| Monday, October 9, 2017 |
| Mac McAnally concert again benefits Mississippi State music initiative | |
 | As he first did in 2015, an internationally recognized Magnolia State musician will give a Mississippi State concert to benefit the university's Department of Music. Mac McAnally, named Country Music Association Musician of the Year eight years in a row, will be featured Nov. 10 in historic Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. A portion of proceeds from his 7:30 p.m. show will go to the department's All-Steinway Initiative. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Now on sale, general admission tickets are $40 each. Online purchases may be completed at ecommerce.msstate.edu/music/mcanally. The concert is being sponsored by MSU's College of Education as well as its Department of Music. Trish Cunetto, College of Education development director, said All-Steinway status will make the department among only a handful in the world to hold such a prominent distinction. |
| Apollo astronauts to speak at Mississippi State on Wednesday | |
| Two Apollo astronauts will speak at Mississippi State University Oct. 11 highlighting their space experiences and celebrating MSU's recent admission to the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Astronauts Charlie Duke and Fred Haise will be featured, along with MSU alum and Apollo engineer Jerry Bostick. They will speak about their personal experiences on the Apollo missions. MSU President Mark E. Keenum will open the 5:30 p.m. free event in historic Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. A question-and-answer session will follow the astronauts' presentation. MSU is joining 35 other top research universities nationwide and is one of five institutions recently added to the ASF. MSU is the only university in Mississippi included in the ASF program. |
| Campus News: National Geographic features Mississippi State faculty research | |
 | A three-ton mess of dead pigs transformed a landscape. Three Mississippi State University faculty members helped tell how in a recent article by National Geographic. Ecological research by faculty members in MSU's Forest and Wildlife Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences is featured in the article that discusses a mass mortality experiment led by Marcus Lashley, assistant professor of wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture at MSU's College of Forest Resources. Other collaborators were MSU biological sciences assistant professors Brandon Barton and Heather Jordan and Jeff Tomberlin, associate professor and forensic and investigative sciences program director at Texas A&M University. Numerous MSU wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture students, as well as biological sciences students, also contributed to the project. |
| New 'Voice of the Bulldogs' Neil Price speaks to MSU Women's Club | |
 | After announcing his first five games at Mississippi State University, the new "Voice of the Bulldogs" Neil Price was the guest speaker at the MSU Women's Club's October meeting on Friday at the Starkville Country Club. Price shared his experience at MSU as the new announcer for football and men's basketball, but he also told of his background and what inspired him to become an announcer. "What has overwhelmed the most is how friendly everyone has been," Price said, speaking of his time in Starkville. "I grew up in a town like this one and it was comforting to me to be able to come to a place that felt a lot like home." Growing up listening to play-by-play announcer John Ward at the University of Tennessee is what inspired Price go into the sports broadcasting field. |
| Next Mississippi State WWI commemoration: 'Flabbergasting' the Germans | |
| "Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I" is the title of a special public program to be held Thursday, Oct. 12 at Mississippi State University. To begin at 7 p.m. in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library, the free event is among three the university is holding to commemorate the centennial of America's entry into World War I, a then-unprecedented conflict that took some 16 million lives between 1914 and 1918. A general discussion will follow a screening of "Choctaw Code Talkers," an hour-long documentary released in 2010 by Native American Public Telecommunications Inc. Representatives of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will be in attendance to share information on their cultural heritage. |
| Cobb Institute at Mississippi State marks archaeology month | |
| In recognition of Mississippi Archaeology Month, Mississippi State University is hosting several events aimed at teaching the community about archaeology in Mississippi and its importance. On Saturday, MSU Cobb Institute of Archaeology Interim Director Evan Peacock held an artifact identification session at the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum. The event offered the community a chance to have their artifacts identified and gain a better understanding of them. "We see a lot of stone spear points and arrow points, sometimes some old pieces of pottery, some historic period things like old bottles, " Peacock said. "People bring in all kinds of things." Peacock said the Cobb Institute tries to create opportunities for people across the state to learn and participate in archaeology events. "Mississippi is loaded with archaeology, and it is really world-class archaeology," Peacock said. "It's got a lot of importance, and the more that people learn about it, themore they help preserve it. There's sort of a larger mission to all this." |
| Wild hogs are pests, not trophies | |
 | Imagine a job in Mississippi (other than politician and football coach) where one big group of people loves you and another one, well, doesn't. Believe it or not, such jobs exist. They are held by technicians who kill feral hogs for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services, which has a research station on the Mississippi State University campus. This program makes the technicians heroes to the state's agricultural producers, but it also makes them very unpopular among sportsmen who like to hunt hogs. Unfortunately, wild hogs cause too much havoc to be worth keeping them around as game animals. As the state’s largest informal education provider, the MSU Extension Service is working to teach Mississippians what they can do to gradually help solve this problem. The Office of Agricultural Communications, the communications unit of MSU Extension, is launching Operation HOG (Hold Our Ground), a public education campaign designed to inform Mississippians of the dangers feral hogs pose, as well as ways to trap and kill them. |
| Parent-teacher talks: Working together to help students | |
