Gateway Magazine 2018

Gateway A special publication of The Murray State News

A Stage of Her Own Rallying the Racers for graduation Page 21

Voices of Marshall A dedication to strength Page 31

Mann of the Hour A Racer finds his home on Capitol Hill Page 36

M

THE MUR R AY STATE

NEWS

2018

From the Editor College is framed on either side by the bittersweet end of four years - it begins with the closing of high school, a swarm of fresh-faced first years ready to make campus their own. Campus changes, people change, administrations change, courses and budgets change.

Then we leave, another four years in the books, fresh-faced college grads ready to make the world our own. Such is the cycle of American education: we come, we learn, we hope to grow and depart for our own little worlds.

When planning this year’s edition of Gateway, I was asked what the publication was: is it a student-profile piece catalogue? Is it a PR tool for the university? Is it just a way to make a little extra money for The News, just a way to pad the budget? I shrugged. I had been told we had to do Gateway each year, but was never told why.

Our eventual conclusion was that Gateway is our time capsule, our Racer history book published each year to remember the good and the bad, the big and the small, the celebrations that have made our college careers what they are. So we built a time capsule.

This year’s Gateway, with any luck, will give our Racer community a calling card, a history lesson for those who come after. This will be my last Gateway, the last time seeing the publication as a student. For myself, Gateway is the year wrapped up in prose, it is hours spent slaving away over photos and design, it is a staff dedicated to the greater public. For you, the reader, I can only hope it means a fraction of what it does to myself and the staff who put it together. If it does, then we have done our job.

Godspeed and Go Racers!

Connor Jaschen, Editor-in-Chief

Gateway 2018 Staff Editor-in-Chief Connor Jaschen

Designers

Austin Gordon Tori Wood Rachel Solomon

Editorial

Ashley Traylor Lindsey Coleman Emily Williams Bryan Edwards Blake Sandlin Tyler Anderson Sydni Anderson

Photography

McKenna Dosier Chalice Keith Kelli O’Toole Jenny Rohl Nick Bohannon Tori Wood

Rachel Solomon Brock Kirk Cory Savage

Advertising

JMC 426 Class Iqra Ilyas Austin Gordon John Bivins Sydney Cline Kelsey Fannin Rachel Solomon

Copy Editors

Ginni Sisemore Emily Whitehouse Cade Miller Cierra Sauer

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Stephanie Anderson Robert Valentine Orville Herndon

Table of Contents 7 12 15 17 21 27 31 36 39 44 48

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Gateway 2018 Edition

2017 In Review A year of upheaval

Reviving the Bluegrass

The tradition of hemp in Kentucky

Turner.

A new Racer legacy shoots off

18 Ways Racers Give Back Students active in philanthropies

A Stage of Her Own

The Racer community rallies

Straight Shooting

How the Racer Rifle team leads the pack

Voices of Marshall

Stories of strength & survival

Mann of the Hour

A Racer on Capitol Hill

Remembering New Richmond

The explosive end to a new building

Honoring Our Racer Military

Students, soldiers & friends united

Predicting Storms

From Murray State to the National Weather Service

Empowering Women to Change the World

Our Mission is to establish among our members a perpetual bond of friendship, to develop within our members a strong womanly character, and to impress among them high standards of conduct.

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2017

A YEAR IN REVIEW

Story by TYLER ANDERSON CAMPUS LIFE The past year brought big changes to Murray State – some to be celebrated and others affording a moment of silence.

The breaking story of the year was the explosion of James H. Richmond Residential College. Former Residential Director Dakota Fields was the only person present, and thankfully, he avoided fatal injuries.

Deconstruction of the south wing of New Richmond began in 2017.

A few facilities received some much needed upgrades. Starbooks, a popular snack spot for late nights in Waterfield Library, now has standing

room for more than five people, and Waterfield itself got a fresh coat of paint.

To anyone unfamiliar with campus, a new elevator is not too exciting. But Faculty Hall’s new pair of fully functioning elevators were much needed. Now it is time to replace those in the Business Building.

Toward the end of the fall semester, a pair of deadly crashes claimed the lives of freshman Brooke Phillips of Owensboro, Kentucky, and sophmore Aaron Adams of Cadiz, Kentucky, causing a wave of grief on campus.

Resiliency was the word for 2017.

A soggy homecoming didn’t dampen the spirits of Tent City participants, and the festivities continued despite the need to strap on rain boots.

MUSIC It was a big year for music lovers.

There were plenty of hits, and some awfully harsh misses among some of the most popular artists.

One of the most surprising strikeouts of the year was Katy Perry. While having never been a beacon of originality, her album “Witness” proved to be an especially unremarkable follow up to her past work.

Miley Cyrus, despite coming off www.TheNews.org Gateway

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whatever acid trip she was on while crafting “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz,” didn’t fair much better. “Younger Now” was criticized as being the most inauthentic Miley we have seen so far. Returning to her country music roots and growing out her hair was just not enough to win us over.

“DAMN” from Kendrick Lamar was a standout for many in the music world. Critics and music lovers raved about his lyrical mastery and presentation. He has been setting trends for a few years, and seems to only be getting better.

Lorde finally released her sophomore album, “Melodrama,” and it was everything we had hoped for and more. All the angst and insecurities of late teenhood that she captured in “Pure Heroine” were synthesized through her newfound fame, and culminated in one of the best works of 2017.

Oh, and you can not talk about the music scene in 2017 without mentioning Cardi B. From exotic dancer to “Love & Hip Hop” to hit maker, her ascent up the celebrity ladder was inspiring. “Bodak Yellow” was the summer anthem we needed and deserved.

CULTURE SHOCK The United States is very much a nation in flux, and 2017 tested our resolve like never before.

President Donald Trump began his first term and has been nothing short of controversial since moving into the White House.

He was criticized for poor diplomatic dealings with North Korea and an exhausting obsession with Hillary Clinton. The administration’s rocky start was only magnified by ongoing investigations into voting fraud and interference by Russian entities.

Charlottesville, Virginia was put on the map by clashes between neo-Nazis and counter protesters. Xenophobia, racism and homophobia were talking points for the nation.

Many found that those closest to them sympathized with these individuals and relationships across all social spheres were tested.

The #MeToo campaign took off as a sign of solidarity with those who were brave enough to make their experiences with alleged sexual assault known. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. were among those accused and the list only grew as the year went on. As a result of the victims coming forward, we may finally be coming into an age where victims are given the support and legal protection they need and deserve.

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Gateway 2018 Edition

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Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, 12/20/17 www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/20/the-surprising-thing-google-learned-about-its-employees-and-what-it-means-for-todaysstudents/?utm_term=.5119e01758e7

“The National Association of Colleges and Employers conducted a recent survey with hiring managers to find the top 10 most important skills employers are seeking. The top three (1. Ability to work within a team structure, 2. Make decisions and solve problems, and 3. Communicate verbally with people) are soft skills. People skills and emotional intelligence are widely recognized to be as important, if not more important, than technical skills . . .”

Amy Seglin, Fortune, 6/16/17 www.fortune.com/2017/06/16/job-interview-skills/

“It has become fashionable to say that our present epoch is an information age, but that’s not quite right. In truth, we live in a communication age and it’s time we start taking it seriously.”

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R. Michael Bokeno, Chair 270-809-4463 rbokeno@murraystate.edu www.murraystate.edu/orgcom

Reviving the Bluegrass Story by Sydni Anderson Photos by McKenna Dosier

Hemp, a stigmatized crop with ancestral ties to marijuana, is a recent addition to Murray’s agricultural stock. After Kentucky legislators passed the 2014 Farm Bill approving industrial hemp plots with THC levels below 0.3 percent, Murray State and other farmers in the city added the crop to their arsenal.

