| Monday, August 8, 2022 |
| Motorists be mindful: MSU campus roadway changes take effect this week | |
 | As Mississippi State University prepares for the start of the fall semester, motorists on campus are urged to utilize caution and patience as new traffic changes take effect. Beginning Tuesday [Aug. 9], new gates will limit vehicular traffic on Hardy Road and President's Circle, a move that increases pedestrian safety in the center of campus. 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. Don Zant, MSU vice president for finance and administration, said campus master plans going back nearly 60 years have shown the closure of roads around the core of campus. New infrastructure investments, including Famous Maroon Band Street and Bulldog Way, on the south and east sides of campus, respectively, allow for motorists to navigate campus while avoiding the areas with high levels of pedestrian activity. The expanded pedestrian core now encompasses 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. Gates will be closed between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday-Friday. |
| Master Gardener program prepares fall trainings | |
 | Dates for the fall 2022 session of the Master Gardener course have been set. Registration for the asynchronous online seminars will be open from Aug. 15 to Sept. 12. The sessions will be available from Oct. 3 to Dec. 2. Once registration opens, it can be accessed at http://msuext.ms/mg. The Master Gardener Volunteer program is a way to gain horticultural expertise at a low cost, meet fellow gardeners, connect to a local community and belong to a well-respected educational organization. The program is managed by the Mississippi State University Extension Service. In exchange for 40 hours of educational training, participants must return 40 hours of volunteer service within a year of their training. Each subsequent year requires 20 hours of service and 12 hours of additional training to maintain Master Gardener certification. Volunteer hours should help local Extension offices with horticulture projects that benefit local communities. The cost for Master Gardening Volunteer training option is $125. A Home Gardening Course, which requires no volunteer community service, is available for $200. |
| Potts Camp native Holley Muraco is a world-renowned dolphin expert | |
 | Dr. Holley Muraco, a world-renowned dolphin expert, developed her love of animals decades ago in rural Marshall County. Muraco, 47, grew up on a farm in Potts Camp, a small town in Northeast Mississippi. Even as a kid, she was obsessed with animals. "Everything that crawls or creeps," as she described it. Muraco said she never came across an animal she didn't want to be near, touch or learn about. "My parents, bless them, let me bring home every little broken critter to try to save it," Muraco said. "And everything that needed to be bottle-fed, they knew they could hand it over." Having spent her career traveling the world to research dolphins and other marine animals, Muraco has returned to Mississippi where she's served as director of research for the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport since 2019. Muraco graduated from MSU in 1998, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She went on to earn a PhD in Animal Physiology with a focus on bottlenose dolphins from MSU in 2015. |
| Hidden DNA is revealing secrets of animals' lives | |
 | It had been more than 140 years since a Rio Grande siren -- a slippery, two-legged, foot-long salamander protected by the state of Texas -- had been found near Eagle Pass, a town on the United States-Mexico border. But in 2019, biologist Krista Ruppert, now a PhD student at Mississippi State University, realised she didn't need a siren in hand to prove they were still there. She just needed a jug of muddy water to filter. At Eagle Pass, Ruppert found enough environmental DNA -- trace genetic material left behind as organisms crawl, swim, or flap their way through life -- to establish that the elusive amphibians still live in the area, at the far western edge of their known range. In the last decade or so, environmental DNA, or eDNA, has revolutionised marine and aquatic research by allowing scientists to sample "an entire ecosystem" with a litre of water. Now, after a flurry of experiments on dry land in the past several years, eDNA has become biologists' skeleton key. It's a relatively cheap, noninvasive, and simple technique that can be modified to study any form of life, and it often requires less time and labour to employ than previous methods. |
| Fire, police say tax hike for raises would alleviate staffing woes | |
