Wednesday, February 17, 2021   
 
MSU gets approval to build aquatic food research center in Jackson County
Mississippi State has received formal approval to build the Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center, a multimillion dollar facility in Ocean Springs and the first of its kind on the Mississippi Coast. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Jackson County Board of Supervisors and Jackson County Port Authority have formally approved siting the center on four acres in the Sunplex Light Industrial Park, located on Mississippi Highway 57, approximately one mile from Interstate 10 and U.S. Hwy 90. MSU President Mark E. Keenum said the center's impact on food safety and the blue economy -- a term used to describe sustainable use of ocean resources while maintaining the coastal water quality -- will be tremendous. "This is an exciting venture for our university as it couples economic development with food safety and security, two strategic research initiatives at Mississippi State," Keenum said. "Our faculty, staff and students are driven to find efficient and effective ways to feed the world while also bolstering our state's economy."
 
State IHL approves MSU research center for Ocean Springs
Mississippi State received formal approval to build the Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center, a multi-million-dollar facility in Ocean Springs and the first of its kind on the Mississippi Coast. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Jackson County Board of Supervisors and Jackson County Port Authority formally approved putting the center on four acres in the Sunplex Light Industrial Park, located on Mississippi Highway 57, approximately one mile from Interstate 10 and U.S. Hwy 90. MSU President Mark E. Keenum said the center's impact on food safety and the blue economy will be tremendous. Keenum noted the center continues MSU's long history of working to develop and improve the aquaculture industry throughout Mississippi and beyond, citing the university's recent designation as headquarters of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish, a U.S. government global hunger and food security initiative funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center, a project in the university's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, is designed to help rebuild and strengthen the region's seafood industry and economy.
 
MSU celebrates Arbor Day with the planting of new trees on the Drill Field
Mississippi State University celebrated the state's Arbor Day by planting trees on the Drill Field on Friday in an event that included short speeches by faculty members from the College of Forest Resources, as well as one from MSU President Mark Keenum. Scholarship students in the forestry department planted trees on the corner near Walker Engineering Building, as members of their faculty and groundsmen looked on. Roughly 75 people were in attendance on the cold, 28-degree day. Keenum also stated MSU takes trees "very seriously," and mentioned their prevalence on campus with more than 10,000 trees of over 20 different species present. As a part of this year's Arbor Day celebration, MSU will plant many more trees throughout the year, starting with the white oaks planted on Friday. After Keenum ended his speech by lauding the beauty and aesthetic trees give us, Wes Burger, professor of wildlife ecology and management and interim director of the College of Forest Resources, came up and talked to the crowd about the importance of trees. Burger noted trees provide jobs to thousands of Mississippians statewide and continued by talking about the other tangible benefits trees give people. He also mentioned the non-tangible, emotional value of trees.
 
Starkville Strong provides food and necessities for those in need
Starkville Strong, a Facebook group of local volunteers, is taking on food insecurity in Starkville through a number of pop-up pantries spread throughout the city. Starkville Strong was started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of supporting small businesses and restaurants. In the months following, administrator Brandi Duncan-Herrington, the owner and artist of Dunkington Art & Jewelry, has switched the focus to the community as a whole. "I decided that the community needed help as well, and that, if the community was stronger, then it could better support small businesses," Herrington said. "It's a cycle." The pantries are expected to reach a total of seven in the coming weeks, with current locations at the First United Methodist Church, the Wesley Foundation and the Episcopal Church office. Four more pantries will soon be found at the J.L. King Center, Emerson Family School, the Boys and Girls Club and Sudduth Elementary School. Regina Hyatt, MSU's vice president for student affairs, said the pantries are a great source for people in need. "I am so impressed and grateful for the efforts of Starkville Strong in building, installing and maintaining mini-pantries across our community," Hyatt said. "Food insecurity impacts so many people, and easily accessible resources like those provided by these Starkville Strong pantries are another layer of support for our community members in need."
 
Weather update: Area schools to continue virtual-only classes due to weather
Classes in the Columbus Municipal School District and the Lowndes County School District will be held virtually on Wednesday. Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has also canceled in-person classes for Wednesday and Thursday due to continued freezing forecasts, according to an email to parents from Superintendent Eddie Peasant. Students will continue to participate in distance learning as they have all week, and Peasant said teachers are providing distance learning schedules and lesson information to students and their families. Mississippi University for Women has closed its offices through at least Wednesday, Mississippi State through Thursday and East Mississippi Community College through Friday. All three schools are holding virtual classes. The U.S. Postal Service announced its offices were closed and mail delivery suspended in 11 Mississippi zip codes -- including the Golden Triangle -- for Tuesday due to the winter storm. No information has been released about Wednesday mail service.
 
