| Monday, November 1, 2021 |
| Monday Profile: For MSU grad student, inventions go beyond gourmet hot dogs | |
 | Eric Anderson knows inspiration can strike at any moment. Sometimes, illumination comes by way of a study abroad trip to London, the capital of a nation with a rich and complex history. Other times, it happens at The Home Depot. During one fateful trip this year to the home improvement store, the Mississippi State University graduate student spotted the ideal item: a Bosch laser level. In his third year of grad school studying applied anthropology, Anderson is putting the new tool to use for his thesis: inventing, creating and testing a portable osteometric device, or POD. Anderson hopes his creation will allow for more simplicity and precision in measuring the length of bones, a key tool to archaeological research -- with plenty of benefits. "What this does is it allows us to figure out stature, growth and development patterns, nutritional patterns in the past -- but it can also be used in forensics," Anderson said. Osteometric boards already exist, but they're 2 feet long and essentially act as "a ruler." Anderson's creation removes the board aspect of things. It uses laser sensors with "time-of-flight" technology, which measures the distance between an object and the sensor, to easily and accurately give the measurement. The pocket-sized POD consists of two rectangular, gray blocks only a few inches in area. The side giving the readout -- length, midpoint and the 25th and 75th percentiles -- can clamp to a surface; the other can slide up to 2 meters. Anderson said his invention is almost ready to be tested pending a few final software developments -- but those won’t be his doing. “I’m not a software engineer by any means,” Anderson said. “I tried to get as far as I could with it, and then I had to hire someone else.” |
| Endangered sea turtles released into Mississippi Sound | |
 | It may be cooler for us right now but it's perfect weather for one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. A crowd waited patiently at Biloxi Beach in front of the Edgewater Mall as Kemp's ridley sea turtles were carried into the Mississippi Sound. One of the handlers was Susan Hatley, a volunteer with the Institute For Marine Mammal Studies. "Just to have a small part of that means so much to me," Hatley said. She was one of the original helpers that helped the institute take in 20 cold-stunned turtles from New England back in December. As the turtles regained their strength, staff released them back into the wild. Their recovery is a testament to Hatley and other volunteers who helped clean the turtle's tubs and prepare their food. "It means cutting up shrimp, fish and squid, measuring out what they need for their diets," she said. But, the volunteers didn't do it all alone. The IMMS staff and Mississippi State Veterinary students did the heavy lifting when it came to sick and injured turtles. "A lot of them had pneumonia, just like we get pneumonia and they were treated for it and they recovered," Assistant Clinical Professor Dr. Debra Moore said. “We have a record of them. We know their approximate size so if they grow to adulthood we know exactly at some point in time they were at our facility. We can compare where they are 10 years from now, 20 years from now,” Moore said. The opportunity for students to work with one of the most endangered sea turtles is something a lot of schools don’t have to offer. “It’s an amazing opportunity for us to have the opportunity to work with them. It’s an amazing opportunity for us to release them back,” Moore said. |
| With federal money at stake, more colleges mandate vaccines | |
 | A growing number of colleges and universities are mandating vaccination against COVID-19 for employees -- including undergraduate and graduate student employees -- in response to President Biden's Sept. 9 order mandating vaccination for employees of federal contractors. Although many hundreds of universities voluntarily implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for students and/or employees, colleges and universities with vaccine mandates tend to be concentrated in Democratic-leaning states. By conditioning continued receipt of federal contractor dollars on employee vaccination mandates, the Biden order stands to change this landscape and bring more parity to vaccination requirements across higher education institutions and state lines. Even universities in deeply conservative states where state laws or executive orders prohibit COVID-19 vaccine mandates have begun to announce plans to require vaccinations of employees in response to the federal order. Legal experts say it’s clear that under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause a federal order would trump any potentially conflicting state or local-level laws or regulations. But public universities in many Republican-led states find themselves navigating vexed political contexts. In Mississippi, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning voted last week to amend a prior directive issued in August that largely prohibited COVID-19 vaccine mandates at Mississippi’s public colleges and universities in order to enable the institutions to comply with the Biden order. Following the board action, Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi announced requirements for all employees to be vaccinated. |
| University students denounce use of Nazi symbols at protest | |
 | Tyler Daniel says he felt shock and horror when he saw a poster that had the Mississippi State University president's face defaced with an Adolf Hitler mustache, a swastika scrawled in the upper corner. Another sign on the Starkville campus Tuesday read, "Heil State," the "s" replaced with a swastika. "Hail State" is fight song and athletic rallying cry for the public institution with about 23,000 students. "We didn't know what those symbols were there to represent," Daniel, president of the campus Jewish students' organization Hillel, told The Associated Press on Friday. "We didn't know why they were there -- if there was any danger. It was very scary to us." The 24-year-old Ph.D. student said he found out the signs were part of a protest against a policy mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for university faculty and staff. The board that governs Mississippi's public universities voted Monday to require that most employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, after an executive order from President Joe Biden mandating vaccination for employees of companies or institutions with federal contracts. Other universities around the U.S. are making similar decisions. Although about 75% of Mississippi State employees were already vaccinated, the news was not welcomed by some unvaccinated workers. Mississippi State spokesman Sid Salter told the AP that about 30 to 35 protesters took to Drill Field, a green space in the center of campus, on Tuesday. He said school officials believe participants were a mix of Mississippi State employees, outsiders and students. |
| Starkville, West Point announce parade dates | |
| Starkville and West Point have announced details for their annual Christmas parades. The Starkville Main Street Association has announced the city's annual Christmas Parade, presented by Reed's, will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 29 on Main Street. This year's Grand Marshal will be Mississippi State Baseball Head Coach Chris Lemonis and coaching staff members of the 2021 NCAA National Championship team. The parade theme is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" in honor of Mike Goree's 35th year participating in the Starkville Christmas Parade. Goree has been a "magical" key component of the Christmas Parade since 1986. "We're honored to give back to the Starkville community through our sponsorship of this year's parade," said Bo Summerford, president of Reed's. "The event is sure to be a cultivation of all of the wonderful people who make the community so special." Parade applications are available at the Starkville Main Street Association office or online at https://starkville.org/visit/events/starkville-christmas-parade/. The entry fee for parade participation is $25 made payable to the Starkville Main Street Association. All local and community organizations are encouraged to participate and attend. For information regarding the event, contact Paige Watson at (662) 323-3322 or email pwatson@starkville.org. |
| Starkville considers raising city employee minimum wage | |
