| Wednesday, October 10, 2018 |
| Two boll weevils trapped in Mississippi: origin uncertain | |
 | How they got there is uncertain, but two Mexican boll weevils were recently trapped near Batesville, Miss., in Panola County. No reason to panic, say Extension and Boll Weevil Eradication sources from Mississippi and surrounding states, but BWEP personnel plan closer scrutiny and increased trapping frequency until frost. The two boll weevils were taken to Richard Brown, director, Mississippi Entomological Museum, Mississippi State University, for official identification. "Ryan Whitehouse, a research associate on staff here at the museum performed the dissection and identification," says Brown. "Whitehouse is the country's leading authority on boll weevils and determined the two Mexican boll weevils were male." In the last 10 years, only four boll weevils have been forwarded to Brown and Whitehouse for identification. |
| Capital murder suspect led a quiet life | |
 | The man accused in the murder and rape of two women in Starkville 28 years ago was mostly unknown to law enforcement. The arrest of Michael Wayne DeVaughn, 51, for the 1990 Labor Day Murders in Starkville came as a shock to local law enforcement. While DeVaughn's County Road 8340 residence has a Rienzi mailing address, it is actually in Prentiss County, just outside of Jumpertown. "I have known his family all my life and known him ever since he was a child," said Prentiss County Sheriff Randy Tolar. "His extended family comes from the same area where I was raised. Not a soul around here ever suspected anything about him (in connection with such a brutal crime). He comes from a good family but sometimes people make bad choices. You can't always tell." DeVaughn is currently being held in the Oktibbeha County Jail on an $11 million bond. |
| Private labs use growing number of resources to help law enforcement match suspects to DNA profiles | |
 | In 2010, forensic DNA analyst Kathryn Rodgers created a DNA profile of the suspect in a 30-year-old sexual assault. "At the time, I believe they didn't even have to have a full sexual assault kit formed -- I don't know if they even did them -- but they did have at least one swab taken from the victim's body," said Rodgers, who has worked for 10 years at Scales Laboratory in Brandon. "... We tried DNA testing on it and specifically Y chromosome analysis, which is specific for Y chromosomes DNA which is handy in a lot of sexual assault cases with female victims. And we did get a pretty good Y chromosome profile." It's far from the only cold case Rodgers and other forensic scientists have contributed to solving by creating DNA profiles out of evidence collected before DNA analysis was something law enforcement even knew to use in criminal investigations. As DNA technology and science advances, more law enforcement agencies are turning to that branch of science to find new leads in cold cases. |
| Thousands of Southerners Planted Trees for Retirement. It Didn't Work | |
 | Over the past hundred years, the George family's farm has been sharecropped, grazed by cattle and planted with cotton. By the late 1980s, Clayton George was growing soybeans and struggling to make ends meet. A new federal program offered farmers money to reforest depleted land. Pine trees appealed to Mr. George. He bought loblolly seedlings and pulled his pickup into a parking lot where hands-for-hire congregated. "We figured we'd plant trees and come back and harvest it in 30 years and in the meantime go into town to make a living doing something else," he said. Three decades later the trees are ready to cut, and Mr. George is learning how many other Southerners had the same idea. A glut of timber has piled up in the Southeast. There are far more ready-to-cut trees than the region's mills can saw or pulp. The surfeit has crushed timber prices in Mississippi, Alabama and several other states. |
| Hurricane Michael, 'Potentially Catastrophic,' Nears Florida With 145-MPH Winds | |
 | Hurricane Michael has been upgraded to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, the National Hurricane Center says. Tropical-storm-force winds began hitting the Florida Panhandle Wednesday morning, and water levels were quickly rising. Just before 9 a.m. ET, the storm was 80 miles south-southwest of Panama City, Fla., moving north at 13 mph. Michael could get even stronger from warm water in the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, forecasters say. It would be the first Category 4 storm to hit the Florida Panhandle since records were first kept in 1851, said NHC Director Ken Graham. "This is definitely [and] unfortunately a historical and incredibly dangerous and life-threatening situation," he added. The storm's center is currently on track to make landfall "pretty close to Panama City" Wednesday afternoon, Graham said. But he warned people who live miles away to be prepared for the hurricane's "incredibly damaging" winds and storm surge. |
| As Coast sees some flooding, Biloxi offers boaters safe harbor from Hurricane Michael | |
 | Point Cadet Marina, often a place boat owners go when a storm is in the Gulf, is safe harbor from Hurricane Michael as it approaches the Florida Panhandle. With reports of water rising at Mary Walker Marina in Gautier and parts of the Pass Christian Harbor under water Tuesday afternoon, dozens of boats are headed to Biloxi and the added safety of a "hurricane hole" up river. Capt. Jay Trochesset said on the East Coast boat owners don't have many places to go to avoid tropical weather but Biloxi has "hurricane hole" -- up river at Cedar Lake, which he said is one of the safest places in the country to escape storms and has room for 300 boats. The beaches in Biloxi were a draw for people who watched -- and in some cases stuck their feet in -- the surf as the waves rolled in. Water was well above normal and in some areas like White Avenue could reach U.S. 90 by high tide at 11:37 p.m. Local boat owners also are preparing for the storm, securing them with extra lines and watching the weather. |
