| Tuesday, April 18, 2023 |
| Education: Mississippi State University Horticulture Club visits Henderson Ward Stewart | |
 | Photo: Students in Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary's Program for the Enrichment of Academic Knowledge classes recently had a visit from the Mississippi State University Horticulture Club. Club members brought plants and helped students plant them in the school garden. PEAK students learned about various jobs they can pursue with a college degree in horticulture. |
| 20-percent rate hike considered for sanitation services | |
| City residents could spoon see their sanitation bill increase by $3.25 per month. Aldermen this evening will consider raising the monthly rate for residential sanitation services to $19.50. If approved, the new rate would be effective June 1. Mayor Lynn Spruill said the main driver of the rate increase is rising operational costs for the Sanitation and Environmental Services Department, projected to finish this fiscal year with a $650,000 deficit. This increase would generate $448,500 annually from roughly 11,500 residential customers. "The bottom line is increased costs," Spruill said. "I think everyone recognizes that, over the past eight years -- which is actually the last time we raised operational rates other than to account for increased cost of garbage bags -- we haven't raised our rates." Spruill said the new rate adjustment will help with the rising costs of gas, oil, vehicles, and other equipment to keep the department functioning. According to the proposal, the current sanitation rates should be $19.55, if the rate had been adjusted for inflation. Christopher Smiley, sanitation director, said the new rates would also help with $505,000 of upcoming equipment purchase needs. |
| GOP candidates for lieutenant governor spoke at forum in West Point | |
 | Four Republican candidates for lieutenant governor spoke at a public forum Monday evening in West Point. The forum -- held at the Ritz -- featured incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who is seeking his first re-election. "I'm the only one tonight that'll speak that had any bills passed," Hosemann said. "People will look at that. I think they'll look at our education, infrastructure, economic development -- you know, all the things we've done here in the Golden Triangle. And I think they're appreciative and they'll know I'm not going to change much." Other candidates include Mississippi Sen. Chris McDaniel. Tiffany Longino, a Ph.D. candidate at Mississippi State University, said, "I want people to know that Mississippi is not a sport where you have two opposing sides competing for two opposing sides. We're one team and I'm here to make Mississippi stronger." Shane Quick, who picked up roughly 14% of the vote in the 2019 primary, said, "I am that non-incumbent candidate. I say vote non-incumbent. That's the number-one qualifier for 2023. Replace the whole establishment if they've got a non-incumbent competitor. I am the opposite of progress, I am the wall that it breaks against." |
| Brandon Presley pushes Gov. Reeves to call special session for ballot initiative | |
 | Brandon Presley, the Democratic candidate for governor, over the weekend urged Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to call lawmakers back into a special session to restore the state's ballot initiative process. "He should have called a special session before the taillights of the legislators ever left the Capitol," Presley told reporters. Legislative leaders for the second straight year failed to reach an agreement on how to restore the state's ballot initiative, leaving voters without a way to bypass political power and directly put an issue on a statewide ballot. Reeves' office did not respond to a request for comment if he intended to call a special session over the initiative, but he has previously said that he supports efforts to restore the initiative. Reeves, the first-term governor who is running for re-election, has been reluctant throughout his tenure to use his power to call such sessions, but he did call a special session in November for lawmakers to consider giving economic incentives to a company wanting to expand their operations in Lowndes County. The two legislative chambers this year tossed around different proposals, but Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, suddenly killed legislation to restore the initiative without letting senators debate or vote on the plan. The main reason an agreement couldn't be reached between the Senate and House is because of disagreements over how many signatures an advocate should gather before an issue could appear on the ballot. |
| Reeves approves legislation creating financial benefits program for volunteer firefighters | |
 | Over 9,000 volunteer firefighters in Mississippi will now be able to receive annual payments as an incentive to continue serving communities throughout the state. Governor Tate Reeves signed "The Mississippi Length of Service Award Program" (House Bill 521) into law on Monday, allowing volunteers to receive up to $500 each year if a minimum number of service points are met. "I believe that House Bill 521 is the potential for a game changer in our efforts to recruit and to retain our volunteer firefighters across the state," Reeves said. "This program creates individual accounts for every volunteer firefighter across our state." On top of the yearly payments, the program will also award a lump sum of $10,000 after 20 years of service. The lump sum will include the interest accrued over the two decades of service with a cap of three percent interest for growth in gains. "To me, this is a tremendous win for Mississippi," Reeves said. "We know that we live in a rural state and volunteer firefighters are incredibly important. Ultimately, it will help make all Mississippians safer and we appreciate the sacrifice of all of our firefighters." |
| Rejected State Supt. Robert Taylor says the situation 'puts a stain on the state' | |
| Two weeks after being rejected by the Senate to serve as state superintendent, Robert Taylor defended his record of improving schools and said his nomination was manipulated into a political issue by Sen. Chris McDaniel as a part of his campaign for lieutenant governor. Taylor lost out on the job to lead Mississippi's public schools when the Senate rejected his nomination last month. Had he been confirmed, he would have been the second Black person to serve as state superintendent. Those who opposed his nomination took issue with his track record turning around schools, his status as an outsider, and the selection process itself. Immediately after the nomination failed, Senate Democrats said it was because of race. Earlier in the confirmation process, questions were raised about Taylor writing for a Black student publication at USM, The Unheard Word, while he was in college. Taylor said his conversations with senators focused on education issues, but that when his involvement with The Unheard Word came up, he was straightforward with them and said it didn't seem to be a concern for people. "I like to think (race) didn't play a role, but I do believe that politics had everything to do with it," Taylor said. McDaniel, the Republican senator from Ellisville, made comments on Facebook before and after the confirmation vote calling Taylor a supporter of critical race theory, affirmative action, and the removal of historical monuments, among other things. |
| Hosemann holds fundraiser at Trump's Mar-a-Lago | |
| Donald Trump has not offered an endorsement in Mississippi's Republican primary for lieutenant governor, but one of the candidates did have a recent fundraiser in what is essentially the former president's home. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who is being accused of being a closet Democrat by opponent Chris McDaniel, held a fundraiser earlier this month at the Mar-a-Lago resort, which is one of Trump's more well-known properties and is also the property he now calls home. In addition, Mar-a-Lago is the property raided by the FBI reportedly because of the former president's alleged unwillingness to return classified documents. In a statement to Mississippi Today, Casey Phillips, senior adviser to the Hosemann campaign, said, "Lt. Gov. Hosemann supports President Trump because his policies created higher wages, a growing economy, new jobs, low inflation, and a more secure border. We were happy to be invited to host a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago back in December and it turned out to be a great event." McDaniel, a conservative state senator from Jones County, unsuccessfully sought Trump's endorsement in 2018 when he challenged U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who the then-president did endorse. |
| State's lack of jail inspections a disaster in the making, lawyer says | |
