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The Murray State News TheNews.org
September 4, 2015
Vol. 90, No. 3
Revisiting Eracism
Abby Siegel
Contributing writer asiegel@murraystate.edu
Lunch at the Thoroughbred Room on campus around noon provides an image of the student body at Murray State. Clusters of students gather, holding tiny slips of paper waiting for their numbers to be called and their hamburgers to be ready. Others are crowding around a long table, already munching on their food, wearing similar shirts that represent the brotherhood they love. Students are working hard at Dunker’s Deli, toasting sandwiches and making salads for those looking for a light lunch. This is the student body. They are tall, skinny, short and stubby. They are overachieving, procrastinating and busier than they’d anticipated. They are black; they are white; they are just about every hue in between. They are one body, but they are not treated the same. The University includes students, faculty and staff from more than 60 countries and 43 states and the roughly 140 registered student organizations include missions to promote different religious, social, educational and ethnic issues. “We want to make sure everyone on this campus feels valued, part of things, not like
Photo illustration by Jenny Rohl/The News
Branden Higginson, sophomore from Mayfield, Kentucky, holds a sign expressing how racism makes him feel. an outsider,” said Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs. Robertson described the student population as openminded, accepting and able to appreciate the differences of others. He said the community is stronger since the racist comments posted last fall on Yik Yak – an anonymous social media app. The comments sparked a student, faculty and staff-led event on the Carr Health Building’s lawn last October, titled Eracism, to address racism at the University. Ariel Mitchell, junior from Louisville, Kentucky attended Eracism and said since then, she has intentionally pointed out microaggressions – or sub-
tle racism – to some friends, who she said she was experiencing microaggressions from those people. “What people need to understand is that racism isn’t being mean to someone because of their skin tone,” Mitchell said. “Microaggressions are socially taught, and when we say them we don’t know that they’re racist.” The borders of the University campus do not confine the effects of racism that influence students. Nikkous Crump, senior from Memphis, Tennessee, is an African-American student in the National Guard. He said he believes Murray State is inclusive, but the city and
What’s next for 16th Street? Three options presented by the Murray City Council looks to the future of the congested street. Teddy Martin
Contributing writer emartin@murraystate.edu
The new Engineering and Science Building will not be the only project that will affect Murray State’s campus, as a town meeting was held over the re-zoning of 16th Street entirely. At the meeting, three options were displayed. Options included: • Create an underpass on the street, • Loop the street around the Gene W. Ray campus, which includes the Jesse D. Jones building and the biology building, or • Loop the street around the Gene W. Ray campus and connect the bridge to a road running through. Murray has also had problems finding a way to balance traffic between pedestrians and cars. Now, pedestrians at a crosswalk have the right-of-way, and therefore cars must stop to let them pass. Given that campus is filled with students trying to get from one class to the next, the cars could be sitting in an ever-expanding line for sev-
WHAT’S
INSIDE
eral minutes before there is a break to let them continue down the road. This causes congestion on the roads and creates a choke point on 16th Street. The Murray City Council planned a meeting to showcase each of the three options that would be the most plausible. Attendance was high at the meeting and citizens and officials both joined in. One of those citizens, Becky Spann, is a realtor based in Murray. “I’m interested in knowing what’s going on in my community,” she said. “I grew up in Murray. I’m very familiar with the street and very aware of the issues that we have now, so I wanted to have a better understanding of what my options were.” Spann said she preferred the option that would build a bridge to mitigate traffic and pedestrians, though she still questioned if there was a better solution to the problem that would be less expensive. Tim Schott, project manager for the BFW Engineers who are working on the project, said there were different ideas to select from. “We have three alterna-
DRYER SCARE
tives and what we wanted to do was introduce them as a mitigation of the conflicts between the pedestrians and traffic on 16th Street,” he said. Schott said funding had been moved from the transportation cabinet back to the city. The city will look at the problems arising between walkers and cars. Gabrielle Tinebra, junior, said she thought any changes that would help with traffic would be the best. “I have an 8 [a.m.] class and people are trying to cross the street with their family and kids,” she said. “So minimizing the accidents that could occur would be great. There are a lot of drivers trying to get to work and a lot of students trying to cross the street. That causes a lot of back up, so any sort of mitigation would be enormously helpful.” Schott said any sort of relief would be a plus to the University in addition to the community at large. “All three of our alternatives positively separate the majority of the pedestrian traffic from the vehicular traffic,” he said.
