Tuesday, April 16, 2019   
 
Maroon and white pride: MSU honors 17 students with Spirit of State Awards
Seventeen Bulldog students with a fierce passion for Mississippi State were honored last Friday [April 12] with the Spirit of State Award, the university's premier student recognition for exceptional personal contributions to campus life. MSU President Mark E. Keenum congratulated and thanked this year's Spirit of State Award winners for their passion and commitment to serve and make a positive difference in the lives of others. "I greatly appreciate your contributions to this university, this community and to our state. The wonderful education you've received and the values that you have learned at Mississippi State -- hard work, integrity and respect for others -- will help you for the rest of your life." For 14 years, the annual Spirit of State Awards program, organized by the university's Division of Student Affairs, formally honors those who have made a positive impact on peers and the broader campus community through organizational involvement, service to the institution and personal actions promoting school spirit and tradition.
 
South Delta farmers wait for flood waters to recede
The Mississippi State University Extension Service has personnel trained to provide relief in the immediate aftermath of flooding and to conduct damage assessment when the waters eventually subside. "Extension personnel helped coordinate volunteers and food for a week for displaced residents," said Emily Carter, MSU Extension agent in Issaquena and Sharkey counties. "We also had people filling and placing sandbags in the Valley Park area." Damage in Issaquena County was not limited to farms. Highway 1 is one of 20 roads closed there. Sixty-seven residents were displaced, according to the county's emergency management agency, with water invading homes and enveloping vehicles and farm equipment. Phillip Vandevere, MSU Extension coordinator in Yazoo County, said there were four waterlogged dwellings at peak flooding. Fifty-seven other homes were altered, meaning the water was blocking the roads to the houses.
 
Dickie Scruggs was on plane before fatal crash in Mississippi
Three people died Saturday night after their plane crashed near Oxford. Former trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs had been on the plane hours before crash, flying from a conference in Colorado to Mississippi. Scruggs said he and his family got off the plane in Oxford. Tommy Nix and wife, Merline Nix, of Belmont, Mississippi, and co-pilot Jarrod Holloway of Booneville, Mississippi, continued on to Alabama's Marion County-Rankin Fite Airport, officials say. They didn't make it. The plane crashed in a wooded area between New Albany and Blue Springs, according to a federal official. Scruggs knew the pilot, Tommy Nix, well. He said they flew together nearly every week. Scruggs estimated he's been on 50 to 100 flights with Nix -- possibly more.
 
'Donald loves this property:' 400-acre Coast casino site once backed by Trump up for sale
The 400-acre site between the interstate and the Bay of St. Louis caught the eye of Donald Trump and several other developers, but unable to find a partner or get financing to build a casino, the owner has put the property up for sale. Diamondhead Casino Corp. has the largest and some say the best casino site in South Mississippi. The land sits along 2 miles of shoreline on the bay and has 2 miles of frontage along Interstate 10, east of the Diamondhead exit. It would be the only Coast casino directly on I-10 and would be 30 minutes closer to Louisiana than the Biloxi casinos. A portion of the land won site approval from the Mississippi Gaming Commission in 2014. "The only reason we put it up for sale is we owe people money and we have to pay them," said Deborah Vitale, Diamondhead president.
 
JSU Broadcasters Receive AP Awards
Jackson State University television and radio broadcasters received several awards during the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters & Media Editors Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 6, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. Robert Jeuitt, interim general manager of JSU TV, won first place in the "Sportscast or Sports Program" category. Eric Walker, JSU TV senior producer and anchor, took second place in the "Achievement" category for his coverage of the election controversies surrounding Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith last year. He also received second place in the "Short Feature Story" category for "Medgar Evers 55 Years Later." Former WJSU News Director Dwain Doty won second place in the long feature story category for "Victims of Crime Tree Lighting Ceremony," which covered the City of Jackson's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony that honors crime victims in Mississippi, using ornaments decorated with photos of victims.
 
