| Thursday, July 11, 2024 |
| Clarke's MSU alumni chapter plans send-off party | |
 | Local students planning to attend Mississippi State University this fall will receive special recognition when the Clarke County Chapter of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association holds its annual send-off party scheduled for Thursday, July 25, at Clarkco State Park in Quitman. Activities begin at 6 p.m. for the approximately 20 new MSU students from the Clarke County area. Refreshments will be provided. The MSU Alumni Association sponsors the send-off parties, held each summer in Mississippi and throughout the country. Future Bulldogs planning to attend the Clarke County event are urged to RSVP by contacting Lisa Riley, Chapter president, at 601-480-6052, or email her at rileydawgs@gmail.com, by the July 19 deadline. |
| Sales tax holiday expanded, moved to this weekend | |
 | Mississippi shoppers will once again be getting a break from sales tax this weekend, with an extra day added to the tax holiday. The state's sales tax holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through midnight Sunday. Shoppers won't have to pay the 7% sales tax on certain clothing, footwear or school supplies that cost less than $100 per item, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue. The Book Mart and Cafe in Starkville sells some items that are eligible for the tax holiday, like sweatshirts, skirts, caps, binders and some bookbags, while other items, like books and jewelry, are ineligible. Manager Miranda Andrews said before the weekend begins, she and other employees will be reviewing the MDOR list of tax-free items, to help keep check-out flowing smoothly. Andrews said the store typically sees more foot traffic during the sales tax holiday, but the amount of customers depends on the year. "I believe that there will be a lot of people downtown shopping," Andrews said. The Mississippi Sales Tax Holiday was passed in the 2009 Legislative Session and amended in the 2024 Legislative Session, moving the holiday up to the second Friday in July and adding an additional 24 hours to the tax break. The bill's author, Senator J. Walter Michel, R-Ridgeland, presented the amended bill to the senate in April. When the amendment went through the House, he said, Sunday was added to the holiday and the dates were changed to accommodate new school schedules. Students at the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District report for their first days by last name on July 23 and 24, with all students back in school on a normal schedule by July 25. |
| GTR Airport to host TSA PreCheck enrollment event | |
| Leave your shoes on and your laptop in your bag. The Golden Triangle Regional Airport is hosting its sixth TSA PreCheck enrollment event July 15-19. Each day, agents from the Transportation Security Administration will be at the airport's second floor passenger terminal from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. to help travelers enroll in the program. "We try to make convenience a big part of the airport and the travel experience for the community that uses Golden Triangle Regional Airport," GTR Airport Executive Director Matt Dowell told The Dispatch Wednesday. "TSA PreCheck is one of those really nice amenities to have that makes traveling easier." The event allows flyers to pay a $78 fee for five years in the TSA PreCheck program. Applicants go through a 10-minute application process where they are fingerprinted and have background checks run by TSA, a press release from the airport said. Once that background check comes back clear, applicants receive notice within 30 days that they are enrolled in the program and have been assigned a Known Traveler Number. Dowell said the airport is offering this service to travelers in the area, since the nearest enrollment centers are in Birmingham and Jackson. By hosting the event, travelers in northeast Mississippi and west Alabama can participate in the program more easily. |
| 'Buckle up': Recent economic development in Mississippi has transformative potential, official says | |
 | Recent landmark economic development projects, such as the $10 billion Amazon Web Services project in Madison County or the $1.9 billion EV battery plant in Marshall County, could be signals for a wave of economic evolution in Mississippi. Bill Cork, the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, said that more than $60 billion and 32,000 jobs are in the pipeline, meaning that companies have already found a spot in the state and are being courted to make their investments final. Closed projects yet to be announced include finalized bids on over 40 projects, with $1.6 billion in capital investments and nearly 3,000 more jobs coming to Mississippi. With a cascade of potential new opportunities coming to the state, it highlights the lingering issue of Mississippi's poor labor force participation rate. Top lawmakers have emphasized the need to address the problem, but Cork prefers to call it an opportunity instead of a barrier. He noted that it means there is an "available" work force who can fill the needs of the forthcoming projects. Projects like the new battery plant in Marshall County expand the need for more talented workers in Mississippi. That project alone will require the companies involved to bring on 2,000 skilled workers over the next three years. Cork said the solution is a long-term one, requiring a multi-generational investment in training and education from K-12 and onward. |
| Inflation eased further in June, helping cement path to rate cuts | |
 | Inflation eased more than expected in June, handing Federal Reserve officials another dose of encouraging data as they inch closer to cutting interest rates and giving long-awaited relief to households and businesses. Data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that prices climbed 3 percent compared with last year, an improvement from the 3.3 percent annual figure notched in May. Prices also fell 0.1 percent over the previous month. Additionally, a key measure of inflation that strips out more volatile categories such as food and energy rose 3.3 percent over the past 12 months -- the smallest annual increase since April 2021. Financial markets were flat at the open. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, summed it up this way: "It's better than good." But housing costs continue to be a major driver of overall inflation, and have proved hard to tame since there aren't enough homes available in America. Overall, shelter costs were up 5.2 percent over the year, and 0.2 percent over the month. Policymakers have been waiting to cement their confidence that inflation is gradually easing. Barring any surprises, economists and Fed watchers quickly rallied around a cut at the central bank's mid-September meeting. |
