| Tuesday, May 26, 2020 |
| Dreams, interrupted: A licensed psychologist looks at the pandemic's impact on our sleep | |
 | The global pandemic's impact on sleep patterns and dreams is a subject licensed psychologist Michael Nadorff at Mississippi State University has been studying. The associate professor in MSU's Department of Psychology even shared his expertise in a "CBS Sunday Morning" segment May 17. Nadorff, who has been with the university eight years, directs the department's Sleep, Suicide and Aging Laboratory and leads the clinical Ph.D. program. His research interests include assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior, behavioral sleep medicine -- particularly assessment and interventions for insomnia and nightmare disorders -- and the use of technology for psychological treatment. When the pandemic closed the MSU campus in mid-March, "We had to shut down our clinic, but I've had a lot of people since then, a lot of colleagues and cases that I supervise clinically, show a lot of us are having vivid, odd dreams right now," Nadorff told The Dispatch. For some already experiencing nightmares, pressures related to the coronavirus amped those up, he noted. And others who hadn't recorded having bad dreams before began to have them. |
| Farmers' markets operate with caution during pandemic | |
| Even by the usual standards, business has been slow at the Golden Triangle's two largest farmers' markets, as market directors, vendors and customers are taking a cautious approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starkville Community Market, which opened five weeks ago, has had about eight to 12 vendors. On Saturday, there were 10. As it is in Columbus, some of the light traffic is by design, said market director Paige Watson. "We only allow 20 customers into the market at a time," Watson said. "In the past, it was a community event and we had programs to draw and keep people at the market. Now, it's more keeping the traffic moving. We've put links to our vendors on our website, so people can make and pay for their purchases and then pick them up. All of the things we are doing are trying to keep people safe, both our vendors and customers." |
| Employer of two workers who died at job site linked to 27 previous OSHA violations | |
| Trench collapses at construction sites are rare, Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough told reporters after a collapse killed two workers at a housing development on Tuesday. But safety risks tied to the head of Southern Civil Contracting, the construction company working at the multi-home development where the accident occurred, are much less rare. A long list of citations for safety violations from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration are linked to Shane Henderson, president and owner of the Tuscaloosa-based company. Henderson was previously president of Gilco Contracting, also based in Tuscaloosa. Gilco accrued 27 OSHA citations from inspections of trenches at construction sites between 2005 and 2008, according to inspection records OSHA sent The Dispatch on Friday. Southern Civil had three similar citations in 2010, its first year of existence. In the past 10 years, however, OSHA has not cited the company. |
| Lawmakers discuss indefinitely extending session as they return to Jackson after coronavirus recess | |
 | The on-again, off-again 2020 legislative session is scheduled to resume Tuesday and is not slated to end until July 12. But leaders in both the House and Senate have held discussions about keeping the Legislature in session -- so they could easily return to the Capitol to deal with COVID-19 issues -- past the scheduled July 12 conclusion, sources told Mississippi Today. The Legislature originally was scheduled to adjourn for the year in April, before the coronavirus pandemic reached Mississippi. The state Constitution allows the Legislature to extend the session by 30 days at a time, granted two-thirds of both the House and the Senate vote to do so. Remaining in session indefinitely would allow Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to call the Legislature back to work whenever they see fit. If the session officially ends, then it would take a special session called by Gov. Tate Reeves to allow the Legislature to meet and take up bills. In the meantime, leaders say the session will resume where it left off on March 18 when legislators voted to recess because of health concerns related to the coronavirus. On Tuesday, legislators plan to hear from State Economist Darrin Webb and Revenue Commissioner Herb Frierson. |
| 'Very likely to re-surge.' Overwhelmed Mississippi health department gets aggressive to curb COVID-19 | |
 | State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs took on a much bigger job than his health department was capable of handling when he announced March 26, at a news conference on the steps of the governor's mansion, that more testing and contact tracing would be cornerstones of the state attack on COVID-19. "This is something that we've been formulating for quite some time but, to be honest, we haven't really had the resources to be able to be more aggressive," Dobbs said. "We're going to advance our mission to a more aggressive, a more offensive strategy." What he didn't say: Budget cuts had greatly diminished Mississippi's public health resources. Strategic thinking, partnerships with hospitals and private laboratories, and cooperation from key agencies such as the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, have helped Dobbs and the Health Department move toward his goals. But they're not there yet. An increase in cases with the reopening of the state could easily overwhelm the virus-fighting networks he is building. Residents must do their part by social distancing, avoiding crowds and wearing masks when they venture into public spaces, health experts warn. |
