| Tuesday, March 23, 2021 |
| MSU employees urged to register for COVID-19 vaccine in the next 24 hours to retain priority | |
 | Mississippi State employees are urged to register for COVID-19 vaccinations within the next 24 hours for the remainder of the limited supply of Pfizer vaccines that the university is authorized to administer. MSU's initial supply of vaccines will first be offered to MSU employees as previously announced. MSU employees of any age are now eligible to schedule an appointment at https://covidvaccine.msstate.edu with their MSU NetID and NetPassword. Online registration is required. But the university will offer vaccines not claimed by employees from the first allotment to other eligible recipients. The university is following Mississippi State Department of Health guidance and will be changing the location of its COVID-19 Vaccination Site. On Tuesday, March 23, vaccinations will be given inside the Longest Student Health Center. You may park in the lot next to the Health Center and use the main entrance. Staff will be available to guide you through the process. Beginning Wednesday, March 24, vaccinations will be given in the Humphrey Coliseum, located at 55 Coliseum Blvd. You may park in the lot in front of the Palmeiro Center, located on the west side of the coliseum. Signs and staff can help direct you to the entrance of the Mize Pavilion lobby. |
| SOCSD to give $4,000 incentives for 7-12th grade science teachers | |
 | The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees approved a certified teacher incentive of $4,000 for each new hire or rehire of secondary science teachers for the 2021-22 school year during a special-call board meeting Monday morning. The board passed this incentive with the intent to employ educators in high-need areas. Public Information Officer. Nicole Thomas said at this time SOCSD has only identified seventh-12th-grade science as a high-demand field. "One of our goal areas in our strategic plan is human resources, and one of those strategies is recruitment and retention," Thomas said. "Science is a high-need area, not just in Starkville, but in other school districts." Every science teacher in grades 7-12 who is returning for the 2021-22 school year, as well as any new hires, will be eligible for the $4,000 incentive. Hires who live 50 miles or more from Starkville and would have to relocate are eligible for an additional $1,000 as a relocation expense reimbursement. The funding is through Title II federal funds. Incentives will be issued as a one-time lump-sum payment at the end of the pay period for September 2021, Thomas said. |
| More severe weather with potential for tornadoes on the horizon for Mississippi | |
 | Another round of severe weather is poised to roll through Mississippi, which forecasters say has the potential to bring tornadoes and flooding in some areas on Thursday. Thomas Winesett, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Jackson office, said the system, which will begin impacting the state Tuesday night, has the potential to produce strong thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. "It's gonna be kind of a wet and stormy week across much of the state," he said. Winesett said isolated thunderstorms with damaging winds are expected along and south of Interstate 20 Tuesday night and into Wednesday. More storms are expected to sweep into the state Wednesday afternoon and into the overnight hours with the main threat appearing Thursday. High winds, large hail and tornadoes are also possible Thursday, Winesett said. Heavy rain is also expected, which will present a flood risk for the southeastern portion of the state, including the Pine Belt area. "We're looking at the potential for 3 to 5 inches of rain down there," Winesett said. Mississippi Emergency Management Executive Director Stephen McCraney said Monday that a line of strong thunderstorms that came through Mississippi Wednesday produced at least seven tornadoes, according to a preliminary report. |
| One year later, restaurants fight for life on 'patchwork' battlefield | |
 | It's been a year since the Covid-19 wars started. And they are still being fought. Restaurants, the most vulnerable industry during the pandemic, were told here and there to shut down their seating and rely on curbside pickup and delivery, then seating with no more than 50 percent of capacity. It is estimated that 110,000 restaurants and other eateries have closed their doors due to viral pandemic, making it the hardest-hit industry. That includes Mississippi, of course. There are "no hard figures" for the state, though there are "4,800 permitted food-service facilities in our state," said Pat Fontaine, executive director of the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association. Some of the best restaurants are not immune to the effects of the virus Fontaine cited The Veranda in Starkville, a steak and seafood eatery that had operated for 17 years but closed its doors in December. "The Veranda was a sit-down kind of place," co-owner Frank Jones told The Dispatch of Columbus. Covid-19 "just killed places like ours," Jones is quoted as saying. |
| How Small Restaurants Leveraged Their Pain to Win Stimulus Money | |
 | On July 1, about 100 members of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, a fledgling group of chefs and restaurateurs from around the country, ended a video conference call by grieving for Blackbird, a critically acclaimed restaurant in Chicago. Nine months later, the coalition can claim a large share of the credit for creating the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a $28.6 billion grant program for small restaurants, bars and restaurant groups intended to stem the tide of closings that, according to the National Restaurant Association, has permanently shuttered more than 110,000 restaurants and bars in the last year. "Given the year we just had, I don't know if I'd be sitting here today without the people on those calls," said Robert St. John, a member of the coalition's leadership committee who operates five restaurants and one bar in Hattiesburg, Miss. The coalition's political strategy was to leverage its members' public profiles and community connections to compensate for what they lacked in political clout. "They are such a vital part of our economy, not only with the restaurant jobs, but the supply chain," said Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, an early champion of the Restaurants Act. "I don't think it dawned on people that the reach extends as far as it does." |
| 'Happy to be home:' Toyota Mississippi's president relishes new role | |
| David Fernandes has only been in Northeast Mississippi a few weeks, but he's getting familiar with the people and places of the region. Fernandes, 51, was named the fifth president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi in January, following in the footsteps of Sean Suggs, who left for a larger corporate role at Toyota Motor North America. "I've been living in temporary housing in downtown Tupelo, so I've had a chance to wander around downtown, and just like people always say, the people are nice here," Fernandes said. Overseeing more than 2,000 team members at the plant doesn't give Fernandes a lot of free time, but his familiarity with Toyota's vaunted manufacturing processes has made the transition easier. Fernandes spent the past two years as senior vice president of manufacturing at Toyota South Africa Motors. Before that assignment, Fernandes was president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama and had a variety of roles within Toyota Motor North America's Manufacturing and Production Engineering groups. He began his Toyota career in 1998 as a group leader at the company's West Virginia plant. |