 | Nick Shumaker joined the Starkville Fire Department nine years ago and has risen through the ranks to become a sergeant. He grew up in Starkville and loves helping people. He also loves his job as a first responder, so much that he has a second job as a police officer in Louisville, a position he has held for three years. When Shumaker joined SFD in 2013, one part he didn't love was the pay. He started out making $8.83 per hour, which came out to about $26,000 per year. Entry-level pay at the department has improved since -- increasing to $35,000 per year today -- and Shumaker's tenure and promotions have helped him even more. A pay raise would give Shumaker "more cushion" financially, but he would keep his gig in Louisville all the same, he said. But for other firefighters, like Steven Boren, who also works a second job to make ends meet, it could be a gamechanger. "No more second job, and I'd get to spend more time at home," Boren said. Aldermen are discussing pouring $1.1 million into pay increases for city employees into its Fiscal Year 2023 budget, with about 90 percent of those funds going to the police and fire departments. Roughly one-third of the total, at least $305,000, would come from a 1-mill ad valorem tax hike. A mill is used to measure property tax, and Mayor Lynn Spruill previously told The Dispatch a 1-mill increase would raise a citizen's tax bill by $30 per every $100,000 of assessed property value owned. Aldermen held its first public hearing on the proposed tax increase on Tuesday and will hold a second hearing Aug. 16 before voting on it. If approved, it would become effective once the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. |
| Starkville community members working to help food insecurity concerns | |
 | In Starkville, you may have noticed pantries filled with canned goods and nonperishable foods. One local group, Starkville Strong has connected community members who are donating items to food banks. The shelves are filled to the brim. In the Golden Triangle, you may find small food pantries fully stocked...but in the next hour, the food could be gone. For some families, it's uncertain where their next hot meal will come from. That's why Rex Buffington, the co-director of The Casserole Kitchen in Starkville is helping distribute meals and groceries to those in need. Over the years, Buffington says it seems like the demand continues to grow as dozens of families are relying on their local food bank for assistance "We have a lot of our friends and neighbors who are really struggling to have food on the table to nourish themselves the way they really need to... it's a big issue in our community," said Buffington. And with inflation concerns, it's become costly for families to foot the bill at supermarkets. "It's really hard these days, especially the way these prices are and people just have limited resources and they have to stretch those as far as they can so it's a challenge for people now to really have what they need," said Buffington. |
| 1st sea turtle nest found on Mississippi beach since 2018 | |
 | Beach crews have found the first sea turtle nest on the Mississippi mainland in four years. A Harrison County Sand Beach crew that was cleaning up found what appeared to be turtle tracks just east of the Pass Christian Harbor, officials said. They protected the area and called the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, which followed the tracks to a nesting site that is now marked off with stakes and tape. The eggs likely belong to a protected loggerhead sea turtle or an even rarer Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which is the most critically endangered species of sea turtle, said Moby Solangi, president of the marine studies group. The exact species of turtle won't be known until the eggs hatch in 50 to 60 days. Only about 1 in 10,000 sea turtle eggs reach adulthood. Turtles lay between 60 to 100 eggs in a nest and have multiple nests during a season, Solangi told The Sun Herald in Biloxi. This is the first sea turtle nest on mainland Mississippi since 2018, although there have been unofficial reports of nests on uninhabited barrier islands, officials said. The Mississippi Sound and Gulf of Mexico are important sea turtle habitats, but the 2010 oil spill and the 2019 opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway hurt the turtle population, Solangi said. |
| Public Safety Commissioner Tindell wants teachers trained to carry guns | |
| A vote held by the Mississippi Board of Education on July 21 opened the door to allow individuals with enhanced concealed carry permits to carry guns inside public schools. Now, one state leader is planning to work with the Mississippi Legislature to have teachers certified to carry firearms in schools. During a Friday appearance on The Gallo Show, Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell discussed possible scenarios for instructors and other staff members in educational facilities to receive a special certification in order to make schools safer. "What we want to do, particularly when it comes to teachers and maybe staff at schools is work on some possible scenarios where we can have those teachers certified, the staff certified at a higher level so that they would essentially be Marshals for the school, but they would have extensive training and be prepared for active shooting scenarios," Tindell said. While agreeing that tactical training ought to be funded by the school rather than the staff member, Tindell also added that the training should be done every year. "I think it's gotta be something that you do annually. I don't think it's something where you can go in just once and do the training. There has to be recertification," Tindell said. "There probably needs to be some input from the school district about who can do it and continuous monitoring." |
