| Friday, August 9, 2024 |
| MSU assistant professor granted $1.13M from NASA to help design space exploration vehicles | |
 | An assistant professor at Mississippi State University is set to receive a $1.13 million grant from NASA to help design hypersonic vehicles used in space exploration. MSU Department of Aerospace Engineering's Dr. Vilas Shinde won the grant to develop a new flow stability and transition analysis tool, which will aid researchers and aircraft designers in understanding and predicting changes associated with the boundary layer -- airflow in the vicinity of an aircraft's surface during flight. "Dr. Shinde has demonstrated the relevancy of his research by securing this award," MSU Aerospace Engineering Department head Rani Sullivan said. "The accurate prediction of boundary layer transition is critical for the aerodynamic design of aircraft, especially for the aerothermodynamic design of hypersonic vehicles. We are proud that Dr. Shinde and his collaborators at NASA Langley and the University of Mississippi will have the opportunity to study and develop new technologies to address important issues for aircraft systems." The core theoretical and computational development will be performed at MSU in coordination with NASA, while Ole Miss will conduct an experimental investigation. |
| MSU tackles climate change threats to soybean production through collaborative $6M NSF grant | |
| Mississippi State University scientists are collaborating on a $6 million National Science Foundation research project to ensure sustainable soybean yields despite rising temperatures and increasing drought. Climate change significantly threatens agriculture, with extreme heat and drought potentially reducing soybean yields by up to 40% in the next 25 years. The interdisciplinary Program of Advancing Climate Extreme Resilience in Soybeans, or iPACERS, also includes Clemson University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and aims to build soybean resilience against these challenges. Funded by an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, grant from the NSF, the team will explore all aspects of the soybean from the single cell to the whole plant and its surrounding microbial communities and soil. Using artificial intelligence, the team will integrate data to identify novel RNA markers and beneficial microbes, which then will be evaluated for their roles in developing a more resilient soybean variety. Nuwan Wijewardane, assistant professor in MSU's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, leads the MSU team, focusing on the above-ground aspects of the plant by recording environmental conditions and capturing plant phenotypes via uncrewed aerial and ground vehicles. Other MSU faculty involved in the project include Assistant Professors Xin Zhang, Raju Bheemanahalli Rangappa and Nesma Osman and Associate Extension Professor Mary Love Tagert. |
| A road trip route through Mississippi with plenty of storied stops | |
| Northeastern Mississippi is a crossroads and has, over centuries, been formed by that distinction. Corinth, in the far north of the state, came into being in the 1850s when the survey lines for two major railroads intersected, creating a boom town. Known as the Crossroads of the South, it would become one of the most contested spots during the Civil War, as the railroad to which it owed its beginnings became its greatest liability. Today, several attractions, including the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, tell the story of the city and its role in the war. About an hour south of Corinth lies the town of Tupelo, where Appalachia and the Delta converge, creating a unique cultural crossroads. The town's favorite son, Elvis Presley, is among the most well-known of the region's iconic trailblazers. His life and work are showcased at his birthplace and recounted at stops all over town. Along the entirety of the route from Corinth through Tupelo and on to the vibrant college town Starkville, home to Mississippi State and the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, travelers will appreciate the region's natural beauty. |
| SPD SWAT rescues 4-year-old from barricaded captor | |
 | SWAT officers safely rescued a 4-year-old from the clutches of an alleged kidnapper Thursday morning following a more than two-hour standoff with the suspect, who was barricaded in a Brookville Garden Apartment. Tyrez Wade, 33, of Hattiesburg, is charged with kidnapping, domestic violence-simple assault, disorderly conduct and failure to comply, authorities reported during a press conference Thursday at Starkville Police Department. Witnesses called 911 at about 2:22 a.m. to report Wade was fighting with his girlfriend outside Building 5 at the apartment complex at 305 Everglade Ave., according to police. Wade was reportedly armed with a knife and handgun during the altercation. When officers arrived, Wade fled to a second-floor apartment and barricaded himself inside with his girlfriend's child. After more than two hours of negotiations, SPD SWAT officers forced entry into the apartment and found Wade holding the child. Officers successfully rescued the child and arrested Wade "without significant injury," an SPD press release said. No firearms were found inside the apartment. The suspect had no relation to the child, Police Chief Mark Ballard said during the press conference. "Domestic violence kills," Ballard said. "In my experience in law enforcement ... if it hasn't been a narcotic-related homicide, it's been domestic. When you're in a bad relationship, get out. That message was sent very clearly to the victim. I think her family is on board with this." |
| Tripp Hayes: New Delta Council President Continuing the Vision | |
