Monday, March 11, 2019   
 
MSU Campus Services to test university Power Generation Plant on March 12
On March 12, Mississippi State Campus Services will conduct a test of the university Power Generation Plant to verify its ability to operate during a prolonged area-wide power outage. Power will be shut down and taken off the Starkville Utilities system at 3:30 a.m. and will be off for about 30 minutes until power is restored by the MSU Power Generation Plant. Over the next three and a half hours, the MSU Facilities Management personnel will operate the 26 Megawatt turbine system through various generation modes, verifying the system's proper operation during an extended outage. During this testing, further outages are unlikely but may occur. Normal utility power will be restored from Starkville Utilities' system before 7:30 a.m. This outage will not affect the areas served by 4-County Power Association or Starkville Utilities connections, such as the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, North Farm, Softball and Tennis facilities, and South Farm.
 
Mississippi State University's Women's History Month: entertainment, empowerment
Mississippi State University is celebrating Women's History Month with a variety of fun, free programs on the Starkville campus. Activities include: March 18-26 -- A Women's History Month Art Gallery exhibition showcasing community-submitted, female-centric pieces. A reception March 18 at 4 p.m. takes place in Colvard Student Union's second-floor art gallery. Both events are sponsored by MSU's Center for Student Activities and the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center. March 21, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. -- Female Faculty and Staff Mixer at the cafe inside Barnes & Noble at MSU. Holmes Cultural Diversity Center is an event sponsor. March 26, 6 p.m. -- "Girl, You Deserve Better" in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. Christy Pickering will share personal experiences from an abusive relationship and discuss how she eventually found happiness. A Biloxi certified public accountant, Pickering has received numerous awards over the years for service to her local community and state. Her talk is sponsored by the President's Office, Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, MSU Athletics, Delta Gamma Sorority, the Center for Student Activities, and Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.
 
MSU Women's History Month Events
Mississippi State University recently announced a series of free events and programs on its campus as part of Women's History Month in March. The President's Commission on the Status of Women at the university will present its annual PCSW Awards, which recognize faculty, staff, graduate students and community members who advocate for the well-being, development and advancement of women on campus and in neighboring communities. Award recipients will receive a plaque and $1,000 award at a public reception on April 10. For more information, call 662-325-5946. MSU will also host a Women's History Month art gallery exhibition from March 18-26. The gallery will be located on the second floor of the Colvard Student Union and will showcase community-submitted, female-centric pieces. MSU will hold an opening reception for the gallery at 4 p.m. on March 18.
 
Mississippi State University Looking To Expand Its Research Park
Mississippi State University is looking to expand its Thad Cochran Research Park, and they're looking to acquire some new property to help them do just that. The university is negotiating to buy the Cadence Bank building on West Main Street in Starkville. The building's sale gives the bank the opportunity to construct a new, modern facility on Russell Street. If sold, university leaders believe it'll be a win-win for everyone. "We still have start ups, new companies, or spin offs that are expressing an interest in a more urban setting for their businesses," said Sid Salter, MSU Chief Communications Officer. "They want to be in an office space that affords them walkability, access to restaurants, the ability to bike to work rather than drive if they'd like. They want a more urban downtown type experience and the Cadence Bank is perfect for an expansion of the Cochran Research Park in that way."
 
Cadence Bank may be close to selling its Starkville office
Cadence Bank may be close to selling its Starkville office to Mississippi State University. The downtown office is at 301 W. Main Street. The potential buyer is the university's Research and Technology Corporation. The bank's leaders confirmed they have received an offer and are working to complete the sale. This would allow Cadence the opportunity to build a new facility on Russell Street.
 
'Capturing the creative class': Downtown makerspace open for Starkville entrepreneurs
Spencer Reed's first visit to the MSU Idea Shop on Thursday was also the first time using power tools for wood-turning. The Starkville resident began his own woodworking business, Reed's Woodworking, last fall and has primarily been creating cutting boards and coasters by hand. "I also just finished doing a whole cedar dining room table and everything too," he said. "That's the biggest project I've had at the moment. I'm hoping to get somebody else wanting a custom-built piece of furniture." Reed said he made the table -- which was 6-by-3.5 feet -- primarily using hand tools. "I would have finished it a lot faster had I had this," he said, gesturing to the space and tools around him. The carpentry center makes up the back third of the Idea Shop, which held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting Thursday morning.
 
Our View: If only every community had an Idea Shop
The Dispatch editorializes: The benefits of living in a college town are hard to overestimate, especially in small towns like Starkville. The proximity of Mississippi State University provides area residents exposure to arts, culture, education and entertainment you generally do not find in a town of about 24,000 people. Add to that array of opportunities an MSU-supported program whose impact has the potential to go far beyond personal benefits, extending to the broader community and, potentially, the entire world. MSU's "Idea Shop," located on Main Street, is a place where anyone with an idea can find support, encouragement and assistance in turning an idea into reality. ... We wonder what it would be like if citizens in every Mississippi city had access to such a program. Imagine the potential. It could create a firestorm of creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation that would be transformational. Our community is fortunate indeed to have such a program.
 
Mississippi State study buck makes amazing journey
Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks have been tracking deer as part of a study, but what one buck did was totally unexpected. The study began in 2016 when researchers selected 55 mature bucks in Madison and Yazoo counties. Each buck was captured and then fitted with a tracking collar and ear tags. The goal of the study was to monitor the bucks' movement during the 2017 and 2018 deer seasons to see how they react to hunting pressure. During the study, some of the bucks in the study died. Others lost their collars when their antlers shed. So, the collars were retrieved and placed on other mature bucks. One of those bucks was a 4½-year-old captured in 2018. "It would have been Aug. 24 of 2018," said Ashley Jones, an MSU graduate student. "He was darted (with a sedative). His orange deer tag number is 27." Buck No. 27 was a different case right from the start.
 
