| Monday, September 24, 2018 |
| Mississippi State history department to host WWII workshop Monday | |
 | Mississippi State University is hosting the inaugural workshop of the Second World War Research Group-North America featuring award-winning military historian and author Robert Citino as the keynote speaker. Taking place Monday, the international organization dedicated to the study of WWII will host "Changing Landscapes: the Environment of the Second World War." The workshop provides participants a forum to reflect on new ways to view conflict. Author of numerous books on the German Army during WWII, Citino also is the senior historian at The National WWII Museum. All sessions are in the Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library and are free to the public. Opening remarks are at 8:45 a.m. with panels and sessions scheduled throughout the day. Citino's address begins at 4:30 p.m. "The papers presented focus on numerous 'landscapes of war,' including race, disease, gender, hunger and conscription, and invite the audience to discuss cultural aspects of the war," said Kathryn Barbier, MSU history professor and event organizer. |
| Bring a chair, and even dinner, for 'Oedipus' this week at Mississippi State | |
| A mythical Greek king will fulfill a tragic prophecy when the Shackouls Honors College presents "Oedipus," by Sophocles, at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the Griffis Hall Courtyard at Mississippi State. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets, and picnic dinners, if desired, for the free outdoor play which is part of Classical Week 2018. "This is the seventh year Shackouls Honors College has sponsored Classical Week, which seeks to enhance the Classics between and among departments, colleges and communities through lectures, film, art displays and theater performances," said Professor and Senior Faculty Fellow Donna Clevinger, who directs the play. The open air performances are produced not only as entertainment but also as a catalyst for a new lecture program, The Orators. The first lecture is Thursday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. in Griffis Hall. Yale University's Norma Thompson, senior lecturer in the humanities and director of undergraduate studies, humanities major, will speak on "A Look from the Past." The lecture program's overall theme is "Who Am I Anyway?" |
| Theatre MSU presents adaptation of 'The Hobbit' | |
| Theatre MSU begins its 2018-2019 season with their annual Theatre for Young Audience production, a stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novel "The Hobbit." Written by the celebrated author and adapted by Edward Mast, this production offers a one-hour adventure with Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit hardly interested in going on a real adventure, until legendary wizard Gandalf and 11 dwarves show up at his door to offer him a chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime. School performances run the week of Sept. 24, with two public performances on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2p.m on the McComas Hall main stage. TheatreMSU will follow this production of "The Hobbit" with Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in November and William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" in April 2019. |
| UMMC med students are just a couple of Bullies | |
 | If dogged determination is a requirement for medical school, then JoJo Dodd and Joe Pongetti are ready. The two first-year School of Medicine students shared an alter ego during their undergraduate days at Mississippi State University: Bully. Dodd, of Picayune, and Pongetti, who grew up in Tyler, Texas, but calls Jackson home, were members of the team that brings the Bulldogs mascot to life. "Bully is magical," said Pongetti, a 2015 MSU graduate in kinesiology. "He can be at Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson, and 15 minutes later, he's at Super Bulldog Weekend." "Being Bully is like being famous, but with none of the baggage," said Dodd, who graduated from MSU in 2016 with a degree in economics. "You get mobbed by fans, but then you get to be yourself and have privacy, too. It's the best of both worlds." The larger-than-life canine cheers on Mississippi State athletes, boosts school spirit and generates good will in the community. MSU's top Dawg visits Batson Children's Hospital each year when the football team and coaches are in town for the MSU Central Mississippi Alumni Association's Summer Extravaganza. |
| Mississippi State honors violence victims with Clothesline Project | |
 | Mississippi State University students had the opportunity to participate in the Clothesline Project, sharing their experiences overcoming violence, or those of a friend. Students were able to paint a T-shirt and hang it on a line on a clothesline in honor of themselves or someone else who had experienced violence. Christina Gladney, MSU Assistant Director of Heath Promotion, Wellness and Sexual Assault said at least 100 students had participated on each of the three days the Clothesline Project was set up on campus. The project is an annual event for MSU, and is done on college campuses nationwide. "The program is centered around students being able to speak out and express themselves about their own personal experiences with violence, or someone that they love," Gladney said. |
| Sudduth Elementary recognized at Mississippi State game | |
| Sudduth Elementary School received some recognition at the last Mississippi State University home football game through Extra Yard for Teachers Week. Extra Yard for Teachers is an organization under the College Football Playoff Association, seeking to champion teachers and support education through awareness and other means of benefiting schools. Sudduth Counselor Mary Ruth Caradine was recognized on the field and presented with a cowbell and T-shirt prior to the game. Sudduth Assistant Principal Angela Boutwell was originally slated to be recognized but was out of town for the game. Boutwell said the invitation was based on the school's use of the "Leader in Me" program for the past three years. The program is based off Stephen Covey's book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." |
| Mississippi State Launches AIM for CHangE Program | |
 | The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded Mississippi State University a five-year, $5.5-million grant to launch "AIM for CHangE" to combat obesity in Mississippi. The name is short for "Advancing, Inspiring, Motivating for Community Health through Extension." MSU will partner with the Mississippi Public Health Institute and the University of Mississippi Medical Center to implement the program. AIM for CHangE will promote improvements in individual nutrition and physical activity habits, access to healthy foods in local communities, parks and recreation centers for outdoor activity, walkable paths to schools and worksites, educational programming, and other means to reduce obesity rates and related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. |
