| Monday, September 30, 2019 |
| IMMS, Mississippi State get $1.25 million grant for freshwater intrusion research | |
 | The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act will grant $1.25 million to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and Mississippi State University. The grant is one of 17 GOMESA projects designated to boost the blue economy on the Gulf Coast. The two groups are tasked with studying the effects of freshwater intrusion on marine life. A young pygmy killer whale is one of the newest residents at IMMS after washing up on Cat Island last week. It was originally identified as a melon-headed whale, but after further observation, officials made the correction. "This is a very rare species of whale. This is the second one we've seen in 40 years," said Moby Solangi, president and executive director of IMMS. Scientists said the fact that he was found alive is just as shocking as his rarity. The state hopes research can answer why so many dolphins and sea turtles died after the Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened earlier this year. |
| $1.25M to evaluate spillway effects on dolphins, sea turtles | |
 | Mississippi will get $1.25 million to evaluate the effects of freshwater from a Louisiana spillway on dolphins and sea turtles in the Mississippi Sound. The money from federal oil and gas revenue-sharing will go to Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Gov. Phil Bryant said in a news release Friday. The study will examine the abundance, health and habitat of dolphins and sea turtles in the area. The federal government says at least 310 dolphins have stranded since February from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, 130 of them in Mississippi. Another 101 were in Louisiana, 42 in Alabama and 37 in Florida. |
| Grant to support cybersecurity education across state | |
 | More Mississippi students will soon be learning about cybersecurity following a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission plus some funding from Mississippi State University. The $190,573 ARC grant was announced last week, and will be supplemented by MSU at $74,636, bringing the grand total to $265,209. The funds will mainly be used to purchase distance-learning equipment to support cybersecurity and other computer education for students across the 24 ARC counties in Mississippi. The program will be modeled after the face-to-face program at the Mississippi Coding Academy. Mississippi State's Sarah Lee said work toward the grant had begun in January. She also said she had worked with Republican Gov. Phil Bryant's office on the grant. She referred to reaching people with the grant as an issue of national security and economic development. "We're helping people develop the skills that they need to be successful in the digital economy," Lee said. |
| Starkville/MSU Symphony and The W present 'It's A Classic!' concert | |
 | The Starkville/MSU Symphony will present the "It's A Classic!" concert Sunday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. at Rent Auditorium on the Mississippi University for Women campus in Columbus. The concert is presented in conjunction with MUW. Admission is free to the public. Performed by the Symphony Orchestra, "It's A Classic!" is the first symphonic concert of the organization's 51st concert season and is an annual ongoing partnership between Starkville/MSU Symphony and MUW, which aims to bring world-class, locally-performed classical music to a broader Golden Triangle audience. "We are proud to partner with MUW in presenting one of our concerts each year," said Eric Hill, symphony association board president. "Both the orchestra and chorus as well as our Programs for Children include participation from around the Golden Triangle, so it's only fitting that we celebrate with classical music lovers from across the region." |
| Monday Profile: Mississippi State student becomes impromptu volunteer at Refuge | |
| Drew Williams' recent volunteer work at the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge combines two things he enjoys: service and the outdoors. Williams is a junior studying forestry at Mississippi State University, an Eagle Scout and an active member of the Baptist Student Union. Taking time out of his Saturday morning recently to help unload canoes from trailers on the banks of Bluff Lake "seemed like something worthwhile to do," he said. Williams and five other BSU members were hoping to go canoeing when they showed up at the wildlife refuge on Sept. 14, only to find out canoe day was the following Saturday. Vicki Maples, one of the three adults present, said they joked that the students could help them place pine straw around the visitors' center. The six students went into a huddle for a few minutes, Maples said, and then decided to take the opportunity seriously. "They came walking up and said, 'We want to help,' and my jaw just hit the floor," said Maples, a member of the Friends of Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge board. |
| Most of Mississippi corn crop in fair to good condition | |
| Agriculture experts say most of this year's corn crop in Mississippi is in fair to good condition. The Mississippi State University Extension Service says in a news release that the state's farmers planted 35% more acres in corn this year compared to 2018. Corn planting was delayed by two to three weeks because of heavy rains during the spring. The extension service said when corn can't be planted at the usual time, farmers often switch to soybeans. But, this year's market outlook was stronger for corn. An extension service agricultural economist, Will Maples, said the trade negotiations had a negative effect on soybean prices. |
| Local farmers beginning to feel impacts of dry spell | |
