2.10.21

WWW.REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM

@REFLECTORONLINE

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2021

136th YEAR ISSUE 15

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884

Starkville mayor Lynn Spruill runs unopposed for second term HANNAH BLANKENSHIP MANAGING EDITOR

Starkville’s current mayor, Lynn Spruill, is running unopposed in the 2021 Starkville municipal election.

While there seemed to be some waves of opposition to the mayor around town, as evidenced by a billboard that featured a popular meme of a mitten-clad Bernie Sanders with the words, “Waiting on a new mayor in Starkville,” no one had filed papers to run in the election by the Friday deadline. After confirmation that she was running unopposed, Spruill tweeted, “Bernie will have to wait” with a picture of a billboard that said, “Waiting on Mayor Lynn Spruill’s second term to begin.”

While blue and

yellow yard signs still grace the yards of many houses around town, Spruill said the absence of an opposing mayoral candidate will allow her to focus more time and energy on continuing to do the work of the office.

“Any day you’re in office is campaign day, and I say that because you’re doing the things you promised you would do. It’s not just about campaigning in that time frame; it’s about performing and doing what you said you were going to do as an elected leader,” Spruill said.

Spruill, Starkville’s first-ever female mayor, was elected in 2017 after former mayor Parker Wiseman decided not to run for reelection.

Under her term, Starkville has seen various changes and improvements.

SPRUILL, 2

Mary Georgia Hamilton | The Reflector

Starkvilleʼs Democratic Mayor Lynn Spruill poses with one of her campaign signs in the city ahead of the municipal election. Spruill is running unopposed for her second term.

New program raises disability awareness in Starkville HEATHER HARRISON STAFF WRITER

Come Roll with MeMississippi is working to break down barriers between those with disabilities and those without disabilities.

Come Roll with Me (CRWM) is a program designed to bring awareness about the challenges people who use wheelchairs face in day-to-day life.

At CRWM events, nondisabled participants use a wheelchair and perform routine tasks to experience the difficulties wheelchair users encounter daily.

Participants then are asked to reflect upon what they learned while using a wheelchair that day and how it affected their mindsets.

Reid Fracchia, a 2020 graduate of the University of Mississippi and a Jackson, Mississippi, native, started the Come Roll with MeMississippi (CRWM-MS) chapter in November 2018 after being inspired by one of his mother’s colleagues, physical therapist Cathy

What is the deal with the stock market?

MSU faculty and students take a look

JOSHUA STEWART

originally started on r/ WallStreetBets, Reddit’s most popular investing forum. Eagle-eyed users noticed GameStop’s “float,” or number of outstanding shares subtracted by number of restricted shares, was heavily shorted by large institutions and hedge funds.

Shorting is not a new thing in the market and occurs when shares are borrowed at a certain price, with the promise they will be given back, and the position taker sells them, hoping to buy them back (or “cover”) at a lower price.

GameStop’s short interest, or how much of the float was shorted, reached a nearly unprecedented 140%.

Investors, most of them retail, attempted to cause a “short squeeze,” where enough shares are bought and held, so the short owners are forced to cover at unfavorable prices, causing another massive spike in price.

STOCK, 2

STAFF WRITER

Allison Fracchia | Courtesy Photo

MSU student Thomas Guest poses with participants of the Come Roll with Me program held at the Sigma Chi house on February 2.

Henderson Carver. Carver started Come Roll with Me in Alabama with a focus on elementary-aged children.

After gaining Carver’s blessing to start the Mississippi chapter, Fracchia held events at the

University of Mississippi and in Jackson, Mississippi, with hopes of connecting people who use a wheelchair and non-disabled young adults.

“I definitely felt it was important to start building

that bridge in people our age just because we’re young, and it’s just a good time to learn about the values of others and kind of put yourself in their shoes for just a few hours.”

ROLL, 2

GameStop enjoyed one of the strangest months in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.

GME (the stock ticker) started the month trading at $17.25, before rising to an unprecedented $371.82 at 9 a.m. CST on Jan. 27.

It dipped considerably following this high, hitting $53 at market close on Feb. 4.

The reasons for this average down are complex, but the main catalyst occurred on Jan. 28 when Robinhood, one of the most popular retail brokers in the U.S.; TDAmeritrade; WeBull and several European brokers placed restrictions on the buying of certain securities, including GameStop, AMC and BlackBerry.

GameStop had this unsustainable growth due to a multitude of market forces, but the interest

MSU Speech and Debate takes the regional competition, looks to nationals

DANIEL DYE

NEWS EDITOR

Mississippi State University’s Speech and Debate Council was recently awarded the 1st Overall Sweeps Award at the Southern Forensics Championship Tournament, the first regional championship win for the team. Starting on Jan. 29, the 14 MSU students participated in debate and individual speech competitions, earning more than 30 awards and placing high enough to win the overall award for the competition.

MSU’s Speech and Debate team was founded by Cheryl Chambers and Brett Harvey five years ago. According to Harvey, Title IX director

for the university and the coach of the debate team, the Southern Forensics Championship Tournament is an annual event, usually held in person, for schools in the Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana tournament, but schools from outside that area usually participate as well. MSU competed against more than two dozen schools in a variety of individual and team competitions, ranging from individual debate to prepared speeches.

For example, Nirmal Bhatt, vice president for debate and senior mechanical engineering major, participated in the debate side of the competition, where a set number of preliminary rounds are held going

into a single elimination style playoff. Bhatt said the topics for debate can be anything, with gaming consoles and corporal punishment being some of his topics from this competition.

The success found at this tournament is one of many in the past year, with the Speech and Debate Council performing well in many of their previous tournaments last semester.

Harvey credits the excellent performances this year to staying prepared and focused despite the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even though we are debating virtually, we try to do everything we can to keep the experience as close to a real debate as possible.”

SPEECH, 2

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

HI: 69 LO: 46 SKY: Cloudy POP: 40

HI: 53 LO: 32 SKY: Rainy POP: 100

HI: 44 LO: 27 SKY: Partly sunny POP: 0

Brett Harvey | Courtesy Photo

The MSU Speech and Debate team pose for a team photo. This year, the team has excelled, placing well in many tournaments.

FORECAST: Get your raincoats ready!

Chances of rain starting on Wednesday will rise with a 100% chance of rain on Thursday.

With the rain comes colder temperatures, with Friday having highs in the low 40s and lows in the high 20s.

Courtesy of National Weather Service

Readerʼs Guide: Bad Dawgs

3

Contact Info

4

Bulletin Board Puzzles Opinion

3 3 4

Life&Entertainment 5 Sports 6

Policy: Any person may pick up a single copy of The Reflector for free. Additional copies may be obtained from the Henry Meyer Student Media Center for 25 cents per copy.

