The Student Printz September 21, 2022 | Volume 108 Issue 4

USM Generation Action Gathers to write letter to President Joe Paul

The Christian pro testors have unfor tunately become a familiar face on campus. They gather around Shoemaker Square, screaming homophobic, racist, transpho bic and other forms of hate speech in the name of their Christianity. Campus life sees them frequently, but it has come to a point where the stu dent body is fed up, specifical ly USM’s Generation Action Organization.

The USM Division of Planned Parenthood’s Gener ation Action gathered in Cook Union Room A on the night of Thursday, September 15th to write a letter to University President Dr. Joe Paul con cerning the protestors. While acknowledging the free speech right that the protestors are allowed, the organization (along with other members of the USM community) be lieves that these people have violated this right by being excessively forceful, homopho bic, transphobic, racist, an ti-choice, and Islamophobic. There is also evidence of physical force being used on protestors at the Pink House, what was formerly the only abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi.

Perhaps the arrival of the protestors on Sept. 6 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. With the protestors upping their attack on USM’s student body, the community gathered in what might be the loudest gathering at Shoemak er Square in quite a while. It is safe to say that a massive portion of the USM commu nity has had enough of these protestors.

In a post on the organi

zation’s Instagram page, the group announced their plan to gather students to write a letter to Dr. Joe Paul detail ing that the protestors have overstayed their “welcome”, and that they should not be allowed back on campus due to the threat they pose to the community. The group also planned to make an email alert system for when the pro testors are on-campus, stating that they believe “students should feel safe on campus, regardless of sex, gender iden tity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, or national origin.”

At the gathering, members of Generation Action intro duced themselves, and pro vided their reasoning for why they were hosting this event

and how important these letters are to the safety of the student body. Providing evi dence of the protestors using excessive physical force in the past (with one of these protes tors even being convicted of assault), the hosts of this gath ering most certainly fired the attendees up. The organizers were proud to be able to orga nize this event to keep campus safe, as this is only the start in a much bigger movement.

“Getting together all these people from all across cam pus and coming together and just learning how to protest against these people is what we can do to make the future better.” Ashley Omerza, pres ident of Generation Action, said.

Soon, those in atten

dance were gathering their thoughts to compose their letters for Dr. Paul, prepared with evidence and personal experiences with the protes tors. Excitement for a bright future without these harmful protestors incited a feeling of vibrancy within the room. “We believe that if these people were kicked off campus that it would show that the admin istration is listening to the students and listening to the concerns of the people that are here everyday.” Phoebe Stutts, co-president of Genera tion Action, said.

While the students wait for the results of their letters, the battle continues for a safe campus that is supportive of the diversity that USM is so well-known for.

ABIGAIL TROTH

SM2 REPORTER

Simeon Gates, SM2

Generation Action member Kayla Barnes

The Student Printz is the student-produced newspaper of the Southern Miss Student Media Center (SM2) in the School of Media and Communication at The University of Southern Mississippi. It is published every Wednesday morning and updated online at www.SM2media.com. The newspaper has been printed since 1927, serving the campus and community with news and information. Today, SM2 student journalists and media producers create and share stories with multiple medias on mul tiple platforms using the most modern technology housed in College Hall. SM2 includes Southern Miss Radio, Southern Miss TV, Southern Miss, SM2 Creative, and SM2 Strategic Communication.

Opinions

Opinions expressed in The Student Printz are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Student Printz, its publication manager, USM, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the USM Board of Student Publications.

Editorial Policy

The views represented in The Student Printz’s columns and editorials do not represent those of the faculty, staff or administration of The University of Southern Mississippi. We welcome letters to the editor representing similar and contrasting opinions. To be eligible for publication, all submission must include name, class distinction, major, phone number and email address. Submissions should be emailed to printzeditors@ gmail.com by 5 p.m. on the Friday before publication. Please limit them to 500 words or less. The Student Printz reserves the right to refuse publication or edit any material on the basis of clarity, space or journalistic ethics.

