Aldermen reveal two new curbside recycling proposals
Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk detailed a new opt-in recycling proposal with a $15 residential fee at the Board of Aldermen work session Feb. 3.
Its projected cost to the city per year was about $136,000, which Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said was inexpensive.
“That’s as bare bones as we can get,” Ward 2 Alderwoman Sistrunk said.
The cost does not include contamination fees, and the WastePro recycling facility could charge extra money if the recycled materials are not clean and dry.
In the program, sanitation workers would pick up cardboard on one day and paper and aluminum cans on another to avoid cross-contamination. Two garbage trucks would transport residents’ recycling twice monthly to Columbus’ WastePro facility.
“By taking it directly to Columbus,” Sistrunk said, “it seems like that would burden the cost here, but it
actually eliminates a couple of costs.”
Sistrunk said direct transportation to the facility removes material sorting labor and bin fees. Separate days for cardboard also reduce WastePro’s recycling acceptance cost.
Sistrunk worked with
Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp and sanitation services director Christopher Smiley to research the program’s potential budget, pricing and the number of households required for the city to earn revenue.
The trio’s plan does not include plastics No. 1 and
MSU faculty and students reflect on Roman statue discovery
A life-sized ancient statue has been discovered near the Appian Way in Rome, Italy.
The Appian Way is an early Roman road that connected the city to Brindisi in the southeast.
In a Facebook post, the Appia Antica Archaeological Park said an excavation crew found the statue in an old sewer line trench.
Upon initial inspection, the statue appeared to be a depiction of the Greek hero Hercules. After the Appia Antica archaeologists took a closer look, they decided the statue resembled Emperor Gaius Decius, a Roman emperor
who ruled between 249 to 251 A.D.
As noted in the Jan. 27 post, Appia Antica archaeologists noticed the human characteristics of the statue. They dispelled the rumor that the statue was of Hercules. Instead, the institute believed the
statue to be a depiction of Emperor Decius as Hercules.
Scott DiGiulio, a professor of classics at Mississippi State University, said these statues have more meaning than may initially meet the eye.
ROME, 2
2. Sistrunk said facilities do not often recycle them because there is little demand for plastics in the industry.
“… There’s a 70-to-80% chance that (plastic) will not get recycled,” Sistrunk said, “that it will ultimately get bundled and taken to
Mississippi State University has collaborated with Merit to launch the new student network, Merit Pages.
Merit Pages is a press distribution software designed to help students share academic accomplishments.
MSU joined an extensive list of universities who have partnered with the Albany, New York, based company to implement the Merit Pages platform within their online infrastructure.
Each student automatically has a personal webpage created for them, which will lists their name, hometown and educational background. MERIT, 2
another landfill.”
A Greenpeace report discovered that about 5% of plastics are recycled, or 2.4 million out of the 51 million tons produced by U.S. households in 2021.
Beatty asked if including plastics would increase the cost. Plastics likely would
up the price, Sistrunk said, and she explained that WastePro also could not promise that it would recycle plastics.
“I’ve been told that they hold it for three months (before taking it to the landfill),” Sistrunk said.
When concluding the proposal, Sistrunk asked if the aldermen were interested in contracting a company to manage curbside recycling. If an outside entity operated the program, the city would not be concerned with the budget, as the company would have the responsibility of calculating the expenses.
Merit Pages provides platform for academic recognition HI: 71 LO: 64 SKY: Stormy POP: 53 HI: 72 LO: 32 SKY: Stormy POP: 89 HI: 48 LO: 24 SKY: Mostly sunny POP: 3 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. FORECAST: Happy Valentine’s Day week! The broken hearts club will be appeased by the stormy weather that will precede the lovely holiday on Tuesday. Sadness will continue to prevail on Thursday with continued thunderstorms. However, expect Friday to bring a cold, sunny day. WEDNESDAY FRIDAY Courtesy of The Weather Channel Bulletin Board 3 Bad Dawgs 3 Opinion 4 Contact Info 4 Life&Entertainment 5 Sports 5 Reader’s Guide: THURSDAY THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY
138TH YEAR | ISSUE 16
LECTURE, 2
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on Feb. 7 for the Global Lecture Series at MSU. The lecture was hosted from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Landon Scheel | The Reflector
Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty has consistently rallied for an affordable curbside recycling program for the city of Starkville. Beatty voiced an alternative recycling program at the meeting.
CURBSIDE, 2
Heather Harrison | The Reflector
JosHUa BRItt oNlINe edItoR
The Appian Way is an early Roman road that connected Rome to the southeast.
