| Wednesday, November 20, 2019 |
| Mississippi National Guard becoming 'operational force' | |
 | Eighty-seven paratroopers landing in trees at Camp Shelby Army Base may sound like bad news. Major Gen. Janson Boyles, adjutant general for the Mississippi Army National Guard, didn't entirely see it that way. "It got a lot of attention," Boyles told Columbus Rotary Club members at their weekly meeting Tuesday. The incident garnered national media exposure on Oct. 3, when a portion of the 4th Brigade Team 25th Infantry Division based out of Alaska parachuted into high winds above the Army National Guard and Reserve training base in Hattiesburg. Those jumpers were trying to hit a drop zone about the size of a football field, Boyles said, when they encountered a gust of wind at about 700 feet that "pushed them into the trees unexpectedly." Despite the miscue, Boyles said, it drew attention to a first time training mission that proved to be a big deal for Mississippi. Boyles, a Mississippi State University graduate who Gov. Phil Bryant appointed adjutant general in 2016, lauded the National Guard as a major economic generator for the state and one that is playing an ever-increasing role on the world stage. |
| Mississippi Lottery begins selling scratch-off tickets Monday | |
 | The Mississippi Lottery will begin selling scratch-off tickets at nearly 1,200 retailers statewide on Monday as early as 5 a.m. when the system goes "live." The Mississippi Lottery Corporation is planning a kick-off event at 6:45 a.m. Monday at the Raceway station on Mississippi 18 West in Jackson. Longtime state Rep. Alyce G. Clarke, D-Jackson, will purchase a "ceremonial" ticket, although lottery officials said they have no way of knowing beforehand where the first actual ticket will be purchased. Clarke was a leading proponent of a state lottery and pushed for the state to create one for more than 20 years. The state's lottery law is named after her. After decades of debate, lawmakers in a summer special session last year approved a state lottery. It's expected to net the state about $40 million the first year, then $80 million to $100 million a year thereafter. |
| Hemp Task Force Meeting at Capitol | |
 | The Mississippi Hemp Cultivation Task Force will convene Wednesday, November 20, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 113 of the Mississippi State Capitol to discuss its recommendations and final report to the Legislature. The meeting will be open to the public. The Task Force, chaired by Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson, was established by the Mississippi Legislature to consider the potential of hemp cultivation, market potential and potential job creation in Mississippi. The Task Force will be discussing and voting on its final report to the Legislature. This is the final scheduled meeting of the Task Force. "The Task Force has been working diligently over the past several months examining and researching all of the issues surrounding the cultivation of hemp in Mississippi. The fact-based report will provide a comprehensive look at the opportunities and challenges of hemp for the Legislature to consider," said Commissioner Gipson. |
| Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith: U.S.-South Korea rice agreement to benefit Mississippi producers | |
 | U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith welcomed news of an agreement that could allow exports of rice grown in Mississippi to South Korea. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday announced the long-sought agreement by which South Korea will allow market access for 132,304 tons of U.S. rice annually, with an annual value of approximately $110 million. "As a rice-producing state, Mississippi can only benefit as South Korea agrees to provide guaranteed market access to U.S.-grown rice," said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate committees that authorize and fund federal agricultural programs. Rice production in the Mississippi Delta ranks sixth nationally. With more than 10.1 million hundred weight grown in 2018, valued at $117 million in production value, a $21 million increase over 2017. "The South Korean rice deal, along with China agreeing to lift its ban on U.S. poultry imports, represents very positive actions by the President and his team that will benefit Mississippi agriculture directly," Hyde-Smith said. |
| Sun-N-Sand Motor Hotel may be saved by historic designation | |
 | An iconic Jackson site may be saved from demolition if it manages to be designated as a historic Mississippi landmark. The Downtown Sun-N-Sand Motor Hotel on Lamar Street is currently under consideration by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to become a historic landmark, potentially saving it from being razed to make way for downtown parking, according to a new report. The department began its review of the site in late October. A 30-day public comment period started Nov. 5. Currently, a change.org petition started by the Mississippi Heritage Trust has garnered more than 1,300 signatures supporting preservation of the location. After being opened by the late businessman Dumas Milner in 1960, the Sun-N-Sand Motor Hotel served as an informal meeting site for state legislators thanks to its close proximity to the Capitol Building. |
| Report: Mississippi laws cause 'extreme' prison sentences | |
