| Tuesday, January 2, 2024 |
| Business of Music Symposium returns to the 2024 Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival | |
 | Mississippi State University Libraries will host the second annual Business of Music Symposium Feb. 21-22 as part of the 18th annual Charles H. Templeton Sr. Ragtime and Jazz Festival, which runs through Feb. 24. The symposium is a free multidisciplinary gathering which will have both in-person and virtual presentations encouraging research at the Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, boasting approximately 20,000 pieces of sheet music, 200 instruments, 2,000 cylinders and 14,000 flat discs. Topics will range from the careers of individual singers, composers and people otherwise involved in creating music, art and design themes to teaching with sheet music and more. The Charles Templeton Sr. Ragtime and Jazz Festival is sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the Charles Templeton Sr. Music Museum as a means of enhancing the research of ragtime music, increasing awareness of the Templeton collection and introducing people to the sounds of ragtime being performed by world-renowned ragtime musicians. The festival is comprised of a blend of major concerts, miniconcerts, seminars and museum tours. For more information, visit http://festival.library.msstate.edu. |
| Economic lookahead: As we ring in 2024, can the US economy continue to avoid a recession? | |
 | With economic forecasters rewriting their 2024 outlooks following recent moves from the Federal Reserve, The Conversation turned to two financial economists to share their thoughts on the upcoming year. Mississippi State University's D. Brian Blank and Appalachian State University's Brandy Hadley are professors who study finance, firm financial decisions and the economy. They explain what they're watching in 2024. |
| MSU's Wolverton completed his magnificent run on the path of learning from teaching | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: For a man who taught and understood the intricacies of Latin, there can be no higher praise for Mississippi State University icon Dr. Robert Wolverton than to assess his life and work by the old Latin proverb docendo discimus -- "by teaching, we learn." The phrase is the motto of many universities and government entities worldwide. It is attributed by some scholars to the Stoic philosopher Seneca -- although that attribution is far from universally shared. But what does it mean? To many, it is a paradox -- to become a great teacher is to remain a student; to be a great student is to teach. When he died Dec. 15 at his home in Starkville at the age of 98, there was no confusion in Wolverton in the concept of that Latin phrase. He was a master teacher who held the admiration and respect of faculty, staff and students, but he also possessed what T.S. Eliot called "an experiencing nature" in that he surely and intentionally learned from his students and told them so. In a higher education career that spanned 70 years (including over 40 years at MSU), Wolverton never lost touch with his love of classroom teaching as a classicist. At State, he served as a professor of classics and the university's vice president for academic affairs and other administrative roles. |
| Artificial Intelligence for the future -- Strike right balance between innovation, regulation | |
 | Mississippi State University Vice President for Research and Economic Development Julie Jordan writes for The Clarion-Ledger: It seems as though everyone is talking about artificial intelligence these days. From concerns about how it could affect the 2024 presidential elections to hopes that it might solve the global climate crisis, not to mention Mississippi State's viral AI-generated mascot schedule release, AI has been top of mind for many. Many of the narratives pushed in recent headlines have focused on a future where jobs have disappeared, and machines have taken over the world. But the reality is that AI has been used to our benefit in real-world scenarios for years, helping us with tasks like filtering spam out of our email inboxes and deciphering foreign languages with translation tools. In fact, research from groups like the National Bureau of Economic Research has found that AI is expected to increase worker productivity dramatically -- not replace workers with robots. ... With conversations about AI sweeping the nation, it is crucial that lawmakers educate themselves on its complexities so they can establish smart, sensible policy without demonizing the tech sector and stifling economic growth. American institutions of higher education should also commit to increased research and development to help us prepare for an AI-driven future. We've risen to that challenge here at Mississippi State University with significant investments and emphasis on AI computing and data science. |
| MSU forensic anthropologist offers hope in IDing long missing persons | |
| On June 1, 1960, Lyrian Barry-Stallings, a 5-foot-tall Black woman, boarded a Greyhound bus in Columbus to get to St. Louis, Missouri. She vanished, never to be seen at her destination or have further contact with her family. Her missing persons case is among the profiles of hundreds of people in a searchable online database created by a Mississippi State University forensic anthropologist who hopes to help law enforcement find them and give their loved ones closure. "(This is) to allow the public access to missing persons data so the state of Mississippi and anyone in Mississippi could find anyone who was missing in this state and information for families to advocate for them," said Jesse Goliath, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures. The Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons, launched in November, includes pictures, demographic information, where they were last seen and circumstances of their disappearance. Since its launch, the database has profiles for 475 missing people and 51 profiles for unidentified remains. Undergraduate student workers scan social media to find information about missing and unidentified people to add to the database, Goliath said. Family members have also reached out to ask the team to include their loved one or to update their profile already included in the database, he said. Goliath said the goal is to update the database every few weeks. Goliath said one of the goals of a Mississippi database is to build something lawmakers can support and create policy around, such as mandatory reporting to the database by law enforcement. |
| 2023 Mississippi timber harvest expected to set record | |
