| Wednesday, January 19, 2022 |
| MSU students return to classes, COVID testing continues | |
 | Students returned to classes on Tuesday at Mississippi State University, and drive-thru COVID-19 testing continues to benefit them on campus. Many students took advantage of the testing site in front of the Newell-Grissom building. "I think Mississippi State has a great job in helping students do whatever they need to do," junior Clara Fuller said. She said with COVID-19 cases rising daily, she's happy with effort the school is making to provide students with the convenient option. "Especially with our numbers rising right now," she added. "Having this option is really smart and it's probably the easiest way to get more students tested if they're feeling sick." The testing site is for students and faculty who have no symptoms. Testers get their results 24 hours after the test. "It's really accessible," student Reagan Freeman said. "It's a lot quicker than waiting in an office or any kind of doctor's building." The school is also providing Pfizer vaccines and booster shots. |
| Mississippi State faculty researcher collaborates on new lunar-based telescope launch | |
 | A Mississippi State physics and astronomy faculty member is part of a group of scientists landing a new telescope on the moon's surface. Angelle Tanner, an MSU associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy, is collaborating with other researchers from Louisiana State University, the SETI Institute and AstronetX PBC, a Boston, Massachusetts-headquartered corporation dedicated to enabling frontier research from space. A grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to AstronetX is the primary funding source for the work, which aims to launch a small lunar-based telescope camera, known as L-CAM1, in 2024. Tanner explained that implementing L-CAM1 on the moon's surface will be a first step toward larger, long-term scientific goals and serves as a technological demonstration that could lead to further development of lunar-based telescopes. "There are several reasons that a lot of scientists are very interested in building up this technology," Tanner said. "This allows us to get away from the Earth's atmosphere and have a physically stable surface for scientific instruments on the moon." She explained that this will improve the clarity of images acquired with the camera. "This could open the door to definitely new and exciting scientific adventures," Tanner said. |
| Mississippi State faculty researcher collaborates on new telescope launch | |
 | A physics and astronomy faculty member at Mississippi State University (MSU) is part of group of scientists who will land a new telescope on the moon's surface. Angelle Tanner, an MSU associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy, is collaborating with other researchers from Louisiana State University and the SETI Institute and AstronetX PBC, to enable frontier research from space. "There are several reasons that a lot of scientists are very interested in building up this technology. This allows us to get away from the Earth's atmosphere and have a physically stable surface for scientific instruments on the moon," Tanner said. A grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to AstronetX is the primary funding source for the work, which aims to launch a small lunar-based telescope camera in 2024. The telescope will capture cosmic images of exoplanets and be observed by Tanner and the rest of the research team. |
| Mississippi State playing part in landing new telescope on the moon | |
| Mississippi State University is playing a part in landing a new telescope on the moon. Astrophysics Associate Professor Angelle Tanner is working with other researchers from Louisiana State University, the SETI Institute and AstronetX PBC. Their goal is to launch a small lunar-based telescope camera, known as L-CAMI, in 2024. "There are several reasons that a lot of scientists are very interested in building up this technology," Tanner explained. "This allows us to get away from the Earth's atmosphere and have a physically stable surface for scientific instruments on the moon." The overall project aims to study exoplanets, or planets that orbit other stars. The team will also observe asteroids including some near Earth. |
| MLK events across region focus on service, character | |
 | "My mom is a teacher," said Chloe Malau'ulu as she stood in a crowded storage space at the United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee counties' office Monday morning, just before joining her teammates in packing boxes of supplies for local educators. "It means a lot to help (teachers) make sure they are equipped with the donations they need to give students the best learning experience." Malau'ulu, a senior business administration major, and her teammates from the Mississippi State University softball team volunteered Monday morning as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. This year's project was Tools for Schools, which collected classroom supplies for teachers in Lowndes and Noxubee counties. "It's all about using your platform," Malau'ulu said. "As student athletes, a lot of people look up to us. If people see us giving back to the community and spreading goodness around, it will trickle down and other people will start following." MSU's softball team jumped at the chance to help, said head coach Samantha Ricketts. "We've got a lot of former players who are getting into teaching," she said. MSU held its 28th annual Unity Celebration Monday. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the celebration was virtual this year through MSU TV and the university's social media channels. Keynote Speaker State Sen. Angela Turner-Ford (D, West Point) reminded people as they gathered to celebrate King on Monday to remember not only his words but his prediction that unless the human race comes together, void of prejudices and hatred, the country could face a future of turmoil that could threaten the core of democracy. |
| Mississippi State professor's art to be featured on USPS stamp | |
 | A Mississippi State professor's art will be featured on a United States postal stamp. Alex Bostic, a professor of art and illustrator with more than 40 years of experience, will see his original piece titled "Edmonia Lewis" on one of several new United States Postal Service (USPS) stamps being issued in 2022. Edmonia Lewis was the first African-American and Native American sculptor to gain national prominence. She eventually gained international prominence, in large part due to her sensitively carved "Hagar." Lewis is also well known for depicting abolitionists and patrons in her art. "I am proud to have my art on a U.S. postage stamp. I have done stamps for other countries, but this is my first for the United States," Bostic said. "Edmonia Lewis was a perfect subject for me because of what she went through to be an artist, particularly as an African American." |
| MSU professor's original art to be featured on U.S. postage stamp | |
| A faculty member in Mississippi State's College of Architecture, Art and Design is putting his stamp on American culture and history with help from the U.S. Postal Service. Alex Bostic, an MSU associate professor of art and illustrator with more than 40 years of experience, will see his original art "Edmonia Lewis" featured on one of several new USPS stamps being issued in 2022. The Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp---the 45th stamp in the USPS's Black Heritage Series -- will be released Jan. 26 and available for purchase in sheets of 20 at www.usps.com/shopstamps. A dedication ceremony for the Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp is being held Jan. 26 at 12:30 p.m. EST at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. For more event details, visit www.usps.com/edmonialewis. Bostic said he hopes the new stamp inspires people's curiosity about Lewis's life, and he encourages others to find and discuss books or information about the sculptor. "Educating the public is something that is greatly needed in the Black community---people need to know about our heritage and what we're capable of achieving," he said. "I'm a big proponent of art, and I hope that more of our children will be artists. I want kids who grew up like me to get more support from their families, from the ground up." |
| Mississippi State professor's art to be featured on U.S. postage stamp | |
| Leaders of Mississippi State University (MSU) announced that the art of one of their faculty members in the College of Architecture Art and Design will be featured on several new USPS stamps in 2022. Alex Bostic, and MSU associate professor of art and illustrator, will see his original art "Edmonia Lewis" on the stamps. The Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp will be the 45th stamp in the USPS Black Heritage Series and will be released January 26, according to university leaders. The stamp will be available for purchase in sheets of 20 at www.usps.com/shopstamps. A ceremony dedicated for the Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp is being held January 26 starting at 12:30 p.m. EST at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. |
| Shelter still trying to adopt Buddy, the badly burned dog | |
 | A northern Mississippi animal shelter is still searching for a home for a dog that was severely burned. Buddy was set on fire by a child in northern Mississippi last year and underwent a series of skin grafts and has new skin on his snout, WMC-TV reported. The dog has been treated at Mississippi State University. The Tunica Humane Society had hoped to have Buddy settled in a home by the holidays, but those plans didn't work out, the shelter said in an update posted on Facebook. Buddy was found burned along a road in Tate County on April 22, said Sandy Williams, shelter director of the Tunica Humane Society. Buddy had an extension cord twisted around his neck and his face had been set on fire, The Clarion Ledger reported. A 12-year-old admitted to setting Buddy on fire, Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance has said. Because of his age, the child could not be prosecuted under Mississippi law, Lance said. |
