| Thursday, March 24, 2022 |
| 'Painting With a Colleague' takes place Friday | |
 | The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion invites faculty and staff to participate in "Painting With a Colleague" Friday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Union Dawg House. Registration in advance is required. To register, visit tinyurl.com/paintingoidi. For questions or special accommodations, contact the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at oidi@msstate.edu. |
| MSU Receives Appalachian Regional Commission Grant | |
 | Mississippi State University recently received a $1.49 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission to infuse virtual reality career exploration and job training into the education-to-workforce pipeline in Clay, Kemper, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties. The award is part of a $21 million package supporting 21 projects serving 211 coal-impacted counties through ARC's Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Initiative, a release from MSU says. POWER targets federal resources to communities affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations and coal-related supply chain industries. Under the project, MSU's Research and Curriculum Unit will partner with TRANSFRVR, an education software company that provides hands-on VR training to Fortune 500 companies. VR simulations will introduce students to middle-skill jobs that do not require a four-year degree. TRANSFRVR will deliver the training through VR to middle and high school students enrolled in Cyber Foundations and CTE courses in six area school districts -- West Point Consolidated, Kemper County, Columbus Municipal, Lowndes County, Noxubee County and Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated -- and CTE students at EMCC. |
| Partnership receives $20,000 for artifact display | |
 | Downtown Starkville will soon have some new artifacts on display. The Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, received a grant Tuesday to develop an exhibit space in the Partnership lobby to house items from the Mississippi State Mitchell Memorial Library's four museums. This $20,000 grant is funded by the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area, an alliance geared toward promoting heritage and tourism in Northeast Mississippi. GSDP Director of Tourism Paige Hunt said the purpose of this project is to drive visitation and traffic to these museums, while also creating a further partnership between Downtown Starkville and MSU. "The goal of having the display here is to help tell the story of the wonderful artifacts that can be found on campus," Hunt said. "Oftentimes folks that are downtown might not go to campus and vice versa. We want to raise awareness about the museum." When Hunt assumed her role at the beginning of 2021, she said one of the first connections she made was with the library staff and knew this grant was a perfect fit to bring its artifacts to the Partnership. MSU Associate Dean for Access, Systems and Discovery Stephen Cunetto said the library has not determined which particular items will be shown, and he and the library staff are still in the planning stages of curating the best artifacts for this project. "We know that all of the museums will be represented," Cunetto said. "We just don't know what we will have on display at the Partnership just yet." |
| Cotton District implements paid parking | |
| Patrons in the Cotton District must now pay to park. On March 15, parking spots from Montgomery Street to Mississippi State University's campus switched from free, two-hour parking to paid parking through the ParkMobile app. ParkMobile is a parking system generated through a mobile app or text messaging system instead of traditional parking meters. It allows people to choose how long they wish to park and pay accordingly. Each hour of parking costs 75 cents, and customers may park for up to four hours. The system is in effect from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. Green signs are posted throughout Midtown and the Cotton District, instructing customers to download the app, scan a QR code or text a phone number to pay for their spot. Mayor Lynn Spruill said the previous two-hour parking system in the Cotton District was intended to be a temporary solution. "This allows for longer parking periods than two hours," Spruill said. "This allows for up to four hours, and so we decided that was a better way to use our time and our resources and have an opportunity for that turnover in the District to allow both retail and the restaurants to have people both come and go." Agreeing with Spruill, Ward 4 Alderman Mike Brooks said the board ultimately chose to implement paid parking due to concerns from restaurant and retail owners in the Cotton District. "We felt like, with input from restaurant folks and merchants, that this would position them the best (with) turning this parking over," Brooks said. |
| Fed officials discuss more aggressive rate hikes to control inflation | |
 | With inflation soaring at 40-year highs, Federal Reserve officials and economists are talking about more aggressive interest rate hikes to combat rising prices, even as so much uncertainty swirls around the U.S. and global economy. On Wednesday, both Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said they would be open to rate hikes as high as half a percentage point, which is sharper than the quarter-point hike Fed officials announced just last week. Mester said her preference is to "front load" some higher rate increases given how urgent it is to bring inflation down. "We need to be more aggressive earlier rather than later, because inflation is so much higher and because labor market conditions are very tight," Mester said. In separate remarks, Daly also said she is in favor of putting "everything on the table" depending on how the economy evolves. "If we need to do [0.50 percentage points], that is what we'll do," Daly said during the Bloomberg Equality Summit. The comments come after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said earlier this week that the Fed could raise rates by 0.50 percentage points in the coming months, if it decided more forceful action was necessary to control inflation. The remarks marked a tougher stance from Powell. |
| US states seek to ease inflation burden with direct payments | |
 | With inflation raging and state coffers flush with cash, governors and lawmakers across the U.S. are considering a relatively simple solution to help ease the pain people are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store -- sending money. At least a dozen states have proposed giving rebate checks of several hundred dollars directly to taxpayers, among them California, Kansas and Minnesota. Critics, including many Republican lawmakers, say those checks won't go far enough given the pace of inflation and are pushing instead for permanent tax cuts. A proposal from Maine Gov. Janet Mills is among the most generous in a state where the cost of food and fuel has skyrocketed in recent months. The Democratic governor wants to send $850 to most residents as part of the state's budget bill. In addition to the direct rebates, lawmakers and governors across the country are considering cuts to sales taxes, property tax relief and reducing or suspending state gas taxes. It's also no coincidence that the relief is being floated during an election year, said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine. Inflation boosted the typical family's food expenses by nearly $590 last year, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a project of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. Overall, the average family had to spend $3,500 more last year to buy the same amount of goods and services as they purchased in previous years. |
| Companies still say they can't find enough workers. What's going on? | |
