| Wednesday, August 14, 2024 |
| MSU-Meridian's first MSN students begin classes | |
 | Mississippi State University-Meridian's inaugural Accelerated Master of Science in Nursing cohort launched a weeklong orientation last week, kicking off its enrollment in the rigorous School of Nursing program that will prepare students for RN licensure in 12 months. Thirty-six students, including six from other states and all with varying academic degree backgrounds, compose the School of Nursing's first cohort which began classes Monday. The program is the first direct-entry program to RN licensure in the state. They were welcomed to MSU-Meridian's downtown Riley Campus by MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Dean of Nursing Mary Stewart. Keenum said launching the new program has been a team effort, and he thanked The Riley Foundation, as well as the School of Nursing faculty, staff and students who "have made an incredible commitment to make the world a better place by helping people." Stewart and the other AMSN faculty and staff have prepared a strong program, Keenum said, preparing students to be career-ready to care for patients and improve health outcomes for fellow Mississippians. "There are three timeless values we hold dear at Mississippi State -- integrity, hard work and respect," Keenum said. "Our School of Nursing faculty and staff epitomize these values, and they have worked tirelessly to develop a robust curriculum that will prepare you to be practice-ready nurses." |
| Famous Maroon Band gets ready for football season | |
 | Many people may not look at band as a sport, but just like the Bulldog football team, The Famous Maroon Band has to put in hours of practice in the Starkville heat to make sure they're performing at their peak on gameday. "There is a lot of work that goes into it, so we have been spending the past four days here at band camp, and we still have three or four more days to go. They are long days, we are up here at 7:30am and we do not leave until 9:00 at night and throughout the school year, we will continue to practice an hour every single day," said Madeline Kelly, MSU senior drum major. And just like the football team, if one band member misses a beat, it can have a huge impact on the entire performance. That's why Senior Drum Majors Asher Roe and Kelsei Moore are always communicating with the squad leaders. "As our director likes to say, if you are in math class and you miss one question, you still get an A, but if one person out here misses a single note, it makes everybody sound wrong. So it is very important that everybody is working together to do things 100 percent right all the time," said Roe. MSU drum Major Christopher Jolivette said seeing more people wanting to be a part of the MSU band, is a testament to the atmosphere that has been created at Mississippi State. |
| Ask The Dispatch: What's changing with Starkville's code enforcement? | |
 | Starkville Board of Aldermen unanimously approved Aug. 6 the use of a section in state code that will speed up how quickly the city can clean up certain neglected properties. The second section of Mississippi Code 21-19-11, which was enacted after the 2022 legislative session, allows cities to clean up certain properties that are a blight or violation within a week of identifying them. Under section two of Mississippi Code § 21-19-11 the city can clean up certain properties that are a blight or violation within a week of identifying them. Under the code section, the city can authorize certain city officials -- in this case the mayor, the building official and the code enforcement sergeant -- to determine when a property is a threat to public health, safety and welfare. For example, a vacant property covered with debris, glass and overgrown grass may be declared a public menace due to the possibility that someone may get hurt on the property. Spruill said the motivation for adopting the code is the expedited process it allows for getting certain properties cleaned up. Spruill said Starkville hasn't used Section Two of code § 21-19-11 before now. It stipulates that the property in question must be within a municipality that has a population of more than 1,500. Previously, Spruill said, it was specific to cities with a population above 25,000, which disqualified Starkville. But the code was amended during the 2022 legislative session. |
| Annual Little Sturgis bike rally returns Thursday | |
| The Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally returns this week with a three-day event starting Thursday. Between 6,500 and 7,500 people are expected to make their way through Sturgis this weekend for the annual event, which will include rides throughout Oktibbeha County, concerts and vendors. "We're very excited, and we're looking for a really good crowd," Sturgis Mayor Leah Brown told The Dispatch on Tuesday. "The park is already showing good activity, and we're looking forward to more and more people coming into town." Brown said festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Diane Jackson Memorial Park with a cruise-in for classic cars, motorcycles and trucks. Then local group Full Circle Party Band will take the stage for a 7 p.m. concert. On Friday, the Dinner Ride will leave from Sturgis at 4 p.m. Brown said the ride will go through Downtown Starkville, out to Clayton Village to the Village Cycle Center, then to Louisville, through Ackerman and back to Sturgis. "It's really just a nice ride," Brown said of the Dinner Ride. "The Mississippi Highway Patrol motorcycle group escorts it." Brown said there will also be a large selection of food and merchandise vendors working throughout the weekend. The money spent during the annual rally is always a boost for the town, she said. |
| White's 'Mississippi Swindle' hits shelves, last nerves | |
 | Auditor Shad White's national profile exploded on the wings of his office's investigation into Mississippi's TANF welfare scandal. Back home, news of a "tell-all" book raised eyebrows, along with the blood pressures of some politicos. Since the release of Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America, politicians and reporters aplenty have been blowing up each other's phones. Netflix is on the prowl interviewing folks, and there's a rumored Amazon deal in the works. The book details the Auditor's investigation into the largest public corruption scandal in Mississippi history. It recounts the abuse of the TANF program by a cadre of unscrupulous actors, including former Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Executive Director John Davis and non-profit operator Nancy New. Not everyone likes it. Among those miffed by their portrayals, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst. In separate interviews with Magnolia Tribune, both Fitch's office and Hurst described Mississippi Swindle's treatment of their involvement as a "fiction." The book treats Fitch as being uninterested in doing her job and Hurst as overly eager to take the glory. Fitch's office raised additional questions about the ethics of writing the book. Not one to shy from sharp elbows, White's fired back, defending both his record and the book. |
| 'Lies, rumors, innuendo ... fiction.' State GOP chair, AG bash Auditor Shad White's book on welfare scandal | |
