| Monday, June 21, 2021 |
| Mississippi State fans enjoy 'extra special' Father's Day in Omaha | |
 | Walt and Kylie Harrison didn't even realize Mississippi State's first game at the College World Series fell on Father's Day. The dad and daughter from New Albany drove 11 hours over two days to make their first trip to Omaha, Nebraska, to watch the Bulldogs play in their third straight CWS. Sitting in the right-field stands in Sunday's matchup with No. 2 Texas, Kylie -- a rising senior at MSU -- was in fact taking in her first Bulldog baseball game. And it was a "little surprise" that it happened to coincide with the holiday, she said. "It's just extra special," Walt said. "First game she's ever been to, and it's on Father's Day. That's just great." The Harrisons were far from the only father and child to make the trip. At the Hilton Omaha on Sunday afternoon, just blocks away from the stadium where the Bulldogs went on to beat Texas 2-1 later that evening, maroon and white packed the second-floor ballroom. It felt for all the world like Starkville had been picked up and brought to Omaha. Across the street at the CHI Health Center, the flag slapping against its pole in the wind even made a sound uncannily similar to a clanging cowbell. |
| Bulldog Bash returns this fall to downtown | |
| Mississippi's largest free outdoor concert is returning for 2021. Bulldog Bash, an event sponsored by the Mississippi State University Student Association, will be held Sept. 17 after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board of aldermen approved the downtown event permit Tuesday at the regularly scheduled board meeting. Bulldog Bash Director Liv Hunter said with two years of preparation, the five-member SA Bulldog Bash committee is working hard to find volunteers and donations to produce this concert. "We really hope to have a lot of participation after a year off," Hunter said. "I know COVID was a hard year for some people, so we're trying to get them back on board." SA and the Bulldog Bash committee will collaborate with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and the Downtown Main Street Association to bring in tourism and economic development. The event features Maroon Market, comprising various companies, organizations and restaurants who fill the area with local artisans, boutiques and good eats. Director of Main Street Paige Watson said the Partnership will serve as the liaison between SA and the downtown businesses. "They plan everything, and then we relay everything between them and our downtown businesses," Watson said. "We're just excited to be having this event again for the city of Starkville." |
| Mississippi State welcomes high school students from rural districts for advanced physics, computer science program | |
| Nearly 100 promising Mississippi high school students from 13 rural districts are finishing their second week of the Advanced STEM Summer Preparatory Program at Mississippi State University to prepare for success in rigorous, advanced placement coursework this coming academic year. Along with learning STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to help them in upcoming AP classes in physics and computer science at their respective schools, students are hearing from successful mentors encouraging them to apply practical strategies for growth as they advance toward academic, personal and professional goals. MSU has hosted the summer program since its inception five years ago, and students are back on campus this year after the 2020 event was presented virtually due to the pandemic. Once they begin the academic year in their respective schools, they will take AP Physics or AP Computer Science, with supplemental programming throughout the year. Previous evaluations have shown that students achieved dramatic gains in substantive understanding of course content, according to nationally recognized pre- and post-program assessments. Schools participating this year include Aberdeen, Clarkdale, Greenville, Holmes County Central, Humphreys County, Leflore County, Leland, McAdams, New Albany, Newton, Northeast Lauderdale, O'Bannon, Madison S. Palmer, Riverside, South Pontotoc and Quitman high schools. |
| Dairy goats gain popularity with small farmers, 4-Hers | |
 | Dairy goats make up a niche market of the Mississippi livestock industry, but their popularity is growing across the state. "That's been the case in the whole Southeastern United States," said Rocky Lemus, an MSU Extension Service forage specialist and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist who also raises dairy goats. "We've seen an almost 25% increase in dairy goats across our region in the last 10 years." Interest has grown among 4-H livestock program members, people who participate in various other showmanship contests and people who want goat milk products. Lemus said producers account for most goat ownership in Mississippi, helping to meet the demand from inside and outside the state. Scott Jenkins of Sturgis is one of those producers. He raises Nubian goats, a breed favored for its milk quality. High-fat content results in more flavorful cheese, milk and ice cream from these goats. Top milking breeds include Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Saanen and Toggenburg. Each breed has its own aesthetic, personality and milk-production characteristics. Producers gained additional expertise in this area with the hire of Leyla Rios in December 2020. She serves as Extension small ruminant specialist and conducts research as an Experiment Station scientist. Rios said she is eager to build relationships with sheep and goat producers as she continues existing programs and establishes new ones. |
| Mississippi State's psychology clinic to offer free mental health services | |
 | The Mississippi State University's psychology clinic has CARES Act funding to provide mental health services to children and their families for a year. "The services that we're providing this year are consultation," explains Dr. Melanie Walsh. "You can call and get just kind of a mental health check-in on your kiddo. We're providing clinical screening to get kind of an idea of perhaps what diagnoses we might be seeing, if any. Finally, we're providing free mental health therapy for those kids who might meet the threshold for that and need that." You can get up to six free sessions and all of the services are provided via telehealth. The services are available for children ages six to 17. For more information, call 662-325-0895. |
| MSU Advanced STEM Summer Preparatory Program, Bulldog Bash and JSU Literacy Grant | |
| Mississippi State University is currently hosting its Advanced STEM Summer Preparatory Program. Nearly 100 Mississippi high school students from 13 rural districts are taking part in the program, which is currently in its second week. Along with learning science, technology, engineering and math skills for upcoming AP classes in physics and computer science at their respective schools, students in the program learn from mentors about applying practical strategies for growth and advancement toward academic, personal and professional goals, a release from MSU says. The privately funded program, which the Global Teaching Project facilitates in conjunction with the Mississippi Public School Consortium for Educational Access, has received a competitive federal Education Innovation and Research grant. There is no charge to students, families, schools or districts to participate. Bulldog Bash, a free outdoor concert that the Mississippi State University Student Association sponsors, is returning this fall after a 2020 hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Bulldog Bash will take place on Sept. 17 in downtown Starkville, at the intersection of Jackson and Main streets. For more information on Bulldog Bash and sponsorship opportunities, visit msubulldogbash.com or call the MSU Center for Student Activities at 662-325-2930. |
