| Monday, July 8, 2019 |
| Julie Jordan named MSU's interim VP for research and economic development | |
 | Julie Jordan of Columbus has been named Mississippi State University's interim vice president of research and economic development. The current associate vice president for international programs and executive director of the MSU International Institute is a veteran higher education administrator who previously served for seven years as director of MSU's Research and Curriculum Unit. Jordan, an MSU alumnus, succeeds David R. Shaw, who was recently promoted to MSU's provost and executive vice president. Jordan began leading the International Institute on an interim basis in October 2017 and was named the permanent director in June 2018. At the RCU, the Columbus resident led and managed a staff of 40 professionals, while increasing external funding and expanding the unit's impact. With more than 30 years of professional experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, teacher and trainer, Jordan also previously worked for the university as a project manager for the Mississippi State Community Action Team. |
| Mississippi State students join Continental Tire internship program in Clinton | |
 | Continental Tire has selected Mississippi State University students Sarah Chipley of Vicksburg and James Leggett of Jackson for summer engineering internships in Clinton. Chipley will focus on product industrialization. Leggett will focus on 5S, a lean manufacturing tool that improves workplace efficiency. Chipley graduated from Warren Central High School. She is a junior chemical engineering major. Chipley is a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Famous Maroon Band. Leggett graduated from Jim Hill High School where he finished the International Baccalaureate program in the top of his class. He is a junior chemical engineering major. Leggett is a member of Member of National Society of Black Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. |
| Mississippi State professor co-authors stories of school desegregation | |
| A new book published by a Mississippi State faculty member reflects on a yet untold perspective of the Civil Rights Era in the Magnolia State. MSU Professor James H. "Jim" Adams and co-author Natalie G. Adams, a University of Alabama professor, wrote their look at school desegregation in the state with the intention that it will lead to fresh discussion about Mississippi's public-school system. "We come from a long line of public school teachers who instilled in us an unwavering commitment to public schools. This book is an extension of their dedication," Jim Adams said. "We are grateful for their influence and hope the book is a tribute to each of their legacies." Seven years of archival research and more than 100 oral history interviews led to "Just Trying to Have School: The Struggle for Desegregation in Mississippi," published in 2018 by University Press of Mississippi. The book features oral histories of more than 100 parents, students, community leaders, school board members, principals and superintendents who worked during desegregation of Mississippi's schools. |
| MSU-Meridian's Terry Dale Cruse honored by Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education | |
 | Photo: The Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE) recently recognized Terry Dale Cruse, associate vice president and head of campus at MSU-Meridian with the 2019 Excellence in Education award at its annual awards ceremony in recognition of his contribution to arts education. Pictured with Cruse (center) is MAAE Financial & Membership Director Shannon Frost and guest musician Jerry Jenkins. |
| Initiative makes big push as it enters fourth year in Meridian | |
| As it enters its fourth year in Meridian, the Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child initiative is making a strong push to raise funds and create community awareness about the program. In 2016, Meridian was selected by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the 23rd city to host the program, which seeks to integrate dance, music, theater, and visual arts into the school experience for pre K-8 students in the Meridian Public School District. The collaboration includes MSU-Meridian, community members, local educators, and the Kennedy Center. Jeff Leffery, a professor at MSU-Meridian, is the Any Given Child Initiative liaison. Part of his role includes overseeing the work of the community arts team in terms of fundraising and programs that are available. Leffery said one thing he's learned as the program's liaison is the role arts can play in the community. Because Meridian is a small city, it needs the program because it can motivate students to learn. |
| Lake Little, Starkville alderman's daughter, remembered for her love of flying, people | |
| For the last two years of Elizabeth Lake Little's young life, her thoughts seemed suspended between heaven and earth. The ever-busy, ever-smiling, ever-planning young woman may have been well-grounded in her faith, her plans for the future and her devotion to friends and family, but her heart took flight when she was in the cockpit. Little, 18, died Saturday evening at a Memphis trauma center from injuries she suffered after crashing a single-engine airplane she was flying solo on the grounds of the University of Mississippi golf course. The news of her death rolled like shock waves through the city of Starkville, where she was active in a number of community organizations, including Starkville Academy, where she was a popular student and member of the 2019 graduating class, and First Baptist Church, where she played an active role in a variety of church programs. Later this month, she was scheduled to represent Starkville in the Mississippi Miss Hospitality pageant. In her pageant profile, she noted her love of flying and said she wanted to fly for FedEx. She said she planned to attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall and ultimately open her own speech pathology clinic to help children and the elderly while maintaining her aviation career. |
