| Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
| Registration Now Open: MSU Spring Preview Day anticipates thousands of prospective Bulldogs | |
 | Mississippi State's Spring Preview Day organizers are readying for thousands of prospective Bulldogs and their families to explore and learn more about the MSU and SEC experience on April 10. Registration is now open at https://www.admissions.msstate.edu/visit/preview-day and is $10 per person. While geared toward high school juniors, Spring Preview Day is open to all potential students, including high schoolers and community college and university transfers. When arriving at MSU's Humphrey Coliseum, participants will be welcomed by students representing a variety of leadership organizations and receive an information packet and MSU T-shirt, before being immersed in a wide range of events throughout campus and Starkville. The city of Starkville is known as the "Best Small Town in the South," a title garnered in 2024 and 2025 from USA Today voters. Sally Rutland, associate director of Orientation and Events, said that partnering with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and MSU Athletics "showcases the full SEC experience and highlights all of the many things happening this entire weekend in April." |
| MSU researchers develop autonomous technology to reshape modern farming | |
| As global food demand increases, Mississippi State University researchers are developing autonomous agricultural technologies aimed at improving efficiency and reducing labor demands in farming. Led by the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) and the Agricultural Autonomy Institute, the work focuses on robotics that not only perform field tasks but also collect data that can help farmers improve yields and overall crop performance. The research is particularly important in Mississippi, where agriculture is the state's largest industry and farms cover 10.3 million acres, according to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce. ABE assistant professor Hussein Gharakhani is one of the researchers leading the efforts. He is developing an autonomous cotton-harvesting robot designed to operate without a human driver and harvest cotton more precisely than current equipment. "That's one of the main concepts as a land grant university. It's one of our highest priorities," Gharakhani said. "We make sure that we are solving high-priority issues related to agriculture in the state first, as well as the nation." |
| Rice delphacid presents new threat to Mississippi crop | |
 | Rice delphacid, an invasive threat to Southern rice production, made its appearance in Mississippi last year. According to the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service, rice delphacid is native to Central and South America and has been slowly moving north. In addition to Mississippi, it was found in Louisiana and Arkansas in 2025. Don Cook and Tyler Towles, entomologists with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, found this pest in mid-September in MSU rice fields at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. After its discovery in Washington County, it was also observed in Bolivar, Humphreys, Leflore and Sunflower counties, which are some of the state's primary rice-producing areas. "Rice delphacids feed on various grasses, with rice being its primary and most economically significant host," Cook said. "They show up in very high numbers, and in addition to the leaf damage that causes yield loss, they excrete excess sugar as honeydew, and this leads to sooty mold in the rice. They also carry a virus that causes Rice Hoja Blanca disease, which can cause the rice grains not to develop, resulting in an empty or blank head." |
| Howard Industries founder passes away at 99 | |
| Mississippi is mourning the loss of a business giant. Howard Industries founder Billy Howard Sr. passed away at the age of 99, the company announced on Wednesday. Howard was born in Louisville in 1927 and later became a star student-athlete at Mississippi State University, where he lettered in a trio of sports and earned an electrical engineering degree. Before entering the workforce at General Electric, Howard served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. In 1968, Howard left his post at General Electric to start his own company, Howard Industries. From there, the business ballooned, growing into a billion-dollar company consisting of four separate divisions. Howard Industries is one of the country's leading manufacturers of electrical distribution transformers. Howard, a Mississippi Business Hall of Fame member and former Entrepreneur of the Year, was also involved in philanthropy, promoting education campaigns, and supporting athletics operations at his alma mater, Mississippi State. |
| Community leaders honored by Starkville Partnership | |
 | The Starkville Town and Country Garden Club was among five organizations and individuals honored Tuesday night at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership's annual awards banquet and 25th anniversary celebration at The Mill at MSU. The garden club was named Main Street Partner of the Year for its beautification and volunteer efforts across the city, according to a GSDP awards video. Starkville Main Street Director Paige Watson said the club focuses on beautification, an often-overlooked aspect of community development. Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux received the R. Clay Simmons Business of the Year Award for its fundraising efforts through programs such as its annual Pancake Breakfast, which has raised funds for Starkville Strong, the Boys and Girls Club, Casting for a Cause and the Mayor's Youth Council. The T.E. Veitch Community Service Award, which honors a lifetime of community service, was presented to Alison Buehler. Buehler serves on the board of directors for the J.L. King Center and helped organize the Starkville chapter of 100 Women Who Care, a national movement that supports community projects. The Ambassador of the Year Award, which recognizes individuals who go "above and beyond" to promote Starkville, was given to Danielle Atchley. Atchley was recognized for her assistance with Business After Hours events, participation in ribbon cuttings and welcoming new members as part of the GSDP Ambassadors program. |
| USACE deploys power response teams after Winter Storm Fern | |
| The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is repositioning an Emergency Power Planning and Response Team to Mississippi to support the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency following emergency conditions caused by the January 2026 winter storm. According to the Corps, professional emergency power teams were already positioned at FEMA staging areas before the storm arrived as part of early response efforts. As travel conditions allow, USACE is moving 26 Planning and Response Team members and 34 Advance Contracting Initiative members to Camp McCain in Grenada, where a generator staging base is being established. The teams will assess critical public facilities in impacted areas to determine emergency power needs and install generators as directed by MEMA. "Our communities throughout the country are experiencing major hardship from Winter Storm Fern and many Americans are unfortunately without power," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said. |
| Situation in South grows more dire after days of ice, frigid temperatures and widespread outages | |
 | Mississippi dispatchers are fielding desperate calls for medication or oxygen from people stuck in their homes. Troopers in Tennessee are fanning out for welfare checks on those who haven't been heard from in days. And in at least one rural area, officials have resorted to using trucks typically used for battling wildfires to transport patients to hospitals. It could be days before power is restored across the South, where more subfreezing temperatures are expected by Friday in areas unaccustomed to and ill-equipped for such cold. The situation is reaching a breaking point for the elderly and those with medical conditions who lack electricity, some of whom are trapped by roads made impassable by ice and fallen trees. The growing misery and anxiety comes amid what Mississippi officials say is the state's worst winter storm in more than 30 years. About 60 warming centers were opened across a state known as one of the nation's poorest. But for some communities, they are not enough. Hal Ferrell, mayor of Batesville, said Wednesday that no one in the city has power and, with roads still slippery with ice, it's too soon to begin recovery efforts. "We're at a real mess and warming centers just don't exist for 7,500 people," Ferrell said. |