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Gateway 2018 Edition

According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, THC levels for today’s marijuana average around 10 percent.

Brian Parr, department head of agriculture science at Murray State, said he hopes hemp becomes a viable crop in the state’s rotation. But it is not the first time Murray farmers have raised hemp. Parr said the crop’s acceptance in the region has roots.

According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the state’s first hemp crop was grown in 1771. After that, Kentucky became the nation’s leading hemp-producing state, peaking at 40,000 tons in 1850. However, U.S. hemp production declined after the Civil War and in 1938 legislation outlawed production of cannabis in the country. Hemp made a comeback during World War II as the crop’s production became part of the war effort but took another recess after the small hemp fiber industry in Wisconsin closed shop in 1958.

The 2014 Farm Bill showed the break was only temporary.

Guy Cunningham, a Calloway County resident, farmed hemp during World War II. Born in 1928, Cunningham said his family farmed hemp among other crops like strawberries through the war. In a 1974 interview for a Jackson Purchase Oral History Project over Word War II, Cunningham said he grew hemp for two to three years as a 4-H project for the government.

“As I grew older myself, one of the projects – it’s ironic now because this was partly how marijuana was introduced to the US – was the growing of hemp,” Cunningham said.

“We were cut off from some of the Latin American countries that grew hemp for the purpose of making rope and it became a very scarce item.”

Cunningham said his family grew hemp by the acres, using the fibers for rope and pulling the seeds to ship back to the Latin American countries.

Parr said the hemp fibers are so strong they actually jam rotary systems.

“You can take that stalk and peel it apart and just peel this fiber away,” Parr said. “Two people can pull [on the fiber] as hard as they can with a really thin piece of hemp that looks like grass. You can’t pull it apart. It’s just incredibly, incredibly strong.”

Cunningham said when he was done with the crop, he would burn the stalks.

Parr said Kentucky residents do not have to look far anywhere in the state to find somebody who had a hemp farmer as a grandfather or great-grandfather.

“People even got deferments on draft cards to be hemp farmers and so there’s people in this area whose grandparents were deferred from the draft because they had so many acres of hemp that was grown for the war effort,” Parr said.

“That really worked in our favor whenever hemp came back around.”

Parr said the state’s history of hemp has been an advantage in fighting the stigma and common misconceptions behind the crop.

“We have a whole kind of baby boomer generation that had grandparents that grew hemp so they know that there’s a difference [between hemp and marijuana] and they know that there’s a use for it,” Parr said. “They had family that grew it and so the stigma of it just being marijuana is really deferred by that state memory.”

At the aid of this ‘state memory’, Parr said the university is using hemp for research projects including using hemp hearts (unshelled hemp seeds) as chicken feed and testing different varieties. He said hemp came back at just the right time. One generation later and the crop would have been forgotten.

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For 21 years, nothing much had changed for Rechelle Turner, but in March of 2017, she stepped foot in a role she had never held.

After tallying 460 wins and numerous different accolades, Turner went from Murray High School to Murray State, her alma mater, to coach the Racers’ women’s basketball team.

Not many coaches can say their first college coaching gig is at the same school they attended, and Turner said it’s an honor to have the opportunity.

“It’s very special,” Turner said.

“Murray State gave me an opportunity out of high school to play Division I basketball, and I’m forever grateful for that. Every stage of life develops you in a different way, and my time at Murray State was a special time for me, and the opportunity to come back and give back to the university and also to try to put Murray State women’s basketball back to an elite level is a challenge.”

Before taking the job to coach the Racers, Turner was coaching the Murray High Lady Tigers in the state tournament. She said it wasn’t until after the Lady Tigers fell to Mercer County in the state semifinals that she received word about the opening at Murray State.

“I was contacted by Mr. [Al-

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Gateway 2018 Edition

len] Ward after we got back from the state tournament,” Turner said.

“I really appreciated Mr. Ward for understanding and knowing how important that was to us.”

Turner said the decision to accept the job at Murray State was one of the hardest she has ever had to make.

“When you spent 21 years of your life at a certain place, it is very difficult to leave,” Turner said. “Everybody was family. After lots of prayer and consideration. I felt like at my age, if I was going to ever coach Division I basketball, that I had to take the opportunity.”

Now over a year into her tenure at Murray State, Turner has pitched a change of culture since she walked in, and with her first official recruiting class signed, that change might come a little quicker.

Turner signed five total players for the 2018 class, three of which she knows very well. Macey Turley, Lex Mayes and Alexis Burpo played for Turner at Murray High, and she said it’s going to be an advantage to have players that already understand the system on her team.

“They know the expectations, they know what it takes to win, they understand me and what I’m trying

to do,” Turner said. “When you recruit winners that are not only winners on the court but winners in the game of life, that’s going to bring a lot to your program immediately.”

Turner said overall, she believes her staff has done a great job in getting the best possible players to come and play for the Racers.

“As a whole, I felt like we did a really good job developing relationships,” Turner said. “As far as a first class goes, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Since taking over in March, Turner said the hardest thing about coaching in Division I is the time commitment.

“College basketball never stops,” Turner said. “You’re not only coaching the team that you have in place but you’re trying to figure out what players you need going forward.”

Despite the challenges of coaching, Turner has a fresh year ahead of her to continue to build on her coaching experience and guide Murray State’s women’s basketball team to success.

18 WAYS

RACERS GIVE BACK Story by Lindsey Coleman Photos by Jenny Rohl & Tori Wood

Between paying bills and trying to afford tuition, college students are notoriously strapped for cash. Despite the financial hardship associated with being a student, Murray State has a rich culture of philanthropy, ranging from Greek life to department organizations. Here’s a look at how some Racers work together to give their time and resources by recognizing that the world needs a little extra love.

sign-ups as well as DKMS Delete Blood Cancer sign-ups.

“We encourage our students to find ways to get involved long-term within the community or on campus in health-related fields or not, like volunteering with hospice or at the nursing homes, to give them the attitude of service needed for future healthcare professionals,” President of PHP, Katie Alexander from Crofton, Kentucky, said.

PRE-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS CLUB

President Brittani Hawkins, senior from Owensboro, Kentucky, said TriBeta helped with Up Til Dawn this year. In the past, they have hosted bake sales to raise money for St. Jude’s.

On a more local scale, TriBeta offers free tutoring for most Murray State biology classes.

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Katie Alexander, President of PHP and senior from Crofton, Kentucky, said pre-health students have opportunities to help with Red Cross blood drives on campus by working signup tables and recruiting donors. They’ve also partnered with the MSU Lions Club to support Trust for Life organ donor

Photo contributed by Suzy Crook

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TRIBETA BIOLOGICAL HONOR SOCIETY

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SIGMA SIGMA SIGMA

The sisters of Sigma Sigma Sigma put on an annual cheer competition and also a 5k run, which benefit March of Dimes and the Robbie Page Memorial Foundation. March of Dimes advocates for the health of mothers and babies and the Robbie Page Memorial Foundation supports play therapy for children in the hospital.

“It’s important to us because we know how much need there is to help organizations such as March of Dimes and we hold it close to our hearts to give back,” Kayla Grunduski, recent graduate and member of the sorority, said.

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SIGMA ALPHA

The sisters of the Sigma Alpha sorority support Bright Life Farms, a nonprofit group home for mentally or developmentally disabled adults. They raise money to support the farm through their annual Stud Auction in the fall and Ag Olympics

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DELTA ZETA

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KAPPA DELTA

President and senior from Chicago, Illinois.