| Mississippi's failure to require inspections in jails bodes disaster, says the lawyer who oversaw jail and prison conditions for decades. In 2017, state lawmakers stopped providing funds to the Mississippi Department of Health to carry out those inspections after a federal court stopped requiring such inspections under Gates v. Collier, the longtime lawsuit brought by state inmates. Without those inspections, "there's no check, there's none," said Jackson lawyer Ron Welch, who represented those inmates in Mississippi jails and prisons under the court order settling that case. "It's giving sheriffs a free pass. They can do as they wish." He called county supervisors, who fund the sheriffs and jails, "willfully blind" accomplices. An investigation by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today and The New York Times shows that in addition to this lack of inspections, there is a lack of oversight. No state regulator has the authority to fine a sheriff for endangering people in custody or for failing to train the staff who operate the jail. David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project, said this is a national problem as well. Unlike almost every other country, he said, the U.S. has "no independent oversight over what happens in prisons and jails." |
| Why SCOTUS decision on abortion pill ban won't change much for Gulf South residents | |
 | The focus on mifepristone, a pill that is used to manage miscarriages and is also part of a two-pill series of drugs for abortions used widely in the United States, began on April 7 when Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas, ruled to stop distribution of the pill while a lawsuit challenging its Food and Drug Administration safety approval continues. More than half of abortions performed in the U.S. are done using medication. Mifepristone has been approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. since 2000 and has been used in Europe for even longer. It has a 96% efficacy rate, with less than 1% of use resulting in any complications. Then, on Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito placed a hold on any changes to distribution or proposed restrictions, allowing the Supreme Court until April 19 to determine the legal challenges. But despite the legal back-and-forth, advocates and physicians in the Gulf South said outlawing the pill wouldn't change much for people living in states with total abortion bans. Robin Marty, the operations director for the West Alabama Women's Center, said a mifepristone ban would barely change daily operations at the Women's Center since abortions have been illegal in Alabama since last June. Advocates in Mississippi said not only are they not providing mifepristone, but they point to legislation that's gaining popularity in some states, like Texas, that would make it illegal for providers to even talk about abortion pills. This legislation, Marty said, could lead to a bigger divide between states with abortion access and those without. |
| Lawmakers steer toward food stamp clash on work requirements | |
 | Lawmakers, as they work on the 2023 farm bill, are staking out positions on nutrition and food stamps -- the Agriculture Department's biggest single program and a perennial source of contention. The draft bill may still be months away, but Republican members of Congress have already said they want to toughen eligibility rules for some recipients, revisit the benefits they provide and provide more flexibility to accommodate indigenous groups' traditional foods. Those decisions are likely to have a ripple effect on school nutrition programs that aren't part of the farm bill but aid low-income families that qualify for food stamps. Now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program feeds about 42.5 million people, and the Congressional Budget Office estimated it will cost about $127 billion in fiscal 2023, down about $21 billion from fiscal 2022. The 2023 farm bill debate has been unfolding in a series of House and Senate Agriculture committee hearings, and conflicts are already emerging months before the Sept. 30 expiration of the current law. Advocates defend the program as an effective tool against hunger and poverty, while agriculture groups stress the need for a farm bill with SNAP proposals acceptable to a majority in each chamber. |
| Senate GOP pops Feinstein Judiciary replacement balloon | |
 | Republicans on Monday put up a blockade against the Democratic push to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying there is no chance they'll take a step that will effectively allow President Biden's most partisan judicial nominations to advance. GOP senators of all stripes lined up in opposition Monday as they returned to the Capitol from a two-week recess partially headlined by questions about when Feinstein would be back. The six-term senator has been absent since late February due to a case of shingles, leaving the Judiciary panel deadlocked 10-10 and unable to pass partisan nominees along for floor votes. "I, for one, am not going to help President Biden's most unqualified nominees to get confirmed. I don't think you'll see us help in that effort," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the panel and a key ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). At least five Republicans on the Judiciary Committee -- Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), John Kennedy (La.) and Cornyn -- all said they would oppose the effort to replace the longtime California Democrat or saw no reason to remove her. Feinstein, 89, last week asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to replace her on the panel, which has had to cancel three markups in her absence. But replacing her on the panel while she remains a member of the Senate would require a vote of the full chamber. |
| Covid Emerged as Chinese Lab Faced Biosafety Issues, Senate Republican Study Finds | |
 | A Chinese laboratory conducting advanced coronavirus research faced a series of biosafety problems in November 2019 that drew the attention of top Beijing officials and coincided with the Covid pandemic's emergence, according to a new report being released by Senate Republicans on the pandemic's origins. The report, released Monday by a Republican member of the Senate Health Committee, a final version of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, charts a confluence of unexplained events in that month and concludes the pandemic more likely began from a lab accident than naturally, via an animal infecting humans. Based on the work of a team of specialists, the 300-page document draws on open source reporting, including medical studies, scientific journals and numerous Chinese government documents. It estimates that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid, first emerged between Oct. 28 and November 10, 2019 -- weeks earlier than the Chinese government's timeline and close to that of an earlier assessment from the U.S. intelligence chief. Arguments over Covid's origins have become highly politicized between virologists and other scientists who cite evidence pointing to a natural spillover and some researchers, members of the national security community and politicians, especially Republicans, who cite other evidence that they say indicates a laboratory leak. The divisions, and a lack of transparency from Beijing, have hobbled efforts to determine how the virus first infected humans. |
| Biden signs executive order to improve access to child care | |
 | President Joe Biden has signed an executive order containing more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers, the White House said Tuesday. But the directives would be funded out of existing commitments, likely meaning their impact would carry more of a symbolic weight compared with the Democratic president's call in 2021 to provide more than $425 billion to expand child care, improve its affordability and boost wages for caregivers, the White House said. Biden also has called for more money for the care economy in his 2024 budget plan, drawing a sharp line with Republicans, who are seeking limits on spending. Susan Rice, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, told reporters on a phone call that the order shows that Biden isn't waiting on Congress to act. "The child care, long-term care systems in this country just don't work well," Rice said. "High-quality care is costly to deliver. It's labor-intensive. It requires skilled workers. Yet care workers, who are disproportionately women and women of color and immigrants, are among the lowest paid in the country." |
| The one thing Trump and McConnell agree on: A hatred for this group | |
 | Former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell don't agree on much, but there's still one thing that unites them: A disdain for the Club for Growth. The conservative anti-tax group is once again at the center of an intraparty collision course. This time, it's going up against two of the most powerful people in the GOP -- the former president and the Senate minority leader -- right as the party is struggling to fix its electability problems and with control of the upper chamber on the line. The Club is positioning itself against the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the three states that are most key to retaking the majority: West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. Privately some top party operatives and McConnell-aligned strategists worry the Club's recruits, who are typically conservative hardliners, could struggle to win competitive races. The fear is that, at best, the group is creating unnecessarily messy primaries. At worst it is blowing another shot at retaking the majority. Even lawmakers keeping an open mind about how the Club approaches the current cycle don't hide their concern over the group's past tactics. But the Club hasn't been content merely to cross Senate GOP leaders. The group has launched an offensive against Trump too, raising the spectre that a primary that was already destined to be brutal could end up bloody. In recent weeks, Trump has returned the volley, privately indicating that he would be far less likely to endorse down ballot candidates who are allied with the Club, according to two people close to the Trump campaign. |
