| Monday, May 22, 2023 |
| Mississippi State honors university staff with awards presentation | |
 | It's the end of the academic year and leaders at Mississippi State University are saying "thank you" to the thousands of employees who keep the campus running smoothly year-round. The university hosted its annual Staff Appreciation Day in the Junction. Employees got a chance to unwind and enjoy the free food, including MSU Ice Cream, live music, games, activities, and even a chance to win a few door prizes. There was also an awards presentation honoring staff and faculty for work in their respective departments. "These are dedicated individuals who love our university; who love their job. And so today we just say 'thank you' and that we appreciate all that you do. Not only serving this university but serving the entire state of Mississippi. And we've been blessed with wonderful weather to again celebrate, say thank you and just to show appreciation for their great service," said Dr. Mark Keenum, MSU President. Most students have left campus for the summer, but these employees will be busy during summer class sessions and getting ready for the fall semester in August. |
| Adult learners to benefit from new college at MSU | |
 | There are 13 times the number of working adult learners in the country than traditional college-aged learners, Mississippi Institutes for High Learning Assistant Commissioner for Government Relations Kim Gallaspy told The Dispatch on Friday. The creation of a new college at Mississippi State University is seeking to help those non-traditional, adult students continue their education -- whether through degrees or certifications. The IHL board on Thursday unanimously approved merging the existing Center for Distance Education and Center for Continuing Education to create the College of Professional and Continuing Studies. Susan Seal, executive director for CDE, was named the inaugural dean for the CPCS. "I'm looking forward to seeing students who didn't think college was for them or maybe they had missed their opportunity because they're in the workforce," Seal told The Dispatch. "Seeing those success stories of people either coming back or getting another skill that helps them advance in their career, that's what we're here for. ... Sometimes people pass what we think of as traditional college-age and think they missed their opportunity." "We've laid the foundation to get to this point, so now we start putting the walls up and really building things and identifying next steps," Seal said. "All of our staff will have a part in building that. ... It's not like one unit is moving into another unit. Both units are moving into a new thing. Both units are moving into and building together this new college. We feel like one big family, and that's what Mississippi State is about." |
| Steel Dynamics Incorporated aims to purchase 90 acres of port land | |
| Steel Dynamics Incorporated intends to purchase 90 acres on the southern region of the Lowndes County Port Authority's East Bank. Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins told The Dispatch the company has been working with LCPA on a land purchase agreement to potentially benefit its on-loading and off-loading operations at the port. SDI has been a customer of the East Bank, trucking and railing scrap metal, pig iron and other materials to SDI's steel mill near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. It then ships metal coils to customers via rail, barges and trucks. If the land purchase goes through, Higgins said SDI could essentially set up its own port operations with its own vendors. "As SDI grows, they are going to undoubtedly have the need to bring in and ship out more products via the waterway," Higgins said. "We've got a design of additional rail spurs that could serve the property that could allow them to load from barge to train and train to barge there. We've got conceptual layouts and cost estimates and how we would do it there." Higgins said the deal would also benefit Aluminum Dynamics, which is a $2 billion project to build a flat-rolled aluminum mill on 2,100 acres on Charleigh D. Ford Jr. Drive. Construction for that project is expected to begin this summer and be complete in 2025. |
| Mississippi sees lowest unemployment rate in state history for second month in a row | |
 | Mississippi's unemployment rate has reached a record low in state history for the second month in a row after totaling 3.4 percent in April. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Mississippi has continued to make state history by reporting a lower rate of unemployment after totaling 3.5 percent during the previous month. In March, 18 other states had a decrease in unemployment rates, while 32 reported stable numbers. Compared to March of 2022, 11 states and the District of Columbia had jobless rate decreases, 10 states had increases, and 29 had little change. Now, the BLS has released that 14 states throughout the nation have experienced a lower rate of unemployment while 36 states and the District of Columbia have reported stable numbers. "Reaching a record low unemployment rate in back-to-back months speaks volumes to Mississippi's momentum," Governor Tate Reeves said. "Our education system is thriving, jobs are plentiful, and there are more opportunities than ever before. We're making historic investments in workforce development and infrastructure and are attracting thousands of high-paying jobs to every region of the state. It's a great day to be a Mississippian." |
| What John Deere's strong earnings say about the farm economy | |
| John Deere reported strong quarterly earnings Friday. The maker of those iconic green and yellow tractors topped Wall Street profit expectations and raised its net income forecast for the rest of the year. And when the world's largest farm equipment maker is doing so well, that gives people some clues about how the global farm economy at large is faring. When consumers invest in big-ticket items like cars, sofas and washing machines, they're usually feeling optimistic about their finances. The same goes with farm equipment, said Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. "When farmers have a little extra cash flow and they don't see a crisis looming right now," he said, that's when they replace their tractor fleets. And when John Deere is moving a lot of machinery, Sumner said, that indicates growers of global commodity crops are doing well. But one strong earnings report from John Deere doesn't mean everything is rosey for commodity farmers, according to Krista Swanson, lead economist for the National Corn Growers Association. "If we're using that as a barometer for the farm economy, I view it as a lagging indicator," she said. |
| Rice Gets Reimagined, From the Mississippi to the Mekong | |
 | Rice is in trouble as the Earth heats up, threatening the food and livelihood of billions of people. Rice is central to the story of the United States. It enriched the coastal states of the American South, all with the labor of enslaved Africans who brought with them generations of rice-growing knowledge. Today, the country's dominant rice-growing area is spread across the hard clay soil near where the Mississippi River meets one of its tributaries, the Arkansas River. It looks nothing like the Mekong Delta. The fields here are laser-leveled flat as pancakes. Work is done by machine. Farms are vast, sometimes more than 20,000 acres. What they share are the hazards of climate change. Nights are hotter. Rains are erratic. And there's the problem created by the very success of so much intensive rice farming: Groundwater is running dangerously low. Enter Benjamin Runkle, an engineering professor from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Instead of keeping rice fields flooded at all times, as growers have always done, Dr. Runkle suggested that Arkansas farmers let the fields dry out a bit, then let in the water again, then repeat. Oh, and would they let him measure the methane coming off their fields? Mark Isbell, a second-generation rice farmer, signed up. For farmers who can demonstrate emissions reductions, the Biden administration is offering federal funds for what it calls "climate smart" projects. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack came to Mr. Isbell's farm last fall to promote the program. Mr. Isbell reckons the incentives will persuade other rice growers to adopt alternate wetting and drying. |
