| Monday, October 14, 2024 |
| Mississippi's soybean, cotton harvests benefit from clear weather | |
 | Harvest for two of Mississippi's most significant row crops is well underway, with soybeans and cotton both ahead of schedule. As of October 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that cotton was 43% harvested, ahead of the five-year average of 31% complete by this date. Soybeans were 76% harvested, where typically the crop is just 60% harvested. Officials with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service said soybeans benefit from an early planting date, but rains interfered a bit with planting times, making some of the crop later planted and pushing harvest later in the year. "We should be finished with soybean harvest in the next five to seven days," said Preston Aust, agricultural agent in Humphreys County with the MSU Extension Service. "Planting season was so stretched out this year that what is left in the field has not been sitting and waiting for harvest but is just now ready." He said the extended weather forecast shows beautiful harvest weather. Cotton was nearing the halfway point of harvest in mid-October. Brian Pieralisi, MSU Extension cotton specialist, said growers should hit 75% within 10 days if the current weather holds. In 2024, Mississippi growers had 520,000 acres of cotton. |
| Soybean, cotton harvests benefit from clear weather | |
 | Harvest for two of the state's most significant row crops is well underway, with soybeans and cotton both ahead of schedule. As of Oct. 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that cotton was 43% harvested, ahead of the five-year average of 31% complete by this date. Soybeans were 76% harvested, where typically the crop is just 60% harvested. Prices for both crops are variable. Will Maples, Extension agricultural economist, said since September, cotton prices have rallied above 72 cents per pound, and the 2024 December futures contract averaged 73 cents per pound for the week ending Oct. 4. "There are still many questions about the size of the U.S. cotton crop," Maples said. "The crop has deteriorated throughout the year, with only about 30% rated good or excellent. This rating is primarily driven by Texas, where less than 20% of the crop is rated good to excellent." Soybean prices have rebounded slightly from the contract price lows of early August. "The 2024 November futures contract averaged $10.50 per bushel for the week ending Oct. 4," Maples said. "This is down from $12.73 per bushel from the same week last year." |
| Community band gears up for first concert of fall 2024 season | |
 | The Starkville/MSU Community Band will present its first concert of the fall 2024 season at 2 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Kent Sills Band Hall on the campus of Mississippi State University. Community band director Johnny Folsom said the program will open with Richard Saucedo's "Fanfare for the Third Planet" followed by a beautiful work by Eric Whitacre entitled "The Seal Lullaby." The program will continue with a tribute to one of the most successful band composers, Robert W. Smith "There Is A Season," followed by Rossano Galante's "Nostalgia." The concert will conclude with Randell Standridge's fast paced "Metrodance." There is no charge for admission and the address of the band hall is 72 Hardy Road, Mississippi State. |
| Area organizations, churches rally to help hurricane victims | |
| Helene made landfall Sept. 26 and largely impacted areas along the Southern Appalachians, causing severe and unprecedented flooding that resulted in hundreds of fatalities and billions in property damage, according to the National Weather Service. Since then, churches, organizations and businesses in the Golden Triangle have mobilized to deliver supplies and monetary donations to help victims in affected states. Students from Mississippi State's Block and Bridle Club have been collecting donations since Oct. 4. Club Historian Katie Havard Davis said they don't plan to stop any time soon. "As long as they're taking them and they're needed and people are still bringing them in, we'll take them," she told The Dispatch on Friday. Those interested in donating should email Havard Davis to coordinate a drop off time at ejm424@msstate.edu. Local volunteers traveling to help victims will carry the supplies to affected areas. "We really need cold weather gear right now," Davis said. "Tarps, cold weather clothing, space heaters, batteries and extension cords are a big ask right now." |
| Report: Parks bring $12M in economic impact in FY 24 | |
| With Cornerstone Park officially opening a year ago, things are looking up for the Starkville Parks and Recreation Department. During the board of alderman work session Friday morning, Interim General Manager Doug Heflin and Sports Facilities Companies Vice President of Venue Management Cole Lacey presented an update on the department's performance and its goals for 2024-2025. "We do not have to be just your traditional parks and rec," Heflin said. "Your traditional ... sports facilities and tourism. Let's be different in the way we do things." Over the past fiscal year, the parks and recreation department had an estimated economic impact of more than $12 million, with about $9.3 million of that coming from Cornerstone Park. The baseball/softball complex hosted 21 events in the past year, bringing in more than 29,000 visitors, according to a business and operating plan provided to The Dispatch. Nearly 50% of those visitors, Lacey said, are coming from more than 40 miles away. "This is more proof of what Cornerstone was built for and what it's doing," Lacey said. |
| Livestock shows create a world behind the rides at Mississippi State Fair | |
 | At any given moment during the Mississippi State Fair, there is an entirely separate world going on behind the the colorful rides and the bustling food booths. Animal shows take place every day in the livestock buildings, and every day brings hundreds of handlers with their goats, cows, chickens, pigs and more hoping to win a first-place ribbon. At 8 a.m. Friday morning, before the fair even opened, the livestock buildings were alive with anticipation. Rows of pens were occupied by goats waiting for their big moment. Some goats stood up on tables while their handlers groomed them, making sure to trim any stray hairs and clean their hooves. Class 4-H was up first. This class included handlers aged 8 to 9. Their accompanying dairy goats were of all different breeds, ages and sizes. After the showmanship rounds, the goats are grouped by breed and shown in their respective classes. A dozen handlers and their goats filed into the showing pen in a line, making sure to display proper handling techniques. One of the handlers was 9-year-old Malachi Smith, with his goat Valentini. This year is Malachi's first time showing goats. His parents, Tiffany and Jacob Smith, and younger brothers, Elijah, 6, and Ezekiel, 5, supported Malachi from just outside the pen. Valentini lives on the family's farm just outside Starkville in Sturgis. Tiffany said the family recently added dairy goats to their farm, and they decided to start bringing them to shows. |
