| Thursday, November 30, 2023 |
| Tribal chief delivers keynote to MSU students | |
 | Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Chief Cyrus Ben gave the keynote address at Mississippi State University's Native American/American Indian History Month earlier this month. Ben was the keynote speaker for the event on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at the Fowlkes Auditorium in the Colvard Student Union on the Mississippi State University campus. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mississippi State University, MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum, the Office of Academic Access & Support Division of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion, the ISSA Club, faculty and students for their hospitality for allowing me to come and tell our story," Ben said. This event was hosted by the MSU Academic Access & Support office and included members of the Indigenous Students and Allies Association. Choctaw Indian Princess Nalani Thompson was also in attendance and provided information regarding the Chahta Immi Cultural Center. Tribal Member and current CCMS American Indian Day Princess Karsyn Wallace sang the national anthem in the Choctaw language. ISAA members K.J. Butler, Tatianna Willis, and Michael Wilson were on a panel to discuss Native American Students in Higher Education. ISAA President Rayven McMillan performed for the crowd before introducing Ben for his keynote speech. This was part of a slate of events that started earlier that day and ended with a mixer on Nov. 21 at the Butler Guest House next to Davis Wade Stadium. During his trip to Starkville Ben met with MSU with Keenum where they discussed “future partnerships,” according to university spokesman Sid Salter. Ben also took the opportunity to highlight the Tribal Scholarship Program, calling it “one the most successful programs of the Tribe.” |
| 2023 Staff Development Conference registration ends Dec. 5 | |
 | Registration for the upcoming 2023 Mississippi State Staff Development Conference ends 5 p.m. Dec. 5. The one-day event, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 13 at the Old Main Academic Center, will encourage and support the holistic development and well-being of all MSU staff. It is free and open to all professional and support staff, and check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. To register, visit https://webapps.its.msstate.edu/staffcouncil/conference and click "Log in." The event will offer sessions focused on technology, professional and personal development, networking opportunities and up-to-date resources, and will include the opportunity to attend breakout sessions, hear from a special guest during the keynote session, visit numerous vendors at the Resource Fair and enjoy a complimentary lunch along with the chance to win great door prizes. |
| MDAH to Host Annual Christmas by Candlelight Tour | |
| Always a popular event, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) will host its annual Christmas by Candlelight Tour, a free, festive evening filled with live holiday music, holiday themed craft activities, sweet treats for all, and a photo opportunity with Santa Claus. The tours will begin at 4 p.m. and run through 8 p.m. The Christmas by Candlelight Tour sites include some of the Capital City's most historic and significant buildings, including the Mississippi Governor's Mansion, Old Capitol Museum, Two Mississippi Museums, and Mississippi State Capitol. "Christmas by Candlelight is one of our most cherished nights of the year at MDAH," said Katie Blount, MDAH director. "So many happy memories are made among families and friends while experiencing the festive atmosphere and beauty of the Old Capitol Museum, Mississippi State Capitol, Two Mississippi Museums, and Mississippi Governor's Mansion, all brilliantly adorned in holiday decor." Visitors can take advantage of free shuttle buses running between MDAH tour sites, walk or drive, and come and go. Parking is free at the Two Mississippi Museums visitor parking garage and the Mississippi State Capitol parking lot. Street parking is also free at each location. |
| Think you might have a gem in your Mississippi junk? 'American Pickers' is looking for you | |
 | Do you have a collection of "interesting stuff" that you think might capture the eye of the "American Pickers"? The cast of the History Channel's hit television show is returning to Mississippi in hopes of finding fun, rare and interesting items as well as meeting the memorable characters who collect them. "American Pickers" plans to be in Mississippi in February to film the next round of episodes. The show explores the fascinating world of antique "picking" -- "following skilled pickers as they hunt for America's most valuable antiques." The cast enjoys finding historically significant or rare items, in addition to unforgettable characters and their collections, a "Pickers" spokesperson said in an email. The purpose is to find these gems to rescue and recycle them. In addition to finding unique items like old dolls and rusty farm equipment, the cast enjoys meeting the people or "characters" who share their stories about the things in their collections. As the cast digs into the collections, they look for items that my have historical significance to hopefully give them a new lease on life while learning a thing or two about America's past along the way, the spokesperson said. Anyone who has a unique item to share and story to tell -- and is willing to part with it -- send your name, phone number, location and description of the collection withphotos to americanpickers@cineflix.com or call 646-493-2184. For more information, visit facebook.com/GotAPick. |
| Looking for an escape, more adults are buying childhood toys | |
| The number of adults buying toys for themselves increased by 14% from September 2022 to September 2023, according to data from market research group Circana. But adults aren't just buying themselves new toys, many are looking to rebuild their old childhood collections. The recent increase in adults buying toys is likely due to increased nostalgia, said Jane Eva Baxter, an associate professor of anthropology at DePaul. That's because people are more nostalgic during stressful times, Baxter said. Between a global pandemic, international conflicts, and threats of a looming recession people are looking to escape back into their childhoods. "It's like, well, everything else may not go well today, but my Tamagotchi is not going to die," Baxter said. The increase in adults collecting their favorite toys started during the height of the pandemic when people were looking for things to do while stuck in their houses and hasn't slowed down. From January to October this year, people searched "antique toy" or "vintage toy" roughly 14 times a minute, according to eBay. But toy collecting also requires adults to feel comfortable spending money on non-essential items. And there could be some headwinds coming for the toy industry. Growth in the toys industry has recently slowed due to consumers spending less on discretionary items, according to Circana. |
| Consumers Pulled Back on Spending in October | |
 | Americans slowed their spending in October and inflation continued cooling as the economy downshifted from a fast-paced third quarter. Consumer spending rose 0.2% in October, down sharply from a 0.7% rise in September, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That marked the slowest increase since May. The combination of ebbing income growth, high interest rates and prices, dwindling pandemic savings and the resumption of student loan payments are eroding Americans' ability to keep boosting their spending as briskly as they did through the summer, economists say. Inflation has cooled markedly this year, likely bringing the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases to an end. Price growth as measured by the personal-consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, remained mild in October. Fed officials are likely to hold interest rates steady at a 22-year high at their meeting Dec. 12-13. The big question for investors is shifting from whether the Fed will raise rates again to whether and when officials will confirm that they are done hiking rates. Officials say they need to see inflation continuing to decline toward their 2% target before they can do that. Several factors could constrain Americans' budgets in the months to come. Households have exhausted most of the excess savings racked up during the pandemic. Credit is more expensive. Student loan payments have resumed after a long moratorium. |
| House Republicans unanimously agree to elect Jason White as speaker | |
