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134th YEAR ISSUE 45
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Suspect in 2016 Cotton District murder pleads guilty HANNAH BLANKENSHIP NEWS EDITOR
District Attorney Scott Colom announced Wednesday in a press conference that the suspect apprehended for the 2016 Cotton District murder of a Mississippi State University student pled guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. 22-year-old Jaylen Barker of Columbus, the defendant, was charged with capital murder for the Nov. 6, 2016 shooting of 21-year-old Joseph Tillman. According to Colom, because Barker openly confessed in court that he did indeed kill Tillman, a life sentence was granted, rather than the possible verdict of the death penalty if the case continued to trial. The defendant will be eligible for release at age 65 at the discretion of the judge during that time. Codefendants Syboris Pippins and Brandon Sherrod were charged with capital murder and accessory after the fact to capital murder, respectively, but Colom was unable to provide further information about
Jaylen Barker
the currently unresolved cases. Assistant District Attorney Scott Rogillio detailed the evidence that led to the charge. The morning of the crime, Barker was apprehended in his car at a traffic stop shortly after the robbery and shooting that resulted in Tillman’s death. Police reports indicate Barker, Pippins and Sherrod came from Columbus to the Cotton District on the night of Nov. 5. In the early morning hours of Nov. 6, Barker overheard another person having a conversation with Tillman and devised a plan to rob him. Barker asked for change for a $100 bill from Tillman and when Tillman pulled out his wallet, Pippins took the wallet and fled the scene. GUILTY, 2
Brianna Laverty | The Reflector
ACCESS student Allan Burt plays basketball at the Hump in a game against Southern Mississippi during Magnolia Madness, put on by ESPN and the Special
Bulldogs finish strong at Magnolia Madness rivalry game SARAH MORGAN JOHNSON STAFF WRITER
The Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the inaugural intramural Magnolia Madness Unified Sports rivalry basketball game Tuesday night, finishing out their season as undefeated champions. Unified Sports is a Special Olympics program that puts people with and without
intellectual disabilities on teams together. This is the second year MSU has hosted a six-week Unified Sports basketball league. Tuesday’s game supported Special Olympics Mississippi and the MSU ACCESS program. The Bulldogs held a steady lead for the majority of the game, ending the game in victory with a final score of 42-36. Freshman Cameron Jones talked about how he felt walking into the game on Tuesday.
“I came in nervous a little bit till one of my friends pointed out to my mom, and I was like alright, I gotta play hard for my mom,” Jones said. “I was nervous, but came out to be strong and came out with a win, so I’m so happy about that.” The team has been practicing since February and played five intramural games before facing off against USM in the championship. Montelleo Hobley, one of MSU team’s head coaches, said the team has greatly
improved in their ability to work together over the course of the season. “We had some players that were definitely in the spotlight- they were number ones. We had a conversation after the first game going into the second game about passing the ball so that everyone can get a chance to play, or at least attempt to shoot. Really learning that teamwork part—it’s not about me it’s about us—it’s a group thing.” BASKETBALL, 2
New student-run public relations firm serves big clients EMMA MOFFETT STAFF WRITER
Branded with the slogan, “Ideas were never meant for a box,” Mississippi State University’s Public Relations and Integrated Student Media Agency, or PRISM, is making a permanent and impactful imprint on regional business and MSU students majoring in communication. PRISM is a student-led public relations firm run through the Department of Communication and advised by assistant professor Terri Hernandez. After less than one semester on campus, this agency is proving to be far from a club or easy upper-division elective. It is a job with real world clients. PRISM’s clients this
semester include Mercedes Benz of Tuscaloosa and the Center for Community Engaged Learning at MSU. The agency works to meet each client’s individual needs, whether it entails the development of a social media presence, creating promotional material or product and graphic design. The agency spent their first two to three weeks creating their initial proposals for the clients and putting together their broad goals, objectives and tactics. The next eight weeks were dedicated to putting the plan into motion. During the final weeks of the semester, the team is compiling a final presentation to their clients. Emily Pschigoda, MSU senior and accounts director for the agency, said the
Logan Kirkland | Courtesy Photo
Public Relations students can gain real world experiences through the newly formed PRISM, which allows them to work with actual clients before graduating.
