| Tuesday, October 1, 2024 |
| County-level monitoring gives state drought picture | |
 | Knowing that the severity of a drought is more than a measure of weather data, Mississippi State University Extension Service agents across the state gather photos and data weekly to document actual conditions. Mike Brown, MSU professor of geosciences and state climatologist, helped develop and now oversees an app that allows him to submit detailed, highly localized information to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The Drought Monitor is a publication provided by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is the basis of much drought-relief efforts nationwide. "We have developed a phone app for Extension agents that they carry with them," Brown said. "When they do farm visits or are working throughout their county, they can make drought reports on that app." Brown takes these weekly updates, combined with site photos, and uses this information combined with his own data collection to make official reports each week to the Drought Monitor. These data contribute to his drought assessment, which is sent weekly to the Drought Monitor for consideration. The mobile device-based app was developed six years ago by the MSU Office of the State Climatologist and MSU Extension. Extension agents in the counties are trained in how to collect and submit data, and their use of the app has increased in recent years. |
| MSU Send-off Party: Mississippi State University Central Mississippi Alumni Association | |
 | Photos: The Mississippi State University Central Mississippi Alumni Association recently hosted a summer send-off party for new students and families at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. This MSU tradition is in its 19th year and allows incoming first-year students, transfers and their families to meet with future classmates, alums, friends and current students to learn more about life at the university. The events also serve as a networking tool, enabling participants to establish meaningful connections with fellow Bulldogs near their hometown. |
| Sen. Wicker speaks on the latest developments on the KC-46′s possibility of coming to Meridian | |
 | Last week, the Mississippi Delegation announced that Meridian, Mississippi, was listed as one of the finalists for the KC-46 fleet. The United States Air Force said there are seven cities in the running to receive the next generation of air refueling. Key Field Air National Guard base was listed as one of the bases. Currently, the base uses the KC-135′s, but that craft is aging rapidly, with many of the tankers being built in the 1960′s, even the 1950′s. Senator Roger Wicker says this is a big step in the right direction and could mean so much to not only Meridian but to the United States' future in stepping up its defense systems. "It absolutely would mean more infrastructure, more construction jobs for people who want to work on the Air Force Base. But it would, it would mean continuity and assurance that we have a vital mission for the United States Air Force. Here in Meridian at Key Field, that will last for decades. That's the economic impact locally," said Senator Wicker. But he hopes the decision comes down to what the base has to offer rather than what is best politically. "I don't want the decision made by politics involved in a state by, you know, whether the more of the members of the Congressional delegation or Democrat or Republican or anything like that, call it by the numbers and make the best decision for National Defense. And I think Mississippi, I think Meridian, Mississippi, should be the choice, and I think we can make that case over and over," said Wicker. |
| Tupelo Planning Committee allows extensive rezoning to make way for Target | |
| Representatives from national retail giant Target met with city officials Monday night to discuss the prospects of locating a store in the Barnes Crossing area, with final approval expected Tuesday night. The Tupelo Planning Committee voted unanimously among present members to recommend the Tupelo City Council approve the rezoning of a little over 60 acres and the site plan for "Project Target." The committee also voted unanimously to approve the site plan for the project as well. The original request asked for 113 acres, the whole of the parcel, which is located on North Gloster Street, across from Commonwealth Drive. The change converted the land from Agriculture Open to Regional Commercial, paving the way for a plot for a large retail store and multiple satellite lots. "We've shrunk that down to the 60 acres that we think will be beneficial to this project," Development Services Director Tanner Newman said. While the city has remained mum on the project and Target Corporation's commitment to moving to the All-America City, this is the first official glimpse into the potential project for the general public and the second time Target officials met with the committee in a public forum. Within this site plan is a request for rezoning the property from Agriculture Open to General Commercial. Of the 113 acres, 23.35 acres will go toward the proposed store and 775 parking spaces. According to the site plans, the store will be 148,721 square feet. |
| Impending worker strike not expected to impact Mississippi ports | |
| A gloomy day at ports across the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico looms as union workers are gearing up for a major strike. However, Mississippi's ports are not expecting a major hindrance to its operations. Last week, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) filed an unfair labor practice charge against the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to force the union representing dock workers, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), to come to the table so both sides could negotiate. With neither able to reach an immediate agreement as workers look for higher wages, this marks the first scare of a widespread port worker strike since 1977. While the impending strike is expected to result in tens of thousands of workers stepping away from employment obligations until demands are met or another solution is found, not all ports fear business will be stymied. The Port of Pascagoula issued a statement on Monday, assuring partners and stakeholders that operations will continue as normal with non-union workers on staff. The Pascagoula port located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast mainly hauls in project cargo, forest and paper products, petroleum products, petroleum coke, fertilizer, machinery, lumber, and rolling stock. As for the Port of Gulfport, which generates an annual economic impact of $3.8 billion to the region, operations will continue to run as normal as Mississippi's port authority does not have any involvement in the negotiation process between ILA and USMX. |
| Favre tries to expand his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi auditor over welfare spending | |
| Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is trying to expand his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi Auditor Shad White to include a book White wrote about the misspending of welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. White's book, "Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America," was published in August. Favre's attorneys wrote in court papers Friday that the title and the contents are defamatory. "The book itself falsely states, among other things, that Favre had been 'taking money he knew should go to people in 'shelters,'' and had been 'trying to hide that fact from the media and the public,' and also accuses Favre of committing the felony of money laundering," Favre's attorneys wrote. White has said he is paying his own legal bills in the defamation case. Favre is not facing criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or businesses the state is suing to try to recover misspent money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Favre has repaid $1.1 million, but White has said the Pro Football Hall of Fame member still owes about $730,000 because interest caused growth in the original amount he owed. |
| Child care crisis is costing Mississippi and moms | |
| The lack of accessible child care in Mississippi is keeping 7% of the state's labor force out of work and costing the state billions of dollars. If those 7% of people constrained from full-time employment because of child care needs rejoined the labor force, it would add about $8 billion to Mississippi's gross domestic product per year, according to a new report from the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance, which advocates to improve early childhood education in the state. "Mississippi's elected leaders have done great work bringing in new corporations offering high-paying jobs," said Biz Harris, executive director of MELA. "Now we need to ensure that Mississippi parents have access to stable and reliable child care for infants and toddlers, and all children during traditional and nontraditional work hours so that Mississippi can fill those jobs." MELA's recently released report explores how the lack of child care access is weakening Mississippi's labor force. The report also highlights the financial problems within Mississippi's child care industry. Economists consider the child care industry a "broken market," meaning it hasn't been able to balance its supply and demand by itself. There is high demand and high prices for child care, but limited supply. |
| Lawmakers race to avoid farm bill disaster | |
 | The stopgap farm bill is set to expire next week -- and the congressional coalition that the massive legislation has relied on for half a century is on the verge of breaking down. Now congressional negotiators are desperately racing against long odds to minimize the damage before benefits run out at the end of the year. The bill's expiration marks the second straight year of Congress's failure to pass the typically five-year piece of legislation, which for almost a century has underpinned the U.S.'s agricultural sector and food aid programs. "Our farmers need [a deal]," House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), one of the signatories, told The Hill this week. "We are facing, by all metrics, a farm and food crisis that's only going to get worse -- unless we show some leadership and provide some hope and certainty." But Congress's chambers and caucuses are divided -- both across and within parties -- over what steps to take to keep support for the sector. Typically, the two parties haggle over how much to increase subsidies to farmers and how much to provide in food aid to struggling Americans, with both sides coming to a compromise. The looming risk is that one of Washington's last great bipartisan deals -- a project of food aid for farm subsidies that has underpinned the American farm sector for half a century -- is on the verge of breaking down. |
| Lawmakers eye moving quickly on NDAA after November return | |
 | Leading defense authorizers say they hope to move swiftly on a top legislative priority -- the annual, must-pass defense policy bill -- when Congress returns to town in a month and a half. "We have to be ready when we come back to go right to the 'Big Four' meeting, and that's our objective," Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., told reporters last week, referring to the chairmen and ranking members of the Armed Services committees. Those negotiations would clear the way for the release of a final, compromise version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. Congress has passed the bill annually for more than 60 years. But before a bipartisan, bicameral bill can come together, lawmakers have to resolve differences between the House's approach, in which members advanced a plan laden with divisive, conservative measures that Democrats largely oppose, and the Senate's bipartisan legislation that would spend billions of dollars more than was agreed to in a 2023 debt limit law. Asked about the biggest obstacles to reaching a compromise with the House, Reed, who is also on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, seemed to nod to some of those House GOP-approved measures. "They're generally not along the lines of DOD issues, per se. They're more political and social," he said. |
| Dems privately worry how Walz will fare against Vance in VP debate | |
 | Gov. Tim Walz is not known as a gifted debater. Behind closed doors, the folksy, fun-loving governor, can be overly defensive when confronted about his mistakes, according to fellow Minnesota Democrats. During his first campaign in 2006, he also developed a reputation for speaking so quickly that an ally characterized him as "a bit manic." A former constituent and supporter recalled that at one of Walz's first fundraisers in Minnesota that year, the vice presidential hopeful rambled for 45 minutes without notes and seemingly without taking a breath. And ahead of his debate with JD Vance Tuesday -- by far Walz's most high profile event of the presidential campaign -- some of his allies privately say they worry he won't live up to Vice President Kamala Harris' debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Harris, who drew Trump into traps and delivered biting quips, was widely viewed as the winner of that Sept. 10 debate. "She did so strong. She's actually made it very difficult for Walz, because I don't see any way that he could match her level of intensity and humor," said a Walz ally who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the governor. With no further debates scheduled, the Oct. 1 debate may be the most significant national campaign event remaining before November, upping the pressure on both campaigns to deliver a strong closing argument. With Harris and Trump in a virtual dead heat, both sides will use the debate to burnish their accomplishments while going after each other's records. |
| Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South | |
| More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it -- an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts. That's enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys' stadium 51,000 times, or Lake Tahoe just once. If it was concentrated just on the state of North Carolina that much water would be 3.5 feet deep (more than 1 meter). It's enough to fill more than 60 million Olympic-size swimming pools. "That's an astronomical amount of precipitation," said Ed Clark, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "I have not seen something in my 25 years of working at the weather service that is this geographically large of an extent and the sheer volume of water that fell from the sky.'' The flood damage from the rain is apocalyptic, meteorologists said. More than 100 people are dead, according to officials. Private meteorologist Ryan Maue, a former NOAA chief scientist, calculated the amount of rain, using precipitation measurements made in 2.5-mile-by-2.5 mile grids as measured by satellites and ground observations. He came up with 40 trillion gallons through Sunday for the eastern United States, with 20 trillion gallons of that hitting just Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Florida from Hurricane Helene. |