| Clarksdale native Tripp Hayes, the new president of Delta Council, grew up on a farm. After graduating from Lee Academy, he went on to get a B.S. in banking and finance at the University of Mississippi. His first job after college was with the Cotton Board in Memphis, Tenn. He then went back to school to get an MBA from Millsaps College. Following that, Hayes went to work for Staplcotn in Clarksdale. But soon he was drawn back to the land to take over the farm from his father in 1993. "I didn't intend to come back to the farm," says Hayes. "But I met with my dad and he said, 'If you want to come back to the farm, I want you because it isn't that fun for me anymore.' And that is why I ended up coming back to the farm. You have to love it to do it because it can be challenging. Woods Eastland, a former president of Delta Council, said the farming profession is the only one where you are told what you are going to receive for products, what you will pay for inputs, and you pay the freight both ways." His education and ag producer experience have been a bonus in the volunteer work he has done including thirty-one years of service at Delta Council, which recently named him president of the regional development organization. "I have always been terribly impressed by the work Delta Council has been able to accomplish over the years," he says. "And having eighteen or nineteen counties kind of pushing the wagon together makes a much more effective effort." |
| Jimmy Buffett's empire continues to grow with new Margaritaville resort on the Gulf Coast | |
 | Jimmy Buffett's last words to his sister Lucy Buffett were "have fun," and the empire he built continues to expand on that message and brand a year after his passing, with the announcement of a Margaritaville resort coming to The Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama. Buffett, who was born in Pascagoula, died in September 2023. In addition to his legacy as a singer, songwriter and best-selling author, he owned casinos, resorts, restaurants, entertainment venues, a campground, retirement community and cruise line. Groundbreaking for this new Margaritaville Orange Beach will be in the fall. The first phase is expected to open in spring 2027 and the entire resort is projected to be complete by 2029. The Orange Beach resort will "mix Margaritaville's laid-back island lifestyle with the vibrant entertainment, shopping and dining offered at The Wharf," the company website says. This new resort, along the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway, will have signature Margaritaville bars, eateries and entertainment, some of which are also located at Margaritaville Resort Biloxi. In addition to hotel rooms, the Orange Beach resort will have single-family resort cottages and luxury waterfront condos. Like Margaritaville Resort Biloxi, the Orange Beach resort will have a lazy river, swimming pool and other water features. |
| Mortgage rates fall in anticipation of a Fed rate cut | |
| The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage peaked in this latest cycle of Fed interest rate hikes at just under 8%. That was back in October 2023, according to Freddie Mac. Rates hovered right around 7% for a good part of this year. But with the job market slowing and inflation easing, there's a growing consensus the Fed will begin cutting short-term rates in September, and mortgage rates have been falling in anticipation. Mortgage rates are now the lowest they've been since May of 2023, per Mike Fratantoni, chief economist and senior vice president of research and industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association. "30-year mortgage rates are down more a half a percentage point over the past couple of weeks. We were above 7%, we're at 6.5%," he said. And that's led to a surge in new mortgage applications by recent homebuyers. The decline in mortgage rates has not unleashed a surge in homebuying, however. And Zillow economist Orphe Divounguy doesn't think it will, because a lot of would-be first-time buyers have been squeezed out of the market by unaffordable prices. "You have a big disconnect between buyers and sellers in today's housing market. You have buyers that are feeling the pinch," he said. |
| Has the U.S. Economy Reached a Tipping Point? | |
 | Six months ago, Alex and Aaron Taylor booked a six-day trip from Minnesota to Walt Disney World for their family of five over the Thanksgiving holiday. In late June, Aaron lost his truck-driving job, and he is still struggling to find a new one. They decided this week to cut the Disney visit to a single day. They will be spending more time at the hotel pool instead (but haven't yet told their children about the change in plans). "The labor market was flooded during Covid, and now things are just not lining up," said Aaron, 41. "Everything it seems like is at a standstill right now." Such challenges are reverberating through an unsteady economy, giving rise to a central question: In the long fight to cut inflation and dodge recession, have we reached a tipping point? Until recently, the U.S. appeared to be headed for a soft landing -- with inflation coming down while employment has remained high and growth has been steady. Events of the past few weeks, however, have undermined confidence in that outlook, with some economists raising the probability of recession and others saying the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates more swiftly to stave one off. The uncertainty is weighing on consumers and businesses of all sizes as they try to make spending decisions and plans. Economists widely expect the Fed to start cuts at its next meeting in September. In the interim, businesses and everyday consumers will make myriad decisions -- whether to book trips, upgrade kitchens, approve business travel or hire more workers -- that could help push the country one way or another. |
| Impromptu protests at Mississippi State Capitol could soon be thing of the past | |
