| Monday, March 29, 2021 |
| MSU Libraries to showcase power of poetry | |
 | Mississippi State University Libraries is hosting activities throughout April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Starting April 1, students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to visit guides.library.msstate.edu/nationalpoetrymonth and view a fun, 15-minute presentation on Homer's ancient Greek epic poem "The Odyssey." Salvador Bartera, an associate professor in MSU's Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, prepared the lecture using the latest technology at Mitchell Memorial Library's MaxxSouth Digital Media Center. To view his lecture, visit the aforementioned website, hover over the "How to Celebrate Poetry at MSU" tab and click on "Celebrate Poetry by Learning about Homer and The Odyssey." MSU Libraries also will provide a link to MSU's movie database Swank, where MSU faculty, staff and students can log in to view "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" at their leisure. The 2000 film by Joel and Ethan Coen is loosely based on "The Odyssey." Associate Dean Stephen Cunetto said MSU Libraries is looking forward to hosting "Bully's Bards," a monthlong exhibit showcasing poetic contributions of MSU faculty and alumni. "These poems highlight the personal experiences, ruminations and feelings of members of our Bulldog family and provide important cultural context to the world in which we live," Cunetto said. "Our MSU Libraries staff hopes these poems inspire and encourage everyone to celebrate poetry in April and throughout the year." |
| Gardening to support bees | |
| It's no secret bees are an important part of agriculture. According to a study from Cornell University, the estimated yearly monetary value of the production of honeybees and native bees alike in the United States equates to around $29 billion in farm income. So, as spring rounds the corner, there are several things Golden Triangle residents can do while gardening that will go an extra mile in supporting bees. "If I was a gardener, I'd encourage gardners to think of plants that are going to help our native insects, butterflies, moths and native bees," said Jeff Harris, a honey bee specialist at Mississippi State's Extension Service. "Plant for them, and that will help honeybees. The one reason we want to encourage people to use native plants is there's this whole food chain that depends on native plants. If you plant a non-native planet, many of the insect species don't recognize it as food." "There are good plants and bad plants," Reeves said. "You want to stay away from toxic plants." It is recommended by MSU Extension that a gardener plants individual species of flowers in large groups or drifts. If this is not desired or feasible, plant small groups of the same species throughout the garden bed, spaced no more than a few yards apart, so bees can easily "hop" from one group to the next. |
| Reusing plant seeds are a cost-efficient and nostalgic gardening alternative | |
| When planning a garden, most people think to just buy new seeds from a store or nursery, but saving seeds from plants and vegetables and reusing them the following year is an option as well. While this process might be a bit tedious, it is a great way to retain beloved plants and be more cost-efficient. "It depends on how well you take care of those seeds and save them," said Reid Nevins, an agent with Lowndes County Mississippi State University Extension Service. "It can be a difficult process." When deciding on which seeds to save, the first step is to determine if the plant seed is an heirloom seed or a genetically modified seed. An heirloom seed is any variety of plant that has been in cultivation for at least fifty years, said Melvin Ellis, owner of Mayhew Tomato Farms. Modified seeds are seeds taken by breeders to get particular attributes into those plants. The goal of genetically modified seeds is to get a seed that does not contain those unwanted characteristics such as tomato catfacing. Because these seeds have been distinctly altered, they never grow the same twice, so genetically modified seeds would not work in trying to reuse them. |
| State, higher education employees could receive pay raises | |
 | State employees would receive a 3% raise and most public university and community college staff would receive at least a 1% raise under Mississippi lawmaker's latest budget proposal. Mississippi lawmakers began voting Sunday on details of a state government spending plan for the year that begins July 1. The budget bills need approval from a majority of the 122 House members and 52 senators. Parts of the budget were being sent back for more work. The 1% pay raises for Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning and the community college system are estimated to cost around $12.5 million. Around $9.2 million would go to public universities and $3.3 million would go to community colleges. Hopson said the 1% pay raise is not automatic for each employee. Institutions will receive enough money to give all employees 1% raises but it will be up to each institution head's discretion how the money is allocated. An individual employee can receive up to a 5% raise. Some employees may receive no raise. The higher education staff raises would go into effect July 1. |
| State employees, higher ed employees to receive pay raises as lawmakers finalize budget | |
