| Thursday, June 20, 2024 |
| Cyrus, Knight & Morgan headline new Riley Center season | |
 | Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts has announced its lineup for the 2024-2025 season, which will include legendary soul singer Gladys Knight and country music stars Lorrie Morgan and Billy Ray Cyrus. The Performing Arts Series lineup was announced during East Mississippi Business Development Corporation's Business After Hours Tuesday at the MSU Riley Center. The nine-concert season will kick off in August and run through May 2025. "It's always exciting to be able to announce our season and what we have been working on and what we can expect in the coming months," said Morgan Dudley, director of conferences, events and operations at the MSU Riley Center. "We have something for everybody. We have Grammy-nominated artists, and we have Mississippi artist Mac McAnally, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at The MAX in January," she said. "As distinctive as they are, these artists all have one thing in common: They elevate their performances into events," Terry Dale Cruse, associate vice president and head of Mississippi State University-Meridian Campus, said in a news release. "Whether blowing you away by their virtuosity or weaving an intimacy that connects directly to your heart, they create memorable evenings." |
| Raw milk health risks significantly outweigh any potential benefits -- food scientists and nutritionists explain why | |
 | Despite an ongoing outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows, the popularity of raw milk has only risen. Advocates claim raw milk has superior health benefits over pasteurized milk. There is little evidence to support these claims, however, and the risk of serious illness is much greater. Mississippi State University food scientists Juan Silva and Joel Komakech and nutritionist Mandy Conrad explain the difference between pasteurized and raw milk, addressing common misconceptions about the health risks and purported benefits of consuming unpasteurized milk. These questions are more important than ever, since cattle can shed viral material into their milk. Not only can pathogens end up in milk, but at least three farmworkers reportedly have contracted H5N1, the virus that causes avian influenza, in 2024. Farmworkers can get sick by handling infected animals or their byproducts, such as raw milk. |
| Why expanding access to algebra is a matter of civil rights | |
| Mississippi State University's Liza Bondurant writes for The Conversation: Bob Moses, who helped register Black residents to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, believed civil rights went beyond the ballot box. To Moses, who was a teacher as well as an activist, math literacy is a civil right: a requirement to earning a living wage in modern society. In 1982, he founded the Algebra Project to ensure that "students at the bottom get the math literacy they need." As a researcher who studies ways to improve the math experiences of students, I believe a new approach that expands access to algebra may help more students get the math literacy Moses, who died in 2021, viewed as so important. It's a goal districts have long been struggling to meet. Efforts to improve student achievement in algebra have been taking place for decades. Unfortunately, the math pipeline in the United States is fraught with persistent opportunity gaps. Low-income students, students of color and multilingual learners, who tend to have lower scores on math assessments, often do not have the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum and well-resourced classrooms. |
| Lawsuit: Tax assessor gave favors to cops, then fired employee for reporting it | |
 | A former tax assessor's office employee is suing her old boss and the county administrator, alleging she was demoted and later fired for reporting them to the state auditor's office. In a federal complaint filed June 6 in the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen, Carol Vaughn claims Tax Assessor JoHelen Walker and County Administrator Delois Farmer violated her First Amendment rights, both Mississippi public policy and its whistleblower statute and maliciously interfered with her employment. The suit also alleges racial discrimination. Vaughn, who worked as a deputy clerk/bookkeeper in the tax assessor's office for six years, is white. Both defendants are Black. A civil complaint represents only one side of a legal argument. The complaint alleges that about two years ago Vaughn learned Walker, then a deputy clerk in the tax assessor's office was "directing and participating in the theft of county funds" by allowing select city taxpayers to be taxed at the lesser county rate. Walker falsely listed these taxpayers as living outside the city limits, the complaint reads. Vaughn alleges the scheme began when Walker began campaigning for tax assessor/collector, a race she won in November 2023, and for "the apparent political advantage of endearing herself to prominent citizens, Starkville police officers, and others whom she believed would provide valuable political support." |
| Lee, Oktibbeha, Tippah, Tishomingo and Winston students named to Mississippi Agriculture Youth Council | |
 | High school students from Lee, Oktibbeha, Tippah, Tishomingo and Winston counties are among 14 new members of the Mississippi Agriculture Youth Council. Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson announced the members of the 2024-2025 council on Thursday. The 14 members include Bryce Bratcher of Oktibbeha County. The goal of the annual council is to expose high school seniors -- all of whom express an interest in the agriculture industry -- to careers, the legislative process and other parts of the industry. |
| Mississippi Business Journal sold | |
 | Coopwood Publishing Group, Inc, a Cleveland, Mississippi-based media and publishing company, has finalized a deal in which the company will take over ownership of the Mississippi Business Journal, from publishers Journal, Inc. of Tupelo. Monetary specifics of the deal were not revealed, but ownership of the business will officially transfer on July 1. "Journal Inc. has purposely re-centered our efforts on our home in Northeast Mississippi and because of these efforts we needed to find a home for our Jackson-based publication, the Mississippi Business Journal," said William Bronson, President and CEO of Journal, Inc. in a statement. "We found a great publisher and new friend in Scott Coopwood and are thrilled in the direction he will take this proud publication. It is a win for all involved, but most importantly for the State of Mississippi." Coopwood said his company is excited to embark on this new journey with MBJ's readers, contributors, and partners. The publication has been historically known for it being a business-friendly, business-to-business publication as it published a weekly newspaper as well as multiple business-specific magazines annually. In addition, the MBJ hosted a successful business expo in Jackson for nearly 25 years. |
| Extended Mississippi sales tax holiday to take place in mid-July | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Wednesday that the annual weekend where shoppers can buy goods without the pesky 7% tax tacked onto the bill will be held from Friday, July 12 through Sunday, June 14. Senate Bill 2470, authored by Republican Walter Michel of Ridgeland, moved the annual holiday from the final weekend of July to the second weekend of the month. The legislation, which received unanimous support from both chambers in the capitol, also extended the holiday period for an extra day. "We extended the holiday by an extra day so y'all can enjoy even more tax-free shopping in Mississippi," Reeves wrote on X. According to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, a sales tax holiday is a temporary period when sales taxes are not collected or paid on purchases of specific products and services. Sales tax is not due during the holiday on clothing, footwear, or school supplies if the sales price of a single item is less than $100. Mississippi moved the annual event back to the middle of the summer to accommodate parents buying school supplies for children in districts with modified calendars. |
