| Wednesday, January 20, 2021 |
| MLK Jr. Day celebrations: MLK Day keynote speaker asks audience to 'give Mississippi a chance' | |
 | Five years before he became the first Black student to earn a law degree from Ole Miss, 23 years before he became the first Black justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court and 58 years before he would lead a commission to select a new state flag for the state, Reuben Anderson was just another 19-year-old undergraduate at Tougaloo College. Despite the scaling back of some celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers throughout the Golden Triangle commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a day of community service Monday. In Starkville, Anderson provided the highlight of the holiday during Mississippi State University's 27th annual MLK Jr. Day celebration, delivering a short message broadcast on the university's web-based TV channel. "When (university) President (Mark) Keenum asked me to make some remarks about Dr. King, I couldn't turn him down," Anderson said. "Dr. King played an important role in my life. I first heard him speak when I was a student at Tougaloo College in 1962. I knew even then that I wanted to be a part of the civil rights movement." |
| MSU prepares for third semester during pandemic | |
 | As the spring semester begins and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, Mississippi State University is looking forward as they continue to meet the challenges. Planning for the upcoming academic semester began before students headed home for winter break, with MSU encouraging everyone to get tested for COVID-19 before traveling. According to Vice President of Student Affairs Regina Hyatt, over 2,000 students were tested before leaving campus for the holidays. On Jan. 1, Hyatt sent out an email to the student body recommending self-quarantining starting that day in order to reduce the spread upon their return. Hyatt believes communication is key in reducing the spread of COVID-19 on campus and making students aware of the resources available to them, like free testing. "I think it's all about the communication and continuing to communicate with students about the availability of testing, what the isolation and quarantine procedures are and all of the health behaviors that hopefully will help keep COVID-19 from spreading," Hyatt said. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, Hyatt said she is proud of how MSU students have handled the challenges and continues to be optimistic. “There is an end in sight,” Hyatt said. “I personally really appreciate how our students have stepped up and responded. I think it could have been a lot more challenging, and we have been very fortunate.” |
| Bully's Closet and Pantry is happily awaiting donations | |
 | It's happened to many of us. That moment when life hits you; for some college students, a financial bump in the road may leave them without the essentials for daily life, and with no place to go for help. At Mississippi State, organizers are helping students that face that challenge. "It's not uncommon for people to experience food insecurity at some point in their college career," said MSU's admissions and enrollment manager Lindsey Shelton. Food insecurity is when a person is left without basic food needs and still expected to carry on with life at Mississippi State, they have a working solution for that. "We want to help our students and it's very popular so lots of students are utilizing our services at Bully's closet and pantry," said Shelton. Bully's Closet and Pantry is located on the Mississippi State campus. It is here that students can find free food, clothing, and school supplies. Americorps Vista Leader Latice Fisher runs the pantry every day until 6 o'clock and encourages anyone who wants to donate to bring it to their back door. The pantry is located at 120 Morgan Avenue for those interested in donating to Bully's Closet and Pantry. |
| Hamilton and Lincoln warned of a mobocracy. Trump brought their fears to life. | |
 | Andrew Lang, an associate professor in the Department of History at Mississippi State University, writes in The Washington Post: When Joe Biden delivers his inaugural address on Wednesday, the shadow of what Abraham Lincoln called the "mobocratic spirit" will cast a heavy pall over the day's usual pomp and circumstance. On Jan. 6, insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, attempting to obstruct Congress's certification of Biden's victory in the electoral college. Incited by President Trump promulgating a parade of falsehoods about a stolen election, and enabled by scores of Republicans who parroted them, the mob besieged a sacred attribute of constitutional democracy: the validation of the peaceful transfer of power. The attempted insurrection was the climactic act in a five-year drama of Trumpian populism. ... Alexander Hamilton, one of the nation's Founders, foresaw Trump's brand of populist demagoguery. In 1787, Hamilton remarked in "Federalist One," "it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice." |
| Mississippi Development Authority chief gets job permanently | |
 | The Mississippi Development Authority is giving its interim director the job permanently. John Rounsaville earned his promotion by buoying Mississippi's economy during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday. The Republican governor said despite the economic challenges Mississippi and other states faced, Mississippi attracted $1.6 billion in new capital investments in 2020. That's 30% more capital investment than the state saw in 2019. Reeves said Rounsaville has helped Mississippi win competition for jobs and expansions, particularly in the forest products industry. Earlier this month, Michigan-based Biewer Lumber announced it will invest $130 million in a new Mississippi sawmill, creating 150 jobs. In September, Mission Forest Products announced it's building a sawmill in Corinth, a $160 million corporate investment that will bring 130 jobs. |
| Gov. Reeves names permanent head of state's economic development agency | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday appointed John Rounsaville as permanent Mississippi Development Authority director after Rounsaville served as interim since May. Rounsaville joked that he first thought Reeves named him interim director of the state's economic development agency during the COVID-19 pandemic so he could blame Rounsaville if the state economy "flopped." "2020 was not a flop," Rounsaville said. "We had $1.6 billion in new capital investment, 30% above 2019's capital investment ... and more than 5,000 new jobs were committed to Mississippi ... We are definitely moving the needle forward despite the challenges." Rounsaville is a decorated military veteran and currently serves as a JAG and major at the 186th in the Mississippi Air Force National Guard. He is a master's graduate of Mississippi State University and received a law degree from the University of Mississippi. Rounsavilee and his wife, Laura, live in Madison with their two sons. |
| Two legislators test positive for COVID-19, lawmakers begin receiving vaccines | |
