| Thursday, April 11, 2019 |
| List of MSU Riley Center executive director candidates down to three | |
 | The list of candidates for executive director of the MSU Riley Center is down to three applicants according to Terry D. Cruse, administrative director and head of campus at Mississippi State University-Meridian. Each of the three candidates has undergone Skype interviews and one, Daniel Barnard, associate dean of Cultural Affairs and director of Bailey Hall at Broward College in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, has visited the Riley Center. The names of the other two candidates have not been disclosed and no other onsite visits have been scheduled at this time, Cruse said. Sixty-five applications were received for the post previously held by Dennis Sankovich, who retired at the end of March. Sankovich oversaw the creation of the MSU Riley Center and shepherded it through more than a decade of bringing top performing artists from around the world to the downtown Meridian venue. Cruse said he has been pleased with the response of applicants to the executive director position. |
| Reuben Moore named interim VP of Ag at Mississippi State University | |
 | Veteran Mississippi State University agriculture administrator Reuben Moore, a Neshoba County native, has been named interim vice president of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. The appointment is pending formal approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning. MSU President Mark E. Keenum announced late March that Moore would assume his new duties while current DAFVM Vice President Gregory A. Bohach is hospitalized and dealing with health issues. For the past 18 months, Moore has served as associate vice president of DAFVM. A Neshoba County native, Moore also has served as associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Before joining the Extension Service, Moore owned and operated a dairy farm near Philadelphia for 10 years. |
| South Carolina looking for summer archeology volunteers for ancient site | |
| After Hurricane Matthew, a satellite survey of the South Carolina coast picked up something new, and very old, on a remote beach south of Charleston, according to South Carolina Wildlife Magazine. Archaeologists perked up at the discovery of ancient Native American shell rings off Edisto Island, but they had a problem: "the Pockoy Island shell rings were in imminent danger of being swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean," SC Wildlife reports. There are two shell rings on the island, called Pockoy 1 and Pockoy 2, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. "Pockoy 1 will be gone by 2024. Rapid archaeological investigation of this site is critical as our shared cultural heritage is at risk of being lost," DNR said in a recent press release. Archeology teams are working quickly to document and preserve what they can from the shell rings, with teams from Mississippi State University and the National Parks Service helping DNR with study and excavations this summer. |
| State auditor sheds light on investigations into government theft, corruption | |
 | Shad White said there are two ways to do his job: the easy way and the right way. White was appointed to the position of state auditor about nine months ago, meaning he's in charge of the office that sorts out misappropriation, theft and corruption in government offices all over the state, he told Columbus Rotary Club members at their weekly luncheon at Lion Hills Tuesday. "Every single day I have to call on that impulse to do the right thing, regardless of what the consequences are, regardless of who might not like it," he said. "That's just the nature of this job. Auditing and holding folks accountable for stealing money, regardless of who they are or where they're from or what the color of their skin is or how connected they might be or not connected they might be -- that's the thing that I have to do every single day in this gig." |
| Attorney general candidate appears in college yearbook blackface skit, regrets portrayal | |
| Two months after Mississippi's leading gubernatorial candidates faced questions about racist fraternity photos during their college years, new blackface photos featuring another high-profile candidate for statewide office have surfaced. A 1979 Mississippi College yearbook photo features Andy Taggart, an attorney and Republican vying for the attorney general's seat, performing in a rush skit. At least two people can be seen wearing blackface in the photo that a source sent to Mississippi Today. Taggart is dressed as a cowboy in the scene, which the caption says is based on the TV show Gunsmoke. After reviewing the photo on Wednesday, Taggart told Mississippi Today that he didn't remember the photo or skit but that blackface is inappropriate. Mississippi College does not have traditional fraternities and sororities but instead five social "tribes" for female students with names like Swannanoa and Nenamoosha, which are not actual Native American tribes. Taggart's photo was taken during a rush event for the Swannanoa tribe. |
| Trump rushes to rescue of besieged party-switcher | |