 | Farmers in Lauderdale County are feeling the impacts of this current dry spell. "We have a lot of cattle and hay production [in Lauderdale County], so right now with these abnormally dry conditions, we're seeing some farmers being forced to start feeding hay already because the pastures are depleted, we just haven't had any rain," says Shani Hay, the MSU extension agent for Lauderdale County. "This time of year also, you know, the native hay starts slowing down in its growth pattern." Hay is being used up earlier than normal thanks to the lack of rain. "We're dipping into our hay storage already," Hay says. "It's September and that's not a normal thing for us, normally we don't have to start feeding hay until late-October/November." No significant rainfall is expected over the next two weeks. |
| America's first grape is still a favorite | |
 | When it comes to grapes, we have Thompson seedless, Concord and wine varieties like Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet. When it comes to a Southerner's taste buds, however, there is a fondness for America's first grape -- Vitis rotundifolia. You know it better as the muscadine, that bronze or purple-black fruit that is native to the Southeast. Researchers have discovered that muscadines -- skin, pulp and seeds -- contain significant amounts of resveratrol. That's the compound in red and white wines that the French tout as an agent for lowering cholesterol levels and the risk of coronary heart disease. Well, anything that French wines can do, the muscadine can do better. Studies at Mississippi State University indicate that two fluid ounces of unfiltered muscadine juice, one serving of muscadine jam, one medium muscadine muffin or one-tenth of a serving of muscadine sauce contains about the same amount of resveratrol as four fluid ounces of red wine. |
| Natural repellents can help, but bug spray is best bet | |
| If mosquitoes, gnats, black flies and no-see-ums are driving you buggy, then consider cozying up to some lavender, marigolds or basil. Scientists question their overall effectiveness, but many fragrant ornamental flowers and herbs grown around the home have properties that can repel insects. Insect repellents are divided into two primary chemical classes: natural and synthetic. How effective they are depends on the targeted insects and the host plants' essential oils. If you do plan to try natural repellents, then the top herbs for which there is scientific evidence of mosquito deterrence are lemongrass, lemon balm, bee balm and lemon thyme, said Gary Bachman, an Extension horticulturist with Mississippi State University. Rosemary, lavender, basil, mint, citronella and catnip also can help discourage insect pests, he said. |
| Tailgate, Halloween florals, Roundup, deer disease are MSU Extension Service Quick Bites topics | |
| Mississippi State University Extension Service Quick Bites programs for October run the gamut from flower power to updates on the Roundup controversy. Four hour-long interactive video sessions on different topics are offered from noon to 1 p.m. on designated Thursdays at Extension offices, free to the public. Sign-up is required. Sessions are also held in Bost 409 on the MSU campus. October sessions include "Tailgate Arrangements," "Chronic Wasting Disease," "What's the Deal with Roundup?" and "Let's Make a Halloween Design Together." |
| MSU Extension holds open house in DeSoto County | |
 | Photo: Mississippi State University entomology specialist Dr. John Guyton makes a presentation during an Open House held at the MSU Extension-DeSoto office in Hernando on Sept. 23. |
| Mississippi State alumni plan fundraiser for scholarships | |
 | Members of the Clarke County Chapter of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association are making plans for a fundraising event with net proceeds designated to fund scholarships for area students who attend MSU in Starkville. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, on the Clarke County Courthouse lawn in Quitman. The local "Bulldogs" are selling tickets for hamburger plates (includes chips and drink) at $5 each, with a dessert available for an additional $1. For tickets, contact organizers Elaine and William Read, Lisa Riley (chapter president), Marylee Edwards, Lacia Donald, Rob Riley or Sandie and Carl Blackwell. For more information, call Lisa Riley, 601-480-6052. |
| Starkville proposes $300 annual license, rental restrictions to short-term rentals in city | |
| The renovations on the 1,650-square-foot house in central Starkville had just finished when the owner, Heather Osborne, found out about the city's proposed restrictions on renting out residential units on Airbnb. "Personally, it's devastating to me," said Osborne, who invested what she said was a great deal of money tailoring the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house to Airbnb customers. The city's final draft of the unified development code includes a $300 yearly license to host a "short-term residential rental property" in a single-family home. That includes, but isn't limited to, weekend rentals, game day rentals and listing such property on websites such as Airbnb. The goal of the restrictions is to keep people from using single-family houses in residential neighborhoods like hotels, Mayor Lynn Spruill said. "Having unknown people come in and out of a residential neighborhood on a weekly basis is not conducive to a single-family, children playing in the streets kind of neighborhood," Spruill said. "You have people who are not aware of the community, who don't have respect for the community because they don't live there." |
| Aldermen get updates on Locksley Way, Louisville St. projects | |
| The Starkville Board of Aldermen got an update on some ongoing infrastructure projects in the city of Starkville during its work session Friday. City engineer Edward Kemp took the board through some of the city's ongoing projects, including the Locksley Way and Louisville Street sidewalk projects, among others. Some of the additional projects covered included the multipurpose TAP grant path leading onto the Mississippi State University campus from Spring Street, and various road resurfacing efforts across the city. He said the Louisville Street sidewalk project was 10% over its originally stated time and 75% complete. However, he said the company was working diligently on the sidewalk and would likely have the project complete by Oct. 31. |