| Mississippi Science Fest brings STEM fields to a new generation of pioneers | |
| Candling fertilized eggs at last year's Mississippi Science Fest showed the silhouette of the unhatched chicks inside. But it was the look on a little boy's face, when he saw it, that showed Emily Summerlin all she needed to know about what the fest does for kids. "He was probably about 6 or 7. When he saw that there was actually a living creature inside of that egg, and that there was a technique for them to check it -- it's a really simple form of science, but it made such an impressive impression on that little boy!" says Summerlin, marketing and events specialist at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum. Attractions at the Ag Museum include the Mississippi State's Mobile Environment and Energy Laboratory -- the MEEL trailer -- that's a fully automated and interactive demonstration showcasing all current technology needed to operate a poultry house. MSU's department of sustainable bioproducts and its Wood Magic Science Fair Mobile Unit, is another cool draw, highlighting reforestation, the making of plywood and more. |
| State beef industry optimistic as prices rise | |
 | Mississippi State University experts see a positive outlook for the state's beef cattle industry, with prices at profitable levels and herd numbers up. MSU Extension Service beef specialist Brandi Karisch said there were about 930,000 cattle and calves in Mississippi as of Jan. 1. The state's cattle industry has suffered no major challenges this year. "We're very fortunate that we have a mild climate where we can grow a lot of grass and effectively produce a lot of cattle on that grass," Karisch said. "We have been fortunate that the weather has cooperated this year." By late summer, most of the state's producers are weaning their calves and preparing them for market, where most will go west for finishing. Mississippi producers raise cattle on nearly 16,000 farms across the state. As with most cattle farms in the Southeast, producers have an average of 30 head per farm. An aging farmer population challenges the beef industry, as it does in all agricultural sectors. |
| Main Street Association lauds year of downtown growth | |
| Starkville's Main Street Association presented seven awards to local businesses and developers during its annual awards program on Thursday. Greater Starkville Development Partnership Interim CEO Jennifer Prather lauded the Main Street Association for its work in helping to better the downtown corridor in Starkville. She said the area has seen tremendous growth in recent years, and even over the last year. Prather said recent additions downtown, such as the lights in the breezeway near Starkville Cafe and the street pianos on Main Street that Mayor Lynn Spruill pushed for, have added liveliness that bolsters business in the area. The Main Street Association and The Partnership also worked with Mississippi State University to draw visitors for university orientation, in the summer, into Starkville's restaurants. |
| Starkville looking to change panhandling law | |
| The city of Starkville is looking to modify its transient vendor ordinance after receiving a notification from the American Civil Liberties Union that a prohibition on panhandling may be unconstitutional. Aldermen unanimously approved setting two public hearings so the city can modify a line in its transient vendor ordinance that currently prohibits people from asking for monetary contributions, or "panhandling." The change removes a line City of Starkville Code Section 30-32, which regulates transient vendor activity in roadways. In late August, the ACLU notified Starkville and 15 other Mississippi cities demanding they repeal their bans on panhandling. In a statement on its website, the ACLU said its demand, made in partnership with the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, is based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. |
| Quinton Tellis retrial in Jessica Chambers' burning death set to begin Monday | |
| It was one of the most horrific, and most talked about, crimes this area has ever seen. A 19-year-old stumbles ablaze from a burning Kia Rio sedan along a dark country road on a December evening in 2014 and seemingly tells first responders that someone named Eric set her on fire. A trial only slightly less bizarre than the crime would follow nearly three years later. Confused jurors, thinking failure to reach a unanimous guilty verdict meant not guilty, told a stunned courtroom last October after nearly a week of testimony that Quinton Tellis would not be convicted of killing Jessica Chambers. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will return to the same courtroom, and the same judge, to once again seek a verdict in the death of Chambers, the teen from Panola County's tiny Courtland community whose name became a household word throughout North Mississippi and beyond. The jury panel will be drawn from Oktibbeha County. |
| Region has 'the right workforce; we just need to produce more' | |
| Andrea Mayfield, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board, helps lead the state's community college system that is considered one of the best in the nation at leading the way in workforce training and development. The 15 schools across the state enrolled more 72,000 students this fall. "We're already providing the right workforce," Mayfield said at the recent Appalachian Regional Commission annual summit, which focused on expanding workforce opportunities for the 13-state region. "We just need to produce more. It's a problem for all of us." Indeed, hundreds of thousands of jobs in the ARC, including 47,000 in Mississippi alone, have gone unfilled as employers can't find enough qualified workers. Community colleges and four-year colleges and universities are a major pipeline for producing workers, but the flow has slowed. Part of it has to do with a low unemployment rate and training has become less of a priority for some. |
| 'Smart manufacturing' sees tech blurring sector lines | |
| Smart manufacturing may be the operational process of the future, and businesses may have to become accustomed to the blurred lines between technology and industry and work with communities to create a highly skilled workforce through early, specialized education. At an Appalachian Regional Commission panel meeting on the future of manufacturing last week, ARC Business Development Program manager David Hughes said industries are moving toward having connected factories where machines talk to one another and share data, where there is a greater need for data storage capability and where cloud computing is a growing sub-domain of increasingly important cybersecurity. Stephen Lier, chief engineer at Mueller Industries Copper Tube Mill in Fulton, said Mueller is the world leader in flow control and industrial production and is the highest volume at lowest cost provider for copper tubing in the marketplace. But the said there is a growing need within the business for a skilled workforce to maintain specialized equipment, and the company needs those employees to stay. |
