| Tuesday, October 29, 2019 |
| Mississippi State's T.K. Martin to hold fun run fundraiser Friday | |
 | The T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability will hold its largest annual fundraiser Friday. For the eighth year running, the center will present its Trick or Trot Fun Run on the Mississippi State University campus. Sign up for the event will begin at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1 in front of the T.K. Martin Center. The run itself will begin at 6 p.m. Registration fees are $25 per individual, and $40 for immediate family groups of two or more. Advance registration is available online. The center hopes to raise $30,000 from the run. T.K. Martin Center Director Kasee Stratton spoke to the importance of the fundraiser. She said last year, the center was able to raise approximately $25,000 to support its programs. "Our project IMPACT is a special needs preschool, and we have approximately 45 students in that program," Stratton said. "The funding we receive doesn't quite cover what we need for our teacher assistants, so this is a really important revenue generator to help cover our teacher assistants in that program." |
| Mississippi State, United Way partner to help flood victims | |
 | The historic, months-long flood that ravaged homes, wildlife and farms affected Ole Miss and Mississippi State fans alike. Those who are fans of LSU, Southern Miss and more were also impacted. But Sunday evening, everyone in the south Delta was applauding Mississippi State. Through a partnership with State's men's basketball program, the United Way of West Central Mississippi was invited to accept donations during the Bulldogs' exhibition basketball game Sunday against South Alabama. "As a graduate of Mississippi State University, it was an honor to be a part of such an amazing event," United Way of West Central Mississippi Executive Director Michele Connelly said. "Seeing young adults and their families actively advocate and support those affected by the floodwaters was very memorable" |
| Starkville's first food truck rolls in to town | |
 | There's a new restaurant in Starkville bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "drive-thru." As in, this new eatery might "drive-thru" an area near you. It's Riley Jo's StrEATery food truck. The new establishment opened on Monday. You may have seen it parked outside of Cadence Bank in downtown Starkville. The mobile restaurant is Mexican-style and serves everything from tacos, burritos, nachos, and even churros and tamales. Folks lined up down the block to have their order taken. Customer Robert Taylor said it's nice to see new businesses finding their way to Starkville. "I definitely think it's good for Starkville to kind of grow up and have a lot of new businesses coming in and sort of more modern things that are more popular in the bigger cities," said Taylor. |
| Cleanup continues Monday from Olga's windy remnants | |
 | Thousands of people in Mississippi and Tennessee were still waiting late Monday for power to be restored as cleanup continued from winds associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Olga. High winds swept across a broad area Saturday, the National Weather Service reports. A highway worker cleaning up debris in central Mississippi was killed Saturday. In Tupelo, Mississippi, county officials on Monday declared a state of emergency so they could buy equipment and contract for debris removal more quickly. Mississippi's Alcorn County opened an arena to serve hot meals and offer shelter, even as the local power cooperative asked the more than 5,000 customers who still lacked power at midday Monday to be patient. |
| Halloween weather forecast is frightful for many: Rain, snow and cold predicted | |
 | An onslaught of rain, snow and cold will make for a frightful Halloween for many trick-or-treaters this Thursday, forecasters say. A large storm system will bring soggy weather to much of the eastern U.S. on Halloween. Showers and thunderstorms are forecast from eastern Texas to the Southeast, Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Thursday, weather.com said. Kids will have to break out the ponchos as rainy and miserable conditions are likely for Thursday evening from Alabama and the western part of the Florida Panhandle to Ohio, western and northern Pennsylvania, New York state, southeastern Michigan and New England, AccuWeather predicted. Bone-chilling cold will be the story for Halloween revelers in the northern Rockies and northern and central Plains. Wind chills will dip into the teens and 20s in many areas. |
| Fishing equipment firm plans $9.5M expansion in Mississippi | |
| A maker of fishing equipment plans a $9.5 million new headquarters and 70 new jobs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Jackson County Board of Supervisors is selling 4 acres in an Ocean Springs industrial park to American Baitworks Co. The company plans to build a manufacturing plant and distribution center, having outgrown its current facility. Senior Vice President Justin Sward tells local news outlets that the company has purchased several brands of fishing rods, tackle and lures in the last year, and is combining their operations under one roof to increase efficiency and sales. |
| Algal bloom cost Mississippi Coast tourism $4.1 million in June, July | |
 | Beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast reopened earlier this month after a summer-long shutdown due to a harmful algal bloom caused by an influx of fresh water from upstream flooding. The good news follows a loss of $4.1 million, or 3 percent to 8 percent, in room revenue for June and July at hotels along the three-county coast, according to Coastal Mississippi, which promoted tourism in the area. Occupancy was down 2 percent to 5 percent for those months, year over year. Figures are not available for the full summer. Ancillary businesses absorbed a much heavier toll from water conditions. Beach vendors, fishing charters and other support businesses saw revenue decreases of up to 70 percent. The tourism industry in the three coastal counties -- Hancock, Harrison and Jackson -- brought in $2 billion in 2017, about one-third of the statewide figure of $6.4 billion, according to Coastal Mississippi. |
| In race for secretary of state, DuPree wants to focus on voter accessibility; Watson wants to issue driver's licenses | |
| Republican Michael Watson believes the office of Secretary of State has been run efficiently and competently by outgoing incumbent Delbert Hosemann and he wants to "keep it between the ditches" if elected to oversee the office on Nov. 5 Watson's Democratic opponent, Johnny DuPree, wants to focus on expanding the percentage of people voting in Mississippi by enacting no excuse early voting, allowing online voter registration and developing educational efforts to spur civic engagement, particularly among young people. Watson and DuPree both spoke and answered questions recently at a meeting of the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute/capitol press corps. While Watson praised the three-term tenure of Hosemann as secretary of state, he is planning at least one new initiative for the office. He wants to move the process of obtaining and renewing Mississippi driver's licenses from the Department of Public Safety to the office of Secretary of State. |
| Governor race: Legislators, not voters, might pick Tate Reeves or Jim Hood | |
 | Mississippi's gubernatorial election is Tuesday, but it's possible the outcome won't be decided until January. The reason? A Jim Crow-era law presently being challenged in federal court. The law includes a provision where the Mississippi House -- which convenes in early January -- could ultimately choose the winner. No other state has this system for selecting a governor. Mississippi's 1890 state constitution requires a statewide candidate to clear two hurdles to win office: They must win a majority --- more than 50% --- of the popular vote, as well as a majority of the state's 122 House districts. If no candidate wins both, the winner is decided by the House, where representatives are not required to vote for the same candidate as their district. "It was a safeguard against the possibility of having an African American governor," said Marty Wiseman, a former Mississippi State University political science professor. "It's shameful it's still on the books." |
| Mississippi narcotics agents sue over pay, say MBN ignored law | |
 | Twenty five current or former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents are accusing Director John Dowdy and Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher of ignoring state law on pay raises for officers. The agents, including 16 currently on the force, filed a lawsuit last week in Hinds County Circuit Court against Dowdy, Fisher and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Dowdy said Monday in a message he couldn't discuss the pending lawsuit. The lawsuit says Dowdy and Fisher intentionally failed to provide the Legislative Budget Office and the state fiscal officer with information necessary to budget money to pay the MBN agents according to their rank and experience required by a law that went into effect January of 2016. The agency had told one agent it didn't have the money to fund step raises. |
| Lawmakers see a bipartisan immigration fix for farm workers. Does the White House? | |
 | The White House is dismissing a fresh effort from a bipartisan group of House lawmakers to address the status of undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. agriculture industry. Lawmakers led by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren and Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart -- two veterans of immigration overhaul efforts -- plan to introduce a bill this week that would provide a pathway to legal status for those farm workers, their spouses and minor children, congressional sources told McClatchy. Diaz-Balart, who confirmed his involvement, said three other GOP lawmakers have been involved in quiet negotiations over the past several months and that roughly 100 farm labor groups were supporting the effort and nearly 20 House Republicans had expressed interest in signing on as co-sponsors. According to a summary of the bill obtained by McClatchy, the so-called Farm Workforce Modernization Act would provide a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants who have already been working in the farm and agriculture industry for at least two years and plan to continue in this sector. |
| Why Is There Such A Bad Relationship Between Trump And The CIA? | |
 | Even when he's praising his spy chiefs, President Trump can't resist taking a swipe. The instinct was on full display this past weekend, as he announced the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. "Thank you, as well, to the great intelligence professionals who helped make this very successful journey possible," he said in an address from the White House on Sunday. His intelligence officials are ''spectacular," "great patriots," the president went on. But then, this: "And it's really a deserving name, intelligence. I have dealt with some people that aren't very intelligent, having to do with intel." Even while proclaiming an undisputed intelligence and military success, Trump took a moment to needle and to complain about "poor leadership" and time wasted by U.S. intelligence in the past. The current impeachment drama highlights the tension between Trump and the U.S. intelligence community. But the relationship has been tense since even before Trump took office. |
