| Wednesday, February 18, 2026 |
| Figueroa, Spreen elected Student Association president, vice president | |
 | Mississippi State University students elected Keegan Figueroa and Abigail Spreen as the next Student Association president and vice president in Tuesday's campus-wide election. Figueroa and Spreen received 1,674 votes, defeating Kyla Hunter and Sydney Broderick, who received 1,060 votes, according to official results released by the Student Association. Voter turnout totaled 2,734, representing roughly 12% of the student body. Figueroa is a junior biochemistry and political science major from Mooreville, Mississippi, and currently serves as the director of policy. Spreen is an industrial engineering major from New Orleans, Louisiana, and is the current secretary. The two will take over the president and vice president seats later in the semester. |
| Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a period of fasting and reflection | |
 | This is the week of Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Lent, the most penitential season of the church calendar for Catholics and many other Christians. On Ash Wednesday, many Christians go to church for a service that emphasizes the start of a season of reflection, self-denial and repentance from sin. Worshippers receive ashes, commonly imposed in the shape of a cross on the forehead. The officiant typically says, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," a stark reminder that death is part of life and that one should focus on things of the spirit. Or the officiant says, "Repent and believe in the Gospel." Ash Wednesday is considered an obligatory fast day for Roman Catholics between 18 and 59 -- meaning limiting food to one full meal and two smaller-than-normal meals. Many Protestants -- particularly those in Episcopal, Lutheran and other historic churches -- also mark Ash Wednesday with similar liturgies. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, leading up to observances of Jesus' death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter. |
| Legislators express frustration with ABC shipment backorders, seek solutions for Mississippi businesses | |
| Ongoing alcohol shipment delays being experienced by Mississippi's businesses from the state's Alcohol Beverage Control warehouse prompted the House State Affairs Committee to hold a hearing on the matter Tuesday afternoon. Committee chair State Rep. Hank Zuber (R) began the meeting by expressing the frustration being shared with lawmakers from across the state. "This hearing is about getting to the bottom of the problem, this hearing is about finding a solution, this hearing is about finding a solution that is timely," Zuber said. He added that the lack of timely shipments are affecting not only the state's liquor store owners and casinos but also the tourists that come to Mississippi. "And I think I can speak on behalf of the whole committee, we're not just frustrated," Zuber said, slamming his hands on the desk before saying, "We're upset and mad." ... State Rep. Trey Lamar (R) said the House attempted to transition from the state operated ABC to independent shipments years ago, but that effort failed in the Senate. Had such a bill passed, advocates say Mississippi would have privatized the system which would have likely placed multiple warehouses across the state by now. "Now we're sitting in a situation in 2026 where we've got businesses that are on hold and we are telling them to basically we'll get you caught up over the next few months, but really not until the new warehouse becomes operational sometime in 2027," Lamar said. |
| 'We've got to try something different': Anti-gang bill could put more children in prison | |
| More Mississippi children could face prison time under proposed legislation that state law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Lynn Fitch, say is aimed at quashing statewide gang violence. Senate Bill 2710 and House Bill 1165 would lead to harsher punishment for an unknown number of children in the state by creating new avenues for prosecutors to charge minors as adults. Under current state law, most minors accused of crimes in Mississippi are placed into the youth court system where the primary goal is rehabilitation, not punishment. Only when children commit felonies that carry a life sentence or execution, or felonies involving the use of a deadly weapon, do they end up in circuit court, where they face the same punishment as adults. The proposed legislation would create a new carveout so that a child who possesses a gun while committing or attempting to commit a violent felony would also be charged as an adult – even if the child did not brandish the weapon during the crime. The Senate bill would go further, punishing children as adults for committing any felony -- even nonviolent offenses -- while possessing a firearm that is stolen. It would also add bringing a gun to school among the crimes for which children could be imprisoned. |
| Lawmakers look to establish Hepatitis C, HIV Treatment Program for inmates | |
| A bill that mandates the Mississippi Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Corrections to establish a comprehensive plan for the health of state inmates passed in the House of Representatives last week. Under HB 1744, the two state departments would be required to develop a Hepatitis C and HIV program along with a women's health program, with the intention of using grant funds to pay for the needed medication. The plan would be presented to the Legislature. State Rep. Becky Currie (R), the bill's author, said there are grant opportunities to at least help cover the costs of the Hepatitis C medication. "There are so many grants out there. There was one this past year that a rehabilitation center got in Oxford from the federal government. They received $2.5 million for Hep C and I have no idea how they got that," Currie told her colleagues in the House. "I mean, they were awarded the grant. I don't know how they can spend money." Currie said the Louisiana State Penitentiary, or Angola, in Mississippi's neighboring state has been able to receive enough federal grant money to pay 100% for their medication program. She added that Mississippi currently pays $124 million for it's state inmate medical contract. |