| Mississippi lawmakers search for starting point on AI legislation | |
| Chris Chism kicked off an AI presentation at the Capitol by jamming cell phones and disconnecting everyone from the Wi-Fi network. "That's usually an attention getter," said Chism, a superintendent with Pearl School District. He demonstrated Flipper Zero, a device capable of scanning phones, intercepting car unlock signals and garage door openers, disrupting Wi-Fi networks, and impersonating them to capture data. "It's a little bit scary at first, especially when you see what these devices can do," he added. Chism was the first of eight speakers discussing AI implications to 18 lawmakers who comprise the Senate and House Technology Committees, along with several dozen interested participants, during two days of technology hearings held in mid-September. "AI can be used the wrong way and the right way," Chism said. "AI is coming like a freight train, and Mississippi can be on the front end of this movement." With Mississippi as one of 20 states yet to pass AI legislation, Senate and House Technology Committee Chairs are working to understand the implications. "We can't quite get our arms around AI yet," admitted Senator Bart Williams (R), Chair of the Senate Technology Committee and owner of Security Solutions and Communications Inc. Williams lined up the technology hearings program. "Honestly, as we go forward, the greater minds that are at the table, the better legislation we produce. We want to be cautious as we go." |
| Weddle sworn in as appellate judge | |
 | A who's who of the Mississippi legal profession packed a Lee County circuit courtroom Friday afternoon to see John Weddle make the transition from District Attorney to Court of Appeals judge. Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph administered the oath of office. A host of current and former judges filled the pews. Speakers included U.S. Representative Trent Kelly, who proceeded Weddle in prosecuting cases in the First Circuit District. "It is really humbling to see everyone who came," Weddle said. "I am leaving my staff who I consider all my friends. This has been an emotional ride." After serving as District Attorney for the last 9 years, Weddle will begin work at the appellate court Monday Oct. 14. The opportunity came up when appeals Judge Jim Greenlee retired last summer. A call went out -- anyone interested in the opening had to put their name in the hat by May. "This is something I didn't know I wanted until the opportunity came up," Weddle said. "You have to grab on to the opportunity with it presents itself. I sincerely thank the governor for giving me this opportunity." Weddle, 55, earned a bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University and went on to get his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. |
| Why young people are fleeing large cities for small towns | |
 | For decades, young Americans formed the lifeblood of the nation's largest cities. Now, they're leaving big metro areas in droves and powering growth in small towns and rural areas. Since the pandemic, cities with more than 1 million residents have lost adults aged 25 to 44 while towns with smaller populations have gained young people, after accounting for both those moving in and leaving, according to a University of Virginia analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. "Younger adults have driven most of the shift towards small towns and rural areas since the pandemic," said Hamilton Lombard, the study's author and a demographer at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. It's no surprise that the health crisis fueled a migration of many Americans young and old to less populated areas with lower risk of contagion. But even as fears around COVID-19 has eased significantly, the endurance of the remote work shift sparked by the crisis and lower costs in smaller metro areas have continued to encourage young Americans to move to rural communities, Lombard said. "The migration of younger adults into small towns and rural areas picked up last year rather than returning to pre-pandemic trends," he said. The trend, if it persists, could further dampen the vibrancy of large cities already diminished by the COVID-19 crisis while enhancing the economic viability of small towns. |
| U.S. Consumer Confidence Declines Unexpectedly as Election Nears | |
 | U.S. consumer confidence declined less than a month before the presidential election, an unexpected downturn after two months of gains. The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment declined to 68.9 in mid-October from 70.1 at the end of last month. Economists had expected the survey to increase to 71.0, according to a poll compiled by The Wall Street Journal. Consumers continue to express frustration over high prices, despite inflation expectations easing since this time last year, Joanne Hsu, the survey's director, said. However, with the upcoming election on the horizon, some consumers appear to be withholding judgment about the trajectory of the economy, she said. Still, long-run business conditions lifted to its highest reading in six months, though measures for current and expected personal finances both weakened a little, the data said. While overall sentiment declined on month, it is 8% stronger than a year ago and almost 40% above the trough reached in June 2022, Hsu added. |
| Internal polling memo has warning signs for Senate Republicans | |
 | The top GOP super PAC charged with flipping the Senate has found that most of its candidates are trailing their Democratic opponents, according to an internal polling memo obtained by POLITICO. The new round of October polling from the Senate Leadership Fund shows all but one Republican candidate running behind Donald Trump in battleground states, a pattern that could sharply limit their ability to build a sizable majority unless they can force a change in the final weeks of the election. Republicans are still favored to take control of the chamber, and their data brought some hopeful news with tightening races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. But other pickup opportunities, namely Maryland and Michigan, are moving in the wrong direction. And Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, one of the two incumbents running in a state Trump won in 2020, looks surprisingly strong in Ohio. The 2024 map is full of offensive targets for Republicans, including open seats in Michigan, Maryland and Arizona. They have a near-certain pickup in West Virginia and polling has consistently shown the GOP is ahead in Montana. But it's unclear how many of the other seats Republicans are poised to flip. They've struggled from a serious fundraising gap at the candidate level. And Democrats have built large polling leads in some battlegrounds. |
