| Friday, March 1, 2024 |
| MSU-Meridian Master of Physician Assistant Studies group earns first white coats | |
 | Earning her physician assistant white coat at Mississippi State University-Meridian is more than a ceremonial rite of passage for Alyse McBrayer. For the granddaughter of the late Dr. William G. Riley, whom she affectionately called "Peepawpi," McBrayer's white coat carries not only her own aspirations, but the legacy of her ancestors' altruism in the very campus and program they helped to create. William G. Riley was son of the late Franklin Gail Riley, the pediatrician and namesake for whom The Riley Foundation created its philanthropic mission and the cornerstone by which MSU-Meridian's Master of Physician Assistant Studies was made possible. McBrayer was one of 28 students to receive a white coat in a Thursday, Feb. 29, ceremony at the MSU Riley Center. "We're getting closer to our goal, to begin to communicate with patients and form relationships with doctors and other physician assistants," said McBrayer, whose initiation was attended by her grandmother, Christine Riley, the wife of William G. Riley. "I think he would be very proud at this moment," McBrayer said. The white coat ceremony is a longstanding tradition, said Shey Washburn, PA program director. It is the symbol of achievement, moving from the didactic phase of education and into clinical rotations with real patients. |
| Paving heralds near-end to downtown sewer project | |
 | For nearly 10 months, detour and closure signs have been a common sight in downtown Starkville. More road work is coming, but the city is pivoting to above-ground work. That will be headlined by a Main Street redesign, but Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch that the city is "still a ways away" from bidding out the project. In May, Starkville Utilities began replacing undersized sewer lines with 12-inch pipes under portions of East Main, Lampkin, Washington and Jackson streets. The bigger pipes increase service to the downtown area. The project cost about $2.5 million, and was funded through a portion of the city's allotment of American Rescue Plan Act funds and state match. After the pipes were replaced, the streets were "patched" temporarily. City Engineer Cody Burnett told The Dispatch that while the gravel and dust used in the patching might be a bit frustrating to drivers, the sewer lines had to be tested before a full overlay could be installed. "If the test fails, you have to dig (the pipes) back up," Burnett said. "You don't want to dig up new asphalt." Burnett said that the testing is complete and pavement is on the way. The section of Washington Street between Main and Lampkin was being paved Thursday, he said, and the stretch of Lampkin from the Washington intersection east to Fellowship Street is scheduled to be paved soon. |
| Business Brief: Kemp appointed to Seven States Power Corporation board | |
| Starkville Utilities General Manager Edward Kemp was appointed to the board of directors for Seven States Power Corporation during its quarterly meeting in early February. Seven States Power is an energy solutions cooperative, owned and operated by the 153 local power companies across seven states of the Tennessee Valley, that provides essential services to build the economy and enhance life in the communities it serves. The cooperative is governed by a 17-member board of members elected by each of the 10 divisions and seven districts in the Tennessee Valley. Kemp is the Division 10 representative. Kemp served as city engineer for 14 years before becoming Starkville Utilities' general manager in 2022. "As we look to the future, it's critical that utility providers have the resources to effectively evaluate new technologies and environmentally conscious energy solutions," Kemp said in a press release from Starkville Utilities."Serving on Seven States' board is an honor and a unique opportunity to ensure that Starkville Utilities is on the leading edge of innovative energy strategies that can benefit our customers." |
| Changes coming to this year's State Fair in Jackson | |
 | Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson announced Thursday that the dates for the 165th annual fair will be Oct. 3 through Oct. 13 at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson. This year, fairgoers can skip the long ticket lines and can now purchase admission tickets online and ride passes. "The Mississippi State Fairgrounds just wrapped up another successful, record-breaking Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo and plans are underway for the 2024 Mississippi State Fair. I am happy to announce the Mississippi State Fair will be offering online ticketing for fair admission and ride passes," said Gipson in a press release. "The purchase of fair admission tickets online will allow visitors to save time and skip the line. We are proud to partner with North American Midway Entertainment (NAME) for the fair and this new ticketing system." Also this year, the Mississippi State Fair will include an old-fashioned western town setting, several rodeo events, plus an all new outdoor/hunting/fishing show inside the Trade Mart, according to the press release. Concerts and special attractions will be announced at a later date. |
| Tickets to the Mississippi State Fair to be available online for first time ever | |
 | A new ticketing option has been announced for this year's Mississippi State Fair. Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson announced that attendees will have the option to purchase admission tickets and ride passes online for the first time ever when the state fair rolls back around to Mississippi's capital city from October 3-13, 2024. "We are looking forward to the 165th State Fair and some new, exciting changes," Michael Lasseter, director of the Mississippi State Fairgrounds, said. "Our new ticketing system will make it more convenient and easier for families to enjoy all the fun." In 2023, roughly 526,000 attendees visited the state fair, which featured an American Idol competition and a mini rodeo along with all the traditional favorites such as the biscuit booth, livestock shows, and all the unique food options. The uptick in attendance, even with a handful of rainy days, was in part due to large lunch crowds and heavily attended concerts that took place over the course of the fair. |
| Will private school vouchers come to Mississippi? House leaders explore possibility | |
| Even as the Mississippi Supreme Court is still considering whether private schools can receive public funds for students, Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is pushing legislation to study its viability. House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, originally filed House Bill 1449 on Feb. 19, which would establish a funding program through the State Treasury of Mississippi to create financial accounts for parents to pay for non-public education. However, after conversations with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and first year House Speaker Jason White, R-West, Roberson told the Clarion Ledger he introduced a substitute bill to lawmakers Thursday afternoon to create a committee to study whether a voucher program would work in Mississippi. "(The committee would look at) what the cost would be cost be, who it would help, who was in areas that would maybe need this, where would this need be and what information is out there that would be applicable to what this would like if it was implemented," Roberson said. Roberson previously said he did not believe any voucher legislation would pass through his committee or the House this year and simply wanted to start a conversation. The new bill would establish a committee comprised of about six members appointed by Reeves, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and White, which would complete a study about a voucher program in Mississippi. |
| Mississippi passes quicker pregnancy Medicaid coverage to try to reduce deaths of moms and babies | |
 | The Mississippi Legislature is sending a bill to the governor that will allow women with low incomes to get Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy, in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a state with abysmal rates of maternal and infant mortality. The state Senate approved a House proposal that allows up to 60 days of "presumptive eligibility" for Medicaid, starting July 1. Pregnant women declaring a net income of up to 194% of the federal poverty level would be able to get outpatient care paid by Medicaid for up to two months, while her application for the government insurance program is being considered. The legislation now heads to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who hasn't said whether he will sign or veto it. "We are not a healthy state," said Republican Sen. Nicole Boyd of Oxford. "According to all leading health care experts, the most critical mechanism to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes and risk is to get adequate prenatal care." Deaths from pregnancy complications have increased in Mississippi in recent years. The state ranks worst in the U.S. for infant mortality, with Black infants nearly twice as likely as white ones to die over the past decade, according to a report unveiled Jan. 18 by the state Department of Health. The state preterm birth rate and maternal mortality rate also lag the rest of the nation. Those metrics could be improved if low-income women could seek health services earlier in the pregnancy, proponents argue. |
| Bill to offer timely prenatal care in Mississippi sent to governor | |
| Presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women passed overwhelmingly in the Senate on Thursday and now heads to the governor. House Bill 539, authored by House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, allows pregnant women whose net family income is 194% or less of the federal poverty level to be presumed eligible for Medicaid and receive care before their Medicaid application is officially approved by the Mississippi division of Medicaid. The bill does not introduce an additional eligibility category or expand coverage, McGee has explained. Rather, it simply allows pregnant women eligible for Medicaid to get into a doctor's office earlier. Under the bill, pregnant women will be able to receive care under presumed Medicaid eligibility for 60 days after their first doctor's visit. The hope is that by the end of the 60-day window, they will have submitted their paperwork and been fully determined as eligible for Medicaid -- since a regular Medicaid application only takes 45 days to process. Presumptive eligibility would cost the state roughly $567,000, compared to the $1 million it can cost the state to care for just one extremely premature baby receiving care in a neonatal intensive care unit -- "a minimal investment for a tremendous benefit to women in our state," McGee said in committee. |
| Prior Authorization Bill Goes into Law Without Governor's Signature | |