| Hurricane Helene Will Send Shockwaves Through the Semiconductor Industry | |
 | Millions of people across the US South have gone without power or have been forced to evacuate following days of extreme downpours brought on by Hurricane Helene. North Carolina has borne the brunt of the devastation, with the state accounting for a third of all recorded fatalities to date. And as relief operations get underway, the eyes of the world are on a small town of about 2,000 in the western part of the state. Spruce Pine sits about an hour northeast of Asheville, Mitchell County, and is home to the world's biggest known source of ultra-pure quartz -- often referred to as "high-purity quartz," or HPQ. This material is used for manufacturing crucibles, on which global semiconductor production relies, as well as to make components within semiconductors themselves. Semiconductors are the fundamental building blocks of modern IT. Transistors, a type of semiconductor device, are the small electronic switches that perform computation functions in every tech gadget from smartphones to electric scooters, data centers, and military aircraft. They make possible the processors that power most of the world's smart gadgets. HPQ is the raw material for the high-grade quartz products and high-end products that sit at the heart of these devices. Spruce Pine supplies around 70 percent of the naturally occurring HPQ that is needed for computing devices and products. Viral social media posts have claimed that due to the flooding, global production of semiconductors could halt. This doomsday scenario is unlikely, but experts are gravely concerned about the impact the flooding could have on the tech industry and the economic ramifications of prolonged supply chain pressures caused by the shutdown of the site. |
| America's Young Men Are Falling Even Further Behind | |
 | In Spanish, parents call it encaminado: making sure your children are on the path to an independent adulthood. Out of Dan and Joana Moreno's four grown children, only their daughter is encaminada. She recently graduated from business school and got engaged. The Morenos' three adult sons are still sleeping in their Miami childhood bedrooms. The younger two dropped out of college, and the oldest never went. All three are single. Their only work experience is with the family business. "Something has gone amiss here," says their father, Dan, who owns the repair chain Flamingo Appliance Service. "We love them, we love having them around, but that's not how you build a life." The life trajectories of America's sons and daughters are diverging. Presented with a more-equal playing field, young women are seizing the opportunities in front of them, while young men are floundering. The phenomenon has developed over the past decade, but was supercharged by the pandemic, which derailed careers, schooling and isolated friends and families. The result has big implications for the economy. More women ages 25 to 34 have entered the workforce in recent years than ever. The share of young men in the labor market, meanwhile, hasn't grown in a decade. One of the first clues popped up a few years ago, when educators began sounding the alarm on high-school boys’ plummeting college-attendance rates. Now that this cohort is in their 20s, their feelings of aimlessness are spilling into the social and professional realms. |
| MUW partners with Baptist for innovative nursing program | |
 | Mississippi University for Women has partnered with Baptist Golden Triangle to form a new initiative producing career-ready nurses to combat the state's growing demand. The program, called the Mississippi Earn Program, allows nursing students at the W opportunities to work directly with professional nurses and gain real-world experience at the Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle in Columbus. After entering the program, associate nursing students become student nurse residents. Each student who goes through the program will train with a Baptist-designated clinical coach while earning both course credit and financial income. The W is the first Mississippi IHL institution to join the Mississippi Earn Program. Similar programs have already found success in other Mississippi institutions including Delta Community College and Hinds Community College. For its inaugural year, the W has selected only two out of its 150 students in the associate degree program to join the Mississippi Earn Program. Nursing students Mary Catherine Blunt and Denier Dismukes were chosen as the first two participants based on their skills and motivation. Before entering the Mississippi Earn Program, students must complete 320 hours of clinical practicum experience in the W's extern program. |
| USM students encouraged to vote Monday afternoon | |
 | Next week marks the deadline to register to vote for the upcoming general election. "Every election's important but getting out there and just registering to vote gets you in the ball game where you can actually show up on election day and cast a ballot," said Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker. The City of Hattiesburg appeared on Southern Miss's campus Monday afternoon to encourage students to get registered to vote. "Every new year we have several thousand folks who become Hattiesburg citizens and decisions that are made, whether it the federal, state or local level affects them directly," said Barker. "So we want to get them in the habit very early on, now that they're eligible to vote to vote consistently." To do this, the city partnered with USM student organization, Men of Excellence. Senior member Jalend Satcher was among the members encouraging his fellow classmates to vote. "It's important to vote mainly because if we don't say anything, we won't be heard," said Satcher. "That's genuinely the best way I can put it. Voting is one of those things that you can't really take for granted. It may seem small, but it has big results over time." Satcher says he was surprised to see so many students not registered to vote, but he's proud of those students for taking the time to get registered now. |
| LSU is getting a new library | |
 | Construction on a new, $152 million library at LSU is expected to start in 2026, university officials say -- and it won't be in the same place as the old one. The new Library Learning Commons will be built between South Campus Drive and South Stadium Drive near Field House Drive, said Paul Favaloro, LSU's interim executive director of planning, design and construction. It's part of a strategic push to create another quadrangle adjacent to Patrick F. Taylor Hall as LSU's campus changes. "The future growth of our campus is going toward the south," Favaloro said. The school's main library, formerly known as Middleton Library, will be demolished once the new one is finished. That will leave the current "quad" open in the cross shape it had before the library went up in 1958. Last week, LSU posted polls on social media asking readers which of two possible designs they preferred. If construction happens on schedule, the new building is expected to be open in the spring of 2029, Favaloro said. A combination of state funds and private donations will pay for the project, he said. More than a half-century old, the current library is a frequent sore spot for some faculty and staff. Professors and students occasionally post pictures of water-damaged ceilings, worn-out furniture and other problems. |