| Sewer service already available in part of proposed annexation area | |
| It was Tuesday evening at the Starkville Board of Aldermen meeting. Consultant Mike Slaughter was going over the estimated costs of providing city services to the two areas targeted under the city's revised annexation plan, when he noted there would be no costs for sewer infrastructure in Area B of the plan, the largest, most heavily populated of the two areas located east of Mississippi State University. A murmur of protest swept through standing-room-only boardroom. How, they wondered, could the city possibly provide sewer for the hundreds of homeowners who have relied on septic systems for their sewer? Dwight Prisock, who had been sitting quietly in the boardroom, had the answer to that question. "A lot of people who live in the area already have access to sewer. Some of them just don't know it," said Prisock, manager of East Oktibbeha Wastewater Treatment District. "When we formed the district, residents were given the choice to join or stay with their septic systems. A lot of people did and some people didn't." |
| How a tropical system could impact salinity levels and blue-green algae in the Mississippi Sound | |
 | Could a tropical storm or hurricane help improve the salinity levels and clear the algae out of the Mississippi Sound? While no one wishes for a tropical system to impact anyone, a weak one coming from the right direction could be beneficial. According to Dr. Monty Graham from the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi, it is more about the wind direction than mixing of waters. He says a weak tropical system making landfall to our east around Mobile could help improve conditions in the Mississippi Sound. The reason is because that would put South Mississippi on the west, dry side of the tropical system with north winds. North winds help push the fresh water trapped in the Mississippi Sound into the Gulf of Mexico. That would help salinity levels increase. |
| July 4th weekend usually active as cabin owners prepare for Fair | |
 | While there may not be a lot of changes at the Neshoba County Fair, each year seems to have its own uniqueness with plenty of memories to go along. The 130th edition of the Neshoba County Fair is just 23 days away from its July 26 opening day. It runs through the following Friday, Aug. 2 at midnight. "We'll be ready when it opens," said longtime Fair Manager Doug Johnson. "We on are schedule, doing the things we need to do." The tornadoes from April 18 caused damage on the Fairgrounds, most of which has been repaired. The sheep barn/petting zoo was destroyed when a tree fell on it. Johnson said the building has been replaced. Damage to the power lines delayed turning on the electricity this year but Johnson said it was on May 23. Eight cabins are being replaced this year and most of the work is completed. "It is the most we have had since I have been here," Johnson said. "They are mostly finished, just little things are left to do. They will have to be finished by July 12 or they will have to shut down until after the Fair." |
| Neshoba County Fair announces political lineup for 2019 | |
 | The Neshoba County Fair has released their political speaking lineup for the 2019 fair. Politicians will begin on Tuesday, July 30 of the fair, and run through Thursday, August 1. Tuesday will see a host of local officials from individuals running from Constable to Sheriff. On Wednesday things begin to pick up with candidates running for statewide offices. Kicking off the morning are several speakers running for the Central District Public Service Commission. Later in the afternoon, just before lunch, you'll hear from individuals running for Lt. Governor like Jay Hughes, Delbert Hosemann, and Shane Quick. The day then moves on to a round of speeches by those running for Transportation Commissioner. Thursday brings out the big guns kicking off the morning with speeches by candidates for Governor. Democratic candidates will start off the morning at 8:40 with speeches leading into the republicans closer to 10. The top candidates such as Tate Reeves, Jim Hood and Bill Waller are all grouped together with their speeches beginning just after 10 a.m. The day wraps up speeches with those running for Attorney General. |
| Mississippi group looks at the potential of hemp cultivation | |
 | This week, a new group will consider what growing hemp might mean for Mississippi's economy, and you're invited to weigh in on the discussion. Legislators created the Hemp Cultivation Task Force, and the group has its first meeting Monday at the state Capitol. A news release from state Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson says topics will include regulation and cultivation of hemp, the cannabis research program at the University of Mississippi, current issues related to cannabis and law enforcement issues about hemp. Task force members include legislators, employees from universities, the attorney general's and secretary of state's offices, the state health department and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and includes Wes Burger, Mississippi State University. |