| Starkville camp provides hands-on entrepreneurial experience for kids across Mississippi | |
 | Nine eager campers from across Mississippi traveled to Starkville for the week to create their own business ad products to sell to people in the area. Over the course of the week, campers planned, sketched, and built their own products to be sold to people in the community. The theme for this year's creations centered around Father's Day gifts. The products ranged from koozies and key holders to large Mississippi State-themed paintings created by Taylor Herron. Herron has been a painter since she was five years old, and she hopes to build a business for her artwork through the experiences she's learned at camp. "I just want to make somebody happy and like have them be like 'I got that and nobody else is going to have that in the world,'" explained Herron. However, along with the fun that comes with creating your own products, the campers heard from local entrepreneurs about financing, marketing, and all other aspects that are important in running your own business. |
| As Lumber Prices Fall, the Threat of Inflation Loses Its Bite | |
 | From sawmills to store shelves to your own hammer swings, lumber can tell you a lot about what's going on in the economy right now. Lumber prices soared over the past year, frustrating would-be pandemic do-it-yourselfers, jacking up the costs of new homes and serving as a compelling talking point in the debate over whether government stimulus efforts risked the return of 1970s-style inflation. The housing-and-renovation boom drove insatiable demand for lumber, even as the pandemic idled mills that had already been slowed by an anemic construction sector since the 2008 financial crisis. Lumber futures surged to unprecedented heights, peaking at more than $1,600 per thousand board feet in early May. But since then, the prices of those same plywood sheets and pressure-treated planks have tumbled, as mills restarted or ramped up production and some customers put off their purchases until prices came down. It's a dance of supply and demand that has reassured many experts and the Federal Reserve in their belief that painful price spikes for everything from airline tickets to used cars will abate as the economy gets back to normal. Why have prices fallen so fast? It's partly because they set off a surge of production at the country's roughly 3,000 sawmills. "Nobody's not running capacity right now," said Joe Hankins, sales manager at Hankins Lumber, a sawmill and timber company in the north-central Mississippi town of Grenada. |
| Analysis: New laws affect alcohol, elections and autopsies | |
 | Several new laws take effect July 1 in Mississippi, including one that will allow home delivery of liquor, wine or beer from local stores. The deliveries are authorized by House Bill 1135. Buyers will have to prove they are at least 21, delivery people will have to be at least that old and deliveries cannot be made to any person who "appears intoxicated." The new law specifies deliveries may only be made within 30 miles of the store selling the alcohol, and they may not be made in dry cities or counties. Some other new laws signed by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves include: Mississippi already requires people to decide months in advance if they are going to run for a long list of offices, including governor, state senator, state representative, sheriff, county supervisor, tax collector or state Supreme Court justice. The qualifying deadline has been March 1. A new law moves it to Feb. 1. Mississippi is adding to the list of reasons that elected officials may go into closed session to discuss public business. House Bill 1323 allows executive sessions for boards to discuss plans to combat human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children. People who move to Mississippi from other states will be able to maintain their professional licenses. The new specialty tags that legislators authorized this year include those for Indianola Academy, Humphreys County High School, the South Pike School District and the Picayune Maroon Tide Touchdown Club. |
| Mississippi is probing another Medicaid contractor over pharmacy benefits | |
 | Mississippi announced a $55 million settlement with its largest Medicaid contractor, Centene, last week related to allegations it was overcharging taxpayers for prescription drugs, but state authorities say they are not finished scrutinizing pharmacy benefit management practices at other companies that are paid with public money. State Auditor Shad White told the Daily Journal last week that his office has been probing another Medicaid contractor, UnitedHealthcare, and its subsidiary, OptumRx, over pharmacy benefits. He declined to provide more details. From 2016 to 2020, Mississippi's Medicaid program paid $916 million for pharmacy benefit management services provided by OptumRx, according to agency data. OptumRx, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the fifth-largest company in the U.S., did not respond to a Daily Journal request for comment. UnitedHealth and its PBM subsidiary are also facing investigations in other states, according to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal. And Ohio sued OptumRx in 2019, alleging the company bilked that state's workers' compensation program out of millions of dollars worth of generic drug discounts. |
| Medical marijuana investors wait on Mississippi legislators directives | |
 | Russell Colby made his way down from Missouri to Jackson in February with big plans after Mississippians overwhelmingly voted to legalize medical marijuana in the November election. In Missouri, Colby holds 14 cannabis dispensary licenses, one for cultivation and another for manufacturing. The opportunity he saw here brought him to the Magnolia State to start a marijuana business. "It was like a gold rush," Colby, of BesaMe Wellness, said. But since the Mississippi Supreme Court in May struck down a medical marijuana initiative drafted and overwhelmingly approved by citizens, citing flawed language in the state constitution's ballot initiative process, Colby and many others are stuck in neutral. Now it is up to state lawmakers to create a program -- something Gov. Tate Reeves and other top elected officials have said they're in favor of -- but details of what a bill would look like have been hard to come by. That's left medical marijuana investors -- some who've invested significant time and money -- guessing what might happen next, and when. "I think all the horses need to be pulling the cart the same way. That's from the Senate, that's from the House, that's from everybody," Justin Mahfouz, founder of Southern Sky Brands, said. "At the end of the day, everybody will benefit from the right program." |
| Mississippi Democratic lawmakers to sponsor bill to eliminate Confederate Memorial Day as state holiday | |
 | At the start of the 2022 legislative session, Senate Minority Leader Derrick T. Simmons and Senator David Blount announced they will sponsor legislation to repeal Mississippi's Confederate Memorial Day, which is the last Monday in April. They said the bill would replace Confederate Memorial Day with Juneteenth, which would be observed on June 19 as a state holiday each year. "With Congress and President Biden agreeing, then working together to make it happen, now is the time to clean up even more of Mississippi's tarnished past by shedding other ties to the confederacy," said Simmons. |