THE CONTRIBUTORS

SM2 News Director Kyra Lampley kyra.lampley@usm.edu

SM2

Printz Executive Editor Loren Jones loren.jones@usm.edu

SM2 Sports Director Austin Lindsey austin.lindsey@usm.edu

4th Street Sports Reporter Dima Mixon joshua.mixon@usm.edu

4th Street Sports Producer Charlie Luttrell charles.luttrell@usm.edu

SMTV Executive Producer Garret Grove garret.grove@usm.edu

@

Southern Miss Student Media

SM2

4th

Sports Reporter

Howell

Organizations providing an outlet for student activism

SIMEON GATES SM2 REPORTER

In these unprecedented times, some student organizations have stepped up to make a difference. MS Votes aims to make voting accessible to young people. Students for Human Rights looks to revamp its tradition of student activism. Generation Action wants to educate and organize students for reproductive rights. These three orga nizations provide outlets for students to support social justice causes right here on campus.

The University of Southern Missis sippi’s chapter of MS Votes was founded by senior Veronica Sigcho. Sigcho, who also serves as president, was inspired after learning just how few young people vote. “I’m not a citizen, so I cannot vote. That is really something that makes me feel almost hopeless,” she said. “Seeing that people that have the power to vote usually don’t use it, it’s kind of sad. It’s disappointing.”

MSVUSM hopes to change that. Their first initiative will be a registration drive for Voter Registration Day on September 20, in collaboration with Generation Ac tion and Greek organizations on campus. They will provide resources and instruc tions to get USM students registered to vote. They also have a list of activities planned for National Voter Education

Week in October, aiming to educate young people about local politics.

Their collaborator Generation Action is also focused on education and en gagement. An affiliate through Planned Parenthood, the group defines itself as “a network of young organizers and activists across the country who organize events on their campuses and in their communi ties to mobilize advocates for reproduc tive freedom…”

They kicked off their semester with a letter writing party, which aims to encourage USM’s administration to take action against The Church at Jackson, a group of far-right Christian protestors on campus. “We believe that freedom of speech becomes questionable when stu dents feel threatened, unsafe, or targeted by groups allowed on campus,” said an Instagram post describing the event.

It is in line with their wider mission to be a space for students of all stripes. “We hope that everyone knows that this organization is not just about abortion or reproductive rights,” stated junior and Co-President Phoebe Stutts. “It’s also about creating a safe space for queer stu dents, for students of color, for students of different orientations and religions.”

Sophomore William Adams is Pres ident of Students for Human Rights, another broadly inclusive organization. SHR is under USM’s Center for Human

Rights and Civil Liberties. After a period of declining membership and activities, current president Will Adams took up the task of revitalizing the club. He even reached out to The Student Printz himself asking for promotion.

SHR’s focus this semester is their Global Period Equity campaign. The plan is to do fundraising events throughout the semester to supply sustainable period products to people in Kenya. This in cludes holding a pop-up thrift store, with all proceeds going towards the campaign.

Adams’ goal is to raise the club’s pro file and make it a hub for student advoca cy. “I feel like Southern Miss is a fantastic

place for student advocacy,” he said. “...it’s more so the fact that there’s so many stu dents across campus willing to take part in things that protect their human rights.”

All three student leaders–Adams, Sig cho and Stutts–echoed the same vision. It is one of young people fostering an inclusivity and fulfilling an obligation to improve society for themselves and their communities. Stutts may have expressed this sentiment the best. “These are people that are gonna be making some of the biggest decisions that we will witness in our lifetimes, so these are the people that need to be paying attention,” she said.

Attendees of the Students for Human Rights club meeting pose for a photo after a gathering in the Thad Cochran Center on September 14, 2022.

Sean Smith, SM2 Photo Editor

A Generation Action shirt lies folded September 15, 2022 in the Union.

Sean Smith, SM2 Photo Editor

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

The Marvelous Co-Creator of Kamala Khan comes to USM

Abigail Troth SM2 REPORTER

Campus was made truly marvelous when beloved com ic book character Kamala Khan’s co-creator G. Willow Wilson spoke at the Uni versity Forum on Septem ber 13th. Wilson arrived to discuss religious diversity and mass culture, relating to her own experiences as a Muslim woman in America. The Forum gathered more than one hundred listeners, all gathered to hear Wilson’s story and even ask questions of their own.