| Auditor White paying Boston firm $2 million to find waste in state government | |
| Auditor Shad White is paying a Massachusetts-based consulting group $2 million in public money with a directive to find at least $250 million in waste in state agencies. White believes the contract with Boston Consulting Group "will be the most important project our team completes during his tenure as state auditor," said auditor's office spokesman Jacob Walters in response to questions from Mississippi Today. "It will help guarantee that as much taxpayer money as possible goes to the things that matter to Mississippians -- roads, bridges, teacher salaries, etc. -- and not waste." Walters said, "The final results of the analysis, along with recommendations on how to save tens of millions of dollars, will be released soon." There have been multiple initiatives in the past aimed at weeding out waste and inefficiency in Mississippi state government. Political leaders ranging from then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to former House Speaker Philip Gunn have bragged of their efforts to eliminate waste and cut government spending. In the 1990s, former Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs led the first effort to develop "performance-based budgeting" for the state to find and eliminate waste. Those efforts have had varying degrees of success. |
| Mississippi's Medicaid enrollment returns to pre-pandemic levels following COVID spike | |
| Mississippi's Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment spiked during COVID by nearly 190,000 residents, a 26 percent increase. The end of a COVID-era law, one which prevented states from checking the income eligibility of individuals enrolled for three years, has seen the state's Medicaid enrollment fall to near pre-pandemic levels. Back in March of 2020, the federal government enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act at the start of the COVID pandemic. Among the law's many provisions was a policy known as "continuous coverage." The provision prevented states from removing people from Medicaid once enrolled, regardless of whether income changes during the pandemic made them ineligible. In exchange, the federal government increased the "Federal Medical Assistance Percentage" by 6.2 percent during the period of continuous coverage, meaning that states received more federal dollars to help fund their Medicaid programs. "I would say the financial benefit of the FMAP increase outweighed the additional cost of the 26 percent enrollment growth (during the pandemic)," Drew Snyder, Executive Director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, told Magnolia Tribune. Snyder pointed out that young people on the rolls of CHIP were less likely to be heavy users of their coverage. Snyder also said that some people are confusing disenrollment, with a lack of coverage. "I think one thing that also gets missed in the discussion about this, is there is a difference between losing insurance coverage and no longer qualifying for Medicaid." |
| Federal judge weighs whether state absentee vote-counting law should be struck down before November | |
| A federal judge on Tuesday appeared undecided over whether he should strike down a Mississippi election law that allows election officials to process mail-in absentee ballots up to five days after an election. U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola in Gulfport heard arguments from attorneys representing two political parties, a state agency and a veterans advocacy organization over whether the state law conflicts with federal election law. The state Libertarian Party, the state and national Republican parties and a county election commissioner are the plaintiffs in the suit. They contend the state law runs afoul of federal election statutes because only Congress should set federal election schedules. Secretary of State Michael Watson's office, who oversees the agency that administers elections, is the defendant in the suit. His office argues the state law does not conflict with federal regulations and that the political parties have not shown that it diminishes their chances of winning an election. The Tuesday hearing centered on the legal definition of Election Day, why America has an Election Day and how much leeway states have in administering federal elections. "The real dispute here is over the meaning of Election Day," said Conor Woodfin, an attorney representing the Republican Party plaintiffs. |
| Anti-ESG group launches campaign around farm bill | |
 | An advocacy group that opposes environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing launched a broad public relations effort to shape negotiations around a new farm bill. Consumers' Research, a leading anti-ESG group, wrote to top lawmakers on agricultural issues in a letter obtained first by The Hill and launched billboards and television ads warning against the risks of including certain policies in potential legislation. "Simply put, Americans cannot afford to allow the same ESG regime currently infecting corporate boardrooms to gain purchase on family farms," Will Hild, the organization's director, wrote a letter to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) and Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. "The interests of consumers and the health of American agriculture must be paramount as Congress determines how to revise the Farm Bill," he added. "In crafting the bill, Congress must ensure that ESG and onerous climate initiatives are kept far away." The last farm bill was enacted in 2018 and was set to expire in 2023, before it was extended by one year. Congress's budget for the total package is estimated at approximately $1.5 trillion to be spent over four years. |
| A House Ag Committee leader says no progress on farm bill in the U.S. House | |
