWLING thedmsports@gmail.com

On a warm Tuesday night at Swayze Field, Ole Miss (40) beat Arkansas State (3-1) 11-3 to continue their strong start to the 2023 season.

Freshman pitcher JT Quinn has had a big start to the spring season as a Rebel.

A right-hander from Tampa, Fla., Quinn opened the game against Arkansas State, pitching four innings and has proven to be head coach Mike Bianco’s ace in the hole when it comes to starting off games strong.

The top of the second inning went quickly, and during the bottom of the second Ole Miss scored a home run that put them ahead by four. While the

third inning was still fair game because no runs were scored, Ole Miss continued to score through the fourth and fifth innings, making it an 11-3 game.

Last season, Ole Miss was not known to steal bases as frequently as they have during the first four games of the 2023 season. Pitchers on the mound for Arkansas State were caught frequently throwing to first base in fear of steals.

Junior outfielder Kemp Alderman was the offensive leader for the game with two base hits, a home run and five RBIs. Senior Ethan Groff followed with two base hits and one RBI.

Ole Miss will face Maryland (2-2) in a three-game series this weekend, the first game being Friday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. CST at home. These games can be streamed on SEC Network+.

Checking the Tape: Chris Marshall

“Checking the Tape” is a weekly series that highlights the Ole Miss football team’s offseason acquisitions. Whether it’s coaches, transfers or recruits, sports writer Owen Pustell goes in-depth and analyzes each individual. This week, Pustell takes a look at transfer wide receiver Chris Marshall.

Height/Weight/Position:

6’3/205 lbs/WR

2022 Stats (True Freshman): 11 REC, 108 Yards, 0 TDs

Though Chris Marshall was not overly productive during his freshman season, Rebel fans should be excited about

the transfer receiver. He was a five-star recruit in the 2022 cycle and opted to sign with Texas A&M but entered the portal after a disappointing, sad and embarrassing 5-7 season that featured a home loss to Appalachian State (to whom A&M paid $1.5 million).

Strengths

As a recruit, Marshall was heralded for his size and contested catch ability. Per his 247Sports profile, Marshall played basketball extensively in high school, which has helped his ability to be physical and win jump ball situations.

Marshall is also a very natural athlete. He is fluid for his height and already weighs more than 200 pounds with plenty of room to add more

weight. (He has the potential to build his body the same as DK Metcalf or AJ Brown.)

Ole Miss is in need of a physical possession receiver who can overpower shorter DBs and make catches away from his body. Marshall fits that bill to the last decimal and could become Jaxson Dart’s (or whoever the QB is) best friend next season.

Look for him to be a DeAndre Hopkins-type of receiver. Someone who has good hands, possesses an easy frame and can win jump balls, but might not be the burner to take the top off a defense.

It’s tough to judge Marshall after just an 11-catch season, but he also has a dirty stiff arm that he busted pretty effectively last season. I don’t necessarily buy into the recruiting

hype that pinned him as an elite threat after the catch, but he certainly won’t be a pleasant tackle for cornerbacks.

Weaknesses

As mentioned earlier, his background on the hardwood is both a plus and a minus. Yes, he is a great 50/50 ball winner, but he still has to develop as a route runner and learn the intricacies of his position.

There were times last year (Alabama and Mississippi State were in which he got significant play time) when he looked sluggish getting out of breaks and seemed to be moving a little bit slower than everyone else.

Of course, there is time to change this, but if Marshall is going to be a serious threat at Ole Miss, he needs to speed up

his game. The physical ability is all there; it’s just about adjusting to the college level and stepping up accordingly.

2023 Projection

Marshall comes to Ole Miss along with fellow transfer Tre Harris. Harris and Marshall have similar physical builds, and both should play mostly on the outside while Jordan Watkins and JJ Henry take work in the slot.

I would put Harris over Marshall on the depth chart based on experience and production. However, Marshall has a much higher ceiling than Harris and should play significant snaps as well. I predict him to finish with around 500 passing yards as the third receiving option in a run-heavy offense.

Ole Miss pitcher, JT Quinn, winds up for a pitch against Arkansas State on Feb. 21.

