| Friday, September 3, 2021 |
| Full fan capacity, MSU football tailgating bring more visitors to Starkville | |
 | Hundreds of tents currently occupy the Junction at Mississippi State University as fans prepare for the return of college football. After a year of limited fan capacities and no tailgating, MSU is returning to its traditional ways of cheering on the Bulldogs. MSU will challenge Louisiana Tech University at 3 p.m. Saturday, but the festivities begin early that morning. Recent MSU graduate Christian Bailey said he and his friends have been patiently waiting for tailgating to return after a year off due to COVID-19. He said tailgating creates the football atmosphere, and no one does tailgating like Mississippi State fans. "I'm just ready to be out there again and yell, 'Go Mississippi State!'" Bailey said. "I think tailgating is a large part of college football. Part of the actual fun is getting together with all of your friends. It just makes the fans more spirited and excited about MSU football." Longtime fan Sara Brown echoed this excitement. A large group of her friends have tailgated before MSU football games for several years, and she said it was strange not being able to last year. Through Southern Tradition Tailgating, her tailgating group of 30 families sets up every home game beside the MSU Amphitheater. They divide each game among four or five families who are in charge of food and decorations that particular week. She said they are all ready to ring their cowbells in The Junction again because tailgating is "just part of the process." Davis Wade Stadium will have full capacity this year compared to last year's 25 percent. Greater Starkville Development Partnership Director of Membership Development Hunter Harrington said with "normal" MSU football back, she is thrilled for fans to visit Starkville and support local businesses. |
| City of Starkville prepares for the return of college football | |
 | The city of Starkville is preparing to host its first football game of the 2021 season and people in the college town are ready for everything that encompasses an SEC football weekend. Over 600 participants woke up early on Thursday morning to clean up the city in the 18th annual Get Swept Up event. One of those who volunteered was Christopher Smiley, marking his 16th time participating in citywide clean-up. "It's kind of a great experience where everybody can get some fellowship and work together," said Smiley. "Just a great team effort." Because it is always held each year before the first home football game, Smiley said it's the perfect way to get residents and the city ready for the season. "This basically lets us know that it's time for the Bulldogs to take care of business," he said. "This is just the warm-up before the season opener." However, volunteers weren't the only ones preparing for the Bulldogs to take the field on Saturday. Bart Wood is the owner of the national attraction, the Little Dooey BBQ restaurant in Starkville. He said he closed his doors early on Wednesday evening to give his workers a break before the madness of this weekend. "Everybody's working. Everybody's coming to Starkville having a good time and that's kind of what Starkville does," explained the restaurant owner. "We put the red carpet out and this is a red carpet event this weekend." |
| MSU Psychology Clinic provides free mental health services for children and teens | |
 | The pandemic has placed mental health strains on children and teens, and as a new school year begins, Mississippi State University's Psychology Clinic is providing free mental health services for those who need it. With more than $200,000 from the CARES Act, the MSU Psychology Clinic will be providing these free mental health services for youth through mental health screening, consultation, therapy. This award was granted to Dr. Melanie Walsh who wrote the grant to help children who are still processing the changes during a pandemic. "Even though we know that this funding came from the CARES Act, it doesn't mean that the children and teens we're working with have mental health issues that are directly related to coronavirus," said Walsh. |
| After rainfall from Hurricane Ida, cotton growers hope for hot, dry September | |
 | When the calendar turns to September, many who call Mississippi home long for cooler temperatures to relieve the summer's heat, but the state's cotton growers want high temperatures and dry weather to drag into October. "The state's 475,000-acre crop is depending on high temperatures to hang around for another month to produce high yields. The crop is mostly a few weeks behind schedule because a wet, cool spring forced late plantings, and cloudy days slowed its growth in its first stage", said Brian Pieralisi, cotton specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Pieralisi said the quality of the crop is highly variable depending on location. Extension row crop economist Will Maples said cotton prices have been on an upward trend all growing season long. "December 2021 Intercontinental Exchange cotton futures nearly broke the 95-cent level a couple weeks ago before falling off to 93 cents, but Hurricane Ida concerns have pushed the price right back near the 95-cent level," Maples said. "The market is continuing to question the size of this year's crop as prices move higher." Some possible issues to keep an eye on that might temper demand are high prices, the ongoing pandemic and shipping delays. |
| OCH gets 10 new workers from MEMA to assist with COVID | |
| Health care workers in Mississippi are beginning to see the help promised by MEMA. OCH Regional Medical Center was one of the 50 hospitals in the state assured to receive extra help to assist in the battle of COVID. Eddie High is a respiratory therapist at the local hospital. He's worked in the trenches of the hospital through the coronavirus since it first became rampant over a year ago and he said the work has been draining. "We're exhausted physically. We're exhausted mentally and we're exhausted emotionally," he explained. To help the front-line workers behind the hospital, MEMA sent 10 workers to OCH to assist in its effort to fight COVID. They sent six nurses and four respiratory therapists. One of those four respiratory therapists who joined OCH is Keisha Johnson. "We came all with the same mission," she said. "It's to help and to serve the community the best way we could." High said the help is much appreciated, as they bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to the hospital while also working well with the therapies OCH already utilizes. Johnson said MEMA told the extra staff they'd be in Starkville for four weeks, but she said as long as the hospital needs help, they'll stay. |
| Businesses encouraged to provide meals to OCH staff | |