Through events in the fall and spring, Delta Zeta supports the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which supplies hearing aids, teaches people how to take care of them and returns six months later to make sure they are still working properly.

Hannah Travis, junior from Princeton, Kentucky, said her sisters are very passionate about the cause, and they also have the chance to go on the hearing missions.

The sisters of Kappa Delta support Prevent Child Abuse America and the Girl Scouts of the United States by hosting laser tag tournaments, three-on-three basketball tournaments, a talent show and events to build local girls’ confidence.

“Kappa Delta holds both of these organizations near to our heart because the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and every child deserves to have a happy childhood,” Danielle Martin, senior from Carmi, Illinois, said.

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MSU HEALTH AND WELLNESS PEER EDUCATORS

The Murray State University Health & Wellness Peer Educators hosted a “Great American Smokeout” event last fall to help local tobacco users reach their goals of quitting. The program is an extension of the American Cancer Society. Miranda Terry, faculty adviser, said they plan to make this an annual event.

Participants received a Quit Kit, health education and statistics about tobacco use and consequences in Kentucky.

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NATIONAL STUDENT SPEECH LANGUAGE & HEARING ASSOCIATION

in the spring.

“The time that we are able to spend with the residents is priceless; however, their needs are not,” Lia Reed, Sigma Alpha Philanthropy Chair from Danville, Illinois, said. “That is why we find it so important to give back.”

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ALPHA DELTA PI

By holding their annual Kickin’ it with ADPi event and donating their time at the Evansville, Indiana, center, the sorority supports The Ronald McDonald House Charities.

“Being able to stay close to their loved ones during those tough times is so important to families, and we are so honored and humbled to be able to support an organization that allows families to do that at little to no cost,” said Emma French, ADPi

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Gateway 2018 Edition

The Murray State chapter of the National Student Speech Language & Hearing Association is a group of preprofessional students planning to pursue a career in speech language pathology or audiology.

The group has volunteered and fundraised for the local delegation of Special Olympics in the past. This year they served as sponsors for the Murray State Campus Plunge for Special Olympics and raised over $13,000.

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SIGMA PHI EPSILON

The brothers support BestBuddies, which is an organization devoted to special needs students in Murray and Calloway County. Last year they raised over $10,000 for the cause.

“It’s important to us that we support BestBuddies because ever since we have adopted them as our philanthropy, we have been able to see them grow and be able to do so much more for the kids they serve,” said Caleb Coomes, president of SigEp and junior from Owensboro, Kentucky.

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BAPTIST CAMPUS MINISTRY

Marina White, BCM President and senior from Shelbyville, Kentucky, said the BCM coordinates 5K races, a formal, Operation Christmas Child initiatives, dinners for students and more to raise money and awareness for mission organizations all over the world. The BCM has sent students on mission trips to address domestic and international needs while restoring communities, teaching children, bringing supplies and sharing their faith.

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AG BUSINESS CLUB

Dean of the Hutson School of Agriculture, Tony Brannon, said the club supports Toys for Tots and annually raises about $1,000 for Murray and Calloway County area kids.

MURRAY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

Since 1972, Mike Kerrick, MCF minister, said their longest standing ministry to the Murray community is visiting Fern Terrace Nursing Home every week. The students interact with the residents at the assisted living establishment by greeting, talking, singing and praying with them.

“Eyes brighten up and smiles burst out,” Kerrick said. “It really is like a surprise party every time we come.”

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MURRAY CHI ALPHA

Ryan Brooks, minister at Chi Alpha, said they support missionaries to universities in South Korea, Turkey, Chicago, Illinois and Fort Collins, Colorado. They collect an offering each week to support the ministry and their missionaries.

and Big Brothers Big Sisters. President Austin Spicer, senior from Paducah, Kentucky, said the brothers raise over $5,000 a year by hosting events like Sig Olympics and rebate nights.

“Our brothers love having the opportunity to give back, and we hope as our chapter grows, our impact in the communities and on the philanthropies grows even more,” Spicer said.

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ALPHA SIGMA ALPHA

Abbey Malone, Internal Philanthropic Chairman for ASA and senior from St. Louis, Missouri, said the sisters host The Dating Game, Teeter for Tots, the Toys for Tots annual dinner and support Girls on the Run, the S. June Smith Center, the ASA Foundation and Special Olympics.

Last year, Malone said the sisters were fortunate to sponsor 85 kids at the Toys for Tots dinner, where they served a Christmas dinner, Santa gave presents to the kids and the sisters interacted with the families.

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ALPHA OMICRON PI

By partnering with the Arthritis Foundation, Rachel Solomon, former AOII President and senior from Benton, Kentucky, said they are doing their part to help those who battle arthritis and, one day, find a cure. Their local philanthropy, West Kentucky Mentoring, provides support to kids with academic or social needs. AOII’s annual philanthropy events are Mr. MSU, which is a male beauty pageant, and Strikeout Arthritis, which is either a baseball or bowling tournament.

ALPHA GAMMA DELTA

Rock-A-Thon is a tried and true lip-sync battle tradition on campus.

Fraternities and sororities make up a routine and vie for the winning spot, all while working together to eradicate hunger.

“Fighting hunger is important to this chapter because we have been avid volunteers at Needline, a local food bank, and we love to see our work go out and support the little community of Murray, Kentucky,” said Hattie Jo Ginn, junior from Princeton, Kentucky, and Philanthropy Coordinator for AGD.

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ALPHA SIGMA PHI

The brothers support Aware Awake Alive, the Humane Society, Homes for Our Troops, the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network

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A STAGE OF HER OWN Story by Connor Jaschen Photos by Rhiannon Branch & contributed

D

arlene Jackson just wanted to cross the road.

Jackson, recent Murray State graduate from Herndon, Kentucky, has dealt with unique problems her whole life.

Homework, a budding social life and on-campus commitments kept her schedule busy through her collegiate career. Music and an education kept her dreams filled.

Jackson, though, was born with cerebral palsy, tackling these collegiate challenges from behind a walker or from the seat of a wheelchair.

Slowing down never really was an option.

Between interning with the local radio station, WKMS and full load of classes, Jackson made sure not to let her wheelchair turn into a disability, but rather just another challenge she was prepared to tackle.

In November of 2017, Darlene’s challenges with cerebral palsy played out in real time: crossing Highway 121, Jackson decided to take a shortcut to a crosswalk, pulling into the street when she thought she was safe. She would soon learn she wasn’t.

Jackson’s last memory is seeing the crosswalk, seeing the last little space until safety inching forward, her wheelchair moving as quickly as it could. Then, she was struck by a moving car.

Jackson and her wheelchair would be flung almost fifteen feet down Highway 121.

She woke up in an ambulance. She learned she didn’t make it those last few inches.

“I had no idea where I was or what happened,” Jackson said. “And I still don’t know all the details. [...] Piecing it all together? I just would rather not. I mean, it’s nice to know the details, but at some point it’s just too much to handle.”

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“ I’m just thankful to be alive.

The driver was only going 35 mph, 10 miles under the 45 mph speed limit. It were these 10 miles per hour – the difference between getting home five minutes early or being late for supper – that saved Jackson’s life.

“She hit me I’m guessing in my back, because I’m having so much problems with my back,” Jackson said. “ [...] I suffered a concussion and, as far as anything in the accident, I felt nothing. I was passed out before any of it happened.”