| State Auditor Shad White has taken the unusual tack for a leader of an investigative and enforcement agency of writing a book about an ongoing case -- the Mississippi welfare fraud scandal. "Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America" hit bookshelves on Aug. 6 even as feds continue to probe and prosecute and the state tries to recoup tens of millions of federal dollars meant for the poor. White is already drawing some fire for his tell-all from fellow officials he cast in less-than-flattering light. They question whether it's appropriate for him to write about and profit from a case he investigated, and whether it could hinder ongoing criminal and civil investigation and prosecution. White, an ambitious politician with eyes on the governor's office, in his book praises himself and his staff for uncovering massive fraud after a tip from White's majordomo, then-Gov. Phil Bryant. Some of the color in the book can be off-putting, such as what appears to be an almost formulaic -- and sometimes harsh -- quick description of main characters as they are introduced. White describes Phil Bryant as having "rugged looks ... a thick head of perfectly coiffed gray hair." Gov. Tate Reeves is, "rosy-cheeked with a full head of blond hair." White, 38, is himself a small, slender elfish looking fellow with large ears and a receding hair line. |
| Biggest lobbying interests buck trend with higher 2024 spending | |
 | Trade groups and companies responsible for this year's largest lobbying expenditures so far upped the ante in the first half of 2024 compared to a year earlier, defying expectations for an election year slump. K Street's top 10 clients shelled out $162.3 million through June, up 13 percent from the first half of 2023. Part of that was due to heavy legislative activity during the first quarter, which saw enactment of two big spending packages and House passage of a $79 billion tax bill that got hung up in the Senate. Topping the list are old standbys that regularly populate the top 10: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; National Association of Realtors; Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA; American Medical Association; American Hospital Association; and Business Roundtable. All boosted their lobbying expenditures in the first half of this year above the same period in 2023. Changes to this year's top 10 include the American Chemistry Council and AARP, the chief seniors' lobby group, elbowing their way in. Meta Platforms Inc., parent of Facebook and Instagram, pushed into the top five, wedged between health care titans PhRMA and the American Medical Association, the main physicians' lobby. Loren Monroe, a principal at BGR Group, said the unusual degree of uncertainty around the elections, as well as preparing for the expiration of many provisions of the 2017 tax law at the end of next year kept spending high. |
| Mississippi, 8 other states, sue Biden administration for get-out-the-vote executive order | |
 | Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson is suing the Biden Administration to stop an executive order requiring certain federal agencies to develop expanding voter registration strategies. Watson, joined by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and state Attorney General Lynn Fitch, as well as others from eight states, filed the suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Other states joined in the complaint are Montana, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota. In their complaint, the plaintiffs say documents related to Executive Order 14019, which designates federal agencies to develop strategies to expand voter registration efforts, have wrongfully not been made available to the public. Since the executive order went into effect several years ago, Watson said his team has made repeated attempts to gather more information about what federal agency would be engaging in voter registration efforts in Mississippi and what that plan looked like. He has several times now expressed concern over the legality of that effort, and that his office, which oversees the elections process in Mississippi, has not been kept in the loop. "From the day this unlawful Executive Order (EO 14019) was signed, my team and I had hoped it was another Biden Administration word salad with no action," Watson said in the press release. |
| Harris Is Set to Lay Out an Economic Message Light on Detail | |
 | Vice President Kamala Harris's sudden ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has generated a host of questions about her economic agenda, including how much she will stick to the details of President Biden's positions, tweak them, or chart entirely new ones. When she begins to roll out her policy vision this week, Ms. Harris is likely to answer only some of those questions. During an economy-focused speech on Friday in Raleigh, N.C., Ms. Harris will outline a sort of reboot of the administration's economic agenda, according to four people familiar with Ms. Harris's plans. She will lay out an approach relatively light on details, they said. It will shift emphasis from Mr. Biden's focus on job creation and made-in-America manufacturing, and toward efforts to rein in the cost of living. But it will rarely break from Mr. Biden on substance. That strategy reflects the advice economic aides have given Ms. Harris: to be clear and bold in talking about the economy, but not overly specific. Former President Donald J. Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly tied Ms. Harris to Mr. Biden's agenda, which they attack as a failure. In surveys, Americans give consistently poor reviews to Mr. Biden's handling of the economy, and Mr. Trump regularly outpaced Mr. Biden in polls asking voters whom they trusted more to handle the economy. Without Mr. Biden at the top of the ticket, though, Ms. Harris may have more appeal, even if she makes few substantive changes to the policies he was running on. |
| Walz rebrands progressive wins as household realities | |
 | Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is touting his progressive policies as family-focused pragmatism, betting that everyday household concerns matter more to voters than conservative culture wars. The Democratic vice presidential candidate aims to sell a liberal care economy message -- free school meals, boosted education funding, paid family leave and affordable child care -- as an antidote to the negative politics of gender identity and race. The campaign is leaning into that message as Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz unveil their governing priorities ahead of the Democratic National Convention, trumpeting the former teacher's record as an example of practical solutions to a fractured country. Their efforts seek to rebrand progressive policies as palatable options for families. "If Gov. Walz comes in talking about kitchen table issues like education, it'll be difficult for Republicans to counteract," said Paul Bentz, an Arizona-based Republican pollster who has worked on federal and state campaigns. "Walz has the opportunity to lay out why you should vote for their ticket rather than against Trump. There's an appealing factor to that for swing voters." Democrats have seized on polling, voter research and results from post-pandemic school board and local elections to underscore their case that conservative attacks on history lessons and library books fail to connect with a majority of general election voters -- and may even alienate persuadable moderates and independents. That includes suburban mothers in pivot counties and swing districts who might see education and child care as a motivator for their vote. |
| CPI report for July is out: What does latest data mean for the US economy? | |
