| Tuesday, August 24, 2021 |
| MSU Extension welcomes new forestry specialist | |
 | Mississippi State University recently welcomed a new forestry specialist. Curtis VanderSchaaf joined the MSU Extension Service in the southwest region as a forestry specialist with regional and statewide duties. He also is a faculty member in the MSU Department of Forestry. VanderSchaaf is based in the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Raymond. As an Extension area forester, VanderSchaaf conducts programs on all general forestry issues that influence landowner decision-making processes specific to southwest Mississippi. His focus for statewide programs includes growth and yield, inventory, pine silviculture and timber stand management and finance. VanderSchaaf comes to MSU from Louisiana Tech University, where he was an assistant professor of quantitative silviculture. He earned a bachelor's degree in forest management from Stephen F. Austin State University, a master's degree in silviculture from the University of Idaho and a doctorate in forest biometrics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech. |
| Vaccine clinic offered for MSU-Meridian students, staff | |
 | MSU-Meridian has a partnership with EC-HealthNet Family Medicine Residency Program to offer COVID vaccinations to any MSU-Meridian student, staff or faculty member. It will be Friday, Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kahlmus Auditorium on the College Park campus. Vaccines are free and no appointment is necessary. The Moderna vaccine, available only to people 18 and older, will be administered. Second dose will be at the same location on September 24. |
| Livestock medicine doesn't work against COVID, doctors warn | |
 | The Mississippi Health Department is warning people not to use livestock medicine to try to treat COVID-19, after poison-control centers received calls about some ingesting it and becoming ill, including two people who were hospitalized. Meanwhile, as Mississippi continues seeing a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs is reminding residents of an order he issued last year under which residents who contract the virus can be fined or jailed if they don't quarantine. His tweet about the order on Friday received both support and criticism. Mississippi's Department of Health reported Monday that 7,249 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state over the weekend. Department officials also announced that 56 more people had died of the coronavirus, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 8,047. At least 70% of recent calls to the Mississippi Poison Control Center have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers, Mississippi Department of Health officials said last week. They did not say exactly how many calls were received. "Patients should be advised to not take any medications intended to treat animals and should be instructed to only take ivermectin as prescribed by their physician," State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers wrote in a memo Friday. "Animal drugs are highly concentrated for large animals and can be highly toxic in humans." |
| As COVID cases soar, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson 'implores' Gov. Tate Reeves to do more | |
 | U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, sent a letter to Gov. Tate Reeves Friday asking him to issue a statewide mask mandate in light of the state's continued rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. "I implore you, as governor, to do more to address this dire situation," Thompson wrote. Thompson, representing Mississippi's Second Congressional District, asked Reeves to require all Mississippians to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, for indoor settings and at schools. More than 20,000 Mississippi school children have been quarantined because of COVID-19 exposure and record numbers of children infected with COVID-19 are being treated in hospitals. Reeves has repeatedly said he will not issue any mask mandate in Mississippi. In his letter, Thompson asked Reeves to take full advantage of the federal resources made available to Mississippi. State legislators, including Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, have asked the governor to call a special session so they can allocate the more than $1.8 billion the state has received in federal pandemic relief money. The money can be used to boost pay for medical workers employed at hospitals and to organize COVID-19 vaccine clinics and outreach, among other things. The Legislature can't allocate money out of session, and is not scheduled to meet until January 2022. Reeves said Thursday at a press conference he has no intention of calling a special session, and is not sure what more the Legislature could do. |
| The inside story behind Pfizer and BioNTech's new vaccine brand name, Comirnaty | |
 | Comirnaty. It's a name we'll all know soon. The new brand name for Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty mashes up community, immunity, mRNA and COVID -- pretty much everything that could fit into the moniker for the world's most high-profile product at the moment. How did those concepts become a brand? We asked the naming agency behind both Comirnaty and its non-proprietary name, tozinameran -- industry heavyweight Brand Institute, which began working with BioNTech in April. Pfizer joined the effort shortly after, when the duo's vaccine collaboration was announced. "The name is coined from Covid-19 immunity, and then embeds the mRNA in the middle, which is the platform technology, and as a whole the name is meant to evoke the word community," Scott Piergrossi, Brand Institute president of operations and communications, said. The goal in naming drugs is to overlap ideas and layer meaning into a name, he said. In this case, the high-priority concepts the teams started with were COVID immunization and the mRNA technology. The clients themselves came up with community as an image and association they wanted to elicit, Piergrossi said. So that's the Co- prefix, followed by the mRNA in the middle, and ending with the -ty suffix, which nods to both community and immunity. Plus, community and immunity are conceptually mnemonic across the entire name. |
