| Wednesday, April 26, 2023 |
| MSU-Meridian expands health sciences with two key appointments | |
 | Mississippi State University-Meridian has announced two key appointments as the university moves forward with its health sciences expansion efforts on the Riley Campus downtown. Dr. Harold Jones has been appointed interim associate vice provost for health sciences. An accomplished leader in healthcare education, Jones recently retired after an impressive stint as dean of the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Shauncey Hill has been appointed director of projects and strategic planning. Hill has served the university for more than two decades partnering with faculty to achieve millions in research grant funding. "These additional appointments further demonstrate the university's commitment to taking care of what matters by strengthening healthcare programs on the Meridian Campus," said Terry Dale Cruse, associate vice president and head of campus. "We're recruiting proven leadership to make sure we do it well." |
| MSU moves graduation to football stadium | |
 | Mississippi State University will hold two graduation ceremonies inside Davis Wade Stadium on May 12. One ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and the second is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The university usually holds graduations inside Humphrey Coliseum, but the basketball arena is currently under construction. MSU most notably held its 1989 graduation ceremony inside Davis Wade Stadium where former U.S. President George H.W. Bush spoke to graduates, the university announced. |
| What are stock buybacks, which critics are blaming for hastening Bed Bath & Beyond's bankruptcy? A finance professor explains | |
 | Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy on April 23, 2023, and some analysts are blaming the billions of dollars the retailer spent on share buybacks as one of the reasons for its downfall. In total, the company has spent nearly US$12 billion buying back its own stock since 2005, including $1 billion in 2021 alone -- cash that could have potentially helped stave off bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond is hardly alone in snapping up its own stock. Companies have been buying back record amounts of their own shares in recent years, which prompted President Joe Biden to propose quadrupling the tax on buybacks to 4%. But what are stock buybacks, and why do some people consider them to be a bad thing? The Conversation tapped D. Brian Blank, who studies company financial decision-making at Mississippi State University, to fill us in. |
| Starkville education leaders to lead CREATE panel on community-district relations | |
 | Starkville education leaders will travel north May 3 to speak on a panel about education and community connection. Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent Tony McGee, Deputy Superintendent Christy Maulding, Starkville High School Principal Darein Spann and Greater Starkville Development Partnership Mike Tagert will speak about the relationship between the district and community at the State of the Region hosted by CREATE Foundation's Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi. The event will run from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Cadence Bank Conference Center with a coffee hour at 8:30 a.m. It is open and free to the public. There will be two panels for those at the event to attend. In addition to the school and community connection panel in which the Starkville representatives will speak, there will also be a panel on girls' leadership. Panelists for that include Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill; Amy Tate, government relations manager with Tennessee Valley Authority; Lenay Williams, women's program coordinator with Lighthouse Foundation; and Alea Hudson, a New Albany High School student. |
| MDOT plans to put in temporary median at Highway 25, Longview Road | |
 | This has been the site of serious accidents, and even fatalities in Oktibbeha County. Now, a temporary directional median will go here at the intersection of Highway 25 and Longview Road. Here's what it means for frequent travelers. Drivers will no longer be allowed to cross two lanes of oncoming traffic to make a left-hand turn onto Highway 25. Only a right-hand turn will be allowed onto Highway 25 from Longview Road. Then, if you want to go in the other direction, you need to merge into the left lane and make a left turn or u-turn at the nearest median crossover. If you are traveling on Highway 25, you will still be able to turn left in both directions to go east or west on Longview Road. The Mississippi Department of Transportation plans to install the median on May 2. |
| First FORGE director looks to expand workforce development | |
| Melinda Lowe has always had a passion for helping teachers learn more ways to improve their skills in the classroom. Through more than 18 years as a school administrator in Columbus and as the director of outreach and innovation at Mississippi University for Women, she believes she's done well building connections with educators and helping improve student professional development. Now, she plans to put that experience and passion into a new role at FORGE Foundation. Lowe was tapped as FORGE's first executive director on April 13. She will start the job in July. Established in 2018, FORGE is a collective of local construction companies in the Golden Triangle that aims to increase vocational training and maintain a large labor pool for its member businesses. To date, there are 13 members spread across all three counties in the region. Lowe told The Dispatch she will spearhead the organization's expansion in northeast Mississippi, including establishing a new FORGE chapter with construction companies in Tupelo and Fulton. She will also oversee the foundation's local efforts with its annual career expo and interview day and find ways to improve connections between FORGE companies and local schools throughout the Golden Triangle. She also wants to lead the way for FORGE conducting more events. |
| Residents told to lock doors amid search for jail escapees | |
