| Friday, April 26, 2024 |
| MSU-Meridian receives Bower Foundation grants | |
 | Delivering on its mission to advance and strengthen Mississippi's health care workforce, Mississippi State University-Meridian is bolstering student recruitment in two significant degree programs with funding from The Bower Foundation in Ridgeland. The Bower Foundation Board of Directors recently awarded more than $770,000 in health care education grants to MSU-Meridian's bachelor of Social Work and Master of Science in Nursing programs. With a need to increase pipelines into the social work profession, $498,500 is being used to advance student recruitment and advisement efforts in the social work program, and $272,000 is funding nursing scholarships to the state's first direct-entry accelerated MSN program. The MSN program received IHL board approval earlier this year to admit its first students this August and the program's first application process is underway. MSU-Meridian Associate Vice President and Head of Campus Terry Dale Cruse said the grant marks MSU-Meridian's first gift from The Bower Foundation. "This gift fortifies our recruitment efforts, better empowering us to inspire and attract students to enter professional programs of impactful community contribution," Cruse said. "The Bower Foundation's vision and partnership strengthens our mission to provide health care access and advancement in rural and underserved areas, enhancing our highly reputable bachelor of Social Work program and newly created Master of Science in Nursing program, both of which offer enduring transformative influence." |
| Discover Mississippi: Starkville Derby Dachshund Dash | |
 | Fans pour into the stands. An acapella group sings the Star-Spangled Banner. Planes fly overhead. The excitement and tension are palpable. It sounds like any other sporting event in Starkville, but this is not just any other sport. Tails are waggin', tongues are hanging out, and balloon artists are fashioning wiener dogs out of balloons over by the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile. Everything celebrates the comically shaped yet cute wiener dog. This scene is only at the Starkville Derby Dachshund Dash, the world's largest charity wiener dog race, benefiting the Starkville-Oktibbeha Humane Society. The Starkville Derby Dachshund Dash is May 4th on University Drive in Starkville. The event area opens at 8 am for an all-day rally of racing and embracing all things wiener dogs. Since May 4th is also Star Wars Day, this year, the event theme is Star Weens: The Derby Strikes Back. This event is the brainchild of Alden Thornhill, a board member at the Starkville-Oktibbeha Humane Society. "I thought it'd be kind of funny to shut down University Drive in the Cotton District and race a bunch of wienie dogs," said Thornhill. It would help the local businesses and the art community, which is now having a spring festival, and, more importantly, it would raise money for the humane society." |
| Lawmakers work to revive MAEP rewrite, PERS changes as session nears end | |
| Lawmakers are working to revive a proposal to rewrite the long-standing Mississippi Adequate Education Program that provides the state's share of the basics to operate local school districts. A resolution to revive the measure in the final days of this legislative session was passed by the Senate and is pending in the House. The resolution also would revive an effort to strip away the power of the Public Employee Retirement System Board to increase the amount state and local governments contribute to Mississippi's government pension program. While stripping away the board's authority, the Legislature in the resolution would commit to infusing more cash into the retirement system. The resolution, which is needed before either of the two pivotal issues can be taken up this late in the session, still must pass the House. Speaker Jason White, R-West, said the House could take up the resolution in the coming days. White added that there is a possibility this legislative session, set to end within about a week, might be extended, which also would require a resolution. Such a resolution would not necessarily mean the Legislature stays in Jackson for additional days, but would give the option for the Legislature to recess and come back at a later date. The Senate resolution that spelled out what would be in the new legislation included an objective funding formula to ascertain the amount of money needed to operate a school. |
| State employee retirement system faces a cash flow problem | |
| Mississippi's Public Employee Retirement System, known as PERS, has a cash flow problem. Recently, sate lawmakers and the board elected to oversee the retirement system aren't seeing eye-to-eye on how to fix it. Established in 1952, the benefit plan uses a formula based on a member's average age and years of service to determine how much a retiree gets each month at the end of their career. The members include doctors, firefighters and county clerks, among others. The PERS Board includes the state treasurer and nine trustees elected by members of the system. After all these decades, the pool of funds is now worth nearly $30 billion, with 361,000 members, 118,000 of which are retirees. Right now, those members are concerned because PERS needs more money. "But in order to take care of the cash flow to pay future benefits and bring us to that 80% level of funding, it requires more money than what we're generating," said Bill Benson, PERS Board chairman. The 80% Benson mentioned is the goal they want to reach to keep the system fully funded for the next 70 years. Right now, the system has enough funds to pay 60% of the total funds owed to every member of the system if it needed to be paid out today. But that's now how PERS works, so the retirement system isn't in any immediate danger. Benson said the problem everyone is trying to solve is maybe 30 years down the line. |
| Senate negotiators a no-show for second meeting with House on Medicaid expansion | |
