| Tuesday, June 4, 2024 |
| Landing cutting-edge jobs becomes reality with new MSU computing technology degrees | |
 | The future is bright for those interested in cutting-edge jobs in computing technologies, and Mississippi State University is offering three new degree paths this fall to get students on their way to professional success. MSU's new Bachelor of Applied Science in Cybersecurity, Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Master of Science in Applied Data Science offer students hands-on training in occupations growing much faster for the next 12 years than the average for all jobs. Currently, the university has existing programs that include a Bachelor of Cybersecurity, Bachelor of Data Science, and a Master of Cybersecurity and Operations. "As a comprehensive public research university, we want to ensure all our programs teach innovative and current best practices and prepare our students to be career-ready when they graduate," said MSU's David Shaw, provost and executive vice president. "Every day, we're looking at the whole picture -- analyzing employers' needs and workforce demands to offer top-notch academic programs." The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 377,500 openings through 2032, on average, in computer and information technology occupations. While many openings are due to employment growth, an aging and retiring workforce also is a contributor. |
| Changes on the way for PERS but benefits not changing for current employees and retirees | |
 | Lawmakers' decisions about the state's public employees' retirement system, known as PERS, will impact you whether you're a public employee or not. Retirees and local leaders say there's still work to be done, but the actions are a step in the right direction and one that will ultimately save you in taxes. Your voices are being heard. "The legislation that came out stirred a lot of interest among retirees," said Sam Valentine, Mississippi Retired Public Employees' Association Board Member. "Among people that are in the system, they got a lot of phone calls, and they realize, I think, now, just how important the system is." The feedback was two-fold. It came from not only from public employees and retirees but also local government leaders who said they wouldn't be able to afford the scheduled increase employer contribution rate. "We are thrilled that we're not going to have a 2% increase," said Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker. "As of July 1, we'll have a half percent increase. We have certainty for the next five years and even certainty beyond that that if the PERS board wishes to raise the important contribution, they'll have to go to the legislature for approval." Maybe you're not part of PERS. However, these decisions have a domino effect on you. "I think the thing that it helps cities do is maybe avoid those property tax increases," noted Barker. |
| Speaker Jason White names members of committee to explore state tax cuts | |
| House Speaker Jason White on Friday announced that 18 House members will explore ways to reduce the state's grocery and personal income taxes ahead of the 2025 legislative session, making tax policy a top priority. White, a Republican from West, said in a statement that he feels confident the appointees will thoroughly study current state laws and tax structures to make informed recommendations for next year's session. "The House will continue its pursuit of bold initiatives and policies to improve our great state, focusing on the betterment of Mississippi and all of her citizens," White said. The select tax committee will have two primary leaders: House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, and House Appropriations B Chairman Scott Bounds, a Republican from Philadelphia. The committee is expected to hold hearings sometime in the fall or summer, but it's unclear when exactly the group will meet to hear testimony from advocates and policy experts. "As we look at tax cuts, that's not about cutting education systems or public safety or MDOT or anything else," White said then. "It's about living within our means and figuring out what taxpayers expect from government." But the larger question is whether he and House leadership can convince the Republican-majority Senate, led by Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, to agree to a tax cut plan along with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has continued to advocate for eliminating the income tax. |
| Lawsuit claiming Mississippi Supreme Court district are discriminatory is set for August | |
| A federal trial challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi's Supreme Court districts is scheduled to begin Aug. 5 in Oxford. The lawsuit, filed in April 2022, alleges that the three districts from which the state's nine Supreme Court justices are elected dilute Black voter strength. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Mississippi, the Southern Poverty Law Center and private law firms on behalf of a group of Black Mississippians including state Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greensville. The lawsuit will be heard by U.S. Northern District Judge Sharion Aycock. "Mississippi's population is almost 40 percent Black---a greater proportion than any other state in the nation," the lawsuit states. "Yet in the 100 years that Mississippi has elected its Supreme Court by popular vote, there have been a total of only four Black justices ever to sit on that body." All four Black Mississippians who have served on the Supreme Court were first appointed to the post by governors and then later won election to the post as the incumbent. All four represented the Central District. At the same time the lawsuit involving the Supreme Court districts is ongoing, a separate case is being considered claiming Mississippi's legislative districts dilute Black voter strength. |
