| Friday, September 8, 2023 |
| MSU alumni bring Mississippi virtues to Maui emergency response mission | |
 | While more than 50,000 fans and alumni gathered at Mississippi State University's Davis Wade Stadium to cheer the Bulldogs for their college football season opener against Southeastern Louisiana State University, Sept. 2, two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District employees who are Mississippi State alumni were cheering them on in spirit while supporting emergency response efforts to the recent Hawai'i wildfires. Brittany Keyes, a mission specialist with the Honolulu District Power Planning and Response Team, is from Laurel, Mississippi, and a 2013 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences at Mississippi State. Jon Runnels, a quality assurance specialist and logistician, is from Pass Christian, Mississippi, and is a 2015 graduate of the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State. Runnels works as a project engineer for the Honolulu District Construction Branch. USACE's Power Planning and Response Teams oversee the installation, maintenance and overall management of Federal Emergency Management Agency generators that provide temporary emergency power to critical infrastructure, critical care facilities and municipal buildings for FEMA mission assignments. "Many times, I've witnessed Mississippi State University pull together for their students, their faculty and their community in times of crisis and despair because 'Bulldog Nation' is family," said Keyes. "Likewise, the USACE Honolulu District Power Team is honored to show up for our Maui 'Ohana in a time of crisis. Of all the skills MSU has equipped me with, a heart of compassion and kindness is of the utmost importance, and that is what I proudly display throughout this mission." "Being able to help others in a time of need, I don't see a higher calling than that. To rise to that calling, there's just nothing more important," said Runnels. |
| Likely new Speaker Jason White says Medicaid expansion 'will be on table' | |
| Republican Rep. Jason White, heir apparent to the House speakership, said Medicaid expansion, long a bugaboo for the state GOP, will be on the table and at least thoroughly vetted as a solution to Mississippi's health care crisis next year. "I think we as Republicans have probably earned a little bit of the bad rap we get on health care in Mississippi," White said in a Thursday interview with Mississippi Today. "Part of that is that we haven't had a full-blown airing or discussion of Medicaid expansion. We've just said, 'No.' "Now, I'm not out here on the curb pushing Medicaid expansion, but we are going to have full discussions on that and on all facets of health care in Mississippi," White said. "... Right or wrong, we have been wearing the yoke of, 'Y'all haven't even considered this or dug down into the numbers.' And that's true." Mississippi is one of 10 states to refuse federal tax dollars to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor. Meanwhile, leaders in one of the poorest, unhealthiest states are leaving more than $1 billion a year in federal funding on the table with the refusal, even as people and hospitals statewide struggle. More than half of the state's rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and even larger hospitals have been forced to slash services for budget reasons. White, of West, is currently serving as speaker pro tempore and is expected to be elected speaker by his House colleagues in January. He said that as he's traveled the state this summer helping fellow Republicans get reelected, health care questions and questions about Medicaid expansion have been common from voters. |
| Mississippi Democrats name Pinkins as new nominee for secretary of state, to challenge GOP's Watson | |
 | Mississippi Democrats on Thursday named attorney Ty Pinkins as their new nominee for secretary of state to replace a candidate who left the race because of health problems. Pinkins will face Republican incumbent Michael Watson in the Nov. 7 general election. Pinkins was already running a different statewide campaign, challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker in the 2024 election. During a news conference Thursday on the steps of the state Capitol, Pinkins said Mississippi has "restrictive and confusing voting laws" because of Watson and other Republicans. "Republican lawmakers and state leaders have carefully gerrymandered and redrawn districts to limit the voting strength of minority and poor communities," said Pinkins, a military veteran. "They've refused to allow online registration and early voting. They've made it cost-prohibitive and sometimes impossible to vote absentee, even with a valid reason." Watson is an attorney and served three terms in the Mississippi Senate before he won the open race for secretary of state in 2019. Watson had nearly $884,000 in his campaign fund in July. The secretary of state's website showed no campaign fund for Pinkins as of Thursday. |
| Brandon Presley calls on Tate Reeves to recuse himself from state's effort to recoup misspent welfare funds | |
| Brandon Presley, the Democratic nominee for governor, on Thursday called on his political rival, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, to remove himself from any major decisions involving his administration's ongoing effort to recoup misspent welfare dollars. Speaking in front of the Mississippi Department of Human Service's downtown Jackson building, Presley cited recently released text messages between the governor's brother, Todd Reeves, and State Auditor Shad White discussing former NFL athlete Brett Favre's early role in the welfare scandal as a reason why the governor has a conflict of interest with directing the lawsuit. Presley said that Reeves, who as governor is leading the ongoing DHS lawsuit that continues to probe the misspending, should recuse himself from that effort. "It seems to me to make sense that when your brother is an undercover lobbyist and an undercover public relations agent, that it makes sense to get yourself out of that investigation to remove any suspicion of this being any more of a family affair than it already is," Presley said. Presley has made the welfare scandal one of the main tenets of his gubernatorial campaign. He will compete against Reeves in the general election on November 7. |
| China's military seeks to exploit U.S. troops, veterans, general warns | |