Winter storm warning issued for Mississippi as road conditions stay slick
The National Weather Service in Jackson has issued a winter Storm Warning for parts of Mississippi effective 6 a.m. Wednesday ahead of another storm system set to impact the region. Hinds and Madison counties, as well as several other portions of central Mississippi and the Delta, will see more freezing rain and sleet as the storm passes through the region. According to the National Weather Service in Jackson, Bolivar County reported an additional 2 inches of accumulation by 10 a.m. and some eastern parts of the state will also be affected. Much of the state is still contending with icy roadways, and conditions are expected to worsen with the coming storm. Drivers are urged to stay off roadways and only travel when absolutely necessary. The warning will remain in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday. Road crews from the Mississippi Department of Transportation have been working to treat roadways since late Monday night, but have cautioned drivers to avoid traveling unless absolutely necessary. Several state agencies and local government offices have either closed or shifted to remote work ahead of Wednesday's storm.
 
Mississippians advised to stay off ice covered roads
Layers of ice and sleet are covering many of Mississippi's roads and bridges creating hazardous driving conditions. Since Sunday morning, the Mississippi Highway Patrol has responded to more than 750 accidents across the state. Major Johnny Poulos with MHP says many of the accidents are caused by the slick road conditions. "And it also puts us in a position where we're not able to respond to someone for example that is involved in a serious crash, or somebody that has medical needs," says Poulos. "And again it's very important for people to stay home. It makes it a lot easier for what we're having to do right now across the state." Poulos says sections of Interstate 20 between Vicksburg and Meridian became parking lots for several hours as 18-wheelers were unable to maneuver the slick hills. The Department of Transportation reports more than a dozen roads across the state are impassable and have been closed. Traffic has melted some of the ice on many city streets. But the National Weather Service predicts another wave of winter weather across the state tonight, possibly bringing more freezing rain. John Neal, president of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, says this is a recipe for black ice. "And as soon as your car goes across that, if there's any evasive action that is taken through braking or through some sharp steering, Then you're just going to lose control of your car," says Neal.
 
Winter Storm Disrupts Wide Swath of American Business
The winter storm that barreled across much of the United States over the holiday weekend severely disrupted businesses including large car factories, retail chains and the delivery services that people are deeply reliant on for basic necessities. General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota, Nissan and other automakers suspended or shut down production at plants from Texas to Indiana as rolling blackouts, natural gas shortages and icy conditions made it difficult to keep assembly lines running. Walmart was forced to close as many as 500 stores across the South and Midwest, according to a map that was being updated in real time on its website. The storm dealt a blow to huge economic hubs that are accustomed to hurricanes and tornadoes but not extreme winter weather that strains power grids and sends temperatures well below averages for this time of year. The winter storm prompted the United States Postal Service to close post offices, processing hubs and other facilities in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. Nissan closed its four U.S. plants on Monday and canceled the morning and afternoon shifts on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. Two of the plants, in Canton, Miss., and Smyrna, Tenn., make cars and the other two, both in Decherd, Tenn., make engines. Toyota Motor canceled the first and second shifts at five factories, including its largest U.S. plant in Georgetown, Ky., and a pickup truck plant in San Antonio, because of the winter storm and energy disruptions it caused. The other three plants are in Kentucky, Indiana and Mississippi.
 
USDA providing winter storm assistance to families, farmers, communities
The U.S. Department of Agriculture stands ready to provide assistance following the winter storms. The agency announced on Wednesday that it has several programs designed to provide assistance to rural communities, farmers, ranchers, families and small business owners. "USDA is committed to getting help to producers and rural Americans impacted by the severe weather in many parts of the country," said Kevin Shea, acting Secretary of Agriculture. "We want you and your communities to know that USDA stands with you." Winter weather has recently ripped across the country, including Mississippi. More extreme winter weather is expected Wednesday and Thursday. Among programs, individuals are able to apply for emergency nutrition assistance, a program that provides food packages and infant formula to households, shelters and feeding sites in need. Additionally, farmers who have Federal Crop Insurance are being asked to report weather-related damages within 72 hours of discovery of that damage and then follow up in writing within 15 days.
 