 | Consumer prices rose a modest 2.9% in the 12 months through July, the Labor Department reported Wednesday in its consumer price index, an annual rate that suggests the historic inflation surge of 2022 continues to ease. The annual inflation rate hadn't dipped below 3% since March 2021. Inflation has gently declined this summer, following a brief spike in spring. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%. Food prices were up 2.2% on the year. Energy prices were up 1.1%, and gasoline prices were down. Much larger price gains came in transportation services (8.8%) and shelter (5.1%). The increase in shelter prices accounted "for nearly 90 percent of the monthly increase" in overall inflation, the Labor Department reported. Transportation and shelter prices pushed up "core" inflation, a closely watched measure that excludes volatile food and energy categories. That metric rose 3.2% on the year. The Federal Reserve has set an inflation target of 2%, based on a more esoteric economic index of personal consumption expenditures. That goal has yet to be met. But the numbers seem to be headed in the right direction. The Fed has faced mounting pressure to cut rates, with some voices blaming the panel for recent stock market turbulence. Forecasters widely predict the first rate cut will come in September. |
| Young Black voters are becoming more conservative than their parents. Here's why | |
 | Jen Iro, a 34-year-old from Texas, has been having a hard time with the current state of American politics. The last time she cast a ballot was for former President Barack Obama, and she doesn't think she'll vote this year either. "[Politics are] not really important to me because as of right now, it seems to get worse and worse and worse, which really makes me more disinterested," Iro explained. Iro is one of a growing number of young eligible voters who are feeling disconnected from politics and unable to identify with a political party. With a lack of affordable housing, climate change and rising costs, some millennials and Gen Zers are feeling hopeless about a political system that they don't believe has been catering to their needs. Generally, young voters and Black voters tend to vote Democratic. In 2020, 92% of Black voters cast a vote for President Biden, while only 8% backed former President Donald Trump. However, there appears to be a shift within the Black electorate that has been widening over the years. According to Pew Research, 7% of Black voters over 50 currently identify as or lean Republican, while 17% of Black voters under 50 align with the Republican Party. It is unclear how Vice President Harris, as the Democrats' presidential hopeful, will fare with this group. People tend to grow more conservative as they age. But among Black voters, younger generations may be the more conservative ones. In a pivotal election year, this conservative shift could have an impact on the upcoming presidential election. |
| Trump vs. Harris magnifies America's generational and cultural divides | |
 | Donald Trump walks onstage to the 1984 Lee Greenwood song "God Bless the USA," cheered on by a roaring crowd that skews older and White. "We will make America great again!" he promises. Kamala Harris walks out to Beyoncé's 2016 hit "Freedom" and leans into internet memes -- addressing more racially diverse audiences dotted with chartreuse shirts and pins that pay homage to a 2024 pop album called "Brat." "We are not going back," she says. The split screen reflects two presidential campaigns that embody two very different cultural, generational and social identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters. The divide is clearer than ever since President Joe Biden quit the race -- upending a campaign that had long featured two White men born in the 1940s and allowing a younger, multiracial woman to take his place. Now the candidates, their rallies and their movements are showcasing two sides of America split by demographics and cultural touchstones, not just party and policy. Trump's grievance-fueled movement is full of nostalgia for past generations and his own term in office -- and fear and anger about how undocumented immigration and secularization are changing the country, interviews with many supporters show. Harris, meanwhile, is drawing new energy from young voters and people of color who say they worry that Trump will take America backward to a place where women, people of color, LGBTQ+ Americans and others face more challenges. Political analysts have talked for years about Republican-leaning "Cracker Barrel voters" versus Democratic-leaning "Whole Foods voters." Now Trump, 78, and Harris, 59, personify the contrast in striking ways. |
| After a slew of controversies, the SBC turns to a low-key leader to keep things cool | |
 | As he stepped up into the old-fashioned wooden pulpit on a recent Sunday, Pastor Clint Pressley wasted no time. After quickly thanking the student discipleship minister who had brought many of the church's Camp Paradise teens to the 11 a.m. service at his church, Hickory Grove Baptist, Pressley turned to the task at hand. "Mark chapter 14," he intoned in his Southern drawl. "If you're a guest with us, we read the Bible and then we just talk about the Bible. You're gonna find it feels a lot like a Bible study. Mark 14 starting in verse one ..." After relating the first 10 verses that tell the story of the woman who anoints Jesus with a bottle of expensive perfume, he drives home the passage's lesson with a series of questions: "You have one life to live," he said. "Pour it out. Have you done what you could? What's holding you back? I want your life to be all-out devotion to God." This was Pressley's third sermon of the day. He preached the 8 a.m. service, drove 13 miles to the church's second campus to preach the 10 a.m. service, and then drove back to the main campus for the 11 a.m. service. When he concluded, 40 minutes later, he shed his jacket and stood outside the doors the of cavernous chocolate-brick sanctuary, greeting worshippers on their way out, among them, his parents. Pressley, 55, the newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is a hard-working pastor of North Carolina's fifth-largest Baptist church. Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has a faced a series of challenges in recent years: declining membership, a sexual abuse crisis, a crackdown on women pastors, a condemnation of in vitro fertilization, an embrace of Trump and MAGA politics. Yet at its last meeting in June its members elected a traditional preacher who wears three-piece suits, a tie and monogrammed cuffs and mostly stays out of the limelight. |
| Lafayette County resident arrested on 10 counts of animal cruelty | |
 | Terry E. Pegues, a 47-year-old Lafayette County resident, was arrested on charges of animal cruelty on Wednesday, Aug. 7 by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office. On Sunday, Aug 4, the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office responded to a possible animal cruelty case around County Road 418, according to a press release. The responders arrived at the location and saw several dogs that appeared malnourished, as well as several dogs that were deceased yet still attached to their collars and chains. Pegues, who was booked on 10 counts of animal cruelty, was given a $75,000 bond by the Lafayette County Justice Court following his arrest. Charlotte Fant and husband Terry E. Pegues are listed on the deed of trust for a property on County Road 418. Charlotte Fant Pegues, serves as vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Mississippi. There are no reports of an investigation into Fant Pegues, nor was she mentioned in the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office press release. "University leaders are deeply disturbed and appalled by any instance of animal cruelty," Director of News and Media Relations for the University of Mississippi Jacob Batte told The Daily Mississipian on Monday, Aug 12. "The university is not among the parties involved in the ongoing investigation by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, and the university is not aware of any charges against a university employee in relation to that investigation. Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, the university will make no further comment at this time." |