Courtesy Photo | Flickr User faungg
PaytoN BRoWN NeWs
Rose doyle staff WRIteR
HeatHeR HaRRIsoN edItoR-IN-CHIef
edItoR
Michael Hedrick, a junior majoring in computer science, viewed his information on Merit Pages. Joshua Britt | The Reflector
Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk.
Courtesy Photo | City of Starkville
In his second consideration, Cameron asked the audience not to give up on free trade and the global economy.
“You need rules. You need fairness, but you don't underestimate the power of trade and markets and investment across borders to create wealth and jobs and progress at home,” Cameron said.
Thirdly, Cameron spoke on working with political opponents to enhance productivity.
“I lead the first coalition government in the United Kingdom for 70 years. Two parties that loathe each other, put aside their differences and worked together in government for the common good. We got things
“It allows us to get into the business much more quickly,” Sistrunk said, “and it doesn’t interrupt the current work that’s happening at Environmental Services and Sanitation.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill agreed.
“Well, it’s the easy thing to do,” Spruill said. “It’s a ‘no harm, no foul.’ (And) the cost associated with the advertisement … is basically minimal.”
Beatty then voiced another version of his curbside recycling plan.
The alderman suggested adding a $1 fee to all Starkville residents’ monthly sanitation bills to pay for curbside recycling services. Citizens would not need to opt-in to receive the service.
The city’s current sanitation fee is $17.75 per month. Beatty said an extra dollar per month is not much to pay, and his idea is a simple way to reinstate curbside recycling costefficiently.
“When new statues or artistic representations are found, it can enrich what we know about the evolution of artistic styles, cultural exchange or more about how imperial figures, like in this case, employ strategies to project their image,” DiGiulio said.
DiGiulio said the finding may be significant because it could be another illustration of how emperors used popular mythological beings to project a desired image to their subjects.
“That’s why he looks more human,” DiGiulio said. “He was an emperor in a period with rapid turnover and internal political conflict.”
According to DiGiulio, Rome in 250 A.D. was fraught with conflict, including the persecution of Christians and invasions from neighboring
As a student achieves new academic accomplishments, the page updates to include recent activity.
Sid Salter, MSU Chief Communications Officer, said the decision to implement the platform came from university President Mark Keenum’s conversations with parents of MSU students.
“This was something that Dr. Keenum brought to our attention,” Salter said. “He had seen it and had talked with some parents who had familiarity with it, and he said he thought that would be a great service to provide to our students.”
Salter said Keenum played a large role in
done,” Cameron said. Cameron finished his presentation by highlighting the importance of truth. He spoke on the effects of the dark side of social media, which perpetuates an alternative reality of truth.
“There is no my truth or your truth. There is only the truth, there is fact and there is fiction,” Cameron said.
After Cameron’s presentation, Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter arrived on stage to host a Q&A session with the guest speaker.
“As you will soon discover Mr. Cameron and I are kinsmen separated by a common language. He is enduring a deep South ac-
Sanitation fees have increased across Mississippi; Jackson almost doubled its garbage pickup costs in 2022, from $20.80 to $37 per month.
“If we go to $15 a month,” Beatty said, “you’re going to cut out a whole class of people that can’t afford $15 a month for recycling.”
Beatty said his new plan would garner $144,000 per year, covering garbage trucks, physical labor and WastePro’s overhead and tipping fees.
Carver clarified that Beatty’s plan required every household to pay the additional dollar, regardless of which residents chose to recycle, while Sistrunk and Rupp’s outline was an opt-in program.
“You raise an interesting point with the rate structure and how far behind we are most cities in what we charge for these services,” Sistrunk said to Beatty.
She said the $15 per
cent, and I am enjoying a proper British, and we're going to have a conversation,” Salter said.
Salter asked the former Prime Minister a list of questions, which touched on international foreign
policy, his experience with the royal family, his role as president of Alzheimer’s Research UK and the similarities and differences between the U.S. and the U.K.’s healthcare programs.
Among many questions, Salter asked about the reasoning behind the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union and what might be occurring in the country post-Brexit.
Cameron said Great Britain had always had an issue with the united symbolism of the E.U.
“Our identity is bound up in our sense of nationhood and independence and self-government,” Cameron said. Salter finished the ses-
sion by asking about what the relationship between the U.S. and U.K. looked like as a prime minister.
In response, Cameron explained his commitment to the British-American collaboration and how it positively impacted sensitive topics like national security.