| Pilot program could help student achievement, teacher retention at AMS | |
| One of Mallory Carlisle's seventh-grade students does not feel comfortable reading out loud in front of the class. But if Carlisle sits next to her, the student will read in whispers to her teacher. "She and I have built that relationship with one another," said Carlisle, who has taught history at Armstrong Middle School for 21 years. "I bring up her comments (with the) whole group and she just smiles because she's like 'That's what I thought.' It all comes down to relationships and the emotional connection." Teachers have to be versatile, flexible and able to laugh things off in order to build those relationships with students during the time of transition that is middle school, Carlisle said. "They're different. In a good way, but they're different, and you've got to meet them where they are," she said. AMS is one of 20 middle schools statewide that will participate in a yearlong pilot program aimed at helping teachers support students' social, emotional and academic growth, as Carlisle has made two decades' worth of effort to do in her classroom. |
| Women-owned business report reveals data on Mississippi women-owned businesses | |
 | Owners Kim Caron of the Caron Gallery and Nicole Judon of the Peach Blossom Boutique LLC differ in years of experience. Caron opened her art gallery in 2010, while Judon opened her boutique in May and an online boutique in 2018. However, the two women have one thing in common: They are both part of the estimated 104,274 women who own businesses in Mississippi. The ninth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express and using data from both the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners and relative changes in Gross Domestic Product, shows that women-owned businesses now make up to 42 percent of all businesses. American Express research advisor Geri Stengel said several of the Mississippi women-owned businesses tended to be small-scale. Caron said she believes that in society now, women are leading the forefront on small businesses and entrepreneurship, but thinks there may still be challenges for women looking for capital investors for bigger projects and businesses. |
| Analysis: Elections don't always run according to calendar | |
| Elections usually end when the calendar says they should, but sometimes they go into overtime. In one Mississippi Senate race on the Gulf Coast, a Republican primary that started in August won't be resolved until the Nov. 5 general election because a judge ordered a new round of voting in a few precincts. In another Senate district that stretches from the Delta down into the Jackson suburbs, the race could remain in limbo after the general election because the district itself is the subject of a court fight that will carry over into next year. And if nobody wins a clear majority of votes for governor or other statewide offices, those races could extend into January, when the Legislature is back in session. |
| Candidate Delbert Hosemann visits Mississippi Delta | |
| Delbert Hosemann, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, visited Cleveland and the Mississippi Delta this week to introduce himself to the area and to announce a plan to raise state employee salaries. "I'm looking around the Mississippi Delta on how we can make things a little better going forward," said Hosemann. Hosemann also visited Sumner, Rosedale, Clarksdale and Greenwood on Tuesday. He has served as Mississippi's Secretary of State since 2008 and was inspired by the future of his grandchildren to run for the office of lieutenant governor. "I wanted to know where they're going to be educated," Hosemann said. "I wanted to know what their future was in Mississippi. I wanted to know who they're going to work with, whom they're going to work for. As I looked at that I saw, I think, a government that could be right-sized a lot better." Hosemann's opponent in the general election is Democratic nominee Jay Hughes, who currently serves in the Mississippi House of Representatives. |
| Democrats in South's governor races hit hurdle: Impeachment | |
| While Democrats in Washington charge ahead with an impeachment inquiry, their party's candidates for governor in Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana are doing all they can to steer the conversation away from Trump and toward safer ground back home. Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood, the state attorney general, took a similar approach, using the moment to contrast the partisan discord in Washington with his efforts to work with Republicans. "I'm focused on our race for governor and on the local issues affecting Mississippi such as education, roads and bridges and health care," Hood said in a statement provided by his campaign after The Associated Press requested an interview on the matter. "All of the craziness and gridlock in Washington has created a positive response here in Mississippi, where moderates in both parties are coming together to move our state forward." |
| 'Treason,' 'spying,' 'civil war': Donald Trump lashes out at impeachment accusers | |
 | President Donald Trump opened another week of impeachment turmoil with slashing attacks on his accusers -- including a suggestion that a leading investigator be arrested for "treason." Claiming that Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, falsely described his phone call with the president of of Ukraine, Trump tweeted Monday: "Arrest for Treason?" Schiff did not immediately respond, but others called it an outrageous comment. "Out. Of. Control," tweeted Republican strategist Mike Murphy. "Treason? A POTUS saying this? #UnfitAndUnstable." Alleged "treason" was part of a series of tweets on Sunday night and Monday morning in which Trump raised the specter of "civil war," said some of his own aides may be "SPYING" on him, and accused the Democrats of trying to "destabilize" the country a year ahead of his 2020 re-election. Trump's angry tweets set the stage for another week of political/legal battles, as House Democrats investigate allegations that Trump tried to coerce the president of Ukraine into investigating an American political rival, Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden. |
