| Thursday, September 9, 2021 |
| Rice important part of state's economy | |
 | September is National Rice Month and Mississippi residents, especially those living in the Delta, are celebrating. Mississippi ranks sixth among states that produce rice. Mississippi State Extension provided these other facts about Mississippi rice: More than 12.5 million hundredweight of rice was produced in 2020. Mississippi has 221 rice-producing farms. Approximately 170,000 acres of rice were harvested in 2020. Value of production for rice in 2020 was $138 million. Bolivar County produces the largest acreage of rice. Rice is grown in the Delta in Bolivar, Coahoma, Desoto, Humphreys, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica and Washington Counties. If you really want to try all that rice has to offer, Merigold will host the Rice Festival from 4-7 p.m. Sept. 16. "This year will mark 31 years of celebrating rice during the third week of September in Bolivar County," said Mississippi State University Extension Service coordinator and agent Laura Giaccaglia, who works with the Delta Rice Promotions Board to organize the event. "Even though we are doing things in a different way this year, our focus is still to make the public aware of the versatility of rice and to show appreciation to those who are in the rice industry," she said. |
| Mary Means Business: Dapper Doughnuts coming to Cotton District | |
| Starkville's Cotton District will have a new dessert spot by mid-September. Eryn Jackson, along with her husband and former Mississippi State football player Gabe, decided the Cotton District needed another late-night venture. By Sept. 16, Dapper Doughnut will debut at 100 Maxwell St., near Bin 612. This is Jackson's second Dapper Doughnut location with the first opening in Flowood. Starkville's culinary scene keeps on moving, y'all. There's a sign up now advertising a Marco's Pizza is coming our way. Coming to College View, the franchise pizza chain looks to be underway with "Coming Soon" signs placed in the window. Also in business news, The Lodge officially has a new owner. But don't worry, Mississippi State apparel and the store you love will remain largely the same. As of last week, Alumni Hall Stores purchased The Lodge from former owner John Hendricks. The purchase of the Starkville Lodge marks Alumni Hall's 30th store for the college apparel company. But according to District Manager Jeremy Phillips, acquiring the Starkville Lodge marks a first for Alumni Hall. "We have traditionally built new brick and mortar stores," Phillips said. "This is a new venture for us. ... We won't be changing the name and our intention is to maintain most of the standing traditions The Lodge has built." |
| Starkville Board of Alderman pass employee vaccination policy | |
 | The Starkville Board of Alderman approved a policy Tuesday night that is meant to encourage the city's employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Mayor Lynn Spruill introduced the policy in response to a statewide spike in the coronavirus' more contagious delta variant and FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The policy was approved 5-2.Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver and Ward 7 Henry N. Vaughn, Sr. voted against it. The policy will not mandate vaccinations. Instead, it will set additional measures to support city employees getting vaccinated. That includes allowing multiple health care facilities to provide vaccinations free of charge for all employees. The city will offer paid leave for employees to get vaccinated, and provide an additional eight hours to rest if the employee doesn't feel well after vaccination. Vaccinated employees who get COVID-19 or have to quarantine due to exposure will receive paid leave of up to five days for 40 hours. |
| Longview Road construction delayed until at least 2022 | |
| For Joseph and Priscilla Ammerman, inconvenience comes standard with living on Longview Road. The road west of Starkville, most of which is only gravel surfaced, washes out when it rains and ditches jut out into near the middle of the road in some places. During the recent storms that blew through the area from Hurricane Ida, Longview Road was impassable. The Ammermans addressed Oktibbeha County supervisors on Tuesday, asking why in the three years since the county has received State Aid money earmarked to pave the road, the job is still undone. It seems to them, they said, the project has been abandoned. "We have winter coming up and we're concerned that it will be completely impassable," Joseph said. "With the way that they have left it and the condition that it's in, with no good ditches, we're afraid we'll be trapped in our houses." While not abandoned, supervisors on Wednesday voted to again delay the project, this time to 2022, at County Engineer Clyde Pritchard's recommendation. The county received $1 million from the Mississippi Office of State Aid, and earmarked $800,000 of its own funds, for the paving project in 2018. |
| Mississippi closes field hospitals, reports baby COVID death | |