| Senate leaders did not attend a second conference committee meeting with their House counterparts on Thursday to try and compromise on a final bill to expand Medicaid coverage to poor Mississippians. House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, a Republican from Hattiesburg, said she was disappointed the three Senate negotiators didn't attend the meeting because she expected to hear an update on where the chamber stood on reaching a compromise. "Those of you who are looking for information, so are we," McGee said. "Just know the House stands ready to negotiate this very important issue. We are here at the Capitol, and we're hoping that we'll be able to have some conversations later today and later in the final days of the session. Thank you for coming and sorry to have wasted your time." Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven who is one of the Senate negotiators, did not answer questions from reporters about the conference committee as he walked out of a separate Senate committee meeting. But he said the Senate was "working on a compromise." After the meeting, McGee told reporters she notified Blackwell on Wednesday that she was scheduling the second conference meeting for Thursday, but she was not sure if the senators would attend or not. |
| Medicaid expansion debate stirs memories of family medical debt for Mississippi senator | |
| As clergy, physicians and business leaders have for weeks rallied at the state Capitol to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor, observers can often spot the same conservative lawmaker listening attentively on the sidelines. Sen. Chad McMahan, a Republican from Guntown, hasn't attended the events as a participant, a supporter or an opponent of the rallies. Rather, he goes because he wants to listen to the debate or because his constituents are there. In fact, McMahan has been a quiet, yet constant supporter of Medicaid expansion, or Medicaid reform as he calls it. He believes the policy can give rural hospitals like North Mississippi Medical Center in his hometown of Tupelo a major boost and create a healthier population. The three-term lawmaker is widely known for telling reporters that his main duty at the Capitol is to vote how the majority of the people in his district want him to vote. But he also openly shares his childhood story that he believes gives him a unique perspective on how steep medical debt can crush hard-working Mississippians. When McMahan was in the ninth grade, he suffered an injury and had to be treated at the local emergency room. When the $20,000 bill came due for the medical services, though, there was a major snag: McMahan's family had no health insurance. "That doesn't sound like a lot of money today, but in 1986, $20,000 would buy two top-of-the-line Chevrolet pickups," McMahan said. "Today, it won't even buy a piece of a Chevrolet pickup truck." |
| Ambulance providers will soon answer emergency calls outside of commercial territories | |
 | Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has signed a bill into law that will make it easier for ambulance providers to answer calls for help outside of their commercial territories and lower response times. House Bill 1664 was signed into law April 17, and will require ambulance providers such as AMR and Pafford EMS Ambulance Services, which both operate in the Jackson metro area, to reach out to other care providers in the area when there is an emergency they cannot immediately respond to. Likewise, AAA Ambulance Services in Hattiesburg and Forrest County could reach out to ASAP Ambulance, which serves Laurel, if there was a call that they could respond to that was closer. The law would only take effect for providers when they make new contracts with counties or cities. Current contracts would not need to change and care providers would still be barred from taking emergency calls outside their designated territory. Bill sponsor Shanda Yates, I-Jackson, told the Clarion Ledger she filed the legislation after hearing of several instances in Jackson when AMR ambulances did not arrive to emergencies for long periods of time after a call had been made to 911. The bill was met with vast bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, with only a handful of lawmakers either be absent or voting present. |
| MDOC promotes inmate boxing program, but lawmakers say money could be better spent | |
| Boxing in sanctioned matches in a ring donated by rapper Jay-Z. Throwing and catching a football in the yard. Facing off in table tennis matches. Sports teams have come to Missisisppi's prison system, giving incarcerated people a creative way to stay active, change attitudes, build sportsmanship and help in their rehabilitation, corrections officials said. "We encourage our inmates to be involved in sports activities as it battles idleness in prison. We have created many different teams to allow them to get out of their dorms and participate in being active," Commissioner Burl Cain said in a Wednesday news release. Research has found that prison sports programs have social, mental and physical benefits, and participation in sports can help lessen detrimental health impacts people experience through incarceration. But the bipartisan chairs of the Legislature's corrections committees are questioning why incarcerated people have been allowed to participate in boxing, which they say could create a violent environment and put the state on the hook for the boxers' medical care if they are injured. House Corrections Chair Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, and Senate Corrections Chair Juan Barnett, D-Heidelberg, said there are better uses of MDOC's budget than a sport as harmful as boxing. They would rather see the department focus on a number of other efforts, including drug and alcohol treatment, job training and housing placements to prepare people to leave prison and not return. |
| U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson opens up on recent issues facing the nation | |