| Dialysis pioneer now has to be treated himself | |
 | Three times a week, Sam Gregory sits restlessly in a chair for four hours undergoing dialysis, a medical treatment that removes extra fluid and waste products from his blood because his kidneys no longer function. It's tedious, to be certain. It's also keeping him alive. "We do what we have to do; otherwise, the alternative would not be good," Gregory said with a chuckle. At 83 years old, Gregory has lived a full life, one filled with great accomplishments. It is perhaps with cruel irony that he is now on dialysis. In the mid-1960s, Gregory was deeply involved with opening one of the first 14 dialysis units -- then called artificial kidney centers -- nationwide. In December 1966, the unit opened at University Medical Center in Jackson; Gregory was the administrator of the dialysis facility. Gregory worked with the renowned Dr. John D. Bower, who had applied for and received one of the first public health service grants to study dialysis, helping pave the way for the dialysis center to open. "He's the main reason it happened at the University Medical Center," Gregory said. "They wanted me to be the business administrator and also to set up a special chemistry lab for them. As it turned out, I also did technical work, setting up the kidneys, doing the dialysis... there wasn't a staff except for three nurses, two technicians and me and Dr. Bower." He looks back with pride today at having had in hand in introducing dialysis to the state, having helped save the lives of thousands of Mississippians through the years. And now, in a full-circle moment, his work has come back to him. |
| USM welcomes students for 2024 Move-in Day | |
 | Students at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in Hattiesburg moved into their dorms on Tuesday, August 13 ahead of the 2024-25 school year. Student organizations and Greek life assisted the new students as they carried their belongings into their new homes. his year marks the second consecutive increase in freshman class numbers at USM. Overall, officials with the university said they're welcoming 3,300 students into residence halls this fall. "It was really exciting moving on campus to get to decorate my dorm and everything. Just everything. Making it, like, personal. And it's been really fun so far," said Kelby Wingo, a freshman. The first day of class for Southern Miss is on August 21. |
| Every LSU freshman who wants a room on campus will have one this fall | |
 | LSU freshmen will begin moving into student housing on Friday for the fall semester -- with enough room for everyone, after a housing crunch looked possible earlier this summer, a university official said. "We're going to be able to house all first-year freshmen who need a bed," Peter Trentacoste, executive director of LSU's Department of Residential Life, said Tuesday. LSU requires first-year students who begin classes in the summer or fall to live on campus for the fall and spring semesters. Those who begin class in the spring are required to live on campus for that semester only, according to LSU's website. The campus has 8,800 beds in its student housing dorms, residential colleges, honors houses, and apartments, roughly 6,000 of which are dedicated to freshmen. But earlier this summer, freshman demand for on-campus housing and a slowdown in housing cancellations prompted LSU to do something new -- it offered a $3,000 bonus to freshmen for them to live at home with their parents instead, if they had an address that is 30 minutes or less from campus. The offer was made to freshmen who had already received a housing assignment for the semester, which begins Aug. 26. While the high demand for housing caused some uncertainty, Trentacoste said, it actually is "a good problem to have." |
| Governor wants Arkansas' next legislative session to focus on higher ed, she says | |
| Gov. Sarah Sanders wants to focus on higher education in the next legislative session, she said at a public appearance in Rogers on Tuesday. Improvements in higher education are needed to provide the skilled workforce vital to business expansion and the state's economic growth, Sanders said at a luncheon hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. About 500 people attended. The Legislature convenes in January. Public education received the highest priority in the 2023 legislative session, the first of the Sanders administration. The governor proposed a public education overhaul with the LEARNS act, which passed. Now she wants to turn to higher education, she said. "I hope that our focus shifts to that," she said. The governor gave no specifics of the changes in higher education she would like to see, or what else might be a priority for her administration in the next session. State budgets for higher education stayed flat in recent years with a slight decrease in the state's budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. Joe Spivey of Rogers, a member of the Board of Trustees at Northwest Arkansas Community College, said he hopes the state's two-year colleges and technical schools benefit from the governor's efforts. High-tech industry needs the engineers and others educated in four-year universities, but need workers from two-year schools as well, he said. |
| Visiting U. of Tennessee just got easier with 1K public parking spaces on campus | |
 | It's not just University of Tennessee at Knoxville students who will experience major changes to parking this school year. Visitors will notice some differences, too, namely the addition of 1,000 visitor parking spots across campus for just $2 per hour at most locations. Of course, these spots are public, so students and faculty (just like anyone else) can use them if needed. However, a campus parking pass won't cut it -- you still have to pay. Visitors scan a QR code assigned to their space or use the Parkmobile app to register their vehicle. Visitor spaces cost $2 per hour at most locations. Volunteer Hall garage is $1 for 30 minutes, and extensions are available if visitors need more time. Payment is required 24/7, except for certain holidays and events. The app or scan-to-pay option won't accept payment if it's not required. Some parking areas have their own rules, like Volunteer Hall, which allows visitors to pay with cash or a card. RecSports will have a three-hour limit so that everyone can access the facility, and time cannot be extended. The row of parking next to the Veterinary Medical Center is for clients only. |
| Waffle House as art? New exhibition at Georgia Museum of Art to showcase beloved restaurant | |
 | The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has announced an upcoming exhibition, "Waffle House Vistas," featuring the work of photographer Micah Cash. The exhibition, which opens on August 24, and runs through June 1, 2025, explores the unique and beloved culture of Waffle House restaurants through a series of evocative photographs. Cash began capturing these unique photos in 2018. His photographs, taken at various restaurant locations, became the basis for a popular book published by the Bitter Southerner. Now, these "Waffle House Vistas" images will be showcased in the museum, "plus a newly commissioned time-based work on the same topic," Georgia Museum of Art said in an email release. Waffle House, an iconic staple of Southern life, was founded in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia. The chain is known for its distinctive 1960s-era globe lights and red leather booths. "At its best, Waffle House creates a sense of belonging unlike most other places," said Cash in the email. "Waffle House does not care how much you are worth, what you look like, where you are from, what your political beliefs are, or where you've been so long as you respect the unwritten rules of Waffle House: Be kind, be respectful, and don't overstay when others are waiting for a table. Besides, everyone who has ever stepped foot in a Waffle House has a story to tell." |