| Mail-Order Abortion Pill Ban Passes Mississippi House, With Prison Time for Providers for Drug Trafficking | |
| An effort to criminalize sending abortion drugs to patients in the mail by defining it as felony drug trafficking is advancing in the Mississippi Legislature. Under an amended version of House Bill 1613, doctors or providers who prescribe or distribute abortion-inducing drugs, like mifepristone and misoprostol, without an in-person visit with a patient could face imprisonment and civil penalties. H.B. 1613's original purpose was to clarify under the law that a person possessing 200 or more grams of illegal drugs would constitute an aggravated drug trafficking charge, Mississippi House Judiciary B Chairman Rep. Kevin Horan, R-Grenada, said on the House floor on Feb. 11. Rep. Celeste Hurst, R-Sandhill, introduced an amendment to add "abortion-inducing drugs" to the list of illegal substances under the drug trafficking statutes in Mississippi Code Section 41-29-139. The most common use of abortion-inducing drugs is for pregnant people who are going through a miscarriage. Doctors prescribe the drug and supervise the process. Hurst told the Mississippi Free Press that the intention of her amendment is to ensure patient safety by clarifying that it is illegal under state law for doctors to prescribe those medications without an in-person visit from a patient. |
| Thompson endorses Colom ahead of March Democratic Primary | |
| Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS 2) has endorsed Democrat candidate Scott Colom for U.S. Senate ahead of the three-person March 10 Primary Election. A new statewide radio ad from the Colom campaign features Thompson urging Democrats to support and vote for Colom. "Scott is tried and true -- a seventh-generation Mississippian raising his family right here. I trust him to always put Mississippi first," Thompson says of Colom. "Scott is honest, fair, and a fighter. As district attorney, he kept our communities safe, winning 94% of his cases while giving nonviolent offenders a fair shot at a second chance." Thompson goes on to say, "We need a Senator who will fight to lower prices, create jobs, and protect our health care and hospitals. That's Democrat Scott Colom." Colom, a District Attorney, is one of three Democrats running to be their party's nominee. Priscilla Till and Albert Littell are also seeking the nomination. |
| Earmarks flood spending bills after a year's hiatus | |
 | Congressional earmarks returned with a vengeance in fiscal 2026, with familiar faces topping the rankings in each chamber. Last year's full-year continuing resolution wiped out billions of dollars in home-state projects, but lawmakers rebounded and have enacted nearly $15.5 billion in earmarked funding for fiscal 2026 so far. And a total of $272 million in disaster preparation earmarks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency remain in limbo in the Homeland Security bill, which Congress has not reached agreement on. Longtime appropriators with key positions on the Energy-Water Appropriations subcommittees topped the lists in their respective chambers: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash. Fleischmann's $251 million total is driven by one massive project: $213 million in the Energy-Water bill for the Army Corps of Engineers' Chickamauga Lock project on the Tennessee River. Fleischmann, the House Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee chairman, has been laser-focused on the project, which started construction in 2004. The funding will go toward completing work on the lock chamber and approach walls, as well as the work to decommission and restore the existing lock, Fleischmann wrote in the letter certifying the project. |
| Republicans are eyeing major election changes. Trump's mail voting crackdown isn't one of them. | |
 | President Donald Trump is pushing Congress to end mail voting as Americans have come to know it. So far, Republican lawmakers aren't heeding his calls. Trump has long railed against the expansion of vote-by-mail, arguing despite scant evidence that it is rife with fraud and suggesting it was responsible in part for his 2020 election loss. Since retaking office, he has repeatedly called for action -- most recently Monday night to reporters on Air Force One. "Why would you want mail-in ballots if you know it's corrupt?" Trump said. "It's a corrupt system." But other Republicans don't see it that way -- many of their own voters have voted by mail consistently for decades. So far, the type of blanket ban on mail voting Trump wants has not gained traction on Capitol Hill as GOP lawmakers counsel for a more targeted approach. "I support the use of mail-in voting," said Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican facing a tight reelection contest. "The idea that some states just mail out ballots without any requests is absurd, but the use of mail-in balloting, I do not have an objection." Several House Republicans said in interviews over the past week they sympathized with Trump's push to crack down on mailed ballots, but many couched their words carefully. A number hail from states like Florida that have a long history of expansive mail voting and little evidence that the practice has been abused. |
| Gorsuch's 'told-you-so' moment on Trump's tariffs | |
 | Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is having an I-told-you-so moment when it comes to President Trump's tariffs. At November's blockbuster arguments, Gorsuch raised alarm about what he called a "one-way ratchet" of authority from Congress to the president if Trump wins a case that challenges his use of emergency powers to impose duties on a host of countries. "It's going to be veto-proof," Gorsuch warned of Trump's declared emergencies. "What president's ever going to give that power back? A pretty rare president. So how should that inform our view?" Gorsuch's concern is now in the limelight as the justices prepare to return to the bench to issue opinions on three separate days between now and next Wednesday. Sandwiched between two of the opinion day drops is the State of the Union, scheduled for Tuesday evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and several of the other justices typically attend. It's a rare face-to-face moment between the justices and the president, with every move scrutinized. As Roberts and the others sat in last year for Trump's address, they were also sitting on the president's emergency appeal seeking to freeze foreign aid. The justices released the decision -- against Trump -- at 8:59 a.m. the next morning. |