Dorm departure: a guide to off-campus living

JUSTICE ROSE

Saying goodbye to your dorm and on-campus living is a melancholic moment; it likely hasn’t hit you yet. Once that dorm room is bare, reborn and washed of the many sins that took place there, the memories will flood in. Remember when “that” happened on “this” futon?

You are sure to miss the convenience of campus living; it’s inevitable. Being able to wake up and walk to class in 5-10 minutes is a luxury freshmen do not realize until it’s too late.

Proximity to campus is an important factor to consider when picking an off-campus dwelling. Well, not only distance from campus but also places you frequent. A square regular? You might want to think about accommodations available for nightlife safety and transportation.

Transportation in general is a major part of off-campus living. If you have a car, you’ll usually be able to get wherever you want in a timely manner before noon or five o’clock traffic. Pro tip: Those are the worst traffic times anywhere, not just Oxford.

Driving through Oxford, no commute is terribly long. Still, pay attention to gas consump-

tion and look out for deals. Kroger rewards is a personal favorite of mine as grocery shopping helps take money off my gas. This was a lifesaver last spring semester when national gas prices surged to over $4 per gallon.

If you don’t have a car, listen closely. You are at the mercy of your gracious friend who lends you rides or Oxford University Transit. The bus system is rather expansive, but buses are still huge, slow vehicles driven by humans. This means that here and there, you will be late relying on the bus. That’s an absolute.

To remedy this, you have to get time management in order. Depending on where you live, a bus arrives around every 30 minutes. You have to be ready to go, at the latest, 30 minutes before your schedule calls for you to be present somewhere.

But transportation isn’t the only thing to consider.

Stocking your fridge until it looks like a doomsday bunker ration is tempting. All your favorite snacks line the shelves, an entire section dedicated to bottled water and your favorite drinks and a fresh drawer packed full with veggies. Don’t do anything close to that. Especially not at the beginning of the semester.

Instead, consider the meal plan you’ll be on, your class sched-

ule/workload and your finances before committing several hundred dollars to a single grocery basket too early in the semester.

If you won’t be on a meal plan, keep in mind that every student has $250-$300 in flex dollars to spend for dining on campus. That works out to about two modest meals a week depending on how you divide it.

Divvying that money over 14ish weeks isn’t the easiest when you walk through the union and the Chick-Fil-A line is actually manageable. Ironically, that’s turned into their on-campus business model. Is the line short? Might as well get it while you can; the line is usually stretched back near the building entrance. But I digress.

Some rely on flex during the first couple of weeks before school while waiting for refund checks to disburse. Others use it liberally and run out well before mid-term passes. It’s all about knowing where you stand and how well you save money.

The problem many have with grocery shopping is that they try and do too much. They literally buy so much food that much of it gets forgotten or ignored. I’m almost certain that psychology and availability play some role in this phenomenon; ideas that we want what we don’t have, and how we devalue what’s in front of

us, but that’s another rabbit hole.

A more plausible, less convoluted reason is that students are too tired to cook after a long day.

At your first apartment or house, you’ll finally have your own stuff after a year of sharing everything. You’ll be particularly grateful for your own bathroom and the ability to shower and get ready at your own pace. If you lived in a community residence hall, this might be the biggest upgrade that comes with living off campus.

Picking the right roommates, the set of people that fit with your lifestyle, is vital in ensuring an ideal living situation. I’d say the best number of total people in a college apartment or townhouse is three.

This time around, securing a lease with that few roommates is rather unrealistic; the school population is considerably bigger, and space is beginning to run low. Also, the lower the number of roommates, the more expensive your lease will be.

So it’ll likely be around four people living together. At least one of those people can be your best friend, but I’d advise against staying with three best pals. Why?

It’s easy to get distracted in an environment like that. Your friend is always down the hall from you, not a slightly more inconvenient two-minute drive up the road.

Once again, it comes down to

knowing yourself. Can you stay focused and handle business first? How your freshman year is going is a rather good indicator. There’s still plenty of time to straighten things out, though.

Evaluating a potential roommate’s cleanliness is the most important thing to do before signing a lease together. See if you could get a look at their current room, their car or any other space they occupy. I’d even say take note of personal hygiene.

While it may sound shallow, how well these spaces are kept will help you predict how they’ll treat your house. A dirty room, which is significantly smaller than an apartment, could be a dealbreaker.

All in all, living off campus is the next step in matriculation for many, a time when responsibility is tested frequently.

