| Monday, May 8, 2023 |
| MSU effort aims to help bee health, apiary operations | |
 | When Carol Brown, a beekeeper in New Hope, plans out her yearly apiary in early spring, she tries to pay attention to what pollinator plants bloom and when. But resources on nutrition that her bees need from various plant life aren't as accessible as the seeds to grow those flowers. Priya Chakrabarti Basu, assistant professor for pollinator health and apiculture at Mississippi State University, aims to fix that through a pollination database she and a team of students aim to complete later this year. Basu said both native and honey bee populations have been in decline through the last several decades as a result of land development, non-diverse agriculture and other related factors. The database will provide a list of pollinator plants and their various nutritional values, and she hopes it will help reverse some of the adverse effects of bees losing habitat. Basu said if bee populations were to continue being affected by loss of food source, it could have a negative impact on crop production and quality. "If we do not have adequate healthy populations of bees, both managed as well as native bees, that will definitely impact crop pollination," Basu said. "For example, a lot of recent research and evidence suggests that certain fruit yield as well as fruit size, the quality of the fruit itself, improves when pollinators are present." As an industry, bees bring in a lot of money both directly and indirectly. |
| Move over Kentucky, this derby's for dachshunds | |
| Pitter patter, pitter patter. The sound of little feet giving it all they've got can barely be heard over the roaring of the crowd. Little legs pump as hard as they can, carrying the long body they are attached to down the stretch. The first to reach the end leaps into the arms of someone near and dear to it, its owner. This was the scene at the inaugural Starkville Derby Saturday in the Cotton District. The race brought together dozens of dachshunds, or wiener dogs, to see which was the fastest. Hundreds, if not more than 1,000, spectators packed into the racing area on University Drive to get a glimpse of the action. "It's been crazy," creator of the event Alden Thornhill said. "There has been a great turnout, from the students especially. We had people come from as far as Kansas and Denver, Colorado for this thing. It was absolutely nuts. It's going to be an every year thing now." The purpose of the event was to raise money for the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. Thornhill said it had raised around $16,000 by the time the derby started, but the number was steadily growing. Thornhill said the event would not have been possible without the sponsors and community support. "(It is because of) our community, our student population, the Humane Society and the local businesses that sponsored (the event)," Thornhill said. "Everybody has been stellar. Thanks for making this a tail-wagging good day for Starkville." |
| Buddy Update: 'Buddy has made a full recovery and is now happy and healthy' | |
 | The little lab that could has became a beacon of hope for animals and people all across Mississippi. The doctor and new owner of a dog who was set on fire by a 12 year old boy two years ago says Buddy has made a full recovery and is now happy and healthy. Buddy was intentionally set on fire in Tate County in April 2021 and was found with his face severely burned and an extension cord wrapped around his neck. He went through 10 months of surgeries and a series of skin grafts at Mississippi State. No charges were ever filed. His injuries inspired the bill, "Buddy's Law" which requires children who abuse animals to undergo mental evaluations in the State of Mississippi. Dr. Betsy Swanson adopted Buddy after he was released from the hospital. She says Buddy's recovery journey has been nothing but remarkable and that he gets to be just a dog who loves all food and plush toys. |
| Man in stolen car arrested after police chase | |
| A Tennessee man was arrested and charged with multiple felonies after leading Starkville police on a chase in a stolen vehicle Friday night. Shane Fidler, 32, of Knoxville, Tennessee, was arrested after the brief chase ended on Mississippi State University's campus. He faces two felonies, grand larceny of a motor vehicle and failure to stop when an officer signals. He is also charged with DUI. Fidler has a previous felony firearms charge in Indiana. According to a press release from SPD, a call came in around 7:20 p.m. reporting a car being stolen at the Dollar General on Highway 12 East. SPD officers attempted unsuccessfully to stop the vehicle on Highway 12. Fidler took the chase onto campus and subsequently hit a barricade. He attempted to run, but was caught by officers and arrested. MSU police assisted with the chase. Lovelady said it was not clear yet if Fidler would be extradited to Indiana for the firearms charge. |
| Trend of minors with handguns troubling law enforcement | |
| Two customers walk into a McDonald's in Columbus in February with handguns in their waistbands. One of them is only 15 years old. A bystander calls 911, and the pair leaves in police custody. Luckily no one is hurt. For Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry, who took that role in January, this is one of many instances of his department seizing guns from minors this year alone. He said the youngest suspect arrested in the city for gun possession this year was 13. "This is not a Columbus thing. It's a nation thing," Daughtry said. "... Juveniles are finding access to guns. Some kids are getting them because it makes them popular or cool or tough. Some children are getting them for protection because they're scared." That fear, Daughtry said, includes bullying, dealing with conflict and other kids with guns. Chief Mark Ballard of Starkville Police Department said mass shootings that have been occurring across the country also feed that fear. Ballard said SPD has seized five guns from minors this year. Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office Capt. Brett Watson said the county has also arrested five in that span. Area law enforcement indicated the issue of minors with guns has become more prevalent over the last few years. Both Ballard and Daughtry noted many of the guns being recovered from minors are linked to auto burglaries. |
| Mississippi one of 17 states requiring financial literacy for graduation | |
