| Tuesday, March 30, 2021 |
| Habitat for Humanity and MSU welcome family into new Maroon Edition home | |
 | Monday morning, Starkville's Habitat for Humanity and Mississippi State University held a dedication ceremony for the 12th Maroon Edition House. Each year, MSU partners with Habitat for Humanity to help provide housing for local families. Chadrick Robinson, his wife Santana Turnipseed and their children were set to move into one of those homes in December of 2020. But the pandemic changed all of that. "It's been so long," Robinson said. "I didn't ever think it was going to come." But Monday, the wait was finally over. "Because we had to cut back on our volunteer numbers, it really put us behind," said Joel Downey, Executive Director for Starkville Habitat. "So it's taken us quite a bit longer to do this house." The five-bedroom, two-bathroom house is the largest one Starkville Habitat has ever built. Leadership with both Starkville Habitat and Mississippi State spoke during the ceremony, welcoming the family, presenting them with gifts and saying how they hope the new home can be a shining beacon in the community. "It's going to be a nice, solid foundation to raise the kids (in)," Robinson said. "Everything was a blessing. I want to thank everybody." |
| MSU College of Education names interim associate deans, department head | |
 | Mississippi State's College of Education is announcing two prominent faculty members as interim associate deans and one long-term educator as an interim department head. Dean Teresa Jayroe has appointed Daniel Gadke as interim associate dean of research and Kimberly Hall as interim associate dean of academics. She also has named Janice Nicholson interim head of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education. "All three of our interims have a proven track record for success," Jayroe said. Jayroe said Gadke will continue to serve as the head of the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations, and the associate professor also retains his role as co-director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic. As she assumes her new role as interim associate dean for academics, Hall will continue serving as professor and head of MSU-Meridian's Division of Education. She will be splitting her time between MSU's Starkville and Meridian campuses. Nicholson is returning to the role of interim department head of curriculum, instruction and special education. The university's current Alumna of the Year served in the same position from 2015-2017. |
| Monday Profile: Mary See lends her voice to the Carnegie Hall of college baseball | |
 | Mary See stands from her seat in the center of section 113 down the third base line at Dudy Noble Field. Around her, a slew of maroon-and-white-clad fans rise from their varying chair backs as the national anthem begins to blare from the loudspeakers littered around the ballpark. On the grass before her, the Bulldog baseball team stands shoulder-to-shoulder. Their Sunday game against No. 2 Arkansas is minutes away. See's "game" arrives in the moments before first pitch. "Oh, say can you see..." she begins in a soothing, operatic voice that echoes around the stadium. A pair of young girls sit behind her, smiling at her rhythmic voice. Down the third base line, two fans unfamiliar with the pregame routine peer toward the MSU dugout in search of where the harmonious tones of "The Star-Spangled Banner" emanate. For years, See has enchanted onlookers at Bulldog baseball games with her impressive operatic voice. Her singing career, though, began at the North Charleston United Methodist Church. During potlucks, members of the congregation were invited to perform their varying talents. One day, a 9-year-old See stepped on the stage to sing. "At a party, I'm the person over in the corner," See said. "But a lot of performers will say this -- they're very introverted -- and there's a fourth wall. Those lights go on you, everything in front of you is pitch black." |
| Big funding increase for education as Mississippi lawmakers finalize state budget, authorize borrowing | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers approved a hefty increase in education funding Monday thanks to higher-than-expected state revenues. Lawmakers signed off on spending about $2.3 billion from the state general fund -- a 4%, or $102 million, increase over this year's education budget, according to House Education Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach. "It's just a real good year for education in terms of money going into it," Bennett told his colleagues. The Mississippi State Department of Education was one of dozens of state agency budgets lawmakers scrambled to nail down and pass Monday ahead of the session's anticipated finish later this week. Monday was the deadline to pass appropriations and revenue bills. Lawmakers late Monday were set to finalize an approximately $6 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. They had some wiggle room to spend, thanks to tax collections that were healthier than usual this year. The Legislature was also expected to pass the annual bond bill -- a sweeping piece of legislation that approves borrowing for dozens of projects around the state, including for universities and community colleges. "There are projects in here from the Tennessee state line all the way to the Coast," said Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, leader of the House Ways and Means Committee. "Some really good projects, a lot of them infrastructure related, education related ... We were able to help a lot of people." |
| Closing days of session, pay raises for state, college and university employees added to budget | |
 | Legislators are providing up to three percent increases to Mississippi state employees and one percent raises to college and university staff; including community colleges. Republican Senator Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg chairs the Appropriations Committee. He says they're trying to keep talented workers in Mississippi. "I think part of being competitive is making sure our pay is going to be fair and competitive with our neighboring states to keep our best employees here. We have a great retirement system in Mississippi and pay may be lagged a little bit behind but we're trying to move up on the pay scale to keep our brightest and best people here in Mississippi," said Hopson. According to the non-profit Mississippi Center for Public Policy, the state is 45th in the nation for population growth; losing more than 8,000 people between 2018 and 2019. Democratic Senator John Horhn of Jackson, says they're looking at state employee salaries across the board to be more competitive. "We're working with the state personnel board to have them do a reassessment of a lot of the jobs that are being handled by state workers to make sure the salaries are in line with what neighboring states are paying so there's a reclassification going on and an assessment," said Horhn. |