| Harris is laying out a new plan to empower Black men as she tries to energize them to vote for her | |
| Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing a plan to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances to thrive as she works to energize a key voting bloc that has Democrats concerned about a lack of enthusiasm. Harris' plan includes providing forgivable business loans for Black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships and studying sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African American men. Harris already has said she supports legalizing marijuana and her plan calls for working to ensure that Black men have opportunities to participate as a "national cannabis industry takes shape." She also is calling for better regulating cryptocurrency to protect Black men and others who invest in digital assets. The vice president's so-called "opportunity agenda for Black men" is meant to invigorate African American males at a moment when there are fears some may sit out the election rather than vote for Harris or her opponent, Republican former President Donald Trump. The vice president unveiled the plan Monday, ahead of an evening campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she was to appear with Democratic Sen. John Fetterman. Her push comes after former President Barack Obama suggested last week that some Black men "aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president." |
| Trump suggests using National Guard, military against 'enemy from within' | |
 | Former President Trump in a Sunday interview suggested using the National Guard or the military on Election Day to combat what he described as potential chaos from "the enemy from within" -- a group that Trump said includes "radical left lunatics." In the interview on Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures," Trump dismissed President Biden's concerns that Election Day wouldn't be peaceful and said, when asked, that he thinks "the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country." "I think the bigger problem are the people from within," Trump said. "We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics." "And I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen," he added. The interview comes just weeks before the election, as both Trump's and Vice President Harris's campaigns heat up to gain as much ground as they can in battleground states that could decide the outcome of the election this November. Harris's campaign responded to Trump's Sunday interview by saying they should "alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security." |
| Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped. | |
| U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn't sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia's shoreline. Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation's most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors. For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly. The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers. The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy's SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval port. Officials didn't know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces. The sightings revealed the dilemma of defending against drones on U.S. soil compared with the ease of deploying or battling them abroad. |
| 36th annual Welty Writers' Symposium to feature Maurice Ruffin | |
| Novelist Maurice Carlos Ruffin returns to keynote the 36th annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, Oct. 24-26 with his new novel, "The American Daughters." Ruffin's keynote will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Mississippi University for Women's Poindexter Hall. Sessions continue Friday at 9:30 a.m. until noon, Friday at 1:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturday at 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. According to symposium director, Kendall Dunkelberg, "the journey of Maurice Carlos Ruffin's main character, Ady, is a perfect starting point for this year's theme 'Keep out from under these feet... I got a long way: Resilience and Resistance in the South,' which is inspired by Eudora Welty's story 'A Worn Path.'" Each year, the Press and The W award the Eudora Welty Prize to a book of scholarship in Literary Studies, Women's Studies or Southern Studies. This year's prize goes to Kemeshia Randle Swanson for her book "Maverick Feminist," which combines memoir and theory to explore the intersection of race and gender in contemporary writing and culture. Other Welty Series events include the Welty Gala on Friday evening, a university fundraiser and dinner featuring Jeannette Walls. |
| GloRilla to headline Jackson State's homecoming concert | |
| GloRilla will headline "Thee House Party" for Jackson State University's (JSU) homecoming concert. JSU's homecoming week is October 27 through November 2, 2024. "Homecoming 2024 celebrates the spirit and traditions that make Jackson State University unique. This year's theme, 'Thee House Party,' captures the energy and community that define the JSU experience. We invite students, alumni, and friends to join us for a week of events that honor our legacy, showcase our creativity, and bring us together in Tiger pride. We can't wait to welcome everyone home to THEE and celebrate what it means to be part of Tiger nation." said Dr. Jonas Vanderbilt, vice president of Student Affairs. GloRilla is set to take the stage on Wednesday, October 30 at the Lee E. Williams Athletic & Assembly Center. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the show will start at 7:00 p.m. JSU's homecoming parade will take place on campus, hitting the iconic Dr. Robert Smith Parkway on Saturday, November 2, kicking off at 8:00 a.m. Pro Football Hall of Famer Robert "Dr. Doom" Brazile will serve as the Grand Marshal. On game day, the JSU Tigers will take on Arkansas Pine Bluff at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 2, in Veterans Memorial Stadium. |
| Online safety group aims ads at phones near Tiger Stadium to lobby House Speaker Mike Johnson | |