| GOP governor says he's urged Fox News to break out of its 'echo chamber' | |
 | At the Republican National Committee's spring retreat in Tennessee over the weekend, a swing-state GOP governor told major donors the party's future political success depended in part on Fox News. In a speech about attracting independents and young people to the Republican Party, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he had urged Fox News to break out of its "echo chamber" for Republicans to prosper. Sununu's remarks echo a consistent theme found unvarnished in the private communications of Fox's stars and executives by Dominion Voting Systems in its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network: That Fox is an integral player in Republican politics and the conservative movement. "We have to start thinking about the long game," Sununu told Republican donors at the Four Seasons Hotel in Nashville. "We get ourselves tied up in issues. I'm not saying they're not important, but they ain't making the team bigger." He said the party had an appealing "product" for voters, including younger voters, with an emphasis on low government regulation, low taxes, and local governmental control. Then he started to talk about Fox News. Sununu's remarks come at a delicate moment for Fox. Its lawyers are simultaneously girding for a six-week trial, set to begin Tuesday morning after a one-day delay, and negotiating over a possible settlement with Dominion's legal team. |
| An intellectual battle rages: Is the U.S. in a proxy war with Russia? | |
 | Three days before the Feb. 24 anniversary of his Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin outlined what he had learned during a year of war. With its ever-increasing supply of sophisticated weapons, Putin said, the West was now using Ukraine as a "testing range" for its plans to destroy Russia. Its goal was "to spark a war in Europe, and to eliminate competitors by using a proxy force," he said in a presidential address. "They plan to finish us once and for all." Putin has come a long way since the morning of the invasion, when he outlined a brief "special military operation" that would permanently rescue breakaway regions of Ukraine -- Crimea and part of the eastern Donbas region -- from the "humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime" during the previous eight years of low-level conflict. "It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force," he said in remarks that now seem almost quaint in light of a brutal war to retain and expand Ukrainian territory now occupied by its troops. But Putin's more recent depiction of a Western-provoked war threatening Russia's very existence has resonated, particularly in the Global South, where some countries see the United States engaged in what they consider serial interventions around the world, and have declined to take sides. Whether Ukraine has become a "proxy" war between great powers has itself become an intellectual and political battlefield. The word has a dictionary definition -- a person or entity authorized to act for another. More popularly, it has come to mean sending someone else to do your own dirty work. |
| Nurse Shortage Pushes Hospitals Into the Gig Economy | |
| Hospitals are joining the gig economy. Some of the nation's largest hospital systems including Providence and Advocate Health are using apps similar to ride-hailing technology to attract scarce nurses. An app from ShiftKey lets workers bid for shifts. Another, CareRev, helps hospitals adjust pay to match supply, lowering rates for popular shifts and raising them to entice nurses to work overnight or holidays. The embrace of gig work puts hospitals in more direct competition with the temporary-staffing agencies that siphoned away nurses during the pandemic. The apps help extend hospitals' labor pool beyond their employees to other local nurses who value the highly flexible schedules of gig work. The shift is among many ways hospitals are revamping hiring, schedules and pay to give nurses more control and to fill staffing gaps created by persistent labor shortages. Vacancies are straining many hospitals' operations despite recent hiring gains at hospitals and reports of softer demand from some temporary-staffing companies. Many nurses retired or left the field after the pandemic made their jobs far harder. Others switched hospitals for jobs with higher pay or more flexible schedules. Nurse employment dropped by more than 100,000 workers between 2020 and 2021, the largest decline in four decades of available data, a study in the journal Health Affairs showed. |
| Business pioneer, Shannon native Stephanie Hickman to deliver Ole Miss commencement address | |
| A life's journey is not always a straight line -- there can be many twists and turns. Sometimes you end up right back where you started, but in the best possible way. Stephanie Hickman's story is a testament to this, and she is slated to share it with the University of Mississippi's Class of 2023. The president and CEO of Trice Construction Co., in Chicago, will deliver a Commencement address at morning convocation at 8 a.m. May 13 in the Grove. "I was stunned when I got the invitation to speak," said Hickman, a 1991 graduate of the UM School of Law. "It was not something that I had ever considered. After the shock wore off, I felt really good about it. "To be recognized like this by your alma mater is amazing. When I talk about it, I just can't stop smiling." After a career as a labor attorney, utility executive and lobbyist, Hickman left corporate America in 2006 to buy the construction company her father and three uncles started in 1967. Under her leadership, Trice Construction has transformed from a small residential construction company to an award-winning utility infrastructure contractor serving Fortune 500 corporations, top 100 general and infrastructure contractors, and major public entities. |
| Morgan Wallen weekend concert traffic and parking tips | |
| Country Music singer Morgan Wallen will perform two shows at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium this weekend on Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23. This will be the first show to ever play at The Vaught and the concert is expected to bring show-goers in big numbers. Guest singer will be country music singer and songwriter HARDY. Oxford residents and visitors will see changes in traffic areas, parking, and building access before, during, and after the shows this weekend. Campus will operate similarly to home football games with checkpoints at each entryway. Whether visitors will be attending the concert or the LSU home baseball series, a parking permit is required. Students with permits in residential areas will not have to worry, as those spots will remain available. On the designated concert dates, commuter permits or faculty and staff permits will not be valid for access on campus. As stated previously, student residential permits will have access to parking zones. Baseball goers with parking permits will be permitted to park in regular parking spots, however, students or visitors who don't have this permit are encouraged to park off campus or consider carpool or rideshare options. The Jackson Avenue Center parking lot will be open and shuttles will be running. The stadium gates for the concert will open at 4 p.m. with the shows starting at 5:30 p.m. on both concert dates. No tailgating at The Grove is allowed. |
| JSU student earns Harry S. Truman Foundation Award | |
 | A Jackson State University (JSU) student made history as she received the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation Award. Senior political science major Maisie Brown is the first JSU student to receive the award. Out of the 705 candidates nominated by 275 colleges and universities, she was one of three HBCU student finalists up for the award. "It's a very overwhelming feeling. I feel a lot of gratitude. I'm just really excited to not only expose people to what Jackson State is as an academic institution, but also so my classmates know that the opportunities are out there for us to continue thriving in our process, to continue being debt-free and so you connect with other leaders from across the country who have some of the same passion," said Brown. She said her most recent community work included delivering water to elderly and disabled people across Jackson and doing tornado relief work in the Delta. Truman scholars receive up to $30,000 for graduate school. After graduation, Brown said she eventually wants to work in a transformative education program or in education policy. |
| Alcorn State Jazz Festival brings music, tradition to Vicksburg | |