| Federal Reserve steers interest rates on path toward 'neutral' | |
| The Federal Reserve meets next week, and it will, once again, decide what interest rate the economy needs to get inflation under control while continuing to grow. The aim is to get back to a normal economy. The calculation, however, depends on what your definition of "normal" is and what interest rate we'd have in normal, good, times. You'd want mild inflation and gross domestic product expanding at just the right speed -- not losing steam, not overheating. The interest rate that could keep all those things in balance is called the natural or neutral rate. "The neutral rate is the Fed's kinda guiding compass," said Matthew Paniati, a senior analyst at Capital Advisors Group. In other words, if you're trying to sail north, you might have to steer east or west sometimes, what with the currents and the wind, but your compass will help you get back on track. It's the same for the Federal Reserve. "For the Fed over the long run, the short-term interest rate might deviate from the neutral rate. But in the long run, that's what they want to get to," Paniati said. Right now, the Fed believes the neutral interest rate is 2.5%, a lot lower than the 5.5% it's currently using as the standard. So one day when inflation is all fixed, the idea is we'll get back down to 2.5%, which would affect new mortgages and car loans and credit cards. |
| Merrick Garland, Three Special Counsels and a Justice Department Under Fire | |
 | Last summer, a small group gathered around the mahogany table in Attorney General Merrick Garland's conference room. The table can seat 20, but only a few were there that day, given the sensitivity of the meeting. Special counsel Robert Hur, sitting across from Garland, pulled papers out of a folder and read aloud. They were excerpts of a transcript of a recording his team had found, of President Biden speaking to his ghostwriter in 2017, shortly after he was no longer vice president. "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs," Hur said without inflection, repeating Biden's words, according to people briefed on the meeting. As the group sat stunned at the prospect that the president knew he had classified information and was on tape discussing it with someone not authorized to receive it, Garland asked more questions. Did the ghostwriter have a lawyer? Is he being cooperative? What comes next? Let us know what else you need, Garland said, repeating words he used in nearly every meeting about complicated investigations. That briefing in the fifth-floor room at the Justice Department came at a perilous moment for the 71-year-old attorney general, who has somewhat reluctantly presided over three special counsel investigations -- of Biden, his son Hunter and former President Donald Trump. In each instance, Garland's by-the-book, play-no-favorites approach has pleased almost no one. That has left him with few allies in either political party and working for a White House that distrusts him so much that some aides have tried to dodge him in the West Wing, though officials say the relationship has rebounded from its low point. |
| Fauci faces skeptical GOP to bat back COVID-19 accusations | |
 | Longtime government scientist Anthony Fauci pushed back against Republican accusations tying him to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic while testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Monday. In his first appearance before Congress since he retired in December 2022, Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, sought to defend himself from GOP accusations that he tried to cover up the origins of COVID-19 and used his personal email for official government work. He said the idea that he sought to cover up a theory that the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, was "simply preposterous" and emphatically told the subcommittee that "I do not do government business on my private email." The subcommittee has been investigating the origins of the virus and the government's potential involvement for 15 months, but do not appear to have found anything connecting Fauci to the start of the virus in China. The audience was an active participant in Monday's hearing as well. Many activists showed up, at least one wearing a "Fire Fauci" T-shirt. One protester who said she was a doctor interrupted the hearing so many times, accusing the National Institutes of Health of covering up the origins of the virus, that she had to be escorted from the room by Capitol Police. |
| Many Americans are still shying away from EVs despite Biden's push, an AP-NORC/EPIC poll finds | |