There will be fun times, maybe a house party or kickback after a long week. There will be bad times when your roommates make you want to pull your hair out. It’s important to settle in a dynamic that works for you and helps you excel where you need to.

Good luck in this apartment-hunting chapter of life. Hopefully, you won’t have to repeat it during your remaining time on campus. Do it right once, and you’ll never have to do it again, or however the cliche goes.

Moving from a dorm to an apartment? Make sure you have these five essentials

one of your kitchen drawers for when you inevitably get a cold or stomach bug and need to open a can of soup.

don’t want to have to shower in a tub filled with scummy water or brush your teeth in a sink that won’t drain.

1. Can opener

When I went to Walmart with my mom shortly before moving into my apartment, she asked me if I had a can opener. I did not and would not have thought to pick one up had she not mentioned it. You’re going to need a can opener eventually, no matter how little you cook, so make sure you have one in

2. Drain snake and drain cleaner

Having a clogged sink or bathtub with no way to fix the problem is a frustrating experience. While most apartment complexes have a maintenance request portal, maintenance workers often take several days to complete the request. You

3. One pot, one pan, one bowl:

I do almost all of my cooking with one pot, one pan and one bowl. These three items are the bare essentials for a kitchen that many people likely did not buy when living in campus dorms. Whether you have a campus meal plan or not, make

no mistake, you will eventually want to use the kitchen in your new apartment.

4. Swiffer Wetjet or similar product

Unless you want to constantly be walking around on all the dirt you track onto your floor from Oxford, you’ll need some sort of mop.

5. Electric kettle or microwave safe kettle

Do you drink tea? Instant

coffee? Live off of instant noodles like many college students? Then you’ll need to be able to boil water. Boiling water on a stovetop doesn’t take long, but having an electric kettle or one that you can heat up in the microwave further speeds up the process. I use my microwave kettle daily for tea and on nights that I don’t have the energy to make anything other than a cup of Maruchan instant ramen

Kharley’s Kitchen: easy recipes to start your cooking adventure

For many, a first apartment or house means saying goodbye to a meal plan and saying hello to the world of cooking.

If you find yourself overwhelmed thinking about this new task, Kharley’s Kitchen is here to help. Here are three of my personal favorite family recipes that can be made by anyone, no matter how much experience you have in the kitchen.

Kharley’s Chicken Noodle Soup

There’s nothing like a hearty bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cold night. Not only is this chicken noodle soup easy to make, but one batch can be your lunch for the whole week.

Ingredients: 2 cups rotisserie chicken, 64 fl.oz. of chicken broth, 2 cups egg noodles, 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 cloves of garlic, ½ tsp. parsley flakes, green onions, your favorite oil.

Directions: Debone the rotisserie chicken. Use half for the soup and save half for chicken sandwiches later throughout the week. Slice the carrots and celery into disks and chop the green onions

and garlic. Sautee the green onions and garlic in a splash of oil in your soup pot. Add the chicken broth, noodles and chicken. Season to taste with black pepper (add a lot just trust me), salt, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until the vegetables are soft and noodles are cooked.

Mom’s Baked Tilapia, Rice, and Brussel Sprouts

Right now, chicken and beef are expensive. Although fish isn’t for everyone, tilapia is cheap, tasty and easy to prepare. The rice and brussel sprouts pair nicely and give you a well rounded meal with protein, carbs and veggies. This recipe can be done with broccoli if brussel sprouts aren’t your thing, or if neither of those sound good to you any salad makes a good compliment.

Ingredients: 4-5 tilapia filets, Brussel Sprouts, 2 boxes of Rice A Roni long grain wild rice, butter, olive oil, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.

Tilapia Directions: Dethaw tilapia in cold water. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil and olive oil. Place tilapia on the sheet. Put small pads of butter on top and season with Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Bake for 6-8 minutes or until done (the fish should be white inside). Brussel Sprouts: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil, and lightly dust with olive oil. Parboil the brussel sprouts for 10 minutes and then plunge in a small ice bath. Cut the brussel sprouts in half, toss them in as much olive oil and Tony’s as you see fit. Place on a pan and cook for 20 minutes.

Rice A Roni Directions: Follow the directions on the back of the box.