| Transportation development: A rising need for economic growth | |
| Transportation development is a growing need for an expanding state economy to connect Mississippi businesses with markets. Highways, trains and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway connect industries, particularly in rural parts of the state, to a world of consumers. North District Mississippi Highway Commissioner Mike Tagert spoke at a panel regarding "rubber tire" transportation and economic development at the ARC Summit last week, emphasizing the importance of maintaining Mississippi's weathered bridges and thoroughfares to grow the state economy. Tagert said the state has 30,000 lane miles of highway, 18 waterway ports, five railroads and 2,500 miles of rail track. in addition, the state is surrounded by water, such as the Gulf of Mexico to the south, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to the east, and the Mississippi River to the west. |
| Mississippi Casino Revenue Rises as Sports Betting Begins | |
 | Overall casino revenue rose sharply in Mississippi in August with the start of sports betting in the state. State revenue department figures released Thursday show gamblers lost $181 million statewide in August, up 8 percent from $168 million in August 2017. Only $645,000 of the amount lost was on sports wagers, though, with $7.7 million in bets placed in the first month of sports wagering in Mississippi. Casino executives and regulators hope the lure of sports betting will mean more money lost on other casino games and more gamblers staying in casino hotels and eating in restaurants. |
| 'Fact-finders and decision-makers': Voters will choose judges ruling on family issues in Nov. 6 election | |
| Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has been on the road since Labor Day in his effort to encourage citizens to vote in the Nov. 6 general election. The ballot will include a rarity -- both of Mississippi's U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs -- along with three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. But, some of the most important seats on the ballot are for local offices, especially chancery court judgeships, including all three posts in District 14, which encompasses all of the Golden Triangle along with Webster and Chickasaw counties. "The thing about those chancery judge races is they affect everybody who dies or gets a divorce," Hosemann said Thursday. "Everybody's on one of those lists and, the last time I checked, half of us are on the other. Those races don't get a lot of attention, but I'd say they're pretty important." |
| Analysis: Public retirement plan pressure won't end soon | |
| Mississippi's public pension system got a particularly unwelcoming reception last week when its leaders told legislators to budget for higher pension contributions. But what lawmakers may not have heard at their budget hearing, unless they were listening carefully, is things are likely to get worse. That's because many participants in the financial market believe investment returns will be lower in the future than they have been in the past. If the board of the Public Employees Retirement System makes further adjustments to its projections based on that view, those projections will show more money is needed in the future to pay off benefits that employees and retirees have already earned. And that could lead back to more demands on taxpayers. |
| Pine Belt projects will receive boost from internet tax, BP funds | |
 | Mississippi cities and counties are getting a boost in their infrastructure budgets thanks to a trio of new bills -- on infrastructure, BP oil disaster settlement money and a lottery -- passed in the Legislature's 2018 special session. One of the new laws will harness the revenue brought in by internet sales tax collections. The money will be used for infrastructure projects -- roads and bridges, water and sewer, and lighting. Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker held a news conference with Sens. Billy Hudson and Juan Barnett, and Reps. Percy Watson, Chris Johnson and Missy McGee to talk about the special session's impact on the city. "The 2018 special legislative session will be remembered as one of the most consequential in modern times," Barker said. "It will also prove far-reaching and impactful for Hattiesburg and its future." |
| Could Dems pull off another Deep South surprise? | |
| Democratic consultant Joe Trippi helped Doug Jones win a Senate seat in Alabama last winter, and he thinks his party might be able to pull off another surprise in the Deep South again this year in Mississippi. "The pieces are in play that make it possible," Trippi said in a phone interview. "So far it's played out as well as it could." Trippi is a media adviser to Mike Espy, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate in the Magnolia State. It's essentially the same role Trippi played for Jones when the Democrat beat Roy Moore -- the hard-right Republican battling sexual-assault accusations -- in a Senate special election there last December. Chris McDaniel, a state senator, is one of two Republicans running in a special election Nov. 6 to replace Sen. Thad Cochran, a Republican who retired last spring for health reasons. Although he doesn't have Moore's personal baggage, McDaniel is cut from the same cloth politically, and his persistence in the race over the opposition of more mainstream Republicans is what gives Espy supporters hope. |
| Mississippi hip-hop claps back at Chris McDaniel after again dissing the culture | |
| Earlier this year, Grammy-award winner Kendrick Lamar became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize. In 2017, Nielsen reported that hip-hop had become the most widely listened to genre of music, representing a quarter of all music consumption. Despite hip-hop's emergence as the most popular music genre, the culture still gets blamed for societal problems like violence and substance abuse. U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, a Republican from Ellisville, again brought that blame game into focus last week during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Eddie Glaude Jr., a Princeton professor and Mississippi native, asked what McDaniel would do for African Americans if elected given the state's senator's past statements about hip-hop as "morally bankrupt" and responsible for gun violence in America. |
| Kavanaugh to Give Senate Calendars From 1982 to Back Up Denial | |
 | Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has calendars from the summer of 1982 that he plans to hand over to the Senate Judiciary Committee that do not show a party consistent with the description of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, according to someone working for his confirmation. The calendars do not disprove Dr. Blasey's allegations, Judge Kavanaugh's team acknowledged. He could have attended a party that he did not list. But his team will argue to the senators that the calendars provide no corroboration for her account of a small gathering at a house where he allegedly pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothing. The calendars show, according to the person working for his confirmation, that he was out of town much of the summer at the beach or away with his parents. When he was at home, the calendars list his basketball games, movie outings, football workouts and college interviews. A few parties are mentioned but include names of friends other than those identified by Dr. Blasey. |
| Kavanaugh accuser will testify Thursday in front of Senate Judiciary Committee | |
 | The Senate Judiciary Committee has committed to a public hearing Thursday to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford about her accusation that he sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers, according to people familiar with the deal the parties struck on Sunday. "We committed to moving forward with an open hearing on Thursday Sept. 27 at 10 a.m.," Ford's attorneys said in a statement, noting that their client had agreed to appear despite the committee's refusal to let her speak after Kavanaugh's testimony or to interview other people she said were present at the party where she alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her during the early 1980s. |
| Kavanaugh confirmation in renewed peril after second assault claim | |
 | Brett Kavanaugh's prospects of being confirmed to the Supreme Court suffered another major setback on Sunday night when a second woman accused him of sexual assault decades ago, and a prominent lawyer took to Twitter claiming a third woman has "credible information" on the high court nominee. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are investigating another allegation of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, according to The New Yorker. Deborah Ramirez, who is 53, told the magazine that when Kavanaugh was a freshman at Yale in the 1983-84 academic school year, she remembers that he "exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away." Kavanaugh flatly denied the allegation, calling it a last-minute smear. But his confirmation now appears to be in serious doubt. |
| Immigrant advocates vow to fight Trump plan to deny green cards to immigrants using welfare, food stamps | |
 | Pro-immigration groups nationwide are girding for a major battle to stop or alter a new Trump administration proposal unveiled over the weekend -- and only weeks before November's midterm elections -- that would strictly enforce rules for millions of future immigrants applying for green cards or visas by scrutinizing their use of food stamps, welfare, housing vouchers or Medicaid. Department of Homeland Security officials, who announced the proposal late Saturday, claim their plan would save federal taxpayers $2.7 billion annually by deterring immigrants from applying for benefits they would otherwise be qualified for. It would affect about 380,000 people annually, according to federal officials, who say it is designed to ensure that immigrants can support themselves. |
| Struggling U.S. Farmers Have a New Worry: a Resurgent Russia | |
 | Vladimir Mishurov transformed the remnants of the "Lenin's Path" collective farm in this village into a profitable business. He also helped make Russia the world's largest wheat exporter for the first time since the last years of the czars. Over the past decade or so, Mr. Mishurov replaced his aging Russian equipment with a dozen high-tech machines from John Deere and other makers, and started using powerful new fertilizers and seeds. He bought and rented more acres from neighbors and family, eventually reaching about 3,600, taking advantage of Russia's overall low prices for land. And as many farmers do in the U.S., he often worked days on end with little sleep, especially during the harvest. The major difference between Mr. Mishurov and a farmer on America's Great Plains: The Russian's costs are lower, and mostly in rubles, making his overseas sales -- priced in dollars -- immensely more valuable. The growing Russian competition is one more pressure point threatening American farming. |
| Judge Kenneth Griffis to speak at The W Thursday | |
| Guests will have an opportunity to hear from the Hon. Kenneth Griffis of the Mississippi Court of Appeals Thursday, Sept. 27 on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. Judge Griffis will speak about the role of the appellate court in the legal system, recent changes in the law and his views from the bench. The Lunch & Learn speaking event, hosted by The W's Legal Studies Department in partnership with the Lowndes County Bar Association, will be held in Pope Banquet room, starting at noon. Networking/registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. A native of Meridian, Judge Griffis earned accounting and law degrees from the University of Mississippi, and he attended Meridian Community College and Mississippi State University-Meridian Branch. He was a certified public accountant from 1984 through 2007. |
| UM donor Ed Meek requests his name be removed from School of Journalism and New Media | |
| Ed Meek, the author of a controversial Facebook post that has been the subject of much discussion in Oxford and the University of Mississippi community, has requested that his name be removed from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. The request from Meek arrived on Saturday evening, one day after the faculty of the journalism school issued a statement calling for Meek to ask that his name be removed. On Wednesday, Meek had written a now-deleted post on his Facebook page that included two photos of African-American women wearing short dresses, suggesting that such attire is a problem connecting to falling real estate values, declining tax revenue and a 3 percent decrease in enrollment at the university. |
| How did 38 Southern Miss freshmen get a preview of university life? | |
| When the first few weeks of school got underway at the University of Southern Mississippi, 38 freshmen had a "jump" on their classmates. They had spent four weeks of the summer participating in the university's Jump Scholars program. "I saw it as a good way to get a head start on college," said freshman Kymahni Tyson. "It seemed like an easy way to transition. "It made my first day of school so much easier -- knowing where everything was and knowing where to find campus resources." Students in the Jump Scholars program take three university courses together and participate in field trips, social events and other opportunities not given to other incoming students. "The Jump Scholars program was founded four years ago as a bridge program to bridge the summer between high school and freshmen year," said Katie McBride, interim director of new student and retention programs. |
| USM hosts annual volunteer fair | |
