The Daily Mississippian February 9, 2023

THE Daily

‘The feeling is numbing’: Students grapple with police violence toward Black community

JORDAN ISBELL thedmnews@gmail.com

On Jan. 27, surveillance footage was released to the public in which Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was severely beaten and injured by five Black police officers from the Memphis Police Department in Memphis. The attack occurred on Jan. 7, and he died three days later due to his injuries.

Public outrage intensified an already tenuous relationship between the police community and citizens.

Senior Johnathan Sullivan, a computer science major, described his feelings on the killing of Nichols as a numbness.

“The feeling is numbing, scary and utterly defeating. Another Black man murdered by

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State sees surge in anti-LGBTQ+ bills

EMILY O’REILLY thedmnews@gmail.com

Of the bills being introduced, HB 1125 is the closest to being passed. Also known as the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures Act’’ (REAP), HB 1125 is a civil ban on gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18.

In his 2023 State of the State Address, Gov. Tate Reeves said bills like these are designed to protect children.

“We don’t let 11-year-olds enter an R-rated movie alone, yet some would have us believe that we should push permanent body-altering surgeries on them at such a young age,” Reeves said. “We must take every step to preserve the innocence of our children, especially against the cruel forces of modern progressivism which seek to use them as guinea pigs in

Double Decker 2023: Who will be performing this year?

their sick social experiments.”

Raney-Gray, an LGBTQ Justice Project staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, said that through censorship and limited teachings various bills are forcing the political beliefs of a small group of people onto all parents.

“Although the bills attack various civil rights and civil liberties of members of the Mississippi LGBTQ+ community, many of the bills are anti-trans –– focused on denying gender-affirming care and penalizing parents, guardians and healthcare providers for supporting transgender youth,” McKenna Raney-Gray said.

Sebastian Prisock, a transgender sophomore at Ole Miss, said this bill is a direct threat.

“If someone under 18 is on puberty blockers, they will be

J.R. MULLIGAN thedmfeatures@gmail.com

The entertainment lineup for the 26th annual Double Decker Arts Festival, scheduled for April 28-29 in Oxford, was announced at a press conference on Feb. 2.

The conference also included remarks from Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill, information about the Double Decker Spring Run, artwork for this year’s festival and more.

The lineup on Friday, April 28, consists of rising country star and 2023 Country Duo/Group Performance Grammy Award winner Ashley McBryde, “America’s Got Talent” finalist Chapel Hart, and up-and-coming college rock band The Stews out of fellow SEC member Auburn University.

The Saturday, April 29, lineup is much lengthier, consisting of young star Marcus King; Atlanta Country Rock band Blackberry Smoke; singer-songwriter Lissie; the Memphis-based,

soul- infused Southern Avenue and Sensational Barnes Brothers; Vieux Farka Touré a Malian guitar player who has been labeled “The Hendrix of the Sahara,” and the University’s very own Mississippian Jazz Ensemble.

The meeting was opened by Tannehill who was the director of the Oxford Tourism Council, now called Visit Oxford, during the inaugural Double Decker Festival in 1996.

Tannehill described the people at Visit Oxford as “an outstanding group of people who want

to leave Oxford better than they found it.” She also sang the praises of Kinney Ferris, the current executive director of Visit Oxford.

Following Tannehill was Pam Swain, coordinator of the Double Decker 5K, 10K and Kids Run preceding the opening of the second day of the festival.

This year’s course will feature a multitude of Oxford locales, including Rowan Oak, the Square, the Grove, and other

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In the last few weeks, several violent interactions between police and citizens have led to national outrage and protests. Here’s how Black students at Ole Miss feel.

New bills and fresh faces: ASB holds first senate of semester

The Associated Student Body held its first senate assembly of the semester on Tuesday, Feb. 7. In the senate meeting, eight open senate seats were filled and two bills were unanimously passed.

Larson Looney, Rachel Young, Jeremy Gauthier, Sean Boney, Lars Andersen, Nicholas Masella, McKay Orwig and Ryleigh Anne Felty all won seats and joined the main body. A total of 27 students competed for the senate seats by giving a short speech in front of the assembly before the senate debated and voted on which students to accept.

Felty, a sophomore English education major, plans to encourage drug overdose preparedness on campus to save lives.

“I would like to advocate for required Narcan training for all leaders in student organizations. I feel it is vitally important because of the rising number of drug overdoses across campus,” Felty said.

Boney is a sophomore political science and writing and rhetoric major that proposed several “life upgrades” he wants to enact on campus in his speech.

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police is nothing new, but the way they beat him because of their own inexperience and humiliation was horrifying to see. It reminded me of the Mafia and how they beat the life out of people to get answers they want,” Sullivan said.

The officers were immediately fired from their department and charged with second-degree murder. While only five were given the mur-

“Mold in a lot of the older dorms -- that should be fixed. I feel like we can do better with wheelchair accessibility with a lot of the buildings around campus. Sexual health products being sold in the pods and quickly accessible to freshmen in dorms would also be a valuable addition to this campus,” Boney said.

Wheelchair accessibility was Boney’s main point, however: “The elevator in Bishop Hall does not currently go to the third floor, the only way you can access the third floor is through the stairs,” Boney said.

