| Monday, January 22, 2024 |
| MSU ornithologist joins flock of national avian society fellows | |
 | A Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist and associate research professor in Mississippi State University's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture is being honored as a new fellow of the American Ornithological Society. Mark Woodrey, who has devoted his career to researching avian ecology and conservation across the Gulf of Mexico region, joined the society over 40 years ago. Known as AOS, the organization is the world's largest network of professionals dedicated to advancing the scientific study and conservation of birds. AOS Fellows are mid-to-late career professionals who have made significant contributions not only to the society and its publications but also to the profession at large. Woodrey has authored, co-authored and edited over 90 publications, attended 33 annual meetings, and served on over 45 technical committees and advisory boards. Stationed at MSU's Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, he has made the Mississippi Gulf Coast his research lab for the last 20 years. His Coastal Avian Ecology Lab's primary research and conservation focus involves secretive marsh birds in Gulf of Mexico tidal marshes. |
| MSU wildlife ecologist designated fellow by international wildlife organization | |
| Ray Iglay, an assistant professor in Mississippi State University's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, is among a handful of wildlife professionals throughout the U.S. and Canada newly recognized as a fellow of The Wildlife Society. The Wildlife Society was founded in 1937 and includes more than 11,000 leaders in wildlife science, management and conservation across North America. TWS Fellows are wildlife professionals engaged with the international organization with more than a decade of service. Iglay has been a TWS member for more than 20 years. As a certified wildlife biologist and scientist in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, his research focuses on wildlife restoration, wildlife damage management, and the application of precision technologies in wildlife conservation and science. He has authored 44 peer-reviewed publications and mentored more than 30 post-doctorates, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff. "I am honored to have been recognized as a TWS Fellow. It is truly amazing to have received it at this point in my career, and I am very thankful for it," he said. Iglay said support from fellow colleagues has helped him engage with the organization in meaningful and impactful ways. |
| Hardwood history for sale: Woodworker salvages MSU's McCarthy Gym bleachers | |
 | For the first half of Blake Haskins' college career, McCarthy Gymnasium at Mississippi State University was just the kinesiology building with the indoor tennis court. Now, he estimates two-thirds of its wooden bleachers are stacked in his woodworking space in the Cotton District. For $500, Haskins purchased the oak bleachers and other salvaged items from Britt Demolition and Recycling, which tore down the legendary, but outmoded gymnasium last summer. After the Hump opened, McCarthy Gymnasium was converted to an indoor tennis facility and housed the university's kinesiology department, including labs and classrooms, for 47 years before its demolition. The gymnasium will be replaced by the Jim and Thomas Duff Center. Les Potts, interim vice president for finance and administration at MSU, told The Dispatch on Friday that the new Duff Center is on schedule to be opened by fall 2025. "We are obviously in the early stages of construction with a lot of the concrete piers building up right now," he said. He said the cost is estimated at $65 million. A $15 million gift from the Duff Brothers, who own Columbia-based private equity firm Duff Capital Investments, will help fund construction. The Duff Center will be 100,000 square feet, almost twice as large as the McCarthy Gymnasium. The primary reason that McCarthy Gymnasium needed to be replaced is due to the expansion of the kinesiology department. Potts said it is one of the largest programs on campus. He also revealed that, like Haskins, the university also salvaged some of the bleachers as well as bricks from the building. "We knew there would be some fond memories and attachment to the building itself because of everything that occurred in it," he said. |
| Camgian doing vital AI work for military while preparing students for jobs | |
| Camgian CEO Gary D. Butler, Ph.D., is a native Mississippian who graduated from Pearl High School and, after college, started his career developing artificial intelligence technologies for surveillance and reconnaissance applications in the defense industry in Washington, D.C. Butler's dream was to come back to Mississippi and create jobs that really push the leading edge of technology, especially in the AI fields. He has been particularly interested in creating jobs so engineering graduates can stay in the state. That has been achieved by Camgian setting up a cooperative program with Mississippi State University where engineering students alternate working for Camgian a semester with going to school a semester. The engineering students benefit from getting a salary -- which helps pay for their education -- while learning leading-edge skills increasingly in demand in the government and private sectors. Bagley College of Engineering students come in as early as their sophomore year to work on the company's high-profile projects. Students are employed working on real projects to deliver real products. "The co-op program has been a real success for us," Butler said. "It has been a way to source some strong talent that otherwise would not be in Mississippi. I am pretty sure if these students hadn't worked here, after graduation they would have been off to Texas, California, or some of these other areas of the country where there are tech hubs. We do a lot of recruiting from MSU. It has been great to be able to take the best and brightest talent in Mississippi graduating and give them job opportunities similar to those found in Boston, Silicon Valley and D.C. We are creating those kinds of career paths right here in Mississippi so they don't have to leave." |
| Use of AI in business requires staff with the right skills | |