 | Mississippi's 2023 timber harvest is expected to set a record for the 21st century. "We are on pace to exceed 36 million tons of timber harvested, which would be the highest level we have experienced this century, surpassing the previous high set in 2005 prior to the Great Recession," said Eric McConnell, an associate professor of forest business at Mississippi State University (MSU). According to the MSU Extension Service, the increased harvest helped Mississippi's forestry industry remain in third place among the state's agricultural commodities, with an estimated production value of $1.5 billion. This is a 9.6% increase from 2022. Poultry and soybeans ranked first and second at an estimated production value of $3.1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively. Timber's value of production is estimated based on monthly severance taxes collected by the Mississippi Department of Revenue. Final figures will be available in early 2024. Many economic analysts were warning of an imminent recession with lumber prices trending downward since July and a slowing demand for paper packaging, which is used for shipping products. However, there is cautious optimism after a Federal Reserve Board announcement in mid-December. |
| Mississippi poultry fails to reach 2022 profit levels | |
| Officials with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service said the state's poultry took an estimated 23% loss in value in 2023. They said production was strong but the failure to meet the previous year's record high prices was responsible for the hit. Poultry generated an estimated $3.1 billion to Mississippi agriculture in 2023, down from the $3.9 billion generated in 2022. Eggs had the larger decline, dropping 30% to $202 million, while broilers dropped 22% to $2.9 billion. With this farm gate value, poultry retains its top spot in Mississippi agriculture, above soybeans at $1.6 billion and forestry at $1.5 billion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release final ag values in April 2024. Josh Maples, agricultural economist with the MSU Extension Service, said the decreased value does not mean 2023 was a bad year. "For context, the 2023 poultry value of production is 17.5 percent higher than the 2021 value of production," Maples said. "The current USDA forecast for broiler prices is to be a little more stable and similar in 2024 as they have been in 2023." The state is 13th nationally in egg production, and 2023's decrease in egg value was also caused by exceptionally high egg prices in 2022. |
| As agriculture has evolved in Mississippi, the state is losing its 'middle class' of farmers | |
| In the early 1930s, Mississippi had over 300,000 farmers, the most ever recorded for the state in federal census records. The last survey, from 2017, listed just around 55,000. In the 1930s, the average farm size was around 50 acres. Today, it's over 300 acres. For decades from the early to mid 20th Century, Black farmers outnumbered white farmers in the state. Today, 86% of Mississippi's farmers are white. While agriculture is still the top employer in the state, who farms, what they farm, and who they sell to has changed greatly over the last century. Victim to many of those changes, experts say, is the so-called "middle class" of farmers. "When we look at the decrease in farms over time, it's largely that group of farmers, that medium scale," said John Green, director of the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University. Research shows that input costs -- for livestock, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and other needs -- have climbed 70% since 1970 when adjusted for inflation. Green explained that those costs leave farmers more at risk, especially with the harmful climate impacts, such as drought and floods, that Mississippi has seen in recent years. "There's a lot more vulnerability for those farmers when there's a bad year, so it makes it harder to stay in the game," Green said. |
| Oktibbeha's Year in Review: MSU football changes leaders, Cornerstone Park opens, Amazon coming to NorthStar | |
| A disappointing football season led to Mississippi State changing horses at head coach. Starkville opens Cornerstone Park while grappling with how to hang onto federal grant money for Highway 182 improvements. Amazon announced it will soon have a presence at NorthStar Industrial Park. Oktibbeha County saw its share of wins, losses, progress and obstacles in 2023. Here are some of the year's top stories. he year began with a new Mississippi State athletic director inheriting a first-year head football coach. It ended with the new athletic director hiring a new head football coach on the heels of a disappointing 2023 season. Zac Selmon became AD in January, replacing John Cohen, who left for the same position at Auburn. Selmon previously served as a deputy athletic director at the University of Oklahoma. Meanwhile Zach Arnett, who was vaulted from defensive coordinator to head coach in December 2022 after the sudden death of legendary coach Mike Leach, posted a 4-6 start. Selmon fired Arnett 10 games into the season, after a 51-10 loss to Texas A&M. Two weeks later, MSU hired Jeff Lebby, who served the previous two seasons as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator, to lead the football program. |
| State investing nearly $17M in industrial site development | |
 | Mississippi officials are investing nearly $17 million in site development grants to further develop industrial sites throughout the state. "Last year, we brought in a record amount of new economic development, and these grants will help to continue Mississippi's momentum," said Gov. Tate Reeves. "These long-term investments are designed to create ideal opportunities where companies will find shovel-ready sites on which to build, grow and expand. This is key to our strategy of bringing more higher-paying jobs to local communities." The Mississippi Development Authority is committing $16,859,893.19 in site development grant funding. In 2021, the agency created a Select Sites program designed to increase the number of highly competitive industrial sites available to meet the needs of prospective companies. South Carolina-based Strategic Development Group was contracted by the state's electric utilities to evaluate 32 of its top publicly owned industrial sites. Of these sites, the following are being invited to apply for Select Sites funding based on current funding availability, including: NorthStar Industrial Park in Oktibbeha County: $2,518,380 to construct a 200,000-square-foot building pad. |
| Navistar Defense to add 75 workers with $61M contract | |