 | For Biyonca Jennings, who has children at T.J. Harris Upper and Lower elementary schools in Meridian, education is not something that stops in classrooms and corridors. "You have to do it at home, as well," Jennings said. Jennings is among parents anticipating this school year's first round of parent-teacher conferences in area school districts, slated to take place in the coming weeks. She's eager to talk with teachers to find out how her children are doing with reading, writing and the rest of their subjects. For educators, the whole concept of parental involvement is something they explore throughout their training, explained Kimberly Hall, interim division head of education for Mississippi State University-Meridian. Education students, she said, consider parental involvement in wide-sweeping ways. |
| Catfish Industry: A Rise in Delta Aquaculture | |
| The catfish are biting. The industry that began in 1959 in Yazoo County has seen its share of peaks and valleys in its economic pond. In its heyday of the 1970s there were more than 100,000 acres of catfish ponds scattered across three states. But with the high cost of feed and other inputs combined with a low price per pound of catfish, many farmers plowed under their fish dreams and rowed up profits in grain crops. But the 1990s saw a rise in the fish industry but that was met with an overabundance of fish in the US and the invasion of Asian fish farmers into the U.S. markets that once again plummeted the price farmers were getting. The land that once touted its pond acreage now only has 1/3 of that 100,000 acres. Mississippi State Extension aquaculture professor, Dr. Jimmy Avery, noted that there are now "34,700 acres and the industry is faring well with low feed prices and good fish prices." |
| CWIEME Chicago 2017: Electric vehicles continue to be the focus | |
| Electric vehicles (EV) continue to be the focus on the third day of CWIEME Chicago, where six experts discussed EVs' future development and its impact on internal combustion engines during the morning panel. "One of the things we are likely to get caught off guard by is the internal combustion engine people that are working very aggressively to squeeze every last percentage point of efficiency out of the engine," said Tom Prucha, business development director for Protean Electric, who was one of the experts on the panel. The other five experts on the panel included Jaydip Das, senior manager, application engineering, Carpenter Technology Corporation; J. Rhett Mayor, CEO, DHX Machines; Konstantinos Laskaris, chief motor designer, Tesla Motors; Peter Littlewood, professor of physics, University of Chicago and emeritus director, Argonne National Laboratory; Matthew Doude, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Mississippi State University. |
| Boeing purchasing Aurora Flight Sciences | |
| It should be business as usual at Aurora Flight Sciences in Columbus after Thursday's announcement that the company is being sold to Boeing. According to a news release from Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, after the purchase has been completed Aurora will continue to operate as its own independent subsidiary. The purchase price of the company has not been disclosed. Aurora Flight Sciences has been a pioneer in the field of autonomous, or unmanned, fight systems and continues as an industry leader in the field. The company arrived in Mississippi in 2003, operating out of the Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in Starkville. |
| Starkville businesses, groups urged to sign up for United Way tailgate | |
| On the eve of Mississippi State University's homecoming, a Citywide Tailgate on Friday, Oct. 20, will serve as a fundraiser for United Way of North Central Mississippi and celebration of the Bulldogs, Starkville community and tailgating tradition. Businesses, civic groups, churches, schools and others are urged to sign up now as tailgaters for the event sponsored by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and Dynamic Fire Production. The tailgate supporting 15 United Way of NCM agencies will be held in two areas this year, according to United Way representatives -- downtown between City Hall and the fire station, and also near OCH Medical Center, Hospital Road and Lee Boulevard. |
| Town hall meeting about OCH Regional Medical Center turns into 'anti-sale' rally | |
| "Vote Against." Those who weren't wearing buttons pressed with that message Thursday night were either holding them in their hands or had them hidden away. It seemed few of the more than 100 people packed into the chancery courtroom of the old Oktibbeha County Courthouse had slipped undetected past the Friends of OCH table set up just outside the building's front door where the buttons were being distributed. The crowd had turned out for a town hall-style "informational session" about the potential sale of county-owned OCH Regional Medical Center, an issue voters will decide whether to authorize in a Nov. 7 special election. But from the outset of the meeting, it morphed into a rally for an impassioned group decidedly against a hospital sale -- many of whom were either current or former OCH staff members. |
| North Mississippi, Baptist named as respondents in OCH deal | |
| The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors on Thursday named Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation and North Mississippi Health Services as the two respondents to the request for proposals issued for the sale or lease of OCH. Both respondents would be interested in the sale of OCH as opposed to a long-term lease agreement with the option to purchase. District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller said the decision to release the names of the respondents was made after receiving an outpouring of questions from community. Miller, a longtime supporter of the sale or lease of OCH, claimed both Baptist and North Mississippi would lower taxes, retain and promote employment, invest between $20 and $30 million in health care in Oktibbeha County and expand services. |
| Greater Starkville Development Partnership to host hospital forum | |
| The Greater Starkville Development Partnership will host an informational forum concerning the upcoming Nov. 7 referendum to decide the future of OCH Regional Medical Center. The event will be Wednesday, Oct. 11, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Greensboro Center. GSDP President and CEO Scott Maynard said the goal is to provide an educational forum where both sides have an opportunity to answer questions and clear up any misconceptions pertaining to the hospital. The panel discussion will feature representatives from OCH and the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors. "We want to present the facts so everyone understands all aspects of the supervisors RFP as well as OCH Regional Medical Center's position on the sale," Maynard said in a press release. |