 | Mississippi's habitual offender laws are causing "extreme" prison sentences that are disproportionately affecting African American men and are costing the state millions of dollars for decades of incarceration, according to a new report by a nonprofit advocacy group founded by technology and business executives. The report released Tuesday by FWD.us -- a group also known as Forward -- says long prison sentences do not improve public safety. "Deterrence, in the case of long sentences, is the idea that people will not commit crimes because they are scared of going to prison for a long time," the report says. "But research shows that severe punishments do not increase public safety and don't deter criminal behavior in the first place." Mississippi has the third-highest imprisonment rate among U.S. states, after Louisiana and Oklahoma, according to the Justice Department. |
| Mississippi rated A for human trafficking laws | |
| Mississippi has improved to an A on the latest report on states' human trafficking laws after lawmakers passed a new law this year imposing tougher penalties for sex trafficking and treating minors involved in prostitution as victims. Mississippi has made steady progress in fighting human trafficking. Six years ago, the state was rated a D. "Last year, our state had a grade of "B" on our legislative report card, and it was our intent during last year's session to improve that grade," House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said in a statement. "We all know that it takes strong laws to begin to address this horrific crime, and we'll continue to make improvements with support services for all involved in this effort." Shared Hope credits passage of House Bill 571, which took effect July 1, as the reason for Mississippi moving from a B to an A. The bipartisan bill authored by Gunn passed in the House on a 116-0 vote. |
| Sen. Richard Shelby tries to ease concerns over possible government shutdown | |
 | Congress moved closer to clearing another stopgap funding bill Tuesday, after the House voted to send the continuing resolution to the Senate. The bill would stave off a funding lapse that would have begun when the current continuing resolution expires Thursday night. Once signed, it would provide lawmakers and the Trump administration another four weeks to try to reach agreement on the dozen annual spending bills that have stalled amid debate about border wall spending and how best to divide up $1.37 trillion in fiscal 2020 spending. The measure passed the House on a largely party-line vote, 231-192, with 10 Democrats voting against it and 12 Republicans supporting it. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby said Tuesday that staff continue to trade offers on subcommittee allocations, known as 302(b)s, and tried to tamp down concerns about a December shutdown. |
| Puppies, phones and porn: How model legislation affects consumers | |
 | Fair repair model bills are among thousands of proposed laws drafted for lawmakers by special interest groups and corporate interests. Copycat bills influence policy making across the nation, state by state, often with little scrutiny. Numerous pieces of model legislation stand to directly affect consumers -- targeting the prices and availability of various goods and services. One of the most common pieces of copycat legislation involves industrial hemp. A version of this hemp decriminalization model bill can be found on the website for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit that brings together conservative lawmakers and private sector stakeholders to draft and distribute model policies for consideration by state legislatures. |
| As Oil Prices Drop And Money Dries Up, Is The U.S. Shale Boom Going Bust? | |
 | The shale oil boom that catapulted the U.S. into the world's largest oil producer may be going bust. As oil prices drop amid weakening demand, bankruptcies and layoffs are up and drilling is down, signs of a crisis that's quietly roiling the industry. Some of the most successful companies in the oil business are household names -- think Exxon Mobil or Chevron. But the boom in shale drilling has been driven by smaller, independent operators. These companies have pushed the limits of drilling technology and taken big risks on unproven oil fields. Today, shale accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. oil production and nearly all of the industry's growth, but many of the companies that made that growth possible are now struggling to stay afloat. That has a lot to do with the business model of U.S. shale, says David Deckelbaum, an analyst at investment bank Cowen. |
| A Notorious Iranian Hacking Crew Is Targeting Industrial Control Systems | |
 | Iranian hackers have carried out some of the most disruptive acts of digital sabotage of the last decade, wiping entire computer networks in waves of cyberattacks across the Middle East and occasionally even the US. But now one of Iran's most active hacker groups appears to have shifted focus. Rather than just standard IT networks, they're targeting the physical control systems used in electric utilities, manufacturing, and oil refineries. At the CyberwarCon conference in Arlington, Virginia Thursday, Microsoft security researcher Ned Moran plans to present new findings from the company's threat intelligence group that show a shift in the activity of the Iranian hacker group APT33, also known by the names Holmium, Refined Kitten, or Elfin. The hackers' motivation -- and which industrial control systems they've actually breached -- remains unclear. |
| Ole Miss students to write, present bill proposals on sex education | |