 | China's military is conducting a sophisticated exploitation campaign designed to "fill gaps" in its capabilities by targeting current and former U.S. service members and harvesting specialized knowledge they've gained, a top general warned in a message obtained by The Washington Post. The document was distributed to Air Force personnel on Friday. It marks the Pentagon's most direct attempt yet to call out and counter what U.S. officials characterized as an aggressive ploy by Beijing to leverage international firms that hire Americans to teach advanced military skills and tactics. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who heads the Air Force and is President Biden's nominee to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in the message that foreign companies doing business with the Chinese government are "targeting and recruiting U.S. and NATO-trained military talent across specialties and career fields." "By essentially training the trainer, many of those who accept contracts with these foreign companies are eroding our national security, putting the very safety of their fellow servicemembers and the country at risk," Brown wrote, appealing to the recipients' sense of responsibility, even after leaving the armed forces, to protect "our national defense information." The Pentagon's warning to U.S. personnel and veterans comes as senior leaders there have identified China as the United States' "pacing threat," expressing alarm over Beijing's military advancements, and efforts to expand its global footprint and influence. |
| Carville: Democrats can't look at Biden poll numbers and say they're not concerned | |
 | Democrats should be concerned with President Biden's poll numbers, some of which show him trailing various GOP candidates in head-to-head matchups, Democratic strategist James Carville said Thursday. Polls also have consistently shown many voters are concerned about Biden's age and whether he is fit to be president. Biden is 80, will turn 81 in November and would be 86 at the end of a second term. "You can't look at this and not say that you're concerned," Carville said in an interview on CNN. "For me to come on television and say I don't find this alarming or troubling at all would be stupid. I wouldn't do that." A CNN poll released Thursday found that 46 percent of registered voters said any Republican presidential candidate would be better than Biden. The president didn't fare much better among Democratic-aligned voters, 67 percent of whom said they would like a nominee other than Biden. The president's age is front of mind for many, with 73 percent of Americans and 56 percent of Democrats saying they are "seriously concerned" about Biden's physical and mental competence, the poll found. "To say the least, the polls were not great," Carville said. "And it tells us that, you know, voters are expressing some apprehension here. It's pretty clear. There's not much else you can say when you look at them." "I guess the best thing you could say is, if anything, they're worse for [former President] Trump," he continued. Trump is 77, but the age concerns plaguing Biden haven't shown up the same way in polls surrounding Trump. |
| Bucking his party, Chris Christie makes his case for 2024 | |
 | Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is still a Republican -- after all, he's running for that party's presidential nomination, as he unsuccessfully did in 2016. But today, his views on Ukraine, on abortion and on other issues put him out of step with many in the party he hopes to lead. "Look, I think our country is in a much different place. And I think I'm a much different candidate than I was eight years ago," Christie told NPR. "I'm looking at this as a real moment for change for our party. And I got into this race because I felt like no one was making that case. No one was willing to take the case directly to Donald Trump as to why he and through his conduct had disqualified himself for ever being president of the United States again. I want to make that case. I've been making that case. I think it's important not only for my party, but for our country." In a wide-ranging interview with Susan Davis and Tamara Keith on The NPR Politics Podcast, Christie explained his views on potential Republican efforts to impeach President Biden, access to abortion and former President Donald Trump. |
| Oxford, Starkville, Hattiesburg among fastest growing college towns in U.S. | |
 | Mississippi big college towns were recognized this week. While many areas around the country and overall in Mississippi are seeing a decline in population, Oxford, Starkville and Hattiesburg are the opposite. In fact, Oxford was recognized as the second fastest-growing college town in America, beating out other rapidly growing college towns like Cedar City, Utah; San Marcos, Texas; and Auburn, Alabama. A study from New BrokeScholar data has Oxford, home of Ole Miss, as No. 2 right behind No. 1 ranked Bozeman, Montana, home to Montana State University. Oxford's population grew 102% between 2000 and 2023. Oxford's population is estimated to grow another 24% between now and 2030 and could be home to 34,094 people by the end of this decade. Starkville, home to Mississippi State, is ranked 85th and Hattiesburg, home to Southern Miss, is ranked 116. Starkville is projected to grow more than 4% by 2030 while Hattiesburg looks to grow around 1%. For all three Mississippi college towns in the listings, it doesn't hurt that there are successful athletic programs that fans and alumni want to be close to. Consider recent history for Ole Miss and Mississippi State, which have won national baseball championships within the last seasons years while Southern Miss has been to the Super Regional the last two seasons. Add to that, the college football weekends that bring SEC powers to town and hundreds of thousands of visitors to Oxford, Starkville and Hattiesburg. |
| Town & Tower partners with MUW to showcase new culinary arts facility | |
