| Friday, August 5, 2022 |
| SBC, MSU sign agreement for transfer students in General Education program | |
 | Southeastern Baptist College and Mississippi State University presidents signed a joint agreement for transfer students from SBC's General Education program to attend MSU. On Tuesday, Aug. 2, SBC President Dr. Scott R. Carson and MSU President Dr. Mark E. Keenum signed the agreement on MSU's campus. The signed Memorandum of Understanding, according to SBC, will aid in transferring students who have finished an Associate of Arts in General Education program from SBC to MSU. It will be in effect for five years and is renewable at that time. Both schools' provosts, Jan Walker of SBC and Dr. David Shaw of MSU, also attended the signing of the agreement. SBC also has Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Southern Mississippi, William Carey University and Mississippi Valley State University, and is currently looking to make more agreements with various other colleges and universities in Mississippi and beyond. |
| Parenting styles vary across the US | |
 | Mississippi State University's Cliff McKinney writes for The Conversation: Most people agree that children should have enough to eat, not be sexually molested and never be punished in a way that requires medical treatment. But beyond those basics, my research has found that parenting styles in the United States vary by region. I have found that parents in the South were more likely than parents in central Florida to demand obedience and respect from their children and believe that children should be treated strictly. Parents in central Florida, which is demographically and culturally different from other parts of the South, were more likely to discuss family decisions with their children, allow disagreement and let children make their own decisions. Wider-ranging research I conducted with two doctoral students, Melanie Stearns and Erica Szkody, found differences in how young adults in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West are parented. Overall, there were some commonalities. A style of parenting called "authoritative," in which parents are both responsive and demanding, providing support alongside rules and limits while encouraging communication, was most common across the U.S. Also relatively common was a different parenting style called "authoritarian," in which parents are less responsive but still demanding, providing rules and limits without as much support and requiring more obedience to authority. |
| Coast has dodged hurricane season so far. Here's why that could change | |
 | The 2022 hurricane season has gotten off to a rather sluggish start. For the first time since 2017, there were no named hurricanes in June or July. And, so far this year, there have only been three named tropical storms at all. Just one of them, Colin, reached the Carolinas. Colin barely even qualified as a tropical storm. It was so weak that it stayed under forecasters' radar until the last possible minute. The National Weather Service even said the storm would likely have a positive effect on the region, given how little rainfall there had been recently before Colin arrived in early July. None of the named storms so far have had any effect on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But a slow start to hurricane season doesn't mean it's time to let your guard down. In 2017 -- the last time there was similar season -- Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc upon Houston, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage, much of which is still being paid for and fixed five years later. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updated its 2022 hurricane season outlook Thursday morning, saying the chances for an above-normal hurricane season have declined slightly, from 65% to 60%, while the chances of a normal hurricane season have increased from 20% to 30%. A major reason for the slow start to hurricane season is the fact that ocean temperatures in the parts of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico where storms typically form have been normal or below average. |
| For Black Artists, the Great Migration Is an Unfinished Journey | |
 | Midday, midweek, in mid-90 degrees midsummer, the streets of a downtown historic district of this Southern capital are all but empty. They're like a film set, perfect in period detail but past-use and abandoned. A patch of sidewalk embedded with the mosaicked words "Bon-Ton Café" marks the spot of what was, a century ago, Jackson's toniest restaurant. In the nearby King Edward Hotel, built as the Edwards Hotel in 1923 for travel swells, later a gathering spot for blues musicians, then derelict until a recent revamp, foot traffic is sparse. Across from it, trains regularly rumble into a Georgian Revival-style Union Station, but few passengers disembark or board. Decades ago, transcontinental trains and buses leaving the old Art Deco Greyhound depot a few blocks away, did brisk business. And some of that business came from carrying Black Jacksonians northward, eastward and westward, out of a repressive and dangerous Jim Crow South, to what they hoped would be a safer and more prosperous life in cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles. This directed dispersal of some six million people, known as the Great Migration, is generally considered to have stretched from the post-Reconstruction late-19th century to the post-Civil Rights Act 1970s. And its history gets an important update in a richly varied exhibition called "A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration" at the Mississippi Museum of Art here. |
| Economy adds 528,000 jobs in July as hiring surges despite high inflation; US recovers all jobs lost in COVID | |