 | Two University of Mississippi students are working with a statewide organization to improve sex education by proposing and lobbying for bills in Mississippi legislature. Mississippi law currently requires school districts to choose between "abstinence-only" and "abstinence-plus" curriculums. Both teach that sex is only appropriate within marriage. Tyler Yarbrough and Kelly Bates work with Teen Health Mississippi, which promotes policies that ensure access to sex education for young people, as well as affordable sexual and reproductive health services. Yarbrough and Bates will travel to Jackson in January to lobby on behalf of a bill they are helping to write that would require sex education curriculum to be medically accurate. "When I look at the issue and how this is a fight over what's true, and young people having access to the truth, so they can really have a better life and be more autonomous. I just believe that is so important right now," Yarbrough said. |
| New study shows many physicians aren't refreshing their blood pressure measuring skills | |
 | The American Medical Association and the American Heart Association have found many medical professionals don't get additional training in checking your blood pressure. Nearly half of the physicians surveyed said they haven't had re-training since medical school. Dr. Dan Jones is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He says getting an accurate blood pressure reading is vital. "Over-reading blood pressure could lead to the prescribing of medication not needed and the under-reading of a blood pressure could miss the opportunity to prevent a heart attack and a stroke," said Jones. Jones says UMMC is in the process of re-training every nurse and nurse aid. They are also standardizing blood pressure equipment used in clinics. |
| Several J-Settes, Sonic Boom members suspended amid hazing investigation | |
| Jackson State University has launched a hazing investigation. "Jackson State University has temporarily suspended several members of the Prancing J-Settes and the Sonic Boom over allegations of hazing pending the outcome of an investigation," said university spokesman L.A. Warren in a statement. "Because JSU does not condone such behavior, strict policies are imposed to maintain a safe environment that promotes academic excellence." Warren said earlier this week that an investigation was launched over "unauthorized off-campus excursions." Additional details have not been released. |
| Update: Millsaps Cabot Lodge Hotel to close before the end of the year | |
 | The Cabot Lodge Hotel at Millsaps College is scheduled to close before the end of the year as a long-term lease to operate the hotel comes to an end. Employees of the hotel were notified by MMI Hotel Group, which manages the hotel and leases the property from the college. The Cabot Lodge sits on an approximately 15-acre parcel at the intersection of Woodrow Wilson Avenue and North State Street. The land is owned by Millsaps. "For nearly 50 years, Millsaps students, parents, alumni, trustees, and friends of the College have stayed at the Cabot Lodge when they came to town for campus visits, athletic events, commencement, and more," Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, president of Millsaps, said in a release. "While many fond memories have been shared within its walls, it is exciting to consider what can become of the 15-acre northeast corner of campus when the building is removed." Micajah Sturdivant, president of Flowood-based MMI, said Tuesday that the management company "simply elected not to renew the lease." The hotel's last day of operation will be Dec. 14, Sturdivant said. |
| Auburn trustees to take up enrollment cap Friday | |
 | An enrollment cap and an update on Auburn's presidential search are expected when The university's board of trustees meets Thursday and Friday at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. The trustees are scheduled to vote Friday on capping the Auburn campus enrollment at 25,000 students per year, with freshman classes no bigger than 5,000. There would be a target of 60 percent for in-state freshmen accepted onto campus. Should space be tight on the main campus, freshman applicants and transfers would be redirected to the university's Montgomery campus. The moves are in response to public concerns about heavy traffic and rising housing prices in and around the city of Auburn, as well as the recent boom in private student housing developments popping up in the city's neighborhoods. |
| 'Bridge the gap': Peace Dinner aims to join Auburn students together | |
| Cuisine, culture and companionship between students of all colors and creeds are what define the International Student Organization's annual International Peace Dinner at Auburn University. This year, a location change saw the evening's offerings set up in the Student Activities Center, but that didn't stop ISO's member groups from giving it their all in a time when some feel cultural divides are more present than ever. Fifteen foods represented Auburn students all across the globe, ranging from African ham couscous to Vietnamese vegetable fried rice. "I think [the Peace Dinner] lets everyone stay together, meet more friends and also meet different cultures," said Jerry Shi, senior in aerospace engineering and member of ISO's Social Hour committee. "[It's] a dinner where we can share different countries' food and say, 'This food's very good; where are you from?'" |
| Learn to 'hack for America' at this Alabama university | |
