| Friday, March 22, 2024 |
| Shuttle, Family Inspire NASA's Cryogenic Technology Manager | |
 | Jeremy Kenny squinted his eyes as he looked toward the brilliant light. Then came the deafening sound waves that vibrated his body. This was the moment he'd dreamed about since childhood. It was Nov. 16, 2009, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Kenny and his wife were watching space shuttle Atlantis embark on a mission to the International Space Station. Kenny, who was less than two years into his NASA career, had the opportunity to see the liftoff from Launch Pad 39A as part of receiving the Space Flight Awareness Award for supporting the Space Shuttle Program's solid rocket booster flight program. "That was the first launch I ever witnessed in person," said Kenny, whose inspiration for working at NASA came from watching televised shuttle launches as a youth. "It was amazing and made me appreciate how such a powerful system could be designed and flown so successfully." In January, Kenny was named manager of NASA's Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Portfolio project, where he oversees a cross-agency team based at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Kenny's choice of profession comes as little surprise, given his family background. He had a grandfather and an uncle who worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the family's hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi. From them, Kenny learned how math and physics could be implemented in real-world applications. He earned three degrees in mechanical engineering: a bachelor's from Mississippi State University in Starkville, a master's from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and a doctorate from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. |
| Hate Ends Now brings The Cattle Car Holocaust exhibit to Starkville | |
 | Starkville residents and visitors can experience an immersive, multimedia exhibit inside a replica of a cattle car used to transport victims of the Holocaust to concentration camps. Hate Ends Now partners with Mississippi State University to bring this traveling exhibit to Starkville for one day only. The exhibit will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 22. The cattle car will sit at the Bost Extension Center at 190 Bost Dr., Starkville. The cattle car allows visitors to dive into one of the darkest times in history. These cattle cars were used to bring Jewish people and other targeted minorities to concentration and death camps. A 360 video display allows viewers to hear some of these victims' stories. A panel titled "Unity Starts with You: Panel Discussion on Allyship," will accompany the exhibit at 10 a.m. on the same day. Starkville is the only Mississippi stop for the cattle car as of now, but End Hate Now hopes to bring the exhibit to other locations and universities in the state in the future. |
| Owl's Head Alloys investing $29 million in Clay County processing facility | |
| The Mississippi Development Authority announced on Thursday that aluminum processing company Owl's Head Alloys is locating operations in Clay County. MDA says the project is a $29.245 million corporate investment that will create 68 new jobs in the area. "This is precisely the kind of development that can offer economic stability and future investment opportunities for years to come. MDA is excited to welcome this new venture to Mississippi, and we look forward to the many benefits it will bring to Clay County's thriving economy," said MDA Executive Director Bill Cork in a statement. Owl's Head Alloys is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Starting with a single furnace and 20 employees in 2002, it has grown to five furnaces and 150 employees who are included in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The company is a secondary aluminum processor that melts down and recycles aluminum products and by-products to be reused in manufacturing processes. The company will supply recycled aluminum to Aluminum Dynamics. According to MDA, the agency is providing assistance for building improvements while the City of West Point and Clay County are providing local tax abatement assistance. Governor Tate Reeves called the project a great win for Clay County and Mississippi. Construction is slated to begin by May, with completion expected within 18 months. Owl's Head Alloys plans to fill the 68 jobs over the next three years. |
| US may catch a spring break on weather. Forecasters see minimal flooding and drought for spring | |
 | The United States can expect a nice spring break from past too rainy or too dry extremes, federal meteorologists predicted Thursday. After some rough seasons of drought, flooding and fires, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's spring outlook calls for a less hectic spring that should be warmer and wetter, but not prone to major flooding and drought at low levels. There is zero major or record flooding forecast, with much of the East and Southeast predicted to get more nuisance-type flooding that doesn't cause property damage, said Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Less than a quarter of the country is in drought with just 0.14% of the nation experiencing the highest level of drought, which is unusually low, said Jon Gottschalck, operations branch chief for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. In other words, a sweet spot. "We certainly are pleased to see the lack of major flooding and the upper Mississippi portions of the Red River in the north, which we typically see this time of year," Clark said. "In fact, this is one of the first outlooks I've seen in a long time where we have not had major flooding projected for some portion of the country." |
| A Visit to a Historic Mississippi Port Reveals a Small Town With New Stories to Tell | |
 | When you drive up to Natchez you never know which Natchez you're going to get," a friend cautioned after hearing I was visiting the historic Mississippi river town. "It's either awake or asleep." Natchez has long been known for its Spring Pilgrimage, a series of historic house tours (now until April 28) that conveys a romantic -- and, to many, problematic -- view of the Old South. But I soon found more multidimensional takes on history. At the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, a museum and park pay tribute to the eponymous Native-American tribe which made this land its capital. On Saint Catherine St., the Dr. John Bowman Banks House, which served as an NAACP headquarters during the civil-rights movement, now functions as a by-appointment museum. ... Before leaving, I spoke to Richard Grant, author of "The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi," published in 2020. "The basic rule in Natchez is to talk to the women because they know what's going on," Grant said. "It's one of the most matriarchal places I know." So on my last evening in town I found myself, Aperol spritz in hand, on a porch belonging to Regina Charboneau, a 7th-generation Natchezian who teaches Southern cooking classes. "Most of us have tossed the hoop skirts," said Charboneau. "But the hospitality remains." |
| Authors announced for 10th annual Mississippi Book Festival | |
