| Wednesday, September 1, 2021 |
| Mississippi State assembles team of student Vaccine Ambassadors to help answer questions, share personal experience | |
 | Mississippi State has assembled a team of students they are calling vaccine ambassadors who are tasked with helping spread information and answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine among their classmates. MSU's Office of Student Affairs says it's all about putting a human face on all of the facts and data behind the shots as well as help with the school's various popup vaccination clinics. "One of the clinics I worked at, a friend of mine actually came in to get her vaccine and she asked if I would hold her hand," says MSU senior Madeline Enlow, who has been a vaccine ambassador for three weeks. That level of trust and personal connection is what Mississippi State hopes can convince more of their students to take the COVID-19 vaccine. "It's something that now is still actively happening and (students are) seeing their classmates and their friends who live next door to them or down the hall having to quarantine or getting COVID with this new variant," Enlow says. The school administered a record 134 shots during their August 24th vaccination clinic in the wake of the Pfizer vaccine becoming FDA certified. MSU will be holding more on-campus vaccination clinics all throughout the final week of August and into September. |
| Refineries Potentially Face Weekslong Outages After Hurricane Ida | |
 | Refineries that were caught in the path of Hurricane Ida could take weeks to resume operations because of widespread power outages. Valero Energy Corp., Marathon Petroleum Corp., Royal Dutch Shell RDS and other oil refiners along the banks of the Mississippi River near New Orleans are still assessing damages and trying to figure out when they can come back online. Restarting those facilities, which account for almost a quarter of the Gulf Coast's oil refining capacity, will largely depend on a sluggish, weekslong effort to restore the region's power. The utility Entergy Corp. has warned that it will likely take days to assess widespread damage across 2,000 miles of electric-transmission lines knocked offline by the storm and weeks to fully repair problems. The impact on oil and fuel markets will likely remain muted, though. Gasoline inventories are ample ahead of Labor Day weekend, the start of a seasonal drop in fuel demand. Many motorists are still working from home because of the pandemic. The East Coast was expected by U.S. traders to draw higher imports from Europe in coming weeks. Still, prolonged outages could contribute to a shortage of fuel supply in the region. On Tuesday, roughly 35% of gas stations in Baton Rouge, La., and almost 30% of stations in New Orleans had run out of fuel, according to the fuel and price tracker GasBuddy. |
| What It'll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Hurricane Ida | |
 | Two days after Hurricane Ida tore through, New Orleans and its surrounding area remain almost totally without power. Levees, floodwalls, floodgates, pumps, and other protections prevented massive flooding, but Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines into the city, plunging it and nearby parishes into darkness. Getting the lights back on will be an arduous process that doesn't yet have a clear timeline -- but it starts with a massive reconnaissance effort. On Monday, there were about a million customers without power in Louisiana and roughly 50,000 in south Mississippi as a result of the storm. Regional electric utility Entergy said on Tuesday that it had already restored power to tens of thousands of customers and that 840,000 were still without power in Louisiana, plus 25,000 in Mississippi. The utilities warn that it could take three weeks or more to restore power to every single customer, an estimate based on past recovery times, like after Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and Isaac in 2012. After Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, it took about 40 days for power to come back across the region. Those repeated disasters mean that utilities have a recovery playbook for storms like Ida. But knowing what order to run those plays in depends entirely on the unique conditions left behind by each hurricane -- which regions remain inaccessible for days due to flooding and which specific components of the system need extensive repairs. |
| Interim head appointed for Mississippi Development Authority | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves has appointed an interim executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Laura Hipp, the head of marketing and a senior advisor at the agency, will be stepping into the role, Reeves announced Tuesday on Twitter. Before working at MDA, Hipp was Reeves' communications director when he was lieutenant governor. "My confidence in her to execute my vision will lead to economic growth & continue Mississippi's momentum," Reeves wrote on Twitter. Former MDA executive director John Rounsaville resigned on Aug. 13 following "an investigation into his conduct," according to a statement provided by Reeves spokesperson Bailey Martin to WAPT-TV. Hipp's salary will be $180,000 a year, the same as Rounsaville's, Martin said. |
| Area airports land more than $1.5 million in grants | |
