Friday, February 12, 2021   
 
Researchers tasked with reducing US seafood deficit
A project to assess the US aquaculture industry's economic viability, impact and management measures -- in a bid to reduce the country's $16.8 billion seafood trade deficit -- has been awarded $1 million in grant funding. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Grant College Program funding has been awarded to Mississippi State University scientists over a three-year period. The grant, administered through the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, is one of 12 awarded across the country and part of a $4.7 million investment aimed to strengthen the economics of US aquaculture. "Our overall objective is to provide basic and comprehensive information about various sectors in US aquaculture. Aquaculture is different from other agricultural industries, such as beef cattle or row crops, because it encompasses so many species. Production budgets are available for most commodities with the exception of aquaculture, and we're hoping to change that," said the project's lead investigator, Ganesh Karunakaran, from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, in a press release.
 
From Fred's to Rick's Furniture Market in Starkville
The former Fred's in Starkville is vacant no more. The Starkville Fred's location closed in 2019 after Fred's Inc. attempted to maintain operations by cutting under-performing stores. Starkville's Fred's was in the company's second wave of closures before Fred's decided to cease operations entirely. After seeing the more than 16,000 square-foot building vacant so close to downtown, Rick Underwood, of Rick's Furniture, knew he wanted to move there. So Fred's became Rick's. He moved his furniture store from Stark Road and reopened Rick's Furniture Market at 605 Jackson St. this month. "We moved because we love downtown Starkville and we want to support downtown," Underwood said. "We are committed to developing the best furniture store in Mississippi and being downtown is a part of that vision." Underwood hopes to redevelop the parking lot and outdoor area of his new location. "We will replace a lot of the asphalt in the parking areas with native plant materials," Underwood said. "We will create an environment for wildlife and people. We will add outdoor living to our selection and blur the difference between indoor and outdoor. We'll soften our building exterior with color, texture and more plant material. We want to be an example of what can be done."
 
Arbor Day in Mississippi: Celebrating forestry's impact on the state
"Nationally, Arbor Day is recognized in April," said Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC) state forester, Russell Bozeman. "However, we celebrate Arbor Day in Mississippi on the second Friday in February each year because late winter is the best time to plant new trees. This gives the young trees time to take root before the spring green-up begins." The benefits of forestry to Mississippi include an approximately $12.8 billion contribution to the state's economy, more than 62,000 jobs, and an average of $10.4 million toward education through Public School Trust (16th Section) Land timber sale revenue. Additionally, Gov. Reeves has proclaimed February 13-20 as Tree Planting Week across the state. During this week, community partners, families, and friends will join together to celebrate the benefits of trees and community forests to recognize the unique beauty and diversity of Mississippi's native trees. "Late winter is the best time to plant new trees in Mississippi," said Bozeman. "This increases survival rate by giving young trees time to establish their root system before the spring arrives."
 
Brutal winter weather shows no signs of letting up: Snow, ice, bitter cold to continue from coast to coast
Brutal winter weather shows no signs of letting up, as the U.S. is enduring one of its busiest winter weather patterns "in decades," forecasters said Friday. A bitterly cold arctic air mass draped across much of the country will help fuel winter storms that will "wreak havoc from coast to coast, not only going into this weekend, but also into next week," the National Weather Service warned. AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno called it "a stormy, stormy pattern across the country," describing it as "unbelievable." Heavy snow and ice will blast the Pacific Northwest on Friday while snow and freezing rain will hit portions of the Plains, the South and the Mid-Atlantic by Saturday, the weather service said. According to Weather.com, the next winter storm will bring considerably worse weather conditions than what was seen early Thursday morning in Texas, when at least six people were killed and 65 others hospitalized -- including frontline health care workers just getting off their shifts -- in a massive chain-reaction crash that involved more than 100 vehicles on an icy Fort Worth interstate.
 
MDOT busy responding to slick roads, icy bridges amid winter weather
Freezing temperatures and lingering moisture are causing icy conditions on roads and bridges as the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) says crews continue to respond to winter weather in Mississippi. The majority of the impacts are north of I-20 along I-55, MDOT says. In north Mississippi, a line of freezing rain caused black ice to form early Friday morning in some areas. MDOT crews are monitoring conditions and are treating bridges with salt and slag to lower the freezing point of water and increase traction. Currently, ice is being reported on bridges in the following counties: Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Holmes, Lafayette, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Warren, Yalobusha and Yazoo. All highways remain open and passable, but MDOT says motorists should avoid travel if possible in affected areas.
 
The Fair 'is on'
The 2021 Neshoba County Fair is officially on, Fair Board President Gilbert Donald declared Tuesday. "All I can say is this," Donald told the Democrat. "As of this date we plan on having the Fair this year, period." On Tuesday, 2021 Arts and Crafts applications were posted on the Fair's Facebook page. For the first time since four runs during World War II, the Fair was cancelled last summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Fair was cancelled in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945 and resumed in 1946, according to the Democrat's archives. The Fair would have celebrated its 131st year last year. Donald said organizers plan to monitor the situation and offer updates, but as of now, the Fair is on and will run from July 23 through July 30. Fair Manager Doug Johnson said that date has been in place for about three years. His grounds crews are "working as hard as they can" towards holding the Fair this year. He said in some parts of the grounds they have close to two years of rain and weather to work against. Donald said he knew many families missed an opportunity to see each other last year. "The board knows that for many families this is the longest period of time they get to spend together and they missed that last year," Donald said. Donald said they hope to make regular updates on the progress of the Fair. He said the Fair would not be canceled unless something happens that the board could not foresee.
 