 | Many of Mississippi's more than 25,000 state employees will get a 3% pay raise under an agreement reached between House and Senate leaders as they work to finalize a budget this week and conclude the 2021 legislative session. Under the same agreement, faculty and staff at the eight public universities and 15 community colleges could receive at least a 1% raise. Many of the details of the roughly $6.2 billion state support budget have not yet been worked out, and legislative leaders were still meeting late Sunday to finalize next year's budget. The pay raise agreements reached by legislative leaders -- made possible after higher-than-expected state revenue collections last year and an influx of cash from federal stimulus packages -- must be approved by both chambers of the Legislature. The leaders also reached an agreement to set aside enough funds to provide faculty and staff at the state's eight public universities and 15 community colleges at least a 1% raise starting with the new fiscal year on July 1. The higher ed raises, though, will be awarded at the discretion of the leadership of the universities and community colleges. The institutions' leaders can use the funds to provide across the board 1% pay raises or target the funds to provide a salary increase of up to 5% for specified employees. |
| Mississippi lawmakers set details on $6 billion state budget | |
| Mississippi legislators are set to start voting Sunday on details of a state government spending plan for the year that begins July 1. The state-funded portion of the budget will be nearly $6 billion, which is a slight increase over the current year. The total budget will be more than $21 billion, with money from the federal government and other sources, including the state gasoline tax. Legislators last week authorized a teacher pay raise for the coming year -- $1,000 for most teachers and $1,100 for newer ones. Budget writers say they were taking the necessary separate step to pay for the raise, which will cost about $52 million. House and Senate budget leaders also said they agreed to set aside $23 million to cover the increased cost of state employees' health insurance. Because the state is paying, the employees will not lose money from their paychecks. Negotiators faced a Saturday night deadline to finish work on more than 100 budget bills. Three senators and three House members were working on each bill, and final versions of bills were being filed as the deadline approached. |
| Top education boards may lack quorums after inaction from Gov. Tate Reeves | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves has not made appointments to fill vacancies on Mississippi's two main education boards -- a move the chairwoman of the state Board of Education says has been "crippling" to the work of that panel. Reeves' slow-rolled appointments could leave the boards that govern K-12 education and universities with multiple vacancies until the next legislative session begins in January 2022. The delayed appointments have already affected the ability of one board to function as needed: the Board of Education had to cancel a meeting in November because it lacked a quorum. The state Constitution requires Senate confirmation of the governor's appointments to both the 12-member board of trustees of state Institutions of Higher Learning, which oversees the state's eight public universities, and the nine-member Board of Education, which oversees the state's K-12 public schools. Reeves is currently due to make appointments for four vacancies that will occur on the IHL board on May 7. Without appointments by that date, the college board will be down to eight members -- the exact number needed for a quorum. That means that if any board member had to miss a meeting, they would not have a quorum to legally meet. |
| Mississippi lawmakers say criminal justice reforms will be approved in session's final days | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are pushing through several major criminal justice reform bills in the final days of the legislative session as they face pressure from federal authorities and advocacy groups to improve the state's notoriously poor prison conditions. The Magnolia State has the second-highest incarceration rate in the country, and a bill loosening and clarifying parole eligibility would help reduce the prison population. Other measures would reign in the state's extreme penalties for habitual offenders, and ensure women inmates are treated with dignity during a pregnancy. Lawmakers are keenly aware that reforms are needed considering the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the prison system over poor conditions at four facilities -- including whether the state has adequately protected prisoners from harm. Federal prosecutors launched the probe after a string of inmate deaths in late 2019 and early 2020. But legislators also know they must pass a final product that Gov. Tate Reeves will sign. |
| Analysis: Senator's remark on Sunday politics draws backlash | |
| Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi is facing criticism for saying people should avoid political activities on Sundays to keep the Sabbath holy -- an idea that Hyde-Smith, herself, has not always followed. The U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee held a hearing Wednesday on a Democratic-sponsored bill that proposes the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation. Republicans oppose the bill, and Hyde-Smith responded to remarks by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. Joyce White Vance, a University of Alabama law professor and former U.S. attorney for northern Alabama, tweeted: "Mississippi Sen Hyde-Smith objects to Sunday voting because it violates her religious beliefs. Does that mean the country can't vote on Saturday because of Jewish beliefs? Or at times like Friday afternoon that conflict with Muslim prayer? She needs to read the 1st Amendment." Regardless of any criticism about her remarks, Hyde-Smith said she remains opposed to the Democrats' proposed election changes. |