| Growers must manage 2022 high input costs | |
 | High fertilizer prices continue to be a hot topic any time farm professionals gather, but now is not the first time costs have doubled or even tripled for some crop staples. Larry Oldham, soil specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said producers must plan around dramatically rising costs. "Some December reports show potash prices nearing historic high prices over $800 per ton, and individual nitrogen fertilizer prices increasing 5% to 9% within one month," Oldham said. While these high prices can seem staggering, fertilizer price increases of this magnitude have happened before. "The late 2000s was the time of the great fertilizer price reset," Oldham said. "Potash prices had been 14 cents a pound for many years, but increased domestic and international grain demand more than quadrupled the price for potash." Oldham said that means the current fertilizer price volatility is not uncharted territory. "This is a moment for patience as the storm swirls," Oldham said. "Large-scale components -- some anticipated and some not -- interacted in late 2021 to develop the current situation. We anticipate these interactions will continue through winter." Speaking at the 2021 Row Crops Short Course in December, Brian Mills, an agricultural economist at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, said this input volatility makes crop planning for 2022 difficult. |
| Study suggests Oktibbeha dam has solid core, needs improving | |
| A report from Mississippi Engineering Group says the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam has a solid core and mostly in shape, but it still needs some repairs. Due to heavy rains, the possibility of a breaching dam in early 2020 forced several citizens to evacuate their residences, but the lake has had issues for several decades, Oktibbeha County board of supervisors board attorney Rob Roberson told The Dispatch. That launched a now two-years-long debate over how to correct the issues, including a proposal from engineer Clyde Pritchard to spend $8 million replacing the structure. To determine the status of the dam, the board contracted with Flowood-based Pickering Engineering Firm, a business included in larger engineering company Mississippi Engineering Group, in July to conduct a study, which was presented at Tuesday's board meeting. While the dam is not close to breaching, the report proved the dam is not up to MDEQ standards, such as having continuous mudslides and the risers, pipes used to set the primary water elevation, not being up to par. Roberson said if he were to guess a price, he could see the repairs estimating around $2 million to $4 million. After the county receives the final report, the next step it must take is create a design plan for repairs of the dam. |
| Kevin Charles Fine Upholstery adding 75 jobs in New Albany | |
 | For the second time in three years, Kevin Charles Fine Upholstery is expanding. The New Albany-based company is investing $6.571 million and creating 75 jobs over the next four years. Founded in 2002, the company primarily manufactures furniture for Florida- based City Furniture, a South Florida-based retailer founded by Kevin & Keith Koenig. Kevin Charles hand-assembles sofas, love seats, chairs, sleepers, ottomans and accent chairs at a 125,000-square-foot facility in New Albany. In 2019, Kevin Charles more than doubled its space with a $2.5 million expansion to its facility on Sam T. Barkley Drive, and added some 40 employees. It currently employs 122. The Mississippi Development Authority is giving a grant of $41,050 to move a sewer line. The city of New Albany and Union County also are assisting with the project. "Kevin Charles and City Furniture appreciate the continuing support from our state, Union County and New Albany leaders, along with Three Rivers Planning and Development and the Mississippi Development Authority," said company president Rusty Berryhill. |
| Developers breathe new life into Fondren with revived Capri, restaurant, tiki bar | |
| The renovated Capri theater here on State Street will feature 178 reclinable seats and theatergoers will be able to order food from the restaurant and tiki bar next door through kiosks in the lobby before the movie starts -- or from a QR code for each seat. The trio of entertainment destinations is set to bring more than 100 jobs to the Fondren area of Northeast Jackson anchored by the Capri, dormant for more than 30 years, as developers nail down an opening date. Hattiesburg restaurateur Robert St. John said developers hope to open the 25,000-square-foot development on State Street within the next two or three weeks. St. John is one of the managing partners of the development that includes the Capri, The Pearl tiki bar and the Highball Lanes restaurant, bar and 10-lane bowling alley. A fourth restaurant is in the works as part of the development. St. John's Hattiesburg-based burger restaurant called Ed's Burger Joint is planned to go in next door to the Capri in an old yoga studio, though construction has not yet begun on that phase of the project. The project was designed by Wier Boerner Allin Architecture, also located in Fondren, and is being built by AnderCorp, a contractor of Gulfport. The development has been at least 10 years in the making since developer David Pharr and his partner Jason Watkins acquired the theater. Pharr said organizations such as St. Dominic Hospital and the Fondren Renaissance Foundation have invested in the community. Over the past decade, an explosion of restaurants has cemented Fondren as a center for Jackson nightlife and good food and drink. |
| Marty Stuart among Meridian's The MAX Hall of Fame newest members | |
| Marty Stuart was among the five newest members of The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience's Hall of Fame announced Tuesday. Stuart was among three other musicians and two writers as the museum's new class of honorees. State dignitaries and political representatives were in attendance for the unveiling of the Hall of Fame members, which will bring the total of legendary art figures in the attraction to 33. The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is comprised of four other Mississippians: Sam Cooke, musician from Clarksdale; W.C. Handy, musician from Clarksdale; Alice Walker, writer from Jackson; and Ida B. Wells, writer from Holly Springs. The MAX, created by an act of the Legislature, honors a diverse mix of creative legends from across the state. Chances are that no matter where in Mississippi you're from, at least one of the Hall of Fame honorees has ties to your area. The museum serves as a valuable resource for educators and gives special attention to engaging young people. The formal induction ceremony for the new Hall of Fame members will take place at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian on Dec. 15. |
| Rising mortgage rates and prices not raining on homebuilders' parade | |
| We're entering a third year of pandemic economics, and it's shaping up to be a year of changing economic conditions as well. One sector that's sure to be impacted is housing. With the Fed signaling it's going to raise interest rates to fight inflation, mortgage rates are already rising. That, along with persistent challenges sourcing building materials and labor, is likely to keep the supply of new homes tight, and prices high, in the coming year. Even though the price of construction materials was up nearly 20% in the past year, homebuilders remain very optimistic, according to the latest survey. One reason, said analyst Ken Leon at CFRA, is the eagerness of would-be homebuyers, with jobs plentiful and incomes rising. "We're seeing strong demand across the board, whether it's entry-level, move-up or luxury. One of the frustrations in affordability is the crowding out of new homebuyers and millennials, coming from investors that are putting cash-down," he said. Rising mortgage rates will hurt affordability even more. Another thing that's changing: the geography of new construction. Robert Dietz at the National Association of Home Builders said early in the pandemic, everyone wanted to move to the outer suburbs and beyond. But lately, "we saw demand return in the inner-suburb-type environments, and even in the urban cores," he said. That feeds a boom in apartment -- and townhouse -- construction. |
| PSC approves rate increases for Entergy, Mississippi Power and sets hearing date for new net metering rule | |
| The Mississippi Public Service Commission approved rate hikes at its Tuesday meeting related to the increasing cost of natural gas for both Entergy and Mississippi Power and set a date for a hearing on its new net metering rule. The commission voted to accept written comments on the new net metering rule until February 1 and the hearing on the matter will be held on February 8 at 10 a.m. Entergy says that due to higher natural gas prices, it needs $80 million more from its customers in the form of higher rates for the next two years. According to the company's filing from November, an average customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month would see an increase of $7.81 on their February bill after other rate adjustments are taken into account. This includes a $1.17 per month decrease for a 1,000 kWh customer related to the company's membership in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator or MISO and an 11 cent increase related to grid modernization using broadband technology. Mississippi Power asked the commission for a hike of $3.86 per month for a 1,000 kWh customer to take effect next month. The utility says it needs $63 million more from its customers to make up for increased natural gas prices. The commission also referred to Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley the ability to hold a hearing on a proposed solar facility in Lowndes County. MS Solar 6 would have the Tennessee Valley Authority as its customer for its 150-megawatt facility that would include a 50-megawatt capacity battery storage facility. |