MSDH reports 984 new COVID-19 cases, 39 deaths
The Mississippi State Department of Health on Friday reported 984 additional cases of COVID-19 and 39 deaths, as of 6 p.m. on Feb. 11. Calhoun, Clay, Marshall, Prentiss and Tippah counties each reported one additional death. Lee County reported two new deaths. The statewide total number of cases since March 11, 2020 is now 285,648 with a death toll of 6,429. As of this week, around 253,140 people are presumed recovered from the virus. The seven-day moving average for new COVID-19 cases in Mississippi is 31 per 100,000 people, as of Feb. 10. In Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, the seven-day moving average is 29 per 100,000 people. MSDH also reported 121 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Most counties in the Daily Journal's coverage area reported new cases: Alcorn (2), Benton (9), Chickasaw (6), Itawamba (9), Lafayette (18), Lee (25), Marshall (19), Monroe (3), Oktibbeha (14), Pontotoc (1), Prentiss (5), Tippah (17), Tishomingo (6) and Union (13).
 
'We're failing minority communities': Why Black Mississippians are receiving fewer COVID-19 vaccines than white Mississippians
Dr. Andrea Phillips and other Black physicians in the state gathered at her small solo clinic in Jackson for a press conference on Jan. 5, a day after Mississippi's general elderly population became eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines. The physicians wanted to help show other Black Mississippians that the vaccine was safe to take while acknowledging America's history of racist, abusive medical practices like the Tuskegee Experiment that eroded trust in government health care. When Phillips organized the event, her focus was the barrier of mistrust among Black Mississippians. But now, more than a month into the vaccine's rollout for the general population, Phillips realizes trust was not the sole obstacle. "The perspective we, me and some other doctors, were coming from initially is that we have to get our people ready and willing to take this vaccine," Phillips told Mississippi Today. "We never dreamed there would be a problem of access." As of Feb. 10, 19% of total shots went to Black Mississippians, a group that comprises 38% of the state. During the early stages of the pandemic, the state's Black population felt the brunt of both cases and deaths, although now both figures are more in line with the state's overall demographics. Nationally, though, people of color still see more cases, deaths and hospitalizations than white Americans.
 
Name, image & likeness bill benefiting student-athletes passes House
With action taken by the House of Representatives today, Mississippi is one step closer to becoming the seventh state to enact legislation that would allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. While Congress and the NCAA each work out their own versions of NIL legislation and regulations, the bill authored by Rep. Mac Huddleston would give college athletes (18+ years of age) in Mississippi a chance to receive payments for endorsements through third-parties such as a local business. Under this bill, the schools themselves cannot pay athletes, but the terms of any compensation must be disclosed to the school. In order to profit from their NIL, the athlete, according to the bill, would have to hire professional representation. Several representatives questioned how NIL laws would operate in Mississippi under the NCAA's existing rules. Rep. Huddleston explained that he has received reassurances from council that the governing body of college athletics could not penalize student-athletes in the state should this bill pass as long as the rules are followed.
 
Mississippi Senate: Ban transgender athletes on female teams
Transgender athletes would be banned from competing in girls' or women's sports in Mississippi schools and universities, under a bill that advanced in the Republican-controlled state Senate late Thursday night. There was little discussion of Senate Bill 2536 before senators passed it 34-9. Four senators voted "present," which does not count for or against the measure. Five did not vote. "I've had numerous coaches across the state call me and believe that they feel there's a need for a policy in Mississippi because they are beginning to have some concerns of having to deal with this," said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Angela Hill of Picayune. No senator asked whether any transgender athletes are currently competing in Mississippi, and Hill did not volunteer such information. The bill will go to the Republican-controlled House for more work in coming weeks. Mississippi is one of a dozen states with lawmakers proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming health care for transgender minors this year.
 
Bill that would require student athletes to compete according to their biological sex passes the state Senate
A bill that would protect biological female student athletes from having to compete against those born as males passed in the Mississippi Senate on Thursday. The bill was the last piece of legislation passed by the Senate Thursday by a 34-9 margin (with four voting present) before adjournment. Thursday was the final day for bills to pass out of the originating chamber. Senate Bill 2536, which was sponsored by state Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune and known as the Mississippi Fairness Act, would require any public school, university or community college team to be either designated for those of one biological sex or the other (in addition to an exception for co-ed teams). It was the third attempt by Hill to get a procedure codified in Mississippi, which is one of 10 states without a policy of this type. The bill's importance to conservatives is magnified after President Joe Biden's executive order, issued on January 20, that expands prohibited forms of sex discrimination under Title IX to include discrimination for gender identity and sexual orientation.
 
Senate passes medical marijuana alternative in early morning do-over
After failing to gain the needed three-fifths vote in a first try Thursday night, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann held the Senate over into Friday morning and it passed a legislative alternative to the medical marijuana program voters approved in November. Senate Bill 2765, authored by Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, passed 30-19 on Friday morning at about 1:15 a.m. The bill had failed a Thursday night vote, 30-21, needing 31 to pass. The lesser number for passage was needed in the wee hours Friday because some senators were absent, lowering the three-fifths threshold. Sens. Jennifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, and Tammy Witherspoon, D-Magnolia -- both of whom voted against the measure the first time -- were absent for the second vote. Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, who voted for the bill the first time, was absent the second vote. Sen. Benjamin Suber, R-Bruce, had been absent for the first vote but voted for the bill on the second vote. The measure now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain future. Senators included a "reverse repealer" in the measure, meaning the House could not pass it on to the governor without more debate in the Senate.
 
