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Journalists’ deaths cause Josh Duggar Gun Law Debate

Students enjoy MSU’s first

‘Bubble Brawl’

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FRIDAY AUGUST 28, 2015

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130 th YEAR ISSUE 3

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884

Shooting scare disrupts campus

Students, faculty MSU Police Department, area officers respond in discuss full force. Suspect was detained within minutes. equal pay

by Lacretia Wimbley

by Kelsey Horn

Editor-in-Chief

Contributing Writer

Around 10 a.m. Thursday morning, a shooting threat was reported on Mississippi State University’s campus, confi rmed via the campus emergency notification system, Maroon Alert.

Despite rumors and information circulated across campus suggesting a second shooter, only one suspect was apprehended.

There was no gun found and no shots fi red. The suspect was confi rmed to be a freshman computer engineering major from Madison, Mississippi, named Phu-Qui “Bill” Nguyen.

The preliminary alert stated the suspect was fi rst seen near Carpenter Hall on campus, and approximately 15 minutes later, near Lee Hall and the Colvard Student Union.

Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter confi rmed the suspect had been taken into custody and there have been no injuries reported.

“There has been lots of misinformation circulated,” Salter said. “The suspect is in custody and classes will resume at 2 p.m.”

During an emergency press conference following the incident, University officials confi rmed no gun was actually found. No shots were fi red either.

MSU Police Chief Vance Rice said an initial call came from an office in Jackson, Mississippi that cannot be identified.

“It took a few moments for us to fi nd the suspect,” Rice said. “At 10:26 a.m. we

Taylor Bowden | The Refl ector

Law enforcement officials detained freshman Phu-Qui ʻBillʼ Nguyen. No gun was found and there were no shots fired during the shooting scare Thursday.

found him. He was taken into custody without any incident. No weapons were on him at the time and no shots were fi red by him or anyone else.”

An official press release from the university stated Nguyen will face charges of disorderly conduct and has been referred to a medical facility for routine mental and psychological evaluation.

According to MSU Police Chief Vance Rice, the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Taylor Bowden | The Refl ector

Soon after MSU issued an all-clear, startled students panic and flee the Drill Field for fear of a second shooter.

Dispelling Rumors from Thursday’s Shooting Scare: “Two Dead” or “X Dead, X Injured”

No injuries were reported. The ambulance arrived for an unrelated health incident.

“Second Shooter”

There was only one suspect. The second panic was not caused by another potential campus threat.

“Shots heard in X building”

Bek Yake, The Reflector

There were no shots fired and no gun was found.

Equal Opportunity is something desired by everyone. On the campus of Mississippi State University, some faculty and students believe equal opportunity is improving.

Several MSU students seem to think the male to female ratio of employment rather equal. Kathleen Foil, a junior education major, said, “There is a good mix, but I have seen in some departments where there are more females or more males.”

Even if there is an uneven ratio somewhere, it appears here at State the levels are close to the same.

According to information gathered by the university’s college of institutional research the levels are somewhat uneven. As of fall 2014, male tenured professors were up to 187 while female tenured professors were only 47. The same thing appears in the associate professor position with 149 males and 71 females.

The unevenness is not just leaning one way. The numbers for instructors are 51 male and 101 female as of fall 2014. Lecturer has the same trend with 80 males and 109 females. Overall it might be even, but in higher level positions it appears men are more common.

Cat Wynne, junior undeclared major said she believes equal opportunity is possible.

“It means I haven’t noticed any gender basis,” Wynne said.

The fact that gender bias has not been seen is a great positive for MSU. It means that this university is a fair place to work, be educated and feel welcomed.

A number of university faculty members have similar opinions to the students. Abigail Voller, who is an English Department instructor, felt like her department has provided equal opportunity.

Kimberly Kelly, the director of Gender Studies, believes there are more men in MSU’s tenured positions.

EQUALITY, 2

Starkville school board reinstates superintendent

by Jennifer Flinn Staff Writer

Lewis Holloway, the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent, was reinstated by the Board of Trustees in a 3-1 vote during a special called meeting Monday evening.

Lee Brand voted against this action.

Holloway is on suspension without pay for two weeks resulting from his arrest and two charges of simple assault by threats on Aug. 10. He will return to work Sep. 8.

The decision was preceded by a series of incidents involving Holloway and Starkville resident, Roy Couvion, Holloway’s

neighbor.

The first of these incidents occurred on May 3 when an incident report was fi led on account of an “animal problem,” with no specific details.

The next incident on Aug. 9 resulted in the discharge of a firearm by Holloway, and an affidavit fi led by Couvion against Holloway, in which he accused Holloway of “fear of eminent, bodily

harm by threatening him with a firearm,” as reported in the Starkville Daily News.

