Friday, April 12, 2019   
 
Starkville, Mississippi State getting ready for Super Bulldog Weekend
As Starkville gears up for the 34th annual Super Bulldog Weekend, weather forecasters are keeping alert for the threat of severe weather Saturday and Sunday. Super Bulldog Weekend, held every spring, draws tens of thousands of people to Starkville as Mississippi State University hosts its yearly spring football game, along with an array of other athletic events, and the Starkville Area Arts Council hosts the Cotton District Arts Festival. SAAC Director John Bateman said the Cotton District Arts Festival drew a record number of applicants this year and will feature 150 artisans and about 40 musicians. Bateman said SAAC will monitor the weather as the week progresses. Executive Senior Associate Senior Athletic Director for External Relations Leah Beasley said the university also is preparing for possible adjustments. Any schedule adjustments for Super Bulldog Weekend will be posted on social media and at hailstate.com/sbw.
 
Spring homecoming brings plenty of Mississippi State fans to town
Homeward bound. For friends, family and alumni, Super Bulldog Weekend has arrived. A spring homecoming of sorts, the festivities include the Maroon and White Spring Football Game Saturday at 1 p.m., a home baseball series against Alabama, a pig cooking, and events in tennis, soccer and volleyball. "A lot of our people put this on their calendar and mark this date as a time when they want to come back to Starkville," Mississippi State Athletic Director John Cohen said. "In the past we've just had tremendous amounts of Bulldog fans and, again, it's just a way to put a stamp on the spring as an athletic department." Also of note is the annual pig-cooking contest that will commence at 8 a.m. Friday. "It's a little something for everybody," Cohen said. "Mississippi State is family and it's just another great opportunity for us to get our family back together."
 
Mississippi State Digitizes Endangered Citizens Council Radio Tapes
Stephanie Rolph was a graduate student at Mississippi State University in the mid-2000s when she found a collection of reel-to-reel audio recordings of the Citizens Forum, a broadcast once helmed by the segregationist Citizens Council. On those tapes, the state's old leaders often revel in their opposition to civil rights and support for segregation, revealing much about Mississippi's political culture in the tumultuous years of the 1950s and 1960s. Digital recordings of those tapes, MSU libraries announced Thursday, are now available online. "This was our first attempt to digitize anything from this collection, so there was nothing online before now," Stephen Cunetto, associate dean of MSU Libraries, told the Jackson Free Press on Wednesday.
 
Golden Triangle reps fill leadership roles in black caucus
Fifty years ago, the entire Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus could have met in an elevator and still have room for more. When Robert Clark of Holmes County was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in November 1967, he became the first black member of the Mississippi Legislature since Reconstruction. For the next 10 years, Clark was the only black person in the 174-member Legislature. When the current session of the Legislature convened in January, 51 black legislators represented communities throughout the state. At the end of the session, the Legislative Black Caucus elected its new leaders and that leadership will have a distinct Golden Triangle flair. Sen. Angela Turner-Ford of West Point is the new chairman while Rep. Kabir Karriem of Columbus is the vice chair and Rep. Cheikh Taylor of Starkville is sergeant-at-arms. All three legislators said the history of the LBC is a reminder of the important work they do as a group.
 
Gov. Phil Bryant farewell at Mississippi Economic Council event
The Mississippi Economic Council, the state's chamber of commerce, held its annual luncheon Thursday celebrating 70 years as an organization. The event honored high-achieving high school students and featured live music and a speech by Gov. Phil Bryant. Bryant, who noted this will be his last speech at the luncheon as governor, said he's glad to be wrapping up his second term as governor. Bryant joked he's looking forward to being "homeless and unemployed" come January.
 
Bill Waller tells teachers he's 'not happy' about raise amount, vows to push for SE average
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Waller Jr. visited with Pine Belt teachers for about two hours Wednesday afternoon to hear their concerns and take questions about how he would serve them as governor. There are more than 31,000 full-time teachers in Mississippi. In recent weeks, many of them have taken to social media to express their displeasure with a recent $1,500 pay raise approved by the state Legislature last month and to discuss the possibility of a strike. In a town hall inside the Movie Star Restaurant in Hattiesburg, Waller, former chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, told a crowded room of educators he was displeased with the raise amount and instead supported raising teacher pay to the Southeastern average. Waller is running for governor as a Republican. He faces Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and state Rep. Robert Foster, R-Hernando, in the primary.
 