| The U.S. added 678,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate declined from 4% to 3.8% (in April 2020, it hit 14.7%). While the economy is recovering, the number of jobs still available has been a cause of concern for the Federal Reserve. Chairman Jerome Powell recently pointed out there were 1.7-plus job openings for every unemployed person. According to the latest data from the Labor Department, there are 11.3 million job openings in total. "So that's a very, very tight labor market -- tight to an unhealthy level, I would say," Powell said during a press conference after the Fed raised interest rates last week. "We're hearing from companies that they can't hire enough people." One job opening per job seeker is the ratio that would likely result in stable wages and prices, according to Jorgen Harris, an assistant professor of economics at Occidental College. We reached this ratio for the first time in 2018 (the government began collecting data on job openings in 2001). Harris explained the Fed is concerned because when there's an "upward pressure on wages," that could lead to an "upward pressure on prices" (the so-called wage-price spiral). Labor economists and researchers say the lack of robust child care infrastructure, low wages, poor working conditions and the health issues associated with long COVID may be preventing some people from returning to work. Millions of Americans have also retired early in the last two years. |
| Gunn scales back income tax elimination plan, with promise to spend ARPA funds | |
 | House leaders have again scaled back large portions of their initial plan to eliminate the state income tax in the ongoing tax cut feud that has dominated the 2022 legislative session. This time, the House leaders want to phase out the state's individual income tax by reducing the tax by $100 million each fiscal year. The new plan would not alter any other state tax or contain any growth triggers. It's unclear exactly how the tax would be reduced each year, but House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, said that it would likely be a combination of reductions in tax rates and an increase in tax exemptions. "Eliminating the income tax is something that we think is certainly achievable," House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said. "The question that arises for the Senate is, 'Why do you not want to do that?'" House leaders estimate that it would take around 18 to 20 years for the state's income tax -- which accounts for one-third of the state's general budget -- to be eliminated under their latest proposal. They estimate its elimination will save citizens with incomes of $40,000 around $100 during the first year of the plan's implementation. The fight between the House and Senate has grown so acute the past month that Gunn has essentially threatened to hold American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds hostage if the Senate does not agree to eliminate the income tax. But this hostage strategy seems to be abating. |
| Mississippi leaders spar over tax cuts as deadlines approach | |
| Mississippi House leaders offered a revised proposal Wednesday to phase out the state income tax, sending it to Senate leaders as legislators approach big deadlines to set taxes and spending. The new House plan would make the income tax disappear over about 18-20 years, a substantially longer timeline than previously proposed. And the plan no longer includes a proposal to reduce the 7% sales tax on groceries. Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said the latest proposal would remove about $100 million in state tax revenue per year until the income tax is gone. He said a taxpayer earning $40,000 a year would receive a tax break of about $100 a month -- enough to buy more gasoline or groceries. "If we don't give it back to the taxpayers, what then does the Senate propose that we do with it? I will tell you: They propose that we spend it," Gunn said. "We contend that that money ought to be returned to the taxpayers." Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann proposes reducing the income tax, reducing the sales tax on groceries and temporarily suspending the state's 18.4-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax. The Senate also proposes one-time tax rebates of $100 to $1,000. "During the many hours we have spent with the House on this issue, we have not said we do not support ever eliminating the income tax in Mississippi," Hosemann said in a statement Wednesday. "We can address further cuts at any time. Taxpayers expect us to be responsible stewards of tax dollars. The Senate's plan includes cutting taxes and taking care of core government services -- not gutting them." |
| Speaker Philip Gunn scales back his income tax elimination proposal | |
| House Speaker Philip Gunn on Wednesday offered a greatly scaled-back income tax elimination plan -- a peace offering amid a tax cut standoff with the Senate that threatened to derail the 2022 legislative session in its final days. Gunn also said the House would not block spending of federal pandemic stimulus money or setting a state budget for next year. But he made clear that the House could hold up spending more than $2 billion in surplus state money and other measures over the tax debate. And he reiterated, as he has since last year, that he wants Mississippi's personal income tax eliminated -- not just cut -- even if it takes many years to do so. "We have sent at least four different proposals or plans to the Senate," Gunn said. "... We have extra revenue. If we don't give back to the taxpayers, what then does the Senate propose? Spend it." Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in a statement on Wednesday said, "We understand the House is now prepared to allocate the one-time (federal stimulus) funds and we look forward to working with them to finalize a plan." But on tax cuts, Hosemann appeared to stand pat on the Senate proposal. He said the Senate has "a conservative plan" that "includes cutting taxes and taking care of core government services -- not gutting them." He said he's not opposed to someday eliminating the income tax, but that can be addressed over time. |
| House lawmakers announce new plan to eliminate Mississippi's income tax | |
 | House lawmakers have signed a conference report that would begin the elimination of the state income tax. Unlike previous versions of the legislation, it will not reduce the grocery tax, and it will take roughly 20 years to fully phase out the income tax. Representative Trey Lamar chairs the House Finance Committee. He says this would cut around $100 million in revenue each year. "A billion dollars. We're talking about taking $100 million of that, 10% of our excess, that's over and above the 6.1 to 6.2 we're gonna set our budget at. We're talking about sending 10% of that back to the taxpayers. That would leave $900 million a year in today's dollars to spend on things like roads, bridges and other needs of the state." The plan also has language that requires lawmakers to revisit the legislation within 6 years, although it could be modified at any time before then. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn says this new draft should address any concerns held by Senate lawmakers related to future drops in revenue. "That is 1.5% of our budget. On a dollar, that's a penny and a half. We are contending given the excess revenues we can certainly afford to give a penny and a half on the dollar back to the taxpayer." In an email statement, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann says the senate's tax plan is "a conservative plan to return money to the taxpayers." He claims the House's plan uses outdated information and would underfund many projects in the state. |
| 2 state senators, professor discuss the ban on Critical Race Theory | |
