| Tuesday, January 23, 2024 |
| Education: Young recalls MLK Jr. words of inspiration to propel further difference making | |
 | Mississippi State celebrated its 30th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast with students, faculty and staff, joined by community members, clergy and elected officials, filling the event room, despite looming winter weather. Supported by numerous sponsors, the event is hosted annually by MSU's Division of Access, Opportunity and Success. Keynote speaker Camille Scales Young, a two-time MSU alumna who serves as principal and director with Cornerstone Government Affairs, gave remarks reflecting on King's legacy and ways to carry his dream forward. "I am grateful for this gathering and inspired to see all of you as we gather to commemorate the legacy of a man who dedicated his life to justice, equality, and the relentless pursuit of a dream," Young said. "On this special day, we honor not only the memory of the dreamer, but we also focus on continuing his efforts for the betterment of mankind and making his dream a reality." Young referenced several of King's notable quotes that continue to inspire both those who worked during the Civil Rights Movement as well as younger generations. "As we remember Dr. King's words, let us not merely echo them on this annual holiday but live their meaning in our actions, policies, and in our everyday interactions. It is important that we remember what Dr. King said, 'the time is always right to do what is right.' That was true then and definitely is true today. Let's be extremely proud of how far we've come in our world and still be very realistic about how far we have yet to go. We can make a difference," Young said. |
| Dairy researchers turn to robotic herding assistance | |
 | It takes a team effort at the Mississippi State University-Bearden Dairy Research Center to annually produce 369,000 gallons of milk from 200 cows. A new team member showing potential for herding large numbers of cows is a ground robot equipped to navigate pasture and direct herd movement. Investigating the possible use of unmanned-ground vehicles for safer, more efficient livestock management are scientists at the Mississippi State Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, according to a university news release. Trials using a Clearpath Robotics Warthog unmanned-ground vehicle fitted with cameras and sensors have been conducted by Marcus McGee, an assistant clinical professor in the Mississippi State Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, and Christopher Hudson, a research engineer in the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems. Manually operating the vehicle to move cattle, the researchers demonstrated its effectiveness. They plan to apply for a USDA grant to study how groups of unmanned ground vehicles move cattle. They also plan to study building requirements for an autonomous cattle-driving system. They're currently studying how herding principles might apply to robots, with a goal of creating a set of rules for autonomous-herding vehicles. |
| Weather, drought impacts waterfowl migration in Mississippi | |
 | Aerial waterfowl survey data shows duck abundance in the southeastern United States is well below average. "Earlier this year, forecasts for an El Nino year producing a cold and wet winter had waterfowl hunters and watchers optimistic for the coming season," said James Callicutt, a Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service instructor. "Up to early January, this has been a heartbreaking year to be a duck hunter in Mississippi. Milder winter weather or dry conditions have been experienced from time to time over the years, but in the 2023-24 season we have experienced both at great extremes." Wetlands are popular stopping points for early- and late-migrating birds alike, but drought conditions along the flyway have left those sources of habitat drier than normal. Houston Havens, waterfowl program coordinator with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP), said the complete drying of many wetlands has already taken place. In Mississippi, waterfowl numbers typically peak in mid- to late January, but some ducks and geese begin arriving here as early as late October and early November. For those populations, the resources found in wetlands -- particularly forage -- are sometimes in shorter supply, unless sufficient rainfall or water-pumping efforts occur to make these resources available to foraging waterfowl. |
| Education: MSU ornithologist joins flock of national avian society fellows | |
| A Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist and associate research professor in Mississippi State's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture is being honored as a new fellow of the American Ornithological Society. Mark Woodrey, who has devoted his career to researching avian ecology and conservation across the Gulf of Mexico region, joined the society over 40 years ago. Known as AOS, the organization is the world's largest network of professionals dedicated to advancing the scientific study and conservation of birds. AOS Fellows are mid-to-late career professionals who have made significant contributions not only to the society and its publications but also to the profession at large. Woodrey has authored, co-authored and edited over 90 publications, attended 33 annual meetings, and served on over 45 technical committees and advisory boards. Stationed at MSU's Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, he has made the Mississippi Gulf Coast his research lab for the last 20 years. His Coastal Avian Ecology Lab's primary research and conservation focus involves secretive marsh birds in Gulf of Mexico tidal marshes. |
| USPOULTRY issues grant to Mississippi State University | |
| The USPOULTRY Foundation has granted $29,133 to Mississippi State University for student recruiting in poultry science. Dr. Ken Macklin, head of the department of poultry science, plans to enhance recruitment efforts and engage with local schools to promote poultry science careers. This grant is part of a larger initiative, with a total of $297,580 awarded to 26 universities nationwide, supporting poultry programs. Funding is made possible by contributions from companies, individuals and proceeds from the International Poultry Expo. |
| City study holds up rural wastewater expansion | |
| Starkville's ongoing wastewater system study is holding up a planned $7 million expansion to the East Oktibbeha Wastewater District. What the city's study reveals could keep the rural wastewater district from expanding at all. Dwight Prisock, manager for the East Oktibbeha Wastewater District, told the county's board of supervisors Monday that the district is nearly ready to start an expansion project across Highway 182 from Hickory Grove Road running east to Triangle Drywall Supply. But for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to clear the project to take construction bids, the city must consent to the expanded rural district tying into its wastewater treatment plant, since the district doesn't have its own. The city, the wastewater district and Mississippi State University all tie into the city's wastewater treatment plant, Prisock said. On Monday, supervisors approved a resolution asking to meet with representatives of all three entities to discuss how to move forward. East Oktibbeha Wastewater District plans to use American Rescue Plan Act and state matching funds --- $3.5 million each --- to expand sewer service to the Habitat for Humanity subdivision on 16th Section Road, as well as parts of Old Highway 25, Poor House Road, Williams Road and Bethel Road. Prisock told The Dispatch the total project would add more than 200 households to the service. The Neel-Schaffer engineering firm has designed plans for the project, with the specifications forthcoming. However, Starkville has not signed off, and without the city's approval, the plan can't be submitted to MDEQ. Meanwhile, Starkville is amid a "holistic" study of its wastewater treatment system, one Starkville Utilities General Manager Edward Kemp said is on track to finish by the end of March. |
