| Tuesday, March 16, 2021 |
| UPDATE: Mississippi State extends vaccine distribution criteria in accordance with Gov. Reeves' announcement | |
 | Mississippi State is expanding its recent announcement that the university plans to serve as a COVID-19 vaccination site and will administer a limited supply of Pfizer vaccines beginning Tuesday [March 16]. MSU's initial supply of vaccines will be given to MSU employees as previously announced. But in accordance with Monday's [March 15] update from Gov. Tate Reeves that all future vaccine shipments will be available for Mississippi adults of all age groups, MSU employees of any age are now eligible to schedule an appointment at https://covidvaccine.msstate.edu with their MSU NetID and NetPassword. Online registration is required. The university hopes to receive additional vaccine doses in the coming days and weeks, at which time coordinators plan to include students in the campus vaccine distribution. The university is following MSDH guidance and will offer the vaccine at a drive-thru site in the parking lot behind the Longest Student Health Center. Due to the parking lot closure, permitted commuters and staff will be allowed to park in any resident or commuter zone while the lot behind the Longest Student Health Center is closed. |
| New Lauderdale County extension agents hope to inspire the next generation | |
 | Growing up in Shenandoah, Virginia, Lacey Dysart remembers the impact agriculture had on her life. Growing up in Shenandoah, Virginia, Lacey Dysart remembers the impact agriculture had on her life. Now, with her new role with the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Lauderdale County, she hopes to expose young people to that world. "It wasn't until 4-H, Future Farmers of America and playing basketball that I came out of my shell," she said. "I just know how valuable my relationship with my ag teacher was...I can't wait to have that relationship and impact on our youth." As a 4-H agent with the extension office, Dysart will primarily focus on agriculture. She's joined by Kimberly Gowdy, the new family and consumer science agent. Dysart received a degree from Virginia Tech and completed her graduate studies at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Gowdy comes to Lauderdale County from Harrison County, where she worked for Head Start and as an extension agent. Like Dysart, she became interested in agriculture through 4-H and having family members who worked on a farm. As an extension agent, Gowdy will focus on child development, parenting, nutrition, health finance and community engagement. |
| New sculpture of local civil rights activists coming to Unity Park | |
 | Supervisors approved a proposal Monday for the addition of small figurine structures to Unity Park on Douglas L. Conner Drive to symbolize social justice. This project, "Onward," is led by local Mississippi artist and archaeologist, Dylan Karges. He plans to install six- to 12-inch iron sculptures with different faces of people from Oktibbeha County into a four- to five-inch raised base. He hopes the sculptures will be another way to celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of the county residents, he said. "The idea is to pull the focus back to the history and the legacy of the park," Karges said. "Each piece would be unique to represent all of the individuals in the community just for their role. Everybody has a stake in bringing the community together, so each one will be different." The cost of this project will be $8,600 with half the funding coming from a Mississippi Arts Commission grant and the rest coming from the county. Karges presented a prototype of one of these figures at the meeting Monday. He said although he has been making sculptures like these in clay for 20 years, the figures will be cast in iron for durability. |
| Storms taking aim at South could bring strong tornadoes | |
 | Severe weather will bring the potential for flash flooding and tornadoes across a large part of the South, stretching from Texas to Georgia, forecasters say. On Tuesday, storms could bring large hail and possible tornadoes to Texas, Oklahoma and Gulf Coast states, the national Storm Prediction Center said. Forecasters issued tornado warnings in southwest Alabama as storms moved through overnight. Some areas received more than 1 inch of rain. On Wednesday, several tornadoes will be possible in a region that includes large parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Louisiana and Tennessee, forecasters said. The area at enhanced risk for severe storms Wednesday is home to more than 9 million people and includes the cities of Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; and Jackson, Mississippi. "Some of the tornadoes could become strong," the National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi warned in its outlook for Wednesday's storms. |
| Meteorologist: Mississippi could see 'most every pattern possible with severe weather' | |
 | A round of severe weather that began moving through Mississippi on Monday is expected to make an even bigger impact on the state later in the week. "Everywhere in our area we're looking at threats of severe weather on Wednesday," said Logan Poole, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson. He said a low-level band of storms moved through the state on Monday "which will be one of the focal points for our weather on Wednesday." Monday's shallow band of squalls that moved to the south is expected to return to the north late Tuesday or early Wednesday and surge back to the north as a warm front, he said. "As it happens, it's going to bring all moisture and warmth back with it," Poole said. "That band of storms is going to sink to the south and probably stall out somewhere across Southern Mississippi or along the Gulf Coast." When that storm system returns northward, it is expected to clash with an incoming upper-level system. "We have a pretty coated weather system in the middle or the upper level of the atmosphere at the same time, and that's going to create some wind shear and increased instability when coupled with that frontal boundary that's coming to the north," Poole said. "We could see some pretty vigorous thunderstorms or possibly some severe thunderstorms." |
| COVID vaccine to be available for all Mississippi residents | |