 | Authorities hunted Wednesday for four inmates, including one suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck, who escaped over the weekend from a Mississippi jail that has been under federal scrutiny. Multiple law enforcement agencies were searching parts of the state, with at least one county sheriff's department telling residents to "please keep your doors locked and have no keys or weapons in your vehicles" following unconfirmed reports that the man was spotted in the area. The U.S. Marshals service and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations are among the agencies assisting in the search. Police said Anthony Watts, 61, was shot and killed Monday night around 7 p.m. on Interstate 55 in Jackson after he pulled over to help a man who had wrecked a motorcycle. Police say that man shot Watts several times and then stole his Red Dodge Ram. Watts died at the scene. "Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect ... fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington," Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said. Arrington is one of four prisoners -- along with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes -- who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson, through breaches in a cell and the roof. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said the men might have camped out on the roof before fleeing the facility and going their separate ways. |
| Salmonella in Breaded Raw Chicken Is Target of USDA Crackdown | |
 | The Agriculture Department proposed new rules Tuesday aimed at minimizing salmonella outbreaks from some breaded chicken products, a move the industry said could significantly affect availability and price. Part of a broader effort to contain salmonella, the new proposal takes aim at breaded, stuffed raw chicken products, such as frozen chicken cordon bleu. Because these products are often prebrowned, consumers might mistakenly think they are cooked, leading to consumption of undercooked chicken, the USDA said. Chicken producers are already required to test samples for salmonella, and they face more USDA scrutiny if contamination reaches a certain threshold. But consumer groups say contaminated chicken still sometimes ends up on shelves. Under the proposal, any breaded raw chicken product from a batch that tested positive for even a small amount of the bacteria wouldn't be able to be sold. Companies could choose to cook the chicken, which kills the bacteria, for use in another product. "The rule represents a sea change in how USDA inspects poultry," said Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, which praised the USDA move. The National Chicken Council, a trade group that represents poultry companies, said it estimates that annually, more than 200 million servings of the breaded, stuffed raw chicken product would be lost, while production costs would rise, potentially closing smaller producers of the products and increasing consumer prices. |
| GOP leaders blink, make last-minute changes to debt bill | |
 | House GOP leadership apparently caved to Midwestern Republicans and hardliners on their major debt limit and tax cut bill overnight, making changes to biofuel tax credits and public assistance work requirement provisions despite insisting on Tuesday that they were done negotiating the measure and would not make any more changes to it. The last-minute changes were made just hours after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters that he would not revise the bill despite opposition from Republicans piling up. "No, we're gonna pass the bill on the floor," McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday when asked if he would reopen the bill. "We're done negotiating, and we're gonna get this bill through," House GOP Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.) had said earlier in the day. In an apparent deal with Midwestern Republicans concerned about the bill's elimination of ethanol tax credits, a manager's amendment released during a House Rules Committee hearing that lasted into the wee hours eliminated provisions that would have eliminated tax credits for biofuels. Those tax credits were part of Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, the climate, energy and health-care package that Republicans opposed last year. Those tax credits were part of Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, the climate, energy and health-care package that Republicans opposed last year. |
| Biden v. Trump: A race for the White House with actuarial tables in the background | |
 | Joe Biden's formal entrance into the presidential campaign this week will put to test the question of whether or not this is a country for old men. The president, at 80 years old, is already the oldest president in United States history. And his decision to seek another term in office sets up a possible general election rematch with Donald Trump, who is set to turn 77 in two months. For a country that likes to pride itself on its youthful vitality, it now is more likely than not that come November 2024, voters will be left to choose between two men who would be octogenarians while in the nation's highest office. "It's one of the great hesitations people have, and it's not just chronological age, it's the perceived age, the performance," said Dave Carney, a longtime Republican consultant who hasn't decided whom to support in 2024. Both Biden and Trump battled questions of their physical and mental acuity while in office with each insisting that their performance underscored their capacity to handle the rigors of the job. The 2024 election, likewise, will provide a window through which to judge them. Despite an age gap of only three years, the chatter around age looms larger for Biden, who moves noticeably slower than a few years ago. Members of his inner circle know the toll the job takes on any president, and they have seen him grow more easily tired. |
| Harris starts her 2024 race with a fired-up speech on the fight for abortion rights | |