| Oktibbeha County murder suspect is back in Mississippi | |
 | A 22-year-old accused of killing another young man in Oktibbeha County is back in Mississippi. Daniel Miller has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Gabriel Tipton, 22. The shooting happened Saturday, Jan. 20 around midnight on U.S. Highway 82, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). Authorities arrested Miller some time after 1:30 a.m. in Pickens County, Alabama. He was booked into the Pickens County jail on a DUI charge. The MBI and the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Department have released very little details about what happened between the two men. Miller and Tipton went to school together at Hamilton High School in Mississippi. |
| The Multibillion-Dollar Bet That Truckers Will Ditch Diesel for Electricity | |
 | The U.S.'s biggest commercial truck and engine builders are betting that the freight industry is ready to swap diesel fuel pumps for battery chargers. The diesel engine maker Cummins and the truck builders Daimler MBG Truck and Paccar plan to build a $2 billion battery factory in Mississippi to produce batteries for commercial trucks. The plant, which the companies will operate as a joint venture, is expected to begin producing battery cells in 2027. The plant in Mississippi's Marshall County, south of Memphis, Tenn., will be the nation's largest dedicated to batteries for commercial vehicles, with initial output projected to be enough batteries annually to power more than 40,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks. The investment is a big bet that the typically risk-averse trucking industry will start to convert rapidly to alternative power as new government standards for engine exhaust make it significantly more expensive and restrictive to buy and operate diesel trucks. States and the federal government are starting to apply more pressure on truck manufacturers and reluctant truckers to get on board with zero-emissions vehicles. "The timing of this plant is intentional," said Jennifer Rumsey, chief executive of Cummins, the leading manufacturer of diesel engines in the U.S., in an interview. "The demand is going to grow as the regulations continue to drive a reduction in emissions." |
| Senate bill seeks to limit press access to Mississippi Capitol floor | |
 | Two bills filed with the Mississippi Senate late last week could remove reporters from the Senate floor and their office spaces in the State Capitol. Some lawmakers, though, say they doubt the bills will ever pass. Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R, who represents DeSoto County, told the Clarion Ledger on Monday he filed the bills because he believes members of the media should be limited to being on the senate floor 30 minutes before and after sessions, and they could still cover the chamber from the gallery. "Personally, I'm tired of talking to a colleague on the floor and turning around and having someone from the press two feet away from me, or having a camera stuck in my face," Blackwell said. "We've got a lot of staff that don't even have places to sit, they've got to stand, but we got a lot of activity that goes on, and the press can partake in all that and be up in the gallery and not miss a lick." The bills, Senate Resolution 3 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 511, would rewrite current Senate rules to remove the press from the floor, but not from the gallery, as well as reallocate the press office spaces equally among senators and representatives. "In this day and age with the technology that's available, (reporters) are doing all your stuff on laptops and iPads and stuff like that," Blackwell said. "I just don't see the need for you to occupy that much office space when we have elected legislators having to meet constituents and conduct their business in the hallway." |
| Mississippi House still does not livestream its committee meetings | |
| When the state's economic development agency briefed lawmakers last week about the details of a multibillion-dollar economic development package, the public had few ways to listen in on how their tax dollars would be spent. The Mississippi House of Representatives does not livestream or record its committee meetings, which can leave the public in the dark about a crucial step in Mississippi's lawmaking process. Meanwhile, the Mississippi Senate does livestream both its committee meetings and full chamber proceedings. House Speaker Jason White, a Republican from West, told Mississippi Today that he has no objection to livestreaming committee meetings, but he wants to consult with his leadership team before adopting a permanent policy on recording them. "My commitment to you is I know our new Rules Committee chairman and our Rules Committee will look at that," White said. "I don't think anybody here is, like, staunchly against it." The bulk of the Capitol's work happens in committee meetings because committee leaders have control over which bills are voted on and which bills die over the course of the legislative session. Committee meetings are also where lawmakers hear directly from agency leaders and conduct hearings. House Rules Committee Chairman Fred Shanks, a Republican from Brandon, also said he does not oppose livestreaming the committee meetings, but he believes the House needs to think through logistical plans on how the recordings would work. |
| Bill: School must tell parents if child identifies as transgender | |
| A proposed piece of legislation may soon require public school staff to notify parents if their child does certain actions that do not align with their biological sex. Mississippi House Bill 176 requires all school personnel to be mandatory reporters on behalf of parents. The school must inform them within three days of finding out that their child does the following: Identifies with a gender or pronoun that does not align with the child's sex on their birth certificate, other official records and sex assigned at birth. Identifies as nonhuman (another animal species, extraterrestrial being or inanimate object). Is using sex-segregated programs and activities or school facilities that do not align with their sex assignment at birth. Until explicit approval is given from parents, public school employees cannot address the student in question by their preferred pronoun. Based on the language of the bill, the school does not need to inform parents that a child uses a different name than listed on official documents. The bill also does not require the school to tell parents if their child identifies as gay, bisexual, lesbian or wears clothing associated with the opposite sex. The bill was written and proposed by state Republicans. Its principal author was freshman Representative Charles Blackwell (R-District 88). |