| How can business owners and executives embrace --- and leverage --- artificial intelligence (AI) in the year ahead? The first step is to foster organizational readiness. "The organization needs to be ready to successfully adopt and use AI," said Alaa Nehme, Ph.D., assistant professor of information systems at Mississippi State University. "One key and essential element for an organization's readiness to successfully use AI is aligning its overall strategy with AI strategy. This starts with studying the organization's business needs with respect to how AI can help." Organization leaders need to consider areas such as decision-making, customer experience enhancement and task automation where AI can be used to bring value to the business. "Further, business owners and executives should cultivate the presence of staff with the right skills," Nehme said. "This entails investing in talent through conducting training sessions and hiring employees with AI expertise. It also entails collaborating with AI experts." Second, it is essential that business owners and executives view AI as a business capability and not only a technological tool. Third, it is of paramount importance for organizations to be aware of the ethical issues. It is important for students to be knowledgeable about AI business applications and the related ethical considerations. This develops students' skills as related to their future jobs and the nature of the future workforce. |
| MSU Extension Service will host blueberry workshop | |
 | Mississippi blueberry producers have two opportunities during February to learn more about the production of the state's largest fruit crop. The Mississippi State University Extension Service is hosting an in-person workshop and a virtual workshop. The in-person workshop will be held Feb. 8 from 9 a.m. to noon at the MSU Extension Service office in Forrest County. The office is located at 952 Sullivan Drive in Hattiesburg. A virtual workshop will be held Feb. 15 from 1 to 2 p.m. Both events are free. Pre-registration is required for the virtual workshop. To sign up, visit the Extension registration portal at http://tinyurl.com/yr6n66eu. No registration is required for the in-person workshop. |
| Mississippi facing flash flood threat as heavy rain comes in, snow melts | |
 | Mississippi is forecast to experience a different kind of severe weather this week following a cold snap that killed 11 people last week. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) has confirmed that heavy rainfall is expected to begin across the Magnolia State on Monday evening before continuing into the weekend. The combination of the rain plus melting snow and ice is set to result in flood conditions. At this time, elevated threats of flooding are anticipated to be more prevalent in the northern and central portions of the state on Wednesday and Thursday while temperatures fluctuate in the 60s. |
| Army Corps needs to stop killing and maiming dolphins for flood control, lawsuit says | |
 | The Mississippi Sound's treasured dolphins need to be protected from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' prolonged and repeated openings of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, a coalition of Coast governments and groups say in a second lawsuit filed Monday against the agency. "The Bonnet Carré Spillway is killing our dolphins and other marine life," Mississippi Sound Coalition manager Gerald Blessey said Monday morning in Gulfport during a news conference announcing the lawsuit. ". . . We must protect our dolphins. This is our home." In the federal lawsuit, Mississippi Sound Coalition members accuse the Army Corps of Engineers of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act when it opened the spillway for a record 123 days in 2019 without seeking a permit federal law requires before a dolphin population is disturbed or harmed. The National Marine Fisheries Service oversees the extensive permitting process, but the lawsuit says the Army Corps did not seek a permit. The number of dolphins in the Mississippi Sound was estimated at 1,265 in 2018. In 2019, 166 dolphins washed up on Mississippi shores, either dead or unable to return to the water, the lawsuit says. It was the highest number ever recorded, the lawsuit says, with the second-highest number recorded in 2011, when 147 dolphins were stranded during another flood year with high levels of river water pouring through the spillway. At the news conference, Moby Solangi of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said 153 dolphins died on Mississippi shores in 2019, compared to 91 during the 2010 BP oil spill. |
| 'We've been trying to do this for years:' Will Legislature fix ballot initiative process? | |
 | The Mississippi House of Representatives plans to take up ballot-initiative reform as early as next week, but whether it will pass both chambers is still up in the air, according to several lawmakers. While no bill had been filed as of Friday afternoon, House Speaker Jason White said during that morning's session he plans to hand a ballot-initiative bill to the Constitution Committee next week. "Though we might be doing other things as well, I think (Constitution Committee Chair Price Wallace) wants to move that fairly quickly," White, a Republican, told the House. Wallace and fellow Republican Rep. Fred Shanks, representing Rankin County, told the Clarion Ledger they are planning to submit a bill Monday that will bring the ballot initiative in line with Mississippi's four congressional districts, as well as limit what laws the state voting body can change. If all goes to plan, Wallace said the House could vote on it as soon as Friday. "I feel that we can get this passed and get it on down there to the Senate," Wallace said. "Hopefully the Senate will take it up, get it passed and we can get this ballot initiative behind us. We've been trying to do this for years now." Sen. David Blount, a Democrat representing Hinds County, told the Clarion Ledger he also plans to file a bill to Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann as early as next week that will focus only on redistricting the ballot initiative process. |
| Biden leans into abortion, contraception as 2024 campaign strategy takes shape | |
 | President Joe Biden is hammering his message on reproductive freedom this week with executive actions, a new campaign ad and a campaign rally on the same day as the New Hampshire primary. The messaging and policy blitz marking what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade is part of broader election-year strategy to frame the 2024 race as a choice between Democrats who pledge to protect abortion and contraception and Republicans who have called for further restrictions. Republicans "continue to push for a national ban and devastating new restrictions," Biden warned in a statement citing. "Because of Republican elected officials, women's health and lives are at risk." The ad released Sunday features a Texas OB-GYN forced to travel out of state to terminate her wanted but nonviable pregnancy. On Monday, the White House announced executive actions to improve access to abortion and contraception. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Wisconsin Monday to kick off a national "reproductive freedoms tour" that will feature more than a dozen stops where Harris will spotlight stories of pregnant people affected by abortion restrictions. Then, on Tuesday, Biden and Harris will appear for their first joint reelection campaign event: a Northern Virginia rally focused on the stakes of the election for reproductive rights. Taken together, the coordinated effort marks Biden's most explicit attempt yet to underscore an issue he plans to make central to his bid for re-election. |
