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TUESDAY AUGUST 28, 2018

134th YEAR ISSUE 1

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884

Aldermen vote to suspend Starkville police chief KATIE POE

NEWS EDITOR

In a special-called meeting, the Starkville Board of Aldermen voted to suspend Police Chief Frank Nichols.

The vote came after entering into executive session to discuss personnel.

Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said Nichols is suspended without pay.

“All I will say is that Chief Nichols has been placed on administrative leave for two weeks,” Spruill said.

No reason was given to Nichols suspension, and he will serve a six-month probation period when he returns.

Captain Troy Outlaw will serve as interim SPD chief for the suspense period.

In 1992, Nichols began policing in Starkville as a patrolman, and he went on to be appointed chief of police in 2014. He has an associate’s degree in art from East Mississippi Community College, a bachelor’s of science degree from MSU and master’s of science in

criminal justice degree from Troy University.

Nichols is also a graduate from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army National Guard, Nichols was deployed to Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and Operation Iraqi Freedom III in 2005.

The interim chief, Outlaw, is from Starkville and currently serves as operations captain. He started working for SPD in 1992.

In 1994, Outlaw was assigned to the investigations division, and was promoted to sergeant in 1996. Two years later, he was assigned as patrol supervisor.

In 2004, Outlaw was promoted to lieutenant and re-assigned to the investigations division, where he served as chief of detectives. The following year, he received his bachelors degree in criminal justice from Troy State Distance Learning.

In 2006, Outlaw returned to patrolling as the patrol

commander. Five years later, he began serving as chief of detectives once again. In 2014, Outlaw was promoted to captain and served as the administrative captain. Last year, he was re-assigned to the patrol division, serving as the operations’ captain and also as a member of the chief of police’s command staff.

Attempts to reach the Starkville Police Department for comment were not returned by The Reflector’s deadline.

Frank Nichols

Professor kicks ‘Knock Knock’ podcast to non-chemistry host live episode in Starkville majors out of class

Edwin Lewis allegedly told 23 of those students they had to leave, despite being registered for the class.

Anna Tedford, a senior biological sciences major and a student in the class, recounted the event.

“As soon as he walked into the classroom, he closed the door and said, ‘Some of y’all are not going to like hearing this, but all of y’all who aren’t chemistry majors have to get out,’” Tedford said.

Tedford said Lewis told the students the section was meant to be for chemistry majors only, but there was an error resulting in other majors being added.

LEAH WORLEY STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, a professor kicked 23 students out of a biochemistry class because they were not chemistry majors.

The first few days of school brought many students confusion as they sought out their new classes for the semester. However, one class of students had more cause to bewilderment than most.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, students walked into their first day of biochemistry in room 2231 of Hand Lab. Within the first five minutes of class, professor

CLASS, 2

MSU gains Phi Beta Kappa chapter Courtesy Photo | ‘Knock Knock’ Podcast

Hosts Jason and Simon Jones, who are brothers, will conduct a Q&A to supplement an episode of “Knock Knock.” They will be on the MSU campus this week for a live session.

KATIE POE

NEWS EDITOR

Almost three decades ago, two Starkville women were murdered after answering a simple knock at the door. Now, nearing the 28th anniversary of the Labor Day Murders, a podcast run by the grandsons of one of the victims aims to resolve the community’s unanswered questions about the case through a live episode airing this week.

Jason B. Jones and his brother Simon Jones launched the podcast “Knock Knock: The Unsolved Murders of Betty Jones and Kathryn Crigler” about a year ago, and the first season is nearing its close. The podcast tells the personal and haunting story of the murder of the two women on Sept. 3, 1990.

Years ago, when Jason Jones was 10 years old, his grandmother, Betty Jones, was at her friend Kathryn Crigler’s house because Crigler had just undergone an amputation, and she did

TUESDAY

not want to be alone on Labor Day weekend while her family was out of town.

The two were planning to watch TV when a knock came to the side door between 8 and 10 p.m.

Betty Jones answered the door, and was killed. Crigler was raped, but survived the initial attack. She later died in a nursing home.

Last year, Jason Jones said the rape kit for Crigler provided DNA evidence for the police, but was not yet matched. Recently, the Starkville Police Department submitted the suspect’s semen to Parabon, a DNA Nanolab.

The department received back a detailed description of what the suspect may have looked like in the 90s.

The lab made a second description, which was ageprogressed and shows what the suspect could look like today, at roughly 50 years old with fair skin and light brown hair.

Jason Jones said besides the DNA breakthrough, over the course of the past year, the podcast team was

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able to discover a wealth of information. Most of this information, Jason Jones said, came from Rockne Harmen, a familial DNA expert.