| Education to receive $102 million more in FY2022 budget | |
 | The Mississippi House has approved the conference report for the Mississippi State Department of Education budget. HB 1387 appropriates $2,303,506,047 from the general fund, which is a $102 million or 4% increase from FY2021's appropriation with $2.1 billion of that total which will go to expenses from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). Out of the special funds will come $2,232,106,142, which will also be applied to Education expenditures. "It was a good year for education. We are hopeful to maintain that but we don't know because budgets change. But it's a real good year for education because we've got money going into it," said House Education Chairman Richard Bennett. This budget includes the $51 million teacher pay raise ensuring that each teacher or assistant teacher in the state receives an increase of $1,000. The Legislature also picked up the tab on the health insurance for state employees, including school personnel. This is an estimated total of $13 million for those teachers and staff members. Teachers will receive up to $8 million in assistance for purchasing supplies for the classroom under this budget. |
| Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves praises teachers as he signs pay raise bill | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday signed a bill authorizing a $1,000 pay raise for most teachers, and lawmakers worked to adopt final parts of state spending and borrowing plans for the year that begins July 1. Approving a teacher pay raise is a two-part process: First, it must be authorized. Then, money must be budgeted to pay for it. Reeves, a Republican, signed House Bill 852, which sets a $1,000 raise for most teachers and a $1,100 raise for those in the early years of the career. "It's hard to imagine how difficult 2020/21 have been on our state's educators," Reeves wrote on Twitter as he announced the bill signing. "But so many have stepped up and done what Mississippians do ii whatever it took to help MS kids!" Mississippi has long had some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. According to the Southern Regional Education Board, the average teacher salary in the U.S. for 2018-19 was $62,304. For Mississippi, the average was $45,105. The House on Monday adopted the final version of Senate Bill 2971, which would authorize the state to issue bonds to borrow millions for a variety of projects. It includes more than $86 million in bonds to fund repair, renovation and construction at public universities. |
| Lawmakers pledge to kill effort to expand tax credit for private schools | |
 | Tucked into a 1,200-page bill with an original purpose of authorizing the issuance of bonds to finance long-term construction projects at Mississippi's public universities is language that expands a tax credit for private K-12 schools. Facing growing opposition to the language, both Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, and House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, pledged on Monday to request unanimous consent their chambers to remove language from the bill that allows funds from a tax credit to be provided to the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools, which is the umbrella organization for most private schools in the state. The language that was added to legislation near midnight on Sunday, according to various sources, would expand an existing program known as the Children's Promise Act. The program allows a tax credit on income taxes to be granted for providing a contribution to private schools that meet certain standards to serve people with special needs, people from poor families and programs that provide services to foster children. The language in the massive bond bill was discovered Monday as legislators worked to finalize a state support budget of $6.56 billion (an increase of $249.9 million over last year) and to pass various other bills in hopes to ending the 2021 session before the weekend -- and as early as Tuesday. |
| Mississippi bill would allow home delivery of alcohol | |
| Mississippi would join a majority of states in allowing home delivery of alcohol, if Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signs a bill that legislators are sending him. The House and Senate agreed Sunday on the final version of House Bill 1135. It would allow home delivery of beer, wine or hard liquor. Delivery people must be at least 21, and buyers must prove they are at least that old. Among those backing the proposal for alcohol delivery is the grocery delivery service Shipt, A Reeves spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a question Monday about whether he will sign the bill. If he does, it would become law July 1. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said in a news release that 30 states and the District of Columbia allow home delivery of alcohol from liquor stores or other retail businesses. It said 24 states allow home delivery of alcohol from restaurants or bars. |
| Senate bid to reform state's business incentive program dies in conference | |
| A bill that would've reformed the incentive programs for luring new businesses to Mississippi died Saturday after a compromise couldn't be reached. Senate Bill 2822 was known as the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive Act or MFlex Act, would simplify the economic development incentive process and was authored by state Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch. The bill would've used one easy-to-use calculation on initial investment, jobs, wages and benefits with a minimum investment of $2.5 million and a minimum of 10 jobs created. There are 39 incentives offered by the state through the Mississippi Development Authority to try to lure new businesses to the state and either retain existing ones or help them expand. A companion bill that would've repealed some of these tax incentives died earlier in the session. Under MFlex, each business would've provided its estimates of its initial investment, jobs and wages and they would have only received credits based on what they produce. Part-time jobs couldn't be combined together to form a single full-time position to qualify for MFlex incentives. |
| Legislative Assistance For Jackson Water Crisis Rests On Single State Bill and Federal Aid | |
