| Wednesday, September 20, 2023 |
| 35th annual Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show to kick off on Friday | |
 | The longest-running live equipment demonstration in the south is set to kick off on Friday, September 22 at Mississippi State's John W. Starr Memorial Forest. With 35 years of biennial operation, the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show offers networking opportunities for loggers, landowners, foresters, and equipment manufacturers. The two-day demonstration consists of live and static forestry equipment displays, loader and skidder competitions, continuing education presentations for foresters and loggers, food vendors, and two $1,000 cash giveaways. "There is something for everyone. We draw exhibitors from across the country and Canada. We have attendees from across the Southeast," John Auel, Mississippi Forestry Association certification programs coordinator and show manager, stated. "The live demonstration, where equipment companies actually cut trees, is an important part of our show." Auel explained that the show has three live demonstrations scheduled this year from TigerCat, John Deere, and Komatsu. The family-friendly show averages around 6,000 attendees each year, with the participants ranging from foresters, loggers, equipment manufacturers, and their families. Lauren Hawkins, the show's communications coordinator, added that the event encourages youth attendance and participation. "We have always invited teachers to bring their high school students for free on Friday. This year, we have ramped up our efforts and anticipate several hundred students attending," Hawkins explained. "This is a fantastic chance for students to learn about the many careers available in the forestry and logging industries." |
| MSU students 'weed out' competition at national and regional contests | |
 | Mississippi State University's Weed Science Team showed a strong presence at this year's national and regional weed science contests hosted recently by Bayer Crop Science in Union City, Tennessee. MSU's team of six graduate students placed first in the national team sprayer calibration contest, first in the Southern regional sprayer calibration contest and third overall in the Southern Weed Science annual contest. "During a contest, teams are given a problem and must use their classroom knowledge and make recommendations to solve it in a short amount of time," said Taghi Bararpour, a team coach and associate professor. "This practical experience gives them confidence when they apply and interview for jobs in the field." The MSU team is led by Bararpour and Associate Professor Te-Ming Paul Tseng. They have taken the helm from former coach Daniel Reynolds, an accomplished weed science professor now serving as associate vice president of international programs and executive director of MSU's International Institute. Bararpour -- who once competed in these contests as a graduate student -- mentors students at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. Tseng added that the competitions with the best weed science students in the country provide not only practical experience but also networking opportunities with industry representatives and peers -- a strong advantage for career-minded graduates. |
| New design plans commissioned for Hwy 182 project | |
 | It may be a few more weeks before the city learns if it can take over maintenance of about a mile of State Highway 182 between Old West Point Road and Beattie Street. But aldermen on Tuesday approved nearly $500,000 of engineering redesign work along the corridor under the auspices the answer will be yes. The city sent the request for taking on road maintenance to the Mississippi Department of Transportation in August so it could install water, sewer and drainage infrastructure underneath the roadway -- something state highway guidelines do not allow. The move could save millions on a planned revitalization project for the corridor that is supported, at least for now, by $12.6 million from a Federal Highway Administration grant. On Tuesday, aldermen consented to pay Kimley Horn and Associates another $461,747 to redesign the revitalization project, work Associate City Engineer Chris Williams said would mostly involve plans for moving the infrastructure from the smaller easements beside the road to underneath the much wider roadbed. The city has already paid Kimley Horn roughly $1.7 million, Williams said, for the original project design, which also includes reducing the road to two lanes divided by landscaped medians and adding pedestrian/bike lanes to flank each side of the street, among other things. Along with beautification, it aims to spur economic development in the corridor. |
| How does the UAW strike impact Mississippi auto plants? | |
 | The United Auto Workers' strike against the Big Three automakers could have an impact on the national economy and further into the automotive industry. At this point, it is hard to say how far-reaching the implications will be as the UAW is striking against the automotive companies known as the "Detroit Three." This includes General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands. The UAW, which went on strike on Sept. 15, says around 13,000 members are walking the picket lines. The Detroit Three does not include Nissan or Toyota, which have manufacturing plants in Mississippi. Nissan has run a production facility in Canton for more than 20 years while Toyota plant in Blue Springs near Tupelo has been in operation since 2011. While there has been some speculation that the strike could impact other automakers from a supply chain standpoint, Nissan says it doesn't expect any issues where Mississippi is concerned. "Currently, we do not anticipate any operational impacts from the strike but continue to monitor the situation," said Lloryn Love-Carter, Director of U.S. Communications of the Nissan Group of the Americas, when asked by the Clarion Ledger about the Canton Nissan plant. Considering that automakers have already been through many years of shortages coming out of the COVID-19 supply-chain setbacks, experts believe suppliers will not be quick to react to the UAW strike. Neither the Blue Springs Toyota plant nor the Canton Nissan plant are unionized despite a strong push from the UAW in 2017. |
| Brandon Presley campaign will air new ad on Black radio stations | |