| Mississippi pellet mill: Economic boon or environmental threat? | |
 | It's been promoted as an economic victory by Gov. Phil Bryant, and labeled an environmental threat by the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. On Tuesday, a state air quality permit board is scheduled to decide if the largest wood pellet plant in the world can move toward construction in the southern Mississippi town of Lucedale. Proposed by the Maryland-based company Enviva, the $140 million plant would take local timber and grind it into pellets, which would then be shipped to Europe and Japan to be burned for energy. The company plans to build an associated $60 million Pascagoula port terminal. State and local leaders call the facility an economic boon, and have promised millions of dollars in incentives and tax breaks to Enviva. Officials say the projects will employ 120 people and reinvigorate a stagnant logging industry in the southeast corner of the state. "The pellet mill will be one of the greatest things that's happened to George County in my lifetime," George County Supervisor Henry Cochran told the Clarion Ledger. But groups including the Environmental Integrity Project and the NAACP have raised a slew of concerns. |
| Amid brain drain fears, some younger workers make their way | |
 | He rides a bicycle to work every day, even in the rain. "I started a long time ago," said Jesse Watkins, a Tupelo transplant. "I had a goal to be a one car family and make it work." Watkins, 34, commutes from the city's Historic Downtown neighborhood, where he lives with his wife, Mary Ann, and two sons, to Link Centre. He rents space there and works remotely for the technology company WordPress.com. Strolling on a treadmill outfitted as a standing desk, Watkins provides product assistance and troubleshooting. The product of a missionary household, Watkins has lived everywhere from South America to the Midwest. After years based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they met, Jesse and Mary Ann Watkins relocated back to Mississippi in late 2017 to be near Mary Ann's family. Economically and demographically, Mississippi needs Watkins, and more like him. In his early 30s, Watkins has decades left in his working life at a time when U.S. Census estimates show the state losing population over recent years. The issue has become something of a political football with differing ideological interpretations. |
| Historic Sun-n-Sand motel bought by state, will be razed | |
| Two historic downtown landmarks have been purchased by the state Department of Finance and Administration for about $2.3 million. The Sun-n-Sand motor hotel on Lamar Street earned a colorful history as a gathering place for legislators to hash out bills outside the glare of public scrutiny. The other property is the former Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home on West Street. The motel, which has been vacant since 2001, will be razed to make way for more parking for government workers, said Chuck McIntosh, DFA director of communications. The motel is on the state Archives and History's Mississippi Landmark list and on the Mississippi Heritage Trust's "10 Most Endangered Places." "I think it's huge mistake," Lolly Rash, executive director of the Heritage Trust, said in an interview on Wednesday. "I think we need to look at all options before any historic building is demolished, particularly the Sun n Sand, which had such tremendous amount of history for our state." |
| Sun-N-Sand in Jackson to be razed: Remembering its glory days | |
 | Over protests from some historic preservationists, the state plans to demolish the iconic Sun-N-Sand motel in downtown Jackson -- once the home away from home for out-of-town state lawmakers during legislative sessions. The state Department of Finance and Administration purchased the Lamar Street motel property and the nearby former Wright and Ferguson Funeral Home and plans to raze the motel to create parking spaces. Late businessman Dumas Milner opened the motel in 1960, giving it the same name as a hotel he had in Biloxi. The Sun-N-Sand in Jackson has been boarded up since 2001. Here is a look back at the Sun-N-Sand in a column, written by Sid Salter and originally published in the Clarion Ledger in August 2001. |
| Chief Justice Roberts' Supreme Court Long Game Is Feared And Loathed | |
 | What was he thinking? That is the question many are asking on both sides of the political spectrum. Chief Justice John Roberts repeatedly voted with the Supreme Court's conservatives this term, except in one, and only one, 5-to-4 decision. Written by Roberts, the ruling blocked the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, leaving an angry President Trump desperately trying to find a way around it. It also left a lot of speculation about the motives of the chief justice. For some conservatives, Roberts' vote in the census case was another original sin, much like his vote in 2012 to uphold key provisions of Obamacare. The chairman of the American Conservative Union has even called for Roberts' impeachment. Others, like Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at Southwest College of Law Houston, have a different view. "I think Roberts is motivated by some sort of Solomonic dogma, that in any given case of high note," Blackman said, "that the correct decision is one where he splits the proverbial baby." |
| Mississippi, Ole Miss historian David Sansing dies from fall | |