| Senator Roger Wicker's bill aims to end debt-based driver's license suspensions | |
| Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker is leading a bipartisan effort to put an end to debt-based driver's license suspensions. Along with Delaware Senator Chris Coons, Wicker reintroduced the bipartisan 'Driving for Opportunity Act' as at least 11 million people nationwide have their driver's licenses suspended because they cannot pay fines or fees. The Senators believe this makes it harder for Americans to go to work to pay off their debts. "Suspending driver's licenses for unpaid fines and fees is counterproductive," Wicker said. "Americans need access to vehicles to work and to care for their families. My home state of Mississippi rightly banned this practice in 2018. This legislation would encourage other states to follow our lead." In 2017, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS) changed its policies and stopped suspending driver's licenses for the nonpayment of fines and fees. In 2018, MDPS restored the driver's licenses of those who had their licenses suspended because of nonpayment of fines and fees and waived the $100 reinstatement fee. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., John Boozman. R-Ark., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., James Lankford, R-Okla., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. |
| President Biden mulls giving farmers billions to fight climate change. Even farmers are unsure about the plan. | |
 | The Biden administration's ambitious plan to create a multibillion-dollar bank to help pay farmers to capture carbon from the atmosphere is running into surprising skepticism, challenging Agriculture Department officials to persuade the industry to get behind the massive climate proposal. "There's a balance between moving really quickly and also being deliberate enough that we can bring folks along with us," said a senior USDA official, who believes the doubts can be addressed. The plan is to roll out some type of action this year, the senior official said, who was granted anonymity in order to discuss the department's thinking. Arguably one of the federal government's most ambitious attempts to combat climate change, the concept aims to use market forces to produce sharp reductions in the human-made emissions that are the primary cause of global warming. But while the idea is popular with some sectors of the environmental movement that see it as a sign of the seriousness of Biden's commitment to tackle global warming, it's facing doubts from both the right and left flanks of the agriculture lobby. The American Farm Bureau Federation, the most influential farm group in Washington, indicated recently that it has some hesitations about the carbon bank idea, even though it could put millions of dollars into the coffers of its members. |
| Special report: Congress eyes big bucks for tiny computer chips | |
 | President Joe Biden stood in the White House's State Dining Room on Feb. 24 and recalled the centuries-old "for want of a nail" proverb -- the one about the outsize significance of small things. For want of that nail, Biden reminded his audience, the horseshoe was lost, followed by the horse, the rider, his message, the battle and ultimately, the kingdom. The president then held up a tiny semiconductor, a component that is smaller than a postage stamp and that he said contains 8 billion transistors, each of which is 10,000 times thinner than a single human hair. That chip, he said, is a "21st-century horseshoe nail." Biden was talking about semiconductors because a recent shortage of them, due partly to a pandemic-driven surge in computer usage, has triggered an economic crisis in some sectors. Automakers, in particular, have been unable to build thousands of digitized vehicles, have temporarily laid off workers and lost billions of dollars in earnings. The chip shortage comes on the heels of another supply chain disaster: the struggle in recent months to get protective gear and medical supplies -- not to mention products such as toilet paper -- from overseas markets, including China. The bitter memory is still fresh of U.S. medical workers reusing masks or covering themselves in trash bags in emergency rooms. These events have cast in bold relief two facts: the indispensable role semiconductors play in modern life; and the risks of over-reliance on overseas supplies of the most critical products for economic security and defense. The risk is especially acute, experts say, when the dependence is on companies either based in China or close enough to China for Beijing to imperil or coerce them. |
| House panel offers its plan to double NSF budget and create technology directorate | |