| The countdown has begun for this year's Mississippi Book Festival and organizers have given a sneak peek at some of the authors who will be making an appearance. Six months from now, you and your family will be able to flip through the thousands of books that will be lining the sidewalks around the state capitol building. "When we look at things in Mississippi that we can support financially, we look at a few things we look at. One, how does this make Mississippi look? We look at if it draws tourists in. We look, is it a good cultural attraction? And is it good for the economy? And this one checks all the boxes," Senator Briggs Hopson, who's over the Senate's Appropriations Committee at the state capitol, told the media. People from all over the country will get the chance to meet award-winning authors. "Most states around the country host yearly book festivals to celebrate the love of reading. So why not us? It only makes sense that Mississippi with his rich literary heritage should have a festival of our own," the festival's Executive Director Ellen Daniels explained. The festival will be held on September 14 at the State Capitol and Galloway United Methodist Church. |
| Coming Soon: Funds earmarked for pedestrian bridge connecting museums | |
| Thanks to recently appropriated federal dollars, plans for a one-of-a-kind, elevated pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly bridge across Lakeland Drive are moving ahead. "Our goal is for this to open by the summer of 2026," said Susan Garrard, president and CEO of the Mississippi Children's Museum and board chair of the Great City Mississippi Foundation, which was a catalyst for securing the federal funds. 'We're making America's 250th birthday our deadline." The Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act, part of an appropriations package that Congress cleared earlier this month, provided $5 million for the construction of the bridge. The bridge will provide a safe way for visitors to move between the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, which sit on one side of Lakeland Drive, and the children's museum and the Museum of Natural Science, which sit on the south side of Lakeland Drive. The elevated structure will also give cyclists a way to cross Lakeland Drive (U.S. Highway 25) without having to dodge the traffic as they use the area's multi-use trail system. Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker provided support for the project. "It's going to be an iconic feature," said Dr. Clay Hays, a Jackson cardiologist and one of the driving forces behind the Museum Trail, the multi-use trail that starts in downtown Jackson and winds its way across the city to the LeFleur's Bluff Complex. |
| Senate hearing reassures current PERS members that benefits are not at risk | |
| State Senators heard directly from board members of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) on Wednesday in a hearing intended to provide more information regarding the sustainability of the system. The hearing, conducted by the Senate Government Structure Committee, was chaired by State Senator Chris Johnson (R). He said it was his intention to provide some reassurance to current PERS members as well as retired PERS recipients that their benefits will not be changed. It was clarified in the hearing that no legislation or action by the PERS Board can lower the benefits for current or existing members of the state retirement plan. "This board can't lower anyone's benefits, can they?" asked State Senator Daniel Sparks (R), a member of the committee. "That is correct," said Jay Smith, North Pike School District Superintendent and PERS Board member. Sen. Sparks said in the hearing that he has received numerous calls from individuals nearing retirement concerned that the plan was in such distress that it would be better for them to pull out what they have now and "go home." Senator Johnson said his biggest take away from the meeting was that the PERS system was sound, that retirement benefits are currently going to be paid, and there are no current issues. "We also got a better understanding of the issues the retirement system faces, a better understanding of how the predictions are made for unfunded liabilities, and are better prepared to address those," said Johnson. |
| Mississippi lawmakers, state retirement leaders disagree over bill to take over PERS system | |
 | The Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi is not on life support. That was the message PERS leadership told senators Wednesday during a hearing at the Mississippi State Capitol to address legislation aiming to replace the board and take away its only regulatory tools. PERS Board chairman Kim Hanna and board members Jay Smith and Randy McCoy spoke to the Senate Government Structures Committee to discuss PERS and give key updates on why the board has made decisions to address growing potential debt and low membership. PERS is funded through both employee and employer contributions. Employers, such as cities, counties, state agencies and school districts currently contribute 17.4% matches of employees' yearly salaries, while workers who opt in pay 9%. Lawmakers who support the bill have said that over the past few years, the board has made three key errors. One of those mistakes was estimating the retirement system was 93.5% funded through 2047 as of 2022. The other two mistakes were a vote to increase employer contributions to 22.4% over a five-year period, and a vote to decrease what is known as the estimated rate of return on all investments from 7.75% to 7%, which ballooned the system's estimated liabilities by $6 billion, from $19 billion to $25 billion, some lawmakers said Wednesday. "I am disappointed that the Board did not take the opportunity to recommend its proposal for long-term viability," said HB 1590 sponsor Rep. Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs. "Its recommendation of a 5% employer contribution increase over three years is (just) a short-term and stop-gap measure." |
| Mississippi lawmaker promises 'another run' at ballot initiative process next year | |
| As the restoration of Mississippi's ballot initiative process looks unlikely at this point in the session, lawmakers are hoping another year's worth of time will help put the House and Senate on the same page when it comes to letting citizens propose law changes. After the Senate allowed a bill that would have restored the process with strict regulations to die on a motion to reconsider earlier this week, Republican Sen. Jeremy England of Vancleave said during an appearance on The Gallo Show that the topic will be brought up again next year if not somehow revived before May's sine die. "We'll certainly make another run at it next year. I hate that we couldn't get it this year," said England, who was one of a handful of senators to author legislation to restore the process. "Look, we need to get it fixed, but it is a very complicated issue." While England's bill was not the one brought up on the Senate floor, the legislation that was narrowly passed last week but later died without much Republican support was hampered by a 67 percent voter threshold for an initiative to pass. That was in comparison to the House's 40 percent mark of total votes cast for approval. House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, who was a dissenting vote on the legislation that made it through his side of the capitol, was disappointed with both chambers' unwillingness to restore the ballot initiative process to what it looked like before being stripped in 2021. "I just want to go back to what we had," Johnson said. |
| Doctors plead with Senate to 'do right' and expand Medicaid | |