| Navistar Defense is expected to add 75 employees after receiving notice it had been awarded a nearly $61 million contract. Navistar Defense LLC, based in Madison Heights, Wisconsin, was awarded the contract to refurbish and upgrade MaxxPro PLUS Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Work will be done in West Point with an estimated completion date of July 1, 2025. Funding was provided by Fiscal 2024 Foreign Military Sales for the United Arab Emirates. Since 2007, Navistar has produced more than 9,000 MaxxPro vehicles for the U.S Military. The vehicle also has been exported to several other countries as well. Last fall, Navistar Defense announced it would lay off about 40% of its workforce -- roughly 200 people -- due to the reduction in domain for its intermodal trailer program. In addition to work for the military, the facility also builds commercial trailers. It is that work that is affected by the layoffs, which were not related to a subcontracting deal it landed in August to build about 10,000 trailers for the U.S. Military's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program. Work on the JLTV is expected to begin later this year. |
| Mississippi Legislature Gavels in for New Term | |
| The gavels are set to fall in both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature on Tuesday, January 2nd, opening the 2024 legislative session. Members will be sworn in for the new term and the leadership will begin officially organizing the state Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate is welcoming 7 new members to its 52-member body. Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) continues as the President of the Senate for another term, having won re-election in 2023. Over in the House of Representatives, 25 newcomers will be seated in the 122-member body. The chamber will elect a new Speaker as Philip Gunn chose not to seek re-election, leaving the House after serving 12 years at the helm. Gunn was the first Republican to wield the gavel in the House in over 100 years. Set to take up the mantle is Gunn's chief lieutenant, Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White (R). White has been nominated by the House Republican Caucus to assume the role of Speaker. State Rep. Manly Barton (R) looks to be White's Pro Tem. Republicans retained their hold on the Legislature during the 2023 elections, continuing to enjoy a supermajority in both chambers in the new term. No committee chairmanships or assignments have been announced in either chamber at this point. Members have submitted their requests and leadership will be making those appointments in the first weeks of the 125-day session. |
| Mississippi's 2024 legislative session: What to know | |
| Another legislative session is officially upon us as lawmakers prepare to gavel in on Tuesday. With it being the start of a new term and a hodgepodge of hot-ticket topics still needing to be discussed, here's what to know about this year's session. The 2024 session will officially begin on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at noon. Due to it being the start of a new term, the legislature will convene for 125 days rather than the usual 90 days, meaning lawmakers should wrap business up by or during the first week of May. What will lawmakers be discussing? This is the big question. As always, thousands of bills will be filed with hundreds making it to the floor for a vote. While we can't predict every topic that's bound to come up for discussion, we do know a few. Medicaid expansion is going to be a topic that comes up and it might even be considered more so by lawmakers this year than in years past. However, the recent passing of a bulk of Gov. Tate Reeves' reimbursement plan that could create up to $700 million for hospitals should take some heat off expansion. With Mississippi being the only state to ever have a ballot initiative process before taking it away, lawmakers are once again expected to try to restore citizens' ability to propose laws and constitutional amendments. One of the more controversial topics expected to come up, school choice is a conversation that has heated up in recent months. One elephant in the room this legislative session will be addressing the financial stability of Mississippi's Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). |
| The 2024 legislative session begins today. Here's what to expect. | |
| The new term of the Mississippi Legislature convenes at noon today, with the first order of business being putting in place the mechanisms and leadership to govern for the next four years. The first day will be dominated by the election of a House speaker by the newly elected 122 House members. Rep. Jason White, a Republican from West who has served during the past four-year term as speaker pro tempore, was selected as the next speaker in a closed-door December meeting by House Republicans, who have a two-thirds majority in the chamber. The election of White as speaker on Tuesday is expected to be a formality. Every House Republican is expected to support White and no other House member has publicly announced plans to challenge him for the speakership. In the Senate, Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, is expected to be reelected by the members as Senate pro tempore, meaning in general terms he will be the second-in-command to Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who also will be entering his second term in the statewide post. Then, over the coming days, other statewide officials will be sworn into office. None of the eight statewide officials will be new to their jobs as all of the eight are incumbents. |
| The American South Is Booming. Why Is Mississippi Left Behind? | |
 | This city of about 38,000 in the northeast part of Mississippi highlights the challenges facing the South's least populous state. Tupelo offers a charming downtown, tourist attractions and a low cost of living. It has an active local economic-development and job-training effort and is close to large state universities. Yet even this place, far better off than other parts of the state -- and a steady draw for tourists as the birthplace of Elvis Presley -- is struggling to attract and retain workers. The area has lost population in recent years. "I love my little town, but if I had the opportunity, I would leave," said Tayolor Witherspoon, 24, a single mother who works part time as a waitress at D'Cracked Egg breakfast restaurant. Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem -- with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away -- as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee. State and local leaders worry Mississippi's civilian labor-force participation rate -- the nation's lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S. -- as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state's chances of joining in the region's bonanza. From the summer of 2022 to the summer of 2023, the U.S. population grew by 1.6 million people, with 1.4 million of them -- almost 87% -- in the South, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. But Mississippi essentially missed out on that growth. It gained just over 750 residents during the same period. |
