| Wednesday, November 27, 2019 |
| Resolving the 'proton radius puzzle' | |
 | How do you measure the width of a proton? A ruler won't help and neither will a microscope. Instead, it involves smashing electrons into protons at nearly the speed of light, then measuring how far the electrons travel when they bounce off, or scatter, from the protons. This method is called electron scattering, and a new version was used at Jefferson Laboratory for the first time, providing one of the most precise measurements ever for the charge radius of a proton. "In electron scattering, in order to extract the radius, we have to go to as small a scattering angle as possible," said Dipangkar Dutta, team member and professor at Mississippi State University. "To get the proton radius, you need to extrapolate to zero angle, which you cannot access in an experiment. So the closer to zero you can get, the better." |
| 4 County CEO discusses rural internet service at Rotary | |
 | While 4 County Electric Power Association is open to entering the rural broadband arena, the cooperative remains cautious. In a presentation at the Starkville Rotary Club meeting Monday, 4 County CEO and General Manager Brian Clark and Marketing and Public Relations Director Jon Turner discussed the cooperatives' current plans for rural broadband, as well as other updates. A law change in January of this year in the state Legislature opened rural broadband up to the state's rural electric cooperatives, in line with measures taken by other states, including Alabama. Clark said he was surprised at how quickly the law was changed, saying that he and other Mississippi co-op managers expected it to take place two or three years further down the line than it did. He said 4 County was still weighing options for how to proceed. |
| Proposed Starkville code gives developers flexibility in optional districts | |
 | The draft of the city's unified development code has finally attracted some public interest beyond the proposed restrictions on short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, City Planner Daniel Havelin said Monday. The city has received citizen feedback on other changes to the code, both on the city website and at the public hearing the Planning and Zoning Commission held on Nov. 12, Havelin said. He and Assistant City Planner Emily Corban presented an updated draft of the code to the board of aldermen at a special-call meeting Monday and explained how the proposed new code differs from the current one. "We have listened often and made changes and seen things that made sense, so I think everybody should be comfortable that we've been responsive to their requests and to the concerns that have come to us on a fairly regular basis," Mayor Lynn Spruill said. |
| OCSO: Calls asking to pay off warrants are a scam | |
| Oktibbeha County citizens have been receiving scam phone calls from someone pretending to be from the county sheriff's office, claiming they have a warrant against them for missing jury duty, Capt. Brett Watson said. The caller claims to be OCSO Chief Deputy Chadd Garnett and tries to convince people to set up a money transfer to pay off the warrant, Watson said. The department might call and ask a person to come to the sheriff's office to respond to a warrant but would never ask for money, and the department does not issue warrants for missing jury duty, Watson said. "We might come find you at the direction of the judge and bring you to court, but there's not a warrant issued that I'm aware of," he said. |
| SPD investigating fatal shooting at Brookville Garden | |
| A man was pronounced dead at the scene after a Tuesday afternoon shooting on Everglade Avenue in Brookville Garden apartments. Starkville Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Brandon Lovelady said officers responded to a shots fired call around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday and found a deceased male upon arrival. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the victim as 23-year-old Laterrence Dewon McCarter. No arrests have been announced in connection with the shooting. Investigators from both the Starkville Police Department and Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office were on scene and no one else was injured in the shooting. On scene, what appeared to be the victim's car had a sizable hole in the vehicle's back windshield and had collided with a van. |
| 'Bomb Cyclone' Whips Through The West As Winter Storms Snarl Thanksgiving Travel | |
 | Holiday travelers have just one day until their Thanksgiving buffets -- but before many can tuck into drumsticks and potatoes, they can expect to be buffeted by severe weather. The National Weather Service is warning of two big storm systems across the U.S. -- one tacking up the Great Lakes and into New England on Wednesday, while the other is already making its presence felt in the West. For much of the Midwest and Northeast, the National Weather Service is predicting high winds and heavy snow. In the Twin Cities, more than 8 inches have already fallen outside the airport, and the University of Minnesota's local campus canceled classes Wednesday. And forecasters expect the storm to reach New England by Wednesday night. For that reason, authorities are warning folks to avoid traveling if possible -- though of course, that's not likely to stop many people on the eve of the holiday. |
| Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson promotes Mississippi Christmas trees | |
 | As the holidays approach, Commissioner Andy Gipson and the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce encourage those celebrating the holidays to make this a "Genuine Mississippi" Christmas by purchasing a live Mississippi Christmas tree. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce has made it easy for shoppers to find the perfect Mississippi Christmas tree this holiday season online. The website, part of the Genuine MS state branding program, provides a guide to the types of Christmas trees grown in the state and the locations of Mississippi Christmas tree farms where locally-grown trees can be purchased. "As families prepare for the holidays, I want to encourage them to visit one of Mississippi's twenty-eight Christmas tree farms. Selecting a Genuine MS Christmas tree means you are not only supporting Mississippi farmers, but also the local and state economies as well," said Gipson. |
| State lottery ticket sales surpass $2.5M in first 24 hours; man wins $2,000 | |
 | Mississippi's lottery is off to a rousing start with more than $2.5 million in scratch-off lottery ticket sales reported the first 24 hours. "We believe Mississippi has more than exceeded expectations," Mississippi Lottery Corp. President Tom Shaheen said in a news release Tuesday. "We knew Mississippians were ready to play the lottery. We did not foresee the level of their excitement! Next, onto Powerball and Mega Millions!" David Bond, 65, of Wiggins was the biggest winner on the first day of the lottery. He won $2,000 from a Triple 7s scratch-off lottery ticket. "I wasn't going to go hunting at first, "Bond said in a Mississippi Lottery Corp. statement. "I went to town for supplies at the Jr. Food Mart in Wiggins and bought five tickets, all Triple 7s. Then, I went hunting." Bond said it wasn't until he arrived home after hunting that he began to scratch his $2 tickets. |
| Lottery fever rising in Starkville | |
| Mississippi residents were given the chance to play the lottery for the first time in the state's history this week with scratch-off tickets launching on Monday. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation, which was established under the Alyce G. Clarke Mississippi Lottery Law passed in 2018, the same law that created the lottery, reported nearly 1,200 retailers across the state were selling scratch-off tickets. While lottery sales became active at 5 a.m. Monday, Chareda Boykins said customers visiting the Marathon where she works were asking about the scratch-off tickets long before then. "The one dollar tickets have been the most popular so far," Boykins said. Despite the excitement, Boykins said she planned to avoid the lottery but was happy to continue watching others try and win. "I don't think I want to play," Boykins said. |
| State's revenue may exceed the budget | |
 | A Brookhaven legislator is hopeful revenue estimations for the state will continue an upward trend. Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, in her fourth year on the Budget Committee, said revenue estimations were revised recently and are higher than expected. When the committee -- which includes members from both the Senate and the House -- met last week to estimate the revenue for the next year's budget, they had one big question on their minds. "What will be the tax receipts for the year?" she said. The majority of taxes in Mississippi come from personal income tax, sales tax and corporate tax. "In all three of those areas our collections are up this year and so we raised the projection for this current budget year," she said. The total state revenue was getting close to $6 billion during fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. It was about $5.7 billion in 2018. When Doty joined the Legislature in 2012, the general fund budget was $5.4 billion. The committee adopted the projection of about $5.99 billion for the next fiscal year. "We're almost at that $6 billion mark," she said. |
| Fight brewing over who runs concessions at Mississippi State Fairgrounds | |
| A family-owned concessions company in Mississippi claims the state fair commission is about to put them out of business, send money out of state, and make a decision that ultimately hurts taxpayers. It's all about who gets to sell concessions at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds -- and whether they should be based in Mississippi. As commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Andy Gipson has championed buying local food and supporting Mississippi businesses, but the Mississippi Fair Commission was about to pick a French-owned company to run its concessions. In his opening remarks, Gipson, who attended the meeting via phone, said it was "unusual" to have so much interest in a concessions contract. It's not a typical state contract. |
| At Florida 'homecoming rally,' Trump builds his case against impeachment | |
 | President Donald Trump on Tuesday spent much of his "homecoming rally" here building his case against impeachment before thousands of enthusiastic supporters. He cast Democrats' inquiry as a desperate effort to win back the White House in 2020. And he put those proceedings in the same category as the Mueller investigation, labeling all of it a "scam" and a "hoax." Tuesday's night rally -- lasting more than 90 minutes and held in a key battleground state that the president, a lifelong New Yorker, recently declared as his official residence -- was the latest evidence that Trump intends to run his 2020 reelection campaign on his brand of political grievances. Trump has long complained to friends, allies and White House aides about what he considers unfair treatment. |