MSDH reports 684 new COVID-19 cases, 23 deaths
The Mississippi State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 684 additional cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths. Lafayette, Lee, Monroe and Tishomingo counties in Northeast Mississippi each reported an additional death. The statewide total number of cases since March 11, 2020 is now 289,398 with a death toll of 6,524. As of this week, around 264,456 people are presumed recovered from the virus. The seven-day moving average for new COVID-19 cases in Mississippi is 27 per 100,000 people, as of Feb. 15. In Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, the seven-day moving average is 25 per 100,000 people. MSDH also reported 112 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Most counties in the Daily Journal's coverage area reported new cases: Alcorn (4), Benton (2), Calhoun (1), Clay (1), Itawamba (4), Lafayette (7), Lee (9), Marshall (5), Monroe (9), Oktibbeha (6), Pontotoc (5), Prentiss (3), Tippah (7), Tishomingo (4) and Union (6).
 
Icy weather chills Mississippi Legislature action
State senators plan to bundle up on Wednesday morning after they slip and slide into Jackson -- Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann informed lawmakers that the heat, which was out at the Capitol on Tuesday, won't be restored until Wednesday afternoon, "hopefully." "Take that into consideration when you dress for tomorrow morning," Hosemann told senators, who gaveled in Tuesday, took up no real business, voted to relax the Senate's dress code, then gaveled out a few minutes later with plans to return Wednesday at 10 a.m. "We appreciate everyone's patience while we work in the cold for the citizens, literally," Hosemann said. The House, meanwhile, met by Zoom online briefly Tuesday for what is certainly a first in the state's history: Speaker of the House Philip Gunn presided over the lower chamber via video call. The House plans to reconvene Wednesday at 2 p.m. The unprecedented winter storm that has impacted most of the state has ground work of the Mississippi Legislature to a near halt. Legislators have until March 2 to pass out of committee bills that had passed the other chamber. Before then, legislators face a key deadline of Feb. 24 to take up revenue and appropriations bills on the floor of the chamber where the bill originated.
 
Senate bill could politicize Mississippi archives and history board
The Legislature is considering an overhaul of how the nine-member board of trustees for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History is set up, transforming it into a politician-appointed panel rather than a body that selects its own members. For more than a century, that board and the agency, one of the oldest in the nation, has quietly sought to preserve Mississippi's past -- from prehistoric artifacts, to Civil War documents, to Civil Rights-era exhibits. The proposal to tinker with the agency's leadership has garnered concerns from a prominent Northeast Mississippi lawmaker and others who question why such a change is necessary, and whether it could politicize an agency that should be insulated from such influence. "This completely revamps the board of archives and history," Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, warned his Senate colleagues last week. "I don't know of any public discussion of this or anything -- it's just all of a sudden, one afternoon, we're doing this." Under Senate Bill 2727 -- which cleared the Senate on a party-line vote and now goes to the House -- the governor and lieutenant governor would alternate appointing new MDAH trustees for six-year terms. The appointments would then be confirmed or rejected by the Senate. The way it's set up now, the board is self-perpetuating.
 
Capitol Police Could Gain Extradition Power Inside Jackson Under Divisive Bill
Mississippi Capitol Police are set to gain lead jurisdiction in parts of Jackson, as well as the ability to eject those it arrests on misdemeanor charges out of Hinds County, if a bill that passed the Mississippi Senate last week becomes law. Senate Bill 2434, if successful, would move jurisdiction over parts of the city inside the entire Capitol Complex Improvement District from the Jackson Police Department to the special State police force. Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, says he authored the bill after watching the dust settle on the Jan. 6 storming of the United States Capitol. "There was a question of who had primary jurisdiction," Wiggins told the Jackson Free Press in a Feb. 5 interview. "Was it the U.S. Capitol Police? Was it D.C.? Was it Virginia? So what the bill does is it says if there is a question as jurisdiction then the Capitol Police would have primary say." Wiggins says he wrote the legislation in order to prevent miscommunication at the Mississippi Capitol by placing the Capitol Police in the lead during any event that involves multiple agencies -- namely the Jackson Police Department or the Hinds County Sheriff's Office.
 
'An unfair tax on women': Bill targets Mississippi's highest-in-nation tax on menstrual hygiene products
A bill pending in the Senate would eliminate Mississippi's sales tax on menstrual hygiene products, contraceptive products, baby formula and diapers -- taxes that advocates say disproportionately affect the state's low-income women and women of color. The sales tax on menstrual products, often referred to as the "pink tax," has been eliminated in 20 states. Mississippi is not only one of the 30 states that do tax these necessities, it does so at the highest rate in the nation. Mississippi's 7% sales tax rate is only matched in Tennessee and Indiana, two states that also tax these products. An individual might not feel the full impact of this tax each time they buy these products, but it adds up to a significant tax burden over time. Advocates estimate eliminating the pink tax would deliver millions of dollars in tax relief to the state's 1.5 million women each year. This is not the first time that these tax cuts have been proposed in the Legislature. In 2016, Sen. Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson, had these cuts amended into a bill concerning tax exemptions for certain medical equipment and supplies. That bill passed both the Senate and the House, but it later died on calendar after leaders chose not to bring it up for floor votes. Frazier thinks this year's bill has a better shot at becoming law this session because more women are in the Legislature than in 2016 who can "be strong advocates for this position."
 