 | Governor Tate Reeves signed a bill banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the state last week. Critical Race Theory is not taught in K-12 schools in the state. In fact, only one class touches on the topic, a law course at the University of Mississippi School of Law. When you look up Critical Race Theory there are plenty of sources that offer a definition, and even more articles examining how it's now a divisive topic. This month, at the state capital, every African American state senator walked out of the chamber when other lawmakers voted to ban Critical Race Theory. How did a topic that's was never clearly defined in the session cause this much division? State Senator Joey Fillingane explained his position to back banning Critical Race Theory. "We just wanted to head it off at the pass and make it very clear to all of our good teacher and instructors across the state that if they plan to teach that a race is inferior or superior to another race that that would be crossing a line that we do not approve of in the state of Mississippi," Fillingane said. District 34 State Senator Juan Barnett said he worries banning Critical Race Theory means our country's and state's history may not be taught accurately. "I just think that if we are going to teach history, whether we gonna call it Critical Race Theory or not, then I think that all of history needs to be taught," Barnett said. |
| Senator Wicker to Host Commerce Deputy Secretary Graves in Jackson Friday | |
 | Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has announced that he will be hosting U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves for a visit to Jackson this Friday, March 25. While in Mississippi, Wicker's office says he and Graves will highlight the impact of recent broadband investments in Mississippi and future investments made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Wicker supported. "I am glad to have Deputy Secretary Graves in Mississippi to see all the great work we are doing to expand broadband access to all Mississippians," Wicker said in the release. "The Broadband Infrastructure Program is helping to connect thousands of homes, businesses, schools, and universities across Mississippi to high quality internet. I look forward to working with the Department of Commerce, other federal agencies, and those in Mississippi to expand broadband access to every unserved household in our state." Wicker and Graves will host a press conference and media availability at the Two Mississippi Museums Plaza in Jackson to announce details of a recent $32.7 million award to deploy broadband in Mississippi. They will also highlight the expected impact of at least $100 million in broadband funding Mississippi is expected to receive from the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In addition to the press conference, Wicker and Graves will receive a briefing and tour of a broadband deployment project made possible by the grants. Wicker and Graves will also host a roundtable discussion with leaders from Mississippi's historically black colleges and universities about broadband, technology, and workforce development opportunities available through the Department of Commerce. |
| Pandemic relief money spent on hotel, ballpark, ski slopes | |
| Thanks to a sudden $140 million cash infusion, officials in Broward County, Florida, recently broke ground on a high-end hotel that will have views of the Atlantic Ocean and an 11,000-square-foot spa. In New York, Dutchess County pledged $12 million for renovations of a minor league baseball stadium to meet requirements the New York Yankees set for their farm teams. And in Massachusetts, lawmakers delivered $5 million to pay off debts of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston, a nonprofit established to honor the late senator that has struggled financially. The three distinctly different outlays have one thing in common: Each is among the dozens of projects that state and local governments across the United States are funding with federal coronavirus relief money despite having little to do with combating the pandemic, a review by The Associated Press has found. The expenditures amount to a fraction of the $350 billion made available through last year's American Rescue Plan to help state and local governments weather the crisis. But they are examples of uses of the aid that are inconsistent with the rationale that Democrats offered for the record $1.9 trillion bill: The cash was desperately needed to save jobs, help those in distress, open schools and increase vaccinations. "Outrageous" and "just nuts" is how Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., described some of the expenditures, which she said were an affront to responsible local governments. |
| Supreme Court hearing gets heated, as the end is in sight | |
 | Ketanji Brown Jackson navigated cleanly through a second day of questioning at her confirmation hearing, despite several Republicans who ratcheted up their confrontations with the Supreme Court nominee. Senate Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin announced that the committee will meet Monday to consider Jackson's nomination. Committee tradition means the panel will likely vote the following Monday, April 4. That would set up a Senate floor vote later that week. The hearing will continue for a fourth day Thursday with outside witnesses. By late Wednesday, the 51-year-old federal appeals court judge and former federal defender still appeared on track after her portion of the hearing to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Jackson stayed mostly cool as Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas upped the intensity of their approach. They raised their voices, cut off her answers and quarreled with her responses -- sometimes to the point that Durbin stepped in to calm it down. Jackson got most riled as Hawley firmly questioned her once again about several child pornography cases she handled as a federal judge, which became a theme for Republicans who raised concerns that she is soft on crime. Democrats have disparaged that as inaccurate and a discredited attack, and Jackson is in the mainstream of judges in those types of sentences. They often used their time to defend Jackson, including an impassioned and personal speech from New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, the first Black man on the committee, that refocused the hearing on the historic nature of her nomination. |
| Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve as Secretary of State, Dies at 84 | |
 | Madeleine K. Albright, a child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors and then landed in the United States, where she flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state, died on Wednesday in Washington. She was 84. The cause was cancer, her daughter Anne said. Enveloped by a veil of family secrets hidden from her for most of her life, Ms. Albright rose to power and fame as a brilliant analyst of world affairs and a White House counselor on national security. Under President Bill Clinton, she became the country's representative to the United Nations (1993-97) and secretary of state (1997-2001), making her the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government at the time. It was not until after she became secretary of state that she accepted proof that, as she had long suspected, her ethnic and religious background was not what she had thought. She learned that her family was Jewish and that her parents had protectively converted to Roman Catholicism during World War II, raising their children as Catholics without telling them of their Jewish heritage. She also discovered that 26 family members, including three grandparents, had been murdered in the Holocaust. |
| How the Ukraine war could go nuclear | |