| Senate passes sweeping tax, climate package after marathon vote; Harris breaks tie | |
 | Senate Democrats have passed their sweeping tax, health care and climate change legislation after a marathon night of voting, with Vice President Harris casting the decisive vote to break a 50-50 deadlock and send the package to the House. The long-awaited $740 billion bill would raise taxes on corporations, tackle climate change, lower prescription drug costs and reduce the deficit. The bill was approved on Sunday afternoon after a full night and morning in which senators worked nonstop on the consideration of amendments to the legislation. Democrats generally stuck together to defeat GOP amendments that might have scuttled the bill. A last-second hiccup occurred when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) backed an amendment that extended a cap on on state and local tax (SALT) deductions that was a key feature of the 2017 Trump tax cut bill. It was seen as endangering the bill because the ceiling on the deduction hurts many households in blue states and districts. Seven Democrats ended up backing the amendment offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), but any damage was undone by the immediate passage of another amendment that replaced the SALT cap extension with a different revenue stream. Once seen as all but dead, the bill came back to life last week after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reached a deal that narrowed the more than $3 trillion legislation and renamed it the Inflation Reduction Act. |
| Wicker, Hyde-Smith vote against climate, taxation bill | |
| U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi over the weekend stuck with their Republican colleagues to oppose sweeping legislation to combat climate change, lower health-care costs, raise taxes on some corporations and reduce the federal deficit. The estimated $740 billion package heads next to the House, where lawmakers are poised to deliver on President Joe Biden's priorities, a stunning turnaround of what had seemed a lost and doomed effort that suddenly roared back to political life. Democrats held united, 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, while all 50 Senate Republicans voted against the package. Wicker, a Republican from Tupelo, said in a statement that the legislation is "totally disconnected from the needs of our country." "After causing massive inflation with last year's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, President Biden and his party are now pushing a massive tax hike on job creators and working Americans, all but guaranteeing that we will sink further into a recession," Wicker said. Barely more than one-tenth the size of Biden's initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion rainbow of progressive aspirations in his Build Back Better initiative, the new package abandons earlier proposals for universal preschool, paid family leave and expanded child care aid. |
| Biden Schedule Is Heavy on Delaware, Light on Press Interviews and Golf | |
 | President Biden's schedule shows he has a fondness for travel to Delaware and the occasional game of golf -- and a cautious approach to formal interviews and press conferences. As the summer draws to a close, Mr. Biden is planning to spend some time away in August, starting later this week with a trip to Kiawah Island, S.C. In his first 18 months in office, he traveled to Delaware 46 times and to Camp David 18 times. He played 15 rounds of golf, conducted 17 formal press conferences and gave 20 sit-down interviews, according to former CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who tracks presidential data. The numbers, which span from taking office through July 20, reflect a president who wants to head home frequently at weekends, as he did when he was a senator and vice president. It also underscores a media strategy that has relied more on prepared remarks and brief question and answer sessions with reporters than on formal press conferences and interviews. Republicans have accused Mr. Biden, 79 years old, of hiding from the press. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn cited high inflation and other issues facing the administration, saying: "It is no wonder Biden chooses to hide out rather than face his failures and answer to the American people." Republicans have also sought to highlight misstatements or apparent gaffes from Mr. Biden. At times the White House has had to clarify statements made by Mr. Biden. |
| Joe Paul is Southern Miss' interim president. Here's what he plans to do. | |
