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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2019
134th YEAR ISSUE 35
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
SA Debate shows off student government candidates DYLAN BUFKIN STAFF WRITER
The Mississippi State University Student Association held their 2019 SA Debate on Tuesday, allowing each candidate to convey their specific platform points and answer moderated or audiencegenerated questions. The event was moderated by The Reflector Opinion Editor Mia Rodriguez, as to prevent perceived bias from within the SA. The two candidates for SA treasurer, Grace Barr and Jes Miller, were called to the podiums first. Both are junior-year finance majors, Barr with a concentration in entrepreneurship, and Miller with a concentration in risk management and insurance. Barr has served in SA for two years, first as a member of the Programming Board and then as an SA Cabinet member, and believes her SA experience, as well as various other leadership positions in
campus organizations and consistently managing her own personal finances, has given her insight into how SA could run its finances more efficiently. Barr focused on the need for the treasurer to be objective in their budgeting, and to focus on whether the SA’s funds are adding value to the college experience, measuring the cost-benefit analyses of events. Miller has served several official positions within Phi Gamma Delta, as well as codirector of recruitment for the Interfraternity Council, and he has helped the MSU Foundation as a part of Foundation Ambassadors, currently serving as its president. Miller advocates for more frequent Appropriations Committee meetings to increase the rate of fund allocation to organizations, more fiscal responsibility by funding initiatives that increase the efficiency of SA funds, and monthly financial reports to increase transparency. SA, 2
Kiese Laymon visits MSU as Black History Month keynote speaker STAFF WRITER
Author and Jacksonnative Kiese Laymon provided the Black History Month Keynote Presentation and read “Meager,” a chapter from his award-winning book “Heavy: An American Memoir.” The African American Studies program at Mississippi State University sponsored the event Tuesday in the Old Main Academic Center. Laymon attended Millsaps College and Jackson State University before he graduated from Oberlin College. He later received an MFA in fiction from Indiana University. After spending 15 years in New York, Laymon returned to Mississippi and now serves as the Ottilie Schiling Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. As Laymon took the podium Tuesday night, he immediately expressed his love for the MSU women’s
Tyler Bell | The Reflector
For Black History Month, author Kiese Laymon spoke to an audience Wednesday.
basketball team. “They are my favorite team on earth,” Laymon said. Laymon went on to describe his childhood and personal experiences he had endure with sexual assault. At 12 years old, he began to write about his experiences as a way of escape. These experiences included abuse
MSU accepting input on strategic plan from students, faculty and staff KAT BOWMAN STAFF WRITER
The Office of the President at Mississippi State University is currently taking input on the university’s Strategic Plan— State of Excellence 20192025 from anyone with an MSU login until midnight Feb. 28. The MSU community can provide input by filling out an online survey, and results will be reviewed by the President’s Committee on Planning. The survey consists of seven text fields and five survey items. The text fields are not required to fill out, but the five survey items must be completed in order to submit. Participants must select ‘submit’ for responses to be considered. The MSU Strategic Plan is a plan consisting of the university’s vision, mission, core values, overarching goal and strategic goals for the decade. Jason Lueg, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs Intern, explained the function the plan will serve for the university. “Once we’re done, it will be made available on the website,” Lueg said. “So, people are invited as a part of this process to be familiar with it, so they can see how they can contribute
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to it. Also, it’s going to be made available to all the colleges and units, and they can reflect on it, as they are invited to develop their own strategic plans.” Lueg explained the Strategic Plan is not just a general direction the university strives for, but the plan is also a flexible guide for colleges, departments and individuals to help achieve the listed goals. According to Lueg, the construction, implementation and success of the plan depends on everyone in the MSU community. “That’s why this process of getting all the input on the front end is, so that it’s as reflective of as many people so they can find themselves in the plan,” Lueg said. “That’s what makes it implemented.” Timothy Chamblee, assistant vice president and director of the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE), elaborated by saying whether or not people can see themselves contributing to the plan is an important factor in determining the goals of the plan. “If people look at a part of the plan and say, ‘We’re not fitting in,’ then that’s an area that needs revamping,” Chamblee said.
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from Louisville High School. “I was really happy to have the young people who read it be in the front row,” Laymon said. “That meant everything to me.” Morgan Alexander, president of the Society of African American Studies on campus, said events like these are important to have beyond Black History Month. “I think events like this are important because it gives people the power and the space to tell their own stories and connect with people and express our own experiences,” Alexander said. Interim Director of African American Studies Donald Shaffer said he hopes attendees of the presentation were encouraged to continue these types of discussions beyond Black History Month. “When the month of February ends, I hope that people are inspired and take away a sense of why this history is important and how it’s very much related to the history of America,” Shaffer said.
