| Wednesday, May 29, 2019 |
| No End Seen to Struggle as Mississippi Flood Enters Month 4 | |
 | Larry Walls should have been out working in his fields last week. Instead, his John Deere tractor is parked on high ground, just beyond the reach of the ever-encroaching floodwaters in the southern Mississippi Delta. Four months into what seems like a never-ending flood, he's trying to stay busy. He pressure-washed his church, and he's been shooting the snakes that slither out of a swollen creek submerging his backyard. "The corn would have been at least waist-high right now," Walls said. Floodwater has swamped 860 square miles (2,200 sq. kilometers) north of the Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, an area larger than the cities of New York and Los Angeles combined. Residents say it's the worst flood since 1973. Gov. Phil Bryant last week went further, likening it to the 1927 flood that lives on in books, songs, movies and the folk memory of the Magnolia State. |
| Mississippi flooding will leave Delta farmers with no crops this year | |
 | At first glance, Peyton Potter's farm near Greenville seems to have been spared destruction by water, for the most part. Rows of young corn plants are lush green and stand hip-high. If it were not for the thick, slippery mud that sucked at his shoes, there were few clues to indicate that some of Potter's fields were covered by the flood the previous week. One field is scarred with a long patch of bare earth and puddled water. The corn along the water's perimeter looks short, skinny and sickly yellow. Potter, a third-generation Delta farmer, has already had to replant portions of his ground multiple times this year due to repeated flooding. He worries that the water has stressed the sensitive corn plants, decreasing their yield when harvesting time comes. He estimates about 400 to 500 acres of his 2,500-acre farm will need to be replanted again once the water drains away completely. Potter said farmers were already struggling with low crop prices due to the country's ongoing trade war with China before the floods hit. |
| Backwater flooding impacting new areas of Delta | |
 | As the flooding in the lower Delta continues this week, there are new concerns about its duration -- and where the water will go next. Forecasts are still predicting the backwater will reach 98.5 feet, and that's allowing the water to now reach areas where it hasn't been before. For weeks now, Cary residents have watched the backwater march across fields, and creep ever so closely to their homes. "The concern is that the water will reach homes on the north east side of town," said Cary Mayor Phyllis Adams. "It's low land, so the water is moving in rapidly. Also we have a water treatment plant on the east side of town. That level is a little bit higher, but were watching that everyday." Adams says flood victims from other parts of the county being sheltered in Cary could again be impacted. There are now plans to shore up homes if the water gets close. Further north in Rolling Fork, floodwaters drove out the residents in homes along Highway 16 days ago. |
| Protecting Louisiana cities is causing big problems in Mississippi waters, Coast mayors say | |
 | This is the first time ever the Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened twice in one year to release water from the flooding Mississippi River to protect New Orleans. The action prompted Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich to call a meeting of Coast mayors on Tuesday at the Biloxi Visitors Center to see what can be done to protect South Mississippi. Gilich said it wasn't his intent to be alarmist, but to gather the facts and determine if the situation is as serious as it seems. "This too shall pass is not a solution," he said. The mayors concluded the 90-minute meeting with a plan to turn up the pressure on Jackson and Washington, D.C., and get action to protect the Coast water, seafood and economy. Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott said he's been shouting for years that something has to be done. "The second largest oyster reef in the world is right there," he said, off the coast of Pass Christian. Oysters clean the water but many of the oysters have been dead for three years, he said, "So we do have a problem," he said. "If you don't have the seafood, what to we have in Mississippi?" |
| WJTV Exclusive: GOP gubernatorial candidates agree to primary debate on WJTV | |
 | WJTV 12 will host the only televised Republican gubernatorial primary debate featuring all three candidates on July 23. Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller, Jr., and Representative Robert Foster have agreed to square off in a televised and live-streamed debate exclusively on WJTV. They're all looking forward to the big event. "I think it's great, it's important that we have debates and that we have an opportunity for the people of Mississippi to have an opportunity to hear from their candidates," Rep. Foster said. "Lieutenant Governor Reeves is excited to participate in the televised Republican primary debate at WJTV's studios," Parker Briden, Communications Director for Tate Reeves for Governor, added. Bill Waller, Jr. also welcomed the opportunity to debate. WJTV Anchor Byron Brown will serve as moderator. |
