| Monday, March 18, 2019 |
| Mississippi State conducts 'successful' power plant test | |
 | A March 12 test of Mississippi State University's power generation plant is being called a success by the university and local officials. The test was conducted between the hours of 3:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., when the campus reconnected to Starkville Utilities. During those hours, power was provided to campus through its 26-megawatt turbine system. "We plan and prepare for all emergency scenarios that might interrupt our normal university operations," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "The Power Assurance Test at the MSU Generation Plan helps us prepare for weather-related or accident-related interruptions of electrical power to our campus and to make sure we've done everything possible to ensure the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus. I'm grateful to Vice President Amy Tuck and her staff for conducting this productive and successful test of our systems." Tuck, vice president for campus services, said, "This testing helps ensure that we are able to serve the campus independently and seamlessly reconnect to Starkville Utilities." |
| Music, fashion, fun await Ragtime and Jazz Festival, Gatsby Gala at Mississippi State | |
 | For the 13th consecutive year, the Charles H. Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival is bringing the spirit and sounds of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to Mississippi State University's Mitchell Memorial Library March 28-30. The 2019 festival kicks off at 6 p.m. March 28 in the library's main lobby with the sixth annual Gatsby Gala. The fashion show features 1920s apparel designed by MSU School of Human Sciences fashion design and merchandising students and modeled by MSU Fashion Board members. Internationally renowned pianist and six-year festival artistic director Jeff Barnhart of Mystic, Connecticut, will provide music. Gala admission is free, and attendees are encouraged to wear their best 1920s-inspired outfits. Daytime museum tours, informative talks, "meet the artists" segments and educational seminars will take place March 29 and 30 in the Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum at Mitchell Memorial Library, located at the southeast corner of the university's historic Drill Field. |
| Archaeologist to visit Mississippi State, linking humanity's past to future | |
| Career archaeologist Robert L. Kelly will visit Mississippi State March 19 to discuss how the study of cultural past can predict the future of humanity. The 4 p.m. event in the McComas Hall theater is open to all and will focus on discoveries from Kelly's recent book, "The Fifth Beginning: What Six Million Years of Human History Can Tell Us about Our Future" (University of California Press, 2016). The book won the 2018 Felicia A. Horton Book Award from the Archaeological Institute of America. As part of the Distinguished Lecture Series promoted by MSU's Institute for the Humanities, the Cobb Institute of Archaeology is co-sponsoring the free event. Kelly will sign copies of his book, available for sale at the event. "Dr. Kelly is one of the most well-regarded archaeologists in the world and is one of the world's experts on people who subsist as hunter-gatherers," said D. Shane Miller, an archaeologist and senior research associate at MSU's Cobb Institute and assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures. |
| Local MSU Alumni Chapter honored | |
 | Photo: The Clarke County Chapter of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association received honors at the 2019 Alumni Awards Banquet held recently on the MSU Campus in Starkville. The local "Bulldogs" were recognized as the #3 alumni chapter for 2018 (Category II). Lisa Riley, president of the Clarke County/MSU Chapter, displays a banner and cowbell presented in recognition of the honor. The chapter also received a $100 check from the MSU National Alumni Association. In presenting the awards, Jeff Davis, Executive Director of the MSU Alumni Association, stated in a letter to Mrs. Riley: "Your excellence in promoting MSU in Clarke County deserves recognition. Thank you for your leadership, commitment and service to the Alumni Association and Mississippi State University." Area MSU Alumni interested in becoming a member of the Clarke County Chapter are encouraged to contact Lisa Riley, at rileydawgs@gmail.com. |
| Estuarium welcomes nurse sharks to Dauphin Island | |
 | It was a fun morning at Alabama's coastal aquarium, the Estuarium at The Sea Lab at Dauphin Island. Two nurse sharks were added to the aquariums, and Saturday brought their welcome party. Nurse sharks, sometimes called the couch potatoes of the sea, can be found around the world. It's suggested their name comes from the unusual sucking sound they make while hunting that resembles the suckling of a nursing baby. The welcome party included a chance for visitors to get their shark questions answered by the shark research team from Mississippi State University and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. |
| Mississippi State Launches Disaster Relief Drones | |
| Mississippi State University is flying high for two reasons. 1 . The men's basketball team is looking to make a tough showing tonight against the SEC-leading Tennessee Vols.* 2. The school's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory has acquired two TigerShark XP3 drones. Built by NAVMAR Applied Sciences Corporation, the drones cost about $2 million and MSU obtained federal research grants to cover most of the cost. Lab Director Dallas Brooks says the drone system will "allow our team to carry more equipment, fly at higher altitudes and for a longer period of time, which increases our ability to meet the needs of our federal research partners, as well as to directly support Mississippians in times of emergency." The school works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to study the best ways to deploy drones for disaster response. The research center also works with local agencies across the Mississippi Delta to support civic and public safety missions as well as agricultural and environmental work. |