| Analysis: Percent of hospitalizations from COVID-19 dropping in Mississippi | |
| As Mississippi stands to hit 15,000 total coronavirus cases by the end of this month, state leaders say hospitalization data is one of the biggest indicators to help determine if the state's social distancing measures and COVID-19 strategies are working. Gov. Tate Reeves and others have said during the daily press conferences that the number of people hospitalized from coronavirus has remained steady, even dropping at times. The actual numbers from the Mississippi State Department of Health show that's somewhat true. 3 On Your Side analyzed the data, using a seven-day average of total COVID-19 patients -- those with confirmed and suspected cases in the hospital -- and for ten days, that average dropped before coming back up around May 20. Since that time, it has started dropping again. Some experts have said we've stabilized, others have said we're trending downward, and all of that can sound confusing. |
| Kenny Griffis, Latrice Westbrooks square off for Mississippi Supreme Court seat | |
 | Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Latrice Westbrooks is seeking to become the first African American woman on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Westbrooks of Lexington has qualified to run against Supreme Court Justice Kenny Griffis of Ridgeland in the November general election. Griffis, a longtime Court of Appeal judge, was appointed to the state's high court last year. "I'm running based on my record and 18 years of experience as a constitutional conservative with a dedication to fairness and the rule of law," Griffis said. "On the Supreme Court, I've focused on applying the law, not legislating from the bench, because that's what all Mississippians deserve." Westbrooks, 48, said the state Supreme Court is the "court of last resort," and she wants to be a voice for the people while conveying the law without respect to person or position. Steve Rozman, chair of Tougaloo College Political Science Department, said the race between Griffis and Westbrooks is likely to be competitive because District 1 includes many counties with large African American populations. |
| U.S. is ahead of China in vaccine race, former FDA chief says | |
 | The United States will have a "better" vaccine than China -- and it will have it sooner, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb predicted Sunday. Data on the potential vaccines in clinical development in China "didn't look overwhelmingly strong," Gottlieb told Margaret Brennan on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Those vaccines, if they do work, probably are going to provide lower levels of immunity than the platforms that the U.S. and Europeans are working with," he said. "So I think we're going to have a better vaccine, and I think we're probably going to have it sooner based on where we are in clinical development, some of the early progress that we've shown." President Donald Trump is pushing for a vaccine by the end of the year. Public health experts caution that while a vaccine that soon is possible, it is far from guaranteed. |
| Florida Republicans would welcome convention after Trump threatens to leave Charlotte | |
 | Florida Republicans said they would "welcome" the Republican National Convention if President Donald Trump makes good on a Twitter threat Monday to pull the party's seminal political event from North Carolina. "The Republican Party of Florida would welcome the opportunity to host the Republican National Convention," party Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement. "Florida is committed to ensuring a safe, secure and successful event for President Trump and all attendees." The Republican National Committee has been planning to host its nominating convention at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte from Aug. 24-27. Organizers are scheduled to take over the arena in mid-July for remodeling, including raising the floor of the arena. About 50,000 attendees had been expected -- before the pandemic hit. But Trump said on Twitter Monday that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has yet to guarantee a full-fledged convention as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus, and warned that without a commitment, the RNC could move the event to a more welcoming state. A change in venue so late in the process would be difficult. One Republican fundraiser questioned whether donors who contributed to the Charlotte host committee would allow their money to be used to sponsor an event in a different state. |
| States plead for cybersecurity funds as hacking threat surges | |