| Supreme Court to use software to identify justices' conflict of interests | |
 | The Supreme Court will begin using software to scan litigants' filings to identify potential conflicts of interest that might require justices to step aside from cases, the court said Tuesday. Parties before the court will be required to list stock-ticker symbols and make other disclosures to support the automated reviews. The software, which was developed by court staff, will compare information about parties and attorneys in a case with a list created by each justice's chambers. The new rules will take effect in mid-March. Supreme Court justices are required to recuse themselves from cases in which they own stock in a party in the case. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. are the only justices who own individual stocks, according to financial disclosures. The announcement comes a little over a month after Alito recused himself four days before oral arguments in an environmental case. Alito owned stock in the parent company of an oil and gas company that was involved in the proceedings in the lower courts. Gabe Roth, executive director of the court watchdog Fix the Court, said in a statement that the software is a positive step but not a major improvement since lower-court judges have been required to use software-based conflict screening for 20 years. |
| How the global effort to keep AI safe went off the rails | |
| It started as an elite political conversation in an English country house to rein in this generation's most powerful technology. Now it's a business dealmaking free-for-all in an Indian megacity. The annual global artificial intelligence summit, which takes place in New Delhi this week, has grown from 150 to 35,000 delegates in less than three years. In the process, the original motivation for the summit -- as a global conversation to agree on safeguards to keep AI technology in check -- has been relegated to quiet corners of the gathering. On the surface, the Indian organizers of this year's event have some aspects of AI safety in mind, at least according to the lofty slogans on street billboards dotted throughout the city. Yet the final summit declaration set to be agreed later this week will fail to include the word "safety," according to a draft text reported exclusively by POLITICO. After the first two summits addressed catastrophic risks to humanity and threats like job losses and environmental damage, India has instead switched the focus to practical applications and dealmaking. With a White House friendly to the tech bros, a better understanding of how the technology will reshape global economies and a more complicated geopolitical environment, the conversations in New Delhi exemplify a stark shift: The global elite are no longer obsessing about how to control the risks of AI but figuring out who can benefit. |
| As Musk's xAI Data Centers Encroach on Southaven, North Mississippi Residents Push Back | |
| For several months, Krystal and Kenneth Polk had been discussing renovating the one-story home she grew up in, which had been in her family's possession for three generations. The house sits on around two acres of land, built many years before Southaven, Mississippi, officials zoned it for industrial use. But home improvement goals came to a screeching halt last summer when a formerly dormant industrial plant across from the property suddenly came to life with a loud, non-stop whir as it began fueling tech industry giant Elon Musk's xAI data center, Colossus 2 -- which his company touts as the largest supercomputer in the world. "The noise is excruciating and the scenery is gone," Krystal Polk told the Mississippi Free Press on Jan. 11. "The wildlife, of course, has been disturbed." Colossus 2, located just over the state line in Tennessee, is Musk's second xAI data center in Memphis, after Colossus 1. The temporary gas turbines in Southaven powering Colossus 2 are located at the former Duke Energy plant and help power Musk's supercomputer, Grok. Since Musk launched Grok in 2023, the AI chatbot has earned a reputation for spewing racist and antisemitic invective. |
| Big Tech Is Buying Up America's Land -- and Home Builders Can't Compete | |
 | The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the surge in construction of the large data centers it requires are emerging as another potential contributor to America's housing shortage. Landowners and developers are finding that selling parcels to data-center developers can be far more profitable than any other use of the land. Local zoning can make it easier and faster to build data centers than housing. Northern Virginia has emerged as the world's data-center capital. It has open land, a growing power infrastructure and a dense network of fiber-optic cable laid during the dot-com boom. At the same time, the region suffers from a housing shortage of more than 75,000 homes, according to the Virginia Association of Realtors. Similar dynamics are at work in other data-center hotbeds. In 2024, Stream Data Centers purchased and then knocked down an entire 55-home subdivision in Elk Grove Village, Ill., a data-center hub near Chicago, to build three data centers totaling 2.1 million square feet. The company paid nearly $1 million per house. Land is selling for unprecedented sums in the growing exurbs near Atlanta, where data-center companies, warehousing firms and home builders alike hunt for space near highways. In Texas, prices for land along U.S. Route 67 near Dallas, which three years ago sold for between $20,000 to $40,000 an acre, have jumped to more than $350,000 an acre in some places. The building boom is also disrupting other corners of the real-estate industry. Data-center developers are winning the competition for scarce materials and labor, including concrete pourers and electricians needed to build new housing. |
| Two Mississippi Museums to offer free admission in honor of William and Elise Winter | |