 | Many Americans still aren't sold on going electric for their next car purchase. High prices and a lack of easy-to-find charging stations are major sticking points, a new poll shows. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to buy an EV the next time they buy a car, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, while 46% say they are not too likely or not at all likely to purchase one. The poll results, which echo an AP-NORC poll from last year, show that President Joe Biden's election-year plan to dramatically raise EV sales is running into resistance from American drivers. Only 13% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household owns or leases a gas-hybrid car, and just 9% own or lease an electric vehicle. EVs are a key part of Biden's climate agenda. Republicans led by presumptive nominee Donald Trump are turning it into a campaign issue. Younger people are more open to eventually purchasing an EV than older adults. More than half of those under 45 say they are at least "somewhat" likely to consider an EV purchase. About 32% of those over 45 are somewhat likely to buy an EV, the poll shows. Range anxiety -- the idea that EVs cannot go far enough on a single charge and may leave a driver stranded -- continues to be a major reason why many Americans do not purchase electric vehicles. |
| How D-Day's roots will play a crucial role in Trump-Biden battle in 2024 election | |
 | D-Day did more than pave the way for World War II victory in Europe: It solidified the international military alliances that have led the world for more than eight decades and have become politically contentious today. Modern arguments about globalism between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden harken back to at least May of 1943. During a sweltering two weeks in Washington, American and British political and military leaders hammered out an agreement that included a specific timetable for what would become the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944. The Trident conference of 1943 also bequeathed the alliances that have become a target in the 2024 race for the White House, particularly the North American Treaty Organization. As President Joe Biden and other world leaders head to Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day this week, they will also be defending alliances that guided the western world through World War II, the Cold War, the war on terror and, currently, Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly threatened to abandon NATO, saying the U.S. bears too much of the burden. But supporting -- and attacking -- international agreements can be traced back in part to the Trident Conference of 1943. "It was a crucial moment," said Thomas A. Schwartz, a distinguished professor of history at Vanderbilt University. "The importance of the trans-Atlantic relationship remains to this day." |
| How 1980s Yuppies Gave Us Donald Trump | |
 | A wealthy New York real estate mogul may not have seemed particularly well suited for the role of populist hero, but Donald Trump's historic realignment of white working-class voters not only delivered him the presidency in 2016, but changed the GOP as we know it. A recent Gallup survey indicates that more Republicans now identify as working or lower class than Democrats. And white voters without a college education, once a core Democratic constituency, remain a key element of Trump's reelection bid heading into November. But for all the ink spilled over Trump's connection to the white-working class, it's actually a very different demographic that explains his ascension: Yuppies. If you really want to understand Trump's appeal, you need to go back a few decades to examine the social forces that shaped his rise as a real estate developer and remade American politics in the 1980s. Specifically, you need to wind back the tape to the 1984 Democratic primary, the almost-pulled-it-off candidacy of Colorado Senator Gary Hart and the emerging yuppie demographic that made up his base. They don't remotely resemble the working-class base we associate with Trump today. But together, they helped shift the Democratic Party's focus away from its labor coalition and toward the hyper-educated liberal voters it largely represents today, eventually creating an opening for Trump to cast Democrats as out-of-touch elites and draw the white working class away from them. In fact, if it weren't for 1980s yuppies and the way they shifted America's political parties, the modern MAGA GOP might never have arisen in the first place. |
| Costs to insure Mississippi's public universities rising | |
| The Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) were informed during May's meeting that the cost to insure the state's public university system is increasing, along with deductibles. Several factors are at play in the hike, such as inflation, an increase in the number of claims filed by IHL, and the recent escalation in the region's exposure to various kinds of weather-related damage. In all, the IHL will pay an additional $1.2 million in insurance premiums, while taking on more risk in the form of higher deductibles. Director of Risk Management David Buford started his presentation to the IHL Board with a history of how the trustees have handled policies since 2009, which has resulted in a consolidation of policies for all eight public universities. That consolidation led to a 47 percent reduction in premiums the first year. "Prior to 2009, each university was purchasing their insurance individually," Buford explained. "We've probably saved over $150 million in premiums as a conservative number by having a pooled system program through these years." |
| MUW president says her school received all requested funding from Legislature | |