Police were called to the reported crash and responded quickly. Jackson’s injuries were assessed and she was quickly transported to Murray-Calloway County Hospital for treatment, though the fear didn’t let up on the way there. Jackson suffered a head injury, not knowing what happened before waking up in the back of the ambulance, with only one question on her mind: “All I remember is waking up in the ambulance and asking the paramedic if I was going to die,” she said. “He said, ‘No.’ And then, right after that, I passed out again.”

Jackson would spend the next 22 days, working through a medical recipe of one part physical therapy and one part rest. Friends and family rallied around her. Flowers poured into the hospital, turning her room into a variable garden. Murray State President Bob Davies called in to give his best wishes, being overseas at the time.

Friends and family weren’t the end of the well-wishers, though – Jackson’s family had grown past blood, reaching deep into the Racer community. During her stay, university faculty and staff, notably that of Davies, Jackson’s journalism department and the entire December graduation ceremony procession made a trip to see Darlene.

Jackson graduated December of 2017, though her injuries kept her from participating in the graduation ceremony. She shared a video of the commencement on her Facebook page from her hospital bed.

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Davies decided Jackson’s contribution to the Murray State community was worthy of more than being sidelined in a hospital bed.

Jackson was contacted for permission to host a small graduation celebration in the hospital lobby.

She agreed, donned her cap and gown, and took to the elevator, expecting to see a small, humble ceremony that would give her a hint of the real thing. What she got was so much more.

“They approached me with a celebration ceremony-type thing and that’s what I thought they would have – just some people from rehab and my family and friends,” she said. “ [...] But before that, they made me sign a release form because they said they were going to be taking pictures and with me being in TV, I understood that.”

The entirety of the December commencement ceremony showed up, caps and gowns to match Darlene’s. It was there that Jackson would walk across a hospital lobby stage, it was there she would throw her cap in the air, and it was there she would officially become a Murray State graduate.

The entirety of the ceremony was captured by the university’s media team and posted on Youtube, a commemoration to sit beside the catalogue of ceremonies since Murray State’s founding.

“As a student-centered institution, Murray State university was honored to participate in a special commencement ceremony for Darlene Raye Jackson in December 2017,” university officials said in an official statement. “She embodies the Racer spirit, was actively involved while a student, and will serve as a great alumni ambassador for many years to come.”

Since her ceremony, Jackson has been released from the hospital and continues her recovery process surrounded by friends and family. She said she plans to continue to take the whole experience as a lesson, whether it be the cautionary tale of the wreck or a tale of hope and new opportunities provided by her friends in the Racer community.

“I’m just thankful for my faith and family and all the prayers and support from everyone at the

university at this time,” Jackson said. “And I’m just thankful to be alive.”

Jackson still has her eyes set on the music industry in the long-term and Murray State in the short term, where she hopes to work in recruitment, preferably a desk job because of her disability.

“I don’t typically think of my day-to-day life as having a disability. I’m used to it,” Jackson said. “It’s just something that, if I want to do something – if I know I’m capable of it – I’m going to do it. And I’ve proved a lot of people wrong. This accident was just one of those things , I was really tired and took a shortcut and didn’t really make the right decision, but if I hadn’t have done that then I wouldn’t be able to tell you this story.”

Wherever Jackson’s next move may be, she said she will never forget the tremendous acts of compassion by the Murray State community.

“They just love me and they made it known that they love me and that my hardwork wasn’t unrecognized,” Jackson said. “They still wanted me to have my graduation on the day that I graduated and they didn’t want me to have to wait till May.”

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STRAIGHT SHOOTING Story by Blake Sandlin If you were to ask the casual Murray State fan to name the sport that put the school on the map, they would likely respond resoundingly with basketball, but the nationally ranked Murray State rifle team may have something to say about that.

The team is ranked No. 3 in the nation, among the likes of power-five heavyweights West Virginia, Texas Christian and Kentucky. They have won backto-back OVC championships, and gained notoriety at the highest level, claiming third place in the NCAA championships in 2016 and 2017.

The accolades do not stop there. Last season, the rifle team shattered literally every record in the program’s 61-year existence. They set the team single-match record and the team season-average record in all three statistical categories of smallbore, air rifle and aggregate. To top it all off, senior All-American Ivan Roe eclipsed all previous individual and season scoring records.

The paradigm of unparalleled success the rifle team has amassed over the past several

seasons can be attributed, in part, to 11-year Head Coach Alan Lollar. Since being handed the keys to the program in 2008 after serving as the interim head coach the previous year, Lollar has earned five OVC Coach of the Year honors and two College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) National Coach of the Year awards to complement his four OVC championships and five NCAA championship appearances.

While Lollar has accrued an unprecedented level of prestige in the coaching ranks during his tenure with the Racers, he never expected he would end up involved in the sport. In fact, Lollar got his start at the university in 1993 when he served as the head athletic trainer. The five-time OVC Coach of the Year even used to spend his summers as a pitching coach on a summer league baseball team.

Although he changed sports, Lollar said there are some clear parallels between the two sports that have served him well in his quest to shape the rifle program into a championship-caliber unit. “The pitching approach is not that much different than shootwww.TheNews.org Gateway

27

ers,” Lollar said. “They both are doing the same thing over and over that is very process oriented and very mechanical. It’s something that you have to forget about the last repetition, and focus on this repetition.”

Consistency is crucial in a sport as meticulous as rifle and in a league plagued with parity, but the Racers have hit their stride. Murray State rifle has been ranked in the top five nationally for two straight years. However, working their way into the upper echelon of the sport has not been an easy process.

Bobby Broadstreet, senior from Ozark, Missouri, joined the rifle program in 2014, shooting on a team that lost six matches during regular season play. Although that same team went on to qualify for the NCAA championships, their eighth-place finish left Broadstreet eager to make improvements.

“There were definitely aspects

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Gateway 2018 Edition

of team morale and synergy that we needed to improve on,” Broadstreet said. “We needed to become more of a cohesive group because that’s what it takes when it comes down to the nitty gritty and you need those last few points to beat whoever it might be. It really comes down to how you trust your teammates and how you feel. I think that’s the majority of what we’ve improved on, how we trust each other.”

That trust has led to the establishment of a nationally ranked program at a school with a total enrollment of just over 10,000 students, which ultimately begs the question: How does a school of this stature build such an acclaimed program?

While some of the country’s top recruits are enticed to commit to schools with state-of-the-art facilities, bustling college atmospheres and a plethora of school apparel, Broadstreet chose to become a

Racer for a different reason.

“I chose Murray State because I came from a little town of about 9,000 or so, and I really like the atmosphere and the hometown feel,” Broadstreet said. “I like going into Hungry Bear and listening to the old-timers talk about the good ‘ole days.”

Broadstreet and his senior counterparts – Roe and Ben Estes – will have one more shot at the title before moving on from the program. But even after they are gone, the team will have no shortage of weapons at their disposal left to carry on their legacy. Broadstreet said that depth is what puts Murray State rifle in a league of its own.

“Our team is so deep,” Broadstreet said. “We’ve got 10, including myself, that are exceptional athletes. That’s what I think separates us from really any other team, that we’re extremely deep. Anyone can step up to the line and do what

Photos by: Chalice Keith, Brock Kirk, Kory Savage and Dave Winder

we need to do and perform at that high national level.”

And this year, they have. The Racers have proven early that they belong among the giants of the sport, with their lone losses coming against the two teams ranked in front of them, West Virginia and Texas Christian. Their strong start, coupled with proven All-American returners and talented newcomers has proven to Lollar that this is the most talented team he has ever been a part of.