| Signature-gathering for early voting begins despite Supreme Court ballot initiative ruling | |
| Sponsors of the early voting ballot initiative have started gathering signatures even though it is not clear their proposal will make the ballot even if they gather the required number of signatures. The effort is in question after the state Supreme Court ruled invalid the state's initiative process back in May. Kelly Jacobs of DeSoto County, co-chair of MEVI78, the early voting initiative, said the supporters are hopeful that the Legislature will fix the process either in special session this year or the 2022 regular session so that the early voting proposal can be placed on the 2023 ballot. "I know you want the convenience of early voting," said state Rep. Hester Jackson McCray, a Democrat from DeSoto County, who is the sponsor of the initiative. "We have carefully followed the process and after four months have received permission from Secretary of State (Michael) Watson to bring this petition to the people of Mississippi for their signatures. "We must collect the required 106,109-plus signatures, only from registered voters, in the next 12 month, to be on the November 2023 general election ballot. Let's get started." Another option, Jacobs said, is that a robust initiative signature-gathering effort would highlight strong support for early voting, prompting legislators to approve a plan without it having to go to the ballot. |
| House Democratic leaders float date certain for infrastructure vote | |
 | House Democratic leaders are proposing to "deem" a resolution committing the chamber to vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill by late September as part of a separate rule that would unlock the budget reconciliation process for $3.5 trillion in new domestic spending and tax breaks. If accepted by a group of 10 centrist holdouts on the underlying budget blueprint, a separate resolution would be tucked into the rule for floor debate on the infrastructure bill and voting rights legislation. The initial resolution included a Sept. 28 target date, but that wasn't set in stone and was now potentially being moved up to Sept. 27, according to an aide familiar with the talks. That would mean a vote on the infrastructure bill days before current surface transportation program authorizations are set to expire, as well as government-wide agency funding. It also likely assumes a vote the week of Sept. 20 on the reconciliation bill that House committees are expected to complete by Sept. 15 under the terms of the budget resolution. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed to progressives that the chamber won't vote on the Senate's infrastructure bill until the reconciliation bill for President Joe Biden's fiscal policy agenda passes. The $3.5 trillion package is expected to contain funding for assorted programs like paid family leave, two years of free community college, clean energy subsidies, Medicare expansion, a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants and more. But it wasn't yet clear whether that still-unwritten broader package would have the votes to pass in either chamber, despite the reconciliation process affording Democrats the opportunity for simple majority passage in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote threshold. |
| CIA head meets Taliban leader as fears for Afghanistan grow | |
| The director of the CIA met with the Taliban's top political leader in Kabul, an official said Tuesday, as more reports emerged of abuses in areas held by the fighters, fueling concerns about Afghanistan's future and the fate of those racing to leave the country before the looming U.S. withdrawal. A Taliban spokesperson dashed hopes that an American-led evacuation could continue beyond an Aug. 31 deadline to allow more time for Western powers to get their citizens and vulnerable Afghans out of the country. Recent days have seen a flurry of efforts to speed the chaotic operation at Kabul's airport, where scenes of desperation have highlighted both the disarray of the American pullout and fears that the Taliban will again impose a brutal rule. Leaders of the Group of Seven nations plan to meet later in the day to discuss the airlift and the broader crisis. While details of William Burns' discussion with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Monday were not released, the meeting represents an extraordinary moment for a CIA that for two decades targeted the Taliban in paramilitary operations. And it gives a sense of the extent of the wrangling happening ahead of the end of America's two-decade war in the country. The CIA partnered with Pakistani forces to arrest Baradar in 2010, and he spent eight years in a Pakistani prison before the Trump administration persuaded Pakistan to release him in 2018 ahead of peace talks. |
| Meals for Heroes program returns to help UMMC frontline workers | |
 | The Fondren Renaissance Foundation (FRF) will bring back its Meals for Heroes program to help provide meals to frontline workers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson. "Hot meals are exactly what is needed right now, mostly for the ER, ICUs and COVID floors," said Jennifer Hospodor, director of UMMC's Community Development, Annual Giving and Alumni Engagement office. In 2020, the program raised $23,978 to provide meals for frontline workers. All meals were provided from Fondren restaurants. A team of volunteers will assist by picking up the meals from the restaurants and delivering them to UMMC. If you would like to join the delivery team, email Rebecca@fondren.org. |