Nanny’s Banana Pudding

Everybody needs to have a dessert recipe on lock that they can bring to a party or potluck. Here’s my grandmother’s recipe for perfect banana pudding.

Ingredients: At least 2 large bananas, a large box of banana instant

pudding, vanilla wafers, cool whip.

Directions: Prepare instant pudding and slice bananas. In an 8x8 baking dish put a layer of vanilla wafers, then a layer of bananas, then ½ of the instant banana pudding. Repeat. Put a layer of cool whip on top. Crumble two vanilla wafers up and spread on top for decoration. Chill for an hour.

KHARLEY REDMON / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

KHARLEY REDMON

Cleaning counts: how to keep your home sparkling

LILY GISCLAIR

Countless children around the nation are blissfully unaware of the daily tasks their ever doting mothers and fathers complete for them. They enter their room to discover freshly folded laundry resting on the ends of their beds and don’t think twice as to where that laundry came from.

These children grow into young adults and eventually move to the university of their choice. Unfortunately for them, their parents don’t join them.

The task of finding a first time laundry machine, dishwasher or vacuum user at any college is almost too easy.

You may recognize yourself in this group and require a small refresher on clean-

ing as you approach living in an apartment soon. If this is the case, you’re in luck.

Although most are aware of the main tasks like washing the dishes, doing the laundry, sweeping and taking out the trash, many forget about things like dusting, cleaning the windows, clearing the counters and changing the bed sheets. These often forgotten chores can be the difference between a well-kept apartment and an unclean one.

A majority of college students will be sharing an apartment with their peers. If this is the case for you, this can either make your life a lot easier or potentially more difficult.

To make sure your apartment is clean, it could help to form a cleaning agreement amongst your roommates right away. If the chores are divided, they can become sub-

stantially more manageable.

Start by meeting with your roommates and evenly dividing the daily tasks. One way to make this fair is to make a schedule where chores are rotated daily or weekly. This way nobody is singled out to do the “best” or “worst” chore.

In addition to forming a cleaning plan, roommates should communicate with one another. If an individual is not cleaning up after themselves, or not carrying their own weight, all roommates should gather to have a non-confrontational honest conversation about each person’s responsibilities, to avoid any potential stress or conflicts.

For the individuals who have not had to worry about upkeep in the past, take it upon yourself to learn how to now. Go into this next semester with a positive outlook and be prepared to clean.

Spruce up your space on a budget: the dos and don’ts of decorating

1. The Depot, Oxford

ELLIS

FARESE thedmfeatures@gmail.com

Decorating a new house or apartment can be a fun, invigorating way to personalize000 spaces and feel comfortable in a home. However, with limited time, space and budget constraints, it can be a challenge for college students to reflect their personal style successfully.

Fortunately, there are ways for students to personalize a space without sacrificing valuable time or money. From DIY projects to budget-friendly decor ideas, this guide will explore a few options for college students who are eager to create an individualized home space.

The first step of becoming your own design consultant is setting a budget. A budget will help you prioritize your spending. Decide what and how much you can afford and stick to it.

After a budget is established, a great way to begin finding deals is to shop second hand. Hidden gems often linger around thrift stores and online marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace.

Easy updates like a fresh coat or paint or new hardware can take these used pieces to a new level.

In addition to this, focusing on key pieces is essential to curating a personal style. When decorating on a budget, it is important to keep things simple. Search for versatile pieces that are timeless and will service you in the future. Stray away from trendy items that may be out-dated in a year. If you are having trouble deciding your style, neutrals are a great place to start. Classic basics that will stand the test of time will always be worthwhile. Instead of trying to decorate everything all at once, focus on areas that are most in need and can be transformed by key pieces. For example, a comfy sofa or statement art piece can help create a put-together feel in any room.

Here are some shops to help inspire your decorating journey:

Shopping locally is a great place to start curating one’s personal style. The Depot is an antique shop in Oxford and hosts a variety of booths with different sellers. The Depot provides manageable pricing on unique items that cannot be found anywhere else.

2. IKEA

IKEA is a popular option for furniture and home decor. IKEA also offers great kitchenware and storage options, which are key to elevating a home.

3. World Market

World Market is a great option for someone looking to expand their design palette. Offering items from around the world, one can find affordable furniture, lighting, rugs and decor items.