| Animal rights: Supreme Court ducks challenge to California ban on foie gras | |
 | The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal challenging California's 11-year-old ban on foie gras, rejecting the argument raised by duck and geese farmers that the prohibition flouted federal law. The denial, made without comment from the court, leaves in place a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that upheld the ban. It was the third time farmers had brought their challenge to the Supreme Court. The debate over foie gras -- the fatty liver of force-fed ducks and geese − has been fought on political and legal fronts for decades. Animal rights groups say the process of making foie gras is cruel. Farmers say they comply with regulations and that they "care about their animals just as much as any California politician." Foie gras bans have struggled in other parts of the country. Chicago banned its sale in 2006, only to repeal the provision two years later. New York City approved a ban in 2019, though it has been caught up in courts ever since and is not currently in effect. Animal welfare advocates say other jurisdictions are likely paying attention to what happens with the court cases in New York and California. The Supreme Court delved into a similar issue earlier this month, siding with California on a ban of pork products in that state unless the butchered pig was born to a sow housed in at least 24 square feet of floor space. In that case, the pork industry claimed the California ban would have a huge impact beyond its borders, affecting farmers in Iowa, Minnesota and elsewhere. A 5-4 majority on May 11 allowed the California ban to stand. |
| Inflation Hit Americans' Finances Last Year, Fed Finds | |
 | Americans reported a sharp decline in their financial well-being last fall as high inflation eroded earnings and savings, according to a Federal Reserve survey released Monday. The survey, conducted in October 2022, found that rising prices left more families in an economically precarious place, though households continued to benefit from a strong labor market. The share of adults who reported being worse off financially than in a year earlier climbed to 35%, the highest on record going back to 2014, when the question was first asked. Overall, 73% of adults said they were either doing OK or living comfortably, down from 78% in 2021 and 75% in 2020. Inflation was the most common financial burden cited by people in the survey, Fed officials said. Some 54% of adults said their budgets had been affected "a lot" by higher prices. Black adults, parents living with children, and those with disabilities were more likely to report such financial strain. Almost two-thirds of adults said inflation caused them to pull back on using a product or stop using it altogether. Price increases have eased since the survey was conducted last fall, though inflation remains historically high. The consumer-price index rose 4.9% in April from a year earlier, down from a recent peak of 9.1% in June 2022 and 7.7% last October, when the survey was conducted. Weaker family finances have made it harder for people to afford an unexpected expense, the survey said. About 63% of adults said they would be able to cover a hypothetical $400 expense using cash or putting the expense on a credit card, down from a high of 68% in 2021. That was still higher than the 50% reported in 2013, the first year the survey was conducted. |
| Mississippi Gov Tate Reeves sounds off on 'left-wing woke ideology' that could 'change the makeup of America' | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, R., is baffled why Democrats continue to push far-left cultural ideology such as allowing gender reassignment surgery for kids and insisting biological men should be able to compete against female athletes, but he's determined to "protect" Mississippians if the federal government won't do it. "I've been known to say that the Democratic National Committee has moved so far to the left that I heard they were going to move their national headquarters to somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," Reeves told Fox News Digital. "That's how far left they've moved on so many issues. And this gender reassignment surgery is the latest push from the far left to change the makeup of America," Reeves continued. "It makes absolutely no sense to the average American and certainly doesn't make any sense to the average Mississippian." Reeves, who is running for re-election, signed a law in 2021 that prohibits transgender athletes who identify as female from competing in girls' and women's sports. In March, he signed a law that prohibits medical professionals from conducting sex reassignment surgery, also called gender-affirming or confirming care, and from prescribing puberty blockers or hormone replacements to anyone in the state under 18 years of age. Reeves wasn't finished, and recently signed bills designed to limited children's access to sexually explicit material. |
| More hospitals drop out of the Mississippi Hospital Association | |
| On Thursday, North Mississippi Health Services communicated its intent to withdraw at least four of the hospitals in its system from the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA), according to multiple sources close to the situation. The termination of membership includes North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC). NMMC is one of three Level II trauma centers in Mississippi. It is the only one in the northern part of the state. On the heels of the NMMC decision, Magnolia Tribune learned two other hospital systems have also communicated their intent to leave MHA. Those hospitals include Merit Health and Ochsner Health Systems. Merit Health operates nine hospitals across Mississippi. The hospital system includes three locations in Rankin County, with additional location in Canton, Jackson, Vicksburg, Natchez, Biloxi, and Hattiesburg. Ochsner operates seven hospitals across the state, six within the Rush Hospital System. Those hospitals include two locations in Meridian, with additional locations in Union, Quitman, Morton, and Dekalb. The seventh hospital operated by Ochsner is in Hancock County. The latest three hospital systems come after a wave of earlier hospitals that chose to disassociate with MHA. Prior to the hospitals departing, MHA's PAC made a $250,000 campaign contribution to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley on April 27th. The next day, Magnolia Tribune obtained UMMC's notice to MHA of its departure. UMMC did not address the donation in its notice. The MHA PAC also committed $100,000 to Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann's re-election bid. |
| Biden, McCarthy will attempt to salvage debt limit deal | |
