| Tuesday, November 6, 2018 |
| Hurricanes and water wars threaten the Gulf Coast's new high-end oyster industry | |
 | Dan Petrolia, a professor of agricultural economics at Mississippi State, writes for The Conversation: For Cainnon Gregg, 2018 started out as a great year. After leaving his job as an installation artist to become a full-time oyster farmer in Wakulla County, Florida in 2017, Gregg began raising small oysters in baskets or bags suspended in the shallow, productive coastal waters of Apalachicola Bay. Raising oysters "off-bottom" this way takes a lot of time and money, but has a big potential payoff. They are destined for the high-end raw bar market, where offerings are denoted by specific appellations, like "Salty Birds" (Cainnon's oysters), "Navy Coves" (from Alabama) and "Murder Points" (also from Alabama), and can retail for twice the price of oysters harvested from traditional on-bottom reefs. When Hurricane Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2018, it dealt a devastating blow to this nascent industry. |
| Halo Project spawns an all-electric, self-driving Subaru 4x4 fit for the apocalypse | |
| There were plenty of automakers and aftermarket shops lining up to attract attention at last week's SEMA Show, but one of the show's most interesting vehicles came from the academic sector. The "Halo Project" Subaru from Mississippi State University looks at first glance like any other SEMA SUV -- flared fenders, a powerful bumper, big tires and a loaded roof rack. But this R&D project is far from a basic show car, featuring an all-electric powertrain and autonomous hardware suite in exploration of the future of off-road navigation. Off-roading is often thought of in purely recreational terms, at least in the United States, and especially at a show like SEMA. But off-road driving is a necessary reality for many people around the world and the unpredictable, unrefined three-dimensional nature of the terrain presents unique challenges for self-driving technology. It's not so surprising, therefore, when someone like Land Rover or Mississippi State's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) pursues all-terrain autonomous research. |
| On Election Day, Here's What Higher Ed Should Watch For | |
 | Here we go again. Tuesday's midterm elections might be, first and foremost, a referendum on the presidency of Donald J. Trump, but voters will also have their say on a broad range of issues affecting higher education, including the free-college movement and Betsy DeVos, the nation's education secretary. If Democrats retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives, their current ranking member on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, would probably be selected as the committee's chairman. More than a dozen current and former academics are running for election in federal and state legislatures against incumbent representatives. Here's The Chronicle's guide to the races and trends to watch for as the returns roll in on Tuesday night. |
| Youth Voters Poised to Break Turnout Records in Midterm Election | |
 | Opening on-campus early voting sites, installing a practice voting booth with sample ballots and throwing election turnout parties: These are some of the ways college campuses across the country are trying to get students to vote in Tuesday's midterm election. And analysts expect those efforts will help; new research shows young people plan to vote in record numbers. But keep in mind, the records are low: 2014 marked the lowest youth turnout and voter registration rates in about 40 years. "We have nowhere to go but up," says Nancy Thomas, a researcher who studies college student voter participation at Tufts University. Forty percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say they will "definitely vote" in the 2018 midterm election, according to the Harvard Institute of Politics' most recent national youth poll. That's compared to 26 percent who said the same in 2014. |
| 'Laziness' a factor in low millennial voter turnout, top Mississippi election official says | |
| While national experts predict a record turnout among millennials on Election Day, a top Mississippi election official doesn't have such high hopes. Kim Turner, an assistant secretary of state who oversees the office's elections division, dished last month at a public forum about why turnout among people aged 18 to 34 is so low. "They're not used to going to a post office and mailing a letter or buying a stamp or some of these things that are relatively easy to do in this generation that now has an app for everything," Turner said of young voters while speaking on a panel sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council in late October. Turner did not immediately responded to a follow-up request for clarification of her remarks. Leah Rupp Smith, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office said the agency is concerned about a lack of interest in elections at any level. |
| The Candidates Embracing Their Black-College Roots | |
| Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams are part of a wave of black politicians who are playing up their HBCU bona fides, and in turn raising the profile of the beleaguered institutions. These institutions, which were founded primarily after Reconstruction to educate black Americans who had been shut out of the rest of higher education, have had their fair share of struggles over the past few decades -- budget woes, enrollment dips, and accreditation concerns among them. But they have seen a renaissance, of attention and enrollment, in the Trump era. Another, perhaps unforeseen renaissance, however, has been the rise of black politicians who graduated from these colleges. In addition to Gillum, Stacey Abrams, a gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, and Mandela Barnes, a candidate for lieutenant governor in Wisconsin, both attended historically black colleges. |
| Jackson State unveils 'Miles Ahead,' exhibit of Miles Davis artwork | |
