| Tuesday, November 19, 2013 |
| C Spire breaks ground on Starkville data center | |
 | C Spire ceremonially broke ground Monday on a $20 million data-processing facility at Mississippi State University's Thad Cochran Research Park. The 23,800-square-foot facility should be completed in November 2014. The project is expected to spur about 100 temporary construction jobs and create five or six high-paying permanent jobs -- about $50,000-$60,000 per position. Plans include the potential for at least two additional expansion phases that could create similar job numbers. |
| C Spire breaks ground on $20M center in Research Park | |
 | C Spire broke ground Monday on its new $20 million data center in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. The 23,800-square-foot center is located on a 6.5 acre site in the park adjacent to Mississippi State University. Said Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman, "This significant private sector technology infrastructure investment by a great Mississippi company will help us build a strong economic future for this region." |
| Kress Building to be Renovated | |
 | The Mississippi State University-Meridian campus is getting another multi-million dollar donation to renovate another downtown building. Mississippi State officials announced Monday that The Riley Foundation will make that donation to renovate the Kress Building, which is adjacent to the MSU Riley Center and the Newberry Building, which houses the MSU Meridian Business School. The official announcement, with more details, is set for Wednesday. |
| Maroon Edition Habitat Home Dedicated | |
 | Just in time for Thanksgiving, a Starkville family moves into their new home on Beattie Street. It's the construction of the fifth Maroon Edition Habitat For Humanity House. For years now, Mississippi State University and Habitat For Humanity have been teaming up to build homes for people who otherwise might not ever become homeowners. To go with their three-bedroom home, MSU President Mark Keenum presented the family with a new Bible. |
| Habitat for Humanity dedicates Maroon Edition home | |
 | It was a good Monday for Marcus and Raven Hendrix and their two children. The family celebrated its new home with a dedication service with members of Habitat for Humanity, Mississippi State University and more. The family broke ground at 113 Beattie Street in August with Habitat for Humanity executive director Joel Downey, Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and representatives from Habitat's covenant members. (Subscriber-only content.) |
| MEC head pays Mississippi State visit | |
| Before himself becoming a connecting thread between Delaware and Mississippi, Blake Wilson found other such threads. Now president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council, Wilson worked at a Delaware newspaper at age 17, and he said his editor came from Mississippi. He later discovered that when current U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was still a Delaware senator, he was a close friend of Mississippi Sen. John Stennis. But beyond these ties, Wilson said there were important differences between Delaware and Mississippi made clear by Blueprint Mississippi. Wilson spoke at Mississippi State University's Morris W.H. "Bill" Collins Speaker Series in Mitchell Memorial Library's John Grisham Room Monday afternoon. (Subscriber-only content.) |
| MSU's Annual Strength and Fitness Week Underway | |
| You can find out how strong you are this week at Mississippi State University. The Joe Frank Sanderson Center on the MSU campus is kicking off its annual Strength and Fitness Week. This week is full of competition, which leads up to the annual 5K Turkey Trot on Saturday. |
| New App Offers County Data | |
| A wealth of county-level information is available in seconds through a set of profiles created by experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. A new app and website provide community stakeholders, business leaders and elected officials access to detailed socioeconomic statistics for each county in the state. Faculty from the Extension Center for Technology Outreach and the Center for Government and Community Development gathered information from multiple public sources, such as the federal census. Then they compiled the data into user-friendly county profiles to show important statistics on population, income, educational attainment and employment. |
| China creates uncertainty in world cotton market | |
 | While it may be tiresome to continue hearing about China's impact on the cotton market, it can't be understated, says John Michael Riley, Mississippi State University Extension economist. "We had about 50 million bales of carryover, but then came China," said Riley during this year's Southern Agricultural Outlook Conference held in Atlanta. China currently is sitting on some very expensive cotton compared to the current market price, he says, and it's not surprising that their producers were willing to grow it. If China sits on these stocks and doesn't release them, then the markets will be okay, says Riley. If they let everything go, cotton prices will drop. |
| Perkins amends scope of electronic devices ban | |