 | Vice President Harris made it clear in her first speech of the 2o24 campaign that the fight for reproductive rights will be a key part of her message on the trail, casting it as one of several freedoms under attack by Republicans. In fiery remarks at Howard University -- the historically Black college in Washington which is her alma mater -- Harris echoed the reason that President Biden gave for running for a second term in office, a race where she will again be his running mate. "We are living, I do believe, in a moment in time where so many of our hard-won freedoms are under attack," Harris said. "This is a moment for us to stand and fight." "It is the tradition of this university, and dare I say the tradition of our country, to fight for freedom, to fight for rights, to fight for the ability of all people to be who they are and make decisions about their own lives and their bodies," Harris said to loud applause. Harris attacked "extremist so-called leaders" for limiting access to abortion, including the recent decision by a judge in Texas to overturn the FDA approved drug mifepristone, which is commonly and safely used in abortions, describing it as an issue of privacy. |
| Chief Justice Declines to Testify Before Congress Over Ethics Concerns | |
 | Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter released Tuesday evening that he was declining its invitation to testify about ethics rules for the Supreme Court. In an accompanying statement on ethics practices, all nine justices, under mounting pressure for more stringent reporting requirements at the court, insisted that the existing rules around gifts, travel and other financial disclosures are sufficient. The chief justice wrote that such appearances before the committee were "exceedingly rare, as one might expect in light of separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence." Last week, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the committee, invited the chief justice to appear after revelations of unreported gifts, travel and real estate deals between Justice Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Republican donor. Earlier this year, the American Bar Association urged the justices to adopt an ethics code and said that the absence of one imperils the legitimacy of the court. |
| Debunking the myths about millennials, boomers and other generations | |
| You've seen or heard the headlines for the apparent news stories: "Gen Z-ers can't stand millennials who use thumbs-up emojis," or "Millennials buy too much avocado toast," or "Boomers still believe the customer's always right." A lot of those stories are based on non-scientific survey methods or anecdotal stories. And these narratives are also often false or at least incomplete. Someone who has spent a lot of time swimming through the actual data on generations and their differences is Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University. Her new book is called "Generations." She spoke about it with "Marketplace Morning Report" host David Brancaccio and the following is an edited transcript of their conversation. |
| 8 bodies found dumped in Cancun as Mexico searches for 112,000 missing people | |
 | Authorities in the Mexican resort of Cancun said Tuesday they are trying to identify eight bodies found dumped in the Caribbean resort. More than 112,000 people are listed as missing in Mexico, and searches for clandestine grave sites have become common throughout the country. What is unusual is that they are now being carried out in Cancun, the crown jewel of Mexico's tourism industry. The clandestine body dumping grounds are often used by drug cartels to dispose of bodies of their victims. Several cartels are fighting for control of the Caribbean coast and its lucrative retail drug trade. The bodies were found in a poor neighborhood about 10 miles from Cancun's beach and hotel zone, but relatively closer to the resort's airport. Similar searches were also carried out in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a town south of Tulum. Earlier this month, four men in Cancun were killed in a dispute related to drug gang rivalries. The dead men were found in the city's hotel zone near the beach. A U.S. tourist was shot in the leg in the nearby town of Puerto Morelos in March. The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert that month warning travelers to "exercise increased caution," especially after dark, at resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. |
| The new face of Alzheimer's: Early-stage patients who refuse to surrender | |
 | When Rebecca Chopp was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, she and her husband did the only thing that seemed to make sense: They went to their favorite Mexican restaurant, held each other in a back booth and drank margaritas. And cried. After a while, they helped each other back across the street to their home. Chopp, at 67, was chancellor of the University of Denver, at the pinnacle of a career powered by a daunting intellect and relentless work. She was also an ordained minister, prolific author and former president of Swarthmore College and Colgate University. Sometimes, Chopp thought of herself as a brain with a body attached. When she relinquished the job she loved, Chopp fell into deep despair, confounded by the prescription given to her by an empathetic doctor: "Live with joy!" She had nightmares about going insane. But, eventually, she began to push back against the darkness. Chopp has mild cognitive impairment, a condition that involves subtle changes in thinking and memory and that, in most cases, leads to Alzheimer's dementia, a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 6.7 million Americans. For years, there was little doctors could do for people with Alzheimer's, even at a very early stage. Now, changes are coming in how the disease is diagnosed and treated, and patients with mild cognitive impairment are at the center of the efforts. Lacking a cure, scientists are trying desperately to delay the worst phase of the illness. |
| IHL Board will allow UMMC to begin bond process for new facility in Ridgeland | |
