| Wednesday, January 24, 2018 |
| Mississippi State's Mimmo Parisi gives nSPARC update at Rotary | |
 | Starkville Rotarians got an update on one of Mississippi State University's most recognized programs when National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (nSPARC) Director Mimmo Parisi spoke. Parisi, a member of the Starkville Rotary Club, gave a presentation on the work nSPARC does and the role data science plays in everyday life. Parisi laid out five roles nSPARC fills, coming up with big ideas for data research, creating new technologies and innovations, public policy supporting the use of data, the ability to access data and preparing the next generation of data scientists. Parisi likened data to petroleum in its effect on the way the world functions "Then we had the internal combustion engine, which gives us a car, but then Ford gave us a way to get the cars to all of us," Parisi said "Then we had suburban areas, and the rest is history, right? Data is no different. I've always seen data as a resource, not just as a way to use information, but as part of something bigger than just information." |
| Government shutdown has minimal local impact | |
 | A three-day federal government shutdown is over, after lawmakers passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through at least Feb. 8. The shutdown began on Saturday, after Congress failed to pass a budget to fund the federal government. It ended Monday night, when President Donald Trump signed a resolution to keep the government funded for another three weeks. Throughout the nation, the shutdown's effects crept into many aspects of federal work, such as the closure of federal office buildings, the closure of some national park sites and many federal workers being furloughed. In the Golden Triangle, the brief duration helped keep the shutdown's impacts from being as severe as they could have been. |
| House passes program for free community college for high-demand jobs | |
 | Mississippi would pay the cost of students to attend one of the state's 15 community colleges to earn degrees for certain high-skilled, high-demand jobs under legislation that passed the House Tuesday. The Mississippi Career Techs Scholars Program passed the 122-member House with only two dissenting votes Tuesday. The legislation now goes to the Senate. The bill is similar to a proposal made late last year by Gov. Phil Bryant. The governor proposed the Mississippi Works Scholarship Program as part of his budget recommendation to the Legislature. Rep. Greg Holloway, D-Hazelhurst, who explained the bill Tuesday on the House floor, said the program would cost $7 million annually. But Holloway could not say how many people would participate in the program. |
| Free community college for tech fields? House passes bill | |
 | The House overwhelmingly passed a bill -- pushed by Gov. Phil Bryant -- to cover tuition for any Mississippian to go community college for vocational-technical studies. The Mississippi Career-Tech Scholars Program, including funding of $7 million, passed the House 111-2 after brief debate. House Bill 405, which now heads to the Senate, would cover any legal state resident accepted to a community college in a vocational-technical field, provided they maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average. It would cover any tuition cost after the student has exhausted all other federal, state and institutional aid available to them. "This is consistent with community colleges all over the nation," said Rep. Greg Holloway, D-Hazlehurst. He said the costs in many cases would only be a few hundred dollars per student because they are already eligible for other assistance and this program would just cover the remainder. He said it would cover only tuition, not books or room and board or other expenses. |
| Bills to expand 'school choice' pending as parents rally at Capitol | |
 | Students, parents and policymakers rallied at the State Capitol on Tuesday to voice their support for more programs allowing parents to use public dollars to send their children to private schools or to purchase tutoring and other services. Gov. Phil Bryant, Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves each touted the importance of "school choice," saying a child's zip code and financial status should not limit his or her educational options. Bryant, a major backer of the state's current programs for dyslexic students and students with special needs, likened the public school system to a modern-day Berlin Wall and also compared the fight for public-to-private education options to the fight for integration in the 1950s and 1960s. Bills filed by Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, a Republican from Oxford, and Rep. Charles Busby, a Republican from Pascagoula, would greatly expand which students are eligible to receive funds. |
| Mississippi lawmakers voucher push sparks accountability questions | |
