The Student Printz: February 23, 2022

SERVING SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI SINCE 1927 • WWW.STUDENTPRINTZ.COM • FEBRUARY 23, 2022 | VOLUME 107 | ISSUE 20

LGBTQIA ESSAY

PG 2

UNCHARTED REVIEW PG 6

BASEBALL CONTINUED PG 8

Play Ball!

Southern Miss Baseball returns to the Pete with a sweep DIMA MIXON AND KOBY MOORE

S

outhern Miss Baseball returned to Pete Taylor Park to begin its anticipated season, only months removed from a loss in the championship game of the Oxford Regional.

The Golden Eagles did not disappoint, starting the season off with a season sweep of three wins against North Alabama.

“You know our leadership from these guys- they played together last year and struggled early. They figured it out there late. I just feel like that momentum has carried us into this, and they are a year older or a year smarter.” Head Coach Scott Berry said. “They communicate well about the game of baseball. We have to learn to concentrate and learn to play all the areas well.”

The Golden Eagles outscored North Alabama 25-9 in its three-game series.

and finished the game with six strikeouts, four hits, and one unearned run on 79 pitches.

GAME ONE With the performance, Ethridge earns his first win of the season.

Southern Miss Baseball be“[I’m] real proud with our gan the series in commanding style with an 8-1 victory against guys and how they came out.

[Ben] Ethridge set the tone the North Alabama Lions. on the mound by covering six With a crowd of 4,449 fans innings,” Head Coach Scott in attendance at Pete Taylor Berry said. “He didn’t have his Park, The Golden Eagles utibest stuff, but like I told him, lized that home advantage and he really had to pitch and that’s played strong throughout the what he did.” game.

The Golden Eagles came out Ben Ethridge was the opening the gates hot by scoring three day starter on the mound for runs in the first inning. Gabe Southern Miss.

Montenegro hit a single on Ethridge played six innings

the first pitch, continuing his hitting streak from last season, extending it to 10 games.

Later in the inning, Dustin Dickerson, Christopher Sargent and Reece Ewing provided the three runs.

Southern Miss did have a cold stretch through three innings, leaving runners on base and not capitalizing, the Golden Eagles put the game away by scoring four runs in the eighth inning.

Tyler Stuart collected the save for the game and his first save of the season. Stuart finished the game with six strikeouts,

Sean Smith | Printz

four hits and no runs.

GAME TWO Southern Miss continued its momentum, beating North Alabama 7-3 in the second game of their three-game series. “[I’m] really proud of our guys to come out in the second game, win the series and certainly, [we] don’t want to fall in the trap of just being satisfied with that. We have a chance to do something spe-

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NEWS MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS SM2 News Director Charlie Luttrell charles.luttrell@usm.edu

Executive Editor Kyra Lampley kyra.lampley@usm.edu Pritnz Reporter Garret Grove garret.grove@usm.edu SMTV Producer Koby.moore@usm.edu Printz Photographer Sean Smith sean.smith@usm.edu Printz Photographer Huey Turlich huey.turlich@usm.edu Printz Reporter Jessica Besnard jessica.besnard@usm. edu Printz Reporter Dima Mixon joshua.mixon@usm.edu Printz Reporter Jackson Howell jackson.howell@usm.

Southern Miss Student Media

@Southern Miss Student Media @studentprintz

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.

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.

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

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Student essay gains significance amid recent events against the LGBTQIA community

O

The University of Southern Mississippi is known for its sense of inclusivity. However, past and recent events this school year targeting the LGBTQIA+ community has many concerned about how open the Hattiesburg community is.

Junior criminal justice major Marcus August wrote a paper relating to the struggles and tribulations of the trans community specifically.

August wrote the essay, entitled Sexuality In This Human Rights World, for a political science class last November, but it has received new focus this semester.

One of the resources August used in writing the paper was Wes Shaffer, the coordinator of Prism, the LGBTQIA+ resource center on campus.

Shaffer, who is gender-nonconforming, gave the Printz insight into their own experience of rejection from those in the surrounding community.

“Being that I present as a non-traditional gender, unfortunately, I face these things everywhere. I haven’t felt truly safe where I’ve ever lived,” Shaffer said.

A concern about safety was also present in one of the people August interviewed for his paper; his cousin Zi’rielle Jones.