| The Two Mississippi Museums in downtown Jackson will be offering free admission on Saturday, Feb. 21, in honor of former Gov. William Winter and First Lady Elise Winter. Gov. Winter, who served in the state's highest post from 1980-84, was a staunch supporter of public education. He championed the Education Reform Act of 1982, remembered as one of the most significant K-12 laws in state history. The legislation mandated statewide public kindergarten, established attendance requirements, increased teacher salaries, and implemented performance-based accreditation. That commitment to education extended well beyond his time in office. According to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, one of his greatest legacies came after he left the governor's mansion, when he convinced state leaders to open the Two Mississippi Museums in 2017 and helped secure the funding to build them. Winter served on the MDAH Board of Trustees for more than 50 years and was president for most of his tenure. He passed away in December 2020 at the age of 97. His wife of 70 years, First Lady Elise Winter, was a community activist and author who died just six months after her husband in 2021. |
| Archives and History teaching Mississippians basics of genealogy | |
| The state Department of Archives and History is giving Mississippians the opportunity to explore their family history with a free beginner genealogy workshop on Saturday. The seminar begins at 10 a.m. at the William Winter Archives and History Building. This workshop will focus on providing basic research procedures and strategies for genealogical research, including strategies for African American genealogy. It is held every February and is open to everyone. Participants get the opportunity to sign up for a free research card. Joyce Dixon-Lawson, formerly the manager of research and genealogy at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, is teaching the Saturday workshop. She is now a contract worker and freelance researcher for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and has been teaching genealogy for more than 30 years. "You can't rely on someone else to tell you what your history is. You need to know for yourself," she said. Dixon-Lawson explained some of the challenges in genealogical research, especially for African Americans. For example, many people often have to search through slaveholders' records such as deeds, wills, probate records and more because formerly enslaved African Americans were not named on the federal census until 1870, and many changed their last names after emancipation. |
| Student Affairs Administrators Speak At First ASB Informal Senate Meeting Of The Year | |
 | At the first Associate Student Body informal senate meeting of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 10, recently-appointed Dean of Students Bradley Baker and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Shawnboda Mead discussed fall break plans, the relationship between the Division of Student Affairs and the Associated Student Body and the future of Student Affairs. The first question was from Senator Corey Kingery about potential plans for a fall break. Since the calendar for the 2026–27 school year had been approved by the time that the proposal for a fall break had been adopted, Mead explained that another measure to promote mental health will be implemented in the Fall of 2026. "We're trying to integrate a two-day period of grace so that we still start to incorporate that wellness and wellbeing into the academic year even though formally there will be classes," Mead said. "We're going to let professors know that these are days of grace, so please don't schedule any big tests or big projects." Details for exactly when this period would be were not discussed. |
| U. of Mississippi Medical Center expanding healthcare access with new Ridgeland campus | |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center is phasing in a multitude of care options for patients at a new outpatient facility in Ridgeland. Colony Park North, the latest addition to the hospital's many clinics, will serve to expand access to specialty surgical care in the Jackson metro area. Located just off Interstate 55, just north of Renaissance at Colony Park, the 131,000-square-foot campus includes a medical office building, ambulatory surgery facility, advanced imaging services, and education space. "Modern health care requires delivering the right care in the right setting," Dr. Alan Jones, UMMC's associate vice chancellor for health affairs, said of making care more accessible and convenient. "By moving appropriate outpatient services into a facility designed specifically for them, we can improve scheduling, reduce wait times, and create a better overall experience for patients and families while keeping the main hospital focused on complex and emergent care." The latest UMMC hospital opening follows the launch of Colony Park South, located right next to Colony Park North, which began welcoming patients last year. |
| Millsaps Institutional Advancement Expands Talent with Key Promotions | |
| The Millsaps College Office of Institutional Advancement recently promoted Sara Wallace to Alumni Engagement Manager and Julia Kennedy to Advancement Specialist. These changes will support Millsaps' ongoing work to deepen alumni connections, enhance communication and create engaging experiences for alumni and friends of the college. Both bring deep Millsaps roots, strong professional experience and a passion for serving the college community. In her role as Alumni Engagement Manager, Sara will help create meaningful and lasting ways for alumni to stay connected to Millsaps through events, programs and communication. She will oversee major alumni gatherings such as Homecoming, regional presidential tours and milestone reunions while also supporting volunteer chapter leaders in major cities across the country. As Advancement Specialist, Julia will support the Institutional Advancement team through coordinated scheduling, event and project support, donor and alumni record maintenance, and gift processing assistance. "We are thrilled to see both Sara and Julia step into these important new roles," said Kathleen Terry-Sharp, vice president of institutional advancement. |
| Jackson State to use $14.5 million contract on heart disease research | |