| U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, visited the Magnolia State on Thursday to give a speech at Jackson Preparatory School at an event hosted by the National Apostolic Christian Leadership Conference. Ahead of his scheduled venture at the private school in Flowood, Johnson joined MidDays with Gerard Gibert to give an update on what he has been tackling as one of the highest-ranking government officials in Washington D.C. The speaker opined on issues ranging from the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country, his vote to send additional money to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, efforts to secure the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and the nation's budget. As the war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas ensues in the Middle East, students at colleges across the U.S., most notably Columbia University, have held pro-Palestinian protests. "These kids are waving around Palestinian flags and they're siding with the terrorists who engaged in the most unspeakable acts on October 7 when they attacked and killed innocent Israelis," Johnson said. "They raped and murdered women and children. They put Jewish infants in ovens and cooked them alive. This stuff sounds as bad as it is, and yet we have these students who are on the side of that darkness." Johnson is calling for these protests to end immediately and says university officials nationwide are obligated to protect their students. |
| Nonprofits take a hit in House earmark rules | |
 | House appropriators have made it more difficult for members to secure fiscal 2025 earmarks for some social services programs in their districts, according to new guidance Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., announced Thursday. Nonprofits are now blocked from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Economic Development Initiative grant program, which is where lawmakers of both parties turned after earmarks were banned completely from the Labor-HHS-Education bill last year. Republicans took issue with earmarks that aided the LGBTQ community that House Democrats had sought in the Transportation-HUD bill last year, and Cole has said he wants to eliminate "political" earmarks. "Similar to previous reforms made in this Congress, this change aims to ensure projects are consistent with the community development goals of the federal program," Cole said Thursday in a letter to lawmakers announcing the new ban. Under the new guidance for the EDI account, only state, local and tribal governments are eligible, along with public colleges and universities. EDIs, which receive grants out of HUD's Community Development Fund, were the largest single source of earmarks in final fiscal 2024 appropriations, at nearly $3.3 billion. |
| The 'milk supply is safe': Biden administration scrambles to reassure Americans as bird flu spreads | |
 | With news Thursday night that a fifth of the U.S. milk supply contains fragments of bird flu virus, the Biden administration and dairy industry are racing to convince the public not to worry about the spread of the disease among the nation's cattle. Despite the assurances, the Food and Drug Administration's announcement that 1 in 5 retail milk samples tested positive for viral fragments suggests that the virus may have spread beyond symptomatic dairy herds. The pathogen has now been found in at least 33 dairy herds across eight states since first being detected among Texas cattle in late March. Virologists say it could be much more widespread than that data suggests. To date, however, just one person has been confirmed to have contracted the virus -- a dairy worker in Texas who developed a case of conjunctivitis, i.e. pink eye. Federal officials and industry executives maintain the discovery of inactive fragments of the virus strain, known as H5N1, in milk sold to consumers is not, in and of itself, worrisome -- rather, it's evidence that the pasteurization process is working to neutralize the virus. But given that bird flu has never before spread to cattle, public health officials warn there are still many unknowns. And they and some farmers and lawmakers are now urging the government to rapidly expand its testing and research -- and to make that data available ASAP. |
| How will state fare with new EPA regulations on coal power? See what Entergy, Mississippi Power say | |
 | The White House is dropping the hammer on coal-generated energy in the United States. New regulations will be costly to the industry, but according to companies in Mississippi, the Magnolia state should not be impacted heavily. The new EPA regulations, announced Thursday, will effectively require coal-fired power plants and new natural gas-fired generators to install equipment in the coming decade to capture emissions before they reach the atmosphere. That requirement could make zero-emissions alternatives like solar and wind more attractive and less costly than coal. Entergy CEO Haley Fisackerly was not available for a comment on Thursday, but Entergy did provide a statement on the issue. "We are evaluating this final rule from the EPA and considering its impacts on our operations and resource plans. We continuously evaluate the right mix of generation resources to meet the needs of our customers, and update those plans when appropriate in response to changing circumstances," the statement read. "Coal generation is a minimal part of Entergy's generation portfolio today, totaling 8% of owned and leased generation capacity in 2023. Mississippi Power also responded with a statement. "Southern Company is dedicated to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 while prioritizing the delivery of reliable and affordable energy amidst unprecedented load growth," the statement said. "We are evaluating the new environmental rules and will continue to constructively engage with our state and federal regulators and policymakers and the Administration to assess whether these rules support our ability to maintain and develop essential energy infrastructure and continue to deliver the affordable and reliable energy our customers demand." |
| Supreme Court Appears Open to Some of Donald Trump's Immunity Claims | |
 | The Supreme Court, hearing a last-ditch appeal from Donald Trump, appeared open Thursday to granting some level of immunity to protect former presidents from being prosecuted for alleged crimes committed while in office. Over nearly three hours of oral argument, the court's conservative majority expressed greater concern that a future president might flinch from bold action for fear of prosecution than the possibility that Trump could avoid accountability on charges he attempted to steal the 2020 presidential election from Joe Biden. The risk, said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was that a Trump trial could open the door to a new era of American politics where prosecution of ex-presidents became routine, much as the use of special counsels accelerated after the Watergate scandal. "It's going to cycle back and be used against the current president or the next president and the next president and the next president after that," Kavanaugh said. Trump himself amplified that concern before arguments began Thursday. "Crooked Joe deserves life in prison!" Trump said in an email to supporters. "Put Biden on trial." The court seemed unlikely to accept all of Trump's arguments, which seek "absolute immunity" for alleged crimes committed while in office. But most justices agreed that former presidents deserve strong protection from prosecution. Any high court decision embracing that position could further delay Trump's trial, if not end the prosecution entirely. And it likely would cloud other prosecutions Trump is facing, including charges before a Georgia state court that he pressured officials there to fraudulently deliver to him electoral votes Biden won. |