| Thursday was the deadline for action by Governor Tate Reeves (R) on SB 2140, the Prior Authorization legislation passed in the Mississippi House and Senate. Reeves announced that the bill will become law without his signature. The bill ultimately requires insurance companies to respond to requests for urgent and non-urgent medical care within a designated time frame. For non-urgent issues it allows the insurer up to seven days to approve a physician's request, while for urgent matters that time span is 48 hours. The legislation also requires the creation of an online web portal, where requests and appeal applications can be submitted. The new law places the Mississippi Department of Insurance as the overseeing agency of the proposed web portal and includes Medicaid and the state's health plan within the prior authorization process. Since the passage of the measure in the Legislature, members have speculated on whether Reeves would attempt to veto the bill, sign it, or allow it to go into law without his signature. Thursday evening, Governor Reeves released a thorough explanation as to why he was choosing not to sign the legislation and instead allow it to become law without his signature. Chief among his concerns were the potential effects on the insurance premiums paid by state employees. "State employees should not receive the equivalent of a pay cut as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 2140.," Reeves wrote, adding, "Over the past couple of years, Mississippi has made significant gains in closing the pay gap between private and public sector employees. Senate Bill 2140, however, represents a step in the wrong direction and will have the likely unintended consequence of widening that pay gap again." |
| Gov. Reeves concerned prior authorization bill will up premiums for state employees | |
| A bill to reform Mississippi's prior authorization process will go into law without the signature of Gov. Tate Reeves. The Republican governor made a lengthy social media post on Thursday afternoon, explaining why he chose not to put pen to paper on Senate Bill 2140. While Reeves wrote that he doesn't disagree with the basis of the bill – to speed up the process of health insurance companies deciding whether or not to approve a prescribed procedure, service, or medication -- he has concerns over its inclusion of the Mississippi State School Employees' Life and Health Insurance Plan. Often referred to as the State Plan, the government-provided insurance covers nearly 190,000 residents and their families and is primarily funded through premiums paid by those insured under the plan. Reeves is worried that SB 2140 could ultimately result in premium increases for those employed by the state. "I am allowing Senate Bill 2140 to become law because I agree that it is a significant improvement over its predecessor and that reform of the prior authorization process is much needed," Reeves continued. "That being said, I cannot put my signature on this bill because of its potential effects on the premiums paid by state employees." Reeves did offer a couple of suggestions to lawmakers to address his main concern, including removing the State Plan entirely from the bill's scope or committing to an annual appropriation to cover the increased costs he projects as a result of the legislation. |
| Jackson lawmakers 'shocked' after Henifin backs bill depleting local power | |
| Just over a year into his uniquely powerful role reviving Jackson's water infrastructure, third-party manager Ted Henifin is supporting an effort to leave the city without any future control of its water and sewer assets. Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch, authored Senate Bill 2628, a renewed attempt to place the capital city's water and sewer infrastructure under the control of a "Capitol Region Utility Authority." The measure passed out of its Senate committee last week. Parker in last year's session filed a similar bill, which Henifin, along with Jackson's legislative delegation and city officials, criticized as a power grab by the state. That bill failed in the House. But in a Feb. 23 press release, Henifin seemingly flipped his narrative on the state's efforts by giving his support for SB 2628. "After reviewing SB 2628, I believe this is a great foundation," Henifin said in a Feb. 23 press release. "It appears that many of the comments I provided during the last session regarding the bill introduced in 2023 were taken to heart and this bill now includes many of the suggestions I made at that time." Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, told Mississippi Today that no one from the Jackson delegation even knew about Parker's bill until it was introduced at last week's Senate committee meeting. "It's disrespectful," Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, said of the bill. "I'm going to do everything I can to try to kill the bill on (the House's) side if it gets here." |
| Trump Endorses Wicker for Re-Election | |
| Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner to win the 2024 Republican nomination for President, has once again endorsed Mississippi's senior U.S. Senator in his bid for re-election. Trump shared his endorsement of Senator Roger Wicker on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday. "Senator Roger Wicker is a fantastic Senator for the Great State of Mississippi," Trump wrote. "As the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger is working hard to Strengthen our Military, Defend our Country, and Support our Veterans." Trump went on to say, "Roger is a Champion of Conservative Values, who fights to Uphold the Constitution, and Protect our Second Amendment. I was honored to receive Roger's Endorsement last year, and Senator Roger Wicker has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election. Vote Trump and Wicker on March 12th!" Wicker, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2007, was among the state's top Republican leaders that endorsed Trump's third bid for the White House back in mid-December 2023, prior to the start of the primary season. Wicker is set to face State Rep. Dan Eubanks and newcomer Ghannon Burton in the March 12th Republican Primary where Trump's name will be at the top of ticket as well. The incumbent Senator has both a statewide name ID and fundraising advantage over the other candidates in the race. Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports show Wicker with over $5 million cash on hand while Eubanks and Burton have reported $23,000 and $31,000, respectively. |
| GOP senators face Trump civil war with McConnell retiring | |
 | The race to replace Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is laying bare the power struggle between pro-Trump and anti-Trump Republicans in the Senate. GOP lawmakers aligned closely with the former president are urging any candidate wanting to succeed McConnell to embrace Trump. Other Republican senators want McConnell's successor to keep a healthy distance from the controversial former president. McConnell fell out bitterly with former President Trump after the 2020 election and hasn't spoken to him for more than three years, creating an awkward tension in the party that many GOP senators want to dispel. But Republicans are divided over how aligned their next leader should be with Trump. Some, such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) want to elect a new leader who will be a cheerleader for Trump, flying with the former president to rallies around the country. Other Republicans, who point to what they view as Trump's spotty record endorsing Republican candidates who can actually win Senate seats in November -- not to mention Trump's failure to win re-election in 2020 -- want to keep a healthy distance from Trump. The two leading candidates to replace McConnell -- Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and former Senate GOP Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) -- have had an up-and-down relationship with Trump over the years. |
| On heels of McConnell news, Kentucky House GOP advances US Senate vacancy election bill | |
 | Less than 24 hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, announced he was stepping down from leadership, Kentucky Republicans advanced a bill changing the rules for how a Senator would be replaced if they decide to step down from the office altogether. House Bill 622 from House GOP Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, would strip the governor's authority to appoint a replacement U.S. Senator and replace that process with a special election. The bill easily passed the House Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee Thursday with all Republicans voting yes and only one of three Democrats voting no. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, whose role in replacing an outgoing U.S. Senator would be nixed in the bill, characterized the legislation as a legislative power grab. He lumped it alongside bills that seek to take away from the governor the power to appoint members of the board of education as well as the exclusive right to call the legislature into special session. He also indicated that the legislature's changes to the law, which before 2021 allowed the governor to appoint anyone of their choosing, were informed by partisanship. He believes that's not what Kentucky voters want, citing his five percentage point reelection victory on a message of transcending partisanship. |
| McHenry's 'extreme candor' on Johnson splits GOP | |
 | Rep. Patrick McHenry is closing out two decades in Congress by returning to the bomb-throwing days of his youth. His new target is House Speaker Mike Johnson, and it's starting to rattle fellow conservatives. McHenry, the bow-tied North Carolina Republican who plans to retire at the end of this session, has been ratcheting up his criticism of Johnson in recent weeks over what he views as a serial mishandling of big issues before the House, including government funding, the border and Ukraine aid. The underlying tension is that McHenry believes Johnson is holding back activity in the House because of fears that he'll suffer the same fate as his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. McHenry told reporters last month that under Johnson's leadership "we've yet to actually fulfill and execute policy." He went further in a CBS News interview last week, warning of a "50-50" chance of a shutdown and calling it a "preventable disaster." One banking lobbyist granted anonymity to speak candidly said McHenry "speaks for what I would call the leadership class of the conference." McHenry's public critique of Johnson and the path that led him here is an illustration of the extent to which the House GOP has been turned upside down during his tenure. The 48-year-old lawmaker was once a self-described "bomb-thrower" -- also referred to by others as the "the GOP's attack dog-in-training" -- but then took on the mantle as an aspiring deal-maker and McCarthy fixer before finding himself on the outside again in the Johnson era. |
| Senate clears stopgap bill, setting up final spending talks | |