Alternative Mississippi medical marijuana program barely wins approval from Senate
Legislation that would create a new medical marijuana program in Mississippi if the voter-approved Initiative 65 is overturned in court cleared the state Senate on the second try early Friday morning. Senate Bill 2765, the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, failed by a single vote Friday evening. But six hours later, after 1 a.m. Friday -- and facing a looming legislative deadline -- senators returned and narrowly passed the sweeping piece of legislation. It now heads to the House for consideration. Voters in November overwhelmingly approved Initiative 65, which amended the state constitution to include language creating a medical marijuana program. State health officials are in the early stages of setting up that program, which allows marijuana use for patients with an array of medical conditions. But Initiative 65 is also facing a court challenge, brought by Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler. The pending case before the Mississippi State Supreme Court argues the process for placing a constitutional amendment before voters in Mississippi is improper, and that Initiative 65 should be invalidated. The author of the bill, Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, repeated numerous times to his colleagues Thursday night and Friday morning that his legislation was not intended to replace or undermine the voter-approved initiative. Instead, he said, the bill has a "trigger" where it will only go into effect should the constitutional amendment be overturned.
 
Mississippi Senate revives medical marijuana tax proposal
The Mississippi Senate did an about-face on a proposal to set a 7% sales tax on medical marijuana, first killing a bill and then reviving it hours later in an unusual session after midnight. The first vote happened Thursday night, and the second one happened early Friday. Mississippi residents voted by a wide margin in November to adopt Initiative 65, a constitutional amendment that authorizes medical marijuana in the state. The initiative requires the state Health Department to create a program so marijuana can be available later this year to people with "debilitating" medical conditions. The long list includes cancer, epilepsy and sickle cell anemia. However, the Mississippi Supreme Court is set to hear arguments April 14 in a lawsuit that is seeking to block the medical marijuana program. Members of the state Board of Health said Feb. 3 that regulations for a medical marijuana program in Mississippi would be in place by a July 1 deadline, but they cautioned that it's unclear how soon marijuana might be available to patients.
 
Bill to crack down on street racing approved by Senate, now heads to House
Late Thursday, the Senate approved a bill that could help cut down on street racing in Jackson. S.B. 2788 gives the Mississippi Highway Patrol the authority to patrol interstate corridors anywhere in Mississippi. Right now, state statute limits the highway patrol to interstate corridors in municipalities of 15,000 or fewer. Lawmakers introduced the bill in response to a New Year's night street racing incident that went viral on social media. In the video, you could see Southbound lanes along I-55 in the North Jackson/Fondren areas blocked for about an hour by teens racing and doing donuts. The Department of Public Safety, which is headquartered off of Woodrow Wilson Avenue, did not respond to the scene and legally could not. "Basically, the current law prohibits running radar in cities of more than 15,000," said District 29 Sen. David Blount. "We removed that provision so they can run radar anywhere in Mississippi." The bill now heads to the House.
 
Medicaid Extension Dies In Mississippi Senate, But Postpartum Expansion Still Alive
A last-ditch attempt to extend Medicaid to roughly 300,000 additional Mississippians died on the Senate floor on Tuesday, after an amendment effort on the part of Democratic senators failed to gain traction with the chamber's Republican majority. The amendments would have expanded Medicaid access to all Mississippians living at or below 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, meaning individuals making roughly $17,000 a year or a family of three making just under $30,000 combined would have qualified for Medicaid coverage. Both amendments died along partisan lines, 36-16. But one key provision extending postpartum Medicaid coverage for pregnant Mississippians survived, contained in Section 1 of Senate Bill 2799. If S.B. 2799 passes the House and the governor's desk, Mississippians will qualify for Medicaid for a full year after the end of their pregnancies, up from a mere 60 days of coverage currently. Such a change could have a significant effect on maternal mortality. A Mississippi State Department of Health study of maternal mortality in the state found that, from the years of 2013 to 2016, "86% of pregnancy-related deaths occurred postpartum, including 37% after 6 weeks."
 
Poll: Mississippi voters approve of Reeves, disapprove of Biden, don't want Trump convicted
A Mason-Dixon Polling survey released Thursday shows that Gov. Tate Reeves' approval has risen among Mississippi voters, while President Biden's has flagged. And a large majority opposes Trump's conviction in the U.S. Senate in the ongoing trial on an inciting insurrection charge. The survey found that 56% polled approve of the job Reeves is doing (up from 50% a year ago) and 36% disapprove. The poll is also in sharp contrast to one by Millsaps College/Chism Strategies last month that showed 34% approving Reeves' performance and nearly 50% disapproving. The poll found that approval for Biden, who lost the state in November with 41% of the vote, is at 35%, with 56% disapproving. It also showed that 62% of voters oppose Trump's conviction in the Senate trial, with 35% supporting it. According to the poll, Biden has gained no ground with Mississippi Republicans. It showed that 87% of Democrats approve of the job he's doing so far, but only 3% of Republicans.
 
'Overwhelm the problem': Inside Joe Biden's war on COVID-19
The meetings begin each day not long after dawn. Dozens of aides report in, coffee in hand, joining by Zoom from agency headquarters, their homes or even adjacent offices. The sessions start with the latest sobering statistics meant to focus the work and offer a reminder of what's at stake: new coronavirus cases, people in hospitals, deaths. But they also include the latest signs of progress: COVID-19 tests administered, vaccine doses shipped, shots injected. Where the last administration addressed the pandemic with the vernacular of a natural disaster -- using the Federal Emergency Management Agency's mantra of a "federally supported, state managed and locally executed" response -- President Joe Biden's team is borrowing from the Pentagon and the doctrine of overwhelming force. "We're at war with this virus," COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said in an interview with The Associated Press between Sunday morning meetings on the response. "We're taking every resource and tool the federal government has to battle on every front."
 