| Following a salary and position study, the board of aldermen on Tuesday will consider raising the minimum wage for city workers by roughly $1.40. The city's human resources department partnered with the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University to conduct the study, the results of which were presented to aldermen at their Friday work session. Research Associate Matthew Peterson, who spearheaded the study, examined several other municipalities throughout Mississippi, including Oxford, other North Mississippi cities and even some along the Gulf Coast, to ensure Starkville's city positions and pay were equivalent to those across the state. Peterson presented the survey results to the board of aldermen at the board's work session Friday. He said he "matched up" 147 different positions throughout all city departments and did an "apples to apples comparison" to see if job salaries are where they should be. The only department Peterson said he struggled finding data for was the airport department due to many municipalities not having one. "We really made sure we went through every department and evaluated positions," Peterson said. " ... We did a lot of follow up talking with department heads and whoever we had to speak to to make sure that we got the correct data." |
| Rep. Jon Lancaster of Houston switches to the Republican Party | |
 | State Rep. Jon Lancaster of Houston is switching his party affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, putting almost every legislative district in Northeast Mississippi into Republican hands. Lancaster, who represents Chickasaw and Pontotoc counties, told the Daily Journal in a statement that he decided to switch his affiliation to the GOP to give his constituents better representation at the state Capitol. "I feel this gives my constituents a real seat at the table," Lancaster said. "Gives me an opportunity to better represent them." Lancaster's seat, House District 22, has long been a safe Democratic seat in the rural hills of Northeast Mississippi. Lancaster's predecessor, Democrat Preston Sullivan, served that district from 2003 to 2020. A farmer, Lancaster is still in his first term. He was elected in 2019 to succeed Sullivan, who did not seek re-election that year. Lancaster's switch means that the state GOP can strengthen its hold on state politics even more and have a greater cushion for key votes. The switch also comes at a time when House Speaker Philip Gunn has large aspirations to push through major legislative goals through the House, such as phasing out the state income tax. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves appoints former Madison County jailer to State Parole Board | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday the appointment of Marlow Stewart who previously worked for the Madison County Sheriff's Department to serve on the State Parole Board beginning Nov. 1. "Marlow's years of experience working within our state's correction system make him an excellent candidate to fill the upcoming vacancy on the State Parole Board," Reeves said. "I am grateful that Marlow has accepted this appointment and will continue serving the people of Mississippi and those within our correctional system." Stewart has an extensive public service career beginning in 1993 as a case manager of the Region 8 Mental Health Services. In 1996, Marlow became a jailer at the Madison County Sheriff Department where he worked until 1997, when he became a correctional field officer for the Department of Corrections. In this role, Marlow supervised probationary offenders, parolees and MDOC inmates, while working with offenders in a community setting to integrate them back into the community upon their release. From 2003 until 2018, Marlow served as the associate community corrections director for Region II, then was named director from 2018 to 2020, serving as a liaison with community corrections providers and state and local government officials to ensure the provision of services for inmates eligible for probation, parole, or other release programs. Marlow attended Alcorn State University where he earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology. He will replace Nehemiah Flowers, who recently announced his retirement effective Oct. 31. |
| Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Texas Abortion Law | |
 | The Supreme Court on Monday took up a Texas ban on most abortions, hearing oral arguments on a novel law that has survived legal challenges so far despite being at odds with constitutional protections for abortion rights. The law, known as SB 8 or the Texas Heartbeat Act, went into effect two months ago and is the most stringent in the nation. It bars doctors from knowingly performing an abortion if there is a detectable fetal heartbeat, which the law defines to include early cardiac activity in the embryo, and doesn't contain exceptions for rape or incest. The anomaly of SB 8 is that state officials aren't allowed to enforce it, a feature designed to thwart legal challenges. In a normal case, abortion-rights plaintiffs would sue such officials and ask a judge to block them from enforcing the law. This novel feature proved an insurmountable hurdle to abortion providers who sued to stop the law before it went into effect. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the lawsuit faced procedural problems in suing state officials. Then on Sept. 1, the day the law went into effect, a divided Supreme Court declined to intervene, with the court's most conservative justices forming a majority that cited reasons similar to those of the appeals court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court's newest member and a potentially pivotal vote, made early comments that questioned the propriety of SB 8. The state law, she said, may not allow abortion providers to make a full defense in state court if they get sued. Oral arguments are continuing all morning. |
| President Biden arrives in Glasgow for COP26 summit with leaders under pressure to turn climate pledges into action | |
 | World leaders gathered here Monday for a high-stakes United Nations' COP26 climate summit, where they are discussing ways to address the warming planet, even as many countries, including the U.S., are falling short on emissions-reduction targets and struggling to enact domestic climate-change legislation. The COP26 summit runs until Nov. 12, with thousands of delegates, diplomats and activists holding talks on how to limit the increase in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but preferably to 1.5 degrees. But the next 48 hours will see global leaders facing pressure to turn political pledges to tackle climate change into concrete actions. Scotland's capital is hosting the summit amid intensifying concern from scientists that nations are not doing enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions that have caused an average rise in global temperatures. President Joe Biden said in an address to the conference that Glasgow should be the start of a decade of ambition to fight climate change. According to Biden's National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy the president will spend his two days in Glasgow emphasizing how "within three decades, the U.S. can meet our global climate commitments by decarbonizing the power sector, electrifying transportation and buildings, transforming industry, reducing non-CO2 emissions, and reinvigorating our natural lands" with a view to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. |
| 'They're probably going to put us back in power': GOP basks in Dem discord | |
 | Most of the House GOP isn't lifting a finger to help Democrats out of their infrastructure jam, and with good reason. Just ask Rep. Randy Weber. "They're probably going to put us back into power," the conservative Texas Republican said with a loud laugh. "There's an old saying: 'When your enemy is trying to commit suicide, never get between him and the gun.'" Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's conference is largely taking his advice to sit back and let Democrats eat their own over President Joe Biden's stalled domestic agenda. The calculus behind that approach is about more than just the boost Republicans predict for their midterm election fortunes: The longer negotiations drag on between the Democratic Party's two factions, the more time it loses to devote to other legislation Republicans staunchly oppose. And the handful of GOP centrists who are trying to stitch together a dozen or so votes for the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill, once it finally gets to the floor, are getting no help from Democratic leaders who --- despite periodic attempts to decouple them --- have kept the $500 billion roads-and-rails measure harnessed to a separate social spending framework. With the infrastructure bill remaining a de facto legislative hostage to Democrats' more progressive social policy plan, Republican moderates are finding it harder and harder to boost their numbers for it. The result is a GOP conference mostly avoiding the spotlight these days, getting fewer tough questions about Donald Trump's enduring hold on the party or about the handful of House conservatives with a penchant for extremist and divisive rhetoric. While Democratic infighting blots out the sun in Washington, Republicans don't mind the shade. |