Senate Bill 22-18

The first bill, SB 22-18, outlined a revision to the ASB code to allow for the Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee to serve as defense counsel for candidates brought to stand trial for campaign violations during campus-wide elections.

The bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 23-1

The second bill, SB 23-1, added a new official requirement for elected homecoming queen and homecoming king.

In addition to having 60 completed course hours and a minimum 3.0 GPA, homecoming royalty are now, as the bill reads, “encouraged to work in collaboration with the

der charge, seven more police officers may face disciplinary action for breaking policy violations during the Nichols case, according to CBS News.

Junior Keshun Gunn, a sports and recreation major, believes this case should remind people of the severity of police brutality and how policing needs to be reformed.

“I hate hearing about anyone getting their life taken from them, and at some point, we have to do more to prevent police brutality. I think we as a whole nation should address the issues of police brutality and how it’s becoming a com-

ASB Principal of Philanthropy to serve in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community.”

Current homecoming queen and senior journalism and writing and rhetoric major Eli-

mon problem. As far as combating it, I think more training and having more police officers go through more psychological training will help with (cases of police brutality),” Gunn said.

A police incident on Jan. 17 in Oxford also caught media attention when a video surfaced on social media of a deputy from the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department putting his knee on a suspect’s neck and punching him on the ground.

Many instances of excessive force by police across the country have involved white officers and Black suspects. However, more re-

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za Peters co authored the bill.

“I really believe in the power of being in the big four, Mr. and Miss Ole Miss and homecoming king and queen, and the opportunities you have to

cent acts of violence have led people to acknowledge that police brutality can be committed by officers of any race.

“Whether they’re Black, white, Asian, etc., a cop is a cop. Even if they weren’t cops, those African American ‘brothers’ are, personally, no brothers to me — just the police,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is the president of Men of Excellence, a student organization that aims to, “use mentoring to abridge the opportunity/achievement gap for men of color at the University of Mississippi.”

He believes the Tyre Nichols

grow and reach more people in our community,” Peters said. “I think it’s really important that we dive in where we are and be present where your feet are.” The bill passed unanimously.

killing and instances of brutality like it should not be normalized in the Black community.

“We are talking about fixing a generational corruption for centuries. That doesn’t mean we stop, though. We continue to teach and inspire the next generation in hopes that one day, the gap is fixed,” Sullivan said.

The Daily Mississippian asked the Oxford Police Department for comment and was instructed to set up an appointment, which could not be obtained prior to publication.

From left to right, Larson Looney, McKay Orwig, Jeremy Gauthier, Rachel Young, Ryleigh Anne Felty, Sean Boney, Lars Andersen and Nicholas Masella were sworn in as new ASB senators on Feb. 7.

While voter turnout rates for young people nationwide are increasing, overall voter turnout in Mississippi remains low.

On campus polling locations have been touted as a way to increase voter turnout among college students. Unfortunately, according to local officials, the implementation of on campus polling locations at the University of Mississippi borders on impossible.

In a survey conducted last year, nearly half of students said having ballot drop boxes or a voting site on campus would be the most helpful resource to overcome obstacles to voting, according to Campus Vote Project.

CVP is a national, nonpartisan organization that aims to increase the participation of young adults, who historically vote at lower rates, in the elections process by working closely with college communities. According to the U.S. Census, 76% of voters aged 65 to 74 cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Among voters aged 18 to 24, only 51.4% voted.

“Contrary to the belief of many, young people want to be involved in our nation’s electoral process,” Jane Johnston, communications associate for CVP, said. “They want to make their voices heard by casting a ballot, yet still, election after election, 18- 29-year-olds face many barriers that ultimately lead to lower voting rates.”

Traytareika Gordon, an Allied Health Studies major, did not vote during the last election cycle in November 2022. She attributed her decision not to vote to a mixture of transportation barriers and a general disenchantment with the results of elections past.

“I don’t have a car, so I’m not going to leave campus to vote. And for me, I just don’t see the point sometimes. The people we vote into office don’t do any better than the people we didn’t want in office,” she said.

What would it take to bring polling locations to UM campus?

Gordon said she would be “very much” more likely to vote if there were polling locations on campus. But in lieu of that option, using public transportation to get to polling locations off-campus is an option she had not considered.

The task of implementing on campus polling locations would be so challenging it borders on impossible, according to Lafayette County Circuit Clerk Jeff Busby.

The issue lies primarily with geography — the various representatives any one student might have, depending on where they live in the county, might not match to a potential campus polling location.

“The problem with having a voting precinct on campus is that your voting precinct has to be in the district that represents you. So, you can’t just put a voting precinct and say, ‘Students can vote here,’ because one person’s supervisor as an Ole Miss student and another person’s supervisor as an Ole Miss student might be different,” Busby said.

Busby oversees voting and redistricting in the county. Redistricting is the process of drawing the lines in a given area that determine election districts.

“If you did anything, you’d probably have to take (the university) like a pie and divide it into five locations and try to get as close to each of these precincts as you possibly could,” he said.