 | For over three years, Mississippi University for Women has been eager to get the new culinary arts facility up and running. What started as an idea in 1996 now serves as the future of culinary education. To kick off the semester at Mississippi University for Women, Town & Tower teamed up with The W to showcase the brand-new culinary arts facility. As the only university in Mississippi with a Bachelor's program in Culinary Arts, the university wanted to expand its opportunities for students What was once just a few classrooms and a kitchen is now a state-of-the-art facility designed to mold future professionals. President Nora Miller said this building has been a long time coming. "We were set up in the Shattuck Hall Annex for the longest time, and we really needed more space," Miller said. "We have three large kitchens, a chocolate area, a demonstration kitchen, we have state of the art equipment, we have a fully operating generator. so if we lose power the food won't spoil." Whether it's hospitality, running a restaurant, or even food photography, the 40,000-square-foot facility has something for everyone. The old culinary building will eventually serve as the new Alumni House. |
| Area agencies team up for yearly training drill at MUW | |
| It's only a drill. But each step, each part of a plan can make a difference if there's an emergency. It's been more than two decades since a tornado swept through the campus of Mississippi University for Women, and today the campus was used as a training ground to prepare for when or if disaster strikes again. Lowndes County EMA director Cindy Lawrence said having a plan can make a difference in real-life situations. "We do this drill just to test our plans and our communication to make sure that we are prepared in the event that we have a tornado here in Lowndes County. We all participate because we want to make sure that we know the response plan on the MUW campus in case there is an incident over here," said Lawrence. MUW students were able to work alongside the local agencies. As an instructor, Lisa Griffin prepares future nurses for real-life situations. She said it's important that students are prepared before and after graduation. "We can tell them about it all day long but until they actually see it, it's not real. All the students we have here will be graduating in May and unfortunately, disasters will happen in their careers. We are hoping this will prepare them for when it does happen for the real world and kind of be able to see what the different agencies do and their response to the situation," said Griffin. |
| In These Red States, Professors Are Eyeing the Exits | |
 | The increasingly assertive involvement of conservative lawmakers in the affairs of higher education has spurred concerns about "brain drain" -- talented scholars choosing to leave their states or not considering employment there. Now, new statistics from a survey of faculty members in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas back up those fears: Two-thirds of respondents said they wouldn't recommend academic work in their state to colleagues. About a third said they were actively considering employment in another state, while 20 percent have interviewed elsewhere since 2021. The survey was sponsored by the state conferences of the American Association of University Professors in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, along with the United Faculty of Florida and the Texas Faculty Association unions. The results, those organizations say, are proof of widespread dissatisfaction with political incursions into diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and tenure, among other areas. About 80 percent of respondents described their state's political atmosphere surrounding academe as poor or very poor, and roughly 60 percent said their institution's administration had not adequately defended academic freedom and tenure in the past two years. Of the four participating states, the largest number of responses -- 1,907 -- came from Texas. Floridians were most pessimistic in their survey answers. While the state leaders who organized the survey said they weren't surprised by the results, they hope having concrete data that confirm their concerns about the state of academe proves useful. |
| Survey: Many college faculty in Georgia are dissatisfied, thinking of leaving the state | |
 | Faculty members in the University System of Georgia are dissatisfied with the state of academia, according to a survey by the American Association of University Professors. The survey had 1,452 responses in Georgia, from faculty holding a range of roles from part time and adjunct faculty to full professors, or a little over 10% of all USG faculty. Almost all of them worked at USG institutions, and most were tenured or tenure-track. The survey follows one last year by the AAUP focused on changes to tenure protection in USG, where more than 90% of respondents disagreed with tenure changes implemented by the USG Board of Regents, and 68% said that the changes would negatively impact their feedback to a colleague looking for employment in Georgia. "It's gotten worse in higher education in Georgia," said Georgia AAUP President Matthew Boedy, an associate professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, comparing the survey from last year to this year. He also said that they received better and more extensive responses to this survey than to the survey last year. Among the top reasons people applied for jobs outside of Georgia was salary, followed by changes to tenure, political climate and academic freedom, according to the press release. An open-ended question on the survey about how changes to tenure, contracts and academic freedom were impacting faculty work received a range of responses. |
| Samsung gives $1M to Texas A&M's College of Engineering for semiconductor education | |
 | Texas A&M senior Madelinh Vo was on track to go to medical school in hopes of becoming a pediatrician. Her mind changed after two summers interning with Samsung in Austin, though. During her time with there, Vo got a taste of what it was like to be an engineer and even got to visit Samsung's headquarters in South Korea. Now, she plans to graduate from A&M with a degree in chemical engineering next spring and head back to Austin with a full-time job at Samsung as an engineer in its semiconductor sector. A&M students like Vo will soon benefit from a new partnership between A&M's engineering school and Samsung announced Thursday during an event where A&M and Samsung officials, and others including Vo, gathered together for Samsung leaders to present a donation of $1 million to A&M to help build a workforce pipeline from Aggieland to the Austin area for the burgeoning semiconductor industry. Samsung's contribution to A&M will supplement the university's semiconductor and recruiting programs with initiatives such as scholarships to undergraduates, fellowships for graduate students, and funding for capstone projects. "One of things that makes A&M such a special place and our students so sought-after in the job market is the practical experience that they have when they leave here and that practical experience comes from partnerships like this where we have corporate entities that come in and invest in the experience and the education these students are getting," Alan Sams, A&M's Provost, said during the event. |