| It's a musical genre that's as American as the Blues and country music, and area residents had the pleasure of hearing some of its practitioners Saturday at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The 41st Alcorn State University Jazz Festival offered a variety of high school and college bands playing Big Band and jazz standards and new compositions and performances by the Mississippi Jazz Educators and Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Randy Brecker to close out the event. In the more than 40 years the festival has been produced, it has featured music from high school and college jazz ensembles and big bands from Mississippi and across the South. This year's festival featured high school bands from Gonzales, La., and Houston, Texas. One of those bands was from Vicksburg High School, which made a return trip following the COVID-19 pandemic and brought a crowd of supporters with it. "This is our first jazz group since COVID happened," said band director Courtland Smoot. "This is a completely first-year group and they've done an exceptional job preparing for this event." The Jazz Festival began in 1980 as a local event on the Alcorn campus in Lorman by then-Alcorn jazz band director Russell Thomas. |
| EMCC summer course tuition will be cut in half | |
 | Tuition costs at East Mississippi Community College are going down this summer. EMCC is waiving half the tuition costs to in-state students for face-to-face and online classes during the 2023 Maymester, Full Summer, Summer Intensive I, and Summer Intensive II terms. Reduced tuition costs will apply to for-credit academic classes. Students will be required to pay for course fees and textbooks. EMCC's executive leadership approved the initiative in late February. Students will sign up for summer classes the way they normally would, but they will only be charged half the price of tuition. |
| City, law enforcement officials seek solutions following violent Spring Break weekend | |
 | After what was supposed to be a fun-filled weekend quickly turned awry for locals and tourists alike, many Biloxi officials are determining the next steps in handling next year's event --- if there is one. According to a press release posted on the City of Biloxi's website, officers with Biloxi PD responded to 669 calls for service spanning from Friday to Sunday. Over 60 vehicles were towed and 40 arrests were made, including 19 felonies, with offenses ranging from traffic, drug and firearm violations to drunkenness, officer assaults and permit violations. "You have 200 people per officer and you can't control that," said Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson. "Not just this event -- any event. When it's uncontrolled and un-orchestrated chaos with nobody in charge, this is what can happen." Sheriff Peterson had deputies backing up Biloxi PD all weekend, but even then, he says it's virtually impossible for law enforcement to protect everyone. Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich says they'll be contacting event organizers and looking into possible new ordinances in order to give law enforcement more teeth when controlling crowds. "Biloxi has had to react to what promoters have brought to this event without consideration of the consequences," Gilich noted. "The result has been a serious cost to city manpower and resources that could be better used. Our priority is keeping Biloxi safe, friendly and beautiful." |
| Effort aims to return fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral to its original glory | |
 | The cornerstone for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was laid in 1163. One of the world's most famous churches was not completed until 1345. Work continued for many years thereafter with modifications and additions. Notre Dame in English means "Our Lady," giving the Roman Catholic church the name Our Lady of Paris and it is one of the most famous churches in the world and the finest example of French Gothic architecture. A devastating fire on April 15, 2019, destroyed the wooden roof. The lead covering on the roof was vaporized by the heat of the fire and turned into dust. The dust is very hazardous to humans and is systematically being removed during the restoration. Jennifer Feltman, a professor at the University of Alabama, is assisting with the study of the sculptures on the exterior of the famed church said, "When the roof caught fire, it vaporized the lead. That all came down and settled in the cathedral. Any time I go into the cathedral now, I have to wear a special suit. They are very careful about protecting people who are in the site." The study, conservation, and restoration work on the cathedral is ongoing, and the famous church remains closed as the process continues. When the building reopens to the public, the interior will look much as it did to a parishioner in the 12th or 13th century due to the cleaning and restoration work. |
| After Title IX investigation, student left unhappy with process | |
| On Feb. 16, The Plainsman received a tip outlining an Auburn student's experience with Auburn's Title IX office and the investigative process. This came as a result of a previous article published by The Plainsman in which Title IX Coordinator Kelley Taylor and Deputy Title IX Coordinator Katherine Weathers laid out the purpose of their office and how its processes are supposed to work. The student detailed their experiences with officials working in the office, as well as what appeared to them as a mishandled investigation. The student had initially gone to the Safe Harbor office -- who they said provided phenomenal assistance -- to seek resources after they allegedly experienced sexual abuse in a past relationship. After their visit, they were referred to the Title IX office where they filed a formal complaint. The student met with Weathers upon visiting with their survivor advocate from Safe Harbor. Weathers described the process in its entirety to the student and noted the frequency in which investigations end in favor of the respondent. According to Taylor, 30% of respondents are found not responsible in a full investigation, as opposed to 70% who are found responsible. Of those found responsible, Taylor said that 80% are suspended or expelled from the University. While the student's story did include mention of some of these statistics, their main concerns were with how their investigator treated them throughout the investigation, as well as how Weathers handled certain procedures towards the end of the student's investigation when they requested an informal resolution. |
| Orange e-scooters are all over LSU's campus. Are they a convenience or a nuisance? | |
 | If you've been anywhere on or around LSU in the last month, it's hard not to notice the bright orange electric scooters all over the place. A total of 250 of the electric rental scooters have been placed on campus as part of a two-year research project into methods of personal transportation that are less expensive and environmentally damaging than owning a car. The study could help inform "micromobility" policies across the country. "What the project is trying to do is compare these different options to identify which one is more beneficial to the environment and the society," said Mostafa Elseifi, the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering professor leading the research project with LSU. "Also, from an economic perspective, which one is more cost-effective." Operated by e-scooter company Spin, the devices cost $1 to unlock plus 30 cents per minute of use, with daily and monthly programs available. They can reach a top speed of 15 mph unless in a designated slow or no-ride zone, which are viewable in the Spin app. The scooters have been on campus for a few weeks, and they've drawn a wide range of reactions from students and faculty. Some see the appeal of a way to get around without walking for miles -- while still avoiding the ordeal of finding parking on campus. But others have found the scooters to be a nuisance. While Spin has designated zones for dropping off and picking up a scooter, sophomore social work student Tess Graves said she's seen them everywhere from parking spots for cars to inside classrooms. |
| NIFA-Funded Researchers Aim to Develop Climate-Resilient Rice | |
| Louisiana State University has been awarded a $10 million grant from USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to improve sustainability and profitability of rice farming through research innovations that advance climate-resilient crops. It is the largest grant for rice research the LSU AgCenter has received. The project is one of seven recently announced by NIFA and is funded by NIFA's Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) program, which made a total investment of $70 million in sustainable agricultural projects that integrate research, education and Extension efforts. The goal is to establish robust, resilient and climate-smart food and agricultural systems. The project's collaborating institutions include Clemson University, Mississippi State University, Texas A&M AgriLife, and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Scientists at Mississippi State will develop genetic mapping tools to identify the genes associated with stress tolerance, including projected changes in climate. "Being able to identify these genes will help rice breeders develop climate-resilient cultivars, or plant varieties," said Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Agronomist Raja Reddy. Ranking sixth in the nation, Mississippi rice production is a $97 million industry, with over 115,000 farmed acres. In recent years, increasing extremes and unpredictability in weather patterns have begun to threaten the stability of this agricultural commodity. |
| Tenn. passes anti-DEI bill, part of wave of similar Southern legislation | |