 | U.S. employers added a booming 528,000 jobs in July as the labor market now has recovered all 22 million jobs lost in the pandemic and continued to defy soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a slowing economy. The unemployment rate fell from 3.6% to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists had estimated that 250,000 jobs were added last month, according to a Bloomberg survey. "The economy is not falling into recession," says Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College. "It is actually picking up speed as demand for services accelerates in a post Covid-19 environment." July's payroll increases were broad-based. Leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants and bars, the sector hit hardest by COVID-19, led the job gains with 96,000. Professional and business services added 89,000; health care, 70,000; construction, 32,000; manufacturing, 30,000; and retail, 22,000. Federal, state and local governments added 57,000 jobs. The employment recovery, however, masks divergent narratives for the public and private sectors. While businesses recouped all lost jobs in June and are now 629,000 positions above the pre-COVID level, government is still nearly 600,000 jobs below that benchmark. That's mostly because state and local governments haven't been able to provide the pay increases, remote work options and flexible hours offered by the private sector since the pandemic began in spring 2020. |
| State Sen. Boyd discusses Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families ahead of meetings | |
 | At the end of June, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann announced the creation of a bipartisan, nine-member Mississippi Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families. The group is tasked with making legislative recommendations related to families and young children, birth to 3 years old. This comes as the state moves into the next phase of assessing how best to assist families in this post-Roe environment. Members of the nine-member Senate Study Group include Senators Kevin Blackwell (R), Hob Bryan (D), Dean Kirby (R), Rod Hickman (D), Angela Hill (R), Chad McMahan (R), Angela Turner-Ford (D), and Brice Wiggins (R). Senator Nicole Boyd (R) will chair the Study Group. The lawmakers are set to meet on September 27 and 28 as well as October 25 and 26. Additional hearing dates or topics may be added as necessary. Chairwoman Senator Boyd met with Y'all Politics on Thursday. Senator Boyd noted that the group will be looking at pregnancy prevention and "how they help people in that arena as well." Senator Boyd, who also serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee, said that the largest number of abortions are in the college age group. "These women have completed high school and they are in some type of post-secondary either job training or education," Boyd said. "And so immediately what we are going to need to be looking at is really working with our colleges and universities to make sure that pregnancy prevention is indeed a big focus at those universities and colleges." |
| Mississippi's new State Health Officer shares plans for a healthier Mississippi | |
 | Mississippi's now former State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs left his office in late July, and the Department of Health is now welcoming Dr. Dan Edney to fill this role. A physician from Vicksburg, he has more than 30 years of experience in medicine and has previously served as Deputy State Health Officer and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Edney says one of his main priorities is reducing health disparities, many of which are the worst in the nation. Dr. Edney says "I just refuse to accept the fact that it's our fate to be the unhealthiest population in the nation. I refuse to believe that our teenagers and college-age students must continue to die at an escalating rate of opioid overdoses. The most egregious of all of it is I refuse to believe that our mothers and babies are just fated to continue to die at the highest rate in the nation." One of the ways Dr. Edney says the state can address high maternal and infant mortality rates is by extending post-partum Medicaid benefits. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill this year to do just that, but the measure was not taken up in the House. Dr. Edney says these benefits can save lives. "We can't have a woman with pregnancy-induced hypertension on four medications barely controlled lose her Medicaid at the second month, and then have no access to care, have no access to medication. That just doesn't make any sense to me as a physician," says Dr. Edney. "I think there are answers to these that we can look at, but we do have to recognize that this problem is real." |
| Mississippi moms suffer another grim statistic: The nation's highest rate of stillbirths | |
| Mississippi once again has the country's highest rate of fetal death, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. The report examined the nearly 21,000 deaths of fetuses in utero that occurred after 20 weeks' gestation -- also called stillbirths -- in the United States in 2020. The overall national rate was 5.7 such deaths per 1,000 live births, about the same as it was the year before. But in Mississippi, the rate was nearly double that, at 10.6. That was an increase from 2019, when the state also led the country with a rate of 9.4. The report didn't include state-specific analysis of the causes of the stillbirths. Nationally, the most commonly reported cause was "unspecified." Mississippi maternal health advocates say the state's inadequate access to basic health care -- exacerbated by one of the country's highest rates of uninsurance and state leaders' decision not to expand Medicaid – explain the data and other grim statistics. As state leaders passed abortion restrictions in recent years, they claimed they were making Mississippi "the safest state in the nation for an unborn child." But Mississippi has long claimed the country's highest infant mortality rate and a maternal mortality rate about twice the national figure. With abortion now banned in all but rare circumstances, the CDC report highlights yet another of the risks facing pregnant Mississippians. |
| Dr. Corey Wiggins: New Federal Co-Chairman of Delta Regional Authority | |