| Blackout tags in Mississippi: Learn the significance and how much money has been raised | |
| The Mississippi Legislature and the Governor signed the law creating the blackout tag two years ago. The blackout tag was created to start a death fund for first responders and their families. Each time a blackout tag is purchased, a customer pays an extra fee of $38.50. That fee goes into a death fund for families who lost a loved while serving in the line of duty. This blackout tag has gained popularity with Mississippians, so the legislature changed the law to provide more money to the families that lost so much. "This is a death benefit. When we first started the program two years ago, we started $100,000. This year, we upped it so the base amount is $150,000, and each kid can get up to $25,000, capped at four children. And so, the total death benefit is $250,000 for a fallen officer or a fallen firefighter," said Representative Billy Adam Calvert. After two years the fund now has over $7,000,000. The Legislature hopes to also be able to use some of that money for grants for police and fire departments throughout the state. "This has been here two years, and right now, it's a little over $7,000,000. And anything over 4 million since the fund is really established where we sold like 143,000 car tags, the blackout tags been a big hit. I have one in my family, and you see them all over the road now. So you can get them personalized or you can just get a standard. This year, the governor changed so that we can just get a standard blackout tag," said Rep. Calvert. |
| Alabama, Mississippi lawmakers to battle it out to see who's best on softball field | |
 | Alabama will have the baseball universe's attention Thursday during the "Tribute to the Negroes League" Major League Baseball game at historic Rickwood Field, including ceremonies honoring the death of legendary outfielder and Alabama native Willie Mays. Two days later, state lawmakers in Alabama will partake in "America's pastime" in a charity game with a bit of bragging rights against lawmakers from Mississippi. In what is billed as the first-annual "Battle of Tombigbee," House and Senate lawmakers from Alabama will travel to the Mississippi state capital and compete against Mississippi state House members in a softball game to raise funds for a Mississippi children's hospital. It's the first known time that state lawmakers from the neighboring states will gather together in a setting aside from national conferences. "It was complete coincidence," said Alabama House Major Leader Scott Stadthagan, R-Hartselle, about having the softball game two days after the first in-season Major League Baseball game is being held in the State of Alabama between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. "It's America's pastime, and the sport brings people together," said Stadthagan, who spearheaded the efforts to get the game together after his wife, Amy, came up with the idea. The game will take place around 11 a.m. Saturday at Trustmark Park in the Jackson, Miss., suburb of Pearl. The event, which costs $5 to attend, is to raise money for Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson. |
| Mississippi Public Service Commission to conduct rigorous review process for solar farm projects | |
| Just days after Hinds County supervisors approved the state's largest solar farm, Mississippi's Public Service Commission (MPSC) announced it will be thoroughly vetting upcoming projects. On Monday, Hinds County officials, in a 3-2 vote, narrowly gave the green light for Charlottesville, Va.-based Apex Clean Energy to build a roughly 6,000-acre solar facility in the Bolton and Raymond areas despite outcries from members of the community. MPSC, which is responsible for regulating public utilities in the state as well as issuing certificates for electric-generating facilities like solar farms, is reminding entities looking to bring developments to the Magnolia State that a rigorous review process will take place before any project takes off. The goal is to ensure that various developments meet specific criteria. All three commissioners stressed that the approval process involves a comprehensive review of multiple factors. "The approval process is in place to ensure that solar projects in Mississippi meet the highest standards of safety, reliability, and efficiency," PSC Chairman Chris Brown said. "We must guarantee that these projects serve the best interests of our citizens and align with our state's energy goals." |
| All Juneteenth Holiday bills in Mississippi died in committee | |
 | Amid local, national and familial celebrations of Juneteenth Wednesday, Mississippi does not recognize the holiday on the state level. Juneteenth National Independence Day on June 19 commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Though the state does not officially observe the federal holiday, cities and organizations around the state do. However, the push to observe Juneteenth statewide goes back decades. Based on publicly available information from the Mississippi Legislature, the first bill proposed to make Juneteenth a state holiday appeared in 2000. Then House Speaker Pro Tempore Robert Clark Jr., (D-Attala, Holmes, Yazoo) proposed a Mississippi House Bill to do so; it died in committee. Three similar bills proposed by Clark in 2001, 2002 and 2003 also died in committee. That four-year period marked the last time State Democrats controlled the Mississippi Legislature and the Governor's Mansion. However, all 10 Juneteenth-related measures proposed by Clark and two other Mississippi House members between 2000 and 2003 died in committee. Representative Clark's son, Bryant Clark, took over his father's seat after he retired in 2004. Representative Bryant Clark continued the legislative tradition. Since 2004, Clark authored 21 Juneteenth-related measures in the Mississippi House of Representatives. All measures died in committee. |
| 'You need to know this story': Why Freedom Summer's murders matter | |
 | Even in a decade marked by hatred and violence, what happened in Philadelphia, Miss., on a sultry June night 60 years ago shocked the nation for its brazenness. Amid Freedom Summer, a daring effort to register Black Mississippians to vote, three young civil rights workers came to town. It was a perilous time. Black churches were being torched throughout the South. Segregationists remained defiant. As a young boy, James Young would watch his father lie on the living room floor, rifle at the ready, in case someone burst through the family's door. "The community would get information that the Klan is riding tonight, or they may be riding this weekend," Young recounted later in life. "So during those times, my father would be prepped." The three activists had arrived to check on the latest church burning. But before the sun rose the next morning, Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman would all be dead, ambushed by the Ku Klux Klan as they were heading out of Neshoba County. It took a massive FBI mobilization 44 days to find the brutalized bodies. It took years for even a modicum of justice. The atrocity became a seminal moment in the civil rights movement. Yet on the murders' 60th anniversary, which is Friday, some people here worry that the country is forgetting what was learned along the way. Others wonder what the past is owed -- and for how long. They talked with The Washington Post this spring about their community's painful legacy of racism. Philadelphia is a vastly different place today. For one, Young is now mayor, the city's first African American leader. "We have made strides to be better. I'm gonna put it just like that," he says. "We ain't perfect. But we have made strides to be better." |