| Hacking for America? One Alabama university's students can do that next Spring when the first "Hacking for Defense (H4D)" cybersecurity class begins in the state. The University of Alabama in Huntsville announced the class sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense Tuesday. The course teaches students to work with defense and intelligence agencies to solve unique problems provided by the Defense Department. One problem has already been proposed for UAH by the Missile Defense Agency at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal. "The world is moving forward and new adversaries are being born every day, and threats to national security are ever changing in nature," course instructor Dr. Tathagata Mukherjee said in a statement. "There is a need to understand the challenges and appreciate them on one end and to be able to solve these challenges on the other." |
| Former student's Title IX suit against U. of Arkansas gets go-ahead from judge | |
| A federal district court ruling allows a lawsuit to move forward that claims the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville acted with "deliberate indifference" to a student's report of rape. A former UA student filed the Title IX lawsuit in 2016 in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville. Her case makes claims about the university's response to her October 2014 report that she was sexually assaulted in her dorm room by another student. The ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III comes after University of Arkansas Office of General Counsel attorneys filed a motion seeking summary judgment in favor of the university. Holmes used the word "misleading" four times in his 22-page opinion to describe communication from UA to the student now suing the university. But he dismissed several claims in her lawsuit, including "pre-assault" allegations that UA should have done more to keep the alleged assailant from campus given his history, which included an arrest and a previous suspension. Mark Rushing, a UA spokesman, said attorneys will bring "facts at trial." |
| UGA receives $15.75 million to combat human trafficking | |
 | The University of Georgia has been selected to receive $15.75 million from the U.S. Department of State to expand programming and research to measurably reduce human trafficking. The new award, funded by the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, will scale up the UGA-based African Programming and Research Initiative to End Slavery's current anti-human trafficking work in Sierra Leone and Guinea, as well as expand efforts to Senegal. As part of the funded project, APRIES will also launch the Prevalence Reduction Innovation Forum. The forum – the first of its kind – will enlist scholars from universities throughout the world to test and develop the best ways to estimate the prevalence of human trafficking. The award contributes to APRIES' growing budget, which received a $4 million award in 2018 from the TIP Office under the Program to End Modern Slavery. |
| U. of Missouri prevails in guns on campus case | |
 | Circuit Judge Jeff Harris on Monday rejected the arguments of the last three state attorneys general -- one Democrat and two Republicans -- and upheld the University of Missouri's ban on carrying concealed guns on campus. Ruling in a case that began in 2015 with a lawsuit filed by Royce Barondes, a professor of law on the Columbia campus, Harris wrote that the rule does not violate the state constitution's guarantee of the right to bear arms and supports the university's compelling interests of promoting safety on its campuses. "To reach a result based on something other than the evidence adduced at trial would be engaging in judicial activism, which the court will not do," Harris wrote. "The court must reach a judgment based on the evidence adduced at trial, and the evidence adduced at trial supports a finding that the rule is constitutional." In his ruling, Harris hinted that his decision on the law may be different from his personal views. |
| Director of U. of Missouri's online K-12 academy leaves with lawsuit pending against program | |
 | Zachary March retired as director of Mizzou Academy last week, Kathryn Chval, dean of the College of Education, told reporters Tuesday. The announcement comes amid ongoing litigation between the University of Missouri and a Brazilian education services company over the online K-12 program. Chval said she's taking over as interim director of the program, which provides distance-learning to 5,300 students in 21 countries. Chval said the College of Education will soon launch a national search for March's replacement. She described March as a valued employee and said his departure was his decision. Chval said she could not comment on whether this had anything to do with a pending lawsuit over the K-12 program by the Brazilian firm, High School Serviços Educacionais. She scheduled the interview after reporters began inquiring about reports that March had left the program. March, who worked 24 years for MU in various roles, has not returned the Columbia Missourian's requests for comment. |
| Sen. Lamar Alexander backs bill to count veterans' benefits toward for-profits' federal revenue limit | |
 | The powerful Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate's education committee is backing a bipartisan bill aimed at for-profit colleges and their recruiting of students who are veterans of the U.S. military. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee this week told Bloomberg Government that he supports a bill that would count GI Bill and active-duty service-member tuition benefits as federal aid under the so-called 90-10 rule, which requires that for-profit colleges get no more than 90 percent of their revenue from federal sources. Alexander is leaving the Senate next year. The former education secretary and university president is pushing hard to pass several bills on higher education. This package of legislation, which includes proposals with bipartisan support, would serve as a narrow update to the Higher Education Act. That law, which oversees federal financial aid, has not been reauthorized in 11 years. |