| Impeachment inquiry likely to move faster than House lawsuits, making some moot | |
 | House Democrats expect their impeachment inquiry to outpace ongoing court cases that were once seen as critical to their investigations into President Donald Trump. That means some of those lawsuits -- teed up as major separation-of-powers battles between the House and the Trump administration -- could fizzle out or end up being dropped. The cases include House efforts to obtain Trump's financial records and tax returns, grand jury materials from the special counsel's report and testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn. The legal actions, in various stages before the district court in Washington, are unlikely to be settled for months -- or much longer if the losing side appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. But the House may decide to drop some of its lawsuits if the chamber advances articles of impeachment against Trump before the cases conclude. Most Democrats predict the chamber will decide whether to impeach Trump before the end of the year. |
| MUW, other state universities face challenges of funding, student debt | |
| Nora Miller knows the challenges universities face today. When she first became president of Mississippi University for Women, Miller attended what she called a "boot camp" for new university presidents hosted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, she told members of the Columbus Exchange Club during her presentation at their weekly meeting at Lion Hills Center Thursday. There she met other university presidents from all over the country. "As we got to talking, we realized we were facing all pretty much the same issues," Miller said. "There is public questioning of the value of higher education. A lot of that is driven by the concern about student debt. We're all facing less support from our states. We know the demographics are going down, the number of 18-year-olds. People are having fewer babies. There is going to be a decline in the number of high school graduates, not because of anything educationally. It's simply fewer babies were born that many years ago." With these challenges in mind, Miller said she thinks The W is doing pretty well, despite decreases in state appropriations and a faculty she says is underpaid. |
| Best-selling author John Feinstein to headline MUW Welty Gala Oct. 11 | |
| Best-selling author John Feinstein will be the featured speaker for Mississippi University for Women's Welty Gala at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at the Trotter Convention Center at 402 Second Ave. N. in downtown Columbus. Feinstein, who also works for The Washington Post, The Golf Channel, Golf Digest and other outlets, has written 36 books, including "A Season on the Brink," a story about Bob Knight and the Indiana men's basketball team's 1985-86 season, and "A Good Walk Spoiled," a story about the experiences of PGA players in the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Both books were No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Feinstein's latest book, "The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry," was published in 2017. It explores the battles in men's college basketball between the famous coaches at the University of North Carolina, Duke University and North Carolina State University. Feinstein also has written 10 books for children. The first of the mysteries, "Last Shot," won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for mystery writing. It also was a New York Times best seller. |
| Annual Welty Writers' Symposium features Kiese Laymon | |
| Kiese Laymon returns as the keynote author for the 31st annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, Oct. 10-12. Laymon will read from his latest book, "Heavy: An American Memoir," which has been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction and the Los Angeles Times Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. In a New York Times review, Saeed Jones describes "Heavy" as "a thoughtful and hard-wrought examination of how a black man came into his own in a country determined to prevent that from happening." Laymon recounts his experiences growing up in Jackson as the son of a single mother who is a prominent African American scholar and activist and confronts difficult issues of race, gender, sexual assault, domestic violence, interactions with the police and addiction. Laymon will read and discuss his memoir Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall at Mississippi University for Women. |
| IHL to discuss chancellor search this week | |
 | The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees will meet this week to discuss candidates for the next chancellor of the University of Mississippi. The board will meet Wednesday and Thursday morning at the University of Mississippi Medical School in Jackson. The board selected 39 members for the UM Chancellor Search Advisory Committee, which held listening sessions throughout the state and reviewed all of the applications for chancellor. After the deadline to submit applications passed, each member of the search committee ranked their top eight candidates. Their selections were delivered to Buffkin Baker, a search firm contracted by the university to facilitate the process. According to two sources close to the process, the search committee's rankings are only suggestions of preference. The Board of Trustees took the names of all who applied and selected 8-10 candidates to conduct preliminary interviews with before narrowing down to three candidates. |
| 'We need a leader with vision': Inside the politically charged Ole Miss chancellor search | |