 | Not since the Cold War has the specter of nuclear war hung so heavily over a president's crisis diplomacy. As President Joe Biden meets with fellow NATO leaders, calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine are growing more urgent than ever -- to alleviate the widespread human suffering but also to dial back what veterans of nuclear planning consider an alarming potential for it to spiral into a clash of atomic superpowers. The nuclear brinkmanship from Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks is unprecedented: He ordered a snap nuclear war game before the invasion and days later put his nuclear forces on high alert. And the Kremlin has repeatedly signaled it could resort to nuclear weapons -- an option explicitly reserved in Russian military doctrine -- if it determines the West's intervention in the conflict goes too far. So far, Biden has sought to dial down the tensions. The Pentagon has not changed the alert status of U.S. nuclear forces and military leaders have publicly said they have not detected Russian actions suggesting they are preparing to use nuclear weapons. Yet as the conflict drags on, and Russia's conventional forces suffer surprisingly heavy losses while its economy reels, the prospect that Putin might resort to using weapons of mass destruction is increasing. Moscow has already demonstrated that it's willing to use hypersonic missiles for the first time in a war. "There has always been a chance of mistakes, but I think the chances are much higher," said former Sen. Sam Nunn, the longtime chair of the Armed Services Committee and now co-chair of the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative. "I think we are in a different era in terms of blunders." Longtime observers of Russian nuclear policy have been startled at how reckless the Putin regime has been with its nuclear threats compared to leaders in Moscow during the Cold War. |
| Top Russian military leaders repeatedly decline calls from U.S., prompting fears of 'sleepwalking into war' | |
| Repeated attempts by the United States' top defense and military leaders to speak with their Russian counterparts have been rejected by Moscow for the last month, leaving the world's two largest nuclear powers in the dark about explanations for military movements and raising fears of a major miscalculation or battlefield accident. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have tried to set up phone calls with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov but the Russians "have so far declined to engage," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby in a statement Wednesday. The attempted calls by Austin and Milley, which have not previously been reported, come as Russia conducts operations near the borders of NATO members Poland and Romania while the United States and its European allies conduct air-policing operations over the Baltic Sea and pour weapons and equipment into Ukraine by ground transport. Moscow and Washington maintain a deconfliction channel but current and former officials say contact from higher-ranking military leaders is needed to avoid unnecessary escalation or confusion. "There is a high risk of escalation without the firebreak of direct contact between the most senior officials," said James Stavridis, who served as the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO from 2009 to 2013. "Very young people are flying in jets, operating warships, and conducting combat operations in the Ukrainian war. They are not seasoned diplomats, and their actions in the heat of operations can be misunderstood." "We must avoid a scenario of NATO and Russia sleepwalking into war because senior leaders can't pick up a phone and explain to each other what is happening," he added. |
| Fertilizer Prices Surge as Ukraine War Cuts Supply, Leaving Farmers Shocked | |
 | In his nine years selling fertilizer to corn and rice farmers in West Africa, Malick Niang says he has never seen such a severe supply crunch -- or such high prices. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, shipping companies have avoided docking at St. Petersburg, Russia, to collect goods, Mr. Niang said. That, together with the impact of the West's financial sanctions against Moscow, means fertilizer exports from Russia -- the world's largest producer -- have fallen sharply. Mr. Niang contacted sellers elsewhere, such as in Senegal and Morocco, but was told their order books are full until the end of the year. "Maybe we will find one or two options different from Russia, but it's going to be very expensive," he said. Fertilizer prices were already high before the war. They have now reached record levels amid a precipitous drop in Russian supply, according to CRU Group, which analyzes commodity markets. At the same time, more-expensive natural gas, another Russian export and a crucial ingredient in fertilizer-making, has led European fertilizer factories to scale back production. The result is that fertilizer is about three to four times costlier now than in 2020, with far-reaching consequences for farmer incomes, agricultural yields and food prices. Smaller harvests will hit developing countries the hardest, forcing their cash-strapped governments to import large quantities of staples such as wheat at high prices, agricultural experts say. Global food prices in February touched their highest point since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization began collecting monthly data three decades ago. |
| High from hemp: States wrestle with chemically made THC | |
| Over the past few years, Jonny Griffis has invested millions of dollars in his legal marijuana farm in northern Michigan, which produces extracts to be used in things like gummy bears and vape oils. But now that farm -- like many other licensed grows in states that have legalized marijuana -- faces an existential threat: high-inducing cannabis compounds derived not from the heavily regulated and taxed legal marijuana industry, but from a chemical process involving little-regulated, cheaply grown hemp. At the center of the issue is THC, marijuana's main intoxicating component. While marijuana and hemp are the same plant -- cannabis -- the distinction between the two is a legal one, and comes down to the amount of THC in the plant, specifically the amount of a type of THC called delta-9. But since Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, authorizing the growing of hemp nationwide, there's been an unforeseen consequence: People exploiting what they see as a loophole in the law have taken that hemp, extracted a non-intoxicating compound called CBD, and chemically changed it -- generally by the addition of solvents and heat -- into various types of impairing THC. Because it is derived from hemp, that THC -- often in a form called delta-8 -- can wind up in candies, vape oils and other products sold in gas stations, convenience stores and online, even in states where marijuana is illegal. "It's an issue that almost every state cannabis regulator is thinking about," said Gillian Schauer, executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association. "It's presenting a lot of challenges to protecting public health and consumer safety, and also to protecting existing state cannabis markets." |
| UM Voting Summit aims to 'Educate, Inform and Inspire' | |
| The ongoing importance of voting and civic engagement is the focus for the 2022 University of Mississippi Voting Summit. The theme for the March 25-26 event is "Buy In, Don't Sit Out! Democracy, Voting and You!" A student-led initiative, the voting summit is organized and sponsored by the UM Andrew Goodman Foundation, the UM Society for Blacks in Political Studies and the Freedom Fellows with the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom. Nancy Thomas, director of Tufts University's Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, will deliver the keynote address at 6 p.m. Friday (March 25) in Bishop Hall. "The 2022 University of Mississippi Voting Summit seeks to educate, inform and inspire the UM and LOU community around the value of voting and civic engagement," said William Teer, assistant director of community engagement. "We all have a role to play in the democratic process, and it's not just about voting during election years. "Our hope is that those attending the summit will learn how to become civically involved in their communities while also learning more about important causes from our presentation experts." |
