| Monday, June 24, 2024 |
| Area Main Street associations, members win state awards | |
 | Main Street associations and members in the Golden Triangle were celebrated Thursday by the Mississippi Main Street Association for their work over the past year. Main Street Columbus, Starkville Main Street Association and West Point Main Street were all recognized during the 2024 awards luncheon held in Jackson. Starkville Main Street Association received three awards for 2024. Director Paige Watson accepted the Outstanding Creative Fundraising award for her work on the Starkville Pet Mayor Election, a fundraiser for Starkville Main Street's pet-friendly initiatives and the Oktibbeha County Humane Society that culminated in Buster Camp being named Starkville's first Pet Mayor. Alden Thornhill received the award for Outstanding Creative Large Event, over 5,000, for his leadership organizing the Starkville Derby, the dachshund races that recently made a home in the Cotton District. While the 2023 derby drew more than 20,000 attendees, the 2024 derby was even larger, drawing more than 200 dogs to race and more than 60,000 spectators. Leah Kemp, executive director for the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center at Mississippi State University, accepted the Outstanding Public Arts Project award for the Cowbells and Paint Pails project, which recently decorated University Drive and Camp Street with brightly colored murals of cowbells. |
| Starkville man facing charges after pursuit | |
 | A Starkville man is facing several charges following a pursuit in Oktibbeha County. The Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office reports that on Friday, deputies were led on a pursuit through the county that eventually ended off of Montgomery Street in Starkville thanks to the use of spike strips. Erick Lamar Robertson, 47, was captured after a brief chase on foot, the sheriff's office said. He is being charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, failure to stop when officers signals, and possession of a schedule II controlled substance. Robertson is being held in the Oktibbeha County Jail. |
| Panelists: Celebrating stoicism creates stigma around Black men seeking support | |
| Creating stigma-free spaces is crucial to supporting Black men's mental health, "Sinsear" Derrick Clark said Saturday. Then resources for healing can be identified, he said. "We have to have conversations like this to be able to acknowledge where there is hurt, harm or danger that equates to trauma," he told an audience at the Mississippi University for Women. "Once we have the conversation, we need to know where and how to get the fix. ... Once we understand where to get the fix, we must fix it." Clark, a poet and speaker, shared his insight during a panel for the justUs, MH Foundation's Black Men's Mental Health Conference. Joining Clark on the panel was owner of "Issues" television talk show Reggilond Taylor; Daniel Huggins, chief operating officer at Austin Urology in Austin, Texas; Executive Director of the Columbus Housing Authority Robert Greathree; Frederick Rogers, co-founder of the Reaching and Educating for Community Hope Foundation; Sixteenth Circuit Court District Attorney Scott Colom; and J'Marcus Brooks, pastor for Kingdom Vision Church. The men delved into issues surrounding mental health for Black men, ranging from cultural stigmas and systemic barriers to personal stories of resilience and solutions. Opening up about these problems, Rogers noted, can be hard for Black men. |
| Scientists track urban wildlife numbers in Jackson | |
 | Researchers and volunteers across the Jackson-metro area were part of a national study looking to find the impact of gentrification on wildlife. Gentrification refers to the process in which poor areas experience an influx of middle-class or wealthy residents. These new residents often renovate and rebuild homes and businesses. An increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents often occur. Researchers in the metro and around the United States wanted to see if this process impacts the presence of wildlife. An urban wildlife specialist and a group of trained volunteers with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service tracked Jackson wildlife to understand how gentrification impacts urban wildlife populations. Researchers across the country did the same as part of an unprecedented nationwide study led by Lincoln Park Zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute. While both areas of a city may have an abundance of wildlife, ungentrified areas often have a composition of species often considered nuisances. This includes animals like raccoons, starlings and rats. The disproportionally high presence of these animals raises legitimate concerns about human quality of life in these communities. Researchers also found that impervious surfaces, including concrete, asphalt and compacted soil, had a larger influence on urban wildlife populations than gentrification. Still, gentrification and these urban environments often combined to further reduce biodiversity. |
| ERDC Alumni Association awards 9 scholarships | |
 | The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Alumni Association announced the winners of their 2024 scholarships Friday in Vicksburg. Nine high school graduates were recognized by the ERDC Alumni Association for their dedication, academic excellence and a promising future in their respective fields of study. "Today, we celebrate the culmination of excellence and ambition as we honor nine ERDC Alumni Scholarship recipients," said Ernie Smith, ERDC Alumni Association president. "We allocated $9,000 for 2024 through annual donations and fundraisers. This initiative underscores our commitment to paying it forward, attracting talented students to shape the future of research and conservation." There were nine recipients of the $1,000 scholarships. Wesley Cowan, a homeschool graduate, aims to delve into forestry at Mississippi State University. James Hearn, a graduate of Porter's Chapel Academy, will pursue civil engineering at Mississippi State. Clara Smith, from St. Aloysius High School, plans to study chemical engineering at Mississippi State. The ERDC Alumni Association, composed of retirees and former employees remains dedicated to supporting educational initiatives and fostering future scientists and engineers, officials said. |