 | President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy plan to meet Monday afternoon to discuss how to raise the debt limit after a weekend of negotiations by proxies left each side accusing the other of throwing up new roadblocks to a deal. With only 10 days to spare before the government may be unable to pay all its bills, the two top negotiators will try to reset the table for a compromise that both sides claim to want but which has eluded them for months. McCarthy, who spoke with Biden by phone Sunday on the president's return from a meeting of the world's leading democracies in Japan, accused Biden of backtracking from a pledge not to include tax increases in a debt limit package. "He goes overseas and now he wants to change the debate," the California Republican said on Fox News before his phone call. "That's not healthy." Biden, at a news conference in Japan, warned that Republicans could "force a default by doing something outrageous," as he again pushed back against steep spending cuts sought by the GOP. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned again Sunday that federal borrowing authority could run dry as early as June 1, leaving the government unable to pay all its bills. "I certainly haven't changed my assessment, so I think that that's a hard deadline," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Yellen also rejected Republican claims that she may be exaggerating the fiscal stakes to force a deal because the government will get new tax receipts on June 15 that could extend the time lawmakers have to act. While the timeline remains uncertain, she said, "the odds of reaching June 15 while being able to pay all of our bills is quite low." |
| Biden gets low ratings on economy, guns, immigration in AP-NORC Poll | |
 | As President Joe Biden embarks on his reelection campaign, just 33% of American adults say they approve of his handling of the economy and only 24% say national economic conditions are in good shape, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Public approval of Biden's handling of the economy remains low in a time of high inflation, a difficult housing market and concerns about a potential U.S. government debt default. American opinion is also gloomy about Biden's efforts on gun policy and immigration, with only 31% saying they approve of the president's performance on those hot button issues. Overall, 40% say they approve of the way Biden is doing his job, similar to where his approval rating has stood for much of the past year and a half. Zoie Mosqueda, 24, who does not identify with any political party, said her family is ready to buy their first home but with the average mortgage interest rate hovering around 6.9%, that goal, at least for now, is out of reach. The woman from West Texas said she also has been frustrated with Biden's handling of gun policy and said he's fallen short on his campaign promise to implement a fairer immigration policy. |
| GOP senator: 'I don't think Trump can win a general election' | |
 | Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he does not believe former President Donald Trump can win in a general election for president. "I don't think Trump can win a general election," Cassidy said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," when asked about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's claim that there are only three "credible" candidates for president in 2024 -- himself, Trump and President Joe Biden -- and only two (himself and Biden) who could win in November. Cassidy pointed out that the statement was also a way to dismiss "formidable" GOP opponents, like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who filed paperwork to run on Friday. "You just have to take this as a competitor trying to dis others," Cassidy said. DeSantis has yet to officially enter the race, but the Republican governor is expected to launch his campaign this week. Trump is currently the front-runner in the growing GOP field. But his victory is anything but certain, Cassidy said, pointing to a poor performance from Trump-endorsed candidates in the midterm elections last year -- particularly in swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona. "If past [is] prologue, that means President Trump is going to have a hard time in those swing states, which means that he cannot win a general election," Cassidy said. |
| SC Sen. Tim Scott makes his GOP presidential bid official at hometown announcement | |
 | Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's official presidential launch this morning aims squarely at President Joe Biden with a blunt attack in which he charges American exceptionalism is suffering under Democratic policies. "Our president is weak," Scott will say, according to prepared remarks shared with media ahead of time. "America is not a nation in decline, but under Joe Biden we have become a nation in retreat -- retreating from our heritage and our history; retreating from personal responsibility and hard work; retreating from strength and security. Even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself." Scott will also spend time on his personal biography, detailing how his mother worked 16-hour days as a nurse's aide and the ways that conservative principles bettered his life. "This is the freest and fairest land. Where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. That's why I'm the candidate the far left fears the most," Scott will say, before adding, "Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing. Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity." As part of his launch at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, the second-highest-ranking Republican in the Senate, will endorse Scott's presidential bid, according to a report from Politico. The event begins at 11 a.m. in the CSU gymnasium. |
| A pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi has lessons for future CO2 projects | |
 | On Feb. 22, 2020, a clear Saturday after weeks of rain, Deemmeris Debra'e Burns, his brother and cousin decided to go fishing. They were headed home in a red Cadillac when they heard a boom and saw a big white cloud shooting into the evening sky. Burns' first thought was a pipeline explosion. He didn't know what was filling the air, but he called his mom, Thelma Brown, to warn her to get inside. He told her he was coming. Brown gathered her young grandchild and great-grandchildren she was watching, took them into her back bedroom, and got under the quilt with them. And waited. "They didn't come," Brown says. "Ten minutes. I knew they would've been here in five minutes, but they didn't come." Little did she know, her sons and nephew were just down the road in the Cadillac, unconscious, victims of a mass poisoning from a carbon dioxide pipeline rupture. As the carbon dioxide moved through the rural community, more than 200 people evacuated and at least 45 people were hospitalized. Cars stopped working, hobbling emergency response. People lay on the ground, shaking and unable to breathe. First responders didn't know what was going on. "It looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse," says Jack Willingham, emergency director for Yazoo County. Now, three years after the CO2 poisoning from the pipeline break, some in Satartia see the incident as a warning at a critical moment for U.S. climate policy. The country is looking at a dramatic expansion of its carbon dioxide pipeline network, thanks in part to billions of dollars of incentives in last year's climate legislation. Last week, the Biden administration announced $251 million for a dozen climate projects that focus on CO2 transport and storage. |
| TikTok and other social media trends are thrusting performance crimes into the US spotlight | |
| Jonnifer Neal's Kia was stolen twice in one day -- first from in front of her Chicago home and later from outside the mechanic shop where she took it to get fixed. But Neal's ordeal didn't end there. After her car was recovered a month later, she was stopped by police twice coming home from work because a police error caused the Optima to remain listed as stolen. The same error resulted in officers waking her up at 3 a.m. another night. On yet another occasion, a swarm of officers pulled her over as she was traveling to Mississippi, handcuffing and placing her in the back of a cruiser for more than an hour. The Kia now sits in her garage. "It's been a few months, but honestly I'm still nervous," Neal said. "I drive that car maybe once in a blue moon and I loved that car." Neal's story is one of thousands from Kia and Hyundai owners across the country whose cars were stolen or damaged in the past two years. The sharp uptick has been linked to viral videos, posted to TikTok and other social media platforms, teaching people how to start the cars with USB cables and exploit a security vulnerability in some models sold in the U.S. without engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s preventing the engine from starting unless the key is present. But unlike some social media-driven trends that seemingly disappear just as police get a handle on them, the car thefts have continued. It's a phenomenon known as performance crime. Police departments in a dozen cities have said it factors into an increase they've seen in juveniles arrested or charged with car thefts. |