| Thompson announce Delta Health Alliance grant | |
| United States Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) recently announced the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has awarded $200,000 in funds through the 2021 Delta Workforce Grant Program to the Delta Health Alliance located in Stoneville. The Delta Careers Collaborative (DCC) will establish a new talent pipeline of industry-led workforce training and certifications to address the critical need for pre-K educators in the Mississippi counties of Leflore, Sunflower, Warren, and Washington. Students from rural public high schools and local dislocated workers will be recruited to receive Child Development Associate training from Mississippi State University for job placement with early childhood education centers. The DCC expects to provide career development services to 80 residents, fulfilling a critical need for affordable, high-quality early childcare while also supporting the return to work of local families and driving improvements in kindergarten readiness scores in the region. Congressman Thompson, 73, has been serving as the U.S. Representative for Mississippi's Second Congressional District since 1993. |
| Gallup: Voters shift to preferring Republicans over Democrats | |
 | A new Gallup analysis examined how Americans' partisan preferences shifted over the course of the year 2021, with findings that indicate momentum for Republicans heading into this midterm election year. Gallup found that Americans' partisan preferences were relatively stable when looking at the entire year 2021. But when the year was broken down into quarters, there was a discernible shift. In the first quarter of 2021, Democrats had a 9-point advantage over Republicans, but by the final quarter of the year that had shifted sharply to a 5-point Republican advantage, according to Gallup's aggregate data. "Both the 9-point Democratic advantage in the first quarter and the 5-point Republican edge in the fourth quarter are among the largest Gallup has measured for each party in any quarter since it began regularly measuring party identification and leaning in 1991," writes Gallup senior editor Jeffrey Jones. Party identification trends can often be strong indicators of how a party will fare in House elections. And most in Washington already predict a bleak outcome for Democrats in November, in both the House and the Senate. Gallup also found that self-identified independents remain the largest political group in the United States. |
| Abortion fight in states picks up as legislative sessions begin | |
 | The Supreme Court's consideration of a near-total abortion ban in Texas and other limits in Mississippi are motivating state officials to pursue either tougher abortion restrictions or protections in case legal precedents change. State legislatures, which often have more limited schedules than Congress, began returning this month. Some state lawmakers already filed bills for consideration in the coming weeks, with many Republican-led legislatures seeking to mirror the 2021 Texas law. The start of sessions marks an opportunity for abortion opponents around the nation to test whether they also can restrict the procedure in their states, ahead of another expected Supreme Court decision this term: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the challenge to Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, which has never taken effect. "We do believe that we will see a continuation of the bills we saw in 2021," said Ingrid A. Duran, National Right to Life Committee's director of state legislation. Elizabeth Nash, interim associate director of state issues at the left-leaning Guttmacher Institute, said the Supreme Court will likely weaken or overturn abortion rights precedents. But abortion rights advocates are preparing a legislative offense in anticipation of additional states following Texas' lead. |
| Waiting on SCOTUS to hand down ruling on Mississippi's abortion case | |
| It's been a month and a half since the United States Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments in Mississippi's abortion ban case. Now, we're hearing from Attorney General Lynn Fitch on the next steps. "The Dobbs case, as we put in our brief and as we argued it last December, was all about empowering women and promoting life," said Lynn Fitch. Since we would ask more women to continue their pregnancies and deliver their child if the law changes, we asked Fitch if the state is doing enough to support them. "I think you're gonna see certainly in our state, but across the country, faith-based groups can be very involved, we've got a number of crisis pregnancy centers, there is a huge support network out there," she noted. This is where the conversation shifted to a topic that Fitch hopes the legislature will advance this year, especially in light of the Dobbs case. "How do we lift these women out of poverty who had their children that we're talking about?" asked Fitch. "We have to recognize that they deserve equal pay." The expectation is that the Supreme Court likely won't rule on this case till this summer. |
| Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Giuliani, Digging Into False Vote Fraud Claims | |
 | The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Tuesday subpoenaed Rudolph W. Giuliani and other members of the legal team that pursued a set of conspiracy-filled lawsuits on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump in which they made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. In addition to Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Trump's personal lawyer and a ringleader of the group, the panel subpoenaed three others who played central roles in his effort to use the courts, state legislatures and Congress to try to overturn his defeat. Jenna Ellis drafted a memo on how Mr. Trump could invalidate the election results by exploiting an obscure law. Sidney Powell, a lawyer who worked on many of the lawsuits with Mr. Giuliani, ran an organization that raised millions of dollars based on false claims that election machines were rigged. Boris Epshteyn pursued allegations of election fraud in Nevada and Arizona and is said to have participated in a call with Mr. Trump on the morning of Jan. 6, "during which options were discussed to delay the certification of election results," the committee said. "The four individuals we've subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes," Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement. |
| Army Corps of Engineers gets $14B to help ease supply chains | |
| The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the release of $14 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers to fund 500 projects, with a focus on easing supply chain problems and addressing climate change. The spending stems largely from President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure deal, and the administration is trying to show how the projects will improve supply chain backlogs. There are three specific projects tied to reducing supply bottlenecks by making it easier to transport goods, according to a White House fact sheet. U.S. ports have struggled to manage the inflow of container ships and move containers onto trucks as the economy recovered from the pandemic, resulting in delays in sending goods to consumers and higher prices. Wednesday's announcement includes $470 million for a new lock in Michigan that is key for shipping iron ore. There are also investments at the Port of Long Beach in California and Norfolk Harbor in Virginia to accommodate more shipping. On the climate front, the Army Corps of Engineers will spend $1.1 billion to preserve the Everglades in Florida with projects to capture and store surface water runoff. There will also be $645 million to reduce coastal flood risks and $1.7 billion for inland flood risks. |
| Supreme Court justices aren't 'scorpions,' but not happy campers either | |
| It was pretty jarring earlier this month when the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court took the bench for the first time since the omicron surge over the holidays. All were now wearing masks. All, that is, except Justice Neil Gorsuch. What's more, Justice Sonia Sotomayor was not there at all, choosing instead to participate through a microphone setup in her chambers. Sotomayor has diabetes, a condition that puts her at high risk for serious illness, or even death, from COVID-19. She has been the only justice to wear a mask on the bench since last fall when, amid a marked decline in COVID-19 cases, the justices resumed in-person arguments for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. Now, though, the situation had changed with the omicron surge, and according to court sources, Sotomayor did not feel safe in close proximity to people who were unmasked. Chief Justice John Roberts, understanding that, in some form asked the other justices to mask up. They all did. Except Gorsuch, who, as it happens, sits next to Sotomayor on the bench. His continued refusal since then has also meant that Sotomayor has not attended the justices' weekly conference in person, joining instead by telephone. Gorsuch, from the beginning of his tenure, has proved a prickly justice, not exactly beloved even by his conservative soulmates on the court. Of course, anybody who regularly watches Supreme Court arguments is used to seeing some testy moments in both big and little cases. But you don't have to be a keen observer these days to see that something out of the ordinary is happening. |
| Trump Organization Falsely Valued Assets to Attain Loans and Tax Deductions, New York Attorney General Says | |