“On a personal level, I've always felt very strongly about it, and what was great about becoming Prime Minister is, it really does exist,” Cameron said. “Yes, of course, we're the junior partner. You know, we're a country of 60 million people. You're a country of over 300 million people, the world's greatest superpower, but the relationship does matter.”
Beatty said servicing 2,000 households for an extra $1 on residents’ sanitation bills would be more realistic than servicing the 12,000 projected customers Sistrunk calculated in her plan. He also stated many Starkville residents would not pay $15 monthly for recycling.
Spruill said either option necessitates garbage trucks driving across the city to collect recycling.
“You do realize that we tout ourselves as a progressive,” Beatty said to the mayor, “… and (curbside recycling) is one of the things that defines a progressive city, not just here, in other states, too.”
month program would pay for garbage trucks to service curbside recycling because “the city has to finance equipment.”
“… There’s several things out there that we need to take a look at before we just say that $1 a
month is going to cover this for the entire city,” Sistrunk said.
“But according to your numbers, it does,” Beatty said to her, meaning 800 households would need to opt-in to curbside recycling to break even budget-wise.
“You would need to double my numbers, Alderman Beatty,” Sistrunk responded, “because that assumes that we’ll have two trucks twice a month … (it would need to be) at least four trucks twice a month, so eight routes.”
Sistrunk redirected the conversation, encouraging Spruill to contact recyclers about providing the service.
“I think it’s time to make a decision … bring it to the board and let us vote it up or down,” Sistrunk said.
with every discovery related back to the mythos, that a better understanding of the myths in Greek society will be reached,” Green said.
As an anthropology major, Green said she is passionate about further learning about overseas discoveries and sharing the information with her peers on campus.
enemies.
After discoveries like this, Meg Wang, an assistant professor of museum studies and conservation, said research continues into several other fields.
“After the initial cleaning and excavation,
getting the $20,000 collaboration launched and funded.
While the funding spent will not be easily recovered, Salter said he believed the benefits that the platform provides to students outweighs the financial loss.
“While we won’t directly recover that, the service to our students and the assistance it gives them … is something that I think students will increasingly come to want and expect,” Salter said.
On the administrative side of the platform, Merit Pages creates and “mass-personalizes” stories about commencement, as well as the Dean’s and President’s lists.
art historians or other experts can step in and make new discoveries as well,” Wang said.
Through the lens of these fields, Wang said different perspectives can be gathered to see if the statue may reveal more historical context through
According to Merit’s website, entire commencement stories can be created and distributed within as little as four minutes.
Additionally, Merit’s website boasts significant social media engagement figures.
When Merit published the University of Mississippi’s 2020 commencement story, it garnered 291,215 total page views and 501,636 Facebook shares. Of the 5,428 students who were sent the story via email, 83% opened and read the email.
Salter said the university’s collaboration with Merit has already started making waves and gaining feedback from across the state.
research.
DiGiulio explained why students should care about an overseas discovery.
“Anytime we find anything, it's very exciting for what it can contribute to our historical knowledge and what
“The reception has been fantastic,” Salter said. “We’ve heard from state legislators; we’ve heard from parents … we’re excited about it and looking forward to growing it moving forward.”
Michael Hedrick, a junior majoring in computer science, found Merit Pages when he received a story written about him making the Dean’s list.
Hedrick said he thought the stories would be great for posting on social media.
“I could see myself sharing it with my family and close personal friends,” he said.
Similarly, Alexander Ketzle, a freshman majoring in aerospace
people in antiquity did artistically,” DiGiulio said.
Maddy Green, a freshman anthropology major, said she was excited about the possibilities that this discovery could unravel.
“(I'm) hoping with the discovery of this statue, as
engineering, discovered the platform after making the Dean’s list.
“It was a nice surprise getting that email,” Ketzle said. “I figured they would probably have put something about the Dean’s list in my CAPP compliance or on Banner.”
Though Ketzle was pleased to receive the automated story about his accomplishment, he said some students may not feel comfortable with their information and achievements being shared on an external platform.
“There may be some people who don’t want that information out there,” Ketzle said. “It would probably be better as an opt-in system than
“Ancient Greece has always fascinated me; its mythology is one of the main reasons I decided to become an anthropology major,” Green said. Green said the familiarity of Greek culture is something that drew her to find interest in ancient discoveries.
“On one hand, it’s very familiar, but at the same time, they’re foreign societies,” Green said. “We have a historical memory of these places, but it’s incomplete.”
an opt-out.”
Currently, all students are enrolled in Merit Pages unless they sign in to their account and manually opt-out of the platform.