 | Mississippi is closing its only remaining parking garage field hospital set up to treat coronavirus patients during the delta variant surge, but it is still relying on out-of-state workers to help increase ICU capacity in state hospitals, officials said Wednesday. Health officials also reported the state's seventh child death from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and raised alarms about a string of deaths in unvaccinated pregnant women. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said eight pregnant women with coronavirus have died over the past four weeks. "We do know that COVID is especially problematic and dangerous for pregnant women," Dobbs said. The health officer said COVID can be deadly for babies in the womb, too. Very preliminary data collected by the Department of Health indicates that babies are twice as likely to die in the womb after 20 weeks in COVID-19 infected pregnant women than in women without the virus, he said. "It's been a real tragedy," he said. Jim Craig, senior deputy for the Mississippi Department of Health and Director of Health Protection, said the state is seeing a small improvement in hospital bed availability, but ICU capacity continues to be "very scarce." Craig said the field hospital set up by Christian relief charity Samaritan's Purse was in the process of decommissioning. A different field hospital on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus set up with health care workers from the federal government was already decommissioned last month. |
| State Sen. Jenifer Branning keeps open mind on marijuana | |
 | State Sen. Jenifer Branning says a special session to consider state medical marijuana legislation could be called within the next two weeks and she is keeping an open mind on the issue. "I haven't seen a bill yet," Branning said late last week. State Sen. Kevin Blackwell and State Rep. Lee Yancey have been working through the summer to reach an agreement on legislation that both the Senate and House could support since Gov. Tate Reeves has said he will not call a special session until the two chambers have a consensus. "I did talk to chairman Blackwell today," Branning said last Friday, "and let him know that I am going to with an open mind consider what the final product is but certainly cannot make any commitment on my vote until I see that final product until I look at it and study it and get feedback from my community and that is what I plan to do before making a decision on my vote in special session." Talk of a special session has been looming on the issue since the state Supreme Court in May overturned a medical marijuana initiative approved by voters in the 2020 general election. Branning said she would prefer that any medical marijuana program be handled like any other medically prescribed drug. |
| Vast Expansion in Aid Kept Food Insecurity From Growing Last Year | |
 | Despite the sudden loss of 20 million jobs at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, food insecurity among Americans remained unchanged last year, the government reported Wednesday, in what researchers called a testament to a vast expansion of government aid. As lines outside food banks stretched for miles in March 2020, experts feared the country faced a looming hunger crisis. But bipartisan legislation signed by President Donald J. Trump offered billions in emergency aid, forestalling the expected rise in hunger that has accompanied past recessions and keeping levels of hardship flat. "This is huge news -- it shows you much of a buffer we had from an expanded safety net," said Elaine Waxman, who researches hunger at the Urban Institute in Washington. "There was no scenario in March of 2020 where I thought food insecurity would stay flat for the year. The fact that it did is extraordinary." The government found that 10.5 percent of American households were food insecure, meaning that at some point in the year they had difficulty providing enough food to all members of the home, because of a lack of money. It also found that 3.9 percent had "very low food security," meaning the lack of resources caused them to reduce their food intake. That was statistically unchanged from the previous year. Food insecurity did rise among some groups, including households with children, Black Americans, and households in the South. |
| Could Covid-19 finally end hunger in America? | |
 | A peculiar thing happened last year during the Covid-19 pandemic: As large swaths of the U.S. economy shut down and unemployment skyrocketed, hunger rates held steady and poverty rates went down. From the pandemic's earliest days, Washington showed it had learned the lessons of past crises like the 2008 financial collapse, when policymakers responded with too little too late to help people get by and the economic recovery was hampered as a result. So as the country faced a once-in-a-century pandemic and the sharpest economic downturn since the Great Depression, Congress threw trillions at the double disaster, sending unprecedented levels of aid to American families and businesses. Soon, a pattern was evident, thanks in part to real-time monitoring by the U.S. Census Bureau: When Washington doled out federal aid, hardship declined. When Washington let aid expire, hardship ticked back up. In essence, the pandemic triggered a country-wide policy experiment aimed at keeping families fed and financially afloat. All that aid appears to have worked. Data shows that these changes have had an impact. While anti-hunger advocates and some economists had feared food insecurity rates had increased during the pandemic, USDA reported this week that the overall rate was unchanged in 2020 -- a remarkable feat after an unprecedented shock. |
| President Biden expected to order all federal workers to be vaccinated, with no testing option | |