| U.S. life expectancy: Americans are dying young at alarming rates | |
 | Death rates from suicide, drug overdoses, liver disease and dozens of other causes have been rising over the past decade for young and middle-aged adults, driving down overall life expectancy in the United States for three consecutive years, according to a strikingly bleak study published Tuesday that looked at the past six decades of mortality data. The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was immediately hailed by outside researchers for its comprehensive treatment of a still-enigmatic trend: the reversal of historical patterns in longevity. The findings are sure to fuel political debate about causes and potential solutions because the geography of rising death rates overlaps to a significant extent with states and regions that are hotly contested in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. |
| Two agencies, two different approaches to drone threats at airports | |
 | Nearly a year after a series of drone sightings shut down holiday traffic at an airport near London for two days, the U.S. government is entertaining two starkly different approaches to dealing with the problem -- even as the busy holiday travel season commences. On one hand, the Federal Aviation Administration is hoping to release a long-awaited rule in December that would equip drones with the electronic equivalent of a license plate, allowing law enforcement to match a drone to its operator. On the other, a coalition of federal agencies is drafting plans of how federal air marshals could shoot those drones out of the sky if necessary. "A lot of the challenge right now is someone on the ground not knowing if that thing flying in the field to the left of the runway is authorized or not," said Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, which represents the drone and robotics industry. |
| Relocated Bureau of Land Management staff face salary cuts | |
 | A new internal Bureau of Land Management website designed to answer employees' questions about the agency's upcoming relocation out West says staffers should expect a drop in their overall pay. The information was included in an internal page available to staff seen by The Hill that contained questions and answers about the controversial plan to move most D.C.-based BLM employees and establish a new headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo. In the page, BLM leaders lay out their rationale for the move, touting one of the benefits of relocating as "general cost savings for the bureau because of less expensive office space, in most cases, and decreasing travel costs." Lawmakers have spent months pushing the agency to justify its claims that the move will save money -- requests that have thus far gone unfilled. In other cases, relocations of federal agencies have gut them of staff. When the Agriculture Department moved the Economic Research Service to Kansas City, Mo., nearly 80 percent of employees left the agency rather than relocate. |
| UM's first African American female Rhodes Scholar details future plans, accomplishments | |
 | Arielle Hudson was selected as the University of Mississippi's first African American female Rhodes Scholar, and the university's 27th recipient overall, on Saturday. Hudson, a senior secondary English education major, was announced as a recipient on Nov. 23. She grew up in Tunica and graduated from the Mississippi School of Math and Science in 2016 before attending Ole Miss. As a Rhodes Scholar recipient, she will attend the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom beginning in October 2020. She plans to pursue dual master's degrees in comparative social policy and comparative international education. "It's a great privilege and I'm excited to be in Oxford, to be submerged in a culture of diverse people and diverse curriculum and figure out some of the best solutions to bring back to Mississippi and the U.S.," Hudson said. Hudson said her greatest achievement at Ole Miss has been helping to unanimously pass an Associated Student Body resolution to have the Confederate statue relocated from its current spot in the Lyceum Circle to the Confederate cemetery on campus. |
| U. of Alabama study looks at differences in Thanksgiving, Christmas wrecks | |
 | Traffic crashes during the Thanksgiving season tend to happen during typical rush-hour times, while Christmas season crashes are more likely to involve drug- or alcohol-impaired drivers, according to University of Alabama researchers. A study by UA's Center for Advanced Public Safety analyzed state traffic records during the past five years from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2 for Thanksgiving and Dec. 18 to Jan. 1 for Christmas. "We wanted to get the characteristics of the two periods as close as possible with regard to factors that were clearly not related to the two holiday seasons themselves," said David Brown, a researcher with CAPS who directed the study. "The first, and most important, finding was that these two holiday seasons are very much different when it comes to traffic crash causation." The study also indicated that the annual Iron Bowl football game between UA and Auburn University likely contributes to more crashes in the cities of Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Birmingham. There are also more crashes on Interstate 59 during the Thanksgiving period. |