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and the racism he faced at a predominately white Catholic school. Laymon said he dedicated this memoir to his mother who encouraged him to read and write from a young age. He chose to read the chapter “Meager” during the presentation to relate to the younger audience visiting
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How MSU measures the success of the strategic plan: ACCREDITATION Legitimizes the quality and rigor of courses, making them transferrable and respected. - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)–A regional, institution-wide accreditation MSU holds. It is also tied to receiving federal aid. - Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)–A college-specific accreditation MSU’s College of Business holds, speaking to the quality of programs for business and accounting. - ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission– MSU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program holds this accreditation. Sources: Timothy Chamblee, MSU website, Carnegie Classifications website, U.S. News and World Report, National Science Foundation, Campus Compact.
RANKINGS Various systems rank all the universities in the United States based on different criteria, and this is how MSU compares. - U.S. News and World Report–This system yearly ranks universities based on eight broad areas. These are as follows: social mobility, undergraduate academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and graduation rate performance. MSU is ranked #177. - National Science Foundation– This system yearly ranks universities on four main categories. In earned doctorates, MSU ranks 114 out of 431. In full-time graduate students, MSU ranks 129 out of 693. In total federal obligations, MSU ranks 144 out of 992. In total research and development expenditures, MSU ranks 94 out of 902.
CLASSIFICATIONS Speaks to the productivity in different areas for the whole institution, must be applied for every five or 10 years. MSU holds two main classifications. - Carnegie Classification: R1–This means MSU is considered a very high research institution. The qualifications require doctoral universities to award at least 20 research or scholarship doctoral degrees, and spend at least $5 million in total research expenditures. - Carnegie Community Engagement Classification–This classification recognizes MSU’s commitment to community engagement.
FORECAST: Rain will continue over the next few days thanks to a stationary front comes through. That front will eventually move back north as a warm front. That will bring in a chance for strong to severe storms on Saturday. All modes of severe weather look possible Saturday with straight line winds being the main concern. Thankfully, we will start to dry out some on Sunday as the sun returns to the forecast.
Kris Hudson, Campus Connect Meteorologist
Rosalind Hutton
Mindfulness meditation helps relieve student stress HANNAH BLANKENSHIP
is her first time attending the event, it has already helped her view meditation in a new way. “I think that it’s helpful to think about meditation in a different way, and I think that it’s helpful to figure out how to use that in our daily lives as college students,” McCaffrey said. For those not exactly sure what mindfulness is, Corey Fitzgerald, a staff counselor at the MSU counseling center and the leader of the group, defined it as “being aware of what’s happening in the present moment, and holding that in awareness in a nonjudgmental way.”
STAFF WRITER
The counseling center’s new mindfulness mediation group presents Mississippi State University students with a way to overcome the Monday blues and start the week fresh and stress-free. The eight-week program, currently in its third week, has been beneficial for many students. The mindfulness meditation group, held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Mondays in the Sanderson Center Classroom, will continue meeting until April 1. Victoria McCaffrey, a senior chemical engineering major, said even though this
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Lueg, a professor of marketing, expressed the importance and value of input for the Strategic Plan. “I really encourage students to provide their input. It’s just as valid as any other group on this campus,” Lueg said. According to Lueg in a town hall meeting, the plan’s strategic goals can be summarized by the university’s official seal. The first three goals directly refer to the seal. The first goal is about teaching and learning, the second about research and creativity, and the third about outreach and community engagement. Lueg explained in a town hall meeting the fourth and fifth goals, about diversity, global perspective, institutional culture and environment, support the first three goals.
One of the core values listed in the Strategic Plan is also community engagement. Meggan Franks, interim director of the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement (SLCE), the Center for Community
Engaged Learning (CCEL) and the Maroon Volunteer Center, explained what community engagement means. “(MSU) defined community engagement as a collaboration between MSU and a partnering community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity, while fulfilling MSU’s mission of scholarly teaching, research and service,” Franks said. Franks said all goals in the plan could be implemented through community engagement. “There are three areas community engagement lives in: you’ve got teaching, you’ve got service, you’ve got research,” Franks said. “What our programs do is, we take students out of this traditional classroom role, and we place them with an external community partner.” Franks gave an example of community-engaged learning and teaching that her office approves and facilitates. She said the MSU School of Architecture sent students to design a home for a Habitat for Humanity family. Examples like this can be found throughout a variety of majors and colleges. Franks spoke to the benefits of community engagement like teamwork, learning, communication skills and bettering the world.