| The Mississippi Legislature's effort to assist in the Jackson water crisis has been pared down to a single bill on water-payment flexibility and $2 million from the capital expense fund, a far cry from the ambitious plans that emerged at the peak of the outages. But legislators involved in the ongoing deliberations over the crisis say the federal government is expected to provide significant support for the City of Jackson and Hinds County, between the disaster declaration and the American Rescue Plan. With hundreds of millions of dollars in the balance, the Legislature appears to be adopting a wait-and-see approach on funding the massive repairs and improvements that Jackson needs to make its water system whole. The most significant surviving legislation is a redux of the water-repayment plan bill that Gov. Tate Reeves spiked last session. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, authored House Bill 359, which would allow the City of Jackson to offer flexible repayment plans for "uncollectible" water debts. The bill would also allow debt forgiveness for any water bills deemed to be erroneous: from faulty meter readings -- a result of an aging billing system and the disastrous Siemens contract, or natural disasters -- like February's winter storms. The bill's final conference report passed both chambers late Sunday, reconciling the House and Senate versions. H.B. 359 now awaits the governor's signature. Despite efforts early in the session to broaden the scope of the bill so that it would apply to more cities than Jackson, the bill landing on Reeves' desk this week is based on last year's version: only Jackson will be allowed to take advantage of its provisions. |
| President Biden Underscores Diversity With First Judicial Nominees | |
 | President Biden announced his first batch of judicial nominees Tuesday, using his early choices to place an emphasis on bringing more racial and professional diversity to the federal courts. The White House announced Mr. Biden's selections for 10 federal judgeships -- three for the powerful U.S. appeals courts and seven for U.S. district courts -- as well as one nominee for a local superior court post in the District of Columbia. All three of Mr. Biden's appellate-court nominees are Black women, headlined by his choice of U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in Washington to succeed Merrick Garland on Washington's federal appeals court. Mr. Garland stepped down from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this year to become attorney general. Judge Jackson has served as a federal trial judge since 2013 and is a former member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets sentencing guidelines for federal criminal cases. She served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and could be in the pool of potential candidates to replace the 82-year-old jurist if he chooses to retire. Mr. Biden's other two nominees for the appeals courts are Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the Chicago-based Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Tiffany Cunningham for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court that hears a heavy load of patent cases. |
| The Biden administration will investigate Trump-era attacks on science. | |
 | The Biden administration will investigate Trump-era political interference in science across the government, the first step in what White House officials described as a sweeping effort to rebuild a demoralized federal work force and prevent future abuses. In a letter to the leaders of all federal agencies, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced Monday the formation of a task force aimed at identifying past tampering in scientific decisions. It will review the effectiveness of policies that were supposed to protect the science that informs policy decisions from inappropriate political influence and develop policies for the future. "We know that there were blatant attempts to distort, to cherry pick and disregard science -- we saw that across multiple agencies," Jane Lubchenco, the new deputy director for climate and the environment at the White House science office, said in an interview. The Biden administration, she said, is "ushering in a new era." Kelvin K. Droegemeier, who led the White House science office during the Trump administration, declined to comment on the Biden administration's plans when reached through a former aide. |
| President Biden wants to nearly double U.S. spending on science | |
| President Joe Biden is set to unveil his infrastructure plan this week. He says he wants to spend 2% of our total economic output -- our GDP -- on science. That may not sound like much, but it's more than twice what we're spending now. Right now, the U.S. spends about 0.7% of its GDP on science. So what would we get if we upped that to 2%? "A fair amount," said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Latiff, a former Air Force researcher. He said the spending boost would work out to hundreds of billions of extra dollars for "NASA, National Institutes of Health. All of the government organizations whose responsibilities really lie in the science area." The idea is to get science spending back to where it was 50, 60 years ago, during the height of NASA's Apollo missions and moon landings and experimentation at the Department of Defense that helped lead to the creation of the internet. "The internet's part of your daily life -- well that was a little DoD program that started in the early '70s, and we need to be able to do things like that again," said James Lewis, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. President Biden has specifically mentioned spending more money on super-fast quantum computing, biotech and artificial intelligence. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence estimates the U.S. needs to spend $32 billion over the next few years to win the AI race with China. |
| Supreme Court agrees to hear first abortion case with 6-3 conservative majority | |
 | The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear its first abortion case with a newly fortified 6-3 conservative majority, taking up a procedural question of who has the power to defend state abortion restrictions in court. The justices agreed to hear the Kentucky attorney general's bid to intervene in a lawsuit over a state abortion ban that the governor refused to defend. However, the court refused the Kentucky attorney general's request to consider whether a lower court decision striking down the ban should be thrown out. The court's new conservative supermajority is being closely watched for signs of how it is willing go toward revisiting or overturning precedent on abortion, including the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. However, the first arguments it will hear in an abortion-related case won't address restrictions on the procedure. At the same time, the court for months has been delaying a decision on whether to take up a direct challenge to Roe -- a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which lower courts have blocked. |