 | Four airports in Northeast Mississippi were among nine in the state that will split $6.6 million in federal Airport Improvement Program grants. Grants totaling more than $1.5 million went to the airports in Houston, Corinth, Iuka and Oxford. U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., jointly announced the U.S. Department of Transportation will award the AIP grants on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Airport Improvement Program airport grant program funds airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting and airport markings. "Improving airport infrastructure makes air travel safer, more efficient, and more accessible to the public," Wicker said. "I am pleased the FAA is providing Mississippi airports with the resources needed to complete these projects, which will make airports better equipped to serve their communities." |
| Petal Fire Department Lieutenant Enters 4th Congressional District Race | |
 | Another candidate has entered the race in Mississippi's Fourth Congressional District. Alden Johnson, a Lieutenant with the Petal Fire Department, announced his decision to run for the seat currently held by Republican Steven Palazzo. Johnson will run as a Libertarian. So far, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell (R), longtime Gulfport Police Officer Raymond Brooks (R) and Carl Boyanton have tossed their hat into the ring ahead of the 2022 midterm election. Palazzo has held the seat since 2012 and ran unopposed during the previous election cycle. He has previously announced his intention to run for re-election and continues to deny all allegations related to an investigation into the potential misuse of campaign funds. |
| President Biden defends decision to end war in Afghanistan | |
 | President Joe Biden on Tuesday made a forceful defense of his decision to follow through on withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan even as some American citizens and Afghan allies were left behind. "I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in a tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago," Biden said at the White House, a day after the last American troops left the country. Biden also said the United States did not have a choice to safely maintain a small footprint in Afghanistan past Aug. 31. The options, the president said in his speech from the State Dining Room, were withdrawal or recommitting perhaps tens of thousands of U.S. troops. "That was the choice, the real choice," Biden said. "I was not going to extend this forever war," he added. "And I was not extending a forever exit." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been among the Republican voices arguing for an ongoing presence. During remarks earlier Tuesday in Ashland, Ky., McConnell called the Biden administration's withdrawal "an unforced error, a foreign policy blunder of gargantuan proportions." |
| Biden administration likely to lean on drone warfare in Afghanistan | |
 | The Biden administration is expected to increasingly rely on drone surveillance and strikes for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan following Monday's U.S. exit from the country after 20 years of war. President Biden this past week gave his top military commanders the authority to carry out several strikes on Islamic State affiliate targets in the country, a response to a suicide bombing near the airport Thursday that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans. The drone attacks -- including a Friday strike in Jalalabad near the Pakistan border that killed two militants, and a Sunday strike in Kabul that destroyed an ISIS-K car bomb -- appeared calibrated to send a message to militant groups that though U.S. forces were leaving the country, military operations are likely to persist. "To ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet," Biden said in a fiery speech at the White House on Tuesday, vowing a "tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy." But with boots no longer on the ground, the administration is limited in its options to deter terrorist threats, a situation complicated by limited intelligence and the reconnaissance needed to guide any future strikes. "How many other ways can we exercise those sorts of operations? There's not too many other options. We're kind of stuck," Barry Pavel, director of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, said of the administration's new reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles. "There's not that many tools left in the tool kit if we don't have people on the ground." |
| UN says Taliban cooperating with aid workers, allowing food distribution operations | |
| As America leaves Afghanistan, there remains the possibility of a humanitarian disaster. Feeding millions of people is a top priority of the United Nations' World Food Program, whose executive director, David Beasley, negotiated with Taliban leaders in Qatar last week over the continuation of aid. Amna Nawaz spoke with him about those negotiations and the continuation of aid efforts. |
| Supreme Court allows Texas' 6-week abortion ban to take effect | |