August, who is gay, talked about how Jones, a transgender woman, faced discrimination from within

and outside of her family upon transitioning.

After years of hardship, Jones founded Rewriting Destiny, an LGBTQ+ resource center based in New Orleans devoted to providing resources for those who need it.

Jones came to campus last week to talk about her life experience for the Shades of LGBTQ+ event, which is part of the programming instituted by the Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement Office for Black History Month.

Hearing his cousin’s story for the first time is something that brought tears to August’s eyes. Seeing where Jones is now and hearing her story again carried similar weight.

The essay’s main intention was to inform the community about a segment of the population that is not well known about and consistently mistreated: Black trans women like August’s cousin, Zi’rielle Jones.

In an interview on 88.5 WUSM, August explained that these efforts of inquiry could be applied on a macro level for the LGBTQIA+ community overall.

“Be open-minded. Get to know us first before judging us or talking about us,” August said.

August’s essay can be viewed here [online].

For those within the LGBTQIA+ community who need to reach out for help, call 1-866-488-7386 or go to The Trevor Project’s website for support.

QUESTION:

“I’m in a class with several of my friends, and they don’t like the

professor. The problem is that I re-

ally like the professor and consider her a mentor and a friend. It’s un-

comfortable when they start talking about her negatively, but I don’t want to directly confront them

about their comments and how they

make me feel. What should I do?” Anonymous HUEY:

I feel that if someone is tearing another down, it is our duty as

people to stop them and stand up for what is right. Growing up, the

phrase “If you do not have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” was prominent and still

reigns true today. I stand on that

ideology in my walk through life.

I believe that you should confront your friends and let them know how you are feeling towards the situation. If they are truly your

friend, they will see your point of

view and learn a valuable lesson to always uplift instead of tear down.

ABBY:

In any relationship, communication and honesty is key. If you want to

keep the friendship stable, there are many things that need to be said.

You cannot bottle these things up.

Establish with your friends (respectfully) that you like this professor, and that they mean a lot to you.

Understand that while your friends might not feel the same way you

do about this professor, they must

also respect that you have different

feelings for them as well. Tell them that you don’t appreciate how they

talk about the professor. It’s a start to being much more open.

NEWS FEBRUARY 23, 2022 WWW.STUDENTPRINTZ.COM Revelry gives a hands-on art display to USM SEAN SMITH AND HUEY TURLICH PRINTZ PHOTOGRAPHERS

A student polishes an aluminum block at The Aluminum Pour event during Revelry.

A student brushes an a block during The Aluminum Pour event.

The Adventures of Printmaking session teaches atendees about monotype prints.

Attendees learn about the process of printmaking during the Adventures of Printmaking session.

NEWS

FEBRUARY 23, 2022 WWW.STUDENTPRINTZ.COM Performance Enhancing Drugs cause controversy in Olympics

The problem of doping has again infiltrated The Olympic Games

Photo Courtesy of Rooster

KYRA LAMPLEY EXECUTIVE EDITOR

W

in is a three letter word that is the driving force behind most serious athletes. Winning boosts their confidence, gives satisfaction to those who are aiming to achieve certain goals and helps many recognize their full potential.

Many athletes dream of becoming a member of a professional team, thus causing them to participate in activities such as engaging in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This has become common in a world where your best is never good enough--especially in the Olympic realm.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a performance enhancing drug as a substance that is used illicitly to improve athletic performance.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are six main categories of PEDs: anabolic steroids, androstenedione, human growth hormone, erythropoietin, diuretics, creatine and stimulants.

Although these substances seem like they help athletes, the benefits do not outweigh the side effects. Some of the notable side effects for men include: infertility, prominent breasts, enlargement of the prostate gland and shrunken testicles. Side effects for women include: a deeper voice,

increased body hair and baldness.

While these drugs can improve agility, stability and speed, the side effects can be long-lasting, sometimes irreversable and may cause a persistent drug dependence.

Russia has recently been under fire for its olympic team members using PEDs. The Associated Press reports 15-year-old Russian figure skater, Kamila Valieva, was caught in the center of this controversy as a banned substance was found in her system.

Doping and the use of PEDs by Russian olympians has increasingly become a problem over the years. The mere fact that a 15-year-old used a PED is not only alarming but sad.

The blame has come down to a single athlete, but this is a systematic problem for Olympic participants from Russia.