| U.S. labor secretary says UAW win at Tennessee Volkswagen plant shows southern workers back unions | |
 | Workers at auto plants in the South should be free to unionize without pressure from employers or anti-union governors, acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su said Thursday, even as some southern states pass laws to inhibit organized labor. "That choice belongs to the worker, free from intervention, either by the employer or by politicians, free from retaliation and threats," Su told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday in Atlanta. "And what we are seeing is that workers who were thought to be too vulnerable to assert that right are doing it, and they're doing it here in the South." The United Auto Workers union vowed a broad campaign to organize southern auto assembly plants after winning lucrative new contracts in a confrontation with Detroit's automakers. Last week, 73% of those voting at a Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee chose to join the UAW. It was the union's first in a Southern assembly plant owned by a foreign automaker. Workers at Mercedes factories in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will vote on UAW representation in May, and the company has also targeted plants in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. But political and business leaders in southern states have long fought organized labor. Ahead of the Volkswagen vote, six Southern Republican governors criticized the UAW's organizing drive, arguing that autoworkers who vote for union representation would jeopardize jobs. |
| Xi and Blinken Trade Small Nods Over a Large Gap | |
 | The areas where the United States and China can work together seem to be shrinking fast, and the risks of confrontation are growing. But it was clear on Friday that both countries are trying to salvage what they can. Preserving some semblance of cooperation -- and the difficulty of doing so -- was at the heart of a meeting between Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and China's leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Friday. It was the latest effort by the rivals to keep communications open even as disputes escalate over trade, national security and geopolitical frictions. Officials in both countries said they had made progress on a few smaller, pragmatic fronts, including setting up the first U.S.-China talks on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks. They also said they would continue improving communications between their militaries and increase cultural exchanges. But on fundamental strategic issues, each side held little hope of moving the other, and they appeared wary of the possibility of sliding into further conflict. In a sign of how the countries' relations -- which hit perhaps their lowest point in decades last year -- had stabilized in recent months, Chinese officials struck a more conciliatory tone on Friday than they had during Mr. Blinken's last visit, in June. Still, more factors appear to be driving the two countries apart than keeping them together. Geopolitical disputes in Ukraine and the Middle East have presented new challenges. With an election approaching in the United States, the Biden administration is under pressure to offer more protections for American factories against Chinese imports. |
| USM symphony director to conduct final concert Saturday night | |
 | The director of the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will conduct his last concert Saturday night in Hattiesburg. Michael A. Miles, USM orchestral activities director, is retiring after spending 39 years in higher education. Miles has been at Southern Miss for 16 years and has served as director of orchestral activities since 2018. Miles said he'll be reaching into his past Saturday night before heading off into his future, choosing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1as his final selection at USM. Symphony No. 1, that's the piece that inspired Miles to become a music educator. "I was in the band in college and a friend of mine invited me to his house to listen to some music and and I heard this piece of music and the next day, I changed my major to music and that was in 1977, so 46, 47 years later, here we are," Miles said. Saturday night's performance is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Bennett Auditorium. |
| Alcorn State students win awards at symposium | |
 | Alcorn State University (ASU) students secured five awards during the Association of 1890 Research Directors 19th Biennial Symposium, held April 6–9, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. "I am thrilled to congratulate our students for their commendable victories at the ARD Research Symposium," said Dr. Dexter Wakefield, interim dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and director of Land Grant Programs. "Their performances exemplify the dedication, innovation, and excellence that define students at Alcorn State University." This year's event provided student and faculty researchers with opportunities to present papers and posters from five research areas – Community and Economic Development; Nutrition, Health, and Health Disparities; Renewable Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change; Plant Health and Production and Animal Health and Production. Held biennially, the goal of the symposium is to provide leadership to its members as they seek to research and address innovative solutions to the food and agricultural research challenges facing their state, region, nation, and the world. |