| 'We're skating on a knife's edge right now': Scientists worry US could be headed for yet another COVID-19 surge | |
 | As COVID-19 cases creep up again across the country, federal officials and epidemiologists say they're worried we could hit another tipping point, leading to a fourth significant surge of infections, hospitalizations and deaths. "We're skating on a knife's edge right now," said Nicholas Reich, a biostatistician at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Average daily reported cases are up 10% compared to a week earlier, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, with more than 30 million COVID-19 cases reported since early last year. Hospitalizations and deaths, which usually lag cases by a few weeks, have inched upward as well, after a decline and plateau that began in early January. Reich and others say they expect that the immunity from natural infections plus the successful rollout of vaccines, which are now reaching nearly 3 million people a day, will help moderate this surge. But Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a White House briefing with media Monday that she's anxious about what the next few weeks could bring. "Right now I'm scared," she said in what she described as an off-script moment of candor. She said she was speaking not just as CDC director, but as a wife, daughter, mother, and doctor. President Joe Biden reiterated Walensky's sentiments in a news conference Monday afternoon and called on governors and mayors to continue or renew COVID-19 restrictions like mask mandates. |
| Church membership in the U.S. has fallen below the majority for the first time in nearly a century | |
 | The proportion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll from Gallup released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73 percent. In recent years, research data has shown a seismic shift in the U.S. population away from religious institutions and toward general disaffiliation, a trend that analysts say could have major implications for politics, business and how Americans group themselves. In 2020, 47 percent of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. The polling firm also found that the number of people who said religion was very important to them has fallen to 48 percent, a new low point in the polling since 2000. Gallup's data finds that church membership is strongly correlated with age: 66 percent of American adults born before 1946 belong to a church, compared with 58 percent of baby boomers, 50 percent of Generation X and 36 percent of millennials. |
| Ole Miss Prepares for In-Person Classes in 2021 | |
| After a year of navigating through online classes, Ole Miss students finally got the news they were hoping for. Last month, the university announced they will be having in-person classes for fall 2021. Students aren't the only ones looking forward to getting back on campus. Journalism professor Ellen Meacham says that the time students have spent away from the classroom has been difficult for many, and she thinks that a return to a normal classroom format will be extremely beneficial. "I feel like that we'll all have had some time to process some of that, and so that will come back with a lot more energy," Meacham said. Ole Miss junior Jack Turnage says he simply misses campus. "I really enjoy walking around campus and going from class to class with your friends," Turnage said. "I feel like we were taking school for granted. We hated going to class, but now we can't wait to go back. Online learning is really difficult and I felt like I was teaching myself at times." |
| Vaccines offered Tuesday at JSU beginning at 10 a.m. | |
| The push continues to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19 at Jackson State University Tuesday. The university is holding another vaccination event compliments of the State Department of Health and the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center. Students, faculty, and the area residents can get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control says minorities have been more likely to have serious complications with COVID-19, but a number of studies say they are far less likely to get a vaccine. University leaders say the goal is to service the African American community. State health leaders are offering 300 doses of the Moderna vaccine available at no cost on a first-come, first-served basis. The vaccine is available at JSU inside the Lee E Williams Athletic Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Meridian Community College honors former president Bill Scaggs | |
| Former Meridian Community College president emeritus and community leader Bill Scaggs was remembered Monday when the college added his name to a campus building. "It's fitting that we remember the man who, for so many years, was the heartbeat of this campus by attaching his name to this building," MCC President Tom Huebner said as Ivy-Scaggs Hall was renamed. "Thank you, Dr. Scaggs for investing your life in this place and for so many others." The new name pays tribute to the founding father of MCC, H.M. Ivy, and the first president, Scaggs, who died last July. Scaggs worked at MCC for 35 years, serving first as registrar and dean before being named president in 1968. He held that post for the next 30 years before being named president emeritus. In the early 1960s, he served as chair of the strategic planning committee of the Meridian Industrial Foundation, helping secure the location of the Lockheed Martin facility. Skip Scaggs, the son of Dr. Scaggs, was on hand for the ceremony. "This naming reflects not just the lifelong work of our father, but also of our mom," he said. "He dedicated his entire life to education." |
| School plotters often are bullied, suffer from depression | |
