| Tuesday, August 13, 2019 |
| Famous Maroon Band begins practice at Mississippi State | |
 | Football players aren't the only ones preparing for the fall season. The Famous Maroon Band is hard at work this week getting ready for this year's half time show. This year the band made a historic mark as the largest Maroon Band with 420 members. The sounds, as always will be sure to get everyone in Bulldog spirit. They're trying to beat the heat by practicing in the early morning and late evenings outside. During the hottest part of the day, the band is working on the music numbers. Director of Bands Elva Lance wants to make sure the members stay safe in this Mississippi heat. "We are very careful with our students' health. We want to provide them with a good experience and we certainly want to keep them healthy and it's band camp in the Deep South, so it's hot," said Lance. |
| Mississippi State Names New Director of African American Studies Program | |
 | Mississippi State University recently named Donald M. Shaffer, associate professor of English and African American Studies, as the new director of its African American Studies Program. Shaffer officially assumed his position on Thursday, Aug. 1, after serving as interim director since 2018. Shaffer has been a member of the MSU faculty since 2008. He is the chairman of the African American Studies curriculum committee, a board member of the Mississippi Humanities Council and serves as a mentor for students in MSU's Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. He researches the social and historical aspects of race in African American and Southern literature, and authors whose work explores racial and identity politics in American culture, a release from MSU says. A Jackson native, Shaffer received his bachelor's degree in English from Jackson State University in 1995, his master's degree in the subject from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1997 and his doctorate in the subject from the University of Chicago in 2005. |
| Dreadful Heat, Humidity to Invade South as Misery Continues | |
 | Forecasters say most of the South -- from Texas to parts of South Carolina -- will be under heat advisories and warnings as temperatures will feel as high as 117 degrees (47 Celsius). The most intense heat Tuesday is expected in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama; and in areas near Memphis, Tennessee. The warnings come one day after the temperature and humidity combined for a Monday heat index of 121 degrees (49.4 Celsius) in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It was only a few degrees cooler in West Memphis, Arkansas. A break from the heat is expected by Wednesday as a front pushes through. |
| Mississippi attorney general GOP runoff: Baker backs Taggart | |
| The third-place finisher in the Republican primary for Mississippi attorney general is endorsing a candidate still in the race. State Rep. Mark Baker said in a statement Monday he's supporting Andy Taggart, who faces Lynn Fitch in the Aug. 27 runoff. Fitch is an attorney who is in her second term as state treasurer. Taggart is an attorney in private practice. He was Republican Gov. Kirk Fordice's chief of staff in the 1990s and a Madison County supervisor from 2004 to 2008. Fitch received 44% of the vote Aug. 6, while Taggart received 29% and Baker got 27%. |
| Congressional Hispanic Caucus calls for answers on Mississippi ICE raids | |
 | Top members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are demanding answers about the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids of seven Mississippi food-processing plants that led to 680 arrests. In a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan and ICE acting Director Mark Morgan on Monday, the lawmakers said the timing of the raids left communities in chaos and argued the agencies left children at risk by failing to provide sufficient warning to school districts. "This raid, which is the largest ICE raid in our nation's history, is a continuation of the Trump Administration's politically driven immigration agenda and efforts to target Latino families. It is also not lost on us that this operation occurred just days after one of the most horrific mass shooting targeting Latinos in America," they wrote. |
| Immigration raids: Who showed up at Koch Foods job fair days later | |
 | On Monday morning, the parking lot at the WIN Job Center here was full. About 25 to 30 people showed up to apply for jobs at Koch Foods' nearby poultry processing plant. Of those, about an equal number were black, white or Latino. "This is what you'd normally see here," said Dianne Bell, communications director for the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, of the job fair held between 9 and 11 a.m. The company, one of four whose plants in small Mississippi towns were targeted by federal immigration officials on Wednesday, contacted the state employment agency the same day to request its help in hiring workers. "They reached out to us the very same day," Bell said about the need for a job fair. Bell said it's not unusual for Koch Foods to contact the department when it needs workers. MDES kept the media out of the jobs center, citing concern for job applicant anonymity. |