| Auburn's Veterans Resource Center attempts to enrich academic experience | |
| Kyle Venable has heard every misconception about veterans: They're all men, they're all old and they've all seen combat. But while there are some veterans who fit this mold, Venable said, the truth is there are many who do not. "Any time women are around, they go to anything that has to do with Veterans Day, they [get asked], 'Oh, your husband served?' No. It doesn't have to be that way," Venable said, who's the program coordinator for the Auburn University Veterans Resource Center and a former 19-year member of the Marine Corps. "That shouldn't be the first question." As of 2016, every single type of job or post is open to women. Between 14-16% of those who serve in the enlisted forces are women, according to the Pew Research Center. Right now, there are 350 veterans on campus, with 86 actively involved with the Veterans Resource Center, according to Venable. |
| First transgender woman Rhodes Scholar a U. of Tennessee alum | |
 | Hera Jay Brown has been named the first transgender woman to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and the University of Tennessee's ninth Rhodes scholar. Brown is a 2018 graduate of UT-Knoxville and a Corryton native. At UT, Brown was part of the school's top honors program, the Haslam Scholars. Brown plans to apply to Oxford University with the goal of getting a master's degree and doctorate in migration studies. "Studying at Oxford will be an incredible opportunity and platform to collaborate with many of the world's best scholars working to advance the rights of and protections for refugees around the globe," Brown said. "Through the Rhodes I have a real chance here to bolster partnerships I've built with refugee communities in the United States and abroad." Brown said she has seen some hate and anger from people after she was announced as a scholar, but hopes she will be able to "put a face to a community" that people may not be familiar with. |
| Lawmakers blast U. of South Carolina for brief, internal search for new top financial officer | |
| South Carolina lawmakers are blasting the University of South Carolina for the way it's planning to hire one of its top administrators. USC posted a listing on its job site last Thursday seeking a chief operating officer, which oversees facility maintenance, parking, risk management, transportation and more, according to the job posting. The problem that legislators -- namely Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland and Rep. Kirkman Finlay, R-Richland -- have with it: the five-business-day search closes Wednesday, Nov. 27; the search is for internal candidates only, and the search comes shortly before Thanksgiving, when many people are distracted, traveling, or both. "When you spend public money, why shouldn't qualified people from throughout the state and country be able to apply?" Harpootlian asked. "Obviously, the fix is in." USC said previously it is searching internally because it wants somebody with institutional knowledge and the search is short because President Robert Caslen is eager to fill top positions, spokesman Jeff Stensland said. |
| UGA aims to improve safety of self-driving cars | |
 | Millions of American motorists will take to the streets and highways this week and next month to visit friends and family during the holidays. More vehicles on the road inevitably means more wrecks and injuries. Some area scientists are working on ways to make such trips more safe for when cars no longer require a driver. Researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering will use a Cyber-Physical Systems grant from the National Science Foundation to develop systems that help autonomous vehicles safely navigate the nation's streets and highways. While the emerging technology of self-driving vehicles is expected to improve both the safety and the efficiency of transportation, the researchers say these goals are not possible if automated vehicles can't coordinate with other vehicles on the road. The challenge is even greater when a large network of autonomous vehicles shares the highway with human-driven cars and trucks. |
| Swastikas at UGA, Georgia College create calls for more security | |
| Carolyn Dinberg said she felt "sucker punched" when she got a call a few weeks ago from her daughter, Ariana, a first-year student at the University of Georgia. Ariana told her mother someone wrote "all heil" and drew a swastika -- a symbol of anti-Semitism -- on her memo board outside her dorm room. Ariana described the situation in her typical calm manner, but she didn't feel safe. "It took me by surprise," said Dinberg, an attorney. "You definitely didn't think it would happen here. But it's happening everywhere, and it's kind of sad." Jewish students, their parents and supporting organizations are exploring additional safety measures after recent acts of anti-Semitic vandalism at campuses nationwide, including at UGA, the state's flagship school, and at Georgia College & State University. The incidents have unnerved students and their families, and the presidents of both Georgia schools have condemned the acts. But others say more must be done. |