| Starkville e-cigarette ordinance to address biz concerns | |
| Starkville's ban on using e-cigarettes in public places is now official, but the matter might not be over for stores that say the ban could hurt their business. Aldermen unanimously approved an amendment at Tuesday's meeting that added electronic cigarettes and similar products to the city's longstanding ban on smoking in public areas. However, ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said he plans to bring forward an additional amendment which would allow an exemption for businesses, in standalone buildings, that only sale tobacco or vaping products. The initial amendment, which ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins introduced in early September, prohibits "vaping" in the same areas where smoking is banned -- including at most restaurants and businesses. Vaping is inhaling vapor produced by heating a liquid "juice," in e-cigarettes and personal vaporizers. The juices can contain nicotine in varying amounts. |
| District 38 candidates take part in forum | |
| Three candidates hoping to succeed former Mississippi House of Representatives District 38 Rep. Tyrone Ellis laid out some of their goals and ideas Thursday evening at a forum in the Greensboro Center. Narissa Dawn Bradford, Cheikh A. Taylor and Lisa Wynn are vying for the seat, which Ellis retired from in late June. Ellis, 71, held the seat since 1980, and represented portions of Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties. Bradford is a former fashion model-turned-entrepreneur, media executive and activist. Taylor is the executive director of the Brickfire Project, a child-centered organization that includes a day care and after-school programs. Wynn served as Starkville's Ward 2 Alderman from 2013-17, before Sandra Sistrunk unseated her in June's municipal election. |
| Analyst: U.S. Insured Wind, Storm Surge Loss From Hurricane Nate Around $500 Million | |
 | Insured losses in the United States from Hurricane Nate will be close to $500 million, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Company said on Monday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Monday that the former hurricane has become a post-tropical cyclone that continues to pack heavy rain and gusty winds. Hurricane Nate caused flooding in Mississippi, but spared the state from catastrophic damages. On Monday, it was expected to continue tracking northeastward, moving through the Ohio Valley and into the lower great lakes. CC said the estimates included insured wind and storm surge losses to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and autos. |
| In a Season of Monsters, Gulf Coast Feels Lucky All It Got Was Nate | |
| As Hurricane Nate cut a path through the central Gulf Coast overnight with roaring winds and a rush of storm-surge flooding, a limb snapped from a tree and landed on the windshield of Terry Gentry's convertible, cracking the glass and bending the hood. His reaction? Intense relief. "I feel blessed. My dog's still good," Mr. Gentry of Biloxi, Miss., said on Sunday. "All my family is good." With the devastating wounds left by three monster hurricanes in six weeks still raw from Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico, the impact of an ordinary Category 1 storm like Nate felt gentle by comparison. "We are very fortunate this morning," said Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi, a Republican, though he was quick to warn against minimizing the harm caused by the storm's 10-foot surge, strong winds and heavy rains. "Some damage has been done, particularly into some of the individual homes that are on the bay," Mr. Bryant said. |
| Hurricane Nate leaves mess for South Mississippi to clean up but little major damage | |
 | Crews are out restoring power and cleaning up the sand and debris left by Hurricane Nate Sunday as South Mississippi returns to normal. The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport resumed operations Sunday, but getting around on the roads was a little more challenging. The Wilkes drawbridge on Mississippi 605 was reported stuck open around noon and was not closed again until around 2:30 p.m. Parts of U.S. 90 were given over to machinery cleaning sand off the road. Stores, restaurants and the Edgewater Mall were open by midday Sunday. The Coast casinos got the go-ahead from the Mississippi Gaming Commission to reopen at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, 18 1/2 hours after they were directed to close by 5 p.m. Saturday as Nate approached. |
| Delta Regional Authority grants $545,000 for Old Mississippi Hardware Building project | |
| The Old Mississippi Hardware Building renovation project received a boost Friday with the award of a $545,000 Delta Regional Authority grant to renovate and expand the building's parking lot. Developers involved with the building renovations unveiled plans in August for a $19 million project to convert the former garment factory and hardware building on Mulberry Street into a multi-floor innovation and tech transfer center to serve the Vicksburg area and the central Mississippi region. Proposed plans for the building include a center for entrepreneurship and for training, and the relocation of the Mississippi State University graduate program from the Army's Engineering Research and Development Center to the Mississippi Hardware Building. |
| State revenue ahead of pace through 1st quarter | |
 | State revenue collections for the first quarter of the current budget year are $30.7 million or 2.6 percent above the amount collected during the same time period last year. Revenue collections through September recently were made available by the staff of the Legislative Budget Committee. The Budget Committee reports show modest growth in revenue after two consecutive years where the Legislature and Gov. Phil Bryant had to make budget cuts -- in excess of 10 percent for most state agencies -- to deal with sluggish collections. While revenue collections show growth for the first quarter, collections for the month of September were not as strong. In September, the state collected $491.3 million in revenue or $23 million less than was collected in September 2016. |
| More Mississippi students graduate without passing tests | |
 | Mississippi's improving high school graduation rate is one piece of good news in a state where the education picture has often been dismal. But new numbers could indicate those improvements are not as substantial as they seem. The key question revolves around changes that the state approved in 2014 to graduation requirements. Before then, every student had to pass standardized subject area tests in algebra I, English II, biology I and U.S. history. The idea was to make sure students were learning the basics no matter where they attend school. Mississippi is far from alone in demoting the importance of graduation tests. But are those 20 percent not passing Mississippi's tests adequately prepared? It's hard to tell. |