 | Cash-short state and local governments are pleading with Congress to send them funds to shore up their cybersecurity as hackers look to exploit the crisis by targeting overwhelmed government offices. Members of Congress have taken notice of cyber threats at the state and local level, both before and during the pandemic, and efforts are underway to address the challenges, though how much will be provided is uncertain amid a fight over the amount of additional coronavirus stimulus. Ransomware attacks, in which the attacker encrypts a system and demands money to unlock it, have increasingly hit government entities across the nation over the past two years. The city governments of New Orleans and Baltimore had their networks temporarily taken out by ransomware attacks last year, while a coordinated attack on almost two dozen Texas towns in August and attacks on multiple school districts in Louisiana also highlighted the threat. But with states increasingly facing budget shortages and even potential bankruptcy from the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns, cybersecurity funding is uncertain at a time when more people are working from home and placing stress on systems and when hackers are zeroing in. |
| As residents perish, nursing homes fight for protection from lawsuits | |
| As an unprecedented catastrophe unfolds in which more than 28,000 people have died of Covid-19 in care facilities, the nursing home industry is responding with an unprecedented action of its own: Using its multi-million dollar lobbying machine to secure protections from liability in lawsuits. At least 20 states have swiftly taken action within the last two and a half months to limit the legal exposure of the politically powerful nursing home industry, which risks huge losses if families of coronavirus victims successfully sue facilities hit by the pandemic. Now, the industry is turning its energies to obtaining nationwide protections from Congress in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill. The nursing home industry is one of the lobbying world's quiet powerhouses. The state actions to protect the industry came after it spent tens of millions of dollars in lobbying and other advocacy per year, according to a POLITICO review of state and federal records. At the federal level, the industry has spent more than $4 million on lobbying over the past year, employing more than a dozen full-time lobbyists and drawing on an army of contractors including Brian Ballard, former lobbyist for President Donald Trump, and ex-Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman. |
| The W's National Student Speech Language Hearing Association Chapter receives gold honor | |
| Mississippi University for Women's National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) chapter is golden. The W's NSSLHA chapter recently received gold honors for 2020 from the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association. The award recognizes the chapter's work in raising awareness of communication sciences and disorders (CSD). "This is a wonderful achievement that helps elevate the visibility of our speech language pathology program," said Tammie McCoy, dean of The W's College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "Each year local chapters across the country engage in fundraising, advocacy activities and social media activities to get the word out about the profession of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology. Having an active NSSLHA chapter leads to leadership opportunities for students and creates experiences students will carry into their professional lives after graduation." |
| Pay cuts and layoffs: Internal email shows financial strain of pandemic on UMMC | |
| An internal email sent to the staff, faculty and students of UMMC shows the financial strain the coronavirus pandemic has put on the hospital. The email mentions "substantial uncertainty" in what the future holds and the "devastating budget shortfall" on the horizon. The hospital is currently experiencing a patient care revenue loss of more than $1 million per day since mid-March and their internal projections show a negative $100 million financial impact to their bottom line through September 2020. According to the email, UMMC only received $17 million of the $375 million sent to health care entities across Mississippi in federal funds. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and the writer of the email, says that UMMC has not faced a challenge of this magnitude in its 65 year existence and that it will take "guts, grit and fortitude" to pull through. Executives at the hospital are now taking budget cuts, having reduced their salaries by 15% beginning in May. These pay cuts will continue for three months. |
| Northeast Mississippi Community College to stage drive-thru graduation June 4-5 | |
 | Each May, Northeast Mississippi Community College graduates line up along Cunningham Boulevard to process into Bonner Arnold Coliseum for the college's annual commencement ceremonies. This year, however, due to restrictions on large social gatherings and distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony itself will be held on the Boulevard as Northeast stages a drive-through graduation to recognize its class of 2020. From 4-6 p.m. Thursday, June 4, and 9-11 a.m. Friday, June 5, graduates are invited to come to campus to receive diplomas and be officially congratulated by Northeast faculty, staff and administrators, including President Dr. Ricky G. Ford and Executive Vice President Dr. Craig-Ellis Sasser. "We feel it is just as important to recognize our graduates this year as it normally is even though these circumstances are far from normal," Ford said. "We will be respectful and follow all the guidelines that are in place to help keep everyone safe and healthy," Ford continued. "We won't be shaking anyone's hand as we usually do and our staff will wear masks. The only time graduates will have to get out of their vehicle is if they want a photograph taken." |
| Coronavirus Is Creating A Financial Crisis For American Schools | |