By creating a podcast, Jason Jones said the brothers also created a sort of tribute for the two victims.

“Some of the things that have been most valuable to us are the non-case-related discoveries,” Jason Jones said. “Simon, in a few episodes back, put it really well—he said that we’ve created a digital memorial for Betty and Katherine.”

This memorial comes to Starkville on Friday for the season to end where the story began. At 6 p.m. on Aug. 31, the brothers will conduct a live Q&A forum.

The event is free and is at Crane Team Theater in the Shira Field House on the Mississippi State University campus.

“This is just one step in a grand, grand scale of finding those answers,” Simon Jones said.

Who?

Knock Knock Podcast What?

Live Q&A When?

August 31 at 6 p.m.

Where?

Rosalind Hutton

Crane Team Theater, Shira Field House RSVP online

http://smarturl.it/ KnockKnock-LiveQA

Knock Knock, 2 FORECAST: The last week of August will end with hot and

humid conditions. Most high temperatures will climb into lower to mid-90s. There will be a steady increase in moisture throughout the area as winds shift southerly. Thunderstorm chances will increase by Wednesday evening into Thursday, as a frontal system makes its way into the area.

Brittany Lockley, Campus Connect Meteorologist/Forecaster

KATIE POE

who have been working toward this most significant achievement,” Keenum said in a press release.

Only 10 percent of colleges in the U.S. shelter PBK chapters, and the society reserves membership for undergraduates majoring in arts and sciences.

The organization selects members through a meritbased invitation process.

“It is most appropriate that our exceptional students will now be eligible for consideration of Phi Beta Kappa membership, and we look forward to the induction of our inaugural class of scholars in the spring of 2019,” Keenum said.

The society grants a chapter to PBK members of the faculty, not the university itself.

For the chapter to be maintained, members should comprise at least 10 percent of the full-time teaching faculty of the arts and sciences department.

Morris “Bill” Collins, founding director of the Stennis Institute of Government, submitted the university’s first PBK application in 1979.

NEWS EDITOR

After almost 40 years since the university’s first application, Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) has awarded Mississippi State University a chapter of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society.

The society voted to grant MSU, along with three other colleges, a chapter August 3 during the organization’s 45th Triennial Council in Boston.

“Earning Phi Beta Kappa distinction reflects achievement in the liberal arts and sciences broadly and signals the value of a challenging academic program and meritocratic success at the highest level,” Secretary Frederick M. Lawrence, head of Phi Beta Kappa’s national office, said in a statement.

MSU President Mark Keenum said the university’s selection should be attributed to those who worked tediously on the applications.

“The granting of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter to Mississippi State is a testament to the outstanding faculty and administrators

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CLASS

CONTINUED FROM 1

According to Tedford, Lewis said the students had to get out and talk to their department head or dean to be added to another class or section.

Tedford said one of the other students followed up this demand with a question, asking if biochemistry majors were included and Lewis said the section was strictly for chemistry majors.

This response resulted in biochemistry majors being removed from the biochemistry class.

Eleven of the students who were forced out of the class marched through campus to find a solution.

Tedford said she was baffled by the last-minute announcement because most of the students had registered for the class during the spring registration period and some had already purchased

the book.

Those afflicted faced added stress from the skewed schedule, as no longer having the required class put graduation and potential job opportunities on the line.

“One person there said he had a job opportunity lined up for when he was supposed to graduate in December,” Tedford said.

“If he did not take this class, not only would he not be able to graduate on time, he could lose that potential job.”

Later Thursday afternoon, Professor and Department Head of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology Jeffrey Dean sent out an email to address the issue and claim responsibility for the error.

“Enrollment for that section was supposed to be restricted to

Get Focused.

POD (Permission of Department), so that it could be limited to chemistry majors,” Dean stated in the email. “It was

addressed before it creates a predicament, unlike what happened Thursday.

“The problem of not limiting enrollment to

“The whole thing took less than 24 hours from the start of the problem until the full solution was in place.”

- Professor and Department Head of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology Jeffery Dean not and I failed to note that the POD designation was not added when I checked the BCH course list over the summer. The chemistryspecific section of BCH 4603 was offered for the first time last year and so we are still learning how best to manage a course offered cooperatively between departments and colleges.”

Such technical errors, though uncommon, are not unheard of. However, the problem is usually found by the professor of the class and is typically

POD happens from time to time, but is usually caught and corrected in advance when the instructor checks their rolls and notices students on the roster who appear to be enrolled erroneously,” Dean stated.

“I cannot speak as to why Dr. Lewis did not notice this or decided not to inform us so that we could contact you in advance and try to correct the problem.

Nor can I say why Dr. Lewis chose to behave and speak to you in the way he did when the class met.”