| About a dozen Mississippi university presidents have left in the last five years. See why | |
 | Mississippi's four-year colleges and universities, both public and private, are facing an unprecedented level of turnover in their top leadership positions. Since 2018, at least nine four-year institutions have had to search for a new president or chancellor. Three of those schools have had two leadership changes in that span. Mississippi College began searching for a new president in 2018. The University of Mississippi, Tougaloo College and Alcorn State University were all in need of new leadership in 2019. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, accelerating the turnover even further. In 2020, Jackson State University and Rust College both hired new presidents. In 2022, positions opened at Delta State University and The University of Southern Mississippi. Then, in just the first five months of 2023, four top jobs have opened, at Jackson State, Alcorn, Rust and Millsaps College. The circumstances of each of these openings are all slightly different. At Jackson State, former President Thomas Hudson resigned. According to reporting from Mississippi Today, former Alcorn President Felicia Nave was terminated. Former Millsaps College President Robert Pearigen left to take the top lay leadership position at his alma mater, The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The reason for former Rust President Ivy Taylor's departure is unclear at this time. That leaves just two main outliers, Mississippi State University and Belhaven University. Mark Keenum has been president of Mississippi State since 2009, while Roger Parrott has led Belhaven, a private Christian university in Jackson, since 1996. |
| Science camp invites youth to The W | |
| Several professors in Mississippi University for Women's Department of Sciences and Mathematics have been awarded a NASA Inspires Futures for Tomorrow's Youth (NIFTY) grant to hold The W Science Camp from 8 a.m. to noon July 10-14 at Plymouth Bluff Environmental Center. The camp will be for local 9-to-14-year-olds, but students outside of that age range also may attend. Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., a nonprofit based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the National Girls Collaborative Project and the Space Science Institute and the NASA Langley Research Center have provided funding for the event. The program will focus on science and mathematics in the context of space science. It will cover several fields of study and will include a visit by a NASA professional. "This will be an opportunity that the students and faculty will remember for a lifetime," said Bonnie Oppenheimer, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Sciences and Mathematics. "Our organization is also excited to invite a NASA STEM Role Model. This will be a great experience for our participants. It is not every day students have an opportunity to engage with NASA in such a close intimate manner, to ask questions and to learn about what life is like as a NASA scientist." |
| MUW Speech and Hearing Center hosts second annual camp for children with AAC devices | |
| Children who use Words for Life (WFL) vocabulary are invited to Camp TnT (Talking in Turner: A Communication Explosion) June 12-15 from 8:30 a.m. to noon hosted by the Speech and Hearing Center at Mississippi University for Women. "Camp TnT is designed to encourage natural language and communication through fun, engaging activities such as crafts, sensory play and music," said Jennifer Pounders, instructor and clinical supervisor of speech-language pathology. The camp is for children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices and will focus on encouraging language development, language use and social interactions with peers in a typical summer camp, language-rich environment. The event is limited to campers ages 5-to-10-years old. "Camp TnT will give children who use AAC devices to communicate more opportunities to use those devices to communicate not only with the adults around them but with their peers who are also using AAC devices while participating in a fun summer camp setting. We hope to increase their functional communication skills while also improving their social interactions with others," said Ashley Alexander, clinic director and instructor of speech-language pathology. |
| Ole Miss journalism professor honored for civil rights research | |
 | The University of South Carolina's College of Information and Mass Media has recognized University of Mississippi journalism professor and author Kathleen Wickham with the Ronald T. and Gayla F. Farrar Award in Media and Civil Rights History for her work in civil rights research. The Farrar Award honors journalists whose articles or chapters in an edited collection depict historical relationships between media and civil rights efforts. "It is a real tribute to Dr. Wickham, who has a long history of doing work related to civil rights that's been both nationally and internationally recognized," said Andrea Hickerson, dean of the UM School of Journalism and New Media. "It's affirming and a wonderful recognition of her body of work." Wickham's 2020 article published in American Journalism, "The Magnifying Effect of Television News: Civil Rights Coverage and Eyes on the Prize," detailed how Henry Hampton's award-winning documentary, "Eyes on the Prize" used broadcast journalism and interviews with activists before filming to better understand media's role in civil rights perception and coverage. "The famous line that we teach journalism students is, 'Journalism is the first draft of history,'" Wickham said. "Examining how that history evolves and is recorded is important to the public's understanding of news events." |
| Legislative committee releases report on UMMC's LGBTQ+ clinic | |
| A legislative committee on Friday released a report about an LGBTQ+ clinic at the University of Mississippi Medical Center that came under fire last year after lawmakers were angered to learn it had provided gender-affirming care to trans youth. UMMC leadership ultimately decided the "Trustworthy, Evidence-based, Affirming, Multidisciplinary," or TEAM, clinic should stop seeing trans kids last fall even though gender-affirming care for minors was legal at the time, according to emails obtained by Mississippi Today. It wasn't until earlier this year that lawmakers passed House Bill 1125, which banned the provision of gender-affirming care to trans minors in Mississippi. The purpose of Friday's brief published by the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER, was to provide lawmakers with an overview of -- and the sources of funding for -- gender-affirming care at the TEAM clinic. The report also provides a summary of HB 1125. The first inkling UMMC received of lawmakers' interest in the clinic came on Aug. 31 when UMMC Vice Chancellor and Dean of the School of Medicine Dr. LouAnn Woodward was sent via hand mail a letter from the committee that was then forwarded to the TEAM clinic. |
| Gorenflo's Cobia Tournament also helps USM's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory | |
 | Eighteen boats participated in the 37th annual Gorenflo's Cobia Tournament on Saturday and Sunday in Biloxi. "You just can't find this anywhere. The fellowship is great and I love to get out there and do what we're passionate about -- which is going fishing," said Steve Legg, Captain of Soulfisher. Legg hooked first place in the tournament, beating out seventeen other boats who gave him a run for the money. "I've been doing this tournament for 20-something years now. I was stationed in Key West, Florida, and I traveled up here to come fish this tournament. It's pretty important. I love doing it," he said. Jordy and Daniel Pitalo started the tournament in 1986 when the two friends bought Gorenflo's Tackle Shop in Biloxi. Daniel Pitalo still oversees the event. Beyond giving fishermen another excuse to hit the water, the tournament also helps the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Facility. Participants tag cobia that are too small to reel in. The tags track the fish and send data back to the lab. Two researchers are also at the weigh-in to collect DNA from the cobia. "They they've been doing is clipping the fins, taking a sample, and then they take it back to the research lab to study it," Pitalo said. "It's a partnership we've had for 37 years now." |
| 87 graduate from 10th med school commencement at WCU | |
 | Dozens of students from William Carey University are the nation's newest physicians this weekend. "It was really fun to see everyone again and see all my professors who helped make it happen and helped through all the low times and the high times," said Danielle Ginsburg, a graduate from Reno, Nev. Eighty-seven students graduated Saturday morning from the WCU's College of Osteopathic Medicine. "It's jubilation, it's relief, it's the culmination of four years all coming together in one fantastic moment," said Dr. Matthew Snell, a graduate from Petal. The featured speaker for commencement was Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. Saturday marked the university's 10th medical school graduation ceremony. "I feel like William Carey was very supportive as a school and I just learned a lot, honestly, and I made some really good friends and it's just really nice to see everyone graduate," said Dr. Aashna Chaudhry, a graduate from Dallas, Texas. Most of the graduates now will move on to do their residencies in Mississippi or around the nation. |
| Trans girl misses Mississippi graduation after being told to dress like boy | |
| A transgender girl in Mississippi is not participating in her high school graduation ceremony because school officials told her to dress like a boy and a federal judge did not block the officials' decision, an attorney for the girl's family said Saturday. Linda Morris, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project, said the ruling handed down late Friday by U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel in Gulfport, Mississippi, "is as disappointing as it is absurd." "Our client is being shamed and humiliated for explicitly discriminatory reasons, and her family is being denied a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in their daughter's life," Morris said. "No one should be forced to miss their graduation because of their gender." The ACLU confirmed that the 17-year-old girl -- listed in court papers only by her initials L.B. -- would skip the Saturday ceremony for Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) south of Jackson. The ACLU sued the district Thursday on behalf of the student and her parents after Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King told L.B. that she must follow the boys' clothing rules. Graduating boys are expected to wear white shirts and black slacks, while girls are expected to wear white dresses. |
| Shooting near LSU on night before graduation alarms students: 'feels like a regular thing now' | |
 | A man was killed inside the parking garage of a Highland Road apartment complex just off LSU's campus on the night before graduation, Baton Rouge Police said, the latest shooting to spur campus emergency alerts and raise alarm among students. Spokesman Sgt. L'Jean McKneely said the body of 28-year-old Davanta Matthews was discovered with "an apparent gunshot wound" on the second floor of the parking garage, located in the 3000 block of Highland. Police were still working to determine a suspect and motive, McKneely said. In a statement Friday morning, a university spokesperson said the shooting had "no connection" to the school "other than proximity to campus." Still, it prompted LSU to send out late-night text alerts warning students to avoid the area. When she got the alert -- on the night before her college graduation Friday -- LSU senior Sophia Lingo wasn't surprised. "I feel like it's really becoming a regular thing around Baton Rouge and around campus," she said. "So when I see alerts like that, it honestly feels like a regular thing now, it's not even like it takes you by surprise." Lingo said emergency alerts like the one Friday are starting to seem routine. "It's just like, what other LSUPD alert are we getting now?" she said. "To be perfectly honest, it's like 'don't come to this area' and 'take cover' and we just say 'okay' and that's just kind of what it is." Another LSU senior, psychology major Nya Puckett, said she's starting to get inured to the alerts. "They kind of happen more than you want them to and they always give me a little bit of anxiety just because I go here," she said. "I'm working and so even when I'm not in classes in stuff, I'm on campus and so I feel kind of desensitized to it just because I don't live up here." |
| U. of South Carolina halts cocaine experiment because the rats were shocked for too long | |
 | A series of experiments at the University of South Carolina involving rats, cocaine and electric shocks has been stopped following a university investigation into complaints about lab-animal welfare. The experiments involved laboratory rats receiving electric shocks as punishment for seeking cocaine, according to records from the National Institutes of Health, which provided the experiment with grant funding. The experiments have been halted because the electric shocks were administered for longer periods of time and at greater strength than had been approved, according to emails between USC and the NIH's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. "We determined that while the experimental procedures in question were within generally accepted research practices, they exceeded some parameters of what was previously approved by USC; therefore, modifications to the research protocol were mandated and additional oversight will be required if and when the faculty member wishes to resume the project," university spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement. The goal of the research was to study brain chemistry and drug addiction, according to NIH records. The experiments were being conducted by the university's psychology department and had received over $248,000 in federal funding in 2022. The study has been awarded a total of over $824,000 since 2019. |
| Young goat survives rare bone infection after visiting U. of Florida Large Animal Hospital | |