 | Mississippi is one of 17 states that require students take a financial literacy course in order to graduate for high school, but only five states – Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington – currently require financial literacy in their K-12 standards. Gov. Tate Reeves, who was an investment analyst before stepping into politics, still has a Chartered Financial Analysts designation and sees the importance of Mississippians better managing their finances. He said financial literacy is "near and dear" to him. "I'm extremely proud that Mississippi was the 7th state to institute financial education as a requirement for high school graduation," he said. "This is happening through the College and Career Readiness course. It's a one-year course, and about 75% of the curriculum is centered around financial literacy and personal finance." Beginning with the 2022 graduating class, students in Mississippi were required to take the yearlong College and Career Readiness course to graduate. Students learn everything from developing budgeting to saving and investing to using credit and getting insurance. "Beyond College and Career Readiness, districts can choose to offer a half-credit credit Personal Finance Course that is included in our Business and Technology State Framework," said Wendy Clemons, the Mississippi Department of Education's Associate Superintendent of Secondary Education, Career and Technical Education and Professional Development. |
| Ballot box sometimes only way to break up cliques on city and county boards | |
 | An election is the most effective way for voters to break up cliques of city council members or board of supervisors who vote together regardless of the issue, according to one longtime expert on Mississippi politics. "I used to teach city-county management and I ran across a study that said you'll have differences of opinion," said Marty Wiseman, Ph.D., emeritus professor of political science and emeritus director of Mississippi State University's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development. "The healthiest is when there are differences among different people. The unhealthiest is when you have a permanent split. It's when you have the same three people split from the same four people on a seven-member board on every issue that comes up. That's a sign of a deeper problem. "A lot of times people don't like each other and that starts to affect decision-making. You want a healthy debate on a council or board, just as long as you've got two on one side and three on the other, for example, and it changes." Wiseman said a permanent split on a board or council is difficult to mend and often recurs. "Whether the issue is garbage or drainage on the streets you'll have the same group opposing the other group," he said. |
| Brandon Presley, seeking supercharged governor's race turnout, says he'll campaign in all 82 counties | |
| Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley on Wednesday night rattled off a list of talking points about Medicaid expansion and New Testament theology to about 50 people crowded into pews at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Tunica County. But what resonated most with many of the attendees in the tiny Delta community Dundee wasn't Presley's thoughts on the state's infamous welfare scandal or the jabs he made at incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves -- it was that he simply showed up to ask for their vote. "This is the first time that I can remember someone running for governor ever coming to Tunica, Mississippi," the Rev. McKinley Daley, the pastor of the church, said. Candidates for governor have made brief stops in Tunica before, but the minister's sentiment underscores that the majority-Black region of the Mississippi Delta often feels left out of the equation when it comes to statewide elections. The rationale for traveling to smaller communities, Presley says, is part of his strategy of shoring up needed votes and a campaign promise that he made in January to visit places that "haven't seen a candidate for governor in years." Despite his early campaign energy, the presumptive Democratic nominee faces a difficult path to the Governor's Mansion this year. |
| Confederate monuments remain 'politically charged' in Mississippi as forum tackles issue | |
 | The Mississippi state flag has changed, no longer bearing the Confederate battle flag. That doesn't men, however, that symbols of the Confederacy aren't a controversial topic to many across the state. A event held Thursday evening at Two Museums in Jackson tried to tackle the issue, discussing the symbolism and importance of public monuments in society. Experts called historical monuments, especially in the South, "politically charged." The panel featured moderator and Hattiesburg author William Sturkey, Daphne Chamberlain, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Social Justice at Tougaloo College, Richard Lou, visual and performance artist and chair of the Department of Art at the University of Memphis and Patrick Weems, Executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner. Monuments represent "an emotional and politically charged topic," Sturkey said. That is particularly true in the South, where thousands of Confederate statues and monuments remain standing. Among the most prominent in Jackson is the Monument to Women of the Confederacy which has stood for more than 100 years at the south entrance to the Mississippi Capitol. |
| Mississippi impeding funds for Jackson's water, group says | |
 | Mississippi has intentionally created hurdles that prevent the majority-Black capital city of Jackson from receiving enough money to repair a long-troubled water system that nearly collapsed last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Friday in announcing a new civil rights complaint it filed. The center asked the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate Mississippi's rules for distributing $450 million to water systems operated by cities, counties and rural water associations. The funds came from pandemic relief money distributed by the federal government. State officials said in November that Jackson would receive $35.6 million, and that the city would have to match that amount -- a matching requirement in place for larger communities in the first round of funding. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is in charge of distributing the water system improvement money. In response to questions from The Associated Press on Friday, department spokesperson Jan Schaefer said the funding approved for Jackson is for two wastewater projects and five projects to improve the drinking water system. She said the grant program is based on the state reimbursing cities, counties and water associations, and Jackson has not yet submitted requests for reimbursement. |