Couvion fi led another affidavit on Aug. 9 against Holloway, but it was not made available to the public because it contains the name of a minor.

Following this affidavit, an arrest warrant was issued for Holloway. He turned himself in to authorities and was charged with two counts

of simple assault by threats, and was released on a $1,000 bond. Holloway was then placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation headed by board attorney John Hill.

Couvion was also arrested Aug. 17 and charged with simple assault as a result of the previous incident on May 3. He will appear in justice court on Sept. 15.

Lewis Holloway

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NEWS

THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

“Thankful of support from all of our law enforcement,” Keenum said.

“Safety of our students is paramount.”

Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 12:45 a.m. A visitor was arrested on Fraternity Row for possession of marijuana, minor in possession of alcohol and fake information. Justice court citations were issued.

Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 12:33 a.m. A student punched out a window at Phi Delta Theta House and caused injuries to himself.

11:39 a.m. A student reported $180 was stolen from her room in Sessums Hall.

5:52 p.m. Students were issued referrals for fighting in Sessums Hall.

9:39 p.m. A student reported his wallet stolen from Rice Hall.

The wallet was then returned, but his money and debit card were missing.

“It took us a few moments to find the suspect,” Rice said.

“At 10:26 a.m. we did find him. He was taken into custody without incident. No weapons were on him at the time and no shots were fired by him or anyone else.”

Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 9:29 p.m. A student reported receiving a suspicious phone call.

Taylor Bowden | The Refl ector

MSU Police Chief Vance Rice (left) and MSU President Mark Keenum (right) addressed the incident during a press conference Thursday.

HOLLOWAY

The simple assault charges against both Holloway and Couvion are misdemeanors.

School Board member Keith Coble read from the board’s prepared statement, “While we regret Dr. Holloway didn’t immediately seek help from law enforcement in this instance as he did in previous incidents which are documented by officers who responded, our investigation did not conclude there was intent to harm anyone. The allegations do not involve school personnel or school-related issues, and the alleged incident

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CONTINUED FROM 1

occurred away from district property,” The Dispatch reported from the special called meeting Monday evening.

After the board made their decision to reinstate Holloway as superintendent, several members of the crowd expressed their concern at the board’s continued support of Holloway throughout the series of reported incidents said The Dispatch.

Chris Taylor, Oktibbeha County NAACP chairman, said to The Dispatch the three members of the board who voted in favor of Holloway (Coble, Eddie

Myles and Jenny Turner) should be replaced, and said Holloway should have been removed from his leadership position.

The SOCSD Board of Trustees fifth seat is currently vacant as Juliette Weaver-Reese resigned from the position last week.

“Dr. Holloway displayed poor judgement. He has fi red personnel in this county for less. He has lost credibility with most of the county,” Taylor said to The Dispatch. “(Coble, Myles and Turner) don’t need to be there because they’re scared. They’re afraid to make the tough decisions.”

“(Holloway) has navigated consolidation with a tenacious spirit, determined to build a bigger, stronger (school district) with the support of our community,” Coble said, reading from the board’s prepared statement. “He’s stood up for public school families, teachers, students and administrators.

SOCSD Assistant Superintendents Toriano Holloway and Jody Woodrum will continue to lead the district during Lewis Holloway’s suspension as they have done during his previous absence.

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015 9:50 a.m. A student reported his bicycle stolen from outside the Perry Cafeteria.

12:29 p.m. A student was transported to OCH from Colvard Student Union for medical assistance.

2:14 p.m. An employee reported damages to the gate arm on Creelman street.

6:08 p.m. A student reported damages to his vehicle while parked at Bryan Athletic building.

EQUALITY

Kelly said our Southern culture does affect gender equality, but Mississippi State was probably one of the fairest universities in the South. She said, “No college has perfect equality.”

Kelly’s advice for women applying for jobs is to remember they are just as good as their male counterparts, but still be prepared.

Kelly said be more qualified

CONTINUED FROM 1

and if you get the position fi nd a mentor; and in turn be a mentor yourself.

Bill Broyles, vice president of student affairs, advises women to get an education and prepare well.

He said seek every opportunity you can.

Mississippi State University has shown itself as an institute for everyone.

Equality is improving and hopefully it is here to stay.

Editor’s note: In the Aug. 21 edition of The Reflector, an article was published about Hyatt being the first female VP. She is the first female VP of Student Affairs at MSU. The Reflector regrets this error.

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OPINION

THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

International Ink

Journalists’ deaths spark conversation on gun control Pranaav Jadhav is a graduate student majoring in political science. He can be contacted at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.