| As expected, Mississippi House Republicans are preparing to implement Rep. Jason White as the state's newest speaker. In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday in Madison, the 79-member GOP caucus unanimously chose White to take over the chamber's highest position left open by outgoing Republican Philip Gunn. White, who currently serves as speaker pro tempore, will not officially take over until Jan. 2 when a formal chamber vote is held. However, Republicans have a supermajority in the House and sources tell SuperTalk Mississippi News that all members have agreed to maintain their votes when lawmakers gavel in after the new year. White, a three-term legislator from West, is expected to pass the torch of speaker pro tempore to Rep. Manly Barton, a Republican from Moss Point. The decision to elect Barton came on Wednesday as well. Ever since Gunn informed his colleagues over a year ago that he did not plan to seek reelection, ending his run as speaker after the current term, SuperTalk Mississippi News has spoken to multiple lawmakers who predicted White to take over. "I don't think there are any secrets as far as I stand. I fully expect Jason White to be our next speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives," Rep. Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, said in an August interview. |
| House Republicans elect Jason White as new speaker, Manly Barton as speaker pro tempore | |
| Republican House members chose Jason White as the chamber's next speaker, elevating a new person to one of the most powerful political roles in Mississippi for the next four years. The 79-member GOP caucus met Wednesday morning at the Annandale Golf Club in Madison, according to multiple lawmakers. Unanimously and without dissent, the caucus threw its support behind White, a three-term lawmaker from West, to become its new leader. They also elected Manly Barton, a lawmaker from Moss Point, to become the new speaker pro tempore and second in command. "I appreciate the trust my fellow Republicans have now placed in me as the nominee for Speaker," White said in a statement. "I am energized going into the 2024 Legislative Session, and I look forward to addressing the challenges and opportunities facing our state with conservative policies and principles." The closed-door meeting this week is technically an unofficial coronation of the speaker. After this week's vote, House Republicans, who hold a two-thirds supermajority in the 122-member House, are expected to stick to this week's vote and unanimously elect White and Barton on the opening day of the 2024 session, formalizing the decisions they made on Wednesday. White, 50, was first elected to the House in 2011 as a Democrat, but he quickly switched to the Republican Party that next year. He represents portions of Attala, Carroll, Holmes and Leake counties and previously led the House Rules Committee and the House Management Committee. |
| Mobile online sports betting examined by lawmakers, industry leaders | |
 | After the final meeting of the Legislature's mobile-online sports betting task force on Tuesday, there were still many unanswered questions about what legalizing this form of gambling would look like in Mississippi. Still, Republican Casey Eure, Chair of the House Gaming Committee, says that he plans on introducing a bill legalizing mobile sports betting during the 2024 session. Democratic Sen. David Blount, a member of the task force, says whatever form that bill takes should protect the state's already highly successful gaming industry. "My primary interest as it relates to gaming in Mississippi, is to protect the jobs of tens of thousands of Mississippians who work in this important business that has a big economic impact," Blount said. "How will that be affected by betting on cell phones?" Those who are financially invested in the state's casinos stand to lose revenue if mobile sports betting is legalized, and are generally against it. Don Mitchell, who owns casinos in Vicksburg and Tunica argues that in-state gaming companies won't be able to compete with mobile gambling giants who can afford to lose large sums of money to attract customers. "When Amazon first came on the online retail scene, their business model was to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, as has FanDuel and DraftKings," Mitchell said. "What they're doing is establishing themselves as the go to name in all of these markets." Proponents of mobile sports betting argue that legalization would disrupt the massive amount of illegal sports betting that occurs in states without regulated mobile betting markets. |
| Infrequent grand juries can mean long pretrial waits in jail in Mississippi, survey shows | |
 | Most people in Mississippi's county jails have been locked up at least three months while waiting to go on trial. Some have longer wait times because two-thirds of the counties only convene grand juries two or three times a year, according to a survey released Thursday by a group that tracks justice issues. Mississippi does not require consistency among the 82 counties about how often grand juries meet to consider indictments -- the formal charging documents to send a case to trial. "If you get arrested in one of these counties where grand juries seldom meet, you can wind up in jail for months or even years just waiting to be indicted, and you will spend more time behind bars simply because of geographic misfortune," said Cliff Johnson, an attorney who is director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Starting during the summer, law students and staff at the center spent several weeks issuing more than 100 public records requests and calling the offices of district attorneys and court clerks to gather information about the frequency of grand jury sessions. In releasing the survey results, Johnson said Mississippi should join most other states in limiting how long prosecutors can delay seeking indictments. Mississippi, Alabama, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Virginia are the only states with no time limit on how long a person can be jailed without being indicted, he said. |
| Mississippi GOP challenges election night court order that kept polls open during ballot shortage | |
| After ballot shortages in Mississippi's largest county sowed chaos and confusion on the evening of the November statewide election, the state Republican Party has filed a petition challenging a court order that kept polls open longer than usual. The Mississippi GOP filed papers Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to dissolve a lower court order that kept polls open an extra hour as voters endured long lines and election officials scrambled to print ballots. The petition would not invalidate any ballots or change the election results. It was filed to clarify for future elections that the lower court lacked jurisdiction and that its order violated Mississippi's election laws, said Spencer Ritchie, an attorney representing the state GOP. In the Nov. 7 general election, up to nine voting precincts in Hinds County ran out of ballots. The county is majority-Black and is a Democratic stronghold. People waited up to two hours to vote as election officials made frantic trips to office supply stores so they could print ballots and deliver them to polling places. It's unclear how many people left without voting or the political affiliations of most impacted voters. Two days later, the county's election commissioners, all Democrats, said they used the wrong voter data to order ballots. As a result, they did not account for the changes that went into effect after the legislative redistricting process in 2022. The state GOP's court petition focuses on two election night court orders that it says were conflicting. |
| Ballot shortages are rare in U.S. elections, but here's why they sometimes happen | |