| New programs to reduce wait times at Mississippi driver license stations | |
| The Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced three new programs it will implement to improve customer service and shorten lines when applying for and renewing driver's licenses. Commissioner Marshall Fisher held a press conference Tuesday morning at Troop K's headquarters in Biloxi. MDPS will receive $3.3 million from the state on July 1 for the new programs. The funding also will help the department increase salaries of driver's license workers in hopes of filling 50 vacancies on the Coast. Last year, the state's Driver Service Bureau locations served 2.2 million people across the state while being understaffed, making wait times even longer. "The DPS Driver Service Bureau probably touches more citizens daily than any state agency," Fisher said. "Improving this experience for Mississippians is a top priority." |
| White campground manager fired after pulling gun on black couple having picnic | |
 | The white manager of a Mississippi campground has been fired after she pulled a gun on a black couple having a picnic, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Franklin and Jessica Richardson said they confronted by a white woman who said she was the property manager shortly after they arrived near the sandy shores of Oktibbeha County Lake, a popular location near Starkville, Miss. "She was just like, 'Get, get, you don't belong here, you don't belong here, you don't belong here,'" Jessica Richardson told WCBI, adding that she pulled out her cell phone to record the interaction. Kampgrounds of America, a chain that oversees hundreds of commercial campgrounds across the country, told The Post that the property manager involved in the incident has been relieved of her duties. Spokesman Mike Gast said that the company "does not condone the use of a firearm in any manner on our properties or those owned and operated by our franchisees." |
| House GOP grapples with abortion messaging after Alabama law | |
 | Republicans wanted to weaponize abortion against vulnerable Democrats in 2020, but a wave of strict bans across the country has upended their strategy, leaving them scattered and mostly mute. Before Alabama passed its law, Republicans had made clear they would make abortion a central issue in the next election. They had homed in on a host of state laws expanding access to abortion. The party hoped a relentless anti-abortion message coupled with attempts to tag Democrats as socialists could help them regain the House majority. This year alone, House Republicans have tried 50 times to force a vote on "born alive" legislation -- which mandates medical care for babies who survive attempted abortions -- in an attempt to corner Democrats in swing districts through procedural floor tactics. (Third-trimester abortions are extremely rare and a 2002 law guarantees babies born at any stage of development full legal rights.) But Republicans have gone mostly quiet since Alabama's governor signed a bill into law that all but bans abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest -- and punishes doctors who provide the procedure with up to 99 years to life behind bars. |
| Even Donald Trump wants Roy Moore to stay out of the Alabama Senate race | |
 | Amid signs Roy Moore is planning another Senate bid, President Donald Trump is urging him to stay out of the 2020 Alabama race after sexual misconduct allegations helped wreck a 2017 run that gave the seat to Democratic incumbent Doug Jones. A day after Moore took to Twitter to signal he's planning a second bid, the president fired off his own pair of tweets declaring that the two-time removed judge "probably won't" be able to defeat Jones and bring the seat formerly held by conservative Jeff Sessions -- Trump's former attorney general -- back into Republican hands. "Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two," wrote Trump, who endorsed Moore's general election bid two years ago. "You are literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA," Trump Jr. tweeted Tuesday, tagging Moore's account. "Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it's time to ride off into the sunset, Judge." |
| Chinese-Made Drones Spark Concerns And Warnings From U.S. Government | |