 | President Biden is expected to sign an order Thursday requiring all federal employees to be vaccinated, without any option for regular coronavirus testing as an alternative to the mandate, according to a person familiar with the plans. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the president's scheduled 5 p.m. remarks. The action affecting the estimated 2.1 million workers comes as Biden plans to outline a "robust plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and boost covid-19 vaccinations," the White House said. It's expected to be a significant speech at a turning point for the United States, where hopes that vaccinations would ease the strain on hospitals and allow more social freedoms were dampened by the spread of the highly contagious variant. Biden also plans to call for a global summit, to be held during the U.N. General Assembly later this month, to respond to the coronavirus crisis and boost vaccine supply to the developing world. The pressure on Biden is increasing as the public health outlook worsens. The seven-day average of coronavirus deaths across the United States was 1,524 as of Wednesday, compared with 509 one month ago, amid lackluster vaccine uptake in many states and controversies over mask and vaccine mandates. |
| Biden Administration Prepares to Sue Texas Over Abortion Law | |
 | The Biden administration is preparing to sue Texas over its new law banning most abortions, people familiar with the matter said, an action that would set off a federal-state clash at a time when the future of abortion rights becomes an ever-more-pressing question before the courts. The Justice Department could file a lawsuit as soon as Thursday, the people said, adding that the timing could be pushed back. The Biden administration has faced pressure from Democrats and abortion-rights groups to take action to stop the Texas restrictions after the Supreme Court last week allowed them to take effect. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department was urgently exploring all of its options, which legal experts said could include attempting to strip federal funding and trying to determine whether there are federal facilities within the state that could provide abortions. Those experts warned, however, that novel provisions in the law, which prohibits most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, could make it harder for the federal government to prevail in a lawsuit. In its next session, the Supreme Court is already slated to rule on Mississippi's law banning most abortions after 15 weeks, with the state arguing for an abolition of federal abortion rights. Lower federal courts have blocked that law for violating Supreme Court precedent. A ruling in that case is expected by next summer. |
| Ocean Aero bringing new high-tech jobs to South Mississippi | |
 | It's everything the Mississippi Coast economy has been aiming for, 45 new high-tech jobs, tied to existing university research, the energy industry, and defense. Mississippi has attracted a California high-tech company to Gulfport. Ocean Aero will move from San Diego into a 67,000-square-foot warehouse on the Port of Gulfport's east pier. By the middle of next year, the company will be building its Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicles, more easily described as water drones. "This is really what we want to be doing in economic development here on the Coast," said Jon Nass, CEO and Executive Director of the Mississippi Port Authority. "These are great jobs attracting great minds." South Mississippi has been working toward developing a high-tech "blue economy" and this $4.65 million investment by Ocean Aero is another piece of the puzzle. The University of Southern Mississippi has played a key role in attracting the new business. "This is really the result of a long collaboration between the University of Southern Mississippi, our congressional delegation and our governor to develop a high-tech corridor," said Nass. The presence of the USM Marine Research Center and the Center for Ocean Enterprise at the Port played a large role in attracting Ocean Aero. Company CEO Kevin Decker said they are already engaged with USM through their work with the Department of Homeland Security. |
| William Carey University breaks all-time fall enrollment record | |
 | It's a new record. With 5,362 students enrolled for the fall trimester, William Carey University has broken its all-time enrollment record, with a 2 percent increase over last fall's 5,260 students. "Two percent may not sound like a large increase, but keep in mind, William Carey's enrollment has been rising steadily throughout the pandemic period. We are thankful for our students, who have entrusted us to help them achieve their educational goals in challenging times," said WCU President Dr. Tommy King. WCU's Tradition campus near Biloxi grew more than 13 percent, from 864 students to 1,001 students. The School of Education's overall enrollment rose 6 percent over last fall, from 1,705 students to 1,806 students. But the number of undergraduate education majors grew by 13 percent -- from 358 students to 405 students. Meanwhile, the WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine was authorized by its accrediting agency in 2019 to double the size of its first-year class. Now in year two of a three-year expansion plan, WCUCOM welcomed 188 first-year medical students in August. In fall 2022, the WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine will accept more than 200 first-year medical students. |
| Jackson Public Schools, William Carey continue partnership to help teachers | |
 | Leaders with the Jackson Public School District (JPS) and William Carey University celebrated a three-year partnership on Wednesday. They held a signing ceremony to continue the JPS Teacher Certification Program, which provides a pathway to standard Mississippi Educator Certification for provisionally licensed district employees through the university's Alternate Route program. The partnership has been extended through 2024. Leaders said the program serves about 100 participants each year. The collaboration between JPS and William Carey will assist the district in providing support to teachers who are seeking license certification. |