| New Federal Co-Chairman of Delta Regional Authority Dr. Corey Wiggins was raised in Hazlehurst on land purchased by his great-grandfather in the 1930s. He grew up in a close-knit family and community with the family church, the family cemetery, his grandparent's house and other relatives nearby. He and his two younger brothers played army in the woods. "My father's family had cows, chickens and goats on a farm near Hazlehurst," says Wiggins. "My father graduated from high school in Hazlehurst in 1971. When I went to high school, I had the same teachers who had taught my father. My mother's family farmed cotton and soybeans near Wolf Lake in Humphreys County, and lived in Yazoo City. When I was not in Hazlehurst, I would spend my summers with them in the Mississippi Delta. We had a secure upbringing and cohesive faith in God. Those connections to family and faith have given me a firm foundation for my life." While it was more than 10 miles to the homes of any of his friends, he felt blessed to live in a rural community where he could go anywhere he wanted in the world by reading a book. In high school and college, his goal was to become a physician or a medical researcher. After graduating with a degree in biology from Alcorn, he had one internship doing immunology research and another doing physiology research. He then received the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Fellowship from the Kaiser Family Foundation. He worked in Sen. George Voinovich's office. "After that experience, I decided I wanted to focus on health policy, how I could help improve the system," says Wiggins. |
| Senate Judiciary Committee grills FBI director on violent crime | |
 | FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Americans face increasing threats from domestic terrorism and violent crime, as he faced questions Thursday about the Biden administration's priorities and efforts to stop further violence. During a wide-ranging hearing, members pressed Wray on FBI efforts to contain the flow of illegal guns and address mass shootings, as well as whether the agency has bowed to the political whims of the Biden administration. Wray argued the agency has done its best to address a teetering status quo. "The range of criminal and national security threats that we face as a nation has never been greater or more diverse, and the demands and expectations on the FBI have never been higher," Wray said. Wray also said the agency could use more funds on everything from gun background checks to efforts to counter Chinese espionage. He also acknowledged some of the agency's shortcomings in addressing major threats, such as its inability to predict the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Committee ranking member Sen. Charles E. Grassley said the FBI has not done enough to stem the increase in violent crime. The Iowa Republican said the agency opened politically motivated investigations into parents who protested local school board decisions in the coronavirus pandemic. "The Justice Department and the FBI must also make violent crime a top priority. However, instead of doing so, it seems like the Biden Justice Department and FBI have focused on intimidating parents who are concerned about how schools treat their children," Grassley said. |
| Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Wins Tax Changes to Democrats' Climate Bill | |
 | Democrats revised their climate and healthcare package, striking a deal with centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) to scale back some tax provisions in the plan and add in a new tax on stock buybacks to try to win her support. In a brief statement Thursday night, Ms. Sinema said she would move forward with the legislation after a review of its provisions by the Senate's nonpartisan parliamentarian. While Ms. Sinema didn't outright back the plan, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in his own statement that he believed the changes would keep the bill on track in the 50-50 Senate, in the face of united Republican opposition. Under the changes negotiated with Ms. Sinema, Democrats will pare back elements of a 15% minimum tax on large, profitable corporations and drop a proposed tax increase on carried-interest income, according to people familiar with the agreement. Democrats will add a 1% tax on stock buybacks to the legislation, as the party aims to still reduce the deficit by about $300 billion in the legislation, according to these people. Whether Ms. Sinema will support the tax increases in the legislation has been among the biggest questions facing Democrats in their effort to turn a sudden agreement with another critical centrist, Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), into law. The legislation will spend roughly $430 billion on climate and healthcare programs over a decade. After the revised deal was announced, Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) tweeted that the "so-called 'Inflation Reduction Act' would do little to help our current crisis. Instead, it would reduce bottom lines for job creators and hike taxes for Americans across the spectrum." |
| China cancels talks with U.S. on military issues, climate change over Pelosi's Taiwan visit | |
 | China on Friday halted its relations with the U.S. on a range of issues, including talks on climate change and military ties, in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan this week. The countermeasures highlight the increasing tensions between the U.S. and China since Pelosi (D-Calif.) decided to go through with her trip to Taiwan, an island republic that China claims as part of its territory. Even weeks before Pelosi's trip was officially confirmed, Chinese officials began launching threats against the speaker and warnings to the U.S. that it was "playing with fire" if she visited the island. Other countermeasures announced Friday by China include the cancellation of dialogue with the U.S. between regional commanders and on defense policy coordination, military maritime safety, returning illegal immigrants, criminal matters, transnational crime, illegal drugs and climate change. China also announced on Friday sanctions against the House speaker and her family over her visit to Taiwan, saying it constituted "a gross interference in China's internal affairs." Pelosi earlier this week had waved off Beijing's lashing out over her visit to Taiwan, saying at a press conference on Wednesday that "whatever China was going to do they'll do in their own good time." As she's continued her tour throughout Asia this week, the speaker has also praised Taiwan for its democracy and said that China will not isolate Taiwan by preventing U.S. officials from visiting the island. |