| Looking at Cover Crops from Three Perspectives | |
| After years of research and on-farm use of cover crops, there's little doubt of the management benefits received by properly planting and terminating the cover. But there are differing perspectives on the value of cover crops that growers need to consider. A panel discussion at this year's Beltwide Cotton Conferences looked at three sides of the cover crop story -- soil health, weed management and insect management -- as presented by Dr. Bill Robertson, University of Arkansas Extension cotton specialist, Dr. Larry Steckel, University of Tennessee Extension weed specialist, and Dr. Don Cook, Mississippi State University Research Entomologist. |
| Lyme disease in Mississippi: Man's doctor wouldn't believe he had it | |
 | A Mississippi man was on his way to a New Year's Eve party in 2015 when suddenly he felt the end was near. Little did he know it would be years before he discovered he had a rare case of Lyme disease or that it all started while working on a food plot for deer. "I felt like I was dying," said Keith Bradshaw of Bolton. "There are no other words to describe it." ...the results from his western blot test, which is used to detect Lyme disease, came back positive. The result was a rarity among diseases in Mississippi. According to the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the disease is caused by a bacteria that deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks, usually ingest when they feed on white-footed mice. When they bite humans of other animals, the host can be infected. The MSU Extension Service states the bacteria affects the muscoskeletal system, the nervous system and the heart. Its symptoms include, but are not limited to, skin rashes, memory problems, aching joints and muscles, vision problems, heart problems, fatigue and facial paralysis. Those infected may also experience irritability, headaches, swollen lymph glands and shortness of breath. |
| Excitement builds as Toyota Mississippi readies for new Corolla | |
 | John Paul Blaylock and Kanesha Jackson are among the nearly 2,000 team members at Toyota Mississippi who have been putting in long hours to get ready for a big debut: The next generation model of the world's all-time best-selling car, the Corolla. The official rollout of the vehicle is at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the plant. Blaylock and Jackson help train team members at Toyota Mississippi, and the excitement -- and some anxiety -- has been building as the all-new Corolla is far different from the car they've been building since 2011. "We've been pretty busy the past few months actually," Jackson said. "it's been crazy busy having to learn. There are a lot more options than we had before, and it's been a long process. I'm excited for the new model and I'm excited for us. It's just a lot of excitement." |
| Analysis: Mississippi lawmakers seek early exit to session | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are aiming for an early end to their scheduled 90-day session. This is the fourth and final year of the current term, and most members of the House and Senate are seeking re-election. Finishing early gives all representatives and senators more time with their families and their other jobs (legislating is a part-time gig, after all). And an early wrap-up gives incumbents more time to campaign in their home districts. The session started Jan. 8 and is scheduled to end by April 7. During a typical week in a typical session, lawmakers are in Jackson from late Monday afternoon until about the middle of Friday morning, with the heaviest workloads on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. They are usually at the Capitol only one weekend near the end of the session, when negotiators wrangle over the final details of a budget and bond bills for the year that begins July 1. This session has been more leisurely than most, with the House and Senate taking several long weekends by leaving on Thursdays instead of Fridays. |
| Lawmakers weigh in on disclosure bill | |
| A bill to allow certain donors not to disclose who they gave money to has passed both chambers of the state Legislature, and was returned for concurrence in the Senate.A bill to allow certain donors not to disclose who they gave money to has passed both chambers of the state Legislature, and was returned for concurrence in the Senate. House Bill 1205 provides that a public agency shall not require any entity organized under section 501(C) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide the public agency with personal information. In both its House and Senate votes, the bill was approved along partisan lines with Republicans in support and Democrats against. West Point Democrat Sen. Angela Turner-Ford spoke against the bill, saying donations should be public knowledge. Starkville Republican Rep. Rob Roberson spoke in favor of the bill, saying the law could help others avoid repercussions for their donations. However, he said he was still forming his complete opinion of the measure. |
| Reeves declines as Foster, Waller to face off at GOP debate on MSU campus | |
| Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves has declined an invitation to participate in Republican gubernatorial candidate debate at Mississippi State University that will feature the other two GOP candidates expected to appear on the ballot. The College Republicans organization at Mississippi State University on Saturday announced it will host a Republican primary debate in conjunction with the MSU Department of Political Science and Public Administration. The debate will take place at 6:30 p.m. on April 2 on the MSU campus in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. Gubernatorial candidates Bill Waller Jr., former chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and State Rep. Robert Foster, of DeSoto, have agreed to participate in the debate, the group said via press release on Saturday. Chairman of the College Republicans at Mississippi State Adam Sabes said those planning the debate reached out to the Reeves camp, but were unable to agree on a date. |