Although the platform is new to MSU, Ketzle said he thought students may not have a reason to interact with it when comparable platforms, such as LinkedIn, are polished and more widely recognized.
“Honestly, it seems like it’s trying to be a LinkedIn replacement, in terms of a personal profile, but it doesn’t have quite the recognition of LinkedIn,” Ketzle said. “I don’t think it’s going to be something that people use extensively.”
LECTURE @REFLECTORONLINE 2 THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15 CONTINUED FROM 1
ROME CONTINUED
CURBSIDE CONTINUED FROM 1
MERIT
FROM 1
CONTINUED FROM 1
Scott DiGiulio (left), Meg Wang (middle) and Maddy Green (right) shared their thoughts on the discovery of a Roman ancient stat ue of Emperor Decius dressed as Hercules.
Courtesy Photo | Scott DiGiulio, Meg Wang and Maddy Green
Mayor Lynn Spruill agreed with Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk about contracting an outside company to service curbside recycling.
Heather Harrison | The Reflector
After his presentation, David Cameron accepted a cowbell from MSU President Mark Keenum.
Landon Scheel | The Reflector
P.O.D. Reviews: Little changes make big difference
Hathorn Hall P.O.D.7/10
Mississippi State University has six Provisions
On Demand locations (P.O.D.s for short). Last week I took it upon myself to review each of these individual stores. I judged these P.O.D.s based on stock, price, and staff.
Colvard Student Union P.O.D. - 7.5/10
I have strong opinions about food options in the Union, but one thing I cannot really complain about is the P.O.D. It is the largest P.O.D. on campus and has more options than most as a result. There are plenty of options at this P.O.D., like sushi, Italian subs or any type of chip imaginable. Also, its location is central to campus. I would personally recommend the dumplings with a bit of soy sauce.
Hathorn Hall is the P.O.D. closest to the south side of campus and the entrance is a door next to the main entrance. This P.O.D. is probably the smallest on campus, but it packs plenty of variety. I was greeted pleasantly by the staff immediately upon entrance, which is always nice. For what it is worth, I will not hold it against any other employees if they are not nice to me in my further reviews, baring possible extreme exceptions. I can accept all sorts of odd behavior from these employees because I genuinely have more respect for food service workers than I do most higher paying jobs. Customer service is extremely hard to do, and if you have the stamina to work at that job and be nice to strangers, more power to you. If you cannot,
neither could I, and I will not penalize you for not asking how I am. I hope both of our days get easier. Anyway, the staff in the Hathorn P.O.D. was exceptional. There was slightly less variety of stock in this P.O.D. due to the size, which is understandable.
Solid overall experience.
Old Main Academic Center and Allen Hall P.O.D. kiosks - 6.5/10
Old Main and Allen Hall are two unique P.O.D. locations that are not actually dedicated stores but smaller locations in the main lobbies of the two buildings. They still have everything you need, though, with the added bonus of being located in the same building as many classes.
I grouped these two locations together due to their extreme similarity.
They lose points for being smaller, but it is
hard to compare the two ideas. They have slightly less stock and get very crowded during times between classes.
Dogwood Hall P.O.D. - 7/10
Dogwood Hall P.O.D. holds a special spot in my heart, being the most central location to my dorm that I actually can use a block meal at. Not to mention, Maroon Market just opened last week, so Dogwood was the sole P.O.D. holding down the fort on the North side of campus for the first half of the year. It has a huge selection of chips with a notable variety of Ben & Jerry’s as well.
Across all P.O.D.s, there are a few items one can expect to find. There will always be a small selection of over-thecounter medications, a wide array of protein/granola bars and at least two of those weird rap snacks chips. I am se-
riously curious as to who actually eats these.
Dishonorable mention: Griffis Hall Maroon Market - 4/10
I have a bone to pick with Griffis Hall’s Maroon Market. I have grouped this spot with the rest of the P.O.D.s because it is generally the same idea as the rest, but there is one key difference. Block meals are not taken as a form of payment. As a quick recap, after 5 p.m., there is an option for students to pay for items from a P.O.D. market through a block meal instead of flex dollars or other forms of payment.
I will regretfully say I actually live in Griffis Hall, and I was looking forward to using some of my unlimited block meals at the P.O.D. What a disappointment to check out this P.O.D. and discover that is not an option.
I respect the existence of these P.O.D.s, mainly
due to their convenience on campus. The fact that Griffis Hall has a P.O.D. is a great thing, no question. But why, other than greed, would the university not allow a block meal equivalent? Even if greed is the resounding reason, I already pay a large amount of money for unlimited block meals. What would it hurt to let a girl go downstairs in sweats for a snack from the first floor P.O.D.?