| HB1523: Business as usual as controversial religious freedom law enacted | |
| When Mississippi House Bill 1523, the religious freedom bill allowing business owners to turn away customers because of their sexuality, goes into effect Tuesday, Tammy Youngblood has no plans to change how she does business. If anything, the owner of Ivy Cottage Florist off Highway 45 in Columbus is "bummed" that the law is going into effect at all, she said. "At no point will I ask anyone anything about their sex," she said. "And I don't care if it's a bride and bride or a groom and a groom that comes in." Proponents of the bill says it allows business owners and government officials like circuit clerks to not have to condone or participate in something that goes against their religious beliefs. "I am so tired of the federal courts, you know, punishing Christianity," District 37 Representative Gary Chism (R-Columbus) told The Dispatch Thursday. But opponents say the law is discriminatory. |
| Northeast Mississippi clerks say HB1523 will not impact their offices | |
| No circuit clerk in Northeast Mississippi plans to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, based on "sincerely held religious beliefs," after the state's controversial religious freedom law goes into effect Tuesday. The Daily Journal contacted the offices of all 16 clerks in Northeast Mississippi and in most instances talked directly to the elected circuit clerk. None of the clerks' offices said they would change their current practice of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. "It is kind of the consensus of all of the clerks," said Tippah County Circuit Clerk Randy Graves. "We will have to see what happens." The clerks said regardless of their personal beliefs on same-sex marriage, federal law mandates they issue the marriage license based on the 2015 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| Trump administration releases hard-line immigration principles, threatening deal on 'dreamers' | |
 | The Trump administration released a list of hard-line immigration principles late Sunday that threaten to derail a deal in Congress to allow hundreds of thousands of younger undocumented immigrants to remain in the country legally. The administration's wish list includes the funding of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a crackdown on the influx of Central American minors and curbs on federal grants to "sanctuary cities," according to a document distributed to Congress and obtained by The Washington Post. The demands were quickly denounced by Democratic leaders in Congress who had hoped to forge a deal with President Trump to protect younger immigrants, known as "dreamers," who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Trump announced plans last month to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era program that had provided two-year work permits to the dreamers that Trump called "unconstitutional." |
| Nobel in economics goes to professor who can explain why Americans overeat and pile up debt | |
| University of Chicago professor Richard Thaler has won the 2017 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on behavioral economics, which tries to understand how humans make decisions, especially bad ones. Thaler, an American, is one of the leading experts in the relatively new field that combines psychology and economics. He has made a career of studying people's poor choices -- everything from why people save so little for retirement to why National Football League teams that go early in the annual draft typically do a poor job of selecting new players. "We Americans eat too much, take on too much debt, save too little and put off anything mildly unpleasant as long as possible," Thaler wrote in a New York Times op-ed in 2011. |
| Sonny Ramaswamy is finalist for Iowa State president's job | |
| The director of a federal agricultural agency that dispenses research money to land-grant universities is the first of four finalists who will visit Iowa State University this week as part of the interview process to become the Ames institution's president. In 2012, Sonny Ramaswamy was appointed director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, where he worked with then-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor. "He's a great scientist," Vilsack said of Ramaswamy in an interview with The Des Moines Register. Ramaswamy has also been a professor or on the faculty at several universities, including Kansas State University (1997-2006), University of Kansas (1995-1998), Mississippi State University (1982-1997) and Cornell University (1992). |
| Welty Symposium to feature novelist Daniel Wallace, multiple writers at MUW | |
| Novelist Daniel Wallace returns as the keynote speaker at the 29th annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, Oct. 19-21, reading from his new novel, "Extraordinary Adventures." Wallace is known for his bestselling novel "Big Fish," which was adapted as a hit movie and a Broadway musical. In it Wallace firmly established himself as the master of the tall tale. All symposium sessions will be held in Poindexter Hall at Mississippi University for Women and are free and open to the public. Wallace will appear at the keynote session Thursday, Oct. 19 beginning at 7:30 p.m. A reception and book signing with all symposium authors will follow. On Friday, Oct. 20, The W will present its annual Welty Gala fundraiser with author Jeffrey Toobin. |
| Ole Miss officially adopts Landshark mascot: Chancellor's full letter | |
| The University of Mississippi has officially adopted the Landshark as its new mascot, retiring the Bear. Ole Miss Chancellor Dr. Jeff Vitter announced the move in a letter he sent to university stakeholders. The Landshark is expected to be unveiled before the 2018 season, Dr. Vitter said. The Landshark does not threaten Ole Miss' Rebels nickname, according to the Chancellor. "...I want to state unequivocally that we are -- and always will be -- the Ole Miss Rebels. And I am asking all Rebels to unite around our new Landshark mascot," Dr. Vitter said in the letter. Dr. Vitter said in his letter announcing the move that Ole Miss' athletics department, under the direction of Vice Chancellor for Athletics Ross Bjork, will be charged with designing, developing and launching the new Landshark mascot. |
| Chancellor: Ole Miss will use landshark as on-field mascot | |
