| Monday, January 4, 2016 |
| Book proceeds donated to fund Jack Cristil Scholarship at Mississippi State | |
 | The proceeds of the biography of legendary Mississippi State University sports announcer Jack Cristil have been formally donated to the university to fund the Jack Cristil Endowed Scholarship in the university's communication department. The donation was formalized in a $167,779 gift agreement executed Dec. 2 between author Sid Salter and the MSU Foundation. "MSU President Mark Keenum, Athletics Director Scott Stricklin and I approached Jack Cristil about a commemorative book shortly after his retirement announcement in 2011, and Jack really wasn't interested until we told him the proceeds would benefit MSU students pursuing careers in journalism and broadcasting," said Salter. In addition to Cristil, Keenum and Stricklin, Salter said MSU Vice President for Development and Alumni John Rush and MSU Libraries Dean Frances Coleman were heavily involved with the successful book project along with MSU alumnus John Grisham, who wrote the book's foreword. |
| State Will Host National Guard Cyber Protection Team | |
 | Mississippi will soon be the site of one of 10 new Army National Guard cyber protection teams. Col. Lee Smithson is director of military support for the Mississippi National Guard. He says the cyber protection team's goal is to protect military networks, but they'll also be there to safeguard the public from potential cyber-attacks, from criminals, terrorists or even other nation-states in times of war. Smithson says he believes Mississippi was chosen in part due to the strength of the computer science department at Mississippi State University, including its Distributed Analytics and Security Institute. Dr. David Dampier, the institute's director, says its particular area of expertise is cyber-security for critical infrastructure, such as water systems or the power grid. |
| MSU Extension launches Keys to Community program | |
| Low voter turnout may not be a big deal to some Mississippians, but for a group of concerned experts with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, a lack of interest in the election process signals an educational opportunity. Jason Camp, an Extension associate with the Center for Government and Community Development, said he and his colleagues wanted to boost involvement and interest in local government. "We discovered that students learn about state and federal government, but in most schools there is no time spent learning about county government," Camp said. "So we put together a program called The Keys to Community to help young people learn more about the roles different people play in the local system." |
| Mississippi State native plant sanctuary gets $15K grant to help attract visitors | |
 | The staff at Mississippi State University's Crosby Arboretum in Picayune are always searching for ways to promote the beauty that lies within the nature preserve. Now, with the help of a $15,000 grant from Visit Mississippi and the Mississippi Development Authority, they are another step closer to attracting more visitors to the native plant sanctuary. "This is the first time we've received this grant," Crosby Arboretum Director Patricia Drackett said. "It's a wonderful thing and we're excited." |
| MSU-Meridian accounting grad heads to Washington | |
 | After having put himself through school, a December graduate of Mississippi State University-Meridian now heads to the nation's capital to take on future challenges. With a new accounting degree in hand, Robert S. Grant is joining the Washington, D.C., audit and consulting staff of Harper Rains Knight & Co., P.A. A 27-year-old Birmingham, Ala., native, Grant moved to Meridian in 2013 to work fulltime at Meridian Community College's E-Learning Center. After settling in, he enrolled at MSU-Meridian because it could provide "a good environment for me to succeed," he said recently. |
| Retired Marine at MSU-Meridian looks to history for future | |
| A month following high school graduation, Cody Perkins of Collinsville enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and headed to boot camp. A 2003 West Lauderdale High School graduate, he went on serve his country both at home and abroad, including two tours in Iraq. As he was making the transition from infantryman to instructor because of war injuries, Perkins was recruited into the corps' Criminal Investigative Division at Camp Pendleton. He spent more than a decade with MCID at the well-known Southern California training base and, later, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. Following a medical retirement connected to his combat injuries, Perkins decided to return to Lauderdale County and Meridian, put down civilian roots and begin a second career. The first step involved completion of an associate's degree at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba. He then enrolled at Mississippi State University-Meridian because of its convenience. |
| New supervisor for national forests in N.C. a Mississippi State alum | |
| Allen Nicholas has been named the forest supervisor for North Carolina's four national forests. Nicholas, whose career spans 30 years in the National Forest Service, is currently forest supervisor for the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Nicholas will oversee more than 1.25 million acres of public land stretched across the state's four national forests -- the Croatan, the Nantahala, the Pisgah and the Uwharrie. Nicholas was born in Magnolia, Mississippi, and has a bachelor's degree in forest resource management from Mississippi State University. |