| U. of Florida board of trustees approves raises for faculty and staff | |
 | The University of Florida board of trustees on Monday unanimously approved the use of $25 million in overhead cost savings to create a pool of funds for faculty and staff raises. According to a news release from the university, the funds will go toward a 4% merit raise pool for out-of-unit faculty and a 3.75% merit raise pool for staff. "I asked the university to find savings of $25 million that we would then invest in our faculty," board Chairman Mori Hosseini said, according to the release. "As a result of our $25 million in overhead savings, our state's generous investment in the University of Florida, and our continued focus on making sure our faculty and staff are taken care of, we approved historic merit raise pools for our faculty and staff. This is the largest raise pool in at least the past 20 years." Interim President Kent Fuchs said it's important that the faculty and staff "know that we care about their hard work and what they do each day for our university." "As we look forward to the fall semester, there is a sense of excitement about our work to make sure that we elevate this great university," Fuchs said in the release. In addition to the raises, the board approved a one-time $10,000 bonus to faculty who receive an "exceeds expectations" rating in their post-tenure review evaluations. |
| Appeals court reinstates Title IX lawsuit against U. of Kentucky over its handling of dorm rape case | |
 | University of Kentucky Police Chief Joe Monroe discouraged one of his female officers from testifying at a student disciplinary hearing as part of UK's retaliation against a woman raped on campus in 2014, according to the woman's Title IX civil rights lawsuit that was reinstated against the university last week. U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood of Lexington dismissed the lawsuit filed by "Jane Doe," as she's identified in court records, at UK's request in 2022. But the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said it found a number of errors in Hood's decision and reversed him, sending the case back to Lexington for further action. Monroe, who has been UK police chief since 2009, did not respond to requests for comment this week. UK spokesman Jay Blanton said the university is reviewing the 6th Circuit's decision and hasn't decided its next move. "However, we strongly disagree with the court's characterization of Chief Monroe and his actions," Blanton said. Monroe didn't prevent the officer from testifying, Blanton said. Monroe simply confirmed with the officer that she had childcare demands on the day of the hearing that would prevent her from attending, according to UK's brief at the 6th Circuit. The UK Police Department was given less than 24 hours notice about the student disciplinary hearing, too little time for the officer to find a babysitter, UK said. |
| New artificial intelligence guidelines issued for U. of Missouri professors | |
 | Over the past few years, discussion surrounding artificial intelligence bringing academic dishonesty and data security has loomed over higher education institutions. This week, the University of Missouri aligned with several other 4-year institutions across the state establishing AI policy for the 2024-25 school year. Beginning this fall, MU professors will be required to clearly outline their position on students using artificial intelligence in the syllabus each semester. The syllabus statements should identify when use of AI is permitted, when it is not permitted, which AI tools will be allowed, as well as consequences for misuse of AI that will refer to MU's academic integrity policy. In addition to mandated statements on the syllabus, the policy encourages professors to mirror these guidelines on individual assignment sheets. "One of the biggest challenges will be avoiding misuse while also promoting positive uses," said Ben Trachtenberg, one of three chairs of MU's Task Force on Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Learning Environment. "The rules in the academic dishonesty policy now prohibits unauthorized use of artificially generated content." Trachtenberg explained that he and other members of the task force agree the key word is "unauthorized." "If the teacher says the use of AI is fine, it is fine. If we are going to prohibit unauthorized use, then we need to tell the students what is and is not authorized. This is why we felt it was essential that faculty outline this in the syllabus and out loud in class," he said. |
| Indiana Argues Professors Lack First Amendment Rights in Public Classrooms | |
 | In February, Republican lawmakers in Indiana passed a law saying public colleges and universities must deny tenure to professors who are "unlikely to foster ... intellectual diversity." The legislators left it to university trustees, many of whom are appointed by the governor, to determine what intellectual diversity actually means for faculty members and whether they have provided it. Professors who earned tenure before the law's passage aren't spared from its implications. The statute says that whether they fostered intellectual diversity, and whether they "introduced students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks," will now be considered in post-tenure reviews required every five years. A bad review could mean losing both tenure and employment. In May, four faculty members from Indiana and Purdue university campuses sued to invalidate those parts of the law. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, representing them, wrote in the lawsuit that these provisions impinge upon their First Amendment right to "academic freedom to determine the content of and deliver their instruction, free from interference by the State." But Indiana's attorney general, Republican Todd Rokita, argues that the professors have no such First Amendment right. In an echo of Florida's ongoing defense of its own legislative attempts to regulate public university classrooms, Rokita's office wrote in a brief to the federal court that "the classroom curriculum of a public university is government speech set in accordance with State law." |
| Judge orders UCLA to ensure equal campus access to Jewish students after pro-Palestinian protests | |
 | A federal judge on Tuesday admonished UCLA for its handling of pro-Palestinian encampments and ordered the university to ensure equal access to Jewish students, three of whom alleged in a lawsuit that the university enabled protesters to block Jews from parts of campus because of their faith. In issuing his preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi sided with the students, whose June suit said the university helped to enforce a "Jew Exclusion Zone" on campus during pro-Palestinian protests when UCLA erected bike rack barriers around an encampment. Also, the suit alleged that UCLA hired security guards who allowed protesters to cross into the encampment, but not Jewish students. "In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith," Scarsi wrote. The judge's order gives UCLA two days, until Thursday, to instruct UCLA police, security and student affairs that "they are not to aid or participate in any obstruction of access for Jewish students to ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas." A UCLA official said in a statement that the order would "improperly hamstring" how the university could respond to campus happenings. |