| The University of Mississippi will use the Landshark as the school's new on-field mascot, Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter announced in a letter Friday, upending the short reign of the black bear. The move came a week after students backed the switch in a campus vote. Of more than 4,100 students who voted, 81 percent wanted to replace the current black bear with the Landshark. Still, some backers demand the return of Colonel Reb, saying the administration is suppressing the true opinion of the fan base. Two attempts to force a statewide constitutional referendum on enshrining Colonel Reb have failed to gather enough signatures to make the ballot. The Colonel Reb Foundation is selling "Colonel Reb is my mascot" stickers for attendees to wear to Ole Miss' homecoming game against Vanderbilt University on Oct. 14. |
| UPD working to solve campus sexual assaults | |
| In the first month of the fall semester at Ole Miss four sexual assaults were reported. As detectives with the University Police Department investigate the reports, there is a looming question before them: is there an increase in assaults, or are the victims feeling more empowered to report them, rather than suffering in silence. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. More than 90 percent of victims on college campuses do not report the assault. Reported sexual assaults have risen over the last five years at Ole Miss. UPD Assistant Chief Ray Hawkins said no arrests have been made in any of the incidents; however, a person of interest has been identified and interviewed for the assault at Crosby Hall. |
| U. of Alabama kicks off homecoming week with bowling, tournaments, parade | |
 | The theme this year for homecoming at the University of Alabama is "Sweet Home Capstone." Alabama will play the University of Arkansas on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will kick off at 6:15 p.m. The week leading up to the game will include athletic competitions, service activities, food drives, lawn and storefront decorations, talent shows and the annual parade and bonfire. Because of inclement weather, Sunday's 29th Annual Roll Tide Run was canceled. Students will vote on Tuesday to elect a homecoming queen via myBama. The 2017 queen will be crowned during halftime of the football game on Saturday. Saturday, there will be the annual homecoming parade beginning at 1 p.m. along University Boulevard. |
| Auburn president reaches back to Iowa State for his chief of staff | |
 | Following a national search, Auburn President Steven Leath has selected a familiar face from Iowa State University as his chief of staff at Auburn, effective January 2, 2018. A news release from the university announced the hiring of Miles Lackey late Friday afternoon. Lackey comes to Auburn from ISU, where he was named chief of staff in April 2012 when Leath served as university president. Lackey as also served as the university's chief financial officer since July 2016. As AU chief of staff, Lackey will work with Leath to manage day-to-day operations in central administration. He will advise the president on major institutional decisions and will lead or serve on senior level, institution-wide committees, including the president's cabinet. In addition, Lackey will oversee several Auburn administrative units. |
| Rocket motor causes small explosion on Auburn University campus; two suffer minor injuries | |
| Two people received minor injuries after an experimental rocket exploded on the Auburn University campus Friday afternoon. "We had an experiment going on with a solid fuel rocket, and unfortunately, it had a little explosion," said Chance Corbett, director of Campus Safety and Security. One of the injured persons was a professor and the other was a student, Corbett said. He would not discuss specific injuries, but said they were very minor and both victims were able to walk around on their own. The experiment was conducted outside the Charles E. Davis Aerospace Engineering Hall. Debris from the explosion broke a window of one of the buildings. It also grazed the bottom of a car that was parked at the test site, puncturing a rear tire. "Obviously, there's some debris in the area," Corbett said. "We're very fortunate it was a minor explosion." |
| Changing culture key to sex assault prevention, Tennessee universities say | |
 | Dozens of students stood in line at the University of Tennessee campus on a recent morning, waiting for free T-shirts and the chance to sign their names on the bright red carpet on which they stood. "I think it's basically about awareness," said Brian McCarroll, a sophomore, walking away from the event with a new yellow T-shirt. "For students, just hearing something once gets it in their minds ... letting them know that this is something that happens on campus, I think that's important to get that message across." The issue on college campuses is nothing new, but efforts to combat the problem have gained momentum in recent years, thanks in part to federal initiatives to address sexual violence on campus and enforce Title IX policies. Colleges in Tennessee and across the country are seeing increases in reports of sexual misconduct. They say it's a good sign, showing that more students are reporting these crimes when they happen. "We've learned that we have to go to where our students are," said Laura Bryant, director of UT's Center for Health Education and Wellness, or CHEW. |
| Arkansas college enrollment down 1.8% statewide since last fall | |
| The number of students at Arkansas' colleges and universities took another tumble this fall with overall enrollment dropping 1.8 percent since the fall of 2016. Preliminary enrollment figures show that the state's higher-education institutions had a total of 163,529 students this fall, 2,958 fewer as compared with last fall, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. Among the different types of institutions, nursing schools -- those at Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock and Jefferson School of Nursing -- saw the biggest increase from 637 to 734 students, or 15.2 percent, while public community colleges saw the biggest decrease at 3.8 percent, from 48,467 to 46,615 students. For years, Arkansas has used enrollment as its main factor in funding public colleges and universities. But by fiscal 2019, which starts next July, that will change: Higher-education institutions will be gauged on how well their students move through their degree programs and how many of them graduate. |
| UGA researchers, others working to turn a novel oilseed crop into jet fuel | |