 | Drones have become an increasingly popular tool for industry and government. Electric utilities use them to inspect transmission lines. Oil companies fly them over pipelines. The Interior Department even deployed them to track lava flows at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. But the Department of Homeland Security is warning that drones manufactured by Chinese companies could pose security risks, including that the data they gather could be stolen. The department sent out an alert on the subject on May 20, and a video on its website notes that drones in general pose multiple threats, including "their potential use for terrorism, mass casualty incidents, interference with air traffic, as well as corporate espionage and invasions of privacy." "We're not being paranoid," the video's narrator adds. Most drones bought in the U.S. are manufactured in China, with most of those drones made by one company, DJI Technology. Lanier Watkins, a cyber-research scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Information Security Institute, said his team discovered vulnerabilities in DJI's drones. |
| UMMC Confers 853 Degrees in Health Sciences Professions | |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center on Friday conferred degrees to 853 students who are beginning their careers in the health sciences or entering into a new chapter of an existing one in this state and beyond. The graduates of the schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences, Nursing, Health Related Professions and Population Health are entering into a new stage of their professional lives. They were recognized during UMMC's 63rd Commencement at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. "There are just four things that I want you to take with you," Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, told graduates. "Number one, this is only the beginning of your learning process. Number two, deal with others and those you serve with a deep respect for their differences. "Number three, our nation will continue to struggle with ways to care for the sick. You can play a role in finding a solution to this struggle. Number four, you will never practice any health profession well if you don't have a good time doing it." |
| Ole Miss alumna styles Miss USA winner | |
| When Amber Murphy graduated from Ole Miss, she never dreamed her passion for fashion would become a career -- or that she'd act as personal stylist for Miss USA 2019 Chelsie Kryst. A graduate of the UM School of Journalism and New Media, Murphy spent her undergraduate years working in a variety of roles in boutiques on the Square, but said she felt the need to take things a step further and enter the world of personal styling. The New Orleans-area native currently works for a private marketing company, but prior to that, she worked her way from sales representative to partner at a clothing store in Metairie, La. Her love for the pageant system first bloomed when she started competing after college and ended up in the running for Miss Louisiana USA a couple years ago. Getting a crash course in the way the pageant works and its expectations was an advantage when it came to styling some of this year's contestants, she said. While she served as stylist for Miss Washington, Miss South Carolina and Miss Alabama as well, Murphy said she and Kryst, then-Miss North Carolina, formed a special bond. |
| New Arts & Sciences dean comes to U. of Alabama from Michigan State | |
 | A Michigan State University administrator has been named the next dean of the University of Alabama's College of Arts and Sciences. UA announced the appointment of Joseph P. Messina on May 22. "Dr. Messina has been an impeccable leader throughout his career and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the university's largest college," said UA Provost Kevin Whitaker in a statement released by UA. "I'm confident his vision and dedication will propel the college to new heights." Messina, who was assistant vice president of research and innovation and senior associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Social Science at Michigan State, is scheduled to start in August. He succeeds Dean Robert Olin, who is retiring. An environmental geographer, Messina's recent research centered on small-holder agriculture, zoonotic infectious disease and climate change in the less-developed world. His research has been funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. |
| White nationalist event at U. of Tennessee brings heavy police presence, protesters | |
 | Protesters outnumbered attendees more than 10 to one when white nationalist Rick Tyler came to speak at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville on Tuesday evening. Tyler -- who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2016 under the slogan "Make America White Again" and who came under fire for billboards showing the White House surrounded by Confederate flags -- was scheduled to speak at the Alumni Memorial Building at 6 p.m. More than 100 protesters gathered outside the event, carrying signs with slogans ranging from "Vol Means All" to "Nazis Suck." By the time Tyler began speaking around 7 p.m., nine people were sitting inside the auditorium. One man was promptly kicked out for heckling Tyler, and two more people were removed after they began chanting "No racists at UT." Ahead of Tyler's talk, police helicopters flew overhead as protesters gathered in the heat outside the student union to craft signs and protest his appearance. Dozens of Knox County Sheriff's Office deputies, Knoxville Police Department officers, UT police officers and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers lined the fenced-off area around the Alumni Memorial Building, waiting to screen anyone who wanted to go inside. |
