| Wednesday, January 26, 2022 |
| MSU invites over 100 employers to give students a promising future | |
 | Seniors at Mississippi State University are on a three-month countdown to graduation -- and hopefully, a career. That's why this week, Mississippi State University is hosting more than 100 businesses on campus. This may be the day that changes everything. Students and businesses are connecting for first-hand experience and maybe even a job after they graduate. Petroleum firm Ergon has a global reach. But all of that begins with their people. "It's a hands-on project management experience we were actually both coops with Ergon and definitely if they've done well and we find they have a future at Ergon and we hire them," said Ergon employee Allison Wallace. "And that's the point of our coop program and we've gone through it we were both hired on full time we don't just do it to give them experience but we do it because we are looking for future employees," said Ergon employee Duncan Burr. Other employers are looking for students who are ready to start their careers as soon as possible. "We're just looking for high-quality students to start learning within our offices to start growing as engineers and looking for top quality students," said employer Jim Steele. |
| U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center opens new Supercomputing Research Facility | |
 | The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Information Technology Lab (ITL) held a ribbon-cutting for two new, state-of-the-art Supercomputing Research Center (SRC) facilities in Vicksburg on Jan. 20. The Supercomputing Research Center (SRC) provides world-class high-performance computing (HPC) to help the Department of Defense (DoD) solve its most challenging and complex problems. The SRC also supplies a complete HPC ecosystem that includes hardware, software, data storage, scientific visualization, training and expertise. "This is a pretty exciting time," said Dr. David Horner, director of ITL. "Over the last 30 years, ITL has really grown in its capability, its innovation and its impact to the DoD. One of the key aspects is our continued development of world-class facilities." Horner recognized Dr. Jeff Holland, ERDC director emeritus and former ITL director, as well as former ITL Director Dr. Reed Mosher and former ITL Deputy Director Patti Duett, for having the vision for these new facilities. ERDC fielded its first supercomputer in 1990 and began to excel in supercomputing around 1992, when the DoD formed the High Performance Computing Modernization Program. Since then, ITL has fielded one of the largest CRAY T3E supercomputers in the world, the 12th most powerful supercomputer in the world and the largest supercomputer within the DoD until last year. "Mississippi has two of the DoD's supercomputing centers sitting right here in this great state, and we comprise over 50 percent of the HPC capability provided throughout the entire DoD," Hunter said. |
| As Fed meets, investor angst over rate hikes spooks markets | |
 | Wild volatility in the stock market this week has put heightened scrutiny on the Federal Reserve's meeting Wednesday and whether the Fed will clarify just how fast it plans to tighten credit and potentially slow the economy. With high inflation squeezing consumers and businesses, the Fed is expected to signal that it will raise its benchmark short-term interest rate in March in a dramatic reversal from the ultra-low-rate policies it imposed during the pandemic recession. To further tighten credit, the Fed also plans to end its monthly bond purchases in March. And later this year, it may start reducing its huge stockpile of Treasury and mortgage bonds. Investors fear there may be still more to come. Some on Wall Street worry that on Wednesday, the Fed may signal a forthcoming half-point increase in its key rate. There is also concern that at a news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell could suggest that the central bank will raise rates more times this year than the four hikes most economists expect. If, as expected, the Fed raises its key rate in March by a quarter-point, it would lift the rate to a range of 0.25% to 0.5%, up from near zero. The Fed's moves are likely to make a wide range of borrowing -- from mortgages and credit cards to auto loans and corporate credit -- more expensive. Those higher borrowing costs, in turn, could slow spending and weaken corporate profits. The gravest risk is that the Fed's abandonment of low rates, which have nurtured the economy and the financial markets for years, could trigger another recession. |
| Walmart invests in indoor vertical farming startup Plenty | |
| Walmart said Tuesday it has taken a stake in agriculture startup Plenty, becoming the first large U.S. retailer to significantly invest in indoor vertical farming as a way to deliver fresher produce to its stores. Vertical farmers tout their high-quality produce that brings higher yields while using less water and land. The method also doesn't use pesticide, and the produce can be grown year round near the point of distribution, increasing the reliability of supply. Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, declined to comment on the size of its investment or the financial terms of the deal. But the retailer based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said that it will join Plenty's board at the close of the transaction. The deal comes as grocery stores are under pressure to have more environmentally friendly practices. Plenty, based in San Francisco, is one of many players in the fast-growing field of indoor farming. Others include Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest, and New York-based Gotham Greens. Plenty said its vertical farming towers are designed to grow multiple crops on one platform in a building the size of a big box retail store. Its systems feature vertical plant towers, LED lighting and robots to plant, feed and harvest crops. It says its farms use 1% of the land that an outdoor farm requires while delivering anywhere from 150 to 350 times more food per acre. |
| Reeves in State of the State: Raise teacher pay, cut taxes | |
| Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in his State of the State speech Tuesday that cutting taxes, giving pay raises to teachers, investing in infrastructure and expanding the state police presence in the capital city of Jackson are among his priorities this year. "We tell every young parent: We will be your partner in educating your child. Together, we will make sure that if they work hard, they will learn what they need to learn," Reeves said during the 46-minute speech on the south steps of the state Capitol. State of the State speeches traditionally are held in the Mississippi House chamber, with lawmakers, judges and other spectators sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. For the second year in a row, the speech was outdoors as a pandemic precaution, according to Reeves chief of staff Parker Briden. Reeves -- now in his third year in the state's highest office -- called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to eliminate the state income tax, saying that would help Mississippi attract more jobs. "We can put ourselves in a position to stand out," Reeves said. Reeves also called on legislators and the state Board of Education to prohibit schools from teaching that either the U.S. or Mississippi are "inherently racist." State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright has said schools are not teaching that. "We will not teach that your race determines your status as a victim or oppressor," Reeves said. |
| State of the State: Reeves focuses on education, cutting taxes, critical race theory | |
 | A cool wind blew Tuesday as Gov. Tate Reeves, standing on the Capitol steps, spoke to half-empty rows of chairs about the importance of education, workforce development, police and the dangers of critical race theory. Giving his third State of the State address since taking office, Reeves spoke for 46 minutes, his 5,420-word speech serving as a refined version of his usual conservative talking points and policy goals. "I can still stand before you tonight and declare, without reservation and without qualification, that the state of our state is not only strong, but stronger than it has ever been," Reeves said. He praised teachers and students across the state for excelling during learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippi recorded a record graduation rate of 87.7% during the 2020-21 school year, according to the Mississippi Department of Education. Reeves gave the State of the State address after a downtown shooting happened hours earlier, five blocks away. He used the shooting, which left one person in critical condition, to call out Jackson leadership for what he called a failure to combat rising crime. Reeves proposed doubling the size of the Capitol Police Department to expand the agency's reach and help prevent crime in the downtown area. |
