| Thursday, March 21, 2024 |
| MSU's Raspet Flight Research Lab celebrates 75 years of advancing aviation | |
 | Seventy-five years ago, August "Gus" Raspet came to Mississippi State University to carry out a vision for aerospace research that pushed the boundaries of what is possible in flight. On March 19, more than 100 people gathered to celebrate the continued success of that vision as MSU marked Raspet Flight Research Lab's 75th anniversary. "This university is a major research hub for developing the technologies of tomorrow," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "The work right here at the Raspet Flight Research Lab is going to impact not only our state but our nation and our world. And it all goes back to the vision Dr. Gus Raspet had for what Mississippi State could contribute to what was then the new field of aviation. We have built on that legacy for many years, and we are going to continue building on it." In video remarks, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves thanked Raspet personnel for helping make Mississippi a leader in the aerospace industry. Julie Jordan, MSU vice president for research and economic development, noted how MSU's multidisciplinary research teams work together to develop cutting-edge solutions to challenges faced by government and industry partners. She also noted that while Raspet is solving problems in the current landscape, the lab is providing student research opportunities and leading K-12 outreach activities that will inspire the next generation. |
| Hate Ends Now cattle car exhibit coming to Mississippi State this week | |
| Students and the public will have an opportunity to be immersed in the history of the Holocaust and World War II during a unique one-day event featuring a replica cattle car at Mississippi State University on Friday. The event is part of the Unity Starts with You Tour, a nationwide initiative to counter discrimination, bias and hate through immersive experiences, compelling narratives and educational resources. "This transformative program confronts historical prejudices head-on, addressing issues such as racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia and the mistreatment of indigenous peoples," the organization said in a press release. "At the heart of this initiative is the mission to foster inclusivity and understanding." The central piece of the tour is the Hate Ends Now exhibit, which features a replica WWII cattle car -- like the ones used to transport Jews and other targeted groups to concentration and death camps during the Holocaust -- that has been transformed into a mobile learning space. The free historical and educational exhibit will be open to the public on Friday, March 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mississippi State's campus at the Bost Extension Center at 190 Bost Drive. A "Unity Starts with You" discussion panel will be held at the Mitchell Memorial Library Auditorium at 10 a.m. |
| Starkville and Bay St. Louis in running for 'Best Small Town in the South' | |
 | Two places in Mississippi are in the running for USA Today's "Best Small Town in the South" award. As of Wednesday, Starkville was topping the leaderboard with the most votes with Batesville, Ark., and Thomasville, Ga., sitting at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. "Home to Mississippi State University, Starkville is much more than just a college town," editors of the newspaper wrote. "You'll find a thriving arts scene, multiple historic districts, many opportunities for birdwatching, and plenty of great food. Don't miss checking out the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, a treasure trove of artifacts and correspondence." Trailing in the competition is the beach town of Bay St. Louis. The coastal gem that was recently featured as an underrated destination by Southern Living will need to do some catching up if it wants to put another accolade on the shelves of city hall. Voting ends on April 1. Click here to view the poll and cast your choice for USA Today's "Best Small Town in the South." |
| Extra Table launches new ready-to-serve meal for food insecure Mississippians | |
| As hunger continues to strike parts of Mississippi, the team at Extra Table has developed a new product called "Extra Full." Revealed by the statewide food bank on Wednesday in Jackson, Extra Full is a four-serving pot meal that can be on the table in less than a half hour just by boiling it for 30 minutes. All you need is water and a stovetop. The first Extra Full meal will be red beans and rice using Two Brooks Farm rice grown in the Mississippi Delta. With a vitamin mix already included, the meal is high in fiber and protein, low in sodium, and has 22 vitamins and minerals. The distribution of Extra Full meals will begin as soon as this week, according to a press release from the nonprofit. "There is nothing like Extra Full in Mississippi. Volunteers will pack Extra Full meals, which will be distributed to Mississippi food pantries in addition to the food Extra Table currently ships monthly, at no cost to the pantries," the release noted. Currently, Extra Table stocks 62 food pantry and soup kitchen partners across the state for free. The newest addition to its menu was created through partnerships with the University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Entergy, United Health, and Reed Foods. |
| Stennis Space Center updates RS-25 engine program, new missile production facility | |
 | Rocket engines that will get astronauts back on the moon and a new missile facility that will lead the nation in solid fuel production were talking points during Stennis Space Center's director meeting Wednesday. "Continuing testing the rocket engines that will power the SLS rocket back to the moon -- that's one of the most exciting things we do," said John Bailey, Stennis Space Center's acting director. "We have three more tests to complete a 12 series test. Then we'll take a break to do some construction work and upgrades and then we'll get back into tests later this year." NASA is aiming to launch astronauts around the moon in the Artemis space mission in September 2025, and then land astronauts on the moon in 2026. There are a lot of factors that play into a mission like that, but Bailey said he is confident in the RS-25 engines that are built and developed in Hancock County. "We've been testing that engine for many years and we have some of the best rocket engineers at Stennis Space Center," he said. The RS-25 engines aren't the only big bangs that Stennis is excited about in the year ahead. A relatively new company called Evolution Space is relocating to Mississippi from California. The founder and CEO, Steve Heller, was born and raised in Mississippi. Although the Clark County native launched a rocket into space, his company is not focusing on space travel. Instead, he is in the market of making missiles and producing the solid propellant that fuels them. |
| After declaring bankruptcy, are Enviva sites closing in South Mississippi? | |
 | Although Enviva Inc. and subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the wood-pellet manufacturer is exceeding its requirement to create 110 jobs in George and Jackson counties in exchange for $4 million in state and local assistance, the Mississippi Development Authority says. Enviva reports a total of 126 full-time jobs at its George County plant and its export terminal at the Port of Pascagoula, said Tammy Craft, MDA public relations bureau manager. Of the total, 97 jobs are at the George County plant, which opened in 2022. The parent company and three Mississippi subsidiaries are among the Enviva entities that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 13. Those subsidiaries include Enviva Pellets Lucedale LLC, which operates the George County plant, Enviva Port of Pascagoula LLC, which ships wood chips from a company terminal at the port, and Enviva Pellets Bond LLC in Stone County, where a third wood-chip manufacturing plant has been put on hold. Enviva's oldest plant operated in the United States, acquired in 2010, is in Amory, Mississippi, and is not listed among the subsidiaries filing for bankruptcy. Operations are continuing uninterrupted at Enviva Pellets Lucedale as the company works to restructure its debt. That debt includes more than $101 million in bonds issued for the Stone County plant, according to Enviva's bankruptcy filing. |
| Senate Medicaid 'expansion light' would insure fewer than House plan, turn down federal money | |
| Senate leaders this week are trying to drum up votes for a Medicaid "expansion light" proposal that would cover far fewer uninsured Mississippians -- about 49,000 less -- than a House-passed bill and would leave hundreds of millions of federal dollars on the table. Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families and a Medicaid expert, told Mississippi Today that the Senate's approach would do little to address Mississippi's need for a healthy workforce and very few people who need health insurance coverage to protect them from high medical bills would get it. "It is also a very fiscally irresponsible approach for Mississippi's taxpayers as the state would be turning down $690 million that the federal government has put on the table for Mississippi's health care system," Alker said. A draft of the Senate proposal was provided to Mississippi Today on Wednesday. Senate leaders have said for weeks they had a Medicaid plan forthcoming, but it has yet to be made public or presented for a committee vote. The House passed its HB1725 expansion bill in February. The realpolitik is any final plan would have to pass the House and Senate by a two-thirds majority to show it has the potential to override a potential veto from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Reeves has privately told senators that he plans to veto a Medicaid expansion bill if it reaches his desk and has been a vocal opponent of expanding Medicaid coverage. |