 | With the president by his side, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice made a dramatic announcement before a raucous crowd of "MAGA"-hat wearing supporters: He was bolting a Democratic Party that had "walked away" from him to join Donald Trump's GOP. Two years later, Trump is now repaying the favor. A pair of the president's top lieutenants, Bill Stepien and Justin Clark, are joining Justice's campaign as advisers as the governor tries to navigate a treacherous 2020 reelection bid. As the new election cycle kicks into gear, Justice isn't the only Republican leaning on the Trump machine. Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a favorite of the president's inner circle who is running for governor, has met with multiple Trump aides in recent weeks, including White House Political Director Brian Jack and several members of the reelection campaign. The discussions come as Reeves tries to extinguish primary challenges from several Republicans. The lieutenant governor said the president's organization in the state is "key to victory in November." Trump carried Mississippi by 17 points in 2016. |
| Don't shoot! That drone overhead probably isn't invading your privacy | |
| The first commercial medical drones are taking flight in the U.S., delivering blood samples and other medical specimens from a clinic to a lab in North Carolina. Right now, they're just on one hospital campus and not flying over private homes or businesses. But that's coming soon. In our research about consumer perceptions of aircraft, we've found that in general, people don't want drones flying over their homes. Helicopters and planes are less of a concern, because they're usually so high and far away -- and people who live near airports are more worried about noise than being spied on. People see drones, however, as different. The Federal Aviation Administration has tried to address some public concerns with rules governing personal drones and commercial drone flights. But if drone use is really ever going to take off -- both privately and in businesses -- the rules need to be a lot clearer for everyone. |
| As Weeds Outsmart The Latest Weedkillers, Farmers Are Running Out Of Easy Options | |
 | There was a moment, about 20 years ago, when farmers thought that they'd finally defeated weeds forever. Biotech companies had given them a new weapon: genetically engineered crops that could tolerate doses of the herbicide glyphosate, also known by its trade name, Roundup. Farmers could spray this chemical right over their crops, eliminate the weeds, and the crops were fine. Stanley Culpepper remembers that moment. He'd left his family's farm to study weed science at North Carolina State University. "I was trained by some really, really amazing people," he says, "and I was even trained that there would never be a weed that was resistant to Roundup." These scientists believed that plants couldn't become immune to Roundup because it required too big of a change in a plant's biology. In 2005, though, Culpepper reported that he'd found some weeds that Roundup could not kill. They were growing in a field in Georgia. And this was not just any weed. It was a kind of monster weed called Palmer amaranth, or pigweed. |
| Easter brunch for the W's Culinary Arts Institute kitchen | |
| The W's Culinary Arts Institute kitchen was "styling" on the morning of April 2. From chef station to station, an Easter brunch was coming together and looking good. That's the purpose of a food styling class: to prepare food to look as tempting as possible for photography, video or film. If you've ever thumbed through a magazine with food photos in it, drooled over a commercial, or been swayed by a mouth-watering photo on a restaurant menu, you've seen the work of food stylists. "We eat with our eyes first," said instructor Chef Mary Helen Hawkins. Some food styling techniques used to make food "pretty" for a close-up are fairly dramatic. But the MUW students' goal was designing and turning out an Easter brunch both delicious and worthy of being photographed for their food blogs. They know that any future careers in the food industry will probably call on styling skills. |
| UM's Brandi Hephner LaBanc to interview for vice-president job at U. of Utah | |
 | Brandi Hephner LaBanc will appear before a search committee at the University of Utah tomorrow in a town hall interview to potentially become their vice president for student affairs, the job she currently holds at the University of Mississippi, according to the University of Utah's website. Hephner LaBanc's interest in the job at Utah comes after Melinda Sutton Noss, the dean of students, and Leslie Banahan, the assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, are both set to leave the university at the end of the academic year. The two jobs are not posted on the university's career website, but they are posted on Spelman Johnson's website, an executive hiring firm for higher education. Her interview at the University of Utah also comes after Jeffrey Vitter, the former chancellor at the University of Mississippi, recently made comments in an interview to potentially become the president of the University of South Florida saying he didn't have enough time to assemble a strong leadership team at while at Ole Miss. |
| Students weigh staying or leaving UM journalism school following Ed Meek's post | |
| Thanks to a $5.3 million gift from Ole Miss alumni Ed and Becky Meek, who received their degrees from the university in the 1960s, the university's journalism department became the Meek School of Journalism and New Media in 2007. Meek's controversial post from last semester led to a speedy response by the School of Journalism and New Media as well as from many students questioning what they should do next. Some students weighed the decision of whether to stay in or leave the School of Journalism and New Media after Meek's post and the school's response. Carl Tart, who studied integrated marketing communication at the then-Meek School, considered Meek's online comments when he decided to change his major to exercise science. Though he said the decision had a lot to do with following his passion, he said he attributed about 40% of the decision to Meek's comments. |
| Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves visits USM's Dubard School | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves visited the Dubard School for Language Disorders at the University of Southern Mississippi Wednesday. It was his first trip to the Pine Belt since he officially announced he was running for governor on Monday. Reeves met with teachers and administrators and read a book to some of the students. "I've had a chance to visit a couple of times over the last eight years and every time I'm here, I'm terribly impressed with what they're doing with these young folks," Reeves said. "Everything is a language lesson here at the Dubard School, so a lot of our classrooms today had stories about Lt. Governor Tate Reeves coming," said Missy Schraeder, school director. Reeves spoke about the importance of education and says it means more jobs for Mississippians. "We're going to need an educated work force that can fill the jobs of tomorrow," Reeves said. "To do that, we've got to focus on education from pre-kindergarten all the way up to lifelong learning. And so, we've got to train the workforce. And so, we've got to be focused on workforce development. And we've got to be focused also on the kids that are in these classrooms." |
| LSU president defends student fee hikes, tells state lawmakers 'we need your help' | |
 | LSU boosted student fees last year because state aid was frozen while assistance for colleges nationwide rose by an average of 3.8 percent, LSU President F. King Alexander told lawmakers Wednesday. "We are growing and expanding and succeeding," Alexander told the powerful House Appropriations Committee. "But we need your help," he said. "We need your help to claw back into the academic marketplace so that we are not losing people." The issue surfaced during a five-hour committee review of budgets for colleges and universities. Alexander said higher fees had no impact on fall enrollment, which he said is up by about 6,000 students in the past decade. "It was the largest freshmen class we have had in history," he said. |
| U. of Tennessee-Knoxville names four candidates for chancellor | |
 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville has named four finalists for chancellor, including the president of East Tennessee State University and the provost at Auburn. The candidates will visit campus next week, April 16-18, to visit administrators, faculty, staff and students. Each candidate for the university's top leadership position also will hold an open forum while on campus. The announcement of the finalists comes nearly one year after UT fired Beverly Davenport, the highest-paid chancellor in the school's history who was earning a $585,000 annual base salary. The four candidates are: Donde Plowman, current executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Brian Noland, current president of East Tennessee State University; William Tate, current dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis; and Bill Hardgrave, current provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Auburn University. |
| UGA slavery response lacking, say civil rights leaders | |
 | Athens civil rights leaders on Wednesday publicly read and then presented a letter to the office of University of Georgia President Jere Morehead asking him to do more to recognize and redress the university's history with slavery. Representatives of five activist groups -- Linda Lloyd of the Equal Justice Coalition, Alvin Sheats of the Clarke County NAACP chapter, Erin Stacer for the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Imani Scott-Blackwell of Athens for Everyone, and Chris Xavier, a UGA student representing the United Campus Workers of Georgia labor union -- stood in front of the UGA Administration Building to read the letter to Morehead. Eight people watched, five of them recording the reading on video cameras. After the reading, the group went inside the administration building, where Morehead's office is located, and presented the letter to a receptionist to hand to Morehead as a UGA police officer watched. |
| Kennedy's bookstore demolished to make way for new U. of Kentucky development | |
 | Kennedy's Wildcat Den -- the textbook and University of Kentucky fan merchandise store which closed in December 2017 after 67 years in business -- was razed on Monday. The University of Kentucky now owns the property and will partner with a private real estate company to turn the corner into 900 new parking spots, in addition to retail and "innovation" space. The $30 million project, which will stretch along Winslow Street between South Limestone and Broadway, is estimated to be finished by August 2020, according to Melody Flowers, UK executive director for strategic analysis. |
| Texas A&M may add Iron Throne to existing archives of author George R.R. Martin | |
 | The question of who will end up on the Iron Throne has Game of Thrones fans eagerly anticipating the HBO show's final season, which begins Sunday night. Here's a non-spoiler alert: The throne may end up on the Texas A&M campus as part of George R.R. Martin's archives at Cushing Memorial Library, according to Jeremy Brett, curator of the library's science fiction and fantasy research collection. Brett said that Martin told Cushing staff members that the collection could get a seat-of-swords throne that has been used in the show or in promoting the show, though Brett clarified that has not been confirmed. Martin, whose book series A Song of Ice and Fire spawned the award-winning show, has ties to Aggieland that go back to the 1970s, when he attended AggieCon science fiction events. In the 1980s, Brett said, the writer and television producer was approached about archiving his papers at Cushing. |