 | Lawmakers averted a partial government shutdown after the Senate on Thursday cleared a two-step continuing resolution to allow final appropriations work to wrap up in the coming weeks. The Senate voted 77-13 to send the short-term spending measure to President Joe Biden's desk. The House earlier Thursday passed the bill on a 320-99 vote under the suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority of lawmakers present and voting. If Congress hadn't acted, spending authority for agencies covered by a subset of the 12 annual appropriations bills would have lapsed Saturday. The vote will set up a first tranche of full-year spending bills that the House is expected to vote on next Wednesday: the Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD measures. Enactment of the bills will fund those agencies through Sept. 30. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Thursday that legislative text of that package would be released over the weekend. Text is expected to be released Sunday, which would set up a Wednesday vote in the House under the chamber's 72-hour rule to give lawmakers sufficient time to consider the package. The final contents of the bills are not yet clear, though it appears that the bills will not feature the big conservative policy wins House Republicans were pushing for. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Thursday that the package would not include "unacceptable poison-pill riders that we said would not fly." Still, Republicans are expected to claim credit for wins in the packages even if they aren't the most high-profile, culture war-related items that received most of the attention over the summer when the House was debating the bills. |
| Tax Deal Stalls in Senate, Imperiling Breaks for Businesses and Families | |
 | A bipartisan tax bill soared out of the House earlier this year, backed by a surprisingly broad coalition that included antitax activists, liberal groups, antiabortion advocates and businesses. But it landed with a decided thud among Senate Republicans, and the path ahead is murky at best. The measure passed the House on a 357-70 vote in January, and the bill's backers talked excitedly about getting the bill to President Biden's desk near the beginning of the tax-filing season. Now, they are just hoping to finish before the mid-April filing deadline. That might not happen either. Hanging in the balance is about $78 billion in tax breaks, including an expanded child tax credit for low-income families and retroactive deductions for companies' research costs, capital expenses and interest. The bill would also stop new claims for the pandemic-era employee retention tax credit, a program riddled with fraud, saving the government as much money as the tax breaks cost. For the moment, senators appear stuck, and the legislation has stacked up behind a number of legislative priorities, including funding the government and aid to Ukraine and Israel. Republican critics of the tax bill are compiling requests for changes they want, and its backers are hunting for a way forward with hopes of passing it in the next six weeks. Senate Republicans' complaints boil down to this: House Republicans cut the deal without them and gave away too much to Democrats on the child tax credit. The biggest disagreement stems from a provision that would let families qualify for a credit for a year when they don't earn income by looking back to the prior year's income. |
| Katie Britt to give Republican response to Joe Biden's State of the Union address | |
 | Alabama Sen. Katie Britt will give the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address next week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Thursday. Britt, the youngest sitting senator at 42 years old, is the first Alabama lawmaker selected to give the response to the president's address since the practice began in 1966. "I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak directly to my fellow Americans and have a candid conversation about the future of our nation," Britt said in a statement. Johnson contrasted Britt's youth with Biden, the oldest president in the country's history. McConnell said Britt is "a leading voice" in the Senate despite only being in her first term. "For three years, President Biden has tried to convince the American people to accept historic inflation, rampant crime, retreat on the world stage, and functionally open borders as the new normal. Next week, working families will hear a very different perspective," he said. “Sen. Katie Britt is an unapologetic optimist, and as one of our nation’s youngest Senators, she’s wasted no time becoming a leading voice in the fight to secure a stronger American future and leave years of Washington Democrats’ failures behind.” |
| Biden and Trump visits to Texas offer a tale of two border cities | |
 | Perhaps no city along Texas's border with Mexico has better epitomized what can happen when local leaders and volunteers band together to help the thousands of men, women and children seeking a new life in the United States than Brownsville. The Gulf Coast port city is nestled within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection sector that has long seen the highest levels of migration. But even when border crossings surge, the shocks are quietly absorbed. Residents donate supplies and help orient the new arrivals on how to navigate their way to their final destinations. Three hundred miles upriver, Eagle Pass offers a tale of a far different border city. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has transformed the riverfront community into a military front line on immigration. Razor wire and rusted shipping containers warn migrants to stay away. And military trucks and rifle-carrying troops occupy the city's biggest park. As President Biden and Republican contender Donald Trump traveled to the border Thursday, the cities each chose to plant their flag on immigration offered a study in contrasts. While both hug the Rio Grande, that's about where the similarities end. Their common origin stories -- riverfront military garrisons that grew into bicultural communities -- have diverged in ways that reflect the dynamics of this contested and factious region. The fundamentally different responses to coping with the surge in migration illustrate the crossroads that the nation faces on one of the election's most critical issues. "This place for better or worse may be the fulcrum for who becomes the next president," said former Democratic Texas state representative Poncho Nevárez, speaking of Eagle Pass. "It's here where we'll find out if Biden stays president or if Trump becomes president again." |
| California poll reveals how third-party candidates could throw 2024 presidential race to Trump | |
 | In 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in California by more than 29 points, amassing a statewide margin of more than 5 million votes -- the largest in the history of presidential elections. Three years in office have not been kind to Biden. Biden will win Tuesday's primary -- he has no serious opposition. And barring a sudden turn for the worse in his health, he's not at risk of losing deeply Democratic California in November. But he'll be lucky to achieve half the margin he ran up last time around, according to the latest Los Angeles Times statewide poll with UC Berkeley's Institute of Government Studies. The poll of voters in California, the nation's largest Democratic stronghold, highlights the problems the president faces nationwide as he seeks another four years in the White House. One problem is the potential impact of minor-party and independent candidates. The Berkeley IGS poll shows Biden leading Trump by 18 points statewide in a head-to-head matchup. But that drops to 12 points when independent and minor-party candidates are included. In swing states, where Biden doesn't have a big Democratic cushion to protect him, the impact of those independent and minor-party candidates could be enough to swing the outcome. Of the three independent and third-party candidates the poll tested, the Green Party's Jill Stein and Cornel West, who is running as an independent, draw support away from Biden, the poll found. When the poll asked voters their second choice, most West and Stein backers said Biden. |
| Thousands Turn Out for Navalny's Funeral in Moscow | |
 | Thousands of people crowded a neighborhood on Moscow's outskirts on Friday -- some bearing flowers and chanting, "No to war!" -- as they tried to catch a glimpse of the funeral for Aleksei A. Navalny. The outpouring turned the opposition leader's last rites into a striking display of dissent in Russia at a time of deep repression. The service took place under tight monitoring from the Russian authorities, who have arrested hundreds of mourners at memorial sites since Mr. Navalny died. The police presence was heavy around the church where funeral services began shortly after 2 p.m. local time, but there were no reports of widespread arrests as of the early afternoon. Opposition politicians, including Boris Nadezhdin, who sought to run against President Vladimir V. Putin in elections this month on an antiwar platform, and Evgeny Roizman of Yekaterinburg were in attendance, videos of the event showed. The United States ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, was also seen in videos of the site outside the church. Mr. Navalny's funeral was held during a period of intense crackdown, and less than three weeks before Mr. Putin seeks another six-year term in elections scheduled for mid-March. At least 400 people have been detained since Mr. Navalny's death, according to the watchdog OVD-Info, including some for simply laying flowers at improvised memorials to him. A priest who sought to hold a funeral prayer for Mr. Navalny in St. Petersburg was detained while leaving his house. |
| MUW alumni-established fund to assist campus maintenance | |
| The W was not Libba Fairleigh's first choice when it came to picking a college. When she graduated from Pascagoula High School in 1966, she first wanted to attend Rhodes College in Memphis, but her family couldn't afford it. She enrolled at Mississippi University for Women after her sister's best friend, another alumna, recommended it. As a compromise, Fairleigh's mother said if she still wanted to go to Rhodes by her junior year, the family would figure out how to make it work financially. "You know, it never crossed my mind going to Rhodes again," she said. "I loved my years at The W." Wanting to give back to the university, she called Andrea Nester Stevens, The W's executive director of development and alumni, to ask where a donation would be most helpful. When Stevens mentioned the newly established Campus Beautification and Maintenance Fund, Fairleigh knew it was perfect. She committed to matching up to $12,500 in donations to support the fund. Since her office announced the gift on Tuesday, Stevens said the fund has already received $3,000 in donations, bringing the fund to $6,000 with Fairleigh's matching commitment. Stevens told The Dispatch the response is a testament to how much alumni, like Fairleigh, care about The W. "She's so supportive, loves the university and realizes the importance of her time here on campus and what a difference it made in her life," she said. "I have no doubt that our alums will step up to the plate and match this gift, so that we can have a total of $25,000." Stevens said the fund, which will be managed by the director of facilities, will go toward funding beautification and maintenance projects on campus, whether it be bedding flowers and planting shrubs or repairing a dorm. |
| No vote made in MSMS moving situation | |
 | The Senate Education Committee ended its day without bringing up the possible move of the Mississippi School of Math and Science for a vote. A committee member says the bill did not come for a vote on Thursday. A lawmaker from Leakesville proposed the idea of moving the MSMS school from The Mississippi University for Women. Many people were against the move including Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin and MUW President Nora Miller. |
| Ole Miss honors 60th anniversary of 'Freedom Summer' | |