2

THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10

@REFLECTORONLINE

STOCKS

An example of a short squeeze brought up by many on the Subreddit is Volkswagen in 2008, where the stock price rose quickly from €200 to €800 in European markets.

According to Tom Miller, professor of finance at Mississippi State University, the ability to use newer technology like smartphones and tablets for retail trading compounded with the communication on Reddit eventually led to GameStop’s spike.

“This was the culmination of retail traders having the ability to trade from their smartphones, tablets, computers and talk to one another on places like Reddit,” Miller said.

While many retail traders were highly perturbed when popular retail brokers restricted these securities, Miller remained neutral.

“Most likely, the

CONTINUED FROM 1

brokers were acting fiduciarily responsible, but I don’t know that,” Miller said. “That’s why we have to investigate this whole sequence of events from when the stock was trading at $20, to $30, to the last 10 days, when it has gone all over the place.”

Is this retail revolution here to stay? Miller believes so, saying that advance software and continued communication will contribute to that.

“Yes. We have better software, platforms to trade and exchange information than we did during the Dotcom Bubble, so it’d be hard for me to believe that technology won’t keep improving. And while we don’t know how many of those Reddit subscribers were actually investors or just onlookers, it’s here to stay regardless,” Miller said.

Alvaro Taboada,

associate professor of finance, tends to agree with Miller’s statements.

“I think it represents a shift in markets and trading overall. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, but it is the first time it has become such a massive, public event, where trades

made by retail investors drove a stock price up so much,” Taboada said.

Taboada also agreed with public sentiment that Robinhood and other brokers might have made a miscalculation when restricting securities.

“Robinhood especially promoted the little guys

being able to participate in markets. They went against what they were promoting. In my opinion, that should not have been done,” Taboada said.

“They had their reasons though, valid or not.”

Will the infinite short squeeze many on WallStreetBets are hoping for happen? Taboada is not so sure.

“The short squeeze has happened, to some degree, and the hedge funds that didn’t get wiped out or incurred massive financial troubles have already gotten out and may be waiting to get back in at the opportune time,” Taboada said.

Shye Link, a senior at MSU and dual major in finance and business economics, thinks these Reddit traders got caught up and perhaps got too greedy.

“It became this euphoria. So much of finance is behavioral, and

ROLL

“I think at a young age, you’re kind of more open to seeing things from a different light, a different perspective,” Fracchia said.

When Reid Fracchia graduated from Ole Miss in May 2020, his younger brother Owen took the reins of running CRWMMS. Owen Fracchia, a sophomore exercise science major at Ole Miss, had the burden of COVID-19 to bear when he took over but has been able to host a couple of events since the pandemic started.

Owen Fracchia said his hopes for the program are that participants gain a better understanding of what life is like for wheelchair users and see

CONTINUED FROM 1

the everyday challenges they face.

After seeing CRWM’s impact in Jackson and Oxford, Bryson Weeks, a sophomore biological sciences major at Mississippi State University, reached out to Owen Fracchia about hosting an event at MSU. Weeks had seen Fracchias’ work with CRWM over the years and thought it was important to spread the message to MSU. On Feb. 2, Come Roll with Me had a small event at the Sigma Chi house at MSU with Thomas Guest, a senior business administration major, as the speaker. Thomas was involved in an ATV

accident that paralyzed him from the neck down his freshman year at MSU. He shared his story with the participants and demonstrated how he goes through life in his wheelchair.

Wheeling around the Sigma Chi house, participants realized how different it is for people who use wheelchairs to perform daily tasks. Guest explained those without disabilities usually do not understand how something small, like loose gravel or a curb, can deter wheelchair users from smoothly moving from place to place.

Guest said he has enjoyed working with

the Come Roll with Me program, and he said he realized many people who have no connection to someone in a wheelchair still care about reaching out and learning more.

“It made me learn that people really do care; they really do want to make a difference. They want to help. They want to learn,” Guest emphasized.

Owen Fracchia said he was glad that CRWMMS could expand to MSU because of the increased awareness it brings.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to grow the organization as well as get knowledge out to more people about how they can approach people in

chairs and become more aware of the things people in wheelchairs have to go through every day,” Fracchia said.

Reid and Owen’s mother, Allison Fracchia, is the Mississippi manager at Permobil Power, a seating and mobility manufacturer that provides the wheelchairs for Come Roll with Me. She said she hopes CRWM emphasizes how people who use wheelchairs and those who do not have more in common than one would think.

“There are more similarities between people in wheelchairs and not in wheelchairs, and so hopefully, it helps people to

SPEECH

“Rather than have students debate from their dorm rooms or home, we actually get together in a single prep room like we would in a normal tournament,” Harvey said. “They have me there as a coach, their teammates there. I think that helps them feel a little bit more formal, more prepared. I think that has helped us do better this year; we have had a really good year overall.”

According to Bhatt, the diversity of the team, both in knowledge as well as personal background, is a meshing factor for the team and allows the members to fill in gaps for topics or give advice and new perspectives.

The weekly practice schedule is also a massive factor in the team’s success, wherein the team members debate each other, practice speaking and critical thinking

become more comfortable talking to people in a chair,” Allison Fracchia said.

Allison Fracchia continued, saying she hopes to get rid of any discomfort between those that are disabled and those who are not.

“Oftentimes, I think that people turn away, or they act like they don’t see the person in the chair because they feel uncomfortable.

They don’t know how to react or what to say. That’s what we hope, that this makes them see others as just like everybody else,” Allison Fracchia said. “They’re just normal people; it’s just that they use a wheelchair to get around instead of feet.”

CONTINUED FROM 1

skills and give each other feedback to grow going forward.

Practice makes perfect, but Council President Tyler Melvin believes MSU’s coaches and team chemistry set them apart from the competition.

“We have great coaches for our team. They go above and beyond and put forward so much of their time and energy into making this team great.

All of our officers step up in really big way to make sure that the team gets the practice that they needed, the coaching that they need to improve their work. And we all mesh well together; everybody gets along,” Melvin said.

“If you have a solid team behind you and you all get along, you all put forward your best performance, you are going to do well.”

Mia Robertson, vice president of speech and a junior political science

major, said the next step is to win a national championship. Based on the great season they have had so far, she believes they can.

“We are trying to win the national championship, of course.

We just won regionals, and we are on a really great trajectory to do that,” Robertson said. “Every tournament except one this year we walked away with first place. We are really hoping that we can take that next step and win our first ever overall national championship.”

