| Thursday, August 29, 2013 |
| Mississippi State graduate creates iPhone app for sports fans | |
 | So you think you're the No. 1 fan of the Bulldogs, Rebels, Golden Eagles, Tigers or other Mississippi sports teams? If so, prove it. Now you can with an new app called "Fancred" created by a Mississippi State University graduate that measures your fan credentials and allows sports fans to post thoughts, pictures and interact with other fans. MSU has become the first college in the country to have a Fancred profile. "I am thrilled Mississippi State is the first university to join Fancred with an official account," Fancred CEO Hossein Kash Razzaghi, said in a news release. Fancred was founded in Boston in late 2012, and creators officially launched the Fancred iPhone app in March of 2013. |
| Event aids farmers with future plans | |
| Mississippi's farm and ranch women can learn how to plan for the future of their farming businesses at a workshop series offered by the Mississippi State University and Alcorn State University Extension services. "Managing for Today and Tomorrow" will be held five consecutive Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 24 at four locations -- the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Raymond, the Bost Extension Center in Starkville and county Extension offices in Collins and Indianola. Participants will learn how to prepare to transfer the farm to the next generation. |
| 'Dorm Drops' provide taste of home in biscuit form | |
 | For many college students, mealtime involves university dining halls or something equivalent to Ramen noodles, but Michelle Tehan, "the biscuit lady," is trying to change that. Tehan began selling her buttermilk biscuits from her home in the spring, with customers coming to her door for their Saturday morning breakfast. She then moved The Biscuit Shop to the Starkville Community Market. With the community market finished for the season, Tehan created "dorm drops," where she delivers a bag of a dozen biscuits for $8 to the door of student's dorms at Mississippi State University. The biscuits are freshly made and should be good for a few days. |
| Michigan was first state to mandate civil rights commission in its constitution | |
 | The year 1963 was a pivotal one for civil rights in America. There was the March on Washington, the murder of activist Medgar Evers and the forced integration of the University of Alabama. In Michigan, two key events happened that year. The first was the "Game of Change" in East Lansing. Loyola University's integrated basketball squad played an all-white team from MSU. Not Michigan State University -- but Mississippi State University. The other event in 1963 was a more quiet affair. The brand new Michigan Constitution guaranteed the creation of a civil rights commission -- the first such enactment in the country. WKAR's "Current State's" Kevin Lavery speaks with Michigan Department of Civil Rights interim director Leslee Fritz about her agency. They took their conversation to the hardwood for some one-on-one. |
| Pre-professional day brings students and institutions together | |
 | Morgan Lee of Meridian, a second year student at Meridian, has a career goal of becoming a pharmacist. Thanks to Meridian Community College's ninth Annual Pre-Professional Day, held Tuesday in the College's Multi-Purpose Center, she got the opportunity to talk one-on-one with school officials to learn more on how to do just that. Lee was one of 260 local high school and community college students who took part in the college's event in which educational officials from Mississippi State's colleges of engineering and veterinary medicine and the University of Mississippi's schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy talked about the requirements, expectations and opportunities available. |
| Order asks Twitter to release info on fake Starkville account | |
 | A court order is asking Twitter to furnish the district attorney's office with personal information -- name, IP addresses and other details -- associated with a social media account satirizing Ward 3 Alderman David Little, documents obtained by the Dispatch show. The order is related to a Starkville Police Department criminal investigation into the satirical @DavidLittleBOA Twitter account, which documents show was later changed to @DavidLittleFake. No charges had been filed in the case as of Tuesday. It is unclear if the Little parody account was marked as a parody account when it was created. Language in the court order asks for Twitter information to determine "whether the account was presented as a parody or if it claimed to originate from a person, David Little." |
| Order asks Twitter to release info on fake account of Starkville alderman | |
 | A court order is asking the social-networking site Twitter to furnish the district attorney's office with personal information -- name, IP addresses and other details -- associated with an account satirizing Starkville Alderman David Little. Documents obtained by The Commercial Dispatch show the order is related to a Starkville Police Department criminal investigation into the satirical @DavidLittleBOA Twitter account, which documents show was later changed to @DavidLittleFake. No charges had been filed in the case. Twitter officials confirmed a request by the police department to preserve data for parody accounts of both Little and Alderman Ben Carver on Aug. 2. The investigation was launched when Little filed a formal complaint with the agency after two accounts lampooning him and Carver emerged on Twitter shortly after the board ousted former Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill in July. |
| Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival this weekend in West Point | |
 | It's Howlin' Wolf season. The 18th annual Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival is Friday in West Point, and it features a host of blues musicians honoring West Point's late bluesman. "The blues are alive and well in West Point, Miss.," said the festival's director, Richard Ramsey. "The Wolf is at your door." Barbecue, smoked sausage, popcorn and other concessions will be sold, as well as autographed CDs and art prints. Two guitars will be given away, too. The Howlin' Wolf Blues Museum will be open Friday and Saturday. |
| Mississippi's nuclear waste plan sparks early opposition | |
| Gov. Phil Bryant is interested in Mississippi getting in on "recycling" or reprocessing nuclear waste, and perhaps manufacturing components for reactors, not nuclear waste storage. Nonetheless, Bryant tells The Clarion-Ledger opponents are overreacting to and uninformed about proposals to store nuclear waste in Mississippi. "I am disappointed in the overreaction, and that's what it is, overreaction," Bryant said Tuesday. "It's amazing to me that any discussion about nuclear power causes such a reaction. What other topics are we not allowed to discuss? Alternative energy? Wind power or solar? There's been no discussion that I have heard about using a salt dome for permanent storage." |
| MEMA launches smartphone app, emergency text messaging | |
| The next time a hurricane approaches or a tornado forms, Mississippians might not get their first warning through the blare of a siren or a news report on the Internet. It might instead pop up on their smartphone as a text message alert. Or they might click on a new mobile phone app that spits out everything from where a storm is bearing down to what's the least congested hurricane evacuation route. "This provides a tremendous capability to ensure that the citizens of this state have everything they need to prepare themselves and their families," Robert Latham, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency executive director, said Wednesday in unveiling two emergency preparedness tools. |
| Katrina taught lessons that served South Mississippi well | |
 | Katrina taught the people of South Mississippi lessons others would do well to study if they're hit by a natural disaster. The 2005 storm buried the Coast in millions of cubic yards of debris, creating a mountain of problems for residents. But one word emerged from the rubble, and it was used again and again to describe South Mississippi -- resilient. |
| Eight years later: FEMA funds help South Mississippi recover from Hurricane Katrina | |
 | Eight years ago this morning, a violent disturbance of the atmosphere more than half the width of Texas came howling out of the Gulf of Mexico to cut an unparalleled path of destruction through Mississippi. It was a killer, leaving more than 1,800 dead. Hurricane Katrina caused $81 billion damage in its wake, ranking as the most destructive storm in the nation's history. But over the past eight years, cities and counties have rebuilt themselves -- and in many cases, improved themselves, particularly in areas affecting public health and safety -- in large part with federal dollars. The money flowed from a variety of streams, with public assistance dollars the largest pool available to help governmental entities as well as individuals under an umbrella of programs overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. |
| Cockerham appointed to appropriations committee | |
 | Rep. Angela Cockerham said Wednesday she is pleased to be serving on two of the state's most influential legislative committees. On Monday, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn announced his appointment of Cockerham (D-Magnolia) to the House Appropriations Committee and the Legislative Budget Committee. "I am blessed and thankful to Speaker Gunn for appointing me to these committees," Cockerham said Wednesday in Natchez, while attending the Rotary Club of Natchez meeting. "I am happy to be serving not only the people in my own district but also the people of the entire state," Cockerham said. |
| State troopers go undercover in big rigs | |
 | The Mississippi Highway Patrol is conducting a new operation to catch erratic drivers on the interstate. They're targeting drivers who make dangerous maneuvers around 18 wheelers. It's called the Motor Carrier Apprehension Program. Starting in May, MHP started placing troopers in the cabs of trucks in efforts to catch erratic drivers. "We usually have troopers scattered out in a 9 mile radius. If you drive wreck less around the truck you pull in front of it without a turn signal, get in front of it and slam on brakes, follow too close, the trooper in the truck is going to radio your description tag number," said Mississippi State Trooper Capt. Scott Carnegie. |
| Ingalls President Irwin Edenzon talks shipbuilding plan, workforce development at Pascagoula Rotary | |
 | Ingalls Shipbuilding President Irwin F. Edenzon spoke candidly with the Pascagoula Rotary Club today about the long-term future of the Pascagoula shipyard, the effects of sequestration and workforce development. "I'm hiring 3,000 people and have a $10 billion backlog that's pretty healthy," Edenzon said. "My business is very good. Where's it going to be in 2020? Where's the nation going to be in 2020?" While the Pascagoula shipyard has a cadre of big contracts into 2016, officials with Huntington Ingalls Industries are in constant contact with defense personnel in Washington D.C., hashing out the kinds of ships and the numbers of ships in the Navy's long-range plan. Defense cuts from sequestration add to the uncertainty. |
