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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021

136th YEAR ISSUE 21

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884

Over 100 MSU employees are subjects of unemployment fraud HANNAH BLANKENSHIP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Mississippi State University Police Department daily reports have displayed one entry over and over again during the past several months: “Employee reported fraudulent unemployment claim filed in his name.”

Over 100 MSU employees have been the subjects of unemployment fraud resulting from the increased unemployment benefits that are a component of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, said MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter.

“The CARES act provided additional pools of money and because of the job losses associated with COVID, there were more people in that pool

of potential eligibles. So, it was kind of the perfect storm for that to happen.

All it required was a bad actor to enter the fray, and obviously, those folks are always there,” Salter said.

MSU’s experience with fraudulent claims is only a small snapshot of a massive national issue. According to the Associated Press, over $63 billion, or almost 10% of all funds dispensed since the beginning of COVID-19 unemployment relief, has been paid out in error or to false recipients. Various methods are used to file for the unemployment claims, including using social security numbers of deceased individuals, using social security numbers of prisoners, filing for unemployment in multiple states and using suspicious emails to file for claims.

FRAUD, 2

Virtual jazz festival uses COVID-19 Local controversy arises setbacks to reinvent live music scene over Strange Brew’s recent termination of employee PAYTON BROWN STAFF WRITER

The 15th annual Charles H. Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival premiered virtually this year on March 26 and 27 to showcase early American and jazz music produced by a variety of performers.

The festival was recreated to fit COVID-19 standards and used two nights to showcase past and present performances.

Although the event already occurred, the festival is now available to watch on Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube.

Stephen Cunetto, Mississippi State University Libraries’ associate dean, explained how the festival was still able to occur despite the pandemic and social distancing standards.

“This year, we had to really make big changes to

the format of the show, so we decided that Friday would be retrospective of the last ten years,” Cunetto said.

Cunetto continued, describing how the festival tied in past and present performances.

“We are taking videos from the last 10 years of shows, from the best of the best and putting those together as well as receiving an update from those performers,” Cunetto said.

“They recorded an update on how and what they were doing and how COVID has impacted them.”

Cunetto described the format of this year’s festival and said each day of the show previews different performances from different years.

“The second night, which is Saturday night, is a two-part show.”

HEATHER HARRISON NEWS EDITOR

Last Wednesday night, a Facebook post called out Strange Brew Coffeehouse for firing an employee at the Tupelo location over text message after the employee allegedly ate a pastry and did not pay for it.

The original Facebook post, made by Robin Umphers Jackson, the terminated employee’s mother, included screenshots of a text message conversation where the owner confronted an employee about eating a pastry at 5:30 a.m. and not paying for it at the end of her shift. The employee apologized and said she

FESTVIAL, 2

would pay for it. However, the owner replied that the individual’s employment would be terminated.

The Facebook post received hundreds of reactions and over 1,000 comments before Jackson deleted it.

Strange Brew said the original post was not factual.

After a few hours, Jackson issued a statement saying she appreciated the support she and her daughter received, but she never meant for the post to gain so much traction.

“I had no intention of boycotting or shutting down a local small business,” Jackson stated.

CONTROVERSY, 2

Starkville frank-fanatics flock to Wienermobile MAGGIE PHILLIPS STAFF WRITER

On March 23, hundreds of people from Starkville and Mississippi State University had the rare opportunity to see an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on Main Street.

Maggie Thomas and Molly Swindall drove the Wienermobile through Starkville. They were the “hotdoggers” handing out “wienie-whistles” to all the visitors.

Maggie Thomas, known as “Mustard Mags,” is a recent MSU graduate, and she discussed how important it was to her to bring the Wienermobile through Starkville.

“Our boss allowed me to bring it home, and I knew if I was coming back, I wanted to bring it to my second home, which is Starkville,” Thomas

said. “Starkville, Mississippi State University and the community have done so much for me, and I thought, ‘This is the least I can do to give back.’”

According to Thomas, the hotdoggers see up to 800 people at each Wienermobile event. These events happen across the country at local parks, animal shelters, museums and charity events.

“We get to go around the country from city to city each week and have events and let people see this American icon,” Thomas said.

Thomas continued, saying she enjoys the excitement customers express.

“The people are what make this job so special.

We call them frank-fanatics.

Just their enthusiasm for the Wienermobile is so fun to interact with,” Thomas said.