| The Board of Trustees for the Institutions of Higher Learning gave a thumbs up to UMMC to begin the bond process for a new teaching facility in Ridgeland. Board members met in a special called meeting Tuesday to discuss the plan for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The land for the facility is located at the intersection of Colony Park Boulevard and I-55 Frontage Road. The 36-acre facility will be used as a teaching campus but could also include a medical office building and ambulatory surgical center. The price cannot exceed $110 million. UMMC acquired the land in November 2021 to increase what they called academic opportunities for students and trainees. The new facility will be approximately 131 thousand square feet. |
| Mississippi Attorney General to deliver MBA Commencement speech | |
| Lynn Fitch, Mississippi's first female attorney general, will deliver the address for the University of Mississippi's MBA Commencement ceremony, set for 9:30 a.m. May 12 at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Fitch, a Holly Springs native, graduated from the university in 1984, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and a Juris Doctor. At 23, she began her legal career serving as a special assistant attorney general in the Mississippi Attorney General's office. Her legal career spans more than three decades, in which she held a variety of influential positions in both public and private practice. Before being elected attorney general, Fitch was elected Mississippi state treasurer in 2011, a position she held until 2020. Her speech will focus on the importance of leadership. "As a two-time graduate of Ole Miss, it is always a privilege to return to Oxford," Fitch said. "We are excited to have Attorney General Lynn Fitch speak to our graduating MBA class," said Ken Cyree, dean of the School of Business Administration. |
| Ole Miss partners with Home Place Pastures for campus dining program | |
 | Ole Miss Dining has announced a new partnership with Home Place Pastures in Como to bring a whole-animal purchasing program to campus. The program will provide students and staff with a sustainable source of locally sourced, high-quality meat while supporting local agriculture, according to a press release. "Through this innovative partnership, Aramark, Ole Miss and Home Place Pastures are proving that closing the loop in local food systems is not only viable, but crucial for the health and well-being of our livestock, farmland and local economy," Marshall Bartlett, co-founder and CEO of Home Place Pastures, said. Michael Brainard, executive chef of Ole Miss Dining, said that as a chef, having a connection to food is important to him and he expects the partnership to have a positive impact on the campus community. By buying regional product, they hope students can learn more about where their food comes from, how it's grown and make informed decisions about what they eat, Ole Miss Dining said in a statement. |
| Millsaps and business owner crowd fund to purchase sewer pump in Midtown | |
| A collapsed sewer line on Mill Street is keeping a business from opening its doors, but the owner and Millsaps College have a plan to solve the problem. For months raw sewage has been spewing from a manhole at the intersection of Mill and Livingston Streets. It's directly across from Trey Malone's distillery and coffee roasting company. "We have to do it ourselves," said Malone. "All we need is a pump." The distillery and coffee roasting company sits yards from a sewer line collapse that's preventing his business from opening. It's also impacting other businesses along Mill Street. Millsaps College's ELSEWORKS program is assisting Malone with finding a solution. The two set up a GoFundMe account to purchase a sewer pump. "Why are we waiting for someone else to fix the problems?" said Malone. "It's not our job. It's the city's job to fix these problems, but if we truly believe that, if we truly want to make a difference, then we have to stop complaining. We actually have to take action." "We're trying to take this challenge and create an opportunity out of it, right," said ELSEWORKS Director Paul Thomas. "And this isn't about in any way trying to criticize the City of Jackson or criticize the people that live here and that work here. It's about simply just trying to provide a solution to a major problem." The pump would replace one that was removed by the company that rented it to the city. |
| Schools Are Ditching Homework, Deadlines in Favor of 'Equitable Grading' | |
| Las Vegas high-school English teacher Laura Jeanne Penrod initially thought the grading changes at her school district made sense. Under the overhaul, students are given more chances to prove they have mastered a subject without being held to arbitrary deadlines, in recognition of challenges some children have outside school. Soon after the system was introduced, however, Ms. Penrod said her 11th-grade honors students realized the new rules minimized the importance of homework to their final grades, leading many to forgo the brainstorming and rough drafts required ahead of writing a persuasive essay. Some didn't turn in the essay at all, knowing they could redo it later. "They're relying on children having intrinsic motivation, and that is the furthest thing from the truth for this age group," said Ms. Penrod, a teacher for 17 years. The Clark County School District where Ms. Penrod works---the nation's fifth-largest school system -- has joined dozens of districts in California, Iowa, Virginia and other states in moves toward "equitable grading" with varying degrees of buy-in. Leaders in the 305,000-student Clark County district said the new approach was about making grades a more accurate reflection of a student's progress and giving opportunities to all learners. |
| McCarthy budget would slash 60,000 teachers, 'undermine education,' Biden administration says | |