| Brandon Presley announced on Tuesday that his campaign will begin airing a new ad on more than 20 radio stations that have predominantly Black audiences, the first such ad of the 2023 election cycle from the Democratic nominee for governor. The ad, a six-figure purchase, criticizes incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for his ties to the welfare scandal, his opposition to Medicaid expansion and his inaction on eliminating the state's grocery tax -- common themes of Presley's campaign. "Let me tell you about the man that is our governor," the ad's narrator says. "He looks down on us. Thinks Mississippians have no good sense. Was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And has spent his entire time as governor looking out for his big-shot friends instead of us. That's Tate Reeves." Presley's campaign has aired several ads this year, but the new ad will be the first one it has purchased to communicate directly to Black voters, who make up about two-thirds of Mississippi Democratic Party's base. For the Democratic nominee to have a chance at an upset in November, he will have to draw high Black voter turnout. |
| Former Republican congressman endorses Democrat Brandon Presley for governor | |
| Former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Parker of Mississippi endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley on Wednesday, giving credence to Presley's plan to attract conservative voters to his campaign. "Brandon worked across party lines to deliver broadband, and as governor, he will work in a bipartisan way to tackle corruption and solve our state's hospital crisis," Parker said in a statement. "Brandon Presley is pro-life, he's a good man, and he'll always look out for Mississippi." While Parker's announcement will boost Presley's hopes of attracting GOP support for his statewide race in the deeply conservative Magnolia State, the announcement isn't completely surprising. The Jones County native identified as a Republican since 1995. But before he sported a GOP label, Parker was a Democrat in Congress for six years, and he endorsed President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign for the White House. Still, Presley celebrated the endorsement in a Thursday press release by calling it an "honor" and used it as evidence that he was building a coalition of Democrats, conservatives and independents. Parker's announcement was packaged into a video with three other Republicans endorsing the Democratic nominee and turning the phrase "Let's Go Brandon," a vulgar code conservatives use to slam President Biden, into a supportive chant for Presley. |
| Fed Holds Rates Steady but Pencils in One More Hike This Year | |
 | Federal Reserve officials voted to hold interest rates steady at a 22-year high but signaled they were prepared to raise rates once more this year to combat inflation. With economic activity stronger than anticipated, most officials also expected they would need to maintain interest rates near their current level through next year, according to projections released Wednesday at the conclusion of their two-day policy meeting. Fed officials raised their benchmark federal-funds rate at their previous meeting in July to a range between 5.25% and 5.5%. They began lifting rates from near zero in March 2022. Wednesday's decision marks the second meeting this year that the Fed opted against raising rates. It also paused in June. Because it can take a year or longer for rate increases to slow economic activity, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said a slower pace of hikes would give officials more time to see how the economy is responding to them. Powell last month signaled he was reluctant to declare victory too soon in the Fed's inflation fight. Recent progress slowing inflation is "only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably," he said during a widely anticipated address in Jackson Hole, Wyo. And signs of stronger economic-than-anticipated economic activity "could put further progress on inflation at risk." The new economic projections showed 12 of the 19 officials expect to raise rates once more this year, the same as they saw in June. The Fed meets again on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 and in December. |
| House Republicans clash with Attorney General Garland, accusing him of favoring Hunter Biden | |
 | House Republicans clashed with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, accusing him and the Justice Department of the "weaponization" of the department's work in favor of President Joe Biden 's son Hunter. Garland's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was the first in two years and came at an unprecedented moment in the department's history: He's overseeing two cases against Donald Trump, the first former president to face criminal charges, and another against the sitting president's son. Republicans on the committee -- led by Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman -- set the tone with accusations that the Justice Department is favoring the Biden family, while targeting his opponent, Trump. "There's one investigation protecting President Biden. There's another one attacking President Trump," Jordan, Republican of Ohio, said in his opening statement. "The Justice Department's got both sides of the equation covered." Garland -- carefully and deliberately -- defended the country's largest law enforcement agency of more than 115,000 employees at a time when political and physical threats against agents and their families are on the rise. "Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate," the attorney general said. He added, "I am not the president's lawyer. I will also add that I am not Congress's prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people." |
| Why the White House is letting McCarthy flail | |
 | Speaker Kevin McCarthy is struggling to pass a bill to fund the government -- and the White House isn't about to throw him a lifeline. With just days to go before the government runs out of money, Biden's team is watching Congress steam toward a shutdown, resigned to the reality that there's little they can do now to fix the situation and confident the politics will play out their way. President Joe Biden has steered well clear of the chaos engulfing the House, where Republicans are battling each other over a government funding bill. Within the White House, aides have settled on a hard-line strategy aimed at pressuring McCarthy to stick to a spending deal he struck with Biden back in May rather than attempt to patch together a new bipartisan bill. "We agreed to the budget deal and a deal is a deal -- House GOP should abide by it," said a White House official granted anonymity to discuss the private calculations. Their "chaos is making the case that they are responsible if there is a shutdown." Biden world's wait-and-see approach comes against the backdrop of an increasingly likely shutdown, which would be the first of the Biden era. On Tuesday, GOP leadership canceled plans for a procedural vote on a short term funding bill, wary it had the numbers to pass. Hours later, hard-right conservatives tanked a procedural vote related to a defense spending bill. Moderate House Democrats have been working on a last-ditch fall back option to avert a shutdown, but any final product will need approval from the Senate. For now, the White House is staying out of the mix, trying instead to draw a contrast between the House majority that can't complete the task of keeping the government's lights on and Biden, who on Tuesday addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. |