| Biden's approval rating hits new low | |
 | President Joe Biden's approval sank to a new low, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found, two weeks after the president announced his reelection campaign. Biden's approval rating dipped to 36 percent, down from February and just below his previous low in 2022. A significantly higher percentage of people -- 56 percent -- disapprove of the job the president has done so far, and the majority of the Democrats surveyed (58 percent) said they would rather Democrats pick someone else to be the presidential nominee. Allowing for the fact that it was a single poll, the polling seemingly offered a number of reasons for Biden and his supporters to be nervous heading into the 2024 presidential election, though there were warning signs for former President Donald Trump as well. For Biden, part of the issue is the president's age and acuity. Twenty-six percent said Biden, who is 80, is too old for another term, and an additional 43 percent said both Biden and Trump, who is 76, are too old. Only 28 percent said that neither is too old for another four years in the White House. When asked if Biden "has the mental sharpness it takes to serve effectively as president," only 32 percent said they believe he does, while 63 percent said they do not. Of those who said he does not, 94 percent were Republicans, 69 percent were independents and 21 percent were Democrats. |
| Black voters backing Biden, but not with 2020 enthusiasm | |
| LaJoia Broughton, a 41-year-old small-business owner, considers herself a fan of President Joe Biden. He's provided opportunities for Black-owned business while bringing integrity to the White House, she said. Her decision for 2024 is not in doubt. "Biden has proven himself in the last few years, and I'll be voting for him in the next election," said Broughton, who owns a lobbying and public affairs firm in Columbia, South Carolina's capital city. Destiny Humphreys is less enthusiastic. The 22-year-old senior at South Carolina State University, the state's only public historically Black college or university, or HBCU, said she's disappointed in the president, feeling his accomplishments have so far not lived up to his promises. "Honestly, I feel like right now America is in a state of emergency. We need some real change," said Humphreys, who remains unsure about her vote in next year's election. After a dismal start to his 2020 presidential campaign, Black voters in South Carolina rallied behind Biden, reviving his White House ambitions by driving his Democratic rivals from the race and ultimately putting him on a path to defeating then-President Donald Trump. But at the outset of Biden's reelection bid, the conflicting views among the same voters provide an early warning sign of the challenges he faces as he aims to revive the diverse coalition that proved so crucial to him before. |
| Lieberman: No Labels trying to 'make sure' Trump not reelected | |
 | The No Labels political operation is not a "secret plot to reelect Donald Trump" according to founding chairman and former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. "That's just ridiculous. I mean, there's no basis in fact," Lieberman, who was last elected to the Senate in 2006 on a third-party line as what he called an independent Democrat, said in an interview Thursday. Lieberman said that, in fact, the point of No Labels trying to get ballot access in 2024 in as many states as possible was not only to make a statement about the partisanship of the two-party system, but also "to make sure that Donald Trump is not reelected as president." A number of other groups and commentators, including Third Way, have accused the No Labels plan of potentially paving the way for former President Trump to return to the Oval Office. Lieberman, the Democrats' 2000 vice presidential nominee, said that just speaking for himself, a two-man race between President Joe Biden and Trump would not be a hard call. A Monmouth University poll released March 27 found that while 74 percent of Democrats have a favorable opinion of Biden, just 25 percent wanted him to seek another term. An NBC News poll released in April found 70 percent of adults said Biden should not run and 60 percent said Trump should not. |
| EV sales slowing in 2023. Why are more Americans unlikely to buy one? | |
 | Electrifying the car market may be getting more difficult, with the share of Americans who say they're "very unlikely" to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase growing in each of the first three months of the year, according to a new report. In March, 21% of new-vehicle shoppers said they were "very unlikely" to consider an EV, up from 18.9% in February and 17.8% in January, consumer analytics firm JD Power said in a monthly EV report. In contrast, the percentage of car shoppers who say they are "very likely" to consider an EV was 26.9% in March, largely flat this year. Persistent worries about charging infrastructure and vehicle pricing's dampening enthusiasm, the report said. EV's market share of all new-vehicle sales dropped to 7.3% in March, down from a record high of 8.5% in February but up from 2.6% in February 2020. "Many new vehicle shoppers are becoming more adamant about their decision to not consider an EV for their next purchase," JD Power said. While about four in 10 U.S. adults think using EVs helps address climate change "a great deal" (12%) or "a fair amount" (27%), roughly six in 10 believe it helps "only a little" (35%) or "not at all" (26%), according to a Gallup poll fielded March 1-23. Most people born before 1965, whom JD Power describes as Boomers and pre-Boomers, are least likely to consider an EV, but one-third of Gen Z'ers (born between 1995 and 2004) aren't either. Gen Z is seen as "the future of the marketplace," the analytics firm said. |
| 'Over My Dead Body': Backlash Builds Against $3 Trillion Clean-Energy Push | |