| Homeland Security chairman reacts to raids in his home district, says focus needs to be on employers | |
 | U.S. Representative and Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson says he plans to bring ranking members of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (I.C.E.) before his House committee to answer questions about raids at processing plants in central Mississippi, some of which were in the 2nd Congressional District represented by Thompson for more than twenty years. In an exclusive interview with News 12, Thompson specifically denounced the rhetoric surrounding the conversation about undocumented immigrants and said, "This administration prides itself on marginalizing people that don't look like the President." Thompson continued, "So much of what he (Trump) pushes out on Twitter everyday and the fact, that so much of what he pushes out on Twitter is wrong. It's not the kind of information that a parent would want their children to be a party to. As long as he continues that, I think immigrants in this country will be under attack." |
| Kroger makes $11K donation to the Ole Miss food bank and pantry | |
| The much-anticipated renovation to Oxford's Kroger on University Avenue began on Monday, and in conjunction with the project getting underway, the store provided some relief to college students struggling to afford food. Kroger donated a total of $11,000 to Ole Miss' food bank and pantry on Thursday. The Ole Miss pantry received $10,000, and $1,000 went to the school's food bank. The University is still working on getting all its data collected for the fall semester, but representatives from the food bank estimate around 100 to 150 students will utilize their resources. The food bank is located at Kinard Hall in room 213. The food bank was recently given approval to put signage on Oxford University Transit buses, whose routes go through campus. They will also begin weighing food that goes out, to help calculate the number of meals provided to students. |
| CREATE gives boost to TPSD, Itawamba Community College partnership program | |
 | A new program between the Tupelo Public School District and Itawamba Community College is getting support from one of the oldest community foundations in the state. CREATE announced Monday a designation of a $2,500 grant from the Tupelo/Lee County community foundation will go toward the Tupelo High School middle college program, which launched this week on the Tupelo ICC campus. "One of our goals is to find things that we can help as they move along in areas of innovation and change," said CREATE Lee County affiliate president Dick White. "This is certainly something that's innovative and gives young adults an opportunity to become educated in more than one way." The first of its kind in North Mississippi, this program allows qualified Tupelo High School students to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree from ICC, simultaneously. |
| Tuscaloosa man accused of breaking into U. of Alabama students' bedrooms as they slept | |
 | Police have arrested a man they believe broke into the bedrooms at least three University of Alabama students as they slept. Jim McCoy, 35, has been charged with second-degree burglary and third-degree criminal trespassing in an ongoing investigating that could produce more charges, Tuscaloosa Police Lt. Teena Richardson said. A woman told police earlier this month that she was awakened at 4 a.m. by a man standing at the foot of her bed at a residence in the 1000 block of Sixth Avenue. The woman screamed before he left, said Tuscaloosa Police Capt. Brad Mason, and later discovered he had stolen some property. Several days later, another woman reported waking up to find a man standing at the foot of her bed at an apartment in the 1400 block of Ninth Street. "At this point we're not 100 percent sure what he was doing," Mason said. "We feel confident he was there to commit a theft -- at a minimum. There weren't any reports of being touched, but waking up with someone standing at the foot of your bed is a pretty big problem." |
| It's sorority bid season in Alabama: Is it worth it? | |
 | Sororities around the state are beginning their recruitment as students near the start of school. Troy University Panhellenic kicked off the tradition for the state and the nation, as one of the earliest bid days to date, with 243 women walking home drenched in color with their coveted bids. Last year, Auburn University pledged over 1,400 women and the University of Alabama saw almost 2,000 women rush for bids. The tale of recruitment has been told many ways through YouTube videos, blog posts and student news coverage. The week-long affair connects prospective sorority women with current chapter members in the hopes of finding a home for those searching. It's not all "rainbows and sunshine," one sorority member said. There are a million and one "takes" on whether sorority recruitment, rush and dues are worth it. Is it for everyone? "Bluntly, no," said Jaylin Goodwin, coordinator for chapter and membership services for Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society at the University of Alabama. But, it is worth it to try and see if it's the right fit, she said. |