| Federal data show proportion of instructors who work full-time is rising | |
 | The American college faculty is, once again, becoming more heavily full-time than part-time, new federal data reveal -- as professors make up a modestly smaller part of the overall higher education workforce. Throughout the early part of this decade, Education Department data showed that the number of instructors who worked part-time consistently outpaced the number who worked full-time, as adjunctification -- higher education's version of the gig economy -- took hold. New data released Tuesday by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics show that 748,277 of the 1,454,136 postsecondary employees characterized as instructors were employed full-time -- 51.5 percent. That continues a trendlet in the last few years in which the number of full-time instructors has risen and the number of part-timers has declined -- thereby tipping the scales (ever so slightly) back in favor of full-time employment. |
| Florida man tries to recruit Islamic State for terrorist attack on college deans after getting kicked out | |
 | A Florida man was arrested after trying to get the Islamic State to attack two college deans in terrorist attacks after he had been suspended or expelled. North Miami Beach resident Salman Rashid, 23, has been charged with soliciting another person to commit a crime of violence, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami announced Monday. According to court documents, the FBI started investigating Rashid in April 2018 after reviewing violent Facebook posts that advocated for an overthrow of democracy and the establishment of Islamic law. Then in May 2019, Rashid solicited a confidential source to contact members of ISIS to carry out a terrorist attack on his behalf. Throughout the summer and fall of 2019, officials say Rashid suggested multiple targets over the summer, such as religious buildings and nightclubs. However, he ended up settling earlier this month on deans at Miami-Dade College and Broward College, where Rashid had been suspended or expelled. |
| As diagnoses rise, more colleges add services for students with autism | |
| Jared Jellicorse made the dean's list in his first year at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, an achievement that still makes his mother, Marla, tear up. "That was just amazing," she gushed proudly as she recounted it. "Oh come on," Jared Jellicorse, a biology major who goes by JJ, muttered, with a son's typical embarrassment over a parent's public display of pride. But there was something bigger behind this brief exchange. Jellicorse has autism, which can put up even more obstacles in college than those faced by students who aren't on the autism spectrum --- and which few higher education institutions have historically accommodated, despite a huge jump in the number of people diagnosed with it. The Jellicorses chose the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, or UTC, because of Mosaic, a comprehensive support program for students with autism. UTC is one of at least 60 colleges and universities that have added some form of support program for students with autism beyond the academic accommodations required by federal law. |
| What employers want from colleges in tuition benefit partnerships | |
| Turnover is high on the front lines of retail and foodservice, where low wages and long hours make job-hopping common, even expected. But some companies are adding a perk they hope will encourage workers to stick around: the opportunity to earn a college degree at little or no cost. In the last year or so, several major employers in sectors that rely heavily on low-wage labor have added free or highly subsidized degrees and certificates to their benefits packages. Others have expanded programs already in place. Tuition benefits aren't new to corporate America. According to one recent report, nine in 10 companies surveyed offer some type of education benefit, with tuition assistance being the most common. But how companies think about education benefits is changing, said Haley Glover, strategy director at the Lumina Foundation, which has studied the impact of such programs. |
| Why the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Is Slowing Down | |
| Is American innovation sputtering? The data suggests so: Productivity growth in the United States, which is powered by innovation, has been decelerating. Total factor productivity grew substantially in the middle of the 20th century, but started slowing in 1970. This slow growth continues today, with productivity lower than it was more than 100 years ago. This slowdown has occurred despite increased investment in scientific research. Data from the National Science Foundation indicate that U.S. investment in science has steadily increased between 1970 and 2010, as measured by dollars spent (which has gone up 5X), number of PhDs trained (2X) and articles published (7X). Why is there little productivity growth to show for this? Our research finds that the U.S. innovation ecosystem has splintered since the 1970s, with corporate and academic science pulling apart and making application of basic scientific discoveries more difficult. |
| America's land grant universities poised to support nation's agro-defense efforts | |