| With Trump closing in on nomination, the effective audition to become his vice president is underway | |
 | As she addressed a crushing crowd of volunteers and media at Donald Trump's New Hampshire headquarters on Saturday, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik received a welcome chant. "VP! VP! VP!" one man shouted across the room. While vice presidential candidates typically aren't picked until after a candidate has locked down the nomination, Trump's decisive win in last week's Iowa caucuses and the departure of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from the race have only heightened what had already been a widespread sense of inevitability that he will be the Republican nominee. That has given the campaign trail stops by Stefanik and other Republicans the feel of a public tryout reminiscent of Trump's days as a reality TV host. Many Republicans covet a spot on the presidential ticket with Trump as a chance to serve in a high-profile role that has elevated many ambitious politicians from relative obscurity. That interest comes despite the fate of Trump's first vice president, Mike Pence. For four years, Pence was Trump's most loyal defender, advocating for him at every turn. But in the final months of their administration, Trump turned on Pence, casting him as disloyal for refusing to go along with his unconstitutional effort to block President Joe Biden's win. The Trump campaign has held several events in both Iowa and New Hampshire with high-profile surrogates. |
| With campaign over, Gov. Ron DeSantis could reassert hard-right pull on Florida policy | |
 | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his spiraling presidential campaign Sunday with a four-and-a-half-minute video on the platform X which he ended promising that "down here in Florida, we will continue to show the country how to lead." After spending $35 million in Iowa, alone, for a distant second-place finish behind former President Donald Trump and traveling the country for months, DeSantis is headed back to a Florida Capitol still with almost three full years left as governor. With his advisors already talking up another White House run four years from now, a dinged-up DeSantis could be looking to revive himself, politically, by reasserting the hard-right pull he's had on the state. The 2024 Legislature, which opened earlier this month, is chock-full of the kind of culturally divisive legislation DeSantis has advanced in earlier years. And while the governor hasn't been involved much in the session so far, his State of the State address on opening day did urge lawmakers to "stay the course." With his White House vision shattered -- at least for now -- DeSantis has time to re-engage with lawmakers who share his hard-right agenda. DeSantis returns to a state where the clock is already ticking on his second and final term. As a lame duck, DeSantis' grip on power could easily weaken as his potential successors begin angling for attention. |
| Ethics ratings of almost all professions drop in Gallup survey | |
 | Americans view most professions as less ethical than they did in recent years, according to a Gallup survey released Monday. The new survey asked 800 respondents to rate the honesty and ethical standard of people in 23 different fields. It showed labor union leaders were the only profession rated more highly in 2023 (25 percent) than they were in 2019 (24 percent). All professions except veterinary were listed in 2019's survey. Nurses had the highest rating, at 78 percent, down from 85 percent in 2019. The profession peaked in 2020, at 89 percent. This is the 22nd consecutive year nurses have held a positive rating. Five professions hit their record-low ratings, since Gallup started surveying the ethics of various professions in 1976: pharmacists (55 percent), clergy (32 percent), journalists (19 percent), senators (8 percent) and members of Congress (6 percent). Three other professions tied their previous low points: Bankers (19 percent) and business executives (12 percent) last were rated this poorly in 2009, just after the Great Recession, according to Gallup. College instructors (42 percent) last had this low of a rating in 1977. College educators saw the biggest gap in partisan ethics ratings, with 62 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Republicans viewing the field as ethical; psychiatrists followed with a 28-point gap between the partisan groups, journalists followed with a 25-point gap between the parties, and then labor union leaders had a 20-point gap. |
| Apology to alumni opens MUW's renewed renaming effort | |
| The Mississippi University for Women is ditching the plan to change its name to Mississippi Brightwell University and intends to choose a new name by the end of January for the state legislature's consideration. But first, President Nora Miller apologized to university alumni and others for the process that produced the Brightwell name proposal in the first place. The university invited past presidents of the alumni association, past chairs of the development foundation and the executive committee of the MUW Foundation to meet Thursday and discuss the next steps in the process with the naming committee and President Nora Miller. Miller told The Dispatch on Friday the meeting was meant "to apologize to them that in seeking a more inclusive name for our students, our process for the last few months has not been as inclusive with our alumni, and acknowledging that their support is very important for us to be able to get this change through the legislature and to make it work and to ask for them to join with us moving forward." The naming committee met Friday to develop a timeline for a new proposal name. It will include reviewing an extensive list of names previously collected through surveys and listening sessions as well as newly recommended names. "Members of the task force will then be able to talk with people from their areas getting feedback on those (names)," Miller said. "We're trying to be as transparent as possible from this point forward." |
| Ole Miss professor to co-chair international astronautics committee | |
| The International Academy of Astronautics has named University of Mississippi law professor Michelle Hanlon to its permanent committee on space solar power. As countries look to develop clean, efficient forms of power, the IAA formed the Permanent Committee on Space Solar Power to advise on ways of harnessing and delivering sunlight-powered energy from outer space to markets on Earth. "What the committee is doing is trying to show the world that this isn't science fiction," Hanlon said. "It can happen, and it's something that governments should be putting a ton of work behind because not only is it clean, but it's cheaper when you put the structures in place." The International Academy of Astronautics is an independent, nongovernmental organization that seeks to develop peaceful human space travel and exploration. Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law in the UM School of Law and co-founder and CEO of For All Moonkind, will co-chair the legal and regulatory consideration subcommittee. Hanlon is among about three dozen people from across the globe appointed to the committee. |