| White House summons Chinese ambassador for rebuke on Taiwan response | |
 | The White House summoned China's ambassador on Thursday to condemn Beijing's escalating actions and threats against Taiwan and to reiterate that the United States does not want a crisis in the region, after a visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sharply escalated tensions in the Taiwan Strait over the past week. "After China's actions overnight, we summoned [People's Republic of China] Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him about the PRC's provocative actions," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement provided to The Washington Post. "We condemned the PRC's military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." A démarche is a protest lodged through diplomatic channels. The summoning of the ambassador to deliver a formal rebuke was the latest episode in a widening diplomatic crisis as President Biden seeks to manage volatile confrontations between the United States and two other world powers. Even as tensions brew between the United States and China over Pelosi's trip, Biden is striving to keep Beijing from aiding Russia in its scorched-earth war against Ukraine. The White House reiterated to Qin that it wants to keep all lines of communication open and that nothing has changed about the United States' one-China policy, which recognizes the administration in Beijing as the sole government of China. But the White House also stressed that it found Beijing's actions unacceptable and would stand up for its values in the Indo-Pacific region. |
| Black voters' dissatisfaction could spell trouble for Democrats | |
 | Organizers are warning Democrats not to take Black voters for granted ahead of the midterms, worried that the party isn't listening to the community's concerns in an election year where their vote could be decisive in key races. Advocates who spoke to The Hill expressed frustration that the Democratic Party consistently overlooks Black voters until it's too late, a sentiment common in previous election cycles. As the U.S. grapples with the possibility of a recession and social upheaval following controversial Supreme Court rulings, growing Black voter dissatisfaction could have an outsized impact on the party in an election year where the scales already feel tipped toward the GOP. The growing frustration within the community comes amid signs that President Biden's support among Black voters could be eroding. While a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released in June found that Black voters' approval of the president remains the highest among most demographics, it also found signs they were less enthusiastic about him this time around. And a New York Times-Siena poll released in July showed that Black voters were growing increasingly pessimistic about the American political system's ability to solve the nation's problems. The numbers could serve as a warning to Democrats, who were bolstered in 2020 by Black voters, a demographic that has remained overwhelmingly loyal to the party. Adding to their concerns is a renewed effort by Republicans to court Black -- as well as Hispanic and Asian -- voters ahead of the midterms. |
| Former vice president Cheney calls Trump a 'coward' in campaign ad for his daughter | |
| Former vice president Dick Cheney, in a campaign ad for his eldest daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said former president Donald Trump is a "coward" and the greatest threat to the nation in its 246-year history. "He is a coward," Cheney says in the ad, which was released Thursday. "A real man wouldn't lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it, he knows it, and deep down I think most Republicans know it." Liz Cheney faces a tough primary on Aug. 16 for Wyoming's sole congressional seat, with Trump-backed Harriet Hageman favored to win. Trump, Cheney said, "tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him." "In our nation's 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Dick Cheney says. In the ad, the former vice president wears a white cowboy hat and speaks directly to the camera. He says he and his wife, Lynne Cheney, are proud of Liz Cheney for "standing up for the truth, doing what is right, honoring her oath to the Constitution when so many in our own party are too scared to do so." Liz Cheney was ousted from her spot as the House's No. 3 Republican after she voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection. She is the vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the attack. The congresswoman has frequently criticized Trump, drawing the wrath of the former president. |
| The AP Interview: US aid chief counters food crisis, Russia | |