| USM masks up for first day of school | |
 | It's that time of year again. Monday morning students at the University of Southern Mississippi filled the campus. Students walked with their masks up and backpacks on as they went from class to class. Upperclassmen were among the most excited to return to campus "I'm ecstatic to be back, cause I've been waiting to get back my senior year because the last two years they kicked us out of school and stuff, and I'm ready to get back to face-to-face and really be involved more into the school and campus and stuff," said Symyra Johnson. Chaniya McCoy is a junior from New Orleans, and she says she's excited to get involved on campus this year. "I just basically miss the atmosphere and all the activities and stuff going on so, ya know, I'm pretty excited to be back," said McCoy. |
| JSU to host COVID-19 vaccination event Tuesday at One University Place | |
| Jackson State University will be offering COVID-19 vaccinations to students, faculty, staff, and community members Tuesday, August 24 at One University Place. The shots will be provided by the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center. Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations will be available. The event will run from noon to 4 p.m., at Suite 6 at One University Place, 1100 John R. Lynch St., at the site that was formerly home to the Penguin Restaurant. Insurance is not needed and vaccines are provided at no cost through Jackson-Hinds and the Mississippi State Department of Health. |
| U. of Alabama demolishes east wing of historic Bryce Hospital building | |
 | University of Alabama officials cited insurmountable structural problems as the reason for the demolition of the east wing of the historic Bryce Hospital building. The demolition is part of the plan to transform Bryce Hospital, formerly Alabama's oldest and largest inpatient psychiatric facility, into a new 130,000-square-foot performing arts complex. Shane Dorrill, assistant director of communications and strategic communications at UA, said via email that the east wing was always going to be the most problematic portion of the renovation project. Ingle Demolition was awarded the contract to demolish the wing. Part of the contract involved salvaging the bricks for use in the reconstruction of the wing. The restored section of the Bryce Hospital building will eventually house the welcome center for the university's Performing Arts Academic Center, which will be an entirely new structure adjacent to the existing building. The new Performing Arts Academic Center will feature four performance venues for theater and dance. In addition to housing the welcome center, the main Bryce building will also include a reception venue, faculty offices and rehearsal space, as well as museums dedicated to both UA history and the history of mental health in Alabama. |
| Returning to class despite COVID, wary but elated LSU students try to find a sense of normalcy | |
 | Tens of thousands of students and faculty returned to LSU's campus Monday for the for the university's first in-person semester in 18 months. By mid-morning, students filled the parking lots, swarmed the quad and packed into classrooms. But, as peers and professors alike basked in the familiarity of a busy campus, they realized things weren't entirely back to normal from COVID. Amanda Viloria, history senior, said she was shocked when she walked into her first class Monday morning. "I haven't seen 25 people sitting that close to each other in a classroom since 2019," Viloria said. "Everyone was wearing masks, but it just felt off." Joni Butcher, communication professor, said she has 50 students in one class, but she doesn't feel unsafe in her classroom. "I wasn't nervous to come to campus at all," Butcher said. "I think it's better for all of us if students are learning here rather than behind a screen." Butcher continued to teach in-person classes when faculty had the option to teach remotely, a choice that she said she made with her students in mind. "It's like any virus," she said. "If students are sick, they should take care of their health, but to be psychologically and socially healthy, they need to be on campus. We can't live in fear." |
| U. of Tennessee expands COVID-19 mask protocols to cover more indoor spaces | |
 | The University of Tennessee has extended mask requirements for the next two weeks in response to the rising numbers of the delta variant of COVID-19 cases across the state. Since Aug. 2, the UT System has required face coverings to be worn in classrooms, laboratories and at indoor academic events required for students. The mask requirement has now been extended to include all indoor public spaces except for private offices and residence hall rooms or when one is engaging in fitness activities or actively eating and drinking. The system's athletic departments will make decisions regarding requirements at indoor athletic facilities. UT will re-evaluate the need for the expanded face-covering requirement by Sept. 7. In a statement, UT System President Randy Boyd said, "We are committed to making the necessary adjustments to help ensure the health and safety of those who work, study and visit our campuses. While we are trying to do our part to keep our campuses healthy, we continue to stress the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine." |
| 'Getting back to normal.' U. of Kentucky students return to full classrooms for fall semester | |