| UGA releases archaeological report on Baldwin burials | |
 | The University of Georgia has released the final draft report on the human remains found during a recent construction project at UGA's Baldwin Hall. After builders unearthed the first grave in late 2015, UGA officials at first thought they had encountered a small number of graves and that the people in them were of European ancestry. But after archaeologists with Athens' Southeastern Archaeological Services were brought in to excavate the burials, they discovered 105 graves, many still containing remains. Of those that had enough human material left for DNA analysis, the great majority were found to be of African descent, not European. The researchers were not able to confirm anecdotal reports that human remains were transferred to a pauper's cemetery when Baldwin Hall was built in 1938, nor that remains were removed during a 1942 addition. But it's clear the area where Baldwin was built was part of the main burial ground for African Americans through the early part of Athens' history, and that graves had been disturbed before 2015. |
| Cadets in camaraderie: Thriving on the bond of ROTC, rigors of the program | |
 | Lt. Col. Gary Kerr paced the room of men and women in camouflage. He was energetic yet controlled. They were exhausted yet attentive. The group was an assembly of Army ROTC cadets from the University of Missouri, Truman State University and Lincoln University. "Your job as a leader is to care about others," Lt. Col. Kerr emphasized before deferring to the cadets leading the review session at the front of the room. The cadets had just completed their 2019 Joint Field Training Exercise, or the JFTX. The exercise was a three-day series of tactical drills and missions designed for the MSIIIs. These are cadets, usually in their third year of the program, who are preparing for the 37-day Advanced Camp in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and their eventual commission as officers. Maisy Borden, an MU junior studying athletic training, served as the platoon sergeant for her platoon during the final mission. Borden said she felt prepared for the JFTX from the weekly labs the cadets have, where they run through drills and practice leadership positions within the platoon. |
| Texas A&M professor's research awarded highest honor in astronautics field | |
 | John Junkins was barely out of high school when he heard President John F. Kennedy, in May 1961, call for a commitment to put an American man on the moon before the end of the decade -- and, a year later, deliver his "We choose to go to the moon" speech at Rice Stadium in Houston. Kennedy's words -- and the advice of his high school football coach to put his mind to use -- propelled Junkins from promising high school athlete to an illustrious academic career in astronautics. His work has supported numerous spaceflight missions including the final three Apollo missions (Apollo 15, 16 and 17). He wrote a pioneering paper in 1977 that provided an algorithm allowing on-board, real-time star pattern identification that could be used for space flight navigation. His ideas and algorithms have been implemented on more than a dozen missions over the past four decades. |
| Fears about athletics, sexual violence, transparency abound as Michigan State names new president | |
 | As it recovers from one of the most bruising sexual assault scandals in the history of academe, Michigan State University has picked Samuel Stanley Jr., a medical doctor and leader of the research-intensive Stony Brook University, as its new president. Stanley has served at Stony Brook, one of the most prestigious institutions in the State University of New York system, since 2009. He is being brought on as Michigan State navigates the fallout from the case of Larry Nassar, a former university physician who sexually abused hundreds of female athletes. Nassar was found guilty and jailed for molesting not only college women but also gymnasts on the U.S. Olympic teams. Michigan State's leaders portrayed Stanley's selection as a fresh start as they announced his appointment, which begins on Aug. 1 and was approved unanimously. But skepticism abounded in some quarters. Stanley, who will be paid $800,000 a year, was picked in a confidential search, in which the trustees refused to describe their process or allow the public to meet with finalists. |
| Speakers discuss strategies for evaluating incomplete or unverifiable ed credentials from refugees | |