Senators advance Miguel Cardona for Education, Martin Walsh for Labor
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday advanced the nominations of Miguel Cardona to be Education secretary by a vote of 17-5, and Martin J. Walsh to be Labor secretary, 18-4. If confirmed by the full Senate, both would face immediate challenges in their respective roles, with schools across the country closed and millions of workers unemployed. "Given the urgency of the pandemic and of the clear qualifications of these nominees, I urge all of my colleagues to vote to advance the nominations," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the panel's chairwoman. Cardona, a former teacher, principal and superintendent from Meriden, Conn., has pledged to advance President Joe Biden's goal to reopen the majority of K-8 schools in the first 100 days of his presidency. Democrats and Republicans alike want to see schools open, but Democrats have argued that significantly more resources are necessary to do so safely. The COVID-19 relief package moving through Congress under reconciliation procedures would provide nearly $170 billion in aid to schools. Cardona "stressed the need of students to get back in school, and that's now finally a bipartisan mission," said ranking member Richard M. Burr, R-N.C.
 
Donald Trump Impeachment Trial Still Has GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy Asking Questions
Sen. Bill Cassidy emerged this week as a wild card and most visible swing vote in the trial over whether former President Donald Trump incited the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The Louisiana Republican surprised colleagues Tuesday when he voted with Democrats to assert the constitutionality of the trial and move ahead with the proceedings. Headed into the final days of the case, he has walked a fine line. He said that he has found the Democrats' arguments compelling and has questions for Mr. Trump's lawyers. But he also has insisted that his recent action didn't indicate whether he would vote to convict Mr. Trump. "The American people are counting on us actually coming to this with a mind ready to receive information," Mr. Cassidy said. "And, yes there's people on both sides of it who want your mind made up right now. But there's a lot at stake here." The night before his vote to proceed with the trial, Mr. Cassidy said that he and other senators on the Senate floor had been discussing a recent opinion article in The Wall Street Journal by prominent conservative attorney Charles Cooper, as well as a letter signed by 150 legal scholars published in Politico. Both pieces argued that it is constitutional to impeach and try an ex-president for alleged crimes committed while in office. Mr. Cassidy has been one of the most assiduous note-takers during the impeachment trial, writing on a yellow legal pad.
 
Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Donald Trump's shot at future office
Senate Republicans, including those who do not plan to vote to convict former President Trump, say this week's impeachment trial has effectively ended any chance of him becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024. From the viewpoint of some Republican senators, the compelling case presented by House prosecutors carries a silver lining: It means they likely won't have to worry about Trump running for president again in three years, while at the same time eroding his influence in party politics more generally. Several Republican senators became irate watching videos of the violence and chaos inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, including footage of police officers being called "pigs" and "traitors" and one officer screaming as he was crushed by rioters battering a police line. Interspersed with the traumatic scenes were clips of Trump urging his supporters to march to the Capitol, warning them "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore" and telling them "we love you; you're very special" shortly after the attack. Polls show a majority of Americans think Trump should be convicted, a shift in sentiment compared to his first impeachment trial in 2020.
 
Nikki Haley breaks with Donald Trump: 'We need to acknowledge he let us down'
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who has become a star in the Republican party, said she does not expect to see one GOP challenger in her likely 2024 White House bid -- former President Donald Trump. "He's not going to run for federal office again," Haley told Politico in a story posted Feb. 12. "I don't think he's going to be in the picture. I don't think he can. He's fallen so far." Haley, a Trump critic during his 2016 White House who joined his administration after he won the election, has walked a tightrope with the bombastic president. She supported his policies at the United Nations, wrote a column defending him from an anonymous administration critic and stumped for his during his reelection campaign. Still, privately she chastised him for his reaction to the deadly Charlottesville protests in 2017 and now is condemning Trump's response to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots where five people died. "We need to acknowledge he let us down," Haley told Politico. "He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
 
Fewer Mississippi students are applying for financial aid. Here's why officials are worried.
Across Mississippi, fewer high school seniors have completed applications for federal financial aid compared to past academic years, according to statistics compiled by the National College Attainment Network. As of Jan. 29, the most recent data available, 2,203 fewer students had filled out the FAFSA compared to last academic year -- a drop of 18.3%, nearly double the current national completion rate of 9.7%. If high school seniors don't complete this step, they cannot receive federal financial aid to help pay for college, which in Mississippi costs an average of $8,120 a year at the state's public universities. Completed applications are down in urban, suburban and rural school districts in Mississippi, but the decline is worse in schools with higher populations of working-class students and students of color. Colleges are also seeing a drop in already-enrolled students renewing the FAFSA. At Itawamba Community College, 6,839 students received financial aid for the 2020-2021 school. As of February 9, only 948 of those students have filed to renew their financial aid for the coming school year. This is lower than the number of renewals ICC expects to see by this time in the academic year, said Terry Bland, the director of financial aid.
 