Judge sentences Ocean Springs businessman Scott Walker to 30 days in jail
A chancery court judge has sent Ocean Springs businessman Scott Walker to jail for 30 days during a hearing involving Walker's parents Tuesday. According to our media partner, The Sun Herald, Judge Neil Harris grew weary of what he called Scott Walker's "rants" while he was on the witness stand. Walker allegedly interrupted the judge while on the witness stand more than once and was threatened with a contempt citation. Reportedly, Walker also used cuss words in the courtroom, which word had gotten back to the judge, who then found Walker in criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to 30 days in jail plus a $100 fine. Both Bill and Scott Walker were convicted in 2014 of defrauding the federal government while Bill Walker worked as executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
 
Mississippi Center for Public Policy Launches Mississippi Technology Institute
The Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank, announced the launch of the "Mississippi Technology Institute" (MTI) as a new division of the Center. The Institute will promote policies that foster technology and innovation within our state. It will produce rigorous research to help inform the public policy debate in Mississippi and advocate a reform program which will make our state a center of innovation and growth. "I am so excited that the Mississippi Center for Public Policy is today launching the Mississippi Technology Institute to develop and promote the right polices for our state" explained Douglas Carswell. "Technology is fundamentally changing how the world does business, and removing obstacles to innovation is essential in order to produce prosperity." Matthew Nicaud will serve as the Tech Policy Specialist for the Institute. In this role he will continue leading the Tech Talks series in which he interviews public policy and community leaders about high profile technology and innovation issues. He will also coordinate research efforts to help drive forward discussion of important tech-related policies in Mississippi.
 
Rep. Bennie Thompson, NAACP sue Donald Trump and Rudy Guiliani over Jan. 6 riot
The NAACP on Tuesday morning filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson against former President Donald J. Trump and his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit argues that the former president and his lawyer violated the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 law that includes protections against violent conspiracies that interfere with Congress's constitutional duties, in conspiring to incite a violent riot at the Capitol. In the lawsuit, Thompson said he was forced to wear a gas mask and hide on the floor of the House gallery for three hours while hearing "threats of physical violence against any member who attempted to proceed to approve the Electoral College ballot count." Thompson in the suit said he heard a gunshot, which he did not learn until later had killed a woman who stormed the Capitol. Thompson, the 72-year-old Democrat and Mississippi's senior member of Congress, says he was put at an increased health risk by later being required to shelter in place in a cramped area that did not allow for social distancing with two members of Congress who later tested positive for COVID-19.
 
Rep. Bennie Thompson files suit against Trump for Jan. 6 insurrection
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and others on Tuesday that seeks damages for the emotional distress he suffered during the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus whose long fight for civil rights has included removal of Confederate imagery from his state's flag, seeks to hold Trump personally responsible for the violent insurrection. "The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence," the lawsuit states. "It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College." Thompson's lawsuit says Trump is personally responsible because he "acted beyond the outer perimeter of his official duties and therefore is susceptible to suit in his personal capacity." Thompson filed the lawsuit under the Ku Klux Klan Act, passed in 1871 in the wake of the Civil War, which bans any conspiracy to prevent members of Congress from discharging the duties of their office.
 
POLITICO Pro Q&A: Rep. David Scott, the first Black House Ag chair
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) is now the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, the first African American to hold that role. The Georgia lawmaker recently spoke with POLITICO to talk about his priorities, which include addressing climate change, tackling racial inequities within the agriculture industry, and alleviating food insecurity that has skyrocketed during the pandemic. He plans to introduce a bill to set aside disaster relief funds for producers hurt by extreme weather events to receive assistance quickly. He also want to commit a fresh round of money for rural broadband deployment.
 
President Biden speaks with governors of states hit by severe weather
President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday with the governors of several of the states hit by severe winter weather, telling them the federal government is prepared to assist. The White House said in a readout of the call that Biden spoke with the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma. "The President and the governors discussed the extreme winter weather situation across the central and southern regions of the country that is impacting tens of millions of Americans and leaving millions of homes without power," the White House said. "President Biden relayed to the governors that he understood the severity of the conditions being felt across the states, and that he and the First Lady were praying for swift recovery from the effects of the storm. President Biden reiterated to all the governors that his Administration is prepared to assist and stands ready to respond to requests for Federal assistance from the governors and will deploy any additional Federal emergency resources available to assist the residents of their states in getting through this historic storm," the readout added. The storm has hit particularly hard in the South, which is unaccustomed to such severe conditions.
 