 | The Supreme Court early Wednesday let a Texas state law take effect that allows private citizens to sue to uphold a ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. The court's decision to not act on an emergency petition from Texas abortion clinics comes as the justices prepare to more broadly reconsider the right to an abortion it established almost 50 years ago. In May, justices agreed to review Mississippi's ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy -- a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Those arguments are expected later this year, with a ruling in 2022. Beyond outlawing abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the Texas law, signed in May, would deputize citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who helps facilitate the procedure after six weeks, such as a person who drives a pregnant person to the clinic. Individuals found to have violated the law would have to pay $10,000 to the person who successfully brings such a suit -- a bounty abortion rights advocates warn will encourage harassment, intimidation and vigilantism. The citizen enforcement scheme also made the law more difficult to challenge in court, and the Supreme Court's decision to side, for now, against the clinics is likely to encourage copycat bills in other states. |
| House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatens tech and telecom firms that comply with Jan. 6 committee's request to retain information related to attack | |
 | House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is threatening telecommunications and social media companies that comply with a request by the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, declaring that Republicans "will not forget" their actions. McCarthy spoke with former president Donald Trump on the day of the attack and is a potential witness in the select committee's probe. His statement comes after the panel on Monday asked 35 companies to retain phone records and other information related to the attack as it ramps up its investigation ahead of the return of Congress next month. "Adam Schiff, Bennie Thompson, and Nancy Pelosi's attempts to strong-arm private companies to turn over individuals' private data would put every American with a phone or computer in the crosshairs of a surveillance state run by Democrat politicians," McCarthy said in a statement Tuesday night, referring to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, the chairman of the select committee and the House speaker. Tim Mulvey, a spokesman for the select committee, said Wednesday that the panel "won't be deterred by those who want to whitewash or cover up the events of January 6th, or obstruct our investigation." The select committee's chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), recently said his panel would not shy away from investigating lawmakers as part of its inquiry, highlighting the remarkable nature of Congress investigating an attack on itself. |
| Black US farmers awaiting billions in promised debt relief | |
| There was a time when Black farms prospered. Just two generations out of slavery, by 1910 Black farmers had amassed more than 16 million acres of land and made up about 14 percent of farmers. The fruit of their labors fed much of America. Now, they have fewer than 4.7 million acres. Black farms in the U.S. plummeted from 925,000 to fewer than 36,000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest farm census. And only about one in 100 farmers is Black. What happened? They were able to overcome the broken promise of "40 acres and a mule" to the newly freed slaves -- a military order, later rescinded. But over the last century, they faced one obstacle after another because of their race. Farmers needed loans to expand, to buy seed, to bridge the time between harvests. But lenders -- chief among them, the USDA -- often refused to give them money, and often rushed to foreclose. Suppliers and customers undercut them. Laws of inheritance led to the breakup of homesteads. Now the government wants to make amends by providing billions of dollars in debt forgiveness for farmers of color as part of the pandemic relief package. But a judge has put the money on hold in the face of lawsuits filed by white farmers claiming that the program is unfair -- reverse discrimination. |
| What's with declining auto sales? | |
| Here's one part of the economy that's gotten steadily worse over recent months, even as much of the rest of the economy's been improving: motor vehicle sales. Monthly sales totals (on an annualized basis), peaked back in April, and have been falling ever since. Another dip is expected when figures for August are released this week. What gives? Many consumers have cash in the bank, and they're ready to spend it on a new vehicle. Especially, said Garrett Nelson at CFRA, if it's big enough to take the family on the road. "COVID has boosted demand for trucks and SUVs. You know, a lot of it really depends on the delta variant. If we see a pullback in airline travel, I think you're going to see even stronger demand for trucks and SUVs," he said. But the pandemic has disrupted the global supply of computer chips that go into modern vehicles, said David Whiston at Morningstar. And that's slowed production. "That's what's been so tragic in 2021 for the auto industry is that demand is excellent. There's just not enough inventory to meet that demand, it's not even close right now," he said. The shortage of models on dealer lots has driven up prices and wait times. |
| Charlotte Pegues is Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs | |
 | The University of Mississippi announced Monday that Charlotte Pegues will serve as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. She has served as Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs for the past year and a half. She was appointed to the position this week following the Institute of Higher Learning's Board of Trustees approval of the request for her appointment. Pegues earned her PhD from the university in 2001 and has served at the university for 28 years. The memo, sent to the university via UM Today, describes the leadership and care Pegues exercised during her time as Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. When asked for a statement about her appointment to the position, Pegues expressed to The Daily Mississippian her gratitude and excitement to continue in the role. "I very much appreciate and am humbled by the support I have received from students, faculty, staff and alumni," she said. "I am excited about continuing to work with the outstanding team of professionals in the Division of Student Affairs to provide excellent services, programs and support for students." |
| How are Mississippi's public universities tracking COVID cases? | |
| As COVID-19 continues to overwhelm Mississippi, classes are in full swing at colleges across the state. These first weeks of the semester, researchers say, are prime time for outbreaks to occur on college campuses. A peer-reviewed study published earlier this year found that in 18 out of 30 large U.S. universities, an outbreak on campus was followed by a surge in cases in the surrounding county less than 14 days later. That was the case last year at University of Mississippi, where the Mississippi State Department of Health identified an outbreak five days before the semester started, as students were moving into the dorms. So far this semester, the Mississippi Department of Health has not announced any campus outbreaks, though the likelihood that one will spread to the surrounding community is high. On Aug. 31, 2020, the seven-day average for new COVID cases was 639. A year later, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads throughout Mississippi, that figure is 3,159. This means it's a particularly important time for students, faculty and staff to stay vigilant and adhere to their campus' safety guidelines. It's also important that universities closely track COVID cases. The latest guidance from the Mississippi Department of Health advises colleges and universities to continue contact tracing to identify COVID-19 positive individuals and remove them from the school setting, particularly dormitories where transmission is more likely. |
| LSU closed for another week due to Hurricane Ida; Southern closes through Labor Day | |
 | All virtual and in-person classes and events at Louisiana State University are canceled until Sept. 7. In an email to students and faculty Tuesday afternoon, LSU said the campus will reopen in a week to give students and employees "more time to recover from Hurricane Ida." The email directed students who were affected by the storm to LSU's student emergency support fund, where they can apply for financial assistance. Students who live in campus housing will be allowed to stay and will have meals provided by the university. The school's emergency operations center said it will announce changes to the academic calendar as soon as possible. University of Louisiana at Lafayette, meanwhile, resumed classes Tuesday morning. Nicholls State University in Thibodaux is closed indefinitely. Tulane University is closed for two weeks to evacuate the campus. |
| Texas A&M officials pleased with low COVID-19 positivity rate | |
 | The COVID-19 positivity rate from the Texas A&M community looks fine so far to Chief Operating Officer Greg Hartman, but he noted that a lot could still change. The university is requiring all students, faculty and staff to participate in a mandatory COVID-19 testing program regardless of vaccination status. Everyone must be tested between Aug. 23 and Sept. 10 at one of A&M's several testing locations on campus. The university's COVID-19 dashboard says that in the week before classes started there were 28,794 tests, with 791 of those coming back positive leading to a 2.7% positivity rate. A positivity rate is the proportion of all positive tests out of all the positive tests collected. Positivity rates tend to go down when there are required testing periods because there are more asymptomatic people being tested. In a Tuesday Zoom call with reporters, Hartman said that the school is "happy with the compliance" so far. Hartman was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Texas A&M Health prior to becoming COO of the university. "The numbers so far with our mandatory testing are pretty good," Hartman said. "We've been very pleased so far with the positivity rate. It's early, you don't know who's going to get tested now versus which ones are going to get tested later and all those kinds of issues so you don't want to jump to conclusions but so far, so good." |
| U. of Missouri to consider naming NextGen building for outgoing Sen. Roy Blunt | |