| Several dozen doctors and health care leaders gathered at the Capitol Thursday to advocate for Medicaid expansion and call on Senate leaders -- who have remained quiet on the House expansion bill that sits in their chamber -- to close the state's health care coverage gap. "I'm calling on the Senate to do right and to come up with a mechanism by which these people can have coverage," Dr. Randy Easterling, former president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, said. Easterling recounted the story of one working Mississippian named Jimmy who delayed seeking treatment and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer. He is now on hospice and "probably has two to three weeks to live," Easterling said. Easterling's relative, an insured Tennessean, was diagnosed with the same condition as Jimmy. He received state of the art care in Nashville for his condition, which is treatable in most cases. "I wish I could tell you that my story about Jimmy was an exception, but it's not," Easterling said. "Everybody behind me can tell their own stories about the hundreds and hundreds of people that we've seen over our practice time that this has happened to ... What makes my relative more deserving than Jimmy? We need to do better." Since the Senate let its own Medicaid bill -- which was a "dummy" with no details -- die, the House measure is the only expansion bill still alive this session. |
| Senate approves bill to give secretary of state authority over tidelands | |
| Lawmakers are working to provide some clarity over who actually controls the Mississippi Gulf Coast's waterfront. In what has been an ongoing battle between elected officials, the secretary of state is lawfully in charge of land subject to ebb and flow of the tide on bays and the Mississippi Sound. Hence, the name "tidelands." However, state laws also give counties and cities the right to control their harbors and beaches and any construction that may come along with those pieces of property. Senate Bill 2780 was passed unanimously last week by members of its originating chamber and now heads to the House for consideration. According to Senate officials, the legislation accomplishes three things: (1) clarifies that a gaming operator needs a lease from the state through the secretary of state, (2) counties and municipalities have exclusive authority over the development and management of their small craft harbors and ports, and (3) codifies gaming commission regulations on-site suitability and amenities for gaming licenses. Secretary Michael Watson, who has previously been at odds with Attorney General Lynn Fitch and local mayors such as Biloxi's Andrew "FoFo" Gilich over the tidelands issue, fully supports the bill. |
| Deaths continue as Legislature fails to act on domestic violence bills | |
| At least four people have died in suspected domestic violence crimes across the state since the Legislature has been meeting and failing to advance measures to help stem the violence and support survivors. At the end of January, a Canton man shot and killed his wife. In February, Tupelo police responding to a domestic incident shot and killed a man who threatened another person with a gun. This month, a woman was found dead at a Stone County store, and the man suspected of killing her shot at a sheriff's deputy before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot. The number of domestic violence fatalities could be higher, but it's impossible to know because of a lack of data, advocates say. "We don't even have accurate data in the state to show a true picture of what domestic violence looks like," said Stacey Riley, CEO of the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence Inc. in Biloxi, which operates two shelters and serves six counties. Rebecca Stewart, executive director of The Domestic Abuse Family Shelter Inc. based in Laurel which serves 11 counties, said data can provide valuable insight. It would allow the group to examine events that led up to a fatality and know about gaps in response, which can help with intervention efforts. She hopes the Legislature will take a more in-depth look at domestic violence and lawmakers will ask questions to understand more about the issue and what can be done about it. |
| Lawmakers hold out hope of Friday night spending finale | |
 | The House appears poised to pass the $1.2 trillion final appropriations package Friday morning, and the Senate may not be far behind. Senate Appropriations ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Thursday that the Senate could start considering amendments around 1 p.m. Friday, following the expected House vote around 11 a.m. "Right now, the effort is to identify duplicative amendments, and try to see who wants to proceed, and narrow down the list," she said. Lawmakers are rushing to pass the legislation with funding for several agencies expiring after 11:59 p.m. Friday and an upcoming two-week recess. Collins, who has never missed a vote but will be away for her mother's funeral on Saturday, said she thinks the Senate can wrap up Friday night, though she cautioned that it depends on cooperation from all 100 senators. Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the goal was getting the bill to President Joe Biden's desk Friday night, though he didn't make any promises. The compromise deal is expected to pass first in the House under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority. The massive 1,012 page bill includes the Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Legislative Branch, Labor-HHS-Education and State-Foreign Operations measures, with something for both parties to take home to their constituents. President Joe Biden, who signed another, smaller package of spending bills into law earlier this month, has vowed to sign this package "immediately" after Congress clears it. While the odds were looking good due to the bipartisan deals that were cut, the huge bill was facing heat from the usual suspects. |
| New bipartisan bill would require online identification, labeling of AI-generated videos and audio | |
| Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House Thursday would require the identification and labeling of online images, videos and audio generated using artificial intelligence, the latest effort to rein in rapidly developing technologies that, if misused, could easily deceive and mislead. So-called deepfakes created by artificial intelligence can be hard or even impossible to tell from the real thing. AI has already been used to mimic President Joe Biden's voice, exploit the likenesses of celebrities and impersonate world leaders, prompting fears it could lead to greater misinformation, sexual exploitation, consumer scams and a widespread loss of trust. Key provisions in the legislation would require AI developers to identify content created using their products with digital watermarks or metadata, similar to how photo metadata records the location, time and settings of a picture. Online platforms like TikTok, YouTube or Facebook would then be required to label the content in a way that would notify users. Final details of the proposed rules would be crafted by the Federal Trade Commission based on input from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a small agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Violators of the proposed rule would be subject to civil lawsuits. The bill will now be considered by lawmakers, who likely won't be able to pass any meaningful rules for AI in time for them to take effect before the 2024 election. |
