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125th YEAR | ISSUE 13 @REFLECTORONLINE f /REFLECTORONLINE

OCTOBER 4, 2013

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REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM

C-Spire offers new servicing

BY PRANAAV JADHAV Staff Writer

C-Spire, the wireless provider headquartered in Ridgeland, Miss., will launch a new state of the art initiative called ‘C-Spire Fiber to Home’ which provides an ultra-fast one-gigabyte Internet connection, plus home phone and television over fiber optic connections directly to the home.

The wireless provider will choose the most interested city to provide their service.

C-Spire CEO Hu Meena made the announcement on Sept. 22 at a news conference at the C-Spire headquarters.

“We know that unlocking C-SPIRE the potential of next generation C-Spire has approximately technology for 900,000 customers in the communities Mississippi, the Memphis we serve requires Metropolitan Area, the Florida taking optical Panhandle, parts of Alabama fiber all the way including Mobile and Rome, to their door,” Georgia.

Meena said. “As C-Spire has invested more a brand that’s than $700 million in its been pushing wireless network, including the envelope of constructing 1,403 cell innovation our entire existence, sites, a high-speed wireless it’s only natural broadband network and a for us to want permanent microwave ring to provide the for redundancy across the ‘what’s next’ to Gulf Coast region. the customers we ZACK ORSBORN | THE REFLECTOR serve.”

C-Spire’s website says it requires speed to action from the local government. A community that streamlines construction permitting and fast tracks an attractive local franchise agreement is better positioned to be first with this new technology, but C-Spire is looking for leaders to think outside of the box.

Ward 5 alderman Scott Maynard said from the economic development standpoint, gigabyte fiber service serves as a magnet for industry and business in the 52 cities which enjoy it in the country.

“We hope that if we can secure this, it will help from an economic development standpoint as well as drawing more high-tech industry into the city,” Maynard said.

AT A GLANCE

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS | COURTESY PHOTO

Bulldog Bash, Mississippi’s largest outdoor concert, hosted 30,000 fans last year for Eli Young Band. Black Crowes will play this year.

Bulldog Bash gives back Black Crowes, Chris Young, and Fides will perform at this year’s concert.

Profits go to the Reclaim Project — a locallyfounded charity.

BY ESHAN NEWAZ Staff Writer

Mississippi’s largest outdoor concert, Bulldog Bash, is once again coordinated by Mississippi State University students and will be held Friday in the Cotton District.

Amanda Fones, co-director of Bulldog Bash, said the event unites the campus and the community.

“Its purpose is to celebrate Mississippi State along with enjoying the afternoon full of music and fun,” Fones said.

She said 30,000 people usually gather for this event, but this year’s crowd might be much bigger because Black Crowes will play. At 7 p.m.

Fides, Battle of the Band winner, will play followed by Chris Young at 8 p.m. Black Crowes will perform the last set at 9:30 p.m.

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS | COURTESY PHOTO

Eli Young Band frontman, Mike Eli, rocks out at last year’s Bulldog Bash.

SEE BASH, 3

Student support services ensures advocacy for all

BY MYRA RICE Contributing Writer

On the Mississippi State University campus, students are the community, which is why MSU provides services to accommodate each one.

Montgomery Hall is located beside the Perry Cafeteria.

On the ground floor, Student Support Services exists to assist any student in need of help.

Micah White, associate director of Student Support Services, said his passion for his job started with his father’s passion for it before him.

“My father started working for Student Support Services here at MSU in the 70s. I can remember being five years old and being around people with disabilities,” White said.

White, who ventured off briefly before being reunited with MSU, said he loves the nature of his job.

“I wanted to be back here at State, so I interviewed back in 2008, and I got the job,” White said.

MSU’s Student Support Services provides essential help to students who deal with disabilities. The program helps an array of disabilities from mobility issues to chronic headaches.

If a student was interested in accessing the services provided

by Student Support Services, he or she would need proper documentation from a physician as a first step.

“A student must have documented disability from a doctor or a psychologist. They

must then bring it in and register with our program,” White said.

Student Support Services enables students who need additional help taking tests the opportunity to stay one step ahead. The program provides accommodations in the form of extra time on tests.

“Testing is our busiest area of help we provide. The students can even come in to the center to take the test instead of taking the test in class,” White said.

Once students have been accommodated in taking the test, the proctor hand delivers the test back to the student’s professor. Test-taking is just a checkpoint in this race, however, as the center provides much more help to the students.

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POLICY

SEE C-SPIRE, 2

Reformed University Fellowship travels to Yakama, sharing love with natives

BY KIMBERLY MURRIEL Staff Writer

LAUREN SENSING | COURTESY PHOTO

As a part of Sacred Road Ministries, Lauren Sensing interacts with kids from the Yakama Reservation during her internship.

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At the bottom of 12,307 foot-tall Mount Adams in Washington sits the Yakama Reservation, the largest Indian nation in the Northwest. The people of Yakama have an unemployment rate of 75 percent and a 65 percent drop out rate from middle school to high school.

Reformed University Fellowship, a campus ministry at Mississippi State University, has found ways to be involved on the reservation by partnering with Sacred Road Ministries, a full-time ministry on the Yakama Reservation.

Mollie Simpkins, senior graphic design major, and Lauren Sensing, senior special education major, have been involved with Sacred Road Ministries for the past seven years.

SEE MINISTRY, 3

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2 | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013

THE REFLECTOR

Fraternities, sororities give back through philanthropies, projects service initiatives for all Greek students,”

BY DAVID HAWKINS Mullen said. “Also, sororities have gone Contributing Writer downtown to do children’s face Sororities at Mississippi State Universi- painting, trick-or-treat on the row Mississippi State Univerty as a whole exemplify service and phil- and a Halloween carnival. They sity’s fraternities are comare really engaged in making the anthropic dedication. posed of a bond of brothers Jackie Mullen, director of Student children happy.” who work together to beneLowell Rose, publicity chairActivities, said sororities are strongly infit their philanthropies and volved in community service regarding man of National Pan Hellenthe community.

NPHC ic Council, said she comtheir philanthropies.

Davis A. Dodson, Alpha Phi Alpha: March of Dimes “What sororities do to give back is not mends sororities on their graduate assistant and NPC passion for specified on just Interfraternity Council Alpha Delta Pi: Ronald McDonald House philanthropy. their organizaadviser, said fraterniChi Omega: Make-A-Wish Foundation Our “Sororities tion,” Mullen ties at MSU are active Delta Delta Delta: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital philanthropy are always said. “It’s based in many community Delta Gamma: Service for Sight out doing on giving back service projects naand service Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority: R.I.D.E.S. in Caledonia, Miss. something, to the commutionwide including Kappa Delta: Girl Scouts and Prevent Child Abuse America brings whether nity and how we Relay for Life, Toys Phi Mu: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center it’s a step have helped as a awareness about for Tots and the Pi Beta Phi: promoting literacy through First Book and the Laura Carson Fund special needs and show or a whole.”

C a t c h - A - Dre a m Zeta Tau Alpha: Breast Cancer Awareness IFC cinnamon Melissa Bar- other things that the Foundation, and Alpha Gamma Rho: Boy Scouts of America roll night,” nett, president public may not know they also supAlpha Tau Omega: Toys for Tots and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Rose said. of the Nationport their chapter Delta Chi: The V Foundation “Their al Panhellenic about.” philanthropy.

Farmhouse: Palmer Home for Children dedication Council, said - Lowell Rose, Jeff Cancienne, Kappa Alpha: Muscular Dystrophy Association e x p re s s e s sorority mem- NPHC publicity chair president of the Kappa Sigma: Fisher House their huge bers persistently IFC Executive Lambda Chi Alpha: North American Food Drive passion for participate in Council, said the Phi Delta Theta: The ALS Foundation community service activities. fraternities work on Phi Gamma Delta: American Red Cross “Relay for Life is a good example of and truly giving back.” many service projPi Kappa Alpha: Big Brothers of America Rose said community what all the sororities are into,” Barnett ects together.

K Phi: Push America Pi Kappa said, “Some people think it’s a Greek service and other initia“Some examples of Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Palmer Home for Children thing to give back, but although it is a tives are not simplified to service projects that Sigma Chi: Catch a Dream Foundation part of the philanthropy, it is a natural each fraternity or sorority all the chapters do as Sigma Lambda Beta: CPR Awareness goal to desire to help MSU and all of the individually. a whole include Walk a Sigma Nu: Helping Hands Partners Sigma Phi Epsilon: Boys and Girls Club of Oktibbeha County “Our philanthropy and sercommunity.”

Mile, held in the spring.

Mullen said sororities seem to have a vice brings awareness about speIts purpose is to bring awarehigher interest in doing things as a group cial needs and other things that the ness against violence and sexin regard to community service, and she public may not know about,” Rose ual assault towards women. All said, “It is up to us to try and make a expands on past activities. members of the fraternities, in“This year we will be working on a difference and give back to the commucluding pledges, put on high heels Greek Week that establishes community nity.” and walk a mile,” Cancienne said.

BY LACRETIA WIMBLEY Staff Writer

GREEK PHILANTHROPIES

Dodson said the fraternities’ goal with the philanthropies is to give back to those who are not as fortunate.

“It’s not just about the money we raise. Though money does play a huge factor, it’s really all about the lives our fraternities change by being advocates for each charity’s cause and helping to further their mission,” Dodson said.

Jackie Mullen, director of Student Activities, said she agrees with bringing awareness and sponsoring a certain philanthropy.

Dodson expressed how each fraternity comes together for the betterment of the community.

“It’s a common misconception that our fraternities simply compete with each other and do not come together as a community of men for a cause. Each of our chapters participate in each other’s events. Some events include tournaments that a chapter can enter a team into, while others involve giving of their time to lend a helping hand to a fellow Greek man for the betterment of our community and those surrounding us,” Dodson said.

Justin Miller, National Pan Hellenic Council President, said the unity and brotherhood strengthen the fraternities at MSU. “Individually we’re unique, but together we’re complete when it comes to fraternities and their specific philanthropies,” Miller said.

