| Monday, May 16, 2022 |
| PANTA initiative helps mother, daughter earn degrees at MSU-Meridian | |
 | For most student interns, stepping into the role of classroom teacher for the first time can be a little intimidating. But that certainly wasn't the case for a Neshoba County mother and daughter who began attending Mississippi State University-Meridian together two years ago. Miranda Whittle, a kindergarten assistant at Neshoba Central Elementary and daughter Brianna Whittle, a first-grade assistant at Union Elementary School, participated in the Professional Advancement Network for Teacher Assistants initiative at MSU-Meridian. The PANTA initiative helps assistants or other paraprofessionals -- who want to become licensed teachers -- complete their elementary education degree. When they heard about PANTA from MSU-Meridian faculty and learned that the coursework is designed to meet the needs of working professionals like themselves, there was no doubt in their minds where they wanted to complete their elementary education degrees. Through the PANTA initiative, coursework is typically offered in a blended format of live face-to-face, live online, and asynchronous online classes. Fourteen of their co-workers also are participating in PANTA. Half will earn their degree in May and, like the Whittles, have spent the past few months transitioning from teacher assistants to primary teaching positions in their respective schools. The transition is made easier as teacher candidates participating in this initiative complete most of their field experience in the classroom where they are employed. |
| All in the family: Dad, son, daughter earn master's degrees | |
 | A father and his two children have graduated together from a branch of Mississippi State University, each earning a master's degree in education. Commondre Cole, son Ja'Coby Cole and daughter Iesha Gully were among the 153 graduates Thursday at MSU-Meridian's spring commencement. Commondre Cole teaches at Northwest Middle School and Ja'Coby Cole teaches at Oakland Heights Elementary, both in the Meridian Public School District. Gully teaches at Northeast Elementary in the Lauderdale County School District. "This is a big accomplishment for our family," Gully told WTOK-TV. "Just to keep driving and keep going forward and to lead by example and to show my younger siblings and the rest of my family that we can do it. We started strong, and we finish strong." Ja'Coby Cole said he never thought he would become a teacher right away. "I knew I'd have to have a backup plan, so I thought about my mom, my dad's and my sister's footsteps," he said. "They're all educators, and I thought it'd be best for me to follow their footsteps." Commondre Cole said his wife, Jessica Gully-Cole, also teaches. She encouraged him to return to college with their children. |
| Roses and thorns: 5-15-22 -- A rose to the Mississippi State University Kinesiology Department | |
 | A rose to the Mississippi State University Kinesiology Department for its efforts to bring one of the simple joys of childhood to those who might otherwise be overlooked. Beginning Monday and continuing through Friday at the Sanderson Center, MSU Kinesiology will hold its iCanBike Camp, where MSU students will help special needs children learn how to ride a bicycle. The daily camp lasts about three hours. This is the third iCanBike camp staged by the department. Special needs children are often excluded from many of the activities, but with extra care, time and attention, they can learn new skills. Bike-riding is a great form of exercise, but more than that, it's a lot of fun. Ask any kid. We salute these MSU students and the Kinesiology Department for this wonderful act of service. For more information, visit bulldogbike.msstate.edu. |
| West Lauderdale student hopes to help the pollinators | |
| Mallory Lewis has been busy the last year and a half, but she's not necessarily been focused on the normal things high school seniors worry about. Lewis, a senior at West Lauderdale, is on a crusade. She's been planning and building a pollinator garden at Okatibee Lake, near the dam site where many people walk and exercise. Lewis became interested in pollinator gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The concerns over the loss of pollinators is something that everybody should be concerned about, because if we lose pollinators, we literally lose our whole ecosystem," Lewis said, noting that there have been international concerns about the decline of honeybees for the past 20 years. Although honeybees are the most common pollinators, there are other important species such as bumblebees, butterflies, moths, wasps and flies. Lewis wants to reverse this trend in Lauderdale County by planting wildflowers and native species of plants around the reservoir. To complete her goal, she's teamed up with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and met with Lauderdale County Master Gardeners and Shani Hay with the MSU Extension Service for technical advice. "The U.S. Army Corps guys have been so helpful," Lewis said. We couldn't have made this possible without their support in both equipment and supplies." |
| Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District names Tony McGee new superintendent | |
| Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has chosen its new superintendent. Following a lengthy executive session Friday at The Mill at MSU Conference Center, the board of trustees unanimously chose Tony McGee, who is currently superintendent of Scott County School District. He will take the reins in Starkville on July 1. "I'm excited and humbled all at the same time," McGee said. "I think Starkville has always had a long tradition of excellence in education. There's a great community base and great school system, and there's a school board that I think really has the heart for boys and girls and doing the right thing for education. It has all of the potential to be one of the best school districts, if not the best school district, in the state of Mississippi." Wes Gordon, SOCSD board president, said the meetings and surveys conducted by search firm Hazard, Young, and Attea Associates weighed heavily in the board's decision. "(Those meetings and surveys) were the driving document on how we got to the final person," Gordon said. "Of course you start with a bunch of people and you keep focusing in, but the way we got to the large group of candidates was the basis for moving forward. ... Those focus groups and those answers from staff, faculty, parents, grandparents and community stakeholders, that was the basis of putting this whole search together." McGee holds a bachelor's degree, as well as a doctorate in educational leadership, from Mississippi State University. He is ready to come back to Starkville and Oktibbeha County and to meet and serve the community in his new role. |
| Business: As liquor store owners compete for hard-to-find bottles, some turn to bots | |