| OCH Regional Medical Center nurse Kadie Byrd sees the grave impact the Delta variant of COVID-19 is having on patients. Working daily in the Intensive Care Unit, Byrd said her staff constantly endures "chaos" trying to care for sick patients. While ICU nurses first saw the effects of COVID-19 during 2020, she said the past few months caring for patients with the Delta variant have been the toughest she has ever experienced. Aside from the ICU being short staffed, Byrd said she and her fellow nurses, who sometimes have to work 16-hour shifts, rarely have time to sit down at work or take a break. "I would say over the past month, I have not eaten a meal and not really had time to go to the bathroom," Byrd said. "Somebody will maybe bring us a protein bar and a Coke, and that may be all that we eat during the day." The Greater Starkville Development Partnership is creating a way to bring meals to staff members at OCH who may not have time to eat throughout the day. GSDP Director of Membership Development Hunter Harrington said she knows OCH staff has been "working around the clock" to take care of patients infected with the virus. By bringing meals to workers, she hopes they will know they are loved and supported. "At first during the pandemic, everybody was on board to do everything to help our health care workers, but now (COVID-19) has been so prolonged, this is probably when they need it the most," Harrington said. |
| Traveling for the Labor Day weekend? Expect more police, checkpoints on Mississippi roads | |
 | The Mississippi Highway Patrol is beefing up its presence on state highways over the Labor Day weekend and may have checkpoints set up on some roads. Troopers will be keeping a close watch on roads to remove impaired drivers, reduce speeding and increase seatbelt usage. "As we approach the last holiday weekend of the summer, we encourage motorists to use good driving habits as we try to lower the number of crashes and loss of life this year," Col. Randy Ginn, director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said in a news release. "Troopers will be on the highways to remind everyone of their responsibilities regarding safe travel and observing traffic laws in our state." During the 2020 Labor Day holiday period, Mississippi Highway Patrol investigated 121 crashes with seven fatalities and made 184 arrests for driving under the influence. |
| Mississippi governor chooses ex-adviser as chief of staff | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that he's appointing a former aide as his new chief of staff. Parker Briden was one of the spokesmen for Reeves during the 2019 gubernatorial campaign. He became the governor's deputy chief of staff for external affairs in 2020, working on response to severe weather outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic. Briden left Reeves' office in April and became campaign manager for Bernie Moreno, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio. "Parker has been a trusted partner throughout my time as governor," Reeves said in a news release Thursday. Reeves' former chief of staff, Brad White, became executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation in June. The executive director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, Liz Welch, has been the governor's acting chief of staff. "My aspiration is to bring a fraction of the ability and integrity of my predecessors and colleagues to the job," Briden said in the news release Thursday. "The top responsibility is to be an honest broker for the governor and every partner throughout state government, the Legislature and private enterprise as we work together to serve this great state." |
| U.S. August Hiring Slows Sharply As Latest Surge Slams Brakes On Economy | |
 | Hiring slowed sharply in August as a new surge in coronavirus infections slammed the brakes on the economic recovery. U.S. employers added just 235,000 jobs last month, a sharp slowdown from the torrid pace of hiring in June and July. "The labor market recovery has downshifted," said Nela Richardson, chief economist for the payroll processing company ADP. "The U.S. economy is facing increasing headwinds as the pandemic wears on and the delta variant creates uncertainty." The unemployment rate fell to 5.2% in August from 5.4% in July. Confirmed coronavirus infections have jumped nearly 20% in the last two weeks, while COVID deaths have nearly doubled during that period. The worsening public health outlook threw a late-summer speedbump in the recovery, making people more cautious about traveling and eating out and reducing the need for workers. Restaurants and bars cut 42,000 jobs in August, after adding 253,000 in July. Retailers cut 29,000 jobs last month. Homebase, which makes scheduling software for small businesses, saw a notable decline in hours worked last month -- especially in the entertainment and hospitality industries. The slowdown in the Homebase data was particularly pronounced in the southeast, where COVID cases are especially high. |
| President Biden's message to battered Gulf Coast: 'We are here for you' | |
| President Joe Biden is calling for greater public resolve to confront climate change and help the nation deal with the fierce storms, flooding and wildfires that have beset the country as he makes a sojourn to hurricane-battered Louisiana on Friday. "My message to everyone affected is: We're all in this together," Biden said in a speech Thursday at the White House, where he addressed the multiple natural disasters that have unfolded this week. "The nation is here to help." Trips to natural disaster scenes have long been a feature of the U.S. presidency. It's a moment to show compassion and deliver aid in ways that can shape the public's perception of White House leadership. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Biden is grappling with the persistent threat posed by climate change and the prospect that disaster zone visits may become a more regular feature of the presidency. As for Friday's trip, Biden said his message to the Gulf Coast was: "We are here for you. And we're making sure the response and recovery is equitable so that those hit hardest get the resources they need and are not left behind." |
| U.S. Rep Jim Jordan in Iowa draws cheers for Trump praise: 'I think he's gonna run' | |
| U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan drew cheers from a group of Dallas County Republicans Thursday when he praised former President Donald Trump and thanked the group for sticking with him. The Ohio congressman is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives, and he is one of Trump's most ardent defenders. He was the keynote speaker at the Dallas County Republican Party's "Party Like a Patriot" Thursday. "I think he's gonna run," Jordan said of the former president, who he said he still speaks to regularly. "I want him to run. He's proven he can take the heat. We're at a moment now where you've got to have someone who's willing to fight, willing to stand up to all the abuses." Trump has publicly flirted with another campaign in 2024, and he's kept open ties to Iowa which is expected to again kick off the presidential nominating process with its first-in-the-nation caucuses. He said in late August he plans to travel to Iowa soon to hold his first rally in the state since losing the 2020 election. In his speech, Jordan embraced the controversy he's attracted. "Like I tell my colleagues, particularly the guys in the Freedom Caucus, if the press isn't saying something bad about you, you're not doing anything good," he said. ... "Just getting involved in supporting conservative values and principles, you're going to get attacked by the cancel culture mob." |
| Students frustrated with textbook and access costs | |