| In a House Ag Committee hearing on Wednesday, Ranking Member David Scott said he's concerned about the lack of bipartisanship and progress on a new farm bill following the committee's approval in late May. "I had a word with Speaker Johnson. My feeling is Speaker Johnson won't bring this bill to the floor for a vote, because it wasn't written as a serious bill. It was written to be used as a campaign slogan," says Scott. Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson has previously said the bill is expected to be considered in the full House in September. But Scott said the bill needs to be brought to the floor for a vote soon, because time is running out to pass a bill. Thompson told Scott "there's a lot I could say, but I'm not going to say anything." The House Ag Committee's farm bill passed out of committee in late May on a slight bipartisan vote. A farm bill requires a simple majority, at least 218 votes, to pass the full U.S. House. In an interview with Brownfield, U.S. Congressman Dusty Johnson from South Dakota said there's been no recent tally of support for the legislation. "If we're going to get a farm bill done before the end of the year, we'll need a lot more than just votes in the House, we're going to need a work product in the Senate and votes in the Senate. We'll need to go to conference committee to work out the differences and there will be differences." |
| Republicans Are Fracturing on the Economy | |
 | Republicans will gather for their convention in Milwaukee next week united behind presidential candidate Donald Trump but divided on what the party stands for. There are, of course, widely aired disagreements over abortion and the war in Ukraine. But a potentially more consequential division has opened over economics. On one side is a pro-business libertarian wing that backs low taxes, free trade and international openness. On the other is a growing contingent of conservatives skeptical of big business, ambivalent about tax cuts and vocally supportive of tariffs. While both wings back Trump, who straddles this divide, they have different priorities should Trump win this fall's election and Republicans retake control of Congress. Which side prevails has huge implications for the economy and business. The new Republican thinking was evident this week at the annual meeting of "national conservatism," one of many labels attached to the new movement (along with the "new right," "populist right" and "conservative economics"). Speakers interspersed attacks on the "Marxist" and "radical" left with condemnation of the "corporatist right," "free marketism" and "globalism." You can trace the origins of this intraparty split to the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, which robbed Republicans of the common enemy that united social conservatives, national-security hawks and free-market libertarians. Trump rode this shift to the Republican nomination in 2016 and then the White House. |
| White House awards funds to convert old plants to EV and hybrid sites | |
 | The White House announced Thursday it's providing $1.7 billion to convert shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly facilities to make fuel-efficient and electric vehicles. The funding, which administration officials said will go to 11 unionized facilities, is aimed at easing concerns that the administration's push to transition to electric vehicles would eliminate domestic auto manufacturing jobs. "This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and retain even more -- from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia -- by helping auto companies retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and communities," President Joe Biden said in a statement. The funds come from the 2022 climate and tax law. The chosen facilities span across eight states -- Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia -- and belong to automakers like General Motors and Fiat Chrysler and other manufacturers like Harley Davidson Inc., among others. The facilities would manufacture a range of energy efficient vehicles, including electric, hydrogen-powered and hybrid vehicles, as well as many parts in the automotive supply chain, such as those for electric buses, hybrid powertrains and heavy-duty commercial truck batteries. The opening of new or revitalized facilities located in the South will likely amount to a major win for unions. Many foreign automakers have opened up electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly facilities across the Southeast, but the United Auto Workers has notoriously struggled to unionize the region. |
| 'You're worried if he knows which direction he's going': Nervous world leaders greet Biden at NATO | |
 | The contrast couldn't be starker: President Joe Biden, physically and politically frail, presiding over what could be his final NATO Summit at a moment when the alliance has never been so strong. That tension is not lost on NATO officials from multiple European nations who say they are alarmed by Biden's apparent decline and increasingly concerned at the prospect of seeing an ardent champion of the alliance replaced in November by a hostile Donald Trump. NATO officials are both saddened at how Biden's fortunes have turned and frustrated that the storyline has distracted from what was to be a celebratory summit. They are also increasingly resigned to his defeat this November, which they fear could halt or reverse the 32-member alliance's recent momentum, threatening Ukraine's ability to fend off Russia's onslaught and the broader stability that has been the bedrock of the organization since its Cold War creation. "It's a very weird feeling to be in Europe listening to the president of the United States, and you're more stressed about whether he will go off script than being excited to listen to the leader of the free world," a senior European diplomat said. "You're worried if he knows which direction he's going or whether he's going to fall or what he's going to forget or if he'll say 'North Korea' when he meant 'South Korea.' It's just a weird experience." |
| The Night President Biden Lost George Clooney's Support | |
| Less than four weeks ago, George Clooney stood on a stage in downtown Los Angeles and told an audience that President Biden was the real star. On Wednesday, he called for a change of cast. In an op-ed that ricocheted across show-business and political circles, Clooney called for Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee for president, breaking the silence of A-list supporters and joining members of Congress and prominent donors who believe the president should step aside. Clooney's words recast memories of a major fundraiser he hosted weeks earlier with other Hollywood stars, a campaign stop that should have been a highlight of the 2024 cycle. Biden joined former President Barack Obama on stage for a conversation with comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The president received a standing ovation when he took the stage. But for some audience members, the mood changed when he started taking questions. To some in the audience, Biden appeared at times to struggle through answers or keep up with the conversationalists, a harbinger of what millions of Americans would see in a debate with former President Trump weeks later. Clooney on Wednesday added himself to the growing list of prominent Democrats who said he had concerns over Biden's at-times frail condition, well before it spilled into public view at the debate. Campaign officials sought to intervene to prevent the piece from publishing, according to a person familiar with the discussions. |
