| Monday, February 28, 2022 |
| MSU eliminates mask requirement | |
 | Mississippi State University has eliminated its mask requirement. Based on a recommendation from the MSU COVID-19 Task Force, effective Monday, the university will only require masks in the Longest Student Health Center and on the MSU SMART shuttle, required by federal regulation. All other indoor locations will be mask optional. A press release Friday said the university continues to encourage everyone in the campus community to get vaccinated and boosted, and faculty, staff and students are asked to be supportive of those who continue to wear masks and stay home to observe COVID-19 protocols if symptomatic or sick. MSU employees can require others to wear masks in their personal offices. |
| America's new arms race is cybersecurity. These Mississippi educators are training the soldiers | |
 | This is a new war in which we all have to be soldiers. Money lost. Infrastructures frozen. Countries crippled. The question falls into the laptops of those on the front lines of cybersecurity in our state: How can we stay safe? "We are in the new arms race. ... And that's cybersecurity," said Henry Jones, Director of Technology and Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern Mississippi. "And, so, we have to do our part to contribute and to participate and to learn how to be warriors -- all of us -- in this new era of warfare." And that means getting more efficient in the classroom and helping those on the frontlines protect industries and businesses from constant attack. It's all part of the discussion at the first Mississippi Cybersecurity Faculty Retreat, coordinated by the USM School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering. Among the 50 faculty members throughout the state who gathered at the USM Gulf Coast campus in Long Beach was DeMarcus Thomas, Assistant Director of the Center of Cyber Innovation at Mississippi State University. He spends a lot of time working with businesses in the state building up their online protection. "One of the major things that I run in to as I talk with a lot of these businesses is the focus is on getting the job done. And not necessarily thinking about the cyber security implications of not thinking through threats and potential problems to your own organization," Thomas said. Coming up in May, MSU's Center for Cyber Education is planning to host an event at MGCCC to introduce 120 high school students to the field of cybersecurity. |
| Lawmakers advocating for state ARPA matches | |
| State Senator Bart Williams (R, Starkville) said he is optimistic the city of Starkville will receive matching American Rescue Plan Act funds from the state. Williams, along with Senator Angela Turner (D, West Point) and Representative Rob Roberson (R, Starkville), met with the Starkville board of aldermen at its work session Friday to give an update on the current legislative session. Starkville received $6.3 million from the federal government to aid COVID-19 relief. The board voted in January to identify projects those funds could be spent on, including the Main Street redesign and the 182 BUILD grant project -- both of which would create a more pedestrian-friendly streetscape for both roads -- and improvements to city parks. While Williams said the Senate is wanting to prioritize water and sewer projects, Roberson said the House is looking at other projects to fund with matching dollars. Through the Senate's matching plan, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Health would oversee the allocation process, giving rural water associations funds to improve water and sewer systems throughout the state. Roberson said while improving water and sewer systems are a necessity, the House is debating only allocating half of the matching funds and waiting on the other funds because other projects, like improving streets throughout the state, are a priority as well. "There is a lot of push for projects with streets involved and things like that," Roberson said. "We are trying to make sure those matching funds can go to that as well." |
| Analysis: Legislative deadline will whittle list of issues | |
 | Mississippi legislators completed two big items several weeks ago when they adopted a congressional redistricting plan and enacted a medical marijuana law. They are about to further trim the list of issues for the 2022 session. Tuesday is the deadline for House and Senate committees to act on general bills and proposed constitutional amendments that already passed the other chamber. There are later deadlines for bills dealing with taxes, bonds and budgets. The House and Senate have passed separate plans to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. The House plan would give raises of $4,000 to $6,000. The Senate proposes an average increase of $4,700 over two years. House Bill 530 has been sent to two Senate committees -- Education and Appropriations. Senate Bill 2444 has been sent to the equivalent committees in the House. Senate Bill 2113 would prohibit schools, community colleges and universities from teaching that "any sex, race, ethnicity, religion or national origin is inherently superior or inferior." Black senators walked out in protest before the Senate passed the bill because of concerns that the proposal would limit teaching about racism. The bill is in the House Universities and Colleges Committee. House Bill 1509 says Mississippi government entities could not withhold services or refuse jobs to people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. It also says private businesses and government entities could not require a COVID-19 vaccination for any employee who has a "sincerely held religious objection." The bill has passed the House and has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee. |
| Senate wants to spend $300 million on emergency bridge, road repairs | |