 | Jackson State University will unveil the "Miles Davis Exhibit: We're Miles Ahead" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the JSU Downtown Gallery, 101 W. Capitol St. The exhibit, being shown for the first time in Mississippi, features 15 selections of personal art and photos created by the late, internationally renowned musician and artist. Davis' son, Erin Davis, and his nephew, Vince Wilburn Jr., will be at the event. Also attending will be Darryl Porter, producer of the 2015 feature film "Miles Ahead" starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor. Shonda McCarthy, director of JSU art galleries, was crucial in bringing the trumpeter's latest show to the HBCU. "Miles Davis was a phenomenal musician and an amazing artist. His life is a reflection of the duality and fluidity found in creativity. He is also a great example to our students of what one can accomplish by focusing on their talents," she said. |
| U. of Alabama plans week of veterans events | |
 | Beginning with a patriotic display outside Bryant-Denny Stadium and culminating with a 5K race, the University of Alabama has a variety of events scheduled to honor veterans in advance of Veterans Day on Sunday. UA's Office of Veterans and Military Affairs organizes events each year to celebrate the university's military community. UA, which has been recognized as one of Military Times' "Best for Vets," has nearly 3,400 students with varying ties to the U.S. military, including 642 veterans, 455 active service members and 2,285 dependents. UA has graduated more than 200 military-affiliated students each spring and fall semester since 2017. |
| $10M donated to LSU veterinary school to help injured, homeless animals | |
 | A married couple is giving $10 million to the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, the largest donation in vet school history. Herman C. Soong committed $8 million from his estate to the veterinary school, and his wife Connie Soong pledged $2 million from her estate. The money will be used to care for injured, homeless animals, pay for scholarships, support oncology research and fund forensic training to help veterinarians and law enforcement identify animal abuse. In a statement, the Soongs say their donation was inspired by a desire to help abused and injured animals. Herman Soong is an assistant professor of adult psychiatry and forensic neuropsychiatry at the Tulane University School of Medicine. He works closely with LSU on animal abuse issues. |
| U. of Tennessee debuts new campus safety app | |
 | A new mobile application rolled out by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville will give students, faculty and staff a new way to report safety concerns to campus officials through a few simple clicks. The LiveSafe app, introduced to the campus community through an email on Monday morning, connects individuals to a variety of resources such as the UT Police Department, the Office of Title IX, the Student Health Center, the Counseling Center and Facilities Services through their smartphones. The LiveSafe app replaces the Guardian app that the campus has relied on -- an app that Troy Lane, associate vice chancellor for public safety and chief of police, said "had very limited functionality." "And, frankly, we just didn't get much out of it," Lane said. |
| Two sentenced to probation in U. of Missouri fraternity assault case | |
 | Two University of Missouri Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity members who assaulted two freshmen in September 2017, allegedly as part of a hazing ritual, were sentenced Monday to five years probation. Nikolas Childress, 21, of Forest Park, Illinois, and Zachary Barabasz, 21, of Columbia, both pleaded guilty in September to charges of third and fourth-degree assault, a class E felony and class A misdemeanor. In back-to-back hearings on Monday afternoon, Circuit Judge Kevin Crane suspended imposition of sentence on the felony assault charge and ordered probation. In a lawsuit currently pending in Boone County, Freihaut and Poss charged the assault against them was the result of systemic issues in the fraternity and have named their attackers, fraternity president John Tocco, the MU chapter and the national organization Sigma Phi Epsilon. |
| Universities still struggle to make websites accessible to all | |
 | Hundreds of colleges and universities across the country are currently under investigation by the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights for failing to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities. Universities that receive federal financial aid are required by law to make reasonable accommodations to ensure their web content is accessible to everyone, including, but not limited to, people who are blind, deaf or have limited mobility. Awareness of the importance of web accessibility has grown among university leaders in recent years partly due to numerous well-publicized lawsuits. Yet ensuring that every aspect of a university's sprawling web presence meets recommended web-accessibility standards remains a huge challenge. Part of the problem is the sheer volume of content universities have online, said Scott Lissner, Americans With Disabilities Act compliance officer at Ohio State University. Universities can have thousands of webpages, with hundreds of faculty members and staff constantly adding, removing or changing content. This "amoeba-like" quality makes it difficult to monitor content for accessibility, said Lissner. |
| Student veterans remind us of great sacrifices of our many veterans | |
| Maj. Gen. Jeff Hammond (U.S. Army, ret.), director of the Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families at the University of Southern Mississippi, writes: Despite the many overwhelming problems facing our nation today, this Veterans Day we may want to reflect on a group of young Americans possessing extraordinary potential who in my view epitomize a "light in the darkness." I am referring to our young military veterans, American patriots who volunteered to serve our nation following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks upon the United States. More specifically, I am speaking of the uncommon character routinely demonstrated by these young American men and women who courageously selected service to their nation ahead of personal comfort, fame, fortune and money. Who are these young veterans and what makes them uniquely different? |