| Documents show Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins amended a resolution Monday that could ban electronic devices -- smartphones, tablets and laptops -- to now only prohibit the public from bringing cellphones into aldermen meetings effective Dec. 3. The new motion, which cites similar bans for Oktibbeha County Circuit Court and Starkville Municipal Court, removed language targeting social media users and states the board wishes "to enact a similarly reasonable time, place and manner restriction on cellular phones, while allowing ample alternative channels for communication with such devices outside the boardroom." Perkins stumped for the new version of the phone ban in Starkville Daily News and on WTVA. The senior alderman has not returned the Dispatch's calls since the resolution became public knowledge Friday. |
| Starkville aldermen could ban cell phones during public meetings | |
 | They're prohibited in courtrooms, police departments and even in some college classrooms: cell phones. Now the Starkville Board of Aldermen will address a possible ban on the devices Tuesday night. "I think it gives the city a black eye," former Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said of the potential ban. Monday's resolution, sent to the city clerk by Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins would prohibit cell phones during Starkville Board of Aldermen meetings. The resolution states this ban on cell phones does not apply to members of the news media or Mississippi State University journalism students. |
| Prepaid tuition program may reopen with changes | |
 | The Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program has been frozen for more than a year for new members, but a decision could be made this week on whether the program will reopen. Last year, State Treasurer Lynn Fitch and the board that oversees MPACT froze the program that allows families to prepay a student's college tuition. It had a roughly $94 million deficit in what would be required to fully fund the tuition for each of the approximately 22,000 participants already enrolled. The MPACT deficit as of June 30 was about $82 million. The board meets on Wednesday, and some recommendations could be made at that time. Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds, a member of the College Savings Plan Board, said he believes the maximum the program should pay for is eight semesters of college. |
| Former first lady Laura Bush speaks at HealthWorks! dinner | |
| Former first lady Laura Bush charmed a sellout crowd at the BancorpSouth Conference Center as she advocated for HealthWorks! Monday night. At the Celebrating HealthWorks! event hosted by the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi, Bush shared family updates, lessons learned as a young teacher and her introduction to Dr. Nose It All and Brian Brain at the children's health education center in Tupelo on Monday afternoon. "It's really fun," Bush said. "Instead of books and tests, children are being educated with science, discovery and active play." The crowd enjoyed Bush's tales about readjusting to life outside the White House, where dirty socks and wet towels don't magically get picked up. "George and I have a very normal life," Bush said. "We're happy to be back in Texas living what I call the 'afterlife' in the state George calls the 'promised land.'" |
| Bryant credits Japanese investment, exports for Mississippi economic growth | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday that exports to Japan increased by 52 percent in 2012 to more than $213 million, helping Mississippi earn a No. 9 ranking among the best states in which to do business. Bryant made his remarks in a press conference during the 36th Annual Joint Meeting of the Southeast U.S.-Japan (SEUS-Japan) and the Japan-U.S. Southeast Associations at the Beau Rivage Resort. Bryant was accompanied at the press conference by William G. Yates III, Chairman SEUS-Japan, Atsutoshi Nishida, Chairman of the Japan - U.S. Southeast Association, Motohiko Kato, Consul General of Japan for the Southeastern U.S., and Kenichiro Sasae, Japanese Ambassador to the United States. |
| Japanese ambassador, Southern governors meet in Biloxi | |
 | Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae said Monday that he asked Japan's business leaders why they chose to locate facilities in Mississippi and the Southeast and every one of them said "because we were welcomed." Sasae led a delegation of Japanese government officials and executives who experienced Southern hospitality for themselves as they met with governors and business leaders from the Southeast at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi. They also were treated to music galas, golf, sightseeing and cowboy boots. The conference comes as Mississippi is ranked among the top five states for advanced manufacturing by Expansion Solutions magazine. |
| Poll: Cochran vulnerable to primary challenge | |
 | A new poll shows Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) vulnerable to a primary challenge if he decides to run for reelection next year. The survey, from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, gives him just a six-point lead over his only announced primary opponent, state Sen. Chris McDaniel. Cochran takes 44 percent support to McDaniel's 38 percent support among GOP primary voters. And voters are split on how they feel about Cochran, with 45 percent approving of his job performance, while 42 percent disapprove. Fifty-five percent of respondents say they would like the GOP candidate for Senate next year to be more conservative than Cochran. |