| U.S. economy grew at revised 2.5 percent annual rate in April-June quarter, double first quarter | |
| The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from April through June, much faster than previously estimated. The steep revision was largely because U.S. companies exported more goods and imports declined. The Commerce Department said second-quarter growth was sharply higher than the initial 1.7 percent rate it reported last month. And the growth this spring was more than double the 1.1 percent rate from January through March. The improvement in the trade deficit helped offset a weaker government spending. Economists expect growth will stay at an annual rate of around 2.5 percent in the second half of the year, helped by steady job gains and less drag from federal spending cuts. Still, some say higher interest rates might restrain the economy's expansion in the second half. |
| Predator drone now part of California wildfire battle | |
| As crews advanced against a giant wildfire around Yosemite National Park, fire commanders said they would maintain use of a Predator drone to give them early views of any new flare-ups across in the remote and rugged landscape. The California National Guard drone deployed Wednesday was being remotely piloted hundreds of miles away, allowing ground commanders to keep an eye out for new fires they otherwise wouldn't have immediately seen. "The drone is providing data directly back to the incident commander, allowing him to make quick decisions about which resources to deploy and where," California fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. Previously, officials relied on helicopters that needed to refuel every two hours. |
| Why has global warming paused? Pacific Ocean's 'engine room' running cool | |
 | Global warming has been put on a 15-year (and counting) hold by a prolonged period of cold ocean temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific -- part of a natural climate pattern that should allow the rate of warming to pick up when the pattern shifts, according to a new study. During the past 15 years, warming has continued. Indeed, the decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest on record globally, with 12 of the 14 warmest years on record falling between 2001 and 2012. But the warming has occurred so slowly that, statistically, the rate of warming per decade could just as easily have been zero, researchers say. The hiatus triggered finger-wagging from some of the more strident climate-change skeptics, as well as chin-scratching among many climate scientists. With carbon-dioxide emissions rising relentlessly to levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of years, how could atmospheric temperatures fail to respond in a stronger way, many asked. |
| Ribbon-cutting signifies triumph over Katrina for USM campus in South Mississippi | |
| Just one day before the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus celebrated a ribbon-cutting that signified the end of post-hurricane construction and a convocation that marked the beginning of a race to the top of higher education for the Long Beach campus. "We are finally back from Katrina," Frances Lucas, vice president and campus executive officer for USM on the Gulf Coast, said Wednesday morning. "But we have just begun to build what will be one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation." |
| MUW Celebrates Staff Achievement | |
 | It's the way any administrator would like to start a new year: high rankings from two national publications and the label as a great place to work by one of the nation's leading observers of higher education. So to show their appreciation for all the hard work, MUW President Dr. Jim Borsig and his administration held an appreciation luncheon this week to honor the faculty and staff. "This is a tremendous honor for the university because it reflects the quality of our faculty and staff as a community and how they work well with each other and also work to help our students be successful," Borsig said. |
| MUW No. 45 in Washington Monthly's rankings | |
| For the second year in a row, Mississippi University for Women has been ranked a top master's universities by Washington Monthly's 2013 College Rankings. The W is at No. 45 after appearing in Washington Monthly's rankings for the first time in 2010. Different from other ranking publications, Washington Monthly asks, "What are colleges doing for the country?" "This recognition affirms the quality of students' educational experiences at MUW, and our faculty understand the role of education and how it benefits the community. Our students are demonstrating their focus on service by using their educational opportunities to better our world." said Dr. Jim Borsig, W president. |
| Rust College, ex-professor accused in sexual abuse lawsuit | |
| A unnamed woman claims Rust College knowingly re-hired a sex offender who allegedly raped her in his office in 2012, a new federal lawsuit states. She also claims her alleged attacker, 64-year-old Sylvester Oliver, used the United Methodist Church-supported college "as a hunting ground" for victims "of his perverted desire for sexual gratification." Her lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oxford, accuses Rust College in Holly Springs of knowing about "the sexual abuse activities" of Oliver for years, "and certainly before he was rehired as a faculty member in 2009." Dr. Ishmel Edwards, Rust's vice president for college relations, told the Daily Journal later Wednesday that the school does not comment about lawsuits. However, he noted that Oliver is no longer employed at Rust and that "safety of our students is a primary concern." |