 | Students at the University of Mississippi have expressed frustration over the hundreds of dollars in textbook and access code fees required for their classes each year. They are bombarded with an accumulation of class-related fees that, combined with an already steep tuition bill, adds a tremendous amount of stress to their financial anxiety. Taylor Jones, a sophomore exercise science major, is one of the many students upset over the recurring fees for course materials. Jones feels cheated that she has to pay more than $100 to obtain access codes, which are purchasable online subscriptions that give students access to homework and other course materials. "Buying textbooks especially when they are only available at your university's bookstore is just a scam for them to get more money out of you," Jones said. "Certain publishers will not sell the electronic version of their textbook to libraries, so we have no way of offering those resources to students." said Brian Young, Collective Strategists for the UM Library and Associate Professor. Emotions surrounding the cost of required class materials typically fall into three separate categories. Some students have no problem with purchasing textbooks offered only online, while others prefer to rent hard copies of books to alleviate the overall cost. There is also a portion of students that feel they should not have to pay for textbook materials at all. |
| State education board votes to speed up some COVID-19 relief fund spending | |
 | More than $200 million dollars in federal funding already allocated to Mississippi may soon be fast-tracked to provide more technology resources and services for students across the state. The Mississippi State Board of Education on Thursday declared a state of emergency aimed at speeding up the process of determining how the money, earmarked for pandemic-related response and relief measures, will be spent by the first quarter of 2022. The funds would be used for creating contracts for acquiring new technology and for creating services for districts like health screenings and mental health programs to better respond to needs that have arisen due to the pandemic, she said. Part of the federal funding, as well as $7.6 million in funding provided by the state legislature, would be used to update the MS Student Information System, which is more than 30 years old. The system collects and stores data about students and staff, including student records and personnel files. The state has received roughly $2.5 billion for school districts and higher learning institutions to date, said Felicia Gavin, chief of operations for the Mississippi Department of Education. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, as of June 30, the state has spent roughly $102 million in emergency funding for P-12 schools. |
| Pediatrician parents say Mississippi's largest school district is ignoring their COVID advice | |
| A group of DeSoto County School District parents who are also physicians say their district -- the largest in Mississippi -- has ignored their advice on COVID-19 policies and has not been transparent or inclusive in setting its protocols, which include no mask requirement for students and teachers. These doctors mostly work at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. The hospital treats children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases -- the very conditions that make them more susceptible to severe illness and outcomes from COVID-19. As parents, they say they are seeing the effects of the district's choices in their own homes. Dr. Jessica Gartrell spoke with Mississippi Today while her kindergartener and third grader were home sick with COVID-19. "My 5-year-old is very sick. He has high fever, he's shaking like crazy, curled up in the fetal position -- he's miserable," said Gartrell, a board certified pediatrician and pediatric hematologist/oncologist. As a doctor, she knows the risk for severe outcomes if a child contracts COVID-19: hospitalization, pneumonia, and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C), a serious and sometimes fatal condition in children that usually occurs four to six weeks after COVID infection. But DeSoto County remains one of only 16 districts in the state that does not currently require masks in school buildings. The district said in an emailed statement to Mississippi Today that it considered advice from medical professionals in developing its protocols for the school year and received inconsistent medical guidance and "different viewpoints." But when asked which medical professionals provided guidance that differs from recommendations by the Mississippi State Department of Health and other major medical groups in the state, district officials wouldn't name them. |
| U. of Alabama extends mask mandate to Oct. 1, with some exceptions | |
 | The University of Alabama on Thursday extended its mask mandate until Oct. 1, with some exceptions for residences, and areas where social distancing is possible. Face coverings, which help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, are required in all non-residential UA buildings, and on campus transportation. Everyone must comply, regardless of vaccination status. Teachers can remove masks while lecturing, if they are distanced and behind plexiglass, which many UA classrooms added by fall 2020 in response to the pandemic. Other exceptions to the mask mandate: When alone in offices and private workspaces, or when distanced in such spaces. In residence hall rooms, or residence hall common areas when distanced. While eating or drinking in dining venues, seated. While exercising. Masks and vaccinations can help maintain the full in-person UA experience this fall, said Dr. Ricky Friend, the UA College of Community Health Sciences Dean, noting that UA's positive COVID-19 cases remain below last spring's, and substantially below those of fall 2020. |
| Fewer Alabama high school grads going straight to college; higher ed advertising options | |
| The number of students graduating from Alabama high schools and entering state universities and colleges dipped by 5% in 2020 to 41%. While that decrease can in part be blamed on COVID-19-caused disruptions, it's also part of a larger decline that education officials say is a sign of a strong economy. In 2011, 53% of high school graduates went directly to in-state colleges. "I think it mostly can be attributed since 2011 to an improvement in the economy," Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, said. Post-Great Recession, more jobs have been available to people right out of high school. But as the state works to find more skilled workers, higher education leaders are trying new ways to reach them. Purcell said that as people's careers advance or manufacturing jobs become more automated, training and courses are available. "Higher ed will be there for them," he said. The decline in home-grown students is most noticeable at the state's community colleges. Historically, community college enrollments dip along with unemployment rates. They rise when more people are out of work. Separately, the Alabama State Board of Education this spring voted to require graduating high school students to complete the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. It's a move leaders hope will increase access to postsecondary education for Alabama's high school seniors. |