| Stunning survey gives grim view of flourishing anti-democratic opinions | |
 | Those who buy into former President Trump's lies over the 2020 election and those who watch the far-right channels that amplify his rhetoric are increasingly embracing anti-democratic opinions and even contemplating political violence, according to a new poll. The poll from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute paints a troubling portrait of a growing segment of the public that is increasingly unmoored from reality as it embraces conspiracy theories about child abduction and stolen elections. It found a deep divide between those who trust right-wing media outlets and the rest of the nation -- and even a divide between those who trust Fox News and those who trust outlets like One America News Network and Newsmax. One in 5 Americans believe in the core tenet of the QAnon conspiracy that "there is a storm coming soon," while 1 in 6 believe the United States government is controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking ring. The same share, 18 percent, say they agree with the statement that America has gotten so far off track that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country." "I'm not an alarmist by nature, but I'm deeply disturbed by these numbers. I think that we really have to take them seriously as a threat to democracy," said Robert Jones, the founder and chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute. The rising acceptance of political violence is playing out in courtrooms in Washington and across the country as rioters from the Jan. 6 insurrection face charges and, increasingly, prison sentences for their roles in the mayhem. |
| Most Americans trust elections are fair, but sharp divides exist, a new poll finds | |
 | A majority of Americans trust that elections are fair, are confident in their state and local governments' ability to administer elections, and will trust the results in 2022 and in 2024 regardless of whether their preferred candidate wins, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds. The survey also found that most Americans feel that former President Donald Trump has continued to say the 2020 election was rigged mostly because he didn't like the outcome. But those results are largely because of Democrats and independents. Many Republicans appear to have bought into Trump's lies about nonexistent widespread fraud in an election he lost. The story is not simply a divide between the parties but also among those who tend to vote for Republicans. There was a big education gap -- between those with college degrees and those without -- that emerged in the survey when it came to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. The poll also found President Biden not faring well. His approval rating is down to 44%, with almost half disapproving. And among Democratic voters, there is little confidence in him as the standard-bearer once again in 2024. |
| Pentagon rattled by Chinese military push on multiple fronts | |
| China's growing military muscle and its drive to end American predominance in the Asia-Pacific is rattling the U.S. defense establishment. American officials see trouble quickly accumulating on multiple fronts -- Beijing's expanding nuclear arsenal, its advances in space, cyber and missile technologies, and threats to Taiwan. "The pace at which China is moving is stunning," says Gen. John Hyten, the No. 2-ranking U.S. military officer, who previously commanded U.S. nuclear forces and oversaw Air Force space operations. At stake is a potential shift in the global balance of power that has favored the United States for decades. A realignment more favorable to China does not pose a direct threat to the United States but could complicate U.S. alliances in Asia. New signs of how the Pentagon intends to deal with the China challenge may emerge in coming weeks from Biden administration policy reviews on nuclear weapons, global troop basing and overall defense strategy. For now, officials marvel at how Beijing is marshaling the resources, technology and political will to make rapid gains -- so rapid that the Biden administration is attempting to reorient all aspects of U.S. foreign and defense policy. The latest example of surprising speed was China's test of a hypersonic weapon capable of partially orbiting Earth before reentering the atmosphere and gliding on a maneuverable path to its target. The weapon system's design is meant to evade U.S. missile defenses, and although Beijing insisted it was testing a reusable space vehicle, not a missile, the test appeared to have startled U.S. officials. |
| The Race Is On to Develop a Vaccine Against Every Coronavirus | |
 | On October 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave most of the US population permission to get a Covid vaccine booster---a shot in such high demand that 10 million people somehow obtained it in advance of that approval in an effort to feel a little safer. Two days after that, the government of the United Kingdom made things feel a little less safe: It announced the emergence of Delta-plus, a new variant that already accounts for 6 percent of cases in that country, and is even more infectious than the highly transmissible Delta. Those back-to-back events captured the nauseating pandemic roller coaster: Things are getting better. No, they're not. Yes, they are. No, they're definitely not. The endless repetition is exhausting. It has led a loose coalition of scientists to ask: What if we could just make the roller coaster ... stop? In a fistful of papers and preprints published in the past six months, these research teams propose a "universal coronavirus vaccine" that could protect against this entire viral family. That means the current SARS-CoV-2 version, any variants that might escape the protection of existing vaccines, and any future coronavirus strains that might emerge to cause new pandemics. It is a complex project, and no group is close to reaching the goal. Universal vaccines against other recurrent, genetically variable diseases -- see, especially, influenza -- have been pursued unsuccessfully for years. But researchers think one for coronaviruses might be more achievable, both because this virus is less genetically complex than the one that causes the flu, and also because the threat of another coronavirus pandemic feels uncomfortably real. But here's the challenge: To make a vaccine that protects against multiple types, strains, or variants of a virus, researchers have to find some feature that they all have in common and that our immune system reacts to. Then they have to incorporate that feature into the vaccine. |
| Mississippi University for Women's Jumpstart program promotes early literacy | |
| Mississippi University for Women's Jumpstart Program joined millions of readers across the United States to promote early childhood development, education and literacy as part of the Jumpstart's 16th annual Read for the Record. Today The W's Jumpstart program had more than 200 participants in its celebration of early literacy. "Jumpstart's Read for the Record is a powerful way to come together for the power of reading. The Jumpstart program makes high-quality children's books accessible by making sure every Jumpstart child has a storybook to take home. We provide support, resources and materials that foster language and social-emotional development," said Rose Ford, Jumpstart program site manager at The W. For the annual event, students from The W's Child and Parent Development Center gathered on the steps of Welty Hall to listen to the reading of "Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon" written by Kat Zhang and illustrated by Charlene Chua. Special guest reader was Kathy Shapley, department chair and professor of speech-language pathology. Each year, Jumpstart selects a campaign book that fosters language and social-emotional development, honors the diversity in the world, has a strong narrative and appeals to young children. Jumpstart also works with the selected publishing partner to create a special paperback edition of the campaign book with exclusive content. Additionally, W Jumpstart Corps members celebrated the importance of early language and literacy skills by joining the CPDC parade around campus and reading to The Assembly Kids Academy. They also engaged in meaningful conversations to build vocabulary and talk about emotions. |
| UM Breaks Ground on Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation | |
| A cold rain forced Friday's Duff Center groundbreaking ceremony indoors, but that didn't dampen the spirits of more than 200 University of Mississippi supporters and community members from showing up to celebrate the largest single construction project ever on the Oxford campus. Jim and Thomas Duff, the brothers and owners of Duff Capital Investors who have committed $26 million to building the new facility designed to boost science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, said they are excited to see construction beginning on a project they've envisioned for a long time. "We are excited about today and we look forward to the future," Thomas Duff said during the ceremony at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. "When I was walking through here, looking at how new the Pavilion is, I got to thinking of the hundreds of thousands of students who have walked these roads and gone through the corridors of the buildings whose lives have been changed because of their experience at Ole Miss." Just across the street from the ceremony, crews from Yates Construction Co. have already begun work at the site, on All-American Drive across from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. "It's a good day for our university, it's a good day for our state, and it's a good day for our country," said Sen. Roger Wicker, who has worked on legislation in the Senate that aims to make the U.S. more globally competitive in STEM professions. |
| Mac Alford earns second Fulbright Scholar Award | |
| A University of Southern Mississippi faculty member will be supported by a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to conduct research, teach and complete descriptions of a plant species in south-central Africa that could have important environmental implications related to the improved understanding of plant diversity in that region of the continent. Mac Alford, a professor of biological sciences and curator of USM's herbarium, will teach botany, tropical ecology, and conservation biology at Mulungushi University in Kabwe, Zambia, and do research on tropical species of the willow (Salicaceae) and spiderwort (Commelinaceae) families over the next year as part of a project to better understand the plant diversity of Africa. As a Fulbright Scholar, Alford will share knowledge and foster meaningful connections across communities in the U.S. and Zambia as a result of this program. Mulungushi University has also requested Alford's assistance in helping develop its botany and conservation biology programs, as well as a garden/arboretum of useful trees. "I'm honored and thrilled to earn a second Fulbright, and to get another chance to continue my research abroad, this time in a place I've never been, where I believe I can expand my knowledge base and also share what I've learned to date to benefit the research enterprise at Mulungushi University," Alford said. |
| Landscaping, sidewalk project beginning Monday along Hardy St. | |
 | The City of Hattiesburg will begin Monday a project that will install sidewalks along Hardy Street The "Hardy Street Improvements Project," which will extend from 34th Avenue east to U.S. 49, also will provide landscaping upgrades. Depending on the weather, the $1 million project is slated to be complete by May 2022. Any lane closures necessary for work to be completed will take place at night or on the weekends. However, some travel inconveniences may be unavoidable. Pedestrians and motorists are encouraged to use caution when in and around the work zone. Awarded to Webster Electric, the project is funded by a Transportation Alternatives Program grant presented to the University of Southern Mississippi through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The grant funding requires a local match, which is shared between USM, the City of Hattiesburg, the Area Development Partnership, the Convention Commission, Forrest County, Forrest General Hospital and Hattiesburg Clinic. |
| U. of Alabama changes mask requirements for some | |
 | The University of Alabama announced Friday it will be changing its requirement for face coverings to be worn inside campus buildings. Masks will no longer be required on Nov. 5 for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Those who have not been vaccinated will still be required to wear masks indoors as well as in outdoor settings that involve sustained close contact, the school said. Masks will still be required for all individuals in patient clinical-care settings as well as for all riders on the campus bus system. The school's announcement also said that those who are fully vaccinated should still feel comfortable to continue wearing masks. All school employees, including student employees, are required to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 under the executive order issued Sept. 9 by President Joe Biden. Auburn University, which still requires a face covering inside campus buildings, is under the same executive order. |
| Jon Meacham invitation to Samford University is withdrawn | |
| Jon Meacham is a biographer who has tackled many prominent people as his subjects, including Andrew Jackson (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize), Thomas Jefferson and George H. W. Bush. He was invited to speak at Samford University in a series of events to celebrate the inauguration of Beck Taylor as president. But Taylor withdrew the invitation because Meacham has spoken at some fundraising events for Planned Parenthood. More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn. The petition said that Meacham's "beliefs and core values do not align with those of Samford University, as it is a Southern Baptist institution. Mr. Meacham is involved with raising money in support of an organization that does not value life in the same way the Christian faith does. As Samford is the top-ranked Christian University in Alabama, the invitation for Mr. Meacham to speak is not only disappointing, but alarming for the future of Samford." Taylor wrote to Samford students and faculty members to explain his decision. Taylor noted "the vital importance of free expression and civil discourse in an academic community like Samford." But, he said, "It has come to our attention that Mr. Meacham has previously spoken at a Planned Parenthood chapter event. Some in our community have assumed erroneously that Samford's invitation by extension endorses any perspectives or viewpoints Mr. Meacham may have about the sanctity of life and abortion rights. I can assure you that no such connection should be inferred. Mr. Meacham is not planning to discuss these issues in his remarks. Although I am disappointed by the narrative that has combined important conversations about pro-life issues and Mr. Meacham's planned appearance at Samford, it is vitally important to me that next week's events unify and draw our community together to celebrate the history and future of Samford University, a place we love and for which we all care deeply. Unexpectedly, Mr. Meacham's planned lecture has become a divisive issue, one that takes attention away from our opportunity to celebrate Samford. I regret that this has happened." |
| U. of Florida Stops 3 Professors From Taking Part in Voting-Rights Suit, Raising Cries of Censorship | |
 | The University of Florida has denied requests by three professors to serve as expert witnesses for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that challenges a new Florida law limiting the ways in which state residents can vote. The news, first reported by The New York Times on Friday, prompted fierce criticism from observers nationwide, who said the move was an extraordinary breach of academic freedom. The executive director of the American Association of University Professors tweeted that the university's "attempt to muzzle these faculty members violates their academic freedom." In a statement, the University of Florida acknowledged that it had forbidden the three professors to participate in the lawsuit, saying that such work was "adverse to the university's interests as a state of Florida institution." The lawsuit in question challenges a law, signed this year, that restricts the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots, makes it more difficult to vote absentee, and adds new restrictions for political activity around polling places, among other things. Critics have said the law will affect voters of color the most. In its statement, the university denied it had suppressed the First Amendment rights or academic freedom of the three professors, and said it "has a long track record of supporting free speech and our faculty's academic freedom, and we will continue to do so." The development is part of a broader story at Florida's flagship and nationwide. In states where they hold political power, Republican lawmakers are seeking a greater say in the affairs of public colleges. |
| UF spokeswoman says three professors could testify if they are unpaid | |