| Unlawful Border Crossings Are Rising Fast After a Brief Decline | |
 | Unlawful crossings along the Southern border have reached levels not seen for several months, straining government resources and taxing some local communities where large numbers of migrants have been released from federal custody. There were more than 8,000 arrests on Monday, according to Brandon Judd, the head of the union that represents Border Patrol agents. Such high numbers haven't been seen since a surge in early May brought the daily number to nearly 10,000, and they are far higher than in mid-April, when there were about 4,900 illegal crossings a day. The effects of the increasing numbers ripple across the country, as communities on the border and others far from it find themselves scrambling to support migrants released from federal custody. "Right now we are seeing a surge," said Ruben Garcia, who oversees a network of shelters in El Paso, across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. "We have a significant increase in the number of people crossing." The recent influx in unlawful crossings could present challenges for President Biden, whose administration has sought to keep the Southern border from fueling Republican narratives about immigration policy, particularly before the 2024 presidential election. During President Biden's time in office, the number of illegal crossings has reached notable highs, exceeding levels seen during a prepandemic influx in 2019 during the Trump administration. |
| 'No one is losing out' in proposed college financial aid changes, board says | |
| A new proposal would seek to more than double the number of Mississippians who are eligible for state financial aid by expanding one of the state's undergraduate financial aid programs. Under the as-yet-unnamed proposal, the award amounts of the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant -- known as MTAG -- would be increased to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of college, according to a presentation at the Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board on Monday. The requirement to maintain a 2.5 GPA and a minimum score of 15 on the ACT would be eliminated. So would a provision that excludes students who are eligible for the federal Pell Grant. Right now, the maximum award under MTAG is up to $1,000 a year for college juniors and seniors, but the proposal would double or possibly even triple that depending on a student's income. All told, this would mean an estimated 37,800 Mississippians, including part-time, adult students who have long been excluded from receiving state money for college, would now be eligible for state financial aid. Right now, about 29,000 students receive state financial aid. "We wanted to first do no harm," said Scott Waller, the president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council. "So anyone who is currently on the grant system receiving financial aid would continue to do so, and more importantly would continue to do so whatever the rate currently is." At the postsecondary board meeting Monday, Mark Keenum, a board member and the president of Mississippi State University whose thoughts on state financial aid have helped shape prior proposals, said he had heard from MEC leadership. "This is a high priority for the business community in the state to provide more funding for financial aid to increase our educational attainment for our state workforce, and I like it," Keenum said. "I like it a lot." |
| Student Financial Aid Redesign Task Force seeks more funding, expanded access | |
| Mississippi has in place three separate forms of financial aid meant to help students who want to attend an in-state college or university. Two years ago, a task force was created to make recommendations to the Mississippi Legislature on possible revisions to the state's financial aid system. The Student Financial Aid Redesign Task Force has been meeting to achieve its statutory obligations. Earlier this year, a bill was presented in the Mississippi House that would have altered eligibility for the existing programs and increased funding by $22 million. House Bill 771 did not advance to be signed into law, though, leaving the state's financial aid system where it stood before, according to task force member Jason Dean. Before the next Legislative session starts in January 2024, the task force is working to create a list of changes and have a bill ready for the Legislature to review, said Dean, who is also the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the former Chairman of the Mississippi Board of Education. Monday, the task force met to discuss the topics members want the Legislature to consider. Dean noted the task force is pushing for legislative hearings on the subject before session starts. "It's critical that we can get a hearing and have a bill drafted and do something good for the students of Mississippi," he said. |
| Ole Miss event with presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott rescheduled | |
| A discussion with Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Tim Scott on the state of American democracy at the University of Mississippi has been rescheduled. Originally set for Sept. 29, the event has been moved to accommodate Scott's travel schedule. The event will now be held at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. It is free and open to the public. Hosted by the UM Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom, director Steven Skultety told the Daily Journal during a recent interview that the discussion will not resemble the Republican primary debates. He and Scott will broad topics related to democracy. "My goal is to give him an opportunity to step out of campaign mode and have a conversation that isn't so much about this policy or that policy or this thing that's in the news cycle, but to step back and talk about these bigger themes that transcend what's going on right now," Skultety said. |
| UMMC School of Nursing adding BSN at Ole Miss Oxford campus | |