 | Earlier this month, ballot shortages at a few polling locations in a Mississippi county caused some serious issues for voters. Such shortages are rare in U.S. elections, but they do occur on occasion. The shortages in Mississippi -- along with instances in Ohio this month and in Texas last year -- point to the difficulty election officials sometimes have in determining how many ballots to have ready. Mississippi has historically had some of the lowest voter participation rates in the nation. But ahead of a competitive gubernatorial election this year, activists from across the state got to work mobilizing voters. Harya Tarekegn, the director of policy and advocacy at the Mississippi Center for Justice, says there was a particular effort made to engage with voters in Hinds County, the state's most populous and a predominantly Black county. "There was a lot of canvassing done, a lot of community education around specific issues," she says. "But also there were a lot of efforts to drive people to the polls to make voting easier, to increase access in that way." Mobilization efforts worked. Tarekegn says there was a surge in voter turnout on Election Day, particularly in Hinds County. Unfortunately, she says, election officials weren't prepared. "We started getting calls about polling locations running out of ballots," Tarekegn says. "Some locations had already run out of ballots by the time a poll monitor called us and some we got calls where, you know, they had 14 ballots left, but 100 people in line." At least one Hinds County official told local media that they did not anticipate such a high turnout for the election. David Becker, executive director and founder of the nonpartisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, says occasional shortages are why election officials are usually really careful when they are trying to figure out how many ballots to print. |
| Recreation bill aims to foster biking, target shooting on public lands | |
 | Leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday unveiled a bipartisan bill intended to support the outdoor recreation movement that has boomed since the pandemic. Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., introduced the bill with ranking member Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., as a co-sponsor. It includes portions of 15 proposals from Republicans and Democrats. A hearing is set for Thursday in the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. "While we might disagree on many things, we're united in the fact that expanding access to outdoor lands and improving the experience for outdoor recreation on federal lands and waters is something worth fighting for," Westerman said. "This bill is not just something to feel good about, it also delivers real solutions to problems faced by outdoorsmen and women across the country." The bill includes a range of provisions to support outdoor recreation, including by creating new adaptive trails for disabled people and requiring agencies to identify opportunities for activities such as target shooting, mountain biking and rock climbing. It seeks to address overcrowding by creating a pilot program for real-time visitation data for the most-used areas, and would support public-private partnerships to construct affordable housing for staff in "gateway communities" near park entrances. Public land agencies have identified these issues as particular concerns in recent years. According to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis earlier this month, the value added by the outdoor recreation economy last year accounted for 2.2 percent of the national gross domestic product. The industry's growth was also double overall GDP growth, and supported 5 million jobs across the country. |
| Thousands of fake Facebook accounts shut down by Meta were primed to polarize voters ahead of 2024 | |
| Someone in China created thousands of fake social media accounts designed to appear to be from Americans and used them to spread polarizing political content in an apparent effort to divide the U.S. ahead of next year's elections, Meta said Thursday. The network of nearly 4,800 fake accounts was attempting to build an audience when it was identified and eliminated by the tech company, which owns Facebook and Instagram. The accounts sported fake photos, names and locations as a way to appear like everyday American Facebook users weighing in on political issues. Instead of spreading fake content as other networks have done, the accounts were used to reshare posts from X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that were created by politicians, news outlets and others. The interconnected accounts pulled content from both liberal and conservative sources, an indication that its goal was not to support one side or the other but to exaggerate partisan divisions and further inflame polarization. The newly identified network shows how America's foreign adversaries exploit U.S.-based tech platforms to sow discord and distrust, and it hints at the serious threats posed by online disinformation next year, when national elections will occur in the U.S., India, Mexico, Ukraine, Pakistan, Taiwan and other nations. "These networks still struggle to build audiences, but they're a warning," said Ben Nimmo, who leads investigations into inauthentic behavior on Meta's platforms. "Foreign threat actors are attempting to reach people across the internet ahead of next year's elections, and we need to remain alert." |
| Henry Kissinger Is Dead at 100; Shaped Nation's Cold War History | |
 | Henry A. Kissinger, the scholar-turned-diplomat who engineered the United States' opening to China, negotiated its exit from Vietnam, and used cunning, ambition and intellect to remake American power relationships with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, sometimes trampling on democratic values to do so, died on Wednesday at his home in Kent, Conn. He was 100. His death was announced in a statement by his consulting firm. Few diplomats have been both celebrated and reviled with such passion as Mr. Kissinger. Considered the most powerful secretary of state in the post-World War II era, he was by turns hailed as an ultrarealist who reshaped diplomacy to reflect American interests and denounced as having abandoned American values, particularly in the arena of human rights, if he thought it served the nation's purposes. He advised 12 presidents -- more than a quarter of those who have held the office -- from John F. Kennedy to Joseph R. Biden Jr. With a scholar's understanding of diplomatic history, a German-Jewish refugee's drive to succeed in his adopted land, a deep well of insecurity and a lifelong Bavarian accent that sometimes added an indecipherable element to his pronouncements, he transformed almost every global relationship he touched. To his admirers, he was the brilliant architect of Pax Americana, the chess grandmaster who was willing to upend the board and inject a measure of unpredictability into American diplomacy. To his detractors -- and even some friends and former employees -- he was vain, conspiratorial, arrogant and short-tempered, a man capable of praising a top aide as indispensable while ordering the F.B.I. to illegally tap his home phones to see if he was leaking to the press. |
| Tucker Carlson, Trump's shadow diplomat | |
| Donald Trump has mulled naming Tucker Carlson as his vice president if he gets another term as U.S. president. But Carlson, the ex-Fox News journalist and polemicist, looks more like he's auditioning to be Trump's top international diplomat. Since his ouster from cable TV, Carlson has been taking his new X show on a world tour, and his interviews with Argentina's Javier Milei and Hungary's Viktor Orbán have racked up hundreds of millions of views. Yet Carlson is also engaging in a sort of shadow diplomacy. In early November, he popped up in London to visit Julian Assange at Belmarsh prison. Eleven days later, Carlson was spotted on the streets of Madrid, alongside Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain's far-right Vox party, amid protesters against amnesty for Catalan separatists. "Your politics are complicated for an American," Carlson told Spanish outlet El Confidencial. "I want to understand it and try to explain it." This week, Carlson released an episode of his X show entitled "Dublin in Flames" in which he spoke with Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and long-time Donald Trump ally, about the riots sparked by the stabbing of three children and an afterschool teacher outside a primary school in the heart of the Irish capital. Carlson claimed that the Irish government is "trying to replace the population of Ireland with people from the third world." He's even taken it upon himself to apologize for the behavior of the U.S. ambassador to Hungary during his August trip to Budapest. David Pressman, the current American envoy, is a human rights lawyer who has made no secret of the fact that he's raising two kids with a male partner in a country that's sought to ban showing LGBTQ+ content to minors. Carlson credited his own interest in the wider world to "my dad's job." Richard Carlson was a foreign correspondent and diplomat in the George W. Bush administration before becoming a lobbyist. |
| Study says the US is ill-prepared to ensure housing for the growing number of older people | |