| A week dedicated to honoring the 60th anniversary of the "Mississippi Freedom Summer" features guest speakers, documentaries and a field trip to Philadelphia, Miss. The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi is hosting its week-long voting summit honoring the 60th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer during the week of March 19-23. The week-long event features activities and events surrounding the Mississippi Freedom Summer, including documentaries, guest speakers, and a trivia night to engage and educate students and members of the North Mississippi community on the historical context and importance of Mississippi Freedom Summer, which took place during the summer of 1964. The week concludes with a field trip to the home of "Freedom Summer," Philadelphia. "This year's Voting Summit seeks to educate, inspire, and inform the LOU community on the 60th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer and lessons learned today," said William Teer, assistant director of student leadership programs, at the University of Mississippi. "We welcome all community members to join us in commemorating the legacy of Freedom Summer." |
| Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill: Booming population calls for community solutions | |
 | Mayor Robyn Tannehill joined the Associated Student Body Senate to discuss infrastructure and housing challenges in the city of Oxford on Tuesday, Feb. 7. ASB senators geared their questions toward Oxford's rapidly increasing student and resident population and how the city plans to accommodate it. Tannehill acknowledged that the recent exponential population growth has caused growing pains in the community that must be handled carefully. "Oxford is the second-fastest growing college town in the United States," Tannehill said. "That just scares the hell out of me. We've got sometimes in excess of 200,000 to 250,000 (people) on a football game week, and guess what that means? We got to be able to flush the commode for 300,000 people every day of the year. You don't put water and sewer infrastructure in place seven days of the year, that has to be in place 365 days, and that costs a lot." She also discussed how the resident population is increasing in addition to the student population. "We've grown 102% since 2000," she said. "We are projected to grow another 24% before 2030. That's just talking about Oxford, as a community." "What measures are the city, county and university taking to ensure that the increasing number of students does not negatively affect the quality of life of the permanent residents, faculty, commuters and current students?" one senator asked. |
| USM hosts 14th Economic Outlook Forum | |
 | Experts on regional, state and national economies gathered at the University of Southern Mississippi Thursday for their annual conference. The 2024 Economic Outlook Forum featured leaders from banking, real estate, tourism development and the utility industry. Among the many topics discussed: inflation; housing; and interest rates. At least one of the main speakers said he was optimistic about the 2024 economy. "I think we're going to see an improvement in 2024 over 2023, primarily because I think the interest rate environment is going to improve," said Gary Wagner, University of Louisiana-Lafayette Acadiana Business Economist Endowed Chair. "So, the areas where we are seeing some weakness in the economy right now, real estate, manufacturing, are likely going to ease when interest rates start to come down, and I think the Federal Reserve is going to do that, probably in the middle of the year." This was the 14th year for the Economic Outlook Forum at USM. The First Bank has sponsored the forum each year. |
| USM Center for STEM Education hosts Region VI Science Fair | |
 | Move over math -- Thursday is all about science. More than 100 K-12 students gathered at USM's Hardy Hall to showcase their hard work. Dr. Julie Cwikla is the director of the Center for STEM Education. "We love seeing the future of Mississippi. This is the future of Mississippi. These are our future scientists or engineers; these are the curious kids!" Dr. Cwikla says. "They're just excited to be here. Of course, they are out of school, but they are excited to talk to you about the work that they did," said Patrick Kirby, an educational researcher with the Center for STEM Education. Long Beach 8th grader Ishaan Kalluru says this is his second science fair with a rocket-themed project. Kalluru is hoping this will boost his college resume. He adds he likes the science fair because it is mentally stimulating. "Surprisingly, I don't really want to be an aerospace engineer. I was thinking orthopedic surgeon. This is kind of a side hustle," Kalluru said. All of the students participating today qualified at their individual school fairs. Those who advance after regionals, will go to the state fair on March 28th in Starkville. |
| USM nurse practitioner program prepares students for No. 1 job | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi's (USM) School of Leadership and Advanced Nursing Practice is preparing students for the nation's number one job. The school offers a family nurse practitioner and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. Both courses are online. Students will learn how to diagnose and treat chronic and acute illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes. They're also required to complete clinical hours where they will have to adequately treat and care for a patient. Nurse practitioner was ranked No. 1 in this year's 100 best jobs list by U.S. News and World Report. Program coordinators said more nurse practitioners could help bridge the gap in rural communities. "We are very active in underserved communities. I actually work part-time at a local health clinic. Rural health in communities is really the aspect of where those more greater needs are. And I think that we are able to reach areas that maybe not enough physicians get there. So, nurse practitioners can spread more widely and take care of an even more diverse population," said Lakenya Forthner, with the USM School of Leadership and Advanced Nursing. |
| Mississippi among states with greatest increase in students taking AP exam | |
 | Mississippi's percentage of public school students taking AP exams has more than doubled over the last 10 years. According to the College Board's newly released 2023 AP Program Results report, the "District of Columbia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, and New Jersey had among the largest 10-year growth in the percentages of graduates taking an AP Exam during high school." Mississippi had the second-largest percentage increase. Of Mississippi's public schools' class of 2013, 12.3% took an AP exam during high school. Of the 2023 class, 24.8% took an AP exam during high school. For the national average, 34.7% of the Class of 2023 public high school students took an AP exam. According to the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), AP courses are college-level classes taught in high school settings by high school teachers. Passing them allows high school students to get a jump on their college educations by earning college credits before wrapping up their high school careers. According to the College Board report, 7.9% of all students in Mississippi's Class of 2023 scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam during high school --- the lowest percentage out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Mississippi also had the fewest students who took AP exams, compared to other states. Mississippi ranks 37th in terms of the percentage of 2023 students who took AP exams. |
| Top juco sophomores took a long look at William Carey Thursday | |
| Nearly 300 community college sophomores visited William Carey University Thursday. The students had gathered on the Carey campus for the Mississippi/Louisiana Regional Phi Theta Kappa Awards conference. Phi Theta Kappa is an international honor society that recognizes high academic achievement and offers the skills needed for academic success. The sophomores got to visit different departments across the Hattiesburg campus. Kaley Gholston of Fulton, Mississippi, said she and her peers were excited to get to explore different college options. "I think it's a great opportunity to get outside of our area instead of the regular Ole Miss or (Mississippi) State, where the majority of us go after we graduate," Gholston said. "We can see what else and other programs that are available to us. |
| Tougaloo College receives grant, expands campus sexual health education | |
 | Tougaloo College is one of five historically Black colleges and universities which received a grant in February to expand student-led sexual and reproductive health education. The grant comes from Power to Decide, a nonpartisan nonprofit which aims to advance sexual and reproductive education for regions that have barriers, such as the South. Power to Decide received the funds from global women's healthcare company Organon's initiative Her Plan is Her Power, which launched in 2023. Charlotte Owens, Organon head of medical affairs and outcomes research, said Her Plan is Her Power is a community-led solution for areas most in need. "Mississippi is one of the 15 states with the highest unintended pregnancy rates and does not extend Medicaid coverage to low income adults or for reproductive care to women beyond 12 months postpartum," Owens said. "This really leads to a lack of contraception access, and you can imagine a higher risk for unplanned pregnancies in 2020. Mississippi had the highest teen birth rate of any state with 27.9 births for every 1000 girls, aged 15-19. We hope that what we're doing here can really make sure that people are educated and inspired and empowered to be able to make a decision about when and whether to decide to start a family." |
| As Alabama Republicans Target DEI, They Propose 'Gag Order' on Professors | |
 | State lawmakers have been targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for years now. Bills from different states that seek to curtail DEI programs or the spread of arguably DEI-related, so-called divisive concepts -- such as the idea that meritocracy is racist -- can all seem to blend together. But Alabama's Senate Bill 129, which suddenly appeared Feb. 20 and passed the Senate two days later, might break new ground if it ultimately becomes law. The bill includes provisions curbing DEI programs, "divisive concepts" and even transgender individuals' access to campus bathrooms. While it's moved quickly, so have its opponents. Students have already protested across multiple campuses. And in a major college football state, Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin posted on X that he would have "no problem organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state where diversity and inclusion are prioritized." He also invoked Alabama's racist history, adding that "if supporting inclusion becomes illegal in this state, hell, you might as well stand in front of the school door like Governor Wallace." But free speech groups have raised a particular concern. They say the measure could limit faculty members' speech to such an extent that even professors who disagree with the bill's list of "divisive concepts" couldn't teach students about these ideas -- even to criticize them. |
| New student organization at Auburn University pioneers support network for Black veterinary students | |