| Students and professors gather for a conversation on Russia's invasion of Ukraine | |
 | Professors from the Croft Institute for International Studies and the department of political science explained Russian President Vladimir Putin's motivation behind the invasion of Ukraine during a panel discussion on Wednesday evening at the Croft Institute. "I guess the question is, what drove Putin to do this? Well, I think it's not entirely clear yet. But in a sense, Putin prefaced the invasion with a historical narrative, with his vision of history," said Joshua First, Croft associate professor of history and international studies. "And one thing we should always understand about Putin is that he's a bit of a history buff. History was one of his favorite subjects in school." The event, "Making Sense of Events in Ukraine," was open to the public and attended by a crowd of roughly 70 people both in person and virtually. Sponsored by the University of Mississippi College of Liberal Arts, the history and political science departments and the Croft Institute, the panel was moderated by Laura Huber, an assistant professor of political science. After hearing the professors introductions, many students asked questions ranging from speculation about Ukraine's recovery if they emerge victorious, the likelihood of Ukraine emerging victorious and how the war in Ukraine is being weaponized in American political spheres. |
| USM students meet business recruiters at Career Fair/Internship Expo | |
| University of Southern Mississippi students met potential employers on campus Wednesday, during the first in-person event of its kind since the beginning of the pandemic. A Career Fair and Internship Expo, hosted by USM Career Services, brought about 80 businesses, industries and organizations to the Thad Cochran Center. They were recruiting students for internships or careers after college. Similar events in 2020 and 2021 were held virtually. "The virtual events we did over the last two COVID years just didn't connect the students," said Rusty Anderson, director of career services at USM. "This event allows them to walk around and see employers, whereas the virtual interviews or virtual events have them sign up for a specific company." "I've seen a lot of different industries represented here, really before I came and looked through the entire pamphlet to see which ones would fit information technology and it's been great, being able to talk to these different people from different fields," said Jacoby Broadnax, a junior information technology major from Gulfport. Organizers expected more than 500 students to attend. |
| Faculty say Alcorn's new strategic plan does little to address their ongoing concerns | |
| Alcorn State University has released a strategic plan that aims to help the historically Black land grant university "achieve preeminence through transformative teaching and research excellence." Some faculty and alumni say they wish the plan contained more specific, measurable goals. The plan identifies several goals the university would like to accomplish by 2026, such as increasing enrollment and making the U.S. News and World Report's list of top 20 historically Black colleges and universities. The 36-page document also provides an overview of the current challenges that Alcorn and other universities in Mississippi are facing: Facilities instability due to the pandemic, a decline in the number of high school graduates in the next decade, and a "wider variability in the talents of admitted students, their academic preparation for college." Felecia Nave, Alcorn's president, wrote in a letter that the plan is intended to help the university address these challenges. "Alcorn has been transforming the way the world lives, thinks, and learns since 1871," Nave wrote. "This plan positions us to do that for the next 150 years." |
| U. of Tennessee now has robot delivery for food across campus | |
 | The robots are here. And they're very cute. Food delivery robots have descended on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus, and they're delivering everything from Starbucks to Steak 'n Shake to hungry college students. The 40-strong fleet, operated by Starship Technologies, can deliver food from 16 campus dining locations to almost any campus building -- assuming they don't get turned over. "We're always looking for new and innovative ways to bring enhanced and on-demand services to our students and campus community," said Brian Browning, associate vice chancellor for finance and administration. "As our campus population continues to grow, so must our ability to offer a variety of services." Students can order their favorite Einstein Bros. bagel or Subway sandwich with a tap, and the robots will deliver the food to wherever they are on campus within 15-20 minutes. The robots don't travel outside the campus perimeter, like out onto Cumberland Avenue or into downtown. The robots use machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors to travel on sidewalks and get around obstacles. Their six-wheeled structure allows them to climb curbs and tackle both snowy and rainy days. And in case a robot takes a tumble, a team of human monitors can take control of a robot remotely. There's a $1.99 delivery fee for the service. |
| U. of Florida no longer expects masks on campus | |
| UF no longer expects or encourages wearing masks on campus. Now, the university supports and welcomes masks if people choose to wear them. Masks will still be required in health care centers where patients are treated, like UF Health Shands Hospital. "We are happy to share that we are updating our mask guidance in light of the latest declines in COVID-19 case numbers and new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our UF Health experts," UF administration wrote in a campus-wide email Wednesday. UF Health President David Nelson, Faculty Senate Chair David Bloom, Senior Vice President Charlie Lane and five other members of UF administration signed the email. The decision comes as COVID-19 transmission has declined and most people have received the vaccine, the email said. Alachua's COVID-19 positivity rate has been dropping since the middle of January as the omicron variant retreated after a nationwide spike. About 70% of residents are vaccinated. UF's policy change is the latest of increasingly relaxed COVID-19 policies. Last semester, UF discontinued its mask mandate, instead encouraging or recommending masks inside university facilities. |
| Yale professors question Chinese professor's suspension | |
 | Faculty members at Yale University are criticizing the treatment of a colleague who appears to have been targeted by a federal counterespionage program formerly known as the China Initiative. The government's allegations against the professor, Haifan Lin, Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology and professor of genetics and dermatology, remain unclear. Yale declined all comment on the case. Yale has said internally that the National Institutes of Health inquired about and expressed doubt as to the veracity of Lin's external funding disclosures for grants, and that the Justice Department is investigating, but it hasn't said much more. DOJ, which last month said it was ending the controversial China Initiative to expand its focus beyond just China, hasn't made any public statement about Lin. What is clear is that Lin, a Chinese national and adjunct dean at ShanghaiTech University, has been suspended from Yale and banned from contacting his students or colleagues since January. Also clear is that he hasn't been arrested or charged with any crime. Nearly 100 Yale professors signed a private letter to President Peter Salovey about Lin's case earlier this month, questioning the apparent lack of due process afforded Lin and describing a sense of fear that anyone with personal or professional links to China could be "cut off" next. The letter also contrasted Yale's treatment of Lin with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's treatment of scholar Gang Chen, whom MIT vigorously defended against claims that he'd misrepresented his own links to China. MIT did suspend Chen, but only after his arrest. |