| Nissan to resume full production Tuesday after weekend slowdown | |
 | Production on Altimas and vans at the Nissan Canton plant is set to resume Tuesday, a company spokesman said, after parts shortages and scheduled recovery from winter storms halted production across Nissan North America plants. Lloryn Love-Carter, a spokesman for Nissan Group of the Americas, said that Nissan is adjusting production schedules within their North American manufacturing operations due to semiconductor-related parts supply. "We continue to work closely with our supplier partners to assess the impact of supply chain issues and minimize disruption for vehicle deliveries to our dealers and customers," Love-Carter said. The shortage has affected the production of Nissan products, including Titan, Frontier, Altima, NV vans, Murano, Maxima, LEAF Versa, Kicks, March and Rogue. Love-Carter said shortages were not likely to affect Line One at the Canton plant that manufactures the Titan and Frontier but that Lines Two and Three in Canton saw some slow down this past weekend but should all be back online by Tuesday. She said that Line 2, which manufactures the Altima, canceled production on Friday, March 19, the overtime shift on Saturday, March 20, and Monday, March 22. Production will resume on Tuesday, March 23. Line 3, which produces NV vans, resumed Monday after canceling the Saturday overtime shift. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves: Mississippi hits 1 million COVID-19 vaccines administered | |
 | One million COVID-19 vaccine doses have gone to Mississippians, Gov. Tate Reeves announced during at Monday afternoon news conference. Reaching that milestone doesn't mean the pandemic is over, Reeves said, it means the state has made great progress in the past year. "We're not yet out of this fight," he said. "In fact, we know that the next million shots are gonna be harder to get than the last million." Despite the rising vaccination rate, around 12% of the state's population is fully vaccinated which is lower than the nation's average of 13.5%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's data tracker. Based on Becker's Hospital Review report, Mississippi ranks 47th in the United States for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Reeves noted vaccine hesitancy as a contributing factor that will affect the state's vaccination rate. "I've taken the vaccine. My family has taken the vaccine. Many great physicians and community leaders have taken the vaccine," Reeves said. "I urge fellow Mississippians to take the vaccine." |
| Mississippi gives 1 millionth dose of COVID vaccine. Are cases still declining? | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves went to the Trustmark Park vaccine site in Pearl in Monday to announce that Mississippi now has given 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. "Right now, Mississippi is one of the only states in the nation where any person about the age of 16 who wants to get a shot can get a shot," he said. The vaccine is the hope of a return to more normalcy, and Reeves said he will lead the effort to convince more people to get the shot. The next 1 million shots is going to be more difficult to get than the first million, he said. Reeves said that over the weekend he saw his grandmother for the first time in a year. "We're both fully vaccinated now," he said. In Mississippi and South Mississippi, there are now more people fully vaccinated than the number of people who have tested positive since the pandemic began. Most of those doses have come through the health department's drive-thru sites, said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. He asked Mississippians to continue to wear masks in public and follow "common-sense precautions." |
| One million doses in, challenges ahead for COVID-19 vaccinations in Mississippi | |
| One million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced during a Monday press conference. While that figure signals the progress that has been made in vaccination efforts across Mississippi, the state faces hurdles to radically increasing the vaccinated population. "We're not yet out of this fight. In fact, we know that the next million shots are going to be harder to get than the last million," Reeves said. Reeves attributed the difficulties in administering shots to vaccine hesitancy in the state. The demand for vaccines was much higher than the state's supply when its rollout began, but the Mississippi State Department of Health is already seeing the shift to demand being equal to or even lower than supply. Recent polling has shown that Mississippians are generally more open to getting a COVID-19 vaccine than they were in early January, but it's unclear how significantly this shift has impacted demand for vaccines. To even maintain the current rate at which shots are being administered in Mississippi, Reeves said the state has to "get creative" in how it distributes the vaccine. |
| Mississippi Department of Corrections now vaccinating inmates | |
 | The Mississippi Department of Corrections began vaccinating inmates and correctional staff against COVID-19 last week. Louisiana is already ahead of them and Alabama isn't far behind. Mississippi's first prison to get coronavirus vaccines was the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. Last week nearly all inmates and staff received their first dose. Only about one percent of inmates there have refused the vaccine. Commissioner Burl Cain said they're offering an incentive. "Everyone who takes a shot gets a little bag of famous Amos cookies. You know, it's kind of an incentive to take the shot and that's a big deal to them. So, they like to get the cookies," he said. Cain said he hopes to be the first state to vaccinate all inmates and finally return to some sense of normalcy. Two weeks after inmates are fully vaccinated, Mississippi will reopen visitation for the first time in a year. |
| Mississippi investigating its largest Medicaid provider over pharmacy benefits | |
| Mississippi officials are investigating whether Fortune 500 company Centene and possibly other firms may have significantly overcharged taxpayers as they managed billions of dollars worth of state Medicaid health insurance benefits. The Mississippi Division of Medicaid confirmed the probe to the Daily Journal on Monday. Medicaid officials said the attorney general's office hired outside attorneys to "investigate and potentially pursue claims" that include Centene's management of pharmacy benefits. The investigation is in the early stages but is similar to a recently-announced Ohio lawsuit against Centene, said Colby Jordan, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Lynn Fitch. In that case, authorities allege Centene overcharged Ohio taxpayers by millions of dollars. In Mississippi's Medicaid managed care system, Centene subsidiary Magnolia Health and two other contractors oversee health insurance benefits for about 480,000 poor adults and children, disabled people, pregnant women, and others. The Division of Medicaid pays the companies a set rate per patient. |
| Medical marijuana and taxes, the hallmark 2021 legislative efforts, are likely dead | |
