The Print Edition 3-2-2012

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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884

MSU Police plan to charge student in abduction hoax Kennedy case bound over to grand jury BY HANNAH ROGERS Editor in Chief

The Mississippi State University student who reported being abducted from the university campus early Wednesday morning will be charged today by the MSU Police Department for filing a false report. Detective Brad Massey of the MSU Police Department said they will try to get her to turn herself in. Filing a false police report is a misdemeanor charge. The abduction was declared to be a

hoax after she recanted her story during interviews, Massey said. Georgia Lindley, MSU Chief of Police, said the MSU Police Department has not yet spoken with the student but at this point believes she orchestrated the hoax alone. Lindley said as of Wednesday the student was with her family in Alabama, where she was found. As of Thursday afternoon, Lindley said she did not know the student’s current location. Massey said the motivation has not yet been revealed. He said when charges are filed in

these cases, they are determined on a case-by-case basis. “False reporting of a crime is very serious — it takes away hours and resources of the police to investigate real crimes,” he said. Massey said reporting false crimes does not happen frequently. Thomas Bourgeois, dean of students, said between the FBI, Mississippi and Alabama Highway Patrols, the MSU Police Department and the Hoover, Ala., Police Department, an estimated 70 officers worked the case. He said, in general, when false re-

ports are filed, the justice system becomes involved and the person responsible for it must pay the costs associated with it. At MSU, the code of conduct has a provision that students could face sanctions that range from probation to expulsion for violating the code of conduct. Bourgeois said false crime reports erode the credibility of real stories. “So much bad can come from this … People don’t think about the ramifications,” he said. Originally, the incident was reported to the police at 1:48 a.m. Wednesday.

SEE HOAX, 3

SA announces new executive officers BY HAYLEE BURGE Staff Writer

The 2012 Student Association executive officers were announced Tuesday night outside of Colvard Student Union. Shelby Balius was named the new SA president. Rhett Hobart, current SA president, said a total of 4,248 students voted in the 2012 SA executive officer election. Of these votes, Shelby Balius garnered 54.8 percent, earning her the title. She will take office on March 29. Balius said she is thrilled to be serving in her new position. “I’m incredibly honored and humbled to be able to have the opportunity to serve

in this way for the students of Mississippi State. I’m very excited about everything that this new year in the Student Association will offer,” Balius said. Park Wynn was elected SA vice president, edging out Gavin Barnett. Wynn said he has high hopes for the upcoming year. “I’m just so excited and honored to JAY JOHNSON | THE REFLECTOR have the opportunity to serve as vice pres- Students gather outside of the Union Tuesday night to hear the SA executive election ident for the Student Association. I’m re- results. Rhett Hobart, current SA President said over 4,000 students voted in the election. ally looking forward to seeing the things portunity and I’m really looking forward opportunity to work with each of them. that we can do in office,” Wynn said. “I think that with this executive counBlake Shepherd gained 74 percent of to serving this university,” he said. Shelby Sims ran unopposed and will cil, everything will be bigger and better the vote against Larry March and was named SA treasurer. Shepherd said he serve as the next SA secretary. She said she than ever. I’m really looking forward to was happy with all of the newly elected everything we do. I’m happy with how was very grateful for everyone’s support. “I’m incredibly appreciative of the op- executives and is enthusiastic about the everything turned out,” she said. SEE ELECTION, 5

New SA president honored to serve Students elect Balius BY CANDACE BARNETTE Staff Writer

JAY JOHNSON | THE REFLECTOR

Shelby Balius had no reason to hide her emotion Tuesday night after being elected SA President.