| U. of Missouri wetlands institute named for Bass Pro Shops' Johnny Morris | |
 | The University of Missouri System Board of Curators on Thursday voted to approve naming its wetlands institute for donor Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops. The meeting was at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was livestreamed. The Johnny Morris Institute of Fisheries, Wetlands and Aquatic Systems is the new name for the Institute announced in March in a ceremony at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on the Missouri River. The institute will make a difference, said Christopher Daubert, dean of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. "It will serve as a national center of research, knowledge and best management practices impacting fisheries, wildlife, wetlands and aquatic systems," Daubert said of the institute. "Our faculty will train the next generation of aquatic systems conservationists, environmental scientists and researchers." It's a partnership among MU, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation. "The institute will attract top-tier faculty, staff and students," Daubert said. He added that Morris is deserving of the honor. "He is internationally recognized for his commitment to natural resources and conservation," Daubert said. The institute also will tie in with the Missouri School of Journalism's Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, funded by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, said curator Robin Wenneker. |
| Covid worries linger at colleges, but little appetite for tighter controls | |
| On college campuses, the return of students for the fall semester coincides with the return of a still-worrisome health threat: the coronavirus. Some are already reporting cases of infection. Many are encouraging students to get tested if they have covid-19 symptoms and stay current on their vaccinations. Colleges are also reminding students and employees to isolate for five days, following public health recommendations, if they test positive for the virus. Exactly how and where infected students would isolate can be tricky, though, depending on whether schools have enough spare rooms. Jeff Sheehy, the father of an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, said this week that the student moved briefly from a College Park dormitory to a nearby hotel to isolate after contracting the virus. It was a mild case, Sheehy said, but to him it underscored that colleges and universities must be vigilant and transparent about public health. On Wednesday, the U-Md. health center director, Spyridon S. Marinopoulos, sent a reminder to the 40,000-student campus of covid protocols. Among other things, he pointed out that "masks are a significant defense against the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses" and that the health center offered rapid tests to those who need them. Much has changed since the coronavirus pandemic menaced the world and shuttered campuses in early 2020. The pandemic disrupted the next two school years and even posed some challenges during the most recent one. But authorities declared the public health emergency over last spring. Viral testing mandates are a thing of the past. Few in higher education envision another sudden pivot to mask mandates or all-remote classes. |
| Construction turns college students' heads from tech sector | |
| Laura Cosgriff gets daily phone calls from local contractors looking for students to employ -- and the frequency of those calls has increased in recent years. The construction technology coordinator for Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, said the volume of calls is so high she's developed a canned response and an email format to respond to employers, telling them she'll share the job posting with her associate's degree or certificate students and relevant instructors. As the industry struggles to staff jobsites, contractors have ramped up the pursuit of the next generation of builders with vigor. For instance, construction employers increased outreach to students on Handshake, a career-finding platform focused on college students, by 46% over the past year, according to a report from the company. Employers also increased internship postings. The report claims that, as major tech firms like Google and Amazon lay off workers, current computer science and related majors are looking to construction as a place to start their careers. The number of applications from computer science and data science majors to construction doubled in the last year, per the report. The industry still needs more skilled tradesworkers, but experts say those with diverse academic experiences outside of construction can help the industry move forward. |
| How This University President Rose From the Cotton Fields of East Texas | |
| On the cover of Ruth J. Simmons's memoir, Up Home: One Girl's Journey (Random House), her profile's silhouette forms the crown of a tall tree. Underneath it, little-girl Ruth sits on a hill, her nose in a book, as she says was often the case during her childhood. It's an apt illustration for a coming-of-age memoir that details how Simmons, a sharecropper's daughter, made it out of the East Texas cotton fields and rose to the pinnacle of American higher education. The first Black president of Smith College, the first Black president of an Ivy League school (Brown University), the first female president of the Houston area's historically Black college Prairie View A&M University---at each job Simmons raised huge amounts of money and transformed curricula, creating along the way a blueprint for how universities address their historical ties to slavery. There's a reason Time magazine once called her America's best university president. Often, media narratives contrast her cosmopolitan present with her segregated past, hinting that she succeeded despite her humble origins. Though Simmons acknowledges in Up Home that her trajectory was somewhat improbable, she also argues that it was, in many ways, her early life that made it possible. That message shouldn't be confused with the notion posited by some contemporary education officials and politicians, such as Florida governor Ron DeSantis, that slavery and its brutal aftermath helped the disenfranchised by teaching them "skills" that could be used for their "personal benefit." Up Home is clear about the stunting effects that systemic racism had on Simmons's life. "I was born to be someone else," the prologue begins. |