| Strange times call for strange measures. In the world created by the pandemic, business owners have to struggle with a host of issues: tangled supply chains, strained manpower pools, shortages of pretty much everything. This is as true in the liquor industry as it is anywhere else, and, just like anyone else, liquor store owners are thinking outside the box. The short supply of some liquor has led to the emergence of software robots -- or "bots" -- that order cases of hard-to-get tipples, finding and ordering them immediately. While they are a solution to a problem for some stores, others see their use as unfair. But, in the long run, will this software assistance matter? In Mississippi, liquor stores are required to order their stock from Alcohol Beverage Control, which is a division of the Department of Revenue. The heart of the operation is a warehouse in Gluckstadt that is more than 200,000 square feet and contains over a mile and a half of conveyor belts, according to ABC Deputy Director Chip Jones. Store owners use a web portal to place orders. As soon as a truck unloads, those cases of booze appear on the state's web site and are available to order, Jones said. "If a truck comes in with Crown Royal, the cases are offloaded and processed and put into inventory," Jones said. "Any permittee can see it and place an order at that point." Getting that case of Crown (to a store) used to be a matter of a few days, Jones said. "Before COVID, you were looking at one to two days to get an order," he said. "If they placed an order before about 11 a.m. that morning, it went out on the truck that night and they would get it the next day." The pandemic brought that delivery time to a screeching halt, pretty much literally. |
| Former State Auditor Stacey Pickering officially resigns from state VA board, agency says | |
 | After days of withholding the employment status of its agency head, the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board announced that executive director Stacey Pickering and his chief of staff have officially resigned. In a news release, the VA Board said Pickering and Melissa Wade would leave the agency effective July 11, but it did not disclose why the two decided to leave or why they're leaving at the same time. Earlier this week, the VA Board refused to confirm Pickering's status with the agency. At the time, Pickering told the Daily Journal that he had not resigned. Two days later, House Military Affairs Chairman Lester "Bubba" Carpenter, R-Burnsville, told the Daily Journal that a member of the VA Board informed him both Pickering and Wade had resigned. "The Board thanks both Director Pickering and Mrs. Wade for their service to Mississippi's 187,000 Veterans and their families over the last four and three years, respectively," James Garner, the chairman of the veterans affairs board, said in a statement. Mark Smith, the agency's current deputy director, will serve as the interim executive director while the board searches for a new, permanent leader. Wade will pursue another job outside of the agency, and Pickering will retire from state government altogether, the statement said, bookending an extensive public career in the Magnolia State. |
| Governor approves new eviction law after a judge struck down the old one | |
| Mississippi lawmakers have changed state laws to give tenants who have been evicted time to gather their personal belongings before they are forced to leave, making the statute more palatable to a federal judge currently reviewing the practice. The law would give a tenant seven days to gather their property and vacate a residence after a local judge allows a landlord to gain control of the property. But if the occupant does not leave the residence during the initial order, a judge could issue a separate order that would authorize law enforcement to remove a tenant. Under this order, an occupation would have an additional 72 hours to gather their personal belongings. "A (federal) judge called on the Legislature to make changes, so that's what we're doing with this bill," Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins said during the legislative session. The previous law allowed landlords to immediately seize a delinquent occupant's personal property and was believed to be the harshest eviction law in the nation. Lawmakers were forced to make significant changes to the law after U.S. District Judge Michael Mills in November declared portions of the eviction law unconstitutional because it violated an occupant's right to due process. |
| Biden job approval hits another low in new survey | |
 | A new NBC News poll shows President Biden's job approval rating has dipped to another low, with just 39 percent of Americans approving of the job he's doing and 56 percent disapproving. Americans are dinging the president on inflation, the economy and border security, as they have been for much of his presidency. Only 37 percent of Americans view Biden in a positive light, according to the poll, which shows his favorability rating hovers around the same percentage currently as former President Trump's. Biden appears to have lost ground once again after making some gains. Earlier this month, 42 percent of Americans approved of Biden's job in a Washington Post-ABC News poll, which was up 5 percentage points from a previous poll in February. In the NBC News poll, 59 percent of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the coronavirus, where the president has consistently earned the best marks. But only 33 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, and only 23 percent approve of his handling of inflation and the cost of living, two issues that are likely to be among the most important at the ballot box in November. |
| Pence returns from the GOP dead | |
 | Mike Pence's plan is working. After years of loyal service and genuflecting as Donald Trump's former No. 2, Pence is capitalizing on carefully choreographed split screens with his former boss on everything from endorsements and appearances to policy and photo-ops. Nearly a year after he was booed and jeered as a "traitor" at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Orlando for his refusal to overturn the election results, Pence's tightly scripted comeback ahead of a potential 2024 presidential bid is showing returns. Since POLITICO reported on the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Pence has moved to channel a newly simpatico GOP base. He is finding purposeful ways to contrast with Trump on issues ranging from highlighting his own decadeslong record of anti-abortion advocacy to calling for a muscular response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Next week, he'll cross Trump by holding a rally with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on the eve of his GOP primary, a direct challenge to Trump's endorsement of Kemp challenger David Perdue. And he's embraced familiar terrain on the culture wars, launching his own so-called freedom agenda ahead of the midterms, focusing on issues like parental choice in the classroom. Long before Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warred with Disney, Pence was attacking the entertainment company as far back as 1999 in an op-ed criticizing the film "Mulan." |
| Mitch McConnell, Republican senators meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine | |
 | Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has led a delegation of Republican senators on a visit to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said in Facebook and Instagram posts Saturday that the visit "is a powerful signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine from the United States Congress and the American people. Thank you for your leadership in helping us fight not only for our country but for democratic values and freedoms. We do appreciate it very much." Video shared by Zelenskyy showed him greeting McConnell, along with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas in Kyiv. McConnell issued a statement Saturday evening saying the group had just left Ukraine and had "reaffirmed to President Zelenskyy that the United States stands squarely behind Ukraine and will sustain our support until Ukraine wins this war." He added that "our allies and partners must continue to step up and do their part." Earlier this week, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., delayed Senate approval of a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine and its allies, saying he wanted an inspector general to take a look at the spending. The measure has bipartisan support and has already won approval in the House. It is expected to easily pass the Senate. "America's support for Ukraine's self-defense is not mere philanthropy," McConnell wrote Saturday. "Defending the principle of sovereignty, promoting stability in Europe, and imposing costs on Russia's naked aggression have a direct and vital bearing on America's national security and vital interests." |
| McConnell takes on MAGA with Ukraine visit | |
| It's Mitch McConnell vs. MAGA when it comes to Ukraine. The Senate minority leader's secret visit to Kyiv this weekend to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with McConnell's staunch advocacy for the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill in Congress, is putting him at odds with his party's non-interventionist wing. A growing number of GOP lawmakers, candidates and former President Donald Trump are hitting the effort to send billions to Ukraine as misguided given domestic problems at home. Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette challenged McConnell directly: "Why is Leader McConnell visiting Ukraine in the midst of the various crises right here in America?" But McConnell is unbowed. The GOP leader argues the United States will be there for Ukraine as long as it takes and that there's "broad bipartisan support for helping them" despite 57 no votes in the House on the package and Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) unilateral delay of the legislation in the Senate. Perhaps most important, McConnell is directly rejecting the notion that helping Ukraine comes at the expense of the United States. McConnell didn't stop there: He said the United States should be "first in line" to ratify potential new NATO members Finland and Sweden, wants President Joe Biden to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terror and said it's his hope that "not many members of my party will choose to politicize this issue." |
| Buffalo shooting latest example of targeted racial violence | |
| Black people going about their daily lives -- then dying in a hail of bullets fired by a white man who targeted them because of their skin color. Substitute a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, with a church in South Carolina, and Malcolm Graham knows the pain and grief the families of those killed Saturday are feeling. He knows their dismay that racial bigotry has torn apart the fabric of their families. "America's Achilles' heel continues to be ... racism," said Graham, whose sister, Cynthia Graham-Hurd, was among nine parishioners fatally shot by avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof in 2015 during Bible study in Charleston. "As a country, we need to acknowledge that it exists," Graham said. "There's a lack of acknowledgment that these problems are persistent, are embedded into systems and cost lives." For many Black Americans, the Buffalo shooting has stirred up the same feelings they faced after Charleston and other attacks: the fear, the vulnerability, the worry that nothing will be done politically or otherwise to prevent the next act of targeted racial violence. Law enforcement officials said suspected gunman Payton Gendron, 18, drove 200 miles from his hometown of Conklin, New York, to Buffalo after searching out and specifically targeting a predominantly Black neighborhood. He shot 11 Black people and two white people at the grocery store, authorities said. Ten people died. |
| Menaced by flames, nuclear lab peers into future of wildfire | |
| Public schools were closed and evacuation bags packed this week as a stubborn wildfire crept within a few miles of the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab -- where assessing apocalyptic threats is a specialty and wildland fire is a beguiling equation. Lighter winds on Friday allowed for the most intense aerial attack this week on those flames west of Santa Fe as well as the biggest U.S. wildfire burning farther east, south of Taos. People who remained on alert to prepare for evacuations west of Santa Fe included scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory who are tapping supercomputers to peer into the future of wildfires in the U.S. West, where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fire. The research and partnerships eventually could yield reliable predictions that shape the way vast tracks of national forests are thinned --- or selectively burned -- to ward off disastrously hot conflagrations that can quickly overrun cities, sterilize soil and forever alter ecosystems. "This actually is something that we're really trying to leverage to look for ways to deal with fire in the future," said Rod Linn, a senior lab scientist who leads efforts to create a supercomputing tool that predicts the outcome of fires in specific terrain and conditions. The lab emerged out of the World War II efforts to design nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project. It now conducts a range of national security work and research in diverse fields of renewable energy, nuclear fusion, space exploration, supercomputing and efforts to limit global threats from disease to cyberattacks. |
| Farming Drives Toward 'Precision Agriculture' Technologies | |