| The Tech Job Paying Six Figures, No College Degree Required | |
 | To get one of the hottest jobs in tech, Deborah Martinez Castellanos didn't need a bachelor's degree. She needed a flair with a screwdriver -- and a high tolerance for artificial lighting. The 24-year-old works the night shift at a giant, mostly windowless data center in Ashburn, Va., part of a fast-growing legion of workers who keep the nation's internet running. From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., she monitors screens that track the temperature and humidity of halls storing thousands of servers. If a server becomes at risk of overheating, alarms ring on her phone and flash on screen. When that happens, her job is to fix the problem. Left alone, such glitches can keep countless users from logging onto their bank accounts or put their email service on the fritz. "I don't want to say you have a sense of fear, but you do have a sense of, OK, you can't panic," says Martinez Castellanos, who also does checks on foot, clocking 10,000 steps a night. Demand for data-center technicians like Martinez Castellanos is booming, as companies such as Microsoft and Google pour billions into data centers to power everything from AI chatbots to the trillions of photos and emails stored in the cloud. They embody the rise of a class of careers that defy traditional blue- and white-collar distinctions: They are deeply tech-infused, often requiring fluency with programming and computerized systems, plus manual dexterity. This growing job category can also make good money. |
| FAFSA rollout was 'a stunning failure,' college aid expert says. Here's how next year will compare | |
| By most accounts, the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, was disastrous from the start. Even now, some college students don't know the status of their aid awards for the fall. "The Department's poor planning has led to a stunning failure: Some college students might not have financial aid dollars in their hands in time to start classes in the next few weeks," said Beth Maglione, interim president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. To avoid the same issues going forward, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced that the launch of next year's federal student aid application form will also be delayed. The 2025-26 FAFSA will be available to applicants on or before Dec. 1, following a phased rollout starting on Oct. 1 to "identify and resolve the kind of system errors that can derail millions of students," the Education Department said. (Typically, students have access to the coming academic year's form in October.) Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said he is skeptical that the department will be able to address all of the challenges that have plagued this year's federal student aid application in the months ahead, not to mention next year's form. "Just because the U.S. Department of Education says that it will get it done by December 1 doesn't mean that they will get it done in time," he added. |
| Biden administration urges Supreme Court to reinstate student loan relief plan in emergency appeal | |
 | The Biden administration filed an emergency appeal Tuesday at the Supreme Court urging the justices to reinstate the president's latest student loan relief plan. The appeal asks to temporarily lift a lower court ruling that currently prevents President Biden from implementing his Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, which would lower student loan payments for millions of borrowers. "The rule is a straightforward exercise of the Department's express statutory authority to set the parameters of income-contingent repayment plans --- just as it has done for three decades," U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote to the justices. If the Supreme Court is not inclined to intervene on their emergency docket, Prelogar alternatively requested the justices take up the legality of the plan on the merits and expedite consideration so oral arguments can be held this fall. The court ordered the SAVE Plan's challengers to respond by Monday afternoon. The posture mimics how the Biden administration handled challenges to its earlier student debt plan, which would've forgiven at least $10,000 in debt relief to individual borrowers. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down that plan in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines after agreeing to take up the matter in full once it received a demand for emergency action from the Justice Department. |
| What education could look like under Harris and Walz | |
| Education vaulted to the forefront of conversations about the presidential race when Democratic nominee Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, worked for roughly two decades in public schools, as a geography teacher and football coach. He has championed investments in public education: For example, in March 2023, he signed a bill to make school meals free to all students in public schools. Harris, a former U.S. senator and attorney general in California, has less experience in education than her running mate. But her record suggests that she would back policies to make child care more affordable, protect immigrant and LGBTQ+ students and promote broader access to higher education through free community college and loan forgiveness. Like Walz, she has defended schools and teachers against Republican charges that they are "indoctrinating" young people; she has also spoken about her own experience of being bused in Berkeley, California, as part of a program to desegregate the city's schools. Harris and Walz have been endorsed by the country's two largest teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which tend to support Democratic candidates. |
| Leading Republican Wants Sweeping Investigation of Colleges' DEI Spending | |
| A leading Senate Republican has requested that the Education Department's Office of Inspector General investigate how colleges and universities use federal money to support diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policies. "The primary problem with DEI is that it does not actually promote inclusivity," Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Education Committee, wrote in a letter Tuesday to the Inspector General. "It is the opposite of diversity of thought when all members of the campus community are forced into groups based on their race and heritage." Cassidy and other congressional Republicans have been critical of DEI, blaming the policies and programs in part for the increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses following the start of the war in Gaza. The senator has also sponsored legislation to eliminate federal DEI programs. Cassidy is asking for an accounting of federal financial aid dollars that went toward operating DEI offices over the past five years. He has also requested a breakdown of how many institutions mandate DEI training for students and employees, and how many require students to take at least one DEI-related class in order to graduate, among other items. The review would include the more than 5,700 colleges and universities that receive federal financial aid. |