“Without a doubt it’s the best team I’ve coached,” Lollar said. “This

team has as much potential as anybody in the country. It’s our deepest team; it’s our most experienced team.”

However, at the end of the day, Lollar said it is not always the most talented teams that get to hoist the NCAA championship trophy; it is the team that can maintain the same elite level shooting that got them to the big stage.

“We have 144 days that we can use during a season,” Lollar said.

“We want those 144 days to look and feel the same so we can look and feel the same. It can’t make

a difference if we’re on the training range, the match range or the championships – if this is a day to shoot, we shoot. Everyday the targets are 50 feet away, the targets are 10 meters away. Nothing changes there in that little tunnel between you and your target. The good ones may not necessarily have more skill, they’re just more consistent at a higher level.”

And with a third-ranked team, a championship tradition and poised senior leadership, Racer rifle is well on their way to hitting their target. www.TheNews.org Gateway

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Voices of Marshall Stories of strength & survival Republished from the January 25, 2018 edition of The Murray State News Photography by Bryan Edwards

A FOREWORD

by Connor Jaschen The school shooting at Marshall County was a tragic turning point. It was sudden. It was heartbreaking. It was hard for the students, the first responders, parents and friends of the victims – it shook the foundation of the community. The proximaty of the incident made the tragedy so many have been through more real than we could’ve ever imagined. One of our reporters had a sibling in the school at the time of the shooting. One of our reporters was getting texts from inside the school, kids from a church group scared for their lives. Some of our staff had parents or friends on staff in the school.

This is the story of the singlemost covered event in recent local history and yet the hardest to cover, ethically, professionally and emotionally.

With respect to those on our staff, the community at large, and the victims, we wished to handle such a tragedy with grace and humility. With the greatest of respect, we

would like to offer the following pages as memories to those who lost their lives, to those who suffered through physical or emotional pain because of it, and to Marshall County – a community forever changed by the plight of their students. These pages will be a quiet, respectful celbration of life and strength. These pages are dedicated to hope. These pages are dedicated to healing. Most of all, these pages are dedicated to Marshall.

The following stories are graphic. The following stories are from real members of our community, though some names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

Continue with respect.

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FRONT ROW SEAT

by Connor Jaschen, Ashley Traylor & Blake Sandlin James was dropped off by his mom early in the morning, getting ready for school in the commons area with the rest of his class. He had just sat down on one of the benches laid out for students. The Commons Area was full of classmates, many of whom were James’ friends. He sat beside another student – a friend of his – showing him a YouTube video on his phone.

“Originally, I heard about two shots go off,” James said. “I thought it was a book, like someone slammed a book down. But then I heard two shots go off, then there was a three or four second break […] And then there was like three seconds, and he just emptied the clip out into the crowd.”

James’ friend, who was sitting next to him, was shot in the chest. When the students realized what was happening, it was a sprint for the closest door, James looking after his friend the whole way.

“He was hit right in the chest and I was just right behind him the whole time,” James said. “And as [the shooter] was shooting, we ran out together, and I was kinda grabbing [my friend], pushing him and pulling him outside.”

James said he knew immediately he was a target: he saw across the Commons Area and quickly realized he was the furthest from the door.

The mad dash for safety began.

“I knew we were some of the last students to run out,” James said.

“And I just knew we were the only targets left in the building.”

In their run for the door, James looked back into the room. Then he saw Preston, another friend of his, get shot.

“I saw him hit in the head and went down,” James said. “[I was thinking], ‘Just get out,’ really. I wanted to go

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back for Preston, but I thought he was already, um… out. I saw him hit in the head and went down.”

James and Preston were close, he said, putting him on a list of ‘Top Ten Buddies’. Preston and he had class all year together, even working on a few side projects together outside of school. Most recently, Preston helped James install the subwoofers in James’ truck and helped on construction projects when no one else was willing.

“I’ve got carpentry class with him,” James said. “We had to put a new roof on the house. No one really wanted to do it, but me and Preston – [while working at the job], he got hit in the jaw and got surgery. I mean, it’s an awful job, we’re cutting straight up and everything’s falling down. No one wanted to do it. But me and Preston were up there. And you weren’t seeing him complaining at all. He was a good guy; he was there to lend a hand.”

Preston would later die in a medevac on his way to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

James and his friend were lucky enough to make it out of the building, though not out of harm's way.

Outside, students had continued their desperate bid for safety, sprinting down the roads. No one knew who or where the shooter was.

James and his friend took shelter in the guard shack in front of the school. He said he couldn’t find teachers or officials to direct traffic, so he did what any student would do and he hid.

“You couldn’t hear anything but screaming, sirens,” he said. “I mean, people were crying. […] There was no command. It was kind of just every man for themselves.”

James’ friend, who was still suffer-

ing from a bullet wound to the chest, followed him into the guard shack.

He stayed only briefly, enough time to show his injury to the three other students who hid with them in the guard shack. The injured student then left.

James wasn’t sure where his friend had gone, but later learned he survived. A school security officer radioed someone, though James wasn’t sure who. The security officer escorted the group of hiding students to the Technical Center, where the rest of the students were being gathered. From there, James was shipped off to North Marshall Middle School, where students were being dismissed to their parents upon showing ID. First, James called his Mom. “My mom didn’t know about the shooting,” he said. “I had only been there for less than a minute and she hadn’t even pulled out past the bus garage.”

When James contacted his dad to update him on the situation, he noticed a bullet hole in his phone case.

Presumably, one of the bullets fired at his friend had missed and instead hit his phone.

James, who would only later find out the identity of the shooter, remembered having the suspect in class.

“I remember last year, he told me ‘Happy Birthday’,” James said. “We have the same birthday. We had class all last year and he sat right beside me.”

James’ latest memory of the suspect was even more recent, and arguably more personal.

“Before the week out for snow, I played like an hour long game of UNO between him and two other guys,” he said. “And he was fine, joked around, ya know?”

“IT COULD’VE BEEN ME”

by Ashley Traylor & Blake Sandlin “I would’ve been in the Commons,” Derek Doss, senior at Marshall County High School, said. “God works in mysterious ways.”

Usually, Doss leaves for school around 7:50 a.m., but fortunately Tuesday morning he was delayed arriving to Marshall County High School.

About two weeks ago, Doss and his dad were in a car accident traveling to Alabama, which totaled his dad’s car. The morning of the shooting, his mom was waiting on a maintenance worker to fix their water heater, so she could not drive his dad to their family business, Doss Dentistry.

Little did Doss know, taking his dad to work would remove him from a life-threatening high school shooting.

“That really puts things in perspective,” Doss said. “…I didn’t experience hearing the gunshots or seeing him [the shooter].”

As Doss and his dad were driving down the road to the dentistry, which is located near the school, they witnessed mass chaos erupting.

“I was driving on the road when I saw everyone running and at first, I thought it was a field trip or something

because everyone seemed happy,” he said. “I honestly don’t know. But then, we saw like 200 other kids running.”

They pulled into the school parking lot about a minute after the shooter pulled the trigger. In that moment, Doss said they knew something was wrong.

“I saw three baseball players, and I yelled their names because I knew their names,” Doss said. “I told them to come because they were looking lost and scared. As they came, others came too.”

Doss and his dad took some students to safety, while others sprinted from the Commons Area to find protection at the dentistry. Throughout the morning, he said about 20 students were in-and-out, as their parents came to pick them up.

Doss and his dad committed their time to helping those students involved in the shooting.

Two students were injured from gunshot wounds, and one student sprained her knee after being trampled while trying to bolt from the school grounds.