 | Community service organizations around the Pine Belt will get some free help from University of Southern Mississippi students. A volunteer fair at the R.C. Cook Union gave students a chance to check out volunteer opportunities in the Hub City area on Thursday. Groups like AmeriCorps, the City of Hattiesburg, Habitat for Humanity and Southern Pines Animal Shelter were there to sign up new volunteers. "Students who are new to Southern Miss or they're getting involved in new organizations or classes, they can come here and find different opportunities to volunteer," said Christy Arrazattee, Director of the Center for Community Engagement at USM, which hosted the event. |
| Brett Favre gives motivational talk to students with disabilities at USM conference | |
| Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre returned to his alma mater Friday for an appearance near and dear to his heart. Favre spoke to 125 students with disabilities attending a conference at the University of Southern Mississippi sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation. Favre majored in special education while at Southern Miss, and his mother was a special education teacher for 30 years. "I have always looked on the disadvantaged, the disabled, the underdogs as who I have gravitated to," he said. "It made perfect sense for me to come speak." Favre told the students about coming to Southern Miss without a football scholarship and working out with the team anyway, eventually earning the quarterback spot. |
| Kathy Brookshire receives G.V. 'Sonny' Montgomery Outstanding Board Leadership Award | |
 | Educator Kathy Brookshire was awarded The G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Outstanding Board Leadership Award for 2018 at a luncheon held in her honor at Weidmann's Restaurant on Saturday. Brookshire, who recently retired as Meridian Community College Foundation executive director said of the awards she has received, she will treasure this one the most. "The most important thing is I've known Sonny Montgomery all of my life," Brookshire said. "I was first introduced to him probably about 50 years ago by my future father-in-law, and I just fell in love with him." Brad Crawford, the CEO/President of the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Foundation, said Brookshire was the perfect recipient of the award. "All those years she worked at the foundation she was doing exactly what Sonny would like to see happen in this community, which is to support leadership development through the young people that attended MCC," Crawford said. |
| Sonny Montgomery award given to local Meridian Community College retiree | |
 | Kathy Brookshire, former vice president for Meridian Community College Development and former MCC Foundation Executive Director was awarded the prestigious G.V. Sonny Montgomery Outstanding Leadership Award for 2018. Brookshire met Montgomery almost 50 years ago and shared a special friendship with him over the years. Her son had the honor of being a page while Montgomery served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Brookshire says it's a huge honor to have been chosen for this award. "It is hard for me to put into words what this award means to me. To have my name associated with Sonny Montgomery, it the greatest honor that has ever happened to me," says Brookshire. |
| Mississippi Delta Community College Resumes Search for President | |
| A Mississippi community college is resuming its search for president. Trustees of Mississippi Delta Community College announced last week that they had reopened the search, with applications due Jan. 31. President Larry Nabors had planned to retire this summer but decided to stay an extra year after a college administration building in Moorhead was damaged in December in an apparent arson related to a burglary. The Greenwood Commonwealth reports the college opened bids last month for renovation and partial reconstruction of the building, estimated to cost more than $1 million. |
| Delay of school rating approval blindsides local districts | |
| Local school administrators expressed shock at the State Board of Education's decision Thursday to postpone approving letter grade accountability ratings for school districts and schools. Less than two hours before the ratings were to be made public, SBE members voted to delay their approval, citing discontent with what they were presented. That rendered the ratings the Mississippi Department of Education had already released to school districts and the media as "unofficial." Though area superintendents said they don't believe ratings will change once SBE approves them in October, it is still too early to tell. Columbus Municipal, Lowndes County and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District all improved from 2017, according to the unofficial ratings. The decision was so last-minute, even MDE committee members were unaware it was coming. |
| Interim chancellor wants U. of Alabama System to have larger role | |
 | Finis St. John IV, the University of Alabama System's interim chancellor, wants the three-campus system to take on a greater leadership role in education, the economy and health care in the state. "I believe that our university system has an opportunity right now to do more for the state than we have ever done before. We have the vast, untapped potential to lead that we have never called," he said during a presentation to the board of trustees Friday. The September board meeting is the date when the system typically makes its presentation to the board, providing updates on achievements and initiatives and unveiling plans. St. John was selected as the interim successor to Chancellor Ray Hayes in July by his fellow trustees. St. John used his comments as interim chancellor to make the case for the system's leadership in the state. The message carries echoes of past visions laid out by Hayes and former Chancellor Robert Witt who saw leadership opportunities in advocacy for education, health care and economic development. |
| U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visits Auburn University | |
 | The nation's top law enforcement official, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, visited Auburn University on Friday to examine two Auburn initiatives designed to protect the public---one focused on the national opioid crisis and the other involving the world's most advanced detector dogs. Sessions began his tour Friday morning at the Harrison School of Pharmacy, being offered a presentation on Auburn's approach to effective opioid response and treatment. Auburn's Harrison School of Pharmacy is working to combat the national opioid epidemic through innovative and collaborative research, teaching and outreach programs spanning detection, prevention, treatment and emergency response. "We've got to confront the opioid crisis," Sessions said while at Auburn. |
| 'First Man' author, co-producer speaks on Auburn campus | |