Using PEDs in the Olympics is not only wrong, but it creates an unrealistic threshold for athletes to reach. Those who do not have help from added stimulants have to work harder to achieve the same level of those who use drugs. This creates an uneven playing field and also makes it harder on those deserving to advance in their prospective sports.

In a world where people are constantly

having to prove themselves to the next, the use of PEDs is not uncommon. People feel as if they have to do anything necessary to achieve their goals The scary part about that is that younger individuals are starting to do the same.

The expectations and competition among Generation Z are higher than ever. The use of social media adds fuel to the already lit fire of transitioning into adulthood. The perception of one by another is misconstrued and highly flawed.

This generation does not realize that the human body is not supposed to be perfect. Comparison to other individuals makes it almost impossible for those who are struggling with self-image to accept who they are, thus inspiring use of PEDs and other drugs that can alter the appearance and function of the body.

As soon as society realizes that they are a part of the problem, then they cannot only move away from using substances that could be detrimental to the human body but getting rid of them for good. You are only as good as your weakest link and if that means that everyone has to work harder to achieve their goals, doing it naturally is always the best solution.

NEWS

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

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Southern Miss at odds with Conference USA over early exit JACKSON HOWELL PRINTZ REPORTER

c

onference USA released its official 2022 football schedule this Tuesday, which includes Southern Miss. There is just one problem with this: Southern Miss, alongside Marshall and Old Dominion, announced it will leave the conference for the Sun Belt Conference on June 30 of this year.

“The University will not participate in Conference USA during the 202223 academic year. This decision comes after considering the best interests of the University and the entire Golden Eagle family,” the Southern Miss Department of Athletics said in a statement released this past Friday. “The University has from the outset expressed its desire to work with Conference USA to achieve an amicable separation…Conference USA has so far refused to discuss any such arrangement with the University.”

C-USA responded that evening with a statement that acknowledged the ongoing conference realignment.

“We have chosen not to engage publicly, but have communicated with our member institutions and expect them to meet those obligations,” the conference said.

This Tuesday, the Conference USA made its intentions known.

“Conference USA intends to conduct the 2022-23 athletic year with the full 14 institution membership intact,” C-USA said.

The conference announced it will “exhaust all necessary legal actions to ensure all members meet their contractual obligations,” meaning legal action may arise between the conference, Southern Miss, Marshall and Old Dominion.

It is unlikely that the legal action will entail if it comes to fruition, but it is likely that the potential lawsuit will pertain to the schools leaving one year earlier than previously announced.

The typical exit fee is $3 million and schools are required to give 14 months’ notice before leaving the conference.

Southern Miss initially announced its plans to join the Sun Belt in June of 2023, but changed its course due to a stalemate in negotiations.

Conference USA Flag Marshall also responded to Southern Miss in a tweet from interim athletic director Jeff O’Malley.

“Marshall Athletics is aware that Conference USA released its 2022 football schedule this afternoon, however, we stand by our statement from Friday,” Marshall said.

According to Sports Illustrated, the Sun Belt will release its schedule next week and could potentially feature Southern Miss as well.

C-USA has its own reasons for wanting to retain the three schools for 20222023 as they will have only 11 teams in the conference for the 2022 football season.

That would effectively eliminate the East and West divisions and alter the conference title game.

Another factor is that C-USA would not have to make a new 2022 football schedule after three of its schools depart.

This creates a problem, especially if the Sun Belt releases its schedule featuring the three schools as Sports Illustrated reported.

This summer will feature a feud between Southern Miss and Conference USA as realignment is imminent. Southern Miss will participate in athletics for the 2022-2023 year but the question that remains is what conference it will play in.

Image special to the Printz

ENTERTAINMENT

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

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Uncharted lives past casting concerns

KOBY MOORE PRINTZ REPORTER

T

his past weekend Uncharted, a prominent video game series made its way to the big screen, despite critics and fans’ distaste for the casting choices.

The film stars Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, Mark Wahlberg as Victor “Sully” Sullivan and Antonio Banderas.

There was some controversy around the choices of casting Nathan Drake and Sully, which were that Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg were too young and they didn’t accurately / represent the characters.

We’ve seen some of the biggest movie and video game movies fail because of this so Uncharted had a lot to do right to convince its audience of an authentic Uncharted feel.

