| Monday, May 1, 2023 |
| MSU hosts inaugural K-12 poetry festival | |
 | Hundreds of kindergarten through 12th grade students from across the state visited Mississippi State University's campus on Friday for the inaugural Mississippi Young Writers Poetry Festival. The festival was created by Catherine Pierce, professor of English and co-director of creative writing, who is also the Poet Laureate of Mississippi. "The festival started in the fall with a state-wide poetry writing initiative," Pierce said. "Last summer I received a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, a Poet Laureate Fellowship, to do a civic project. The civic project that I proposed was a fall poetry writing initiative for students in grades K-12." Students in these grades throughout the state were sent a poetry prompt asking them to write a poem about their hometown. The individual schools chose three winners from each grade, and sent them on to the state-wide contest. The school-wide winners were the ones invited to Friday's festival. "The idea behind that was just to try to give students an opportunity to explore poetry in a way that was fun and meaningful for them and a way that they could feel personally connected to," Pierce said. "The festival is the culmination of that project." |
| How can you salvage timber after Mississippi tornado outbreak? | |
 | Managers of forestland that was damaged or destroyed during the March 24 tornado outbreak in Mississippi now face questions about the short- and long-term future of their property. Timber loss was recorded in six of the state's counties after aerial surveys conducted by the Mississippi Forestry Commission estimated more than $13 million in losses on 23,155 acres, of which 9,281 acres were on nonindustrial private forestland. Storms also battered Enviva's wood pellet production plant in Amory, suspending operations there. "Damage from this round of tornadoes definitely seems to be greater than anything I've worked in north Mississippi in the last decade," said Brady Self, an associate Extension professor of forestry with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service. "From what I've seen, a lot of the timber downed in these storms is a total loss. Adding to the mix, we already had a multiyear surplus of timber supply that people were having trouble harvesting." The two counties suffering the most timber value loss were Monroe County with nearly $6.1 million and Carroll County at nearly $5.5 million. |
| Late June 'soft opening' new goal for Cornerstone | |
| The crack of baseball bats and the roaring of fans have filled baseball fields across the country since the end of March. But Cornerstone Park is still only filled with the sound of construction with Mayor Lynn Spruill now pushing for a "soft opening" in late June. At Friday's work session, Brandon Doherty updated Spruill and aldermen on Cornerstone Park and the delays that have prevented the complex from opening this season. He said the current delays are mostly caused by bad weather, which has stopped concrete and asphalt from being poured. "I would say, probably 70% of the concrete is done, and I would tell you probably 15% of the asphalt," Doherty told The Dispatch after the meeting. "The only part of the asphalt that got put down was up and around the walking track." Cornerstone Park, located on Highway 25, will be a baseball and softball-focused recreation facility with three "quads" of 12 fields. Ward 2 Alderman Sistrunk said the city is using $22 million in bonds to fund the project. Those bonds will be repaid with collections from a special 1% tourism sales tax voters approved shortly before work began. |
| Cooper Tire to restart production in Tupelo this summer | |
 | The tornado-damaged Cooper Tire plant is expected to restart production in June, parent company Goodyear said on Friday. "We currently expect to be able to restart and begin ramping up production at the Tupelo tire manufacturing facility by the beginning of June 2023, with full ramp-up expected in the third quarter of 2023," the company said in a statement. Goodyear said it continues "around-the-clock remediation efforts" following the April 1 tornado that knocked the Cooper plant offline. Cooper began releasing inventory it had warehoused to customers on April 18 to minimize disruptions to its customers. At the time of the tornado, Cooper employed some 1,700 workers. |
| Arrest made after 6 Mississippi Coast teenagers shot at Bay St. Louis house party | |
 | A Mississippi teenager has been arrested on murder and aggravated assault charges after a shooting at a Bay St. Louis house party left two teenagers dead and four others hospitalized, Police Chief Toby Schwartz said Sunday morning. Cameron Everett Brand, 19, was identified as the sole shooter at the party, Schwartz said. Bay police officers responded to the home in the 100 block of Old Blue Meadow Road at 12:34 a.m. and found multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds, Schwartz said, and others were taken to local hospitals in personal vehicles. The six victims are between the ages of 15 and 18. Two of the victims are students at Bay High School in Bay St. Louis. Four of the students attend nearby Hancock High School. Four of the victims were taken to hospitals in New Orleans or Slidell via Life Flight helicopter. Two of the teens being treated at University Medical Center in New Orleans died Sunday morning, according to Schwartz and Hancock County Coroner Jeff Hair. They were 16 and 18, but their identities have not yet been released. Brand was arrested at his home in Pass Christian without incident. He is held in the Hancock County jail without bond, which was set by Municipal Court Judge Stephen Maggio. |