Mississippi State University has officially chosen its new Student Association president, and it can expect to see some changes very soon. Newly elected SA president Shelby Balius said working to attain her position helped to put the magnitude of her decision in perspective. “It’s so amazing to be able to meet hundreds of students during a three or four week span; I saw so many new faces,” Balius said. “It takes a minute to set in that I would be rep-

resenting all these people if elected. It really shows the gravity of the responsibility.” Despite the pressure, Balius said she is thrilled to have been elected. “It’s a wonderful feeling, and it’s also very overwhelming at first to officially be the SA president of this university,” she said. “It’s also incredibly encouraging to see the support from administrators and students I’ve seen today. It’s a very exciting time looking to see what the future holds.” The first step Balius and the other members of the Student Association will have to take is electing the rest of the executive council and cabinet. “We want to have those people in place for Super Bulldog Weekend because we have a lot of existing obligations and housekeeping to take care of over the next few weeks,” she said. SEE BALIUS, 2

SA Senate passes three resolutions Tuesday BY WILL HAGER Staff Writer

On Tuesday, the Mississippi State University Student Association Senate met to discuss four bills and three resolutions.

Bill 12

The Senate unanimously passed Bill 12, which details the disbursement of money from SA to 17 MSU student organizations. The appropriations committee of SA Senate, along with

SA treasurer, determined to allocate a total of $9,300 across the organizations that requested money.

Bill 13

Bill 13 was brought before the Senate by Senator John Michael Vanhorn. The bill revises the limitations of campaign expenditures for candidates running for SA positions in the general election. Previously, candidates could spend a maximum of $1000 for campaign spending and an additional $150 in the case of a runoff.

READERʼS GUIDE CAMPUS CALENDAR...................2 BAD DAWGS..............................3 OPINION................................ 6 CONTACT INFO...................... 6

BILL 12

BILL 13

Allocated $9,300 for 17 MSU student organizations

Gives $1,750 for SA election campaigns instead of $1,000

BILL 14

Three new positions were opened on the council: Distinguished Scholars Chairperson, the Maroon VIP president and the president of foundation Ambassadors. The Presidentʼs Council will meet twice a month with a Division of Student Affairs member.

SEE SENATE, 3

POLICY LIFE.............................. ........9 CROSSWORD...............................8 CLASSIFIEDS.......................... 8 SPORTS..................................14

ADOPTED RESOLUTIONS

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BY MICAH GREEN News Editor

Lance Kennedy, former MSU student who was charged with multiple drugrelated felonies following the overdose death of another MSU student, was bound over Thursday to the Oktibbeha County grand jury. Kennedy, who was enrolled as a freshman kinesiology major last semester, was arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana, cocaine, herion and Xanax on Feb. 7 after an investigation into the accidental overdose death of Teresa Veal. Kennedy was released from custody after posting a $100,000 bond and was set to make his initial appearance Feb. 16, but a continuance to Thursday delayed this. He did not appear in court today, but was represented by his lawyer. Veal was found dead in Kennedy’s Louisville Street apartment in the early morning hours of Feb. 4. An autopsy later revealed high levels of cocaine and herion in her system. Kennedy’s case will be presented to the grand jury, which normally meets in July.

Twitter town hall employs hashtags to improve city Over 400 participated BY LACI KYLES Staff Writer

In keeping with the surge of social media popularity, a “Twitter town hall” took place Monday night to encourage discussion between students, residents and officials on ways to improve Starkville. The online event took place from 8 to 10 p.m. and was open to anyone who wanted to join the conversation using the trending topic #Starkville2012. The chat included representatives from local businesses, organizations and Mississippi State University, as well as any Twitter user who had an interest in voicing opinions about the college town. Haley Montgomery, social media consultant for Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said the virtual town hall meeting was sponsored by Starkville Main Street, Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau and Greater Starkville Partnership. The idea for the event came from a side comment casually made after conversations on Twitter regarding the city got heated. “We just wanted to start a conversation and get people talking,” she said. “We were really interested in getting information on the perception of Starkville. We definitely needed to moderate it with a set of questions to start it with questions framed from conversations (on Twitter) the week before.”

SEE TOWN HALL, 4

ZACH ORSBORN | THE REFLECTOR

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