 | Samantha Power won fame as a human rights advocate and was picked by President Joe Biden to lead the agency that distributes billions of dollars in U.S. aid abroad, including providing more food assistance than anyone else in the world. But since Russia invaded Ukraine, that job includes a new task with a Cold War feel -- countering Russia's messaging abroad. As administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Power is dealing now with a global food crisis, brought on by local conflicts, the pandemic's economic upheaval, and drought and the other extremes typical of climate change. As the Biden administration spells out often, the problems have all been compounded by Russia invading Ukraine, deepening food shortages and raising prices everywhere. That set up an hearts-and-minds competition reminiscent of the days of the Soviet Union last month, when Power visited desperate families and struggling farmers in Horn of Africa nations. She watched relief workers give emergency food to children, always among the first to die in food crises, and announced new food aid. But unexpectedly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov trailed her to Africa days later, visiting other capitals with a different message meant to shore up his country's partnerships in Africa. "What we're not going to do, any of us in the administration, is just allow the Russian Federation, which is still saying it's not at war in Ukraine, to blame the latest spike in food and fertilizer prices on sanctions and on the United States," Power, back in her office in Washington, told The Associated Press. |
| Head Start students score behind peers in pre-K, but gap expected to close this fall | |
| Four-year-olds enrolled in state-funded pre-K through Head Start did not perform as well as their counterparts enrolled through school districts last school year, which state officials attributed to more time spent in virtual learning. Early learning collaboratives (ELCs) are one form of public pre-K, made up of partnerships among school districts, Head Start agencies, childcare centers, and nonprofit groups. Collaboratives follow the same curriculum and share professional development opportunities and resources, with the goal of providing all students enrolled with the same quality of instruction. Last month, the Mississippi Department of Education released the most recent results from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, which measures public pre-K and kindergarten students on their early literacy skills. It is used as an instructional baseline for teachers, and students who meet their benchmark score have been shown to become proficient in reading by the end of third grade. This spring, 48% of students in an ELC through Head Start met the benchmark score, while 71% of the other ELC students did. Jill Dent, the bureau director of early childhood for the Mississippi Department of Education, primarily attributed this difference to virtual learning. While it did vary locally, she said more Head Start students were virtual than other ELC students. Despite this, Dent expressed confidence that students will be back on track with their reading scores soon. |
| Bomb-detecting K-9 teams improve skills at U. of Alabama | |
 | Fifteen K-9 officer teams from across Alabama and one from Mississippi received extra training in bomb-detection tactics and skills at the University of Alabama this week, courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate. The Regional Explosives Detection Dog Initiative, or REDDI, is a program designed to enhance the abilities of police departments to detect bombs and improvised explosive devices. The Auburn Police Department held a similar program earlier this year and Sgt. John Turner of the University of Alabama Police said this was a good chance to get K-9 teams in the northern half of the state trained as well. "It's allowing them to build on the current training they have. It is showing them some national trends and some overseas trends that they are seeing. It helps them have better tactics during their search and to search safe and have a better opportunity to locate any potential devices," Turner said. "Tactics change. We are trying to stay one step ahead of someone who would want to do harm to our community," Turner said. |
| Too many students, not enough beds: How U. of Kentucky is combating undergrad housing shortage | |
 | As the University of Kentucky prepares for a record-setting number of freshmen this fall, it is in need of additional housing space for students. UK is planning for more than 6,000 freshmen students to attend this fall, the largest first-year class in the university's history, President Eli Capilouto said in June. With a large number of students applying to live on campus, UK has converted multi-purpose rooms in three residence halls into living spaces featuring the same amenities as other university housing. There are more than 7,800 beds available for undergraduates to live on campus, including dorms, specialty housing and Greek housing that is currently vacant, said Andrew Smith, assistant vice president of auxiliary services. About 7,880 students have applied to live on campus, but that number will change as students finalize their plans for the fall semester. The multi-purpose rooms were designed with the flexibility to become dorm rooms when UK updated its housing facilities, said Smith. Students living in the temporary units will pay a discounted rate for housing, about $664 less than they would for a standard dorm room. "We have 16 units in three residence halls that are multipurpose rooms and can be converted on what we anticipate will be a temporary basis for about 35 students," Smith said in an email last week. "These units match our other rooms in terms of amenities and basic design." |
| Preparing a stronger workforce and other takeaways from Texas higher education | |
| Training, internships and more state funding will go a long way to preparing the talented workforce that Texas needs, college and university leaders said this week. The Texas officials gathered Wednesday to discuss the needs of schools, bouncing back from coronavirus setbacks and statewide plans to increase the number of Texans with degrees. Dallas College Chancellor Justin Lonon, University of Texas at Arlington President Jennifer Cowley and Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller led the talk on the state of higher education, hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber. The Texas Workforce Commission estimates that by 2030, more than 60% of jobs in the state will require education and training beyond those obtained in high school. Keller highlighted a new strategic plan called "Building a Talent Strong Texas," which aims to increase employment opportunities and income through post-secondary education. For example, it lays out plans to establish a statewide database detailing all credentials offered by schools, to increase workforce training opportunities and to leverage state and federal financial aid to keep student debt low. In addition to addressing rising talent needs, the plan expands the state's higher education attainment goals to include all working-age Texans, including nontraditional students, to meet rising demands and to stay competitive. |