| Gov. Reeves delivers state-of-state: 'You are loved. Your state needs you' | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday in his third state-of-the-state address heaped praise on teachers and law enforcement and promised them more pay, vowed to crack down on violent criminals while also helping convicts successfully re-enter society and decried the evils of abortion and teaching of critical race theory. He called again for eliminating the state's income tax and vowed to focus on workforce development and training and said, "at the end of my time as governor we will measure our success in the wages of our workers." Reeves called on the state Department of Education and lawmakers to ensure critical race theory is not taught in Mississippi schools. Education officials have said it is not being taught in Mississippi, but it has become a major political issue nationwide. "We will not teach that your race determines your status as a victim or oppressor," Reeves said. "No school district shall teach that one race is inherently superior or that an individual is unconsciously or inherently racist because of how they are born ... We will strive for equality, and our education will support that aspiration." Critical race theory, which is primarily an academic discipline at the university level, is designed to explore the impact of racism on various aspects of American society. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves focuses on education, income tax in State of the State address | |
 | In his annual state of the state address on Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves challenged state lawmakers to pass legislation that improves public education and eliminates Mississippi's individual income tax. The first-term Republican governor said lawmakers should pass legislation that increases salaries for Mississippi public teachers because they've endured many challenges throughout the pandemic. "I'm confident that in this session, working together, we will get a significant teacher pay raise done," Reeves said. "It is my No. 1 priority. Credit goes to where credit is due, and in this COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi teachers deserve the credit." Both the House and the Senate have passed their own versions of teacher pay legislation during the 2022 legislative session, but a final agreement between the two bodies has not been reached. In the Democratic response to Reeves' speech, Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons called on lawmakers to use federal coronavirus stimulus money to invest in health care programs and to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor. "It is no better time than now to afford those Mississippians the access they need, and Democrats don't care what you call it," Simmons said. "Mississippi families desperately need access to affordable, quality health care." Simmons also thanked federal officials in Washington for approving the bipartisan infrastructure package that sent $3.6 billion to Mississippi. |
| Lawmakers react to annual State of the State address | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are sharing their thoughts on the Governor's State of the State speech. In the State of the State address, Governor Tate Reeves discussed topics ranging from teacher pay, criminal justice reform, and the state's economy. He also shared his support for the removal of the state income tax. Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn spearheaded an effort to pass a bill early in the session that would eliminate this tax. He says this policy would open doors for Mississippi businesses, as well as workers. Speaker Gunn says "When you allow them to keep more of their hard-earned money, they are better able to provide for themselves, provide for their families, give more to their church. Those economic dollars begin to turn over in the community and puts us on a more competitive stage with our neighbors." Speaker Gunn says the governor addressed a number of items that align with the legislature's priorities, including teacher pay. Democratic Senator David Jordan of Greenwood says overall he enjoyed the speech, although he did have concerns with the governor's stance on critical race theory. But as a former teacher, Senator Jordan says he does agree that teachers need to have better salaries and says the education system is essential to building a better state. Senator Jordan says "They have never been paid enough. Make teachers enjoy coming to school. And students, discipline and control is certainly important. I don't mean in terms of abuse, but teaching them what is right and what is just." |
| MAE President delivers State of Education Address | |
| Mississippi Association of Educators President Erica Jones delivered a State of Education Address on Tuesday. The address comes after Governor Tate Reeves' State of the State Address. Gov. Reeves discussed a pay raise for Mississippi teachers, touting it as his 'number one priority.' "I'm confident that in this session, working together, we will get a significant teacher pay raise done," said Governor Tate Reeves. Even though the governor advocates for a pay raise for teachers in the state, he did not specify a dollar amount in his speech. MAE President Erica Jones is proposing a starting salary of $45,000 for teachers across the state through a progressive plan. Jones says she would like lawmakers to "recalibrate the salary schedule and secure pay raises that will enable Mississippi teachers' salaries to be paid above the Southeastern Regional Average. And to secure a living wage of at least $15/hour for education professionals and school staff." Jones says that the teacher shortage in the state is at a crisis level and believes providing adequate and reasonable pay raises will help with the problem. Another pivotal agenda Jones says educators would like to see is to secure universal pre-k and kindergarten for all. |
| Mississippi close to final vote on medical marijuana bill | |
| Mississippi lawmakers are poised to take final votes Wednesday on creating a medical marijuana program for people with serious medical conditions, negotiators said Tuesday. If the bill becomes law, as expected, Mississippi would join the majority of states that let people use cannabis for medical reasons. "It's nice to be at a place where everyone's in agreement," House Drug Policy Committee Chairman Lee Yancey, a Republican from Brandon, said Tuesday. "It looks like that we're finally going to be able to provide relief to those people with debilitating illnesses who suffer so badly." The Senate and House passed slightly different versions of a bill this month, with wide margins of bipartisan support. The two chambers must agree on one version to send to the governor. Reeves has not said what he will do. He could sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature. "We're veto-proof on both sides," Republican Sen. Kevin Blackwell of Southaven, who has worked with Yancey in leading negotiations, said Tuesday. |
| Mississippi House, Senate reach agreement on medical marijuana plan | |
| Members of the Mississippi House and Senate on Tuesday announced a final agreement on a bill to create a medical marijuana program in the state. The deal comes after lawmakers in the House revised the bill the Senate passed Jan. 13. State Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven and Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, worked on the bill together and said they expect both chambers to approve the final bill Wednesday. Once it passes, Gov. Tate Reeves can either sign it into law, let it become law without signing it, or veto the bill. Versions of the bill passed both chambers with a veto-proof majority. Mississippi would become the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana. Lawmakers' final compromise centers around how often and how much cannabis a medical marijuana patient can purchase. As written, the bill allows patients to purchase 3.5 grams of cannabis up to six times a week, or about 3 ounces a month. That's a decrease from the 3.5 ounces a month the Senate originally passed, and the 5 ounces a month voters approved in November 2020. Gov. Tate Reeves repeatedly asked lawmakers to lower the amount of marijuana a person could purchase, suggesting he might veto the bill if they didn't. Blackwell and Yancey said the purchase limit will probably increase in the coming years. "If we find out that three (ounces) isn't enough, we can come back and easily add," Blackwell said. |