What happened on Wednesday morning at 6: 45 a.m. at Bridgewater Plaza, Roanoke, Virginia, was not ‘just another shooting.’

24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward were fatally shot while doing their jobs as professional journalists. An hour into the story, news reports released the name of the shooter as Bryce Williams.

My instant reaction was to quickly access his Twitter account.

‘Heart wrenching’ is an understatement for all the emotions I went through while reading his tweets and watching the videos

The

he shared of the incident. It was chilling in every aspect.

I could not believe two people from my fraternity were taken down in such a way, especially on live tv. The pictures were gruesome.

Quickly, media organizations had to make a decision on whether or not to show the footage. CNN showed the footage once every hour and Buzzfeed made the video public as well.

Most news organizations refrained from showing it.

There are two issues here.

One, how do you decide as a journalist whether or not to fi lter information you have access to? Will making it available to your viewers cause any harm? Isn’t it mistrust if you do not tell or show what you know or are in possession of?

The other dimension to the shooting is the issue on gun control. It is time to ask the tough questions. We cannot keep mourning the deaths infl icted by shootings and then do nothing about the source of the problem.

The question everyone is asking is “how many more America?” How many more have to die for us to begin talking about guns and make it stricter and more difficult for people like Bryce Williams to get access to a gun? We must stop looking away and start look-

“In public policy terms, the closest we’ve come to passing something on gun control followed the Sandy Hook school shooting, when many people called for a debate and for action to be taken on gun violence .” ing at the issues concerning gun control.

The National Rifle Association is a stakeholder. Citizens, gun advocates, and gun control advocates must sit on opposite sides of the table and try to avoid the next shooting in the United States. It is possible

Reflector Editor in Chief

Managing Editor

Lacretia Wimbley

Nia Wilson

campus .... With proper training of course Multimedia Editor

Opinion Editor

Bek Yake

Bailey McDaniel

that terrifying time, glad everyone is ok!

Photography Editor Copy Editor Life Editor Sarah Story Noor screaming Mujahid ds of students and yelling to run after the allAshley clearBrewer was called Sports Editor Anthony McDougle

Never been so scared in my entire life #PrayforMSU

CONTACT INFORMATION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Editor in Chief/ Lacretia Wimbley

Letters to the editor should be sent to the Meyer Student Media 325-7905 editor@reflector.msstate.edu be in a situation like this #PrayForMSU Center or mailed to The Reflector, Managing Editor/Nia Wilson PO Box 5407, Mississippi State, managing@reflector.msstate.edu to let me know he was ok.. #prayforMSU MS. Letters may also be emailed to News Editor/Taylor Bowden editor@reflector.msstate.edu. news@reflector.msstate.edu Letters must include name and Opinion Editor/Bailey McDaniel telephone number for verification opinion@reflector.msstate.edu purposes. The editor reserves the Sports Editor/Anthony McDougle right to edit or refuse to publish a letter. reflectorsports@gmail.com Life Editor/Noor Mujahid life@reflector.msstate.edu Photography Editor/Sarah Story photo@reflector.msstate.edu Multimedia Editor/Bek Yake multimedia_editor@reflector.msstate.edu Advertising Sales/Julia Langford 325-7907 advertise@reflector.msstate.edu

EDITORIAL POLICY

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The contents of The Reflector have not been approved by Mississippi State University.

next burglary of life from a dacoit called the gun? You certainly can America, you got this.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said, “We’ve got, in America, we’ve got to come together, there’s too much gun violence in the United States of America.”

In public policy terms, the closest we’ve come to passing something on gun control and background checks followed the Sandy Hook school shooting when many people called for a debate and for action to be taken on gun violence. The bill unfortunately failed in the Senate at the time.

Alison Parker’s father spoke to Megyn Kelly from Fox News later that night.

“We’ve got to do something about crazy people getting guns,” Parker said. “My mission in life is I’m going to do something to shame legislatures into doing something about closing loopholes and background checks and making sure crazy people don’t get guns.”

Maybe this article will be tarnished as ‘crap written by a foreigner,’ but the world needs America to take action, my friends. If George Washington and other founding fathers in the mid-1700s had shied away from talking about democracy, we would never have been a free nation. You

defeated the British navy when you didn ot have a navy. You freed yourself from an aggressor twice the size of you. You are great, and nobody is questioning that, but now it is time to display your greatness once again for your people.

Let’s debate America. Let’s debate why an American on a recurring basis has to lose his or her life to gunfire.

Why have more Americans died by gun shots than in wars? Why? Rest in peace Alison and Adam. You were two seemingly beautiful journalists who deserved much better.