| The warning signs are all there. Students who were planning to attack schools showed the same types of troubled histories as those who carried them out. They were badly bullied, often suffered from depression with stress at home and exhibited behavior that worried others, according to a U.S. Secret Service study released Tuesday that examined 67 thwarted school plots nationwide. Those warning signs are also found in many of the adults who commit mass shootings. The study by the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center is a twist on the study of school shootings. The group analyzed 100 students responsible for plotting 67 attacks nationwide from 2006-18 in K-12 schools. It's a companion report to its study in 2019 on student attackers, the most comprehensive analysis of school shootings since the 1999 Columbine High School killings. "The findings demonstrate there are almost always intervention points available before a student resorts to violence," said Lina Alathari, the center's head. |
| Education Dept. Restores Disability Student Loan Debt Relief For Some Borrowers | |
 | The U.S. Department of Education says it will erase the federal student loan debts of tens of thousands of borrowers who can no longer work because they have significant disabilities. It's a small but important step toward improving a shambolic, bureaucratic process for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable borrowers who are legally entitled to debt relief, but haven't received it. The announcement comes more than a year after an NPR investigation found just 28% of eligible borrowers had their loans erased, or were on track to, through the "Total and Permanent Disability Discharge" program. The U.S. Government Accountability Office and a bipartisan group of lawmakers had previously decried the program's ineffectiveness. According to the department, more than 41,000 borrowers who have permanent disabilities will have roughly $1.3 billion in student debts conditionally discharged. These borrowers have already had their loans erased once before, only to have the debts restored during the pandemic after they failed to submit required income-monitoring paperwork correctly. The department also announced that, for the duration of the pandemic, it will not require borrowers currently in income-monitoring to submit annual paperwork. Borrowers whose loans have been discharged due to Monday's announcement will still have to complete this monitoring process. |
| NASPA apology for Suze Orman keynote criticized as 'cancel culture' | |
 | Conservative higher ed commentators and a former president of a national association of student affairs professionals harshly criticized the association's public apology last week for a speech by financial expert and television host Suze Orman as being emblematic of the "cancel culture" prevalent on college campuses and growing attempts by certain groups to stifle free speech. The apology by leaders of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education characterized Orman's keynote address last Wednesday at the association's virtual annual conference as "insulting and insensitive," among other things. The mea culpa was issued after many attendees panned the speech on social media and blasted Orman for being uninformed and for insufficiently contextualizing her speech with current socioeconomic realities. Orman referred to the South Side of Chicago, where she grew up, as "the hood" and "the ghetto" in her comments. Her critics said, and the apology statement reiterated, that Orman overlooked systemic racial, class and gender barriers to wealth that many student affairs professionals face and instead "tied self-worth to financial progress." The address prompted a barrage of critical tweets in real time from some NASPA members as they watched the event. |
| Montana Universities Prepare for Guns on Campuses | |
 | While most of the country is still reeling from shootings in Boulder and Atlanta this month, universities in Montana are preparing to allow guns on their campuses. In February, Montana's newly elected Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, signed a bill that will, in effect, allow open and concealed carry on the state's college campuses. The new law officially allows guns in public spaces and strips the Montana University System and its Board of Regents of their ability to regulate firearm possession. The system office and the board opposed the bill, and though they couldn't kill it, they successfully argued for some adjustments. One is that universities can continue to prohibit guns at large athletic and entertainment events that have armed security on site; another is that the law won't go into effect on campuses until June 1. That's left them with just a few months to prepare. "We don't know what June 1 looks like," said Brock Tessman, deputy commissioner for academic, research, and student affairs. There have been many shootings on college campuses going back decades, including one at Umpqua Community College in 2015 that left 10 people dead. The most deadly was at Virginia Tech in 2007 when a gunman killed 32 people. Tessman said Montana's high suicide rate is particularly concerning for officials, who are worried that this bill will interfere with efforts to prevent suicide at universities. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State, Mississippi Valley State baseball postponed | |
| There's no baseball at Dudy Noble Field tonight. The baseball game scheduled between No. 8 Mississippi State and Mississippi Valley State University has been postponed due to inclement weather, the school announced on Tuesday morning. There is no makeup date yet. Mississippi State (17-7, 2-4 SEC), which was swept this past weekend by No. 2 Arkansas, will not head straight into another SEC series without a midweek game to try and get back on the win column. The Bulldogs host Kentucky (17-4, 5-1) for a three-game series beginning on Thursday and wrapping up on Saturday. |
| Mississippi State baseball postpones MVSU game, moves on to Kentucky | |
 | Mississippi State senior right fielder Tanner Allen said it best Sunday. There is no time to dwell on losses in the SEC. The Bulldogs are realizing that this week. No. 7 Mississippi State (17-7, 2-4 SEC) was scheduled to host Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday. The game has been postponed because of impending inclement weather in Starkville. A makeup date is to be determined. That means MSU coach Chris Lemonis' team will go from getting swept by Arkansas right into its next SEC challenge, hosting Kentucky (14-4, 5-1) for a three-game series starting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU). Mississippi State has lost four SEC games in a row dating back to a loss to LSU on March 21. Kentucky travels to Dudy Noble Field having just swept Auburn on the road. The Wildcats have the SEC's third-best team batting average at .298. The Bulldogs rank No. 11 in the conference in that category at .269. The matchup will pit two of the league's most complete pitching staffs against each other, too. Mississippi State ranks No. 2 in the SEC in team earned run average at 2.97. Kentucky ranks third at 3.00. |