| Schools wait on state education department to OK use of federal funds for COVID-19 vaccine incentives | |
| Several school districts in Mississippi have plans in place to use federal stimulus funds to offer up to $1,000 for teachers and staff members who get vaccinated against COVID-19, but the Mississippi Department of Education is advising them to press pause. Although the U.S. Department of Education and the state auditor's office agree that monies from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund can be used by schools to incentivize both students and employees to get vaccinated, the department has not yet given districts the go-ahead, MDE spokesperson Jean Cook said. Cook declined to say what further guidance or information the department needed. The Biloxi Public School District has rolled out a plan to pay $1,000 to staffers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 8. The plan is for the payments to go out in December, Biloxi Superintendent Marcus Boudreaux said. "We've felt confident it would be approved ultimately, so we're just operating as if it will be," Boudreaux said when asked if the hold-up from MDE has made implementing the plan more difficult. Boudreaux said he also sees vaccination as a cost-saving measure. |
| U. of Alabama parking lot fight between 2 females over guy leads to attempted murder charge for 19-year-old | |
 | A fight between two females over a male in a University of Alabama dormitory parking lot left one of them jailed Wednesday. University of Alabama police were called to the parking lot at noon on a report of a disturbance and multiple vehicles struck. The location was Bryant Hall. After speaking with witnesses and viewing video surveillance footage, Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy said it appeared the 19-year-old female suspect was trying to run over people in the parking lot. It was determined that two females had been having a verbal altercation in the parking lot over a male acquaintance in common. The male acquaintance is a University of Alabama student, but both females are students at other local colleges, Kennedy said. The female suspect entered her vehicle, proceeded to drive into multiple vehicles, and made multiple passes through the parking lot in an attempt to strike the other female with her vehicle. The suspect was interviewed and admitted to investigators that she was trying to "run over" the other female. No one was injured. Akeria Lane is charged with attempted murder. Her bond is set at $40,000. |
| U. of Alabama Police Department focuses on building community ties | |
 | When Chief John Hooks took the helm at the University of Alabama Police Department, a community policing unit was in place. But Hooks has made it his mission to turn community policing into the focus of the entire department. Officers now regularly interact with students, faculty, staff and administrators as a means of fostering good relations and trust between the university community and the campus police force. "One of the first things I implemented after becoming chief was making all the officers community police officers," said Hooks, a veteran of UAPD since 2007 and chief since the fall of 2015, said. "The intent is like this, there is a big argument in police forces across the country over the question, what is guardian and what is warrior? Warrior is something that every guardian has to be at some point, but you don't live as a warrior," Hooks said. "When you live in that mentality, when you are a hammer, you think everything is a nail. When you are a warrior you are always out there looking for a battle to fight." Hooks said he feels his officers are trained and ready should a confrontational situation come up, but the officers' focus has to be on building relationships across the university community. |
| LSU says it will kick out students who fail to comply with pandemic protocol | |
 | LSU students have just a couple more days to comply with the school's pandemic protocol or risk getting kicked out. In a text message to students who had yet to comply, the university said the deadline is Friday. "If you do not comply," the message continued, "you will be unenrolled from the university." The message gave students the following five options to meet LSU requirements: Show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Show proof of negative COVID-19 test from within the past five days. Show proof of positive COVID-19 test from within the past 90 days. Formally opt out and get tested on a regular basis. I do not plan to comply. Last month, Louisiana's flagship university became the first Southeastern Conference school to require those same rules for anyone over the age of 12 who wants to attend events at the Tiger Stadium: proof of vaccine, a negative test within the past five days or a positive test within the past 90. On Saturday, when the policy goes into effect, LSU will have a dozen sites outside the 102,000-seat stadium to check vaccination or testing status before letting anyone into the arena to watch the game against McNeese State. As of Sept. 3, LSU reported that 68% of its 32,000 students have COVID immunizations. |
| Penn State leader Andra Johnson to be next UF/IFAS extension dean | |