| Aiming to empower and connect Black pre-veterinary students, veterinary students and alumni, the Student Association of Black Veterinarians is the first undergraduate and graduate student chapter for Black students at Auburn. Approved in April 2023, SABV's goal is to bridge various groups within the agricultural community. SABV's president Rodney Hobbs and vice-president Gavin Southern developed the organization after seeing a need for representation and community among Black veterinary undergraduate and graduate students. According to the Office of Institutional Research at Auburn University, only 70 of the 2,089 students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and College of Veterinary Science in fall 2023 are Black. In the veterinary school alone, Black students only make up 21 out of 657 enrolled. In 2022, Auburn University had an enrollment of 31,764 students, with only 1,560 students being Black or African American. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2.2% of veterinarians in the United States are Black or African American, as of 2023. An organization like SABV isn't exclusive to Auburn University, with universities like Tuskegee, Ross, Texas A&M and Mississippi State having chapters through the National Association for Black Veterinarians. According to NABV's webpage, the association's mission is to advocate, support and cultivate a community for Black veterinary students and veterinarians. |
| Georgia House passes bill requiring police to help arrest immigrants after student's killing | |
| Georgia House Republicans are backing a bill that would require every eligible police and sheriff's department to help identify undocumented immigrants, arrest them and detain them for deportation. The House voted 97-74 on Thursday for House Bill 1105 after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus. The measure moves to the state Senate for more debate. Jose Ibarra was arrested Friday on murder and assault charges in the Thursday death of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Ibarra, 26, is a Venezuelan citizen who immigration authorities say unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum. Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University's Athens campus, after starting her college career at the Athens campus of the University of Georgia. She was found dead Feb. 22 after a roommate reported that she didn't return from a morning run in a wooded area. The bill would also set new requirements for how jail officials should check with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine whether people are known to be in the country illegally. Republican state Rep. Jesse Petrea of Savannah said that clause is needed to enforce existing state law requiring sheriffs to check with ICE on people who don't appear to be American citizens. The law would move Georgia closer to states with more aggressive immigration laws like Texas, which starting in March will allow police to arrest migrants who enter the state illegally and give local judges the authority to order them out of the country. |
| U. of Georgia students: United in grief, divided politically | |
| Hundreds, if not thousands, of students gathered on University of Georgia's campus for a solemn vigil on Monday, united in their grief over the tragic deaths of two classmates. Students shared stories about the interests and passions of Laken Riley and Wyatt Banks. Tears were shed. Prayers were invoked, songs were played. Politics, for those somber 30 minutes, were unspoken. And there have been no big political marches or public demonstrations on campus beyond shared expressions of mourning and grief in recent days. But Riley's death quickly has become the latest flashpoint in the heated national debate on immigration and border policy. Last Friday, police arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan whom U.S. authorities say entered the country unlawfully. Police charged him with murdering Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student. And that political debate also is percolating on UGA's campus, if more quietly than elsewhere. Minutes after Monday's vigil ended, Thomas Chambers, a freshman from Johns Creek, confessed he was struggling to navigate grieving together as a student body and the yawning political divide unleashed by Riley's homicide. "There are significant disagreements about how this whole (immigration) issue should be handled," said Chambers. "I think that has inflamed the whole issue and put people against each other." Foul play has been ruled out in Banks' death. Authorities say there was no connection between the two deaths on campus, which happened within hours of each other. But Riley's homicide continues to make national headlines. And UGA's students are drawn from the state's liberal cities and rural conservative areas, reflecting Georgia's complex political mix that is nearly equal parts Republican and Democrat. |
| Regular admission decisions show acceptance rate of less than 35% for fall 2024 | |
| The Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville released regular admission decisions to the class of 2028 on Thursday, showing an overall acceptance rate of less than 35% for fall 2024 with admittance highly favoring in-state applicants. With 57,270 applications received by the Dec. 15 regular admission deadline -- the most in university history -- the overall acceptance rate is 34.28%. Another 1,881 applications were received after the Dec. 15 deadline, and those applications will be considered as space becomes available. With those in mind, however, the rate is even lower at 33.2% UT's overall acceptance rate is now about half of what it was two years ago. For the fall 2022 admission cycle, the overall acceptance rate was 68.4%. It plummeted nearly 30% last year. The acceptance rate for in-state students is 65.7% -- up from last year's 59.4%. While in-state admittance grew, out-of-state students saw a 10% drop from last year to this year as only 23.7% of applicants were admitted for the fall 2024 semester -- a move in line with the university's goal of prioritizing admission for Tennessee residents. In attempts to make UT more accessible to in-state students, the university has enacted a guaranteed admission policy that automatically grants admission to in-state students who are in the top 10% of their high school class or who have a calculated UT Core GPA of 4.0 or higher. |
| U. of Tennessee looks to the future with four proposed degrees in AI, data science | |
 | The University of Tennessee at Knoxville plans to add four future-looking bachelor's degrees that prepare students to work in artificial intelligence, data science and other emerging fields. Three of the programs would be in the new College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies, which focuses on customizable degree paths in fields of study like AI. The degrees -- in data science, artificial intelligence, customizable studies and environmental engineering -- are all about preparing students to fill gaps in the workforce. Three require internships to complete, which aligns with UT's goal to keep graduates working in Tennessee. "All four of them are student focused. All four of them are, I think, what we would call 'workplace directed.' I believe that these are academic programs that will bring more students to the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and send more of them out into Tennessee to work on really important projects and problems," UT Knoxville provost Dr. John Zomchick said during a UT System board committee meeting Feb. 29. The programs will need to be approved by the UT Board of Trustees at its March 1 meeting and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission on May 16. |
| A&M Mental Health Week focuses on restricting access to lethal means | |
 | To round out the second annual Texas A&M University Mental Health and Suicide Awareness Week, A&M University Health Services and the University Police Department held a presentation Thursday on the importance of securing weapons and possible dangerous medications. The weeklong awareness program debuted last year to combat the social stigma often associated with mental health and treatment, according to the university. The restricting access to lethal means seminar was added to the awareness campaign this year in an attempt to create safer communities. As part of the program, UPD is also now offering free gun locks to anyone who requests them. Megan McCarty, a licensed professional counselor-supervisor and mental health co-responder with the UPD, opened the presentation by discussing the importance of restricting weapons access to people who might be facing a mental health crisis. "In particular, what this means is we try to help people who are in a suicidal crisis and keep their environment safe," McCarty said. "You very well could be an identified support system for someone and you need to know what you can do in those situations." Safety planning is essential in making sure that someone is equipped with the necessary resources if or when a crisis emerges, McCarty said. Many steps in the process progressively go up as the risk for possible self-harm increases. |
| A Proposal to Tie Tenure to Intellectual Diversity Nears Approval in Indiana | |
 | Indiana's House of Representatives this week passed a controversial bill that would revamp tenure at the state's public colleges by linking it to intellectual diversity, clearing the way for what faculty critics say is an abrogation of their academic-freedom rights. The bill could soon be signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican. While bills across the nation have independently targeted tenure and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the Indiana measure, which was introduced in January, combines the two by elevating in importance a particular kind of difference -- intellectual diversity -- and tying how well professors foster it to their employment status. The bill, SB 202, would allow public colleges' boards of trustees to deny faculty members tenure or promotion if they are deemed "unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity within the institution" or to expose students to scholarship representing a variety of ideological viewpoints, or if the board determines that the faculty members are likely "to subject students to political or ideological views and opinions that are unrelated" to their discipline. The measure's authors and sponsors are all Republicans, and it passed along party lines in both the House and the Senate. |
| UVa poised to change name of Alderman Library | |
| The University of Virginia is one step away from changing the name of Alderman Library, after years of discussion about the university's controversial first president and his legacy on Grounds. Edwin Alderman served as UVa's chief executive from 1905 to 1931. He was also an advocate for eugenics, a movement devoted to improving the human species through the control of hereditary factors. Alderman led the charge to transform UVa into a "leading eugenics research center," according to a 2018 university report on the school's history of racism. And while eugenics popularized many health care practices accepted today -- such as birth control, prenatal screenings and marriage restrictions prohibiting close relations from reproducing -- the movement has become more associated with its controversial applications -- such as compulsory sterilization, racial segregation and forced abortions and pregnancies. During a Thursday meeting of the UVa Board of Visitors' Buildings and Grounds Committee, all but one member of the 11-person committee voted to approve a resolution to rename the recently renovated library after UVa's fourth president, Edgar Shannon. Shannon served during a politically tumultuous time in the university's, and country's, history. During his tenure from 1959 to 1974, Shannon admitted the first female undergraduates in 1970, pushed to increase Black admissions and endorsed a student-led protest against the Vietnam War. The votes were not cast without some discussion and criticism. Rachel Sheridan noted that a naming committee had limited name alternatives to other UVa presidents. |