| Jeff Sessions strongly considering bid for old Senate seat in Alabama | |
 | Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is strongly considering jumping into the race for his old Senate seat in Alabama, according to multiple Republican sources familiar with the matter. Sessions would scramble the already crowded field of Republicans seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who won a 2017 special election to fill the remainder of Sessions' term and is widely viewed as the most vulnerable senator on the ballot next year. Sessions served in the Senate for two decades before being tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Justice Department. The two had a bitter, public falling out over Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the DOJ's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Sessions, 72, must decide within days whether to run: Candidates have until Nov. 8 to qualify for the ballot. |
| More Americans keep dying while walking. Even more carnage lies ahead | |
| The nation's pedestrian death toll keeps climbing unforgivingly. The number reached its highest level since 1990 last year and state after state is projected to see more carnage increase in 2019. Washington spends big money year after year to promote, research and improve pedestrian safety. Four years ago, it added a special program that states could use to find ways to make streets safer. But the government also spends far more to build, improve and repair bigger, faster roads even as the pedestrian numbers remain grim. Experts and members of Congress lament that far more needs to be done. Ten years ago, 4,109 pedestrians died. The number has risen virtually every year since, and last year, the death toll was up 3.4 percent to 6,283. Pedestrian fatalities in urban areas are up 69 percent over the last 10 years. |
| Panel discusses Cost of Campus Food at SFA Fall Symposium | |
| The University of Mississippi's dining services have been under contract with Aramark since 1996, and the 2019 Southern Foodways Alliance Fall Symposium devoted part of last weekend to examining the impact of that relationship. The "Cost of Campus Food" discussion, which featured Mississippi Today, Montgomery Advertiser and Al.com writers Ryan L. Nave, Melissa Brown and Amy Yurkanin, served as a grand finale for an investigative reporting series on the issue of campus dining at Southern universities. "It's one thing to call somebody else out, but it's another to make sure your own house is clean," said Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Rosalind Bentley, who served as moderator. While recent conversations about campus food have revolved around the source -- if the greens are organic, if chicken is free range -- Bentley said it was time to focus on the people who prepare the food for students, many of whom, like at Ole Miss, are employed by Aramark. |
| Attendance breaks records at U. of Alabama's Halloween Extravaganza | |
 | Student-athletes at the University of Alabama handed out candy and played games with trick-or-treaters Monday night during the 17th annual Halloween Extravaganza at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. It was the third record-breaking year in a row for the event, with more than 3,000 people filling the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, according to the University of Alabama, which said this is 400 more people than attended last year. And more than 250 Alabama student athletes took part. Community members donated food to support the West Alabama Food Bank. Tuesday night will feature two more Halloween traditions. The Alabama Panhellenic Association will host its annual Sorority Row trick-or-treat event at 6 p.m. Sorority houses on Magnolia, Colonial and Judy Bonner drives on the UA campus will have candy for trick-or-treaters. Meanwhile, "A Haunting at the Museum" will also begin at 6 p.m. at the Alabama Museum of Natural History. |
| Auburn faculty receives $3 million grant to educate students on how to study climate change | |
| A team at Auburn has received a $3 million grant to educate students how to research climate change and its impacts. The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship was given to a team of nine faculty and senior administrators who will work with approximately 85 graduate students, including 18 fully funded trainees, according to a press release from the University. "This grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education is the first NRT-award for Auburn University and the first in the state of Alabama that will train students to make a sustainable, lasting impact increasing the climate resiliency in the southeastern United States," said Karen McNeal, associate professor of geosciences and the principle investigator on the project. |
| Kentucky college degrees climbing while enrollment drops | |
| The number of Kentucky college and university students receiving undergraduate degrees and certificates is continuing to climb, but preliminary enrollment figures are falling. The state Council on Postsecondary Education said Monday the continuing increase in degrees and credentials despite enrollment challenges indicates a strong commitment on Kentucky campuses to college completion. Public and independent colleges and universities conferred a record 76,380 degrees and credentials last school year, up nearly 5% from the previous year and 39 from 10 years ago. The council said in a news release that preliminary undergraduate enrollment data for the fall 2019 semester shows a 2% decline from last year, continuing a five-year trend. |