| Mississippi legislature hosts Alabama for softball game at Trustmark Park | |
| Saturday, the Mississippi legislature welcomed the Alabama legislature to Trustmark Park for the inaugural Battle of Tombigbee softball game. "We got a challenge at the beginning of the year to play the Alabama legislators in a softball game," said Rep. Troy Smith, who represents Mississippi's 84th District. "They've been doing this for several years; this is our first go around." The meeting on the diamond was initiated with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety delivering the game ball to the field via helicopter and kicked off a fun and friendly rivalry between the two states. The state representatives were happy to take a day to have fun with their statesmen and neighbors to the east. "You can see on the bench, we're all one team, [we have] camaraderie," said Mississippi District 1 Representative Lester Carpenter. "We work in the House together, we play ball together, so it's a wonderful thing." The best part of the whole event: revenue generated from the game went to benefit the Mississippi Children's Hospital. Saturday's game did not disappoint. The showdown at Trustmark Park went into the 10th inning, and Alabama won 7-5. |
| Cheikh Taylor fends off challenger, maintains Mississippi Democratic Party chairmanship | |
 | Mississippi Democratic Party Interim Chairman Cheikh Taylor won by a landslide against Columbus attorney Wilbur Colom Saturday during the party's election, earning the position for four years. Through his victory, the party avoided having three separate leaders within 11 months. "I don't know what your definition of continuity is, but it's hard to keep the train moving when you keep changing the conductor," Taylor said. Taylor and Colom had been running against each other since early May when Colom contacted several executive committee members to announce his bid for the role. Taylor, who had announced his interest in maintaining his position as party chair since 2023, told those in attendance Saturday he plans to move the party forward by garnering support from the LGBTQ community and minority groups in Mississippi. "No matter who is chairman, let's be unified in the direction we are going because we need a good infrastructure and money to make it work," Taylor said. Colom said he wanted to focus his energies on fund raising, increasing community outreach and working to identify viable candidates for upcoming elections. "I would not say anything against Cheikh Taylor under any circumstances, but what we need now is someone who knows how to raise money," Colom said before the vote. "This is a critical time for the party. You have to decide what kind of leader you want." |
| Cheikh Taylor elected to first full term as Mississippi Democratic Party chair | |
| State Rep. Cheikh Taylor has officially retained his position as chair of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Taylor, who stepped in on an interim basis last summer after the fallout of former chair Tyree Irving, secured a full term over one challenger, Wil Colom. Colom, an attorney and businessman from Columbus, ran for state treasurer as a Republican in the late 1980s before switching to the Democratic party in the mid-2000s. Taylor won with 51 votes while Colom received 14. The party, which has not won a statewide race since former Attorney General Jim Hood was elected to a fourth term in 2015, is in the middle of a transformation process after being swept during Mississippi's 2023 general elections. While solid representation still lives in the House and Senate, Taylor believes the future is bright for Mississippi Democrats on a statewide level. One of the first goals on hand for Taylor will be communicating Mississippi Democrats' goals -- including voter rights and access -- to national members at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, set for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, Ill. He and other Mississippi delegates are prepared to help designate incumbent Joe Biden as the party's nominee heading into this November's presidential election. "Every state is different, and we want to make sure that the values of Mississippians are represented on a national level," Taylor said. |
| Buttigieg tours Mississippi civil rights site and says transportation is key to equity in the US | |
 | Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday toured the home of assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Mississippi's capital city, saying afterward that transportation is important to securing equity and justice in the United States. "Disparities in access to transportation affect everything else -- education, economic opportunity, quality of life, safety," Buttigieg said. Buttigieg spent Thursday and Friday in Mississippi, his first trip to the state, to promote projects that are receiving money from a 2021 federal infrastructure act. One is a planned $20 million improvement to Medgar Evers Boulevard in Jackson, which is a stretch of U.S. Highway 49. Evers' daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, talked to Buttigieg about growing up in the modest one-story home that her family moved into in 1956 -- about how she and her older brother would put on clean white socks and slide on the hardwood floors after their mother, Myrlie, waxed them. It's the same home where Myrlie Evers talked to her husband, the Mississippi NAACP leader, about the work he was doing to register Black voters and to challenge the state's strictly segregated society. Medgar Evers had just arrived home in the early hours of June 12, 1963, when a white supremacist fatally shot him, hours after President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised speech about civil rights. After touring the Evers home, Buttigieg talked about the recent anniversary of the assassination. |
| Pete Buttigieg and Bennie Thompson unveil $20 million investment in Jackson roadway | |
| Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson broke ground Friday on a $20 million renovation of Medgar Evers Boulevard in Jackson. The boulevard, named for civil rights leader Medgar Evers, is in a state of disrepair. The roadway, which connects north Jackson to Interstate 220, is a mass of potholes and patched pavement flanked by shuttered businesses, largely due to lapses in maintenance. "This is a project that is so important to rebuilding and reconnecting Jackson, Mississippi," Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons said during remarks. "If you look at our interstate system, you'll see a lot of disconnect. But here, this project is going to be one of those projects that is going to reconnect Jackson and create opportunity." Carolyn Wells grew up in the neighborhood along Medgar Evers Boulevard, and was neighbors with the Medgar and Myrlie Evers family. While she is happy to celebrate Evers' legacy, she feels the street is in desperate need of repairs. "Our street is horrible to me," she said. Local residents and officials hope the improvements will bring the corridor back to life and drive economic prosperity in the area. |
| 'Double haters' who don't like Biden or Trump could decide the election | |
 | Ask voters here in far western Wisconsin what they think of their two main presidential choices in November -- the same two choices they had four years ago -- and the answers, even tinged with Midwest nice, come out hard and blunt. "Absolute trash." "Three-hundred-and-some-odd million people, and that's all we can get?" "Terrifying." "Both options suck. And it's going to, I think, boil down to what sucks less." With Election Day less than five months away, voters in Hudson are increasingly preoccupied with just which option -- President Biden, 81, or former president Donald Trump, 78 -- is "the evil we've got to vote for," in the words of Gregory Wold, 57, a retired corrections department employee from North Hudson, Wis. During the 2020 election, Hudson -- a city nestled on the banks of the St. Croix River that separates Wisconsin from Minnesota -- favored Trump over Biden by a slim 155 votes. Almost twice as many Hudson voters, 308, voted for someone else -- a rare move in a closely contested race. Now, these and other "double haters" -- voters who are dissatisfied with both major party choices -- are again pondering the same two options, and again are coming up largely disappointed. They are a group that could help determine the outcome in a close election, especially in critical swing states like Wisconsin, and one that has become the focus of considerable attention and outreach from both campaigns. |
| Robert Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign claimed it was on the November ballot in Mississippi. It was wrong | |
| Despite its statement to the contrary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s We the People party does not qualify for the ballot in Mississippi, at least not yet. The party sent out a press release on June 17 claiming otherwise. Shortly after that went out, the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office released a statement explaining that the We the People Party still had to finish submitting paperwork. "Currently, the Secretary of State's Office has not received the respective documents and fees necessary for any presidential candidate to appear on the general election ballot," according to the June 20 statement. The original press release claimed that "In January, Kennedy supporters filed the necessary paperwork to form the new political party in Mississippi." The secretary of state's office said that the party started filing in January but had yet to finish. Last October, Kennedy left the Democratic Party and continued his presidential campaign as an independent. He founded the We the People Party to run in states where party candidates needed fewer signatures to get on the ballot. According to the press release, Kennedy is officially on the ballot in at least eight states: Michigan, Utah, California, Delaware, Oklahoma, Texas, Hawaii, and South Carolina. |
| Do Americans Drink Too Much? Alcohol Is Driving a Debate in Washington | |
 | A fight is brewing in Washington, D.C., over booze. For nearly three decades, federal dietary guidelines have said it is safe for men to have two or fewer drinks a day, and for women to have one. That could change next year when the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments update recommendations that are part of federal dietary guidelines. For the first time, the guidance on alcohol consumption is being considered separately from the dietary guidelines. That has set off a struggle to set the new rules of the game. Government agencies, the alcohol industry and its allies on Capitol Hill have clashed over how much information about the process should be released and who should shape the final recommendations. Alcohol-industry officials and lobbyists have sent materials to government officials questioning the research methods of scientists drafting the recommendations. Alcohol companies have spent millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers, more than a dozen of whom wrote to HHS and USDA on May 30 demanding more information on the process. "We don't want arbitrary decision-making by these agencies that's not rooted in real science," said Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.), who is co-chair of the Bourbon Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The group was founded in 2009 by a lawmaker from Kentucky, which considers itself the birthplace of bourbon, and now has around 40 members. |
| Supreme Court to weigh bans on gender-affirming care for minors | |
 | The Supreme Court will wade into the controversial topic of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people under the age of 18, taking up a case that could be a flashpoint in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.The court agreed Monday to hear the Biden administration's challenge to a Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, an increasingly potent political issue that has divided lower courts and emerged as a leading front in the battle over LGBTQ+ issues. It's the first time the justices will weigh in on the matter, which is being fought by transgender teens and their families. The Justice Department told the Supreme Court its input was "urgently needed" to resolve whether bans are discriminatory. "These laws, and the conflicting court decisions about their validity, are creating profound uncertainty for transgender adolescents and their families around the nation," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in a filing. At issue is whether the bans discriminate on the basis of sex infringe on parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children. A divided three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit ruled Tennessee's bans and a similar one in Kentucky were likely to survive a challenge and allowed them to be enforced during the litigation. Two of the three judges said the evolving issue of gender dysphoria may be better left in the hands of state legislatures. |