 | Joe Paul is no stranger to the University of Southern Mississippi. Pretty much every student who has spent time on campus in the last 50 years knows him. Paul, now 68, was named interim president of the university while the Institutions of Higher Learning search for a new leader, following the departure of Rodney Bennett, who became the university's first Black president in 2013. "First I want to give thanks and give my respects to Dr. Bennett," Paul said. "He did a great job. He has us in good fiscal condition. We're realigned in a new (athletic) conference. The academic enterprise and research enterprise are in really good shape." Paul started making the transition to president before his official July 16 start date so he was ready to take the reins on Day 1. Bennett's tenure ended July 15. "I'm happy to be back," Paul said. "I am honored to do it. I do know the university and its culture well." Paul's knowledge and dedication to his alma mater are what led IHL officials to choose him for the interim spot. "As decades of alumni can attest, he has great affection for the university and tremendous concern for its students," said Tommy Duff, president of the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees. Even though Paul's leadership is temporary, the Bay St. Louis native says he has plans to continue the university's upward momentum. |
| USM Symphony Orchestra begins 103rd season next month | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Symphony Orchestra is set to begin its 103rd season, opening Sept. 29, 2022, offering a concert each month throughout the academic year. Season tickets are on sale now at the Southern Miss Ticket Office, 601.266.5418, 800.844.8425, or online at southernmisstickets.com. Individual tickets begin sales Sept. 1. "We are thrilled to be completely back and offering a full season of wonderful, diverse programming," said Dr. Michael Miles, Director of the Symphony Orchestra. "From Beethoven to Broadway and holiday classics to the Verdi Requiem, this truly is a wonderful season for the symphony." This year's season is entitled, Classics! The Symphony takes the liberty of defining "classics" as "works that are familiar or of lasting worth with a timeless quality." With programming including familiar "classics" like Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, audiences will also hear Prokofiev's 'Classical' Symphony the massive Requiem Mass by Verdi. Programs will feature a multitude of talented School of Music faculty and students in concertos that will have a familiar ring to many of their themes. While the Symphony Orchestra has a strong educational mission for its talented students, they also value the strong community engagement they have enjoyed for many years. They recognize extraordinary economic impact that faces all their community and patrons and have made the bold decision to reduce the cost of tickets for the 2022-23 season. |
| It really is who you know: Social mobility and schools | |
| There's a concept in economics known as "social capital." There are a few aspects to it, including the idea that an individual can leverage their social network and connections to move up the socioeconomic ladder. New research published last week in the journal Nature found that low-income children who are able to meet people from other income levels are much more likely to rise out of poverty. For schools and colleges, that could be an opportunity. "I think it's useful to think deliberately about how you can actually foster cross-class interaction," says Raj Chetty, one of the study's authors. That interaction can only happen if the school has a mix of income levels, which isn't always the case. Chetty has some ideas about how to facilitate those interactions like being aware of how academic tracking can calcify class divisions. School architecture can also physically separate low-income kids. Chetty pointed to one high school in Texas that "literally had multiple cafeterias in the school." "They had free and reduced price lunch offered in one of the cafeterias and not the other," he said, "It's obvious how you might get quite a bit of segregation." This research has implications for higher education, too. Richard Reeves with the Brookings Institution said, "It's not enough just to admit students with different backgrounds, but also, do you mix the students of different backgrounds?" |
| U. of Florida receives $3 million for new civic center | |
| UF accepted a state grant after a secretive group requested funding for a new civic institution on behalf of the university. The Council on Public University Reform, a nonprofit organization established in 2021, requested UF be granted $3 million by the state to fund the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civil Education -- a new undergraduate academic institution focused on civic education for students. Little is known about this organization, and it did not consult with UF prior to making the request in June. The group declined an interview but released a general statement saying it thinks the U.S. faces a crisis of civic literacy, which they hope the Hamilton Center will help combat. No outside organization will be involved in the civic institution's development or its civic curricula, wrote John Stinneford, Edward Root Eminent Scholar Chair and professor of Law at UF, in his proposal for the center. "As UF emerges as a leader among the 'public ivies,' we have an opening to set a model for our peers," he wrote. The institute will offer a major and minor of its own, separate from the preexisting political science major, Stinneford wrote. Courses will reflect those of Arizona State University's School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, he wrote. Sample courses include "Federalists, Anti-Federalists and Enduring Debate," "The Trial of Galileo" and "Justice and Virtue." |