MEDITATION Fitzgerald, an LSU graduate and a first-year employee at the MSU counseling center, said he helped with a mindfulness group during his graduate work, and wanted to bring the idea here. Each week, the group works through a specific aspect of mindfulness and meditation. The topic of the most recent meeting was informal practices of mindfulness, or incorporating intentional thinking into daily activities. “We talked about how can we bring mindfulness into walking, how can we bring mindfulness into just eating and how can that give us back a lot of our time and help with interpersonal relationships, how can that help with de-stressing,” Fitzgerald said. Another member of the meditation group, a graduate student who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said the group had already helped her with her anxiety. “I feel like it’s very helpful, it’s helping me be less anxious,” she said. Through his work at the counseling center, Fitzgerald has seen how anxiety and depression are way more common than people realize. “More times than not, we all deal with something that we don’t want to talk
“Our students are learning quite a bit, they get to work with a real person,” Franks said. “It’s a different style of learning where you get to experience real work.” SLCE, CCEL and the Maroon Volunteer Center are the center of community
engagement at MSU and maintain MSU’s Carnegie C o m m u n i t y Engagement Classification. MSU is the only in-state institution holding this classification, which is one of the many ways MSU, OIRE and external stakeholders measure the success of the university’s Strategic Plan. According to Chamblee, OIRE uses several different
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about. For instance, two of the biggest diagnoses that we see at the student counseling center... are depression and anxiety, to the point where a lot of us will deal with it,” Fitzgerald said. “But we just don’t talk about it—we just struggle in silence.” Fitzgerald said mindfulness, though not necessarily the whole solution, can help reduce anxiety and depression. “Now mindfulness, I’m not marketing it as an endall-be-all, but it helps with those things, it helps bring down levels of anxiety, it helps point out different avenues of gratitude to increase pleasant events in your life,” Fitzgerald said. “The more we give to mental health, the more we engage in the mental health conversation–it can shift a culture.” Additionally, realizing you are not alone in these feelings is immensely helpful, Fitzgerald said, and is the point of a having a group and community setting to discuss meditation. Fitzgerald also said one of the main tenets of mindfulness is understanding how to deal with thoughts, both positive and negative, because they are a necessary part of human life. “The idea is not to
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replace negative thoughts. The idea is that thoughts are neither bad nor good, but they’re there. And we should welcome those thoughts because whenever we welcome them and give ourselves time to feel them, they typically dissipate,” Fitzgerald said. “The goal of the group isn’t to say, ‘OK, we’ll never feel bad ever again.’ It’s just to become more comfortable with feelings we know are going to happen anyways because we’re human.” This philosophy on thinking has greatly helped the participants. “I definitely think it helps me to be more mindful of how I feel about different things, whether it be about a class or a person, and help me to look at the more positive side of things rather than thinking all these, not necessarily negative thoughts but not necessarily positive, and trying to view my life in a more positive manner,” said the anonymous graduate student. According to Fitzgerald, there is a myth circulating campus that there is a waiting list to be accepted into the university’s counseling services. This is no longer true, although it does take time to go through the screening process. Fitzgerald said he does not want this to be a deterrent to anyone seeking help, and the counseling center offers many workshops and other programs, such as the Monday meditation group, anyone can attend.
measurements to determine the effectiveness of the Strategic Plan. These include classifications, ranking systems and
https://www.ccel.msstate.edu/ about/whatis/
accreditation bodies. “What we do is assimilate all that information to provide the updates to say, ‘Are we moving forward?’” Chamblee said. “Without
Following the treasurer debate, the two candidates for secretary, Bailey Lehmann and Sarah Helen Skelton, took the stage. Both candidates emphasized the need for greater communication, both within SA and to the student body. Lehmann, a sophomore kinesiology major, has served in Freshmen Council and is currently one of the codirectors of public relations for SA. Lehmann promised to push for all teachers to add their syllabi to the syllabus bank, so students are able to see the syllabi for prospective classes when registering. In order to address the need for better communication, Lehmann wants to restructure the SA’s General Body meetings, giving students the ability to ask questions to SA members directly in the first 20 minutes of every meeting. Skelton, a junior communication major, has served with Freshmen Forum and the Donald Zacharias Leadership Conference, and she is now the director of both programs. Skelton aims to improve social spaces around campus by adding more outdoor seating areas, create a 24hour permanent study space on campus, and install an SA text hotline for students to be able to more efficiently voice concerns to SA. Additionally, Skelton advocated for the use of Google Calendar to better convey upcoming events and have a centralized center of event information, with which Lehmann concurred. The vice president debate
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accreditation, it’s hard to exist … Accreditation is the key to our being able to operate as an institution.” According to Lueg, the effectiveness of the Strategic Plan relies on the whole MSU community to implement the goals. “The more they (students, faculty and staff) see
themselves in the plan,” Lueg said, “by their daily activities, they’re implementing and executing the plan, so that it becomes a living document.” Franks gave advice for students looking to contribute to the plan through community engagement. “When you get asked for feedback, do it,” Franks said. “If you have an idea, set up an appointment with a dean,
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director or faculty member… If you ask to meet with a dean, they’ll meet with you. Tell them, ‘Here are things I didn’t get to participate in that I feel like would help my learning experience.’” Lueg echoed this sentiment, urging undergraduate students to seek out opportunities to do research as well. “Get to know your professors; get to know the graduate students,” Lueg said. “Talk to your instructors, get to know them. Find out what research are they engaged in and (ask) ‘is there any way you can assist?’” Franks said students can also look for “C” or a “CEL” in front of course codes. This means the course is a Community Engaged Learning course. If faculty have an interest in contributing to the Strategic Plan through communityengaged learning, research or service, Franks and the Center for Community Engaged Learning will help them through the process and make sure a proposed idea comes to fruition. For now, Lueg and the President’s Committee on Planning are focused on receiving feedback from the survey. All feedback will be examined over spring break, and a final draft of the Strategic Plan will be made. “We want to thank all the input we’ve had,” Lueg said. “Their opinions matter, and they’re valid, and their input is appreciated.”