key to success in PRISM is commitment. “Be prepared to commit time to it because the more time you put in to it, the more
you are going to get out of it,” Pschigoda said. “If you show up and dedicate time to these projects, you will come out of this class with a full
portfolio to use at the end of the semester for internship and job applications.” During the implementation phase, the agency actively communicates with the clients and provides weekly activity reports to show how their plans are progressing. This report also shows how many billable hours were spent on the client and what the work would have cost if the services were not free. John Forde, professor and Department Head of Communication at MSU, said he believes this organization will provide students with the competitive edge necessary to attract the attention of future employers. “Over many years, I have had friends who run public relations firms tell
me ‘We won’t hire a student right out of college unless they have agency or firm experience,’” Forde said. “A lot of them just won’t, even if you are a fantastic student. This will get you in the door because if you have this experience, they will see that you understand what the real world is like.” While the work is probono, the process for client selection is competitive. Since the arrival of PRISM, many regional businesses have started the application process to get a slot on the agency’s client list. Clients who have been accepted for the coming semesters include the Maroon Volunteer Center, MSU’s Social Science Research Center and the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi. PRISM, 2
Department of Kinesiology and ACCESS students team up for the Starkvegas Fútbol Jamboree TORI BOATNER STAFF WRITER
Mississippi State University’s Department of Kinesiology and the university’s ACCESS program teamed up Saturday to host their second annual Starkvegas Fútbol Jamboree. Competitions took place at MSU’s old intramural fields on the corner of Stone and Bully Boulevard, where
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teams consisting of youth, high school students and adults participated in a threeon-three soccer tournament, with prizes awarded to the winners. ACCESS is a program for students with intellectual disabilities that provides them with the full college experience, real-world skills and job opportunities. ACCESS student Tyler Gall, an MSU sophomore, said events like the Jamboree
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are important for his peers, and he hopes they become more widespread. “They should do these kinds of things everywhere to get people with disabilities to hang out with other people,” Gall said. Beca Spencer, the assistant director of the ACCESS program, said events like this are important because they bring the university and the Starkville community together.
“I think this is a wonderful event,” Spencer said. “It includes not only everybody from campus, but also the community to promote physical activity and health awareness.” Spencer said the ACCESS students trained hard for the Jamboree and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the Department of Kinesiology.
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FÚTBOL, 2
Tori Boatner | The Reflector
Athletes of all ages and skill levels gathered Saturday to play in a soccer tournament hosted by MSUʼs Department of Kinesiology and ACCESS program.
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PRISM
This semester, the 11 students accepted into the course were not only responsible for managing several clients, but they were also tasked with creating the agency’s brand, name and aesthetic. Choosing the name PRISM and a triangle with a rainbow of smaller triangles inside as the logo, the members collectively said they wanted to stand out from other organizations on campus and showcase their originality. They further developed the business’s brightly colored and fun aesthetic on social media with consistentlyposted motivational Mondays, transformation Tuesdays, what we are doing Wednesdays, tip Thursdays and fun Fridays. Liz Roark, MSU junior and an account coordinator
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for the agency, said the firm is an amazing opportunity to get practical, real-world experience in the public relations industry without the pressure of entering the workforce full-time. “This is what we are going to be doing in the real world, and right now, this is kind of like baby steps with Terri there in case we are confused or need extra help on something,” Roark said. “Instead of having a job and getting in trouble for it, we have Terri to guide us on what to do.” Two semesters of this class will count as the public relation orgs course, the PR program’s capstone class. Last fall, Hernandez said they had 15 applicants and accepted 11. They are looking to hire more students as they review the
KINESIOLOGY
“I really think it’s awesome that the Department of Kinesiology has reached out to ACCESS to partner for things like this, because we don’t see >ƵĐŬLJ Ϯ dž ϯ ;ĂƉƉƌdž ϯ͘ϱϮ dž ϯͿ as many events on campus that tie the community to the university and ACCESS as a whole,” Spencer said. Younghan Lee, the supervisor of the event
most recent applications for next semester. Current members of the agency will also have to reapply each semester and go through an interview process along with new applicants. Charlotte Corr, MSU junior and account coordinator at the agency, said the differences among the PRISM team are their strongest asset and something that will continue to help the business flourish, as well as celebrate the diversity of MSU’s campus. “We all bring so much to the table that’s different,” Corr said. “That has been one of my favorite parts. Just seeing what we all do. Because when we work together it is amazing, and we can get a lot more accomplished than you might think that we could.” CONTINUED FROM 1
and an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, said this event was a great way to involve the community and students. “This event is a way to make our students understand that special needs students are a part of this community too,” Lee said.