 | The federal government has ignited a green-energy investment spree that's expected to reach as high as $3 trillion over the next decade. The road to spending that money, though, is increasingly hitting speed bumps from the likes of Gerry Coffman. About an hour southwest of Kansas City, she turned down a wind lease last year on a farm that has been in her family since 1866. Someone knocked on her door a few months later, paperwork in hand, and offered $6,000 to hang a wind-power transmission line across her land. If she agreed to store construction equipment, she stood to make an additional $4,000. Ms. Coffman said no. Ms. Coffman rotates corn and soybeans and has cattle pasture on her part of the family farm, which includes a wooded ribbon of water called Eight Mile Creek. Ms. Coffman doesn't want to see native forest or prairie disturbed and thinks the industrial nature of towering wind turbines would change the community for the worse if a proposed project were built. "A year ago we were a nice, quiet neighborhood," said Ms. Coffman, who has attended a series of contentious public meetings over several months as the county considers revising regulations for wind-energy development. County-by-county battles are raging as wind and solar projects balloon in size, edge closer to cities and encounter mounting pushback in communities from Niagara Falls to the Great Plains and beyond. Projects have slowed. Even in states with a long history of building renewables, developers don't know if they can get local permits or how long it might take. |
| MUW class of 2023 enters graduation weekend with 133-year-old tradition | |
 | A weekend of graduation activities at Mississippi University for Women kicked off Friday with a 133-year-old tradition. Members of the Class of 2023 at The W took part in the Magnolia Chain Ceremony. Graduates carry a chain made of Magnolia blooms across campus. The ceremony now also serves as a time to present awards and special recognition to distinguished members of the graduating class. This year's speaker was MUW alum Dr. Honi Migdol. According to tradition, when the group disperses, those who manage to leave with a bloom or bud will find good fortune and romance in their post-W life. A flower chain ceremony has been a part of graduation since 1890. Originally daisies were used. The switch to the state flower came about in 1905. |
| Digital marketing firm receives first prize at UM Gillespie Competition | |
| A social media marketing business that uses a five-task plan to effectively manage digital marketing took first place in the 2023 Gillespie Business Plan Competition at the University of Mississippi. Altar'd Socials, founded by Claire Ficek, a sophomore integrated marketing and communications major from Maple Plain, Minnesota, was declared the overall winner of the annual contest. Her company oversees website management, content creation and engagement on social media apps, as well as email marketing for their customers. "I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing organization like the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and have the opportunities they provide for students," Ficek said. "The Gillespie Business Plan Competition was just one example of adults in our community coming together to support us as students." Ficek won $15,000 for her business, plus a year's worth of office space at Insight Park. She was named a Seibels Scholar, which also brought her an additional $5,000. "Claire Ficek provided amazing pitches for her post-revenue Altar'd Socials venture, which led to her victory" said Clay Dibrell, co-director of the CIE. "Going forward, we look for great things from her, as well as the rest of our Ole Miss student entrepreneurs." |
| Dormitory Toilet Fire Leads to Alabama Student's Arson Arrest | |
| A University of Alabama student has been charged with first-degree arson after a video of him fueling a fire in a dormitory toilet was posted to social media last weekend. According to a deposition filed Friday, firefighters and police were called to Paty Hall, a UA dormitory on McCorvey Drive, this Sunday evening on reports of a fire in a bathroom on the second floor. The blaze was contained and only damaged a toilet and the ceiling of the bathroom. Investigators did not have to spend long wondering who was responsible -- police say a video of the incident was uploaded to Instagram that showed a 19-year-old student spraying rubbing alcohol on a fire that was burning in and around a toilet in the dorm. Police say the student in the video is 19-year-old Tyler Gordon Southworth, and they are taking what may have started as a "prank" seriously -- in their charging documents, they noted that Paty is home to more than 400 University students and also contains a restaurant on the first floor that serves non-residents. For fueling a fire inside a heavily occupied building with an accelerant, Southworth was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree arson, a Class A felony that mean could serious prison time on conviction. |
| $20 million gift to fund new performing arts center at U. of South Alabama | |
 | A $20 million gift from longtime supporter Abe Mitchell will fund a new performing arts center at the University of South Alabama, the university community learned on Friday as the school kicked off its 60th anniversary celebrations. Mitchell, a member of a family that has contributed massively to South's growth over the years, said he sees a new performing arts center as "another way to connect the university with the community." The latest gift adds to a considerable family legacy, said USA President Jo Bonner. "As everyone here likely knows there is no family anywhere in the state of Alabama that has done more for public education or for a college or university than the Mitchell family," said Bonner. "Abe, along with his late brother and best friend Mayer, and his sister-in-law and dear friend Arlene, who is our board chair, care passionately about this university. They have helped make this university the economic engine that it is for our region and they have been instrumental in taking our university to the next level." Their name is prominent on USA facilities, he noted, including "a comprehensive cancer center, the Mitchell College of Business and of course our beautiful Hancock-Whitney Stadium," with its Abraham A. Mitchell Field. There's also the Mitchell Center, the campus arena. |
| UA-Fayetteville gets human resources rework | |