ZACK ORSBORN | THE REFLECTOR

C-SPIRE C-Spire looks to begin this initiative early next year. The support of local entities and resident pre-registration will be key factors in announcement timing.

Lynn Spruill, owner of Spruill Properties and former city administrator said Starkville focuses on excellence in services, and this would fit in with that de-

continued from 1 sire to be progressive in how Starkville moves into the future.

“It is an extraordinary opportunity for Starkville in that it will cement the status that Starkville currently enjoys as a research and technology leader in the state of Mississippi. It folds in the ability of the university to promote the learning environment in

a way that exists in few other areas and puts us on the forefront of any future technology development in the state,” Spruill said.

In 2011, Google launched a one-gigabyte fiber service in Kansas City. C Spire takes this same technology to launch its new initiative.

Timothy Griffin, director of IT infrastructure at Missis-

sippi State University, said he believes this technology will not have a direct impact on MSU because the university is connected to the outside world by the Mississippi optical network.

“We’ve got 20 gigabytes of speed for the shared part of the campus for connectivity to the Internet and to other research institutions in Mis-

sissippi. Every student who lives on campus or a fraternity/sorority house has gigabyte speeds through wired ports,” Griffin said.

Currently, C-Spire has opened community applications for this service. The selection of the city will have two phases. Phase one consists of a request for information to local entities, combined

with individual interest registrations. At the end of this phase, C-Spire will choose one or more finalist locations.

Phase two will challenge individuals to officially pre-register for service in neighborhoods of the finalist locations.

For more information log on to: www.c-spire.com/fiberhome.

MINISTRY Simpkins and Sensing have been able to take part in this ministry that works in the Yakama community to love Native American people living in poverty and spread the word of the Gospel.

Sensing said Sacred Road is about doing the Lord’s work and spreading the love of Jesus Christ.

“It’s more of a ‘go and tell everyone’ so that more people would want to come and get involved,” Sensing said, Chris and Mary Granberry, along with their four kids, moved to Yakama in June 2003 to begin Sacred Road.

Chris serves as the team leader and pastor of the church in Yakama and has partnered with

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013 | 3

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REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM

continued from 1 three other families and three other individuals who work there full-time.

Sacred Road Ministries has a 12-week summer internship program that Sensing has served in the past three summers and Simpkins one summer. Sensing said the internships have allowed her to learn more about Native American cultures and build relationships with the Native American people. “(Internships) allowed me to delve deeper into the culture and build deeper relationships with children on the reservation and understand their way of life more,” she said.

Sensing said over the past three years RUF has taken

LAUREN SENSING | COURTESY PHOTO

Children on the Yakama reservation play during Kids Club. MSU students help Sacred Road Ministries.

part in one-week mission trips to the reservation over spring break. She said this upcoming year, RUF hopes to partner with Ole Miss to help get even more people involved and aware of the mission opportunity.

MSU RUF campus minister Brian Sorgenfrei led the trip two years ago and will take the RUF group back this spring break.

Sorgenfrei said Sacred Road Ministries has developed over the years.

“What was really neat about going a few years ago was the Granberrys had been there for 10 years, and the first five years basically people were skeptical of them and kept thinking they would leave, but they stayed for the long distance and really served them and became a part of the community,” he said.

“So the neat thing was seeing how the kids had come to love the Granberrys and love the church and been baptized and started to take ownership of their friends and their own community and even their parents.”

Sacred Road works with close to 400 children on the reservation. Simpkins and Sensing said the church on the reservation, Hope Fellowship, functions as a safe place for children to learn about Jesus and build healthy relationships.

“Drug and alcohol abuse and violence is rampant in reservations, and a lot is going

against these kids,” Sensing said. “These kids come from rough situations, and for many of them, their parents aren’t involved in their lives, and the church functions as a safe haven for them. I feel honored to be part of something so amazing.”

Simpkins said at first, she randomly learned about Sacred Road, but now she considers being a part of RUF, Sacred Road Ministries and the work that has been done to improve the lives of children a blessing.

“Our youth leader somehow found the Sacred Road Ministries website, got connected with them, and we were like ‘Yeah, we want to join,’” she said. “To be a part of something so amazing is a blessing.

It’s an honor.”

Sensing said she agreed the initial connection with Sacred Road was the Lord’s calling.

“At the time, we wanted to get involved doing mission work, and that is where the Lord led us,” Sensing said.

“The first time we went, we just loved the ministry, loved the kids and the people there.”

The girls said the ministry has grown both on the reservation and around the country as more people learn about Sacred Road. For more information about the Yakama people, Sacred Road has a website, sacredroadministries.com, or those interested in becoming involved with the ministry can contact Sensing at lsensing@ gmail.com.

Monday, Sept. 30 • 1:49 p.m. A student reported being verbally harrassed by an ex-friend.

• 3:06 p.m. A student reported a fraudulent charge on her bank account.

Tuesday, Oct. 1 • 12:20 a.m. A student reported being assaulted at Burger King by an ex-boyfriend.

• 5:26 a.m. A student was issued a student referral for possibly harming himself in Oak Hall. The student refused counseling service.

• 6:05 p.m. A student reported her tailgating equipments were stolen from the Junction at the Mississippi State University vs.

Troy football game.

Wednesday, Oct. 2 • 2:31 a.m. A student was arrested at North Hall for public drunkenness.

• 5:29 a.m. A student was arrested at McArthur Hall for public drunkenness.

Citations:

• 6 citations were issued for speeding.

• 8 citations were issued for running a stop sign.

CORRECTION: In the Sept. 27 edition of The Reflector, an editing error occured in the article “Infant mortality, pregnancy rates decline.” A sentence should have read: “To promote the birth of a healthy infant, Yates suggests pregnant women should consider good health habits such as exercise, ample sleep and rest, a nutritous diet, have regular medical examinations and avoid drugs and alcohol.” The word “avoid” was accidentally omitted in the article. The Reflector regrets the error.

BASH “This year, we are expecting a pretty large crowd because we are bringing the Black Crowes this year, and that brings a whole different aspect of population. Because you have a lot of older generations that will be coming,” she said.

Several other events will be held in the Cotton District throughout the day starting at 4 p.m., including fanfare, a cook off competition and the Dawg Rally. Dan Mullen, head football coach, will make an appearance with the football team, and the band and cheerleaders will be present as well.

“Bulldog Bash is not just a concert. It entails a whole day of activity that brings the com-

continued from 1 munity together,” Fones said.

Fones said Bulldog Bash is a completely sponsored event, and it is also a charity event.

All the money that is raised in excess of the budget goes to the Reclaim Project, which is a local charity that was founded in Starkville.

“Everybody should come for a great night and tons of fun,” she said, “We worked really hard, and we are excit-

ed to see the hard work come through.”

Michael Hogan, Student Association president, said the Bulldog Bash budget this year was almost $300,000. He said students have worked hard since March to arrange this event.

“The day of Bulldog Bash we start working at four in the morning, and we don’t stop picking up trash until the next

morning so it’s a 24-hour work day for us,” he said.

Hogan said the Starkville Police Department will work the entire day and the fire department will be available as well. He said every single safety issue is drawn out and prepared for the day.

“I hope everyone will let us know if there is something that needs to be improved,” Hogan said. “I like hearing

things, so Twitter or email me if there are issues.”

Jackie Mullen, director of student activities, said Bulldog Bash is a great event, and the fact that it is all student-run is the best thing about it.

“Students work really hard to put on a great show not just for Mississippi State students but for the Starkville community and the state of Mississippi,” she said.

Mullen said students planned this event for at least eight months. She said everyone should attend to support other students who worked hard to arrange this event.

“It’s a free live music show, and a lot goes behind putting on a big concert like this. Everyone should come to see the atmosphere and be a part of the Bulldog community,” she said.

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THE REFLECTOR

NEWS

Starkville businesses participate in charity

BY JAMIE ALLEN Staff Writer

Starkville is known as “Mississippi’s College Town,” but many businesses want to do more for the world around them than just provide Bulldog fans with game-day grub or the trendiest outfits. These businesses have found ways, such as selling charitable items or donating a portion of sales to charities, to help people both here in Starkville and across the globe.

Three of these businesses include Denim & Lace, Firehouse Subs and Deep South Pout. These businesses each saw a need and decided to do something about it.

Located in downtown Starkville, Denim and Lace, formerly known as Harmonie Boutique, opened this summer. Along with the clothes in the store, Denim & Lace also has many charitable items.

These items are made by womKAITLIN MULLINS | THE REFLECTOR en across the globe and sold in Products benefiting the Reclaimed Project are available for stores similar to this to bring a purchase at Deep South Pout and help the community. profit to these women.

Items sold by Denim & Lace include fashionABLE scarves a better life,” Ray said. opportunity to donate money made by women in Ethiopia, Ray said the reason she de- to this foundation through Sseko sandals and Ember Arts cided to include these items in the sale of pickle buckets, cash jewelry made by women in her store is because she wanted donations made at the register Uganda and Peace Cord brace- to carry items that help other and through the “Round Up” lets made by widows of Afghan people. program through which guests soldiers. Other charitable items “At many places it is all about can round their bill up to the they sell are Pura Vida brace- fashion, but I wanted people to nearest dollar amount. lets, made by artisans in Costa see that they could ‘shop with William Craig, owner and Rica, and locally-made glasses meaning,’ and that they could general manager of Firehouse from wine or champagne bot- buy pretty things but also help Subs in Starkville, said in an tles to support breast cancer others at the same time,” Ray email this foundation donates research. money to scholarships, fire said.

Erin Ray, owner of Denim Another new business to prevention education and the & Lace, said the organizations Starkville that stands out for its purchase of crucial emergengive women an opportunity to charitable giving is Firehouse cy response equipment such better their lives.

Subs. Founded in 2005 after as thermal imaging equip“In other areas of the world, Hurricane Katrina, Firehouse ment and extraction tools also women are often oppressed. Subs raises money for the Fire- known as the “jaws of life.”