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followed and was between Emily Case and Josh McCoy. Emily Case, a junior political science major, was elected to the SA Senate twice and expects her senatorial experience would help her as vice president. Case plans to push for off-campus dining options with payment through a campus program, adding more crosswalks to ensure the safety of pedestrians on campus, and creating incentive scholarships for achievements like perfect attendance. “With Senate, that requires you to go over things that the student body wants and not what I, Emily Case, personally want,” Case said. “I think that is something that is really important, just with leadership in general, to keep always keep in mind, who you are representing and not yourself.” McCoy, a junior chemical engineering major, is serving as both the chair of the Shackouls Honors Council and president of the Speech and Debate Club, as well as being a Montgomery Leadership Fellow and an SA senator. “The unique position I’ve had in each of these roles has allowed me to foster a relationship with administration on campus that’s necessary to keep the ball rolling and get it going from the very beginning. Because that’s what’s most important, having that sort of rapport with faculty members is what makes legislation actually happen,” McCoy said. McCoy wants to hold Senate more accountable to passing legislation, standardize the advising system,
implement an automatic registration system and have SA Executive Council members be trained in the Safe Zone Ally Training Program, in order to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students in SA. Both Case and McCoy pledged to help solve the parking issue on campus. Finally, President-Elect Jake Manning, a fifth-year student double majoring in biochemical engineering and software engineering, made his way to the podium to give his platform. Manning has been in SA since his freshman year, serving as a senator and pro tempore of Senate, and currently, Manning is the acting vice president of SA. Manning emphasized the need for physical changes to the student experience on campus, providing his plan of rerouting the buses to better serve new construction on and off campus. With the upcoming renovation of the Humphrey Coliseum, Manning also plans to negotiate a new placement for the student section. Past physical changes, Manning wants to address advising complaints, instituting standardized guidelines for all advisers to follow, and consolidate often hidden fees for classes onto students’ myState accounts, clearly delineating costs for students. “I could go on all night about this stuff,” Manning said. “SA really is something that I’m passionate about, something I really enjoy getting to do, and I am very excited to continue working and trying to make these changes for the student body.”
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An In-Class Distraction
BAD DAWGS Hall for possession of Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 paraphernalia and • Student reported being possession of a fake ID. harassed by her exboyfriend. • Student reported being Wednesday, Feb. 20, harassed by her former 2019 • Non-resident/visitor friends. reported a reckless driver on Stone Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 Boulevard. • Student reported losing her ring at an unknown Notable Traffic location. Citations • Student reported his • Justice Court citation vehicle was damaged issued on Creelman while parked in E9 Street for an expired parking lot. tag. • Student reported a disturbance with a non- • Three MSU citations were issued for resident/visitor at the speeding, the most Sanderson Center. notable of which was • Student was issued 45/20 on College View a post-arrest citation Street. and referral in Critz
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1. What actress was born Feb. 22, 2975? 2. Actress Jennifer Grey was hesitant to accept the role of Baby in “Dirty Dancing.” Why? 3. Who was the first explorer to reach the North Pole? 4. Who won the first Nobel Prize for medicine? . Drew Barrymore, 2. She disliked costar Patrick Swayze, 3. Robert E. Perry, 4. Emil von Behring
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materials and more. The deadline for Tuesday’s paper is 3 p.m. Thursday. The deadline for Friday’s paper is 3 p.m. Tuesday. Classifieds are listed at $5 per issue. Student and staff ads are listed at $3 per issue, pre-paid. Lost and found items: Found items can be listed for free; lost items are listed at standard ad cost. CLUB INFO The deadline for Tuesday’s paper is 3 p.m. Thursday. The deadline for Friday’s paper is 3 p.m. Tuesday. MSU
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OPINION
Insulin or liquid gold? The unfair cost of having diabetes in America
TALLY DUKE
is a junior majoring in marketing. Contact her at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu
Throughout medical history, insulin has been prescribed to Type 1 diabetics in order to provide them with a somewhat normal life due to their bodies being unable to make insulin on its own. With that being said, insulin prices have increasingly changed for the worse in the recent years. Due to either government regulations or pharmaceutical greed, insulin has skyrocketed and Type 1 diabetics are caught in the cross fire. According to Reuters for NBC News, “The cost of insulin for treating Type One diabetes in the United
Rosalind hutton