| All Mississippi residents will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine starting Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves said. "Starting tomorrow, ALL new appointments will be open to ALL Mississippians," Reeves tweeted Monday. "Get your shot friends - and let's get back to normal!" Vaccinations in Mississippi are currently available for anyone ages 50 or over, staff at K-12 schools, first responders, health care workers and those who are at least 16 and have health conditions that might make them more vulnerable to the virus. Reeves urged those in the 50 and up age group to make appointments Monday before eligibility expands to the entire state. People can get vaccinated at state-run drive-thru sites in counties across the state, at private clinics and community health centers and some pharmacies, like Walmart and Walgreens. People eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine can make an appointment at COVIDvaccine.umc.edu or by calling the COVID-19 call center at 1-877-978-6453. |
| All Mississippians qualify for coronavirus vaccine, experts call it a 'game changer' | |
 | Mississippi is the second state to expand coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16 and older. Dr. Jennifer Bryan Chairs the Board of the Mississippi State Medical Association. She says she would like to see more doses go towards private clinics and hospitals so residents can get the shot from a trusted, local provider. Dr. Bryan says "Long term I anticipate we'll see that switch more and more, as vaccines become privatized and all of that. But right now for the foreseeable time period anyways, I hope that the drive-thru sites will go on and then as the demand diminishes, and we're able to pick up the capacity through the private sector, we'll see that transition." Vaccination clinics are also being created and expanded at some of the state's colleges and universities. Sid Salter with Mississippi State University says this could allow more students and faculty to return to classrooms. He says "This will be, in my estimation, a real game-changer, not just for Mississippi State, but for higher education in Mississippi and across the country." |
| Mississippi opens vaccine eligibility to everyone starting Tuesday | |
 | Mississippi will become the second state to open Covid-19 vaccinations to all of its adult residents, following a call from President Biden for all states to do so by May 1. Alaska opened its vaccination doors last week to anybody 16 or older who lives or works in the state. The change in Mississippi takes effect Tuesday. "Get your shots, friends," Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Twitter. "And let's get back to normal!" The pace of vaccinations in the United States has steadily increased as production has ramped up, from well under one million shots per day on Jan. 20, when Mr. Biden took office, to about 2.4 million doses per day on average, according to a New York Times database. Although Mississippi lags most states in the share of its population that has been vaccinated, it is doing better than all of its neighbors except Louisiana, according to a New York Times tracker. As of Sunday, about 20 percent of Mississippians have received at least one shot, and 11 percent have been fully vaccinated. The state had already opened eligibility further than most states, to cover everyone 50 or over. Governor Reeves urged older residents to book appointments as soon as possible. |
| Mississippi tax overhaul appears headed to doom in Senate | |
| A bill to overhaul Mississippi's tax structure faces a critical deadline Tuesday in the state Senate, but it appears unlikely to survive despite a push from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. The Senate president pro tempore, Republican Dean Kirby of Pearl, said in response to reporters' questions Monday: "I cannot find any votes the way it's currently written. ... I haven't found any support." House Bill 1439 would phase out Mississippi's income tax and cut the 7% state grocery tax in half. It also would increase the sales tax on most items from 7% to 9.5% and would increase taxes on other items, including tobacco, alcohol, farm implements and manufacturing equipment. The Senate Finance Committee met Monday but did not bring the bill up for discussion. The committee chairman, Republican Josh Harkins of Flowood, told reporters afterward that the bill, which runs more than 300 pages, is "intriguing," but he wants to see a thorough evaluation of how it would affect businesses and others. Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville told The Associated Press on Monday that he wants to try to amend the House bill to simplify it. |
| Mississippi income tax elimination bill on life support as deadline looms | |
 | Passage of a bill to switch Mississippi's taxation from income to "consumption" taxes pushed by Speaker Philip Gunn and House GOP leaders appeared unlikely Monday after a Senate panel failed to take it up before a Tuesday deadline. "When reforming major tax policy, you need to get it right," said Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, R-Flowood. "... I believe (the House and Senate) want the same thing, and we'll ultimately get there. It's just a question of whether it's this year or next year ... We've still got another day, and we're looking at a lot of differing things." Under legislative rules, Harkins not passing House Bill 1439 out of Finance on Monday means allowing a Senate vote to take it up Tuesday -- its deadline to pass the full Senate -- would require a two-thirds vote to suspend rules. After that, the bill itself would require a three-fifths vote in a Senate where the measure's reception by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and other leaders has been lukewarm. And while some conservative policy groups support the measure to phase out the state income tax while raising sales, sin and other taxes, many powerful lobbies -- such as those representing farmers, small businesses, manufacturers and teachers -- have voiced opposition. |
| Mississippi legislators chop pecan bill from to-do list | |
| Critics had said it was nutty for Mississippi legislators to consider pecan harvesting bills during a year with big issues that required urgent attention -- things like responding to the coronavirus pandemic or increasing teacher pay. Now, the last surviving pecan bill is dead. House Bill 284 and Senate Bill 2072 started as proposals to increase penalties for stealing pecans. The House bill died Feb. 11. The Senate bill became a shell of the original proposal. It was changed to simply create a study committee about pecan harvesting. The House passed the updated version of the Senate bill on Tuesday -- but then then bill was held for the possibility of more debate. The bill died because House failed to have that second debate before a Friday deadline. |