HOT DOG, 2

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

HI:64 LO: 35 SKY: Stormy POP: 100

HI: 55 LO: 30 SKY: Sunny POP: 0

HI: 59 LO: 35 SKY: Sunny POP: 0

Bryce Camp | The Reflector

The famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile stopped on Main Street as part of a cross-country Wienermobile tour Tuesday. It was met by many Starkville residents and MSU students.

FORECAST: A cold snap will hit Wednesday evening and continue through Saturday.

Wednesday will be stormy but expect sunny skies later in the week. Highs will be in the 50s and 60s throughout the week. At night, temperatures will drop to the 30s.

Courtesy of National Weather Service

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CONTROVERSY “I didn’t ask anyone to unlike their page or leave bad reviews.”

In the same statement, Jackson wrote she did not think Strange Brew treated some employees fairly.

“But I think that Strange Brew needs to reconsider their policies regarding how they treat their employees. And apparently this is not the only time this and other questionable behavior has happened there,” Jackson wrote.

The Reflector reached out to the terminated employee, but she declined an interview.

Former Strange Brew employees commented on the Facebook post claiming similar issues happened to them with the owners. Evidently, the owners terminated another employee by text message after she ate a pastry and forgot to pay for it.

Strange Brew made a brief social media post a couple hours after Jackson’s post. They said they love their employees and want to take care of them, especially during the coronavirus pandemic and the recent ice storms. They finished their original statement by saying there was more than one side to the story and that it is more complicated than it seems.

The coffee shop posted the statement on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and it received hundreds of likes, shares and comments on each platform. The Tupelo and Starkville locations’ Facebook posts each amassed over 1,500 reactions, 3,000 comments and over 300 shares.

Allegations of racism at Strange Brew arose Wednesday on social media. One of Strange to One of Strange Brew’s

CONTINUED FROM 1

owners allegedly sent a racist text message to an employee that assumed a Black worker stole money that was missing out of a tip jar at Strange Brew.

Strange Brew said the accusations were completely false, and someone fabricated the text message.

The Reflector contacted Katelyn Reed, one of Strange Brew’s owners, and she directed The Reflector to Strange

Brew’s official statement on Facebook.

The statement, posted on Thursday afternoon, said Strange Brew had received countless threats and harassment online due to false allegations.

“These social media posts are false, malicious, and hurtful for all of us at Strange Brew, and they are offensive to our community as well. People attacking us should know the truth. To be perfectly

clear — we have never sent racist texts or had similar conversations in the history of our shop.

That is not who we are, and we stand against hate in all forms,” Strange Brew stated.

Strange Brew continued the statement by saying they did not terminate the employees because of a minor issue; it was a much larger issue than it appears to the public.

Both sides of the story had support across social media. Accounts under the names Sandra Patterson and Leslie Smith Hollowell voiced their support in the Facebook comments.

“I’ll be there tomorrow and can’t wait for my ‘Rainy Day’ latte!

I have loved Strange Brew since it opened and social media ‘outrage’ is not going to change that!

Keep doing what you’re doing, Strange Brew!”

FRAUD

“It’s a national, international phenomenon driven by hackers, and this is certainly not a Mississippi State exclusive situation.

There is a huge global impact; there is a huge state impact,” Salter said.

MSU Police Department Chief Vance Rice explained how the hackers siphon off thousands of dollars from filing the fraudulent claims in the names of MSU employees.

“For criminals, if they can get ahold of a social security number and a name— they were filing

CONTINUED FROM 1

unemployment on people that are employees here. So, they would get four or five weeks, six weeks of checks before unemployment would catch on,” Rice said.

The hacker begins receiving checks a week or two after filing the fraudulent claim. In the meantime, the university either receives a notice asking if they terminated the employee, or the employee receives a 1099, a miscellaneous income form filed by the government on behalf of those receiving unemployment. MSU then

mails back a reply that the employee was indeed not terminated, which takes several weeks to reach the unemployment office and be processed. By this point, the hacker has collected five to six fraudulent unemployment checks, each for around $700.

“If you had four or five social security numbers and names you had $2 or $3,000 coming in a week, so not a bad living,” Rice said.

Employees who receive a 1099 form need to report the fraudulent claim to campus police,

Rice said. This allows the claim to be officially rescinded and removed from their tax records.

While the scam does not take money directly from the employees, it can have adverse tax ramifications and would cause problems if the employee legitimately needed to apply for unemployment. Salter said the fraud ultimately steals money from taxpayers.