| Can Mississippi permanently strip felons of voting rights? 19 federal judges will hear the case | |
 | Nineteen federal appellate judges are scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether Mississippi can continue to permanently strip voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes for which they have served a complete sentence. The outcome of the case will likely determine whether tens of thousands of people win back the right to vote. An immediate decision is not expected. Criminal justice advocates won a major victory last August when a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban violates the Constitution's prohibition against "cruel and unusual" punishment. But the full 17-member circuit court vacated that ruling weeks later and scheduled Tuesday's hearing. Attorneys for the state argue that the voting ban is a "nonpunitive voting regulation" and that, even if it did constitute punishment, it isn't cruel and unusual. "Mississippi stands as an outlier among its sister states, bucking a clear and consistent trend in our Nation against permanent disenfranchisement," Senior Judge James Dennis wrote in the August opinion, joined by Senior Judge Carolyn Dineen King. Both judges were nominated to the court by Democratic presidents -- King by Jimmy Carter and Dennis by Bill Clinton. Also on the panel was Judge Edith Jones, still on full-time status nearly 40 years after she was nominated to the court by Republican President Ronald Reagan. In a dissent to the August ruling, Jones cited a previous Supreme Court ruling regarding felons' disenfranchisement, saying it is up to legislatures to decide such matters. |
| McCarthy: Freedom Caucus has 'stopped Republicans from being able to govern' | |
 | Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused the House Freedom Caucus of preventing the Republican majority from governing. Speaking to Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo Monday morning, McCarthy the ousted former Speaker who resigned from Congress at the end of December, said questions about why Republicans opted to "kick the can down the road" and avert a government shutdown should be directed at the hard-line conservative group. The stopgap funding measure passed last week extends government funding levels originally set under Democratic control until March 1 and March 8. "You really should be asking the Freedom Caucus. They are the ones who have stopped the Republicans from being able to govern," McCarthy said. The Freedom Caucus opposed the continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding last week, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said was necessary to complete work on regular full-year spending bills. But McCarthy's comment was an apparent reference to members of the group and their allies opposing full-year funding deals that House GOP leadership struck with Democrats -- such as a debt ceiling deal McCarthy struck last year -- and blocking several funding measures from coming to the House floor over the past year, preventing the slim House GOP majority from approving some funding measures sooner. |
| Supreme Court sides with Biden administration in Texas border razor-wire case | |
 | The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, granted the Biden administration's request to vacate the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' injunction in a case involving razor wire placed along Texas' border with Mexico. The move paves the way for federal officials to remove the wire. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. Texas has maintained that it needs to act on the border because the federal government has failed to stem the tide of migrants crossing from Mexico. Gov. Greg Abbott launched a controversial state-led, border security effort called "Operation Lone Star" in 2021. Since then, Texas has installed razor wire, a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, and added thousands of Texas state troopers and National Guard soldiers to patrol parts of the state's 1,254 mile long border with Mexico. Earlier this month, the Biden administration turned to the Supreme Court over the installation of razor wire on the northern banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. That came after the state sued the administration in October, claiming federal agents were destroying state property and preventing Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety officers from securing the border. |
| Trump seeks control of the GOP primary in New Hampshire against Nikki Haley, his last major rival | |
| Donald Trump is aiming for a commanding victory Tuesday in New Hampshire, securing a sweep of the first two Republican primary races that would make a November rematch with President Joe Biden look more likely than ever. The biggest question is whether Trump's last major rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, will be able to eat into his margin or pull off an upset outright. Haley has dedicated significant time and financial resources to New Hampshire, hoping to appeal to its famously independent-minded electorate. In the first results released early Tuesday, all six registered voters of tiny Dixville Notch cast their ballots for Haley over Trump. The resort town is the only one in New Hampshire this year that opted to vote at midnight. Trump won New Hampshire's Republican primary big during his first run for president in 2016, but some of his allies lost key races during the midterms two years ago. Haley also has to contend with an opponent who has a deep bond with the GOP base and has concentrated on winning the state decisively enough that it would effectively end the competitive phase of the Republican primary. If successful, Trump would be the first Republican presidential candidate to win open races in Iowa and New Hampshire since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976 -- a clear sign of his continued grip on the party's most-loyal voters. |
| In New Hampshire, Underdog Haley Tries to Block Trump's Path to GOP Nomination | |
| A Republican primary electorate heavy with independent voters will deliver a verdict Tuesday on whether Nikki Haley's long-shot bid to slow Donald Trump's march to the party's 2024 presidential nomination can find any traction in the snow of New Hampshire. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, engaged in a frantic burst of final campaigning Monday ahead of what is likely her best chance to alter the narrative that the former president is the inevitable nominee. If she fails to deliver a strong New Hampshire showing, Haley will face a tough decision about the next significant primary in South Carolina. Trump is far ahead of her in polls there, and a loss in her home state on Feb. 24 could tarnish her political résumé, if she wants to run for office again in a post-Trump GOP. "America doesn't do coronations," Haley told several hundred supporters Monday at a campaign stop. "Let's show all of the media class and the political class that we've got a different plan in mind." Haley's crowds in the closing days of the New Hampshire campaign have been small when compared with those for Trump, whose supporters have sometimes waited hours in freezing temperatures to catch a glimpse of him at a rally. Seeking to project GOP unity around him, Trump appeared Monday evening in the state with three of his previous nomination rivals: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. |