| The legislative roads for two of the most high-profile issues of the 2021 session -- a massive tax swap proposal and the legalization of medical marijuana -- appear to have reached a dead end. While the ability of Mississippi legislators to revive an issue should never be underestimated, it appears the joint rules would make it near impossible to bring back to life both issues. The end came quietly when House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, made a motion to go to conference on a Senate bill that contained the language legalizing medical marijuana. Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, did the same for the House bill that would have enacted the tax swap. Both motions were approved with no fanfare. Conference committees consist of three senators and three House members and are formed to hash out the differences between the two chambers on a bill. The reason sending the two issues to conference likely kills the proposals is Legislative Joint Rule 25, which says in part, "When a conference report is considered by the house of origin and it contains an amendment by the other house which adds code sections not included in the bill as passed the house of origin, a point of order that the conference report is not in order shall be sustained and the bill shall be returned to conference" to remove those offending code sections. |
| New law prevents public employees from participating in pretrial diversion programs | |
| A bill passed by the Mississippi Legislature, in partnership with State Auditor Shad White, will keep public employees who stand accused of embezzlement from participating in pretrial diversion programs. White explained that those who embezzle or fraudulently obtain more than $10,000 of taxpayer money will not be able to take part in the programs which have been used as a way to prevent a conviction for a crime from appearing on a person's criminal record. "This year, at my request, the Legislature passed a bill to toughen the penalties on people who steal taxpayer dollars, and the Governor has now signed it into law," White said. "I want to thank Rep. Nick Bain, Sen. Daniel Sparks, legislative leadership, and the Governor for their work making this bill the law of the land." SB 2552, taking effect on July 1, will complement a 2019 law that prevents those convicted of embezzlement from holding public office. Fraud and embezzlement, the two crimes made ineligible for pretrial diversion, are two of the most common crimes investigated by the State Auditor's office. |
| Burl Cain remade Angola prison in own image. Can he do the same with notorious Parchman? | |
| Burl Cain burnished his reputation as a reformer inside the walls of one of the nation's bloodiest prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola where stabbings, beatings and killings were commonplace. And now he faces the battle of turning around another notorious prison, the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, which has been immortalized for its brutal violence in songs, books and landmark litigation. The 78-year-old Mississippi corrections commissioner vows that in three years, there will be reduced violence and no illegal gangs: "It will be a model for people to come see." When Cain stepped into his role as Mississippi corrections commissioner on May 21, he discovered a system full of dysfunction and delays. There were 87 vacancies for parole and probation officers. He said he has shortened the process and filled the vacancies. He also found vacancies for hundreds of positions as correctional officers with a starting pay of $25,650, which qualifies a family of three or more for food stamps. Since 2014, the number of correctional officers has plummeted from 1,591 to 667 on Feb. 28, according to the state Personnel Board. If Mississippi lawmakers raise the starting salary to $31,971, Cain said he believes he can fill the 433 open positions. |
| Senate Republicans torn over return of earmarks | |
 | Senate Republicans are split on whether to embrace or reject the return of earmarks as the caucus leans into deficit concerns under the Biden administration. With House Republicans voting last week to join congressional Democrats in supporting the return of the federal spending, which allows members to secure money for specific projects back home, the Senate Republican Conference is now the odd person out on Capitol Hill. But there are sharp lines of division about the path forward, with conservatives pledging to fight any decision by leadership to return to earmarks and top appropriators signaling a willingness to reengage. "I don't know, it's controversial over here. We have people with strong views on both ways," Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said when asked what his colleagues would do in the wake of the House decision. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), during a recent interview with Fox News, signaled that members of his caucus would take a hard line, saying earmarks were "very unpopular among Republicans." McConnell was previously a proponent of earmarks but warned that, speaking for the entire caucus, there was now broad opposition. |
| Building A Big Infrastructure Plan, President Biden Starts With A Bridge To Republicans | |
 | President Biden is continuing his victory lap this week after passing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which addressed the most immediate crises Biden has faced coming into office: a pandemic still spreading and an economy still millions of jobs short of where it was a year ago. But if the relief bill was designed to put out the fire, Biden's next goal is to rebuild the house, with an infrastructure bill fulfilling the president's campaign promise to "build back better." "The Build Back Better bill is the legacy bill," said Bill Galston, former domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House. "It's the bill that will define the meaning of the Biden presidency." This is going to be an infrastructure bill that goes far beyond roads and bridges. It's designed to be a major investment in manufacturing and the technologies of the future. Galston says it's a bill that could transform the country: "A country that has not invested in itself for a very long time. A country that is on the verge of losing its technological and economic superiority to the rising power at the other side of the Pacific." That means China. Outcompeting Beijing is something that both parties agree on, and it's at the heart of Biden's sales pitch for the Build Back Better agenda. |
| Americans Drove Fewer Miles in 2020. Pedestrians Weren't Any Safer. | |
 | A big drop-off in driving early in the coronavirus pandemic didn't lead to a reduction in U.S. pedestrian deaths, a nonprofit safety group said, citing speeding as a likely factor and saying the finding is another sign of heightened roadway dangers in the Covid-19 era. In the first half of 2020, 2,957 pedestrians were killed in motor-vehicle crashes, six more than in the same stretch of 2019, according to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway-safety offices that supplied the preliminary data. That is despite the fact that Americans drove 16.5% fewer miles than in the first half of 2019. As a result, the report said, the nationwide pedestrian death rate jumped about 20% on a mileage-driven basis -- to 2.2 deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled from 1.8 in the corresponding period of 2019. The highway-safety association report doesn't analyze why pedestrian deaths remained high in 2020, or include details on last year's fatalities. Anecdotal evidence from state safety officials points to speeding as a big factor, said Jonathan Adkins, the association's executive director. |
| Sen. Dick Durbin calls gun violence a 'public health crisis' at hearing in the wake of Boulder shooting | |