 | Almost three months after a young goat named Daisy Mae came to the University of Florida's Large Animal Hospital unable to walk due to a rare disease, she is now a dress- and diaper-wearing "house goat" at home in The Villages, where she continues to recover. She is showered with attention everywhere she goes and cuddling with her owner to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy when it's time to chill. "That's her normal," said her owner, Amanda Cohen. "It's maybe not a normal goat's normal, but Daisy has always been different and loves her life." Daniela Luethy, D.V.M., a clinical assistant professor and large animal medicine specialist, is one of the clinicians who cared for Daisy Mae when she first arrived at UF on March 3, unable to stand on all four legs. Cohen had noticed the baby goat's problems when she was 4 days old, but Daisy Mae did not respond to initial treatment and Cohen decided she needed to bring her to Gainesville for a more in-depth examination. "Based on my previous experience with some similar cases, we were suspicious of vertebral osteomyelitis, or an infection of the bones in the neck," Luethy said. "We performed a CT scan and were able to obtain images that confirmed Daisy did have this disease." Thanks to the medical care UF veterinarians provided, which included a combination of antibiotic and extensive physical therapy performed over six-and-a-half weeks, along with Cohen's commitment to her treatment, Daisy Mae made huge strides. "She is now able to stand and walk on her own," Luethy said. |
| U. of Missouri Career Accelerator to customize job training for employers | |
 | Officials on Thursday described the University of Missouri Career Accelerator as a hub for noncredit offerings to meet new and existing workforce training needs. Operating under the radar for about a year, Thursday was the Career Accelerator's public launch at Bradford Research Farm. It is an initiative of the Office of the Provost and MU Extension. "We're going to try something a little bit different in Missouri," said Chad Higgins, interim vice chancellor for MU Extension and Engagement. "This is a noncredit hub for upscaling our workforce. It's very important to the state of Missouri that we get this right." How to get more people and the right mix of people into the labor force is necessary, said Rob Russell, senior program director for MU Extension Business Community. There has been a 93% increase in people age 55-plus in the workforce since 2001, Russell said. "There's not a giant reserve of people out there who aren't participating in the labor market," he said. So far, the accelerator has developed online certificate programs from construction management, supply chain management and clinical engineering. The accelerator also will customize online or in-person workforce trainings to meet companies' needs, said Sara Rieley, a senior coordinator for MU Extension Business and Community. |
| Pamela Bruzina appointed first MU ombudsperson | |
 | Pamela Bruzina, a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology, has been appointed to be the first University of Missouri ombudsperson, effective July 1. As an ombudsperson, Bruzina is a designated neutral facilitator who contributes informal assistance and impartial conflict and dispute resolution to MU faculty, according to an email sent to faculty from Latha Ramchand, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. The ombudsperson addresses faculty conflicts early on and advises resolutions. Bruzina is not an advocate for individuals or organizations, but is meant to promote fairness, be a source of information and referral and help answer questions, according to the email. She will also develop an educational program for faculty that helps them access existing resources and reporting mechanisms. Bruzina has been a member of the university's Grievance Resolution Panel since 2009, which processes academic grievances. She has also been a member of the Equity Resolution Panel since 2018 and served on the Faculty Council since 2020, where she chaired the Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Committee. |
| Novelist James Patterson, journalist Vicky Ward plan book on killing of Idaho college students | |
| Best-selling novelist James Patterson is teaming up with investigative journalist Vicky Ward on a book about the 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students. Little, Brown and Company announced Friday that Patterson and Ward will "draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts" and their own planned attendance at the trial of suspect Bryan Kohberger, who was indicated this week by a grand jury in Boise. Kohberger is accused of killing Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, near the University of Idaho campus. He has been charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder. "The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I'm as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of 'In Cold Blood,'" Patterson said in a statement. He is one of the world's most prolific and popular novelists, but also has worked on nonfiction books, with subjects ranging from Princess Diana to Jeffrey Epstein. |
| Diversity Statements Violate First Amendment, Professor Says in Suing U. of California | |
 | A former psychology professor this week sued the University of California system, claiming that its use of diversity statements in hiring represents "a thinly veiled attempt to ensure dogmatic conformity throughout the university system." John D. Haltigan, a former assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, sought to apply for a tenure-track position at the University of California at Santa Cruz that was posted last July and remains open. He left his post at Toronto because it was funded by a grant that ran out, according to his lawyer. Haltigan argues in the lawsuit that Santa Cruz uses diversity statements to screen out job applicants who do not hold specific views, "including the view that treating individuals differently based on their race or sex is desirable." He claims that his views on "colorblind inclusivity," "viewpoint diversity," and "merit-based evaluation" mean that he cannot truthfully compete for the position, which involves receiving a high sore on a rubric used to evaluate candidates. Wilson Freeman, a lawyer representing Haltigan, said that the diversity-statement mandate violates the First Amendment because such statements are "completely disconnected from the purposes of the university or the purposes of the position or qualifications for the position." |
| The year could be tough for colleges that serve many Black and Latino students | |
 | This is the time of year when we start to hear from competitive colleges about how good their application pools were and how stellar their entering freshman classes will be in the fall. Colleges are boasting, as they did last year, about the qualities of their new classes. But when the final numbers are in for the year, in September, will it be the same (or worse) than last year, when community colleges and other institutions that serve large numbers of low-income and minority students had disappointing years? Data being released today by the nonprofit group YouthTruth suggest that it could be a tough year. In a survey of 25,000 high school seniors, the group found significant gaps between those who want to go to college and those who think they will go. The gaps are particularly notable for male, Black and Latino students. "What comes to light is a concerning pattern of mismatched aspirations and expectations that show how, for many students, navigating the pathway to 'the college dream' has become increasingly difficult," the report says. Community colleges could face the most difficult year. |
| Frequent, abrupt presidential changes cast spotlight on IHL Board | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: "What's Driving Presidential Turnover in Mississippi?" read Inside Higher Ed's headline last week. "Four presidents have left Mississippi's eight public institutions since last June, with little explanation," began the article. ... There is no question that the IHL Board has the constitutional authority to act as it has. Over my 12 years on the board, we removed a handful of presidents with little public comment. Still, the frequency and abruptness of these recent turnovers are troubling and should give trustees pause. Articles like the one in Inside Higher Ed can impact faculty and administrative hires -- who wants to move into controversy? Additionally, the current environment may encourage those who wish to give each institution its own governing board, or establish one board for research universities and another for the other four. Most serious would be public loss of confidence in the board. Power given in the state constitution can be changed. That occurred in 2003 when public concern about the board led voters to reduce trustee terms from 12 years to nine years. |