| Tennessee sees high school college-going rate dip, but leaders say it isn't cause for concern | |
 | Tennessee's high school college-going rate dipped in 2018, the most significant decline since the state started its heralded college access scholarship program. The drop, however, isn't likely a cause for concern as thousands of students statewide head back to college this fall. Instead, those who work to improve college access say the drop is a fluctuation marking a "new normal" after Tennessee Promise helped boost enrollment among recent Tennessee high school graduates. "When Promise was implemented, it was a shock to the system," said Emily House, Tennessee Higher Education Commission chief policy officer. Tennessee Promise offers recent graduates community or technical college free of tuition and fees. The shock came in the form of almost 5,000 additional high school graduates enrolling in the state's colleges in 2015 -- bringing the total to 16,100 recent graduates statewide. In the program's fourth year, the number of students enrolling in college straight out of high school dropped to 14,430 in 2018, according to THEC numbers. House expects a fluctuation in how many students enroll -- in 2017 and 2016, enrollment, respectively, was 15,182 and 15,538. But she doesn't expect student enrollment to drop down to fall 2014 figures. "I think it is natural variation," House said. "We are at a new normal." |
| City officials: U. of South Carolina needs to do more to curb Five Points violence | |
 | City of Columbia officials on Monday called on the University of South Carolina to do more to curb violence in Five Points. City council member Daniel Rickenmann said the university's police force should help city police and county sheriff's deputies patrol the urban village near the USC campus. "The university has been hypocritical on this," he said at a press conference called by Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook to address gun violence citywide. "If they can write a speeding ticket by the Gervais Street bridge why can't they patrol Five Points?" The call comes after a high school girl was shot outside the Five Points Chick-fil-A early Sunday morning. The 17-year-old was hospitalized after she was hit by gunfire in the leg at about 1:30 a.m. She was later released from care. The early Sunday shooting was eerily similar to the 2013 shooting of USC student Martha Childress that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Childress, then a freshman, was waiting for a taxi with friends near the Five Points fountain -- about a block away from the Chick-fil-A -- when an errant bullet fired in a nearby fight hit her in the back. |
| U. of Missouri fundraising chief Tom Hiles to retire | |
 | Tom Hiles, the University of Missouri administrator who has coordinated the $1.3 billion fundraising effort called Mizzou: Our Time to Lead, will retire June 30 when the campaign concludes, the university stated in a news release. Hiles was hired as vice chancellor for development and alumni relations in 2012, a title that has since been restyled as the vice chancellor for advancement. In that role he coordinated the development of the fundraising campaign, and by the end of June, it was within $50 million of meeting the goal set at the launch in 2015. The campaign set a new single-year record in the 2018-19 academic year by bringing $200 million in new pledges and cash contributions to the university. Hiles is the last administrator hired by then-Chancellor Brady Deaton who remains in place. During his tenure, the campus has been led by six permanent or interim chancellors. |
| U. of Missouri recognized for cyber defense research | |
 | The University of Missouri has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security sponsor the program and gave the distinction, which will last until 2024. Rohit Chadha, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science in MU's College of Engineering, is recognized as one of the leaders of cybersecurity at MU. He said this distinction is strong evidence of the school's research capacity in cybersecurity. "This distinction is a recognition of sustained excellence in cutting-edge research, education and outreach demonstrated by our faculty and students in the vital field of cybersecurity," Chadha said in a news release. |
| Texas A&M research team: Sensor software boosts effects of standing desks | |
 | Use of technology has led to increasingly sedentary work lives for many Americans and others around the world. A group of researchers at Texas A&M University have conducted research that indicates that technology itself can play a role in forming an active response to inertia. In a study, researchers installed software to remind a test group to switch their sit-stand desks from sitting to standing, or vice versa, and found that reminding the participants to stand for 10 minutes for every 30 minutes of sitting proved more effective than merely having a sit-stand desk. "What we understand now is that the human body heals itself through movement and activity," said Mark Benden, director of the Ergonomics Center at the Texas A&M department of public health. "We want people to ambulate, to get up and move around, to take more steps throughout the day. When they do sit, we want them to sit less often and for less duration at a time." |