 | While Texas and Florida have been targeting diversity, equity and inclusion -- or at least opponents' idea of DEI -- a third Southern state passed legislation last week doubling down on its past crackdown on "divisive concepts." The Tennessee General Assembly on Thursday finished passing Senate Bill 817, which now awaits a signature or veto by Governor Bill Lee, a Republican. Last year, the General Assembly passed a law saying public college and university students and employees couldn't be penalized for not endorsing certain "divisive concepts." These 16 concepts included the ideas that "an individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously"; that "a meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist"; and that "the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups." The new legislation, if Lee signs it, would invite students and employees to report violations. "The institution shall investigate the report and take appropriate steps to correct any violation that is found to have occurred," the new bill says. "Institutions shall report violations and any corrective action annually to the comptroller of the treasury through the comptroller's office of research and education accountability." |
| Tennessee House approves bill targeting publishers for sending schools sexually explicit books | |
 | A Tennessee bill that would open book publishers and distributors to criminal prosecution for sending obscene materials to public schools is headed to Gov. Bill Lee. The Tennessee House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 1059 in a 71-22 vote. It already passed the Senate last week, and now heads to Lee's desk. Sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, and Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, the bill would empower local district attorneys and the Tennessee Attorney General to criminally charge and prosecute book publishers who knowingly distribute materials that violate state obscenity law to public schools and school districts. Book publishers and distributors could face felony charges and fines of up to $100,000 per violation, if the bill is signed into law. "This is only for books being sent to the school," Lynn told The Tennessean. "Certainly, if there are any sexually explicit books in teacher's classrooms or in school libraries, they need to come out. You can't give sexually explicit books to minors." The Tennessee Association of School Librarians opposed the bill. TASL's Legislative Committee noted that the bill could impact book publishers and distributors' willingness to work with school districts in Tennessee, adding that it "creates unnecessary bureaucracy, limits students' access to books, and leaves us with lots of questions." In addition to existing state obscenity law, Tennessee already has policies in place to prevent inappropriate materials from being in school libraries. |
| U. of Tennessee raises student minimum wage, work study pay | |
| On July 1, the minimum hiring wage for student employees will rise to $11 an hour, up from the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Wages for student on-campus work-study employees will increase from $9 an hour to $11 an hour, while wages for off-campus work-study employees will increase from $13 an hour to $16 an hour. The Federal Work-Study Program on campus allows students to work either full or part-time jobs to lower their tuition expense. The program is need based, but eligible students earn an average of $3,000 a year towards their tuition costs. Most students work less than 30 hours a week and their pay is deposited into their tuition balance every other week. "Student employment opportunities can provide benefits for students, including eliminating the need to travel off-campus for work, flexible scheduling around their classes and exams, and experience learning and building skill sets that will benefit them while at the university and in their future career path," a release from the student employment office said. The wage increase will likely encourage more students to work on-campus jobs and relieve stress of students enrolled in federal aid programs. "It's nice honestly because we don't get tips at the cafe so being able to get a fair amount without tips has been really great," MJ Lane, a freshman physics major, said. |
| Activists, U. of Florida students share thoughts on latest abortion ban bill | |
 | Students and advocates at the University of Florida are sharing mixed feelings about the latest legislation that removes women's right to bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion. While some say it's just another attack on women's rights by religious conservatives, others say it's about protecting life. "I think that would be a step in the right direction," said Joey Mancini, a 21-year-old junior at UF. House Bill 7, introduced by Florida House Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday. The legislation limits abortion access to six weeks of pregnancy, prohibits abortions performed through telehealth, bans the use of state funds for out-of-state travel expenses to receive an abortion and expand services provided by pregnancy support centers. The law, however, can only take effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds the current 15-week ban in an ongoing legal challenge. |
| Disgraced star Bill Cosby makes rare public appearance -- wearing USC Gamecocks gear | |
 | When Bill Cosby was convicted of aggravated indecent assault in 2018, the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees revoked the disgraced comedy legend and TV star's honorary degree. That hasn't stopped Cosby from wearing his Gamecocks gear. During a rare public appearance Sunday, the 85-year-old Cosby was seen in New York City wearing a sweatshirt with "South Carolina" in block letters above the university's Gamecock inside of a "C" logo. Paparazzi got photos of Cosby, who also had a medical mask and cane, getting out of a vehicle in Manhattan, Metro reported. In April 2018, a jury found Cosby guilty on the charges that he drugged and sexually violated a woman in his Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, home in 2004, NPR reported. Two months after Cosby was convicted, the USC Board of Trustees unanimously voted to rescind Cosby's honorary degree that was bestowed on May 17, 1986. That marked the first time that USC revoked an honorary degree, according to the university. An honorary degree is "the highest honor the University of South Carolina can bestow," and recipients do not have to be alumni, faculty or otherwise associated with the university, according to the university's policies, The State reported in 2018. |
| Amazon And U. Of Texas Establish New Science Hub | |
| Amazon is teaming up with the University of Texas at Austin to launch a new science and engineering research partnership that aims to advance discoveries in areas such as video streaming, search and information retrieval, and robotics. The UT Austin-Amazon Science Hub is the latest in a series of science hubs that the tech giant has set up with major research universities or scientific organizations. In each case the focus is on facilitating collaborations between academia and the tech industry that will stimulate discoveries and applications in science and engineering. The hubs also help prepare young scientists and engineers for careers in the high tech sector. Other Amazon-sponsored science hubs have been established previously at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UCLA. the University of Washington, and the Max Plank Society. Through the new partnership, which is initially for five years, Amazon plans to fund research projects and doctoral student fellowships along with various activities and events to build interdisciplinary innovation. Although the hub will be hosted in UT Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering, researchers and students in a range of other disciplines will be involved. Four research areas have been identified as initial priorities: machine learning, image and video processing, robotics, and networking and communications. |
| U. of Missouri team to deploy sensors in Turkey earthquake zone for NSF project | |
 | After a grad student for Eric Sandvol defends a dissertation, the two will head to Turkey to meet up with other researchers deploying hundreds of small earthquake sensors in the earthquake zone for a National Science Foundation project. Sandvol, a University of Missouri professor of geological sciences, and his grad student leave for Turkey on April 27. There, they will meet up with teams from Georgia Tech and the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey. It's Turkey's counterpart to the NSF, Sandvol said. The small, autonomous sensors are a little bigger than a soda can. Unlike traditional seismographs, they're not required to be anchored in concrete, he said. "These things, you just put them in the ground," Sandvol said. "You can deploy hundreds very rapidly. We will have a total of 250 of them." The project is supported by an NSF rapid response grant. They measure ground motion in three directions, he said. The February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria were unusual in several ways, making them good for research, Sandvol said. "Number one, they were really big," he said. |
| U. of Memphis bans TikTok after Gov. Lee's passed bill | |
