| Monday, June 13, 2022 |
| MSU to improve pedestrian safety on Starkville campus | |
 | Mississippi State University plans to enhance pedestrian safety by reducing vehicle traffic on roadways at the center of campus. Over the summer, MSU personnel will be installing new gates to limit vehicular traffic on Hardy Road and President's Circle, as part as the university's "pedestrian core" master plan. Roadways and parking areas inside the pedestrian-focused corridor will be accessible only to faculty and staff with gated parking permits, vendors with parking permits, and SMART transit buses. New roadways that opened this year will allow for traffic to flow further away from the core of campus and are part of two new infrastructure investments that can facilitate North-South and East-West traffic on campus. Bulldog Way will connect Blackjack Road and East Lee Boulevard, while Famous Maroon Band Street connects Hardy Road and Stone Boulevard. The expanded pedestrian core now will encompass Hardy Street from the Lee Boulevard intersection to north of Famous Maroon Band Street; President's Circle from the west side of Allen Hall to just east of the Hardy and Morrill Road intersection; and Magruder Street from President's Circle to north of Famous Maroon Band Street, in addition to all other roads and parking lots that are currently gated. The changes will not impact student commuter and residential parking areas. |
| MSU professor illustrates Juneteenth children's book | |
 | Children across the nation will better understand Juneteenth thanks to a Mississippi State University art professor's drawings. Alex Bostic, an associate professor in the MSU Department of Art, illustrated the 32-page children's book "Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem," in which poet and activist Sojourner Kincaid Rolle tells the story of the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learning of their freedom in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth became the newest U.S. federal holiday in 2021. "I'm lucky to have this opportunity. It resonates with certain things I want to do dealing with historical Black images," he said. "This book is coming out at a time when it's becoming more and more important to tell these stories. I want my children and grandchildren to know these stories and historical facts." Bostic's 40-year career spans a variety of creative roles, from Hallmark greeting card writer to movie poster designer. He joined MSU's faculty 11 years ago. His art focuses on the human form and experience, and promotion of historical Black figures. |
| Fighting back: Guest calls Cassidy's accusations about his record lies | |
 | Congressman Michael Guest is in a runoff election with newcomer Michael Cassidy on June 28th after the two finished with 47% and 48%, respectively, in the three-man 3rd District Republican Primary on Tuesday. Guest joined Y'all Politics on Friday morning to rebut the main points his challenger is making against him in the race, directly calling them lies and warning the voters in the 3rd District to not be fooled by the Maryland native. The incumbent Congressman also commented on the reports of Cassidy scrubbing his campaign website after Tuesday's Primary when conservatives began delving more into who the newcomer was and where he stood on policy issues. |
| Michael Guest campaign airs first negative campaign ad after shocking primary results | |
 | Only three days after Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Guest was forced into a runoff election, his campaign is already releasing a campaign advertisement hammering his opponent over his voting record and short residence in Mississippi. Guest's campaign produced an ad questioning if voters truly know Michael Cassidy, his GOP opponent who has momentarily captured voters' attention in central Mississippi by touting his support of former President Donald Trump. "He just came to Mississippi from Maryland and only registered to vote here last year," the advertisement said. "As a Navy reserve pilot, Cassidy was grounded and put under an investigation. Mississippi doesn't need a carpetbagger." Cassidy, through a campaign representative, did not respond to a request for comment. Cassidy's campaign website says that he was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. It's unclear when he moved to Mississippi, but his website says he has lived in the state for the past few years while working at the Naval Air Station in Meridian. |
| Palazzo was absent from 4 debates before the primary. Now he's challenging Mike Ezell | |
 | Sheriff Mike Ezell remarked Thursday on the lack of personal attacks during the primary election, but that changed later when Rep. Steven Palazzo challenged him to a debate. The runoff election is June 28 between the two Republicans -- one of whom will face off against Democrat Johnny DuPree and Independent Alden Johnson in November for the Mississippi 4th Congressional District seat. "Voters deserve to hear directly from both candidates and compare our records before the runoff," Palazzo said in a press release. Ezell replied, "Yes, let's have a debate. We've already had four debates and Steven Palazzo didn't show up to any of them. So the real question is, will he show up to this one?" If he does, this would be the first time Palazzo has held a public meeting or debate in years. In issuing the challenge, Palazzo attacked Ezell's age -- and got it wrong. "A 65-year old freshman in Congress is not going to be able to get done for Mississippi what I can as a subcommittee chairman on Appropriations with seniority in the House," Palazzo said. Ezell is 63. On Thursday the five Republican candidates who ran against Ezell and Palazzo in the primary endorsed Ezell. Together they took 68% of the vote to Palazzo's 32%. |