Lewis declined to

comment on the issue.

As the student population at MSU continues to expand, the university will be hard pressed to avoid and prepare contingency plans for incidents such as the issue of BCH 4603, Section 2.

“There are always lessons to be learned from episodes such as this,” Dean said. “We were caught a bit off guard this year by a large increase in enrollment for this particular class– about 25 percent from Fall 2017–which meant that we didn’t have excess capacity in the regular section of the course to absorb the 23 displaced students... We believe these large enrollments are likely to continue in the future, and we are now looking at whether offering two full sections of the course needs to become a regular part of business starting in the Fall 2019.”

Though the incident was most assuredly disconcerting and frustrating for both students and faculty,

KNOCK KNOCK To RSVP for the event, visit http://smarturl.it/ KnockKnock-LiveQA. A guest at the Q&A will be Sgt. Bill Lott, the lead investigator of the Labor Day Murders case.

“How often does the chance come around where (community members) can speak to the lead investigator and ask questions that maybe they’ve had for years? We just think it’s a very special opportunity both for us and for the people of Starkville,” Simon Jones said.

The seventh episode of “Knock Knock” will come out this week, Jason Jones said, which will be the last

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the department worked quickly to find an effective solution.

“In this case, I directly contacted all 23 affected students within a couple of hours of learning the details of what transpired and laid out the options we faced moving forward,” Dean said. “They received four additional direct messages from me in the following 20 hours, which was the point in time when the Registrar’s Office formally opened an additional section of the course for them at the same day and time as the one they originally chose... The whole thing took less than 24 hours from the start of the problem until the full solution was in place.”

The students will keep their schedule, thanks to the new section that will be taught under professor Aswarthy Rai, who was hired by the department last year to help with the demand for courses under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

CONTINUED FROM 1

of the season. However, he said he hopes new development in the case will keep the podcast going into a second round.

“That would be my dream—that this cold case, true crime podcast would shift to a podcast about the legal process around convicting a murderer and rapist,” Jason Jones said.

Even if more information does not emerge, Simon Jones said a whole support system will still be in place.

“While the episodes will stop coming out, we’ll have a community left,” he said.

“That community is not going away.”

BULLETIN BOARD 3 Brain-teaser gaming central THE REFLECTOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2018 @REFLECTORONLINE

An In-Class Distraction

BAD DAWGS Saturday, Augt. 4, 2018 11:58 a.m. Student arrested for possession of marijuana in motor vehicle.

Sunday, Augt. 5, 2018 2:18 a.m. Student arrested for possession of marijuana in motor vehicle.

Friday, Augt. 17, 2018 12:29 a.m. Arrest for trespassing.

10:16 a.m. Auto burglary.

Monday, Augt. 20, 2018 9:00 p.m. Motor vehicle theft in McComas/Mosely parking lot.

Thursday, Augt. 9, 2018 4:14 p.m. Property damage was reported.

Tuesday, Augt. 21, 2018 3:29 p.m. Lost, found or shortage of property. Colvard Student Union.

9:12 p.m. Possession of marijuana, one ounce or less.

Sunday, Augt. 12, 2018 1:51 p.m. Property damage was reported.

Wednesday, Augt. 22, 2018 9:18 a.m. Student arrest for possession of controlled substance.

Monday, Augt. 13, 2018 6:30 p.m. Lost, found or shortage of property.

5:00 p.m. Motor vehicle theft.

Thursday, Augt. 23, 2018 4:00 p.m. Lost, found or shortage of property.

Thursday, Augt. 16, 2018 10:00 a.m. Disruption of peace.

Friday, Augt. 24, 2018 12:27 a.m. Student arrested for public drunkenness.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY...

...In 1955, Emmett Till was murdered. Visiting his Mississippian relatives from Chicago, he was exposed to a whole new level of racism he had never seen before.

The story goes: after bragging about having a white girlfriend in Chicago, his cousins, knowing Till was quite the flirt, dared him to ask out the white woman behind a store’s counter. Till entered the store, bought candy and said, “Bye, baby,” to the clerk. The woman, Carolyn Bryant, later claimed Till grabbed her, made lewd advances and whistled at her before leaving the store, though there were no witnesses.

Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, returned from a business trip a few days later, heard of the incident and went to Till’s uncle’s house, with his brother-in-law J. W. Milam in tow.

Forcefully taking Till, the pair drove him around, quite possibly beating him in a toolhouse behind Milam’s residence, before driving to the Tallahatchie River. There, they forced him to carry a 75-pound cotton-gin fan and then ordered him to take off his clothes. The two men nearly beat the boy to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, tied his body to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire and threw him into the river.