| A new state law regulating protests in the Capitol Complex Improvement District has yet to take effect. Under Senate Bill 2343, the Capitol Police chief or commissioner of public safety would have to give prior written approval for any public demonstration on a street or sidewalk at the Capitol or any state-owned building inside the CCID. Critics of the legislation say it could have huge consequences restricting the public's First Amendment rights. "I can assure you in no shape or form does anybody at the Department of Public Safety for this administration want to restrict anybody's First Amendment rights to protest me or protest anything we're doing," said Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell. DPS officials held a hearing at the state Capitol on Thursday to develop regulations to implement the SB 2343. A federal judge who blocked enforcement of the law last year requested the hearing. The Legislature passed the bill and Gov. Tate Reeves signed it into law in 2023. "You can't decide spontaneously, 'Let's go express our view to state officials,' because then you could face arrests and criminal consequences for doing so if you didn't think to apply weeks and months in advance," said Franklin Rosenblatt, with the Mississippi College School of Law. Tindell said the goal is to balance public safety with the public's right for free expression. |
| Mississippi returns indigenous remains, artifacts to Chickasaws | |
| The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has returned 95 human remains and 1,500 funerary objects to the Chickasaw Nation as part of a federal law requiring repatriation of indigenous remains and burial items. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires federal agencies and federally funded institutions to return cultural items and human remains to lineal descendants, Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian organizations. Following the law's guidelines, MDAH identified and created a summary of all the cultural items and remains in its possession. Then, it consulted with the Chickasaw Nation to return them. MDAH consults with other tribes to return their remains and cultural items as well. According to Amber Hood, the Chickasaw Nation's director of Historic Preservation and Repatriation, the remains and funerary objects will be reburied at or close to their original resting places. |
| House Ag Committee members talk farm bill timing | |
| Two members of the House Agriculture Committee are optimistic a new farm bill can be completed by the end of the year. Minnesota Republican Congressman Brad Finstad tells Brownfield House Ag Committee chair Glenn GT Thompson is still hopeful progress can be made in September. "See if we can make a last-ditch effort to try to move something through the House. The unfortunate part is right now we're trying to figure out and read tea leaves of what's going on in the Senate." Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig says the 2018 Farm Bill was also delayed. "That farm bill failed on the House floor and it went to conference committee, and Collin Peterson was ranking member and we got a really good farm bill out of it. So this is a little bit a part of the process." She's eyeing the lame duck session. "I sure hope we can, and I'm willing to come back to the table and negotiate with the Ag Chairman and I know we want to get this done." |
| Walz was a hit in the Midwest. He's a 'question mark' in the Sun Belt. | |
 | Tim Walz helped Kamala Harris fire up the base on his Midwestern home turf. Now, Democrats are about to find out how he plays outside that region. The new running mates are turning their attention from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt -- testing whether Walz's folksy, Midwestern brand can resonate beyond middle America. But Walz is largely unknown outside his home state. He has more limited experience with the southern border, a crucial issue in this election but especially in Arizona, where the campaign will make an appearance on Friday as part of its battlegrounds tour. And some Sun Belt Democrats fear that Walz tips the ticket into more progressive territory that could be hard to sell to more moderate voters across the suburban and rural South and Southwest. In North Carolina and Georgia, Walz's credentials could help Harris gather support among rural and military voters, strategists said. Douglas Wilson, a Democratic consultant in the Tar Heel State, said this positions Harris to potentially become the first Democrat to win the state since President Barack Obama's coalition succeeded in 2008. But Walz's appeal in the rural South is not a guarantee, said Trey Hood, who leads polling as the director of the University of Georgia's Survey Research Center and argues that the governor's background might not matter on Election Day with rural white voters. "They're the most Republican voters we have in the state, period," said Hood, who has written a book on rural Republican voter realignment in the South. "The margins are huge in the rural areas for Republicans, unless you're talking about a Black belt county." |
| Foreign TikTok Networks Are Pushing Political Lies to Americans | |
| Intelligence officials have warned that the 2024 presidential contest could face an unprecedented flood of fake news, fueled by AI, from foreign actors. A Journal analysis of videos on TikTok has found it's already happening. Amid all the general political news and lighthearted election memes on TikTok, the Journal found thousands of videos with political lies and hyperbole. Further analysis led the Journal to identify 91 accounts that pushed these videos from China, Nigeria, Iran and Vietnam -- and were tied together in complex ways. These viral foreign networks are hijacking TikTok's well-honed engagement machine with false and sometimes incendiary claims, and their intent or who's behind them isn't clear. TikTok says some are looking for profits. Cybersecurity experts say such groups often aim to cause chaos. Whatever the intent, the divisive narratives corrode the country's already acrimonious political discourse at a time when about a third of young Americans turn to TikTok for news. Fake stories have thrived online since the earliest days of the internet. Initially most of these relied on misleading or doctored text and photos. Now AI and other automation tools have made it trivially easy to splice together clips and write and voice scripts at little cost. There's no direct evidence that any of the accounts were the result of state-backed operations, but many countries, including China, have outsourced some of their influence campaigns to private firms, which can both obscure government ties as well as their motives. Chaos is sometimes just the point. |