| Mississippi's assistant teachers face severe financial strains | |
| Bobbie Robinson has been an assistant teacher in Holly Springs for 25 years. She began working as an assistant teacher to spend time with her children and later, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. "Now, I'm not sure I want to do it anymore," Robinson said. Robinson has supplemented her income by driving school buses for the last 15 years and has also worked part-time at Walmart. Like many assistant teachers in Mississippi, Robinson is uncertain a recently proposed pay raise would be enough for assistant teachers to live on. It has been more than a decade since assistant teachers have seen a pay raise and during that time, they have taken on greater responsibilities all while earning a salary that does not provide a livable wage. State lawmakers are now considering a pay raise for assistant teachers, whose current salary is dramatically low. State law requires that assistant teachers be paid at least $12,500 and though the current bill would increase that amount to $13,500, some assistant teachers say it still would not be enough to help them make ends meet. |
| Bill to allow contract autopsies fails to clear House | |
| Proposed legislation that would allow county coroners to contract for autopsies died after it failed to clear a procedural hurdle this week. Current law requires that autopsies be performed by the State Medical Examiner's Office, or a private forensic pathologist designated directly by the examiner's office. Mississippi did once extensively contract for private autopsies, but the practice led to controversy and even overturned convictions as questions mounted about slipshod techniques and accuracy. A bill authored by Lee County's Sen. Chad McMahan, R-Guntown, would have created a pilot program during which coroners in select counties could circumvent the state medical examiner and hire a private pathologist from a pre-approved list to perform an autopsy. |
| Federal appeals court orders Legislature to redraw 'gerrymandered' 102-mile Senate district by April 3 | |
| A federal appeals court has given state lawmakers four weeks to redraw a state Senate district after a lower court determined the district violates the federal Voting Rights Act. Gov. Phil Bryant and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann had asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to stay last month's decision by U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves until the Fifth Circuit heard their appeal. The appeals court instead ordered the Mississippi Legislature to redraw the map by April 3. But the Fifth Circuit denied the request for a stay, writing that a majority of the three-judge panel had "concluded that there is not a strong likelihood that Defendants will succeed in overturning the liability finding on appeal." Sen. Buck Clark, R-Hollandale, has held that senate seat since 2004. He is running for state treasurer in 2019. |
| Mississippi gov called 'despicable' for ignoring black rep | |
| The Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman said Mississippi's governor is "clearly despicable" for not acknowledging work by the state's only black congressman to get the home of a slain civil rights leader named a national monument. Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California told reporters during a conference call Friday that Republican Gov. Phil Bryant was petty to ignore Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson. "I don't know much about the governor of Mississippi, but he is clearly despicable," Bass said. "There is no way in the world he shouldn't acknowledge Bennie Thompson. ... For him to specifically ignore him is an example of his pettiness. The entire Congressional Black Caucus was highly offended that he would be so disrespectful of one of our most important members. I hope the governor knows the slight will not go unnoticed." |
| 'I Can't Keep Calm': Myrlie Evers-Williams 'Incensed' at Bryant, Hyde-Smith | |
| Civil-rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams told a radio host Friday that she refused "sit down and be quiet" after Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant credited only President Donald Trump and the state's two white Republican U.S. senators for a law making her former home a national memorial -- a designation the state's lone black congressman spent years pushing. Since the early 2000s, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson has pushed for and repeatedly introduced legislation to bring federal recognition and protections to the slain voting-rights activist's historic Jackson home, where white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith shot and killed him in his driveway in June 1963. On Tuesday, President Trump signed a law making the home a national monument after Congress finally passed the bill on Feb. 27. In a tweet Wednesday, Bryant praised the president for signing it and credited Mississippi's two white U.S. senators -- Sen. Roger Wicker and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Evers-Williams was "incensed," she said. |
| Ending HIV In Mississippi Means Cutting Through Racism, Poverty And Homophobia | |
 | Ending HIV transmission in America within the next decade -- a stated goal of the Trump Administration -- isn't a question of coming up with new medication. The medicines to prevent and treat HIV infections already exist. But the road to eliminating HIV and AIDS runs through the deep South, where racism, poverty, and homophobia can be formidable obstacles to testing and treatment, particularly for black gay men. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in 2017, more than half the new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. were in Southern states, where gay and bisexual black men make up a disproportionate share of people with HIV. Shawn Esco lives and works in Jackson, Miss. -- a city with one of the highest HIV rates in the country. Esco remembers the moment he realized he was HIV positive. Eleven years ago, he went to a clinic to get a routine HIV test. Workers there invited him into a private room for the results, and he says he knew -- before they even said a word. |
