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TUESDAY APRIL 23, 2019
134th YEAR ISSUE 47
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Boeing, NASA, MSU open Marvin Students sleep on Drill B. Dow Stitched Composites Center Field to sympathize with plight of homeless
DREW GARDNER STAFF WRITER
SAVANNAH MUNN
On April 12, Mississippi State University held its grand opening for the Marvin B. Dow Stitched Composites Center at the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory. The center was awarded to MSU for excellence in aerospace engineering from the largest aerospace company in the world, Boeing. According to NASA’s website, the Marvin B. Dow Center consists of equipment from Boeing to further streamline the process of creating a faster and more efficient means of transportation for aircraft and cargo ships. The stitched composites themselves are an industry game changer not only because they make aircraft, cargo ships and other similar modes of transportation faster and lighter, but the production costs are also reduced drastically. According to Danny Drake, an MSU graduate student studying aerospace engineering, the current composites have a very weak thickness factor, and that is where the stitched composites come into play. Composites that are not stitched can suffer from delamination, where the top layer comes undone due to the layers not being sealed together tightly enough. Stitched composites, on the other hand, allow reinforcement of the layers at a cost-efficient price
Justin Truss | The Reflector
MSU was selected by NASA and Boeing to house the new Marvin B. Dow Stitched Composites Center, where MSU engineering professors and students are able to participate in the development of stitched composites. Pictured is a state-of-the-art stitching machine.
while adding a new level of efficiency. The Marvin B. Dow Stitched Composites Center, currently housed at the Raspet Flight Research Center, was previously housed in Huntington Beach, California at The Boeing Company. The laboratory was a gift from Boeing to MSU for winning a nationwide competition, said Dennis Smith, head of the department of chemistry at MSU and director of the MSU Advanced Composites Institutes. The Marvin B. Dow Center consists of state-ofthe-art equipment, access to Boeing engineers and an autoclave. The autoclave, which looks like a giant pressure cooker, functions
Engineering student with public policy dreams named MSU’s 19th Truman Scholar
TORI BOATNER STAFF WRITER
With a passion for energy conservation and public service, Mississippi State University senior Alicia Brown of Petal, Mississippi was announced MSU’s 19th recipient of the highly respected Harry S. Truman Scholarship April 11th .
The award offers recipients $30,000 for graduate school in exchange for their work in public service. Initially, Brown said she was not planning to apply for the scholarship. “I figured that since I was an engineering major, I wasn’t the ideal candidate,” Brown said. TRUMAN, 2
Alicia Brown| Courtesy Photo
Senior Chemical Engineering major Alicia Brown is the universityʼs 19th Truman Scholar.
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Hopkins introduced the event by expressing his hope that students would leave with a better understanding of hunger and homelessness. Before the event began, the campaign organizers placed cardboard signs, similar to the signs homeless people use, along the paths across the Drill Field. The signs displayed statistics concerning homelessness written in black marker, along with messages like “Who are we as human beings if we ignore the suffering of others?” The statistics stated homeless children are twice as likely to be sick and starving, and one in three homeless children suffer from a major mental disorder by the time they are eight. Two guest speakers spoke to the attendees about their personal experience with homelessness.
STAFF WRITER
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as an oven used to heat and shape the polymers, according to a press release. “What’s really interesting about the robotic stitching system is that the parameters associated with the stitching process greatly influence the in-plane and out-of-plane composite properties,” Drake said. According to a press release, Marvin B. Dow was a scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia who created the stitched composites with the McDonnell Douglas company, which eventually merged with Boeing in 1997. David Bowles, director of the NASA Langley Research Center, said Dow’s ideas have revolutionized
the use of composites in the aerospace industry. “Marvin Dow’s ideas have been a game-changer,” Bowles said. “When you look at composites today, they really have transformed the aerospace industry.” Smith provided the opening speech for the Stitched Composite Center grand opening, emphasizing how the new center will serve as a unifying factor across colleges. “The driver behind all of this is the cross-college collaboration,” Smith said. Through the help of MSU engineers, Boeing’s engineers and cross-college cooperation, the Marvin B. Dow Center is an important expansion to Mississippi State’s legacy.
Last Tuesday, Mississippi State University’s Holmes Cultural Diversity Center hosted the inaugural Sleep Out for the Homeless campaign in recognition of Unity Month, a series of events designed to explore diversity and inclusion. In addition to raising awareness about the plight of the homeless, the event accepted donations of canned or non-perishable food items to donate to MSU’s Thrive Program, an organization committed to assisting students who are or were part of the foster care system, have lost both parents or have dealt with homelessness. The campaign was organized by the HCDC’s Assistant Director Timothy Hopkins, who was inspired by similar events at other colleges.
SLEEP, 2
Jailand Williams | Courtesy Photo
MSU students participate in various activities to increase awareness of homelessness.