 | Talk for the past several weeks has been about whether LSU's mascot should start making home game appearances for the first time in a decade. So, Louisiana fans could be forgiven for focusing more on Mike the Tiger than on Mike the Speaker as he was preparing to flip the coin at the start of Saturday's game. But nationally the attention is on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and whether he would order a House vote on legislation the Senate passed 91-3 (including both the state's Republican senators) over the reservations of his chief lieutenant, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. A group of advocates for the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, bought digital ads to appear on smartphones near Tiger Stadium asking Johnson to schedule the vote that, if successful, would send the bill to the president's desk. Proponents also planned to distribute handouts at tailgates, according to Punchbowl, an online service that focuses on Capitol Hill news and gossip. Parents' groups and children's advocacy organizations said KOSA would protect children online by requiring tech companies to take legal responsibility for the harm their platforms might cause. It would require companies to block content deemed dangerous, such as bullying, suicide, substance abuse and sex, as well as forbid tobacco and alcohol advertisements. Johnson confirmed that he would do the coin toss and then join his family to watch his alma mater play Ole Miss, but wouldn't say anything about KOSA. |
| Budget cuts could threaten Louisiana's early ed, dual enrollment programs, officials warn | |
 | Potential state budget cuts could leave less money for early childhood education and threaten a popular program that lets high schoolers take college classes at a reduced price, top Louisiana education officials warned Friday. During a legislative hearing on next year's state budget, the state superintendent of K-12 education and the higher education commissioner shared how their agencies would be affected if the state reduced their funding by 1-5% to make up for a possible financial shortfall. The House Appropriations Committee meeting was the latest in a series of hearings on the potential impact of budget cuts on state agencies as Louisiana stares down a projected budget shortfall of up to half a billion dollars next year. Earlier this year, Gov. Jeff Landry asked agency leaders to find ways to cut costs to offset the anticipated shortfall if the Legislature declines to renew a controversial .45-cent sales tax set to expire next year. While discussing potential cuts to K-12 education funding Friday, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley emphasized to lawmakers that his department had sought to make reductions elsewhere before cutting into the state's early childhood programs, which include publicly funded preschools, child care and Head Start programs. |
| Do These Courses Contain Antisemitic Content? | |
 | This summer, Florida's 12 public universities were told to identify courses to be reviewed for "antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias." The details of that audit are now coming into focus. Campuses have submitted hundreds of courses to be inspected, according to spreadsheets from six institutions obtained by The Chronicle. Many of the nearly 250 courses are related to international politics, Judaism, and the Middle East. Others are decidedly not. For example, "Percussion Ensemble" at the University of West Florida, "General Parasitology" and "Painting Workshop" at Florida Gulf Coast University, and "Global Hip Hop" at Florida International University all made the cut. The spreadsheets offer a glimpse into an otherwise hazy process initiated earlier this year by Ray Rodrigues, the university system's chancellor. In August, the dozen universities were told to conduct a keyword search of their undergraduate and graduate course descriptions and syllabi for the following words: Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, Middle East, Zionism, Zionist, Judaism, Jewish, and Jews. Each institution should then begin a "faculty review" to look for "instances of either antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias," which should be reported to the chancellor's office, Rodrigues told university presidents in an email. Since then, little detail has emerged about the review, including what courses may be scrutinized. |
| When DEI is gone: A look at the fallout at one Texas university | |
| Universities across the country have transformed at the command of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) legislation. At the University of Texas-Austin, the legislation led to resource cancellations, office closures, and staff firings -- pushing some students to create alternatives to their school's defunct diversity programs. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17 into law in 2023, barring public institutions of higher education from having diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, as well as programs, activities, and training conducted by those offices. The law also restricts training or hiring policies based on race, gender identity or sexual orientation. His office told ABC News in a recent statement that the legislation was intended to ensure people "advance based on talent and merit at public colleges and universities in Texas." ABC News spoke to UT Austin students and a terminated faculty member about the compounding impact the loss of diversity programs has had on campus. |
| Billionaires Back a New 'Anti-Woke' University | |
| Billionaires frustrated with elite colleges are banding behind a fledgling school in Texas that boasts 92 students. Trader Jeff Yass, real-estate developer Harlan Crow and investor Len Blavatnik are among the high-profile people donating to the University of Austin, or UATX. The new school has raised roughly $200 million so far -- including $35 million from Yass -- a huge sum for a tiny school without any alumni to tap. Crow, a major GOP donor, was an early backer. "Much of higher ed today seems to want to reject Western accomplishments and the accomplishments of Western civilizations in their entirety," he said. "Many people think that's a bad idea." Crow said he expects UATX to encourage ideological diversity. Crow and his wife, Kathy, have hosted several events for the school at their Dallas home and let the school use space in an office park he owns for its summer program, provocatively called Forbidden Courses. Crow has been a controversial benefactor to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He has said he has never discussed pending cases with Thomas. Frustration with the state of debate and levels of unrest at prestigious universities has spurred some of the richest Americans to flex their financial muscle. Many wealthy donors believe elite colleges are overwhelmingly progressive -- and are attracted to the idea of an alternative school that says it encourages meritocratic achievement and myriad viewpoints. Enter UATX, which welcomed its initial class of first-years last month in a former department store near the Texas Capitol. |
| Stress Testing the FAFSA | |