| Starkville Restaurant Week scheduled for Mississippi State-UM series this spring | |
| Greater Starkville Development Partnership officials are hopeful the state's hottest college rivalry will produce a large turnout for the fourth annual Starkville Restaurant Week. This year's event is scheduled from March 28 to April 3, which coincides with the weekend home baseball series between Mississippi State University and Ole Miss. Last year, MSU's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic was the top charity vote-getter and won a $5,000 cash donation, beating out Starkville Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army. Cadence Bank is expected to remain the event's primary sponsor and again award the $5,000 donation. |
| Bricklee Miller first woman to serve Oktibbeha County board | |
| Incoming District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller, the first woman to serve on the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, has wasted little time preparing for her new position since her November election. Miller outlined numerous discussions she would like to have in early 2016: Mississippi Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) could potentially extend a pedestrian corridor down a portion of Blackjack Road to Mississippi State University if the city, county and university are willing to partner on a 20 percent funding match; a joint city-county 911 operations center could eliminate the need for emergency call relays to the city police department; and equipment repair issues continue to drain the Oktibbeha County Road Department budget. |
| Flying high: Drones a tool of the future | |
 | His work has been known across the country and in several points around the world as he has aided in bridge inspections and search and rescue missions. Robert Estes of Southaven looks forward to reaching new heights with his personal fleet of drones, noting he sees the benefits that can come with the unmanned aviation technology he has assembled. "I believe in the good they can do," Estes said. "There's so much good that can come from this." Apparently, there are many who share the same belief and, while he may not be as well known in DeSoto County, his custom-constructed drones have found their way to places such as Mississippi State University and to law enforcement agencies. Mississippi State has taken a lead in its usage of what is also known as "unmanned aircraft systems" and uses drones made by Estes, with one area of use being in agriculture. |
| State, communities spending to prevent base closures | |
 | Like many other states fearful of losing economic-lifeblood military bases, Mississippi has been spending millions of dollars of state and local money to enhance the federal facilities and their surroundings. With bases employing more than 30,000 people and generating an estimated $2.5 billion to $3 billion to the state economy, Mississippi, like other states, is treating them like major corporations --- helping with infrastructure enhancements to keep them thriving. State and local tax dollars are being used as the Defense Department's budget for construction has been shrinking. Some question the value of state and local spending on federal installations. But states are fearful that failure to shore up their bases will result in their closure as the Pentagon looks to downsize. And such closures for many communities would be devastating. |
| Lawmakers to grapple with tax cuts, tax hikes, deficits during session | |
| The state budget is likely to overshadow most other issues in the 2016 legislative session that starts Tuesday. There will be a push by GOP leaders for tax cuts. There will be a push by the business community for a tax increase. There's increased demand for public schools and colleges spending. There's a federal lawsuit demanding more spending and reform of the state's foster care system. But there's little money, with a sluggish economy drastically reducing revenue projections, recent tax cuts eating into the budget and huge deficits to cover for the current year and next. Medicaid leaders are projecting a $70 million deficit for the current fiscal year. This portends one of the most difficult budgets for lawmakers to tackle since the Great Recession of the late 2000s. |
| Area legislative delegation not changing much | |
 | The Northeast Mississippi legislative delegation for the 2016 session, which starts Tuesday, will look strikingly similar to what it looked like for the past four years -- only with more experience and theoretically with more influence. The 2015 statewide elections resulted in only four new faces in the House and Senate representing the 16 counties that encompass Northeast Mississippi, including Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, representing newly-created District 43 in portions of Oktibbeha and Winston counties. The other 28 legislators representing Northeast Mississippi will remain the same -- only with more experience. "I think the Northeast Mississippi delegation is very effective," said Rep. Mac Huddleston, R-Pontotoc, who for the past four-year term served as vice chair of the Appropriations Committee. |
| Lawmakers gavel in for extended term | |
