January 17, 2017

Page 1

THE STANDARD M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

VOLUME 110, ISSUE 16 | THE-STANDARD.ORG The Standard/The Standard Sports

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

TheStandard_MSU

@TheStandard_MSU/@Standard_Sports

MSUStandard

issuu.com/TheStandard-MSU

‘He lost his life defending what is right’ MSU football mourns the loss of freshman teammate

Wyatt Wheeler; Alec McChesney Sports Editor; Staff Reporter @realYitWheeler; @Alec_McChesney Missouri State football lost a teammate late Saturday night when freshman tailback Richard Nelson was shot and killed outside his home in Las Vegas. The shooting occurred at 7:35 p.m., according to KSNV-TV in Las Vegas. Nelson, 18, was shot at least two times while trying to break up a fight. Nelson was sent to Sunrise Hospital where he later died. According to Nathan O’Neal of NBC KSNV News 3 in Las Vegas, Nelson was trying to break up a fight that escalated on the street. Detectives are still conducting interviews with about five witness but are still unclear what started the fight. Metro Police in Las Vegas are looking for a young man in his late teens who fired at least five shots. The incident was not believed to be gang related, rather just an argument. The suspect in the shooting is known to the family, and Metro ho-

micide is urging the suspect and his mother to turn themselves in, Lt. Dan McGrath told the Las Vegas Review Journal. Nelson’s mother, Roxanne Bruce, told KSNV that her daughter’s ex-boyfriend showed up to their house Saturday night with a group. A fight broke out and Nelson stepped in to try to break up the fight. “I hurt so bad because I wish there

was something else I could have did. To be honest with you … I wish the bullets would have hit me instead of him because he had a future,” Bruce said to KSNV. “In my eyes, my son is a hero. He protected his sister– he saw her on the ground.” Reaction spread across the Missouri State community Sunday afternoon. In a press release, Missouri State

head football coach Dave Steckel and athletic director Kyle Moats shared their thoughts on the loss. “Our Missouri State football family is in shock and mourning at the loss of one of our family members,” Steckel said. "Richard is like a son and a brother. It is a tragedy that he lost his life defending what is right. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in Las Vegas, and we know he is in a good place with God. We ask everyone to respect the privacy of our football family at this time as we begin the healing process.” “On behalf of our administration, coaches and student-athletes, we want to express our condolences to Richard's family and friends,” Moats said. “He will be dearly missed by his Missouri State family and the coaches and teammates who knew him so well.” Nelson’s cousin, freshman wide receiver Ricky Nichols, paid tribute to his teammate and cousin via Twitter at 1 a.m. on Sunday. “It’s crazy because I was just about to come get you from the airport bro,” Nichols wrote in a note on Twitter.

MSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Richard Nelson

“You showed me that I shouldn’t ever give up no matter what happens or how bad things get. “Ever since we was little, we had a bond nobody could break man. I just don’t know why bad things hapu See NELSON, page 7

New college plants promising seeds for students Casey A. Struble Staff Reporter @Casey_A_Struble

NINA TODEA/THE STANDARD

Participants march in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Story below.

Recognizing the passion and accomplishments of faculty and students, The William H. Darr School of Agriculture was ratified as the College of Agriculture. The following year will usher in new faculty, organization and opportunity for the college. Preceding the ratification by the Board of Governors, Provost Dr. Einhellig cited the positive performance measures of the student body's academics. Einhellig went on to examine the academic achievements of the then-school of agriculture. “I think it’s recognized that we already have state-wide recognition, and soon national recognition,” Einhellig said. The Provost spoke of the Journagan Ranch, Fruit Experiment Station and Darr Agricultural Center as powerful pillars of education that showed the prowess of the college. “We have facilities second to none.” The school of agriculture also showed growth in participants prior to its renaming. The students in the program doubled in the last six years. The staff increased to 57 people–including 30 faculty and two endowed professorships. The school also gained $5 million in external funding, showing its already strong support. “We’ve been taught to call it a ‘school of agriculture’ for so long, and often that's the biggest mistake we make –– because we think it's a college because it acts like

File photo by Steph Anderson/The Standard

The College of Agriculture offers student equestrian competitions. a college. We're happy that (the Board of Governors) made that approval. It's about time for that,” Adam Coffman, SGA President said. The immediate differences will be the organization structure. The College of Agriculture will be headed by the new dean, Ronald P. Del Vecchio, who had served as director of the school. Vecchio, who had also served as department head of University of Minnesota's agricultural business, has been at the forefront of Missouri State’s agriculture programs. Vecchio has supervised programs such as the Fruit Experiment Station and the Journagan Ranch. The college will be separate from MSU’s college of Natural and Applied Sciences. The students of the departments of animal science, environment plant science and nature resources, and agribusiness will be affected by this ratifica-

tion –– but not drastically in the short term. As far as the actual curricula, material will be reevaluated in the coming year; no major changes will happen in the coming semester. Missouri State’s agriculture students can expect their facilities and academics to be further developed, not extremely altered. “In the long term, we should position our units to give students an advantage, and we think that from a standpoint of recognition this will increase that,” Einhellig said.

Each and every day: the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

Katie Haynes Reporter Trainee @JournalistKatie

The morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Springfield, Missouri’s NAACP hosted a march in celebration of MLK and all of his accomplishments. The march started at 9 a.m. at the

Mediacom Ice Park, with a youth winter clothing drive beforehand. A large amount of people ready to begin marching the streets of downtown Springfield. It was a foggy, brisk and misty morning, but that didn’t stop people from all around Springfield from coming out to take a stand for what they believe in. As people marched the streets

of downtown, they held signs protesting for equality and raising the minimum wage. Smiles and laughter from seeing friends and family allowed for the spirit of the event to reach out and make a difference. People of all walks of life came out to support this day, from children to the elderly. Daniel Ogunyemi, a graduate of Southwest

Baptist University, currently attending Evangel University for his master’s degree, said that it was his second time attending the annual march. He is a part of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and stated that MLK was as well. He admires MLK for his stance against violence and how he was trying to unite the people as one. “I hope the generation keeps this alive,” u See MLK, page 2

news

xxxxxx MLK March: Page 2

life

xxxxxx Ride 417: Page 5

sports

xxxxx

Tournament of Champions: Page 6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
January 17, 2017 by The Standard at Missouri State University - Issuu