| Once Sanctuaries, Houses of Worship Struggle With Security | |
| A rabbi who packs a gun. A church installing security cameras. A police car protecting a mosque. Houses of worship have traditionally been places of refuge where strangers are welcome. But high-profile attacks in recent years on an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, a synagogue in Pittsburgh and now mosques in New Zealand have made many worshipers and their prayer leaders rethink how protected sanctuaries really are. In Jackson, Mississippi, the New Horizon Church International beefed up security after the Charleston shooting, but Bishop Ronnie Crudup said it's important for the church not lose its open and welcoming environment. "We seek to not lose ourselves and our own purpose and who we're supposed to be as we react to the present dilemmas that we're in," he said. |
| MUW Alumni Association announces upcoming awards recipients | |
| Each year at Homecoming the Mississippi University for Women Alumni Association recognizes outstanding achievement and presents awards to selected recipients in the categories of Distinguished Alumni Achievement, Distinguished Achievement, Alumni Service and Outstanding Recent Graduate. On March 30, on The W's campus, four individuals will be recognized for their service to the university and significant contributions in their respective career fields. Those receiving awards are C. Allison Russo, DrPH, MPH, ('98, of Columbus, Ohio), Sue Simmons Freeman ('80, of Hazlehurst), Nicole Dilg Beachum ('08, of Hoover, Alabama), and Nancy Carpenter (friend of the University, of Columbus). The MUWAA exists to support and promote the mission of The W while providing alumni engagement opportunities. Any former student who has completed at least 12 semester hours at the university and who has made an annual contribution to the MUW Foundation is an active member eligible to vote and hold office for the year. |
| Wright Thompson to headline inaugural Willie Morris Writer's Series at UM | |
| The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics is hosting the first-ever Willie Morris Writer's Series beginning next month, and a prominent Oxford journalist is involved in the first event. ESPN senior writer Wright Thompson will speak at the Overby Center on April 5 at 11 a.m. to discuss his latest book "The Cost of Dreams: Sports Stories and other Serious Business" among other topics. The book, which will be released earlier that week on April 2, is a collection of portraits ranging from prominent sports figures, coaches and even Thompson's father. One of the essays in Thompson's latest book centers around Ole Miss' lone undefeated football season in 1962, as well as the riots that took place over racial integration that captured the nation's attention. |
| Education town hall to be held in Tupelo Tuesday | |
| An open town hall meeting will be held at the Link Centre Tuesday evening to discuss the educational priorities of Mississippi representatives facing re-election, school choice and other hot-button education topics. Important education topics will be discussed, such as the still undecided teacher and assistant teacher pay raise as well as school vouchers and how allowing students to attend schools outside of their district could impact public school funding. Nancy Loome, executive director of the Mississippi Parents' Campaign, said speakers will discuss issues that may be dead in state legislature because this is an election year and these issues have the potential of coming up again sooner than later. "We want to encourage people first of all to become involved in the legislative process if they are not already, we want them to become knowledgeable about issues that affect their public schools and to make sure that they learn all that they can about the candidates who are running for office in November," Loome said. |
| Meridian Community College plans upgrades to Riley Workforce Development Center | |
| When Thomas Huebner became president of Meridian Community College last summer, he began taking a serious look at the college's future. "As president, I wanted to identify some areas that I believe are important for our community," Huebner said. One of the areas Huebner identified was improving the school's workforce training capabilities. Huebner's vision is starting to become a reality, as the college is planning to upgrade its Riley Workforce Development Center, adding new equipment in the process. The plan also includes getting all the workforce programs under one roof, as some are housed at the workforce center and others are located on MCC's main campus, Huebner said. Huebner said that while the workforce center offers a variety of programs, the main focus will be its manufacturing programs, since those are the most successful. The manufacturing programs currently have a 100 percent job placement rate. |
| Magazine ranks U. of Alabama law school as 25th best | |
 | The University of Alabama's law school is ranked 25th overall among the nation's top programs in the latest U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Graduate Schools" rankings. The rankings, based on data collected in 2018 and early 2019, marks the eighth consecutive year that UA's Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law has been ranked in the top 30 on the list. UA ranked eighth among public law schools, according to the announcement from the univeristy. "I have long believed that, if we attend to those things that enhance the quality of life within the School of Law, good things will follow," Dean Mark E. Brandon said in a statement released by the university. "It's nice to see this philosophy affirmed in the most recent release from U.S. News." |
| Auburn University researchers excited about new USDA lab | |