| Tim Scott returns to 2024 trail as an engaged man, a Trump surrogate and possible VP pick | |
 | South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott found love during the busiest political season of his life. Over the Jan. 20 weekend and just one day after he endorsed Donald Trump for president, Scott got engaged to girlfriend Mindy Noce of Charleston. "Listen, you fall in love, you realize you've met the woman of your dreams and you have an opportunity to ask her to be your bride," Scott told South Carolina reporters Jan. 22. "You want that to be as personal and intimate of an experience as possible," he added. "Unfortunately, when you're a senator, you get a chance to share it with the entire world." And share he did, posting social media photos of the proposal delivered on a cold beach on Kiawah Island. Scott is the highest-ranking elected Black Republican in the country, and his recent endorsement of Trump has only renewed talk that he could be a potential vice presidential pick should Trump become the nominee. The pair began dating in late 2022, and made their public debut as a couple beneath the hot lights of the third GOP debate stage in Miami in November. Days later, Scott suspended his presidential campaign after his optimistic vision for the GOP failed to gain traction. Asked by The Post and Courier if he had any vice presidential aspirations, Scott didn't say no. "I'm going to focus on helping people win so that it's better for America," he said. |
| GOP lawmakers want Trump to focus on economy, immigration | |
 | Republican lawmakers, many of whom speak to Donald Trump regularly, want the 2024 GOP front-runner to hammer a campaign message focused on immigration and the economy, saying that is where President Joe Biden is most vulnerable. Trump weaved those two issues into the backbone of a conservative populist message during his successful 2016 White House bid. After the COVID-19 pandemic shook up every aspect of life and hamstrung the economy, then-President Trump's 2020 reelection campaign message, by necessity, was more disjointed, and Biden prevailed. GOP lawmakers, even if they have endorsed other candidates in their party's ongoing presidential primary, said Biden has made a mess of the U.S.-Mexico border and is not enforcing immigration laws. The same Republican members said their constituents complain daily about still-high prices, even as inflation rates have eased, and believe Biden has bungled a fundamentally strong economy that Trump left him. They see Trump as uniquely suited to pounce. But they say he must stay on message and not allow his legal troubles to water down what, so far, has been a campaign focused on promises to drastically reduce immigration and shape an economy in which houses, cars, fuel and everyday items will somehow be more affordable. |
| Gen Z Conservatives Support the GOP. Does the Party Support Them? | |
 | On a bitterly cold weekend shortly before the Iowa caucuses, nearly 100 young conservatives packed a downtown hotel to profess their love for the Republican Party. But many of them weren't sure the party loved them back. The fourth annual Run GenZ conference was an opportunity for aspiring conservative elected officials to learn how to kickstart their careers in politics. In between sessions on personal narrative building and women's leadership, they noshed on a taco lunch in the hotel lobby and discussed a common belief that the Republican Party needs better youth representation --- but isn't doing enough to get it. It was a fraught topic, particularly at the conference. Just weeks earlier, every Run GenZ member on the Republican National Committee's Youth Advisory Council -- an initiative started last year to ameliorate concerns about youth engagement -- resigned from the council, including Run GenZ's founder and president, 26-year-old former Iowa state Rep. Joe Mitchell. In their letter of resignation, the leaders lambasted the RNC's attempt to reach young voters as a "fundraising ploy" with no actual vision. "It really was a do-nothing committee," said Missouri state Rep. Mazzie Boyd, 25, a Run GenZ "Rising Star," the group's moniker for a current or former elected official who serves as a mentor for their coalition. "I resigned from the RNC Youth Advisory Council due to the lack of innovation to actually get young voters," she later explained. "The RNC was only having members of the council pose for pictures, which does nothing for that goal." The drama with the committee highlights a major problem facing the GOP, and one that hung over the conference in Iowa: Republicans are struggling to attract younger voters. |
| Taking names: MUW puts call out for name-change suggestions | |
 | The process of finding a new name for Mississippi University for Women continues but a deadline is looming. Thursday is the deadline for stakeholders, including community members, to submit name suggestions to the school's naming task force. In a message on the university's website, President Nora Miller said the task force will explore three "W" names to bridge generations of "W" students. She wrote the process would be more transparent, which was a complaint from some alumni after Mississippi Brightwell University was selected. A new survey will be released to students, faculty, staff, and alumni on January 26. The school still wanted to submit a new name to lawmakers during the 2024 legislative session. You can email suggestions to Dean Amanda Powers at acpowers@muw.edu |
| Former UM law dean honored with surprise scholarship | |
 | A new scholarship in the University of Mississippi School of Law will serve as a perpetual tribute to the immediate past dean, Susan Duncan. Alumni and friends of the school who were gathered at the 2023 meeting of the Mississippi Bar Convention surprised Duncan with the announcement of a scholarship fund established in her name. "I am completely humbled and so honored," said Duncan, who resigned as dean last year after serving six years but remains at Ole Miss as a law professor. "As a faculty and staff, we made great strides on behalf of the law school during my tenure. "We had challenges, not the least of which was navigating the unique aspects of educating students during a pandemic, but we prevailed together." The Dean Susan Duncan School of Law Scholarship Fund was started by Suzette Matthews, development officer for the school, who considers Duncan one of her closest friends. "I love Susan and I'm going to miss her so much. I want her legacy as dean to live on forever," said Matthews, who appealed to alumni and friends for help funding the scholarship. |
| Hawthornden Foundation provides support for Oxford Book Conference | |