 | Researchers have produced biofuels from corn, switchgrass and even algae, but researchers at the University of Georgia will soon study a new source of renewable biofuels: the lesser-known crop of carinata, also known as "Ethiopian mustard." Through a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, an interdisciplinary public and private partnership will develop production, marketing and sustainable supply chain systems to commercialize jet fuel obtained by refining carinata oil. The project will be led by David Wright at the University of Florida. Researchers and UGA Cooperative Extension specialists from UGA's Warnell School, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering will play a key role in the project and will receive $2.1 million in grant funding over the next five years. |
| South Carolina says death on campus a suicide | |
 | Classes on Friday were canceled for some students at the University of South Carolina because of a death, which was determined to be a suicide, according to the university. USC President Harris Pastides sent out a message saying that Gambrell Hall was closed in the morning because of a "tragic death, by what appears to be suicide." "Our hearts are with (the victim's) family and we grieve with them as their extended Carolina Family," Pastides said in the news release. State Law Enforcement Division agents were called to a death investigation, said SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson. Pastides said counselors and resources are available for those impacted by the loss, or who are experiencing distress. |
| University police: Two Texas A&M students caught with 'bait bikes' | |
 | Two Texas A&M students were arrested over the weekend in separate incidents after university police said they were found with GPS-equipped "bait bikes." University police said the first incident unfolded at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when one of the bikes was removed from its location at the Park West Apartment complex on George Bush Drive. Authorities said officers quickly tracked the bike to a nearby area, where a 20-year-old man was riding it. According to police, the man had the smell of alcohol on his breath and told officers he had purchased the bike for $10. After confirming the bike's serial number, officers said they arrested the man within 10 minutes. |
| U. of Missouri's provost a finalist for U. of New Mexico presidency | |
 | Garnett Stokes, provost of the University of Missouri's Columbia campus, is one of five finalists to become president of the University of New Mexico. The school in Albuquerque in a news release Friday said Stokes will be on campus Oct. 23 for an open forum with faculty, staff and students. The other four candidates are University of Idaho President Charles Staben, University of California-San Diego Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and School of Medicine Dean David Brenner, Stony Brook University Vice President of Health Sciences and School of Medicine Dean Kenneth Kaushansky and Micaela Group founder and President Anny Morrobel-Sosa. Stokes became MU provost in February 2015 and was interim chancellor from May until August, when Alexander Cartwright took over the job. |
| U. of Missouri hosts first-ever conference on diversity in engineering Saturday | |
 | Sitting in his engineering classes, Marlon Taylor wouldn't see anyone raising their hand to ask questions. He wondered how they understood everything perfectly. As a black man in the engineering field, he's always been concerned about fitting in, he said. But when Taylor, 22, a senior, took the initiative to ask questions in all of his classes, his classmates followed, and he saw those barriers start to break down. "One of the biggest fears I have is, 'Will I be accepted?'" Taylor said. "I know it's not a field that is predominantly black male." Taylor was one of 150 University of Missouri students who registered to attend the first-ever Diverse Engineering Professionals Conference on Saturday hosted by MU's student-run Engineering Diversity Collaborative. The inaugural conference featured diversity workshops, professional development workshops, student poster sessions, company exhibits and keynote presentations. |
| National debates, protests increase over universities' slavery ties | |
| The national debate over removing Confederate symbols from U.S. college campuses is spurring wider questions about university benefactors whose ties to slavery or white supremacy flew under the radar in decades past. Students and alumni are no longer simply opposing overt Confederate memorials, but also lesser-known founders and donors with troubling racial legacies. And the discussions have intensified after deadly white nationalist protests in August in Charlottesville, Virginia. The problem is apparent at the University of North Carolina, where opposition to a Confederate statue has dredged up racist statements by a former trustee. Tobacco magnate Julian S. Carr, himself a Confederate veteran, gave the dedication speech in 1913 for the campus statue depicting an anonymous rebel soldier. His remarks included a reference to the "pleasing duty" of whipping a black woman in public. |
| Mitch McConnell Seeks Exception to Rules for Home-State College | |
 | Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is asking the Education Department to skirt its rules and make an exception to provide federal dollars to a college in his home state -- even though a high percentage of its graduates defaulted on their students loans for the last three years. McConnell's move is part of a larger debate about the criteria to determine whether a college should receive federal funding or be cut off. Currently, the Education Department uses data on what is known as the cohort default rate -- or how many of a college's graduates default on their loans -- to decide whether the school is a good investment for taxpayer money. McConnell's amendment doesn't name any schools, but would apply to a very specific area that includes Harlan County, Kentucky, home of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. |
| Wisconsin Regents Approve a 3-Strikes Policy to Deal With Students Who Disrupt Speakers | |
 | The University of Wisconsin's Board of Regents on Friday approved a policy that will compel campuses to suspend and, eventually, expel students who repeatedly disrupt controversial speakers and speech, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. According to the board's agenda, any student who has been found responsible twice for disrupting another person's free speech will be suspended for a minimum of one semester. A student who has disrupted someone else's speech three times will be expelled. The policy also states that protests that disrupt the ability of others to listen or engage with free speech are not allowed and "shall be subject to sanction." |
| As speaker interruptions continue, controversial policy is adopted in Wisconsin | |