| A Mississippi state senator and a state representative have tested positive for COVID-19, Mississippi Today confirmed on Tuesday, prompting concerns that another Capitol virus outbreak could occur. "We immediately contacted Dr. (Thomas) Dobbs (the state health officer) and are following protocol," Leah Rupp Smith, a spokesperson for Senate leader Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, said Tuesday. House Pro Tem Rep. Jason White told Mississippi Today on Tuesday that a member of the House of Representatives also tested positive. White said the members sitting near the infected member are not participating in proceedings this week to try to prevent the spread. He said the House got advice from Dobbs before opting not to recess the legislative session. "We are following his lead and are in constant communications with him," White said. Additional details about the positive tests were not immediately available. It is unclear which lawmakers tested positive. |
| Teacher pay raise plan awaits Mississippi Senate debate | |
| A proposal to increase Mississippi teachers' pay is advancing at the state Capitol. Senate Bill 2001 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, six days after it cleared the Education Committee. The bill will go to the full Senate for more debate, although it was not immediately clear what day that will happen. The bill would give certified teachers with three or more years of experience a $1,000 pay increase. Teachers with two years of experience and less would get a $1,110 bump, bringing them to a starting salary of $37,000 a year. Assistant teachers would receive a $1,000 pay increase. The bill is similar to legislation proposed last year that was stalled after the coronavirus pandemic created uncertainty about state spending. According to the most recent figures available from the Southern Regional Education Board, the average teacher salary in the U.S. for 2018-19 was $62,304. For Mississippi, the average was $45,105. |
| Mississippi could renew debate on revising tight parole laws | |
| Mississippi legislators should try again to revise some of the strictest parole laws in the nation as a way of reducing the state's "dangerously" large prison population, a nonprofit group said Tuesday. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed a bill in July that would have made more inmates eligible for the possibility of parole. He described the bill as "well-intentioned," but said some law enforcement officers and prosecutors were concerned about the possibility of inmates with violent histories being released. FWD.us, which was founded by technology and business executives, released a report Tuesday that said two-thirds of Mississippi inmates are serving sentences that make them ineligible for parole. Mississippi's prison population, and prison budgets, increased dramatically after the state set stricter parole laws in the mid-1990s. Senate Judiciary A Committee Chairman Brice Wiggins told The Associated Press on Tuesday that another bill attempting to revise parole eligibility is being filed this year. |
| Mississippi Employers Couldn't Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine Under New Bill | |
| Neither private Mississippi businesses nor public entities such as schools would be able to require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under a bill two DeSoto County Republicans filed in the Mississippi House on Monday. "A public or private employer shall not require any of its employees, against the objections of the employee, to receive an immunization or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 or Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) as a condition of the person's employment or continued employment with the employer," House Bill 719 reads. The lawmakers who filed the bill, Reps. Dana Criswell and Dan Eubanks, both sit on the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, which will determine whether or not the bill gets a full vote on the House floor during the 2021 legislative session. Both men are also members of the Mississippi Freedom Caucus, a group of five right-wing House members, four of whom hold leading roles on powerful committees in the Legislature's lower chamber. |
| Bill would make street racing, traffic obstruction a felony | |
| A bill introduced during the 2021 legislative session could mean that individuals involved in street racing incidents like the one that occurred in North Jackson on New Year's night could face felony charges. A group of 10 lawmakers, including many members of the Jackson delegation, have authored H.B. 655, which would "revise the penalty for illegal drag racing to make it a felony." The bill has been referred to the House's Judiciary B Committee. If passed, the measure would amend Section 63-3-1215 to make it a felony to use public roads for "speed competitions, drag races, tests of physical endurance, (an) exhibition of speed or acceleration or for "the purpose of making a speed record." Members of the Jackson City Council discussed the measure at a meeting on Tuesday. Some say the language of the bill is too broad, while others don't want to charge drivers with a felony for such a crime. "Most of this is done by young people in their teens and 20s," said Ward Five Councilman Charles Tillman. "We know how young people think from time to time, just to have fun, and to slap a felony on them that would affect the (rest of their) lives is a little too much." The bill comes after street racers tied up the interstate for an hour on New Year's night. The incident occurred along I-55 in North Jackson. Police responded to the scene, but the drivers fled when they saw the blue lights. |
| Mississippi Bill Would Ban All Abortions, Declare Violators 'Guilty of Murder' | |
| Abortion-rights advocates are warning that a new Mississippi abortion bill could make all abortions a felony offense for "any person" who "willfully and knowingly ... causes" an abortion "or attempts to procure or produce an abortion or miscarriage." Mississippi House Rep. Dan Eubanks, a DeSoto County Republican, introduced House Bill 338 yesterday. Anyone violating the law "shall be guilty of murder" and face one to 10 years in the State Penitentiary with fines between $25,000 and $50,000, the bill says. Those penalties would also apply to anyone "who writes or prints, or causes to be written or printed, a card, circular, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any kind, or gives information orally" that helps someone else obtain the procedure. "The Mississippi Legislature just dropped its first attack on abortion, HB338. Take action NOW; demand that your legislators protect access to safe, legal abortion," Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates wrote in an alert to supporters this afternoon. The reproductive-rights organization has fought other attempts to make abortion illegal in recent years, including the 2019 "Fetal Heartbeat" law that bans abortions once a heartbeat becomes detectable, or around six weeks. Federal courts blocked that law, which Rep. Eubanks also co-sponsored, from taking effect, but Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has said she may appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| Mississippi hospitals renew fight for Medicaid expansion amid the pandemic | |
| Mississippi leans heavily on federal money. It takes in a larger share than most other states. But when it comes to accepting around $1 billion per year in health care assistance from the feds, Mississippi steadfastly refuses. Leaders say they are trying to fix the state's health woes, from a last-ranked health care system and the highest percentage of residents with past-due medical debt. Yet they reject a free-flowing federal money spigot that experts say would quickly improve those rankings. This federal money is tied to extending Medicaid insurance coverage to a larger share of Mississippi's population. It's a step Republican officials have long been hesitant to take, but a growing number of advocates say the state has waited long enough, especially as Mississippi seeks to recover from the pandemic. They are exploring several options to expand coverage and accept the federal money, from ballot initiatives to a proposal where hospitals would help the state pay for its share of the costs. There are approximately 170,000 Mississippians who could qualify, according to one estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation. These are mostly working folks who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line, or about $17,600 for one person. |