| Lawmakers consider how to spend $1.8 billion in federal COVID funds | |
| Legislative leaders say they are still studying the American Rescue Plan, which provides $1.78 billion to the state, to see how it could impact the ongoing 2021 session. The $1.9 trillion federal package signed into law by President Joe Biden last week could impact the Mississippi Legislature and state government in at least two ways: The new law prohibits states from using the federal funds they receive from the American Rescue Plan to offset lost revenue from tax cuts. House Speaker Philip Gunn has proposed a massive restructuring of the state's tax law that he says is -- at least in the first years -- revenue neutral. But the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation says the language in the new federal law is broad and could have far-reaching impact for states considering tax legislation. The $1.78 billion the state is receiving could be incorporated into the budget that legislators are working on now for the fiscal year beginning July 1. But if legislators choose to use the funds in the upcoming budget year, they most likely will have to stay in session past the scheduled April 4 adjournment date to gather more details about the American Rescue Plan. |
| U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith Named Top Republican on Agriculture Subcommittee | |
 | The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry U.S. today named U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) as the lead Republican of its Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems, and Food Safety and Security. "I look forward to serving as the Ranking Member of this subcommittee as the Senate Agriculture Committee addresses the policies needed to strengthen the agricultural sector and its importance to our economy," Hyde-Smith said. This subcommittee, which will be chaired by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), oversees matters involving livestock, poultry, and dairy production, local and regional food systems, as well as marketing, food safety, and security issues. Hyde-Smith, the former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, will also serve on two additional subcommittees, including the Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources. |
| Swine Fever Resurgence Damps Hopes for U.S. Soybean Farmers | |
 | A resurgence of a lethal pig disease is putting new strain on China's efforts to rebuild its herds -- a threat to U.S. farmers' hopes to sell more soybeans there this year. A new outbreak of African swine fever in the world's leading hog-producing nation is killing increasing numbers of Chinese pigs, with the sow herd falling 3% to 5% each month since December, according to a report Tuesday from Rabobank. Chinese officials had forecast that the country would return to pre-disease hog herds this year. The new outbreaks could delay that until 2023, Rabobank found. African swine fever, a disease harmless to humans but nearly always fatal to pigs, has taken a huge bite out of China's hog supplies in recent years. The new outbreak has pressured U.S. soy prices -- particularly for soymeal, commonly used as animal feed. The disease's return threatens otherwise strong export demand expected for U.S. soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that soybean export sales will total 2.25 billion bushels in the 2020/21 marketing year -- over one-third more than last year's figure. Soybean prices have risen to their highest levels since June 2014 this month at nearly $14.50 a bushel, lifted by the strong export outlook. As a result, U.S. farmers are expected to plant more soybeans -- 90 million acres this spring, the most since 2017, the USDA estimated last month. |
| Wildlife Farms In China Likely Source Of Pandemic, Say WHO Investigators | |
 | A member of the World Health Organization investigative team says wildlife farms in southern China are the most likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic. China shut down those wildlife farms in February 2020, says Peter Daszak, a disease ecologist with EcoHealth Alliance and a member of the WHO delegation that traveled to China this year. During that trip, Daszak says, the WHO team found new evidence that these wildlife farms were supplying vendors at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan with animals. Daszak told NPR that the government response was a strong signal that the Chinese government thought those farms were the most probable pathway for a coronavirus in bats in southern China to reach humans in Wuhan. Those wildlife farms, including ones in the Yunnan region, are part of a unique project that the Chinese government has been promoting for 20 years now. "They take exotic animals, like civets, porcupines, pangolins, raccoon dogs and bamboo rats, and they breed them in captivity," says Daszak. The agency is expected to release the team's investigative findings in the next two weeks. |
| U. of Mississippi still only allows employees to receive vaccine on campus | |
 | The university will continue to only allow on-campus vaccination for employees, following Gov. Tate Reeves's announcement that vaccines will be available for all Mississippi residents starting March 16. Eligible individuals for appointments with UM's COVID-19 vaccination clinic include faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate student workers. Employees at the university's regional campuses are also included. "Appointments are limited to the supply on hand, and we have requested additional supply from the Mississippi State Department of Health," an email from the Office of the Provost to the university community read on Monday. Pharmacy students and registered physicians will administer the Pfizer vaccine inside the Tad Smith Coliseum on three days this week: Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. |
| Jackson State Gets $1 Million to Boost STEM-Related Courses | |