| The 2016 session, being the first of the new term, is scheduled to last 125 days instead of the usual 90. But legislative leaders are said to be working on ways to shorten the number of days the full Legislature is in, which could save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to house, feed and reimburse lawmakers for travel. One option being considered is to have rank-and-file lawmakers take a week or two off during slow points in the session with only key leaders staying behind to haggle. There will be at least 35 new lawmakers this term -- a relatively high, although not historic, turnover. That could increase as high as 38, with two Nov. 3 House races and one Senate one still being contested. Determining those three winners will be one of the first orders of business for the new Legislature. |
| Initiative 42 supporters vow continued public education funding fight | |
| Advocates of public education in Mississippi have no plans to let the defeat of Initiative 42 slow them down. Following the defeat of Initiative 42 in the November general election, The Parents' Campaign, a nonprofit grassroots network of parents, educators and public school supporters, has been at work to find other ways to encourage the state to direct more funding and resources toward public schools. According to Patsy Brumfield, former director of communications for 42 For Better Schools, many of those involved in the campaign for Initiative 42 have now joined forces with The Parents' Campaign. Nancy Loome, director of The Parents' Campaign, said the group plans to ramp up its interaction with legislators and continue to be vocal in advocating for more funding for public schools. |
| Funding, charter schools major 2016 education topics | |
| School funding, pre-kindergarten and charter schools will be a few of the major education issues this upcoming legislative session. Following the defeat of Initiative 42 in November, legislative leaders are hinting at possible changes to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the formula that stipulates how much money school districts need to provide an adequate education. Recurring topics such as school consolidation and appointed superintendents will come up again this year, according to committee chairmen and legislative leaders. Tweaks will be made to some of the newer education reform bills, including the special-needs voucher law and the third-grade reading gate. |
| Which social issue will rile Mississippi lawmakers in 2016 session? | |
 | In a few weeks, the Mississippi Legislature will work itself into a lather about something. Nobody right now really knows what the topic will be. It could be abortion, gun rights or gay marriage. It could be the state flag or Syrian refugees. It could be something trumped up by one or more of the presidential candidates. This has been a pattern the past few sessions: legislators convene in Jackson with a multibillion-dollar budget to write and proposed policies to debate on education, transportation, health care and other substantial issues that affect their constituents' daily lives. And then, at some point, a legislator files a bill or resolution that taps into the (usually conservative) zeitgeist and sets Twitter on fire. |
| Brandon Presley could get chance as PSC chairman | |
| Start thinking of him as Chairman Presley. Brandon Presley has never been shy and retiring. But with a second Democrat coming onto the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the Northern District commissioner will likely take center stage at the utility regulatory agency. With Democrat Cecil Brown of Jackson being sworn into the Central District commission seat, replacing Republican Lynn Posey of Union Church, Presley is likely to become chairman of the three-member body. They will be joined by Republican Sam Britton of Laurel, who takes over from Phil Bryant appointee Steve Renfroe of Moss Point. While Renfroe declined to publicly identify himself with a party, he supported Posey as the commission's chairman. |
| HUD charges Ridgeland targeted removal of minorities with zoning law | |
 | Ridgeland officials are engaging in "unlawful discrimination based on race," the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development alleges in an administrative complaint that addresses Ridgeland's campaign to dramatically reduce multi-family rental units in the city. HUD made no specific warning that consequences of enforcing a 2014 zoning law could include a cut off of Ridgeland's federal funding. However, its notice to Ridgeland noted the City received nearly $5 million in federal money in 2014. The HUD notice says the agency has 100 days to make final conclusions on whether violations of the 1968 Civil Rights Act and the 1988 Fair Housing Act have occurred. "This is an ongoing investigation and HUD is intent upon moving swiftly to conclusion," HUD says. One outcome sought through a demographic shift, according to HUD, was reduction in the number of minority students in Ridgeland schools. |
| Jackson city councilman's comments anger officials, law enforcement | |
| Jackson Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes held a press conference Sunday about his recent comments suggesting that residents of his ward should use rocks, bricks and bottles to show police from other jurisdictions how they feel about police pursuits into Jackson. The press conference came after members of the Jackson City Council denounced his comments, Mayor Tony Yarber distanced himself, law enforcement agencies reacted and Gov. Phil Bryant said he would ask Attorney General Jim Hood about legal measures related to inciting violence. Stokes started the press conference by framing the controversy as "a race issue" and ended it by calling Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey a "dumb bastard." |