States nearly doubled over a recent five-year period, underscoring a national outcry over rising drug prices.” Due to its high demand and guaranteed consumer market, insulin has become like liquid gold for pharmaceutical companies. I was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes at
15 months old. As a result, I have been an insulin consumer for 20 years of my life, so I have grown up seeing the constant increase in insulin prices. My mom recently looked at me and said, “Please don’t stop using your insulin because you are worried about the cost. Your health is way more
important than any amount of money.” No one should have to look at their child with a life-altering illness, tell them to take the insulin and not worry about the cost. According to CNN Wire for Fox40, one teen, Dillon Hooley, cut back drastically on the use of insulin to save his parents
money. However, when Hooley began to ration his insulin doses, his health took a turn for the worse because of it. People are sacrificing their health and overall well being due to the price of something they cannot live without. This is an issue that is not receiving enough coverage, and it is sickening. How many people have to die as a result of greedy pharmaceutical price tags in order for a change to be made? Our health has become a pawn in the medical, insurance and pharmaceutical providers sick game with one goal: raising the price of insulin. In an investigation reported by Advisory Board, Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) debunked the 300 percent rise in insulin prices. “According to the investigation, insulin prices have increased over the past few years because ‘the insulin market has an influx
of upward price pressures without offsetting downward forces.’” Reed and DeGette found “the structure of the insulin delivery and payment pathways create several incentives for entities along these pathways to artificially raise the price of insulin.” In non-medical terms, the two basically found there is a higher concern for profit and money than the well-being of the patients. This is an issue I am passionate and angry about, and I have every right to be. People should not have to compromise their health by rationing insulin because they simply cannot afford it. Big corporations have forgotten the people they affect and are currently causing to suffer further. We must bring attention to this issue. The more we talk and the more we fight about this issue, the better our chances for a fair price.
Students, let your voices be heard For a truly eco-friendly campus, ditch the plastic pom-poms by participating in campus voting
BRITTNEY DEAL
RILEY STEPHENS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
e vo t
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
As many of us are Mississippi State University students, we are aware of the occasional prompt to participate in polls directly affecting us as a student body. For example, some of you may know when last semester a poll was released asking students for their thoughts on the grading scale at MSU. The poll asked students if they thought the grading system should be changed or remain the same (i.e. should a 92 remain an A or should a 92 be an A-). While such a grading scale may still be implemented, having a negative student response may deter such an occurrence. Being able to have your voice heard is also an important part of the MSU experience and is one of the many things separating college from high school. In high school, the people responsible for making decisions affecting the students were members of a school board. Rarely, if ever, did students have the opportunity to give an input about what they thought was the right course of action. Sure, many schools had people with the titles of “Senior Class President” and other members of a student government, but when it came to larger decisions like uniforms or grading scales, those were left to other people. Jacoba Urist of The Atlantic discusses the importance of students giving their opinions about matters directly affecting them. Urist explains many students would prefer to have a say in important matters, and many of the mistakes students would make in voting are the same adults make. For instance, only focusing on trivial matters like cafeteria food and homework.
VOTE Rosalind Hutton
However, many adults only express the importance of cutting taxes, and do not think about how to cut the taxes or why it would help or hurt the economy. Voting in college is also a way to be involved that is beneficial to both the students and the administrators. It gives students an indirect way of communicating with the administrators responsible for putting different policies in place. For example, a poll was recently released asking students a few questions, one of which asked if students living in the dorms would prefer if laundry costs be added to the cost of housing, or if students should continue to pay $1.50 to wash, and $1.50 to dry their clothes. Some students may have enough financial aid to cover the extra costs, and they may see it as a cheaper and more effective way of paying for laundry if the costs were added to their housing. However, if a student is from Starkville, or somewhere nearby, they may prefer to wash their clothes at home, and adding laundry to the cost of housing could be an unnecessary expense for them. Some may also fear they will be overcharged for laundry expenses if they do not wash clothes as often as other people. All of these are important factors to take into consideration, and being informed about things like this and voicing your opinions and concerns is important because ultimately, decisions made about on-campus policies can affect both your grades and your wallet.