| Lawmakers say they'll send final medical marijuana measure to governor Wednesday | |
| After years of wrangling, House and Senate negotiators on Tuesday said they've reached agreement on a Mississippi medical marijuana bill and plan to pass it on to the governor on Wednesday. Negotiators on Tuesday made a final tweak on where marijuana growing operations would be allowed to appease the state municipalities lobby. Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, author of Senate Bill 2095, the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, said the Senate leadership has agreed to changes the House made to the bill last week, including lowering the amount of marijuana a patient can have from 3.5 ounces a month to 3 ounces. He and Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, the lead House negotiator, held a press conference Tuesday to announce a final agreement. "This has been a long journey," Yancey said. "It looks like we will finally be able to provide relief for the chronically ill patients who suffer so badly and need this alternative. I congratulate Sen. Blackwell -- he's carried this bill most of the way by himself." Ken Newburger, director of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana association was among several advocates at the Capitol on Tuesday. He said that while the overall process has been long, lawmakers have "moved with lightning speed" this session to get a measure passed. "I think the governor is going to sign it," Newburger said. He said chronically ill patients are looking forward to "better quality of life" and having an alternative to opioids and other pharmaceuticals, and the new industry in Mississippi will begin creating jobs. |
| Legislators near final vote on medical cannabis legislation | |
| State lawmakers are on the cusp of sending medical marijuana legislation to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for approval, but they are working out details on local zoning restrictions. Rep. Lee Yancey and Sen. Kevin Blackwell, the two Republican architects of the cannabis legislation, told reporters on Tuesday that the House and the Senate have reached a deal on medical marijuana, and a conference committee will be established to work on the final details. "This has been a long journey, and it's nice to be in a place where everyone is in agreement," Yancey said. "It looks like we're finally going to be able to provide relief to those people with debilitating illnesses who are suffering so badly." The main change the conference committee is expected to make centers around zoning regulations. The House last week voted to allow cannabis growing and processing facilities to operate in commercially zoned areas, in addition to agricultural and industrial zoned areas. Shari Veazey, executive director of the Mississippi Municipal League, told the Daily Journal that the House's zoning change drew concerns from some mayors and city boards. Now, the conference committee is expected to change the legislation to allow cannabis growing and processing facilities to operate in commercial zones, but only if counties and municipalities approve of it beforehand. |
| Commissioner Gipson applauds House Ag Committee on passage of Mississippi Grain Indemnity Act | |
 | On Tuesday, the Mississippi House of Representative's Agriculture Committee passed HB 1389, the Mississippi Grain Indemnity Act. This piece of legislation would establish a Grain Indemnity Trust Fund which would compensate Mississippi producers when grain warehouses and grain dealers can't meet their legal obligations to farmers. The legislation was crafted by the farmer-led Mississippi Grain Indemnity Task Force with representatives appointed by Mississippi Farm Bureau, the Delta Council, Commissioner Gipson and other elected officials. "I would like to thank House Speaker Philip Gunn for introducing this legislation, as well as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bill Pigott, Vice Chairman Vince Mangold and the entire Agriculture Committee for their leadership and support in passing this important legislation. The Mississippi Grain Indemnity Act would ensure protection for our farmers when grain warehouses and dealers fail to live up to their obligations, and this bill would not cost any taxpayer dollars," said Ag Commissioner Gipson. Gipson said the Act would provide payment to participating agricultural producers for contract losses due to a failure of a grain dealer licensed by the State of Mississippi and for contract and storage losses due to the failure of a grain warehouse operator licensed by the State of Mississippi or by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Act would be funded through a collection of voluntary producer assessments rather than taxpayer funds and administered by a board made up of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce and six other members appointed by Mississippi Farm Bureau and Delta Council, and two at-large producers appointed by the Commissioner. These trustees would evaluate claims when a failure occurs and authorize payments to be made from the Trust. |
| Neighborhood official: 'There's something wrong when Jackson's murder rate is higher than Atlanta' | |
| Hours after graduating from Murrah High School, Kennedy Hobbs visited the cemetery where her boyfriend was buried, placing her sash across his grave and snapping a picture for Instagram, writing, "For u baby." Before the night ended, she would join him, becoming as he was a victim in Jackson's record 155 homicides in 2021 --- the highest per capita murder rate in the nation. Higher than Birmingham, Atlanta, Detroit, and even Chicago, the city with the most overall slayings in 2021. But the number Lashanda Jennings-Hobbs cares most about is the one attached to her daughter. Police say 18-year-old Kennedy Hobbs had stopped at a Texaco gas station-convenience store and was an innocent bystander when she was shot three times on June 1. "It's terrible," said Jennings-Hobbs. "Something has got to be done about it." Homicide numbers have soared across the country the past two years, but based on cities with at least 100,000 population, Jackson's per capita murder rate is the highest in the United States. Former Jackson Police Chief Robert Johnson, who became chief in 1995, said poverty and unemployment can't be blamed for the surge in gun violence in the Mississippi's capital city. "We have always had poverty and unemployment with us," Johnson said. Johnson, who has more than 32 years of experience in law enforcement, corrections and federal security, said he learned from his first year on the job as Jackson police chief there must be better manpower distribution and resource allocation. And Johnson said don't forget about the broken window theory. "If you ignore all the small crime, it will lead up to something major. We have seen erosion of respect for law enforcement occurring over the years," he said. |
| E.P.A. Chief Vows to 'Do Better' to Protect Poor Communities | |
 | Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, traveled to Jackson, Miss., in November to discuss the city's poor water quality at an elementary school where children have to drink bottled water and use portable restrooms outside the building. The day he arrived, the halls were largely empty. Students had been sent home because the water pressure at the school was so low that even the portable toilets couldn't flush. That scene and others he witnessed as he traveled to low-income communities in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and elsewhere have prompted him to make some changes, he said. On Wednesday the E.P.A. announced that it will step up monitoring and enforcement of federal rules regarding air and water quality, particularly in communities of color, which are disproportionately burdened by pollution. "Seeing the situation for myself, talking directly to community members, it is startling where we get to this point -- the point where children miss school days because the water isn't safe," Mr. Regan said. He called the environmental conditions he had witnessed in many parts of the nation "unacceptable in the United States of America." In Jackson, Miss., a majority Black city where residents have suffered from contaminated drinking water as well as chronic water outages, Mr. Regan said the E.P.A. had issued a notice of noncompliance to the city for failing to repair equipment to ensure safe drinking water in a "timely matter." |