“Dad got towels and applied pressure to the wounds because that’s the only thing to do – because that’s the

first thing to do – and he called 911,” Doss said.

While these students were in the midst of tragedy, Doss said there was no screaming or squirming and everyone was calm.

“The four boys that initially came in, my friends, they were composed,” he said. “They were quiet. One threw up. That kid was having a rough time, but the two boys that were shot, they were amazing.”

One of his friends was shot twice in the arm, as well as the leg. Doss’ other friend was standing up, because he was shot in the hip. Luckily, Doss said he will recover from the flesh wound to his hip.

Doss and his dad had open arms for the students seeking help at their dentistry. Despite having a schedule of patient appointments, Doss said his dad did his best to go back and forth between patients and local news media.

“I had many thank me even though there’s no thanks needed to be given,” Doss said. “They needed help and we helped them. I couldn’t imagine the teachers and the first responders and their bravery.”

LOOKING FOR AN ESCAPE

by Emily Williams, Ashley Traylor & Blake Sandlin It was 7:57 a.m. on a regular Tuesday morning when Knox Sandlin heard a sound that would forever echo in the hearts, minds and halls of Marshall County High School. A sound that would shake and challenge a community to its very core. The sound of gunshots in his high school.

“Everyone thought the first shot was someone that popped a balloon,” Sandlin said. “But they kept coming and after the second I think everyone knew that there was a shooter.”

Sandlin, who was standing further away from where the initial shots were fired, said they weren’t as loud in his ears as some. But the words of his teacher rang clearly in his head.

“Go,” his teacher said. “There are gunshots. Go.” As everyone began to scatter in the Commons Area of Marshall County High School, Sandlin described the frantic scene unfolding before his eyes. Backpacks, phones and drinks were discarded to the ground. Shoes were lost in the scramble. Students slipped

on spilled beverages. As students managed to exit the area, the shooter eventually followed them outside in an attempt to blend in with the others.

“Some people saw him shooting but no one was concerned about seeing who it was, just getting the hell out of there,” Sandlin said.

Sandlin said no one knew for sure who the shooter was for sure.

Rumors spread that the shooter had blended in with the rest of the crowd, acting like one of the frenzied students running for their lives.

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“No one expected him to be the guy,” Sandlin said. “He was a really nice kid. Smart, funny and seemed to be liked. When I was around him, there wasn’t really any indication that he was capable of something like that.”

But the scene that was unfolding before Sandlin’s eyes proved what he thought was impossible.

“People were climbing out of windows and trampling over people,” Sandlin said. “What I saw as soon as I got out was everyone in a panic. I heard teachers asking what was going on because they were in the dark as much as we were.”

Sandlin said students were jumping into cars, running across

the street and onto a nearby bus.

Before making the decision to cross the street, Sandlin said a teacher calmly approached him, attempting to console the group he was with and told them where to go to get to safety.

“The group I was following literally broke down a fence and we were walking over it,” he said.

“Obviously everyone was scattered because their instinct was to get as far away as they could as quick as they could.”

During lockdown, speculation took over for a lack of true information. Sandlin said students were crying, scared and reluctant to remain cooped up in one room for two hours without any

information. But he said Marshall County High School’s principal, Patricia Greer, was determined to keep students calm and collected.

“She came around to keep people informed and she did a superb job on how she handled it all,” Sandlin said. “She told everyone to stay there and she rallied all the faculty at North to let them know how things were gonna go and did the same with the parents.”

For Sandlin and so many students like him, Jan. 23 will go down in history as the day of the Marshall County High School shooting. But it will also be known as the day that a community rallied together, linked arms and chose to remain Marshall strong.

LEFT WITHOUT A CHOICE

by Ashley Traylor & Blake Sandlin “Everyday you get up and you can choose to be late to school, but this time it was in his hands. It’s either you get out and live, or you’re going to stay and die.”

Marshall County sophomore Kaden Chiles, along with hundreds of other students, were gathered in the Commons Area just outside of the school’s cafeteria at 7:57 am.

Chiles was with friends on the far side of the room when a bang rang throughout the room.

“It sounded like a balloon had popped,” Chiles said. “I just thought it was a joke, like they were popping a bag of chips or something. Then two more went off and I looked over there and saw him holding his pistol with both hands, and I saw him shoot one more time and I actually saw the fire come out of the end of it. Then it was rapid; I heard like seven or eight more shots I think.”

The assailant was just a few short feet away from Chiles, standing near the school’s upper gym lobby, facing a crowd of vulnerable students.

“He didn’t know how to shoot

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Gateway 2018 Edition

the gun, I could tell by how he was moving and how he was holding it,” Chiles said describing the faceto-face encounter with the suspect.

“His face, it wasn’t angry; it was almost determined. It was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen.”

The seconds that followed prompted utter pandemonium for the students at the high school that morning. Chiles was forced to make a split-second decision; a fight-or-flight response that would prove imperative to his survival.

“I had no plan,” Chiles said. “It was just instinctive. As soon as I realized it was a gun, I thought ‘I have to get out of here’.”

As the 15-year-old attempted to navigate through the chaos, he was concurrently aware of the turmoil unfolding around him.

“At one point, everyone realized what was happening at the exact same moment and that they had to get out,” Chiles said. “It was just panic. Everybody hit the ground.

I remember seeing everyone just ducking or hitting the ground and just laying down because it’s just instincts at that point. I remember

everyone was running to get out and everyone was getting trampled.”

Chiles began to run toward the school’s office area, but quickly recalibrated and found a set of doors that led outside of the school. He managed to escape the chaos and found himself, like many others, running for his life.

“I ran out [the doors] and tripped at least four or five times,” Chiles said. “Everyone at that point was running out, and I probably got three-quarters of the way to King Brothers before I stopped and turned around because there was no point in me going all of the way there.”

The Marshall County school system has previously devoted time training students on how to respond in crisis situations like the one that occurred Tuesday morning, but Chiles said when confronted with the worst, those efforts went out the window.

“We did lockdown drills for when we were in class; we never did anything for when we were in the Commons,” Chiles said.

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L

ast semester, one Murray State senior took his interest in agriculture all the way to Capitol Hill.

Michael Mann, an agricultural business major from Springfield, Kentucky, only had a few more classes to take before his graduation in December, but instead of staying in the classroom, he decided to take online classes and learn from legislators in D.C. He served as an agricultural fellow, working with congressman James Comer. He worked from August to November with Comer, former Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Kentucky.

Mann had an office next to the Capitol Building in D.C., led tours of the Capitol Building for visitors and went to the Senate and House meetings that Comer attended. He also attended agriculture meetings with Comer’s constituents, researched relevant topics and created memos about those issues to be discussed with constituents.

Years of interest in policy and agriculture led Mann to seizing this opportunity. He was involved in Future Farmer’s of America in high school. As a junior in college, he interned with Kentucky Farm Bureau. While working with KFB, he said he realized he could make a difference in agricultural policy, and he saw a huge need for agricultural policy makers.

“I really want to help out the farmer,” Mann said.

While in Washington, he met important people including executive directors of major agricultural lobbying groups and people from Kentucky who come to testify before Congress.

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Despite the traditionally dismal outlook of politics across the aisle, Mann said this is not always the case in agriculture.

“In the agricultural field, we’re pretty lucky because agriculture is not really a partisan issue,” Mann said. “Everyone is focused on making sure our farmers are strong, because they’re the ones who provide the food for the nation. I’ve seen some republicans and some democrats working together, and it’s really nice to see.”