 | The Mississippi University for Women didn't receive a dime from one state bill that sent a total of $110 million in funds for capital projects to the state's other seven public universities. But Nora Miller, The W's president, wants everyone to know her school received all the money they requested this year. A part of Senate Bill 2468, an annual appropriations bill that was signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves in May, transfers money to a capital improvements fund within the Mississippi Institution for Higher Learning. This year's bill sent a total of $110 million in funds, distributed through the IHL, to seven universities and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Noticeably absent from SB 2468 was The W, receiving zero funds from the bill. Delta State University received the least amount, but it was still more than $4 million. The W, located in Columbus, may not have received any funds in SB 2468, but the school did receive $3.4 million in another appropriations bill: Senate Bill 3006. Miller said this was the full amount her school requested from the Mississippi legislature's 2023 session. Miller explained that each university has a 4-year plan for capital funding requests. "The IHL works out a four-year bond request plan (for each school)," Miller said. The four-year-plan works well, Miller said, because though some years universities will receive much smaller funds, other years they will receive "a big chunk of funding in a given year that you can actually do something with." |
| Meridian Community College campus police adds to its fleet | |
 | Meridian Community College has added two new vehicles to its campus police in its commitment to maintain a safe and secure environment for its students, staff and visitors. MCC Chief of Campus Police Casey McElhenny noted the addition of the vehicles, a 2023 Ford Explorer with a police interceptor package and an Ezgo police golf cart, has boosted the number of vehicles in the MCC campus police fleet. The newer vehicles were selected to replace older models that had served their usefulness. In addition to the addition of the vehicles, the college's Communication Department has rebranded the campus police department's logo for a shirt patch, the golf cart, and a new SUV incorporating the college's signature colors, green and white. "It's about more than just appearance; it's about ensuring that our police department projects professionalism and readiness at all times," McElhenny said. |
| Education groups still trying to counter low FAFSA numbers | |
| Significantly fewer Alabama high school seniors filled out this year the federal application for student aid than in previous years and, even though school is out, education officials are still trying to reach graduates and boost application numbers. "The U.S. Department of Education's horrific rollout of the new (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) significantly impacted the number of high seniors across the country that have completed the FAFSA," Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, told Alabama Daily News. The new forms were announced last year. "While the new Federal application was touted as being simpler than prior versions, the delay in starting the FAFSA application process to January rather than October, and many students received inaccurate award letters because of serious glitches in the software that determined eligibility and award amounts has discouraged many students." Only 48% of this year's public high school graduates have filled out the form as of last week, according to ACHE data. That's a significant decrease since the state began focusing more effort on the applications. The Alabama State Board of Education in 2021 began requiring graduating high school students to complete the FAFSA. At the time, policymakers said Alabama students were leaving more than $60 million per year in free aid on the table. |
| More money for higher ed campuses, more power for governor in 2024 session | |
| Louisiana's colleges and universities are walking away from the 2024 legislative session with more cash for infrastructure and research and new governance changes that could introduce more politics in higher education. Higher education scored several wins in the session that ends Monday in the form of extra cash and the Legislature shying away from ultra-conservative proposals that have been adopted in other states to curb academic freedom. "For decades we have needed comprehensive solutions to tackle higher education's $2 (billion) deferred maintenance challenge, improve retirement options for faculty and staff, and reasonably differentiate tuition for high-cost programs," Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said in a statement. "I am proud that, in this Legislative Session, each of those critical needs has been addressed." But lost fights foretell rough seas for higher education in the coming years. In perhaps the biggest victory for higher education this year, the Legislature passed a bill that would provide more lucrative retirement savings options to thousands of state college and university employees. |
| Head distiller of U. of Kentucky's James B. Beam Institute named | |
 | The first head distiller of the University of Kentucky James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits has been named. Glenna Joyce is a UK alumna who has experience in the distilling industry and previously worked as the education coordinator at the Institute. As head distiller, she will oversee all aspects of spirit production. "Being at the Beam Institute is exciting because we aren't necessarily limited by making a profit; the work we do is driven by passion and a desire for innovation," Joyce said. The Beam Institute is designed to expand bourbon and spirit education, with a focus on research and advancement in the whiskey industry. It filled its first barrel of bourbon earlier this year. "Glenna is an excellent communicator and educator; she connects with students and truly listens to them," said Beam Institute Director Seth DeBolt. "Not only that, but she has worked with many across the industry, from the distilling team at Suntory Global Spirits to many craft producers. She is the perfect person to be the Beam Institute's first head distiller and inspire the next generation." |