 | Members of the Auburn University community say federal funding for a new laboratory will help advance agricultural research. Last month, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., announced that Auburn would receive $43.3 million in federal funds for a new U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service National Soil Dynamics Laboratory. "I am proud to have secured funding for the new ARS facility in Auburn," Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated in a news release. "The soil lab will serve as an outlet for the USDA to complete research that will improve crop and livestock production for Alabama and the entire nation. "I look forward to the work that will result from the partnership between Auburn and the USDA, and I am confident the project will continue to enhance our state's thriving agriculture industry," Shelby continued. The funding for the new soil laboratory was provided through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, the final fiscal year 2019 appropriations package signed into law on Feb. 15. |
| Tennessee appoints new foundation president at annual salary of $225K, audit officer at $250K | |
 | The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved the hirings of two positions: the UT Foundation President and the chief audit and compliance officer. Last week, UT announced that Kerry Witcher, who was appointed the interim UT Foundation President and Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs last February, will be filling the position permanently. Witcher was approved by the board on Friday morning. The UT Foundation is an independent nonprofit that raises funds for the university. Witcher's annual salary will be $225,000 and his first day will be March 18, according to meeting materials. Brian Daniels, the current director of internal audit at Virginia Tech University, was also approved as the chief audit and compliance officer for UT. Daniels' annual salary will be $250,000 and his first day will be June 1, according to the meeting materials. |
| U. of Florida's Match Day sends docs on journey | |
 | Medical students around the nation held their collective breath Friday afternoon. Years of studying, standardized tests and applications finally culminated in this moment where students would find out where they had been placed for the next four years of their residency. For Marie Hanna, a student at the University of Florida, the moment couldn't come soon enough. "I'm so anxious to get my envelope finally," Hanna said. "We've all been waiting so long for this." Hanna hoped to be matched in Virginia, where her fiancé works on an Air Force base. The long-distance couple of two years plans to get married in May, hopefully following Hanna's move to Virginia. After multiple faculty members of the medical school gave their introductions and sentiments of pride, it was time. As students received their results, emotions erupted with some laughing and squealing in delight as they got placed in their first-choice school and others tearily hugging family members at news they didn't want to hear. For Hanna, the decision was exactly what she wanted. |
| More LSU Health medical grads staying in state and going into primary care | |
| Half of the 181 graduating medical students from LSU Health New Orleans who participated in Match Day this year will remain in Louisiana to finish their training. The National Resident Match Program is a pivotal day in a medical student's career when the location of their post-graduate medical training is revealed. Applicants across the United States are matched to residency programs with available positions at U.S. teaching hospitals and academic health centers. These results are an indicator to the future of the healthcare workforce, as higher number of physicians end up setting up their practice in states they trained in. A total of 89 out of 181 LSU Health New Orleans students chose to stay in state and increase of about 3 percent from last year. About 81 percent of those staying in-state will begin an LSU Health residency program on July 1. This is also an increase over last year when about 75 percent of those who chose to stay in Louisiana matched with an LSU residency program. |
| Academics oppose proposed survey of student and faculty political beliefs at Florida public universities | |
 | Proposed legislation in Florida would require public universities to survey students' and faculty members' political beliefs annually. The bill, HB 839, passed a House panel last week, amid opposition from Democrats who expressed concern about how the survey data would be used. A similar bill has been proposed in the Florida Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, and Governor Ron DeSantis is a Republican. The survey language, which is part of a broader set of proposed performance metrics, is short on details. There is no assurance of data anonymity or clarity on who will use the data, for what purpose. The bill says only that the state university system's Board of Governors will require public institutions to conduct an assessment of intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity on campus. Results would be published annually, starting next year. Both Florida State University and the University of Florida declined comment on the bill. |
| U. of Missouri med school dean resigns to take job at Tulane | |
 | University of Missouri School of Medicine Dean Patrick Delafontaine will step down March 31 to become executive dean at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Delafontaine made the announcement in a letter shared with faculty, students and staff Friday afternoon. The decision ends a four-year tenure that had a rocky start, with Delafontaine resigning after less than a year in the job in 2015, only to be reinstated as dean in February 2016. MU announced his resignation in a news release that stated he would "take a position at another institution" but did not name the school. Under Delafontaine the MU School of Medicine expanded its incoming class size from 96 to 128 students. The School of Medicine also opened a clinical campus in Springfield in 2016. Prior to coming to MU, Delafontaine served as the chief of cardiology at Tulane. |