| Biden's Covid fight meets a big test: Red-state politics | |
 | Joe Biden has promised to unite the states to vanquish the coronavirus. And he may have a narrow opening as increasingly contagious forms of Covid spread. Biden's plan to encourage better masking, social distancing, testing and contact tracing -- all necessary to slow the spread -- could gain traction with governors whose states are overwhelmed. About a dozen red-state governors have vowed to defy any effort to mandate statewide face coverings, saying it should remain a personal choice or up to local communities. But some might now do more to encourage masks, especially with President Donald Trump's science-defying approach out of the way -- along with his tendency to attack governors who disagree with him. Biden has said he doesn't want a nationwide shutdown. And it's abundantly clear that the public doesn't either. "It would be tough to see major new restrictions," Mississippi's top health officer Thomas Dobbs emailed. "I anticipate we would continue with the county-by-county mask mandates and restrictions based on case rates. We would benefit greatly by more stringent restrictions on social events if we see a later resurgence." |
| Biden's Agriculture deputy choice may reflect minority critics | |
 | President-elect Joe Biden's choice to fill the deputy secretary post at the Agriculture Department underscores the scarcity of Blacks and other minorities in high-profile positions in agriculture. Jewel H. Bronaugh, Virginia commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, would become the first woman of color to serve as the USDA deputy secretary if confirmed. Bronaugh is one of two African American members of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which represents top officials at state and U.S. territorial departments. The announcement of the choice came on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, a possible acknowledgement by the Biden team that it is listening to Black farmers' concerns. Biden's choice of Tom Vilsack to become the next secretary has faced criticism from several Black farm groups. The paucity of people of color in top Agriculture jobs is reflected in the general numbers for farmers. The USDA estimates 1.3 percent of U.S. farmers are Black. |
| With one exception, Mississippi delegation to attend Biden's inauguration | |
| On the eve of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, it appears that all but one member of Mississippi's delegation in Washington D.C. will be on hand to observe the transfer of power. Biden will be sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday at noon when he will officially become the 46th President in the history of the United States. We've known for a while that outgoing President Donald Trump will not be in attendance, but most members of Mississippi's delegation will be. Both Senators Roger Wicker & Cindy Hyde-Smith will be there with the senior Senator issuing the following statement. "I plan to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden, just as I have attended those of Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump. The orderly transfer of power is one of the majestic symbols of our republic," Wicker said. As for Mississippi's House members, Congressmen Bennie Thompson (MS-02), the lone Democrat, indicated he will be there as did Congressmen Trent Kelly (MS-01) and Michael Guest (MS-03). Approximately 100 members of the Mississippi National Guard are also in D.C. providing support to law enforcement amid heightened tensions in aftermath of the recent capitol riots. |
| Janet Yellen says national recovery is more important than the national debt | |
| The Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing Tuesday for Janet Yellen -- President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for treasury secretary. A big chunk of the hearing was spent on how much the government should spend to get the economy back on its feet. At one point, Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair, told the senators the government should spend big, without worrying about adding to the debt. Interest rates are low. "To avoid doing what we need to do now to address the pandemic and the economic damage that it's causing would likely leave us in a worse place economically and with respect to our debt situation than doing what's necessary," she said. The thinking of Yellen, and many other economists, goes like this: We need to borrow and spend whatever it takes to get the economy back on its feet, now. Former Fed economist Claudia Sahm said to think of the economy like a house with a leaky roof. If you don't fix it now, you'll have a big, expensive mess to clean up later, when it rains. "And that all costs so much more than if you'd just fixed the roof in the very beginning when you saw that we had a problem," she said. |
| Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of others | |
| President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family. The last-minute clemency, announced Wednesday morning, follows separate waves of pardons over the past month for Trump associates convicted in the FBI's Russia investigation as well as for the father of his son-in-law. Taken together, the actions underscore the president's willingness, all the way through his four years in the White House, to flex his constitutional powers in ways that defy convention and explicitly aid his friends and supporters. To be sure, the latest list was heavily populated by more conventional candidates whose cases had been championed by criminal justice activists. But the names of prominent Trump allies nonetheless stood out. Trump has already pardoned a slew of longtime associates and supporters, including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort; Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law; his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone; and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. |
| Trump's '1776 Report' released on MLK Day receives heavy backlash | |
 | The 1776 Report --- written by the commission ordered by President Trump in response to The New York Times's 1619 Project --- has received scathing rebukes from historians and civil rights groups since its release on Monday, a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Published in the waning hours of Trump's presidency, the 45-page report goes after critical race theory, which asserts that racism has always been and continues to be inherently imbued within the institutions of America. The commission was led by a group of conservatives and Trump allies who aren't credentialed historians, including Larry Arnn, conservative television analyst Carol Swain, Charlie Kirk, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) and Brooke Rollins, the president's domestic policy adviser. During his presidency, Trump has dismissed the existence of systemic racism in the country, and expressed his disdain for critical race theory. He drew ire from civil rights groups in September when he signed an executive order banning federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients from conducting diversity training, which he described as "anti-American." |