| Earlier this year, the Mississippi Legislature approved the Nurse Retention Loan Repayment Program which officially launched in early August and is now accepting applications. The program is intended to help the state retain new nurses by assisting them pay back their student loans. Now, a new educational option is opening in North Mississippi to attract students to the nursing profession. On Monday, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) announced an expansion of its Oxford offerings to include a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program next year. According to Ole Miss, the school has been awarded a $750,000 grant from AccelerateMS through the state's Office of Workforce Development to reinstate the traditional BSN pathway at the School of Nursing's instructional site in Oxford. The grant from AccelerateMS is in addition to $4 million appropriated by the Mississippi Legislature during the 2023 legislative session to the University of Mississippi for repair, renovation and expansion of the nursing school in Oxford. "Programs like the Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UMMC are crucial to strengthening the pipeline of qualified nursing professionals in Mississippi," officials with AccelerateMS said. The expansion at Ole Miss allows students to earn a four-year degree in nursing in Oxford. Ole Miss had been offering an accelerated BSN program on its Oxford campus that allowed students with baccalaureate degrees in other subjects to earn a BSN and prepare for licensure tests in a year's time. |
| During JSU Voter Fair, Brandon Presley encourages Black residents to register to vote | |
 | At 39%, Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents out of any other state in the U.S., but due to a long history of voter suppression, the number of registered Black voters fails to meet the same ratio, according to Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Brandon Presley. Presley's comments came in Tuesday speech about the importance of Black voter registration in Mississippi at the Jackson State University Voter's Fair. Students and community members gathered Tuesday afternoon in the Jackson State University Plaza for the Voter Fair to celebrate National Register to Vote Day. With less than two months to go before the Nov. 7, 2023, Mississippi Governor election, Presley made stops on his campaign trail with remarks at Jackson State University after holding a press conference centered on Black voter registration in Greenville on Tuesday morning. "My campaign has announced today that we're making a historic investment in reaching and engaging with Black voters in Mississippi. More than any other gubernatorial campaign in the history of our state," Presley said. "We're going to make sure that we engage with voters who've been left out of the process and forgot about." Trenecea Atkins, Jackson State University sophomore and member of the NAACP, said that events like JSU's Voter Fair are important to get people to understand the significance of voting. |
| Residents call out '60 Minutes' for 'irresponsible' representation of Jackson | |
 | Residents are voicing their opposition to a national program's depiction of Jackson. A "60 Minutes" episode that included a spotlight about the career and success of former Jackson State Football Coach Deion Sanders is drawing ire from those within the city. The episode juxtaposed the conditions of Jackson and Boulder, Colorado, where Sanders now serves as head coach for the University of Colorado. The segment used shots of an old, dilapidated house and volunteers helping with the city's water crisis to represent Jackson while showing wide shots of a clean college campus and green scenery when discussing Boulder. Brad Franklin is a radio host and JSU alumnus. He says the editing of the episode was not just a reflection on how the national media views Jackson, but how it views Historically Black Colleges and Universities in general. "Shedeur [Sanders] and Shilo [Sanders] and Travis Hunter played no differently than they had played at Jackson State University, but because [they] did it in Colorado all of a sudden now it's legitimate," he said. "I think [the media] have been trying to paint the picture the entire time that HBCUs are inferior, athletically and academically." Jackson has roughly an 83% Black population while Boulder has nearly 1%. During a press conference, JSU Head Football Coach T.C. Taylor also commented on the episode, saying it gave Jackson "a bad look." "Jackson has plenty of bright spots," he said. "There's some good things going on in the city... [but] They're the media, they can control the narrative." |
| Tuscaloosa will be first college town to get Sports Illustrated resort | |
 | Sports Illustrated knows Tuscaloosa so well, it's moving here. Or setting down a major footprint, anyway. By the end of 2025, The Druid City will become home to the first Sports Illustrated Resort destination, a project centered on active lifestyles, featuring a full-service hotel, vacation ownership club, residential condominiums, SI Fit Health/Wellness center, dining, entertainment and more. Resort facilities will share a cohesive design that "immerses guests and owners in iconic moments from nearly 70 years of Sports Illustrated content," according to a news release from the Decker Royal Agency. Though it's obviously early days, the project is expected to open by late 2025 on Rice Mine Loop, just north of the Woolsey Finnell Bridge in Tuscaloosa. That area had previously been announced as a potential location for other projects, including The Bend, a mixed-use residential/shopping/entertainment plan. This development will be a "game-changer" for the city, said Norman Crow, city councilor for District 3, where the development will grow. Though the two sports- and entertainment-themed developments are only coincidental, the Sports Illustrated Resort will be just minutes away from Tiger Woods' PopStroke, a family-friendly entertainment venue, with dining options, ice cream parlors, bars offering wine and craft beer, playgrounds and outdoor games. PopStroke groundwork is underway on Harper Lee Drive, adjacent to McFarland Boulevard, east of the UA campus. Assuming construction continues as planned, PopStroke may be open by November. |
| Auburn University ranked second best college campus for free speech | |
| After a poll of 55,102 individuals was taken from students across 254 colleges, Auburn University is recognized as the second-best college campus for free speech. The poll was conducted by College Pulse and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Students were surveyed via the College Pulse app and website from Jan. 13 to June 30, 2023. The report titled "2024 College Free Speech Rankings" provides details regarding how the information was gathered and reports the data collected. Colleges and universities were ranked on a score out of 100, and Auburn's score was 72.53. "Auburn has always done well," said Sean Stevens, FIRE's director of polling and analytics. Out of the past three years that Auburn has been included in this survey, the second-best overall in free speech is its highest ranking. Stevens explained that FIRE has a system to determine the rankings based on surveys from students and other knowledge about the University. "We ask questions about students feeling comfortable expressing themselves in different campus settings," Stevens said. "So it could be in the classroom, it could be a written assignment, it could be just talking to your friends in the dining hall or common campus area. We ask about social media, and then another thing that goes into this component is questions on self-censorship." |