| Reasoning that children in underperforming districts deserve an escape hatch, top lawmakers were eager during a school choice rally at the Capitol on Tuesday to tout their support of providing state funds for education options outside of traditional public schools. Less clear is whether the same school choice proponents expect an accountability metric for private schools receiving state aid. Speaker Philip Gunn, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Gov. Phil Bryant made remarks at Tuesday's event, part of National School Choice Week. Hundreds of school children, teachers and parents gathered in the Capitol rotunda for the rally that carried a simple theme: When it comes to education, parents know best. Public school advocates are organizing a fierce campaign against the proposals. |
| Public School Advocates Use a Film to Inform Community on Education Issues | |
 | On a giant dome screen at the planetarium in Jackson, dozens of public school supporters from across Mississippi watched a film called "Backpack Full of Cash." The film explores what could happen when district's divert public school funds to voucher programs and charter schools -- a story many advocates believe is headed towards Mississippi. Bills currently before the Legislature could give parents the option to receive state aid to enroll their children in private schools instead. More than 90% of children are enrolled in public schools in Mississippi according to the Southern Poverty Law Center which sponsored the forum. School choice advocates say parents should have the freedom to spend public education dollars at whichever school is best at meeting their children's needs. |
| After scrambling for funds, Child Protection Services still needs $12 million from state | |
| Two weeks after the embattled Division of Child Protection Services stunned lawmakers by revealing a record-breaking $38 million deficit, the agency has dramatically downgraded its request to $12 million in state funds. The revised estimate is due primarily to an influx of federal dollars, but the agency informed the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that it also plans to make approximately $8 million in internal cuts this fiscal year. And while a $12 million pill may be easier to swallow than one three times its size, lawmakers admit they're still not sure where the funding will come from in an already tight year. "But we're going to have to come up with it," said House Appropriations Chairman John Read, R-Gautier. "Where it's going to come from, I can't tell you right now. So we're going to be looking across the board. That's about all we can do." |
| Child Protection Services has plan to address deficit | |
| The state agency tasked with overseeing Mississippi's abused and neglected children has a $49 million deficit, but it has a plan to wipe it out with a $12 million deficit appropriation from lawmakers. The plan also would include a hiring freeze and the delay of a software update, Child Protection Services Commissioner Jess Dickinson told members of the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday. The key question is whether the hiring freeze this fiscal year and delaying the software update to track foster children will affect the federal Olivia Y settlement mandating reforms in the foster care system. Plaintiffs in the case won't be happy, but Dickinson said he hopes U.S. District Judge Tom Lee, who is presiding over the case, will understand the state's situation. |
| AG Jim Hood opens meetings of mental health task force to reporters | |
 | Reporters will be welcome from now on at meetings of a task force convened by Attorney General Jim Hood to examine Mississippi's mental health system. Margaret Ann Morgan, Hood's spokeswoman, said Tuesday that a majority of 30-plus members had voted to open their meetings. Several news organizations had contested the decision to close the meetings. Hood's office had said it was necessary because some participating organizations won't let their employees talk to reporters. The Clarion-Ledger filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission after its reporter was barred from a December meeting. |
| Restaurant tax: Columbus, CVB's last minute requests stall tax talks | |
| Last-minute requests from both the city and the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau board have again placed the future of a county-wide 2-percent restaurant sales tax in peril. CVB board members met Monday to consider an inter-local agreement that would have put to rest arguments over how the tax money would be distributed in the future. But between a last-minute city addition to the deal and measures CVB board members added to their own draft of an agreement, negotiations have again broken down. The current 10-year term for the tax expires on June 30, and it requires the Mississippi Legislature's approval to renew. The deadline is March 9 for bills to be introduced to the House Local and Private Committee, which handles such taxes. Legislators have previously said it would take a joint resolution of the county and city to renew the tax. |
| The surprising argument for extending food stamps to pets | |