| The science committee in the U.S. House of Representatives wants to more than double the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the next 5 years, devoting a sizeable chunk of the extra money to a new directorate that would accelerate the process of turning basic research into new technologies and products. But its version of a technology directorate would be much smaller and more in line with the way NSF traditionally funds research than the one already proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY), which emphasizes the economic and security threats posed by China. The House bill would lift NSF's overall budget from the current $8.5 billion to $18.3 billion in 2026. In addition to growing the agency's existing seven research and education directorates, the bill would create an eighth, called Science and Engineering Solutions (SES). Its budget would start at $1 billion in 2022 and grow to $5 billion by 2026. Both the House legislation and Schumer's Endless Frontier Act (EFA) see the new directorate as a way for NSF to do better in applying basic research findings to major societal challenges, from combating climate change and health inequities to strengthening economic and national security. But the House bill avoids Schumer's focus on specific technologies such as artificial intelligence -- sometimes called "industries of the future" -- in favor of supporting all the disciplines NSF traditionally funds. |
| AP Exclusive: WHO report says animals likely source of COVID | |
| A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered, though that was as expected. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis. The report, which is expected to be made public Tuesday, is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemics -- but it's also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one. Repeated delays in the report's release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions. "We've got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview. |
| Deborah Birx: Most COVID-19 deaths after first 100,000 were avoidable | |
 | Former White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said most coronavirus deaths in the United States were avoidable, during a CNN interview for a documentary scheduled to air Sunday. In an excerpt from "Covid War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out," Birx said that while many deaths in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic were likely inevitable, the lethality of later waves could have been greatly reduced if the U.S. had "mitigated earlier ... paused earlier and actually done" greater social distancing and shutdown measures. "I look at it this way," Birx told CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. "The first time, we have an excuse. There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially." In March 2020, Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that nearly 240,000 would die from the coronavirus if precautions were not taken. To date, there are nearly 550,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Tracker. In December, Birx said she would retire from her position as White House coronavirus coordinator amid the Biden administration's transition into government. The move was widely seen in response to her tarnished reputation among Democrats, who saw her as an enabler of the Trump administration's COVID-19 strategy. |
| 'The COVID class': MUW nursing students administer hundreds of vaccines to help Mississippi's vaccination efforts | |
| Lexi Morris still has one of the roses. The first-year nursing student at Mississippi University for Women received an entire bouquet of flowers from an elderly couple she vaccinated against COVID-19 at Fairview Baptist's drive-through site earlier this month. The pair were getting their second shot, and the man was nearly in tears at the thought of seeing family members he hadn't seen since the start of the pandemic a year ago. "I think the man said to me, 'Thank you for what you're doing because you don't understand how it impacts not just us, but our family too,'" Morris said. Morris is one of dozens of MUW students from the university's associate and bachelor's nursing programs to administer COVID vaccines at clinics and drive-through vaccination sites in the past few weeks. They joined public health workers from Mississippi State Department of Health, service members from the National Guard and health care volunteers in the largest public health vaccination operation they or their instructors have ever seen. "This is serving the public and the community," said Allison Caston, who heads MUW's associate nursing program. "... It's a totally unique experience for them to be able to be a part of that." Morris' fellow student Ethan Moore said the group he and Morris were part of administered about 700 shots that day. |
| Award winning photography on display at MUW Galleries | |
| "Beyond the Material," an exhibition of two photography series by artist Gretchen Haien, will be on display at the Mississippi University for Women Galleries until April 23. Haien is a professor of art and gallery director at Belhaven University in Jackson and has exhibited regionally and nationally. One of the series featured in the exhibition, entitled "Interior Frontiers," was awarded the 2005 Mississippi Arts and Letters Award in Photography. "In our temporal and chaotic world, Gretchen Haien's images provide glimpses of history both in solid structures and shadows, invoking a sense of serenity. The spaces she has captured are absent of people but were created by human minds and hands. She has submitted a well-thought-out set of images that are intriguing to contemplate," wrote the juror for the event. In 2006, the "Interior Frontiers" portfolio was archived with The National Museum of Women in the Arts: Library and Research Center in Washington D.C. The next year, the National Museum of Women in the Arts named Haien as "Photography's Emerging Artist to Watch." Located in Summer Hall, Mississippi University for Women Galleries are open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. following the university calendar. The Galleries are free and open to the public. |