| IHL approves two new online degree programs at Southern Miss | |
| The creation of two new online degree paths were approved by the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning this week. Both degree programs were requested by the University of Southern Mississippi. Associate Commissioner for Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Casey Prestwood presented the proposed degree programs to the IHL Board during Thursday's meeting. One of the programs is a Bachelor of Applied Science in allied health and the second is a Doctor of Philosophy in computer science. Prestwood said both programs will be offered completely online. The Bachelor of Applied Science degree will be a 120-hour online course. It currently exists with the public health Bachelor of Science degree. The request to IHL was to make it a standalone degree path. Similar programs currently exist at Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. The Doctor of Philosophy in computer science degree will also be offered as an online course at Southern Miss. It will provide instruction in the theory and practice of computing, giving students hands-on experience in cybersecurity research, data science, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, computer vision and robotics. Prestwood said the program currently exists as an emphasis with the computational science Ph.D. program, but this proposal would elevate it to a standalone degree. A similar degree is offered at Mississippi State. |
| Society for the Study of Southern Literature holds conference in Gulfport | |
 | The Society for the Study of Southern Literature (SSSL) is holding its 2024 Biennial Conference at the Courtyard Marriot in Gulfport. The University of Southern Mississippi is hosting the conference. SSSL President and USM Professor Dr. Sherita Johnson said this is the first time the conference has come to Mississippi. "We're excited to host the SSSL 2024 Biennial Conference, as it marks the first time it has been held in Mississippi, so, it was important to have support from other state institutions," Johnson said. Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Mississippi also helped bring the conference to the state. Jesmyn Ward, author of "Let Us Descend" and several other works, was the keynote speaker for Sunday's event. She also held a book signing. Ward is from Pass Christian, so Johnson said South Mississippi was the ideal location for the event. "I am at the Hattiesburg campus, but I couldn't think of a better place to hold it other than here on the Coast. And especially here, since Jesmyn Ward is a native writer here and a major contributor to Southern literature today. So, the Coast made perfect sense," she said |
| Tornadoes and tears -- surviving more storms | |
| The devastation caused last spring by an EF4 tornado in Rolling Fork turned the national spotlight on Mississippi. And while the state has been lucky enough to not have faced any storms of that magnitude in so far in 2024, according to Memphis Chief Meteorologist Andrew Humphrey these types of storms are going to become more common in the state. Major advancements in tornado prediction and detection since the 1990s could be driving some of the increase in numbers, according to Humphrey, and he said the timing of that detection is critical in reducing deaths and injuries. Humphrey said that the current detection system is not ideal due to the state's unique topography, as compared to others in tornado alley. Since radar cannot actually detect a tornado, the weather service uses people as spotters, and Mississippi's heavily forested areas make that more challenging. However, that's a problem that University of Mississippi physicist Dr. Roger Waxler is looking to fix. Waxler is a scientist in the National Center for Physical Acoustics. He was recently awarded a $2 million federal grant focused on studying a new form of tornado detection that uses sound. "We have found that we can acoustically detect tornadoes from great distances using an infrasonic signal that the tornado emits," Waxler said. |
| Jackson State alumnus writes episode for hit show 'Bridgerton' | |
| The hottest show in all of television right now is Bridgerton as season three of the hit series is now available on Netflix. While the show may be set in England, we've gotten word of a Mississippi connection who's played a key role in launching it into the No. 1 streaming spot. According to a social media post from the Sonic Boom of the South, Jackson State alumnus and former J-Sette dancer Lauren Gamble was one of the writers behind episode four of season three called "Old Friends." Gamble, who attended Jackson State from 2010-2013, has been a writers' assistant and on-crew for other Shonda Rhimes-created series such as Inventing Anna and How to Get Away with Murder but this was her debut with the hottest show currently on Netflix. Without spoiling it too much, the episode Gamble wrote for Bridgerton is about season three main character Penelope facing a difficult choice when Colin catches feelings for her while secondary main character Francesca meets her future husband. |
| Itawamba Community College students worked on award-winning feature film | |
 | "Mississippi Scholar," as the title suggests, is a uniquely Mississippi film about a high school senior who faces personal and societal obstacles as graduation approaches. It was filmed in locations including Baldwyn, Tupelo, the Itawamba Community College (ICC) and University of Mississippi campuses, and received the Best Feature Film jury award at the 2024 Beverly Hills Film Festival. Locals recently had a chance to view the film, directed by Marcus Bleecker, on the ICC campus in Fulton during a screening at the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center on June 13. The event was attended by writer and producer PJ Leonard; executive producer Sonny Marinelli, who stars as teacher Brian Keating; and Gisla Stringer, who stars as the main character's mother Crystal Wilson. From the beginning of Leonard's work in Mississippi, ICC Films students have been involved, working with the production crew. He continued to return each year to work with the ICC Films students and the groundwork was laid for producing a film in Northeast Mississippi. |