| Presley's campaign tracks Hood on issues, but welfare scandal could be difference | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The similarities were striking as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley held a news conference at the state Capitol last week to unveil his ethics reform package just as Jim Hood did in 2019. Both also blistered their Republican opponent, Gov. Tate Reeves. "It's time for us to throw the money changer out of the temple -- I'm talking about Tate Reeves," then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hood said in October 2019 during his state Capitol news conference on ethics reform."... He's been transactional. Every bill he's passed, it's been to get campaign contributions back." Just a few days ago, Presley stood on the steps of the same Capitol building and said, "Tate Reeves will not tackle corruption. Let me say that again, he will not tackle corruption. He doesn't have the guts to do it. It will make too many of his buddies mad and it will upset the system that he has benefited from for the entire time he's been in state service." While there were differences in their proposals, both in general touted more governmental transparency, openness and guardrails to curb the influence of big-monied special interest groups on state government. Both proposed to prohibit campaign contributions while legislators are in session writing the laws that impact lobbyists and their clients. Both also proposed banning corporate campaign contributions. There were other similarities. |
| Tate Reeves, Chris McDaniel are cliches come to life | |
| The Daily Journal's Sam R. Hall writes: If you want to know why state Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, is still treated as a credible candidate for statewide office, look no further than his former top political adversary, Gov. Tate Reeves. The bromance between these two brings to mind several political cliches while at the same time illustrating the pettiness of the governor's continued quest to punish those he perceives as standing in his way politically -- in this case, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. If McDaniel was the powerhouse so many claim him to be, his campaign would be far more competent. So would have been his last forays for office. McDaniel caught lightning in a bottle in 2014, pushing the late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran to the limit in a Republican primary challenge. But he threw all that political capital away with an insanely run campaign and a pointless legal election challenge. Since then, McDaniel has become politically irrelevant everywhere but on Facebook. Nevertheless, here we are in 2023 with McDaniel trying to resurrect his political fortunes with the aid of the man he once viciously and regularly derided. ... The political intrigue would be entertaining if it wasn't so petty -- and if there wasn't so much at stake. We need serious leadership in the lieutenant governor's office. While I doubt we're in danger of losing that, Reeves certainly isn't helping. |
SPORTS
| Women's Golf Rallies Late to Advance in NCAA Championships | |
| State pulled off a remarkable comeback on the final three holes of cut day on Sunday. With a combination of precision shots and clutch putts, the Bulldogs' furious rally secured their spot in the top-15 and breathed new life into their title aspirations. After the cut, MSU is 14th with 16-Over (880) for the event through three rounds. Heading into the final round before the cut, State had some work to do. Throughout the day, the Bulldogs were able to continuously climb the leaderboard, inching closer to the cutline with each hole. With their title hopes hanging in the balance, the Dawgs unleashed a breathtaking display of golfing on the last stretch of the tournament. With unwavering focus and nerves of steel, Izzy Pellot managed to sink an eagle on 18 to spark the rally. State then produced four birdies, turning the tide of the competition in their favor. This late surge allowed MSU to propel above the cutline and complete their third-round comeback, moving eight spots in total on the day. Despite facing stiff competition and navigating a challenging course, State finds themselves in the fourth and final day of stroke play on Monday. State will be paired with LSU and SMU for a 12:00 PM CT tee time. The final round of the individual championship on Monday will include nine additional players who are not on the top 15 teams that qualified for the final day of stroke play competition. |
| Tolu Smith announces return to Mississippi State basketball for next season | |
| Mississippi State basketball will get its top scorer back for this season. Tolu Smith, who led the Bulldogs last season scoring a career-high 15.7 points per game, announced he is returning to Starkville for his final year of eligibility Sunday evening. Smith, from Bay St. Louis, originally declared for the NBA Draft of April 1. He was not invited to last week's NBA Combine in Chicago, signaling a return to MSU could be possible. Smith had until June 1 to pull his name out of the NBA Draft, ultimately deciding he was ready to return to college more than a week before the deadline. Smith, also led MSU in Chris Jans' first season as head coach in rebounding, grabbing 8.5 boards, which only trailed Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (13.1) in the SEC last season, and added 1.7 assists per game. Smith's return instantly elevates, not just MSU's frontcourt group, but its entire roster, which was already slated to return four starters in Dashawn Davis, Shakeel Moore, D.J. Jeffries and Cameron Matthews, from a team that made its first NCAA Tournament appearance this past March since 2019. |
| All-SEC forward Tolu Smith returning to Mississippi State basketball | |
| Forward Tolu Smith is returning for one more season with Mississippi State basketball, he announced Sunday. Smith declared for the 2023 NBA Draft in April but maintained his last year of eligibility. Smith was a first team All-SEC forward last season after averaging 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He led the conference with a 57.2% field goal percentage. Smith was the go-to guy for coach Chris Jans in his first season, which saw MSU return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. "I'm not done making memories," Smith said in a video he shared on Twitter. "Next season, I'm back. Building a legacy like so many who have worn the maroon and white before me is a priority. I'm ready to keep adding on and finishing what I started." Smith came to Mississippi State in 2019 after transferring from Western Kentucky. He sat out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but he made a quick impact the following season. Smith's return highlights a successful offseason for Jans and his staff. MSU lost just three players to the portal and only a pair of role pieces to exhausted eligibility. |
| Antonaki Begins NCAA Singles Championship | |
| No. 47 Emmanouela Antonaki is representing Mississippi State at the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship this week at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Antonaki received an at large bid and will take on 28th-ranked Carson Tanguilig of North Carolina on Monday at 11 a.m. CT. The Athens, Greece native is making her fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship. She is the only women's tennis player to make the NCAA Singles Championship four times. In 2021, she made it to the Round of 16 where she became an All-American. Antonaki, who recently received her master's degree in sports administration, was a SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a second team All-SEC selection and earned a CSC Academic All-District honor this spring. She leads the team with 14 singles victories this season, five of which came over ranked opponents. Tanguilig is competing in the NCAA Singles Championship for the second consecutive year. The sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga. is 28-9 overall and 19-5 during dual-match play. North Carolina earned their first NCAA Championship title on Saturday after taking down NC State 4-1. Tanguilig claimed the first singles win. |
