| Wednesday, September 25, 2024 |
| ORNL and Mississippi State to join Juggerbot's Hybrid AM project | |
 | Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Mississippi State University's Advanced Composite Institute have been selected to assist JuggerBot 3D LLC, as key technical partners in the large format 3D printing company's hybrid additive manufacturing project, currently in development through the Air Force Research Laboratory. The two institutions have been chosen as technical partners for their expertise in Fused Granulate Fabrication and Direct Ink Writing composite manufacturing. They will collaborate to develop reliable process parameters for consistent material deposition, demonstrating the steps needed to produce production tooling for composite manufacturing. This $4 million congressional award, announced in February of 2024 and funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Manufacturing Technology, aims to advance large-scale hybrid additive manufacturing in order to enable the production of faster, less expensive tooling critical to the Defense and Aerospace industry. Mississippi State University's Advanced Composites Institute, a respected leader in pioneering composite technologies, will lead system-level validation. This process, which includes rigorous material testing and assessment, ensures the effectiveness of the established process parameters for both thermoset and thermoplastic materials. |
| Juggerbot 3D Names Partners for Additive Project | |
| JuggerBot 3D LLC, an industrial 3D printer original equipment manufacturer, has selected key technical partners for a hybrid additive manufacturing (AM) project through the Air Force Research Laboratory. Mississippi State University's Advanced Composites Institute and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been chosen as technical partners for their expertise in Fused Granulate Fabrication and Direct Ink Writing composite manufacturing. These organizations will collaborate to develop process parameters for material deposition, demonstrating what's needed to produce production tooling for composite manufacturing. This $4 million congressional award, funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Manufacturing Technology, aims to advance large-scale hybrid additive manufacturing to enable production of faster, less expensive tooling needed for the defense and aerospace industry. Mississippi State University's Advanced Composites Institute will lead system-level validation. This process, which includes material testing and assessment, ensures effectiveness of process parameters for thermoset and thermoplastic materials. Highlighting the project's impact, Hunter Watts, research engineer at MSU's ACI, explains that "In an industry that demands rapid results, transitioning from a six-figure investment in a mold that takes 12-18 months to produce to one that takes only a few weeks at a fraction of the cost is a significant enabler across the U.S.'" |
| Mississippi State University Scientists Use $1 Million Grant To 'Get A Grip' On Automated Blackberry Harvesting | |
| The labor-intensive work of harvesting delicate blackberries by hand is a must, but the development of advanced technologies by Mississippi State University scientists could help automate the tedious process. Many agricultural crops are picked quickly by machines, and MSU Assistant Professor Xin Zhang, of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, is working with a university team to do the same for ripe blackberries -- taking this high-value specialty crop from special handling to robotic harvesting. In the university's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Zhang and her team are developing a blackberry detection and localization system, the "eyes" and "brain" of a robotic harvester system powered by an innovative, artificial intelligence-driven deep learning approach. Zhang is co-principal investigator on a $1 million multi-institutional effort funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Robotics Initiative 3.0 (NRI-3.0) program in collaboration with the National Science Foundation. |
| MSU's MAFES sales store announces holiday sales, renovations | |
 | Holiday sales are open online and in-store for Mississippi State's cheese. With the holidays fast approaching, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, Sales Store has opened holiday sales of its signature cheese products: Edam, cheddar, Vallagret, jalapeno and its Maroon and White gift boxes. The store, which moved into its present location in the 1970s, will undergo significant renovations beginning in mid-December. This year's cheese ship dates are scheduled for Nov. 4, 11, 18, 25 and Dec. 2. Patrons are encouraged to place their orders early to ensure their holiday tables feature the beloved MSU cheeses. The last day to pick up cheese orders in-store is Dec. 9. The store will close at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 to begin renovations. The process of making MSU cheese begins each day before sunrise at the university's Bearden Dairy Research Center, where MAFES staff milk up to 200 cows daily. The herd includes Holsteins, robust crossbred grazers, and the nation's oldest continually bred university Jersey herd -- the top collegiate herd for its size. Annually, over 475,000 gallons of milk flow into the Custer Dairy Processing Plant, one of the largest on-campus processing plants in the world. |
| HARDY's big Mississippi homecoming | |
| Amid a chorus of loud, crunching guitars, crashing cymbals and blasts of pyrotechnics, Philadelphia, Miss., native and country and hard-rock superstar HARDY brought the fire -- literally and sonically -- to Dudy Noble Field in Starkville on Sept.13 for his first headlining stadium concert. "Nashville's nu-metal king," as the Los Angeles Times once crowned him, stepped onstage wearing cutoff jean shorts and a t-shirt emblazoned with "Dawgs Win Again," holding a cowbell aloft to cheers from the crowd of 20,000 spectators on the campus of Mississippi State University. HARDY, who found his break in music writing songs for country artists like Florida Georgia Line and collaborating with Morgan Wallen, kept the energy up during the 20-song set, which followed opening performances from Travis Denning and Lake native Randy Houser. During the encore, in the leadup to a nu-metal-makeover of Blake Shelton's song "God's Country," HARDY told the crowd about spending time on Dudy Noble Field at Polk–DeMent Stadium with his father while growing up. "I sat right over there chasing foul balls through baseball games -- I've got a bucket full of foul balls," he said. "Every time we'd cross from Winston County to Oktibbeha County, my dad would look at me and he would say, 'Son, we're in God's country!' |