 | The New York attorney general's office said late Tuesday it uncovered a swath of evidence that former President Donald Trump and his company falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions. The findings came in court papers asking a judge to order Mr. Trump and two of his adult children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with civil subpoenas for its fraud investigation. The office of Attorney General Letitia James said that while it hadn't reached a conclusion about whether to take legal action, the grounds for the investigation were "self evident." "Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit," Ms. James, a Democrat, said. The Trumps have asked a judge to quash the subpoenas or put them on hold until a parallel criminal case has concluded. Lawyers for the Trumps have argued that any information the attorney general's lawyers gained through depositions could be improperly used in the criminal investigation, which the Manhattan district attorney's office is conducting alongside lawyers from the attorney general's office. |
| UM restrictions stand as Omicron cases rise | |
 | With the new Omicron variant, COVID-19 cases are at astronomically high levels. Chancellor Glenn Boyce announced on Jan. 10 the COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming semester and how the university will combat the rising cases. "The Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of the virus. While health officials indicate Omicron cases are generally mild (especially for those who are vaccinated), the transmissibility of Omicron is significantly higher than the Delta variant," Boyce said. Classes and other functions likely will face disruptions due to the increase of transmissibility, Boyce said. All classes will remain in-person with a continuation of the public mask mandate in all indoor facilities. Boyce also encourages all meetings to be held virtually, when possible. Boyce also instructed students, faculty and staff who test positive for or experience symptoms of COVID-19 to stay home, notify their supervisors/instructors, report their positive test to University Health Services and observe CDC isolation and quarantine guidelines. UM students and faculty have conflicted opinions and many questions on the protocols. |
| Ole Miss students honored with Donald Cole scholarship for creating positive change | |
| A student activist, professor and leader, Don Cole has retired from the University of Mississippi but continues to influence the lives of Ole Miss students through a new scholarship endowment. Majestic Gay and Frederick Williams -- the inaugural recipients of the Donald Cole Catalyst for Change Scholarship -- will expand Cole's legacy beyond his more-than-50-year relationship with the university. A host of alumni, colleagues, former students and family contributed almost $50,000 to the endowment in his honor. "I was so happy when I found out I was one of the first recipients of this scholarship," said Gay, of Atlanta. "Having this scholarship means a lot to my family and me, and it is a relief to know that I have support from this university for the future." The endowed scholarship -- the first of its kind established to help African American studies majors -- recognizes students who exhibit leadership qualities, a spirit of service and academic excellence. Cole, who retired in 2019, said he continues to be honored by having a scholarship created in his name; now that the first scholars have been named, he is grateful to be able to observe how their lives influence their communities. |
| R3SM hosts MLK service day | |
 | Students from the University of Southern Mississippi showed the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by spending their day volunteering. The students spent the day cleaning up the landscape around the R3SM building. R3SM Executive Director Mavis Creagh shared the importance of this MLK service day. "Every year, we are very thankful to participate. Even if it's a smaller number of students, it's really not about the number, but it's about the foundation that has been laid to serve the community to do what you can, to step up when needed," said Creagh. A student volunteer and a junior at USM says her reason for taking part in this event was to give back to her community on a day that means so much those around her. "I hope it just shows other people that they can just go out and do it. I'm not the best person. I don't know how to do most landscaping things, but I decided to try and that's all you really can do is just try," said Samari Ards. |
| Public invited to open forums with Auburn president finalist Chris Roberts | |
 | As Auburn University's search for a new president nears completion, lone finalist Chris Roberts meets the campus and community this week with several meetings open to the public. On Thursday and Friday, students, faculty and alumni will have the chance to hear from Roberts at forums both in person and on Zoom. The visit with the Auburn community is the next step in the process of naming the new president, and the Auburn board of trustees insists that community input is important to the board. Roberts currently serves as dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. He's the only finalist being considered for the position at this time. "We ask that you make every effort possible to meet Dean Roberts during his visit and to share your thoughts with us following the visit," board chairperson Wayne T. Smith said in an open letter last week. Roberts opens his visits Thursday by hosting a student forum from 1 to 1:45 p.m. in the Melton Student Center Ballroom, which is open to the public. Following the student forum, Roberts will be available from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Auburn Alumni Center for a University, Community and Alumni Reception -- also open to the public. |
| Auburn University still bridging the gap for gender inclusivity | |
| After being repeatedly misgendered in class, a student at Auburn University went to their advisor to discuss this issue. In response, the adviser showed them the inclusivity website and the conversation ended there. Noa Hunter, sophomore in mathematics, said after this exchange, they realized they had wasted their time. Hunter identifies as nonbinary, someone who does not identify as a man or a woman. While the University does not have an official record of how many students are nonbinary, as of June 2021, a study by UCLA's Williams Institute found 1.2 million adults in the U.S. identify as nonbinary. Auburn University offers Safe Zone training, Spectrum: the Gay-Straight Alliance, the ability to change pronouns in Banner operating systems and an all-gender restroom map to help provide gender inclusivity for students who aren't cisgender. Kamden Strunk, associate professor in education research, said having university policies helps, but students truly feel the impact on a cultural level. Hunter said they know it's not fair to ask the University to change the community around them, but having more university staff, faculty and students be courteous toward gender identity would be a start. As of now, they said Auburn doesn't feel like a safe place. "It's almost ridiculous," Hunter said. "I pay to go here. I pay tuition. I'm paying for a service, and then I can't really enjoy the service because I'm afraid for my safety." |
| U. of Florida Hillel gives out free bagels, with a pledge to oppose antisemitism | |
 | After the events in which an gunman took four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas over the weekend, giving out free bagels and cream cheese to anyone who would sign a pledge to combat antisemitism and hate seemed fitting for members of UF Hillel. The pledge reads "I commit to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate. I join with fellow Gators to ensure UF and my community is a welcoming and safe place for all." University of Florida students lined up at locations across campus to sign the pledge and get a free bagel. But the "Spread the Cream Cheese Not Hate," campaign didn't just start this week in response to the events in Colleyville, Texas. The Jewish student group has been using this pledge and toasty bagels to spread the message against hate for several years. Jamie Zinn, a UF graduate and the director of development at UF Hillel, said UF Hillel decided to start this event three years ago to "take a proactive approach to ensure UF remains a safe and welcoming environment for student, faculty and visitors of all backgrounds." The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about the alarming increase in antisemitic incidents in our community and in particular on college campuses, Zinn said. Last year more than 800 people signed the pledge and this year the goal is 2,000. |
| UF professors create online alternatives as COVID-19 empties classrooms | |
| Instead of moving his in-person classes online following UF's COVID-19 spike, Mark Hostetler brought his 15 students outside in a breezeway for their biodiversity conservation class. "I didn't feel safe for myself or the students to be in an indoor classroom," said Hostetler, a wildlife, ecology and conservation professor. Alachua County reported that new positive COVID-19 cases jumped from 2,072 the week of Dec. 31 to 6,524 the week of Jan. 14. Spreading or contracting the omicron variant is exactly what some professors and students hope to prevent. "I can do this because there's a small class, and the first few weeks we're outdoors doing stuff anyway," Hostetler said. "So, it worked out well." Students who have to quarantine and miss class will be treated as being absent for any other sickness, according to an Aug. 18 campus brief. Cynthia Roldán, a UF spokesperson, wrote in an email that classroom expectations haven't changed. The university believes that if students and faculty continue to follow the necessary precautions, it will be a successful semester. Roldán didn't answer questions on whether UF has advised professors to offer HyFlex or Zoom as an option for students quarantining. UF has been extraordinarily vague and not very helpful at all, said Steve Noll, a history professor. The university only told him that he couldn't go completely online. There was no guidance on when he could move classes online, he said. |
| U. of Missouri fires College of Engineering fiscal officer, launches criminal investigation | |