 | The University of Missouri System Board of Curators on Thursday will consider a proposal to name the NextGen Precision Health building on campus after U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. The grand opening of the $221 million project is scheduled for Oct. 19. The proposal is to name the facility the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building. The board will meet at University of Missouri-Kansas City. "For three decades, Sen. Roy Blunt has championed the mission of public education in Missouri," UM System President Mun Choi said in a news release. "No one has contributed more to the dramatic increase in funding for biomedical research and Pell grants. His efforts to ensure access to high-quality education and health care have surely transformed lives in Missouri and beyond." Blunt isn't seeking reelection. At the University of Missouri, federal National Institutes of Health-funded research has increased more than 50% over six years, with Blunt's support, the news release states. He has established a federal partnership between NextGen and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, securing 20 years of funding for the partnership. |
| U. of Missouri's Tiger Pantry, Truman's Closet, and STRIPES Consolidate into Hitt Street location | |
 | Three student-led and managed services, Tiger Pantry, Truman's Closet and STRIPES, will open their doors to students, staff and University of Missouri Health Care workers on Sept. 7 at their new location in the lower level of the Hitt Street Parking Structure. The new location means the organizations can better serve the MU community and allows for easier conditions for their volunteers. Truman's Closet has operated for about a year in the location with curbside service but has not been open inside to the public. The original location, on Rock Quarry Road, made it difficult for students without a vehicle to access the services provided by Tiger Pantry and Truman's Closet. Brylee Duncan, the director of Tiger Pantry and Truman's Closet, reported that since the move, Tiger Pantry has seen about a 25% increase of those using the food pantry service since the change in the location spring 2020. Tiger Pantry provides dietary assistance to students, faculty and staff of MU, as well as offering education on food insecurity in Columbia. Truman's Closet allows students to borrow business apparel and graduation gowns. If in good condition, students can also donate these articles from their own closets. STRIPES is a safe ride program for students who feel uncomfortable walking home. The service also promises confidentiality and a judgment-free experience. |
| Judge pauses Western Michigan's athlete vaccine mandate, denies halt of Michigan State's mandate | |
| A federal judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order barring Western Michigan University from mandating COVID-19 vaccination among its athletes. But U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney denied a request for a temporary restraining order from a Michigan State University employee who is suing the university over its vaccine mandate on the argument that she has immunity. Maloney's 14-day pause on Western's vaccine mandate for athletes comes after four student athletes sued the university Monday on the grounds that the requirement violated their religious beliefs. After the university denied their request for religious exemptions, the athletes were set to be permanently kicked off their teams if they weren't vaccinated prior to Tuesday. Maloney said Tuesday that Western's mandate "is not justified by a compelling interest and is not narrowly tailored," elements that are required if there is an infringement on religious rights. On Tuesday afternoon, Maloney ruled Jeanna Norris, 37, had not shown a strong likelihood of success in her case against MSU. Norris had argued she has natural immunity after contracting COVID-19 late last year and her immunologist said vaccination was medically unnecessary. |
| Pandemic leads to spike in demand for tuition insurance | |
 | With the COVID-19 pandemic and the Delta variant continuing to sow uncertainty about the future, companies offering tuition insurance have seen a spike in business, as many students and their families are looking to safeguard their investment in higher education. "We've seen almost four times growth in the business in two years," said John Fees, co-founder and CEO of GradGuard, a company that offers tuition insurance. "We are seeing record numbers of purchase rates, and we're paying a lot of claims. More students and more universities are adopting the program." Most colleges and universities don't offer students refunds on their tuition if they have to withdraw from the semester after a certain number of weeks have passed. That's where tuition insurance comes in -- it provides reimbursement for the cost when a student can't complete an academic term due to an unforeseen, covered circumstance. Illnesses are usually considered justified reasons for reimbursement, but circumstances such as a college choosing to switch from in-person to virtual classes are not. GradGuard estimates that about 1 percent -- tens of thousands -- of students won't complete their term due to a covered reason. Students and their families lose more than $1 billion a year due to unexpected medical withdrawals, according to its estimates. |
| Full FDA Approval Triggers More Universities To Require The COVID-19 Vaccine | |
