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132nd YEAR ISSUE 38
FRIDAY MARCH 2, 2018
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Houston, we have a problem
Aerospace engineering department deals with internal strife DYLAN BUFKIN STAFF WRITER
The Mississippi State University Department of Aerospace Engineering is experiencing troubles as faculty and administration clash over how the department should be run. MSU released a statement on Facebook regarding the department Feb. 19. “The future of the MSU Department of Aerospace Engineering is bright, sound, and one that our students and their families can rely upon. MSU values the opinions and input of our faculty members and actively seeks dialogue on ways to proactively improve our programs,” the Facebook statement said. Following several instances of perceived administrative abuse, several faculty members expressed concerns over how the department is currently functioning, but according to an e-mail sent by a prominent aerospace professor, the concerns were not addressed and were dismissed. James Keith, the dean of the Bagley College of Engineering, said the administration is continuing to support the faculty and students by listening to their concerns, and he plans to meet with every faculty member in the department to speak on the current situation to work toward a resolution. Keith also assured any faculty departure will not affect the education students receive at MSU. Keith said the College of Engineering plans to hire a new tenure-track professor, a clinical faculty member and up to five new positions to accommodate the growing student body.
“I meet almost every single faculty candidate when they come on campus for interviews,” Keith said. “I expect them to have the ability to be excellent teachers and have the potential to also perform excellent research with both our undergraduate and our graduate students. By requiring this, we aim to satisfy the land-grant mission of Mississippi State University.” The current department faculty received a 4.2 out of five on their 2017 student teaching evaluations, with over 50 courses of either ASE or engineering mechanics. Keith assured Space Cowboys, MSU’s rocket-building team, will be fine
if its advisor leaves. For many of MSU’s teams, including the EcoCAR3 team, have flourished despite their advisors leaving. However, Greg Olsen, one of the 18 aerospace professors, sees the aerospace department differently. Olsen resigned this week to return to an aerospace industry job. He worked at MSU for a total of 11 years, from 2004 to 2009 and 2012 to present. According to Olsen, the timeline of events spans a couple of years. The first offense occurred when the faculty of the Aerospace Department was searching for a new department head, and on the second search, Davy Belk was recommended by a split vote to the dean. Belk has no previous academia experience, but has over 30 years of experience working for the Air Force in various positions. “My fear was that he wouldn’t fit into the academic system or conform to its practices and policies,” Olsen said. Olsen said he and other professors became frustrated at Belk’s hierarchical and exclusionary administrative style. Olsen explained Belk began to require his personal signature to allow graduate students to receive their master’s thesis, but Olsen said he believes Belk exercised this ability only once. Olsen also said Belk required the aerospace’s external advisory board to begin advising only himself, excluding the faculty as a whole. “First time in 11 years I’d seen that,” Olsen said. Belk presented the idea of using $450,000 to renovate the Walker Engineering Building’s front office without consulting the faculty, Olsen said. In addition, Olsen said Belk wanted to stop students’ ability to have a one-onone with prospective faculty candidates before they are hired, but pushback from students and faculty prevented him from doing so. AEROSPACE, 2
Tori Boatner| The Reflector
Demonstrators outside of Old Main Academic building hold signs in protest of Pro-choice advocate Dr. Willie Parker who spoke last night. Dr. Parker is an OB-GYN from the sole abortion clinic in Mississippi, and an outspoken pro-choice proponent. He will presented his speech “Abortion and the Christian Case for Choice,” as part of the Gender Studies department event series, Women’s History Month.
ECAB: tech, vet groups present startup ideas KATIE POE
STAFF WRITER
Several Mississippi State University students pitched their business startup ideas to the Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board’s monthly meeting last week. ECAB is a step in the VentureCatalyst Program, where individuals present their startups to a board of about a dozen professors, CEOs and businessmen and women. The board can decide to grant them up to $2,000. The board meeting is similar to the show “Shark Tank,” and allows both students and staff to get their business ideas up and running. In addition, the board gave $2,000 to Direct Flow, a product created for veterinarian neurosurgeons to use specifically on hydrocephalic animals during surgery. Hydrocephalus is
when excess fluid builds up in the brain. Chief Operating Officer Jackson Coole and Chief Executive Officer Sage Lewis, both biological engineering majors, gave the pitch. Coole said right now, the condition is treated the same way in both humans and dogs—both using a shunt connected to a tube in their bodies. In dogs, the tube is connected to the brain and abdominal cavity. “You can imagine that that’s a crazy procedure,” said Coole. Coole said complications in the surgery could include kinks in the tube or if the animal grows or loses weight, the tube could become too short or long. In order to prevent complications and make the surgery more simple, Coole proposes Direct Flow, a shunt could replace the valves and tubing, and be placed directly into the ventricle. ECAB, 2
Lisa Ling delivers compelling speech; urges audience to be student activists SEAN MCCARTHY STAFF WRITER
The audience leaped to their feet. Thunderous applause rippled across Mississippi State University’s Bettersworth Auditorium. On stage, renowned journalist Lisa Ling beamed following her speech. Ling had just finished a speech to the crowd of over 300 attendees who filled Lee Hall Monday to hear the journalist deliver her speech. The Global Lecture Series, which strives to attract cultural and civic leaders to speak on their experiences to the Mississippi State and Starkville communities, hosted and made Ling’s
visit to MSU possible. Ling is known for her contributions to CNN and the Oprah Winfrey Network. She now hosts and produces “This is Life” on CNN. Previously, Ling worked with the Oprah Winfrey Network on her show “Our America,” and as a co-host on ABC’s “The View.” Reilly Reeves, a junior biomedical engineering major from Madison, was integral in bringing Ling to MSU. “We’ve centered on diversity on our committee and within the Mississippi State Student Association,” Reeves said. “Our team settled on Lisa Ling because she brought in a minority group that had not been featured on campus.”
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MSU Communication | Courtesy Photo
Renowned journalist, Lisa Ling, spoke Tuesday on the MSU campus. She recouted her extensive career covering global and domestic issues.
Katelyn Jackson, a second-year biology major
from Starkville, said Ling had a large impact on the
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benefited by receiving firsthand information from Lisa Ling regarding enriching yourself through travel and exposure to other areas of the world that are outside your comfort zone,” Jackson said. Ling was intentional throughout her speech, covering her journalism career. She introduced her roughly hour-long speech by describing her beginnings in journalism as a student journalist for Channel One News, the popular student news broadcast. Extensive travels across the globe characterized Ling’s journalism debut. She recounted taking a risky trip as a Channel One reporter to civil war-torn Afghanistan. LISA LING, 2
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