| Sen. Thad Cochran helps steer 9th Coast Guard cutter to Mississippi | |
 | Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran doesn't believe that eight is enough. The veteran Republican lawmaker is getting kudos and criticism for slipping a little-noticed provision into the omnibus spending bill that calls for the U.S. Coast Guard to build a ninth national security cutter ship in the Magnolia State. The $640 million vessel will likely mean more work at Huntington Ingalls Industries' shipbuilding operation in Pascagoula, Miss. Ingalls, the nation's largest military shipbuilding company, already has delivered five cutters, and has three more under construction. "We are pleased that once again Congress has seen the importance of investing in tomorrow's Navy and Coast Guard, and supporting the shipbuilding industrial base," said a statement from Ingalls spokesman Bill Glenn. |
| Trump pummels his opponents and the press during visit to Coast | |
 | Donald Trump told a Coast Coliseum packed to the rafters with an overwhelmingly white crowd that he loved his raucous welcome to Biloxi. "There's a lot of love in this room," he said. Hillary Clinton? Not so much. "Hillary created ISIS," he said. Later he said she should be in jail. Each of Trump's barbs was met with ever louder roars. But the crowd didn't find its full throat until Trump started picking on "the media." His beef this time, beyond his usual charge that "some of them are crooked"? He didn't care for the TV photography. Particularly a cameraman at the center of the risers, where the national media was perched. |
| Defenders of Confederate Symbols Mount a Counterattack | |
 | Not since at least the civil-rights movement have Americans challenged the South's Confederate symbols as fervently as they did in 2015. The June massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., by a believed white supremacist "opened the floodgates," said John W. Adams, spokesman for the Florida Sons of Confederate Veterans. Since then, officials in South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Florida and elsewhere removed or took steps to dismantle flags and other symbols from the region's secessionist past. Opposition to tossing all things Confederate into history's dust bin now is growing. Heritage supporters are lobbying legislators, and their lawyers are preparing lawsuits, in efforts to restore or maintain Confederate monuments. |
| 'Ag-gag' laws head to court: So far, animal rights activists are winning | |
 | They are called "ag-gag" laws, statutes written to prevent crusading activists from using undercover techniques to expose pollution and animal cruelty in large-scale farming operations. Such statutes have been introduced in a handful of states in recent years to protect agricultural businesses from increasingly aggressive efforts by environmental groups and animal rights organizations. Now this battle is moving to the courts in cases that pit the property rights of farmers and agribusiness against the free speech rights of activists. At least so far, the activists are winning. |
| Armed activists in Oregon challenge government over federal control of public land | |
 | In this remote and rugged country of snowcapped foothills in Oregon, a band of gunmen and self-proclaimed defenders of the U.S. Constitution have chosen to make their latest and boldest stand. In another generation they were called Sagebrush Rebels, people of the West who bristled at federal control of much of this once-wild land and sought to reclaim it. The movement's modern iteration has resisted labels; it has yet to make its demands clear. But the long-running debate over federal control of public land that has fueled political conflict for generations has come to a new standoff in the rolling ranch lands of southeastern Oregon. The new activists began trickling into town in December, hanging on at the fringes, brandishing rifles and handguns, proselytizing from the beds of pickups against federal land ownership until, without warning, they struck. |
| Jackson State University terminations, lawsuits raise questions | |
| In a three-month investigation, The Clarion-Ledger spoke with 25 current and former JSU employees, the majority of whom said they worked in a hostile work environment, where faculty and staff worry the wrong move could lead to retaliation, being "iced out" or worse -- a pink slip. Many said they had experienced stress so severe they became physically ill, causing them to go on medical leave. On top of that, they described a campuswide fear to voice concerns or publicly identify problems with the university. Since 2011, 351 permanent JSU employees have been terminated, and an additional 53 positions were outsourced, according to data provided by the university via a public records request. Similar public records requests at other Mississippi universities revealed JSU's termination rate to be excessive by comparison. |
| Former Auburn University employee pleads guilty to drug-related firearms count | |