| AETC command chief immerses in training mission, speaks during anniversary event | |
| Chief Master Sgt. Chad Bickley, command chief of Air Education and Training Command, arrived at Columbus Air Force Base with a clear purpose: Immerse in the pilot training mission. During his visit Sept. 5-6, Bickley focused on meeting Airmen that are the keystone to reoptimizing Team 14 to meet future challenges from near-peer competitors. "The next generation of the Air Force is here at Columbus," said Bickley, "Ensuring that we're optimizing their time and training here and giving them the right tools is crucial for their success." Bickley also traveled to Mississippi State University to meet with their Operational Support Team (OST). CAFB members have collaborated with OST to gain more insight on optimal human performance and help develop this concept within the pilot training mission to shape the next generation of Air Force pilots. While at MSU, Bickley visited MSU's Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps Detachment 425, to meet and speak with cadets and cadre. He spoke about warfighter readiness and the importance of preparing the next generation of the Air Force. "It was great to hear the chief reinforce the importance of the training we do," said Lt. Col. Christopher Evans, Detachment 425 commander. "Chief Bickley is a great speaker and his enthusiasm for Air Force service is a great influence on the morale and dedication the cadets have for their training and future active service. His vast experience provides significant context for how the training the cadets receive now will translate into a positive influence in future fights." |
| Shoppers will spend a record $241 billion online this holiday season | |
 | Consumers plan to open their wallets this holiday season, snapping up discounts on electronics, apparel and sporting goods, breaking online sales records in the process. Americans are projected to spend $240.8 billion online from Nov. 1 through the end of the year, 8.4 percent over last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Adobe Analytics. And more than half will do their shopping on their phones. The record-breaking figures signal consumers will power through the most significant shopping season of the year. Savvy spending, along with wage growth and a still-strong job market are giving shoppers the "confidence and ability to increase their spending," said John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight Research. Both Coresight and Moody's project total retail sales, in person and online, will grow around 3 percent during the last three months of the year, roughly on par with last year. The projections come as consumers continue to be choosy about how they spend in discretionary categories. Retail sales have remained fairly steady, with August numbers increasing by 0.1 percent from July and by 2 percent over last year, while dipping for electronics and appliances, as well as furniture and apparel. Many of those categories should see some uptick during the holidays, according to Adobe, which sees more than half of online sales driven by electronics, apparel, furniture and home goods. |
| Mississippi's Republican governor pushes income-tax cut, says critics rely on 'myths' | |
| Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that legislators should ignore "myths" from opponents who want to block efforts by him and some other Republican leaders to phase out the state's income tax. "Getting rid of our state income tax, in my opinion, is the next step in continuing to unleash our full economic potential," Reeves told a few hundred businesspeople, lobbyists, legislators and other elected officials at a conference in the Jackson suburb of Flowood. Republican House Speaker Jason White set the daylong meeting for people to discuss potential tax cuts that the GOP-controlled state House and Senate could debate during the three-month legislative session that begins in January. Mississippi, which has long been one of the poorest states in the U.S., is in the process of reducing its personal income tax under a law Reeves signed in 2022. The state will lower its top rate to 4% in two years. "I am going to dispel the myths that our opponents are going to spread trying to stop us from eliminating the income tax," Reeves said. Critics will say that cutting taxes won't lead to more jobs, and that cuts will make it harder for the state to fund public education and balance budgets, the governor said. He said all three points are wrong. |
| Officials prioritizing public safety at upcoming Mississippi State Fair | |
| The 165th Mississippi State Fair will soon be underway in Jackson and Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson has provided updates on new online ticketing options, new attractions, and security measures for the popular event. This year's state fair will open at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 3, and run through Monday, October 14. Gate admission will be $10 per person and parking is free. Children aged 5 and under will be admitted free of charge. For the first time, the public can purchase advance admission tickets, concert tickets, and ride wristbands online. Fairgoers who purchase online tickets in advance can skip the line. Online tickets are available for purchase now through Wednesday, October 2, at a discounted price of $8 per person. Admission to the fair will be free every weekday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., except on Monday, October 14 for Columbus Day. Fairgoers can expect all their favorites, including the Taste of the Dixie National Rodeo, State Fair Marketplace Expo, Genuine MS Store, pageant and talent show, Farm Bureau petting zoo and pig races, 4-H and FFA livestock shows, Zerbini Family Circus, and the wildly-popular biscuit booth. Fairgrounds and law enforcement officials stress that safety is a top priority this year, highlighting the continued partnership between local and state law enforcement agencies, as well as first responders. |
