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TUESDAY JANUARY 24, 2017
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131st YEAR ISSUE 28
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
MSU to undergo budget cuts by Kristina Norman Staff Writer
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s recent announcement of emergency state budget cuts has Mississippi State University officials concerned over the future of state funding for public universities. The governor’s announcement came through a letter to the Department of Finance and Administration. The new budget cuts totaling $51 million will cut $10.3 million from the state’s eight public universities. In September, Bryant ordered a $57 million budget cut due to an accounting error. Last April, MSU President Mark Keenum voiced his concerns with leadership of the state College Board about challenges facing higher education. In his speech, Keenum acknowledged the state’s revenue problems, and the value of investing in public universities for the state as a whole. “It bears repeating in a state with the nation’s most pronounced poverty and the nation’s secondlowest level of educational attainment,” Keenum said, “the prizes for better jobs
cut from The State of Mississippi’s eight public universities’ budget
Jenn McFadden, The Reflector
and better lives for our children and grandchildren are inexorably tied to an excellent, affordable, and accessible system of higher education.” Sid Salter, MSU’s chief communications officer and director, said the university is concerned and is evaluating the impact of the latest round of cuts. How those cuts may affect funding for the university,
he said, can only be speculated about. Kathleen Thomas, associate professor of economics, said she does not know what will happen with tuition, but she can envision different scenarios playing out. One of the options for the university, Thomas said, would be making a request to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher
Learning for a tuition increase. Thomas said she does not think the university would feel comfortable increasing tuition again so soon following the last tuition hike. The university may, however, look to other means to address the shortfall. “The university is really in a bind,” Thomas said. “One thing that students probably don’t understand
very well, is that the cost of educating a student in one year is really pretty expensive, and that tuition doesn’t even cover half of that cost.” Money that helps fund a student’s education comes from state appropriations paid by taxpayers and the university itself. Thomas said over the last few years state appropriations have drastically fallen, shifting the costs on to students and the university. Thomas said some things reduced funding could affect include, the library’s hours of operation and fewer new library books. Classroom technology may not be updated. Faculty vacancies could be left unfilled or lead to existing faculty not receiving raises. One way or another, Thomas said, the university will find a way to close the gaps in funding. States who constantly choose to cut spending from education create what Thomas calls, “a vicious cycle.” To illustrate her “vicious cycle,” Thomas points to someone with little to no education who makes low wages, and thus contributes very little to the state’s tax revenue. This in turn, affects the amount of money the state can give to universities.
SA Senate Elections:
Senate forms due: Thursday January 26th at 5pm. Mandatory meeting: Friday the 27th at 1pm in Fowlkes Auditorium. Students may run to represent their college or the university at large.
The number of seats per college is dependent on the number of students in the respective college Jenn McFadden, TR
BUDGET, 2
The face of WMSV: Anthony Craven by Laken Vickers Staff Writer
Check it out! weekly videos: www.reflector-online.com
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James Bryant, Campus Connect Forecast (Department of Geosciences)
The WMSV radio station at Mississippi State University plays alternative music softly under the awning while posters of talented musicians, racks of tapes, and modest rooms with extravagant equipment can be seen through the double-doors. Anthony Craven, general manager of WMSV, meets his guests at the door with a warm handshake and invitingly gestures to a seat in his office. Craven has a knack for making one feel at home and inviting them to share in his enthusiasm for music with ease. Craven said he oversees the day-to-day operations of the station as the only full-time, professional staff in a sea of student workers. “I’m responsible to make sure we stay on the air; that we find new music, add new music, new programming, and
more,” Craven said. Doing this, Craven said, can be time consuming but because of his love for it and his previous experience as a student worker and DJ himself for WMSV, he enjoys the work and finds familiarity in it. Craven received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication and his Master of Arts in Teaching through MSU. Although Craven spent years as a student DJ and public affairs director for WMSV, he said it was another five to seven years before he began to actually consider the possibility he could become the general manager. This became a reality when Steve Ellis, previous founder and owner of WMSV, retired in 2015. “I’ve been blessed,” Craven said. With his history with WMSV, Craven said he had the opportunity to see the radio station adapt to different genres and preferences throughout the years. According to Craven, when the station first
went on the air in March of 1994, the music played was considered “straight alt. rock;” it was mid-90’s and the “grunge scene” was coming to an end, alternative rock taking over. WMSV swooped in to take over as the only alternative rock radio station in the local area at the time. Later, when more stations started to follow suit, Ellis took notice and, true to his desire of being an “original” radio station, guided the station to becoming an “AAA” genre radio station. “We are format,” Craven said, “Every station has a musical format, a primary genre.” Labeled by the music industry, “AAA” is considered WMSV’s primary genre to this day. AAA or “Triple A” was labeled in 2001 as an offshot and more “mature” sounding version of alternative rock. It stands for “Adult Album Alternative” which is a wide range of music featuring artists such as The Head and the Heart, Band of Horses, Adele,
and The Avett Brothers. Everyday at WMSV looks a little different for Craven. However, mornings are generally geared towards “Observations from MSU,” a 30 minute newscast airing Monday through Friday from 11:30-12:00 p.m.. This newscast is produced inhouse everyday. Craven said he is the executive producer. “Our student team does a really good job every single morning of getting our newscast put together,” Craven said. He said afternoons are not as uniform as the mornings tend to be. Monday’s generally consist of loading all of the promotions for the shows coming up later in the week and updating whatever necessary. Tuesday is where the real fun comes in for Craven. Finding tasteful music that is not overplayed can be difficult, but Craven sees it as an exciting challenge. The team at WMSV uses a website offered exclusively to
Anthony Craven | Courtesy Photo
radio stations called “Mediabase.” According to Craven, this is a go-to source that does a great job at letting stations keep up with music trends across every genre imaginable. Wednesday consists of compiling all the new music into build logs that are aired the next week. Thursdays and Fridays are when all the new songs and weekend specialty shows are loaded. This is vital seeing as WMSV has a live DJ Monday through Friday however most Saturday and Sunday airings are pre-recorded. CRAVEN, 2
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
HI: 64 LO: 51 SKY: Cloudy
HI: 66 LO: 39 SKY: Showers
HI: 52 LO: 32 SKY: Sunny
POP: 0%
POP: 20%
POP: 0%
FORECAST: These next three days there will be a brief warm up. Expect afternoon highs in the low 60s. A weak cold front brings a wave of cold air by Wed. evening. Have a great week!
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