| Tanner Newman poised to take leave from Tupelo to campaign for PSC | |
| Tanner Newman plans to take a period of unpaid leave from his job as director of Development Services for the city of Tupelo to focus on campaigning for the Northern District Public Service Commissioner. Newman, a Republican, told the Daily Journal at a fundraising event in Tupelo that he does not know specifically when he plans to take a period of leave, but he would inform voters and Tupelo officials on the timeline soon. "The city is fully capable of operating efficiently during my absence," Newman said. Newman, 28, is locked in a three-way race for the north Mississippi slot on the three-member utility regulatory commission. There is no Democrat in the race, so the winner of the GOP primary will win the overall race. His other two competitors are former Environmental Protection Service Agency chief of staff Mandy Gunasekara of Oxford and three-term state Rep. Chris Brown of Nettleton. An administrator for a taxpayer-funded department, Newman is in a different employment scenario than the other two candidates, who lead their own businesses or nonprofit groups. The three candidates will compete against one another in the Republican primary on Aug. 8. |
| PSC commissioner: 'We can't control the cost of energy' | |
 | Over the past couple of years, Mississippians have noticed an increase in utility costs, particularly for energy-related commodities such as air conditioning and heat, with one state leader fearing prices will continue to rise if green energy policies are enforced. During a recent interview on MidDays with Gerard Gibert, Southern District Public Service Commissioner Dane Maxwell voiced his concerns with the Biden administration's recent push to move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines. While Maxwell, as a PSC, is charged with assuring that rates and charges for services are just and reasonable, he is unable to regulate actual energy prices and worries that federal enforcement of green policies would be burdensome to ratepayers. "We can't control the cost of energy. All we can do is just like the grocery store when your grocery bill goes up," Maxwell said. "They are going to drive us into the ground if we don't change administrations." Though Maxwell is not opposed to utilizing renewable energy sources, he is adamantly against the federal government enforcing policies that he believes would end up causing consumers to pay more for monthly bills. |
| UMMC terminates membership with Mississippi Hospital Association | |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) sent a letter to the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) on Friday, April 28, that they would be terminating their membership in the organization. Magnolia Tribune obtained the letter through a public records request. The letter from UMMC to MHA was signed by Vice Chancellor LouAnne Woodward and Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Alan Jones. UMMC did not comment further on the matter. The UMMC letter cites a lack of confidence within the current MHA leadership, raising issue with the organization's vision and communication. When asked for comment on the development from MHA President and CEO Tim Moore, he told the Magnolia Tribune on Friday that the organization is meeting soon to address concerns. Moore also confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the political action committee (PAC) of MHA, Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC, made a donation to the Brandon Presley campaign in the amount of $250,000. Presley is running as a Democratic candidate for Governor in the 2023 Mississippi state elections. UMMC did not comment as to whether or not the donation impacted their decision to terminate membership. |
| New law will require judges to consider incarceration status on child support orders | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed legislation into law that prohibits state judges from treating incarceration as intentional unemployment for a parent who is paying child support. Senate Bill 2082, authored by Senate Judiciary A Chair Brice Wiggins, passed both chambers of the state Legislature and requires judges make prison status a factor when setting or changing the amount of child support money a parent is required to pay. Mississippi Department of Human Services Director Bob Anderson has publicly said the legislation was needed to bring Mississippi's child support plan into compliance with federal regulations, or the state could lose $35 million in federal matching funds. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement can reject a state's child support enforcement plan if it does not comply with federal rules, which state guidelines may not treat incarceration as voluntary unemployment in establishing or modifying child support orders. If a state plan is disapproved, it can result in the suspension of all federal funds for the state's enforcement program. The current funding configuration of the child support enforcement program is roughly made up of 34% state dollars and 66% federal dollars, according to MDHS. |
| Mississippi lobbyist pleads guilty in timber sales fraud | |