| Alabama A&M is owed $527 million in missed funding, new analysis says | |
 | Two federal agencies are calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to address a "severe financial gap" between the state's historically Black and predominantly white land grant universities. In the past 30 years alone, the state has underfunded Alabama A&M University by more than half a billion dollars, federal officials said in a series of letters issued to governors on Monday. States are supposed to provide equal funding to public land grant institutions -- in Alabama, those schools are Auburn University, Alabama A&M and Tuskegee University -- but often have shortchanged the historically Black institutions, experts say. A new analysis estimates that Black land grants in 16 states have lost out on a collective $12.6 billion in funding. Using the latest available federal data from 1987 to 2020, officials determined that Alabama A&M had been underfunded by $527,280,064 in that time span. "Alabama A&M University, the 1890 land-grant institution in your state, while producing extraordinary graduates that contribute greatly to the state's economy and the fabric of our nation, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with Auburn University, the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in your state, in large part due to unbalanced funding," Miguel Cardona and Thomas Vilsack, secretaries of the U.S. Department of Education and Agriculture, said in the letter. |
| Arkansas, other states urged to increase funding for land-grant HBCUs | |
| Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was one of 16 governors nationwide to receive a letter urging states to rectify the disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their non-HBCU land-grant peers. The letter to Sanders, signed by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, noted that the "University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the 1890 land-grant institution in your state, while producing extraordinary graduates that contribute greatly to the state's economy and the fabric of our nation, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with [the] University of Arkansas [in Fayetteville], the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in your state, in large part due to unbalanced funding." UA-Pine Bluff, the governor's office, the Arkansas Department of Education, and the Arkansas Division of Higher Education did not respond to requests for comment for this story as of the regular closing time of their offices Tuesday. "The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff disadvantages the students, faculty, and community that the institution serves," states the letter to Sanders, dated Monday. "Furthermore, it may contribute to a lack of economic activity that would ultimately benefit Arkansas. It is our hope that we can work together to make this institution whole after decades of being underfunded." Last year, nearly 89% of UA-Pine Bluff's students were Black, and more than 60% of the faculty are Black, according to UA-Pine Bluff. At UA-Fayetteville, 4.6% of students enrolled were Black last year. |
| Vanderbilt U. Says 'U.S. News' Emphasis on Social Mobility Is 'Deeply Misleading' | |
 | In U.S. News & World Report's latest college rankings, Vanderbilt University dropped five spots, from No. 13 to No. 18. One might think that's an insignificant dip in a list that contains 435 institutions. Nevertheless, the university's leaders on Monday sent impassioned emails to faculty members and alumni, defending Vanderbilt's prowess in teaching and research. The university's argument essentially boils down to two issues. First, that the rankings' new measures of social mobility, like graduates' indebtedness, are "deeply misleading." Second, that the rankings now do less to "measure faculty and student quality" because they've eliminated or reduced the weight of metrics such as the share of faculty with terminal degrees and the share of students whose GPAs were in the top 10 percent of their high schools. "This email is astounding to me both generally as a higher-ed-policy scholar but also as a graduate of Vanderbilt," said Dominique J. Baker, an associate professor at Southern Methodist University who studies underrepresented students' access to college. Baker received her doctorate at Vanderbilt. The takeaway, for many readers, was that Vanderbilt is a wealthy institution that educates primarily wealthy students with high grades and test scores, and resented losing rank because of it. |
| Former top U. of Florida official fired by Sasse hired at prestigious Caltech | |
 | A top University of Florida official who in April was fired by President Ben Sasse now finds himself with one of the premier schools in the country. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced Monday that Charlie Lane was named the school's vice president and chief operating officer, the same position he held at UF for nearly a decade. Caltech, located in Pasadena just outside Los Angeles, is home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), part of which Lane will oversee in his new position. "In this pivotal role, Charlie will bring his extensive administrative success in higher education to enhance Caltech's operations; forge and sustain a culture of rigorous planning and effective execution; oversee campus finances and the JPL budget; and emphasize a diverse and inclusive work environment," Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum said in an email announcement. Lane's move across the country comes less than five months after Sasse -- just two months into his presidency -- sent out an email announcing that Lane was no longer with the university. "I want to let you know that we've made a change in the leadership of UF's operation," Sasse, a former Republican Nebraska senator, wrote in the April 26 email. "Effective today, Charlie Lane, chief operating officer, is no longer with the University of Florida." The email gave no reason for Lane's sudden exit. It also failed to recognize his time with UF and any of his accomplishments, such as leading the university to become a top five public institution in the country. |
| Praveen Edara takes over as interim dean of MU College of Engineering | |