4. Society6

Society6 specializes in

providing artist-designed decor items. They offer an expansive collection of wall-art, bedding and furniture. With such a large selection, Society6 makes it easy to find

something that fits your style and budget.

5. CB2

CB2 is a more expen-

sive option, but provides timeless, contemporary furniture and decor options that college students can hang on to as they move and grow older..

GRAPHIC: SEDLEY NORMAND / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

GRAPHIC: SEDLEY NORMAND / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

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the Women’s division. Not enough teams registered last year to have a Unified division.

Both champions will be returning this year. Some other participants will include LSU, Texas A&M, Delta State, Stephen F. Austin, St. Louis, Wisconsin and Middle Georgia State.

Sydney Foster, a player from the Ole Miss women’s club basketball team last year, competed in the tournament. She said that one of her most cherished experiences from playing was competing against teams from across the country and building relationships with them.

“It was so much fun just because all the teams that were brought in were from different areas,” Foster said. “We formed some good friendships, so we could scrimmage. It was a lot of fun bringing a bunch of teams together and having it in our town.”

The Ole Miss women’s club team finished third in the women’s division in 2022, and they will be defending home court once again this year.

Foster is now the coach of that same club team that she played on for Hoopfest last year, and she said that her experiences as a player will help translate to coaching while also giving her a different vantage point of the game.

“Not being out on the floor and being on the sidelines, that is going to be different,” Foster said. “Being able to interact with other coaches and building those relationships is going to be the difference.”

The Unified division was missed last year, so being able to have enough teams for the division this year was a proud moment for the tournament directors. Gabby Sokol, the other co-director of the tournament, said that having the division reflects the diversity and inclusion initiative of Ole Miss Campus Recreation.

“Unified sports provide a space where individuals with and without intellectual disabilities compete together,” Sokol said. “Having a Unified division is as important as hosting a women’s division or a men’s division. Inclusion is an important aspect in sports, and this is one more avenue for individuals to compete.”

Jeremy Obregon, president of Special Olympics Ole Miss, said he was happy to have enough athletes to compete in the Unified division, pulling athletes from both the Oxford and Tupelo chapters of Special Olympics Mississippi to compete against Mississippi State’s Access Program.

“When I started working with the Special Olympics, we had a lot of athletes, but obviously the pandemic dropped our numbers,” Obregon said.

Now in his senior year, Obregon is proud of the team’s rebuilding effort

over the past two years.

Two Special Olympics college teams from Ole Miss will compete, and Mississippi State is also bringing three teams from Starkville to compete in the Unified division.

Sokol explained a tournament this size with intermingling of many different institutions and teams involves planning well in advance.

“A lot of the work leading up to the tournament is marketing and spreading the word to recruit teams and solicit sponsorships,” Sokol

said. “The weekend is mostly setting the plan into place and ensuring that everything is where they need to be, and, of course, troubleshooting as things come up.”

The tournament offers opportunities for staff members at Ole Miss Campus Recreation to not only show off their abilities but also build relationships for the future. Jessee said that the tournament has done wonders for former staff members to develop managing abilities and begin their careers post-graduation.

“The greatest benefit is the professional development opportunities that our staff get,” Jessee said. “All of our professional staff and graduate assistants are involved in the planning process. Our students that work the event get to meet individuals from other institutions, so networking is huge with this event for not only our staff, but our club teams.”

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Stacey Spiehler contributed.

The South Campus Recreation Center features two full size basketball courts set end to end.

FILE PHOTO: BILLY SCHUERMAN / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Column

Lavender Letters: Author of ‘Gay Faulkner’ reflects on time at Ole Miss

PHILLIP GORDON guest submission

I first came to UM as a graduate student in 2006 from a much smaller campus in rural northwest Tennessee. While I’m originally from Jackson, Tennessee, a modest-sized city, we had very little visible LGBTQ+ life or safe spaces, and coming out in high school in the late 1990s was a daunting challenge. But I came to Oxford specifically to study William Faulkner and secretly hoped I could learn more about samesex desire in his writing, even though I wasn’t sure how much support such a project would get.

In my first semester, I regularly attended meetings of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which was the only LGBTQ+ group on campus at the time that I was aware of. Same-sex marriage rights seemed decades away from ever becoming reality.