| America is ready to return to normal. President Biden's CDC chief isn't so sure. | |
 | The newly installed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had one big request for agency employees at an all-hands meeting in March: Don't talk to the press without permission. Rochelle Walensky's remarks caught many CDC scientists and officials off guard. Her boss, President Joe Biden, had campaigned on a promise to take control of the pandemic by letting science lead -- a pledge that hinged almost entirely on allowing the nation's top health experts, including those at the CDC, to speak publicly. The CDC director's request seemed to contradict what the Biden administration was trying to achieve: revitalizing the federal government's Covid-19 response by spotlighting federal scientists that former President Donald Trump had cast aside. "It was very clear that [Walensky] didn't want anyone talking to reporters at that time," a senior CDC official told POLITICO. "She wants to control the narrative as much as possible." The anecdote highlights the extent to which the CDC and its director have struggled to send a clear and unified message on public health measures to fight Covid-19. Their track record so far has been mixed, including an abrupt reversal on mask rules for vaccinated adults after public outcry. Now the agency faces its biggest test yet: loosening its public safety guidance as the pandemic recedes, while simultaneously trying to prevent infection rates from spiking in undervaccinated communities. Adding to the difficulty, the highly transmissible Delta virus variant is gaining ground across the country. |
| First Lady Jill Biden plans to visit Capital City in an effort to encourage more Mississippians to get vaccinated | |
| In just days, the First Lady of the United States will be making her way to the Magnolia State. On Tuesday, Jill Biden is scheduled to visit the Capital City to encourage more Mississippians to get vaccinated. Mississippi ranks last in the nation in vaccination rates. "I think a lot of people are hesitant to take the vaccine," said Lauren George, who's received her first COVID-19 shot and now awaits the second. "A lot of people have the mindset that it's just not for me." Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show that roughly 35 percent of Mississippians are fully vaccinated. That alarming statistic is why Biden plans to visit Jackson's vaccination sites, trying to energize and motivate more people to roll up their sleeves to receive the vaccine. The trip is a part of the administration's nationwide tour, reaching those who aren't vaccinated. Biden plans to highlight the ease of getting vaccinated and mobilize grassroots vaccine education and outreach. Although Mississippi currently ranks last in the nation, some metro residents believe this upcoming visit by the First Lady will have enough of an influence to sway those who are still hesitant to get vaccinated. "I would hope so," said George. "I would hope it shows hey, it's safe, it's OK." |
| $3.7 million provided to exhume graves of former asylum patients | |
| The construction crew digging out a new road almost a decade ago also uncovered an on ramp to a long-buried history: the resting place for more than five dozen coffins. But not the final resting place. The accidental discovery of the remains of patients from the bygone Mississippi State Hospital for the Insane was an outrider of a tally now estimated to be in the thousands: people laid in now unmarked graves on what is today the grounds of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. For at least eight years now, UMMC officials have sought a path that sustains campus expansion -- for the sake of future patients -- while honoring those patients from the past. Now, with $3.7 million in support from the Mississippi State Legislature, the Asylum Hill Project has realized a breakthrough: funding to exhume the graves and furnish a final place of honor for the people who lie in them. The five dozen coffins unearthed in 2012 to 2013 date from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, corresponding to the asylum's years of operation on what became Medical Center land. A team from the Mississippi State University Department of Anthropology removed and documented the skeletal remains. Dr. Molly Zuckerman, a biological anthropologist at MSU, has said that many as 10,000 to 11,000 died there. |
| USM veterans program earns No. 3 national ranking by resource publication | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi has earned a No. 3 national ranking for their support and service to their military students. USM was rated by the Military Times resource guide in its "Best for Vets: Colleges 2021 Rankings." The university was also rated No. 1 in the Southeast. The new ranking shows a leap for USM after being ranked No. 9 nationally the past two years. USM is one of three Mississippi universities listed in the Top 30, as the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University are ranked 23rd and 26th respectively. In 2014, USM launched their Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families under the direction of Maj. Gen. Jeff Hammond (U.S. Army, ret.). About 300 military students were enrolled at USM at the time of the center's launch. At this time, that number is over 1,700 with services available on the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses. Hammond says the latest ranking validates the efforts many have made to create a comprehensive program for military students. "The work that General Hammond and his staff do every day to support our veteran population and to create a comprehensive program for military students has placed us as one of the best in the South and in Mississippi. I am proud and appreciative of the hard work and dedication shown by our staff to support our students," said Dr. Dee Dee Anderson, Vice President for Student Affairs at USM. |
| Effect of school lockdown drills on students under scrutiny | |
| The Lockdown Drill Generation. That's what 17-year-old Ellie Perlmutter said she's part of. No, it has nothing to do with the pandemic. It's the generation of students that have had to participate in active shooter drills at school. Approximately 95 percent of schools practice what to do in case a shooter enters their facility. And growing up in Colorado, Ellie has gone through her share of those drills. "I always feel really nervous. And I always want to make sure there is a solid plan in place because I often notice inconsistencies, or a lack of care, if people know it's a drill," she explained. "For a practice that is so widespread, we really should not be operating in the dark," said Rob Wilcox, federal legal director for Everytown for Gun Safety. The group has tried to look at the impact of these experiences on kids. Part of the issue is that there are many different types of active shooter drills. Some are announced ahead of time, so kids know it is coming and are prepared. Others, they get no warning at all. And some go even further, Wilcox said. |
| Meet Auburn University's first Black female drum major | |