| Americans want to rein in the Supreme Court justices, poll finds | |
 | Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of reforming the Supreme Court along lines proposed by President Joe Biden, even as approval for the high court is marked by a sharp political divide, according to a new USA TODAY-Ipsos election year poll. A large majority -- 76% of Americans -- support a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court, according to the poll. The result comes after more than a year of revelations that Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose receiving millions of dollars' worth of free luxury trips and other gifts. A code of conduct had the support of 70% of Republicans, 76% of independents and 89% of Democrats. The poll comes as the Supreme Court stands smack in the middle of the 2024 presidential campaign and is a top election issue for large numbers of voters -- especially Democrats. "Unfortunately, a majority of the country sees the court as a political pawn," said Mallory Newall, head of public affairs at Ipsos. On the question of whether the justices make decisions based on the law or their partisan political views, 65% of Democrats said politics drove the court, while 51% of independents and just 26% of Republicans agreed. While some individual justices have seen their approval ratings fall since a similar poll in 2022, none has suffered as much as Thomas, the court's longest serving justice. |
| When does DEI training discriminate against White people? Courts will decide. | |
 | Joshua Young, a corrections officer in the Colorado prison system, was shocked by the lessons of the anti-bias training session he was required to attend in March 2021. With its references of "White supremacy," "White exceptionalism" and "White fragility," the training sent a clear and disturbing message to his mind: All White people are racist. "I thought the training was potentially harmful to our staff relationships, relationships between staff and offenders, and undermined us in so many ways," Young, 47, said in an interview. "It told us basically that ... we were unable to treat people fairly just because of the way they look." So Young sued, becoming one of more than a half-dozen White plaintiffs alleging workplace bias trainings tread on their civil rights. The cases are part of a broader legal and political backlash that has targeted an array of DEI programs, from corporate fellowships to state and federal programs aimed at ensuring that women and racial minorities have access to jobs, government contracts and other benefits. As the legal battle intensifies, DEI training is coming under special scrutiny, with at least seven court cases pending nationwide alleging that it constitutes workplace discrimination. Some practitioners have responded by voluntarily dialing down aspects of their "anti-racist" curriculums -- increasingly in demand since the murder of George Floyd in 2020 -- which critics say go beyond traditional efforts to awaken White people to their inherent biases and instead paints them as inherently racist. |
| USM and blue-technology company SeaTrac test uncrewed vehicle for hypoxia mapping offshore | |
 | Collecting and analyzing data from dead zones in the Gulf is no simple task. That's why the University of Southern Mississippi and technology company SeaTrac are working to make that process more efficient, cost-effective, and safe. On the surface, the uncrewed surface vehicle, or USV, appears to be abandoned. But it's actually doing the work of many researchers as it explores the gulf. The SP-48 is a remotely operated USV that gathers 24/7 real-time data in hypoxia zones, the oxygen-deprived dead zones in the water. "We kind of demonstrated in conjunction with NOAA and our Sea Trac partners, that hey, I think we can do this efficiently, cost-effective, better, faster, and more importantly safer," says Research Development Test Evaluation and Training Director Jason McKenna. USM and SeaTrac's partnership is meant to advance operational oceanography and to accompany NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations in enhancing future mission capabilities. A 14-day mission allowed students and administration to analyze potential dead zones in the gulf, and how those will affect marine life in the future. |
| Webster Named Interim President at Mississippi Delta Community College | |
| The Mississippi Delta Community College Board has named alumnus Teresa Webster as Interim President. Former President, Dr. Tyrone Jackson retired in June creating the vacancy. Webster, an alumnus and longtime employee of MDCC took over the responsibilities on July 1. "I'm going to give it 200 percent," says Webster. "My main mission, which I know may seem simplistic, is to keep the ship afloat and plug any holes and keep her going straight." Webster, a Clarksdale native, found her way to MDCC as a student when she followed her then boyfriend and now husband, Roland, to the Moorhead campus. Webster completed her Associate's Degree at MDJC and then continued her education at Delta State University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business. She and Roland moved to Memphis where he worked for FedEx and she took on a teaching job. A job transfer brought them back to the Delta and soon Webster was back "home" Mississippi Delta Community College. Webster is beginning her thirty-forth year of service at MDCC. Having taught for both the College of Career-Technical, Adult Education and the University Transfer program, her wealth of experience has prepared her to lead the school she loves. In 2012, Webster was tapped to assume the MDCC e-learning coordinator duties along with her teaching responsibilities. She was later chosen to become the business department chair. Then, in 2016, she was selected to serve as the vice-president of instruction. |
| U. of Alabama names Dan Layzell as vice president of finance | |
