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November 2008 |
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 Shoshana Brackett/SDN Three educators were inducted to the Starkville Area Education Hall of Fame Thursday night. Pictured from left to right are inductees Dr. Robert Wolverton Sr., Dr. Patti Abraham and Dr. Joseph Brown. By SHOSHANA BRACKETT
Starkville Daily News
For their dedication to education, three long-time Mississippi State faculty members were inducted into the Starkville Area Education Hall of Fame Thursday night.
A joint effort of the Starkville School District and the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, the program honored Dr. Patti Abraham, Dr. Joseph Brown and Dr. Robert Wolverton Sr. |
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MSU Student Association leaders taking proactive approach |
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
By BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News
If the numerous projects they’ve got planned are any indication, Mississippi State University student body leaders are working this year under one simple philosophy — taking the initiative.
“We’re wanting to take a proactive approach to what we do,” said Student Association President Braxton Coombs. “We’ve got a truly amazing team of people involved with the SA, from elected positions to appointed Cabinet slots. We’ve got a lot of good things going on.”
Plans by Student Association leaders for numerous projects for the new school year are beginning to come to fruition this week.
“We’ve had a bunch that have gotten going,” said Coombs. “This summer, we’ve had a lot of people up her getting to work so we could hit the ground running once classes started.”
The first SA-sponsored project was Monday night’s sixth annual Drill event held on the Drill Field to bring together MSU students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and the broader community to celebrate the start of another school year. Cosponsored with the Alumni Association, The Drill saw attendance of between 3,000 and 4,000 people on Monday; SA leaders gave away 3,000 T-shirts and commemorative cowbells at the event.
The Drill was the start of what will be a busy year for the SA, Coombs said.
Bulldog Bash — billed as Mississippi’s largest outdoor concert — is just over the horizon on Sept. 12, which is the Friday before the MSU football Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference opener against Auburn.
The Bash, held in the Cotton District, will feature the event’s “largest headlining artist” to date, Coombs said. SA leaders on Monday announced that national recording artist Gavin DeGraw will be performing at the Bash, along with alternative musician Matt Wertz, R&B group Wild Peach, country artist Jonathan Singleton, reggae artist Exodus and Starkville’s own bluegrass band, Nash Street.
Around $30,000 of MSU’s share of the city’s 2 percent restaurant and lodging tax goes to help finance Bulldog Bash, and event organizers have raised an additional $35,000 to help make the event bigger and better, Coombs said.
“We’ve been getting at it on the fund-raising,” Coombs said. “We’re really excited about this year’s Bash.”
Another SA-sponsored initiative that kicks off this week will be the Night Route, a shuttle bus service that will loop through campus and to various areas around the community — including downtown Starkville — where local entertainment venues are located.
Funding for the Night Route was increased substantially over the previous year due to rising fuel costs and the current economy, Coombs said. Last year, operational costs jumped from $35,000 to $75,000, and funding levels have been increased to cover the costs of operating the Night Route this year, with 2 percent tax money and fund-raising dollars going toward the cost.
As a result, two shuttle buses will be running on the Night Route, with additional stops offered. The buses will run at 15-minute intervals between each stop from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Thursday nights and from 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, Coombs said.
“We’ve run the sample routes, and they’ve worked well. We really want to increase the credibility of the Night Route and encourage people — not just students — to use it,” Coombs said.
Other initiatives SA leaders are working on for this year include:
• Involvement in elections — The SA is planning to sponsor multiple voter registration drives and will host the Rock the Vote organization on campus this fall to promote student involvement in the upcoming presidential election.
In addition, the statewide Student Body Presidents’ Council, which is comprised of all the student government leaders for each of the state’s 8 public universities, will be convening in Jackson along with 10 student body representatives from each university to kick off the Mississippi College Ballot Campaign.
The campaign will involve promotions about the election and an online survey in which students can give feedback on the issues that matter to them, Coombs said. The goal is to be able to present the results of the campaign to the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns when they are in Mississippi for the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi on Sept. 26.
“We want to deter the myth that college students don’t are about what’s going on in our government,” Coombs said.
• A larger Homecoming celebration — The SA is partnering with between 10 and 15 major campus organizations to make this year’s MSU Homecoming Celebration — culminating with the Oct. 25 Homecoming football game against Middle Tennessee State — one of the largest and most festive in several years, Coombs said.
Plans are being made to bring back a Homecoming parade and to hold a variety of activities during Homecoming week, including “a few surprises,” Coombs said.
• International student outreach — Efforts are under way to greater involve the university’s international students in campus life and “make sure they feel at home” on campus, Coombs said.
• Bicycle program — Interim MSU President Vance Watson and SA leaders have been discussing the creation of a program where bicycles are placed outside various buildings on campus that students can check out and ride to other buildings, where they will turn them in.
The idea is to promote fitness and to help students make it to class quicker with student parking areas being designated only on the outskirts of campus, Coombs said. This program is still in the developmental stages, he said.
• Community service — This is an area where the SA wants to place renewed focus, Coombs said.
“This is a huge thing we want to get back to doing. It’s slacked off a bit in recent years,” Coombs said. “We want to get other student organizations involved in projects that help the community, like working to help the elderly with yard work and landscaping, for example.”
This will also include involvement with the university’s Community Action Team to “see what we as students can do to help improve communities across the state,” Coombs said.
“We want to bring a student perspective and help students get experience in service,” Coombs said.
• Minority Student Council — Significant emphasis is being placed on outreach to African-American, Hispanic and other minority students on campus to build stronger relations among student groups and open up avenues for communication and cooperation on projects, Coombs said.
This will ensure that the SA will be an effective advocate for all students at the university, Coombs said.
• Building school spirit — Efforts are under way to resurrect regular pep rallies the Fridays preceding home football games.
“Pep rallies are somewhat of a lost tradition we want to bring back,” Coombs said.
• Creation of a student Bulldog Club — Creation of a student organization to support MSU Athletics is aimed at promoting the lesser known competitive sports and also building support for the Bulldog Club when students graduate, Coombs said.
• Interaction with local government leaders — Roundtable meetings with Starkville city leaders to discuss issues of concern to students and promote campus-city cooperation are in the works, Coombs said.
“We’re making it a point to become more involved with the city and strengthen that relationship,” Coombs said. “Relations with the city are important, and we want to meet with the mayor and aldermen regularly.” |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 August 2008 )
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 | Holiday Greetings From Starkville Daily News |
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