The alliance held a vigil in honor of Matthew Shepard that October. Shepard was an undergraduate at the University of Wyoming who was murdered in 1998, an event that coincided with my coming out for the first time. The Daily Mississippian published occasional editorials in support of LGBTQ+ rights, including one that argued for Mississippi, rarely a frontrunner in the expansion of civil rights, to embrace same-sex marriage rights in defiance of its troubled history.

The following spring, as a teaching assistant in an American literature class, I came out to my students as part of a discussion about the poetry of Langston Hughes and the multiple levels of meaning in his question, “What

happens to the dream deferred?” Friends from the alliance sat in on the class to support me. It felt monumental, like it was something that hadn’t happened in classrooms on the UM campus very often.

I found support in the English department, especially from my mentor, Jaime Harker, who took on the thankless task of running multiple independent studies courses for me to read LGBTQ+ literature. Such courses were not a part of regular course rotations at the graduate level or otherwise at the time. Though by the time I started my doctorate at UM, Jaime was offering a graduate seminar in queer theory.

I was not the only openly queer person in the program, but certainly the few of us queer students felt somewhat on the margins and were always searching for a gay-friendly bar on the Square (Jubilee, the original Blind Pig, Ajax after 9 p.m.).

I do not mean to imply that UM was anti-queer or felt dangerous. Rather, it simply felt like being a queer person was a very individual, singular experience, where our space was on the margins, something we had to create for ourselves. But we sought each other and found ways to make UM and Oxford feel like home.

I defended my dissertation in the summer of 2013, on the day after the Windsor decision by the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act. I spent the next year teaching as academic staff on campus. That October, students disrupted a campus production of “The Laramie Project,” a play about the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard, with anti-gay taunts directed at the actors. The university administration attempted

damage control the next day by emphasizing the value of diversity on campus. I began to realize that “diversity” is the word that campus administrators use the morning after something terrible has happened the night before. Then, in spring 2014, I taught an upper-divisional course in gay and lesbian literature, thanks in no small part to Jaime Harker’s efforts to have that class in the schedule. I regularly teach that course even now in Wisconsin, where I am the LGBTQ+ studies coordinator for a small public university in the southwest corner of the state.

On the first day of that 2014 gay and lesbian literature course, a student waited after class to speak to me. He asked if I would use he/him pronouns — his “preferred pronouns” — as we would say at the time. It was the first time someone had asked me that. Then he said that my class was the first one in which asking his professors to use his correct pronouns didn’t make him feel like vomiting out of fear of the response. It felt monumental, like even in Mississippi, we can move forward together toward a new and fairer whole.

The Lavender Letters is a collection of open letters written by members of Ole Miss’ queer community highlighting the many joys and hardships that come with being a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the South — and in particular on this campus. If you are interested in writing one, email Mary Boyte at thedmnews@gmail.com.

8th Annual “Whispers in the Cedars” Tour Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi

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8th Annual “Whispers in the Cedars” Tour Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi

49- A law ___ itself; 50- Chafe; 53- Freezing cold personified; 56- Tidily kept;

Big galoot;

Absolute;

Dates:

March 3rd & 4th, 2023

Time of Tours: 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Sidestep, circumvent;

Cock and bull;

Guarded;

Blathered; DOWN

1- Ladies of Sp.;

2- Prehistoric sepulchral tomb;

3- Attractive;

___ de Leon;

Rap sheet info;

Pass into disuse;

Bigger than med.;

Chain piece;

San ___, California;

Dispatched;

Limb of a felled tree;

Walked back and forth;

The devil;

Member of a motorcycle gang;

“Peer Gynt Suite” dancer;

Lyric poem;

Maker of Pong;

4- Bemoan;

5- Spreads;

6- Driver’s invitation;

7- Sharer’s pronoun;

8- Judge in 1995 news;

9- Capitol Hill abbr.;

10- Thrash;

11- Italian lady;

12- Killer whales;

13- Summit;

19- Peter Fonda title role;

22- For example; 25- Minn. neighbor;

26- Managed;

27- Words before “many words”; 28- Equal a bet;

34-

44-

45- Military camp; 46- Shoe ties;

Diary bit;

Editor’s Note:

Pick a Side: government controlled courts, a step forward or a leap backward?