| U. of Mississippi to add student housing, renovate athletic facilities | |
| Student housing at the University of Mississippi will soon increase by almost 1,000 beds through a $245 million bond issue approved by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning during the Board's regular meeting last Thursday. The bond will fund the construction of student housing that will accommodate 981 beds and improve academic and athletic facilities. Details of work to the athletic facilities includes construction of a new softball stadium that will include dugouts, seating, a press box and restrooms, while renovation of existing structures such as the team's indoor facility, coaches' offices, training space, team lounge and locker rooms will also be conducted. Renovation of the soccer complex will address current deficiencies such as creating more concessions and restrooms, and the bond will fund the construction of a larger press box and a new ticket office. At the Ole Miss rifle facility, work will provide better amenities for the team that includes lockers and restrooms along with the construction of a firing range and storage. Renovations will also be conducted to areas of the Gillom Sports Center's vacated by the softball team that include a new scoreboard for the volleyball competition area, repairing issues with the HVAC system, and realigning the female coaches' offices. Construction of the new residence facility will include demolition of Kincannon Hall. The addition of the more than 900 additional beds will give the university a total of 6,571 beds by fiscal year 2026. |
| USM makes changes to campus after student deaths | |
 | Responding to student demands for change following a campus death last semester, The University of Southern Mississippi announced changes in their parking garage and mental health services. The 4th Street parking garage had been a source of controversy and pain for the campus community. A student during the fall 2021 and fall 2023 semesters died after falling from the 5th floor of the parking garage. After the latter student's death, a Change.org petition advocating for a barrier on its top floor garnered over 2,700 signatures. After the petition gained significant traction online and on campus, USM's Student Government Association called on its administration to install suicide prevention signage and barriers on the fifth floor of its 4th Street parking garage. Kristi Motter, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, announced changes Wednesday. In an email to all students, faculty and staff at USM, Motter said that the fifth floor of the parking garage was no longer accessible to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. She also said protective fencing had been placed around the fourth floor. "These modifications serve as an interim solution to a multi-phase approach to enhance student safety. Additional measures will be taken as allowable," Motter said in the email shared with WJTV 12 News. |
| Former long-time Jones College president dies | |
 | Former Jones College President Dr. Terrell Tisdale, who spent nearly three decades overseeing the course of his alma mater, died Saturday morning. Tisdale, who was 86 years old, passed away at Forrest General Hospital. "His visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to education have left an indelible mark on the college, the broader educational community, and thousands of alumni," Jones College President Dr. Jesse Smith said in an email to college faculty and staff. "His dedication to the development of our institution has shaped countless lives, and his legacy will continue to inspire future generations." Tisdale was raised in the Jones County community of Boggy, west of Ellisville, and played tuba in the Jones County Agricultural High School band for the historical, 1955 Jr. Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. When he was selected the junior college's third president in 1970, Tisdale became the first president to have attended both JCAHS and Jones County Junior College, now called Jones College. He served as president for 27 years, from 1970 until 1997. Smith asked of those who knew or knew of Tisdale "to honor his memory through acts of kindness and continued dedication to the values he espoused. |
| U. of Alabama opens state-of-the-art welcome center | |
 | The University of Alabama on Friday officially celebrated the opening of the Capstone's new welcome center at the historic Bryce Main building. UA faculty, students and alumni gathered at the Catherine and Pettus Randall Welcome Center to cut the ribbon on the 15,000-square-foot center. The center will include areas for prospective students and their families to gather for campus tours, along with a lounge, theater and UA's admissions offices. "This is where students and families who want to know about the University of Alabama, this is where they'll embark to begin to understand the University of Alabama and all that it has to offer them and their families," said UA President Stuart R. Bell, during Friday's ceremony. The Randall Welcome Center will be connected to the Smith Family Center for the Performing Arts, named for a UA alumni family that recently donated $20 million. The welcome center and the performing arts center are part of nearly 118,000 square feet of renovation and additions at Bryce Main. The welcome center will serve as a first impression for hundreds of students who may be considering enrolling at UA, said Matt McLendon, associate vice president for enrollment management. UA's current enrollment is just under 40,000 students. "All of the the prospective students who come here and decide whether or not Alabama is going to be the home for them is going to pass through these doors and we just cant be more thrilled," McLendon said. |
| This Private College Has Been on Its Deathbed -- for 15 Years | |
 | When Alabama's legislative session opens next month, Daniel Coleman has one goal: persuade lawmakers to keep his college alive. Again. Coleman is president of Birmingham-Southern College, a private liberal arts school in Birmingham, Ala. It had 731 students in the fall -- less than half its peak enrollment -- and expects even fewer for the spring semester. Coleman, staff, students and local leaders were banking on the school's reopening next fall with help from a $30 million state loan program created last spring specifically for distressed private colleges. But Birmingham-Southern's loan application was nixed by the state's treasurer. Still, Coleman said the college hasn't run out its clock quite yet. Like many small, private colleges -- and plenty of large public institutions---Birmingham-Southern has been teetering on the brink of financial crisis for years. It was felled by overzealous spending and rosy revenue projections, a hands-off oversight board, and prolonged enrollment woes. It also raided its endowment to cover operating costs. "Issues at Birmingham-Southern are happening, at least at some scale, at hundreds of colleges across the country," said Robert Kelchen, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. |