| U. of South Carolina students arrested after pro-Palestine campus protest | |
 | University of South Carolina police arrested two students after a pro-Palestine protest at the Russell House student union the night of April 23. About a dozen masked protesters carrying Palestinian signs and flags started chanting outside of the student union's second floor dining area around 9:30 p.m. that night, ahead of the university's "midnight breakfast" event marking the start of final exams. According to a USC police incident report, Russell House staff "attempted to address the group multiple times to explain that they are causing a disturbance and must leave the event," but they "continued being loud and boisterous" after being addressed by the police. University spokesman Jeff Stensland declined to comment further on the arrests past the statement he issued the night of the protest, which read: "We support students and members of our community who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights and to peacefully protest. Protestors do not have the right to infringe on others by preventing them from participating in planned campus events." The midnight breakfast protest came a day after a group of protesters set up a "Gaza solidarity" demonstration on a field between USC's library and student center, erecting tents, laying out blankets, posting signs and leading pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli chants. |
| Has climate change had an impact on the peanut growing season? | |
 | Unpredictable and extreme temperatures associated with climate change can have a negative impact on the peanut growing season in Georgia, say experts. "Georgia is the number one state in the U.S. for growing peanuts," said Scott Monfort, peanut agronomist with the crop and soil science department at the University of Georgia. "We grow about 50%, maybe a little bit more, of all the peanuts in the U.S. That puts us this year little over 800,000 acres." Montfort said peanut planting season started April 15 and concludes in June. Peanuts are harvested typically about 140 to 150 days after planting. The earliest harvest takes place in September. "Once the peanuts start growing we like to see high temperatures in the mid 80s to low 90s during the main part of the growing season," said Monfort. "For low temperatures during that time period, anywhere from 65 to 75 degrees at night." Monfort said over the last several years weather events tend to be a bit more extreme. "If we start to see a lot of days with temperatures over 95 degrees for a long period of time, the crop starts to slow down its productivity," said Monfort. "Last year we had a lot of weather events that impacted us throughout the growing season. We had very wet and cool conditions during our planting season. That slowed down our planting season. It slowed down our early season growth. That hurt us a little bit." But peanut farmers faced tough environmental extremes in the past, such as drought and hurricanes, and managed to survive, said Monfort. |
| Texas A&M student radio station KANM approved for low-power FM construction permit by FCC | |
 | Texas A&M University senior Eren Rudd says last fall was her most stressful semester of college. It wasn't because of grades, but because her team at the online student radio station had the opportunity to apply for a low-power FM frequency in about a six-week period. Many phone calls, emails, paperwork filings and stressful days later, A&M's student radio station KANM was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on Monday for a low-power FM construction permit. This is the first step toward operating on an FM frequency for the online station. "While we do love that space that we've created online, an FM frequency is something we've always strived for as an organization," said Rudd, KANM's station manager. "Some of the earliest founding documents that you find are mission statements from years ago that say, 'Oh, by the way, we want to get a frequency one day. That is our goal.'" KANM has an office team of around 20 people and 130 students registered as DJs. Many of them double up on shows. Another 70 students are general members as the station provides a place for music loves to have community on campus. The station has been around since the 1970s. One item KANM had to provide in its application was an educational statement. Charlie Hubenak, KANM's programming director, said their list of proposed educational programs includes financial literacy, this day in history and other science or sports shows. |
| Thompson Center breaks ground on new facility to expand services | |
 | The University of Missouri's Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment celebrated the groundbreaking of a new facility that will expand clinical capacity and care Thursday. Speakers at the event described the new building as "a dream come true" and an opportunity to provide care for more patients through research, clinical services and education. "Our goal from day one was to help children achieve their maximum in life," said Nancy Thompson, co-founder of the center. "After opening the new facility, we expect clinical output to increase from 15,000 patient visits to 35,000 visits annually," said Ronald Ashworth, president of the Thompson Foundation, during a speech at the event. "We expect to extend the center's training and research capabilities, and we expect to recruit more clinicians." More than 2,000 children are currently on a waitlist for diagnostic evaluation at the center, according to an MU news release. The new facility will be 20,000 square feet larger than the current buildings. The number of appointment rooms will also increase from 20 to 37. The new space will feature an adaptive playground, therapy gym, training cafe and group therapy rooms. |
| Iowa Lawmakers Pass Last-Minute Ban on DEI, Institutional Statements | |