| D.E.I. Statements Stir Debate on College Campuses | |
 | Diversity statements are a new flashpoint on campus, just as the Supreme Court has driven a stake through race-conscious admissions. Nearly half the large universities in America require that job applicants write such statements, part of the rapid growth in D.E.I. programs. Diversity statements tend to run about a page or so long and ask candidates to describe how they would contribute to campus diversity, often seeking examples of how the faculty member has fostered an inclusive or antiracist learning environment. To supporters, such statements are both skill assessment and business strategy. Given the ban on race-conscious admissions, and the need to attract applicants from a shrinking pool of potential students, many colleges are looking to create a more welcoming environment. But critics say these statements are thinly veiled attempts at enforcing ideological orthodoxy. Politically savvy applicants, they say, learn to touch on the right ideological buzzwords. And the championing of diversity can overshadow strengths seen as central to academia, not least professional expertise. "Professions of fealty to D.E.I. ideology are so ubiquitous as to be meaningless," said Daniel Sargent, a professor of history and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. "We are institutionalizing a performative dishonesty." The debate occurs as D.E.I. officials and programs of all kinds have become a powerful presence on campuses. Universities have hired hundreds of administrators, who monitor compliance with hiring goals and curricular changes, and many departments write a variation on a D.E.I. policy. |
| Kvaal Discusses ED Response to SCOTUS Decisions | |
| U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal made an appearance at the Education Writers Association's 2023 Higher Education Seminar for a moderated discussion and to answer questions from the assembled writers. Although Kvaal resisted giving many details of the department's planned future responses to the twin higher ed Supreme Court decisions of last June -- gutting race-conscious admissions practices and ending President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness program -- he touted the administration's efforts thus far and promised that it was doing everything that it could. Much of the discussion focused on the Department of Education's (ED) reactions to what moderator Adolfo Guzman-Lopez of LAist called the "two punches" of Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and student debt relief. Kvaal characterized the race-conscious admissions decision as "clearly a sharp change in direction," and said that ED was taking an all hands-on deck approach to helping colleges and universities figure out how they can maintain campus diversity. He noted that the department had released guidance several weeks ago emphasizing that colleges do not have to ignore race in admissions decisions and that the goal of diversity on campus was still legal. The guidance also suggested that schools could help to expand the pipeline of diverse applicants through outreach, recruitment, and pathway programs in partnership with local schools or organizations, which can use race as a factor as long as they aren't providing an admissions preference. |
| Affirmative Action Is Still in Effect. For Men. | |
| In the spring of 2021, about 2,000 students on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans received an email they were expecting. They had filled out an elaborate survey provided by Marriage Pact, a matchmaking service popular on many campuses, and the day had come for each of them to be given the name of a fellow student who might be a long-term romantic partner. When the results came in, however, about 900 straight women who participated were surprised by what the email offered: a friend match instead of a love interest. The survey was a lark, something most Tulane students saw as an icebreaker more than an important service. But the results pointed to a phenomenon at the school -- and at many other schools -- that has only grown more pronounced since then, one that affects much more than just students' social lives: Women now outnumber men on campus, by a wide margin. Last year's freshman class at Tulane was nearly two-thirds female. Tulane's numbers are startling, but the school is not a radical outlier: There are close to three women for every two men in college in this country. The gender gap in higher education has been a concern in education circles for decades, but as is true of so many trends, the pandemic seems to have only exacerbated the problem: Male enrollment plummeted more quickly than female enrollment and has not bounced back to the same degree. As a result, many schools are fighting hard to close the gender gap -- not only for the students' benefit but also for their own. It's a longstanding fear among enrollment officers that if the gender ratio becomes too extreme at a given school, students of all genders will start to lose interest in attending |
| With Budget Battles Looming in Congress, Prospects for Higher Ed Reforms Don't Look Bright | |
 | In more normal political times, higher education advocates, experts and lobbyists might be expecting to see progress on a number of issues once Congress returns from its August recess. They'd be optimistic, for starters, about the prospects for doubling the maximum Pell Grant award for students, expanding Pell to cover short-term programs like job training classes or standardizing federal financial aid applications. Instead, all eyes will be focused on the fight over the federal budget and the question of whether Congress can keep the government open after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Some House Republicans want steep cuts in spending and an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, and they're vowing to force a shutdown if they don't get them. Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up to pass appropriations bills, along with a short-term funding measure designed to avert a shutdown. Senators returned from recess this week, while the House will be back in session Tuesday. Other policy issues will likely take a backseat to the budget battle. If Congress can't pass a budget or a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown by the end of the month, it will create some additional challenges for colleges and universities. "It means pain and difficulty, depending on the length of the shutdown," said Craig Lindwarm, vice president of governmental affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. "Contacts at research agencies critical to the advancement and continuation of vital research will go dark. The progress in putting out funding opportunities and collaboration with researchers can grind to a halt." |