| As Michelle Hargis Wolfe drove along Garland Avenue last year and watched students at her alma mater stroll down the street, "I got goosebumps all over my body." "They are the future, of our region, state, country, and the world, and I see that potential," said Hargis Wolfe, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's first "chief people officer." She didn't know then the job was open, and "I wasn't looking, but I knew I wanted to be involved" in helping those young people and the university. Hargis Wolfe, who began her new duties Feb. 1, spent nearly two decades with Walmart Inc., including time leading human resources for several large divisions -- such as senior director for Enterprise Business Services -- overseeing supplier onboarding, master data management strategy and operations, and realty construction contract and project management, according to the university. She had worked with Ann Bordelon -- who took over as the university's executive vice chancellor for finance and administration in 2020 -- at Walmart years earlier, and "we got reconnected," which is how she learned about this job, said Hargis Wolfe. "I have such pride in [my alma mater], and I'm so excited" for this role. Though this isn't a new position -- it was formerly known as associate vice chancellor for human resources -- it was important to change the title to "chief people officer" to signal "a change in how we're thinking about our people on campus," said Bordelon, also a UA-Fayetteville alumna. Rather than treat employees in a "transactional" manner, universities "need to think about what they want, and how we can fulfill that." |
| State budget signed by Georgia Gov. Kemp to spend $1.3B on K-12 education, includes raises | |
| Raises are coming for state and university employees and public school teachers and Georgia will pay full college tuition for all HOPE Scholarship recipients under the budget signed Friday by Gov. Brian Kemp. The Republican governor ratified the budget in a ceremony at the construction site for the new Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle plant in Ellabell. "There is a lot of good stuff in this budget to talk about," Kemp said. "It's important that Georgians know we're delivering on our promises." State troopers and many other law enforcement officers will get a $6,000 raise, while all state employees, public university employees, technical college employees and public school teachers will get a $2,000 raise. The budget also restores the original system of paying full tuition for HOPE Scholarships for all high school graduates earning a B average. While Zell Miller Scholars who earn higher grades and a minimum standardized test score now get full tuition, others only get 90%. The budget also boosts HOPE Scholarship payments to private college students in Georgia. Lawmakers cut $66 million in teaching funds from the state's 26 public universities. That's a small cut, but University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue said it could exacerbate funding woes tied to falling enrollment at many smaller universities. Kemp said on the last night of the legislative session in March that the budget had what he called "significant holes." Lawmakers also cut about $1.4 million in funding for Georgia Public Broadcasting and about $3.2 million for Augusta University's Georgia Cyber Center. |
| U. of Tennessee faculty, staff work with Native Nations to return ancestors home and rethink representation | |
| When the nonprofit news site ProPublica launched The Repatriation Project in January, the University of Tennessee landed on a top-10 list that does not come with bragging rights. Out of all universities, museums, societies and agencies in the nation, UT ranked 7th among institutions that hold the most Native American ancestral remains not yet made available for return to federally recognized Tribes, or Native Nations. The key to understanding the ranking is a landmark piece of federal human rights legislation passed back in 1990 called the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA for short. Under the law, government agencies, museums, universities and historical societies are required to keep inventories of all ancestral remains or cultural artifacts that lie in their holdings, including objects that were once buried with ancestors. Native Nations, such as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians or the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, can then use these inventories to submit repatriation claims to institutions like UT, kicking off a years-long process of returning ancestors and their belongings back to the Tribes and to the Earth where they, by rights, belong. |
| Key UT-Knoxville projects get state funding, including the pedestrian bridge in downtown | |
 | Key construction and building projects at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville can take crucial steps forward, many of them related to jobs and research the state of Tennessee needs. The state legislature authorized funds or approved the plans for these projects, including $20 million toward the city of Knoxville's planned pedestrian bridge that will help expand student housing to the south side of the Tennessee River. UT System President Randy Boyd shared the news with the UT System Board of Trustees Executive Committee May 5, along with plans for projects across the entire system. The state is contributing $20 million through the city of Knoxville to begin the initial planning and development of the pedestrian bridge. The city also has applied for a federal RAISE grant of up to $25 million for the estimated $70 million bridge. The bridge will be a new downtown amenity that connects the south waterfront to Thompson-Boling Arena and new student housing to campus. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is getting $12.5 million in stimulus funds to construct the Protein Innovation Center -- what Boyd called a "meat lab" -- to help prepare needed workers. |
| For these three U. of Kentucky grads, inspiration from family helped them to their degrees | |