| They overcame poverty to get to college. Then they saw the housing costs. | |
| Hanging the shower curtains made her a little nervous. Just a bit. She was, after all, a 17-year-old who had endured living out of cars and, later, foster homes. She had entered her junior year of high school at a 7th-grade reading level and caught up enough to be accepted into college. She had, almost as a rebellion against what everyone in her early life expected of her, decided she would thrive academically and otherwise. But as Sophia Manera, a soon-to-be sophomore at Aurora University outside Chicago, prepared to move into her first apartment this week -- the first space she could call her own, the first place where she set the rules -- she realized her life had not prepared her yet for the domestic basics. "I grew up so unstable. We lived out of the car, in a motel or at random people's houses," she said. "There was never a point where people were doing regular life things like putting up shower curtains. It is nerve-racking." But she also had learned how a stable space of her own was an essential ingredient for academic success. Manera, like thousands of other students across the country, has gotten support from the Horatio Alger Association, an Alexandria-based nonprofit that provides $17 million in scholarships each year to college students from difficult backgrounds. It has given out $245 million to students in all since 1984. But the social and economic aftershocks of the pandemic have put new demands on philanthropy. Horatio Alger has begun extending the reach of its support to help students cover basic needs such as shelter. The new direction spotlights the growing difficultly many disadvantaged students face completing their higher education as housing costs balloon. |
| Colleges Can Overestimate Their Students' Tech Savvy. This Campus Has a Plan to Improve Digital Literacy. | |
 | One student labors to write essays because they struggle with typing. Another scrambles to complete assignments on time because they don't know the campus has fast, designated Wi-Fi. Yet another grasps the course material, but doesn't know how to take notes in their digital textbook. These are just a few scenarios that administrators and faculty members at California State University at Northridge have found some students face -- a reality check that's informing new digital-literacy projects on the campus. In a spring survey of more than 200 students across grade levels on what tech competencies needed sharpening, 91 percent listed basic computer skills. Gaps in digital literacy -- broadly defined as the ability to navigate and use technology to its fullest extend -- are not unique to Cal State at Northridge. Even before tech became inextricably woven into classes during the pandemic, a 2016 Educause report found that nationwide, nearly four in 10 students wished they'd been better prepared for institution-specific technology, including learning-management and course-registration systems. Such gaps can have grave implications for student performance, said Joyce Marie Brusasco, a lecturer on the campus. They can lead to late assignments, a deflated sense of belonging and self-esteem, and "derailed" college goals. Yet digital literacy is often an afterthought for colleges because of misconceptions around how much students know about the technologies colleges are adopting, said Helen Heinrich, interim associate vice president of academic technology at Cal State at Northridge. |
| Colleges prepare for potential monkeypox outbreaks | |
 | When students return to campus this fall, the latest COVID variant isn't the only virus they'll have to worry about. Monkeypox, a painful but nonfatal virus spread primarily through skin contact, is on the rise -- and with the fall semester rapidly approaching, many institutions are starting to prepare for potential outbreaks. There have been over 6,600 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over half of which were reported in the past two weeks. Yesterday, the Biden administration declared the virus a national health emergency; California and Illinois declared states of emergency last week, as did New York City. Colleges have not been immune to monkeypox even during the quiet summer months, when places of potentially high transmission -- such as dormitories, gyms and lecture halls -- are largely empty. Confirmed cases have been reported at the University of Texas at Austin; Georgetown University and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; and West Chester University and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. Many experts are encouraging colleges to begin preparing for possible outbreaks, citing their densely populated residential settings and fluid social and sexual networks. Some institutions have begun that planning process in earnest. David Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs and chief medical officer at the University of Texas system, said system officials have been meeting with risk managers at various UT campuses to discuss preventative measures, messaging campaigns and containment and care strategies. |
| How to Solve the Mystery of 'Summer Melt' | |