| U.S. Companies Down to Five-Day Supply of Key Chips, Report Says | |
 | U.S. manufacturers and other companies that use semiconductors are down to less than five days of inventory for key chips, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, citing the results of a new survey. In 2019, companies typically maintained 40 days of inventory for key chips, according to the Commerce Department report. Now for the same chips -- defined as 160 products that companies identified as being the most challenging to acquire -- companies are operating with fewer than five days of inventory, the report said. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the survey results show the urgency for Congress to approve the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which includes $52 billion to boost domestic chip production. "We aren't even close to being out of the woods as it relates to the supply problems with semiconductors," Ms. Raimondo told reporters Tuesday. "The semiconductor supply chain is very fragile, and it is going to remain that way until we can increase chip production." The thin inventories are a source of particular concern because of how a single shutdown can then ripple through the supply chain. With these wafer-thin inventories, a closure of an overseas factory earlier in a company's supply chain, for more than a few days, can cause it to exhaust its inventories. The Commerce Department released its findings as part of a push to revive the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said that the U.S. is in danger of falling behind other countries that are working to boost their domestic chip production. |
| House chiefs try bipartisan experiment: Talking to each other | |
 | At first blush, Reps. Joe Wilson and Dan Kildee don't seem to have much in common. Wilson, a Republican, represents a mostly rural patch of inland South Carolina, while Democrat Kildee's district of factory towns runs along the Lake Huron waterfront down to the city of Flint, Mich. But their chiefs of staff say the two offices are more alike than not. "A lot of the work we do as chiefs helping to run a congressional office for a member, at the end of the day, isn't really partisan," said Mitchell Rivard, Kildee's chief of staff. "Like, you process flag requests every day, you have businesses calling you to help with the SBA, [you have] tours." Jonathan Day, Wilson's chief of staff, was nodding along as Rivard spoke. Despite their partisan differences, the two are close friends. "Democrat [or] Republican, you kind of hang out with your own party," said Day. "But then you meet somebody that's a Democrat -- they're the same person as you. They have a little different philosophy, but they're working 12 to 16 hours a day like you, they're working seven days a week, they're getting all the same emails that you're getting from outside groups." That realization -- that they have more in common than what separates them -- is one of the reasons they decided to run to lead the House Chiefs of Staff Association, together. They won back in September with 256 of the 356 votes cast. It's the first time the staff organization, which traces its founding back to the "Little Congress" created in 1919, has bipartisan co-chairs heading it. |
| Biden frustration with Fox News breaks through surface | |
 | President Biden's irritation with questions and coverage from Fox News is starting to break through the surface. Biden in the last week has twice snapped at reporters for Fox News and was caught on a live mic on Monday describing the network's White House correspondent Peter Doocy in decidedly impolitic terms after a question about inflation, which is widely seen as cutting into the president's approval ratings. Last week, Jacqui Heinrich, another Fox reporter, asked Biden why he was "waiting" for Russian President Vladimir Putin "to make the first move" as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated in recent days. "What a stupid question," Biden said in a response that was captured by audio pool reporters in the room. A combative tone between a Democratic president and Fox News is nothing new, and Doocy downplayed any lingering tensions after the president called him to talk about his remark. Biden's brusqueness with some questions from the press has not been limited to Fox. Just last week, he brushed off questions from two conservative outlets during a marathon press conference. Biden didn't acknowledge a question from the New York Post, which is owned by the same parent company as Fox, that linked his son Hunter Biden's business dealings with transparency from China about COVID-19's origins. And, when a Newsmax reporter asked him about his mental fitness -- a topic that has received a lot of coverage on conservative media -- he also brushed it off. "I have no idea," he said when asked why he thinks segments of the American electorate have concerns about his cognitive fitness. |
| Hope seen once the omicron wave increases global immunity | |
| World health officials are offering hope that the ebbing of the omicron wave could give way to a new, more manageable phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as they warn of difficult weeks ahead and the possibility of another, more dangerous variant arising. In the U.S., cases have crested and are dropping rapidly, following a pattern seen in Britain and South Africa, with researchers projecting a period of low spread in many countries by the end of March. Though U.S. deaths -- now at 2,000 each day -- are still rising, new hospital admissions have started to fall, and a drop in deaths is expected to follow. The encouraging trends after two years of coronavirus misery have brought a noticeably hopeful tone from health experts. Rosy predictions have crumbled before, but this time they are backed by what could be called omicron's silver lining: The highly contagious variant will leave behind extremely high levels of immunity. On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci talked on ABC "This Week" about a "best-case scenario" where COVID-19 would fall to manageable levels so the United States could get "back to a degree of normality." And on Monday, the World Health Organization issued a statement anticipating an end to the "emergency phase" of the pandemic this year and saying that the omicron variant "offers plausible hope for stabilization and normalization." Both Fauci and the WHO's Europe regional director, Dr. Hans Kluge, cautioned that new variants are likely to emerge, but with vaccination, new drug therapies and -- during surges -- testing and masks, the world could reach a less disruptive level of disease in which the virus is, as Fauci put it, "essentially integrated into the general respiratory infections that we have learned to live with." |
| Coffee shop opens inside USM's Wesley Foundation | |
 | University of Southern Mississippi students now have a new option for getting that very important morning cup of joe. Tuesday morning, Equinox Coffee officially opened inside the Wesley Foundation on Montague Boulevard. It's the second Hub City location for the coffee shop. There's also an Equinox Coffee on Hardy Street. "We just really wanted to provide a space and they can do coffee and why not have a space where we can meet students over a cup of coffee and build relationships, that's our biggest thing, is building relationships with students," said Eric Davis, executive director of the Wesley Foundation. "It was a good opportunity for the Wesley Foundation, the students on campus and us as a business, to expand us, get more students into the Wesley Foundation and give them a good caffeine dose and a place to study," said Taylor Hensley, owner of Equinox Coffee. Equinox Coffee on Hardy Street has been open for three years. |
| Person of the Day: Josiah Sampson III | |