| Expect Defaults to Surge When Student-Loan Repayments Resume, Warns N.Y. Fed | |
 | Amid calls to extend the two-year pause on the repayment of federally held student loans, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York predict in a report released this week that borrowers are likely to struggle financially once forbearance ends, resulting in "a meaningful rise in delinquencies, both for student loans and for other debt." Other research suggests as many as 7.8-million borrowers -- nearly three in 10 -- are at "high risk" of missing payments once the federal government lifts its repayment moratorium. Since March 2020, nearly 37 million borrowers have not needed to make monthly payments toward their federal student loans (known as Direct Loans), a move resulting in more than $195 billion of relief for these consumers, Fed researchers estimate. To better understand what this group of borrowers might experience when the repayment pause ends, the New York Fed researchers analyzed a different set of student-loan borrowers -- those indebted to the private funders of federally backed student loans. These borrowers, whose loans were unaffected by the federal intervention, struggled to keep up with payments, the Fed researchers found. And by the end of 2021, delinquency rates for these borrowers had returned to prepandemic levels. Lobbying the federal government to take additional action on student loans has only intensified as the clock ticks down to May 1, when the federal moratorium is set to be lifted. |
| Jackson reveals recusal plans from Harvard affirmative action case during Supreme Court hearings | |
| Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated Wednesday that, if confirmed, she plans to bow out of a high-profile affirmative action case that the high court is set to take up this fall involving Harvard -- where she sits on a governing board. Jackson, who would become the Supreme Court's first Black woman justice if confirmed, told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that she does not intend to participate in the case brought by a group that complained that Harvard's undergraduate admissions policies discriminate against Asian Americans in favor of Black Americans and Latinos. "That is my plan, senator," said Jackson, a Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate who has served on the university's Board of Overseers since 2016 and on that panel's executive committee since 2019. The high court announced in January that it plans to take up the long-running lawsuit, along with a similar case the same group filed against the University of North Carolina. Both cases are seen as potential vehicles for the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to bring an end to the efforts of schools to improve racial diversity by boosting minority candidates in the admissions process. Jackson's plan to remove herself from the Harvard case was the most concrete development during her second day of question and answers before the Senate Judiciary Committee. |
SPORTS
| New Mississippi State men's basketball coach Chris Jans ready to compete against the best | |
| Stepping off the podium, Chris Jans looked down at the cowbell in his hand. "These things are loud," Jans observed. Jans made it no secret at his introductory press conference Wednesday: He's new to cowbells. He's new to Starkville. He's new to the Southeastern Conference, too. But Mississippi State's new head men's basketball coach is ready to learn. Officially hired Sunday to replace Ben Howland, Jans will take his next step in a career that has spanned nine states, 12 schools and more than 30 years. "This is an exciting day for my family and me," he said. "When I started this, I wanted to be at a place like Mississippi State." The Iowa native readily admitted he never grew up yearning to coach the Bulldogs, but a school of MSU's conference and caliber appealed to him. Previously the head coach for five seasons at New Mexico State, Jans saw an opportunity when Mississippi State expressed interest late in the season. "I didn't really have a dream job," Jans said. "I just wanted to be somewhere where it was important and we were on the biggest stage and we were competing with and against the best players in college basketball and the best coaches in college basketball. ... I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to have that opportunity." |
| Jans: Mississippi State hoops will have swagger, confidence | |
| Chris Jans leaned down to pick up a cowbell and rang it during his introduction as Mississippi State's next men's basketball coach. It's an MSU sports tradition he acknowledged struggling with upon getting off the plane. He plans to get better at it by ringing up more wins with the Bulldogs. Jans was introduced Wednesday and vowed his program will play with confidence and swagger. While that depends on which players stay, who arrives via the transfer portal and recruiting, he's intent on transforming MSU from its current state of mediocrity and into a NCAA Tournament regular. "This is a dream opportunity for me," said Jans, who was hired on Sunday, a day after guiding New Mexico State to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "I've been coaching for 30 years and when I started this odyssey, I wanted to be in a place like Mississippi State. "I didn't dream of being at Mississippi State. I didn't really have a dream job. I just wanted to be somewhere where it was important and we were on the biggest stage, we're competing with and against the best players in college basketball and the best coaches in college basketball. And obviously in the SEC and at Mississippi State, we're going to get the opportunity to do that." MSU's 2019 NCAA appearance was the only one in seven seasons under veteran Ben Howland, who departed last week. |
| 'The goal is to be in the tournament next year': Jans introduced at Mississippi State | |
| John Cohen had his guy. He had spoken to college basketball experts for two years and saw for himself: Chris Jans belonged on Mississippi State's sidelines. But the athletic director had what he called a "good problem" on his hands. Perhaps the guy he settled upon to replace men's basketball coach Ben Howland was too good. Jans has been coaching at New Mexico State the past five seasons, and as had become the norm there, his team was back in the NCAA Tournament last week. Nearly half the SEC field was in a coaching search as well, and Cohen wanted to make sure he could secure Jans' signature before any counterpart hopped in. But Jans' New Mexico State team upset 5-seed UConn in the first round and was in a tight second-round game against 4-seed Arkansas. The prospect of waiting another week to make the hire official lingered, but Cohen's affinity for Jans and NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia kept him from cheering against the Aggies to expedite the process. "I did become the biggest New Mexico State fan in Starkville, Mississippi," Cohen joked. New Mexico State faltered in a defensive battle against Arkansas to keep itself from a Sweet 16 trip, and Jans' signing was made official the next day. In the wait, Cohen was treated by watching his future coach do what the former struggled with: dance in March. Jans was formally introduced as Mississippi State's 21st men's basketball head coach on Wednesday -- marking the final piece in what has become a puzzle to bring MSU's brand of basketball back to a respectable level nationally. |
| Why Mississippi State's Chris Jans is waiting to fill out his staff | |