 | Schools receive nearly half of their funding from state coffers. But with businesses shuttered in response to the pandemic and the unemployment rate already nearing 15% -- well above its 10% peak during the Great Recession -- state income and sales tax revenues are crashing. For April, the first full month of the coronavirus lockdowns, states are now reporting "really shocking declines" in tax revenues, says Michael Leachman at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Some states have lost "as much as 25% or a third of their revenues compared to the previous year in the same month," Leachman says. And unlike the federal government, most state governments are required to balance their budgets. The result: Many governors and state lawmakers are now racing to implement deep cuts, including to school funding. At first, experts say, school cuts will mirror the losses of the Great Recession. Districts will trim spending on buildings and transportation, supplies and equipment. Then will come staff cuts, beginning with librarians, nurses and counselors. |
| U. of Alabama's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute offers free online courses for adults | |
 | Cybersecurity, fraternity and sorority life at the University of Alabama in the 1960s and exercise tips for those with arthritis are among the topics of online courses for adults offered this week by UA's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The free courses are available by registering at www.olli.ua.edu/news-and-events and will be taught using Zoom, the video conference platform. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, known as OLLI, has suspended in-person programming in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus. "OLLI is privileged to be in a position to provide educational and social opportunities online for its members and the community, some of whom are the most vulnerable to coronavirus and may be among the last of our citizens to emerge from their homes, even as social distancing guidelines are lifted in our community," said Jennifer Anderson, OLLI director. "Our members, like everyone else, can only spend so much time alone, cleaning their homes and reading," she said. "They need their social network, and interactive online classes provide that along with intellectual aspects." |
| U. of Arkansas professors 3D print masks, face shields | |
| Coronavirus turned the University of Arkansas campus into a ghost town this spring, so some faculty turned their attention to helping during the pandemic. Vincent Edwards, an instructor in the School of Art, goes to campus for about an hour each day to use 3D printers to make personal protective equipment. He has access to three printers, which can each make a stack of four face shields once in about 22 hours, meaning he can produce 12 face shields a day. He's made about 150 so far and estimates each shield costs about $1.50 to make. He's using transparency material the School of Art had on hand because students haven't had in-person classes for months. Students normally use the printers for ceramics and sculpture work, he said. "For me, the big exciting takeaway of this is this global network of independent designers and makers -- the effort, the scale of it, the speed of it. It's exciting to witness," he said. He gives the shields to the Northwest Arkansas Innovation Hub's Arkansas Maker Task Force, which coordinates the distribution of donated personal protective equipment to local health care workers. |
| UGA grad's new book draws parallels between Carter, Trump campaigns | |
 | Prior to Donald Trump's rise in the 2016 presidential campaign, many politicos opined that Trump's ascension to the White House was perhaps the most surprisingly successful presidential campaign in the country's modern history. But folks might recall that four decades before Trump's election, a peanut farmer from a tiny town in South Georgia mounted a presidential run that came directly out of left field and basically set the tone for all presidential campaigns that have followed. Athens native and University of Georgia "triple dawg" Amber Roessner, an assistant professor in the University of Tennessee's School of Journalism and Electronic Media, digs deep into the 1976 presidential campaign of former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter in her latest book "Jimmy Carter And The Birth Of The Marathon Media Campaign," published by LSU Press. Roessner asserts -- backed by a wealth of research that included an interview with the former president himself -- that Carter's decidedly underdog victory paved the way for a new brand of politicking that eschewed the media's time-honored detailing of candidates' stances on the issues of the day in favor of "a newer branch of personality politics driven by the manufacture of a political image." |
| Texas A&M team still competing in Boeing's GoFly | |
 | Four aerospace engineering students and their professor are continuing to refine their design for a flying vehicle as part of an international competition. The Texas A&M team's prototype vehicle was selected as one of the top designs from more than 850 teams participating in Boeing's GoFly competition. The competition encourages designers, inventors and engineers to build a personal flying vehicle that can be stored in a garage like a car, take off vertically from a small area and fly about 20 miles on one battery charge. The A&M team's Aria device began as a design on paper in early 2018 before moving into the one-third scale competition. The full-scale model is capable of carrying a 200-pound person. None of the teams competing in a February fly-off in California claimed the $1 million grand prize, so the competition is ongoing. The Texas A&M team plans to get back to work once it is able to return to campus, but A&M aerospace engineering assistant professor and team lead Moble Benedict said the university's closure for the coronavirus pandemic has not derailed the team's progress much. |