Lee said he is proud of the event’s growth this year. This year’s event showcased more teams and had a greater amount of sponsorships from local Starkville businesses. Lee said this event is more than a jamboree and hopes this inclusive event continues to grow in the coming years.
GUILTY Tillman pursued Pippins and then returned to the scene of the robbery where he confronted Barker. Barker then shot and killed Tillman and fled the scene in his vehicle, in which he and the codefendants were apprehended shortly after by the Oktibbeha County Sheriff ’s Office. Colom expressed his gratitude for the hard work and dedication of all involved in bringing the defendant to justice, a difficult process the public often underestimates, he said. As no one was able to identify the suspects at the scene of the crime, arrests resulted from thorough investigative techniques and hard work on behalf of the officers involved. Colom also thanked
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Tillman’s family for their cooperation, support and patience throughout the process. The victim’s father, Collier Tillman, said a few words about his son and the diligence of the local police put forth in bringing the defendant to justice. “We lost a lot when we lost Joseph. He was full of life and love and had a lot more to give. We and many others will always feel that loss but can rest in the assurance that justice has been served,” Tillman said. Colom closed the press conference with a few remarks directed toward parents of Mississippi State students. “I want to emphasize to the parents across the state and across the country that send their children
BASKETBALL Martha Rayner, a junior educational psychology major, also spoke of how the team has grown stronger together by rooting for one another. “I’ve loved seeing the encouragement and cheering throughout the season. I feel like we’ve bonded, as cliche as that sounds. That has brought
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us together to friendships and to a united team,” Rayner said. The Unified Sports league has provided a fantastic and cherished experience for all involved. Rebecca Abney, an MSU junior, said she loves the community aspect of the league. “My favorite part about being on the team is coming together and being able to play in the Hump and just really have fun! I love playing with friends and having good teammates who support me,” Abney said. Jones also spoke about how much he enjoyed playing with his teammates. “I love the nice, great friends I have on this team and how we work together,” Jones said. “Every game we played was hard and tough, but I really enjoyed playing with this team and all these fun people that I love! They got me, I love to play with them. I love them a lot.” Hobley said he was able to learn a lot alongside and from the team this season. “My favorite part about coaching is having the opportunity to do
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something I’ve never done before,” Hobley said. “Basketball is not my forte. I’ve never played basketball. I watch it on T.V. and that’s about it. So, really being able to work with the students and do some drills—learning what drills are. I’ve learned along the way. It’s been a learning process together—the whole time.” Rayner is finishing her first year working with the ACCESS program and said she is so thankful for the encouragement it has been to her. She encourages more students to find a way to get involved with the program. “The ACCESS program is such an incredible part of State,” Rayner said. “The students are filled with the most joy, especially if you like playing sports. I’m not athletic at all, but I still have the best time. It brightens your day by coming and watching them play, and getting to play with them and share that experience is really cool.” More information about the ACCESS program can be found by visiting www. access.msstate.edu.
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to Mississippi State with the understanding that the university is going to do everything in its power to keep their children safe, that Mississippi State, Starkville, they’re safe places,” Colom said. “But unfortunately we have these rare instances where someone commits a crime. The life sentence was important because we need to make sure the public knows that we are going to do everything in our power to keep Mississippi State, Oktibbeha county, the 16th circuit, a safe community, and if you decide to do something to make the community unsafe you need to be prepared to have a police department and a district attorney’s office that will do everything in their power to make sure you’re punished for it.”
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OPINION
College admissions scandal embodies larger issues BRITTNEY DEAL
is a sophomore majoring in English. Contact her at opinion@reflector.msstate. edu.