Three days later, the corpse was recovered. Because the body was so disfigured, Till could only be identified by his initials on a ring. Till’s mother, Mamie Bradley, requested the body be returned to Chicago, where she planned an open-casket funeral. This choice Bradley made shocked the country, as the harsh realities of racism were finally exposed.

In “The Blood of Emmett Till” written by Tim Tyson and released in 2017, Carolyn Bryant recanted her previous testimony. She said Till never touched, threatened or harassed her.

“Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,” Bryant said.

Though there was a trial, no one has ever served time for Till’s murder.

SUDOKU

history.com

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OPINION

There is much to learn from the Socialist Party DYLAN BUFKIN

is a sophomore majoring in English. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.

With the socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over the liberal democratic Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th District Democratic primary earlier in June of this year, socialism was once more thrust into the public’s conscience. MerriamWebster reported searches for the word socialism spiked 1,500 percent following Ocasio-Cortez’s success.

However, precedent has shown socialism is not the most popular topic in mainstream America, considering our multiple Red Scares in the 20th century and the whole Cold War debacle. Indeed, capitalism and socialism are inherently at odds with one another, vying for control over the sympathies of the masses, and America, being exhibit A for the success of capitalism, is naturally a hostile place for the ideology of Karl Marx and his successors.

Of course, it has not stopped socialism from having a long history in the U.S. The Socialist Party of America formed in 1901, even prior to the Leninist revolution in Russia, and while the Socialist Party ceased operations in 1972, the Democratic Socialists of America have functioned since 1982.

Even more recently, OcasioCortez also worked for Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016, who is a self-avowed democratic socialist. A quick aside: the distinction between democratic socialist and socialist are not important to any point I’m trying to make, but rest assured, there is one.

Socialism is not a new idea to America, and it is rapidly becoming popular with millennials. If you looked at my parents’ age range of 50-64 in a 2016 Gallup poll reported by Frank Newport, you would find only 27 percent of participants felt a positive reaction to socialism. However, look at

the millennial age range of 18-29 in the same poll, and positivity toward socialism jumps to 55 percent.

This begs the question: Why do younger people tend to view socialism more favorably? My father would say they have forgotten the good capitalism has brought and the evil socialism wrought, but I think that is simplifying the issue. It is not like millennials do not know about Stalin or Mao and the millions who died under their rule, but some like to frame it in this particular light.

The Chicago Tribune’s article amazingly titled, “It’s the spoiled children of America that are drawn to socialism” by Cal Thomas, is the perfect example. Thomas argues any millennial who leans toward socialist ideology has never experienced socialism, is reaping the benefits of capitalism and has never served their country or know anyone who has.

This kind of thinking is incredibly reductive, unfortunately. Rather than ad hominem the millennials who believe in the ideology of socialism, it would be far more productive to try and understand why millennials are beginning to drift toward the ideology. The same Gallup poll from earlier shows 57 percent of the 18-29 age range also has a positive reaction to capitalism, so it is not that millennials are opposed to capitalism, in essence.

Far more likely, it seems, millennials are opposed to the current implementation of the balance between socialism and capitalism.

You will hear the GOP spout off lots of job figures and gross domestic product numbers because they are correct in saying the economy is doing great, currently. Lydia DePillis with CNN Money reports unemployment is at an 18-year low, and GDP grew 4.1 percent in last quarter, which is far more than the 2.2 percent in the first quarter of this year.

However, it is important to ask where the money is going, and how much it is worth to the average American.

The real median American household income is around $59,039, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank as of September 2017.

Youth

Elderly This is the highest median income on record and should be appreciated, but it is only about $10,000 more than the 1984 real median household income of $49,335 dollars.

“Yeah, but you can’t expect such rapid growth from a median income, Dylan,” I hear you say, “10,000 in 30 years is fairly respectable.”

I would agree with you, and funnily enough, Emmie Martin with CNBC reports a 2010 Princeton study found $75,000 is the average amount where people feel the most correlation between money and happiness. Maybe in 45 years, the middle-class will reach peak happiness, and I will be there to see it.

Here is the kicker, though. According to the Pew Research Center, wages for the average American worker have not budged in over three decades. The purchasing power of a worker in 1978 is basically the same as a U.S. worker now, give or take a couple of dollars an hour. The median increase of income to the American household is exactly that: the median. The middle class has seen some growth, but those less fortunate than my parents or me, for that matter, have seen very little, comparatively.

Rosalind Hutton

A report from the Congressional Budget Office found the lowest-income Americans, the lowest quintile in their report, grew their after-tax income about 46 percent since 1979 to 2013, and the three middle quintiles grew about 40 percent. Even the top quintile, the 81-99th percentile of Americans, only grew about 70 percent. All of this growth only looks bad after seeing the top one percent of Americans, the richest of the rich, grew 192 percent in the same time frame. If you look prerecession, the number was close to hitting 300 percent.