| Mississippi State baseball 'embarrassed' following weekend sweep | |
| The Mississippi State baseball team has some soul searching to do this week. Mississippi State was on the wrong end of a sweep this past weekend at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time, lost to No. 2 Arkansas, 8-2, 11-5 and 6-4. It's the first time the now Bulldogs (17-7, 2-4 SEC) have been swept at home since 2018. They tell to No. 8 in the D1Baseball.com rankings on Monday. "I'll be honest with you. It's embarrassing getting beat at home," team captain Tanner Allen said Sunday. "We have such a great fan base and such a great program. We take pride in winning at home." The Top 3 showdown between Mississippi State and Arkansas had the world on notice for a few weeks, and now a lot of MSU fans left Dudy Noble Field on Sunday with a bad taste in their mouths. Mississippi State's near untouchable pitching staff was torched for 25 runs, including nine home runs from the Arkansas lineup, and Will Bednar was the only starter who made it out of the fourth inning. "I just think we had some guys have some bad outings, to be honest with you," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "I think we are good, but we had a couple of guys have some bad outings that we haven't seen all year. I do think we can pitch better." The season is far from over, however. |
| Mississippi State baseball inducts second class into Ron Polk Ring of Honor | |
| The Ron Polk Ring of Honor has three new members. Bobby Thigpen, Eric Dubose and Paul Gregory made up Mississippi State's second class in its baseball hall of fame joining Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, David "Boo" Ferriss, C.R. "Dudy" Noble and Rafael Palmeiro. MSU's ring of honor is named after former MSU baseball coach Ron Polk, who joined Dubose and Thigpen at a ceremony Saturday morning at Dudy Noble Field to formally be inducted. The late Gregory was represented by family members. Dubose played at Mississippi State from 1995-97. His 428 career strikeout total still stands as a program record. Thigpen was a Bulldog for two seasons from 1984-85. He was a two-way player who helped Polk and the Bulldogs reach the College World Series in '85. Gregory played baseball, basketball and football at Mississippi State from 1928-30. He coached the MSU basketball team from 1947-57 and the baseball team from 1957-74. He led the Bulldogs to their first ever College World Series appearance in 1971. Dubose and Thigpen, who went on to combine for 14 years of MLB pitching experience, were both grateful to be in such elite company. They said their Mississippi State careers prepared them for life as professional players and for life in general. |
| Updated Procedures for Dudy Noble Field | |
| The Mississippi State athletic department has announced updated stadium procedures at Dudy Noble Field. While SEC Medical Task Force Protocols remain in place, Mississippi State will begin selling general admission/standing room only tickets to the public, as well as resuming unhindered pedestrian movement throughout the stadium concourse. All GA/SRO and student tickets will grant access to the right and left field grass berms, the right field grass terrace, and available standing drink rail areas on a first-come, first-served basis. For midweek games, tickets will go on sale to the public at 8 a.m. on game days and will be $5. For weekend series, ticket sales will be open to current Bulldog Club members beginning at 8 a.m. and to the general public at 1 p.m. each Wednesday of a home series. All weekend general admission/standing room only tickets will be $10 and BDC members and general public will be limited to a maximum of four tickets per account, per game. Dudy Noble Field gates open 90 minutes prior to first pitch and ticketed patrons are permitted to enter through any open stadium gate. In accordance with current MSU guidelines, face coverings over the nose and mouth shall be required as a condition of entry and exit, as well as during movement throughout the facility, and anytime guests are unable to maintain the recommended physical distance from others who are not in the same household. |
| 'That was the best decision of my life': How a JUCO experience shaped Mississippi State softball's Christian Quinn | |
| Christian Quinn always wanted to go away to college. Growing up in Hattiesburg, Quinn initially had her sights set on attending school in a big city: New York. Philadelphia. Chicago. She knew it would be difficult. She wanted it that way. "Everything that's easy isn't worth it," Quinn said. "Everything that's hard is like the best thing ever." Offered a chance to play softball at Florida SouthWestern State College, Quinn found that out -- fittingly -- the hard way. The first week she spent in Fort Myers, more than 10 hours away from the city she called home, she cried, fearing she'd be rejected by her new teammates and would spend two years alone 700 miles from her family. "This is the worst decision of my entire life," she thought. Quickly, Quinn proved herself wrong. She branched out, made friends and turned her junior college experience into a positive. "It's always hard to go somewhere you have no idea, but at the end, you're going to look back and be like, 'Oh my gosh, that was totally worth it,'" she said. "And it was totally worth it." Ultimately, it brought Quinn right back to her home state. She signed with Mississippi State in June 2018, spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons in Starkville and used her extra year of eligibility to remain with the Bulldogs this spring. |
| Texas' Vic Schaefer must get through South Carolina -- again | |
| In a career of major milestones and championship achievements, Texas coach Vic Schaefer just can't seem to get past South Carolina when it counts the most. The veteran coach in his first year with the Longhorns gets another chance Tuesday night as his sixth-seeded team plays the No. 1 seed Gamecocks (25-4) in the Hemisfair Region for a berth in the Final Four. Schaefer built a powerhouse over eight seasons at Mississippi State with two Final Four appearances, two regular-season Southeastern Conference crowns and a league tournament title. Yet, he's come up short in several big moments against South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley. Schaefer's Bulldogs were 0-4 in SEC Tournament title games to the Gamecocks. And following perhaps his team's biggest accomplishment -- ending UConn's 111-game win streak at the national semifinals in 2017 -- it was Staley who cut down the nets two nights later after taking the women's NCAA Tournament crown over Mississippi State. "We've had some knock-down, drag-outs over the years," Schaefer said. Texas (21-9) already has had a season's worth of surprises in the tournament, toppling third-seed UCLA in the second round and holding offensive juggernaut Maryland, the second-seed and a popular pick to advance out of the region, to its lowest point total of the year in a 64-61 victory Sunday night. Now, the next challenge is knocking off Staley's team, which ousted Georgia Tech 76-65 on Sunday. |