Trump Blasts Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell And His Leadership In Lengthy Response To Recent Criticism
In a highly personal attack, former President Donald Trump blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling him an unfit leader of the Republican Party. "The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political 'leaders' like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm," Trump said in a lengthy statement Tuesday. "Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again," he added. The statement comes three days after McConnell voted to acquit the former president in his second impeachment trial but then condemned him for his actions on the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Kentucky Republican also released a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday doubling down on his rhetoric against Trump, saying he "bears moral responsibility" for the insurrection. The back-and-forth between two main figureheads of the GOP underscores the deep rift in the Republican Party.
 
Campus and other closures continue due to winter weather
The University of Mississippi announced on Feb. 16 that while the Oxford campus will be shut down for a third day due to winter weather, classes may be conducted virtually wherever possible starting on Wednesday. "Instructors will contact their students with additional guidance and details," the announcement read. "Employees who are able to telecommute are encouraged to do so. The statement released on the university's website also encouraged faculty and supervisors to recognize extenuating circumstances such as power and internet outages. Students are encouraged to contact their instructors for further guidance. Rebel Market was the only on-campus dining option operating as of Feb. 16. Ole Miss Dining has not released if this will continue to be the only service open on campus, or if more will open in the coming days. The National Weather service has issued another winter storm warning for north Mississippi until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18. The statement said that three to five more inches of snow can be expected on Wednesday night. Travel is not encouraged since road conditions are not expected to improve.
 
East Mississippi Community College Workforce Division to expand offerings with $300K grant
East Mississippi Community College's Workforce and Community Services division has been awarded a $300,000 Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant that will be used to purchase two semitrucks, a heavy-equipment trailer and a training simulator to support division programs on EMCC's Golden Triangle and Scooba campuses. The ARC is an economic development partnership agency of the federal government and 13 state governments, of which Mississippi is a member. ARC uses congressionally appropriated funds to invest in economic and community development projects in 420 counties across the Appalachian region. "We are very grateful for the ARC's continuing support," EMCC Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development Dr. Courtney Taylor said. "The ARC was instrumental in helping fund construction of The Communiversity and further support through grants like this allows us to diversify our programs to ensure we are meeting the local demand for skilled employees. Our residents benefit through increased wages while boosting the regional economy and promoting economic development."
 
For colleges, $7B in federal broadband aid highlights extent of digital divide
The transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for some students at Tougaloo College. The private, four-year historically Black college serves students living in the Mississippi Delta, a rural region long considered one of the poorest areas in the country. The $50 to $60 per month charge for reliable broadband internet service, where it is available, was too high for some of its nearly 800 students, who struggled to get online when classes went virtual, said Carmen Walters, Tougaloo's president. The problem is not unique to Tougaloo. Connecting to the internet can be a challenge for lower-income students and those living in rural communities. The problem has only gotten worse since the pandemic closed campuses. Institutional leaders fear the lack of access is widening higher education's class divide and forcing students to drop out or not enroll in college. The latest federal coronavirus relief package, which passed in December, included $7 billion to help expand broadband to underserved communities and connect people who do not have the means to pay for it. A significant chunk of that money will help minority-serving institutions and students who receive Pell Grants, which are given to those with the greatest financial need.
 
U. of Alabama students donate marketing skills to nonprofits
The fifth annual CreateAthon provided an opportunity for the Capstone Agency, the University of Alabama's student-run communications firm, to hone their skills while giving back to the community. The 24-hour pro bono marketing marathon, held virtually earlier this month, allowed Capstone Agency students to provide marketing and communications services to local nonprofits. During the span of 24 hours, the agency created media kits, redesigned websites and provided other services requested for seven nonprofits free of charge. "CreateAthon allows us to accomplish so much as an agency and really put our talent to the test," said Lawson Colgate, Capstone Agency's director. "It never fails to remind me of how talented, passionate and motivated all of our members are." This year, many of the nonprofits that submitted proposals to Capstone Agency were looking for help converting in-person events to a virtual format. "Now, more than ever," said Stephanie Cohen, the agency's pro bono director, "Nonprofits need assistance because they depend on in-person programming so much, and that was all canceled over the past year." Organizers estimated that the students generated $40,487 worth of work during this year's event, which means the CreateAthon's five-year total stands at $250,367.
 