New director wants to move health center to hospital
The University of Mississippi health center has recently made a change in administration, hiring Alex Langhart as the director of health services to replace Dr. Travis Yates after the latter stepped down from the position. After holding the position since July 2013, Yates's desire to return to medical care prompted his decision. Yates will continue to see patients at the center, but he will no longer have administrative responsibilities. Following the announcement of Yates's decision, Langhart, an alumnus of the university, was selected to fill the position. Langhart graduated in 2015 with a master's degree in health services administration. Although this is the first time in six years that the health center will not be run by a practicing doctor, this type of administration is not uncommon. According to Langhart, many other universities follow this model. Because of limited space, Langhart hopes to move the health center to the South Oxford Center, the previous location of the Baptist Memorial Hospital on South Lamar Boulevard.
 
U. of Alabama System trustees consider tuition hikes
The University of Alabama System board of trustees is set to consider tuition increases of 1 to 3 percent for medical, dentistry and optometry students, along with a plan to issue bonds that would fund capital projects and refinance existing debt. Some of those capital projects include renovations at Bryant-Denny Stadium and building a new Tutwiler residence hall. The board's finance and physical properties committees approved the proposals on Thursday. The full board meets Friday in Huntsville. For medical students in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's medical school and UA's College of Community Health Sciences, annual tuition would increase 2 percent to $28,978 for Alabama residents and remain at $62,714 for non-residents. Last year, the board approved similar tuition rate adjustments. The board typically takes up tuition for it medical, dentistry and optometry students during its April meeting. The trustees consider rate adjustments for its other students in June.
 
Auburn explores 'Path to the Plains' transfer program
A new "Path to the Plains" program will make it easier for Southern Union State Community College students to transfer to Auburn University starting this fall. "This is a program so that they start at Southern Union in one of three...programs," Provost Bill Hardgrave told Auburn's board of trustees during a Thursday work session. "They're Southern Union students, but they're also Auburn students. "So actually during those first two years, some of those courses will be on the Auburn campus through this program," he added. "The majority will be at Southern Union, but some of them will be here – the idea being that we give them that opportunity, a smooth, seamless pathway into Auburn University." The three pilot programs of study for Path to the Plains are biosystems engineering through the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, geospatial and environmental informatics through the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and public relations through the College of Liberal Arts.
 
U. of Arkansas bans 'contract cheating'
Students who have others do their course work for them will be suspended for a semester as part of a policy change at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The same penalty applies to students found to be providing work to others, as UA responds to what the director of the school's academic integrity office described as a major concern in higher education. "It's a monster, just because you have the private industry essentially being willing to do online classes for people, write papers in two to three days or less than 24 hours," Chris Bryson, executive director of UA's Academic Initiatives and Integrity Office, told faculty members last month. The policy change comes with the formal addition of a new violation: "Buying, selling, obtaining or providing academic work to be used for the purpose of contract cheating, or participating in such behavior."
 
Georgia colleges embrace students with intellectual disabilities
Alexandria "Alex" Goodman takes a deep breath and pauses before trying on a billowy black graduation robe with a gold insignia. Goodman's face flushes pink. Her smile fades, and then returns as she places a cap with a gold tassel on top of her long, wavy blond hair, the weight of the moment sinking in. "I'm excited and I am nervous," said an emotional Goodman. "Is that OK?" Goodman, who has Down syndrome, is on the cusp of a major milestone. The 25-year-old is one of seven seniors in the first graduating class later this month at Georgia Tech for students with intellectual disabilities. The program at Georgia Tech, one of the country's elite universities, represents perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to "mainstream" such young adults after a long history of segregating, isolating and giving up on them. There are now 140 students with intellectual disabilities enrolled at nine Georgia colleges and universities, including the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University.
 
U. of Kentucky researcher under investigation after article retraction
A high-level University of Kentucky researcher is under investigation by UK's Office of Research Integrity, officials confirmed. Xianglin Shi, the William A. Marquard Chair in Cancer Research in the department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology and the director of the UK Center for Research on Environmental Disease, is still employed at UK, said spokesman Jay Blanton. The investigation began in June 2018. Shi was the subject of an October story in the publication Retraction Watch, which noted that Shi had retracted three papers from the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The article cited "image duplication" in papers published between 2014 and 2017. Shi, who makes $307,197 a year, came to UK from West Virginia University, where he was a researcher and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry.
 