| Minority-serving colleges dealt another blow in funding fight | |
 | Congressional negotiators have failed to galvanize support for restoring federal funding to minority-serving colleges and universities as part of a bill to keep the government running, dealing another blow in an ongoing fight to help schools with limited resources. House Democrats unveiled legislation Monday evening to forestall a government shutdown, a plan that advocacy groups had hoped would include $255 million in funding for minority-serving colleges that expired in September. But the bill made no mention of the higher-education funding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Senate Republicans blocked the inclusion of a provision that would have restored the money, which has been set aside for tribal colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities since 2008. Those schools often use the funding for STEM programs and for scholarships and to improve facilities. |
| U.S. Senate panel sees a standard grant application as defense against foreign influence | |
| The university administrators who have long advocated for a standard grant application process across the U.S. government say it would save time and money. Today, an influential Senate panel offered another reason: to prevent the fruits of government-funded research from falling into the wrong hands. How to deal with China's transformation into a technological superpower is a front-burner issue for national policymakers. A new report by the intelligence panel of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs says federal research agencies have been tardy in responding to China's aggressive moves, which are exemplified by its decadelong effort to recruit world-class scientists working in U.S. labs. |
| A Move Toward Greater Diversity in Deanships | |
 | When Valerie Kinloch was named dean of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, in July 2017, she did not know she was the first black female dean at the university. A former vice provost at Pitt who wanted to interview her brought it to her attention. "At first I was floored" by the news, she says, "and then that quickly became something that motivated me." Kinloch can now see how the university took 230 years to hire its first black woman as dean. Colleges in the United States, she says, "generally make assumptions about people who should have certain positions. And oftentimes, we don't necessarily think that those people who are most qualified are black women." She still sees a need for more-open conversations about racism, even as progress is being made in leadership. Since she was hired, Kinloch has gone from being the only black female dean at the university to being one of two, after Audrey J. Murrell was named acting dean of the Honors College. |
| Syracuse tightens security after white supremacist manifesto; Gov. Andrew Cuomo rips chancellor | |
| Security was tightened across the Syracuse University campus Tuesday after a white supremacist manifesto was posted on a campus forum and reportedly "air dropped" to cellphones of some students at the school library. The appearance of the manifesto was the latest in a series of almost daily racist episodes that have sparked days of protests at the 22,000-student university. The previous incidents prompted school Chancellor Kent Syverud to issue a statement Sunday citing the "pain, anger and anxiety recent events have caused on our campus." Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement Tuesday blasting Syverud's handling of the issue and calling on the university's Board of Trustees to bring in an "experienced monitor" to oversee the situation. Campus police said Tuesday that patrols were doubled, marked vehicles were stationed "strategically" around campus, and walking patrols were increased. |
| What jobs are affected by AI? Better-paid, better-educated workers face the most exposure | |
| Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated increasing interest in "future of work" discussions in recent years as the technology has achieved superhuman performance in a range of valuable tasks, ranging from manufacturing to radiology to legal contracts. With that said, though, it has been difficult to get a specific read on AI's implications on the labor market. In part because the technologies have not yet been widely adopted, previous analyses have had to rely either on case studies or subjective assessments by experts to determine which occupations might be susceptible to a takeover by AI algorithms. What's more, most research has concentrated on an undifferentiated array of "automation" technologies including robotics, software, and AI all at once. The result has been a lot of discussion -- but not a lot of clarity -- about AI, with prognostications that range from the utopian to the apocalyptic. |
| Time to give thanks for affordable and sustainable turkey | |