Wilson is no stranger to diversity, and channeled it within her own writing. Be fore Kamala Khan debuted in 2015, Wilson worked diligently with fellow creator Sana Amanat to create a character that was creative, unique, and even related to her Muslim religion. When

speaking on how her faith impacted her writing, Wil son reflected on anecdotes relating to the evangelical writer J.R.R. Tolkien, and how he spread messages of love and shared the beauty of his own faith through his writings. Wilson encouraged the students to accept others and not pass judgment on the basis of sex, race, gen der, sexuality, religion, along with other aspects. Wilson is fervently proud of the cre ation of Kamala Khan, who has since become a para mount character in modern comic books. The character became the first Muslim character to headline a comic book, representing Marvel Comics. Khan is particularly popular to teen agers and young adults, who find themselves relating to Khan for her experiences in her young age. Despite ini

tial fears that Khan would be poorly received for her religion, love and admira tion grew for the character. Starring in multiple video games for the legendary comic book studio, and most recently a TV series on Disney+, Khan has truly changed Wilson’s life for the better.

In a personal interview with Wilson, the writer dis cussed how effective Khan was in her life. Not expect ing the success that she achieved, Wilson reflected on the creation and devo tion that went into Khan’s development.

“You know, it went from being just a brief as signment that I thought was gonna be a few months long to something that will out live me.” Wilson said.

Dr. Andrew Haley, the Director of University Fo

rum, was proud to have Wil son at the event, comment ing on the importance of the grander scheme of things when it comes to things such as religious diversity and mass culture.

“It’s just exposing all of us on this campus to a bigger world outside of USM and Mississippi, and that’s a wonderful thing.” Haley said.

University Forums are a key part of Honors College students, but are also incred ibly important to the Hat tiesburg community. Since 1974, the forums have had stunning figures of society such as Kurt Vonnegut, Glo ria Steinem, Russell Means, Antonin Scalia, among many others. As Southern Miss is able to add G. Willow Wil son to this esteemed list of speakers, one can reflect on just how inspirational Wil son is to future generations.

Simeon Gates,

Author G. Willow Wilson, Co-creator of the Marvel Comics character Kamala Khan of Ms. Marvel, speaks during a discussion on stage at the University’s Honor Forum Tuesday, September 13 in Bennett Auditorium.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Jones Capital builds new headquaters in Hattiesburg

Jones Capital LLC is building a new, $40 million headquaters in Hattiesburg. The building will be built in the mid town district across from The University of Southern Mississippi.

Guests of The Jones Companies, such as various politicians, along with Jonathan Jones, the CEO of The Jones Companies, ceremoniously throw sand and “break ground” at the site of the construction of their future headquarters in mid-town as various employ ees stand in the background. Sean Smith, SM2

Jonathan Jones, the CEO of The Jones Companies, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the construction of the Jones Companies future headquarters in mid-town. Sean Smith, SM2

Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the construction of the Jones Companies future headquarters in mid-town. Sean Smith, SM2

University of Southern Mississippi Interim President Joe Paul shakes hands with an attendee of the a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the construction of the Jones Companies future headquarters in mid-town. Sean Smith, SM2

Jonathan Jones, left, the CEO of The Jones Companies, speaks with Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, right, after a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the construction of the Jones Companies future headquarters in mid-town. Sean Smith, SM2

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves makes a speech during a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the construction of the Jones Companies future headquarters in midtown. Sean Smith, SM2

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

From Fayette to Hattiesburg, the Barnes

Twins stick together on the football field

JAACKSON HOWELL 4TH STREET SPORTS REPORTER

Kyron and Kamron Barnes are two players who play the same position and come from the same place. They also share the same face.

Now both freshmen offensive linemen at Southern Miss, the Barnes twins came from humble be ginnings in Fayette, Miss. They alter nated between elementary schools in Fayette and Natchez throughout their young life until they settled at Adams County Christian School. It was here that they found their love for football.

“For the longest [time], he and I were basketball players,” Kyron said. “Had you asked me in sev enth grade [what I wanted to do], the NFL was nowhere near the top. I wanted to play basketball. We played football just to keep us in shape.”

“Then, in 10th grade, we made the transition [to ACCS] ... In 10thgrade basketball, we had to sit on the bench. Then, we got really big during the COVID year. I gained 50 pounds and became 290, and he was 270,” Kamron said. “When we realized how big we had gotten, we decided to take football seriously over the summer. We fell in love with it.”

And like almost everything the Barnes twins do; it was a decision they mutually agreed on.

“Everything we do is a group decision. We sat down in the locker room one day and said, ‘I really miss football.’ I was starting to like football better, and we just took off with it,” Kyron said.