| Immigrants show very little interest in Mississippi | |
 | Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: Several candidates this election season chirped about immigration. In Mississippi, this was strange because while legions of foreigners may be coming to America, they're not coming here. Let's just consider the largest classification: Hispanics. Census reports say 1/10th of 1 percent of all Hispanics in the United States live in Mississippi. The actual number, which has remained fairly constant, is about 80,000, of whom two-thirds were born here. Overall, America is 17 percent Hispanic. The figure for Mississippi is 3 percent. Big difference. So why isn't Mississippi a magnet? |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead chasing Nick Saban's 'championship standard' | |
| During his Monday press conferences, Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead opens with an overview of the upcoming opponent and gives a brief background on its coach and key players. This week however, it wasn't really necessary with the 18th-ranked Bulldogs set to play the defending national champions and current No. 1 team in Alabama on Saturday afternoon. "I don't think there's enough time in the press conference or ink in the printer to go through all of (Nick Saban's) superlatives," Moorhead said. "Obviously he's the best coach in college football right now and arguably one of the best of all time." What Saban has done 83 miles to the east of Starkville is a model that Moorhead is attempting to lay the groundwork to build his program towards in his first season. "We talk all the time here in our building with our kids about the term 'championship standard'," Moorhead siad. "Quite frankly, this is what we're chasing. Alabama is the gold standard in this league. I told our team that 'no one falls to the top of the mountain.' Those guys have worked their tails off and have earned the right to be there and it's our job to try to go up there and knock them off." |
| 'The Gold Standard': Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead lauds Alabama | |
| Joe Moorhead came to Mississippi State to create a championship standard. This week, his Bulldogs play a team that established one a decade ago and hasn't backed away from it since. No. 1 Alabama is No. 15 Mississippi State's foe this Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide have won five of the last nine national championships in college football. After dismantling then-No. 4 LSU last Saturday, 'Bama is on track for another. "We talk all the time with our kids about the term championship standard, and quite frankly, this is what we're chasing. Alabama is the gold standard in this league," Moorhead said. "I told the team last night no one falls to the top of the mountain. These guys have worked their tail off and they've earned the right to be there." Moorhead remains adamant that his team will continue to compete against its own standard this week even though the opponent already has that desired standard set in stone. |
| Jesse Jackson scores first touchdown as Bulldog | |
 | Jesse Jackson gave three years of his life to the Mississippi State football program in hopes that it would one day need him. That faith was rewarded last year -- even if in unfortunate circumstances -- when injuries threw the wide receiver position into chaos. MSU needed a receiver to turn to and Jackson was exactly that, leading the team with 276 yards and catching multiple passes in nine of the last 10 games. Somehow in that stretch, he was missing a particular reward: a touchdown. The senior from Petal finally got that reward Saturday, scoring his first touchdown as a Bulldog in No. 18 MSU's 45-3 win over Louisiana Tech (6-3). It was a memorable milestone in a season that is setting up to be much more of the same. "Been dreaming about that moment for five years now," Jackson said. |
| MSU Notebook: Crimson Tide tough to duplicate | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State has a tall task ahead on Saturday as its travels east across Highway 82 to Tuscaloosa to take on top-ranked Alabama. In the meantime, back in Starkville, a group of walk-ons and true freshmen have the unattainable goal of mimicking the Crimson Tide at practice on the scout team. "No matter how hard they go, it's going to be hard to replicate the speed of the game and physicality that (Alabama) presents in all three phases," said MSU coach Joe Moorhead. According to 247Sports.com, the top of Alabama's roster consists of 12 former five-star recruits and 52 former four-star prospects. By comparison, MSU roster is made up of one five-star and 18 four-star recruits -- only three of which help comprise the Bulldogs' scout team. Because of the talent differential, Moorhead knows how critical it will be for his team to have its best showing of the season. |
| Mississippi State women open the season tonight | |
| After back-to-back national finalist finishes, No. 6 Mississippi State opens its women's basketball season tonight hosting Southeast Missouri State at 7. Vic Schaefer's Bulldogs only bring back one starter in Teaira McCowan but the 6-foot-7 senior center was picked as the Preseason SEC Player of the Year having averaged 18.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game last year. SEMO is coming off a 14-17 season and went 2-0 in exhibition play, beating Rochurst and Lindenwood-Belleville last week with sophomore guard Tesia Thompson averaging 20.5 points in those games. |
| Mississippi State hopes Jordan Danberry can fill bigger scoring role | |