| Jackson State University is one of five schools to get a Scientific Leadership Award. The schools -- described as minority-serving institutions -- will receive up to $1 million in 2021, which is the first of a two-year funding effort, WLBT-TV reported. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate made the announcement recently. "Our universities are incubators for innovation and creative problem solving," said Science and Technology Under Secretary Reginald Brothers. "We look forward to working with these institutes of higher learning to help foster a homeland security culture within the academic community through research and educational programs." The purpose of the award is to establish Homeland Security-STEM-related courses and provide the necessary resources for students and faculty to solve challenges. |
| JSU employees receive COVID-19 vaccine, encourage others to do the same | |
 | Several Jackson State leaders and employees received the COVID-19 vaccine, and they're encouraging others to get the vaccine. Governor Tate Reeves announced vaccination appointments will be available for all Mississippians on Tuesday, March 16. There has been an uptick in the number of people getting the vaccine. However, university leaders said there's still some resistance in minority communities due to distrust of the medical system, racism and health care disparities. In late January, JSU President Thomas K. Hudson was among several educational leaders who received vaccinations at the Mississippi State Department of Health. The group aimed to encourage all Mississippians to do the same. Since then, other JSU employees have received their vaccines. Charles A. Smith, chief university photographer, said he wants to do all he can to prevent the spread of the disease to all the people he cares about. "I didn't have any negative responses over the many weeks since I took the first shot," said Smith. "I feel protected, but I'm still going to continue wearing my mask." |
| MDE: All K-12 statewide assessments will be administered for 2020-21 | |
 | The Mississippi Department of Education confirmed Monday that all required federal and statewide assessments will be administered to public school students for the 2020-21 school year, but passing them won't be required to advance or graduate. Current third graders won't be required to meet a passing score on the reading assessment to be promoted to fourth grade for the 2021-22 school year, but students must meet all other district requirements for promotion. Likewise, high school students who take required end-of-course high school assessments, including Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History, won't be required to meet a passing score to graduate, but they must meet all other state and district graduation requirements. MDE said it has allowed districts pandemic-related flexibilities to make it easier to administer assessments and schedule in-person testing for virtual learners. Schools will be expected to provide "safe testing accommodations" for full-time virtual learners who are able to visit their school campus to test. And while virtual learners are strongly urged to take the tests, schools can't require them to show up. |
| Schools weighing whether to seat students closer together | |
| U.S. guidelines that say students should be kept 6 feet apart in schools are receiving new scrutiny from federal health experts, state governments and education officials working to return as many children as possible to the classroom. Even as more teachers receive vaccinations, the distancing guidelines have remained a major hurdle for schools as they aim to open with limited space. But amid new evidence that it may be safe to seat students closer together, states including Illinois and Massachusetts are allowing 3 feet of distance, and others including Oregon are considering it. Debate around the issue flared last week when a new study suggested that, if masks are worn, students can be seated as close as 3 feet apart with no increased risk to them or teachers. Published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, it looked at schools in Massachusetts, which has backed the 3-feet guideline for months. Asked about it Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is now exploring whether children can be seated closer together than was previously recommended. |
| Former business dean will return as president for Samford University | |
 | Former business dean Beck A. Taylor will return this summer as the new president of Samford University. On July 1, Taylor will succeed outgoing Samford President Andrew Westmoreland, who announced last year he is retiring after serving as president since 2006. Taylor, 51, has been serving as president of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington since 2010. He was previously dean and professor of economics for Samford University's Brock School of Business from 2005-2010. The Samford University Board of Trustees voted on March 10 to elect Taylor. After earning his undergraduate degree from Baylor University with majors in economics and finance, Taylor was employed as an analyst for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Houston, Texas. He went on to earn his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Baylor as associate dean for research and faculty development for the Hankamer School of Business, and was named the first holder of the W.H. Smith Professorship in Economics. In 2002, he was appointed as a visiting scholar by Harvard University where he spent one year in residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. |
| Sonny Perdue under consideration to lead Georgia's higher ed system | |
| Former Gov. Sonny Perdue is under serious consideration to lead Georgia's higher education system, one of the most powerful and influential jobs in state government, five people with direct knowledge of the search told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Republican has not yet formally applied to lead the University System of Georgia, which oversees the state's public colleges and universities, and officials say the national search will be an open and transparent process. Still, people involved in the search who spoke on condition of anonymity acknowledge the former two-term governor is a strong contender. Perdue, 74, declined to comment through an aide. He recently finished a stint as President Donald Trump's agriculture secretary, often referring to the sprawling government agency and its roughly $140 billion-a-year budget as a business. He was one of the few Cabinet secretaries and top aides who remained in their jobs throughout Trump's term in the White House. The job as chancellor of the higher education system is among the most coveted and highest-paid posts in Georgia government. |