| Next president will face a $35 trillion national debt impacted by both Trump and Biden | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Six months ago, the gross national debt of the United States exceeded $35 trillion. That total includes money the federal government owes itself, so many in government and finance rely on the lower net national debt number of about $27 trillion if that makes anyone feel one iota better. The national debt is everything our government owes to the public -- think bonds and borrowed money -- and everything the government owes to itself -- think Social Security and Medicare obligations. It is debt held by the public and so-called "intragovernmental" debt that the government owes to citizens through entitlement programs. The highly respected and nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation explains the national debt crisis in these ways: Our $35 trillion national debt is larger than the economies of China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and India -- combined. It amounts to $231,000 per every U.S. household or $104,303 for every American. ... How did we get here? Take your bipartisan pick. All U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover had added to the existing national debt. The last U.S. president to reduce the national debt was Calvin Coolidge in 1929. .... More to the point of the 2024 presidential election, Republican President Donald Trump added $7.8 trillion to the national debt mostly due to COVID pandemic stimulus and relief spending and the 2020 recession. Current President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, continuing the Trump policies on heavy pandemic and recession recovery spending, and through his own massive American Recovery Plan, is set through those expenditures and the bipartisan infrastructure bill to add the most of any single president to the national debt. |
SPORTS
| How Buffalo Wild Wings, Bible study build cohesion for Mississippi State's new offensive line | |
| Grant Jackson appears to be the chicken wing-eating champion among Mississippi State football's offensive linemen. At least he was one night near the start of the Bulldogs' preseason camp. "I think Grant had over 30 (wings) and his fiancé had to stop him," center Ethan Miner said in early August. Trips to Buffalo Wild Wings for all-you-can-eat chicken wings are one example of how Mississippi State's offensive linemen are gelling together before the 2024 season kicks off on Aug. 31 against Eastern Kentucky (5 p.m., SEC Network+). The group is completely revamped with all five starters from last season departed. The Bulldogs also have a new offensive line coach in Cody Kennedy, hired by first-year coach Jeff Lebby after three seasons at Arkansas. Talent is necessary at offensive line, but so is the cohesion that's been noted by Mississippi State coaches since the start of preseason practices. Miner, a North Texas transfer who's started 35 consecutive games, appears to be a leader of the group. According to Jacoby Jackson, another offensive lineman transfer, the position group has made trips to church together and had Bible study sessions. Miner conducts it. "Sometimes we go to Ethan Miner's house," Jacoby Jackson said Tuesday. "We go, eat some good food, just bond. You know offensive linemen, nine times out of 10 when we bond, we're going to bond over some good food, so it's a good thing that we do." |
| 'I got a bigger chip on my shoulder': healthy Isaac Smith ready to start at safety | |
| Isaac Smith was one of the crown jewels of Mississippi State's 2023 recruiting class. Coming out of Itawamba Agricultural High School, Smith was the 10th-best safety in the country and the fourth-best overall player in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. But Smith's Bulldogs career got off to an inauspicious start -- he battled shoulder and knee injuries in the preseason last year, and while he played in all 12 games, his snap counts were lower than he had hoped for and he was limited to just 15 tackles. The door is now wide open for Smith to start as a sophomore and as part of a new-look defense under coordinator Coleman Hutzler. Shawn Preston Jr. and Marcus Banks have moved on, and Smith was taking first-team snaps early in fall camp at the field safety position alongside returning starter Corey Ellington and junior college transfer Brylan Lanier. "I've got a bigger chip on my shoulder," Smith said. "I'm having to work a lot harder and just prove to myself and to other people that I can fill in the shoes of what we had last year and be better. I've held myself to a mindset of working hard and grinding to prove to everybody that I can do this." |
| Largest outdoor Pickleball facility in Mississippi? See where it will be and when it will open | |
 | Mississippi can sometimes be late to the party, even with today's ability to find anything, anywhere with the internet and social media. Even Pickleball has been a little slow to catch on in the Magnolia State. Despite that, there are plenty of places to grab a game in the Jackson metro area, but most are private settings that require membership, such as the Country Club of Jackson, The Club at the Township in Ridgeland and even the Picklejar in Jackson as an indoor venue with two courts. The one public area with access for Pickleball courts is the Ridgeland Tennis Center, which has dual access for four courts that doubles as a tennis court. Now, one place in the area is changing that. The City of Flowood has broken ground on a project on Liberty Road that developers said will be the largest outdoor Pickleball facility in Mississippi. Daniel Lang, director of economic development at City of Flowood, said Monday the city has broken ground and the Pickleball-only courts could be ready as soon as the first of the year. The development, along Liberty Road, next door to the YMCA, which is expected to cost $3 million, is set for 18 new lighted pickleball courts, a playground with restrooms and a new parking lot. Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads said he wants to expand family-friendly activities. |
| $6.9M in improvements on tap for popular North Jackson park | |
| Nearly $7 million in improvements are on tap for a popular Northeast Jackson park, thanks to the efforts of the LeFleur East Foundation. On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved entering into a memorandum of understanding with LeFleur East to allow the foundation to make $6.9 million in improvements to Parham Bridges Park. Chairman Clay Hays says the first phase of the plan will be the installation of new pickleball courts, which he hopes could get underway this fall. The measure was approved on a unanimous vote. Work is being funded by the LeFleur East Foundation. According to city documents, the work will be broken down into four phases. The first will include the installation of a three-hole, par-three golf course, along with a paved walking trail and fence around it. The second phase will include demolishing the old parking lot, extending the existing walking trail, installing a new metal truss bridge, constructing eight new tennis courts, rehabbing existing tennis courts, and installing six new pickleball courts. Additional phases will include a complete overhaul of the park's clubhouse, the construction of a new centralized parking lot with 164 spaces, a new front entry sign, a new wayfinding sign, gate, security camera system, and perimeter fencing. LeFleur East is already working with the city and the Hinds County Sheriff's Department to provide security at the facility. |
| Southern Miss to host 2024 MHSAA football championships | |