 | The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services named its new dean of extension and director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service on Tuesday. Andra Johnson, currently associate director of programs with Penn State Extension, the Pennsylvania State University extension branch, will fill the position. He begins Nov. 1, according to a UF/IFAS press release. Johnson, who holds a doctorate in forest resources from Penn State, spent his childhood on a farm in rural Louisiana, the release stated. His family raised cattle there and grew cotton, corn and wheat, and his aunt has been a USDA Forest Service employee for more than three decades. Those formative experiences spurred him to work in extension and help connect land-grant university knowledge to families like his own, it read. Before becoming Penn State Extension's associate director, Johnson held a number of academic and leadership roles at other universities. He both taught classes and completed research as a tenured associate professor of urban forestry at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for more than a decade. Johnson then became assistant director of research and graduate research research at Alcorn State University before heading back to Southern University as vice chancellor for research and technology development. Penn State came next, and now, UF, according to the release. |
| A 'crazy catch-22' for professors in Georgia | |
 | The University System of Georgia, which opposes mask and vaccine mandates across its 26 institutions, appears poised to discipline professors who defy these policies in their classrooms. At the same time, many professors are ramping up their opposition to the system's stance on COVID-19 mitigation. "I'm getting basically an email an hour: 'Are we walking out? Are we going to court?' Every day, all day," said Cindy Hahamovitch, B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History and incoming chair of the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate. Faculty members in Georgia aren't currently planning a walkout, and they're legally prohibited from doing so in that state as public employees. (Hahamovitch didn't exactly rule out a future walkout, however, saying that state law "doesn't mean we can't do it, just that you have to do it en masse.") Professors are currently planning a series of actions, starting today with a Franklin Senate vote on a resolution condemning the system's "failure" to protect its campuses and demanding a mask and vaccine mandate. If administrators continue to fail to act, the resolution says, the faculty would be acting "ethically, responsibly" and according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance by changing course modality -- in other words, by moving courses online. Also today, members of the United Campus Workers of Georgia will hold a "die-in" protest at Georgia State University, to demand mask and vaccine mandates and flexible teaching and working arrangements. |
| Sen. Ted Cruz discusses COVID-19 pandemic, other national issues at Texas A&M | |
 | U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz discussed his thoughts on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics during a Wednesday visit to the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service. Cruz toured the school and spoke with students about jobs and economic growth among other matters before meeting with local reporters to answer questions. When asked what he thought should be done about rapidly rising COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Cruz encouraged vaccines but said he does not want to see any type of mandates. Though he said that COVID-19 is a serious disease that has "taken far too many lives," Cruz criticized past governmental decisions that were made in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 such as closing some businesses. Early on in the pandemic, local officials and others across the state were closing places such as bars and restaurant dining areas to prevent spreading the coronavirus. Cruz said he thinks that closures led to major problems for people's livelihoods and mental health. He also expressed concern about school closures, noting that many students are falling behind. |
| Covid-19 Policies Ignite Battle at UT Austin | |
| Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin drew up a series of projections for how Covid-19 could move through the 50,000-member student body this semester. Two scenarios, which assumed aggressive protections such as twice-weekly surveillance testing, would limit spread to a few hundred students. Plugging in a set of less restrictive variables suggested the virus would infect about a quarter of the student body by the end of the term. Following a prohibition by Republican state policy makers, UT Austin doesn't require surveillance testing, masking or vaccines. Now faculty worry the university is headed toward scenario No. 3. "Folks are hopping mad," said Patricia Maclachlan, a professor of government and Asian studies who led a petition signed by more than 800 faculty members and graduate students asking the university president to act more aggressively. "There is a real sense of betrayal and fear on campus," she said. The conflict between elected leaders who oppose requiring vaccines and masks and faculty at public universities is playing out in politically conservative states across the U.S. where universities are often a blue dot in a sea of red. Professors in Georgia and Pennsylvania have quit, saying the job isn't worth risking their lives. That number has prompted protests on campus demanding greater protections and led to a rift between faculty and administrators. University President Jay Hartzell is attempting to appease both sides by pushing students to wear masks and get tested and vaccinated voluntarily, while making sure they aren't pressured to do so overtly. The clash is particularly vivid in Texas. |
| U. of Missouri professor puts 9/11 in perspective for students who weren't born when attacks happened | |