| With the number of refugees at a record high, what should colleges and universities do to give opportunity to forcibly displaced people whose prior educational qualifications are undocumented or unverifiable? Speakers at the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference presented Tuesday about programs in place to recognize credentials from refugees in Europe and Canada as well as more nascent efforts to encourage more flexible admission policies for refugees and other people in refugee-like situations in the U.S. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees estimates that there are 68.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, representing the highest level of displacement on record. "Recognition is the key to empowerment, is the key to inclusion and the key to preventing exclusion from the society," said Marina Malgina, the head of the section for interview-based procedures at the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education. |
| New Washington state law really is thinking 'outside the box' or perhaps even the urn | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Our pop culture in this country has made mincemeat out of the phrase "thinking outside the box" and rendered the phrase trite and meaningless. That is, until lawmakers in the State of Washington recently enacted legislation that reflected thinking that is literally "outside the box" or at the very least the coffin or the urn. In America, the usual choices for those contemplating the appropriate disposition of human remains has been either interment (burial in the ground) or immurement (entombment above ground in a crypt or mausoleum) or cremation followed by collection and storage of ashes in a receptacle or urn. Some scatter the ashes in various venues depending on local laws. ... Current Mississippi law allows for interment, immurement and cremation, and no Mississippi lawmaker has introduced a bill seeking to legalize recomposition. |
SPORTS
| Three things Mississippi State must do in the NCAA Baseball Tournament | |
| The SEC Tournament in Hoover feels like ages ago. By the time Mississippi State takes the field at Dudy Noble this week, it will be a full week since the Bulldogs lost 12-2 to LSU in their last game at the tournament. It only took them a day or two to flush that loss. Sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen went fishing. He caught and cooked up some bass. Senior center fielder Jake Mangum tried not to think about baseball during his days off, but he ended up hitting the batting cage on Sunday. MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said he doesn't think his players are thinking about what happened in Hoover at all. They've moved on. "Their morale and focus is protecting our home turf," Lemonis said. "They're fired up and ready to go. In our world, it's such a short memory with things like the tournament and everything else." This is what Mississippi State must do in order to protect their home turf. |
| Baseball in the blood for MSU's Gunner Halter | |
| Not playing baseball was never an option for Gunner Halter. As the son of major leaguer Shane Halter, Gunner Halter has been around the game his whole life, and there was never any doubt he would be following in his father's footsteps. "He was really tough on me when I was younger," Gunner Halter said. "Right when he got done playing, he was kind of a hot head and would take it out on me when I didn't play good. But now that he's gotten older and calmed down, he doesn't really say much and lets me play." Shane Halter spent seven seasons in the big leagues playing for the Royals, Tigers and Angels. His career concluded in 2004 when Gunner was 6-years old and those times are some of the younger Halter's earliest memories. "I got to experience a little bit of it but I was really young when he was still playing," Halter said. "There's pictures of it and I can remember being in the locker room. It's cool but there is a lot of weight on my shoulders because he expects me to be as good as he was. Obviously, it could happen but it's tough." |
| A look at Mississippi State's NCAA Tournament Regional opponent: Southern University | |
| Mississippi State begins its quest to return to Omaha this week at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs (46-13) earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they are the hosts of this week's Starkville Regional. Play begins Friday at noon when State takes on Southern University (32-22). Here are five things to know about the Southern Jaguars, a team that ranks No. 206 in RPI Rankings. |
| Southern Jaguars heading to Mississippi State for NCAA baseball regional | |
 | There was a quiet, collective gasp at the Southern University watch party when the LSU regional popped up early in the NCAA Division I baseball playoffs selection show Monday. "McNeese State" muttered a voice from among the players, just before Stony Brook appeared as LSU's No. 4-seed foe, leading to the second-biggest cheer amongst the Blue and Gold faithful at The Grind, which hosted the gathering. It's not that Southern doesn't want to travel across town to play in one of the nation's toughest environments. Jaguar players, coaches and officials wanted the "full experience" for the playoffs against a team it hasn't played -- and beaten -- in this turnaround season. As it is, Southern traded one hostile atmosphere for another, landing in the Mississippi State regional and the newly upgraded Dudy Noble Field. The Jaguars will play the No. 6 nationally seeded Bulldogs (46-13) at noon Friday. Last year, Southern lost 5-0 there in a game that was 0-0 in the seventh inning. Mississippi State is known as one of the most vocal college baseball fan bases in the nation. |