| Statewide cooperation in aerospace, defense areas fights brain drain | |
 | Davis Pace, the president and CEO of the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, a state-chartered nonprofit organization located at NASA's Stennis Space Center, writes for the Mississippi Business Journal: Since the Space Race, Mississippi has played a pivotal role in the nation's aerospace and defense strategy. While the government's aerospace effort has largely cooled since the Cold War's end, Mississippi's significance in the defense industry has persisted alongside its growing importance to the commercial aerospace sector. As Mississippi faces the ongoing issue of brain drain, the aerospace and defense industry presents a vital opportunity to retain young professionals and provide well-paying skilled jobs. The technological advancements fueling economic prosperity across the Sunbelt should also be harnessed by Mississippi through coordinated efforts with private companies and maintaining a business-friendly environment. Such initiatives can drive population growth and capital investment in the state. Addressing brain drain in Mississippi is imperative. ... Mississippi's distinct appeal to the tech industry is exemplified by its strong collaboration between its major universities and considerable government support from agencies such as the Mississippi Development Authority. Recent developments -- such as this summer's Mississippi Aerospace and Defense Symposium, hosted by the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology at Mississippi State University -- demonstrate the state's commitment to uniting industry leaders, academic institutions and government partners in a collective effort. |
SPORTS
| Dawg Defense Looks To Chase Down Wildcats | |
| Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett has made his name off his understanding of the defensive side of the football. Whether it was in his playing days as a linebacker at New Mexico, or as a defensive coordinator at San Diego State and MSU before being promoted to the big chair in Starkville, defense has always been the Arnett calling card. All that said, Arnett doesn't mind admitting he appreciates a really good offensive attack. That's precisely what he's anticipating his Bulldogs having to slow down when Arizona faces State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday under the lights of Davis Wade Stadium. "I'm a huge fan [of Arizona's] offensive scheme," Arnett said. "Unfortunately, we have to play it, but I enjoy watching the way they attack defenses because they clearly understand how to create stress on the defense, both in the run game and certainly in the pass game." Indeed, the offensive attack of Arizona is threatening. If there's some solace though, it might be that the cast of characters the Wildcats are bringing south is somewhat familiar. Veteran MSU defenders like linebackers Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson along with defensive backs Decamerion Richardson, DeCarlos Nicholson and others surely remember the names from last year's State trip to Tucson when the Bulldogs won 39-17. |
| What to watch for: Mississippi State vs. Arizona | |
 | Following a 48-7 victory over Southeastern Louisiana to open the season, Mississippi State will remain at Davis Wade Stadium this Saturday to welcome Pac-12 foe Arizona for a 6:30 kickoff on SEC Network. The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 39-17 last season in Tucson in what was the programs' first-ever head-to-head meeting. Quarterback Will Rogers completed 39 of 48 passes in that game for 313 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Defensively, linebacker Jett Johnson led the way for MSU with seven tackles and a pass breakup. Arizona opened its season last week with a 38-3 win over Northern Arizona and is coming off a 5-7 campaign in 2022. MSU won the teams' first meeting last year on the road. Arizona struck first with a touchdown just over two minutes in, but the Bulldogs grabbed the lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back. A pair of short touchdown passes by Rogers in the fourth helped put the game away. Mississippi State will wear white jerseys at home for just the seventh time since 2003 -- and are searching for their first win in such a game. The last time the Bulldogs wore white at home was in 2012. |
| Mississippi State football vs. Arizona: Score prediction, scouting report for Week 2 | |
 | For perhaps the last time ever, Mississippi State football is welcoming a Pac-12 opponent to Davis Wade Stadium. Arizona comes to Starkville on Saturday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) for the return trip of a home-and-home series looking to avenge last season's 39-17 loss. Led by first-year coach Zach Arnett, the Bulldogs are looking to carry momentum from a 48-7 win against Southeastern Louisiana in Week 1 while the Wildcats are coming off a 38-3 win against Northern Arizona. The matchup features an intriguing meeting of two quarterbacks who caught Mike Leach's eye during his coaching career. Leach, who died in December after three seasons in Starkville, helped MSU's Will Rogers post record-breaking numbers. While at Washington State before coming to MSU, Leach recruited and signed now-Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura. A win for Rogers would propel Mississippi State into a tough SEC schedule featuring games against LSU, South Carolina and Alabama while Arizona is looking to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2015. |