 | The Senate has unanimously voted to add $300 million to the state's Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Program. The proposal, which could speed repair of more than 200 bridges statewide that are closed and/or posted for structural problems, now heads to the House. "Right now, we have millions of dollars in federal relief funds flowing through our economy," said Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. "Our cities, counties and constituents have asked us to dedicate our resources to better maintaining our infrastructure. We are listening and hope to send this legislation to the governor posthaste." But the legislation is also likely to get hung up in House and Senate debate over major income tax cuts and other spending decisions. Senate Bill 3167, authored by Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, would direct $300 million of $1.1 billion in surplus state revenue this year into the program. The Legislature passed the emergency repair program in 2018, with hundreds of state bridges in dangerous disrepair, and initially funded it with $250 million in borrowing. Lawmakers spent another $89 million on the program last year. The ERBR Program is run by the Mississippi Department of Transportation and an advisory board of industry and local government leaders. |
| Senate panel recommends Brad White lead transportation department | |
 | The Senate Highways and Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted to recommend Brad White, a longtime political operative, to be the leader of Mississippi's transportation department. "I look forward to working with the committee and other members of Legislature to advance our transportation forward," White told the Daily Journal. White's political acumen and resume is well known in the Magnolia State. He initially worked at the Mississippi Department of Transportation under Central District Commissioner Dick Hall from 1999-2005. White has also been the chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, and he's served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, and most recently Gov. Tate Reeves. The state Transportation Commission appointed White to the role in June. In Mississippi, most appointees can lead state agencies or serve on boards before they're confirmed by the state Senate. Now that the committee has voted to recommend him for confirmation, the full Senate will vote to either confirm or reject the recommendation from the committee at a later date. |
| Legislation could pave the way for emergency room in Chickasaw County | |
| Legislation being considered at the Capitol could potentially fill a dire health care need to rural Northeast Mississippi. Both chambers of the Legislature this week approved bills that would allow an organization to construct a "freestanding" emergency room, or an emergency room not attached to a hospital, in rural counties that do not have any ER. If the bill passes, it could lead to more emergency health care access for rural counties in Northeast Mississippi -- particularly Chickasaw County, which has long fought to get an emergency room. "We have numerous businesses interested in opening a freestanding ER up in Houston," Republican Sen. Ben Suber of Bruce told the Daily Journal. The legislation currently requires a freestanding facility to be at least 15 miles away from the nearest ER, and they can only open in counties with fewer than 25,000 residents. The legislation does not address what type of equipment or staff such a facility would be required to have. But it would allow the State Health Department to create rules for the emergency rooms. Only five counties, including Chickasaw, would qualify for a freestanding ER under the proposed legislation. According to House Public Health Chairman Sam Mims, legislative leaders are, at least for now, settling limiting the number of qualifying counties to ensure the freestanding emergency rooms will actually deliver quality health to people. "We need to be sure we do this the correct way," said Mims, R-McComb. |
| Report: UMB Bank wins bidding for Express Grain's assets | |
| Express Grain Terminal LLC's largest creditor, UMB Bank, was the highest bidder for the bankrupt company's assets, The Taxpayers Channel is reporting. Citing unnamed sources who observed the auction, the news outlet said UMB's bid was close to $26 million, a fraction of the more than $156 million the Greenwood-based company owes its creditors. The news media was excluded, at the order of federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Selene Maddox, from Friday's auction of Express Grain's assets and the sale hearing that followed it. The Taxpayers Channel reported on Saturday, however, that according to the bankruptcy court docket, the court approved the sale of the assets but has not publicly stated the identity of the purchaser or the purchase amount. Others placing bids, The Taxpayers Channel reported, included Farmers Grain, Roebuck Landing Grain Terminal, and Thoroughbred AgriFuel Holdings, but UMB Bank outbid them by almost $5 million. For sale were Express Grain's storage facilities in Sidon, Minter City and Greenwood as well as its soybean-processing plant in Greenwood. UMB Bank is owed more than $70 million by Express Grain. Several lesser creditors, including other financial institutions as well as a large group of farmers who delivered grain to the company for which they were not paid, are battling with the Kansas City, Missouri-based bank over whose claims take priority. |
| CDC eases indoor mask mandate as COVID-19 cases drop | |
 | Most Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors because of COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations announced Friday, signaling a shift into the next phase of the pandemic. The CDC is also recommending that masks be worn in schools only in parts of the country with high transmission. The agency's new guidelines rely on how much of an impact the pandemic has on the health care system and severity of disease, rather than just the number of COVID-19 cases and amount of virus transmission in a community. Under previous guidelines, the CDC recommended people in roughly 97 percent of the nation's counties wear a mask indoors, but it now says Americans in just 37.3 percent of counties should wear a face mask in public indoor settings. Public health experts say this move is part of the administration's plans to wind down its COVID-19 mitigation strategy. The goal is for COVID-19 to become an endemic, seasonal virus that does not require lockdowns or mask mandates, much like the flu. "Masking is necessary when it's necessary, right? But you don't have it on all the time," said Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, noting cases are on the downswing. He added that cases may rise next fall or winter, and virus mitigation strategies could be reevaluated at that time. |
| Ukraine, Russia envoys talk under shadow of nuclear threat | |
| Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for talks Monday amid high hopes but low expectations for any diplomatic breakthrough, after Moscow unleashed the biggest land war in Europe since World War II but met unexpectedly stiff resistance. As outgunned but determined Ukrainian forces slowed the Russian advance and sanctions crippled the Russian economy, the military confirmed that its nuclear forces were on high alert, following President Vladimir Putin's order. While that raised the unimaginable specter of nuclear conflict, it was unclear what practical effect it had. A tense calm reigned Monday in Kyiv, where people lined up to buy food and water after two nights trapped inside by curfew. Explosions and gunfire were heard in embattled cities in eastern Ukraine, and terrified families huddled overnight in shelters, basements or corridors. Exact death tolls are unclear, but the U.N. human rights chief said 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded in five days of fighting --- warning that figure was likely a vast undercount -- and Ukraine's president said at least 16 children were among the dead. More than 500,000 people have fled the country since the invasion, another U.N. official said Monday -- among millions who have left their homes. Still, a tiny sliver of hope emerged as the first face-to-face talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials since the war began opened Monday. The delegations met at a long table with the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag on one side and the Russian tricolor on the other. |
| The West finally throws a punch in its face-off with Russia | |
 | The gloves are off, at least for now. After months of making careful, measured moves that failed to persuade Russia to halt plans to invade Ukraine, the United States and its European allies have tossed aside caution in favor of a more ruthless strategy. Over the weekend, Washington and its partners unveiled a raft of measures -- from new weapons transfers to anti-corruption punishments to powerful sanctions on Russian banks to the shutting of the European Union's airspace to Russian flights -- that are sure to make Moscow suffer economically even as it struggles to tame Ukraine militarily. Not only did once-hesitant countries like Germany, shocked by images of a Russian assault on the Ukrainian capital, take the lead on certain fronts, but some of the penalties are directly aimed at Russian leader Vladimir Putin himself. At times, it was hard to keep up with all the announcements of new anti-Kremlin moves that landed in recent days, the sum of which was arguably historic in size and scope. Even some private companies and international sports organizations took steps to punish Russia. Countries friendly or neutral toward Moscow, meanwhile, largely stayed silent or are offering to help mediate an end to his latest attack on Ukraine. And Putin's hints that he might be willing to take the nuclear route didn't prompt any sudden kowtowing from his detractors. No one claims that victory is near: Putin is stubborn, and he has few, if any, checks on his power in Russia. His troops have been instructed to capture Kyiv and oust the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russian forces still have the upper hand over Ukraine's troops, despite years of funding and support for the latter from Washington, and neither the United States nor its NATO allies are willing to send their troops to directly fight Russia. |
| Biden wanted to use the State of the Union speech to pivot to his agenda. Then Russia started a land war. | |
 | President Biden's team has revised his first State of the Union address to emphasize Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as a major crisis facing the West, according to a person familiar with the text, shifting the tenor of a speech that his team had long hoped would launch a reset of his struggling administration. While not a wholesale rewrite of the address, which will be delivered at 9 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday from the U.S. Capitol, the new version will reflect the way the crisis has added urgency to his longtime theme of defending democracies, according to one adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks. This new heavy dose of foreign policy is one of several ways the speech will depart from the typical State of the Union address, which modern presidents usually use to sell domestic ideas and exhibit sunny optimism. This year, Biden must also contend with a 40-year high in inflation -- which he plans to address under the rubric of "lowering costs," according to one person briefed on the address -- along with voter angst driven by high crime and lingering coronavirus pandemic restrictions. "The magnitude of the visceral reaction to what's going on there is so significant that it's just hard for me to imagine him just relegating it to point number five," said Michael Waldman, who helped write four of President Bill Clinton's State of the Union addresses and is now president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. "Biden needs to rally the democrats -- with a small 'd' -- against the autocrats worldwide, and he cares a lot about that." |
| CPAC: Trump Criticizes Biden on Ukraine, Hints at 2024 White House Bid | |
 | Former President Donald Trump asserted Saturday night that Russia wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if he had been in the White House, and strongly suggested he plans to again run for the nation's highest office. In a speech to staunch conservatives, the former president said Russian President Vladimir Putin has played President Biden "like a drum" when it comes to the deadly fighting in Europe. "It would have been so easy for me to stop this travesty," Mr. Trump said, describing his relationship with Mr. Putin as friendly, but also tough. "He understood me and he understood that I didn't play games." Mr. Trump's appearance was the highlight for many of those attending the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference, an event that is focused heavily on cultural issues, voting rules and the rejection of pandemic mandates. On Sunday afternoon, convention organizers released results of a straw poll of attendees that showed Mr. Trump was the preferred 2024 GOP nominee among 59% of 2,574 voters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished second at 28% and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a distant third at 2%. He repeatedly suggested that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election, even though there is no evidence of widespread fraud and numerous courts ruled against challenges filed by his campaign and its allies. |