| Rising insurance costs are making homeownership even more expensive | |
| As homeowners in Vero Beach, Florida, Marie and Jack Zuzack have had their share of insurance problems. She's a retired city planner; he worked in biotech research. They own an older home that's more vulnerable to hurricanes than modern buildings, and two years ago, after being dropped a few times by different insurers and struggling to find an affordable plan, they finally gave up and went without standard homeowners insurance. "We just felt like, for the value of the house, it wasn't worth the premiums," Marie Zuzack said. That's Florida, where coastal living is getting harder to insure. But the Zuzacks also own a house in Colorado, where they spend their summers in the fire-prone foothills near Boulder. "We were dropped last year by our insurance company, along with many other people," she said. "They just left the area." This is becoming a much more common story in many parts of the country. The digital insurance agency Matic said premiums for new policies rose more than 8.5%, on average, last year, and 24% for renewals, and they're likely to keep going up this year. Availability also dropped, especially in certain regions, said Andy Hellard, vice president of product at the company. "What you're seeing along the Gulf Coast, coastal Texas, big parts of California, parts of the Mountain West that are exposed to wildfire really is a problem not just of pricing, but of availability as well, where they just can't get coverage a lot of times," Hellard said. "And lot of times, the coverage that is available is much, much higher." |
| A Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Was Just Transplanted Into a Person for the First Time | |
 | In a world first, surgeons in Boston have transplanted a genetically altered pig kidney into a 62-year-old man. The procedure is a step toward providing more readily available organs to patients who are in desperate need of a transplant. The four-hour surgery was carried out on March 16 at Massachusetts General Hospital. Shortly after the kidney was placed in the patient's body, it started producing urine---a sign that it was functioning as it should. Tatsuo Kawai, one of the surgeons involved, said the operating room erupted in applause. "It was truly the most beautiful kidney I have ever seen," he said in a press conference on Thursday. The patient, Richard Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, according to his medical team. The surgery marks the latest advance for xenotransplantation -- the use of animal organs in people -- which scientists have been pursuing for decades due to a shortage of suitable human donor organs. In the United States alone, more than 100,000 people are on the transplant waiting list, and 17 people die each day waiting for an organ. A kidney is the most common organ in need. But there's a big obstacle to transplanting pig organs into the human body. "If it were easy, we'd be doing it by now, but it's not," said Joren Madsen, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center, during Thursday's briefing. "The human immune system reacts incredibly violently to a pig organ." |
| Dr. Tracy Cook has interim tag removed, named president of Alcorn State | |
| Dr. Tracy Cook has had the interim tag pulled and will be the next president of Alcorn State University, according to a news release. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) decided on Wednesday to move forward with Cook as president after over eight months of him serving in the position on an interim basis. Cook, who is an Alcorn State alumnus, was vice president for student affairs and enrollment management prior to the promotion at his alma mater. "This decision was made in the long-term best interests of Alcorn State University and its students, faculty, and alumni," Dr. Alfred McNair, president of the Board of Trustees, said. "There was an obvious desire and call from the Alcorn family for Dr. Cook to be named to this role, and we are putting our full faith and confidence behind this decision. He is the right person to lead Alcorn State University." A native of Fayette, Cook earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Alcorn, where he also was a standout on the school's football team from 1990-93. The former tight end was inducted into the Alcorn Sports Hall of Fame and named to the university's list of Top 50 Greatest Football Athletes after his playing days. |
| 'An obvious desire:' IHL names internal candidate new president of Alcorn State, citing campus support | |
| The governing board of Mississippi's public universities gave Alcorn State University's interim president the full appointment on Thursday, forgoing a national search and marking the ninth time in 10 years the board has hired an internal candidate as a top leader. In a press release, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees cited the campus support for Tracy Cook that was shared during listening sessions earlier this year as a reason for his appointment. The board did not hire a search firm, IHL confirmed to Mississippi Today. Cook had been the university's interim president since June 2023, and his full appointment will be effective April 1, according to IHL's press release. He steps into the role at a time when some on Alcorn State's campus feel the country's oldest public historical Black land-grant institution has strayed from its heyday. "There was an obvious desire and call from the Alcorn family for Dr. Cook to be named to this role, and we are putting our full faith and confidence behind this decision," Dr. Alfred McNair, the trustee who is serving as board president, said in a press release. "He is the right person to lead Alcorn State University." An Alcorn State alumnus, Cook spent most of his career in K-12 education, working in various administrative levels in Jefferson and Claiborne county schools. He came to Alcorn State in 2015 to be the chief of staff when Alfred Rankins, the current IHL commissioner, was serving as the university's president, Mississippi Today previously reported. |
| Longtime Jackson State University educator Doris Saunders remembered during Women's History Month | |
| The name Doris Saunders is familiar to her former students at Jackson State University. But what she accomplished before coming to JSU is also gaining attention thanks to her daughter who is sharing some of Saunders's contributions to journalism, marketing, advertising, publishing, and history. It's something her daughter says especially deserves recognition during Women's History Month. The dining room table in Ann Saunders's home is covered with pictures, history, and glimpses into her mother's life. Ann Saunders said, "Because they were moving into a new building or getting ready to, that meant the library had to be set up." Doris Saunders became the highest-ranking African American librarian at the Chicago Public Library in her early 20s. During that time her daughter says she wrote a letter to John Johnson of the Johnson Publishing Company known for Ebony and Jet magazines. She was hired and set up the first corporate research library by and about African Americans at JPC. Saunders said, "When my mother first went to Johnson Publishing Company, she wrote an article about the Johnson Publishing Company library. It was published, and she wrote it in 1951. It wasn't published till '56." Saunders was a natural researcher during her time at Johnson Publishing Company. She is credited with studying the census and using other materials to create a marketing and advertising strategy for JPC that would put the company on the map and make JPC millions which was highlighted in an Ebony Anniversary edition, 10 Years that Rocked the World. |