| Corn popping in farm bill talks | |
 | Falling corn prices are making themselves felt in House-Senate farm bill talks. Indeed, having argued long and hard for a new, more market-oriented approach to farm subsidies, corn growers and their Midwest allies in Congress face the embarrassment of looking like the first in line at the federal window to collect. |
| Farm bill takes aim at state animal welfare laws | |
 | The future of state laws that regulate everything from the size of a hen's cage to the safe consumption of Gulf oysters may be at stake as farm bill negotiators work to resolve a long-simmering fight between agriculture and animal welfare interests. The House Agriculture Committee added language to its version of the farm bill earlier this year that says a state cannot impose certain production standards on agricultural products sold in interstate commerce. The genesis of the amendment is a longtime fight between agriculture and the Humane Society, which has pushed states to pass animal welfare laws. |
| FBI as cyber crime sleuth: Is it any match for computer bad guys? | |
 | The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which after 9/11 shifted focus almost overnight from fighting organized crime to combating terrorism, is scrambling to again remake itself to be positioned to counter a rising threat: cyber attackers. Its evolution into a cybercrime-fighting agency isn't as sudden or as dramatic, but over time the change will be just as profound, experts say. Indeed, the transformation is already well under way, with 1,000 cyber specialists -- specially trained agents, analysts, and digital forensic examiners who run complex undercover operations and gather digital evidence -- deployed to all 56 of the FBI's field offices nationwide. Though the FBI cyber capability has been building for a decade, experts say the bureau has only in recent years hit its stride as a world-class cyber investigative agency that poses a serious threat to cyber bad guys. |
| Technology Outpacing Policymakers, Needs Of NSA | |
 | The controversy over the National Security Agency's surveillance programs has exposed a problem in the oversight of those programs: The development of the relevant technology has outpaced the laws and policies that govern its use. "The technology is moving very fast," says Joel Brenner, a former NSA general counsel. "Legislation moves very slowly. Policy moves pretty slowly. The people who write policy don't always understand technology, and the people who write legislation almost never understand technology. And so in an era when the technology is moving quickly, it's really hard for the policy to keep up with it." |
| Power Still Out for Thousands After Tornadoes Pound Midwest | |
 | As the sky went black and sirens wailed, Ella and Phil Bolam lay together in a bedroom closet, pillows covering their heads, as the storm passed and "the house went away," Ms. Bolam said. The tornado that ripped through the subdivision, leveling the Bolams' home here and dozens of others around it, was one in a series of severe storms that pummeled the Midwest on Sunday, killing at least six people in Illinois, injuring scores more and leaving tens of thousands of people without power more than 24 hours later. |
| MUW's Reindeer Run to rev up holiday spirit | |
| Runners and walkers may be mistaken for some of Santa's helpers at the Reindeer Run being hosted by the Mississippi University for Women's Department of Health and Kinesiology Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Reindeer Run will begin in front of Fant Memorial Library and participants are asked to wear their brightest neon colors, lights and costumes. Glow-in-the-dark necklaces will be provided by the H&K department. |
| Former U.S. Secretary of Defense to speak at USM | |
 | Dr. Robert M. Gates, who previously served as U.S. Secretary of Defense and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, will be the guest speaker for the University of Southern Mississippi's Lt. Col. John H. Dale Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series in International Security and Global Policy on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Saenger Theatre in downtown Hattiesburg. The lecture series, a program of the Southern Miss Center for the Study of War and Society, was created to inform and expand the global awareness of the Southern Miss community and the citizens of the Gulf South region. The lecture, set to begin at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public. |
| Cricket finds a following at USM Gulf Park | |
| "A Day in India" brought that country's most popular sport to the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus Monday. Students played a cricket match, which included bowlers, batsmen and wickets. Cricket is played with two teams of 11 players on a circular field. In the center of the circle is a 22-yard pitch. Bowling is when the bowler delivers the ball to a batsman. The batsman tries to hit the ball far enough to run to the other end of the pitch to score a run. The game is most popular in England, India, South Africa and the West Indies. |
| Did Brazilians students leave JSU due to crime? | |