 | A longtime Mississippi lobbyist has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for participating in a fake timber investment scheme that caused investors to lose tens of millions of dollars. The U.S. attorney's office said Thursday that Brent Alexander, 57, of Jackson, entered the plea the previous day before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves in Jackson. Federal prosecutors announced in May 2021 that Alexander and attorney Jon Darrell Seawright of Jackson had been indicted on multiple charges in an investment scheme that "affected hundreds of victims across multiple states over a number of years." Each man ended up pleading guilty to a single charge of conspiracy. Seawright pleaded guilty in July 2022 and had not yet been sentenced. Alexander's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 21. He faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Federal law also requires him to pay restitution. |
| Fed Set to Raise Interest Rates to 16-Year High and Debate a Pause | |
 | Federal Reserve officials are on track to increase interest rates again at their meeting this week while deliberating whether that will be enough to then pause the fastest rate-raising cycle in 40 years. "We are much closer to the end of the tightening journey than the beginning," Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said April 20. Just how much closer the Fed is to that endgame will be a focus of internal debate because officials think their communications around future policy actions can be as significant as individual rate changes. Officials are likely to keep their options open as they finesse carefully calibrated signals in their postmeeting statement and remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a news conference after the meeting ends Wednesday. Another quarter-percentage point increase would lift the benchmark federal-funds rate to a 16-year high. The Fed began raising rates from near zero in March 2022. Fed officials increased rates by a quarter point on March 22 to a range between 4.75% and 5%. That increase occurred with officials just beginning to grapple with the potential fallout of two midsize bank failures in March. The sale of First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co. by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced early Monday is the latest reminder of how banking stress is clouding the economic outlook. Fed officials are likely to keep an eye on how investors react to that deal ahead of Wednesday's decision. |
| House GOP tops list of earmark seekers under new regime | |
 | Earmarking federal funds for their home districts continues to grow in popularity among House Republicans, with 152 GOP members and two nonvoting delegates participating in the process this year, a CQ Roll Call analysis found. Nearly 70 percent of House Republicans are seeking earmarks this year, based on member request data compiled by the House Appropriations Committee. That's up from almost 60 percent of the conference last year and just over half the year before. Overall, House members asked for 5,067 earmarks, a nearly 7 percent increase over last year, for a total of $19.4 billion, a more substantial increase of over 56 percent from last year's total amount requested of $12.4 billion. A full apples to apples comparison is difficult, however, since the figures include a number of overlapping projects requested by more than one lawmaker. For example, among the fiscal 2024 requests appearing more than once are at least 25 earmarks worth a combined $1.2 billion, and possibly more. Still, there are bound to be numerous disappointed House members, since earmarks in the House's fiscal 2024 spending bills appear likely to be capped at about $7.35 billion, or 0.5 percent of the Republicans' total $1.47 trillion discretionary spending limit. |
| US Sen. Tim Scott teases 'major announcement' May 22 during Charleston town hall meeting | |
 | U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is getting closer to making a decision on a 2024 presidential bid. And he's likely set a date. Scott told some 200 people in Charleston on April 30 that a "major announcement" is coming May 22. He didn't elaborate on what he would divulge next month in North Charleston, his hometown. The town hall gathering of about 200 at Meeting Street Academy interpreted it as Scott intending to run for president in 2024. "I'm ready, I'm ready," Cynthia Mappus of Johns Island said. "This country needs common sense because, good Lord, we haven't seen that in years and we need it bad." If he enters the race, Scott will join a crowded Republican field eager for the chance to challenge President Joe Biden for the White House. Biden announced April 25 he is running for reelection. Already in the race for the GOP nomination are former President Donald Trump; former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; and conservative radio host Larry Elder. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are also mulling their own presidential aspirations in the coming months. But some in attendance at the town hall, such as Cindy Powell of Columbia, said Scott will separate himself from the pack. |
| 'El Chapo' sons send Mexico cartel's cheap fentanyl into US | |
| With Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán serving a life sentence, his sons steered the family business into fentanyl, establishing a network of labs churning out massive quantities of the cheap, deadly drug that they smuggled into the U.S., prosecutors revealed in a recent indictment. Although Guzmán's trial revolved around cocaine shipments, the case against his sons exposes the inner workings of a cartel undergoing a generational shift as it worked "to manufacture the most potent fentanyl and to sell it in the United States at the lowest price," according to the indictment unsealed April 14 in Manhattan. Synthetic opioids -- mostly fentanyl -- now kill more Americans every year than died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined, feeding an argument among some politicians that the cartels should be branded terrorist organizations and prompting once-unthinkable calls for U.S. military intervention across the border. "The problem with fentanyl, as some people at the State Department told me, has to be repositioned. It's not a drug problem; it's a poisoning problem," said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst in Mexico, who died Friday. "Very few people go out deliberately looking for fentanyl." The groundwork for the U.S. fentanyl epidemic was laid more than 20 years ago, with aggressive over-prescribing of the synthetic opioid oxycodone. As U.S. authorities clamped down on its prescription, users moved to heroin, which the Sinaloa cartel happily supplied. But making its own fentanyl -- far more potent and versatile than heroin -- in small, easily concealed labs was a game changer. |