 | Across Midwestern farms, if Girish Chowdhary has his way, farmers will someday release beagle-sized robots into their fields like a pack of hounds flushing pheasant. The robots, he says, will scurry in the cool shade beneath a wide diversity of plants, pulling weeds, planting cover crops, diagnosing plant infections, and gathering data to help farmers optimize their farms. Chowdhary, a researcher at the University of Illinois, works surrounded by corn, one of the most productive monocultures in the world. In the United States, the corn industry was valued at $82.6 billion in 2021, but it -- like almost every other segment of the agricultural economy -- faces daunting problems, including changing weather patterns, environmental degradation, severe labor shortages, and the rising cost of key inputs: herbicides, pesticides, and seed. Agribusiness as a whole is betting that the world has reached the tipping point where desperate need caused by a growing population, the economic realities of conventional farming, and advancing technology converge to require something called precision agriculture, which aims to minimize inputs and the costs and environmental problems that go with them. No segment of agriculture is without its passionate advocates of robotics and artificial intelligence as solutions to, basically, all the problems facing farmers today. The extent of their visions ranges from technology that overlays existing farm practices to a comprehensive rethinking of agriculture that eliminates tractors, soil, sunlight, weather, and even being outdoors as factors in farm life. The question that underlies all the theorizing is both economic and cultural: Are farmers going to buy in? |
| USM holds 2022 Spring Commencement ceremonies | |
 | This year, many students will cross the stage at the University of Southern Mississippi this spring to get their diplomas. Thursday, the university hosted their postgraduate graduation, for those finishing their master's or doctoral programs. Friday and Saturday will include three different undergraduate ceremonies. "There's a tremendous amount of hard work that goes into culminating in today," said Jerry DeFatta, executive director of Southern Miss Alumni Association. "This is a moment that I think a lot of students don't recognize the significance of the moment until after they've crossed the stage." "It's an opportunity to reflect on the amount of time that you've worked, the amount of investment that you've made in yourself, and really just seeing all that come to fruition." Many students took the day to reminisce on their journey to a degree. "Being in college is one, but being involved is a whole other ball game," said graduate Markayla Vallien. "I'm just happy I made it," "At the end, it is worth it, definitely worth it," said graduate Makalah Whisenton. "All of the organizations, people and networking. It's a great experience and I'm glad to say that I did it and I finished." After all the students crossed the stage, tassels were turned, and these golden eagles flew for the last time. "It's bittersweet," said graduate Briana Fairley. "I enjoyed my time here, but it's time to go on to bigger and better things." |
| Southern Miss updates music education curriculm for 21st century teachers | |
 | For decades, the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music has cultivated a reputation for training some of the finer music educators in the country. To this end, the faculty of the School of Music continues to explore new ways to strengthen and rejuvenate the music education curriculum to help prepare graduates for the modern K-12 classrooms. With feedback from new teachers and veteran teachers in the field, Melody Causby, PhD., assistant professor of music education (instrumental), led the music education team in in revising the curriculum. Instrumental licensure students will now have more opportunities to practice a range of instruments. The key change involves splitting courses in brass methods and woodwind methods into two courses each while keeping the overall number of degree hours the same. The music education programs will now include a capstone course specifically geared to music licensure students. "This will allow for the practical development of teaching skills, over time," noted Causby. Another practical addition to the curriculum is the provision for peer teaching opportunities, which will become a standard part of every music education class. |
| Young professionals in the Pine Belt: Southern Miss student wants to 3-D print homes | |
 | Alkendria "Desiree" McNair's passion for technology began with video games and evolved into an interest in 3-D printing houses. "I started off playing video games, then I went to kind of fixing phones. I've always just had my hand in technology, but no one in my community really pushed technology careers," the 27-year-old said. Now a student at Southern Miss studying information technology, the Collins native is interested in how 3-D printing of houses can lead to more sustainability and lower home costs. She was inspired by the lack of affordability of houses and a passion for the environment. "3-D printing is another way that they can create homes and buildings without taking the natural resources. ... I thought that was something amazing that you could literally build a house with a machine," McNair said. McNair is a mother, and she said her 3-year-old daughter Amora Hathorn inspires her to be successful. "She inspires me a lot to keep pushing when I'm tired," McNair said. "I kind of do this for her. She has autism, so I want to be able to provide her with the services she needs as well." McNair balances her responsibilities as a mother and student along with her job as a student worker in the Southern Miss computer science department. |
| 4,416 U. of Arkansas graduates receive diplomas during commencement ceremonies in Fayetteville | |
| More than 6,500 students went over mountains, through valleys and across rivers to get their degrees at the University of Arkansas' main campus this semester, said interim Chancellor Charles Robinson. In his commencement address at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday morning, Robinson compared the college experience with the classic song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967. In literature, a mountain often refers to a difficult task, said Robinson. Valleys refer to feelings. And it is the current of a river -- the unpredictable current of life -- that can sweep a person away. "The lessons found in the song are applicable for today not just because I like the song, but because they speak to the notion of having a passion for a goal and an unyielding determination to reach it no matter how challenging the obstacles that might get in the way," said Robinson. Different colleges within the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville had separate commencement ceremonies on Friday or Saturday. Out of the university's 6,500 spring semester graduates, 4,416 were expected to participate in one of those commencement ceremonies, said John Thomas, a UA spokesman. During the main commencement ceremony in Fayetteville on Saturday, an honorary doctorate was bestowed on Bobby Estell, better known as the radio and television personality Bobby Bones. Bones is the host of the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio program "The Bobby Bones Show," which broadcasts to over 185 stations and is the No. 1 country morning show with millions of monthly listeners, according to the commencement program. |
| Troubled Student Housing Firm Would Pay Tens of Millions to Investors | |