| AI's Energy Demands Are Out of Control. Welcome to the Internet's Hyper-Consumption Era | |
 | Right now, generative artificial intelligence is impossible to ignore online. An AI-generated summary may randomly appear at the top of the results whenever you do a Google search. Or you might be prompted to try Meta's AI tool while browsing Facebook. And that ever-present sparkle emoji continues to haunt my dreams. This rush to add AI to as many online interactions as possible can be traced back to OpenAI's boundary-pushing release of ChatGPT late in 2022. Silicon Valley soon became obsessed with generative AI, and nearly two years later, AI tools powered by large language models permeate the online user experience. One unfortunate side effect of this proliferation is that the computing processes required to run generative AI systems are much more resource intensive. This has led to the arrival of the internet's hyper-consumption era, a period defined by the spread of a new kind of computing that demands excessive amounts of electricity and water to build as well as operate. "In the back end, these algorithms that need to be running for any generative AI model are fundamentally very, very different from the traditional kind of Google Search or email," says Sajjad Moazeni, a computer engineering researcher at the University of Washington. "For basic services, those were very light in terms of the amount of data that needed to go back and forth between the processors." In comparison, Moazeni estimates generative AI applications are around 100 to 1,000 times more computationally intensive. The technology's energy needs for training and deployment are no longer generative AI's dirty little secret, as expert after expert last year predicted surges in energy demand at data centers where companies work on AI applications. |
| Why are Gen X Americans so worried about retirement? | |
| When it comes to retirement savings, members of Gen Z are doing better than their elders. In a recent survey from the investment advisory firm BlackRock, more than three quarters of them -- 77% -- say they're on track to retire and maintain their current lifestyle. Millennials and baby boomers are close behind at 72% and 68%, respectively. But Gen Xers are in a distant last place. Only 60% of them said they have enough retirement savings. Gen Xers are in their mid-40s to late 50s. So, it makes sense that they're thinking -- and worrying -- about retirement. But that worry isn't new, said Anne Ackerley, a senior advisor on retirement with BlackRock. "We've been doing Read on Retirement for the last nine years," Ackerley said. "Gen X is always less confident about whether they're on track or not." Ironically, Gen Xers came of age during boom times. The late 1980s and 1990s were prosperous, with low inflation and unemployment. "And that's when everything was hunky dory, and it was a Goldilocks zone," said Andrew Herzog, a certified financial planner at the Watchman Group. "So, they possibly got too accustomed to things being too good, and saying, 'Hey, you know, if I just put a little bit of money in the stock market, I'll get 10%, 12% no problem.' And perhaps they were, you know, misled." The BlackRock researchers said even the oldest Gen Xers have time left to save for retirement. |
| Thinking About a Mississippi River Cruise? There's One Big 'If.' | |
 | Tom Trovato and his wife, Trish, paid more than $20,000 and waited two years to experience Viking's inaugural cruise up the Mississippi River. Leaving in September 2022, it was supposed be a two-week excursion from New Orleans to St. Paul, Minn., a trip of some 1,800 miles. They never got past Memphis. Low water levels, caused by drought, narrowed the river's main shipping channel to allow only one-way traffic, first stalling their boat, the Viking Mississippi, and then ultimately aborting the trip. Though they got a full refund, the Trovatos, who live in Surprise, Ariz., have no plans to try again. The Mississippi River is central to American identity, with all the contradictions that entails. For many people, particularly baby boomers reaching their retirement years, a cruise along the Mississippi River is a dream trip. But it's becoming harder to make it come true. Though operators are building new ships, and towns and cities are investing in infrastructure to welcome boat traffic, cruises on the Mississippi face mounting challenges from an increasing number of droughts and floods. |
| Mississippi Book Festival to feature LeVar Burton, Jesmyn Ward as panelists | |
| A pair of stars have been announced as featured panelists for this year's Mississippi Book Festival. Jesmyn Ward, the first Black woman to win two National Book Awards, will be a panelist alongside Star Trek: Next Generation star LeVar Burton. The two will discuss Ward's latest novel Let Us Descend. Throughout her storied career, Ward has earned a multitude of prestigious honors including the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Stegner Fellowship, a John and Renee Grisham Writers Residency, the Strauss Living Prize, and the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University and lives in Mississippi. Burton, an actor, director, and educator committed to improving children's education through innovative uses of storytelling is best known for his roles in ROOTS and Reading Rainbow in addition to playing Geordi La Forge in the hit sci-fi series. Since its inception in 2014, the number of attendees at the Mississippi Book Festival has nearly doubled after a record 2023. Overall, nearly 50,000 people have attended the festival and over 44,000 students have been reached through its mission. |
| Jones College holds orientation event | |
