| Monday, February 18, 2019 |
| High school students will have faster pathway to computer science jobs through accelerated degree program | |
 | To fill computer science jobs in Mississippi, telecom company C Spire and Mississippi State University will partner with schools this year to create a pathway for high school students to receive a computer science associates degree. Shelly Hollis, assistant director of the MSU Research and Curriculum Unit's Center for Cyber Education, which is a partner in developing the program, said students will earn recognized industry certifications in web design, Python and SQL programming. "The idea is that through two years of coursework in high school, they would be on track to graduate after only one year of community college, graduate with an associates degree after one year and be able to enter the workforce as a junior-level software developer," Hollis said. C Spire will fully fund the program for the first year and partially for the second and third years. |
| Lime scooters becoming headache for Mississippi State | |
 | Lime's presence continues to grow in Starkville and a recent pilot program rollout of the company's electronic scooters has created some headaches for Mississippi State University officials. MSU Director of Parking and Transit Services Jeremiah Dumas said the university has had some issues with the scooters since their rollout. The university's agreement with Lime is only for bikes and does not include scooters, he said. Still, the scooters have become a common, sometimes hazardous, sight on campus. "Unfortunately, we do see scooters on campus," he said. "I've seen pictures of multiple people riding the same scooter on campus. We've had pictures people have sent us of people hitting cars -- all the things we've basically heard about are playing out here. We're attempting to work with Lime to keep these things off campus as best we can." |
| Mississippi State's Global Lecture Series to present former astronaut, Space Station commander | |
| Former astronaut and International Space Station commander Scott Kelly visits Mississippi State on Thursday, Feb. 21 as part of the university Student Association's Global Lecture Series. The record-setting astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain will be the featured speaker at 7 p.m. in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium on campus. The event is free and open to the public. Kelly is a former military fighter pilot and commanded the International Space Station on three expeditions. For one mission, Kelly spent 340 days on the International Space Station, marking the longest space mission by an American astronaut. Through social media activity during his missions, Kelly has gained millions of followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. He and his twin brother, Mark, another former astronaut who this week announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, recently were featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Amazon. |
| Record-setting astronaut to speak at Mississippi State | |
 | A former fighter pilot who has spent more time in outer space than any other human will speak at Mississippi State University as part of the university's Student Association Global Lecture Series. Scott Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, spent 340 days in space as the commander of the International Space Station He will be the featured speaker at the event in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. During his time off the planet, Kelly gained a massive following on social media, communicating directly with those on Earth to give them direct insight into his research and day-to-day life in the ISS. |
| The Orators series: 'Democratic Faith in Dark Times' at MSU's Shackouls Honors College | |
| Mississippi State's Shackouls Honors College continues its Orators lecture series Wednesday, Feb. 20 with Melvin Rogers. The associate professor of political science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, will present "Democratic Faith in Dark Times" at 2 p.m. in Griffis Hall, Room 401, on the MSU campus. Rogers grew up in The Bronx and was educated at Amherst College, Cambridge and Yale University. After holding professorships at University of Virginia in political science, Emory University in philosophy, and UCLA in political science and African American studies, he joined Brown University as associate professor in political science. The Orators program kicked off in September 2018 during the Honors College's annual Classical Week. It is a year-long program which invites speakers representing various academic disciplines and topics to engage and enrich the university and local communities in research, course work and public lectures. |
| U.S. district judge, Mississippi State alumnus, to speak in Starkville Feb. 28 | |
| A 1967 Mississippi State mathematics honors graduate and accomplished U.S. District Judge is returning to his alma mater as the newest guest in the Lamar Conerly Governance Lecture Series, part of February's Black History Month events. Judge William Alsup, a Provine High School graduate, will discuss his forthcoming memoir "Won Over" Feb. 28 during a 2 p.m. presentation in Colvard Student Union's Foster Ballroom. The free Thursday event is organized by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Political Science and Public Administration, and the student Pre-Law Society. After earning his MSU bachelor's degree, Alsup went on to graduate with honors from Harvard Law School. A year later, he completed a master's degree in public policy from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution before moving to Washington, D.C., to serve as law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. |
| Camp Kesem at Mississippi State to support children with parent impacted by cancer | |
| A national network of college student leaders who support children impacted by a parent's cancer is announcing that Mississippi State will host a new chapter of Camp Kesem this fall. Founded at Stanford University in 2000, Camp Kesem is the flagship program of Los Angeles-based Kesem. Over 5,000 college students at more than 110 chapters nationwide work with children ages 6 to 18 through and beyond their parent's cancer. Camps include innovative and fun-filled programs and are an avenue for children to connect with understanding peers, as well as build confidence and communication skills. "We are delighted to be home to a Camp Kesem chapter," said MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Young Hyatt. "Not only does this create a new opportunity for our students to be involved, it also is a meaningful way for our students to make a difference in the lives of some very special children." |