Lately, there has been much controversy about the amount of plastic being used, especially in regard to water bottles and straws. The majority of plastic waste finds its way to the ocean, and the concentric revelation of one environmental issue impacting another, poses concern for environmentalists. According to Trent Gillies of CNBC, in 2018, a movement to ban the use of plastic straws was born, since straws were found to contribute much of our waste. Many deem the straw as an “extra” and unnecessary for drinking. Mississippi State University has even joined in on this movement, as seen by the lack of plastic straws in the cafeterias. In regard to plastic water bottles, the campus has implemented filtered water fountains in attempts to reduce to the amount of plastic bottles thrown away. In the Student Union’s Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, a filtered water fountain with an electronic count of the “saved” number of water bottles is included, providing a visual representation of the simple efforts one has contributed through a single refill. Recycling bins are also placed throughout campus, typically next to garbage bins, thus encouraging students to consider what is trash and what could be recycled. With all the recent emphasis on lessening the use of plastic waste to promote conscientious and eco-friendly decisions, one form of plastic seems to proceed unnoticed. Bins full of rally pompoms are often placed at entrances of sporting events, and these pompoms consist solely of shredded fringes of plastic and even a plastic handle. The average MSU pom-
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Rosalind Hutton
pom weighs 0.06 pounds, and the average attendance for MSU football games is roughly 58,000 people. Generously assuming only one fourth of the spectators take one pompom each, 870 pounds of plastic is wasted in just one game, not considering the number of plastic pompoms left over. Pom-poms are relatively cheap, as seen by the amount produced for masses of sporting crowds, and are designated for visual effect to rally a team’s performance, even from the nosebleeds. Hundreds of plastic pom-poms are distributed per sporting event, and are usually thrown away once the event is over. More often than not, witnessed at MSU, the pom-pom is placed in the back pockets of spectators or is used to indicate a “saved” seat in the student
section, and will inevitably be tossed at the conclusion of the game. However, a majority of the MSU student section and other Bulldog fans utilize the university’s signature cowbell clang to rally the Bulldogs rather than the fringed pompoms. Clearly, MSU is advocating for a healthier environment with its plastic straw reduction, the implementation of recycling bins and filtered water fountains. If this is so, the plastic rally pom-poms should be considered as well, especially since they, like the so-despised plastic straw, are not a necessity for bell-wielding Bulldog fans. Even at basketball games where cowbells are not permitted for the indoor use, distracting props such as foam pool
noodles, cardboard cutouts, unified crowd movements, “color” coordinating (white-outs, wearing all maroon) and even goodold-fashioned yelling and clapping are used in place of the cowbell. Pom-poms are just another “extra” to add to the visual spectrum of the crowd. Perhaps a solution such as eco-friendly pom-poms can be introduced. According to Laura Marie Meyers of Popsugar, they can easily be made with a biodegradable tissue paper, like most confetti from musical concerts. I am not saying we should completely ban the use of pom-poms from sporting events at MSU, but if the university is truly attempting to gravitate toward environmentallyconscious efforts, these plastic-offending tufts should be considered.
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5LIFE -Life& ENTERTAINMENT 5 THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 @REFLECTORONLINE
The Streetcar’s open mic night was a success NICOLE RIGSBY STAFF WRITER
The Streetcar, Mississippi State University’s student-run creative arts journal, hosted their first open mic event of the semester this past Monday at the DawgHouse. The night started off well with refreshments, including lemonade, water, cookies and fruit, as well as beautiful paintings from guest artists displayed at the entrance. Before the show began, the room was packed with more than 60 people in attendance, 20 who performed. The stage acts ranged from musical performances, to comedy stand ups, to intimate poems. There was a range of diversity in the performers. People of different ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and backgrounds took the stage before an encouraging audience. Everyone was welcome to perform any type of poem or musical piece. All participants must do is show up prepared and write their name on a slip of paper. The show’s line up is determined by randomly selecting performers’ names
from a bag. The many poetic readings were deep, emotional and inspiring. The amount of descriptive language used was beautifully powerful, and all the poems had a level of intimacy. It was easy to tell the poems had a deep meaning to the performing individuals. These poems were about family memories, a crazy night at a party, a 21st birthday party, picking yourself up after heartache and tragedy, idealistic beauty standards and so much more. One powerful poem which stands out above the rest was titled “Dear Fathers.” A woman delivered a passionate piece talking to all fathers. She talked about daughters needing fathers just as much as sons, and discussed the results of not having a strong father figure in a daughter’s life. There were multiple comedy stand-ups, most of which were absolutely hilarious. The comedy sketches talked about things college kids go through, hence why they were so funny. The personalities of the comics were charismatic, which helped deliver the jokes and
Emma Moffett|The Reflector James Karlson, MSU freshman and art-undeclared major, performs his orginal poetry at The Streetcar’s first open mic night of the semester on Feb. 18 in the Colvard Student Union’s DawgHouse.
establish credibility with the audience. There were jokes about dating and Tinder, babies on drugs, “bad” words like dollop and ointment, racist Mississippians, searching for the fellas and majoring in engineering. Considering all the performing comics are MSU students, they really knew what would
connect with their crowd. Also, there were a few musical performances. One person performed a cover of a Twenty One Pilots’ song. Another person sang a gospel song a capella, and there was one guitar soloist. All musicians were talented and gave a great show. It did feel a little out of place to give a musical
performance. One would expect only poetry and stand-up comedy at an open mic, but it was a pleasant surprise to have a mix of entertainment. Overall, the show was entertaining. There were a few people who should not have gone on stage, but at least they had enough confidence to go through
with it. I do not believe the performance of a comedy scene from “22 Jump Street” should have been performed, but it did not receive any negative feedback at the time. Even though the performance was a poor, obnoxiously loud movie re-enactment, no one said anything or tried to take the microphone away. If the jokes were not funny, the audience would politely clap for a person to stop. There were not any booing or insults toward bad performances. The atmosphere was truly welcoming for all people to try to entertain, even though not everyone should have. Even though not every performance was perfect, there were many amazing stage acts, the wide variety of performances were well presented, and the emotions and talent poured into every delivery was beautiful and brilliant. It was absolutely a great night and well worth the time. This event is completely free and open to everyone and anyone who would like to attend. The Streetcar’s next open mic will be toward the end of March.