This gives them jobs so that house Subs Public Safety Foun“Each Firehouse Subs restauthey can make money and have dation. It gives customers the rant raises money for the foun-

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dation year-round, and individual restaurants are able to work with local first responder organizations and request grant money. In this way, the money we raise has a local, direct impact on our community.” Craig said. “To date, we’ve donated more than $61,000 to the state of Mississippi and are hoping to make a donation locally in the area next year.”

As businesses follow this trend and give to people in need, Deep South Pout is another to be recognized for its charitable giving. As the founder of the Reclaimed Project, its mission is threefold: help the underprivileged in the community, give adoption grants to local families and support orphan care centers in Botswana, Africa.

They provide a portion of each sale to Reclaimed Project as well as allow customers to support it through the 127 initiative. Through this initiative, they ask customers to donate $0.27 to the Reclaimed Project at the time of check out. Juva Juice and Stinky Feet have also joined this initiative.

Justin Oswalt, owner of Deep South Pout, said since it was founded in 2011, they have always wanted to give to charity.

“As a Christian organization, from the beginning, we felt led to give two percent of our sales from sales to various charities.

As business picked up and donations became bigger and bigger we wanted a way to have a say in exactly what the money was used for,” Oswalt said.

Because proceeds from Bulldog Bash go toward the Reclaim Project, Oswalt said he looks forward to this weekend as it will expose many visitors to Reclaimed Project.

“Reclaimed Project is very

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Good Luck Dawgs!

“We like to have a good relationship with the housing department here on campus so that we can request special housing for the students in need,” White said.

Some students require bathrooms and special navigation, and the Student Support Services center serves as an advocacy for students. The center also provides help for students who are first generation or from low-income families.

Jermaine Jackson, Student Support Services coordinator, said the center accepts 160 students through a loan called

new, but we have already given 10 $15,000 adoption grants,” Oswalt said. “As Bulldog Bash is supporting Reclaimed Project this year, we are hoping to be able to expose more people to this and have more volunteers and interns as a result.”

KAITLIN MULLINS | THE REFLECTOR

FashionABLE, sustainability-centered brand sold at Denim & Lace, creates opportunities for women in Africa.

BRIANT MARSH | COURTESY PHOTO

Firehouse Subs raises money for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which promotes emergency preparation.

continued from 1 TRIO. The loan provides first generation and low-income students with the resources they need to get off on the right foot.

“We accept first generation students or students from low-income families. We also accept students whose parents may have earned an associate’s degree,” Jackson said.

Jackson said the graduation rate for the TRIO program was 64 percent last year, and 92 percent of the students involved in the program maintain a GPA higher than a 2.0.

“We offer the Jumpstart program to the freshman class

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For more information about any of these businesses and their charity involvement, those interested may visit their local stores. Also, for information on how Bulldog Bash supports Reclaimed Project visit msubulldogbash.com.

and Finish Line to our seniors.

These programs provide the students the help they need with time management skills and organization,” Jackson said.

Zach Woolley, a 23-year-old student from Birmingham, Ala., said he benefits greatly from the services provided to him here at MSU. “I have cerebral palsy, which is brain damage at birth,” Woolley said.

Woolley, a political science and philosophy double major, said MSU afforded him an opportunity that other schools would not.

“These guys are awesome. If you have a disability, sometimes you encounter a roadblock here or there. Student Support Services here at MSU makes it an even playing field,” Woolley said.

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OPINION

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OPINION EDITOR: ALIE DALEE | opinion@reflector.msstate.edu

THE REFLECTOR

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Pay it forward.

Small acts, big impact

Be the change

PONDER THIS

AMONG THE WILDFLOWERS

A

We’ve all heard someone say that giving someone a simple compliment could make his or her day. Statements such as these tend to be thought of as overused, given that we often pass around compliments as if they are nothing. Most people don’t believe that simple compliments about someone’s shirt could possibly make a difference. That person could have 10 more people say the same thing. If we already know the person we complimented, it could just be part of everyday conversation. And if it’s someone we don’t know, we might not think anything else about it after they smile and say thanks.

What about actions? Everyone has heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words.” We ourselves have received a kindness from someone that made a difference in our day at some point. Maybe we walk into some coffee shop and are a few cents short of what we need. How often do we run into a person that says it’s OK? What is our reaction when we walk into a building, expect to pay, and get whatever we need to get through the day free of charge? The person who works in the coffee shop has probably already moved on to the next customer, but we are relieved because we know we won’t have to make it to lunch without some kind of boost. Sometimes the roles are reversed, and we are the ones doing someone a favor. Does something influence our willingness to help, or is it just human nature?

s average people who walk around in today’s society, we tend to place the concept of “giving back” in the same stereotype as charity. Many college students associate the label of charity with having to go out of their way to help some organization raise money for a cause or donating things. Those who live in wealthy countries, like America, tend to view charity as more of an effort because of their busy lifestyles. We have to make time to take part in charity.

Many charities work for an admirable cause, and those who make time to take part in the charities efforts often find it rewarding. But does “giving back” really have to take so much time and effort?

What about students who have school or people who work?

How could they give back to their community?

In a season where giving to others is associated with the very purpose of holiday celebrations, it is beneficial to take a step back and contemplate what charity requires. The answer can be unveiled by simply setting aside stereotypical labels. Setting “charity” aside, we now just have the concept of giving back. So what does that take? Author Leo Buscaglia sums up the answer nicely in one quote. He said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

T

BROOKLYN TUCKER Brooklyn Tucker is a junior majoring in kinesiology. She can be contacted at opinion@ reflector.msstate.edu.

It depends. Most people, however, will not remember their free cup of coffee while they help someone else days later. In most cases, we just help others because it is the “nice” thing to do. We often smile at others on reflex because we just happened to make eye contact.

Sometimes we give compliments just to talk. And that element of “second nature” is almost always a good thing. It allows us to make a difference without meaning to. And the simple fact is we can’t make judgments on what it takes to make a difference in someone else’s life because we are not in anyone else’s head but our own. For all we know, that small smile we gave the person sitting in the corner could have been the only uplifting thing he or she experienced that day.

The fact that something as simple as a smile has the potential to make a difference proves that it doesn’t always take being involved with a charity to give back to our surroundings.

he TV illuminated the small office that day as an impressionable 10-year-old watched flames engulf the pillars towering toward the sky. On that day a young girl realized the world was broken, that mankind possessed the ability to harm one another.

Fast forward a decade — 10 years of war displayed daily on the nightly news and a 21-year-old, slightly jaded, scrolls through the nightly news on the CNN app at the end of her fingertip, and reads about a country killing its own people and another country oceans away with a government grappling over a decision on the morality of its own citizens or the morality of a population it knows not by names or social security numbers. A decision filled with impossibility, because how can anyone pose an innocent life against another and force an answer? It was this day I discovered that if there was to be beauty in this world, we were the ones who would have to bring it with us, take it with us, second by second, moment by moment, with each random act of kindness displayed to another being.

I am not a child of war, merely a bystander through millions of digital pixels funneled through the Internet onto my screen. As I open the New York Times photo of the day, I am met with a disclaimer: “This image contains graphic content.” The image, sanguine and brutal, portrays an elephant, a man and a pool of blood. There are no words to explain the Kenyan mall shooting, only human emotion failing to grapple with human cruelty. Two vast emotional powers posed against one another, capable from the same species. There are not enough emotions to grasp the scene bored into my eyes, only a

heavy heart and a hand swiftly raised to cup the gasp swiftly inhaled.

Can one act of kindness change the world? No, but a million acts of kindness have the capability to raise a generation exposed to kindness instead of the hate and opposition displayed on the nightly news. Kindness raises a world shrouded in hope instead of war. Every time mankind chooses to support his fellow man, instead of engaging in enmity, he writes a new story. A story no longer characterized by brokenness, but one with millions of random acts of kindness woven together to illuminate kindness in the face of darkness.

In a New York Times opinion article written in response to the Kenyan mall attack, Stanley Gazemba, a Kenyan, had this to say, “If the militants think what they are doing has terrified us, they are wrong. All they have done is bring us closer together.

A visit to the blood donation center will confirm this. In those lines, our political differences and the endemic corruption of our bureaucratic systems recede.”

We live on the only planet that naturally provides nourishment, oxygen and water — all the things needed to sustain life. Every day we are bombarded with more aesthetic beauty than opportunity will provide us to experience. But kindness? That’s a beauty we as people must carry with us. It comes from the human heart, and it’s a beauty only we alone provide, through our daily choices as individuals that inhabit our natural world. It’s an understanding that arises by vulnerability to beauty and a sacrificial disregard for comfort; equiping a heart to bring goodness in a broken world.

In a world where we are berated daily with images of war, 50 percent

ALIE DALEE Alie Dalee is the opinion editor of The Reflector. She can be contacted at opinion@reflector. msstate.edu.

of children will grow up in broken homes and hearts can be broken by merely watching the evening news, I have to wonder how our generation has managed to become anything but an army of cynics.

Yet there it is, resilience — in the kindness of a stranger, in the embrace of loved ones and in the decision that though the world may tell us otherwise, we choose daily what type of world we want for ourselves and for the generations to follow.

With each act of kindness, we counteract every act manifested by the hardened hearts of individuals, and single-handedly reverse a cycle of numbness and disbelief in one’s fellow mankind.

Because as J.R.R. Tolkien oncewrote, “The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.”

So today, as you read this, please look around, and try with all your might to find all things bright and beautiful that grow in the morning light.

INTERNATIONAL INK

Government shutdown causes direct negative impact on citizens

B

eginning 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the United States government shut down after Congress failed to pass the spending bill. The oldest democracy and the wealthiest nation on the planet self-inflicted a shutdown after over a week of heated debate on Capitol Hill.

This abrupt shutdown, which came after 17 years, will cost the U.S. economy $300 million a day in lost economic output, according to the IHS Inc. A report in Bloomberg Business Week said Bank of America Merrill Corp. projects that a two-week closing would curb fourth-quarter growth by 0.5 percent, while closing for all of October would shave two percent from GDP, Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics research for Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research, wrote in a note to clients.