| How Birmingham-Southern College got 78% of students vaccinated after COVID test charge | |
 | Don't call it a vaccine mandate. Birmingham-Southern College's creative workaround to a provision in Alabama law that stops schools and colleges from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine has led to about 78% of students getting fully vaccinated. The small college doesn't require the shots, but did charge all students a $500 fee for weekly COVID-testing. If students disclosed a COVID vaccination, they received a rebate. According to spokesperson Amy Abeyta, 815 students have voluntarily told the school their vaccination status. Fall enrollment numbers aren't final yet, but the campus teaches a little more than 1,000 students, according to Abeyta. "We're not requiring the vaccine obviously, because we can't," BSC president Daniel Coleman said. "This past summer, we thought this was the right way to go with respect to costs. If it encourages them to take the vaccine, all the better, but it was as much as a fairness issue as an issue of encouragement." Last year, federal and state governments helped fund the cost of frequent testing on campus. This year, without that financial help, Coleman said, officials were looking at large costs to test the entire student body, in addition to feeding and housing quarantined students. Rather than ask vaccinated students to bear those testing costs, they decided to try to focus on the unvaccinated population. |
| AU-Bees provides numerous ways to support local bees | |
| Created in the winter months of 2016, AU-Bees, a host of numerous bee labs, began as a way for professor Geoffrey Williams to monitor bee health in the City of Auburn. Five years later, it has blossomed into a community affair. "We focus on insect pollinator health," Williams, an assistant professor in the entomology and plant pathology department at the University, said. "Most of our work is regarding bees, and quite a bit of that work with bees is dealing with honeybees. But we're also working with other native species ... or solitary species that are living in these conspicuous white boxes that you may see around campus." The labs started producing honey in 2018, two years after its founding. Williams said when working with honeybees, "it takes some time to build up your colonies." Now, AU-Bees will be hosting its fifth biannual honey sale online for the 2021 school year. "The honey sale is a really amazing fundraiser for us," Williams said. "We invest that [money] back into the lab to hire undergraduate students [and] to buy materials and supplies that we may need." Williams said the lab harvests the honey twice a year, once in May and again in early July. They usually sell it once to twice a year, he said. Today, honey from bee lab colonies within seven miles of Auburn's campus is harvested and bottled. |
| 1 arrested, 3 more wanted for attempted murder at LSU parking lot, university police say | |
 | Three men are wanted for trying to kill someone last week in an LSU parking lot, university officials said. Louisiana State University police have already made one arrest in the shooting, which they say took place around 10:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at a parking lot by Spruce Hall. LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard said the school promptly notified the campus about shots fired in an emergency text alert. Zora A. Scott was booked in the case on a felony count of principal to attempted second-degree murder, Ballard said. The suspects at large are: Rechard Kelly, Ricky Earl Kelly III and Tedrick Tyrus Owens. All are 20 years old. Police urge anyone who knows where to find them to call LSU detectives at (225) 578-3231 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867. |
| Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by professors who challenged U. of Arkansas System tenure policy | |
| A Pulaski County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the University of Arkansas System's tenure policy for faculty members. The judge's order filed Thursday follows the March 2020 dismissal of a similar lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Little Rock. Tenure is defined by the UA System as the right of continuous appointment. Professors gain tenure based on their job performances over several years. After getting tenure, professors still undergo annual reviews. Three professors from separate UA System schools had argued in court documents that a change to the UA System's tenure policy violated due-process rights, retroactively changing the contractual relationship between faculty member and employer. The Pulaski County Circuit Court lawsuit argued that changing the tenure policy as done by trustees in 2018 "violates not only the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Arkansas but also well-established Arkansas legal principles concerning the interpretation and unilateral modification of contracts." Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce, in an order filed Thursday, stated that the professors' "claims are speculative and they have failed to demonstrate actual or imminent injury or harm." The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled. |
| U. of Missouri Curators prohibit COVID vaccine mandates | |
 | In a split vote Thursday, the University of Missouri System Board of Curators approved resolutions prohibiting vaccine mandates for students, faculty and staff, except where they already exist. "We took a vote today for individual liberty and freedom," said board chairman Darryl Chatman during a post-meeting news conference. The board met at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. It was the first meeting away from the Columbia campus since before the pandemic. University of Missouri Health Care is requiring vaccines for providers, workers and students by Oct. 1. The prohibition doesn't apply to that. Chatman, Todd Graves, Jeffrey Layman, Robin Wenneker and Michael Williams voted in favor of the two resolutions, one addressing students, the other addressing faculty and staff. Board members Maurice Graham, Greg Hoberock and Keith Holloway voted "no." There wasn't any plan to institute a vaccine mandate, Hoberock said. "I'm not willing to tie my hands today because I don't know the future," Hoberock said. It's better to communicate with UM System President Mun Choi instead of approving resolutions, Graham said. "It seems to me we're trying to fix something that's not broken," he said. In other business, the board approved a $30 million veterinary medicine diagnostics laboratory building on the University of Missouri campus. |
| Hurricane Ida continues to scramble campus plans and force schools online | |