| Alabama universities react to the state's new 'divisive concepts' law | |
 | Leaders of several state universities reacted this week to Alabama's new "divisive concepts" restrictions and shared their vision for the path ahead after the legislation was signed Wednesday by Gov. Kay Ivey. The newly passed law restricts the implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs certain public entities, including public institutions of higher education. The University of Alabama System released a statement signed by Chancellor Finis St. John and the three universities' respective presidents addressing how the institutions will adapt to the new law once it takes effect in October. The system consists of the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. "The University of Alabama System and each of its institutions are dedicated to our mission of providing exceptional educational, research and patient care experiences to all people, of all backgrounds, in welcoming and supportive environments that foster open thought, academic freedom and free expression. This priority will remain," the statement said. Ken Kitts, president of the University of North Alabama, said that the university had "been monitoring SB 129 since it was first introduced" and that UNA "moved away from the divisional structure and embraced a decentralized model for campus diversity efforts" in 2022. |
| The Newest DEI Ban Targets Alabama's Colleges. Here's How It Compares. | |
 | Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama, a Republican, this week signed into law a measure that prohibits public colleges from having diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or programs and restricts diversity training and diversity statements. The law, Senate Bill 129, also requires public colleges to designate bathrooms to be used according to a person's sex at birth. The law takes effect October 1. Alabama follows Florida, Texas, and Utah in banning DEI programs, offices, and other efforts amid a wave of state legislation seeking to curtail colleges' efforts to recruit and retain students, faculty, and staff members from historically underrepresented groups. Alabama's law will also prohibit public colleges from requiring students, employees, or contractors to personally affirm any of a list of eight "divisive concepts," including that "any race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior." The law will also prohibit public colleges from requiring students, employees, or contractors to attend any DEI program, training, or class that advocates for any of the "divisive concepts" described in the law. Ivey released a statement Wednesday that said, "My administration has and will continue to value Alabama's rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses -- or wherever else for that matter -- to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe." But Lily D. McNair, a former president of Tuskegee University, called the bill "one of the most repressive educational gag orders in the country" in an opinion piece published in the Alabama Reflector. |
| Universities Build Their Own ChatGPT-like Tools | |
 | When ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, Ravi Pendse knew fast action was needed. While the University of Michigan formed an advisory group to explore ChatGPT's impact on teaching and learning, Pendse, UMich's chief information officer, took it further. Months later, before the fall 2023 semester, the university launched U-M GPT, a homebuilt generative AI tool that now boasts between 14,000 to 16,000 daily users. "A report is great, but if we could provide tools, that would be even better," Pendse said, noting that Michigan is very concerned about equity. "U-M GPT is all free; we wanted to even the playing field." The University of Michigan is one of a small number of institutions that have created their own versions of ChatGPT for student and faculty use over the last year. Those include Harvard University, Washington University, the University of California, Irvine and UC San Diego. The effort goes beyond jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon -- for the universities, it's a way to overcome concerns about equity, privacy and intellectual property rights. That issue of intellectual property has been a major concern and a driver behind universities creating their own AI tools. OpenAI has not been transparent in how it trains ChatGPT, leaving many worried about research and potential privacy violations. |
| Federal-Aid Forms Are Finally Flowing to Colleges. But Many Concerns Remain. | |
| Nebraska at Lincoln, where he serves as director of scholarships and financial aid. "Just trying to have a little calm," he told The Chronicle last Friday, "before the storm gets even worse." The storm is the disruption resulting from the problematic rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which went live in late December, about three months later than usual. After a rocky first month defined by glitches and unexplained errors that have hindered many applicants, the U.S. Department of Education announced in late January that it wouldn't start sending processed federal-aid forms to colleges until the first half of March, pushing back the financial-aid timeline even further. The department early last week did send a limited number of processed forms, known as Institutional Student Information Records, or ISIRs, to colleges throughout the nation. Most institutions depend on those electronic documents to generate financial-aid offers for students, a step that keeps the big enrollment machine humming. But as of last Friday, Nebraska had received fewer than 10. By mid-March in a typical year, the university would have about 25,000. A dozen other colleges last week said that they had received as few as two; a couple reported that they had none at all. "It's all still moving too slowly," Brown said. |
| No Surprises for Higher Ed in Spending Bill | |
| After a fraught and drawn-out appropriations cycle, Congress released its final $1.2 trillion package of spending bills early Thursday morning. The measures would provide little in the way of new funds for programs important to colleges, largely aligning with the Senate's proposed budget and avoiding billions of dollars in cuts suggested by House Republicans. If the legislation passes, the Education Department would receive $79.1 billion, a relatively small $500 million decrease from last year's budget. "It's pretty much what we expected," said Emmanual Guillory, senior director of government relations for the American Council on Education. "We figured it would be closer to the Senate's proposal than the House's." Total federal student aid assistance would be flat-funded at $24.6 billion, about $1.8 billion less than the Biden administration requested. The maximum yearly Pell Grant award per student will remain at $7,395, in line with the budget deal reached last January. Craig Lindwarm, senior vice president for governmental affairs at the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities, said while the lack of major cuts was a relief, the spending bill is nothing to celebrate, either. "It is difficult to get excited about these funding levels," he said. "It's no surprise considering the budget challenges Congress has had. Still, we see a bill that does not provide the funding needed to address the affordability challenges higher ed faces." |