| Jayson Lusk, department head and distinguished professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, writes for The Conversation: Americans will eat about 210 million turkeys this year, amounting to over 16 pounds per person. Much of that will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day. Over time, our Thanksgiving meal has become considerably more affordable. Turkey will probably average about US$1.40 per pound across the country in November 2019, which is less than half the price consumers were paying for turkey in the 1970s in inflation-adjusted terms. I'm an expert on food and agricultural economics, and I set out to answer the question: How has turkey become so much more affordable? It turns out there isn't a single factor, but rather a web of innovations. |
| Billy McCoy's record one of vision, progress | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Mississippi House Speaker William J. "Billy" McCoy was a second-generation state lawmaker, a college-educated vocational agriculture teacher, a Farmers Home Administration loan officer and briefly an auditor for the state -- and yes, he was a farmer and one of his family's successful cash crops was red wiggler worms. McCoy's detractors and critics played "the worm farmer" card often in talk radio rants and speeches designed to reduce a great man to a caricature of a hillbilly rube. To my great chagrin, I felt some inadvertent responsibility for that. ... But "the worm farmer" persona crafted by McCoy's political enemies ignored a lifetime of his fight to better the lives of the state's common people through bolstering public education at all levels, providing a true statewide corridor road program to provide farm-to-market access, and championing economic development projects that provided higher pay and better working conditions. |
SPORTS
| Sports Turf Managers Association Unveils 2019 Field of the Year Winners | |
| The Sports Turf Managers Association has unveiled its 2019 Field of the Year winners, including honors for professional baseball, and college baseball and softball. Every year, STMA presents the industry's highest honors to members who manage baseball, football, soccer, softball and other sporting playing surfaces at the professional, collegiate, schools (K-12), and parks and recreation levels. The 2019 winners are featured below. College and University: Football -- Scott Field, Davis Wade Stadium at Mississippi State University (Starkville, Miss.): Brandon Hardin, Superintendent-Sports Turf. A panel of 12 judges independently scored entries based on playability, appearance of surfaces, utilization of innovative solutions, effective use of budget and implementation of a comprehensive agronomic program. |
| MSU men's basketball notebook: Bulldogs prepping for neutral site tournament | |
| For the first time this season, the Mississippi State men's basketball team is going on the road. Well, kind of. The Bulldogs will play three games in four days at the Myrtle Beach Invitational at Coastal Carolina's HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina, starting with Tulane at 1 p.m. Thursday. Depending on the result of MSU's matchup against the Green Wave, the Bulldogs will either play No. 17 Villanova or Middle Tennessee in the afternoon Friday. They'll take Saturday off before playing one of Utah, Coastal Carolina, Ohio or Baylor Sunday at a time to be determined. "There's a lot of benefits (to this tournament)," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "You're playing really good teams on a neutral court. A lot of teams don't want to play a home-and-home. They don't want to come to Starkville and I don't want to go to Philadelphia. So you get three games where you stay in the same place. It's good for camaraderie for the players." |
| Vic Schaefer remaining patient with young squad following postgame outburst | |
| Less than 24 hours after Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer offered a sermon on his team's effort following Monday's 122-82 win over Troy, he hopped behind the podium once more. Speaking with more than 150 fans on the second floor of the Mize Pavilion for the first of his weekly luncheons, he revisited the postgame spiel. "It felt like someone died in there, y'all," he said -- only half kidding. While he didn't beleaguer the point, Schaefer's message was clear -- his squad's talent is there, but the maturity remains a work in progress. "We are skilled offensively -- we need to do work on things defensively and with rebounding," he said Monday. "It is early, only November, so I always have to keep that in mind." Just four games into the season, it's still early to draw many meaningful conclusions from MSU's efforts, but the Bulldogs do remain a team that is fresh-faced and wide-eyed as they replace three starters from last season's Elite Eight team. |
| Mississippi State's Jessika Carter claims SEC Player of the Week | |
| After posting her first career double-doubles in back-to-back games, Mississippi State's Jessika Carter added another first to her resume. Carter was selected as the SEC Player of the Week for the first time on Tuesday after averaging 22 points and 16 rebounds in wins over Murray State and Troy. The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward from Waverly Hall, Georgia, scored 25 points and grabbed 18 boards on Friday against Murray State and followed up with 19 points and 14 rebounds against Troy on Monday. For the year, Carter ranks second in the conference with 12.3 rebounds per game and is fifth in scoring at 18.8 points. |
| Impressive play earns Mississippi State's Jessika Carter SEC Player of the Week honors | |