 | The University of Alabama has selected a new vice president finance and operations and treasurer. Dan Layzell will lead UA's Division of Finance and Operations starting Sept. 30, pending approval by the Compensation Committee of the University of Alabama System board of trustees, according to a news release. Layzell has more than two decades of experience in administration, strategic planning and financial oversight in higher education. Before his appointment at UA, he served as vice chancellor of finance and operations at Appalachian State University. Layzell also served in executive financial leadership roles at Louisiana State University, Illinois State University and Cornell College. UA President Stuart R. Bell said Layzell brings an impressive track record to the Tuscaloosa campus. With his new role, Layzell will be the chief business officer for UA and report directly to the president. Layzell will lead UA's Division of Finance and Operations, which includes more than 1,300 team members across nine departments, including all aspects of finance, business analytics and process improvement, compliance and risk services, campus development, enterprise operations, facilities and grounds, human resources, public safety, and shared administrative services. |
| As student enrollment at U. of Kentucky continues to grow, what's next for on-campus housing? | |
 | As the enrollment at the University of Kentucky continues to grow, the school has had to regularly evaluate its housing options in recent years. UK is expecting approximately 6,500 first-year students to enroll this fall -- around the same number as last year -- with total enrollment predicted to be nearly 35,000, according to data from the most recent board of trustees meeting. National research has shown that students who live on campus report higher grade point averages and a better sense of belonging on campus. Students who live on campus at UK report similar results, said Director of Housing Lisa Williams, who said students living in dorms also report that it's easier to get connected and acclimated to college life. "We know that students who live with us on campus, particularly in that first year, are going to do better academically," Williams said. "They're able to get more involved quickly with our residence life staff and the (resident advisors), and they just become more acclimated to what campus looks like pretty quickly." UK is expecting more than 5,500 first-year students to live on campus, and around 8,000 total students to live on campus, though those numbers will continue to fluctuate through the first several months of the semester, Williams said. Though UK does not require freshmen to live on campus, typically, around 85% of first-year students chose to, she said. |
| U. of Georgia panel upholds sanctions for 6 students over Israel-Hamas war protest | |
 | Six University of Georgia students arrested during an April 29 protest against the Israel-Hamas war will remain suspended through the fall semester, the university's Office of Student Conduct announced Monday. The students will also remain on probation for the remainder of their academic careers at the university. The decision came after a 13-hour disciplinary hearing on July 30. Students can appeal the ruling to the university's vice president of student affairs. An attorney representing two of the suspended students, Josh Lingsch, called the hearing "nothing more than a kangaroo court" in a Thursday statement Campus police arrested 16 protesters who set up an encampment near university President Jere Morehead's office on the Athens campus in April. The school suspended the students hours later. Some students informally resolved charges with the school by acknowledging their violations, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "The University will continue to enforce our policies to protect the free expression rights of all members of our community while recognizing that such activities must comply with applicable laws and policies," university spokesperson Greg Trevor said in a statement. |
| LEGO-loving U. of Florida researcher helps fuel Mars mission | |
 | Michael Tonks, the new acting chair of the University of Florida's Department of Materials Science & Engineering, grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico -- birthplace of the atomic bomb and a desert hub for top-secret research. "My upbringing is weird," Tonks said recently from his office at UF. "My dad worked his whole career at Los Alamos National Lab. Having a Ph.D. and being a scientist was normal. Most of the parents had Ph.D.'s. At the time, it was the highest per capita of Ph.D.'s in the world in that town." He knew his dad was a physicist, but because his work was classified, Tonks never really knew what he did. These days on family visits to Los Alamos, Tonks and his father -- who retired in 2012 -- talk about equations, sometimes prompting Tonks' siblings (one a Ph.D. in biophysics) to throw in theories and formulas to stir the numerical chaos. Complex equations are sometimes a part of family gatherings. Weird? No. This is a logical origin story for an award-winning professor whose research is playing a key role in NASA's quest for a crewed mission to Mars as early as 2030. For years, Tonks and his students have been researching rocket propulsion powered by heat from nuclear fission. Tonks' degrees are in mechanical engineering. He became interested in nuclear propulsion during his seven years working at the Idaho National Lab, where he wrote a research proposal about using the tools developed for power reactors in space reactors at NASA. |
| Lawmaker Claims Credit for Antisemitism Review at Florida Universities | |