Roses and thorns: 3-10-19
A rose to Mississippi State University for its donation of a bus to the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency to be used as a mobile command center. MSU donated the bus -- a 24-passenger Goshen Coach that was in service from 1996-2018 -- on Friday. The bus could serve as a workspace for events ranging from storm responses to search and rescue operations. It can be used for anything that would require OCEMA officials to be on the scene, making their work more efficient and timely. We applaud the university for their generous donation. Ultimately, it will improve emergency response efforts throughout the county.
 
April marks Easter return to Carnegie Hall for Mississippi State's Gary Packwood
Easter Sunday holds a special significance for Gary Packwood. It was Easter Sunday in 2012 when the director of the Mississippi State University Choir made his Carnegie Hall debut under the auspices of MidAmerica Productions, conducting his ensemble in a program of devotional music. Now, seven years later, again on Easter Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m., he will return to the legendary New York venue for MidAmerica to lead a large chorus, four vocal soloists and the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Joseph Haydn's masterpiece, the "Lord Nelson Mass." The chorus once again will include members of his own Mississippi State University Choir, as well as the Starkville High School Choir. "The Mississippi State University Singers are looking forward to returning to Carnegie Hall in 2019," said Packwood. "We had a wonderful experience seven years ago, and this time we get to make music with two very special high school choirs from Mississippi and Florida -- we are so excited!"
 
Free reception Thursday opens show in Starkville
Starkville Area Art Council's next Art in Public Places Exhibit will highlight artist Laurie Burton. A kickoff reception is 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at The Partnership at 200 E. Main St. in Starkville. Burton works with mixed media and found objects, landscape and surreal painting, and occasional furniture making. She graduated from Mississippi State University where she majored in marketing and minored in fine art. She is the owner of WildRose Studio and Gallery, a renovated 1930s bungalow on South Jackson Street in Starkville. "SAAC's Art in Public Places program strives to bring a gallery experience to Starkville while also introducing artists to the community," says SAAC Executive Director John Bateman. "We want this program to expand and benefit both artists and the community." Works will be available for purchase. This show will run through April 8.
 
First Corps Woman Elected To National Academy Of Engineering
Dr. Jane McKee Smith, a senior research scientist with the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors that can be bestowed to an engineer. The NAE is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. It consists of more than 2,000 peer-elected members and foreign members, who are among the world's most accomplished engineers. She is an adjunct professor at Mississippi State University and serves on the Ph.D. committees at MSU, the University of Florida, Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University. Smith was recognized for her research breakthroughs in hydrodynamic phenomena and her leadership in coastal engineering research and development resulting in improved infrastructure resilience.
 
Sungman "Simon" Kim accepts job as community development director
For Sungman "Simon" Kim, Starkville's growth and its strong ties to Mississippi State University were key factors in his decision to accept the city's offer to become its new community development director. Kim, who was offered the position on March 5, took a few days mulling the offer before informing city officials of his decision on Thursday. "One of the things that impressed me the most was Starkville is a growing metropolitan area," said Kim, whose combination of education (two masters and a Ph.D) and experience (30 years in development, most recently as a consultant in Brownsville, Texas) appealed to the board. "The city's relationship with Mississippi State and its research and facilities are definitely an asset, too." Kim said the city's relationship with MSU is particularly strong. "There's a real collaboration there and that's something you don't see everywhere," Kim said.
 
Dixie Alley's deadly twisters are stirring up more attention
As the skies mustered their worst over the southeast last week, flocks of weather balloons from Texas to Tallahassee searched for signs of combustion in an atmosphere unhinged. The helium army launched from universities and federal labs joined the traditional regimen of National Weather Service balloons as part of an effort to better understand the killer tempests in America's lesser-known tornado zone of Dixie Alley. Additional readings on humidity, temperature and wind direction from terra firma through 100,000 feet were used by Storm Prediction Center forecasters during a 48-hour period before and during the March 3 melee. In Louisiana, the extra data showed where detonation was building and helped accurately shut down one watch area before Atlanta was put on edge. The project, called Vortex Southeast, or Vortex SE, launched in 2016 as a congressional mandate with a budget of about $5 million annually. While the Great Plains may have more glamorous twisters, the night-stalking tornadoes of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida's Panhandle can be more daunting to forecast and more deadly.
 
Hartley and Mary Peavey honored with 2019 Mississippi Governor's Arts Award
Hartley and Mary Peavey have been named 2019 recipients of the Governor's Choice Award in the Mississippi Arts Commission's annual Governor's Arts Awards. With this award, Governor Phil Bryant recognized not only the Peavey family's dedication to music as an art, but also the Peavey organization's continued appreciation for and gratitude towards musicians and local communities in Mississippi, according to a news release. Established in 1988, the Governor's Arts Awards are presented to individuals and organizations to recognize outstanding work in the artistic disciplines as well as arts-based community development and arts patronage. Hartley Peavey established Peavey Electronics Corporation in 1965, using the attic space above his father's Meridian music store as his first base of operations. Since building his first guitar amplifier in 1957, the founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation has established a legacy of innovations, including more than 180 patents. Throughout her life, Peavey Electronics President Mary Peavey has donated her time and talents to furthering arts and education.
 