 | After posting double-doubles in back-to-back games, Jessika Carter has been named the SEC Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Carter dominated in 10th-ranked Mississippi State's wins over Murray State and Troy, averaging 22.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Up next, the Bulldogs are on the road for the first time this season, as they head to the capital to take on Jackson State on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the MSU Radio Network. Mississippi State currently has the nation's second-longest road winning streak at nine games. For fans in the Jackson area, a "Meet and Greet" will be head on Wednesday, November 20 at the Hilton Jackson, located at 1001 East County Line Road, Jackson, MS 3921. The reception will be from 6-7, featuring head coach Vic Schaefer and autographs from the Bulldogs. |
| 3 questions Mississippi State must answer against Abilene Christian | |
| Joe Moorhead has been on the other side of a week like this. Abilene Christian, a team from the Football Championship Subdivision, comes into Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday looking to take down Mississippi State. When Moorhead was the head coach at Fordham, the FCS school beat Temple and Army, two teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision, which is the higher level of Division I football. Mississippi State (4-6, 2-5 SEC) is a 37-point favorite over Abilene Christian (5-6). Moorhead knows from firsthand experience what kind of mindset the Wildcats are going to have Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. "You kind of got into it with a very aggressive mindset and attitude," he said. "Anyone who puts on a helmet, or plays the game at this level, or any sport for that matter, wants to believe they can play at the highest level. Like I said, the kids enter the game with a chip on their shoulder. They go in with everything to gain and nothing to lose." |
| Bulldogs' bowl scenario is simple | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Logan Lowery writes: Math was never my strongest subject in school but even I can figure out what has to happen for Mississippi State's football team the rest of the way. The Bulldogs (4-6) must win their final two games, at home against Abilene Christian and Ole Miss, or there won't be a bowl game this year, which would be the first time in nine years that has happened. It had been a few weeks since I looked into what some of my media brethren thought the Bulldogs' chances of going bowling this year were. So I did like any red-blooded American does these days and simply Googled it. Of the eight outlets I looked at, all still had State in their bowl projections. ... That's all assuming Mississippi State wins out. |
| Everyday Heroes: Burke Masters, priest who once dreamed of majors now an MLB chaplain | |
| Burke Masters was a baseball player who waited years for his call up to the major leagues. But when it finally came, he was wearing a different uniform than he expected. Masters, you see, is a Catholic priest. And years after his dream died out in the minor leagues, he was named the chaplain of the Chicago Cubs. "God was saying this was your dream to be a major league baseball player and now you're living my dream as a priest. And you get to do it in the major leagues," he said. His inspiring story -- built around a surrender to God's will -- is why Father Masters is featured in "Everyday Heroes," a video series produced by the Knights of Columbus showcasing ordinary men acting in extraordinary ways, who are strengthened by their Catholic faith and membership in the Knights of Columbus. Father Masters was not raised Catholic. He played baseball at a Catholic high school and was baptized into the Catholic Church during his senior year. As a student-athlete at Mississippi State University, he fit in his faith when he had time, but baseball was his central focus. He also was dating a girl that he hoped to marry. God had other plans for him. |
| Crime reports in Oxford double over LSU weekend | |
| Crime and arrest reports in Oxford came in at nearly double the rate of other game day weekends during the University of Mississippi's rivalry football weekend against the LSU Tigers. Oxford officials reported 91 campus incidents, 60 city arrests and 27 ambulances sent to campus between Thursday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 17. According to the University Police Department's crime report, the prior game day weekend against New Mexico State reported only 41 campus incidents, and homecoming weekend resulted in 67 campus incidents. The Clery Daily Crime Log shows that campus-reported incidents included: harassment, motor accidents and violations, alcohol violations, reports of suspicious persons, larceny at a sorority house, larceny at the J.D. Williams Library, vandalism, arrests at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, fights in the Grove, possessions of fake IDs, fraud, assault in The Pavilion and 27 reports of an ambulance needed on campus. Hildon Sessums, captain of the Oxford Police Department, reported 60 total arrests: 32 arrests for public drunk, 12 arrests for driving under the influence, one arrest for a minor in possession and seven arrests for drug offenses. |
| Alabama AD Greg Byrne gets big raise, extension | |
| For the second time in the past 18 months, the contract of Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne was extended with a raise. It was a significant raise to $1.3 million in the 2019-20 school year with $40,000 more every year in the contract extended one year through 2026. The salary will be $1.54 million in the final year of the contract as approved Tuesday by the compensation committee of Alabama's board of trustees. Byrne's old deal paid him $980,000 this year with the salary to rise to $1.13 million in the final year of 2024-25. That was approved in August 2018. The contract also calls for deferred compensation directed toward retirement plans starting at $300,000 in the first year and escalating to $450,000 a year in 2026. Byrne was hired to replace Bill Battle in March 2017 after serving in the same role at Arizona and Mississippi State. |