 | The University of Oregon is the latest higher education institution to have a major speech interrupted by protesters, with students -- including one with a megaphone and others with banners -- shutting down the State of the University speech Friday. More than 1,600 miles away, officials at the University of Wisconsin are preparing to shift the balance of power if their university is faced with similar circumstances. "Nothing about us, without us," video shows the students chanting. Signs read "Take back our campus" and "CEO Schill," a reference to university President Michael Schill. The scene was similar to Virginia Tech's State of the University speech earlier this month, where the president was interrupted by students protesting against the university's employment of a graduate student accused of being a white supremacist. At the end of September, College of William & Mary students shouted down a speaker from the American Civil Liberties Union. |
| An inquiry into immunizations | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Mississippi State, writes: "Federal law ensures that states provide children with FAPE, or a Free and Appropriate Public Education. With anything free, however, there are often strings attached. While public school education is no exception, when it comes to mandatory immunizations, the strings may very well be the ones which save lives. In order to fully appreciate both the complexity as well as the diversity of medications required as well as those additional ones recommended, it was necessary to consult a variety of sources. One of the best discovered was the Centers for Disease Control, most often referred to at the CDC." |
| State contract review process still floundering | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "Just when you thought it might finally be safe to swim in Mississippi's contractual storm waters, the MDE and Mississippi True contracts erupted. As reported by The Clarion-Ledger, 'both State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the state's legislative watchdog PEER committee blasted the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and vowed further investigation into its contracting and purchasing.' ...Rep. Jerry Turner and Governor Phil Bryant tightened up the contract review process, but not soon enough to prevent the Division of Medicaid from slipping a $2 billion contract through via a loophole. This spring, Turner passed additional legislation to strengthen the review process. It repeals the 30-day loophole. But, unusally, the Legislature delayed implementation of Turner's changes until next January. So, despite the prison contract scandal, we still have two government agencies dodging contract review, an indecisive contract review board, an ill-timed change to the law, and ongoing contract eruptions." |
SPORTS
| Construction continues at Dudy Noble Field | |
| David Bryant ducks under an overhang, passes a slab of concrete still drying to his right and walks into a tunnel, immediately taking a left. His shoes crunch on the gravel beneath his feet until he hits the wood planks making up the floor of the tunnel. He winds through, that first left followed by a right, to emerge on a clean patch of concrete, installed just a month ago. He's in the visitor's dugout; as he turns around, what will soon be the new Dudy Noble Field is being constructed. Bryant is a project manager for JESCO, Inc., the company overseeing the two-year so-called renovation of Dudy Noble Field that is more or less a complete demolition and rebuild. On a busy Friday morning, The Dispatch took an exclusive tour of the construction site with Bryant to get an update on both the progress and the process of building the new stadium. They've grown accustomed to passers-by trying to do the same. |
| 'Stick Man' keeping Bulldogs equipped | |
| If you've watched a Mississippi State football game, you've seen his work but chances are you never even noticed. That's exactly the way Preston Rogers prefers it. Rogers, better known by his nickname "Stick," is the Bulldogs' first-year director of football equipment and he and his staff of three graduate assistants and 18 students oversee just about every aspect of the program. "Watching over 125 guys is a lot of work," Rogers said. "All the work that y'all see during those three hours, we prep from Sunday to Thursday to make sure they're able to come out and play those games on Saturday." Rogers has only been on the job since May 16 but the Pascagoula product is far from a newcomer to the program. |
| Meet the Starkville barber that generations of Mississippi State football players trust | |
| Erroll Thompson wanted a haircut. Actually, no, as Thompson would later explain; he needed a haircut. The Mississippi State redshirt freshman linebacker gets his hair cut weekly. But on this particular date a few months ago, more than seven days had passed since his last haircut. "On a scale of 1 to 10 of how desperate I was," Thompson said, "I'd say 25." The barbershop Thompson usually visited in Starkville was packed with customers and he didn't have time to wait. Panicked and stressed, Thompson shared his problem with his teammates, hoping to learn of an alternative to his hairy reality. That's when Mississippi State right guard Deion Calhoun informed Thompson about Larry "Luv" Johnson. "It has been magic ever since," Thompson said. |
| Mississippi State's Willie Gay continues to grow at linebacker | |
| Willie Gay's rude awakening to college football came before he set foot on the Mississippi State practice field. The linebacker was certain of one thing when he received a copy of MSU's playbook prior to his first preseason. "'I'm redshirting.' When I first met (MSU defensive coordinator Todd) Grantham he used to talk to me about it and I thought, 'I'm not going to be able to get this.'" Five weeks later, Gay was on the field when MSU's kickoff team opened the season against Charleston Southern. The former Starkville High School standout's growth has helped him exceed his expectations. His role seems to be growing as MSU exits its bye week and looks forward to its game against BYU at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 (SEC Network), at Davis Wade Stadium. |
| Placekicking provided Tucker Day a path to play right away | |
| As a U.S. Army All-American and the nation's No. 1 punting prospect, Tucker Day had no shortage of schools lining up for his services last year. Day narrowed his choices down to Penn State, Florida and Mississippi State and began favoring the Bulldogs when they offered during his official visit back in January. "When I came here, coach (Dan) Mullen was something else," Day said. "He stares at you with those big green eyes and you know this guy is legit. Obviously, the opportunity here was quite large." However, the most immediate opportunity the Bulldogs had was not the position they had primarily recruited Day for. MSU was set at punter with senior Logan Cooke so Mullen told Day the best shot for him to play right away would be as a placekicker. |