| Churchill's influence: Granddaughter of former British prime minister speaks at Bush Center | |
 | Celia Sandys, the granddaughter of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, delivered an address Monday evening at the Bush Center that explored her grandfather's leadership style and influence. An often-laughing audience of more than 200 filled an auditorium inside the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center as Sandys played audio clips of several of Churchhill's most-known speeches and discussed some of the pivotal moments in his storied career. Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, leading the UK in the West's unified victory over fascism in World War II. The address, hosted by the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School, was one of three appearances on the Texas A&M campus by Sandys in recent days. The four pillars of Churchill's leadership, Sandys said, were courage, integrity, vision and communication. |
| U. of Missouri researchers develop kindergarten readiness screen | |
 | A new kindergarten readiness screen developed by University of Missouri researchers allows a kindergarten teacher to screen all the students in a classroom in 15 minutes at the beginning of the kindergarten year. The screening tool was tested with 19 teachers in six elementary schools and involved 350 students. It allows teachers to efficiently assess the social, behavioral and academic skills of students. That can tell teachers the areas in which they need to work with specific students during the school year, said Melissa Stormont, professor of special education in the MU College of Education. Teachers have only three items on which to measure each child. The study, published online by the journal School Psychology, was designed to test the effectiveness of a brief and feasible universal screening tool for kindergarten readiness that would predict outcomes in first grade. |
| Global politics takes heavy toll on international enrollment at U. of Missouri | |
 | Global political tensions and fears of violence have taken a significant toll on international enrollment at the University of Missouri. Over the past five years, MU's enrollment of foreign students has dropped 35%, from 2,505 to 1,632. The issue is not confined to MU, with colleges and universities across the country facing a difficult recruiting atmosphere. The United States has been a prime higher education destination for international students, but many are weighing other options because of simmering tense relationships between the United States and their home countries. "Particularly outside the coasts, we are seeing this decline and a decrease in the number of international students," said Dawn Whitehead, vice president with the Association of American Colleges and Universities. "The number of newly enrolled international students, across the board, has gone down as well. This is not something that is unique to the University of Missouri." |
| La., Pa. senators introduce bill to require colleges to post information online about hazing incidents | |
 | U.S. Senators Dr. Bill Cassidy and Bob Casey have introduced a bill to provide parents of prospective students with more information about hazing incidents on college campuses. The End All Hazing Act (Educational Notification and Disclosure of Actions Risking Loss of Life by Hazing Act) would require colleges and universities to post information on their websites about hazing incidents that happened on campus or within a student organization. The senators say providing this information would improve transparency and help students make the best choice for their futures. "A nationwide standard to inform prospective students and parents of hazing infractions increases transparency and accountability. Choosing a college should be based on the best information about academics, cost, post-graduation job prospects, and safety. Isn't this what we all want?" said Cassidy. The bill was prompted by the 2017 death of LSU freshman and fraternity member, Max Gruver. He died as the result of a hazing incident. Cassidy met with Gruver's father and other parents of hazing victims Tuesday, Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C. |
| NSF tallies 16 cases of alleged harassment by grantees in first year of new rules | |
| It's been 1 year since the National Science Foundation implemented a new policy governing when universities must tell it about possible sexual harassment by grantees. Despite adopting a narrow definition of who is covered, agency officials say they are surprised by how many notifications -- 16 to date -- they have received. The rules apply only to researchers who received an award after 22 October 2018, and kick in only when an institution takes what is called an "administrative action." That could range from monitoring someone's behavior to banning the alleged perpetrator from campus. Institutions must also notify NSF of the final decision in a harassment investigation involving an NSF grantee, the end of a process that can drag on for years. |
| U-Md. installs sensors to monitor moisture a year after mold infestation | |
 | As students at the University of Maryland's flagship campus made their way back to school for the fall semester, officials installed 50 sensors to monitor moisture and humidity in a dozen buildings. The move followed a tumultuous year at the College Park campus. Last fall, sprouting mold and an adenovirus outbreak engulfed the school in controversy. Then, last month, anthropology professors complained that persistent mold in their offices had destroyed belongings and made them sick. Carlo Colella, the school's vice president for administration and finance, said the heightened monitoring of campus facilities has helped officials stay on top of maintenance problems. "We feel very comfortable that only a few of our buildings have persistent atmospheric moisture issues and that's why we are deploying this moisture watch program, to stay ahead of that as best we can," Colella said. |