UM sociology professor enters race for Oxford Board of Aldermen
University of Mississippi associate professor of sociology and international studies Miguel Centellas has officially entered the race for Board of Aldermen, running to represent Ward VI. Centellas, a Democrat and Oxford resident since 2015, will face incumbent Republican Jason Bailey for the seat. Centellas joins Afton Thomas as the second university employee to enter the race for a seat on the Board of Aldermen. Thomas is running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Mark Huelse to represent Ward II. approached him about doing so. He said that although he made the decision to run for office suddenly, he takes it very seriously and felt it was his duty to serve his community. "I live in the Woodlawn neighborhood. I've seen what a commitment to building community can look like at its best," Centellas wrote. "On our neighborhood Facebook page, we help each other find lost pets and lost packages. We help each other find and support local businesses...We do all this for each other without concern for creed or religion or partisanship."
 
Generous Hearts: Northsiders donate $1.5 million for improvements to Children's of Mississippi cancer center
A more accommodating space for patients and their families will be coming to the Children's of Mississippi Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders along with additional exam rooms and pharmacy upgrades. "This much-needed renovation will add space needed for the care of the state's pediatric cancer patients and will make the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders a more comfortable place for our families," said Dr. Anderson Collier, director of the center and chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The $2.5 million project will be fueled by a fund started with a $1.5 million donation from Jim and Pat Coggin of Jackson. "We were looking for a way to give to our community," Jim Coggin said, "and when we were presented with this opportunity, it just felt like the right thing to do." Collier said the gift will help children coping with cancer or blood disorders such as sickle cell disease now and for years to come. Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair, professor and chair of Pediatrics, said the updates to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will improve the patient experience for thousands of children and will closely mirror the improvements offered at the newly opened Sanderson Tower at Children's of Mississippi.
 
Belhaven Builds COVID Center, JSU Business Partnership and USM VET Program
Belhaven University recently announced that it has completed construction on its own COVID-19 testing center to track asymptomatic students, faculty and staff. Belhaven is currently the only university in Mississippi to build a dedicated COVID-19 testing center on campus, a release from the university says. Construction of the new center began in November 2020. Jackson State University recently announced that it has entered into a partnership with Goldman Sachs, Hope Enterprise, seven cities and eight historically black colleges and universities as part of a $130 million effort to support small businesses in the deep south. The Deep South Economic Mobility Collaborative aims to preserve under-represented and under-resourced communities and address economic inequality, a release from JSU says. The University of Southern Mississippi recently announced the launch of the Veterans Employment Trajectory Initiative, a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to aid student-veterans. VET is a fully funded 10-week professional immersion program in Washington, D.C., for U.S. military veterans who are in undergraduate or graduate school, a release from USM says.
 
Pearl River Community College to offer computer coding program at Hattiesburg campus
In fall 2021, Pearl River Community College will offer a computer coding technology program at its Forrest County Center. Coding skills are in demand across a broad range of careers, not just for programmers, so PRCC is looking to fill a need within the community by adding the new program. "The computer coding program will provide students with skills that will be unique from any of Pearl River's current degree pathways," said James David Collum, dean of career and technical education at the Forrest County Center. "The jobs that this program will prepare students for are the jobs of the future. The students will be critical to fill the current software development positions, and they will also be a key component in attracting new high-tech companies to our state." The program is designed to prepare individuals to be software developers. According to data from the State Workforce Investment Board, software developer (applications and software) occupations are projected to grow at 26.46 percent statewide.
 
Auburn University resumes full on-site operations
This week, many students have started attending classes in-person, leading to a spike in the number of students on campus. For Evan Heller, freshman in special education, and Sophie Livadais, freshman in early childhood/elementary education, it is nice to finally have in-person classes. "It's just nice to be back in like actually being in a classroom and actually being taught in person rather than going on zoom and like seeing people," Heller said. "... it's just different and it's a cool experience." Livadais said the influx of students on campus was a big change for her. While this is due largely to temporarily online classes transitioning to in-person, she suspects the cold weather of recent weeks had something to do with it as well. "Literally, as we were walking up, I said, 'Oh my gosh, there are so many people out here today,'" Livadais said. Lily Dorman, junior in nursing, said she thinks the student population on campus doubled this week. "There's a lot more constant flow of people, whereas before classes were in-person, you'd only see some people like between class change," Dorman said.
 
Alabama scientists move America closer to more biofuel
Alabama genetic researchers played a key role in groundbreaking new research into a growing source of fuel from plants that could help lessen America's oil addiction. The plant is America's native switchgrass, the Alabama scientists work at Huntsville's HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology, and their work was published in the January edition of the journal Nature. After a decade of study using evolving genetic research technology, the team created a high quality map of switchgrass genes. Maps like this can help speed up breeding and growth of a plant that is a promising source of biofuel. Biofuels like ethanol are already mixed with gasoline in small percentages. There are differences in switchgrass varieties. Plants in the South are hearty but can't survive cold northern winters, for example. But transposing traits from one variety to another using gene editing could create switchgrass that can grow anywhere producing biomass that can be turned into biofuel, scientists say. But to find out which regions produce useful traits, researchers needed a reference point -- a genetic map of switchgrass. This wasn't easy, took more than a decade and involved researchers at HudsonAlpha, the University of Texas and the U.S. Department of Energy, among other centers.
 
UF professor and peers call for more funding for Black researchers
A group of University of Florida researchers have called upon the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies to address racial disparities in providing support to Black researchers. On Jan. 26, UF Professor Josephine Allen and 18 representatives from a network of women deans, chairs and distinguished faculty in biomedical engineering across the United States published a paper calling upon the agencies to equalize funding for Black scientists. The group spent several months writing the paper and getting it reviewed before publishing it in Cell, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Allen, a Black researcher of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, reviewed reports from the past 10 years about the funding gap between Black and white faculty. One 2011 report found a 55% gap in funding rates between 2000 to 2006. A decade later, another report assessed the rates and found the funding gap was the same. "When we reflected on those papers and reports, we decided it was time for a call to action, so we set out to share our thoughts on strategies to address the funding disparity," Allen said. "The timing felt right to add our voice."
 
