| Monday, March 16, 2026 |
| MSU offers spring, summer swim camps for individuals with special needs | |
 | Mississippi State University's Department of Kinesiology is hosting adapted swim camps this spring and summer to help children and adults with special needs gain confidence in the water and learn basic swimming skills and water safety. The spring camp runs March 16-20 for ages 3-14, while the summer session takes place June 1-5 for participants ages 3 to adult. Both camps will be held at MSU's Sanderson Center, 225 Bailey Howell Drive. Under the direction of Associate Professor of Kinesiology Gregg Twietmeyer, certified adapted swim instructors and MSU student volunteers will lead the campers. Swimmers attend one 45- or 60-minute session per day, depending on age, over the five-day program. "The MSU Adapted Swim Camp focuses on two things," Twietmeyer said. "First, the intrinsic joy of swimming. Swimming is fun. It is play. As such, it should be open to all. Second, our camp teaches vital safety skills to people with special needs." |
| Photo: A Growing Legacy | |
| SaMin Han, assistant professor in MSU's Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design, has been named the department's first endowed professor. The Michael L. and Mary B. Hatcher Endowed Professorship was created through a $500,000 gift from Michael Hatcher, a 1982 MSU graduate, and his wife Mary. The endowment supports faculty who advance environmental design research, teaching and professional contributions. Han, in her fifth year at MSU, focuses on climate resilience, community-centered design and environmental planning. Photo courtesy of MSU |
| Ground-nesting, native bees support agriculture | |
 | While honeybees are important for crops and as a food source for humans, native bees pollinate as much as 80% of many important crops and should be protected as well. Jeff Harris, bee specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the U.S. has about 4,000 species of native bees. Many native bees live in the ground. "Many of them are struggling to survive in human-inundated landscapes," said Harris, who is also a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researcher. "They need a lot of help, and awareness that they even exist is the first step." Many native bees do not sting, and Harris said these native, ground-nesting bees are important pollinators for agriculture. "For example, the Southeastern Blueberry Digger Bee is a very important pollinator of our commercial blueberries in southern Mississippi," Harris said. "The blueberry growers are aware of this bee and try to protect nesting areas near their orchards by not mowing or tilling the ground where the bees nest." Many farmers encourage nesting in the orchards by offering open grasslands with patchy areas of sandy soil, which is ideal for this bee. Harris said doing this encourages more bees to visit the flowers of their bushes, resulting in higher yields and better fruit quality. |
| Henderson, Sand roads to receive sewer service by 2027 | |
| Work to extend sewer service to the final portions of areas annexed into the city nearly three decades ago could begin next year after the city secured a $1.29 million Community Development Block Grant. Mayor Lynn Spruill announced during Friday morning's aldermen work session that the city had received final approval for the grant from Gov. Tate Reeves. The funding will pay for sewer lines and connections to about 30 homes along Henderson and Sand roads. Henderson and Sand roads represent the last remaining portion of roughly 10 square miles annexed north and west of Starkville in 1998 that still lack sewer service. The grant requires a $590,000 city match, which will come from water and sewer capital improvement funds, said Edward Kemp, general manager of Starkville Utilities. Kemp said construction is expected to begin in 2027 and could take six to nine months to complete. Kemp also updated aldermen on six other federally funded water and wastewater projects underway or in development across the city. |
| Longtime federal judge E. Grady Jolly dies at 88 | |
| Former U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge E. Grady Jolly has died at the age of 88. Jolly was appointed to the federal bench in 1982 by former President Ronald Reagan. He succeeded the late Judge James Coleman. Former U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, the first Republican Senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction, advocated for Jolly's appointment by Reagan in 1981. A lengthy squabble between then-House Minority Whip Trent Lott and Cochran over who should be Mississippi's pick for the seat nearly resulted in the state losing the appointment. When the dust settled, Cochran's pick of Jolly ultimately won out with President Reagan. Jolly received unanimous consent from the U.S. Senate. He went on to serve for 35 years on the federal bench, assuming senior status at the age of 80. He was an active member of the Circuit's senior-status bench until October 2025 when he took senior inactive status. Former Cochran Chief of Staff Brad White, now the executive director at the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said Monday that a lifetime on the federal bench is rare. "However, Judge Jolly's decades of principled service was extraordinary," White said in a social media post early Monday morning. "His devotion to the rule of law leaves a legacy that will guide generations. His robe represented more than authority. It represented patience, wisdom, and fidelity to the Constitution for more than forty years. On top of all that, he was a good friend and a joy to be around." |
| Mississippi's S&P Global Credit Rating improves, reports record $1 billion in interest income | |
| Mississippi generated a record-breaking $1 billion in interest income in 2025. That was the word Monday morning from Governor Tate Reeves and State Treasurer David McRae. The two state leaders jointly announced that S&P Global Credit Ratings has improved the Mississippi's outlook from "negative" to "stable," signaling that Mississippi's fiscal foundation is strong and that the state is well positioned for continued long-term growth. In the five years before Reeves became Governor and McRae became Treasurer, Mississippi averaged $39 million annually in investment earnings. They attribute the improvement to conservative, results-driven financial management. Governor Reeves, a former two-term State Treasurer, said in a statement that this "is more great news for Mississippi and it proves our hard work is paying off." "Since I've been governor, we've finalized a record-breaking $70 billion in new capital investment in our state -- that's going to generate millions in new tax revenue for Mississippi. Economic growth and population growth trends are strong and actually growing stronger," Reeves said. "When you factor in the work we're doing to strengthen PERS, the fact we are in the best fiscal and financial shape in history, and our declining overall debt burden, it really should come as no surprise that the outlook improved." |
