AUGUST 23, 2017 VOLUME 102 ISSUE 2
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Marijuana
Large drug seizure in Jeff Davis County
www.studentprintz.com
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Major Change?
Ashley Hobson shares the ins-and-outs of changing majors
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Sports
USM begins two strong athletic seasons
serving southern miss since 1927
Counter-protesters oppose MS state flaggers Morgan Clark news editor
On Sunday, Aug. 20, counterprotesters made their presence known to the recurring group of Mississippi state flag supporters on The University of Southern Mississippi’s campus. While this is the flag protesters’ ninety-fifth consecutive appearance on the campus, this is the second time counter-protesters have come. Protesters from both sides began to arrive around noon as law enforcement from Hattiesburg and its surrounding cities set up barricades and made accommodations for peaceful protests. Police blocked off certain roads on campus, set up blockades, divided the parking for each side, set road lights to blink yellow and observed. “We’re here to make sure that those people who have requested to express their passion and conviction regarding keeping our state flag and those who are in favor of getting rid of it - giving them the opportunity to do that safely and without fear of harm,” Chief Bob Hopkins of the Hattiesburg Police Department said. The flag protesters bore Mississippi state and Trump flags along with signs reading, “No state flag, no state funding,” “stand fast Mississippians” and “don’t tread on me.” The counterprotesters held signs saying, “Black lives matter,” “white supremacy is a lie,” “stop advocating treason” and “heritage of hate,” to name a few. Retired USM Civil War Professor, William K. Scarborough, was present on the flag-defenders side. He has been present at the majority of the past rallies in the front of campus. “We’re protesting the fact that the [USM] president took the state flag down without consulting anybody I’m protesting more than that. This campaign to eradicate every vestige
Hiba Tahir, Printz Counter-protesters hold up signs in front of the USM campus on Aug. 20. of the heritage of the Confederacy,” Scarborough said. “I’m very angry about it – I’m not interested in reconciling with anybody. I’m just angry – I don’t like ‘em, I hate ‘em if you wanna know the truth. They’re very unreasonable.” According to Mississippi Rising Coalition’s event page on Facebook, Solidarity Counter-Protest of USM Flaggers, they “will stand in solidarity with the residents of Hattiesburg and USM students in their second counterprotest of the USM Flaggers and their racist flags which have been flown for 94 Sundays.”
The counter-protesters’ side shouted throughout the rally things such as “You are a traitor,” “no hate in our state” and “change.” They also sang “This Little Light of Mine” and “All You Need is Love.” Some shouted profanities back at the flaggers while some kept the chants milder. History professor Doug las Chambers made an appearance on the anti-flag side and joined in on the chants and plans on returning on subsequent Sundays. Along with Chambers, senior social work major Reginald Virgil, led a speech on the counter-protesters side. Not only was
he present at the protests, but also was a leading speaker at the vigil held on campus Monday, Aug. 14. “Stand up and be the change of this nation,” Virgil said. Despite having peaceful protests, some threats were made. Junior accounting major Sam Landrum showed up with a “Pepe” sign, which has been designated as a hate symbol, and was threatened until being asked to leave by officials for his safety. “I attended the protest to stand in solidarity with other anti-flag protesters. I believe the confederate battle flag represents hate to many
Mississippians and should be removed from the state flag,” Landrum said. “I brought a painting of Pepe the frog. I thought it was funny – apparently only Nazis like Pepe. I was called a white nationalist, a Nazi and a racist. Many of the protesters made physical threats to me so I left after the police asked me to. I expected the flaggers to be jerks, because to be honest I was making fun of them. But they just laughed at me and politely asked me to leave.” The protest began to die out around 5 p.m. Protesters from each side plan to continue this trend and be present every Sunday until otherwise stated.
Plan approved by Institutions of Higher Learning HL Board of Trustees Kaitlyn Watkins executive editor
On Aug. 17, the State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees approved the University of Southern Mississippi’s Plan for Academic Reorganization: Vision 2020. The academic reorganization plan reduces the number of academic colleges on campus from six to four – the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economic Development, the College of Education and Human Sciences and the College of Nursing and
Health Professions. “The most important fact for you to know is that no degree plans or majors are being changed as part of this reorganization,” Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Amy Miller said. “Your majors and paths to graduation will remain the same. What may be altered are the names and structures of the colleges and schools within which your degrees are found. So, although your deg ree will not change, your prog ram may be housed in a different college or school than it was b e fo re t h e reorganization. The plan is designed to make
it easier for students to find resources and obtain assistance from faculty and staff across all programs and colleges.” The completed academic reorganization plan, Vision 2020, can be found on the Office of the Provost’s website. “The goals of the reorganization are to highlight our strengths, to increase the efficiency of our processes, and to encourage more cross-disciplinary connections among students and faculty in larger, more diverse schools,” Miller said. The University of Southern Mississippi is not the first college to implement a reorganization plan. Department Chair of
Mathematics Bernd Schroeder shared a positive view of the academic reorganization plan, having previously worked at Louisiana Tech University where a similar structure to the one being implemented at USM is in place. “ [ Re o r g a n i z a t i o n ] w i l l certainly require a lot of trust between people,” Schroeder said. “We need to understand each other a whole lot better than we do right now. And that is something that again so far hasn’t happened or at least hasn’t happened enough, I think. And so more communication probably is needed as we are moving into
this reorganization.” P rovo s t S t e ve n M o s e r s a i d t h at t h e a c a d e m i c reorganization will create more opportunities for departments to collaborate. “I want to thank each of you who were involved in the process of developing this plan,” Moser said. “Your leadership and engagement enriched our final product, and I appreciate your contributions to this important work.” Once the plan is implemented, reorganization is expected to be completed by fall 2020.