| Michael Genaldi's road to homelessness began early this year when a car slammed into the rear of his motorcycle, crushed three of his ribs, and left him in a coma for over a month. The 58-year-old lost his job as a machine operator, then his home, and he was living in his truck when he was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer. Too young to get Social Security, Genaldi now lives temporarily in a shelter for people 55 and older in Phoenix while he navigates the process of qualifying for disability payments. As its population ages, the United States is ill-prepared to adequately house and care for the growing number of older people, concludes a new report being released Thursday by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Without enough government help, "many older adults will have to forgo needed care or rely on family and friends for assistance," warned Jennifer Molinsky, project director of the center's Housing an Aging Society Program. Many, like Genaldi, will become homeless. Molinsky said more governmental assistance could better help the upsurge of older Americans who are baby boomers born after World War II. Creative ideas are especially needed now to house people with fixed or dwindling incomes and with insufficient savings, the report says. Over the next decade, the U.S. population over the age of 75 will increase by 45%, growing from 17 million to nearly 25 million. And many of those people are expected to struggle financially. |
| UM launching program in evidence-based policing and reform | |
 | In an effort to improve law enforcement and the relationships between police and the communities they serve, the University of Mississippi is launching a new graduate certificate program in evidence-based policing and reform. Beginning next spring, the Center for Evidence-Based Policing and Reform will offer a cutting-edge curriculum and training program designed for working law enforcement professionals. The new graduate program is led by Wes Jennings, often recognized as one of the world's leading criminologists, and is housed in the university's Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies. The program will award a graduate certificate to students who complete it. The practice-based training is the first of its kind in the nation focused on evidence-based policing, Jennings said. "It is focused on nurturing shared values and means of communication to improve relationships between law enforcement, related agencies and the general public for the business of maintaining law and order while respecting human dignity," said Peter Grandjean, dean of the UM School of Applied Sciences. The curriculum includes four courses delivered online, where participants will engage in interactive assignments, discussions and prerecorded lecture videos. Instructors will schedule virtual office hours at times convenient for working participants. |
| Protestors pack the Square for Palestine | |
 | Approximately 125 people gathered on the Square in Oxford Sunday, Nov. 26 to protest the siege of Gaza as well as the occupation of lands that historically belonged to Palestinians. The demonstration, organized by the Muslim Student Association at the University of Mississippi, began at 1:30 p.m. and lasted for an hour and a half. Senior pharmacy major and president of the MSA Khalil Abualya explained the impetus for the protest. "We came out on Sunday with the intention to raise awareness of the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has cost the lives of more than 18,000 civilians, 67% of which are women and children," Abualya said. "We believe that we must use our first amendment (rights) to the greatest of our abilities." Abualya spent part of his childhood growing up in the West Bank, and he has lost family members in the siege of Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. He explained that many Palestinians in the Oxford-University community want their suffering to be recognized. Zynub Al-Sherri is an Oxford local and senior Arabic major at Ole Miss. She is Palestinian, and she voiced her concerns about the response of the U.S. government to mass pro-Palestine demonstrations that have sprung up across the country on college campuses and in major cities. Al-Sherri expressed that she felt a duty to use her constitutional right to speech to advocate for her family back in Palestine. |
| USM geography student, assistant professor selected as finalists | |
 | Story maps created by an University of Southern Mississippi an assistant professor and a geography student from Sumrall have been selected as finalists for the national 2023 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition. Receiving submissions from more than 50 countries, the competition was cohosted by software/app developer Esri and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Participants could enter the competition along one of two tracks. Track One consisted of local or indigenous conservation projects, while Track Two consisted of a place-based research project/scholarly article on conservation. The projects by USM student Joshua Green and faculty member Dr. Kayla Stan were selected as a finalist in the latter category. Green is a senior from Sumrall majoring in geography. Stan is an assistant professor of geography in USM's School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences. During a web mapping course held by Stan, students were challenged to create stories about conserving our planet using the software ArcGIS StoryMaps and were required to submit their work to the competition. |
| For Republican Governors, Civics Is the Latest Education Battleground | |
| Lisa Phillip, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at an Orlando charter school, appreciates many of Florida's new guidelines for teaching civics. She has enjoyed discussing, as the state requires, the advantages that the U.S. government and economy have over socialism and communism -- something that some of her immigrant students feel innately, she said. This fall, Ms. Phillip is one of thousands of social studies teachers adjusting to a hotly debated overhaul of civics in several conservative states. The revamp is led by Republican governors --- Ron DeSantis of Florida, Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia --- who have also restricted how race and gender are discussed in schools. The new civics standards are, above all else, explicitly patriotic, emphasizing the importance of children having pride in their country. The standards do not avoid discussions of race but frame racism in a particular light, not as a structural feature of American life but as a deviation from the nation's norms and ideals. The state standards are yet another sign that the nation's schools are on two tracks, with deep divides over what children should learn about their country. In the past decade, states like California, Oregon and Vermont have changed social studies by adopting ethnic studies requirements and adding L.G.B.T.Q. history, discrimination in housing and lending, and critiques of capitalism into the curriculum. In Florida, Virginia and South Dakota, education policymakers turned to experts affiliated with Hillsdale College, a Christian institution in Michigan that has taken on a growing role in public education policy. |
| Birmingham students want Alabama colleges to keep test-optional policies | |
 | College is a place where high school graduates go to find themselves and figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but college admissions standards can make it difficult for some high school students to succeed. Some students breeze through standardized tests like the ACT, while others struggle to stay awake and focused on the task at hand. Alabama high school students have mixed feelings about the value of taking standardized tests. And many Alabama colleges have responded, especially since the pandemic, by making tests optional. Addison Jeffries, a senior at Ramsay High School in Birmingham, said, "I think test-optional schools are ideal for students who struggle with standardized tests." Amani Muhammad, a senior, said she thinks everyone should try applying to college. "Applying to college is crucial, even if you're not sure what you want to do with your life," she said. Some research has shown that test-optional policies encourage more students to apply for college, especially if they are from an underrepresented group. Many Alabama colleges promote test-optional policies, but some still ask that students send in test scores and some still use test scores to determine academic and financial aid policies. The University of Alabama, for example, is not requiring test scores for students applying through fall 2024. It calls its admissions process "holistic," with review of both academic and non-academic criteria. Auburn University doesn't require test scores either, but says they are preferred. |