MSU Libraries adds digitized Citizens’ Council Radio Forum to collection
EMMA MOFFETT
encountered the Citizens’ Council Forum materials in special collections when working on his article analyzing the relationship between the Citizens’ Council and the right-wing media. Though he was at first only analyzing the Citizens’ Council newspaper, the members of the department directed him to Stephanie Rolph’s transcriptions of the Forum, which helped him analyze a later and different phase of the Council. Davis said it is vital for university archivists to exist and continue to know, expand and digitize their collections in order for historians and other researchers to work effectively. “The relationship between historians and library archivists is really critical because without them, without their knowledge of the archives, we can’t really do our jobs properly,” Davis said. COUNCIL, 2
STAFF WRITER
After years of grant application processes, file reconstruction and website organization, the Mississippi State University Libraries now house 269 of the Citizens’ Council Radio Forum as a part of their digitized recordings collection. The Citizens’ Council, a political group founded on the basis of white supremacy, began in Mississippi following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The Citizens’ Council Radio Forum ran from 1957 to 1966 and covered topics including civil rights, communism and segregation. The Citizens’ Council broadcasted their forums all around the country, and despite being difficult to
Rosalind Hutton
study, the material played an important role in shaping the nation’s current social and political climate. Ian Davis, an MSU doctoral student studying history, is among many historians who advocate the importance of researching such provocative groups for the purpose of understanding today’s political climate. “In the case of the 1960s, the Citizens’ Council was actually a very big entity
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at the time. It wasn’t just a Southern group. It wasn’t just a white supremacist group,” Davis said. “Their ambitions were national, and they actually had an office in D.C. For understanding why integration takes as long as it does and why there is a legacy of stiff resistance to it, one has to look at a group like the Citizens’ Council because they were at the forefront of things.” Davis previously
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BAD DAWGS Saturday, April 13, 2019 • Two students were issued a referral for being on the roof of the Sigma Chi house. • Non-resident/ visitor slipped on a wet step at Dudy Noble
• Employee reported damages on Hail State Boulevard and South Farm from the tornado. Monday, April 15, 2019 • Student reported his vehicle was
damaged while parked in D13 Field. Subject was parking lot. escorted to first• Student reported aid room. fraudulent • Juvenile arrested charges on her in Colvard debit card at Student Union for various locations. resisting arrest • Employee and possession reported someone of marijuana. broke into her Subject was vehicle while released to his parked in Sessums parents. Hall parking lot Sunday, April 14, and stole money. 2019 Notable Traffic • Student referral Citations: issued to two Eighteen MSU students for citations were issued damaging a for speeding, the window at most notable of Hull Hall and which was 56/30 on underage East Lee Boulevard. drinking.
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SLEEP Dandria Swanigan, the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coordinator for Safe Haven Incorporated located in Columbus, spoke first and addressed one of the statistics written on the cardboard signs that stated 16% of those experiencing homelessness are victims of domestic violence. Safe Haven is a shelter for those experiencing domestic violence and provides 24hour crisis intervention, emergency shelter, counseling, advocacy and outreach education for those displaced due to violence and assault. Swanigan illustrated she sees homelessness nearly every day at work, as most of the women she helps are homeless due to domestic violence.
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“Homelessness and domestic violence go hand in hand,” Swanigan said. The second speaker was Jada Evans, a junior communication major at MSU, who experienced homelessness firsthand. Evans was kicked out of her house and told not to go live with any relatives. As a result, she was forced to spend around three months living in a small red 2014 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback, showering and brushing her teeth at the gym and doing her laundry at the laundromat. She kept her plight a secret, still going to work and hanging out with her friends. “The only difference between me and them was that they got to go back home. My home was my car, and my bed was the
backseat,” Evans said. After the speakers concluded the first part of the event, participants and organizers moved on to a series of activities designed to raise awareness about issues the homeless population may face. For the first activity, students were asked to scoop toothpaste back into the bottle after having squeezed it all out; the impossible task was meant to show how your words, once spoken, can never return or be withdrawn. Second, students were given a scenario in which they had 10 minutes to leave their house with a backpack as a suitcase and had to decide what to pack in the backpack. In the last activity, students were given a backpack, similar to
TRUMAN Though doubtful at her chances of being awarded the scholarship, Brown proceeded to apply and was reassured by her advisors she would be a very competitive candidate. A chemical engineering major, Brown said her love for energy and policy stems from her dad who is an electrical engineer. “It became a passion, and I kept seeing it,” Brown said. However, Brown also excels outside of her field of study; she is a student in MSU’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, a member of Speech and Debate, a volunteer at Ms. Smith’s Educational Services and a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church. As the 19th student at MSU to receive this award, and as Mississippi’s only recipient this year, Brown said she plans to fulfill her proposed policy of transitioning to cleaner energy sources and
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developing a response to climate change. Brown said her work as an intern with the House committee during her sophomore year gave her more experience in the area of energy policy.