| Congressman Mike Ezell discusses Hattiesburg economic growth | |
 | Congressman Mike Ezell made a stop in the Pine Belt Wednesday to join Hattiesburg Management Group's "2024 Summer Summit." Ezell called the event an economic symposium, describing it as an opportunity to brainstorm news ways to grow the Hub City. "I try to do as much as I can for the local community," Ezell said. "I try to come out and support when I can. "I also try to help as much as I can with the budget so that we can get some things for our local economy and our local stakeholders, so that we can provide a better way of life for our people in Mississippi." Ezell was the keynote speaker at the summit and one of several local leaders focused on improving quality of life for Hattiesburg residents through economic growth. |
| Senate Ag Democrat stresses importance of urban-rural coalition in farm bill talks | |
| The bipartisan, urban-rural coalition that has been vital to successfully passing past farm bills may be fraying as Democrats and Republicans have settled into a stalemate over nutrition and farm program funding this year. Few lawmakers have more at stake in this tug-of-war than Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. Warnock is the sole Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee from the South, and he's challenging the committee's chair, Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on her proposal for commodity programs at the same time he also wants to protect nutrition assistance. Democrats control the committee by a single seat, 12-11. Warnock, who also serves as the senior pastor of Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, represents a major agricultural state with one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. "I represent a state where I'm concerned about our rural communities and our urban communities," Warnock said in an exclusive interview with Agri-Pulse. "The only way you get something over the finish line is to strengthen those coalitions. And the coalitions don't always exist in the places that people might think." The farm bill has historically been a "congressional anomaly" in that it's usually a bipartisan effort, and divisions are typically more regional than partisan, said Salaam Bhatti, SNAP director at Food Research and Action Center. Specifically with the nutrition title and SNAP, there's been bipartisan support around protecting it, he said. However, he said the GOP proposals to make future USDA updates of the Thrifty Food Plan cost-neutral run counter to this tradition. |
| Canada watching farm bill discussions 'closely' | |
| A major U.S. trading partner is paying attention to farm bill negotiations. USDA Undersecretary for Trade Alexis Taylor is on a trade mission to Canada and spoke to Brownfield from Vancouver Wednesday. "In Canada they watch closely the discussion around the farm bill. From my perspective for the trade programs, obviously those market development programs are critical." She calls the trade mission historic as it highlights products made by tribal businesses and indigenous producers. Taylor says the Intertribal Ag Council is a key cooperator. "They access those program dollars, they travel on trade missions with us all over the world. They are the partner we tap into to pull this indigenous trade mission off (and) we would not be here without their partnership." She says the farm bill is an essential tool for creating excitement and interest in indigenous products. |
| Biden's Lead With Women Is Smaller Than Trump's With Men, a Warning for Democrats | |
 | Almost every path to victory for President Biden relies on strong support from women. But his current standing among women is the weakest lead a Democrat has had since 2004, a key factor in how tight the race is. Mr. Biden's lead among women has slid to about eight percentage points since the 2020 election, according to an average of more than 30 polls conducted over the last six months and compiled by The New York Times. That's down from a lead among women of about 13 percentage points four years ago. And since the 2020 election, former President Donald J. Trump's support among men has recovered and is back to the double-digit lead he had in 2016. Republicans have generally held leads among men in most presidential elections going back decades. But every year that Democrats have won the presidency, they have led among women by more. Mr. Biden's drop in support has been particularly pronounced among Black and Hispanic women, according to a new set of polls focused on women across the country and in Arizona and Michigan from KFF, a nonprofit organization that focuses on health care research. The surveys show that even as abortion and democracy are key issues for a small but meaningful segment of women, concerns about inflation continue to play a more central role in the race and to benefit Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden's support among women is still somewhat more resilient than his support among men, which has fallen further, particularly among young men and men without a college degree. |
| Why Democrats think Biden's problem is Biden | |
 | Democrats keep doing surprisingly well in special elections. The party's most vulnerable Senate incumbents are running ahead of their rivals in key battleground states. One of Democrats' signature issues -- reproductive rights -- has repeatedly proved a winning message. And yet Joe Biden is struggling to pull even with Donald Trump. It's another ominous sign for the president: Even as other Democrats are running strong, the party's down-ballot successes aren't translating into momentum at the top of the ticket. Biden trails Trump in many of the states he needs to win to keep the White House. His job approval is underwater. And the coalition of voters that ushered him into office four years ago is fraying. The split in political fortunes between the president and other Democrats has grown unmistakably clear to party leaders, laying plain the degree to which Biden's problems appear to be Biden-specific. Interviews with Democratic lawmakers, strategists and former party officials in Washington and the states found Democrats increasingly willing to acknowledge that the president's political difficulties are anchored in Biden's individual vulnerabilities -- including his age, his inconsistent messaging and his dismal support among young people. |
| Most people misunderstand Walter Anderson, son says. How a new book explains the artist | |
 | John Anderson sails as often as he can to Horn Island. It's mandatory, he said, that he camps there at least twice a year. He pitches a tent and enjoys the beauty of the barrier island. His father Walter Anderson, the famed New Orleans-born artist who lived in Ocean Springs, loved the island. Much of his work captured the odd beauty that inhabited the thin barrier island about five miles from Mississippi's coast. Walter died of cancer in 1962 when John was 18. Few people really understood his father, he said. Walter was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but John disputes the diagnosis. But even he was somewhat estranged, he admits. Walter camped in solitude for 25 years on the island, his son said, only rowing back to Ocean Springs when he ran out of supplies. He carried his painting supplies in the brim of his cap, John said, recounting the way his mother told the story. And that hat was often the only thing he was wearing. Two years ago John embarked on a journey, compiling his father's personal journals and some art pieces into a book he believed could help with the "public confusion" surrounding how people viewed his father. The book, called "The Bicycle Logs," is now complete. |