 | After the disastrous launch of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) last year, all eyes are on this fall's rollout, watching under skeptically raised brows for signs of improvement or further frustration. So far, families and community-based organizations who have filled out this year's form say it's going surprisingly well. The limited, phased-in rollout began on Oct. 1, and the department is using the opportunity in the lead-up to the official Dec. 1 launch to collect feedback and fix issues. Jeremy Singer, the former College Board president appointed to oversee this year's launch, traveled to Florida on Oct. 1 for the FAFSA testing kickoff event and then back to Virginia for an event the next day. He said it's too early in the testing process to make any definitive claims about this year's form but that feedback so far has been positive, and they have yet to identify any "critical bugs" in the system. In total, 680 students successfully submitted a FAFSA during phase one of testing. Phase two, during which the department will expand access to a few thousand more students and bring in more institutional partners, starts tomorrow. "This first phase is really just to see if the pipes are working," he said. "It's gone better than we'd hoped." |
| 'We won't stop': College students return to changed campuses after a year of protests | |
| A year after Emmit DeHart started classes at his dream school, he couldn't wait to get out. Transferring out of the University of Washington to Yeshiva University, a private orthodox Jewish university in New York City, wasn't an easy decision for DeHart, now a 20-year-old sophomore. But after the Hamas attack on Israel last Oct. 7, he said his time on the Seattle campus became a nightmare. On his walks to class, he would pass 200 protest tents that he found alienating, and graffiti he found hateful, he said. People yelled at him, "Free Palestine," and "Zionists aren't welcome." "I felt like every day I was having to confront antisemitism," he said. One year after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, American college students have returned to campuses that feel as if they have changed. Protests against the war in Gaza and administrations' responses to them upended traditional benchmarks -- prestige, academic rigor, affordability -- of what defines a "good" school. Now, some students also ask: Is this place safe for me? Is my free speech protected? After a year of protests, as reports soared of campus antisemitism, administrators cracked down with new policies restricting protest activity and on-campus speech that student protesters decried as repressive censorship, as some Jewish students said administrators still failed to protect them. |
| Republicans Threaten to Remove Colleges' Accreditation Over Civil Rights Violations | |
| Republicans in the House are renewing and ratcheting up their threats to take away colleges' federal financial aid over civil rights violations, particularly regarding antisemitism on campus, and warning institutions that their accreditation is on the line. "President Trump has made it clear day one, if you're a college that is violating the civil rights of your students, we're taking away your accreditation," Representative Steve Scalise said earlier this month in a video obtained by The Guardian and posted last week. "We have that ability." However, several experts told Inside Higher Ed that's not the case; only accreditors -- not the Education Department -- can decide whether a college is accredited, though the department does recognize accrediting agencies. That recognition in turn allows the institutions those accreditors recognize to access federal financial aid dollars. "The only way the department would have a say in accreditation issues is if it's for an entire agency, but if you are concerned about what one particular institution is doing, you're not going to go after the accreditor because that would impact the hundreds or thousands of institutions they accredit," said Antoinette Flores, who recently worked at the Education Department and oversaw accreditation issues and policy development. Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who is the majority leader in the House, added in the video that the House lawmakers are also exploring ways to cut off colleges' federal funding from student aid to research dollars if they find that the institutions violated students' civil rights. |
| 1 in 4 Students Nixes a College Based on State Politics, Survey Shows | |
| As the presidential election approaches in a politically polarized nation, students are more intensely considering a state's political leanings or local policies when they decide which college to attend, according to the results of a new studentPOLL by the Art & Science Group. The share of students who say they ruled out a college due solely to geopolitics has increased only slightly, from 24 percent in 2023 to 28 percent this year. But significantly more students cite particular sociopolitical issues -- such as abortion rights, gun control and LGBTQ+ rights -- as exerting some or absolute influence on why they nixed a certain institution. "A whole bunch of reasons for doing so are mentioned by a lot more people. In other words, this is becoming a more intense thing in their minds," said David Strauss, a principal at Art & Science. "Even if it's still only one in four who are doing it, it's an even stronger inclination." On average, the share of students who ruled out colleges and universities in certain states based on specific issues rose by 12 percent among those who self-identified as liberal, 15 percent among conservatives and 20 percent among moderates. "The thing that is indisputably true is that last year's results weren't a fluke," Strauss said. "One out of four may not seem all that big. But to me, it's huge." |
| Low labor force participation and low childcare access linked | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Mississippi had the nation's worst state economy based on 2023 data, according to CNBC. Factors CNBC considered included economic growth (0.7% for Mississippi), job growth (0.1%), debt rating and outlook (Moody's Aa2, stable), major corporations headquartered in state (none), and foreign direct investment (.003% of GDP). "The Magnolia State's economy is hardly thriving," CNBC reported. "Growth was among the slowest in the nation last year. Job growth was weak, too. Underlying it all: the lowest labor force participation rate in the nation, by far, at a seasonally adjusted 53.8%." Ah, there it is again, Mississippi's lousy labor force participation rate. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann sees improving labor force participation as a top priority. He appointed a special Senate study group led by State Sen. Daniel Sparks to develop a state response. On September 11th, the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance (MELA) released a report entitled "Child Care: A Critical Piece of Mississippi's Labor Force Puzzle." |