This is what is known as income inequality. The share of wealth in America is lopsided, as Carmen Reinicke with CNBC reports the top one percent of families take home 26.3 times as much income as 99 percent of Americans. The GINI index, used by the World Bank to measure income inequality in a country, shows the extent of the problem in the U.S. In 1979, America sat at 34.6 on the GINI index, a number closer to zero indicating a lower amount of inequality.

By 2016, we now have moved to 41.5.

Put in practical terms:

the top one percent own 40 percent of all wealth in America, and the top 20 percent own 90 percent of all wealth, both statistics reported by Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post.

Now I could go into whether this is deserved wealth, begotten through blood, sweat and tears, but to finish out this article, I want to return to discussing what this means for socialist millennials.

The National Center for Education Statistics found four-year post-secondary education, private or public, has more than doubled in price since 1985, adjusted for inflation. Similarly, CNBC’s Ester Bloom reported the average American spent around $9,596 on healthcare in 2012, which was a sharp increase from 2007’s cost of $7,700.

This is compounded by the fact the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which focuses on resolving fiscal challenges within the U.S., found the U.S. spends more than twice what other developed nations spend per capita on healthcare, yet has a lower life expectancy than most of Europe.

When you hear young socialists talk about free healthcare, free college and wealth redistribution, it is because they see there is a growing problem in America with all of these factors.

No one decides to change a system when it is working for their benefit. They decide to change the system when it is working against them. They look at the issues we face today and see the free market has not rectified them, and the American dream which was promised to them is far out of reach.

Therefore, let me return to the fantastically applicable, “it’s the spoiled children of America who are drawn to socialism” by Cal Thomas from earlier.

First, telling someone to go live in a collapsing state like Venezuela, in order to experience what socialism does, is both ignorant and unproductive.

Venezuela’s current collapse is a consequence of many factors, and while one of those may be its implementation of socialist

ideas, the majority of Venezuela’s woes come from its over-reliance on oil in its economy, its destruction of civil rights and policies that both restricted and relied upon a free-market system. In light of this, calling Venezuela a truly socialist state is an error. Venezuela always had private property, and it always had a free market. It was simply accompanied by some nationalization.

Second, the people in America who are drawn to socialism are the ones who were burned by capitalism, plain and simple. The burning could be from a moral standpoint or an economic standpoint–both get the same result. They are people who see a problem in the current American system, and they wish to fix the system.

They could, in fact, be benefiting greatly from the capitalist system, but they see socialism as a better economic alternative or more societally beneficial, as a whole. It could be very true they do not know someone who served in the military or did not do so themselves, but those are not prerequisites for having an opinion on how to fix something. While I thank him for his service, I would hope Thomas sees the whole reason he served was so others at home could attempt use their rights to change the country.

You can certainly believe socialism is not the answer to this quandary of societal inequality, and I will echo the sentiment. Despite this, I recognize the problems we must deal with, and I am not content to simply let it lie and hope tax cuts will suddenly make millionaires more philanthropic.

America was not always this economically unequal, and I truly believe regulated capitalism can breed brilliant results once more. You and I, dear readers, are the future of this nation, and we must act like it. America has the capability to be the home for the free and the brave, regardless of income or background, but it requires fine-tuning and upkeep. Let us allow our descendants to read about our Gilded Age and thank God things became better, because we made sure they did.

Worldwide free internet – feasible or make-believe?

DAVID SIDES

is a senior double majoring in finance and German. Contact him at opinion@ reflector.msstate.edu.

Elon Musk, the patron saint of science fiction nerds, the mind behind SpaceX and Tesla as well as cheap flamethrowers, selflanding rockets and other technological toys, revealed an even more audacious plan: free (or very cheap) superfast, worldwide internet.

Since early 2015, Musk hatched his plan of launching almost 12,000 satellites into orbit around Earth, now unofficially dubbed Starlink.

These 12,000 satellites equate to almost three times the amount currently in orbit, which is around 1,700 active and 2,900 inactive satellites, as stated by Pixalytics Ltd. If you are thinking this plan sounds expensive, it is

because it is.

According to Cecilia Kang of The Washington Post, Google and Fidelity invested $1 billion into the project in 2015, obviously hoping to get in on the action–and later on the payout.

SpaceX believes a market of this kind, one offering global, 1-gigabit-per-second internet, could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Who better to partner with than a company like Google, which billions of people use every day?

Although current highspeed internet connections focus on the use of fiber optics, such as the grids Google is constructing in cities around the U.S., Musk believes wireless connections are the future.