| AWS is a win for Mississippi and Entergy customers | |
| Entergy Mississippi's Haley Fisackerly writes for MagnoliaTribune.com: Entergy Mississippi customers are very familiar with our company's role: generating and transmitting power to their homes and businesses 24/7. What they may not know is that we bring more than just electricity to Mississippi. We bring jobs, too. I am proud to say that Entergy Mississippi took a leading role in helping our state land tech giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- which was announced last month as one of the biggest economic development wins in Mississippi history, totaling 1,000 new jobs and $10 billion in new investment. Entergy was one of the first to talk to AWS about locating one of their largest data center campuses in Mississippi. In what was a five-year process, we worked closely with AWS, the Mississippi Development Authority, Governor Reeves and the Mississippi Legislature, who passed and signed key legislation over the last several years that helped make Mississippi an attractive choice for the company. Entergy Mississippi employs a team of economic development professionals who travel the Southeast, the U.S. and the world recruiting large industrial prospects to Mississippi along with the jobs and economic activity they generate. Working together with state, local and federal officials, Entergy Mississippi's economic development team has been a part of recruiting not only AWS, but some of the biggest job-creation projects in Mississippi history, including Nissan, Continental and Milwaukee Tool among others. |
SPORTS
| Park-Lane Sets Record, Mississippi State Defeats Georgia Tech In WBIT First Round 84-47 | |
| Graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane set the single-season assist record and all nine players scored to propel Mississippi State to a wire-to-wire win, 84-47, over Georgia Tech in the First Round of the WBIT inside Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday. "For Lauren [Park-Lane] to break the single-season assist record is a phenomenal accomplishment because she is a great young lady who deserves to leave here with her name in the record books." said head coach Sam Purcell on the achievement. With the win, Mississippi State advances to the Second Round of the WBIT and will host No. 3 seed TCU on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+. Park-Lane finished with six assists to break the previous program record of 202 set by Jazzmum Holmes in 2018-19. Senior guard Darrione Rogers added 16 points behind a 4-8 performance from three – her 11th game this season with three-plus threes made. An 11-0 run over the first 5:20 minutes of action ensured that Mississippi State would never trail in the contest. Mississippi State ended the contest on a 14-6 run to build its largest lead at the eventual final. |
| Women's Basketball: Mississippi State routs Georgia Tech in WBIT opener | |
 | Sam Purcell said earlier this week that a big part of Mississippi State's decision to accept a Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament bid was to give his freshmen more experience in postseason-type games. Jasmine Brown-Hagger rose to the occasion Thursday, setting a career high with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 3-for-4 from behind the arc in an 84-47 Bulldogs romp over Georgia Tech. "Honestly, I wasn't even thinking to score," Brown-Hagger said. "That's just how the cards were dealt tonight, because I'm normally defensive-minded. I was getting stops on defense, so that just contributed to the offense." The No. 2 seed Bulldogs (22-11) scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back against a Yellow Jackets team that looked ready for its season to be over. No. 7 seed Georgia Tech (17-16) shot 3-for-15 in the first quarter and finished 4-for-22 from 3-point range. MSU pulled ahead by 21 at the break after an impressive spurt from Brown-Hagger, who scored seven points in the last two minutes of the opening half. She entered the night a mere 3-for-21 from deep for the season, so Yellow Jackets head coach Nell Fortner was certainly surprised to see her break out. "At one point, we turned and we were like, 'Who is that?'" Fortner said. "She's a really nice player, and that's not one that we were focused on at all. And then she came to play. It's not like we didn't want to guard her. She just really had a nice game." |
| Mississippi State basketball's Jasmine Brown-Hagger no longer unknown after WBIT showing | |
| At one point during Thursday's first-round WBIT game, Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner saw Jasmine Brown-Hagger on the court and said to her bench: "Who is that?" The question wasn't intended to be malicious, but was referring to a player they didn't see a lot on film --- or most of any game this season, for that matter. Brown-Hagger scored a career-high 17 points to help lead No. 2 seed Mississippi State to an 84-47 drubbing of No. 7 Georgia Tech (17-16) at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs (22-11) will face No. 3 TCU (21-11) in the second round of the inaugural WBIT at 2 p.m. CT Sunday (ESPN+) and as the higher seed, will get to stay home. "She had a really nice day today," Fortner said. "She's a really nice player, and that wasn't one we were focused on at all and then she came to play. But it's not like we didn't want to guard her, she just really had a nice game." Brown-Hagger also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals, making MSU coach Sam Purcell question why he hadn't used her more often during the season. "The reason Nell (Fortner) made that comment is probably because I'm a dumb coach for not putting her in more," Purcell said jokingly. "I'm proud of her. It's amazing how you have a week off, and people can get better, and she earned it in practice, and she was like, 'I'm here to compete.' And that's what I want." |
| Park-Lane breaks assist record as Mississippi State advances in WBIT | |
| The Mississippi State women's basketball team is moving on in the postseason after easily defeating Georgia Tech 84-47 in the opening round of the WBIT on Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs were fueled by a balanced scoring attack that included four players in double digits, but the real story of the day was graduate guard Lauren Park-Lane dishing six assists to break the program record for most in a season. "For Lauren to break the single-season assist record is a phenomenal accomplishment because she is a great young lady who deserves to leave here with her name in the record books," head coach Sam Purcell said after the game. Park-Lane surpassed the previous mark of 202 assists set by Jazzmum Holmes during the 2018-19 season. The Seton Hall transfer is currently averaging 6.2 assists per game, which is ninth in all of women's college basketball. As Georgia Tech never threatened to come back after the Bulldogs worked off an 11-0 run to start the game and kept building their lead from there, the biggest differential on the stat sheet was points off the bench as non-starters scored 41 for Mississippi State in comparison to just six for the Lady Jackets. |
| Bulldogs Fall to No. 7 Texas A&M on the Road | |