| Area businesses going green | |
 | Locally, a few area businesses and institutions are taking a similar stance in an effort to limit unnecessary waste. Mississippi State University is also making strides to educate its student body on the importance of recycling. "Mississippi State is one of the leading schools in the state as far as being conservative and being conscientious about going green and having a good understanding of that with all the new changes going on on campus. So I think other schools should take notice of that lead by example," said junior biology major Hal Stokes. The MSU Office of Sustainability says when it comes to recycling, containers with food or liquid in them can ruin an entire batch of recyclables. |
| Agribusiness Conference Offers Lay of Land for Agriculture | |
 | At the 25th Arkansas State Agribusiness Conference held on the Arkansas State University campus, speakers and panelists touched on the evolution, business and current state of the U.S. agriculture industry. But national, worldwide and political issues dominated the day. From the farmer's perspective, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement drafted last year to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement -- largely seen as a benefit to farmers -- has done little to no harm. And the 2018 Farm Bill was a bipartisan miracle, said Mississippi State professor of agriculture and economics Keith Coble. "The 2018 Farm Bill was an early Christmas present," Coble said. |
| Mississippi State team develops app to test lumber stiffness | |
| A new app developed by faculty in the Mississippi State University College of Forest Resources could now gives consumers access to functions previously available on expensive equipment for the cost of $4.99. The Smart Thumper App was developed by a team of sustainable byproducts faculty in the College of Forest Resources. The app allows consumers to test the stiffness and density of wood, particularly Southern pine lumber using sound waves and vibration. The team of Warren S. Thompson Professor or Wood Science and Technology Dan Seale, assistant research professor of sustainable byproducts and graduate student Songyi "May" Han began working on the project in 2014. "It's an app that predicts the stiffness of a piece of lumber," Seale said. "Stiffness does not absolutely predict strength, but they are correlated statistically." |
| Mississippi State entomology lab buzzing with fourth graders | |
| Starkville students created a buzz around the Mississippi State campus Friday, learning about bugs. The entomology lab was crawling with 4th graders. The Bug Blues Outreach Program is an interactive learning experience about entomology. MSU faculty and students taught lessons to the younger generation about wild insects of Mississippi and Bug Blues Zoo. "It's really exciting for them and they also get the chance to be in an academic, university, building, which for some who have lived in Starkville their whole lives, that has never happened. And so, we're really excited to give them the opportunity to become college students for a day. And our partnership, The Mississippi Bug Blues program is just phenomenal," said Jessica Tegt. |
| Mississippi State police install new cameras on campus | |
 | MSU police plans to install new cameras around campus including all the residence halls and parking lots. Police Chief Vance Rice says only thirty buildings and one parking lot had cameras in them before this plan started two years ago. He says the new camera system is clearer than the older ones and it helped in identifying the three people police were looking for earlier this week. Rice says the next step in the process is finding a company to install the rest of their cameras and deciding what areas need them the most. |
| The Aurora victims' stories: Intern's 1st day on the job, a family patriarch, an 'incredible' dad, a Mississippi State fan, a union leader | |
 | A student at Northern Illinois University was on his first day as a human resources intern at the Henry Pratt Co. plant in Aurora on Friday when he was killed, one of five victims who police say were gunned down by plant worker Gary Martin. The victims were identified as Clayton Parks, 32, of Elgin; Trevor Wehner, 21, of Sheridan, Ill.; Russell Beyer, 47, of Yorkville; Vicente Juarez, 54, of Oswego; and Josh Pinkard, 37 of Oswego. Trevor Wehner, 21, of Sheridan, was the youngest of the five victims whose stories friends and family were sharing on Saturday. Josh Pinkard, 37, the plant manager for Henry Pratt, was a father of three and devoted husband who loved Mississippi State sports, his family said. "I want to shout from the rooftops about how amazing Josh was!" his wife, Terra, wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning. "He loved God, his family and Mississippi State sports," wrote a cousin in a text to the Tribune that he said was written on behalf of Pinkard's wife, Terra. |
| Mississippi State graduate among dead after Illinois warehouse shooting | |
 | A Mississippi State University graduate and Bulldogs sports fan was one of five people killed Friday at the hands of a disgruntled employee of a suburban Chicago industrial warehouse. Josh Pinkard, a native of Alabama, became plant manager at Henry Pratt in the spring of 2018. He was in the meeting with the gunman who became irate and began shooting people after being told he was being fired. The company said Pinkard, 37, joined the parent company 13 years ago at its Albertville, Alabama, facility. The father of three earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University and a master's degree from University of Arkansas, according to his LinkedIn account. |
| Plant manager killed in Aurora shooting was 'faithful servant of the Lord' | |