UGA student attacked while jogging on North Oconee River Greenway
A University of Georgia student was seriously injured Wednesday when she was attacked while jogging along the North Oconee River Greenway. Athens-Clarke police arrested a suspect in the brutal attack minutes after the crime was reported, police spokesman Lt. Shaun Barnett said Thursday. A 16-year-old juvenile has been detained at a youth detention center on charges of robbery, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. The victim, a 20-year-old woman, was transported to a local hospital with serious head injuries, but has since been released, police said. The attack occurred about 3 p.m. along a stretch of the greenway off Sandy Creek Drive just north of the Athens Perimeter overpass, according to police. The suspect "was in the trail and as she passed by him, he attacked her from behind," Barnett said. "We don't believe he had a weapon, but he did strike her multiple times in the face and head with his fist." Such attacks on the greenway are rare, according to Barnett. The last known reported assault was in September 2015, when a man was charged with attacking a 19-year-old student as she walked the trail near College Avenue.
 
Texas A&M System experts talk virus variants, vaccines
Two experts from the Texas A&M System shared insight recently into three coronavirus variants that appear to be capable of spreading more rapidly. The experts said current vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer protect well against the variants, and explained that even as booster shots may be needed down the road, scientists are working hard to prepare for future virus mutations. The United Kingdom variant, B.1.1.7., was first detected in the U.S. in December; B.1.351, the South African variant, and the Brazil variant, P.1., were first detected in the U.S. at the end of January. The UK and South African variants have been detected in Texas, according to the CDC website. On Monday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the CDC is working to bolster detection of the variants to ascertain their true prevalence in the U.S. The CDC website explains that the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness is a type of coronavirus, a large family of viruses. Ben Neuman, head of the biology department at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, explained to The Eagle on Thursday that each variant has a significant number of mutations; Neuman said all three share one significant virus mutation at the point where the coronavirus spike makes human contact.
 
U. of Missouri research professor selected as senior member of inventors academy
University of Missouri research associate professor Chung-Ho Lin has been selected as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. Lin is in the School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. In a news release, Lin said he was honored to earn the senior rank. "I appreciate the advisory committee and board of governors for selecting me for the award and I look forward to working with the organization in the future," he said. Lin and professor Marc Johnson are partners in a program to test wastewater systems statewide for COVD-19. NAI senior members are chosen from among active faculty with success in patents, licensing and commercialization and who have produced technologies that have the potential for a real impact on the welfare of society. In Lin's case, his primary research involves using plants, microbes and engineered enzymes to break down environmental pollutants. He also has spent the past seven years working to transfer research inventions to industrial applications. One of those, Elemental Enzymes, is a company that holds 114 patents and employs 37 workers in Missouri and Florida.
 
U. of Memphis raises minimum wage to $15
COVID-19 ushered in an era of painful cuts for most colleges and universities. Layoffs, furloughs and lost raises have become common for staff and faculty members at many institutions. But last month, the University of Memphis announced that it would be raising its staff wage floor in June, bringing the university's lowest earners up to $15 per hour. "We are very excited. It's not something we expected to happen in the current climate, especially because of COVID," said Meghan Cullen, an administrative coordinator at Memphis and vice president of the university's United Campus Workers chapter, a union for faculty, staff and graduate students. "It is definitely way past due for the working poor to receive a living wage." The move from the administration follows a years-long campaign for $15 per hour from the UCW chapter. M. David Rudd, president of the university, said the administration had been working on raising the wage floor since he arrived and just recently felt things were finally in a place where the change could be made. "It's not only the right thing to do for the right reasons but also it's about our ability to be competitive in employing people," he said.
 
Some Campuses Have Already Eclipsed Their Fall Covid-19 Case Totals. What's Going On?
Duke University was one of higher education's coronavirus success stories in the fall. Less than 1 percent of its students tested positive during the semester, and just before Thanksgiving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on how the university minimized spread, written by Duke scientists. Now, three weeks into the spring term, the university has had more students test positive than it did all fall -- 182, as of Tuesday, compared to 126 in the fall. "We're definitely hotter now," said Thomas N. Denny, chief operating officer for the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. The university is partnering with the institute to handle coronavirus testing. Over the past few weeks, he said, "we were watching it closely and clearly uncomfortable with the numbers." Other colleges that were relatively successful in the fall have seen an overwhelming number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks. Officials say the surge in some places can be attributed to higher rates of viral transmission nationwide, compared with the late summer, as well as pandemic fatigue. Students are tired of following the rules. Meanwhile, with new, more contagious variants of the virus appearing in ever more colleges -- and healthy, traditional college-age adults far back in line for vaccines -- it's a critical time for campuses to do more to prevent coronavirus transmission, not less.
 
UC Berkeley tightens COVID-19 restrictions, bans outdoor exercise and extends dorm lockdowns
UC Berkeley has banned outdoor exercise and extended dorm lockdowns after more than 160 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the first week of February. According to the university's COVID-19 tracker, 164 people tested positive for the deadly virus; 95% of the cases came from undergraduate students. Five faculty or staff members and three graduate students also tested positive. The university's positive rate for that week was 1.6% while the city of Berkeley's was 0.6%. In an email to students this week, the university said that though the new cases are slowing, a "significant number of students remain in quarantine." "We must be cautious in lifting this sequestration," the email said. Students are not allowed to leave their dorms unless for approved reasons, including using assigned bathrooms, seeking medical care, getting food or getting tested for the coronavirus, which is required twice weekly. The university also urged students to resist leaving campus or going home. Students could infect a "loved one who may be more likely to become severely ill," the memo said.
 