 | In November, Iowa's Board of Regents adopted a broad diversity, equity and inclusion ban across its public universities: the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. The board's first directive was sweeping: "Restructure the central, university-wide DEI offices to eliminate any DEI functions that are not necessary for compliance or accreditation." The orders didn't stop there. Universities should "Review all college, department or unit-level DEI positions to determine whether DEI-specific job responsibilities are necessary for compliance, accreditation or student and employee support," the board directed. It said any jobs "not necessary for these purposes shall be adjusted or eliminated." Iowa's universities, and the board itself, are currently working to implement the directives. (Iowa State University, for instance, told the board Thursday that it will close its vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion's office in July, while the University of Iowa said its position reviews will be done by the end of 2024.) But the regents' action didn't go far enough for Republicans in the Iowa General Assembly. On April 9, they introduced an education-funding bill. Within 10 days, they had added anti-DEI provisions and passed the bill along to the Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, the day before this year's legislative session ended. Her office didn't respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed on whether she plans to sign or veto the measure; Reynolds has 30 days from the April 20 adjournment to decide. |
| New School of Data Science building advances interdisciplinary, data-driven work | |
| With new classrooms, student research areas and sustainability-focused architecture, the new School of Data Science building will not only serve data science students and faculty, but act as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration and research at the University of Virginia. The SDS works to live up to its nickname as "a school without walls" through both the building's open layout and the curriculum's goal of promoting research and collaboration across disciplines. The new SDS building spans approximately 60,000 square feet and rises four stories high. It features four classrooms, two with 75-person capacities and two with 45-person capacities. The building also features two seminar rooms distributed across three levels, and both the classrooms and seminar rooms contain flexible furniture arrangements conducive to group work. The SDS spaces are also transparent, with faculty offices and study spaces close in proximity to each other and surrounded by large glass windows. According to Emma Candelier, director of communications for the SDS, the building will open its doors and classroom spaces to students studying within the data science major in the Fall 2024 semester, hosting an inaugural cohort of 75 students. The data science major, approved in March 2023, requires students to complete 120 credit hours over the span of three years. The major program currently has a cap of 75 students per cohort, which does not include students pursuing a data science minor. |
| Antiwar protesters' calls for divestment at universities put spotlight on how endowments are managed | |
| "Divest from death" read the bubble letters written in chalk on the sidewalk on Tuesday outside of The New School in New York City. The slogan articulates one of the demands of the antiwar protests on campuses which call on colleges or universities to divest their endowments from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war. Campaigns to pressure universities to divest for political or ethical reasons go back decades, at least to the 1970s when students pressured schools to withdraw from investments that benefited South Africa under apartheid rule. More recently, in the early aughts, schools made rules barring investments in things like alcohol, tobacco and gambling, according to a report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and Commonfund. By the beginning of the next decade, a sizeable minority of endowments were including some environmental, social and governance criteria in their portfolios, which expands the factors considered in weighing the value of an investment beyond profits and losses. College and university endowments hold hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, for example, with Columbia University's reaching $13.6 billion in 2023. Now, campus protests are bringing attention to who controls university endowments and how decisions about those investments get made. |
| Police Ratchet Up Use of Force on Campus Protesters | |
| At Emory University in Atlanta on Thursday, police tased pro-Palestinian protesters and targeted them with rubber bullets. A clash between Boston law enforcement and Emerson College students turned so violent that city sanitation workers were spotted cleaning blood from the cobblestone of a campus alleyway. In Austin, dozens of students and faculty rallied to protest what they saw as an excessive use of force Wednesday after officers clad in riot gear -- and brandishing shields, batons and some assault rifles -- descended on the University of Texas flagship campus and arrested more than 50 protesters. The increasingly heavy use of force by local and state police officers trying to contain pro-Palestinian demonstrations is raising alarm among student protesters as well as First Amendment advocates, historians and others who have studied the impact of policing on college campuses over the decades. "The large-scale deployment of armed officers to suppress peaceful protest on college campuses around the country is a shocking development," the Knight First Amendment Institute said in a statement Thursday. "This response to peaceful protest is an assault on free speech–and it is also deeply reckless." Some Republicans in Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have said local and state law enforcement need more help. They urged President Biden to send in the National Guard to protect Jewish students, who have felt threatened by antisemitic rhetoric and violence. Still, sending in the National Guard is a big step that some experts say would represent a dramatic escalation and could lead to violence. |
| USC says it is canceling its 'main stage' commencement ceremony | |