 | Edward B. Johnston Jr. would rather give his dinner to his dog than watch the dog go hungry. That is why the 59-year-old Mississippi man is petitioning the Department of Agriculture to let him use food stamps on kibble and pet treats. Pets are part of the family, Johnston argued, and families should not have to break up when they hit what he calls a "financial rough patch." The petition has little chance of succeeding, experts say, given the political and logistical challenges of changing food stamps, otherwise known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But it has attracted the attention of nearly 80,000 signers, as well as a number of animal welfare organizations. These groups say that allowing food stamps to be used for pet food could potentially keep tens of thousands of animals out of shelters. About 776,000 of the 5.5 million dogs that enter shelters each year are euthanized, according to Mississippi State University statistics. |
| Climate Change Is Making Sea Turtles More Female: Now What? | |
| For more than a hundred million years, female sea turtles have dug nests on beaches, filling them with papery eggs before covering them up and bidding adieu. But in Australia's northern Great Barrier Reef, something in this time-honored process has gone awry: For 20 years, almost all of the green turtle hatchlings that dug themselves out of the sand to flipper-flop into the ocean have been female. That's the conclusion of research published recently in Current Biology, led by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Keeping nests cool is, in theory, straightforward. "Two of the natural ways that nest temperatures become reduced is through rain and through shade," Jacob Hill, a PhD candidate at Mississippi State University who was not involved with the recent study, said. As a master's student, Hill completed research demonstrating the feasibility of watering and shading to cool sea turtle nests in Costa Rica. Hill recommended careful research and consideration before messing with any turtle eggs. |
| Potential citizenship question in 2020 Census could shift power to rural America | |
| A request by the Justice Department to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census could shift the nation's balance of political power from cities to more rural communities over the next decade and give Republicans a new advantage drawing electoral boundaries. Population numbers produced by the census are used in many ways, notably to draw political districts and distribute government funds across the country. Adding questions to the decennial survey is usually a controversial and difficult process because of the potential to affect both of those functions -- either by suppressing census participation or by creating new ways to define populations. All of it has prompted advocates for Hispanic communities to accuse the Justice Department of wanting to produce a less accurate count in 2020. |
| University Funding Cuts Prompt Talk of Tuition Hikes, Consolidation | |
| Most of the state's public university and college presidents crowded into the Mississippi House of Representatives' appropriations room on Monday with a united message. "Without having both enhanced resources from state appropriations and some additional investment and cost-of-attendance from parents and families, our longstanding efforts to provide Mississippi students with a high-quality, competitive education will erode," University of Southern Mississippi President Rodney Bennett told lawmakers. Rep. Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula, pointed out that Mississippi has eight public colleges and universities, and asked why. "Is there any means of some level of consolidation? Do we need eight Institutions of Higher Learning? ... Or should we be looking into something ... to consolidate?" Busby asked. Commissioner Boyce said consolidation is not a conversation IHL or the Board of Trustees is having. Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, warned against the consolidation idea. |
| USM President Rodney Bennett: School funding needs 'not a fantasy' | |
 | University of Southern Mississippi President Rodney Bennett told a gathering of civic clubs Tuesday that the state's universities have to live within their means while at the same time recognizing that more funding is needed. Bennett was in Brookhaven to address the clubs, just one day after he joined the state's other university presidents in Jackson for a meeting with lawmakers regarding funding. "Without having both enhanced resources from state appropriations and some additional investment and cost-of-attendance from parents and families, our longstanding efforts to provide Mississippi students with a high-quality, competitive education will erode," Bennett told lawmakers, according to a Jackson Free Press story. "This is not a fantasy rooted in theatrics." Bennett spent most of his time in Brookhaven Tuesday discussing USM's plans to bolster commerce and tourism along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the so-called "blue" economy. |
| LSU's president urges fellow ed leaders to set annual college attendance goals | |