| Ben Howland pleased with Mississippi State's first scrimmage | |
| In the first scrimmage of the 2017-18 campaign, third-year coach Ben Howland wanted to see his team push the basketball up and down the court, guards hit shots and his bigs be active on the post. Check. Check. And check. With SEC referees on hand to officiate and explain all the new rules, sophomore guard Eli Wright led all scorers with 19 points, while Aric Holman and Schnider Herard added 18 and 17, respectively. "We were able to see a lot of things, and for our younger guys, it was an opportunity for them to get a feel for the speed," Howland said. "We'll use the film to show the guys what was good and what we need to work on." |
| STWM athlete profile: Getting to know Meggan Franks | |
| As part of our coverage of the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22, we're profiling the top Canadian athletes set to compete at the Canadian Marathon Championships, including Meggan Franks, who now lives in Starkville, Miss.: " I'm a mom to two wonderful kids; Patrick (3) and Madison (7). I work at Mississippi State University and coach the local high school and middle school cross country teams by day. Most of my running takes place in the 4-6 a.m. hours each day. There's really not much else." |
| Ole Miss football coaching job listing requires 'some evenings and week-ends' | |
 | Ole Miss has officially posted its opening for head football coach on the school website. That's not altogether newsworthy, as doing so is usually legally required for public, state universities looking to fill employment vacancies. But two things make this particular listing unusual: 1. It was officially posted on Saturday, the day the Rebels lost 44-23 at Auburn under interim coach Matt Luke. 2. Under the requirements for "work schedule" are "Monday -- Friday (some evenings and week-ends)." Come again? With the exception of a few down weeks in the summer, most Division I football coaches work EVERY evening and EVERY weekend. It's simply part of the accepted work schedule. |
| 3 things about Ole Miss dumping Rebel the Black Bear for a landshark | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger writes: "Ole Miss is 'retiring' Rebel the Black Bear mascot in favor of a landshark, which will be ready in time for the 2018 season. A letter from Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter said the decision was unanimous and that everyone is excited about the change, things you know are true because the school announced the change via email at lunchtime on a Friday afternoon (and before a road game). Three quick things -- and, no, I can't believe it's 2017 and we're still writing about Ole Miss mascots, either. ...The accepted story is that the landshark happened completely organically by former player Tony Fein and, in the resulting near-decade since, has become this sensation that dominates every Ole Miss sporting event. (Vitter's letter even goes so far as to call it a 'Landshark mystique.') I don't think that's entirely true." |
| Firing Butch Jones, staff could cost Tennessee nearly $14 million | |
| Tennessee coach Butch Jones finds himself on one of the hottest seats in the country. But firing Jones, who is under contract through Feb. 28, 2021, could be costly for Tennessee. Buyout payments for Jones and his coaching staff could total nearly $14 million depending on when the coaches found new jobs. An analysis of Jones' contract indicates he would be owed up to $8.48 million if he were fired Sunday. Jones' staff likely would remain in place for the remainder of the season if he were dismissed midseason. But a new coach probably would want to assemble his own staff during the offseason. If Jones' nine assistants were let go at the end of the calendar year, UT would owe each buyout money ranging from more than $300,000 to more than $1.3 million. |
| LSU band says intention was never to 'disrespect or interrupt' Tom Petty tribute | |
 | LSU's Golden Band from Tiger Land on Sunday issued a statement to explain a tense moment that occurred between the third and fourth quarters of Saturday's game. At the end of the third quarter, the crowd in Gainesville joined in a chorus of the late Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." But some Florida fans were visibly upset when the LSU band started playing at the same time. In a video shared by WBRZ, one Florida fan could be seen yelling at the band to stop as they performed, and another man wearing a Tom Petty shirt was on the edge of where the band was located, sharing his displeasure. The LSU band posted an explanation on its Facebook page Sunday, saying that the band has played at the end of the third quarter for the past several decades. The band said its plan was "to honor their decades-old tradition while Florida honored their singing tradition simultaneously." After LSU finished, the planned tribute to Petty was supposed to begin. |
| U. of Missouri trademarks wrestling slogan: 'Tiger Style' | |
| Wrestling fans around the country have come to recognize the phrase "Tiger Style" as the mantra of the Missouri wrestling program. Now, the U.S. government recognizes it as the program's slogan, too. The University of Missouri now owns the "Tiger Style" trademark, per the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Coach Brian Smith, whose 20th season leading the Tigers begins in November, found out this week after a process that spanned more than a year. "We have protected the words, which was my goal," Smith told the Tribune. "It will live forever as Tiger Style is Mizzou wrestling. Now, the words take on an even bigger meaning, which it has become in our social branding. We don't have to say the word 'wrestling' anymore." The University of Missouri owns the trademark, but it can only be used in association with the wrestling program. |
| Kneeling in protest started on sidewalks, not sidelines | |
| The first kneel-ins weren't held inside football stadiums. They were held outside churches in places like Atlanta, Birmingham and Memphis. The protesters, black and white, thought they were being respectful, even faithful, by kneeling in prayer on sidewalks outside segregated sanctuaries. Most of them were students, well-dressed and polite. They made sure they didn't block anyone's path and never tried to push themselves inside a church. "Our presence is itself an act of worship," a student said after a 1964 kneel-in at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis, "a symbol of the church's tragic rejection of brotherhood and love." The people inside the churches didn't see it that way, explained Dr. Stephen Haynes, a Rhodes College professor and author of "The Last Segregated Hour," a history of the Memphis kneel-ins. |
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