 | The University of Kentucky will award more than 5,800 degrees this weekend, with graduates walking across the stage on Friday and Saturday. Three ceremonies were scheduled for Friday and one for Saturday. More than 3,700 undergraduate students, 1,400 graduate students and 600 professional degree candidates are part of the ceremonies. For Elizabeth Akers Buckles, her road to graduation has not been conventional. She first enrolled at Morehead State University in 2016, but felt that her degree in agricultural exonomics was not her passion. She ended up joining the U.S. Army, where she met her now-husband, Tylor Buckles. In 2019, they returned to Kentucky and got married, while she enrolled at UK for a community and leadership development degree. While attending UK, the couple welcomed their son T.J. in 2021. T.J. was born 16 weeks premature, and would spend 250 days in the Kentucky Children's Hospital NICU while Buckles was still enrolled at UK. T.J. needed around-the-clock care when he came home from the NICU. Inspired by her family, Buckles continued pursuing her degree, at times bringing her son to campus. She will graduate this weekend, but a degree from UK has now become a family affair: her husband will enroll in the College of Nursing this fall, with the goal of working at Kentucky Children's Hospital to care for babies needing long-term critical care. |
| Texas A&M Engineering Project Showcase brings students, industry professionals together | |
 | For their senior capstone project, senior Mohammad Shihab and his group of fellow electrical engineering majors were tasked with creating a smart chess board that was displayed alongside 277 engineering capstone design teams Friday at the 2023 Texas A&M Engineering Project Showcase at the Zachry Engineering Education Complex. "With chess comes tradition, and nobody knows more about tradition than us Texas A&M Aggies," Shihab said. "What the smart chess board allows for players to do is to still be able to play with traditional pieces all the while still reaping the benefit of playing against anyone anywhere in the world on a virtual web app." Once the in-person player moves their piece, a camera underneath the board will move to where the player placed the piece and update the virtual player on the web application. From there, the virtual player will make a move on their device (through the application) and an electromagnet will move to the corresponding piece, pick it up, take it where it needs to be and return home for the in-person player to make the next move. As they demonstrated how their board works, the bond Shihab and his teammates -- Grayson Greinke, Dan Ho and Swade Ridgway -- formed throughout this year-long project was evident. |
| Afghan U. of Missouri graduate Maseeh Wassil's immigration status remains in flux but he has a job | |
 | Afghan University of Missouri graduate Maseeh Wassil now has a work permit and a job, but immigration status for him and others in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program remains in flux. When he graduated in December with a master's degree in public affairs, neither he nor his wife had a work permit and therefore no way to get a job or earn an income. They have two daughters. He and his wife received their employment authorization in early January. The job offer from the Missouri Department of Social Services came as his employment authorization arrived. He started there on Feb. 1 as a research and data analyst. "Luckily I found a job right after I received my employment authorization," Wassil said during a Wednesday interview at the Columbia Activity and Recreation Center. His studies at MU started at MU on Aug 5, 2021, after he received his student visa. Within a few days, the Taliban took over when the Afghan government fell. He also was working with Fulbright and the U.S. State Department to get his wife and kids from Afghanistan, across the Pakistan border and eventually to the U.S. They arrived on Jan. 17, 2022. Wassil applied for asylum for himself and his family last May and submitted fingerprints in July, with no updates. "I did apply for asylum, and like me, I believe most Afghan Fulbrighters that applied for asylum, most of us have only had our biometrics taken and few of us have had their interviews so far," Wassil said. "But unfortunately, I believe no one has an approved asylum case here." |
| 'As Bizarre as It Sounds': At Ohio State, Trustees Will Do the President's Job | |
 | On Monday morning, Ohio State University won't have a president -- either interim or permanent. Instead, cabinet-level administrators will report directly to the university's governing-board subcommittees. It's a plan that has the faculty nervous about who is in control of the institution, and what it means for the future. It also appears to violate the university's bylaws, which state both that a president be in charge of the administration of the institution and that executive vice presidents report directly to the president. "It's as bizarre as it sounds," said Jill Galvan, an associate professor of English and a member of the AAUP chapter's executive committee. "We're in the dark. What's going on Monday?" The current president, Kristina M. Johnson, will preside over commencement exercises this weekend and depart the presidency on Sunday. She resigned suddenly in November, saying she would leave at the end of the academic year. "I have fought for academic freedom and to protect the university's right to decide which professors to hire," she wrote in an essay published in local media in February. "University curricula must not be subject to political forces. Ohio State professors must be allowed to pursue academic research without fear or favor, and ideas must succeed or fail based on academic merit rather than their political appeal. "In October, I realized my relentless pursuit of the agenda we'd set was no longer in step with what the majority of the trustees wanted." |
| Political attacks on college accreditors began with SACS | |
 | College accreditors became the latest target of conservatives' efforts to upend higher education when former president -- and 2024 presidential candidate -- Donald Trump last week announced his plan to "fire" the agencies. His charge: the accreditors have failed to protect students from the "Marxist maniacs and lunatics" who he believes have taken over higher ed. Long accustomed to maintaining a low profile outside the industry, many of the nation's accrediting agencies may find it jarring to be thrust suddenly into the political spotlight alongside DEI initiatives and critical race theory. But for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, it's nothing new; for more than two years, the agency has been fending off allegations of ideological influence and "wokeness" from lawmakers -- some of whom have introduced legislation to limit its influence in their states. Belle Wheelan, longtime president of SACS, said the attacks have intensified as the culture wars have engulfed the national conversation around higher ed and ambitious actors like Florida governor Ron DeSantis look to turn colleges into political cudgels. "There's always been some legislative interference in higher ed. But rarely was that interference concerning academic freedom," she said. "Things are different now, and they are much more invasive." |