| In honor of its upcoming 30th year, the Oxford Conference for the Book has received a surprise gift from Hawthornden Foundation. Jimmy Thomas, director of the conference, which is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, welcomed the news. "We are both thrilled and incredibly grateful for this generous support of $35,000," Thomas said. "We are committed good stewards of these funds and to use them in ways that lift up readers and writers in north Mississippi. "We thank Hawthornden Foundation so much for this opportunity to imagine new and exciting ways of bringing the written word to the Oxford and University of Mississippi communities." Hawthornden Foundation is a private charitable organization supporting contemporary writers and the literary arts. Established by Drue Heinz, a noted philanthropist and patron of the arts, the foundation is named after Hawthornden Castle in Midlothian, Scotland. There, an international residential fellowship program provides monthlong retreats for creative writers from all disciplines to work in peaceful surroundings, according to its website. The 30th Conference for the Book is set for April 3-5, 2024. |
| William Carey University's growth after 2017 tornado | |
 | January 21, 2017, will be a day William Carey University will never forget. On Monday, officials remembered the 2017 tornado that swept through the university, nearly destroying everything in its path. Vice President of Spiritual Development Brett Golson said he remembers what it was like stepping foot on campus after the tornado hit early that morning. "There were cars piled up, glass -- it was just a scene of destruction," said Golson. It took two years for the university to rebuild after losing six buildings during the tornado and over 40 buildings being damaged, which was a loss of over $100 million. "To be honest, it was a little demoralizing when you drove up here for a year and there were fences blocking off the vast majority of our campus, but that's the enduring spirit of William Carey," Golson said. Even after all those years since the storm, William Carey University has continued to grow, being the largest medical school in the state and having more buildings to accommodate students. "We've seen our college of osteopathic medicine just explode over 800 students -- largest medical school in the state," Golson said. "Our health science building is over 70,000 square feet." The student population has grown allowing the school to add new dorms, a medical building and apartment buildings. |
| Knoxville coffee shop is coming to U. of Tennessee's campus as students return | |
 | K Brew is opening a speedy version of its coffee shops on the University of Tennessee's flagship Knoxville campus, and it's extra special because alumni own the brand. K Brew Express will focus on serving coffee with "speed and efficiency," CEO and co-founder Pierce LaMacchia told Knox News. The coffee shop is taking over the Einstein Bros. Bagels spot in the Haslam College of Business at 1000 Volunteer Blvd. The coffee shop will open Jan. 24 to help students kick off the spring semester with warm drinks and bagels. This is K Brew's fifth location. The collaboration with UT has been more than two years in the making. LaMacchia said UT System President Randy Boyd and Associate Vice Chancellor Brian Browning had a hand in bringing the local coffee shop on campus. Students also can get K Brew java from coffee urns in Stokely Dining Hall at 1311 Lake Loudoun Blvd. "This is a big win for campus and a huge win for K Brew," LaMacchia said. Pierce LaMacchia and brother Michael LaMacchia started K Brew in 2013. |
| A&M's LGBTQ Pride Center closed after Texas law ends DEI programs | |
 | The once brightly colored office on the third floor of the Students Services Building on Texas A&M University's campus has been stripped of any and all reference to its former role as the LGBTQ+ Pride Center. When Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17 last June 17, Texas A&M -- and all other state universities -- began work immediately to cease all diversity, equity and inclusion programs; including those "designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation," according to the law. As of Jan. 1, the space once occupied by the pride center has changed to the Student Life Center, and LGBTQ+ student organizations are left to pick up the pieces as they try to maintain the services and events once operated by the center. Alex Gonce, a computer engineering senior and Draggieland showrunner for the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council (TAMU QEC), said they first heard the pride center might close shortly after SB 17 was passed. "At first it was denial, 'No, they can't be getting the pride center. It's open to everyone, nothing about it is limiting, anyone can participate,'" Gonce said Monday. "I know it has been a safe space for me and a bunch of my friends and a bunch of [organization] members. I know it's like their place on campus. So, not having that, as like a designated space, just feels like a loss." |
| CSU and faculty reach surprise tentative agreement, ending massive strike after one day | |
 | The union representing California State University faculty reached a tentative agreement with the university system late Monday, putting an end to a planned five-day strike after one day. "In case anyone forgot, STRIKES WORK! After months of negotiations and two strike actions, our movement for a #betterCSU has paid off!" the union announced on Instagram. Faculty are expected to resume teaching Tuesday and students were advised to look for messages from their instructors. The agreement, which must be ratified by union members, includes higher salary floors for the lowest-paid workers, safer workplaces and an expansion of parental leave. In an email to faculty members, union leaders said the agreement includes a 5% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2023, among other benefits. The unanticipated announcement came after faculty at all 23 campuses of CSU, the nation's largest four-year university system, staged a massive walkout Monday, the first day of the term for most students. While faculty members marched in chilly rain throughout much of the state, students navigated a dizzying mix of instructions: Classes are canceled, classes are temporarily on Zoom, class is in session; assignments are online, assignments are scratched for a week. Official email communication with professors was cut, leaving some unsure if classes were taking place. |
| Your College's New Marketing Campaign, With a Boost From AI | |
 | W hile most of the debate over artificial-intelligence technology at colleges centers on the classroom, there's another hotbed of AI adoption on many campuses -- the marketing and communications office. It's not hard to imagine why. While colleges (outside of athletic departments) took decades to warm to marketing and branding -- sometimes tarring the practices as unwelcome intrusions from the world of business -- college leaders now readily turn to marketers to broadcast their institutions' distinctiveness among their peers, to help them compete for the dwindling number of traditional-age students, and to bolster their images with stakeholders. That has meant more work for a growing number of college marketers -- Website content! Press releases! Photos! Social-media posts! Videos! A brand new social-media platform that needs yet more posts! -- but not always commensurate personnel or dollars. "Ask a [college] marketer if the budget is big enough," says Andrew Sogn, marketing and social media coordinator for South Dakota State University, in Brookings. The reliable answer is a resigned "no." So when new technology comes along that promises to whip up ideas, write copy, fix photos and potentially even create video, how can you resist at least checking it out? It's like hiring an intern who works forever. You never even have to buy it pizza. |