| From bad to worse: Student misbehavior rises further since return of in-person classes | |
 | Student behavioral problems that spiked with the return of in-person learning after the coronavirus pandemic are getting even worse, educators say. Seventy percent of teachers, principals and district leaders said in recent EdWeek Research Center survey that students are misbehaving more now than in 2019, up from 66 percent in December 2021. One-third in the new poll said students are misbehaving "a lot more." Experts say the culture shock and whiplash from the extended period of remote classes is only one of the psychological and academic factors behind the problem. More than 200,000 students have lost a parent to COVID-19, and several states reported an increase in youth suicide during the pandemic. Scholastically, the Nation's Report Card 2022 found students had lost decades of learning. "I think one of the things that we really talk to school leaders about is, you know, really understanding that you cannot push your way through. If a student is not emotionally available to learn, you're never going to make the academic gains that you want," said Tali Raviv, associate director of the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. But educators who are being proactive are reporting some success. |
| UF President Ben Sasse announces departure of top official in first major shakeup | |
 | A longtime top University of Florida official is out in what is President Ben Sasse's first major leadership shakeup since taking office. Sasse sent out an email late Friday evening announcing that longtime Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Charlie Lane is no longer with the university. The abrupt departure comes just two months after Sasse took the helm at the flagship university. Lane, who has been with the university for nearly a decade, has been responsible for overseeing numerous university-wide functions, including information technology, human resources, audits, business and real estate. He was also the leader in bridging a relationship between the school and city of Gainesville. "I want to let you know that we've made a change in the leadership of UF's operation," the former Republican Nebraska senator wrote late Friday. "Effective today, Charlie Lane, chief operating officer, is no longer with the University of Florida." Sasse went on to say that the university over the next few weeks will begin a "strategic review" and launch a national search for a replacement. In the interim, UF's Vice President for Business Affairs Curtis Reynolds and Associate Vice President for Enterprise Projects Colt Little will split the duties that Lane was responsible for. |
| International First Amendment partnership comes to Vanderbilt University | |
 | An international partnership, which is creating a new force for First Amendment education, has opened its doors on Vanderbilt University's campus and is taking on a slew of global free speech issues. Justitia, a nonpartisan independent judicial think tank based in Copenhagen, Denmark, that focuses on issues of justice and human rights, opened its first office in the United States on April 17 on the Nashville campus as part of the university's new project, entitled "The Future of Free Speech." "The university must be a proving ground for free expression and civil discourse," said Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, in a statement announcing the partnership. "In this moment of political polarization in the United States and around the world, universities might be the last best place where people can learn to converse and cooperate with those who see things differently." The initiative, which is a collaboration between Justitia, Vanderbilt University and researchers from Aarhus University's Department of Political Science, will seek to answer three major questions through research, polling and outreach. |
| 'I've cried a lot': PBS Ukraine correspondent Nick Schifrin discusses empathy in journalism | |
| PBS NewsHour's Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin joined the College of Communication and Information as keynote speaker for the International Reporting Symposium on Friday afternoon to discuss his experiences covering the War in Ukraine and provide advice for journalism students on resilience. After an introduction from doctoral student Teodora Trifonova, Schifrin emphasized the importance of asking the right question to shine light on a person's trauma without exploiting it. In a story, Schifrin showed how the simple statement "Tell me about your son" to a grieving Ukrainian mother captured the humanity and dignity that Russian forces stole from an innocent boy. He detailed the struggles and pain that came with telling stories in such broken parts of the world. From Pakistan and Afghanistan where he lived for 4 years, to Ukraine, China and several others that he visited, each of them brings a new emotional injury. "Each trip is a scar that needs years to heal," Schifrin said. |