| Members of the Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees gathered at Old Waverly, a high-end private golf club in West Point, in mid-September for their annual retreat. The 12-member IHL board, which oversees Mississippi's eight public universities, usually meets in Jackson to approve lease agreements, consider legal contracts and discuss professor tenure and other personnel issues. The annual board retreat, however, is a chance for the board to reflect on the weightiest challenges facing higher education in the state. This one, held on September 19, was the heaviest in recent memory: It was the last time the board's ten men and two women would meet before beginning an assuredly contentious interview process to name a new University of Mississippi chancellor. |
| U. of Mississippi's Overby Center announces fall lineup | |
| The University of Mississippi's Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics announced its fall lineup of programs, which will have an emphasis on upcoming elections and the future of journalism. The center will host four programs, beginning on Oct. 2 and running through Nov. 20, and feature Mississippi political figures, political journalists, a newsroom lawyer and a documentarian. The first program is called "The Battle Between Trump and the Press," and features political journalist Peter J. Boyer. He, along with Overby fellow Curtis Wilkie, will discuss the negative relationship between the current president and the news media. On Oct. 16, the program "Looking Ahead to the Mississippi Elections" will analyze the upcoming state elections. Mississippi Republican Austin Barbour and Mississippi Democrat Brandon Jones will follow up on their initial assessments from an Overby program that took place last fall. "The Fight for Press Freedom," featuring The New York Times' lawyer David E. McCraw, is scheduled for Oct. 30. The fall's final program is called "Fannie Lou Hamer's America." |
| New Orleans Saints owner donates $1 million to U. of Mississippi Medical Center | |
| A playground at the University of Mississippi Medical Center's seven-story pediatric expansion will be a reminder of the generosity of two organizations: The Gayle & Tom Benson Charitable Foundation and Sanderson Farms. On Thursday, UMMC announced a $1 million donation from the foundation to the Campaign for Children's of Mississippi, the philanthropic effort to bring the children's hospital expansion to completion. The gift will also create the Gayle & Tom Benson Charitable Foundation Playground in honor of Sanderson Farms. "This gift is just phenomenal," said Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair, professor and chair of pediatrics at UMMC. "Children's of Mississippi cares about the health and welfare of all of the children in the state, and a big part of children's health is play. This new playground will give the children who come to our hospital and clinics a space where they can have fun." |
| USM seeks funds to build $2.4M center for veterans, active military | |
 | When the University of Southern Mississippi's Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families opened in October 2014, it served less than 600 students. Five years later with more than 1,700 students with military ties, the center has outgrown its original facility, a renovated house on the university's west end. The university on Friday announced plans to build a new facility to better serve its military students. The building will be 100% privately funded. The center's new building will be named the Quinlan-Hammond Hall of Honor, for benefactor Joe Quinlan, a Marine Corps veteran, and director, retired Gen. Jeff Hammond. Several early supporters, including Quinlan and his wife, Suzanne Quinlan, contributed around $1.8 million of the $2.4 million needed to build and furnish the center has already been raised, said Megan Burkes, associate director for public relations and donor programs at the USM Foundation. |
| USM Gulf Park to Present Cultural Arts Series Lecture on Oct. 1 with MSU's James Giesen | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park Cultural Arts Series will begin its 2019-20 programming with "Water Ways: Ebbs and Flows of Mississippi History" on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. in Hardy Hall Ballroom on the USM Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. The lecture "Water Ways: Ebbs and Flows of Mississippi History," will be presented by Dr. James C. Giesen, associate professor in the Department of History at Mississippi State University. Giesen's talk will focus on the impacts of water ways on Mississippi history by examining three case studies: the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927; subsequent flood modeling and flood mitigation solutions developed and implemented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and the intersection of racial justice concerns and the historical usage of Mississippi's coastal waterways and beaches. |
| Mississippi Valley State student killed in crash | |
 | Three Mississippi Valley State University were involved in a crash Sunday morning, according to a university news release. One student was killed. Jevonte Curtis died in the single vehicle crash. The two other students involved in the crash were transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Their conditions were not reported. Curtis is a native of Chicago and served as treasurer of the Student Government Association. All three students are members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Grief counseling was made available to faculty, staff and students, the news release added. |
| Alcorn State SGA president arrested on gun, drug charges | |
| James Stirgus III, a 2016 graduate of Vicksburg High School and the current president of the Alcorn State University Student Government Association, was reportedly arrested on the Lorman Campus Thursday, charged with possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. Stirgus was transported to the Claiborne County Jail, where he later posted a $10,000 bond. According to Claiborne County Sheriff Frank Davis, the charges are felonies. The school did not provide details on the arrest, but did provide a statement on the arrest. According to a story posted on Alcorn State's website, Stirgus, a business finance major, was elected the 2019-2020 SGA president in March. |