 | Education Secretary Miguel Cardona slammed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for a Republican budget proposal the White House estimates would cut 22% from the nation's budget and tighten funding for America's schools, going as far as to call it an attempt to "undermine education." On a call with reporters Tuesday, Cardona said the budget cuts would hurt students and student loan borrowers in part by eliminating loan forgiveness, "pulling 60,000 educators and support staff from schools" and "derail(ing) the response to the youth mental health crisis in this country." "Today we face a moment of truth in education. One that calls for all of us to come together and raise the bar for our education system and our children," Cardona said. "But while this administration is meeting the moment with urgency and resolve, it's clear that Republicans are planning to meet it with staggering recklessness, prioritizing extreme politics over practice policies to help our nation's students." McCarthy's office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment. |
| Texas A&M students gather for sexual assault resources during Take Back the Night event | |
 | Texas A&M students were able to "Take Back the Night" during the third annual gathering of multiple university groups to raise awareness about sexual assault and survivor organizations in honor of Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month. The Tuesday night gathering was moved from Aggie Park to the Student Rec Center on the Texas A&M campus due to the possibility of inclement weather. However, according to Denise Crisafi, health promotion coordinator with A&M's Offices of the Dean of Student Life, the weather did not stop students from attending. Take Back the Night is an international movement and organization to bring awareness to the grassroots movement of sexual violence prevention and how it really came to be in terms of advocacy, and how they educate on campus, Crisafi said. "It started as a violence against women movement, and now we know obviously that there are men, non-binary and transgender individuals impacted by this and also when we break down identity it gets even bigger than that," Crisafi said. "So really bringing our populations who are affected and discussing what we should be doing as a community to address it." |
| Heading to Harvard: Dean of students reflects on time at U. of Missouri | |
 | Bill Stackman was not planning to leave the University of Missouri. The MU dean of students and vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Stackman had worked in student affairs at nine universities across the country over the course of his career. He said several factors motivated his moves, including career advancement and family. Unlike his other moves, the one he is in the process of making -- which will take him to Harvard University in July to work in a role similar to his position at MU -- was very much a "surprise." "I wasn't looking to move. I honestly thought this would be my home for a long time. I've been here for four years. I've been working on my house, doing renovations, establishing a community, thinking I'm here for many, many years," he said. "And then the search firm (for Harvard) contacted me four times, and the first three times, I didn't even pay attention to it because I wasn't looking. And it wasn't until the fourth time I opened the email and actually read it to learn more about it," he added. Former Missouri Students Association Senate Speaker Lane Cargile, who has worked with Stackman in this and other roles over his four years at the university, called the news of Stackman's move "bittersweet." "It's Harvard. It's a dean of students position. That's an amazing thing," Cargile said. "But it's also hard to see Student Affairs without him." Cargile said Stackman brought a "big dreamer" approach to his work. |
| North Dakota Just Enacted a 'Specified Concepts' Bill. Here's What It Says. | |
 | A bill banning mandatory diversity training at public institutions of higher education in North Dakota was signed into law on Monday. Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 2247 into law with little fanfare. His office issued no press release about its signing. Only the Senate journal includes a communication from the governor stating that he signed the bill along with others. It will go into effect on August 1. The new law will prevent institutions under the control of the State Board of Higher Education from mandating noncredit diversity training. An exception for training on federal and state nondiscrimination laws is included. It also prevents institutions from asking about the "ideological or political viewpoint" of students, prospective employees, or those being considered for a promotion or tenure, very likely ending the use of diversity statements in hiring. Additionally, the bill prohibits students and college employees from being discriminated against because of their position on a "specified concept," which is defined in a list of 16 statements, most of them about race, sex, and power. |
| Top Colleges for High-Paying Jobs in Data Science | |
| Princeton University graduates who enter the data-science field earn more than graduates from other schools, according to a new salary-based ranking of undergraduate schools by Burning Glass, a nonprofit organization that researches employment trends. Princeton-educated data scientists earn an average of $138,014 a year in their first 10 years in the field, a premium of more than $37,000 a year over the earnings of the median graduate in data science. The median graduate's average annual salary over the first 10 years of earnings is $100,323. Among public colleges, the University of California, Berkeley ranks No. 1 for data-science salaries, with graduates earning about $29,000 more a year than the median. The ranking aims to determine how much of a difference the choice of undergraduate school makes in future salaries, among all graduates with the same number of years in the field. Data scientists work in a relatively new field, as compared to law, finance, accounting and other professions in the rankings, says Matt Sigelman, president of Burning Glass. In 2010, there were just 172 job postings for data scientists. In 2022 there were 64,428 postings. Today, data scientists and data-science managers work across all industries, with job titles such as biostatistician or research analyst. |
| How do college students use Discord? | |
 | Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old in the Air National Guard from Massachusetts, often "swapped memes, offensive jokes and idle chitchat" with a couple dozen peers in an invitation-only chat room on the social media app Discord, according to The Washington Post. But Teixeira allegedly wanted to impress his online peers. Toward that end, he reportedly leaked military secrets on the server, including an impressive stash of intelligence about the war in Ukraine and about U.S. allies and adversaries. Others apparently reposted the documents, including on a massive Discord server focused on the video game Minecraft. Sometime after, Teixeira was charged under the federal Espionage Act. Authorities have not yet identified Teixeira's motive. But the case serves as a reminder that some adolescents and young adults, including college students, post online content without fully considering or understanding the consequences. Here, Inside Higher Ed offers an introduction to Discord, insight into how college students use this platform that has a problematic history and advice for guiding students toward safe behavior. Discord was originally designed as an online hangout where gamers talked with each other while playing multiplayer online games. Users access the app on a computer, smartphone or gaming console. In closed, themed online communities, users communicate by text, voice, video and screen sharing. |
| 340 Stakeholders Plead for Ag Research Infrastructure Funding in the Farm Bill | |
| The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its 2023 farm bill primer, estimates baseline spending for ag research will take up $1.3 billion of the total $709 billion farm bill dollars. House and Senate ag committees received a letter on Monday from 340 ag groups and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), urging legislators to take farm bill spending a step further by prioritizing ag research infrastructure. "The United States has long been recognized as having the world's most innovative and productive ag sector, but a massive deferred maintenance backlog and crumbling research infrastructure threatens our ability to innovate and lead at a time of heightened global competition," said Mark Becker, APLU president. A 2021 report from Gordian sheds light on the cracks in America's ag research infrastructure. Gordian found that 70% of U.S. colleges and schools of ag buildings are at the end of their useful life. To address the long-overdue building maintenance, Gordian estimates a $11.5 billion investment. It also put a price tag of $38.1 billion on buildings that need complete replacement, pushing the total over $50 billion. In the letter to the ag committees, the authors say a $5 billion investment in ag research infrastructure would be a "significant" step in the right direction. |
| Echoes of the WPA: Reimagining the concept of welfare for work in this century | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: In Washington, the Biden Administration is battling with House Republicans over their relatively paltry reform plans attached to debt ceiling legislation that would raise the ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for a slower rate of growth in federal spending over the next decade. In all, the Republican plan would cut spending by about $4 trillion over the next decade from the $60 trillion that will be spent. Democrats in Congress are pushing back in particular on this plan over the GOP proposal that able-bodied adults ages 18 to 55 be required to work or attend skill training for 20 hours per week in exchange for Medicaid or SNAP benefits (food stamps). The work or training requirement would not apply to those adults who are disabled, parents with dependent children, pregnant, or enrolled in drug treatment. The Congressional Research Service says there are over four million who do not meet those exemptions -- but only one in four is employed. At the same time, the post-pandemic edition update of a fascinating 2016 book entitled "Men Without Work" by economist and demographer Nicholas Eberstadt observes that "over six million prime-age men were neither working nor looking for work" in the U.S. Eberstadt defines "prime-age" workers as ages 25 to 54. The conservative Foundation for Government Accountability argues that with some 11 million jobs unfilled nationally and employers offering bonuses and other incentives to attract workers, the lack of a work component to welfare disincentivizes the traditional American work ethic. Between 2000 and 2021, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows the food stamp program added 24 million recipients. |
SPORTS
| MSU pitching staff shuts down Ole Miss to win Governor's Cup | |
| It was hardly the scoring fest the Mississippi State baseball team came accustomed to last weekend at Auburn, but the Bulldogs produced just enough offense to come up with another win over their in-state rival. MSU (24-17, 6-12 SEC) won this year's Governor's Cup for the first time since 2019 with Tuesday's 2-1 victory at Trustmark Park. Six pitchers -- Evan Siary, Brock Tapper, Parker Stinnett, Tyson Hardin, KC Hunt and Aaron Nixon -- limited the Rebels (21-20, 3-15 SEC) to four hits and one run, with it coming after the Bulldogs had built a 2-0 cushion. MSU scored in the first inning on an RBI double from Hunter Hines, then added another in the sixth on a misplayed fly ball by Ole Miss left fielder, John Kramer, allowing Dakota Jordan to score from third. The Rebels' run came in the seventh on a groundout by Garrett Wood off of Parker Stinnett, who struck out three batters in three innings of relief. Siary, MSU's freshman starter, pitched two scoreless innings, striking out one, as did Tapper, who worked the third and fourth innings for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs return to conference play Thursday at No. 24 Tennessee for a three-game series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. (SECN) |
| Governor's Cup: Mississippi State baseball bullpen shines vs. Ole Miss | |