U. of Tennessee and ORNL name director for 'truly visionary' Oak Ridge Institute
The first executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute, a groundbreaking research partnership between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been announced. Joan Bienvenue will serve as the executive director. Bienvenue is currently the senior executive director of the Applied Research Institute at the University of Virginia. She helped launch the institute there and has been the senior executive director since June 2013. "The opportunity to lead this partnership between a national research university and the country's leading science and energy laboratory holds transformative potential," Bienvenue said in a news release. The Oak Ridge Institute will focus on advancing research in several areas, including materials science, artificial intelligence and data sciences. It will expand graduate programs at UT and create more opportunities for UT students and faculty to conduct groundbreaking research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Over the next 10 years, the goal is to add up to 500 new graduate students through the institute. Those students, as well as faculty, will be able to conduct research at ORNL while studying at UT.
 
UGA cancels Maymester study abroad, sets date for summer program decision
Maymester study abroad programs have been canceled at the University of Georgia with the fate of the summer programs still pending. In an email sent Monday from the Office of Global Engagement, associate provost Noel Fallows announced that the faculty-led programs for the 2021 Maymester study abroad program are canceled. Fallows said that the discussion on summer semester programs are still ongoing and a decision will be made on March 1. Fallows also asked that no one make any travel plans or commitments with third-party vendors until the summer programs decision is made. Maymester programs on the UGA website show that they would normally begin during the month of May and allow students to participate in an approximately three-week-long program. Summer programs would take place in the months of June and July with applications typically closing in April. UGA reports that over 2,000 students study abroad every year with a quarter of graduates having studied abroad.
 
UF digitizes Native American history records with Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The University of Florida Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and George A. Smathers Libraries have received $200,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to digitize its Native American History Project records. Once completed, UF's over 1,000 Native American interviews, along with photos and other media, will join collections from six other universities in an online hub nationally coordinated by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries & Museums. Paul Ortiz, director of UF's oral history program, said the effort will take about two years and will increase accessibility to thousands of important cultural records by updating transcripts and creating high quality audio recordings and photos for online use. "Digitizing and transcribing these precious oral histories and being able to place them on the University of Florida Digital Collections Library will make these interviews available to a much larger group of people," he said. "Most Americans believe that Native Americans in the Southeast vanished or just disappeared. These interviews are testaments to the survival and success of Native Americans in the South."
 
Texas A&M's Reed Arena opened as warming shelter
Reed Arena opened as a warming center Tuesday afternoon for individuals and families in the area impacted by power outages and winter weather conditions. Brazos County Judge Duane Peters signed a disaster declaration for Brazos County on Tuesday, due to winter weather conditions and power outages that have gripped the area. Minimal amenities will be available at the warming center at this time. Cots, food and beverages will not be available. Reed Arena is being warmed to 70 degrees to assist those who wish to seek shelter from the cold. The warming center is expected to remain open through noon Thursday. AJ Renold, executive director of the Heart of Texas chapter of the Red Cross, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the Reed Arena warming center effort was a collaborative effort one including Texas A&M, Brazos County, College Station and Bryan city officials, with the Brazos Valley Food Bank providing supplies. "We're going to do our best, and if anything, people will be warm," Renold said.
 
Colleges and universities shiver through dangerous conditions as record winter weather sweeps across central and southern U.S.
Record-breaking low temperatures and winter storms across the southern and central United States caused widespread power outages and forced dozens of colleges to close for at least several days. The storms hit shortly after many colleges began what will likely be another challenging spring term. More and more institutions are transitioning to some in-person instruction amid the pandemic and welcomed more students to campus than they did in the fall. In some cases, the recent bad weather shut down campus COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites and threw a wrench in colleges' efforts to keep students and employees socially distant. Conditions are bad in Texas, where more than 3.6 million people were still without power as of Tuesday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks power blackouts throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of people in California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia were also without power Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Surveilled Student: New ways of monitoring health and academic performance won't just disappear when the pandemic subsides
The pandemic has prompted many colleges to quickly roll out surveillance tools that could help limit the spread of the virus, or mitigate its effects on learning, as students are sent out of the classroom and into private quarters. Some students, required to flash Covid-free badges to enter classrooms or rotate their laptops for online test proctors to scan their bedrooms, have grown weary of feeling watched. And some are leery of how the information that's being collected will be used, whether it could leak out, and whether there's a process to destroy it when the pandemic is over. That wariness isn't limited to students. Colleges scrambling to keep students healthy and educationally on track have erected a mass-surveillance structure that won't just disappear, and may have lasting effects on the student experience. "There's a tendency with tracing technologies for them to linger after their initial purpose fades," says Sarah E. Igo, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University who studies surveillance and privacy. "It should be clear that these are temporary, extraordinary measures. We have to pay as much attention to how we kick them off as put them up."
 