| Hurricane Ida left destruction and flooding in its wake this week, forcing college closures from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. The hurricane's powerful remnants caused damage and severe flooding on campuses in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday, leading several colleges to cancel classes or move them online. That came after campuses in Louisiana, where the deadly storm made landfall Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds, were particularly hard hit. Several New Orleans colleges bused students hundreds of miles to evacuation points in other states and transferred students to housing on sister campuses to escape extended power outages and travel bottlenecks. Damage and disruptions from the storm highlight how college leaders must prepare for many contingencies -- and how even the best-laid plans require flexibility, as emergency planning cannot account for changing variables. The hurricane's remnants wrought damage and disrupted operations as it headed north. Campus leaders said their work isn't over once evacuations are complete. Dillard, for example, will plan for an eastern evacuation site in the future. And it will have to overcome challenges getting students back onto campus when it reopens. |
| Liberty University has more COVID-19 cases than 4 larger Virginia campuses combined | |
| Liberty University is reporting nearly three-and-a-half times the amount of active, student COVID-19 cases on campus than four other Virginia universities combined. On Wednesday, Liberty University reported 488 active COVID-19 cases on campus. According to their COVID-19 dashboard, 430 of those cases are students. It's a big increase from last week when LU reported 159 total active cases. Liberty University also has the smallest on-campus student population compared to the four other universities -- Virginia Tech, VCU, University of Virginia and James Madison University. Another difference, all four of those universities require students to get the COVID-19 vaccine and wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. Liberty University doesn't require either. On Thursday, Liberty University switched all residential classes online and suspended large indoor gatherings. In a statement, LU said those measures would remain in place through Sept. 10. |
| There's No Standard Among Colleges' Covid-Vaccination Dashboards | |
 | Some colleges make their vaccination dashboards easy to find; others bury them in more-comprehensive coronavirus dashboards. Some lump together vaccination rates for students, faculty, and staff; others separate them out. Some list only numbers, some list only percentages, and some list both. Some only provide statistics for residential students, while some give stats for all students. This inconsistency makes it difficult to draw direct comparisons between institutions, mirroring troubles with coronavirus-case dashboards that emerged last fall. "There is no uniform standard for which statistics dashboards should include or how often to update them," The Chronicle's Michael Vasquez wrote in September 2020. The same could be said for today's vaccination dashboards. Administrators must carefully consider the purpose of publishing vaccination data -- and the effect it can have on the campus community, experts say. The main purpose of these dashboards, said Chris Marsicano, the director of Davidson College's College Crisis Initiative, is to offer campus community members a sense of "safety and security." Although it may seem counterintuitive, at colleges where vaccination rates are very high, such as Davidson (Marsicano said the rate among students was at 98 percent), a dashboard may not be useful. At the same time, at a college with a very low vaccination rate, an administration may not want to publish their numbers to avoid causing panic among students. But it's critical that they at least know the data. "There's no one-size-fits-all approach here," he said. |
| With momentum behind an in-person fall, where does online learning fit? | |
 | The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, originally planned to hold about 80 percent of its courses this year in person, and 20 percent online, which would have compared with a pre-pandemic baseline of about 90 percent of courses in person and 10 percent online. But with the summer surge in coronavirus cases, the university in July opted to rethink the schedule. About 60 percent of fall courses will now be in person, and 40 percent will be remote. "We were hearing concerns from students who, given the circumstances in Las Vegas and Nevada, were not as comfortable coming to campus as they had anticipated being," said Chris L. Heavey, UNLV's provost. "We opened up the schedule in July and asked people to try to accommodate student requests for online instruction and also gave faculty who felt like they were no longer comfortable teaching in-person the option of switching their courses to remote, with a preference toward remote synchronous." UNLV is not alone in grappling with how to respond to the changing public health circumstances. With vaccines to prevent COVID-19 having become readily available, many colleges by and large planned for a return to in-person instruction this fall -- and then the highly transmissible Delta variant came along. With coronavirus cases now surging, colleges are taking a variety of approaches in terms of the degree to which they're using one tool in their virus-containment toolbox: online learning. Some colleges are offering 50 percent or more of their classes online, while others are 90 percent-plus in person. |
| Congress looks to remove criminal history questions in admissions | |
| At the end of last year, Congress directed the Department of Education to make changes to federal financial aid by allowing incarcerated students to access Pell Grants and removing the drug conviction question from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. But there's still one more action the Legislature can take to boost access to higher education for those in the criminal justice system -- guiding colleges and universities to remove criminal history questions from their admissions processes. Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, reintroduced a bill at the beginning of August that would do just that. Called the Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act of 2021, it would direct the department to issue guidance and recommendations for institutions on removing criminal and juvenile justice questions from admissions applications. "Because Pell is coming back into prisons, more people are going to begin their education journey," said Stephanie Bazell, director of policy and advocacy at the College and Community Fellowship, an organization that helps women involved in the criminal justice system access higher education. "This makes sense as a natural progression, because more and more, we're going to see that people are going to get a taste for education while inside. And our clients tell us that once they get a taste of that knowledge, they can't get enough." The legislation is the result of extensive conversations between the senator, individuals in the criminal justice system and higher education institutions and associations, said David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer at the National Association for College Admission Counseling. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State dusting off cowbells, prepared for return to full capacity football | |