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pick a Side is a series that presents two or more dissenting arguments revolving around any recent discourse. This series is not limited to politics by any means; in the scope of this series, anything is worthy of debate. Responses and topic suggestions are welcomed and strongly encouraged. Ultimately, this series serves as a metaphor for the irony rooted in bipartisan ideology.

Legislators from all over the state are back in our capital city of Jackson for another session of the Mississippi Legislature. Prospective laws seeking to manage Jackson’s future have fueled a controversial topic of debate.

Jackson, our most populous city, has a rich, although stained, history and stunning architecture. Its location in the heart of the American South would make one think it would be a regional hub, a family-friendly place to stop on the way from Memphis to New Orleans. However, the city has wandered far off path.

If passed, House Bill 1020 would place Jackson under

Opinion Policies:

unique rules. The capital city’s court system would be heard by Supreme Court appointed judges, and the Attorney General would appoint prosecutors. Is congress out of bounds in this attempt to restructure Jackson?

In support:

Due to decades of municipal mismanagement, Jackson has made national news several times for all of the wrong reasons. Most recently, the city government has continuously failed to provide its citizens with its most basic need: water. The city’s troubles do not stop there; Jackson’s notorious potholes give visitors both car damage and the accurate impression of a city in rapid decline.

Jackson is supposed to be the best our state has to offer. It is often Mississippi’s first and only impression to outsiders. I am not pointing out Jackson’s deficiencies to insult the city; I am pointing them out because they need fixing. House Bill 1020 could start the process.

Perhaps the most important challenge Jackson faces is curbing crime. In fact, Jackson rates higher in homicides per capita than any other city in America. That’s right, higher than Chi-

cago, St. Louis and Baltimore.

Crime plagues the city, but justice cannot be delivered due to a backlog in cases. Jackson has so much crime that judges cannot fulfill the accused’s right to a speedy trial.

House Bill 1020 takes steps to alleviate this problem. The bill expands the Capitol Complex Improvement District, hires more police and allows the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to appoint two judges and the Attorney General to appoint prosecutors to hear the multitude of backlogged cases.

Critics of the bill have decided to shift the conversation to their favorite subject: race. The ACLU goes as far to say the bill is “a parallel to Jim Crow.” This, of course, is absurd. Fixing a problem for a majority Black populated city is not racist; it is the opposite.

Jackson has the potential to be a great place to live, work and raise a family. Our legislators should ignore the race-baiting and take the first step in solving Jackson’s crime problem by passing House Bill 1020.

In opposition:

There are many steps that Jackson must take to offer an

even somewhat appealing nesting spot for tourists. Lowering crime is certainly near the top of the list, but House Bill 1020 is not an appropriate solution.

Constituents do not want this. If they did, the bill would have been introduced by a Jackson legislator who knows what people in the city want. Instead, this bill was authored by a Republican representative whose district is nearly 200 miles north of Jackson, Trey Lamar.

This isn’t to say that senators and representatives should only consider the districts they oversee. It is extremely out of touch, though. All of the men and women elected to represent Jackson voted against the measure, excluding one. This is exceptionally telling. Once again, the people of Jackson, the largest city in the state, do not want this.

In many ways, the proposal and implementation of a law like this are akin to Jim Crow policy that suppressed Black voters in the 20th century. Put it like this: Jackson, arguably the blackest city in America, would be forcibly relegating court authority to a state government that does not have the reputation for building trusting relationships with its Black citizens.

Stripping voting rights is hardly ever a good thing. In most cases, it’s an attempt to undermine democracy and take control. Democracy has been undermined and manipulated for decades, even centuries now. The state’s legislative branch may be the best example of this. Republican lawmakers can pass most legislation with little resistance due to gerrymandering. When the government should intervene is the overarching debate here. Clearly, there is too large of an imbalance in control to fairly discern what is best for Jackson. Even if things were more even-keeled, when should the government take the reins? Jackson’s decades-long era of deterioration seems like the ideal situation for a government takeover, but how sure are we that the state knows best and will do right by the citizens who are largely against the loss of their vote?

Cass Rutledge is a sophomore majoring in public policy leadership from Madison, Mississippi.

Justice Rose is the opinion editor from Madison, Mississippi. He is a sophomore journalism major.

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. Third-party 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.

CASS RUTLEDGE JUSTICE ROSE thedmopinion@gmail.com