| Monday, August 21, 2023 |
| MSU journalist shares 'Cowbell Culture' audio documentary exploring iconic university symbol | |
 | Just in time for Mississippi State University's season opener in football -- Sept. 2's MSU vs. Southeast Louisiana game -- a veteran journalist at MSU is releasing an audio documentary looking in depth at the influence of the iconic university tradition: the cowbell. Terry Likes, head of the Department of Communication, has produced an audio report titled "Cowbell Culture: Small Instrument -- Big Impact ... The Cowbell as a Fixture in American Music, Sports and Popular Culture." WMSV-FM will air the program during its 5 p.m. newscasts on Monday, Aug. 28, and Thursday, Aug. 31. "In the Magnolia State, the cowbell is part of the culture, dating back nearly 100 years at Mississippi State University home football games," Likes said. "'More cowbell' was one of Saturday Night Live's Top 10 skits of all time, but the cowbell also plays a role in some of American music's most popular songs. For artists like the Rolling Stones, Kiss, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, the cowbell, in certain songs, is an iconic piece of rock-and-roll percussion. This report explores the use of the cowbell at that intersection of music, sports and popular culture." The program features a variety of audio sources, music and interviews with Anthony Craven, WMSV-FM general manager and MSU public address announcer; Steve Azar, host of "In a Mississippi Minute" and Mississippi's music and cultural ambassador; Barry Hause, lecturer in MSU's Department of Music who teaches the History of Rock and Roll; and David Northrup, a drummer who has performed with Boz Scaggs, Wynonna Judd and Rick Derringer. |
| Ahmed now leads MSU's Department of Building Construction Science | |
| A longtime university educator is the new head of Mississippi State University's Department of Building Construction Science. Syed M. Ahmed comes to MSU from South Dakota State University, where he served as head of the Department of Construction and Operations Management within the engineering college. He is the founding editor and organizer of an international series of conferences, Construction in the 21st Century. Since the start of CITC in 2002, more than 1,500 peer-reviewed conference articles have been published by hundreds of authors from more than 50 countries. Ahmed served for more than 11 years at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, as head of the Department of Construction Management before his SDSU employment began. Angi Elsea Bourgeois, dean of MSU's College of Architecture, Art and Design, said Ahmed brings tremendous experience and expertise to his new role. "He not only brings a vast global network of professionals and educators in construction, but he is also a seasoned administrator who can engage our faculty, students, alumni, advisory board and industry partners to lead the department into the future," she said. Ahmed, who holds master's and Ph.D. degrees in construction engineering and management from Georgia Institute of Technology, said he was pleasantly surprised both by MSU's Starkville campus and the city when he first visited this past spring. It's a very lively, dynamic and vibrant environment on campus," he said. "The city, too -- it's just the right size." |
| Mississippi IHL launches ADA/Accessibility Task Force | |
 | Officials with the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) announced the launch of an ADA/Accessibility Task Force at the Board of Trustees meeting in Jackson. IHL established the task force to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal opportunities to thrive within the university system. "I am so pleased that IHL is undertaking this important effort to create inclusive and accessible learning environments for all students," said Trustee Jeanne Carter Luckey. "As the members share best practices and discuss challenges, solutions and advancements in ADA and accessibility services, their collective experiences will help advance accessibility services for current and future students with disabilities." The task force, which includes members from all eight universities, the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration and the IHL system office, will meet over the next 10 months to enhance support for students with disabilities across the public universities. The committee will begin its work with the formation of subgroups in September. The groups will meet monthly with a goal to make recommendations for enhancing accessibility services across the university system by June 2024. Members include Brett Harvey, Director of Civil Rights Compliance & Chair of Access Committee, Mississippi State University; and Chris Dallager, Director of Disability Resource Center & Access, Mississippi State University. |
| MSU-Meridian hosts grad student orientation | |
 | It was back to school for the graduate students of Mississippi State University-Meridian. Student orientation was held at the Riley Center where students got a chance to meet their teachers and peers. Many new things were introduced this year, two of them being the two new doctorate programs being taught at MSU-Meridian for the first time ever. "Our new doctoral programs, we have our Doctorate of Psychology and our Doctorate of Education. We also have an Ed specialist in school psychology and master's degrees in counseling. So, we've brought all those students together to introduce them to Mississippi State University and to help them begin developing relationships with each other," said Associate Dean of Academics for Education Kim Hall. The new doctoral programs bring opportunities closer to Meridian, delighting students around the area. "Until recently, you had to travel to other places or travel or get things online or do these things. Having one right here in Meridian, that's going to make it so much more accessible to everybody that's in this field," said graduate student, Kaleb Smith. "I love MSU-Meridian just for the simple fact they work with you and you're in classes with people who are just like you, who work full time," said graduate student, Taneja Coleman. |