| Tens of Thousands Still Without Power After Storm Cripples the South | |
 | Tens of thousands of residents across Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana were still without power or heat on Wednesday, as officials and linemen labored to recover from a brutal winter storm that debilitated the South over the weekend. Hundreds of power lines and poles remained damaged after nearly an inch of accumulated ice sent trees, branches and utility infrastructure crashing to the ground late Saturday into early Sunday. Temperatures were hovering near or below freezing for much of Wednesday, making it an increasingly expensive and dire endeavor to stay warm. In Oxford, Miss., where the University of Mississippi campus will remain closed through next Sunday, Mayor Robyn Tannehill said that National Guard troops would arrive to help the city recover. Parts of two interstate highways in North Mississippi also remained closed for ice removal as of Wednesday afternoon. The ongoing power outages came after a potent combination of freezing rain and low temperatures coated much of the region in ice. Few power lines, trees, pieces of infrastructure or households were spared, and on Wednesday, there was still concern about trees and branches continuing to fall as work continued. |
| The Race Against the Clock to Fix a Power Grid Meltdown | |
 | Part of Mississippi is paralyzed in the wake of a winter storm that completely upended the power grid. Linemen are now working nearly around the clock to re-electrify the area around Oxford, Miss. In the region served by the rural electric cooperative North East Mississippi Electric Power Association, virtually all 30,000 customers lost power on Sunday. Roughly 23,000 were still without power on Monday. "Our whole system got at least an inch of ice," said Keith Hayward, chief executive officer and general manager for the co-op. That means utility poles spaced around 300 feet apart, which might carry three electric wires, a neutral wire and a few communications wires, were holding nearly 5,000 pounds of ice, he said. "And then you have a limb that's full of ice on a big pine tree that's 6 inches thick, and it comes crashing down and puts a shock wave on it," Hayward said. Among the challenges Hayward's crews are facing are downed poles and wires, and difficult travel conditions. Workers on Sunday had to cut their way into some areas to do damage assessments. As additional trees fell into roads, they had to cut their way out, Hayward said. So far, the damage seems far worse than a 1994 ice storm that paralyzed Mississippi, Hayward said. |
| Lights are slowly coming back on, but many Mississippi roads remain messy after ice storm | |
| Electrical service is slowly returning in regions of north Mississippi and the Delta after this past weekend's ice storm, even as brutally cold temperatures linger in many places. State and local officials stressed Wednesday that major obstacles remain for restoring power, clearing roads and providing water. Officials with state departments of Transportation and Public Safety both warned of traveling woes. Late Tuesday, a combination of ice and wrecks brought traffic to a standstill on Interstate 55 and Interstate 22 in north Mississippi. Social media posts recounted people in frigid conditions being stranded on the highways all night. On Wednesday evening, the highways were closed for northbound traffic from Batesville to Senatobia on I-55 and for all lanes of I-22/U.S. 78 from the Tennessee state line to Red Banks, northwest of Holly Springs. One person posted on social media that he was trapped on I-55 from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday, Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday that storm also has resulted at least 10 deaths. In Lafayette County in north central Mississippi, the lights were slowly coming back on, but Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill said the city's water system experienced problems. |
| Why are boomers and Gen Xers more pessimistic about the economy? | |
| In the latest consumer confidence numbers released Tuesday by The Conference Board, the January index fell to its lowest level in almost 12 years. Confidence fell across political affiliation, household income, and age. But when it comes to age, the drop was sharper among older Americans -- Generation X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation. Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, has been going to the same French restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, for more than a decade. And in the last handful of years, he's watched menu prices climb. "I kinda feel like somebody's punching me in the face and taking a couple of $20 bills out of my wallet," he said. "That produces a sour feeling." Strain understands the forces behind inflation, and he's done the math on whether his earnings have kept up. They have. But that logic only takes him so far, and he still feels bad about inflation. "I feel that way because I am comparing prices today to what they used to be," he said. Strain is 44, so that's an actual reference point for him -- a history that most people in their 20s are too young to have. It's likely a big reason why Americans under 35 have a bit more confidence in the economy, and why those 35 or older have less. Michael Madowitz, an economist at the Roosevelt Institute, said it's true that Gen X has the lowest level of consumer confidence. |
| U.S. Companies Are Still Slashing Jobs to Reverse Pandemic Hiring Boom | |
| The new era of corporate cost-cutting is hitting American workers with full force. Big companies from Amazon.com to UPS are slashing jobs, looking to shrink their head counts after years of breakneck growth. Companies generously expanded their workforces during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 and doled out hefty raises, worried that moving too slowly might leave them with a shortage of skilled workers. Now, some companies say their hiring sprees went too far. Their biggest concerns today are bloat and runaway expenses. "A lot of these companies found that they are too big," said Guy Berger, a senior fellow at the think tank Burning Glass Institute. For months, corporate executives and labor economists have theorized about whether -- and when -- advances in artificial intelligence will lead to widespread layoffs. But that shoe has yet to meaningfully drop. For the moment at least, the layoff story is centered on bloat. The sectors that recorded some of the top hiring surges in 2020 and 2021 -- tech and logistics -- are now seeing the most layoffs. U.S.-based employers announced 1.2 million job cuts in 2025, the highest annual figure since 2020, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The tech sector led all private-sector industries with 154,445 job cuts, followed by warehousing with 95,317. |
| State bills would allow MSMS to start accepting sophomores | |
| If Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science has its way in the legislature this session, enrollment could expand to include high school sophomores as early as July 2026. Along with expanding enrollment, two companion bills in the House and Senate would also create a formal statewide advisory council for MSMS and allow it to operate as its own fiscal agent, a role held by Mississippi University for Women since the residential high school was established on its campus in 1987. Each goal is aimed at promoting the long-term growth of MSMS and the success of its students, Executive Director Ginger Tedder told The Dispatch on Wednesday. "(Expanding enrollment is) just an opportunity that we've been looking at for a while," she said. "And while we were opening the (state) code for fiscal agency, we wanted to add all the different pieces that we've been thinking about. It fits together to grow MSMS into the future." Tedder said expanding enrollment would allow the school to level academic differences among students coming from different educational backgrounds. MSMS currently serves about 240 high school juniors and seniors. If enrollment is opened to sophomores, Tedder estimates the school has the capacity for about 75 more students, though that would put both residence halls at maximum capacity. |
| Lawmakers push bills to ban cellphone use in schools | |