| Amid abortion debate, clinic asks: Who's caring for moms? | |
 | Miracle Allen used her last tank of gas to drive an hour and 15 minutes to the closest clinic that would care for her and her unborn baby. Allen, 29, was four months pregnant when Hurricane Ida ripped through her Houma, Louisiana, community. She spent three nights in the remnants of a house with a torn roof and no electricity. Her car was all she had left. So Allen -- along with her 6-year-old daughter, her mother and a niece -- fled in it to the rural Mississippi town of Kosciusko, where family lives. Her first priority was finding a doctor to check on her baby boy. But the lone local obstetrician splits her work between two rural counties and wasn't taking new patients. Allen couldn't find another doctor even within an hour's drive -- certainly not one who'd take a patient without insurance or an ID, which was destroyed in her home by Ida. Finally, a Jackson-area hospital that turned her away suggested the Sisters in Birth clinic. On that last tank of gas, she arrived in a panic. Would they see her? Had the stress of the storm affected her pregnancy? Where would she go if this place turned her away? Clinic CEO and founder Getty Israel says Mississippi leaders are failing these women every day. As state Republican officials spend time and resources trying to ban abortion and awaiting a ruling that could overturn Roe v. Wade, advocates say nothing is being done to support women who choose to give birth. "We're doing everything wrong," Israel said. "Mississippi is pro-birth, but not pro-life. If we really are a pro-life state, we have to do more than try to end abortion and make sure that women are healthy." |
| Higher Unemployment Rate Looms as the Fed Fights Inflation | |
 | Federal Reserve officials are beginning to signal that higher unemployment rates might be a necessary consequence of their efforts to damp inflation by raising interest rates. This marks a reversal from last year, when their policies provided strong economic stimulus aimed at spurring the labor market's recovery from the pandemic's damaging effects. This week, the central bank is widely expected to raise its short-term benchmark rate, currently in a range between 0.75% and 1%, by a half percentage point. In economic projections to be released this week, more officials are likely to pencil in plans to raise rates this year to levels high enough to deliberately slow hiring and economic growth in an effort to cool inflation, which hit 8.6% in May, a 40-year high. The policy makers also could project somewhat higher unemployment rates over the next two years than they had anticipated earlier this year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and other officials suggested earlier this year that they might be able to reduce demand for labor -- a source of inflation pressure -- primarily by prodding employers to cut job vacancies, rather than by laying off workers and pushing up unemployment. But in recent interviews and public statements, Fed officials have sketched out a path in which unemployment rises this year, though not sharply, as the economy and inflation cool, a scenario Mr. Powell has referred to as a "soft or 'soft-ish' landing." |
| Lindsey Graham and Bernie Sanders kick off a new debate series. It'll be 'fun' | |
 | The idea is simple: Take Bernie Sanders and Lindsey Graham, put them inside a replica of the Senate chamber, ask them to debate in the name of "bipartisan bridge-building," and see what happens next. The two senators will face off in an hourlong debate Monday, moderated by Fox News host Bret Baier and streamed live at noon on Fox Nation. So why did Graham agree to this? "Nothing else to do," he joked this week, before quickly adding, "No, no, really. I think it'll be fun." Sanders had a slightly different prediction. "Democracy in America is under assault from right-wing Republican extremists. There's no question about that," he said. "But I look forward to sharp discussion." Whether the debate will be "fun" or "sharp" or maybe both, the two men can't just fall back on their usual dynamic as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. For this event, they agreed to a format that feels more like a high school debate competition. The irascible democratic socialist from Vermont and the outspoken Republican from South Carolina will go back and forth in an Oxford-style debate of arguments and rebuttals before sitting down with Baier for a question-and-answer session. No winner will be declared, but at the end, the pair will try to find common ground. Monday's focus is expected to be the economy, an issue proving to be divisive in the upcoming midterm elections over which the two have significant disagreements -- to say the least. "I hope it will be fun and hopefully informative," Graham said. "I like Bernie, and we'll find out -- maybe there's some things that even the two of us agree upon." The event is the first of three that will be hosted this year by the Bipartisan Policy Center in collaboration with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. |