 | A former Auburn University employee who pleaded guilty in October to selling gallons of substances related to date-rape drugs to undercover agents in Auburn last spring pleaded guilty in federal court this month to a firearms-related count which was scheduled for trial on Jan. 4. Stephen Howard, a former employee of Auburn University as a technician in a polymer fiber engineering laboratory, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on Dec. 7 on a charge of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, count 3 of his six total counts. On Oct. 29, Howard pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody of the U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama to three counts of possessing with intent to distribute 1,4 butanediol, which is converted to GHB, commonly known as a date-rape drug, once ingested into the body. Howard, used his employment as an AU lab technician to obtain 1,4, butanediol. |
| New U. of Kentucky logo stirs discussion; university tries to integrate all under one symbol | |
 | The University of Kentucky has sometimes been criticized for being a campus of independent units, with academic, athletics and health care divisions operating more separately than together. On a symbolic level, UK officials have decided that will no longer be the case. They've unveiled a new logo, one that replaces the classic silhouette of the Memorial Hall steeple for the bold interlocked UK of athletics. The new logo and accompanying font will serve all three units and all the colleges and divisions contained within them. UK announced the change last week, and it has already prompted plenty of discussion on campus. UK's student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, published a story that has become one of its most read ever. |
| LSU issues temporary ban on Hoverboards on campus | |
| LSU is temporary banning students from using self-balancing two wheeled scooters, also known as Hoverboards, on campus and campus-run housing. WAFB TV reports the LSU Department of Residential Life issued a statement saying they had made the decision to "prohibit the use, possession, or storage of electronic skateboards including self-balancing boards/scooters, and other similar equipment in all university-managed residence halls, apartments, and Greek houses." The change comes after LSU officials met with their Risk Management and Safety board and determined that the board's batteries can burst into flame, especially while being charged. |
| Special magistrate sides with U. of Florida faculty union on pay | |
 | The University of Florida's push for pre-eminence should have the administration offering more substantial faculty raises, a special magistrate says. The magistrate, brought in to try to end the impasse between the UF Board of Trustees and the faculty union over pay, cited the administration's goal of becoming a top 10 national public university in siding with the United Faculty of Florida-UF. Special magistrate Tom Young on Monday recommended a 5.25 percent average raise over the 2.5 percent Board of Trustees' proposal. He said the raise should be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2015 instead of the Jan. 1, 2016 effective date in the Board of Trustees' (BOT) offer. The recommendation is non-binding. |
| Regents set to approve $42 million building for UGA business school | |
 | The state Board of Regents is set to approve the University of Georgia's next big building project when the Regents meet this week in Atlanta. University officials asked the Regents to approve the third phase of the University's $140 million "Business Learning Community," three buildings housing UGA's Terry College of Business. The business college earlier this year occupied the first of the three buildings, Correll Hall, a $35 million, 74,000-square foot-home for the colleges administration and graduate programs near the intersection of Lumpkin and Baxter streets. |
| Texas A&M Foundation's new president eager to continue serving alma mater | |
 | It was a dream of Tyson Voelkel's to one day return to Texas A&M University to serve his alma mater. Almost 20 years later, that dream came true. The Texas A&M Foundation announced Christmas Eve that Voelkel, a former commander of the Corps of Cadets and the first Texas A&M System student regent, will be its next president. He found various outlets to serve his school in the years following graduation in 1996, but Voelkel said the opportunity to take the reins of the foundation in the midst of a $4 billion comprehensive campaign, one of the largest in the history of higher learning, made him weak in the knees. "Anything in life that makes you have that kind of reaction is worth pursuing," Voelkel said. |
| U. of Missouri Libraries student advisory group to meet for first time | |
 | A recently formed University of Missouri student advisory group plans to meet for the first time within the first month of next semester. Twenty-five students from 10 campus organizations will constitute the group, which will give the library advice on potential improvements and areas the library could cut to make budget. Students voted down a proposed library fee last month that, when fully implemented, would have increased the library's revenue to about $30.7 million. MU Libraries' revenue for fiscal year 2014 totaled about $17.7 million. Matt Gaunt, director of advancement with MU Libraries, said the fee would have given the library the luxury of knowing where its revenue stream is coming from. |
| Breaking the grass ceiling: U. of Missouri ag leadership group all-female for first time | |