 | Historian David Sansing has passed away in a Memphis hospital one day after suffering a fall at his Oxford home. He was 86. Hottytoddy.com first reported the news after confirming it with Sansing's son, Perry Sansing. Sansing wrote multiple textbooks on Mississippi history and wrote the definitive history on the history of the University of Mississippi where he taught for many years. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of David Sansing," said Noel Wilkin, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. "He was an outstanding university citizen who made substantial contributions to our institution. A memorial service for Sansing is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday at Paris-Yates Chapel on the university campus. |
| USM and Indiana University Partner for School Ground-Breaking in Africa | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi's College Panhellenic Council, which comprises eight on-campus sororities that are members of the National Panhellenic Council, partnered with the Indiana University to organize a trip to Malawi, Africa, to conduct a ground-breaking for a new school there. Malawi is located in southeast Africa and has a population of around 18 million. The country is one of the world's least-developed countries, USM's release says, with roughly 85% of the population living in rural areas. Megan Wilkinson, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life at USM, and four USM students joined IU students to hold the ground-breaking in Kasiya Village in Malawi on May 23, 2019. The students also joined laborers from Malawi to assist with initial construction work on the building for two weeks. The school will house students in grades one through eight. A release from USM states that construction should be finished within another six months. |
| Mississippi Delta Chinese roots grow in American space program | |
| The Mississippi Delta is known for many things -- the Blues and farming, being the most common. But hidden its murky depths are a number of hidden gems, which deserve to be celebrated. Beginning the Sunday, the contributions of the Delta Chinese to the Apollo 11 mission will be celebrated by the Delta State University Archives and the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum. "Re-Entry... Mississippi" will kickoff with a VIP exhibit debut and reception at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Charles W. Capps, Jr. Archives and Museum building followed at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner at the Young Mauldin Cafeteria. Other activities will start at 8:30 a.m. Monday and include speakers, plus a mini space camp for children age 5-17, a Wiley Planetarium themed show, and a presentation from the Hancock County-based Stennis Space Center. The exhibit will run through July 30 and is free to the public during regular business hours. During the height of the civil rights movement, NASA broke barriers by hiring Americans of different racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds, unifying them under a common goal of space exploration. |
| New Tougaloo President: Carmen J. Walters | |
| Carmen J. Walters became the 14th president of Tougaloo College on July 1. Tougaloo College Board of Trustees Chairman Wesley F. Prater named her to the position on March 18, 2019. She is the second female president of Tougaloo after her predecessor, Beverly Wade Hogan, who held the position since 2002. Walters previously served as executive vice president of enrollment management, student success and institutional relations at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston from 2013 to 2019. She also worked at Delgado Community College in New Orleans for 18 years, where she served as assistant vice chancellor of human resources, executive assistant to the chancellor, and assistant to the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs. Walters also previously worked as an instructor for Jefferson Parish Department of Employment and Training in Louisiana and as a high-school teacher in New Orleans. |
| More inmates will soon take college courses in Alcorn County | |
| A new group of inmates in Alcorn County will soon start taking college classes. The courses are offered through Northeast Mississippi Community College and help prepare inmates for the working world. "There's a big jump between being incarcerated and then coming back into civilian society," said Brent Johnson, who coordinates the college's Jail to Jobs program. About 10 inmates at the Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility will enroll in the fall classes. The Jail to Jobs program is offered to a new group of inmates every fall and spring semester. It has been around for about two years and has been offered at no cost to taxpayers thanks to support from the Foundation for the Mid South. College instructors teach the courses, which start in August and finish in December, and the inmates do the same work that is required on the regular college campus. |
| Hinds Community College names new vice president for Raymond Campus, NAHC | |
| Hinds Community College named Dr. Keri Cole as new vice president for the Raymond Campus and the Jackson Campus-Nursing/Allied Health Center. Cole, of Clinton, is a 1998 Hinds alumna and has been employed by the college since 2005, most recently as district dean of Instructional Technology and eLearning. Cole earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Mississippi State University. In 2017, she received her Doctorate of Education in Professional Studies of Higher Education from Delta State University. She replaces Dr. Theresa Hamilton, who is retiring from the position. Cole will also have the title of director of College Parallel Programs, which oversees academic transfer programs throughout the Hinds district. |