Sulagna Saha, graduate research assistant at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Mississippi State University said she did not look forward to the shutdown because it directly affected her. Saha’s father, who is a federal government employee at the United States Department of Agriculture, will remain unpaid.

“I think it’s pretty ridiculous.

It’s not like it’s going to bring any drastic change or improvement for our economy since the House of Republicans is planning to postpone Obama’s health care policy regardless of the circumstances,” Saha said. ”It is not fair to resolve one feud in this manner and make millions of people suffer like this. It’s not a smart move at all. It’s going to result in a lot of upset people who once followed him (Obama).”

In a statement on Monday before the government shut down,

President Obama said he would work with anyone of either party to make sure the Affordable Care Act works better and to make sure the government works better, but he will not repel or gut the act completely.

“One faction of one party, in one house of Congress, in one branch of government doesn’t get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election,” Obama said.

Glenn Mitchell, marine surveyor in Mobile, Ala., said the Republicans hold the American public hostage until they get their demands.

“If foreign terrorists did this we would not tolerate it for 30 seconds, and legislation by extortion is no way to run a government,” Mitchell said.

The official order to close the government came a few minutes before midnight on Monday,

after the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo directing agencies to “execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations.”

More than 800,000 federal workers will now be furloughed, and millions will continue to work without pay.

James Surowiecki, New Yorker columnist, said in an article after the shutdown the U.S. has no trouble getting people to lend money at eminently reasonable interest rates, so the only way to default was if the U.S. chooses not to pay the bills. He also added that Republicans do not have the numbers to repeal Obamacare.

“Republicans would like to repeal Obamacare. But they don’t have the votes. That’s the simple reality that all the talk about the unpopularity of Obamacare is meant to occlude: Republicans

control only one house of Congress. In the past, that would have been enough to end the story,” Surowiecki said.

The world leader of space studies and outer space missions, NASA, completely shutdown Tuesday. The personnel serving on the on-going missions will continue to work without pay.

All 401 national parks in the U.S. will remain closed, including the Statue of Liberty. Businesses depending on these will have no customers.

The federal government is the largest employer in the U.S., so expect a large number of Americans to be at home.

In a time when the fragile U.S. economy looks to gain strength, a self-inflicted crisis by the Congressmen will hurt millions across America.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a republican or a democrat,

PRANAAV JADHAV Pranaav Jadhav is a junior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at opinion@ reflector.msstate.edu.

this shutdown will affect you either directly or indirectly.

At the end of the day, it is not your party affiliation that plays a significant role in your lives. It is the fundamental rights you enjoy as Americans that do. After all, the worst nightmare an American could have is an axe on his personal liberty.

ONE LITTLE SPARK

Y’all, can I get a pop? The great dialect divide Managing Editor

Editor in Chief

News Editor

Kristen Spink

Kaitlyn Byrne

Anna Wolfe

Multimedia Editor

Life Editor

Opinion Editor

Zack Orsborn

Daniel Hart

Alie Dalee

Sports Editor John Galatas

Photography Editor Kaitlin Mullins

Copy Editor Emma Crawford

CONTACT INFORMATION

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor in Chief/Kaitlyn Byrne

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.

325-7905 editor@reflector.msstate.edu Managing Editor/Kristen Spink 325-8991 managing@reflector.msstate.edu News Editor/Anna Wolfe 325-8819 news@reflector.msstate.edu Opinion Editor/Alie Dalee opinion@reflector.msstate.edu Sports Editor/John Galatas 325-5118 reflectorsports@gmail.com Life Editor/Daniel Hart 325-8883 life@reflector.msstate.edu Photography Editor/Kaitlin Mullins 325-1584 photo@reflector.msstate.edu Multimedia Editor/Zack Orsborn multimedia_editor@reflector.msstate.edu Advertising Sales/Julia Pendley 325-7907 advertise@reflector.msstate.edu

CORRECTIONS

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.

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.

E

arly this summer, statisti- be spoken in so many different cian Joshua Katz of North ways. How many hours of the Carolina State University first month of freshman year are took data from a dialect survey spent comparing dialects among administered by Bert Vaux of Har- new people you meet? College is vard and used it to create a series of a learning experience all around, maps that quickly went viral (You perhaps most of all a lesson in tolmay remember some multicolor erance for those who say the word maps clogging up your Facebook “caramel” wrong. newsfeeds this summer).

The most memorable trip to Dialect differences like the use Mugshots I’ve ever taken was a of “y’all” versus “you all” versus few semesters back. Some friends “you guys” and “fireflies” versus and I sat next to a large group of “lightning bugs” are all mapped students and a girl who, it became out in reds and blues and greens apparent, they had invited down on a map of the 48 continental to Starkville for the weekend. We United States. had started in Recently, Katz on our fried Linguists released a new pickles when addition to the know that all the converproject in which sation at the dialects are table over got the public can equally valid. e x t r e m e l y take the original loud. One of survey to receive Nevertheless, racial, the boys yelled a map showing regional and political how silly it which parts of the bigotry extends to was that the country they most resemble. Both the way marginalized girl called soft drinks pop, Katz and Vaux did peoples speak.” while the girl beautiful work on yelled back this project, but the question of why so many peo- an argument about the confusion ple and media outlets of varying that could come from calling them backgrounds flocked to a website all coke. The amount of emotion hosted by the crawling server of each put into the arguments about a research university still remains. this issue was astounding.

What makes this project so speThere’s a reason emotions run so cial? high when we talk about accents People are fascinated by the and dialects. From a young age, we idea that the same language can are taught that the way we speak

can carry power or stigma. Linguists know all dialects are equally valid, complex and rule-governed.

Nevertheless, racial, regional, and political bigotry extends to the way marginalized peoples speak. In order to succeed in school and the workforce, it is necessary to learn to speak like a white Midwesterner, at least some of the time.

Teaching speakers of other dialects, especially racially charged ones like African-American English, or AAE, to be able to codeswitch into Standard American English (the flat tones and grammar of the Midwest and your English papers) is one of the great inequalities of education. White kindergarteners come in with a dialect similar to the one taught by their bright-eyed English teacher, while speakers of AAE experience much more disconnect between the dialect they have acquired and the one they will have to use to succeed in school. The stigma that comes with having a different way of speaking in America, especially when that accent comes stacked on top of the racism still prevalent across the country, is meaningless and terrible, and it holds many back.

Racial bias can be seen with even more fervor in the accented speech of people whose first language is not English. In the few classes I have been in with professors with foreign accents, I have

WHITNEY KNIGHT Whitney Knight is a senior majoring in English education. She can be contacted at opinion@ reflector.msstate.edu.

cringed multiple times at the crass comments my classmates have directed at them. You would think people who speak in Southern dialects, which carry such a stigma across the country, would be more accepting, but even they seem to think that because these people don’t speak like they do, they are undeserving of their respect and patience.

Here’s a newsflash: everyone has an “accent,” even those white Midwesterners with grammar training we constantly try to imitate in our professional lives. The dialect someone speaks with has no bearing on his or her intelligence or worth. If we could all look past the way people speak to focus on the message they send, “there ain’t no telling what we might could learn.”

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013 | 7

REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM

AN IN-CLASS DISTRACTION ...

10-4-13

BULLETIN BOARD CLASSIFIEDS POLICY

The deadline for Tuesday’s paper is 3 p.m. Thursday; the deadline for Friday’s paper is 3 p.m. Tuesday. Classifieds are $5 per issue. Student and staff ads are $3 per issue, pre-paid.

Lost and found: found items can be listed for free; lost items are listed for standard ad cost.

HELP WANTED Church looking for a fulltime pianist. If interested, please call 662.323.3426 or 662.418.5280.

FOR SALE Home for sale. Three bedroom, two bathroom. 1,650 square feet. Three miles from campus. Country atmosphere.

Fireplace, wood floors, wraparound porch, one acre. $84,900 negotiable price. Call 325.203.1169.

CLUB INFO

The deadline for Tuesday’s paper is 3 p.m. Thursday; deadline for Friday’s paper is 3 p.m. Tuesday. MSU student organizations may place free announcements in Club Info. Information may be submitted by email to club_info@reflector.msstate. edu with the subject heading “CLUB INFO,” or a form may be completed at The

Reflector office in the Student Media Center. A contact name, phone number and requested run dates must be included for club info to appear in The Reflector. All submissions are subject to exemption according to space availability.

WESLEY FOUNDATION

Insight Bible study and worship Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at 286 East Lee Blvd. next to Campus Book Mart. Follow on Twitter @MSStateWesley or on Facebook.

MANIFESTING GLORY PRAISE TEAM

We are looking for talented singers and musicians to be a part of our campus ministry.

If interested, please call 662.648.8128.

KAPPA KAPPA PSI

Cardboard box boat race Oct. 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the Sanderson Center pool.

Teams of one to five people can compete for a cash prize with a $50 registration fee. Register online at www. squareup.com/market/KKpsiepsilon/cardboard-boat-raceregistration. Proceeds go to the Palmer Home for Children.

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION

SSA meets the last Thursday

of every month in Bowen 250 at 5 p.m. Every major is welcome.

STUDENTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS

Care about the environment?

Love activism? Come join SSC on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in McCool 111 to make a difference. Follow on Twitter @MSU_SSC. COLLEGIATE 4-H

Collegiate 4-H presents “Rummage around the Rosie,” a rummage sale for the people. At Rick’s cafe parking lot on Oct. 19th from 5 to 11 a.m. All furniture, clothes, tools and working electronics will be accepted for donation. For donation or pick-up or contact information, contact Boddnick Hudson at 662.392.7522 or Ashley Hubbard at 662.418.8375.

YOGA MOVES CLUB

School or work stressing you out? Get moving into Yoga Moves! Try our moves to get into shape and our relaxation techniques to handle the stress. Yoga Moves meets at the Sanderson Center in Studio C, Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Like Yoga Moves Club-MSU on Facebook.