 | For many University of Kentucky students, Monday felt like a return to normal. After spending more than a year with virtual classes and meetings, UK classes are back to full capacity and are being offered in person again. Masks are still required indoors and the university has set a goal of getting 80% of students and employees vaccinated against COVID-19. Students began moving back to campus last week, and Monday was the first day of the fall semester. UK sophomores Grace Smith and Cameron Tvrdik spent part of their senior year of high school and all of their freshman year with mainly online classes. The few classes they had in person meant desks were six feet apart and masks required. Now, they are starting their sophomore year with in-person classes. UK is not requiring students or employees to get the vaccine. Currently, 72.5% of returning students, faculty and staff reported they were fully vaccinated, according to UK's COVID-19 dashboard. New students have not yet been added to that percentage. People who are not vaccinated are required to complete a daily screening for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure, and will also be required to be tested for COVID-19 throughout the semester. |
| U. of Florida, Santa Fe College start fall semester with mixed feelings on COVID-19 protocols | |
 | Monday morning, under a cloudy but bright sky and the shadow of the pandemic's largest COVID-19 surge in Florida, tens of thousands of students started their first day of fall classes at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College in Gainesville. As parking lots filled and people scurried, pushed by the usual anxiety over where to find classrooms and shorter coffee lines, students and employees dealt with mixed feelings about a return to in-person classes and activities with limited COVID-19 precautions. Neither UF nor SF require masks or vaccines across campus, though both promote the preventative steps. In the schools' latest guidance online, it is strongly urged that everyone at SF wear masks indoors and get vaccinated against COVID-19. UF expects that all people wear masks indoors and also urges vaccination. On the medical portions of campus with UF Health's academic health center buildings, masking is mandatory. Caleb Kramer, a 23-year-old at UF studying microbiology and cell science with a minor in pathogenesis, started his senior year Monday with a full schedule of one in-person class, four online classes and three credits of lab research. Kramer, who lives in an apartment complex in Gainesville and is originally from Newberry, said he is both excited and anxious about the fall semester. He said he prefers in-person classes but isn't a fan of big crowds and is worried about community spread of COVID-19 with the highly infectious delta variant. |
| U. of Missouri sees first-day enrollment increase but fewer freshmen | |
 | The number of students on the University of Missouri campus on the first day of the fall semester Monday was up about 1% compared to a year ago, with a significant drop in first-time students and still well below the record year of 2015. First-day enrollment for first-time students -- freshmen -- was down nearly 10% from last year, to 4,871, from 5,380. The number of transfer students rose by a little over 1% to 1,360. Official enrollment numbers will be released in the future. Preliminary enrollment numbers show overall enrollment at 31,121. There were 30,849 on the first day of the fall 2020 semester. Undergraduate enrollment is up more than 1%, with 23,533 students. The first-day overall enrollment record was set in 2015, with 35,050 students. Enrollment declined after that year's race-related protests. The average score on the ACT, a college entrance exam, was 27 among MU freshmen. That's one of the highest freshman ACT averages on record at the university and above the state average of 20.8 and national average of 20.7. MU isn't requiring students to be vaccinated, but is offering incentives for those who register their vaccination information with the university online. The prizes include tuition discounts, free parking, tickets to sporting events and dinners with MU celebrities, including head football coach Eli Drinkwitz and head softball coach Larissa Anderson. |
| Missouri students return to campus with mixed feelings about COVID-19 protocols | |
 | Large groups of students crowded around campus as the fall semester came into full swing Monday. As students began in-person classes again, masks and social distancing were a rare sight in outdoor spaces. After more than a year of online instruction, University of Missouri students are back on campus for the start of fall semester. Within the past month, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of institutions nationwide enforcing mask mandates, following a national rise in COVID-19 cases. MU is no exception: It still has COVID-19 precautions in place, including a mask mandate in indoor classrooms and meeting spaces. MU does not require vaccination against COVID-19 to return to campus. Neither do Stephens College or Columbia College, though both have stricter requirements than MU. Students on MU's campus Monday had mixed feelings about the mask mandate and vaccine rule. MU is encouraging students to get vaccinated with a lottery that includes prizes such as tuition discounts and free parking for students who upload a vaccine card. Still, some students aren't convinced that a vaccine requirement is the right thing to do. "I don't feel like (COVID-19) is a great threat to me ... I don't feel like they should (require vaccines)," said MU fifth-year senior and civil engineering major Blake Johnson. "I mean, this is a free country. If you want to get a vaccine, that's great; if you don't, you don't really have to." |
| 13-year-old becomes youngest student on Georgia Tech's campus | |