| Federal appeals court temporarily delays new state-run court in Mississippi's majority-Black capital | |
 | A federal appeals court has temporarily delayed Mississippi officials from creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson starting on Monday. The ruling came just before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed requests to block the new court in a ruling filed late Sunday. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay, blocking the court's creation until at least Jan. 5. The decision followed a request from the NAACP. Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, responded to the decision by pointing to a statement she issued Sunday that said the state would continue to defend the law and "perform our duties to help protect the people of Jackson from stifling, suffocating crime that plagues the city." The court was created by the majority-white and Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature. Jackson is governed by Democrats. Attorneys for the civil rights organization had sued on behalf of several Jackson residents, saying the new court undermines democracy because local voters or local elected officials won't choose its judge or prosecutors. Even though the 5th Circuit blocked Mississippi officials from creating the state-run court in Jackson on Monday, attorneys for the state had already said that the court did not yet have a workable place to operate and still needed to hire staff. |
| James Biden's dealmaking caught on FBI tapes in unrelated Mississippi bribery probe | |
 | Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a famed Mississippi trial attorney, was tantalizingly close to a historic deal to force tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars -- but there was one last hurdle. A divided Congress had to sign off. And Scruggs had identified one of the most skeptical senators, Joe Biden, as a key to winning the vote. Scruggs turned to Biden's younger brother James, an old acquaintance who ran a D.C. consulting firm with his wife, Sara. Scruggs paid the firm $100,000 in 1998 for advice on passing the bill, Scruggs said in an interview at his office -- the first time he has disclosed the amount. "I probably wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't the senator's brother," Scruggs said. Biden eventually backed the bill, which ultimately failed to pass Congress. "Jim was never untoward about his influence," Scruggs said. "He didn't brag about it or talk about it. He didn't have to. He was the man's brother." Scruggs's deal with James Biden highlights how President Biden's brother has for decades benefited financially from his proximity to his powerful sibling, a relationship that is newly relevant today as congressional Republicans investigate whether President Biden assisted his family members' business deals. During Joe Biden's 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president and now three years as president, James Biden's private business work -- as a consultant for hire and behind-the-scenes political fixer -- has often intersected with his brother's public responsibilities. The deal with Lion Hall also illuminates the Bidens' decades-long relationship with Scruggs, once one of the country's most powerful trial lawyers, who made his fortune taking on corporate interests and making friends in politics. Scruggs took James Biden on a boat trip while discussing a potential partnership on asbestos lawsuits; flew Joe Biden on his private plane to a fundraiser; and met with Biden family members at a University of Mississippi football game, Scruggs and his associates said in interviews. |
| Biden and Trump are poised for a potential rematch that could shake American politics | |
| U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year's presidential contest has few modern parallels, posing profound challenges to the future of American democracy. Not since the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 campaign in favor of Republican George W. Bush has the judiciary been so intertwined with presidential politics. In the coming weeks, the high court is expected to weigh whether states can ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot for his role in leading the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court is weighing Trump's argument that he's immune from prosecution. The maneuvers are unfolding as prosecutors from New York to Washington and Atlanta move forward with 91 indictments across four criminal cases involving everything from Trump's part in the insurrection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his hush money paid to a porn actress. Depending on how Trump's appeals play out, he could be due in court as early as March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, raising the unprecedented prospect that he could close in on the GOP nomination from a courtroom. On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden is seeking reelection as the high inflation that defined much of his first term appears to be easing. But that has done little to assuage restless voters or ease widespread concerns in both parties that, at 81, he's simply too old for the job. |
| These Voters Will Decide the 2024 Election. They Don't Like What They See. | |