| International students in Magnolia State in disbelief at what's happening in Ukraine | |
| In the Magnolia State, many college students from Ukraine are devastated as they watch and read what's happening in their homeland. "I was very surprised," said Maksym Konovalov," Mississippi College graduate student who's from Kyiv, Ukraine. "I didn't believe there could be an actual war in 2022. We knew that the Russian aggression has been going on since 2014, but no one expected it to be this bad." Konovalov said he only got one hour of sleep after hearing about the invasion. He said all of his family members are still in Ukraine and are safe. The grad student said he's constantly calling and reaching out to them to make sure they're okay and to get updates on what's happening. "Everyone is told not to panic, everybody is staying calm, following the instructions of our government, so everyone is doing OK," said Konovalov. He said that support system has helped him stay strong. "I've had a lot of students from MC, (Mississippi College) International students and American students, asking me how's everything going," he said. "Everybody has been sending prayers. I'm happy that I'm here. Everybody is being very friendly." |
| Krucks' family gift funds scholarships for law students | |
| A new scholarship in the University of Mississippi School of Law stands as a testament to the experiences its namesake enjoyed at Ole Miss. Established with a gift of $150,000, the William N. Krucks and Family Law Scholarship Fund will help support selected UM students seeking their Juris Doctor degrees. "What I know he would want the most is that the gift would allow others who come behind him to feel the way he did and to become the man and attorney that he was," said Linda Krucks, of Winnetka, Illinois, widow of the 1976 law alumnus. "These are gifts that we will continue to make to the university forever because he truly loved Ole Miss." "He always said he saw himself ultimately being an old Southern judge, which we used to tease him about mercilessly. If he could do it all over again, the only thing he would change is that he would never have left." In fact, Krucks chose the UM School of Law because he wanted to remain in the South after earning an undergraduate degree at Tulane University. After graduating from law school, however, he returned to his native Chicago to practice with a prominent firm. In 1983, he co-founded a new firm, Freeborn & Peters LLP, with five partners and six staff members. |
| USM hosts 2022 Economic Outlook Forum | | |
| Economic trends and forecasts will be the primary focus of the 2022 Economic Outlook Forum, set for March 3 at The University of Southern Mississippi. The annual forum will be held from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Thad Cochran Center Grand Ballroom on the university's Hattiesburg campus. The USM College of Business and Economic Development is coordinating the forum, which brings together experts from banking, finance and academia to explore a variety of issues and research related to the economic outlook for 2022. The First, a National Banking Association, serves as the title sponsor. "The Economic Outlook Forum is always a much-anticipated annual event, but perhaps even more so this year, due to factors that have impacted the economy in recent months such as the 'great resignation', inflation and supply chain problems," said Bret Becton, Dean of USM's College of Business and Economic Development. "I'm sure there is tremendous interest in what our presenters have to say about their impact on the economy going forward." The forum's featured speaker will be Adrienne Slack, vice president and regional executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Atlanta Fed), New Orleans Branch. |
| VP of Southwest Miss. Community College found dead in his home | |
| William Tucker, the Vice President of Southwest Mississippi Community College, was found dead in his McComb home Saturday evening. Pike County Coroner Bryant Jones says Tucker was shot and killed either Friday night or Saturday morning, and his body was discovered that evening. Jones says the death is not believed to be gang-related, despite an uptick in gang violence in that community. Jones says Tucker was beloved in the community and will be missed. Tucker's death remains under investigation. Police have yet to comment on the case. |
| Autherine Lucy building dedicated at U. of Alabama after removal of Klansman name | |
 | The University of Alabama has officially dedicated a building in honor of the school's first Black student Friday, after stripping the name of a former Klansman. Autherine Lucy Foster, dressed in red, and several members of her family attended the ceremony at Autherine Lucy Hall. She was also given a master teacher certificate by the state of Alabama. "For you to bring me out today, the Lord must be on each of our sides," she said, before quoting both Psalm 23 and Ralph Waldo Emerson. "If I am a master teacher, what I hope I am teaching you is that love will take care of everything in our world." The building, which houses the College of Education, was previously named for Bibb Graves, a former governor frequently cited for his increased funding and support for Alabama public schools and infrastructure -- and someone who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and oversaw a segregated state. The University of Alabama System's Board of Trustees initially wanted to append Lucy's name to Graves'. After a week of outcry, the board withdrew the recommendation for the dual name. "If you're going to give her credit. You have to give it all to her. She endured a lot more than any student that has ever gone to UA probably has," Barbara Whitesell, a 2021 graduate, told AL.com. |
| Memorial service set for longtime U. of Alabama trustee | |