Texas A&M System regents approve list of projects
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved a long list of multi-million-dollar construction projects during its meeting Thursday. One of those projects is the Agriculture & Workforce Education Complex on the system's RELLIS Campus in Bryan. The facility, which has a total project budget of $15 million, will house construction trades training and Texas A&M's agricultural education program. Construction is expected to start in May, with substantial completion scheduled for June 2020. Projects approved for the flagship campus include the renovation of the Gibb Gilchrist Building and construction for the '72 Wing Chemistry Ground Floor Project. As part of the '72 Wing Chemistry Ground Floor Project, which has a total budget of $6.4 million, renovated laboratories and associated support facilities will be provided for biological chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry research projects, as well as labs for analytical and mass spectrometry instrumentation
 
Translational Precision Medicine Complex: Choi names project manager for Missouri research center
The project leader for the Translational Precision Medicine Complex, the University of Missouri's big research center planned for Columbia, will be James Abbey, who directed global partnerships for the Texas A&M University system before taking a job with a technology firm focused on biological products. UM System President Mun Choi named Abbey to lead the project during Thursday's meeting of the Board of Curators at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Abbey will begin his new position on Monday. He most recently was a senior director of iBio Inc. in Bryan, Texas. The company is a provider of plant-based biotechnology for developing and manufacturing biological products, according to a company news release. He has a master's degree from the University of Wales and a doctorate in nanotechnology from Swansea University, also in Wales. The $228 million research complex is intended allow researchers in several fields to work on medical treatments targeted to individual patients, focusing on cancers and cardiovascular disease.
 
U. of Missouri's curators announce increase in enrollment, new nursing school
Five thousand one hundred and twenty-four incoming freshmen have made deposits to the University of Missouri -- up 20.9 percent from the same time last year -- UM System President Mun Choi told the UM System Board of Curators on Thursday. "Mizzou is back," Choi said. Freshman applications are also up, about 5 percent, from 18,830 in April 2018 to 19,761 as of Monday. Growth has slowed since official rates were last announced at a February Board of Curators meeting. Then, Choi said applications were up 5.7 percent and deposits were up 37 percent from February 2018. Still, growing enrollment could require more campus housing, and the curators approved Thursday a measure recommended by the Finance Committee last week to allow for leased property to be used as additional MU housing if needed.
 
Survey: 2-year, 4-year college presidents disagree about community college bachelor's degrees
Community college and university presidents are sharply divided over whether two-year institutions should offer bachelor's degrees, a new Inside Higher Ed survey finds. Two-year college presidents want to offer more bachelor's degrees because they believe such programs would help close racial, ethnic and economic gaps in degree attainment. But four-year college presidents are skeptical of the idea and have fought against proposals that would increase bachelor's degree availability at community colleges. They are concerned about the quality of a bachelor's degree from a community college and see the push as evidence of mission creep. This is among the key findings of Inside Higher Ed's 2019 Survey of Community College Presidents.
 
Study: Repeat rapists committing vast majority of sexual crimes
Researchers have, many times over, confirmed a sobering fact: fraternity members tend to commit rape much more frequently than their non-Greek-life peers. They've also documented that serial offenders account for many campus sexual assaults. But a new study quantifies in a staggering way the prevalence with which men in fraternities and on sports teams engage in sex crimes on campuses -- and how repeat rapists are to blame for a vast majority of these incidents. The report suggests that the vast majority of assaults involving alcohol are committed by serial perpetrators. Experts on campus sexual violence said that these new data support the idea that administrators should kick out students they've found responsible for rape. And, they said, it demonstrates need for more targeted education -- especially among the men and groups who are committing the most sexual assaults.
 
Georgetown students vote on reparations for the descendants of slaves
Georgetown University student activists are pushing to create a reparations fund for the descendants of slaves, one that would use a student fee to send a message that historical wrongs will not be forgotten -- and to prod administrators to move more quickly on what students call a fundamental moral question. "We're setting the example for others to step up -- not just our university, but universities across the country, to save history," said Shepard Thomas, a junior from Louisiana who is a direct descendant of enslaved people, the sale of whom helped save Georgetown from bankruptcy. The effort to create a fund -- and a campus vote on the proposal -- emerge as matters of race are being fiercely debated nationally, with some Democratic presidential hopefuls embracing reparations as a way of righting past injustices.
 
Medicaid expansion will be big issue in fall elections
Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: With state Elections coming up, one of the hottest issues is expansion of Medicaid. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act nine years ago, it included the expansion of Medicaid to cover families and individuals making 138 percent of the poverty level. Congress agreed to pay states for 100 percent of the expansion. Two-thirds of the states quickly jumped on the opportunity. Seventeen states, all conservative, most in the south, declined the expansion after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the feds couldn't force states to expand the program. Mississippi did not expand. Our conservative leadership cited two main reasons: First, it was part of Obamacare. Second, they believed the feds would end up forcing the states to foot more of the bill, which would bust the state budget. Both of these arguments were somewhat questionable.