| Many Pensions and Endowments Are Exposed to Hurricane Michael | |
| Pension funds, endowments, wealthy families and other large investors could be on the hook for a portion of damages caused by Hurricane Michael, which intensified Wednesday. The exposure for these large investors stems from their ownership in catastrophe bonds, which are issued by insurers or entities seeking insurance. The investors receive interest payments but can lose their principal if certain disasters occur. About $15.7 billion in outstanding catastrophe bonds have potential exposure to Florida, where Michael was set to make landfall, according to reinsurance broker Aon Securities. In addition to cat bonds, some of these investors also have exposure to hurricane risk through other types of insurance-linked securities. Michael could cause between $1 billion and $3 billion in insured losses, B. Riley FBR Inc. estimates. |
| Mississippi reaps $660,000 from sports betting; overall revenue up in September | |
 | Mississippi's first full month of wagering on sporting events generated $660,000 in revenue for the state's highways and bridges. Kathy Waterbury, a spokesperson for the Department Revenue, said Mississippi casinos saw customers wager $5.5 million on sporting events, resulting in $660,000 in revenue for the state. Mississippi was one of the first states to allow sports book betting after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law earlier this year that essentially prohibited sports wagering on sporting events in all states except Nevada. Estimates of how much revenue would be generated for the state from sports wagering varied greatly, with some estimating as much as $35 million, but most officials conceding it would be less than $10 million annually. |
| Mississippi police took property without legal authority | |
 | Mississippi police agencies have been seizing cash, guns and vehicles without legal authority for months after a state law changed and police didn't notice. An Associated Press review of a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics database shows more than 60 civil asset forfeitures with nearly $200,000 in property taken by state and local agencies under a law that lapsed on June 30. Civil liberty and property rights groups have long raised alarms nationally about the dangers of police seizing property without sufficient legal safeguards. Supporters of Mississippi's change say the old administrative forfeiture law didn't provide enough protection against questionable seizures. "The judicial forfeiture had safeguards built in, but with the administrative forfeiture, your stuff was basically guilty until proven innocent and you had to sue the state to get it back," said state Rep. Joel Bomgar, a Madison Republican who supported abolishing the old law. |
| Reeves: Hood would wipe out 'progress made under conservative rule' | |
| Although he hasn't formally announced his 2019 bid for governor, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves began rolling out his campaign strategy against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood, the state's attorney general, on statewide radio Monday morning. Reeves, who signaled he could officially announce his bid between the November midterms and the beginning of the 2019 legislative session on Jan. 8, warned Mississippians that electing Hood would nullify perceived economic and social gains made under his two terms as lieutenant governor. "If we were to elect a liberal to be governor of the state of Mississippi, all of the progress we've made the last eight years under conservative rule, he's going to try and change that immediately," Reeves told Supertalk's Paul Gallo on Monday morning. Reeves and the state Republican Party will also predict government gridlock if a Democratic governor is elected with Republican supermajorities in both the state Senate and House. |
| Senate candidate David Baria brings his town hall tour to Oxford | |
| A crowd of veteran Lafayette County organizers, college students preparing to vote for the first time and citizens new to political action gathered at the Stone Center in Oxford on Monday night for a town hall with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Baria. The meeting was the sixth of 12 community conversations that the state house minority leader has planned for his campaign ahead of the Nov. 6 election against Republican incumbent Roger Wicker. After giving a 10-minute introduction about his background and motivation for running, Baria answered questions from potential constituents for nearly two hours. "I feel like people don't want to hear me drone on about any particular issue or policy. They want to see me engage and how I respond to questions. It's a job interview," Baria told the Daily Journal before the event. "I'm comfortable on my feet because I'm honest. When I don't know the answer to something I'm going to be honest." |
| Espy, if elected, plans to promote responsible parenting | |