| Higher education could face large budget cuts. Here's how leaders say residents can voice concerns. | |
 | Ahead of the looming possibility of large budget cuts, Louisiana's higher education leaders are stressing the importance of continuing education, and asking residents to spread that message. The higher education system is bracing for a $250-million budget shortfall with the possible sunset of a state sales tax next year. The decrease in funding could mean layoffs, campus closures and slashed programs. Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed and Louisiana Career and Technical Colleges System President Monty Sullivan reiterated that impact last week during a panel hosted by the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. "This is an investment in our people. Whatever we do, please don't devalue higher education," Reed said. "Please don't stop supporting these places where we are supporting students and their development." The state's colleges and universities provide research, training and education opportunities, Sullivan said. Those opportunities then allow people to have the tools they need to enter the workforce. It's the job of higher education leaders and the legislature to ensure those programs are accessible and well-staffed, he added. "From our perspective, we are not going out and saying, 'the sky's falling,'" Sullivan said. "Our job, instead, is to maximize every single resource that the state of Louisiana and our students can provide to get to a place where we help them to get into this economy." |
| Professors and students need to understand AI to better shape how it's used in higher education, panelists say | |
| There's some good news for teachers afraid artificial intelligence will take their jobs. A human teacher will always be necessary for effective learning to happen, according to a group of AI experts who were asked to consider how the rapidly developing technology might transform higher education. But there are many ways that students, teachers and administrators could use AI to make teaching and learning easier and more effective, and streamline the bureaucracy of higher education. In a wide ranging conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune at the University of Texas at Dallas on Friday, moderator Darla Cameron, interim chief product officer at the Tribune, asked panelists how AI could change everything from college admissions and retention to teaching, learning and research. The panelists emphasized the need to educate students about how to use AI effectively and responsibly, including what personal information should be shared when using AI technology and where that information could end up. Panelists were adamant that as AI is introduced into the classroom or to enhance an employee's work processes, there need to be clear ethical guidelines for its use. But everyone from students, teachers and staff have to understand how to use AI to establish where those ethical boundaries lie, they said. |
| 'Long and Difficult' Recovery Ahead in North Carolina | |
 | The storm may be over, but the cataclysmic flooding and power outages that Hurricane Helene unleashed have left university campuses across western North Carolina in shambles and many students disconnected from their families. Elisa Kiser Kennemer was lucky enough to have received a text from her son Cole, a student at Appalachian State University, when she posted a Facebook update for friends and family Saturday. But that one message was all she had. "I don't know much as there is no cell phone coverage and I haven't been able to talk to him," she wrote. "Please send some love to the mountains of NC." She later confirmed that his apartment and car were on high ground so they'd been spared major damage, but she still had not heard his voice. "It really was a bit chaotic," Kennemer wrote to Inside Higher Ed. "Obviously it could have been ... worse." For others, it was. Brandi Hayes, a resident of Asheville, which was pummeled by the storm, told The Citizen-Times that she'd tried to call her 18-year-old daughter, a student at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, but received no answer. Waiting in a long line at a local grocery store for food and water, she broke down in tears as she discussed the mental toll the disaster had taken. "We keep talking about [what] we're thankful for," Hayes told the Citizen-Times. "Some people don't have homes." |
| California law bans college legacy and donor admissions, including at USC, Stanford | |
 | A new law banning legacy and donor admissions at private California universities, including USC and Stanford -- among the handful of schools that admit a significant number of children of alumni or donors -- was signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the action will promote equal educational opportunities. "In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work," Newsom said in a statement. "The California Dream shouldn't be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we're opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly." The law affects a small number of private institutions in the state that consider family connections in admissions. Others that currently embrace the practice include Santa Clara University and Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd colleges. The new law takes effect Sept. 1, 2025, and requires universities to file an annual report beginning in June 2026 to the Legislature and Department of Justice that documents whether they are following the law or if they have given preference in admissions to students with alumni or donor ties. The report must compare legacy and donor admission rates to other admissions. The attorney general's office then will have the option of pursuing charges against violators. |
| What makes a college welcoming to transfer students? | |
| Amid ongoing enrollment challenges, colleges are increasingly looking for new pools of applicants. Transfer students offer one way for colleges to grow their student bodies, but institutions must offer them the right supports, according to Judy Johnson, assistant director of admissions and transfer at the Minnesota Private College Council. Research shows that just 16% of community college students transfer and earn a bachelor's degree within six years -- despite a majority of these students expressing an intent in attending a four-year institution. Institutions can, and should, make their campuses accessible to transfer students through their practices and policies, Johnson told college administrators Thursday at the National Association for College Admission Counseling's annual conference. Johnson previously worked as a transfer specialist at Augsburg University and St. Catherine University, both of which are in Minnesota. "You do not need to be the enrollment manager to do this. You do not need to be the registrar, the head honcho," Johnson said. "You do not need power, but you do need initiative." Whether intentionally or not, some colleges make transfer students their lowest priority through their policies. For example, colleges typically give students with the most credits priority for class registration, meaning juniors and seniors get first pick. But one institution Johnson worked with gave transfer students the lowest registration priority -- placing them after even first-year students. |