| Cellphones could soon become a rarer sight in classrooms, thanks to the Mississippi Legislature. The House Education Committee passed a bill during its Wednesday meeting that would require local school boards to enact policies that restrict or prohibit the use of cellphones during the school day. The Senate Education Committee greenlit a similar bill during its meeting last week, which bodes well for the legislative success of the policy. Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, said similar bills have previously failed, but he's optimistic that the Legislature can get the policy passed this year because it's a priority for legislators in both chambers. Creekmore also said he's concerned about the amount of time students are spending on their phones and how that impacts their mental health. Mental health issues among teenagers have risen sharply since the early 2010s, coinciding with the widespread adoption of smartphones. "You just can't ignore that," he said. Youth mental health concerns have sparked renewed interest in policies across the country. Research links cellphone and social media usage among school-aged kids to negative mental health outcomes and instances of cyberbullying. |
| Bill would allow police to seize cars used in illegal street racing | |
| Drivers caught drag racing in Mississippi could lose their cars under a new bill moving through the state Capitol. The proposed legislation would allow law enforcement to seize and forfeit vehicles used in illegal street racing. Supporters say the measure is needed to curb a growing problem, particularly in Jackson, where lawmakers and residents say racing has become increasingly dangerous. State lawmakers backing the bill argue street racing puts innocent people at risk and overwhelms neighborhoods with late-night noise, reckless driving and near misses. They say current penalties are not enough to deter repeat offenders. Earlier this month, 16 WAPT reported on residents living along Medgar Evers Boulevard who say illegal racing has turned the busy corridor into a hazard. Neighbors described cars speeding at all hours, engines roaring and drivers weaving through traffic, raising fears of serious crashes. If passed, the bill would give police broader authority to impound vehicles tied to street racing incidents, with forfeiture proceedings following under state law. Supporters believe the threat of losing a vehicle could serve as a strong deterrent. |
| Mississippi put on notice of possible penalty over misspent welfare funds | |
| Mississippi could still face significant penalties from the federal government related to the misspending of upwards of $90 million in welfare funds, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conveyed to Department of Human Services executive director Bob Anderson in a letter this week. Deborah List, Acting Deputy Director with the HHS Office of Family Assistance in the Administration for Children and Families, reminded Anderson that the federal agency rescinded its December 2024 penalty notice in April 2025 "solely to allow additional time for MDHS to review the expenditure records MDHS is obtaining through discovery." "One of the subrecipients potentially linked to a significant amount of the fraudulent expenditures had previously refused to provide MDHS with certain documentation and MDHS filed suit in state court to obtain the records," List outlined in her letter to Anderson on Wednesday. She then tells Anderson that, as per the April 14, 2025 letter, "ACF will be issuing a subsequent notice of a penalty once MDHS submits any additional relevant documentation, obtained through the state court litigation, and ACF determines whether there is any change, either an increase or a decrease, in the amount of TANF funds ACF concludes was misused." |
| Rubio leaves door open to more military action in Venezuela | |
 | Secretary of State Marco Rubio would not commit Wednesday to seeking congressional authorization if the Trump administration takes further military action in Venezuela. In his opening statement at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio left open the possibility that the administration could use military force if Venezuela's interim president does not cooperate with the United States. Pressed later by Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., if the administration would come to Congress before military action to compel cooperation from the Venezuelan government, Rubio did not directly answer, but said the 1973 War Powers Resolution applies to "sustained" military actions. He also suggested the administration would act unilaterally to address any "imminent" threats. "I can tell you right now with full certainty, we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time," Rubio said. "On the other hand, if we tell them we don't want to see drones from Iran, as an example, pointed at the United States or threatening our forces or our presence in the region or our allies' presence in the region, the president does reserve the option in self-defense to eliminate that threat." |
| Jeff Landry is Trump's envoy to Greenland. He wants to celebrate gumbo. | |
 | After an eventful week in Davos, Switzerland -- where President Donald Trump variously referred to Greenland as "our territory," said he wouldn't use force to acquire it, then announced a "framework of a future deal with respect to" the island -- Trump spoke Saturday to his Greenland guy: Jeff Landry, Louisiana's Republican governor, who has not been to Greenland. "He said, 'Jeff, you need to tell people how much I love the Greenlanders,'" Landry said Tuesday in an interview. "'I love them. I want them to have opportunities. I want to make Greenland great again, as they want to make it -- not necessarily in the eyes of Americans and what they would want, but in the eyes of the Greenlanders.'" That could be a tough sell. Many Greenlandic leaders have bridled at Trump's push to control the autonomous territory of roughly 57,000 residents, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark. And Landry already holds a fairly time-consuming job. (After his conversation with Trump over the weekend, he had to pivot to managing his state's response to a deadly winter storm.) Trump named him special envoy to Greenland late last year. At the time, Landry called it "an honor" to help "make Greenland a part of the U.S." At the same time, his specific role has not always been clear. So far, Landry's job seems mostly confined to a handful of television and radio appearances, which he has used to hype the idea of Greenlanders and Americans -- specifically, Louisianans -- as natural pals who really ought to get to know one another. |
| Trump, tech giants seek to change data center narrative amid growing scrutiny | |
 | President Trump and major tech companies are attempting to change the narrative around data centers, as rising electricity costs linked to AI infrastructure faces growing local opposition and increasingly becomes a political liability. Both the White House and tech industry appear keen to limit the fallout from data centers, with initiatives to bring down electricity prices and recast the sprawling facilities as community players willing to pay their fair share. While the Trump administration has been broadly supportive of data centers, including through efforts to fast-track their construction, going forward that support may have limitations. "We are going to embrace data centers, but not at the price ... of raising costs for consumers," a senior White House official told The Hill on Tuesday. "So if you want to invest and build data centers, you've got to do it in the right way, the way that is not going to pass that cost onto consumers," the official said. The aide also said hyperscalers -- large cloud services providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft -- should have to bring their own power sources. "That's certainly what the president feels as well -- that they should have their own generation," the official said. |
| Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom | |
 | Data centers have caused the demand for gas-fired power in the US to explode over the past two years, according to new research released Wednesday. More than a third of this new demand, the research found, is explicitly linked to gas projects that will power data centers -- the equivalent of energy that would power tens of millions of US homes. The findings from Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco–based nonprofit that tracks oil and gas developments, come as the Trump administration is both encouraging data center build-out and doing away with pollution regulations on power plants and oil and gas extraction. They will also almost certainly mean an increase in US greenhouse gas emissions, even if some of the projects tracked by Global Energy Monitor never get built. Data centers have helped to nearly triple the demand for gas-fired power in the US over the past two years. As the data center build-out continues across the country, developers are scrambling to secure power from any and all sources -- and utilities are racing to meet the projected demand. This has meant that dirtier power sources are getting a second shot at staying online: coal-fired power plants around the country have recently been given extensions on their retirement dates, boosted by coal-friendly policies from the Trump administration. |
| New videos show Alex Pretti scuffle with federal officers the week before his death | |
| Alex Pretti was forcefully taken to the ground by federal immigration agents after kicking out the tail light of their vehicle during a Minneapolis protest 11 days before he was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers, videos that emerged Wednesday show. The Jan. 13 scuffle was captured in a pair of videos that show Pretti shouting an expletive at the federal officers and struggling with them. His winter coat comes off when he's on the ground and he either breaks free or the officers let him go and he scurries away. When he turns his back to the camera, what appears to be a handgun is visible in his waistband. At no point do the videos show Pretti reaching for the gun and it is unclear whether the federal agents saw it. A person with knowledge of the incident confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the videos is Pretti and that he had told his family of the confrontation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters sensitive to the family. The new videos immediately rekindled the national debate about the death of Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, posted one of the videos on X and commented, "Just a peaceful legal observer." |
| 'Who can you kill?': Minnesota crisis collides with Rand Paul's ideological crusade | |
 | Rand Paul made his name as a gadfly preaching about the dangers of a tyrannical federal government. Now, after the killings of two Minnesota residents at the hands of Homeland Security agents, the Kentucky Republican has a chance to do something about it. The 63-year-old, who spent years on the outskirts of the party, is now at the center of the Senate's response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, which have sparked new criticism of the administration's immigration enforcement policies and raised many of the same civil liberties questions Paul has long been asking. As chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he's already forced a trio of top immigration officials to agree to testify, publicly criticized the administration's response to the Pretti shooting and even raised the possibility Congress might step in if the administration refuses to conduct an independent investigation of that incident. "For people to have confidence in government and confidence in law enforcement ... we have to be very honest," Paul told reporters. "I don't think anybody in America believes he was assaulting those officers, so we have to tell the truth." But Paul -- who is already in President Donald Trump's doghouse as an inconsistent GOP ally -- is still walking a fine line. |
| These Young Voters Are Starting to Regret Their Vote for Trump | |
| Week after week, images of Israel's military pummeling Gaza filled news broadcasts and social media -- and President Trump was losing patience. "People are getting sick of turning on the TV and seeing you bombing everything," Trump said in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The young people don't like it." Trump's private remarks last year, recounted by a person with knowledge of the conversation, came as his standing with young people has plummeted during his first year in office. After Trump nearly won the group in 2024, roughly two-thirds of young voters ages 18-29 now disapprove of the president's priorities, including his approach to foreign policy and immigration, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll. Elysia Morales was all-in for the MAGA movement. The 21-year-old cast her first presidential vote for Trump in 2024 and soon built up Republican credentials, leading her Indiana college Turning Point USA chapter as vice president and serving as a national committeewoman for the College Republicans of America for the state. But after seeing videos of deportations posted by Trump administration officials and the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Morales, a granddaughter of a Mexican immigrant, said her support for Trump is at a newfound low. She said she is also disturbed by Trump's foreign entanglements, including with Israel, and has left both her posts at TPUSA---the youth outreach organization founded by Charlie Kirk -- and the College Republicans of America. "This is not the party I once signed up for and registered to be in," said the Saint Mary's College junior. |
| Campus Closed Another Week, Due Dates Paused | |
 | The University of Mississippi announced its closure for an additional week in a campus-wide alert on Wednesday, Jan. 28, citing the extreme impact and ongoing recovery efforts from Winter Storm Fern. All classes, events and academic activities are canceled through Sunday, Feb. 8. Provost Noel Wilkin announced in an email on Wednesday, Jan. 28 that assignment due dates, financial aid refunds, attendance verification and the course add/drop date will be postponed until the university reopens. Current conditions on campus render travel across campus and the use of various buildings unsafe until necessary repairs are completed. In a statement posted on X and in an email to the university community, Chancellor Glenn Boyce stressed the severity of the ice storm's effects on the campus and Oxford communities. "The people of our city and county, including thousands of students and employees, are facing the loss of power and water, internet and cellular connectivity issues and intermittent access to food and fuel," Boyce said in the statement. "Conditions remain hazardous with ice on roads and walkways, inoperable stop lights, downed trees and power lines as well as falling ice as temperatures fluctuate." The university is requiring instructors to be flexible and adjust deadlines to meet what is an extended power outage and impact on infrastructure. |
| One of the 'lucky ones': College students deal with the winter storm aftermath | |
| The threat of a snow storm didn't scare Lina Semmar. The freshman studying sports management at the University of Mississippi grew up in New England. It was ordinary to get a lot of snow -- even multiple inches -- overnight during the winter. After campus officials emailed students late last week about safety plans and preparation for the impending winter storm, Semmar stocked up on snacks like microwavable macaroni and cheese bowls and bags of potato chips. She tried using Instacart, a grocery pickup mobile app, for groceries, but many items were out of stock. Everyone was being dramatic, she recalled thinking. She was certain the snow wouldn't stick and class would resume Tuesday morning. "But ice is a whole different ball game," Semmar said. Ice, a lingering hazard from the storm, is why roadways across hard-hit areas of the state remain treacherous and tens of thousands of Mississippi residents remain without power. On Wednesday, UM officials announced on Facebook that the university will remain closed until Feb. 8 -- two weeks after the storm. Other Mississippi colleges and universities are experiencing similar challenges because of the weather. |
| Grad students struggle to find affordable housing | |