U. of Alabama team look at untreated sewage issue
How much untreated sewage gets dumped in Alabama's Black Belt? That's the question a team of students and professors at the University of Alabama is trying to determine. In many parts of the Black Belt, homeowners are resorting to "straight pipe" systems to dispose of wastewater and sewage, rather than sewers or septic tanks because of a type of thick, clay soil and widespread poverty across isolated areas. In those instances, untreated wastewater and sewage are simply flushed out of a plain PVC pipe from the house into the woods, or even the backyard, raising concerns about tropical diseases like hookworm and other public health issues. The UA team received a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "People, Prosperity and the Planet," program, a competition for students proposing a yearlong project to address an environmental or public health issue.
 
Auburn breaks ground on culinary science center
The Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center at Auburn University is one step closer after a Friday groundbreaking ceremony. In lieu of a shovel, university trustee Jimmy Rane, whose parents the facility is named after, scooped a large spoonful of dirt as part of the ceremony. He was accompanied by President Steven Leath, trustee Raymond J. Harbert, and June Henton, dean of the College of Human Sciences. "This is an absolute banner day for those of us in the college, and it has been a long time coming," Henton said, adding that Nutrition, Dietetics and Hospitality Management department head Martin O'Neill and Hotel at Auburn University managing director Hans van der Reijden began benchmarking programs in the U.S. and internationally more than a decade ago. The $95.4 million project is projected to be complete in 2021.
 
Notre Dame Cathedral fire: U. of Tenneessee French professors, diocese, local teachers react
Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the world's most iconic churches, caught fire Monday. University of Tennessee French professor Mary McAlpin was in shock Monday afternoon in Knoxville. "It's unbelievable," she said. "It's just such an iconic landmark, it's the center of Paris. It's literally the point from which they measure everything else in Paris." A group of UT students will visit France in late May with UT distinguished lecturer Florence Abad-Turner. Notre Dame is one of the major stops for the students. "They won't see it. That's it," she said. "It's burned to the ground." Abad-Turner was planning to go to Mass while there to go beyond the tourist experience. "Many civilizations lose very, very important places of architectural significance, places of worship, if you think about Pompeii or the hanging gardens of Babylon," she said. "I feel like we have lost some of our history. It's gone."
 
Notre Dame fire cancels U. of Kentucky chorale performance
As millions of people watched Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral go up in flames Monday, Jefferson Johnson was grieving and planning. As conductor of the University of Kentucky Chorale, Johnson and 37 students were scheduled to perform a program of sacred music at Notre Dame on May 10, a date he called "the dream of every choir." To be accepted, Johnson had to turn in chorale recordings and his resume. "It's just devastating," Johnson said as he watched CNN recordings of flames devouring the 12th-century cathedral. Johnson has conducted at Notre Dame twice before with different choirs. "It's absolutely amazing," he said. "It's one of the most awe-inspiring performance venues I've ever been in." The week-long trip will happen anyway. The Chorale -- the most select choir at UK, made up mostly of junior and senior music majors -- will also sing at the American Cemetery in Normandy on May 8th for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
 
Florida's governor, college leaders tout free speech on campuses
A campaign about free speech on Florida college campuses -- a hot-button issue across the nation -- is being backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and public university presidents, who signed a resolution vowing to welcome all types of debate unless they promote "true threats or defamation." At the request of the governor, all 12 university presidents signed the resolution late last week. It says institutions will not "stifle the dissemination of any idea," even when individuals find that speech to be "abhorrent." "It permits the freest expression of views before students, trusting to their good sense in passing judgment on those views. Only in this way can we best serve American democracy," said John Thrasher, president of Florida State University, where DeSantis appeared Monday. The resolution is similar to a policy passed by the University of Chicago. And while DeSantis and other supporters say they want to foster free speech, the governor said he does not believe Florida campuses have a problem with speech restrictions.
 