| The University of Memphis has banned TikTok access on its campus. Governor Bill Lee signed a Senate Bill into law prohibiting public higher education institutions from allowing access to social media platforms operated or hosted by a company based in China on the institution's network, said U of M. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public will be blocked from using Tiktok while using the University of Memphis IT network. However, they will be allowed to use their personal or third-party network to access the app. The university says there are exceptions to the law. For example, law enforcement will be able to use restricted platforms for investigation purposes. |
| 'Everybody Is on Pins and Needles': Colleges Are Assailed With Hoax Calls About Active Shooters | |
 | Colleges in Texas, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere were shaken last week by a series of "swatting" incidents in which callers falsely reported active shooters to the police. The calls, similar to fake bomb threats, are designed to provoke an intense law-enforcement response and stoke fear on a college campus. Callers seize upon the real threat of gun violence on campus to send community members into a panic. Recent mass shootings at Michigan State University and the Covenant School, in Nashville, have left many colleges and K-12 schools on edge. Last week's fake calls prompted some students to speak out about what they saw as shortcomings in their campus emergency-response protocols. University of Pittsburgh students held a protest last week criticizing the institution for delaying the campuswide alert about the active-shooter call, even though it was a hoax. On top of the psychological trauma these attacks can cause, there's also the possibility of physical harm. At Harvard University this month, campus police officers held four Black students at gunpoint in their dorm after the police received a false report of an armed individual in their suite. The Chronicle spoke with Robert Evans of Margolis Healy, a campus-security consulting firm, to discuss how colleges should respond to swatting incidents. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. |
| A Lesson for Colleges on Student Mental Health: Try New Things on a Small Scale | |
| Everyone is worried about students' mental health. What can colleges actually do to help? During a Friday session at the American Council on Education's annual meeting, three researchers offered lessons learned from new research focused on eight colleges. Their core message was that administrators should start small, experiment with interventions, frequently assess how students feel about the interventions, and change course as needed. Students don't view their campus experience as a collection of offices and departments, like administrators often do, said Jennifer Maltby, director of data, analytics, and planning at the Rochester Institute of Technology. That should inform colleges' approach to troubleshooting students' mental-health challenges, Maltby said. Improving student mental health is as complex as raising a child, said Allison Smith, director of health strategy and outcomes at New York University, and both tasks require constant adaptation to fit shifting needs. Two other key findings were that colleges should pinpoint which student demographic groups are disproportionately failing to thrive, and that institutions should tailor their goals to improve the experiences of specific student populations, rather than attempting to create a blanket solution that will work for every student. |
| In Japan, plummeting university enrollment forecasts what's ahead for the U.S. | |
| The campus of International Christian University in Tokyo is an oasis of quiet in the final week of the winter term, with a handful of undergraduates studying beneath the newly sprouting plum trees that bloom a few weeks before Japan's familiar cherry blossoms. The colors of nature are abundant in this nation in the spring. But after decades of a falling birthrate, it has far too few of another important resource: college students like these. The number of 18-year-olds here has dropped by nearly half in just three decades, from more than 2 million in 1990 to 1.1 million now. It's projected to further decline to 880,000 by 2040, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. That's taken a dramatic toll on colleges and universities, with severe consequences for society and economic growth -- a situation now also being faced by the United States, where the number of 18-year-olds has begun to drop in some states and soon will fall nationwide. What's happening in Japan can offer "clues and implications" for U.S. policymakers and employers and for universities and colleges already beginning to contend with their own steep drops in enrollment, said Yushi Inaba, a senior associate professor of management at International Christian University, or ICU, who has studied the phenomenon. The most significant of those implications, based on the Japanese experience: a weakening of economic competitiveness at a time when international rivals such as China are increasing the proportions of their populations with degrees. |
| Tribal colleges tap US energy funds to build 'living labs' | |
| Tribal colleges and universities around the U.S. will be able to tap nearly $15 million in grant funding to boost clean energy development as part of the federal government's latest investment in creating more reliable and sustainable electricity generation for Native American communities. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the new funding opportunity last week. It comes on the heels of another $50 million round of grants for deploying clean energy technology across Indian Country, where many communities have long been without basic services such as running water, electricity and broadband internet. "We know that there is a huge need for energy reliability but also for energy access in Indian Country," said Wahleah Johns, director of the agency's Office of Indian Energy. Johns, who is from the Navajo Nation, described it as an energy crisis in which families -- and tribal governments -- often have to be creative when finding ways to operate on the fringes of major grids that supply Phoenix, Las Vegas and other cities with power. That means developing micro-grids or installing solar panels so residents can power refrigerators or charge up cellphones and laptops, she said. With the latest grants, officials at the Office of Indian Energy said the idea is to use tribal colleges and universities as a conduit to build systems that can cut down on campus electricity costs while training Native American students who can support a renewable energy economy in tribal communities. |
| How new FAFSA will change what students pay | |
| The upcoming overhaul to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the underlying formula that determines how aid is dispersed will mean thousands more students will be eligible for the Pell Grant and higher-value Pell Grants than under the current formula, a new Brookings report finds. All the changes in the 2020 FAFSA Simplification Act could mean that Pell Grant eligibility increases by about $2.6 billion from the current formula. However, students with siblings in college likely will lose billions in institutional aid, according to the report, which analyzed how FAFSA simplification will affect students' eligibility for financial aid. "Students don't know this at all, and I think it's important to convey to them that their prices are likely to change," said Phil Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College and lead author of the report. Levine, a nonresident fellow with Brookings' Center on Children and Family Studies, worked with Jill Desjean, a senior policy analyst with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, to calculate the impact of the simplification policy changes. NASFAA released a modeling tool last year to help institutions gauge how the new federal formula would affect them. The Education Department is set to release a new version of the FAFSA this December as part of a broader overhaul of the federal financial aid system that includes changing how eligibility for the Pell Grant is determined, among other policy shifts. |
| New State of Black America Report Focuses on Extremism | |
| The United States' rising tide of right-wing political extremism, manifested in a surge of hateful speech and violent attacks, is a critical concern, according to this weekend's State of Black America, the annual report on racial equality put out by the National Urban League (NUL). Although extremism has been rising for over a decade, fueled by opposition to the Obama administration and the rise of Donald Trump, the report, created with research and data from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the UCLA Law School, makes the case that it has accelerated since 2020, with a 44% increase in hate crimes in 2021. "[Extremism] is the poisonous tree from which all this fruit comes," said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the NUL and the former mayor of New Orleans. "This is driving the way people vote, it's driving what school boards do, it's driving what governors do. If we do not interrupt it, then our efforts to impact issues like economic policy and education policy will be academic exercises." In the essays that make up the bulk of the report, luminaries from the government and civil rights spheres discuss how the rise of extremism can be combatted. Several other essays examine ways to fight hatred and the aftermath of hate crimes. Governor Wes Moore of Maryland writes that extremism is driven by a false sense of patriotism and discusses initiatives that promote true patriotism through service. |