| Brianna Jarvis will lead the Auburn University Marching Band into Jordan-Hare Stadium when the football team plays Akron on Sept. 4. She will also be making history as the band's first Black female drum major. The music education major attended Reeltown High School where she says she saw the impact of the university from 30 minutes away. A first-generation college student, Jarvis says she knew she wanted to attend Auburn but didn't know how to make that happen. Jarvis' high school band director was Auburn University alumnus Tyler Strickland, and he acted as a mentor, helping Jarvis navigate college applications, Auburn University Marching Band auditions and more. "My graduating class was smaller than the trumpet section at Auburn and that was really intimidating knowing there was going to be more people trying out for the marching band than I had even really been exposed to," Jarvis said. "Band is something that I was wanting to participate in, but it was very much an imposter syndrome situation." The trumpet player says Auburn's affiliation with the Southeastern Conference drew her to the school. |
| After debate, LSU board asks Louisiana to require COVID vaccine for public school students | |
 | The LSU Board of Supervisors narrowly approved a resolution Friday asking the Louisiana Department of Health to add the COVID vaccines to the list of shots required before students can attend public schools, colleges, and universities. Supervisor Jay Blossman, of Mandeville, said he was uncomfortable with the university sending a message to the state that could lead to making students get vaccinated for COVID. "It gives me heartburn," Blossman said, adding it should be a personal choice. "If you're worried about the COVID, get the shot." The Board's resolution acknowledges the concerns raised by faculty and students, requests the health department to consider adding the COVID vaccines to the required list, and encourages voluntary vaccinations on LSU campuses. The Board's Academic and Research Committee voted 4-3 to advance the resolution after much, and often, heated discussion. Then at the end of the hearing, the full board summarily approved all other matters advanced by committees during the Board's meeting in Alexandria -- except for the resolution. The board discussed the matter further, added language that LSU would also inform students of their legal rights to opt out of any vaccination, then approved the resolution on a 9-2 vote, with several supervisors not voting. |
| 'Whispers to Rumors to Resignation': U. of Arkansas Chancellor Resigns | |
 | Joseph E. Steinmetz, the University of Arkansas chancellor, announced on Thursday that he was stepping down effective Friday, citing the "many challenges found trying to manage a university in today's polarized society." His announcement came just hours after a special meeting of the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees. Steinmetz's resignation caught many off guard. It went from "whispers to rumors to resignation immediately, all in about 24 hours," said Stephen Caldwell, chair of the Faculty Senate. A local television station, KNWA/KFTA, reported on Thursday that an online account had been sharing "provocative photos" that appeared to show Steinmetz. In an interview with The Chronicle, Steinmetz said he'd rather not talk about the photos, adding that "anybody can post anything on social media, and the world believes it." His announcement regarding his decision to step down, he said, "may seem rash, but it isn't rash for me at all." He described the difficulties of this past year in navigating a large, public research university through the Covid-19 pandemic and also in coping with recent campus controversies that attracted strong opinions. His role, he said, has become less of a conversational facilitator than of a "crisis manager." It's a role he's no longer interested in. |
| U. of Missouri expects strong first-day class in August | |
 | Freshman and transfer student enrollment for the fall semester at the University of Missouri is "very strong," according to university spokesperson Christian Basi. About 5,000 first-time freshmen and more than 1,000 transfer students are predicted to enroll, Basi said. If those numbers are any indication of final enrollment for this fall, MU could see a decrease from the 5,318 first-time freshmen enrolled in 2020. After a significant drop in the falls of 2016 and 2017, freshman enrollment was growing again until it hit a peak in 2019 and fell in 2020. There were 1,349 transfer students enrolled last year. Basi said that with COVID-19, it's too early to predict whether fall enrollment will be higher or lower than last year. COVID-19 also made predicting enrollment challenging last year, and MU got more students than leaders thought they would, he said. MU predicts enrollment by keeping a close eye on deposits, tours and Summer Welcome numbers, Basi said. A deposit has to be made to enroll at MU, he said, and students had until May 1 to get a refund. When students haven't asked for refunds, it usually means they're coming. |
| Lukewarm feelings about colleges and Juneteenth | |
 | Dozens of colleges and universities closed for Juneteenth on Friday, many of them for the first time. The Texas A&M University system, for instance, shut down Friday on short notice, citing the new federal law making June 19 a national holiday. Chancellor John Sharp said in a statement that Juneteenth is "a special day that originated in Texas and we're proud to honor it." Pima Community College chancellor Lee Lambert made a similar announcement, saying, "We value the opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past and press forward with setting things right." Further, he said, "we pause to recognize and celebrate the significant contributions of African Americans to every aspect of American culture." Some colleges have long honored Juneteenth in some way, but 2020 brought a push to make June 19 an official paid holiday. On that day in 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Tex., to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed more than two years earlier. Several colleges closed last Juneteenth for the first time, citing the recent killings of George Floyd and other unarmed Black men and women by police. More closed this year, citing new individual state holidays and the federal holiday. University of Missouri system president Mun Choi shut down all campus operations on Friday, as well, following both the state of Missouri's and the federal government's recent moves to officially recognize Juneteenth. Colleges that closed did so Friday, as Juneteenth fell on a Saturday this year. Some institutions stayed open but asked students, faculty and staff to reflect on the day's meaning. |
| This University's Student Government Wasn't Working for Students. So They Started From Scratch. | |
| When Frank Shushok Jr. became vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech, he was surprised by the number of students who came to him with complaints about the university's student-government association. Students told Shushok that the group was dysfunctional, not representative of the student body, sexist, and that a handful of seats had been left vacant throughout the entire academic year. "There were just signs that the model of student government that had been in place for decades was no longer as effective as it had once been," Shushok said. "For your average student, they didn't see a student government as an influential voice on campus the way that at one point they did." Students who were part of SGA were resigning one by one. "There were a lot of female members and members of the LGBTQ-plus community who resigned, and one of the reasons that a lot of them cited" was that it was a "sexist organization and a homophobic organization," Jonathan Falls told The Roanoke Times. Falls resigned from his position as a legislative representative in April of last year. The students weren't the only ones who noticed the breakdown. At the time, the university was also pushing for a change, having begun a review of governance at Virginia Tech for the first time in 25 years -- not just among students, but for the faculty and staff, too. So Shushok assembled a task force on student governance. |