| No matter if it was playing golf with Clint Eastwood and Neil Armstrong, or giving pointers to movie stars and an Oscar-winning director, Auburn University history professor James Hansen saw it quite literally as an out-of-this-world experience. Armstrong, almost a half century since his famous first step on the moon, is making headlines around the world once again, and Hansen is a big reason why. Some of the story behind the story was shared Friday afternoon when Hansen spoke at the Auburn Alumni Center about his book, "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," and the new movie based on it, "First Man," which hits theaters Oct. 12. Hansen is a co-producer of the film and shared with the crowded room how important accuracy was for him, Armstrong, the actors and the studio that produced it. After receiving his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1981, Hansen worked for NASA on a book project before coming to Auburn in 1986, where he taught aerospace history and the history of science and technology for 31 years. |
| U. of Kentucky opens new research building to help solve state's health woes | |
 | University of Kentucky officials celebrated the opening of a new, $265 million research building aimed at solving health disparities that plague Kentucky, such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and substance abuse. The idea is to bring biomedical researchers to work with those in health services, public health, behavioral sciences, economics and engineering to find solutions to these complex medical and societal problems. "Today, joined by our partners in progress, we open the doors to a modern facility that will be a shining beacon of hope -- a testament to the idea that we can turn the tide on disease and suffering in the commonwealth," said UK President Eli Capilouto. "UK's new multidisciplinary research building is the result of a $265 million partnership between a state and its flagship university; equally committed to a better and brighter future for Kentucky." |
| U. of Tennessee female student reports rape Friday morning in campus dorm | |
 | The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Police Department received a third-party report of the rape of a female student early Friday morning in a residence hall on the east side of campus. It is the third rape to be reported on or near campus since March. The incident was detailed in a safety notice the university's Clery Office circulated to the campus community on Friday afternoon. The notice said police were notified at about 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, and detailed that the female student knows the accused perpetrator. "The female student is working with university officials regarding the incident and has declined a police report at this time," the notice stated. The report follows one rape that occurred at an off-campus apartment complex in July and was reported to UT police by the Knoxville Police Department in August. Another rape took place in early March in the West Campus Parking Garage at UT, Knoxville; an incident report was filed on Aug. 1. |
| Scholarships, marketing boost U. of Missouri freshman numbers | |
 | University of Missouri officials have reason to high-five each other for the recruiting push that saw the strongest growth in new freshman enrollment in 15 years and a result that puts to rest the question of which public campus is the top choice of Missouri high school seniors. In 2017, Missouri State University in Springfield almost took the top spot for enrollment of Missouri freshmen, admitting just four fewer in-state students out of high school than the UM System's Columbia campus. This year, following 13 percent growth in first-time college students and 45 percent growth from counties in southern Missouri, figures show MU enrolled 600 more in-state freshmen than Missouri State. New scholarships that reduced costs for lower-income students, a marketing campaign by 160over90 and outreach efforts by President Mun Choi, Chancellor Alexander Cartwright and others all combined to end the decline in freshmen enrollment. |
| The 2018 Surveys of Admissions Leaders: The Pressure Grows | |
 | Not only are a majority of colleges failing to fill their new classes by May 1, the traditional target date, but they are failing to do so by June 1 as well, according to the 2018 Survey of College and University Admissions Directors, released today by Inside Higher Ed, in collaboration with Gallup. The survey is based on responses from 499 people who are the senior person in admissions or enrollment management at their institutions. Admissions directors were given complete anonymity, but their institutions were tracked to allow for sorting by sector. This year's survey shows continued pressure on colleges -- in an era when missing enrollment targets can be devastating to institutional finances -- to enroll a class that meets their goals. |
| Why They Didn't Report: Trump's Challenge to Kavanaugh Accuser Provokes Stories of Campus Assault | |
 | Twitter exploded on Friday with tweets tagged #WhyIDidntReport. The tweeters -- mostly women -- shared intimate stories of assault and harassment, and detailed why they had not reported the incidents to the police or other law-enforcement authorities. The hashtag sprang up as a swift response to a morning tweet by President Trump about Christine Blasey Ford, the psychology professor who has accused Brett M. Kavanaugh, Trump's Supreme Court nominee, of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation. Advocates for victims of sexual assault say they choose not to report for a myriad of reasons, especially on a college campus, where official procedures and social life often add new layers of complicated concerns about reporting. Studies suggest that as many as 20 percent of women who attend residential campuses are victims of sexual assault, and the vast majority don't report the experience. |
| Yale Law Investigates Allegation on Kavanaugh | |
| Yale University's law school is investigating whether two of its faculty members engaged in misconduct that appears to relate to how they recruited women at the law school to apply for clerkships with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court. A message sent by the law school's dean, Heather Gerken, to faculty members and students didn't explicitly mention reports that two faculty members were aware of an alleged preference by the judge for attractive women as clerks, and that they encouraged women to fit this mold. Gerken's memo referred only to "the press reports today regarding allegations of faculty misconduct." Gerken said, "The allegations being reported are of enormous concern to me and to the school. While we cannot comment on individual complaints or investigations, the law school and the university thoroughly investigate all complaints regarding violations of university rules and take no options off the table. Neither the law school nor the university prejudges the outcomes of investigations. Any statements to the contrary are inaccurate. The law school has a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which all of our students can live and learn in a community of mutual respect, free of harassment of any kind. I take this responsibility extraordinarily seriously." |