SPORTS
 
State seeking super weekend against Alabama
Mississippi State's annual spring homecoming Super Bulldog Weekend gets underway today, starting with MSU's sixth-ranked baseball team taking on Alabama at 6 p.m. Droves of Bulldog fans will make their annual pilgrimage to campus, and coach Chris Lemonis is looking forward experiencing the festivities for the first time. "It should be exciting," Lemonis said. "I've heard great things about it and hopefully we'll get great weather. We've got a good opponent coming and I'd like to see us pack the house." Last year's Super Bulldog Saturday doubleheader against Arkansas drew 10,147, and MSU is hoping for an even bigger turnout this time around. Saturday and Sunday's games are both set for 3 p.m. starts with Sunday's finale televised on the SEC Network.
 
Diamond Dawgs host Alabama in SEC weekend series
Another week, another Southeastern Conference matchup for the Mississippi State baseball team. MSU will continue its five-game home stand this weekend with a three-game set against Alabama as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. The opening game is tonight at 6. "It should be exciting," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "I've heard great things about it. Hopefully we get great weather. We've got a good opponent coming and I'd like to see us pack the house." On the pitching front, things remain uncertain. Lemonis said freshman JT Ginn is continuing to be monitored after he was pulled from a start last Saturday against Tennessee with discomfort. "We're not 100 percent positive," Lemonis said of Ginn's status. "But it's not a major thing." Redshirt junior Ethan Small will pitch Friday's series opener and senior Peyton Plumlee will get the ball Saturday. Sunday's starter has yet to be named.
 
Mississippi State baseball gears up for Super Bulldog Weekend against Alabama
For the first time since Nov. 17, 2018, Mississippi State plays football at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday. While MSU fans across the state will flock to Starkville to get their first glimpse of the Bulldogs on the gridiron in 2019, the Maroon and White Game probably isn't the main event. Super Bulldog Weekend has long been about baseball. The No. 6 Diamond Dawgs (28-6, 7-5 SEC) have a three-game series against Alabama (23-11, 4-8 SEC) at Dudy Noble Field. MSU head coach Chris Lemonis has his fingers crossed that the weather – which is supposed to be, in a word, wet – won't affect the pageantry of the weekend at Dudy Noble Field. The "new Dude" could see record crowds this weekend if the weather permits. Mississippi State holds the NCAA record for largest on-campus crowd at a baseball game (15,586), which was set against Ole Miss in 2014. There is potential to pass that mark on Saturday. "I'm hoping it's dry," Lemonis said. "I keep looking up, and as a coach, you're worried about the rain. But (Super Bulldog Weekend) should be exciting. I've heard great things about it. Hopefully we get great weather."
 
Jake Mangum, Ethan Small in the mix for Golden Spikes Award
A pair of Mississippi State players were placed on the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award. Junior pitcher Ethan Small and senior center fielder Jake Mangum were both named to the watch list for the trophy that goes to the top player in college baseball. Small is tied for the Southeastern Conference lead in strikeouts with 79 and has walked only 12 in 48 innings of work. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound left-hander from Lexington, Tennessee is 3-0 with a 2.06 earned run average over eight starts. Mangum tops the conference with a .414 batting average, 65 hits and 17 doubles. The 6-foot-1, 179-pounder from Pearl is also second in the SEC with three triples, 91 total bases and 18 stolen bases. He also had one home run and 31 RBIs.
 
Dawgs ready to go in spring game
The 2019 football season has arrived -- in part. Mississippi State will host the annual Maroon and White Spring Game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. "It's a great opportunity for Mississippi State and our football program to show what a wonderful city Starkville is and what a great college setting, college atmosphere (it is)," MSU football coach Joe Moorhead said. With a team on the mend, Moorhead has said that the game will be live contact but will include situational scenarios and a more simplified playbook -- allowing the players to show their abilities. "We really don't have true three-deep at a lot of positions," Moorhead said in regard to how the teams will be split. "We're looking forward to a great game, a great atmosphere and hoping we can get as many people in there as we can," Moorhead said.
 