 | Senators debated with new urgency Tuesday about how to address gun violence in America following a string mass shootings this past week -- including one Monday that killed 10 people in Colorado. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., opened the hearing by calling gun violence in the United States a "public health crisis" and saying he could ask for a moment of silence, but "in addition, I would like to ask for a moment of action. A moment of real caring." "Prayer leaders have their important place in this, but we are Senate leaders. What are we doing?" Durbin asked. "We won't solve this crisis with prosecutions after funerals. We need prevention before shooting." On Monday evening, a gunman opened fire at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, killing 10 people, including one police officer. Officials did not disclose the identity of a man seen being led away from the store in handcuffs but said he was the only person to receive nonfatal injuries. The shooting comes less than a week after a gunman opened fire on local businesses in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. The attacks sparked national grief and outrage over racism, misogyny and gun violence. Republicans and Democrats on the committee agreed prevention bests stops mass shootings. But both sides disagree how to do so, and how far to go. |
| Report: Extremist groups thrive on Facebook despite bans | |
 | A new outside report found that Facebook has allowed groups -- many tied to QAnon, boogaloo and militia movements -- to glorify violence during the 2020 election and in the weeks leading up to the deadly riots on the U.S. Capitol in January. Avaaz, a nonprofit advocacy group that says it seeks to protect democracies from misinformation, identified 267 pages and groups on Facebook that it says spread violence-glorifying material in the heat of the 2020 election to a combined following of 32 million users. More than two-thirds of the groups and pages had names that aligned with several domestic extremist movements, the report found. The first, boogaloo, promotes a second U.S. civil war and the breakdown of modern society. The second is the QAnon conspiracy, which claims that Donald Trump is waging a secret battle against the "deep state" and a sect of powerful Satan-worshipping pedophiles who dominate Hollywood, big business, the media and government. The rest are various anti-government militias. All have been largely banned from Facebook since 2020. Facebook acknowledged that its policy enforcement "isn't perfect," but said the report distorts its work against violent extremism and misinformation. |
| QAnon now pushes alarming conspiracy myths targeting China and Jewish people | |
 | Experts on extremism are warning about a troubling shift in the right-wing QAnon movement toward a new vein of conspiracy that blends anti-Chinese and anti-Jewish tropes with fears of vaccines and a global plot to take over the world. Broadly collected under the idea of a "new world order," it's a QAnon rebranding, said researcher Joel Finkelstein, director of Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute, allowing conspiracy theorists to pivot after a year of political upheaval, scrutiny and disappointing predictions. It marks a shift from the wild lies the movement spread before the election and in subsequent efforts to keep former President Trump in office, even after he lost to Joe Biden. Finkelstein and others said the switch, and the emphasis on suspicion toward Asians and Jews, could lead to more violence. "That is what I worry about," said Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., who runs the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab. "Individuals who are either unstable or have been really radicalized during a long pandemic." |
| The power of a lie: UM Hillell addresses anti-Semitism, misinformation | |
 | Zach Kornfeld was 15 when someone asked him where his horns were. After growing up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, it was the first time he had experienced blatant anti-Semitism. The moment would go on to shape his understanding of what anti-Semitism -- and hate, in general -- really is: an ugly, powerful lie. "She acted like she was joking, but then I realized she wasn't joking because she kept looking," he said. "I laughed because that's a very crazy thing for somebody to say ... It showed me at a very young age, I must have been 15 or 16, that if you lie to someone, you warp their brain." In a virtual conversation on Wednesday between the comedian and leaders of the Ole Miss Hillel, the Jewish student association on campus, Kornfeld delved into his experiences with anti-Semitism, both lived and historical. Francesca Kirdy, vice president of the Hillel, said that this ignorance and lack of awareness has been the driving factor behind many of the anti-Semitic experiences she and other members of the Hillel have had while at UM. "There have been anti-Semitic incidences with some members in our Hillel," she said. "When we confront those incidents, most of the time, it comes down to not understanding what they're saying and the impact that they're making" |
| Alcorn State opens vaccination site on campus | |
 | Alcorn State University opened the first COVID-19 vaccination site in Claiborne County on Tuesday, March 23. Students, staff and people ages 18 and older are now eligible to get their first and eventually second shots of the Moderna vaccine. Claiborne County Emergency Management director Martin Ratliff said setting the site up as a drive-thru site is the most efficient way to run a vaccination site. He said he's impressed with the turnout, especially for the first day. The school will continue to offer vaccines every Tuesday and Thursday for the foreseeable future. |
| Mississippi College to host in-person May graduations | |
| Leaders with Mississippi College in Clinton announced there will be a series of in-person spring graduations in early May. The 2021 graduations will be spread over two days (May 7-8) to minimize crowd sizes. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) health protocols will be followed at the ceremonies. In addition, there will be a new 4:00 p.m. celebration on the Quad on May 6 (weather permitting). It will include a graduation procession, music, and a guest speaker. Commencements for the university's Class of 2021 begin at 10:00 a.m. that Friday for the School of Science and Mathematics in the A.E. Wood Coliseum. The School of Business ceremony starts at 2:00 p.m., followed by the School of Education at 6:00 p.m. inside MC's spacious basketball arena. On Saturday, graduation at the coliseum begins at 10:00 a.m. for the School of Nursing. That's followed by the School of Christian Studies and the Arts commencement at 2:00 p.m. The final May 8 ceremony is booked for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at 6:00 p.m. |
| Mississippi schools not as worried over spring break COVID-19 concerns | |
| With huge crowds of spring breakers in Miami Beach this past weekend, spring break superspreader events are a concern for schools across the country. However, many colleges and universities in Mississippi put a plan in place ahead of time and canceled spring break due to the ongoing pandemic. As new variants have popped up in the state, colleges aren't letting up on school safety. Belhaven is one of many universities that feel confident in its safety measures. "It is worrying that a lot of the variants seem to be more contagious, but since the vaccines cover that. We are testing every week, every day here so that makes us comfortable. That makes students more comfortable. We are getting tested every day," said Dr. Shelley Smith, assistant to the president of coronavirus management at Belhaven. |
| Match Day celebrated at WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine | |
 | Students from William Carey University's College of Osteopathic Medicine celebrated Match Day by announcing the healthcare facilities where they will do their residencies as doctors of osteopathic medicine. The medical school's faculty and staff hosted a small come-and-go reception at Tatum Court on Monday morning to congratulate them. Steven Burkett will be heading to Meridian to work at a family medical facility there. He says the time at WCU prepared him for the next milestone in his career. "I feel like I'm prepared. I tell people all the time there's a lot of stuff to learn and somebody will ask me a medical question, and I'll rattle off a bunch of stuff and I'll think, 'Man, I learned a lot of stuff here,'" Steven said. "I feel really prepared going through the William Carey program." Amal Patel will be heading to Oklahoma to start his residency in orthopedic surgery. He said there was a lot of hard work leading up to this day and is grateful to those at WCU who helped make it possible. "I feel great that I matched," Patel said. "The match process is a very difficult and stressful situation. You spend those four years studying and then on that last day, on Friday, they tell you exactly where you're going to move for however long residency is. So I'll be in Oklahoma for five years." |
| Tupelo High senior Ben Ueltschey receives $300,000 scholarship to attend U. of Virginia | |
| A Tupelo High School senior will essentially receive a free ride to the university of his dreams. Tupelo High School senior Ben Ueltschey learned Monday that he was selected to receive the Jefferson Scholarship, a nearly $300,000 scholarship to the University of Virginia (UVA) that covers the entire cost of attendance for four years plus supplemental enrichment experiences. Ueltschey, 18, has dreamed of attending UVA for years. He attended Alpine Camp for Boys in Mentone, Alabama, as a child where his camp counselor, Chris Kaylor, became a role model and mentor for him. Kaylor had attended UVA and shared information about his time at the university that intrigued Ueltschey. "Once I visited and researched it, I realized how much of a perfect match it was for me," Ueltschey said. "With the academic scene and the athletic scene, it kind of combines the aspects of a Southern university with a Northeastern liberal arts school, so it's a great combination of both." He plans to double major in politics and global studies. With Washington, D.C., so close by, Ueltschey feels it's a perfect fit. |
| Auburn University researchers work to preserve the history of Selma's Bloody Sunday | |
 | Richard Burt of Auburn University thinks Selma, Ala., is one of the five most important American historical sites of the 20th century, right up there with the John F. Kennedy assassination site in Dallas. It just doesn't look like it. "At the moment if you go there, it's just a four-lane highway with a bunch of dilapidated buildings on either side of it," Burt said of the southern end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, just south of the Selma, Ala., city limits where the March 7, 1965 conflict called "Bloody Sunday" occurred. "You would have no idea apart from a few memorials what really went on there." Burt, the McWhorter Endowed Chair and head of the McWhorter School of Building Science, wants to change that. He and an interdisciplinary team of Auburn University researchers are working to preserve the history with a digital blueprint of Selma as it stood that day. They're calling it "Walking in the Footsteps of Civil Rights History." The team, which included Danielle Wilkens, now a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been conducting survey work at the conflict site since 2016 to identify how the site looked in 1965. Analyzing historic photographs to mark the locations of buildings, street signs and more provides the ability to produce a plan of the original site as it was on Bloody Sunday, using a Light Detection and Ranging Scanner to produce 2D and 3D models. |
| LSU board chair rips 'arrogant' comments from F. King Alexander in letter to Oregon State | |
 | The chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors on Monday blasted former LSU President F. King Alexander in a letter to officials at Oregon State University, where Alexander is now the embattled president. The letter from Robert Dampf to OSU's board came as Alexander faces the possibility of losing his job at Oregon State over his missteps as president of Louisiana's flagship university. In last week's meeting, Alexander offered pointed criticism of LSU and the 16-member Board of Supervisors, a panel he said often interferes in athletics matters, unlike the board at OSU. Alexander said OSU is much more balanced in its approach between athletics and academics. Alexander described Louisiana as a "very conservative state with very conservative values," saying Oregon "is much more advanced in how we see what our values are." "I feel confident that I can speak not only on behalf of my university, but also for my state in saying that I am beyond offended by Dr. Alexander's arrogant and condescending comments about Louisiana's culture, our state and our university," Dampf wrote in his letter to Oregon State. "When sharing his opinion that Louisiana has a different moral standard than Oregon, he omits the fact that he enthusiastically counted himself as one of us for almost seven years." |
| At Oregon State, a President Twists in the Wind | |
 | Right now, there's only one thing people at Oregon State University think they know about F. King Alexander, and they don't like it. Just about nine months into his presidency at Oregon State, all anyone is talking about is whether Alexander mishandled sexual-misconduct cases at Louisiana State University, where he was previously president. With few discernible professional or political allies, Oregon State's newish leader is in a career-defining fight to at least salvage his reputation -- even if he loses his job. Oregon State's Board of Trustees, after grilling Alexander at a meeting last Wednesday, voted to place him on probation through June 1. In an ominous sign, the board plans to reconvene on Tuesday to "consider action regarding President Alexander's leadership." Because of Covid-19 protocols, Alexander has yet to meet in person with a lot of people at Oregon State, and the core alliances he would need to retain his position appear to be eroding swiftly. In this fast-unfolding crisis, Alexander, who is 57, has emerged as a physically and politically isolated leader, trying desperately -- and without much apparent success -- to convince Oregon State that he isn't the type of guy who sweeps sexual misconduct under the rug for the sake of football. That is proving a tough case to make, as Alexander confronts a campus that is more eager to distance itself from the toxic story of his Louisiana days than to split hairs about the degrees of his potential culpability. |
| Campus covid-19 numbers declining at U. of Arkansas, Fayetteville | |
| Active covid-19 cases in schools continue to decline as many public school districts and several colleges are on spring break this week, while the state's largest university Monday reported having a single active infection. But the count by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville fell below that of the university's case count as published by state health authorities, highlighting again how school and campus counts can differ from state data. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- despite posting on its website Monday that it had only one active case -- according to Monday's state report had 18 active cases. The different totals reflect who is included. The state Health Department includes in its active cases "any student, faculty or staff currently affiliated with the university regardless of on-campus living or learning," department spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill said in an email. UA-Fayetteville, for its totals as updated three times weekly, considers active cases "involving individuals who may have been on campus," according to the UA website. Mark Rushing, a spokesman for UA-Fayetteville, in a statement Monday further clarified how the state's inclusion of all students can lead to different case counts. |