| Ingalls awarded $9.5 billion multi-ship U.S. Navy contract | |
| Pascagoula's Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls, has been awarded U.S. Navy procurement contracts totaling nearly $9.5 billion for the construction of three San Antonio-class (LPD 17) amphibious ships and a contract modification for the next America-class (LHA 6) large-deck amphibious ship. The combined procurement contract is the first of its kind for amphibious ships. According to Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), by using this strategy, as authorized by Congress, the Navy is projected to achieve more than $901 million in cost avoidance as compared to the use of annual contracts. Ingalls' shipbuilders will construct LPDs 33, 34, 35 and LHA 10 for the U.S. Navy. U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a leader behind this contract effort, hopes this contract model will be used in the future to save taxpayer dollars and support combat readiness. "It is terrific that the Navy has made official what many of us have known for years: the future of American seapower flows through the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I am pleased that a new tranche of amphibious warships will be built by my home state's skilled shipbuilders," Senator Wicker said. "I am hopeful that the Department of Defense uses cost-saving multi-ship procurement model for other critical defense programs in the future." |
| Sen. Jerry Moran begs colleagues to break political gridlock on Farm Bill legislation | |
| U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas put 5,600 miles on his truck visiting constituents during the August congressional break, and the Republican carried a message of despair about the agriculture economy back to Washington. Moran recently took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to plead with colleagues to finish by the end of 2024, at minimum, extension of the 2018 Farm Bill for a second year and adoption of an emergency funding package to address the drought, rising agriculture production costs as well as insufficient crop prices and falling farm income. One year ago, gridlock in Congress prompted a 12-month extension of the Farm Bill that expires Sept. 30. It would be insufficient to simply repeat that one-year extension, Moran said. "The current Farm Bill is not adequate to provide the relief or safety net of our nation's farmers. Nor, is it reflective of the current state of the farm economy," he said. "I offer myself to work with Republicans and Democrats, rural and urban to see that we get those goals accomplished." So far, bitter differences on food and agriculture spending blocked progress. |
| 'He should be doing better': Even some Trump allies see him veering off course | |
 | Donald Trump was meeting privately in mid-September with one of his oldest friends, Steve Wynn, when the casino mogul and Republican mega-donor delivered the former president a blunt warning: You're off message, and it isn't helping. Trump had been distracted, in Wynn's view. The former president at the time was promoting a conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were eating people's cats and dogs in Ohio, among other things. To drive home his point, Wynn showed Trump polling and suggested the former president would be better off focusing on policy issues where Republicans see his opponent, Kamala Harris, as vulnerable, according to two people briefed on the meeting and granted anonymity to describe it. The meeting underscored a key point of tension inside the Trump campaign. While polls show the race is incredibly close, some of Trump's allies are concerned that his impulses and coarse approach to campaigning are undermining him against Harris, a rival who has proved far stronger than his previous opponent, Joe Biden. In interviews, more than a dozen Trump allies described the former president as reaching a crossroads -- faced with the choice of continuing with the missteps that have overtaken the past several weeks of his campaign or embracing a more calculated approach aimed at appealing to a small subset of undecided voters who are likely to sway the outcome of the election. |
| Senate probe finds Secret Service failures at Trump rally shooting | |
 | A bipartisan Senate committee report released Wednesday found numerous Secret Service failures related to the July 13 near assassination of former President Donald Trump and recommended ways to help prevent another incident. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in its ongoing investigation into the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally, said the agency fell short in coordination with local law enforcement and drone operation that would have helped ensure the area was safe. And the Secret Service failed to secure the rooftop from which the shooter fired at Trump and did not react to the suspicious person spotted at the rally, the report states. "The Committee finds that USSS failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources for the July 13, 2024 Butler rally were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day," the report states. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters the findings of the investigation determined "a perfect storm of stunning failure" was a result of accumulation of errors by the Secret Service on that day. "In a sense, a lot of these individual failings, if corrected at the time, might have prevented this tragedy, and clearly it was a tragedy," Blumenthal said. "A man died, a former president was almost killed, and it was completely preventable." |
| Trump says US intel briefed him about how Iran wants to assassinate him to sow discord in US | |