| Belhaven University named 'College of Distinction' | |
 | For a fourth year, Belhaven University was honored as a College of Distinction for the 2013-2014 school year. The College of Distinction designation is given to select schools to honor their excellence in student-focused higher education. Belhaven University was found to excel in all four distinctions: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant communities and successful outcomes. Colleges of Distinction is a web-based guide for high school juniors and seniors seeking a school that is nationally recognized and highly recommended by professionals in the field of education. |
| Sorority offered free drinks to members to vote in Tuscaloosa City Board of Education race | |
 | A University of Alabama Greek organization offered incentives to members in exchange for voting in the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education election, according to an email obtained by AL.com Monday. The email, sent to sorority members residing in District 4 from a ranking member of the chapter's executive board, encourages members to vote for Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison in exchange for incentives including free drinks at two local bars and limousine transportation to the polls. |
| U. of Florida professor Carlson receives top Society of Professional Journalists honor | |
 | David Carlson, a University of Florida professor who built a reputation as a journalist pushing the envelope in new media technologies, has received the Wells Memorial Key, the highest honor awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists to one of its members. Carlson, executive director of the Center for Media Innovation and Research at UF, received the award Monday at the SPJ's President's Installation Banquet in Anaheim, Calif. He was nominated by 10 former and current SPJ and Sigma Delta Chi leaders. "I am incredibly honored to be singled out this way," Carlson said via email while flying home Tuesday from California. |
| Louisiana hopes to lure former residents | |
 | The state's top higher education panel, the Board of Regents, is hoping to entice thousands of Louisiana college graduates who left the state to return home and fill what is expected to be a wave of new high-technology jobs. The initiative, called Operation Recall, will target more than 40,000 people, many of whom have degrees in computer science and engineering. The consensus is that the cheap price of natural gas will spark continued plant construction and expansion in the manufacturing industry, likely resulting in jobs ranging from $12-an-hour construction positions to six-figure engineering careers over the next several years. |
| Chevron donates $2 million to LSU's College of Engineering | |
| Chevron committed $2 million Wednesday to LSU in support of an ongoing renovation of Patrick F. Taylor Hall, which houses the university's College of Engineering. The company also announced it will donate an additional $700,000 to LSU's College of Science. Chevron's donation will go toward establishing an engineering student academic support center and a petroleum engineering teaching laboratory. The donation will be added to LSU's "Breaking New Ground" campaign. The goal is to turn the existing 36-year-old building into a 21st-century engineering education complex to train the next generation of students. Gov. Bobby Jindal, whose father and wife are engineers, has thrown his support behind the project, which he said should help LSU reach "its full potential" as a nationally recognized research institution. |
| Authorities find body of missing LSU student | |
| Authorities on Wednesday located an LSU senior from Ascension Parish whose family had not heard from him since early Tuesday. St. Gabriel Police Chief Kevin Ambeau said a Baton Rouge police helicopter scanning the area for Christopher Broussard located his 2004 Nissan Frontier just after 7 p.m. off La. 30 in Iberville Parish. "He was a wonderful, loving son, and I'm going to miss him very much," said Lisa Broussard, Christopher's mother. She said her son was scheduled to graduate from LSU in December with a degree in sociology. Lisa Broussard said she had exchanged text messages with her son shortly before he left Bogie's Bar & Grill early Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, where he had been hanging out with friends. |
| System picks team to conduct search for new Texas A&M president | |
 | Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp has announced the kickoff of a national search for the next president of the system's flagship university. A nine-member team, with seven voting members and two non-voting members, will make up the search committee. They are tasked with picking three candidates to recommend to the Board of Regents. The chairman of the committee is Regent Cliff Thomas, who did not return a request for comment. The search process will be headed by Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm with a higher education focus. Kenneth Kring, co-managing director of the Global Education practice, who has placed more than 250 executives, will lead the search process and work directly with the search advisory committee, according to the release. They seek to replace R. Bowen Loftin, who will step down on Jan. 13. Loftin, 64, said in June that he is resigning to spend more time with students. |