Even then, Busby explained, logistical issues remain. There can be no such thing as “student specific” polling locations — any polling locations opened on campus would have to be open to everyone in the county, which would lead to traffic and parking issues on election days.

And even if the county could be redistricted in such a way that five polling locations for the five districts in the county could be opened on campus, that’s only a straightforward solution for countywide elections. There are entirely different districting maps for state representatives. In Lafayette County alone, any person could be represented

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by one of three senators and one of five representatives.

“That’s what would make it almost impossible to have a voting precinct on campus,” Busby said.

Currently, there are public transportation options available to all polling locations, according to Busby. He also explained that there have been conversations with the university about moving the furthest polling location, which is currently located near Krystal’s on Highway 6, back to its former location at the Jackson Avenue Center, which the university now owns.

“I do think moving polling locations closer to campus or even setting up additional polling locations that are closer to campus would help,” Alex Mobley, a Chinese major at the University of Mississippi said. “However, I do think this would have a minimal impact if the polling location itself is not physically on campus or extremely near campus,” Mobley is a student leader for UM Voting Ambassadors, a program out of UM’s Center

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for Community Engagement. In his work to increase voter participation on campus, he has identified many issues that contribute to the lack of participation among college students.

Specifically, Mobley thinks that transportation on election days and a campus-wide holiday on election days would be of great benefit.

“One of the biggest issues is that a lot of students cannot just take off on a Tuesday if they have class, especially during November. I have learned that any small inconvenience is enough to deter many people from voting,” he said.

Despite all proposed changes, Mobely sees informing people about how to register, how to vote and how to decide who to vote for as the most important parts of increasing election participation among young people.

“Students are very busy and putting all the pressure on them to do these things often means that they are not likely to vote at all,” he said. “By increasing accessibility to such resources and helping students find them

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goes a long way to increasing their likelihood to vote.”

According to a study conducted by Duke and MTV, during the 2020 election, 74% of college campuses did not have any in-person voting options on campus. No university campus in Mississippi has an on campus voting option.

While on campus polling locations seem to be an impossibility, Busby encourages students to vote before election day by casting an absentee ballot.

“If you’re a student, and you’re in class that day and can’t make it to a voting place, you can always come here (the Lafayette County Courthouse) and vote absentee. Absentee voting starts 45 days before election day,” he said. “I don’t believe there’s a student on that campus that is not on this square already sometime within that 45 days. It’s not a permanent fix, but it’s the best I can think of with the way our laws are now.”

Grace Strieker contributed reporting.

@theDM.toons

Lafayette County Circuit Clerk Jeff Busby explains the obstacles that stand in the way of on-campus polling locations at the University of Mississippi.

VIOLET JIRA / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

UM partners with Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance to research medical marijuana

ISABELLE FROST

The University of Mississippi and the Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance (MCPA) have announced a joint partnership with the Releaf app to collaborate on marijuana research.

The Releaf app allows patients to document their experiences and record and track side effects they experience using medical cannabis and CBD, as well as other cannabis derived products.

The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has been researching marijuana since 1968 and for decades was the only federally legal marijuana growing institution.

“Research interests include studies of the botanical, pharmacological and chemical properties of the cannabis plant,” reads the School of Pharmacy website.

Although the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves in February 2022, allows patients with a legal prescription to consume medical marijuana, it is still illegal to do so on campus.

Because the university receives federal funding – and marijuana remains an illegal, controlled substance under federal law –

LGBTQ+

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forced off of them, which means that they don’t even have the harmless choice to put it on hold until they can decide to start HRT hormone replacement therapy),” Prisock said. “For those of us that are over 18, this bill is just a couple of steps away from something more that includes us. You see it happening in other states, whether it be 19 or 21 or 26 or entirely. They don’t want to stop at 18, they don’t want us to exist as we are at all.”

this policy is difficult to change.

“Until our national federal laws are changed, these policies will remain in place. There’s a lot of work to be done on a national level,” Angie Calhoun, founder and CEO of the MCPA, said. “Let’s think of an epileptic patient. What if they’re your brightest student ever, but he or she struggles with epilepsy and no other medications are working? Medical cannabis could and probably would. Are you going to prohibit that child from getting the education that they deserve?”

Calhoun went on to detail how the partnership will bolster marijuana research efforts.

“The University of Mississippi is working with us as a nonprofit patient advocacy group and with the Releaf app to collect patient data anonymously so that we can start our research through our state program and be able to analyze that data within the laws properly through the University of Mississippi. We truly feel like we’ll be able to make history not only in Mississippi, but around the world,” Calhoun said.

The MCPA is a nonprofit advocacy organization that provides support and resources for Mississippians curious or interested in obtaining a medical marijuana prescription.

Currently, the ACLU is tracking 269 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. Even though many of the bills won’t make it out of com mittee, they may cause harm to LGBTQ+ people.

“They know who their voters are and what they are consuming. They don’t actually care about the people, they are just interested in forcing their ideas about the world onto as many people as possible,” Prisock said.

On Feb. 2, several human rights organizations hosted a virtual community town hall

Calhoun was inspired to advocate for medical marijuana in Mississippi after seeing firsthand the positive changes that medical marijuana made in her son Austin’s life. Austin developed chronic Lyme disease at the age of 17 and suffered severe seizures, joint pain and nausea until he obtained a medical marijuana prescription.