| Josh Pinkard had moved from Alabama with his wife and three kids last spring to work as a plant manager at Henry Pratt in Aurora. On Friday, he was one of five employees of the company to be killed by a disgruntled co-worker in a mass shooting at the west suburban plant. Pinkard, 37, of Oswego was in a meeting where the company told Gary Martin he was being fired. Pinkard grew up in Holly Pond, Alabama, a town of about 800, according to his Facebook page. He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University and a master's in operations management last year from the University of Arkansas, according to his LinkedIn profile. friend from Mississippi State wrote that Pinkard was a model Christian. "When we were in college, Josh was someone who I strived to be more like," Allen Lancaster wrote. "He was a faithful servant of the Lord ... He inspired me to be a better Christian. |
| Heavy rain poses possible problems through week | |
| Low-lying areas of the Golden Triangle could see standing water turn to flash flooding throughout the week as heavy rains are expected to drench the area for several days. The National Weather Service office in Jackson has placed the Golden Triangle under an elevated risk for flash flooding, with 3 to 6 inches of rain expected. While the forecast calls for a mostly sunny Monday, the evening hours tonight will see rain begin that will stay above 70 percent for the entire week going into the weekend. This could pose problems for flood-prone areas and rain-swollen rivers. Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Director Kristen Campanella said emergency officials are expecting between 3 to 5 inches of rain from Tuesday through Thursday, which will likely cause some localized flooding. |
| Trump Hotels suspends partnership in the Delta | |
| Trump Hotels announced Thursday that it will be suspending its expansion plans for the SCION and American Idea Hotels brands in Mississippi. In June 2017, Chawla Pointe, LLC partnered with Trump Hotels to create three new affiliated hotels in Mississippi, as part of the American Idea hotel chain. Construction on a hotel on the west side of Cleveland had already begun when Dinesh Chawla, CEO of Chawla Pointe, LLC, said representatives of Trump Hotels proposed a possible joint venture. Calls and emails to the Chawlas have not been returned as of presstime and Judson Thigpen, executive director of the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, said he was hoping to get more information from the Chawlas soon. |
| Cleveland hoteliers moving forward without Trump, keeping $6 million in tax breaks | |
| Despite the recent news that Trump Hotels would suspend expansion plans here, a Delta-based operator partnering with the Trumps on the project will finish construction and receive $6 million in state tax rebates. The Trump Organization, the company President Donald Trump founded and now run by his children, blamed the decision to pull out of a Mississippi partnership on the political atmosphere. "We live in a climate where everything will be used against us, whether by the fake news or by Democrats who are only interested in presidential harassment and wasting everyone's time, barraging us with nonsense letters," said Eric Trump, the president's son, in a statement. "We already have the greatest properties in the world and if we have to slow down our growth for the time being, we are happy to do it." Dinesh Chawla -- a Delta native and chief-executive officer of the Chawla Hotel Group -- announced in June 2017 that his business would partner with the Trump Organization to bring their Scion Hotel chain to Cleveland. Nearly a year and a half later, Chawla said in a detailed announcement on his Facebook page that the company's partnership with the Trump company was coming to an amicable end. |
| Analysis: Mississippi abortion bills invite more litigation | |
| Mississippi lawmakers acknowledge they are inviting a new court fight over banning most abortions at about six weeks into pregnancy, even as the state remains enmeshed in a fight over a 15-week ban. Soon after Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the 15-week ban into law in 2018, the only abortion clinic in the state filed a lawsuit. A federal judge put the law on hold and ruled months later that the law was unconstitutional. Mississippi is asking an appeals court to overturn that ruling. Now, emboldened by two new conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion opponents in Mississippi and other states are trying to enact laws that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That is about six weeks into pregnancy, when some women still may not know they are pregnant. |
| Revenge porn bill passes Senate | |
 | Sen. Sally Doty's legislation that targets "sextortion" and "revenge porn" passed the Senate Thursday and now goes to the House for more debate. The measure would create penalties and liability for sharing intimate visual material of another person. "This bill provides a civil cause of action, injunctive relief or criminal penalties for sharing intimate pictures or video online without consent," Doty said when she filed the bill previously. Sextortion is defined as blackmail in which sexual information or images are used to extort sexual favors and/or money from the victim. Thursday was the deadline for the Mississippi House and Senate to act on general bills originating in their own chamber. Bills that survived are moving to committees in the opposite chamber for more work. Tax and spending bills face later deadlines. |
| Record number cite poor leadership as US's greatest problem: poll | |
 | More than a third of Americans say that poor leadership is the greatest problem facing America, the highest percentage ever recorded to say so, according to a poll released Monday. A Gallup poll released on Presidents Day found that 35 percent of Americans say that poor leadership ranks as the most important problem in the country, edging out immigration or gun violence. The percentage is the highest ever recorded by Gallup and is a two-point increase from the previous record set in 2013 during that year's government shutdown. The number has been steadily increasing since President Trump took office in 2017, the pollsters noted, and ranked as Americans' top concern all but two months last year. Much of the increase has been among Republicans, where Gallup says there was a 14-percent increase in the frequency of mentioning the government as the most important problem facing the U.S. |
| Trump taps Jeffrey Byard as new FEMA head | |