| The nation's land grant universities play an important role in helping the federal government bolster agro-defense, according to scientists, policymakers, industry and academic leaders who participated in a recent Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense event held at Colorado State University. "More than a century ago, Congress distributed land to education institutions across the country to further our understanding about a number of issues, including agriculture," said former U.S Sen. Tom Daschle from South Dakota, who serves as a commissioner on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and led the event. "Land grant universities have become a staple of their communities. Now a resource, the government should make more of an effort to work with them to improve agro-defense," Daschle said. Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who appeared via a video recording, made several recommendations, including that the federal government work more closely with land grant universities. |
| Reality of state's lottery status satisfying | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: As a longtime state lottery supporter, I quietly celebrated the official beginning Monday of Mississippi's entry into this form of raising state revenue as a small victory over the notion of Mississippi continuing to shoot itself in the foot through senseless and unjustifiable lottery opposition. I bought one on the way home from work -- and lost. ... The lottery won't fix Mississippi's governmental finance challenges. But it will keep a sizable chunk of Mississippi money that had been flowing over the bridges to neighboring states here at home – something my friend State Rep. Alyce Clarke of Jackson had been telling her legislative colleagues for 20 years. |
SPORTS
| Bowl-bound Bulldogs? Why history is on Mississippi State's side in Egg Bowl 2019 | |
| Josh Robinson was all business on Nov. 29, 2013. The former Mississippi State running back propelled his team to an early lead with a 1-yard touchdown in a 17-10 overtime win in the Egg Bowl. It was instrumental in helping the Bulldogs secure the Golden Egg. Then Robinson had to secure a paycheck. He celebrated with his teammates on the field at Davis Wade Stadium, hoisting the prize high above his head for all the fans to see. But only briefly. He quickly sped to the locker room after his turn with the treasured trophy to get cleaned up for a short shift as a server at Ruby Tuesday on Highway 12. Workmanlike mentalities like Robinson's have allowed Mississippi State to achieve a perfect 3-0 record over the last decade when entering the Egg Bowl with bowl eligibility on the line. Mississippi State (5-6, 2-5 SEC) is approaching Thursday's game against Ole Miss (4-7, 2-5 SEC) in similar fashion to the 2011, 2013 and 2016 games. Beating the Rebels secures bowl eligibility for a program record 10th-straight season. |
| 'This is my home': How a Mississippi State player grew up in Oxford but was swayed to Starkville | |
| Tamika Williams is a fish out of water. A square peg trying to fit into a round hole. An oddball. An outsider. A Bulldog at heart trying to coexist in the middle of Rebel country. Tamika works as an admissions specialist at Ole Miss. Her son, Tyler Williams, is a redshirt sophomore cornerback at Mississippi State. Tamika accepted her job offer three and a half years ago within weeks of Tyler committing to play football at MSU. Tamika is tasked with helping prospective college students realize their aspirations of becoming an Ole Miss Rebel. Tyler's job as a Mississippi State Bulldog is to make those same kids weep during Egg Bowl every Thanksgiving. That creates an interesting dynamic for Tamika, whose office building is full of red and blue paraphernalia. Hanging proudly above her desk, though, is a maroon and white football poster. "Ole Miss pays the bills, so it's Hotty Toddy Monday through Friday, 8 to 5," Tamika told the Clarion Ledger. "But after 5 and on the weekends, it's Hail State." |
| Chauncey Rivers' winding journey coming to a close | |
| Chauncey Rivers has experienced quite a bit during his college career. The former four-star defensive end started out at the University of Georgia, where he played in four games as a true freshman. But three arrests for marijuana possession led to his dismissal from the program and sent him on a life-altering journey. Rivers began resurrecting his career at East Mississippi Community College and starred in Season 2 of the Netflix series "Last Chance U." But for the last three years, the 6-foot-3, 275-pounder has hung his helmet up at Mississippi State. "I feel like God has a plan for everybody," Rivers said. "You might not always agree with His plan but it's always going to work out and will be the best for you. I feel like God took me under His wing and made the right path for me. He's told me the decisions to make and Mississippi State has done well by me coming here. I'm glad I am part of this university and brotherhood and appreciate this opportunity." |
| Mississippi State players sound off on importance of the Egg Bowl | |