| Aggie Park on schedule for Sept. 2 opening | |
 | Aggie Park is scheduled to open Sept. 2 and officials from Texas A&M's Association of Former Students say the park will be "usable and ready to go." "The park will probably be 100% done, but there will be a punch list of things we need to fine tune," said Marty Holmes, vice president of The Association of Former Students who has overseen the development of Aggie Park. "Maybe a plant died, maybe this valve is in the wrong place, or we need some kind of something else, a brick doesn't look right, whatever. There will be a lot of punch list kind of things, even after Sept. 2, but it'll be pretty much done." Aggie Park is a privately funded $35 million project redeveloping the 20-acre area on A&M's campus between the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center and the John J. Koldus Building. Groundbreaking for the park was held in February 2020. It will feature a two-tiered pond, a performance pavilion and a creamery. Singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen, A&M Class of 1978, will play his final show in Aggieland at the formal opening of Aggie Park. The concert will be free and held at the performance pavilion. Scot Walker said Keen was the only person Association CEO Porter S. Garner III wanted to perform the first concert in Aggie Park. |
| The end of campus child care leaves parents scrambling | |
 | Emporia State University plans to close its campus child care facility at the end of next August, and already parents are stressed. The announcement was made in May, but even 15 months feels like short notice given the limited options for child care in rural Kansas. The move has become a source of friction on campus. "Many, like myself, thought surely ESU wouldn't just not provide childcare!" biological sciences professor Erika Martin said by email. "My initial reaction was outrage and disbelief -- but now I would describe my feelings more as disappointed but not surprised." But the drama playing out over one child care center in Kansas is a microcosm of the struggles felt across higher education and the broader business world as workers struggle to find coverage for their kids. Experts note that while jobs are plentiful, many eligible candidates are frozen out of the workforce by their inability to secure affordable child care. Adding to workforce concerns, a recent report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that a lack of childcare subsidies or discounts was one the highest areas of dissatisfaction for employee in higher education, many of whom are considering leaving their jobs. |
| How colleges are preparing for a new public health threat: monkeypox | |
 | Ahead of the new school year, colleges across the country are repurposing the tools they developed during the pandemic to address the monkeypox outbreak, which the White House recently declared a public health emergency. It's a different virus, with different risks, and colleges are having to adapt, says Dr. Lindsey Mortenson of the American College Health Association (ACHA). "Many colleges and universities are thinking about 'how do we turn the page institutionally?" Mortenson says. " 'How do we take all of these public health informed practices and apply them in a different context?'" According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of contracting monkeypox in the U.S. is "believed to be low." More than 7,000 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. as of Thursday, though experts say that number is likely higher due to testing limitations. "No outbreak stays limited to any one social network," says Dr. Jay Varma, an epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medical College. He adds that although the virus has been concentrated in the gay and queer community, "There's no biological reason it couldn't spill over into other groups." On college campuses, Varma says, areas to watch are those where students come into close physical contact with each other's skin, including locker rooms, gyms or even theater groups. On July 28, the ACHA, which represents over 700 institutions of higher education, sent an email to its members with basic information about monkeypox, but more detailed guidance is still in progress, says Rachel Mack, director of communications at the ACHA. She says the ACHA is now coordinating with the CDC to schedule a webinar, and they're also creating an FAQ document to share with members. |
| Spiraling rents are wreaking havoc on college students seeking housing for the fall | |