| Selecting schools more important than picking majors | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Mississippi State, writes: In discussing post-secondary options, many times students indicate that they are going to college. However, exactly where they plan to attend or what they imagine studying while there, are more obscure concepts. According to a Dec. 8, 2017 article by Inside Higher Ed, almost one-third of students change majors within three years, with one in 10 changing majors twice. This statistic makes a student's college choice even more critical. Furthermore, a student who embarks on a major in a STEM field -- science, technology, engineering, or math -- is actually 35 percent more likely to change majors than a student in another area. Math majors alone were the most likely of all students to change their focus, with 52 percent of initial math majors changing to another option. Compounding the challenge of selecting a major, students are facing systems with more options than they've ever imagined. |
| What political happenings will be big things by election time? | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Mississippi politics will be a happening thing through the next two Novembers. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel didn't seem to help himself on his national Morning Joe appearance when he said "I'm gonna ask them after 100 years, after 100 years of relying on big government to save you, where are you today? After 100 years of begging for federal government scraps, where are you today? We've been dead last for 100 years." This was in response to a question about how he could convince black voters not to fear him. Gov. Phil Bryant condemned McDaniel's "characterization of African-Americans as beggars. This does not reflect the beliefs of the Mississippi Republican Party or the average Mississippian." |
| Are Mississippi Senate candidates, pundits 'misunderestimating' Chris McDaniel? | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: Former President George W. Bush -- who was known to occasionally invent a word -- once said, "They misunderestimated me." Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel could say the same at this point of state and national politicos and perhaps his opponents. State and national pundits have recently opined that Democratic challenger Mike Espy's best, perhaps only, shot at a red-state upset is for McDaniel to be his opponent in a runoff. Others have written McDaniel off over a dearth of campaign donations and outside big-money support. ...They're misunderestimating the amount of work McDaniel puts into his field game. He's one of the hardest campaigning Mississippi politicians to ever kiss a baby or shake a hand. McDaniel will be out-spent, but he won't be outworked. And they're misunderestimating the passion and fervor -- and perhaps the size --- of his base (sometimes, of course, they may be a bit too fervent). |
SPORTS
| Snell leads Kentucky past No. 14 Mississippi State 28-7 | |
| Short touchdown runs that put Kentucky ahead turned out being just the start for Benny Snell Jr. The junior running back took his game up a notch with a pair of longer TDs that not only earned a couple Wildcats records, but put the exclamation point on a thorough upset of No. 14 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were held nearly 256 rushing yards below their SEC-leading average of 311.7 coming in. They only managed Nick Fitzgerald's 1-yard TD run midway through the second quarter before Kentucky tied the game with 50 seconds left in the half on Snell's first TD from 2 yards. "I think we played hard in all three phases," first-year Bulldogs coach Joe Moorhead said. "We just didn't execute with the precision we needed to beat a team of Kentucky's caliber." |
| Bulldogs No. 19 in Coaches Poll, No. 23 in AP Top 25 | |
 | For the 12th consecutive week, Mississippi State football is ranked in both national polls as the Bulldogs come in at No. 19 in the Amway Coaches Poll and No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25. State (3-1, 0-1 SEC) dropped a 28-7 decision at Kentucky to open SEC play on Saturday night in Lexington. The Bulldogs are one of six SEC programs ranked this week, including Kentucky who jumped to No. 17. MSU hosts Florida at 5 p.m. CT Saturday in its SEC home opener in Davis Wade Stadium. The contest will be televised live by ESPN. Live streaming video is available on WatchESPN.com and via the ESPN app. The Gators (3-1, 1-1) are receiving votes in both national polls after topping Tennessee, 47-21, on Saturday in Knoxville. Tickets for next Saturday's showdown are sold out. Fans are encouraged to visit StubHub as the official fan to fan ticket marketplace of Mississippi State Athletics. |
| Mississippi State enters 'Mullen Week' on down note | |
| No. 23 Mississippi State enters "Dan Mullen Week" on a down note, while Ole Miss tries to bottle some of its offensive explosiveness to use in the SEC. The Bulldogs lost 28-7 at unranked Kentucky on Saturday night as Wildcats' running back Benny Snell rushed for 165 yards and four touchdowns. Both of Mississippi's SEC entries have conference games on Saturday. The Bulldogs hoped to be unbeaten when they face Mullen, their former coach, at 5 p.m. in Starkville in an ESPN telecast. The Rebels are at No. 5 LSU in an 8:15 p.m. kick, also on ESPN. Ole Miss is coming off a twice-delayed 38-17 win over Kent State that took 5 hours, 40 minutes to complete. |
| Mississippi State's Sara Lizariturry earns singles title at Debbie Southern Fall Classic | |
| On the final day of the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on Sunday, the Mississippi State women's tennis team finished with a solid showing in its first fall appearance, with Bulldog junior Sara Lizariturry going undefeated in Flight 7 to earn its singles title. The junior Lizariturry reigned over Georgia Tech's Dilila Said in a grueling three-set battle - 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 - to conclude the weekend with a pristine 3-0 mark in singles. Lizariturry was the only Bulldog this weekend to go undefeated in singles. "We won and lost several tough battles this weekend and learned many valuable lessons along the way," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "Overall, I am happy with the way we competed. We have plenty of things to talk about and work on before our next tournament." |
| Ole Miss golf course's Steven Murphy selected for Ryder Cup groundskeeping crew | |