| Oxford attorney honors friend's guidance with gift to Ole Miss law school | |
 | Oxford attorney Brad Morris and his wife, Sharon, are honoring Booneville lawyer Tommy Cadle with a named scholarship as a tribute to the counselor's sage advice that inspired Morris to return to law school. A gift of $60,000 established the Tommy Dexter Cadle Law School Scholarship at the University of Mississippi and will help nontraditional students pursue legal studies. "I could not have been more surprised to learn that Brad and Sharon Morris had set up a scholarship in my name," Cadle said. "I'm deeply honored and appreciative. "I've been practicing law now for 44 years, but back in 1972, I had been out of college for about five years. A dear friend of mine, (UM alumnus) Howard Davidson, encouraged me to return for a law degree, put me in his car and drove me to Oxford to get enrolled. It was one of the best days of my life." Cadle returned the favor by doing the same for Brad Morris 20 years ago when his career path was unclear. "Tommy looked me square in the eyes and said, 'Brad, you need to go back to law school and get that degree. You just need to do it. You won't regret it,'" Morris recalled. Morris said he would like the scholarship also to be a tribute to the values passed on from his grandparents. "In addition, it is also a thank you to this university for allowing me that second chance at law school." |
| UMMC opening Ridgeland campus | |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center is enhancing its educational infrastructure by establishing a multidisciplinary teaching campus in Ridgeland's Colony Park. This expansion marks a significant step forward in UMMC's commitment to fostering excellence in medical education, research and health care delivery. The development of the Colony Park educational campus will help equip the next generation of health care professionals with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to meet the evolving needs of our communities. The plan for the approximately 131,000 square-foot educational campus, located on the west side of I-55 North, north of Renaissance at Colony Park, consists of a medical office building, multispecialty ambulatory surgical center, imaging center and multimedia classrooms. When complete, the building will feature two wings with a central lobby entrance. A one-story ambulatory surgery center will be on the right when entering, and a three-story medical office building will be on the left. "This new campus with the outpatient surgery center represents a great opportunity to strengthen both our educational and clinical missions at UMMC," said Dr. Christopher Anderson, James D. Hardy professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and chief of the Division of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery. Construction on the new campus is slated to be complete by January 2026 and is expected to begin operating in the months to follow. |
| Preschool not only preps children for K-12, but raises future earnings, study finds | |
| Researchers have known for a while that early childhood education helps build decision-making and social skills. Yet just over a third of 4-year-olds in the U.S. attend preschool. Access to public preschools is spotty and varies by state, city and income level. But a study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research makes the case that expanding early childhood education could be well worth the investment. Attending preschool is a big positive for kids, per Sara Amadon, a senior research scientist at Child Trends. "We've kind of seen more persistence in school, better test scores, higher graduation rates," she said. Even better-paying jobs decades down the line -- "something in the area of about 5% higher earnings," said Randy Akee, a professor of public policy and American Indian studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He co-authored the NBER study. Akee used data from a lottery-based preschool for Indigenous students. Lots of families applied to the preschool; some got in and some didn't. The hardest part of the investigation came a quarter-century later. "To find the students themselves in adulthood, track them down, would be quite costly," Akee explained. But he was able to match the students' data with their adult earnings using info from the IRS and compared the two groups. He found that attending preschool raised students' incomes across the board. |
| How turning homes into child care sites could power Alabama's economy | |
 | Lakethia Clark has spent most of her adult life taking care of children, first at a church day care and later in a child care center. She loves children, but after 15 years, she was getting paid too little and looking after too many kids. So like many child care workers, she quit. Clark became a housekeeper at a hospital, which paid better, but she missed her old profession. "It kind of broke my heart," she says. "I miss my babies." She had long thought about starting her own child care business but always found the licensing process and the startup costs daunting. Today, however, Clark is getting ready to return to a line of work she loves -- on her own terms. She's starting her own small business, caring for as many as six children. And she's doing it right in her own home. Clark is among the first participants in a program called 3by3. It's the brainchild of Holly Glasgow, a longtime child development educator at Shelton State Community College. Her vision for the program: dramatically growing the number of small, home-based child care businesses, formally known as family child care homes. It's a program that could prove important for Alabama, by providing more child care options to help boost the state's workforce. The initiative is one of many being piloted around the U.S. as federal and state governments, along with the business community, have come to recognize child care as essential to economic growth. |
| A Record Number of Kids Are in Special Education -- and It's Getting Harder to Help Them All | |
 | More American children than ever are qualifying for special education, but schools are struggling to find enough teachers to meet their needs. A record 7.5 million students accessed special-education services in U.S. schools as of 2022-2023, including children with autism, speech impairments and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. That is 15.2% of the public-school student population, up from less than 13% a decade earlier, the most recent federal data shows. Several factors are driving the increase. Pandemic disruptions left kids with lingering learning and behavioral challenges. Parents have become more assertive about asking for services, as the stigma around special education has lessened. Autism diagnoses have also risen in recent decades, and the state of Texas has seen a boom in special education after changing an approach that had limited access. Students with disabilities benefit from services like speech therapy, specialized reading lessons or personal classroom aides. Yet many schools report being understaffed in special education. And now, districts face growing pressure on their budgets as federal Covid relief aid is set to expire this fall. Georgia parent Joshua Caines appreciated the special-education services his local public elementary school provided for his now 12-year-old son, whose autism and ADHD affect his attention and ability to hand-write, among other things. Caines worried, though, about middle school, and whether a larger campus and class sizes would overwhelm his son, who learns better around people he's familiar with. So he moved him to a Christian private school for sixth grade, where he's in classes with less than 10 students. |
