THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021
137TH YEAR | ISSUE 11
New shopping center coming soon to Starkville LIZZIE TOMLIN
ties along Highway 12 as it expands the options and keeps our residents in town to shop, as well as attracts those from surrounding areas to shop in Starkville," Spruill said. The mayor explained the benefits she is expecting to see after the construction is complete. "I fully expect other growth to come with time and with the other initiatives that are underway," Spruill said. "Our new sports tournament facility will, I believe, attract hotels and more development on the west side of town, as the east is expanding from added interest in being close to the campus and the magic that the excitement of athletics fosters." SHOPPING, 2
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
There is exciting news for the shoppers of Starkville, as construction has begun on a brand new shopping center containing wellknown commercial businesses. Triangle Crossing, developed by Rise Partners and Castle Properties, plans to house nine new shopping options. The retail, grocery and service center is scheduled to be 95,000 square feet and is an anticipated upgrade of choices for the Starkville community. Rise and Castle purchased the property from Garan in 2018. Garan plans to relocate to the industrial district, which Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill describes as "a
Kathryn Beatty | The Reflector
A new shopping center, Triangle Crossing, is currently under construction on Highway 12 that will be home to Aldi Grocery, Marshall’s, PetSmart and more.
perfect fit." After the initial purchase in 2018, construction is finally underway near the intersection of Highway 12 and Industrial Park Road. Highway 12 is one of the most
commercialized areas in Starkville and is a hotspot for shopping and business. The intersection chosen for construction is in close quarters with other shopping centers such as Walmart,
Kroger and multiple other local stores and restaurants. This project will include Marshall's, Ulta Beauty Supply, Sports Clips, Aspen Dental, Rack Room Shoes, Five
Below, Aldi Grocery and PetSmart. Spruill said these popular stores will be an exciting addition to Starkville. "The new retail will be a wonderful benefit to the shopping opportuni-
Fashion Board dedicates show to beloved lost student Recent MSU alumna was fatally shot on her grandmother’s front porch over the summer
HANNAH BLANKENSHIP EDITOR-IN-CHIEf
A single rose and the name "Tia Evans" graced an empty chair in front of the runway at Mississippi State University Fashion Board's 2021 "Trashion" fashion show. Tia Evans, a beloved former student in the fashion department, lost her life to gun violence just one month after walking at her graduation. In the early morning hours of June 5, 2021, Jackson resident Felita Peace was awoken by a phone call with news no mother ever wants to hear. Her daughter had been shot and killed.
According to Peace, Evans' cousin had recently tried to rob someone at a local park. The robbery victims retaliated against the family, and Evans became a casualty of the crossfire. "We lost a life over $300. Senseless … If they had pulled up and put a gun on Tia I am sure she would have given them $300," Peace said. The tragedy left ripples of shock and sorrow far beyond Evans' family lines. Rachel Woodward, a lecturer for fashion design and merchandising and co-adviser of MSU's Fashion Board who taught Evans multiple
times throughout the years, said she was the first faculty member to find out about Evans' passing. "I just sobbed like, I just couldn't, it just didn't seem real. It still doesn't seem real," Woodward said. At Fashion Board's last Trashion show in 2019, Evans had modeled a skater skirt dress made out of recycled and painted newspaper. "I honestly picture the last show that she was in … I can just picture her little bright little smile walking by," Woodward said. Evans had a passion for fashion and design, but most of all for doing hair
and makeup. She had already started her own business, Touched by Tia, and styled hair for students and local residents. "If you called and you booked to get your hair, lashes did, she would do it; she would come to you. You didn't have to wait because she would be there and that's why that was nothing but love shown, nothing but love wholeheartedly," her mother said. On the night of her murder, Evans was doing what she loved. She had gone over to her grandmother's house in south Jackson to style hair for a client. FASHION, 2
Courtesy Photo | Rachel Woodward
Tia Evans struts the runway at the 2019 Trashion fashion show in a newspaper print dress.
What is a successful "Jeopardy!" contestant? MSU BECReative Energy Club at MSU wins $250k Ph.D. student competes in famous game show to remove carbon dioxide from atmosphere EMMA NISBET
JOSHUA STEWART
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
STAff WRITER
To his friends and colleagues, it came as no surprise that Tucker Shope would compete on the trivia game show "Jeopardy!" Shope, a Ph.D. student studying history at Mississippi State University, has always had a knack for trivia. Shope competed in an episode that aired on Nov. 11 against Willa Perlmutter, a lawyer from Portland, OR, and Andrew He, a software developer located in San Francisco, CA. Shope placed third in the episode. Shope performed well, answering questions primarily related to his favored subject of history. He had correct answers for questions about historical figures, including Leon Trotsky, John D. Rockefeller and Vlad Dracula, also known as the Impaler. Longtime friend and trivia partner Justin Brinkmeyer knew Shope when he was an undergraduate student at Lee University
Courtesy Photo | Jeopardy!
“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings is pictured with MSU Ph.D. student Tucker Shope on the show.
in Cleveland, TN. The two competed in bar trivia in the Cleveland and Chattanooga areas together. "He's a smart guy, so I knew he'd be very good at it," Brinkmeyer said. "Of course, his specialty was history and religion. When you create a trivia team, everybody has their specialty. He knows some music and pop culture as well." Another person who knew Shope during undergraduate school is John Coats, professor of history
at Lee University and Shope's former adviser. Coats talked about Shope's time in his classroom. "He came in not a history major but became intrigued with the discipline. He's very eclectic and curious about many things. That makes him a good student because when you're curious about things, you study them and pursue them. Tucker always marched to his own beat," Coats said. JEOPARDY!, 2
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Over the course of the summer of 2020, Colby Freeman, a senior biological engineering major at Mississippi State University, founded BECReative — a student organization with the purpose of pursuing a feasible method for carbon capture, sequestration, clean, renewable energy and overall reduction of the world's carbon footprint. The club consists of four teams: the market analysis team, carbon capture team, biological capture team and storage team. Members range from chemical, biological and biomedical engineering majors and biological sciences and computer science. Earlier this year, XPRIZE announced a four-year-long competition for student-run groups, established companies and startups to see who can most
FORECAST:The sun will come out tomorrow, Bulldogs! Look forward to a warm and sunny week to kick off the last moments of the fall semester. Going into the weekend, Friday night is looking stormy, and Saturday has a 20% chance of rain. Other than a small chance of rain, it is looking to be a beautiful weekend. Get out and enjoy it!
Courtesy of The Weather Channel
effectively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. XPRIZE is an international nonprofit organization that develops and hosts competitions to utilize technological developments to benefit humanity, BECReative at MSU was one of 23 groups worldwide picked to receive a cash prize for making their proposal a reality. "This project was really going to be an opportunity to get the whole of the university involved," said club founder Freeman. Freeman officially started the group in May 2021 when he spearheaded getting the team off the ground and onto their feet. The club worked toward the XPRIZE competition all summer long. They started with a proposal, submitted it and then different professional engineers from around the world consulted their work to ensure
Ivy Rose Ball | The Reflector
BECReative club founder Colby Freeman.
their calculations were correct and that everything would work out the way it should. Time constraints were a big issue. "There was a big question of whether we were going to get it done from the beginning," Freeman said. BECReative's specific proposal is to combine carbon capture with the process of gasification. CONTEST, 2
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