| Graduate students at the University of Mississippi wrestle with Oxford's housing crisis, as do many others, but for grad students, there are additional challenges. They often rely on stipends to cover rent, groceries, transportation, and other basic expenses. As a result, some are living in overcrowded apartments or commuting long distances, which sometimes affects their academics and overall well-being. "There is an extreme housing crisis and a high rate of housing rent, which created stress when I was looking for housing," said Anika Tabasum Barsha, a graduate teaching assistant. "I'm constantly facing certain sets of challenges, including covering every other expense." The cost of renting has surged sharply in Oxford. According to Rent Cafe, the average rent in Oxford was $1500 in 2022; by September 2025, it had climbed to $2,236. Duncan Gray is the Director of Community and Workforce Development at the Oxford School District. He said there are a number of factors affecting housing prices, including people who purchase weekend or vacation homes. "That takes the home off the market, which could potentially be rented to graduate students or school students," Gray said. Dr. Marquita Smith, associate professor and graduate coordinator in the School of Journalism and New Media, said the university understands that it is a struggle for graduate students to find housing. |
| JSU Secures Patent for Innovative Underwater Retrieval System | |
| Jackson State University has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 12,246,800 for a groundbreaking underwater retrieval device that enhances scientific data collection while minimizing the risk of equipment loss or tampering. The patented invention, titled Releasable Float Assembly and Method of Operating, was developed by Kamali Ali, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering. It is a fully sealed, smartphone-programmable system that allows researchers to schedule the retrieval of submerged equipment without leaving any visible surface markers. A float remains magnetically secured underwater and surfaces only at the designated time, triggered by a Bluetooth-enabled microcontroller. This design keeps research tools hidden from view and supports extended fieldwork in marine, coastal or environmental settings. Wilbur Walters, Ph.D., dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, praised the work as a model of research excellence and mentorship. "This marks a significant personal achievement for Ali and his team and shows what's possible when faculty engage students in hands-on innovation," Walters said. "We're proud to see our students contributing to technologies with real-world relevance." |
| College achievement levels rise significantly on the Coast, new Census data shows | |
 | The share of Mississippi Coast adults with a bachelor's degree or higher has soared across the three coastal counties in recent years, according to new estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. The data, released Thursday, shows each coastal county's percentage of adults with at least a bachelor's degree is rising faster than the national rate across other metropolitan areas. It also shows higher education attainment is increasing across the state. In Harrison County, the share of residents 25 or older with a bachelor's degree rose by almost 5 percentage points. It increased from 23 percent in the period between 2015 and 2019 to 27.5 percent between 2020 and 2024. Erik Hernandez, a Census Bureau statistician, called similar gains on the national level "a significant increase." The Coast's largest increase was in Jackson County, where the portion of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher rose from 21 to almost 27 percent. Hancock County also saw large gains: Its percentage of adults with at least a bachelor's degree rose from 22 percent to almost 27 percent. Mississippi often ranks poorly on measures of educational attainment, and the Coast still lags behind national figures. Still, leaders say Mississippi's efforts to encourage residents to attend college may be working. The state's share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 22 percent between 2015 and 2019 to about 25 percent between 2020 and 2024. |
| Bill aiming to consolidate Mississippi community colleges dies in House committee | |
| Legislation that would consolidate six of Mississippi's community colleges failed to advance in the state's House of Representatives. After receiving widespread pushback, especially from leaders at Southwest Mississippi Community College, House Bill 1284 was rejected by a majority of the chamber's Universities and Colleges Committee on Wednesday, meaning it will not be brought to a floor vote. The legislation was drafted by Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, to merge nearly half of Mississippi's 15 community colleges. Per the text, Coahoma Community College would have been absorbed by Mississippi Delta Community College; Meridian Community College would have been absorbed by East Mississippi Community College; and Southwest Mississippi Community College would have been absorbed by Copiah-Lincoln Community College. "House Bill 1284 is DEAD!!! The Bill did not make it out of the House Universities and Colleges Committee," Dr. Wendy Smith, Southwest Mississippi Community College associate vice president for workforce training," SMCC Associated Vice President for Workforce Training Wendy Saba Smith wrote on Facebook. "We have the greatest community in the country!!! We spoke up and were heard!!!" |
| Hey, ChatGPT: Where Should I Go to College? | |
| It was September, and Rosemary Davis was feeling overwhelmed. Her son, a high school senior interested in history and music, was beginning to apply to colleges. The admissions process had completely transformed since she was a student, and counseling at her son's public high school in Massachusetts was "almost nonexistent," she said. Adrift in a new world of unfamiliar acronyms and exorbitant price tags, Ms. Davis, 48, a school librarian, turned to ChatGPT. She began by asking the A.I. chatbot basic questions about how to fill out the Common App, a standardized application used by hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities. (For instance: What did it mean by "activity list"?) Then she requested suggestions of small liberal arts schools where her son might be competitive based on his grades and test scores. Her son was "horrified," she said: "He's like, 'Stop, Mom.'" But she wanted to know more. She copied the list of 14 colleges he was applying to into a paid chatbot, Claude Pro, and asked it to predict where he might be accepted. Facing the gantlet of applying to college, students and parents are prompting A.I. chatbots to take on a role somewhere between that of an admissions counselor and a crystal ball. One-third of high school students surveyed in 2024 by the education consulting firm Ruffalo Noel Levitz said they had used A.I. tools as part of their college planning. The most popular reason they indicated was to research schools. |
| State H-1B Visa Pauses Are 'Reckless,' Faculty Warn | |
 | First, President Trump placed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications in September. Then a month later, Florida's governor Ron DeSantis urged his university board to "pull the plug" on visa-holding employees. And now, this week, Texas governor Greg Abbott has ordered his own one-year visa freeze and Florida's university board is set to consider a similar one today. And while the H-1B program can only be used to hire foreign talent for specialty occupations that require highly specialized skill sets, data shows that collectively these actions could affect tens of thousands of new employees each year -- many of whom work at colleges and universities. U.S. colleges and universities hired more than 16,000 workers on approved H-1B visas in the first three quarters of 2025 -- making up about 5 percent of the overall total, an Inside Higher Ed data analysis showed. Nearly half of them were at just 50 institutions, six of which were located in Texas and Florida. Many of those roles across the sector were at research and medical centers. About 40 percent of the visas issued to employees at public universities in 2025 went to workers at medical or health institutions, according to an AAUP analysis of federal data. But even in states that don't pause H-1B visa applications, universities could struggle to recruit foreign workers thanks to Trump's $100,000 fee. |
| Two States Are Pausing H-1B Hiring at Public Universities. Here's What That Could Mean. | |