| As prison costs increase, lawmaker wants new conditions on the spending | |
| Mississippi is on track to increase spending on prisons for the coming fiscal year, a spike attributed to its medical care contract and rising payments to private prisons, according to a top budget writer for corrections in the state Legislature. Lawmakers are considering spending over $480 million on the Mississippi Department of Corrections over the next fiscal year, said House Corrections Chairwoman Becky Currie, who presented the agency's budget bill on Thursday. That's an increase of roughly $12 million from this year. The largest single chunk of the budget goes to a prison medical contract currently held by Kansas-based VitalCore Health Strategies. "This bill is higher because we are paying VitalCore more money this year," Currie said. "By contract, it goes up from $124 million to $128 million, and next year it will be $133 million." Lawmakers spent much of the past week working on appropriations bills that will make up the over $7 billion state budget. The House and Senate will try to negotiate agreements on spending for each state agency in the final few weeks of the legislative session. Currie has been a sharp critic of VitalCore, which was awarded over $315 million in emergency, no-bid state contracts by the Department of Corrections from 2020 to 2024. |
| Senate approves funding for Mississippi's child care crisis. Will it survive the House? | |
| The Senate voted Thursday to spend $15 million on child care vouchers to help alleviate the pressure on roughly 20,000 low-income Mississippi families waitlisted for subsidies since pandemic-era federal funds ran out in April. This funding is not set in stone. The Senate Appropriations committee added it to House Bill 1909, the budget for the Department of Human Services, which will be amended again before reaching Gov. Tate Reeves' desk for signature. Rep. Clay Deweese, a Republican from Oxford and principal author of the original bill, told Mississippi Today late Thursday he hadn't had time to look at the amendment. Deweese also said he didn't think it would be prudent to state his opinion on the issue. When asked why the House version didn't include that $15 million for child care, Deweese said it was "just the House position." "I'm not going to get into these conversations," Deweese said when pressed on the issue. "I'm not going to be put in these positions." Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany and an additional author of the bill, told Mississippi Today that with the "limited knowledge" he has about the situation, he would be in favor of keeping the Senate's amendment. |
| Mississippi's legislature passes concurrent friendship resolutions honoring partnership with Québec | |
 | Mississippi's legislature passed concurrent friendship resolutions honoring the state's relationship with Québec, Canada's only majority francophone province. State Senator Brice Wiggins (R-Jackson County) said the resolution emphasized the long historical and cultural connection between Québec and Mississippi, especially on the Gulf Coast. The region was settled by French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699. "That then led to Mobile and New Orleans being founded," Wiggins said. "So, we claim Ocean Springs as the first French settlement in America." Québec operates nine U.S. offices. Nathalie Rivard is the province's chief representative to the southeastern U.S. "Part of our office mandate is to foster economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties between Quebec and the six states that we cover, and there's a lot of trade and investment between Québec and the state of Mississippi," she said. Rivard sees the resolution as an effort to highlight existing commercial partnerships between Québec and Mississippi. "The Canadian National Railway is headquartered in Montreal, and it employs more or less 500 Mississippians," she said. "Just last year alone, it invested $75 million in the states." |
| 'We're going to have a problem': Republicans want Trump to move on from 2020 | |
 | President Donald Trump is bringing back 2020. Many Republicans wish he wouldn't. Conversations with nearly a dozen GOP state and county chairs and strategists reveal a party largely eager to move on from relitigating Trump's election grievances, which they're worried may detract from an economic message that actually motivates voters. But the president won't let it go, subpoenaing 2020 election records and putting pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation to overhaul voter registration laws. As Republicans stare down a treacherous midterm landscape, there's a growing view inside the party that focusing on "stolen election" claims and voter fraud will kneecap them in the general election: That messaging might play well with the MAGA base in the primary, but it could alienate moderates tired of rehashing an election from nearly six years ago. "I'm always one to believe you should look forward, not backward," said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania-based GOP strategist and Trump convention delegate who hosted a meeting of fake electors in 2020 at his Harrisburg-based public affairs firm. "It would be better if the midterms focused on the recovery of the economy and all the good things the Republican administration and Congress are doing to move the economy forward." |
| Exclusive: US, China discuss farm goods, managed trade in 'remarkably stable' Paris talks, sources say | |
| Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials held "remarkably stable" talks in Paris on Sunday that touched on potential areas of agreement in agriculture, critical minerals and managed trade for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider in Beijing, two sources familiar with the talks said. The sources told Reuters that the "candid and constructive" Paris talks led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng would set in motion possible "deliverables" for Trump's trip to China to meet with Xi at the end of March. But they added that the leaders would have the final say on the proposals. The Chinese side showed openness to potential additional purchases of U.S. agricultural goods including poultry, beef and non-soybean row crops, one of the sources said, adding that China was still committed to buy 25 million metric tons of American soybeans for each of the next three years. "All these meetings were to create stability, and today was remarkably stable," one of the sources said of the talks. The two sides discussed the establishment of new formal mechanisms to help manage trade and investment between the world's two largest economies that may be considered by Trump and Xi in Beijing, the sources said. Technical talks on the proposed U.S.-China "Board of Trade" and "Board of Investment" were expected on Monday. |
| Trump suggests he may delay China trip, but Bessent says it's not to pressure on Strait of Hormuz | |
 | President Donald Trump may delay his China trip due to the Iran war, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday it's not to pressure Beijing on the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent said any delay to Trump's month-end trip to Beijing would not be because of disagreements over the Iran war or efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a bending waterway that's crucial for global shipping. "If the meeting for some reason was rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics," the secretary said on CNBC. "The president wants to remain in D.C. to coordinate the war, and traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal." Trump has suggested he may delay the trip as he seeks to ramp up the pressure on Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and calm oil prices that have soared during the Iran war. In an interview Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said China's reliance on oil from the Middle East means it ought to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Iran's threats have throttled global flows of oil. The Republican president said "we'd like to know" before the trip whether Beijing will help. "We may delay," he said in the interview. |
| Oil Industry Warns Trump Administration That Fuel Crunch Will Likely Worsen | |
 | American oil executives delivered a bleak message to Trump officials in recent days: The energy crisis the Iran war has unleashed is likely to get worse. In a series of White House meetings Wednesday and recent conversations with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips warned that the disruption to energy flows out of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway would continue to create volatility in global energy markets, according to people familiar with the matter. In response to questions from the officials, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said that oil prices could rise past current elevated levels if speculators unexpectedly bid up prices and that markets could see a supply crunch of refined products. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance also conveyed their concerns about the scale of the disruption, these people said. The meetings were described as productive, and none of the executives blamed the Trump administration for the crisis. But many in the oil industry fear that the menu of options available can do little to stem the crisis and that the only solution is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows a fifth of the world's daily supply of oil and liquefied natural gas. Otherwise, the strain of prolonged high prices could weigh on the global economy and crimp fuel demand. "The world does not need $120 oil," said Steven Pruett, chief executive of Midland, Texas-based oil producer Elevation Resources. "It's going to cause economic destruction." |
| Trump told MAGA supporters that 'we won' in Iran. They were silent | |
 | The silence from the Kentucky crowd, many wearing "Make America Great Again" gear, was deafening. The friendly audience in the commonwealth's 4th District already had booed loudly at President Donald Trump's mention of "Barack Hussein Obama," with emphasis on the 44th president's middle name. It would later howl as the showman in chief verbally eviscerated Rep. Thomas Massie, the area's Republican congressman who has dared to defy him, including on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. But when the unexpected wartime commander in chief declared that "we've won" his surprise war with Iran that he announced in the middle of the night on Feb. 28, no one cheered. In fact, there were no sounds at all inside the Verst Logistics Order Fulfillment Center in Hebron. There wasn't even tepid applause. The crowd had been in a cheering mood just seconds earlier, first when the MAGA movement's founder touted a $1.5 billion uranium enrichment facility four-hours-and-change south in Paducah, Ky., nor when he, in true showman mode, dropped the official name of the Iran mission, saying "Operation Epic Fury" dramatically and with a raised voice. But he then conjured George W. Bush's Navy ship deck "Mission Accomplished" moment just 12 days into the Iran war -- and with the Islamic Republic government still intact. Such surreal scenes and comments this week were a reason why some Democratic senators said Team Trump went to war with no in-depth planning --- including on the key question of how they would secure Tehran's stores of enriched uranium. The perhaps-too-early victory declaration was one of many questionable statements about the Iran operation uttered this week by Trump and his inner circle that created their own collective kind of fog of war. |
| Analysis: Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels | |
| In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels. He's grown more agitated with news coverage and has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war -- or how he will end it -- that resonates with a public concerned by American deaths in the conflict, surging oil prices and dropping financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plan and his overall poll numbers are declining. Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost from the war's early days after Trump eased sanctions on some Russian oil shipments. That, combined with rising oil prices, undercut the yearslong push to crimp President Vladimir Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine. Then there are Democrats, who were left reeling after Trump won the 2024 election. With control of Congress at stake in November's midterms, the party has come together to oppose Trump's Iran policy and point to the economic turmoil as proof that Republicans haven't kept their promises to bring down everyday costs. |