| Tony Grauslys, a 56-year-old merchandiser from Hudson, N.H., is upset that lawmakers focus on other countries' problems when America can't fix its own. Marvin Jenkins, 60, a retired state trooper in Saginaw Township, Mich., worries that both leading presidential candidates are too old. Juliet Will-Robinson, 38, a graduate student from Freemansburg, Pa., wishes there was a viable third-party alternative. The three voters live in a trio of counties that will have outsize influence in deciding the winner of this year's presidential election. Michigan's Saginaw County, Pennsylvania's Northampton County and New Hampshire's Hillsborough County are three of just 25 U.S. counties that have backed the presidential winner in each of the past four elections, making them rare enclaves of partisan flexibility in a country where most places are firmly red or blue. They are among the seven such counties that sit inside hotly contested battleground states that will decide who wins the White House this year, places where the victor can hinge on a few hundred votes. Collectively, Americans in the 25 counties that have swung with the electorate on average have lower median incomes and lower levels of education than the U.S. on the whole, census data show. They are older, more likely to be white and disproportionately live in smaller cities and rural areas. A greater share are age 65 or over and draw retirement income as compared with the total U.S. Nearly half of these counties have seen their populations shrink in recent years. What most of these counties have in common is they are largely removed from America's major economic and cultural power centers. They are home to a graying America where residents worry that the country's best days are behind it instead of ahead. These voters want a candidate who will propel America forward but instead see flawed options and few fresh ideas. |
| The GOP's most Trump-skeptical bloc starts falling in line | |
 | Donald Trump is making serious headway with a bloc of the GOP that's among the most skeptical of his 2024 bid: Republican senators. In some cases, Trump is breaking through thanks to the sort of personal attention that he's known to lavish on allies and supporters. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), for example, endorsed home-state Gov. Doug Burgum for president in June -- but even before Burgum dropped out of the primary, Trump was already in Hoeven's ear. Trump "called me before" to discuss an endorsement, Hoeven recalled in an interview. The Midwesterner said he told the former president Burgum is "'a close personal friend, he's from my state, so I endorsed him.'" Then, according to Hoeven, Trump "asked if I'd endorse him, if Doug didn't continue." The Hoeven call shows how Trump's campaign for Capitol endorsements is accelerating as he nears the first GOP nominating contest in Iowa. He won five endorsements from Republican senators during December alone, after snagging just three of them over the preceding four months. So far, Trump's secured 18 endorsements from the Senate GOP, a group that ranges from establishment-minded Republicans to confrontational conservatives who will be vocal allies if he wins another term. His recent converts include freshman Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who initially said her RNC job precluded an endorsement before endorsing Trump in December, as well as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who led a challenge to Trump's 2020 defeat by President Joe Biden. Many of Trump's recent endorsers, like Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Rick Scott of Florida and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, are up for reelection in 2024 in red states where a primary is their biggest electoral threat. |
| Breaking Down the Spending at One of America's Priciest Public Colleges | |
| In recent decades, Auburn University added hundreds of millions of dollars in spending to its budget. The additional money didn't go to the English department, nor to the sociology department. Some science departments only got a trickle more. Instead, much of the money went toward administrative salaries, buildings and, no surprise, sports. Auburn piled millions more each year into paying down the debt it borrowed for campus upgrades, including an $84 million basketball arena. It hired hundreds of administrators and professional staff. Spending on the president's office and other administrative departments often increased far faster than that on many academic subjects. To help pay for its transformation, the school has raised tuition and fees again and again. By one measure, students' costs have grown faster than at almost any other major public U.S. university. Auburn's net price, the average amount in-state freshmen pay after grants and scholarships -- covering tuition, fees, room, board and other costs -- topped $25,000 annually in 2021-22, according to Education Department data. That's a 60% increase from 15 years prior, adjusted to today's dollars. Nationally, schools don't consistently disclose the details of how they spend their money, making it nearly impossible to compare how they divide up dollars. To determine how one school's priorities evolved, The Wall Street Journal chose Auburn as a case study, examining hundreds of pages of budget documents. The data help answer a question facing families across the nation: With college prices sharply higher than they were a generation ago, where does all the money go? |
| A Private Liberal Arts College Is Drowning in Debt. Should Alabama Rescue It? | |
 | On a crisp fall day at Birmingham-Southern College, the students were making their way to class, stealing a few cold minutes under the golden ginkgo trees. Inside the red brick buildings that dot the 192-acre campus, professors were preparing exams for finals week, while administrators readied the first round of acceptance letters for the next school year. Yet looming over those quintessential scenes of college life was an unsettling question: Would the school even make it to another fall semester? The private liberal arts school in Birmingham, Ala., has been plagued by financial instability for years, with the 2009 recession and the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating the consequences of overly ambitious investments and hulking debts. Closure seemed imminent earlier this year, until Alabama lawmakers appeared to offer a lifeline: a law tailored toward saving the 167-year-old school with a program that could loan millions of dollars. But in October, the state treasurer denied the school's loan application, sending administrators scrambling once again to save the school. For many outside the school, its fate is simply about whether a private school that has mismanaged its finances deserves any kind of taxpayer support, especially in a state that has chronically underfunded its public education system. But for alumni and the school's supporters, it is also a question of whether a classical liberal arts education is still valued at a moment when colleges and universities are facing intense scrutiny over their curricula, admissions and cultures. |
| U. of Florida's Ben Sasse Takes Swipes at Other College Presidents | |