| Survey: Most Students Approve of Education Quality, Climate | |
 | Public doubts about higher education may be increasing, but three in four current students rate the quality of education they're receiving as good (46 percent) or excellent (27 percent), according to just-in results from Inside Higher Ed's annual Student Voice survey. This is relatively consistent across institution types. Initial survey results hold more good news for higher ed: Most of the 5,025 two- and four-year students surveyed say they're somewhat (58 percent) or very (20 percent) confident that their education and experiences during college have prepared them for success (however they define it) in life after college. This, too, is consistent across institution types. Additionally -- and perhaps surprisingly, given the tumultuous spring term in many places -- two in three students say that their campus climate is one in which nearly all students seem to feel welcomed, valued and supported (18 percent) or most students do (49 percent). The annual survey was fielded May 6 to 21, in partnership with Generation Lab. Nearly three in 10 respondents (28 percent) attend two-year institutions and closer to four in 10 (37 percent) are post-traditional students, meaning they attend two-year institutions and/or are 25 or older. Student wellness also remains a challenge: Just about half of students rate their overall well-being as good (37 percent) or excellent (15 percent), with fewer (42 percent) rating their mental health, specifically, as good or excellent. |
| 87 percent in new poll say cost an important reason for halting studies | |
 | A new Gallup survey released Tuesday found cost and work conflicts are the top reasons Americans choose to discontinue their higher education. In the poll, 87 percent said cost was a "very" or "moderately" important reason for pursuing further institutional study, while 81 percent pointed to work conflicts. The other two leading reasons were the time it takes to complete a degree at 73 percent and lack of remote options at 70 percent. Cost tops the list among all demographic groups, including across racial and ethnic lines. "For many of these Americans, their time enrolled in these courses represents significant opportunity costs and financial investment. Given that they lack a degree or credential to show for their time enrolled, they are often worse off than if they never enrolled to begin with," Gallup said. "Today, approximately 41.9 million Americans have some college experience but no degree or credential. The percentage of Americans who have taken some college courses, but who have stopped out and not completed their degree or credential, has increased significantly over the past five years," Gallup found. Around three quarters of those who have left a postsecondary pathway say they have thought of joining a new program in the past two years, according to the poll. |
| How do you calculate the ROI of a college degree? | |
| How much is a college credential worth? As surveys show the American public losing faith in the value of higher education, researchers have made many attempts to quantify the benefit it imparts. Higher education experts often discuss a concept called ROI, or return on investment. ROI typically measures how much a college degree increases earnings over the lifetime of a graduate, after accounting for the cost of attending. If the earnings bump exceeds the cost, the program has a positive return on investment. New research from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a free market think tank, attempts to quantify the return on investment for 53,000 different college programs at the graduate, undergraduate and certificate levels. The project includes a searchable database. The research found that ROI is highly variable. Bachelor's degrees offered a median return of $160,000, but some had a lower ROI than a certificate in technical trades. About one-third of Pell Grant and federal student loan funding pays for programs that don't pay off, the research found. |
| Banks, Law and Consulting Firms Are Watering Down Their Diversity Recruiting Programs | |
| White-collar companies that once championed programs to recruit diverse employees are now tiptoeing away from them. PricewaterhouseCoopers and JPMorgan Chase are among those that recently removed or altered descriptions of their programs for underrepresented students. The shift came after an "anti-woke" movement took aim at U.S. companies and a Supreme Court decision overturned affirmative action in college admissions. Employers' embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives peaked in 2021, sparked by the death of George Floyd and the height of the Black Lives Matter movement a year earlier. In the years since, access to diversity programs has been slowly declining, a Glassdoor study in April found. Companies have made the changes quietly, often by playing down terminology such as "DEI" and opening up programs once reserved for diverse applicants to everyone. Many stopped referencing their DEI programs in annual reports altogether, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Minority students are concerned about what the cutback means for their future in an already tight job market. Many employment lawyers attribute the retreat to anti-DEI advocates like Edward Blum filing lawsuits in the past year against law firms with diversity fellowships. Blum spearheaded the lawsuit that prompted the Supreme Court's 2023 decision to overturn affirmative action in college admissions. Though the ruling didn't affect companies directly, many companies viewed it as a warning shot that they could be targeted next. |
| Jobs for new college graduates are harder to come by in 2024 | |
| Millions of new college graduates are entering the workforce just as entry-level job prospects are fizzling. Despite the strong labor market, it's becoming tougher for newcomers to break in. Hiring is slowing, especially for recent graduates, with coveted white-collar employers pulling back on new postings. Just 13 percent of entry-level job seekers found work in the past six months, down from a 2022 peak of 20 percent, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of Commerce Department data. "The class of 2024 may need to buckle in for a bit of a rough ride this summer," said Becky Frankiewicz, North America president at staffing firm ManpowerGroup. "People aren't leaving their jobs, employers aren't laying off. Everyone is staying put -- and that's bad news if you're trying to get a foot in the door." Although the odds of finding a job have improved from pre-pandemic levels for many workers, that's not the case for new entrants. After a recent hiring spree, many employers are scaling back on job openings. Even when they do hire, they're increasingly looking for experienced workers who can "be immediately productive," Frankiewicz said. As a result, the U.S. unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds has climbed sharply in the past year, from 6.3 percent to 7.9 percent as of May -- the largest annual increase in 14 years, excluding the early shock of the pandemic. |
| Proposed changes to Bayh-Dole Act -- key to ORNL -- spark public debate | |