| Mizzou's Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program has helped hundreds of seniors since 2005 | |
 | University of Missouri Extension's Stay Strong Stay, Healthy program continues to keep older adults active after almost 20 years. Offered through the MU College of Health Sciences, the eight-week strength training program has been offered since 2005. So far, it has helped more than 20,000 adults over 60 in five states. Remaining physically active is important as people age, said Stephen Ball, who developed the program. Ball is a professor in the MU College of Health Sciences and Extension. "I think it's critically important if they want to maintain their independence," Ball said of staying fit. Strength and flexibility and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle are factors in aging well, he said. Class participants undergo physical strength and flexibility tests at the start of the class to measure how they improve over the eight weeks. There's always improvement, he said. "We have also found improved sleep and more physical activity outside of the class," Ball said. Most recently, "Improving older adults' functional health using the progressive Stay Strong, Stay Healthy program" was published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. Undergraduate students conduct some of the classes and graduate students are involved with some of the research. |
| U. of Memphis cancels in-person classes until further notice | |
| The University of Memphis will being going virtual until further notice. On Saturday, Jan. 20, the University put out a notice informing students and staff that all classes will be remote until at least Friday, Jan. 26. All university events will be canceled from Monday, Jan. 22 through Friday. Jan. 26. "The city-wide water pressure issues also present plumbing limitations on campus. Residents may experience limited use of sinks, toilets, showers and bathtubs. Additionally, the ongoing water pressure issues pose a threat to the potential loss of our ability to provide heating to our campus facilities during this period. While these are not University-caused issues, we are working diligently to resolve these challenges. Our primary goal is to provide a safe/sanitary campus environment," the university notice said. Memphis Gas, Light and Water put out a water boil advisory on Friday, Jan. 19. The city has also endured water pressure issues within the system due to the freezing temperatures and extended cold front. Bottled water. is available at the front desk of each residence hall for students and residents. Temporary restroom facilities are operating outside of Shirley C. Raines Centennial Place, Nellie Angel Smith Hall and Carpenter Complex. |
| Arizona State and OpenAI Are Now Partners. What Does That Mean? | |
 | Arizona State University is ratcheting up its AI strategy, becoming the first university to form a deal with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. At the heart of the partnership is unlimited ChatGPT-4 access free of charge for approved university members and their students. At least to start, interested staff, researchers, and faculty members will have to submit proposals outlining their ideas for using the tool and evaluating its effectiveness in order to be considered. ASU plans to start accepting submissions on February 1. Since ChatGPT's release in November 2022, the tool has largely been left to individual faculty members or departments to adopt and navigate. For Arizona State, a primary goal of starting -- and, leaders hope, expanding -- an institutional-level partnership is to help "ensure equitable access for students who are going to go into the workplace and have access to these technologies," and to make "an investment in the future of technology innovation," Kyle Bowen, the university's deputy chief information officer, told The Chronicle in an interview on Friday. Momentum for the partnership began last summer, Bowen said, with the release of ChatGPT Enterprise. The new service introduced a solution to privacy concerns officials had: the ability for the university to have its own workspace in ChatGPT -- a metaphorical "walled garden" -- that pre-approved ASU community members could access with their institutional emails and passwords. Their data wouldn't be used to train OpenAI's models. |
| How Many Casualties Would a Plagiarism War Produce? | |
 | There have already been skirmishes in what may become, as The Atlantic and others have put it, a "plagiarism war" in academe. The battle lines began forming in December, after Republican representative Elise Stefanik of New York asked Harvard University president Claudine Gay during a hearing on campus antisemitism whether calling for the genocide of Jews would be a violation of Harvard's rules governing speech. After Gay ignited controversy by replying, "it can be, depending on the context," prominent diversity, equity and inclusion opponents quickly published plagiarism allegations against her. House Republicans announced a congressional investigation into Harvard's handling of the allegations. Gay submitted corrections to her work and eventually resigned. Business Insider then fired a countervolley of sorts, publishing plagiarism allegations against "celebrity academic" Neri Oxman, the wife of billionaire DEI opponent and prominent Gay critic Bill Ackman. He responded by announcing he'd launch a plagiarism review of all faculty members and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Oxman previously worked. "Why would we stop at MIT?" he later posted on X. "Don't we have to do a deep dive into academic integrity at Harvard as well? What about Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Penn, Dartmouth? You get the point." It's unclear how extensive the "plagiarism hunting" will be, to cite the phrase from Christopher Rufo, one of the DEI opponents who published the plagiarism allegations against Gay. |