Ghana researcher to speak at International Agriculture Day at UGA
Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, founder and director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement at the University of Ghana, will give the keynote address for the International Agriculture Day celebration on Wednesday. Hosted by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Office of Global Programs, the event and reception are free and open to the public. The event will be held 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Museum of Art. In addition to Danquah's talk, the International Agriculture Day program will include a short presentation by an International Agriculture Certificate student about her internship experience at the UGA campus in Costa Rica, scholarship presentations, recognition of graduating International Agriculture Certificate students and the opportunity to select the winners of the Agriculture Abroad Photo Contest.
 
U. of Kentucky classroom building to have extra police presence after social media threat
A social media threat involving White Hall Classroom Building at University of Kentucky was expected to lead to an extra police police presence on campus Tuesday. UK Police determined the threat is not credible and it has identified the individual responsible, the university said in a release. It's not clear if the individual, who is not a student, is in police custody. Events and classes at White Hall will go on as scheduled Tuesday with extra officers in the classroom building, according to the university. The threat does not pose a safety concern but the investigation is ongoing, UK Police said. White Hall is also the building former UK student Haily Loraine Duvall threatened to bomb in November. Duvall was arrested by UK Police, who worked with the FBI on the case.
 
Rape reported in U. of Arkansas parking lot
Authorities at the University of Arkansas received a call Tuesday that a person was raped by an acquaintance in a campus parking lot, according to reports. An entry in UA police's daily call log shows a person reported that they were raped in an unknown parking lot on campus on April 6. The log does not indicate when or on what part of campus the assault took place, though a Title IX review is pending. The rape was reported to a campus security authority and was logged for statistical purposes with university police, though the victim had not filed a formal report with university police as of early Monday afternoon, Capt. Gary Crain, spokesman for the department, said.
 
Current, former Texas A&M students find common ground on Ring Day
From one veteran to another and from one Aggie to another, Col. Harold "Soupy" Reich presented Anyssa Powell, class of 2019, with her Aggie Ring on Friday afternoon. "It means a lot," Reich said about the presentation. "It means almost like you leave a legacy, that you've done something that you enjoy doing and that it kind of brings two Aggies together. Just makes you feel good." Powell's ring was not only presented by Reich but also sponsored by the World War II veteran, who turns 97 on April 26. Reich, a member of the Class of 1945 who drove from San Antonio for the occasion, called it a privilege and a pleasure to present the Air Force veteran with her Aggie Ring. "I asked the ring office to choose a girl from the Corps of Cadets, because the Corps of Cadets, I feel, is responsible for me being successful in the service," he said about Powell's selection. "Had I not had the training in military science at A&M, I wouldn't have been promoted the way that I was."
 
'Be nice to other people and share food': 'Queer Eye' star speaks at U. of Missouri
When Antoni Porowski, co-star of the hit Netflix show "Queer Eye," hit the stage of the University of Missouri's Jesse Auditorium on Thursday evening, the sold-out room erupted in cheers. After the crowd quickly corrected his pronunciation of "Mizzou" (Porowski initially referred to the school as "Mee-zou"), he spoke about acceptance and cooking. Although the moderated discussion began at 7 p.m., a line had already snaked through Jesse Hall by 5:30. MU sophomore Josh Borgschulte said he had been looking forward to Porowski's appearance for weeks. "By bringing in a queer speaker during Pride Month, Mizzou is acknowledging the existence of the queer community on campus and celebrating the integration of the LGBTQ community into the mainstream," Borgschulte said. During the hourlong event, Porowski outlined his journey in the kitchen and how he learned to accept his own sexual orientation thanks to mentors. He closed by preparing a carrot salad recipe from his own cookbook, "Antoni in the Kitchen."
 