| Jackson State University President Thomas Hudson recently appointed Josiah Sampson III as the university's new vice president for Enrollment Management, effective Jan. 18. While in the position, Sampson will manage scholarships and financial aid on behalf of JSU. He also will also lead the charge on strategic enrollment-management planning for the university, as well as the registrar and records services. Sampson, a JSU alumnus, most recently served as provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh, N.C., where he was in charge of developing and supervising new programs, increasing faculty and student research, advising and mentoring faculty and students, faculty development, and accreditation. Born and raised in Jackson, Sampson graduated from Callaway High School before enrolling at JSU, where he earned his bachelor's degree in biology. Enrolling there was a simple decision, Sampson says, because the university had long been a staple for his family. His grandmother's house was located on the site of what is now the JSU Student Center, and he was enrolled in an early-childhood education program at JSU during kindergarten. His father, Josiah Sampson Jr., was a professor of music and an orchestra director for the university, while his mother, Woozie Sampson, served as an adjunct professor of fine language. Both his parents also graduated from and even met at JSU, Sampson says. "It is an honor and a pleasure to be able to come back to JSU and work for my alma mater," Sampson says. |
| Education leaders hope new dual enrollment portal will help overhaul the high school experience in Louisiana | |
 | State education leaders are launching a new push to widen access to high school classes for college credit, including Black students who make up a small portion of those enrolled today. The classes, called dual enrollment, allow high school juniors and seniors to tackle courses that count for both high school and college credit. Barely 1 in 5 eligible students are enrolled in the classes now, and nearly two-thirds are White students. Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and others hope a new dual enrollment portal -- Ladualenrollment.com -- will provide a one-stop tool for students, boost the number of dual enrollment students and help make the classes more accessible to minority students. The portal, which went up last week, includes frequently asked questions, how to search for both academic and technical college courses and a link to a new program that lets high school students earn an associate degree and other credentials, called Fast Forward. The portal is aimed in part at ending the notion that the classes are only for students headed to prestigious four-year colleges. "One of the things we have to push against is dual enrollment is for high fliers only," Reed said. "Dual enrollment is for everyone," she said. "We want to make sure the portal sends that message." |
| U. of Florida ends its COVID dashboard. Will others follow? | |
 | The University of Florida no longer publishes data about COVID-19 case counts on campus. As of Jan. 1, the university stopped updating its COVID-19 dashboard and began directing requests for data to the Florida Department of Health. Other major research universities have not followed suit. But Florida's decision to discontinue its COVID-19 dashboard raises questions about whether and for how much longer other colleges will maintain public-facing websites with data about COVID on campus and what purposes those dashboards are serving at this point in the pandemic. Michael Lauzardo, an associate professor in the division of infectious diseases and global medicine at UF, said he proposed eliminating the dashboard because of concerns about the quality of the data. He said some students are taking at-home tests and not necessarily reporting the results. Some students with potential COVID symptoms are forgoing testing altogether so as not to be barred from campus facilities. And under state law---and unlike at the beginning of the pandemic---the university cannot require any student to test (or get vaccinated or wear a mask, for that matter). Lauzardo said the proportion of students who voluntarily test after their building is flagged in the university's COVID sewage-monitoring program fell over the course of the pandemic from about 50 percent to 1 to 2 percent by the middle of last fall. "I just think we need to end the presentation of bad data," said Lauzardo, who wrote about the unreliability of the data and the decision to stop updating the database in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Others have raised alarms about the decision to discontinue UF's dashboard. |
| Faculty groups blast Florida bill to make presidential searches more secret | |
| A bill that would keep parts of the presidential selection process secret at Florida's public colleges and universities is drawing harsh criticism from faculty leaders, who call it an authoritarian move. With presidential searches underway at four state universities, faculty organizations in Florida and beyond say the legislation threatens to blur the line between higher education and politics. Many point to last year's presidential search at Florida State University, where the name of education commissioner Richard Corcoran, a former House Speaker, found its way onto a shortlist late in the search process. "We see this as nothing less than an attempt to streamline corruption," United Faculty of Florida president Andrew Gothard said, referring to the bill. "We're taking the public's right and handing it over and treating public universities like private businesses." The statewide union is polling its members about the bill and the 300 responses so far indicate many of them have deep concerns, Gothard said. A statement released Tuesday from the American Association of University Professors called it a move toward "authoritarianism" on the heels of the University of Florida's academic freedom controversy. |
| Lawmakers advance bill to let Kentucky students use KEES scholarships at for-profit schools | |
| Kentucky high school graduates would be able to use state scholarship money to attend for-profit colleges and trade schools under a bill lawmakers passed out of a House committee Tuesday morning. The legislation, HB 234, would allow students to use their Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship, or KEES funding, at licensed, for-profit schools in Kentucky. KEES gives Kentucky high school graduates scholarships to private and public Kentucky colleges and universities. The amount of the scholarship is based on the student's high school GPA, scores on standardized tests and the completion of higher-level coursework such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes. A 4.0 GPA earns a student $500 a year towards college. Current statute only allows colleges and universities to accept KEES money if they are eligible for the federal Pell Grant program. That means the schools have to have special accreditation not always bestowed on for-profit trade schools, such as for-profit welding schools or cosmetology schools. Louisville Democratic Rep. Attica Scott voted against the measure over concerns about the financial impact. She also noted that students can already use KEES money for trade school in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The state's system of public community colleges offers programs in welding, cosmetology, HVAC repair and many other vocations. |
| Big Event to mark 40 years of community service | |
 | As a student volunteer for the Big Event in 2018, Meg Camele said she was blown away by how many students wanted to wake up at 7 a.m. or earlier to serve Bryan-College Station residents. "I thought it was the norm ... but in 2020 the Big Event was canceled due to COVID, and it was difficult to see students disappointed that they weren't going to get these interactions," said Camele, the event's executive director. "Residents said this was the one time of year where they felt a strong bond to the community and the campus." Texas A&M University students will get their chance this year as the 40th Big Event community service project takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 26. The Big Event is a day where the students "give back" and hope to give "one big thanks" to the community for being generous to the large population of university students, Camele said. "I have been a part of the Big Event for five years," she said. "I have never heard of any larger single-day, student-run community service project." The Big Event was created in 1982 by Joe Nussbaum. A member of the Student Government Association at the time, Nussbaum wanted to find a way to create a community event, Camele said. "At the time, the president of the United States was encouraging people to find ways to incorporate kindness and acts of community service into [their] everyday lives," she said. "So Joe Nussbaum took it upon himself to create a community service initiative at A&M because they did not have anything campuswide at the time." |