From here, the team plans to keep practicing and perfecting their craft, with hopes of performing well in three more regular season tournaments before participating in the overall national tournament.

New members are always welcome, according to Robertson,

Brett Harvey | Courtesy Photo

The MSU Speech and Debate team discuss debate topics in the prep room before members leave for separate rooms to compete.

and are provided with a great opportunity to develop their personal skills.

“I would like to say that for anyone who is interested in developing

your critical thinking skills, being better at thinking on your feet or even just better at public speaking and communication, there is a place on the speech and debate team for

SPRUILL

Spruill said one of her proudest accomplishments is getting the bond resolution for Cornerstone Park, a 100-acre sports recreation facility off of Highway 182. According to the Starkville Dispatch, Starkville added 1% to their already existing 2% restaurant and hotel tax to pay for Cornerstone Park and improvements at other parks.

Spruill also mentioned a 12.66-million-dollar BUILD grant for the revitalization of Highway 182 from Long Street to Old West Point Road, the beautification of the city with murals and lights, a new sustainable wastewater treatment facility and a 2.3 mile annexation of Clayton Village as projects she has worked on while in office.

“One thing that I really support is her annexation of Clayton Village. I think

when three million people are buying a stock and telling people to buy, it shoots up to a price that is not connected to reality.

This is not a company that is doing well, especially during COVID,” Link said.

Link also commented on the power of communication in starting a retail trading revolution.

“There’s power in people coming together and saying, ‘Hey, let’s buy this’ regardless of the valuation, regardless of the fundamentals,” Link said.

Link also emphasized how important it is to learn solid investing instead of just pure speculating.

“You have your whole lifetime to invest, and you’re always going to have these opportunities to speculate,” Link said.

“Time is one of the most salient things in finance.”

you,” Robertson said. “It doesn’t matter what your major is or if you’ve never done speech and debate before. There is a place for everyone, and we want to welcome more people.”

CONTINUED FROM 1

that subjecting that to Starkville laws and taxes will be overall beneficial to the community,” said Brady Kruse, a senior computer science major at Mississippi State University.

Kruse, originally from Missouri, said he first got involved in local politics when he moved off campus his sophomore year.

One of Spruill’s most notable features as a local leader is her proficiency in connecting with her constituents via social media, specifically Twitter.

Starkville residents can tweet a question or concern at the mayor and receive a reply within minutes.

“Her approach to technology is to me what technology should be … the fact that she can get on Twitter and talk to her residents and talk to them faithfully and honestly and directly I think is

wonderful,” Kruse said. “I think her effective use of Twitter should be a model for other local politicians.”

Kruse also said Spruill’s involvement with MSU really makes a difference in the lives of students.

“I think that the way in which she approaches Mississippi State’s campus and the way in which she gets involved with student activities shows a real devotion to the university population. As someone coming from four states and 500 miles away, that was really friendly and very welcoming and very home-like,” Kruse said.

Jonathan Bailey, a senior political science major and president of the College Republicans’ group on campus, said, while he and Spruill disagree on a few policy issues, he thinks she does an excellent job

of connecting with her constituents.

“I definitely think she does a really good job of being present, being accessible and talking to the people she’s representing, which is really important to have in local government,” Bailey said.

While Spruill is technically running as a Democrat, she said political party should hardly factor into local government.

“I mean potholes and water leaks and trash pickup is not geared to partisanship.

I was a mayor in the state of Texas and local elections like that are nonpartisan — you don’t pick a party — and I think we would all be better served if we were not to do that. But that’s not the hand I’ve been dealt,” Spruill said.

Bailey agreed, saying there is no Republican or Democratic way to pave a pothole but that political

ideology does factor into a few areas on the local level, such as fiscal policy.

“I think she’s been a little bit quicker to spend and raise tax revenue than I would’ve been. There’s kind of a balancing act if you’re trying to grow a community like Starkville in that obviously bringing in new amenities and bigger and better things but also not taking too much out of what you already have,” Bailey said.

Spruill said the biggest challenge of her first term has most definitely been the unforeseen crisis of the pandemic. One of the decisions as mayor that she has gotten the most pushback for is her mask mandate for the city of Starkville, as it was criticized to be taking away people’s freedoms. However, Bailey had a different view.

“As a small-government

conservative, I would much rather see a local government like Starkville being responsible for cracking down on mask wearing rather than the state or especially the federal government,” Bailey said.

Spruill said her goals going into her next term are to continue and complete the projects she has started.

She also mentioned her goals of having the jail moved out of downtown and working with Rails-toTrails to create a new hiking trail.

While local officials in Mississippi do not have term limits, Spruill said she believes in term limits and that her second term will be her last.

The Starkville primary election will be held on the first Tuesday in May, the run-off the third Tuesday in May and the general election on June 1.

The Reflector 2/10/21 Sudoku

THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020 @REFLECTORONLINE

BULLETIN BOARD

An In-Class Distraction

Reflector 2/10/21 Crossword

Across 1 6 10 14 15

1

2

PuzzleJunction.com

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

15 14 Leftover Tennis’s Steffi 18 17 Corker 21 22 20 Salon activity Part of the Corn 24 25 26 Belt Chop-chop 27 28 29 30 True up 31 32 Hockey score Banana split 37 38 36 topping Assembled 41 42 40 Polish money 43 44 45 Check information 46 47 48 49 Rod attachment Shoe part 50 51 52 53 Narrow-minded 58 59 57 Finish second Guesses (Abbr.)

62 63 61 Slough Tipsy 65 66 64 British Copyright ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com ceremonial lid Froth 64 Wing-shaped 10 Hit the dirt?

41 Female rabbit 65 Utah lily 11 Ordinary 42 Donnybrook 12 Starbucks order 66 Kind of alcohol 43 In the sky 13 Knock over 44 Southpaws Down 22 Waikiki wear 45 Collar 24 Rolling in dough 46 Alcoholic 1 Study for finals 26 “You betcha!”

47 beverage 2 Irritate 27 Mélange 48 In apple-pie 3 Building block 28 Use a beeper order 4 Chinese food 29 Poet’s “below” 52 Drink 30 Query additive (Abbr.)

Patsy 5 Aromatic 31 High degree 53 Present mo.