| GOP education committee chair: 'I don't know what a trans girl is' | |
| Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) on Monday said she did not know what a transgender person was during a hearing on federal legislation to ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. "I don't know what a trans girl is," Foxx said Monday during a House hearing on H.R. 734, a bill that seeks to amend the definition of sex in Title IX to mean a person's "reproductive biology and genetics at birth." The proposed law, otherwise known as the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act," is backed by 93 House Republicans. The White House on Monday said President Biden would veto the measure if it reached his desk. When asked during Monday's hearing whether she believes transgender women are women, Foxx answered in the negative. "They're males, sorry," she said. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Monday said Foxx was not denying the existence of transgender people but was instead "calling into question this fantasy that they could change their sex." "Correct," Foxx responded. "I do not deny the existence of people who say they are biologically one sex but identify as another, certainly there are people in this country who say that. My point was one cannot change one's biological sex. It has not been found to be possible." |
| Biden DOJ wins transfer of lawsuit challenging student loan rule away from conservative Texas court | |
| A federal judge in a Texas district that's become a favorite destination for conservatives trying to stop Democratic policies sided with the Biden administration on Monday, ruling that a legal challenge to a new Education Department student loan rule was improperly filed there. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Donald Trump appointee based in Fort Worth in the Northern District of Texas, granted the Justice Department's request to transfer the lawsuit to Austin, part of the Western District of Texas. The win for the Justice Department comes after it has sought, unsuccessfully, to move other legal challenges to administration policies away from the northern Texas district where all but two of the judges are Republican appointees. Critics have accused conservative opponents of Biden policies of filing their lawsuits in particular divisions in the district, seeking to guarantee they're heard by a sympathetic judge. The Biden administration, for example, has accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of "judge shopping" in recent cases he's filed in the district challenging various administration policies. The lawsuit that Pittman agreed to transfer on Monday was brought by a for-profit college trade association that wants to block a new Biden administration policy that makes it easier for student loan borrowers to have their debts forgiven when they are misled or defrauded by their college. |
| White plays DeSantis, goes after university DEI programs | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: Gov. Tate Reeves and the Legislature having successfully stamped out the non-existent Critical Race Theory (CRT) programs in Mississippi schools, colleges, and universities, State Auditor Shad White has chosen another fake issue to tackle -- our universities' diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Conservative Republicans have begun slamming DEI programs as part of their anti-woke agenda. Gov. Ron DeSantis has moved to defund DEI programs at Florida universities. Gov. Greg Abbott has moved to stamp out DEI policies in hiring at Texas universities. "After seeing Florida's review of DEI spending, we have decided to use the same model to review DEI spending at universities in Mississippi," Fletcher Freeman, a spokesperson for the auditor's office, told Mississippi Today. Unlike CRT programs, DEI programs are alive and well in Mississippi universities. IHL has a board policy promoting diversity that includes a goal "To enhance the overall educational experience through infusion of curricular content and co-curricular programming that enhances multicultural awareness and understanding." ... Given his following of Gov. DeSantis's anti-woke crusade, one can only wonder what Auditor White is up to. It looks to be a political fishing expedition, or in the current vernacular, a witch hunt. |
SPORTS
| The 'Father of SEC baseball' is emblazoned in bronze | |
| It was a process that took nearly a year to finish, and an honor that seemed like it was years in the making, all for a reveal that took seconds. On Friday afternoon, former teammates, coaches, current administration and hundreds of Mississippi State fans gathered outside Adkerson Plaza at Dudy Noble Field for the unveiling of a statue honoring former Bulldog head coach Ron Polk. Known as the "Father of Southeastern Conference Baseball," Polk won more than 1,100 games with the Bulldogs, taking them to six College World Series in Omaha, and Friday ended the wait as he became the third person to have a statue erected outside of The Dude. "When John Cohen told me about a year ago that people recommend that we do that, I said, 'Alright, if you feel like you want to do it, I'll be happy to accept,'" Polk said. "It's been a year in the making, taking measurements with Rusty Reid. It's been a long time. We had 111 of my former players, and probably 150 that called, texted or wrote. We had guys from West Virginia, California, Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey. That means more to me than the statue." Bulldog legends were in attendance, including Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, "Thunder and Lightning" the recipients of the two statues that sit at the entrance to The Dude. With such a busy day on Friday, Polk put fans and players first, setting aside time during the entirety of Super Bulldog Weekend to shake hands of players and take photos with fans in front of the statue. |
| Young Bulldogs pick up momentum with dramatic Ole Miss series win | |
| Super Bulldog Weekend is one of the biggest parties of the year in Starkville, and Saturday night was its pinnacle. Mississippi State freshman Dakota Jordan hit a walk-off two-RBI single to beat Ole Miss 8-7 in front of an NCAA record crowd of 16,423 at Dudy Noble Field. The win was followed by a Brett Elderedge concert and fireworks show, but even with the city-wide party there wasn't much of a Saturday hangover as MSU clinched its second straight Southeastern Conference series in a 5-3 win. "You're almost trying to bring them down," Bulldog head coach Chris Lemonis said of the excitement and the occasion. "We made sure they knew the level of importance of the game. I was telling them 'I'm never going to tell you this is just like any other game.' We talk about the importance of it, but really trying to get them calm and able to play relaxed and aggressive. That's been the mindset all week." The Bulldogs (22-15, 5-10 SEC) were once again led by their young core. The youngsters have stepped up, and Lemonis' trust in them is paying dividends. "We're probably one of the younger teams in the league, but those kids are not young anymore," Lemonis said of the young core. "After this weekend, what else could Dakota play in but a Super Regional? Those kids are learning and getting better every day." |
| Dakota Jordan Named SEC Freshman of the Week | |
| Mississippi State's Dakota Jordan was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon. Jordan helped the Dawgs go 3-1 on the week with a series victory over rival Ole Miss. Over the week, he hit three home runs and drove in nine runs. His nine runs driven in were the second most in the SEC last week. Against the Rebels, he went 5-for-13 with a pair of home runs and drove in six. His biggest hit against Ole Miss came on Saturday when he picked up the game-winning single, leading the Dawgs past the Rebels, 8-7. On Sunday, he hit a three-run shot that helped the Dawgs win their seventh straight series over Ole Miss. For the week, he hit .375 and improved his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest of his career. Over his 12-game hitting streak, Jordan is hitting .477. The Dawgs return to the field on Friday, April 21, in Auburn, Ala. against Auburn. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. |
| Mississippi State baseball, Southern cancel midweek matchup due to SWAC protocols | |
| Mississippi State baseball's matchup against Southern on Tuesday has been cancelled, MSU announced. Southern's game against Texas Southern was postponed Saturday, and SWAC rules call for the game to be played Tuesday. MSU will not reschedule its matchup with Southern and won't find another nonconference opponent this week. Mississippi State (22-15, 5-10 SEC) returns to action Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network+) to open a series at Auburn (20-15-1, 5-10). The Bulldogs have won back-to-back SEC series, capped by last weekend's victory against rival Ole Miss. MSU dropped the opening game but bounced back with a walk-off win Saturday and another dramatic win Sunday. Auburn has lost its last three SEC series against Florida, Texas A&M and Alabama. The Tigers are coming off a trip to the College World Series last year. |
| Mississippi State names bulldog mascot after Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. 'It's humbling.' | |