| Senators strike bipartisan gun safety agreement | |
 | A group of 20 senators struck a bipartisan gun safety framework on Sunday, marking a significant breakthrough in Congress' attempts to address recent back-to-back mass shootings. In a Sunday morning statement, 10 senators in each party announced support for the deal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blessed it, vowing to "put this bill on the floor as soon as possible," and President Joe Biden said it "would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades." The president urged both chambers of Congress to finish the package quickly. The emerging package is anchored around extra scrutiny for gun buyers under the age of 21, grants to states to implement so-called red flag laws and new spending on mental health treatment and school security. While translating the agreement into legislation will take time, the large group of supportive senators shows that the package could gain 60 votes on the Senate floor before heading to the House. "Our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense proposal into law," the 20 senators said in their statement. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement welcoming the announcement as proof of "the value of dialogue and cooperation," though he sidestepped a direct endorsement of the framework. |
| GOP Senate retirements could spell trouble for earmarks' future | |
| The Senate Republican Conference will lose some prolific earmarkers to retirement next year, as the party faces some soul-searching over whether to keep the practice if they retake one or both chambers after November's midterms. Thus far in the upcoming fiscal 2023 appropriations process, North Carolina's Richard M. Burr has asked for about $219 million worth of projects, Alabama's Richard C. Shelby has sought nearly $664 million and Missouri's Roy Blunt has asked for about $685 million. Their requests for the Interior-Environment spending bill hadn't been submitted as of Friday afternoon, so the totals may still grow. Not to be outdone, Oklahoma's James M. Inhofe, whose requests for all of the spending bills available for earmarks are in, is seeking nearly $900 million. Just 16 Senate Republicans have requested earmarks for fiscal 2023, same as last year, in contrast to growing support among House Republicans. But Burr and Blunt appear likely to be replaced by candidates who oppose the practice, and Shelby and Inhofe also could find themselves succeeded by anti-earmark senators when the dust settles in primaries to replace them. Three of the four seats are considered safe GOP holds; Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzalez rates the North Carolina race "Lean Republican." If the Republicans capture the Senate, which is currently evenly divided, it may be difficult for leadership to continue a practice so unpopular in their ranks. |
| Trump American Freedom Tour coming to Landers Center | |
 | Former President Donald Trump and the American Freedom Tour will be coming to the Landers Center June 18 along with a host of political speakers to help inspire conservatives to make America great again. The lineup includes Donald Trump, Jr., TV news personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sheriff Mark Lamb, and political commentators Dinesh D'Souza and Candace Owens. "It's a great lineup," said American Freedom Tour president Chris Widener. "It's a variety of perspectives designed to give people hope and courage. And of course, a chance to hear the president. He's the main reason everyone shows up to see." General admission is $45, but Widener said they also offer other ticket packages which include a breakfast Q&A with D'Souza, meet-and-greet and photo-op with Don Jr. and Guilfoyle, and a private after-party. "We wanted to make sure that anybody can come," Widener said. "We obviously have some higher end tickets, but for somebody on a budget who wants to come, there is a ticket for them as well." Widener said the tour has generated big crowds in all of the cities they have been to and he expects a similar outpouring from Memphis and north Mississippi. |
| GOP governor says Trump is 'politically, morally responsible' for Jan. 6 | |
 | Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday said former President Trump is "politically, morally responsible" for the Jan. 6 riot last year and called for Republicans to do some "soul-searching" after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Hutchinson told "Fox News Sunday" guest host Bret Baier that while he did not believe Trump was criminally responsible for Jan. 6, he does think the former president shares blame for the insurrection. "Trump is politically, morally responsible for much of what has happened, but in terms of criminal liability, I think the committee has a long way to go to establish that," the governor said of the House select panel investigating Jan. 6. The panel held its first June public hearing last week with a plan to hold three more this week. Taken together, lawmakers on the committee say the hearings will show Trump was at the center of the Jan. 6 uprising and culpable for the storming of the U.S. Capitol to overturn certification of the 2020 election. The Arkansas governor said Jan. 6 was a "costly error" for democracy and called for the Republican Party to try and understand what happened that day and learn from it. "Republicans need to do a lot of soul searching as to what is the right thing here and what is the right thing for our democracy in the future," Hutchinson said, "and not simply adhere to the basic instincts of some of our base." |
| Jan. 6 panel: Trump ex-campaign manager pulls out of hearing | |
| Without a key witness, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot opened its hearing Monday after a scrambled delay as Donald Trump's former campaign manager Bill Stepien abruptly pulled out of testifying, citing a family emergency. The committee was told that Stepien's wife was in labor, according to the panel's chairman, Rep. Benny Thompson, D-Miss. The hearing start time was pushed back while the changes were worked out. Stepien is a key witness as the panel delves deeper into what it calls the "big lie," the defeated Republican president's false claims of voter fraud that fueled his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and provoked a mob of his supporters to lay siege to the U.S. Capitol. Instead of Stepien's live testimony, the panel was showing his previously recorded interview with the panel, given behind closed doors, about what the campaign team was telling Trump as he lost the 2020 presidential election. Chairman Thompson opened the hearing saying Trump "betrayed the trust of the American people" and "tried to remain in office when people had voted him out." Committee members say they have uncovered enough evidence for the Justice Department to consider an unprecedented criminal indictment against the former president. Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., were leading the hearing after last week's blockbuster session drew nearly 20 million Americans to see its prime-time findings. |
| Idaho Police Arrest 31 Suspected White Nationalists Near LGBT Pride Event | |
| Idaho police arrested 31 people believed to be part of the white nationalist group Patriot Front near an annual LGBT Pride event on Saturday. Police had been on high alert after being warned that a number of groups planned to interrupt the annual Pride in the Park event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The suspects, who came from several different states, have been booked on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a press conference. Chief White said a citizen called police at 1:38 p.m. local time to report a group of people with masks and military gear that looked like a "little Army" loading into a U-Haul in the parking lot of a hotel near downtown. Police stopped the U-Haul about 10 minutes later near the Pride in the Park event, Chief White said. The suspects were all wearing khaki pants, blue shirts and beige hats. They were equipped with shields, shin guards and other riot gear as well as at least one smoke grenade, Chief White said. "They came to riot," Chief White said. Police said the suspects came from Michigan, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Washington, Oregon, Illinois and Arkansas. Chief White said the suspects might have been able to cause a disruption if not for the citizen who called police about the U-Haul. "I don't think this would have been as successful without one extremely astute citizen who saw something that was very concerning to them and reported it to us," he said. |
| UM Museum recognized by Mississippi Heritage Trust | |
 | For more than two decades, the University of Mississippi Museum has been the steward of Rowan Oak, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Faulkner's home and grounds, with the support of university leadership and the Facilities Management Department. The museum's efforts were publicly recognized Thursday (June 9) with an award from one of the state's premier historic preservation organizations. The Heritage Award recognized the museum's stewardship and oversight of Rowan Oak since the late 1990s. The honor, which includes a plaque, came during the statewide annual historic preservation conference of the Mississippi Heritage Trust in Raymond. "Constructed circa 1840, Rowan Oak has an important story to tell about Mississippi and one of our most famous writers, William Faulkner," said Lolly Rash, MHT executive director. "The Mississippi Heritage Trust is pleased to recognize the University Museum for its stewardship of this treasured historic place with a 2022 Heritage Award." The award is a tribute to more than two decades of daily direction by Rowan Oak's curator, William Griffith, said Robert Saarnio, director of University Museum and Historic Houses. |
| USM professor's research on neurodegenerative diseases published in Biophysical Journal | |