MEC: Education and workforce training go hand-in-hand
Scott Waller was pleased, but not surprised by the fact that the vast majority of people in Tupelo and Lee County think the area workforce is being properly prepared for the future. Waller, president of the Mississippi Economic Council, led the statewide MEC Tour through the All-America City on Friday. As the MEC has done at other stops, attendees were polled on several topics. In Tupelo, of those polled at the Elvis Presley Birthplace, 79 percent said they believed workers were getting the training they needed. "That number is probably the highest we've tracked anywhere in the state," Waller said. One of the key messages he brought was that career technical education was paramount. While the focus on it has increased over the years, the momentum must continue, Waller said.
 
Tax collections strong in final report before decision on teacher, state employee pay hike
Tax collections were strong in the final revenue report before legislators decide if and how much of a pay raise to provide to state employees and school teachers. The February report, released Friday by the staff of the Legislative Budget Committee, shows collections are $110.6 million or 3.35 percent above the amount collected during the same time period last year. Tax collections are $129.1 million (3.93 percent) above the estimate for the year and $44.5 million (15.5 percent) for the month of February. The estimate is important because it represents the amount of money the Legislature appropriated in the 2018 session for the current budget year. It is not uncommon for legislative leaders to meet late in the session to revise the estimate for the current fiscal year and the upcoming fiscal year, starting July 1, before hammering out a budget. Based on the strong tax collections for February, it seems likely that they will meet to consider increasing the estimate.
 
DPS spends $18,000 and counting to fight $200 ethics fine over records flap with lawmaker
A cash-strapped state agency is poised to spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting a records request by a Mississippi state representative. The Department of Public Safety and Rep. Joel Bomgar have grappled for more than a year over a letter written by the state's top drug cop. Bomgar emailed John Dowdy, the director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, with questions and observations about Mississippi drug policy. Dowdy prepared a letter and sent it to DPS officials for review, but the commissioner nixed its release. However, DPS told Bomgar that the letter existed, so Bomgar filed a records request for that document, titled: "Rep Bomgars Answers-Final.docx." DPS denied the request. Bomgar filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission, which ruled against DPS and fined two of the agency's attorneys $100 each. Now, DPS -- which has repeatedly told lawmakers it is drastically underfunded -- has spent $17,737.50 to fight the case in Hinds County Chancery Court. They will likely spend much more.
 
Rush to Judgment: State's public defense system poses constitutional crisis
Amid warnings that Mississippi's public defense system is overburdened and poses a constitutional crisis, efforts to remedy the strains found no momentum this legislative session. A recent array of criminal justice reforms have found a receptive, bipartisan consensus at the capitol. But a bill introduced this year to improve criminal defense for alleged offenders who can't afford an attorney died quietly in committee. Advocates remain resolute. "This is something that is desperately needed in Mississippi," said Andre de Gruy, director of the Office of State Public Defender. Legislation filed by southwest Mississippi lawmaker Rep. Bob Evans, D-Monticello, mirrored the recommendations of a task force the legislature itself created in 2015.
 
Mississippi lawmakers: ban county redistricting until after 2020
Some Mississippi lawmakers want to prevent any county redistricting of election boundaries until after the 2020 Census. Mississippi's 122 House districts and 52 Senate districts have to be redrawn each decade after the Census to reflect population shifts. However, some counties in the past have changed precinct lines prior to release of a new Census. This can throw off the state's redistricting proposal to federal officials, said Ted Booth, attorney for the state Joint Standing Reapportionment Committee. Booth urged lawmakers to pass a bill preventing changes in boundary lines until Jan. 1, 2021, to help with state redistricting. The state won't official begin redistricting until after the Census national report is released in 2021.
 
Analysis: Lawyers urged for parents in foster care cases
It sounds counterintuitive. But Mississippi officials say parents who are about to lose their children to child welfare authorities do better when they're represented by lawyers in youth court. So officials are asking for more state money to pay for more lawyers. Supporters of the plan, including state Supreme Court Justice Dawn Beam and Child Protective Services Commissioner Jess Dickinson, spoke to lawmakers last week at the Capitol. They're shaking the tin cup, urging legislators to squeeze a little more money out of $6 billion in state revenue next year for the program. They're asking for $312,000, which would replace foundation and federal government funding that helps pay for the program in 10 existing counties. Foundation and federal money, in turn, would be used to bring the lawyer program to 11 additional counties. Right now, children and the Mississippi's Department of Child Protective Services are represented, but parents are often on their own.
 
Hospice pain med bill dies in committee
On the long list of legislation that died in committee this session is one Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, is passionate about as a nurse. Currie's House Bill 1460 would have allowed directors of hospices to prescribe pain medication to terminally ill patients without an in-person visit. Current regulations require physicians and other healthcare providers to perform a "good faith prior examination" before prescribing pain meds. The rules specifically say: No physician shall prescribe, administer or dispense any controlled substance or other drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability without a good faith prior examination and medical indication therefore. The change is necessary, Currie said, because sometimes a hospice patient's condition deteriorates quickly and a change in medicine may be needed to keep the patient comfortable.
 
Cut the Science Budget? Not So Fast.
The President proposes and Congress disposes. So goes the standard description of the constitutional process by which our republic is governed. Judging from the news headlines, you might think this process has not been friendly lately to the scientific community. Again and again, the Trump administration has proposed drastic cuts to the research budgets of the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, NASA and other agencies. Quietly, however, Congress often has gone the other way and handed out increases. In January, the Congress passed, and President Trump finally signed, a spending bill for 2019, averting another government shutdown. Lost amid the collective sigh of relief and the hoopla about President Trump's wall was the news that astronomers had won a key victory: A pair of cosmically ambitious telescopes were rescued from possible oblivion. A similar theme runs through the last couple of years. "Over the past two budget cycles, Congress has indeed rejected the Trump administration's proposed topline budget cuts to federal agencies that fund science," said Mitch Ambrose of the American Institute of Physics, which tracks federal spending on research.
 