| U. of Missouri organizations battle stigma, stress with Tigers Take Action Carnival | |
 | University of Missouri residence hall coordinator Scott Bosley spent an August afternoon keeping cool -- as the target of a dunking booth in the center of campus. "I'd say I got dunked about 15 or 20 times," he said while drying off. "That last guy was on a roll." Bosley was one of 12 volunteers who agreed to be dunked in the name of mental health and relaxation Wednesday at the second Tigers Take Action Carnival. The carnival, which was coordinated by the MU Counseling Center, featured snow cones, cotton candy and games hosted by various MU organizations. The goal of the event was to help students relax and to destigmatize campus services that students are sometimes reluctant or embarrassed to use, Counseling Center outreach coordinator Christy Hutton said. |
| U. of Kentucky students return to classes | |
 | Wednesday was the first day of classes for thousands at the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. UK's fall semester means more pedestrians and vehicles on streets and in parking lots surrounding campus. |
| UF Plaza business owner blocks gameday block party | |
| The gameday block party is off in the parking lot at Gainesville's UF Plaza due to the protests of one owner who said the activities blocked access to his business, much to the chagrin of the other bars and restaurants that got a boost from the outdoor food and beverage sales. After three years of setting up tents in the parking lot, the businesses in the plaza at Northwest 17th Street and University Avenue got a letter from the property manager about 10 days ago saying one business no longer wanted to shut down the parking lot for the outside sales. Designer Greens, which other owners said participated in the outside sales in the past, was the holdout this year. Owner Steven Kay emailed a photo of a past event showing a crowded parking lot and an orange safety fence blocking the sidewalk leading to Designer Greens. "Gameday activities in the UF Plaza parking lot block access to the common area sidewalk that leads to Designer Greens," he wrote. |
| UCLA Will Entrust Tech Transfer to Experts | |
 | The University of California at Los Angeles is one of the nation's top research universities, with scientific inventions generating some $20-million a year in revenues. But after years of dwindling state resources, UCLA doesn't think that's good enough. And so it plans to get more aggressive. The university will create a new private foundation---overseen by corporate leaders in fields like medicine, engineering, and finance---that will take control of the university's patent and licensing operations next year. "The goal is to bring onto our campus something that we currently do not have," UCLA's vice chancellor for research, James S. Economou, told his university's regents in May. "That is, that level of business decision-making experience, from the expertise of venture capital, business, high-tech, and pharma." |
| Well-Off Chinese Students Summer in U.S., Seeking an Edge | |
 | At the University of Chicago this summer, Yan Jielin, 17, pored over documents from the American Revolution and mastered themes in the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Her final paper discussed an obscure petition from the House of Lords to the king of England in June 1776. About to enter her senior class at a Beijing high school, Ms. Yan, a shy, serious student, is confident her American summer experience will give her an extra edge in the fierce competition among Chinese students to get into a top American college. By some estimates, more than 100,000 Chinese students, some as young as 10, flocked to the United States this summer to delve into American life and culture. The surge in students traveling to the United States for the summer is the latest iteration in China's booming multibillion-dollar overseas education business. |
| Math, science program sees big improvement on AP tests | |
 | The pass rate on rigorous Advanced Placement tests went up by 72 percent last year at high schools that took part in a National Math and Science Initiative program that trains teachers and gives students extra help on Saturdays. The program has been especially helpful in boosting success for girls and minority students -- groups that have been under-represented in advanced math and science classes, said initiative CEO Sara Martinez Tucker. The nonprofit group announced its 2012-13 results on Wednesday. The group's AP program last year was in 462 high schools in 18 states, or about 2 percent of the nation's schools. It will be added in schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Arkansas this year. |
| Public Colleges Boost Economic Growth | Robert Gates and David Boren (Opinion) | |
 | In The Wall Street Journal, Robert Gates and David Boren write that states are treating higher education like an expendable luxury. That's a formula for decline: "A brief look back at history illustrates that as the price of higher education declined, the U.S. economy grew. In 1800, when the population of the U.S. was five million, there were only about 1,000 Americans enrolled in colleges. Nearly all of them were enrolled in small, expensive private institutions. Fast forward to the passage in 1862 of the Morrill Act, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. That law established land grant colleges and universities all across America, making an affordable college education broadly available to the average citizen. Passed during the Civil War, it was an act of faith in our future." |
| New season cause for excitement | |