 | USC announced Thursday that it is canceling its main May commencement ceremony, capping a dramatic series of moves that began last week after it informed valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who had been opposed by pro-Israel groups, that she would not be delivering the traditional speech. In ending the university-wide May 10 graduation ceremony altogether, President Carol Folt aimed to quell the controversy that grew as the school chipped away at core parts of the ritual, drawing criticism from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists. The cancellation took place amid unrest on university campuses across the nation stemming from the Israel-Hamas war. On Wednesday at a pro-Palestinian encampment at USC, 93 students and off-campus activists were arrested. "With the new safety measures in place this year, the time needed to process the large number of guests coming to campus will increase substantially," USC said in its announcement. "As a result, we will not be able to host the main stage ceremony that traditionally brings 65,000 students, families, and friends to our campus all at the same time and during a short window from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m." At least 23 satellite graduation ceremonies at USC's schools and colleges will continue as scheduled, in addition to smaller departmental receptions. USC junior Lawrence Sung said he was disappointed to not have a chance to celebrate his graduating friends at the main stage event. "This is a massive overreaction," said Sung, who studies international relations. "If USC was to choose the worst option at every step of the way in this controversy, this would be it." |
| Trump downplays deadly Charlottesville rally by comparing it to campus protests over Gaza war | |
| Donald Trump on Thursday claimed the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was "nothing" compared to ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests, the latest instance in which he has downplayed a racist incident that was one of the most criticized moments of his presidency. Speaking in a Manhattan courtroom hallway at the day's end of his criminal hush money trial, Trump blamed President Joe Biden for student protesters who have set up encampments as they call for a cease-fire in the war Israel launched after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Biden has recently, as he often does, publicly brought up the Charlottesville rally that sparked his decision to run against Trump in 2020, where torch-wielding white supremacists marched to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, chanting "You will not replace us!" and "Jews will not replace us!" "We're having protests all over. He was talking about Charlottesville," Trump said. "Charlottesville was a little peanut. And it was nothing compared -- and the hate wasn't the kind of hate that you have here." Trump has tried to pin reported instances of antisemitism around the campus protests to Biden. But in invoking Charlottesville, Trump again raised his history of courting extremists and his repeated refusal to disavow groups like the Proud Boys, some of whom would go on participate in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. |
SPORTS
| Dawgs Head to Nashville To Face No. 11 Vanderbilt | |
| The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs get the road as they travel to Nashville to take on No. 11 Vanderbilt in SEC action. The series starts on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Hawkins Field. First pitch is set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The series will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand. No. 11 ranked Vanderbilt comes into the weekend with a 30-11 record. Vanderbilt is third in the SEC East with a 10-8 SEC record. The Commodore's team is hitting is .297 as a team, the fifth best mark in the SEC. As a staff, Vanderbilt has an ERA of 4.31, the sixth best mark in the SEC. In 351 innings, the Commodores have 422 strikeouts. The 422 strikeouts are the fifth most in the SEC. Mississippi State leads the all-time series 74-57-2. The Diamond Dawgs last beat Vanderbilt in 2021 to win the National Championship. State is 30-25 against the Commodores when playing at Hawkins Field. |
| What to watch, keys to victory for Mississippi State at No. 11 Vanderbilt | |
 | Following a home sweep of Auburn and a tight midweek win at Memphis, Mississippi State is off to Vanderbilt this weekend to battle the No. 11 Commodores in a three-game series starting Friday evening. Vanderbilt (30-11, 10-8 Southeastern Conference), two-time national champions under longtime head coach Tim Corbin, went through a bit of a rough patch early in the non-conference portion of the season but caught fire before the start of SEC play, with impressive wins over Louisiana and Texas. The Commodores have been excellent at home, sweeping both Auburn and Missouri and most recently winning two of three at Hawkins Field against Florida. Relative to the rest of the conference, Vanderbilt's offense is in the middle of the pack in most categories, but the Commodores have six starters batting above .300, four of whom have a slugging percentage north of .500. And they have done all that without hitting a ton of home runs -- only the Bulldogs and Missouri have hit fewer long balls among SEC teams than Vanderbilt's 45. Putting runners in motion has been a big part of Vanderbilt's offensive success this year, but MSU has been better than the SEC average in terms of throwing out would-be base stealers as Johnny Long, Joe Powell and company have thrown out 13 of 45 potential thieves (28.9%). There's more to baserunning than steals, of course, and the Bulldogs do have strong outfield arms in Dakota Jordan and Connor Hujsak, which could prevent the Commodores from taking extra bases. |
| Mississippi State Enters Final Stages Of Master Plan Process | |
| As Mississippi State Athletics enters the final stages of developing a comprehensive long-term master plan for all athletics facilities, the department took another significant step forward Thursday. In partnership with Legends and Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL) -- a leading advisory and planning firm in sports and entertainment -- MSU is assessing feasibility for improvements to Davis Wade Stadium. The process will include a look at the state of Davis Wade Stadium and its surroundings, including fan amenities such as seating options in all areas of the stadium, and many other aspects of stadium features and operations. "For more than 100 years, Davis Wade Stadium has served as the home for some of the most thrilling moments in Bulldog football history," MSU Director of Athletics Zac Selmon said. "The stadium has undergone several enhancements and additions over time that have provided more amenities and exciting hospitality spaces throughout the stadium. The comprehensive plan developed for Davis Wade will provide a complete road map to follow into the future, and while we think you'll be pleased with the immediate updates to improving the sound for 2024 in advance of the permanent sound and lighting upgrades scheduled for the 2025 season, there is even more to do as we approach the goal line on our master plan process." MSU stakeholders -- including ticket buyers, fans, donors, students, faculty and staff among others -- will receive a secure, online survey soliciting feedback on a wide array of topics related to improving, enhancing and modernizing Davis Wade Stadium. |
