THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022
137TH YEAR | ISSUE 14
New advising center will open on campus JOSHUA STEWART
LIFE & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Mississippi State University is planning to tackle one of the primary complaints of its students: advising. The university received a private donation to begin working on an advising center specifically tailored to help underclassmen and transfer students in the short term. Initially, the university will hire three professional advisers and add another adviser every year for four years. Dean of Students
Thomas Bourgeois said the advising center resulted from a task force that relied heavily on student feedback, especially as it related to advising. Bourgeois said one goal of the new advising center is to rethink the nature of advising in the first place. "We're really looking at what professional advising means. Does it have aspects of career counseling and career development? Does it have aspects of managing money and financial aid? I would say yes," Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois explained that while many higher learning research institutions have faculty who take on the dual role of professor and adviser, MSU wants to rethink that position. "It's not a good or bad model; it's just overly complicated in some departments. Every department is so uniquely different in how they structure advising," Bourgeois said. While the plan to rethink advising is long term, the new advising model will begin to roll out in the short term. ADVISING, 2
Landon Scheel | The Reflector
Due to student feedback, MSU is opening a special advising center on campus and hiring professional advisers for underclassmen.
Special Legislative Coverage
Medical marijuana is legal in MS: Oktibbeha County is set to redraw boundlegislators, residents discuss benefits aries after bill signed in legislative session HEATHER HARRISON NEWS EDITOR
Jeanne Tate was born with sickle cell anemia, and medical cannabis may be her pain medicine solution. Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease that afCourtesy Photo | Jeanne Tate fects red blood cells Jeanne Tate, MS Sickle Cell Foundation. and causes intense pain that can last for a short amount of time for tions for pain managesome people but causes ment: take opioid pain others to live in chronic pills or visit the hospital to receive medicine pain. Tate is the chairper- through an IV. When sickle cell pason of the Mississippi have "pain Sickle Cell Foundation. tients She said the group is crises," Tate said, they part of the Medical must visit the emerCannabis Alliance be- gency room and see a cause sickle cell anemia doctor. Wait times are patients can benefit long, and Tate says marijuana from medical marijua- medical could be a solution to na. According to Tate, skipping the emergency sickle cell anemia pa- room. "I think this will be a tients in Mississippi currently have two op- great alternative for pa-
tients living with sickle cell anemia in the state of Mississippi to have an alternative pain method," Tate said. Tate said she is thankful for the support medical marijuana has received and wants people to understand why the program is beneficial to people like her. "The one thing that I can tell people is that if you don't have a medical condition that you have to have pain meds for and you're in pain, then put yourselves in someone's shoes that really suffers from some type of pain each and every day," Tate said. About 3,000 Mississippians have sickle cell anemia, one of the more than 20 qualifying conditions one must have to partake in the medical cannabis program. CANNABIS, 2
PAYTON BROWN STAFF WRITER
On Jan. 24, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill approving the redraw of Mississippi's four congressional districts. The commencement of this redistricting plan seeks to regulate the state's increasing and decreasing district populations. Ted Booth, Staff Counsel of the Mississippi Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment & Redistricting, specified the developments around district elections and the state representatives involved. "The people who will be qualifying for office will be qualified to run in the districts that we drew, and they will be elected to those districts. When 2023 rolls around and they are sworn into Congress, they will be representing the new districts," Booth said. DISTRICTS, 2
Courtesy Photo | MARIS
Since Oktibbeha County’s population grew over 10 years, the county must redistrict.
Rotary Classic Rodeo ropes in donations from charities TAYLOR STIGALL
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Since 2004, the Starkville Rotary Club has held the annual Rotary Classic Rodeo at the nationally recognized Mississippi Horse Park, which won the Justin Boot Best Footing Award for the Southeastern Circuit. The rodeo has grown significantly in the last 18 years and has become a major event for the community and businesses of Starkville, with an estimated $750,000 economic impact on Starkville businesses throughout the weekend. The Rotary Classic has become a hotspot for riders, with cowboys and cowgirls from 23 different states and Canada competing. Even though one of the main goals of the rodeo is to have fun, the
Starkville Rotary Club has made it clear that the proceeds are going back into the community. The Rotary Club donates the money made from the rodeo to various charities, including Habitat for Humanity and Oktibbeha Young Leaders, a local youth development activity and a project that distributes dictionaries to the public. Though the rodeo was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic, Starkville Rotary President John Forde pushed forward and said he was excited to be back at the Horse Park this year. "This is the largest fundraiser that we do every year for our club, and in addition to being a PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) event, which literally brings in some of the best
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contestants in the world, we also have dozens of volunteers of our members who are there each night. We also have the opportunity to express to the community the kinds of projects that we support with Rotary. So, it's really a great event, and I hope a lot of people will come out. We hated to miss last year, but we're so excited that we're able to have it again this year," Forde said. This year also saw the addition of an event called Women's Breakaway Roping, in which cowgirls rope calves then dismount and tie the calves.In some cases, this can be done in as little as two or three seconds. Forde said he was excited the Rotary Club could add this event to the rodeo and hopes the audience will enjoy the show. RODEO, 2
Ashok Manick | The Reflector
The Starkville Rotary Club held its annual Rotary Classic Rodeo last weekend at the Mississippi Horse Park to fundraise for local charities.
FORECAST: After a sunny start to the week, Wednesday will be cloudy for most of the day and rain is expected at night. Thursday will be stormy all day, so make sure to wear your rain boots and carry an umbrella. The sun will come out on Friday just in time for the Diamond Dawgs to play their first game at Dudy Noble.
Courtesy of The Weather Channel
Reader’s Guide: Bad Dawgs
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