| NewsNation plans live coverage in Tuscaloosa before, after Republican presidential debate at U. of Alabama | |
 | Cable network NewsNation has added local live programming preceding and following its Dec. 6 coverage of the GOP presidential debate in the Moody Concert Hall on the University of Alabama campus. At 4 p.m. Dec. 4, Blake Burman, NewsNation's chief Washington correspondent, will moderate the political ensemble program "The Hill" live from the front of UA's Moody building. On Dec. 5, there will be broadcasts live from the UA Quad, at the center of the campus, including "News Nation Now" with Connell McShane, 2-4 p.m., and "On Balance with Leland Vittert," at 6 p.m. On Dec. 6, most of the NewsNation lineup will be live from Tuscaloosa, including the shows above, and more. Leading up the 7-9 p.m. debate, there'll be a two-hour "Countdown to the NewsNation Republican Primary Debate" special hosted by Chris Cuomo, with chief Washington anchor Vittert live from inside the hall. NewsNation will have analysis and commentary during the day and after the event, by Cuomo, Vittert, political editor Chris Stirewalt, and other NewsNation reporters and contributors including senior political contributor George Will; former Trump administration officials Sean Spicer and Mick Mulvaney; and former Obama administration official Johanna Maska. In addition to NewsNation, the debate will be simulcast in the Eastern and Central time zones on Nexstar's broadcast television network, The CW. |
| Public and One Health major to come fall 2024 | |
| Coming in the fall of 2024 is the first set of incoming freshmen to join a new major introduced by the College of Veterinary Medicine, Public and One Health. Although multiple universities incorporate a One Health model into public health programs, Auburn University is the first institution to create a public and One Health major. Professors Andrea Perkins, doctor in veterinary science, and Kelley Steury, doctor of veterinary medicine, began creating the major by brainstorming ideas in 2021. The professors, who each hold a master's in public health, contacted professors in multiple disciplines across the university to see how they could incorporate multiple aspects into the major. After working with faculty members, they took it to the University Curriculum Committee, where it was approved and moved to the Auburn University Board of Trustees. In February, the board approved the new undergraduate program, which received final approval in June from the Alabama Commission of Higher Education. The latter move allowed current undergraduate students to join the major in the fall semester. The major combines public health education with the One Health model, a comprehensive outlook on how animal, human and environmental health intertwine with one another. One Health acts as a collaborative framework and allows public health workers to work regionally, nationally and globally on projects and research that better the living of humans, animals and the environment. |
| UGA researcher's discovery of new planet featured on Apple commercial | |
 | Did you see the new Apple commercial with a UGA cameo? The 15-second commercial, titled "Discovering a Planet on Mac," which was released on Nov. 9 according to iSpot.Tv, shows a user named Jason Terry, who was a University of Georgia physics and astronomy doctoral student as of spring 2023, logging in and working on a coding software. A notification about an interview with UGA Today, the University of Georgia's news site, and Astronomy.com pops up in the top of the screen. An article on UGA Today with the headline "UGA researchers discover new planet outside solar system," which features a study that Terry co-authored, then appears. "We are delighted that Jason Terry's research was highlighted in the latest Apple ad campaign," said UGA spokesperson James Hataway. "This recognition is a testament to the extraordinary research conducted by faculty across the University of Georgia." The commercial uses the song "All I Do is Work" by Kurtis Perrie, and ends with the slogan "Great Work Happens on Mac." |
| Top UF official departs for private Christian university | |
| A longtime top UF official is leaving to work for a private Christian university in Texas. Curtis Reynolds, UF's vice president of business affairs, announced his resignation in a news release Wednesday morning. His departure comes after a series of shakeups in top level leadership at the university since President Ben Sasse took office in February. Reynolds, who joined UF in 2010, oversaw multiple university-wide functions including business services, public and environmental safety, construction and building maintenance. David Kratzer, UF's senior vice president for construction, facilities and auxiliary operations, will continue to manage those functions, UF spokesman Steve Orlando wrote in an email. "I have cherished my time at the University of Florida and will continue to support Gator Nation from afar," Reynolds wrote. "I look forward to seeing the remarkable things the university will continue to accomplish." Reynolds is leaving UF on Feb. 29 to work for Baylor University, a private Christian research university in Waco, Texas. He starts as the university's new chief financial officer and vice president for business and finance on March 1. Reynolds was previously the vice provost for administration at Miami Dade College, where he was responsible for central business affairs on eight campuses with more than 165,000 students throughout Miami-Dade County. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was the executive director for administration. |
| Texas A&M interim president Mark Welsh outlines forward-looking vision for campus | |
 | Mark Welsh is starting his fifth month as Texas A&M's interim president, but Wednesday was the first time he said he felt able to speak to the broader campus community about university matters that weren't problematic. Instead, Welsh highlighted short- and long-term university goals and initiatives during his hourlong State of the University address Wednesday inside Rudder Theatre, where over 1,000 campus administrators, faculty and staff, leaders and students were in attendance. Over 5,000 streamed the speech online. Welsh's interim tag is expected to be taken off soon by A&M's Board of Regents, who unanimously named him the lone finalist for the permanent president position on Nov. 17. That vote trigged a mandatory 21-day waiting period before Welsh can officially be appointed to the role, which could come as soon as Dec. 8. While Welsh divulged into where A&M was during a tumultuous summer and where the university currently sits, he spent almost 30 minutes sharing where he sees the campus going and announced two major science projects will commence in January as A&M officials continue to create plans to study the university's capacity and student experience. Welsh reminded the crowd temperatures were hot on the thermostat and on A&M's main campus this summer, and that he's the end result of the heat brought to bear on the university. While Welsh said he didn't want to relive the tumultuous summer that brought the resignation of A&M President M. Katherine Banks, he shared concerns he heard his first few weeks on the job. |
| Duke University gets record $100 million gift from Duke Endowment | |
 | Duke University has trailed other prominent schools recently on a key measure of socioeconomic diversity -- the share of incoming students with enough financial need to qualify for federal Pell grants. In the 2020-21 school year, federal data show, 12 percent of Duke freshmen were Pell-eligible. The Pell shares at several other highly selective private schools were several percentage points higher that year, ranging up to 21 percent at Yale and Columbia universities. On Thursday, Duke announced a record $100 million gift, the largest single donation to the university based in Durham, N.C. It will help Duke expand financial aid as it seeks to attract students from a broader range of family backgrounds. The gift, Duke said, will build on progress already underway. This fall, according to university President Vincent E. Price, 17 percent of freshmen receive Pell grants. "Continuing to diversify our student body is a top priority for the university," Price said. The gift comes from the Duke Endowment, a separate organization, based in Charlotte. The endowment was created by an industrialist, James B. Duke, in 1924 -- the same year the school was renamed to honor his father and the Duke family. The endowment has given nearly $2 billion to the university and Duke Health over the past century. About $62 million of the new gift will be dedicated to financial aid, the university said, including programs targeting undergraduates from North Carolina and South Carolina as well as graduate and professional students who earned bachelor's degrees at historically Black colleges and universities. |