| What worked and what didn't for college students learning through COVID-19 | |
| One way to sum up the recent learning lives of students is this: they had a lot more to worry about than course content. "I was handling more referrals to emergency services and mental health services than expected," says Catherine Shaw, a first-time adjunct who taught a microeconomics course at Georgia State University this past fall. "I wasn't prepared for the volume and sensitive nature of it all." One student confided about an inability to concentrate because her uncle was battling COVID-19. Two football players shared the pressure they felt as pandemic-era athletes with virus worries and having to meet academic requirements. Others couldn't afford the digital textbook and tried to jam all coursework into the two-week free access period. Clearly students felt lost, and there was no community of peers sitting nearby for support. Now a director in the strategy consulting practice of Tyton Partners, Shaw wonders what happened to several of her struggling students after her course. As for what happened more generally with students during their year-plus of pandemic disruptions, a new Student Voice survey of 2,000 college students from 108 institutions provides answers. |
| UNC Journalism School Tried To Give Nikole Hannah-Jones Tenure. A Top Donor Objected | |
 | On paper, The New York Times's Nikole Hannah-Jones is a dream hire for the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She won a MacArthur "genius grant" for her reporting on the persistence of segregation in American life. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her essay accompanying "The 1619 Project," a New York Times Magazine initiative she conceived on the legacy of slavery in the U.S. And Hannah-Jones earned a master's degree from the school itself, in 2003. Yet the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees declined to act upon her proposed appointment. That tenure proposal ran aground on race, politics, and, perhaps surprisingly, on a clash between diverging views of journalism. The opposing view has been embodied by Walter Hussman, the 1968 UNC journalism graduate whose name has graced the school since he made a $25 million pledge. Longtime publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hussman has shared his opposition to Hannah-Jones' appointment with the journalism school dean, several university administrators, and, reportedly, two members of the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees. Both Hannah-Jones and Hussman agreed to speak, separately, with NPR to articulate their competing views of journalism. |
| Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in targeting critical race theory | |
 | President Donald Trump was watching Fox News one evening last summer when a young conservative from Seattle appeared with an alarming warning, and a call to action. Christopher Rufo said critical race theory, a decades-old academic framework that most people had never heard of, had "pervaded every institution in the federal government." "Critical race theory," Rufo said, "has become, in essence, the default ideology of the federal bureaucracy and is now being weaponized against the American people." Critical race theory holds that racism is systemic in the United States, not just a collection of individual prejudices -- an idea that feels obvious to some and offensive to others. Rufo alleged that efforts to inject awareness of systemic racism and White privilege, which grew more popular following the murder of George Floyd by police, posed a grave threat to the nation. It amounts, Rufo said, to a "cult indoctrination." It's the latest cultural wedge issue, playing out largely but not exclusively in debate over schools. At its core, it pits progressives who believe White people should be pushed to confront systemic racism and White privilege in America against conservatives who see these initiatives as painting all White people as racist. Progressives see racial disparities in education, policing and economics as a result of racism. Conservatives say analyzing these issues through a racial lens is, in and of itself, racist. Where one side sees a reckoning with America's past and present sins, another sees a misguided effort to teach children to hate America. |
| How President Biden's 'targeted' student loan relief stacks up | |
| The Biden administration has been grappling for months over whether to accede to progressive demands to cancel large swaths federal student loan debt. And more immediately, the White House and Education Department are debating if pandemic relief for 40 million student loan borrowers should be extended beyond October. As the administration weighs those major decisions, Education Department officials have said they're focused on improving the existing debt cancellation programs targeted at certain populations of borrowers: those who have become severely disabled or were defrauded by their college, and public service workers. A new trove of federal data sheds some light on how the Biden administration is approaching debt relief for these students. The Biden administration plans to revise the regulations governing public service loan forgiveness, though it hasn't said how exactly it plans to change them. At the same time, the administration is also facing pressure from unions to automatically cancel the debts of borrowers who have been working in public service for at least 10 years, regardless of whether they meet the program's other criteria. |
| Supreme Court justices get pay raise because law said they 'shall' | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: In the parlance of Mississippi Supreme Court justices, the word "shall" means maybe when it comes to fully funding public school districts. But when justices are talking about giving themselves a pay raise, "shall" means shall -- or got to get 'er done. Earlier this year, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph ordered pay raises of roughly $15,000 annually for Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges and trial judges based on action taken by the Legislature in 2012. That 2012 bill said the judges "shall" have their salaries "fixed at a level... recommended by the state Personnel Board." Juxtapose Randolph's actions with a unanimous 2017 decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court saying that the Legislature did not have to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program even though state law says concisely "effective with fiscal year 2007, the Legislature shall fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Program." The Supreme Court justices, including Randolph, ruled then that the Legislature could just ignore the word "shall." The Supreme Court did not rule, as many believed it would, that if legislators were not going to follow the law, they should change it so it no longer said the Adequate Education Program "shall" be fully funded. It seems that it would be simple enough to remove the word shall and incorporate, for instance, "it is the intent of the Legislature to fully fund the MAEP." |
SPORTS
| Will Bednar strikes out 15 as No. 7 Mississippi State beats No. 2 Texas in College World Series opener | |
| Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis saw the wind blowing out to center field before Sunday's College World Series opener against No. 2 Texas and laid out the plan to pitching coach Scott Foxhall. "The best thing to do," Lemonis said, "is just strike them out." Will Bednar and Landon Sims apparently listened, fanning a College World Series-record 21 batters as No. 7 Mississippi State (46-16) held off the Longhorns (47-16) by a 2-1 final score on Sunday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The Bulldogs advanced to play Virginia at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a winners' bracket matchup. Bednar struck out a career-high 15 batters in six-plus innings, shutting out Texas and allowing just one hit in a dominant showing. Bednar buoyed the Bulldogs on what proved to be a tough offensive night against Texas ace right-hander Ty Madden and reliever Pete Hansen. Madden held Mississippi State to just two runs over seven innings, striking out 10 Bulldogs as MSU managed just five hits on the ninth. But two fourth-inning runs proved to be the difference. Scotty Dubrule put the Bulldogs ahead with a sacrifice fly after a leadoff walk to Kamren James and a Luke Hancock single, and Brad Cumbest dropped an RBI triple just inside the right-field line. |
| Will Bednar throws gem to lead Mississippi State over Texas in CWS opener | |
| Will Bednar saved the best performance of his young career for the biggest stage in college baseball. The freshman right-handed pitcher struck out 15 Texas batters in six innings as No. 7 Mississippi State beat No. 2 Texas, 2-1, in the opening round of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The Bulldogs, now 46-16, advance to the winner's bracket to play Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Texas and Tennessee will play in an elimination game on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Bednar's 15 strikeouts set a career-high for the freshman as well as a new Mississippi State school-record in a CWS game. Bednar was relieved by Landon Sims, who struck out six batters in three innings to give the MSU pitching staff 21 total strikeouts, a new CWS single-game record. "He was locked in, there's no doubt about it all night long," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "When he hit that groove in the third or fourth inning, he was as good as I've seen him. ... I grabbed Will after the game and handed him a game ball and just told him that was one of the better performances ever here. Ain't many guys come here and done that." |
| Mississippi State posts CWS-record 21 Ks in win over Texas | |
| As Will Bednar's strikeout total kept climbing, it seemed everybody at TD Ameritrade Park was keeping track. Bednar didn't want to admit it, but he was, too. "Uh, yeah," he said sheepishly when asked. "I wasn't trying to, but I kind of kept peaking up at the board." The redshirt freshman struck out a career-high 15 over six innings, the most at the College World Series in 25 years, and Mississippi State held off Texas 2-1 Sunday night. Bednar and Landon Sims set a CWS team record, combining for 21 strikeouts, and the Bulldogs (46-16) ran their season total to 765, tying the Division I record. Bednar's total was the highest by an individual since Clemson's Kris Benson struck out 15 against Miami in 1996. "I felt like it was a great performance, probably my best ever," Bednar said. "On this stage, it's real cool." No. 2 national seed Texas (47-16) put only four balls in play against Bednar: three flyouts and Mitchell Daly's base hit up the middle in the fourth. "Bednar, we still haven't figured him out," Texas coach David Pierce said. "He's a spin rate guy and the ball just doesn't lose plane, and it seemed like we were swinging underneath it the entire game." Mississippi State plays Virginia on Tuesday night. |
| What to know about Virginia, Mississippi State baseball's next opponent in College World Series | |
| Mississippi State will play Virginia after beating Texas 2-1 on Sunday night in the opening round of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The winner's bracket game is Tuesday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2). Virginia (36-25) topped Tennessee 6-0 on Sunday behind a standout performance from starting pitcher Andrew Abbott and a flurry of runs fueled by catcher Logan Michaels. Here are three things to know about the Cavaliers, who won their only national title in 2015. Virginia, making its fifth College World Series appearance, has played some of its best baseball when facing elimination. The Cavaliers lost the first game, 4-3, to South Carolina in the Columbia Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Facing elimination, they won their next three, forcing two games in the regional final against Old Dominion to advance. In similar fashion, Virginia dropped the first game of the Columbia Super Regional to Dallas Baptist before rattling off two wins in a row. The Cavaliers' coaching staff is one of the most experienced in the nation. First team All-ACC pitcher Andrew Abbott (8-6, 3.04 ERA) has spearheaded an imposing Virginia pitching attack. On Sunday, he struck out Tennessee 10 times over six innings and helped shut out the Volunteers for the first time since April 16, when they lost to Vanderbilt. Abbott is followed by a strong No. 2 in Matt Wyatt as well. Wyatt pitched three innings on Sunday and allowed only one hit. |
| Mississippi State baseball has won Game 1 in Omaha before. This year it has to capitalize | |
| Mississippi State baseball's last three College World Series trips have all started the same way. This time around it's up to the Bulldogs to make sure things end differently. The Bulldogs beat second-seeded Texas 2-1 on Sunday night to open their run in the College World Series. There's no better way to set yourself up for success than winning on Day 1 in Omaha; 57 of the 69 teams that have won national championships since 1950 won their first CWS game. Mississippi State fans will remember, however, the 2018 and 2019 Bulldogs are not on that list. The 2019 Bulldogs won 5-4 in their opener against Auburn then lost to Vanderbilt and Louisville on consecutive days to be sent home. The 2018 Bulldogs won their first two games before losing back-to-back contests against eventual national champion Oregon State. The seniors on this Mississippi State team don't have to think about those experiences in theory. Veterans like Tanner Allen and Rowdey Jordan lived through those losses. "That's going to be something we talk about," Jordan said. "Winning all three games on opening night and then coming up short two years in a row. I think you celebrate a little bit but then you put it behind you." Mississippi State (46-16) returns to action Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN2) against Virginia (36-25). The Bulldogs will be able to throw projected early-round draft pick Christian MacLeod and will have nearly all of its bullpen available, or maybe all of it depending on how quickly closer Landon Sims can rebound from throwing 52 pitches Sunday. |
| Mississippi State Fans, Players Take Never-Give-Up Spirit to College World Series | |