 | LSU President F. King Alexander challenged fellow education leaders in Baton Rouge on Tuesday to set annual goals to increase the number of children who attend and graduate from college. "We can measure this and hold ourselves accountable for doing this," Alexander told a luncheon audience at Juban's Restaurant. It's part of a larger effort by Alexander to increase college attendance, something he calls "Journey To College." Alexander led a similar initiative before coming to LSU, when was overseeing a university in Long Beach, California, what he called the "Long Island Promise." Alexander offered a starting goal Tuesday. He noted that roughly 65 percent of high school graduates go on to college in Louisiana. He suggested that LSU, the local public schools and Baton Rouge Community College set a goal to increase that to 75 percent. |
| LSU tells students to come to class on two Saturdays to make up for ice days | |
| LSU will hold make-up days on two Saturdays in February after the latest round of winter weather socked the Baton Rouge area and canceled classes. In a letter sent to students Tuesday, the university said Saturday, Feb. 3 will make up for the lost day on Wednesday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 24, will make-up for the lost Thursday, Jan. 18 classes. Courses will be held at the same time and place where they normally occur, unless students are explicitly informed otherwise. Students with conflicts should contact their professors. The university needs to make up the days to ensure that the spring semester meets the minimum number of required class days. The Saturday make-up days without stepping into the Mardi Gras holiday and Spring Break. LSU administrators, in another letter to the faculty, asked the classroom instructors to be flexible if students have a reasonable reason for missing the make-up class. |
| Avoiding tuition hikes will be U. of South Carolina's top goal next year | |
 | The University of South Carolina has a goal of holding its tuition costs flat next year. It's hoping the S.C. Legislature will help it reach that goal. USC president Harris Pastides said reining in tuition is his top goal Tuesday as he asked lawmakers for $27.7 million in additional taxpayer money for the USC system in next year's state budget. Pastides said the university needs state support to meet that goal. "You hold the key to tuition, not me," Pastides told an S.C. House panel Tuesday, submitting the school's budget request. When all of South Carolina's four-year public universities are factored in, the Palmetto State has one of the highest tuition rates in the country. "I've never had a student ask me, 'Why did my tuition go up?' " Pastides said. "They ask, 'Why doesn't the state fund it?'" |
| Georgia lawmakers raise questions about high school student safety on college campuses | |
| A committee of Georgia lawmakers sought assurances Tuesday from higher education administrators that they are taking the necessary steps to prevent sexual misconduct against high school students taking courses on college campuses. Lawmakers on the House and Senate higher education committees asked during a joint meeting how campuses investigate sexual misconduct complaints made by students in the state's dual enrollment program. The number of students in the program has skyrocketed in recent years, from about 11,484 during fiscal year 2013 to 35,862 in fiscal year 2017, according to a state review of the program released earlier this month. A Technical College System of Georgia official said it refers any misconduct allegations to child welfare officials and conduct joint investigations with the local public school district. A University System of Georgia official said it conducts similar practices. |
| Chancellor: State cuts would compromise U. of Missouri goals | |
 | A new round of cuts to higher education funding will make it more difficult for the University of Missouri's flagship campus to meet its twin goals of investing in high-quality programs and paying for major new research and academic buildings, Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said Tuesday. Gov. Eric Greitens on Monday proposed cutting 10 percent from current appropriations for state colleges and universities and putting 10 percent of the remaining funds into a pool that would only be distributed if performance measures are met. That would put more than $80 million of the UM System's appropriation at risk. About 40 percent to 45 percent of the UM System's academic spending goes to the Columbia campus. If approved it would be the smallest state appropriation since 1998. |
| Outlook for Higher Ed in 2018 Is Bleak, Ratings Agency Says | |
 | Higher education will face many of the same challenges in 2018 that it has in previous years, but additional state and federal pressures suggest a bleak outlook for the sector this year, according to the ratings agency Standard and Poor's. "S&P Global Ratings believes institutions with limited flexibility, whether that be in programming, financial operations, enrollment, resources, or student draw, could face credit pressure in the upcoming year," analysts for the ratings agency wrote in a report issued on Tuesday. Further, students and parents seek decreases in the cost of attendance, while expecting better services and amenities; and as the "disparity between student expectations and willingness to pay" continues to grow, the analysts wrote, it will further strain midlevel institutions. In the long term, institutions must also be wary of reputation risk in an increasingly politicized public climate. |