| USM student receives surprise Make-A-Wish party after cancer battle | |
 | A University of Southern Mississippi student is feeling thankful after receiving a surprise party from Make-A-Wish Mississippi Sunday following her battle with cancer. Clancy Slay was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 17 while still in high school. She shared the journey she had to endure. "My junior year of high school, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was stage 2, and I had a bulky mass, which means that the mass was in my chest. It was one width, or one-third, of the width of my chest," she said. Slay underwent chemotherapy at St. Jude for three months. "I actually completed treatments on December 20th and I entered remission, and December 20th is also my mom's birthday, so that was kind of like a double win there. Now I'm fully in remission." Slay said. Make-A-Wish Mississippi creates life-changing experiences for children with critical life illnesses. Slay's wish originally was to go to Spain, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to switch her wish. "I just wished for anything to help me with school, so like technology, especially now because most of my classes are online. So, I got a computer, an iPad and all of these things to help me further my education," she said. Slay is a member of Chi Omega at USM and is now the sorority's Make-A-Wish liaison for the children of Hattiesburg. |
| JSU hosts Youth Injury Prevention Day | |
 | As a part of Youth Injury Prevention Day, JSU and other state agencies were at the Outlets of Mississippi teaching people about safe driving and seat belt usage. The Mississippi Department of Health had representatives on site to demonstrate proper car seat installation. Organizers said the best safety tip is to lead by example. "A lot of time our kids see us doing things especially when we're driving on Mississippi Highways, if they see us being cautious, more than likely they will want to be cautious as well. So my tip is be the example," said JSU Occupant Safety Coordinator Keith McMillian. MDOT used the convincer, which is a kind of simulator that recreates a 5 mph crash, in order to show people that seatbelts can save lives. |
| AU knowingly allowed classrooms to be filled above CDC guidelines | |
| Auburn University conducted a series of studies in the summer and fall of 2020 to determine the capacity at which six feet of social distancing could be maintained between students in all classrooms. They didn't stick to those capacities when the time came to build schedules. The University has instead allowed classrooms to be filled to 50% for in-person classes, at times double or triple the capacity found by the studies. Maintaining six feet of physical distancing between students is and was impossible in many face-to-face classes during the spring and fall semesters. The University has defended the policy, claiming that no COVID-19 cases have been spread in classrooms or laboratories. The Center for Disease Control's guidelines for colleges says these policies define a school at "higher risk" for COVID-19 spread: "Students, faculty and staff follow some steps to protect themselves and others at all times such as proper use of face masks, social distancing and hand hygiene." According to the CDC, six feet is the distance required between individuals for safer interaction. Auburn seems to fall into the higher risk category, considering that it has taken other steps to prevent the spread of the virus but fails in cases to allow for social distancing in classes. |
| Phase I of LSU lakes restoration project is underway, seeking to beautify area, prevent floods | |
 | If you see airboats out on the LSU lakes next month, they could be a sign that a long-awaited project to restore the lakes is finally underway. Work is starting this week as crews begin surveying and taking samples before eventually implementing a broad plan aimed at beautifying the area, protecting wildlife and preventing floods. The first phase of the project will begin with vegetation, geographic and sediment surveys before a more detailed design of the project is provided. Phase 1 will eventually conclude with construction to deepen and reshape four of the six lakes and install new pathways and lighting around City Park Lake, according to a news release from LSU. The six lakes around LSU's campus have degraded over the years, particularly in areas that have seen vegetation overgrowth and sedimentation build-up. Observers say it's led to an increase in fish kills, which have been made worse because of the lakes' shallow depths. At an average of about 3.5 feet deep, water around the lakes often gets too warm and causes algae, duckweed and other vegetation to grow excessively. City Park Lake, Erie Lake, Campus Lake and College Lake are the four that will be deepened and reshaped by the project. With a maximum estimated depth of just 6 feet, 4 inches in a small area near its center, Campus Lake is the deepest of the four lakes being worked on, according to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. |
| U. of Florida lecture series honors priest, professor and historian Michael Gannon | |