 | The University of Missouri College of Engineering has fired its primary fiscal officer amid financial mismanagement concerns that have also prompted a university police department investigation. Brandon Guffey, the director of financial services for the college, was terminated by the university in a move announced to engineering faculty and staff Friday. In that message, Dean of Engineering Noah Manring wrote that "materials have been turned over to the MU Police Department and they are conducting an investigation." Tuesday afternoon, all MU faculty and staff received a message from Michelle Piranio, MU's chief audit and compliance officer, alerting them to both Guffey's termination and an ongoing "internal audit and criminal investigation" that extends beyond the engineering school. That email indicated that some employees "with access to relevant system information may be placed on administrative leave or have job responsibilities changed temporarily to help ensure an appropriate investigation." One additional employee has been placed on leave, according to the email. Guffey's salary was $132,317.76 for the 2020-2021 academic year, according to University of Missouri System payroll records. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Piranio thanked an unspecified individual for alerting UM System to the concerns about financial mismanagement that prompted the investigation while encouraging others to come forward. |
| U. of Missouri faculty concerned about COVID-19 omicron spread as students return | |
 | University of Missouri faculty members were concerned Tuesday as students returned for the spring semester with the omicron variant raging and masks optional on campus. The University of Missouri System Board of Curators last week rejected two recommendations by President Mun Choi to approve a temporary mask requirement at the start of the semester. "I think everyone is concerned," said MU Faculty Council chairwoman Kathleen Trauth. Some classrooms are in very tight spaces with no opportunity for social distancing, she said. "Omicron seems to be so transmittable," Trauth said. "It's a challenge." The Faculty Council's executive committee last week outlined faculty concerns in an email to Choi. The message included information about multiple record-breaking days where the number of new COVID-19 cases in Boone County was the highest since the start of the pandemic. It also noted mask or vaccine requirements at peer institutions. "Faculty are reporting concerns to us about keeping themselves and their students safe," with immunocompromised students and faculty especially at risk, the email stated. Education may be affected, the email stated. |
| Schlissel should have known his emails were public record | |
 | Four days after the University of Michigan Board of Regents fired president Dr. Mark Schlissel, the higher education world is poring over the salacious emails that led to his dismissal. Many are wondering, how could a public university president carry out an affair via a university email account that's subject to sunshine laws? Higher education experts say it should have been common sense not to use a university email account to conduct personal business. Though the Harvard Seminar for Presidential Leadership -- well-known as the pre-eminent crash course for new college presidents -- does not provide any formal training in how to use email, such information is typically conveyed through informal mentoring, said Judith Block McLaughlin, educational chair for the seminar. "Often, the experienced presidents who teach in the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents will remind the new presidents that anything they put in writing is going to be closely scrutinized, whether it be emails or blogs or formal talks," McLaughlin wrote in an email. Schlissel likely knew that, McLaughlin added. "He had been in office long enough to know about open records legislation, and so his misjudgment in this area was probably not a lack of awareness or training," she said. Emails obtained by The Washington Post reveal that Schlissel may not have understood the full extent of public records laws. In an email conversation with Rebecca Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Schlissel suggested that Blank could delete emails to avoid potential FOIA disclosures. |
| Study: Grade satisfaction a major factor in student evals | |
| Yet another study is challenging the idea that student evaluations of teaching reliably measure what they're intended to measure: instructional quality. The new study, available now as a preprint, builds on the well-documented correlation between students' grades and how they rate teachers (i.e., students who earned better grades in a course tend to rate those instructors more highly than peers who got lower grades). After testing and eliminating other possible drivers of this correlation, the study ultimately asserts that it's not about instructional quality, workload or grading stringency or leniency. Instead, the paper says, student grade satisfaction drives this correlation. The authors of the paper also tested out an intervention that held some promise in another research setting: reminding students what course evaluations are really about, and the stakes of these ratings for professors. But even these steps didn't consistently make a difference in the new study. Like other studies before it, the paper poses urgent questions about how institutions should use student evaluations of teaching, if at all. Numerous colleges and universities have moved away from considering them in high-stakes personnel decisions in recent years, but they're still widely used for this purpose on many campuses. |
| Colleges tense as semester starts, in person or online, amid omicron surge | |
 | By 9 a.m. on the first day of the spring term, 15 or so students in the University of Kentucky's honors college had settled into their seats here for a seminar on knowledge and society. Eric Welch, their instructor, mused about how to pronounce omicron -- with a short or long "o" in the first syllable? -- and lamented that he couldn't see more than half of their masked faces. He told them it would be an easy A if they show up and do the work. "Your presence in this class matters," Welch said. That same morning, Jason Mollica greeted roughly a dozen American University students in his communication course on digital analytics. They were not meeting on the D.C. campus. Students, scattered near and far, logged in through video links from bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms. Mollica spoke from his home in Rockville, Md. "Sorry that we're seeing each other again on Zoom," Mollica said. "But this will, hopefully, be temporary." College is resuming this month across America in a tense and bumpy sequence of openings -- in person here, remote there -- and shadowed everywhere by the threat of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. The upheaval began in December with a flurry of shifts to online final exams and canceled campus events. Yet for all the unknowns, the initial data on this omicron semester suggests that most colleges and universities are sticking with face-to-face instruction. |
| Students less likely to attend college if they didn't think their families could pay | |
| High school students are more likely to attend college if they think their families can afford to send them, according to new research released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics. Just 38% of 11th graders who didn't think their families could afford to send them to college were enrolled in postsecondary education three years after their scheduled graduation, according to NCES. By comparison, 58% of students who thought their families could afford to send them to college were enrolled. Similar trends could be seen in whether students had ever attended college. Three years after high school, 80% of students who'd said their families could afford to send them to college had in fact attended at some point. Only 59% of those who didn't think their families could afford college had ever attended. The latest data from NCES adds depth to a fact researchers and the higher education sector have long known: Characteristics like family socioeconomic status are closely related to whether a student ends up going to college. Generally speaking, students whose parents attained higher levels of education and who come from wealthier families are more likely to enroll in college themselves. But the new research doesn't just show that the reality of a family's financial situation affects whether a student will attend college. It indicates that perceived college affordability often becomes enrollment reality. |
| It's Higher Ed Conference Season. How is Omicron Impacting Plans? | |
| Many higher education associations are preparing for annual meetings in the next few days, weeks, and months. With Omicron still spreading rapidly, association leaders say that they are keeping the health of attendees front of mind, whether their conference is fully virtual, in-person, or hybrid. "We had planned a hybrid meeting from the beginning -- not to say we anticipated Omicron, but we saw the opportunity over the past year and a half for greater and more diverse participation in virtual conferences," said Dr. Dawn Michele Whitehead, vice president of the office of global citizenship for campus, community and careers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), a global membership organization that centers on undergraduate liberal education. This Wednesday, AAC&U will start a four-day annual meeting after choosing last fall to offer an in-person and virtual component. In-person attendees will join events in Washington, D.C, and will be required to show proof of vaccination and wear masks indoors. Plenary sessions and some concurrent sessions will be live-streamed for both virtual and in-person registrants. All conference participants will be able to watch session recordings after the conference. But not all associations have the resources to offer a hybrid conference. |