| Take extra steps to stay safe in Uber and Lyft, U. of Missouri chancellor says | |
 | Students should take extra steps to ensure their safety when using ride-sharing services such as Uber or Lyft, MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright wrote in a Tuesday afternoon email. The email was in response to the death of a University of South Carolina student who got into a car March 29 that she believed was her Uber. She was found dead in a field by turkey hunters about 14 hours later, according to CNN. Cartwright wrote that he was joining University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides in the "What's my name?" campaign, which encourages ride-sharing app users to ask their driver that question before getting in the car. If the driver cannot identify the rider's name, the rider should not get in the car, the campaign advises. Pastides asked other SEC universities to join the campaign. |
| Gallup, Bates report shows graduates want a sense of purpose in careers | |
 | Recent college graduates want "purpose" in their jobs, but they aren't always finding it, according to a new survey. The report, "Forging Pathways to Purposeful Work," from Gallup and Bates College, found that 95 percent of four-year college graduates nationally considered a sense of purpose at least moderately important in their work. But of the graduates who strongly felt that a purpose was important, only 40 percent said they had found a meaningful career. Only 34 percent indicated they were deeply interested in their work, and 26 percent reported that they liked what they were doing on a daily basis. "This 'purpose gap' is a glaring problem for the younger work force, as millennials place a higher priority on purpose in their lives than previous generations, and they look to work more than other sources to find it," A. Clayton Spencer, president of Bates, said in a statement. |
| Students' Ban on Conservative Group Prompts Outrage, But They Lack Authority to Do So, School Says | |
 | A vote by the student government at Texas State University to ban a conservative student group erupted into a free-speech melee this week, after the group's national founder mischaracterized the attempt as an official university action. The outrage of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was quickly retweeted by his followers and picked up by conservative media sites. Greg Abbott, Texas' Republican governor, jumped into the fray, tweeting that he looked forward to signing a bill to uphold free speech on college campuses, passed by the state Senate. Lost in the initial outrage was a response from Margarita Arellano, the university's dean of students, who issued a statement saying that, while the student government has a right to act on a resolution to ban the conservative student group, it does not have the authority to actually kick Turning Point USA off campus. Student organizations can be banned only if they are facing disciplinary sanctions, she wrote, and the campus chapter of Turning Point is not. |
| Admissions scandal causes critics to question whether donor money also influences who gets accepted | |
| The details aren't that complicated for Brian Flahaven, senior director of advocacy at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, an association for fund-raising professionals in higher ed. Parents who paid hefty bribes to university athletic directors, coaches and test takers to get their children into elite colleges and universities did so in "an effort to cheat the system," he said. People who donate to colleges are trying to help the higher ed system. "Things are getting muddied," he said. People should "not conflate this criminal activity with philanthropic gifts. The admissions scandal is a criminal case; it does not implicate university development officials." Fund-raising professionals nonetheless now frequently find themselves explaining this distinction to people unfamiliar with the world of college fund-raising. In the wake of the scandal, that distinction seems lost on critics of the role of money and wealth in college admissions. |
| College-Admissions Hysteria Is Not the Norm | |
| Every year at this time, headlines reveal once again what everyone already knows: America's top institutions are selective---very. Harvard took a record-low 4.5 percent of the applicants to its 2023 class. Yale accepted 5.9 percent, the same as the University of Chicago. These numbers -- albeit wild -- are outliers, representing an almost-negligible slice of the United States' higher-education ecosystem. Approximately 10.8 million undergraduates were enrolled in the country's more than 2,500 four-year universities in the fall of 2017, according to an Atlantic analysis of raw figures from the Education Department's data center. The most selective schools produce many of the people who populate the top ranks of American business, media, and political leadership. But the country is much bigger and more multitudinous. The work of educating its people falls by and large not to the small set of famous schools, but to the much wider array of ordinary schools, where millions of Americans go to learn every day. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs stay perfect in midweek play | |