| Go behind-the-scenes of U. of Kentucky graduation ceremonies preparation | |
 | Around Kentucky, the first Saturday in May is known for horse racing. But at the University of Kentucky, there's another event taking place: graduation ceremonies. Planning for the ceremonies starts at the beginning of each semester with committee meetings, said Abby Franklin, associate director of university events. While the main parts of the ceremonies stay the same from semester to semester, the events team works to finish up final details as graduation day approaches. The team plans for thousands of additional people on campus during the two days of graduation ceremonies, looking at everything from parking to shuttles to signage on campus. "We want them to feel welcome," Franklin said. "The family may or may not have been on campus much during the tenure of their student's career, so this is kind of like a welcome back and a pretty big deal for all of the families that are visiting. We want to make sure that campus is welcome and easy to navigate, and they know what to expect." Ceremonies will be held on May 5 and 6 at Rupp Arena in the Central Bank Center. Those are long days for her team, Franklin said, showing up before 7 a.m. Friday and working until 9 p.m., then coming back the next day for the final ceremony. They work on everything from how chairs are arranged at the ceremony, to making sure graduates have what they need before walking across the stage. |
| 'Disgusting': Incident report describes hazing that got U. of South Carolina fraternity kicked off campus | |
 | Two bottles of liquor were taped to University of South Carolina fraternity pledges' hands. One pledge was tied to a tree. Some students were vomiting, and at least one was unconscious. Those allegations against the Theta Delta Chi fraternity are included in a Greek life incident report filed in October with the university. The fraternity was already on probation for hazing when the allegations were filed. After the university investigated, the fraternity was barred from USC's campus. The incident report says pledges were subjected into public embarrassment and forced binge drinking. USC has suspended Theta Delta Chi for four years. The organization cannot officially operate on campus until Nov. 4, 2026. Five other fraternities at USC --- Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order and Phi Kappa Sigma --- were put on conduct probation last semester, according to the university's Leadership and Service Center. Charges against those five included hazing concerns, alcohol violations, lying to the university and failure to follow event policies. A sixth fraternity, Chi Psi, was charged with failure to comply and was given educational sanctions. |
| 14 injured after roof collapses at home near Ohio State University, authorities say | |
 | Fourteen people were injured Saturday after a group of people caused a house roof near the Ohio State University campus to collapse, authorities said. Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said the collapse was caused by people standing on the roof of the house. According to witness statements, the number of people varied from 15 to 45, Martin said. Fire officials were called at about 7:40 p.m. on a report that a roof had collapsed with people trapped underneath. When officials arrived at the Columbus, Ohio home, they found the roof had fallen to the ground, which caused the porch to detach from the house. The rest of the house remained intact. Martin said the collapse was caused by people standing on the roof of the house and that according to witness statements, the number of people varied from 15 to 45. Ben Johnson, senior director of media relations at Ohio State, directed all questions about the incident to the fire division. "On behalf of the university, I can add that we have been monitoring this serious situation closely and assisting first responders in any way possible," he said. "Our thoughts are with the individuals who were present and their friends and family." |
| One of America's Oldest Hospitals Lay Abandoned. Then a University Stepped In. | |
 | The last time Lee Hamm was working in New Orleans's Charity Hospital, critically ill patients were being hauled up and down dark, sweltering stairways as nurses hand-pumped oxygen to keep them alive. In August 2005, for those inside a hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the sounds of helicopters whirring nearby only added to the frustration, as day after day went by with no rescue. Over the next 18 years, Hamm,now a senior vice president and dean of medicine at Tulane, relived memories both horrifying and inspiring as he looked out the window of his nearby office building. There, in a gritty portion of New Orleans's downtown, the abandoned skeleton of Charity Hospital loomed, boarded up behind chain-link fences and overgrown weeds. The million-square-foot Art Deco building occupied a full city block. To many, the state's decision in 2005 to shutter Charity represented the neglect of New Orleans's most vulnerable residents. The iconic hospital had served as a safety net since the 1700s, doing so in its current structure since 1939. "This building that was brought to its knees during Katrina and not built back," said Tulane University's president, Michael A. Fitts. "That symbolized a lot to the community." So too, he hopes, will Tulane's decision to help bring Charity back. The university is spending $135 million on the hospital building, where it plans to move its School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine by the end of 2026. |