 | Like many campus leaders, Ben Sasse has spoken publicly about the University of Florida's response to the Israel-Hamas war, highlighting how it is supporting students and seeking to protect free speech. Unlike most campus leaders, Sasse has also taken swipes at other college presidents. That frankness marks a shift for Sasse, a former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska. In the first few months of his tenure as Florida's president, which began last February, Sasse was often criticized for not being visible on campus. His public statements and speeches were limited to matters directly involving the campus administration and his vision for the university. Since the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, however, Sasse has been highly visible and outspoken, proclaiming his support for Israel and disparaging the responses of other institutions to the conflict. In October he gave a speech at a campus vigil for victims of the Hamas attacks, wrote a letter to the university's Jewish students and alumni, and was interviewed on Fox News. In his letter and on Fox News, Sasse criticized what he called the failings of "elite" colleges. Sasse also called out college presidents in his written responses for an October Chronicle article: "Higher education needs more leaders who are willing to tell the truth -- and fewer moralists without morals." Then, in a December 14 column for The Atlantic, Sasse amplified his criticism of campus leaders, likening congressional testimony this month by three university presidents on antisemitism to that of tobacco-company executives in the 1990s, who sought to deceive the public about the health dangers of smoking cigarettes. |
| Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns After Plagiarism Allegations, Campus Antisemitism Backlash | |
| Harvard University President Claudine Gay has resigned after facing mounting criticism over how she responded to antisemitism on campus and, most recently, allegations that she plagiarized the work of other researchers on several occasions. Gay, a professor of government and of African and African-American studies, became president in July after serving as dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences for around five years. She had been under pressure for weeks regarding her response to Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Her remarks at a House committee hearing on the matter in early December drew widespread criticism after she gave an equivocal response to a question about whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people violated the campus code of conduct. She was also accused of plagiarizing other academics in several published papers and her Ph.D. dissertation. The Harvard Corporation, the university's top governing board, said in December that reviews of her work uncovered some instances of "inadequate citation," but that the omissions didn't meet the bar of outright research misconduct. Some said Harvard had been holding Gay to a standard different from the one that its own students are supposed to meet and called into question Gay's contributions to her field and her integrity as a researcher. |
| UVa President Jim Ryan wants a committee to tell him when to comment on current events | |
| Jim Ryan looked troubled. The University of Virginia president was meeting with his school's governing body, and he wanted guidance. Days before, Ryan and much of the nation had watched as his counterparts at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were called before Congress, where they were questioned for hours about the rise in antisemitism on their campuses. Many found the carefully worded, academic responses of the university presidents unsatisfactory. The hearing put the world of higher education on notice and raised questions about free speech on college campuses. What language and demonstrations should and shouldn't universities allow from students on their campuses in response to current events? And what should a university president say in response to those events, if anything? So when Ryan met with UVa's Board of Visitors on Dec. 8, the latter question appearing to weigh heavily on his mind, he came prepared with a suggestion: UVa could organize a committee to devise a set of guidelines that would help him determine if and when to respond. “I think I would start first with a question of whether we should be saying anything,” he told the board. “If the answer is ‘under certain circumstances’ then the question would be, logistically, what are the principles about when and how you’re going to say something?” |
| Rural Missouri has very few doctors. U. of Missouri hopes to change that | |
 | For years, health care in rural Missouri has been spotty and insufficient. University of Missouri's School of Medicine is hoping to change that, one doctor at a time. In October, the School of Medicine received a $16 million federal award to expand programs that encourage students from rural backgrounds to pursue medical school. One component to receive funding is the Bryant Scholars Pre-Admissions Program. Bryant Scholars come from rural communities and are admitted to medical school as second-year undergraduates. Through clinical training at one of 10 rural sites, the program prepares students for careers in rural medicine. "The literature tells us if they're from a rural community, if you train them in a rural community and if they establish relationships in a rural community, they're going to end up practicing there," said Kathleen Quinn, MU associate dean for Rural Health. In the face of daunting statistics, the MU School of Medicine has been tracking how effective its programs are at getting Bryant Scholars into the rural workforce. According to data from the Rural Scholars Program, 58.1% of Bryant Scholars from the graduating classes of 1997 to 2023 practice in a rural area. Just under 50% of Bryant Scholars practice in rural Missouri specifically. Nationally, less than 10% of U.S. doctors practice in rural areas, according to a 2019 American Hospital Association report. While Missouri's numbers surpass national averages, Quinn said there is still room for improvement. |
| Taylor Swift 101: From poetry to business, college classes offer insights on 'Swiftology' | |