 | It's been a week since the FDA announced full approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, and the decision has opened the door for colleges and universities to require the vaccine for their campuses. With a new academic year underway, about 100 colleges across the country added a mandate after the FDA approval. At University of Richmond, students now have until Sept. 8 to get at least their first dose. At Central Michigan University, students can opt out of the vaccine requirement but, if they do, must submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. The University of Louisiana system will also require the vaccine for students enrolled at its nine institutions. Joseph Savoie, president of UL Lafayette, wrote to the campus community that FDA approval is "the standard for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy." The University of Minnesota instituted a vaccine requirement as well, citing FDA approval as a "key milestone in managing the pandemic." A number of these schools had previously said they were waiting on FDA approval to announce a vaccine requirement. While more than 800 colleges and universities have now adopted COVID-19 vaccination requirements for their students and staff to be able to return to campus in person, most institutions -- whether or not they have a requirement -- have been highly encouraging or incentivizing their students to get vaccinated. Universities -- regardless of mandates -- tend to have higher vaccination rates than their state's averages. |
| Biden administration ends waiver limiting audits of students applying for financial aid | |
| Weeks after relaxing its audit of college students relying on federal grants and loans to pay for this academic year, the Education Department said it will resume the process for the following term. The decision could result in more students from low-income households being asked to provide further proof that the information on their 2022-2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is accurate. The audit, known as verification, is widely criticized as being an invasive, time-consuming and unnecessary hurdle for some of higher education's most vulnerable populations. As communities on the margins continued to feel the financial sting of the coronavirus, Richard Cordray, head of the Education Department's Federal Student Aid office, said in July the agency would narrow the parameters of the audit for the 2021-2022 FAFSA cycle. Although the economy is climbing out of the hole, higher-education experts say the impact of the pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by tepid enrollment at community colleges and low FAFSA completion rates. "All of the reasons the department cited for offering these waivers previously will continue to exist this next year," said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). "Adding back in this burdensome process ... is going to make all of this that much more difficult." |
| Who will lawmakers listen to on taxes: Grover Norquist or Mississippi business leaders? | |
| Geoff Pender writes for Mississippi Today: For the first time in a generation, Mississippi has the ways and means to tackle its desperate needs in education, health care and infrastructure. So it makes perfect sense that lawmakers this summer are focused on... eliminating income taxes, raising sales taxes and haggling over marijuana. A select panel of 16 House and Senate lawmakers, plus House Speaker Philip Gunn, who apparently also selected himself, held two full days of Tax Study Committee hearings last week. Once upon a time, the hearings were supposed to be for rank-and-file senators to examine the nuts and bolts of state taxation and budgeting. This was called after the Senate balked last session at passing -- or even voting on -- Gunn's House-passed plan to eliminate personal income taxes and increase sales and other "consumption" taxes. Senate leaders vowed to gather information on what, if any, reform is needed with Mississippi's tax code. But this morphed into a joint House-Senate committee, and the hearings morphed into a trial to litigate Gunn's proposal. |
| Science provides us many blessings | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: As many Mississippians ignore, discredit and denigrate science, the darn rascal keeps having more and more beneficial impact on our lives. Know what mRNA is? It is messenger ribonucleic acid, one of several forms of RNA, a life essential complex molecule like DNA in our genetic system. What does mRNA do? Statnews.com offers this easy to understand explanation: "The body relies on millions of tiny proteins to keep itself alive and healthy, and it uses mRNA to tell cells which proteins to make." The scientific advancement of computers has itself led to the exponential development of genetic science and its applications. Many of us are experiencing a fantastic application at this time, i.e., the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19. Both utilize synthetic mRNA that tells our cells how to make proteins that spur the immune system to generate the antibodies needed to fight off the COVID virus. ... While politicians have muddled and meddled their way through the COVID pandemic over the past 20 months, science has responded quickly and effectively. Most of us don't understand it, and many fear it. But we should appreciate the many blessings science provides us. |