| Viral tweet about NSF grad fellowship prompts calls for change, again | |
 | Students and faculty members are calling on the National Science Foundation to re-evaluate its Graduate Research Fellowship Program after yet another student received an inappropriate comment on his application. Ulises Perez, a senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, studying chemistry, was told by one reviewer that "his Hispanic pride prevented him from seeking mentorship and advise [sic] from other [sic] that would have helped him avoid and lesson [sic] some of his struggles and progress further." To Perez, the comment was strange. He said he didn't talk much about his "Hispanic pride" in the application other than how he wanted to see more Latinos in science. His mentors have all been women and not people of color. He didn't receive the fellowship. To his faculty adviser and outside observers, the comment reflects systemic problems at the National Science Foundation and higher education overall and hinders efforts to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to become scientists. |
| 'Waste of time': Community college transfers derail students | |
| First came the good news. After taking classes at a community college, Ricki Korba was admitted to California State University, Bakersfield, as a transfer student. But when she logged on to her student account, she got a gut punch: Most of her previous classes wouldn't count. The university rejected most of her science classes, she was told, because they were deemed less rigorous than those at Bakersfield -- even though some used the same textbooks. Several other courses were rejected because Korba exceeded a cap on how many credits can be transferred. Now Korba, a chemistry and music major, is retaking classes she already passed once. It will add a year to her studies, plus at least $20,000 in tuition and fees. "It just feels like a waste of time," said Korba, 23, of Sonora, California. "I thought I was supposed to be going to a CSU and starting hard classes and doing a bunch of cool labs." Every year, hundreds of thousands of students start at community colleges hoping to transfer to a university later. It's advertised as a cheaper path to a bachelor's degree, an education hack in a world of ever-rising tuition costs. Yet the reality is rarely that simple. For some students, the transfer process becomes a maze so confusing it derails their college plans. |
| California's Housing Crisis Leaves College Students Eager to Live in Trailers | |
| Laura Chappell lives with six other roommates in a house near the University of California, Santa Cruz that has termite damage, annual rat infestations, and gopher holes throughout the backyard. Two of the seven spaces they use as bedrooms are unheated and unpermitted. She pays $963 a month, nearly half of her take-home pay, for the smallest of them. "This is a steal," said the 31-year-old, who is in her sixth year of a Ph.D. program in biology. California has long prided itself for having some of the most highly regarded public universities in the nation -- some of which are in wealthy, scenic coastal communities like Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. But housing costs have soared in the state over the past decade due to a lack of new construction, making it difficult for some students to live close enough to those universities to attend them. "That promise of an accessible public education is threatened because the housing costs are so enormous," said Steven McKay, a sociology professor at UCSC. "It's just making it really, really difficult for our working class students" Between July 2021 and April 2022, the University of California assisted an estimated 3,165 students struggling with food and housing, a 15% increase from the year before, according to a report by university officials to state legislators. The system's 10 campuses enroll nearly 300,000 students. |
| The government is rescuing rural colleges that would otherwise close | |
 | When Iowa Wesleyan University announced in March that it would close, its biggest creditor was a federal government agency that had loaned it $26 million and then -- in an attempt to help the university survive -- softened the terms and extended the repayment period. It wasn't the Education Department that made the loan, or the Treasury or Interior departments, or any of the many government departments that support academic research. It was the Agriculture Department. The USDA has been loaning tens of millions of dollars to rural colleges and universities, some of which couldn't get financing from conventional lenders or fell under intense financial scrutiny from the Education Department thanks to their precarious budgets. This support underscores how important -- and how vulnerable -- local schools are to rural communities. "Beyond the educational prospects, these institutions support small businesses who depend on the student and faculty population, and they make their communities a more attractive place to live," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa who started his political career as mayor of Mount Pleasant, the city that's home to Iowa Wesleyan, and whose wife was on its board of trustees. "They generate opportunity." The decline of rural higher education is also widening one of America's biggest equity challenges. |