| President Trump says Cuba wants to make a deal with US | |
 | President Donald Trump said on Sunday, March 15, that the United States could soon reach a deal with Cuba or take other action, signaling that developments in the long-strained relationship may come quickly. "Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One. "We're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba." The comments come as tensions between Washington and Havana remain elevated following years of sanctions, diplomatic friction, and disputes over migration and security, with regional allies and investors watching closely for signs of a policy shift. Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on Friday, March 13, that the country opened talks with the United States as the island faces one of its most severe economic crises in decades. "These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations," Diaz-Canel said in a video aired on state television. Despite the renewed contact, significant differences remain between the two governments. |
| Trump sold young voters on his vision. Many are having buyer's remorse. | |
 | Joshua Byers was hopeful when he voted for Donald Trump in 2024. The 26-year-old document clerk believed the former and future president when he said he would lower prices and improve the lives of the working class. Over a year into Trump's second stint in the White House, and overwhelmed with concern about the war with Iran, buyer's remorse has set in for Byers. "I feel betrayed," Byers told The Washington Post after participating in a focus group of young voters outside Charlotte. "I don't know why we are fighting [in Iran] if we have never been attacked," Byers told the group of around two dozen young people. "I just don't understand why." Byers's concerns highlight a growing sentiment among younger Trump supporters. Many in the focus group said they believed Trump's pitch in 2024, helping catapult him back to the White House by drawing more support from young voters than any Republican presidential candidate in two decades. But with prices stubbornly high, a belief that Trump is overly focused on international conflict and concerns about how federal officials are implementing the president's immigration policy, they also said they are questioning why they voted in the first place. The young voters' frustrations signal a broader vulnerability for Republicans with a key prong of the unique coalition that powered Trump's political comeback. |
| USM Celebrates Ribbon Cutting for the Paul H. 'Bud' Holmes Criminal Justice Building | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi celebrated the formal opening of the Paul H. "Bud" Holmes Criminal Justice Building, a newly renovated home for the School of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and Security with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, March 13. This state-of-the-art facility, which has undergone a $16.6 million renovation, is the result of generous support from alumnus Paul H. "Bud" Holmes and strategic investments by the State of Mississippi and the University. Adjacent to M.M. Roberts Stadium, the Holmes Criminal Justice Building will provide students with modern spaces designed for hands-on learning, collaboration and real-life experiences, including specialized laboratories and an academic courtroom, that will shape the trajectory of the program for years to come. "We are profoundly grateful for the generous support that made this facility possible," said Stace Mercier, executive director of the USM Foundation. "Mr. Holmes has been a dedicated supporter and advocate of our institution for many years, and this investment reflects his enduring belief in our students and in the vital work they are preparing to do. His generosity will impact generations of justice seekers who begin their journeys here at Southern Miss." |
| USM celebrates the guitar during 2nd annual Screamin' Eagles Guitar Fest | |
 | Professional and amateur musicians from the Hattiesburg area and beyond were at the University of Southern Mississippi Saturday, March 14, for an event celebrating the guitar. The second annual Screamin' Eagles Guitar Festival featured guitar classes, concerts, workshops and a jam session, all centered around the guitar. "I just wanted to have an event where as many people as possible could come and meet each other, talk shop, trade notes and be inspired by all the things that we're presenting today," said Nick Ciraldo, festival director and professor of music at Southern Miss. Students in the School of Music at Southern Miss participated, but the event was also open to grade school students who might want to study guitar in college. "I did the same clinic last year, and it really improved my guitar playing," said Tove Rose-Glane, of Mandeville, Louisiana. |
| Alcorn, Southwest Mississippi center launch hands-on filmmaking program | |
| NMHS Unlimited Film Productions announced that its new program, Digital Magic, will be presented at the Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning and Alcorn State University. The program, created and led by award-winning filmmaker Dr. Wilma E. Mosley Clopton, founder and president of Jackson-based NMHS Unlimited Film Productions, is designed to introduce students to documentary filmmaking through hands-on, interactive projects. Participants use technology such as smartphones and tablets while learning film techniques, industry terminology, and research methods to plan, shoot, and edit short videos. "This fall, the Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning will launch a new chapter in academic research and digital media training," said Dr. Garry Lewis, executive director of the Southwest Center for Culture & Learning. "Digital Magic will bring Alcorn State University into a new era of creativity, innovation, and student empowerment." The partnership between Alcorn State University and Clopton aims to strengthen student creativity, scholarship, and cultural understanding, Lewis said, while providing opportunities for students, faculty, and the broader Southwest Mississippi region to collaborate on media and research projects. |