The transition from basketball to football proved to be a wise deci sion as the Barnes twins began gain ing the attention of college football coaches from across the state.

Each brother received two Foot ball Bowl Subdivision (FBS) offers, both from Louisiana and Southern Miss, but the Golden Eagles called first. The twins could have received more offers, but their commitment to each other trumped everything.

“We weren’t going to settle. The good thing is that we were

both offered. We were going with each other regardless,” Kyron said. “When we were signing in the office with Coach [Will}] Hall, he said he came across Kamron’s film first and another coach told him that there were two of us, so he offered us both when he first had the chance.”

Being able to go to the same university to play the same position in football was a huge step not only on the gridiron but in life for the Barnes twins since they always like to be by each other’s side.

They can be seen walking togeth er to class or walking back from football practice, and they even fin ish each other’s sentences. They rely on each other so heavily that they cannot stand to be away from each other for extended periods.

“Our whole lives, we’ve been next to each other. We rarely separate. I don’t like going places without him. He could go to Dollar General, and I would be like, ‘What would hap pen to him?’ The other day, we were at Wingstop getting food, and I was taking too long. He came in there looking for me,” Kyron said. “[Being together] is just natural to us at this point.”

Having such a rapport with each other is a massive benefit since

they play the most team-oriented position in football- the offensive line. If all five offensive linemen are not on the same page on a certain play, then the entire operation can be a failure. Having a deep, rooted connection leads to less time for thinking and more time for acting.

College is a slightly different game, though, as there are more factors than just knowing what the other is thinking.

“All we had to do in high school

was blow people off the ball. I would tell Kamron, ‘Hey, I’ll take care of these guys, and you just go to the linebacker.’ Now we have to do this or that,” Kyron said.

“It’s not really about blowing off the ball anymore,” Kamron said in agreement. “We have to take steps now, which is an adjustment for me because I’m used to just going off the ball and wrecking people.”

The transition has worked out for Kyron as he was named the starting right tackle for the Golden Eagles ahead of their showdown with Northwestern State. He clearly im pressed Hall as he beat out redshirt senior Paul Gainer Jr. The offensive line was a clear weakness for the Golden Eagles, so Barnes and com pany looked to right the ship.

The Barnes twins continue to work every day by each other’s side. Although they are inseparable, they do require a little bit of space in the locker room. Kyron wears the number 64, and Kamron wears the number 66. Only starting left guard Gerquan Scott sits between them.

“At a young age, our parents told us that we always have to stick together. I don’t think they meant for us to take it this literally, but it is what it is,” Kamron said.

“We were raised together, brought up together and we did everything together. We never did [anything] without each other,” Kyron said. “At this point, it’s just hard to separate that. We have a bond that nobody else will have.”

Charlie Luttrell, SM2Kyron and Kamron Barnes stand next to each other during their first game at Southern Miss.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

Southern Miss defeats Northwestern State 64-10

DIMA MIXON SM2 SPORTS REPORTER

Southern Miss needed a game to let all the frustration out from the past two weeks, and they took advantage of that opportunity. After a week one heartbreak and a week two wipeout, the Golden Ea gles returned home and earned their first win in a 64-10 rout.

“It was good to get our first win of the season. I thought in all three phases, we had some really explosive plays,” South ern Miss Head Coach Will Hall said. “We didn’t turn the ball over…we had no turnovers. That’s a huge step in the right direction. With our main guys that played, I didn’t think we had any critical errors that cost us.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. The offense is showing promise, but still has questions.

Freshman quarterback Zach Wilcke started his second career game and led the offense straight down the field to open. However, the offense stalled in the red zone early but got its rhythm afterward.

“We prefer to have touchdowns, and we got field goals. We’ve got to [get] better right there. But the opening drive, we took it down and scored, and the next drive, we drove it down and scored. We would like to score touchdowns every time we get it. We weren’t able to [do] that, but we still had successful drives,” Hall said.

Southern Miss had it first and goal twice on their opening two possessions and had to settle for field goals twice. Southern Miss would like to be more pro ductive than that in the endzone, especial ly against an FBS team.

But after those two field goals, the offense started to come alive. Hall did not reveal on Wednesday whether we would see both Wilcke and former starting quar terback Ty Keyes in the game, but that was answered quickly.