 | Take a look at collegiate classes across the United States and you'll find that Miss Americana, Taylor Swift, was voted most likely to educate you. Many colleges -- from state universities to the Ivy Leagues -- are using the ubiquitous pop star's appeal and talent to teach their lessons. Thousands of students have maxed out classroom capacity, filling online and physical halls to the brim. As one instructor, Catherine Fairfield, at Northeastern University in Boston put it, "I think students are intellectually thirsty." While every course has the same topic, instructors around the country are using Swift to teach subjects including business, economics, hospitality, tourism, public relations, journalism, poetry, literature, English, copyright and trademark law, gender studies and psychology. "I'm just fascinated by what everybody at the different schools is doing," Fairfield said. "I think it's so cool." At the University of South Carolina in Columbia, Kate Blanton will explore Swift the businesswoman, billionaire and philanthropist. "I saw other schools teaching Taylor for English and sociology," said Blanton, 43, "and I work in such a unique department that I thought, this would be so cool for us." Blanton will teach a more intimate class of 40 students majoring in hospitality and tourism, sports and entertainment management, and retailing. She came up with the idea in June while attending the "Eras Tour" in Cincinnati. "We're really going to be getting into the business side," Blanton said. Among the topics sprinkled in her lesson plans: Swift's economic impact, ticket sales, merchandising, philanthropy, "fan"-demonium and corporate sponsorships. The three-credit class will culminate in a class project of students hosting a philanthropic event for the Gamecock Pantry, a nonprofit campus resource of donated canned goods and foods. |
| A year after the Taliban barred women from universities, many remain bereft of options | |
| Shortly after the Taliban banned women from attending universities in Afghanistan in December 2022, we spoke with three students who'd been forced to leave their schools. All were heartbroken to have their education interrupted and were uncertain about what the future held. Now, just over a year after the ban, one woman is studying abroad, one is doing her best to learn English despite the obstacles, and one is married. According to UNESCO, Afghanistan is the only country in the world to formally prohibit women from getting an education. The World Bank has warned this ban is hurting the country's prospects for economic growth. Already, about two-thirds of households in Afghanistan don't have enough income to meet their basic needs. And many Afghan women have had to put their career dreams on hold as many of the gains made in the past two decades were largely erased. Some Afghan women are managing to get an education elsewhere. When 19-year-old Wurranga Arif was forced to leave her university in Afghanistan, she left the country. She got a scholarship to study electrical engineering in Dubai. "It's like I found something that I lost," Arif said. Afghanistan puts lots of restrictions on women traveling, and Arif said that leaving the country was difficult. She isn't planning to go back home until she finishes her degree. And if she does return, she won't be able to use it. |
| Study abroad: Americans all but absent from China | |
 | The number of Americans studying abroad in China has remained negligible since the start of the pandemic, largely because of extended federal government restrictions, but officials and other experts expect that to rebound soon. Only 211 American students were in China this past academic year, down from more than 11,000 before the COVID lockdowns, according to the latest annual data compiled by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the U.S. Department of State. Even that pre-pandemic total was a fraction of the number of students going the other way -- despite declines caused by COVID and political tensions, nearly 300,000 students from China are enrolled at universities in the U.S. But the much smaller U.S.-to-China flow nevertheless has represented a key part of a relationship valued by the students as well as the two countries involved. State Department officials described the obstacles to resumption as a mix of chronic and rising political antagonisms with China offsetting what the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, Nicholas Burns, has openly called a strong U.S. government desire to see more young Americans learn Mandarin and Chinese culture. China's leader, Xi Jinping, has said that he too wants more student exchanges, declaring during a visit last month to San Francisco that he hoped to see 50,000 Americans studying in his country over the next five years. For now, however, the Biden administration appears to be putting more emphasis on the distrust. The U.S. government assesses nations by their perceived safety for Americans, and China ranks so low on that score that U.S. students are currently not eligible for federal student aid if they are in China. |
| Winning statewide office guarantees job security in Mississippi | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The best job security in Mississippi might be winning an election, or in some instances appointment, to one of the down-ticket statewide offices. The seven down-ticket statewide officials will be sworn in to begin a new four-year term next week during a joint session of the Mississippi Legislature. The swearing in will have the normal pomp and circumstance. The event will also be unusual because for only the second time since at least Mississippi's 1890 Constitution was enacted, all seven statewide officials who will be sworn in after winning reelection this past November are incumbents. When Gov. Tate Reeves is sworn in during the coming days, it will make for a clean sweep. For just the second time in state history, eight statewide officials will begin a new four-year term as incumbents. All eight statewide officials being incumbents to begin a new four-year term is a recent occurrence. It also happened in 2015. Granted, until the 1980s there was never going to be a similar scenario -- unless in the rare instances when an incumbent left office early -- because the governor could not serve consecutive terms. In the 1980s, voters approved a constitutional resolution to allow governors to serve a second term. And in the 1990s, another proposal was passed to limit the lieutenant governor to two consecutive terms. |