 | WLBT-TV has learned that Jackson state University is looking into an incident involving Brazilian students after alleged criminal incidents on campus. The station was contacted by a friend of the students, Jessica Gordon. She claims two students were mugged and one was later held up at gunpoint. Gordon says 27 students were being pulled out of JSU's international exchange program by their U.S. hosting organization. JSU spokesman Eric Stringfellow told WLBT News Monday, university officials are investigating this matter. He refused to elaborate, only saying JSU takes take crime very seriously on the campus. |
| Brazilian students removed from JSU after several campus robberies | |
| The Brazilian Consulate has removed several students enrolled at Jackson State University after students were robbed on campus in three separate incidents. Beatriz Varros, Deputy Counsel of the Consulate General of Brazil in Atlanta said, "all of the events occurred in a three week time period." She said the decision to remove the students came last week due to safety concerns. Tanya Britton, a member of Christ the King Catholic Church in Jackson where some of the students attended services said, "They told me they called their consulate because they felt unsafe. ...last week one of the students called me to tell me about the incident with two guns." The students planned to be at JSU for a year as a part of Brazil's Science without Borders program. |
| Bentley hopes trade trip to Japan brings research jobs to Alabama | |
 | Gov. Robert Bentley said Monday he hopes his trade trip to Japan last week will bring more biomedical research to Alabama universities and institutions. Bentley said he met with the pharmaceutical company Otsuka Holdings. It has an Alabama connection as the parent company of Pharmavite, which makes vitamins and supplements at a new plant in Opelika. The governor said Otsuka Holdings spends about half of its money on research and development. "They did not realize what we have available here in Alabama," Bentley said. He mentioned the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of South Alabama and other universities as possible sites, as well as HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Southern Research Institute in Birmingham and others. |
| Flash mob among Great American Smokeout events at U. of Alabama | |
 | As part of Thursday's 38th annual Great American Smokeout, the University of Alabama's health education honor society will form a flash mob to show their support for a smoke-free campus. The flash mob will gather on the Quad near Denny Chimes around 12:20 p.m. The group effort is designed to raise awareness about the negative effects of secondhand smoke. Roughly 135 students on the Quad will drop "dead" from secondhand smoke in hopes of moving toward a smoke-free campus, said Christine Hackman, treasurer of Eta Sigma Gamma, UA's health education honor society. |
| Limits on big student-housing units in Tuscaloosa urged | |
| After more than three months of discussion and debate, the final recommendations of Mayor Walt Maddox's Student Rental Housing Task Force were unveiled Monday night. The recommendations, if approved by the Tuscaloosa City Council, would limit the location of new rental properties for students and put a moratorium on building student apartment complexes with 200 or more beds. The list of nine task force suggestions addresses the influx of private student-based housing complexes in the city over the past few years. The list was presented to the Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday. The commission voted unanimously to adopt the recommendations, which will go to the City Council today for consideration. |
| Auburn University SGA passes resolution denouncing discrimination | |
 | The Auburn University Student Government Association Senate unanimously passed a resolution promoting community, safety and a respectful campus environment at its regular Monday meeting. The resolution was originally drafted by student senators Jacob Dean and Sam Wilcox after hearing Auburn University student Emily Kerzin suffered an instance of anti-Semitic harassment in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The resolution approved Monday differed greatly from Dean and Wilcox's first draft. The original resolution asked that the university create methods to minimize harassment in the stadium and at athletic events in the form of a bias response team, a joint task force and a phone number students could call after an incident occurs. The final resolution apologizes to students who've experienced harassment or discrimination on campus and asks that a committee be formed to seek the best method for streamlining a process for handling such cases. |
| U. of Florida looking to tilt scale in its favor for performance funds | |
 | The University of Florida wants the state to consider its total annual research expenditures when deciding how much of the performance-funding pie to give out -- something that might give the university a competitive edge next time around. For the past two years, the state has distributed performance-funding bonuses based on how well universities score in several categories. Up until now, the Board of Governors chose all the performance standards or metrics for each of the system's 12 universities, which has resulted in UF ranking behind several other universities in overall points. For next year, the board decided, it would have eight common criteria and select a specific criteria for each university. For both UF and Florida State University, the institution-specific metric is the number of faculty awards received. |