The Antiracist College: This may be a watershed moment in the history of higher education and race
The statements from college presidents came in flurries, bullet-pointed and chock-full of promises. Most were issued last summer in the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of the Minneapolis police. There were announcements of new committees, initiatives, and task forces. There was talk of transformation, roadmaps, and "action steps. Many of the actions were geared toward symbolism, including rethinking who had been historically honored. It would be easy to downplay the significance of any particular announcement: a renamed auditorium here, a workshop there. After all, nearly all the topics highlighted in these many statements -- diversifying the faculty, improving graduation rates for students of color, examining bias in the curriculum -- have been bandied about on college campuses for decades. At the same time, the number of changes and the scope of the commitments made in recent months are striking. Some critics see these moves as pandering to student activists, or perhaps buying into a particular ideology. But supporters and detractors alike may come to see the summer and fall of 2020 as a watershed moment in the history of higher education and race.
 
What's really going on with respect to bias and teaching evals?
Many studies criticize student evaluations of teaching as biased or a poor measure of teaching effectiveness, or both. But none of these papers are as expansive as a new metastudy of more than 100 articles on these student evaluations, or SETs. The new study's breadth means its authors can cut through the sometimes contradictory research on SETs. And instead of looking at just measurement bias (how well SETs reflect good teaching, or don't) or just equity bias (how SETs advantage certain groups of instructors over others, or don't), the study contextualizes both. Co-author Rebecca Kreitzer, assistant professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Tuesday that "our conclusions are more nuanced than previous research, particularly on equity bias." Indeed, where many studies have found evidence of gender bias against women in student evaluations, Kreitzer and co-author Jennie Sweet-Cushman, associate professor of political science at Chatham University, found that the equity bias effect is "conditional," as "sometimes women and people of color do benefit." Yet the effect of gender varies "considerably across disciplines," with women receiving lower scores in the natural and social sciences compared to the humanities, Kreitzer added.
 
College Zoombombing incidents often incited by students
The Zoombombing trend, where digital disruptors join online meetings and spew hateful comments, play loud music and share lewd content, thankfully seems to have died down in recent months. As staff, students and faculty at some colleges approach nearly a year of working and studying remotely, perhaps the novelty of ruining someone's day by inviting strangers to commandeer their conference call has worn off. Some would-be intruders may have been spooked by the FBI encouraging people to report incidents of Zoombombing as cybercrimes. Or perhaps meeting hosts have simply taken measures to make it more difficult for unwanted visitors to gain access. But how did the trend take off in the first place? Researchers at Binghamton University and Boston University think they may have found the answer. A preprint study recently published by the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy found that most attacks on videoconference calls were not the result of people stumbling across meeting invitations online or using a trial-and-error technique known as brute forcing to guess meeting ID numbers, as some cybersecurity experts and analysts suspected. Rather, the attacks in early 2020 were inside jobs. This has significant ramifications for instructors looking to secure their Zoom classrooms.
 
President Biden balks at $50K student loan forgiveness plan
President Joe Biden on Tuesday balked at forgiving $50,000 in student loan debt, saying he doesn't have the power to do so unilaterally. "I do think in this moment of economic pain and strain that we should be eliminating interest on the debts that are accumulated, No. 1. And No. 2, I'm prepared to write off the $10,000 debt, but not [$50,000]," Biden said, saying he doesn't believe it can be done with presidential action. The White House previously said the Office of Legal Counsel was reviewing whether Biden could unilaterally cancel federal student loan debt. That came after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would sign a bill forgiving $10,000 of student loan debt if Congress passed a bill. A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) reintroduced a measure earlier this month calling on Biden to forgive up to $50,000 in federally held student debt per borrower. Supporters argue that Biden has the authority and responsibility to forgive student debt as the coronavirus pandemic roils the U.S. economy and imposes the greatest burden on those least able to afford it.
 