| Southwest Mississippi Community College shifting to virtual classes after storm damage | |
| Southwest Mississippi Community College is altering its class schedule for next week after sustaining "significant damage" from a storm system that moved through the area earlier this week. Dr. Steve Bishop, president of the community college in Summit, confirmed Friday afternoon that all classes will be held virtually on Monday and Tuesday. Some employees will be asked to report to campus on Tuesday. "What we're going to do next week is we have decided to go virtual Monday and Tuesday so there will be no in-person instruction," Bishop said. "Hopefully, we'll be ready for normal operations on Wednesday." On the night of March 11, the campus saw several power lines and approximately 100 pine and oak trees come down, impacting multiple buildings. "We had about five trees fall on the library. Fortunately, all of those trees are off of the library now, but they found 205 holes in the roof of that building," Bishop said. "So, we've got a lot of repair there ahead of us." |
| House passes outcome-based higher ed funding bill alongside $10.9 billion education budget | |
| Along with the Education Trust Fund budget, the Alabama House on Thursday passed a bill to establish a framework for outcome-based higher education funding. House Bill 565, sponsored by education budget committee Chairman Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, provides bonus funding to eligible colleges and universities that meet performance goals through a new College and Higher Education Excellence and Results, or CHEER, Act. It ties tens of millions of dollars in funding to how well Alabama's higher ed institutions help students graduate and find jobs and meet state workforce needs. All of Alabama's public colleges, universities and community colleges are eligible, as well as Tuskegee University, a private historically Black school. "When you sit down with each individual university like I do, they are so unique," Garrett said on the House floor Thursday. "They just have some very specific needs and they also have some very specific strengths and things they can do, so we just want to kind of support that and jointly develop those." The bill outlines several broad categories of performance measures that could be used to evaluate institutions. |
| Auburn University alumnus among 6 killed in refueling plane crash in Iraq | |
| An Auburn University alumnus is one of six killed in a crash involving two U.S. military KC-135 refueling aircrafts in Iraq on March 12. Air Force Maj. John "Alex" Klinner, graduated from the University in 2016 with a degree in mechanical engineering. In a statement released on March 14, Auburn University said "His commitment to serving our nation reflects the courage, character and sense of duty demonstrated by those who choose a life of service." Jennifer Adams, vice president for public affairs, communication and marketing, said the statement is on behalf of the University. Since the crash, the U.S. death toll from Operation Epic Fury has grown to at least 13 service members. Seven additional service members have been killed during combat. |
| JD Vance, Erika Kirk coming to UGA for Turning Point Tour | |
 | Turning Point's Georgia stop will be at the University of Georgia in Athens. Multiple Republican leaders are joining Turning Point USA in a tour crossing five states, including Georgia, next month. The Turning Point Tour's Georgia stop will feature Vice President JD Vance, and Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk who's also the wife of Charlie Kirk famously assassinated last fall. Georgia State Rep. Houston Gaines said on X he looks forward to welcoming them both while also praising Turning Point's "incredible work inspiring the next generation of conservatives." Turning Point's Georgia stop is Tuesday, April 14 with doors opening at 4 p.m. and the event starting at 6:30 p.m. |
| How many Texas students actually go to college? | |
| It's mid-March: the time college applicants await emails and portal notifications from universities that will determine their future in higher education. Most high school students will have their answer by early April, but some decisions can take until May 1 -- the national deadline to submit enrollment deposits. As many students weigh their future, data show that only 47% of Texas high school graduates will go to college directly from high school, a percentage that has remained relatively flat in the past three years. Texas' college-going rate is lower than the national average. Across the country, 61% of high school graduates enroll in college. U.S. News & World Reports ranks Texas as the 20th best state for higher education but ranks it among the bottom 20 states for four-year college graduation rate. By 2031, more than 70% of jobs will require post secondary education -- creating a gap of 250,000 young Texans lacking requirements to access those jobs each year, Texas 2036 estimates. |
| U. of Missouri taps experienced leader Jody Mitori for top marketing role | |
 | Jody Mitori has been named chief marketing and communications officer for the University of Missouri and the UM System, according to a community announcement. In this role, Mitori will oversee all marketing and communications activities at Mizzou and across the UM System. She previously served in senior leadership roles in marketing and communications for Mizzou from 2019 to 2024. "Given Jody's experience and strong reputation at Mizzou, she is well-positioned to serve as the chief marketing and communications officer for the University of Missouri," Mun Choi, president of the University of Missouri, said in the announcement. "I am confident Jody will continue to build on the strengths of the Division of Marketing and Communications to enhance our university's reputation and visibility." |
| Americans Love Everything About This Scottish University -- Except All the Americans | |
