| Monday, December 15, 2025 |
| MSU Deer Lab marks 50 years of wildlife research | |
 | The Mississippi State University (MSU) Deer Lab is celebrating 50 years of partnership between the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center and MSU Extension Service. The lab had delivered nationally recognized research on deer biology, habitat management and land stewardship to hunters, landowners and wildlife professionals across the state. Deer hunting generates more than $1 billion in economic activity for Mississippi each year. The research program at MSU's Deer Ecology and Management Lab began in the 1970s when Harry Jacobson launched what would become one of the Southeast's premier deer research programs. One of his early graduate students included Steve Demarais, who returned to MSU in 1997 and spent the next three decades shaping the program. Demarais mentored hundreds of students throughout his career, including Bronson Strickland, who joined the faculty in 2006 and, along with Demarais, built the lab's identity through applied research tied directly to real-world management. |
| MSU Deer Lab celebrates 50 years | |
 | For 50 years, the Mississippi State University Deer Lab -- a partnership between the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center and MSU Extension Service -- has delivered nationally recognized research on deer biology, habitat management and land stewardship to hunters, landowners and wildlife professionals across the Magnolia State. Deer hunting generates more than $1 billion in economic activity for Mississippi each year, underscoring the importance of white-tailed deer and their associated research to the state. The research program at MSU's Deer Ecology and Management Lab began in the 1970s when Harry Jacobson launched what would become one of the Southeast's premier deer research programs. Today, Eric Michel and Jacob Dykes, both assistant professors in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and MSU alumni who trained under Steve Demarais and Bronson Strickland, are carrying the program forward by expanding applied research, strengthening outreach and training the next generation of wildlife professionals. |
| MSU professor's artwork selected for new Greenville federal courthouse | |
 | When visitors step into the new federal courthouse in Greenville next year, one of the first things they will see is a vast, hand-crafted landscape of river, sky, and Delta earth – an artwork designed and built by Mississippi State University professor Critz Campbell. Campbell's piece, "Cloud Field Ferry," was commissioned through the U.S. General Services Administration's Art in Architecture program, which has supported major public artworks in federal buildings since the 1930s. For Campbell, the selection still feels extraordinary. "It is difficult to describe how honored I am to have a work included in the GSA's Art in Architecture collection," he said. "As an artist, having the opportunity to design and install a piece that will hang publicly and be cared for over many decades to come is a dream come true." The Mississippi Delta, Campbell said, shaped nearly every decision in the 26-foot-tall work. "The Delta landscape is inescapable and magical," he said. "I had the challenge of designing an artwork that celebrates that magic without pointing to a specific place or moment." |
| 'Slop' is Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year | |
 | Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg Barlow, Merriam-Webster's president, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement. "It's part of a transformative technology, AI, and it's something that people have found fascinating, annoying and a little bit ridiculous." "Slop" was first used in the 1700s to mean soft mud, but it evolved more generally to mean something of little value. The definition has since expanded to mean "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence." In other words, "you know, absurd videos, weird advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks real, junky AI-written digital books," Barlow said. AI video generators like Sora have wowed with their ability to quickly create realistic clips based merely on text prompts. But a flood of these images on social media, including clips depicting celebrities and deceased public figures, has raised worries about misinformation, deepfakes and copyright. |
| Inside LSU's executive contracts, 'seismic' restructuring under new President Wade Rousse | |
 | In the past month, the LSU Board of Supervisors has hired two top leaders, given them incentive-laden contracts and restructured how the various campuses they oversee fit together. The moves, board members say, come from a fundamental conviction: LSU needs to level up. They believe the system needs a more unified approach to improve its national prestige and drive major expansions of revenue from both public and private sources. "These are decisions that don't come lightly," LSU Board of Supervisors chair Scott Ballard said. "Everyone knows that I have fought to get the rankings of Louisiana, LSU, to where we should be, and we're not there. We're working towards that." The Board of Supervisors ratified employment contracts with President Wade Rousse and Executive Vice President James Dalton on Thursday, offering the leaders possibly hundreds of thousands in incentives on top of their base salary and ushering in an era of major organizational change at LSU. |
| 'A Preservation-First Approach': Capstone Property Group announces updated plan for the former UGA President's House | |
 | Capstone Property Group announced new plans for the redevelopment of the former UGA President's House at 570 Prince Ave, according to a press release. The updated proposal argues that the historic property's preservation is its first priority, while considering the needs of adjacent neighborhoods and ensuring public access. The new plan includes a total of 72 rooms, two to four of which will be special guest suites located within the historic primary home and rear yard cottage. The remaining 68 to 70 rooms will be located "in a new, approximately 38,500-square-foot hotel building discreetly positioned behind the 1856 historic President's House." The previous plan's proposals of creating a new event venue and excavating for an underground parking lot have been eliminated. Hosting and special events will take place in the historic home itself and in a small adjacent courtyard, among other new adjustments. "We have reduced the size of the new structure by half and will not be doing underground parking, which will eliminate the need for any extensive excavation," Capstone President Jeff Payne said. |
SPORTS
| Women's Basketball: Nwaedozi And Prater Power Bulldogs To Sunday Victory Over Southern Miss | |