| Former Google CEO invests in computing help for university scientists | |
| Scientists at universities perform much of the world's cutting-edge scientific research---often while relying on shaky, homemade computer software written by students and postdocs. Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt, his spouse, hopes to remedy that situation by investing $40 million over the next 5 years to establish a Virtual Institute for Scientific Software, the organization announced today. The institute will help scientists obtain more robust, flexible, and scalable "open-source" software that can be easily shared. The institute will include centers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Johns Hopkins University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Washington (UW). Each university will hire software engineers who will help meet the needs of scientists, explains Eric Braverman, CEO of Schmidt Futures. "We believe that a network of people developing software will be essential to the onward development of so many areas in the scientific enterprise," he says. "When I heard about this initiative, I was like, 'Oh, this is gonna be great!' because I can easily see the need in my lab," says Nancy Allbritton, a bioengineer and dean of engineering at UW Seattle. Allbritton, who develops microdevices that incorporate living tissue, credits Schmidt Futures for addressing a crucial need. "Someone was very smart and thinking, 'How could I invest money for the biggest payback?'" |
| Senate Democrats probe impact of online degree programs on high student debt loads | |
 | Three Senate Democrats are raising concerns with companies that develop online degree programs for universities over whether their recruiting tactics and tuition-sharing arrangements are contributing to high student debt loads. The senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tina Smith of Minnesota, sent a letter Friday to eight of the largest online program management, or OPM, companies -- including 2U, Academic Partnerships and Pearson -- raising concerns about their business practices. "We continue to have concerns about the impact of OPM partnerships on rising student debt loads," the senators wrote. "The responses to our previous letters confirmed that OPMs often have tuition-sharing arrangements with universities, which commit an ongoing percentage of tuition revenue to the OPM to finance the start-up and ongoing costs of operating online degree programs." The tuition-sharing model, they said, "also creates incentives for aggressive recruitment practices." The companies often receive 50 percent or more of students' tuition upon each agreement, which in turn may create a disincentive to lower costs, the senators said. Student loan advocates and some congressional Democrats, including Warren, have continued to put pressure on the Biden administration to cancel student debt and grant greater financial relief during the pandemic. |
| House Votes to Expand GI Bill Eligibility for National Guard, Reserves | |
| National Guardsmen and reservists would be eligible for GI Bill benefits in more circumstances under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. The House voted 287-135 to approve the National Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act, which would allow any day getting paid and being in uniform on federal orders, including for training, to count toward eligibility for school tuition benefits under the post-9/11 GI Bill. Sixty-eight Republicans joined with Democrats to support the bill. "Not only are these National Guard and Reserve members risking their lives to serve our country, but they're also forced to put their civilian lives on hold when they're called up, leaving behind their families and interrupting civilian careers," Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., who sponsored Wednesday's bill, said on the House floor. "In some of those settings, they are serving side by side with active-duty members doing similar jobs and facing similar risks, but they're not earning the same GI Bill benefits as their peers. That's unacceptable." To be eligible for at least some GI Bill benefits, a service member has to serve for at least 90 days, not including basic training. To get a full scholarship, the time commitment increases to 36 months. Someone discharged for a service-connected injury is eligible for the full benefit if they served at least 30 days. Right now, not all deployments for the National Guard allow them to accrue GI Bill benefits, nor does the time Guardsmen and reservists spend on active duty for training. The discrepancy in GI Bill eligibility has become particularly pressing for the National Guard in the last couple years as states and the country lean on it to respond to crisis after crisis. |
| Millions Have Lost a Step Into the Middle Class, Researchers Say | |
| Over the last two decades, workers without four-year college degrees have lost ground in the occupations that used to be ladders to middle-class lives for them and their families. While the trend has been well known, putting a number on the lost steppingstone jobs has been elusive. A new study, published on Friday, estimates that such workers have been displaced from 7.4 million jobs since 2000. The research points to the persistent challenge for the nearly two-thirds of American workers who do not have a four-year college degree, even as some employers have dropped the requirement in recent years. "These workers have been displaced from millions of the precise jobs that offer them upward mobility," said Papia Debroy, head of research for Opportunity@Work, the nonprofit that published the study. "It represents a stunning loss for workers and their families." Opportunity@Work is part of an emerging coalition of groups that seek to change the culture of hiring and promotion in corporate America. They are trying to encourage a shift to hiring and career development based on people's skills rather than degrees. Part of that effort is to create a body of research that highlights the problem but also the untapped potential of workers. The drive to increase work force diversity is one motivation for the change. Screening by college degree hits minorities particularly hard, eliminating 76 percent of Black adults and 83 percent of Latino adults. |
| Seizing an opportunity to make higher ed more equitable | |
| COVID has brought higher ed's inequities into glaring view, but it has also provided a can't-miss opportunity to solve the ongoing problem, says the new head of the student advocacy organization the Institute for Higher Education Policy. The college system is still in need of key reforms to assure all Americans have access to -- and the resources to complete -- a post-secondary education that leads to a higher quality of life, says Mamie Voight, president & CEO of the non-profit research institute that develops policies to provide historically marginalized students with an accessible and affordable college system. "That would be a system that is ameliorating rather than exacerbating the wealth gap, that would be a system that is designed for opportunity rather than exclusion," says Voight, who was formerly a research and policy analyst and assistant director for research and policy at The Education Trust. "We are at a point where we can make real change." "Higher ed changed on a dime in 2020 -- it immediately switched to online leanring and made other substantial shifts all at once, such as moving away from the SAT and ACT and finding other ways to manage admissions," she says. "What has to happen now is a continuation of these reforms." This transformation requires the higher ed leaders, elected officials and other decision-makers have a clearer understanding of who today's college applicants are so policy can be designed around older students, Black and Latinx students, parents, veterans, and first-generation students. |
| A Playbook to Help Colleges Students Across the Degree Finish Line | |
| At least 36 million Americans have attended college but needed to stop before they earned a degree. In response as the pandemic continues to make completing a degree harder for many, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, published a playbook to help institutions support these millions of people with some credits but no degree. "Higher education should be a pathway to a better living and life for all students, regardless of their background," said Jennifer Pocai, a research and programs manager at IHEP and one of the playbook's authors. "The gap in students with some credits but no degree falls along racial and socioeconomic lines, and the pandemic has only worsened it. It is even more urgent for colleges to focus on degree reclamation now." Pocai pointed out that institutions can use The Degree Reclamation Playbook step-by-step or, for colleges already doing this work, focus on a strategic assessment section. The guidelines center on two ways campus practitioners can bring individuals across that degree finish line: reverse transfer and adult reengagement. Dr. Jason Taylor, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Utah, has researched reverse transfer. He noted that most incoming transfer students from a community college to a four-year institution have a lot of credit with no associate's degree. Taylor added that equity is at stake. "The research on transfer is so clear about racial equity gaps," said Taylor. |
| These other states only think their election laws are restrictive | |