Earlier this year, an enormous scandal that has been going on for years was finally brought to public attention. As many people now know, 50 people, including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were charged in a case which involves parents accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to William Rick Singer, in order to help their children get accepted into prestigious colleges and universities. Singer used it to bribe coaches, manipulate SAT and ACT scores and consequently, put many students and parents at an unfair advantage. This is more than just another scandal involving wellknown public figures. This is the embodiment of what is wrong with the U.S education system. While these parents knew what they were doing was wrong, the majority of society tends to ignore the big picture. With the way our education system operates, upper-class citizens will
always have the upper hand. Schools are funded through property taxes, meaning the higher the value of homes in the school district, the better the school has to offer. Because the property values are higher, so is the wealth of the district, meaning that parents living in the better districts have an opportunity to donate to the school. Meanwhile, parents living in the poorer districts struggle to get by. Now, it is not wrong for these parents to want their children to have the best education and it is not the fault of the parents themselves. It is the fault of a long history of American society favoring the rich and turning their backs on the poor. Before diving into what this scandal means for the education system, it is important to understand how this scandal went on for so long and why no one questioned it. According to Newsweek’s Scott McDonald, Singer explains, vaguely, how he pulled off this scandal. “If I can make the comparison, there is a front door of getting in where a student just does it on their own,” Singer said. “And then there’s a backdoor where people go to institutional advancement and make large donations, but they’re not guaranteed in. And then I created a side door that
guaranteed families to get in.” Singer’s claim has three separate parts— the good, the bad and the ugly. It is always a good thing when people can get into college themselves, especially prestigious colleges. However, sometimes parents give the school a little nudge (i.e. donations) to sway their decision. This is not the best way to get into a good school, and it gives some kids an advantage. However, at least that money goes to the school and does not guarantee their children’s admission. What Singer and the parents involved in this case did was just plain ugly. The parents paid someone to lie about their children, took away opportunities for those who deserved to go to the school and perhaps unintentionally, showed how little faith they had in the young adults they had raised. These payments were used to bribe coaches into saying these kids had been exceptional team members, even though no one had ever seen these students participate in the sports. They were used to help students cheat on ACT and SAT exams and bribe those who administered the tests. According to Mark Morales of CNN, the scandal came to light when “Morrie Tobin (an executive) was being investigated as part
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of a separate financial fraud case and gave investigators enough information that they were able to identify William Rick Singer as the mastermind of the plot.” To put it simply, this scandal was only discovered because a man who was being charged for a completely different reason did not want to go down alone. One of the worst parts about this scandal is the way Singer covered it up. According to Gregory Korte of USA Today, “He also created a charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, that prosecutors said he used to launder ‘donations’ to college officials in order to secure a placement.” By using a charity
organization to launder the money, Singer has made a joke out of the entire system. It brings into question how many charities have been used over the years to scam people out of their money. This is not to say all charities are bad or for-profit, but people should be more cautious of which charities they donate to. A little research can go a long way. So, what does this scam mean for the parents involved and for the education system? According to Michelle Mark with Insider, the parents are likely to get a hefty fine, some community service and maybe a ‘touch of jail.’ Wonderful. So, the parents who bought their children’s education also
get to buy their freedom. While other people who commit petty theft and minor drug charges spend years in prison because they are unable to afford a decent lawyer, the parents who stole another child’s chance at college admission, and ultimately their future, only have to pay a fine and do a bit of community service. This scam is just one reason the education system needs to change its ways. If wealthy parents get to send their children to better schools while disadvantaged parents have no choice but to send their children to subpar schools, our society will always be unfair. To have an equal society, we must start with our children and their education.
Trivia Time! 1. What is the most common type of star in the Milky Way?