| New public charge rule has implications for higher education and students | |
 | The Trump administration published a final rule Monday making it harder for immigrants who have received certain public benefits such as food stamps, most forms of Medicaid and housing assistance to obtain permanent resident status. The rules outline criteria the Department of Homeland Security will use in denying applications for admission to the United States or adjustments of immigration status to for individuals who are already living here and are deemed "likely to become a public charge" in the future. The effects of the rule -- which is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 15 -- will stretch far beyond higher education, but advocates for immigrant students say they will be among those affected. "By the targeting of the public benefits, especially SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and housing assistance, it's going directly at benefits that help support student success," said Miriam Feldblum, the executive director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. |
| Schools Fight Websites That Sell Homework Help | |
 | As the school year starts off, colleges and high schools are increasing steps to spot and fight a persistent form of cheating in which students find someone online to do their homework. Hundreds of websites offer the service, with costs ranging from $15 for quick math assignments to a few hundred dollars to complete entire online courses. The websites often advertise their services as tutoring. The practice, sometimes called contract cheating by educators, was initially targeted at students in college but has since spread to include high-school students, according to a review of websites offering the service. "We as a society have let this get out of control," said Tricia Bertram Gallant, director of the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California-San Diego, which handles reports of cheating and trains faculty in reducing it. "We've reached a new level when people are willing to admit they do this for a living." |
| What the U. of Minnesota's first female president wants women to know about success | |
| Weeks into her tenure, University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel urged a nearly all-female audience Monday to decide for themselves what it means to succeed. "It is very, very tempting when you are not in the majority ... to then overachieve in order to represent the ability to do so," she said at a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Women in Business lunch on the U's Minneapolis campus. Women shouldn't feel burdened to reach a certain point in their careers, she said, and they should support and reward each other wherever they are. "We should all be sailing over the bar, but there's more than one bar. And that's a good thing and one to be rewarded and congratulated," she said. At the same time, Gabel said women should feel they can achieve something even if no woman has done it before. Gabel has done just that, breaking a string of 16 male presidents at the U. She said she's "very honored" to have done so but she's been the "first" before -- first female provost at the University of South Carolina and first female business dean at the University of Missouri. |
SPORTS
| 'Trust factor': How Mississippi State's WRs have bought into 'process' | |
 | Michael Johnson keeps a running tally during every Mississippi State football practice. The wide receivers coach counts every "game-winning play" from his wideouts and jots down the tally marks in his notepad. A game-winning play, as defined by Johnson, could be a block, a great catch or an explosive play. The act of recording such plays probably isn't unique to Johnson and Mississippi State. Receivers coaches across the country should want to know how often their players are changing the course of a game. What Johnson does with the tallies, though, could be one of a kind. The man who often wears a smile as wide as his best wide receivers' catching radii has set out to give each player candy of their choosing for every tally that's next to their name at the end of training camp. The sweets up for grabs are Snickers bars, M&Ms and Reese's Pieces. "Coach Johnson, he's a character," junior JaVonta Payton said with a smirk. A reward in the form of chocolate is one way to motivate a group of college kids, but according to Mississippi State's crop of receivers, Johnson -- who has 16 years of experience coaching in college and the NFL -- has plenty more tactics designed to impel his players. |
| Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer leads Team USA to silver medal at Pan-Am Games | |