| For the fifth time in six years, Mississippi's high school football championships will be held on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Announced by the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) on Tuesday, M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg will play host to all seven classifications' championship games between Thursday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 7. "We appreciate the time and conversations with all the potential host sites through this process," MHSAA executive director Ricky Neaves said. "We have no doubt that Southern Miss and the city of Hattiesburg will once again do a tremendous job hosting and creating exciting, memorable experiences for our schools, students, coaches, families, and communities." The upcoming MHSAA season kicks off with various jamborees on Friday, Aug. 23. The official start to week one will be on Thursday, Aug. 29. In 2023, Mississippi's high school football state champions were Biggersville (1A), Charleston (2A), Winona (3A), Louisville (4A), West Point (5A), West Jones (6A), and Oak Grove (7A). |
| Lane Kiffin Tweet Yields Lawsuit From Zealous Copyright Holder | |
| Psychologist Keith Bell, who in court documents is called "the father of swimming psychology" and who has brought multiple infringement lawsuits for alleged "unauthorized uses" of his copyrighted "WIN Passage" motivational work, is now suing Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin for infringement over a tweet that borrowed from the WIN Passage. Bell's complaint, filed in a Mississippi federal district court last week, notes how Bell has served as a sports psychologist for national and Olympic teams sponsored by the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. Bell has authored multiple books, including The Win Book (1982), which the complaint calls a "timeless bestseller." Bell not only secured a copyright registration for The Win Book but also a registration for an approximately 230-word portion of the book called "Winning Isn't Normal," a.k.a. the WIN Passage. Bell is an experienced litigant and has drawn criticisms for his aggressive protection of the WIN Passage. In a 2022 opinion for Bell v. Eagle Mt. Saginaw Independent School District, Judge Gregg Costa of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit wrote that Bell "zealously seeks out and litigates unauthorized uses of the WIN Passage." Costa added that between 2006 and 2017, "Bell filed over 25 copyright lawsuits. Most of the defendants were public schools or nonprofits, which published the WIN Passage on social media." Costa opined the WIN Passage "largely consists of well-worn truisms." |
| Texas A&M made over $6M for George Strait concert, Mexico-Brazil soccer match | |
 | The Texas A&M athletic department made over $6 million in net revenue from the George Strait concert and Mexico-Brazil soccer match held at Kyle Field in June, A&M athletic director Trev Alberts said Tuesday. The concert netted $3.9 million for the athletic department and the soccer match brought in $2.6 million. Local officials estimated the two events would bring in millions of dollars to the area with an economic impact on par with what a home A&M football game generates in the fall. "You have heard me say before and I want to repeat my thanks to the previous administration for having the vision to bring these events to Kyle Field," Alberts said in a statement. "I would like to thank our entire staff and especially our special events and facilities staffs for their hard work. ... Not only were these events profitable, but we continue to grow the overall Texas A&M brand. Additionally, our local economy benefitted greatly by bringing in people who have never been to our community." Many college athletic administrators are thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset since a recent class-action antitrust lawsuit settlement appears to be bringing forth a new revenue-sharing model in college athletics. Alberts said last spring that college athletic departments like A&M will have to shift their mindset toward innovative ways to use an asset like Kyle Field more often. |
| Having bid farewell to Saban, powerful SEC welcomes Oklahoma and Texas to the mix | |
| Hello, Oklahoma and Texas. For the first time in 17 years, Alabama's iconic coach won't be prowling the sidelines in the Southeastern Conference. With one longtime juggernaut headed to an ESPN gig and semi-retirement, two others enter the fray. The Sooners and Longhorns join the powerhouse league three years after annoucing their departure from the Big 12 and they will not have to face Saban, who won six of his major college record seven national championships with the Crimson Tide. "I think it's a partnership of elite with elite," Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. "And, again, two programs that in the history of college football take a back seat to nobody. The SEC doesn't take a back seat to anybody." A league that had captured four straight national titles -- including two straight from Georgia -- before Michigan won it all last season is now beefed up to 16 teams. For all that, some things haven't changed: Kirby Smart and top-ranked Georgia are loaded with talent and regarded as the team to beat. Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns bring another current force into the mix with quarterback Quinn Ewers back after leading them to the College Football Playoff. |
| Elevate dives into ticketing for 2024 football season | |
| Football season is almost here -- and ticket demand is picking up. According to research from Elevate, fans are buying 13% more tickets on the secondary market than last year heading into the 2024 campaign. Consumers are also spending more on average on the top 20 games of the 2024 season, as the average ticket price has climbed from $266.05 last season to $299.75 this year (13% higher). "If you look back probably 20 years when the secondary market really started to develop in the early 2000s with StubHub first, and then you look at all the competition there is now -- StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster resale, Vivid Seats -- fans are not real concerned where they purchased the ticket," said Jonathan Marks, chief business officer at Elevate Marketplace and an SBJ 2024 Forty Under 40 honoree. "And so because of that, you also start to see some interesting ways that those marketplaces are dynamically adjusting their fees in order to see what ways they can attract a consumer." The Nov. 30 Texas-Texas A&M contest currently has the highest overall get-in price on the secondary market at $550. |
| Ivy League Degrees Aren't Worth What They Used to Be in College Sports | |
| Basketball players at the University of Pennsylvania tend to spend their summers interning for top-tier finance firms, clerking for judges or working in medical research labs. But after his freshman season at Penn, Tyler Perkins chose somewhere very different. He went to Villanova, sacrificing his chance to earn a coveted Ivy League degree in favor of transferring to a different school to continue his basketball career. "To get an internship at Goldman Sachs and stuff like that, that's amazing," Perkins said. "But I'm a basketball player, so I just wanted to do what was best for me." Perkins isn't alone. The Ivy League has shed a load of talent over the past few months, with at least five of the conference's best players leaving their esteemed schools to take advantage of loosened transfer rules, better facilities and potential endorsement deals at more decorated basketball programs. None of them went to another Ivy. It's an exodus that was once unthinkable, given the prestige and an economic opportunity that comes with a degree from an institution like Harvard or Yale. Even in an era of college sports where star players can make huge sums of money from donors at the wealthiest athletic programs, it seemed as if the Ivy might be shielded somewhat from this rapidly evolving landscape. But it has become clear that not even the Ivy League is immune to the market forces reshaping the entire industry, forcing the conference to reckon with its identity. |
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