| The Mississippi State Bulldogs were defeated by the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies by a score of 6-3, in the first game of the SEC series on Thursday night. Seven different Bulldogs accumulated a hit in the contest. Hunter Hines and David Mershon led the way at the plate against the Aggies as they collected every RBI for the Dawgs. Hines went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and one of those RBIs came from a solo home run in the eighth inning. Mershon went 1-for-4 as well as driving in one run for the Diamond Dawgs in the third inning. Johnny Long also stood out tonight, going 1-for-2 while also drawing a walk. Evan Siary drew the start for the Maroon and White and in four innings of work, he only gave up two hits and two earned runs while striking out four. Nolan Stevens came in from the bullpen and worked four innings. He struck out three batters while only walking one. Stevens gave up six hits in the game, with four coming in the first inning of work. Mississippi State is back in action Friday for game two against Texas A&M with first pitch set for 6 p.m.. The game will be broadcast on SECN+. |
| Tolu Smith, veterans got Mississippi State to March Madness. Can Chris Jans build off foundation? | |
| Jimmy Bell Jr. was on the bench with a towel over his head. Shakeel Moore sat in the locker room, shaking his head in disbelief. Tolu Smith sunk into his locker as tears filled his eyes amid the realization of his collegiate career ending. Throughout the Mississippi State basketball roster, there was a struggle to grasp the reality of what Thursday's 69-51 loss against No. 9 seed Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament meant. As will be the case with 32 teams across the country between the first two days of March Madness, No. 8 Mississippi State (21-14) didn't envision it ending like this – an uncompetitive showing against the Spartans (20-14). "It's hard to put into words," Smith told reporters afterwards at the Spectrum Center. "I've been here a while. (Mississippi State) means everything to me. Wearing that jersey for the last time, it kind of hit home." That level of disappointment -- which was shared from the departing players such as Smith to the freshman such as Josh Hubbard -- comes from a place of promise, though. For a program that has only reached the NCAA Tournament 13 times in school history, hearing its named announced on Selection Sunday is usually enough. Under coach Chris Jans, the standards are higher. |
| Closely-Matched Series Awaits State At No. 18 Arkansas | |
| This weekend's SEC series pits two very similar teams against each other as No. 20/20 Mississippi State hits the road to face No. 18/17 Arkansas. The two squads are Nos. 17 and 18 in the D1Softball and Softball America polls as well, leading to what should be one of the tightest matchups in the SEC so far this year. Both teams also bring in an extremely hot hitter that has recently won awards. Mississippi State is led offensively by NFCA and NCAA National Player of the Week Madisyn Kennedy, while Arkansas has seen Bri Ellis named SEC Player of the Week each of the last two weeks. State (22-6, 3-3 SEC) and Arkansas each have six losses on the year, with the Razorbacks having played one extra game. However, three of MSU's losses have come in conference play, while Arkansas is 2-1 in the league. MSU has a slight edge statistically, posting a batting average that's 20 points higher and a slugging percentage that is 30 points higher than the Hogs. In the circle, Arkansas has the edge in ERA, but the teams are separated by just half a strikeout per seven innings and opposing teams' batting averages against the two staffs differ by just five points. Mississippi State returns home for a Thursday-Saturday series with No. 10/10 Florida next week. The Bulldogs host the Gators on national TV on Thursday night at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Friday's first pitch is set for 4 p.m., and the series finale will be played at noon on Saturday. The final two games will air on SEC Network+. |
| State To Host Bulldog Alumni Relays This Weekend | |
| The Mississippi State track and field program will host the inaugural Bulldog Alumni Relays from Thursday through Saturday at the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex. This is the first of two events hosted by the Bulldogs this season. The Bulldog Alumni Relays will feature 18 schools, including SEC foe Alabama. Competition on Friday will begin at 11 a.m. with track events starting at 3:30 p.m. Action on Saturday will start at 11 a.m. beginning with the javelin throw and followed by track events at noon. Freshman sprinter Jordan Ware and thrower Roury McCloyen have highlighted the Bulldogs' outdoor season. Ware, the reigning SEC Men's Runner of The Week, opened the outdoor season last weekend at the Hurricane Invitational winning first place in the 200m with a nation's-best time of 20.25. He earned fourth place overall and second place among collegiate runners in the 100m with the second-best collegiate time of 10.16. McCloyen won first place in both the discus and shot put. He earned his third school record after breaking the freshman discus record with a distance of 53.72m (173-3.0). That mark is good for fourth on State's all-time top-five list. Thrower Jhordyn Stallworth broke her own school record in the shot put with a distance of 16.41m (53-10.25). She currently holds the indoor, outdoor and freshman school records in the shot put. Alumni are invited back to Starkville for the event to enjoy a full weekend of family friendly events that include facility tours, a banquet, the opportunity to reconnect with former teammates and meet current athletes and coaches. |
| State Set To Host No. 21 Alabama On Friday | |
| Mississippi State head coach Chris Hooshyar is seeking positive results as his Bulldogs host No. 21 Alabama Friday at 3 p.m. Friday's match is scheduled to be played at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre but will move inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion in the event of inclement weather. MSU (9-8, 0-5 SEC) has won three of the last four meetings against the Crimson Tide, including a 4-2 victory the last time the two teams met in Starkville in 2022. Alexandra Mikhailuk has recorded 67 career singles wins and is tied with MSU Hall of Famer and current Northwestern head coach Claire Pollard (1986-89) for the 10th-most wins in school history. Mikhailuk, a graduate from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, needs one more victory to match Sabine Guibal (1988-91) for ninth place on that list. Freshman Jayna Clemens has played well of late, winning six of her last seven singles matches and is expected be back in the lineup against Alabama. Alabama comes into Friday's affair at 13-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The Tide are just 1-3 on the road this season and were swept last weekend at then No. 19 South Carolina 4-3 and then No. 16 Florida 4-0. |
| Could statewide ban on supplemental deer feeding happen? Wildlife commission mulls plan | |