| UF mandatory biweekly COVID-19 reduced to only students with in-person classes | |
| After a monthlong streak of the lowest number of on-campus COVID-19 cases this semester, the University of Florida relaxed its mandatory biweekly testing for students. In an email sent to students March 12, UF Vice President for Student Affairs D'Andra Mull announced students in Greek life or living in a residence hall and not taking face-to-face classes would no longer need to be tested every two weeks starting March 15. As a result, available testing hours will be reduced at on-campus locations. Epidemiologists from the UF Health Screen, Test & Protect program recommended the pull back following the university's lowest reported cases since the start of the semester, Mull wrote. UF Health has advised the university since the start of the pandemic, basing decisions on testing and contact tracing data, Ken Garcia, a UF Health spokesperson wrote in an email. UF's announcement also mentioned reduced availability in appointment scheduling for tests at places including Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and the UF Cultural Plaza parking garage starting Monday. Garcia said he's not anticipating any future changes to who is exempt from guidelines. |
| U. of Florida suspends conservative student groups over COVID policy violations, reaps backlash | |
 | The University of Florida is facing online backlash for temporarily suspending three conservative student groups earlier this month after they held a cookout at Norman Field. According to a UF statement, Turning Point USA, Network of Enlightened Women and Young Americans for Freedom chapter members violated school policy by not registering their event, wearing masks or physically distancing at the March 3 cookout. The suspension is standard procedure during a university investigation, the statement said, not political suppression. But many conservative students and political leaders are upset, pushing back against UF's COVID-19 safety allegations and arguing that even if the suspension didn't stem from their political views, it takes away their ability to gather and share ideas. The temporary suspension prevents the three campus groups from hosting events on university space and participating in other UF activities. It still allows students to attend class and is not a formal, final sanction. Four other student groups, including several fraternities and a sorority, and more than 20 individuals have also received the temporary restrictions during the fall and spring semesters, the public statement said. |
| Turning the tables: Councilman protests alcohol licenses at U. of South Carolina venues | |
 | On numerous occasions through the years, the University of South Carolina has been among the entities that have protested the renewal of alcohol licenses for certain bars in Columbia's Five Points shopping and nightlife district. But in the last year, Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann has attempted to give the university a taste of its own medicine. Last summer, Rickenmann formally filed protests against the alcohol license renewals for third-party vendors that sell drinks at Williams-Brice football stadium and Colonial Life Arena, which hosts USC basketball games, along with concerts and other shows. Since his protests were filed, a hearing has taken place in state Administrative Law Court on the Colonial Life Arena case, while Rickenmann is still awaiting a hearing on the Williams-Brice Stadium matter. On several occasions in recent years, the university has joined with residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Five Points in protesting alcohol licenses for bars in the district that has, for decades, been a favorite nighttime hangout for USC students. The protests have often been an attempt to quell what some see as an overly raucous party scene that spills over into nearby neighborhoods. But in his own protests, Rickenmann has argued that, like bars in Five Points, USC's venues also serve alcohol. |
| Appeals court says Iowa administrators are personally liable in lawsuit brought by Christian student group | |
 | A federal appeals court ruled Monday that University of Iowa administrators can be held personally liable and sued for damages due to their actions deregistering a Christian student group that denied a leadership position to a gay student. The case involves a student group called Business Leaders in Christ, whose members believe that same-sex relationships are "outside of God's design." After the group denied an executive leadership position to a gay student in 2017 on the stated grounds that the student "disagreed with, and would not agree to live by [BLinC's] religious beliefs," the university began a process that ultimately led to the revocation of the group's status. BLinC sued and, in a 2019 decision that alarmed advocates for LGBTQ+ students, a district court judge held that the university selectively enforced its Human Rights Policy and violated BLinC members' constitutional rights to free speech, free association and free exercise of religion. The university did not appeal the judge's holding that it infringed on the BLinC members' First Amendment rights. |
| U. of Memphis plans for reopened fall semester that resembles fall of 2019 | |
| The University of Memphis recently announced it will reopen for the fall, after a year of hybrid classes, smaller class sizes and density thresholds on campus. "We're going to be offering our full, regular schedule of on-ground courses, and expecting that they're going to be meeting in the regular formats," U of M Provost Tom Nenon told The Commercial Appeal. "People may need to wear masks...but we expect to have the full range of all of our traditional on-ground courses as we also continue to increase our online offerings that were already growing (prior to the pandemic)." At present, a daily campus density is around 20% to 25% of what it was during 2019's fall semester, the last semester to go uninterrupted by COVID-19 protocols and precautions. For the fall, Nenon said the U of M will be closer to 100% density. That won't encompass all students -- around 10% of U of M's students are online-only, and another 10% take at least one online class -- but it will encompass the students traditionally found walking from class to class. Although U of M can't be certain what guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue, Nenon acknowledged, U of M's public health experts agree the data is encouraging so far and that social distancing requirements likely won't necessitate compromised class sizes. |
| Moody's Upgrades Its Outlook for Higher Ed | |
| Moody's release on Monday functions as something of a bookend to what has been a historic and tumultuous year for higher education. Last Thursday marked the one-year anniversary since the ratings agency published its first sectorwide assessment of the pandemic: "Outlook shifts to negative as coronavirus outbreak increases downside risks." The expected return of students to campuses this fall and a generous federal stimulus package led Moody's Investors Service to revise from negative to stable its sectorwide outlook for America's colleges on Monday. Still, analysts for the credit-ratings agency stressed the uncertainty ahead for higher education as institutions reckon with all the ways the coronavirus pandemic has changed the business of academe. With a resurgent student presence on campuses across the country, Moody's expects institutions to begin refilling their coffers with tuition and auxiliary-revenue dollars -- earnings that took a hit after students elected to delay college or learn remotely off campus. At private colleges, tuition and auxiliary revenue account for a median of nearly 75 percent of operating revenue. In contrast, public colleges relied on these student-generated funds for a median of nearly 50 percent of operating revenue. The latest round of federal stimulus includes separate appropriations to colleges and students, with support slated to last through 2023. Additional direct support to states would reduce the risk of additional funding cuts in public higher ed, the agency predicted. |