| Airbnbs rise as popular option for game day visitors in Starkville | |
 | The 2023-2024 college football season hasn't started yet but people are already getting prepared. Many local hotels have already been booked; however, Starkville realtors and homeowners have been able to take advantage of turning homes into weekend homes for fans. "I used to think that Airbnbs were only in larger cities and I love that Starkville has embraced it and accepted and we love to see all the out-of-town people come to town for any reason," said Rebecca Kraker. Kraker is a realtor with McBride and Company. She said some of the houses have been booked since the beginning of the year, and people come to town for more than football. "Clients that I have that have bought houses have been so pleased that they've stayed booked not just during football season but Christmas, baseball season, orientation," said Kraker. She said Airbnbs are a growing trend in the city; however, there are some speed bumps in some areas. "We have to make sure that the covenants that people can rent these houses and so some neighbors don't want Airbnbs they're worried about the clientele that's going to come in," said Kraker. Kraker said when people come for the weekend, a home may encourage them to stay longer and she said that's good for local businesses. |
| Artificial Intelligence is shifting into nearby industries | |
| Technology is a constantly shifting landscape, and one area that is getting more buzz is Artificial Intelligence. That's right. AI is not new, but it is expanding its territory, not just online, but into nearby industries. "For example, let's take a recommendation engine that Amazon uses today to make recommendations around books, why we spend more money. That could be done by humans," Chairman and CEO of Camgian Gary Butler said. Instead, your recommendations are all done by technology. Coding and algorithms are the building blocks in the advancement of AI. "What's been done in the AI world today is looking at those individual steps and process and thinking about ways of automating individuals' task associated, or individual takes within the process using algorithms," Butler said. Butler said that AI is helping with individual steps but has not taken over. "I think the biggest opportunities in AI is to enhance the performance of the human and viewing AI as a copilot than an individual or an autonomous system," Butler said. Camgian uses AI to help in the automotive industries, and Butler said it's about making the workflow smoother. "What you see in most AI applications is looking at some type of operational workflow then finding ways within that workflow to apply algorithms to optimize or to automate certain take and workflow to make the workflow efficient, " Butler said. |
| Navistar to make 10,000 military vehicle trailers | |
 | Vehicle manufacturer Navistar Defense has obtained a subcontract to produce 10,000 truck trailers at its West Point plant. Navistar Marketing and Communications Manager Amy McCaskill told The Dispatch the company received the contract with AM General Tuesday and will build the trailers for the U.S. Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle A2 program. AM General, an Indiana-based company, received an $8.6 billion contract in February to produce 20,000 new joint light tactical vehicles along with the 10,000 trailers. "We have a strong history of providing value to our defense and commercial customers through engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and product support services," McCaskill said. "This is our first time partnering with AM General, and we see opportunities where we can both benefit from this new relationship in the future." Work for the contract is expected to begin in 2024 at the West Point plant and last 10 years. McCaskill declined to disclose how much Navistar will make from its partnership with AM General. Each trailer will be a multipurpose platform designed to carry general cargo and supplies needed for mission operations, according to a press release issued Thursday. Navistar CEO Ted Wright said he is looking forward to working with AM General and believes the project will increase the company's footprint in Mississippi. |
| Sweltering temperatures bring misery to large portion of central U.S., setting some heat records | |
 | Sweltering temperatures lingered Sunday in a large swath of the central U.S., causing misery from the Gulf of Mexico almost to the Great Lakes. Record high temperatures were recorded in Texas and other states. People were told to chug extra water while mowing lawns or exercising outdoors, and to check on neighbors to ensure air-conditioning is available. The heat wave causing misery this weekend is just the latest to punish the U.S. this year. Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, by deforestation and by certain agricultural practices, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme weather including hotter temperatures. The entire globe has simmered to record heat both in June and July. And if that's not enough, smoke from wildfires, floods and droughts have caused problems globally. The National Weather Service set an excessive heat warning Sunday for parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Heat advisories or watches were also in place in parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. The temperature reached a record high for the date of 104 F (40 C) Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi, as people walked between indoor and outdoor events at the Mississippi Book Festival. Volunteers distributed chilled water and people used handheld fans while chatting with authors and shopping for books at large tents outside the state Capitol building. |