| Surveillance Parents Face the Ultimate Firewall: Freshman Year | |
| As this year's freshmen acclimate to college life, their parents confront a big adjustment. After years of peering into teachers' gradebooks for real-time updates and stalking their children on Life360, they now find themselves relegated to the sidelines. That doesn't mean their offspring stop asking for help. What's a parent to do when their child complains about a humid dorm room or loud roommate? Is continued smartphone surveillance advisable, and if so, how should they handle knowing Junior isn't waking up for class? So many questions! A burgeoning support network for parents of college kids, and a proliferating number of special parent-liaison offices at colleges, are swooping in to help. Last fall, Lara Becker, an Atlanta mother of two college students, launched the Facebook group "After the Drop Off/Parenting Through the College Years." It has exploded to 12,500 members. Some days, Becker fields 100 requests to join. Universities are grappling with today's hyper-connected reality. Now 44% of parents interact daily with their kids at college, up from 37% in 2023, according to polls by ESP, a platform to help colleges boost parent engagement. "Long gone are the days of college students checking in with parents on a weekly or less frequent schedule," Duquesne University's marketing team declared in a 2023 report about relating to "your parent audience." Not only do parents chat more with their kids, some 70% now expect at least weekly communication from the college itself. |
| The Microcredential Generation: A fast-growing number of traditionally college-age students are bypassing degrees to pursue cheaper and faster alternative credentials | |
| Andrew McDonough wears a neon-yellow jacket and a sturdy pair of dusty brown boots, a hard hat by his side on the ground. The 18-year-old and his classmates lean back in padded metal dining room chairs, listening to their instructor as a cool wind rustles the trees around them on a summer afternoon. Their classroom is a little unusual. In fact, it's not a room at all. The students are out on a forested logging site in the Kennebec Valley, a rural area of Maine. Neat piles of logs sit in the distance. A whiteboard hangs off of a truck. Heavy machines, which from afar look like large metal creatures, are waiting to be used. McDonough is enrolled in Northern Maine Community College's mechanized logging operations and forest trucking program. Free to students and organized in partnership with the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, the five-month program offers a pretty sweet-sounding deal: a logging credential along with commercial driver's license training so the students can also haul the logs they've learned to cut. Like a growing number of students coming out of high school, McDonough knew early on that he didn't want to get a degree. Going to college felt like squandering time and money to him, and his parents agreed. "Oh, they love it," McDonough said of the logging program. His dad told him "he would rather me actually do this than go to school, that I'd just waste time. I don't want to go there anyways, so no point in spending a couple years at it." While these kinds of programs have long served adult learners looking to update their job skills or switch careers, research shows students fresh out of high school are flocking to them in greater and greater numbers. |
| A New Chapter in the FAFSA Saga Is Beginning | |
 | Nobody wants to see a sequel to the devastating federal-aid crisis of 2024. But will we get one anyway? The question has been looming over higher education for months. And this week marks the beginning of a crucial new chapter in the continuing saga of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA. What happens next will likely determine whether the next financial-aid cycle gets off to a promising start, albeit two months later than usual -- or whether another round of headaches is coming. Starting this week, hundreds of college applicants will get to test-drive the 2025-26 FAFSA, as part of a new beta-testing process that the U.S. Department of Education says will help it ensure a smooth rollout later this fall. Normally, the FAFSA becomes available to students and parents on October 1. But, as in the previous financial-aid cycle, there will be a significant delay. In August, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will make the 2025-26 form available to all students and contributors by December 1, following a two-month testing period. Starting on Tuesday, hundreds of high-school seniors served by six community-based organizations (CBOs) throughout the country will begin submitting their federal-aid forms. "These are real FAFSAs, and we're testing a complete FAFSA system," James Kvaal, undersecretary of education, said during a call with reporters on Monday. "The department will process those FAFSAs, give students an opportunity to make corrections, if needed, and send the records to colleges and state agencies. Colleges will be able to use these same records when it's time for them to make financial-aid offers." |
| It's really time to start repaying your student loans ... again | |
| Monday, Sept. 30, is an important day for people with federal student loans. It's the last day for anyone who is in default to apply for a temporary relief program to get out of default, and back into good standing. It also marks the end of the so-called "on ramp" back to student loan repayment. The pandemic-era payment pause ended last October, and the Biden administration gave borrowers a one-year grace period where it wouldn't hurt them if they didn't make payments. But now that grace period is over too. For the last four-and-a-half years, the student loan system has been in constant flux. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Trump administration paused payments and stopped interest from accruing. Then, the Biden administration kept extending that pause. When payments finally resumed last fall, Betsy Mayotte at the nonprofit Institute of Student Loan Advisors, said there was still this period where, if they fell behind "borrowers wouldn't be reported as delinquent on their credit reports." The idea was that both borrowers and loan servicers needed time to get back in the swing of things. "No system in the world, I don't care what your product is, is set up for every single one of their customers all re-entering repayment at exactly the same time," Mayotte said. |
| Republicans have a post-pandemic plan for the scientific establishment | |