 | Lynn McAlpin's cowbell has lost some of its shine since 1968, but this Saturday it regains a chance to fulfill its purpose. McAlpin's cowbell is from when she was a freshman at Mississippi State, but her fandom stems even further. She grew up with her brother and sister cheering for Mississippi State and attending games her entire life. She earned her bachelor's and master's degree in Starkville. She watched her husband Jim play football for the Bulldogs. When her parents couldn't take her to a game, she'd be in her bedroom listening on a transistor radio. Maroon and white is what she knows best, so she can tell when something is off. Last season, things were off. With crowds inside Davis Wade Stadium at about 25 percent last season, the tradition of Mississippi State football was not what she grew up watching. McAlpin was among those 13,000 fans attending games, but instead of her usual seats, she and her sister sat near the goal line with nobody around. "I felt like I was at a spring game,' McAlpin says. This season should be a return to normalcy -- vaccination and COVID-19 rates pending each day -- with Mississippi State allowing full capacity inside Davis Wade Stadium starting Saturday against Louisiana Tech. McAlpin will be there with her cowbell, which has been dotted with stickers over time. An M-Club Alumni Associate sticker from her husband takes center stage currently as she and her 12-year-old grandson prepare to attend a Mississippi State football game together for the first time. |
| MSU announces football parking, transit, eatery details ahead of season opener | |
 | It's the battle of the Bulldogs this Saturday, Sept. 4, as Mississippi State opens its 2021 football season at home against non-conference opponent Louisiana Tech. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. in Davis Wade Stadium, and gates open at 12:45 p.m. Game viewing will be on ESPNU or fans can listen for free at https://hailstate.com/showcase?Live=1865. Free transit service is provided by Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit (SMART) on game days from various on and off campus locations to Giles Hall, Newell Grissom and Old Main Academic Center. Football fans attending Saturday's game are encouraged to plan their parking and departure route in advance and follow the instructions of officers directing traffic. Game and traffic information will be updated on Twitter @HailStateFamily and @msstatepd. Tickets remain for the game and can be purchased now at //HailState.com/tickets, by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS or in person at the MSU Athletic Ticket Office, first floor, Bryan Athletic Administration Building (288 Lakeview Drive), Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. |
| Mississippi State scouting report, prediction vs. Louisiana Tech | |
| The first test of coach Mike Leach's second season at Mississippi State starts Saturday against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs finished 4-7 last season, with a defense that largely shined and an offense that showed some Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. Mississippi State kicks off from Davis Wade Stadium at 3 p.m. with many of its main offensive contributors returning. The defense boasts more depth than the year before, potentially setting the group up to at least match what it accomplished in 2020, finishing 52nd in the country in yards allowed per game. Still, it remains to be seen how a full offseason under Leach helped the Bulldogs. Saturday will offer the first glimpse at how Mississippi State looks. The top three offensive contributors for Mississippi State all returned to the squad: quarterback Will Rogers (1,976 passing yards), wide receiver Jaden Walley (718 receiving yards) and running back Jo'quavious Marks (580 all-purpose yards). With spring and preseason practice to further improve, those three could build on their freshman year performances. But the offense isn't limited to that trio, with a deep wide receiver room and several dual-threat backs who could contribute. Leach said, ideally, he would have eight receivers he's comfortable with. He's around that count, with transfers Jamire Calvin and Makai Polk bolstering the numbers. Louisiana Tech's defense has an experienced secondary, but the 35.5 points allowed per game last year were the second most in Conference USA. |
| Mississippi State-Louisiana Tech: Who has the edge? | |
| Mississippi State is favored by more than three touchdowns against Louisiana Tech. Mississippi State is favored by more than three touchdowns against Louisiana Tech. MSU is expected to dominate in most aspects of the game Saturday, but La. Tech brings a compelling mix of returning players along with transfers. Here's how the teams matchup: Quarterbacks -- Austin Kendall was once believed to be next-in-line behind Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma. He ended up hardly playing at West Virginia. Will Rogers was inconsistent last season, but a full offseason learning the Air Raid offense should make a difference. Edge: MSU. Running backs -- MSU's Jo'quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson offer a duo who can play a role in the passing game against an athletic linebacking group for La. Tech. Marcus Williams comes to La. Tech having started six of the 42 games he played at Appalachian State. Edge: MSU. Receivers/Tight ends -- Smoke Harris is a compelling piece in the slot for La. Tech who could create issues for MSU. That isn't enough to overcome the fact that Mississippi State expects to be eight or nine receivers deep. Edge: MSU. |
| Opposing beat writer Q&A: Ben Carlisle, Louisiana Tech | |
| Mississippi State kicks off the 2021 season at 3 p.m. Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. The Bulldogs will face Louisiana Tech in the first game of the season, MSU's first regular-season nonconference contest since a 45-7 win over Abilene Christian on Nov. 23, 2019. For perspective on Mississippi State's first opponent, The Dispatch spoke with Ben Carlisle, the publisher of BleedTechBlue, Louisiana Tech's Rivals.com site. Carlisle is in his fifth season covering Louisiana Tech. What are your overall thoughts on Louisiana Tech coming into 2021? "You look back at 2020, and it was a difficult season not only for Louisiana Tech but really across college football. Louisiana Tech finished its 2020 season at 5-5 overall. They fell 38-3 to Georgia Southern in the New Orleans Bowl. They've added 13 transfers. The big name is probably Austin Kendall, the West Virginia transfer quarterback. He'll start on Saturday against Mississippi State. They've added three offensive linemen from the transfer portal. They added two running backs: Marcus Williams Jr. from Appalachian State and Keyon Henry-Brooks from Vanderbilt. I think there's some optimism on the offensive side of the ball. The defense returns 15 of its top 16 tacklers on that side. The lone guy that's not back is Milton Williams, and he was picked 73rd overall by the Eagles in the NFL draft earlier this year. They added three SEC transfer defensive backs -- Myles Mason from Arkansas, Baylen Buchanan from Tennessee and Elijah Hamilton from Vanderbilt -- to try to shore up the back end some. There's some optimism. Obviously, it's going to be a tough beat to go on the road to defeat Mississippi State, especially considering that Tech is a 23.5-point underdog right now." |
| Q&A with Louisiana Tech radio color analyst Teddy Allen | |