| Ph.D. student faces deportation to Liberia, where she has never lived | |
 | Yatta Kiazolu moved to Los Angeles from Delaware to pursue her dream of obtaining a Ph.D. in history at UCLA. But as she approaches her final year of the program, her dreams of walking across the stage with her degree in hand seem further and further away as her temporary visa status will expire at the end of this month. And she could be deported to Liberia, a country in which she has never lived, or even visited. Kiazolu, 28, is one of the thousands of immigrants with Liberian citizenship who remain in the U.S. under a visa status called the Deferred Enforced Departure program. Many of these DED beneficiaries indeed lived in Liberia before coming to the U.S. But not Kiazolu. She was born in Botswana to Liberian parents and so has Liberian citizenship. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1997 when Kiazolu was 6 years old. Since then, she has been caught up in the vagaries of the DED rules and of U.S. immigration law more generally. |
| Does a letter make it better? | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in Mississippi State University's Shackouls Honors College, writes: One of the many consistencies that most students can attest to during their scholastic career is the omnipresent letter grade. Whether given as a daily or homework grade with less weight, or delivered as a test score with enhanced emphasis, letter grades have regularly been used as a feedback indicator to gauge a student's content mastery. However, much like there is no perfect assessment, there is no perfect indicator as to a student's learning. As educators have come to develop an enhanced understanding of the variety of learning styles and processing approaches taken by students, they have also come to realize that one, linear assessment is unlikely to effectively assess all students. |
| Does pro-life Mississippi let people die or help them live? | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Is Mississippi only pro-life when it's easy? Or are we pro-life when it's hard too? I am led to ask these questions by two occurrences discussed below. (Too many similar tragedies and uncaring attitudes occur across our state.) This first one was profiled in the Clarion-Ledger last week. "A woman died after suffering a simple asthma attack," read the headline. "Shy Shoemaker was a 23-year-old mother who died Jan. 27 in rural Chickasaw County after her family said she suffered an asthma attack," reads the article. "There was only one ambulance working the county that night, and the hospital's emergency room closed down in 2014." "Someone dying from an asthma attack should never happen," Ryan Kelly, executive director of the Mississippi Rural Health Association, told the newspaper. "What happened to my cousin could have happened to anyone," LeKearis Shoemaker said. "If there ain't no ER, ain't nobody (there) to help." The second occurrence was the following from a responder to my column last week that appeared in the Jackson Jambalaya blog. |
| House ups ante on teacher pay, 'Snuffy Smith' would be pleased | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Mississippi House members upped the ante last week on their Senate colleagues when they overwhelmingly voted to provide public school teachers a sizable $4,000 pay raise over two years. Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville offered the amendment to increase the pay raise from $1,000 over two years to $4,000 over the objections of the House leaders. But now, if the size of the raise is reduced in the final budget agreement in the coming weeks, House members can go home to campaign for re-election and tell teachers they voted for the larger salary increase but the Senate leaders would not agree to it. It is possible, perhaps probable, that Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and his Senate leadership also will strive now to provide a pay raise larger than the $1,000 increase over two years that they first proposed. After all, there is a precedence of one chamber being afraid of being upstaged by the other in terms of teacher pay raises. |
| Trump, Bryant, Thompson, Wicker and Hyde-Smith all played big roles in Evers monument designation | |
 | Alan Lange writes for Y'all Politics: Despite the social media histrionics of the last 72 hours in the wake of President Trump's signature on a bill that designates the Medgar and Myrlie Evers national monument, it's noteworthy to take a moment to retrace the actual steps that made the designation a reality. Governor Phil Bryant and Rep. Bennie Thompson have traded social media barbs regarding the credit for the legislative achievement. Bryant congratulated Wicker and Hyde-Smith on their roles in the achievement. Thompson felt slighted by what he felt was an omission of his role. Mainstream press outlets have tripped over themselves not surprisingly siding with Thompson on the issue. Thompson rightly contends that this has been an effort he's championed for over a decade. However, he alone could do nothing. It required congressional approval and a presidential signature. The ingredients to make the effort a reality through previous congressional efforts were unsuccessful, and the Obama administration didn't push the designation. |
SPORTS
| Dogs dancing as a No. 5 seed, headed to San Jose | |
| Brace yourselves Mississippi State fans, the Bulldogs are going dancing. For the first time in a decade, MSU makes its return to the NCAA Tournament as the fifth-seed in the East Region. The Bulldogs will open against No. 12 seed Liberty in San Jose, California, on Friday at 6:27 p.m. CT on truTV. "It's really thrilling to breakthrough and get back to the tournament for the first time in a decade here at Mississippi State," said MSU coach Ben Howland. "We're really, really happy for our fans and all our supporters." It has been an especially long journey for MSU seniors Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman. Weatherspoon and Holman did not experience a winning record or postseason play until last season but were able to lead the Bulldogs to a 23-10 mark in their final year. Mississippi State's opening opponent, Liberty, qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. |