 | Former President Donald Trump was briefed Tuesday by U.S. intelligence officials about the "real and specific threats" posed by the government of Iran and its alleged efforts to assassinate him, his campaign said. The U.S. intelligence comes six weeks after the Justice Department charged a Pakistani national with ties to Iran with murder-for-hire as part of an alleged plot to assassinate a U.S. politician or government official, potentially in response to the Trump administration's 2020 killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, acknowledged the briefing on Tuesday night but declined to address any specifics. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung gave USA TODAY a statement offering few details. "President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States," the Trump campaign statement said. "Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference," the campaign statement said. U.S. intelligence officials have been saying for months that Iran is meddling in the U.S. election to hurt Trump and boost his opponent and Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, because of Trump's hardline approach to the Islamic Republic. |
| A new poll of young voters shows Harris with a commanding 31 point lead over Trump | |
 | President Biden had a young people problem. Vice President Harris may not. In a new poll from the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, Harris holds a 31-point lead over former President Donald Trump among likely voters ages 18 to 29. The poll, released Tuesday, shows Harris ahead of Trump, 61% to 30%, in a match-up that includes third-party candidates. Among only registered voters, Harris' lead drops slightly, but Trump still trails her by 23 points. The findings represent a marked improvement for Democrats since Harvard's spring youth poll, which found Biden ahead of Trump by 13 percentage points among likely voters and just seven percentage points among registered voters under 30. At the time, young, left-leaning Americans around the country told NPR they were unhappy with their presidential options. "This poll reveals a significant shift in the overall vibe and preferences of young Americans as the campaign heads into the final stretch," John Della Volpe, the polling director of the Institute of Politics, said in a statement. "Gen Z and young millennials' heightened enthusiasm signals a potentially decisive role for the youth vote in 2024." It's a promising sign for Harris, who is banking on high levels of youth support. |
| Mark Robinson Scandal in North Carolina Injects Chaos Into Presidential Race | |
 | No one at the tiny roadside Blue Ridge Diner knew for sure whether Mark Robinson would show up to his campaign meet and greet on Monday, nor did they know whom to ask -- the GOP gubernatorial nominee's staff had just quit en masse. Robinson's campaign said the day before that its manager, deputy manager and a half-dozen other staffers resigned, following a report describing his allegedly antigay and racist comments a decade ago on an online pornography forum. That was the latest in a string of scandals, including the antiabortion candidate's acknowledgment that he had paid for his now-wife's abortion. North Carolina is the swing state that former President Donald Trump won the most narrowly in 2020. Now Trump sees his fate tied to Robinson, the starkest example yet of the standard-bearers the MAGA takeover has brought to the Republican Party, and how hard it is to contain them. The state has become a place where all of the forces of a polarized nation intersect, from the divide between rural and urban interests, to hardened opinions about abortion. North Carolina's direction, potentially decisive in the presidential race, could hinge on another deeply flawed Trump protégé burdening the party with extreme views. This week marks the strangest one yet in the strange political career of Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor of North Carolina, a state that is a presidential prize on Election Day. |
| Whitewater rafters with differing politics aim to bridge the partisan divide on Nantahala River trip | |
 | On the western edge of the battleground state of North Carolina cuts the Nantahala River and an unlikely spot for an experiment in reconciliation. About 30 Americans went there to navigate the Nantahala on rafts while probing the limits of political estrangement. They are liberals and conservatives, independents and libertarians --- sure to oppose one another on all manner of ideas and issues. But they're also willing to talk and paddle together toward something deeper. Ken Powley, an experienced rafter who worries deeply about American alienation, organized the trip as part of R.A.F.T. for America, a movement that brings people who have different perspectives together on rafting trips. Its parent organization, Team Democracy, was co-founded by Powley with the aim of countering political polarization and encouraging civility. "As Americans we really are in the same boat together," Powley said. "I'm the guy that always thought of democracy like the air you breathe. It's always gonna be there." Perhaps cynics will find this all a bit too tidy, but Powley says, "This is not about unity." "This is not about changing people's positions, trying to get them to agree. It's about managing those differences in a reasonably responsible way," Powley said. |
| Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money | |
| At the Azure Sky solar and storage project in Haskell County, Tex., 700,000 photovoltaic panels stretch in uniform rows across the desert landscape, shimmering under a relentless summer sun. Beneath the panels, hundreds of Dorper sheep graze on Bermuda and Johnson grasses, driven there by two border collies named Bucky and Johnny. The sheep belong to Chad Raines, owner of Key Farms in Lamesa, Tex., and they are part of a new initiative called solar grazing. In addition to providing a low cost, eco-friendly mowing service to energy companies, Raines manages a solar site that provides an estimated 586 gigawatts annually to the booming Texas solar industry. "We still farm and do everything we used to," said Raines, "except underneath solar panels." According to the Energy Department, decarbonizing the electricity grid by 2050 will require solar power to provide nearly half of all U.S. energy production, up from just 3.4 percent today. To meet these federally mandated climate goals, the solar industry requires land, and lots of it, but many rural and predominantly conservative areas remain unfriendly to renewable energy. Agrivoltaics -- the practice of sharing energy and food production on the same plot of land -- can include a range of agricultural practices, such as farming, beekeeping, agroforestry, aquaculture and solar grazing. Solar grazing represents the bulk of the agrivoltaic industry. |