| Texas Professors Sue to Further Limit Student Access to Abortion | |
 | Two University of Texas at Austin professors have joined a state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Education Department officials to block new Title IX regulations from going into effect this summer. Texas, along with other red states, has sued over concerns about new Title IX regulations, particularly the expansion of Title IX sex discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students. Now UT-Austin professors Daniel Bonevac and John Hatfield have joined that lawsuit because of concerns about abortion -- specifically, they argue that they would be required to excuse student absences for out-of-state travel for abortion, which they are unwilling to do. Abortion access has been severely curtailed in Texas after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade. "Plaintiffs Hatfield and Bonevac do not intend to accommodate student absences from class to obtain abortions -- including illegal abortions and purely elective abortions that are not medically required," reads the amended complaint filed last week. "Nor will Plaintiffs Hatfield and Bonevac hire a teaching assistant who has violated the abortion laws of Texas or the federal-law prohibitions on the shipment or receipt of abortion pills and abortion-related paraphernalia." In a legal declaration, Bonevac wrote he has "no intention of complying with the Biden Administration's recently announced Title IX edict, which has nothing to do with 'sex' discrimination and represents nothing more than an attempt to force every educator in the United States to conform to a highly contentious interpretation of gender ideology and abortion rights." |
| Martens gets the job as U. of Missouri provost after months as interim | |
 | Matthew Martens will serve as provost and chief academic officer for the University of Missouri, according to an MU news release Monday. Martens has served as interim provost since February, after former Provost Latha Ramchand became chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (soon to become Indiana University Indianapolis). Martens was selected in a national search in which four finalists emerged. The other three were Mark Button, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Sara Sanders, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa, and Cynthia Young, dean of Clemson University's College of Science. Martins has served as associate and senior vice provost since 2016. According to the release, he will continue to lead the MizzouForward initiative, a $1.5 billion investment in faculty and research. During his tenure in the Office of the Provost, the six-year graduation rate increased from 68% to 76%, and annual research expenditures increased by almost $200 million, according to the release. Martens' annual salary will be $450,000, according to MU spokesperson Christopher Ave. |
| Iowa Businesses Are Making Their Pitch to High-School Graduates. Colleges Struggle to Compete. | |
 | Bertch Cabinet really needs workers. Signs hung from the metal siding of the company's factory buildings, outside Waterloo, Iowa, are big enough to read from the state highway as you drive past: "Full and Part-time Positions Available, Starting at $18/hr." Ashley Stanley, Bertch's senior human resources manager, said the cabinet manufacturer has had to raise its wages to more than three times the state's minimum wage of $7.25 per hour to meet its demand for workers. Nearly 10 percent of the company's 700 employees are at retirement age, she said, and Bertch is eager to recruit new workers right out of high school. The company is part of a regional trade group promoting manufacturing jobs in the area's schools through informational sessions and training and apprentice opportunities. "We're trying to even get into elementary schools to tell kids, manufacturing's a really good career," Stanley said. "You don't have to go to college, you can make really good money, you learn on the job," and factories aren't as dirty and messy as some might think. In nearby Cedar Falls, the University of Northern Iowa is also trying to attract more students from the state's high schools. Undergraduate enrollment at UNI, the state's public comprehensive, ticked up a percentage point this fall, but is still 25-percent lower than it was in 2013, a decline almost entirely of students from within the Hawkeye State. A shift happening in the Midwest is especially visible in Iowa: Residents' embrace of higher education as the key to a stable economic future is loosening, according to college officials, school counselors, business owners, and students and families themselves. |
| Top Republicans accuse Biden admin of stalling FAFSA investigation | |