“Our goal is to ensure that patients have ease of access to their medical cannabis. We hope, in the future, that patients have an easy application process as well as access to practitioners and dispensaries,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun is also concerned specifically with ensuring that medical marijuana in Mississippi is an affordable medicine accessible to patients that need it.

“We want affordable products for our patients because all the work that we’ve done would be for naught if patients can’t afford their medicine. We certainly do not want them to go to the illicit market,” Calhoun said. “We have a lot of innocent patients who are seeking alternative treatments to opioids and other pharmaceutical drugs that have lifelong side effects. I don’t want anybody to have to go to the illicit market because that can be dangerous.”

Unlike the unregulated

meeting to discuss HB

black market, the legal cannabis market is heavily regulated to ensure medicinal quality.

“Through the program that we have, cannabis is tightly regulated for the safety of the patient. I think that this is a win-win to have a medical cannabis program in our state so that we can ask the patients and give them the right to choose what they want to do to treat their issues,” Calhoun said.

MCPA hopes to partner with one of the cannabis dispensaries

ACLU of Mississippi, Campaign for ern

in Oxford in the future. These dispensaries would pay to be a partner to help fund the research for the organization. It would benefit the dispensaries, as it would allow the dispensaries to know what strains to stock the shelves with and what strains to recommend based on a patient’s special circumstances.

“We’re excited and it’s just surreal. It’s a dream come true,” Calhoun said of the partnership.

ter and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

While on the call, RaneyGray said the bill would prohibit Mississippi doctors from performing gender-affirming procedures, including hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries. HB 1125 is a ban on medical care and medical transitioning, not on social transitioning. The bill was passed by the Senate committee on Jan. 31.

ity, Human Rights Campaign of

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UM Writing Center inspires

CAROLINE MCCUTCHEN

thedmfeatures@gmail.com

As a lecturer in Writing and Rhetoric as well as interim director of the UM Writing Center, the director of the UM Writing Project Teachers and the director of Pre-College Programs, Ellen Ann Shelton strives to make the Writing Center a place where all students feel encouraged and supported in every step of the writing process.

“We all write really rough first drafts, and we all need someone to give us feedback on our writing,” Shelton said. “I know I need someone to review anything I write for academic purposes, and I’ve been writing for a long time. The Writing Center is that judgment-free space for students.”

Not only does the Writing Center, located on the third floor of Lamar Hall, offer support through online and in-person appointments, it also offers workshops and classes as requested by faculty members across all disciplines. The Writing Center representatives visited 35 classrooms last semester alone.

Shelton also shared how the Writing Center is continuous-

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iconic landmarks. Swain reminded everyone to expect a bit of the challenge on the course, joking that “(Oxford) is not flat. It never will be,” so expect some hills.

Sponsor Blue Delta Jeans announced the return of its Blue Delta Blues Alley off Van Buren Avenue. An alternative venue to the main stage on North Lamar, the alley will feature a collection of blues, soul, Americana and other roots artists in a smaller, more intimate setting.

Representatives of the University of Mississippi Museum, the presenting sponsor for this year’s festival, stated their appreciation for being associated with an event

ly working towards creating a space that cultivates diverse perspectives and cultural awareness. The center also looks to pursue campus partnerships in the future in order to help the entire campus community.

“Past sessions have included discussions surrounding culturally sensitive language in student writing, and we are planning sessions based on active listening and peer mentoring for diverse students,” Shelton said.

Ryleigh Felty, a sophomore Writing Center employee and English education major, shared that the center has made a variety of improvements since last semester to foster an environment of personal correspondence and accessible appointments.

Still, she thinks the Writing Center is not equipped to properly accommodate many foreign language students who visit the center for assistance.

“I think our foreign language students could be helped out a lot if our study abroad or foreign language programs partner with the Writing Center to create a new branch of the Writing Center,” Felty said.

Although the Writing Center is most popular among Writ-

that has provided so much for the city of Oxford and the university.

They were followed by Keith Carter, vice chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics, there to represent presenting sponsor Ole Miss Athletics.

“There truly isn’t another relationship between city and school like there is with Oxford and Ole Miss in the SEC,” Carter said.

After this, the lineup was announced following the reveal of this year’s poster artwork, created by Tupelo native Blake Gore.

You can expect to hear more about the acts coming to Oxford as the festival draws nearer and more details of the festival are finalized, so be sure to check the Arts and Culture section of the DM for any updates on the much anticipated festival.

ing 101 and 102 students, the center is eager to assist students in a multitude of genres of personal or academic writing.

“Our goal is to make this space as welcoming and inclusive as we can, to send the message that all students are welcome,” Shelton said. “In our professional development initiatives, we focus on supporting all writers at any step of the process and being mindful of how we can

meet students where they are.”

Available to both graduate and undergraduate students at the university, the Writing Center meets students at any point in the writing process from all academic disciplines, whether they are in the brainstorming process or polishing up a final draft.