| Pastor urging lawmakers to expand Medicaid rushed to hospital after collapsing at Capitol | |
| A minister collapsed at the Mississippi State Capitol on Wednesday while standing with fellow clergy members pleading with lawmakers to expand Medicaid coverage to some of the state's poorest residents. The Rev. Darryl Magee, senior pastor at St. Thomas Missionary Baptist Church in Bolton, was carried away from the building by ambulance after experiencing a medical emergency. He was resuscitated by doctors at the Capitol and rushed to Baptist Medical Center, where he was awake and with family on early Wednesday afternoon. The emergency halted a press conference, where about 50 clergy members from different denominations were advocating for Medicaid expansion. Dozens of people watched silently in the rotunda while doctors worked to save the pastor's life. Several bystanders hugged others or wiped tears from their faces, and many ministers prayed for Magee as he was being tended to. The harrowing moment at the Capitol occurred as the Republican-controlled Senate considers legislation that overwhelmingly passed the Republican-controlled House in February to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, is expected to release a separate expansion proposal in the coming days. As Easter Sunday approaches, Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr., the senior pastor of New Horizon Church International in Jackson, urged lawmakers to remember that a key lesson from the religious holiday was that Jesus sacrificed himself to benefit other people. He specifically asked the 52-member Senate to set partisanship aside and approach Medicaid expansion, a policy some conservative Republicans oppose, in the same manner. |
| Goon squad Mississippi: Deputy Christian Dedmon sentenced to 40 years | |
 | The fourth former Rankin County deputy has been sentenced Wednesday in connection to a Jan. 24, 2023, incident involving the abuse and torture of two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Christian Dedmon, 29, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee. Dedmon has received the longest sentence out of the three other ex-"Goon Squad" officers who were sentenced Tuesday and Wednesday. Dedmon devised the coverup scheme to cover up the involved officers' misconduct. "You, Mr. Dedmon, committed the most egregious act. ... That doesn't mean the most egregious conduct of all the defendants (in) this case, but the most shocking, brutal and cruel acts imaginable. And you deserve to be punished for it," Lee said. Dedmon, along with five other law enforcement officers, pleaded guilty last year to felony charges that stemmed from a January 2023 incident with Jenkins and Parker. According to a Department of Justice 2023 press release, a group of six officers burst into a Rankin County home without a warrant. The officers assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns and a sex toy, punched and kicked them, and called them racial slurs. The six former officers were Dedmon, Deputy Brett McAlpin, Lieutenant Jeffrey Middleton, Deputy Hunter Elward and Deputy Daniel Opdyke, who were all part of the Rankin County Sheriff's Office, and Joshua Hartfield, who was a former Richland police officer. |
| The Fed's Conundrum: Interest Rates Are Both Too High -- and Too Low | |
 | The Federal Reserve is still aiming to lower interest rates later this year, and for many U.S. households and small businesses those rate cuts can't come soon enough. But for big companies able to tap the corporate bond market, and for investors riding a rising stock market, relief from the Fed doesn't seem all that necessary. The Fed on Wednesday left its federal-funds rate target steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in more than two decades. But it left in place plans to cut interest rates this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell again characterized the level of rates as "restrictive," and said that "it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year." Changes in the Fed's benchmark fed-funds rate have a strong effect on a variety of short-term rates, such as those on bank deposits and money-market funds. But their influence on longer-term rates, such as those on corporate bonds, can be more tenuous. The idea that the Fed's target rate is restrictive is driven by a variety of models, many of them versions of the Taylor rule put forth by the Stanford economist John Taylor. These calculate where the Fed should set rates based on its inflation target, current inflation, estimates of how much slack there is in the economy, and estimates of where rates will eventually need to settle. Three versions of the rule calculated by the Atlanta Fed suggest the Fed's target rate should now be 3.9% to 4.7%. A lot of Americans probably don't need to consult the Taylor rule to conclude rates are restrictive: They can just look at the interest their credit-card accounts are charging. |
| Final spending package unveiled, countdown to recess begins | |
 | Lawmakers released a more than $1.2 trillion, six-bill appropriations package early Thursday morning, less than 48 hours ahead of a Friday night deadline for this second and final wrapup measure for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Both parties were touting "wins" in the package well before unveiling the massive 1,012-page bill, which had already won President Joe Biden's blessing and pledge to sign it "immediately." That, plus the lure of a two-week recess, should help get the package over the finish line, though it seems likely to slip past the 11:59 p.m. Friday cutoff for the current stopgap spending law. But lawmakers weren't really sweating the prospect of a weekend funding lapse, given its limited impact on government operations -- especially with Friday's expected House passage likely to be a strong signal of congressional intent to keep the lights on. Republicans heralded the Homeland Security measure, which would increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention bed capacity to around 42,000, the amount in the House's version of the legislation, up from 34,000 in current law. Democrats focused on domestic victories in the package, including a $1 billion increase in funding for child care and Head Start early education grants. Democrats also highlighted a $120 million increase in funding for National Institutes of Health cancer research and a $100 million increase in Alzheimer's and related dementia research, while staving off steep proposed cuts to K-12 and higher education programs. |
| Democrats open to loan strategy for Ukraine aid | |
 | Democrats in both chambers suggest they're willing to support Ukraine aid in the form of a loan, an idea that's gaining steam with Kyiv's GOP champions as they scramble to end Congress's deadlock and help Ukraine battle Russian forces. The loan design is not the Democrats' preference. They're urging the adoption of an emergency foreign aid package the Senate passed last month, which includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, while hammering Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for his refusal to put it on the House floor. But if the loan strategy -- which Johnson floated to Republican senators last week -- can break the impasse, a number of Democrats say they're all for it. "Democrats support aid to Ukraine. Whether you call it a loan, or whatever, get 'em some resources," said Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. "You've got to get them some help. So if it comes in a loan, it's help; if it comes as an aid package with no requirements, it's still help." The loan strategy has gained traction among Republicans in recent weeks, not least because former President Trump is using the campaign trail to promote the idea that all U.S. foreign aid should take the form of loans. Few believe that Ukraine would ever pay back the loans, given the trillions of dollars in reconstruction costs Kyiv is sure to face whenever the Russian conflict ends. But the loan design might provide some political cover to leery Republicans, who could pitch the idea to their constituents as a strategy for easing the financial burden on U.S. taxpayers. |
| Trump, others can appeal Fani Willis removal ruling, judge allows | |
| Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday granted permission for former President Donald Trump and seven others to appeal his recent decision that has kept District Attorney Fani Willis at the helm of the election interference case. McAfee issued a "certificate of immediate review," which allows the defendants to appeal his ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals before a trial begins. It will be up to the appeals court to decide whether to take up the matter. Eight defendants requested the certificate on Monday, a few days after McAfee mostly denied a motion to disqualify Willis due to her romantic relationship with then-special prosecutor Nathan Wade. While McAfee ruled that Willis did not have an actual conflict of interest that warranted her removal, he said there was an appearance of a conflict that required her to make a choice. Willis could either recuse herself and her office from the case or cut ties with Wade, McAfee said. Within hours, Wade had tendered his resignation. The defendants, however, said Wade's resignation was "insufficient to cure the appearance of impropriety the Court has determined exists." In particular, they said there was a "lack of guidance from the appellate courts on key issues," especially in relation to whether Willis' comments during a recent church speech were considered a disqualifying form of forensic misconduct. Steve Sadow, Trump's lead Atlanta attorney, called McAfee's granting of the certificate "highly significant." "The defense is optimistic that appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed and the DA being disqualified," he said. |
| 'Fear' and farmland in the Montana Senate race | |
 | Chinese investors own just a tiny percentage of Montana's tens of millions of acres of farmland. But you wouldn't know it from the campaign ads that Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and his GOP opponent have been airing. Tester and his likely GOP challenger, businessman Tim Sheehy, are both touting their efforts to fend off what they warn is China's growing influence in Montana's agriculture industry and economy, as they jostle for an edge in one of the country's most hotly contested Senate races. Their allies, meanwhile, have been bashing the opposing candidate for past investments in companies tied to China. Concerns about Chinese investors buying up U.S. farmland have skyrocketed in recent years, prompting a glut of legislation in statehouses and in Washington. On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on "the dangers China poses to American agriculture." Over the past few months, several 2024 campaigns have run ads on the issue, including gubernatorial candidates in Indiana and North Carolina. But nowhere has it taken on as high a profile as in the Montana Senate race, where a few thousand votes could determine the victor -- and control of the Senate. And it underscores how politicians are trying to capitalize on the rising fear over China's economic influence, particularly in agriculture. By zeroing in on foreign land ownership, specifically, politicians are combining the "highly emotional issues" of American farmland and fear, said Rep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican. |
| Justice Department sues Apple, alleging antitrust violations over smartphones | |
 | The Justice Department and 16 state and district attorneys general accused Apple of breaking federal antitrust law in a sprawling lawsuit unveiled Thursday, plunging the tech giant into another high-stakes showdown over its alleged abuse of power. The civil complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges the company has illegally wielded a monopoly over the smartphone market by cutting off developers and stifling competitors with punitive restrictions. The lawsuit squarely takes aim at the company's most popular and lucrative product, the iPhone, which has helped catapult Apple's valuation to over $2.7 trillion and sell its devices to billions of users. "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said in a statement that the lawsuit is "wrong on the facts and the law" and that the company "will vigorously defend against it." "This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets," Sainz said. "If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple -- where hardware, software, and services intersect." The DOJ lawsuit is the Biden administration's latest major salvo against Silicon Valley giants over claims they are stifling competition through monopolistic and anti-competitive practices. |
| Taxpayers Were Overcharged for Patient Meds. Then Came the Lawyers. | |
 | In 2018, when Mike DeWine was Ohio's attorney general, he began investigating an obscure corner of the health care industry. He believed that insurers were inflating prescription drug prices through management companies that operated as middlemen in the drug supply chain. There were concerns that these companies, known as pharmacy benefit managers, or P.B.M.s, were fleecing agencies like Medicaid, the government-run health insurance program for the poor. Three years later, after Mr. DeWine became governor of Ohio, the state announced an $88 million settlement with one of the nation's largest insurance companies, Centene. The case led to a nationwide reckoning for the company, as attorneys general in one state after another followed Ohio's lead, announcing multimillion-dollar settlements and claiming credit for forcing Centene to reform its billing practices. On the surface, it appeared that these settlements, which now total nearly $1 billion, were driven by state governments cracking down on a company that had ripped off taxpayers. But a New York Times investigation, drawing on thousands of pages of court documents, emails and other public records in multiple states, reveals that the case against Centene was conceived and executed by a group of powerful private lawyers who used their political connections to go after millions of dollars in contingency fees. The Centene case was organized by the Mississippi-based law firm Liston & Deas along with at least three other firms, several with close ties to former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, who was once considered one of the most influential Republican power brokers in the nation. |
| Sustainable food packaging focus of UM engineering researcher | |
| Packaging might seem like a minor detail when transporting goods, but a University of Mississippi researcher believes it could be a factor in alleviating food insecurity worldwide. Working with two grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Brenda Prager, associate professor of chemical engineering, is developing packaging materials that can better preserve food quality during transport and storage. "I've always been interested in looking at food packaging and sensitive goods," Prager said. "If we can develop ways to protect these goods, we can take major steps towards improving food security and reducing waste." The USDA project -- a new area of research for Prager -- involves a smart packaging material that can sense mechanical impacts to food during handling and transit. Prager is working with Amanda Koh, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Alabama, to develop the material. Eventually, this could enable real-time monitoring of food cargo and early intervention when bruising or damage occurs. Prager said she is excited about the opportunities to advance packaging technologies toward real-world implementation. |
| Hodge hired as medical director for state burn center at UMMC | |
| Her passion for treating patients with traumatic injuries led Dr. Juvonda Hodge to pursue a career in burn surgery. "No one leaves this life without scars of some kind," she said. "Burn patients are special because their scars are visible." Hodge recently joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson as medical director of The Mississippi Burn Center. She also serves as a professor of surgery at the center's School of Medicine. The Mississippi State Department of Health designated UMMC as a state burn center in 2023. As the state's only Level 1 trauma center, UMMC has an interdisciplinary care team for burn patients that includes specialists in emergency medicine and trauma surgery as well as subspecialties in plastic surgery, critical care, laboratory medicine, mental health, occupational therapy and physical therapy. "UMMC offers efficient, compassionate care for the patient and recognizes that a burn affects the entire family," said Hodge. "We have services for critical care for adult and pediatric populations addressing psychosocial, dietary and plastic surgery needs as well as any other needs that may arise." |
| College financial aid program designed to exclude Mississippi's poorest students has helped children of millionaires | |
| A Mississippi college financial aid program intended for the middle class has helped children of millionaires pay tuition. But if the poorest students apply, they'll be denied. That's due to a quirk of the law that makes Mississippi one of, if not the only, state in the nation with a college financial aid program designed to specifically exclude the lowest-income students, those who qualify for a full federal Pell Grant and whose families generally make less than $32,000. But the unusual nature of the Mississippi Resident Tuition Assistance Grant isn't widely known. The nonprofit Education Commission of the States, which tracks state-level education policy, determined the exclusion was unique years ago. Eddie Briggs, the Republican lieutenant governor who championed the MTAG's creation in 1995, told Mississippi Today he didn't realize other states don't have a grant like it. The grant awards between $500 to $1,000 in tuition aid, a modest amount that hasn't been increased in 30 years and makes a bigger difference to poor students than richer ones. Sen. Scott DeLano, R-Biloxi, said he only learned MTAG excludes the poorest students by design after he was asked to handle legislation this session that would finally remove the prohibition, a change that's due to the increased cost of college. "I think most legislators are trying to give all Mississippians some opportunity," he said. |