By deploying around 4,500 satellites into high-earth orbit and around 7,500 into low-earth orbit, SpaceX will create a web of connections enveloping the entire planet.

This means someone sitting in a Starbucks in New York City would have the same

high-speed connection as a person living in a one-story brick hut in rural Zambia.

The way to access it, of course, will be dependent on SpaceX. According to Dan Mosher of Business Insider, SpaceX’s vice president of satellite government affairs, Patricia Cooper, SpaceX will construct laptop-like devices which will cost between $100 and $300, and will be capable of accessing the satellite web, which in turn “will enable seamless network management and continuity of service.” Musk is a philanthropist, no doubt about it, but he is also a businessman, and he has to fund his project somehow.

By restricting access to the SpaceX network to only devices produced by his company, Musk both creates and corners a market in one fell swoop.

Of course, if we reach this point, we will have to see if it stands in domestic and international courts, or whether the courts decide Musk and SpaceX amassed

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Furthermore, we have to look at how SpaceX implements this plan on an international scale. Although the stated goal is to bring internet to the billions of people without access, how feasible is this goal?

First, you have to consider the few billion people who could never hope to afford a $100 laptop with a SpaceX satellite connection. For the other remaining billion not connected to the internet, there is a very good reason for it. Their government purposely controls their access to information in order to maintain their vice-like grip on the minds of their population. The flood of information Musk is proposing is not just revolutionary, but to them, it is downright dangerous.

Take the Chinese for example. The one-party Chinese government, headed by Xi Jinping (who is now capable of ruling indefinitely) does not allow access to a number of websites, including Google

and Facebook. For Musk’s plan to be implemented there, it would have to undergo a slew of new regulations and restrictions. This holds true for a number of other countries as well, such as North Korea or Libya, where a failed media blackout only ignited further tensions.

According to Bloomberg News in association with The Washington Post, Musk’s plan is bold, but still economically feasible. If he gets the investors, which I know he will, he can put those satellites into space and make information barriers a thing of the past.

The question I cannot seem to answer is how it will play out on the international scale. Sure, implementation will go smoothly in the U.S., Canada and western Europe, where SpaceX will conform to their respective internet regulatory bodies, but what about in East Asia, North Africa and Russia, where the internet blockade is not necessarily due to economics?

We will have to wait and see.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Life Editor/Emma Moffett

Managing Editor/Kristina Domitrovich News Editor/Katie Poe

too much power and influence.

The effects of this ideal, which on the surface seem entirely beneficial, will have far-reaching effects into every nook and cranny of our lives.

The potential for complete access to information in countries such as China and North Korea could have devastating effects on the ruling parties. The resulting chaos could make the Arab Spring look like a day at the park. Which begs the question, how will this plan be received internationally?

Although Musk has dealt with the FCC for approval to launch his satellites, there was very little discussion otherwise concerning the socio-political effects of his plan.

Even though the Soviet Bloc dissolved almost 30 years ago, it is not hard to see we are still constantly at odds with Russia and their allies.

How do you think they would feel about an American company putting 12,000 new satellites into space, regardless of the purpose?

Circulation/Sierra Pruitt circulation@reflector.msstate.edu

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LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT

Creativity flourishes at MSU student organization auditions EMMA KING

STAFF WRITER

With the fall semester kicking into gear, three student-run organizations, Black Voices Gospel Choir, Terpsichore dance company and Lab Rats Comedy are hosting auditions for freshmen and upperclassmen attending Mississippi State University.

The Black Voices Gospel Choir of MSU interacts with the Golden Triangle through song and community service. It is holding its auditions from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Aug. 29 and 30 in the Chapel of Memories. The choir encourages any MSU students with the ability to pitch match, sing parts and love God to audition.

Zierra Long, Black Voices Gospel Choir’s president, has fond memories of her time in the organization, and is dedicated to creating a welcoming atmosphere for all students.

“One thing that helped me become involved in BV was that no other organizations went out their way to inform/ persuade me to join,” Long said. “Plus, I felt as if the people in the choir could relate to my love for singing and commitment to the Christian lifestyle I’m trying to live.”

MSU’s Black Voices Gospel Choir was formed in 1972 by Ronnie E. Dottory in preparation of Black History Week, and the organization now boasts over 40 years of community service. In honor of their first performance in February of 1972 at Lee

Hall, an annual concert is held in Lee Hall to commemorate the success, and overflowing crowds show support for the choir.

The Terpsichore Dance Theatre Company at MSU, a newer but equally as energetic group on campus, is hosting its fall auditions Aug. 29 and 31. The dance company members learn multiple styles of dance and meet three days a week as they prepare for several mini-performances throughout the year and a large show at the end of the year.