Federal granting agencies and lawmakers step up scrutiny of foreign research collaborations
Tension between national security and science -- by its nature open and international -- is nothing new. But over the past year and a half, national security agencies, federal granting agencies, the White House and members of Congress have all signaled their increasing concern about international students or scholars who might seek to exploit the openness of the U.S. academic environment for their own -- or their nations' -- gain. And they're signaling that when it comes to the balance between scientific openness and national security -- and, to add a third dimension, economic competitiveness -- they're not happy with where that balance is being struck, especially when it comes to China. Moreover, it's not just international collaborations in research funded by the Defense and Energy Departments with their obvious national security implications that have come under increased scrutiny over the past 18 months. Foreign collaborations in the biomedical sciences have, too.
 
Report recommends Congress cap borrowing by parents of college students
While total federal student loan borrowing has actually been declining for several years amid dwindling enrollments, lending through a federal program for parent borrowers has been on the rise. The Parent PLUS loan program frequently issues debt to parents with little chance of successful repayment, a report released today finds, and functions as a "no-strings-attached" revenue source for many colleges. Concerns about unmanageable loan amounts for parent borrowers have prompted recent legislative solutions. Republicans in Congress have called for new standard lending caps for the parent loan program, which allows borrowing up to the cost of attendance. Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have proposed making the loans eligible for income-driven repayment options. But the report from the Urban Institute and New America argues that proposals from both parties have missed the mark.


SPORTS
 
Diamond Dawgs at home for another
There's nothing quite like home. Just ask the Mississippi State baseball team. The Diamond Dawgs will look to close out their five-game home stand undefeated with a 6:30 p.m. game Tuesday against Texas Southern before taking on Arkansas in a three-game series in Fayetteville starting Thursday. MSU comes into the contest as winners of seven of its last eight, including a 4-0 stretch last week with a win over South Alabama and a three-game sweep over Alabama during Super Bulldog Weekend. At 31-6, MSU has tied the 1989 squad as the fastest team to 30 wins in a season in program history. The Diamond Dawgs are also the only Division I program to enter the 10th week of the regular season with 30 or more wins. "It was a good first half (of the season)," sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen said. "But nobody is going remember the first half if you don't have a good second half."
 
Mississippi State puts perfect midweek record on the line
No. 3 Mississippi State will try to stay perfect in midweek play as the Bulldogs host Texas Southern tonight at 6:30. MSU (31-6) is 12-0 in midweek games this season and have not lost a regular season midweek game since losing to Memphis at AutoZone Park on April 18, 2018. The Diamond Dogs played Texas Southern for the first time last season and claimed an 11-6 victory at Dudy Noble Field. Cole Gordon picked up the win on the mound. Neither team has announced its pitching plans for tonight. The Bobcats (11-25) were swept at Lipscomb over the weekend and have dropped six straight.
 
How Mississippi State baseball has climbed to top of SEC Standings
Mississippi State had a super Super Bulldog Weekend. The No. 2 Diamond Dawgs were the first Division I team in the country to reach 30 overall wins, and they picked up their first SEC series sweep of the season as well. As a result, Mississippi State is atop the SEC West standings and is tied for first in the conference with a 10-5 record. Here's how it happened.
 
Before record-setting Jake Mangum, there was Jeffrey Rea, another relentless hitter
Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Jake Mangum, a line drive waiting to happen, recently passed Jeffrey Rea to become Mississippi State's all-time hits leader. Soon, he will become the SEC's all-time hits leader passing LSU's Eddy Furniss. With two more hits Sunday in State's sweep of Alabama, Mangum moved to a whopping 344 for his career, eight short of Furniss's SEC record 352. The Bulldogs play Texas Southern Tuesday night before a three-game series against Arkansas at Fayetteville Thursday through Saturday. Mangum could conceivably break Furniss's record at Arkansas. If not, the Bulldogs play Ole Miss next Tuesday night (April 23, 6 p.m.) in Mangum's hometown of Pearl. Now wouldn't that be something? With Mangum's history against the Rebels -- he really has been the Rebel killer -- that seems a natural.
 