| Musician, Arkansas legend Johnny Cash recognized with U.S. Capitol statue | |
| On the eve of unveiling of a bronze sculpture honoring musician Johnny Cash at the U.S. Capitol, sculptor Kevin Kresse took a moment to reflect on Cash as a person. Kresse, the Little Rock artist behind the Cash statue, addressed some of the Arkansans who traveled to the nation's capital for the occasion during a pre-reception Monday evening. While Kresse noted Cash's musical accomplishments -- such as selling "a gazillion records worldwide" -- he emphasized Cash's character in explaining why the Arkansan is worthy of a statue. "For me, it's the fact that he took all of that -- he took his successes, his standing, his wealth, everything he accrued -- instead of holding onto it tightly, trying to get more, he turned it around and shined a light on those who were stepped over, overlooked, pushed to the margins, the so-called 'those people' of our society," Kresse said Monday evening at The Hamilton venue in downtown Washington, D.C. "When (Cash) sang about wearing a black coat and clothing for different groups, what he was saying was, 'I'm standing up,'" Kresse added, referencing the Cash song, "Man in Black." Kresse stood alongside members of the Cash family, Arkansas lawmakers and congressional leaders Tuesday morning when they pulled the cover off the Cash statue on Tuesday in the Capitol Visitor Center, officially putting the sculpture into the National Statuary Hall collection. |
| USM Partners for the Arts to host Pops in the Park | |
 | Partners for the Arts (PFTA) will present the second annual Pops in the Park concert, a showcase of popular music performed by The University of Southern Mississippi's (USM) Symphonic Winds. Pops in the Park has become a tradition on the Hattiesburg campus. It will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at Spirit Park, opening at 5:30 p.m. The Steel Pan Orchestra will perform at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Symphonic Winds taking the stage at 7:00 p.m. at Southern Station in Spirit Park. This event is free and open to the public. The concert will showcase the incredible talents of Southern Miss students, as they perform popular music with a mix of jazz, rock, pop, film scores, Broadway favorites, and American classics. Proceeds from Pops in the Park will provide support to the university's arts programs and students. PFTA secures funding, mentorship opportunities for students, and supports the creation and production of art at USM. |
| Louisiana higher ed braces for big budget cuts. What would it mean for universities? | |
 | Bracing for a $250 million budget shortfall with the sunset of a state sales tax next year, Louisiana higher education system leaders told the Board of Regents that funding cuts could have "devastating" impacts. That could mean slashed programs, layoffs and students across the state receiving less financial aid, system leaders said at a state Board of Regents budget hearing on Tuesday. "There's no place to cut that won't hurt," said Dennis Shields, president and CEO of the Southern University system. If the state sales tax is not renewed, Louisiana will face a budget shortfall around $600 million, said Taylor Barras, commissioner of administration of Gov. Jeff Landry's administration. Barras said the legislature will likely go into a tax policy special session later this year, where income tax and other policies could be discussed. Earlier this year, the Board of Regents asked Louisiana's higher education leaders to detail how those cuts could impact their cash flow, recruitment and retention of students and tuition costs. Elizabeth Bentley-Smith, associate commissioner for finance and administration for the Board of Regents, said colleges and universities across the board voiced concerns about mental health of students, faculty and staff amid cuts might mean program reductions, layoffs and increased workload for staff after cuts. |
| Colleges have a housing crisis. These designers have a plan to solve it | |
| A few hundred feet from the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, a new kind of student housing is taking shape. Designed by architects at Mithun, the Gayley Towers project envisions transforming old apartments into collegiate cohousing where freshman through senior students would have private bedrooms with private food storage and share kitchen and living room areas. The idea is bonding and building community through food, says Brendan Connolly, a partner at Mithun, and creating a vertically integrated community. It's also a design that solves a vexing challenge on campuses today: affordability. The majority of the project's 545 beds will rent for $600 per month, a steep discount from the standard found in this upscale pocket of northwest L.A. "Students will be more successful if they don't have to worry about rent . . . as intensely as I think a lot of them do," Paavo Monkkonen, a professor of urban planning and public policy, told the student paper. As new college students acclimate to campuses across the country this fall, they're also adjusting to the burden of student dorms and apartments that have become substantially more expensive than in years past. In California, in particular, students are feeling the pinch. Coeds attending the University of California, Berkeley -- in a town where exclusionary zoning was pioneered -- have found options severely limited. With the school housing only one in four undergrads, many have scrambled to find something off campus, with potential apartments falling through right before the school year starts. It's reflective of a national trend that's making housing as costly as tuition (in some cases, even more so). |
| How Much Do Students Really Read? | |