Biden administration walks back federal oversight of Confucius Institutes
The Biden administration has withdrawn a rule that would have required colleges that participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program to disclose if they had financial ties to a Chinese culture education program that frequently partners with U.S. institutions. Political pressures surrounding the controversial Confucius Institutes escalated during the last administration, which accused China of pushing propaganda into American classrooms. The Trump administration's Education Department cracked down on colleges' financial relationships with foreign entities. A withering Senate subcommittee report in 2019 heightened concerns about the Confucius Institutes. The report stated that nearly 70% of colleges that received more than $250,000 in funding from Hanban -- the affiliate of the Chinese Ministry of Education that manages the institutes -- failed to properly report that information to the federal government. Section 117 of the Higher Education Act mandates colleges disclose foreign donations and contracts that total $250,000 or more in a year. The Education Department under Trump claimed colleges often failed to follow the law, and said this fall that an investigation unearthed more than $6.5 billion in previously undisclosed foreign money.
 
British government estimates students lost to Brexit
Modeling kept under wraps by the British government for nearly two years estimates that Brexit could cost the nation's universities nearly two-thirds of their European Union student enrollment and 63 million pounds ($87 million) in one year, but that the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge will boost their income. In the wake of Brexit, E.U. students have lost their access to British student loans and will also no longer be subject to the same automatic tuition fee caps as home students -- meaning that they will likely face up-front fees and that universities can charge them the much higher full fees charged to non-E.U. overseas students. The report for the Department for Education, prepared by London Economics, models the potential impact on British universities' E.U. undergraduate and postgraduate recruitment from those changes, along with that of E.U. students having the same, limited postgraduation rights to work in Britain as non-E.U. students, and the same restrictions on their rights to bring family to Britain as non-E.U. students.
 
Understanding gender bias early
Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in the Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University, writes: While most every kindergartener starts school with the same basic curriculum, it doesn't take long before the options diverge. Many of these options are gender-based. For example, fliers for ballet class are most likely to be given to girls. Little league football applications go home with the boys. While this, in most cases, offers parents the traditional comforts afforded by stereotypical roles, it is important to recognize that not every child chooses the typical path. Without access to her passion for sports, Mississippi's own Sarah Thomas would never have been able to follow her dream to become the very first female to officiate the Super Bowl. In an interview offered by CBS, Thomas said growing up, when she told her aunt she couldn't play basketball because there wasn't a girls' team, her aunt told her to "go out for the boys' team" instead. Role models like this afford young women and men the opportunity to recognize that gender should never be a limiting factor in following one's goals. According to Sheryl Sandberg, author of "Lean In for Graduates" and current Chief Operating Officer for Facebook, there are six specific forms of bias: performance, attribution, likeability, maternal, affinity, and double discrimination. Performance bias may imagine that girls may not perform tasks as efficiently or effectively as boys. In this bias, the performance of girls is typically underestimated while boys' is overestimated. This bias was evidenced when orchestra auditions were amended to "blind" auditions where the judges couldn't see the applicants. The odds of females being selected past the first round increased a full 50%.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State volleyball sweeps Ole Miss
The Mississippi State volleyball team got its first win of the spring season Thursday, beating in-state rival Ole Miss in straight sets at the Newell-Grissom Building in Starkville. Set scores were 25-20, 25-15 and 25-17 as the Bulldogs improved to 3-8 on the season. Gabby Waden led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, and Callie Minshew had 11. "I am proud of our total team effort win today," head coach Julie Darty Dennis said in a news release from Mississippi State. "Opening our spring season at home with a win like this in front of some fantastic fans is exciting and special in this type of season we are playing. Getting our first sweep of the season is huge. "We hit efficiently for the team that we are," Darty Dennis added. "Gabby [Waden] carried us offensively, but I thought we had other people come in at times and make some big plays." Lilly Gunter had 19 digs for the Bulldogs, and Jessica Kemp had five blocks. Mississippi State will conclude its two-match series with Ole Miss at noon Friday.
 
A look at Mississippi State softball's opening series against Miami (Ohio)
Nearly 11 months after the Mississippi State softball team last played a game against another school, head coach Samantha Ricketts has realized something. The Bulldogs have practiced enough. "We are beyond ready to get back on the field," Ricketts said Thursday. "There is nothing else they can do or cover. ... It's just time to get back out there." Mississippi State will get that chance Saturday, opening a long-awaited 2021 season with a doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) beginning at noon. When the Bulldogs emerge from the dugout at Nusz Park, 338 days will have elapsed since their last game: March 11, 2020, at Southern Miss. That's a long time, but Ricketts said Thursday her players have learned to be appreciative at the ability to return to play rather than frustrated by the season they missed. "It's just more of an attitude of gratitude out there and taking advantage of every opportunity we get because we know how it goes when one day it's there and the next day it's gone," Ricketts said. Last season -- Ricketts' first as head coach -- the Bulldogs went 25-3, tying for the national lead in wins. They finished 2020 ranked in the top 25 in the country and will start the 2021 season there, too. Ricketts said it'll be up to Mississippi State to navigate a spring likely to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs will undergo a round of testing for the virus on Friday, and Ricketts said the lack of certainty with respect to which players will be in the lineup or in the circle on any given game day won't be easy.
 