| Veterans on Florida campus can find support, comrades | |
| Approximately 700 veterans are registered at the University of Florida, said Anthony DeSantis, UF's associate dean of students. The university has seen an increase of student veterans on campus. The provost and vice president of student affairs have helped ensure there is space available for the UF Collegiate Veterans Success Center, which offers support and a place for veterans to relax, said Goodson. The center, which opened April 3, gives veterans a place to interact with one another, said Peter Sabo, a commander for the local DAV chapter. |
| Eight U. of Georgia students robbed in nine days in Athens | |
 | During a nine-day period this month, eight University of Georgia students fell victim to robberies. Several of the robberies occurred as students walked to or from downtown, and all but one of them were armed robberies. To combat future hold-ups, Athens-Clarke County police said they have placed additional officers in the area. UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said that robberies can possibly be avoided if students took simple precautions such as not getting overly intoxicated. They also should travel in large groups when walking. Authorities try to get that message across annually, he said, but it's difficult to get students to heed advice when there are thousands of new faces at UGA and other area colleges each year. |
| U. of Kentucky researchers announce experimental treatment for Parkinson's patients | |
 | Someday soon, a patient who receives a Parkinson's diagnosis might be able to stop or even reverse the disease's spread with a transplant of nerve tissue from his or her own body. University of Kentucky physicians are working on a pilot program in which Parkinson's patients who have deep-brain stimulation surgery -- in which a device like a pacemaker regulates nerve cues in the brain -- are also having nerve tissue grafted into their brain that was taken from near their ankles. UK is the first medical center in the United States to conduct the clinical trial. |
| Gettysburg Address discussed today at Vanderbilt | |
 | One hundred fifty years after President Abraham Lincoln spoke during the Civil War of the need for "a new birth of freedom" and preserve "government of the people, by the people, for the people," experts will discuss the significance of his Gettysburg Address. Tennessean Chairman Emeritus John Seigenthaler and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian David Maraniss will lead the discussion at 4:45 p.m. today at Vanderbilt's John Seigenthaler Center, 1207 18th Ave. S. The event is free. |
| Students at town hall meeting speak of feeling excluded at Missouri's homecoming | |
 | University of Missouri students discussed how to make Homecoming traditions more inclusive at a town hall meeting Monday night. MU graduate student Jimmie Jones, who came up with the idea for the meeting, said he wanted to talk about Homecoming because he feels isolated during the event. Those feelings mainly stem from being a black man from inner-city Detroit, he said. "I wanted to create a space for students to come and express their raw feelings regarding their experience at Mizzou during Homecoming," he said. Homecoming is divided not only by race but between students who are in sororities and fraternities and those who aren't, said MU graduate student Jayme Gardner, who helped set up the event. "As a non-Greek member, I felt excluded (from) going to Talent Night and stuff like that," she said. About 50 people attended the event at the Physics Building, including Cathy Scroggs, vice chancellor for student affairs, and Robert Ross, coordinator of affinity relations for the Mizzou Alumni Association. |
| Princeton University to Use Foreign Meningitis Vaccine | |
| Princeton University plans to offer students a meningitis vaccine not usually approved for use in the United States in an attempt to prevent an outbreak at the school from spreading, officials said on Monday. The vaccine, which has been approved in Europe and Australia, is expected to be available on campus at no cost in early December, university officials said. It is recommended for all undergraduates, graduate students living in dormitories and students with some specific health conditions. Students and faculty were notified of the decision in an email on Monday. |
| Duncan sorry for 'white moms' remark | |
| Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Monday apologized for a comment he made about "white suburban moms" opposing new education standards. "My wording, my phrasing, was a little clumsy and I apologize for that," Duncan told CNN on Monday. Last week, Duncan told a group of state education chiefs that some opposition to the Common Core State Standards came from "white suburban moms who -- all of a sudden -- their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn't quite as good as they thought they were." Common Core is a federal initiative that standardizes the English and Math curricula from kindergarten through the end of high school. Forty-five states have adopted the standards. Critics of the new requirements argue its guidelines force teachers to teach to a test. |
| Editorial: Coast proud to help strengthen ties between Southeastern states and Japan | |