“I think that Alicia Brown has a role to play in very difficult conversations about the future of energy policy in this country,” - Eric Vivier, faculty fellow of the Judy and Bobby Shackoul’s Honors College After undergraduate research related to energy, Brown said she one day hopes to work as a congressional staffer that continues to shape energy policy. Eric Vivier, an assistant professor of English at
MSU, a faculty fellow of the Judy and Bobby Shackoul’s Honor College and Brown’s former professor, described Brown as an exceptionally gifted student that has always been very outspoken and passionate. “She does not back away from an argument, ever, in the best possible way,” Vivier said. Vivier said Brown is always encouraging and pushing those around her to be their very best. He said he has known Brown since her freshman year at the university and was ecstatic when he heard she had won the Truman Scholarship. “I think it is fantastic for Alicia, fantastic for the university and fantastic for the Honors College,” Vivier said. Vivier said he believes this scholarship will assist Brown in her passion to influence energy policy. “I think that Alicia Brown has a role to play in very difficult conversations
COUNCIL The process of digitizing the Citizens’ Council Forum recordings began in April 2016, when university archivist Jessica Perkins-Smith discovered a new grant by the Council on Library and Information Resources called Recordings at Risk. This $25,000 grant sought to preserve and digitize recordings that were at the risk of being lost due to physical degradation, among other reasons. Having studied the Citizens’ Council for her senior thesis at Millsaps College, Perkins-Smith’s mind immediately went to the over 400 Citizens’ Council Forum recordings. “I knew that a lot of our
about the future of energy policy in this country,” Vivier said. Carley Bowers, a junior at MSU and a close friend of Brown, said she was very excited when she found out her friend was being awarded the Truman Scholarship. Bowers, a senior marketing major, said Brown loves people, and she believes the scholarship selection board recognized that. “Alicia gave 100% to this Truman selection board and I’m so glad that they saw that because she is so deserving,” Bowers said. Bowers said she knows Brown will continue to do leading work in the field of energy policy. “I think her background in chemical engineering and her desire to work on environmental policy, coupled with her passion for individuals will really make her unstoppable,” Bowers said. CONTINUED FROM 1
civil rights collections and our collections related to the Jim Crowe era in Mississippi and are some of our most used collections. So, I knew that if I could make these tapes more accessible, they would be really valuable to researchers,” Perkins-Smith said. While the tapes had been transcribed and the transcriptions donated to special collections by MSU doctoral graduate and Millsaps College associate professor of history Stephanie Rolph, the physical tapes were not in good condition. After sending the tapes for analysis at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, the tapes were
determined to be in a delicate state with some tapes already facing permanent damage. With the tapes analyzed and the grant application submitted, Perkins-Smith waited patiently until finally receiving the good news they had been chosen as one of the grant recipients. “Mississippi State Libraries already has a really rich digital collection, and this is exciting to me that we are continuing to add to them,” Perkins-Smith said. “We are excited and proud to have this addition.” Now, the tapes are easily accessible for people interested in studying the Citizens’ Council. Since the
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the one they were supposed to pack, and shown its contents. Inside each bag were items someone experiencing homelessness may carry. Erika Hayslett, a senior political science major who participated in the sleep out and the provided activities, was moved by what the program showed her. “It’s shown me to be grateful for what you have, because there’s many people without anything, there’s people with nothing,” Hayslett said. “We’re grateful to have somewhere to lay our heads at night and have a roof over our head. Even people that are in college, you never know what their living situation is or what they’re experiencing in life.”
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tapes have become available online, Perkins-Smith said they have received lots of positive feedback and hope to run analytics on the web page soon. She also hopes to one day find funding through other grant resources to digitize the remaining tapes in the collection. “All of the Mississippi politicians and all of the national politicians that show up on the tapes were the ones we prioritized for digitization,” Perkins-Smith said. “We also looked for subject areas our researchers tend to be interested in when prioritizing which tapes to digitize.” Dr. James Giesen, an MSU associate professor in history and Grisham Master Teacher, said digitization plays a vital role in helping researchers across the nation perform their research effectively and economically. “The great thing about the digitization grant is that you don’t have to be Stephanie Rolph, who just asks around and figures out that these tapes are over there,” Giesen said. “Now, theoretically, anyone in the world can have access to these tapes because they are digitized.”