| Ohio bill to ban diversity training requirements in higher education stalls in GOP House | |
| A GOP-sponsored bill that would ban nearly all diversity and inclusion training requirements at Ohio's public colleges and universities and bar public universities from taking stances on "controversial" topics doesn't have the votes to move forward in the Legislature, according to the House's conservative leader. House Speaker Jason Stephens, a rural southern Ohio Republican, told reporters Tuesday that he wouldn't be pushing the contentious legislation to a floor vote in the GOP-dominated House, as it simply doesn't have enough support despite having cleared the conservative state Senate. The multifaceted measure would drastically change the way students learn and faculty teach across the nation's fourth-largest public university system, and comes alongside other Republican-led states targeting diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. Supporters of the measure have called it necessary to rid higher education of bias, promote "intellectual diversity" and help protect conservative speech on campuses. Dozens of university students and faculty, as well as the 61,000-student Ohio State University, have spoken out against the bill. Many have argued the legislation encourages censorship and allows the Legislature to micromanage higher education -- particularly when it comes to defining subjective terms like "bias," "intellectual diversity" and "controversial matters." |
| Protesters call for cease-fire, climate change action during Pete Buttigieg's talk at Michigan State | |
| U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's speech Wednesday at Michigan State University motivated protesters to call for action from the Biden administration. People arriving at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center passed by students and community members picketing in the parking garage. The protest was meant to bring attention to ongoing demands for the Biden administration to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. "By some estimates, up to 20,000 (Palestinians), the vast majority of whom are civilians, have been murdered by Israel since Oct. 7," said Samir Levitt, president of Students United for Palestinian Rights at Michigan State University. "We are calling on President Biden, and the entire government as well... to cease aid to Israel... at the very least pressure them diplomatically." Buttigieg was former Gov. Jim Blanchard's guest at his MSU public service forum. He talked about the importance of democracy prevailing, his own political career and climate change. The calls for a cease-fire from outside the building could be heard, but Buttigieg made no mention of the Israel-Hamas conflict or the protesters. When Buttigieg began to speak about climate change and what the administration's goals to address it were, protesters from Climate Defiance rushed the stage. |
| Oregon State University studying 'enigmatic disease' killing honeybees | |
| Oregon State University is teaming up with researchers from around the country to study a disease killing honeybees and impacting pollination of specialty crops. Starting in February, researchers will begin a four-year study on the high incidence of European foulbrood disease -- a disease caused by bacteria infecting honeybees at the larval stage, "turning the newly hatched bee larvae into brown mush within a few days," OSU says. "It's an enigmatic disease. We understand the basics, but we don't know why this disease flares up some years and then goes down," said Project Director Ramesh Sagili, a professor in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences. During the study, researchers will follow honeybee hives as they are transported by commercial beekeepers to pollinate almonds and then blueberries in Washington, Oregon, California, and Mississippi. OSU received a $4.2 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture for the study and is working with researchers from Washington State University, the University of California, Davis, and Mississippi State University. |
| Students Sound Off on Career Centers | |
 | Nina Karlin hasn't graduated from Bryant University yet, but she's already launching a small business based on a shoe insert she designed, called the Fresh Kick. Karlin, who's studying entrepreneurship and marketing, has always been business-minded. At age 9, armed with a PowerPoint presentation, she convinced her canine-averse mom to let her start a dog-walking and boarding business. Necessity also played a role in her most recent venture: Karlin, who plays Division I basketball at Bryant, says she had chronically "smelly shoes" after games and sought to design a three-in-one insert that would prevent creases, eliminate odor and absorb extra moisture. But she also credits Bryant's Amica Center for Career Education with helping jump-start her postcollege career. The center offered Karlin fellowships to subsidize two summer internships and awarded her $1,000 in competitive entrepreneurial funds for the Fresh Kick, which she used to hire an engineer who helped her build a prototype. "The career center has been a big help," says Karlin, a senior who will serve as a Venture for America fellow with a start-up when she graduates, in addition to launching her product. Even for the vast majority of college students without their own businesses, the benefits of working with a career center are well documented. The National Association of Colleges and Employers has found that students who graduated from four-year institutions in 2022 who used just one career center service of any kind received an average of 1.24 job offers, which increased by 0.05 offers for each additional service used. That's compared to just one offer for graduates who didn't use any career center services. |
| Too Many Students Still Aren't Finishing College, New Report Says | |
 | The share of students who earn a college credential within six years of enrolling has stalled at the same rate for a third straight year, according to a report published Thursday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. About 62 percent of students who started college in 2017 have since earned a degree or certificate. The proportion of students who haven't earned a credential within six years aren't just taking longer, the data show; many have left college entirely. Of the 2.4-million students who began college in 2017, nearly one-third left without a credential -- amounting to over 710,000 students. Only about 9 percent of the students who started in 2017 are still enrolled. For students who started college in 2015, just an additional 2.5 percent graduated within seven or eight years, another indication that students are dropping out instead of taking more time. "That's the lowest rate that we've seen in the past five cohorts," said Douglas Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, during a call with reporters. The gender gap continues to grow: The proportion of women who earned a credential within six years is over 8 percentage points higher than the share of men. The gap is "now the widest that we've seen since 2008," Shapiro said. Enrollment rates are also dropping. Last month, another report from the research center found that 3.6-percent fewer first-year students enrolled in the fall of 2023 semester when compared to the fall of 2022. "This is really more bad news for four-year colleges," Shapiro said. |
| Survey Finds Employer Confidence in College Grads | |
| Most employers have confidence in a college graduate's ability to succeed in the workforce. They also value degrees from institutions that expose potential employees to a wide range of viewpoints. Those are two of the biggest takeaways from a report released today by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The report is based on a survey of 1,010 executives and hiring managers across the nation about their attitudes on the value of higher education in preparing students for the workforce. It was conducted in May by Morning Consult, a nonpartisan research company. According to the report, 81 percent of employers said they agreed -- either strongly or somewhat -- that completing a college degree is worth it, despite the money and time it requires. Eighty-three percent said they felt a college degree equipped graduates for success in the job market. The findings that employers still place significant value on the power of a college credential come at a time of increased public skepticism about the return on investment a higher education provides. According to a Gallup poll released in July, only 36 percent of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education, which is a decrease of 20 percentage points compared to eight years ago. The findings also come in an era of increased attempts by some policymakers to control which subjects -- and how they are framed -- should be taught on campuses. |