| Complaining about welfare doesn't solve problems | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Well, there he goes again. Gov. Tate Reeves blocked a federal summer food program for poor school children because it would "expand the welfare state." Welfare has become the governor's latest strawman. He has opposed Medicaid expansion because "adding 300,000 able-bodied adults to the welfare rolls is not the right thing to do." He denied the continuation of the pandemic rent assistance program, saying, "Mississippi will continue to say no to these types of liberal handouts that encourage people to stay out of the workforce." Perhaps the governor's lamenting about welfare is simply a means to deflect attention from real problems. ... Perhaps the governor should acknowledge that Mississippi is a "welfare state" -- with persistent poverty, low wages, and a stagnant population -- and needs every federal dollar it can get. State government got over $12 billion in federal government handouts for 41% of its fiscal year 2024 budget. Another $25 billion or so flowed into Mississippi through direct payments, contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. All this makes Mississippi one of the states most dependent upon federal funds. Complaining about the "welfare state" to turn away federal dollars may be politically popular but does nothing to solve our problems or put people to work in distressed areas. |
| New green energy plant goes against Gov. Tate Reeves' tax cut plan | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Tate Reeves may be trying to have his cake and eat it, too. The Republican governor for years has proclaimed that the state should eliminate the personal income tax to entice people to move to Mississippi. But during his push this week to land legislative funding for a plant to manufacture electric vehicle batteries in north Mississippi, Reeves is now saying that residents of Tennessee, where there is no income tax, will come to Mississippi to work at the plant and decide to move here. He said nothing about the state income tax being a hindrance to their moving to Mississippi from a no-income tax state. "There is a possibility that some of the employees may come from the state of Tennessee," Reeves said during a press conference this week. "My expectation is they are going to come down to work for this particular company and see how great it is to live in Mississippi. I think you will see population growth because I do think you will see people moving from all over the country and in fact all over the world to work at this particular company." The Legislature did, in fact, approve the at least $350 million incentive package in a one-day special session. The plant will be located a stone's throw from the Tennessee state line. There are multiple reasons, including the state's generous incentive package, for the battery manufacturer to locate in Marshall County. |
| The Harvard of the Unwoke: University of Florida President Ben Sasse has a theory of how higher ed succumbed to execrable ideas -- and thoughts on reforming it. | |
| Would calls for the genocide of Jews be a violation of the University of Florida's bullying and harassment policy? "Yes," says Ben Sasse, UF's president. Three university heads equivocated when lawmakers asked that question in a congressional hearing last month. So far two of them, the University of Pennsylvania's Liz Magill and Harvard's Claudine Gay, have been demoted to the faculty. Mr. Sasse -- who came to Florida a year ago after eight years as a U.S. senator from his native Nebraska -- is a deft enough politician to parry a gotcha question. Yet when I follow up by raising the issue of free speech, he acknowledges the answer isn't so simple. Regarding the First Amendment, he says, "I'm a pretty libertarian zealot." He emphasizes that the Constitution "draws a deep, deep line at speech and action," that "threats are the front edge of action," and that "orchestrated plans, or getting to a definable way of targeting specific people, is when speech ceases to be deliberation." ... Does that mean we have a meeting of the minds between Florida's president and his erstwhile Harvard counterpart? Not quite. Mr. Sasse calls Ms. Gay's appeal to free speech "laughable" in light of "the culture of trigger warnings and safe spaces and everything else that they've built on top of their victimization grid that defines the worldview of Harvard bureaucrats of late." Mr. Sasse's view is that toleration of antisemitic expression is a price worth paying for free speech. Ms. Gay expects us to pay it and get nothing in return. Mr. Sasse, 51, says higher education is having an "emperor-has-no-clothes moment." |
| Good stewardship is critical to Mississippi's university system | |
| Dr. Alfred Rankins Jr., Mississippi's commissioner of higher education, writes: Good stewardship is critical to Mississippi's university system and represents a fundamental component in the work of the Board of Trustees of Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The latest credit opinion from Moody's Investors Service, released on January 11, offers a strong endorsement of the Board's stewardship of the resources of our state's university system, which includes eight public universities plus the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service, Mississippi Agricultural, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, and 23 satellite centers throughout the state. Explaining their rating of IHL as Aa2stable, Moody's cites key credit strengths, including the scale of operations, overall wealth driven in part by substantial fundraising, and IHL's "strong financial oversight." Challenges to our credit rating are noted as well, including the PERS pension liability and enrollment in our universities (notably a common issue throughout the nation). Fundamentally, however, Moody's notes that our stable outlook is a reflection of their expectation that IHL will "continue to produce healthy operating performance as effects of the pandemic continue to subside while maintaining sound unrestricted liquidity." This expectation benefits every institution, regardless of size, under the IHL umbrella. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State Travels To Face Florida On Monday | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball travels to face Florida inside Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Fans not in attendance are able to follow action on SEC Network with Steffi Sorensen and Jason Ross on the call or through their Mississippi State radio station with Jason Crowder. Mississippi State leads the overall series 27-26, but trails 11-13 at Florida. Mississippi State has won nine of the last 10 overall and five straight on the road in the series. Mississippi State brought home a 73-56 road win in the last and lone meeting under head coach Sam Purcell on Feb. 9, 2023. Now senior guard Jerkaila Jordan finished with 20 points on 8-10 from the field and 4-4 from behind the arc with nine rebounds in 29 minutes in the last contest. She is averaging 20.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in her two contests against Florida. Mississippi State will be back in action next Monday when it hosts LSU inside Humphrey Coliseum at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2. |
| What to watch, keys to victory for Mississippi State at Florida | |