| If elected to the United States Senate, Mike Espy says his responsibility will entail not only voting and working on policy in Washington, D.C., but also stressing responsible parenthood back home in Mississippi. Epsy, the former secretary of agriculture in the Bill Clinton administration, said during an education roundtable discussion recently that he believes he will be qualified to go into schools and other surroundings to talk to particularly young men about being responsible parents. Espy, who is battling in the special election on Nov. 6 against interim Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven; state Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville; and Tobey Bartee, a Gautier Democrat, said he does not intend to be the "morality police." "I don't want to shame anybody, but I want them to live up to their responsibilities" to be a part of the child's life, he said. "...I am going to do that. That is the kind of senator I will be." |
| Mississippi imposes new tax on hybrid vehicles | |
 | Owners of hybrid and electric vehicles in Mississippi received a notice from the state Department of Revenue informing them of the new annual tax on their vehicles. The new tax, which took effect on October 1, will tax $75 for hybrid vehicles and $150 for total electric vehicles annually. The tax is in addition to regular tag fees and must be paid at vehicle registration or renewal. Cathy Waterbury, The associate commissioner of the Department of Revenue and she said the revenue attained from the tax will go towards the state's highway fund, infrastructure and the Department of Transportation. State residents that drive gas-required vehicles are taxed 18 cents for every gallon of gas they purchase. The revenue collected goes toward the state's transportation and infrastructure fund. |
| Dems eye ambitious agenda if House flips | |
 | Democratic committee leaders are ready to roll out an ambitious legislative wish list if the House majority flips in next month's midterm elections. After eight years in the minority, Democrats have big plans, from shoring up ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank financial rules to protecting "Dreamers" and the integrity of elections. They are also vowing to aggressively probe the actions of the Trump administration -- an oversight role Democrats contend was virtually abandoned by Republicans. "Basically, a lot of the committees have just been rubber stamps for this administration," said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. Because Democrats have long honored a system of seniority without term limits, the top Democrats on House panels are considered favorites to jump into chairmanships if control of the House changes hands. The Hill spoke with a dozen ranking members and the offices of several others. Here's what they said about their priorities if they seize the gavels in 2019. |
| Trump Largely Focuses on Own Re-Election at Iowa Rally for GOP Incumbents | |
 | Very much in re-election mode even before next month's midterms, President Donald Trump took jabs at potential Democratic candidates at an Iowa rally Tuesday night, calling their party "an angry mob." "You don't hand matches to an arsonists. And you don't hand power to an angry mob," he told rallygoers in Council Bluffs, Iowa. "If you want to defeat the swamp, you'll have to elect Republicans." He criticized what he called Democrats' "outrageous actions" during new Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation process. The opposition party, he contended, has shifted so far to the left, they believe "Pocahontas to be a rational person." That was a reference to his controversial nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has claimed Native American ancestry. After earlier in the day teasing a "big announcement" at the rally, the president announced his administration is ending a summertime ban on a blend of gasoline with higher amounts of ethanol. The move is expected to be a boon for Iowa and other corn-producing states -- and a possible shove in the positive direction for the state's vulnerable GOP incumbents. |
| Nearly all new U.S. weapons systems have 'critical' cybersecurity problems, auditors say | |
 | Almost all of the U.S. military's newly developed weapons systems suffer from "mission-critical cyber vulnerabilities," a review of government security audits conducted from 2012 to 2017 found, suggesting military agencies have rushed to computerize new weapons systems without prioritizing cybersecurity. The findings were released Tuesday in a report from the Government Accountability Office. The report drew on years of security audits conducted by skilled "testers," essentially friendly hackers employed to probe Pentagon networks for holes, replicating the process of a hack to find security weaknesses. Although the report did not identify specific military programs, its authors describe easily exploitable cybersecurity vulnerabilities that often arose from carelessness or negligence on the part of those using the systems. |
| IHL leader listens to faculty, students, staff at Alcorn Natchez campus | |
 | New Mississippi Commissioner of Higher Education and former Alcorn State University President, Alfred Rankins Jr., Ph.D., met with and answered questions from the faculty and staff at Alcorn's Natchez campus Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday's visit was Rankins' latest stop on a listening tour that has taken him to all the state's university campuses since he was appointed commissioner on July 1. Rankins said his goal is to address the issues in higher education and hear the needs and concerns from each of the eight public universities in the state. Members of Alcorn's faculty and staff voiced concerns regarding budgetary needs, courses and activities offered as well as expressing the qualifications they desire from their next university president. Rankins addressed the topics and told Alcorn's personnel what he would like to see happen on the Natchez campus. |