| Louisiana's 2 New Free-Expression Laws Target Colleges. They're Raising Lots of Questions. | |
 | In the last two weeks, Louisiana has enacted two pieces of legislation that address First Amendment rights on public college campuses. Both laws reflect political movements spearheaded by GOP-dominated state legislatures: the promotion of faith-based education policies and a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests. One of the laws -- Senate Bill 294 -- largely reaffirms campus free-speech rights that are already protected by the First Amendment. But two provisions are sparking confusion: one that specifically excludes criminal activity from colleges' free-speech policies, and another that prohibits professors from imposing their political beliefs on students. The other law -- House Bill 71 -- requires public schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in all classrooms, making Louisiana the only state to have such a mandate. The Chronicle reached out to several Louisiana public colleges for comment on how the institutions plan to interpret and comply with both laws. Only Louisiana Tech University responded. Cami Geisman, a university spokesperson, wrote in an emailed statement that the campus-speech law would require "minor adjustments" to institutional policies, "but they should not affect our method of addressing free speech on our campus." As for the Ten Commandments law, Geisman said Louisiana Tech soon expects "additional guidance from our management board." |
| Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law Signals a Broader Christian Agenda | |
 | The crowd at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette, La., applauded Gov. Jeff Landry as he signed bill after bill this week on public education in the state, making it clear he believed God was guiding his hand. One new law requires that transgender students be addressed by the pronouns for the gender on their birth certificates ("God gives us our mark," he said). Another allows public schools to employ chaplains ("a great step for expanding faith in public schools"). Then he signed into law a mandate that the Ten Commandments be hung in every public classroom, demonstrating a new willingness for Louisiana to go where other states have not. Last month, Louisiana also became the first state to classify abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances. Taken together, the measures have signaled the ambition of the governor and the Republican-led Legislature to be at the forefront of a growing national movement to create and interpret laws according to a particular conservative Christian worldview. And Mr. Landry, a Catholic who has been vocal about his faith's influence in shaping his politics, wants to lead the charge. "Christian conservatives in this state have been a force for a very long time," said Robert Hogan, a political science professor at Louisiana State University. "They view him as a champion of their cause, and this consolidates that." |
| U. of Missouri Digital Farm shows how technology can make farming simpler | |
 | To the untrained eye, the University of Missouri Digital Farm might look like a typical soybean field. MU Professor Kent Shannon said it is much more than that. The tools and equipment used on the farm, including robots, drones and artificial intelligence tools, would likely not be seen in many other soybean fields around the United States. The farm, located at 4800 E. New Haven Road by the Jefferson Farm and Garden, is also home to the first electric tractor of its kind in the Midwest. The farm held its first public showcase Friday as part of a Digital Agriculture Symposium hosted at the Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center. The center has only been around for a few months and works to adapt to new challenges in agriculture by using the latest technology. Associate Dean for MU Extension Rob Kallenbach said the innovations should make agriculture processes simpler for farmers. Kallenbach said one of the challenges is making things simpler and that technology only works for the farmer if it does that. "Just think about how it changes the day-to-day life of somebody," he said. |
| The New Anti-DEI Bureaucracy | |
| Under a new Indiana law, public colleges are required to provide students a venue to complain if they think a professor isn't protecting their right to "intellectual diversity." In Utah, the Board of Higher Education will now conduct a biannual review of public institutions to ensure they're complying with that state's new law. And public colleges in Texas must submit an annual report to the state Legislature outlining how they've complied with bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Republicans believe DEI is so deeply ingrained in higher education that simply banning it is not enough. And so they've enacted a new layer of oversight and bureaucracy to monitor administrators' and professors' actions, according to a Chronicle analysis. "The more we learn about how DEI has infiltrated every aspect of campus life," said Sherry Sylvester, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, "we know it's going to take longer and longer to unravel it." Lawmakers nationwide have passed 14 laws that ban identity-based recruitment and retention efforts in 12 states. Four will go into effect in July. But DEI advocates say administrators must tailor intervention strategies to communities' needs, undo past discrimination, and abide by federal antidiscrimination laws. Faculty, they argue, are protected by free-speech laws. Compliance initiatives will add to an "avalanche of overcompliance by faculty and administrators," said Jeremy C. Young, a program director at the free-speech advocacy group PEN America. |
| Is next year's FAFSA already off the rails? | |