| 'We know how to coach': Chris Lemonis confident he will be back for 2023 season | |
| For the second consecutive year, the Mississippi State baseball team won't play in the postseason, marking the program's first time it didn't qualify for the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover in back-to-back seasons since a three-year stretch from 2008-10. Following his team's 15-10 defeat to Texas A&M Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said he feels confident the program can get back to its winning ways with him at the helm. "We will have to fill some needs," Lemonis said. " I truly believe we had one of the younger teams in the league and have some special young talent that we can build around."Starting three true freshmen in their everyday lineup for the majority of the season, in Dakota Jordan in left field, David Mershon at shortstop and Ross Highfill behind the plate, the Bulldogs finished the year 27-26 with a 9-21 record in Southeastern Conference play, only winning three series against Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU. Over the past two seasons, MSU has a combined league record of 18-42 putting Lemonis' future with the team into question. Lemonis, who led the program to a national championship in 2021, said he has stayed in contact with MSU athletic director Zac Selmon throughout the season on the state of the program. "We almost meet weekly," Lemonis said of his communication with Selmon, who was officially named the university's athletic director on Jan. 13. "...I feel like I have a great relationship with Zac." |
| 'The Loyola Project' screened in Jackson Sunday | |
| On Sunday, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, as well as the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, hosted a special screening of the film 'The Loyola Project.' The film is a documentary about the 'Game of Change,' a history-making game in 1963 between the all-white Mississippi State Bulldogs and integrated Loyola Chicago Ramblers, that contributed to the desegregation of college basketball. That season, the Ramblers played four black players, which, at the time, caused a stir across the country. Against the demands of then governor Ross Barnett, the Bulldogs flew to play the Ramblers in the NCAA tournament. "This is one of the great sports stories in America, and when this idea came to us originally a few years ago, someone brought this idea to us, I had never heard of it, I didn't know anything about it," said director Patrick Creadon. "The more I started reading about it and doing research about it, I realized, how do people not really know this story? They know it in Mississippi, because a big part of it happened here in Mississippi, but on a national level, people didn't really know this story. I'm really excited to be here in Mississippi, in Jackson, to share it with the local community." The film runs about 90 minutes, and is available to watch on Paramount+. |
| Southern Miss announces Christian Ostrander as school's 14th head baseball coach | |
| Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain announced Sunday the promotion of Christian Ostrander to head baseball coach at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Ostrander becomes the 14th head coach in the school's history and only the fifth since 1959, following Pete Taylor (1959-83), Hill Denson (1984-1997), Corky Palmer (1998-2009) and Scott Berry (2010-2023), who announced his retirement earlier this week at the end of the current season. "I am excited to announce Christian Ostrander as the next head baseball coach at Southern Miss," said McClain. "Christian brings not only an outstanding track record to the position, but also the commitment, accountability, and character we have grown to expect from our baseball program. As a Golden Eagle, he has been a major part of our success over the past six years and is well respected around the country for his work on and off the field. I look forward to his leadership and to working with him in continuing to elevate our program on a national level." The current Associate Head Coach for the last two seasons has been with the program for six years overseeing the pitching staff for the Golden Eagles. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Delta State in 1996 and his Master of Education in administration from DSU in 1998. |
| 'The Driving Force': How Brett Favre's Demands for Cash Fueled a Scandal | |
| Three years ago, the State of Mississippi arrested a 67-year-old grandmother with no known criminal record at her office. Nancy New was a lifelong educator. She had run her nonprofit, Mississippi Community Education Center, for more than 25 years. When state auditor Shad White's agents interrogated New on multiple occasions, she didn't even bring an attorney, according to a person with direct knowledge of the meetings. At the end of one of those interviews, one of New's alleged accomplices, 63-year-old accountant Anne McGrew, expressed surprise that the auditor's agents had guns, the person says. The agents explained that while they worked for the auditor's office, they were not auditors. They were state police. At that time, they were focused on the state's welfare-agency director, John Davis, and two former professional wrestling brothers he allegedly enriched. But the misspending of welfare funds went far beyond that. Investigators kept peeling back layers of the scheme until they arrested New and a handful of others, at which point White declared, "The scheme is massive. It ends today." Only a few weeks later---after investigators stumbled upon more information, more was leaked publicly and the story exploded---did a more full picture come into focus: New was mostly following orders from Davis, the welfare chief. Davis largely operated on behalf of Mississippi's then governor, Republican Phil Bryant. And Bryant worked relentlessly to please the state's most famous athlete, NFL legend Brett Favre. |
| Adidas Seeks Redemption in China | |
| To become profitable again, Adidas says it must first fix its business in China. Two years ago the sportswear brand crossed the Chinese government and paid the price with lost market share and sales. Now, as the company embarks on a global turnaround under new Chief Executive Bjørn Gulden, it is recasting itself as Beijing's ally in pushing sports and local culture. Adidas is sponsoring state-backed events and supporting official cultural and sporting programs, including helping to produce a TV show lionizing Chinese sporting heroes. It is also joining with Chinese sports stars and developing more products aimed specifically at local consumers. Improving public health by increasing participation in sports has become a signature policy of President Xi Jinping. The effort comes as many U.S. and European companies are wrestling with the fallout from rising tensions between Beijing and the West, as well as the emergence of sophisticated local competitors. The company has also signed a strategic partnership with the China Literature and Art Foundation, through which Adidas will sponsor cultural and sporting events. Those include school and university programs, as well as helping to fund a state TV documentary spotlighting 20th-century Chinese pioneers in the fields of sport and education. |
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