“Unemployment is a benefit that comes from the government, and the government is funded by the taxpayers, so

ultimately the loss here is to the taxpayers and to the government.

Mississippi State is a beneficiary of that spending. It’s not good for individual employees; it’s not good for the university; it’s not good for the state government or the federal government,” Salter said.

Salter emphasized that MSU employees were not at fault in any way for the fraud.

“Our employees haven’t done anything wrong. They were victims of this just like victims in other states and other countries. This

HOT DOG

Swindall, who goes by her hotdogger name “MayoChup Molly,” is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia.

She has accompanied Thomas on their year-long Wienermobile journey.

One of Swindall’s favorite parts of being a hotdogger is the joy she said she has been able to spread across the country.

“You can’t not smile when you see a 27-footlong hotdog-mobile,” Swindall said. “It was invented in 1936 during the Great Depression with the sole purpose of bringing joy and happiness, so it’s been really cool to get back to our roots and really connect with our original purpose.”

Swindall spoke of the Wienermobile’s impressive ability to spread positivity for both the hotdoggers and the people who come to see it.

“It’s been a great time to give back during these hard times and bring a smile to people’s faces when some people feel like there’s not much to smile

is an unfortunate reality of the world in which we live,” Salter said.

The U.S. Department of Labor granted an additional $100 million to states to combat unemployment insurance fraud. They also issued an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) that proposed a new identity verification method for those applying for unemployment.

For more information on unemployment insurance fraud visit the U.S. Department of Labor website.

CONTINUED FROM 1

about,” Swindall said.

“You can’t have a bad day in the Wienermobile.”

Taylor Agee, a senior chemistry major at MSU, visited the Wienermobile on Main Street. Agee said she loved the experience and the break from schoolwork that the Wienermobile event provided.

“It’s so nice to do something fun and mix up the routine of classes and homework,” Agee said. “I think it’s super cool, and I definitely want to get my picture taken with it in a minute.”

Agee spent much of the afternoon at the site of the Wienermobile and said she was able to see a variety of people interacting with the Wienermobile.

“Out here, I’ve seen all different age groups.

There have been families, college students and older adults,” Agee said.

“There’s a pretty decent crowd, probably 30 or more people.”

COVID-19 has presented unusual challenges for crowded

Bryce Camp | The Reflector

‘Frank-fanatics’ of all ages gathered outside Cadence Bank on Main Street to eat hot dogs and get a glimpse of the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile this past Tuesday.

events throughout the year. However, Agee said the Wienermobile event provided an excellent opportunity to have fun

while following safety regulations.

“It’s really important for outdoor events where you have the option to

be distanced, but you also have the opportunity to mix up your routine and socialize with other people,” Agee said. “I’ll

JAZZ “The first part will be a look at last year’s best of the best, so we have highlights from the 2020 festival. After that, we will have the performers that we originally slated to participate in the 2021 festival. We decided to ask them to do some selections and pre-record those and send them to us. We put those together into the second half of Saturday night’s show,” Cunetto said.

Cunetto said the festival’s committee invited the performers scheduled for this year to perform live next year. She said this year’s unusual show is a preview for 2022, when the festival will hopefully be in person.

Jeff Barnhart, artistic

Sandra Patterson said in a comment.

Leslie Smith Hollowell echoed this sentiment.

“I love Strange Brew and can’t wait to get coffee this week!!”

Others were not so happy with the controversy.

Accounts under the names of Nicole Strawbridge and Stormie Taylor Downey expressed their disappointment in the comments.

“You went out of your way to fire an employee for a simple mistake,” Nicole Strawbridge commented.

“How unprofessional!

I’ll never be back,” Stormie Taylor Downey commented.

Strange Brew Coffeehouse is still open amidst the allegations.

They concluded their statement by saying they have loved and enjoyed serving Mississippi for 15 years, and they will continue to be open in Tupelo and Starkville.

definitely have to try to get a hotdog whistle.”

The Wienermobile provided a ‘franktastic’ afternoon for attendees.

CONTINUED FROM 1

Courtesy of Mississippi State University

director of the Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival, explained the benefits of changing the show. He said the festival could broadcast performances from the last decade for the first time since the original show.