 | A memorial service will be held March 12 for Jasper businessman John T. Oliver Jr., who served 28 years on the University of Alabama board of trustees. Oliver's memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. in the Jasper Civic Center, 204 19th St. E. A reception will follow. He died Dec. 21, 2021, at the age of 92 and was buried in a private graveside service at Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham. A Birmingham native, Oliver earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree from UA. After serving in the U.S. Army's Judge Advocated General's Corps in New Jersey, Oliver and his wife Barbara settled in Jasper. Oliver joined First National Bank in 1955 and was elected the bank's president in 1959. He became chief executive officer in 1967, a post he held for more that 40 years. Oliver was elected to the UA board of trustees in 1971 and served until his 1999 retirement. He also served as interim chancellor of the UA System from 1996-97 and was president pro tem of the board for three years in the 1980s. He was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame at UA in 1998 and in 2000 his name was added to UA's Barnard Hall. |
| New interim provost borrows from Bruce Pearl: 'Auburn is an Everything School' | |
 | Auburn University's new interim provost couldn't have said it better herself. "I respectfully borrow from Coach Bruce Pearl's statement that Auburn is an 'Everything School' and I will work towards that goal of pervasive institutional exceptionalism, every day," said Vini Nathan this week. Nathan on Thursday was named the school's interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. Nathan has been dean of the university's architecture school since 2011, but on March 7 she'll begin her term as interim provost, stepping in for former provost Bill Hardgrave as he starts his new job as president of the University of Memphis. Nathan told the Opelika-Auburn News she is committed to inclusive excellence and to striving to contribute toward an Auburn University that is welcoming and supportive of all. Nathan received her doctorate in architecture from the University of Michigan in 1994. After receiving her Ph.D., she collaborated with Cesar Pelli Associates on the design of the Kuala Lumpur City Center in Malaysia, the tallest building in the world when it opened in 1996. Before her employment at Auburn University, Nathan served as dean of the architecture school at Thomas Jefferson University. "I am grateful to have wonderful mentors, incredible colleagues, and supportive family members and friends, who are integral to my professional arc," she said. Nathan will return to her dean position after a permanent provost is selected by the university. |
| A major collection of Black poems, books is coming to LSU: 'Poetry is human history' | |
 | LSU has obtained one of the country's largest collections of African-American poetry, including a book once owned by Frederick Douglass and a collection of works by 1950 Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks. The collection, assembled by book collector and dealer Wyatt Houston Day, includes more than 800 works from the 18th century, the Harlem Renaissance and up to the present day. It will be available for public access at Hill Memorial Library once it has been properly catalogued and preserved. The LSU Libraries have plenty of records in which where African-Americans are talked about, from manuscripts to plantation records, said John Mills, curator of books for Special Collections. But the new items in the collections are a way to have Black voices tell their own stories. "What I'm really excited about is that this really is a symbol of our dedication to incorporate African American and Black voices speaking themselves into the collection," Mills said. Mona Lisa Saloy, Louisiana's current poet laureaute, sees the new collection as part of a larger effort to remember and reflect on Black poetry -- and what it says about the state's past. |
| What we know about the U. of Tennessee's new residence halls | |
 | As the University of Tennessee at Knoxville continues to see record enrollment among first-year students, the demand for on-campus housing is at an all-time high. As residence halls are nearing capacity, UT is feeling the pressure. "The stress on our system by meeting our enrollment goals earlier than we planned (means) we're short on dorm rooms," UT Chancellor Donde Plowman said about student housing in a campus advisory meeting earlier this month. But solutions are coming -- hopefully. The university wants to build two new residence halls to meet its housing needs, increasing its total bed capacity by more than 1,000. It also hopes to renovate or replace Reese and Carrick, two older and unpopular residence halls. The plan to expand comes after the university limited on-campus housing for returning students to make room for incoming first-year students. The university anticipates that first-year enrollment could increase to 6,300 first-year students this fall. According to UT's amended student housing master plan, less than 1,000 returning students will be able to live on-campus for fall 2022. Typically, nearly 2,300 returning students live on-campus. |
| What will Sonny Perdue do if he becomes Georgia system's chancellor? | |
| The Georgia Board of Regents may vote as soon as Tuesday to make former Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue the new chancellor of the state's vast University System. So what would Perdue's priorities be as chancellor? Higher education experts, friends, foes and former colleagues believe Perdue's main focus will be preparing students to be workforce ready. They also think the Perry native, who was governor from 2003 to 2011, will also be interested in research and other initiatives that have an agricultural focus or support rural students. One closely watched issue will be how Perdue handles contentious issues like critical race theory or addressing concerns that conservative students and guest speakers are shunned on campus. Fran Millar, a former Republican state legislator who's now on the Technical College System of Georgia's board, believes the Georgia Legislature, not Perdue, "will deal with things they think are inappropriate. ... That's not going to be the job of the chancellor." State Sen. Nan Orrock, an Atlanta Democrat, thinks Perdue will get directly involved in such issues and side with conservatives. She noted Perdue's remarks in a brief interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in June about his desire to push conservative values if he gets the job. "Sonny is very ideological and that will not serve the University System of Georgia well," said Orrock, who serves on the Senate's Higher Education Committee. |
| Adderall misuse down, but marijuana is up | |