| A secret review led by this well-known ex-US attorney was revealed in LSU's sexual harassment report | |
 | Tucked inside its blistering report last week on LSU's handling of sexual misconduct complaints, the Husch Blackwell law firm revealed an earlier investigation, launched in secret almost two years ago and led by a familiar name in New Orleans criminal justice circles. Kenneth Polite, a former U.S. Attorney in New Orleans -- and reportedly in the running for a top-level Justice Department post -- was hired by LSU's Board of Trustees in April 2019 for a "privileged and confidential review" of how LSU's athletics program handles complaints under federal Title IX rules. Polite and his Philadelphia-based firm, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, reviewed six investigative files and interviewed a dozen university employees and three student-athletes. It delivered a draft report in September 2019 to Tom Skinner, then LSU's general counsel. According to Husch Blackwell, Polite "provided an overly optimistic picture of the state of the University's Title IX compliance efforts." While Husch Blackwell offered a dim assessment, Skinner defended the Polite report, telling The Advocate | The Times-Picayune that it was meant to assess a lawsuit threat and that it led to more Title IX training in the LSU athletics department. |
| Amazon, Haslam family gift $1.5 million to U. of Tennessee's College of Business for professor position | |
 | Amazon and the Haslam family are making a significant donation to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's Haslam College of Business to establish a new professor position. Amazon and the Haslam family each donated $750,000, for a total of $1.5 million, to create an endowed distinguished professorship in business analytics and data science, according to a press release from Amazon. It's the third major investment Amazon is making in East Tennessee after announcing it will open two facilities here in 2022, creating hundreds of jobs. The college offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in business analytics. Steve Mangum, dean of the Haslam College of Business, said this professorship will open up more opportunities for students when they study at UT and after they leave the university. It will also help grow the faculty of the college, which needs to expand. Enrollment in the College of Business has increased roughly 50% over the last several years, Mangum said. With high-quality faculty and students, and partnerships with companies like Amazon, UT is more likely to be approached by companies interested in research projects or executive education programs, Mangum said. |
| U. of Florida researchers use satellite images to help cattle ranchers | |
 | Sometimes, to solve a problem, scientists have to think outside the box -- or in this case, the breathable atmosphere. Two University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers, Chris Wilson, an assistant professor in agronomy, and Hunter Smith, a doctoral student, are creating a new data-interpretation tool using satellite imagery to help ranchers better manage their pastures and grazing. "Remote sensing is potentially a Swiss Army knife tool," Wilson said. "We are very interested in the environmental impacts and the complete package." The scientist said his team's product will use statistical models to interpret satellite images for important land management aspects, like when and where to fertilize and how much protein is held in specific grass sections, as well as forecasting beneficial grazing patterns for ranchers based on their individual fields. "That's kind of the holy grail," he said. Currently, the tool is being designed on data from 30 plots at a UF agricultural research field north of the Gainesville Regional Airport. Bahiagrass, a common agricultural grass in Florida, planted there will grow from March to October, providing the UF team with months of data and imagery to work with. |
| Texas higher education officials urge Legislature to invest in colleges and universities, after pandemic's toll on students and economy | |
 | When the last legislative session ended with huge wins for Texas public schools in the form of increased funding and teacher raises, higher education leaders looked to 2021, hopeful it would soon be their turn. Texas Higher Education Commissioner Harrison Keller, who took the helm in the fall of 2019, started meeting with state lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott to push the idea that the next session should be focused on higher education, including a bill that could overhaul its funding. Then, the pandemic hit. Now, instead of the hike in spending they were hoping for, universities are trying to avoid budget cuts while advocating for more resources to serve students, many of whom have been hit hard by the past year. "In some ways, it pulled the rug out from under us," Keller told The Texas Tribune in an interview. "But this still needs to be a higher ed session. ... If anything, some of the issues that we've been talking about over the last year seem like they're even more urgent." As Texas lawmakers grapple with a struggling economy hurt by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and a winter storm that thrust the state's electrical infrastructure into the spotlight, higher education advocates are desperately trying to make the case that the state still needs to increase investment in its colleges and universities. |
| Record 93.5% of U. of Missouri's May graduates found work or placement despite COVID-19 | |