| Dawn Staley, Gamecocks face familiar coach when they play Texas in Elite Eight | |
 | It isn't just sixth-seeded Texas, an upset winner over No. 2 seed Maryland, that will face South Carolina in the Elite Eight on March 30. It's another matchup between Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley and coach Vic Schaefer. That's Vic Schaefer, who was at Mississippi State from 2012 until last year, where his matchups with the Gamecocks became the SEC's top rivalry for a while. That's Vic Schaefer, who will go against USC with a championship on the line for a sixth time. That's Vic Schaefer, who has lost all five of the previous tries, the most notable the 2017 national championship game just four hours up the road in Dallas. "I think we've played 15 times and they were all barn-burners," Staley said. "I always look forward to playing Vic because of what he puts into his scouting report, his game plan and his schemings. Tomorrow night won't be any different." Of course, it's much different now. Schaefer left Starkville for Austin last offseason and quickly reloaded with freshmen and transfers to get the Longhorns one step away from the Final Four. They are led by Charli Collier, a 6-5 center who is the projected top pick in the next WNBA draft. |
| Vanderbilt launches $300M campaign that will upgrade football, basketball facilities | |
 | Vanderbilt has launched $300 million athletics capital campaign for facility upgrades and athletics programs, the university announced Monday. Most of the money is already spoken for. The university will invest $100 million, and $100 million in donor commitments are already secured. Vanderbilt will provide renderings on the first phase of facility projects this summer. It marks the most significant announcement for Vanderbilt athletics facility upgrades in decades, and coincides with the recent arrival of new leadership. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, who came on the job in July, vowed that Vanderbilt would invest resources into athletics to be competitive in the SEC. "For some time now I have made very clear that (athletics director) Candice (Lee) and I are committed to bringing Vanderbilt athletics into a new era and today we're taking the next step to transform that vision into reality," Diermeier said. "This is a bold step, but it's also just the beginning of a longer journey. Vandy United begins with a simple premise. In keeping with our overall university mission we will work hard and dedicate the necessary resources to achieve excellence in our athletics program." Lee said Monday the improvements will help Vanderbilt gain ground on some of the other schools in the SEC, while focusing primarily on what Commodores athletes need most in order to be successful. |
| Petition against 'cruel and unfair' decision to suspend AU Bass Fishing Club reaches 10,000 signatures | |
 | Auburn University suspended the Bass Fishing Club on March 24 in response to the club repeatedly violating the university's COVID-19 policy regarding travel and events, according to a memo from Campus Recreation. The club allegedly violated the university policy in July 2020, February 2021 and March 2021, and no member of the club will be allowed to travel, recruit for, compete or represent the Bass Fishing Club in any capacity until Dec. 31, 2021, the memo reads. Additionally, club members will not be allowed to wear their club uniforms or represent the club on any social media platform as part of the suspension, and club members who violate the suspension could risk having it extended, according to the memo. Club officers have been removed from their positions as part of the suspension. A petition on change.org was created in response to the university's decision in support of the club, and over 10,000 signatures have been added when this article was written. "Please take action by signing this petition to show your displeasure of the decision to suspend the AU Bass Fishing Team," the petition reads. "The team needs your help to reverse this cruel and unfair decision!" Since being founded in 2007, the Auburn University Bass Fishing Team became recognized as one of the top collegiate fishing teams in the country. |
| 2 students dead after Iowa State crew club boat capsizes during practice | |
| Two students died after a boat carrying five members of the Iowa State University crew club capsized on a lake Sunday morning, the university and authorities said. The incident occurred as the group was practicing on Little Wall Lake, south of Jewell, according to a news release from the university. Three of the students were rescued from the water, treated and released from a local hospital. The body of another student was recovered by a dive team Sunday. Hamilton County authorities searched for the missing fifth member until nightfall Sunday, when the search was suspended and set to resume Monday morning. Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons said at a Monday press conference that authorities found the body of the missing crew member, marking the second casualty from the incident. The wind was blowing about 20 to 25 mph from the northwest when the crew team was on the lake, Fritz said. "The lake was pretty rough," Timmons added. What caused the boat to capsize was still under investigation, Timmons said. "The Iowa State community is heartbroken to learn of this tragic accident at Little Wall Lake," Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement. "At this time, we are focused on providing support to club members, their families and friends. We ask that everyone keep them in their thoughts during this very difficult time." |
| NCAA Faces Showdown Over Player Compensation -- and Future of College Sports | |