| Mississippi State lost Thursday against a Tennessee team led offensively by an ex-Bulldog. The leading scorer for MSU's next opponent, Florida, also started her collegiate career in Starkville. Aliyah Matharu spent her first two seasons with the Bulldogs, twice earning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors in 2019-20, then reunited with head coach Vic Schaefer at Texas. After one year with the Longhorns, Matharu returned to the SEC with the Gators. She sat out last season due to being a second-time transfer, but now ranks third in the SEC in scoring with 18.4 points per game. Matharu has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season and is coming off back-to-back 20-plus point performances against Tennessee and Georgia. Florida (10-6, 1-3 SEC) suffered uncharacteristic losses on the road against Marshall and Tulsa in non-conference play, with its best non-conference win coming in a neutral site against Michigan. The Gators fell to No. 1 South Carolina in their SEC opener, then dropped tight road games to Vanderbilt and Tennessee before defeating Georgia last Sunday. Leilani Correa dropped 30 points on UGA and is 10th in the conference with 15.8 points per contest, while Ra Shaya Kyle is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds. |
| Mississippi State basketball beats Vanderbilt in SEC game | |
| Remember Mississippi State basketball's loss against Southern? You know, that shocking 60-59 defeat to a SWAC foe on Dec. 3 at Humphrey Coliseum that coach Chris Jans said would leave a stain on MSU's résumé come March? Saturday, in the heart of SEC play, Mississippi State (13-5, 2-3 SEC) avoided the potential of an even worse loss. MSU handled Vanderbilt in a 68-55 victory, leaving the Commodores winless in conference play, and ended the Bulldogs' two-game skid since last week's thrilling win against Tennessee. As usual, All-SEC forward Tolu Smith was at the heart of Mississippi State's success. He collected 25 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double this season. He's now averaging 19.7 points across six games since returning from injury for MSU's nonconference finale against Bethune-Cookman. Vanderbilt (5-13, 0-5) tried making life difficult for Smith early by bringing in bruising forward Tasos Kamateros. Like any tactic, that didn't work as Kamateros was a minus-12 in seven minutes of action. For Mississippi State, a team projected as a No. 9-seed in ESPN's latest NCAA Tournament projection, avoiding the Quadrant 4 defeat could be crucial in two months. Vanderbilt kept the contest tight through the first seven minutes, much to the chagrin of the afternoon crowd at The Hump. However, MSU used its defense to take control of the game from there. |
| Men's Basketball: Mississippi State gets right with win over Vanderbilt | |
| Shakeel Moore got a hand on the jump shot from Vanderbilt's Jason Rivera-Torres, brought the ball in and began to take it the other way. At midcourt, he fired an outlet pass to Cameron Matthews, who drove toward the basket, drew a defender and kicked the ball out to Trey Fort in the left corner, where Fort had plenty of time to set his feet and shoot. Swish. The sequence, which gave Mississippi State a 14-point lead late in the first half Saturday, helped the good vibes return to Humphrey Coliseum after the Bulldogs suffered back-to-back losses against Alabama and Kentucky. MSU took care of business against the Southeastern Conference's worst team, coasting to a 68-55 victory over the Commodores. "We had a chance to play really well," Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans said. "For a while, we were really humming on both ends of the floor. We were sharing the basketball, we were playing a style that we've been trying to do lately. Trying to play inside out, get a bunch of paint touches, try to get to the line, and we were doing it. The defense was pretty locked in from the jump." MSU (13-5, 2-3 SEC) did most of its damage in the interior, forcing the ball inside and letting Tolu Smith and Jimmy Bell Jr. go to work. Smith finished with 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds -- all of which came in the second half. Bell cleaned up on the boards in the first half, pulling down seven rebounds in just eight minutes of action. |
| Unpacking Mississippi State basketball's guard depth after win vs. Vanderbilt | |
| Mississippi State basketball coach Chris Jans, even after his team's 68-55 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday, has been honest when it comes to the play of point guard Dashawn Davis. "He's not playing as well as he's capable of," Jans said postgame. "He's not being as productive as he wants to be -- as we expect him to be." His sentiment is backed up by the numbers. Davis totaled five points and five assists in his last three SEC games. The eye test doesn't help much either. Davis had an ugly miss on a 3-pointer midway through the second half against Vanderbilt (5-13, 0-5 SEC), but it was negated by an off-ball foul. A few minutes later, he had an even worse miss on a 3-pointer from the wing. Davis finished with no points in 15 minutes of action. Last season, those struggles would've left Mississippi State (13-5, 2-3) in an impossible spot. Jans didn't have many options behind Davis, so he'd have to stick it out with the veteran guard on the floor. This season, though, that's not the case. With Josh Hubbard, Shakeel Moore and Trey Fort at his disposal, Jans can and has put Davis on the bench. Jans expressed his belief in Davis finding his groove soon, but in the meantime, he has options. |
| Bulldogs Defeat Samford 5-2 | |
| Mississippi State women's tennis is off to a roaring start to the season. Not only are the Bulldogs 3-0, they have outscored their opponents 13-5 in the opening three matches. MSU earned the third win on Saturday by defeating Samford 5-2 inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion. "I'm proud of the girls today," head coach Chris Hooshyar said. "We talked about coming out with intensity, and staying intent throughout the match, and continuing to build habits. I think that all across the board, they did very well. The girls that won today did a phenomenal job. It's about building, and there are things we can take away today that are good, and there are things that we can take away and need to work on. Then we'll hit the practice courts again on Tuesday and go again. Samford always fights hard, they're coached really well and I'm pleased with the girls today. I saw a lot of improvements." Mississippi State will return to action on Feb. 3 for a doubleheader against UAB at 12 p.m. and Jackson State at 4 p.m. |
| State Secures A Shutout And A Top 20 Win | |