Campaigns without end: Today's presidential marathons took root in 1968
He's back. And he's been back. And back and back and back. Since June 28, 2017 -- 1,224 days before election day -- former Rep. John Delaney has been campaigning for president. He's been in Iowa, the site of the first contest of the 2020 election, 24 times. He's done 250 campaign events and already visited all of Iowa's 99 counties. All that with the election still 20 months away. The Maryland Democrat -- who hardly registers in polls in Iowa or New Hampshire, where he has made 14 campaign trips -- gives new meaning to the notion of the loneliness of the long-distance runner. But he also is a symbol of a presidential-campaign system that has spiraled out of control, a nearly permanent campaign that stretches ever longer in its effort to appeal to an electorate that seems ever more cynical of politics and ever more impatient with the totems of modern campaigning. "We don't have nomination decisions made in the smoke-filled room anymore," said Geoffrey Cowan, USC professor and the author of a book on Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 White House campaign, widely regarded as responsible for the beginning of presidential primaries. "In that world you didn't have to raise money and the bosses made the decisions. But now people have to build their constituencies among donors and volunteers."
 
Coast families get extra help from social work students at USM
Too few social workers in South Mississippi is a problem -- but also an opportunity, judging from the results of a recently completed grant project between the University of Southern Mississippi and Coastal Family Health Center. Over nearly seven years, eight full-time social workers and a total of 82 master's-level social work students teamed up with health providers at seven of Coastal's 13 clinics in South Mississippi, creating a model for integrated care by providing indispensable mental and behavioral health services to patients. Health providers at Coastal uniformly expressed their support for the program and the benefits of having onsite social workers, many of whom also helped develop care management and education plans for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Social workers are in high demand because of these skill sets -- a need that the Southern Miss School of Social Work is helping meet, says Dr. Tim Rehner, principal investigator for the completed project, known as the Mississippi Integrated Health and Disaster Program.
 
USM professor writes book about Mississippi blues singer Big Bill Broonzy
A legendary Mississippi Blues singer is the subject of a new book written by a University of Southern Mississippi history professor. Kevin Greene has written, "The Invention and Reinvention of Big Bill Broonzy." Broonzy is a Mississippi native and Blues Hall of Fame inductee. But Greene said more research needed to be done about him. "There just hasn't been that much about him and so, it's been my goal as well as the work of others, to say, he unlocks a lot of doors in trying to make sense about music and race and Blues and the ways in which that's become a major part of our culture," Greene said. Broonzy died in Chicago in 1958.
 
Meridian-Lauderdale Alcorn Alumni Chapter presents scholarship gala to honor ASU's interim president Donnell Lee, football coach Fred McNair
Interim Alcorn State University President Donnell Lee and ASU Head Football Coach Fred McNair will be the honorees at this year's "Evening of Music" hosted by the Meridian-Lauderdale Alumni Chapter of Alcorn State University. The special recognition will take place during the alumni chapter's annual Purple and Gold Scholarship Gala on April 26 at the MSU Riley Center in downtown Meridian. The gala is the primary fundraiser for The Meridian-Lauderdale Alcorn State University Alumni Scholarship Fund, according to Wilbert Jones, alumni president. The scholarship gala will also feature as special guests the Alcorn State University Symphonic Band, the Alcorn Concert Choir and Alcorn State University's Men Chorale. Former Miss Alcorn and Miss Mississippi 2007 Kimberly Morgan-Myles and entertainer Charles "CC" Carter also will perform.
 
Max Gruver's family, others call on LSU to be more transparent on Greek Life investigation
The family of Max Gruver and other advocates are calling on LSU to release findings from a recent investigation into how university officials reacted to complaints about possible hazing at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity that were received well before nine DKE members were booked with a range of serious crimes. LSU has said the investigation "fully exonerated" the employees who received the earlier complaints, but that no public paper trail from it exists. LSU said no written report on the investigation exists because university employees received the results of the investigation orally. After The Advocate requested any records related to the investigation, LSU responded that the "only known record" is exempt from disclosure because of attorney-client and work product exemptions from state open records laws. The family of Gruver, who died in 2017 after a hazing incident at LSU's Phi Delta Theta fraternity, questioned why LSU would withhold information.
 
AIA Arkansas, Fay Jones School Work to Make Architecture More Inclusive
Architecture in Arkansas lacks diversity, but efforts to make the field more inclusive, mostly of women, are underway. The Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Fay Jones School of Architecture & Design are working to expose more young people to the profession and to expose more young people to successful professionals who look like them and who come from similar backgrounds. Both efforts address barriers for women and people of color cited by Arkansas professionals. Ngozi Brown is one of the professionals who spoke to a reporter recently. Just three years ago, she became only the second black woman to be licensed as an architect in Arkansas. The Fay Jones School at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has re-energized existing inclusion initiatives as well, according to Associate Dean Ethel Goodstein-Murphree. It's been working on this issue for at least a decade.
 
U. of Arkansas folklorist aims to keep Arkansas' folk art from fading
A folklorist previously working in Kentucky will lead a statewide effort based at the University of Arkansas to support folk art traditions. Virginia Siegel began Feb. 18 as folk arts coordinator for Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts, a program given a new start with the help of a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. "I am interested in traditions throughout the entire state, and I'm also interested in traditions in communities and people from all walks of life," said Siegel, 30, who previously worked for about four years as a folklife specialist with the Kentucky Folklife Program, which is similar to the Arkansas effort. Her appointment marks the return of a statewide folklorist position to Arkansas. Siegel's position is based in UA Libraries.
 