| Pete Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Mississippi State University, writes: Last Saturday, I was standing under the first-base concourse with friends in a stadium that held over 14,000 that day for the first game in the Super Regional series between Notre Dame and Mississippi State. It was hot and humid -- more like "deep-into-August hot" than "June hot" -- and the stadium was packed. The "standing room only" space was two or three rows deep under a concourse that curves around the front of Dudy Noble field, starting at the first-base line and stretching around behind home plate all the way down the third-base line. At some point, I noticed a little girl -- she couldn't have been older than 3 or 4 -- up the steps from the first base chair-back seats to the concourse. She was crying. Her mother walked behind her, with her hand on her back, gently guiding her daughter up the stairs through the sea of people standing on the concourse toward the direction of the restrooms. The little girl must be hot, I thought, because the Mississippi summer heat has been known to bring grown people to tears. As they passed, I heard the mother say, "It's OK. I promise we're coming right back to watch more baseball." Everyone within earshot chuckled. A few of us looked at each other and nodded in agreement, as if to say, "There goes another one, and she has it bad." The fanbase's love affair with the sport and its college team goes back decades, long before the team started playing in NCAA Super Regional weekend series with trips to the College World Series on the line. |
| Historic pitching performance keys Mississippi State victory over Texas | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Mississippi State's 2021 College World Series experience began Sunday night with a pitching performance for the ages in a thrilling 2-1 victory over Texas. First Will Bednar and then Landon Sims mowed down Texas batters as if the Longhorns were swinging with holes in their bats. It was astonishing. That's what it was. Astonishing. Bednar threw 108 pitches but plate umpire Steve Mattingly might be the guy who wakes up Monday morning with a sore right arm from punching out Texas batters with his animated "strike three" calls. Bednar struck out 15 of the 18 batters he retired, and then Sims came on to fan six of nine. That's 21 total strikeouts, a record for a nine-inning CWS game. Making the stellar pitching all the more amazing was the fact that the wind was blowing straight out to center field at Ameritrade Park. Of course you have to hit the ball for the wind to become a factor, and Texas so rarely touched either Bednar or Sims. ... State next plays Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Virginia, which defeated Tennessee 6-0 earlier Sunday. The winner of that game will be in the driver's seat to advance to the best-two-of-three championship series. |
| First two days of College World Series brings big business to North downtown | |
| Heading into the College World Series, business owners were hoping for an economic boom as they continue to recover from the pandemic. After two days of baseball, many say that wish is coming true. "It's like eight straight days of Christmas Morning," Kevin Culjat said. Culjat owns Rocco's Pizza and Lefty O'Tools bar near TD Ameritrade Park. Fans are happy to be back at the ballpark too. "I was missing coming," John Marchetti said. "Glad to be here." Marchetti and his fellow Mississippi State University fans are excited to be tailgating in Lot D again. KETV Newswatch 7 caught up with them as they got ready for their Sunday game against Texas University. They're among the thousands of fans coming down to Omaha and the ballpark for the College World Series this week. While they're in town, they'll be spending money in north downtown. "It's the busiest 14 days we'll see all year down here so try to capitalize on it and make sure everyone has a great time," Devin Jacobson said. Jacobson is with the Flagship Restaurant Group which owns Blatt and Zesto's Ice Cream. He said they used the pandemic to make a few changes, like moving Zesto's to the Mike Fahey Street side of their building. He said the decision is paying off. "It's ice cream and It's also on the North Side so there's actually shade when you're eating your ice cream instead of melting on the south side of the building," Jacobson said. "So lots of advantages." |
| 15 hours, 9 waffles: Clarion Ledger reporter's fantasy football punishment at Waffle House | |
 | A Clarion Ledger reporter never imagined he'd end up in last place in his fantasy football league when suggesting his punishment for losing. But there he was, sitting in the orange Brandon, Mississippi, Waffle House booth, counting the hours -- and the number of waffles laden with butter and syrup he'd eaten -- as thousands kept him company on Twitter. "No part of me believed that I was going to come in last," 25-year-old Lee Sanderlin said Friday morning. Sanderlin's self-inflicted sentence for having the worst team? Spending 24 hours in a Waffle House with the caveat he could shave off an hour with every waffle he ate. The investigative reporter arrived at the Waffle House on State Road 25 in Brandon at 4:07 p.m. on Thursday armed for the long day and night ahead with books, magazines and podcasts. He started out strong, ordering and eating two waffles right off the bat. "That means two hours down. 21.37 hours left roughly. Already my stomach is rumbling. Gonna be a long one. The staff does not believe me that I'll be here that long... little do they know," he tweeted. Finally, the sun rose and, never waffling, Sanderlin had consumed an impressive nine waffles in 15 hours and was at home recovering. He offered sage advice. "I recommend absolutely no one do this," he said, ready to never eat another waffle again. |
| Mike Bianco says he will stay at Ole Miss, ending his candidacy as LSU baseball coach | |
| Mike Bianco reaffirmed his commitment to Ole Miss as part of a statement released by the school late Sunday night announcing a contract extension, ending the possibility he will become LSU's next baseball coach. "Ole Miss is home for me and my family, and I am committed to bringing championships to Oxford," Bianco said. "I'm proud of what we have accomplished over the past 21 years, and I look forward to building on that foundation and achieving new levels of success." Bianco, 54, had been considered in LSU's coaching search since the beginning of the process, sources said, and his name emerged as a primary candidate after Ole Miss lost in the NCAA super regionals last weekend. He interviewed Thursday, sources said. But Bianco, who has coached at Ole Miss for 21 seasons, agreed to a new four-year contract extension -- the maximum length in Mississippi -- according to the statement. Bianco had strong ties to LSU, making him an intriguing candidate. From 1988-89, Bianco played catcher at LSU, and he was the captain of the 1989 team, which finished third at the College World Series. As a result, Bianco received public support from many former LSU baseball players over the past week. |
| How Virginia's Andrew Abbott overpowered Tennessee baseball's big offense in CWS loss | |
| Luc Lipcius stared at the pitcher's mound after chasing a letter-high fastball Sunday against Virginia. Cavaliers pitcher Andrew Abbott turned around as the Tennessee baseball first baseman walked back to the dugout shaking his head. Lipcius wasn't alone. The Vols couldn't solve Abbott at TD Ameritrade Park. "We kind of fed into what he was trying to do and never made an adjustment," Vols catcher Connor Pavolony said. "I think (the fastball was) what he went back to when he needed to get a strikeout or with two strikes. We just never adjusted to it." Tennessee (50-17) was shut out for the third time this season -- and the first since April 16 against Vanderbilt -- in its 6-0 loss to Virginia (36-25). Third-seeded Tennessee plummeted into the loser's bracket to face No. 2 Texas (47-16) in an elimination Tuesday (2 p.m. ET, ESPNU). "You've got to execute it on them," Cavaliers coach Brian O'Connor said. "Because they're very, very skilled. And you know that because of the runs that they've put up this year. And so I felt like he was going to be the best guy for us to be able to execute." |