| Inside Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry's decision to pull out of NBA Draft | |
| Minutes after he Tweeted that he was staying in Starkville for his sophomore season, Reggie Perry went to the gym. Perry, an All-SEC Freshman Team player last year, entered his name into the NBA Draft a month and a half ago. Tuesday night, he informed his Twitter followers that he has removed his name from the draft and that he will suit up in maroon and white for at least another season. Perry said one of the main causes for concern from NBA scouts and coaches during the pre-draft process was his consistency -- or, sometimes, his lack thereof -- as a jump-shooter. So there Perry was, well after 9 p.m. on a summer night, getting shots up on the court in his home state of Georgia. After shooting, Perry called The Clarion Ledger to discuss his decision to stay at State. He sounded optimistic that returning to head coach Ben Howland's Bulldog program was the right thing to do. |
| Reggie Perry returning to Mississippi State next season | |
| Ben Howland celebrated his 62nd birthday on Tuesday and the Mississippi State coach had to be delighted with the gift he received. Forward Reggie Perry announced that he would be returning to the Bulldogs for his sophomore season after going through the NBA Draft process and participating in the combine in Chicago earlier this month. Perry had until Wednesday's deadline to remove his name from consideration. The 6-foot-10, 245-pounder from Thomasville, Georgia started 18 of 34 games averaging 9.7 points and 7.2 rebounds as a freshman last season. He is a former five-star prospect and McDonald's All-American. |
| SEC hired Deloitte to review its football officiating | |
| The Southeastern Conference hired international accounting firm Deloitte to conduct a review of its football officiating, reacting in part to what Commissioner Greg Sankey called the intense, often opinionated view of referees by the public and media. Sankey said conversations began in September about ways to examine officiating and find ways to better communicate with the public about the overall quality of the work done by referees at a time when scrutiny and criticism has never been more pervasive. He said the SEC was not responding to a particular problem and does not consider the review an audit. He did not disclose how much it cost. "I believed then and I still believe we have as good a college football officiating program as there is yet we can still keep improving," Sankey told The Associated Press. The results of the review will not be released publicly but were being shared with coaches, administrators and university presidents at this week's SEC spring meetings in Destin. |
| Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork, family beginning transition to Aggieland | |
| Newly hired Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork is woefully unqualified for the job in one area -- wardrobe. Bjork wouldn't dare wear anything maroon for the last seven years working for Ole Miss because maroon is the color of rival Mississippi State. Bjork, hired by A&M late Thursday night, did a series of phone interviews Monday wearing a black T-shirt from 13-year-old son Payton's team, the Easley Baseball Club's 13 & Under squad, which played in a tournament in Atlanta over the weekend. "I think this week, I'll probably be in transition -- a lot of neutral colors," said Bjork, who is at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings in Destin, Florida, this week. "I can't really wear Ole Miss' stuff, you know, they're probably not happy with that. I don't really have a lot of A&M gear. I have a few things that I think are being delivered. If I'm on [Paul] Finebaum and you see me just wearing like a white shirt or teal or turquoise shirt, then you'll know why." Bjork said he'll have no problem switching to a maroon wardrobe, and "the family can't wait to be part of Aggieland." |
| Vanilla and sweat: How Victoria's Secret perfume became the scent of LSU baseball | |
| Saul Garza pushed his catcher's mask onto his head this past Friday and turned to home plate umpire Darrell Arnold, who wore a microphone for the SEC Network. Stuck in muggy heat at the Southeastern Conference tournament, they chatted before LSU resumed its game against Mississippi State. "I smell good for you now," Garza said. "I sprayed some of that Victoria's Secret Amber Romance. I know my gear smelled bad. I'm trying to smell good for you, man." "Dude," Arnold said. "I got to get my girlfriend some of that. You smell amazing, man." "You like that?" Garza asked. "I figured it's been a long day for you." The conversation revealed LSU's method for repelling insects and, at least for Garza, reviving rancid equipment. Since the beginning of May, the Tigers have sprayed themselves with the mist, creating a fragrant blend of deep amber, sugar kisses, chasing sunsets and sweat. A few months ago, one of the men who worked on LSU's field told assistant equipment manager Matthew Montgomery to try Amber Romance. The man had used it on fishing trips. Montgomery bought 12 bottles from Amazon -- six for baseball and six for softball. |