 | Ava Wherley likes to read -- especially thrillers. She rarely reads nonfiction, but when she does, she prefers suspenseful tales of true crime. Reading for school is another matter. Wherley, a sophomore biology major at the University of Florida, is assigned about 100 pages of reading a week for three classes -- most of which she skips in favor of gleaning the information from YouTube videos. "I'm someone that learns really well from videos and things being visually explained to me, which is something the textbook isn't usually really good at," she said, adding that academic texts tend to use overly complex language, which makes them harder to read. Wherley is hardly the only student to shirk reading; in interviews with current college students, only one -- a freshman who said he is assigned only about five pages each week -- told Inside Higher Ed that they typically complete their reading assignments. Some skim, some use artificial intelligence to create summaries and some rely on old-fashioned human-written summaries, such as SparkNotes, to stay on top of the material. Researchers have long observed that a small -- and declining -- number of students actually complete their assigned readings; a study of reading quizzes taken in a psychology class between 1981 and 1997 showed a decreasing number of students doing so even then. More recently, in a 2021 study of hospitality students, over 70 percent said they don't read the texts their professors assign. Few professors would argue with that data. |
| Employers seek better soft skills from next generation of workers | |
| Emotions run high at the fall Carnegie Mellon University STEM career fair in Pittsburgh. Hundreds of young adults put their soft skills to the test as they mill about pitching themselves to recruiters. "They're waiting in line, they're holding their resume shaking, they're trying to memorize their elevator pitch," said Sean McGowan, employer relations director at Carnegie's career development center. McGowan tries to pump them up, emphasizing people skills to students. "Tell a story. Make an actual connection. Don't worry about just listing off all of the technical skills you have from your resume," he said. It's easier said than done. While technology continues to rapidly transform the workplace and the jobs marketplace, soft skills don't just help workers get jobs, they are critical for adapting to technology, growing into new roles and working effectively with a team. But for college students who had to endure a period of pandemic-induced isolation during their schooling and generally take a more casual approach to work, there's a disconnect between their soft skills and what employers are looking for. "When it comes to post-pandemic, I'll definitely say that I've heard from employers that they feel that there's a more casual communication standpoint versus professional communication," McGowan said. |
| Report: Socio-Emotional Readiness of College Students Is On the Decline | |
| During the COVID-19 pandemic, students in the K-12 system and at higher ed institutions fell behind in their academic preparation due to a lack of in-person learning. But remote learning impacted more than just students' reading and writing skills; today's college students are on a delayed trajectory of socio-emotional behavior development due to the pandemic, as well. A new report from EAB and Seramount found, among college-readiness metrics, students are struggling to meet expectations in and outside the classroom, which could have effects on their lives beyond education. The research, which connects a decline in student readiness from K-12 to early career employment, may be relieving to some higher education officials who think they're the only ones encountering these challenges, says Carla Hickman, vice president of research at EAB. But the findings only reinforce higher education's role to prepare students for their next steps, regardless of K-12 experiences. Personnel at colleges and universities reported to EAB that they have noticed more students seeking mental health counseling and crisis services, struggling with resiliency, having difficulty with interpersonal communication and conflict resolution, and being less involved in student organizations or other social opportunities. Social media has also played a role in hindering Gen Z's emotional development, Hickman says, with students able to block or mute people who share differing opinions or share uncomfortable content, making them less equipped to handle conflict off-line. "You can't live in the world that way." |
| Congressional Watchdog Digs Into FAFSA Fiasco, Revealing Oversights, Call-Center Failures, and Unresolved Glitches | |
 | Federal lawmakers on Tuesday heard another round of testimony about the disastrous rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. And once again, numerous damning details emerged. This time, officials from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, shared findings from two new reports about the continuing federal-aid crisis with members of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. The GAO, known as the "congressional watchdog," is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. It has been investigating the Education Department's rollout of the revamped FAFSA at the behest of a group of Republicans in Congress. The GAO's findings and testimony provided the most detailed picture yet of the federal-aid system's failures -- and how those failures have been affecting students. The revamped FAFSA had numerous problems from the start, the GAO found, and new ones kept popping up after the application finally went live last December. As described in one of the GAO reports, the Federal Student Aid office, or FSA, decided not to tackle 18 of 25 "key requirements" before rolling out the new FAFSA-processing system. Among them: the capability to determine an applicant's final federal-aid eligibility and then send the results to colleges' financial-aid offices. |
| College Rankings Mislead Students. Universities Should Abandon Them. | |
| Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier writes for Forbes: U.S. News & World Report released its 2025 "Best Colleges" rankings. Every year, prospective college students and their families turn to this report for guidance on which schools might be the right fit for them. While there is evidence that fewer students are using rankings in their college admissions process, many families still heavily rely on them when making one of the most important decisions of their lives. A recent report that was financially supported by Vanderbilt University and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago -- a highly respected independent and nonpartisan nonprofit research organization -- shows that the ranking's methodologies have the potential to mislead and misinform the students who rely on it. Last year, I wrote a piece for Inside Higher Ed about why the ranking is problematic. From flawed methodologies to low-quality data to subjective standards, college rankings make it harder for students to find the right school. Complicating things further, U.S. News & World Report has changed the methodologies for most of its rankings over the past several years, including the Best Colleges rankings. These misleading measures matter. ... Apart from flawed methodologies, one can't overlook the profit incentives for publishing rankings. For U.S. News & World Report, rankings are a major driver of website traffic and, thus, ad dollars. |