| No. 17 Mississippi State earned another doubleheader sweep while also making a huge statement early on in the men's tennis season. The Bulldogs knocked off 20th-ranked Florida State 6-1 on Friday afternoon inside a packed Rula Tennis Pavilion and capped the evening with a 7-0 shutout of Tennessee State. MSU improved to 4-0 and has outscored its opponents 27-1 thus far this year. "I'm impressed with the guys' mental endurance," said head coach Matt Roberts. "They've been able to focus on the big points and play with discipline. They were really tough today against Florida State. We dropped one match against Florida State and have made it really hard on our opponents to get momentum and get sets. That makes me very happy to see the guys be able to stay mentally calm, have good discipline, not show any negative body language and deal with the ups and downs very maturely." The win marked the second straight year the Bulldogs have beaten a ranked Florida State squad. Mississippi State downed the then 15th-ranked Seminoles 4-3 on the road last season. FSU (2-1) will return to Starkville as part of ITA Kickoff Weekend along with Arizona State and VCU on Jan. 27-28. |
| Athletic Director John Cohen says Nick Saban's retirement 'nothing to do with Auburn' | |
 | Auburn athletic director John Cohen is on the opposite side of the Iron Bowl rivalry he grew up in. A native of Tuscaloosa, Cohen has had to sway some of his family members to put on orange to come to Auburn games in the home of his new job. And now just over a year into his tenure at Auburn, he's the one in charge of the program on the other side of the Iron Bowl when the day finally arrived that Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach of all time, retired from Alabama. Saban retired on Jan. 10. "I'll say this, as somebody who's lived in the region for a long time and more than a casual observer, Coach Saban can be considered one of the greatest of all time," Cohen said in a January interview with AL.com. "But, Alabama won national championships before he got there and they have the potential to win them after he leaves. I have nothing but the ultimate respect for not only Coach Saban but (Alabama athletic director) Greg Byrne. I think that my expectation is that Alabama will continue at a positive path in the sport of football. But I will say, this has nothing to do with Auburn University." Several pundits including Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network have said the day Saban retired would be one where Auburn would need to capitalize. And to capitalize, Finebaum said, Auburn would have to be positioned with a stable coaching staff and program. |
| NCAA investigating Gators for Jaden Rashada recruitment | |
| Florida's football program is under NCAA investigation regarding its recruitment of quarterback prospect Jaden Rashada. Rashada signed with the Gators in December 2022, but was later released from his national letter of intent after his lucrative name, image and likeness package with an independent collective -- reportedly worth more than $13 million over four years -- fell apart. Rashada, the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 31 prospect overall in the 2023 ESPN 300, ended up enrolling at Arizona State, his father's alma mater. "We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA," Florida spokesman Steve McClain said in a statement provided to ESPN. "We hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and integrity on and off the field. Because we follow NCAA policies about maintaining confidentiality, we are unable to offer additional comments." On Friday, the Tampa Bay Times and The Associated Press obtained an NCAA notice of inquiry that was sent to University of Florida president Ben Sasse on June 9, notifying the school that NCAA enforcement staff had launched an investigation into the football program. Rashada's name was not mentioned in the letter, nor was the nature of the alleged NCAA rules violations, according to the AP. Rashada had agreed to an NIL deal with the Gator Collective, a fundraising arm not officially affiliated with the university that disburses money to student-athletes in all sports. |
| 'We've opened Pandora's box:' College coaches, staffers sound off on untenable calendar, the lack of guardrails around the transfer portal | |
| At the annual AFCA Convention in Nashville earlier this month, college coaches, assistants, player personnel directors and recruiting coordinators spent the week interviewing for jobs, networking and giving speeches. The hordes of logoed polos and bros in spiffy suits also did what many do best: Gripe about the ills of college football's current landscape. Not that they're wrong. The sport's crammed calendar -- the early signing period, the transfer portal window, the coaching carousel, bowl games and the playoffs all happening in the same four-week window -- remains a primary source of contention. "This is the worst time in the world to have this (AFCA Convention) now," one FCS head coach said. As the calendar has become increasingly untenable, staffers -- from coaches to personnel directors -- have reached a tipping point with their frustrations with the ever-changing NCAA transfer portal, specifically. At the AFCA Convention in Charlotte last January, coaches complained about the tsunami of tampering, player movement and game of blind speed dating, and a year later, the situation has only worsened. "We've opened up Pandora's box," one SEC player personnel director said. "We've totally lost the plot," said another ACC head coach. |
| Fixing NCAA's problems doesn't appear to be at forefront for U.S. Congress: 'These are big, thorny, tough issues' | |
| Minutes after the completion of the 11th congressional hearing on college athletics, the event's two star witnesses, NCAA president Charlie Baker and UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin, shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and posed for a photograph. The two men, having espoused drastically different views on the future of college athletics, came together, fittingly, within the marbled walls of Capitol Hill, where disagreements among lawmakers usually devolve into divisive spats. In many ways, Baker and Griffin represent a view from each of the parties of Congress over legislation around college athletics: One is against athletes becoming employees (Republicans), and the other seems somewhat fine with it (Democrats). Therein lies the impasse at which two parties, unlike Baker and Griffin, will not come together in harmony, one prominent lawmaker said. "It's hard to imagine this Congress getting to an agreement on antitrust exemption and on employment," Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) said. "I think this hearing surfaced that there is a wide gap between where we are and where we need to go to get to consensus, not just here in the House but also in the Senate." Perhaps the most noteworthy item from the 3.5-hour hearing was what was said afterward, when Trahan proclaimed dead the NCAA's requests of Congress to both exempt college athletes from employment status and grant it an antitrust exemption. The concepts are the two most significant asks from Baker, the NCAA and high-ranking conference leadership of Congress. |
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