| Families of fraternity hazing victims speak to Ole Miss Greek community | |
 | Rae Ann and Steve Gruver stood alongside Evelyn Piazza at the Ford Center on Tuesday night to tell stories of their sons who died in fraternity hazing incidents. Max Gruver and Timothy Piazza were pledges in fraternity chapters at LSU and Penn State, respectively, at the time of their deaths. The two families emphasized that hazing is not always alcohol related as it was with their sons, but can be associated with mental abuse and psychological battery, physical abuse, sleep-deprivation and financial extortion. "Hazing is often about power and control," said Piazza. "You do whatever it takes to prove loyalty and commitment. It happens everyday, but we only hear about it when someone dies." Max Gruver was a pledge to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Louisiana State University in 2017. Timothy Piazza was a pledge to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State in 2017 and passed away on the first night of pledging due to a high blood-alcohol level and traumatic injuries after falling down a flight of stairs. |
| Ole Miss Chancellor recommends IHL remove Meek's name | |
| Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter confirmed that he has submitted a proposal to the State Institutions of Higher Learning to remove Ed Meek's name from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Vitter announced his proposal for expedited consideration of the matter in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "The proposal to change the name of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media has cleared all administrative steps required on our campus to change the name of an academic program," the statement read. Vitter has recommended that his proposal now be placed on the agenda for the next IHL Board meeting, which will take place on Oct. 18. Since the Council of Academic Administrators' vote, a group of UM faculty, staff and students have called for reparative justice at the university and for the journalism school to be renamed in honor of anti-lynching advocate and investigative journalist Ida B. Wells. |
| Ole Miss chancellor Jeff Vitter recommends renaming of Meek School to IHL Board | |
| Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey S. Vitter announced on Tuesday that the University is proceeding with the steps required to remove Ed Meek's name from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. "The proposal to change the name of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media has cleared all administrative steps required on our campus to change the name of an academic program. The faculty in the school voted to approve a request made by Dr. Ed Meek to remove his name from the school," Vitter said in a statement released by the University. "The proposal was subsequently approved by the Undergraduate Council, the Graduate Council and the Council of Academic Administrators. Shortly thereafter, I submitted the proposal to the IHL Board for expedited consideration at its October meeting." The board is scheduled to meet on Oct. 18 in Jackson. |
| Ole Miss professors publish Race Diary Project, highlight campus discrimination | |
| our UM sociology professors have published a report titled "Microaggressions at the University of Mississippi," which analyzes nearly 1,400 entries from the UM Race Diary Project, drawing attention to bias-related incidents on- and off-campus. The reports collected during the 2014-15 academic year document specific references to Ole Miss students demonstrating racist, misogynist, homophobic and otherwise discriminatory behavior, often to no repercussions. "During the 2014-2015 academic year, 621 undergraduate students reported 1,381 incidents of microaggressions involving microassaults (explicit putdowns), microinsults (unconscious rudeness and insensitivity), and microinvalidations (unconscious negation or nullification,)" the report's summary reads. The study includes reports of off-campus incidents of bias as well. One student wrote about the discriminatory environment of bars on the Square and cited an instance of a gay friend being harassed at a bar. |
| Lumumba Honors Writer Laymon, a Jackson Native and Ole Miss Professor | |
| Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba continued a trend of honoring homegrown authors when he delivered a proclamation to Jackson native Kiese Laymon for his writing this morning. Laymon is the Ottilie Schillig Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. He recently released his memoir, "Heavy: An American Memoir," about "growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi," as his website describes the work. This book joins his expanding collection of works that include critically acclaimed essays and a novel. Laymon told the Jackson Free Press that the honor made him feel overwhelmed, happy and thankful. "My book is about Jackson, so just the fact that folks from Jackson would appreciate and really love me in anticipation of the book just says everything," Laymon said. Laymon grew up in Jackson, but left after getting kicked out of Millsaps College when he was 19 years old. |
| Little student interest in new movie theater at Southern Miss -- is it the movies? | |