| When she transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, JoLynn Kelly split a bunk bed in a tiny loft apartment -- and the $2,800 a month it cost to rent. "I had to get a loan just for that," said Kelly, now a senior who plans to become a math teacher. After racking up $16,800 in debt, she finally moved out and now commutes from her parents' house, 30 minutes away on the rare occasions when there isn't traffic. "It's insane," she said of the cost of housing in this city east of San Francisco. "Everyone is either taking out loans, or someone else is paying for it or they're commuting." Rents have gone up more than 9 percent over the last year in Berkeley, according to Zillow. Nationwide, they've risen 14 percent, on average, the real estate firm Redfin reports -- and by even more than that in cities tracked by Realtor.com that have large student populations, such as Boston (up 24 percent), New York (21 percent) and Austin, Texas (20 percent). That's becoming a huge problem for college students faced with spiraling off-campus housing costs. It's also spilling over into long waiting lists for less-expensive on-campus dorms. Off-campus living isn't necessarily by choice. Few universities have space to accommodate all of their students on campus, and most require some to live off campus for at least part of the time they're enrolled. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, those students are confronting rents that now are 19 percent higher than they were last year, Zillow says; in Ithaca, New York, 29 percent; in State College, Pennsylvania, 32 percent; in Lawrence, Kansas, 22 percent; and in College Station, Texas, 29 percent. |
| Colleges, Parents Fight in Court Over Tuition Charged During Pandemic Closures | |
| Colleges and universities faced a barrage of lawsuits in the peak pandemic days of 2020 after schools shut down their campuses and moved classes online while charging students their usual tuition rates. Two years later, the Covid-19 tuition wars are building toward a decisive phase. A number of courts have issued rulings that provided a boost to students and parents seeking refunds, including last week in a case against a small private university in California. That decision followed a recent federal appeals court ruling that allowed claims to proceed against Loyola University Chicago. But those rulings stand in tension with other decisions for schools that said students don't have valid claims. Pending cases from higher-level courts could bring more clarity. The cases could turn on what specific promises schools made to students about in-person education---and whether students suffered any harm in the switch to remote classes, said Benjamin J. Hinks, a Boston-area employment and higher-education lawyer who has followed the litigation. "We're definitely seeing a trend towards plaintiff-friendly rulings at the pretrial stages," Mr. Hinks said. "However, these are hard-fought cases, and the fight is not over for universities." Most of the cases revolve around the academic spring semester of 2020. |
| Bill proposes to increase campus safety reporting requirements | |
| Corey Hausman was just 15 days into his freshman year when he fell off his skateboard on a broken pathway at the University of Colorado at Boulder and died. When Hausman's family looked for more information on accidents on campus, they soon found that three other students had died, but their deaths were not counted for by the university because they had all been accidents. Colleges are required to collect data on instances of serious crime that occurs on campus that are submitted to the federal government through the CLERY Act, a law named after Jeanne Clery, a student who was raped and murdered in a dorm at Lehigh University in 1986. This includes hate crimes, fires, sexual assault domestic violence and substance abuse. Information on accidents, despite being the leading cause of death among college students according to the American College Health Association, are not collected by colleges.; "I asked questions and looked for statistics around serious accidents and college student death and found there was no evidence-based data for predicaments like Corey's but I was able to find out that Corey's was the third death at his college in those first 13 days," said Nanette Hausman, Corey's mother and the founder of College911, an organization focused on increasing awareness of safety on college campuses. A bipartisan bill introduced in the House in July could change this. |
| Should Mississippi, like Kansas, vote on abortion? Would the outcome differ? | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: In Mississippi, like Kansas, the Supreme Court has said the state Constitution provides a right to an abortion. The Kansas Supreme Court made its ruling in 2019. The Mississippi ruling came in 1998. In an effort to supersede the Kansas Supreme Court ruling, the Legislature placed on the ballot a proposal to proclaim that the state Constitution does not include abortion rights. That proposal was defeated Tuesday by Kansas voters by a 59% to 41% margin, meaning abortion remains legal in the state viewed as one of the most conservative in the nation. Mississippi's Supreme Court ruling said, "While we do not interpret our Constitution as recognizing an explicit right to an abortion, we believe that autonomous bodily integrity is protected under the right to privacy ... Protected within the right of autonomous bodily integrity is an implicit right to have an abortion." There are two ways to reverse that 1998 Supreme Court ruling. The high court in a new case could overturn it. But since there is no abortion case pending before the Supreme Court, it is difficult to ascertain how such a reversal could occur. Another option would be to attempt what Kansas tried to do and amend the Constitution to state explicitly there is no right to an abortion. Like in Kansas, the proposal to amend the Constitution also would require voter approval. |