 | The University of Florida is beginning an annual speaker series next month to honor former priest, professor and historian Michael Gannon. The launching event will feature author Jon Meacham, a presidential biographer and Pulitzer Prize winner, on April 13 at 1:30 p.m. It will be free to the public over Zoom. "I think it should be a great talk and a great event, and also very much in the spirit. This is the type of lecture that Mike Gannon would have wanted to attend," said James G. Cusick, a Florida history curator for the UF George A. Smathers Library and former student of Gannon's. Gannon is an integral part of UF history, according to Cusick and university documents. He was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on April 28,1927, before moving to St. Augustine in 1940, where he grew up with his mother and two younger brothers. At 16, he took over as sports editor for the St. Augustine Record, skipping his afternoon classes to write and plan the paper's pages. Two years later, he graduated to radio and sports broadcasting before joining the Catholic priesthood. Gannon was ordained in 1959 after studying in Belgium and returned to Florida, where he became chaplain of the St. Augustine Catholic Church and Student Center in Gainesville. He loved history and current events, so when students kept asking him if the Vietnam War was just, he decided to find out for himself and spent a month traveling the battle-scarred country in 1968 as a Catholic journalist before deciding no, it was not. |
| How U. of Missouri professor, engineering students found a solution for ailing horse on Amish farm | |
 | Ronnie is back at work on the farm after being sidelined with breathing problems. He had a lot of help. Ronnie is a work horse on an Amish farm in Clark. First, the horse required a tracheostomy, a hole in its windpipe, because of an airway obstruction. That was performed by equine veterinarian Joanne Kramer. It's not an uncommon procedure for horses, said Kevin Keegan, an equine veterinarian and professor in the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. But the horse was tiring easily and a noise was coming from the hole in Ronnie's throat when it pulled the plow. The owner inserted a section of garden hose in the hole to try to remedy the problem. It didn't work. Horses are important to the Amish, Keegan said. "They rely on their horses," Keegan said. "They don't have electricity, cars or tractors. They use horses for everything. They are dependent on their horses." "I searched around for tracheal inserts for horses," Keegan said. No luck. He had the idea of finding someone at the university, but he said he didn't know where to start or who to ask. "It was a little bit of 'who do I go to?'" Keegan said. After some searching, he tried the College of Engineering. "I just had the idea to contact someone at the 3D Printing Lab," Keegan said. That lab director led him to the 3D Printing Club. |
| U. of Missouri study suggests children's vocabularies improve by hearing books while reading | |
| Children increase their vocabularies when they hear recordings of storybooks being read to them as they read along, a new study from the University of Missouri and the University of South Florida has found. At MU, the primary author was Beth Kelley, assistant professor in the School of Health Professions. Her collaborator in Florida was Howard Goldstein. Kelley is a speech-language pathologist who works with children. "Feasible Implementation Strategies for Improving Vocabulary Knowledge of High-Risk Preschoolers: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Trial" was published in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. The study took 10 years, Kelley said. It involved 84 children in the year before they entered kindergarten. They were in 24 preschool classrooms in Missouri and Florida. Children were selected who could benefit from additional language supports. Funding for the current study was from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. |
| Importance of women's history drives team of Missouri students to fight for Read Hall | |
 | Bailey Martin said she was devastated when she heard about the University of Missouri's plans to demolish Read Hall because of its place in the campus history community, especially women's history. Martin, a history and constitutional democracy major, created a petition on Change.org to save the 118-year-old building. A goal of 2,500 signatures was almost met as of Sunday. Then Martin teamed up with senior Catherine Hutinett and doctoral student Jordan Pellerito to expand efforts to get the word out. Pages and profiles to #savereadhall were created on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Their push included dedicating a meeting this month of the MU Undergraduate History Society to preserving Read Hall. The tone was set by an Instagram post displayed on a white board in the classroom in the MU Arts & Science Building: "History is intentional. What the Mizzou administration chooses to preserve and demolish speaks to what history it values." Read Hall, on Hitt Street south of the Memorial Student Center, was named for Daniel Read, who served as university president from 1867 and opened it to women, according to University Archives. "This building is a testament to the university's move towards a more inclusive institution of higher education and must be preserved," Martin's petition states. |
| Unofficial online tours test colleges' brand control | |