At the end of the day, you were only doing your job of telling a story. I would like to end this with a quote from Henry Grunwald that has been a major influence in my work, “Journalism can never be silent. That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”

MSU Yik Yak Users React to Campus Scare

News Editor Taylor Bowden

America. If not you than whom? This is the country that gave the world the values of liberty, freedom, secularism, democracy. This is the country that gave the world science and technology, put humans in space, on the moon, can’t that country come as one and stop the

“I mean the fake school shooting was scary, but have I ever told you guys about the time I had to fight Shia Lebouf, who is actually a cannibal?”

“Were their [sic] actually gunshots or was it just people panicking?”

“As said by the crazy girl on the plane in bridesmaids “THEREʻS SOMETHING THEYʻRE NOT TELLING US!!””

“Had a nice little run with what looked like 500 of my closest friends by the Union this morning. Letʻs not do it again, fam.”

“Thank you to the girl from Kappa Delta that drove me back to my dorm today. Means a whole lot to me.”

“Everyone deals with trauma differently, but those who are shaken up should not be penalized for taking the day off. Also those who choose to go to class to get their mind off it, shouldnʻt either.”

“Seriously, why did that girl scream in Mccool that made everyone panic?”

“Today was ner ve wrecking.”

“I checked Ole Miss Yak. A ton of support for us. Iʻm all for rivalries on the field, but we donʻt have to hate one another. MSU and Ole Miss are far more similar than we are different.”

“Scariest moment of my life was watching 500 people run after the all clear was called...”

“Thank you to the Aspen Height employee who drove down to campus to bring me back to my apartment.”

“Walking to class thinking “... is this a good idea?”

CORRECTIONS

The Reflector staff strives to maintain the integrity of this paper through accurate and honest reporting. If we publish an error we will correct it. To report an error, call 325-7905.

“McCool classroom doors donʻt lock smh” “The amount of unity we have for each other when things get serious is beautiful.”

REFLECTIONS

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THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

Benjamin Foster| Courtesy Photographs

Last Friday, students congregated in The Junction to witness a ʻBubble Brawl.ʼ The event, put on by the Student Association, Black Student Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, consisted of students playing soccer dressed in inflatable, clear balls. All students were welcomed to play the game and were required to sign a liability waiver. The event had a great turnout, and will most likely reoccur soon.

Students enjoy first ‘Bubble Brawl’ on campus

by Georgeann Kenney Staff Writer

If you passed by the Junction August 21, you might have seen a bunch of giant beach balls with legs bursting out of them. These humanlike balls were part of a bubble ball tournament hosted by Mississippi State University’s Student Affairs along with the Black Student Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Logan Reeves, junior industrial engineering major and Student Association secretary, refereed the event.

According to Reeves, the

event began around 4 p.m. and each game consisted of two teams of five people and lasted 12 minutes.

“So basically you have these inflatable, reinforced bubbles that you put on that have a hollow inside,” Reeves said. “They have shoulder straps and handles, and you run around and play soccer in them and bounce off people – it’s a lot of fun.”

Reeves said some highlights of the Bubble Brawl, including the creative names students came up with, were enjoyable to watch.

“It was fun to see some people come up like ‘Aw yeah bubble soccer’ and about five minutes in some of them were huffi ng and puffi ng so hard we’d call half-time and watch them

throw the things off,” Reeves said. “That was fun to me just watching them have so much fun that they needed a break.

It was very rewarding to see how much they were enjoying the event that the SA sponsored.”

Jaron Ritter, junior mechanical engineering major, said she was on her way to Barnes and Noble when she stopped to watch people running around in bubbles.

“They were knocking into each other pretty hard and one girl got knocked down and had to have two people help her up,” Jaron said. “It looked like they were having a lot of fun.”

All students were welcomed to play. The students came and signed up with their groups, then

Summit unites students

by Kaitlin O’Dougherty Staff Writer

The Men and Women of Color Summit at Mississippi State University began Thursday and continued this morning at 8 a.m. at the new Mill.

The event was organized

by MSU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI). Alicia Hu, OIDI office associate, said MSU recognized alumni and faculty, Linda Cornelious, Marilyn Crouther, Sebetha Jenkins, Albert J. Williams, Wanda Williams and Camille Scales Young.

Hu said Albert J. Williams, an MSU alumni andpresidentoftheChevron Pipe Line CO., and La Doris Harris, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, will speak during today’s events.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert participated in the greetings this morning.

Hu said this event began in 2012. However, it was specifically for men. The event was successful, so they created the Women of Color Summit in 2013.

Both events were created to recognize the needs of minority students.