UGA ecology students use botanical garden as living lab
What better way to learn about ecology than conducting a study in a living lab at the University of Georgia's State Botanical Garden of Georgia? For a semester-long stream project, UGA students in Ecology 3500 designed their own original studies involving observing and measuring ecological processes in the Orange Trail stream at the botanical garden, a UGA Public Service and Outreach unit. They conducted field research last week. "Specifically the students study macroinvertebrate communities in the stream and tend to look at different abiotic factors that influence their abundance and/or diversity," said Katie Brownson, doctoral candidate in Integrative Conservation and Ecology, the lead teaching assistant for the course. "But there is a lot of variability in what they study, as the students design their own projects."
 
Gifts from SunTrust Foundations to launch UGA idea accelerator
A $500,000 gift from the SunTrust Foundation and the SunTrust Trusteed Foundations will support the University of Georgia's Entrepreneurship Program. The gift will help launch a student incubator/accelerator space and provide support for the student-led UGA Kickstart Fund. The renovated UGA Student Entrepreneurship Center, Studio 225, scheduled to open this month and located at 225 W. Broad St. in downtown Athens, will serve as a focal point for student innovation. Providing student support for the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UGA, the dynamic space will help students in all majors cultivate original ideas, propel business startups, and engage with industry partners. It will house Entrepreneurship Program faculty and steer students toward an understanding of best practices as they develop their ideas. The Entrepreneurship Certificate Program has grown from 33 students in 2015 to more than 420 students this past spring.
 
Two rapes reported to UTPD last week, total climbs to 11 for '18-'19
Two rapes were reported to the University of Tennessee Police Department last week, bringing the total number of reported rapes for the 2018-2019 academic year to 11. Both incidents were reported to UTPD, according to the agency's crime log, and not the campus security authority, which also receives similar reports on campus. The first alleged rape was reported on Feb. 28 and is said to have occurred around 9 p.m. on Dec. 8 of last year at Hess Hall on Melrose Avenue. The second incident reportedly occurred at an unknown location between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on March 3. It was reported to UTPD about two hours later. UTPD was unable to provide incident reports for either alleged rape on Sunday.
 
Texas A&M researchers developing new measures to fight 'superbugs'
Three years after Texas A&M researchers saved a person's life with a special type of virus known as a "phage" that destroys harmful bacteria, faculty and students hope to expand on their success, ultimately bringing the helpful virus to the mainstream clinical sphere. In 2010, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents established the Center for Phage Technology [CPT]. According to Texas A&M, a 2014 study performed by the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance predicts that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant bacteria will have killed 10 million people, making "superbugs" more lethal than cancer. As the number of effective antibiotic treatments has decreased over the years, bacteria has continue to evolve, and researchers are investing in phages as a new potential treatment option against superbugs.
 
Missouri lawmakers again consider concealed carry on campus, private property
Missouri's public universities would be required to allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to have firearms on campus under a bill debated by a House committee Wednesday. Supporters of House Bill 258 said Wednesday that it would allow people to protect themselves while critics fear it would allow for "guns everywhere." The bill would also allow people to carry concealed firearms in private business unless the businesses post signs saying concealed firearms are not allowed. "It is allowing private property owners to make that decision for themselves," said Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Republic, the bill's sponsor. "I don't believe that the government should be telling one way or the other." Paul Wagner, executive director of the Council on Public Higher Education, said decisions on policies about carrying firearms on campus should be left to universities' boards. "Frankly, they don't care what faculty think," he said. "They don't really even care what the presidents think. They listen to their law enforcement professionals."
 
At American Council on Education meeting, a call for policy changes to promote access
Colleges that have the resources to do so -- in particular elite private colleges -- should seriously consider growing in size so they can educate more students. That was one of several policy recommendations -- some for colleges and some for the government -- delivered by Catharine Bond Hill Sunday evening at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education in Philadelphia. Hill is managing director of Ithaka S+R, a research and consulting group focused on higher education. She is also an economist whose research has focused significantly higher education, and is the former president of Vassar College. Her comments came in the Robert H. Atwell Lecture, generally considered a key part of the annual ACE gathering of higher education leaders. Hill acknowledged that increasing class size -- which some institutions have done or are doing -- may run counter to the way some college leaders view their jobs or their institutions' economic strategies.
 
U.S. Labor Department Proposes Raising Salary Cap for Those Eligible for Overtime Pay
More college employees could receive extra pay under a proposal, released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor, that would raise a salary cap on workers eligible for overtime. Employees who make $679 or less per week, or $35,308 annually, would be eligible for overtime pay under the new proposal. The cap is now $455 weekly, a limit that was set in 2004. The department has not issued guidance specific to colleges and universities in its proposal, and members of the public have 60 days to comment on the proposal. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources' members had recommended that the cap be moved to in the mid-$30,000s a year in a letter to the department. The Trump administration's proposal would pare back that of the Obama administration, which attempted to double the salary cap before business groups and states challenged the plan.
 
Methodist colleges, seminaries react to church vote strengthening prohibitions on gay clergy, same-sex marriage
When delegates to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted late last month to strengthen the church's prohibitions on performing same-sex marriages and ordaining gay and lesbian clergy, it was over the opposition of Methodist colleges and universities in the U.S. The presidents of a group of 93 colleges and universities affiliated with the UMC issued a joint statement prior to the vote calling on church leaders to amend "their policies and practices to affirm full inclusion in the life and ministry of the United Methodist Church of all persons regardless of their race, ethnicity, creed, national origin, gender, gender identity/expression or sexual orientation." The statement was unanimously adopted by all member presidents present at a January meeting of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church. In the wake of the vote, the leaders of most of the theological schools have issued public statements affirming their own institutions' commitments to diversity, inclusion and nondiscrimination and in many cases expressing disagreement or distress with the vote outcome.
 