| Holocaust educator to speak at U. of Missouri on International Holocaust Remembrance Day | |
 | Educator Julie Kohner will speak to University of Missouri students and Columbia community members about her mother's experience at concentration camps at 2 p.m. Thursday in Jesse Wrench Auditorium. "There's so many people who don't have (Holocaust) background and I think it's important that they learn about it," Kohner said. Kohner is the founder and CEO of Voices of the Generations, Inc., and has motivated others to share stories of survivors close to them. "Her programs move and inspire people of all ages, but especially young adults to look at adversity and the world around them in ways that are new," according to her website. Kohner said the message of her program is as simple as the one most commonly tied to the Holocaust: Never forget. "I don't know how much knowledge people have these days about it, and we realize that it's so important for us to keep our parents' legacy alive," Kohner said. The event is sponsored by Mizzou Hillel, MU Student Affairs, Peace Studies and The Bridge at the College of Education and Human Development. |
| 7 Keys to Building Equity in Digital Learning | |
| A new report from Every Learner Everywhere, produced in collaboration with Tyton Partners and the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities, offers strategies for investing in digital learning infrastructure while bridging equity gaps to better serve under-represented students. The organizations studied seven institutions with a variety of student populations -- Cuyahoga Community College, Fayetteville State University, Georgia State University, Ivy Tech Community College, Tennessee Board of Regents, California State University, Fresno and the University of Texas at El Paso -- to glean best practices and recommendations based on their digital learning implementation successes. The report outlined seven "key actions" for implementing digital learning infrastructure to support equitable outcomes. |
| College Students Are Losing Confidence in Their Free-Speech Rights | |
 | Free expression remains highly valued among college students, but their confidence in that First Amendment right is declining -- particularly among Republicans and Black and Hispanic students. That's according to a report on a new survey conducted by the Knight Foundation and the market-research firm Ipsos. The survey examines how partisanship, race, and ethnicity affect students' views on free speech. It seeks to capture "the full spectrum of not only students' opinions on policies, but some of what's underneath that -- some of the feelings and experiences they've had with speech in general, and on campus," said Evette Alexander, director of the learning and impact division at the Knight Foundation. A number of high-profile controversies involving speech restrictions on college campuses -- most recently at the University of Florida, which made headlines for initially telling faculty members not to testify against the state as expert witnesses -- have given rise to fears about restrictive speech environments in higher ed. Though college students across demographics see free speech as essential to American democracy, compared with those surveyed in years past, fewer of the 1,000 students surveyed in 2021 believe their right to free speech is secure, and fewer feel like the First Amendment protects people like them. |
| Study: Women-led colleges hire more women and pay them better | |
| Female senior faculty and top administrators earn more at institutions with female presidents and provosts than at institutions where men are in charge, a new analysis from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources shows. Nearly one-third -- 32 percent -- of colleges and universities have female presidents, according to CUPA-HR data. For every dollar male presidents earn, female presidents earn $0.91. The analysis relies on data from CUPA-HR's 2020 Administrators in Higher Education survey, as well as the 2020 Faculty in Higher Education Survey, which includes information about 47,985 administrators and 171,367 tenure-track faculty members, respectively. For this particular analysis, the authors looked at 925 institutions that provided information about the genders of their presidents and other administrators and faculty. Colleges and universities with female presidents have higher percentages of women in all top administrative categories, including senior institutional officers, institutional administrators and division heads, according to the analysis. Forty-five percent of senior officers at female-led institutions are women, compared with 42 percent at male-led institutions. Six in 10 division heads -- which includes roles like bursar, chief campus bookstore administrator and chief student housing administrator -- at female-led institutions are women, compared with 55 percent at male-led institutions. And about 63 percent of administrators -- such as chief diversity officers and chief purchasing officers -- at female-led institutions are women, while only 61 percent of administrators at male-led institutions are women. |
| Ending college affirmative action could have ripple effect for Black, Latino students | |
 | Experts say that Black and Latino students would suffer disproportionately if the Supreme Court decides to reverse a long-standing policy on affirmative action programs in the U.S. On Monday, the Supreme Court said it would hear two cases challenging race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. If the court rules against race-conscious college admissions programs, also known as affirmative action, it could have an outsize effect on Black and Latino college students. One of the most comprehensive studies on the issue, published in 2020, found that Black and Latino students suffered after California's public universities banned affirmative action in a 1996 ballot initiative. Following the ban, more students of color enrolled at less selective institutions and, as a result, were less likely to get college degrees, graduate degrees or jobs in the STEM fields. "When Black and Hispanic students lost access to California's more selective universities, they lost access to this public investment," Zachary Bleemer, the study's author, told NBC News. The findings also showed that the ban discouraged thousands of students of color annually from applying to the University of California system, although most still met the qualifications for enrollment. Bleemer, a postdoctoral fellow with Opportunity Insights, a research group at Harvard University, added that these losses were also felt in the labor market. |
| Dozens of Democrats demand Biden release legal memo on student debt cancellation | |
 | Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and dozens of other Democrats on Wednesday called on President Joe Biden to show his cards on student loan forgiveness and release a legal memo his administration prepared about his powers to cancel student debt. The new request for the documents by 85 House and Senate Democrats comes as progressives are once again ramping up their pressure campaign to convince Biden to cancel large amounts of student debt ahead of the midterm elections. "Publicly releasing the memo outlining your existing authority on cancelling student debt and broadly doing so is crucial to making a meaningful difference in the lives of current students, borrowers, and their families," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden that was shared with POLITICO. "It has been widely reported that the Department of Education has had this memo since April 5, 2021 after being directed to draft it." Biden has been publicly skeptical of broad student debt cancellation and questioned his legal authority to do so. White House chief of staff Ron Klain last year said that the president had tasked the Education Department and Justice Department with developing memos on the issue. But the Biden administration has declined to publicly release any memos about its legal authority to cancel student loan debt, including in response to a previous call from a smaller group of progressive lawmakers. The administration has also not said whether it agrees with a Trump administration legal analysis that concluded the executive branch lacks the authority to enact widespread debt cancellation on its own. |
| A Race to the Top in Research: Infused with overdue money, historically Black colleges are vying to win Carnegie's highest rank | |