 | No. 6 Mississippi State improved to 11-0 in midweek play with a 7-5 victory over South Alabama on Wednesday night. The Diamond Dogs strung together 11 hits, four of which went for extra bases. Tanner Allen led MSU at the plate going 3 for 4 with a double, home run and five RBIs. "When you have a coaching staff and good players behind you supporting you all the way through and pulling for you, it takes a lot of stress off my chest," Allen said. "That's a big reason why I had a good night tonight. I was just able to get some good pitches, put some good swings on them and let everything else take care of itself." Justin Foscue was 2 for 4 with a homer while Jake Mangum and Jordan Westburg both doubled. Mangum's double was the 66th of his career, tying him with Richard Lee for the second-most in program history. Mississippi State welcomes Alabama to town for Super Bulldog Weekend starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. |
| Tanner Allen delivers in Mississippi State's baseball win over South Alabama | |
 | There was a stretch of time in which Mississippi State sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen only had one multi-hit game in an 11-game span. The final game of that period was the Saturday of the Tennessee series. Then Allen went 3-for-5 with a home run against the Volunteers on Sunday. Wednesday night, Allen went 3-for-4 with another homer in Mississippi State's 7-5 victory over South Alabama at Dudy Noble Field. "As y'all know, and anybody who watches Mississippi State baseball (knows), I've been struggling for probably a month," Allen said. "Last weekend on Sunday, I was just like, 'Man, I'm just going to relax and enjoy the game.'" "The home run by Tanner Allen, I thought, was really a big part of the game," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Tanner's big swing (was) maybe one of the farthest balls I've seen hit in the ballpark." |
| Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan taken by Indiana Fever in WNBA Draft | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball legend Teaira McCowan's hard work in a maroon and white uniform has paid off. McCowan was selected third overall by the Indiana Fever in Wednesday night's WNBA Draft. "It's an unreal feeling," McCowan said in a phone interview after she got picked. "I'm just glad and honored to be here and be a professional now. I'm just grateful to experience this." McCowan, who was on site for the draft at the Nike Headquarters in New York City, joins former Mississippi State teammate Victoria Vivians in Indiana. Vivians was selected with the eighth overall pick in last year's draft, but she's expected to miss the entire 2019 season recovering from a recent ACL injury. The possibility of a reunion between two of the most important players who led Mississippi State to back-to-back National Championship Game appearances in 2017-18 floated around in various mock drafts this week. Now that it's a reality, McCowan said she can't wait to get to Indiana. |
| Indiana takes Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan No. 3 at WNBA Draft | |
 | The Indiana Fever took Mississippi State center Teaira McCowan at No. 3 overall in the WNBA Draft on Wednesday night. It's the second year in a row for the Fever to take a Bulldogs' standout in the first round, after drafting Victoria Vivians last spring. "She's exactly what we needed," Fever head coach Pokey Chatman said after the pick was made. At the end of the second round, with the 24th pick, Seattle selected MSU's Anriel Howard. McCowan led Mississippi State with 18.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in her senior season, shooting a school-record 66.2 percent from the field. "You think about that size, but the mobility of that size," said Chatman, "and somebody who loves the defensive side of the basketball, but then also impact the offensive side with her rebounding and her ability to get deep positioning." |
| Mississippi State's Anriel Howard taken by Seattle Storm in WNBA Draft | |
| Mississippi State was well-represented in the 2019 WNBA Draft. Teaira McCowan, who was at the Nike Headquarters on Wednesday night to attend the draft in person, was selected third overall by the Indiana Fever. Just over an hour later, Anriel Howard was taken by the Seattle Storm with the No. 24 pick of the draft. Analysts and Experts knew McCowan would land somewhere in the top-10, but they couldn't quite predict where Howard would fall. She ended up getting claimed with the last pick of the second round. Howard averaged 16.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game during her single season in Starkville. When Mississippi State lost to Oregon in the Elite Eight a week and a half ago, Howard broke down crying during post-game interviews. MSU head coach Vic Schaefer jumped in to console Howard by saying a few positive words about her. Part of his answer included positive -- and now, accurate -- foreshadowing about Howard's future in basketball. "She's not done playing, trust me," Schaefer said. |
| Dawgs' Montez Sweat headed for NFL Draft show | |
| Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat is headed to Music City. It was announced Tuesday that Sweat will attend the NFL Draft in Nashville. The first round is April 25. Sweat is widely considered to be a first-round prospect and is likely to hear his name read within the first 10 picks of the night. ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has Sweat slated No. 8 to the Detroit Lions in his latest mock draft. "It's obviously a big day, big stepping stone," Sweat said during MSU Pro Day. "And everybody watches and wants to get drafted, so yeah, it's on my mind a lot." But for a guy who left Michigan State after his freshman year, spent a season at Copiah-Lincoln Community College and then headed to Starkville, what makes him so good? The physical is an obvious pull for NFL teams. At 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, his frame speaks for itself. |