| U. of Alabama to offer bike-sharing program | |
 | The University of Alabama is partnering with Gotcha Mobility to bring a bike-share program to campus this fall. Gotcha will provide an on-demand e-bike rental services on campus, which will complement the existing bike rental program through the UA Recreation Center. "Instead of having to go to the Rec Center, the bikes will be at our 500 existing bike racks spread across campus," said Chris D'Esposito, director of UA's transportation services, in a statement released by the university. "Students can just look at the app and see a digital map of how many bikes are available in their area, put in the QR code and the bike will unlock. Bikes can be returned to any on-campus bike rack." The company will provide about 300 bikes for the rental service, D'Esposito said. Students may register with the service by downloading the Gotcha application on their smartphones. |
| Auburn University's board unanimously approves Jay Gogue as interim president | |
 | Jay Gogue is back on campus. Auburn University's board of trustees unanimously approved a recommendation naming Gogue the interim president of the university on Monday, making his return official just more than two weeks after the departure of then-president Steven Leath. Gogue served as Auburn University's president from 2007 until 2017, when Leath was brought on for two years before his sudden departure in late June. The university announced then that the decision for Leath's departure was made mutually between Leath and members of the board's president assessment working group. The board's executive committee then quickly recommended Gogue as interim on June 23, before Monday's special meeting by conference call approved the recommendation. Leath's time at Auburn was truncated by his departure. In April 2017 the board approved a five-year contract for Leath $625,000 annually, but he left campus 26 months later. |
| Looking to save lives, Auburn vet school research develops one of its 'greatest achievements' | |
| Auburn University is celebrating the first treatment developed and licensed by Auburn that has gone to human clinical trial. Researchers at Auburn and the University of Massachusetts collaborated to work on a treatment for the neurologic disease known as GM1 gangliosidosis. Doug Martin, professor and GM1 researcher, described the disease as "degenerative and progressive." "The kids are born, and they appear to be normal," he said. "They develop normally for a little while, and then they start to regress. From that point on, it's a long, slow regression until they die." The GM1 research all started 50 years ago, with a cat named Donovan. |
| U. of South Carolina's Harris Pastides talks safety, sports and Five Points as retirement approaches | |
 | When Harris Pastides became president of the University of South Carolina, the now-incoming freshmen were just seven years old. During Pastides' 11-year term as president, there have been a share of "jump-for-joy" moments, like when USC beat No. 1 ranked Alabama in football or when the honors college was ranked No. 1 in America. There were dark days: this year's death of student Samantha Josephson, the 2013 shooting of student Martha Childress. There were the everyday pleasures, like when students frequently approached Pastides on the street and asked for a selfie. There were everyday struggles, like persuading state lawmakers to fund USC at the required levels. And of course, there were bittersweet days, such as many of those since he announced he would be retiring on July 31. Pastides recently met with The State to talk about his years at USC and his plans for retirement. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. |
| Jury selection for Max Gruver hazing death trial starts Monday | |
 | Max Gruver was one month into his first year of college at LSU when he died of alcohol poisoning in what authorities have described as a hazing ritual at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. On Monday, jury selection is set to begin in the high-profile case of the only man charged with a felony in the Sept. 14, 2017, death of 18-year-old Gruver. Former LSU student and ex-Phi Delta Theta member Matthew Naquin, 21, of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, faces up to five years in prison if convicted on negligent homicide. Prosecutors also charged him last week with obstruction of justice but said they won't go forward on that charge until the negligent homicide case is resolved. Court documents filed previously in the case claim Naquin was warned by members of the fraternity -- just days before Gruver died -- to tone down his interactions with pledges. He was told his actions with pledges were extreme and dangerous, the documents allege. |
| Brent Marable elected president of UGA ag school alumni association | |
 | Brent Marable, assistant director of the University of Georgia Innovation Gateway office, has been elected as president of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Board of Directors for the 2019-2020 term. "It is an honor to be part of such a longstanding and wide-reaching organization as the UGA CAES Alumni Association," Marable said. "We have more than 18,000 living CAES alumni scattered all over the globe, working in industries that help feed, clothe, shelter and beautify our world. It is a privilege to represent them as we continue to connect, engage and celebrate with one another." Marable graduated from UGA CAES with a bachelor's degree in horticulture in 1996 and a master's degree in agricultural leadership in 2013. |