| Hunts donate $5 million toward Razorback baseball facility | |
| The soon-to-be-constructed baseball operations building at the University of Arkansas will be named for the family of J.B. and Johnelle Hunt, pending approval by the UA Board of Trustees at its meeting this week in Little Rock. The Hunt family donated $5 million to the project, according to a UA release Tuesday. If approved, the building will be named the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Baseball Development Center. It would be the second building on the UA campus named for the Hunts. In 2007, the UA opened the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Center for Academic Excellence, a classroom building located on the corner of Dickson St. and Harmon Ave. The Hunt donation is the second $5 million donation made toward the construction of the $27 million baseball facility that is set to open in the spring of 2021. A groundbreaking for the building will occur sometime next month. |
| A fight over LSU-Alabama breaks out, and a man is charged with murder in Alabama | |
 | A fight between two fans over the outcome of the Nov. 9 LSU-Alabama game turned fatal when one man shot the other with a pistol. James Michael Roland "Mikie" Merritt, of Cherokee, Alabama, died Friday after nearly a week spent on life support in Huntsville Hospital. He was 29. The alleged shooter, David Allen Fulkerson, had been charged with attempted murder, which was upgraded to murder on Friday, according to the TimesDaily newspaper in Florence. Fulkerson's bail was increased from $50,000 to $100,000 after Merritt's death. "They just got into it over the ball game," Colbert County Sheriff Frank Williamson told the TimesDaily. "They'd been jawing at each other all day. Alcohol played a big part in it." Williamson said that Fulkerson's and Merritt's girlfriends are sisters and that the fight broke out at Fulkerson's residence in Littleville, Alabama. People had gathered there to watch the game in which LSU beat Alabama 46-41. |
| U. of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling now has food and beer delivery for select seats | |
 | A new service at Thompson-Boling Arena is giving Tennessee basketball fans the chance to grab a beer and bite to eat without ever leaving their seat. FanFood, an app-based concession ordering and delivery service, launched earlier this season in the loge and suite areas of Thompson-Boling Arena and is hoping to eventually deliver concessions throughout the facility. FanFood Co-Founder Will Anderson said the service is already in place throughout similar facilities, such as the Dean E. Smith Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jimmy Delaney, associate athletics director for fan experience and sales, said in an email that the service is working well so far at the arena. The plan is to continue operating in the suite and loge areas for "a number of home games," he said. Delaney said the university is not ready to make a decision about expanding the service and whether that would allow people in general seating areas to purchase beer through FanFood. Continued success could help increase the likelihood of an expansion, but there are multiple factors the university must consider. |
| Head Coach Derek Mason to return to Vanderbilt in 2020 | |
| Derek Mason will be on the sidelines come the opening week of the 2020 Commodore football season. Athletic Director Malcolm Turner announced on Tuesday that he would be retaining the Vanderbilt head coach, bringing him back for his seventh season at the helm. "I want to make it very clear that Derek Mason will be our head football coach moving forward," Turner said in a tweet. "Coach Mason has my full support and I am committed to working with him to ensure our football program has the necessary resources and support to succeed." Mason's team is 2-8 this season and 1-6 in SEC play. In his six years at the helm, Vanderbilt is 26-46 overall and 10-37 in conference games. He has also taken the Commodores to two bowl games in the past three years, going 0-2 in such games. The Commodores have never had a winning record under his leadership. |
| Ironman half-triathlon coming to Shelby Farms Park, Memphis in 2020 | |
| Ironman is bringing their signature 70.3 half-triathlon to the Bluff City in 2020, the company announced on Tuesday. Set to take place at Shelby Farms Park, the course will entail a 1.2 mile swim and a 13.1 mile run inside the park, and a 56-mile bike ride that begins and ends in Shelby Farms, for a combined 70.3 mile course. At the Tuesday announcement set against the backdrop of Hyde Lake in Shelby Farms, president and CEO of Memphis Tourism Kevin Kane said the projected economic impact of the event is $10 million. Reminding the crowd that Memphis was once deemed as one of the unhealthiest cities in the nation, Kane said the announcement of a world-class endurance sporting event is another example of how that narrative is changing. Officials with the racing company were impressed by what they saw in Memphis and Shelby Farms -- one of the largest urban parks in the nation -- and decided to host a half-triathlon course, according to the park's executive director, Jen Andrews. |
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