The premise of the movie is based on the video game series. nit for those who haven’t played the game like I have, Nathan Drake [Holland] is a young bartender in New York, who has a knack for stealing and is a young fortune hunter who is one day recruited by Victor “Sully” Sullivan [Wahlberg] to help him locate the hidden treasure from

Printz|Joseph Weishaar

the Magellan expedition.

Drake and Sully run into trouble as they run into trouble with Santiago Moncada [Banderas], a ruthless treasure hunter who is looking for the treasure himself.

I might have missed some of the references that hardcore Uncharted fans enjoyed, but it is enjoyable for what it was regardless.

The fight scenes were exciting. We got to see solid action scenes from Tom Holland, who I think has pretty much settled into the action roles especially coming from Spider-Man No Way Home.

Mark Wahlberg had

a good role and their chemistry works even though it’s a different pairing than what fans expect from the iconic video game duo.

A surprising performance was Tati Gabrielle, who played the role of Jo Braddock. She captured attention every time she was on the screen and she had the mercenary role down pact.

Also, the graphic visuals are impressive and make it feel true to the game, especially the iconic plane dive scene from ‘Uncharted 3’. Sony and Playstation were behind this movie and it shows.

However, this mov-

ie did drag on at some point. I felt myself dosing off in the middle of the movie almost twice with a runtime of nearly two hours With the storyline, they also tried to accomplish too much in one film, rushing some scenes, especially when Drake and Sully meet for the first time.

More stories could’ve been touched on like Sully’s past or knowing more about Nathan Drake’s background.

Everybody knows who Nathan Drake is but it would have been a great opportunity to show more of his origin.

6.7 out of 10.

ENTERTAINMENT JESSICA BESNARD PRINTZ REPORTER

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

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Mitski’s Bittersweet ‘Laurel Hell’

about doomed lovers not yet ready to say goodbye accompanied by her longaurel Hell’ is ing coos in the background.

Mitski’s sixth studio She craves to be both liked album and possibly and loved. another farewell. During In this somehow dreamy the ‘Be The Cowboy’ album yet gloomy reminiscent tour, Mitski announced song of ill-fated love she that she was taking a hiatus sings, “You say you love me, from music, until realizing I believe you do,” with the she had to make another ever-present doubt lingeralbum due to a binding ing. contract with her label, re“Looking up into our sulting in ‘Laurel Hell’. room, where you’ll be waitBeginning with her soming for me, thinking that’s ber ambiance into a glittery where you loved me,” Mitschime that she executes ki sings. so well, ‘Valentine, Texas’ This line comes off as displays her reentrance her romantic other only into a dissatisfied life—a loving her in one place, the metaphor of her stepping Courtesy of mitski.bandcamp.com bedroom, rather than fully back into the spotlight and loving her like before—that scrutiny. killing her creativity and danceable, upbeat tempo true love has now worn off “Let’s step carefully into happiness. and rhythm. Though, a lot and only exists in memory. the dark, once we’re in I’ll Mitski sings about how of Mitski’s work incorpo‘There’s Nothing Left for remember my way around,” no one cares about her sto- rates disco elements into You’ and ‘I Guess’ don’t do Mitski sings, almost exries–the wished meanings her indie-rock-pop style much for the album. They haustedly. and purposes behind her such as, ‘The Only Heartjust feel a bit like short It sounds so fatiguing, in music–and how she feels breaker’ and ‘Love Me fillers, but I do enjoy how a good way, connecting this restricted with writing due More’. uncertain yet transformareflective, numbing feelto the need to appeal to a Mitski is versatile and tive ‘I Guess’ feels. ing with her audience. She certain audience. dynamic with her ability to ‘Laurel Hell’ is an album masters any emotion so What Mitski does perattend to a wide array of pieced together perfectly to perfectly in a single song. fectly though is telling her genres and styles through capture this forlorn vulner“Working for the Knife,” stories. I and other Mitsher lyricism while keeping a ability that is held inside the second track, aches for ki fans enjoy her music significant depth.

Mitski. She puts vulneraanother life where she does because of her ability to ‘That’s Our Lamp,’ the bility, exhaustion, repeated not feel trapped to make capture feelings such as last, most underrated, and dissatisfaction, and the afmusic, hence her hoped hi- heart-wrenching sorrow. possibly my favorite track termath of lovers’ quarrels, atus. It seems that criticism ‘Stay Soft,’ the third track, on the album is such an into a beautiful melody. and restrictions from her feels very disco through its emotionally driven song 9.3/10. life’s work act as the knife,

L

8 SPORTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

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Baseball

Women’s track repeats as C-USA Champions

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SOUTHERN MISS ATHLETICS

cial...sweep the series and that’s there’s a lot of hard work that goes into that,” Berry said.