| It's official: Mississippi State has NCAA Tournament destination for first time in 10 years | |
| The wait is over. Mississippi State fans have waited a decade for this. Current seniors like Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman have waited four years, as has head coach Ben Howland. At long last, the MSU Bulldogs have received a bid to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Mississippi State earned a No. 5 seed and will face No. 12 seed Liberty (28-6) in the first round. The game will be played in San Jose on Friday at 4:27 p.m. CST (4:27 p.m. local in California). It will be televised on truTV. "Liberty is a very, very good team," Howland said. "I know their coach well. We actually coached against each other, Ritchie McKay and I, back in the Big Sky when he was at Portland State and I was at Northern Arizona... This guy really knows what they're doing, and they have an outstanding team that won their conference tournament." |
| Back in Big Dance: Bulldogs are officially in first NCAA Tournament in decade | |
| Mississippi State's long NCAA Tournament drought has officially come to an end. The Bulldogs learned on Sunday night that they are indeed bound for the Big Dance as it was revealed they'll be a No. 5 seed in the tournament's East Region and battle 12th-seeded Liberty on Friday in San Jose, California. The tip is set for 6:27 p.m. CT. "We're really excited obviously to be in the tournament," Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said after the bracket was revealed Sunday. "I'm really excited for our entire team. This is what everybody has been working for in our entire program this entire year." The Bulldogs were last in the NCAA Tournament back in 2009. Since then, State has played in the National Invitation Tournament three times and missed the postseason altogether six times. |
| Five things to know about Mississippi State's NCAA Tournament foe: Liberty | |
| When sports fans in the state of Mississippi think about Liberty University, they probably don't think of the basketball team. Who wouldn't think of the school's new head football coach: Hugh Freeze? For once, though, Ole Miss' former football skipper will be on the back burner. March is about the hard wood. That's where the No. 5 seed in the East Region, the Mississippi State Bulldogs (23-10), will meet 12th-seeded Liberty (28-6) in San Jose, California, on Friday at 6:27 p.m. CST. Who are the Liberty Flames, and why did CBS analysts Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg pick them to upset the Bulldogs this week? Here are five things you need to know. Liberty and Mississippi State played four common opponents: Austin Peay, Alcorn State, Alabama and Vanderbilt. Mississippi beat all of them. Liberty lost to all of them. Advantage: Bulldogs. |
| March Madness? State, Ole Miss make NCAA field in same season for only second time | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Mississippi will join in March Madness in a big way this week. As expected, both Mississippi State and Ole Miss made the NCAA Tournament field announced late Sunday afternoon. State will play in the tournament for the first time since 2009, Ole Miss for the first time since 2015. This will mark only the second time ever and the first time since 2002 both Ole Miss and State have made the NCAA Tournament field in the same season. State will play Liberty University in the first round of the East Regional Friday at San Jose, Calif. Ole Miss plays Oklahoma in the first round of the South Regional Friday at Columbia, S.C. Times are still to be determined. Some thoughts, in no particular order... |
| 'Dogs grab series before Gators bite | |
| Mississippi State saw its 14-game winning streak come to a close on Saturday, but not before clinching the weekend series against No. 5 Florida. The No. 6 Bulldogs won the day's first game 10-5 before falling 4-2 in the second. MSU (19-2, 2-1 SEC) had not lost since dropping a 1-0 decision to Southern Miss on Feb. 22. In the first game, the Bulldogs had three players with three hits to lead a 17-hit attack. Leadoff hitter Jake Mangum went 3 for 5 with a homer and two doubles and drove in two runs. Tanner Allen and Elijah MacNamee also homered. Freshman JT Ginn (5-0) won his SEC debut, scattering 10 hits and giving up four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out 11 with no walks. Jared Liebelt came on to close, picking up his second save. In the second game, Gators starter Tyler Dyson (3-0) gave up six hits in six innings. The bullpen gave up just two hits to close it. Jordan Wesburg and Gunner Halter each drove in runs for the Bulldogs. |
| Mississippi State wins series; UF gains doubleheader split | |
| Inclement weather posed a threat for the finale between the No. 5-ranked Gators baseball team and Mississippi State, forcing a doubleheader Saturday that nonetheless featured an intermittent drizzle. When the lights finally went off at McKethan Stadium, MSU had claimed the first game of the afternoon 10-5, giving the Bulldogs the series victory, although UF closed the weekend on a high note in securing the final game of the night, 4-2. After more than six hours of baseball between two top-10 programs, UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan lamented the mound issues that ultimately resulted in the Gators dropping their first conference series of the 2019 season. "Bottom line is we just didn't pitch very well. We fell behind an awful lot, and we didn't particularly walk a lot of guys, but the timing of our walks, a lot of our walks have been lead-off walks, and we're starting a lot of innings off in 2-0, 3-1 counts, and putting ourselves in a tough position, where guys are getting off good swings on fastballs," O'Sullivan said. "We're going to have to correct that." |
| Mississippi State women find place in NCAA field Monday night | |