 | Home football games, on-campus parties, student groups -- there are a lot of attractions besides academics that make for a good college experience. Some schools have a city with a club scene, nearby nature attractions, even water parks. The University of Southern Mississippi has been trying to help students relax and recreate with the Joe Paul Student Theater. Brandon Atkins went this summer to see a movie there in a special group outing before the theater had officially opened. "It was like the real thing," he said. "We have two movie theaters in Hattiesburg and it was just like them --- great screen quality, great sound and the lighting was good." Atkins is one of the few Southern Miss students who has experienced the theater, which had a ribbon cutting in September. The 9,000-square-foot, 324-seat, stadium-style cinema has had trouble attracting patrons. |
| Flight enthusiasts turn out for Auburn's Girls in Aviation Day | |
 | Gabby Rosener is fascinated by airplanes. "Whenever there's a plane coming and going above me in the sky, I kind of watch it until it disappears," the 8-year-old told the Opelika-Auburn News. "I've really liked planes my whole life." Rosener was just one of the aviation enthusiasts, young and old, who visited the Auburn University Regional Airport on Saturday for Girls in Aviation Day. The event was hosted by the War Eagle Chapter of Women in Aviation and featured crafts and coloring, face painting, and of course, different varieties of aircraft. War Eagle Chapter president Megan Brown and her team of 70 volunteers began planning Saturday's event in the spring. Brown said it was "definitely amazing" to see their efforts come to fruition. "It's so amazing to me, to see all of the little girls here, running around. It makes my heart flutter when I see them looking at the airplanes and everything," said Brown, an Auburn University senior majoring in aviation management. |
| Closer look at LSU's 'holistic' admission policy: More than double the 'exceptions' allowed | |
 | Though the head of LSU argues that the university's change in admission criteria is leading to an academically stronger class, the percentage of "exceptions" to the set standards were almost double the level the state's higher education board allows. LSU President F. King Alexander wrote Commissioner for Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed that 7.5 percent of the freshman students who entered LSU last month scored lower on college board tests and had lower grades than the minimum admission standards set by the Board of Regents. Regents allow 4 percent of LSU's incoming class to come from applicants who failed to meet the admissions standards. Other public colleges have leeway to except 6 to 8 percent of its freshmen from Regents criteria. Reed is taking a wait and see approach to the news in Alexander's correspondence. |
| BioBlitz invites community to explore species, collect data on U. of Tennessee campus | |
 | The University of Tennessee campus is more than a forest of meandering college students and construction cones. It's also home to a variety of animals, with an active ecology. Yet, the ecological makeup of the campus has not been formally researched. That's where the Knoxville community can help -- during the first ever BioBlitz on Thursday, Oct. 11. The event will be held between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. BioBlitz is a collaboration between the university's departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Earth and Planetary Sciences. The event is also organized with Discover Life in America, a Gatlinburg nonprofit aimed at recording every species in the Smoky Mountains. Anyone can participate in BioBlitz. There is no prior registration needed and the event starts in a tent outside of Ayres Hall. Participants will then explore the campus, surveying plants, insects, birds, animals and fungi. A free app, iNaturalist, allows people to take pictures of various kinds of life and upload them. |
| New trial sought in 2016 U. of Missouri campus rape | |
 | The attorney for a man recently convicted of raping a woman in a University of Missouri residence hall is seeking acquittal or a new trial, alleging evidence was lacking and the court erred in allowing details of his client's sexual history. A Boone County jury convicted former MU student Austin J. Campbell, 21, in late August for raping a female student in the early hours of Jan. 18, 2016 in her dorm room. Judge Jeff Harris will preside during sentencing for Campbell at 9 a.m. Thursday in Boone County, although it's not clear when he might rule on the motion for acquittal or retrial. During the August trial, the victim and the suspect relayed very different versions of events to the jury. A jury of eight men and two women sided with the victim and found Campbell guilty. However, his attorney, Adam Dowling, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment, said in a motion for acquittal the only evidence of rape presented to the jury was the word of the victim, who was intoxicated when the crime occurred. |
| Law Students Plan Walkout on Wednesday to Protest Kavanaugh Confirmation | |
 | More than 30 organizations, many of them chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and groups like Democratic Socialists of America, had endorsed the strike as of Tuesday afternoon. Participants hail from at least 12 law schools, including those at American, Emory, and George Washington Universities and the Universities of Miami, Richmond, and Southern California. Law students are also organizing at Duke and Rutgers Universities and the Universities of Denver and North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to the guild, a progressive legal organization. Their efforts are part of a national backlash in the legal community, and law schools in particular, to Kavanaugh's confirmation. Law students at Ohio State University already staged a walkout, on Monday. More than 2,400 law professors signed a letter urging the Senate to vote against confirmation and criticizing Kavanaugh's temperament during the Judiciary Committee hearings. |