“I was worried about getting help with my essay because my topic was pretty obscure,” Julia Harless, a freshman Arabic and

Biology Major, said. “It was really validating for me to find someone who really liked my writing and was interested in the same topic I was and able to help me.”

Shelton invites students to schedule an in-person or virtual appointment at writingcenter.olemiss.edu and follow them on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more information about their services.

The Writing Center at the University of Mississippi is located on the 3rd floor of Lamar Hall.

ASHTON SUMMERS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Blake Dobbs, Bennett Baugus, Preston Hall, and Wyatt Griffith make up rock music band The Stews.

PHOTO COURTESY: GARRETT CARDOSO

Arts&Culture Reviews

M. Night Shyamalan comes knocking with latest thriller

a turn for the worse when the four peculiar visitors inform the helpless family that their mission is to prevent the apocalypse.

Director M. Night Shyamalan, the divisive filmmaker behind “The Sixth Sense,” “Split” and “Old,” returns to the director’s chair with the horror/ thriller “Knock at the Cabin.”

The catch: The family must sacrifice one of their members to save the world.

Much like the director’s other projects, “Knock at the

trophobic environment and the mystery of the antagonists.

Dave Bautista gives a taut and versatile performance that hopefully will grant him meatier roles outside of his typical franchise-based character work.

Ben Aldridge and Johnathan Groff equally add to the film’s

genuine, adding to the emotional beats throughout. Though thematically rich, the film essentially goes exactly where one might expect. The shock and awe of the film’s execution has more to do with Shyamalan’s style than the cleverness of the writing. This isn’t

to understand the narrative’s themes and overall significance. There is undoubtedly a beating heart at the film’s center, but due to the lack of ambiguity and trust in its audience, it does leave a bit to be desired. If nothing else, “Knock at the Cabin” is an extremely exciting

Poetry is not dead: U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón gives lecture and poetry reading on campus

ELLIS FARESE thedmfeatures@gmail.com

When you ask people to name a poet, they will most likely name one of the literary giants that school kids have learned about year after year: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman or Edgar Allen Poe.

But on the campus of the University of Mississippi, a new popular answer might be Ada Limón.

Limón is an American poet and author who has published several books. In 2022, she was named the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. On Tuesday, she appeared on campus to host the annual Edith T. Baine Lecture for Scholars and Writers.

The objective of Limón’s lecture was to tackle the question, “What can poetry do?”

Limón answered this ques -

tion with poise and elegance as she walked the audience through the power of poetry.

Limón’s demeanor was graceful and invigorating, timeless yet contemporary. She quickly captivated the audience members, keeping them on their seats and hanging on to every word she spoke.

“Poems make us curious,” Limón said. “They do not make us wise. They make us interrogators of our own lives. Each poem, like music, like paintings, will hit each person differently at different times.”

Limón’s ability to illustrate wit and thought-provoking ideas throughout her lecture exemplified her talent as a writer and speaker. She explained how difficult it can be to relay one’s poetic experience in a relatable and humorous manner.

“No one will be moved by the same poem, the same song,” Limon said. “It’s why

THE FUTURE HAS ITS HAND RAISED

sometimes it is hard to teach poetry. We can love a poem and stand in front of a class and expound on its delights while the whole class is looking at us while we’re jumping up and down with excitement and they think it is as boring as dishwashing liquid or salt.”

Limón’s passion for poetry began in a bookshop in her hometown of Sonoma, Calif. Countless hours passed as Limón skimmed through poetry book after poetry book, waiting until she found a poem that “hit.” A poem that “hits,” as Limón refers to it, speaks to the reader directly.

It is art doing its job — connecting the viewer or reader to something unearthly in a memorable manner. The solace Limón found grazing through the bookshelves and silently reading behind the counter inspired

a lifetime of storytelling.

“This was the quiet bookstore I worked in, and on hot summer days when no one was out on the plaza, I was left alone with poems,” Limón said.

With heartfelt and realistic words, Limón encouraged the audience to explore complexities found in everyday life.

“Poetry is a way of connecting to the Earth, to the tree, to the stock of goldenrod rogue and blooming between two roses by the post office.” Limón said. “Poetry is an argument not just for our survival, but for our flourishing. We need poetry to remind us to feel, to love, to grieve. Perhaps an argument for poetry is an argument for our humanity.”

Limón reminded the audience of how we can become numb in a society full of hardship and loss. As she does in her writing, she touched on

relevant issues and events.

“When careening from one crisis to another, whether it’s the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a new racialized violence, a new climate catastrophe, each moment we often subvert our feelings in order to just get through the day,” Limón said.

As the lecture neared its end, Limón read a few of her poems, such as “Dead Stars” and “Heart on Fire.” Her work explored themes of love, grief and the human condition.

Limón closed her lecture by offering a rather ambiguous statement for the reader to consider. One that evoked questions, but also promoted a special peace of mind.

“I love poems because ‘What even are they?’ And sometimes, a poem makes me say, ‘Wow, I love life, because what even is it?,’” Limón said.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón speaks at the annual Edith T. Baine Lecture for Scholars and Writers in Fulton Chapel on Feb. 7.

HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Ada Limón signs a copy of her book “Bright Dead Things” at the Edith T. Baine Lecture for Scholars and Writers in Fulton Chapel on Feb. 7.

HG BIGGS / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Since returning to campus fromSuper Bowl LVII has finally arrived. Taking place at the State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz., this year’s Super Bowl matchup is between two No. 1 seeds: the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams have looked dominant this year and it looks like we’re in for a good show. The DM sports desk shares their predictions for the game this Sunday.

Aidan Gallardo

Final Score Prediction: Chiefs 27, Eagles 24

Have the Eagles finally met their match? After a good old fashioned beat down on the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, you would think that I’d be picking Philly in this game. I mean, that’s what the majority of the world is picking. But you have to think that the game would’ve been much closer if Brock Purdy didn’t get hurt. I’m not saying the Eagles would’ve lost that game but are they really as dominant as they look?

Their defense is topnotch and Jalen Hurts’ connection with A.J. Brown has emerged as one of the best quarterback-receiver combos in the NFL.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned after watching football over these past few years, it’s to never count out Patrick Mahomes. No matter how bad the game can be going, Mahomes somehow finds a way to win. Sure, the Cincinnati Bengals could’ve easily beat them in the AFC Championship if it weren’t for some questionable calls by the officials. But in the end, the Chiefs came away with the victory.

The Super Bowl will be neck-and-neck throughout all four quarters, but in the end, I believe that it will come

Sports Super Bowl pick’em

down to a game-winning field goal by Harrison Butker.

Owen Pustell

Final Score Prediction: Eagles 34, Chiefs 31

The dirty birds will be dancing in Philly once again! The Chiefs (really just Mahomes) have played like a team kissed by a higher power all season… but I’m not sure they will be able to pull off the same miracle on Super Bowl Sunday.

The key to beating KC is to bully Mahomes in the pocket, and the Eagles have all the tools to do just that. The Philly defensive line is one of the best in the league, with four players reaching 11+ sacks this season, and eight former pro-bowlers. I expect Mahomes to be hit all game. He may be known for his ability to create outside of the pocket, but Tampa Bay laid the blueprint to controlling KC two years ago, and Philly can do the exact same thing.

I think Philly can eat offensively as well. Hurts has been great all year, the offensive line is steller and Brown has been playing like an absolute demon. Chris Jones is the X-factor on defense, but he’s gonna need to beat the best interior offensive line in football if he wants to put a grass stain on Hurts.

Philly will control the game but Mahomes and Travis Kelce will keep KC within reach. Expect a 10-point game with four minutes left, then a late KC touchdown.

Griffin Ray Final Score Prediction: Eagles 31, Chiefs 24

It’s no secret that Kansas City has been dominant again this year, particularly on offense, but their luck had to run out eventually.

The Chiefs in recent weeks have been plagued with injuries and that hasn’t changed much in their favor ahead of this Super Bowl matchup. With multiple players from their defense’s secondary and three of their main receivers being questionable, the Chiefs will have a rough time containing the Eagles on both sides of the ball.

I expect Philadelphia, however, to come out swinging, taking full advantage of an injured Kansas City team. The Eagles have been hot recently, and I can’t see what could slow them down following a blowout win over San Francisco in the NFC Championship. Their d-line in particular has been a force to be reckoned with, tallying 70 sacks on the season. Hurts has been on fire recently and, unlike the current Chiefs, has a multitude of healthy targets to link up with on Sunday.

Even with Mahomes not being 100% healthy following an ankle injury in the Chiefs’ playoff game against Cincinnati, he and Kelce are bound to carry the team through a hard-fought battle despite the team’s injuries. Expect a shootout regardless, with the Eagles pulling away late to seal the win.

Cameron Larkin

Final Score Prediction: Chiefs 27, Eagles 20

To cut to the chase, Mahomes lost Tyreek Hill, one of the best receivers in football, and did not skip a single beat. Everyone thought the Chiefs would struggle in the AFC West, with some people even predicting them to finish last in that division, but the trio of Mahomes, Kelce and Andy Reid proved

all the doubters wrong. The Eagles were the team to beat all season long. They had the best record in football, with one of the best all-around teams in football. Their acquisition of Brown worked wonders for their offense, and adding key pieces on defense made them a force to be reckoned with. They have the best o-line in the NFL, good coaching and an MVP-caliber quarterback, which is the exact formula a lot of Super Bowl teams follow. This Eagles team is very good, and they may be better than Kansas City, but I am going with the experience and chemistry of the Chiefs. The Mahomes-Kelce connection is unmatched by almost any duo in football history, and the Chiefs have just enough production around the edges to finish the job against Philly.

GRAPHIC: LIBBY FLANAGAN / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN

Checking the tape: Monty Montgomery

“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 indepth and analyzes each individual. This week, Pustell takes a look at transfer linebacker Monty Montgomery.

Height/Weight/Position:

5’11/220/LB

2022 Stats with Louisville: 70 tackles, 6 sacks, 11 TFLs

Strengths

Montgomery is an e xperienced starter, and that is exactly what Ole Miss needs on defense heading into next season.