 | Hundreds of investors in a troubled luxury student apartment building near the University of Texas at Austin are close to recouping much of the $75 million they committed to the project, with most of the bill footed by a management firm that has drawn complaints from tenants across the country. Nelson Partners Student Housing will pay $50 million to the investor group that includes doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers under a preliminary settlement approved by a Texas state judge. The deal or "liquidation plan" could require Nelson Partners to sell many of its nearly 20 properties to raise the money. The investors also could get several million dollars from a New York hedge fund that provided financing for the deal, following a verdict Wednesday from a jury in a related lawsuit. The proposed settlement would resolve a bitter legal fight in which the investors in the Skyloft student housing complex claimed they were defrauded by the firm's chief executive, Patrick Nelson, who aggressively bought up properties in the past four years. But Mr. Nelson and his firm have encountered financial troubles and bankruptcies at several properties while student residents at different complexes complained about poor living conditions including broken elevators, darkened hallways, uncollected trash, insect infestation and algae-covered swimming pools. The Skyloft settlement, which received preliminary approval from a Texas state judge late last month, would force Mr. Nelson to dramatically scale back his ambitions to become a major regional player in the $100 billion student housing industry. If the plan is given final approval, Mr. Nelson and his firm would have up to 18 months to raise the money for the fund, which will be overseen by the court. |
| Texas A&M considers making sweeping changes to library | |
 | The Texas A&M University system is working on a plan that would make sweeping changes across its 10 libraries. Those changes, still being discussed, would include asking librarians to relinquish tenure or transfer to another academic department to keep it. The plan grew out of recommendations from MGT Consulting, which Texas A&M hired in June 2021 "to conduct a high-level, comprehensive review of major functional areas," according to a company report. But as administrators have suggested additional changes, including to employee classification, faculty members have pushed back, arguing that proposed structural changes to the library system will do more harm than good. They are especially concerned about a proposal that would end tenure for librarians. Experts note that tenure for librarians, which is somewhat common in academia, though not universal, can be crucial for academic freedom, especially in a political environment in which librarians are under fire. Faculty members have suggested that the change lacks rationale and that the plan -- scheduled for implementation this fall---is being pushed through too quickly. Some details are still being finalized, and Texas A&M declined to answer questions about how the proposed changes will happen -- or why. An MGT Consulting spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that it "has not weighed in on issues related to tenure" at Texas A&M. The idea seems to have emerged in the absence of transparent leadership regarding the process. Dale Rice, a journalism professor and speaker of the Faculty Senate, said Texas A&M has not elucidated a plan to implement the proposed changes, meaning little is known about the ultimate fate of the university's 82 librarians, an unknown number of whom are tenured. |
| 'This is more important': Why Jodie Ashby marched for abortion rights after Missouri graduation ceremony | |
 | Jodie Ashby was ready for the most important event of her day. She got some Pizza Tree, grabbed her protest sign, met up with Jess Alexander, her best friend since seventh grade, and kept her graduation cap on as she made her way to Columbia City Hall. Ashby had just graduated with her master's degree from the University of Missouri's School of Social Work. The most important event of the day, however, was joining the Women's March Bans Off Our Bodies protest against the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. "We knew that we were wanting to come here, and we weren't going to let graduation get in the way of that," Ashby said. "This is more important." It was important to Ashby because of how significant it is for women's rights and safety, she said. It's not her business, or anyone else's, why a woman would choose to get an abortion, she said. Of the myriad reasons why a woman would choose, not allowing them the right to a safe abortion could be deadly, she said. "There's just no roundabout way of letting people have access to safe abortions," Ashby said. "You either have to legalize it or people will do it unsafely." Ashby heard about Saturday's march through text chains and social media and was originally hesitant to go as it was on the same day as graduation. Even in the 90 degree heat, the approximately 300 protesters weren't daunted. Ashby made sure she was part of the people, both men and women, making their voices heard. |
| IBM: 6 Black colleges getting cybersecurity centers | |
| Six historically Black universities in five Southern states will be getting the first IBM cybersecurity centers aimed at training underrepresented communities, the company said. The schools are Xavier University of Louisiana, that state's Southern University System, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, Clark Atlanta and Morgan State universities, according to a news release Tuesday. "Technology-related services are in constant demand, and cybersecurity is paramount," said Dr. Ray L. Belton, president of the Southern University System based in Baton Rouge. The centers will give students, staff, and faculty access to modern technology, resources, and skills development, said Dr. Nikunja Swain, chair and professor of the Computer Science and Mathematics Department at South Carolina State, in Orangeburg. IBM said it plans more than 20 such centers at historically Black colleges and universities nationwide. The company said each school will get customized courses and access to company academic programs. They also will be able to experience simulated but realistic cyberattacks through IBM Security's Command Center. |
| College Professors Drop Slavery Role-Playing Lesson Over Concerns It Upsets Students | |
 | The directors of a role-playing game that requires students to debate slavery pulled it from print recently after college students and professors complained that advocating for, or listening to, the views of white supremacists made them uncomfortable. The move has sparked debate among historians, and some professors who use the lesson plan said withdrawing the game infringes on academic freedom and teaching about race in America. Nationwide, schools from kindergartens to colleges are scrutinizing materials resulting in an increase in book bans at public schools and a series of protests preventing controversial figures from speaking on campuses. The game is one of 30 historic debates in a series called Reacting to the Past. College students at about 500 colleges and universities spend weeks reading about different historical events. They include the debate in Athens over democracy in 403 B.C.E. and the 17th century trial of Galileo. Students assume a character from a selected period and play a game that falls somewhere between Dungeons and Dragons and Model United Nations. The scenario is staged, a game master directs the debate but students script their own arguments, build their own coalitions and forge their own compromises. Last month, Reacting to the Past removed from print the game featuring Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave turned abolitionist and author. The game was launched in 2010 but was drawing increasing concern from professors that students may either sympathize with the white supremacist rhetoric at the core of the debate -- or be offended by it, said Nicolas Proctor, editorial board director of Reacting to the Past. |