| SEC Locks In 2023-24 Men's Hoops Dates | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball program had its 2023-24 SEC schedule revealed on Thursday by the conference office. The SEC office and its television partners will unveil game times and TV network assignments at a later date. As previously announced, Mississippi State's 18-game SEC schedule features at least one matchup with all 13 league opponents. The Bulldogs have drawn home-and-home matchups with fellow 2023 NCAA Tournament participants Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky along with Ole Miss and South Carolina. The February portion of the schedule starts at Alabama (Feb. 3) leading into a stretch of four of the next six games at home against Georgia (Feb. 7), Arkansas (Feb. 17), Ole Miss (Feb. 21) and Kentucky (Feb. 27) to wrap up the month. The Bulldogs will make second-half SEC road stops at Missouri (Feb. 10), LSU (Feb. 24), Auburn (March 2) and Texas A&M (March 6). Mississippi State's non-conference slate opens with a showcase matchup against Arizona State (Nov. 8), a fellow 2023 NCAA participant from the Pac-12 Conference, at the Barstool Sports Invitational in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulldogs will make their highly-anticipated home debut at Humphrey Coliseum versus UT Martin (Nov. 11). |
| State Battles South Alabama to a Draw in Mobile | |
| In a thrilling showdown that pitted the Bulldogs (4-1-2) against the No. 4 goal-scoring team in the nation, South Alabama (6-0-1), the Dawgs battled to a 1-1 tie on Thursday night. The Jaguars were 6-0-0 coming into the match, outscoring opponents 24-2 before State handed them their first draw on the young 2023 season. It was a physical battle in the first half, one that saw State on the attack early and often as they registered a shot on goal and three corner kicks within the first ten minutes of the match. MSU had a series of corner kicks at 06:50, 07:29, and 09:55 that allowed the Dawgs to run several set pieces that the Jaguars had to defend. The early minutes continued their frenetic pace as South Alabama's Melina Descary had a shot that went wide at 11:28, showcasing both teams attacking aspirations early. The second half remained competitive throughout with both teams striving to break the deadlock. As the tensions continued to rise, freshman Zoe Main looked to silence the Jaguars on their home pitch. The pivotal moment came at 71:41 when Main scored a goal unassisted putting State in the lead with a score of 1-nill. A series of substitutions and fouls followed as the game reached its closing stages. The Bulldogs will be back on the pitch in front of the Maroon and White faithful on Sunday as they face the Warhawks of the University of Louisiana Monroe. Mississippi State will honor its seniors as they host their last nonconference foe of the year. Sunday will also mark the annual Mississippi State Soccer Scarf Giveaway and Staff Appreciation Day. The match is slated for a 1 PM CT start and will be streamed via SEC Network +. |
| Former Bulldog hits first home run in professional career | |
| A former Brandon and Mississippi State Bulldog hit his first home run in his professional baseball career on Thursday night. Kellum Clark, an outfielder who was drafted by the New York Mets in the 2023 MLB Draft, hit one deep over the right-center field wall as a member of the Mets' Single A team, the St. Lucie Mets. Clark earned a promotion to the St. Lucie Mets from the Florida Complex Mets just over a month after being drafted. The Brandon native was a perfect 3-3 at the plate and recorded 4 RBIs Thursday night against the Dayton Tortugas. The Mets went on to win the game 14-7. Clark has a batting average of .274 for the St. Lucie Mets and has recorded 17 hits, one home run, and eight RBIs along with three stolen bases. |
| Doug Shanks loved, lived baseball, and his contributions will live on | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: News of the death of baseball's Doug Shanks earlier this week brought back several vivid memories, including the one that follows. This was a bluebird Delta day, in February in 2010. The previous day's rainstorm had passed. The ground was soggy, but the sky was cloudless and a deep blue. The bright sun brought warmth, but the air was crisp and cool. It was a splendid day to be alive. Opening Day always is. And, as opening days go, this one was extra special. Shanks and his Mississippi Valley State baseball assistant coaches were busy, helping their one-man "grounds crew" prepare the soaked field for the season opener. The Delta Devils, who called themselves the Ragamuffins, were scheduled to play Notre Dame. Yes, that Notre Dame, the one that spent more money on its slick baseball media guide than Shanks had in his entire MVSU baseball budget. Notre Dame had spent $60 million on football the previous fall. Valley's entire athletic budget was $3 million. The one-man Valley grounds crew wore a green and white striped uniform, but it wasn't because green and white are two of the MVSU school colors. No, he was on loan from a nearby prison. "Hardest worker you ever saw," Shanks told me. "But we have to have him back at the farm by 4." Shanks and his coaches had worked through the night and all morning to make Magnolia Field playable. They stopped only to watch Notre Dame's luxury bus pull up, and the strapping Fighting Irish players step off in their navy blue jerseys, with gold lettering and green shamrocks on the sleeves. Some wore those bright gold batting helmets. Yes, Shanks brought Notre Dame to Itta Bena. I remember telling Shanks it could go on his tombstone. |
| Westbound and down: How to get a football team from Alabama to California | |