The Golden Eagles started off the game on the offensive side with an RBI single from Christopher Sargent to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second and the third inning, Southern Miss scored a combined five runs on six hits.

Gabe Montenegro had a tworun single on one of those hits, increasing the score to 3-0.

Everything was going right for the Golden Eagles, but in the fourth inning, they committed Ben Ethridge pitches on opening GAME THREE Sean Smith | Printz four errors, leading to North Ala- day against North Alabama. bama scoring two runs.

Southern Miss went scoreless for three innings unHurston Waldrep’s eleven strikeouts fueled Southtil the eighth, where they added one run. ern Miss to complete the season-opening sweep Hunter Riggins started on the mound for the against North Alabama with a 14-1 victory.

Golden Eagles. Riggins went six innings and finished “Adrenaline’s crazy watching this crowd- it is a the game with five strikeouts, three hits, two runs and childhood dream of mine to come out here and one walk with 74 pitches. pitch and play,” Waldrep said.

Riggins collected his first win of the season and Waldrep’s line on the day boasted 5.1 IP, three the bullpen went to work and finished the game out. hits, one run allowed, a career-high 11 strikeouts Drew Boyd came in to relieve Riggins and had and 75 pitches. North Alabama only managed to a good outing, pitching out of some jams, despite get a single hit on Waldrep throughout the first four giving up an earned run. innings.

Tanner Hall came into the ninth inning and solid“We have seen it in the fall, we saw it in the spring, ified the win for the Golden Eagles. preseason, and [we’re] just glad to see it carrying

over into today,” Head Coach Scott Berry said about Waldrep.

Waldrep started the day consistently throwing a 98 mph fastball but naturally slowed as the game wore on. Berry commented he had “not” seen a pitcher throw that fast in his tenure at Southern Miss.

On the offensive side of the ball, there was no slowing down the Golden Eagles. Blake Johnson and Slade Wilks combined to drive in nine runs.

After struggling in the first two games, Wilks got the day started with an RBI triple, which went down as his first hit of the season. Wilks tallied a two-run RBI double and an RBI single.

“I told myself today is a new day and just to have my mind right. I told myself to just put my foot down and swing, and everything else will cover itself. The offense is really deep and scary for other teams looking forward to playing us,” Wilks said. “We have our starters, then we got guys coming off the bench. It is really, really good.”

Throughout the first two games, the top of the lineup generated most of the production, whereas nine of the fourteen runs scored were by the bottom of the lineup in this game.

The Golden Eagles finished the game with 12 hits, with six going to Johnson and Wilks.

Southern Miss outscored North Alabama 29-5 in the series.

The Southern Miss women’s track team once again stood atop the podium, outlasting Middle Tennessee to capture back-to-back Conference USA Indoor Championships on Sunday afternoon at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

“On paper, we faced impossible odds,” Southern Miss coach Jon Stuart said. “We simply never quit fighting. Our women gave everything they had, then gave a little more.”

With Southern Miss clinging to a five-point advantage over Middle Tennessee entering the final event, Trinity Benson, Savi’a Varnell, Trinity Flagler and Smilla Kolbe put the nail in the coffin, combining to run 3:47.67 to take fourth in the 4x400 relay and give the Golden Eagles their second-straight C-USA title.

Poland native Oliwia Wawrzyniak became the second-straight Golden Eagle to earn Freshman of the Meet honors, winning the 5,000m with a new program best of 16:33.99 and taking fourth in the 3,000m with another school record time of 9:35.15.

“Oliwia was amazing,” Stuart added about his freshman’s performance. “She took over the 5,000 with three laps remaining and smashed the previous school record by nine seconds.”

In total, the Black and Gold made nine trips to the podium on the women’s side, with a pair in both the 60m and triple jump...

Overall the women finished with 101 points to edge the 91 of Middle Tennessee and capture the title.

“I’m so proud of our girls, our coaches, trainers and staff,” said Stuart. “It was a tremendous effort to win and everyone performed when it mattered most.”

Stuart earned his second-straight Coach of the Year honor for the performance.