| House and Senate Republicans are plotting a new battlefront in the Covid wars. They seek to rein in the sprawling National Institutes of Health by bringing to heel its civil servants and the leading scientists awarded the agency's biggest research grants. Republicans plan to do that, if they win control of Congress in November, by demanding to know more about what the NIH is funding, assigning more political appointees to keep tabs on the agency, significantly downsizing it and by spreading the wealth to a bigger group of grantees. Democrats in the Senate majority are blocking changes for now. The fight shows how politicized public health has become since the pandemic. "You have the NIH in the sights of people who think there were big failures during the pandemic and that we have to change the way things operate," said Joel Zinberg, who worked on health policy on the Council of Economic Advisers during Donald Trump's presidency and is now a senior fellow at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute. Trump, who clashed with NIH leadership during his term, could make some of the changes Republicans want even if Democrats are able to block legislation. At stake: nearly $50 billion in research funding. Rep. Robert Aderholt, an Alabama Republican who chairs the House Appropriations panel with jurisdiction over the NIH, rejected the idea that Republicans have a vendetta. "That's not really anything that motivates me," Aderholt said. Still, he conceded: "Obviously, there were some missteps during the pandemic with Dr. Fauci -- we know all those." |
SPORTS
| Men's Golf: Wilson Leads At Blessings, Bulldogs Two Strokes Back | |
| All five Mississippi State men are among the top 20 at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational after Monday's opening round. The Bulldogs were one of two teams to shoot under par in the round, and they sit two strokes behind leader No. 15 LSU and 12 strokes ahead of the third-place teams. Drew Wilson is tied for the individual lead after carding a 2-under 70. Dain Richie and Garrett Endicott are tied for seventh at even-par. "We played really solid as a team today," head coach Dusty Smith said. "All guys were in their rounds and competing hard. We played a very disciplined round of golf on a very demanding golf course. I felt like everyone was patient and did a really nice job locking in on our process." The day began with an eagle from Ugo Malcor, who is currently tied for 18th, on the No. 10 tee. Wilson picked up birdies on Nos. 12 and 15 but sat at 1-over at the turn. He fired an eagle on the fifth tee and finished his round with a birdie on the ninth hole. Endicott carded par on every hole on the back nine before making the turn. He birdied the par-3 third hole, but bogeyed No. 8. Richie, Josep Serra and Malcor all picked up birdies on No. 6. Serra carded three birdies in his final nine holes. Serra is tied for 12th at 1-over, and Malcor is a stroke behind him. The Bulldogs will tee off at 11 a.m. CT on Tuesday. |
| Women's Golf: State Women In Second After Opening Round of Blessings Collegiate Invitational | |
| After the opening round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, the Mississippi State Bulldogs sit in second place at 2-under par. State was one of two teams to open the tournament with a score under-par. Leading Mississippi State in the opening day of The Blessings was Julia Lopez Ramirez. The senior shot 4-under par in the opening round, the 40th time in her career she has picked up a round in the 60s. She enters the second round of the tournament in second place individually, three strokes off the lead. Avery Weed finished the opening round at 1-under. The sophomore picked up three birdies in the opening round to secure her under-par round. She heads into the final day tied for seventh. Izzy Pellot sits in a tie for 14th going into the second round of play from Fayetteville. The junior opened the tournament with a 1-over round. The Bulldogs will look to make up ground in the second round tomorrow, as they trail by six strokes to the host team, Arkansas. The Blessings are set to continue on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday. |
| Tracking Mississippi State football redshirt freshmen for 2024 season | |
| With Mississippi State football having played more than four games this season, decisions have been made on whether or not certain players will redshirt in 2024. In order to do so, players must play four games or less in the season and not have previously used a redshirt. New for the 2024 season, the NCAA will no longer count postseason games such as conference championships and bowl games against eligibility. Mississippi State is currently 1-4 in coach Jeff Lebby's first season. Wide receivers Creed Whittemore and Trent Hudson will redshirt this season, according to an On3 report. When asked about their statuses after MSU's Week 5 loss at Texas, Lebby said, "I'm going to focus on the 73 guys who made the trip, focus on those guys and continue talking about the guys that were with us today." They each have appeared in four games this season and did not play against Texas. Quarterback Blake Shapen, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4, is not eligible for a redshirt after he used one in the 2020 season at Baylor. The Bulldogs said they will attempt to get Shapen, a senior, a medical hardship waiver. |
| Perry brace secures win in yet another SEC shutout | |
 | Mississippi State soccer kept rolling on Sunday, dominating LSU in a 2-0 home win. The Bulldogs moved to 9-1 and 3-0 in Southeastern Conference play thanks to another shutout performance by the defense and a pair of powerful strikes from Ally Perry. "LSU is a quality side," Bulldogs head coach James Armstrong said. "They have had some really good results and will continue to have good results down the stretch. For us tonight to get 12 corners, 22 shots and limit them to one shot, it says a lot about the overall performance of the group." The brace from Perry makes it six goals in five games, a prolific output for the attacking midfielder. She took nine shots on the night for the Bulldogs, a reflection of her confidence at the moment and the faith her teammates have in her to hit the target. The second goal came through an open-play setup, but the goal that broke the deadlock was by design. "I feel like they look for me and Aitana to get the shots off," she said after the game. "We practiced (the first goal) and we just thought, 'Why not?'" MSU missed out on an away trip to face No. 23 South Carolina last week because of Hurricane Helene, but there's another ranked conference opponent on the way this week. The Bulldogs will face undefeated No. 2 Arkansas at 6 p.m. Friday, a test they want an extra boost from the fans for. |
| Mississippi State volleyball opens conference play with win at South Carolina | |
| Mississippi State started Southeastern Conference play on a positive note Friday night with a 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16 road win over South Carolina, winning its sixth straight match overall. The Bulldogs (7-3, 1-0 SEC) got 17 kills from fifth-year senior Karli Schmidt and 16 from grad transfer Kailin Newsome, with veteran Amina Shackelford adding 11 and sophomore Arissa Smith contributing 10. Smith made just one attacking error on 16 swings for a .563 hitting percentage. Newsome also was a force on the defensive end with 10 digs, and defensive specialists Mary Neal and McKenna Yates joined her in double figures. MSU's two setters, Erin Kline and Ceci Harness, had 27 and 20 assists, respectively, with neither committing an error. After falling behind 11-5 and 21-16 in the first set, the Bulldogs battled back, with Schmidt and Smith helping key a 7-1 run. Shackelford's kill brought up set point, and MSU closed it out on a block by Schmidt and Rebecca Walk. The Bulldogs dropped the first three points of the second set, and it was back and forth before MSU won five straight points to take a 21-15 lead. Smith and Newsome teamed up for a block to give the visitors a two sets to none lead. Set three went to the Gamecocks (9-3, 0-1), as the Bulldogs could never quite string a run together. But MSU finished off the match in the fourth, using a 9-1 run to snap a 14-14 tie behind Newsome, Smith and Shackelford. Walk's kill on match point put South Carolina away. The Bulldogs return to Starkville this weekend to host LSU on Friday and No. 20 Tennessee on Sunday. |