Moving from Murray to Washington, D.C. was certainly an adjustment for Mann, including learning to use the metro system, but he said he enjoyed living in the city. He lived about a five minute walk from the Capitol Building.

During his time at Murray State, he was involved in several organizations that he said contributed to his ability to flourish outside of the classroom.

Mann was a part of Sigma Pi fraternity.

There, he was on executive council for two years and was the president for a year. He also was involved with Interfraternal Council, which governs over all the fraternities, where he served terms as vice-president and as president. He spent two years with ROTC too.

Mann was a part of the Student Government Association for three and a half years. Through SGA, he got to travel and be on several committees.

“I got to travel a little bit with them and got to meet a lot of people and discuss a lot of things that I had no idea what I was talking about, but that’s how you learn,” Mann said.

He was a Murray State Student Ambassador and an Agriculture Ambassador as well. He served as the chair of the Agriculture Ambassadors.

“Since I’ve been in D.C., I’ve already seen the benefits of having those experiences at Murray State,”

Mann said. “Being in different organizations and having those opportunities to be in leadership roles, especially in SGA and my fraternity, have definitely helped me out in terms of organizing, in terms of leadership, in terms of understanding the stuff that needs to get done without being told.”

Mann’s predominant academic advisor while at Murray State, Michelle Santiago, was integral for him.

He said he would not have taken the opportunity to go to D.C. if it was not for her.

Santiago is an agribusiness professor at Murray State. Mann worked as Santiago’s teaching assistant while at the university, which she said was an asset to her as a teacher. He was sometimes more approachable for students.

“His personality is one that works very well to invite people in,” she said.

Santiago was an international intern at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada. While there, she said she learned what it meant to work on policy for the government and be exposed to different people.

“I understood what kind of opportunity he was looking at, even if he didn’t understand it,” Santiago said.

She said Mann has taken opportunities and made the most of them, while being open to new things and seeing their potential.

“He is the type of individual, not just student, that if I had a son, I would hope my son grows up with that integrity, that optimism, that willingness to look at the world and see things that are positive, while knowing you have to work hard to see positive change.”

Michael has a good combination of making good grades and life experiences.

“We feel like it is very important to make that connection from classroom to career,” Brannon said.

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Remembering New Richmond Story by Ashley Traylor Photos by Ashley Traylor, Brock Kirk, Cameron Witte and on-campus surveillance

T

he ground rattled and shook. A shockwave was felt miles away. A loud, defeating sound beamed through campus.

Dark clouds of smoke and debris smothered the skies.

And, all that remained was a residential college with gaping holes. This was the aftermath of the infamous James H. Richmond Residential College explosion. Tuesday, June 28, 2017 bookmarks an unforgettable page in Murray State’s history book.

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Like any other summer day, Murray State’s campus was quiet and calm. A few students scurried from class to class and programs such as Governor Scholars, Commonwealth Honors Academy and Adventures of Math and Science were in session.

Shortly before 5 p.m., the campus erupted into chaos: first responders, flashing lights and sirens. A helicopter sat in the center of the intramural field, prepared to fly victims to the hospital.

Murray State Police, Murray Police, Kentucky State Police, Calloway County sherriff, ambulances and fire trucks arrived on the scene to witness one of Murray State’s newest residential colleges in shambles.

“The incident at New Richmond is devastating in many ways as it makes us aware of the fragility of many things in our lives,” President Bob Davies wrote in an email sent to students, faculty and staff on June 29. “At the same time, based on the response of many, the work of our team, the joining together to ensure safety and security demonstrates too the power of our Racer community.”

The force from the explosion blew out two of the four floors of the South side of New Richmond and busted all the windows. In the ruptured portions of the building, pieces of steel,

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Gateway 2018 Edition

metal and insulation hung down. Bricks and structure scraps were strewn and scattered across the lots between New Richmond and Lee Clark College.

New Richmond was not the only building which suffered from the impact of the blast. Winslow Dining Hall’s windows were shattered, along with windows from Hester College, Hart College and Lee Clark College.

The explosion received national and international news coverage from Fox, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC and BBC. Public Affairs Officer for the Kentucky State Police, Jody Cash, said the explosion resulted from a natural gas leak.

Kentucky State Police deemed the blast non-criminal, and they turned the case over to the Kentucky State Fire Marshal to continue the investigation.

University groundskeepers were cutting the grass the morning of June 28 when they struck a natural gas regulator with the mower. According to official documents obtained by The Murray State News through an Open Records Request, the following events took place:

A groundskeeper reported the regulator collision to another Murray State employee at 10:05 a.m, and the employee turned the gas services off at 10:40 a.m., according to a statement from the employee.

The city of Murray was contacted to change the regulator.

According to the employee’s statement, the regulator was changed shortly after 12:15 p.m. A soaping test was performed, and no leaks were reported. The site was declared safe.

The investigation by the Kentucky State Fire Marshal has been on-going since June. Adrienne King, vice president of university advancement, said Murray State is waiting on the fire marshal’s final report.

One former Murray State Residential Director, Dakota Fields, counts himself thankful to be alive, after he survived the explosion.

He was the only person inside the building, as well as the only one injured in the explosion.

The Murray State News spoke exclusively with Fields about the morning of June 28.

Months before the explosion, Fields accepted a job at Western Illinois University, and he was preparing to move, as his last day at Murray State was drawing to a close.

He spent the morning packing and running errands. About 4:15 p.m., he said he laid down on the couch to take a nap, but couldn’t fall asleep.

“I couldn’t get comfortable because I had a crick in my neck,” Fields said. “I went to my bedroom and next thing I know I woke up in a helicopter.”

Fields’ bedroom was in the direct impact area of the explosion, and he was found lying in the ruins after the eruption. He received treatment from Murray-Calloway County Hospital, before being air-

lifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fields’ said he did not report or smell gas in the building prior to the explosion.

“I don’t know whether it was because I got used to it or what, but I didn’t smell anything that morning,” Fields said. “No one came into the building to let us know [about the regulator being hit, a gas leak].

There were painters and university employees leaving the building all day working on stuff. They didn’t smell anything to my knowledge.”

Construction crews began deconstructing the southern and eastern wings of New Richmond on Sept. 11. At the March 9 quarterly Board of Regents meeting, the board voted to repair and restore New Richmond to its previous 2008 design. The project will be ready for student occupancy by August 2019. www.TheNews.org Gateway

41

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44

Gateway 2018 Edition

Racer Military Each person has a story to tell of their struggles, hardships and victories that are delicately woven into the patchwork of their lives.

One Murray State student has risked life and limb for his country. Senior occupational safety and health major, Joe Matias served 4 ½ years in the United States Army on the frontlines of war, destruction and danger. During his time in the special operations forces, he was deployed overseas five times.

“It takes a special breed of individuals to be willing— and it’s a really corny line— but to put their lives on the line so someone else doesn’t have to,” Matias said. “I’ve had people ask me, ‘Why do you do it? Why did you join to go get shot at?’”

For Matias, his response is always the same.

“I rather me than you,” he said.

“And they’ll say, ‘What do you mean?’

You have families, kids, a wife and all this other stuff. I’m single. I don’t have to worry about that stuff. If I die, my family is going to mourn about it, but someone has to do it. It might as well be me.”

Matias’ step-father was a drill sergeant, so he had a military influence on his life growing up. He also described himself as a “troublemaker” in school, but also as a protector of his classmates.

“I wouldn’t get in a fight with someone at school because they were picking on me, but someone was getting picked on,” Matias said. “I’ve always wanted to protect people and the military was a great way to do that. We not only protect each other, we protect people who cannot protect themselves.”