| Higher Ed Workforce Rebounding From Pandemic | |
 | The number of people employed by colleges and universities has rebounded from the low-water mark of the pandemic and the ensuing recession, though it has not recovered to the point seen before 2020. And the gains have come despite the fact that community college workforces have continued to shrink, dropping by more than 4 percent over all since 2020 and by nearly 6 percent among instructors. Data from the Education Department's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, published last week, show that institutions eligible to distribute federal financial aid funds employed 3,935,708 administrators, faculty and staff members in fall 2022, up 1.7 percent from 3,868,066 in fall 2020, during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase was driven mostly by growth at four-year public and private nonprofit colleges and universities. The number of employees grew by 3.3 percent at four-year private institutions, to 1.225 million in 2022 from 1.186 million in 2020, and by 2.5 percent at public four-year institutions, to 2.07 million from 2.02 million. The employee base at four-year institutions rebounded faster than enrollments did, as undergraduate enrollment declines persisted through fall 2022 at four-year public and private institutions, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Enrollments finally bounced back at those institutions last fall. |
| Young students deciding on colleges weigh state politics in their decisions | |
 | This spring, high school seniors across the country will weigh school rankings, academic specialties and campus life as they decide where to commit to the next chapter of their life. For some, there will be another factor to consider: state politics. The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 -- and clearing the way for some states to impose bans on abortion -- changed the calculus for some students. Grace, a high school senior in South Carolina, grew more concerned by the idea of living in a state with limited access to abortion. She described feeling nervous that abortion bans would lead to more restrictions on women's rights in general. "I'm not comfortable with being in a state that doesn't value who I am or value my rights as a person," she said -- a requirement that caught her mother, Andrea, off guard. (They've asked us not to print their names out of fear this story could impact Grace's college admissions chances.) Andrea says she leans against abortion personally. "I was pretty mad about it, because I felt like she's so young," Andrea said. "Why is this a consideration? This is for older women or older girls, not a high school girl, to really think about." The conversation is part of a growing trend. A Gallup survey conducted in 2022, after the Dobbs ruling, showed 73% of unenrolled young adults say reproductive health laws are a factor in their decision on where to enroll in college. |
| Biden has forgiven billions in student loans. Who has gotten the relief? | |
| Under the Biden administration, more than 3.7 million student loan borrowers have had their debt forgiven by various executive actions. Despite President Biden's failure to give out universal student debt relief and fulfill a major campaign promise, he has made strides on the loans through other avenues, including fixes in income-driven repayment (IDR) options. Many borrowers, largely those on IDR plans and in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, have received relief, but they represent only a small fraction of the 44.5 million Americans with student debt. The administration has forgiven $136.6 billion for more than 3.7 million student loan borrowers in the first three years of Biden's presidency. On Friday, the administration announced almost $5 billion in debt relief for almost 74,000 people, including $3.2 billion for those on the PSLF program, which is available to people in government jobs and certain nonprofit workers. In total, the administration has forgiven $56.7 billion for 793,400 PSLF borrowers. Around $1.7 billion of the forgiveness went to borrowers who have been paying on their student loans for 20 years on an IDR plan but have not received their forgiveness. In total, the administration said it has forgiven $45.7 billion in loans through the IDR plans for 930,500 borrowers. |
| As cork pops on her retirement reception, Alyce Clarke bumps into $2B in lottery sales | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Former State Rep. Alyce Griffin Clarke, D-Jackson, heads to a Jan. 26 "Night of Jubilee" event at the Jackson Convention Center this week honoring her 38 years of service to her District 69 constituents and along the way bumped smack into her legacy -- the Alyce G. Clarke Lottery Law. Clarke, who ended her legislative term earlier this month as the longest-serving female state legislator, is 84. The gala event -- sponsored by Mississippi's Connecting the Dots Foundation -- celebrates Clarke's extraordinary years of public service and her tenacity in the face of significant physical, societal and political odds. Coinciding with the event in Clarke's honor was the announcement last week by the Mississippi Lottery Corporation (MLC) that the Mississippi Lottery had surpassed the $2 billion mark in gross sales in less than five years. The MLC press release touting the achievement spelled out the fiscal impact on the state: "With sales reaching this level, the MLC has returned more than half a billion dollars to the State of Mississippi for roads, bridges and education since sales began Nov. 25, 2019. Direct beneficiaries include more than $377 million to the Highway Fund and more than $142 million to the Education Enhancement Fund." ... From a purely political standpoint, the state lottery is a worthy legacy. Generating a sustainable source of over $500 million (and growing!) in new revenues for state highways and public education is, however, just one of Clarke's accomplishments. Her work in establishing state drug courts and establishing state partnerships to aid in slowing the scourge of the birth of drug-addicted babies has been nothing short of heroic. |
SPORTS
| Bulldog Sports Properties Extends Partnership With Mississippi Blood Services; On-Campus Blood Drive Set For January 24-25 | |
| Mississippi State Bulldog Sports Properties announced Monday that it has extended its partnership with Mississippi Blood Services. As part of the partnership, Mississippi State's campus will be the location for a blood drive Jan. 24-25. The Mississippi Blood Services bus will be parked between the Chapel of Memories and the historic YMCA Building across from the Colvard Student Union from noon to 4 p.m. on those days. Student-athletes Rebecca Walk (volleyball) and Kelsey Clay (soccer) will be representing their sport programs as part of the event. Walk-ups are welcome and appointments can be made in advance here. When making an appointment, donors should use code number 886 for Jan. 24 or code number 887 for Jan. 25. Donors will receive a $15 VISA gift card and 150 Hail State Rewards points. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball picks up road SEC win vs Florida | |