Solutions for 10-1-13

ADVERTISE (WITH)

THE REFLECTOR

CALL 325-7907 Open year round!

Computer Diagnostics Tune-Ups • Brakes • Starters Alternators • Electrical • Heating Air Conditioning • Axels • Suspension • Timing Belts All types of auto repair - foreign and domestic

Danny’s Automotive & Engine Repair

Costume PARTY COSTUMES • VINTAGE • THEATRICAL

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ASE Certified Automotive Technician Specializing in Engine Rebuilds & Replacements Engine Replacements, New and Used Engines Rebuilt Motors, Exhaust Repairs Customs, Dual Exhaust and Mufflers Installed 405 East MLK Drive Work (662) 338-1005 Starkville, MS 39759 Cell (662) 312-6714

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Walk-Ins Welcome 100 Russell Street

(662) 323-0678

FEATURING:

SOUTHERN TIDE College Park Shopping Center 100 Russell Street Monday-Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm (662) 323-2326

8 | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013

LIFE EDITOR: DANIEL HART | life@reflector.msstate.edu

LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT

THE REFLECTOR

Stars and Spurs: MSU’s Space Cowboys reach out to Starkville

BY CALEB BATES Staff Writer

The Mississippi State University Space Cowboys is a student organization devoted to the design, construction and launching of rockets.

Since the team’s formation in 2006, engineering students have participated in the scheduling, purchasing, calculating, financing and logistical coordination of building and launching a rocket through the University Student Launch Initiative, a competition between university teams sponsored by NASA. For the competition, students generally must construct a rocket capable of carrying

a payload of observational equipment to an altitude of one mile, and then the rocket must safely descend without damaging the equipment.

Throughout the process, the MSU Space Cowboys write three to four academic papers on preliminary designs, design review, flight readings and safety, each of which is hundreds of pages in length. These papers are as equally important to the judges of the University Student Launch Initiative as the actual rocket’s performance.

The current crisis with the federal government shutdown has left NASA in need of funds, and as a result, the student competition has been canceled.

James Kelly, graduate student adviser for the MSU Space Cowboys, said the team is undeterred.

“Even though there won’t be a competition this year, we still plan on building our rocket,” Kelly said.

The Space Cowboys stay hard at work to reach out to the Starkville community.

The Space Cowboys frequently visit local groups like Boy and Girl Scouts troops. At these meetings, the members demonstrate their rockets and talk about the importance of math and science. Amy Sanford, the team’s co-director of outreach, said these visits aim to foster an interest in aerodynamics in the young students.

Reclaiming Bulldog Bash:

BY NUR-UL-HUDA MUJAHID Contributing Writer

Bulldog Bash not only fills the streets of downtown Starkville with free live music, but the event also raises awareness for local philanthropies and gives the community a concert under the stars.

Although Bulldog Bash is a lively free concert, the event gives back to Starkville.

Each year, the Bulldog Bash committee selects a charity to receive the proceeds Bash sponsors donate to the festival. The directors of the 2013 Bulldog Bash have chosen the Reclaimed Project as the organization that will benefit this year.

Michael Hogan, Mississippi State University’s Student

Association president, said the SA learned about the Reclaimed Project from Jason Stoker, co-owner of Deep South Pout in Starkville, and also from friends around town. Hogan said supporting the Reclaimed Project expands the event beyond the MSU community.

“We didn’t want Bulldog Bash to be strictly associated with Mississippi State University,” he said. “By giving back to the Reclaimed Project, we’re able to connect well with the city of Starkville and broaden our horizons.”

The Reclaimed Project is a homegrown non-profit organization founded in Starkville in 2012. James 1:27, which speaks of caring for widows and orphans, inspired the group’s founding.

“A lot of kids might think it’s unrealistic to want to grow up to be a rocket scientist. But when we come to visit, they get to see people who are actually doing it,” she said. “We want them to know you don’t have to be some kind of genius or the smartest kid in your class to do this.”

The majority of the Space Cowboys’ outreach is conducted in late March during their “Space Week,” but they visit various children’s organizations throughout the year when not busy with rocket building. Those interested in scheduling an event with the MSU Space Cowboys can contact Sanford at as1395@ msstate.edu.

BAGLEY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | COURTESY PHOTO

The Space Cowboys placed fifth out of 25 at the 2013 Nasa University Students Launch Initiative competition this summer. When not building rockets, the club reaches out to students in Starkville.

Event donates proceeds to Reclaimed Project, helps local families with costs of adoption

Resultantly, the Reclaimed Project strives to bestow care for orphans, provide adoption resources and impart adoption assistance to the Starkville community.

Amanda Fones, Bulldog Bash director, said this year the Bash’s sponsors wanted to give back to a charity that serves Starkville.

“This year we selected the Reclaimed Project because we wanted the money to go to a local charity,” she said.

“Bulldog Bash is a community-wide event, and we know the importance of keeping things local. We love the mission of the Reclaimed Project, and we think the organization brings something special back to Starkville.”

The Reclaimed Project assists families who have trou-

ble adopting children due to the expenses of adoption.

The organization provides grants and mentors to families to assist in the adoption process.

Sarah Wyatt, a local Starkville resident, was one such grant recipient. Wyatt said the funds she received from the Reclaimed Project give her the opportunity to transport her daughter home from China.

“I can’t thank the Reclaimed Project enough for selecting me as a grant recipient. It is a true blessing and prayers answered to bring my daughter, Chloe, home from China,” she said. “Adopting as a single parent, the grant will definitely help with adoption expenses.”

Donations from various

sponsors fund Bulldog Bash, and the money from the sponsors provides the essentials needed for the production of the concert.

Fones said the budget for this year’s Bulldog Bash gives all remaining donations to the Reclaimed Project.

“After the Bash is all said and done, all of the remaining money in our budget will go to the Reclaimed Project,” she said. “Along with monetary support of the organization, representatives of Reclaimed Project will be present on Friday, Oct. 4 to share more information about their organization.”

The screens set up at the Bash also feature videos about the Reclaimed Project between musical acts to bring awareness to the organization.

tinyurl.com/SPDUniversity

Bulldog Bash hopes to make people aware of the cause and mission of the Reclaimed Project and also raise awareness so people may support the organization in the future.

Fones said the existence of a service like the Reclaimed Project in Starkville speaks volumes about the community’s large heart and drives Bulldog Bash to support the Reclaimed Project.

“Having an organization such as Reclaimed, founded right here in Starkville, is very important to the type of community that Starkville is and how wonderful the people of Starkville are,” she said. “It shows that we are more than just another college town, but that together, Starkville can make an impact, both local, and across the globe.”

@SPDUniversity

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LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT

Building Dawghouses: Habitat for Humanity builds new homes for Starkvillians

BY ALEX MONIÉ Staff Writer

A house under construction on Mississippi Hwy. 182 in Starkville goes up quickly but without construction workers. The hands that lay shingles and paint walls belong to Starkville residents and Mississippi State University students who do not necessarily have construction experience.

The house is the latest project of the Starkville chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which gives MSU students and faculty a tangible way of giving back to the community.

Habitat for Humanity uses local volunteers to construct new homes with no-interest

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013 | 9

mortgages for homeowners with low income. These homes intend to eliminate substandard living arrangements and give fresh starts to families seeking change and a chance.

Joel Downey, executive director of the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, said he believes these homes give families a new beginning.

“Housing and homeownership has a tremendous impact on the well-being of a family.

Adequate, safe, decent and affordable housing has tremendous effect on people’s health and mental outlook,” he said.

Downey said improved living arrangements provide better social interaction as well as

RUSS HOUSTON | COURTESY PHOTO

Mark Keenum and others break ground at the fifth annual Maroon Edition Habitat for Humanity house on Miss. Highway. 182. Each year, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity construct homes for Starkvillians. safety and security.

“To take it a step further, homeownershipcorrelates with all types of positive family characteristics,” Downey said.

MSU students and faculty are no stranger to Habitat for Humanity. On Aug. 12, the fifth annual Maroon Edition Habitat for Humanity project in the city of Starkville broke ground. This home is

dedicated to Raven Hendrix, an MSU employee, and her children.

President Mark Keenum drove one of the first nails into the Maroon Edition House. According to a University Relations news release, when Keenum addressed the Hendrix family, he noted the possibilities the new house could open up for them.

“This is a fresh start in your

lives, having a home for you and your family. We are so appreciative of the community and everyone who helps with this,” Keenum said.

Campus organizations such as the Foundation Ambassadors give regularly to help fund materials for Habitat homes. Additionally, the Maroon Volunteer Center, Greek organizations and athletic teams on campus coordinate to send volunteers to Habitat locations weekly.

Out of the $70,000 total estimated cost for a Habitat home to be built in Starkville, donations from MSU groups totaled $46,500 last year.

Brandon Beatty, senior business major, said he participates in Habitat for Humanity in Starkville because it allows him to serve the city that serves him.

“It was great to give back to the community that has given so much to me,” he said.

Starkville residents are also known to be generous toward Habitat for Humanity. Over $200,000 annually comes

from various businesses and groups throughout the city.

Citizens volunteer daily to both supervise the construction sites and instruct volunteers on how to build the homes. Habitat keeps an open-door policy at all times and allows anyone to volunteer on Habitat projects.

Those unskilled in construction build Habitat for Humanity houses and construct more than just homes.

Habitat for Humanity brings about more than a home for citizens who deserve them.

Habitat fosters collaboration in the name of service not only to Starkville citizens’ physical needs, but their need to know this city takes care of its own.

The Maroon Volunteer Center schedules volunteer shifts for the Maroon Edition home. Shifts are Fridays and Saturdays until Nov. 2. A morning shift and an afternoon shift are both available and each can accommodate up to 25 volunteers. More information may be found at mvc.msstate.edu.

Carl Small Town Center helps small towns thrive with good design

BY CATIE MARIE MARTIN Staff Writer

Small towns are inherent in descriptions of Mississippi’s landscape. Mississippi has always been heralded as more of a collection of small towns than urban metropolises. The state does not boast a skyscraper over 318 feet tall and does not have a city with more than 170,000 residents.