 | Victor McFarland was a high school senior in Spokane, Washington, on Sept. 11, 2001. He had heard something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center before arriving at his school. "People thought maybe it was an accident," McFarland said of the talk in the halls. "We were watching on TV. It became clear with the second plane it wasn't an accident. It's part of the image that's fixed in my mind." He started studying Arabic and the history and culture of the Middle East in college, including traveling to Saudi Arabia and Syria. He said he was among many Americans for whom the attack spurred an intellectual interest in the Middle East. Some joined the military and others joined the Central Intelligence Agency, he said. He was among those who saw that the information received by most government and media sources about the Middle East was distorted, he said. Now an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri, McFarland teaches about the Sept. 11 attacks in a few courses to students who weren't yet born when the events unfolded. They only know what came after, he said. |
| U. of Missouri administration maintains the decision to cut some tenured professors salaries | |
 | The University of Missouri administration is pressing forward with pay cuts for some tenured faculty at the School of Medicine, despite concerns raised by Faculty Council members. MU's Faculty Council is meeting on Thursday for the second time this school year. Kathleen Trauth, the newly elected chair of the Faculty Council, said the council will be reviewing a document that outlines the process for creating new guidelines to review 9-month faculty members. This comes after the controversial implementation of policies related to 12-month workload professors, where there was a reduction of salary for some tenured professors in the medical school. A policy allowing for pay cuts for certain tenured faculty was created by the university in 2020. The policy was implemented in the spring of 2021 because of COVID-19. In July, the Faculty Council requested that "the Chancellor delay implementation of any and all policies related to the reduction of the Tenured Faculty salaries and/or reduction in Tenured Faculty contract length for at least one fiscal year." President Mun Choi reviewed this resolution and sent an email response to the Faculty Council on Aug. 25. "I am confident in the process that has been implemented for 12-month appointments, and do not wish to delay implementation," he wrote. |
| Young libertarians protest vaccine mandates on campus | |
| When Virginia Tech announced in June that it would require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Ben Walls, a junior multimedia journalism student, was upset. As co-president of the Virginia Tech Young Americans for Liberty, a youth libertarian organization with chapters across U.S. campuses, he started circulating a petition on campus to oppose the mandate. "We were a little angry that Virginia Tech was going to tell us what's best for us and our health care," Walls said. "These vaccines are a personal and private decision that shouldn't be mandated by the school administration." Now other chapters of Young Americans for Liberty are following suit. The national organization announced Wednesday that it was coordinating with student leaders at 23 public campuses -- including Rutgers University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, in addition to Virginia Tech -- to push back "against government interference in private medical decisions." "COVID-19 is a serious disease that I think all of us really do have to do our part in order to stop the spread," Walls said. "But that doesn't mean that Virginia Tech, as a state agency, really should have to do anything in order to 'keep us safe.'" YAL's coordinated push to get students to oppose vaccine mandates runs counter to the demands for stricter COVID-19 protocols many students and faculty are making on other campuses. |
| President Biden's higher ed proposals begin to take shape in Congress | |
| Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee revealed their proposals Wednesday for billions of dollars in new higher education spending -- from tuition-free community college to increased Pell Grants -- as Congress works to develop President Biden's Build Back Better Act. The bill text is modeled on Biden's American Families Plan, released in April, and will be a part of a package that Democrats intend to pass using a procedural process called budget reconciliation. That allows the legislation to pass with a simple 51-vote majority in the Senate, meaning Republican support won't be necessary. The primary difference between the initiatives Biden proposed and what congressional Democrats included is the level of investment -- with a $3.5 trillion limit on the overall package and other committees jockeying to fund their priorities, the amount of funding appropriated for individual programs often doesn't match the president's initial goals. For example, the legislation includes a $500 increase to the maximum Pell Grant for the 2022-23 award year -- and a staggered boost of $500 for subsequent award years until 2030 -- while Biden initially proposed a $1,400 increase. The legislation includes large investments in historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and other minority-serving institutions. |
| President Biden moves to purge Trump appointees from service academy boards | |