| Vanderbilt announces renovations to football stadium, basketball arena, baseball field | |
 | Vanderbilt athletics director Malcolm Turner announced a series of facility renovations for the football stadium, basketball arena, baseball field and more on Tuesday. At Vanderbilt Stadium, the videoboard in the south end zone will be removed, and the videoboard in the north end zone will be replaced with "a cutting-edge board with a sharper and brighter image," Turner said in the university release announcing the changes. Renovations to the restrooms also will begin soon at the football stadium as part of a series of enhancements to address fans' complaints about the poor game-day experience. Cramped restrooms were among the criticisms in an online fan survey conducted by The Tennessean about Vanderbilt Stadium. Vanderbilt baseball begins the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Hawkins Field. This offseason, Hawkins Field will get a new artificial turf playing surface and upgrades to the scoreboard. |
| Razorback Foundation sees drop in donations | |
| Contributions to the nonprofit organization supporting athletics at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville totaled $28.1 million in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2018, a decrease in giving of about $8.4 million compared with the previous fiscal year. The decrease marked the second consecutive year of declining donations to the Razorback Foundation, based on the organization's annual 990 IRS return dated May 14. The foundation provides financial support for UA student-athlete scholarships, building and renovation projects and other athletics-related programming. Questions about declining contributions to foundation Executive Director Scott Varady were answered in a statement released by Kassidie Blackstock, director of strategic communications and stewardship for the foundation. The statement cited the foundation's recent support for the approximately $160 million expansion and renovation of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, which was completed in the fall. |
| Will Wade speaks publicly for 1st time since LSU suspension; 'difficult couple of months' | |
| Contrite yet still confident, LSU men's basketball coach Will Wade spoke Tuesday to reporters on day one of the Southeastern Conference Spring Meeting. It was his first time answering media questions since March 7, the day before he was suspended by LSU for declining to meet with school officials to discuss reported allegations of illegal recruiting offers aimed at Tigers guard Javonte Smart. Wade admitted that there were "some mistakes that I made" in refusing to talk to LSU officials in March about reports of a wiretapped conversation between him and convicted college basketball middleman Christian Dawkins. "As I look back, that Friday where we were going to meet with the administration, I think I made a poor decision on how I handled that," said Wade, wearing a purple LSU windbreaker as he addressed a room full of reporters. "If I could go back and do it again, I would have taken the meeting." |
| Teen Sports May Protect Victims Of Childhood Trauma From Depression, Anxiety | |
| As a kid, Molly Easterlin loved playing sports. She started soccer at age four, and then in high school, she played tennis and ran track. Sports, Easterlin believes, underlie most of her greatest successes. They taught her discipline and teamwork, helped her make friends and enabled her to navigate the many challenges of growing up. When Easterlin became a pediatrician, she started seeing a lot of kids suffering from trauma, from physical abuse to emotional neglect. Many of these kids didn't respond fully to traditional treatment for trauma and depression. Frustrated and searching for answers, Easterlin turned to her own past. "I suspected that sports might have a powerful impact [on kids]," she says. Easterlin wanted to know: Could sports improve the lives of people with trauma the way they'd improved hers? Her research, published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics, finds that, in short, yes: Participation in team sports as a young person can significantly reduce the long-term likelihood of depression and anxiety for people with childhood trauma. But according to Easterlin and other experts, the growing cost of youth team sports means that they can be off-limits to those who may need them most, kids living in poverty. |
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.