| Miller tapped as new Mississippi Main Street Association executive director | |
| The Mississippi Main Street Association recently announced that Jim Miller of Madison has been named the executive director of the statewide economic development organization. "We've seen significant economic growth and strategic successes in recent years, thanks largely to the dedication and talent of our state team," said MMSA Board President Marlo Dorsey. "We are thrilled to have Jim serve as our next executive director to continue this momentum and navigate the future." Miller was born in Jackson and moved to Tupelo as a young child. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in political science and a minor in history, and he earned a master's degree from Mississippi College in higher education. He will obtain his doctoral degree in higher education administration this summer from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has spent the last five years serving as the alignment specialist and assistant director of resource development for the Mississippi Community College Board, where his primary role was to research and secure federal and private grant dollars for the state's community college system and individual institutions. He previously served as director of career services at Delta State University and at Mississippi College. |
| Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs DEI bill into law: What the 'divisive concepts' ban will do | |
 | A new Alabama law banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programming and training in public colleges and other state agencies will go into effect this fall. Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB129, known as the "divisive concepts" bill, into law Wednesday. The law will become effective Oct. 1, 2024. "My Administration has and will continue to value Alabama's rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses -- or wherever else for that matter -- to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe," Ivey said in a statement Wednesday. "We have already taken action to prevent this in our K-12 classrooms, and I am pleased to sign SB129 to protect our college campuses. Supporting academic freedom, embracing diversity of cultures and backgrounds and treating people fairly are all key components of what we believe in Alabama, and I am more than confident that will continue." It is not clear yet whether the law will force some state colleges, which support a combined $16 million in diversity spending, to lay off staff. Opponents of the ban credited DEI programs for providing access and financial support, improving their campus experience, and in some cases, saving their lives. Others also worried that a ban would deter businesses and athletes from coming to the state. |
| Roberts, Nathan 'evaluate the implications' of DEI bill signed by Gov. Kay Ivey | |
| On March 20, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law SB 129, a bill banning state funding of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, making Alabama one of 36 states that introduced or passed legislation along these lines. The bill, amended 10 times as of Feb. 21, addresses and prohibits "divisive concepts" among students and faculty alike among the state. Any program, class, training, seminar or "other event" where participation is based on race, gender identity, ethnicity or national origin is in violation of the act. This is applied to all Alabama institutions of higher education, including Auburn University, as defined under the Code of Alabama, section 16-5-1. Prior to the bill's passage, President Christopher Roberts said in a faculty senate meeting that he and the university plan to follow the legislature, "no matter what is passed." Following Ivey's signing of the bill, Roberts and Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Vini Nathan sent out a joint statement in a university-wide email. "As a land-grant university, Auburn is committed to delivering exceptional experiences and support to all of our students with particular emphasis on providing access and opportunity to the citizenry of Alabama so that they benefit fully from an Auburn education," the statement said. "We work hard each day at Auburn to create an environment where our faculty, staff and students are welcomed, valued, respected and engaged. We remain committed to providing these exceptional experiences while continuing to support academic freedom and freedom of expression. As always, Auburn will act consistently with applicable state and federal law." |
| Set to to open in September, Graduate Auburn begins accepting reservations | |
 | Guests can now make reservations at the Graduate Auburn as the downtown Auburn hotel development nears completion. Graduate Hotels' 35th property is scheduled to open in September. The new downtown Auburn hotel will operate at 202 West Magnolia Ave., where Anders Bookstore used to be located. "Auburn is a quintessential college town oozing with tradition and charm. It was never about whether we wanted to be in Auburn, but always about finding the right site," said Ben Weprin, the founder and CEO of Graduate Hotels. Located across the street from Auburn University, the 140,000 square-foot hotel offers 177 guest rooms spanning five floors as well as 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Considering the fact that the hotel is steps away from Toomer's Corner, Weprin said the company "couldn't have found a better location." Graduate Auburn will also include the Graduate Hotels' signature lobby study table, an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar and restaurant, and the Bo Jackson's Beans. The coffee shop and bar was created in partnership with Heisman Trophy winner and Auburn football legend Bo Jackson. Graduate Auburn will be the inaugural Graduate Hotel in Alabama and the brand's seventh property in the Southeastern Conference markets. It joins Graduate Fayetteville, Graduate Athens, Graduate Columbia, Graduate Knoxville and Graduate Oxford. |
| U. of Alabama added nearly $3 billion to state's economy | |
 | The University of Alabama added almost $2.948 billion to the state economy during the 2020-21 academic year, according to a study by the Center for Business and Economic Research in the UA Culverhouse College of Business. The study, released Wednesday, notes this economic impact was achieved despite lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For each dollar allocated by the state, UA returns a $15.47 estimated impact for Alabama, according to the study. The state received an 11% annual rate of return on its investment in UA during the period studied. Also, the 2020-21 graduating class will pay about $1 billion in additional state income and sales taxes than they would have without their UA education. UA President Stuart R. Bell said the Capstone "... isn't just shaping minds; it's shaping economies and futures." In a news release, Bell said "Our strategic focus goes beyond traditional education, reaching into the realms of research, service and outreach programs. We're not just contributing to the state; we're creating a legacy of innovation and success through our graduates, and the dedicated efforts of our faculty and staff." UA football remained a powerful economic force in 2020, according to the study, despite limits on attendance and a shortened schedule of home games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 UA football season had a $134.5 million impact on the state. The Tuscaloosa metro area experienced a $100 million impact from the five home games (instead of the usual seven games per fall at Bryant-Denny Stadium). |
| Grand Challenge Grants promote creativity for community solutions | |
| Last semester, the University of Tennessee System announced its new Grand Challenge Grants, a philanthropic idea set to pour up to $5 million back into Tennessee communities and the areas in which the money is most needed. Faculty and staff across the UT System researched and developed the program, as well as surveyed Tennesseans across the state to get a personal idea of where aid is currently most needed. The three main areas the grants hope to affect are bolstering rural communities, helping combat addiction and making strides toward improving K-12 education. Not only will these grants help directly affect local issues, but they will also put UT System grant holders in direct collaboration with community partners who have been actively working on the work already. John Lacey, systems strategist for the UT System, said the grants will help to remove the barriers of working in a large organization and encourage the sharing of resources. "Grants like this, I think, are really important for incentivizing collaboration and for helping develop some new innovations and new ideas," Lacey said. "Not just in one department, but we're really trying to incentivize cross-campus and even cross-system collaboration. At the system level, our goal is definitely to 'be one UT.'" Local communities are a big area of concern, as UT System President Randy Boyd and the UT chancellors made clear in their State of the University address last month. The grants help put that into almost immediate action. |