| Fewer job posts contain educational requirements so far in 2024, Indeed says | |
| Formal education requirements are gradually disappearing from job postings, according to a Feb. 27 report from Indeed's Hiring Lab. As of January 2024, 52% of U.S. job postings on Indeed didn't include any educational requirements, up from 48% in 2019. In addition, only 17.8% required a four-year degree or higher, dropping from 20.4% in recent years. "While educational requirements are unlikely to vanish from job postings, growing support of skills-first hiring approaches is a clear sign for workers to invest in skills now, regardless of their education level. In other words, even college-educated workers may have to think about reskilling more going forward," Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in the report. Employers may have to reflect on their current hiring requirements, he continued. Skills-first hiring may make sense for a number of roles, thus opening up opportunities for high-quality candidates. During the past five years, educational requirements have loosened in 41 of the 47 (87%) occupational sectors analyzed by Indeed. In some sectors, the shift is even more noticeable, particularly in software development, project management and tech-adjacent information design and documentation. On the other hand, educational requirements rose in 19 occupational categories, especially knowledge-work fields such as architecture, accounting and physicians and surgeons. Formal educational requirements are unlikely to disappear from areas related to healthcare or engineering, according to the report. |
| Recent College Degree Growth Is Tied To Estimated $14.2 Trillion Gain In Worker Earnings | |
| The proportion of U.S. adults with a college degree increased by 6.7 percentage points, from 38.5% to 45.2% between 2010 and 2020. As a result, U.S. workers are estimated to earn an additional $14.2 trillion over their lifetimes. That's one main takeaway from a recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. The report, "Learning and Earning by Degrees: Gains in College Degree Attainment Have Enriched the Nation and Every State, but Racial and Gender Inequality Persists,"explores the economic payoffs and nonmonetary benefits linked to increased college degree attainment in the second decade of the 21st century. It relies on federal government data such as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey and the National Center For Education Statistics. Not all of the findings were positive, however. Every demographic group saw increases in college degree attainment over the last decade, but attainment gaps between racial and ethnic groups remained largely unchanged, and large racial and gender differences in lifetime earnings also persisted. "Increased college degree attainment has been a boon to many workers and to society at large, but we're still a long way from racial and economic justice," CEW Director and lead author Anthony P. Carnevale said in a press release. "While all racial/ethnic groups increased their educational attainment, substantial attainment gaps persist between white adults and Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Indigenous adults. Attainment gaps by race/ethnicity were significant in 2010, and they remained significant in 2020." |
| AI Will Shake Up Higher Ed. Are Colleges Ready? | |
| In January, Ondrea Wolf logged onto Blackboard Collaborate to give some 60 faculty members and staff at El Paso Community College a presentation on artificial intelligence. Wolf, who directs the college's Quality Enhancement Plan and assessment efforts, wanted to get colleagues excited about how they might incorporate AI tools into their work, giving them a taste of basic prompting language and strategies. A number of them, though, remained hesitant, Wolf recalled. They were still laser-focused on the well-trod question of whether there's a reliable way to know if students are using AI to cheat. This is the reality in higher education right now. In the 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT, generative AI -- a type of artificial intelligence -- has generated a mercurial mix of excitement, trepidation, and rebuff across all corners of academe. On one point, there is nearly unanimous agreement from sources The Chronicle spoke with for this article: Generative AI, or GenAI, has brought the field of artificial intelligence across an undefined yet critical threshold, and made AI accessible to the public in a way it wasn't before. These technologies are now poised to shape broad swaths of the knowledge economy, and the wider work force. But GenAI's role in higher education over the long run remains an open question. The sector as a whole has yet to demonstrate that it can adapt and keep pace. |
| Is 'Fatphobia' the Last Acceptable Prejudice in the Academy? | |
| Ridiculing a scholar because of their gender or race is unthinkable nowadays, but does that same protection against discrimination apply to academics who are overweight? Definitely not, according to Cornell University philosopher Kate Manne, who claims that "intellectual biases against fat people" in academia are "rampant," with "fatphobia" so endemic that many scholars feel emboldened to belittle, berate and bully -- often openly -- peers deemed obese. In Unshrinking: How to Fight Fatphobia, the Australian scholar discusses her own difficulties being "quite fat" in the academy but also recounts grim tales from friends and colleagues who have been targeted on account of their body size. Manne recounts how one friend was repeatedly told in graduate school that her body shape would make her unemployable because "only thin women are seen as intelligent," while others were informed that they should "lose weight and look smarter." Manne has faced harsh criticism online and from reviewers for daring to draw attention to antifatness and for her call to "remake the world to accommodate people of every size." "I knew it would be a divisive book," she reflected. "People really hate fat people, so defending them and their right to compassionate and adequate health care was always going to be seen as radical." |
| College Dorm Decorations Become a Front in the Campus Free Speech Wars | |
| Dorm door decorations are emerging as the next battleground in the fight over academic freedom and free speech at Barnard College. As at many schools, Barnard students often use their dorm doors to display a bit of personality. A walk around the freshman dorms early this week found sorority pledge signs, Lunar New Year decorations and a pinned-up loose-leaf paper asking: "Who's your celebrity crush?" But students had also posted stickers and slogans supporting the Palestinian cause and naming the war in Gaza as a genocide. "Zionism is terrorism," one student's door sticker said. Concerned that some students might feel intimidated by such messages, the Barnard administration has decided to enforce a ban on dorm door decorations altogether. Their removal was set to begin on Thursday, and all but "official items placed by the college" will be taken down, Leslie Grinage, the dean of the college, wrote in an email to students. "While many decorations and fixtures on doors serve as a means of helpful communication amongst peers, we are also aware that some may have the unintended effect of isolating those who have different views and beliefs," she wrote. The policy changes have prompted a particularly strong response at Barnard, a women's college with a reputation as a progressive institution that values activism. Barnard has also sought to exert more control over faculty-sponsored events, several professors said. It took Debbie Becher, a sociology professor, months to get the official go-ahead to show "Israelism," a film about Jewish disenchantment with Zionism that has become a political lightning rod. She said she didn't get the final decision until the last minute. |
| Jewish Students Describe Facing Antisemitism on Campus to Members of Congress | |
| Nine Jewish students from prominent universities told members of Congress on Thursday that they feel unsafe on campus, but that their complaints of antisemitism had been waved away by university administrations. At a bipartisan round table organized by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the students described various episodes of antisemitism they had experienced on campus since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, accusing their schools of pandering to violent and disruptive protesters while minimizing the threat to Jewish students. "I've been told over and over again that the university is taking these issues seriously, but always --- no action," said Noah Rubin, a student at the University of Pennsylvania. The round table in Washington was led by Representative Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina. The 20 members of Congress, including Ms. Foxx, who participated were evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. The nine students -- from Harvard, Penn, M.I.T., Columbia and five other universities -- were picked by the House committee, and the Republican majority on the panel had a stronger hand in choosing them, according to an aide to Ms. Foxx. Committee members looked for students from universities that had high-profile incidents of antisemitism. Several Jewish groups showed support for the congressional committee's efforts on Thursday, sending representatives to sit in the audience. But some critics have dismissed hearings on the issue, considering them part of a broader G.O.P.-driven culture war against colleges and universities, which are perceived to be bastions of liberalism. |
| Congress Passes FAFSA Formula Fix | |
| Congress moved Thursday to fix an error in the legislation overhauling the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, days after the Education Department announced it was updating the formula for aid eligibility to comply with the law. The formula change would've made more students eligible for the Pell Grant, federal aid for low-income students -- a move the Biden administration touted in a news release Tuesday. But Congress balked at the change, which was the result of an error in the initial legislation, and addressed the issue in the continuing resolution that passed Thursday to fund the government through March 22. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the Independent who chairs the Senate education committee, said in a statement that 100,000 students would lose access as a result of the continuing resolution. That figure could be higher, based on department data that showed 7.3 million students were expected to be eligible for Pell Grants as a result of the formula change and other implementation efforts. The department had previously estimated that about 5.2 million students would qualify for the grant. North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said in a statement that the expansion would have crippled the Pell Grant program. "Today's responsible CR puts a stop to the Department of Education's reckless action, while still enabling students to get the financial aid information they need in a timely fashion and ensuring the Pell Grant is stable in the future for families truly in need," Foxx said. |