 | Praveen Edara took over as interim dean of the University of Missouri's College of Engineering Monday, following Noah Manring's announcement in August of his intent to step down. MU announced Edara as the new interim dean Friday. Edara is the chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. He came to MU in 2007. His research focuses on traffic operations, intelligent transportation systems, geometric design and traffic safety. He is a registered professional engineer and a certified professional traffic operations engineer. A national search for a dean will begin right away. |
| A 'Lost Generation' of High School Graduates | |
 | When fall 2020 college enrollment numbers after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that large swaths of that year's high school graduating class had not enrolled, many college administrators assumed these 2020 high school graduates would eventually make their way to campuses. Others worried these students might get permanently knocked off their path to higher education. The latter appears to be what happened, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The number of students who enrolled in college immediately after graduating high school in 2020 was 53.5 percent, 6.8 percentage points fewer than in 2019. The new report finds that only 0.7 percent of 2020 graduates -- an additional 5,631 students nationwide -- had enrolled in college by fall 2021, and an even smaller number, 0.2 percent, enrolled for the first time in 2022. Only about one in eight of those students who were "supposed" or expected to enter college in fall 2020 had enrolled, the report finds. The enrollment rate was even lower among students who graduated from "high poverty" high schools, where only one in 15 enrolled. The National Student Clearinghouse's 11th annual "High School Benchmark Report" demonstrates what the organization's researchers describe as the pandemic's "enduring enrollment impacts" and reinforces the fear of many higher ed leaders that the pandemic has led to a disconnect between colleges and potential students. "It's encouraging that the high school graduating Class of 2022 has raised its college enrollment rate compared to those of the last two years," said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the NSCRC. "The troubling part is that I think we are starting to see evidence that the high school Class of 2020 could almost be called a lost generation." |
| West Point sued over using race as an admissions factor in the wake of landmark Supreme Court ruling | |
| West Point was accused in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of improperly using race and ethnicity as factors in admissions by the same group behind the legal challenge that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions. Students for Fair Admissions claims the U.S. Military Academy sets benchmarks for how many Black, Hispanic and Asian cadets there should be in each class. The lawsuit filed in New York's Southern District claims West Point is violating the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which contains an equal-protection principle that binds the federal government. "Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race," according to the complaint. "In fact, it openly publishes its racial composition 'goals,' and its director of admissions brags that race is wholly determinative for hundreds if not thousands of applicants." West Point in recent years has made concerted efforts to diversify its ranks, with officials increasing outreach to metropolitan areas like New York City, Atlanta and Detroit. Minority enrollment was about 38% for the class of more than 1,240 that entered the academy north of New York City this summer. The academy also recently complied with recommendations from a commission created by Congress to remove honors to Robert E. Lee and other Confederate officers as a way to address racial injustice. Still, some graduates of color from West Point and the nation's other military schools have described hostile environments. |
| Colleges Face Demands to Stop Considering Race in Student Scholarships | |
| Colleges are facing pressure to stop considering race as a factor when awarding scholarships -- adding fuel to a larger debate over what colleges can legally do to promote diversity and equity. The latest target is Western Kentucky University, subject of a federal complaint filed over the weekend by the Equal Protection Project, an advocacy group that seeks "fair treatment of all persons without regard to race or ethnicity," according to its website. The complaint says that Western Kentucky violated civil-rights laws by excluding white students from two scholarships, the Athletics Minority Fellowship and the Distinguished Minority Fellows program. The Equal Protection Project also filed a complaint last month against a scholarship at Kansas State University. The group's other targets include pre-college and undergraduate programs at the University at Buffalo, as well as a University of Nebraska at Lincoln residency program. William A. Jacobson, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School, who founded the Equal Protection Project, has challenged many other programs this year that he believes are racially discriminatory at colleges, school systems, libraries, and other public institutions. As he sees it, the Supreme Court's admissions ruling should also apply to financial aid. He's surprised that many colleges haven't yet changed their scholarship programs. "We don't see any meaningful distinction between admissions to the university and admissions to particular programs and educational opportunities," he said. |
| 16 states underfunded historically Black land-grant universities, Biden administration says | |
| Historically Black land-grant universities in Tennessee and 15 other states have missed out on $12.6 billion in funding over the last three decades, according to the Biden administration. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent letters to the governors of each state asking them to increase funding, news outlets reported. The letter said the largest disparity was in Tennessee, where Tennessee State University has been underfunded by $2.1 billion dollars. "Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation's distinguished historically Black colleges and universities to operate with inadequate resources and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services," Cardona said in a statement Monday. Letters were also sent to governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The nation's land-grant universities were founded in the 19th century on federal land to further agricultural instruction and research. Federal law requires states to provide an equitable distribution of state funding for all land-grant universities, but that hasn't happened with many historically Black ones, a new analysis found. |