 | Colleges rely on highly skilled employees from abroad to fill key roles in research, medicine, and other fields. But a new raft of federal and state changes is disrupting that pipeline. This week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered a pause on hiring new foreign employees at the state's public universities until June 2027. The move followed a similar directive from another reform-minded Republican, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in October told public universities to end "H-1B abuse." DeSantis was referring to the H-1B visas that allow international scholars to work in the United States. The State University System of Florida's Board of Governors will vote Thursday on a proposed policy that would halt H-1B hiring until early 2027. DeSantis has cited the need "to make sure our citizens here in Florida are first in line for job opportunities." Public universities in Texas and Florida had over 1,000 foreign-worker applications approved in 2025, including new petitions and renewals. The states' pauses apply only to new H-1B employees, not existing visa-holders who renew their status or request a change in employment conditions, such as taking a job at a different university. H-1B visas allow thousands of foreign scholars and professionals to work at U.S. colleges, particularly research universities. But the Trump administration has sought to shrink the program as part of its "America First" focus, drawing alarm from higher-ed advocates. |
| Florida Introduces 'Sanitized' Sociology Textbook | |
| Sociology faculty at Florida International University are outraged that their department is requiring them to use a state-approved textbook to teach an introductory course as part of the university's general education curriculum. They say the state's process for developing the textbook and new course framework was opaque, rushed and designed to pressure universities into adopting censored learning materials without a legal directive to do so. Furthermore, the textbook -- a heavily edited version of an open-source sociology textbook titled Introduction to Sociology 3e -- now makes only cursory mentions of important sociological concepts regarding race, gender, sexuality and other topics that have drawn Republican ire. Faculty say it whitewashes the field's key principles, diminishes the quality of education for students and intensifies the state's attacks on academic freedom. Beyond FIU, faculty all over the state are raising questions about the contents of the new textbook, the committee that created it and what exactly they are -- and aren't -- allowed to teach. |
| Senate committee OKs bill exempting some K-12, higher ed construction projects from inspections | |
| An Alabama Senate Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would exempt "covered" K-12 schools and higher education institutions construction projects costing less than $750,000 from all state inspections. SB 88, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, passed the committee 11-2. It would prevent the Division of Construction Management (DCM), located in the Department of Finance, from conducting inspections on school projects costing less than $750,000 for Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and fire and safety compliance. "I was approached by several people in the education community in my area about the cost of construction and delays in construction when the Department of Construction Management gets involved in a project," Stutts said to the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee. Currently, DCM does not inspect projects under $750,000, save for those compliance issues. Sens. Roger Smitherman, D-Birmingham and Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery voted against the bill, while Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, abstained. Stutts claimed there are unnecessary inspections happening on smaller projects. Scott Williams, an architect speaking on behalf of the American Institute of Architects, said the bill isn't necessary. "We have a great process. We don't feel that it's horribly expensive. It's not time consuming. If I organize my projects, I've got the building commissions reviews, I've got the building commissions inspections, all of it timed out pretty good," he said. |
| 'Clean, efficient, reliable': $3 million TVA donation transforms UT's nuclear engineering department | |
| The University of Tennessee currently ties for third in U.S. News' ranking of nuclear engineering programs. A recent $3 million endowment from the Tennessee Valley Authority may change that. "TVA's endowment of the nuclear engineering department chair at the University of Tennessee is a strategic investment in America's energy future," TVA President and CEO Don Moul said. UT's freshman class of nuclear engineering students has tripled in the last three years, according to Jamie Coble, the department's associate head. "Nuclear is a clean, efficient, reliable, safe source of energy," Coble said. "I think most of our students come in because they see the capabilities of nuclear science and technology to solve really big problems, whether it's energy production or other things." The drastic increase in enrollment in the department, while beneficial to UT's position in the field of nuclear engineering, has put a strain on students and faculty. TVA's endowment will be used to relieve that burden. "A lot of the TVA endowment is going to support bringing on the right teaching faculty to make sure that all of the students are able to get the experience they want to have, and they're not in a huge, 100-person classroom," Coble said. Using the endowment to take on more, full-time faculty members will also remove some pressure from current faculty, freeing up time for research and exploration. |
| U. of Tennessee's Pride of the Southland Band enjoys epic 2025 | |
 | The University of Tennessee at Knoxville marching band averaged nearly one "Rocky Top" performance per day in 2025 and brought its Pride of the Southland show on the road to five states. The Pride of the Southland Band is in a period of growth that aligns with the university's ongoing mission to expand its physical presence and student body, marching band Director Mike Stewart told Knox News. Only 25% of band members -- who hail from 27 states and Washington, D.C. -- are music majors, according to stats shared ahead of the spring semester by UT's band program, which also includes the basketball and concert bands. Aside from music, engineering and agriculture were the most popular majors for band members. "To be able to step back at the end of the season and be able to put numbers with it," Stewart said, "it really quantifies just how hard these students have worked ... and how much they've done over the course of basically August through December." The marching band has 415 spots, and auditions are running through March 1. |
| Can AI Improve Intro Courses? A New Courseware Project Hopes So. | |
| Gateway courses have long been a pain point. A new nonprofit started by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by the Gates Foundation says its AI-enabled courseware can help. Foundational courses are hard to teach. They're generally large and impersonal. The students, typically first-years, have varying goals and levels of preparation. The instructors are often overworked. Little wonder, then, that failure rates are high. Failing or withdrawing from introductory courses can lead students to switch majors and slow their progress to a degree. Learnvia, the new nonprofit, offers AI-enabled courseware including video lessons, homework, quizzes, and an AI tutor. Professors can move pieces around or skip them entirely. It aims to support professors by building in evidence-based teaching practices and saving them time with templates and automated grading for assignments and activities. "We're excited at the innovations we're pushing," Norman Bier, Learnvia's executive director, told The Chronicle. "But I'd also really emphasize the focus on how we use this technology to amplify great teaching." Bier also serves as executive director of Carnegie Mellon's Simon Initiative and Open Learning Initiative. |
| Trump has sued universities for billions. Here's what the strategy tells us | |
 | A year ago, President Trump issued an executive order that put U.S. universities on notice. The Jan. 29, 2025, directive targeted antisemitism on campus and launched investigations at five schools -- later widened to 60. But within weeks of the executive order, federal agencies started withholding billions of dollars in contracts and grants from several high-profile schools and pressuring them to align their policies more closely with Trump's on a range of issues that extended beyond antisemitism. Elite universities soon began reaching settlements, starting with the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University in July. Harvard University was a notable exception, challenging the administration's actions in court. In September, a federal judge ruled in Harvard's favor that the government illegally froze more than $2 billion in federal grants and contracts, a decision the government is appealing. Despite Harvard's victory, more schools agreed to deals. Some universities paid the government millions of dollars; others paid nothing but agreed to policy or personnel changes. But a common theme has emerged over the past year: The administration is seeking to alter the culture at these powerful institutions, barring them, for instance, from supporting programs aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion. |