 | As Chris Jans looks to assemble his basketball staff at Mississippi State, he isn't ready to make hiring decisions just yet, he said Wednesday during his introductory news conference. James Miller, who served as associate head coach under Jans at New Mexico State, is in the mix to replace Jans in Las Cruces. Jans said he will wait to see what decision New Mexico State makes on Miller before filling out his staff at Mississippi State. "I'm not doing anything until that situation is resolved," Jans said. Miller has been at New Mexico State since 2019. The Aggies have posted a 67-19 record with him on Jans' staff. Miller's previous assistant coaching stops include North Texas and Omaha. He went 77-23 as the coach of New Mexico Junior College. No. 12 seed New Mexico State picked up it's first NCAA Tournament win since 1993, an upset over No. 5 Connecticut, last Thursday. Mississippi State hired Jans the day after No. 4 Arkansas eliminated New Mexico State in the second round on Saturday. "I love being here, but I wish I was in San Francisco right now playing in the Sweet 16," Jans said. "That was pretty cool to be able to scout Arkansas and watch five or six SEC games while preparing for the task at hand ... everybody knows how good the basketball being played in the SEC is. There's some turnover right now, a lot of new coaches, I don't know if that will help us or hurt us, time will tell." |
| State introduces Chris Jans, as six SEC hoops jobs change hands | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Question: What does it tell you when six of the 14 universities in the Southeastern Conference have hired new men's basketball coaches in a week's time? Answer: I don't know. It just means more? In a way, it does tell you it means more -- at least from a financial standpoint. It must. SEC schools, including Mississippi State, will pay many millions of dollars of buyout money to coaches who will not be their coach any more. They are doing that so they can hire new coaches and pay them more millions to succeed where their predecessors could not. State, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri and South Carolina all have hired new hoops coaches. When nearly half of a league's coaching jobs change hands, it also tells you these are difficult jobs where the only thing that exceeds the salaries are the expectation levels. Al Davis said it best: "Just win, baby!" Davis coached football, not basketball, and he coached in the pros, not colleges. But what he said surely applies to SEC basketball. Just win, baby! Win, or else. Chris Jans, the new Mississippi State coach, brings sterling credentials to the job. To paraphrase Davis: Jans has just won, baby, everywhere he's been and especially at his most recent job, New Mexico State. |
| Mississippi State bats power up for rout of Southern in midweek action | |
| Hunter Hines, Kellum Clark and Brad Cumbest all came into Wednesday's game against Southern University tied for the Mississippi State team lead at six home runs apiece. All three left the game deadlocked once again. Hines, Clark and Cumbest all homered, and Kamren James and RJ Yeager joined them in going deep as the Bulldogs (13-9) set a season-high with five homers in a 14-5 rout of the Jaguars (4-16). "I feel like we're kind of getting hot at a good time," James said. "I feel like the more runs we score, the more confident we feel." Clark, Cumbest and Yeager went back to back to back in a five-run third inning for Mississippi State, bashing home runs to right field, left field and center field, respectively. James homered in the second inning and Hines slugged his seventh homer in the eighth. The Bulldogs came up just one short of a program record for home runs against Southern starter Khristian Paul and seven Jaguar relievers. Paul was tagged for nine hits and eight runs in just 2 2/3 innings by a Mississippi State lineup that has now scored in double digits for three straight games. "Offensively, we've been kind of hitting our stride a little bit," Lemonis said. "As an offense, we're trying to figure out a lot about ourselves, and the last four or five games I've felt like we've been pretty good offensively." |
| Mississippi State cruises by Southern, improves to 3-0 in midweeks against SWAC teams | |
| Mississippi State (13-9, 1-2 SEC) made it back-to-back wins Wednesday with a 14-5 thumping of Southern University. MSU improved to 3-0 in midweek matchups against SWAC schools this season behind three innings with crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Poor defense in the second by Southern (4-16, 1-2 SWAC) ignited a four-run inning for State. MSU put up another five runs the following inning behind back-to-back-to-back home runs --- the first time State has reached that feat since 2009 when Russ Sneed, Connor Powers and Ryan Duffy did it against Alabama. That was met by another three runs with the help of Southern's defense in the fourth. Pico Kohn took the mound for the Bulldogs for his first start this season. He tossed three innings of one-run ball before handing the ball to Drew Talley. Talley threw a strong first inning but didn't record an out in his second inning of work before allowing four runs. A visibly upset Chris Lemonis pulled him from the game before Brandon Smith, Brooks Auger and Jackson Fristoe pitched the final five innings without allowing a run. Mississippi State returns to Dudy Noble Field on Friday to open a weekend series against Alabama. |
| Purvis, Davidson Lead Record-Breaking Night | |
| A school-record six homers for Mississippi State lifted the Bulldogs to a 13-3 victory in five innings at Memphis on Wednesday. Addison Purvis turned in her first career multi-homer game and collected a career-high five RBIs. All 16 combined runs in the game came on long balls. State's (20-10, 4-2 SEC) six homers broke the school record (5) that was set in the Bulldogs' last trip to Memphis on April 10, 2019. Along with Purvis, Matalasi Faapito, Mia Davidson and Paige Cook contributed home runs. Davidson's first homer of the night was No. 81 of her career, which surpassed LSU baseball legend Eddie Furniss for the most in SEC history in either baseball or softball. "I thought, up and down the lineup, they did a great job of sticking to the game plan and attacking balls in the zone," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Really they were just staying confident. The biggest takeaway was after the big weekend, they came out focused with good energy and continued to ride the momentum. Anytime you have a big sweep over a rival like that, you can almost see the energy shifting. I thought they did a great job of keeping the same approach that worked for us this weekend. It was good to see the maturity in the dugout and in the lineup." Mississippi State will take a week off from conference play and return to Starkville for a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday. The Bulldogs will welcome Samford for games at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. CT with both airing on SEC Network+. |
| Florida Gators introduce new basketball coach Todd Golden | |
| A young gun has officially taken over the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Todd Golden, 36, was formally introduced as the 20th head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball program on Wednesday afternoon from the center's atrium. While Golden has been highly regarded for his number-driven, analytical mind, it turns out he's a simple guy who impressed Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, as well as others who played a role in the coaching search. "When you get the right one and the interview is over, you just look at each other and no one has to say a word," Stricklin said. "You just know." Golden was quickly grabbed up by the Gators after former head coach Mike White departed Gainesville to become the next head coach at Georgia. As far as the Gators' program, Golden said Wednesday: "We have everything we need here to compete at the championship level." The Gators' new coach arrived in Gainesville shortly after Golden led the University of San Francisco to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1998. And Golden and his family, who were present at Wednesday's press conference, couldn't be more excited to be a part of the Gainesville community. |