 | The chancellor of Florida's state university system has launched a review of public university courses for "antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias" following controversy this summer over a textbook and quiz questions allegedly used at Florida International University. It's unclear whether that flap led Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, a former Republican state lawmaker and ally of governor Ron DeSantis, to call for the sweeping evaluation of curricula. The State University System of Florida did not provide an interview Thursday with Rodrigues or any other official, nor did it answer questions via email. But Randy Fine, a Republican member of the Florida House, who is Jewish and who served alongside the chancellor and calls him a friend, said the statewide review "absolutely" came from an incident at Florida International University this summer. "When we learned that Florida universities were using a factually inaccurate, openly antisemitic textbook, we realized there was a problem that had to be addressed," Fine told Inside Higher Ed Thursday. "I am sick and tired of faculty members at these schools who think that they are better than what they are -- they are state employees," Fine said. State employees are accountable to Florida taxpayers, he said, and "we're going to remind public university faculty members that they are state employees." |
| Virginia enlists college students to defend against election cyberattacks | |
| In an era in which millions of Americans doubt the legitimacy of election results, officials across Virginia are working to prevent a nightmare scenario that could sow even more distrust: successful cyberattacks during November's presidential election. "Think about what would happen if some big locality in Virginia, let's say Arlington, if somehow [hackers] disrupt the election. That would basically put the entire result of the election in doubt, which could make the difference between Virginia going for one presidential candidate versus another," Jack Davidson, director of the University of Virginia's Cyber Defense Program, told The Daily Progress. "I mean, that would be catastrophic in terms of just the chaos that would cause." UVa and five other universities in the commonwealth are leading a program designed to bolster cybersecurity at local election offices, preventing cyberattacks and the chaos that could follow. Now in its third year, the Virginia Cyber Navigator Internship Program, funded by the National Security Agency, is one piece of a broader effort to prevent bad actors from infiltrating the U.S. election system. The program recruits college students studying cybersecurity or similar disciplines. Interested students are required to take an election security course during the school year, go through a bootcamp in May, and are then connected with local election offices across the commonwealth. Over the course of the summer, the students work with local officials to identify and shore up any potential vulnerabilities. |
| 3 Topics That Were on Everyone's Minds at the SHEEO Conference | |
| Hundreds of state higher education officials, policymakers and researchers came together in the nation's capital this week to share data, discuss system-level solutions and lament the struggles of a sector susceptible to political polarization and riddled with fragile finances. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of its annual conference, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association reflected on the history of higher education oversight but also looked forward, recognizing a paradigm shift in the way institutions operate and serve their students. Over the course of four days, attendees discussed enrollment trends, equity and access initiatives, workforce demands, artificial intelligence, the future of funding, and more. Nathan Grawe, a professor of economics at Carleton College, on Tuesday presented sobering statistics modeling enrollment trends for public and private institutions for the next 25 years. "We really are coming out of the golden age for higher education, from World War II until 2010," Grawe said. "But since 2010, we've been in an age of reversal rather than growth." And although the matriculation rate has also declined in recent years, boosting the percentage of high school students who pursue higher education isn't going to be enough to fill the empty seats. |
| How China Built Tech Prowess: Chemistry Classes and Research Labs | |
 | China's domination of electric cars, which is threatening to start a trade war, was born decades ago in university laboratories in Texas, when researchers discovered how to make batteries with minerals that were abundant and cheap. Companies from China have recently built on those early discoveries, figuring out how to make the batteries hold a powerful charge and endure more than a decade of daily recharges. They are inexpensively and reliably manufacturing vast numbers of these batteries, producing most of the world's electric cars and many other clean energy systems. Batteries are just one example of how China is catching up with -- or passing -- advanced industrial democracies in its technological and manufacturing sophistication. It is achieving many breakthroughs in a long list of sectors, from pharmaceuticals to drones to high-efficiency solar panels. Beijing's challenge to the technological leadership that the United States has held since World War II is evidenced in China's classrooms and corporate budgets, as well as in directives from the highest levels of the Communist Party. Last month, China's leaders vowed to turn the nation's research efforts up another notch. A once-a-decade meeting of China's Communist Party leadership chose scientific training and education as one of the country's top economic priorities. That goal received more attention in the meeting's final resolution than any other policy did, except strengthening the party itself. |
| Civility in America has collapsed. Universities can help fix it. | |
| Heather Wilson, the president of the University of Texas-El Paso, writes: Since last October, university leaders have struggled with student protests while national debates rage between segments of American society that don't even seem to recognize each other. Now, we have gone as far as an assassination attempt on a former president. Antipathy is the norm and civility has become a relic of another time. Public trust in our institutions -- everything from the courts to Congress and the medical system to the media -- has universally declined. Some of this is likely lingering isolation in the wake of the pandemic that has eroded our connections to each other. But it also reflects the emergence of a society that's more interested in performance on platforms than the hard work of maintaining relationships and stewarding important institutions. Angry disengagement is dangerous in a self-governing republic. At the same time, recent Supreme Court decisions have shaken loose the control of the administrative state and sent more authority back to the states or to the people. What, then, is the role of universities in preparing people for the obligations of citizenship, and in the restoration of the fabric of civil society? |