Mississippi State's Stephen Guidry gaining confidence this spring
Stephen Guidry's path to Mississippi State had plenty of pitfalls and detours along the way. But after a redshirt year at McNeese State, two seasons at Hinds Community College and three commitments to two other SEC schools, Guidry finally suited up for the Bulldogs last season. "I'm just thankful because I'm really not supposed to be here," Guidry said. "I'm still supposed to be at McNeese if I'd never gotten another chance." The New Roads, Louisiana native bet on himself when he chose to transfer from McNeese State following the 2015 season. Guidry's gamble paid off at Hinds, where his 52 catches for 873 yards and nine touchdowns helped him become the nation's No. 1 junior college wide receiver. Weeks after Mississippi State hired Joe Moorhead as its next coach, the Bulldogs finally gained Guidry's four-star commitment and signature due to their perseverance. "That meant a lot and not only from my point of view," Guidry said. "My parents liked Mississippi State too so that played a big part into it."
 
Mississippi State men's basketball to play in Myrtle Beach Invitational
The Mississippi State men's basketball team has accepted a spot in the Myrtle Beach Invitational at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina. The Bulldogs will play in three games held on Nov. 21-22 and 24th against opponents that have yet to be determined. Baylor, Villanova, Coastal Carolina, Middle Tennessee, Ohio, Tulane and Utah make up the remainder of the tournament field. MSU, Baylor and Villanova all advanced to the NCAA Tournament this past season. The Bulldogs will also take part in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge next year, which will take place on Jan. 25. Those match-ups will be revealed next month.
 
Doc Sadler resigns as USM men's head basketball coach
Southern Miss basketball coach Doc Sadler said he's given it a lot of thought, but decided it's time to pass the torch to someone else. Sadler announced his resignation as head coach Thursday. He and incoming athletic director Jeremy McClain answered questions for the media during a news conference at Reed Green Coliseum. "It's been a tough day," he said. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while. I've come to this decision myself, after talking with Jeremy a few times. If I'm going to ask kids to give everything, then they should get that in return. It's time for me to step back and evaluate what I want to do." Sadler's contract was set to expire March 31, 2020. He said he and McClain talked about him staying two more years, but in the end decided now was the right time for him to leave.
 
Southern Miss faces a quick turnaround to make a hire as Doc Sadler steps down
After a enduring a difficult five-year effort to put Southern Miss basketball back in the hunt in Conference USA, Doc Sadler has decided that it's time to move on. Sadler announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the USM men's basketball coach in order to pursue other career opportunities. He acknowledged that joining Fred Hoiberg's staff at Nebraska is a good possibility. The Arkansas native also said there may be other job opportunities and that taking a year off is a possibility. "It's something that I've been thinking about for a while," Sadler said. "As I told the team today, I think as a coach you ask so much of your players and you ask them to give a lot. Sometimes they may not understand it and as a coach you also understand that if you're not giving more to them, if you're not pushing them every day, you're not doing your job."
 
Will Wade, LSU officials to meet Friday for first time since suspension amid wiretap saga
A resolution to the month-long stalemate between LSU and men's basketball coach Will Wade could finally be near. At least there will be a face-to-face meeting as the two sides will sit down with NCAA officials Friday, a school official confirmed Thursday afternoon. Exactly five weeks after being suspended for declining to speak with his superiors about an FBI wiretap on which he talks of a "strong-ass" offer with a recruiting middleman, Wade will meet with LSU and NCAA officials. News of the meeting, which could start the process to ending the impasse, was first reported by Sports Illustrated. LSU senior associate athletic director Robert Munson confirmed to The Advocate that a meeting was scheduled for Friday. The time of the meeting was not specified. The timing of Friday's meeting is critical because the start of the spring signing period is Wednesday.
 
Millennials talking? Strange things happen at the Masters where cell phones are banned
The penalty for bringing a cell phone into the Masters is a lifetime ban from the event. It is quite possibly the greatest rule in the history of sports, and sports have had some pretty great rules over the years. Helmets in football, for example. No crying in baseball. Some people call it Draconian, or an abuse of power. It's none of that. The cell-phone ban here at the Masters is Augusta National's Southern Gothic gift to society. The craziest thing happens when patrons of the Masters are forced to leave their cell phones in their cars. They actually talk to each other. Conversations happen. Friendships are formed. It's like the opposite of Twitter. "I've had more conversations today probably than I've had all year excluding work," Steve Cembrinski said. Cembrinski is what you would call a Masters junkie. A resident of Cooperstown, N.Y., he drove 15 hours to Augusta for Wednesday's practice, and then turned around and drove home. He was just another patron walking the course and talking to people.



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