| Feds Launch Investigation of Harvard for Possible Civil-Rights Violations | |
| The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights on Tuesday added Harvard University to the list of schools the agency is investigating as part of a federal crackdown on race- and religious-based harassment since the start of the conflict in Gaza began last month. Harvard is the 15th school and 8th college or university added to the list since the conflict began Oct. 7, according to the agency's website. Other colleges include The University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College and Columbia University. The number of schools under investigation this year doubled since the conflict started. An institution named on this list means that OCR has initiated an investigation of a case concerning that institution. It doesn't mean that OCR has made a decision about the case. Leaders of Harvard, MIT and University of Pennsylvania will next week address Congress at a hearing titled "Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism." "Over the past several weeks, we've seen countless examples of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses. Meanwhile, college administrators have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow," U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina said. |
| Fears rise on campuses after attack on Palestinian college students | |
 | Fear among Muslim and pro-Palestinian college students is rising after the weekend's attack on three Palestinian 20-year-olds in Vermont. Universities have been a breeding ground of controversy since the Israel-Hamas war began early last month, with heated protests and threats plaguing students' lives. While lawmakers and policy experts have raised alarms on violent antisemitism, advocates say similar spikes in Islamophobia are getting short shrift. The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced it has received 1,283 requests for help amid concerns about violence in the month after Oct. 7. In 2022, over the same time period, the group only got 406 such requests. College administrations have had to navigate concerns from both sides of the Israel-Hamas debate, with neither side currently satisfied with the protection or support given by officials. Meanwhile, a spike in antisemitism on campus has been the subject of two congressional hearings. The Anti-Defamation League found that 312 antisemitic incidents occurred in the U.S. from Oct. 7, the date of Hamas's initial attack on Israel, to Oct. 23. In 2022 at the same time, there were only 64 such incidents. With both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian voices facing harassment and threats of violence, students find themselves in a vulnerable position. |
SPORTS
| Why Jeff Lebby, Zac Selmon represent change for future of Mississippi State football | |
 | As Mississippi State president Mark Keenum spoke to the crowd assembled outside the football facility Monday for coach Jeff Lebby's welcome event, he reminded those in attendance and watching at home of his job assignments beyond Starkville. Keenum is the chairman of the College Football Playoff's top board of executives. He was a leading voice in expanding the CFP from four teams to 12, which will begin next season, and it's evident why. "As we were working on that over the last few years, I can tell you, I worked as passionately as I did to expand that playoff with one reason in mind," Keenum started. He then looked over at Lebby, the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator. "That Mississippi State University would be in this expanded playoff," Keenum said. His reasoning for the high aspirations was based on history. In 2014, Mississippi State was the first team ever ranked No. 1 in the CFP poll. "We've been there, coach," Keenum said. "We want to get back there again." However, to get there again, Mississippi State is taking a new approach. For a program built on defense and constant reminders of a blue-collar mentality, the Bulldogs are going in a new direction. If you've kept tabs on the athletic department since Zac Selmon was hired as athletic director in January, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. |
| Women's Basketball: Shorthanded Bulldogs fall to Miami for first loss of season | |
 | Undermanned, undersized and overtaxed, Mississippi State did all it realistically could Wednesday night against Miami. But the Hurricanes more than doubled up the No. 21 Bulldogs on the boards and shot 50 percent from 3-point range to send MSU to a 74-68 loss. The Bulldogs (8-1) had played -- and won -- on three consecutive days over the weekend at the Van Chancellor Classic, and after just two days off, they were down to seven scholarship players against Miami (6-0). Star post player Jessika Carter missed her second straight game with an injury, forward Erynn Barnum was also injured, and another post player, Quanirah Montague, was out with an illness. "We were just a couple points short there in the fourth quarter, ran out of gas, but man, they competed," head coach Sam Purcell said. "It's as simple as this. We've got to get healthy." With Ramani Parker already out for the season, that left Nyayongah Gony, who started her college career with the Hurricanes, as MSU's only healthy non-guard. Gony played 34 minutes, total, in eight games last season for the Bulldogs, but played 39 out of 40 minutes against her former team. It didn't even take her one minute to begin making a case to play more. On Miami's first trip down the floor, Gony blocked a jumper in the lane from Ja'leah Williams, and after the Hurricanes kept the possession alive, Gony swatted a driving layup by Lashae Dwyer out of bounds as the shot clock expired, giving MSU the ball back. She finished with seven points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. |
| Short-handed Mississippi State women's basketball suffers first loss of season vs Miami | |
| Two years ago, Mississippi State women's basketball concluded one of the strangest seasons in program history. With the late Nikki McCray-Penson stepping away as coach due to personal reasons just before the season's start, Doug Novak – who had been hired a month prior as an assistant – took over in the interim. Between injuries and players leaving, the program was left with seven active players as MSU tried to make a postseason run. With coach Sam Purcell now at the helm, a glimpse of that 2021-22 season returned to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday night as No. 21 Mississippi State had just seven players available in a 74-68 loss against Miami as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Bulldogs (8-1) had a strong start, leading by as much as nine in the first quarter. However, as Miami (6-0) continued to play fast in hopes of exhausting MSU, the Hurricanes regained momentum. Behind 12 made 3-pointers, MSU had chances to energize the home crowd for a late run. Ultimately, Miami's 49 rebounds and 11 3-pointers proved too much to overcome. Despite forcing 19 turnovers, MSU couldn't stay undefeated. Mississippi State plays at Chattanooga on Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN+) before final exams week. MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum on Nov. 11 (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) for a matchup with Kennesaw State. |
| Senior Rebecca Walk named to SEC Community Service Team | |
| The Southeastern Conference announced on Wednesday that Mississippi State senior middle blocker Rebecca Walk was named to the 2023 SEC Community Service Team. Walk finished her third season with the Bulldogs in 2023 recording 141 kills and 67 blocks in 83 sets played. This is her third-straight year being named to the Community Service Team, working most notably with Starkville Strong to help donate canned goods to the community and local schools for their morning drop-off programs. Walk is the current Student-Athletic Advisory Committee president at Mississippi State. "We are super proud of Rebecca for her efforts in the community," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said in Wednesday's press release. "She is a role model student-athlete and I am so proud of her. She takes care of her work on and off the court, while still finding time to give back to our wonderful community. Rebecca is a true servant leader and I am so proud of her." |