| For 115 years, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has been tightening its grip on what became the multibillion-dollar college-sports industry, with the lucrative annual men's basketball tournament as its flagship. In the next few months, however, the NCAA stands to lose control of its empire's future over an issue its member schools long hoped to avoid: athlete compensation. College athletes have historically been classified as "amateurs," even as they helped generate billions for their colleges and universities and made millionaires of their coaches. NCAA rules have long capped athletes' compensation at little more than tuition, room and board. But public sentiment that once supported the existing model has reversed, and long-silent athletes have become loud critics of the system. Numerous players marked the start of this year's NCAA tournament by tweeting "#NotNCAAProperty." The tension has created a scramble to define the future of college athletics. State and federal politicians in both parties have proposed dozens of bills that would let college athletes earn money from their name, image and likeness -- a step that is forbidden under current NCAA policy. A handful of state laws have already passed, including one in Florida that takes effect July 1. The NCAA itself has called for federal legislation to override a chaotic patchwork of state oversight. “I genuinely believe that this year will be the most pivotal year in college sports history since its founding,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said. |
| Senators cry 'foul' on NCAA for unequal treatment of women's basketball stars | |
 | Two senators called on the NCAA to take "immediate action" to rectify unequal treatment of athletes playing in the women's and men's basketball tournaments. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn blasted the NCAA after media reports and female athletes themselves called out the college athletics association for providing substandard workout facilities, COVID-19 testing and other accommodations during "March Madness." "In an all-too-familiar pattern, the NCAA did not seem to notice these vast disparities or seek to address them -- until the issue became a public relations problem," the pair wrote in a letter addressed to NCAA President Mark Emmert. A group of 36 House members, led by Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, sent a similar letter last week, also demanding answers and accountability. Blumenthal of Connecticut and Blackburn of Tennessee are the top members of the Senate Commerce panel's subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, which oversees sports-related matters. The Democrat and Republican also hail from states that have powerhouse women's basketball programs, the UConn Huskies and the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers. |
| Derrick Gragg: From Vanderbilt football to NCAA senior VP on diversity | |
| Derrick Gragg rolled into Nashville in a Ford Mustang with his full-ride football scholarship to Vanderbilt. His mom Glenda Malone says she can only imagine how good he was feeling as he pulled up on campus. He'd been heavily recruited as a wide receiver, one of the top 25 high school players in Alabama, by prime SEC schools. Auburn and Alabama were knocking at his door. But an animated talking to, a stern word and a foot put down by Malone and he'd chosen Vanderbilt, where academics would come first and football second. On his recruiting trips, his mom would take him to the airport and let him go to the schools alone. When he went to Vanderbilt, Malone drove him up there, stayed the whole time and even sidled her way into the coach's office when he offered Gragg the scholarship. "He said I picked up the man's pen and handed it to him," Malone says, chuckling. "I don't really remember doing that, but I bet I did. Because he was an athlete who, to me, was a student first." A student who would land on that Nashville campus in the late 1980s and realize his Mustang was overshadowed by BMWs and Corvettes. An athlete who would navigate a college career on a predominantly white, wealthy campus, sticking with a core group of Black players on Vanderbilt's football team. Gragg would forge success in college athletics administration, becoming the first Black man in many of his roles. He was at Tulsa in 2020, the first Black athletic director at that school, when the call came in for a job he says would change his life. |
| Civil rights group calls for Masters removal from Augusta National to protest new Georgia law | |
 | The National Black Justice Coalition is calling on the PGA Tour and Masters Tournament to pull the upcoming event from Augusta National Golf Club in reaction to the recent passing of Georgia's voter bill, SB 202. The NBJC is also urging professional golfers to boycott playing in Georgia until the bill is repealed. NBJC executive director David J. Johns said the law was created to restrict the voting rights of Black and disenfranchised voters in Georgia. "Georgia's new law restricting voting access is designed to turn back the clock on civil rights, and return Black and poor and already disenfranchised voters in Georgia to second class citizens," Johns said in a statement provided to Golfweek. Ahead of the Masters Tournament last November, Augusta National -- which long had a reputation for exclusivity in its membership along gender and racial lines -- announced it will establish scholarships in the name of first Black man to play in the Masters Tournament, Lee Elder, at Augusta's Historically Black Paine College. It also invited him to be an honorary starter for the 2021 Masters along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. |
| Brian Dozier will be at home on Opening Day and loves it | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Major League Baseball's opening day is set for Thursday. All 30 big league teams will play, but for the first time in a decade Mississippian Brian Dozier will not. Dozier, a Fulton native and former Southern Miss standout, has retired at age 33 with two World Series appearances, one World Series ring, an All-Star game appearance, a Gold Glove award, six 20-home run seasons, 192 career home runs, over $30 million in career earnings and one 42-home run season, which stands as one American League record. All that, and retired at 33. So what do you do? "Well, I smile a lot knowing I'm not going to have to try to hit a 100 mile an hour fastball tomorrow," Dozier said, chuckling. "The truth is I've got plenty to do, including being a daddy." One need not look far to find the two prime reasons why Dozier won't be in somebody's clubhouse Thursday. They are 19-month old daughter, Reese, and three-month old son, Rip. Last summer when the pandemic shut down baseball, Dozier found himself at home in the Hub City with his toddler daughter and his then-pregnant wife, Renee. He loved it. Indeed, he didn't want to go back. |
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