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OPINION
Film face-off: which is better, comedy or horror? horror
Comedy
V.S. Comedy is undeniably superior Horror films reign supreme
JACK WEEKS
is a junior majoring in psychology. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
I have grown up as a horror fan, reveling in the fear of childhood monsters and allowing the likes of Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Dario Argento to play in to my fears on a psychological and physical level. I allowed the creations of Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, Stan Winston and Roy Ward Baker to haunt my nightmares. These artists helped shaped who I was, allowing myself to become intrigued by the dark side of humanity and ask the “whys” and “hows” of how the human psyche worked. I owe a lot to the horror veterans, which is why it hurts so much to see where horror is now. It is something that has not stood the test of time, allowing itself to fall into trends of faux-dramas like “Hereditary” and “Us” or gore for the sake of gore like “Terrifier.” So, when you cannot turn to your fears, where do you turn? Hand-in-hand with horror came my love for comedy, from love letters to high school like, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” to 1990s staples like, “Billy Madison” and beyond, comedy has always seemed to hold its ground because it has been able to adapt to the trends far better than horror. Where we used to have villains we remembered like Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, Pinhead et cetera, horror’s iconicity has dwindled. Do not get me wrong, horror is more successful than comedy when it comes to making a return on its budget. Looking at Box Office Mojo, it is a rarity that horror movies do not make back their budget, and more, within the first weekend of release. According to the site, “Pet Sematary” surpassed its $21 million budget by three thousand on its opening weekend. The issue with
horror, though, is it often does not have life past the first or second viewing. Most movies fall flat or are easily forgettable. The villains do not haunt us anymore. With the exception of “IT,” I cannot think of a modern horror villain that has stuck with me, and I cannot think of a single horror movie I have brought home with me, one that has caused me to double check my doors and windows and stare at the shadows on the wall. Comedy can often pull in the big bucks, as well. If we look at 2018’s “Blockers,” Box Office Mojo shows it almost made its budget back opening weekend and went on to nearly triple during its theatrical run. The genre does well for itself, but unless you staple a big name to it, blowing past the budget is not a common occurrence. While comedic flicks may struggle to make the big bucks every now and again, they, more often than not, tend to stick around in memories longer than horror flicks do, pulling for second viewings with parties, text threads and social media clips over the one-and-done stylings of horror. Movies, like the ones mentioned above, stick around because they are quotable, and once you have seen them, the scenes stay with you. My favorite comedy of 2018 was “Blockers,” a film I expected to despise but came out with my sides split and a smile on my face. My friends and I still quote the film back and forth, but I saw “Pet Sematary” two weeks ago and could not drop a single line from the movie or reference a scene that was original or thoroughly enjoyable. Film is magical. With an average of 588 people to a film crew, according to film researcher Stephen Follows, it is basically just one big magic show. Where horror used to succeed in mixing up these magic tricks, they fail to deliver contemporarily, often showing the same trick over
and over. Sadly, they already got your money. Go see the sequel in six months. Comedy is much the same way, generally utilizing the rule of threes to control the audience, but it feels, while horror has the same number of tricks, comedies generally tend to know how to spread them out, making scenes and dialogue stick with you. I will admit some comedies take it too far, as we probably did not need two “Hangover” sequels which retold the story of the first. However, more often than not, the films deliver. There is a reason the mid-2000’s Judd Apatow renaissance stands so strongly today. It may be because the films are genuinely funny. They relate to you in some way, or you can at least say you know somebody like the main character. There is relation there. Horror tries this and generally comes out with cardboard, two-dimensional characters that you may be able to relate to, but you do not care about. In the argument of comedy and horror, it is hard for me to choose a winner. If we are looking at the overall timeline, horror has inspired me more, but the genre has not been able to adequately survive by being itself. It needs to transform and drain from other genres to survive, and while this is not necessarily a bad thing, it fails to do it well. Comedy thrives, and while I do not watch as many, the ones I do watch are memorable and allow for laughs in the future. It spreads from the screen to the people around me, and that is what really matters when it comes to art. It gives you something you can relate to, remember and enjoy with others. That is the reason standup comedy thrives so well, going out and watching someone on stage entertain you or even sitting in your room watching your favorite comedian kill it for the eighteenth time. It is lasting. It is pure. It is daring. It is the magic trick that lands.