| How a rural lawmaker from Iuka helped get the Mississippi Braves to Pearl | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The Mississippi Braves' minor league baseball era in metro Jackson ended last month after the Atlanta Braves pulled its double-A affiliate out of Pearl after 20 years. A little-known state House member from rural northeast Mississippi played a key role in launching the era back in 2004. In 2000, state Rep. Ricky Cummings, a Democrat from Iuka, was the sole author of legislation designed to provide a sales tax rebate for tourism-related projects. The legislation, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, reimbursed to the developers of tourism-related projects a percentage of the sales tax collected at the tourism attraction. It was unusual for a lawmaker beginning his second term to pass such an impactful bill. Cummings' legislation was his effort to help his beloved Tishomingo County in the northeast corner of the state. He was convinced the rural county in the foothills of Appalachia was the ideal spot for some form of tourist attraction, such as an amusement park or water park. Cummings hoped his bill would jumpstart that effort. But the program did not attract the major tourist-related project that Cummings had sought for his district. The legislation, though, did help entice at least one significant tourism-related project to the state: the Mississippi Braves. Trustmark Park in Pearl, where the Braves played, and adjacent Bass Pro Shop received a sales tax rebate of $18.9 million. |
SPORTS
| No. 4 State Soccer Blanks Missouri 5-0, Stays Perfect In SEC Play | |
| No. 4 State soccer showed why they are one of the top teams in the country, delivering a commanding 5-0 shutout over Missouri on Sunday night at MSU Soccer Field. With five different Bulldogs finding the back of the net, State (12-1-0, 6-0-0 SEC) secured its longest winning streak in program history, now at nine games, and extended its record for SEC victories in a season to six. In front of the second-largest crowd in program history of 2,073, the Bulldogs maintained their momentum and remained undefeated at home, while Missouri (4-8-2, 2-4-1 SEC) struggled to keep pace. The Tigers were held to just three total shots throughout the match, none of which were on target. The Bulldogs controlled the game from the opening whistle, keeping possession and putting Missouri on the back foot early. While the offense shined, State's defense delivered another standout performance, recording their eleventh clean sheet of the season. Maddy Anderson, one of the top goalkeepers in the SEC, had a relatively quiet night as the Bulldogs limited Missouri to just three shots, none of which required Anderson to make a save. Mississippi State will return to the pitch for the Magnolia Cup on Friday night in Oxford, Mississippi. The match is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff. |
| Head coach Jeff Lebby pleased with State's second-half response against Georgia | |
| The first half of Jeff Lebby's debut season has been filled with struggles and a current five-game losing streak. But following Saturday's 41-31 setback at No. 5 Georgia, the Mississippi State head coach did take away some positives. First and foremost, Lebby was pleased with the way his team bounced back after getting in a 34-10 hole early in the second half. "Again, our guys responded," remarked Lebby. "Man, they did. They answered the challenge, they answered the bell. I hate that were sitting here disappointed, frustrated that we're not on the right side of it. But our guys are continuing to fight like heck for each other and I'm proud of them for that." After experiencing a rough first half, quarterback Michael Van Buren picked up the pace significantly in the second half. Making just his second career start, the Bulldog true freshman passed for 306 yards against Georgia's defense and had three touchdown passes and one interception. For Lebby, he was glad to see Van Buren settle in after his slow start. "He settled in there late in the first half and then played really well in the second half," Lebby added. "That's without watching the tape but early on, I think it's a young kid in an unbelievable environment where we have the opportunity to do some things. I've got to continue to coach him better, put him in positions to succeed. But proud of him for getting himself out of that hole and then answering the right way to be able to go play the way we needed him to go play." |
| How Mississippi State, Michael Van Buren got season headed in right direction in Georgia, Texas losses | |
| Mississippi State football's losing streak extended to five games Saturday after a 41-31 loss at No. 4 Georgia. It was MSU's fourth straight double-digit loss, and MSU (1-5, 0-3) hadn't held a lead versus an FBS opponent until it took a 3-0 first-quarter advantage vs Georgia. The brutal 41-17 home loss to Toledo followed by quarterback Blake Shapen's season-ending injury the following week felt like rock bottom. Reality sunk in that Mississippi State might not win another game in 2024 and was in need of a much deeper rebuild than perhaps initially thought. The last two games have been different on the road against Texas and Georgia. The product on the field is better. Mississippi State isn't getting blown out of the stadium. The Bulldogs are improving week-to-week, even if the wins aren't following yet. "I would say the biggest thing is, yeah, losing sucks, but at the end of the day it's like you never lose a game," Mississippi State defensive lineman Sulaiman Kpaka said. "Yeah, the score says one thing, but when you go back and watch the film, you're always like, 'all right, the game came down to X amount of plays.' We know if we just clean these things up going forward, we won't make those mistakes." |
| What Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said about a viral moment with Mississippi State QB | |
 | Georgia football coach Kirby Smart went viral on social media for putting his hands on Mississippi State's quarterback late in No. 4 UGA's 41-31 win Saturday. It happened after a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter by Michael Van Buren Jr. near the Georgia sideline with 2:55 left in the game. Van Buren turned and was heading back on the field as Smart took off his visor and pushed the freshman who stayed on his feet. Smart may have appeared to be trying to make a point with a line judge, but he said he was trying to reach defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann. "I think I was going after Schumann," Smart said. "I was trying to get Schumann's attention. We were trying to change personnel. I think it's the play they came over to our sideline and trying to get Schumman's attention. But, no, I don't really remember it." Van Buren passed for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns on 20 of 37 passing with an interception and rushed for 15 yards on 5 carries. After the game, Van Buren said of the incident with Smart: "I'm not really sure what that was but I was just trying to play my game. I didn't really see it for real." |