 | A faceoff over proposed guideline changes to the law that made Oak Ridge National Laboratory a powerhouse of commercial breakthroughs is pitting groups concerned with high drug prices against groups that promote the U.S. brand of lab-to-market tech innovation. The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, a bipartisan law written by Senators Birch Bayh and Bob Dole, allows research discoveries funded by the federal government to be licensed by universities and labs to private companies. Before the law, the U.S. government owned all inventions it funded, and private companies were wary to work with the feds. A technology transfer team at ORNL takes hundreds of inventions from the lab's scientists, patents them and then licenses them to private companies -- mostly small startups -- that work to bring the breakthroughs to the market. By enabling public-private partnerships, this law is widely credited with making the U.S. the world leader in tech research and development beginning in the 1990s and 2000s. Tech transfer is to thank for Honeycrisp apples, allergy medications and a range of clean energy technologies. To ensure companies don't take advantage of universities or labs, the Bayh-Dole Act allows federal agencies to take back control of the license and give it to another company if the original licensee doesn't work to commercialize the innovation or if it's needed to meet urgent public health or safety needs. That provision is called "march-in rights," which could be used more broadly under new guidelines proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST. |
| A billionaire for governor? | |
| The Northside Sun editorializes: It's still a long way off and a lot could happen between now and the 2027 state elections in Mississippi, but one of the more intriguing early names to surface as a possible candidate for governor is billionaire Thomas Duff. Duff is well-known among GOP insiders in Mississippi, since he has contributed heavily to Republican campaigns. He's not exactly a household name among the general public, though. Other than serving an eight-year term on the College Board, he's been mostly out of the public eye. He has the money, of course, to purchase name recognition fairly quickly. Still he'd start off way behind in that regard to the bushel of current or former elected officeholders who are reportedly considering a run for governor when the time runs out for term-limited incumbent Tate Reeves. Should Duff make the political plunge, he would immediately grab attention because of his considerable business accomplishments and his philanthropy. A recent profile by Mississippi Today political reporter Geoff Pender detailed some of Duff's background. ... The last time Mississippi had a businessman successfully run for governor was in the early 1990s, when Kirk Fordice, the owner of a Vicksburg construction company, broke a century-long Republican drought at the Governor's Mansion and set the stage for the GOP dominance in state government that continues today. Duff's demeanor, described as "calm and friendly" by Pender, is the opposite of that of Fordice... |
| Non-profits rally to save journalism | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: I just returned from a two-day conference at Ole Miss on local news. The eight-billion-dollar McArthur Foundation from Chicago funded the event. ... McArthur has rallied 60 big U. S. foundations to back Press Forward which is dedicated to reversing the decline in local journalism in the United States. ... The Emmerich family has dedicated three generations to producing local news and quality journalism in Mississippi. ... At the Oxford conference, many people spoke about the importance of journalism and local news. It is a key ingredient to a functioning democracy. Now we have vast news deserts across our land. Huge digital monopolies, built on a vast spy apparatus, control the flow of information as never before in our history. We are treading on thin ice. ... I am very happy the McArthur foundation is trying to help. ... There is one thing local communities can do: Support your local news provider by subscribing and advertising. Nothing is more important than that. It's good for your community and it's good for the future of our country. Without your support, local news by trained journalists will be no more. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State Adds Lee And Bulger To New Student-Athlete Brand Services & Business Development Team | |
| Mississippi State Athletics announced two key additions to its new student-athlete brand services and business development team Wednesday. Brandon Lee has been named Associate AD/Student-Athlete Brand Strategy & Innovation, and Maya Bulger has been tabbed Assistant AD/NIL Administration & Partnerships. Bulger and Lee will report to Deputy AD/General Manager Terry Prentice, who leads all units impacting student-athlete success including student-athlete brand services and business development. Prentice joined the Bulldogs in September 2023 after stops at Arkansas and Kansas. "We are excited to have Brandon and Maya join our team and help lead our evolving student-athlete brand services and business development unit into the future," Director of Athletics Zac Selmon said. "Over the last several months, we have conducted extensive research and planning as the collegiate athletics model continue to shift with revenue sharing on the horizon. While important steps have already been taken, Brandon and Maya will add an even greater impact on our department's mission as we aggressively work to maximize every possible student-athlete NIL opportunity and position Mississippi State as a national leader in the space. As we evolve into the future, providing our student-athletes with a world-class experience en route to graduation and equipping each of them with tools to be successful in life remain our highest priorities." |
| Mississippi State Softball: Mississippi State's Edwards, Sells playing in college summer softball leagues | |
| Summer leagues have been a college baseball institution for many decades, but college softball players did not have that same opportunity to keep working at their craft and playing the game they love after the school season ends until 2020, with the founding of the Florida Gulf Coast League. Four years later, the FGCL is still going strong, and other leagues have been established in more recent years. Mississippi State's Kylee Edwards and Kiarra Sells are taking advantage of those opportunities this summer, with Edwards playing for the FGCL's Bradenton Slice and Sells joining the Texas Ninebands of the Lone Star State Collegiate League. Edwards enjoyed a strong freshman year as the Bulldogs' starting shortstop, batting .269 with eight doubles, five home runs and 23 runs batted in. She also struck out just 11 times in 134 at-bats, a 7.1 percent strikeout rate, although she did close the season without a hit in her last 10 at-bats in the conference and NCAA tournaments. Sells and the Ninebands have won their first five games of the season, with the rising junior utility player homering twice and driving in five runs along the way. Both leagues will run until mid-July, with games streaming exclusively on AthletesGoLive.com. |
| Mississippi deer hunting: Changes approved for the 2024-25 season | |
| The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks adopted a number of changes in Wednesday's meeting and for deer hunters, it means an increased bag limit in part of the state and possibly expanded opportunities for hunting in the early archery season. The commission set the dates for the early archery season for Sept. 13-15, which is a Friday through Sunday hunt. The hunt is by permit only and is designed to offer hunters in Mississippi a chance at harvesting a buck with antlers in velvet, but any legal buck may be taken. In the past, the hunt has only been allowed on private lands, but that may change. "We did authorize some lands to have a velvet season if they want to have one," said Russ Walsh, Wildlife chief of staff for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. "Like the land around Ross Barnett (Reservoir) that they manage. If they want to have a velvet season, they can do so." An increased bag limit for deer was also approved by the commission for the Southeast Deer Management Unit. The Southeast DMU has been limited to two antlerless deer for a number of years because lower soil quality limits the amount of deer the area can produce and support, but the population appears to be growing. |