| 2019 NFL Draft: ESPN bringing 'entire power of' network to Nashville | |
 | ESPN's coverage plan for the NFL Draft comes down to one concept: More. More broadcasts (ESPN and ABC), more staff, more sets and more shows. Leading up to the three-day spectacle starting April 25, sports fans can expect to see some of the network's biggest shows on location at various sets in Nashville. It's a move that the network calls "unprecedented." NFL Live, Sports Center, Get Up, First Take, Golic and Wingo, College GameDay and a series of social shows will air from sets mostly headquartered in and around Broadway, both during the draft and the days leading up to it. "We are really unleashing the entire power of ESPN for the week in Nashville," said Seth Markman, the vice president of production for ESPN. The main-set headquarters will be Rock Bottom Brewery, which will feature sets on the rooftop, terrace level. The College GameDay portion of the ABC broadcast will be held in an adjacent parking lot to the brewery. |
| Phillip Fulmer: 'Essential' to hire coach with Lady Vols ties, like Kellie Harper | |
| Kellie Harper walked past the Tennessee women's basketball trophy case on Wednesday, looked at the hardware and smiled. "It's a little surreal when you walk by the national championship trophies," Harper said. Harper was part of winning three of those trophies as a Lady Vols point guard who played for Pat Summitt in the late 1990s. Now it's her job to refuel the program as its coach. Harper was introduced at a news conference Wednesday after the Lady Vols announced her hiring Tuesday. She replaces Holly Warlick, who was fired March 27 after seven seasons. Harper received a five-year deal worth $750,000 annually. Athletic director Phillip Fulmer said it became apparent during the hiring process that he needed to hire someone with ties to the program. Harper understands well the history of the program she inherited and the coach who built it. "I'm not here to try to be Pat Summitt," Harper said. "I'm here to be Kellie, who learned from Pat Summitt. And hopefully you'll see that." |
| Michigan State Discouraged Reporting of Rape Allegation Against Athletes, Woman Says | |
 | Robin and David Kowalski barely recognized their daughter Bailey when she was visiting home in White Lake, Mich., in the spring of 2015. Their perennially positive daughter, who was about to finish her freshman year at Michigan State, was sullen. She had suddenly decided to abandon her long-held dream of being a sports journalist, and she refused to tell her mother, in whom she typically confided everything, why. It was not until October, after months of erratic behavior, that Ms. Kowalski told her parents that she had been raped by three Michigan State basketball players that April. The incident left her depressed and considering harming herself. She dropped out of college for a while and received counseling. She gave up sports journalism for good. Last year, Ms. Kowalski, 22, who is speaking publicly about her case for the first time, sued Michigan State in federal court for violating her rights under Title IX, the federal law mandating gender equity in higher education, as a Jane Doe. The lawsuit asserts that Michigan State mishandles sexual misconduct complaints against athletes. |
| UGA 'fraternity' ready for the Masters | |
| On Keith Mitchell's golf bag, just below his name, is a big black 'G' outlined in red that symbolizes the pride the former Bulldog still has for the University of Georgia. "It's our own little fraternity in Athens," said Mitchell, who will tee off Thursday morning in his first Masters tournament. "It's just an honor to be a part of because there's been so many great players come out of there and a lot of big shoes to fill." Mitchell, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson are the three former Georgia players set to tee off their first rounds of the Masters on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club. Under coach Chris Haack, Georgia's golf fraternity has continued to grow exponentially with pro players and PGA Tour winners. Ten former Bulldogs have collected 34 wins on the PGA Tour once they graduated from Haack's program, with Watson leading the way with 14. And being just 70 miles or so from Athens, there's always strong support around the tough course for the Bulldogs in the field. |
| The Masters' cellphone ban is a tradition unlike any other: 'Wonderful, isn't it?' | |
 | At any other golf tournament, Tiger Woods doesn't see faces when he's standing on a tee box or walking down a fairway. He sees a wall of cellphones capturing his every move. Over the years, he has learned to accept that. At the Masters, he doesn't have to. Unlike other tournaments of note, the devices are banned at the Masters, the only one of golf's four majors that's held at the same location each year. Attendance figures aren't revealed at tradition-rich Augusta National Golf Course, but it's been said that the tournament might be the largest gathering of people devoid of cellphones. "It's nice, isn't it?" Woods said, smiling broadly. "It requires people to stop looking at their phones for 10 seconds and pay attention to what's around them," said Dylan Watts, a patron from Raleigh, N.C. "And if there's any place you're going to want to do that, it's here. You've got to stop, look up and look around you." |
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