Overlooking the insane block meal controversy, Maroon Market is open 24/7 and has a selfcheckout. A win for the socially averse.
P.O.D.s may seem extremely similar to the naked eye, but take a closer look and you will find that they all have their own niche on campus. Tune in next week to find out what other random campus staples my editors will allow me to review.
Speak up: Classroom bystander effect makes silence awkward
tion: “What is a plant?”
Not a soul spoke for a solid three minutes.
Roughly four weeks ago, I pushed past the group of people hovering at the entrance of Harned Hall, scanned my Mississippi State University ID and picked my seat. As I sank into my chair, I marveled at the sheer number of people in the auditorium, a hushed tumult of moving heads chit-chatting, handwaving and high-fiving.
I could not help but wonder if the professor, who stood separated from the unruly masses at the front of the room, really had control over these people.
Soon, it felt clear when she asked her first ques-
In retrospect, I like to think that every single person in the auditorium would have a relatively solid answer to the question when asked. Surely we all imagined something green and alive. I know someone ate an apple for breakfast, or at least admired the campus daffodils on the way to class.
I am not saying I expected everyone to have a fancy scientific answer.
According to MerriamWebster a plant is “any of a kingdom (Plantae) of multicellular eukaryotic mostly photosynthetic organisms.” The syllable count in that sentence is more than most students
say in class on any given day.
However, I did not expect the class to be silent either. And as I sat there, I pondered why no one said a word at first and why the awkward silence prevailed when over 100 people knew the answer. Why did I choose to keep quiet, too?
I believe this classroom conundrum connects to the Bystander Effect. Coined by social psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley, the Bystander Effect assessed that larger groups of people avoid helping others in distres. According to Psychology Today, "The more onlookers there are, the less personal responsibility individuals
will feel to take action.”
While the Bystander Effect most often refers to intervening against violence, I believe the same motivations prevent students from answering questions. The students in my class did not feel any responsibility to answer the question, so they did not. They assumed someone else would.
I asked Mississippi State University psychology professor Tom Carskadon for his thoughts on the subject as well.
Carskadon explained, "What you are calling 'the classroom bystander effect' is a function of two factors: ambiguity and conformity." According to Carskadon, students often struggle to recognize
which questions are rhetorical and that students naturally look to see how their peers respond.
I was particularly interested in the idea of conformity. We all know that people like to fit in with the crowd around them. If not, lululemon skirts and Starbucks coffees would not be all the rage. We would not wear maroon on Fridays or stop by Cook Out every week.
Carskadon said, “The larger the class, the greater the conformity pressure. So, students do what they see all the other students doing, which is to ignore the question.”
Maybe I chose not to answer that question simply because no one else spoke up. But if I had spoken up,
would someone else have given an answer after me?
We all sit in our classes, nodding our heads or nodding off to sleep. We believe we do not have to answer questions because someone else will. In our minds, we have no responsibility to our professors or our peers in these giant classes, and I am as guilty as anybody. When faced with an auditorium of peers, I am apparently unable to even articulate what a plant is.
But I do not want to be a fly on the wall or a student without a voice forever. I do not expect everyone to share my enthusiasm, but break the tension, show the faculty we know the answers to some of the easy stuff. I can go first.
OPINION 4 THE REFLECTOR | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023 | @REFLECTORONLINE
Editor-in-Chief | Heather Harrison editor@reflector.msstate.edu Managing Editor | Tanner Marlar managing@reflector.msstate.edu News Editor | Payton Brown news@reflector.msstate.edu Opinion Editor | Luke Copley opinion@reflector.msstate.edu Sports Editor | Dylan Flippo sports@reflector.msstate.edu Life Editor | Trey Barrett life@reflector.msstate.edu Photography Editor | Landon Scheel Online Editor | Joshua Britt multimedia_editor@reflector.msstate.edu Ad Manager | Sydni Vandevender advertising@reflector.msstate.edu Graphics Illustrator | Dontae Ball Circulation | Tommy Townsend circulation@reflector.msstate.edu CONTACT INFORMATION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor can be sent to the Meyer Student Media Center or mailed to The Reflector, PO Box 5407, Mississippi State, MS. They can also be emailed to editor@reflector.msstate.edu and have a maximum wordcount of 350 words. 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 CORRECTIONS 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. 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, email editor@reflector.msstate.edu or call 325-7905.
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