| Poll shows Mississippians strongly favor Presley's ideas but he still trails in governor's race | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: A new Siena College/Mississippi Today poll, conducted April 16-20, illustrates the complexity and internal conflict of the state's electorate. Take, for instance, one of the biggest issues of the 2023 governor's race: Medicaid expansion. Based on the poll results, 55% of respondents say they "will only vote for a candidate" who supports expanding Medicaid. A meager 14% say they would only vote for a candidate opposed to Medicaid expansion. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has made it clear that he staunchly opposes Medicaid expansion, which he refers to as Obamacare. Meanwhile, Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, a Democrat who is challenging Reeves in November, has built much of his campaign around his support of expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor. But the same poll respondents who say by a strong majority they would only vote for a candidate supporting Medicaid expansion give incumbent Reeves a commanding 49% to 38% lead over Presley. It is important to understand that Siena did not just call a random group of people --- 783 on cell phones and landlines -- to garner these responses. This is a scientific poll that is weighted to match the likely demographics of voters in the November general election and in theory represents a snapshot of what the electorate is thinking. |
SPORTS
| Record-Setting Home Run Pace Leads Bulldogs To Sweep In Final Home Series | |
| Mississippi State swept No. 20 Kentucky on Sunday in a back-and-forth game that ended in a 7-4 victory for the home team. The Bulldogs scored all of their runs on four homers, bringing their total in the series to 10 long balls. The 10 home runs are the most the Bulldogs have ever hit in an SEC series. Today's four were one shy of yesterday's total that was the most in school history against an SEC opponent. "Hitting is contagious, and I think once we stopped just putting so much extra pressure on ourselves and making every game bigger than it needed to be, it just felt like things loosened up and we were just playing our ball," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I'm just excited for the team, for the seniors, and it was fun to see them just kind of catch fire up and down the line up. It wasn't just one person all weekend which was fun to see." MSU will play at Samford on May 4 at 4 p.m. CT before heading to Auburn on May 5-7 for its final SEC and regular-season weekend. |
| With cards stacked against them, MSU softball not going down without a fight | |
| In between innings, Nusz Park turned into a dance party. As Kentucky pitcher Alexia Lacatena would work through her warmup pitches, its infielders going through a normal pre-inning, ground ball routine, the Mississippi State softball team jumped out of its dugout and danced to the stadium music until it was time to hit. The Bulldogs, during Sunday afternoon's final home game of the season, were having a blast, hardly looking like the team that had lost 14 straight Southeastern Conference games in a row heading into the weekend series. More look like the group that ended that drought 48 hours ago, then won back-to-back games Saturday night for the first time since March 18-19 against South Carolina. A handful of players wore traditional Samoan ies, to go along with Sunday's "Samoan Day" festivities. Others wore flowers around their necks or behind their ears. Don't be fooled, all of it was by design. "We just decided to come and be like, what do we have to lose," senior infielder Paige Cook said following Sunday's 7-4 win over the No. 20 Wildcats, securing the series sweep. At this point in the season, more than anything, this MSU team is aware. Aware that, sitting at 27-22 (6-14 in SEC play) the cards are stacked against it for postseason play. |
| Draft Recap: Where are all the former Bulldogs going | |
| When the smoke settled on this week's NFL Draft, Mississippi State's class looked similar to recent years. For the third consecutive draft, MSU only had two players selected, including one first round pick in Emmanuel Forbes. The program had to wait until Saturday afternoon's fourth round when Cameron Young became the second Bulldog selected. However, it didn't take long for undrafted MSU players to sign free agent deals Saturday. Here is a look at the list of Bulldogs making the NFL jump next season. |
| Hunt Breaks School Pole Vault Record; Bulldogs Earn Eight First-Place Finishes On Day Two of Maroon & White Invite | |
| Emma Hunt had a day to remember on senior day for the Mississippi State track and field team on Saturday, setting a new school record in the Pole Vault. The Bulldogs found success all over the track during the final day of competition, with eight first-place finishes and 25 top 5 finishes. Hunt, honored during the senior ceremony, closed out her final Maroon & White Invite by setting a new school record in the pole vault. Hunt's record-breaking height of 4.13m (13'6.5") was enough to surpass teammate Maddy Kish, whose previous record of 4.08m was set back on May 1, 2021, also at the Maroon & White Invite. Tyriq Horsford finished third overall, first collegiately, in the men's javelin throw on senior day. Horsford's throw of 72.49m (237'10") is a new season best for the senior. It also ranks as the 12th-best throw in the NCAA this season. Joining Horsford with top 20 marks in the NCAA in the javelin on Saturday was Franck DiSanza, who earned a throw of 72.18m (236'10") to set a new season-best throw and the 13th-best mark in the NCAA this season, as well as Rémi Rougetet who threw a career-best 71.60m (234'11") for the 20th best mark in the NCAA so far. The Bulldogs will travel to Baton Rouge, La. May 11-13 for the SEC Outdoor Championships. |
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