Ethiopian Airlines crash: Georgetown student among 157 victims
As officials identify the 157 people killed when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday, family, friends and communities are sharing details about their lives. Citizens of at least 35 countries died, the airline said, including eight Americans. The 4-month-old Boeing 737-8 MAX plane leaving Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya, carried 149 passengers and eight crew members. There were no survivors. A third-year law student at Georgetown, Cedric Asiavugwa was heading to Nairobi after his fiance's mother died, the university said in a statement. Born and raised in Monbasa, Kenya, he studied international business and economic law. Before going to Georgetown, the university said he worked to support refugees in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. "Beyond his many commitments and contributions, Cedric's friends and faculty in this community remember him as a kind, compassionate and gentle soul, known for his beautifully warm and infectious smile," the statement said.
 
Where Have All the Men Without College Degrees Gone?
In the late 1960s, almost all prime-working-age men, typically defined as 25 to 54, worked -- nearly 95 percent. That figure had dipped to 85 percent by 2015 -- a decline most acutely felt among men without college degrees. The trend of men dropping out of the labor force, particularly non-college-educated men, has been building for more than six decades. It has been a slow withdrawal, but a steady one -- a flow that began with a sharp decline in opportunities for men who dropped out of high school, and grew to include those who earned a diploma but not a degree. Economists have been working to understand the roots of the decline, and have come up with a cadre of theories: Perhaps it's a case of insufficient wages for jobs that don't require a degree; or maybe rising incarceration rates are the real culprit (people with criminal records have a harder time getting jobs); or it could be that more jobs that did not require a degree in the past do now. A recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that maybe it's all of the above and then some.
 
Soft skill strategies essential for future success
Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in Mississippi State University's Shackouls Honors College, writes: While the unending changes evidenced in today's global society show no signs of slowing down, there is one facet of education which appears more critical than ever. It doesn't require a SMART device or even a flip phone to master. It is the critical need for students to master soft skills or power skills, as they are often called. In brief, soft skills are abilities to work collaboratively with others, communicating, and employing critical thinking to solve problems. While these may, at first pass, seem like simple skills that everyone should naturally develop, the manic pace of the digital environment has impeded masses of students from effectively developing these strategies.
 
Hospitals closing and healthcare for working poor becoming campaign issues
Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "Half of Mississippi's rural hospitals at risk of closing, report says," read the startling headline in Mississippi Today. "Thirty-one of Mississippi's 64 rural hospitals, or 48 percent, are at 'high financial risk,' according to a national report of rural hospitals from independent consulting firm Navigant," read the article. Perhaps even more startling was this from an article in News Mississippi: "Four hospitals have closed in the past five years and five more are threatening closure. Expanding Medicaid would ensure that Mississippians continue to have access to local trauma centers and proper healthcare, however, (Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Senator Brice) Wiggins said the hospitals need to work it out on their own." "Work it out on their own." Hmmm. Public and private hospitals in Mississippi, excluding state and federally owned hospitals, employee over 50,000 people with average salaries of $46,700. Apparently, sustaining these high paying jobs in rural communities is not a state priority.
 
The once powerful rural white Democrat a dying breed in Legislature
Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: For 24 years, the speaker of the Mississippi House hailed from a district that included a portion of rural Prentiss County in northeast Mississippi -- first Tim Ford for 16 years and then Billy McCoy for eight years. It could be argued that the end of McCoy's tenure as speaker in 2011 marked the last hurrah for the so-called rural white Democrats, who for so many years ruled the legislative roost. In November 2011, Republicans garnered majorities in both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature and they have been increasing their numbers ever since. The increase in the number of Republicans in the Legislature has basically coincided with a mass shift of northeast Mississippi legislators -- the powerbase for both Ford and McCoy -- from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.


SPORTS
 
Finally! Mississippi State women win SEC tournament on fourth title try
Three years of frustration ended with a word. "Finally." Lost in a sea of blue, yellow, and white confetti, Mississippi State women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer mouthed that word as he cradled the Southeastern Conference tournament title trophy with his left arm. He used his right hand to welcome the pieces of paper as they cascaded around him and ultimately engulfed him on the podium with his players. A moment delayed after three-straight losses to South Carolina in the SEC tournament title game was realized Sunday when No. 1 seed MSU defeated No. 10 seed Arkansas 101-70 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. "As a coach, I've done this a long time. This is 34 years," Schaefer said. "We've cut down some nets. I've cut down a lot of nets in my career. In this particular venue, in this game, in this conference, as a head coach, that moment has eluded me. Again, I believe that God puts you through moments and things that prepare you for something greater down the line. I've had some heartache in this game over the years. But my team, my kids, have had the same heartache. Jazz(mun Holmes) and T(eaira McCowan) have had that same heartache."
 
Bulldogs blow by Arkansas to earn Mississippi State's first SEC Tournament title
Mike Neighbors sat on the bench and watched the No. 5 Mississippi State Bulldogs warm up at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Sunday. His 10th-seeded Razorbacks took shots on the other end of the court, but Neighbors inquisitively rubbed his chin, chewed his gum and fixated his attention on the Dogs. Considering what took place over the next three hours, it's not surprising he was worried about his opponent. Top-seeded Mississippi State throttled Arkansas 101-70 to claim the program's first ever SEC Tournament Championship. As miraculous as the Razorbacks' run through the tournament was, the day didn't belong to Neighbors and his players. It belonged to MSU head coach Vic Schaefer and his girls. "I'm proud of these young ladies," Schaefer said. "It's so hard to do what they were able to finally do today. We've had some really good teams that have gotten to this game... And they couldn't get it done on Sunday. This team had a chance to separate itself and be that team that could get it done. I thought they really did it."
 