| Mississippi State officially introduced their newest live English bulldog mascot at halftime of the 2023 spring football game on Saturday, and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was on hand for the crowning of his namesake. "Jak," the retiring mascot, worked the first half of the spring game before handing over the harness to "Dak" during halftime ceremony, all to the delight of a admittedly humbled Prescott. "How about it?" Prescott said. "They've named the mascot after me, so I had to come back and see that. ... For the mascot of Mississippi State, of this university, to be named after me, it's humbling. It's something I hold very special to me." Since 1935 Mississippi State has had a tradition of selecting an English bulldog for their mascot. The Bulldogs are given the title of Bully and also given a name. "Dak" is the 22nd bulldog to have the title Bully and derives his lineage from "Tonka" (Bully XIX) and "Champ" (Bully XX). It's fitting that the latest mascot was named after Prescott, who is arguably the school's most famous and popular alumnus after becoming the most decorated football player in Mississippi State history following a three-year career as the starting quarterback from 2013-2015. |
| Julia Lopez Ramirez Ranked Number One Internationally in the April Arnold Palmer Cup Standings | |
| Fresh off the heels of an SEC Individual Championship, Julia Lopez Ramirez has been ranked number one internationally in the April Arnold Palmer Cup Standings. This prestigious ranking is a testament to her skill, dedication, and hard work. The Arnold Palmer Cup is a premier golf tournament that showcases the best young golfers from around the world. Each year, the top players from the United States and Europe compete against each other in a friendly yet fiercely competitive event. The top six golfers from the spring's final ranking from both the United States and International men and women shall be among the individuals selected to compete in the Palmer Cup. Longtime Arnold Palmer partner Rolex is continuing its 50-plus year relationship through its support of the matches, which will be hosted by Laurel Valley Golf Club June 8-10. Using Golfstat's NCAA Player Ranking as a base, the Palmer Cup Ranking awards bonus points for wins and high finishes and a penalty for poor finishes. The ranking also contains a strength of schedule component. |
| Borges Remembers 16-Year-Old Alcaraz Ahead Of Barcelona Clash | |
| Nuno Borges has watched Carlos Alcaraz play up close before. The circumstances were considerably different to those he will step into on Tuesday when he takes on the World No. 2 at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. "We shared a court one time in Spain, in Martos," Borges told ATPTour.com on Monday after his first-round win against Ilya Ivashka at the clay-court ATP 500. "It was an [ITF World Tennis Tour] 25k. He was 16... He was hitting huge already and was really physical for his age. I guess you can see that now." In the three years since, Alcaraz has claimed eight tour-level titles, including a maiden Grand Slam at the US Open and three ATP Masters 1000 crowns, and become the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Even if the Spaniard dropped to No. 2 behind Novak Djokovic last month, Borges is expecting Alcaraz to bring his best to the pair's second-round clash on Pista Rafa Nadal. "[It's a] great tournament, I'm just happy that I'm here and will try to absorb a bit the big things I've been doing." "[It's a] great tournament, I'm just happy that I'm here and will try to absorb a bit the big things I've been doing." |
| Greg Sankey on zero Black SEC football coaches: That speaks to campus decisions | |
| SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was asked about his conference's lack of black football coaches Monday at the APSE Southeast Region meeting, held at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Sankey has and will continue to speak internally on it, he said. The SEC has expectations that member schools have a diverse candidate pool when it has openings, he said. The 14-team conference currently has zero Black head football coaches. Sankey said the backgrounds of coaches are ultimately a reflection of decisions made on campuses. Derek Mason, fired by Vanderbilt after the 2020 season, was the last Black coach in the SEC, which has had only five in the conference's 90-year history. "We have had times where three of our 14 at the highest level were from under-represented groups, African-American, in football coaches," Sankey said. "We have one now of Hispanic background and no African-American head football coaches. That speaks to the campus decision-makers. We have expectations about communication and consideration of a diverse candidate pool. That happens, but eventually those decisions have to be made. It's a source of attention." Two of the five Black football coaches in SEC history were at Vanderbilt, current Penn State coach James Franklin the other. Sylvester Croom became the first Black coach in 2004 at Mississippi State, followed by Joker Phillips at Kentucky. |
| Florida Gators' Scott Stricklin, Billy Napier discuss, endorse new NIL | |
| Florida football coach Billy Napier offered a strong endorsement of Florida's new exclusive Name, Image and Likeness Collective, Florida Victorious, on Monday night. Napier and Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin appeared on the 45-minute Zoom Call with Florida Victorious founder Jose Costa and ESPN studio host/reporter and Florida alum Laura Rutledge, who is on the new collective's board of directors. Florida Victorious took over as the school's exclusive NIL arm last week, absorbing the Gator Collective and Gator Guard three months after Jaden Rashada's botched NIL deal (worth a reported $13.8 million) led to the five-star quarterback asking out of his Letter of Intent with UF. Rashada has since signed with Arizona State. "This is the next arms race, this is the next big thing you have to have in order to be competitive from a recruiting standpoint and dynamic," Napier said. "And we have the vehicle. Jose has built the vehicle. Now it's about Gator Nation getting behind it." In streamlining to one collective, Florida is following a model similar to Auburn and Ole Miss, who recently rebranded and consolidated their NIL Collectives into exclusive organizations. "NIL is going to be a numbers game, right," Stricklin said. "The more people we can get engaged helping our athletes, the better the experience those athletes will have with NIL and it's going to give the University of Florida a huge leg up on the people that we go out there and ask our young people to compete with, compete against on a regular basis." |
| Auburn Board of Trustees authorizes Pat Dye Field improvement project | |
 | Approximately $6 million in improvements are coming to Pat Dye Field in Jordan-Hare Stadium, as the Auburn University Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of the project at their Friday meeting at the Auburn University Hotel. The intent of the project, according to meeting materials, is to improve field drainage, re-sod, modify the field's perimeter for improved access and circulation, and modernize on-field electrical and communications infrastructure. According to Auburn's Associate Vice President for Facilities Dan King, the project would replace a drainage system that is more than 40 years old. "Most of this work involves repairs or replacements of existing systems, and as such, is more accurately classified as a repair project and technically not a capital project requiring board approval," King said. "However, in the spirit of transparency, and due to the sensitivity of the project schedule and the impact on Pat Dye Field, the administration felt it was appropriate that the Board of Trustees authorize the execution of the Jordan-Hare Stadium field renovation project." The project is slated to begin construction following the 2023 football season, with a goal of completion prior to the 2024 A-Day spring football game. It's to be financed entirely by Auburn's athletics department. |
| Missouri House votes to limit transgender student athletes | |
| Transgender girls and women would no longer be allowed to play on the same team as other girls and women under a bill passed Monday in Missouri's Republican-led House. Lawmakers voted 104-46 to send the measure to the GOP-led Senate, which passed similar legislation earlier this year. The ban would apply to student athletes in grade 6 through college, including teams at private schools. Public K-12 schools and colleges would lose state funding for allowing transgender girls to play sports with other girls. Republican bill sponsor Rep. Jamie Burger, of Benton, said allowing transgender girls to play with other girls will "wipe out female sports as we know it." "Biological males are bigger. They are stronger. They are faster," Burger said on the House floor late Monday. "The majority of women simply cannot compete." Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle, of Lee's Summit, said children "don't harbor our fears and our ignorance, and thank God for that." The Missouri bill is one of hundreds drafted by Republican lawmakers across the U.S. this year to push back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, especially targeting transgender people's everyday lives -- including sports, health care, bathrooms, workplaces and schools. |
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