 | The University of Florida would allow three professors to serve as expert witnesses in a case that challenges a new state law restricting voting access if they are not paid and don't use university time or resources, a UF spokeswoman said Sunday, adding confusion to a move that could have far-reaching impacts on academic freedom. Hessy Fernandez, UF director of issues management and crisis communications, told the Gainesville Sun in a text message Sunday the university views the professors' request to do outside work for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit as harmful to the university's interests. "However, to be clear," she stated, "if the professors wish to do so pro bono on their own time without using university resources, they would be free to do so." That allowance for unpaid work was not mentioned earlier when Gary Wimsett, UF's assistant vice president for conflicts of interest, told two of the professors that "UF will deny its employees' requests to engage in outside activities when it determines the activities are adverse to its interests." Wimsett's statement does reflect a view the UF President Kent Fuchs expressed at a September Faculty Senate meeting. When the issue of a vote of no confidence in UF's COVID-19 fall plans arose, Fuchs reminded the group that the state government has authority over almost all areas of the university's operation. "It is critical that UF as an institution and any entity within the institution that officially represents the University of Florida not rupture or fracture our relationship with our state government and our elected officials," he said. "If I as president or any other entity that officially represents the university becomes an adversary of state government and our elected officials, we'll lose that ability to influence those decisions that affect us." |
| Texas A&M will not challenge 2020 census results; College Station still unsure | |
 | When Texas A&M University announced a transition to online learning in March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, students were left with the option to either stay in College Station or return home to their families. The departure of students from campus in the 2020 spring semester has raised concerns for some college towns and universities regarding whether or not the 2020 U.S. Census truly reflected the population base. According to the Associated Press, some college towns and universities such as Bloomington, Indiana; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and State College, Pennsylvania, are considering challenging the results of the census, worried that an undercount could cost them federal money and prestige. Texas A&M has announced it has no plans to challenge the results. "Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks will not be signing on to any of the protests regarding the 2020 census results. She agrees with the Assessment that the university's outreach efforts were highly successful," said Susan Ballabina, Texas A&M's vice president for academic and strategic partnership. Chad Wootton, Texas A&M associate vice president, said the university's efforts surpassed many across the country and he thanked a partnership with Public Partnership & Outreach (PPO), Student Affairs, Student Government Association (SGA) and local communities with a Texas A&M presence such as Bryan, College Station, McAllen, Galveston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. |
| U. of Missouri graduate workers union continues long push for rights | |
 | While distinguished guests and onlookers gathered for the grand opening of the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building on Oct. 19, graduate workers protested, carried bright red signs and chanted "masks 'till we're all vaxxed." It was the latest action taken by the Coalition of Graduate Workers, a union dedicated to championing good working conditions and just compensation for graduate workers at the University of Missouri. From 2016 to 2019, the coalition fought MU in court to be recognized as university employees with the right to unionize. But two years after their win at the state Supreme Court, graduate workers feel almost as powerless as before. To date, they have not had any formal meetings or negotiations with MU. The coalition is the product of student protests in 2015 after MU announced graduate workers would lose their health insurance subsidies. Within months of the outcry, MU had reinstated benefits and increased graduate worker pay. But graduate workers, recognizing that their pay and benefits could be taken away at any time, began efforts to unionize. Following pushback from MU, Missouri courts ruled three times that graduate workers are indeed employees of the university with the right to unionize. Contracts are not a new thing; graduate student unions at other public land grant research universities across the country, such as the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Rhode Island have negotiated contracts with administration to ensure certain graduate worker rights are protected. |
| U. of Memphis identifies first of three finalists for new president | |
| The University of Memphis has identified the first candidate for the 13th president. Cammy R. Abernathy, the current dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida, will visit campus Tuesday for open sessions with the faculty, staff, students and the community. The university shared the information with faculty Friday. The U of M plans to announce the names of three finalists two days before each person's open sessions with the campus. Abernathy is among two other unnamed finalists for the position who will succeed outgoing president M. David Rudd. The second and third candidates will visit campus Wednesday and Thursday. Abernathy has been at the University of Florida since 1993, and has been dean of the engineering college since 2009, the first woman to lead the college. "We have to change the way engineering is perceived and we have to change the way it is introduced to potential students," Abernathy said at the time. "This is especially important because engineering -- and educating the next generation of engineers -- is so critical to our country today." Abernathy completed masters and doctorate degrees in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 1985. |
| Google is giving all U.S. community colleges free access to their 4 career certificates | |
| Some of the biggest technology companies in the world, Google and Microsoft, are reinforcing their relationships with U.S. community colleges. "Today, we're so excited to announce that all of our Google career certificates will be available for free, to every community college in the United States and to every career and technical high school in the United States," Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Google, tells CNBC Make It. "One of the other things we actually announced today, which I think is super exciting, is that all of our certificates now have been recommended by the American Council on Education to be recognized as college credit for up to 12 credits, which is the equivalent of four college courses at the bachelor's degree level." Google offers career certificates in four fields: information technology, data analytics, project management and user experience design. On Friday, Connecticut became the first state in the country to offer the full suite of Google Career Certificates across its state colleges and universities system. Community colleges and technical high schools "play a critical role in workforce training: 44% of all U.S. undergraduates attend community colleges, 7.5 million high school students are enrolled in career and technical education programs," said Ruth Porat, Google's chief financial officer, at a press conference at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut. |
| NIH pulls notice aimed at encouraging applications from Black scientists | |
| The National Institutes of Health has yanked a notice from three NIH institutes that aimed to encourage grant proposals from minority scientists. Researchers who saw the notice as a way to help bridge a funding success gap between Black and white scientists are dismayed by the move. The notice issued in May by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and joined by two other institutes urged applicants from groups underrepresented in science, including minorities and people from disadvantaged backgrounds, to fill out a box marking their application. Then if the proposal did well in peer review but just missed the funding cutoff, or "payline," the program officer could recommend funding it anyway if the applicant's diverse background appeared to strengthen the science. Some observers hoped that if the notice were expanded across NIH, it could help raise success rates for Black scientists. But earlier this year, NIH's Office of Extramural Research (OER) barred more institutes from joining the notice because it was "confusing" and institutes already had leeway to fund "outside the payline" to "bring in diverse scientific perspectives," the agency said. NIH rescinded the notice "for clarity in communications," an OER spokesperson says. "We decided that issuing a general notice that encompassed all NIH better communicated our intent." That new notice, issued 25 October, encourages applications from underrepresented groups, but won't enable researchers to tag their applications. |