 | When Heteng Cui told her parents she wanted to study veterinary medicine, they blanched. "It didn't seem like a suitable career for a woman to them at first," Cui said. Eventually, with persistence from Cui, her family supported her choices. She studied for two years in China, then transferred to MU to study animal science. In December, Cui and 12 other students were selected as the first all-female Dickinson Scholars group. The MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources program pairs students with Kansas City agribusinesses so that scholars can have an immersive experience in the fast-paced world of agriculture. The 2016 all-female Dickinson Scholars class reflects a slow but steady shift in agriculture -- in universities, businesses and more slowly, on the farms. |
| Job market is tight in many humanities fields, but healthy in economics | |
 | Early January is the time when thousands of new Ph.D. job seekers flock to the conventions of major disciplinary associations. The lucky ones have an interview or two lined up. This year is looking to be quite tight in major humanities fields. But one social science field -- economics -- is having an exceptionally good year, with the supply of new jobs far outpacing the number of new Ph.D.s. Within humanities fields, the Modern Language Association released its annual jobs report last week, and the number of faculty positions is down for the third year in a row. The American Historical Association hasn't finished its job report yet, but expects the results to be released in February to show a decline in the number of available positions. |
| College evangelicals embrace unlikely cause: Black Lives Matter | |
| When Michelle Higgins addressed a gathering of 16,000 evangelical students meeting in St. Louis this week for a missions conference, she brought the same intensity and fervor she's often displayed as a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ms. Higgins, a St. Louis native and director of Faith for Justice, a protest group devoted to "Biblical activism," minced no words when she told the crowd what happened after Michael Brown was killed last year in Ferguson, Mo. Her provocative words at the 2015 Urbana conference, a student gathering co-hosted by the conservative campus ministry InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, not only laid bare some of the deep racial divisions in the United States. At the Urbana conference last week, many evangelical student leaders and others have expressed full solidarity with the emergence of the protest movement. |
| Older Students Learn for the Sake of Learning | |
 | Josh and Susan Fried attend classes three days a week but they never receive any grades or cram for midterms or finals. They are not trying to earn an additional degree or retrain for a new career. Both are 68; they just want to learn with other like-minded adults. The Frieds are among the 150,000 men and women nationally who participate each year at more than 119 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes. The institutes, affiliated mostly with colleges and universities, are among the best-known advanced adult educational programs in the country. Along with an array of other such programs fitting under the "lifelong learning" umbrella, they tend to attract educated, passionate people who are seeking intellectual and social stimulation among peers who often become new friends. |
| U. of Memphis to Focus on Drone Research in 2016 | |
| The FedEx Institute of Technology in 2016 will roll out heavy programming, research and community engagement in drones and other unmanned vehicles as these emerging technologies continue to mature. FIT, which is housed at the University of Memphis, recently announced funding for 11 research projects centered on robotics, autonomous vehicles and drone research. Brandon Turk, whose company is an FIT partner, said he has his eye on Mississippi State University's huge drone division. In May the FAA selected the school as the leading partner in the National Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, a consortium of universities engaged in drone research. |
| Time right to appoint superintendents | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: "If ever there were a time for Mississippi to end the absurd practice of electing school superintendents, the 2016 legislative session is it. There appears to be a political harmonic convergence -- all the stars are lining up to allow this long-needed, long-thwarted reform to pass. ...Appointing rather than electing top school leaders won't magically take politics out of public education. But it would help ten-fold. Heck it would save at least a little money just in the reduction of jobs and contracts created for superintendents' friends, family and political supporters." |
| Mississippi in top 5 for supercomputing prowess | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Some know that Mississippi actually has a rather prodigious reputation in the field of rocket science thanks to NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. ...In 1969, Stennis-tested rocket stages carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely to the moon. Later, Stennis would in the 1970s be the test facility for the main engine for the space shuttle program. But the Stennis Space Center is another story for another day. What brought this history back to top of mind for me was a recent presentation by Trey Breckenridge, the director of the High Performance Computing Collaboratory at Mississippi State University. During that presentation, Breckenridge made the salient point that a modern smart phone -- specifically, say, the Apple iPhone 6S, which I happen to have had in my shirt pocket that day -- has more computing power than all of NASA had back in 1969 when 'steely eyed missile men' were putting Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State men's basketball enters conference play on win streak | |