| The Sun Herald editorializes: "For three dozen years, representatives of Japan and seven southeastern states have met to promote trade, investment and understanding. For the first time, this high-level conference is taking place in Mississippi and the Coast is honored to be the host. ...Attracting hundreds of business and government officials, the joint conference is held annually with locations alternating between Japan and the Southeastern U.S. It is a privilege to have such influential decision-makers among us and we trust all their impressions have been favorable." |
SPORTS
| Dan Mullen shows his lighter side | |
| Media members spanned from Dan Mullen to Chris Jones inside Mississippi State's football complex on Monday. The fifth-year coach side-stepped the reporters and took several steps down the hallway, before turning around. He noticed someone missing. "Where's the Houston Daily news?" Mullen said. "The Houston Chronicle? A bi-monthly pamphlet?" The comment distracted Jones, who wore a Houston basketball T-shirt. "Yeah, you know coach Mullen. He's hilarious," said Jones, a Houston native. Actually, we don't. But Mullen used his weekly press conference as an open microphone. Most times, the coach handled the press conferences with a stern-business like attitude. A few times, he even became borderline combative. |
| Mullen: 'On hot seat for five years now' | |
| Dan Mullen finished 5-7 during his first season at Mississippi State but went 24-15 over the next three, guiding the Bulldogs to a bowl game each year during that span. That streak is now in jeopardy as MSU must win its final two games to break even and reach bowl eligibility. The Bulldogs are on the road this weekend facing Arkansas in Little Rock then return home for the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss on Thanksgiving. "If we win the next two games and finish 6-6, that doesn't seem like a banner season," Mullen said. "But we will have won against Arkansas in the state of Arkansas for the first time in the history of the university. We'd have gone to four straight bowl games for the first time. Putting it in historical contest, there's still an awful lot of things that this team can accomplish." |
| Mississippi State's quarterback situation turns dire | |
| Before speaking, Dan Mullen stretched his right arm in a circular motion. Given the rash of injuries at quarterback, it may not be a bad idea for him to get the arm loosened up. "Maybe petition the NCAA. Take a few snaps out there," Mississippi State's coach said. "Nah, I know that's everybody's biggest question and concern. I wish I had a better answer for you." Mullen said both Tyler Russell and Dak Prescott are day-to-day leading up to Saturday's game against Arkansas. Russell injured his throwing shoulder in the fourth quarter against Alabama. Prescott left the game with a nerve issue in his throwing elbow against Texas A&M on Nov. 9. |
| Jones makes mark in first season on Mississippi State defense | |
| Ask the Mississippi State defensive coaches to find a comparable talent to Chris Jones and there's a definite silence. Geoff Collins has coached at five different Division 1 programs including Alabama and Georgia Tech but the MSU defensive coordinator just couldn't think of a defensive player he's ever coached that looks, acts or plays like the freshman 305-pound defensive lineman. "I was going to say (Detroit Lions wide receiver) Calvin Johnson because I had him at Georgia Tech in a completely dynamic but that same kind of physical presence," Collins said. "So I guess he's the Megatron of the defense in Starkville." |
| Bulldogs seek first win against Hogs in Arkansas | |
| After its sixth loss of the season at the hands of top-ranked Alabama, Mississippi State (4-6, 1-5 SEC) seeks to keep its bowl hopes alive against Arkansas (3-7, 0-6) in Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday. The biggest question entering this weekend's matchup is who will be under center against the Razorbacks. Sophomore Dak Prescott sat out the game against the Crimson Tide after suffering an elbow injury against Texas A&M on Nov. 9. Senior Tyler Russell left Saturday's game with a shoulder injury, giving way to freshman Damian Williams. One statistic that surrounds MSU's series with the Razorbacks is the Bulldog's record in Arkansas. MSU has never beaten the Hogs in Arkansas (0-6 in Fayetteville, 0-3-1 in Little Rock). |
| MSU NOTEBOOK: Bulldogs still dogged by QB injuries | |
| Mississippi State's quarterback situation remains fluid for this weekend's game against Arkansas. Both Dak Prescott and Tyler Russell are day-to-day, according to coach Dan Mullen, with shoulder injuries. Prescott suffered nerve damage on a hit late in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M and did not dress last weekend against Alabama. Russell sustained an injury to his shoulder in the fourth quarter against the Crimson Tide after tossing his only interception of the night. The senior returned for one series after being hurt but was forced to leave the game in the hands of true freshman Damian Williams. Mullen said if neither Prescott nor Russell are able to go, Williams will get the start Saturday against the Razorbacks. |
| MSU Notebook: Skinner was not cleared to play against Alabama | |