 | The bungled rollout of this year's new Free Application for Federal Student Aid started with a two-month delay, pushing the usual Oct. 1 launch date to the end of December -- a shift that raised eyebrows across higher ed and portended the disastrous financial aid cycle that followed. So when U.S. education secretary Miguel Cardona appeared at House hearing on the issue last month, it's no surprise lawmakers repeatedly asked him to commit to a timely release for this year's form. "I said before, and I'll repeat it again," an exasperated Cardona told New York Republican Brandon Williams after multiple questions along those lines. "I'm making sure that the staff knows this is the highest priority, and that it's my expectation that on Oct. 1, it's ready." Williams still wasn't satisfied. "You're certain?" he asked. Lawmakers aren't the only ones dubious about the department's timeline. Earlier this month, a coalition of 25 advocacy organizations, including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the National College Attainment Network, sent the department a letter urging officials to commit to an Oct. 1 launch date for next year's form. |
| What role should household wealth play in determining a student's financial aid package? | |
| For college students who have yet to complete the FAFSA for this past school year, there's still time, but not a lot of it; the federal deadline is coming up on Sunday, June 30. The FAFSA is what college-bound students fill out to determine how much financial aid they qualify for. A lot of the questions in both the old -- and revised -- FAFSA are focused on the income of students and their families. But some researchers say the education system should be taking a closer look at a student's household wealth too. Income is money a household gets through things like salary or investments, whereas wealth is the total value of a household's assets. Two of the most valuable assets for American families are retirement savings and their home itself, if they own it. "Those items are not included in the FAFSA," said Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley. One reason the FAFSA's more income-focused is that it's a lot easier to measure than wealth, he said. What it means though is if two students have the same income and one student's family owns their home, both of them get the same amount of financial aid. "But one of them has greater resources than the other," said Levine. If the government gathers more information about wealth, that could be useful in targeting aid to students who need it most, per Mamie Voight, who leads the Institute for Higher Education Policy. |
| Calumniators should not escape punishment | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Have you been calumniated lately? For those of us who dare venture into the public domain as commentators, such has become par for the course. But perhaps nothing dissuades good men and women from becoming candidates for public office more than the risk, no likelihood, of calumny. Just so you know, calumny means "a false and malicious statement designed to injure a reputation" -- American Heritage Dictionary. Niccolò Machiavelli, of all people, contended calumniators should not escape punishment. In his Discourses he argued that calumniators "should be made to bring a formal charge (impeachment), and, when the charge is borne out by the facts, should be rewarded or at any rate, not punished; but, when it is not borne out by the facts, they should be punished." Machiavelli contrasted casual calumny to formal impeachment of someone's character saying, "calumny needs neither witness, nor circumstantial proof to establish it," whereas impeachment requires "substantive charges" and "trustworthy evidence." He argued calumny was so pernicious to good government, "We must neglect no means which may serve to check it." A pioneer of modern republicanism (small "r") in 1517, Machiavelli would be out of touch in the American republic of 2024. It is rare these days for calumnious behavior to be checked. Rather, it seems to be encouraged. |
| An independent path might be easiest if Thomas Duff runs for governor | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Billionaire businessman Thomas Duff of Hattiesburg might be the ideal person to challenge Mississippi's two-party political system. Reporting by Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender revealed that Duff is seriously contemplating running in 2027 as a Republican for the open seat of governor. But what if Duff chose the radical path of running as an independent? Could he win? Granted, there is no certainty at this point that Duff is even running, and he has likely not even considered an independent candidacy. But Duff would be in a unique position to launch what would be a historic independent campaign that might be the political unknown's easiest path to victory. Numerous polls through the years have shown that Americans have an unfavorable opinion of at least one of the two major parties and a negative overall view of the two-party system. But one of the primary obstacles for a candidate not affiliated with a major party, especially in a poor state like Mississippi, is the inability to raise campaign funds. Money would presumably not be an issue for Duff, who owns the Southern Tire Mart chain and has, along with his brother Jim Duff, a reported net worth of $7 billion. The conventional wisdom is that if Duff does run, he could and would self-finance his campaign. Not many Mississippians could write themselves a check for the $12 million or more that is typically needed to run a serious statewide campaign for governor, but Duff is one of them. |
| Transforming Mississippi through a national defense economic development strategy | |
| Rodney Hall, the State Representative for the 20th District in DeSoto County, writes at MagnoliaTribune.com: Senator Roger Wicker's "21st Century Peace Through Strength" initiative is more than a strategic vision for enhancing our national defense; it is an unprecedented opportunity for states like Mississippi to contribute to national security while simultaneously driving our own economic growth. ... As the Vice Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee and an Infantry Officer in the Mississippi Army National Guard, I support Senator Wicker's assessment and vision for defending the homeland -- I also see the opportunity for Mississippi to develop into a leader in defending freedom. Mississippi is uniquely positioned to be a leader in this initiative, and by leveraging our state's legislative authority, we can spearhead transformative efforts that will not only bolster our national security but also drive significant economic prosperity. ... The "Peace Through Strength" initiative emphasizes the importance of proper investment management to field new technologies at scale. In line with this, we should establish research parks around our National Guard installations at Camp McCain and Camp Shelby. These parks would serve as innovation hubs, fostering partnerships between defense-focused companies, the Mississippi National Guard, and our research universities. ... Rapid growth has occurred in the counter-UAS innovation space. Mississippi is already a leader in this field with companies like WISPR, founded in Batesville, and the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory at Mississippi State University, the leading institution for the FAA's Center of Excellence for UAS Research. By legislating support for partnerships between these entities, the Mississippi National Guard, and the Department of Defense, we can drive significant advancements in UAS and counter-UAS technologies. |