| In Georgia, a bill to cut all ties with the American Library Association is advancing | |
 | Those who've been trying to remove certain books from childrens' sections at public libraries are now taking aim at what they see as a source of the problem: the American Library Association. A growing number of states and local libraries are cutting ties with the nation's predominant library professional association, saying the ALA has become too radical. On Thursday, a bill that would go further than any other passed the Georgia state Senate in a 33-to-20 vote and now heads to the House. The push against the ALA has been gaining steam ever since the group's president, Emily Drabinski, celebrated her election to a one-year term as ALA president with a now-deleted social media post expressing excitement that the group would be led by someone like her, "a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world." Taylor Hawkins, with the conservative Christian lobbying group Frontline Policy Action, which helped draft and promote the Georgia legislation, points to an article by Drabinski in the academic journal The Library Quarterly a decade ago called "Queering The Catalog." "She discusses a strategy for queer library politics, directly injecting politics into the library," Hawkins said. "This is an organization that cannot be trusted with influence over public libraries in the state of Georgia." To some, the timing of the legislation is especially perilous. The ALA shares standards and materials to help libraries promote information literacy, and this is exactly the wrong moment to be letting up on that, says David Lankes, a professor of librarianship at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Information, and a member of the ALA. |
| Opinion: MDOT's White says roads underfunded | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: MDOT Has a $1.2 billion dollar budget, two-thirds of that federal money, but it's not enough. Most of the state money comes from the gas tax. Only Alaska has a lower gas tax than Mississippi. That's the problem. The gas tax hasn't been raised since 1989, 35 years ago. What a dollar would buy in 1989 would take $2.55 today. This has created problems for Brad White, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). White has been involved in Mississippi Republican Party politics for most of his career. He was chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party when Haley Barbour was governor. He has been chief of staff for State Auditor Stacey Pickering, Governor Tate Reeves, and U. S. Senators Thad Cochran and Cindy Hyde-Smith. He even worked for Governor Fordice's campaign as a youngster. This guy bleeds Mississippi Republican party. Which puts White in a tough position. Mississippi Republicans love to cut taxes but White needs more state money -- a lot more, $400 million more a year. |
SPORTS
| Baseball Adjusts Weekend Schedule: MSU and Mount St. Mary's set for a doubleheader on Saturday | |
| With better weather and playing conditions forecasted for Saturday, Mississippi State will play a doubleheader Saturday. The first game is set for noon, and the second game will begin 40 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Friday and Saturday tickets will both be accepted for either game of the doubleheader. Saturday's tickets will have priority in the seating area and premium areas. Only Saturday parking passes will be accepted. The doubleheader will be broadcast on SECN+. The games will also be carried on the Mississippi State Sports Network powered by Learfield along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/plus. |
| Baseball: Dohm deals in series-opening win over Mount St. Mary's | |
| Mississippi State right-hander Nate Dohm was displeased with himself after taking a comebacker off the chest during Thursday night's series opener against Mount St. Mary's. "That was kind of embarrassing there," Dohm said. "I thought it was hit a little harder than it was and I ended up falling off-balance after it hit me. More than anything, I was just mad at myself for how I reacted to it." Looking back on it, it was a humorous blip in what was arguably his best outing of the season for the Bulldogs and his third-straight solid start. Dohm shut down The Mount offensively, allowing four hits and one earned run as he struck out eight while walking none over seven innings, setting the tone for a 12-run explosion from MSU in a 12-2 win. "He was pretty vibrant coming back a day short from last week and a long outing last week," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "The first couple innings, they were super aggressive, so it was minimal pitches. He got a chance to roll, we got him a bit of a lead and it was really good. I thought he was crisp." Just like in Tuesday's wild 19-6 win over Jackson State, the Bulldogs (6-4) showed patience at the plate, working nine walks, five in the eighth inning alone. |
| Softball: Bulldogs batter USM in return home for weekend invitational | |
| No. 23 ranked Mississippi State softball started the Bulldog Invitational in dominant fashion with a 9-0 win over Southern Miss on Thursday night. Head coach Samantha Ricketts' team came into the weekend on the heels of a 3-2 showing in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and sporting an 11-3 overall record. It was a difficult run of games on the road, but more than adequate preparation for picking up their 12th win on their return to Nusz Park. "Got to see a lot of different pitching on the road and kind of got away from ourselves, so the message this week has been got back to being aggressive within our plan and in our zone," Ricketts said. "I thought they did a good job of not trying to overswing and do too much and really pass the bat up and down the lineup." The Bulldogs came out swinging strong, with six runs in the first two innings. Madisyn Kennedy and Nadia Barbary each hit deep shots over the outfield wall and Aquana Brownlee got an RBI single with a drive into left field. "The team's energy was really good," Barbary said after the win. "Everybody's bats were hot and I'm glad we were able to give Josey some comfort in the circle." |
| What to watch, keys to victory for Mississippi State men's basketball at No. 11 Auburn | |
| After coming up just short in one of the greatest games of the current college basketball season Tuesday night against No. 16 Kentucky, Mississippi State has another challenge ahead Saturday afternoon with a visit to No. 11 Auburn. The Bulldogs (19-9, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) upset the then-No. 8 Tigers (21-7, 10-5) by six points at Humphrey Coliseum in late January, but a visit to Neville Arena is a much more daunting prospect. Auburn has lost just once at home all season --- a 70-59 defeat against Kentucky on Feb. 17 --- and is among the SEC's strongest teams on both ends of the floor. After MSU's victory over the Tigers in Starkville, Auburn won three straight games, highlighted by a 99-81 triumph over bitter rival Alabama, but has been somewhat up-and-down since then. The Tigers beat a ranked South Carolina team by 40 at home, but lost by 16 at Florida and came up short in their last game Wednesday night at No. 4 Tennessee. The Bulldogs' defense was at its best in the teams' first meeting, holding Auburn to 34 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from 3-point range. Johni Broome remains the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder with 16.3 points and 8.6 boards per game, with the latter total putting him in second place in the SEC. He is also second in the conference with 2.4 blocked shots per contest. |
| Mississippi State basketball vs. Auburn: Scouting report, score prediction | |
| Mississippi State basketball's Josh Hubbard has garnered attention from around the sports world this week. After his 34-point performance in Tuesday's loss against Kentucky, even former NFL receiver Dez Bryant has voiced his respect for Hubbard's game. "Boss both of you guys went crazy last night," Bryant wrote in response to a photo of Hubbard and UK's Reed Sheppard on X, formerly known as Twitter. The performance was an impressive response for Hubbard after he only scored five points against the Wildcats on 1-11 shooting when the teams met at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on Jan. 17. Hubbard's next test will be different. Mississippi State (19-9, 8-7 SEC) plays at Auburn (21-7, 10-5) on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPN2). When the Bulldogs beat the Tigers at Humphrey Coliseum on Jan. 27, Hubbard posted 17 points -- including 15 in the second half. Hubbard won't be looking for a bounce-back performance when he enters Neville Arena. Instead, the target will be on his back as Auburn looks to win after a loss at Tennessee on Wednesday. Mississippi State succeeds when it slows the game down and relies on its defense -- which ranks 17th nationally in efficiency. However, controlling the tempo isn't easy. "That's something that's talked about a lot, but the other team is trying to impose their style on you," Jans said Monday. "They're doing things within the game to ensure that they get the possessions up. That you get into some up-and-down situations with them. It's hard." |
| Why seniors are crucial for Sam Purcell to stop Mississippi State basketball's spiral | |
| Roaming on one end of the Neville Arena court was Auburn women's basketball coach Johnnie Harris. Her team is on the NCAA tournament bubble in the final week of the regular season, but the Tigers didn't look like a fringe team on Thursday. Auburn (18-10, 7-8 SEC) looked like a program worthy of an at-large bid. It looked like a team finding momentum at the right time, with only the leap day delaying the arrival of March. "I know this game was big going for our goals," Harris said. "We knew we had to get this one. Our kids were locked in from the beginning." On the other end, Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell was pacing the sideline looking for answers. His Bulldogs (20-10, 7-8) seemed like a lock for March Madness a couple of weeks ago when they were riding a five-game winning streak, highlighted by a victory against defending national champion LSU. But Thursday, MSU looked like the team carrying an uncertain future. With a 77-60 loss to the Tigers, MSU has dropped five straight. It's playing its worst basketball -- turning it over 17 times and allowing 18 offensive boards -- at a time where a team should be finding momentum. "We're not making enough winning plays right now," Purcell said. As head coaches, they're leading teams headed in opposite directions in the SEC standings. Auburn's rise has come by capitalizing on chances against struggling conference foes such as Missouri and Kentucky. Mississippi State's skid has featured losses against UK and Florida. |
| $14.5 million allocated for 33 outdoor stewardship projects | |