| College Football Playoff: Five questions for the committee | |
| When the College Football Playoff was introduced more than a decade ago, and the sport's championship evolved from two to four teams, even the system's creators couldn't answer some of the questions that arose -- or they had a heckuva time trying. What was the value of winning a conference title when two SEC teams could be in and two Power 5 conference champions were out? When do head-to-head results matter? And at what point are they dismissed? How do you measure a team's schedule strength? And how much was a schedule's strength derived from the perceived strength of a contender's own conference? When the 12-team CFP is unveiled this fall, it will again be a learning curve for everyone -- fans, coaches, players, media and the selection committee. The committee's task -- and its protocol -- remains mostly unchanged, but an unprecedented 12-team field naturally raises new questions for the group charged with ranking the best teams in the country. In the spirit of the new CFP format, which will guarantee playoff spots for the five highest-ranked conference champions, here are five questions for the committee. |
| 2024 Men's College World Series championship series set: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | |
 | There will be a new Men's College World Series champion. The Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas A&M Aggies will face off in the 2024 Men's College World Series championship, a best-of-three series that begins Saturday. Both SEC powerhouses are looking for their first NCAA Tournament championship in school history. Both Tennessee and Texas A&M went undefeated (3-0) in the round-robin and punched their tickets to the championship series by way of impressive wins -- Tennessee downed Florida State 7-2 on Wednesday, while Texas A&M defeated Florida 6-0. Tennessee and Texas A&M did not play each other during the regular season, but the two squads did face off during the SEC tournament in late May. Tennessee defeated the Aggies 7-4 en route to the SEC tournament title. But who will have the edge in the championship series? The best-of-three championship series kicks off Saturday. The Volunteers moved on to the Men's College World Series for third time in four years. Texas A&M baseball is in pursuit of its first NCAA Tournament championship and will make its first appearance in the championship series this weekend. It is 8-0 in the tournament so far. |
| Texas A&M advances to College World Series championship series with elimination of Florida | |
| Florida turned to five pitchers Wednesday night, and it still wasn't enough to overcome self-inflicted disaster in the first inning. Texas A&M only needed six hits and rode another strong start from Justin Lamkin to beat the Gators 6-0 in front of a Schwab Field crowd of 25,429 to advance to the College World Series final for the first time. The Aggies will face Tennessee in the first game of a best-of-three series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the third All-SEC championship series in four years. "I'm tired of leaving before the championship," A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "It's awesome. It's fun to get to be a part of. Excited to play an awesome Tennessee team." Said reliever Josh Stewart: "I grew up a big A&M fan, so it's awesome to be a part of the team that is able to be the first team that's made the finals. It's really cool to be a part of." After beating Kentucky in an elimination game less than six hours before first pitch, UF was shut out for the first time in 144 games --- the last time being a 9-0 loss to A&M in the SEC tournament May 28, 2022. "Credit to Lamkin," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He threw the ball extremely well." "I know a lot of our guys are extremely disappointed," O'Sullivan said. "But speaking from my heart, I'm just awfully proud of them for what they were able to accomplish this year and have this experience out here in Omaha." |
| MCWS 2024: How Kirby Connell became beloved in Tennessee | |
| Jesse James Pulley started his first round of chemotherapy the day the ballplayers visited. The 9-year-old had just been diagnosed with Stage III Burkitt lymphoma, and everything was new and terrifying. Upon hearing the news of her son's cancer a week earlier, Leann Pulley blacked out. June 4 was the day Jesse met Kirby Connell and Zander Sechrist at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital, three days before the Tennessee Volunteers played in super regionals. Sechrist is a starting pitcher on the No. 1-ranked Vols; Connell is one of the most popular people in Knoxville with his big arm, big personality and handlebar mustache that he curls for baseball games. Tennessee calls on the high-leverage reliever when things get hairy, which is appropriate. Perhaps no one on the team is hairier than the long-locked Connell. Jesse James Pulley is shy when he's around people he doesn't know, his mom said, but when Connell and Sechrist -- along with Tennessee pitchers AJ Russell and Austin Hunley -- walked into the room, he lit up. "What are you doing, dude?" Connell asked him and shook his hand. The city of Knoxville is gaga over their Volunteers, and no one is more beloved than Connell. But it's hard to write a story about Connell without Sechrist because they're the elder statesmen who have nine combined years of the good times and bad. Most importantly, they're always around each other. Perhaps you've seen them in Knoxville, eating out at Texas Roadhouse, Chipotle or Chick-Fil-A. Or at the dais holding mock news conferences, feeding off each others' jokes, enjoying these last few days together. |
| Seeing green in Big Orange country as state pumps money into U. of Tennessee stadiums | |
| Money for Tennessee Vols football and baseball stadiums is flowing like the beer and whiskey at a Big Orange tailgate party. In the last decade alone, Tennessee's State Building Commission approved $500 million worth of improvement projects for University of Tennessee athletics facilities, mainly Neyland and Lindsey Nelson stadiums, at the Knoxville campus, roughly 30% of $1.6 billion spent there overall, state records show. When No. 1-ranked Tennessee baseball advanced to the championship of the College World Series after wrapping up the Knoxville Super Regional, it opened the way for completion of a $96 million job at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols won their first game in Omaha, Nebraska with a thriller over Florida State before thumping North Carolina and Florida State again to advance to the finals against Texas A&M. The university also is wrapping up work in 2026 on a $337 million improvements project at Neyland Stadium, designed to improve the game-day experience for 102,000 fans at seven home football games each year. Gov. Bill Lee, an Auburn University graduate, says he leaves decisions for campus projects up to University of Tennessee leadership but believes they've "created a strong pathway for academics." Along with athletics upgrades, the State Building Commission approved a $227.3 million building project in 2023 for the Haslam College of Business, which received $100 million in private funding. In addition, the university spent $25.1 million on a Carousel Theatre replacement, $108.2 million on a nursing building and $5.5 million on classroom upgrades, among numerous other projects. |
| 'Game-changer' project that will fund Gamecock athletic improvements finally takes next step | |