Laura Sullivan, president of the Terpsichore Dance Theatre Company, said the organization is very welcoming, but usually requires most members to have a background in dance.

“Terpsichore is the perfect group to join if you grew up dancing and want to continue in college,” Sullivan said. “This group has given me some of my closest friends and the perfect place to forget all the stresses of school and life to just dance.”

Auditions will be held in the Sanderson, which sports a slick floor unsafe for en pointe, and will consist of barre work, center work and an original 30-second piece of the performer’s own choreography.

There is an audition fee of $5, and the dress code is a leotard, tights and the dancer’s most comfortable shoes. Tight-fitting shorts will also be allowed, and hair must be pulled away from the face.

Sullivan encourages anyone with a passion for dance to follow in her footsteps and find a family

with the Terpsichore DTC. “I love dancing and expressing myself through dance, so when I found out about Terpsichore, I knew it was the place for me,” Sullivan said.

Lab Rats Comedy, MSU’s only improvisation group for 10 years, is holding final auditions today at 7 p.m. in Moseley Hall. Lab Rats is open to any and all majors, and performs five times a semester—two of which are held on McComas’ main stage.

Luke Lutz, Lab Rats’ short form director, became a member of Lab Rats in the spring of 2017 and uses the club as his creative outlet.

“I have been involved on campus for the past three years with a variety of student groups across campus, and no other group has given the same opportunity to express myself the way Lab Rats has,” Lutz said.

Since Lab Rats practices are only held for one hour twice a week, of which members must only attend one session, the organization is compatible with most schedules.

Lutz encourages anyone with doubts to overcome their stage fright and audition anyway.

“At first it’s terrifying thinking about just going on stage with no plan of what is going to happen, with the goal of entertaining an audience, but the crazy thing is literally anyone can do it,” Lutz said. “It’s all about going up there and having fun, because no matter what you do, if you have fun, the audience will, too.”

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Starkville hosts 4th annual Night Market KHELSEA ZIESMER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Starkville’s third annual Night Market is coming to town from 5 to 10 p.m.

Friday in Fire Station Park.

With live music, craft beers and vendors from all across the state, Night Market is a great place for families and friends to connect and support Starkville and the cities of Mississippi.

A range of local and statewide business will sell their handmade goods ranging from sticky buns to men’s cologne.

George Mary’s, a unique small business founded in the heart of Starkville, is particularly excited about the upcoming festival.

Alesia Lucas, founder and owner of the indie shop George Mary’s, has participated in the festival since its start in 2016.

Lucas said the Night Market, which is one day before Mississippi State University’s first home game of the season, is an attractive event for any

visitors in town, not just locally-brewed beers. locals.

For $15, attendees over “This is one of the 21 can sample a small glass most fun community of all the beers offered at events that highlights small the festival. business in a fun social Participants will also atmosphere,” Lucas said. receive three tickets that are “Night Market also involves exchangeable for a 12-ounce the community and guests glass of whichever craft coming into town for game beer tastes they desire. day weekends.”

Gabrielle Luna, a MSU Paige Watson, the senior, said she loves special events and engaging in the community project coordinator with and looks forward to an the Greater Starkville opportunity full of music, Development Partnership, food and shopping. is excited about the event “I cannot wait to sample and hopes members of the all of the different beers entire Starkville community and peruse all of the local will attend. shops,” Luna said. “Being “This is an event that able to support local appeals to all audiences,” businesses is something Watson said. “Whenever that is very important to you come, it won’t feel like me, and being able to do it you are in Starkville; it will in a festival atmosphere is feel like you’re somewhere icing on the cake.” much more upscale.”

Follow us Night Market is not exclusively shopping, on Instagram! and will host a variety of specialty food vendors, as well as a craft beer festival a nd multiple Mississippi breweries.

The craft beer festival, one of the most anticipated events of Night Market, will host a selection of multiple @reflectoronline

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SPORTS

MSU volleyball struggles to find QB Fitzgerald suspended, ‘rhythm’ in weekend tournament Thompson to start first game

PHIL EVANS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This weekend, the Mississippi State University volleyball team (1-3) played in their home tournament, the Starkvegas Classic, against Mississippi Valley State University (0-4), the University of Louisiana at Monroe (2-1), Georgia State University (2-1) and California Baptist University (4-0).

Friday was an exciting day in “the Griss,” as the 11 a.m. match against MVSU featured the cheers of local fifth graders. The students were treated to an outstanding blocking show, as MSU racked up 11 blocks in the match. MSU walked away from the match with a lot

of confidence after beating MSVU in straight sets (25-19, 25-13, 25-13).