“The content of

this festival, which we would never be able to do, precedented some kind of change, and we are adapting to not being there in person,” Barnhart said. “We typically have a growing number of MSU student attendees, and we

are missing that this year, but we thought we should do a retrospective of what the festival had been in the past from years 2010 to 2019 on Friday night.”

Chip Templeton, director of MSU’s Small Business Development

Center, introduced the Keyone Docher Student Achievement Award and presented it to this year’s winner, junior music education major Eli Denson, who performed after being honored.

Templeton said the

Keyone Docher Student Achievement Award is given to an exceptional person at the music department each year.

Keyone Docher, the namesake of the award, was the first student who performed at the Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival. Templeton said Docher was an excellent musician, and the department gives the award each year in remembrance of him.

“He had a certain charisma about him, not just his music. As a coincidence, just a few weeks later, Keyone passed away. We remember not only his music but the passion he has for his music,” Templeton said.

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BULLETIN BOARD

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

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lector 3/31/21 Crossword

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PARKER’S PITCH: MUSIC REVIEW Parker’s Pitch:WEEKLY weekly music review Copyright ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com

Stay 8 4 6 March 24 Puzzle Solutions in the know!

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Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @ reflector-online

By Parker Dorsey This week’s album review is on “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy”

by Rob Zombie, his seventh studio album.

Obnoxiously long title aside, there is not too much to say about this one, as Zombie’s “hellbilly” shock-rock sound has been remarkably consistent the past 30

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 student organizations may place free announcements in Club Info.

The Oktibbeha County Humane Society Student Chapter is a student-driven organization dedicated to raising money and awareness about the local Oktibbeha County Humane Society. They volunteer at the humane society and host events on campus that directly benefit it.

Their upcoming meeting date is April 8. They are always looking for new club members and can be reached on any of their social media platforms or at msu.ochssc@ gmail.com.

years – almost too much so on this one. Indeed, this is the third straight album he goes with the dissertation-length song title gimmick, acid trip album cover and excessive run-time. This was somewhat interesting when it was first implemented on “Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor,” but at this point it has gotten very stale.

Sudoku Solution

Sudoku Solution

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Student arrested in Deavenport Hall on warrants for disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, littering and malicious mischief.

Student fell down the steps in Thompson Hall, causing injuries to her ankle. Student was transported to OCH.

Three students were issued referrals for possession of marijuana in vehicle in B7 parking lot.

Friday, March 26, 2021 Three students were issued referrals for possession of stolen road signs off campus.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Employee reported a missing department key from Hand Lab.

Non-resident/visitor fainted at Dudy Noble Field. Subject was transported to OCH.

Student reported being stalked by an unknown male.

Student was issued a Justice Court citation and referral for leaving the scene of an accident that caused damage to the gate on Morrill Road.

Officer responded to a disturbance at Dudy Noble Field. Subjects were escorted from the game.

Officer responded to a fire alarm at Cresswell Hall. Starkville Fire Department was called.

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OPINION

North Farm should be developed further as a park for the community

L

REFLECTIONS Andy Warhol “Land really is the best art.”

LUKE COPLEY

is a sophomore majoring in English. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.

The term “third place” was introduced by Ray Oldenburg in his book “The Great Good Place,” a sociology study concerning human relationships with their spaces. According to the concept, first places are places where we live, second places are places where we work and third places are where we meet.

These so-called “third places” are about fostering random connections between strangers and creating a shared sense of ownership over that space.

Examples of these places are restaurants, bars, cafes and parks.

As far as third places go, Starkville has some good cafes and bars.

Arepas Coffee & Bar, 929 Coffee Bar and Deja Brew all have cult followings of customers who would not dream of considering a different shop. That is well and good, but an ideal third place does not imply the need to purchase anything to be there. I would feel like a freeloader if I sat in a Starbucks for six hours.

What Starkville lacks is quality parks for permanent residents and Mississippi State University students.

Starkville has a few public parks, but that number changes based on

On this day...

The Eiffel Tower, created by Gustave Eiffel, was officially inaugurated in 1889 of these areas is a hill located between the research circle and a large acreage of fields known to many as North Farm. It could be argued that the hill is part of the farm, but it is certainly not a park. It is a hill.

On any given day at North Farm, you are likely to encounter people sitting in hammocks strung up on the tree-lined ridge, pet owners walking their dogs and runners jogging around the perimeter of the space. People meet in groups on the hill despite how wildly inconvenient it is to sit in a circle on such a steep incline. It is, almost by accident, a widely functional third place.