| Here's how much each College World Series baseball coach gets paid | |
 | The driving force for any coach in college baseball is the chance to lead his team to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series. But the money doesn't hurt. The eight coaches who will man the dugouts at TD Ameritrade Park beginning Saturday make a good bit of it, albeit less than they would have prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as more than half took pay reductions this year. Tim Corbin, the coach of defending champion Vanderbilt, is surely the highest-paid member of the group, though terms of Stanford coach David Esquer's contract are not known. Terms of Corbin's contract also are not subject to public records laws, but with bonuses he earned more than $1.4 million in 2019, according to the school's most recent federal tax returns. His base salary was $1.2 million that year. Arizona's Jay Johnson is the second-highest paid coach at slightly more than $855,000. Virginia's Brian O'Connor is third at slightly more than $765,000, but he earned an extra $500,000 on June 1 as a longevity bonus written into his contract (he has led the Cavaliers since 2004). Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis is the fourth-highest paid at $750,000, which is $150,000 more than he earned when he led the Bulldogs to Omaha in 2019. Texas coach David Pierce's contract calls for him to be paid more than that ($850,000), but his contract was reduced by nearly $120,000 this year due to COVID-19. That reduction will be paid back before the expiration of his contract. The other coaches who took pay reductions this year were Johnson, O'Connor, Tennessee's Tony Vitello, and N.C. State's Elliott Avent, though Avent triggered an automatic one-year contract extension for leading the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament. |
| Leaving for the NBA? South Carolina coach Dawn Staley doesn't rule it out | |
 | South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley didn't rule out a jump to the NBA coaching ranks. Last week, Staley's name emerged as a candidate for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. On Monday, she confirmed she spoke with the NBA club. "I've talked to the Portland Trail Blazers, and that's the extent of it," Staley said during a Zoom call with reporters. "I've talked to them." Staley spoke with reporters Monday and appeared on NBC's TODAY Show to announce the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, which Staley will coach and will include former Gamecock great A'ja Wilson. During the TODAY Show, NBC's Craig Melvin asked Staley if she would consider the NBA head coach opening with the Trail Blazers. "I think that you have to answer each call, but whether or not I take that leap and leave a place like South Carolina, that's the biggest question," Staley said. "At this stage of the game, I think you have to consider it all. Home is where the heart is. But at the same time when you have an opportunity to be something different and open up the doors for other women, you definitely have to consider it. But you also have to be ready for it, too, and that's a big leap that no other college coach has ever done and been successful." The university confirmed Portland's interest through a statement: "The Portland Trail Blazers have contacted Athletics Director Ray Tanner to let the school know of the team's interest in speaking to Coach Staley about their head coaching position." |
| Supreme Court Rules Unanimously Against NCAA In Alston Case | |
| In one of the most significant sports law decisions in U.S. history, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously against the NCAA in NCAA v. Alston. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the opinion, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh authoring a concurring opinion where he advocated for a broader rebuke of NCAA amateurism. In affirming a 2020 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, all nine of the justices concluded that the NCAA and its more than 1,200 member schools and conferences are in violation of Section I of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The violation stems from members agreeing to limit how much each can compensate athletes for academic-related costs. The Ninth Circuit had affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, who following a 10-day bench trial in 2018, held in favor of the class led by former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston. At issue are limitations on how schools and conferences reimburse or pay athletes for computer costs, study abroad programs, internship opportunities, scholarships to attend vocational schools and other academic-related expenses. Pursuant to the Supreme Court's holding, NCAA rules on these topics will require modification or outright excision. |
| Supreme Court Rejects NCAA's Tight Limits on Athlete Benefits, Compensation | |
 | The high court ruled that strict limits on compensating college athletes violate U.S. antitrust law, a decision that could have broad ramifications for the future of college sports. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that strict NCAA limits on compensating college athletes violate U.S. antitrust law, a decision that could have broad ramifications for the future of college sports. The court, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch, upheld lower court rulings that said the NCAA unlawfully limited schools from competing for player talent by offering better benefits, to the detriment of college athletes. The decision doesn't open up a world of unlimited pay for college athletes, an issue that wasn't before the court. Instead, the justices said the NCAA must allow colleges to recruit athletes by offering them additional compensation and benefits, as long as they are tied to education. The court's decision comes at a pivotal moment in the broader fight over athletes' ability to be paid for their participation in the college-sports juggernaut. A wave of state laws allowing athletes to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness are set to come into effect July 1. Their number has been growing every week as state legislatures rush them through in the fear their universities will lose out on prized recruits without such laws in place. |
| Supreme Court rules against NCAA in antitrust case in unanimous decision | |
 | The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against the NCAA in a landmark antitrust case that specifically challenged the association's ability to have national limits on benefits for athletes that are related to education, but more broadly had raised doubts about its ability to limit benefits at all. The ruling will end the association's nationwide limits on education-related benefits athletes can receive for playing college sports. Athletes playing Division I men's or women's basketball or Bowl Subdivision football will be able to receive benefits from their schools that include cash or cash-equivalent awards based on academics or graduation. Among the other benefits that schools also can offer are scholarships to complete undergraduate or graduate degrees at any school and paid internships after athletes have completed their collegiate sports eligibility. Schools will not be required to provide these types of benefits, and conferences can impose prohibitions on certain benefits if their member schools so choose. However, conferences cannot act in concert. So, if a conference chooses to limit or prevent certain benefits, it risks giving a competitive advantage to other conferences. The ruling was unanimous. |
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