Mississippi State's Garrett Johnson within striking distance in Old Waverly tourney
Garrett Johnson thought he had drilled the putt. Standing on the 18th green Monday at Old Waverly Golf Club, Johnson, a junior at Mississippi State, watched as his putt curved toward the hole. Johnson made a face as the ball missed its mark. No matter. He tapped it in, completing two rounds of play in the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship just two strokes behind Marcus Byrd of Middle Tennessee State. Johnson, who tied for fifth place in the Old Waverly tournament last year and began this year on fire with a win in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Arizona, shot 3-under 69 twice on Monday to finish the day at 6 under par. He is tied with four others for third place and is the highest-placed Bulldog in the field entering Tuesday's final round. "I played solid all day," Johnson said. "I was very comfortable on our own golf course. We play out here a lot. We prepared really well. I was just trying to hit the middle of the green, two-putt every hole and the birdies are going to fall in where they are."
 
Mississippi State has contenders at Old Waverly Collegiate Championship
Mississippi State had the team leaders at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship within reach during Monday afternoon's second round. State, hosting the tournament at Old Waverly Golf Club for the seventh-straight year, seemed to be a serious contender to win its third championship in this event and first since 2014. Then it slipped away. With all their players on the back-nine, the Bulldogs were only three shots off the lead nearing the completion of round two. Roughly an hour later, MSU head coach Dusty Smith looked at the leaderboard and saw that his team was somehow 14 shots off the pace. "I thought we got off to a pretty good start, kind of hung in their in that first round," Smith said. "Second round, we had it going. We had four guys in it the entire day. Just kind of stumbled a bit coming in. We didn't finish as strong as I'd like."
 
Bulldogs Hand Out Team Awards at Annual Banquet
Mississippi State's women's basketball celebrated its third consecutive 30-win season on Monday night with the team's annual year-end awards banquet. Teaira McCowan closed her historic career with the Miss Offense, Miss Defense and Most Outstanding Player awards. The senior center was the third overall pick in this year's WNBA Draft and led the team in both scoring and rebounding. A second-round pick of the Seattle Storm, Anriel Howard was named the Newcomer of the Year and received the Miss Hustle award. Howard adjusted to Schaefer's system quickly and averaged 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in conference play. She collected a dozen double-doubles on the year and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors from the Associated Press. Jordan Danberry and Jazzmun Holmes were co-winners of the Most Improved award.
 
MSU Women's Tennis Upsets No. 28 LSU 4-3 In Senior Day Shootout
In the midst of a few minor rain delays early on, Mississippi State's women's tennis squad (13-12, 4-9 SEC) rallied from 3-0 down to upset 28th-ranked LSU (15-10, 5-8) 4-3 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre Sunday. Seniors Anastasia Rentouli and Janina Braun were catalysts in the triumph. "It was an epic senior day. We needed that win," said head coach Daryl Greenan. "The girls have been fighting so hard all year. They show up all year, whether they won or lost the last one." The Tigers opened the match by dominating doubles, clinching matches on courts two and three to open the day. But the Bulldogs did not go away, earning four of six first sets off the bat and would ride ultimately claim victory in all four of those contests for the win. MSU open the 2019 SEC Championship Wednesday in College Station, Texas.
 
AK Ward's Hat Trick Leads Bulldogs Past Southern Miss
James Armstrong got his first taste of soccer in Starkville on Sunday afternoon as Mississippi State defeated Southern Miss, 4-3, in a spring exhibition as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. AK Ward opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game. After Zakirah McGillivary's shot was blocked in the box, the clearance attempt came to rest on Ward's foot at the edge of the six-yard box where she fired it home for a 1-0 lead. State will close the spring schedule on Thursday, April 18 with a final exhibition match against Mississippi College at 5 p.m.
 