Teaira McCowan leads No. 5 Mississippi State to SEC tourney title
When Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer climbed the ladder, snipped the net and rang a cowbell, the message was clear -- the Bulldogs were finally on top at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Teaira McCowan had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 5 Mississippi State won its first SEC tournament title in five tries with a 101-70 pounding of Arkansas on Sunday. Schaefer has cut down his share of nets in his career, having led the Bulldogs to the Final Four the past two seasons. This one, he acknowledged, was different. "This is certainly special," he said with a smile, the net around his neck. "This is a first."
 
Mississippi State's SEC Tournament was a long time coming for Vic Schaefer
You could say Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer waited four years for what transpired Sunday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, but "waited" wouldn't be the right word, and "four years" wouldn't be the correct timeline. Worked. Seven years. Replace the words in quotes with those. Winning the SEC Tournament Championship, as Schaefer and his top-seeded Bulldogs did with a victory over 10th-seeded Arkansas in Sunday's title game, wasn't simply something Schaefer tried to do the past three seasons but came up a bit short each time. It's something he has been working toward ever since he was named Mississippi State's head coach on March 13, 2012. Two-hundred and forty-six total games, 191 maroon and white wins, two regular season SEC Championships and two Final Four appearances later, Schaefer finally added an accolade to the list that he's been vying for ever since he stepped foot in Starkville. He looked up to the rafters, confetti falling on his face, and muttered, "Finally," as Mississippi State fans roared in excitement.
 
Confetti comes down for Mississippi State
Head coach Vic Schaefer and senior Teaira McCowan reflect on how the past three SEC championships have prepared the Bulldogs to take home the title.
 
Dance misses step; Arkansas women now wait on their fate
There would be no improbable comeback to cap the University of Arkansas women's basketball team's unexpected run through the SEC Tournament. The No. 10 seed Razorbacks -- which came back from a 17-2 deficit Saturday to knock off No. 15 Texas A&M in the semifinals -- got off to another slow start Sunday, and No. 5 Mississippi State cruised to a 101-70 victory at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., in the championship game. Without securing the SEC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, the Razorbacks will have to wait a week to find out where -- and in what tournament -- they will play next. "If that's not an NCAA Tournament team, I don't know what is," Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer said. Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said Saturday that it would take an all-around effort from everyone on the team to pull off the upset. On Sunday, he said that wouldn't even had been enough. "They just played great," Neighbors said of Mississippi State (30-2). "We had no answer."
 
Diamond Dogs deliver sweep of Maine
Nearly 15 years ago, Maine defeated Mississippi State 9-7 to give the Bulldogs arguably their most embarrassing football loss ever. MSU's baseball program nearly sent the Black Bears back home to Maine by the same margin on Sunday. The seventh-ranked Diamond Dogs completed a weekend sweep with a 9-8 victory, their 11th straight. "Our bullpen has been so good and it's been a luxury but today we had a little hiccup there in the middle of the game," said MSU coach Chris Lemonis. "We just didn't throw enough strikes. It was good for us to have to fight back and have to come through but I hope we don't see that too often." State (15-1) seemed to be cruising right along with a 6-2 lead when it turned things over to the bullpen in the top of the sixth. It took four relievers -- Peyton Plumlee, Jack Eagan, Brandon Smith and Trysten Barlow -- to get the Bulldogs out of the inning.
 
Bulldogs celebrate win, secure No. 6 seed
There was plenty for Mississippi State men's basketball to celebrate on Saturday. The Bulldogs secured the program's first winning record in conference play since 2010-11 with a 92-81 victory over Texas A&M and received strong contributions from seniors Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman in their final outing inside Humphrey Coliseum. Weatherspoon and Holman combined for 36 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. "I'm happy for our team and really excited for our seniors to go out with a very important win," said MSU coach Ben Howland. "This was big for us to get to 22 (wins). The regular season is over now so it was obviously a successful regular season when you look at our body of work. We won 10 of our last 16 games in this league, which I think is arguably the best league in the country."
 
Mississippi State rides big first half past Texas A&M, 92-81
Lamar Peters had 21 points and Quinndary Weatherspoon added 20 as Mississippi State defeated Texas A&M 92-81 on Saturday. Peters made 5 of 10 beyond the arc and has now totaled 1,002 career points in his three years at Mississippi State. Tyson Carter added 18 points for the Bulldogs (22-9 overall, 10-8 in the SEC). Aric Holman had 16 points and nine rebounds, and also moved past the 1,000-point mark for his career. "Mississippi State is obviously playing really, really well," said Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy. "I know they just lost two games on the road but when Lamar Peters and Tyson Carter shoot the ball like that, they are tough to beat. They have another gear and Lamar is such a good point guard. When he is shooting the ball like he did today, he is tough to guard."
 
Mississippi State golf, Garrett Johnson sweep Desert Mountain
Mississippi State men's golf coach Dusty Smith had guided his team to eight top-5 finishes over two seasons coming into the weekend. With three top-10 individual performances at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, the Golf Dawgs clinched Smith's first tournament title as a head coach Sunday, also the program's first win since the 2014 Reunion Intercollegiate. "This is a special day for our entire team," Smith said. "We got smacked in the mouth early in the round, but we were able to gather ourselves and come back swinging. Winning is hard. It takes a lot of mental toughness, and I felt like our team did a great job handling adversity." State also swept the team and individual titles at the par-72, 7,101-yard Desert Mountain Outlaw Course as junior Garrett Johnson finished as the individual medalist, carding a 9-under-207.
 