| The Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund Board of Trustees has approved a selection of grants totaling $14.5 million for 33 conservation and outdoor recreation projects. Gov. Tate Reeves made the announcement on Friday, saying the allocation of funding will be matched with nearly $30 million from other sources. "This is another round of great projects," Reeves said. "The Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund is making an incredibly positive impact on our state. We'll continue to do everything we can to preserve our state's natural beauty for the next generation of Mississippians." The grants chosen include a diversity of projects that meet the goals of improving state parks and outdoor recreation trails, improving access to public waters and lands, and preserving, enhancing, and restoring Mississippi's native wildlife and fish resources and their critical habitats. The latest round of grants comes after the first round of outdoor stewardship trust fund money was allocated last year, landing at around $9.8 million for nearly two dozen projects. The $14.5 million currently being dispersed comes from the legislature's approval of $15 million to be deposited into the fund during the 2023 session. |
| How Georgia athletics, SEC are trying to cast a wide net for hiring coaches, administrators | |
 | Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks wants to "grow the pipeline," for coaches, ADs and administrators of the next generation. To do that, he's looked to some graduating students from underrepresented backgrounds to fill internships and assistant jobs to get their foot in the door, hiring former Bulldog athletes for roles in development and the business office. The SEC in 2021 passed Bylaw 23 to "help guide hiring practices," at schools for AD, head coaches and senior women's administrators. Southern Company chairman, president and CEO Chris Womack spoke to coaches, ADs and others at the league's spring meeting last year "to help us to think about how we build and grow diversity within our staff and leadership ranks," commissioner Greg Sankey said then. The conference also began an "opportunity forum," program for emerging leaders from underrepresented groups to meet with chancellors, presidents, ADs and search firms. A year earlier, SEC football and men's and women's basketball coaches along with ADs and others also spoke as a group about building diversity, particularly in leadership positions. "For me and my family and our experience, diversity, equity and inclusion has just been a part of my life," Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon, the first Black AD in school history, said at last year's spring meeting. "Sport is the great equalizer of that. You get people from all over to go for a common goal. My Dad and uncles grew up at a time when the schools were still segregated and because of Brown vs. Board of Education they had an opportunity to go play sport. Then they went to college and then the NFL." |
| How Tennessee paid army of attorneys to be friend and foe to NCAA in two investigations | |
| The University of Tennessee paid lawyers $11,000 a day to fend off the NCAA in its latest investigation, documents reveal, as it continues a yearslong strategy of playing both friend and foe to the governing body with multiple law firms staying steps ahead in overlapping probes. It's a costly, albeit worthwhile, expense from UT's perspective as the university has deployed an army of attorneys against the NCAA. UT paid more than $1.8 million in legal fees to avoid a postseason ban in the Jeremy Pruitt recruiting scandal. The university was strikingly cooperative with the NCAA while funding the internal probe that guided investigators through the case. That effort was led by Bond, Schoeneck & King, a law firm specializing in infractions cases and stocked with former NCAA investigators who are friendly with the opposition. Now UT has taken an adversarial stance toward the NCAA in its newest investigation focused on whether the university, its boosters or student-athletes violated rules for name, image and likeness deals. The strategy has yielded favorable results so far. But the university is finding the legal bill is much higher to take on the NCAA the second time around and alongside a federal court case. UT was billed $535,956 by Washington law firm Quinn Emanuel for six weeks of work in November and December, with some attorney fees topping $1,900 an hour, according to invoices obtained by Knox News through an open records requests. Quinn Emanuel's fingerprints were on UT's public attack that included a scathing letter from Chancellor Donde Plowman to NCAA President Charlie Baker, athletics director Danny White's blistering social media post and a federal antitrust lawsuit suit filed by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. |
| After year one, why Charlie Baker's job as NCAA President could be mission impossible | |
| From the historic summer of realignment to the tsunami of ongoing legal threats, Charlie Baker's first year as NCAA President has been marked by unprecedented tumult. Through that Category-5 storm of disruption, Baker -- the former two-time Massachusetts governor -- has spearheaded notable progress on several fronts and made moves sometimes at odds with the association's hallmark of being resistant to change. But as Baker enters year two today, he can't escape this reality: It is not nearly enough. Whether it will be spurred by the NCAA or external forces, more seismic change is coming, and the pace of evolution accelerating. How Baker, 67, will be assessed moving forward will largely hinge on these two questions: Will the association settle with plaintiffs before next January's trial in the high-stakes House antitrust case? A defeat would cost the NCAA and fellow Power Five defendants some $4.2 billion in retroactive NIL pay and shares of broadcast revenue, posing an existential financial threat to the enterprise. Secondly, is Baker willing and able to play a role -- along with other industry leaders -- in creating a bridge to what many view as an inevitable revenue-sharing model that incorporates athletes collectively bargaining with schools or leagues? Baker's sizable challenge is compounded by these variables: How does one build consensus among more than 1,100 disparate institutions, while also placating two super conferences -- the SEC and Big Ten -- that are throwing their weight around as whispers grow louder about a potential breakaway from the association? |
| New Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould considering all options | |
| A day before she is set to begin a two-year commitment as the new commissioner of the Pac-12 conference, Teresa Gould said the most important part of her job will be to help the remaining two schools -- Oregon State and Washington State -- position themselves for the future. "That strategic piece is really being bold and being aggressive, being intentional and really attacking these challenges head on, but also being open-minded and making sure that we're considering all options," Gould said on a videoconference. "That is probably the most important and urgent piece of my role, is to partner with the leadership on both campuses to forge that future path for their two campuses and their athletic programs." Gould, who was joined by Washington State president Kirk Schulz, did not provide any specifics about what that future could look like beyond the next two seasons, during which Oregon State and Washington State will compete in the West Coast Conference in most sports, along with a scheduling partnership in football with the Mountain West. The conference will continue to operate under the Pac-12 brand and will keep its television studio in San Ramon, California, for at least another academic year. Gould did not provide an update on what should be expected regarding television broadcasts for OSU and WSU home football games, only saying that she has been "encouraged about the interest for those media rights" and was hopeful there would be an announcement in the near future. |
| Heather Dinich delves into debate between 14- or 16-team proposals for expanded College Football Playoff | |
| News surfaced Wednesday that a proposal to expand the College Football Playoff to 14 teams is gaining steam, but it's not the only option on the table when it comes to potential expansion. There exists a possibility that the sport's power brokers could also explore a 16-team playoff field, in part as a way of opening up more automatic qualification spots in the playoff. For now, though, the 14-team model is the one with the most thrust behind it. "My sense in speaking with sources is that 14 is the most favorable option because, again, we're also talking about a parallel conversation with the TV contract here," ESPN's Heather Dinich said on the Paul Finebaum Show. "Some of this is, quite frankly, above my pay grade, so I don't want to speak on behalf of ESPN or TV executives by any means. But at some point you've got to stop paying money. There's a price on the table." Dinich is something of an expert covering College Football Playoff matters, having done it for the Worldwide Leader for the past decade or so. She outlined the primary factor when it comes to weighing an increase in the size of the playoff field. "Can 14 teams without any increase in price satisfy everyone's needs who are at the table?" Dinich asked. "Whereas if it were to go to 16 teams at some point, are there diminishing returns? Is there advertising? Does ESPN want to pay more than $1.3 billion for this? My guess is probably not. But again, I think that you can't untangle those two conversations as to the number of teams and the actual TV contract that's on the table currently." |
| Sources: SEC, Big Ten would hold rights to first-round byes in new proposed CFP format | |
| A day after news emerged of a proposed new model to an expanded College Football Playoff, many questions linger, perhaps none more important than the seeding and bye structure of the 14-team field. Champions of the SEC and Big Ten would hold exclusive rights on the two first-round byes, according to one version circulated to several college athletic administrators. The version has not been finalized and is only being socialized before more exploratory work on the format, those with knowledge of the model told Yahoo Sports. Such a concept -- guaranteed byes for the Big Ten and SEC -- is an unusual but somewhat expected maneuver from college football's goliaths. It's also a move that has garnered pushback from administrators outside of those two conferences. In a 14-team model that officials are socializing with their leagues, the Big Ten and SEC would each receive three automatic qualifiers, with the ACC and Big 12 getting two each and the Group of Five's best team qualifying as well. Such a model would feature three at-large spots to the highest-ranked teams outside of the automatic qualifiers. The model calls for the top two seeds to have byes into the second round. Under the 12-team format that will be used this fall and in 2025, the four highest-ranked conference champions are granted byes. In the 14-team version circulating across the country, the ACC and Big 12, the other two major conferences, would not have access to obtaining a bye -- an unprecedented move and perhaps a tipping point for some administrators in those leagues. |
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