| Gianna Oboniye signs with Bulldogs; Canadian brings championship pedigree to Starkville | |
| Mississippi State women's tennis strengthened its roster for the 2024-25 season with the addition of Gianna Oboniye, one of the top amateur talents from Canada. Oboniye is the newest addition to MSU's signing class for next season, coming from Edmonton, Alberta. "I am really excited about Gianna joining the team," head coach Chris Hooshyar said. "I have always said it, one of the biggest honors of being a college coach is when a kid calls you to say I want to come and play for you. It is a huge responsibility, and I don't take it lightly." Her success on the court in recent years has been tenfold, coming off winning the 2023 U18 Canadian Outdoor Nationals doubles title and J60 Edmonton doubles title at the same tournament. That followed a 2022 season where she won yet another pair of doubles titles and was part of Team Alberta at the Canadian Summer games. "The Bulldog family is going to love what Gianna brings to the court," Hooshyar said. "She is already performing at a high level. I can't wait to get to the practice court with her and see how high her ceiling really is. I think it is pretty high." |
| Rice Welcomes Eric George | |
| Rice Vice President and Director of Athletics Tommy McClelland announced on Wednesday the addition of Eric George to the department's senior leadership team as the Owls' Assistant Vice President & Deputy Athletic Director. George joins the Owls from Mississippi State where he served as the Deputy AD/CFO since April of 2020 where he managed all financial aspects of the department as well as provided oversight to the internal operations, capital projects and facilities areas. He also served as the sport administrator for the football program. He will direct and oversee the Owls' business operations, human resource services, facilities and event operations, sports medicine, and athletic performance units. As the head of athletics operations, George will act as the point of contact between the Director of Athletics and other stakeholders, oversee employment and personnel matters. George joined Mississippi State after four and a half years at Clemson as the Associate AD/CFO during the Tigers' rise to the top of the college football world. He began his career at Texas in 2013, where he served as the Assistant Business Manager. He is a native of College Station, Texas and graduated from Texas A&M in 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (Accounting) and a Master's degree in Accounting. |
| Greg Sankey: Revenue-sharing model would include array of 'complexities' | |
| At a time when a growing number of leading industry voices -- including Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione -- are publicly endorsing a revenue-sharing model, the broader ecosystem is just starting to get its arms around what such a model would entail. "There are complexities, unlike professional sports that have a revenue-sharing model," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told On3. "Whether it is appreciated or not, we have Title IX law, Title IX policy, Title IX interpretation, lawsuits that spin-off of Title IX requirements that must be considered in that." A potential revenue-sharing construct is generating increasing industry discussion for multiple reasons: In the landmark House antitrust lawsuit, the NCAA and power conferences could be on the hook for some $4.2 billion in damages owed to thousands of athletes in retroactive NIL pay and -- importantly -- in shares of broadcast rights revenue. Secondly, sources tell On3 that it is exceedingly difficult to say with a straight face that athletes on the field don't deserve a slice of the revenue pie when an expanded College Football Playoff is expected to generate some $1.4 billion annually in new revenue. Stressing the complexities of a revenue-sharing model, Sankey noted that there is currently a vast array of benefits provided to college athletes, all of which "flow in a very positive way." |
| Army-Navy game ticket demand at Gillette Stadium greater than Taylor Swift, Jonathan Kraft says | |
 | The stage is set for the Army-Navy game at Gillette Stadium on December 9. The teams are counting down to their 124th meeting on the football field. "The scene, the energy, the pageantry. Just the pride that you have being a part of the game there's nothing like it," said Navy head coach Brian Newberry. "We say beat Navy every day, so we got to go out and do it," said Army linebacker and team captain Leo Lowin. It's the first time the game is being played in Foxboro, and New England for that matter. On Wednesday morning, captains and coaches for Army and Navy were welcomed to the region by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Jonathan Kraft, president of the Kraft Group. "Today is a celebration of all patriots, including acknowledging some folks that may root against sometimes the people that play here," Healey said. "I can tell you that the ticket demand for this game is greater than any AFC Championship game that we've hosted here, greater than Taylor Swift," Kraft said. "It's an atmosphere that in my experience over the past couple years, I don't think anything really matches it," said Army captain Jimmy Ciarlo. "I remember getting phone calls from people deployed and watching the game at 2 o'clock in the morning their time," said Navy captain Xavier Arline. "Everyone watches this game, there's a lot of weight on it." It's a moment the Midshipmen and the Black Knights have been preparing for all year. |
| Alabama AD Greg Byrne on his love for, and demise of, the Pac-12 | |
| As the final Pac-12 championship game drew close, the Hotline sought context from a voice unlike any others -- from someone who not only watched the conference collapse but felt the collapse, from an outsider who's also an insider, who has the Pac-12 in his DNA but recoiled at the internal rot. We sought context from Greg Byrne. At first, Alabama's athletic director was hesitant to share his thoughts on the life and death of the Pac-12. After all, Byrne left the conference seven years ago and wasn't privy to the inner workings during the existential crisis that began with the departures of USC and UCLA on June 30, 2022, and ended on Aug. 4, 2023, when five more schools left. Eventually, he agreed to answer questions via email. Byrne's perspective on the topic is unique within college athletics. He attended Sheldon High School in Eugene while his father, Bill, served as Oregon's athletic director. He went to Oregon and graduated from Arizona State. He worked in the Oregon and Oregon State athletic departments, then later ran the show at Arizona. The roots run deep. But in the early 2010s, during his tenure in Tucson, Byrne became concerned about the present and future directions of the conference. He saw the strategic missteps from the inside and attempted to sound the alarm despite a top-down structure that pushed the athletic directors aside. Byrne left Arizona for Alabama in 2017 and watched the landscape shift. |
| SBJ Unpacks: NBC's Chuck Todd worried about future of college sports | |
| NBC News Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd is concerned about the future of college sports. Todd, who took a brief detour from politics to help launch Sports Business Daily back in 1994, sat down with SBJ Executive Editor and Publisher Abe Madkour today at the Dealmakers conference in D.C. to discuss a hodgepodge of issues spanning politics and sports. None animated him as much as the direction of college sports following the latest round of conference realignment and the erosion of amateurism, reports SBJ's Alex Silverman. "I worry that nobody is looking out for the best interests of college sports," Todd said. "Everybody's worried about the best interests of the SEC, the Big 10, the ACC, Florida State, Miami. As a fan, I get it, but good god, we need a commissioner of college sports." Todd pondered existential questions and speculated about potential paradigm shifts that could arise from the increased professionalization of college sports. Todd not only believes that unifying college sports is the best way to preserve the traditions that make them great but also that it's best for business. "I'm convinced if these conferences work together with and pooled their TV rights, they get more money out of the network," he said. "There's even more money on the table to be had." |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