| Few people know Louisiana Tech better than Teddy Allen, who enters his 11th season working as a color analyst for the school's football broadcast. With La. Tech coming to open the season in Starkville against Mississippi State, here's a question-and-answer session with Allen to learn more about the visitors: Q: What are the expectations for the La. Tech this year? A: They've got a lot of guys who have played a lot. They got a lot of transfers who've played a lot who didn't play here. They probably got more depth than they've had since Skip Holtz has been here -- this will be his ninth year. Their receivers are really big. Their offensive line was awful last year, but they kept getting hurt. Quarterback (Austin Kendall) has got to be good if he was the fourth ranked quarterback sitting behind two Heisman winners (at Oklahoma). He finished strong last year (at West Virginia). He's a real mature guy -- throws in real well and on Saturday we'll see if he can quarterback real well.... Every year, you go through spring and go through fall camp, but you don't know until the first game how everybody's going to react. |
| Thirteen seconds of chaos: A look back at 'third-and-93' between Mississippi State, Louisiana Tech | |
| Mississippi State's practices under defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in 2017 always included one thing. "The type of guy that Todd is, we're always doing a fumble circuit or a turnover circuit or something like that every single week," former MSU defensive tackle Grant Harris said. But little did Harris and his teammates know that preparation -- or lack thereof -- would play a role in escorting the Bulldogs into the college football history books. On Sept. 9, 2017, in a road game at Louisiana Tech, Harris was lined up at 3-tech when an errant snap by the home team whizzed by the quarterback's head and down the field. It was fumbled, bumbled and kicked more than 65 yards backward from there, resulting in an 86-yard loss for LA Tech and a world of embarrassment for all involved. Based on interviews from those inside Joe Aillet Stadium at the time, here's the remarkable history of the 13 seconds of football mania best known as "third-and-93." "That's my top one craziest play of all," defensive end Marquiss Spencer said. "I think you can't really top that." |
| How to watch Mississippi State vs. LA Tech football on TV, live stream | |
| The Mississippi State Bulldogs football team kicks off its 2021 season with a game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Sept. 4. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium. In the 2020 season, Mississippi State went 4-7 overall and ended with a win in the Armed Forces Bowl against Tulsa. La Tech went 5-5 overall last season but lost the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl 38-3 to Georgia Southern. ESPNU broadcasters are scheduled to be John Schriffen (play-by-play) and Rene Ingoglia (analyst). On DirecTV, ESPNU is channel 208. On Dish, ESPNU is channel 141. |
| History Is Lunch: James R. Crockett, 'Rulers of the SEC: Ole Miss and Mississippi State, 1959-66' | |
| On September 1, 2021, James R. Crockett discussed his new book Rulers of the SEC: Ole Miss and Mississippi State, 1959-1966 as part of the History Is Lunch series. From 1959 through 1966, Mississippi universities dominated the Southeastern Conference in the big three sports -- basketball, baseball, and football. Of the twenty-four championships that could be earned in those sports, the University of Mississippi won six and Mississippi State University won six. "Those two Mississippi universities won twelve of the championships," Crockett said. "That left the remaining twelve championships for the other members of the conference." Crockett explores the most decisive wins in each major sport, beginning with the extraordinary coaches and their varying personalities and charting the shifting social landscape that faced the teams as their students, faculty, and traditions changed around them. Stars and coaches that shine in the book include John Vaught, Tom Swayze, Jake Gibbs, and Donnie Kessinger from Ole Miss; and Paul Gregory, Bailey Howell, Babe McCarthy, and the SEC Champion Bulldog basketball team of 1962–63. History Is Lunch is sponsored by the John and Lucy Shackelford Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for Mississippi. The weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History explores different aspects of the state's past. The hour-long programs are broadcast from the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building. |
| 'How is this guy still employed?': NCAA's Mark Emmert a survivor | |
| A dry erase board stuck to the wall behind the door to Mark Emmert's office at NCAA headquarters has three columns drawn on it. At the top of the list on the left, "Academic Success" is handwritten in green marker. The middle column is for "Health & Well Being." On the right is "Fairness." Jotted down under each header are policy goals and initiatives the NCAA has worked to achieve during Emmert's 11-year tenure leading the nation's largest governing body for college sports. The ones written in red marker have something to show for them. The ones written in orange are works in progress. The board is mostly covered in red. Ask Emmert about the NCAA's accomplishments under his watch and he will point to that wall. "I'm incredibly proud of my work record," he said during a recent 45-minute interview with The Associated Press. Many are not so impressed. While leading the NCAA through a period of unprecedented change, Emmert has faced relentless criticism. For those outside college sports skeptically peering in, he has become the easiest of targets, the face of an unpopular and seemingly ineffective bureaucracy. |
| Inside LSU football's hurried 24-hour relocation to Houston a week before playing UCLA | |
| The preparation for LSU's week-long relocation started last Thursday afternoon. As meteorologists updated the potential severity and path of Hurricane Ida, the equipment staff tracked the storm. They decided to pack the team's 18-wheeler two days later, just in case. Loading the truck would take hours, so director of athletic equipment Louis Bourgeois and the rest of the staff told the 13 student managers they had to start one of the weekly pregame rituals -- polishing helmets and applying stickers -- that night. They suspected an evacuation. They couldn't wait. Bourgeois woke up at 6 a.m. the next day. As he walked through the football operations building about four hours later, he received a call. LSU had decided to leave Baton Rouge, initiating a rush to move the team a week before its season opener against UCLA as the storm intensified and approached the coast. "Basically," Bourgeois said, "we set up a mobile football ops." Over the next 24 hours, LSU filled two trucks with equipment, arranged a hotel for the team, found an NFL stadium to practice in and left for its first stop, Houston, where it arrived after an overnight drive through evacuation traffic. LSU had changed plans before because of hurricanes, but never quite like this. |
| Bo Nix, Owen Pappoe, Anders Carlson promote vaccination in new partnership with Alabama Department of Public Health | |