| Florida Law Threatens to Defund, Disband Higher Ed Unions | |
 | In May 2023, two weeks before Florida governor Ron DeSantis officially announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination, he signed a law threatening public sector unions' continued funding -- and existence. Senate Bill 256 said that if fewer than 60 percent of workers in a union's bargaining unit paid dues, employees who wanted to keep their union representation would have to win another representation election. Simultaneously, the new law forbade public employers, such as state colleges and universities, from deducting union dues from the paychecks of workers who wanted to pay those dues, forcing unions to find another way to collect that money. The law also required that employees who wish to join unions sign "membership authorization forms" that show the names, salaries and other compensation, "including reimbursements," paid to the union's five highest-compensated employees. Public college and university unions weren't exempted from these effects of the law, as unions representing law enforcement officers, correctional officers and firefighters were. DeSantis's office didn't provide an interview Wednesday; a spokeswoman referred to comments he made Tuesday to conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch. "Parents in some of these deep blue states, they send their kids to school and it's pure indoctrination, and they don't want that," DeSantis said. "They know if they go to Florida, they've got a state government, certainly me as governor, but also our legislature that's fighting for them and for their kids and I would point out because I think this does tie into the indoctrination issue. We did paycheck protection for teacher union dues ... We empowered the rank and file to say, 'wait a minute, this union is pursuing a political agenda.'" |
| Laken Riley's father urges Georgia Senate to pass immigration legislation | |
 | Days after appearing on national television to criticize the politicization of his daughter's death, the father of 22-year-old Athens nursing student Laken Riley on Wednesday gave a speech before the Georgia Senate to urge lawmakers to pass more stringent legislation that targets undocumented immigrants. Riley was killed Feb. 22 while jogging at the University of Georgia's intramural fields of College Station Road in Athens. The next day, UGA police arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, an undocumented Venezuelan man living in Athens, and charged him with her murder. "Part of my purpose has been taken," said Jason Riley in his speech to the state Senate. "God gave me a beautiful daughter to father, protect, provide for and nurture. A man with an evil heart stole her life." Riley's death ignited a flurry of political talking points and immigration legislation, including state Rep. Jesse Petrea's House Bill 1105, which would withhold federal and state funding from sheriffs who refuse to report undocumented detainees and prisoners to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill passed in the House on Crossover Day in a 97-74 vote, adding teeth to an existing state law that has largely gone unenforced, but has yet to be voted on in the Senate. "My vision for every senator in this chamber is that you protect citizens from this illegal invasion," Riley said. |
| Texas A&M faculty supports Qatar colleagues, criticizes administration | |
 | Texas A&M University faculty members employed strong words during their Senate meeting Monday to convey displeasure with the university administration's response to the planned closure of the A&M Qatar campus. On Feb. 8, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents voted in favor 7-1 to authorize A&M President Mark A. Welsh III to terminate the contract between A&M and the Qatar Foundation and close the campus by 2028. The board's decision came just weeks after a Washington D.C. think tank named the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Police (ISGAP) published a report claiming that the Qatari government was using A&M's Qatar campus to access nuclear research, a claim that Welsh labeled as "false and irresponsible" in a Jan. 7 letter to the public. In the same letter, Welsh said the Qatar campus is not involved in any nuclear research. In a Feb. 8 letter to the public titled "An Important Update on the Qatar Campus," Welsh said he was committed to improving transparency and that the decision regarding the Qatar campus was made after "thoughtful discussion" on A&M's mission. On Feb. 11, Welsh also held a town hall where faculty members and students shared their opinions on the decision. Six weeks after the board's vote, the A&M Faculty Senate passed a resolution 64-0 in support of their Qatar colleagues and claimed the university administration had failed to adequately defend faculty members who have allegedly been targeted as a result of the ISGAP report. During the Senate meeting, faculty members said that the ISGAP report presented false information about some of the colleagues. |
| They may not agree on how to define DEI, but that's no problem for Kansas lawmakers attacking it | |
 | Kansas lawmakers are joining fellow Republicans in other states in trying to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on university campuses, but they've drafted their proposals to avoid having to agree on how to define DEI. The Kansas House planned to vote Thursday on a bill aimed at preventing universities, community colleges or technical colleges from basing a student's admission or an employee's hiring or promotion on any statement or pledge about diversity, equity or inclusion. While the bill includes those words, it also says universities cannot require a statement about "any political ideology or movement." The vote was set a week after the Senate approved a proposed $25 billion state budget with a provision designed to force universities to eliminate such requirements and mandatory DEI training. The provision would withhold $35.7 million from the state's six universities until they report to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Republican-controlled Legislature's leaders that they have done so. "Universities have chosen to embrace ideologies that discriminate against people who do not hew to their orthodoxy," state Rep. Steve Howe, a central Kansas Republican and the chair of a committee on higher education, said during a House debate Wednesday. But neither Kansas measure defines DEI. |
| A New Indiana Law Will Enforce 'Intellectual Diversity' for Professors. Here's What It Might Mean. | |
 | Beginning this summer, faculty members at Indiana's public colleges will be evaluated on whether they're espousing "intellectual diversity" in the classroom. That's the result of a law signed last week by Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, a Republican, over widespread faculty opposition. The law, introduced in the state Senate by Spencer Deery, a Republican, lets public colleges' boards deny faculty members tenure or promotion if they are deemed "unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity within the institution" or to expose students to scholarship representing a variety of ideological viewpoints, or if the boards determine that the faculty members are likely "to subject students to political or ideological views and opinions that are unrelated" to their discipline. The law also creates a mechanism by which students and employees can submit complaints against faculty and staff members they believe aren't adequately promoting intellectual diversity, which it defines as "multiple, divergent, and varied scholarly perspectives on an extensive range of public-policy issues." Those complaints are to be turned over to human-resources professionals and, "in limited circumstances," to the state higher-education commission, a leader of that body told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. |
| Under Siege, DEI Officers Strategize to Fight Back | |
| Choose your words carefully and avoid acronyms. Surround yourself with allies who can get the work done when a target is on your back. Keep up with proposed legislation. Fortify your data. Scrub your résumés. And, above all, keep yourself physically and mentally healthy for a battle that may only get worse. For campus diversity officers whose work and livelihoods have been under attack for more than a year, the annual meeting of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) last week offered a chance to brainstorm and commiserate. The gathering in Seattle drew a record attendance of about 1,150 people. Many came to the event feeling isolated and frustrated and left saying they felt more energized and slightly more optimistic. Still, the pressures they're facing back home are daunting. As of this week, at least 80 bills that would curtail at least some aspects of campuses' diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have been introduced in 28 states and the U.S. Congress. Nine have become law. Many would eliminate the jobs and staffs of the people attending. Paulette Granberry Russell, president and chief executive of NADOHE, set the stage for discussion. "How do we approach what we do strategically because some of us are exhausted and we are running to catch up," she said. "We should not be in this race, but we are. We took a lot for granted. We took for granted that we were doing the right thing." |