| Daily Journal Executive Editor Sam R. Hall writes: Want to get depressed about the state of voting rights? Just read through all the election laws restricting elections that states passed last year. Mind you, the depressing part is not the restrictions themselves. The depressing part is that in nearly every instance I found, the voting laws in these other states remain more open to and encouraging of the electorate than what we have in Mississippi. For instance, Iowa cut their in-person early voting days by more than 30%, going from 29 days before an election to 20 days. This came four years after the Iowa Legislature cut the days from 40 to 29. A colleague and I had a good laugh about the onerous condition of voting in Iowa. Let those voters mosey on down to Mississippi, where early voting might as well be a communist plot to overtake the government. It's called Election Day, not Election Week or Election 20 Days, dagnabbit! In Arizona, the Legislature did away with the state's Permanent Early Voting List and changed it to an Active Early Voting List. Previously, voters could sign up for the PEVL and receive an absentee ballot in the mail each election. Under the new law, if a voter doesn't vote absentee at least once in two straight two-year election cycles -- four years! -- the voter will be removed from the list. Here in Mississippi, nothing close to this exists. |
| Biden, Democrats will drag inflation toward election as GOP's Ford did in the 1970s | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Watching the administration of President Joe Biden and his Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill navigate the current round of economic woes, one struggles not to recall the tenure of another U.S. president who had the misfortune to govern during one of the most trying economic periods in the nation's history. Biden took office amid an unprecedented global pandemic that impacted the global economy. The pandemic slowed and shut down portions of the supply chain. Goods were not available on retail shelves due to either production interruptions, shipping impasses, or both. A November 2021 poll showed that 62% of registered voters blame the Delaware Democrat for the inflationary spiral that has produced frightening results in the U.S. Consumer Price Index. ... Particularly hard hit are prices for gasoline, used cars and trucks, other forms of energy piped utility services, meat, poultry and eggs, and new vehicles. ... Republicans have the perfect economic issue for the 2022 and 2024 election cycles teed up despite some basic facts about the path to the nation's current inflationary cycle. That charge is lodged based on what the GOP says is Biden's flooding of the economy with government spending. |
SPORTS
| Premier interior SEC matchup: Mississippi State's Smith, Florida's Castleton set to battle | |
| It has been a frustrating season for Mississippi State's Tolu Smith. First, there was an offseason foot procedure that delayed the start of his season. Then, there was an issue with his other foot that kept him out most of December. Most recently, Smith tested positive for COVID-19 and missed three SEC games. He returned on Saturday in a Quadrant 1 win against Alabama, but he played just 20 minutes before fouling out -- though his minutes were likely going to be limited as he returns to game shape. Smith wants to be on the court and coach Ben Howland knows how much the Bulldogs need him, but the 6-foot-11-inch forward might be trying too hard to get back to being the player he was at his peak last year -- worthy of leading the SEC in rebounding. Smith showed up at the team facilities at 8 a.m. on Monday and had a 45-minute workout with a graduate assistant, unbeknownst to Howland. Then, Smith lifted for 30 minutes before doing his organized 30-minute workout with the team. Smith returned for another hour on the floor on his own ahead of a two-hour team practice. "Tolu, this is how you got in this situation in the first place -- by overdoing it," Howland told him. "Fighting him to stay out of the gym is a problem that I've never had in my life with a player before like I have with Tolu." |
| Florida Gators basketball faces next SEC test in Mississippi State | |
| From the jump Saturday against South Carolina, the energy level from the Florida men's basketball team -- both on the court and on the sideline -- was ideal. "I thought the culture in Columbia was terrific," UF head coach Mike White said. "Our bench was great. It also helps when a couple go in for you." As a result, the Gators (10-6, 1-3 SEC) played with far greater confidence from the opening minutes against the Gamecocks, resulting in the team's first SEC victory of the season -- and first win since Dec. 22 against Stony Brook -- following a winless stretch that saw Florida play three top-25 teams to begin league play. The Florida men's basketball team now looks to maintain the newfound positive momentum when the Gators host Mississippi State (12-4, 3-1 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Exactech Arena, a contest that marks the second time in as many weeks the Gators will face the reigning SEC Player of the Week. Bulldogs guard Iverson Molinar claimed the award Monday following a dazzling stretch that saw the 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior do it all, averaging an impressive 26.0 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in Mississippi State's victories over Georgia and Alabama. |
| Dawgs Ranked Top Five in D1Baseball Preseason Poll | |
| Mississippi State Baseball will begin the 2022 campaign ranked No. 4 in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 poll, it was announced by the outlet on Tuesday (Jan. 18). The No. 4 ranking marks the third preseason top-10 ranking for State with Diamond Dawgs also coming in at No. 6 by Perfect Game and No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball. The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams in D1Baseball's Top 25, including six in the top 10, including No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 8 LSU and No. 9 Florida. Georgia (No. 16) and Tennessee (No. 18) also landed in the Top 25 rankings. Mississippi State is coming off a season that saw the Dawgs capture the program's first national championship with a 50-18 overall record. The 2022 season gets underway on Feb. 18 when the Diamond Dawgs host Long Beach State in a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. Mississippi State's 56-game schedule features 32 home games, 20 road contests and four neutral site matchups. The schedule features a pair of lengthy homestands, as Dudy Noble Field hosts an 8-game homestand to open the campaign (Feb. 18-March 1) followed by a nine straight home games from April 5-19. |
| Football: Newest Bulldogs Begin Classes | |
| So far, eight newcomers to the Mississippi State football program have enrolled in classes and are on campus at MSU for the spring semester. Each Bulldog will be eligible to participate in spring practice for head coach Mike Leach's squad. The group of enrollees includes: Defensive Back Marcus Banks – Houston, Texas/Dekaney HS (Alabama); Kicker Massimo Biscardi – Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West HS (Coastal Carolina); Defensive Lineman Jacarius Clayton – Tupelo, Miss./Tupelo HS; Wide Receiver Jarnorris Hopson – Tunica, Miss./Horn Lake HS; Offensive Lineman Percy Lewis – Sallis Miss./McAdams HS (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC); Quarterback Braedyn Locke – Rockwell, Texas/Rockwell HS; Wide Receiver Jordan Mosley – Mobile, Ala./McGill-Toolen HS (Northwestern University); and Defensive Back DeCarlos Nicholson – Petal, Miss./Petal HS (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC). For more information on the Bulldog football program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateFB" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. |
| Coastal Carolina kicker Massimo Biscardi signs with Mississippi State football | |
 | Coastal Carolina kicker Massimo Biscardi will play his final season with Mississippi State, the Bulldogs announced Tuesday. Biscardi played four seasons at Coastal Carolina and was one of the most accurate kickers in the Sun Belt Conference. He made over 80% of his field goals with a career high of 87.5% in 2021. He also made more than 94% of his extra points, including going 46-of-47 last season. Mississippi State's kicking game left much to be desired in 2021. Redshirt freshman Nolan McCord and senior Brandon Ruiz combined to make just 56% of their field goals last season. Bulldogs coach Mike Leach suggested an open tryout for kickers following a missed game-tying field goal against Arkansas, and the program made finding a new kicker a priority. |
| Bulldogs 2022: How the offense looks now | |
| Mississippi State's offensive personnel has stayed together better than many football programs nationally. Besides the departures of left tackle Charles Cross, wide receivers Makai Polk and Malik Heath and inside receivers coach Dave Nichol, Mississippi State has held much of its core together. The core in the Air Raid offense starts with coach Mike Leach and quarterback Will Rogers. With those two back for a third season together, the expectations for MSU's offense are high and consistency is at the center of it. Here's a look at what the 2022 Mississippi State offense should look like. |
| Nick Saban, Jerry West, other West Virginia sports figures sign election integrity letter to Sen. Joe Manchin | |
 | The U.S. Senate on Tuesday began debate on a voting rights bill passed last week in the House of Representatives. One of the key actors in whether the legislation can be voted on via simple majority in the 50-50 Senate -- and without the Republican minority enacting the filibuster -- will be Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, who received a push from four sports West Virginia luminaries to "secure our democracy by protecting election integrity, principled Presidential transitions and our national security during transitions." The letter was signed by Alabama football coach Nick Saban, NBA legend and executive Jerry West, former WVU Mountaineers quarterback and College Football Hall of Famer Oliver Luck, and former Mountaineers linebacker and College Football Hall of Famer Darryl Talley. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who has no known West Virginia ties, also signed the letter. "Some of us have roots and shaped our lives in West Virginia, others followed very different paths and some of us have been rivals in sports or business," the letter, dated Jan. 13, said. "But we are all certain that democracy is best when voting is open to everyone on a level playing field; the referees are neutral; and at the end of the game the final score is respected and accepted." Saban and Manchin are longtime friends from a small community in Marion County, West Virginia University professor of political science John Kilwein said. "I think it's the personal history," he told USA TODAY Sports. "Joe Manchin and Nick Saban go back to school days. ... They're close friends. |