It was Matias’ selfless heart and desire to defend that molded him into an infantry soldier.

On the enemy lines, Matias has sur-

vived explosions and helicopter crashes, and has assisted his fellow soldiers with gunshot wounds. The hardest part is he has also lost half a dozen of his friends.

Matias said serving in special operations is not composed of glorious moments, but it is the bloodshed and his honorable actions at home and on the battlefield that allows him to wear the red badge of courage. Although for him, it is not something he thinks about.

“Most days I get up like everyone else and go to work, go to class,” he said.

“It’s not something I try to brag about.

It’s ingrained in me to be what they call a silent professional. Do your job. Don’t talk about it.”

After retiring from active duty, Matias spent another 4 ½ years in the National Guard, so he could share his experiences and wisdom.

Deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan made him more aware of the evil that exists in the world, and Matias said he has more discipline, perseverance and respect because of his time entrenched in combat.

Despite all hardships, injury and loss, Matias said he would do it again, because his spirit is willing.

Another Murray State student serves her country in a different capacity: assisting victims in the wake of disaster.

Four years have passed since Hannah Crawford, junior family and consumer sciences education major, from Russellville, Kentucky, took a leap of faith and enlisted in the Kentucky National Guard.

“It’s crazy to me, because I’m coming up on my fourth anniversary of it,” Crawford said. “Looking back, it has definitely given me everything that I have now, like most of my friends, being able to go to school and work in the Veteran Affairs’ office. I’m so glad I did it, because it’s given me all my opportunities.”

In Crawford’s senior year of high

school, she watched a documentary that explained how the National Guard assisted victims of hurricanes, like Katrina. She wanted to be a helping hand and volunteer for her community.

During that same year, she spoke with three recruiters about the benefits and officially joined the Kentucky National Guard on Dec. 2, 2013.

“My tuition gets paid for, and I wanted to serve,” she said. “It was a good way to do that, and go to school.”

In September 2014, Crawford was preparing to spend 10 weeks at basic combat training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina to develop her mentally and physically into a soldier.

“We got off, and there was an obstacle course,” she said. “It was a mile and half to complete it all, and we went through it three or four times. You’re running through it, climbing, and by the end of the day, I was so exhausted because we didn’t stop for about 12 hours.”

For the following weeks, she said they would wake up around 4 a.m. and begin the day with two hours of physical training. Recruits completed different trainings each day, like confidence courses or weapons training.

For example, she recalled climbing ropes and propelling off 40-foot walls on her second day of basic training.

Crawford now has drill once a month. Although she has not been sent for disaster relief, Crawford said she is ready to serve. When natural disasters hit, her unit will be sent to help victims.

For Crawford, she describes being a member of the National Guard as “empowering” and recommends everyone considering joining the military to do it.

“It is overwhelming and scary going in,” Crawford said. “But at the same time, it’s so rewarding.”

Active duty military, National Guard members and veterans alike are united in patriotism and the sacrifice to protect and defend the freedoms of the United States of America. www.TheNews.org Gateway

45

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THE MUR R AY STATE

NEWS

PREDICTING STORMS Story by Lindsey Coleman Photos contributed by Justin Gibbs

Fo r m e r Murray State student and avid weather lover Justin Gibbs has taken his talents all the way to the National Weather Service.

Gibbs was born and grew up in Murray. He went to Murray State for three years then transferred to Jacksonville State in Alabama, where he also earned his master’s degree, to fully embrace his long-time passion for meteorology.

At just three months old, Gibbs’ family was personally affected by a tornado.

He said his parents talked often of the tornado approaching within half a mile of their home. Then in when he was eight-years-old, Gibbs said he watched the 24/7 news coverage of Hurricane Andrew. These experiences led him to studying meteorology.

From 2002-2005, Gibbs called Murray State home, as he wrote articles for the Murray State News and worked with TV11, WKMS and WPSD. In Oklahoma, working with the National Weather Service, he trains meteorologists for the best way to react to tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash flood warning decisions and winter storms.

“We teach the Weather Service meteorologists what to look for when they are making those decisions and how to react to those decisions,” Gibbs said.

Because the situations are so time dependent, he said they also do work

on things like keeping their minds set, staying 100 percent focused, recognizing fatigue and stress ensuring they are making decisions as optimally as possible.

“You get a new piece of data like every five seconds, and that goes on for six, seven, eight, ten hours,” Gibbs said.

When the storms hit last August, he wasn’t able to leave his family and newborn second child, but he said he did a lot of support with the forecast teams. They talked with forecasters about post-incident stress, helped with their social media and archived a lot of data, including wind speeds at 145 mph.

“It’s a real group effort, and that’s the only way we can pull it off,” Gibbs said. “When it really gets bad, and you end up with Hurricane Harvey, Irma or Maria, it takes absolutely everything all of us have, working together from Seattle to Sarasota, Florida, to get everybody out of the way if we can, mitigate the loss of life and property and get the community in the best position to deal with the threat.”

The nature of Gibbs’ work is “almost frustratingly interdisciplinary,” yet it challenges him to always be improving. He said his bachelor’s degree in meteorology and his master’s degree in emergency management are both important. In his current position, the emergency management degree helps him determine how people will react or not react in emergency situations and how to best communicate with local officials and spread the word to the community.

Jeremy McKeel, university digital media services manager and former TV11 production supervisor, was one of Gibbs’ professors at Murray State. McKeel had the opportunity to work closely with Gibbs, the “weather hound.” “[McKeel] was really influential,” Gibbs said. “He gave me just enough room to mess up. I was in over my head a little bit, and I made some mistakes, then kind of grew into the role.”

TV 11 serves as a student lab, where students are encouraged to improve and strive to be the best that they can be.

McKeel said certainly mistakes are going

to happen, since it is a learning process.

“We are totally okay with that,” McKeel said. “Justin and a few of his classmates were trying to do something different all the time, to experiment with whatever it would be and mimic what the professionals did. It was a lot of fun. Sometimes it didn’t work out great, and they learned from it, even if it didn’t.”

McKeel recalled one occasion in 2005 when TV11 gave Gibbs the opportunity to cover an incoming tornado.

“Justin said, ‘Let me go live!’ We said, ‘Okay, fine, we’ll go live,’ and he stayed on through the whole thing,” McKeel said. “I’m not sure it was necessarily the best safety move, but nothing hit, and it was fine. Justin and his friends really loved it.”

Gibbs’ coverage of the breaking weather story rippled throughout the community, even though he was just a student working with TV11.

“We heard from people who were like, ‘Hey, you guys were on, and we were watching you, and we really appreciated the report.’ I think that just fueled Justin’s love of it,” McKeel said.

“That continues today.”

In his time working with TV11, McKeel said Gibbs was the most passionate student about meteorology.

And in Gibbs’ case, McKeel said having the opportunity with working with TV11 really set him up for success.

“Even though I’m not in that role anymore, one of the great advantages of Murray State and our program is we bring students in early on and let them get involved,” McKeel said. “That type of lab environment is really beneficial, not only for the hands-on experience, but for building relationships between classmates.”

Gibbs is several years removed from Murray State, but McKeel said they still have a good personal and professional relationship. When severe weather threatens the Western Kentucky area, he said he watches Gibbs’ Facebook live streams.

“I just love that,” McKeel said. “He is so good at it. You might have Channel 6 turned on, but Justin is with you wherever you’re hiding. He’s our meteorologist of choice,” McKeel said. www.TheNews.org Gateway

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