| Unpacking Mississippi State football's remaining schedule, most likely wins for the season | |
| Mississippi State football's first season under coach Jeff Lebby has not gone as planned. The Bulldogs are 1-5 and 0-3 in the SEC at the season's midpoint. They've lost five consecutive games and have only held a lead for 4 minutes, 56 seconds against FBS opponents this season. It came Saturday when MSU booted a first-quarter field goal in a 41-31 loss at Georgia. But despite the losses, there's evidence that Mississippi State is turning a corner to a point that a win -- or even multiple wins -- could be on the horizon. That wasn't always the case earlier in the season. Here's a look at MSU's remaining schedule and where it most likely can find wins this season. UMass is quite possibly the worst team in the country. The FBS independent is 1-6 with its one win against Central Connecticut. It just lost 45-3 at home to Missouri. MSU plays UMass on the final leg of a three-game homestand, and should be a betting favorite in that game. |
| State's Van Buren solidifying his 'QB of the future' status | |
| Parrish Alford writes for the Magnolia Tribune: Stats are for losers, it's often said. Pearls of wisdom like that are rooted in truth. Those who gravitate quickly to the stat column have often come up short in the score column. But for Mississippi State, stats have a little more meaning right now. With a freshman quarterback making his first career starts against top-five teams Texas and Georgia, both on the road, it's not about the final score. Those wonderful underdog stories that we so enjoy are rare. For the Bulldogs, in Year 1 of a rebuild with a first-time head coach, success is measured differently. And they found success in a 41-31 loss at No. 5 Georgia Saturday, namely in that freshman quarterback, Michael Van Buren. The Bulldogs were down 17 at the half. They'd only scored 10 points, and the stage was set for Georgia to pull away. The Athens Bulldogs were halfway to their 34-point spread. It's a sad tale State had seen before this season. This time it was different. Van Buren showed poise and confidence. |
| Mississippi State's Counseling and Sport Psychology department vital layer of holistic care of Bulldog student-athletes | |
| Dr. Allison Rogers has seen it many times before. As an assistant director in the Mississippi State Counseling and Sport Psychology Department, Rogers has watched on during competition as an athlete she's worked with overcomes a struggle and gets the job done for the Bulldogs. "Something finally clicks, and you get to go to practice or a scrimmage or a game and they finally do it," Rogers said. "It's a beautiful, beautiful thing." Such stories are becoming more and more common at Mississippi State in recent years as the CSP program under the leadership of Assistant Athletic Director of Counseling and Sport Psychology Dr. Joey Case continues to become a vital part of MSU's success, both in student-athletes' personal lives as well as in their sport performance. From being a resource Bulldogs can lean on for improved mental health, to providing interventions to get the most out of athletes as they fight for the Maroon and White throughout the athletic year, the work of the CSP group at MSU -- made up of Case, Rogers, Dr. Quincy Davis and Brett Weaver -- is making sure no stone is left unturned when it comes to the care of Bulldog student-athletes. |
| After worst home loss of Jones era, owner backs coach McCarthy | |
| After suffering the worst home loss of his time as Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, 47-9 to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Jerry Jones backed his head coach, Mike McCarthy. "Oh, I haven't even considered that," Jones said of a potential change. "I'm not considering that. Just so you're clear, I'm not considering that." When reminded about the previous in-season coaching change he made in 2010 when he fired Wade Phillips and named Jason Garrett as interim coach after a 1-7 start, Jones became terse. "That would be a hypothetical. In that matter, do you think I'm an idiot? Do you? OK. Well, I'm not going to hypothetical with you about would I consider a coaching change in light of the timing we're sitting here with. I'm not. At all," he said. McCarthy is in the final year of his contract. Despite his posting three straight 12-5 finishes, the Cowboys' lack of playoff success -- they haven't advanced beyond the divisional round of the playoffs and have lost two postseason games at AT&T Stadium since he was hired in 2020 -- put McCarthy's future in question entering the season. The Cowboys will have to stew over this loss for two weeks, as they have their bye next week. They return Oct. 27 at the San Francisco 49ers, who have beaten the Cowboys three straight times, including 42-10 last year at Levi's Stadium. |
| SEC pounds LSU with $250,000 fine after fans storm field | |
| LSU was fined $250,000 by the SEC after its football fans formed the field at Tiger Stadium following the team's upset victory over Ole Miss on Saturday night, the conference said. The fine comes a week after the SEC fined both Vanderbilt and Arkansas for when their football fans ran onto the field after wins against Alabama and Tennessee, respectively. LSU football fans last stormed their field in October of 2022, which also followed a Tigers victory over Ole Miss, and before that the last field storming was in 2018 after LSU beat No. 2 Georgia. A school's first offense is $100,000 and from there, a second offense is $250,000 and a third swells to $500,000 for the offending school. Those amounts were approved by the SEC in a landmark decision in 2023, when the conference increased its fines to discourage the practice, and at the time said that any previous field or court occupations would not count against the total going forward. You could forgive LSU fans for being excited. Trailing by a touchdown against the then-No. 9 Rebels, the Tigers mounted a comeback led by quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. The win moves LSU to a 5-1 mark on the season with a 2-0 record in SEC play, a vital step in the right direction in the league's title picture and the College Football Playoff chase. |
| Georgia Board of Regents seeking to ban transgender women from college sports | |