| McConnell Says Trump Provoked Mob That Attacked Capitol | |
 | Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the first time publicly cast blame on President Trump for the violent attack on the Capitol earlier this month as he moved to try to preserve Republican sway in the Senate on the final day of the party's majority status. "The mob was fed lies," Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like." Mr. McConnell's rebuke followed an earlier statement that he is considering whether to vote to convict Mr. Trump during his second impeachment trial, which will take place after he leaves office and Democrats take effective control of the body, with 50 senators and incoming Vice President Kamala Harris breaking any ties to their advantage. At Mr. Trump's first impeachment trial last year, Mr. McConnell took pains to corral all 53 Republican senators into voting against a conviction and succeeded with all but one of them, Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah). |
| Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say | |
| Self-styled militia members from Virginia, Ohio and other states made plans to storm the U.S. Capitol days in advance of the Jan. 6 attack, and then communicated in real time as they breached the building on opposite sides and talked about hunting for lawmakers, according to court documents filed Tuesday. While authorities have charged more than 100 individuals in the riot, details in the new allegations against three U.S. military veterans offer a disturbing look at what they allegedly said to one another before, during and after the attack -- statements that indicate a degree of preparation and determination to rush deep into the halls and tunnels of Congress to make "citizens' arrests" of elected officials. U.S. authorities charged an apparent leader of the Oath Keepers extremist group, Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Va., in the attack, alleging that the Navy veteran helped organize a ring of dozens who coordinated their movements as they "stormed the castle" to disrupt the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory. "This is the first step toward identifying and understanding that there was some type of concerted conspiracy here," said one senior official with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which is leading the investigation. |
| Social gatherings postponed for at least a month at UM | |
 | As of now, all social gatherings held by registered student organizations at the University of Mississippi are postponed until at least Feb. 19, according to an email sent to the university community. For the first month of the semester, administrators will monitor testing rates before social gatherings can take place after Feb. 19. Sentinel testing will continue in the same fashion as last semester, providing free testing to students, staff and faculty. According to the Ole Miss COVID-19 dashboard at the time of publication, there have been 29 new confirmed cases reported by the university over the past week. There are seven active confirmed cases and no active campus outbreaks. Quarantine bed availability is also at 99.4% and isolation bed availability is at 96.5%. In Oct. 2020, the university introduced a plan to begin a two-week process to allow some off-campus social gatherings under the parameters. This included Greek life events like formals or date parties, which were allowed in specific cases. This semester, all groups must submit COVID-19 plans for in-person events, activities, meetings and programs. |
| Itawamba Community College inks agreement with Advanced Technology Services for training program | |
 | Itawamba Community College's Belden Center is now one of five regional training hubs for Illinois-based Advanced Technology Services. ICC President Dr. Jay Allen and ATS Technical Training Manager Ben Patterson, who is conducting the new model of instructional delivery at the Belden Center, inked a memorandum of understanding during a short ceremony Tuesday morning at the ICC Belden Center. Allen said programs like those offered by ATS are the Belden Center's reason for being. "It allows us to continue to do what we're doing every day, which is to increase the skill level of our incumbent workers and new people in that pipeline of industrial maintenance technology," Allen said of the agreement. ICC has already worked with ATS, allowing them to rent space at the Belden Center and bring in their own trainers. The new agreement will allow ATS to reduce cost and increase the volume of courses offered, since ICC will now provide instructors to teach courses on an as-needed basis, Allen said. |
| With Covid Cases High, U. of Florida Expands In-Person Classes Sixfold | |
 | Spring semester began last week at the University of Florida with a huge expansion of face-to-face classes and growing levels of faculty unease. Following a fall term that was taught mostly online, the university increased the number of undergraduate in-person classes by more than 600 percent this semester, even as Covid-19 conditions in Florida (and across the nation) deteriorated to dangerous levels. More than 25,000 students are attending classes on campus in Gainesville, with a roughly equal number taking courses online. Faculty complain of pandemic teaching burnout, but they also increasingly voice concerns about a lack of appreciation from their bosses. The university's ramp-up to additional in-person classes came as more than 50 faculty members were denied health-related requests to teach remotely. Then last week the university made headlines for what critics called a "tattle" button on the Gator Safe mobile app. The button allowed students to report a "course concern" if their professor changed a scheduled in-person class to online. Faculty recoiled at the notion that their own university doesn't trust them to make such decisions. |
| U. of Florida changes controversial tattle button, union members clogging system with bogus complaints | |
 | The University of Florida altered its controversial Gator Safe app course concern reporting button Friday, creating an open text box for students to outline complaints. Despite having the "most explicitly obnoxious" portion of the course concern button removed, the Graduate Assistants United union is still calling for the entire reporting section to go away, it announced Saturday via email. The app's change came after a series of public complaints on Twitter from angry professors and students, disapproval from the UF faculty union and, according to university spokeswoman Cynthia Roldan, feedback to Provost Joseph Glover from college deans. Gator Safe initially encouraged students to report their instructors for course changes like hosting class virtually instead of in-person -- despite the fact that some faculty have permission to do exactly that -- in a move that left many instructors feeling like UF neither trusts nor cares for them. Now, the app requires disgruntled students to write their own reason for concern rather than being prompted with a complaint about faculty. According to Roldan, the reporting feature was not entirely removed so students can still share their in-person class complaints with UF administration. |
| A shot of hope.' UK starts vaccinating thousands at Kroger Field. Here's how it works. | |