| Research spending shrinks in President Biden's scaled-down social welfare bill | |
| The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan that President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress unveiled yesterday would expand a range of social welfare programs, spend some $550 billion to promote renewable energy and combat climate change, and steer billions of dollars to federal research funding agencies. But the bill detailing the plan is less generous to research than a blueprint announced in the spring that was twice the size. As negotiators shrunk that $3.5 trillion proposal in hopes of winning over a closely divided Congress, they cut out numerous science facilities and projects that were on the initial wish list, and shortened some time frames for spending. A proposed $11 billion boost for the National Science Foundation (NSF) shrank to $3.5 billion in yesterday's bill, for example, and a $10.3 billion increase for the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Science got trimmed to $985 million. Not everything shrinks in the new 1684-page bill. For example, there is a greater emphasis on helping the nation's minority serving institutions (MSIs), including the 103 institutions classified as historically Black colleges and universities. And it retains support for a new technology directorate at NSF, designed to hasten the process of turning basic research into new products and industries. |
| Will Philip Gunn and Tate Reeves overturn Haley Barbour's exemplary civil rights law? | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: Republicans' politics and policies with regard to race don't always align. During the period 1976 to 1979 then state GOP chairman Charles Pickering and gubernatorial candidate Gil Carmichael worked hard to attract minorities but with minimal success. In November 1981 the Memphis Commercial Appeal spread across the top of its Tri-State section this headline, "Official Urges GOP to Correct Its 'Antiblack' Image." The article began, "A letter from a Republican Party county chairman to the statewide GOP chairman urges that the party correct its 'serious image problems' among blacks in an effort to wrest more black votes from Democratic control." Sen. Thad Cochran responded but it wasn't until the spring of 1983 that one of those changes happened when the Senator finally coaxed the state executive committee to expand from 30 to 35 members and add three minority members. Again, this had minimal impact on attracting blacks to the party. Indeed, major Republican candidates tend to take political positions off-putting to black voters. However, some do pursue more conciliatory policies once elected. An illuminating example is former Gov. Haley Barbour. |
| Will lawmakers be willing to give up some of their power by restoring ballot initiative? | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: Many Mississippi legislators, regardless of political party, have never been enamored with the state's ballot initiative process. After all, the initiative process is a mechanism to allow citizens to usurp one of the Legislature's most important powers: the power to make laws. No group, including the Mississippi Legislature, wants to have its power usurped. When the state Supreme Court in a May ruling made invalid the initiative process for the second time in the state's history, key legislators pledged to fix the language the high court found unconstitutional and reinstate the initiative. Speaker Philip Gunn even asked Gov. Tate Reeves to call a special session so that legislators could immediately fix the offending language. Reeves did not, and now most legislators say they prefer to wait until the 2022 regular session to fix the initiative process. It also appears it might be the regular session before the Legislature can try to legalize medical marijuana, which was approved by voters in a November 2020 citizen-sponsored initiative but also was thrown out by the Supreme Court on the same grounds the entire initiative process was ruled invalid. A key question going into that 2022 session, though: Will two-thirds of the members of each chamber of the Legislature, as required, be willing to pass language to fix a process that usurps their power? |
SPORTS
| By keeping aggressive mentality, MSU can fight for more than just bowl eligibility | |
| The questions linger of how Mississippi State (5-3) lost to LSU or Memphis this season. But the answer is simple. The MSU team that lost to Memphis and LSU isn't the same MSU team today. It's irritating to those who hate coach-speak or those who aren't patient, but the reason Mississippi State is winning in ways in which it wouldn't earlier this year is because of everything Mike Leach preached: repetition and experience. MSU had scored more than 30 points just three times in its first 17 games under Leach -- that stems from last season's opener against LSU to a loss against Alabama two weeks ago. MSU has scored 45 and 31 points, respectively, in its last two games. The results have come from a variety of improvements, highlighted by Leach and quarterback Will Rogers. First, Rogers isn't playing as conservative anymore. MSU had a 17-7 lead at Memphis it should have extended, but it didn't. Leach credited that postgame to conservative playcalling on his part and conservative play by Rogers. That clearly wasn't the case against Kentucky as MSU got the ball up 31-17 with 7:51 to go and continued its aggressive gameplan because Rogers said they wanted to score again rather than just run the clock. In the process, they got in scoring range but had run enough clock to end the game. But it's that aggressive mentality that got MSU there. |
| Mississippi State's LaQuinston Sharp, Will Rogers collect weekly SEC honors | |
| It came as no surprise Monday morning Will Rogers was named SEC co-offensive player of the week after a historic performance against Kentucky. Rogers broke an SEC single-game record with a completion percentage of 92.3 (36-of-39) for a player with 30-plus pass attempts. He also broke MSU's single-season record for completions. Rogers now has 327 completions, breaking Dak Prescott's (2015) previous record of 316 completions. Rogers threw for 344 yards along with a 24-yard touchdown to freshman Rara Thomas. This is the second time this season Rogers has been named co-offensive player of the week by the conference. Center LaQuinston Sharp was named the SEC's offensive lineman of the week after recording a 85.1 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for his performance against Kentucky -- ranking best among SEC centers and fifth among Power 5 centers. Sharp also helped guide MSU to three rushing touchdowns after 35 rushing attempts -- the most by an MSU team in Mike Leach's tenure. |
| Mississippi State beats turnover-prone No. 12 Kentucky 31-17 | |
| Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers could do no wrong Saturday night, setting an Southeastern Conference record for completion percentage to help the Bulldogs steamroll their way to another big victory. The sophomore quarterback completed 92% of his passes -- 36 of 39 -- which is an SEC record for any game with 30-plus attempts. Dillon Johnson ran for two touchdowns and Mississippi State scored 14 points off of four Kentucky turnovers to beat the No. 12 Wildcats 31-17 on Saturday night. The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2) came up big with three interceptions of Will Levis and a fumble recovery. They turned a third-quarter fumble and pickoff into consecutive touchdowns to put the game out of reach. "I thought it was huge," Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said. "Kentucky is really about control ... maintaining control is something we've struggled with this year, so those obviously helped." Johnson had scoring runs of 9 and 1 yards and finished with 41 yards rushing on 11 carries. Jo'Quavious Marks rushed for 58 yards and a score. |
| Mississippi State football romps No. 12 Kentucky with 1-2 punch of offense and defense | |