| States Underfunded Historically Black Land Grants by $13 Billion Over 3 Decades | |
| After years of efforts by advocates to draw attention to the historic underfunding of historically Black land-grant colleges and universities, the federal government issued its own call to action this week, urging the governors of 16 states to address the inequities. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent joint letters to each state's governor, highlighting just how much the Black land grants in their state are owed. Over all, 16 of the country's 19 historically Black land-grant universities have been underfunded by their states by a total of $13 billion, according to the federal analysis of per-student state spending data from 1987 to 2020. Only two states, Ohio and Delaware, were found to have equitably funded their HBCU land grants. The other states' institutions had funding gaps between $172 million to $2.14 billion compared with their predominantly white counterparts. Although the letters don't have much in the way of teeth beyond naming and shaming, advocates are hopeful that this step signals that the federal government will be focusing on the issue and pursuing solutions. Jay Dardenne, commissioner of the Division of Administration in Louisiana, said in a statement that the state has been making historic investments in higher education across the board during Governor John Bel Edwards's tenure. "In addition," he said, "there has been a sustained commitment to addressing serious inequities in this and many other important areas ... However, we recognize that more work needs to be done to fully fund higher education. The governor has directed us to meet with the secretaries to learn more about the underfunding referenced." |
| House hearing on Chinese influence in schools spurs debate over racism | |
 | A House hearing on the threat of Chinese influence in American schools spurred a debate over racism Tuesday after Democrats accused their GOP colleagues of fueling anti-Asian hate with their continued focus on the issue. Tuesday's hearing of an Education subcommittee was entitled "Academic Freedom Under Attack: Loosening the CCP's Grip on America's Classrooms," focusing on the influence of Confucius Classrooms, which are part of the China-based network of Confucius Insitute schools meant to spread Chinese culture and language around the world. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oreg.) noted that previous investigations carried out by Congress and think tanks have found no security risks or threats to U.S. children from the classrooms. Rep. Aaron Bean (R- Fla.), the subcommittee chairman, said more than 500 public K-12 schools have allowed China's communist party "to establish itself in their halls under the guise of Confucius Classrooms." Confucius Institutes are funded by the Chinese International Education Foundation, which is an ostensibly nongovernmental organization under China's Ministry of Education. Bean argued their presence in the U.S. raised national security risks because several of the classrooms are "strategically located around U.S. military bases," and allowed China to project soft power in a move "straight out of the Soviet playbook." He said the committee was not opposed to teaching students about Chinese language, history, and culture but wanted to defend against Chinese government suppression. |
| Relief for Mississippi's hospitals could happen in 2024 as part of a legislative solution | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Brandon Presley has pledged that if he is elected governor in November, he will expand the state's Medicaid program "on Day 1" of his tenure. In today's parlance, good luck with that. The structure of Mississippi's state government makes Presley's promise, however well-intentioned or sincere, difficult in the extreme. Or as the late Mississippi Supreme Court Justice William N. Etheridge, Jr., wrote in his book "Modernizing Mississippi's Constitution" in 1950: "The governor is given the chief executive power and a mandate to faithfully enforce the laws. However, that obligation does not carry with it a corresponding grant of power." Things haven't changed dramatically on that score in the last 73 years. The 1890 Mississippi Constitution created a "weak governor, strong Legislature" system of government. Nearly a century after the 1890 Constitution was adopted, Mississippi's governor was granted the increased powers of gubernatorial succession and the authority to propose an executive budget. But overall, the 1890 constitution still vests the lion's share of raw political power in the state Legislature. Therefore, the legislative leadership since 1890 has wielded enormous power. Presley's pledge, it would seem, would be predicated on expanding Medicaid via executive order and through obtaining a federal waiver. But spending money to obtain the waiver or to operate an expanded Medicaid program would seem under the law to require assistance, approval, and most importantly, appropriations from the Mississippi Legislature. Recent polls show incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves leading over Presley's challenge. Reeves has been consistent and firm in his opposition to Medicaid expansion. But regardless of whether or not Presley can pull off an upset in November, it appears that chances for fiscal relief for Mississippi's struggling hospitals are improving and that as an institution, the GOP-controlled Legislature is angling toward action in 2024. |
SPORTS
| 'Anyone can speak up:' Monday players-only meetings give Bulldogs a chance to connect, improve | |
| Every Monday during the season, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers leads a players-only meeting to discuss the previous game and continue preparing for the next one. Rarely has that meeting been as critical as it was this week, with the Bulldogs coming off their most lopsided defeat since October 2021 -- a 41-14 beatdown to LSU on their home field -- and their first road trip of the season coming up against South Carolina. Rogers took as much accountability as anyone after he posted a career-low completion percentage and threw for his fewest single-game yardage since his collegiate debut in 2020. "We had some leaders talk. It's a new week," Rogers said. "We learn about what we did and didn't do last Saturday, so it's key to have senior leadership and guys who will speak up in front of the team and tell guys it's not acceptable the way we played. We have to get it corrected this week." Offensively, MSU (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) looked out of sync for much of Saturday and picked up just one first down on its first five possessions. The Bulldogs were just 3-for-13 on third down, largely because their average yards to go on those plays was nearly 10. Just three of their third-down plays required fewer than eight yards to pick up the first down. "We're playing in third-and-long so many times, and we just have to get better on first and second down," offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay said. "Way too many three-and-outs. We just have to keep chugging along and keep our guys playing better." |