| Texas A&M professor looks at Amazon's impact after 25 years | |
 | A quarter of a century ago, on July 5, 1994, a company, which shared a name with the world's largest river, was incorporated. It sold books to customers who got to its website through a dial-up modem. It wasn't the first bookstore to sell online. (Books.com launched in 1992.) But it behaved like a local store, whose shopkeeper knew customers by name -- a bell even rang in the company's Seattle headquarters every time an order was placed. Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, set his sights on making it an "everything store." The company would go on to become not just an everything store, but an "everything company." Today, 25 years later, Amazon has reshaped retailing permanently. It is one of the top three most valuable companies in the world, with a market capitalization hovering around $1 trillion, greater than the GDP of nearly 200 countries. |
| U. of Missouri Veterans Clinic enlists law students to secure benefits | |
 | A roadside bomb in Afghanistan that killed two friends in the vehicle he was in also nearly killed Alex Pracht on June 19, 2009. "I am the lone survivor of that bomb," Pracht, 37, said. The bomb caused traumatic brain injury, a collapsed lung and severe spinal injuries. Pracht, of Centralia, Illinois, said he applied for veterans benefits before he retired from the Army, so the VA decision would be in hand when he was finished as an Army staff sergeant. "That did not happen at all," Pracht said. "When I retired, I got completely denied everything. They said I had no service-connected injury. That blew my mind." His fortunes changed when his mother attended her high school class reunion. "I lucked out," he said. "Just by chance, my mom had a class reunion and met a friend who works with veterans in Washington, D.C. He mentioned to her that he was helping with the University of Missouri Veterans Clinic. He said, 'I'll get you in touch with one of the attorneys there.' It's been a godsend ever since." Working through supervising attorney Angela Drake, multiple appeals over several years have increased his benefit income to nearly what it was while on active duty. |
| Debate over proposed expansion of Pell Grants to short-term job training | |
 | Democratic presidential candidates are spending another election cycle debating the merits of free college. But in Washington, a fight is brewing over whether federal student aid should be available to people who pursue short-term training to land better jobs. Students currently can use Pell Grants, the primary vehicle for federal need-based aid, for college degrees as well as certificate programs that last as little as 15 weeks. Bipartisan legislation backed by community college and business groups would make certificate programs -- even non-credit-bearing courses -- as short as eight weeks eligible for Pell Grants. Supporters of the bill, dubbed the JOBS Act, say it would make an overdue change to better tailor the design of the federal aid system to the demands of adult students. It would also exclude for-profit institutions, which have been some of the biggest targets of criticism aimed at the short-term credential sector. But the bill also would be a significant reorientation of the Pell program from largely supporting low-income students who are pursuing a college degree to backing job training as well. |
| UVA barred from punishing student in unusual Title IX case | |
| In an unusual sex-discrimination lawsuit, a federal judge barred the University of Virginia from having a hearing for a former student accused of rape, as a consequence of which his degree might be withheld, saying the institution might not have authority to punish him for the alleged incident that occurred off campus. The former student, who is listed anonymously in court records, sued the university June 25. He requested officials not be allowed to hold the hearing in which his punishment would have been handed down for the rape that purportedly happened more than two years ago. Experts in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 said that the university may have erred in pursuing proceedings against the student under the federal sex antidiscrimination law when its policies may not have applied. Instead, it could have brought more general conduct code violations against him. "They might not have thought critically about it," said S. Daniel Carter, president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, which consults with universities about crime and Title IX. |
| Higher Education Has Become a Partisan Issue | |
| The scramble playing out in Alaska represents the worst-case scenario for public colleges. It has not been uncommon to see significant cuts by states to higher-education funding -- particularly during economic slowdowns -- but "it is uncommon to do it in one fell swoop," Nick Hillman, an associate professor of higher education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said. Over the past 25 years, since Newt Gingrich helped Republicans reclaim the gavel in the House of Representatives, Americans have become more politically polarized. Not only do members of one party view the other party as wrong, but they more frequently view them as a "threat to the nation's well-being." Americans don't trust the other side, and more and more they mistrust institutions too, including the media and higher education. It's been an open question for some time whether this partisan mistrust would translate into tangible, monetary penalties for higher education. |