SPORTS
| How have first-year head coaches fared at Mississippi State? | |
| It's tough to win with a first-year head coach pretty much anywhere in college football. Heck, even the legendary Nick Saban went just 7-6 in his first year at Alabama in 2007, a season that included an infamous loss to Louisiana-Monroe, before enjoying an undefeated regular season the following year. Mississippi State has historically been no different, although there have been a few exceptions in recent years. As the Bulldogs prepare for Jeff Lebby's first season as head coach this fall, The Dispatch is looking back at previous head coaches' debut campaigns, dating back to Jackie Sherrill in 1991. MSU had not played in a bowl game in nearly a decade when the Bulldogs hired Sherrill, who had been very successful at Pittsburgh and Texas A&M. Coming off a 5-6 season in 1990, Sherrill and MSU finished 7-5, picking up an early marquee win against No. 13 Texas. The Bulldogs did have a bad loss to Memphis, but their other regular-season defeats came against No. 6 Tennessee, No. 14 Florida and No. 7 Alabama, all on the road. After a road win over LSU, MSU defeated Ole Miss 24-9 in the Egg Bowl at home, snapping a three-game losing streak to the Rebels in the first on-campus Egg Bowl since 1972. The Bulldogs then fell to Air Force in the Liberty Bowl. MSU rushed for 258.9 yards per game in 1991, overcoming an up-and-down season from quarterback Sleepy Robinson. The Bulldogs' had a knack for taking the ball away on defense, with Tony Harris and Kelvin Knight each intercepting four passes. Sherrill spent 13 years in Starkville, leading MSU to six bowl games and the 1998 SEC West title, when the Bulldogs became the only school from Mississippi to play in the conference championship game. |
| Women's Golf Adds Kendall Griffin as New Assistant Coach | |
| Mississippi State head women's golf coach Charlie Ewing announced the addition of Kendall Griffin as the program's new assistant coach ahead of the upcoming 2024-25 athletic year. "We are so excited to have Kendall join us as a member of our golf program," coach Ewing said. "She comes in with some incredibly valuable experience as a former standout SEC golfer. She's played amateur golf at an exceptionally high level and has followed that up with some fantastic success in her young coaching career already. She's a great leader to young golfers, and she will have a major impact on everybody associated with our program." Griffin comes to Starkville after spending the last two seasons as the assistant coach at Indiana University. While in Bloomington, Griffin helped the Hoosiers' women's golf program to a Big Ten Championship in 2024, the team's first Big Ten title in over 30 years, while erasing an 11-stroke deficit in the final round of play. Following their Big Ten title, the Hoosiers advanced to the NCAA East Lansing Regional, marking the first NCAA postseason tournament for the program since 2019. She graduated from LSU with a marketing degree and earned her master's degree in sports administration from Louisville. |
| MCWS 2024: The price fans pay for the bargain of the century in Omaha Baseball Village | |
| Yes, it's a soul-crushing ego check. But hey, it's also a great deal! That is the conundrum that faced hundreds of rudderless college baseball fans as they perused the sales tents of the Omaha Baseball Village on Thursday afternoon. They milled about in the shadow of a very empty Charles Schwab Field, some seeking shelter from the mid-June Nebraska heat beneath the monolithic sign on the street side of the ballpark's scoreboard tower reading "HOME OF THE NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES." The stadium was vacated on what is the MCWS's rarest of days, an "If necessary" corner of the week-plus-long bracket that finds itself with zero baseball games. And even the slowest sleuth could have CSI'd the cause and effect of it all simply by checking out the souvenir racks. "What we have here is a case of the haves and the teams the haves turned into have-nots," proclaimed Len Grayson, a Florida State fan who is in Omaha until Tuesday because he confidently booked an end-of-series return flight to Georgia, convinced his Seminoles would be dogpiling in that ballpark as national champs. Instead, they were eliminated Wednesday by top-ranked Tennessee. He held up an orange "Oma-Vols" T-shirt with a $40 price tag and an identical "Oma-Noles" for $9.99. "Guess which team still has a chance to win the College World Series? Here's a hint: They ain't the ones in the bargain bin," Grayson said. |
| Lane Kiffin benefits from college football's 'horrible system.' He wants to change it anyway | |
| The past month saw movement on two issues central to the ongoing crisis of change within college sports. Neither of them, however, seems to impact what many fans and coaches care about most. First came the news of revenue sharing through which schools will be permitted to directly pay athletes, starting next year, as part of the settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit. Then, after years of lobbying, the NCAA finally got a bill out of committee in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent athletes from being made employees. The first development is fine and overdue. The second has no chance of passing the Senate this year, or perhaps ever, and might be going backward as far as fixing the issue that most impacts the fan and coaching experience: the new era of unlimited transfers, which allows players to move from team to team every year. Among those who have raised the alarm on the issue this offseason is Lane Kiffin, the coach who perhaps has made the best use of the transfer portal while at Ole Miss. "That's how bad I'm telling you this is," Kiffin said. "The current system probably benefits us as much as any school in America. And I'm telling you it's a horrible system, so what does that tell you?" |