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Incrementalism erodes America’s foundations MICHAEL BOURGEOIS
is a freshman majoring in English. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
In February, Democratic representative from the state of New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a piece of legislation that would completely overhaul how the United States confronts what Democratic politicians see as the environmental crisis our planet is currently facing. The Green New Deal for America, as Ocasio-Cortez refers to it, is bursting with far-left policies and unreasonable expectations for the future of our country, dooming it from its inception and formally killing the bill with a senate vote that occurred last month. As a political outsider, an individual can easily grasp the bill was too much, too quickly for America to digest at one time, but the Green New Deal is a fair representation of the Democratic Party’s stance on environmental issues. This raises a question. Why was Ocasio-Cortez
unable to drum-up the leftwing support for her bill? The answer is simple. Political ideology did not kill the Green New Deal, political tactics did. Democrats are the historical masters of incremental politics, gradually acclimating the American people to their unpopular initiatives since former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to propose such a massive piece of legislation illustrates her honesty in her intentions as well as her inexperience in politics, in contrast to her more seasoned colleagues’ ways of operating. Through incremental politics, the Left integrates their policies into American society through small yet nearly irreversible victories, with the intention of moving towards some radically left terminal goal in the future. This tactic has been employed successfully regarding various issues within American politics; Some such issues include gun-control, abortion rights and government-controlled healthcare. Recognizing, exposing and countering the Left on their incrementalistic tactics is essential in the preservation of traditional
conservative values and fundamental American freedoms. The incremental politics of the Left are most obviously observed when America faces a time of economic crisis or tragedy. According to Ruth Ravve of Fox News, former President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff and current mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel once said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” No Democrat accelerated his agenda through incrementalistic politics better than Franklin Roosevelt. FDR used the Great Depression as a catalyst to force his social programs down America’s throat. A government-centric economy complete with price control, state control of business and exorbitant tax rates was and is the leftwing dream, and the Great Depression served as a perfect launch pad to push this agenda. According to Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation, when FDR launched his agenda, “The cruel irony of the New Deal is that the liberals’ honorable intentions to help the poor and the unemployed caused more human suffering than
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any other set of ideas in the past century.” This is because these liberal policies endure and build on one another. It is impossible to remove the New Deal’s legacy because it is already entrenched in the American system. It is impossible to remove programs like Social Security post-creation without denying the promised benefits to those who have paid into the system for their entire lives. These politics build on themselves as history seemingly repeats. One of the most recent example is the Obama administration. His Affordable Care Act, a government mandated and
regulated health insurance policy, is a crippling expense on businesses and is detrimental to the healthcare quality of employees. Obamacare allowing the government to regulate what an individual’s health insurance must cover is a massive government overstep on the rights of its citizens and, as a result, it is a bill that should have failed as spectacularly as the Green New Deal. But the problem is, the bill passed because it is was a change that was small enough for the American people and, more importantly, lawmakers to digest. But “Obamacare” is not the ultimate goal. Medicare for All, total socialization of healthcare, as proposed by Bernie Sanders, is the new objective for the Democrats. According to John Tozzi of Bloomberg News, Medicare for All “would be a radical change to U.S. health care, potentially dismantling much of an existing system where people get health benefits through work.” The radical change would make government the sole entity responsible for the health of all its citizens, making each one of us dependent on it for our healthcare. Every doctor would become a state employee, the incentive to
work would be removed, quality of care would diminish immensely and this is all because the Democrats want to expand the power of the government over the lives of ordinary citizens. The same policy holds true with the gun-control issue. The proposed bump stock ban and regulation of what they refer to as assault rifles are just stepping stones to their true intentions of total repeal of the second amendment. NRA lobbyists and conservative politicians are forced to oppose any “common-sense” gun legislation proposed by Democrats as a preemptive deterrent to the Left’s incrementalistic tendencies. It falls to the American people to recognize and combat the left-wing agenda and the misleading legislation they try to force. A socialist-planned economy, single-payer healthcare and total repeal of the second amendment, these are the nightmare policies today’s Left are using to radically change the fabric of American life. We have a patriotic duty to ensure America remains the envy of the Western world and remains the shining beacon of freedom and prosperity we all know it to be.
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Honors college students prepare for showcase TALLY DUKE STAFF WRITER
The Shackouls Honors College and Honors Seminar in Fine Arts presents “Acting Through the Ages.” The event will take place at 7:00 p.m. April 17 in Mississippi State University’s Griffis Hall Forum Room. The event is free and open to anyone who wants to attend. Throughout the entirety of the semester, students in the fine arts seminar class have been learning about various acting techniques. Donna Clevinger, professor of the Honors Seminar in Fine Arts, encourages everyone to attend the actors showcase. As their final, the students are performing in the show “Acting Through the Ages” and encourage anyone curious about the class, or acting in general, to attend. Stephanie Durr, a senior political science and sociology major, is one of the actors.