 | Incoming students got a glimpse of the Bobcat World at Jones College Wednesday. The college held its "Jones Up Close" orientation event for incoming freshmen. Students and parents got a chance to meet faculty members, learn about the campus and student clubs and get identifications and parking passes. "For students, I think it just gives you some comfort to come to the campus and you get to meet people," said Dr. Finee' Ruffin. JC executive vice president of marketing. "You get to meet administrators." Different sessions also were held about payment plans, schedules and housing. JC officials said the school was expecting to welcome some 1,200 to 1,400 freshmen this fall. "We're small enough that you're going to know us and see us in the cafeteria, but you're also going to know where your buildings are," Ruffin said. "You're not going to be lost on your first day of class. So, orientation is kind of a right of passage for anybody as a freshman going to college." |
| U. of Alabama launches center for AI research | |
| The University of Alabama is launching the Alabama Center for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, which will be housed in the College of Engineering. The center is supported in part through a $2 million gift in honor of Dr. Marvin A. Griffin, former chair of the Department of Computer Science. It will unify new and existing work across the UA campus. "The launch of the ALA-AI Center marks a transformative moment in AI research and education here at The University of Alabama and for our state, showcasing UA's unwavering dedication to excellence, innovation, world-class education and in being at the forefront of the research and development of cutting-edge technologies," said Dr. Clifford Henderson, dean of the College of Engineering. The center will focus on five themes: advancing AI and its machine-learning methodologies; promoting AI applications that benefit society; ensuring the ethical use of AI; cultivating a workforce that is proficient in AI; and fostering a vibrant AI research and education community. Dr. Jiaqi Gong, associate professor of computer science, is the inaugural director of the center. |
| LSU faculty, staff lack confidence in university leadership, survey finds | |
| Only 40% of faculty at Louisiana's flagship university reported feeling confident in their senior leadership to make the right decisions for the institution, a survey of LSU employees showed. The 2023 Employee Engagement Survey, which was administered by LSU last September and October and had more than 5,000 respondents, is the first campus-wide employee study and details how faculty and staff feel about the university. The survey also found just 48% of staff have confidence in university leadership. The survey results come after recent tumultuous years for the university. Shortly after former President F. King Alexander left the university in 2019, LSU became embroiled in a high-profile scandal after a USA Today report revealed the university mishandled sexual misconduct complaints against top student-athletes. After the search for a new president was conducted in the scandal's aftermath and during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the university hired last-minute candidate William Tate, an epidemiologist and critical race theory scholar who came to campus with big goals to prioritize enforcement of Title IX laws and revamp diversity. LSU Faculty Senate President Dan Tirone attributed the lack of faith in administration to the defunding of higher education during former Gov. Bobby Jindal's tenure. |
| Louisiana Wants the Ten Commandments in College Classrooms, Too | |
 | A new Louisiana law that mandates a poster-sized copy of the Bible's Ten Commandments be hung in every public school classroom -- including at colleges and universities -- has already been challenged by nine Louisiana families, whose lawyers say they hope a judge will grant a preliminary injunction before the 2024–25 academic year starts. In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, called the law "an egregious violation of religious liberty; the school officials can't force religious scripture on students as a condition of getting a public education. It's unfair and it's unconstitutional." The Louisiana law is just one of several recent moves by conservative politicians and education leaders to insert Christian teachings into public education; just this year, Oklahoma's superintendent of schools ordered public schools to teach about the Bible and Texas unveiled a new elementary school curriculum that includes biblical stories and scenes. In both cases, education leaders argued that references to the Christian Bible are so pervasive in culture and literature that students benefit from learning about them. Higher education has mostly been spared from state efforts to infuse public schools with religious teachings, but Louisiana's law includes all 32 public colleges, universities and trade schools in the state -- even as most of the rhetoric surrounding the bill seems to focus on young children and how and what they should be taught about morals and religion. |
| Filings show mysterious $10B RELLIS project is semiconductor plant | |
 | The mysterious potential high-tech manufacturing facility that would be at Texas A&M University's RELLIS campus in Bryan valued at $10 billion is a semiconductor plant, according to filings from the project owner America's Foundry Bryan, LLC to the Office of Texas Comptroller of Accounts first obtained by the Austin Business Journal. An economic impact analysis report shows the total capital investment for the project is over $108 billion across the next 40 years. The project has received the greenlight from A&M's Board of Regents and received approval for a lucrative tax abatement agreement from both the Brazos County Commissioners Court and the Bryan City Council. Local leaders with knowledge of the project are all under non-disclosure agreements regarding the project's details and have been vague with answers about what the project would entail. The project includes a 3 million square-foot advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility that features administrative buildings, central utilities buildings and infrastructure, a machine shop, receiving and warehousing facilities, and site and roadway infrastructure. A&M Chancellor John Sharp said Tuesday that the project has the potential to double the city of Bryan's taxable income. Bryan city staff said the Brazos Central Appraisal District's current 2024 estimate of net taxable value for the city to be certified on or before July 25 is just north of $9.9 billion. |
| U. of Missouri researcher awarded $3 million to study sleep apnea | |