33 Rude person hydrocarbon 54 “Cheers” regular 6 Libertine 34 Bozos 55 Kind of motel 7 Dig like a pig 35 Clock std.

Buddy 8 Out of town 37 Winnowings 56 Smooth-talking 38 Radioactive 9 Artificially highSeaweed dish pitched 39 Dog pest 60

10

11

12

To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

20 21 23 24 25 27 31 32 33 36 37

3

39 40 41 42 43 46 49 50 51 54 57 58 59 61 62 63

23

33

34

35

39

54

55

56

60

___ gestae Hostile Athletic award With hands on hips Apprehend True inner self Kidney-related Haile Selassie disciple Spicy Mexican sauce Sailing vessel Window frame In need of a massage “Murphy Brown” bar owner Loophole

Copyright ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com

8 9 1 4 7 3 2 5 6

1 5 7 3 4 8 9 6 2

3 2 9 1 5 6 7 4 8

4 8 6 2 9 7 1 3 5

6 7 5 8 2 1 4 9 3

2 4 3 7 6 9 5 8 1

Want to sponsor our puzzles?

Email managing@reflector.msstate.edu to find out how!

9 1 8 5 3 4 6 2 7

3

6 4 5 7 4

5 2 9 4

3 2 8

6 3 2 9

Copyright ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com CLUB INFO Student organizations may place free announcements in Club Info. Information may be submitted by email to managing@reflector. msstate.edu with the subject heading “CLUB INFO.” The deadline for Wednesday’s paper is by 3 p.m. on Friday. MSU Email managing@reflector.msstate.edu student organizations may place free announcements in Club Info.

Publicize your club!

Sudoku Solution

9 6 2 7 7 5 4 1 1 3 8 6 2 4 1 8 3 7 5 2 6 8 9 4 Thursday, January 28, 8 9 7 5 2021 5 1 6 3 Non-resident/visitor arrested in Oak Hall for 4 2 3 9 trespassing.

5 3 8 4 1 8 2 6 9 3 4 9 2 5 7 3 5 7 6 9 9 6 4 1 8 7 1 3 2 5 Tuesday, February 2, 6 2021 4 1 3 2 2 Non-resident/visitor 7 9 8 4 on Blackjack Road 1 arrested 8 5 7 6 for felony possession of

BAD DAWGS

Employee reported her office burglarized, money stolen from her wallet.

Sudoku Solution

5 3 4 6 1 2 8 7 9

8 2 6

19

8 6 February 3 Puzzle Solutions 9 5 7 6 5

7 6 2 9 8 5 3 1 4

SUDOKU

16

4 6 61 7 9 6 3 7 45 2

3

PuzzleJunction.com

13

ve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and 7 16 must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

17 18 19

3

cocaine and possession of marijuana.

Student reported her tires slashed while parked in the C-10 parking lot.

Student issued arrest citation and referral on Bost Drive for improper equipment and possession of fake ID.

Burglary and unlawful entry reported at Pace Seed Lab.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Friday, January 29, 2021

Employee arrested at his residence for felony possession of marijuana.

Student reported a person who claimed to be maintenance came into her room in Magnolia Hall without permission.

Monday, February 1, 2021

Saturday, February 6, 2021 Student issued two arrest citations and referral for public drunkenness and unlawful use of ID.

Student reported she Sunday, February 7, is being harrassed via 2021 telephone and text message by her ex-boyfriend.

Student arrested for DUI in the first degree, possession Student reported being of paraphernalia, minor in harassed by a studentpossession of alcohol and athlete on many occasions. fake ID.

Puz

4

THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021 @REFLECTORONLINE

OPINION

Valentine’s Day sends toxic messages to singles EMILY BUTLER

is a freshman majoring in landscape architecture. Contact her at opinion@ reflector.msstate.edu.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it seems like everything becomes increasingly more pink and covered in hearts. Some really love this time of year and buy into the cheesy scam of sending all their friends and loved ones candy, flowers and treats, while other people are not as into it, and this is usually because those with anti-Valentine’s sentiments feel bitter they have no one to share it with.

According to History. com, the origin of this holiday comes from the legend of

St. Valentine who married lovers in secret during the Roman Empire. From this, the idea of Valentine’s Day as a day of love and admiration grew. However, in the present culture the idea of the holiday has taken a much more commercial, materialistic turn.

Sure, other times of the year have the standard pressure to be in a relationship, but as Valentine’s Day rolls around, the stakes get higher. Single people find themselves in a state of sadness and loneliness seeing everyone around them spending the day with someone they love.

It really is hard to see all the cute, cheesy festivities and not have the feeling of missing out. For just about most of February, movies, candies and cards all scream the message of spending the day with your significant other.

After all, Valentine’s Day

is a huge source of revenue in the U.S. According to Anna Hecht with CNBC, Valentine’s Day 2020 expenditures were expected to fall just short of $27.5 billion. For something as minor as a holiday having to do with love, that number is astonishing.

This just goes to show the amount of importance

people place on Valentine’s Day, and no matter what you do, you cannot escape its reach. The holiday and the pressure for one to succumb to its customs are simply everywhere, in every store and in every commercial.

Valentine’s Day creates a toxic environment for those who are single and looking for love. There is so much

pressure leading up to it, yet when the day designated for grand romantic gestures actually arrives, it is disappointing for a lot of the people who had hoped it would finally be their year for love.

According to Stephanie Pappas of Live Science, people who are more anxious tend to have more negative feelings toward Valentine’s Day, especially if these people are also not in relationships.

The good news, however, tends to show how even though nervous people harbor negative emotions about Valentine’s Day, the day itself is not quite as bad as they had anticipated.

Many people have a bad attitude toward Valentine’s Day, and that is okay. There is nothing wrong with being single, especially in college, and

even if you do not get that ring by spring, there is so much value in being independent and learning about yourself.

Even if you do not have a boyfriend or girlfriend to share it with, there are so many other ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a more platonic way. You can have a get-together with your friends, a “Galentine’s” Day or just spend it with your family.

However upset and down you might feel at the prospect of being alone on Valentine’s Day this coming week, know many others feel the same, and the whole idea of Valentine’s Day has been marketed to sell Hallmark cards and chocolate. Save those feelings of shame and well-needed wads of cash and spend some quality time with platonic loved ones.

A message for COVID-19 brides: seek out the Vaporwave is a superficial yet the positives of pandemic wedding planning profound form of modern art SAMUEL COTHRON STAFF WRITER

KATELYN WYATT

is a senior majoring in English. Contact her at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.

Pre-pandemic wedding planning was stressful and crazy enough. Ask any engaged couple or single woman with a Pinterest.

Now with a global pandemic factored in, there are added complications and uncharted waters of regulations and health risks.

While some have postponed their weddings, others have decided to adjust their plans to meet safety regulations, but we must look toward the positives in this situation.

The main change for pandemic weddings, of course, is the guest count.

The number of guests allowed varies depending on your state, county and city. When the pandemic hit, COVID-19 brides had to throw out their dream of having a big wedding.