“Research has shown that minority students, particularly African Americans, are neither being retained nor completing their studies at a rate comparable to their non-minority counterparts,” Hu said.

The Summit was created to address such issues.

Hu said the Men and Women’s Summits are being combined this year because the Women’s was postponed due to weather in the spring.

“We are excited for the

opportunity to combine this year’s Men and Women of Color Summits to hear prospectives from multiple view points,” Hu said.

Hu said they chose speakers who have overcome such struggles to become successful.

“We have several educational stakeholders from the university attending this event which we hope will increase awareness of challenges faced by our young men and women of color in academic settings,” Hu said.

signed a liability form.

Before the game started, each player would wipe his or her bubble ball down with a Clorox wipe before getting in.

Benjamin Foster, junior business information systems and information technology services major, said he was one of the students that played in the tournament.

“I gathered four of my fraternity brothers and headed for the Junction.

We signed a waiver and wrote our team name, (A-team), then waited for our team to be called to play,” Foster said. “I climbed into the bubble and strapped on my harness. Both teams were lined up civil war style when the referee blew his whistle. I ran full speed at

the opposing team and we clashed.”

Foster said once he was knocked down, it took one minute to figure out how to get back up.

He also said kicking the soccer ball proved more challenging in the Bubble Ball. At one point, he said he was convinced the temperature was 100 degrees inside the bubble.

“Everyone was sweating, and even though ‘A-Team’ didn’t score any goals, it was still a blast,” Foster said. “My team and I started walking back to the fraternity house and it was then we realized that bubble brawl took a toll on our knees. Your arms are tucked inside the bubble so you can protect your fall with your arms, so the legs were the only option.”

Foster said even though he limped for a few days, his team lost and he almost broke a leg, he thought the event was a great experiance.

Reeves said he and Roxanne Rave and Sunny Patel, directors of the research and development team committee, started seeing viral videos of Bubble Balls circulating last spring and that is where they got the idea for the “Bubble Brawl” event.

“Student Association bought the balls,” Reeves said. “We will hopefully be renting those out to different organizations on campus and using them for other events that we may have. That hasn’t been officially decided yet but that’s the plan as of now.”

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SPORTS

THE REFLECTOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

New faces eager to fill big shoes this season

by Dimerious Townsend Contributing Writer

The most anticipated sport on campus right now is football. Coach Dan Mullen set a high standard for the bulldogs upcoming year with returning faces like Dak Prescott and De’Runnya “Bear” Wilson. The new faces on the team are the ones in question, especially on defense.

Without defensive coordinator Geoff Collins or stud linebacker Benadrick Mckinney, the defense has a lot to prove. Not only that but the departures of big names like McKinney, Preston Smith, and Dillon Day take away a great deal of production from one of the most succesful teams in Mississippi State history.

One relatively fresh face Mississippi State fans have seen is the new center taking over for Day, junior center Jamaal Clayborn. Day was

The Reflector

Members of the Bulldog football team surround tight end Gus Walley after a touchdown last season. Walley and several familiar faces will have to step up to ensure the teamʼs success.

a crucial leader on the field last year, as his ability to recognize what the defense was doing was a viable asset to the entire offensive unit.

Many say it would be hard to replace someone like Day because of his role on and off the field. Clayborn, who will be hiking to Dak this

upcoming season said that he is pleased with his growh at the center positon. “ I feel more confident in what I am doing,” Clayborn said. “I am just trying to go out there and get better everyday.”

Clayborn also credited the Bulldog defense for his

development.

“Going against a great defense helps. Coach Diaz gives us several different looks, which helps us focus on mental things,” the junior center said. Clayborn assures he is getting better daily and is prepared for the season.

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While Clayborn gets used to the offense, Manny Diaz is also a somewhat new face on the sidelines this year. After stints at Texas and Louisiana Tech, Diaz returns to Starkville to take the helm of the defensive unit.

When asked about the

pressure on returning to David Wade he states, “ I don’t know what pressure is. We have a pretty high standard on how we play defense. The more you do this, then it becomes more about the people who play.”

He also commented on new recruits like Leo Lewis, saying “ I am really excited about Leo, instinctively he is really gifted.”

Yet another player thrust into a starting role is junior defensive back Kivon Coman. Coman saw a significant amount of playing time last year and will be one of many looked upon to mend a defense that allowed 272.8 yards per game. Coman said he is excited to be playing alongside Kendrick Market.

“I understand that we are essentially the last line of defense,” he said. “I love challenges and I am ready to be challenged this season.”

Coman will be replacing Justin Cox. All in all, Mississippi State does have some good upcoming players from the bench to the new recruits.

Next season is a must see with all the hype from last season and new faces.

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