| Education: SHS's Dawson selected as part of 'Tomorrow's 25' in coaching | |
| Jerrial Dawson, assistant boys basketball coach and ninth grade principal at Starkville High School, has been selected to participate in the 2024-2025 class of the Mississippi Excellence in Coaching Fellowship. Known as "Tomorrow's 25," the fellowship is an innovative professional development opportunity for coaches presented by the Mississippi Association of Coaches, the Mississippi High School Activities Association and the University of Mississippi School of Education. Dawson's selection was finalized in early August, and the group of 25 coaching professionals from around the state will gather for 15 meetings both virtually and in person over the next year. "We will all be growing together," said Dawson. "I'm a continuous learner, and being able to learn from other coaches is so valuable, as well as being able to share your wisdom. It's called 'Tomorrow's 25,' so it's a young group. I'm blessed to be one of the more seasoned members, and I'm looking forward to reaching out to answer questions and ask them too. It's a fellowship, so the relationship aspect is so important." "I am very proud of Dr. Dawson for being selected as part of this prestigious coaching fellowship," said SOCSD Superintendent Tony McGee. "His career as a coach and in school administration has positioned him as a leader across the state on both the court and in the regular school environment. He has been a huge asset to our district since joining our team and will be a worthy role model for other coaches." |
| The First Look: Sanderson Farms Championship | |
| With the Presidents Cup in the rearview mirror, the PGA TOUR's FedExCup Fall rolls on with the Sanderson Farms Championship. This is the second of eight FedExCup Fall tournaments in which players will battle for trophies while also trying to improve their FedExCup rankings for the 2025 season. At stake is full status (top 125) for next year and entry into two early Signature Events via the Aon Next 10 (FedExCup Nos. 51-60): the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Here's everything else you need to know as the TOUR returns to The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi. Hunter Logan, who just wrapped up his career at Mississippi State University, will make his PGA TOUR debut. He recorded his first collegiate victory last September. The Country Club of Jackson, par 72, 7,461 yards. The course, whose origin dates back to 1914, was redesigned in 2008 (the tournament routing includes the Azalea and Dogwood nines) by John Fought and incorporates some Donald Ross signatures around the greens. |
| Sanderson Farms Championship: If this is the last one, thanks for the memories | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "So, how far do you go back with the Sanderson Farms Championship?" a friend asked the other day. The answer was easy: All the way back. Back to 1968, when it was known as the Magnolia State Classic and was played at the Hattiesburg Country Club. That's where I was making lots of bogeys for my high school golf team as a 15-year-old 10th grader. I caddied in the first round of the first Magnolia State Classic. My pro shot 83 that day, knocking the bark off of several pine trees and cussing his way around the beautiful, old course. Red-faced and still cussing, he slammed his clubs into his car trunk afterward, and I never saw him again. He would have had to shoot 57 in the second round to make the cut, and, trust me, that wasn't happening. I showed up for the second round, and he did not. Never paid me for the first round either. ... This week will mark the 57th playing of what has become the Sanderson Farms Championship. I've seen and covered the large majority of the previous 56, except for about 10 years when I assigned myself to go cover another little tournament, the one they call The Masters. ... It has been widely reported -- accurately, I am afraid -- that this could well be the last Sanderson Farms Championship, which for so long has been Mississippi's only PGA Tour tournament. That's a shame on many fronts, but mostly because the tournament has donated nearly $25 million to Mississippi charities. |
| Is a Super League Coming for College Football? | |
| The specter of a super league has loomed over college football for years now---the constant possibility of a breakaway by the sport's biggest programs, promising more heavyweight matchups, relegation for the weakest teams, and a cascade of new TV money. The result would be something akin to European soccer, only with helmets, pads, and marching bands. It's been a tantalizing topic of debate from bar stools to boardrooms, but no one had any real idea of what a college football super league might look like. Until now. On Tuesday, a group of disruptive sports executives unveiled their radical pitch for a reimagined top tier of Division I football. And it's less a series of subtle tweaks than a full-scale factory reset. The group, spearheaded by Len Perna, the chief executive of executive search firm TurnkeyZRG, and former Major League Soccer deputy commissioner Mark Abbott, calls itself "College Sports Tomorrow." And their plan is to unify the more than 130 teams that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision into one nationwide competition. "This is not trying to create minor league professional football," Abbott said. "This is about the student athlete and actually trying to enhance the college experience for everybody." To be clear, the CSFL plan is audacious, intriguing -- and, at this point, far-fetched. Given the legal issues and the broadcast deals involved, the prospect of it happening anytime soon are closer to a Hail Mary than a quick completion. To be viable, the CSFL would need to convince dozens of teams across 10 conferences to join and unify their television rights. |
| Sources: Big Ten, SEC to talk possible scheduling partnership | |
| Big Ten and SEC athletic directors will discuss a possible partnership in football scheduling, along with their preferences for automatic bids, in the next iteration of the College Football Playoff. The discussion is to take place at an in-person meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, next week, multiple sources from both conferences told ESPN on Monday. The meeting is a continuation of the Big Ten-SEC joint advisory group, which was formed in February and includes the leagues' university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti are scheduled to meet with the athletic directors for one day. "There is hope that we can definitely move the needle and make some progress on different things," one Big Ten source said. The future scheduling partnership could hinge on whether the SEC eventually decides to go to nine conference games -- a topic one SEC source said hasn't been a focus of conversations lately. Some Big Ten athletic directors could push back on any agreement if the SEC doesn't move to nine games, because the Big Ten already plays nine league opponents. "If we're all going to figure this out," one source said, "we've got to be on equal footing." |
| Why the SEC and Big Ten are meeting to talk CFP automatic bids and scheduling arrangements | |