| Most colleges have a "Big Man On Campus," typically the football star who gets all the attention. It's a little different at Georgia Tech this fall semester. Much of the focus is on 13-year-old Caleb Anderson, who began his first day of classes Monday as a full-time student, where he's studying aerospace engineering. Anderson, a lanky lad who said he had a recent growth spurt to 5 feet, 4 inches, became a teenager just two weeks ago. Anderson took an Integral Calculus class and Chemistry II and then sat for several rounds of interviews with curious reporters eager to find out what it's like for him to be at Georgia Tech, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation's top public universities. "It really feels like home to me," Anderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia Tech officials are unsure if Anderson is the youngest student ever, but he's certainly one of the youngest in recent memory. Young students like Anderson are rare, but not entirely unique, on college campuses. Martin Luther King Jr. was 15 when he enrolled at nearby Morehouse College. Anderson is a commuter student. His parents are driving him to campus, about a 30-minute commute. Georgia Tech has set aside space on campus for his father, Kobi, to work while his son takes classes. Anderson will be bringing lunch from home. |
| For Some College Students, Remote Learning Is a Game Changer | |
 | Although many college students have struggled with remote learning over the last year, some with disabilities found it to be a lifeline. As the fall semester approaches, those students are pushing for remote accommodations to continue, even as in-person classes resume. In fact, long before the pandemic, many students with disabilities had been calling for such accommodations, often to little avail. The past year, however, has made remote instruction seem more feasible. While some colleges have resisted remote learning as an accommodation, others say they are considering it. "The argument in the past, pre-Covid, was, 'Of course, an online course is fundamentally different than a course in the classroom,'" said Arlene Kanter, an expert in disability law at the Syracuse University College of Law. "Well, Covid changed all that." Colleges and universities are generally required to provide "reasonable" accommodations or modifications for qualified students with disabilities --- as long as those changes do not "fundamentally alter" the nature of the program or pose other undue burdens for the institutions. Those terms have always been open to interpretation and debate. But because many colleges did not offer discounts on tuition for remote learning last year, they could have a harder time arguing that it is fundamentally different from, or inferior to, in-person instruction. |
| Exhausted but Optimistic: a Portrait of This Year's Incoming Freshmen | |
 | Members of the high school class of 2021 -- whose entire senior year was marred by a global pandemic -- are mentally exhausted but optimistic about their first year of college, according to new data on students entering college this fall. That's just one of the insights in the data from the annual Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement, conducted by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University at Bloomington. Between May and August 20, the survey had more than 40,000 respondents who recently completed high school and were entering bachelor's degree-granting colleges in fall 2021. The survey, which closes in mid-September, includes pandemic-related questions to capture how Covid altered students' lives and fueled concerns about their future, health and safety, and ability to socialize. As classes get underway at colleges across the nation, the data provide insight about students' hopes for their first year of college and the impact Covid has had on their mental health. More than half of the students reported a substantial increase in mental/emotional exhaustion as a result of the pandemic. But at the same time, 47 percent were "very optimistic" that their first-year of college would be a success. |
| More colleges expected to mandate vaccines following Pfizer FDA approval | |
 | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday, opening the door for colleges and universities that have been hesitant to require vaccines for students to begin instituting mandates. The vaccine will now be referred to as "Comirnaty" rather than the Pfizer vaccine and has been approved for individuals 16 years of age and older. It will still be administered in two doses three weeks apart. "While this and other vaccines have met the FDA's rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product," Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. "Some of those institutions said that the fact the vaccine wasn't fully approved was holding up their willingness to put in a requirement," said Anita Barkin, co-chair of the American College Health Association's COVID-19 task force. "Now with the full approval status in place, institutions of higher education who were on the fence because of the emergency use authorization status may feel more willing to move forward with a requirement." Christopher Marsicano, founding director of C2i, noted that the FDA approval may not change much for institutions in states that have prohibited public institutions from mandating the vaccine, including Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. |
| Full Approval of Covid Vaccine Frees Up Some Colleges to Make Mandates Official | |
| The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of one of the Covid-19 vaccines is a game changer for colleges on the fence about whether to require that students or employees be inoculated against the deadly virus. The full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine places that shot on the same level as other vaccines that colleges and universities regularly require. Experts say they expect to see more colleges moving to mandate Covid vaccines in the coming weeks. "Colleges and universities can now say that the Covid-19 vaccine is just like any other vaccine and that's why they are going to require it," said Christopher Marsicano, an assistant professor of education studies and public policy at Davidson College and founding director of the College Crisis Initiative, or C2i, an initiative that has been collecting data on higher-education institutions and their responses to the pandemic. Louisiana State University was among the institutions that stated it would mandate vaccines once one of the shots was granted FDA approval. "In essence that has happened today; there will be a more-formal announcement tomorrow reinforcing that, but, as of right now, that proclamation made maybe a week or so ago is the reality here at LSU," said William F. Tate IV, the university president. "Now that the FDA has provided approval of Pfizer, we will be communicating logistics to the LSU community soon. We are reviewing the approval from FDA, but plan to implement the mandate on campus," said an LSU spokesperson in an email to The Chronicle. |