| The Pressure on Provosts: 2018 Inside Higher Ed Survey of Chief Academic Officers | |
 | Provosts are generally confident of free speech rights at their own colleges and universities, but many are worried about the situation more broadly in higher education, according to the 2018 Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers, conducted by Gallup and answered by 516 provosts or chief academic officers. The survey comes at a time of intense debate in higher education and in American society over whether colleges and their students respect the principles of free speech. The survey also comes after a year in which many faculty members -- many of them relatively junior in their careers and members of minority groups -- found themselves under attack. A majority of provosts believe that conservative politicians and websites are unfairly condemning these professors. |
| Study shows drop-off in religious interests of new college students | |
| First-year students might come to campus open to new spiritual perspectives, but a new survey shows that in their freshman year, their interest in religious diversity plummets. Colleges and universities across the U.S., 122 of them, provided data to the Interfaith Youth Core around the 2015-16 academic year about their students' religious habits and beliefs for the nonprofit's Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS). The data were provided at two different points to show change -- researchers will follow a national cohort of students until they are rising seniors in spring 2019 to show how the college experience can shape students' religious and world views. The survey also links students' religious views with political engagement. After a year of college, the survey found that students are more welcoming of others on both sides of the political spectrum. |
| Students warned against ingesting Tide pods amid burgeoning social media fad | |
| A university told its students that laundry detergent was for "clothes, not mouths" this week, in response to a baffling (and potentially deadly) social media challenge. Boston's Wentworth Institute of Technology sent an email Tuesday dissuading students from ingesting laundry detergent pods, as the "Tide pod challenge" emerges on social media and in news reports. Participants in the fad, usually teenagers, have recorded videos of themselves consuming the brightly colored detergent packets and posting the evidence to social media platforms. The American Association of Poison Control expressed "significant concerns" about the Tide pod trend in a warning earlier this month, saying consumption of the detergent packets has serious health implications, including seizures, pulmonary edema, respiratory arrest, coma and death. In response, Tide has repeatedly warned consumers against ingesting pods, posting a video to Twitter in which Rob Gronkowski, a player for the NFL's New England Patriots, attempted to discourage the trend. But the Procter & Gamble-owned company has no plans to discontinue the line. |
| Legislature is intellectually dishonest on education | |
 | The Mississippi Business Journal's Ross Reily writes: "We keep hearing -- over and over and over again -- what a wonderful atmosphere there is in Mississippi for business. The Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House love to talk about how cutting taxes is going to save the world and bring more business to Mississippi. So, while I have my $10 savings on my taxes this year (I'll buy a couple of more half gallons of milk with that), Phil, Tate and Mr. Gunn want to keep cutting. But now they just want to keep hacking away at education -- all of it. This week, in presentations to legislators, Higher Education Commissioner Glenn Boyce and university presidents warned that Mississippi could fall further behind the nation economically if its universities can't keep pace, as stated in an Associated Press story. The fact of the matter is that the more the state of Mississippi cuts, universities are going to have to raise tuition to make up for the losses, which it has done many times in the past. That certainly affects me and my family, with three kids all planning to go to universities in Mississippi. My guess would be that whatever tax break Phil, Tate and Mr. Gunn gave me last year will not outweigh the tuition hike at our universities. I don't really think our legislators think things through very often." |
| Day of reckoning awaits state, local taxpayers who ignore online sales tax issue | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Like the old Fram oil filter commercial promised, we can pay now or pay later -- but I'm not talking about oil filters. I'm talking about foregone sales tax revenues. Mississippi taxpayers are facing future pain at the state and local levels if current policies don't change. Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield project that nationally over 12,000 retailers will close in 2018, up from about 9,000 in 2017. Familiar retailers like Sears and J.C. Penney have already shuttered stores in Mississippi. With fewer retail outlets collecting state sales taxes, the reduction likewise accrues to sales tax diversions from the state to local governments. The numbers already point to significant impact in Mississippi as in the rest of the country." |