 | Athletic directors from the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference are slated to meet next week in Nashville, Tenn., with College Football Playoff automatic bids and a possible nonconference football scheduling arrangement between the leagues on the agenda, three sources who will take part in the meetings said Monday. The in-person meeting set for Thursday, Oct. 10, is an extension of the Big Ten/SEC advisory committee that was formed earlier this year. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti are also scheduled to attend. The status of the settlement of three antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and power conferences is also expected to be a topic of conversation -- a judge is currently considering a request for preliminary approval -- as well as potentially having the Big Ten and SEC face off in more postseason bowl games. CFP access and regular-season scheduling are related, the sources said, because conference leaders would need to get a better understanding of what access to the new 12-team Playoff will be starting in 2026 before agreeing to increase the difficulty of their football schedules. "The scheduling is going to be a huge one," one of the sources said. "Can we build a scheduling coalition?" |
| Inside AD Joe Castiglione's wild ride as Oklahoma hosted Tennessee in the Sooners' first SEC football game | |
| Joe Castiglione hit the pavement outside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at 7:01 a.m., the brim of his Maus & Hoffman Panama hat tilted ever so slightly in preparation for the coming Norman, Okla., sunshine. If the usual athletic director's fall Saturday uniform includes drab dress shirts and varying shades of generic polos, consider Castiglione the SEC's own Elton John. The tan, stitched hat gives off a look somewhere between Humphrey Bogart and Harry Caray. Yet, Castiglione's Cool Grey Air Jordan 11s elicited a touch of youth to match the 66-year-old's effervescence throughout a day he'll walk nearly five miles and 12,000-plus steps. Then there's the crimson 1984 Chevy El Dorado convertible the self-proclaimed "car guy" has whipped to campus most home game days each of the past four years. "I don't have the time to put it on a trailer and drive around to car shows or anything like that," Castiglione said later through a smirk. "But it's the perfect one to drive into the game." Gregarious and swaggy as he might be, Castiglione is reticent to take credit for any of the successes of the athletic department he's helmed for 26 years, not least of which includes his heavy involvement in its monumental move from the Big 12 to the SEC. This, perhaps, is what makes Castiglione so complex. The South Florida-born, ex-Maryland football player is equal parts P.T. Barnum and Mr. Rogers -- and the adulation the Sooners faithful throw his way reflects it. |
| 'They're just idiots': Charles Barkley criticizes NCAA, talks current state of college sports | |
 | A lot has changed in the world of college sports since Charles Barkley first arrived on Auburn's campus in 1981. One recent change is the ability for athletes to make money off of their name, image and likeness. That massive shift has created a number of changes to how college sports operate over the last three years. "I'm not a big NIL guy," Barkley said when speaking to reporters before the Bruce, Barkley and Basketball Golf Classic Monday morning. "I hate NIL, because it's just become a bidding war, and I think a lot of schools are not going to be able to compete." That's been a concern of many since NIL was first allowed in the summer of 2021. Collectives and boosters have had more influence than ever in recruiting, something that Barkley believes is unsustainable. "You think about it: college sports is the only league in the world that doesn't have a salary cap. That lets you know how s****y this situation is," Barkley said. "Every league and every sport has a salary cap except college sports. That's an unsustainable model to ask rich people, or your fanbase, to pony up millions of dollars every year." Barkley blamed the current state of NIL and college athletics on the NCAA and how players and schools were punished for recruiting violations before NIL was legal. "They have nobody to blame but themselves," Barkley said. |
| Charles Barkley gifts $2 million to Auburn women's sports, including $1 million for Auburn women's basketball | |
 | Auburn men's basketball legend Charles Barkley has been no stranger to philanthropic giving, and his latest donations have largely gone the way of his alma mater. In May, Barkley donated $1 million to women's athletics programs at Auburn University, and as of last month, he donated another million specifically to the women's basketball team. "I wanted to take care of the women when it comes to the NIL and stuff like that, so I'm giving a million dollars to the women," Barkley said Monday at the annual Bruce, Barkley and Basketball Golf Classic in Opelika. "I love Johnnie (Harris) so much, I said I should give another million just specifically for women's basketball." Harris, who's entering her fourth season at the helm of Auburn's women's hoops, led the Tigers to their best season yet in her tenure last year. The Tigers went 20-12, and they made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. "This is a great time for women's sports," Barkley said. "What Caitlin (Clark) is doing for women's sports is incredible. Angel (Reese) has a part in it. Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson -- she's the best female player in the world. They got this girl coming from USC named Juju (Watkins) that's going to be ridiculous. But what Caitlin has done for the visibility of women's basketball for the last three years, basically, is incredible, and I want to make sure Auburn doesn't get left behind." |
| There's a spotlight on women's sports. Brands are tapping in. | |
| Before every home match, the National Women's Soccer League's Kansas City Current transforms its arena entrance into a fashion runway. The team steps off their bus to a crowd of fans there to hype their favorite players and get a look at their latest picks from the clothing rental company Nuuly. "We're sponsoring what they call their match day arrival, that's kind of the fit walk that the players do when they come into the stadium," said Kim Gallagher, executive director of marketing at Nuuly. "The outfits that players wear gets a lot of attention, both in person at the event but also via social media." Nuuly, which shares a parent company with Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, has absolutely no prior dealings with athletes or sports teams, but Gallagher said the brand has been watching women's sports take off. It sees a particular opportunity in the Kansas City Current, which plays in the same city as one of Nuuly's main distribution hubs and is the first U.S. team to play in a stadium built specifically for a women's soccer club. "They are really acting as a trailblazer," Gallagher said. The wave of new sponsorship money across women's sports comes in part from big corporate names. La Quita Frederick, founder and CEO of the sports branding firm The MVP Lab, said the Googles and the Gatorades of the world have always supported women's sports but are starting to buy in at levels closer to parity with men's sports. The growing spotlight on women athletes and sports is also drawing in complete newcomers. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