“Each student was assigned a scene, and we have been working on them since spring break,” Durr said. “I am doing a scene from a play called ‘The Rivals,’ which is from the English restoration period, and my character is Mrs. Mallothrop who has ‘mallothropisms’ which means she says everything wrong in a humorous manner.” The play is a comedy and also includes elaborate costumes for the audience’s pleasure. Jack Parr, a freshman aerospace engineering major, has been acting a majority of his life. “I am performing a scene from the tragedy called ‘Prometheus Bound,’ and my character is Prometheus,” Parr said. “My scene focuses on the story behind Prometheus who is being wrongfully punished.” Parr’s involvement in the musical was encouraged through Clevinger. “I heard Dr. Clevinger
speak, and she talked about how we should do this play, and I offered to play the part because I played Shrek in a musical, so I could act it out decently,” Parr said. Laurie Baskin, a freshman wildlife and pre-veterinary major, will be performing a scene from a Shakespeare play. “My scene is from ‘The Twelfth Night,’ written by Shakespeare,” Baskin said. “I am performing with one of my students, Emily, in my class, and I am playing lady Olivia, and my partner is playing Viola.” Baskin enjoyed describing the dramatics of the scene. “This is kind of like a chase scene, and a flirtatious scene where we go back and forth with each other,” said Baskin. Molly Saunders, a sophomore secondary education and English major, is hopeful for her performance. “My scene is from the
Gracie Byrne | The Reflector
Student members of the Shackouls Honors College enjoy practicing in the Griffis Hall Forum Room for their nearing production which is April 17.
play ‘The Duchess of Malfi,’ and I am performing a monologue as the Duchess when she is being captured due to marrying a commoner, which is frowned upon by her brothers,” Saunders said. “I love acting and Dr. Clevinger, so I decided to take this class because I have taken her before and loved it.” Many students tend to retake classes with Clevinger
due to her engaging teaching style and passion for the arts. “I took a forum class under Dr. Clevinger and did not know it was going to be an acting class, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and I decided to take this one as well,” Baskin said. The showcase includes mostly comedies, but a few tragic scenes are included as well. Scenes include
monologues and groups of three actors. Scenes also include a range of many types of theatrical styles from Greek, Roman, Shakespearean, English Renaissance and French Neoclassicism. There will be a wide variety of costumes and scenes for the audience to enjoy. This event is perfect for any lover of the arts and supporters of student based performances.
‘Pet Sematary’ fails to serve suspense to thrill-seekers JACK WEEKS STAFF WRITER
“Pet Sematary” is the second adaptation of the 1983 Stephen King novel of the same name. The film follows a family as they move from Boston to Ludlow, Maine. When the father is tricked into finding a burial ground behind their house, strange, supernatural things begin to occur. I was a huge fan of the original. I saw it when I was younger, and it instilled a fear of children in me that would take years to shake. While it may seem cheesy to an adult, the movie made me think every kid was a scalpel wielding psychopath when I was a young teen. Going into this movie, I was hoping it would capture the terror I received from the original film and the novel. Unfortunately, the film failed to deliver. The most glaring issue is the way the film looks. The color palette makes the film look dull and uninteresting. It involves a horrid grey with dialed back colors which drain the depth of the frame, forcing boring, static shots over shaky handheld ones. By the end of the film, I questioned if the palette was a stylistic choice or a lazy way to hide they were shooting scenes that took place at night, during the day. Comparatively, “IT” featured a monochrome palette, but the choice to pop colors out of it made the film visually appealing to watch. The way Georgie’s jacket always stood out, or the balloons, which were small in frame, seemed to bring a flash of color anytime Pennywise was or was not on the screen. The saturated colors of the day scenes in “IT” brought a liveliness to the film the same
way the characters did. “The Shining” took bright daylight and mixed it with a father losing touch with his own reality (a lot like the father in “Pet Sematary”), so the notion that a film has to be dim and muddy to give off a sense of dread has already been proven to be untrue. Horror needs to move away from the idea that it has to be dark in order to instill fear in the audience. The second glaring issue is “Pet Sematary” takes far too long to gain steam. The story takes a lot of time to set up telling the audience what the burial ground is, its function and the repercussions of burial ground visitation through the mouthpiece of Jud (John Lithgow)Sadly, the execution of these explanations are bland and feel like the filmmakers are talking down to us as Louis (Jason Clark) and Jud sit down with books to inform the audience, which ultimately adds nothing to the narrative. It takes around an hour to really feel like something interesting is happening., and the movie transitions to something that feels completely different, as if
Pet Sematary? Meh.