| For anyone in enrollment management, June through August are often the most painful months, and a major contributor to that pain is what we call "summer melt." In many cases, admissions and financial-aid offices have been working with students for 18 months or longer to bring them to the point of making a commitment to attend the college or university. In the weeks leading up to the start of classes, however, some of these committed students "melt" away, citing a host of reasons, or no reason at all. Lost students leave gaps in campus budgets and classrooms. For enrollment leaders, a summer melt of 8 to 10 percent or more can often turn a winning enrollment cycle into a loss. What causes melt? A wide range of potential factors -- only some of which we control -- can spark a break between the student and the institution at this point. Perhaps something has changed in their family dynamic. Perhaps the approaching semester has made them anxious about going too far away from home. Or maybe they received the tuition bill and the reality of a monthly payment plan hits home. To an enrollment team trying to fill its class, the potential potholes seem endless. Over the last decade, enrollment managers have ramped up our efforts to combat melt. We have devised special communication sequences, mailed monthly swag items, actively engaged students using social media, sent encouraging letters from famous alumni, and fine-tuned our early orientation programs. No doubt these efforts have prevented some loss of students, but not enough of them. |
| How the Overturning of Roe v. Wade May Affect Students' College Decisions | |
| While searching for colleges, students typically consider factors like size, academic program options, proximity to home, cost and available clubs and sports. But given the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court -- which hands the decision around the legality of abortions back to the states -- the location of a college may now play an even bigger role in the selection process for some students. "The overturning was unpopular among Americans in general, but it was particularly unpopular among Americans in that demographic," says Cary Franklin, professor of law and faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Law. Sixty-seven percent of adults ages 18 to 34 identify as pro-choice, according to a May 2022 Gallup poll. "So it's hard not to imagine that college students and potential college students won't be making choices based on location," she adds. But not all experts are convinced much will change. When students are making college choices, things like academic reputation, scholarship offers and parental influence often outweigh other considerations, even those students may care about deeply. "Students are not one size fits all," says Jennifer Jessie, who runs an AP tutoring and test prep service in northern Virginia. "You have to think about what you're comfortable with and what rights are essential to you over the next four years." |
| Republicans release debt-relief alternative | |
| As the Biden administration inches closer to a final decision on whether to erase billions in student loan debt, House Republicans have introduced an alternative proposal. The bill would reform certain aspects of the federal student loan system, including simplifying repayment methods, decreasing the impact of interest and establishing new borrowing limits. Republicans have long argued that President Biden does not have the authority to enact sweeping student loan cancellation, and that debt cancellation would do little to reform the system that places students in debt in the first place. It would also allow Pell Grants to be used for short-term programs, like technical training and workforce development. The Responsible Education Assistance through Loan Reforms (REAL) Act is unlikely to gain support in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, especially because it would prohibit the Biden administration from issuing new regulations on student loans if they would increase costs to the federal government, including mass debt relief. The Republican bill would prohibit the Biden administration from using executive authority to enact mass debt cancellation. It would also tie Education Secretary Miguel Cardona's hands, preventing him from enacting any changes to the federal student loan program that would increase costs to the federal government. |
| The science part of the CHIPS and Science Act | |
| The $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act sets aside a lot of money for, you guessed it, those high-demand semiconductor chips. But a good chunk of that fund is earmarked to advance scientific research across several areas. That could mean big things for the National Science Foundation. Over the course of five years, $81 billion could be directed to the organization, the largest funding increase the NSF has seen since it was created back in 1950. "This would essentially unleash a new era of [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] in America through research and technology, with STEM education and training, by creating jobs and expanding the geography of innovation to accelerate scientific discovery for tremendous impacts," said the foundation's director, Sethuraman Panchanathan. Marketplace's Sabri Ben-Achour spoke with Panchanathan about what this significant boost in funding could mean for the future of scientific research and innovation at the NSF. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. |
SPORTS
| The Bulldogs Are Back | |
| In college football, there's just no substitute for experience. When you've been through the fire and faced adversity before, the heart beats a little slower when under pressure. The mind doesn't race quite as much. There's a calmness that provides a better shot to reach the peak of performance. It's a primary reason why, as Mississippi State players reported to the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex for preseason camp on Thursday, optimism was abundant. These Bulldogs are largely a veteran group. They've been punched in the mouth and gotten up. They've both succeeded and failed under the bright lights before. Through it all, they've learned. They've grown. They've developed. And with the first practice of the 2022 season set for Friday, the highs and lows many in this bunch have already been through have them excited for the team's potential in the year ahead. "I'm just ready to see our guys compete at another level this year," linebacker Nathaniel Watson said. "We have been working really hard this offseason, and I can't wait to start the season with my teammates." Per a formula used by ESPN's Bill Connelly that breaks down all team's returnees and factors in who compiled last year's yardage, tackles and such, MSU brings back a whopping 80 percent of its overall production from 2021. It's the highest total in the entire Southeastern Conference and the 12th-most in the entire country. |