| The University System of Georgia Board of Regents is asking two organizations that govern collegiate sports to ban transgender women from participating in women's sports. Tuesday's unanimous vote came two years after the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) voted to require students to participate in high school sports based on their gender at birth. The controversy over transgender women taking part in women's sports erupted during the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held at Georgia Tech. Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania, who had posted respectable but not spectacular times while swimming for the men's team, emerged into the national spotlight while transitioning to female through hormone replacement therapy, winning the 500-meter freestyle event. Five former elite-level college women swimmers who took part in those championships testified before a state Senate committee in August that being forced to compete against Thomas was unfair. They also said they were uncomfortable having to share a locker room with Thomas. "Biologically female student-athletes could be put at a competitive disadvantage when student-athletes who are biologically male or who have undergone masculinizing hormone therapy compete in female athletic competitions," read the second paragraph of the resolution the Board of Regents adopted Tuesday. |
| Tennessee changes to Morgan Wallen song at Neyland Stadium to replace Garth Brooks | |
 | Tennessee changed its longstanding fourth quarter song at Neyland Stadium from Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" to "The Way I Talk" by Vols super fan Morgan Wallen. The switch was made Saturday night at the start of the fourth quarter of Tennessee's game against Florida. "Gets louder when I'm cheering on the Volunteers" (lyrics in the song) echoed throughout Neyland Stadium. A song change had been in the works since this summer, a source with direct knowledge of the decision told Knox News. But UT wanted to unveil it at the Florida game and after Wallen played two sellout concerts at Neyland Stadium in September. For several years, UT fans had sung "Friends in Low Places" to start the fourth quarter. But many had pleaded for a new song. They wanted something a little more modern. "The Way I Talk" was Wallen's debut single in 2016. They wanted something a little more upbeat than the country music anthem "Friends in Low Places." And they wanted something by a Tennessee artist. Brooks is from Oklahoma. Wallen is from Knox County and graduated from Gibbs High School, just 15 miles from UT campus. Wallen is also a huge UT fan. He cheered on the Vols at the College World Series alongside Peyton Manning, Josh Heupel and Rick Barnes. |
| Missouri's High School Athletes Can Make Money. It's Paying Off for Mizzou. | |
 | In his four-year career as Missouri's starting quarterback, Brady Cook has thrown for 7,603 yards and 43 touchdowns. He led the Tigers to a victory in last year's Cotton Bowl. And even after an upset loss over the weekend, his team is in a position to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Perhaps even more impressive is Cook's real estate portfolio, which stretches from Missouri to Georgia to Texas and includes interests in a half dozen apartment complexes, a medical building and a retirement home. He chose his assets using the business acumen he developed at the University of Missouri, where he will receive a master's degree in business administration in December. But the financing was thanks to his right arm. "I am not going to tell you what I make," said Cook, whose name, image and likeness, or N.I.L., deals are estimated to be worth $1.2 million annually, according to several databases. "But I will say that I have learned more about the business of business in the last year than any other time in my life." The University of Missouri has created one of the most transparent mechanisms to make sure its student-athletes get paid and paid well, with the help of the state legislature. Most donor-funded collectives raise a majority of their dollars from boosters, but in Missouri, a state law has allowed the university to create and fund a marketing agency, called Every True Tiger, that distributes money to its athletes. |
| It's College Football's Game of the Century -- and It Happens Every Week | |
| When Oregon and Ohio State squared off on Saturday night, it had all the makings of a college football classic: Two proud programs, both ranked in the top 3 nationally, going head-to-head with unbeaten records on the line. In case you missed it, this was one of those heavyweight showdowns that lived up to its billing -- a back and forth nail-biter that came down to the final two minutes and ended in a wall of sound, as scores of black-clad students stormed the field to celebrate the Ducks' 32-31 win. In any other year, it would have been a shoo-in for the best game of the season. This year, it's just another Saturday. This is how it goes in the new era of college football. The emergence of coast-to-coast megaconferences and a beefier postseason has been accused of diminishing the regular season, casting regional rivalries aside, and rendering the bowl system completely irrelevant. But it has also produced a steady stream of epic matchups between superpower schools at or near the top of the national rankings. These days, the "Game of the Century" happens practically every week. Since the College Football Playoff's debut, there have been 17 regular-season games between teams both ranked in the top five, according to Stats Perform. Clashes between top three teams are even rarer, with just eight in the past 10 years. But seven weeks into the 2024 season, we've already seen two top-5 showdowns -- and you won't have to wait long for the next one. It's happening next Saturday, when No. 1 Texas squares off against No. 5 Georgia. |
| NCAA's Court Victory No Safeguard Against Future Losses | |
| The NCAA and its member schools and conferences have agreed to pay billions of dollars to resolve antitrust lawsuits in hopes that doing so will bring order to college sports. There's a big problem with that calculus: Legal challenges over college athletes' rights aren't going away and market forces, left unrestrained by the collapse of amateurism, will increasingly amass control and spawn their own courtroom battles. First the good news for the NCAA. It scored a historic win when U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken preliminarily approved the settlement to resolve the House, Carter and Hubbard cases. Wilken seemed dissatisfied with the settlement during a hearing on Sept. 5, but subsequent revisions convinced her. The settlement now moves into the final approval process. There are hurdles, including objections, opt-outs, possible further revisions and potential appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. It could get messy and take many months, even years. But the settlement is at least on track. But even in a best-case scenario for the NCAA, the settlement only settles the three cases. A settlement is not a court ruling that sets precedent. It doesn't reshape an industry and, in fact, can get rejected for trying to do so. A settlement is a contractual agreement that governs its parties but not those outside the contractual relationship. |
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