BRANDON GRISHAM
is a sophomore majoring in business information systems. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
There will always be the occasional movie night. Regardless of genre, nothing fulfills the desire for a compact story, hot popcorn and a night off like a great film. Picking the right option sets the mood, especially when watching with others. If the choices are narrowed between a comedy or a horror film, the go-to pick should always be the scary movie. A solid laugh works until it fails, but a bad horror film is infinitely better than a terrible comedy. It all relies on preference, but many reasons prove the better selection is the thriller. Sir Alfred Hitchcock, the influential film director, shared his thoughts in a 1949 issue of Good Housekeeping about the need for fear. “(Without fear) The boys will never be able to ride a roller coaster, or climb a mountain, or take a mid-night stroll through a graveyard,” Hitchcock says. The master of early horror knows how necessary fear can be in someone’s life. Existence offers plenty of funny moments, but sheer terror rarely occurs in our average day to day. Where humor appeases intellect or immaturity, fear holds root in our very nature. Without that rush, our views become complicit and stuck in a rut of comfortable docility. We need frightening situations, as they derive from a primal fear for our own mortality, and audiences agree. According to The Numbers, 2018 saw horror surpass comedy to become the fourth highest grossing genre in America. Both genres offer a unique take on the creative medium of film. Comedy relies on absurd or humorous references to daily life. It also tends to get away with
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lazy storytelling because the jokes are funny. Horror has to work harder to earn the audience’s respect, as most stories are not based on reality. Comedic situations are relatable but running in terror is not. Having to construct a story that cannot happen requires extra effort. Horror relies on atmosphere, design, lighting, sound and tension. By comparison, it provides far more character than funny dialogue or wacky actions. Even the best comedy, regardless of antics, tends to involve drama. Comedic segments trudge through serious characters reacting to absurdity like scolding parents. A bulk of comedy relies on misery at the expense of those joked about, leaving an edge to the material. Some writing is brilliantly executed, but there is a level of pain behind the laughter. Great examples include the film work of Bo Burnham, George Carlin, Chris Farley and Robin Williams. After transitioning from standup to movies, their material warped into crowd-pleasing studio investments. Horror may be graphic but there is no definitive proof of the genre inciting violence. Dozens of studies have tested this theory for decades, all indicating that there is no correlation. Those opposing violence, either in graphic video games or movies, fear future values. Katherine L. Milkman, with The Washington Post economists Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna, discovered for every million people who view a violent film, crime decreases nationwide by 1.2%. Horror teaches viewers to face their fears, giving them the ability to tackle future tension. The viewer feels something not felt on a daily basis, satiating their macabre views. Violent movies satisfy our inner cravings for thrills and
avoids the time people might spend with drugs, alcohol and other criminal activities. At the end of the day, some people want to see something completely twisted or disturbing. The lack of a creative outlet is far worse than allowing this genre to get away with letting a few heads roll. Timing is a tricky aspect for both genres. Whereas horror films have tropes and pacing issues, comedies rely on reactions. Because of this, most setups become predictable trying to make the audience laugh. Horror can be predictable too, but it does not require a setup. Tropes allow the audience to enjoy the tension-building aspect toward the climax. These setups even spawned the “Scary Movie” franchise, spoofing common horror tropes and clichés. There is clear correlation between how the timing occurs in both genres. These genres are alike in more ways than they are different. Comedy in horror films allows the audience to breathe. It also adds tension after the audience let their guard down. The comedic elements in “Get Out” balance the pacing and offer relief from the tension. “Beetlejuice,” “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” and “The Evil Dead” successfully blended both genres. Mixing the two together was not expected to work, but audiences enjoy elements from both. When faced with the option between the two, nobody should have to pick for you. It all depends on how you would like to spend your time. Horror has given us classics like “Alien,” “Jaws,” “The Exorcist” and “The Shining.” Comedy films are usually hard pressed to remain relevant for several decades. Occasional outliers exist, but stronger options exist within the scary realm of cinematography. Due to these reasons, go for giving the spookier film a try.
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1. On June 16, 1963, which Soviet cosmonaut became the first woman in space?
Kurt Vonnegut
2. What igneous rock has a density less than water? 3. Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari, also founded what pizza chain?
“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
Source: trivia.fyi Answer: 1. Valentina Tereshkova 2. Pumice 3. Chuck E. Cheese’s
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Fashion Board catwalks out of the spring semester
SAVANNAH MUNN
STAFF WRITER
Fashion Board hosted its fourth and final fashion show of the academic year on Wednesday. The shows hosted by the student organization are a campuswide favorite. Located in the Cotton District, the fashion show’s theme was “Candyland” and featured bright, summer ready outfits, ranging from formal to beach attire. Models wore bright tulle in their hair and unique editorial-style makeup that created a cohesive look, matching the bubblegum and sugary theme of the event. Baylee Seeman, makeup artist and freshman English major, loved her first year as a member of the organization and was pleased with the way the makeup added to the final
Blake McCollum | Courtesy Photo
Hayden Anderson, junior marketing major and model, strikes a pose for the final show of the year.
look of the show. “For the makeup, we drew on pastel tones that were inspired by our childhood and Candyland. I thought the makeup worked really well with the show and worked with the outfits the vendors picked out,” Seeman said. Multiple local businesses were featured in the show. In some ways, the event is a collaboration between students and Starkville. The fashion shows give small local businesses a unique opportunity to market to the student body through the experience of a catwalk and thus is a mutually beneficial event. Uptown Rustic, LA Green, Swanky B Boutique, JCG Apparel, Revolution, George Mary’s, Cobo’s, R. Tabb and Co., Libby Story, Deep South Pout and Reed’s were featured in the show.