| Classic City Collective helps UGA athletes monetize their NIL | |
 | Matt Hibbs worked in different college athletic compliance offices for nearly 12 years. He saw the amount of stress student athletes went through, from practice to film to travel to studying to sleeping at some point. He was always a supporter of the idea that these athletes make money off their talents and popularity. July 1, 2021 that idea became a reality when the NCAA passed legislation that made it legal for student athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness (NIL). Instantly, student athletes across the country signed deals with different brands, advertisers. The college landscape was forever changed. With NIL rules in effect, several universities founded collectives. Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M quickly set up these collectives and Hibbs took notice. He texted with his UGA friends and they were all asking the same question: Where was Georgia's Collective? "You just kept waiting for it to come out," Hibbs said. "Then it was just something in the back of my head that said someone has got to do this. There's just too good of an opportunity. Obviously after the national championship and just the trajectory of this program, it's just incredibly exciting to be able to support this program." So Hibbs went to work. He met with plenty of people, but perhaps the most important piece in the launch of the Classic City Collective were the meetings with UGA Athletic Director Josh Brooks. Brooks declined to speak with the Banner-Herald for this story, but Hibbs said Brooks and the rest of the athletic administration are always open-minded and willing to hear his ideas. |
| SC looks to loosen university athlete endorsement rules that rank among nation's strictest | |
 | The landscape of amateur athletics has changed dramatically since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last summer cleared the way for college athletes to earn money off the court. Top Gamecocks basketball players with their own clothing lines and NFT deals. Clemson quarterbacks signing agreements to hawk fried chicken sandwiches. Even athletes at smaller schools, like the College of Charleston or The Citadel are cashing in, leveraging social media followings or name recognition locally to promote everything from podcasts to sneakers. But, in an arms race among top-tier athletics programs for the best recruits, South Carolina's laws regulating name, image and likeness -- or NIL -- have left the state at a competitive disadvantage. Any state with rules on the books at all is at inherent disadvantage, says S.C. Rep. Tom McGinnis, R-Myrtle Beach, who sponsored a successful amendment for a one-year repeal of the state's NIL law as an amendment on the state budget March 14. "I would ask that everybody vote for this, otherwise you're going to see some of the best players in the country go to schools that don't have Clemson or South Carolina in their name," McGinnis said on the House floor. According to ratings compiled by the National College Players Association in 2021, South Carolina's NIL laws were among the strictest in the country, with numerous sideboards that did not exist in states like Oregon, Missouri or New Mexico, whose state laws ranked highest. In addition to language giving colleges a say in the deals student athletes strike, South Carolina's NIL law bars student athletes from earning money off of their athletic ability such as at sports camps, and they cannot work college boosters or with companies that sponsor university athletics. |
| Adidas creates paid affiliate program for more than 50K student-athletes | |
| Now that student-athletes are allowed to profit off of their name, image and likeness, Adidas on Wednesday said it is creating an NIL network that is open to more than 50,000 student-athletes. The effort allows any eligible student-athlete at an Adidas-partnered NCAA Division I university to become a paid affiliate brand ambassador, according to a company press release. The athletics retailer says the network is the first "wide-sweeping, equitable and inclusive" NIL program. Adidas is rolling out the program in four phases, starting with its partners at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Power Five conferences this fall. It will scale to all Adidas-partnered schools by April 2023. In rolling out an expansive NIL network, Adidas is touting the impact the effort will have on inclusivity and equality in the athletics space. Adidas is launching the effort ahead of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a piece of legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding and has greatly impacted college sports. The option to partner with college athletes is still relatively new, but brands are beginning to take advantage of the ruling to sign high-profile college athletes to marketing deals. Nike in December named its first college athlete sponsorship in Reilyn Turner, a sophomore on UCLA's women's soccer team. Dollar Shave Club just this month signed Gonzaga basketball star Drew Timme to a deal as a "chin-fluencer" for the brand. The NIL network Adidas is creating, however, is a more expansive effort. |
| NIL Contracts Are Changing the Landscape of College Sports | |
 | The NCAA's March Madness Tournament is upon us, and after more than two years of pandemic restrictions at sporting events, stands are packed to full capacity with fans. Transformative changes are happening off of the court too: for the first time in March Madness history, college athletes can cash in on endorsement deals because of changes to the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policies, which are a result of a Supreme Court ruling last summer. While the new arena in college sports has been lucrative for athletes, with contracts reaching 7 figures, NIL advocates are concerned about the lack of legal and financial protections for students. NPR speaks with Stewart Mandel, Editor-In-Chief of college football at The Athletic, about how the current nature of NIL deals may risk exploiting student-athletes. |
| A Gonzaga Star's Casino Ads Show How Much College Sports Has Changed in a Year | |
| For anyone familiar with the NCAA's long history of prohibitions on athletes, the TV ads featuring Gonzaga star Drew Timme in a casino are jarring. In one ad, Timme -- wearing his Bulldogs uniform -- dribbles a basketball amid slot machines at Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane, Wash., as fans admire his trademark mustache. In another, Timme wears a Gonzaga sweatshirt to the roulette table and advises the man sitting beside him, "I like No. 2." "Your jersey number," the man responds. "Isn't that a little on the nose?" Timme's series of commercials for the casino are a vivid sign of how much things have changed recently in college sports -- in terms of both marketing opportunities for athletes and their relationship to gambling. The casino ads don’t explicitly promote gambling on sports -- or on Gonzaga -- but they’re a sharp pivot away from the NCAA’s warnings about the dangers of gambling. “I was, A, surprised, and, B, I am concerned,” said Jeffrey Derevensky, director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviors at Montreal’s McGill University. “Here you have student-athletes that are endorsing or representing casinos where we’re trying to get student-athletes not to engage in gambling.” Since 1986, Derevensky has partnered with the NCAA on a quadrennial survey of college athletes’ perceptions about gambling. Results of the 2020 survey are still being processed, but in the 2016 edition, 24% of male NCAA athletes and 5% of female athletes said they had bet money on sports in the previous year. |
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