 | Greg Trapp was sitting passenger-side in the cab of a Kenworth T680 long-haul truck when his phone rang Tuesday just west of Winslow, Ariz. His day began about 265 miles ago in Albuquerque, N.M., and was set to end 674 miles westward in Barstow, Calif. He and Mark Sheppard, who was behind the wheel, were comfortably past the halfway point of a trip that began two days prior. The truck and trailer they were in pulled out of the Woltosz Football Performance Center on Sunday afternoon in Auburn, hauling 29,000 pounds of football equipment. The pair was going cross-country, and they were somewhere in the midst of more than 2,500 miles of highways and about 36 hours of drive time Tuesday. They'd reach their destination -- Auburn football's team hotel in San Mateo, Calif. -- the next day, well-ahead of schedule for the Tigers' game against Cal at 9:30 p.m. Central on Saturday. Trapp and Sheppard are no strangers to this. The truck they're driving was purchased by Trapp's company, Single Source Logistics, in 2018 and has only logged about 34,000 miles. That's because it's exclusively used for hauling Auburn's equipment, which the pair have been doing full-time for the past eight years. There's been trips as far away as State College, Penn., Arlington, Texas, and as near as Atlanta and Nashville. The pair has been to 11 SEC towns. But this trip is hands down the furthest they've driven, and it highlights a truth of every Auburn road game. "This trip, we've had circled for at least two years trying to make sure we had everything we needed," Trapp said. "(We've) discussed every possibility that we could come up with in our minds [of what] we might have to have to make this trip." Auburn's players and coaches have been preparing all week for this trip in search of a win, but there's a cast of people behind the scenes who have been preparing for several weeks, if not years, to seamlessly get a football team across the country. That might be most present with Trapp and Sheppard. |
| Tennessee athletes and a Knoxville collective are cleaning up big with NIL deals | |
 | More than 200 University of Tennessee at Knoxville student-athletes across 11 sports have signed deals with Spyre Sports Group, a Knoxville name, image and likeness collective that's leading the industry nationally. Spyre was ranked the most ambitious NIL collective in the country by college sports news outlet On3, beating out collectives focused on SEC rivals Texas A&M, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Spyre's reportedly $8 million deal with freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava was a big factor in that ranking, which also took into account the number of athletes signed. The Knoxville group has inked deals with eight of Tennessee's 10 players with the most NIL money, as ranked by On3. Knoxville may be one of the larger cities home to an SEC school, but Hunter Baddour, president of Spyre Sports Group and the Volunteer Club, said the metro size doesn't really matter when it comes to striking NIL deals. It's about the rabid fans and their loyalty to their alma mater. And VFLs can be found all around the country. "When you combine enthusiastic and dedicated megadonors to a fan base wanting to get behind a winner, just the sheer masses, that's a really dangerous combination to our competitors," Baddour said. Marcus Hilliard, UT senior associate athletics director, said UT gives student-athletes resources to build and maintain their personal brand through the Haslam College of Business and university programs exploring entrepreneurship and advertising. "It's just another way that we're giving back to them, but also preparing them for the future," Hilliard said. |
| The amazing comeback of Alabama football announcer Eli Gold | |
| Every college football stadium, no matter how large or small, shares the sounds of the actual games being played on the field. Cracks, smacks, clacks and whistles. But each venue also comes with its own unique soundtrack, a deep cut playlist of fight songs, alma maters and cheers and chants perfected over more than a century. Each team and venue also has its own voice. No, not accents or dialects or local lexicons, but rather the radio-delivered, vocally painted pictures of that local hero who has earned the right to carry the title "The Voice of (insert your favorite team here)." Since 1988, the Voice of Alabama Crimson Tide football has been Eli Gold. He has called the action for seven national titles, 11 SEC championships and 35 bowl games. Living rooms and tailgates from Huntsville to Mobile and Vinegar Bend to Muscadine have screamed as Gold described yet another national championship and have cried as he's delivered bad news from lost Iron Bowls. For more than 30 years it had become impossible to close one's eyes and conjure up the sounds of Alabama football and not hear the voice of Gold. Until one year ago. "I always realized how special this job was and how much it meant to me," Gold, 69, said last week, sitting in a recliner in his Birmingham home, wearing an Alabama Football t-shirt and sipping water from an Alabama Football stadium cup in a room tastefully decorated with just the right mix of Alabama Football memorabilia. "This job is like holding a rare piece of crystal. I always knew that. It's now been reinforced." Reinforced because it was taken away. |
| Can big oil money turn Texas Tech into college football's next powerhouse? | |
| A pair of flat-top cranes loom high above Jones AT&T Stadium, home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Head football coach Joey McGuire is sporting a hard hat, safety glasses and reflective vest, bracing himself to make good on a friendly social-media pledge: 3,000 retweets, and he'd climb one of these suckers. Straight up, 220 feet into the air, McGuire's breath shortens and chest tightens with each rung. When he finally hits the top, he exhales in equal parts relief and terror. Then he peeks over the edge, hand clasped to the railing, to catch a sky-scraping glimpse of the kingdom he stands to inherit. Beneath his feet is $230 million worth of planned construction, part of a massive, ongoing facilities project that will renovate the stadium's south end zone and add a brand-new football training facility. That's a striking investment for any athletics department, including Texas Tech, a proud program but not one of college football's elites. McGuire's presence, on the sideline or hundreds of feet above it, has been crucial to turning the project into reality, injecting considerable excitement into the program with an encouraging 8-5 record in 2022. Another reason --- arguably the most significant --- lies a few hours south of the stadium, hidden just beneath the surface: oil. Oil money is not a novel source of big-money boosterism in college sports. T. Boone Pickens famously pumped barrels into Oklahoma State University athletics. But while the transfer portal and name, image and likeness legislation are remodeling college football's financial and competitive structure, Tech's windfall is funding both the old-school facilities arms race and new-school NIL marketplace, part of a broader alignment among deep-pocketed supporters and the administration. "I always tell people, oil money is real," McGuire says. "I knew the backing was here (when I took the job). But quite honestly, I didn't dream of what it would be." |
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