| Holly Govan left New York ready for an adventure abroad at the University of St Andrews in a cobblestone-street town 3,000 miles from home. Instead, the Upper East Sider got paired with a roommate from lower Manhattan. "Practically every person you hear sounds American," Govan says. "You think you're coming to get this Scottish or international experience, and there's just so many Americans." The picturesque Scottish university, once the secret of private-school students from the East Coast, now boasts a student body that is about 20% American. With more than 2,200 American students, it beat even Oxford for the highest number of U.S. university expats last year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. It's not just royal fans wanting to follow in the footsteps of Prince William and Kate Middleton at the 600-year-old campus. Students worn down by the hypercompetitive, expensive American experience are looking overseas, and St Andrews, a top 5 university in the U.K. with a four-year degree structure, often tops the list. In 2025, applications from U.S. students rose 16.4% from a year earlier. The relatively straightforward admissions process helps. "It's entirely academic," said Julie Ramsay, director of admissions. |
| Is AI Making Us Stupid? Cal Newport Is Worried. | |
 | Cal Newport has been described as the "man who never procrastinates," so I expected him to be punctual for our interview. He didn't disappoint. He logged onto Zoom from his podcast studio in Takoma Park, Md., fresh from recording the next episode of Deep Questions With Cal Newport. Among the deep questions Newport and his guests have taken up recently: "Do I need a better planning system?" " Is the internet hijacking ambition?" "I want work-life balance. Am I doomed to mediocrity?" As you may have surmised, Newport is a philosopher of productivity. His 2016 breakout book, Deep Work, is a foundational text among those clinging to their attention spans in a sea of digital distraction. His books have sold more than 2 million copies. Newport is also a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, where he is one of the founding faculty members of the Center for Digital Ethics. More recently he has turned his attention to -- what else? -- artificial intelligence. He's less concerned that AI will take our jobs than that it will erode our capacity to think. |
| Writing Faculty Push for the Right to Refuse AI | |
 | The world's largest professional organization of writing educators disagrees with the notion that the rise of generative artificial intelligence in the classroom is unavoidable. Earlier this month, the Conference on College Composition and Communication passed a resolution affirming the rights of students and faculty to refuse the use of generative AI in the writing classroom. "Unsubstantiated claims about how generative AI increases productivity" and a string of other concerns underpinned the resolution including the technology's corrosive implications for data privacy, labor rights, academic freedom, the environment and the critical thinking skills humans develop through the process of writing. "The work of college writing instruction should be attentive to industry trends -- among many other external factors -- but not driven by the goal of workforce preparation through a narrow focus on specific technological skills," reads the resolution. "As a profession, rhetoric, composition, and writing studies is committed to preparing students to write in a world that is bigger than just work. We understand that students learn to write to navigate uncertainty, gain access to resources, make sense of phenomena, connect with others, build community, process feelings and experiences, and engage in civic participation." |
| China intensifies push to become world leader in tech and AI | |
| China is pledging to use 'extraordinary measures' to support the country's bid to become a global leader in artificial intelligence, quantum technology and other cutting-edge technological fields, according to its 15th five-year plan. The plan was passed by the top legislature in Beijing on Thursday and published on Friday. It will run from 2026 to 2030 and serves as China's overarching blueprint. Many researchers noted an air of confidence in the plan. "Five years ago, the sentiment of the Chinese science policymakers was still very much like, we don't want to be too far behind the US, we are still doing the catching up," says Meicen Sun, an information scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "Now, there is this more palpable sentiment that there's a real chance we can be a true leader," she says. The government has promised to boost its research and development (R&D) expenditure over the next five years. And the country's science budget is also expected to increase to 426 billion yuan (US$62 billion) this year, a rise of 10% from 2025. The Chinese government now considers science to be as important as other top-level national goals, such as boosting defence, economic growth and the country's international influence, says Stefanie Kam, who researches Chinese politics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. |
| Professors Are Changing What They Teach, Even Far from Trump's Gaze | |
 | Rewritten syllabuses. Self-censored lectures. Stilted classroom discussions. Grant applications stripped of words that might infuriate President Trump and his allies, if they are submitted at all. Many of the nation's professors are changing how they teach and research as Mr. Trump pursues a seismic reimagining of American higher education. Although the Trump administration has focused much of its ire on elite institutions, the government's tactics have unnerved people throughout academia. The consequences are trickling to campuses large and small, public and private. The White House insists that its campaign is essential to stamp out bigotry and rebuild eroded public confidence in an academic system that conservatives say is tilted against them. The quest to impose Mr. Trump's ideas, though, has been so rigid that some critics have likened it to how authoritarian leaders suppress free thought and dissent. The cadence of the federal attacks has outwardly slowed in recent months, with fewer abrupt crusades against specific universities or funding cuts that schools learned about through social media. Still, professors said they worry about administrators capitulating to Trump demands, as well as things like doxing and students recording their comments in class. "You feel like an attack can kind of come from anywhere, right?" said Marin Pilloud, an anthropology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, a school that Mr. Trump has not overtly targeted. "That you can be a target from anyone." |
| Universities slow hiring, faculty navigate rocky future amid Trump attacks on higher education | |