| American Academy of Religion offers new guidelines for teaching religion | |
 | The American Academy of Religion has released new guidelines for how religion should be taught to undergraduates and what students should know about religion by the time they graduate. The recommendations lay a groundwork for a level of cultural competency that contributors to the project thought was necessary for undergraduates to possess by the time they get their degrees. According to the guidelines, graduates should be able to "discern accurate and credible knowledge about diverse religious traditions and expressions, recognize the internal diversity within religious traditions, explain how religions have shaped experiences and histories, interpret how religious expressions make use of cultural symbols and artistic representations, [and] distinguish confessional or prescriptive statements about religion from descriptive or analytical statements." |
| With Plans To Pay Slavery Reparations, Two Seminaries Prompt A Broader Debate | |
| Among elite U.S. universities, Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Georgetown have all admitted in recent years that at one time they benefited financially from the slave trade. But two Protestant seminaries have now gone a step further, saying that in recognition of their own connections to racism they have a Christian duty to pay reparations. Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., the flagship institution of the U.S. Episcopal Church, announced in September that it has set aside $1.7 million for a reparations fund, given that enslaved persons once worked on its campus and that the school participated in racial segregation even after slavery ended. Earlier this month, Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J., followed suit with an announcement of a $27 million endowed fund for reparations, from which $1.1 million would be dispersed annually. The broader significance of the new reparation initiatives, however, is a matter of some dispute. |
| HBCU, black parents saddled with risky college student debt because of Parent PLUS Loan | |
| It's not unusual to cobble together family savings, scholarships and federal loans to pay for college. What is less common: a loan to the parents of the students. The Parent PLUS Loan provides funds to parents with only a minimal check to see if they have the means to repay it. Among families of color, the loan is much more common – and those families are more likely to be dragged into indebtedness. Parent PLUS Loans have particular disadvantages. They have higher rates of interest compared with direct loans: 7.1% and 4.5%, respectively; they are not linked to income-based repayment; they tend to leave older Americans paying well into their retirement years. The fallout from the Parent PLUS Loan is particularly evident among families at historically black colleges and universities. It's clear that parent borrowing disproportionately hurts black families, especially low-income black families. |
| California fires and power outages close campuses | |
| California's Kincade fire -- and the state power company Pacific Gas & Electric's subsequent controversial power shutoffs -- have led to some college campuses closing and others fearing damage. Poor air quality, power outages and fire danger have led to several institutions in Northern California to restrict operations out of safety concerns -- while institutions in Southern California are facing similar closures due to another fire. The University of California, Berkeley, canceled its Monday daytime classes citing a PG&E power shutoff, after operating with limited power over the weekend. Another fire farther south, the Getty fire, sits dangerously close to Los Angeles institutions, including the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California. UCLA announced Monday that it was canceling classes. |
| Degrees of separation between the genders in college keep growing | |
| Happy hour at the bar at the University of Iceland gets underway at 4 p.m. on Thursdays, the unofficial end of the week on campuses everywhere. Like their counterparts all over the world, most of the students here avoid taking classes that are scheduled to meet on Fridays, giving themselves a head start on their weekends. But that's not what is most conspicuous about this scene. It's how women overwhelmingly outnumber men -- evidence of a gender imbalance taking hold on college campuses throughout the world. And nowhere is the divide as lopsided as in Iceland, where there are now two women in college for every man. The reasons for this, its implications and the thorniness of dealing with it make this sparsely populated nation a laboratory for countries heading in the same direction -- including the United States, where the number of women in higher education has also surpassed the number of men. |
| American Universities Still Lead The World In Innovation, Impact | |