 | The White House on Wednesday asked Trump appointees to step down from their positions on the boards of visitors of the military service academies or be fired. President Donald Trump appointed a number of loyalists, including former spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway to the Air Force Academy's Board of Visitors, former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought to the Naval Academy's panel and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster to West Point's panel, among others. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the resignation requests. "The president's objective is what any president's objective is -- is to ensure you have nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them, and who are aligned with your values," Psaki said. "I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer and others were qualified, or not political, to serve on these boards," Psaki said. "But the president's qualification requirements are not your party registration. They are whether you're qualified to serve, and whether you are aligned with the values of this administration." Some of those who received the letters from the White House personnel office said they would refuse to leave voluntarily. |
SPORTS
| Red, Maroon, White And Blue | |
| The country was still reeling. The date was September 20, 2001. Nine days had passed since the United States suffered terrorist attacks that had claimed the lives of 2,977 individuals. For more than a week, America had collectively been in a bit of a pause, catching its collective breath. Events nationwide had been canceled or postponed, and sporting events were no different. On September 20, that was all about to change. It was time for the U.S. to stand back up and dust itself off, and the soundtrack for the resurgence was some 43,000-plus individuals clanging cowbells in Starkville. Mississippi State hosted South Carolina in a Top-25 matchup in what was the first major sporting event following 9/11. It was a resounding statement that the country might've been knocked down, but it wasn't going to stay down. The U.S. was on the mend, and on this particular night, a gigantic Maroon and White Band-Aid was going to help with the healing. When Mississippi State hosts NC State this Saturday, it marks the 20-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. That means it's also been nearly 20 years since the night the country's eyes turned to Starkville for a dose of normalcy after so much tragedy. |
| 'I knew we had to do something to change the game': Jaden Crumedy's block secured MSU's win | |
| Jaden Crumedy was the only Mississippi State player who knew he got a piece of Louisiana Tech's last-second, game-winning field goal attempt. While the fans inside Davis Wade Stadium held their breath, Crumedy was laying on his back and turning to see if his fingers on the kick were enough to keep La. Tech from pulling off an upset win. Or perhaps he was laying on the ground because he had given his all on the final play after 60 minutes of football. "Before the ball was snapped, I was tired," Crumedy said. "I knew we had to do something to change the game and to get the win." What Crumedy did was create an immense push through the center of Louisiana Tech's blockers. The momentum of the offensive lineman and Crumedy's MSU teammates crashing down on him wasn't enough to keep the 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pounder from making a play. Crumedy stretched out his right hand -- leaving no way to brace himself before falling to the ground -- and got the top half of his fingers on the kick. He wasn't sure that would be enough. Jacob Barnes' 46-yard attempt fell about seven yards short after clearly knuckling off the line due to Crumedy's block, securing a comeback 35-34 win for Mississippi State. |
| More cowbell! NC State's unique challenge at Mississippi State | |
| N.C. State offensive lineman Dylan McMahon was wrapping up his interview with the media when suddenly a noise came from nearby. Ding. Ding. DING. The noise got louder as the dings became more frequent. Ding. DING. DING. McMahon looked over this shoulder and discovered the culprit. Wolfpack linebacker Isaiah Moore walked into the room, cowbell in his hand to remind McMahon, and everyone else in the building, that peace and quiet will be hard to come by this weekend. On Saturday, N.C. State (1-0) will travel to Starkville, Mississippi, for a showdown with Mississippi State (1-0). Davis Wade Stadium will be the first true road game the Pack has played since the 2019 season. N.C. State played on the road a year ago, but due to COVID, most of those visiting stadiums were nearly empty. That won't be the case Saturday night, with more than 60,000 fans in attendance. Oh, and they will definitely have their cowbells in tow. How are Pack players feeling about it? "Excited," McMahon said. "With COVID last year there were no fans. We are just blessed to go somewhere, even if it's a hostile territory, just to have fans there booing you or whatever they are going to be doing." They'll be ringing cowbells, Dylan. Non-stop. DING. DING. DING. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball releases 2021-22 SEC schedule | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball will open its 2021-22 conference schedule at home against Florida for the second time in three seasons, the start of a 16-game slate that features home-and-home matchups with Ole Miss, Arkansas and Missouri. The SEC announced the conference schedule Wednesday, and the Bulldogs will look to improve in year two under coach Nikki McCray-Penson. In McCray-Penson's first season in Starkville, Mississippi State went 10-9 overall and 5-7 in the conference, missing out on the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs enter the 2021-22 season with nine newcomers between incoming freshmen and transfers. Several of those transfers should prove to be immediate contributors for Mississippi State, such as guard Anastasia Hayes, who was named the 2021 Conference USA Player of the Year at Middle Tennessee State for averaging 26.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. The Bulldogs tip off Dec. 30 against the Gators to begin SEC play before heading on the road for contests with Kentucky and Alabama. From there, Mississippi State will face a collection of the following schools once: Vanderbilt, Georgia, Texas A&M, Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee. The two games against Ole Miss are Jan. 16 on the road and Feb. 13 at home. Mississippi State plays at Arkansas on Jan. 23 and hosts the Razorbacks on Feb. 27, the final game of the conference slate. Missouri visits Starkville on Jan. 27 and the Bulldogs head on the road to face the Tigers on Feb. 20. |
