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BIG CHANGES
Alzheimer’s research in need of more funding
in the Mitchell Memorial Library
Reflector Women’s Basketball Lands 5-Star Transfer
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FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2017
The
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131st YEAR ISSUE 27
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Women’s basketball team exceeds expectations by Taylor Rayburn Staff Writer
With a win over Alabama last night, No. 4 Mississippi State Women’s basketball broke another school record. MSU (20-0, 6-0 SEC) beat Alabama (14-5, 2-4 SEC) 67-54 and now have nine road wins this season, the most in school history. On Monday night, MSU beat Ole Miss (136, 2-4 SEC) for the sixth consecutive time with a 72-63 victory. That victory gave MSU a 19-0 record, which is the best start in school history and also the longest win streak in MSU
Alayna Stevens | The Reflector
school history. The Bulldogs also experienced their best start in SEC play with a 6-0 record. The win over Alabama gave MSU its fourth 20-win season in a row, with the senior class just three wins away from winning their 100th game. With all the recent success, pressure has piled up on the Bulldogs. Point Dominique Dillingham, a senior from Spring, Texas, credited head coach Vic Schaefer for keeping the team grounded in a presser on Wednesday. “It is not that hard, Coach Schaefer keeps us grounded every day,” Dillingham said. “He reminds us daily that we are not perfect.”
Mississippi State Universityʼs Womenʼs basketball team huddled up to prepare for the game against Ole Miss on Sunday. The MSU women won 72-63.
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Jenn McFadden, The Reflector
Record broken:
the
Inauguration Day
2017
BASKETBALL, 2
Palmer Home cares for children around the world by Kristina Norman Staff Writer
Since it was founded, the Palmer Home has never strayed from its original mission according to David Foster, vice president and senior advior for the Palmer Home. He said it has followed the Christian principles mandated in James 1:27 which states, “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” According to the Christian Alliance for Orphans, there are approximately 402,378 children in foster care in the United States, of which 101,840 are waiting to be adopted; however, only around half of those children end up being adopted. On average, the age of children waiting to be adopted, is eight years old. Those children spend nearly 22 months in the foster care system. Originally an orphanage, the Palmer Home has transitioned and oriented itself more toward foster care, housing six to eight children living in cottages with a foster mother and father. The original orphanage building, Lindamood, built in 1898, now serves as an administration building for staff. Lynn Atkins, vice president, residential, manages the daily operations for the
Columbus campus interacting with foster parents and troubleshooting issues whenever they may arise. Carol Wright, vice president of business affairs, said the Palmer Home has gone through many changes over the course of her 23 years, though the fundamental principle has remained constant: caring for children. With the Palmer Home’s new program, Whole Child Initiative, the potential to help more children is within reach. The Palmer Home, with its two locations in Hernando and Columbus, serves only 112 children. On the other hand, new and emerging opportunities with technology, such as the internet, have the possibility to reach millions. “The exciting thing about now is to really be able to serve more children,” Wright said. Foster said it is an “exciting time,” referring to the launch of the new program he authored. “We’re getting requests literally from all around the globe for these materials,” Foster said. In the past year, Foster has traveled extensively from Ghana to the Philippines to Helena, Montana, and Washington, D.C. At a recent conference in Accra, Ghana, he was the keynote speaker presenting the Whole Child Initiative with Ghana’s first lady and 16 African countries in attendance. While in
Ghana, he helped launch Ghana Without Orphans an offshoot of World Without Orphans, which seeks adoption and foster care. A month later, he headed to the Philippines,
“The Little Children’s Home” modeled after, but not affiliated with, the Palmer Home and the Whole Child Initiative. As a keynote speaker for the Council on Residential Excellence
402, 376
Children placed in foster care
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months on average spent in a foster home
00, 2 840
Children under 8 waiting to be apodpted
Jennifer McFadden, The Reflector
to train orphanage staff for a week. When he came back stateside, he headed to Helena, Montana, with his wife where he led training of the staff for the opening of a new children’s home called
(CORE) in Washington, D.C., he addressed different agencies who have residential programs for children. One of the biggest differences between the United States and other
countries, Foster said, is the concept of foster care. In Africa, the concept of taking a child into your home is still in its infancy. Compounding the problem are the sharp divisions that exist among tribes. Taking in a child from a different tribe, Foster said, is comparable to taking in a child from a different racial group which has now become common in America. In spite of the deep divisions, beliefs and attitudes are slowly beginning to change allowing more children the opportunity to receive a home. As defined by UNICEF and its partners, an orphan refers to a child who is absent one or two parents. For most people who live in industrialized countries this may sound odd, but the AIDS crisis has left millions of children without a parent. Others have parents who currently live with the disease. Worldwide, the Christian Alliance for Orphans estimates there are 150 million orphans. Of those 150 million orphans, 34.5 million have lost a mother, 101 million have lost a father, and 17.6 million have lost both mother and father becoming “double orphans.” No matter where Foster has gone in Africa, whether Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, or Uganda, he said the picture is nearly identical. The smell of charcoal fires everywhere, smog fills the air causing people to choke, and poverty exists
on every corner. Children all over Africa sleep on sidewalks and stand in doorways of shops and markets, struggling daily just to survive. Many survive by stealing or selling things while others become trafficked for sex. Foster’s background in ministry led him to his current career. The change occurred gradually, he said. While working as a church minister, he noticed there were members of his congregation who needed help, but which his ministry education and training had not prepared him. As a result, he decided to return to school and get training in psychology at Wheaton College so he could help them. During his early time with Palmer Home, Foster said he was tasked with finding a way to assess children and help them in essential areas of their lives. This idea would become the basis for the Whole Child Initiative. Foster said the initial idea came from the current president and CEO of the Palmer Home, Drake Bassett. The Whole Child Initiative program labels itself as a “comprehensive approach,” and works by examining each child’s individual needs. What it gives those who care for children, is the training and insight needed to address the spiritual, emotional, physical and educational areas of a child’s life. Foster said his task involved writing a curriculum for online and on-site training addressing these needs. PALMER HOME, 2
Weather
Reflections
Rebeca Velazquez, Campus Connect Forecast (Department of Geosciences)
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
HI: 72 LO: 57 SKY: Cloudy
HI: 70 LO: 54 SKY: Cloudy
HI: 62 LO: 46 SKY: Cloudy
POP:10%
POP: 70%
POP: 60%
FORECAST: We have a wet weekend ahead with rain starting Fri. evening and lasting until Sun. night. Sat. has a chance for severe weather with the potential for large hail and gusty winds.
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