| The Hattiesburg American editorializes: "Southern Miss football fans didn't have much to cheer about last season. Hopefully, that won't be the case this year. On Saturday, first-year head coach Todd Monken will lead his team out onto the field at M.M. Roberts Stadium for the season opener against Texas State. We hope the community will be there to rally around and support the Golden Eagles. ...Last year was the worst kind of year for fans of the Golden Eagles. But it's time to stop looking back. Let's look ahead to this season, where -- hopefully -- we'll have a lot more to cheer about." |
| Editorial: Thad Cochran helped us survive Katrina | |
| The Sun Herald editorializes: "The eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is a fitting opportunity to consider the political future of Thad Cochran. That will not seem odd to anyone who remembers and appreciates Cochran's indispensable role in helping steer tens of billions of dollars in federal aid and tax incentives to help the region recover from the nation's worst natural disaster. ...In the annals of Mississippi public service, Cochran's tenure is already historic. ...Heaven forbid we are ever again hit by a hurricane as devastating as Katrina. And heaven help us if we are and have anything less than the capable representation of a Thad Cochran. Whatever the senator decides to do, he'll have our appreciation for what he has done and our best wishes for his future." |
| The many faces of Mississippi's character | Bobby Harrison (Opinion) | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "It is all about jobs and image. The clear message resounded Monday when announcing that a movie on the life of entertainer James Brown would be filmed in the state that Mississippi's political leaders want to court Hollywood. They believe that Mississippi, which already has been the location for the filming of a significant number of movies, can lure Hollywood at such a rate that a permanent movie service industry could be established in the state creating good-playing jobs. They also believe that if the state becomes a significant player in the movie industry that it will be good for the state's image. After all, nothing screams image like Hollywood. On the same day that it was announced that the filming of the biographic on the legendary Brown would be done in Mississippi, much of the state's political leadership held discussions on the possibility of Mississippi being a site to store interim nuclear waste and reprocess it." |
| Bryant visited French nuclear recycling facility in June with MEI president | Sam R. Hall (Opinion) | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Sam R. Hall blogs: "Gov. Phil Bryant led a Mississippi delegation that included the president of the Mississippi Energy Institute to a French nuclear waste recycling facility owned by AREVA energy company on June 18. This is significant... While this was hard to swallow from the start, this newest revelation certainly makes Bryant look less-than-forthcoming with the truth about his knowledge and even involvement with MEI's nuclear waste proposal." |
SPORTS
| Go to game or watch on TV? Schools add amenities for fans | |
 | Blame it on technology. In an era when fans at home can watch multiple games at the same time, when the stadium video board can't match the number of highlights available on an iPad, when fans inside a stadium get poor cell-phone reception while those at home are texting and Twittering, big-time college programs are feeling pressure to keep pace. Even the Southeastern Conference, which has produced eight of the past 10 national champions and enjoys huge popularity, has created a "Working Group on Fan Experience." Chaired by Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin, the committee exists because the SEC saw a per-game decrease in attendance for a fourth consecutive season. |
| Mississippi State defense feels prepared for QB duo | |
| How effective Mississippi State's defense is against Oklahoma State's offense was decided earlier than Saturday. When the Bulldogs kick off the season at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Oklahoma State will feature two players under center -- J.W. Walsh and Clint Chelf. The best way to contain the two is knowing their games. The scouting began last week within the walls of the MSU football complex. |
| Mississippi State will wear new helmet against OSU | |
| Mississippi State will wear a special helmet for its contest against Oklahoma State on Saturday in the AdvoCare Texas Classic at Houston's Reliant Stadium. The game will be televised regionally at 2:30 p.m. on ABC and nationally on ESPN 2. MSU is the visiting team, but will dress in the home locker room. |
| Evans, Courcol to be inducted into Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame | |
| Two former Mississippi State athletes -- Charles "Dinky" Evans and Daniel Courcol -- will be inducted into the MSU Sports Hall of Fame during pregame festivities when the Bulldogs host Troy in a football game on Sept. 21, the athletic department announced Wednesday. Evans was a two-year letterman (1953-54) for the football Bulldogs. A fullback, Evans earned the prestigious Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the Southeastern Conference in 1954. A native of Paris, France, Courcol was a three-year letterwinner (1991-93) for the Bulldog tennis squad. He earned all-America honors four times during his career -- twice in singles (1992-93) and twice in doubles (1991, '93) -- and also received all-Southeastern Conference laurels multiple times. |