However, we have seen an emergence of previously frowned-upon ceremony trends slowly becoming more mainstream. These blessings in disguise are microweddings, or “minimonies,” and elopements. These are trends which I hope stay after the pandemic. A microwedding or elopement can be just as special as a big, crazy wedding. It is more intimate, and you have relatively more freedom to do what you want.

According to Anna Russell with The New Yorker, “In a survey conducted by Zola, the wedding-planning and registry company, of more than two thousand engaged couples planning their wedding during the pandemic, half were planning a minimony.”

Russell reports, “In another survey, by the Knot and WeddingWire, of six hundred and eightyfour couples in the U.S. with weddings between September and January, fiftyeight per cent planned to keep their original date, with many opting for a pareddown guest list, and just seven per cent were pulling

the plug altogether.”

Because of the health hazards prompted by the pandemic, small weddings were forced onto the scene and became an essential trend. However, small-scaled plans should have been more accepted before the pandemic, and they should continue after. For now, COVID-19 can be the out a couple needs to avoid the big wedding fiasco because not everyone wants a big wedding.

Before, society deemed it rude not to invite everyone whom you have ever met to one of the most important days of your life. Now, we have permission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rebel.

According to Parag Mahale, Craig Rothfuss, Sarah Bly, Megan Kelley, Siiri Bennett, Sara Huston and Sara Robinson with the CDC in an article about COVID-19 outbreaks at a wedding, “To reduce transmission, persons should avoid large gatherings, practice physical distancing, wear masks, stay home when ill, and selfquarantine after exposure to a person with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Use that reference when someone suggests your wedding invites should include everyone you have not seen since you were in diapers.

Also, the CDC reported investigations have been underway for wedding receptions which caused the virus to spread. Overall, people’s safety is important, and it should be at the forefront of weddings these days. I urge you, fellow COVID-19 brides, to find the balance of keeping others safe while still having a good time. A small ceremony or elopement can be just as

fun. This is our time to get creative. If you want to get married on the side of a mountain on a horse in a pink jumpsuit, then do it.

Your wedding is your day, and you now can feel free to break from traditions and obligations. If you want, have a Zoom wedding in your house, or you could recreate a Vegas-style drivethru wedding. Anything can be fun as long as you view the present circumstances as an opportunity rather than a setback.

Lowered wedding budgets and prices are another possible upside to planning a pandemic wedding.

Rosemary McClure with the Los Angeles Times notes how last year, U.S. couples spent an average of nearly $34,000 on their wedding, but with COVID-19 still persisting, the once $78-billion-a-year wedding industry is bound to take a hit, especially with florists, photographers, hotels and other venues lowering their costs to draw in more business.

Guest count is important because it is the primary factor that can blow your budget. Think about it for a minute. The food, the plates for the food, tables, the centerpieces for the tables and so much more all depend on how many people will be there. It is easy math that a smaller wedding equals a cheaper budget, but you should still be careful.

A small wedding can still be expensive. It can also circle back to the idea of freedom.

Instead of spending money on feeding 200 people, you could use the money on another aspect or a trip whenever travel is safer. It may be the end of the world, but a pandemic-era wedding is what you make of it.

CONTACT INFORMATION Editor-in-Chief/Dylan Bufkin 325-7905 editor@reflector.msstate.edu

life@reflector.msstate.edu Photography Editor/Mary Georgia Hamilton

managing@reflector.msstate.edu

Online Editor/Joshua Britt

News Editor/Daniel Dye

multimedia_editor@reflector.msstate.edu

news@reflector.msstate.edu

Advertising Sales/Natalie Brock

Opinion Editor/Riley Stephens

325-2374 advertise@reflector.msstate.edu

opinion@reflector.msstate.edu

Graphics Editor/Savannah Bonds

sports@reflector.msstate.edu

corporate mantras like “balance, focus, control.”

The atmosphere is soulless and synthetic, casting a skeptical eye on capitalist conformity and sterile, cold work environments.

One subgenre within the already-niche world of Vaporwave, Mallsoft, consists of particularly atmospheric music which recreates the sonic experience of shopping malls. Cat System Corp.’s Palm Mall smells of chlorine from the blue-tiled mall fountains. The distant hum of other shoppers’ activity blends with pleasingly bland background music and notifications of enticing sales and discounts. The shopping mall is a temple to consumer capitalism if there ever was one, and it is perhaps in Mallsoft that Vaporwave reaches its ironic zenith. There is something so pleasant and warm about shopping malls, but maybe only because our society has normalized the fetishization of shopping. Decadence, excess and an abundance of cheap, imported goods with baked-in obsolescence form the dark and dirty foundation of the gleaming linoleum gallerias above.

It is more fun not to think about it and more comforting to be lulled into familiar consumerism by the manipulatively satisfying music.

There is something to be celebrated in the throwaway harmonies of decades past. Vaporwave helps us do just that, but even while it places those rose-tinted spectacles firmly on our faces, it turns us to the darkness and emptiness underlying the cozy, Muzak-bathed facade.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Life Editor/Sarah Morgan Johnson

Managing Editor/Hannah Blankenship

Sports Editor/Lydia Palmer

What do we know of the literature of classical antiquity? Such works as the “Aeneid,” the “Republic” and “Ars Poetica” spring to mind. But, soberingly, this pantheon of great literary pieces is more like a greatest-hits list than an exhaustive catalog, for those writings meant for short-term use and subsequent destruction — the notes scrawled across a wax diptych, for instance, or pieces deemed not up to snuff and thus not dutifully copied and preserved — have faded into oblivion.

Except sometimes a few intriguing morsels of this throwaway record survive via coincidence and the permanence of stone, such as in bits of Roman graffiti, etched for a few moments’ giggles.

The 21st century has its own array of throwaway cultural products, but now, due to the enormous storage capacity inherent in computer technology, the archives of the internet bear testimony to decades’ worth of digital culture. Canned motifs of background music, the sounds produced by nowoutdated and discarded pieces of software and the clumsily-rendered, computer-generated imagery from the internet’s early days have receded somewhat into the past but are etched immutably in digital stone. Beginning in 2010, artists began to dig up and sift through these obsolescent internet etchings, cementing them into a new musical microgenre: Vaporwave.

Vaporwave, using the common musical suffix “-wave” with a reference to the ephemeral nature of the discarded samples, primarily harvests bits of Muzak (elevator music), popular music from the 1980s and 1990s, old television commercial jingles and electronic glitch sounds, liberally distorting them in a way which makes the familiar seem uncanny and eerie, as Laura Glitsos notes in her 2018 article in Popular Music. Smooth

jazz saxophone, slowed and pitched down and drowning in its own reverb?