SPORTS
| Trevion Williams ready to take the field again after season-ending injury | |
| The hardest part for Trevion Williams was just remaining positive. One of the crown jewels in Mississippi State's 2022 recruiting class, the defensive lineman made three appearances as a true freshman to keep his redshirt status intact, then started strong last season with 1.5 tackles for loss in Week 2 against Arizona. But the following week against LSU would be his last game of the year, as a knee injury cost him the final nine games of his redshirt freshman campaign. "Happy to be back out with the boys," Williams said this week. "The toughest thing was keeping a positive mindset and knowing that I'd be back out soon, and just not to rush the process." A top-10 player in Mississippi for his class according to 247Sports and Rivals, Williams chose the Bulldogs over the likes of Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn. And after losing Jaden Crumedy and Nathan Pickering from its defensive front, MSU will need Williams to showcase some of that potential this fall. The Bulldogs also get back Kalvin Dinkins, another defensive lineman who made his collegiate debut in the season opener last year against Southeastern Louisiana but missed the rest of the year with an ankle injury. "They've been right on schedule," defensive line coach David Turner said. |
| 2024 Football 'Dawg Talk' Schedule Announced | |
| Mississippi State football's radio show, "Dawg Talk," returns for the 2024 season with head coach Jeff Lebby and players. The show will air every Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux in Starkville.The 60-minute program will be featured weekly on the affiliates of the MSU Sports Radio Network. Neil Price, "The Voice of the Bulldogs," will host the show. New for 2024 will be the addition of select student-athletes to the show each week. There will also be a special bye-week show on Oct. 2 that will feature volleyball head coach Julie Darty Dennis and women's soccer head coach James Armstrong. Dawg Talk can be heard statewide during the season on the Bulldog Sports Network affiliates. You can also listen to Dawg Talk live or on-demand via HailState.com/watch. Each Wednesday, the show will also be streamed live on the official Mississippi State Athletics Facebook page. Once again, fans will have the opportunity to interact with the show. Fans are encouraged to kick off their weekend at our local and alumni-owned Walk-On's by attending the live show in Starkville. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to meet with Neil Price and Coach Lebby. |
| Position Preview: Looking at Mississippi State's safeties for the 2024 season | |
| The countdown to this year's college football season has begun in earnest with less than four weeks until Mississippi State opens the season on Aug. 31 against Eastern Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs, under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby, opened fall camp on Aug. 1 and practiced in full pads for the first time Wednesday. As camp progresses, The Dispatch will be taking a look at each position group on MSU's roster, noting who could be the potential starters, backups and impact players to look out for on the gridiron. The Bulldogs have a rare returning starter at safety in Corey Ellington, but it's a young room outside of him. Isaac Smith played in every game as a freshman, Hunter Washington saw his role diminish over the course of last season, and Jordan Morant and Chris Keys are battling for starting spots as well. Here is all you need to know about MSU's safeties heading into the 2024 campaign. |
| State Soccer Welcomes New Athletic Year To Starkville On Friday | |
| Mississippi State soccer is ready to kick off another exciting athletics year in StarkVegas with a home exhibition match with Louisiana Monroe on Friday. The Bulldogs will make their highly anticipated return to their home pitch following a record breaking 2023 season under James Armstrong and Co. at 6:30 p.m. live from the MSU Soccer Field. The Dawgs and Warhawks last met on Sept. 23, 2023 in what was a 1-nil senior day victory for the Dawgs, handing ULM their first loss of the season at the time in front of a sea of Maroon and White in Starkville. The exhibition match against ULM will serve as a prelude to what promises to be an action-packed season for State soccer. MSU will open its 2024 campaign with a major Power Four fixture with Baylor on Aug. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off a 12-6-5 record that resulted in a postseason run to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. |
| College baseball rule changes for 2025 include new protocols for ejections, bat tests | |
| A new rule being implemented for the 2025 NCAA baseball season addresses a situation that occurred in an SEC game on April 6. In Mississippi State's 3-2 loss to Georgia, 11 players were ejected after an altercation at home plate following a hard tag from Mississippi State catcher Johnny Long. The rule at the time stated that players who "leave their position" would be ejected and suspended for one game. Mississippi State argued that its players were simply leaving their positions because Long's tag ended the inning and that several of the players were attempting to defuse the situation, rather than escalating it. That night, discussions with the SEC resulted in six of the 11 players being eligible to return for the next day's game. The new rule states that players who were already on the field at the time of an altercation will not be ejected or suspended if "they are judged not to be a participant by their actions or not contributing to the escalation of an on-field confrontation," according to an NCAA news release. |