| Favour Nwaedozi and Chandler Prater led Mississippi State to their 10th victory of the season when the Bulldogs took down the Southern Miss Lady Eagles, 87-64. The duo both finished the game with double-doubles. The Bulldogs continued a trend of jumping out of the gate early against their opponents, as they outscored Southern Miss in the first quarter by 11 points. They've now outscored their opponents by 10 or more in the first quarter in three consecutive games. After taking a 12-point lead into the half, State began the quarter with a 6-0 run and at one point was outscoring Southern Miss 20-3 in the quarter. The Bulldogs would secure a 26-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest. Mississippi State has now won six consecutive games entering their next contest against Alabama State on Wednesday, December 17. That contest is set to tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. |
| Men's Basketball: Five Things To Know: State vs. Long Island | |
| Mississippi State men's basketball returns home after a three-game road swing that was capped by the largest comeback in the Coach Jans era as the Bulldogs take on Long Island from the Northeast Conference on Tuesday evening at Humphrey Coliseum. State (5-5, 0-0 SEC) overcame a 17-point first half deficit and turned the tables for an 82-74 triumph over Utah on Saturday. The Bulldogs ripped off a season's best 50 points and connected on a 61.3 percent shooting clip during the second half. The Sharks (6-4, 0-0 NEC) have won three of their last four including back-to-back triumphs over Lehigh (87-82 on 12/06) and La Salle (70-60 on 12/13). Malachi Davis (15.8 PPG, 3.4 APG, 1.7 SPG) has ripped off double figures in nine consecutive games fueled by 30-point outing at Lehigh. Last time out, Greg Gordon (15.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.2 SPG) dialed up 25 points versus La Salle. State and Long Island will meet on the hardwood for the second time. The Bulldogs secured a 61-52 victory in 1992-93 at the Hawkeye Classic in Iowa City, Iowa. Marcus Grant led the way for State with 13 points |
| Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione talks evolving role of ADs, maintaining success | |
| Longtime Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione isn't sure that he likes the word retirement. As he nears the end of his 28-year tenure this spring and moves to the athletic director emeritus role, Castiglione cited other words: "Refocus, repurpose, redirect, recalibrate." "There'll be something, but it won't be sitting back and doing nothing. I can tell you that," Castiglione said on the stage at SBJ's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum presented by Learfield in Las Vegas. "Anything that we've done, anything that we've been able to accomplish, it's not because of me," he said. "It's because of the great people that we've had, the collective efforts of everybody, the great intellect and skill and creativity and innovation that they bring to whatever role it is that they have." Castiglione outlined the path that he's used for success at Oklahoma and his other stops as "setting a culture, being disciplined around it, and then hiring and retaining people who are absolutely willing to live it, not be just part of it, but live it." |
| Big 12 nearing private capital deal that could raise up to $500 million | |
| The Big 12 is nearing an agreement with RedBird and Weatherford Capital for a cash infusion of millions. Big 12 presidents and chancellors recently authorized commissioner Brett Yormark to take another step toward finalizing a credit deal that, if all schools choose to participate, would deliver $500 million to Big 12 members and create a strategic business partnership with the firms. Multiple people with knowledge of the agreement spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity. The Big 12 is not giving up any stake or equity to the firms. A final decision on the move is expected in the coming weeks after the completion of long-form agreements. In a statement to Yahoo Sports, the Big 12 confirmed that the league is in negotiations with the two firms to "create a multifaceted strategic business partnership" focused on growing commercial operations of the league, while also "providing an opt-in capital solution for our member institutions to take advantage of up to $500 million of capital." |
| As a Scandal Boils, the U. of Michigan Vows to Fix Its Culture. Again. | |
 | Domenico Grasso's 250-word message was a straightforward account of the facts. The head football coach had been fired for having an alleged affair with a staff member, the investigation was ongoing, and the University of Michigan will move forward. But one line the interim president wrote hinted at a longer-standing issue: "Our community has worked diligently in recent years to strengthen a safe and respectful environment for all," the letter said. "We must remain steadfast with those efforts." Sherrone Moore's downfall caps a series of scandals in recent years involving high-profile officials at the Ann Arbor flagship. Each time one comes to light, the university has tried to reckon with how it happened. Then it happens again. On Friday, The Detroit News reported Michigan's board had asked a law firm to investigate both how Moore's firing was handled and the culture of the athletics department. The purview will include some of the university's other recent scandals, according to the newspaper. Among the people who may feel most distressed by this saga are the football players. They're a group of predominantly Black students who were, until two days ago, coached by one of a small number of Black coaches working for one of the nation's most high-profile college-football programs, Charles H. F. Davis III, an assistant professor of education at Michigan, pointed out. |
| President Donald Trump calls NIL 'disaster,' reiterates willingness to get involved | |
| Speaking from the Oval Office on Friday while honoring the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. men's hockey team, President Donald Trump called NIL a "disaster" in college sports. He also further signaled his willingness to get involved. Trump has been vocal about settling the landscape in college athletics. He signed an executive order earlier this year called "Save College Sports" to prohibit third-party, pay-for-play payments and directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify that athletes are amateurs and not employees. But as dollars continue to fly through NIL and revenue-sharing, Trump called for a "strong salary cap" and said colleges are putting themselves in tough financial shape as a result. He stressed the need for action and reiterated he'd step in, if necessary. "You're going to have these colleges wipe themselves out, and something ought to be done," Trump said. "And I'm willing to put the federal government behind it. But if it's not done fast, you're going to wipe out colleges. They're going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football. They can't pay $12 million, $14 million, $10 million, $6 million for players." |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