 | Beneath the Kroger Field stands, University of Kentucky volunteers and staff began vaccinating local residents against COVID-19 on Tuesday at the university's new, centralized vaccine distribution center. Many of those who received the vaccine Tuesday praised the university's process as easy and efficient. The nearly paperless sign-up, invitation and actual vaccination process is efficient because UK mandates that those who arrive for a vaccine have a pre-scheduled appointment, officials said. "Having that appointment ahead of time is critical to avoiding these long lines," said Joe Monroe, the chief of the university police department. "So if you have an appointment, we want you to stay within that window. Because what that does is that helps avoid long lines out in the parking lot of people waiting for extended periods of time that you see in other sites." By Saturday night -- one day after UK enabled members of the public to make appointments -- the university had received nearly 50,000 requests for an appointment, said Dr. Ashley Montgomery-Yates, the assistant chief medical officer for UK HealthCare. |
| Georgia governor to use $5M in virus aid to help students finish college | |
| Some juniors and seniors at Georgia's public universities and colleges are in line for a little financial boost to help them reach their degree. Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday in his State of the State speech that he would use $5 million in federal coronavirus relief that he controls to provide small grants to help students with unmet financial need pay their college bills. Because it's federal money, the Republican governor won't need legislative approval to spend the money. Completion grants have gotten a lot of attention in academic circles in recent years, with Atlanta's Georgia State University a notable pioneer. In 2018, Georgia State issued more than 2,000 grants, ranging from $300 to $2,000. |
| U. of Missouri fails to have discrimination suit dismissed | |
 | The University of Missouri tried to get a discrimination and retaliation suit dismissed from a woman after she signed a severance and liability form crafted by the university. It failed. Why? The severance and liability agreement, although it used references to the University of Missouri, was between the woman and a foundation not owned by the university. Ann McGruder filed a complaint against the university in July 2018 with the Missouri Human Rights Commission over alleged sex discrimination and retaliation, according to court documents. McGruder was working as associate director of administration in the department of surgery at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. She started in that position in August 2016, but was laid off during a department reorganization. She did not sign a layoff and transition assistance program form from the university, which would have released it from employment-related claims. |
| Music schools struggle to diversify | |
 | This is Amanda Collins' second year teaching at the University of Missouri School of Music. The "humble French horn player" -- what she always calls herself -- had been involved in diversity focused projects before she decided to come to MU. Collins looked up Census data before she accepted the job, only to find out how challenging life could be in Columbia. "It was 10% African American," she said, "and I've never lived in a place like that. I've always lived in a really diverse community, or mostly Black. I didn't know what to expect." But with the decision to help underrepresented populations -- especially music students of color in a predominantly white community -- being an assistant professor at MU makes her feel right. "There's a group of people beyond the scope of what you see in your day-to-day life, especially here in Columbia, where it's predominantly white. And they're struggling," Collins said. "I personally want to do anything I can do to empower underserved and underrepresented people." Collins is the leader of the School of Music Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Collective, which was established during the summer in the wake of George Floyd's death. With the acknowledgment of long-term systemic problems in music education and the industry, the school is reckoning with its lack of diversity. |
| NC State employee accused of Proud Boys membership faces no formal disciplinary action | |
| After investigating allegations of an employee's "malicious online activities," N.C. State University announced Monday that its review "did not substantiate any significant allegations." The employee, Chadwick Jason Seagraves, was reported to be a member of the Proud Boys, a right-wing group that has been associated with protests organized by white supremacists and designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Seagraves was also accused of harassing an N.C. State student online and helping publish and distribute personal information of left-wing activists in Portland, Oregon, and in Asheville with malice, the News & Observer previously reported. The anonymous and public allegations of misconduct spread on social media and were reported to the university in November. That led to the university's investigation. In its review, NC State confirmed Seagraves "did not have access to the protected personal information of any NC State student or any staff members other than those supervised by the employee," according to the statement from university spokesperson Mick Kulikowski. |
| UNC-Chapel Hill to cut personnel, spending to address pandemic losses, long-term deficit | |
| The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has laid out plans to cut personnel costs by 3 percent and operating expenses by 15 percent over the next two years to make up losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a "structural deficit" the school has had for several years. "This isn't going to be easy, but I feel confident that we can get through this together. This is the responsible thing to do for the future of our university," Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told members of the Faculty Council and the Employee Forum on Friday. "Deans and unit leaders will have the autonomy in deciding how, specifically, they will make their cuts," Guskiewicz said, noting that he wants "some strategic vertical reductions, not simply across-the-board cuts." "We'll aim to protect our mission and our people," he said. But Michael Palm, an associate professor of communications and president of UNC-Chapel Hill's chapter of the American Association of University Professors, questioned why administrators are tackling years of budget deficits at the same time as making up for pandemic-related losses. |
| American Students' Love Affair With China Cools as Political Tensions Rise | |
| Mike Thompson was all set to go to Beijing last year with Fulbright funding to research how the Chinese government recruits and trains its officials. When the U.S. suspended in July all Fulbright programs in China, part of sanctions over Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong, his Fulbright program offered him and some other China-focused scholars opportunities to move their field work to Taiwan. Mr. Thompson, a 30-year-old University of Michigan doctoral student whose first trip to China was in 2009, was able to switch his topic to Taiwan's bureaucracy but was disappointed with the Trump administration's decision. "It's a personal setback for me and a big setback for the U.S.-China relationship," he said. The number of U.S. students in China has dropped by more than one-fifth since a 2011-2012 peak, according to data released in November by the Institute of International Education. The number of American students in Taiwan has climbed by nearly 55% during the same period. The shift comes in the midst of a deterioration in the Washington-Beijing relationship and, according to educators, predates the Covid-19 pandemic. Interest in studying Chinese on U.S. campuses has cooled, they said. |