| Hundreds of demonstrators protest Kyle Rittenhouse event at U. of Memphis | |
| On Wednesday evening, as Kyle Rittenhouse prepared to speak at the UC Theatre at the University of Memphis, roughly 200 people gathered outside to protest his appearance. In August 2020, a 17-year-old Rittenhouse shot and killed two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and injured a third, who had been protesting the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted of criminal accusations in fall 2021, but became a divisive figure across the country. And many U of M students and community members were furious he was speaking at the university. One protester held up a sign that said, "Put Rittenhouse behind bars not a podium," while another's display said, "Murderers don't belong here." The protesters congregated near the entrance to the UC Theatre -- part of the University Center -- which was blocked off by several campus police vehicles and metal fencing, and guarded by both campus police and state troopers. A line of people attending the event began to form shortly after 6 p.m., behind the fencing. U of M wasn't sponsoring the event; it had been arranged by the student chapter of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA. The school also maintained that it was legally required to let Rittenhouse talk, per the First Amendment and Tennessee's Campus Free Speech Act. But this didn't assuage people who were upset, and in response to concerns, U of M released a statement earlier this month, reiterating that it was following the law. |
| AI images and conspiracy theories are driving a push for media literacy education | |
 | Videos, images and text created by generative artificial intelligence tools are turning up in elections, for sale on Amazon and even in court documents. Learning to identify the growing flood of deepfakes, along with online conspiracy theories, is becoming a rite of passage for students. Earlier this month, about 500 hundred high school students were milling about a cavernous ballroom on the University of Washington's Seattle campus, just as the annual MisInfo Day event was about to begin. Since its founding in 2019, MisInfo Day has grown into one of the nation's best known media literacy events for high school students. It originated with a popular undergraduate course at the University of Washington, "Calling Bulls***: Data Reasoning in a Digital World," co-created by Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom, to provide their students some guidance in how to navigate the proliferation of exaggeration, spin, and outright lies that could pass for facts and evidence online. High school teachers were looking for something similar they could bring to their students, and MisInfo Day was born. Organizers set up multiple sessions for students to choose from, including TikTok and viral misinformation, and making sense of online rumors. Educators are trying to fill a big gap, says Jevin West, an associate dean of research at UW's Information School who co-founded the university's Center for an Informed Public. "The whole motivation for this program was to spend an entire day which might be the only day that many of these students will devote to this, what I consider one of the more important things that we can be teaching our public." |
| Biden offers $5.8 billion more in student debt forgiveness, will email those next in line | |
 | The White House announced Thursday it's waiving another $5.8 billion in student loans for 78,000 public service workers. The administration is also sending emails signed by President Joe Biden to another 380,000 borrowers in the public sector, letting them know they are one to two years away from getting the same debt cancellation. The latest student loan relief comes amid the president's bid for reelection and is likely to rankle Biden's Republican opponents, who have criticized him for trying to "buy votes." Others have said the president's loan forgiveness efforts have come at the expense of the rollout of a new college financial aid form, which has been rife with errors. It's yet another instance in recent months of Biden making direct appeals to the borrowers he's singling out through various executive tools at his disposal. This time, he is expanding his messaging campaign to include Americans on the brink of qualifying for similar cancellation under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a special loan repayment plan for teachers, firefighters and other public service workers. Under the PSLF program, borrowers who have worked in public service and paid down their loans for a decade or more qualify for full relief from their federal loans. In 2021, the administration tacked on more time to thousands of borrowers' repayment timelines. |
| William & Mary will name building after former defense secretary Robert Gates | |
| Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will have an academic building named after him at William & Mary, the university in Virginia where he holds the honorary position of chancellor, the school announced Wednesday. Robert M. Gates Hall will be a hub for disciplines that include economic development and inequality, geopolitical conflict, national security and conservation, the school said in a statement. Gates is the only defense secretary to be asked to stay in the post after a new president was elected, according to the Pentagon. He served under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Gates was director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s. Gates also wrote the book, "Exercise Of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World." A $30 million gift from an anonymous donor is making the hall possible. Katherine Rowe, the president of William & Mary, praised the donor and said Gates "has championed the power of education and scholarship to advance democracy and build a better world." Gates got his bachelor's degree from William & Mary in 1965. He went on to earn a master's in history from Indiana University and a doctorate from Georgetown in Russian and Soviet history. He also was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. |
| Comparing the House and Senate Medicaid Expansion Plans | |
| The Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino writes: In February, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted for full Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as "Obamacare"). That plan went over like a lead balloon with Republican senators, who developed their own Medicaid expansion plan, one which stops short of full expansion. Proponents of Medicaid expansion in Mississippi have asserted two primary goals: Providing health insurance for "the working poor" who do not presently have access; and addressing uncompensated care for hospitals. The Senate's plan is more narrowly tailored to the stated goals of proponents. (It should be noted that the stated goals might not be the right goals. Having an insurance card is not the same thing as having access to and utilizing quality care. A better metric for policy success would be health outcomes). The Senate plan is contingent upon approval of a work requirement, where the House plan is not. If the actual goal is to provide access to health insurance to "the working poor," no one should object to an actual work requirement. ... From a conservative perspective, the Senate plan is better in almost every conceivable way. It's still welfare expansion that will increase the size of government and people's dependency on it. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State a confident bunch heading into NCAA Tournament | |
 | This isn't Mississippi State's first rodeo. Apart from star freshman guard Josh Hubbard, every player in the Bulldogs' regular rotation has experienced the NCAA Tournament before. Mississippi State got a taste of March Madness in 2023, losing in a First Four game against Pittsburgh, and grad transfer big man Jimmy Bell Jr. played in the tournament last year with West Virginia. The No. 8 seed Bulldogs and head coach Chris Jans may not have quite the historical resume of their first-round opponents -- No. 9 seed Michigan State is playing in its 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament under legendary coach Tom Izzo -- but after recovering from a four-game losing streak to end the regular season with two big wins in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Mississippi State arrived in Charlotte, N.C. brimming with confidence. "Those losses helped us, motivated us going into the SEC Tournament," veteran post player Tolu Smith said. "We have all the confidence in the world right now going into the NCAA Tournament. So we've just got to bottle that up and use it for this game and the next games." It's certainly been a topsy-turvy winter for the Bulldogs (21-13, 8-10 SEC), who were without Smith for the first 12 games due to a foot injury, saw grad transfer Andrew Taylor leave the team midway through the season after appearing in just six games, and later dealt with multi-game absences to KeShawn Murphy and D.J. Jeffries. |