| Steven Murphy took a chance and it has landed him an experience of a lifetime. The assistant superintendent of the Ole Miss golf course was selected to be a member of the Ryder Cup groundskeeping crew next week in France. Murphy will help maintain the Albatros Course at the Le Golf National in Paris for the 42nd edition of the United States vs. Europe event. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America selected 10 superintendents from the United States and Canada to help maintain the course. Murphy submitted his resume and other information and awaited word from the GCSAA. He was chosen out of over 400 applicants earlier this year. After graduating from Clemson with a degree in turf management, Murphy chose to come to graduate school at Ole Miss for an MBA. With Murphy's goal to be a superintendent himself, he knew he needed more than the undergrad degree he already possessed. |
| Gators benefit from turnovers in blowout of Volunteers | |
| As the HBC might quip, you can't spell turnover without UT. The Florida Gators, along with some help from the erring Vols, turned the school on Rocky Top into the University of Turnover on Saturday night before 100,027 stunned fans at Neyland Stadium. Benefiting from six turnovers -- four that led directly to 24 points for the Gators and a fifth that basically took seven points off the scoreboard for UT -- Florida silenced the big crowd, rolling to a 47-21 victory that generates some momentum as UF (3-1, 1-1 SEC) heads into the heart of its league schedule. |
| LSU fraternity tailgating looks much different now after Gruver's hazing death, new rules | |
 | Thirteen years ago, LSU rule changes intended to curb excessive drinking at tailgate parties led to a shift in the action from Greek chapter houses to the Parade Ground. Now, they've been ordered to take their pre-game parties back to fraternity row as LSU seeks to again address the same issues. In the aftermath of freshman Maxwell Gruver's hazing-related death in the fall of 2017, President F. King Alexander assembled a Task Force on Greek Life to address the culture on campus surrounding this episode. The controversial policy that limits Greek tailgates to chapter houses was one of the last recommendations that emerged from the President's Greek Life Implementation Committee Report this past July. To hear Interfraternity Council President and Phi Kappa Psi member Christopher Dupre describe it, Greek Life tailgating will never be the same. |
| After child's death in DUI crash, will U. of Kentucky drinking culture change? | |
| In 2017, amid a deluge of national headlines about student drinking and campus sexual assault, UK administrators came up with a series of ideas to make campus safer, including the tricky issue of tailgate parties at football games. They decided to change a long tradition of fraternities and other groups tailgating in "the Bowl," a dip of land along Cooper Drive across from Kroger Field, where students milled around largely unregulated. Instead, they decided, all student tailgating would be moved into the nearby Pieratt Field. The new "Gameday Zone" would be more tightly controlled. "The Gameday Zone was about creating a safe environment for tailgating," said Greg Heileman, UK associate provost for student and academic life. The Zone started at the first two home football games this fall, but it did not stop the tragedy of Sept. 15, when an 18-year-old pledge from Alpha Tau Omega hit a four-year-old child on Cooper Drive. The boy later died. UK freshman Jacob Heil was charged with DUI; allegedly he was part of an off-campus tailgate held by ATO on Waller Avenue, where minors were served alcohol, according to a UK investigation. |
| Some U. of Kentucky fans angry over basketball team visit with John Kerry | |
| University of Kentucky men's basketball Coach John Calipari welcomed former Secretary of State John Kerry to a team practice Saturday morning, and that didn't sit well with some UK fans. Calipari posted a photo of himself and UK President Eli Capilouto with the high-profile Democrat on social media Saturday. It was accompanied by the comment, "Our 68th United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, is in town and going to watch our practice today. Loved his message to our team." That drew hundreds of comments from Kentucky fans, many of whom were not happy. After that, Calipari responded with another photo, this one of Kerry with the team, saying, "Anyone who has given to this country his entire life -- from the Navy to our government -- to make our country better, I respect. Party is irrelevant to me and I'm glad my team got to meet Secretary Kerry today." |
| Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium to undergo $75 million renovation | |
| The University of Alabama System board of trustees on Friday approved preliminary plans for a $75.4 million renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium. "Part of this, too, is making sure we have the right balance of honoring our past which we are so proud of ... then creating our vision for the future. This is what Phase One allows us the opportunity to do," Athletic Director Greg Byrne said. Byrne presented highlights of the project to the board on Friday. It includes enhancing student and fan experiences by providing new social spaces, improved circulation, additional premium seating and upgraded spaces for athletes and recruits. The board waived the consultant selection process and approved an architectural agreement with David Architects of Birmingham, which has previously worked on the stadium and athletic facilities, for the design of the project based on a lump fee of $3.8 million. |
| Phillip Fulmer beer? Vols legend teams up with local brewing company | |
| There's a lot of buzz surrounding Phillip Fulmer this week and not just because his 1998 championship team is returning to Neyland. Fulmer is partnering with Yee-Haw Brewing Company for a limited-release Coach's Honey Blonde Ale made with honey from the beehives he maintains to raise money for bee conservation. "It's incredible that a hobby I initially hoped would be a unique way to introduce my granchildren to nature has evolved into something that will benefit bee populartions in our beautiful Tennessee communities," Fulmer said in a news release. The beer has a 4.1 percent ABV and is described as malty with delicate tasting notes. All of the money made by the beer will go to bee conservation efforts, but specific organizations have not been announced. |
| U. of Maryland did not follow procedures before football player's death | |
| Athletics staff members at the University of Maryland at College Park did not follow the institution's procedures and did not diagnose a heatstroke that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old football player in June, according to a new report. The university had hired sports medicine consulting firm Walters Inc. and Rod Walters to investigate the circumstances around Jordan McNair's death. The University System of Maryland's Board of Regents took control of the investigation in August. According to the report, released Friday evening, athletics staffers did not properly identify McNair's heat-related illness at a May practice. While they did attempt to cool McNair after he collapsed, they did not give him a cold-immersion bath, the best form of treatment, Walters said in a press briefing Friday. |
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