| Political ad bombardment coming as Aug. 6 primaries near | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Four weeks. Only four more weeks until Mississippi's August primaries. It will be a super quick four weeks if you're a candidate. There's just never enough time to do everything you meant to do, they told you to do, or you ought to do. It will be a long, arduous four weeks if you're already tired of political advertising. Every minute of every day, every nook and cranny of visual and aural media will be overstuffed with political advertising. Now is when local candidates will crack open their often meagre political nest eggs to buy political ads. Competing with them will be state and regional candidates who couldn't afford much media until the last minute. Dominating will still be those statewide candidates who had, and have, tons of money to spend. And don't forget the yard signs, rather, the much more prolific highway and street right-of-way "yard" signs. If you haven't been paying attention, you will now have no choice. |
| Jim Hood loss could position Mississippi Republicans for an era of long-time dominance | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: Late in the evening just before the 2011 November general elections, then-Republican Gov. Haley Barbour was spotted sitting in a chair in the middle of the ornate, marble encased second floor rotunda of the Mississippi Capitol, holding a microphone and looking into a camera. A closer look showed Barbour had an apparatus attached to his ear. He was doing a live remote -- as they say in the business -- answering questions from CNN about the upcoming state elections. ... After finishing his CNN interview, Barbour stopped to talk to a Mississippi reporter about the elections. He correctly predicted his Republican Party would do well in the elections, most likely capturing the House, maintaining its majority in the Senate and winning most of the statewide offices. ... By the time he left office in January of 2012, Republicans held seven of the eight statewide offices. But what they did not do in those pivotal 2011 elections and what Barbour did not predict they would do is defeat Democratic incumbent Attorney General Jim Hood. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State women reach World University Games semis | |
| Mississippi State's women delivered another resilient performance at the World University Games, roaring past China in the fourth quarter to win 87-79 on Sunday. The victory sends the Bulldogs -- playing in Italy as USA Team -- to a semifinal game Monday at 10:30 a.m. CDT against Japan. China held an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter on Sunday, but USA Team closed on a 17-1 run. "With six minutes to go, I called a timeout because we couldn't score and weren't defending," said head coach Vic Schaefer. "In the huddle, we talked about toughness. We were going to find out about ourselves. I don't think anyone could have expected what we got from that young group." |
| MSU's Reggie Perry and Team USA capture gold at FIBA U19 World Cup | |
| Reggie Perry and Team USA U19 won the FIBA World Cup with a 93-79 victory over Mali during Sunday's gold medal game. Perry was named to the FIBA World Cup All-Star 5 Team and took home the event's Most Valuable Player. He came away with 13.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game over Team USA's seven games in Greece. For the tournament, he drained 50 percent of his field goal attempts. "I just want to thank USA basketball for this wonderful opportunity," Perry said. "It was an honor to represent my country. This is something I will never forget." Perry piled 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds during the USA's quarterfinals win over Russia on Friday. He also racked up 20 points against New Zealand and garnered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds versus Lithuania in the group stage. |
| Mississippi State football: How high should expectations be for 2019? | |
| Joe Moorhead's arrival at Mississippi State last year was supposed to mean one thing: the Bulldogs' offense would be more prolific. Instead, it was more stagnant. In Dan Mullen's final season in Starkville, the Bulldogs averaged 418.6 yards of offense per game. That was good enough for sixth in the Southeastern Conference. In Moorhead's first season at the helm, the Dawgs averaged 397.4 yards per game. That ranked 10th in the SEC. Mississippi State failed to reach 300 yards of offense only once in 2017. It was a 280-yard outing in a loss to Georgia. Last season, the Bulldogs didn't reach that mark four times. The low point was a 169-yard showing against Alabama. Expectations were high for Moorhead in Year 1 as he worked with players that Mullen left behind: Nick Fitzgerald, Aeris Williams, Kylin Hill, a crowded wide receivers room and an experienced offensive line. The offense simply didn't live up to preseason hype. The defense certainly did. |
| Mississippi State football schedule: Let's examine over-under for wins | |
| Mississippi State won eight games in the first season of the Joe Moorhead era. One year later, Bovada has the Bulldogs' win total projected for that same exact number. Most sports books have State slated at either eight or 8.5 wins. It won't be easy for Moorhead to match last year's total, but there are reasons to think he just might. He gets to face three of the teams he lost to on the road last year -- Kentucky, LSU and Alabama -- at Davis Wade Stadium this season. If the Bulldogs can manage to win two of those games, the most likely combination being Kentucky and LSU, then they'd be in great shape to match or even exceed eight wins. State has a lot of games to get through before battling the Crimson Tide on Nov. 16, though. The season starts against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Aug. 31. The Bulldogs beat the Ragin Cajuns 56-10 at Davis Wade Stadium last year, and it would surprise no one if the score is similar this time around. |