| U.S. Department of Commerce invests to support growth of aviation and aerospace workforce | |
| U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has announced that the Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2 million grant to Pearl River Community College of Poplarville, Mississippi, to fund construction of a new Aviation and Aerospace Workforce Academy at the Stennis International Airport. The grant, to be matched with more than $3.9 million in state and local investment, is expected to help create 469 jobs, retain 550 jobs, and generate $5 million in private investment. The new Aviation and Aerospace Workforce Academy at the Stennis International Airport will be a modern facility providing educational opportunities in academic, career technical, and workforce programs. This project was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District. EDA funds the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District to bring together the public and private sectors to create an economic development roadmap to strengthen the regional economy, support private capital investment, and create jobs. |
| U. of South Carolina could expand Greek Village parking by 800 spots and eliminate frat/sorority fee | |
 | The University of South Carolina could more than double the amount of parking near the overcrowded Greek Village by added up to 800 parking spots by 2022. The first phase, expected to be ready by fall 2020, would add up to 500 spaces by converting an existing intramural recreational field at Blossom and Lincoln streets into a gravel parking lot for commuters and giving fraternity and sorority members access to the paved, AD3 parking lot across from the Greek Village, USC Architect Derek Gruner said at a Friday board of trustees meeting. The second phase of the project would involve demolishing two buildings and creating a paved lot between Devine Street and Thirsty Fellow that would add 300 parking spaces. That would be complete by January 2022, Gruner said. "I think this moves us in the right direction," USC President Bob Caslen said at the meeting. |
| Athens youth, UGA debate society meet to argue | |
 | A dozen Athens youngsters had a meet-up with the University of Georgia's oldest debate society Thursday -- something that's become a semi-regular event between the UGA Demosthenian Literary Society and a debate club from Athens' Chess & Community youth development organization. As they've done several times over the past few years, the Athens middle and high school students not only got to see what goes on in the Demosthenian Literary Society's meetings, but to participate in one of their extemporaneous debates, when students speak without the structure of a more formal debate competition. Thursday's debate in Demosthenian Hall was over the value of liberal arts degrees in colleges, fields such as history or literature, compared to science and engineering degrees. There was some joking about the value of science and engineering training on account of the air conditioning being broken in the debate hall as the heat from around 100 people raised temperatures in UGA's fourth-oldest building, built in 1824, and where future leaders of the Confederacy once spoke. The society was founded in 1803; one of its founders was the first student to receive a UGA degree. |
| UGA seeks research proposals to study school's history of slavery | |
| University of Georgia leaders say they want to know more about the school's history concerning slavery and are committing $100,000 for faculty to submit research proposals. The deadline for proposals is Monday. UGA was founded in 1785, and it wants research from that year to 1865, when the Civil War ended. Some students, faculty, alumni and community leaders say the school needs to commit more money for the work and extend the time period of research past the Civil War. "It's not a lot of money for this sort of research, but it's a beginning," said UGA associate history professor Chana Kai Lee, who is part of a team working on a proposal to investigate that history. Since the early 2000s, several dozen colleges and universities have done similar research. Led by the University of Virginia, 56 colleges and universities are part of the Universities Studying Slavery commission. UGA is not part of the commission. |
| U. of Missouri System President Mun Choi stands by Confucius Institute despite Sen. Josh Hawley's opposition | |
 | University of Missouri System President Mun Choi gave no indication that MU is rushing to cut ties with the Confucius Institute despite charges from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, that the center is engaged in espionage. During a press conference after the public session of the UM Board of Curators meeting Thursday, Choi said an audit of the institute earlier this year "found that they were living up to their mission, found no issues of barriers to academic freedom -- which was one of the concerns raised by the senator -- or any evidence of academic espionage. "Our approach with this program as well as any other program that we operate or partner with is to trust but verify," Choi said. The Confucius Institute, funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education, provides education and training in Chinese language and culture. Choi said it "creates very important cultural exchanges" between the scholars who are part of the institute and members of the university and community in Columbia. |
| NIH reveals its formula for tracking foreign influences | |