 | President Donald Trump announced Friday night that he would nominate Jeffrey Byard to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency, after FEMA head Brock Long abruptly resigned earlier this week. Currently FEMA's associate Administrator for Response and Recovery, Byard is the agency's "senior-most executive over disaster response, recovery, logistics, and field operations," according to a White House statement. Before joining FEMA in September 2017, he served in multiple positions in the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, including as executive operations officer. Byard led Alabama's large-scale state evacuation during Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and handled the state's response and recovery operations for the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. In 2011, he dealt with one of the country's largest and costliest tornado outbreaks when the so-called Super Outbreak hit Alabama and also pummeled neighboring Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. |
| Inside the race to replace farmworkers with robots | |
 | Both human and machine have 10 seconds per plant. They must find the ripe strawberries in the leaves, gently twist them off the stems and tuck them into a plastic clamshell. Repeat, repeat, repeat, before the fruit spoils. One February afternoon, they work about an acre apart on a farm the size of 454 football fields: dozens of pickers collecting produce the way people have for centuries -- and a robot that engineers say could replace most of them as soon as next year. The future of agricultural work has arrived here in Florida, promising to ease labor shortages and reduce the cost of food, or so says the team behind Harv, a nickname for the latest model from automation company Harvest CROO Robotics. Harv is on the leading edge of a national push to automate the way we gather goods that bruise and squish, a challenge that has long flummoxed engineers. Designing a robot with a gentle touch is among the biggest technical obstacles to automating the American farm. Reasonably priced fruits and vegetables are at risk without it, growers say, because of a dwindling pool of workers. |
| MUW Theatre to present 'Schoolhouse Rock Live!' | |
| The Department of Theatre at Mississippi University for Women will present "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Rent Auditorium, Whitfield Hall. A pop culture phenomenon comes to the musical stage in 'Schoolhouse Rock Live!', the Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math and more through clever, tuneful songs. Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher, is nervous about his first day of teaching. He tries to relax by watching TV, when various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through such songs as "Just a Bill," "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly" and "Conjunction Junction." |
| After years of inaction, Delta teacher shortage reaches 'crisis' levels | |
| Not long after Cortez Moss accepted the job as principal of Quitman County Middle School in 2016, he realized that his first months would be devoted nearly entirely to teacher recruitment. He was studying an Excel hiring tracker at home one March afternoon when the reality sunk in: Only four of the school's 24 teachers would be returning in the fall. The 26-year-old had to find 20 replacement teachers -- as well as a custodian, two secretaries and a guidance counselor -- all by the time school reopened in early August. "I was like, I think I just took the wrong job," he recalled. In a state that has been battling teacher shortages for decades, Moss' struggle is commonplace, especially in the Mississippi Delta. In over 20 years, the problem has escalated, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Education. |
| Northpoint names valedictorian, salutatorian | |
 | Northpoint Christian School has announced this year's valedictorian and salutatorian for the graduating Class of 2019. This year's valedictorian is Olivia Russell, a senior from Southaven. Olivia has a GPA of 4.827 and an ACT score of 35. She plans to attend either Tulane University, Mississippi State University, or University of Alabama at Birmingham and study biomedical engineering/biochemistry. This year's salutatorian is Gianna "Gigi" Richardson, a senior from Olive Branch. Gigi has a GPA of 4.791 and a 33 on the ACT. She plans to attend either Tulane University or Mississippi State University and study environmental science. |
| Business leaders say Alabama needs to focus on education, training | |
 | Business executives in Alabama say the state's top challenges are improving education and workforce training. That's the conclusion of a survey conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama's Culverhouse College of Business. It's the third straight year those two issues have topped the survey. The survey, conducted annually since 2013, asks executives for their opinions about issues facing the state and the business leaders' respective companies. More than 70 business executives participated in the survey, which was conducted in November 2018. Viktoria Riiman, socioeconomic analyst at UA's CBER, said the survey also reflected other concerns among executives. "Business leaders expressed concern in their comments over the tightening labor market," Riiman said in a news release. "Businesses report that competition for talent is fierce." |
| Campus construction projects get green light from Auburn trustees | |
 | The Auburn University board of trustees voted Friday to move forward with construction projects that will change the campus in various ways. The board met for its regular February meeting at Auburn University at Montgomery, where trustees granted final project approval for the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Arts Center, an academic classroom/lab complex, a three-story dining hall and an advanced structural testing laboratory. The board also approved project initiation and engineer selection for Auburn Research Park infrastructure expansion, to support a proposed East Alabama Medical Center health science facility and future expansion of the park. Montgomery-based Goodwyn Mills Cawood was selected as the project architect. |
| DKE fraternity's history includes burning pledges with brand, 'suspicious activity' with goats | |