SPORTS
| Wildcats too much for Mississippi State | |
| PJ Washington had a career-high 22 points, Kevin Knox scored 19 with four 3-pointers and Kentucky pulled away late for a 78-65 victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night to end a two-game losing streak. A day after the Wildcats fell out of the Top 25 for the first time since March 2014, Washington and Knox helped end their skid from the foul line and perimeter respectively. Washington made 10 of 14 free throws along with 6 of 10 shooting to top his previous best by two points. Mississippi State hosts Missouri on Saturday. |
| Kentucky averts rare three-game skid with 78-65 win against Mississippi State | |
 | According to basketball parlance, settling is bad. It's taking the easy way out, as John Calipari likes to say, rather than taking on contact in route to a basket and/or drawing a foul. According to the dictionary, settling is adopting a more steady or secure style of life. In defeating Mississippi State 78-65 on Tuesday night, Kentucky also scored one for the dictionary. Led by Kevin Knox, Kentucky shot more freely from three-point distance. The Cats didn't bury Mississippi State in an avalanche of threes. But the five three-pointers equaled the number UK made in the last two games combined. "I needed this game ...," said Knox, who had made only two of 14 three-point shots in the last three games. "I was a little shaky last couple games." |
| Southern Miss' 2018 football schedule finalized | |
 | The Southern Miss football team's Conference USA competition will not change in 2018. The Golden Eagles will face the same league opponents they did last season, the only differences being the dates and sites. Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Rice and UTSA will travel to Hattiesburg, while Southern Miss will take trips to UAB, North Texas, Charlotte and UTEP. The Black and Gold will host Rice on Sept. 22 in the team's Conference USA opener. The team's date with North Texas is set for Oct. 13. UTSA will visit Hattiesburg on Oct. 20, before Southern Miss travels to Charlotte on Oct. 27. Marshall will make the trip to M.M. Roberts Stadium on Nov. 3. The Golden Eagles will visit UAB on Nov. 10, before hosting Louisiana Tech on Nov. 17. Southern Miss concludes the regular-season schedule at UTEP on Nov. 24. The non-conference portion of the 2018 schedule has also been set. The Golden Eagles will host Jackson State on Sept. 1, and Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 8. Road games versus Appalachian State and Auburn are set for Sept. 15 and Sept. 29, respectively. |
| Athletics department thief used South Carolina credit cards for secret Internet shopping spree | |
| David Hutson had it good. An employee of the University of South Carolina's athletics department, he was making $69,125 a year. As part of that job, he had an official university credit card to be used only for USC business. But unknown to the athletics department, Hutson was using that Visa Bank of America credit card to go on a nonstop internet shopping spree, according to state court and USC records obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests. From 2013 to 2016, Hutson used USC's credit cards to buy more than 1,100 unauthorized items for his personal use that cost more than $132,000, according to university records. That is about $3,666 a month in unlawful purchases. Hutson's university-financed gifts included tens of thousands of dollars in yard machines, high-tech cameras, smartphones, sniperscopes, sound systems, computers and other electronic equipment. |
| N.C.A.A. Opens Investigation of Michigan State Over Nassar Case | |
 | The N.C.A.A. sent a letter of inquiry to Michigan State University, formally opening an investigation into how the university handled the case of Lawrence G. Nassar, the doctor who sexually assaulted scores of female athletes. Dr. Nassar spent decades on the faculty at the university and treated its athletes, as well as members of the United States national gymnastics team. "The N.C.A.A. has requested information from Michigan State about any potential rules violations," Donald M. Remy, the association's chief legal officer, said in a phone interview Tuesday evening. N.C.A.A. bylaws require colleges to protect the health, safety and well-being of athletes. Among those who have said Dr. Nassar abused them are members of the Michigan State cross country and softball teams. Kathie Klages, the former gymnastics coach who retired last year, has been accused of seeking to cover up allegations against Dr. Nassar, who served as team physician for the university gymnastics and women's crew programs. |
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