| Zoe Gonzales named SEC Defensive Player of the Week | |
| Following a successful 2-0 week and a sweep of the Maroon & White Invite, the Bulldogs got some weekly recognition from the Southeastern Conference on Monday. Graduate student Zoe Gonzales was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week, her first SEC honor and the first weekly honor of her career. "We are really proud of Zoe for her efforts this past weekend," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said in Monday's press release. "Zoe is a great player, she loves to block and she put on quite a show this past weekend. We are happy Zoe is here for her final season and really looking forward to seeing what she does as we head into conference play." The Jacksonville State transfer has been one of Mississippi State's -- and the SEC's -- best defensive players this season, recording 15 blocks in two matches this past week. |
| Will Congress find middle ground and pass NIL legislation? Ted Cruz thinks it's '60-40.' Others are less optimistic. | |
| Sitting cross-legged in his Texas boots, Ted Cruz gazed out at the more than 75 FBS athletic directors before him while contemplating an answer to the question just asked: What are the odds that a college athletic bill governing name, image and likeness (NIL) passes Congress soon? Eight seconds of silence passed. "I think the odds are 60-40 we get it done," Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas, finally whispered into the microphone. A full-throated applause erupted from his audience. And then some 15 minutes later, in a rebuttal fitting of the divide in Congress, Cruz's Democratic counterpart in the U.S. Senate sent any expectations plummeting. "The chances are not 60-40," said Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "They are less than 50-50 that Congress does something comprehensive in the short term." The discord among congressional lawmakers played out here Tuesday in front of some of the leading administrators in college sports. Over the course of 90 minutes, three U.S. senators and a Congresswoman separately delivered varying degrees of opinions and prognostications on the passage of college athlete legislation. Amidst an urgent push from the NCAA and college leaders for a federal bill, lawmakers offered a mixed bag during an annual gathering of college officials with LEAD1, an organization representing a majority of FBS athletic directors. From a raised stage in a room at a downtown D.C. hotel, the dichotomy was not so surprising from members of a split or, some might say, fractured U.S. Senate. There was optimism and pessimism. There were compromises and disagreements. One senator, Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, acknowledged that he wants to roll back new NCAA rules to "put the genie back" in the bottle, preserve a more amateur model and prevent athletes from becoming employees. |
| Good chance Congress will pass NCAA-supported NIL bill? Depends on which senator you ask | |
 | A small ballroom's worth of major-college athletics directors on Tuesday got a close-up view of the political landscape in Washington without having to go to Capitol Hill. At a hotel about two miles from their offices, they all but cheered when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he believed there was a "60-40" chance that Congress will pass a college-sports bill that the AD's and NCAA officials have been hoping will bring some national order at least to athletes' activities in making money from their names, images and likenesses (NIL). Cruz is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over this issue, and he told the LEAD1 Association's annual fall meeting that during a recent regular lunch with committee chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., they spent almost half of the time discussing the NIL issue. But he added "that 40 is real." Soon thereafter, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told the AD's: "I totally disagree (with Cruz's 60-40 assessment). I think there is very little chance" of a bill's passage, adding that "it's not a priority issue for Congress." Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., noted dryly that, on the House side, "we literally cannot get the government funded" right now due to wide range of political turmoil. She then added that while Republicans may be use their House majority push through a college-sports bill from Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., it "won't have life in the Senate." Murphy and Trahan have introduced their own bill called the "College Athlete Economic Freedom Act". Trahan's comment was not long after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., left the AD's pondering what could be another problem for them -- an idea that he has to change Pell Grant funding rules so that athletes receiving full scholarships would no longer be allowed to receive those dollars. |
| Promotion/relegation in college football? Game-changing idea could help save Pac-12 | |
| On the Palouse this Saturday night, the Pac-2 Bowl will unfold. The remaining two members of the imploded Pac-12 conference, Oregon State and Washington State, meet in a game of top-25 ranked teams. Amid a slew of giant matchups this weekend, the Pac-2 battle is sliding beneath the hubbub despite the stakes. The Cougars are 3-0, ranked No. 21 and have taken down Wisconsin with FCS-turned-Power Five dual-threat quarterback Cameron Ward. The Beavers are 3-0, ranked No. 14 and have allowed 33 points in three games with former Clemson QB D.J. Uiagalelei manning the offense. But it's off the field where so much interest in these two programs lies. As they team up for a court fight over the Pac-12's survival, their future conference affiliation hangs in doubt. Will they dissolve the Pac-12 and join the Mountain West? Will they merge with the Mountain West under the Pac-12 banner to preserve the league and its assets? Will they rebuild the Pac-12 by plucking other Group of Five members? Or ... Will they do something unconventional, creative and, some might say, altogether eccentric. Will they leap with both feet into a pool of uncertainty, overhaul how college conferences are structured and remake the industry's long-standing model? |
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