For the nightcap against ULM, the atmosphere at the Griss was “awesome,” for the team’s new head coach.

“I love turning around and seeing so many familiar faces in the stands,” Darty said. “I think that is a great sign that people are pulling for us and they understand it is going to be a long road. It is really nice to see so many faces here to support this program.”

Paige Shaw, a freshman from Hoover, Alabama, led the way against ULM with 13 kills. After the match, which MSU lost in four sets (1925, 23-25, 25-21, 22-25), she credited her teammates.

“It feels really good, I

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have my team helping me and backing me up,” Shaw said.

“They put me in a really good position to just play my best and help the team out.”

After going 1-1 on Friday, MSU fell to Georgia State University in four sets (21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-25). Despite the loss, Darty saw something impressive from her team, but she also saw room to grow.

“I was impressed today, a little more than yesterday, I thought we had a little more grit, a little more fight than last night,” Darty said. “I just told our captains, ‘There are going to be a lot of growing pains this year. Essentially, we are an entirely new team. Right?’

A new staff and new pieces– there is a lot of new–and I feel like we have some pieces to the puzzle, but I do not think we have all those pieces.

We are trying new lineups and trying to figure out what works. The goal for us is to find a line-up that exposes our strengths and hides our weaknesses, and we certainly can tell our weaknesses at this point.”

The fight for wins would not get easier, as the next opponent was CBU, who made the NCAA tournament two years ago and is trying to make a push to reach this accomplishment again. MSU struggled, hitting an abysmal .027 as a team, and the team’s side-out stat stayed below 40 percent for most of the night, while also allowing CBU to make runs of 6-0, 14-3, and 9-1. MSU was defeated in three straight sets (16-25, 2025,19-25).

“This weekend was a reality check for us. I think coming into this weekend, we never thought this was going to be a situation where we get one win, at our home tournament,” Darty said. “My hope is that we can find some kind of rhythm and some kind of momentum as we get into September, October.”

HUNTER CLOUD SPORTS EDITOR

When Mississippi State University takes the field this saturday against their first opponent of the 2018 season ,Stephen F Austin, they will be without their team captain and starting Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, a senior from Richmond Hill, Georgia.

“The players who will not dress for this game due to a violation of team policy, Nick Fitzgerald will not play this week, and neither will Cory Thomas,” Moorhead said.”Nick’s violation of team rules occurred in March. Since that time he has been elected captain, he has had an awesome spring ball, and he has had an awesome summer conditioning workout, and an awesome fall camp.”

Nick Fitzgerald will only miss a game for the violation of team rules that occurred in march, Moorhead declined to say when Fitzgerald found out about the suspension, he will start in the game at Kansas State University on September 8th.

“He has been an awesome leader and and awesome teammate, but he will serve his suspension this week,” Moorhead said.

“Hopefully he can come back and be our starter against Kansas State. Our guys certainly understand, we talk about choices and consequences, and decision making and accountability.

They understand how to deal with the consequence of their choice, and we will see those guys back on the field soon.”

Keytaon Thompson, a sophomore from New Orleans, will get the start at Quarterback. He played

Noah Siano | The Reflector

Nick Fitzgerald, a senior quarterback from Richmond Hill, Georgia, will not start in game against SFA due to violating team rules in March.

in the Egg Bowl after Fitzgerald suffered a nasty ankle injury as well as a start in the Taxslayer Bowl against Louisville.

Moorhead believes that Thompson will be ready to go.

“KT is going to do an awesome job,” Moorhead said. “We have a next man in philosophy, where if one man goes the person who replaces him is going to do an as good or better of a job, and KT, Jaylen Mayden and Logan (Burnett) are going to do a real good job there.”

Moorhead said that the team as a whole has a lot of faith in Thompson, who lead them to a Bowl Victory in his first career start and has thrown for 388 yards and two touchdowns, he has also rushed for 446 yards and six touchdowns in his career at Mississippi State.

“I think the guys have a tremendous amount of belief in Keytaon,” Moorhead said. “Obviously because of how talented he is. He has had the

ability to go into a game, in particularly a bowl game under an interim staff against a Heisman trophy winning quarterback, and ended up taking them to a great win in a bowl game.”

Moorhead said he hopes the culture that they have been developing at MSU with a focus on accountability and next man in has given Thompson and the team a great opportunity to play well and handle adversity.

“I think on top of what KT brings to the table as a player, that our team has a belief that we are going to handle prosperity and handle adversity,” Moorhead said. “You gotta keep your chin off your chest, you got to stand strong, and trust that KT is a very good player, and we are going to put him in a position to be successful.”

The MSU-SFA game will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. ESPNU will televise the game.

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