| Why Chris Jans said he picked Tom Izzo to emulate as young coach | |
| When Chris Jans was a young coach, well before he was leading Mississippi State basketball to consecutive March Madness appearances, he struggled to answer a question often asked. Who is your idol? "I really don't have one," Jans said. "I didn't grow up in an athletic family. None of my parents played high school or college sports. So I was oblivious really to the profession, and even college basketball for that matter." But as time passed, and the question continued to be asked, he finally found an answer. "If I had to emulate someone or some program -- and I'm talking about my early 20s -- it would be Tom Izzo at Michigan State," the 54-year-old Jans said Wednesday. "I always respected the way he went about his business, the way his teams played. I wanted my teams to be looked at that way, and I know they're not. From an early age in my formative years as a college coach, that was probably the person and the program that I looked up to the most." In the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday (CBS, 11:15 a.m.), Jans will have a chance to share a sideline with a coach he looked up to. Playing at the Spectrum Center, No. 8 seed Mississippi State (21-13) will face No. 9 seed Michigan State (19-14). When the matchup was unveiled on Selection Sunday, Jans couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sure he had to look down at his staff and say, 'Hey, who is Chris Jans and who are we playing against?" Jans said. "I'm sure he had to ask a couple people to get some information about me. It's a privilege to be able to get a chance to share the floor with him and to compete against him." |
| Tom Izzo: NCAA selection process needs more nuance, less analytics | |
| Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said his experience on the NCAA tournament bubble this year was both exciting and a reminder that the way teams are selected might need to change in the future. Ahead of his team's matchup with Mississippi State, Izzo said Wednesday that he agrees with St. John's coach Rick Pitino, who argued the NCAA tournament selection committee needs more input from former players and coaches rather than relying so heavily on athletic directors dissecting analytics. "There definitely should be some coaches and players on that thing to bring some levity to as crazy as it's gotten," Izzo said. After St. John's missed the tournament this year, Pitino took to social media to suggest the selection committee might benefit from input from legendary -- and now retired -- coaches like Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski. The current 12-person committee is made up of nine athletic directors and three conference commissioners. Izzo agreed, saying analytics often miss the nuance and complications of a long basketball season. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has been among the influential voices suggesting the NCAA tournament should end the practice of awarding automatic bids to each conference champion -- typically determined by the winner of the league's conference tournament -- in favor of more selections by the committee. Izzo, who played in college at Division II Northern Michigan, said he's always been a fan of "the little guys" but that from a business perspective, squeezing out big-name programs like Michigan State presents problems. |
| Can State make a run in the NCAA Tournament? Yes, but the Bulldogs must hit their freebies | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: The Answer Man returns with all the answers to questions readers are asking about March Madness. Q. What do you think about Mississippi State's chances in the NCAA Tournament? A. The Bulldogs could make a run, and I say this for a couple reasons. In the NCAA Tournament, every game is on the road and defense travels. Under Chris Jans, State plays excellent defense. The Bulldogs guard. They protect the rim. That will serve them well. The Bulldogs led the SEC in steals. They were third in defensive field goal percentage. They were first in three-point defense. Those are all reasons why they were 8-1 in neutral site games this season. Secondly, basketball's postseason is all about playing your best in March -- peaking, as the announcers put it. State played really well in the SEC Tournament, beating LSU and and fifth-ranked Tennessee both by double digits before losing a close one in the semifinals to No. 12 Auburn. |
| Diamond Dawgs Travel to Texas A&M | |
| The Mississippi State baseball team hits the road for a three-game SEC series at No. 7 Texas A&M that starts on Thursday. This will be the Dawgs' second SEC series of the season and the second Top 10 opponent they have played in SEC play. The Thursday game will be broadcast on ESPNU, while Friday and Saturday will be aired on SECN+. The Series will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand. Texas A&M is ranked 7th in the nation and will enter this weekend with an 18-2 and 1-2 in the conference. The Aggies play Prairie View A&M on Wednesday before playing the Dawgs. Texas A&M's offense has a .304 batting average and a .557 slugging percentage. The .304 average is the sixth best in the SEC and 50th best in the nation. The Aggies' pitching staff has collected a 2.65 ERA, the second-best ERA in the country. Evan Aschenbeck has a 0.87 ERA, the team's best in 20 2/3 innings pitched. Justin Lamkin follows with a 1.57 ERA, while Ryan Prager leads the team with four wins. Texas A&M leads the series 22-20. The Diamond Dawgs last faced Texas A&M at home in 2023, where State lost the series in games two and three. The first meeting between these two programs came during the 1907 season. |
| Texas A&M's offense, Isaac Morton help shut down Prairie View A&M late in win | |
| For the majority of Wednesday night's game against Prairie View A&M, the Texas A&M baseball team was playing catch up, coming off the heels of its first two losses of the season this past weekend. When it mattered late, the Aggies offense came through with five runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally for an 11-9 win in front of 4,547 fans at Blue Bell Park. Down 9-6 in the eighth, A&M's Braden Montgomery and Ted Burton drew back-to-back walks. Hayden Schott followed it up with a single that skipped past the third baseman and rolled into left field for a base hit, scoring Montgomery. A&M's Ali Camarillo then drilled a ball toward the shortstop, where he had leather on it, but couldn't squeeze the ball as it ricocheted into the outfield to score two runs and tie the game at nine. "I was just trying to put a good swing on a good pitch to hit and everything took care of itself," Camarillo said. The run continued as pinch-hitter Jackson Appel drilled a double down the right-field line scoring Camarillo. Gavin Grahovac then plated Appel on an RBI single to cap off the flurry. Meanwhile, the pitching staff was attempting to right its own shortcomings. Between the six arms that were thrown, the staff gave up nine earned runs and nine walks. The Aggies escaped what could've been history for the Panthers, who were chasing their first win over Texas A&M in program history. Prairie View is now 0-15 against the Aggies. The Aggies will begin their first home Southeastern Conference series of the year at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Mississippi State. |
| Mississippi State football's 2025 conference opponents revealed | |
| Mississippi State should not have any trouble selling tickets for its four Southeastern Conference home games in 2025. The Bulldogs will welcome four marquee opponents -- Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Ole Miss -- to Davis Wade Stadium, the SEC announced in a release Wednesday. MSU will also face Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida and Mississippi on the road. The opponents are the same teams the Bulldogs are scheduled to play in 2024, with home and road games reversed. MSU's schedule for 2025 is now complete. The Bulldogs open with a trip to Hattiesburg to battle Southern Miss on Aug. 30, with non-conference home games against Arizona State on Sept. 6, Alcorn State on Sept. 13 and Northern Illinois on Sept. 20. The SEC is sticking with an eight-game conference schedule even after expanding to 16 teams this summer with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas. SEC Network is having discussions about pushing back some of the start times for Saturday games, with 11 a.m. central time games moving to 11:45 a.m., according to a report Wednesday from 247Sports. |
| Mississippi State Hosts Georgia Tech In WBIT First Round On Thursday | |