 | Adderall, a stimulant medication often prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has been misused as a "study drug" on college campuses for years. Students with a legitimate prescription have been known to sell their pills for as little as $5 apiece to classmates looking to sharpen their focus or stay up late to finish schoolwork. During the pandemic, however, Adderall misuse among college students declined, though some experts remain concerned -- especially because alcohol and cannabis use are on the rise. According to the latest Monitoring the Future study, the University of Michigan's annual report tracking substance use among adults, nonmedical use of amphetamines -- which includes ADHD medications such as Adderall -- reached a 10-year low among college students in 2020. The study, which has been tracking substance use among college students since 1980, found that the share of 19- to 22-year-olds reporting nonmedical use of a stimulant medication declined to 6.5 percent in 2020, down 3.2 percentage points since 2015. Additionally, while college students over the past decade have been more likely to misuse amphetamines than their non-college-going peers, the gap closed in 2020, with 6 percent of the noncollege cohort reporting past-year use, the study found. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, said the decline likely stemmed from the fact that many college students returned home during the pandemic and attended classes remotely or not at all. Some were less likely to misuse Adderall at home because they didn't want their parents to know, she said, or because they had a harder time obtaining the drug off campus. Zuckerman also noted that because students partied less during the pandemic, they may have felt less need to use Adderall to power through assignments or stay up late studying. |
| What Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Nomination to the Supreme Court Means for Higher Ed | |
| President Joe Biden kept his campaign promise and nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black woman, to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson, 51, would become the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court Justice. "I'm thrilled to hear the news," said Sahar Aziz, a professor of law and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School. "I think it's long overdue for there to be a nomination of an African American woman to the Supreme Court. There have been multiple women who have been qualified for decades now. The current nomination is welcome news to many of us who value and understand the importance of having diversity in the judiciary." A highly esteemed federal appeals court judge, Jackson went to Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She has worked in private practice and as a public defender, the latter experience proving unusual among Supreme Court Justices, noted some experts. Danielle Holley-Walker, dean of Howard University School of Law, noted that there have been 115 Justices of the Supreme Court in history since its creation. But only seven of those Justices have not been white men. "The Supreme Court is not the only place where we really have not seen women of color break through that final barrier to the top echelons of their fields," she said. "So, I'm hoping that having Judge Jackson break through to the Supreme Court is an example for higher education that we have a lot of progress to make, but we can make it. There are so many qualified and excellent women of color out there. We just need the opportunity." |
| On college campuses, invasion of Ukraine sparks protests, other acts of solidarity | |
| Maria Smereka, a third-year student at Pennsylvania State University, spent late Wednesday and early Thursday watching the news come in as Russia launched missile attacks near Ukraine's capital. Her parents and siblings were born in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States before she was born. The 20-year-old grew up in a Ukrainian community in Pittsburgh, where she adopted Ukrainian as her first language. She considers the country her home. Smereka said she stayed up late messaging members of the Ukrainian Society, a cultural group she leads on campus. "Many of us did not get sleep." Hours later, Smereka would help organize a demonstration near campus. At its peak, about 50 people were in attendance. "Ukraine needs support more than ever," Smereka, who is studying neurobiology and Spanish said Friday. She said her family, in central and western Ukraine, is safe -- but it's unclear for how long. "It's surreal to see bombings and innocent people being killed in Ukraine. Being in the U.S., with an ocean between you, it's not much you can do." Events from protests to fundraisers to panels, have sprung up on college campuses throughout the U.S. since Russia began its assault. Demonstrations unfolded at schools including Columbia, Stanford and Northeastern universities, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison. More than 300 people gathered Thursday in the atrium of the building that houses Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service for a town hall and panel discussion about the invasion. More than 1,700 Ukrainians studied in the United States during the 2020-21 school year, according to the Institute of International Education. |
| APLU Statement on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine | |
| Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) President Peter McPherson today released the following statement regarding Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: "APLU and the public university community strongly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its continued misinformation campaign to justify its attack on a free, independent, and democratic nation. We are concerned for the safety and welfare of the Ukrainian people and Ukraine's higher education community. APLU member universities engage with their Ukrainian colleagues in academic and scientific research, student and scholar exchange, and the advancement of the democratic ideals of free speech and inquiry. Today we are concerned not only for our Ukrainian colleagues, but the very preservation of these democratic ideals. Russia's attack on Ukraine is an attack on democracy and a threat to Ukraine's higher education community. As North America's oldest higher education association, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and its academic community." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State takes rubber match, wins final two against Northern Kentucky | |