| For Mississippi State offensive tackle Tyre Phillips, the Egg Bowl is everything. Phillips, a Grenada native, said his family never went to the annual contest between MSU and in-state rival Ole Miss due to sky-high ticket prices. But every year around Thanksgiving, the bitter rivals did battle on the family's television set. "This is one of the biggest weeks ever," he told The Dispatch. "To be real -- you could lose every game but you've got to win the Egg Bowl. Growing up in Mississippi that's my perspective of this week -- it's big." Just one of 50 Mississippians on MSU roster heading into Thursday's game against Ole Miss, Phillips' anecdote is just one of many Bulldog players shared during Monday night's media session. |
| Evolving Ole Miss OL hopes to keep its groove against Mississippi State | |
| An era ended and another dawned for Ole Miss football at Memphis on the opening weekend. The "throw first and ask questions later" approach to offense was gone, replaced by a veteran head coach at offensive coordinator who would still favor an up-tempo spread offense while basing everything off the run game. There were more questions than confidence after Rich Rodriguez' debut with the Rebels as Ole Miss ran just 53 plays in a 15-10 loss at Memphis. The Rebels had a couple of 15-plus yard runs after halftime, but the would-be dynamic run game coughed and wheezed to just 80 yards and 2.4 yards per carry. "We were just trying to find our groove and get into the hang of things, so I don't think we were frustrated, just disappointed we didn't execute better and get the win. I think we've improved throughout the season," junior center Eli Johnson said. Indeed, as the Rebels prepare for rival Mississippi State in Thursday's Egg Bowl, the run game has vastly improved. |
| Mississippi State baseball to meet Texas Tech in Biloxi | |
| Mississippi State's strength of schedule will receive a major boost in baseball in the spring with the addition of two games against Texas Tech. The Diamond Dogs will take on the Red Raiders on March 10-11 at MGM Park in Biloxi, replacing previously scheduled games against Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State at that venue. "This was an opportunity to add another marquee opponent to our schedule and we are thankful that it worked out," said MSU coach Chris Lemonis. It will be the second straight season the top tier teams have met, with the Bulldogs claiming a 4-2 victory at the 2019 Frisco Classic. The Red Raiders hold a 3-2 edge in the overall series. |
| Mississippi State baseball adds Texas Tech to 2020 schedule | |
 | The Mississippi State baseball program and head coach Chris Lemonis have announced an update to the 2020 baseball schedule, as Texas Tech has been added for a pair of games on March 10-11 at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi. "This was an opportunity to add another marquee opponent to our schedule and we are thankful that it worked out," said Lemonis. "We are excited to play one of the top programs in the country in front of our great fan base on the Mississippi Gulf coast. This will be another great atmosphere for our team to play in and give us a great test before we start SEC play." The two teams will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10 and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 at MGM Park, the home of the Biloxi Shuckers, Double A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. MSU ended the 2019 season ranked No. 5 nationally, while TTU claimed the No. 4 spot in the final Baseball America poll. |
| Mississippi State's Olivia Hernandez, Mitchell Storm to participate in SEC Career Tour | |
| Mississippi State soccer junior Olivia Hernandez and men's basketball senior Mitchell Storm will represent the Bulldogs at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Career Tour held Dec. 3-5 in Atlanta, announced Tuesday by the league office. There are 28 current and former SEC student-athletes scheduled to participate. This marks the fourth consecutive year the conference has invited student-athletes from each of its institutions to participate in the career tour leading up to the SEC Football Championship Game. The goal of the career tour is to provide exposure for SEC student-athletes who are seeking career opportunities in various fields. The group is scheduled to visit the headquarters and meet with executives at several corporations in the Atlanta area including Cox Communications, NCR Corporation, Winning Edge Leadership Academy, The Home Depot and UPS. |
| NCAA denies Mizzou's appeal, upholds postseason ban and other sanctions | |
| Missouri finally has an answer from the NCAA. And it's not what the Tigers hoped to hear. The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee denied the school's appeal of sanctions against three programs. The upheld sanctions included a one-year postseason ban for the football, baseball and softball teams. "We are deeply disappointed and appalled by the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee's decision to shirk its responsibilities and simply uphold sanctions that are not consistent with precedent or even common sense," athletics director Jim Sterk and chancellor Alex Cartwright said. Since January, Mizzou has argued that its sanctions were excessive and inconsistent with case precedent, especially once fellow SEC member Mississippi State avoided a postseason ban for similar academic misconduct charges in August. Unlike Missouri, Mississippi State was able to work with the NCAA through a newly approved process called negotiated resolution. |
| What's next for Mizzou athletics? | |