 | Delta Kappa Epsilon boasts more past presidents among its members than all other American fraternities -- a list that includes Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and both George W. and George H.W. Bush. Its motto promises to create "gentlemen, scholars and jolly good fellows." But the arrests of nine current and former LSU students this week are just the latest transgression in the group's long history, one that's been studded with sometimes outrageous allegations at universities across the country. The allegations date back to at least to 1967 -- when the Yale Daily News reported that DKE members had burned their pledges with a branding iron. A subsequent New York Times article referred to "a photograph showing a scab in the shape of the Greek letter Delta, approximately a half inch wide." The organization's LSU chapter was established in 1923 and the DKE house on Dalrymple Drive was the first Greek house constructed on campus. |
| $20.4 million in federal funds will benefit Louisiana's LIGO scientists | |
 | Physicists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, dubbed LIGO, in Livingston Parish will receive a major update in equipment thanks to a $20.4 million award from the federal government. The National Science Foundation is awarding funding to the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are the organizations managing LIGO, according to a Thursday news release from Caltech. The LIGO facilities in Livingston and in Hanford, Wash., fall within a federally-funded project that made history in 2015 after making the first detection of ripples in space and time, called gravitational waves. Three LIGO scientists received the Nobel Physics Prize in 2017 for their roles in detecting the waves that essentially compress and stretch the universe -- a concept predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein to provide a new understanding of the cosmos. One of the Nobel Laureates, Rainer Weiss of MIT, is also an adjunct professor at LSU. |
| High rate of UGA grads finding work upon graduation | |
 | Ninety-six percent of University of Georgia graduates are employed or attending graduate school within six months of graduation. This figure is 11 percent higher than the national average. Of those students: 63 percent were employed full time; 19 percent were attending graduate school; and, approximately 12 percent were self-employed, interning full time or were employed part time. "UGA students continue to excel in their post-graduate endeavors, and the consistency of statistics from last year to this year demonstrates that the university is providing career readiness skills through professional programming, academics and experiential learning," said Scott Williams, executive director of the UGA Career Center. |
| Fieldwork Fails: U. of Florida research trips that go off track | |
 | Science can be fun. Or frightening. Or frustrating. Or a little of all three. Three University of Florida research students shared some of their wildest stories at an event titled "Fieldwork Fails" at the Florida Museum of Natural History last semester. Another Fieldwork Fails event at the museum is scheduled March 21. For UF doctoral Students Kirsten Hecht, Oliver Keller and Randy Singer, it was a chance to share their research adventures while poking fun at themselves in the process. "I really like the idea of sharing failures," Hecht said. "We all learn from them differently." Keller said he felt the stories helped humanize the art of science. "People think of science and research and they think of everything being precise and organized," Keller said. "There's not always a glamorous side to it." |
| Research shows Aggie-designed video game boosts calculus scores | |
 | An educational video game that was first developed by visualization students at Texas A&M University has significantly boosted students' scores in introductory calculus classes, according to research conducted by the university. The game, Variant: Limits, connects mathematics and gameplay in a three-dimensional adventure, according to an A&M release this week. In Variant, the release reads, students stop geomagnetic storms that threaten their planet's survival by solving a series of increasingly challenging calculus problems. "We got a grant to see if we can take freshman calculus and apply a gaming approach to the curriculum," said Andre Thomas, a Texas A&M visualization professor. He said in a Friday afternoon interview that understanding calculus is a vital step toward several potential professions for students, giving the research urgency, and that effective measures to teach introductory calculus are in demand because many students are failing or otherwise struggling with the courses. |
| Critics and defenders of affirmative action submit their closing briefs | |
 | Now it's all up to Judge Allison Burroughs. Thousands of pages of documents have been submitted to the federal district court judge in the lawsuit charging that Harvard University's admissions policies favor black and Latino applicants at the expense of Asian American applicants. Whatever Judge Burroughs rules, an appeal is expected, likely to the Supreme Court, which, with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, lacks a majority of justices with a record of supporting the right of colleges to consider race and ethnicity in admissions. Already both sides -- and others in higher education -- appear to be thinking both about the appeal and the public debate about colleges' admissions policies. The case in theory is about Harvard alone. But if it is appealed and results in a new federal standard for consideration of race (or a ban on such consideration), it could affect most colleges. Beyond the legal issues, there are the questions about politics (the Trump administration has embraced the lawsuit) and the image of higher education, in particular among Asian Americans. |
| A Watchdog Admonished the Education Dept. for Not Monitoring Loan Servicers | |
 | Over two and a half years, the U.S. Department of Education failed to hold accountable the companies, known as servicers, that manage federal student loans, according to a report from the department's Office of Inspector General. The report, released on Thursday, examines practices in the department's Federal Student Aid office, or FSA, from January 2015 through September 2017. In spite of data indicating that the servicers had not complied with regulations in substantial ways, the department rarely used the oversight tools at its disposal to push those servicers to obey federal regulations, the inspector general found. |