 | With the pandemic curtailing travel and in-person campus tours, virtual campus tours surged in popularity last year -- but not all colleges welcome third-party operators enlisting students as guides. LiveCampusTours, founded in 2020, offers unofficial virtual tours of around 175 colleges and universities. More than 20 institutions have sent the company cease-and-desist letters asking it to stop operating on their turf. But the company's leaders don't see why they should. "We don't think that we're doing anything wrong," said Seth Kugel, co-founder of LiveCampusTours. The traditional college tour, with students walking backward while they tell a large group about the history of their campus, can be boring, heavily scripted and impersonal, Kugel said. Tours from LiveCampusTours are more like the experience you might get if you call up a friend of a friend to tell you about their student experience. But not everyone likes the service quite so much. Some institutions have demanded that the company cease unauthorized operations on their premises. Many cease-and-desist letters that colleges and universities sent the company cite concerns about copyright infringement -- namely the unauthorized use of the university name to advertise unauthorized services. Several institutions pointed out that they already offer virtual tours free of charge and did not want students to mistakenly pay for a service in which the university is not involved. |
| Colleges plan more in-person graduations, classes | |
| More than a year after colleges and universities first went online due to the pandemic, many are now lifting safety restrictions and planning for in-person events. Health officials at those institutions say circumstances have changed. The University of Arizona, for instance, is planning to soon allow 100 people in every in-person class, up from the previous cap of 50. Richard Carmona, leader of the university's re-entry task force and former surgeon general of the United States, said the public health team is closely monitoring student data and decided conditions were safe enough to move to this phase of restrictions. Classrooms will still require masking and six feet of social distancing, and students can continue to take their large lecture classes online if they prefer. Stanford University is also planning to give students more face-to-face time. After only allowing students with special circumstances to be on campus for the past few terms, last month the administration reversed course, inviting juniors and seniors for the spring quarter, which starts today. Stanford is still planning to hold its graduation virtually, but many other institutions are now planning in-person ceremonies. Not everyone is thinking quite so big. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is planning for multiple smaller ceremonies to celebrate graduates, although degrees will be conferred in a virtual event. Virginia Tech hasn't made any firm plans yet on how many ceremonies there will be or how graduates will be split up. Mark Owczarski, associate vice president for university relations, said that changing circumstances and the loosening of restrictions from Virginia's governor both played a role in the decision. |
| When the Campus Becomes a Lab to Study Covid | |
 | A major study will seek to enroll more than 12,000 students at 21 universities in an effort to answer a key question: Does Covid-19 spread after vaccination? The project, announced Friday, could shed valuable insight on the future trajectory of the pandemic as the pace of vaccination increases. It also marks the latest instance of campuses -- often with students as subjects -- serving as laboratories to understand the coronavirus. Other studies, which have examined quarantine duration and how Covid-19 spreads, present risks and rewards for institutions. They can add complexity to the process of trying to track the disease on campus. They can raise questions about the power dynamics of when an institution researches its own students. But they can also shed important light on the virus itself, illustrating how colleges are in some ways ideal locations to study the coronavirus. The project, with money from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the federal Covid-19 Response Program, will examine how vaccinated students are infected by and spread Covid-19, relative to a control group of non-vaccinated students. Students will take daily Covid-19 tests and keep a diary for five months, and their close contacts -- about 25,500 people -- will also have to answer questions and be tested. The first doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered this week. |
| Report Details COVID-19's Massive Impact on Student Food Insecurity | |
| The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) have released a report examining the pandemic's significant impact on food insecurity among college students. The report, "Food Insecurity at Urban Universities: Perspectives During the COVID-19 Pandemic," also outlines steps institutions can take to more effectively address food insecurity. The project was funded by the Kresge Foundation. The five participating universities were Morgan State University, University at Albany, University of Washington-Tacoma, University of New Orleans and University of Toledo. A group of 11 leaders from these universities identified potential questions to ask students, faculty and staff. Data was collected through focus groups, interviews and mixed-method surveys. A total of 296 individuals participated across the five institutions. An emphasis was placed on qualitative data. "Now is the time to make systemic change," said Dr. Christel Perkins, deputy executive director of USU, and assistant vice president of APLU. She is the principal author of the report. "Food is foundational to the way that we live. When we see the evidence that people of color and other marginalized populations are struggling with food insecurity...it really is our responsibility to address this." The report examines how students at urban universities experience food insecurity, the approaches used to mitigate it, how COVID-19 has changed the landscape, the impact food insecurity has on student success, the relationship between systemic racism and food insecurity and innovations that can be explored to address food insecurity. |