Students, especially during the upcoming finals, need an escape from school.

MSU’s campus is not lacking in gorgeous greenery or recreational space, but it is difficult for students to relax in these spaces with an educational building in every direction. The air

drips with the knowledge of responsibilities and upcoming deadlines. From the top of the hill, North Farm evokes feelings that are only achievable from nature’s presence.

According to the University of Minnesota, exposure to nature relieves feelings of anger, fear and stress.

With the addition of a couple of benches and a few level concrete slabs for picnic tables, North Farm would be well on its way to achieving park status.

North Farm already has what so many of the other parks lack: the feeling of a third place. It offers liberation from reality as a community held safe. The MSU student body’s weird affection for this random hill is a fantastic opportunity to refine the feeling of community ownership.

North Farm is a third place and should be developed further as an escape for students and as a meeting place for the community.

to celebrate 100 years since the start of the French Revolution.

Source: Britannica.com

Trivia Time!

1. What is the primary unit of temperature

measurement

in

2. The world’s fastest growing plant is a species of what?

3. In what year was the original “Jurassic Park” film released?

Source: trivia.fyi

The full potential of GMOs is hindered by misinformation

SAM COTHRON

Today the general public is more ecologically conscious than it has ever been. The market for goods produced and sold under the sustainability banner is growing, and the push to become “green” permeates virtually all economic sectors. Areas such as manufacturers of automobiles, cleaning solutions, apparel and even fossil fuel products are bringing their billions to bear upon pollution, or so the marketing teams and advertisements claim.

But out of all economic sectors, agriculture is the most intimately connected with human welfare.

Consumers rightfully desire to know what they are eating. The thought that even fresh, healthy foods could be laced with agrochemicals or biologically contaminated at the genetic level has driven an increasing preference for foods billed as organic or natural. Lumped into this category of ostensibly healthier foods are those billed as being free of GMOs—genetically modified organisms.

Genetic modifications to

crop plants are implied to be innately unnatural and therefore, somehow, detrimental to both human and biosphere health.

There are legitimate grievances to be made about modern industrial agriculture, but the use of modern biotechnology for the development of new crop varieties is not one of them. The marketing push for non-GMO foods is just that, a marketing push. The push is fortified through advertisements rooted in pseudoscience, anti-intellectualism and the romanticization of premodern agriculture.

Consumers are right to be wary about potentially harmful food, but ecological problems must be solved by judiciously using science, rather than dispensing with it.

Genetic engineering is a maligned piece of terminology, avoided at all costs by manufacturers

and vehemently shunned by some. In the context of modern agriculture, genetic engineering refers to the use of recombinant DNA technology to produce new crop varieties.

Before this technology’s introduction, plant breeders used the traditional methods of careful parent selection and crossbreeding to develop new crop varieties to improve crop yield, stress tolerance and disease resistance.

Ancient farmers selected plants with preferred traits when saving seed for the next planting. After many generations, this artificial selection domesticated relatively unappetizing crops into high-yielding, nutritious staples. Today, these procedures are augmented with a modern understanding of genetics.

Traditional breeding is a mixing of genetic material

CONTACT INFORMATION Editor-in-Chief/Hannah Blankenship 325-7905 editor@reflector.msstate.edu Managing Editor/Daniel Dye managing@reflector.msstate.edu News Editor/Heather Harrison

from within the same genome between closely related species of the same genus. Recombinant engineering, however, can transfer genes from distantly related plant lineages, and even material from bacteria, into other crop plants. As Ania Wieczorek and Mark Wright note in ‘Nature,” recombinant DNA technology was applied commercially beginning in the 70s, with the first engineered plant entering the market in 1982.

Exogenous DNA, which is DNA found outside the original organism, can be transferred into the target genome in a variety of ways, some of which can even occur naturally.

These methods have led to substantial improvements in many crop species. So what is the problem then?

One common critique is rooted in a longstanding public distrust of science

by deeming it “unnatural.”

Sentiments of this kind are rife in marketing materials.

For instance, a recent advertisement for Garden of Life brand probiotic supplements boasts that the pills contain no “bioengineered whateverthey-call-it,” while showing a scientist enrobed in a full-body protective suit and respirator holding a sinister-looking test tube containing a sprig of parsley. The corporate website goes so far as to include the bogus remark that “In layman’s terms, GMO is a nice way of describing a plant that comes from a seed that has been injected with bacteria or pesticides to help it stay alive when the land it grows in is doused with chemicals.”