Chelsea Dungee helps No. 18 Arkansas women hold off Mississippi State
Chelsea Dungee scored 22 points, surpassing 2,000 for her career, and her three free throws and a steal in the last 20 seconds helped No. 18-ranked Arkansas turn aside a second-half challenge from Mississippi State 86-80 on Thursday night. The Bulldogs, who trailed 48-35 at halftime, had closed to 71-69 midway through the fourth quarter when Dungee grabbed the rebound of a Razorbacks miss and put it back up, getting fouled and converting the three-point play. She added two more, reaching 2,001 points, on a driving layup on the next possession and finishing at 2,004 career points. She began as a freshman at Oklahoma before transferring to Arkansas and sitting out the 2017-18 season. Last season, Mississippi State had held Dungee to four points. The Bulldogs next have a rematch with Ole Miss on Sunday, then face No. 16 Tennessee Tuesday and Auburn Thursday.
 
SEC reschedules Tennessee Lady Vols vs. Mississippi State for Feb. 16
The Tennessee women's basketball team's schedule keeps changing. Due to a couple of battles with COVID-19, the Lady Vols have had a plethora of games postponed, including their previously scheduled game against Mississippi State on Feb. 4, which has now been rescheduled for next Tuesday. Tennessee will travel to Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU. This new game comes in the middle of a particularly brutal stretch in which the Lady Vols are playing four of the top six SEC teams in the span of two weeks, starting at Kentucky on Thursday night. Tennessee plays at No. 5 Texas A&M on Sunday, at Mississippi State on Tuesday and hosts No. 3 South Carolina next Thursday, meaning that it will play three games in five days, two against top-five opponents.
 
Ole Miss basketball broadcaster Marc Dukes pleads for Gov. Tate Reeves to allow more fans
Ole Miss men's basketball coach Kermit Davis did his postgame conversation with radio broadcasters David Kellum and Marc Dukes after Wednesday's game against Missouri. Near the end of it, Kellum asked Davis about The Pavilion being limited to 10% of capacity for Ole Miss men's basketball games. Kellum described it as "stuck at that 10 percent." Before Kellum finished the question, Dukes said, "Call the governor, Kermit. Please call the governor. Please call the governor. Fans, email Tate Reeves. We want 25% for Mississippi State when we come back on that Saturday alright." The next home game for Ole Miss is against Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 20. The game is currently scheduled to start at 5 p.m. CT. When the Mississippi State game was brought up again after Davis went off the broadcast, Dukes again said he hoped for more fans at the Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State game. Ole Miss men's basketball played its season opener against Jackson State on Dec. 10 with 25 percent capacity. Since that game, Ole Miss attendance has been limited to 10 percent capacity in accordance with the State of Mississippi executive order from Reeves.
 
Jackson State to be on ESPN family of networks 6 times in Deion Sanders' first season
Jackson State and first-year coach Deion Sanders will get a lot of air time this spring. The school announced Wednesday that the Tigers' football team will be on the ESPN family of networks six times during the seven-game spring season, with three games being aired on ESPNU via tape delay, and potentially a fourth if they were to make the Southwestern Athletic Conference title game on May 1. "The Jackson State name and brand speaks for itself," athletic director Ashley Robinson said. "We are very excited to showcase Jackson State University, the city of Jackson and our brand of football." The program also announced time changes in January, but Wednesday's announcement will shift game times again for the Tigers to accommodate ESPN's broadcasting schedule. Also, Jackson State will hold an open scrimmage at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday, eight days before the season opener against Edward Waters.
 
UGA grad, president of Daytona speedway prepares for 'really special' start of 2021 NASCAR season
On Sunday, the Daytona 500 will take place in a world vastly different than the one that was run one year ago. The Daytona International Speedway, which normally seats 101,500, will include a fraction of that number. But the fact that fans will be in attendance at all is a triumph of smart planning, careful considerations, and hard work. The logistics and safety precautions in place at the track---temperature checks and social distancing of fans, mask requirements, compartmentalizing of drivers and teams, frequent cleaning of public areas---are familiar to us now. But in the early days of the pandemic, small groups of people had to figure out a way forward. One of those people was Chip Wile, who graduated from UGA in 2002. As president of the Daytona International Speedway, one of the most iconic sports venues not just in the U.S. but the world, Wile sat at the planning table from the beginning. Wile was always a sports fan growing up but not necessarily of motorsports. That changed his junior year at UGA when he acquired an internship with a sports marketing firm that was specific to NASCAR. He quickly fell in love with the sport and the passionate fans and teams who made up the community. Immediately after graduating from UGA with a communications degree in 2002, Wile launched into a multifaceted career in racing team promotion and management. The idea of managing a racetrack didn't come about until 2013.
 
Valparaiso University dropping Crusaders name, mascot, logos
Valparaiso University announced Thursday that it is dropping the team name Crusaders, the school mascot and all logos associated with the term that it said has been embraced by hate groups. The decision comes after a decadeslong debate that had intensified recently because groups such as the Ku Klux Klan began using the symbols and words. The school's faculty and student senates each passed resolutions calling for the change and the university's alumni board of directors supported reassessing the appropriateness of the team name. The Crusades were a series of bloody religious wars starting in the 11th century between Christians and Muslims. For years, Valpo's mascot has been a helmeted figure in faux armor. "The negative connotation and violence associated with the Crusader imagery are not reflective of Valpo's mission and values, which promote a welcoming and inclusive community," interim president Colette Irwin-Knott said. "This is the decision that best reflects our values and community." President-elect Jose D. Padilla will oversee a committee that will consider adopting a new team name and mascot for the 3,100-student, Lutheran school located in northwest Indiana.



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