| Reuters is out with its annual list of the world's most innovative universities. The list is interesting in that it's international and that it measures university outputs such as patents and original published research and impact on commerce -- drivers of economic vitality. That's interesting on its own. But what's remarkable is the depth and consistent domination of American universities. The top five most innovative universities on the planet, according to Reuters, are in the United States. Eight of the top 10 are American. Overall, 46 of the top 100 fly the star spangled banner. Germany, the runner-up, had nine in the top 100. France has eight while Japan, the U.K. and South Korea each have six. America's most identified economic adversary, China, has four. Again, there are 46 in the U.S. At least 20 of the top 100 most innovative schools are American public schools which speaks to the power and reach of public investment in education. |
SPORTS
| SEC women's hoops begins new era without elite post player | |
| The recent era of elite post players dominating Southeastern Conference women's basketball may have ended with Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan following former South Carolina star A'ja Wilson into the WNBA. Their absences have the SEC's 12 other teams hoping the league will have a more competitive conference race this year. South Carolina won the 2017 national championship and claimed at least a share of three SEC regular-season titles and four straight SEC Tournament crowns with Wilson leading the way from 2014-18. McCowan helped Mississippi State sweep the SEC's regular-season and tournament titles as a senior last season after the Bulldogs reached back-to-back NCAA championship games in 2017 and 2018. South Carolina and Mississippi State remain top contenders for the league title along with Texas A&M, which has preseason SEC player of the year Chennedy Carter. But the gap separating the top teams from the rest of the league might be narrowing. |
| No desperation: Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State have eyes on Arkansas | |
| Up next is a game against Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC). Nobody would have pegged it as the biggest game on Mississippi State's schedule, but as it stands, it certainly is. The Bulldogs go into it with a laundry list of injuries, too. MSU head coach Joe Moorhead laid those out during his Monday press conference. Even with the swelling number of ailments to key players and an ailing overall record, Moorhead said he's treating this week as he would any other. "I don't think there's desperation necessarily by any means," Moorhead said. "You can't look in the rear-view mirror," Moorhead said. "You got to look through the front windshield to see what's ahead of you. I know our kids are focused on everything we need to do this week to get ready to beat Arkansas." |
| Did Arkansas coach Chad Morris predict a win over Mississippi State? | |
| Did Chad Morris have his Doug Pederson moment Monday? Some people think so. Others disagree. Two weeks ago, Pederson said his Philadelphia Eagles would beat the Dallas Cowboys. "We're gonna win that football game, and when we do, we're first place in the NFC East," Pederson said on a Monday radio show in advance of a prime time game in Dallas the following Sunday. The Eagles lost, 37-10, as the Cowboys took sole possession of the division lead. Morris might've made the same mistake Monday. |
| Auburn moving closer to Football Performance Center | |
| Auburn is moving quickly to get its football-only facility. The Auburn University Board of Trustees held a specially-called meeting via telephone conference call Monday morning to take recommendations for potential architects of a Football Performance Center. Dan King, associate vice president for facilities, presented the resolution to the board. Ten architecture firms threw their hats in the ring to be considered for the project. The selection committee interviewed four firms. The architect selection committee determined Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood, of Montgomery, Alabama, and HOK Architects, of Kansas City, Missouri, to be most suited to complete the project. After King's report, there was no further discussion on the issue, and a vote passed unanimously to authorize Interim President Jay Gogue to engage the firms in discussion for consultation on the development of the facility. |
| LSU basketball hasn't sold this many season tickets since Shaq was on campus | |
 | Will Wade started a news conference on Monday by thanking fans who attended Saturday's LSU basketball practice, then announced the Tigers have exceeded last year's season-ticket count. With 11 days left before the Nov. 8 opener with Bowling Green, Wade said just under 7,300 season tickets had been sold. But LSU associate athletic director Brian Broussard said Monday afternoon the number has risen to nearly 7,400 -- the most since the Shaquille O'Neal era more than 2-1/2 decades ago. LSU sold 6,644 season tickets a year ago. "Our fan excitement from last season has carried over in other areas," Wade said. "We're very, very excited about the interest level and the excitement in our team thus far." |
| ESPN's 'College GameDay' coming to Memphis football game for first time | |
| Memphis, get ready. ESPN's "College GameDay" is coming to the Bluff City. After a long delay, the announcement was made Monday afternoon that for the first time, "College GameDay" will be in Memphis prior to the No. 23 Tigers (7-1, 3-1 AAC) hosting No. 14 SMU (8-0, 4-0) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC. "College GameDay," in its 32nd season, will be live downtown from Beale Street and B.B. King Boulevard starting at 8 a.m. on ESPN and continue for three hours. "College GameDay" has been to Knoxville nine times for Tennessee football games, most recently in 2016 prior to the Vols' 38-28 win over Florida. It also came to Nashville in 2008 before Vanderbilt's 14-13 win over Auburn. |
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