| Most students support vaccine mandates | |
| As Delta variant cases continue to surge and institutions adjust their start-of-term plans, most college students support vaccine mandates and remain wary of resuming normal campus life, according to two new polls. Axios and Generation Lab, a polling and research firm studying young people, found that of 846 students polled at two- and four-year institutions nationwide, 73 percent agreed that their institutions should mandate vaccines on campus. Likewise, a survey of 1,000 college students conducted last week by TimelyMD, a telehealth provider created for universities and colleges, found that students who attend institutions with mask and vaccine mandates overwhelmingly support the measures, with 85 percent in favor of vaccine requirements and 87 percent in favor of mask mandates. For students whose campuses don't have mandates in place, 55 percent said they wished their campuses required masks and/or COVID-19 vaccines. The Axios/Generation Lab poll also asked students which activities they would feel safe participating in, assuming they didn't know the vaccination status of the others present. Only 38 percent said they would feel comfortable attending an indoor party and 34 percent said they would dance with others; 55 percent responded that they wouldn't feel safe engaging in any of the suggested activities, which also included playing a drinking game and kissing a stranger. Sixty-one percent agreed that their institutions should impose restrictions on attending parties and other large social gatherings on campus. |
| Nevada's college students must get COVID-19 vaccines to enroll -- in the spring | |
| Public college students in Nevada will have to show proof they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus by November to enroll in face-to-face classes for the spring term, the State Board of Health decided last week. Board members approved the measure after three hours of public comments, which were dominated by opponents of the vaccine requirement, according to local media reports. The new regulation does not impact the fall term. The emergency decision will be effective for 120 days, meaning the board will have to undergo a lengthier process to permanently expand the list of required vaccines. With its new requirement, Nevada's state health board joins a growing list of government authorities requiring college students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus for the upcoming academic year. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, announced last week that college employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. Philadelphia's health department is likewise requiring college students and employees to be fully vaccinated by mid-October. Nevada's decision comes as the highly infectious delta variant fuels new coronavirus cases nationwide, with the U.S. regularly tallying more than 100,000 positive tests each day. Still, some states are preventing colleges from issuing vaccine mandates. They include Florida and Texas, where several schools are starting the fall term online amid skyrocketing coronavirus cases in the state and elsewhere. |
| Classes starting, but international students failing to get U.S. visas | |
| Kofi Owusu occasionally waits outside the U.S. embassy in Accra to ask fellow students what they have done to secure a timely visa appointment. Classes for his master's program at Villanova University in Pennsylvania are scheduled to start Monday, but his in-person interview appointment for a first-time U.S. student visa is still nine months away. It's the second time the political science student from Ghana won't make it to the United States in time for school. "I think they should just open up the system," said Owusu, adding "they are operating on a rather limited schedule so I think they can broaden it and give students priority." Visa processing is delayed as U.S. embassies and consulates operate at reduced capacity around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving some students abroad unable to make it for the start of the academic year. The wait and the hassle threaten both the country's standing as a preferred choice for international students and their economic contribution of around $40 billion annually to many universities and local economies. Educational advocacy groups are calling for interview waivers and video interviews for students and scholars in lieu of the required in-person interview to obtain an F or M student visa. |
SPORTS
| Air Raid Offense Influential To Daniel Greek's Family | |
| Steven Greek has been enamored with Mike Leach's Air Raid offense for more than two decades. When Greek graduated from college in 1999, he went to hear Leach speak following Leach's run as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. Greek has implemented his own version of the Air Raid at the high school level ever since and won four state titles as a head coach in Texas. "I was intrigued by his attack," Greek said. "I tried to model so much of what I do after his blueprint of success offensively over the years." Little did Greek know but Leach would go on to have an even bigger impact in his life. Three years after hearing Leach speak for the first time, Greek and his wife, Daisy, gave birth to their first son, Daniel. That son is now 18 and a freshman quarterback for Leach at Mississippi State. And just like his father, Daniel Greek is passionate about the Air Raid offense. Daniel Greek enrolled at MSU in January and was able to get his first taste of college football in the spring. During the Bulldogs' spring game, the now 6-foot-4, 225-pounder completed 8 of 11 passes for 101 yards and a 45-yard touchdown to Lideatrick Griffin. Graduating high school a semester early allowed him to get adjusted to college life as a student-athlete. |