| Mississippi State's Anderson Peters wins bronze at 2024 Paris Olympics | |
| Grenada's Anderson Peters has claimed Mississippi State's first field medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Peters won bronze in the javelin on Thursday with a distance of 88.54 meters. This is Peters' first Olympic Games medal. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan won the gold while setting a world record of 92.97, and Neeraj Chopra of India earned silver. Peters, a two-time NCAA track and field champion in the javelin, won Grenada's second medal in 2024 following Lindon Victor who won bronze in the men's decathlon. Peters, a two-time world champion, qualified for the final on Tuesday with a season-best throw of 88.63. Former MSU track champion Curtis Thompson, who is representing the United States, placed 27th with a throw of 76.79. Marco Arop has the opportunity to win MSU's second medal after qualifying for the semifinals in the 800 meters. Arop competed at MSU from 2018-20 and represents Canada. |
| Sanderson Farms says 2024 last as title sponsor for Jackson PGA stop | |
 | Wayne Sanderson Farms' run as a full partner with Jackson and its PGA tournament has been a historic one. However, the 2024 Sanderson Farm Championship will be the 12th and last for the company as the title sponsor of the Jackson PGA Tour stop. While its contract runs through 2026, the company has decided to move on as the title sponsor, but remain as a major sponsor for the tournament, which is held at the Country Club of Jackson. No financial details were released as part of the announcement. "Wayne-Sanderson Farms is going to continue to partner with us in the near future to help our charitable efforts for Mississippi charities," said Steve Jent, the executive director of the Sanderson Farms Championship. "There is a natural evolution on the PGA Tour of title sponsors. This has been an awesome 12-year run." Since becoming title sponsor in 2013, the Sanderson Farms Championship has raised more than $17 million for charity including Children's of Mississippi and other Mississippi-based causes. Mississippi has been a PGA stop since 1968 when the tournament was known as the Magnolia Classic and was played in Hattiesburg. The tournament has had several names and sponsors over the years, including the Deposit Guaranty Classic from 1986–1998, the Farm Bureau Classic from 1999–2006 and the Viking Classic from 2007–2011. Sanderson Farms also spearheaded to the move from Annandale Golf Course in Madison to the Country Club of Jackson. |
| College leaders seek to preserve Olympic sports on campus in wake of House settlement | |
| In waves over the last few weeks, several leaders in college athletics have made their way to Paris for these Olympics. NCAA president Charlie Barker, Florida's Scott Stricklin, North Carolina's Bubba Cunningham and former Penn State and Cal AD Sandy Barbour all came to experience the Games in person. For some, it will look quite familiar to NCAA competition -- a point the Olympic movement would love to underscore. Building the relationships between Olympic sports officials and college sports leaders is part of a deliberate effort by the USOPC to protect its pipeline of athletes in the face of changes to the collegiate sports financial model. Of the USA's 594-member team here, roughly 75% competed collegiately. U.S. Olympians came from 169 schools across 45 conferences. Current or former collegiate athletes make up at least 80% of 21 total teams, including 15 teams that are entirely made up of collegiate athletes. In the wake of a changing economic model, Olympic leaders don't have to wonder what their collegiate peers might do. They saw it during COVID, where schools around the country cut teams. Some schools, like Stanford, added them back in the wake of outcry or when alumni and supporters raised money to sustain them. "We want to make sure that they don't cut the sports that matter most. We have to be careful about just saying, 'Everything has to stay the same,' because we know that's not realistic," said Rocky Harris, the USOPC's chief of sport and athlete services. "Instead, we have to create a more targeted approach and a more customized approach by conference, by region, by school. And making sure they have the data that we have and the understand of how they're driving Team USA's success." |
| NCAA Punishes Harbaugh for Bacon Cheeseburger Breakfast Order | |
| Jim Harbaugh's in big trouble with the NCAA -- except the NCAA is powerless over him. That conundrum lies at the heart of the NCAA's committee on infractions announcing Wednesday that Harbaugh, while serving as Michigan's head football coach, violated recruiting, inducement and related rules. The committee punished Harbaugh with a four-year show-cause order that runs through Aug. 6, 2028, and a one-year suspension. The violations concern alleged incidents in 2021, including Harbaugh's purchase of a bacon cheeseburger at breakfast, and are unrelated to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing controversy from last year. Harbaugh, who coached the Wolverines to a national championship in January, no longer coaches in the NCAA. The Los Angeles Chargers hired Harbaugh as head coach following the national title game and signed him to a reported five-year, $80 million contract. Harbaugh's attorney, Tom Mars, doesn't sound too worried and even mocked the NCAA for its announcement. Mars compared the punishment to "being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you've been suspended because you didn't sign the yearbook." Mars also blasted the NCAA's investigatory and disciplinary process as unreliable and a reflection of an institution that has been losing in court of late. "I wouldn't pay any attention to the findings of a kangaroo court which claims to represent the principles of the nation's most flagrant, repeat violator of the federal antitrust laws," Mars said. |
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