| The next Drew Brees? Cowboys QB Dak Prescott similar in this way, Texas columnist says | |
 | Pro jocks who hold camps for kids are always doing a good thing, but when they open themselves up to questions from the campers themselves they unknowingly sit in a dunk tank full not of cold water but razor blades. Kids will ask anything. So it is with great disappointment, and amazement, that during Dak Prescott's camp last weekend, no kid asked him about that subject. No kid asked him about "The Contract." "No, thankfully not," Prescott said. "They are letting me make it so far." Maybe we should take a cue from the kids; this subject is just about dead. The "latest" on Prescott's contract is that his agent seeks to get his client $34 million a year. Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles recently signed a deal that paid him $32 million a year. Prescott may not be the next Troy Aikman, or even Tony Romo, but in one area he is the next Drew Brees. Like the future Hall of Fame quarterback in New Orleans, Prescott is a sincere guy who is genuine in his desire to be a role model and to help and inspire others. |
| Delta State hires Gulf Coast's Rodney Batts as baseball head coach | |
 | After five seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Rodney Batts is returning to his alma mater as Delta State University's head baseball coach. Batts will be formerly introduced during a press conference Monday morning in Cleveland, the school announced. Batts is replacing Mike Kinnison, who stepped down last month to become Delta State's director of athletics. Batts has been the head coach at Gulf Coast since 2015. He has won 119 games in that span, including 75 the past two seasons, and made back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in 2018 and 2019. This past season, Gulf Coast went 29-18, including a 16-12 record in MACJC play. The Bulldogs swept Meridian Community College in a best-of-three series to advance to the Region 23 Tournament. Batts played at Delta State and was an All-Gulf South Conference selection in 1995 and 1996. |
| Source: LSU baseball adds Tulane assistant Eddie Smith to coaching staff; Ochinko no longer with LSU | |
| Tulane baseball assistant coach Eddie Smith will join the coaching staff of the LSU baseball team, a source familiar with the situation told The Advocate on Sunday. Smith has been a member of the Tulane staff for the past three seasons. He's been the hitting coach and third base coach as well as recruiting coordinator for Green Wave coach Travis Jewett. It wasn't immediately known who Smith might be replacing on Paul Mainieri's staff. Responding to a text from The Advocate late Sunday afternoon, Mainieri said he could neither confirm nor deny changes to his staff. Earlier Sunday, LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette declined to confirm the hire. D1Baseball.com's Kendall Rogers later tweeted that Smith will take over as volunteer coach and hitting coach for Sean Ochinko, who is no longer with the program. |
| Report: Texas A&M hiring Southern Miss' Chad Caillet as hitting coach | |
| Texas A&M has hired Southern Mississippi associate head baseball coach Chad Caillet to be its hitting coach, according to Kendall Rogers of D1baseball.com. Caillet will replace Will Bolt, A&M's former hitting coach who was hired recently as Nebraska's head coach. Caillet spent 12 seasons with the Golden Eagles, serving as their hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. A&M (39-23-1, 16-13-1) batted .251 last season with 42 home runs and 311 RBIs as the Aggies averaged 5.5 runs per game. Southern Miss (40-21, 20-10) batted .288 in 2019 to rank fifth in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles hit 67 home runs and drove in 396 runs. They finished second to Florida Atlantic in the C-USA during the regular season then won the conference tournament. They went 2-2 in the Baton Rouge Regional, beating Arizona State twice but losing to LSU twice. Caillet also worked at McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana. |
| Steve McNair's legacy seems unaffected by circumstances surrounding death | |
 | He was the 2003 NFL co-MVP and a four-time Pro Bowler. He won the 1994 Walter Payton Award -- given annually to the most outstanding offensive player at the FCS level of college football -- and put Alcorn State on the map. Those facts help define former Titans quarterback Steve McNair's legacy. But there's also the circumstances surrounding his death to consider. On July 4, 2009, McNair was fatally shot by his mistress, Sahel Kazemi, who then took her own life, the Metro Nashville Police Department concluded. McNair was still married and was involved in an extramarital relationship with another woman in addition to Kazemi, according to police reports. On the field, there is no questioning his legacy," Jamie Dukes, a former lineman for the Falcons and an NFL Network analyst, told The Tennessean soon after McNair's death. "Off the field, because of the tragic circumstances of his death, there will always be an asterisk there in a lot of people's minds. And that's a shame." Ten years later, where does McNair's legacy stand? |
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