SPORTS
| How did Mississippi State football maintain 2021 momentum? Mike Leach credits experience | |
| Freshman wide receiver Zavion Thomas turned some heads at Mississippi State football's first preseason practice Friday when he went above a defender for a back-shoulder touchdown catch before falling to the grass. During special teams drills moments later, he was taking advice from sixth-year receiver Austin Williams. In an early August practice with no pads, it's unfair to say Thomas will be a rookie sensation. But his skillset paired with an immediate desire to learned from an experienced teammate provided a glimpse into how Mississippi State carried momentum from its 2021 campaign despite losing the final two games. "It feels like we have a stronger locker room than we've had," coach Mike Leach said. Leach's go-to excuse in his first two seasons has been youth. Even those with experience were young, such as quarterback Will Rogers who has 19 starts entering his junior campaign. But with time, Leach took the Bulldogs from four to seven wins and expects the trend to continue. "(It takes) a number of things," Leach said. "One is get older." An understanding of what difficulties COVID-19 brought in Leach's tenure helped guide momentum entering Year 3. |
| Fully stocked defensive line in store for Mississippi State as preseason camp begins | |
| Mississippi State linebacker Jett Johnson has a running joke for the Bulldogs' defensive linemen. "How many guys are you going to take up today -- two, three, four, all of them -- so we can get some tackles?" Johnson routinely asked. It's a sign of the confidence Johnson has in MSU's D-line, a unit poised to lead the team's defense into the 2022 season. Not only do starters Jaden Crumedy, Cameron Young and Randy Charlton return, but edge rusher Jordan Davis is practicing after missing all of 2021 due to a reported torn ACL. "Those guys do a great job," Johnson said. "I say we've got the best D-line in the country." That's a high benchmark to clear, but the Bulldogs certainly have as much experience as anyone. Crumedy and Davis are graduate students, Young is a redshirt senior, and Charlton is a fifth-year senior thanks to a COVID-19 waiver. And for the first time since last August, all of them are on the field. Crumedy and Young were limited in spring camp, while Davis was still recovering from an injury suffered in a preseason scrimmage. "We have more D-linemen playing now than we did in the spring, so that's good," coach Mike Leach said Friday. "The force and push upfield is a lot more consistent." It's not just the starting unit: The Bulldogs have depth on the defensive line, too. Nathan Pickering racked up seven tackles for loss and four sacks last year; De'Monte Russell showed promise as a pass-rusher. Both players help make MSU's D-line one of the most game-tested units in the country -- at the ideal position for it. |
| Mississippi State football notebook: Bulldogs don pads Sunday to cap first weekend of camp | |
| If the Mississippi State football team put on pads for the first time in preseason camp and no one was around to see it, did it still happen? Such was the case Sunday with the Bulldogs' third preseason practice moved indoors and closed to media because of lightning in the area. With MSU's first game now less than four weeks away, here are three updates from Bulldogs coaches during the first weekend of camp. |
| Cruz Silva Wins Portuguese National Amateur Title | |
| Mississippi State men's golfer Pedro Cruz Silva claimed his first national title this week. Cruz Silva is the Portuguese National Amateur Champion after shooting 7-under at the Portuguese National Absolute Championships. He was one of two golfers to never shoot above par across the four-round tournament along with professional champion Pedro Lencart Silva. Cruz Silva fired rounds of 70, 72, 68 and 71 on the par-72 course. That was made even more impressive by the fact that he nearly didn't play at all. "I was in doubt for the tournament because before I had been seven days in a row without touching the clubs, on vacation," he explained. "Fortunately, they convinced me to participate. I feel I made the right decision, because the title of national amateur champion -- which I had been chasing for a long time -- means a lot to me." Cruz Silva and Mississippi State open the fall portion of the 2022-23 schedule on September 7 at the Frederica Cup in Sea Island, Georgia. |
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