| Statehouses' Targeting of Diversity and Tenure Is Starting to Scare Away Faculty Job Candidates | |
| Recently proposed and passed legislation that targets tenure and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts is having a chilling effect on the recruitment of faculty members and administrators in Florida and Texas, where some of the highest profile laws and bills of that type have been undertaken. Not all of the proposed bills have become law yet, and the full extent to which candidates are being dissuaded from pursuing opportunities in the two states is difficult to calculate. But faculty and union leaders there say that would-be faculty members are questioning whether it's wise to accept jobs where their research or teaching could be subject to political interference, public institutions' efforts to promote diversity are being curtailed, and the job security that tenure has traditionally afforded is undermined. In Florida, some candidates' concerns are so profound that they're turning down job offers in the state -- despite not having other offers, said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida, a union representing faculty at all 12 of the state's public universities, a private one, and community colleges. "That's really a whole other level of job-search failure," he said. In Texas, faculty members' concerns are also acute, said Diana Marculescu, the chair of the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin. Applications for open jobs, Marculescu said, are down 17 percent from last year, despite ramped-up efforts to reach out directly to promising candidates. |
| Future of student loan forgiveness looms over Biden in 2024 | |
 | The issue of student loans stands to loom over President Biden's 2024 bid as he tackles one of his key first-term campaign promises being tied up at the Supreme Court. Biden managed to deliver on the promise of developing a program to forgive a chunk of student debt to the cheers of many Democrats and progressives who pushed him on the issue during his first two years in the White House. But his plan quickly hit a roadblock when GOP attorneys general sued the administration over the issue, which Republicans say would be "paid for" by people who never even attended college. The White House had warned that such legal challenges would arise, but Biden went through with the program anyway. The case made its way all the way up to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority appears unlikely to give it the green light. Now, Biden has to sell his accomplishment -- but also its stoppage -- on the 2024 campaign trail. Republicans have not shied away from their criticism of the debt forgiveness, messaging on how the plan is unfair to those who did not go to college or made huge sacrifices in order to avoid student loan debt. |
| Education Department eyes few changes for foreign gift reporting | |
| The Education Department has declined to make many of the changes sought by colleges and universities to the requirements for reporting foreign gifts. The department is planning to finalize the reporting requirements following a 31-day public comment period on the updated information-collection request. The request is the latest step in a years-long process that began under the Trump administration in an effort to step up enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which requires colleges and universities to, twice a year, disclose all foreign gifts and contracts totaling $250,000 or more. That effort included a new online reporting system that launched in summer 2020 and required institutions to submit more information about the gifts and contracts than they had previously. After the first round of reports, the Trump administration accused colleges and universities of "pervasive noncompliance" with the federal law. The Biden administration is planning to keep the Trump-era disclosure requirements but shift enforcement of Section 117 from the Office of General Counsel to the Office of Federal Student Aid, which previously enforced the law, among its other responsibilities. The next deadline for Section 117 reports is July 31. |
| Presley needs to reverse Hood's 2019 northeast Mississippi results to have a chance | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Democrat Brandon Presley's task of defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in the November general election seems insurmountable. After all, a Republican has won seven of the last eight gubernatorial elections and that lone Democratic victory came way back in 1999. To further hammer home the point, a Democratic nominee for president has not won Mississippi since Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 2019, Reeves defeated his Democratic opponent -- four-term Attorney General Jim Hood -- by a little more than 5% or about 45,000 votes. Even though history over the last three decades or so paints a bleak picture for Presley's prospects, recent statewide election results might provide a glimmer of hope. That glimmer can be gleaned, at least in part, from the fact that Hood and Presley are both native sons of northeast Mississippi. While northeast Mississippi was once a power base for the so-called rural white Democrats, the party's standing in the area has declined dramatically over the last 20 years or more. Even during that Democratic decline, though, the area remained loyal to native son Hood through four successful elections for attorney general. But in his 2019 gubernatorial election defeat, Hood garnered about 12,500 less votes in the 10 most extreme northeast Mississippi counties than he did in his last race for attorney general against former Republican U.S. attorney Mike Hurst in 2015. |
| In TANF welfare scandal, media pushes guilt by innuendo | |