| State, Ole Miss dominated SEC baseball, basketball and football from 1959-1966 | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: University of Southern Mississippi Professor Emeritus James Crockett, now an adjunct professor of accountancy at the University of Mississippi, perhaps enjoyed a bit of serendipity in bringing his latest book to market in the same year that the entire nation witnessed a Mississippi team win a legitimate NCAA national championship at the 2021 College World Series in Omaha. Crockett has penned three fine books (all for the University Press of Mississippi) in past years, books that one might expect a gifted accountant with meticulous research skills would author. His broad topics? Public corruption in Mississippi. ... Now, Crockett is back with another book published by University Press of Mississippi and there's not a corrupt public official in sight. "Rulers of the SEC: Ole Miss and Mississippi State 1959 – 1966" has been a labor of love for Crockett. The book focused on the author's realization that for a brief, shining time in the late 1950s and early 1960s. State and Ole Miss dominated the Southeastern Conference championships won in baseball, basketball and football from 1959 through 1966. It's one thing to claim athletic dominance in college sports, but it's another thing to document that prowess in the manner worthy of an accountant with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Ole Miss and a doctorate from MSU. Perhaps the story is best told by Crockett in the book's introduction: |
SPORTS
| 'Our Fans Are The Best In The Country' | |
| Mississippi State's Davis Wade Stadium has been called the loudest stadium in college football. The Bulldogs' home field had a tamer tone in 2020 thanks to capacity restrictions due to COVID-19 but is expected to return to a decibel level befitting its reputation when it welcomes Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 3 p.m. to kickoff a new season. "I can't wait," said wide receiver Austin Williams. "I think our fans are the best in the country. I can't wait to get there and hear the cowbells ringing. It's going to be awesome." While Williams is well versed in all things clanga entering his fifth year at MSU, many of his counterparts have yet to experience the home field advantage of a packed stadium in Starkville. Running back Jo'quavious Marks got a taste of that atmosphere while on a recruiting visit, but has yet to do so as a player. Marks played in all five of the Bulldogs' home games last year as a freshman, drawing an average crowd of 12,866. "Since they said everybody is going to be in there fully, that's all I've been thinking about," Marks said. "When I came on a visit, I heard it. Now, I'm just ready to walk out on the field and hear it." Even Mike Leach is eagerly anticipating roaming the sidelines on Saturday in a packed Davis Wade Stadium for the first time as the Bulldogs' head coach. The largest home crowd Leach coached in front of last fall was in the season opener against Arkansas (13,564). "I'm definitely looking forward to it," Leach said. "The only time (I've been here) when they were at full strength was when I was at the University of Kentucky and they were screaming and hollering. Mississippi State had a pretty good year (in 1999) so yeah, it was a great environment." |
| Bulldogs say 'everybody's ready to go' ahead of Louisiana Tech matchup | |
 | Aaron Brule can feel the energy. From Mississippi State's scout team to its starters, the redshirt junior linebacker said Tuesday, something is just different. With only a few days left until the Bulldogs open their season at 3 p.m. Saturday against Louisiana Tech, it's not hard to tell what it is. "I think everybody's ready to go," Brule said. "Everybody knows that we can win football games." By the time the teams clash inside Davis Wade Stadium, it will have been 247 days since Mississippi State last played a game. And it's never been clearer that the Bulldogs feel they've waited long enough. "I'm glad that we're getting closer to playing," head coach Mike Leach said. "We're getting tired of playing one another, and I think it's about time we get tested by other teams." First up are the red and blue Bulldogs from Ruston, Louisiana, who own a 2-6 all-time record against their maroon and white counterparts. Mississippi State won their last meeting in November 2018, a 45-3 beatdown in Starkville. Ninth-year coach Skip Holtz and Louisiana Tech, though, have an edge in 2021 when it comes to age -- something of which Leach's team doesn't possess much. "They have a lot of guys back," Leach said. "They're kind of an upperclassman team, and we're a lowerclassman team. I think they have quite a lot of experience." But the Bulldogs have talent and chemistry, both of which should serve them well this fall. |
| Mississippi State coach Mike Leach on SEC forfeit policy: 'I'll cross that bridge when I come to it' | |
| After the SEC announced Monday that teams would have to forfeit football games and receive a loss in the standings if they can't compete because of "unavailability issues," Mississippi State coach Mike Leach expressed confidence his team won't face a situation like that. And if they were depleted, Leach figures the Bulldogs would play through that adversity. Mississippi State played out the end of last season with a depleted squad, partly because of COVID-19 related issues mixed with the departure of several players midway through the year. Against Georgia, for instance, Mississippi State played despite being below the threshold of 53 scholarship players. If teams were below that number, the SEC allowed those squads to forfeit without penalty in 2020. The Bulldogs continued playing the remainder of their schedule with fewer numbers than expected. Before they played Auburn in the penultimate regular season game, Leach said the numbers available were "pretty similar" to what they had been during the preceding two weeks. There's no scholarship requirement this season for the SEC, a conference spokesperson told the Clarion Ledger, leaving the decision to forfeit up to each individual school. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Leach said when asked his thoughts about a forfeit equaling a loss. "I do know this: Last year, we played the University of Georgia with ... something like 44 guys available, 44 scholarship guys available. So if we can do that, we probably won't forfeit." |