| The floodgates had been open at Davis Wade Stadium for quite some time already, but there was no stemming the water after Will Rogers' 25-yard touchdown pass to Rara Thomas in the third quarter Saturday, a back-shoulder loft down the sideline. That score gave Mississippi State football 31 unanswered points against No. 12 Kentucky, continuing an outpouring of offense supported by a defense that forced takeaway after takeaway, turning what many expected to be a close game into a 31-17 victory. To set up that shot down the field, defensive lineman Cameron Young intercepted Kentucky (6-2, 4-2 SEC) quarterback Will Levis -- the third time the Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2) picked Levis off and the fourth time they forced a turnover. Rogers and the offense knew what to do with a short field. For Mississippi State, Saturday's onslaught looked like a continuation of what occurred one week prior, when the team blew past Vanderbilt 45-6. And the win sets the Bulldogs up well to reach bowl eligibility, needing one more win to clinch a place with Tennessee State still on the schedule. |
| In one game, Mississippi State QB Will Rogers shows the difference a year makes | |
| One year ago, when all of this still made Will Rogers wide-eyed, the Mississippi State quarterback stepped onto a college football field for the first time. He entered in relief of K.J. Costello, but in Rogers' first college action for the Bulldogs, the freshman's performance wasn't much different from the quarterback he replaced. Rogers threw 15 passes, completed nine and threw two interceptions, part of a 24-2 loss to Kentucky that was the nadir for the offense in coach Mike Leach's first season. "Kind of painful to watch," Rogers said, "but I went back and watched that game a couple times." Rogers is not the same quarterback he was when he took the field in Lexington, though. A year later, against the same opponent, he put on a passing clinic at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday, leading Mississippi State (5-3, 3-2 SEC) to a 31-17 victory over the Wildcats (6-2, 4-2). He won't mind watching back the film from this game on Sunday -- or for years to come. "We're two totally different teams, obviously, from that point last year to here now," Rogers said. And Rogers is a large part of that development, becoming a more consistent quarterback. He struggled against Alabama, throwing three interceptions. He threw two more against Vanderbilt, although his four touchdown passes rendered those miscues inconsequential. But apart from those games, Rogers has thrown 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. |
| Time, TV channel announced for Mississippi State football game at Auburn | |
| Mississippi State is coming off its second ranked win of the season. The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) beat No. 12 Kentucky 31-17 on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium and now turn their attention to Arkansas at 3 p.m. Saturday. After that, MSU has more information about another likely ranked matchup: a road game at No. 12 Auburn (6-2, 3-1 SEC). That SEC contest will kick off at 11 a.m. and will be televised on ESPN, the conference announced Monday. With the announcement, Mississippi State now knows the times for each of its remaining games. The Bulldogs host Tennessee State at 11 a.m. Nov. 20 and face Ole Miss for the Golden Egg Trophy at 6:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25. |
| Resting Hogs regroup during downtime | |
| For all the progress achieved during 18 games under University of Arkansas football Coach Sam Pittman and his staff -- both documented and perceived -- there is this troubling fact. The Razorbacks (5-3) will enter the final third of the season all alone in last place in the SEC West with a 1-3 league record. Every other team in the division, widely regarded as the toughest in college football, has at least two conference wins. Their latest four-game stretch ended with a 1-3 record, including conference losses at Georgia and Ole Miss and a home setback against Auburn. Those teams entered Saturday's games ranked No. 1, No. 10 and No. 18, respectively. After a grind like the Razorbacks have faced, down time both mentally and physically was imperative if Arkansas is to go on a late-season run. "You need some type of break, some type of mental break, some type of getting healthy break," Pittman said regarding the stretch of games the Razorbacks completed before their open date. "It's been really important to us," he added. "We've got good team chemistry. We're trying to talk about making this run and seeing if we can do it. Our kids, if we can get healthy, our ones can compete real well. I know we have to continue to get better depth." To that end, the Razorbacks scrimmaged with their younger and less-experienced players last week while giving their veterans walk-through looks that included schemes specifically intended for the Mississippi State game next Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. |
| With COVID numbers dropping and excitement increasing, Bulldogs raring to go | |
| Ben Howland has been watching plenty of Southeastern Conference football these days. The Mississippi State men's basketball coach sees in the sport what he didn't get to experience with his own team last season: the packed venues, the "crazy" atmospheres and the excitement evident around the sport. When the 2021-22 basketball season begins Nov. 10 -- the day the Bulldogs host North Alabama at Humphrey Coliseum to open the year -- Howland hopes to get it all back. "I'm looking forward to that for basketball," he said Thursday. High rates of COVID-19 kept it from Howland last season. In accordance with an executive order from Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, capacity at the Hump was cut to 10 percent -- roughly 1,000 fans -- on Dec. 10. Even for the prior month, only 25 percent capacity was allowed. But there are no current limits on how many fans can fit into the building as COVID numbers continue to improve. Howland cited a 20 percent decrease in nationwide cases over the past two weeks. "Things are trending in a positive direction in a lot of ways for us right now," he said. If incidence rates continue to drop, it's easy to see high-volume crowds flock to Starkville to see a team that seems poised to challenge for an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 2019. "I think we've got the chance to do something really special," forward Garrison Brooks said. That's why Brooks came to Mississippi State from North Carolina: to play under his father, assistant coach George Brooks, and help the Bulldogs put together a talent-rich roster. |
| Doug Novak, Bulldogs need time to get to know each other | |
| Mississippi State interim women's basketball coach Doug Novak made his first media appearance since taking on the role Thursday and took the opportunity to stress the importance of patience as he and the team adjust to each other. "My goal is still the same, to add value, now it's just from a different seat," said Novak, whose hiring as an assistant coach to Nikki McCray-Penson on Sept. 7 before being named interim head coach Oct. 12. "Any time there's change it takes time to adjust. But moving forward each day gets better and better, and the best thing we can do for (McCray-Penson) would be to play our best, and I know she'd want that from everyone she's coached and recruited." Stepping in after McCray-Penson resigned to focus on her health, Novak has spent the past couple of weeks working to steady the ship and create a positive environment for learning his system. Expectations for the Bulldogs in the form of preseason predictions are low, with both the media and coaches picking State to finish ninth in the Southeastern Conference. Novak said their focus is on adjusting to the situation and taking it one thing at a time. A positive for the Bulldogs is the return of Myah Taylor and Rickea Jackson, two veterans who have garnered some hype by appearing on preseason awards watch lists. Novak acknowledged the importance of their leadership as well. |
| Bulldogs Roundup: Ford Clegg shoots 11-under to win Steelwood Collegiate | |
| Mississippi State senior Ford Clegg collected 18 birdies and finished with an 11-under 205 to win by 2 strokes and defend his title at the Steelwood Collegiate at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama. It was the third title of Clegg's career and first since the 2019 Steelwood Collegiate, which was canceled because of COVID-19 in 2020. "It's hard to put into words the nerves of being the final-round leader going into today, but I was able to use some past experience to keep me patient the whole round," Clegg said. "I was struggling through 10 holes with some uncharacteristic mistakes but was able to make birdies to keep me in it. Overall, it was a great week and great way to gain momentum heading into the spring season." Mississippi State shot 1-over for the final round to give the Bulldogs a fourth-place finish at 10-under par. State put up 58 birdies and three eagles during the tournament. "Today was a great learning experience for our team," Bulldogs coach Dusty Smith said. "We had a chance to win with nine holes left to play, and we got out of our process a little bit and focused too much on results. We did a fantastic job bouncing back and finishing better at the end which is what we want to be about." Mississippi State has wrapped up its fall season and will begin spring play Feb. 14 at the Albany Collegiate Invitational in The Bahamas. |