| When David K. Wilson was asked in 2010 to apply for the presidency of Morgan State University, a historically Black institution in Baltimore, he was reluctant to leave his perch as a chancellor in the University of Wisconsin system. The nation had severely shortchanged its HBCUs, he knew, while rewarding the predominantly white research universities where he'd spent much of his career. Faculty members at Wisconsin, Auburn University, and Rutgers University, were more likely to enjoy flexible teaching schedules, comfortable salaries, and state-of-the-art research equipment. Other historically Black colleges had reached out to him, and he'd turned them down. "I was not interested in presiding over an institution where the primary purpose was to keep its doors open," Wilson said. The search chair was persistent, so he visited the campus, baseball cap turned backward, and stopped faculty members, without saying who he was, to ask about their work. Despite 4-4 teaching loads and heavy service and advising responsibilities, they talked about publishing articles in leading journals and finding the time to write books. "They said this was a place where they never had to question whether they were part of a family," Wilson said. "They were giving it everything they had, and more, even with parsimonious resources." Seeing an institution "pregnant with possibility," he ended up taking the job and committing to help elevate the university's stature as a major research university. Today, Morgan State is one of a handful of HBCUs, including North Carolina A&T State, Howard, Florida A&M, and Prairie View A&M Universities, vying to join the ranks of Carnegie R1 universities. The coveted distinction, reserved for doctoral institutions with very high research activity, helps universities recruit top faculty members and scholars and win prestigious research grants. Among the 137 institutions classified as R1, not one is an HBCU. |
| State, local governments coping with tax impacts of cord-cutting and streaming | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Local TV stations, cable providers, and companies selling satellite or dish technologies --- not to mention the major television news and entertainment networks --- are increasingly staggering under the rise of competition from new and potent digital news and entertainment competitors. State and local governments that have in the past collected tax revenues from the interrelationships of these evolving, declining technologies are noticing the trends as well and are reacting to them with new tax strategies. In most Mississippi local governments, the renewal of cable television franchises in those communities was a big deal, both from the tax revenue to the municipalities and the availability of programming and services to the individual cable subscribers. Also impacted were sales tax collections on the sale of cable TV hardware, playback hardware, and digital products like DVDs. The sales of those products -- and the subsequent state and local tax revenues -- have been in freefall for just over the last decade. Remember, the words "Netflix" or "Hulu" were not part of our vocabulary until 1997 (when Netflix was in the DVD rental shipping business) and Hulu until 2007 (when they began to compete with Netflix) in the streaming business. How significant are these technological changes on consumer behavior from a tax standpoint in Mississippi at both the state and local levels? |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State fights to the finish but falls in overtime at No. 12 Kentucky | |
 | Cameron Matthews had won the tip. To begin overtime Tuesday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, the Mississippi State sophomore forward outjumped Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe, the nation's leading rebounder. Matthews tapped the basketball back toward his side of the court, with guard Shakeel Moore nearest to it. Then Kentucky's Davion Mintz leapt in front of Moore and grabbed the tip, giving the Wildcats possession to start the extra period. Kentucky didn't score on the play. The game didn't even come down to one possession. But mistakes like those cost Mississippi State a chance for a signature win Tuesday in Lexington. The Bulldogs (13-6, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) missed nine free throws, allowed 13 second-chance points and committed several key errors to let a 16-point comeback go for naught in an 82-74 overtime loss to the 12th-ranked Wildcats (16-4, 6-2 SEC). "You've got to do the little things to win against a really good team and especially on the road," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. For an impressive stretch in the second half, the Bulldogs did just that. They fought their way back from down double digits, tying the game multiple times in the final minutes of regulation and sending it to overtime. Guard Iverson Molinar, who led Mississippi State with a career-high 30 points, said his team lacked confidence in the first half. Molinar had just eight points at the break, and the Bulldogs had made just one 3-pointer in the game's first 20 minutes. Then the "swag" and confidence Mississippi State has shown at times this season made an abrupt comeback. |
| Mississippi State basketball forces No. 12 Kentucky into overtime but can't complete upset | |
| Teams have tried -- and most have failed -- to find an answer to slow down Kentucky basketball forward Oscar Tshiebwe. His 6-foot-9, 255-pound frame is imposing, and for Mississippi State without forward Tolu Smith due to a knee injury, matching up with Tshiebwe was daunting at best and impossible at worst. Both sides of that spectrum were seen Tuesday at Rupp Arena. Tshiebwe scored 21 points and pulled in 22 rebounds, another standout performance from one of the nation's best players. But when Mississippi State's double-team of Tshiebwe began to work down the stretch, his direct influence waned. His influence was felt in other facets, though. With so much attention directed to Tshiebwe, No. 12 Kentucky's other playmakers had opportunities, and in overtime, those stars shined when Tshiebwe's spotlight dulled, leading to a 82-74 win for the Wildcats. "There were times in this game that we were really good," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. "If you're watching this game tonight, you're like, that team has the potential to be a tournament team, no question. They took Kentucky right to the wire and had a chance." |
| Mississippi State men's basketball battles back, falls short in overtime at No. 12 Kentucky | |
| There was an odd feeling Tuesday inside Rupp Arena as Kentucky continued playing and succeeding above the rim against Mississippi State. If it wasn't Oscar Tshiebwe snagging one of his 22 rebounds, then it was Bryce Hopkins slashing through the middle of the lane for one of Kentucky's six dunks. Or it was Hopkins chasing down Iverson Molinar for a block to keep MSU from cutting the lead to single digits in the final minute of the first half. Or it was Dontaie Allen -- who seemingly only shows up against Mississippi State -- storming through the paint and soaring for a putback dunk. But for all the success Kentucky was having playing its game, the lead was stuck between 10-16 points. The score didn't indicate how dominant Kentucky actually was, you likely saw on Twitter, and a big run for Big Blue Nation was pending. That was until Shakeel Moore started hitting 3-pointers and shushing the crowd. And Molinar was scoring easy layups off backdoor cuts. And Mississippi State was getting to the free throw line. "We came out with a lot more swag in the second half," Molinar said postgame. The wait for a Kentucky run turned into momentum for Mississippi State, and suddenly a game Kentucky led for 37 minutes in regulation headed to overtime. |