| Many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) have a commonality that they involve "clumping" of proteins as the cause of toxicity in the brain. One such protein called TDP-43, forms clumps in the brain of patients with ALS and FTLD. ALS and FTLD are neurodegenerative diseases with onset of symptoms usually occurring around 65 years of age. As the name suggests, FTLD affects two distinct frontal and anterior temporal region of the brain resulting in behavior or language impairment. For example, changes in personality, difficulties in remembering specific words and objects thereby impairing the ability to speak and communicate. On the other hand, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, involves loss of motor neurons that controls the movement. This results in muscle weakness and difficulty in movement, ability to speak, swallow, and sometimes even breathe. A University of Southern Mississippi (USM) professor's research paper recently published in the prestigious Biophysical Journal titled, "Charge and Redox States Modulate Granulin–TDP-43 Coacervation Toward Phase Separation or Aggregation," shows that the nature of TDP-43 clumps can be modulated by another protein called granulin, which are typically produced during inflammation. |
| U. of Alabama dedicates Judy Bonner Child Development Center | |
 | The University of Alabama on Friday officially renamed the Child Development Research Center in honor of former president Judy Bonner, who served as UA's 28th president and was also the university's first female president. Stuart Bell, who serves as UA's current president, joined faculty, staff and alumni at the newly-named Judy Bonner Child Development Center at 651 Peter Bryce Drive for a public dedication ceremony. Bonner and her family also attended the ceremony. Bell opened Friday's dedication by thanking Bonner for her contributions to the university. "She has always understood the value of education and the powerful roles that educators play in shaping [all of] our futures. That love, combined with our mission at the University of Alabama, is really united here," Bell said. Bonner said the university's decision to dedicate the center in her name was an honor. "I am enormously proud that my name will be on this beautiful building," Bonner said. The center houses a children's program that serves 114 students ages two months to 5 years old, along with Child Development Resources, Capstone Family Therapy Clinic and the Pediatric Development Research Laboratory. The facility is also home to the College of Education's Belser-Parton Literacy Center. In 2012, Bonner was unanimously elected the 28th president of UA, making her the first woman president in the university's then-181-year history. Bonner served as president for nearly three years before stepping down from the role in 2015. Bonner finished her career at Mississippi State University, where she retired in 2019 as provost and executive vice president. |
| Buc-ee's creator donates $50 million for Aplin Center at Texas A&M | |
 | Arch "Beaver" Aplin III started Buc-ee's two years after graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in construction science, and he's been building the iconic travel centers ever since. Aplin recently donated $50 million to his alma mater for a hospitality entrepreneurship program at the school, one of the largest gifts ever given to A&M from a single donor. The contribution will go toward establishing the Aplin Center that will serve as an immersive learning laboratory for students, according to Kelly Brown, division of marketing and communications associate vice president at A&M. "They haven't built a timeline yet. They're in the preliminary stages of the process," she said. "Before a timeline is set, they will have to create a design concept, hire a construction company and take all the other necessary steps that come with building a new facility." Texas A&M Today reported the Aplin Center will offer a "transformational student experience through new university programs in hospitality, retail studies and food product development involving innovative degree programs including viticulture, fermentation processes, coffee and food science." Texas A&M President Dr. M. Katherine Banks said the Aplin Center will allow for more opportunities for students to seek education in entrepreneurship. Aplin said Banks' vision of a world-class hospitality entrepreneurship program is what A&M needs and he's proud to have an opportunity to be involved. |
| After a Decade, Purdue's Mitch Daniels Calls It Quits | |
 | Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the president of Purdue University, announced on Friday that he would step down at the end of the calendar year. The news is not entirely surprising, given that Daniels has led the university for a decade and that a growing number of college presidents have chosen this year to quit. The pandemic, political and economic stresses, and public dissatisfaction with higher education have taken a toll on higher-education executives. On Wednesday, Harvard University's president, Lawrence S. Bacow, announced his resignation after just four years in office. Since the beginning of his tenure, Daniels, a former Republican governor of Indiana and leading adviser to two U.S. presidents, has sought to put a moderately conservative stamp on Purdue's administration. For that reason, Daniels's list of accomplishments includes some items that might not have been possible, or even desirable, for many other college leaders. At the top of that list is a tuition freeze that has remained in place for 11 years and will continue through the 2022-23 academic year. That move alone made Daniels the darling of conservative editorial boards and think tanks across the country, but it requires the institution to seek operating revenue from other sources in order to keep up with increased costs and inflation. |
| Daniels to retire at Purdue; successor already named | |
 | Mitch Daniels is stepping down after 10 years as president of Purdue University, per an announcement made Friday. And a successor was named on the same day -- without public input. Purdue did not respond to a media inquiry about the closed internal search process, which breaks from the norm at public universities when seeking a successor for a departing president. Daniels, a former Indiana governor from 2005 to 2013, joined Purdue in 2013 after his term ended. Daniels will vacate the president's office at the end of the year and be replaced on Jan. 1 by Mung Chiang, who currently serves as dean of engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives. Last year Chiang was considered to be the front-runner for the University of South Carolina presidency before dropping out of consideration, citing responsibilities to his family and Purdue. Once Daniels made his interest in retiring clear to the board, an internal search for his successor began, according to details shared with local reporters at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting, where the announcement was made. Other internal candidates were also considered. Chiang said at Friday's meeting that he was first approached about the presidency in April. Chiang was the unanimous choice to succeed Daniels, according to a Purdue news release in which Board of Trustees chairman Michael Berghoff noted Chiang had turned down other offers. |
| Why Students Are Choosing H.B.C.U.s: '4 Years Being Seen as Family' | |
 | Once the primary means for Black Americans to get a college education, historically Black colleges and universities, or H.B.C.U.s, now account for just 9 percent of such students. But top-tier H.B.C.U.s -- long bastions of Black excellence -- as well as others are increasingly becoming the first choice for some of the nation's most sought-after talent, according to interviews with dozens of students, guidance counselors, admissions advisers and college officials across the country. They belong to a generation whose adolescence was shaped not only by the election of the first Black president but also by political and social strife that threatened the lives and liberties of Black Americans. For many families, the embrace of historically Black colleges has been influenced by concerns about racial hostility, students' feelings of isolation in predominantly white schools and shifting views on what constitutes the pinnacle of higher education. There is also a growing recognition among policymakers and predominantly white schools of the value of H.B.C.U.s, and the fact that they have long operated at a disadvantage. Federal lawmakers have increased funding for the 101 schools, providing nearly $2 billion since 2017, as well as $2.7 billion this year in pandemic emergency relief. Alumni and philanthropists have donated over a billion dollars in recent years, funding scholarships and programs in science, technology and other fields. |
| Congress eyeing Chinese-linked university endowments | |
| Congress's next move to limit partnerships with China could target America's top colleges and universities -- shutting down their investments in Chinese companies that "have been deemed an unacceptable national security risk," Politico reported Friday. Representative Greg Murphy, a North Carolina Republican, is drafting a piece of legislation called the Protecting Endowments From our Adversaries Act, which would encourage divestment from entities listed on the U.S. government sanction list, which includes companies that have engaged in activity that opposes national "security or foreign policy interest." The bill could impact any private college or university with an endowment worth at least $1 billion, which includes Harvard and Yale Universities and other institutions, none of which responded when approached for comment by Inside Higher Ed. It would institute a 50 percent excise tax on the principal investment for all entities added to a U.S. sanctions list and a 100 percent excise tax once the entity has remained on the list for over a year. On Thursday Murphy sent a letter to 15 of the nation's top private universities, asking them to clarify whether their endowments were invested in a list of entities currently on lists maintained by the U.S. government to identify potentially dangerous entities. It also asks these institutions what policies they have in place to divest from any entity added to the U.S. government sanction list. According to sources familiar with the matter, it is uncommon practice for universities to have investments in entities that are flagged as a national security concern, and there is little economic benefit to these universities to invest in such entities. |