| Fear isn't an option for Jordan Danberry. Hesitation also won't be an issue for Danberry as she counts down to the start of her senior season as a member of the Mississippi State women's basketball team. Consistency and balance are two of the biggest things 5-foot-8 Danberry will try to bring to the court at 7 p.m. Tuesday when No. 6 MSU kicks off the regular season against Southeast Missouri State at Humphrey Coliseum. The graduation of guards Victoria Vivians, Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, and Morgan William has created an opening for Danberry. The transfer from Arkansas has displayed a knack throughout her career for being able to use her quickness and ballhandling to get to any spot on the court. This season, Danberry said her challenge is to get in the gym and polish her shooting touch so she can finish when she is in those positions. "I feel like I will be able to fill that spot," Danberry said last week at MSU's on-campus media day. "I feel like my defense plays a lot in there because defense gets me going and helps me get those easy points in transition." |
| Mississippi State freshmen Robert Woodard, Reggie Perry show they can play in exhibition win | |
| Two of Mississippi State's prized freshmen, Robert Woodard and Reggie Perry, waited all of five minutes to check into their first exhibition game as Bulldogs, immediately turning a small starting lineup into a well-rounded threat. That versatility was on display throughout Woodard's 23 minutes and Perry's 18, leading both to scoring and rebounding opportunities galore. The two combined for 22 points and 16 rebounds in MSU's 88-57 win over Georgia Southwestern; Sunday's win was just an exhibition, but with the regular season beginning in less than a week, it did provide a window into how the No. 18 Bulldogs' freshmen class will influence a team with NCAA tournament expectations. |
| Mississippi State, Ole Miss earn NCAA soccer tourney bids | |
| Monday was a historic day for the Mississippi State soccer program. For the first time in school history, the Bulldogs were selected for the NCAA Tournament field. MSU received an at-large bid and will host Atlantic Sun champ Lipscomb (14-4-2) on Friday at 4 p.m. "The players that were here before set the standard and deserve a lot of the credit too, because they laid the foundation," said MSU second-year coach Tom Anagnost. "But this is a different team and the leadership really stepped up big time and our young players did too. The players deserve all the credit." The Bulldogs not only persevered through 23 seasons without a postseason appearance but this year posted a 9-6-2 record against the toughest schedule in the country with their opponents holding a .676 winning percentage. State opened the year with an RPI of No. 2 and earned signature wins over RPI No. 16 Memphis and RPI No. 18 South Carolina during the season. Ole Miss plays at Clemson against the Tigers in a first-round match on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. |
| Alabama offensive line to face another challenge | |
| The offensive line tends to receive more flak than any other position group. Maybe it's because those players don't record any official stats, so it's hard to quantify improvement or success. And people like cold-hard facts. Regardless, the latest area in question was Alabama's ability to protect its quarterback. "Well, I can't really say that the pass (protection) has been that bad," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. "I mean, we have like the fewest sacks I think of anybody in the league." He's not wrong. Meanwhile, Mississippi State is third in the conference at sacking the quarterback. It's at 23, which ranks 34th nationally. It has made at least one in every game this season. "We're going to get challenged this week by some individual players who are going to be a real challenge to be able to get blocked," Saban said. "So it's not going to just be a scheme thing. It's going to be a personal challenge to a lot of guys to get a lot of really good players blocked." |
| LSU's Devin White speaks out, calls targeting penalty against Mississippi State 'bogus' | |
| On Monday, LSU All-American linebacker Devin White called the past two weeks "very emotional" while he grappled with the reality of sitting out the first half against Alabama because of a targeting penalty called him against him against Mississippi State. White spoke publicly Monday for the first time since the infamous infraction, calling the penalty "bogus" while also respecting the officials' decision. "I'm never going to be a guy ... I don't lead with my head," White said. He said the spinal injury Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered while making a tackle during the 2017 season influenced how he played. Shazier has since recovered the ability to walk unassisted. "That injury really meant a lot to me," White said. "Seeing him lead with his head and messing up his whole spine and stuff? I don't want that to happen to me as a player, because that would be devastating knowing that I've got to give up everything I love to do because of a little hit like that." White said he "pushed" Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, because "it's kind of hard to pull off when you've already got a full speed going to hit the quarterback." |
| Protests over U. of Maryland athletics scandals shows student division | |
| The rally was supposed to show support for the family of Jordan McNair, the University of Maryland at College Park football player who died from heatstroke after a summer practice. It was supposed to express unity among students at the university, which has been shaken by an athletics scandal beginning with McNair's death, and followed by revelations of coaching abuse in the football program and the exit of top higher education leaders in the state, including the College Park president and the chairman of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents. The demonstration last week instead devolved into screams by some dissatisfied attendees, who were apparently irked by the suggestions by the rally's sponsors -- student government leaders, the campus chapter of the NAACP and others -- that they back athletics and attend the football game on Saturday against Michigan State University. The student government especially was criticized as tone-deaf for trying to rally support for football and not advocating for true change for minority students on campus. McNair was black, as are many of the football players. Most of the fans at the game are white. |
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