| No. 2 seed Mississippi State women's basketball starts its postseason run when it hosts No. 7 seed Georgia Tech for the First Round of the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament inside Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday, aired on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. CT. Established in 2024, the WBIT features a 32-team field with the initial three rounds played at the highest-seeded site. Mississippi State is one of three SEC programs in the tournament and is joined by Florida and Arkansas. All WBIT contests are aired on ESPN networks with the Semifinals and Championship game held at Butler's historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Fans who are not in attendance can follow action on ESPN+ or through their Mississippi State radio station with Jason Crowder. It will be the first contest between Mississippi State and Georgia Tech since Dec. 16, 2007. Mississippi State leads the all-time series 4-1 and 2-1 in Humphrey Coliseum. Thursday will be the 20th overall postseason tournament appearance -- 12 NCAA, 8 WBIT/WNIT/NWIT -- for Mississippi State and the second under head coach Sam Purcell. Purcell is the only coach in program history to lead their team to a postseason tournament in each of their first two seasons. Georgia Tech enters Thursday 17-15 overall and 7-11 in the ACC in its fifth season under head coach Nell Fortner. The Yellow Jackets are led by Second Team All-ACC sophomore guard Tonie Morgan who leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals with 15.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals per contest. The winner of Thursday's contest will face either No. 3 TCU/No. 6 North Texas in the Second Round on Sunday. Tip-off time and location is still to be determined. |
| Bulldogs Pick Up 10-2 Midweek Victory At Alabama State | |
| No. 20/20 Mississippi State cruised to a 10-2 victory at Alabama State on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs put up five runs in the second on a bases-loaded triple and a two-run homer and never led by less than five runs again.Sierra Sacco broke open the scoring, matching her career high in RBIs with one swing as she unloaded the bases with her third triple of the year. Nadia Barbary deposited the very next pitch over the center field wall. Paige Cook hit a two-run home run in the fifth after Madisyn Kennedy walked to extend her reached-base streak to a career-long 15 games. "Definitely good to see [Paige and Nadia] getting comfortable," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "They're ones at the top of our lineup that we need consistent, and we can always expect quality at-bats from them, picking up RBIs. I think it was also really good to see Morgan Bernardini and Riley Hull coming up with hits and RBIs for us to turn the lineup over because the more we can get everyone opportunities the more it continues to help the depth of the offense." Mississippi State is set to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs will meet No. 18/17 Arkansas for a three-game set in Bogle Park on March 22-24. All three games will air on SEC Network+. Game times are set for 6 p.m., 2 p.m. and 12 p.m. CT. |
| Dead or alive: See the status of wildlife bills in the Legislature | |
 | The 2024 Legislative session has been particularly active for wildlife, fisheries and parks with 30 bills introduced. As usual, most never made it out of committee. However, a number of bills remain active in the Senate and House and should be of interest to outdoor enthusiasts. Equally interesting are some of the bills that died. Here are some of the more notable bills and their status as of Wednesday. House Bill 43: Referred to Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Defines the state's duties to its wildlife and states wildlife belong to the citizens at large and must be protected based on scientific principles. House Bill 526: Due from Governor. Allows hunters to wear fluorescent pink during any gun season for deer. House Bill 1206: Referred to Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Expands hunting opportunities for opossums, raccoons and bobcats with a hunting season from Oct. 1-March 15 and allows year-round hunting with dogs of bobcats and raccoons. House Bill 1298: Referred to Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Establishes a turkey stamp that is mandatory for turkey hunting. Cost will be $10 for residents and $100 for non-residents. Funds from stamp purchases go toward protection and propagation of wild turkeys. Senate Bill 2652: Referred to House Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Also establishes a mandatory turkey stamp, but costs $200 for non-residents and is free for residents. Senate Bill 2662: Referred to House Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Allows the use of drones to aid in hunting, trapping and taking wild hogs. |
| Boosting the Bottom Line Through Athletics | |
| When the University of Arizona's men's basketball team takes on California State University, Long Beach today, it will mark the beginning of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's wildly popular and lucrative men's basketball tournament known as March Madness. The Wildcats -- a contender to make a run for the national championship given their high seed and strong regular season record -- are an anomaly at Arizona: a team that generates positive revenue for the university even as the athletics department struggles across the board. After the discovery of a $177 million shortfall, caused by a flawed budget model and overspending on strategic initiatives, Arizona President Robert Robbins warned that "draconian cuts" could be coming -- particularly in the athletics department, which operates at a loss and has been slow to pay back a $55 million loan from the university during the coronavirus pandemic. Individual sports, Robbins warned in November, could be on the chopping block. As a revenue-generating sport, men's basketball is almost certainly safe. Ditto for football. But other sports may be in peril as part of an athletics department that struggles to generate positive revenue -- a common affliction across the NCAA landscape. Should Arizona enact sweeping cuts, it will be following a broader trend at the Division I level, where universities that have built reputations and alumni support on robust athletics have increasingly begun dropping certain programs -- often those of the Olympic variety, such as swimming, track and field, and tennis. |
| ACC files counter suit against Clemson in North Carolina | |
| A day after Clemson University filed a 28-page complaint challenging the ACC's Grant of Rights, the conference has answered with a countersuit. Filed Wednesday in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, court, the 133-page lawsuit argues that the Tigers cannot get out of the Grant of Rights or the conference's exit fee. The ACC has made the same argument in its legal battle with Florida State, which was also filed in Mecklenburg County. "The ACC is a great conference, and this increases the national exposure, brings in additional revenue and offers greater opportunity for student-athletes," the lawsuit opens, a direct quote from Clemson president James P. Clements. "... For us and the Florida States and others, it stabilizes the conference long term." Clemson's lawsuit is specifically centered around the ACC's Grant of Rights, which binds the league, schools and broadcast partners together until the ESPN deal expires in 2036. Each ACC school is only making roughly $23.3 million annually. The latest Big Ten deal is expected to pay institutions between $70 to $100 million per year. According to the lawsuit, the ACC is, "seeking a declaration that the withdrawal payment is a valid and enforceable contract term applicable to Clemson," and a "declaration that the language of the ACC's Grant of Rights means what it says and that Clemson's grant of rights is exclusive and irrevocable through the term." The ACC is also seeking a declaration that "Clemson owes fiduciary duties to the ACC as a Member Institution" and "damages for Clemson's breach of the Grant of Rights." |
| Why March Madness stands alone as the event that brings us together | |
| The Athletic's Stewart Mandel writes: On Wednesday, I boarded a flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas for the explicit purpose of watching college basketball. Not to attend an actual basketball game, mind you. Those flights were headed to Omaha, Neb., and Charlotte, N.C. In my case, I am spending several hundred dollars for the privilege of sitting (or standing) in various sportsbooks and viewing parties to watch NCAA Tournament games that are readily available on the television in my living room. If the inflated hotel prices and $250 tickets for reserved seating are any indication, hundreds of thousands of other sports fans are doing the same. The allure of Vegas for March Madness is much the same as it is for millions of people who fill out brackets and cheer their heads off for schools and players they'd never heard of two hours earlier. It's because the NCAA Tournament is one our country's increasingly rare communal experiences. In this polarizing time, when even the most innocuous subject can become cause for outrage, there's still one thing folks from all parts of the country enjoy equally: rooting for the underdog. There aren't two sides to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson knocking off No. 1 seed Purdue (unless you're a Purdue fan). There is no political agenda behind Saint Peter's upsetting Kentucky. It is nothing but pure, sheer joy to spend two hours watching a team of complete unknowns who play most of their games in front of 800 people take on a bunch of future pros from a power conference and come out the victor. Or when, with a team's season on the line, 19-year-old sophomores drain a 3-point buzzer-beater to etch themselves into "One Shining Moment" lore for the rest of their lives. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