Will thorny medical marijuana issue endanger Mississippi voter initiative process?
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: In the 2020 election cycle, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of authorizing a medical marijuana voter initiative as outlined in Initiative 65 over the express objections of the majority of legislative leaders. The voters gave the initiative 73.7% approval while giving the legislative alternative Initiative 65A only 26.3% of the vote. The pro-marijuana initiative outpolled Republican incumbent President Donald Trump by some 20 percentage points with state voters -- even outpolling the state's 72.98% decision to change the state flag. Opposition to Initiative 65 was politically strong but voter weak. The central objection? Initiative 65 gave the new marijuana industry in Mississippi constitutional protection. But there are other concerns. Local governments didn't want it any more than did state government. The Mississippi State Board of Health and State Department of Health were opposed. The American and Mississippi medical associations opposed the initiative, as did significant state and local political, law enforcement and religious figures. But the voters, sympathetic to the perceived need for some type of medical marijuana program for patients who need it and tired of decades of legislative inaction on the issue, literally took matters in their own hands behind a well-organized, well-funded campaign from primarily out-of-state industry backers.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis previews State Farm College Baseball Showdown, 2021 season at Starkville Rotary Club
Mississippi State's baseball season is being delayed a touch. Originally slated to open the season Friday in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, MSU head coach Chris Lemonis confirmed multiple reports afternoon that the tournament will now be held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday due to inclement weather in the Dallas-area during a conversation with the Starkville Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon. Steve Robertson of 247Sports first reported the news. With the change, MSU will now play No. 9 Texas Saturday, No. 10 TCU Sunday and No. 3 Texas Tech Friday. The Bulldogs closed the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign with a two-game sweep of the Red Raiders in Biloxi last March. "The pieces are more complicated than ever, when you talk about COVID," Lemonis said in reference to MSU's travel to Dallas. "... So you're having to do all different types of things, but we're working on it. We don't have anything laid out. We don't know anything about next week. We're just trying to get there and get playing this week." Beyond opening weekend, Lemonis spent a bulk of Tuesday's talk previewing the 2021 campaign and the balancing act coaches are having to play in shuffling a loaded roster week after week.
 
College baseball, anyone? It's back with a bang after nearly 48 weeks.
Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: After a nearly 11-month, pandemic-induced hiatus, Division I college baseball returns this weekend -- with a bang that merits an exclamation point! Maybe three!!! That's because the 2021 college baseball season promises the highest skill level, most experience and deepest rosters in history of the sport. That's no exaggeration. Mississippi teams are really loaded, but their respective coaches warn, collectively: So is everybody else. Nobody lost a year of eligibility in last year's COVID-shortened season. What's more, Major League Baseball limited its 2020 draft to just five rounds. So highly talented players, who under normal circumstances would have gone pro last spring, are back in college baseball. So many incoming freshmen who might have gone pro in a normal year will play college baseball instead. At Mississippi State, Chris Lemonis welcomes back the middle three hitters in his batting order. Any other time, all three probably already would have played their first season of professional baseball. State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all welcome back at least five experienced standouts who ordinarily would have graduated or turned pro. Little wonder, Ole Miss is ranked No. 5, Mississippi State No. 9, and Southern Miss No. 29 in Collegiate Baseball's pre-season poll.
 
Despite plunging football revenues, UGA projects much lower budget shortfall
As expected, UGA saw a drastic reduction in football revenue from its socially distanced season when it had only three games in Sanford Stadium. Football ticket revenue plunged from $33.7 million in December of 2019 to $2.5 million a year later while $25.3 million in ticket contributions were refunded which was nearly offset by $22.1 million in donors giving to the school's COVID Relief Fund through conversions of ticket or donation refunds. Despite attendance being limited to about 20 percent of seating capacity due to the pandemic, athletic director Josh Brooks said Tuesday the school retained about 52 percent of the regular season revenue while operating expenses were down 27 percent through December with a priority on only mission-critical spending. That allowed the budget shortfall for this fiscal year to be projected to be $30 million instead of the $55 million that was projected last summer, Brooks told the UGA athletic board via Zoom at his first board meeting as AD since replacing Greg McGarity last month. "I'm hopeful in the next few months we can shave that down some more as we get closer to the end of this fiscal year," Brooks told the board.
 
Alabama's Nate Oats tells ESPN's Scott Van Pelt: People 'gotta toughen up' for winter storm
While most of Alabama woke up Tuesday morning to "unprecedented" freezing temperatures and wind-chill factors in the single digits, Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oats said he would be just OK in his crimson short-sleeve polo shirt. During Oats' appearance on SportsCenter on Monday night, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt asked the Crimson Tide coach if people in Tuscaloosa would be able to make it through a night with temperatures below 32 degrees. "The people down here gotta toughen up a little bit with the weather," Oats said. "It's not nearly as bad as they think it is." Oats, a Wisconsin native, shared his experience as a Green Bay Packers fan going to football games at Lambeau Field in short sleeves. "I think it was like 28 [degrees] when I walked in to do this interview," Oats said. "People act like it's the frozen tundra." Throughout Alabama, temperatures reached as low as 15 degrees with a feels-like temperature of 4 degrees early Tuesday morning said National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Darden, who is based in Birmingham.



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