| Mississippi State freshmen basketball players Malik Newman and Quinndary Weatherspoon are aware of the recent struggles of the men's basketball program. However, the freshmen are taking the stories of the veterans in stride. They are also working hard to make it a brighter future. Newman and Weatherspoon combined for 29 points Thursday as MSU blew out North Carolina Central 71-48 in the final non-conference game of the season at Humphrey Coliseum. Southeastern Conference play begins Wednesday when No. 20 Texas A&M comes to Starkville for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at the Hump. |
| Dak Prescott, talented senior class go out winners at Mississippi State | |
| Dan Mullen was emotional. The Mississippi State coach couldn't hold back tears as he talked about his senior quarterback, Dak Prescott. Prescott was in the room to talk to the media one final time, and Mullen knew this day was coming. "I don't think there's words to really describe what he's done for this program," Mullen said. "I think he's taken the university and the football program, and changed the way people think about themselves. I've coached a lot of good players, but he could very easily be the best guy I've ever coached." Prescott's four-year career at MSU came to an end Wednesday as the Bulldogs topped North Carolina State 51-28 in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. The final game in Prescott's storied career was one to remember. |
| Mississippi State's Dak Prescott leaves behind winning legacy | |
| Dan Mullen's eyes welled up with tears as he stood behind a podium following Wednesday's Belk Bowl, searching for words to describe what Dak Prescott meant to him. The senior quarterback had just capped off his illustrious career at Mississippi State by leading to the Bulldogs to a 51-28 victory over N.C. State and was named the game's MVP with 427 yards of offense and four touchdowns. Emotions overtook Mullen even as words eluded him. "I don't think there's words to really describe what he's done for this program," Mullen said. " |
| Dak Prescott, seniors leave mark on Mississippi State football | |
| Dak Prescott came to Mississippi State as an anonymous quarterback prospect who barely received interest from most major schools. Five years later he leaves as one of the best players in Bulldogs' history. Coach Dan Mullen credited Prescott and the rest of the seniors for helping the program's rise despite residing in the notoriously difficult Southeastern Conference Western Division. "I feel like they have really changed what people think Mississippi State football is all about," Mullen said. |
| Miami hires Mississippi State's Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator | |
| Mississippi State will have its third defensive coordinator in three years after Manny Diaz accepted the same position at Miami on Saturday. Diaz is from Miami and his father was mayor of the city in the early 2000s. Diaz also has ties to new Miami coach Mark Richt, serving as a graduate assistant at Florida State from 1998-99 when Richt was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "Starkville is a special place, and I could not be more thankful for the opportunity Dan Mullen and Scott Stricklin gave my family and I," Diaz said in a statement. "The Bulldog fans are like no other and it has been a privilege to be a part of such a great program, university and community." |
| No. 8 Mississippi State beats Florida 76-70 for 9th in a row | |
| Mississippi State showed it can win even when leading scorer Victoria Vivians has an off day. Morgan William scored a season-high 21 points, picking up the slack amid Vivians' worst shooting performance of the season, and the eighth-ranked Bulldogs beat Florida 76-70 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams Sunday. The Bulldogs (14-1) extended their winning streak to nine and ended Florida's 12-game winning streak. Maybe more important, a team with hopes of winning the conference championship and making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament found a second scoring threat. |
| Study finds increased rapes in campus areas on days of big-time college football games | |
| On the days that big-time college football teams play, the campus and local police departments of institutions playing see a notable increase in reports of rapes of college-age women, a new national study has found. The study, released in December by the National Bureau of Economic Research, analyzed data reported by campus and local agencies to the National Incident Based Reporting System, through which the U.S. Justice Department collects and analyzes crime reports. The data are detailed enough that the researchers were able to compare patterns by days of the week so that the football game days were compared to comparable days without games. The study was conducted by Jason M. Lindo, associate professor of economics at Texas A&M University; Isaac D. Swensen, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University; and Peter M. Siminski, associate professor of economics at the University of Wollongong, in Australia. |
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