| Sororities Could Soon Welcome Gender-Nonbinary Students | |
| Two-dozen national sororities will soon vote on a policy change that would open the door for more gender-nonbinary students to join -- a sign of evolving attitudes around campus groups that have traditionally been restricted to women. The 26 sororities that are part of the National Panhellenic Conference will vote on April 10, during its annual membership meeting, on whether to amend a policy on who can participate in formal recruitment, the matching process for sororities and students who are interested in joining. Individual sororities determine their own membership rules, but they are guided by NPC policies. Currently, the organization specifies that any woman can participate in recruitment, with woman defined as "an individual who consistently lives and self-identifies as a woman." That language covers transgender women, but not nonbinary students. The proposed change states that individual sororities can determine their "definition of woman" -- permitting sororities to make nonbinary students formally eligible for membership if they choose. The sororities' forthcoming vote coincides with a decade-long reckoning over Greek life's long-running problems and its role on modern campuses. |
| A Novel Way to Finance School May Penalize Students From H.B.C.U.s, Study Finds | |
 | The typical student who borrows to attend college leaves with more than $30,000 in debt. Many struggle to keep up with their payments, and America's ballooning tab for student loans -- now $1.7 trillion, more than any other type of household debt except for mortgages -- has become a political flash point. So a financing approach known as an income-share agreement, which promises to eliminate unaffordable student debt by tying repayment to income, has obvious appeal. But a new study has found that income share agreements can also mask race-based inequalities. The analysis, released on Thursday by the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, found that borrowers at schools that focus on minority students can end up paying more than their peers at largely white campuses. Income-share agreements are offered mainly by schools, although some private financiers have started marketing them directly to students. The selling point of such agreements is that, unlike loans, they don't accumulate interest, and they come with both a predetermined repayment period and a cap on the total amount that the lender can seek as repayment. To students leery of accumulating educational debt that can snowball and stick around for decades, income-share agreements can offer a more flexible alternative. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves signs incumbent protection act | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: House Bill 1048 didn't get much fanfare as it moved through the Legislature. Perhaps its impact will. The bill authored by Rep. Jody Steverson of Ripley and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves on March 24 moves the qualifying deadline for most state, district, and county elections up to February 1. So what? "Early filing deadlines benefit incumbents. So do brief filing seasons." So argued Bigger Pie Forum (BPF) in its article entitled "Incumbent Protection Proposal Making Its Way Through MS Legislature." "Since no candidate is allowed to file before January 1, the new February 1 deadline will only allow one month for candidates to file. It is likely that many who would consider running for office would not make that decision so early in the year." Most state, district, and county primary elections are held in August and general elections in November. Once upon a time the qualifying deadline for these races was June 1 for party candidates and a later date for independent candidates. The first incumbent protection proposal changed that in the late 1980s when all such candidates were required to qualify by March 1. |
| His father was shot and killed. Now he's working to expand early release in Mississippi prisons. | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: Don't call state Sen. Juan Barnett "a bleeding heart liberal" just because he believes state laws should be changed to expand the opportunity for earlier release for many in Mississippi prisons. Barnett, a 51-year-old Democrat from Heidelberg and chair of the Senate Corrections Committee, knows the despair that can be experienced by victims of crime. After all, Barnett and his family in Jasper County are crime victims -- victims of violent crime. But now Barnett is working in the Mississippi Senate to shorten the sentences for many state inmates. This could be considered an unusual priority for a legislator who, as a 20-year-old Army soldier deployed to Iraq in the early 1990s in the first Gulf War, received word his father had been shot to death in his hometown of Heidelberg. The death occurred during a confrontation where to this day Barnett said the exact details of what occurred are not known. What Barnett does know is that the incident, after which a person was sent away to prison for a short period of time, left Barnett feeling both heartbroken and vengeful. Those feelings, he said, lingered for years while he went away to college at Livingston University in Alabama. |
SPORTS
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.