 | Mississippi State women's basketball entered Monday's game at Florida in a spot all too familiar. The Bulldogs were projected as one of the final four teams in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN's latest bracketology. With a chance to strengthen the résumé with a Quadrant 1 win, coach Sam Purcell and his squad turned to their go-to player. Guard Jerkaila Jordan delivered. Behind her 21 points,12 rebounds and two steals, the Bulldogs picked up an 89-77 win against the Gators at O'Connell Center. Jordan was complemented by forward Jessika Carter -- the other half of MSU's likely All-SEC duo. Carter recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds. During Purcell's tenure, which started before the 2022-23 season, the Bulldogs are 18-0 when Carter posts a double-double. Mississippi State (16-5, 3-3 SEC) also got needed depth back behind Carter, with Nyayongah Gony making her first appearance since an injury sidelined her after MSU's Dec. 3 loss at Chattanooga. She posted a rebound, assist and steal in 10 minutes. Senior guard Leilani Correa was Florida's top option, scoring 33 points in 31 minutes off the bench. The Bulldogs have now won 10 of their past 11 meetings against Florida (10-7, 1-4). |
| Tennis roundup: MSU men beat No. 20 Florida State, Borges' Australian Open run ends in fourth round | |
| The No. 17 Mississippi State men's tennis team passed its first test of the season with flying colors Friday, defeating No. 20 Florida State 6-1 and then shutting out Tennessee State 7-0 later in the day. Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic got things started with a 6-3 doubles victory against the Seminoles, and the 24th-ranked team of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez won 6-4 to clinch the opening point. Jovanovic, the No. 13 ranked singles player in the country, lost his singles match 6-4, 7-5 against Florida State, but the Bulldogs were victorious everywhere else. Nemanja Malesevic, Milanovic, Hernandez and Sanchez all won in straight sets, with Radomir Tomic coming back from a set down to win his match at No. 6 singles. "It definitely helps their confidence," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "Results are part of it, but we're so focused on the process of getting better. Whether you win or lose, there's so many things we're going to talk about in our individual meetings on how we can keep getting better individually and as a team. It's good feedback, but it's a long season, it's a process, it's a journey and we're just going to keep getting better with every match." ... Former MSU standout Nuno Borges, the 2019 ITA National Player of the Year and NCAA singles runner-up, saw his impressive run in the Australian Open come to an end in the fourth round against No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev in four sets. |
| Texas A&M names R.C. Slocum interim athletic director | |
| Retired Texas A&M football coach R.C. Slocum will be the Aggies' interim athletic director while university leadership searches for Ross Bjork's successor, according to a release from the university. He will take over the role on Feb. 1. This will be Slocum's second stint as A&M's interim athletic director, having served in the role from January to June 2019 after Scott Woodward's departure to LSU before Bjork's hiring. "I am honored to be asked to serve as the interim athletic director at Texas A&M, a university close to my heart," Slocum said in a statement. "I have great respect for President [Mark] Welsh and will do my best to make him, Texas A&M and, most importantly, our coaches and student-athletes proud." Slocum already resides on the A&M payroll, serving in the position of special assistant to the Texas A&M president. He has held the position since he ended his coaching career after the 2002 season. The A&M athletic department Slocum is taking temporary charge over houses 340 employees and more than 620 athletes. Slocum, 79, remains the winningest coach in A&M history with a 123-47-2 record in 14 seasons from 1989-2002. He never had a losing season and his 1998 team that claimed the Big 12 Championship is the last A&M football team to win a conference title. |
| Tennessee's Neyland Stadium mixed-use proposal will add hotel, retail development to riverside area | |
| Developers have until March 4 to respond to the University of Tennessee's request for proposals seeking a master developer partner for a proposed mixed-use development adjacent to 102-year-old Neyland Stadium, which is undergoing a $337 million renovation to be completed by fall of 2026, and UT's basketball arena, Food City Center. The RFP, first posted in mid-December, is one of only a handful issued from the college athletics world. Higher education is slowly, but surely, catching onto the mixed-use development trend that has already enveloped the pro sports ranks to harness the deep connections that college fans have with their schools, especially if they're graduates. At many colleges and universities, especially state flagships with large alumni bases like Tennessee's Knoxville campus, the college version of sports venue adjacent mixed-use development could potentially draw year-round visitors to stadiums like Neyland that are otherwise active only seven or eight days annually. Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White, who has made facility development and renovation a priority during his three years in Knoxville, told Sports Business Journal last fall that the goal of the proposed Neyland mixed-use district is to "make our big-ticket venues, our keystone venues something our fan base can interact with all year long." The initial phase would include a 250-key hotel specifically branded with the university and its history and traditions in mind, as well as open spaces immediately adjacent to the hotel and stadium. The RFP suggested the hotel could reach a height of 12 stories. |
| Auburn athletics surplus in 2023 down $19.7 million from 2022 as football severance hits | |
| Auburn athletics operated at an approximate $3.2 million surplus during the 2023 fiscal year, according to the annual NCAA financial report obtained by The Montgomery Advertiser/USA TODAY Network on Monday. The department's total operating revenue was $195.3 million, and the total expenses were just more than $192 million. The surplus, however, was made possible by the $25 million athletics received in direct institutional support, which is way up from the $9.7 million the department received in 2022. These numbers come a year after Auburn had a $22.9 million surplus in 2022, which was an athletics department record according to data dating back to 2005. The previous high was $19.4 million in 2008, with other high-profit years including $17.8 million in 2020, $15.2 million in 2016 and $14.6 million in 2017. The operating revenue in 2023 ($195.3 million) was higher than it was in 2022 ($174.6 million), but the operating expenses increased more than $40 million from $151.6 million to $192 million. The athletics department as a whole reported a severance expense of $19.9 million in 2023. That's up from $8.2 million in 2022, an $11.7 million difference. Other notable upticks include a a $5 million rise in coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses and a $7.5 million increase in support staff/administrative compensation. |