| It's been 10 years since Mississippi State's men and women both earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament but Monday night will have the Bulldogs partying like it's 2009. Coach Ben Howland's men's squad earned a No. 5 seed on Sunday afternoon and tonight the women will find out their seeding and regional paring as the NCAA Tournament Selection Show takes place at 6 p.m. on ESPN. MSU is hosting a watch party at Humphrey Coliseum complete with team signing autographs in the concourse from 4:45-5:30 p.m. As for MSU's tournament pairings and seeding for the 2019 Big Dance, that won't be known until the 6 p.m. telecast. However, there are some projections that have a good idea of what could happen for the Bulldogs tonight. ESPN's expert braketologist Charlie Creme has projected the Bulldogs the last few weeks to be a No. 2 seed in Greensboro, North Carolina's Regional as well as Albany, New York. That happened after MSU's lost its first and only conference game to Missouri dropping them from a No. 1 seed to No. 2. However, the Bulldogs have won eight-straight games since that defeat to the Tigers. |
| Mississippi State women learn postseason plans tonight | |
| As the benefactor of winning the SEC Tournament, Mississippi State receives an automatic bid into this year's NCAA Tournament. The fourth-ranked Bulldogs are hosting a watch party inside Humphrey Coliseum for tonight's NCAA Selection Show which starts at 6 p.m. on ESPN. MSU (30-2) is projected as a No. 1 seed in the Portland Regional by ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme. The Bulldogs are again expected to host the first two rounds of the tournament in Starkville for the fourth straight season. Vic Schaefer's squad is making their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and has finished as the national runner-up the past two years. |
| Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer selected National Coach of the Year | |
| Vic Schaefer was already selected as the SEC's Coach of the Year and can now add National Coach of the Year to his resume as well for 2019. espnW named Schaefer as its top coach for this season having previously been picked as the Naismith National Coach of the Year in 2018 along with Coach of the Year honors from USBWA and WBCA. Schaefer guided the Bulldogs to their second straight SEC regular season title and also claimed the program's first SEC Tournament championship while posting a 30-2 record. MSU's fourth-ranked women's basketball team will learn their NCAA Tournament future on Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. A watch party has been scheduled at Humphrey Coliseum. |
| Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan a finalist for nation's top center award | |
| Mississippi State senior Teaira McCowan has been selected as one of five finalists for the Lisa Leslie Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top center. Joining McCowan as a finalist are Kalani Brown of Baylor, Beatrice Mompremier of Miami, Megan Gustafson of Iowa and Kristine Anigwe of California. McCowan leads the country in offensive rebounds (5.8) and ranks second in total rebounds (13.5). The Brenham, Texas native also ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage (65.5 percent) while topping the SEC in blocks (76). |
| SEC donates $100,000 for tornado relief | |
| The Southeastern Conference has donated $100,000 to Auburn University for tornado relief efforts in Lee County. A news release from the SEC says the money will be used to help the students, faculty and staff who have been affected by the March 3 tornado. "SEC teams often face each other in fierce athletic competition, but it is comprised of 14 institutions who come together as a family during times of need such as this," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said last week in a news release. At least 23 people in Lee County died in the March 3 tornado, with the rural community of Beauregard the hardest hit. The tornado, with 170 mph winds, left a path of destruction nearly a mile wide. It was one of at least 36 tornadoes confirmed to have touched down across the Southeast in a deadly weekend outbreak. Auburn University President Steven Leath thanked the SEC for its support. Leath said AU would determine the best course forward in maximizing the funds for the community. |
| March Madness expected to generate $8.5 billion in bets: report | |
 | Americans are expected to bet $8.5 billion on this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament according to a report released Monday by the American Gaming Association. Based on the survey from the casino industry group, 47 million American adults will wager on the "March Madness" tournament that begins Tuesday and ends April 8. The favorite among the field is Duke University, with 29 percent of the 11,002 adults surveyed between March 1-7 saying they think the school comes out on top. No other team received 10 percent of the vote. This is the first NCAA Tournament since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), allowing states to legalize sports betting nationwide. Eight states have legalized sports betting since the High Court's decision in the summer of 2018. Another 23 are currently considering legislation to regulate and tax sports betting. |
| Who would win the NCAA tournament if academics mattered most? | |
| We're not idiots: we know that talent and heart (and a little luck) will primarily determine which team cuts down the nets in Minneapolis after the final game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I men's basketball tournament next month. But we're not ESPN or The Athletic -- we're a higher education publication that, when we write about sports, focuses on how athletics affects the colleges that sponsor the teams and the athletes who play the games. So each March since Inside Higher Ed's inception, we've published our own (now much imitated) version of the tournament bracket for men and women. Our Academic Performance Tournament determines the winners of each game in the tournament by comparing the academic performance of teams, as measured by the NCAA's own -- admittedly flawed -- metrics for judging academic success. |
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