 | Almost the entirety of Missouri's athletic year has been shrouded by the cloud of NCAA sanctions and the ensuing appeal. Wednesday marks the first full day since Jan. 30 without uncertainty over the outcome. The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee sent notice late Monday night to MU athletics that all previously announced sanctions would be upheld. That fact became public knowledge Tuesday. Now that Missouri's 19-week wait for a decision on its appeal has ended, there are more questions than answers about its lingering effects. The athletic department will not gain a projected $9-10 million in revenue given out by the Southeastern Conference from postseason events such as bowl games, the SEC championship game and the College Football Playoff, should the likely event of a conference team making the four-team national title event occur. MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said the athletic department will make up for lost revenue through a loan from other university resources. Sterk said that it is a similar process to when MU was at a deficit during the transition from the Big 12 Conference to the SEC. |
| Student Bonfire celebrates A&M camaraderie | |
 | Thousands of white towels swirled and flickered through the air Tuesday night in a Robertson County pasture as a mass of current Texas A&M students, Aggie alumni and fans watched Student Bonfire 2019 light up the sky. As attendees waited for the ceremonial lighting of the stack that would pump up the crowd for Saturday's game against LSU, this year's keynote Student Bonfire speaker, former 12th Man Kickoff Team member Warren Barhorst, Class of '88, shared the story of his time playing football for A&M. He recalled the year he and 12 fellow students were selected by then-Aggie football coach Jackie Sherrill to support the team's main players, an experiment by the coach. "This is where I first experienced what Coach Sherrill was building here in Aggieland," Barhorst said. "At the time I didn't know what was driving Coach, and he was really driven ... but today I can tell you it was the spirit of Aggieland. It was the spirit he felt when he was working on the stack, and the spirit that makes him love A&M way more than he loves Alabama, Pittsburgh or Mississippi State; the spirit that he poured into his players, that never quits and that makes you believe in yourself." |
| Iron Bowl still fiercely competitive after switch to on-campus games | |
| Auburn University's decision to bring the Iron Bowl to its campus in 1989 promised to shake up one of the fiercest rivalries in college football. The move rang the death knell for the Iron Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham, where the game had been played every year from 1948 through 1988. It also led to the end of UA's custom of splitting home games between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. The last Iron Bowl at Legion Field was in 1998 and UA's last home football game there was in 2003. But other than those changes, much about the game has stayed the same. The game still captures the imagination of the state and each school still measures the success of its season in a large part on the outcome of the Iron Bowl. The results on the field have been just about even in the past 30 years, with Alabama winning 16 times and Auburn winning 14 times. Before the game moved to Auburn, Alabama led the series 30 wins to 22 wins for Auburn and one tie. |
| PETA calls for U. of Georgia to dump 'miserable' bulldog mascot | |
 | The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is slamming the University of Georgia over the treatment of its bulldog mascot, Uga. In a tweet sent after Saturday's rainy football game between Georgia and Texas A&M, the animal rights group said the dog looked "miserable." "No dog deserves to be packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans. Animals are not mascots," they said. In a second tweet, PETA said "being exploited as a mascot is not in (Uga's) best interest. He should be at home. Anyone who cares about him can see that." This isn't the first time the university has found itself in PETA's crosshairs. The group called for the end of live animals as mascots following an incident at the Sugar Bowl when the Texas Longhorns' steer, Bevo, went after Uga on the sidelines. |
| In another glorious college basketball upset, Stephen F. Austin stuns No. 1 Duke | |
| A month marked by unprecedented turbulence at the top of men's college basketball saw another shocking moment Tuesday, when No. 1 Duke suffered a last-second loss at home to Stephen F. Austin, 85-83. The game went to overtime before SFA's Nathan Bain hit a layup just before the buzzer sounded, stunning the thousands in attendance at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., and setting off a joyous celebration by the Lumberjacks' bench. Bain, a senior forward, contributed 11 points to the win by Stephen F. Austin, which was led by senior Kevon Harris's 26 on 11-of-19 shooting. The Blue Devils (6-1), who took over the top spot last week after previously No. 1 Kentucky suffered its own major upset at home to Evansville, had never lost as an AP No. 1 team to an opponent from outside the major conferences (per ESPN). In addition, Duke had won 150 straight nonconference games at home, a streak that went back to 2000 and was easily the longest in men's Division I college basketball. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