An ‘80s pop hit careening in and out of intelligibility?

A harsh drone of static overlaid with consumerist messages? You will find all three, and quite a bit more, in Vaporwave.

Sharon Schembri and Jac Tichbon, in their Arts and the Market article, summarize this distortive irony: “The essence of Vaporwave began with distortion of music reminiscent of 1980s and 1990s,” and “juxtaposes distorted artefacts of consumerism with the symbolic freedom of digital and virtual technology.”

The most widely-known Vaporwave album, Floral Shoppe, pseudonymously produced by Macintosh Plus, combines warped pop tunes, notably Diana Ross’ “It’s Your Move,” with sampled, glitchy drones.

The album artwork is a postmodern amalgamation of disparate images: a bust of Greek deity Helios sits in a field of digitally-rendered pink and black checkered floor, mixing with mintgreen Japanese text and a blurry city skyline lit up in dusky orange. While not the first cultural product which could be labeled Vaporwave, Floral Shoppe succinctly encapsulates the genre’s fundamental “recontextualization based on the juxtaposition of obsolescent images,” according to Karla Zavala Barreda of Academia.

Vaporwave is not shy about its dependence on nostalgia. There is something eminently familiar about computer sounds, popular music and early-internet imagery. But this nostalgia is not simply a warm and fuzzy rehash; it can be distinctly dark and satirical.

The album Corporate Mixtape, produced by Cat System Corp. & Donovan Hikaru in 2015, creates a bright and futuristic atrium of sound. The rows of white desks in this cavernous corporate edifice are aseptically clean, and office drones are kept complacent with a stream of bland elevator music, at times overlaid with

Circulation/Amiyah Brown circulation@reflector.msstate.edu

Letters to the editor should be sent to the Meyer Student Media Center or mailed to The Reflector, PO Box 5407, Mississippi State, MS. Letters may also be emailed to editor@reflector. msstate.edu.

Letters must include name and telephone number for verification purposes. The editor reserves the right to edit or refuse to publish a letter.

EDITORIAL POLICY The Reflector is the official student newspaper of Mississippi State University.

Content is determined solely by the student editorial staff. The contents of The Reflector have not been approved by Mississippi State University.

CORRECTIONS

The Reflector staff strives to maintain the integrity of this paper through accurate and honest reporting. If we publish an error, we will correct it. To report an error, call 325-7905.

L

R

E

S

b o s s w b

S c J r s 2 H it w

la t h “ A M ic 6 H h h

a I

Th a

K

S

o M s c a c f H C j

H C o M a a T E

p i t

i M w w e b m s w b p

P o i t s c e t t o s i

t s o D e o t c

LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT 5 THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021 @REFLECTORONLINE

Restaurant review: These tacos are anything but humble

EMILY BUTLER

STAFF WRITER

Starkville foodies have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Humble Taco since the neon “Hola Y’all” sign popped up in the window of the restaurant back in 2020.

According to The Starkville Daily News, construction began in late January of last year, as the restaurant was originally supposed to open in May of 2020. After months of delay, Humble Taco finally opened its doors to the public two weeks ago.

This new restaurant labels themselves on their Instagram (@ humbletacostarkville) as, “A Modern Mexican + American South restaurant.”

Made by the creators of the iconic Restaurant Tyler, Bin 612 and The Guest Room, Humble Taco already has high expectations and so far has done fairly well.

With months of built-up anticipation and excitement, I was thrilled to finally try

out Starkville’s newest dining option. I quickly found out I was not alone in my excitement, as the restaurant has boasted lengthy wait times every night of the week.

Humble Taco is nestled right in between the Cotton District and Main Street, creating a perfect spot for accessibility while also missing some of the craziness of the Cotton District just a little ways down the street.

One notable thing about Humble Taco is the atmosphere the restaurant creates. The lighting, seating and layout of the place give it a lively, enjoyable feel. The building has patios that wrap around the side, giving extra outdoor space for tables and places to eat.

I ordered the combo meal with the smoked pork taco, the gulf taco and a side of guacamole. My first impression of the meal was the tacos were absolutely stuffed with food. The signature homemade sweet potato tortilla itself was not

that big, so stuffing it was necessary to get a sufficient amount of food. I was immediately impressed and surprised by the variety of flavors the tacos offered.

The toppings on each taco perfectly complemented the meat they were paired with. The pork taco had “hickory smoked pork, Humble sauce, ancho sauce, pineapple salsa and queso fresco,” and the gulf taco had “fried fresh catch, pineapple salsa, lime crema and fried jalapeños,” all of which is listed on their online menu.

Many items on the menu, including the ones I ordered, had a special southern flare to them that makes them perfect for Starkville. These include smoked wings and even dishes that include catfish, a Mississippi favorite.

Junior microbiology major Maggie Shepherd ordered a chicken burrito, which she said was big enough for lunch the next day as well. Shepherd was especially excited for the unique atmosphere, explaining it brings

STAFF WRITER

With in-person events on a slow and steady rise, Mississippi State University students are looking for creative ways to be social and feel connected to campus again. The Center for Student Activities and Holmes Cultural Diversity Center are giving students just that.

Student Activities and Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, along with other organizations including Music Maker Productions and The Social Campus, are sponsoring and hosting The Maroon Lounge Paint Experience.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 12 in the Foster Ballroom in the Colvard Student Union.

The Foster Ballroom is turning into the Maroon Lounge and will provide students with a unique painting experience. Students will be able to create their own masterpiece with step-bystep instructions which will also be accompanied by a jazz ensemble performance.

The Maroon Lounge Paint Experience is a part of the Dawgs After Dark initiative that Regina Hyatt, the vice president of student affairs, enacted a couple of years ago. Similar events have happened in the past such as a rap battle that Dawgs After Dark put on. However, the relaxing setting of this event makes it the first of its kind.

Chris Hawkins is the assistant director for student activities and oversees the Dawgs After Dark program. Hawkins explained this event is an opportunity for students to get outside of their comfort zone and try

something new to the Starkville culinary scene.

“It is something different. In Starkville, we have our nice restaurants, but Humble Taco is something more casual and fun to eat with friends,” Shepherd said.

Considering Humble Taco had to take the place of one of Starkville’s most beloved City Bagel, I think they are living up to the

expectations that spot has set.

Many people were devastated by the loss of City Bagel a couple years ago, but the community and life that Humble Taco brings to that spot is making up for it.

Although the two restaurants are vastly different, they share more than just a building.

Shepherd said the vibe at Humble Taco matches the fun environment City Bagel once held.

Humble Taco has so far been a huge success and is proving itself to be a great place to go eat with friends.