“It’s really simple. Zach is our starter, and we think that Ty deserves to play. We said before the game that Ty is going to play the third series, and situationally, there might be times we run Ty into the game based on that. So, Ty got the third series, he made a great throw to Caston, and [he] made a play and scored. We ran Ty one more time during one of Zach’s series [and] then decided to pull Zach at the end of the first half… not because he was bad. He didn’t play perfect, nor did Ty, but they both made a lot of good plays,” Hall said.

Hal also commented that he had “no idea” who would start next week versus Tulane.

Keyes ran the offense on the third drive of the first quarter. Keyes led the offense down the field and connected with junior wide receiver Jakarius Caston on a 40-yard touchdown reception.

After those three scoring drives,

Southern Miss seemed to have slowed down a bit offensively, punting twice af terward with two straight three-and-outs.

Southern Miss scored on the next pos session on a quick two-play drive. Frank Gore Jr. took the handoff straight up the middle for 28 yards, and the score and the Golden Eagles led 20-0.

“[The Run Game] executed better this week. They were really taking the run away, so we had to throw it more,” Hall said.

Wilcke found Caston for the next Southern Miss touchdown two drives later on a quick six-play drive that covered 42 yards. Caston had two touchdowns when it was all said and done.

“This is my first game scoring two touchdowns since I’ve been here. It felt different,” Caston said. “Scoring is kind of different for me because I don’t do it a lot, but it’s going to change [and] we’re going to turn it around. This game here just built our confidence.”

Most of the scoring drives tonight were on short fields because of the outstanding punt returns that Natrone Brooks had throughout the game. Brooks had 145 yards returning kicks.

After some drives that ended in scores for Southern Miss, Keyes came back right before halftime and threw an 89-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore Jalen May to extend the lead to 41-0.

“It built a lot [of confidence.] We executed well today, and we need to carry that over to Tulane. We got that win we needed, let’s carry on and keep on win ning.” Keyes said.

Southern Miss outgained Northwest ern State 251 yards to 147 yards in the second half. Southern Miss had 588 total yards in the game to the Demons’ 234.

Now, Northwestern State is not a potent defense to measure how good the offense is, but Southern Miss did not replicate a similar performance against Grambling State last year. The offense is improving and has weapons, and they needed this game to gain confidence heading into Tulane next week.

But we still don’t know who will be at QB, which you could argue is a good problem to have.

2. The defense is elite.

After the defense’s performance in the past two weeks, we knew they were special. But tonight, the first team defense put on a show.

“Man, unbelievable again, right? Nasty Bunch,” Hall said.

Hall also praised defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong’s perseverance after his mother died this past week, and he still came to every practice and coached.

The first ten drives for Northwestern State had six three-and-outs, two turn overs, and one turnover on downs. North western State had 87 yards in the first half to Southern Miss’s 337. They also only had three first downs, all coming at the end of the second quarter.

The defense also added to the final score by adding nine points on a touch down via a Swayze Bozeman fumble return from a strip sack by Dominic Que won and then a safety in the third quarter.

The defense did not let Northwestern

State do anything on offense until the game was already out of hand. Over the past two weeks, that has been a constant. The defense will keep Southern Miss in most of the fun going forward, which is encouraging.

“The defense goes off every game. All we got to do is get in there and score, and they take care of what they need to take care of,” Caston said.

3. This win builds confidence going into Tulane.

They have plenty to learn, but this game builds confidence in the offense. That’s important because now, with the defense playing like it is, it gives a confi dent offense position to win games.

This game was the game the offense needed to regain its confidence, and the defense never lost theirs.

Tulane beat power-five opponent Kansas State on the road on Saturday and will be a tall task for Southern Miss. But now you can envision a way for Southern Miss to beat them next week. Will it be with a two-quarterback system? Will it be with the defense showing up? Time will tell, but Southern Miss likes where it’s at, sitting at 1-2 with everything in front of them.

“Tonight was a good step in the right direction of doing what we are supposed to do so that when we play a great oppo nent like next week at Tulane, we know we can do that. If it’s close at the end, we have done it before. It builds confidence there,” Hall said.

Southern Miss is back in action next week at 6 PM on ESPN+ at Tulane.

Southern Miss Running Back Frank Gore Jr. rushes a play against Northwestern State.

Chaarlie Lutrell, SM2