| Alaska governor proposes 41 percent cut to higher ed | |
| Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy, whose state faces a $1.6 billion deficit, is proposing to cut $310 million from the state's education system -- including a jaw-dropping 41 percent cut to the University of Alaska System. The planned reduction represents the largest of any state agency. Dunleavy's plan comes alongside a proposed $20 million funding increase for the state's 13 public community colleges, known in Alaska as "community campuses." The new budget, announced Wednesday in Juneau, is part of Dunleavy's plan to trim the deficit by $1.3 billion. The plan includes cutting nearly one-fifth of the budget of the state Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, which includes the university system. University of Alaska president Jim Johnsen told the Anchorage Daily News that the proposed cut is the largest in the university system's 100-year history and could force its campuses to fire about 1,300 faculty and staff members. Johnsen said several research efforts would also be in jeopardy. |
| It's Survivor: College Edition, As Students Create Their Own Reality Shows | |
 | College sophomore Jake Schwartz looks up at the red Solo cup teetering dangerously close to the 15-foot ledge above him. The cup is full of water, and it's attached to his arm by a string. One wrong move and it will dump on his head. He has lost the challenge. But the 17 other strangers surrounding him sigh in relief. No one wanted to be the first one out. This may seem like a typical hazing scenario, but it's Survivor Maryland, a fan-made version of CBS' hit television show Survivor. Created in 2012 by Survivor fan Austin Trupp, Survivor Maryland was the first college version, but many more have followed. Now, college students around the country -- from University of Virginia to Ohio State University -- are remaking the show in between classes and homework. At least six campuses post their Survivor re-creations on YouTube. Others are competing, but haven't posted their episodes yet. And around 20 schools reached out about starting their own versions, Trupp says. |
| More than Presidents' Day has morphed into the mundane | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Established in 1885 on Feb. 22 to venerate George Washington's birthday, Presidents' Day in 1971 was moved to the third Monday in February to accommodate three-day weekends for federal employees. It then morphed into a celebration of all presidents. Today, it has morphed again into just another day when the post office and banks are closed. Much else our nation used to venerate has morphed into the mundane since that day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress formally declared our independence from England. In so doing, these forefathers adopted a Declaration that laid down a principled creed to guide a new nation that was to stand the test of time. |
| Election year keeping legislators away from controversial issues | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Legislators, at least those in Mississippi, normally take up controversial legislation in the second and third years of their four-year terms. In the fourth year, or the session before an election, legislators normally eschew the controversial bills for the popular items. The Mississippi Legislature is currently in the midst of that election year session. And it is telling what is not being seriously discussed during the 2019 session. ... What is popular this year? That answer appears to be providing teacher and state employees pay raises and putting in place significant restrictions on abortions. And oh yeah, legalizing the growing of hemp, as the House has voted to do, also seems to be popular. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State sweeps Penguins to open season | |
| When Mississippi State opened the 2018 season, it was a team without a ballpark and was promptly swept on the road by Southern Miss. Now the Diamond Dogs have a beautiful new $68 million facility and christened the opening of the new Dudy Noble field with a three-game sweep of Youngstown State. No. 14 MSU completed the sweep with 14-2 and 8-0 victories as part of a Saturday doubleheader and outscored the Penguins 36-5 on the weekend. "Playing in front of the best fans in all of college baseball will give you an adrenaline rush and get your heart beating," said MSU first baseman Tanner Allen. "It gave us a lot of energy and we came out, took care of business and swept the weekend." MSU hosts UAB on Wednesday at 4 p.m. |
| Bulldogs sweep Youngstown | |
| Mississippi State's baseball team capped a landmark weekend Saturday with a double-header win and weekend sweep of Youngstown State. The Bulldogs (3-0) beat Youngstown 14-2 in Game 1 and 7-0 in Game 2. MSU crushed Youngstown 14-3 on Friday night after debuting statues of Bulldogs greats Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro outside of now-completed Dudy Noble Field. The opening weekend results, along with a string of festivities to celebrate the "New Dude" and former MSU greats, contrasted a disastrous opening weekend just a year ago, when MSU traveled to Southern Miss and lost all three games while Dudy Noble Field was under construction. Their coach at the time, Andy Cannizaro, was embroiled in a personal scandal and resigned a day after the sweep. The Bulldogs rebounded from the embarrassment and reached the College World Series, hired a new head coach in Chris Lemonis and debuted the completed, $50 million "New Dude" this weekend with a dominant sweep: MSU scored 36 runs on the weekend and gave up just five. |
| What we learned about Mississippi State baseball after opening weekend | |
 | Mississippi State hasn't lost in 2019. The Bulldogs bullied their way to a series sweep of Youngstown State at Dudy Noble Field this weekend. The combined score of all three games was 36-5. Here's what we learned about head coach Chris Lemonis' team. Mississippi State smashed five home runs in three games. Sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen had two of them. Allen had 13 RBI and had a batting average of .538. He wasn't the only Bulldog slugging the ball all weekend. The team got production from every slot in the lineup. Senior center-fielder Jake Mangum had four hits and 2 RBI throughout the weekend, and that was on the low-end in terms of production throughout Mississippi State's lineup. All three of Mississippi State's starters pitched exactly five innings. All three were efficient in doing so, too. |