Mississippians take pride in this claim. Country singers romanticize the concept of a “Mississippi girl,” and novelists like William Faulkner, Eurdora Welty and Larry Brown immortalized the state’s small towns and rural Southern culture in their writing.

The Carl Small Town Center, which was founded in 1979 by members of Mississippi State University’s School of Architecture, preserves this hometown reputation.

According to its website, the CSTC offers a “laboratory-like setting where small town problems and their

solutions could be identified, discussed, studied and illustrated.” The Carl Small Town Center helps maintain and improve one of Mississippi’s defining assets: its small town atmosphere.

The CSTC believes that Mississippi has an advantage over other parts of the country.

According to the CSTC website, “While other parts of the country are trying to recover a sense of pedestrian scale and small town life, many of Mississippi’s small towns lay waiting to be revitalized with these qualities intact.”

John Poros, director of the center, and MSU professor of architecture, said the main goal of the CSTC is to help Mississippi towns re-envision and revamp their historic buildings and downtowns.

“By improving the places in a town, the town works better to provide housing, services and recreation and businesses,” he said. “In the 21st century economy, the character and amenities of a place are

critical to luring well-trained and educated workers that businesses need today.”

The fact that a business could be judged by its appearance seems unsettling, but in a world where a book is judged by its cover, presentation is everything.

In terms of history, Mississippi has much to offer, and the CSTC hopes to bring this historical richness out in order to restore thriving business in Mississippi and remain competitive with the economies of other states.

Though the Carl Small Town Center takes interest in all Mississippi towns, it is especially connected to Starkville and the students of MSU. Poros said the CSTC influences his life as a teacher but also influences the lives of his students by providing them with opportunities to work on real world projects.

“My work with the center makes me aware of real world issues that small towns grapple with, and as a teach-

er, I can bring those issues to students,” he said. “Likewise, small towns love to work with our students, who can bring their different experiences and insight to these small town problems.”

Hannah Waycaster, junior architecture major, said the CSTC benefits students by teaching them subjects, like master planning, that are not always taught in traditional architecture studio courses.

“I’ve learned a lot that I haven’t learned in studio, so I think it has really advanced my work,” she said. “In the Small Town Center we do a lot of urban planning, and in studio it’s more about designing buildings and structures.

It’s opened my eyes up to a whole different scope of architecture.”

Waycaster said working with the CSTC also allows her to work with students of other majors.

“Right now there are three architecture students, an interior design student, and a

guy who does broadcasting weather,” she said. “Over the summer we had a landscape architect working with us.”

To make strides in Mississippi design and architecture, the Carl Small Town Center employs students and architects who have the most care

for the state: native Mississippians. The people best equipped to bring forth the beauty of this place are those who grew up amidst its rich agricultural resources, see its creative flow at work and have been indelibly influenced by its sweet Southern charm.

LEAH KEMP | COURTESY PHOTO

Students in the CREATE Common Ground class, a collaboration between the CSTC and CREATE Foundation, meet with clients in Calhoun City. The CSTC works to provide quality design to Mississippi small towns.

Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience: Part 2 0f 2:” Perfect vision, perfect sound?

BY CATIE MARIE MARTIN Staff Writer

Justin Timberlake is a triple threat. He is a singer, dancer and actor. He is the successor of Michael Jackson. Timberlake’s name has lingered on the lips of pop music enthusiasts since the “The 20/20 Experience”dropped in March. It became the best-selling album of 2013 so far, inspired the first N*Sync reunion in 10 years and increased the number of young men sporting the classic “Suit and Tie” combo regularly.

Timberlake must have liked that taste of success because he continues to ride its coat tails. “The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2” was released this week, and Timberlake’s sequel does not disappoint. Timberlake himself said that the “20/20

Experience” would be “an amazing consortium of eyes and ears.” Timbaland, Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon and Bob Knox produced “Part 2 of 2,” which draws from almost ev-

RCA RECORDS | COURTESY PHOTO

ery musical genre. From pop to hip-hop to country, “The 20/20 Experience: Part 2 of 2” includes a little something for everyone.

The album contains just the

right amount of synth, funk, driving rhythm, retro and even the occasional rift of an organ and electric guitar. Musically, the album is a dead ringer, but several elements cause it to fall just short of perfection.

The lyrics of “Part 2 of 2” parallel their predecessor and often utilize corny and desperately seductive words. In his duet with Drake, “Cabaret,” Timberlake sings, “I got you saying ‘Jesus’ so much, it’s like we laying in the manger.” Such graphic words are truly unnecessary.

Timberlake’s voice alone brings all the sex appeal the songs could possibly need.

The most unsettling factor of the twin albums is Timberlake’s decision to split up his two-disc masterpiece. The songs are thematically and musically

similar and would have flowed naturally on a single disc. The success of the albums drags slightly, as it would seem Timberlake believes one can never have too much of a good thing.

Not a single song on Part 2 is shorter than four-and-a-half minutes. These uncomfortably long tracks would be acceptable once or twice, but nine-minute

long “True Blood” relentlessly beats the dead musical horse.

Could it be that Timberlake is the slightest bit narcissistic?

He cannot seem to whittle his work down to its core; he is unable to leave anything out.

In the promotional video for this second wind, Timberlake said, “I just wanna go and go and go and see what we come

up with.”

And he went. He went and went and went. This excess works for him this time around, but here’s a word to the wise Justin: don’t cling to what’s unnecessary. Don’t be afraid to quit while you’re ahead. This isn’t basketball.

There’s no need to leave it all on the court just yet.

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LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT

BULLDOGS, BLACK CROWES AND GIVING BACK

As the crow flies: The Black Crowes headline Bulldog Bash

BY SHELBY PERANICH Staff Writer

Though the Cotton District’s few blocks only ebb and flow comes from Mississippi State University students and visitors crowding bars after home games, Friday night brings the Cotton District’s annual high tide — Bulldog Bash.

Crowds as large as 35,000 people flooded the Cotton District in the past anticipating chart-topping artists’ performances.

This year’s lineup includes three performances on an outdoor stage in front of Bulldog Deli on University Drive in the Cotton District.

Fides, winner of the Battle of the Bands, plays at 7 p.m., Chris Young at 8 p.m. and this year’s headliner, The B l a c k

Crowes, at 9:30 p.m.

The main performer for the event is The Black Crowes, a band that has sold over 35 million albums according to its website, blackcrowes.com, and has a great reputation for live shows.

Brett Harris, junior marketing and management major and current chief programming officer for MSU’s Student Association, said The Black Crowes represents a break from the younger acts who have performed in recent Bulldog Bashes.

The Black Crowes, an established act, will not only draw in a large crowd, Harris said, but a varied crowd of both students and visiting alumni.

“We earnestly strive to bring as much diversity to Bulldog Bash as possible, being that our main goal is to

YOUNG AT HEART

Country musician Chris Young sure to perform with inefectious spirit

BY HALEY HARDMAN Contributing Writer

Bulldog Bash’s headliner may be rock band The Black Crowes, but country artist Chris Young keeps at least a third of the night rooted in the festival’s Southern roots.

Young is an artist who recently rocked his way to the top of the country music world. According to “Ace Showbiz,” Young started his trail of fame when he won “Nashville Star,” a country music reality singing competition, in 2006. Since then, he has become a country music powerhouse. He has won numerous awards, including accumulating five Billboard Number One hits, “Breakthrough Artist of the Year”

and “Single of the Year” at the 2011 Country Music Awards.

Justin Cooper, co-director of Bulldog Bash, said the booking of Young happened so smoothly it was almost fate.

“The routing for Chris Young worked out perfectly,” he said. “We knew we wanted a country artist, and we were more than happy to see he was available. It was kind of a perfect circumstance.”

An artist’s stage presence is vital, as his or her demeanor dictates the atmosphere of the concert. One reason Young was a sought after for Bulldog Bash is his electric stage presence and his talent for delivering cutting edge, modern country music.

Brett Harris, Mississippi State University Student As-

please the student body, we picked bands that we thought would make the majority of the students happy,” he said. “Also, being a band from the `80s, it is our hope that The Black Crowes will please a vast majority of our alumni as well.”

When looking at how many albums the band has sold and its overall musical success, some may wonder what drew The Black Crowes to perform in Starkville.

Amanda Fones, senior political science major and co-director of Bulldog Bash, said she believes Bulldog Bash’s amalgamation of concert and community drew the band to the event.

“I think they were interested in the idea of Bulldog Bash.

Bash is more

sociation chief programming officer, said Young will provide a buoyant night for those trekking into the streets for his show.

“I think Chris Young will bring a fun energy to the crowd,” he said. “He is a great performer, and I assume that he will have no problem relating to the audience.”

Amanda Fones, co-director of Bulldog Bash, said the charisma Young has to offer, combined with The Black Crowes’s longevity and loyal following, give this year’s Bulldog Bash the potential to draw its largest crowd yet.

“Chris is a fairly young artist, so he has a pretty large fan base. His songs are very popular on the radio,” Fones said.

“All of these avenues provide people with access to his music recently, so I imagine he will bring large amounts of people to the district on Friday to listen to him.”

Modern country music lovers all over Mississippi have the opportunity to bombard the Cotton District to hear Young at 8 p.m. According to Cooper and Fones, Young will have no problem exceeding the expectations of concertgoers flocking to crowd the stage tonight.

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than just a concert — it’s a small town along with thousands of students, alumni and community members all coming together to crowd the streets of Starkville’s Historic Cotton District,” she said. “I think The Black Crowes saw the hype of Bulldog Bash and its past and thought it would be a great showcase for one of their shows.”

Fones described the band as straightforward rock and said they are a group who has stood the test of time.

“I would just say that they are an American rock band that have been together since 1989 and are still growing strong,” Fones said.

To please a wide range of Bulldog Bash attendees, Fones said the event booked bands with different musical genres.