| There are plenty of ways to label what Mississippi State baseball's plan was on the mound against Ole Miss in Tuesday's Governor's Cup. Some call it a bullpen game. Coach Chris Lemonis called it a, "whole staff type of thing," with Evan Siary serving as the opener. Title it what you will, it's evident what the nonconference matchup against its rival was for Mississippi State. The trip to Trustmark Park was a prayer at grinding out a win while saving arms on an already battered pitching staff. The Bulldogs used six pitchers, most of them absent on the weekends, to combine for a 2-1 win against the Rebels (21-20, 3-15). For a team which nearly surrendered an eight-run lead in the ninth inning Saturday against Auburn and followed it up by blowing a 7-0 lead against the Tigers on Sunday, it seemed like a plan waiting to backfire. Instead, Mississippi State's pitching may have walked out of the midweek matchup with some late-minute momentum. "We laid it out this morning, but you didn't think it would work (perfectly)," Lemonis joked postgame. It started with a pair of scoreless innings from the freshman and Starkville Academy graduate Siary. Though he's been warming up at times during SEC play, Siary hadn't played since a midweek win at Birmingham two weeks ago. With the help of a 1-0 lead before taking the bump, Siary set the tone for MSU. |
| Mississippi State defeats Ole Miss 2-1 in Governor's Cup | |
| Mississippi State outlasted Ole Miss in an unexpected pitching duel during Tuesday night's Governor's Cup at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The Bulldogs struck first blood in the top of the first inning after a double by Hunter Hines scored a run, giving MSU a 1-0 lead over the Rebels. In the top of the sixth inning, Bulldogs left fielder Dakota Jordan reached first base after an errant throw by Ole Miss catcher Calvin Harris. Jordan proceeded to steal second base, advance to third on a wild back pick attempt, and score on an RBI double hit by Luke Hancock to give MSU a 2-0 lead. Following a scoreless top of the seventh inning, the Rebels battled back, putting one run on the board courtesy of a Garrett Wood groundout that scored Anthony Calarco. Nevertheless, 10 strikeouts and only four hits allowed by Mississippi State's pitching staff would wrap this year's annual Governor's Cup in maroon and white as the Bulldogs got revenge on their in-state rival who won last year's battle. Freshman RHP Evan Siary was credited with the win after pitching two innings and allowing zero runs off of one hit. |
| Lopez Ramirez Selected to the International Team for the 2023 Palmer Cup | |
| Mississippi State sophomore Julia Lopez Ramirez has been selected to represent the International Team for the second straight year in the 2023 Palmer Cup. The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced the teams Tuesday in conjunction with the Golf Channel. The top six golfers from the final ranking from both the United States and International men and women are 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 in Ligonier, Pa., June 8-10. Lopez Ramirez competed in the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup over the July Fourth Holiday Weekend last summer. Throughout the three-day event, Lopez Ramirez delivered in some key moments to aid Team International to a 33-27 victory. In the opening round, the United States won the first two matches, but three demanding victories helped Team International settle in. Since its inception, over 125 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours. The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 13-12-1. |
| Golf is an international affair in the Sun Belt and in NCAA Division I | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: So there was Thongpipat Rattanayan -- not so easy for me to type -- on the par-4 third hole at Jack Nicklaus-designed Annandale Golf Club Tuesday morning. He was exactly 82 yards from the hole and approximately 10,000 miles from his home in Bangkok, Thailand. Rattanayan, who thankfully goes by Pat, took out his trusty lob wedge, took dead aim and took an easy, compact swing. "I knew it was close," he would say in perfectly good English about three and a half hours later. "I didn't know how close because that big bunker in front of the green was blocking my view." Somebody behind the green hollered, "It went in the hole!" Said Rattanayan, "I said to myself, 'What? It went in! Really?'" Really. The resulting eagle deuce was easily the highlight of his day as Rattanayan, a senior at Southern Miss, shot a one-over-par 73 in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Golf Championship. ... Ole Miss and Mississippi State are both nationally ranked and already have punched their tickets into the NCAA Tournament. State's roster includes players from Portugal, Switzerland, England, Poland and South Africa. Two Swedes and another player from Thailand play for Rebels. College golf in Mississippi, as well most everywhere else, is an international affair. |
| Sankey Confirms SEC Is Considering New Field-Storming Penalties, Including Potentially Forfeiting Games | |
| SEC officials have explored a wide range of options in their pursuit of strengthening the league's penalty structure on fans storming the field, including forfeiting a game or giving up a future home game, commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday. "People have said you should flip [the home site]. People have said you should forfeit the game. People have said you shouldn't get to a bowl game," Sankey said. Speaking after Day 1 of a three-day College Football Playoff spring meeting in this Dallas suburb, Sankey confirmed a report from Sports Illustrated earlier this week about the league considering a penalty that would require teams to forfeit a future home game for storming the field. However, the commissioner cautioned that several options have been discussed and that nothing has been finalized. In light of the recent number of field stormings -- and the danger of them -- the league created a three-man working group consisting of athletic directors from Georgia (Josh Brooks), Alabama (Greg Byrne) and Kentucky (Mitch Barnhart) who are charged with formulating new field-storming proposals. Athletic directors and school presidents could soon consider the proposals. The league holds its annual spring meetings in Destin, Fla. at the end of May. |