| Pandemic brought new attention to preprints | |
 | When medRxiv, a site that hosts unpublished research manuscripts -- called preprints -- in the medical sciences launched in June 2019, things got off to a slow start. "It may take off slowly," John Inglis, co-founder of the server and executive director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, told Science at the time. For the first few months of its existence, that was true. "Medicine was a more conservative discipline," Inglis, who is also a co-founder of a preprint server for biology called bioRxiv, said in an interview. "We were not expecting an enormous and immediate uptake of preprints, because we needed to create trust, we needed to create familiarity." The pandemic changed things. "In January 2020 we got 240 manuscripts," Inglis said. "In May of 2020 we got 2,400." A huge proportion of those were pandemic-related, with an analysis by Nature suggesting about two-thirds. Between 17 and 30 percent of all research papers about COVID-19 have been preprints, that same analysis showed. Site usage at medRxiv went from 64,000 page views per month in late 2019 to more than 10 million views at the height of the pandemic. |
| The pandemic is speeding up the mass disappearance of men from college | |
| When he and his male classmates talk about going to college, said Debrin Adon, it always comes down to one thing. "We're more focused on money," said Adon, 17, a senior at a public high school here. "Like, getting that paycheck, you know?" Whereas, "if I go to college, I've got to pay this much and take on all this debt." That's among the many reasons the number of men who go to college has for years been badly trailing the number of women who go. And the Covid-19 pandemic has abruptly thrown the ratio even more off balance. While enrollment in higher education overall fell 2.5 percent in the fall, or by more than 461,000 students compared to the fall of 2019, the decline among men was more than seven times as steep as the decline among women, according to an analysis of figures from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. "In a sense, we have lost a generation of men to Covid-19," said Adrian Huerta, an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California who studies college-going among boys and men. "It's a national crisis," said Luis Ponjuan, an associate professor of higher education administration at Texas A&M University. |
| Covid-19 Is Accelerating Changes in Standardized Testing. Expect to See More. | |
| Forget the hype, never mind the mystique. Whether you see standardized testing as useful or harmful, remember this: Even the most influential exams are mere products, made and marketed by human beings. And when the market changes, products once billed as essential can become obsolete. The College Board announced on Tuesday that it would discontinue two of its offerings: SAT Subject Tests and the optional essay section of the SAT. Most admissions officers and college counselors will miss them as much as thirsty consumers miss Crystal Pepsi. Not. At. All. For years, demand for the soon-to-be-scrapped tests has been dwindling. Then Covid-19 upended the admissions realm, limiting students' access to exams and prompting most colleges to at least temporarily suspend their testing requirements. The pandemic, College Board officials wrote in a blog post, "accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to simplify our work and reduce demands on students." Or, one could surmise, global disruption compelled the New York-based testing organization to cut its losses by nixing two flagging product lines, enabling it to double down on its biggest revenue-generating offerings. |
| College Board kills Subject Tests and SAT Essay | |
| The College Board on Tuesday announced that it is killing the SAT Subject Tests and the SAT essay. Most experts said the College Board had little choice but to make the changes. The board also announced plans to create "a more flexible SAT -- a streamlined, digitally delivered test that meets the evolving needs of students and higher education." But the board did not release additional details on the new SAT. The changes come as the pandemic has created huge problems for the College Board and its competitor in admissions testing, ACT. In October, 154,000 students who signed up to take the SAT were unable to do so because of test center closures. In December, 124,000 students were unable to take the SAT because of pandemic-related facility closures. With so many students kept from the tests, the vast majority of colleges have either gone test optional or test blind, meaning they will not even look at an SAT or ACT score when deciding whether to admit a student. The College Board linked its problems finding places to test to eliminating the SAT Subject Tests. It said it would be "locating seats that would have gone to students taking Subject Tests to students who want to take the SAT." |
| Scholars Reflect on HBCU Graduates Ascending into High Government Roles | |
| As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House, he's joined by an influx of alumni from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) ascending into government positions. Kamala Harris -- soon to be the country's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president -- attended Howard University. Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, a Morehouse College graduate, won a tense runoff election to become Georgia's first Black senator, aided by voter outreach from Stacey Abrams, a Spelman College alumnus. Cori Bush, the incoming Democratic representative from Ohio, graduated from Harris-Stowe State University and the new Congressional Black Caucus chair, Rep. Joyce Beatty, from Central State University. HBCU alumni taking on leadership roles is nothing new, said Dr. Robert Palmer, department chair and associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Howard. He noted that HBCU graduates led the Civil Rights Movement, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks and Stokely Carmichael, among others. However, now, the difference is HBCU graduates are reaching high level positions within government, according to Dr. Ravi K. Perry, chair and professor of political science at Howard. |
| Biden will extend student loan payment deferrals until October | |
 | President-elect Joe Biden will direct the Department of Education Wednesday to extend the suspension of federal student loan payments and interest. Borrowers will not have to make payments until October 1 at the earliest, extending the already unprecedented pause on payments by eight months. When the economy began to shut down in response to the pandemic in March, Congress passed a sweeping relief bill that automatically suspended student loan payments and waived interest. The benefit was originally set to expire in September, but was extended by the Trump administration until January 31. Both the pause on payments and interest waiver is automatic, but only applies to federally held loans. That covers roughly 85% of all federal student loans, including those known as direct federal loans and PLUS loans that parents have taken out on behalf of their children. It excludes some federal loans that are guaranteed by the government but not technically held by it. Generally, those were disbursed prior to 2010. |