| The U.S. National Institutes of Health thinks it may have figured out how China's foreign talents recruitment program is undermining its system for making awards and ensuring ethical behavior by its grantees. In an interview yesterday with Science, Michael Lauer, director of NIH's extramural research program in Bethesda, Maryland, described a two-pronged strategy that NIH believes China's Thousand Talents Program has pursued to improperly reap the benefits of NIH-funded research. One entails breaching NIH's vaunted system of reviewing grant proposals to share information with colleagues in China. The second consists of setting up shadow labs in that country to replicate NIH-funded research. Lauer offered no new evidence to support those assertions and no data on how often these tactics have been used. But his description adds considerable detail to previous NIH statements addressing concerns by Congress and officials in President Donald Trump's administration that federal research agencies aren't doing enough to combat attacks on U.S. science by foreign entities, particularly China. |
| Leading Chinese American scholars decry racial profiling from Trump's hard-line policies against China | |
 | Leading Chinese Americans, gathering Saturday in Silicon Valley, decried what they say is alarming and growing racial profiling of their community by federal agencies cracking down on China. Federal officials warn that an increasingly aggressive China is exploiting America's open academic environment to steal intellectual property and innovations in a quest for economic and military dominance. But many of the attendees -- who included former U.S. Cabinet secretaries, a Nobel laureate, high-tech entrepreneurs, elected officials, scientists, educators and community activists -- warned that a "toxic environment" against ethnic Chinese scientists and scholars was driving away intellectual talent and jeopardizing the kind of international academic collaboration that has led to U.S. leadership in research and scientific progress. They also highlighted cases of Chinese American scientists who were arrested on federal espionage-related charges, only to have the charges dropped and their lives ruined. |
| NACAC agrees to change its code of ethics | |
 | When the Assembly of the National Association for College Admission Counseling has in years past debated measures to regulate the recruiting of international students or the proper rules for waiting lists and many other issues, debate has been heated. It was anything but heated this year, although the issue before the delegates was arguably more important than any of those. Delegates voted Saturday -- 211 to 3 -- to strip provisions from the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice that may violate antitrust laws. The Justice Department has been investigating NACAC for possible violations of antitrust laws for nearly two years, but the details of that investigation have not been generally known for most of that time. The Justice Department believes that with these rules, colleges are colluding to take away student choices. Some experts on higher education believe that without the provisions, colleges will be tempted to poach students from other colleges. But the mood at the meeting was to avoid that issue; most people voted to save NACAC, which could not afford a long, drawn-out fight. |
| Students trust libraries for more than borrowing books, report says | |
| When Karen Stout was president of Montgomery County Community College, the Pennsylvania institution changed the way the library was designed. It was co-located with the student success center and changed to incorporate more student services. The college saw an "immediate uptick" in use from students for services other than borrowing books, like printing and technology use, according to Stout, now president and CEO of the nonprofit Achieving the Dream. She also positioned her office in the middle of the library as a symbol that she was leading with student success in mind. Montgomery might have been on to something. A study released Monday by Ithaka S+R, the research arm of nonprofit Ithaka, found that students see libraries as a valuable space for services, including nonacademic services. |
| Rural hospital closings reach crisis stage, leaving millions without nearby health care | |
| Presidential candidates and other politicians have talked about the rural health crisis in the U.S., but they are not telling rural Americans anything new. Rural Americans know all too well what it feels like to have no hospital and emergency care when they break a leg, go into early labor, or have progressive chronic diseases, such as diabetes and congestive heart failure. More than 20% of our nation's rural hospitals, or 430 hospitals across 43 states, are near collapse. This is despite the fact that rural hospitals are not only crucial for health care but also survival of their small rural communities. Since 2010, 113 rural hospitals across the country have closed, with 18% being in Texas, where we live. As rural health researchers, we're well aware of the scope of rural hospitals woes', which span the entire country. Struggling rural hospitals reflect some of the problems with the U.S. health care system overall, in that the poor often struggle to have access to care and there are few obvious solutions to controlling rising costs. |
| Predatory vs. preposterous policies at play in Mississippi? | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Choosing to appease the insatiable desires of grasping businesses and consumers, politicians spew ever more promiscuous policies from our nation's capital. As noted in recent columns, hindrances to unscrupulous businesses preying on consumers are diminishing while preposterous promises of succor to consumers are expanding. Predatory practices are the dark side of Republican pro-business policies on the one hand while preposterous promises are the dark side of Democratic pro-consumer policies on the other. Regrettably, there is no third gripping hand present to yank the other two back from intemperance. These dichotomies will be great theater throughout the presidential election next year. But will promiscuous predatory and preposterous policies be in play in the Mississippi gubernatorial election now through November 6th? Certainly, but to what degree? |