| In its Thursday meeting, the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks continued its discussion of implementing a statewide ban of supplemental feeding of deer. During the education session, commissioners listened to a presentation out lining the risks of supplemental feeding of deer and other wildlife. The presentation came after Commissioner Leonard Bentz asked during the February meeting about the possibility of a statewide ban on feeding rather than just in areas within chronic wasting disease management zones. The idea of banning supplemental feeding of deer and other wildlife is to slow the spread of CWD, an always-fatal disease in deer. Russ Walsh, Wildlife chief of staff at the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, started the presentation by pointing out that corn, the primary feed used, does not cause CWD. "Corn is not what spreads CWD or not what spreads disease," Walsh said. "It is not the feed itself. We want to focus on the feeding mechanism itself and that is placing feeders on the landscape and unnaturally concentrating those animals at the same location day in and day out for long periods of time." Walsh stated that according to a study conducted by Mississippi State University, deer visited feeders three times more often than food plots or trees with mast crops. The study also showed deer-to-deer contact was four times greater at feeders than in food plots. In the study, new, unused feeders were placed in areas known to have CWD. After being used by deer in the area, CWD was detected on all of the feeders. |
| Brooks & Dunn, Ryan Bingham to perform at benefit for Texas One Fund NIL collective | |
| Texas fans will be dancing to "Boot Scootin' Boogie" to raise NIL dollars this May. The Longhorn-driven NIL collective Texas One Fund has announced plans for a benefit at Darrell K. Royal on Saturday, May 18. The collective announced Wednesday that the country music duo Brooks & Dunn will be performing, along with Ryan Bingham with The Texas Gentlemen. It's a creative way to raise NIL dollars. Fans will have the chance to party at DKR with live music while celebrating the Longhorns. It's a smart way to deliver a return on investment, too. According to a social media post from the Texas One Fund, space is still available for donors to join. The concert, which has been dubbed "A Night For Texas," is being organized by the Austin event management company C3 Presents. Fittingly, Tito's Vodka has signed on as the title sponsor. The handmade vodka is produced in Austin. This won't be a first-of-its-kind event. Country music star Eric Church held a concert this past August to raise NIL funds for North Carolina athletes through the collective Heels4Life. Georgia Southern alums and country music stars Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell also endorsed the Eagle Nation Collective in July. |
| Deal to replace PMAC arena could require LSU land, new tax. But the public can't see the details. | |
 | While LSU officials have been promising for weeks that no taxpayer money would be required for a proposed new arena on campus for concerts and LSU sports, the attorney negotiating the deal says some public money and university land are expected to go toward the project. The arena project is moving forward with the blessing of the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President's office and the Metro Council, which voted to support it last week despite objections over a lack of transparency and potential harm to the Raising Cane's River Center. The Metro Council has agreed to restrict the parish's River Center, which is downtown, from hosting bigger concerts and events to keep it from competing with the new arena. LSU's Tiger Athletic Foundation has now asked two unnamed developers to submit proposals for the arena, which is expected to cost between $350 million and $400 million. TAF invited six developers and design teams to campus last year and narrowed down the group, behind closed doors, to two front-runners. LSU has thus far refused to turn over any documents related to the selection process or to identify the two developers vying for the project. In denying a public records request from The Advocate | The Times-Picayune, LSU attorneys said those records are "within the custody and control of TAF," which is a private entity that raises money to support LSU's athletic programs. |
| Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick Retiring After 15 Years in South Bend | |
| Jack Swarbrick is leaving his job with Notre Dame in fine shape, and with college sports in chaos. "I feel so bad about how it's messed up right now," the Fighting Irish athletic director told Sportico over Zoom this week, in the waning days before he retires after 15 years on the job. "I hope I can find a path that allows me to still play a role." Based on his record under the Golden Dome, he'll have that chance if he wants it. In his decade-and-a-half at Notre Dame, Swarbrick rose to become one of the most powerful, longest-tenured and highest-compensated ($2.73 million in FY 2022) college ADs ever. Surveying a tenure that included a global pandemic, multiple bouts of conference realignment and a fundamental change to the financial rights of college athletes, Swarbrick mused: "I love dealing with knotty problems, and this has been one long, knotty problem." On Tuesday, Swarbrick turned 70, the triggering age for his retirement that was originally announced last June. He is being succeeded by Pete Bevacqua, the former chairman of NBC Sports, who has shadowed Swarbrick over the last eight months. In anticipation of the transition, Bevacqua took the lead the last two months in negotiating Notre Dame's take from the new $7.8 billion College Football Playoff broadcast deal with ESPN. The Fighting Irish will reportedly earn around $12 million per season. "I feel very good about the way Notre Dame came out of this," Swarbrick said. What he feels less good about -- but not totally hopeless over -- is the current era of uncertainty in college athletics, which he has previously deemed a "state of disaster." |
| Even presidents need a touch of madness -- in March | |
| Why would a president faced with lingering inflation at home and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, among other problems, take time out to participate in the annual sports fan's ritual of March Madness? The "madness" began this year on March 17, when a committee appointed by the NCAA announced the field of 68 college basketball teams in each of two divisions -- one for men and one for women -- selected to compete for a national championship. The teams are divided into four brackets and seeded from 1 to 16, from best to worst, according to the judgment of the committee. The last two surviving men's teams play on April 8 in the championship game, and the women's surviving teams finish on April 7. Tens of millions of college basketball fans, including the president if he chooses, take part in the ritual of filling out brackets. Following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden has filled out brackets for the 2024 NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments. This year, Biden is playing it safe by choosing the No. 1 seeds in both tournaments to win the national championship: South Carolina in the women's bracket and UConn in the men's. Biden may be participating in March Madness because he, like other presidents, enjoys the competitive nature of sports. And sports allow presidents to "cast a positive image of their presidency and speak to audiences they might not be able to reach any other way," as journalist Chris Cillizza has written. In this case, Biden is taking the opportunity to carry on like a regular fan. Yet, as my co-author Tom Morris and I observe in our research for a book on the relationship between sports and politics, presidential involvement in sporting events offers both risks and rewards. |
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