| Opinion: Being forgiving is my New Year's Resolution | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: I have a new New Year's Resolution: Forgiveness. By this I mean, I resolve to be amazingly swift in forgiving any hurt or insult that comes my way. It's going to roll out of my consciousness like water off a duck. Here's how I came to this idea. I wanted a better grasp of all the parables of Jesus. I wanted an understanding of the number and nature of Jesus' parables. So of course, I Googled it. (Since Google owns the Internet.) There are something like 45 parables, depending on your definition of what constitutes a parable. As I reviewed them by theme, I was surprised to find how many of them dealt with the issue of forgiveness. ... Then there is the proscription in Colossians 3:13. It's as to the point as it gets: "The Lord forgave you so you must forgive others." What is it about our human nature that makes us so resentful and unforgiving? We think we have been wronged and vow to get revenge. This is a horrible way to live yet so many of us do so. ... For one thing, anger and resentment puts other people in control of our lives. We have little control over ourselves and almost no control over others, so allowing other people to direct your emotions is to float through life with no course and no rudder. |
| Foreign land ownership concerns complicated by market realities for state's ag interests | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: A Mississippi legislative study committee's report on foreign farmland purchases in the state gained significant state and national attention in recent weeks. The 363-page study report, chaired by Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson, raises legitimate concerns about trends in foreign land acquisition and strategies to protect Mississippi's interests moving forward. To be clear, foreign ownership of U.S. land, water, water rights or other ownerships that threaten food availability or security is worthy of study and legislative action. A growing number of states are seeking limits or outright bans of additional foreign-owned farmlands. Most have targeted traditional U.S. global political/economic adversaries like China or Russia. Neighboring Arkansas has been seen as a leader in these efforts -- unveiling a new law in October that banned certain foreign owners and required a Chinese seed company to divest the company's land. Such laws gain almost immediate traction with conservatives and have for decades. About half of U.S. states have some laws restricting foreign land ownership –--some on the books over 200 years. The Mississippi report contains copies of emails and letters from private citizens and political groups expressing support for expanding these laws in Mississippi. But the report also essentially ignores a couple of germane facts. |
SPORTS
| Men's Basketball: Tolu Smith returns as Mississippi State defeats Bethune-Cookman to conclude non-conference play | |
| Tolu Smith said the first few days after his injury were the hardest. Mississippi State's star post player had spent nearly three months working his way back from an injured foot, which he sustained in a preseason practice in early October. The Bulldogs managed to go 10-2 in his absence, but with Smith back in the fold Sunday against Bethune-Cookman, MSU is at full strength for the first time all year just in time for Southeastern Conference play. Smith showed no ill effects -- he made all five of his field goal attempts and went 6-for-7 from the free throw line, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes of action as the Bulldogs eased to an 85-62 victory over the Wildcats to wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule. "I cried, cried and cried again, wondering, 'Why me?'" Smith said. "I had a great coaching staff and great team to tell me that it was okay and everything was going to be fine, and now I'm here. Life moves fast and I'm sitting here playing basketball again. I'm blessed and highly favored, and I'm excited for our team." After starting in 84 of his 85 games with MSU (11-2) over the last three seasons, Smith came off the bench Sunday, checking in four and a half minutes into the game to a nice ovation from the New Year's Eve crowd of more than 7,000 at Humphrey Coliseum. He made his first basket less than a minute later and pulled down his first board 30 seconds after that, then delivered a highlight-reel play late in the first half. The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday for their SEC opener at South Carolina for a game that will be televised nationally on CBS. |
| Mississippi State basketball defeats Bethune-Cookman in Tolu Smith's strong debut | |
| Mississippi State basketball secured a win over Bethune-Cookman to conclude its nonconference slate on Sunday. But the real storyline for the Bulldogs wasn't the scoreboard, which read 85-62 in MSU's favor. It was the return of star big man Tolu Smith, who appeared in his first game of the season after suffering an offseason injury. Smith played 19 minutes for the Bulldogs (11-2) against the Wildcats (5-8). He went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field on his way to 16 points. He was a force on the boards, too, finishing with a game-high nine rebounds. Mississippi State established its dominance from the start, carrying a 41-22 lead into halftime that allowed the Bulldogs to coast to the win. It was an efficient shooting performance from MSU, which cashed in on 12 of 27 3-pointers and shot 53% from the field overall. Dashawn Davis supplemented Smith's scoring with a 12-point effort. Shakeel Moore and Josh Hubbard also scored in double figures. |
| CFP championship game matches Penix's prolific passing against Michigan's best-in-nation defense | |
| Michael Penix Jr. hasn't faced a defense like Michigan's, and the Wolverines certainly haven't faced a quarterback like the Heisman Trophy runner-up from Washington. The matchup will be the most intriguing in the College Football Playoff championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston on Jan. 8. That much was assured after the performances of Penix and Michigan's best-in-the-nation defense in the CFP semifinals Monday. Penix threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns in the Huskies' dramatic 37-31 win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Michigan harassed Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe most of the afternoon and stopped him short on fourth-and-goal at the Wolverines 3 to finish a 27-20 overtime win in the Rose Bowl. Washington will give the disintegrating Pac-12 a chance to go out in a blaze of glory. Ten of the Pac-12 programs are dispersing to three of the four remaining power conferences next season. The Huskies will join Michigan in the Big Ten. The most recent Pac-12 national champion was 2004 Southern California. The Huskies' only championship was split with Miami in 1991. That was the Huskies' last unbeaten team. The Wolverines will play for their first national championship since they shared the title with Nebraska in 1997, the year team leader Charles Woodson won the Heisman Trophy and Tom Brady was the backup to Brian Griese. |
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