| November governor's election could be just appetizer for court, legislative fight | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: On June 20, U.S. Judge Daniel Jordan of the Southern District of Mississippi wrote "the court understands the time sensitive nature of the case" asking him to block provisions of the state Constitution that could throw this year's governor's election to the state House to decide. More than three months later, there has been no resolution to that time sensitive lawsuit. When statewide elections occur on Nov. 5, it is likely that the lawsuit still will be alive in some form -- either before Jordan or on appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with an ultimate destination of the U.S. Supreme Court. In other words, if the Mississippi governor's election turns out being as close as most pundits predict it will be, there could be a scenario where lawyers are arguing in federal court that the constitutional provisions throwing the election to the House should be blocked even as members of the House are preparing to vote to elect the next governor of the state. December, in advance of the 2020 legislative session, could be a chaotic time for Mississippi's political system. The election might just be the appetizer. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State women hold first hoops practice | |
| After getting a glimpse of what was to come this year during the summer, Mississippi State officially began the 2019-20 season with its first practice Saturday morning in Humphrey Coliseum. This summer, the Bulldogs earned the opportunity to represent the United States of America at the World University Games in Naples, Italy. State posted a 6-1 record and brought home the silver medal while competing against top-25 caliber teams. "I think we are ahead for sure because we practiced in June like it was January," said head coach Vic Schaefer. "I think it certainly helped us and gave us a chance to get ahead a little bit. Our kids understand the importance of preparing, and I was really pleased with our first day." Mississippi State hosts Lubbock Christian on Nov. 4 for an exhibition before officially opening the campaign at home on Nov. 9 against Southern Miss. |
| USM sells beer, light wine, for first time at Texas-El Paso game | |
 | Some of the Southern Miss fans who enjoyed their second home game of the 2019 football season Saturday night also enjoyed their first beer purchased at The Rock. For the first time ever, fans could buy beer and light wine at M.M. Roberts Stadium, during the game between the USM Golden Eagles and the University of Texas-El Paso Miners. Fans 21 and older with a government-issued ID could make purchases at eight different locations in the stadium. Saturday afternoon, we spoke to some USM students and fans who were tailgating on campus to see what they thought about the new alcohol policy. "I think it's a good idea," said USM student Julian Meilleur. "I'm definitely going to get some beer at the game. I don't have to drink as much beer out here before the game, now I can just drink it at the stadium." Southern Miss has not made a decision on whether to sell beer at other sporting events yet. |
| Texas A&M athletic director talks renewing Texas football rivalry | |
 | Whenever the athletic directors from the University of Texas and Texas A&M are together, it is inevitable that questions on renewing the football rivalry game will follow. On Friday, while serving on a panel at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival, athletic directors Ross Bjork of A&M and Chris Del Conte of Texas gave their perspectives on the game that has not been played since 2011, the season before A&M left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. Del Conte argued in favor of bringing back the football rivalry that dates to 1894. "Us not playing A&M is not good for college football," Del Conte said during the panel. "It should happen." The strange reality of this issue, Del Conte continued, is that it has percolated among the few who sit above the athletic directors' pay grade, including university chancellors, boards of regents and those inside the state Capitol. |
| California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill to allow college athletes to take endorsement deals | |
| Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that will allow California athletes to earn money from the use of their names, images and likenesses, despite warnings from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. that the measure would upend amateur sports. Senate Bill 206 by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) garnered national attention, with athletes including NBA stars LeBron James and Draymond Green lauding the California effort to give college athletes a share of the windfall they help create for their universities and NCAA. The bill passed the state Legislature unanimously. Newsom signed the bill on an episode of UNINTERRUPTED'S talk show The Shop with James, WNBA's Diana Taurasi and former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, saying the new law addresses a "major problem for the NCAA." The episode was recorded Friday, but released Monday, according to Newsom's office. The bill would prohibit the NCAA from barring a university from competition if its athletes are compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness beginning in 2023. NCAA rules strictly prohibit athletes from profiting in any way from their sports. |
| MDWFP to launch full certification online hunter education class | |
| Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is offering full certification online hunter education class. Beginning October 1, residents ages 16 and over will be able to complete the hunter education requirement online. The internet course can be found on the agency's website. The class offered is video-narrated and interactive. The certificate you received from this online course can be presented as a digital or paper copy to license vendors to purchase a hunting license. Mississippi law requires that everyone born after January 1, 1972 has to complete a hunter education course before purchasing a Mississippi hunting license. |
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