 | Rene Cortese plans to take a systemic approach to researching sleep apnea and its relationship to cardiovascular health, a method he said he finds fascinating. Cortese will apply this approach to his work under a new $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support Cortese and his research team in investigating the effects of sleep apnea on blood vessel cells, the School of Medicine announced Wednesday. Cortese, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine's pediatrics and obstetrics, gynecology and women's health departments, began working at the university in 2019. Three years later, he and his team discovered that treatment for sleep apnea can reduce age acceleration caused by the disorder. "Patients with sleep apnea have a rate of age acceleration that is higher than normal people," Cortese said. "When you treat the sleep apnea, it's like you put the brakes on this acceleration." Epigenetics, or the study of how the environment affects our genes, is Cortese's area of expertise, and he has been studying sleep disorders for over 10 years. |
| Why alumni magazines continue to be a standby of print journalism | |
| College alumni magazines have long been a standby of print journalism. Their cheerful, picture-filled pages are meant to remind readers of what the old campus looks like, what old classmates are up to, and provide a poke to maybe give some money to keep it all going. But during the pandemic, lots of colleges cut costs by taking their magazines entirely online. Some decided that was the way of the future. But many ended up returning to print. At least half of all American colleges stopped printing their alumni magazines during the pandemic. That's an estimate from alumni magazine consultant Erin Peterson, whose firm is called Capstone Communications. But since then, there's been a big shift back to print. Peterson said colleges learned that many alumni like having the physical magazine. "It is a social signal. If you're really proud that you went to an institution, you want to put that on your coffee table," said Peterson. "You can't put a digital magazine on your coffee table." One alumni magazine did go digital in 2020 and isn't looking back: the Purdue Alumnus, from the public university in West Lafayette, Indiana. Matt Folk runs the Purdue for Life Foundation, which puts out the magazine. He said his audience is a fairly techy crowd, and now, he's able to collect lots of data about what they're reading. Folk said going digital has saved just under $200,000 a year, and that donations have actually gone up since they've gone online. He does get complaints sometimes from older alums who miss the feel of the print magazine, and he admits that even he -- a 1991 Purdue grad -- does, too. But he said young alumni are all about it being on the internet. |
| College can boost your income by 37% | |
 | Even as Americans express growing skepticism about the value of a college degree, a new study finds "incontrovertible" data that college grads far outearn those with only a high school education. In 2024, college grads' median pay stands at about 37% higher than median pay for those without a bachelor's degree, according to the analysis from compensation firm PayScale. In dollar terms, people with a college education earn about $78,400 annually in median pay, compared with $49,400 for people with a high school degree, the study found. Americans' increasingly dim view of higher education comes amid rising tuition costs and the nation's ongoing student debt crisis, with millions of households grappling with a combined $1.7 trillion in college loans. While some professions don't require college degrees and can also provide good livings -- such as trades like plumbing or electrical wiring -- the earnings and wealth gap between college and high school grads remains significant. For instance, young college grads have roughly quadruple the wealth of their less educated counterparts, a study from the Pew Research Center found earlier this year. "Despite the skyrocketing cost of tuition and dwindling enrollment numbers, our data shows that a college degree is still valuable in today's job market based on better salary outcomes," Amy Stewart, principal, research and insights at Payscale, said in a statement. |
| US intel chief says Iran is attempting to stoke Gaza protests | |
 | Iran is attempting to covertly stoke protests in the United States related to the conflict in Gaza, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement on Tuesday, posing as activists online and, in some cases, providing financial support to protesters. "I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza -- this intelligence does not indicate otherwise," Haines said. "Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government," she said. "We urge all Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts and actors they do not personally know." The conflict in Gaza has sparked protests across the United States, in particular on college campuses, where some Americans have expressed horror at the scale of civilian casualties caused by Israel as it attempts to stamp out Hamas, which carried out the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Those protests have been hugely divisive domestically, making them a ripe target for foreign actors -- like Iran -- interested in amplifying discord within the US. |
| Biden administration goes bigger on funding apprenticeships, hoping to draw contrast with GOP | |
 | The Biden administration said Thursday that it's providing $244 million to expand and update the federal government's registered apprenticeship program -- an effort to bring more people into higher-paying work that doesn't require a college degree. White House Domestic Policy Adviser Neera Tanden and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su are announcing the financial commitment in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The funding is the highest sum in the apprenticeship program's history, with the money going to 32 states and 52 grantees. After President Joe Biden's anemic answers in the June 27 debate against Donald Trump, his team has tried to put greater focus on the contrast between his policies and what Republicans are offering, hoping that substance will be more decisive than style and age in November's presidential election. "This really is a stark contrast to where Republicans are writ large," Tanden said. "While previous administrations tried to talk about this or use it as a talking point, this administration has really delivered." The House Republican budget plan would cut the apprenticeship program by 47%, despite employers saying they need more skilled workers. The low 4.1% unemployment rate has left many companies saying they are unable to fill jobs in construction, manufacturing and other sectors. |