| Here are three Mississippi State freshmen to watch | |
 | Some observers expect Mississippi State football to be much improved this season simply because of what a second season with a new coaching staff means. Add in the fact that Mike Leach, Zach Arnett and company had to work around a pandemic heading into their first season with the Bulldogs, and it's hard to overstate what a full offseason means. More reps mean better knowledge on both sides of the ball, but that doesn't mean that newcomers can't play an important role and make impactful plays this season. Here are three freshmen -- pending any decisions to redshirt -- to keep an eye on this season: WR Rara Thomas, RB Simeon Price and LB John Lewis. |
| State Trio Earns Summer All-Conference Honors | |
| A trio of Mississippi State soccer players was recognized by their respective summer leagues over the weekend, taking home all-conference honors. Monigo Karnley was named the United Women's Soccer Southeast Conference Offensive Player of the Year along with earning a spot on the All-Southeast Conference team. Gwen Mummert and Maddy Anderson earned all-conference honors in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Both leagues boasted multiple Division I student-athletes with representation from SEC. "The awards that the girls received, we're really proud of them," head coach James Armstrong said. "They represented Mississippi State soccer in a great way over the summer months. It's a great opportunity for them to play meaningful games and get good coaching. It was a really pleasing time for a lot of our players to go and play this summer and come back fitter and sharper." |
| JSU coach Deion Sanders promotes COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi | |
| Two weeks before the Jackson State football season opener, coach Deion Sanders is encouraging the public to get vaccinated. Jackson State corporate sponsor Walmart came to campus on Friday to offer free COVID-19 vaccines from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sanders was the spokesperson on the social media video promoting Walmart bringing the vaccination clinic to campus. "People, it ain't no excuse," Sanders said in the video. "One of the reasons this is very important is because first and foremost, we want to preserve life. Everybody's talking about what they would do, what they're not going to do, what they don't trust, what they don't trust. We trust a lot of things, but we need to trust the right thing." Sanders confirmed he's been vaccinated for "quite a long time" in the video as well. "One thing about this vaccination, it preserves life," Sanders said. "I want a chance to win. I want a chance to dominate. I want a chance to take this university and these young men and women to another level. How am I going to do that if I'm not here?" During the spring, Jackson State's season ended a week earlier than expected when the finale against Prairie View A&M was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test and multiple players not feeling well in the program. The season opener is Sept. 5 against Florida A&M in Miami at the Orange Blossom Classic. |
| Ole Miss Is a Surprise No. 1 in a New College Football Ranking: Team Vaccination Rates | |
 | Ole Miss is nowhere near the top of the preseason polls for the upcoming college football season. But it has achieved a surprise No. 1 in ranking in one category: vaccination rates. Mississippi is one of just three football programs in the top tier of Division I that publicly report having 100% of their players vaccinated. That's a big surprise given that the state of Mississippi has the second-lowest percentage of fully vaccinated adults in the U.S. at 35%, behind only Wyoming. In Lafayette County, where the university is located, just 43% of adults over 18 are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The achievement comes under Lane Kiffin, who is better known for his innovative offensive schemes and tantrums on the field and on Twitter. But when Ole Miss entered camp this summer, Kiffin was perfectly serious about his desire to get every player vaccinated. "It's irresponsible not to get the vaccine," Kiffin said in an interview. The only other programs in the "Power Five," college football's biggest and most lucrative conferences, to publicly report that they have reached that milestone are Arizona and Boston College. The Wildcats just reached 100% vaccination on Aug. 19. The Eagles got there by forceful means: Coach Jeff Hafley said in July that he helped one player who refused to get the shot find a new team via the transfer portal. |
| Millsaps breaks ground on first phase of baseball facility upgrades | |
| Work is underway on the first phase of a $1.8 million project designed to improve the baseball facilities at Millsaps College. Monday, the school held a groundbreaking to mark construction on a 6,000-square-foot facility for indoor hitting, pitching, and fielding practice. Additionally, space in the existing Hall Activities Center will be converted into a 1,000 square-foot player lounge. "Not only will we be able to utilize protected practice space, but the player lounge gives us a place to strengthen team unity," Head Baseball Coach Jim Page said. $1.5 million of the $1.8 million costs of the project has already been raised. The new facility is designed by Michael Boerner and Jack Allin of Weir Boerner Allin, who also designed the upgrades to the college's softball and tennis facilities. Boerner is a 1998 graduate of Millsaps. |