| Jackson State University will use $14.5 million in funding to investigate cardiovascular disease and related health risks in Black Mississippians. The money resulted from a 10-year contract the university inked with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to extend its Jackson Heart Study Graduate Training and Education Center. The Jackson Heart Study is the largest investigation of cardiovascular disease in African Americans. Its work has spanned more than 5,300 participants aged 34 to 85, generating decades of data and biological samples used to advance scientific understanding and improve prevention and care. Last year marked the program's 25-year milestone, recognizing the first participant clinical exam conducted on Sept. 26, 2000. "This investment reflects Jackson State's continued leadership as a research institution and our ability to compete for major federal partnerships that deliver outcomes," Interim Jackson State President Dr. Denise Jones Gregory said. "It also reinforces our responsibility to develop talent and strengthen the evidence base that helps families live longer, healthier lives." |
| 'It's just convenient for me': New Hinds Community College program topples barriers to higher education | |
| Teneshia LeBran's journey to get her associate degree hasn't been easy. LeBran first enrolled at Hinds Community College in August 2019 to study early childhood education technology. She's a young, single mother raising five small children -- with another baby due in June. She has experience volunteering for Head Start committees in Hinds County, which provides free-early childhood education, nutrition and services to low-income families. She has also had to navigate federal food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infants, and Children. "I want to open my own day care one day," LeBran said. Different personal challenges led to her starting and stopping her education at Hinds. Now, she's participating in The Learning Circle, or TLC, a pilot program Hinds Community College launched in January to lower barriers students like LeBran face to earning an associate degree or a career or technical certificate. On Tuesday nights, the Learning Circle provides child care and dinner for students. On Thursday nights, students can access tutoring and a computer lab through the program. |
| Florida attorney general takes adjunct teaching role at UF law school | |
 | Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has accepted a part‑time adjunct faculty position at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, the university announced Feb. 14 on X. He will also serve as an adviser to the college's Law and Government Program. Uthmeier has previously served as an adjunct professor at UF and is currently teaching an upper‑level law course on Federalism and Separation of Powers, according to the law school's online course schedule. "We are proud to have AG Uthmeier serve as a part-time faculty member during the 2025-2026 academic year and hopefully for years to come," Interim Dean and professor Merritt E. McAlister wrote in an email to The Sun. During his swearing‑in ceremony last year, Uthmeier as attorney general pledged to "champion an America First agenda," fight drug cartels and combat what he described as left‑wing "activists" he claims are "indoctrinating" children. He has acted on that pledge by assisting Gov. Ron DeSantis with controversial efforts to crack down on immigration in Florida. |
| Woman sues U. of Kentucky after students' rape charges dismissed, alleges Title IX violations | |
 | A woman who claims she was raped and assaulted in a University of Kentucky dorm last year is suing, alleging the university was negligent in preventing the attack. The lawsuit was filed Friday, days after criminal charges in the case were dismissed by a Fayette County court. In the suit, she and her attorney claim the university violated Title IX -- a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination -- and was negligent based on foreseeable conduct and supervision. Without proper action, UK failed to prevent the alleged February 2025 rape, the suit claims. Universities are required to comply with Title IX to receive federal funds, and part of the law requires institutions to address sexual harassment, sexual assault and violence. Jay Blanton, the spokesperson for UK, said Tuesday the university was not aware of the complaint and declined comment. A Fayette County court dismissed charges against two men accused last week after a grand jury declined to indict them. The latest lawsuit states UK was aware of the potential for sexual assault and rape to take place in dorms, but failed to prevent it by implementing further safety measures, and also created a campus atmosphere where such assaults are more prevalent. |
| Kansas May Withhold Millions From Universities With 'DEI-CRT' in Gen Ed | |
 | In statehouses, bill titles rarely tell the full story of what's in them, and the legislation itself can contain seemingly unrelated provisions. This trend is playing out right now in Kansas, where Republicans are using a budget bill to move forward a host of nonfinancial public higher ed measures that have worried faculty and could mean millions in cuts for public universities. But Republicans, who control both chambers, appear undeterred. The state's Democratic governor signed a budget bill into law last year that directed colleges to eliminate positions and activities related to "diversity, equity and inclusion." Among other provisions, this year's legislation, called House Bill 2434, contains a mechanism -- with garbled wording -- that's apparently intended to withhold $2 million from each of the state's six public universities until they prove to the State Finance Council that they don't "require or constrain students to enroll in a DEI-CRT-related course" to earn a degree. It's another example of continued Republican attacks on tenure and what conservatives dub DEI in state after state. But not all anti-DEI legislation is alike, and bills like Kansas's that would restrict curricula without defining what DEI or CRT means have raised alarm among academic freedom and free speech advocates. Gamal Weheba, president of the Kansas Conference of the American Association of University Professors, said curriculum is the "property of the faculty." |