 | he top Republicans on the House and Senate education panels are accusing the Department of Education of hindering a government investigation into the botched rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, say the department is "illegally obstructing" the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) probe into the matter, demanding it "immediately comply" with the agency's record requests. "GAO is investigating the FAFSA rollout at our request, and by stonewalling, the Department is interfering with our ability to carry out our constitutionally-mandated oversight responsibilities," the lawmakers said in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The lawmakers say the department has not turned over documents that were requested by the GAO, stymieing efforts to complete the probe this summer. The Republicans called for an investigation after the FAFSA rollout had numerous delays, ranging from technical problems with the site to issues with how the Education Department was calculating student aid. The problems have caused lower than average completion of the applications, with invested parties scrambling to get the numbers back on track before the new school year starts. |
| House Republicans Threaten Colleges' Federal Funding With New Investigations | |
| House Republicans put 10 colleges on notice Monday that they are the subjects of wide-ranging investigations into antisemitism that signal heightened scrutiny from Congress -- and could ultimately cut them off from federal financial aid and research funding. "The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism," six committee chairs wrote to the colleges. But with Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, Republicans have limited options to make good on their threats. Some critics say the investigations are largely a political exercise designed to help the GOP win back more power in November. But that doesn't mean the probes carry no risks for colleges in the committees' crosshairs. The leaders of Barnard College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles, all received form letters informing them that the six committees will conduct oversight into their use of federal funds and their learning environments. The committees haven't said whether more institutions will be added to the list, though the investigations are likely to expand. The committees are eyeing expansive investigations that could eventually touch on every aspect of a university's operations, creating more work -- and more risk -- for the institutions that must comply with requests for documents and potential summonses to testify. |
| Trump verdict: Partisan hyperbole on both sides ignores statistical realities of U.S. voters | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: The 34 guilty verdicts in the New York state court trial of former President Donald Trump on felony charges of falsifying business records of alleged "hush money" payments to an adult film actress as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 election has opened the floodgates on a river of partisan political hyperbole from both sides of the aisle. ... Partisans on both sides argue passionately that the Trump verdicts will sway the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. With the stark division of the country over the 2024 election between President Joe Biden and Trump, some in these increasingly hysterical rants are talking in terms of the possibility of public unrest rising to violence up to and including civil war. Those breathless reactions ignore some basic facts about the behavior of the American electorate. The most basic relevant point is that in the last presidential election in 2020 between Biden and Trump, one-third of eligible U.S. voters did not vote -- yes, and that voter turnout was at a historic high. |
SPORTS
| What we learned about Mississippi State baseball at Charlottesville Regional | |
 | There was no single factor that brought about the end of Mississippi State's season at the Charlottesville Regional. The Bulldogs simply played the way they had most of the year -- like a good team, but not a great one. Coming off two seasons without postseason play, MSU returned to the NCAA Tournament but could not get past No. 12 seed Virginia, a team with a veteran head coach and plenty of big-game experience after reaching the Men's College World Series last year. "I'm happy where we're at. Unfortunately, you lose the championship game of a regional," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "But we're back on the national stage." It's a lot to ask for the starting pitching, bullpen and offense to all be performing at their best at the same time, and that never really happened this year for MSU. If it had, this is a team that could have hosted a regional -- the Bulldogs came awfully close as it was -- and possibly even reached Omaha. MSU played a weak non-conference schedule, and although the Bulldogs arrived in Charlottesville coming off 11 straight weeks facing teams from the strongest conference in the country, they did not play a team from any of the other high-major conferences in the regular season. They also had their share of struggles in true road games, which continued in their two meetings with Virginia. |
| Gamecocks fire baseball coach Mark Kingston after 7 seasons | |