| Financial aid administrators call for student loan system reforms | |
| The federal government's student financial aid system has long come under fire, drawing a range of accusations: the U.S. Department of Education is lax in monitoring loan servicers, loan forgiveness is difficult for borrowers to secure, students are shepherded into plans that make little sense for their financial circumstances. These criticisms took on new fervor as the Biden administration began to rework federal financial aid and approved more than $18.5 billion in loan discharges for more than 750,000 borrowers. The White House is also reportedly considering using executive action to grant broader loan forgiveness. In light of these discussions, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, along with a cadre of 21 higher education organizations, developed recommendations to improve the federal loan system. More than two-dozen resulting suggestions range from how to streamline loan plans to how to better oversee servicers. The policy recommendations might not affect all of colleges' day-to-day operations, but they could influence the functioning of a vast student aid system that feeds into one of college leaders' key concerns -- public perception of higher ed. |
| Biden plunges into the risky politics of student loans | |
 | The news had just emerged that President Biden was moving toward canceling at least some student loans, and Donald Trump Jr., in the final days of campaigning for U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance in Ohio last month, did not mince words as he excoriated the idea at rallies. "Biden essentially wants blue-collar workers like truck drivers -- who didn't have the luxury of going to college to get drunk for four years -- to bail out a bunch of upper-middle-class kids who chose to spend tens of thousands of dollars that they didn't have on worthless gender study degrees," Trump told The Washington Post later, elaborating on his message to voters. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a more moderate Republican, jumped in as well, suggesting the move was little more than a political payout to win votes. "Other bribe suggestions: Forgive auto loans? Forgive credit card debt? Forgive mortgages?" he wrote on social media. With Biden now moving closer to an executive order canceling some portion of student debt, Republicans are seizing on the issue to burnish their favored portrait of the two parties: Democrats, they say, champion the privileged elites, while Republicans support America's down-to-earth workers. It's a message that reflects the turbulent, risky politics of student debt for Biden, who has expressed both support and skepticism about student loan forgiveness. Liberals respond that a sweeping loan cancellation program would provide critical help for struggling Latino, Black and young people amid a tough economy. Still, even some Democrats are wary of a critique that their party is aiming to help people who chose to take on debt at the expense of those who didn't. |
| Another Mississippi 'trigger law' to keep an eye on as Supreme Court deliberates: gay marriage | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: The 2007 law that would ban abortions in Mississippi if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade isn't the only so-called "trigger law" language the state has. If the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns its 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriages, Mississippi has an existing law -- even a provision in the state Constitution -- banning same-sex marriage. The language is simple and to the point. "Marriage may take place and may be valid under the laws of this state only between a man and a woman," the Mississippi law reads. "A marriage in another state or foreign jurisdiction between persons of the same gender, regardless of when the marriage took place, may not be recognized in this state and is void and unenforceable under the laws of this state." Seem farfetched that gay marriage could be repealed? Perhaps, but numerous legal scholars have at least raised the specter that the same reasoning found in the recently leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade could be extended to deny a national right not only to an abortion, but to same-sex marriage, the use of contraceptives and even interracial marriage. ... The Supreme Court approved gay marriage by a slim 5-4 margin in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case, with conservative justices arguing that the right to gay marriage was not in the U.S. Constitution. That is essentially the same argument for overturning Roe v. Wade. |
SPORTS
| Softball: Bulldogs earns 17th NCAA bid, bound for Tallahassee | |
| The Mississippi State softball program is headed to the NCAA Tournament for its fifth consecutive appearance, opening as the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. The Bulldogs (33-24, 10-14 SEC) will open the double-elimination regional at 5 p.m. Friday, May 20, against South Florida at Joanne Graf Field. The Tallahassee Regional features host Florida State, which earned the No. 2 national seed, and Howard. "We are excited to be back in the postseason and headed to Tallahassee," MSU coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's another quality regional with Florida State, South Florida and Howard. I'm really excited to see the team down there in this environment. It's something we've been working toward all year long and why we played such a tough schedule. "I think we're battle-tested and ready to go. We're ready for the opportunity to go out and compete." Florida State brings a 52-5 record to the tournament. Although the Bulldogs and Seminoles have not met since 2013, they have played 14 times with each team winning seven games. The teams are 3-3 in games played in Tallahassee. South Florida (44-14) is another opponent that Mississippi State has not seen in a few years. In their last meeting, the Bulls edged the Bulldogs 1-0 in 2012. Overall, USF owns a 3-2 series lead. Howard (31-22), the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, has never played Mississippi State. |
| The Sports Memories We Never Forget, From Carlton Fisk to King of the Mountain | |