 | The Trump administration's attacks on universities have led to a slowdown in hiring, with international academics particularly caught in the crossfire. Colleges are being forced to navigate both threats to federal funding and immigration roadblocks, a landscape that many find increasingly untenable to navigate. The U.S. has a reputation for research that some say will survive the Trump onslaught, but the real harm could be deterring future candidates from pursuing certain fields. The pause in hiring began last year after the administration started pulling millions of dollars from elite universities, often citing allegations of antisemitism. The loss of money led to hiring freezes at top universities such as Harvard and thousands to be laid off at Johns Hopkins University. While some schools have reached deals with the administration to restore funding and others won it back in the courts, restoration has not translated to a resurgence in hiring. Free speech concerns have hit U.S. and international academics as some states crack down on how professors can teach about certain topics such as race and gender, efforts largely supported by the White House Even before the second Trump administration, the American Association of University Professors found in 2023 one in three academics were looking to leave Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, with 58 percent citing their state's political climate. |
| Mississippi Medicaid expansion momentum is gone even though benefits remain | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Another legislative session, another year will pass without Mississippi expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage for the working poor. States have had the option since 2014 to expand Medicaid to offer health care coverage to low-income workers with the federal government paying the bulk of the cost. Mississippi's political leadership has repeatedly turned down that offer -- rejecting more than $2 billion annually from the federal government to the state in some of the years since 2014. Efforts to expand Medicaid in Mississippi peaked in the 2024 legislative session thanks to the support at the time of Republican House Speaker Jason White. But those unsuccessful efforts evaporated with the passage of President Donald Trump's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, or HR 1, this past summer. While the massive bill, which included cuts to health care and other safety net programs for the poor, did not end Medicaid expansion, it did stop momentum for the program. |
| For Constitution's sake, Congress must authorize Iran war | |
 | Columnist Bill Crawford writes: We celebrate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence this year. In two years, we will celebrate the anniversary of the sacred document that sustains that independence -- the United States Constitution. Hopefully, it will still remain the law of the land. President Donald Trump pays little attention to it. Congress fails to uphold it. Only the U.S. Supreme Court has held it sacrosanct; but the court's record on that has become spotty as it dallies and allows both executive and legislative branch exceptions. The latest incident is the Iran war. The constitution is clear. Congress has the sole power "To declare War." Last week, Sen. Roger Wicker published a powerful opinion piece justifying the president's decision to attack Iran. "I believe the decision was profound, deliberate, and correct," he said There was just one problem. It has nothing to do with whether you support the president's actions or not. The senator's argument should have been made to congress in support of a war powers resolution. Without an authorizing resolution, the president's action amounts to a breach of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: No. 3 MSU Adjusts Start Time Against Jackson St. | |
| Due to an expected temperature drop on Tuesday, No. 3 Mississippi State is moving its baseball game with Jackson State up to a 4 p.m. first pitch. The Diamond Dawgs are a perfect 12-0 at Dudy Noble Field this season and enter Tuesday's game at 16-4 overall. The matchup with the Tigers will be streamed on SEC Network+. MSU is 57-8 all-time against Jackson State and have won seven straight against the Tigers. The Bulldogs won last year's meeting 16-3 in seven innings. |
| Softball: Record Crowd Witnesses Troutman's Walk-Off Winner Against No. 1 Tennessee | |
| Taylor Troutman's walk-off home run lifted No. 12 Mississippi State over No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday to even the series and hand the Lady Vols their first loss of the season. It's the second year in a row that the Bulldogs have taken down a No. 1 team in Starkville. In another tightly-contested pitching battle, the game remained scoreless into the bottom of the seventh. After striking out in her first two at bats, Troutman led off the final frame with a solo home run to win the ballgame. It marked the fourth time in program history that State defeated a No. 1 team. "I love that, Taylor coming through after having two strikeouts early in the game, but the best thing Taylor does is her confidence," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I think that's really been the message after yesterday, just believing that we can compete at this level with a team like Tennessee." Peja Goold had another dominant outing in the circle for Mississippi State, striking out 10 batters for her fifth shutout of the year. She allowed just two hits against one of the nation's top offenses. |
| Men's Tennis: No. 7 Mississippi State Outlasts Gators as Sanchez Martinez Seals 4-3 Road Victory | |
| No. 7 Mississippi State earned another SEC road victory, defeating No. 22 Florida 4-3 at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators got off to a hot start claiming the doubles points, with wins on courts two and three. Mississippi State quickly leveled the match by way of a No. 8 Petar Jovanovic win over No. 50 Henry Jefferson 6-2, 6-3 on court two. Florida responded with a straight-sets win on court three to take the lead again before Raphael Vaksmann equalized for the Bulldogs with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 67 Jeremy Jin on court five. No. 125 Niccolo Baroni gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the day defeating No. 31 Pablo Perez Ramos 6-4, 7-5 on court four to take a 3-2 advantage. Shortly after, Florida's Kevin Edengren defeated Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes 6-2, 6-4 to tie the match at three all. With the match tied at 3-3, it came down to No. 55 Benito Sanchez Martinez on court one. After dropping the first set 2-6, Sanchez Martinez rallied to take the second set 6-4 and force a decisive third. The final set was tied at 3-3 before Sanchez Martinez broke No. 87 Adhithya Ganesan and won two straight games to take a 5-3 lead. Ganesan held to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Sanchez Martinez closed out the match, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, to secure the Bulldogs' 4-3 victory. |
