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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2018
134th YEAR ISSUE 6
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Hurricane Florence hits East Coast MSU professor, alumna talk about damage EMMA WARR STAFF WRITER
As of Sept. 14, Hurricane Florence hit the East Coast of the U.S. and left over 900,000 homes and businesses without basic utilities. The 90-mph winds and storms have pushed the people of the communities out of their homes for an indefinite amount of time. Professor Kim Wood from the Department of Geosciences at MSU specializes in tropical meteorology, and she tracked the hurricane. “Florence is comparable to Hurricane Ike of 2008,” Wood said. “It is a lowercategory storm, but spread out over a greater area, so the area of impact is going to be larger. Too many times, people focus on the number ‘category’ of a storm to determine danger levels. This is unsafe because it can give potential
victims a reason to let their guard down incorrectly.” This region of the East Coast has not been affected by this kind of weather since 1989 when Hurricane Hugo hit, FEMA Administrator Brock Long told The
Rosalind Hutton
Washington Post. MSU alumna Audra Sawyer is currently studying for her masters in geosciences at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, and she was forced to leave school due to the mandatory evacuation
Hurricane Florence caused. The university has not set a date for when classes will resume due to the flood damage from the storm. “Evacuation was a total nightmare,” S a w y e r said. “A
normal 15-minute drive became 45 minutes, and it was like sitting in a standstill parking lot.” Although the storm may have passed, citizens of the area are not in the clear yet, according to reports from The Weather Channel. Much of the danger ensuing from these
types of disasters comes from the post-storm chaos. There have already been reported cases of looting and stealing, as reported by ABC News. Members of MSU’s campus, like Wood, have knowledge of this type of weather, and the type of preparation and recovery required by it. The university sent an email last week with advice on how to help the situation. It recommended students not to self-deploy into affected areas, and if they do wish to volunteer, then they should sign up directly with an official organization. To find an organization, visit National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website at https://www.nvoad. org/. Also, the MSU Student Relief Fund is taking cash donations to send to victims of the hurricane. To donate, visit msufoundation.com/ studentrelief. For any further information on the storm or how to best help those affected, one can visit the FEMA’s website or the local American Red Cross office.
Legislators discuss lottery, BP settlement in town hall forum TORI BOATNER STAFF WRITER
Starkville Daily News hosted its third Town Hall meeting last Thursday at the Starkville Police Department, where citizens were able to address their concerns to legislators. The new state lottery, allocation of BP settlements, education and health care were all topics of discussion during the meeting. With $750 million dollars in settlement funds from the BP oil spill, legislators
said Mississippi allocated 75 percent of funds to six coast counties on the gulf. Oktibbeha County received about $750,000 for road improvements, and Lowndes County received about $1 million for roads as well. Clay County did not receive any funds from the settlement. Senator Angela TurnerFord (District 16) said these allocations were not equitable and could have been considered based on need. FORUM, 2
Brad Robertson | The Reflector
Rep. Gary Chism (District 37), Rep. Cheikh Taylor (District 38), Sen. Angela Turner-Ford (District 16) and Rep. Rob Roberson (District 43) discuss a variety of topics at the forum Thursday.
Forestry Lime looks to extend bike program to Starkville show celebrates 34th year COURTNEY CARVER STAFF WRITER
HANNAH BLANKENSHIP CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The nation’s longest continuously-running, inwoods forestry equipment show will be at Mississippi State University’s John W. Starr Memorial Forest Friday and Saturday. In its 34th year, the MidSouth Forestry Equipment Show will feature newly developed logging equipment, technology, forestry-related vendors, continuing education opportunities and various family-friendly activities. Show Manager Misty Booth said the purpose of the show is to connect the equipment companies with local loggers, foresters and landowners. “It’s designed as a demonstration, or a technology transfer, between equipment manufacturers and the forestry community,” Booth said. FORESTRY, 2
Rosalind Hutton
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Courtney Carver | The Reflector
Starkville is considering expanding Lime, a unique bike-share service, to the city limits after its success on campus. The city’s Board of Aldermen vote on the topic at 5:30 p.m. today.
Following the recent debut of LimeBike on campus, Lime’s Operations Manager of Starkville John Usry proposed an extension of the bike-share program into the city limits. On Sept. 14, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill and the Board of Aldermen met in a work session to discuss the agenda items for its upcoming meeting. On the agenda was the possibility for Lime to extend its bike share program into the city limits. “It’s really just trying
to get everybody in the community access to transportation,” Usry said. “We’re really investing in the community as a whole, not just certain parts of it.”
Since the debut for MSU students, Usry said the number of rides has exceeded Lime’s
expectations. “It’s been less than two weeks, and we’ve got over 2,000 rides already,” Usry said. “I’ve been really impressed. I had been thinking it would take us about a month to get here.” Usry proposed about 100 bikes be deployed at 22 locations throughout Starkville, if the city decides to have them. “The idea of this is connecting the dots between Main Street, Midtown, the Cotton District, campus and Russel Street, as well,” Usry said. Currently, Starkville is the only city to house Lime in the state. LIME, 2
Belinda Stewart: restoring small-town Mississippi Getting to know Old Main Academic Center’s architect EMMA MOFFETT
LIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Bursts of crimson and golden light filled the skyline of the serene countryside in the Mississippi Delta. The light cast a glow across the grassy field and provided a few moments of illumination before dipping beneath the horizon. The sun may have been setting, but Belinda Stewart was still hard at work. With a keen eye, she analyzed every facet of her environment and attentively watched how
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THURSDAY HI: 92 LO: 71 SKY: Sunny with rain showers POP: 41
the light rose and fell upon the hillside. The rest of the world saw empty space, but she envisioned it as a home that would be nestled atop the grassy hillside. The family who hired her firm wanted to experience that breathtaking sunset every day, and Stewart intended to go above and beyond to fulfill their dream. While Stewart could have taken her architectural genius anywhere in the nation, she chose to house her business, Belinda Stewart Architects, in Eupora, Mississippi, because of her belief in the power of small towns to inspire social change. After earning her degree in architecture from Mississippi State University,
Belinda Stewart Architects | Courtesy Photo
Belinda Stewart’s most recent design project with MSU was the Old Main Academic Center.
Stewart quickly left her home in Webster County so she could experience life outside of Mississippi. However, Stewart said every place she visited and her new home in North Carolina left her heart
FORECAST: This week begins on a warm note with
temperatures reaching the low 90s and lows dipping into the high 60s. On Thursday, a thunderstorm will roll in during the afternoon, but the high temperature will still stay consistent. Accuweather.com
unfulfilled. Stewart said she missed the beauty of smalltown Mississippi and realized it was often unappreciated by the rest of the world. Only five years after leaving, Stewart returned to Webster County and opened her own architecture firm in Eupora. At the time, Stewart was one of the only femalerun architecture firms in Mississippi, but Stewart’s love for her work and her clients helped her push through any obstacle that arose. “The most fun I have is the first time I meet a client,” Stewart said. “I get to hear their dreams and dream with them. Nothing is real yet and you don’t know if it is going to work yet. Anything is possible at that point.”
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Stewart said she recognized the political nature of her environment, and chose to include her full name in the name of her firm so any person who chose to work with her would know exactly who they would be hiring. Dan Burchfield, former mayor of Eupora, has known Stewart since the start of her architecture firm and has worked closely with her on local architectural projects. The most notable of these projects in Burchfield’s mind was the restoration of the train depot in downtown Eupora where Stewart worked diligently to preserve local history and combine it with innovative designs. STEWART, 2
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