Top candidates emerge as Southern Miss works toward hiring a basketball coach
With the search to find a new Southern Miss basketball coach nearing the interview phase, a few names have come to the fore. The ideal situation for USM would be to have someone in place prior to Good Friday, but there's always the potential for the search to drag out a bit longer as new athletic director Jeremy McClain works to find the right man. Doc Sadler stepped down as head coach on April 11, making it difficult for USM to have a new head coach hired prior to Wednesday's start to the signing period. Several names have come into focus since Sunday afternoon as McClain and company work to narrow the list.
 
Connor Noland will reset as Razorbacks' midweek starter
Freshman right-hander Connor Noland will be out of the University of Arkansas baseball team's weekend starting rotation for the first time this season. Instead of going against No. 2 Mississippi State in the second game this weekend, Noland will start against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff tonight when the Golden Lions (6-27) play the No. 10 Razorbacks (26-10) at Baum-Walker Stadium. Noland had been the second weekend starter in his nine previous starting assignments. Noland (0-2, 5.94 ERA) didn't record an out in facing five batters in Vanderbilt's 12-2 victory over Arkansas on Saturday at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn. He allowed 5 runs, 4 hits and 1 walk. One of the hits was a shallow fly by J.J. Bleday that shortstop Casey Martin couldn't hang onto when left fielder Christian Franklin ran into him. "We want to get Connor some time on the mound," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. "He needs to pitch."
 
Vanderbilt baseball fans love Tim Corbin for saying 'I should be fired'
Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said, "I should be fired," and fans praised him for it. Unique circumstances lead to such a statement and reaction. Winning and accountability are at the heart of it, and Corbin apparently has built enough equity in both areas to please his program's fan base. "In Corbs we trust," Vanderbilt fan Susan Starcher tweeted in response to Corbin's comment Sunday. Notably, she did not tweet about the gut-wrenching loss that led the coach to say such a thing, and that was the case for many Vanderbilt fans. "Love his passion for his team and his school!!!," Marsha Mayhugh posted on Facebook about Corbin's comment. Corbin's comment came after No. 7 Vanderbilt squandered a series sweep over No. 12 Arkansas on Sunday. The Commodores led 11-9 through eight innings, but they allowed five runs in the top of the ninth en route to a 14-12 loss. Corbin was furious in the dugout after the game, but he composed himself for a brief interview session on the field a few minutes later.
 
Trump will give Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods after dramatic win
President Donald Trump announced in a tweet that he will present professional golfer --- and his sometimes-golfing partner -- Tiger Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom one day after he won his fifth Masters championship. Trump said he would put the medal around Woods' neck not merely for his career on the course, but for his "incredible Success & Comeback in Sports (Golf) and, more importantly, LIFE." Woods has golfed with Trump since he took office, including a Feb. 2 round at the president's Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., that also included golf legend Jack Nicklaus. Woods is now just three major tournament wins behind Nicklaus' record 18. Woods will not be the first sports celebrity in recent years to get the honor. Then-President Barack Obama, for instance, gave the award to NBA legend Michael Jordan.
 
A Small Town Bet on Sports Gambling. It's Still Waiting.
As he drove through town in his black Crown Victoria, Chuck Cariker, the mayor of Tunica, pointed out the gifts that he said gambling had bestowed upon his town. The town hall. The recreation center. The post office. The police station. The roads. Even the car. When Mr. Cariker says "gambling put us on the map," it is only modest overstatement. But in recent years, the Tunica area's aging casinos have struggled to fend off competition from local rivals and failed to attract young people. Casinos have closed. Residents have moved away. Then last year, town leaders got new hope when Mississippi became one of the first states to allow sports betting after the Supreme Court struck down a law that had effectively banned it in most states. The vast majority of states have shied away from permitting such gambling and tapping into the nation's illegal sports gambling market, estimated to be worth $150 billion. But in places like Tunica, where people began legally betting on sports in August, the results, so far, have been underwhelming.



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