Another anti-GMO group, The Non-GMO Project, appeals to scientific consensus, but ultimately rehashes the

aforementioned antiintellectual sentiments when it alleges that “there is no scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs.” It might be tempting to think greedy biotech corporations have no regard for safety or sustainability, but this is far from the truth. In reality, the precautionary principle has been judiciously applied to GM crops. New varieties undergo extensive testing prior to introduction, and transgenic materials are heavily regulated. In fact, protocols dictate that every transgenic scrap be labeled and sent off to the autoclave to be sterilized after use.

Genetic modification, in all its forms, is the key to creating new plant varieties that require fewer damaging inputs including fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides, while also providing for the ever-expanding global population. While some valid critiques can be made against some of modern agriculture’s practices, the use of GMOs is, by contrast, a scientific triumph. It is especially important to eschew arguments of emotional and anti-intellectual basis.

Progress comes through a deference to precaution coupled with an openness to the possibilities of science.

Deliberate ignorance concerning genetic modification technology, however wellintentioned, is ultimately misguided.

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CORRECTIONS

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is a senior majoring in agronomy. Contact him at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.

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the definition you have for a park. The two most traditional of these spaces are McKee Park and Patriot’s Park. They are quaint but nice with pavilions, baseball diamonds and picnic tables.

If you type the word “park” in an internet search bar, you will get far less impressive contenders, most of which are single plots with a small garden or a lone bench.

According to the National Recreation and Park Association, parks offer “a tangible reflection of the quality of life in a community. They provide identity for citizens and are a major factor in the perception of quality of life in a given community.” Our parks lack that reflection of identity. They are all just parks in Starkville. None of them are Starkville’s park.

There are many green spaces in town outside the park definition, such as the Veteran’s Memorial Rose Garden or the Drill Field.

However, the most popular

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.

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H M w a s t c g l a h c i s

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LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT 5 THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021 @REFLECTORONLINE

Richard Lake | The Reflector

The Mom and Pop food truck can be spotted in various locations around Starkville and surrounding towns throughout the week. Owners Hannah and Hunter Bell recently opened a storefront on South Washington Street, where their menu options can also be found.

Mom and Pop food truck is a Starkville success story

LYDIA PALMER

STAFF WRITER

Hannah and Hunter Bell decided to embark on a culinary journey last January before COVID-19 started appearing all over the U.S. They both had histories of working in restaurants n Starkville, Mississippi, where their own business, the Mom and Pop food truck, recently received an award for Best Food Truck.

The couple stepped out and started the business as a delivery service at first, as an adaptation to the curveball that was COVID-19. They delivered casseroles and things of that nature.

“We took our truck and we didn’t open as a food truck at all,” Hunter Bell said. “We used it solely as a delivery truck. We did home deliveries with casseroles and things like that for the first two to three months, I would say, ust because nobody was really getting out because of the pandemic.”

With the start of their business, Hannah Bell said they had trouble getting extra help besides just herself and her husband

working the truck. They have a young son and wanted to be able to ensure they were able to spend time with him. One of their earliest hires, Abby Edwards, was with them throughout the casserole delivery-era of the truck and is still with them now.

Edwards has worked in restaurants for 14 years, but this has been her first experience with a food truck. She came to know about their business through close friends and was looking to work parttime, due to having a young child herself.

“They’ve done really well with the challenges that come along with starting a new business,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy working with them. They’re really sweet people.”

In the spring of 2020, the truck started out with Hunter Bell working as the main chef and menu designer. His wife handled the social media and business side of things.

Starkville Daily News named their business, “Best Food Truck” in their best of 2021 awards.

They are more than just a food truck now, with the

opening of their storefront downtown on South Washington Street.

“We opened our store right around Valentine’s Day,” Hannah said. “Ideally, what we would like is for the store to be open daily for breakfast and lunch, but right now we’re just kind of operating between the truck and here until we can get more into the rhythm of it.”

The truck is starting to get rented out more and more for local events, fundraisers and weddings.

Hannah said this is a potential precursor for the store being the main thing open during the week, with the truck still being out some, but mostly for bookings for events.

One way the Bells’ business has gained success in their local area is through the support of other small businesses in the community. Hannah Bell reached out to Mary Dowell, who owns another small business in Starkville called Petal Row. Hannah asked if the truck could feature some of their flowers to share publicity in the community.