‘Lorena’ tells the ignored narrative of domestic violence NICOLE RIGSBY STAFF WRITER
In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s penis in the middle of the night and threw it in a ditch. Unfortunately, the hospital where John was admitted reattached his organ. Afterward, this man gained fame and profit off his misfortune. He sold t-shirts, received donations, appeared on TV and radio stations, and he was even a judge for a beauty pageant. He received all these benefits from his penis being chopped off. Men sympathized with this man. He was a victim laying helpless and drunk in the night. What could he have possibly done to deserve the severe punishment? His brother admitted to searching for Lorena after this happened in all intentions of killing her. Evidently, a couple of hours of a removed penis is justified by taking a woman’s life. Back then, everyone found out the side of the husband’s story. Everyone wanted to know why she did it and if she should pay for her crime. Millions of people across the country and around the globe followed the court hearings to find out what would happen to Lorena. Would she get deported? Would she go to jail for 20
years? Is the husband the true victim, or was it Lorena? At first, people thought it was because Lorena’s husband would not give her an orgasm. That is what she said when someone first asked her. Lorena is a VenezuelanAmerican. She did not speak English when she
Executor producer Jordan Peele is helping Lorena tell the world the life she endured. Many people came together to testify against this rapist. Friends, family, former co-workers, neighbors and Whoopi Goldberg share what they knew of the situation. Lorena wanted to hurt
“She wanted to get rid of the thing which was causing her the most harm. The years of physical, mental and sexual abuse drove her to
mutilate her attacker. After getting beaten, verbally attacked, raped both vaginally and anally, she cracked.” first arrived in the United States from South America. Her English was okay at the time, but it is not easy to answer questions in another language when one is under stress. Lorena is finally getting to tell her side of her story to the public in an Amazon Video four-part documentary series titled “Lorena.” In four hour-long episodes, she now gets to share the story of her battle with domestic abuse and marital rape.
her husband in the worst way possible and take away his dignity and prized possession. She wanted to get rid of the thing which was causing her the most harm. The years of physical, mental and sexual abuse drove her to mutilate her attacker. After getting beaten, verbally attacked, raped both vaginally and anally, she cracked. When the public found out about this event, men were scared, and women were cheering for Lorena.
Women felt as if they were living vicariously through her. Many woman have been in a situation of sexual assault or harassment. While women’s claims are often dismissed, especially in the 1990s, women felt as if Lorena did the one thing everyone else wanted to do. This court case was the battle of the sexes: her word versus his. Men believed the husband, and the women believed Lorena. There were two court cases. One for the countersue against the husband for domestic abuse in which he was found not guilty. The main reasoning was lack of evidence and Lorena’s attitude. Some days Lorena would come to the court showing herself as a strong woman, and other days she “played the victim card,” one juror from the documentary stated. Clearly, the juror believes a woman cannot be both a victim and a strong woman. The domestic abuser and rapist was found not guilty. Many believed Lorena’s trial would not go well, considering her husband pleaded not guilty. The rapist’s lawyer tried to settle the case out of court with Lorena going to jail for a few months and many years of probation. Lorena did not want to get charged with a felony because she was not guilty.
D�m�s�i� V�o�e�c� R�s�u�c�s i� M�s�i�s�p�i https://mcadv.org/get-help/
National Hotline 1.800.799.SAFE(7233) State Hotline 1.800.898.3234
W�b�i�e R�s�u�c�s� Domestic Violence Statistics Domestic Violence Myths and Facts Domestic Violence Law in Mississippi Nonfatal Domestic Violence Statistics, 2003 – 2012 Rosalind Hutton
She decided to continue with the hearing because she wanted to become a U.S. citizen. Lorena took a risk in a patriarchal society to become an American. This documentary goes in
The Vagina Monologues February 27, 2019 - 7 p.m. Dorman Hall Auditorium $5 suggested donation Benefitting Safe Haven Domestic Violence Shelter
detail of Lorena’s life before, during and after interactions with this disgusting man. “Lorena” can be streamed anytime on Prime Video and is free for anyone who has Amazon Prime.