| Acting as an assistant, Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer helped Team USA bring home the silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru. The U.S. finished 4-1 in the event, defeating Argentina, Colombia and U.S. Virgin Islands to win Group B. In the semifinals, the Red, White and Blue came out on top in a hard-fought matchup against Puerto Rico, 62-59, that saw 17 lead changes. In the gold medal game, the USA squared off with Brazil but fell short, 79-73, after a late run by Brazil put the game out of reach. "I'm really proud of our team," said Schaefer. "Our kids competed against some veteran players night in and night out who were pros. The age and experience differential were quite different some nights. I thought coach Suzy Merchant did a great job preparing our team for this event all throughout training camp. It's always been a dream of mine to represent the USA in global competition as a coach, and I appreciate the opportunity Carol Callan and USA Basketball gave me. We were certainly disappointed in not winning gold. That's the standard for our country, but our student-athletes left it all on the floor and competed to the very end against a very seasoned, veteran Brazil team. It was a great experience, and I am proud of our team." |
| Auburn has a voice again: With humility, Andy Burcham takes over as lead AU broadcaster | |
 | Andy Burcham paused. He took a deep breath. His next words would weigh -- spoken from the mouth of the new voice of the Auburn Tigers. "I'm ready for this job," he said. It sounded like a promise. It came from his heart. Burcham was named Auburn University athletics' new lead broadcaster on Monday, just before his familiar voice was re-introduced to the airwaves at a press conference in the athletics complex. Burcham has been a part of Auburn radio broadcasts for the past 31 years, and will now serve as the lead play-by-play announcer for Auburn football, men's basketball and baseball. He replaces his dear friend, Rod Bramblett, who passed away with his wife Paula, on May 25 in a fatal car wreck that shook Auburn. "Auburn means a great deal to me," Burcham said behind the podium. "And I understand that this job is not just the voice of Auburn football, men's basketball and baseball: It's a voice for Auburn." |
| More details emerge on departed UGA football recruiting staffers | |
 | Some of the circumstances behind the departure of two Georgia football recruiting staffers were further revealed on Monday when the school released their personnel files. Georgia informed football recruiting coordinator Dacia King she committed a breach of contract after it informed her she failed to follow NCAA penalties imposed after the school notified her she committed a recruiting violation. Director of on campus recruiting Lukman Abdulai was suspended with pay April 11 and will receive $57,397 in severance pay after he resigned on June 7. The reasons behind his suspension were not specified. King was fired on April 23, but after an appeal the school accepted her resignation on May 6 from a quality control coordinator of recruiting position. Abdulai will receive his severance pay in eight monthly installments. Abdulai said in his resignation letter he would be "pursuing new opportunities." He had been barred from Georgia athletic facilities during his suspension. |
| Analysis of operating costs shows Tennessee athletics is the king of the buyout | |
 | Tennessee is the buyout king. The UT athletic department's $13.8 million in reported severance expenses were the most among all Division I athletic departments at public institutions during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018. USA TODAY published its database of public institutions' athletic department finances on Monday. Private schools are not subject to public record laws requiring them to release their finances. The News Sentinel previously reported UT's athletic finances for the 2018 fiscal year in January. The USA TODAY project shows how bleak of a financial year it was for Tennessee compared to the rest of the NCAA. Tennessee was the only institution that reported more than $13 million in severance payments. Nebraska, Florida, Arizona State and UCLA topped $12 million in reported severance costs. All of those schools, including Tennessee, fired their football coach in 2017, which helps explain the high severance figure. |
| Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch signs five-year contract at $500,000 per year | |
| New Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch signed a five-year contract that will pay him at least $500,000 annually, according to a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Commercial Appeal. Veatch, who was hired on Friday, will receive a bonus of $25,000 each year Memphis' academic performance rate is consistent with or exceeds the current APR of Tigers' athletes. The bonuses will not exceed $100,000 under the current terms of the contract or any future extensions. The contract runs from Veatch's start date of Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2024. He is also eligible to receive annual performance incentives up to $100,000 per academic year. Those incentives will be detailed in the long form contract and will be consistent with past incentives listed in former athletic director Tom Bowen's contract. Bowen signed a five-year deal worth $400,000 annually when he was hired in 2012. |
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