| Sometimes it's the early memories: first impressions of a major-league stadium or a parent's excitement and pride on a spectacular autumn afternoon. Sometimes it's having witnessed a new world record or feat of athletic courage and heroism. Sometimes it's one's own moment of glory, and sometimes it's just the revelation of teamwork itself. Sports memories are indelible, and Wall Street Journal readers shared hundreds of them in response to our recent query. Here are some of their stories and photos, still meaningful, even decades later. Melvin Woods of Lincoln, Calif. writes: I grew up in Indianapolis and in 1958 was recruited to play basketball on full scholarship for Jackson State University, a historically Black college in Mississippi. ... As I recall it ... at the end of my junior year we got the invitation to play in the NAIA national tournament. But the state of Mississippi had an informal ban on interracial intercollegiate sports and athletics. JSU declined. In my four years at Jackson State I never played against a white team or an integrated team. But in 1963, a year after I graduated, Mississippi State University received an NCAA invitation and played against an integrated team, Loyola of Chicago, in what's known as the Game of Change. That game started a real change in Mississippi and the Deep South's approach to intercollegiate interracial athletics. This is something I never forgot, even though I am now 84. It's burned into my core memory. |
| Why Mike Leach recommended Brett Bartolone to run Deion Sanders' offense at Jackson State | |
 | Seven or eight weeks into last season, Jackson State football's offense had become so predictable that opponents were calling out plays before they happened, according to coach Deion Sanders. So, when Sanders decided to take the offense in a new direction and hire a new offensive coordinator in the offseason, he turned to Mississippi State coach Mike Leach for suggestions. One of the names Leach brought up was Brett Bartolone, the former Nevada offensive analyst whom Sanders ended up hiring for the position. "We've got to move the ball, we've got to be a lot more creative," Sanders said during ESPN's broadcast of JSU's spring game. "So who do you go to? A guy like Mike Leach (and say) 'Give me three guys that you think can do the job.' We interviewed them well and extensively and Brett won it out." Bartolone was a member of Leach's first Washington State recruiting class. He led the Cougars in catches as a freshman in 2012 before shoulder surgery ended his playing career the following year. He spent his junior and senior years in college as a student-assistant coach under Leach. Leach continued to keep an eye on Bartolone's career after he graduated. "Just a really good mind for football, he always studied like crazy. Heck, he even went and coached in France," Leach told The Clarion-Ledger. |
| Mike Keehn Announces His Retirement After 34 Years As A Baseball Coach At North Alabama | |
| The longest tenured coach in the history of the University of North Alabama athletic program, Mike Keehn has announced his retirement as head baseball coach of the Lions at the end of the current 2022 season. Keehn, who joined the UNA program as a graduate assistant in 1989, retires as a grandfather who has spent the last 34 years helping guide the Lion program to 1,065 total wins. He was a part of 720 wins as an assistant coach to Mike Lane and has earned another 345 wins as head coach at North Alabama. In all, Keehn has coached UNA in its last 1,720 straight games over a career that touches five decades. "Coach Keehn and I met earlier this month to discuss his plans to retire at the conclusion of the 2022 season," said University of North Alabama Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney. "Consistent with Coach Keehn's high character and relentless loyalty to UNA Baseball, he insisted that the attention of this final home weekend series be focused on Senior Day festivities and baseball's graduating athletes. Now that those two events have passed, Sunday's home finale is our opportunity to congratulate Mike and his family on their 34-year dedication to UNA Baseball." |
| Nick Saban calls for 'parity' on Finebaum show; Lane Kiffin questions if he knows definition of word | |
 | Nick Saban said Friday he wants to see college football get back to parity in the sport. During an interview with Paul Finebaum, the Alabama coach stressed there is no "balance" in the sport which can impact the desired parity he seeks. "One of the things I'd like to see us be able to work back to is everything in college football has always had parity: same scholarships, same academic support, healthcare, whatever it is," Saban explained. "I don't think we have that balance right now which could affect the parity of college football and athletics as a whole." Of course, there are those that argue parity has never been a part of college football. Many on social media questioned the Alabama coach's comments, including Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. The former Alabama offensive coordinator even asked on Twitter if Saban was feeling OK. "Paul, did you tell (the goat) what that word means????" Kiffin tweeted. "Parity = 'The state or condition of being equal, especially regarding status or pay.'" The Crimson Tide's success over the past the years suggests there is anything but parity in college football. In the eight years of the College Football Playoff, Alabama has been among the top 4 in seven of those years. |
| Auburn AD Allen Green: NIL 'bled into something that we anticipated without guardrails' | |
| The transfer portal was the first to maestro college football into a new era but then came NIL which completely changed the sport. To many, the changes are shocking but Auburn athletic director Allen Greene, like many, saw it coming. "I think (lack of regulation) is probably the biggest challenge," Green said on The Paul Finebaum Show. "Different schools are interpreting things differently. ... NIL itself is a really good thing and we're okay with that. But it's, quite frankly, bled into something that we anticipated without guardrails. Now we're hearing the term 'Wild, Wild West' and 'free agency.' We feel the same thing. That's part of where we are." In recent weeks, there have been meetings regarding the future of college football in the NIL era and how it can reach a level of balance and sustainability. "I've had conversations about this outside of our industry," Greene said. "And I remember having conversations about NIL prior to it passing. A lot of ADs knew that without guardrails, we'd find ourselves in this world. Perhaps we've found ourselves in this world faster than we anticipated. But nonetheless, it's a very complicated matter that is driven a little bit by our industry and our inability to act effectively, and a little bit by outside sources driving the train for us." College athletics changed since Greene joined Auburn in 2018. His biggest decision thus far was firing Gus Malzahn in 2020 and subsequently hiring Bryan Harsin away from Boise State. Greene is committed to the long run at Auburn. |
| Sean Payton's message to Loyola graduates: 'You've got to hit the ground running' | |