Harvey Updyke on poisoning Toomer's Oaks: 'They hung Scam Newton jersey on Bear Bryant statue'
There are three things Harvey Updyke doesn't like in this world: Auburn, liver and cats. The first comes as no surprise. The other two? Well, that's just straight out of left field. And that, in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen, is just one of the nuggets of information gleaned from the bizarre, sometimes contradictory, and often random comments by Updyke. Mo Rocca takes us on a 50-minute journey, much like ESPN does for its "30 for 30" specials, laying the groundwork and background of what became one of the most sensational sports stories in state history. Why did he do it? Does he regret it? What is his life like now? These questions and more were answered in Rocca's Mobituaries's "Death of a Tree: Roots of a Rivalry," which is a look at Updyke's decision to poison Toomer's Oak Trees at Auburn University in 2011.
 
For LSU's Will Wade, $50K SEC title bonus (and likely much more) on hold amid suspension
Will Wade missed out on cutting down a piece of the Maravich Center's nets after LSU basketball's SEC regular-season championship-clinching win Saturday night. And the second-year coach is also having tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses -- and likely much more -- withheld from him amid his indefinite suspension. According to his contract with the university, Wade is prohibited from collecting that money -- as well as any other incentive compensation, supplemental compensation or benefits owed to him -- while suspended. Wade was indefinitely suspended from the team Friday after declining to meet with university officials about comments he reportedly made in a wiretapped phone call with a federally convicted college hoops middleman about an offer made to a recruit, believed to be freshman guard Javonte Smart.
 
Booger McFarland on criticism of Joe Alleva for suspending Will Wade: 'Fans are crazy sometimes'
When LSU athletic director Joe Alleva appeared in the Maravich Center on Saturday before the Tigers played Vanderbilt, he was met by groaning fans and loud student section chants of "Free Will Wade" and "Joe must go." A prominent former LSU athlete thinks the booing and unhappy fans have it all wrong. Current Monday Night Football analyst Booger McFarland caught wind of what transpired inside the PMAC and said on Twitter that he doesn't understand why fans are angry with Alleva instead of the suspended Wade. "So the fans would rather (Alleva) let Will (Wade) coach, when Will wouldn't even come to (Alleva's) office and meet with him after the tapes came out? Fans are crazy sometimes. Even the ones that I grew up around. Wow," McFarland said on Twitter.
 
'Slap in the face:' LSU fans angered by Will Wade's suspension
Nothing about the lead up into LSU's game against Vanderbilt was normal. Reports came out on Thursday that detailed wiretapped phone conversations from 2017 between coach Will Wade and former Adidas consultant Christian Dawkins regarding potential compensation for recruits. One of the recruits in question was freshman guard Javonte Smart. LSU announced on Friday morning that it had placed Wade on an indefinite suspension. And, on Saturday afternoon, the program said it was benching Smart in "an abundance of caution." The LSU faithful held onto their anger and refused to let go. In the immediate aftermath of Wade's suspension, fans sent tweets like, "I guess he is the only coach in America that was on that tape," and "Guilty until proven innocent has become a theme lately." That emotion dialed up a notch on Saturday after LSU announced that Smart would not play.
 
Auburn baseball, softball teams wear 'Lee County Strong' helmet stickers for tornado recovery
The Auburn University softball and baseball teams took to the diamond wearing 'Lee County Strong' stickers on their batting helmets Friday, as the university's athletics department pledges to offer assistance in tornado relief efforts in the area. The deadly tornado that ripped through the area last Sunday touched down about 15 miles south of Auburn University's campus, devastating areas throughout the county. The university's athletics department is collecting supplies for relief efforts this weekend, and has campaigned for its supporters to give or to volunteer. The Auburn softball team sported the new decal as it took to the field Friday at its host War Eagle Challenge at Jane B. Moore Field, while the baseball team got set to wear them during its Friday night game against Texas-San Antonio. The university has set up a webpage at auburn.edu/tornadorelief in an effort to direct its supporters tow ways to assist and donate funds.
 
NCAA Cannot Restrict Compensation to Athletes Related to Education, Judge Rules
The NCAA is violating antitrust law by limiting payments to college athletes to scholarships covering the cost of attendance, a federal judge ruled on Friday. Judge Claudia Wilken, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that the association cannot set limits on compensation to athletes related to educational expenses like tutoring or the cost of scholarships for postgraduate degrees. While the ruling struck a blow to the NCAA, it fell far short of the plaintiffs' hopes. In suing the NCAA, a collection of former college athletes had eyed the establishment of a free market for athletes' services. Wilken's injunction would allow the value of athletes' scholarships to increase, but that compensation would be a far cry from the millions made by coaches in big-time football and men's basketball. The ruling will probably have few, if any, immediate effects.
 
Another federal court ruling chips away at NCAA limits on support for athletes
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its members had violated federal antitrust law by artificially capping the value of scholarships for educational purposes -- but stopped well short of creating the kind of free market for athletes' compensation that the players and their lawyers had sought. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken -- whose 2014 decision in a related case began the slow chipping away of the NCAA's limits on colleges' support for athletes -- is a clear court loss for the association. But lawyers for the athletes also got far less than they wanted: a toppling of the "amateur" athlete model by which the NCAA has for decades limited compensation to athletes to a scholarship and slowly expanding associated benefits. The plaintiffs, a group of current and former Division I men's and women's basketball players and athletes who played football at universities in the Football Bowl Subdivision, alleged that the NCAA's complex rules -- approved and carried out by the member colleges and conferences -- unfairly restrict what the players could reasonably get in exchange for their athletic talents in an open market.



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