| Hello, I must be going | Brad Locke (Opinion) | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Brad Locke writes: "When I began covering Mississippi State for the Daily Journal five years ago, my predecessor, Gregg Ellis, gave me a piece of advice that's stuck with me to this day. 'Don't let this job run your life.' Easier said than done. I quickly found out just how demanding it is to cover a college beat full time, and while it dictated my life to a great extent, I tried my best to heed Gregg's advice. I tried to enjoy the job, and for the most part, I have. As you might have heard, my time covering the Bulldogs is nearing an end, because I've accepted a position as the online content coordinator for the Journal. So while that will mean almost no travel and more time with my family, and while I expect I'll greatly enjoy my new job, there is plenty I'll miss about covering MSU." |
| Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel suspended for first half of Saturday's game | |
| After nearly a month of uncertainty and speculation, the Johnny Manziel autograph circus has come to an end. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner will sit out the first half of Texas A&M's season opener against Rice on Saturday for an "inadvertent violation" of NCAA rules regarding autograph signing, according to a joint statement released by A&M and the NCAA. The statement said the NCAA and A&M found "there is no evidence Manziel received monetary reward in exchange for autographs." A&M declared Manziel ineligible Wednesday, handing down the suspension. In addition, the statement said he'd be ordered to address the team regarding the lessons he learned in order to be reinstated. It also said A&M would revise the way it handles autographs for individuals with multiple items. A&M and Rice kick off at noon Saturday on Kyle Field. The game will air on ESPN. |
| Alabama football faithful face fuel costs, holiday traffic in getting to game in Atlanta | |
 | Crimson Tide football fans driving to Atlanta for Saturday's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic will first have to defeat two opponents: slightly higher gas prices and heavier traffic linked to the Labor Day holiday weekend. "You're going to see two types of people traveling this weekend: the Labor Day travelers and the football game travelers," said Clay Ingram, public relations director at AAA of Alabama. "(Gas) prices have been dropping in the last few weeks, but with Labor Day coming up, we have seen a bump in gas prices." |
| Celebrating 40 years on the air: U. of South Carolina's Tommy Suggs 'lives every play' | |
| Back in 1966 when Tommy Suggs came to Columbia from his tiny hometown of Lamar -- well before Interstate 20 connected the Florence area to the capital city -- he was impressed by what he discovered at the University of South Carolina. For a young football player arriving to play quarterback for the Gamecocks, he found life different from his youthful days of cropping tobacco and picking cotton for 35 cents an hour. He had never taken an elevator ride until he got to campus. Thursday night, Suggs will celebrate his 40-year anniversary in the radio booth by calling the game against North Carolina with play-by-play announcer Todd Ellis, another former USC quarterback. He remains amazed by what's going on around him, from the record-setting 11-win seasons to membership in the SEC to the explosion of national television coverage to a stadium that has gone from a 43,000-seat capacity during his playing days to 80,250. |
| Athens named top 10 college football town for nonstudents | |
 | MSN Real Estate named Athens amongst the country's top 10 college football towns for grown-ups. The list focuses on "the best places for nonstudents to reside in university towns where people live and breath football," according to the website. In addition to Athens, the list includes Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Eugene, Ore.; Columbus, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; College Station, Texas; Palo Alto, Calif.; Columbia, S.C.; Gainesville, Fla.; and Tallahassee, Fla. |
| Top tailgating vehicles: Alabama-made models make Cars.com list of football-friendly rides | |
| College football kicks off tonight, and some people won't be content watching the action from the comfort of their couch. Tailgating is a tradition at campuses across the U.S., and in that spirit, Cars.com has issued a list of the top tailgating vehicles. Two Alabama-made models landed on this year's list: the 2014 Honda Odyssey minivan and the 2013 Honda Ridgeline pickup. Both are produced at the Japanese automaker's Talladega County plant. |
| Parts of RooTown are rooting for Jim Tressel to lead U. of Akron | |
| The University of Akron advised administrators not to come in to Buchtel Hall one weekend this summer because the air conditioning was broken and the temperature was intolerable. Yet when UA maintenance supervisor L.B. Keller showed up to fix the air conditioning, he found one administrator at work, water bottle in hand -- Jim Tressel. "He said it didn't matter to him, and he was still going to work, and let me tell you it was HOT that day," Keller said. More than a year into his new job, the former Ohio State football coach has found a new reason for being --- the job of recruiting students to UA and guiding them to graduation and, his favorite word, success. Tressel, 60, has scooped up departments, restructured offices and made it his mission to buttress UA's flagging enrollment. If rumors have it right, he may follow Luis Proenza into the UA president's suite in July. |
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