Freshman Rhiannon Paige attended Wednesday’s show, along with all the previous shows by the MSU Fashion Board, and said she left with a good impression. “The fashion show was really fun, and I liked that it was in the Cotton District because it was a better environment than the other shows and the clothes were cool,” Paige said. Each year, the organization publishes “Être,” a magazine packed with Vogue-worthy photo shoots and fashion spreads. This year’s edition was featured and sold at the event and is yet another artistic outlet provided by Fashion Board. Lauren Wolverton, the magazine’s editor and senior communication major, seemed particularly pleased
with this year’s edition. “When we were planning, I knew I wanted the photo shoots to push limits and be visually interesting. I wanted our stories to be young and fun but dive into some issues,” Wolverton said, addressing the audience of the show. Before the final walk of the show, Emilia Armond, president of Fashion Board and junior fashion design and merchandising major, thanked the many hands involved with bringing “Candyland” to life. “Thank you all for coming out and supporting us this year, it’s been incredible to serve in an organization that’s given me so much joy,” Armond said. Armond will continue to serve as president of the organization when school resumes in the fall.
Volume Seven of ‘The Streetcar’ is well worth the read
SARAH MORGAN JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
“The Streetcar,” Mississippi State University’s student-run literary journal, was founded in 2012 and has been providing a unique creative platform for MSU students ever since. On April 15, they released their seventh journal. Volume Seven is much larger than the previous edition and features a much heavier emphasis on visual artwork in addition to the literary art. Joy Cariño, co-editor of “The Streetcar,” shed some light on the way the newest journal is organized. “It is divided into sections by theme rather than type or art, which is very interesting, and the sections are all separated by quotes,” Cariño said. According to Cariño, this format was both challenging and exciting from an editorial perspective. “With the freedom to place written pieces next to visual pieces, it was also exciting and challenging to have to think about how a visual work might influence the written work directly placed after it,” Cariño said. This unique organizational approach was very helpful when I read the journal. It made reading
through the journal cover to cover much smoother. It also makes the pieces seem much more synchronized as part of one larger literary work rather than completely different works all crammed the cover page. There is so much beautiful poetry in this volume about a wide variety of subjects. “Respectability Politics” by Joseph Neyland is a poem in response to Stephen Clark’s death last March. Neyland writes it from the perspective of a young child. He brilliantly equates living in the world to a situation where your mother asks you to do the dishes, but really expects you to clean the entire kitchen. Another poem that stands out is “Reform” by Reagan Poston. Poston’s work placed second in the 2019 Southern Literature Festival’s Poetry Division, and it is easy to see why. In this piece about reform, Poston describes her grandmother’s attitude towards the town and goes on to express her own attitude. Pieces like “My Mother” by Maeve Rigney and “Sleeping Bunny” by Lydia Neuhoff are striking in their honest depictions of relatives. “Black Girls Don’t Cry”
and “Vicious Cycle” by Jerneisia McGee, along with “The Love of My Father” by Ty’Bresha Glass, are magnificently haunting. The tragedies they describe are conveyed so pristinely and felt so strongly. In these pieces, empathizing with the speaker is something the reader can do subconsciously— without thought or effort. There are also several outstanding pieces of short prose in Volume Seven. Lindsay Pace’s “Verena” is a standout piece about the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. In Pace’s piece, the main character experiences something wonderful, yet this beautiful moment is slightly dimmed by the realization that her mother is not present to witness the event alongside her. The characters are complex, yet easily conceivable to the reader. The photographs and designs in Volume Seven go beyond their paired connection to the literary works. Photographs like “Other Minds” by Megan Brino, “State of Mind” by Mary Ranie Miller, “Reality” by Bhakti Patel, and “All of Our Heroes Fading” by Amelia Dalton communicate a clear, thought-provoking message on their own. As
Starkville is invited to taste historical foods
EMMA MOFFETT
STAFF WRITER
Southern food and education will collide at the charity event “Investigating the Southern Plate,” 7:00 p.m. May 1 at The Fellowship Place. The event will be centered around a four-course meal catered by The Little Dooey and hosted by The Starkville Round Table of Culinary Justice. Each member of SRTCJ will discuss the historical and cultural context of an element of the meal. The organization is comprised of eight Mississippi State University English graduate students, who are organizing this event as the final project for their class. While food and literature typically belong in two separate spheres, MSU’s associate professor Jervette Ward combined the topics in the English graduate course EN 8583: Food and Identity in Literature. Throughout the semester, the eight English graduate students in the course have learned how different ethnic groups identify with food. A lot of the class has focused on identifying the origin of certain daily foods and investigating how those foods were sculpted into what they are today. The course began by analyzing the bigger picture
Rosalind Hutton
course ended in the southern United States, primarily focusing on food relations within the African American community. The reading for the course did consist of fiction, but it primarily focused on historically based texts. Unlike many English courses, Ward gave her students the option to craft their own final project. The class collectively decided the best project would be to create an event where they could educate the community on the historical and cultural food facts they had learned throughout the semester. De’Aris Rhymes, English graduate student and member of the SRCTJ, is excited to discuss the communities black women made around agriculture and food. “I am ecstatic about this event because I am interested in using the one thing that connects all of us—food—to explore all of the historical and cultural occurrences we can make from a Southern plate,” Rhymes said.