“They are different styles of music intentionally,”

she said. “We want Bulldog Bash to include a variety of genres in order to draw in varying crowd members.”

The Black Crowes’s live shows have sustained a memorable reputation throughout the decades they have been performing.

Justin Cooper, senior civil engineering major and co-director of Bulldog Bash, said he is sure the band’s Bulldog Bash performance will support The Black Crowes’ s rewnown as an outstanding live act.

“I believe that we will have a great response from the crowd,” he said. “The Black Crowes are known for great live performances, so I have no doubt that this will be no exception.”

Past Bulldog Bash acts, such as Jason Mraz, The Avett Brothers and Eli Young Band, provided enthralling, crowd-pleasing concerts.

While Cooper said he has no doubt The Black Crowes will put on a great show, he also said he thinks this year’s lineup, which includes various genres of

music, will stand tall alongside previous years’ musical acts.

“The Black Crowes definitely bring a much different type of music than the bands you have mentioned (Jason Mraz, Avett Brothers, Eli Young Band), and I believe people will appreciate their classic rock/blues/ soul feel,” he said. “More importantly, I think such a great lineup will hold its own against some of the past Bash lineups.”

Cooper said while the event’s attendance grows in numbers so does the hope that each year’s show will outshine the last.

“I hope that this year’s Bulldog Bash will rank up high with one of the best there has been,” he said. “I believe it has the potential to be the best Bash yet, and it is certainly one of the biggest Bashes already.”

Friday night’s concerts take place on an outdoor stage in front of Bulldog Deli on University Drive in the Cotton District.

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS | COURTESY PHOTO

Gloriana performs at fall 2012 Bulldog Bash. Each year, Bulldog Bash includes multiple acts from various genres, including rock, country and pop musicians.

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS | COURTESY PHOTO

Attendees crowd Cotton District balconies during Bulldog Bash. The event takes place on an outdoor stage in front of Bulldog Deli on University Avenue.

SPORTS Women’s golf claims win at Old Waverly

REFLECTOR-ONLINE.COM

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013 | 11

STAT OF THE DAY:

SPORTS EDITOR: JOHN GALATAS | reflectorsports@gmail.com

By John Galatas Sports Editor

Following two top-10 finishes in its first two tournaments of the year, the Mississippi State University women’s golf team placed first Wednesday in the Old Waverly Bulldog Invitational.

The team broke numerous records, including a school-record 275 in the final round to finish the threeround tournament with a 20-under-par 844. The total score bettered the previous record set by the 1999 squad at the Lady Seminole Invitational.

The win was the first victory for the program since the 2004 Wildcat Fall Invitational.

MSU’s All-American Ally McDonald claimed top honors shooting 9-under at 207 for the tournament. In the final round, McDonald fired seven birdies, including on No. 18. She said experience in last year’s home invitational was a key factor for her success this year.

“Last year, I knew I had a good chance to win at home.

Unfortunately, I didn’t play the best I could have. My first round put me out of the running because I shot a 74,” she said. “This year, I had a different approach. I didn’t pressure myself as much, and I was able to pull off even more shots and more putts than I did last year. I think most of that comes from being more experienced.”

Teammate Jessica Peng also delivered a career performance as she finished 8-under at 208, just one stroke behind McDonald.

Saturday marks the 12thconsecutive year msu will face a ranked lsu team. Nine times in that stretch, lsu has been ranked in the top 10.

hard leading up to all these tournaments. To play on a home course is an advantage and builds confidence if you know how to play the course,” she said. “All the girls prepared very hard, and we knew we had a good opportunity to win the tournament. Everyone performed just as we anticipated, and we came out with a win.”

Head coach Ginger BrownLemm said she was proud of the way her squad performed in the 11-team invitational, and she noted depth on the roster allowed the team to come away with the victory.

“It’s pretty amazing. We have not been in a position depth-wise to be ready to win yet, and it was just the perfect time. It was our turn to win,” she said. “We had worked so hard leading up to the event, and we had played so well with so many top-10 finishes.

To really commandingly win the event was a lot of fun.”

The Bulldogs now travel to Brown-Lemm’s alma mater, the University of Texas for the Betsy Rawls Invitational Oct. 13-15, their final tournament until February.

Brown-Lemm said her squad will continue to rely on experience to meet high expectations.

“I think their expectations for themselves are high. Ally courtesy photos | msu media relations (McDonald), Mary Langdon (Top) The Missisisppi State University women’s golf team poses after its home tournament win (Gallagher) and Rica (Tse) at the Old Waverly Invitational. Ally McDonald (bottom left) and Jessica Peng (bottom right) show have all played the course we’re going to at UT. That’s off the hardware they earned as they helped lead the program to its biggest win since 1999. a big advantage with their experience level,” she said.

McDonald said the Bull- “My two freshmen have had With a 10-stroke lead Donald and Peng, teammates entering the final round Ji Eun Baik (T4), Mary dogs’ win simply reflects the so much experience outside Wednesday, eight of the nine Langdon Gallagher (T-8) effort the team has put forth collegiate golf, and it did a Bulldog golfers shot even-par and Blaise Carabello (T-10) since the beginning of the lot for them to play so well at home. I think we’re ready to or better to secure the title posted top-10 finishes in the year.

“We’ve worked really do well again.” by 21 strokes. Following Mc- tournament.

Ray cuts Lewis

By John Galatas Sports Editor

For the second time in the past month, the Mississippi State University men’s basketball program learned one of its returning starters from a year ago will be missing in the year’s roster.

Senior forward Wendell Lewis was dismissed from the MSU basketball team for conduct detrimental to the team, Bulldog head coach Rick Ray announced Thursday.

Senior Jalen Steele left the program earlier last month.

Lewis, a Selma, Ala., native, appeared in 98 games in his career for the Maroon and White including 13 starts. Last season, a knee injury cut his year short despite starting the first eight games.

For his career, Lewis averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Ray said in a statement Lewis was given an opportunity to return after suffering the injury, and he is disappointed with his dismissal.

“I am saddened by the actions we had to take because we brought Wendell back to give him an opportunity to complete his senior year on the court healthy and earn his degree,” Ray said.

THE REFLECTOR

12 | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013

RIGHT ON CUE

Fans prepare for promising Major League Baseball playoffs

T

he best time of the year is officially upon us.

October baseball has returned, and with that comes playoff beards, cooler weather and way too many close-up camera shots of pitcher’s faces.

Excitement is as high as ever for what is shaping up to be a great playoff.

NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates If you are a casual fan looking for a bandwagon to hop on, look no further. The last year Pittsburgh made a playoff appearance (1992), “Aladdin” was in theaters and Nirvana was in its prime. The Pirates are a great story, but they have their hands full against the Cardinals, who seem to turn it on every October when it matters most. Although they went 10-9 against their division rival this season, it feels

like an uphill battle for the In what feels more like an Pirates. On the other side, NLCS-type series, it is amazthe Cardinals are annual play- ing this is an actual first-round off contenders matchup. Afand have as ter playing The Red balanced of a sub-.500 baseteam as almost Sox led the ball for over anyone in basetwo months majors in and circulatball. The Cards nearly every ing rumors of boast a deep manager Don starting staff offensive category Mattingly beled by Adam and got solid ing fired, the Wa i n w r i g h t contributions from Dodgers ripped and arguably boast the stron- the pitching staff all off one of the most impresgest lineup in season long.” sive runs in the National baseball histoLeague. Their only major question is in the ry, going 42-8 over a 50-game bullpen, as reliever Edward span. The Braves, on the other Mujica was removed from hand, jumped out of the gate the closer role near the end of on fire but struggled down the stretch. Despite such a September. successful year, it still feels Pick: Cardinals in 4 NLDS: Atlanta Braves vs. like previous playoff shortLos Angeles Dodgers comings hang over Atlanta’s

head, and those doubts will remain until they do some serious damage in October.

Pick: Dodgers in 4 ALDS: Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays If you had the Red Sox winning 97 games and securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs, take a bow. Boston, fresh off a 6993 record and all around miserable season in 2012, hired former pitching coach John Farrell as manager and made a serious effort to change the clubhouse culture. And you know what? It actually worked. The Red Sox led the majors in nearly every offensive category and got solid contributions from the pitching staff all season long. It’s finally fun to be a Red Sox fan again, and all the beards make for a very similar comparison

to the 2013 Mississippi State University’s baseball team, which is always a good thing.

The Rays come in off huge wins at Texas and Cleveland to win the AL Wild Card playoff and are as dangerous as anyone right now with a dominant starting rotation.

I’d be surprised if this series does not go at least five games.

Pick: Red Sox in 5 ALDS: Oakland A’s vs.

Detroit Tigers This is a rematch of the ALDS last season, which was a five-game thriller that resulted in Detroit winning thanks to a dominant performance from Justin Verlander. The teams are relatively similar to their 2012 versions, only Verlander has not been what we have come to expect from one of the most dominant pitch-

JOSH COOKE Josh Cooke is a senior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at reflectorsports@ gmail.com.

ers baseball has seen in quite some time. Verlander is not even starting Game one — fellow starter Max Scherzer is. Verlander will be just fine, and despite the mediocre season (by Verlander standards), he is still just as terrifying to face as always. It’s hard to put a finger on, but there is just something about this A’s baseball team. Oakland is not flashy — it just wins. This first-round series will be their biggest test yet against Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers, which promises to be an unbelievable series.

Pick: A’s in 5.

Volleyball student support group provides home advantage

BY JOHN GALATAS Sports Editor

Following in the footsteps of similar student support groups, a few Mississippi State University students founded a new fan group, the DawgHouse, and pack Newell Grissom to cheer for the Maroon and White volleyball team.

Jerry Cherry, a graduate student and residence director of McKee Hall, said he started the group when he and a group of friends attended one of the first volleyball games of the season.

“It started out with me going to a game with a couple friends. We realized there wasn’t a lot of student support in Newell Grissom,” he said. “The next game I thought, ‘I’m going to invite my resident advisers and a couple of residents.’ We got

there, and a few ideas came across like, ‘Let’s yell this, or let’s do this,’ and actually a lot of these things became traditions.”