| Mississippi State (3-3) got its first series win Sunday with a 7-2 victory against Northern Kentucky (1-5). The win came behind another strong performance from Cade Smith in his transition to a weekend starter. Smith tossed five innings -- allowing just one unearned run and giving up three hits and a walk. He punched out seven hitters. Brad Cumbest kept his hot bat going on the offensive side, sending a line shot over the left field fence as he had Saturday. He went 2-2 on the afternoon before Kellum Clark was inserted into the lineup as a pinch hitter. RJ Yeager was 0-5 at the top of the order, but the next six starters behind him combined to go 9-18 with two home runs and five RBIs. Freshman Aaron Downs earned the start in right field and was 2-4 with two driven in. Brandon Smith gave two scoreless innings in relief of Cade Smith. Sophomore Brooks Auger struggled in his lone inning of relief, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. Mikey Tepper shut the door in the ninth despite allowing two walks in the frame. |
| Cade Smith shines, Mississippi State's bats heat up in series win over Northern Kentucky | |
| Cade Smith knows Mississippi State's pitching rotation is far from settled just two weekends into the season. "You've still got to show up every day to compete," Smith said. "Everybody out there is still trying to earn a spot. There's no comfortability right now. Everybody is still showing up to the field every day, and who knows? Somebody else could have that Sunday spot." For now, though, Sunday remains Smith's day to take the mound --- possibly for good. The sophomore turned in his second straight strong start as No. 7 Mississippi State (4-3) beat Northern Kentucky (1-5) by a score of 7-2 at Dudy Noble Field. Smith struck out seven and allowed just one unearned run in five solid innings, giving up just three hits along the way. "He's got good stuff, and he's locating well right now," coach Chris Lemonis said. "He's pitching with a lot of confidence." Smith was supported by seven runs in a three-inning span as the Bulldogs won for the second straight day after losing Friday's series opener, 7-6. Mississippi State will host Grambling State (2-4) at 4 p.m. Tuesday before facing Southern Miss (5-2) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Pearl. |
| How a pair of Biloxi kids became Dudy Noble Field legends with one Kamren James home run | |
| Anderson Milton ranged to his left, had his glove up with perfect form and watched as Kamren James' home run ball inched closer and grew faster. He's a catcher for his travel baseball team, so he had little doubt about his ability to make the now-legendary snag. But that ball just kept growing and gaining speed. "Man, if this hits me in the face, it's gonna hurt," Milton told himself. His friend Tripp Moody was standing by his side as he watched Milton plant himself in the ball's trajectory. Moody is a shortstop, so he's used to standing on this side of the batter. As he saw the ball approaching Milton, he realized what could be happening. "Oh my God, if he catches it, it's gonna be the best thing ever," Moody thought to himself. The fans in Dudy Noble Field all tracked the ball from James' bat as it made its way to the Left Field Lounge. At the end, there was Milton. He made the snag look effortless, took a second to make sure it was in his mitt and then in unison with all those standing around him lifted his arms in the air. James' eighth-inning home run was the third for State in a 10-1 win against Northern Kentucky, but Milton's catch immediately stole the show. In the next half inning, he was featured on the Dudy Noble Field big screen as the play of the game. Milton, who is 11 years old and lives in Biloxi just like Moody, has been an MSU fan his entire life --- his two layers of maroon and white along with his MSU baseball cap back it up. His grandfather Ted Milton was part of Mississippi State's first College World Series team in 1971. |
| What we learned from Mississippi State baseball's series vs. Northern Kentucky | |
 | Mississippi State baseball didn't come into this season unaware of what the team would face each time it took the field. The Bulldogs knew winning a national championship would put a target on their back. Each opponent to enter Dudy Noble Field hopes to knock them down a peg. It's no different if it's Long Beach State, a nationally-recognized program, or if it's Northern Kentucky -- the latter a team that allowed an average of 12.7 runs in a sweep to East Tennessee State. Both can humble Mississippi State, as the Dirtbags showed by winning two of three last weekend and the Norse showed Friday by stealing the opening game of the weekend. Coach Chris Lemonis said that 7-6 loss was embarrassing, and Luke Hancock said he and his teammates were due for another discussion, the second just two weeks into the season. "We had a talk last week after the Saturday Long Beach game, and I think we probably need to do the same thing," Hancock said Friday. "We have to play better. That's what Mississippi State's about. You have to play good baseball." The Bulldogs recovered from that initial defeat to blow out Northern Kentucky in consecutive games, winning by a combined score of 17-3 on Saturday and Sunday. That's more how Mississippi State envisioned this weekend looking, dominating an early season nonconference matchup. |
| Mississippi State prevails against Vanderbilt in exciting matchup of SEC's premier guards | |
| Mississippi State and Vanderbilt will need strong runs -- if not a championship -- at the SEC men's basketball tournament in Tampa, less than two weeks from today. The bubble hopes for both programs diminished with crucial losses earlier this past week, but on Saturday they delivered an exciting matchup at Humphrey Coliseum with Mississippi State coming out on top 74-69. In a game where stars shined, whether in the starting lineup or off the bench, Mississippi State's late game struggles disappeared en route to a win in its penultimate regular-season home game. March Madness will likely be missing two of the game's premier guards, but those in Starkville got a front-row seat for both on Saturday. Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. leads the SEC in scoring at nearly 20 points per game while Mississippi State's Iverson Molinar is close behind. They went head-to-head for the first time this season -- and delivered. "It felt good going against a player like that," Molinar said. Pippen started the afternoon with a pair of misses from deep. From there, MSU could do little to slow him down. He was slashing through defenders, getting open looks from the corner and running Vanderbilt's offense with little help elsewhere. Pippen made 10 of his final 14 shots, en route to 32 points. "Defending Pippen is so difficult," MSU head coach Ben Howland said. "You could see why he was the preseason player of the year going into the league." His counterpart delivered as well, especially late. |