 | It seemed to have passed the point of no return a month ago. And as last weekend showed, there was no saving a failed experiment. South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston was fired on Monday after seven seasons in which he reached the NCAA Tournament four times, and only twice reached the NCAA Super Regionals. The Gamecocks got to the postseason this year but went 1-2 in the regionals; they were in line to host their own regional, but lost their final six regular-season games when one win probably would have meant a home site. Instead, the Gamecocks had a strong run in the SEC Tournament, reaffirmed a No. 2 seed and traveled to Raleigh, where they were quietly dismissed. Kingston was dismissed one day later. Kingston finished his tenure with a 217-155 record (83-96 in the SEC). The Gamecocks were one win from the College World Series in 2018, his first season, and his best USC team was swept in a Super at Florida in 2023. That team finished 42-21 after beginning 34-6. Having lost most of the pitching of that season, Kingston entered 2024 with an extended contract and a salary bump for the first time since he was hired, but USC declined to rework the buyout terms. It dropped to $400,000 on June 1 while the Gamecocks were playing in Raleigh, and following the team's return home, athletic director Ray Tanner saw no need for delay. Tanner, who resigned as baseball coach to become AD after three straight trips to the College World Series from 2010-12 and back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011, couldn't ignore the results, nor the flagging attendance at Founders Park. |
| Auburn AD John Cohen reminisces on time with Birmingham Southern College baseball | |
| With Birmingham Southern College shutting down, a lot of former players have shared memories and thoughts from their time at the school. Auburn athletic director John Cohen was a member of the baseball team for one year in 1986. On Monday during the Associated Press Sports Editors regional meeting on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Cohen reminisced on his time with the Panthers and shared his thoughts about the historic college closing its doors for good. "From just a baseball standpoint, what an incredible history. A lot of that has to go back to Brian Shoop and the magic that he had with that program, from an NAIA program, to a division one program. I'm sad to see that Birmingham Southern won't be around but understand why it's come to this. It's such a beautiful area of Birmingham, that campus. I'd love to see it put to good use," Cohen said. "I spent nine months of my life there, got a great education for the year I was there. You have friends, you have colleagues that have been part of the Birmingham Southern community. Butch Thompson our baseball coach and his lovely wife are graduates of Birmingham Southern, to name a couple. In some ways it's disappointing but also it's part of evolution of life, these things are going to happen." Cohen played for the Panthers for one season after graduating from Tuscaloosa Academy before transferring to Mississippi State. From there he entered coaching, later being the coach at Mississippi State before stepping into the athletic director role there. He came to Auburn in 2022. |
| NIL Collective Association expands to 40, focused on lobbying in D.C. | |
| When The Collective Association (TCA) -- a trade association for donor-driven NIL entities -- launched in July 2023, the main focus was to ensure athletes had a voice on Capitol Hill and to roll out a revenue-sharing plan. With last month's settlement agreement in House v. NCAA, revenue sharing is coming to college sports. Institutions will share as much as $22 million annually with athletes as part of the $2.8 billion settlement. A key question from the settlement agreement: What role will booster-funded, third-party NIL collectives have in the next era of college sports? The top-funded collectives are spending between $13 to $20 million annually on football rosters at the moment. In basketball, the highest spending programs are pushing $5 million. Some collectives plan to go in-house and under the school umbrella. Others are in markets where institutions will never support the model. For the TCA, the plan is to grow and continue to lobby Capitol Hill. The association has added Purdue's Boilermaker Alliance, Nebraska's 1890 Initiative and San Diego State's MESA Foundation. With the additions, the organization has 40 total members and an annual combined payroll pushing $250 million. |
| Caitlin Clark surges on ESPN app player alerts following first-of-its-kind marketing push | |
| Attendance. Ratings. Merchandise. Caitlin Clark is helping grow business across the board for the WNBA, the Indiana Fever, media partners, licensees and more. The latest sign of her move into rarified air among athletes comes on the ESPN app. Clark is now third among all athletes in terms of app alerts on ESPN, behind only Tiger Woods and LeBron James (she recently passed Steph Curry, who is now No. 4 on that list, followed by Kevin Durant at No. 5). ESPN introduced player-specific alerts around six years ago, something that Nick Loucks, ESPN's senior director/audience engagement, says was meant to serve die-hard fans on the app. But given the unique nature of Clark, ESPN for the first time designed a special campaign within the app just to promote Clark's notifications. The genesis for it all started at the beginning of college hoops season, when Loucks' team found that alerts for the Iowa women's basketball were soaring (eventually doubling during the course of the season). Iowa even passed UConn as the app's most-favorited women's hoops team (and helped app alerts for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament actually match those for men's March Madness). What's next? "College baseball is a sleeping giant," Loucks said. "We have so many of the games on ESPN+, so you have to buy ESPN+ to watch the games, which means by definition you have to register with us. And we've seen some growth there." |
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