| Some 32 years after students' murders, Manning's Death Row sojourn may be ending | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Mississippi's Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote denied yet another appeal from the Death Row inmate convicted of brutally murdering Mississippi State University students Jon Stephen Steckler and Pamela Tiffany Miller on the night of Dec. 11, 1992. Willie Jerome "Fly" Manning, 56, was convicted of the murders in 1994 and has served 30 years at Parchman. While additional appeals, both state and federal, are likely, the court's action puts the state in the position of setting an execution date. Manning's attorney called the high court ruling one that ignored "newly discovered evidence with the recantations of several key (prosecution) witnesses." Krissy Nobile, director of the state's Office of Post-Conviction Counsel and Manning's attorney, told the Associated Press that with the recantations and "debunked evidence" there is no "evidence linking Mr. Manning to the murder or the victims." In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Mike Randolph wrote that (Manning) "has had more than a full measure of justice. Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler have not. Their families have not. The citizens of Mississippi have not." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State Soccer Achieves Highest National Rank In Program History | |
| Mississippi State soccer continues to reach new heights under Head Coach James Armstrong and staff. This time, the Bulldogs add a new chapter to the program record book by earning the No. 9 spot in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in program history. This rise comes on the heels of two stellar victories to open SEC play, including a 1-0 win against previously unbeaten No. 11 Texas. The Bulldogs also secured the No. 12 spot in the TopDrawerSoccer Poll and now rank tenth in the NCAA RPI. Mississippi State (8-1-0, 2-0-0 SEC) kicked off their SEC campaign with a 2-0 victory over Oklahoma and followed that with a statement win, defeating No. 11 Texas (7-1-2, 0-1-1 SEC) at home under the lights. In a closely contested match, Ally Perry's fourth goal of the season, assisted by Aitana Martinez-Montoya, proved to be the game-winner against Texas. Perry's composure and Martinez-Montoya's precision passing were decisive as the Bulldogs outshot Texas 12-7 and showcased their defensive strength. The Bulldogs have now recorded eight shutouts in nine matches, the most in program history. Their defense ranks second in the NCAA and SEC in goals-against average (0.22), fourth in save percentage (.917), and second in the nation in shutout percentage (.889). No. 9 Mississippi State will look to continue their strong form as they face No. 23 South Carolina on the road this Thursday, followed by a home match against LSU on Sunday. |
| 'We call him Mikey': Bulldog teammates discuss Van Buren's readiness for first start | |
 | In terms of build and raw skills, Michael Van Buren and Chris Parson are not all that different from Blake Shapen. All three Mississippi State quarterbacks stand 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weigh between 200 and 215 pounds. All three have strong arms and the ability to connect with receivers deep down the field, and all three also have the speed to escape the pocket and make plays with their legs. But while Shapen has made 27 starts at the college level, Parson and Van Buren have combined for one. "I really feel like they're all similar," wide receiver Jordan Mosley said. "Chris and Mike are a little bit more mobile. They can get out on the edge and run a little bit. But as far as playmaking, they all can throw the ball. The biggest difference is (not) having that fifth-year, that leader who's seen a lot of ball and had a lot of experience." The good news for the Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) is that they won't have to change their offense too much ahead of Saturday's game at No. 1 Texas, in which the true freshman Van Buren will make his first start following Shapen's season-ending shoulder injury. Van Buren led MSU on a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter last Saturday after relieving Shapen, which impressed the coaching staff enough to give him the nod over Parson. |
| 'Dawg Talk' with Head Coach Jeff Lebby Returns Wednesday | |
| Mississippi State football's radio show, "Dawg Talk," returns tonight with head coach Jeff Lebby, running back Davon Booth and kicker/punter Nick Barr-Mira. The show will be broadcast live from Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux in Starkville from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The 60-minute program will be featured each week 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 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 all Bulldog Sports Network affiliates. You can also listen to Dawg Talk live or on-demand via HailState.com/watch. 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 and are encouraged to kick off their weekend at our local and alumni-owned Walk-On's by attending the live show in Starkville. Attendees will also have the opportunity to win tickets and parking passes during each show. Those unable to attend in person can submit questions for Coach Lebby to Neil Price at the @HailStateBSP X/Twitter account. |
| Behind the scenes of Arch Manning's first start at Texas | |