Traditions like pointing fingers during serves, yelling during kills and dog barks have become staples in the cheers that fans and players have come to enjoy. Another tradition started when the opposing team started bouncing the ball before a serve. With each bounce comes a creative yell to distract the opponent.

“We yell English numbers. We yell ABC’s. We yell Spanish. A couple of us know German, so we’ll even yell in German. German sounds like a very angry language in general, so you can just yell that as well,” Cherry said.

“We try to get in their head and try to give our girls the home-court advantage.”

The cheers and chants have not gone unnoticed. MSU volleyball coach Jenny Hazelwood said the fans have played a key role in the team’s performance on the court.

“I can’t even describe how important it’s been to have them here for matches,” she said. “When we’re playing and you get some momentum and they’re adding energy, it just carries you that much more. They’ve just been really helpful to our program. It just means a lot to our girls. They appreciate their peers supporting them.”

Hazelwood’s 2013 team features seven freshmen along with six sophomores.

With little experience on the court, Hazelwood said fan support helps the younger players settle into games.

“It can kind of help just ease them into, ‘OK, we’re playing, and this is fun.’

Sometimes when it’s a little quieter you don’t have that kind of fan support. Then that’s when it probably allows them to think too much and overthink things,” she said. “When we’ve got great fan support and they’re super loud, it’s just a fun environment. It does help them relax a ton.”

Freshman opposite Kimmy Gardiner said not only do the fans support the hometeam performance, but their chants and cheers get in the minds of the opponent.

“I think they bring a lot of fire to the court. We want to get pumped and win because it gets them excited,” she

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Members of the student support group “The DawgHouse” cheer during a volleyball match in the Newell Grissom Building. The support group was founded earlier this season and presents a spirit that gives the team a true home-court advantage. said. “I think it also gets the admires the group’s creativity tined to land at MSU to lead other team on their toes, too. and reflection to the univer- each group.

“I like to think Jenny HaThey really help us keep the sity.

“Their creativity has been zelwood and I came to Misenergy up, even when we’re really impressive,” she said. sissippi State as a package down.”

Cherry, who earned his “I feel like they represent deal. She came from Ausbachelor’s degree from Aus- Mississippi State in a positive tin Peay, and I did as well. tin Peay State University in way, but also help our team I knew of her but never really met her, but I went to 2011, and some of the group play at a higher level.”

The group’s creativity also some Austin Peay games and traveled to the Nashville area the same weekend MSU extends to social media plat- came here to find she was the played in the Belmont Bru- forms. Via Twitter, @MSU- coach,” he said. “The term ins Classic hosted to Belmont dawghouseVB interacts with Hazelnuts actually came from the group at the scorer’s University. The group visited fans, coaches and players.

Cherry said the group is table after seeing how rowdy family, friends and, of course, made time to support the increasing in size and tradi- we get. It fits.” tions, most recently adding MSU returns to the court team in the tournament.

Hazelwood, who coached the phrase ‘Hazelnuts’ to its Oct. 11 and 13 for a weekthe APSU volleyball team list of cheers. He also claims end road trip at Texas A&M from 2007-2008, said she he and Hazelwood were des- and LSU.

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SPORTS

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Q&A with

BY JOHN GALATAS Sports Editor

Q: After a hot start to the season and then a loss at Georgia, can you evaluate LSU so far this year?

A: The “hot start” can be misleading, seeing as the Tigers played two awful cupcakes and two mediocre teams before the shootout in Athens. The offense has improved drastically under Cam Cameron and continues to debut new wrinkles as each week develops, much to the delight of Tiger fans who were starved for an aerial pass attack. On the other hand, the defense seems to be regressing as youth and inexperience seems to be catching up with John Chavis’s unit. It seems as if the Tigers will be able to score in bunches, but will hinge on just a few defensive stops to close out games as the year progresses.

Chandler Rome

Q: Even with the conference loss, if LSU wins out, they could represent the West in the SEC title game. Do you think this is a probable feat?

A: At this point, no. After watching the Georgia offense have its way with every facet of the Tiger defense and with the rise of offenses in the conference, I can’t see LSU escaping the rest of its slate undefeated, especially with trips to Tuscaloosa and Oxford on the docket. Add in a visit from Johnny Football, and I can legitimately see the Tigers dropping three more games if the defense plays as it did last week.

Q: There have been many questions swarming LSU’s defense. With players like Therald Simon, Barkevious Mingo, Sam Montgomery, Eric Reid and Kevin Minter declaring for the NFL draft, how do the Tigers refresh a depleted defense?

Louisana State University’s student newspaper A: Well, it hasn’t been replenished very well thus far. Defensive tackles Ego Ferguson and Anthony Johnson haven’t lived up to astronomical preseason expectations and a soft, young secondary has been violently exploited. Add in linebackers who haven’t been up to snuff, and the problems are littered throughout the unit.

People will point to Georgia’s explosive offense as a reason, but I point them to the Auburn game where the defense was abysmal in the second half as Nick Marshall burned the secondary for three deep balls, and Tre Mason had his way on the ground. Even earlier in the season, the Tigers had a difficult time containing TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin as he ran roughshod over them.

Q: In last week’s loss, LSU surrendered over 40 points for the first time since 2008, and it seems as if LSU has not ap-

plied the same pressure on the quarterback this year unlike in John Chavis’s previous defenses.

What kind of concern has this presented, and what is the solution?

A: Last week, LSU had zero quarterback hurries on Aaron Murray. I didn’t know that was possible for a high-level college football team. As I mentioned before, Ferguson and Johnson haven’t handled the constant attention very well, and a constant rotation of inexperienced defensive ends has made any pass rush nonexistent. Jordan Allen has surprised at the end, along with Danielle Hunter, and if the two can get hot again, the Tigers could salvage some form of pocket pressure.

Q: How has Zach Mettenberger progressed under new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron?

A: Plain and simple, Mettenberger is a different player. He looks so calm and collected in the pocket and seems to be the only player who commands the attention of his teammates as a leader. He’s got two NFL-caliber receivers in Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. and a punishing running back in Jeremy Hill to complement his newfound confidence. With the exception of a few throw aways, I can’t recall many off-course throws or bad decisions. People have pegged him as a dark horse Heisman candidate, and with the way he’s playing now, it’s hard to disagree.

Q: Even though LSU has won 19 of the last 20 meetings, how do LSU fans view this series against MSU? A: LSU fans view anyone that’s not named Alabama as an inferior opponent and don’t pay

them much attention. Much is the case with Mississippi State.

There’s no reasoning with the so-called “greatest fans in the nation” on that, but last week’s loss may have jarred a few from their weird way of thinking.

Q: All right, prediction time.

Who do you see coming out with a win?

A: It’s weird, seeing as this will be the first time LSU goes on the road for a second consecutive week in more than a season. Mississippi State has the defense to quell the freight train that has become the LSU offense, but I’m not sure Tyler Russell or Dak Prescott have enough in the tank to keep pace with the offense, even when the Tigers may be less-than-stellar.

Look for a close first half, but I think LSU pulls away early in the second half for a comfortable 38-24 win.

Bulldogs eager to give back to local, state community

BY SHANE ANDERSON Staff Writer

“With great power, comes great responsibility.”

This quote may be a cliché to anyone who is in charge or is in the higher tier of their business, but think harder about what it really means.

This statement is simple, but yet so much goes into it. It asks the big question — If you’re someone that the public looks up to, how should you act so that you show the best qualities in yourself and your organization?

Nobody can deny once fall comes along and the leaves start to change, football has a stronghold at the hearts of many fans at Mississippi State University. Fans from all

around Mississippi travel up to Starkville to experience this small college town on a game day. Fans come by the tens-ofthousands to show their school colors and ring their cowbells with undeniable school pride.

But what kind of pressure does this put on the football players and coaches? For young college kids that are thrust into the spotlight at a moment’s notice, they become instant fan-favorites and even idols for children.

For head coach Dan Mullen, the presence his team makes in the community is one of the most important ideals he tries to get his players to realize.

“That’s always huge,” Mullen said. “We are at a small college town, and I think everyone, not just in Starkville,

but the whole state, has a lot of School during the Breakfast of pride in their university. So I Champions event. The team think for our guys to be out in reads to students in Bully’s public and for Book Blitz, us to be around, visit children We are it shows that at Blair E. a small our kids are a Batson Chilpart of the comdren’s Hospicollege munity.” tal, ring bells town, and I think According to for the SalvaCandace Dailey, everyone, not just tion Army and assistant com- in Starkville, but the participate in a pliance coordi- whole state, has a Thanksgiving nator for MSU, can food drive. lot of pride in their the Bulldogs Aside from participate in university.” group particimultiple activ- -Dan Mullen, pation, many ities and events head football coach individuals are annually. The also active in Dogs visit stucampus orgadents at Sudduth nizations, FelElementary School, Hender- lowship of Christian Athletes, son-Ward-Stewart Elementary Relay for Life and church School and Armstrong Middle youth activities.

Being a public figure in this day and age is difficult.

With social media usage at an all-time high and privacy becoming harder to find, Mullen reminds his players that they are always looked at in a different light.

“I tell our guys this all the time, like it or not they’re role models,” Mullen said.

“Even though they are 18 and 19-year-old college kids, people view them as role models.”

With the first SEC home game against LSU around the corner, the players also take notice in what the support of the MSU fans a student body means to them.

For breakout quarterback Dak Prescott, giving back to the people who come out and

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support them on the field is a high priority.

“It’s awesome,” Prescott said. “Those are the people that come out and support us every game and give to us, so any chance to give back to them or go out and speak to them, I’m all about that.”

There is no doubt pride runs heavy through the fans.

They come in and pack Davis Wade Stadium every home game. Each home game for the last five years has been a sellout, and Mullen and his Bulldogs have proven to respond to the support fans give them.

“We take pride in not only this university, but in this town,” said Mullen. “We try to carry ourselves in the best way possible.”

14 | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013

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