| E-scooters are causing safety and accessibility headaches on campuses | |
 | Dockless electric scooters are filling a transportation gap for students, who have quickly taken to using the app-based, pay-as-you-ride scooters to get around many campuses. A happy medium between bicycle and car, the new technology has brought convenience to students as well as confusion for college officials, who are figuring out how best to accommodate the scooters while addressing potential safety and accessibility issues. "The interesting thing about electric scooters is that they're similar to other types of transportation in many ways," said Melanie Bennet, risk management counsel at United Educators, "but unlike bicycles and skateboards, because the scooters are propelled, they can reach speeds up to 20 miles an hour. However, unlike other forms of motorized transportation, they don't surpass those speeds." So, where is it appropriate to ride them? And because they are dockless, where should they be parked? |
| One state's ballot could be a bellwether of national sentiment on education funding | |
| Braced on the deck of a 30-foot aluminum research vessel, four local high school students bent to the task of measuring the temperature, acidity and other characteristics of sparkling-blue Flathead Lake. In addition to collecting useful data on the fragile ecosystem, the purpose of this visit to the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station was to entice the students to go on to college and expand their own horizons. But there's a broader campaign being waged in this state, not just to encourage high schoolers to consider college, but to persuade increasingly skeptical voters that they should continue paying for it. Montana residents are alone in the nation in being required to weigh in every 10 years on whether to allot a portion of their property taxes to support their public universities and colleges. While they've said "yes" every decade since the question started being asked in 1948, the margin has been narrowing, and this year's vote comes at a time of growing antagonism toward both academia and taxes. |
| Paper proposes new, multipronged approach to thinking about gender diversity in the sciences | |
| Gender diversity in the sciences is often discussed in terms of numbers: build research teams with more women on them and innovation will come. That may be true; research suggests it probably is. But a new paper seeks to push science's gender diversity conversation beyond just composition of teams, to research methods and research questions -- along with how to manage each in different disciplinary and organizational settings. It also suggests that in paying more attention to research methods and questions, research teams might diversify as a result. "To realize its full potential, gender diversity needs to be supported by careful stewardship and management techniques across four interdependent domains -- from research teams to the broader disciplines in which they are embedded to research organizations and ultimately to the larger societies that shape them through specific gender norms and policies," reads the study, published in Nature: Human Behavior. "Understanding how these domains interact -- i.e., how policies and practices in one domain shape developments in the other domains -- is crucial to maximizing the benefits of diversity for science." |
| What's next for the nation's highest court? | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: After the national fabric was almost rent in twain during the bitter fight over the confirmation of now Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, what next for the U.S. Supreme Court? The short answer is judicial business as usual. Many in the media have falsely interpreted the growth and scope of the #MeToo movement in America as a signal that both the political and judicial processes associated with the selection of Supreme Court justices have somehow changed with the same fierce speed with which the national culture now regards men who used power or position to abuse women. Kavanaugh has been sworn in to a life term on the court. While there are partisan rumbles and threats of additional investigation of the lurid allegations against Kavanaugh and political saber-rattling of a potential congressional impeachment attempt down the road, the fact is that no Supreme Court justice has ever been successfully impeached in the nation's history. |
SPORTS
| Where Mississippi State sits at halfway point of Joe Moorhead's first year | |
 | Joe Moorhead came to Mississippi State with ambitions of winning big. When he broke the ice by asking multiple players for their ring sizes, senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald included, it became evident that he immediately wanted to win big. But SEC losses to Kentucky and Florida reminded Moorhead and his team that there's a broader goal in mind. Moorhead said he wants to turn Mississippi State from good to great. Everybody in Starkville heard it countless times during the summer. Changing the perception of a program doesn't happen in one year. "We're looking for short-term success this season but to also build a program over the course of time that can have sustained success," Moorhead said. "I think the kids have bought into the fact that this is a process." |