| 'Ahead of the game': How Cowboys QB Dak Prescott strengthened body, mind ahead of return from injury | |
 | Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott found running back Ezekiel Elliott on a wheel route and handed off to running back Tony Pollard. He nailed Amari Cooper as the receiver cut underneath during a play-action period. Prescott connected with tight ends Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz on deeper routes in third-down situations. "He's throwing the ball with some pop," Elliott said after the Aug. 25 practice when Prescott, it seemed, was finally cutting it loose. "Dak looks really good." Even better news, as Prescott awoke one and two days after: He was feeling good. No residual soreness or tightness. No disappointment about the injury gauntlet he has cycled through the last year. Nearly 11 months have passed since Prescott suffered a season-ending compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle. Roughly six weeks ago, during Prescott's first padded practice back, an MRI revealed a strain in the latissimus muscle of his throwing shoulder. But after surgeries and physical therapy to heal his ankle, new pre-practice routines and maddeningly drawn-out weeks of rest for his shoulder --- Prescott is back. He's excited. And he's ready to take the field Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET in Tampa for the NFL's season opener as the Cowboys take on the defending champion Buccaneers. "I'm definitely ready," Prescott said from team headquarters after a recent Cowboys practice session. "From the shoulder to the leg to my mind, I'm ready to go." |
| Keith Carter: Allegations made against Ole Miss softball program 'unsubstantiated' | |
| Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter issued a statement on Wednesday regarding the Title IX investigation into allegations made towards the softball program, calling them unsubstantiated. Head coach Jamie Trachsel and assistant coach Katie Rietkovich Browder were under investigation following an allegation made, stating Browder and a player on the team were having a relationship of some kind. A podcast and website that covers softball first reported the investigation after obtaining a letter sent to Carter that described the alleged relationship between the coach and unnamed player. "Following a comprehensive investigation by the university's Title IX office, the anonymous allegations of inappropriate behavior by the softball staff are unsubstantiated," Carter said. "In addition, other anonymous allegations involving the culture of the softball program have been thoroughly reviewed by Athletics Compliance staff and were determined not to be in violation of any policies. The well-being and experience of our student-athletes will always be our top priority, and through this extensive review, we discussed these anonymous claims with our players and all were unsubstantiated. On Wednesday, Trachsel also issued a statement regarding the investigation. "We would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to our university leadership for thoroughly reviewing this matter and reaching a conclusion," Trachsel said. |
| Records: Racial slurs 'played a significant role' in U. of Kentucky players' fight with fraternity | |
 | The use of racial slurs and alcohol "played a significant role" in an incident involving several University of Kentucky football players and the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity in March, according to student conduct records obtained by the Herald-Leader. The confrontation, which allegedly ended in a fistfight between several people, resulted in six UK football players charged with first-degree burglary. One was also charged with wanton endangerment because police said he allegedly pointed a gun at partygoers. But student conduct records, including police documents, obtained by the Herald-Leader through the Freedom of Information Act indicated that 13 people -- including 10 football players -- could have potentially faced burglary charges. Three of the suspects, one of whom was not a UK student, also were believed by police to possibly be subject to charges of wanton endangerment and assault. Names were redacted from the records that documented statements from witnesses and victims who said people in attendance suffered injuries, including swollen eyes, when some players threw punches. Some of those who were allegedly hit were females, and one was pushed against the wall by her neck, according to conduct records. The records also detailed statements from football players who said the altercation in March escalated into a fight because they were called racial slurs by several people at the party. Players stated in conduct records that they had been to parties at the same home previously without any incidents. |
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