| Colleges expect few new international students will make it to their campuses this fall | |
 | As colleges try to plan their fall operations and shape their classes, they face a big question that will largely be answered by forces outside their control: If they do resume in-person classes, will international students be able to join them? The global pandemic is causing widespread uncertainty: routine visa processing is suspended at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. International travel restrictions are in place in many countries. Commercial flight options are limited at best. College administrators say they have little choice but to plan for sizable declines in international students and the tuition revenue they bring. NAFSA: Association of International Educators last week issued a report estimating losses of at least $3 billion due to anticipated declines in international student enrollments at U.S. colleges this fall. The association is lobbying Congress for economic stimulus funds for international education as well as for policy changes such as waiving the in-person visa interview requirement "to the fullest extent allowable by law" and making priority appointments available for student and scholar visa applicants in order to ease their ability to come to the U.S. Adding to the uncertainty, the Trump administration is reportedly expected to temporarily restrict a popular program that allows international students to stay in the U.S. and work for up to three years after graduating while staying on their student visas. |
| College Presidents Say Fall Reopening Likely | |
| More than half of college presidents (53 percent) said it was "very likely" their institutions would resume in-person classes this fall, and another 31 percent said it was "somewhat likely," according to a survey of 310 presidents conducted by the American Council on Education. Presidents at public two-year colleges were less likely (38 percent) than presidents of four-year public (53 percent) and four-year private (58 percent) colleges to say it was "very likely" their colleges would resume in-person classes this fall. Of the 230 presidents in the survey whose institutions offer on-campus housing, 51 percent said it was "very likely" their campuses would resume in-person housing operations at some point in the fall semester, and 40 percent said it was "somewhat likely." College presidents are also broadly forecasting revenue and enrollment declines. Among college presidents projecting enrollment declines for this fall, 45 percent expect a decline of 10 percent or less compared to fall 2019, 50 percent expect an 11 to 20 percent decline and 6 percent expect a 21 to 30 percent decline. |
SPORTS
| 'Every place has its own memory': How a cross-country road trip brought Mississippi State offensive line coach Mason Miller and his family together | |
| As Mississippi State assistant coach Mason Miller pulled his family's rented GMC Yukon across the Missouri border and into Arkansas, a familiar feeling set in. Raised in Marietta, Georgia, Miller's winding path through college football took him to Valdosta State where an injury shortened his playing career, but sprung forth his future in coaching. In two decades in the profession he's coached at every level from Division III to Division I; from the PAC-12 and now to the Southeastern Conference. Making his most recent trip from one job to the next, Miller, his wife, Megan, and daughters Madison, 10, and Mallory, 7, spent four days crossing 12 states as the family moved from Pullman, Washington, to Starkville for Mason's new post coaching the offensive line at MSU. Working in a profession that is short on family time and persistent in year-to-year movement, the trip and ensuing "shelter at home" order due to the COVID-19 pandemic have offered Miller a chance to spend valuable time with those closest to him. "It's the first time in my coaching career where I know where things are in my house," he told The Dispatch through a laugh. "Because I actually had to unpack them myself, because I didn't have anything else to do." |
| How Mississippi State freshman Dillon Johnson got better during pandemic | |
 | Dillon Johnson racked the barbell. Sweat beaded up on his nose and dripped down his forehead. Veins pulsated in his neck and arms. The incoming Mississippi State freshman running back put up a personal record on the bench press this month at Greenville Christian High School. Johnson shouldn't be familiar with Greenville Christian, but he is. He's been going there to work out for years despite attending the city's rival high school, St. Joseph Catholic School. He graduated from St. Joseph this spring. Johnson's final months as a high schooler didn't go as planned. He didn't get to go to a prom or a standard high school graduation. But he did spend much more time in the weight room than he would have had classes never shifted online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson benched 10 reps of 185, 205 and 225 pounds when the pandemic started in March. On a recent Monday, he did 12 reps of 275 pounds. "At that moment, I was like, 'Yeah, I'm getting up there. I'm getting that SEC strength,'" Johnson said. "I don't think people realize how much weight that is for that many reps. I didn't see myself putting that up two months ago." That's where Greenville Christian coach Justin Leavy comes in. |