| Alabama House approves repeal of state's NIL law for student athletes | |
| The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill repealing the state's law on student athletes profiting off their likenesses after the NCAA passed looser regulations on the topic. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Kyle South, R-Fayette, passed the chamber 97 to 1. It goes to the Senate. Rep. Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka, was the sole no vote. Gov. Kay Ivey last year signed legislation modeled on a Florida law that would allow student athletes to make marketing agreements on their image. But the NCAA adopted NIL guidance after the law passed -- and after the NCAA lost a case on NIL before the U.S. Supreme Court -- that was looser than the state's law. "They passed a set of rules for their member institutions, and where we find ourselves is state rules were more restrictive than what the NCAA set forth," South said on the floor of the House on Tuesday. South had said earlier that repealing the law and going to the looser NCAA standards could help colleges recruit athletes. The University of Alabama and Auburn University both support the measure. |
| Ed Orgeron, others dropped from LSU sex discrimination lawsuit; here's who's left | |
 | Former LSU football coach Ed Orgeron and 13 others have been dropped from a high-profile lawsuit that accuses LSU officials of ignoring cases of gender discrimination and sexual misconduct on campus. Ten current and former LSU students are plaintiffs in the April 2021 lawsuit against the university. But while the lawsuit previously named 19 defendants connected to the school, the plaintiffs' attorneys whittled that list down to five in an amended complaint Monday. The remaining defendants are the LSU Board of Supervisors, Executive Deputy Athletic Director Verge Ausberry, Senior Associate Athletic Director Miriam Segar, former Title IX coordinator Jennie Stewart and LSU's Associate Dean of Students Jonathan Sanders. The plaintiffs, all women, have also nixed their allegations that LSU violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, the federal law often used to take down organized crime syndicates. They still accuse LSU of various violations of federal laws that ban gender discrimination. "After careful consideration and review, we narrowly tailored our complaint," said Karen Truszkowski, the plaintiffs' attorney. An LSU spokesman did not respond to a message Tuesday. |
| Tennessee athletics avoided 2021 deficit with bailout each SEC school got, but paid $5.4M in buyouts | |
 | Tennessee's athletics department operated at a six-figure surplus during the 2021 fiscal year, weathering the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic because of a $23 million league-wide supplemental bailout from the SEC. The 2021 fiscal year ended June 30. Universities were required to submit their annual fiscal reports to the NCAA this week, and Knox News obtained the report via public records request. The 2021 fiscal year featured an operating surplus of $757,598. That's better than the $488,857 deficit for the 2020 fiscal year and similar to the $789,730 surplus for the pre-pandemic 2019 fiscal year. But UT, like other schools in the conference, needed a bailout from the SEC to meet its budget and mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic. The SEC provided each member school a $23.3 million supplemental revenue distribution, which was part of UT's overall $29 million share. The payout was a one-time advance on future SEC revenue projected from a lucrative TV contract, beginning in 2025, under which ESPN will be taking over the package of football games currently held by CBS. Each school also received a $4 million signing bonus for that ESPN agreement, which was included in UT's $29 million conference distribution. UT paid $5.4 million, or 4% of total operating expenses, in severance to coaches and administrators, including former athletics director Phillip Fulmer and assistants on former football coach Jeremy Pruitt's staff. |
| Eric Dickerson admits Texas A&M boosters paid his grandmother back for gold Trans Am | |
 | Eric Dickerson has finally admitted to what many have believed over the years: Texas A&M boosters indirectly paid for a gold Pontiac Trans Am for Dickerson, who started driving it during his senior year of high school in 1979 shortly before verbally committing to the Aggies. Dickerson acknowledges this in his memoir "Watch My Smoke: The Eric Dickerson Story," which was released Tuesday. An excerpt of the book detailing how Dickerson received the car was published Tuesday by D Magazine. Dickerson was one of the nation's top running back recruits from Sealy. Despite verbally committing to A&M, he eventually signed with SMU. He was an All-American for the Mustangs in 1981 and 1982 and was a six-time Pro Bowler in the NFL. SMU head football coach Ron Meyer famously called the car the "Trans A&M." Dickerson had previously claimed that his grandmother bought him the Trans Am, which he writes in the book is true. But A&M later paid her back for the car. Dickerson details in the excerpt how he saw the car at a dealership on Interstate 10 while traveling from Sealy to visit his grandparents in Houston. After mentioning the car to his stepfather, he said he found himself talking with an A&M booster in Sealy -- Dickerson identifies him as Clarence Shear -- who told him to go to the dealership. SMU's own violations in recruiting and paying players eventually earn it the "death penalty" in 1987, resulting in a canceled season that turned into two seasons. |
| Big 12 engaged in plans to split into two seven-team divisions beginning in 2023 amid realignment | |
| The Big 12 is engaged in plans to split into two seven-team divisions in football beginning in 2023 to temporarily restructure as a 14-team league as the realignment process unfolds, league sources tell CBS Sports. Big 12 athletic directors -- including those from conference newcomers BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF -- met last month in Las Vegas to begin deciding how the league will look for two seasons (2023-24) ahead of Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC. The Big 12 is operating under the assumption that both the Longhorns and Sooners will stay in the league four more years. The current Big 12 television contract with Fox and ESPN ends in 2025. If not, both schools would be subject to what have been projected as nine-figure early exit fees for breaking the Big 12 grant of rights that bind schools' TV inventory to the conference. Assuming BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join ahead of the 2023-24 athletic year, the league would be at 14 teams for two seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Big 12 would then shrink to 12 teams in football, playing in six-team divisions beginning in 2025. "We've got subcommittees in several sports that are talking about structure," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports. "Conference office, staff, ADs, sports administrators and coaches involved on a sport-by-sport basis, they're all doing the same thing." |
| U. of Michigan reaches $490 million settlement in Robert Anderson abuse case | |
| The University of Michigan has agreed to a $490 million settlement with hundreds of people who say they were sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor at the school, those involved in the agreement said Wednesday. Attorney Parker Stinar said that 1,050 people will share in the settlement, which was reached the night before. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed the settlement and said a statement would be released later Wednesday. The university had been in mediation to resolve multiple lawsuits by mostly men who said Anderson sexually abused them during routine medical examinations. Anderson worked at the university from 1966 until his 2003 retirement and was director of the university's Health Service and a physician for multiple athletic teams, including football. A number of football players and other athletes have come forward to accuse Anderson, who died in 2008, of sexually abusing them. A report by a firm hired by the school determined that staff missed many opportunities to stop Anderson over his 37-year career. |
| Olympic athletes urged by activists not to criticize China | |
| Athletes at the Beijing Olympics were urged by human rights activists Tuesday to avoid criticizing China because they could be prosecuted. The International Olympic Committee has said athletes will have freedom of speech at next month's Winter Games when speaking to journalists or posting on social media. However, the Olympic Charter rule that prohibits political protests at medal ceremonies also requires "applicable public law" to be followed. The IOC has not yet publicly committed to how athletes who speak out would be protected, activists said in a briefing hosted by Human Rights Watch. "Silence is complicity and that's why we have concerns," said Rob Koehler, the director general of the Global Athlete group. "We know the human rights record and the allowance of freedom of expression in China, so there's really not much protection." The IOC has not responded to requests in recent days to clarify how Chinese law could apply at the Beijing Games, which open on Feb. 4. China's treatment of its Muslim-majority Uyghur people and polices toward Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan have come under increased scrutiny ahead of the Olympics. China also drew criticism following the near-total disappearance from public view of tennis player Peng Shuai. |
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