Rosalind Hutton
giving us tons of exposition allowed the filmmakers to become free and do what they really wanted to do—craft a horror movie. The characters in this film all face the same force—grief. Louis is forced to face the loss of his daughter, Ellie (Jeté Laurence), Jud is forced to confront the loss of his wife and Rachel (Amy Seimetz) is forced to face trauma which has haunted her since childhood. Generally, this adds a connection between audience and characters, but in this film it hinders the characters. We spend at least an hour expanding on their stories. Yet, after the hour, I did not know any more or less about them than I did in the first fifteen minutes. The characters move from
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Boston to have a change of pace, to get away from the long nights and busy days of the bustling city, only to find something much worse in Maine. Instead of focusing on the repercussions of using the burial ground, we get a lot of exposition about Rachel’s past
that adds nothing to the film other than scares which never quite hit their mark. Louis is supposed to be broken down and in need of a change, but we never quite understand the reason he needs a change. The shining star of this movie is Ellie, who steals our hearts at the beginning of the film and instills terror in the third act. Sadly, any attempt to bring horror to the screen is blocked by the filmmaker’s laziness, as most of the kills in this movie are done off-screen and left up to our imaginations. This rarely works in movies, and “Pet Sematary” falls into this trap. Long gone are the days of when horror movies had no
fear and showed violence that drove home the grittiness of the genre. Now, every movie wants to take a safe approach. “Pet Sematary” feels like two separate films packaged in one, and it does more harm when you start viewing the pacing of the film in retrospect. With bland visuals, an atrocious score, underdeveloped characters and overall laziness towards the gorier aspects of a slasher/paranormal horror movie, it fails to deliver on nearly every front. Thankfully, the third act and an ending that does not leave the viewer feeling cheated gives it a leg up against most of its 2019 horror peers.
66-Sports SPORTS
THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019 @SPORTSREFLECTOR
Diamond Dawgs leap into Super Bulldog Weekend HUNTER CLOUD SPORTS EDITOR
A cutter left over the plate followed by the sweet motion of a swing propelling the ball over the center field wall, scored the go ahead runs as No. 6 Mississippi State University (28-6) won 7-5 over the University of South Alabama (14-18). Tanner Allen, a sophomore infielder from Theodore, Alabama, sent a rocket on Wednesday night that traveled 410 feet, with an exit velocity of 104 mph and a launch angle of 21 degrees to score three runs. Allen said he knew it was gone when it left the bat, and that home run, along with total hits and five runs batted in, seemed to launch Allen out of a slump he has been in for a month. “I’ve been struggling for about a month, and last weekend on Sunday I was like, ‘Man just relax, enjoy
the game,’” Allen said. “I’m blessed to be at this program and be supported by all of these people. You have a coaching staff and teammates who are always behind you and supporting you.” Slumps are a part of baseball. Allen said there were times where he may have been over zealous at the plate, but he has tried to keep his mindset to one pitch and one swing at a time in order to help the team win. “Big picture, I could go zero for four, and if we win the game, it isn’t about me, it’s about us,” Allen said. “That is what is different about this team. That is how everybody is. It doesn’t matter who is having a bad night, someone is always going to be there to help us out.” It is spring time, which means the weather is warm, the wind changes and all of those can affect how a ball park like Dudy Noble Field
plays as the ball seems to carry more in warm air. Head coach Chris Lemonis said, while in batting practice, they noticed the stadium played more offensively than defensively and is why both teams were able to slug two home runs in the contest. “I think that wind coming across there were a lot of home runs hit in BP for both teams,” Lemonis said. “The balls were carrying to the right too. It was one of those days were you felt the ball was carrying. The wind was pushing it that way and the warm weather (helped it too). There were some missiles hit by both sides tonight.” Allen is coming out of his slump just in time for Super Bulldog Weekend. It will be his second Super Bulldog Weekend in his career. The new Dude is finished, so Allen said he is not sure how he can describe