| Biden proposes a science-led New Deal to end pandemic suffering | |
| After announcing a $1.9 trillion "American Rescue Plan" yesterday to "change the course of the pandemic," President-elect Joe Biden today provided more details on how his administration will address what he called the "dismal failure" of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, safely reopen schools by March, and ramp up surveillance to track where SARS-CoV-2 is moving and how it's mutating. "The more people we vaccinate and the faster we do it, the sooner we can put this pandemic behind us," said Biden in an afternoon speech. Almost simultaneously, the president-elect revealed key members of his administration's science team, many of whom will be central to the plan. Much of the huge price tag for Biden's pandemic plan would help people who are financially struggling because of COVID-19, offering $1400 checks, rent and food assistance, and expanded health care and unemployment benefits. But Biden also wants Congress to allocate $400 billion of the money to bolster the pandemic response, with $160 billion of that going toward mounting "a national vaccination program," expanding diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and hiring 100,000 new community health workers -- nearly tripling the 59,000 now doing the work. They would promote vaccination and trace contacts of newly infected people, but they are also intended to become a permanent fixture in the U.S. public health infrastructure. |
| Historians: Trump administration's report on U.S. history belongs in the trash | |
| In an 11th-hour White House report, the administration that coined the term "alternative facts" says it's academics who have hijacked the truth about U.S. history. Historians, in turn, generally agree that the report -- released by the Presidential Advisory 1776 Commission -- is garbage. The document lacks citations, fails to mention Native Americans entirely, traffics heavily in American "values" at the expense of objective truths and bemoans the "radicalization of American politics" from the 1960s onward. Less clear to historians is how much of an impact the report will have on already divided and fact-challenged culture. David Blight, Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University, said that academic historians, "even those with conservative instincts, will discredit this report whenever asked. We value research, facts, evidence, and then interpretation and debate above ideology. At least most of us do." Beyond academe, Blight said he was hopeful that the report "will have very little lasting power." But even as President Trump is about to leave office, he said, "Trumpism is not going away," and the report gives his supporters a "documentary calling card" in form of an official White House publication. |
| How The First 100 Days Of The Biden Administration Can Strengthen Public Research Universities & Their Students | |
| Peter McPherson, the president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, writes: President Biden takes offices with enormous challenges and opportunities. He becomes president amidst a global pandemic, a steep economic downturn, and societal unrest. The nation's public research universities have helped address many challenges associated with the pandemic and are central to ensuring the long-term economic recovery. As the incoming administration works to address the pandemic and promote an economic recovery as its two top priorities, it should take short- and long-term steps to strengthen the nation's public research universities and support the students they serve to ensure the long-term recovery and success of the nation. The Biden administration -- in partnership with Congress, in many cases -- can take quick and meaningful action to do this. Bolstering emergency relief for institutions, investing in research, reversing misguided visa policies advanced during the Trump administration, and paving the way for a doubling of the maximum Pell Grant to support low-income students can all make a tremendous impact. These are just some of the ways to protect -- and advance -- the positive impact public research universities have on their students, communities, country, and the world. |
| With Democrat trifecta in Washington, Republicans stand at an uneasy crossroads | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: At noon today with the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, Democrats will control the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives and narrowly the U.S. Senate. That reality ends the embattled tenure of outgoing GOP President Donald Trump, the conclusion at least for now of a meteoric if not unlikely rise to power by a flamboyant billionaire New York City real estate developer who captivated rural voters in the South and the Midwest. Mississippi is a prime example of the fierce political loyalty Trump engendered in his supporters. In a state with a 38% Black population, state voters gave Trump 57.8% of the state's 2016 vote for president and 57.6% in the 2020 presidential election. ... The Republican Party is at a broader crossroads. What will be the path forward be for the party of Lincoln? Shortly after the election, the Republican National Committee met and made no substantial changes in their party's leadership. Will the GOP maintain its loyalty to Trump and Trumpism, or will new leaders and new thinking emerge? Will Trump continue to be a force of nature in Republican politics, granting thumbs up or down in contested GOP primaries? |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State announces 2021 baseball schedule | |
| Mississippi State released its 2021 baseball schedule Tuesday afternoon. As part of the Bulldogs' 55-game slate, MSU will play 35 home games, 16 road contests and four neutral site matchups. Third-year head coach Chris Lemonis and his squad will open the season on Feb. 19-21 at Globe Life Park -- home of the Texas Rangers -- in a three day tournament. Opponents and game times have yet to be announced for the event. MSU will begin SEC play March 19-21 against LSU at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. Other conference opponents this year include Arkansas (March 26-28), Kentucky (April 1-3), at Auburn (April 9-11), Ole Miss (April 16-18), at Vanderbilt (April 23-25), Texas A&M (April 30-May 2), at South Carolina (May 7-9), Missouri (May 14-16) and at Alabama (May 20-22). The Bulldogs' annual meetings with Ole Miss will look slightly different this spring as the yearly Governor's Cup game held in Pearl has been canceled for this year. MSU and Ole Miss released a joint statement on the cancellation Tuesday: "Due to scheduling and logistical challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ole Miss and Mississippi State have agreed that the Governor's Cup game in Pearl will not be played this year. While we are disappointed for our loyal fans in the Jackson area, we look forward to seeing our storied rivalry renewed during the scheduled three-game series April 16-18." |
| Mississippi State 2021 baseball schedule opens in late February, SEC play to begin in March | |