surrounding areas are not. He said he has felt tension at the Wal-Mart and the gas station in Benton, Kentucky, regarding his race when he is not in uniform. Crump said he believes people aren’t necessarily racists. Instead, he said it is likely they fear being offensive or saying the wrong thing, as well as being uncomfortable with the social environment that they are not used to. “It’s a problem,” he said. “But it goes beyond Murray State.” Robertson said if students feel that citizens within the community have oppressed them, they should let faculty or staff know because it will be
addressed with the appropriate city officials.
‘FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN’ Mary Tripp Reed, lecturer of economics, spoke at the Eracism event and said educating people on the issue allows them to do more than just react to the media. Reed said she encourages students to ask themselves, “At what point did you realize your class, race and gender,” and, “At what age did you realize that was part of your identity?” Reed said the answers to these questions often encourage students to take action or at least have a greater understanding of their role in the
issue of identity. “It isn’t either you’re racist or you’re not,” she said. “That’s just not accurate.” Reed said the feelings of racism are rooted in fear of being embarrassed and lack of experience interacting with the ethnicity encountered. “Let’s not be naive – there is some fear and hatred,” she said. “But it is mostly a fear of the unknown.” Although the University has addressed issues regarding inequality and racism, collectively students and faculty said they believe the conversation isn’t over yet. Nathan Brown, junior from Trenton, Illinois, grew up near east St. Louis where the Ferguson shootings took place and uses his experiences with part of the city to influence his opinions of those different than him. On Aug. 9, 2014, Mike Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting spurred rioters and protesters to flood the streets for several weeks afterward. A few months later in November, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, a decision that sparked another round of protests in the small town.
see ERACISM, 2A
Regents discuss 16th street, key personnel Mary Bradley Editor-in-Chief
mbradley9@murraystate.edu
With nearly two weeks of the fall semester accomplished, the Board of Regents met for its quarterly meeting, held Aug. 28 in the Jesse Stuart Room in Pogue Library. Calloway County District Court Judge Randy Hutchens swore in four regents, including Clint Combs, the Student Government Association, or SGA, president. Combs, along with regents Phil Schooley, Jerry Rhoads and Sharon Green, swore in at the beginning of the meeting. Not long after, President Bob Davies gave his report of the president. He called Matt McMahon, head coach of the men’s basketball team, up to the regents, calling McMahon an outstanding ambassador for Murray State. McMahon, who had taken another job at a different university, told Davies prior to former head coach Steve Prohm leaving that he would love to return to Murray State. Davies said that when he received a call regarding Prohm’s departure, he then called Mc-
OUR VIEW
A Hart Residential College dryer Never be afraid to ask for help causes evacuation, 6A from campus resources, 4A
Mahon. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime, to be head coach,” McMahon said. Also in his report, Davies discussed 16th Street and noted the McMahon number of cars and pedestrians that cross the street on a daily basis. He said on average, the street will see 11,000 pedestrians and 7,000 cars. Davies said his first concern with the street was to make it safe for all pedestrians, but he wanted it to be a fiscally responsible project as well. Chairman Harry Waterfield said he recently drove on 16th Street during a busy time and noticed the congestion. However, he said the number of cars and pedestrians wasn’t the only problem. “I am amazed at the number of [pedestrians] that never look,” he said. He also mentioned the retirement of Kate Lochte, station manager for WKMS, to the
board, noting that Lochte has helped the station grow during her time. Chad Lampe will become interim station manager after she retires. “[Lochte] will be a tough act to follow,” Davies said. The student constituency report provided by Student Regent Clint Combs covered move-in day and other Great Beginnings events. He said he and SGA plans to make some improvements and changes during the academic year, including: • Have more inclusive programming, • Review SGA’s constitution/ by-laws, • Work on the organization’s website and • Participate in local and state government. Additionally, Public Safety and Emergency Management was given an award by Jim Pendergraff, executive director of the Kentucky Association of the Chiefs of Police. He said Public Safety was a great program, a sentiment echoed by Davies. “[They’re] community orientated and [they] understand the community and staff that they work with,” he said.
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