SPORTS
| Men's Basketball: The Final Horn: State 80, LSU 66 | |
| Mississippi State got back on track in a big way with a dominant, 80-66 rout of LSU in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs opened the contest red hot, storming out to a 27-9 advantage in the game's first 8:25 highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from King Grace. After leading by as many as 27 in the first half, MSU took a 44-21 lead into halftime and held the Tigers to their lowest scoring first half all season. Despite LSU's effort to chip away at the lead in the second frame, the Bulldog defense held strong and sustained its sizeable advantage to ice the game inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Bulldogs shared a balanced scoring night across the rotation as four players reached double figures. Mississippi State continues its road trip as the Bulldogs take on Missouri in Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, and the contest will be aired on SEC Network. |
| Josh Hubbard and Quincy Ballard pace Mississippi State in 80-66 win over LSU | |
| Josh Hubbard scored 15 points, Quincy Ballard added 13 and Mississippi State dominated LSU from the start in an 80-66 victory on Wednesday night. Mississippi State shot 60% and outrebounded LSU 17-5 in the first 10 minutes while building a 30-10 lead. Later in the half, a 13-3 run left the Bulldogs with a 44-17 lead. It was 44-21 at halftime. LSU was within 58-42 seven minutes into the second half before Epps hit two 3-pointers in a 10-2 Mississippi State run and the Bulldogs led 68-44. The biggest lead of the second half was 72-46 with about 10 minutes remaining. LSU kept the margin under 20 points for the final six minutes, which included the game's final five points. It was the closest the game had been since 12 1/2 minutes remained in the first half. Ja'Borri McGhee added 11 points and Sergej Macura had 10 for Mississippi State (11-10, 3-5). |
| Mississippi State snaps skid with dominant win | |
 | Mississippi State was in dire need of a win. It got that and more. The Bulldogs dominated LSU in Baton Rouge, winning 80-66 on Wednesday night. The win ends a five-game losing streak for State. Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Quincy Ballard had 13, and Ja'Borri McGhee followed with 11. Sergej Macura had 10 to go with a team-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Mississippi State (11-10, 3-5 SEC) was very aggressive early, attacking the basket, sticking to the boards and getting after loose balls. The steady combination led to a dominant 17-5 lead for the Bulldogs with 14:46 left in the first half. LSU (13-8, 1-7) could do little to close the gap. The Tigers missed shots, failed to haul in rebounds and did not show as much effort as the Bulldogs. The Tigers hit consecutive treys to get within 18 with about four minutes into the second half, then got within 16 at the 12:55 mark. However, the Bulldogs made sure that was all they could muster the rest of the way. |
| How Mississippi State basketball's increased energy vs LSU helped end skid | |
 | In the past 18 days, Mississippi State basketball played five games and didn't win a single one. Four of those losses weren't particularly close, including the past two: by 20 points to Texas A&M on Jan. 21 and 32 points to Vanderbilt three days later. Despite the recent demoralizing results, the Bulldogs came out with a different energy against LSU (13-8, 1-7 SEC) at the Maravich Center on Jan. 28. MSU (11-10, 3-5) had a 23-point lead at halftime, creating a comfortable gap that it carried to an 80-66 win, snapping the five-game losing streak. "Obviously (the Vanderbilt game) wasn't a great point for us," MSU coach Chris Jans said. "It was a tough, tough day . . . So, we just kept it really, really simple in terms of what was important . . . The biggest thing we talked about for the last 72 hours was just compete harder. We had two goals today, compete harder and win." The Bulldogs displayed their increased effort right away. They built a 30-10 lead by the 9:55 mark in the first half. They continued to pile on, making shots, grabbing rebounds and playing solid defense. Late in the first half, they led by 27 points. The energy didn't drop off when Jans began substituting players. Sergej Macura led the second unit with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench. |
| LSU basketball loses at home to Mississippi State after horrid first half | |
 | After a pair of road losses against two ranked teams, LSU wanted to get back on the winning side at home. That hope was extinguished almost from the onset as the Tigers were thoroughly outplayed by Mississippi State, losing 80-66 on Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Bulldogs led 13-3 after three minutes and never lost control of the game. "They were the aggressor," LSU coach Matt McMahon said. "Two teams desperate for a win, and they played with a sense of urgency that we were unable to match." LSU (13-8, 1-7 SEC) was led by Max Mackinnon with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and Dedan Thomas had 14 points, four assists and zero turnovers. Mississippi State (11-10, 3-5), which entered on a five-game losing streak, was led by Josh Hubbard with 15 points. McMahon said Mississippi State's 3-point shooting and physicality led to the huge deficit. "If you're going to get down like that, ... you got to convert offensively, get out in transition, knock down some 3s," McMahon said. LSU received a smattering of boos at the 3:25 mark after a pair of missed free throws by Pablo Tamba as the team was down 44-17. When it entered the locker room at halftime, fans gave a louder collection of jeers. |
| Mississippi State, led by new coach Brian O'Connor, hopeful for instant Omaha fix, driving Bulldogs' preseason expectations | |
| Mississippi State, no stranger to Omaha, reached college baseball's mountaintop in 2021. Since then the Bulldogs have struggled to find the trailhead much less make the climb. The administration did something about that last April. Now the Bulldogs' home run hire to replace Chris Lemonis is generating preseason hype compatible with his resume. Brian O'Connor built Virginia baseball from the ground up with seven Omaha trips in 21 seasons. The Cavaliers won the national championship in 2015. Fifty-four coaches gave confidential responses when Baseball America asked them who will win the national championship? Five answered Mississippi State with the Bulldogs trailing only UCLA and LSU in those responses. State will test itself against UCLA, No. 1 by Baseball America and D1Baseball, early in the season at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. The Bulldogs and Bruins play on March 1 at 2:30 p.m. "There's a huge investment there, and he went out and landed some big fish in the portal and high school. It's an outstanding roster on paper," one coach told Baseball America. Indeed, O'Connor, hired in early June, went to work immediately on roster-building. |
| Women's Basketball: State Travels To Take On #15 Tennessee | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball will play their second consecutive game away from Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday, as they travel to Knoxville to take on the 15th-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Tipoff for the contest is set for 5:30 p.m. on SECN+. This will be the second time Tennessee and State has faced off this season, as the Lady Vols won the previous contest in Starkville, 90-80. Tennessee is the only team in the SEC who is undefeated in conference play, as the Lady Vols are 6-0 against SEC opponents. The Lady Vols are 8-0 in the Food City Center this season. The last 10 meetings between the two programs are split, as each team has won five games apiece. |
| Court grants NCAA request for Alabama judge's recusal in Charles Bediako lawsuit, citing ties with school | |