 | Next month, Alec Stutson will begin a new job as a general assignment reporter at North State Public Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate in Chico, California. "I'm kind of blessed," Stutson said. "There aren't a lot of jobs open right now." A December graduate, Stutson majored in convergence journalism at the University of Missouri, which included on-air experience at KBIA, the university's radio station. A record 93.5% of May MU graduates found jobs or other placements within six months after graduation during a pandemic year, the university announced Monday, citing its annual career outcomes survey. Lily Grant graduated from MU last spring with a degree in agriculture education. Now she's the high school agriculture teacher in the Miller County School District in Tuscumbia. In some ways, it's a dream job, she said. "I attended the Teach Ag Academy through MU's Department of Agriculture Education and Leadership in 2015 and knew that this was what I wanted to do," Grant said. "I had seen the impact that my agriculture teacher had on me and wanted to do the same for other students." Of the recent graduates, 63.5% are working full time, 8.4% are working part time, 19% are continuing their education and 2.6% joined the military or are volunteering. |
| Animal rights group files federal complaint against U. of Missouri | |
| An animal rights group in a federal complaint against MU is alleging five dogs in a lab died of apparent heat stress and two piglets in a lab disappeared into a drain trough. Stop Animal Exploitation Now! filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The complaint refers to MU reports obtained by the group through the federal Freedom of Information Act. MU has regularly had run-ins with animal rights groups, from protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to a public records lawsuit by the Beagle Freedom Project. "We proactively reported both of these incidents to the USDA and the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare immediately," said MU spokesman Christian Basi. USDA is the federal agriculture department. The Office of Animal Welfare is part of the National Institutes of Health. "They're both very unfortunate instances," Basi said. The university worked quickly to correct the situations and hasn't been contacted by the agencies about any further requirements. |
| State higher ed funding flat thanks to federal stimulus influx | |
 | With the help of nearly $2 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, state funding allocations for higher education during the 2021 fiscal year remained roughly the same as last fiscal year, according to the latest Grapevine higher education funding report. Total state support for higher education edged up by 0.3 percent to $96.7 billion in the 2021 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2020, and will end on June 30, 2021. Without federal dollars, direct state funding levels would have declined by 1.3 percent this fiscal year. "The results suggest that budgets have not been wrecked to the extent we feared they might be by the pandemic," said Jim Applegate, visiting professor at Illinois State University's Center for the Study of Education Policy and editor of the Grapevine report. "Part of the reason for that is the federal government did step up." The annual report, a collaborative effort between the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, looks at state higher education appropriations for the current fiscal year. The Grapevine data are not adjusted for inflation. |
| The Pandemic May Have Permanently Altered Campuses. Here's How. | |
 | One-way signs, sparsely furnished classrooms, and empty faculty offices are the norm now, but they won't last forever. Still, the pandemic may have permanently altered campuses in other ways, accelerating changes that began years before. The Chronicle asked more than 40 architects, campus planners, and leaders in student life and housing about how several categories of campus spaces might look different in the future As colleges navigate difficult financial straits, many interviewees predicted more public-private partnerships, and renovations instead of new construction -- which can be less costly and more environmentally friendly. Overall, their answers paint a picture of future campuses that are more adaptable, perhaps smaller, and focused on what's most valuable about seeing one's peers in person. Even though online learning during the pandemic has had its hiccups, many of the experts The Chronicle spoke with expected hybrid classes to persist into the future. That trend will reshape the arrangement of classrooms. |
| Colleges Canceled Spring Break, But Students Are Traveling Anyway | |
| Hoarse voices reminiscing about last night's wild time; young people in oversized university t-shirts crowding the liquor store; a cabal of high heels waiting for ride shares, with nary a mask in sight. Pandemic or not, it's spring break in Miami Beach, Fla. At a hotel restaurant overlooking the beach on Thursday, a group of students from the University of Georgia raised their cocktails to celebrate the start of the weekend. The University of Georgia is one of many colleges that decided to cancel or alter spring break -- which typically happens in early or mid-March -- to discourage students from travelling. But the students at the table told NPR they chose to make their own spring break. Several had online classes and exams earlier that day, which they attended from their hotel rooms. According to new research from the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, about 60% of colleges have done away with spring break this year. But these campus health efforts have hit a major roadblock: The rise of online classes means students can now do college from anywhere -- even next to a pool with palm trees gently swaying in the background. |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dawg Gameday: host Samford | |
| Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program will host Samford for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday (March 15) at Dudy Noble Field. The pair of Bulldogs have met on the diamond 46 prior times with MSU owning a 36-10 overall edge in the series. Mississippi State (13-3) is coming off of a three-game series sweep of Eastern Michigan to complete a 5-0 week. State allowed just two runs in five games last week -- both solo home runs -- and struck out 69 batters over 45 innings of work. The six-game winning streak was kept alive by MSU's third walk-off win of the season versus EMU on Saturday. Junior Tanner Allen leads the offense with a .328 batting average, 20 hits and 19 runs scored. The left-handed hitter has two home runs and ranks tied for No. 2 on the team with 15 RBIs. Second-year freshman Kamren James leads the team with 17 RBIs, while sophomore Luke Hancock has driven in 15 runs. Houston Harding will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday and has given up just two earned runs in 15 1/3 innings of work this season. He owns 23 strikeouts to just five walks and has limited opposing hitters to just a .148 batting average against. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball misses NCAA Tournament for first time since 2014 | |