| LSU requiring proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test at Tiger Stadium for fans 12 years and older | |
| LSU will require all fans 12 years and older to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test at home games this fall. In consultation with various important decision-makers, including Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, LSU president William F. Tate and athletic director Scott Woodward, the decision comes out of concern for the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus. The policy will take effect for LSU's home opener against McNeese State on Sept. 11. Fans at Tiger Stadium will be asked to show proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine backed by the FDA. That includes those shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, both of which remain under emergency use authorization. Pfizer-BioNTech's two-dose vaccine received its full FDA approval on Monday. Physical or digital proof of a vaccinate card will be accepted upon inspection. Those who aren't vaccinated will have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of kickoff. Kids under 12 will not need to show proof of a negative test and wearing masks is encouraged, but not required. The school is still in the works with other measures like further masking requirements and pop-up vaccine sites. LSU's announcement is one of the biggest of its kind as college football's 2021 season commences. It joins a small (but growing) group of schools to issue similar requirements for stadium entry. Certainly, it's setting a tone in the SEC, which is reportedly considering financial penalties for teams that cost the league television money. |
| Texas A&M's Nick McKenna lives out dream on field crew for MLB at Field of Dreams game | |
 | Growing up in Vinton, Iowa -- population of 5,257 -- Nick McKenna realized early that playing professional baseball wasn't his destiny. His dreams came right out of the W.P Kinsella book Shoeless Joe, which was the story behind the 1989 movie Field of Dreams and its tagline "If you build it, they will come." McKenna, who has been Texas A&M's assistant athletic fields manager for 11 years, was part of the crew that helped bring the movie to life approximately an hour from his hometown, during Major League Baseball's at Field of Dreams game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees on Aug. 12. "It all just really tied together for me, especially with my background in baseball and field maintenance from a baseball perspective, and then you tie that in with growing up 70 miles from that area, it just ended up being a perfect experience for me," he said. Drawing on his years of experience managing groundskeeping duties at A&M's Blue Bell Park, McKenna was one of many who helped maintain the Major League field built a few feet from the cornstalk-encircled sandlot used in the movie. "I think that's a location and something that the people of Iowa -- and as someone that was born and raised there -- you kind of held an affinity for that, just because it gave your home area some notoriety, something to be known for," McKenna said. "People don't just drive to Dyersville, Iowa, for any reason. People come here to go to the Field of Dreams." |
| Notre Dame defends Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot, ranked offensive | |
 | Notre Dame's Fighting Irish leprechaun is the fourth-most offensive college football mascot in the nation, according to a new survey. The top three most offensive mascots, the survey says, wear face paint, headdresses and are culturally insensitive to Native Americans. When presented with the survey results by IndyStar, Notre Dame emailed a response that included a written statement defending the leprechaun and highlighting its history. "It is worth noting ... that there is no comparison between Notre Dame's nickname and mascot and the Indian and warrior names (and) mascots used by other institutions such as the NFL team formerly known as the Redskins," the statement read. "None of these institutions were founded or named by Native Americans who sought to highlight their heritage by using names and symbols associated with their people." At Notre Dame, the university said, the Irish have been an integral part of the school since its beginning and played a key role in adopting the name. Notre Dame's leprechaun was named fourth-most offensive, behind Osceola and Renegade of Florida State, the Aztec Warrior of San Diego State and Vili the Warrior of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. |
| Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC expected to formally announce alliance on Tuesday: Sources | |
| The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 are expected to formally announce their alliance on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic. The three leagues plan to work together on multiple fronts, from College Football Playoff expansion to NCAA governance issues and annual football scheduling. Schools within the three conferences believe they are like-minded, that they want to continue to prioritize broad-based sports offerings and that the academic profile of their institutions matters -- as does graduating athletes. "You all know the importance to us and the Big Ten around the concept of like-minded institutions," Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said on Saturday. "The Big Ten really prides itself on being more than just an athletics conference. ... If you look at that footprint of Pac 12, ACC and the Big Ten, I think the number is 40 percent of the AAU (Association of American Universities) membership lies in those three conferences." |
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