| India tells university to leave AI summit after presenting Chinese robot as its own, sources say | |
| An Indian university has been asked to vacate its stall at the country's flagship AI summit after a staff member was caught presenting a commercially available robotic dog made in China as its own creation, two government sources said. "You need to meet Orion. This has been developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University," Neha Singh, a professor of communications, told state-run broadcaster DD News this week in remarks that have since gone viral. But social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China's Unitree Robotics for about $2,800 and widely used in research and education globally. The episode has drawn sharp criticism and has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on India's artificial intelligence ambitions. The embarrassment was amplified by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who shared the video clip on his official social media account before the backlash. The post was later deleted. The India AI Impact summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, which runs until Saturday, has been billed as the first major AI gathering hosted in the Global South. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei will address the gathering on Thursday. |
| UCLA fires top finance officer, saying he made inaccurate claims about campus budget | |
 | In a rare action against a top administrator, UCLA on Tuesday fired its chief financial officer after officials said he inaccurately described the campus deficit, which has come under scrutiny by faculty leaders amid growing operation costs, attacks by the Trump administration and weaker-than-promised state funding. Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Agostini, who had overseen UCLA's $11-billion budget since May 2024, "will no longer serve in his role, effective immediately," Chancellor Julio Frenk wrote in a brief campuswide message, announcing an interim appointment and a national search for a replacement. The abrupt change came days after Agostini gave an interview to the Daily Bruin student newspaper saying the campus had "financial management flaws and failures" predating his arrival, leading to what he said was a $425-million deficit. In the interview, Agostini blamed financial woes on faculty and staff raises, academic departments' requests for new positions and expanded programs, and UCLA athletics, which has run in the red for multiple years. UCLA, which is preparing to host the Olympic Village in 2028 and has invested tens of millions into athletics since joining the Big Ten, has also faced internal criticism for heavy spending on sports programs that have run in the red. |
| A Group of Deans Boycotted This Year's U.S. News Survey, and It Worked | |
 | Less than a week after the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work (NADD) called for a boycott of U.S. News & World Report's rankings of master's-degree programs in social work, the publication acquiesced, agreeing to postpone its next ranking until 2027. Higher-education groups of all kinds have long complained about U.S. News' ranking efforts, both publicly and privately. Calls for boycotts -- among college presidents and deans of law and medical schools -- have arisen periodically. Typically, U.S. News publishes its lists anyway, using publicly available and previously gathered data. By blocking data collection for 2026, the deans of social work notched an unusual victory. Among other tactics, the deans' association had threatened to "formally disavow" the 2026 ranking and go public with its complaints. That said, the social-work survey won't change significantly. In previous boycotts, college leaders called on U.S. News analysts to revise the formulas they use to rank institutions, for example by focusing less on reputation and more on student outcomes. Boycotters often harkened to high-minded ideas about how the formulas worsen societal inequity and harm disadvantaged students. But this year's social-work boycott seems to have been driven more by complaints about U.S. News' administration of the survey it relies on to rank programs than about the fairness of the methodology itself, which remains entirely based on peer reputation. |
| Why One AI Administrator Is Skeptical of AI | |
| Three years after generative artificial intelligence technology went mainstream, predictions about how AI will transform the workforce and learning haven't slowed down. Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted AI could wipe out half of entry-level white collar jobs within just five years. More recently, Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI CEO, forecast an even gloomier outlook: Most white-collar tasks "will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months." At the same time, universities across the country are scrambling to prepare their students for a workforce that's increasingly reliant on AI. Many, including Ohio State University, the California State University system and Columbia University, are trying to accomplish that in part by partnering with mammoth tech companies, such as Google and OpenAI, that claim their products will also enhance learning and instruction. But Matthew Connelly, a professor of history and a vice dean for AI initiatives at Columbia University, is skeptical of the higher education sector's rush to partner with tech companies without much proof that their AI tools improve learning outcomes. Instead, he believes such partnerships are offering tech companies training grounds to create the very AI systems that could replace human workers -- and usurp the knowledge-creation business higher education has long dominated. |
| Hegseth launches culture war against elite universities | |
| Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expanding his culture war into academia, threatening to pull service members' tuition assistance at potentially dozens of top colleges and universities he views as biased against the armed forces. The move is setting off alarm bells in the military and academic communities, who worry about cutting off a key pipeline to the officer corps. "This is stunningly short-sighted of Hegseth, on multiple levels," said Georgetown law professor and former Pentagon adviser Rosa Brooks. "Cutting off their access to the best universities in the country is just plain dumb, and suggests Hegseth thinks officers can't be trusted to bring any critical thinking to their classes and academic work, distinguishing between opinion and fact." Hegseth's effort was first alluded to in a video message last week that announced the Pentagon's decision to cut all academic ties with Harvard University starting in the 2026/2027 school year, claiming it is "one of the red-hot centers of hate-America activism." In the video, Hegseth threatened to explore the same option at other Ivy League schools, following up with a memo signed last week that ordered the military branches to evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty members at the top-tier institutions and any other civilian universities "that similarly diminish critical thinking and have significant adversary involvement," CNN first reported. |
| David Brooks: 'We're Part of the Problem' | |
| For more than two decades, David Brooks has been a fixture of The New York Times opinion page -- "the kind of conservative writer that wouldn't make our readers shriek and throw the paper out the window," as one Times editor put it when Brooks was hired. A temperamental moderate with a knack for affectionately mocking the elite, Brooks trafficked in wry bemusement rather than moral prescription. In a classic 2001 article in The Atlantic, he trained his eye on "organization kids" -- the apolitical, hyperstriving careerists of the Ivy League, whom Brooks regarded as both inordinately obsessive about grabbing the next brass ring and oddly incurious about life's deeper questions. These students prioritized the cultivation of what Brooks calls résumé virtues at the expense of eulogy virtues, the qualities you hope to be remembered for at your funeral. While he plainly felt something had gone awry, he struck a pose of cocked-eyebrow observer rather than finger-wagging scold. In the years since, his critique of elite higher education has taken on a sharper tone. In his 2024 Atlantic cover story, "How the Ivy League Broke America," his target isn't the psychological malformation of elites, but the entire system that's anointed their rise. Our method of sorting and sifting via college admissions is bad for higher education and bad for the country, Brooks argues. The architects of the American meritocracy dreamed of a world of "class-mixing and relative social comity; we ended up with a world of rigid caste lines and pervasive cultural and political war. ... We ended up with President Trump." |
| AI-driven global data center boom, including in Mississippi, draws critics and litigation | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: The rapid increase in demand for artificial intelligence as the technology is adopted and implemented by public- and private-sector businesses is driving the surge in data center construction worldwide. Mississippi has been involved in several of those mammoth economic transactions. ... For Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, the Mississippi Development Authority and the majority of both houses of the Mississippi Legislature, the state's early success in the data centers boom has resulted in historic economic development growth and the promise of more to come. That's the good news. Yet across the country, local opposition to data centers has ranged from tepid to intense. A group called datacenterwatch.org claims to have documented $62 billion in data center projects. that were delayed or blocked by protests in 2024-25. That opposition has been based in great measure on the old "NIMBY" gambit -- not in my back yard. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: Fourth-Ranked Bulldogs Take Out Troy | |
| Fourth-ranked Mississippi State erupted for four runs in the first inning and never looked back Tuesday night, rolling to a 13-7 victory over Troy at Dudy Noble Field. The Diamond Dawgs (4-0) pounded out 16 hits, including a 5-for-5 night at the plate for Ace Reese, to remain unbeaten while handing the Trojans (1-3) an early deficit they could not overcome. MSU wasted little time setting the tone. James Nunnallee singled to open the bottom of the first and later scored on Aidan Teel's RBI double to right. Vytas Valincius followed with a two-run single to left, and Gehrig Frei capped the four-run outburst with an RBI triple to left-center as State sent nine batters to the plate. The Bulldogs struck again in the second with three more runs. Ryder Woodson doubled home a run before Reese launched a two-run homer to center, stretching the lead to 7-0. MSU's offense wasn't finished. MSU continues its homestand on Wednesday with Alcorn State at 4 p.m. on SEC Network+. The Braves (1-2) are set to start junior left-hander Caden Wade while the Diamond Dawgs have yet to release their pitching plans. |
| Men's Basketball: Five Things To Know: State vs. Auburn | |
| Mississippi State men's basketball heads into the final third of its SEC schedule when the Bulldogs play host to Auburn on Wednesday evening at Humphrey Coliseum. State (12-13, 4-8 SEC) is led by Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps who have combined to rack up 35.7 points per game which is the program's top scoring duo Jeff Malone paired with Terry Lewis to average 42.0 points per contest in 1982-83. The Tigers (14-11, 5-7 SEC) have dropped four straight games after winning four consecutive outings. Keyshawn Hall (20.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.7 APG), Tahaad Pettiford (14.7 PPG, 3.6 APG), Kevin Overton (12.2 PPG, 1.3 SPG) and KeShawn Murphy (11.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG) have averaged in double figures for Auburn. Auburn has won four of the last five and 10 of the last 12 meetings over the Bulldogs since 2016-17. Last time at Humphrey Coliseum, State defeated a top 10 Auburn squad by a 64-58 margin during Coach Jans' first season. Josh Hubbard scored 17 points during his first career start. |
| Keyshawn Hall practices, set to play for Auburn Wednesday | |