| An irregular season ended with an uncommon outcome. Mississippi State has missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Coach Nikki McCray-Penson's first season in Starkville will end without the Bulldogs having an opportunity to play for the program's first national championship. Mississippi State bowed out of the NCAA Tournament two weeks ago in its first game. The Bulldogs (10-9) lost to LSU 71-62. They knew then they were on the bubble, and Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show proved them to be on the wrong side of it. MSU advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in every season from 2016-19 and made trips to the national title game in 2018-19. Mississippi State was not one of the first four teams out, which means the Bulldogs will not be an alternate standing by in case one of the tournament teams has to withdraw because of COVID-19 complications. |
| Mississippi State women miss NCAA Tournament for first time since 2013-14 | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013-14. MSU was not one of the 64 teams announced during ESPN's bracket reveal show Monday night. The Bulldogs were also left out of the four COVID-related replacement teams that would stand in should pandemic issues render a squad unable to play. The Bulldogs concluded Nikki McCray-Penson's first regular season in Starkville 10-9 (5-7 SEC) with a loss to LSU in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. MSU had lost seven of its last nine games heading into the postseason and hadn't beaten a team with a winning record since Dec. 31. The Bulldogs' lone win over a team in the top 25 of the NET rankings came against Georgia in their first SEC game of the season. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball declines bid to play in WNIT | |
| Mississippi State won't play in the postseason for the first time since 2013. Well, technically for the first time since last year. Nobody played in the postseason last year, after all, because of the COVID-19 shutdown. Mississippi State's absence from tournament play this year is because of two reasons. One, the Bulldogs (10-9) didn't do enough to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Two, sources confirmed to the Clarion Ledger that MSU turned down an offer to play in the WNIT. So just like that, Nikki McCray-Penson's first season at Mississippi State is over. McCray-Penson's inaugural run in maroon and white was an odd one. It included a number of COVID-related cancellations and postponements, lopsided losses to both elite and below average SEC teams and narrow defeats to teams that ultimately punched tickets to the big dance. In a span of two years, Mississippi State went from a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a team that came a few possessions away from beating Sabrina Ionescu and Oregon to reach the Final Four for the third straight season to watching postseason play from home for the first time in eight years. |
| Analysis: A requiem for the 2020-21 Mississippi State women's basketball season | |
| During a time of year when dancing has become an ever-present part of the season, Mississippi State's maroon suede shoes will remain in their box in 2021. There's no foxtrot to be had. No cha cha looming. Perhaps a slow waltz in honor of the slog of a season that finally found its end is due. Speaking of waltzes, Louisville coach Jeff Walz has the Cardinals as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Remember him from last offseason's coaching search? The lack of dancing around Starkville this spring isn't due to some Footloose-ian town ordinance or anything of the like, though. Rather, it's born out of pure basketball-based ineptitude. Monday, MSU was left out of the 64-team NCAA tournament field for the first time since the 2013-14 season and, in all reality, it wasn't that close. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme had the Bulldogs listed as the first team out ahead of the selection show. When the slate was finally revealed, MSU not only wasn't the first team out, it wasn't even one of four potential replacement teams should any COVID-19 related issues prevent a previously selected squad from playing. Monday night marked the start of an offseason that will swirl with questions, tension and, presumably, some changeover. But, for now, let's look back on the year that was. |
| Erica McKinley Named Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Big Ten Conference | |
| Big Ten Conference has named Erica McKinley its first chief legal officer and general counsel. In this role, she oversees all legal, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, compliance, litigation, regulatory, corporate, and NCAA matters, as well as outside counsel management. McKinley reports directly to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and will work collaboratively with the Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) and the general counsels at all 14 Big Ten member institutions. She also serves as a key strategic advisor to Commissioner Warren and the conference. McKinley is a savvy business executive with a strong background in collegiate and professional sports. She joins Big Ten Conference after serving as chief legal officer and general counsel at the University of Mississippi where, during her tenure, she was the primary legal advisor for the university. McKinley earned a juris doctorate, summa cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1998. After law school, she completed a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Fifth Circuit. McKinley graduated from Tougaloo College in 1995, with a bachelor's degree in English. |
| LSU AD doesn't expect more punishment for suspended employees after Title IX probe | |
 | LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said in a Monday morning radio interview that he doesn't expect additional punishments in the wake of Husch Blackwell's investigation into the university's handlings of sexual misconduct cases, nor does he believe LSU will make changes to the suspensions of two high-profile athletics officials who were implicated in the report. It is the most recent time Woodward has spoken in support of his employees despite calls from a bipartisan state Senate committee and a student protest for LSU to levy harsher punishments for people who were incriminated in the scandal. In an hour-long interview with WRKF's "Talk Louisiana" with host Jim Engster, Woodward addressed the decisions made by interim LSU president Tom Galligan to suspend executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry for 30 days without pay and senior associate athletic director Miriam Segar for 21 days without pay. Both will be required to go through training programs on sexual misconduct. Woodward, who said he "totally" agrees with Galligan's decision. |
| F. King Alexander facing potential firing, discipline at Oregon State over LSU allegations | |
| Former LSU President F. King Alexander faces the prospect of discipline, including potential termination, this week from his role as president of Oregon State University over how he handled allegations of sexual misconduct at LSU years earlier. The Oregon State University Board of Trustees has announced it will meet Wednesday over the mounting allegations against Alexander. Those have built up since LSU released a report March 5 from the law firm Husch Blackwell that described a "total failure of leadership" as LSU faced complaints of sexual misconduct and dating violence, much of it during Alexander's tenure. An Oregon State meeting notice says the Board of Trustees will hold an executive session "to consider the dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent who does not request an open hearing." The board will also "review and evaluate the employment-related performance of the chief executive officer of any public body, a public officer, employee or staff member who does not request an open hearing." OSU will also hear public comment during the meeting, and publicly discuss the Husch Blackwell report, according to the meeting notice. After the executive session, the board will announce potential action over Alexander. |
| Mizzou athletics announces another seven-figure gift | |
| Mizzou Athletics announced it received an anonymous $1.4 million donation on Monday. The gift will be used to support the football and men's basketball programs. According to a release, the donation will help fund the new indoor football practice facility. It will also go toward the men's basketball program's Excellence Society. "With this gift, this donor and his family are making an incredible investment to fund future success for Mizzou Athletics and our 550 student-athletes," Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterk said in a release. "As Mizzou enters its 10th year of Southeastern Conference membership next fall, we have great momentum and now is the time for all Mizzou fans to come alongside us in support of our student-athletes, coaches and staff." |
| UGA releases first football COVID-19 testing data from season | |
 | Georgia's ability to navigate the pandemic within its football program last season kept it from having any disruptions to its schedule because of issues within its own team. The football program's number of players who tested positive for COVID-19 from one week before the start of the regular season to the end appears to be in the single digits. Georgia said 36 players tested positive from the return to campus in June through the end of the fall semester (Dec. 17), according to information obtained Monday via an open records request. It did not break that down with any more detail to narrow the time span, but according to information released in January, 29 players tested positive from June 10 through Sept. 18, eight days before the start of the season. UGA president Jere Morehead in January praised director of sports medicine Ron Courson for leading the athletic department this season as it developed and followed health and safety protocols. "I don't think we would have made it through COVID-19 had we not had Ron Courson," Morehead said |
| ACC does away with intraconference transfer rule | |
| The ACC has eliminated its intraconference transfer rule, which means undergraduate student-athletes may now transfer within the conference without sitting out a year. The move comes after what the league termed a "unanimous vote" of the ACC Board of Directors. "The time has come for all student-athletes to have the opportunity to transfer and be permitted to compete immediately," ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. "This decision is in the best interest of our student-athletes as it allows greater flexibility during their collegiate career." The ACC's move might put pressure on the SEC to make a similar change, given that the two conferences often operate in lockstep on such issues. The SEC in September granted a handful of intraconference transfer waivers to undergraduate football players, including quarterback Joey Gatewood (Auburn to Kentucky) and offensive lineman Cade Mays (Georgia to Tennessee). The SEC's 2018 transfer policy remains in place, however. The lone automatic exceptions are for graduate transfers and those whose schools are facing NCAA sanctions; all others must sit out a year. |
| With NIL reform in limbo, NCAA heading toward busy June | |
| The NCAA's efforts to allow athletes to earn money from personal endorsement and sponsorship deals are stuck in limbo, and June is shaping up to be a potentially busy and important month for college sports. "My anniversary is June 24. And every year my wife and I take a vacation right around June 24," NCAA President Mark Emmert said Monday. "And we have canceled that vacation." Just days away from the start of the NCAA's most lucrative and high-profile event, the Division I men's basketball tournament, Emmert spoke to the AP about where things stand with the association's attempts to reform its rules related to name, image and likeness compensation for athletes. Despite the current gridlock, Emmert said he is still hopeful the NCAA will have uniform national NIL rules in place before the start of next football season. "We certainly want to make sure that we can be ready for implementation of those kinds of rules by the time we get to the fall. There's a lot of moving parts and it's a very challenging issue to get in place," Emmert said during the 30-minute interview. Those moving parts include the NCAA's more than 300 Division I member schools, Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and dozens of state legislatures. |
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