 | Sean Payton's message to the 2022 Loyola University graduating class was similar to the ones he delivered to his players during a 16-year tenure as coach of the New Orleans Saints. During his commencement address at Lakefront Arena on Saturday night, Payton spoke about grit, determination and resilience -- traits, he said, that apply to all walks of life, not just football. Payton told the 816 graduates assembled before him about a video he showed his Saints team before the start of the season last year that showed baby iguanas hatching in the sand in the Galapagos Islands, and immediately being preyed upon by a horde of menacing snakes lying in wait. "A third of the iguanas are eaten before they can reach safety, so here's the deal: You have to hit the ground running," said Payton, drawing a raucous round of cheers and laughter from the spirited crowd. Payton elicited several laughs during his 10-minute speech, which was delivered extemporaneously and in classic, improvisational Payton style. He declined the use of a teleprompter and spoke unscripted, using only seven index cards to guide him to his various talking points. Among the graduates in the crowd for the two-and-a-half-hour ceremony was Payton's wife, Skylene Montgomery, who received her Master of Science in nursing degree. Before his speech, Loyola president Tania Tetlow presented Payton with an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree "for his commitment to excellence, transformative leadership and service to the city of New Orleans." |
| Stephen Curry finishes degree, graduates from Davidson College | |
| While leading the Golden State Warriors to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2019, NBA superstar Stephen Curry reached another major milestone this week, graduating from Davidson College with the class of 2022. Curry, who attended the North Carolina college from 2006-09 and played three seasons with the Wildcats, needed one more semester of classwork to earn his diploma after forgoing his senior year to declare for the 2009 NBA Draft. The three-time NBA champion re-enrolled in the program over the Spring semester, where he worked closely with current and former professors. Curry received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Sociology. While he will not partake in Davidson's commencement ceremony, the Warriors guard is hopeful to return to campus one day to be presented with his diploma. |
| How UNC laid foundation to prepare for NIL, set pace in changing college sports landscape | |
| Wesley Haynes' frustration with the NCAA had reached its peak. The president and founder of the marketing and licensing agency The BrandR Group (TBG) pitched on multiple occasions to the NCAA in 2020 the idea of bringing group licensing to college athletes in a similar way that he worked with the NFL and NBA players associations. It was a seamless way, Haynes believed, that the NCAA could usher into a new era where current college athletes could make money off their name, image and likeness (NIL). The NCAA, of course, wasn't buying it at the time, instead putting its hopes in litigating its way to preserve the amateur model that it long championed. Haynes later happened upon an article that quoted North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham. His words read like Cunningham had seen Haynes' notes and sat in on those meetings with the NCAA. "He said everything that I thought," Haynes said. "Which was, what a missed opportunity this group price program would be and he had felt that this would be a good good way to get started with it in the NIL space." So Haynes reached out to Cunningham through a mutual friend, and it led to a groundbreaking deal. Carolina partnered with TBG, signing a multi-year agreement announced in April 2021 to create a group licensing deal with alumni of its men's basketball and women's soccer teams. It was the first deal of its kind nationally and explains why more fans were spotted wearing jerseys of Tyler Hansbrough, Vince Carter and the like at the Dean E. Smith Center this season during basketball games. |
| They Treated Their Sports Like a Job. They Wish the N.C.A.A. Had, Too. | |
| Tamara Statman may have had a student ID card during her four years playing softball at the University of Arizona, but she sometimes wondered if it should have read "Employee" instead. If practice times conflicted with classes Statman and her teammates wanted to take, practice always took precedence, discouraging some students from pursuing their intended majors. Some athletes waited until after they had graduated, or had exhausted their N.C.A.A. eligibility, to pursue internships or summer jobs. Some, like Statman, who worked for a food delivery service, shouldered odd jobs late into nights to help pay for food, rent and utilities. Her experiences made such an indelible impression on her that they led her to recently join the newest -- and biggest -- group of plaintiffs in a case that could upend college sports. Filed in 2019 by Trey Johnson, a former Villanova University football player, the lawsuit accuses the N.C.A.A. and some of its member colleges of violating federal minimum-wage laws by refusing to pay athletes like employees. And, to the surprise of some legal experts, the case has gained considerable momentum since last summer, thanks to favorable rulings by the federal judge presiding over the case and seismic changes in college athletics. While the N.C.A.A. has relented on some issues, like athletes being able to benefit from their names, images and likenesses, it has insisted that players not be classified as employees, and the Johnson case strikes at the heart of that demand. |
| Meet the Only College Athletes Who Can't Do Endorsement Deals | |
| Gatorade wanted to shoot an inspirational ad with a one-armed high school basketball phenom, a viral sensation newly freed of National Collegiate Athletic Association restrictions on earning from the use of his name, image and likeness. There was just one problem: Hansel Enmanuel is Dominican, in the U.S. on a student visa that explicitly bars him from working while he's here. So he flew to Mexico and filmed for Gatorade there. There are around 20,000 international athletes at American high schools and colleges who are in the same bind. Some are offered lucrative deals that could change their lives. Most have the potential to secure some sort of payment: a handbag, a four-figure contract for some Instagram posts, a string of small payments for recording Cameo messages. All could jeopardize their visas if they don't correctly navigate a foggy terrain. College students' visas allow only limited on-campus employment, or off-campus work that's related to what they're studying -- not what they're playing. High-school students on visas can't work at all. Breaking those terms could mean being kicked out of the country; more likely, it could mean being unable to renew a student visa, or being locked out later when seeking a new status. "A student-athlete who's not immigration-compliant cannot return for their pro career," said Ksenia Maiorova, a sports immigration lawyer in Florida. Some agents insist they can duck the restrictions by arguing that a social media post made from a dorm room in the U.S. doesn't count as work. Others have no interest in taking that chance. |
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