| Bulldogs open new ballpark with a bang | |
| All the legends were on hand for the unveiling of Mississippi State's sparkling $68 million stadium on Friday. Ron Polk, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Brantley and Bobby Thigpen watched as the 14th-ranked Bulldogs broke in the new Dudy Noble Field with a 14-3 victory over Youngstown State. They were part of an opening-day record crowd of 8,503. "The pregame ceremonies to meeting all the former players, it's just a cool day all the way around," said first-year MSU coach Chris Lemonis. "The atmosphere was awesome." MSU fell behind 3-0 but battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Jordan Westburg and a two-run homer by Tanner Allen. The Diamond Dogs then exploded for 11 runs in the eighth inning to break things wide open. |
| Mississippi State opens new baseball stadium by blowing out Youngstown State | |
| Before Mississippi State broke in the new Dudy Noble Field against Youngstown State on Friday afternoon, the moment belonged to Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark. The two MSU baseball legends had statues of themselves unveiled outside Polk-Dement Stadium before the game. While speaking to hundreds of Bulldog fans who showed up for the ceremony, Palmeiro reflected on his career and everyone who helped him become one of the best college baseball players in the sport's history. He also had time to put in a good word for the 2019 Diamond Dawgs on opening day. "Hopefully we go win this game," Palmeiro said with a smile before walking away from the microphone. |
| Mississippi State legends reunite at new ballpark | |
| Super Bulldog Weekend is still two months away, but Mississippi State celebrated homecoming for several of its baseball legends over the weekend. Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro were on hand to unveil two giant bronze statues in their likeness at the entrance to the Bulldogs' beautiful new $68 million ballpark, Dudy Noble Field at Polk-DeMent Stadium. Their coach, Ron Polk, was there, too, to give his stamp of approval on the stadium that bears his name. "This is unbelievable," Polk said. "The condominiums, the sight-lines and underneath for the boys, unbelievable. I have been in so many big league locker rooms, spring training facilities, college, there's nothing any better. At least, I haven't seen it...This is the best. This is the Cadillac. This is the Taj Mahal. I've never seen anything like it." |
| Mississippi State unveils statues of Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro as part of weekend celebration | |
| Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, also known as "Thunder and Lightning," have been larger-than-life figures among Mississippi State baseball fans since their memorable playing days for the Bulldogs in the 1980s. On Friday, that became literally true during a pre-game ceremony unveiling a pair of 15-foot bronze sculptures of the players. A crowd well more than 1,000 swarmed around the Jordan Plaza at the main entrance of Dudy Noble Field/Polk Dement Stadium, where Clark and Palmeiro were honored with their sculptures. "Right now, I don't even know what to say," said Palmeiro, moments after the black tarps were lifted from the towering statues amid a thunderous roar of spectators. "I'm in a state of shock." The ceremony, which took place 2-1/2 hours before the season-opening first pitch, was the biggest of several opening-weekend events to coincide with the christening of the $68-million renovation and expansion of the Bulldogs' baseball stadium. |
| The New Dude: Mississippi State's $68-million baseball stadium opens to rave reviews | |
| Over the decades, the baseball facility at Mississippi State has acquired more names than a serial bride -- official names such as Dudy Noble Field and Polk-Dement Stadium, but also more colloquial names like "The Carnegie Hall of College Baseball" or the more familiar and certainly less pretentious, "The Dude." Of those names, "The Dude" seemed to fit best, both by definition and by culture, as Mississippi State celebrated its stunning $68-million stadium renovation/expansion Friday with considerable fanfare. The word "dude" can be considered two ways. By definition, it's a term describing a man who is "fastidious in dress and manner." In pop culture "The Dude" represents a sort of rumpled serenity that is impervious to misfortune. The reinvented stadium immediately fits the dictionary description. It is a sprawling, sparkling steel-and-concrete wonder with almost every conceivable fan-friendly feature. |
| Our View: Roses and thorns | |
| A rose to Mississippi State baseball fans who enjoyed the fruits of their labor this weekend with the opening of the university's renovated baseball facility. It is no biased opinion, the "new" Dudy Noble Field/Polk-Dement Stadium is the finest college baseball stadium in the nation. It's amenities, both for players and spectators alike, are unrivaled as a result of the $68-million renovation/expansion. As MSU President Mark Keenum took pains to point out during Friday's opening ceremonies, not a penny of tax-payer money was used on the project: All the money came from the fans themselves. The stadium stands are a testament to the passion of MSU baseball fans, setting a new standard for the college baseball experience wherever the game is played. |
| Some history -- and future -- at The New Dude | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: So much Mississippi baseball history -- and so much of the future -- were on display here Saturday at the new, $68 million version of Dudy Noble Field, AKA The New Dude. The history? Between games of a chilly doubleheader with Youngstown (Ohio) State, Mississippi State inducted the first five members of the Ron Polk Ring of Honor in a ceremony in the elegant Adkerson Plaza beyond the right field wall. There, elaborate plaques were revealed honoring the late Dudy Noble, the late Boo Ferriss, Will Clark, Raphael Palmeiro and Jeff Brantley. You want history? You can trace the history of State's uncommon emphasis on baseball back to Noble (1893-1963), the stadium's namesake, and an athletic director who doubled as the school's baseball coach. (Having an athletic director as your baseball coach pretty much ensures that baseball gets its share of the budgetary pie.) |