| Keyshawn Hall, Auburn's leading scorer, was not listed on Tuesday night's injury report, and is set to play Wednesday night against Mississippi State. Hall ranks fourth in the SEC in scoring, averaging 20.7 points. The forward, who previously played at UNLV, George Mason and UCF, is shooting 40.6% from the field and is averaging 6.8 rebounds for a Tigers team that is 14-11, 5-7 in the SEC. Hall sat out the team's loss to 20th-ranked Arkansas on Saturday and was benched for the final 12-plus minutes of last week's loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt. Auburn outscored Vanderbilt 33-29 without him. "The length and duration is up to him," Auburn coach Steven Pearl said Saturday about how long Hall would be out. "We are hoping this isn't something that has to drag out longer than it needs to." Without going into detail, Pearl had also said Hall failed to "live up to the standards and expectations of our program." |
| Softball: State Welcomes Memphis For Midweek Matchup | |
| No. 14/18 Mississippi State continues its season-long 12-game homestand on Wednesday when the Bulldogs welcome Memphis to Nusz Park at 4 p.m. CT. The game will air on SEC Network+. The Bulldogs checked in with their highest ranking in school history in two of the four major polls this week. State has won its first 10 games for just the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2016. That performance has been driven largely by an elite pitching staff two weeks into the season. Mississippi State leads the nation in fielding independent pitching (1.04), but the defense has been exceptional as well, ranking second nationally in fielding percentage (.996). Bulldog pitchers are among the top five nationally in ERA, strikeouts, strikeouts looking, strikeout-to-walk ratio, strikeouts per seven innings and shutouts. Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Morgan Stiles' .515 average and 14-game reached-base streak dating back to last season. She ranks 26th nationally in hits this year. Meanwhile, Anna Carder is among the top 40 players in the country with a .630 on-base percentage. |
| How Arkansas is weighing student fees, budget cuts to fund new athletics support | |
| In a resolution passed last month that seeks to add roughly $15 million in additional funding to the athletics department, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees tasked chancellor Charles Robinson with devising a plan for the school to send $6 million per year in direct institutional support to athletics. He must present a plan to do so on March 1, according to the resolution. In addition, the resolution requires the university to give up the annual transfer from the athletics department to campus, an average of $4.4 million per year. It also directs the athletics department to "create an additional $5 million annually through either operational efficiencies or new revenue" to be invested into a football-specific "All-In Fund." The resolution passed 7-3, with dissenting votes primarily based on objections to the procedure. Board members did not receive copies of the resolution until 8 a.m. the day of the meeting, which is not standard, and both Robinson and athletics director Hunter Yurachek said they had not seen it. During discussion of the resolution, Robinson said it could force the addition of a student fee or a tuition increase. "I just don't know where I would get the $6 million from," Robinson said. "There's just no magic budget bucket out there, so I'd have to figure that out." |
| At the Olympics and beyond, women's sports media outlets are writing their own playbooks | |
| Veteran sports columnist Christine Brennan remembers when male colleagues used to laugh at her for insisting on covering women's sports back in the 1990s. "It was absolutely infuriating to me," said Brennan, a best-selling author who served as the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. Now? Entire media outlets dedicated to centering women's sports are springing up, growing rapidly and tackling coverage themselves, including in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Alongside the historic growth of women's sports, the women's sports media ecosystem is likewise flourishing, and outlets like TOGETHXR, The GIST, Just Women's Sports, The IX Sports, GOALS and Good Game with Sarah Spain are expanding their reach. "The male-dominated mainstream sports media totally missed the boat on women's sports," said Brennan, a sports columnist at USA Today now covering her 22nd Olympic Games, adding that she is heartened by newer outlets "doing a job that should have been done by mainstream sports media." While even mainstream sports media have upped their game by increasing the scale and quality of women's sports coverage, University of Michigan sport management professor Ketra Armstrong says the recent influx of women-led outlets is uniquely "liberating" because women athletes are "owning their stories and not waiting for it to be filtered through any traditional lens." |
| Donald Trump's Plan to Reshape D.C. Golf Course Faces Federal Lawsuit | |
| President Donald Trump's plan to convert the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, D.C., into a championship-style course -- with more expensive tee times -- violates environmental and historic preservation laws, a lawsuit brought by the DC Preservation League and two recreational golfers alleges. The complaint, filed last Friday in a D.C. federal district court, seeks an injunction to stop the implementation of a plan that has already started. The Department of the Interior's National Park Service (NPS) has allegedly dumped 30,000 cubic yards of fill on the course. The dumping is described as including wire, pipes, bricks and other potentially hazardous materials from the recent demolition of the White House's East Wing (to construct a ballroom), with the complaint saying "experts" believe the East Wing contained asbestos and lead paint. East Potomac is a public course that opened in 1920 and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its cultural value. As described by the plaintiffs, the course is intended for recreational purposes that are "broadly accessible to the general public" and at "affordable" fees. The plaintiffs portray the Interior Department as trying to "destroy" the course "in keeping with President Trump's efforts to remake the public spaces of Washington, D.C., in his image." |
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