66-Sports SPORTS
THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 @SPORTSREFLECTOR
Price retakes the mound
“SLUGFEST”
HUNTER CLOUD SPORTS EDITOR
Before Spencer Price, a sophomore pitcher from Ocean Springs, took the mound in last Saturday’s game against Youngstown State University (0-3), it had been a year since he had last pitched in Dudy Noble for No.14 Mississippi State University (4-0). “I have been dreaming of getting back on this field with my teammates and being able to contribute,” Price said. “I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to get back out here and I’m just ready to get it rolling.” The reason Price missed the year was due to an injury to his Ulnar Collateral Ligament, which he had to have surgery on. This is most commonly known as the Tommy John surgery, for which recovery takes anywhere from eight months to upward of a year to fully recover. Price said he knew it was going to be a long road to recovery. “It is a grind, I went in knowing it was going to be tough,” Price said. “I had an idea of (what it’s like) going through. The work you put in, the hours you put in and to come back and try and be a form of your older self, that is what is tough.” Price brings experience to the team, as he pitched 34 innings with a 2.91 earned run average in 2017. Head coach Chris Lemonis said it was great to see him take the mound against Youngstown State University where he pitched an inning. “It was nice, it was emotional for him. It took a lot for him to get back out there,” Lemonis said.
Trevor Birchett | MSU Athletics
Spencer Price throws a pitch in MSU’s 14-2 win over Youngstown State University on Feb. 16.
“Spencer (Price) really getting back out there for him, pitching on the bump against somebody else’s hitters is a really big day for him. Hopefully moving forward, we can use him more and more. That slider is really good.” While Price fought for a year to get back on the mound, he is also fighting for a cause close to his heart when he takes the mound. A golden ribbon is pinned on to the right side of his cap in practice or in games. “It is for childhood cancer awareness,” Price said. “My little cousin, he has cancer again. We wore them two years ago and he had cancer back then, too. We just found out he has cancer again, and I wanted to bring it back out in support of him and just for the cause itself.” Fans can wear a golden ribbon with Price to
support the 15,780 children who are diagnosed with cancer per year according to the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer statsheet from 2018. Price said his whole family believes his cousin has the strength to beat cancer for the second time. “He gets his treatment down in Houston; he has really good doctors that take care of him,” Price said. “I try to keep in touch and see him as much as I can, but with me being in school it is tough—for the family it is tough. He has fought it once, so we think he can go through it again, and we all got his back.” For more information about childhood cancer, visit the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer website, and St. Jude or the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation websites are official donation resources.
between the two best teams in Mississippi Rosalind Hutton
Tale of the Tape: MSU vs USM
MSU
Southern Miss
4-0 7 runs given up 39 runs scored Three straight NCAA tournament appearances 10 College World Series appearances
3-0 15 runs given up 27 runs scored Three straight NCAA tournament appearances 1 College World Series appearance
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Mary Georgia Hamilton | The Reflector
Quinndary Weatherspoon dribbles down the lane against Alabama on Feb. 12. Weatherspoon had 31 points against Georgia on Wednesday.
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SPORTS EDITOR
A stuffed animal being thrown on the court gifted Mississippi State University (19-7, 7-6 SEC) a 68-67 win over the University of Georgia (10-16, 1-12 SEC), with just a half second left to go in the game on Wednesday night. Head coach Ben Howland said they were lucky to not drop the road game in a press release sent out by the MSU Athletic Department. “I feel very fortunate to sneak out of here with a win tonight,” Howland said. “I thought that the close of the first half, we did a good job at attacking the rim. Defense and offense led us to an 11-0 run to be up 11 at the half. I think the biggest lead was 17 (at the start of the second half).” Georgia fought back from being down 42-25 with 18:31 left in the second half, to tying it with 10 seconds left to go in the game at 67-
67. Howland said Georgia had clawed its way back into the game. “They did a great job fighting back. One thing about (Georgia’s head coach), Tom’s (Crean) team is that they don’t quit,” Howland said. “Those guys played incredibly hard, and we were very fortunate there at the end to not have to go to OT.” It was in those 10 seconds when MSU found a stroke of random luck to get out of Athens, Georgia, with a victory. Howland said he thought Quindary Weatherspoon, a senior guard from Canton, did a great job drawing a foul before the “thing” was ever thrown onto the court during his second free throw, resulting in a technical foul. “I don’t know the rule, but I thought we should have got the free throw back. The first one, the front end, when the thing was thrown out there,” Howland said. “That was a huge play, someone throwing a little bulldog… That was
crazy. He (Weatherspoon) made the first one.” From there, Howland instructed Weatherspoon to miss the second free throw so the clock would run out, since there was half a second left in the game. Weatherspoon was in fact the biggest factor in the win as he lead the team with 31 points. Howland said he has been huge for the team because of his motivation. “He wants to get to the NCAA Tournament. This is the only chance he has to get to the NCAA Tournament as a player is right now,” Howland said. “I know he’s very motivated to get into that tournament. We are very pleased we got this one today because it’s either 7-6 or 6-7 (in the SEC). This was a big win for us, huge, after facing some tough runs.” The win means MSU shares sixth place in a three way tie in the SEC standings with Auburn and Florida. MSU will play the University of South Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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