| Mississippi State's Dareuan Parker more comfortable as a sophomore | |
| Last year was a learning experience for Dareuan Parker. Parker appeared in 12 of Mississippi State's 13 games in 2017 as a redshirt freshman serving on the field goal/ PAT team as well as a back-up offensive guard. Although Parker's reserve role has continued, the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder feels more at ease on the field this fall and has seen action in all six games. "The season is going good," Parker said. "I'm just learning from Deion (Calhoun), E(lgton Jenkins) and Darryl (Williams) and trying to get better. I'm a little more comfortable but I've still got a lot to learn." Parker spent his summer attempting to master his craft by working on his technique and fundamentals. He is also adapting to the Bulldogs' new offensive line coach Marcus Johnson, who was a former second round draft pick and spent six years playing professionally before getting into coaching. "He knows what he's talking about and knows what it takes to get to the league," Parker said. "So I just listen to him and learn from him." |
| How Marcus Johnson helped Mississippi State's offensive line get its 'stinger' back | |
| Florida defensive back Donavan Stiner took off before the ball was even snapped. He had eyes on Mississippi State senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, but nobody on the Bulldogs' offensive line had eyes on him. Not sophomore guard Michael Story or senior center Elgton Jenkins, both of whom Stiner zoomed right by on his way to the quarterback. Stiner went unblocked on fourth-and-10 and rocked Fitzgerald for a huge sack. It might've knocked the wind out of Fitzgerald, and it definitely took the air out of Davis-Wade Stadium. The turnover on downs ended MSU's chances of sending the game to overtime as the Bulldogs lost 13-6 two Saturdays ago. Stiner's sack was the sixth of the night for Florida. Mississippi State's inability to pass protect was a major reason the Dogs had a feeble offensive output. Something had to change last Saturday against Auburn, and it did. |
| MSU Notebook: Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring defense | |
| Mississippi State leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 12.7 points per game. The Bulldogs have only surrendered 76 points all season, which is the third fewest in the country trailing Appalachian State (68) and Southern Miss (74) -- both of which have only played four games. "We pride ourselves on the defensive side of the ball to not let anybody score on us," said senior defensive end Montez Sweat. "I think that's shown the past couple of weeks. We just want to keep building off of that because I believe we haven't brought out our best showing yet." MSU has only given up one first-half touchdown. Kentucky running back Benny Snell Jr. has the distinction as the only player to cross the goal line on the Bulldogs in the opening half, scoring on a 2-yard run with 50 seconds left before halftime. |
| East Central Community College plans to build football operations center | |
 | East Central Community College plans to build a $2.6 million football operations center at Bailey Stadium in Decatur. The funding and plans for the facility were approved Tuesday at a Board of Trustees meeting on campus, the college announced in a news release. Plans call for the 12,300-square-foot facility, initially to be called Warrior Hall, to be located just outside the north end zone. It will contain locker rooms, a team meeting room, position conference rooms, coaches' offices, an equipment room, a players' lounge, and a laundry room, according to the news release. The building will also house a state-of-the-art training room to be used by athletes in all nine varsity sports. ore than $320,000 of the funding for construction of Warrior Hall comes from private donations. The remaining $2.25 million in construction costs will come from college funds that will be repaid over the next few years. East Central President Billy Stewart stated that the construction of the football operations center is another project included in the college's long-range strategic plan for facilities adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2016. |
| Southern Miss football coaches talk new NCAA redshirt rule | |
| It took two weeks longer than expected, but Southern Miss will play its fifth game of 2018 on Saturday. In most years, the five-game plateau isn't especially meaningful. Conference play has usually begun by that point and the season's halfway point is still a week away. But 2018 is a different kind of college football season. With the new NCAA rule permitting players to play in four games without forfeiting their right to a redshirt season, game five is becoming a crucial checkpoint for young players making decisions about their development, and for older players making choices about their futures. For Southern Miss, these decisions will come down from coach Jay Hopson, who says the choice of whether or not to redshirt a player won't always be made based on what's best for the individual, but rather for the unit. |
| Southern Miss is eyeing the possibility of adding a 12th football game | |