| Jeff Lebby details what stood out to him in Mississippi State's spring practices | |
| For new Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby, his first spring in Starkville is in the books, and there's plenty to take away from it. As Lebby explained to members of the media following those spring practices, there was a lot that stood out to him. However, the thing that he was happiest to see was this Mississippi State team's work ethic. "I think what stood out the most was our guys' eagerness to go to work every day and their attitude and effort coming into the building," Jeff Lebby said. "We've had great energy every single day. That's been a huge stress of ours, it's not just making sure it's not just another Tuesday morning, it's not just another Wednesday meeting, it's not just another Thursday walkthrough. Being incredibly present every single moment, being incredibly intentional, and finding ways to get better. So, that's what I am most proud about." While Jeff Lebby is certainly happy with his team's attitude and effort, he still knows there's room to improve and explained that they're going to continue to work on that. "There's a lot of different areas to work on. We've got to continue to create depth here in the next couple of weeks with everything that is going on, and we will do that. But, again, proud of where we are at but totally different sight of where we are going." |
| State To Host Final Regular Season Meet This Weekend | |
| The Mississippi State Track and Field will host its final regular season meet, the Maroon and White Invite, this weekend at the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex. This is the second of two events home events hosted by the Bulldogs. The meet beginning Friday, April 25 through Saturday April 26 will be an opportunity for the seniors to conclude the regular season at home. Kicking off the event at 9:30 a.m. Friday is men's and women's hammer throw followed by the discus throw. Field events will begin at noon with the women's pole vault followed by the women's pole vault at 3:00 p.m. Running events will begin 6:00 p.m. with the 800m dash. Saturday's event will begin at 1:15 p.m. with the 4x100m relay. Field events will begin at noon with men's pole vault and the shot put. Saturday's events will conclude at 2:30 p.m. with the 4x400m relays. The Mississippi State track and field program will recognize 15 seniors on Saturday. The group who was head coach Chris Woods' first recruiting class, produced two All-Americans (Shamar Rose and Rosealee Cooper) and several All-SEC selections across the board for their performances at the conference meet. The senior recognition will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, prior to the start of events. |
| Florida attorney general files lawsuit against ACC over request for ESPN contract | |
| Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference demanding the conference produce the ESPN-ACC television contract as part of a public records request. If successful, the lawsuit could indirectly make public the broadcast agreements other conferences have made with major networks as well. Moody in January submitted a public records request for the contract, which remains at ACC headquarters, where league members are only allowed to view it in-person and cannot make copies. The ACC denied the request that same month. "The ACC is asking a state entity -- Florida State University -- to potentially pay and lose more than a half a billion dollars but is refusing to produce the documents related to that outrageous price tag," Moody said in a statement. "We sent a public records request to the ACC in January, but they failed to fully comply. We are taking legal action against the ACC for wrongfully withholding these important public records." In its denial of Moody's public records request on Jan. 19, the ACC cited trade secrets and argued that the contract was between the ACC and ESPN and not a public entity like FSU, which is only a member of the conference. If Moody’s lawsuit is successful, other television deals involving conferences with public universities in Florida could also become public records, Kevin Paule, an attorney for Hill Ward Henderson in Florida told The Athletic. |
| Can Clemson use taxpayer money in lawsuit against ACC? SC Senate sounds off | |
 | As Clemson University sues the Athletic Coast Conference over exit fees, the school won't be able to use tax dollars in order to cover legal fees or any costs to get out of the ACC, under a provision approved by the state Senate. Under a proviso attached to the $13.8 billion budget approved by the state Senate on Wednesday, no money allocated to colleges and universities can be used for outside legal expenses, exit fees or entry fees directly associated with athletic conference affiliations. The House would need to agree to the provision before it would be enforced. The provision comes after Clemson sued the ACC over its exit fee in an initial step to leave the conference during a new round of college football realignment. Over the past few years, the Tigers have been linked to the Big Ten and Southeast Conference as a potential expansion candidate, primarily because of the success and national relevance of their football program under coach Dabo Swinney. In its March 19 lawsuit, Clemson says the ACC's exit fee, estimated at $572 million is "unconscionable and unenforceable." How Clemson is paying for the lawsuit has yet to be disclosed. The school did not immediately disclose the information, but multiple media outlets have made inquiries, said Clemson spokesman Joe Galbraith. |
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