| Women's Tennis: No. 46 Mississippi State defeats Missouri in SEC Matchup | |
| Mississippi State women's tennis earns another conference win by defeating Missouri 4-0 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. State gained early momentum by collecting the doubles point in smooth fashion. Due to injury from Missouri, court three in doubles was not played, giving the Bulldogs an advantage. No. 71 Chiara Di Genova/ Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz clinched the doubles point by defeating Andrea Artimedi/ Korina Roso 6-2. In singles play only five courts were played for today's match. Courts three and one clinched the match for the Bulldogs to earn their second SEC match of the season. Di Genova collected her second SEC victory of the season by defeating Missouri's Lara Quaglia, 6-3, 6-1. Gianna Oboniye clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Korina Roso. |
| Men's Golf: Mississippi State Notches Top Five Finish At Schenkel Invitational | |
| Mississippi State notched its third top-five finish of the season, placing fifth at the Schenkel Invitational. The Bulldogs put together a score of 11-under 853, matching their best score to par of the season. Garrett Endicott led State with a fifth-place finish. He closed the event with a 1-over 73 after opening with back-to-back rounds of 5-under 67. This marks his third top 10 of the season and fifth top 20. Bryson Hughes, competing as an individual, marked his best showing at State with a seventh-place finish at 7-under overall. Hughes was the only Bulldog to fire under-par rounds all three days, opening with a 71 before shooting consecutive rounds of 3-under 69. The true freshman compiled 41 pars and 10 birdies while carding the fewest bogeys in the field. Ugo Malcor continued his steady play this year with a 17th-place showing, his fifth top 20 of the season. Malcor carded a 1-over 73 today after firing consecutive rounds of 70 to begin the event. Jackson Skinner tied for 33rd with Drew Wilson and Ben Kelling following suit in 56th and 77th, respectively. |
| SEC's Sankey says language in tampering rules is 'archaic' and NCAA needs to adjust quickly | |
| Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called NCAA language covering tampering rules "archaic," but stopped short of urging the oversight body to halt tampering investigations, the way the Big Ten did earlier this week. Speaking to reporters Saturday at the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, the commissioner said the new landscape in college sports, which includes name-image-likeness payments to players, shifting and liberal transfer rules along with the increased influence of agents, calls for the language surrounding the rules to be changed. "We need clarity," Sankey said. "Secondly, we need understanding on the part of policymakers of what's actually happening. How's this game being played? That doesn't mean the NCAA should just stop. But the notion that a memo would be sent and that changes things when the NCAA is perceived as sitting on the sidelines, that's not a workable solution." |
| Trump gives second wind to reforming college sports regulation | |
| An effort to regulate the big business of college sports is receiving a second burst of energy on Capitol Hill thanks to President Trump's insistence that more be done to curb what many regard as an intercollegiate athletics ecosystem run amok. The president's desire to see major change in the way the NCAA and its top member schools operate was evident last week during a White House task force meeting comprised of top executives and coaches from around college and pro sports. The goal of the working group, the White House says, was to strategize a clearer path forward on controversial issues like eligibility; revenue sharing; and caps on name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes, moves that taken together would "save" college sports. "Only Congress now, it looks like, can deliver a permanent fix," Trump told a room full of attendees who included NCAA President Charlie Baker, longtime Alabama football coach Nick Saban and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "Federal legislation must allow college programs to set commonsense rules without endless litigation and establish a fair standard." Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) scolded the White House for not having college athletes at the stakeholders meeting. Booker stopped short of saying he would not support any antitrust protection for the NCAA, but he expressed dissatisfaction with proposals being floated on Capitol Hill. |
| Nebraska NIL Dispute Tests Legal Deference to CSC, House Settlement | |
| Eighteen football players from Nebraska are contesting the College Sports Commission's rejection of millions of dollars in NIL deals. The dispute mechanism featured in the House v. NCAA settlement -- and the settlement's ability to withstand potential challenges under state law -- now comes into focus. The dispute, which was revealed by Yahoo last week, is straightforward. Under the House settlement, the CSC has authority to review prospective NIL deals that exceed $600 to ensure they legitimately involve use of an athlete's right of publicity, which is recognized by states and makes it illegal to use a person's identity for commercial purposes without consent. The right of publicity is central to endorsement and sponsorship deals in professional sports and protects name, image, likeness; it usually also safeguards voice, signatures and other uniquely identifying traits. If a prospective NIL deal is instead a veiled payment to convince an athlete to attend or remain at a school, the CSC can reject it. In other words, pay-for-play deals masquerading as NIL deals are subject to rejection. |
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