| Dan Mullen truly wishes he had better news about his quarterback's injury situation. The Bulldogs fifth-year coach said the report from his training staff isn't any different than the day before with both sophomore Dak Prescott and senior Tyler Russell listed as "day-to-day". "I'll let you be as frustrated as I get sometimes by giving you my trainers response that 'everybody is day-to-day right now'," Mullen said. "It's kind of like the weather report isn't it? There's a 50 percent chance it'll rain today." Mullen said senior linebacker Deontae Skinner was dressed for pre-game warmups but in the mind of MSU's head coach that was a complete accident and a last desperate attempt by Skinner to play last Saturday night against Alabama. The team doctors and training staff never medically cleared from after the pinched nerve injury in his neck he suffered before the game at Texas A&M. |
| Full-Court Press: MSU vs. MVSU | |
| Mississippi State plays its first game without freshman point guard I.J. Ready. Trivante Bloodman fills the vacancy, but last year MSU's offense sputtered without a leader. Jacoby Davis will back up Bloodman. Davis saw his first minutes of his career last time out after tearing his ACL as a freshman. |
| Bulldogs shuffle lineup at point guard for MVSU | |
| The injury curse has hit Rick Ray's program again. The only freshman the Mississippi State head coach brought in after last season's 10-22 campaign in the position that needed a major overhaul is out for at least a month. IJ Ready severely strained his hamstring in the second half in the 78-55 victory over Kennesaw State Thursday. "Obviously it's unfortunate that IJ is out," Ray said Monday in a media teleconference. "You always have to careful with hamstrings. He could be out from anywhere between 2-4 weeks. We'll make sure we'll err on the side of caution with that." |
| Mississippi State men hosting MVSU tonight | |
| Mississippi State seeks a 3-0 start to the season for the first time since 2010-11 hosting Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m. tonight. Rick Ray and the Bulldogs have downed Prairie View A&M and Kennesaw State to start the year while the Delta Devils enter tonight's game at 1-2. MSU is 3-0 over Valley and won the last meeting 73-45 Dec. 28, 2009 in Starkville. |
| USM's McGillis gives Monken vote of confidence | |
| Southern Miss lost Saturday for the 10th time this season. The 41-7 setback at the hands of Florida Atlantic was also the 22nd consecutive time the Golden Eagles have come up short. But less than three hours after the final whistle blew at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Saturday, Southern Miss athletic director Bill McGillis took to popular social media web site, Twitter, to voice his support for the program and first-year head coach Todd Monken. On Monday, at the school's weekly football press conference, Monken was thankful for the vote of confidence. "You always appreciate the support you are given by your immediate boss," he said. "I appreciate that." |
| Texas A&M athletics trainer fighting termination | |
 | A recently fired Texas A&M assistant athletics director, who spent three decades as head trainer, is challenging his termination from the university. Karl Kapchinski walked into a meeting Nov. 1 with Texas A&M Athletics Director Eric Hyman, was told he was being let go effective Dec. 31 and that he did not need to come into work any longer, according to his attorneys, Davis Watson and Tom Nesbitt. "The decision is based on your unacceptable job performance," Hyman wrote in Kapchinski's termination letter, which was approved by university President R. Bowen Loftin the morning of the firing. Citing university policy, Texas A&M officials declined to discuss Kapchinski's termination, but did release his personnel file after The Eagle filed an open records request. The documents, some of which date back to the 1990s, did shine some light on issues Kapchinski's superiors had noted in the months prior to his termination. |
| Auburn announcer Bramblett reflects on 'miracle' play, radio call | |
| Rod Bramblett, the voice of the Auburn Tigers, has held that title since taking over for the late Jim Fyffe in 2003. He's never witnessed anything like the "Miracle in Jordan-Hare" Saturday evening. On a fourth-and-18 with 36 seconds remaining in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry game, Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall uncorked a Hail Mary which was tipped by two Georgia safeties and caught by wide receiver Ricardo Louis for a 73-yard touchdown. Bramblett's voice was subdued before his jubilation after the tipped pass was caught. |
| Coach accused of biting player; Leake Academy's Wolverton resigns | |
| Leake Academy's Doyle Wolverton, the nation's second-winningest girls basketball coach, allegedly bit one of his players during the Rebelettes' win at Columbia Academy last week, an incident report filed with the Leake County Sheriff's Department revealed. According to the simple assault complaint, which was filed by Toby Thaggard of Carthage, Wolverton allegedly grabbed Thaggard's daughter "by the shirt and then bit her on the right side of the face," as if he was getting on to her for making a bad play. "We haven't been involved with anything directly since (the hospital) because the parents and coach are trying to settle matters themselves," Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner said. |
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.