Montgomery leads returning Rebels in both sacks and tackles, making him a prime candidate to start. On the field, Montgomery displayed a strong ability to get after the passer as he registered six sacks playing off the ball. Look for him to be a blitz piece in the new defense moving forward. He has a good feel for when to rush as a delayed blitzer and

flashed the ability to finesse his way past offensive linemen in both the run and pass game. In coverage, he looked solid but was relatively limited at Louisville and only dropped into the hole. Assuming the Rebels’ defense mirrors Alabama’s, it will be interesting to see how he adapts to a man-based coverage scheme.

Weaknesses

While Montgomery got a lot of playing time at Louisville, he certainly has some areas of his game that need improvement.

Primarily, he must do a better job of finishing tackles. Though I was able to get my hands on only a few games on film, I noticed that Montgomery relied a lot on arm-tackles and was an inconsistent tackler against running backs. Obviously this needs to change.

The first step is taking better angles to the ball carrier. Often, Montgomery would underrun ball carries and put himself in a compromising position that did not allow him to get his body behind the hit. Additionally, Montgomery needs to get off blocks earlier in running downs.

It seems that Montgomery prefers to go around blocks instead of taking them on and shedding them. While he does have occasional suc -

cess, more often than not, he takes himself out of a gap and allows the running back to cut off the blocker and into the second level. I would like to see him do a better job of attacking linemen and either shedding them to make a tackle or hitting them hard enough to cause a traffic jam.

Maybe most importantly, Montgomery seems to play with his eyes constantly in the backfield, which is problematic when defending the pass.

First, he bites on play action and leaves the middle of the field wide open to crossing routes. Second, when he is in zone coverage, he rarely looks around to track receivers and instead watches the quarterback’s eyes. This means that high-level signal callers (often found in the SEC) will be able to look him off and attack the middle of the field more effectively.

It is crucial that he is able to increase his awareness before the SEC schedule kicks off with Alabama and LSU.

Outlook

Even though Montgomery has some steps to take, he will provide much-needed experience as the Rebels are losing their top five leading tacklers from 2022. Currently, the linebacker competition

is between Suntarine Perkins, Montgomery, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Khari Coleman. It’s possible that Tyler Banks can push his way into the competition, but right now I am confident that the prior four names will rotate.

Fun Fact

Montgomery was ejected for targeting against Ole Miss in 2021 for a hit to the head against quarterback Matt Corral.

Softball team looks to start season strong in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge

It’s almost time for the Ole Miss softball team to return to the diamond for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as part of a grand-slam slate of games starting on Friday, Feb. 10.

The team capped off a stellar 2022 season with a 41-19 record, the second-most wins in a single season in school

history and finished 12-12 in the SEC, earning them a NCAA Tournament appearance for the second-straight year under third-year head coach Jamie Trachsel.

Trachsel has only improved her squad each year at Ole Miss and will be looking for continued success on the diamond.

Ole Miss made history by going 24-1 through their first 25 games. They broke through the Top 25 in multiple polls and finished eighth in the

SEC. The Rebels would win a game at the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2019 and secure the program’s sixth-straight NCAA Regional bid, earning the No. 2 seed in the Los Angeles Regional.

Ole Miss survived a slew of top 10 opponents, winning key matchups against No. 9 Arkansas and No. 8 Kentucky.

The Rebels found their stride down the stretch, winning nine of their final 11 contests and taking series from No. 11 Tennessee

and No. 16 Georgia to close out the regular season and tie the program record with 38 regular season victories.

The momentum from last year has earned the Rebels a No. 25 preseason ranking in the D1 Softball Preseason poll; In part due to a talented 2023 freshman class, including three top 100 players in the country, two of which are from Mississippi.

Following a standout season, Rebel outfielders Tate Whitley and

Abbey Latham earned NFCA All-Region honors. Whitley led the SEC in hits with 74 during the regular season, while Latham became the program’s alltime RBI leader in March.

Those Rebels will be key to another strong season and will be depended on to lead a younger team.

Ole Miss will face off against North Carolina t on Friday, Feb.10 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Louisville linebacker Monty Montgomery (7) grabs Eastern Kentucky quarterback Parker McKinney (18) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.

TIMOTHY D. EASLEY/AP

CALEB HARRIS

Ole Miss grabs second conference win against Georgia, 78-74

CAMERON LARKIN thedmsports@gmail.com

Ole Miss took its talents to Athens, Ga., Feb. 7 to face off against the Bulldogs for the second time this season. The first matchup resulted in Georgia coming out on top 62-58, and this game was a very similar back-andforth, but with the Rebels winning this time, 78-74.

The Rebels went into halftime up one point, similar to how Georgia did in Oxford a month ago. Forwards Jaemyn Brakefield and Myles Burns shouldered the offensive load all night, but it mattered the most in the first half.

This team has faced a huge issue this season: slow starts. Ole Miss seems to take time to ease into games. Against Georgia, however, the Rebels came out ready to go shot for shot on offense and stop for stop on defense.

Some of the season-long struggles seemed to disappear against Georgia, particularly the free throw problem, both getting to the line and making the shots. Ole Miss was 13th in the SEC in free throw attempts, while Georgia ranked first in the conference.