| Russ Latino writes for the Magnolia Tribune: On June 21, 2019, Gov. Phil Bryant was alerted to possible irregular spending at the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) by then-Executive Director John Davis. Bryant informed State Auditor Shad White's office that day, according to White. Bryant's tip triggered an investigation by the Auditor's office that would uncover a sprawling conspiracy to embezzle Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare money intended to aid Mississippi's poor. As the investigation got under way, Bryant asked for the resignation of Davis and brought in a former FBI agent, Chris Freeze, to help clean up MDHS. In the wake of the investigation, both state and federal criminal proceedings ensued. Multiple charged parties have since pled guilty. A civil lawsuit was filed by MDHS to recoup some of the ill-spent money. Forty-six separate defendants have been named in that case. Phil Bryant is not among them. He has not been charged with any crime. He's not been named in any lawsuit. But he has been tried in the court of public opinion for the better part of two years by zealous advocates in the media. This week he pushed back, releasing a video and text messages in his possession. The TANF welfare scandal unquestionably marks a gross breach in public trust. What occurred was criminal and people will go to jail for it. Determining who goes to jail, however, is a question for prosecutors, courts, and juries---based on evidence. It will not be decided by reporters on the back of cleverly constructed innuendo. |
SPORTS
| Women's Golf Set to Compete in NCAA Regional Play for the 12th Time Monday | |
| For the first time in program history, Mississippi State women's golf will hold the number one seed when they tee off from regional action from Westfield, Indiana. The three-day event will begin Monday, May 8th and run through Wednesday. The club at Chatham Hills will set the stage for the 54-hole stroke play event. This championship course provides a unique golf experience due to the rolling terrain, playing through woods, down creeks and along ravines to make each hole a new challenge. The Westfield Regional is hosted by Indiana and the Indiana Sports Corp. Conference. The Bulldogs will be joined by some of the most talented programs in the country this week. Joining Mississippi State in the Westfield Regional will be Oregon, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Virginia, Tulsa, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon State, Xavier, Lipscomb and Morehead State. Senior Abbey Daniel will take the number one spot in her 33rd career appearance. Daniel has appeared in every event for MSU this season and currently has a 73.86 scoring average. |
| No. 16 Bulldogs Advance To NCAA Round of 16 | |
| For the third time in the last four years, Mississippi State men's tennis has reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. The 16th-ranked Bulldogs earned their 13th overall appearance in the Round of 16 with a 4-2 victory over No. 27 Middle Tennessee in the championship match of the Starkville Regional on Saturday afternoon. "It was just a tough match, a great college match with a great atmosphere," said head coach Matt Roberts. "I think Middle Tennessee competed really well and made it tough for us all day. I'm just proud of the guys on how they dealt with the emotions because they want to win so bad." MSU (21-7) moves on to meet No. 2 national seed TCU in the Fort Worth Super Regional next Saturday. "It means a lot," said junior Carles Hernandez. "We have a great group of guys this year. The last thing we want to do is end this. We are having so much fun out there. We are sacrificing together. That helps us as a group and individually as well. We want to keep going as long as possible." |
| Will gambling case at Alabama ripple across college sports? | |
| Alabama fired its baseball coach this week amid an investigation into suspicious bets involving a Crimson Tide game at LSU. The school did not give details about why Brad Bohannon was let go, saying only that he violated "the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees." This appears to be the first major gambling scandal in college sports since a Supreme Court decision five years ago paved the way for states to legalize wagering on sporting events. How were potential improprieties spotted? And what have schools and conferences been doing to safeguard competition since legal sports betting has become widespread in the United States? Matthew Holt, the president of U.S. Integrity, said the operators of the sportsbook alerted his company to "abnormal activity." U.S. Integrity alerted state gambling and gaming associations. After collecting information from other states, U.S. Integrity reported back to Ohio regulators, who opened an investigation. Holt said said the Alabama case is actually an example of the benefits of legalized wagering. "It proves that regulated sports betting and transparency into the marketplace that we have now, it works," he said. "When people do nefarious things, we catch them." |
| Alabama baseball betting scandal shows college sports' uneasy role in new gambling era | |
| On April 28 the Lead1 Association, an athletic director group, hosted a webinar to educate athletic departments about college sports gambling. At the end of the hour, the four gambling experts presenting to the group were asked to give a percentage chance that there would be a major betting scandal in college sports within the next three years. All four panelists agreed: There was a 100 percent chance one would happen soon. Later that day in Cincinnati, a person placed a suspicious bet on an Alabama–LSU baseball game. Within minutes, it was reported by an operator at the sportsbook and flagged by U.S. Integrity, a monitoring service that works with almost every major sports league and sportsbook. Less than a week later, Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired. Two people briefed on the investigation told The Athletic it was due to Bohannon's connection to the wagering activity. A person familiar with the investigation said there was no evidence that any athletes were involved. From one perspective, a betting scandal involving a sitting head coach represents a massive controversy. But from the perspective of many in the gambling industry, this discovery was a good thing. It meant the tools in place to detect suspicious wagers were successful. Can college sports protect its personnel and keep control over the credibility of its product in the age of legalized sports betting? It has never been easier to track, but it has also never been easier to bet. "The system worked," said Louisiana Gaming Control Board chair Ronnie Johns of the Alabama baseball case. "We have to protect the integrity of sports wagering or the system will crater." |
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