| The COVID-19 pandemic has nearly come full circle. One of the last Mississippi State sporting events to take place before the pandemic shut everything down was a baseball game in Biloxi between the Bulldogs and Texas Tech on March 11. Ten months later, Mississippi State finally has another game to look forward to. A full slate of them, in fact. The Bulldogs' 2021 schedule was announced Tuesday. The SEC announced when, where and who Mississippi State, ranked No. 9 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll and No. 7 in D1Baseball's, will play in the coming conference season, which starts the weekend of March 19. Mississippi State also announced which nonconference opponents it will play before then. The season starts at Globe Life Field, the new home ballpark of the Texas Rangers, on Feb. 19. |
| Ole Miss stymies Mississippi State, cruises to 64-46 win in Starkville | |
| When Mississippi State falls asleep Tuesday night, it will see the Ole Miss zone defense in its nightmares. A topsy-turvy season for MSU continued as Ben Howland could only watch halfcourt set after halfcourt set fail on the way to his team's second-lowest scoring output of the season. An Ole Miss team that came into Tuesday searching for all kinds of answers crashed the Bulldogs' hype party by blowing up offensive screens and capitalizing enough in transition to run their rivals off the court with a 64-46 blowout victory at Humphrey Coliseum. "It obviously was a very humbling experience tonight for me and my team," Howland said. Not one player in the Bulldogs' starting lineup shot better than 45 percent on the night, leading to a paltry 34.6 percent shooting clip. "We have to be better offensively than we were tonight in order to beat anybody," Howland said. "(Ole Miss) was 1-4 (in SEC play) coming in, they're much better than their record. We knew that going in ... It doesn't matter what the records are, this game is always going to be a dogfight. They took it right to us in terms of energy and how hard they played, give them credit." |
| 3 takeaways as Mississippi State basketball can't solve rival Ole Miss' defense in loss | |
| Breein Tyree wasn't walking through the door at Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday night, but Ole Miss didn't need him. Rebels senior guard Devontae Shuler channeled his inner Tyree by scoring 22 points against Mississippi State in a 64-46 Ole Miss victory. Ole Miss improved to 7-4 against Mississippi State coach Ben Howland during his tenure and 11-4 in the last 15 games of the series. "End of the day, that's something that we have to rectify and do better," Howland said. "That's obviously always the game you mark down on your schedule, the Ole Miss game, because it's two rival schools." Tyree, who graduated last year, averaged 19.6 points against the Bulldogs in eight starts. He scored a career-high 40 points against Mississippi State in his second-to-last start in the rivalry. Still, as efficient as Shuler shot the ball, the defense for Ole Miss (7-6, 2-4 SEC) -- or lack of offense for Mississippi State (9-6, 4-3) -- defined the night. Mississippi State is back on the floor in Tuscaloosa at 5 p.m. Saturday to play league-leading Alabama. |
| Mississippi State receiver Osirus Mitchell declares for NFL draft | |
| Mississippi State is losing one more piece from its 2020 puzzle. Senior wide receiver Osirus Mitchell announced Tuesday via Twitter that he will forgo the final year of eligibility afforded to him by the NCAA amid the COVID-19 pandemic to enter the NFL draft. Mitchell becomes the fifth MSU senior to enter the draft in addition to classmates guard Dareuan Parker, linebacker Erroll Thompson and defensive ends Kobe Jones and Marquiss Spencer. "My time in Starkville has been filled with many great experiences that will hold a place in my heart forever," he wrote. "I want to thank my family and friends for all the love and constant support no matter the circumstances. Thank you to all of my coaches, trainers, and EQ staff. I was extremely fortunate to have you all believing in me and making me better both on and off the field. Thank you to the academic staff for helping me pursue my degree. Also, to my brothers, thank you for all of the memories shared and the relationships built that will last a lifetime...To Bulldog nation, thank you for making a kid from Sarasota, Florida feel welcomed and cherished!" |
| Search firm Tennessee is using in AD search has produced lackluster Vols coaches | |
 | The search firm Tennessee used to aid in the hiring of former football coach Derek Dooley, former men's basketball coach Cuonzo Martin and former baseball coach Dave Serrano has been retained to assist in filling UT's athletics director vacancy. UT on Saturday agreed to a letter of understanding with Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search, which will charge the university $120,000 for its assistance in the athletics director search. The fee will be invoiced in installments. Tennessee owes $60,000 at the onset of the search and will owe the other half upon the hiring of a candidate. The search firm also will bill the university for expenses. "We agree to make every possible effort to present you with the best candidates, but understandably cannot guarantee the performance of a candidate that is ultimately selected by you," Daniel Parker, the search firm's vice president and managing director, wrote in the letter of understanding. Tennessee is conducting an expedited search for a new athletics director because Phillip Fulmer is stepping aside after more than three years on the job. Tennessee fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause Monday amid an investigation into sweeping alleged NCAA recruiting violations. |
| NCAA announces tighter schedule for March Madness | |
| That much-anticipated opening Thursday of March Madness will belong to the play-in teams, part of a scrambled and modestly condensed schedule for the 2021 tournament released Tuesday. The coronavirus pandemic forced the NCAA to move the entire 67-game tournament to Indiana, which means the schedule doesn't have to be built with travel concerns in mind. The so-called "First Four" -- two games pitting the last four at-large teams in the field and another two featuring the lowest-rated conference champions -- will take place on Thursday, March 18. That day typically would have marked the start of play in the main bracket. Instead, the first two full days of action are now scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 19-20, with the round of 32 taking place Sunday and Monday, March 21-22. The Sweet 16 will run Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28, with none of the games scheduled to overlap, as they often do when they take place on the second Thursday and Friday nights of the tournament. Those winners will face off in the Elite Eight on the following Monday and Tuesday evenings. |
| Mississippi native Sarah Thomas to become first female Super Bowl official | |
 | The National Football League has announced its officiating crew for the upcoming Super Bowl -- with Sarah Thomas set to become the first female official in the game's 55-year history. Thomas, a Pascagoula native, was the first woman to become a full-time official in league history in 2015. She was also the first woman to officiate a postseason game in NFL history when she was a part of the crew for the New England Patriots-Los Angeles Chargers divisional playoff game on Jan. 13, 2019. "Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first female Super Bowl official," said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Troy Vincent Sr. "Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sarah on this well-deserved honor." Referee Carl Cheffers' crew at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7 will include Thomas as Down Judge, a position she's held for the past four seasons. |
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