Georgia and Ole Miss ended up shooting the same number of free throws, but the Rebels ended the game shooting the better percentage (81%).

Ole Miss played a majority of this game without its star freshman point guard Amaree Abram, so someone had to pick up the slack. Perhaps the most unlikely candidate did so, as Burns racked up 20 points while collecting six rebounds and securing two steals.

The former NAIA National Championship Tournament

the Right Time

Ole Miss forward Jayveous McKinnis faces off against a Missouri player during a game on Jan. 24.

MVP had not scored more than 13 points in a game this season, so 20 was surely a blessing and a gift to his team. Before coming to Ole Miss, Burns was a consistent 15-pointper-game scorer, but he has embraced his defensive anchor role for head coach Kermit Davis without hesitation.

Brakefield led the Rebels in scoring with 24 points on sensational efficiency. He finished the game shooting 73% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. This was also a season-high for Brakefield. His previous high was 18 points.

This is the first time this season that two Rebels have scored 20 or more points in the same game.

These scoring outbursts from Burns and Brakefield propelled the Rebels to this

win, but it was the hand of junior guard Matthew Murrell that iced the game. Murrell shot seven free throws at the end of the game and made six of them to seal the deal for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss is set to come back home off their second conference win to take on South Carolina, which just so happens to be the Rebels’ other conference win. In their prior meeting, Ole Miss beat the Gamecocks 70-58, which means that Ole Miss has its first and only remaining opportunity to sweep a season series.

The Rebels take on South Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 12 p.m. CST. Fans can watch the game on the SEC Network or in person inside the SJB Pavilion.

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When will it end?

JUSTICE ROSE

thedmopinion@gmail.com

On a late January evening, Tyre Nichols was pulled over just minutes from his Memphis home. According to officers, he was maneuvering in a reckless manner. What should have been a quick stop turned into the worst abuse of power many of us have witnessed.

The officers passionately beat Nichols. They beat him in a way where you’d think he was fighting back. Yeah, an unsuccessful fight for his life. He wailed for his mother to no response, much like a hopeless child. Nichols can be seen rolling and crawling after being propped against a squad car.

Surveillance footage documents the approximately 70-minute encounter: the stop, the beating and the generally unconcerned aftermath. Officers gathered around Nichols’ collapsed and ailing body — — immense inaction followed. They engaged in braggadocious banter, “I was hitting him with haymakers, dawg.”

About 40 minutes passed between Nichols’s assault and his ambulance departure to tend to his injuries. He would succumb to his injuries two days later on Jan. 10.

I write this nearly a month later while evidence and context are still emerging. The reality of what happened has become much worse. Nichols was hardly insubordinate until the point he feared for his life. By then, it was too late. The bludgeoning force used to effectively kill Nichols was far beyond excessive and un-

Opinion Policies:

called for. That force, that synchronization in the moment to restrain Nichols beyond reason, the kicks intended to halt any insignificant movement and the impossible commands shouted were murderous. It was sinister. It was a heartbreakingly evil interaction where a defenseless (in every sense of the word) individual was beaten to death.

The public is tired. Tired is a gross understatement. The protests that have followed are fed-up in nature. The fact of the matter is that people are growing numb. The breaking point was in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement. Or was it in 2014 when Eric Gardener infamously gasped, “I can’t breathe?” Or was it that same year in Ferguson where Michael Brown was gunned down? Or was it when Philando Castile was executed in front of his innocent 4-year-old daughter? Perhaps even the 1992 Rodney King riots where Los Angeles erupted following the violating officers’ acquittal. There is an awfully long, probably immemorial, reputation of policing figures abusing and leveraging authority in a way that too frequently results in harm. I get chills when those blue lights flicker on behind me, especially at night. I speak for millions of Black men.

2022 was one of the bloodiest years in recent memory, according to Mapping Police Violence. At least 1,176 people were killed by the police, with Black people being the most likely. There is too much disturbing rhetoric attributing Black people’s behavior as the reason we are at risk for police slaughter. This is not the time for that.

Frankly, this isn’t the time for any debate. To anybody who thinks otherwise, re-evaluate your humanity.

Once again, we must explain why the police make us feel a certain way.

We ask, how are we supposed to act in these situations? How can this possibly be avoided when history (and common sense) suggests any individual with authority is a threat to misuse it?

Body cam laws have been instituted. Procedure has been adjusted accordingly. Police have been held accountable from time to time. The problem still persists: How do you police the police? They are the first responders, and in situations like this, they control the narrative. You can point to media sentiments or posts on social networks to argue otherwise. Those are not courts of law. Those are not the popular opinions in Congress or city hall.

Here in Mississippi, 15-year-old Jaheim McMilliam was fatally shot in the head by police outside a Gulfport Dollar General in October. Since the incident, police have been slow and difficult during the investigation. The lack of transparency for months has likely given the Gulfport Police Department ample time to get its story together and deflect any charges handed down. As of now, there are many conflicting accounts of the shooting.

I bring this up to remind us that this can happen anywhere. In Nichols’ case, he was slain just steps away from his home. Rest in peace Tyre Nichols.

Justice Rose is the opinion editor from Madison, Miss.

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.