| Jake Mangum is a fast-forward baseballer with his career currently on pause | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: It's sunny. Warm. Guys should be playing baseball. We should be watching baseball. Jake Mangum needs to be playing baseball. For Mangum, who turned 24 on March 8, time is of the essence. Twenty-four is a ripe age to be entering your first season of professional baseball. He's on the clock, and he knows it. "I just want to go play baseball," Mangum said Thursday morning, before taking some swings in the batting cages at Jackson Prep. "Actually, I don't just want to be playing, I need to be playing." The 2020 baseball season is on hold. Mangum's career is on hold. If you know Jake Mangum, you know how hellish that is for him. He absolutely loves the sport and plays it as hard as it can be played. He's on the field before anyone else and his uniform is dirty before anyone's. He plays fast. He can't stand to be idle. ... "When they call and say it's time to play, I am going to be ready," he says. ... Jake Mangum says he is hitting the ball harder and farther. At Mississippi State, he became the Southeastern Conference's all-time hits leader with 383, but only five of those were home runs. And while he's never going to be a home run slugger, some of his line drives could become gappers and some of those singles could become doubles and triples. |
| Texas A&M's non-football fall sports ready to begin uncertain road toward opening day | |
| As each day draws closer to the fall, the focus of conversations across the country have been on when college football teams can safely take the field, even as COVID-19 spreads across the globe. However, before Texas A&M football is scheduled to open its season against Abilene Christian Sept. 5, Aggie women's soccer and volleyball would already be up and running if everything went as scheduled. Cross country would be gearing up around the same time as football. "It seems like we're all focused on football," A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said of the attention outside the athletic department. "That's where the attention is drawn to. We keep forgetting that we have three other fall sports: cross country, volleyball and soccer." On Friday, the Southeastern Conference took a step toward beginning seasons on time by allowing voluntary workouts in athletic department facilities to begin June 8. "The same type of timeframes would apply to those sports," Bjork said. "We're looking at this holistically, with all of our sports, especially the fall sports." |
| What student-athletes returning to Mizzou might look like | |
 | A month ago, starting the college sports season on time was a long shot. Every state in the nation was under a stay-at-home order and athletes around the country had to find unique ways to stay in peak shape without their usual training regimens to abide by social distancing guidelines. Georgia was the first state in America to open up in any capacity on April 24. Every other state with a Southeastern Conference school followed shortly thereafter. Now as Memorial Day weekend ends, SEC schools are less than two weeks away from welcoming student-athletes back to campuses for training. Nothing has been made official for other sports returning to Missouri for voluntary activities, although the SEC allowed their return on Friday as well. "We were on a call today and we heard from the doctors that feel like probably the safest place they can be is with the groups that we put together and the steps that we take to create safe environments," Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk said on SEC Network last Thursday. "(For) example of working out in our weight room, there's fogging machines that'll cleanse it and the steps that you take, taking temperatures daily, as opposed to going to an open gym in the community where there may not be those kinds of restrictions. |
| Coaches, ADs cash in on academic success as schools brace for financial woes | |
| Amid financial difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic, there are some aspects of college sports business proceeding as usual. One involves the bonuses that some schools contractually owe coaches and athletics directors based on academic performance figures the NCAA announced this week. Arizona State athletics director Ray Anderson stands to collect more than $575,000, making this at least the fourth consecutive year in which Sun Devil athletes' collective classroom success has brought him more than $300,000. Sun Devils football coach Herm Edwards is set to receive $350,000 based on his team's result in the annually published NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) metric. At South Carolina, football coach Will Muschamp is set to receive $75,000, men's basketball coach Frank Martin $60,000 and, per Martin's contract, his assistants are set to share $30,000. The football team's multi-year APR was 967, the men's basketball team's was 966. Generally, athletics departments across the nation have seen their budgets for the 2020 fiscal year moderately impacted by pandemic-related revenue losses, since they occurred late in the year. The picture for 2021 is looking much worse, with a handful of schools having already announced they are dropping teams. |
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