 | What took so long? That was the main question surrounding the June 18 announcement that the (in)famous "game-changer" project to develop the land around Williams-Brice Stadium had finally taken the long-awaited next step toward becoming reality. With proceeds from the project going to benefit stadium improvements and other athletic facility upgrades -- first announced in February 2023, 16 months ago -- South Carolina fans were wondering what was the holdup. Athletic director Ray Tanner clarified the lack of movement on June 19 during a Board of Trustees meeting. USC didn't choose to pull back on the reins after first unveiling the plan, in which it trumpeted a potential $1 billion net profit in private investment. "Well, there's a process that you have to go through at the state-approval level. It wasn't like it was delayed or canceled," Tanner exclusively told The Post and Courier. "You get a little excited when you talk about projects; I was probably a little bit overzealous. But, the people at the Statehouse were great, and internally, so now we got an RFP, so now we'll see what kind of interest we got to develop that property." USC has mentioned how the Atlanta Braves and Dallas Cowboys use the areas around their stadiums as hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues that are open year-round, not just during the baseball or football seasons. The hope is that Gamecocks football fans can spend a weekend in the area instead of just in and out for a game, and then continue to use those areas for other sporting events, since Williams-Brice is only two or three miles from Colonial Life Arena, Founders Park or the heart of campus. |
| Despite national title, Texas A&M esports team still seeking a facility | |
 | Pierce Ray considers the Texas A&M esports team to be underdogs, considering members provide their own resources and still manage to win national championships. And though the Macy's building at Post Oak Mall may not be used for a future esports facility as was originally believed, Ray said he hopes one day the team will have reliable locations to practice. "We would really like a facility, or a place to play. ... My goal this entire time has just been to give the kids that experience to play on a team where they could be funded," said Ray, an A&M senior majoring in economics who is the president of A&M esports. "If you think about it, Texas A&M, the unfunded program, just got a national title in this game that they probably never should have even gotten close to achieving." Ever since the COVID-19 lockdown, esports has seen significant growth as more people were stuck in lockdowns. From Overwatch, Valorant, Rocket League and more, there are a wide variety of video games represented in the esports scene. According to Ray, the Texas A&M team sees around 100 to 200 new members joining each year. When the city of College Station bought the Macy's building in August 2022, there were discussions of turning it into a new esports facility. College Station councilors recently confirmed they were no longer pursuing this effort. Currently, the A&M esports team is a club program, meaning it is completely student-run. Ray said team members have found ways to practice together for tournaments. |
| Down a step from elite college football, officials pitch a model for a new sports landscape | |
 | Facing upheaval on the way in college athletics, a handful of administrators and athletes from smaller schools have been working on a new model of governance. The hope by members of the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I-AAA (programs without football) is to give their athletes more of a say and essentially treat them more like students than employees. It was a way to be proactive -- and potentially head off future lawsuits -- amid seismic changes across college sports that started even before the recent $2.77 billion settlement of antitrust claims agreed to by the NCAA and the nation's five biggest conferences. That proposal, which needs a judge's approval, also sets the stage for schools to pay millions directly to athletes. The full impact of the settlement is not yet known, but there are concerns that the chase for championships and big-time revenue is beyond the scope and interest of many schools. Janet Cone, the president of I-AAA athletic directors and the AD at UNC Asheville, joined colleagues to present their proposed model earlier this month at the annual convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and to others during an online panel organized by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. "Our goal was to create a sustainable model that was philosophically and legally defensible and would keep our subdivisions competing in Division I," Cone told the group. |
| Sources: NCAA presents new basketball tournament models that would expand field by 4 or 8 teams | |
| College basketball moved one step closer this week to an expanded NCAA men's basketball tournament. NCAA officials on Wednesday presented to Division I conference commissioners at least two models of an expanded field, one with an additional four teams and another with an additional eight teams, commissioners told Yahoo Sports. Officials declined to speak publicly about the models. The models would expand the 68-team field to 72 or 76 teams, with additional at-large selections as well as at least one additional First Four site. Any expansion would begin, at earliest, in the 2025-26 season. If the men's event expands, the women's tournament is likely to undergo a similar expansion. Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president for the men's basketball championship, unveiled the models in a presentation Wednesday at the commissioners' annual summer meeting. In the culmination of months of work, Gavitt outlined possibilities for what commissioners believe to be an inevitable expansion of the men's event -- a movement mostly championed by the power conferences, something Yahoo Sports reported in February. As a way to avoid eliminating any of the 28 small-conference automatic qualifiers -- a time-honored and popular concept with fans -- NCAA and conference leaders are targeting the addition of at-large selections as has been done in the past. The last expansion, in 2011, added four at-large teams and created the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, where two pairings of 16 seeds and two pairings of at-large selections meet in play-in games. |
| Learfield's NIL impact report shows athletes earned $13.6M in 2023-24 | |
| Earlier this month, Learfield made a pivotal change to its NIL approach. The multimedia rights holder for 160 Division I athletic programs announced it was turning its Compass app -- which was primarily used as the athlete opt-in platform for major licensing campaigns like Fanatics and EA Sports College Football 25 -- into a dealmaking platform. Learfield is now rolling out its second annual NIL impact report, highlighting the latest trends in the space. With roughly 30,000 athletes already onboarded onto Compass NIL, the stats will continue to rise over time. According to the report released on Wednesday, athletes earned $13.6 million in cash and trade value from Learfield's NIL sponsorships in the 2023-24 academic year. It's a 100% year-over-year growth in the category for the company. With more than 12,000 brand partners, Learfield also saw 500 of its sponsorship deals incorporate NIL activations. More than 2,000 athletes participated in NIL activities in 2023-24, with 57% male athletes and 43% female. The media NIL deal per activity was $3,000. "We've been, if not the most active organization in NIL since it started, certainly one of the most active businesses in NIL," Learfield president and CEO Cole Gahagan previously said. "I don't think it's an overstatement for me to say that this is probably the biggest, most meaningful step we've taken in the NIL era." |
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