| College football playoff expansion: Eight, 12-team plans to be explored | |
| In 1994, a 25-member NCAA committee assigned to explore a College Football Playoff buried the lede. On page 11 of the committee's 22-page document revealing its findings, the most important information exists -- the postseason formats to be considered. Option A, the document says, is a one-game championship (something that, as it happens, arrived four years later with the BCS). Option B is a four-team event that the document's author dubs as a "Final Four tournament." (Twenty years later, of course, the four-team CFP began.) Finally, there are options C and D: (C) an eight-team playoff and (D) a 12-team playoff. Each would use a bracket that consists of a combination of automatic qualifiers and at-large berths, and, get this, the 12-teamer would grant first-round byes to the top four teams. Sound familiar? "That's where it all started," says former UCLA administrator John Sandbrook, a member of that NCAA committee and the author of that 27-year-old report. Nearly three decades later, college football executives are scheduled to meet next week to examine the same models proposed years ago. The 10 conference commissioners along with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, the decision-makers around playoff expansion, will further explore formats of eight and 12 teams during meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Dallas. |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he understands bowl directors concerns | |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he wants to have continued conversations with the College Football Playoff format committee and bowl directors on a 12-team playoff with a combination of games at campuses and existing bowls. But he said he understands the concerns of bowl directors who see their product diminishing even further with a playoff expansion that also includes taking first-round games to campuses. "I think we need that little bit of dialogue to understand both sides of the coin," Sankey said on Saturday in the TIAA Bank Field press box before the kickoff of the Florida-Georgia game. Sankey was responding to a letter sent by the 43 bowl directors on Oct. 28 to leaders in college football such as conference commissioners, athletic directors, university presidents and coaches, asking that future CFP formats be held at bowl sites instead of on campuses. The letter, sent by Bowl Season executive director Nick Carperelli and chairman Mark Neville, was timed to arrive before the CFP management committee met in Dallas next week to continue expansion of the current four-team system. Sankey said he was meeting with a bowl director last week when an ESPN alert showed up on his phone about the letter. "I knew that one was coming," he said about the question. "I have had some conversations with bowl directors and what we, as a format working group was trying to balance the traditions around bowls ... and the ability to engage campuses. Obviously, the bowls want to have more conversations." |
| Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart signs contract extension through 2025-26 | |
| The Southeastern Conference's longest-tenured athletic director is not leaving Kentucky anytime soon. UK awarded athletic director Mitch Barnhart a contract extension in early September that would keep him at the school through the 2025-26 school year. The contract extension was released by UK's Office of Legal Counsel. Barnhart, SportsBusiness Journal's 2019 Athletic Director of the Year, is in the midst of his 20th season at Kentucky. He was hired as athletic director in 2002 after working 14 years as Oregon State's athletic director. In recent year's Barnhart's national profile has grown. He served as chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee during the tumultuous 2020-21 school year that saw the NCAA Tournament moved to a bubble format in Indianapolis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the chair of the SEC athletic directors and recently started the first year of a three-year term on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Only Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione has served in his current athletic director post longer among Power 5 conference schools. Former Barnhart staffers now lead athletic departments at Florida (Scott Stricklin), Alabama (Greg Byrne), Mississippi State (John Cohen), Oregon (Rob Mullens), Minnesota (Mark Coyle), DePaul (DeWayne Peevy), Murray State (Kevin Saal) and Samford (Martin Newton). The new extension will pay Barnhart $1.2 million for the 2022-23 school year. His base salary then increases by $75,000 per year, peaking at $1.425 million in the 2025-26 school year. Barnhart is also due a retention bonus of $350,000 if he remains UK's athletic director on June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2024. The retention bonus increases to $400,000 on June 30, 2025 and $450,000 on June 30, 2026. |
| Ten Texas A&M football players interact with fans, family at NIL signing event | |
| The Texas A&M football team didn't get to hear the roar of the 12th Man at Kyle Field this weekend, but 10 players received a similar warm-welcome from the crowd at C.C. Creations' name, image, likeness (NIL) event at The Warehouse on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of Aggie fans flooded in during the two-hour event with some travelling from Dallas and East Texas to meet players Haynes King, Zach Calzada, Jalen Wydermyer, Isaiah Spiller, Jaylon Jones, Demani Richardson, Micheal Clemons, Leon O'Neal Jr., Ainias Smith and Antonio Johnson. O'Neal said it was great way to spend the Aggies' off week. "It's amazing," he said. "God put us in this environment to be around people that love, care and support us every single day. We don't get to give back like I would want to and tell them thank you, so this is a big day for me, way bigger than anything else honestly." Each player has their own line of T-shirts, stickers, towels, hats and bags, which were released a few weeks ago, C.C. Creations' vice president of marketing Ashleigh Krause said. The logos are specific to each player and include motto's like O'Neal's "Wake Em Up" and Richardson's "D-Money." Saturday was the first NIL event for most of the Aggies involved, including King, who said getting to talk with fans and take photos gave him a glimpse into the lives of professional athletes. |
| Legendary Lafayette 'Strib' Stribling leaves a poignant Mississippi story | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Lafayette Stribling, the remarkable basketball coach and stylish character who died Saturday at age 87, was most famous, at least nationally, for a miracle that didn't quite happen. Longtime Mississippi basketball fans surely remember. On March 14, 1986, "Strib" took his Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils to play Duke in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Duke was the top seed, meaning that Valley was No. 64. Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski and led by the great Johnny Dawkins, was a prohibitive favorite, playing a few miles from home in Greensboro, N.C., where the Blue Devils had just won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. "Nobody gave us a chance," Strib once told this writer, knowing I was among the biggest doubters. Indeed, I wrote that it was "the biggest mismatch since Poland took on Germany." I was so, so wrong. Valley led at halftime and by as many as seven points midway through the second half. Valley pressed and guarded the Blue Devils as they had rarely been pressed and guarded before. Strib's guys played as if their survival -- and that of their mothers -- depended on the outcome. If there had been Twitter back then, Valley and Strib would have set national records for trending. Only after four of Valley's five starters fouled out in the final five minutes did Duke surge ahead and win 85-78. Afterward, the largely Duke crowd gave Valley and their resplendently dressed coach a prolonged standing ovation. At his postgame press conference, a visibly relieved Coach K lavished praise on Strib. The story becomes more amazing when you consider that Strib had taken the Valley job three years before when Mississippi lawmakers were seriously considering shutting the school down. Strib's first Valley basketball team posted the first winning season in school history. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