| STEM Talent Critical for Future Success | |
| Mississippi Economic Council President and CEO Scott Waller writes: Mississippi is part of a global competition for workforce. For our state to succeed, it is vitally important to increase the number of proficient workers, including highly skilled STEM professionals. Last year, the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) conducted 51 small group sessions on a variety of policy issues impacting our economy during our annual tour. Without question, the number one issue people said their businesses and organizations faced was a lack of skilled professionals. These conversations and research led to MEC releasing its "Securing Mississippi's Future" report, which highlighted one of the five goals to grow Mississippi's economy and population as being to increase the number of highly skilled professionals in the state. How do we find ways to keep students here after graduation, whether they grew up here, came from out of state, or are from abroad? There are many factors to keeping some of our best minds in Mississippi. ... The country's economic and national security are dependent upon skilled professionals with science, technology, engineering and math skills and education. Yet, in Mississippi and elsewhere, we are coming up short. |
SPORTS
| Anderson Breaks Longstanding Jamaican Record, Finishes as National Runner Up | |
| For nearly 50 years, the men's Jamaican 800m record had remain untouched, but on Friday night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., the longstanding time fell as Mississippi State's Navasky Anderson gave his home country a record-breaking performance en route to a national runner up finish. His historic 1:45.02 run became a new personal best for the Bulldog and earned him first team All-American status. The time was 0.87 seconds faster than the time that made him a Southeastern Conference champion last month, and 0.28 seconds faster than the Jamaican mark that had stood since May 1977. His season in the Maroon and White may be over, but this will not be the last time Anderson runs at Hayward Field this calendar year. Next month, the national runner up will dawn the gold, green and black at the World Athletics Championships, July 15-24. The Mississippi State men's program finished the 2022 National Outdoor Championships in the top 30 as a unit with 10 total team points: Anderson, 800m (8 pts); DJ Jónsson, Javelin (2 pts). The team result marks the 26th time in program history that the MSU men have finished inside the top 30 at the national meet. |
| Mississippi State's summer coaches tour begins this week. Where will they be stopping? | |
 | Mississippi State fans looking to catch a glimpse of their new basketball coaches can do so this week. Sam Purcell and Chris Jans are joining football coach Mike Leach on MSU's annual summer coaches tour. The trio will make two stops Tuesday, starting in Olive Branch (11:30 a.m.) then going to Greenwood (6 p.m.). The following day, the tour will stop in Gulfport at 6 p.m. before closing things out at 6 p.m. Thursday in Jackson. The summer tour will extend beyond the week with a new event called Hail State Happy Hours. MSU will organize 90-minute informal events for fans to socialize with coaches, but details on those haven't been released yet. Purcell is entering his first season as women's basketball coach after serving as an assistant at Louisville. He is taking over for interim coach Doug Novak who led the Bulldogs to a 15-14 season after Nikki McCray-Penson stepped down in October. Jans was named coach of the men's team in March after Ben Howland was fired after an 18-16 season. He spent five seasons at New Mexico State and the Aggies qualified for four NCAA Tournament berths. Leach is in his third seasons with the Bulldogs. |
| D.J. Jeffries 'glad to be back' at Mississippi State after testing transfer waters | |
| D.J. Jeffries thought he knew what Chris Jans was going to tell him. The Mississippi State forward didn't expect his new head coach to react well to Jeffries' decision to explore his options by entering the NCAA transfer portal. When he asked if he could keep ties with Jans and the Bulldogs while in the portal, Jeffries braced for the worst -- something like, "D.J., once you leave, you're gone. I'm done with you." Instead, Jans respected Jeffries' decision. He gave the Olive Branch native space to make a choice. And he made sure Jeffries knew he was welcome back if he so chose. For Jeffries, that was a surprise. "I'm not used to that in the experience that I've had with other colleges," he said. "Once you tell them that you're done, they're done with you." Mississippi State wasn't done with Jeffries. And Jeffries isn't done with the Bulldogs yet, either. The rising senior withdrew his name from the transfer portal in mid-May, choosing to stay in Starkville and play for Jans. "I'm just glad to be back," Jeffries said. "All that stuff's in the past." |
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