| Auburn AD John Cohen gives update on Jordan-Hare north endzone, facility changes | |
 | One of the first things John Cohen noticed since he was hired as Auburn's athletic director in late 2022 was the north endzone at Jordan-Hare Stadium and its antiquated scoreboard and layout. He has long stated a goal of a wide-ranging construction project to update not just the scoreboard but to develop the entire end of the stadium into a space including far more premium options for fans -- expanding on an already existing push for premium seating under Cohen's tenure. "I think one of the things, and this is long before John Cohen, but one of the things that we had to address in all of our facilities is a little bit of a lack of premium options," Cohen said in a January sit-down with AL.com. "We've added some premium options in basketball, we've added some premium options in baseball. We've actually added a premium opportunity quite frankly at softball that we're quite excited about. We've added some premium options over at football. We're going to continue to enhance our premium options cause that's what this fanbase demands." While he was the athletic director at Mississippi State, Cohen oversaw a renovation of the north endzone at Davis-Wade Stadium. Though Cohen said he anticipates the Auburn project to be "more different than alike" to his previous experience. |
| Ticket prices for the LSU-South Carolina women's basketball game soar over $2,000 | |
 | The LSU-South Carolina women's basketball game set for 7 p.m. Thursday in Baton Rouge will be at the center of the hoops universe, and you should be prepared to put down a large chunk of change if you want good seats to watch the two top 10 teams go at it. The game is not officially a sellout, but an LSU spokesman said Monday that the anticipation is the game will be sold out when the two teams square off at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. You have the option of sitting at home and watching the nationally-televised broadcast on ESPN, but there are tickets available to be purchased on the secondary market. LSU has sold all advance tickets that it plans to, but there could possibly be a small number of general admission tickets available on gameday. Your best shot to buy tickets this week is likely on the secondary market, but prices for good seats are hitting big numbers. SeatGeek, which is LSU's partner for secondary-market tickets, has upper level seats for as cheap as $53, but you can buy two nice seats in section 112 for $844 a pop. The gaudiest prices to be found on the secondary market appear to be with Vivid Seats, which had 20 tickets available at over $1,000 each. The priciest of them all were four courtside seats priced at $2,373 each. The most expensive tickets on StubHub were each priced at over $1,000 and located in the upper level at the PMAC. |
| Ten states, DOJ team up against the NCAA's transfer rules | |
| Sports have the ability to unite even the most entrenched red states and blue states, and perhaps no other organization raises the ire of athletic enthusiasts across the political spectrum more than the NCAA. Ten states -- including Mississippi -- along with the District of Columbia are challenging the NCAA's requirement that college athletes who transfer a second time among Division I schools wait one year before competing in games. The other states joining in the lawsuit are Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Even the Department of Justice has gotten in on the action. In a rare move, the federal agency signed on to a state-led antitrust lawsuit, saying that the NCAA's requirement is "an illegal restraint on college athletes' ability to sell their image and likeness and control their education." The NCAA began automatically exempting first-time transfers from the regulation in 2021 but, as the Attorneys General claim, has continued to enforce the rule for subsequent transfers and denied waivers inconsistently and often without legitimate reasons. According to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office, Judge John Preston Bailey issued a temporary restraining order in December 2023, later extending it to a preliminary injunction, prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing the rule and allowing college athletes to compete without fear of retaliation from the association. |
| More state lawmakers introducing school-friendly NIL-focused legislation | |
| It's legislation season and more states are introducing bills and amendments that appear to thumb their nose at NCAA oversight and make it easier for local schools to have NIL success. In the last couple of weeks alone, there's been legislation introduced in Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia that directly attacks the NCAA's NIL guidelines. Legal experts also tell On3 the multiple bills also attempt to address the employment issue in college athletics, along with confidentiality and liability issues. "It's all about remaining competitive right now," Dan Greene, a NIL expert and associate attorney at Newman & Lickstein told On3. "Adapt or get left behind." Multiple states -- including Missouri, New York and Texas -- raised the irk of the NCAA in 2023 when they passed legislation that appears to provide cover for state schools from being punished by the NCAA for any NIL-related violations, including any committed by donor-driven collectives set up to support student-athletes through deal facilitation. Mississippi's amendment to its Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation Rights Act has been reintroduced this year after dying in committee last year. Most importantly, the bill would add that a school may facilitate NIL opportunities for its athletes and communicate with third parties. |
| College Sports' Ultimate Fate in Hands of Courts, Not Congress | |
| Attorney Michael McCann writes for Sportico: Last week might have seemed like a consequential one in the lingering saga known as college athlete NIL reform. Members of the House of Representatives held a hearing that, like previous Congressional hearings on NIL, featured spirited and sometimes thought-provoking debate. Should Congress pass legislation to craft a uniform federal standard for NIL? Should the feds design a new federal entity to oversee NIL and the agents and collectives who live in that space? Has NIL become a disguise for pay-for-play? Should college athletes be granted or denied recognition as employees, or should that subject be separated from NIL reform? What about gender equity, revenue sharing and unions? These and other topics dominated a hearing that at times could have been mistaken for a law school class. Like law students, members articulated divergent viewpoints---some informed by the readings, others more akin to gut reactions. There was ideation. There were promises. There was enthusiasm. There was consternation. And, like guest speakers visiting a class, NCAA president Charlie Baker, UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin and other witnesses provided informed insights from competing perspectives. There was no shortage of substance. But the hearing seems destined for the same fate that befell those before it and a fate familiar to academia forums: the absence of consequence. |
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