| Biden could try to deliver on sweeping student loan forgiveness weeks before election | |
| President Joe Biden could try to forgive the debt of millions of federal student loan borrowers just weeks before voters decide between him and former President Donald Trump at the ballot box in November. In the Biden administration's Spring 2024 Unified Agenda, the U.S. Department of Education disclosed that it will publish its final rule on student loan relief sometime in October. Due to the timeline of regulatory changes, that would normally mean the administration wouldn't be able to carry out its program until July 2025, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. However, the department could act sooner simply by publishing a notice in the Federal Register, he noted. "I expect publication [of the rule] to occur in early October, so that the conflict between Democrats and Republicans over forgiving student debt will be in effect during the election," Kantrowitz said. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Biden's first attempt at wide-scale loan cancellation last summer, his administration has been working on its do-over plan. While the Education Department attempted to make the relief more targeted this time in an effort to increase its chances of survival, up to 20 million people still stand to benefit. For critics of broad student loan forgiveness, Biden's new plan looks a lot like his first. |
| Project 2025 Would Radically Overhaul Higher Ed. Here's How. | |
| A conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration calls for fundamentally reshaping the government and federal higher education policy. Spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Project 2025 offers a vision of a radically overhauled and pared-down federal government that's largely staffed by party loyalists, free of "woke culture warriors" and more responsive to the priorities of the president. While the nearly 900-page policy manual has been in the works for more than two years, its policy recommendations have garnered greater attention and scrutiny in recent months as the presidential election heats up. Critics say the plan represents an attempt to weaken constitutional checks and balances and take away personal freedoms. "This is an attempt to basically rearrange who has power and who doesn't," said Michael Podhorzer, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that's worked in recent months to raise public awareness of the blueprint and its potential implications. "It's authoritarian, because this agenda cannot be implemented by anything remotely like a democratic process." Project 2025 calls for a lightly regulated higher education system run with limited involvement from the federal government. Ultimately, it declares that the federal government's only role in education policy should be "that of a statistics-gathering agency that disseminates information to the states." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Cijntje one of six players attending MLB Draft | |
| The 2024 MLB Draft is less than a week away with Mississippi State pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje confirmed as one of six players attending the annual event in person. The MLB announced Wednesday afternoon that Cijntje (No. 25 overall prospect), an ambidextrous heat thrower who played his high school years in Florida before moving to Starkville, will be joined by left-handed pitcher Cam Caminiti (No. 15) from Saguaro High School in Arizona; shortstop Kaelen Culpepper (No. 31) from Kansas State University; outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 8) from the Texas A&M University; second baseman Christian Moore (No. 13) from the University of Tennessee; and shortstop JJ Wetherholt (No. 4) from West Virginia University. While the MLB has not historically had a full lineup of prospects attend the annual draft -- unlike the NFL and the NBA -- a handful make the trip each year in hopes of hearing their names called in real time. Cijntje, who compiled an 8-2 record with a 3.67 earned run average as a sophomore in 2024, isn't the only Bulldog with big league dreams as outfielder Dakota Jordan (No. 34) is also considered by many as a first round-caliber player. |
| Mississippi State Soccer Announces 2024 Schedule | |
| With the 2024 soccer season right around the corner, head coach James Armstrong has announced the schedule for Mississippi State soccer's 2024 campaign. The schedule features 11 home matches at the MSU Soccer Field. The Bulldogs are coming off the most successful season in program history where they finished the 2023 season in the Sweet 16 and ranked as the consensus #14 team in the nation by United Soccer Coaches and Top Drawer Soccer. MSU's 2024 schedule features many exciting matchups, promising formidable battles for fans and players to mark on their calendars. State will begin their journey through the 2024 season with a pair of exhibition matches where they will first hit the pitch on Aug. 3 against Kennesaw State at 4 p.m. Bulldog fans can welcome State back to the MSU Soccer Field for the first time in 2024 when they face Louisiana-Monroe for one final tune-up match on Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. State will kick off its regular season at home with a highly anticipated SEC-BIG 12 matchup under the lights when they welcome Baylor to Starkville on Aug. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will play 10 conference matches this season, with five at home and five on the road. The Dawgs will kick off SEC play on the road against Oklahoma for the first time in school history on Sept. 19. In addition to the trip to Norman, the Bulldogs will travel to face South Carolina, Georgia, Ole Miss (for the Magnolia Cup) and Texas A&M. |
| Men's Golf: Smith Hires Cornelius As Assistant Coach | |
| Head men's golf coach Dusty Smith announced that Kyle Cornelius has been hired as the Bulldogs' new assistant coach on Wednesday. Cornelius spent the 2023-24 season on staff at Charlotte. In his lone season with the 49ers, Cornelius helped the program claim three top-five finishes as a team while recording 19 individual rounds in the 60s. His tenure saw Conor Gough play at the NCAA Regionals as an individual and Justin Matthews earn exemption into a PGA Tour event. "We are so excited to welcome Kyle into our golf program," Smith said. "Kyle is one of the bright young coaches in our profession right now that is going to bring us so much positive energy, an incredible work ethic and a standard of excellence. He is going to be a great addition to the culture that has been created here. I am looking forward to working with him, learning from him and continuing to build the program into what we know it can be." Prior to Charlotte, he spent one season at Troy, his alma mater, as a graduate assistant. While there, Cornelius worked with both the men's and women's teams. |