| Notebook: Mississippi State talks season opener, emerging plays, forfeits | |
| Mike Leach approached a white table just outside the Mississippi State football practice fields on Tuesday evening for his weekly press conference, as game week officially got underway in Starkville. That sentence reads different from previous years, or even opposing schools this year, as Leach wasn't at his usual podium for a Monday press conference due to Hurricane Ida making its way across Mississippi and toward the Northeast. Mississippi State welcomes Louisiana Tech on Saturday, for a regular-season opener many anticipate State to cruise in. MSU is a 23-point favorite against a La. Tech team that went 5-5 overall last season and 4-2 in Conference USA play. Louisiana Tech announced Austin Kendall – a transfer from West Virginia – as its starting quarterback on Tuesday. Kendall has thrown for 2,418 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his career. |
| Mike Leach talks depth chart battles ahead of Mississippi State season opener | |
| Mississippi State released its first depth chart of the season on Monday, ahead of Saturday's season opener at home against Louisiana Tech. The two-deep offered clarity of defensive end Jordan Davis' presumed injury, as he was left off. At other positions, some questions were raised. Coach Mike Leach said last Wednesday if the season had started at that moment, Will Rogers would be the starting quarterback. He echoed that same phrase on Tuesday. The quarterback slot on the depth chart is labeled as Rogers or Chance Lovertich, as Leach continues to stress his desire for competition. Running backs Jo'Quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson were also listed as competing starters, though the assumption has always been the two of them would divide reps almost evenly -- something Marks says they both embrace. Offensively, the true surprise among the "ORs" came at Y receiver, between Austin Williams and Jaden Walley -- the team's second and third reception leaders among returners from last season behind Marks. "I think they're very close," Leach said. "If anything, right now, I think Austin is ahead. We'll see how they define themselves in practice." |
| Three Mississippi State receivers who Mike Leach says are 'emerging' | |
| In coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense, Mississippi State will lean on a slew of wide receivers over the course of the season. So while the initial depth chart Leach released Monday highlighted three starters and a competition for a fourth position, the ball will be spread around to far more pass catchers than that. Leach hopes to have eight receivers for his starting quarterback -- who appears to be Will Rogers -- to rely on. That group will include Malik Heath, Jamire Calvin, Makai Polk, Austin Williams and Jaden Walley. The latter two are in a battle for one of the starting slot positions, and while Leach said Williams is leading Walley, both will be heavily involved. But the Bulldogs coach also highlighted three receivers who are "emerging" as reliable options in the week leading up to the season opener against Louisiana Tech on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPNU) at Davis Wade Stadium. Leach said he figures the initial depth chart will see movement as the season progresses, given the way "some of the young guys are picking things up." For Mississippi State's offense to take a step forward from last season, Leach will need the depth of its receiving corps to pan out. Here are three options Leach is especially impressed with this week: Teddy Knox, Rara Thomas and Christian Ford. |
| 'Dawg Talk' Returns Downtown For 2021 Season | |
| For the second straight football season, "Dawg Talk" will be hosted live from Downtown Starkville: Mississippi's College Town. This year's version will debut on Thursday, Sept. 2 from 7-8 p.m. CT, two days ahead of MSU's season opener against Louisiana Tech. "Dawg Talk" featuring head football coach Mike Leach is hosted by the Voice of the Bulldogs, Neil Price. The show can be heard statewide throughout the year on Mississippi State Sports Radio Network affiliates. You can also hear "Dawg Talk" via HailState.com/plus. Live video of the show is set to be streamed on MSU football's official Facebook page. Fans will again have the opportunity to interact with the show. Fans are encouraged to kick off their weekend in Mississippi's College Town by attending the live show. Those who are unable to attend in person are invited to submit questions for Leach through the @HailStateFB Twitter account and MSU football's Facebook page. "Dawg Talk" will take place during each game week of the 2021 regular season schedule at 200 E. Main Street. |
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