| The Southern Miss football program is in the market to schedule a 12th game for Dec. 1, but plenty will have to fall into place to make it a reality. USM was originally scheduled to travel to Appalachian State on Sept. 15, but that game was postponed due to Hurricane Florence -- along with 19 other college football games in the Carolinas. The two schools later announced that the game won't be played at all this season. The Golden Eagles sit at 2-2 and bowl eligibility is no guarantee with difficult games remaining in Conference USA play, starting with Saturday's trip to North Texas (5-1, 1-1). USM also hosts Louisiana Tech (3-2, 1-1) and Marshall (3-2, 1-1) and travels to UAB (4-1, 2-0). A 21-20 loss to Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 8 in Hattiesburg served as a significant setback in USM's pursuit of a bowl game. "We are in wait-and-see mode," USM athletic director Jon Gilbert said on Monday. "We're open to opportunities, but we want to make sure it's in our program's best interest. We'll have to wait and see how the conference schedule plays out." |
| CFP executive Bill Hancock says plans going smoothly for 2020 championship in New Orleans | |
| When it comes to the College Football Playoff and its relationship with New Orleans, the expectation is that familiarity breeds success. That's the feeling of CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock 15 months out from the CFP championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in January 2020. "We started working with them in the spring," Hancock said Tuesday of the local organizing committee in New Orleans. "Things are going great." During the BCS era, New Orleans hosted four national championship games from 2000-12, the first two as the Sugar Bowl and the last two as standalone BCS title games. The 2020 CFP championship game will be the first in New Orleans under the new system, though the Sugar Bowl has twice hosted CFP semifinals as part of the six-bowl semifinal rotation in 2015 and this past January. New Orleans will next host a CFP semifinal in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day 2021. |
| Hurricane Michael: Auburn football doesn't expect to change for game vs. Tennessee | |
| Auburn University does not expect changes to normal university operations as Hurricane Michael approaches the Florida Panhandle, with the storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday. No. 21 Auburn (4-2, 1-2 SEC) will host Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) in a football game on Saturday (noon ET, SEC Network). "Our campus emergency management folks are monitoring, but no impact expected on game day under current track --- they will monitor for any changes," Shelly Poe, Auburn's assistant athletic director for communications, wrote in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. Auburn will be on fall break on Thursday and Friday. |
| Auburn football's leadership council vows to fight with united effort amid surrounding frustrations | |
| Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and three key members of the players' leadership council all stepped in front of a crowded media room Tuesday, before cameras and under stage lights the team's weekly press conference, and offered a united message to the team's fanbase and its supporters. Malzahn, Tigers quarterback Jarrett Stidham, senior middle linebacker Deshaun Davis and senior receiver Ryan Davis all said the team is still united and working together, after a disappointing loss at Mississippi State last Saturday, and now going into the second-half stretch run of the season's schedule. The Tigers lost 23-9 at Mississippi State last Saturday, falling to 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in SEC play as the team's championship aspirations fell to the wayside in Starkville, and the team returned in the dead of night to its grumbling, groaning home city. Stidham stood front and center Tuesday, answering questions about his performances, about overthrown passes and about his cheery leadership style. |
| South Carolina-UNC hurricane relief game denied by NCAA; Roy Williams 'dumbfounded' | |
 | On Nov. 5, 2017, South Carolina hosted Virginia Tech in an exhibition game at Colonial Life Arena. The event was rare because it was a couple of Power 5 schools publicly playing one another in the preseason. Such matchups normally go down as scrimmages behind closed doors. The tweak in scheduling was due to charity. Proceeds from the contest benefited those impacted by storms in Texas, South Florida and Puerto Rico. A year later, the Gamecocks had plans to put on a similar event. First reported by The Post and Courier and further confirmed by North Carolina coach Roy Williams on Tuesday, USC and UNC were to play an exhibition game at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte to benefit those affected by Hurricane Florence -- but the NCAA denied a waiver. "I was dumbfounded when the waiver was not granted," Williams told reporters in Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| Don't forget, Brees' record-setting career was resurrected at Millsaps | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Drew Brees became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yardage Monday night, surpassing both Brett Favre and then Peyton Manning in one glorious night. He was magical -- Brees was -- completing 26 of 29 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns. Brees, as accurate as any passer in the history of the sport, has never been more accurate. So now seems as good a time as ever to reflect upon the time and place where Saint Drew's career was resurrected. And that time would be the summer of 2006 and that place would be Millsaps College. Remember? How could we forget? |
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