| Arch Manning arrived in rather modest style. Texas' team buses pulled up right on schedule outside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at 4:40 p.m. Saturday. Manning stepped onto San Jacinto Boulevard in a navy suit paired with a white shirt and a brown striped tie. On his shoulders, he carried a black backpack as well as the modest weight of Texas fans' hopes and dreams. Unlike most of his Longhorns teammates, though, Manning did not wear headphones. On the team's traditional Stadium Stampede walk into the stadium, lined with fans cheering while holding phones and horns up, the young quarterback took it all in. "You need some time to just appreciate the opportunity," Manning said later. "I'm blessed to be in this situation. I don't take it for granted." The fifth-largest crowd in school history packed into DKR to catch a glimpse of the future of Texas football, an extended preview of how a five-star talent with a legendary pedigree will lead this program a year from now. What those 102,850 folks witnessed during No. 1 Texas' 51-3 blowout of UL Monroe on Saturday night was a bit more reasonable than their wildest expectations. Manning's performance in his first college start reminded everyone he's right on schedule, right where he's supposed to be in his developmental process. |
| SHS football coach suspended for Little Egg Bowl | |
| Starkville High School head football coach Chris Jones is suspended for his team's game Friday at Oxford. Multiple sources with direct knowledge of Jones' suspension, who spoke to The Dispatch anonymously due to the issue being a personnel matter, told The Dispatch on Tuesday it stems from an altercation involving players following the Yellow Jackets' loss last week at Louisville. Jones was not directly involved in the altercation, the sources said. The sources could not confirm which players or how many were involved, nor would they comment on player suspensions. Haley Montgomery, communications director for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, would not comment on Jones' suspension, citing it is a personnel matter. She also would not comment on who will serve as acting head coach for Friday's game. The Jackets suffered their first loss of the season on Friday, a 42-41 heartbreaker at Louisville. The game at Oxford, dubbed "The Little Egg Bowl," will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday. |
| Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre says he has Parkinson's disease | |
| Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he told a congressional committee Tuesday. Favre made the disclosure as part of his testimony about a welfare misspending scandal in Mississippi. Favre, who does not face criminal charges, has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a welfare program in the state and was also an investor in a biotech company with ties to the case. The biotech firm has said it was developing concussion treatments. The former football star told the committee that he lost his investment in the company "that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others." "As I'm sure you'll understand, while it's too late for me -- I've recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's -- this is also a cause dear to my heart," Favre said. What causes Parkinson's disease is unknown, and it is unclear if Favre's disease is connected to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he experienced "thousands" of concussions in his two decades in the NFL. Favre appeared at the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee hearing to advocate reform of the federal welfare system to better prevent fraud. |
| Threatened with jail over a scandal headlined by Brett Favre | |
| A little more than a year ago, a young reporter named Anna Wolfe was the talk of this town and of journalism for a series of stories that won her the coveted Pulitzer Prize. She was invited to an exclusive dinner at the Washington home of legendary reporter Bob Woodward. A handful of media suitors reached out to see if she was ready to ditch Jackson and move on to the big time. She had even been offered a free treatment to rid her yard of mosquitoes by a local pest service. Wolfe, a reporter with Mississippi Today, a nonprofit, online news outlet, won the Pulitzer for detailing a disturbing $77 million welfare fraud scandal in the nation's second-poorest state, a scandal headlined by Mississippi's most famous athlete, Brett Favre. It was against that backdrop last spring, a month shy of her 29th birthday, that Wolfe won the Pulitzer and celebrated with family, friends and colleagues at Hal & Mal's, a Jackson institution. It was a moment that should have capped the journey on a story Wolfe had been chasing for five years. Instead, not long after the Pulitzers were announced, the former governor sued Mississippi Today for defamation, setting off a battle that not only soured Wolfe's and Mississippi Today's moment but, more troubling to Wolfe, turned the focus away from the scandal itself. |
| Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez calls out Pac-12 in statement following lawsuit | |
| Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement Tuesday night following the Pac-12's lawsuit. The conference filed suit against the MWC over a "poaching penalty" in the two leagues' scheduling agreement. Under the agreement, the Pac-12 agreed to a penalty of $10 million for the first Mountain West school acquired, On3's Pete Nakos reported. From there, the figure would increase by roughly $1 million per school. With five additions on the way from the MWC, the Pac-12 would owe roughly $50 million. In her statement, Nevarez said this situation is why the clause was in the agreement. She then called out the idea that the Mountain West was "taking advantage of" the Pac-12, which consists of just two teams this year after a groundbreaking round of conference realignment. "It is my responsibility to protect the Conference and always keep its best interests in mind," the statement read. "The Pac-12 Conference is challenging a contractual provision that it expressly agreed to and acknowledged was essential to the Mountain West Conference's willingness to enter into a Scheduling Agreement, all while advised by sophisticated legal counsel. The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario. It was obvious to us and everyone across the country that the remaining members of the Pac-12 were going to try to rebuild." |
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