It offers a great atmosphere without the craziness of the Cotton District, and the good food is definitely an added bonus.

The Tanglefoot Trail beckons bicyclists off the beaten path MARY BLAKE BRASHIER STAFF WRITER

The Maroon Lounge Paint Experience aims to give students a chance to relax

KERRIGAN CLARK

Adam Sullivan|The Reflector

Humble Taco, Starkville’s newest restaurant, has experienced great success since its doors opened to the public at the end of January.

something new.

“I think the event is important because it’s a great late-night weekend program. It kind of introduces students to something that is not typical in regards to listening to a jazz ensemble but also to do a make-it, take-it event,” Hawkins said. “You know you come to the event, and you’re not just sitting there.

You’re creating something, and then, you’re able to take it home to your residence hall to your room and hang it on the wall. So overall, it’s a great opportunity for students to do something outside of the norm in Starkville.”

Employees from Pail of Paint, a pottery painting store on Highway 12, will be teaching the painting process to students. They are providing all the paint supplies, as well as clear instructions, to ensure a stress-free environment for students to come and relax for the night.

Music Maker Productions will be providing students with the music for the event. There will be a playlist curated

by Music Makers and also a guest performance by members of the Maroon Band.

Junior communication major Gabriel Bowman is the public relations chair for Music Maker Productions.

Bowman explained it would be beneficial for students to come with a friend to enjoy and partake in the event on Friday.

“It will be better for students to come in pairs because the seats are set in pairs and that helps with social distancing. As far as Music Maker Productions, we’re curating a R&B jazz playlist especially for the event,” Bowman said.“It’s

a collaborative playlist that we’re working on now, and it’s something very special that we’re doing for this event. And as Music Makers, our role is just to help facilitate the event by serving the student body and helping out.”

Grey Garris works for student activities for the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center as a graduate assistant and has been coplanning the event with Hawkins. Hawkins said the event was intentionally designed as an opportunity for students to unwind.

“Mostly, we’re just trying to get students out of their residence halls and give them a space to take something away from the program with the painting aspect and actually let them be able to relax with something,” Garris said.

“A lot of the programming going on recently is getting everybody excited or trying to make everybody’s mood higher. And we’ve kind of reached a consensus that that’s not what everybody wants at the moment.

Everybody wants to at least relax and calm down. So we’re trying to provide that as a different alternative for the students at the moment.”

There are only 125 spots available for the event, so students are encouraged to RSVP for the event on Cowbell Connect. If the promise of a stress-free creative outlet is not enough to draw in attendance, there will also be prizes given away at the event. Students will receive goodie bags, and the first 50 students will receive a Bluetooth speaker.

The Social Campus is also sponsoring an Apple product raffle which includes an Apple TV device and a pair of AirPods.

Over quarantine, biking became a popular hobby for many seeking a safe form of adventure and exercise.

People utilized their neighborhoods, local parks and trails in order to escape their houses. For Mississippi bikers looking to ride off the beaten path while simultaneously exploring more of their state, look no further than the Tanglefoot Trail.

Located just under an hour from Starkville, the Tanglefoot Trail is a 43.5-mile trail that snakes through Mississippi, running from Houston to New Albany. Along the way, bicyclists can stop at campsites and rest stops.

One can also stop in any of the many Mississippi towns they will pass through for a meal and some small-town historical tourism.

At the southern head of the trail lies the Trailhead Bike and Bed, a quaint bed and breakfast. Millete Nabors, who owns the Trailhead Bike and Bed with her husband, has had a variety of visitors at her B&B despite it being less than a year old. Nabors welcomes new visitors with open arms, inviting them to come and experience the wonders of the Tanglefoot Trail.

“It is a neat little place to have a getaway, enjoy nature and the trail. The trail is beautiful — you’ll pass farms, cattle and other places,” Nabors said.

“Biking has become even more popular with the pandemic because people are wanting to get outside.”

The Trailhead Bike and Bed has four rooms and a large outdoor area complete with an outdoor kitchen and large televisions. They also have RV hookups for those who want to bring their own RV. The Bike and Bed have had visitors from all over the country.

“They come to get away from the big city hustle and bustle,” Nabors said.

In addition to providing a resting spot for bikers, the Trailhead Bike and Bed has also hosted business travelers, birthday parties, gender reveals, football parties and even a Thanksgiving. Nabors’ hope is the Bike and Bed will one day be used as a wedding venue as well.

The entrance to the Tanglefoot Trail is right on the Trailhead Bike and Bed’s property, providing easy access to those who stay there.

One unique feature of

Wynn Howell|Courtesy Photo

The Tanglefoot Trail is a 43.5 mile bike trail which snakes through the state of Mississippi.

the Tanglefoot Trail is it was once a working railroad.

Thanks to the construction by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy program, it is now noted as a hall of fame trail. Furthermore, the trail is a huge economic asset to every town it passes through.

The construction of the trail was no picnic, and there were many hurdles to be jumped before the Tanglefoot Trail could become what it is today.

Before it was a trail, the railroad was owned by a private company who eventually abandoned it.

When a private company makes it known they are about to abandon an existing rail quarter, there is a window of time where the community can step in and hold onto it for future use, such as converting it into a road or trail.

Ronnie Bell, division director for governmental functions at Three Rivers Planning and Developing Division, described the process that went into creating the trail.

“The three major milestones were, No. 1, getting the actual title to the quarter, No. 2, the construction of the actual trail, and third is, once you get constructed, the work is just beginning,” Bell said.

“It is a daily process that has to take place so that the trail can continue to be usable and visible like it was back in 2013 when we opened it.”

The trail continues to be a favorite to many, including Wynn Howell, a sophomore at Mississippi State University majoring in fashion merchandising and business management.

“I started going to the Tanglefoot with my dad,” Howell said. “Growing up, my dad and I would go once a week before church on Sundays. We would ride our bikes. We would wake up early in the morning — 6 o’clock — bike the Tanglefoot, go home, take a shower and go to church.”

Howell said she enjoyed

the environment the Tanglefoot offered, both socially and pertaining to the natural world that surrounds bikers on the trail.

“The wildlife is fun to see. I remember one time an owl swooped down while we were biking early in the morning,” Howell said. “It’s a good place to go and get in the outdoors, and it’s really cool how it connects people.”

Those who want to purchase or repair a bike can visit Boardtown Bikes right here in Starkville. Boardtown Bikes has been serving the Starkville area for 13 years now. Matthew Nunes, owner of Boardtown Bikes, encourages those interested in biking the Tanglefoot to come to his store.

“If people have questions, they can call Boardtown Bikes or direct message us on Facebook or Instagram,” Nunes said.