| States move to lift barriers between college athletes, NIL | |
| Lawmakers in Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere are working to remove barriers between college athletes trying to cash in on their fame and the schools for which they play as administrators discover the benefits of moving athlete compensation activities in-house. The moves could pave the way for schools and their fundraising arms to be directly involved in securing and paying for their athletes' name, image and likeness endorsement deals while also shielding athletic departments from NCAA enforcement. "The universities want to be more involved in the NIL process and some of the current NCAA rules don't allow them to do that," said Mit Winter, a sports business attorney based in Kansas City. "And so the state laws are just affirmatively saying that schools in these states are allowed to do certain things, despite what the NCAA rules may say." Arkansas was out front in this latest leg of the NIL arms race that started in 2021 when the NCAA lifted its ban on athletes being paid for endorsements, sponsorships and appearances. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an amended bill into law April 14. A similar bill in Oklahoma is awaiting Gov. Kevin Stitt's signature and a Texas bill is likely to pass the state House this week. |
| Pull back NIL executive order to keep NC college teams competitive, key senator says | |
| As states move to loosen regulations on name, image and likeness for college athletes, passing legislation that often puts them in direct conflict with the NCAA guidelines, a key North Carolina state senator is calling on the governor to rescind his 2021 executive order on the subject. Gov. Roy Cooper's July 2, 2021 directive serves as a guidepost for schools in North Carolina on name, image and likeness (NIL) matters. It outlines general responsibilities for institutions, but uses "may" language throughout providing some flexibility. But Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma have either passed or introduced legislation in their states, giving schools and athletes much broader latitude when it comes to NIL. Oklahoma's bill, for example, would not permit the NCAA to investigate or punish schools or collectives for NIL-related activities. Some of the bills give athletes more opportunities that they would have in North Carolina. In order to keep North Carolina's college competitive, Sen. Amy Galey, a chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, wants Cooper to pull back his executive order. "It would be really nice if the governor would rescind that executive order because it actually does not have the force of law," she said. Galey introduced a narrowly tailored bill that would make clear that NIL contracts or contracts between athletes and their representatives are not public records in North Carolina. Public colleges have denied public records requests for individual NIL contracts. Senate Bill 574 has passed two committees and has bipartisan support. |
| Father of Georgia football player Devin Willock seeks $2 million from UGA for fatal crash | |
 | Attorneys representing the father of Georgia football offensive lineman Devin Willock, who was killed in an early morning crash after a national championship celebration, notified the university he will be seeking $2 million in a civil lawsuit. In a legal notice sent April 11 to the Georgia Board of Regents obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald Tuesday afternoon, the UGA Athletic Association is accused by Dave Willock of instructing recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy to drive the Ford Expedition she was driving at the time that it crashed, killing her and Devin Willock who was a passenger in the vehicle. Police said LeCroy was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit and going up to 104 miles per hour on Barnett Shoals Road when the UGA-rented vehicle crashed at about 2:45 a.m. on Jan. 15 while racing with defensive tackle Jalen Carter after leaving downtown. UGA athletics has said LeCroy was not permitted to drive the vehicle at that time because she was off duty, but UGA athletics is accused of telling LeCroy prior to the weekend, "she and other recruiting analysts' sole purpose that weekend would be providing transportation to recruits and players for celebration and recruiting activities, until the evening of Jan. 15 or Jan. 16." |
| HBCUs capitalize on growing interest by adding sport options | |
| The outrage, frustration and emotional trauma Jahi Jones felt as he watched video of police murdering George Floyd three years ago compelled him to seek ways to lift up other young Black men. He just wasn't sure how to do it. Jones had attended the University of Maryland on an academic scholarship and was a walk-on for the wrestling team. He became team captain, competed at the NCAA championships and earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He later noticed that, in 2021, Black men made up half the 10 Division I national champions but fewer than 10% of Division I wrestlers. That's when everything started to click. "I would start thinking about ways that I could get involved to help inside of the wrestling community and just make things more fair and equitable," he said. "It was just seeing the lack of diversity, but also seeing that ... we excel inside the sport, but (we are) just not having those same opportunities to develop." Now 25, Jones is the executive director of the HBCU Wrestling Initiative. With a major assist from that program, Morgan State in the next school year will become the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) to offer Division I wrestling. The school had cut the sport back in 1997. Morgan State's additions mirror a growing phenomenon at HBCUs as they ride a wave of popularity not seen in decades: Many are adding sports beyond the more typical offerings of football, basketball and track and field. |
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