English project. The success of the event relies on all of the students implementing a range of skills, from budgeting to business communication. Taylor Greer, English graduate student and member of the networking group, said this project has forced her and her fellow students to break out of their comfort zone and develop life long skills. “I think this has been very useful for everyone because, as Dr. Ward said, ‘in real life you are going to work with others,’” Greer said. “On some level, event coordination is something people are going to have to participate in at some point in their lives so this project is very practical.” Greer said the course was not the kind of class that only appeals to those with a passion for English. She believes the course content will draw people interested in Southern culture, food or history together for one meal. “The content of this class is something that is interesting, conversational really,” Greer said. “It is something my nonEnglish major friends want to hear about and something I think participants of this event will appreciate as well.” All proceeds will go to the Mississippi Food Network, an affiliate of Feeding America focused on feeding Mississippians. The event is open to the public who are 21 and older.
do designs such as “Hard Times” by Amelia Dalton, “The Luckiest Girl” by Jewel Jolly and “Silenced” by Lexus Giles. There is an overwhelming amount of talent bound together within these 134 pages. I enjoyed Volume Seven of “The Streetcar,” and highly recommend all students pick up a copy. Even if the term “literary arts” is not of particular interest, there is something to be appreciated by all. “The Streetcar” is a stunning representation of the artistic students at MSU, and their talents deserve to be recognized. Ciarra Smith, editor-inchief of “The Streetcar” elaborated on the
importance of the journal to MSU’s campus specifically.
“Even if the term ‘ literary arts’ is not of particular interest, there is something to be appreciated by all.” “There’s a lot more to our campus than just STEM education. While we are very proud of the University’s representation as a STEM
powerhouse, ‘The Streetcar’ highlights and emphasis that our student body is multifaceted and highly diverse,” Smith said. According to Cariño, the journal is for all students. “I believe ‘The Streetcar’ is for all creators, all thinkers, all students at MSU as an opportunity to grow as a creator, to step into another student’s perspective, and to simply enjoy,” said Cariño. Free copies of “The Streetcar” can be found in the honors department office in Griffis Hall or in the English Department of Lee Hall. Electronic versions of past volumes can be found on the journal’s website, at thestreetcarmsu.com.
Mississippi State University 2019 Spring Commencement Ceremonies May 2, 2019 3:30 p.m. Ceremony (Business/Education)
Processional begins at 3:00 p.m. Doors open at 2:00 p.m. May 3, 2019 9:30 a.m. Ceremony
(Arts & Sciences/Architecture, Art, & Design/Veterinary Medicine)
Processional begins at 9:00 a.m. Doors open at 8:00 a.m. 3:30 p.m. Ceremony
(Engineering/Forestry/Agriculture & Life Sciences/University Studies)
Processional begins at 3:00 p.m. Doors open at 2:00 p.m.
Humphrey Coliseum ALLOW ADDITIONAL TIME FOR SECURITY SCREENING ALL BAGS ARE SUBJECT TO SEARCH The information regarding regalia, invitations, photographs, and marching instructions may be found at www.registrar.msstate.edu, under students/graduation for you to view and/or print.
Congratulations to all of Our Graduates! GRADUATES AND THEIR GUESTS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THEIR SEATS UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF THE CEREMONY.
66-Sports SPORTS
THE REFLECTOR TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019 @SPORTSREFLECTOR
Adler Garfield Florida Athletics, Rosalind Hutton
Dawgs headed to SEC Tournament HUNTER CLOUD
Fore!
SPORTS EDITOR
Bulldogs win SEC Title
HUNTER CLOUD
SPORTS EDITOR
A scream, fist pumps, handshakes, all signs of a bulldogs victory as Trevor Foshey celebrated the doubles winning point on court number three in the SEC championship as it was the first of the 4-1 points Mississippi State University would win. The doubles point is crucial to tennis matches as it is often the determining factor in momentum of a match as the team who wins doubles only has to win three singles matches and not four. MSU head coach Matt Roberts said they had made some changes coming into the match against the University of Tennessee in regards to their doubles play. “We had to adjust a little bit,” Roberts said. “We had to adjust our doubles warm up and I think we came out and played a little bit cleaner in doubles.” In singles the Bulldogs struggled starting out but came backs on courts 1, 2 and 4 changes the momentum of the match as the Dawgs were able to win 4-1 over Tennessee. Roberts said that the way the team fought and never backed down from the challenge of winning was shown in how the team swung the match into the Bulldogs favor. “The way they competed today, as a team, nobody backed down,” Roberts said. “We trusted ourselves, emotionally calm. Good
mental endurance and mental fortitude out there. Lots of resiliency out there so proud of these guys.” One of those players who posed the mental toughness to not let losing the first set affect their game was Nuno Borges. Borges, a senior from Maia, Portugal, is not only a veteran but also the best player in MSU history as he broke the record for career wins at 178 wins.