“We can help them either find a bike or take what they have and get it out there.”

Nunes continued to encourage people to come out, elaborating on the benefits biking has both mentally and physically.

“Biking is a great recreational tool. It provides mental unwinding; it provides physical fitness,” Nunes said.

Nunes also wants residents of Starkville to observe the railroad running through their city, as he explained he sees it as a possibility for a future trail.

“You can walk it from the university to Kroger if you want,” Nunes said.

“That’s what the Tanglefoot looked like before anyone came into the picture. If we work really hard, there is the possibility for us to have our own Tanglefoot Trail.”

For stressed college students or anyone looking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the Tanglefoot Trail provides a safe getaway adventure.

To learn more about the Tanglefoot Trail, visit their website for more information.

66-Sports SPORTS

THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021 @SPORTSREFLECTOR

From Louisville to Leach: Ty Cooper signs with MSU football LYDIA PALMER SPORTS EDITOR

Chris McDill | Courtesy Photo

Ty Cooper, a senior at Louisville High School in Louisville, Mississippi, plays during one of his last games of his senior season.

Ty Cooper will be a part of Mississippi State University’s football team this coming fall.

He is a current senior at Louisville High School in Louisville, Mississippi.

His high school coach said he would be greatly missed as both a starting defensive end, as well as an overall leader to his teammates both on and off of the field.

Tyrone Shorter, Louisville High School’s head football coach, spoke highly of the senior he has been coaching for two and a half years, having come in to coach at the high school early in 2019.

“I’ve been blessed to have some really great players in my 23 years of coaching experience,” Head Coach Shorter said.

“I’ve had a lot of great players to come through like Jeffery Simmons, and I put Ty right there at the top of the list with all of the great players I’ve seen.”

Cooper was signed as one of the finishing touches to Coach Mike Leach’s signing class for the upcoming season. His senior year of high school football has been an impressive one, totaling 112 tackles throughout the season. Leach said he has had an eye on this small town star for a while now.

“Ty has been a huge priority to us from the start,” Leach said in an athletics press release.

“He is considered the top defensive line prospect in the state of Mississippi this year, and we couldn’t

be more excited to welcome him to the Bulldog Family.”

Cooper is a crowd favorite, both on and off the field. His high school coach spoke proudly of the relationship he shared with one of his star players, and he spoke even more highly of the studiousness and character that Ty Cooper has.

“It’s important for me to talk about the player that Mississippi State is getting off the field,” Head Coach Shorter said.

“

I mean, look at the defensive ends and defensive lines that have come through MSU in these past 10 years.

Ty fits that mold.”

Tyrone Shorter Head Football Coach Louisville High School

“He’s a very good student first of all. He’s taking a lot of dual enrollment classes and will be almost a sophomore, I believe, by the time he gets to campus with all of those dual credit classes he’s been taking.”

Cooper’s high school coach said he only saw good things from Cooper in his off-field conduct as well.

“He’s a leader on

campus,” his coach said with pride evident in his voice. “I’ve been here for 2 1/2 years, and I’ve never seen him get in trouble.

All the people like him; all the teachers like him. He’s just a people person.”

In an interview with The Reflector, Cooper shared his ambitions and excitements for being part of both the Bulldog team and family in Starkville.

“The decision process started when they first offered me a scholarship, and they treated me like family since day one,” Cooper said.

The Louisville senior said he was excited for the relational aspect of his MSU experience as well.

“I’m looking to meet new people while I’m there and just make good memories,” Cooper said.

The potential Leach sees in the young player is echoed in the words of his current coach, Tyrone Shorter.

“To Mississippi State, he will bring that leadership that he had here but also that explosiveness he has as a player and his knowledge of the game,” Shorter shared. “I mean, look at the defensive ends and defensive lines that have come through MSU in these past 10 years. Ty fits that mold.”

Underrated and undersold: MSU men’s lacrosse team finds strength in themselves TANNER MARLAR

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts,” Winston Churchill once famously said.

This was the quote uttered by Mississippi State University men’s lacrosse team’s starting midfielder Patrick Marcus when asked about his favorite memory as a part of the Bulldog lacrosse team.

Marcus, a sophomore business administration major at East Mississippi Community College who will be returning to MSU next year, said every day at practice Head Coach and Shenandoah College lacrosse team alumnus Jake Gabriele has a quote of the day to define the team’s goals for the practice, and on the very last practice of last fall semester, Head Coach Gabriele used his favorite to define the team’s mission for that day. Little did they know, however, that quote would become a perfect metaphor for how this spring semester would turn out.

Due to the SEC not sponsoring men’s lacrosse as an SEC sport, the men’s team plays in the Deep South conference of the National College Lacrosse League (NCLL) against some of the best teams the Southeast has to offer. Last

season, Coach Gabriele and his squad carried MSU to a very impressive win over opponent Southeast Louisiana University, and it has only gone up from there.

After a convincing win against conference opponent University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, the Bulldogs looked poised for a deep conference tournament run, where they would be but four games away from a national tournament bid in Annapolis, Maryland. It would have been the first in the program’s history.

As the whole world is aware by now, however, COVID-19 had other plans.

MSU’s season would be canceled early, and the Bulldogs would be awarded the regular season championship, finishing 17th overall in the country.

This was a bittersweet moment, however, as the whole team felt like their best games truly were ahead of them.

The squad optimistically held their heads high, though, all the way up until the arrival of this current semester.

Before the first practice of the year, Coach Gabriele and his executive team would get the call. According to the university, their upcoming season would be canceled altogether.

When asked about the feelings and emotions he felt on that day, Coach Gabriele relayed what the team had been feeling.

“The two most prevalent were frustration and disappointment: disappointed in the fact that we weren’t going to get to tackle some of those goals we had last year,” Gabriele said. “For the guys, having prepared all fall for a conference championship and a national tournament run and having everybody excited to come back to campus ready to hit the ground running was pretty disappointing, to say the least.”

Obviously, this would wear on any team, but starting attackman and sophomore wildlife conservation major Carter Schmitz said it was the warmth and acceptance of his teammates that made being a club lacrosse player special, and that is what helped him and his teammates most when they needed it.

Schmitz went on to speak about his personal favorite moment with the team and opted for a much more broad but just as sentimental approach.

“My favorite moment with the guys was the entire Knoxville trip,” Schmitz said about the team’s travels. “You can truly make yourself feel like more than a student.”

As for playing for this highly competitive, ready-to-go club sport, the process is fairly simple and requires no previous lacrosse experience. Simply reach out to @msstatelax or @msstatelaxcoach on Instagram for more information on practice dates and times.