| The College Football Hall of Fame's Mike Leach problem: 'A unique case' | |
| The College Football Hall of Fame will soon have a Mike Leach conundrum, and its organizers know it. Leach, the trailblazing former head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State who revolutionized passing offenses, died in December 2022 at 61 years old from heart complications. The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame require coaches to win 60 percent of their games to be eligible. Leach finished his career at 59.1 percent. Immediately following Leach's death, fans began criticizing the benchmark and calling for the Hall of Fame to let him in. So, will it? Matthew Sign, the NFF's chief operating officer, told The Athletic that the discussion doesn't begin until three years after a coach's final game if they're younger than 70. So there are still two more seasons before that begins with Leach. But Sign knows it's coming. "Mike Leach is a unique case," said Sign, who considered himself a friend of the coach. "The three schools he coached at were not easy. His influence over the sport in high school and college, you have to take that into account. These will be things that get discussed, and we'll see where it goes." There's also the unique circumstances with Leach's passing. He was coming off an 8-4 season at Mississippi State, a second consecutive improvement from the year prior. He may have crossed the mark if he hadn't passed away. |
| Colleges Make Olympic Athletes. Is That About to Change? | |
 | Many of the athletes who will be headed to Paris for the Olympics this month received much of their coaching and experience playing sports on American campuses, which for decades have been a major training ground for elite fencers, gymnasts, and sprinters worldwide. But that model is under threat. That's because the same athletic departments that sponsor many elite Olympic programs are poised to allocate more money directly to athletes. Division I institutions will be expected to contribute to a $2.75-billion settlement in a recent antitrust case, if a judge approves the terms, and a portion of those colleges will start paying current athletes in revenue-generating sports such as football and basketball as part of the same settlement. This raises the possibility that sports like swimming, tennis, and field hockey may be on the chopping block -- a possibility athletics leaders have long cited as a potential consequence of paying players. If that happens, the college-to-Olympics pipeline could look very different in 2026 and beyond. But cutting college sports programs is notoriously hard to do. Plus there is a large, sometimes intangible benefit to funding a competitive program that sends athletes to the Olympics every four years. So experts and others in college athletics believe that colleges must find another way to fund them. |
| Deion Sanders makes grand entrance into Big 12 with Colorado | |
 | Deion Sanders took Las Vegas by storm here Wednesday, making his grand debut as a member of the Big 12 Conference by taking the stage at Allegiant Stadium and doing what he does best –attracting and welcoming attention unlike any other coach in America. For example, the Colorado head football coach walked to the stage attended by his security guard and a trail of photographers. He protested in jest when his 15 minutes on the stage ran out, saying he was having fun answering questions from reporters at the Big 12 media days event. He also expressed awe at where he was and how far he had come, even though he's a Pro Football Hall of Famer in his second year at Colorado. Last year, "Coach Prime" was scheduled to appear here with the Pac-12 Conference but canceled because of health problems. One year later, he's in the Big 12 after Colorado switched leagues and sounds like he's thrilled about it. Much like last year in his first season in Boulder, Sanders used the transfer portal to remake his roster, with about 40 transfers coming in and at least 36 players from last year's team transferring out or otherwise leaving before their eligibility expired. Describing his overall outlook at age 56, Sanders noted he's "judged on a different scale." "Nothing I do is ever going to be enough," he said. "I'm cool with that. I understand that that is life, and that's how life is going to be. But I plan on being a tremendous blessing to as many people I can bless, especially those probably 120 young men that put on this CU helmet and go out and play for our school and our program." |
| NCAA, college leaders close to finalizing settlement with plaintiff's attorneys in landmark antitrust cases | |
| Plaintiff's attorneys are targeting next week to file with the court the long-form agreement in the NCAA's landmark settlement of the House, Hubbard and Carter antitrust cases, they tell Yahoo Sports. However, college athletic leaders from the four power conferences and NCAA are working through finalizing edits to the long-form document, a process that could delay the expected filing date next week and result in an extension from the court. "We're waiting for their final comments. We are hoping to file by the end of next week," Jeffrey Kessler, one of the lead plaintiff's attorneys in the case, told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. Plaintiff's attorneys sent the long-form document to college leaders earlier this summer in what lawyers describe as a normal process for any settlement. Plaintiff's attorneys are expected to review any changes from conference and NCAA officials before filing with the court. The changes are not expected to be significant. Kessler described the long-form agreement as a formalization of the term sheet that the parties agreed to in May, and there are little to no looming issues, he said. However, there are many looming issues regarding the future revenue-sharing model coming to college athletics, such as roster sizes by sport, a new third-party enforcement arm and the exact revenue cap figure. These items are not necessary to completing the long-form agreement, Kessler said, and are "internal issues" that conference leaders must determine themselves. |
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