| Initiative seeks to create ebook sales model that works for university presses and libraries | |
| Sixteen major university presses have signed with a Berlin-based scholarly publishing house, De Gruyter, as part of a new initiative to broker ebook sales between presses and university libraries. The idea behind the University Press Library initiative is for the institutions to sell digital collections of their entire front lists of new titles to university libraries. Under this plan, a library could purchase Stanford University Press's entire 2021 collection in digital format, for example. Steve Fallon, De Gruyter's vice president for the Americas and strategic partnerships, said the goal of the initiative is to generate a sustainable revenue stream for presses that can count on a library buying an electronic version of every single new title -- including academically important but lesser-used scholarly monographs, not just books in higher demand. The initiative comes at a time when many university presses face financial challenges or uncertainty about their future financial models. Even one of the richest universities in the U.S., Stanford, threatened in 2019 to cut the press's $1.7 million subsidy before backing down after the plan attracted widespread outrage from faculty. |
| Intern pay was supposed to boost diversity in Congress. Most of the money went to white students | |
 | When Congress decided to start paying its interns a couple of years ago, Carlos Mark Vera figured his work on Capitol Hill was done. "When that fund passed, I was like, OK, awesome, let's move on to the next thing," said Vera, co-founder of Pay Our Interns. The group had pushed and prodded lawmakers until they agreed to allocate $20,000 to each House office and about $50,000 to each Senate office annually for intern pay, starting in 2019. It would go a long way toward closing the intern diversity gap, Vera hoped. Instead, the people getting paid internships were overwhelmingly white, the group found in a new report -- 76 percent white, compared to just 52 percent of the national undergraduate population. Black and Latino students were underrepresented, comprising 15 percent and 20 percent of undergraduates nationally but just 6.7 percent and 7.9 percent of paid Hill interns. The report also found that half of Capitol Hill's paid interns attended private universities, even though just a quarter of U.S. undergrads do. The researchers also tracked exactly where the interns went to school. Washington-area schools dominated among private universities: American, Georgetown, George Washington and Howard were the top four, with 145, 92, 77 and 34 interns, respectively. After them, the nation's most elite schools made up the remainder -- the only Ivy League schools not in the top 15 were Princeton and Dartmouth. |
| Clarke Reed calls on Republican Senate to support private investment in conservation | |
| Syndicated columnist Phil Hardwick writes: While the media tends to portray Republicans as environmental exploiters, history shows a more balanced reality. From Republican Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, William Howard Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush to numerous other GOP leaders, Republicans have distinguished records as conservationists. "What is a conservative after all, but one who conserves, one who is committed to protecting and holding close the things by which we live," said Reagan. "And we want to protect and conserve the land on which we live -- our countryside, our rivers and mountains, our plains and meadows and forests. This is our patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our great moral responsibility is to leave it to them either as we found it or better than we found it." Comes now one of the conservative founders of the modern Republican Party in Mississippi calling on Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and the GOP controlled Senate to support private investment in conservation. |
| Insights into latest site selection survey | |
| Columnist Phil Hardwick writes for the Mississippi Business Journal: As companies and states grapple with the future of the post-pandemic economy, economic developers and community leaders are adjusting strategies on how to recruit, retain and expand their workforce. The latest survey of corporate executives and their plans for expansion is a good source of information about how to get a feel for where the so-called new economy will be going. Area Development Magazine recently released its 35th annual Corporate Survey. Almost half of the respondents are with manufacturing firms. Approximately, 60% have significant repressibility for location decisions. Normally, economic developers look to the survey for insight about site selection factors and their rankings. While still important, it is also useful to look into the profiles of the respondents and how their companies are adjusting to the pandemic influences. Remote work is getting a lot of attention as all companies are trying to figure out which model will work best for them. Half the respondents in this survey have temporarily transitioned to their employees working remotely during the pandemic. However, only 13% say they'll do this permanently. The move to replace workers with automation continues. About half have instituted more automated processes in response to COVID-19. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State baseball moves North Alabama game from Tuesday to Wednesday with bad weather looming | |
| Mississippi State baseball made a schedule change this week. The No. 4 Bulldogs (16-4) were scheduled to host North Alabama (1-16) at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday. The game has been postponed to Wednesday at 6 p.m. because of the threat of inclement weather in Starkville on Tuesday. There is an 80% chance of thunderstorms Tuesday according to The Weather Channel. There is still a 50% chance for storms Wednesday. If the game against the Lions is played, it will serve a tune up for Mississippi State's first SEC series of the season at Dudy Noble Field. MSU welcomes No. 2 Arkansas (14-3) for a three-game set starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. LSU snapped Mississippi State's nine-game winning streak Sunday, but the Bulldogs still took two of three against the Tigers. MSU held LSU to one run through the first 25 innings of the series. |
| Mississippi State, North Alabama game postponed | |
| The Mississippi State baseball team made a change to its non-conference baseball schedule this week. No. 3-ranked-Mississippi State was originally schedule to play North Alabama at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday night, but the game has been postponed to Wednesday night at 6 p.m., the school announced on Monday. Mississippi State (16-4, 2-1 SEC) is coming off a weekend series victory over now No. 22 ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. Houston Harding (2-1, 0.96 ERA) will likely start on the mound. He has allowed only two earned runs in five appearances this season. He's struck out 25 batters in 18.2 innings pitched. North Alabama (1-16) has lost 10 straight games and was swept by Bellarmine this weekend. Tickets originally purchased for Tuesday's game will still be valid on Wednesday. |