| The Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court approved the NCAA's request that an Alabama judge recuse himself from the eligibility lawsuit regarding Crimson Tide men's basketball player Charles Bediako because of an "impermissible appearance of impropriety." The court has not yet named a new judge. Bediako was granted immediate eligibility last week to return to Alabama, even though he left the school early to declare for the 2023 NBA Draft, signed a two-way contract with an NBA team and spent most of the past three seasons competing in the G League. Bediako, 23, previously played for Alabama from 2021 to 2023. Judge James H. Roberts Jr. of the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court granted Bediako a temporary restraining order allowing him to play for the Crimson Tide one day after Bediako filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, and after the NCAA denied Alabama's initial request to reinstate Bediako's eligibility. The 7-footer played 25 minutes and scored 13 points in Saturday's 79-73 loss to Tennessee. AL.com and other outlets later reported that Roberts is listed as a University of Alabama athletics donor on The Crimson Tide Foundation's website, and he and his wife are recognized for lifetime contributions between $100,000 and $249,999. The decision to grant Bediako eligibility -- and Alabama's support of the process -- sparked another round of uproar over the ongoing eligibility debate in college basketball. |
| Roger Denny's unusual path made him perfect candidate to become Oklahoma's athletic director | |
| Decades ago, Roger Denny's mother considered it inevitable that her gifted son someday would become an athletic director at a major college program. Back in 2005, the man who eventually would take over at Oklahoma was a first-year law student at Saint Louis University attending the Final Four. Denny grew up in North Carolina and was a Tar Heels fan, so he took advantage of the national title game between Illinois and North Carolina being in town. As Denny tells it, the family walked into the Edward Jones Dome and encountered then-North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour. His mom, Debi, seized the moment. "My mom, God bless her, told Dick Baddour in that moment that I was going to have his job some day," Denny said. It didn't happen exactly as mom predicted, but she was right about one thing for certain -- her son was going places. With Debi in the crowd, Denny was announced Wednesday as Oklahoma's 12th athletic director. "I spent 15 years training for this job without knowing I was training for it," he said. "I loved the practice of law. I love my partners, loved what I was doing, but ... I never felt the fulfillment or satisfaction. No matter how many boxes I checked or what I accomplished, I just always knew college sports was where I wanted to be." |
| Board of Trustees debate lively over resolution that adds $15 million to Arkansas Razorbacks | |
| A meeting of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees included around 40 minutes of discussion and debate Wednesday regarding a resolution that will add approximately $15 million in annual funds to the Razorbacks' athletics department. Trustee Kevin Crass expressed frustration with a lack of transparency regarding the resolution, a copy of which he said he did not receive until that morning. Resolutions typically are included in meeting agendas that trustees receive and are posted online several days in advance. UA chancellor Charles Robinson and athletics director Hunter Yurachek, both speaking from their offices in Fayetteville, told trustees they had not seen the proposal, which later passed by a full board vote of 7-3. "Wow, that's amazing to me that the two people most impacted by this resolution have not been provided a copy of the resolution," Crass said. "Chair Eichler and gentlemen, that is not the way we should do business." Crass said he also had a problem with the impact on the university, which must find a way to add $6 million to its budget to move to athletics, while also forgoing an annual transfer from the athletics department that has averaged around $4.4 million over the last three years. The athletics transfer to campus had already been put on pause for the next two fiscal years. |
| College football transfer portal is 'train wreck.' Ask man who ignited it | |
 | One of the state government officials who sued the NCAA and won unlimited annual transfers for college athletes now calls the unrestricted transfer portal a "train wreck" and says it is "sucking the life out of college sports." "I think the portal is probably the single biggest problem that needs to be solved..." Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told USA TODAY Sports. "The portal is just sucking the life out of college sports and putting student-athletes in a bad position. And if there is one change in the immediate future that needs to happen, it's fixing the portal." Skrmetti effectively created this new system of unlimited annual player transfers, along with the attorneys general of several other states. They filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA in December 2023 seeking to eliminate rules that restricted undergraduate players from transferring to a new school more than once in their college careers. They later were joined by the federal justice department before winning a settlement with the NCAA in 2024 that gave Division I athletes more freedom of movement than athletes have in the NFL, NBA or other pro sports. Bedlam has ensued as a result. |
| Deion's Colorado Player Fines Push College Employee Issue to the Fore | |
| University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders appears to have taken a page from his days as an NFL player -- and an NFLPA union member -- by telling his student players they face monetary fines for failing to attend practice ($2,500), missing film sessions ($2,000), being late to practice ($500) and other fumbling of their work responsibilities. "Work" is a crucial word. The penalty schedule, revealed in a team meeting earlier in January, could become evidence in legal efforts to recognize power conference football players as employees. Sanders' push for player accountability is understandable given the Buffaloes' struggles in 2025. They finished 3-9 and in second-to-last place in the Big 12. From a football perspective, it's rational for Sanders to raise the bar for his players so that they take their responsibilities more seriously. A schedule of monetary fines for player infractions is also a defensible practice if it is equally applied to all players. A schedule is supposed to ensure that players are treated the same, whether stars or bench warmers. It also removes discretion from the coach, or the boss, to play favorites with application of rules. Those are among the reasons why the NFL and NFLPA have collectively bargained a schedule of fines in Article 42 of their CBA. That section of the CBA details a progressive discipline model, meaning one where a first offense triggers a relatively light penalty and subsequent infractions produce harsher penalties. The underlying logic of progressive discipline is to give the player a chance to remedy the situation and learn from his mistake. |
| Survey: Managing parents among top reasons youth coaches quit | |
| Most of America's youth-sport coaches are feeling burned out and fed up with verbal harassment and abuse, mainly from parents of athletes, according to a national survey released Thursday by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The challenge of managing parents ranks among the top reasons coaches have considered leaving or decided to quit, with one coach saying of parents: "They created tension. They instilled distrust. They were worse than children." Other reasons for coaches' disaffection included retirement and challenges within their sporting organizations. More than 35% of respondents said that they also experienced discrimination based on sex, age and physical appearance from other coaches as well as parents of athletes. The survey results add to an already troubling picture about the future of youth sports, with coaches joining game officials in questioning whether the hassles outweigh the joys of the job. Nearly 60% of female respondents said that they faced discrimination in their roles as coach, as compared to only a quarter of the men. More than one in 10 of the female respondents also experienced sexual harassment, per the survey's findings. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