| Four things to watch for as Mississippi State football begins preseason camp | |
 | Mike Leach and the Bulldogs return to the field Friday. The practice field, anyway. With Mississippi State set to hold its first practice of preseason training camp Friday afternoon at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex, here are four things we're looking for as the Bulldogs build up to their Sept. 3 season opener against Memphis: Will Rogers' development, questions at tackle, state of the pass rush, and filling a hole at cornerback. |
| Mississippi State football: 5 position battles to watch in preseason | |
| Year 3 for coach Mike Leach with Mississippi State football is under way as players reported for preseason practices Thursday. Mississippi State's Sept. 3 opener against Memphis is less than a month away, yet between now and then, the Bulldogs have plenty of starting spots undecided. Here are five position battles beat writer Stefan Krajisnik will be watching closely: left tackle, X-WR, kicker, defensive end and right tackle |
| Stratton welcomes new challenge in closer-to-home MLB address | |
 | With the MLB trade deadline closing in on Monday Chris Stratton found he had a new work address. And it's closer to his home than any previous address in his seven-year career. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent starting pitcher Jose Quintana and Stratton, a reliever, to the St. Louis Cardinals for two younger prospects, a relief pitcher and a corner infielder. Stratton, a former Tupelo High School standout, was named SEC Pitcher of the Year as a junior at Mississippi State in 2012. He went 11-1 with an SEC-low 2.21 ERA that season being drafted by San Francisco in the first round. He was with the Los Angeles Angels briefly in 2019 before being traded to Pittsburgh that season. With the Pirates Stratton became a high-leverage option out of the bullpen. "I just want to say how much I appreciate my time in Pittsburgh," Stratton told The Daily Journal. "They took really good care of me, and I will miss the people the most." Stratton was 15-7 with a 3.98 ERA in 163 games over four seasons with the Pirates. He made his Cardinals debut Tuesday in a 6-0 win over the Cubs. He gave up a hit and recorded a strikeout in a scoreless ninth. Stratton says he welcomes whatever challenges he might face in St. Louis. And being closer to Tupelo is a bonus. "The ability to travel back and forth from home is something my wife deserves for all the years of traveling all over the country and being the one that keeps the family together," he said. |
| More NCAA leagues to pay women's basketball referees equally | |
| The NCAA earned praise last year when it agreed to pay referees at its men's and women's basketball tournaments equally. The gesture only cost about $100,000, a tiny fraction of the roughly $900 million networks pay annually to broadcast March Madness. Now, as the NCAA examines various disparities across men's and women's sports, pressure is rising to also pay referees equally during the regular season. Two Division 1 conferences told The Associated Press they plan to equalize pay, and another is considering it. Others are resisting change, even though the impact on their budgets would be negligible. "The ones that are (equalizing pay) are reading the writing on the wall," said Michael Lewis, a marketing professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. The details of NCAA referee pay are closely guarded, but The Associated Press obtained data for the 2021-22 season that show 15 of the NCAA's largest -- and most profitable -- conferences paid veteran referees for men's basketball an average of 22% more per game. Dawn Staley, the head coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks -- the women's national champions -- said referees on the men's side should be "stepping up" and advocating for equal pay for women's referees. "They don't do anything different," she said. "Why should our officials get paid less for taking the (expletive) we give them?" |
| Bowl games to start the season? Reimagining the college football calendar | |
| Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and starting in 2020, the pandemic made a sport tethered to longstanding traditions and norms reconsider almost everything. From recruiting via video chat to scheduling games on a few days' notice, decision-makers around college football were forced to be open-minded about new ways to approach old problems. In a sport plagued by perennial issues that can sometimes feel hopeless, could that same spirit of innovation apply to rethinking the entire college football calendar? Our team of ESPN reporters -- Bill Connelly, Heather Dinich, David M. Hale, Adam Rittenberg and Tom VanHaaren -- spent the offseason putting together proposals to fix the year-round schedule. We then polled people throughout the sport -- decision-makers and those who would be directly impacted -- on the pros and cons of such theoretical changes. "Everything that you have on here, there's not one thing that I looked at here that says, 'That's crazy,'" Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said. "These are the issues [we need to address]." Sure, getting 131 disparate schools -- presidents, administrators, coaches, players, as well as commissioners -- on the same page would be a tall order, but that's not a reason to avoid taking a fresh look at the sport's schedule, with the primary aim of solving some of its most persistent headaches. |
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