 | Three Auburn football stars are set to promote COVID-19 vaccination and facts about vaccine safety in a new PSA campaign from the Alabama Department of Public Health. Quarterback Bo Nix, linebacker Owen Pappoe and kicker Anders Carlson are all set to promote vaccination in the ADPH's Kick COVID campaign. In addition, vaccine shots will be offered by medical professionals to fans at Auburn's Sept. 25 game against Georgia State as part of the promotion. The campaign launched Thursday with the KickCOVID19.com website. The ADPH is signing players from all 13 schools in Alabama that play Division I college football, Gene Hallman, the CEO of Bruno Event Team, announced during an ADPH livestream on Thursday. "We know Delta is impacting young people far more than Alpha was, so this message is directed at students but also at fans," Hallman said. Hallman said ADPH approached Bruno Event Team with the idea and that all 13 schools have been excited to help the campaign. Fans who get shots at the gameday pop-ups will receive a $75 gift card to that school's bookstore. "There are a lot of myths about this vaccine in young people, and they're all myths." |
| At the U. of Florida, the prospect of a full football stadium on game day brings cheers -- and fears | |
 | Come Saturday night, college football fans will converge on the stadium here known as the "Swamp" in numbers not seen since 2019. For the first time since the pandemic began, the University of Florida will let up to 88,000 people into the stands to watch their beloved Gators take on Florida Atlantic in the season opener. These fans can watch the marching band actually take the field for a halftime show. They can sing Tom Petty anthem "I Won't Back Down" between the third and fourth quarters, a recent home-game tradition honoring the late rocker from Gainesville. They won't have to be vaccinated and won't have to wear masks. They will be outdoors but packed close together. This spectacle and others like it around the country are stirring passions for the resumption of a fall pastime with major cultural influence -- and with it fears about what could happen next on campuses. To reduce the risk of game day becoming a superspreader event, Louisiana State University announced last month that people age 12 or older who come to Tiger Stadium this fall for games will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test for the coronavirus. Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin applauds LSU. "I think there's a lot of benefits" to the entry-screening policy, he said in an interview inside what is formally named Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. But Stricklin noted that SEC universities answer to various local and state authorities. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and others overseeing public higher education in the state have opposed vaccine and mask mandates. |
| Kentucky football chief of staff reassigned, employment to end in November | |
 | The University of Kentucky football program has eliminated its chief of staff position, a job held by longtime staffer Dan Berezowitz since 2018. UK spokesperson Tony Neely confirmed to the Herald-Leader that Berezowitz, who's been on Mark Stoops' staff since his inaugural season in 2013, has been reassigned within the athletic department following a "reorganization" of roles in the department. Berezowitz will remain in UK's employment through Nov. 29 and as of Thursday has no responsibilities pertaining to the football program. Until his employment ends, he will act upon "duties as assigned." Berezowitz was suspended with pay by the school in July after an assault charge was filed against him in Fayette District Court. That charge was dismissed in August but Berezowitz remained suspended. This is the second staff shake-up to come to light this week. It was revealed Monday, via UK's pregame notes released for its season opener, that wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight has been reassigned to the role of a quality control coach, with staffer Scott Woodward filling in as the receivers position coach. Bouknight was arrested for a DUI in May but later agreed to a plea deal that saw that charge dismissed. |
| Tennis Programs at Historically Black Colleges Receive a Boost | |
 | Rochelle Houston had an advantage. Her father, Joe Goldthreate, is a legendary tennis coach in Nashville, who taught her not only how to play the game, but how to coach it, too. Houston is now the head of tennis at Florida A&M, which until recently meant she coached both teams. But the men's team was cut in 2020 due to a lack of funding, and the women's team makes do. It certainly does not enjoy the lavish facilities and recruiting budgets of many large Division I programs. That is typical of many, if not all, of the 38 historically Black colleges and universities that have tennis programs. To help address that, the United States Tennis Association has initiated a grant program to contribute funding to those college programs, with the ultimate goal of enhancing opportunities for players of color, especially women, to become coaches and grow the game. "There is a desperate need," Houston said Wednesday from her office in Tallahassee, Fla. "We don't have a lot of funding. We barely get by. This program will help significantly." The grant is named after David Dinkins, the former mayor of New York who was a board member of the U.S.T.A. and longtime tennis player, fan and active supporter. Had it not been for Dinkins' advocacy and intervention, the U.S. Open might not even be in New York anymore, and might not have its showpiece venue, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest in tennis. The U.S.T.A. David N. Dinkins H.B.C.U. Coaching Grant will initially offer grants of up to $2,500 for each school, but that figure could increase if funding does. The money can be used for a wide range of areas where many H.B.C.U. tennis programs are underfunded, including for recruiting and basic equipment. |
| This all-Black team in Mississippi's private academy league is making history | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Little more than a half century ago, Mississippi's public high schools, forced by federal law, integrated. Private schools, including Greenville Christian School, sprang up all over the state. You know why. White parents didn't want their children to go to school -- or play sports -- with Black children. A new, then-strictly segregated sports league was formed. The Mississippi Private School Association (MPSA) has since become the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools (MAIS). And now, five decades later, the best football team in the league -- and perhaps the best in the league's history -- is Greenville Christian, an all-Black team. With just 35 players on the roster and training in spartan facilities, the Greenville Christian Saints opened this season on the road with a 58-32 trouncing of Madison-Ridgeland Academy, two-time defending MAIS 6A state champions. A week later, the Saints returned to the Jackson area and ransacked traditional academy powerhouse Jackson Prep 48-13. It was the worst home defeat in Prep history. Last Friday night, Greenville Christian clobbered J.Z. George High School of North Carrollton, a Class 2A public school, 58-0. ... If Greenville Christian's story sounds far-fetched, you don't know the half of it. |
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