“I really appreciate the

Richard Lake | The Reflector

The Bell family’s dedication to community partnership and great service led to their business being named Best Food Truck.

fact that as a local business, they want to support other local businesses and invest so much in the community,” Dowell said.

Although they have not always received the warmest welcomes from every business in the area, they have been highly supported by some like

Petal Row and Twigs Nursery and Landscaping.

Starkville is home to many small businesses like the one started by this young couple.

“Our community really seems to desire having successful small businesses in our town,” Dowell said.

Hannah and Hunter

Bell’s food truck can be seen around Starkville, Mississippi, and other towns nearby. They post a weekly schedule on their Instagram account, @ mom_andpop, which tells where the truck will be each day, as well as the storefront hours available throughout the week.

The Auntie Sewing Squad seams social justice to community service

KERRIGAN CLARK

STAFF WRITER

Last March people all over the world found themselves shopping for the exact same item— protective face masks. As the reality of COVID-19 grew more somber and CDC guidelines grew clearer, the demand for facial coverings only grew stronger. Necessity is the mother of invention, and this gap in supplies led many people to pull out their sewing machines and make their own fabric masks.

Like every Women’s History Month, this March celebrates women’s achievements and contributions to society. But this March, those achievements and contributions have only grown in number from last year. One way women all over the country have protected their communities and families is by banding together and sewing fabric masks.

This is exactly how the Auntie Sewing Squad was started. Founded on March 24, 2020 by comedian Kristina Wong, the goal of the Auntie Sewing Squad is to connect women all over the world to make masks for essential workers due to the lack of masks provided by the federal government.

MSU’s Gender Studies Program is leading the way and bringing Kristina Wong and the Auntie Sewing Squad to speak during the 2021 Women’s History Month.

The Gender Studies Program is hosting “Auntie Sewing Squad: Radical Care, Social Justice and Mask Making During COVID-19” virtually on March 31, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. Wong will be discussing how she made the Auntie Sewing Squad happen and more about the group in a virtual talk.

The link to sign up for the event can be found here.

The Auntie Sewing Squad mirrors a lot of

sewing networks formed during the pandemic, but a unique feature of this group is it is made up of predominantly women of color, queer women and non-binary people. The group brings a perspective to the table which people do not see on a daily basis.

The organization is well acquainted with the trials certain groups face based on race, socioeconomic status, sexual-minority status or gender. The group helps them gain representation and make an impact in a very special way by making the masks and donating them to marginalized groups in

their communities.

Brain Tesch, a graduate assistant in the sociology department at MSU, wants students to know that just like Kristina Wong, they too can help out in different ways during a crisis.

“I think one of the hopes for the event that I have is for a lot of our students to see that you can be proactive and do other things to help out in a time of crisis,” Tesch said.

“For example, Kristina Wong was a comedian. Her comedy tour failed and she came up with this. So there are things you can do to kind of take control of the situation and help out.”

Kimberly Kelly, the Gender Studies Program director here at MSU, is the organizer of the event. Kelly has extensive background experience researching women’s efforts during COVID-19 and feels very strongly about this event.

Kelly conducted a study along with two other sociologists which revealed that many people experienced fear and frustration at their state and federal government’s lack of planning. Kelly explained that many of the groups making homemade masks were fueled by this same frustration.

“A lot of folks we talked to had loved ones who were working in the medical fields and they wanted to do something to protect the people they loved. We started looking around and we found the Auntie Sewing Squad, which is Kristina Wong’s network,” Kelly said. “I hope that people realize just how much of a grassroots-level effort was made across this country during COVID-19 … And specifically in the case of Ms. Wong’s, (we are) hoping that we can elevate and highlight all that women of color and nonbinary people have made yet again in addressing disasters and crisis in this country.”

Above all, Kristina Wong is an entertainer.

Ashley Vancil-Leap, an instructor in the College of Arts & Sciences and Gender Studies Program, hopes she will incorporate comedy into the event.

“I hope this event is educational, informative and fun. I hope to learn a lot from her experiences, but as a comedian, I also hope she includes her humor. This has been a devastating year and I look forward to a little comedy and laughter to remind us of joy and happiness,” Vancil-Leap said in an email.