| Lane Kiffin makes Paul Finebaum blush, stutter bringing up Miley Cyrus quote, USC firing | |
| Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin was the first guest Monday on "The Paul Finebaum Show." Kiffin made things awkward quickly as he brought up Finebaum's role in Kiffin being fired by Southern California as its head football coach. "Let's make sure everybody knows, you still owe me, because you did get me fired at USC that Saturday morning by saying I'm the Miley Cyrus of college football," Kiffin said. Finebaum started to stutter seemingly caught off guard Kiffin brought that up. "For those of you who didn't see this, I'm blushing even beyond the normal blush of makeup," Finebaum said. "I said that on 'College Gameday.' It was my first year at ESPN, and coach, I was trying to make a name for myself. And unfortunately, you just happened to be the next victim. I do feel badly about that." Kiffin, who is entering his second year as the Ole Miss football head coach, was the Southern California football head coach from 2010-13. He was fired five games into the 2013 season. "Well don't worry, we helped you," Kiffin said. "We gave up 62 points that day, so it wasn't all you." |
| NCAA's Mark Emmert vows review of women's, men's tournament disparity | |
| NCAA president Mark Emmert wrote a letter acknowledging the stark contrast between the women's and men's basketball tournaments, stating the organization will assess and review both. According to a letter obtained by ESPN Monday, Emmert said "much has been resolved" and the NCAA will continue to work to "provide an exceptional experience to these student-athletes." The inequities between the two tournament sites led to public outcry and prominent sports figures scolding the organization for each disparity. Photos and videos from athletes inside of the women's tournament "bubble" in and around San Antonio showed inferior food choices, COVID-19 testing, gifts received and gym equipment, among other inequities, including improper game signage. "I have directed our leadership team and appropriate staff to assess all the services, resources, and facilities provided to both the men's and women's teams so that we have a completely clear comparison," Emmert wrote. "Further, I will be determining exactly how we found ourselves in this situation. This will be discussed with our applicable boards, committees and membership when the tournament is over and the review is complete." |
| March was bound to be mad; NCAA tourney hasn't disappointed | |
| Considering how everything else has gone this past year, March was bound to be mad. So far, it hasn't disappointed. The last perfect NCAA Tournament bracket was busted before the first round was over. The second round just wrapped with an even dozen upsets already in the books -- a record for the opening 48 games and just one shy of the mark for the entire tournament -- with all kinds of possibilities still out there. "You gotta bring that fire," said Gonzaga big man Drew Timme, whose team is the tournament's overall top seed. "Because all it takes is one good game and you can be out." Oklahoma, in fact, played a very good game against Timme's Bulldogs and still got crushed, 87-71. So did No. 10 Maryland, bounced by No. 2 Alabama 96-77, and fifth-seeded Colorado, sent packing 71-53 by No. 4 Florida State. Seedings can seem off in any year, but never moreso than in this one. The pandemic wreaked havoc on nearly every team, but hit some harder than others, and at different times. For all the chaos unleashed in the first two rounds, Gonzaga still looks like the class of the field. |
| Another NCAA tournament player received racist messages and death threats after his team lost | |
 | Illinois center Kofi Cockburn became the second college basketball player in recent days to call attention to racist and threatening messages he had received after his team suffered an upset loss in the NCAA tournament. Cockburn shared one of the comments he received on Instagram on Sunday, after top-seeded Illinois lost to Loyola Chicago. Cockburn, who was born in Jamaica and moved to New York in 2014, replied to a screenshot of the comment: "I blame his parents." The University of Illinois confirmed that it was looking into the posts. On Saturday, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State wrote about being threatened and harassed on social media after the second-seeded Buckeyes fell to Oral Roberts. "I hope you die. I really do," one user wrote. Other messages were racist. Ohio State sources told ESPN that the school had contacted police. "Recent social media comments to E.J. Liddell, while not from our representative of Ohio State fans, are vile, dangerous and reflect the worst of humanity," Buckeyes Coach Chris Holtmann said in a statement. "E.J. is an outstanding young man who had a tremendous sophomore season and he was instrumental in our team's success. We will take the necessary actions to address this immediately." |
| Fans rejoice at first LSU tailgate since pandemic's start: 'We're finally getting something back' | |
| Music, laughter and the smell of beer filled the air outside of a sporting event on LSU's campus for the first time in a year Friday afternoon. LSU baseball's game against No. 6 Mississippi State at Alex Box Stadium marked the first time tailgating has been permitted on LSU's campus since the coronavirus pandemic began last March, and some Tiger fans took full advantage. "It feels good because we're finally getting something back," said Caden Germann, an 18-year-old LSU freshman who gathered in the Bullpen parking lot with a group of friends hours before the game. "This is fun, this is a normal thing that's going on." The scene outside the stadium was tame compared to LSU's reputation for huge, raucous tailgates in normal times. But a handful of groups still took advantage of the 50 degree temperatures to begin tailgating again. The school announced the loosening of restrictions -- which had outlawed the trappings of a large party, such as tents, trailers, tables, coolers, grills and communal food and beverage areas -- just two days before the game. Fans began organizing as soon as the news became public. The loosened guidelines only apply to spring outdoor athletic events, like baseball. But fans were hopeful about the possibility of tailgating before football games in the fall. |
| Tennessee football resumes team activities, sets start date for spring practice | |
 | The Tennessee football program resumed team activities on Monday, and the Vols' first spring practice is now scheduled for Thursday, a team spokesman confirmed Monday to Knox News. UT had paused team activities last Wednesday after recent COVID-19 testing produced multiple positive tests among staff members and athletes. The Vols had been scheduled to begin spring practice on Tuesday. The delayed start shouldn't affect Tennessee's ability to have 15 practices this spring. The spring game remains scheduled for April 24 at Neyland Stadium. The university last Wednesday identified a COVID-19 cluster that included 11 COVID-19 cases and 13 close contacts. That cluster included the positive tests within the football program. After learning of the positive test results, affected staff members and athletes immediately isolated and took safety measures in accordance with university, CDC and local health department guidelines, UT stated in its announcement last week. |
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