“We live in the moment, we try to get better every week and trust the process. Going into this week, we were really committed to the root. That’s our culture, and it paid off today.”Matt Roberts After clinching the match winning point Borges sat down and was hugged by his coach on the bench. Roberts said he had faith that Nuno would continue to battle and that’s exactly
what he did. “You feel really comfortable with him he just competes really well,” Roberts said. “He can problem solve and figure things out and put together a game plan. That helped him out.” Roberts said he was impressed with how Borges rebounded and won his team the point to clinch the match for the Bulldogs. The win meant the target the team carried on their backs as defending SEC champions remained unscathed. This victory marked the first back to back SEC tournament champion in school history. It is also, per Bill Martin, an associate athletic director, the fifth SEC regular season or tournament title won by MSU in the past 14 months. The third SEC championship, 1996, 2018 and 2019, by the men’s tennis program is a product of a culture at MSU where Roberts has brought a focused culture and approach to the game. “We’ve said all year long, it’s about the root and not the fruit, and we stayed focused on that,” Roberts said. “We live in the moment, we try to get better every week and trust the process. Going into this week, we were really committed to the root. That’s our culture, and it paid off today.” MSU will start their journey to win the national championship that continues to elude the Bulldogs on May 3-5 in the first and second rounds of play.
After the Old Waverly Championship, Peng Pichaikool, a junior from Bangkok, Thailand, was left disappointed with how he played, as he dug himself a deep hole in the first two rounds at 11 over par. However, Pichaikool shot his way to a 4 under par final round to finish at just 7 over par. He said the good thing is he had a week to prepare for the SEC golf tournament and hopefully improve his game. “My swing, my short game feels pretty good, so if I can get my long game in play, I’ll be pretty good,” Pichaikool said. “Everyone on our team can win right now, so I’m pretty excited about going into SEC play.” In the SEC tournament, the teams are paired off, and each player plays in match play to try and win their match to win points for the team. It is a bit different than the conventional tournament set up, and it also means everyone will have to play their best. Pichaikool is looking to bounce back in the SEC tournament, and a part of his game is the friendship he has with Garrett Johnson and how they interact on the course as they offer encouragement to each other. “He is a great teammate, he is one of my best friends,” Pichaikool said. “He is a big team guy, and he always cares for our team. That’s great for us.” One of the more consistent players on the team, Johnson, a junior from Kimberly, Alabama, is rolling into the tournament with a performance of 9 under par at Old Waverly and a tie for third place finish. Johnson said his game is a patient one and in the final
Rosalind Hutton
round of Old Waverly, he did just that and took advantage of the back nine as he had birdies at No. 12, No. 14 and No. 15. With the SEC tournament next on the Tee box, Johnson said he feels his golf game has hit the fairway for now and is something that will be important to hit at the SEC tournament. “I feel my game is at a good place right now. Not just physically but mentally,” Johnson said. “SEC that is a big thing, hitting the fairway. Up there it is a lot of visually intimidating tee shots, but once you get to the fairway you realize how big 10 fair way really is.” While Johnson played well at Old Waverly, the MSU team overall did not as they tied for 5th with a combined score of 13 under par. However, they played really well in the final round. Head Coach Dusty Smith said his team fought hard in the final round and he was proud of how they played in the final round as the team battled strong winds and tough pin locations. He said for some reason the team struggles with nerves when they play on their home course, but the way they bounced back from the
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second round struggles made him proud. “I think it’s just because you play it so many times. You know it so well, and you play so many good rounds on it,” Smith said. “You kind of expect this is how I should be playing this golf course. ‘Oh I should be a couple under through six holes.’ In tournament play, it is just different. I’m proud of the guys and how they fought back today.” With the team’s strong finish to the Old Waverly tournament, they head into the SEC tournament with some momentum. Johnson, who has been at MSU for three years and seen a coaching change, said the team is at the strongest it has ever been in his time with the program, as they head off to the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simmons Island, Georgia. “Probably the best place we have been since I’ve been here,” Johnson said. “Two coaches and five guys playing, and our guys who are the backbone of the team really support us. They send us messages before we go out and knowing we have that support back home is really helpful.”
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