Highlighted by coaches such as John Calipari, Ben Howland, Tom Crean, Bruce Pearl, Frank Martin and Rick Barnes who have combined for 11 final fours, the SEC is clearly placing high value in coaching accolades. After several vacancies became open this year due to mediocre results, we knew the athletic directors of those schools were no longer playing games. Now, as the hirings have started and some premier names start filling those seats, we know the SEC will continue to grow. The most premier of these is Texas A&M stealing another high profile coach from a really good university. After scoring Jimbo Fisher in football last season, this year, after a down year in basketball, they have landed coach Buzz Williams, who will try his hand at coaching in the SEC. After getting into the NCAA tournament each of the last three years and finishing fifth in the ACC, even though his star point guard out for half of the ACC regular season, Williams is an exciting hire for Texas A&M. Another insane hire this year in the SEC is Eric Mussleman. The former NBA head coach, who took Nevada to three straight NCAA appearances, is
going to be at the University of Arkansas. Another guy who has shown tremendous potential and seems very capable of developing talent is coming to this very robust conference. Mussleman seems to be another coach that is ready to move from the minor leagues of midmajor success into a league where there will surely be a tough competitor in every arena. Even Vanderbilt University, with its academic rigor and funky gym, has attracted a rather interesting hire. Jerry Stackhouse, the former NBA player who spent 18 years in the league, and since 2015 has been working on his craft developing into a coach, has taken the reins at Memorial Gymnasium. The two time NBA AllStar and 2017 G-League Coach of the Year, will surely make a quick impact on the conference. It will be interesting to see Stackhouse’s style in college as well as a head coach. With hires like these, the conference has nowhere to go but up. The all-powerful football conference is no longer going to be just sending Kentucky and Florida to the national tournament. The high level of coaching pedigrees in the conference for next season looks like this conference will have some
SUPER
BULLDOG
WEEKEND
Rosalind Hutton
what he expects from the weekend. “I can only imagine, the stadium is already done,” Allen said. “Alabama has a good program, and they are going to be coming to town. Football has a a big spring
game Saturday, and it’s going to be fun.” Lemonis said the biggest crowd he has ever coached in front of was 23,000 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha when he was a coach at the University of Louisville.
While the Dudy Noble Field can not hold exactly that much, he said he is hoping it will be full for the weekend. “We have a good opponent coming, and I would like to see us pack the house,” Lemonis said.
exciting games every single game day. Those mediocre teams getting by with feeding off of the lower tier teams, or those in an off year, will need to find another way to stay afloat in the conference. Can the SEC be the new Big East? We have
the coaches, the talented players and the venues to be the next great basketball conference. One question remains. Will the new wave of coaches and potential high turnover in SEC Men’s basketball equal the same amount of greatness that SEC football has? In
a league where one bad season, even if it means the National Invitational Tournament or making the tournament three straight years before that, can equal unemployment, coaches should be on high alert as the frontier is open, and the stakes are high.
Column: SEC Men’s Basketball will be an exciting new frontier
PHIL EVANS
is a senior majoring in political science. Contact him at sports@reflector. msstate.edu
When we think of the SEC, we generally think of football. We think of the seven championships in seven years for the conference. We think of the great coaches running up and down the field on Saturdays: Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and now even Jimbo Fisher. However, the conference is no longer just about football. For the second straight year, the SEC has sent at least seven schools to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. If we look at the scheduling of the SEC, we see Commissioner Greg Sankey continuing to push the coaches to have competitive schedules which can garner bids to the NCAA tournament. Not only has the mindset of the SEC schools changed, but the prestige of the coaches hired has also greatly increased. All 12 of the current coaches officially still on staff at an SEC school have been to the NCAA tournament.
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