66-Sports SPORTS

THE REFLECTOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021 @SPORTSREFLECTOR

Track and field hosts annual Al Schmidt Bulldog Relay LYDIA PALMER STAFF WRITER

On Friday and Saturday of this past week, Bulldog track and field was able to kick off a highlyanticipated outdoor season. Throughout the two-day event, MSU took seven wins and ranked highly in other areas.

Before the twoday meet, Head Coach Chris Woods said he was looking forward to the relays and was excited for an opportunity to finally compete in the outdoor season.

“Our student-athletes are really excited to have this opportunity to compete, especially outdoors again, because they understand now how precious every opportunity is because it can be taken away from you at any moment,” Woods said. “There’s a lot of excitement buzzing around our program and around the country, and our kids are excited to open up their outdoor campaigns in front of a home crowd. Hopefully we’ll have a good meet, a good showing and start the outdoor season on the right foot.”

The event was cut short on Saturday due to inclement weather, but the Bulldogs still made

the most of an event they had been looking forward to. Caroline Standley, a sophomore from Covington, Louisiana, who throws javelin, said she was very excited to return to outdoor competition after an interrupted season last year due to COVID-19.

“For me personally, I’m excited to get back out there,” Standley said.

“I think I can speak on behalf of everybody that after the COVID year, I’m just ready to get out there and do the thing, throw the thing.”

Tyriq Horsford, another javelin thrower from Parlatuvier, Trinidad and Tobago, said this first meet will be an opportunity for the team to execute the technical things they have been working on these past few months.

“I know that adrenaline rush and everything, the competitive atmosphere. I think that everybody will be able to really be firing on all cylinders and just being able to execute to the best of their ability,” Horsford said.

The execution certainly took place for Standley, Horsford and their fellow javelin throwers on Saturday. Although the men’s portion of throwing was cut short due to lightning, the Bulldog Javelin University, also

called “JavU”, men held the top five slots with Horsford himself being fourth.

For the women of JavU, the Bulldogs had three slots with Sarah Blake, a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, being first, Caroline Standley at second and freshman Jenna Oetting from Festus, Missouri, ranking eleventh.

Aside from the top ranks of JavU, Mississippi State University ranked

highly in other areas among the other 26 institutions they hosted over the twoday event.

The Bulldogs had been placing since early on during Friday’s events, with senior Francesca Chambers, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, scoring her new personal best and fourth overall for the women’s side of hammer throwing.

Another personal best was reached by Asia Poe, a junior from Madison,

Mississippi, who placed first during the high jump competition with a height of 1.77 meters.

The men’s team for the 4x800 meter portion of relays placed first with a time of 7:43.44. This group included Gabriel Moronta, Omari Hammond, Freddie Jackson III and Giacomo DeLuca, who crossed the line at the final time, closing in on a Bulldog win.

Junior Leon Clarke from St. Ann, Jamaica,

snagged another first place win for MSU with his achievements during the 400 meter dash. He upped his personal best to 47.50 seconds during this event.

Overall, the Bulldogs took home seven wins during this showcase. MSU track and field can be seen again on April 2 and 3 in Gainesville, Florida, for the Florida Relays, and the next time to catch the squad in Starkville will be April 30 and May 1 for the Maroon and White Invite.

Mary Georgia Hamilton | The Reflector

Juniors Okheme Moore (right) and Cameron Crump (left) handle a baton pass in this past weekend’s action during the men’s 4x100 meter relays, in which they placed first.

Mississippi State University Spring 2021 Commencement Ceremonies April 29, 2021 8:30 a.m. Ceremony Arts & Sciences (undergraduates only)

1:30 p.m. Ceremony Education/Business/ACCESS (undergraduates only)

April 30, 2021 8:30 a.m. Ceremony ALL Graduate Students (masters/specialists/doctoral) and Agriculture & Life Sciences *Graduate students from all colleges will attend the 8:30am ceremony*

1:30 p.m. Ceremony

Engineering/Architecture, Art & Design/ Forest Resources/Vet Med/Academic Affairs (undergraduates only)

Humphrey Coliseum

• • • • •

Doors open 1.5 hours prior to each ceremony Tickets required for guests (4 guests per graduate) Total capacity limited to 50% of Coliseum Facial coverings required for everyone in attendance Social distancing will be enforced

Please allow additional time for security screening ALL BAGS ARE SUBJECT TO SEARCH Additional information regarding the ceremonies may be found at www.registrar.msstate.edu/students/graduation

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR GRADUATES!!