| Sanderson golf donates $1.5 million to children's hospital; future unclear | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: The Sanderson Farms Championship, Mississippi's lone tournament on the PGA Tour, Tuesday presented a record $1.5 million to the state's only children's hospital, Children's of Mississippi at University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). The 2022 contribution comes after $1.45 million last year, $1.3 million the year before, and more than $10 million since 2013. Sanderson Farms CEO and board chairman Joe Sanderson made clear his company's stewardship of the tournament is not about golf. "It's about this. It's about today," Sanderson said. "It's about the babies, and the mothers and dads who come through these doors with fear, anxiety and they don't know what. They just need a doctor and nurses and staff, and later a lot of them leave with a smile on their faces and hope for the future. That's why our company and our board took on this tournament." Appropriately, Sanderson made the contribution in the hospital's new seven-story Sanderson Tower (opened in November 2020), which has more than doubled the hospital's space for pediatric care at UMMC. More than 200,000 children a year receive care at UMMC. What remains unclear is the future of the Sanderson Farms Championship. Sanderson Farms and the PGA Tour are contracted through 2026, but the pending sale of Laurel-based Sanderson Farms, the country's third largest poultry producer, to two out-of-state corporations potentially could change that. Dr. Lou Ann Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, Tuesday talked about what Sanderson and his tournament have meant to UMMC. "Already this building has touched thousands of lives," Woodward said. "Children have been born here and lived the first part of their lives here. Children have been transferred here from other hospitals because they need the kind of care we have here. Thousands of children, thousands of surgeries, thousands of CAT scans and MRIs and clinic appointments -- and we're just getting started." |
| NC State AD Boo Corrigan to lead CFP selection committee | |
| North Carolina State athletic director Boo Corrigan will serve as the College Football Playoff selection committee chairman next season, executive director Bill Hancock announced Tuesday. Hancock also announced in a news release four new members of the 13-person panel for 2022. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Navy AD Chet Gladchuk, former Wake Forest and Ohio coach Jim Grobe and former USA Today sports writer Kelly Whiteside will join the committee as other members cycle off it. Corrigan, the son of the late former NCAA President and Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Gene Corrigan, served on the selection committee for the first time in 2021. He will replace Iowa AD Gary Barta, who was chairman for the last two seasons. The chairman's most notable role is being the face and voice of the committee when the CFP rankings are revealed weekly over the last six weeks of the season. Barta is coming off the committee after a three-year term along Georgia State athletic director Charlie Cobb, former Notre Dame and Washington coach Tyrone Willingham and former sports writer Paola Boivin. |
| Georgia athletics reports surplus for last fiscal year following SEC revenue supplement | |
 | Georgia athletics reported a surplus approaching $21 million for the fiscal year that ended last June in the first full academic year impacted by the pandemic and limited attendance. The Georgia Athletic Association reported total revenues of $153,177,131 and total expenses of $132,555,972 for a difference of $20,621,159, according to a draft IRS Form 990 that was accepted by the athletic board's finance committee on behalf of the full board in a meeting on Tuesday morning. Portions of that IRS form were shared during the meeting held via Zoom. It will be filed with the IRS in the coming months. All 14 SEC schools received a $23 million supplemental revenue distribution by the conference last May to help cushion the financial effects of COVID-19. That means that Georgia would have been in the red without that one-time SEC supplement. Georgia limited attendance at its athletic venues during the 2020-2021 seasons including at football's Sanford Stadium where attendance was under 21,000. Georgia's revenues dropped $25,984,126 and its expenses decreased $16,122,759 from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021. |
| LSU athletics recorded $9.62 million deficit as it navigated COVID pandemic last year | |
| Without stadiums at full capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly during the 2020 football season, LSU's athletic department lost money as it tried to navigate restrictions and fell well below profits made in previous years. LSU produced a deficit of $9.62 million in the 2021 fiscal year, according to the school's annual NCAA financial report. The athletic department had reported profits every year since at least 2004, but without football able to support other programs as much as before, the department took a financial hit. The net loss was somewhat expected. The coronavirus pandemic forced LSU to reduce Tiger Stadium's capacity to 25% throughout the 2020 season, which slashed ticket sales. After making an average of $36 million per year over the previous five seasons on football tickets, LSU reported $5.69 million, a drastic reduction in one of the department's primary sources of revenue. Contributions also dropped across the board, plummeting from $41.28 million the previous year to $19.8 million, decreasing another significant form of revenue. Those made to the football team fell by $15.78 million. Track and field/cross country and beach volleyball were the only programs to see an increase in contributions. Football was still the lone LSU athletic program to produce a profit during the fiscal year, which lasted from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021. The team had a net income of $6.5 million. Its total profits dropped by $47 million from the previous year, when the Tigers won their fourth national championship. |
| China less worried about global criticism these Olympics | |
| When Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee predicted the Games could improve human rights, and Chinese politicians hinted at the same. Such talk is all but absent this time as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics open in just over a week. The Games are a reminder of both China's rise and its disregard for civil liberties, which has prompted a diplomatic boycott led by the U.S. Rights groups have documented forced labor, mass detentions and torture, and the U.S. has called China's internment of at least 1 million Uyghurs genocide. China has also come under criticism over the near-disappearance from public view of tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a former senior member of the ruling Communist Party of sexually assaulting her. But with more political, economic and military clout than it had 13 1/2 years ago, China appears to be worrying less about global scrutiny this time. And the COVID-19 pandemic has given it even more control over the Olympics, particularly with the isolation of visiting journalists, separated in a "bubble" from the Chinese population. "There's nothing to 'prove' at this point; 2008 was a 'coming out' party and all this one does is confirm what we've known for the last decade," Amanda Shuman, a China researcher at the University of Freiburg, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "If anything, there's a lot less pressure than 2008," she said. "The Chinese government knows full well that its global economic upper hand allows it to do whatever it wishes." |
| Here's how Sean Payton came to realize 'it was time' for him to leave the Saints, and why 'it feels good' | |
 | Monday night, as Sean Payton scribbled notes on pages of yellow legal paper, his mind danced. How do you do this? How do you step aside? How do you walk away from a job you've poured every piece of your soul into for more than a decade and a half? How does one put nearly two decades' worth of experience and gratitude into words? Payton attempted that over the past 24 hours. He joked that he needed an Ambien to help him sleep. Tuesday, the Saints' longtime coach revealed that answer, fighting back tears with stories that elicited laughter, contemplative pauses and sips of water as he announced he's stepping away from the franchise he's called home for the past 16 years. But why walk away now? "I felt like this season," Payton said before taking a 6-second pause, "it was challenging for everyone. Man, I felt like it was time." His decision, although stunning, didn't come overnight. There wasn't one specific moment from the 2021 season that shifted his outlook. There's nothing lined up, he said, at least not as of Tuesday afternoon, not a stint in the broadcast booth, not a deal to coach elsewhere. The terms "retirement" and "burnout" don't really apply, either, he said. He is simply stepping aside for now, and the timing, he said, was right -- even though he didn't want to be a distraction during the NFL playoffs. "I don't know what's next, and it feels good," Payton said. |
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