| State women bounce back for win at Texas A&M | |
| After a tough loss in Mississippi State's previous game, coach Vic Schaefer told his team it would be defined by how it responded on Sunday. The Bulldogs took Schaefer's words to heart. Andra Espinoza-Hunter set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 24 points as Mississippi State bounced back with a 92-64 win over No. 22 Texas A&M. Mississippi State (23-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) used a big third-quarter run to get back on track after a loss to Missouri on Thursday night snapped a 12-game winning streak. "I'm extremely proud of my team today," Schaefer said. "They responded today after obviously not playing well on Thursday. We needed to come in and play well." |
| No. 22 Aggie women can't keep up with fifth-ranked Mississippi State despite Chennedy Carter's 28 points | |
| Texas A&M had the best player on the court, but Mississippi State had by far the best team. A&M sophomore guard Chennedy Carter was unstoppable at times, scoring a game-high 28 points, which also happened to be the margin of Mississippi State's victory as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs rolled to a 92-64 victory Sunday at Reed Arena. Mississippi State (23-2, 11-1) dominated the final three quarters to hand 22nd-ranked A&M (19-6, 8-4) its worst loss since a 75-43 loss at UCLA in the second round of the 2017 NCAA tournament. "This was a huge game; our kids wanted this so bad," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "And give Mississippi State credit, when they could see we were frustrated, they took advantage of us and did a tremendous job. Give 'em all the credit in the world." |
| Mississippi State shuts down Arkansas 77-67 | |
| Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 22 points and the Mississippi State defense shut down Arkansas in the second half for a 77-67 win Saturday night. After trailing 38-32 at the half with seemingly no answer for Arkansas' 3-point shooting, the Bulldogs (18-7, 6-6 SEC) played inspired defense after the break that culminated in a 23-1 run over an 8:20 span. During that run, the Razorbacks (14-11, 5-7) committed five turnovers, six fouls and missed 13 field-goal attempts. By the time Mason Jones stopped the run, converting a 3-point play at the 11:33 mark, the Razorbacks trailed 55-44. Any momentum from the play was immediately nixed when Tyson Carter hit a jumper on the other end to push his team's lead back to 13. The Bulldogs continue their two-game road trip at Georgia on Wednesday. |
| Offense dries up: Halftime lead evaporates with 23-1 run | |
| The University of Arkansas basketball team missed its first 14 shots and had five turnovers to start the second half against Mississippi State. By the time the Razorbacks finally made a basket in the second half -- on Mason Jones' drive as part of a three-point play with 11:33 left to pull Arkansas within 11 -- the Bulldogs were well on their way to a 77-67 victory on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 11,034 in Walton Arena. Things were looking good for Arkansas when Daniel Gafford hit two free throws to give the Razorbacks a 40-32 lead with 19:47 left. Then Mississippi State took over. The Bulldogs outscored Arkansas 23-1 over a 7:46 span -- including eight points by Tyson Carter and six by Quinndary Weatherspoon -- to move ahead 55-41 with 12:01 left. |
| David Williams funeral: Tearful tributes, laughter help say farewell to Vanderbilt AD | |
 | Shan Foster flashed a reminiscing smile one moment and bent over in tearful sorrow the next. It was that kind of reaction for many who came to The Temple Church to celebrate the life and grieve the death of former Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams Friday. "I always felt like I was in the presence of greatness. He was so humble, so wise, so down-to-earth, so caring," said Foster, a former Vanderbilt basketball player. "... But it's not supposed to end like this. Sometimes the good go early, and David is definitely gone too soon." Williams, 71, died on Feb. 8, a week after retiring to cap a 16-year tenure as athletics director. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and athletics directors like Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer were in attendance. So was former Vanderbilt football coach James Franklin, who is now at Penn State. Vanderbilt administrators, student-athletes and coaches were scattered throughout the sanctuary, many of them sharing fond memories of Williams. |
| U. of Kentucky student got a chance to win $19K with a half-court shot. He nailed it. | |
 | University of Kentucky sophomore McKinley Webb hit a half-court shot to win $19,000 Saturday, when ESPN College GameDay came to Lexington for the second time this season. ESPN College GameDay gives a student an opportunity to win $19,000 by making a half court shot at the end of their show. They put 18 seconds on the shot clock and let the student shoot until they make it or time expires. Webb, from Pikeville, made his shot with just four seconds remaining on the clock. Webb is the second consecutive person to hit the half-court shot. Last week, when GameDay was in Charlottesville, Virginia, Gabriel Simmons became the fourth winner at the University of Virginia. |
| AD Tom Bowen on Memphis football's declining attendance, fans' complaints, schedules | |
| In his seven years as Memphis athletic director, Tom Bowen has seen the Tigers football team go from afterthought to one of the nation's rising programs. The university extended coach Mike Norvell's contract through 2023 this month after the Tigers won their second consecutive AAC West championship and reached a bowl game for a fifth straight year. While the program has risen on the field, it hasn't reflected that in the stands. In 2018 Memphis' average attendance declined for the third consecutive year. In a wide-ranging interview with The Commercial Appeal, Bowen discussed issues regarding attendance as well as his optimism for the Tigers' upcoming schedule. |
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