| With the future of college sports uncertain, one thing is clear: An official and permanent split of NCAA Division I is here | |
| Inside the beachside Ritz-Carlton resort along Florida's southwestern coast, leaders of college athletics met in a second-floor conference room to discuss particulars about the industry's future. Those in the room were limited to five men: NCAA president Charlie Baker and commissioners from the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten. Not in the room: the other 28 Division I commissioners who milled about on the first floor of the resort wondering the whereabouts of the other four. "I didn't even know they were meeting," said one. "Of course," whispered another, "they are cutting us out of it." Minutes later, the five men came hustling down the main stairwell to begin what was the final chapter in four days of administrative meetings here: Baker appearing before all 32 commissioners for a robust discussion about the future of the NCAA's top division. As evident from their separate meeting, NCAA Division I has never been more fractured, fragile and frustrated. The split between the haves and have-nots in college athletics is becoming more real than ever, in fact. Unveiled during this week's meetings of conference commissioners was none other than a new governance model for Division I. Stemming from the NCAA's landmark antitrust settlement, the model further separates the four power leagues from the 28 lower-resourced conferences in a more formal break. Though still in the process of development, the governance framework can simply be summed up in five words, says one FCS league commissioner: "Let the big dogs eat." |
| On-field sponsorships could command upwards $6 million annually in college football | |
| Back in 2018, Colorado State announced a historic naming rights agreement with a local credit union. The $37.7 million partnership agreement over 15 years was one of the largest athletic venue naming agreements in college sports history, infusing cash into Colorado State's annual athletic department budget. USC had previously announced a $69 million deal with United Airlines while Washington signed on with Alaska Airlines. Deals like this offer a peek into what is to come in college sports. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved on-field commercial sponsorships for regular-season games earlier this month. The move is an aftershock of the NCAA and power conferences agreeing on settlement terms in the House, Hubbard and Carter cases. As part of the terms, which have not been ratified yet, all 32 Division I conferences will pay some $2.8 billion in damages over 10 years. In addition, schools, at their discretion, will be able to share up to $22 million annually with athletes. Speaking to a range of industry sources since the NCAA's decision to allow on-field sponsorships, athletic departments could net $2 to $6 million annually from advertisements. Major Power 4 college football programs could see sponsorship deals north of $8 to $10 million annually. "If we use stadium naming rights as a proxy for this next horizon of opportunities for our schools, what the data tells us is that in the majority of cases, those are local or regional brands that want to be a part of these big-time sponsorships," said Cole Gahagan, the president and CEO of multimedia rights holder Learfield. |
| NBA, NFL Pros Back Dartmouth Labor Push as AFL-CIO Files for SEIU | |
| The biggest U.S. pro sports unions are backing a push to classify college athletes as employees, according to an amicus brief filed Friday with the National Labor Relations Board. The sports council of the AFL-CIO, along with the NBPA and NHLPA, say the NCAA has "given up the ghost" of amateurism by offering a cash settlement and that unions should lead college athletes. The council represents the NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBA, NWSLPA, MLSPA and other associations who are throwing their weight behind the 15 Big Green players. In February, NLRB regional director Laura Sacks found those players were employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. A month later they voted 13-2 to unionize with the SEIU Local 560. The 30-page brief makes a bevy of claims in support of the Dartmouth College basketball union push, saying union representation should be the norm as money pours into college sports -- this time, towards the athletes. On Thursday, the NCAA filed an amicus brief claiming that Dartmouth players gaining employment status and unionizing will destabilize college sports, undermine education and "threaten the very existence" of some athletics programs. The pro players' unions sharply disagree and lay out three key arguments. |
| Six climate protesters run onto 18th green and spray powder, delaying finish of PGA Tour event | |
| Six climate protesters stormed the 18th green while the leaders were lining up their putts for the final hole of regulation at the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship on Sunday, spraying smoke and powder and delaying the finish for about five minutes. The protesters waved smoke bombs that left white and red residue on the putting surface before Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia finished their rounds. Some wore white T-shirts with the words "NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET" in black lettering on the front. "I was scared for my life," Bhatia said. "I didn't even really know what was happening. ... But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that's, you know, that's just weird stuff." The PGA Tour issued a statement thanking the Cromwell Police Department "for their quick and decisive action" and noting that there was no damage to the 18th green that affected either the end of regulation or the playoff hole. "From my point of view, they got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that," said Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player, who beat Kim on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff for his sixth victory of the year. The crowd surrounding the 18th green heckled the protesters by yelling profanities and cheered the police who intervened. |
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