WWW.REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM
grand opening
page 4
ge
Super Bowl preview page 6
pa
XFL
GeorGeMary’’s
3
@REFLECTORONLINE
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2018
133rd YEAR ISSUE 30
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
SA Recap: Senate plans future legislation DYLAN BUFKIN STAFF WRITER
The Mississippi State University Student Association Senate’s second meeting of the semester consisted of committee meetings to discuss plans for the semester. As such, no new legislation was put to discussion or vote. However, the committees gave individual updates on their ideas for upcoming legislation further in the semester, starting with the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee. The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee plans on improving multiple areas around campus to benefit students. Examples include: adding vending machines throughout the library, creating a fountain and picnic area behind the library, and adding lighting behind Davenport Hall. Additionally, they intend to introduce training programs for new organizations to learn how to apply for appropriations. The Academic Affairs Committee wants to create more study areas. Specifically, they want to create a new 24-hour study area. Also, they talked about the possibility of getting more Honors College-centered courses added. The Student Life and Athletics Committee stated they pondered on the idea of an appropriations bill to help jumpstart the construction of the longawaited crosswalk between Helix Apartments and campus. The Research and Development Committee put forward the idea of a dedicated speech lab, where students could practice oral presentations.
Erin Parker | The Reflector
While still keeping to its historic traditions, Dudy Noble will be the pinnacle of college baseball. “When this thing is done, it will be the finest facility in the history of college baseball,” said MSUʼs head baseball coach Andy Cannizaro.
Fans to get glimpse of new Dudy Noble in 2018 season
TAYLOR RAYBURN SPORTS EDITOR
Baseball fans will get their first glimpse at Mississippi State University’s $55 million dollar project this spring as the MSU baseball team takes the field at the partiallycompleted stadium this season. The project to renovate Dudy Noble Field was unveiled in August of 2014, and MSU broke ground on the stadium last summer. Due to the size of the project, MSU was unable to complete it in one offseason, therefore the 2018 baseball team will play in a partially-completed, but operational stadium. However, they will spend the first month of the season on the road to give Jesco
Construction more time to work on the stadium. Once completed, head coach Andy Cannizaro believes the stadium will be one of the best in all of baseball, not just at the collegiate level. “When this thing is done, it will be the finest facility in the history of college baseball,” Cannizaro said at baseball’s opening night banquet. “Our players will not play in a finer facility until they play on the big leagues one day; and then it will depend in which of the big league stadium they are playing in, because if it is one of the older ones, it will still not be as nice as the new Dudy Noble.” MSU plays a total of 23 home games this season, and their first will not be until
March 5 against New Mexico State University. Athletic director John Cohen, who is a former MSU baseball player and a former MSU baseball head coach, talked about how rare it is for teams to play any home games while their stadium is under construction. “If you look around the country, when these types of projects have been done, it has been virtually impossible for schools to play through the progress of construction,” Cohen said in a phone interview. “Instead of your time driving hundreds of miles to play, our team will be able to play in Dudy Noble, eight months into construction, which I think is incredible.” MSU announced details
in a press release sent out last October, including the expected capacity this season, which is around 9,000. The old stadium had 7,200 seats but has held over 15,000 for a game. When the new stadium is completed, it is expected to have around 13,000 seats. Many consider baseball to be the most important sport at MSU, and building the new stadium is a very delicate task with a lot of tradition to consider. The athletic department picked a firm that understands the importance of baseball at MSU in Wier Boerner Allin Architecture. Principal Architect Michael Boerner explained the Maroon and White family running through their firm. “Eighteen of our 21
employees of our Jacksonbased firm are Mississippi State graduates,” Boerner said at baseball’s opening night banquet. “We understand the importance of baseball at Mississippi State, and we are fans of the program and grew up fans of the program. We are honored to work on this project.” While not the athletic director when the architecture firm was picked, Cohen had high praise for the Wier Boerner Allin Architecture’s work. “The amount pride that Wier Boerner Allin has in this project is just nothing short of phenomenal,” Cohen said. “They have gone above and way beyond the normal service that an architecture firm provides.”
SENATE, 2
DUDY NOBLE, 6
National flu epidemic strikes MSU and Starkville JORDAN DARENSBOURG STAFF WRITER
A massive flu epidemic is sweeping across the country, causing many people throughout the nation to fall ill, including many Mississippi State University students, faculty and staff. The flu epidemic is a widespread situation. All of the “Lower 48” United States are currently categorized to be in a widespread flu epidemic, meaning there are a multitude of diagnosed cases. Dr. Dan Jernigan,
FRIDAY
director of the influenza division in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) national center for immunization and respiratory diseases, said in a telephone press conference it has been a tough flu season so far this year. “While flu activity is beginning to go down in parts of the country, it remains high for most the U.S., with some areas still rising,” Jernigan said. “Most people with influenza are being infected with the H3N2 influenza virus.” The CDC said those
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
HI: 43 LO: 30 SKY: partly cloudy
HI: 48 LO: 43 SKY: Partly cloudy
HI: 57 LO: 32 SKY: Rainy
POP: 0%
POP: 40%
POP: 90%
who suffer from the flu often have symptoms such as fever or feverish chills, cough, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, fatigue, and headaches. As for the impacts, CDC Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald said it has been a challenging flu season, and especially taking a toll on young children. “I am saddened to tell you that there have been seven more pediatric deaths reported just this week,” Fitzgerald said. “A total of 37 so far for this season.” FLU, 2
Jennifer McFadden, The Reflector
FORECAST: This year’s Groundhog Day is going to be a cold one with highs in the low to mid 40’s and lows near 30 degrees High temps will continue to rise into the weekend with an increase in rain for Saturday night in to Sunday morning as a cold front moves through. Spencer Frugé, MSU Campus Connect Meteorologist
Readerʼs Guide: Bad Dawgs Bulletin Board Opinion Contact Info
2 3 4 4
Puzzles Classifieds Life&Entertainment Sports
3 3 3 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.