| Despite 32 points from Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt falls to Mississippi State, 74-69 | |
| A battle between two of the top-scoring guards in the SEC in the matchup of Vanderbilt and Mississippi State did not disappoint Saturday in Starkville. Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar set a program record for most consecutive games scoring in double digits with 29, having reached 10 points in every game this season. Molinar scored 20 and added three steals. Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. had his fifth straight 20-point game, scoring 32 on 10-of-16 shooting, including four 3-pointers. In the end, though, it was what was done by the other teammates that decided the game. The Bulldogs' Tolu Smith scored a season-high 22 while Pippen's teammates struggled to find the net in Mississippi State's 74-69 win. The Commodores (14-14, 6-10 SEC) were down by as many as 11 after a 15-2 second-half run by the Bulldogs. Vanderbilt managed to cut the deficit down in the waning minutes thanks largely to heroics from Pippen, who had one of his best games of the season. But after a turnover on a late-game possession out of a timeout, Mississippi State (17-12, 8-8) was able to seal the game at the free-throw line, where it made 23 of 32 on the game. |
| Alcorn State names former alumnus as athletic director | |
 | Alcorn State announced its next athletic director would be Raynoid Dedeaux Monday morning in Lorman. Dedeaux graduated from Alcorn State and served the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference since 2006. It was a job he long dreamed of. When he was a student at Alcorn State, he had to write his bio and what he wanted to do in 20 years. He said he wrote athletic director. "Twenty years later I'm here. It's great. There are certain things in life that is defining. Marriage, the birth of your children. I put this up there," Dedeaux said. "I'm filled with emotion. I told my wife as we drove here, I always got the same feeling before I played a game. I would be filled with butterflies. Once you get started it's on." |
| Ole Miss announces contract extension for athletics director Keith Carter | |
| Ole Miss' homegrown athletics director is staying home a little longer. On Monday, the university announced a contract extension for athletics director Keith Carter. Carter is now under contract through 2025 and is set to make $1.1 million annually. Carter took over as Ole Miss' athletics director full time in fall 2019. He held the role in an interim capacity for most of 2019, taking over for his predecessor Ross Bjork. Most notably, Carter oversaw the hire of football coach Lane Kiffin. Carter played basketball at Ole Miss from 1995-99, earning first-team All-SEC honors his senior year. Prior to taking over as athletics director, Carter also served as Ole Miss' deputy athletics director for development and resource acquisition, was the chief revenue officer for the athletics department and oversaw the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation. |
| After scathing report, NCAA makes changes for March Madness | |
| Nearly a year ago, Oregon forward Sedona Prince took to Twitter to expose some of the more glaring inequities between the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments -- an unwelcome viral moment for the organization and one that it is still responding to. The NCAA has made major changes to its women's basketball tournament. Many of the changes have been relatively easy to do, such as expanding the tournament to 68 teams and using the phrase "March Madness" -- once limited to the men's tourney -- in branding. "This year there will be numerous and notable enhancements to the championship," said Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president of women's basketball. "What those have translated to is an enhanced women's basketball student-athlete experience and fan experience." Prince was happy to hear it. "Making those changes is incredible and I hope it continues to be that way, and not just from a massive scandal, and a player exposing them on a national stage," she told The Associated Press. "Things shouldn't be fixed that way." There is still a lot of work to do, such as TV rights and revenue disbursement, just two of the issues outlined in a blistering report released last summer that looked into the inequities. The differences between the two tournaments were stark. |
| Big Ten athletes to tour Alabama civil rights sites in July | |
| The Big Ten plans to take a group of athletes from member schools on a summer trip to civil rights sites in Alabama as part of a conference-wide program exploring race relations and social justice. The July 15-17 trip will be funded by the Big Ten and is the first event in the conference's Big Life Series, a program designed to provide real-life educational experiences for athletes. Conferences across the country have developed social justice initiatives in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis in May 2020. The Big Ten trip to civil rights sites is the first of its kind. Commissioner Kevin Warren said the idea came from the Big Ten Equality Coalition, established in June 2020 to address societal injustices and stimulate dialogue about race relations. The coalition is made up of representatives from each of the 14 conference schools. "We wanted to create an opportunity we call our 'Big Life Series' to provide individuals from the Big Ten Conference with an opportunity to really learn about history, to learn about social justice, to learn about the different situations that have occurred in our country and to tie it all in with a live and in-person field trip," Warren said. A delegation of about 100 athletes and administrators will go on the trip to Selma and Montgomery. The travel party will include both members of the coalition and other Big Ten athletes. |
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