| Strong crowd braves blistering heat for Mississippi Book Festival | |
 | Sweltering triple-digit temperatures didn't prevent thousands of book buyers, sellers and panelists alike from offering high praise Saturday to organizers of the 2023 Mississippi Book Festival. "It has been steady all day. We had to bring in more staff and volunteers this year which is great," said Rachel Derise, manager of Friendly City Books of Columbus, one of several independent booksellers set up on Mississippi Street outside the Mississippi Capitol. From high profile authors and panelists such as Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford to relatively unknown, self-published writers like Regena Hoye from Lena, Mississippi, there were books available for just about any taste or interest imaginable. One of the largest tents set up annually is operated by the Jackson-based University Press of Mississippi. "People are so happy to be together talking about books and sharing," said Steve Yates, Associate Director and Marketing Director for the publishing house. In addition to the hundreds of books on display there, Yates also showed off a new poster created for the event that was painted by University Press Acquisitions Editor Lisa McMurtray. Featuring iconic Mississippi images ranging from the Biloxi lighthouse, to the "Devil's Crossroads" highway intersection in Cleveland, McMurtray said she decided to create the poster as a way for University Press to offer new merchandise especially for the 2023 festival. Dominique Lewis, who traveled from Starkville, said she "really loves that there are a lot of events for kids" at the festival. Her children, Jayden and Triston LeFlore are themselves authors, she said, having recently written a book called "The Power Boyz." |
| Delta native revives crumbling grain company, injects hope into communities | |
| Frank Brumfield believes in the Mississippi Delta. He looks at this vast region of the Magnolia State and sees unlimited potential. After all, he knows the area like the back of his hand; he grew up on a farm in the tiny Delta town of Inverness, population 1,019. He respects the hard-working and passionate folks who settle in the Delta and make a humble living off its fertile soil. It was almost a no-brainer, then, for Brumfield, who now lives in Chicago, to return to his beloved homeland in its hour of need. His investment firm, FSB Companies, acquired the bankrupt Express Grain Terminals, a grain storage and processing company with facilities in Minter and Sidon City. He took the flailing company and created Delta Grain Co., a new and vastly improved business. The complicated situation may have scared away someone else, but Brumfield is a smart investor with a radar for an opportunity. He bought Express Grain's assets in July 2022, only months after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Circumstances have certainly improved since Brumfield and his team took the reins of the operation. When Express Grain declared bankruptcy, 35 jobs were on the chopping block. Delta Grain was able to save those jobs and add a few more, with plans for future workforce expansion, Brumfield said. Delta Grain's operations may be complex, but Brumfield's vision for the company is simple. "As a native son of the Delta, I wanted to help solve this problem if I could," he said. "Thirty-five employees were going to be gone. Farmers need our facilities to prosper. I want to write a new chapter in this tough, tough story. We're just naive enough to think we can go in there and build something and really create jobs and opportunities for people. That's my vision for Delta Grain." |
| Ingalls celebrates christening of new USS Ted Stevens | |
 | A historic day for Mississippi and the U.S. Navy as the USS Ted Stevens destroyer was christened Saturday. Ted Stevens was an Alaskan senator for 41 years. He helped Alaska gain its statehood. He had not only these accomplishments, but was also an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. The ship's sponsors are the late Ted Stevens' wife, Catherine Ann, and his daughters Susan Stevens-Covich and Lily Irene Becker. They christened the ship dedicated to a man they felt lucky enough to call family. "This ship is nimble, powerful, lethal," said Becker. "Those are all words I might be able to describe him. You know, he was so passionate. Passionate about Alaska and its people, about the country, about the military. And he was a fighter." The ship has been in progress for the past three years now. Ingalls Program Manager Ben Barnett said it was great to see he and his crew's hard work pay off Saturday. "It's really incredible to be a part of the shipbuilding process," Barnett said. "To see the ship come together from the time we start fabrication and it's a plate of steel, to the great ship we see here today." This will be the 36th destroyer Ingalls has built for the U.S. Navy and the second ship with Flight III technology. Three additional Flight III DDGs are currently under construction at Ingalls. |
| Meet Rodney Hall, Army Ranger and soon-to-be first Black Republican in Mississippi House since 1894 | |
 | If you ask recently elected Mississippi State Rep. Rodney Hall, he will tell you he was born and raised to be a soldier. Hall, who is the grandson of a sharecropper and said his parents lived in "abject poverty," will become the first Black Republican in the Mississippi House since the mid-1890s when he takes office in January. "My family didn't really have much, but my dad, he was a soldier, just like his dad was a soldier, so my lifelong dream was to be a soldier. I grew up wanting to be an airborne ranger, go to combat, that's what I thought a life of principle was," Hall said of his upbringing in a recent interview with the Clarion Ledger. A life in politics did not cross his mind until much later in life though. He achieved those early military dreams first, becoming an airborne ranger, and he continues to serve as an Army Infantry Officer in the Mississippi National Guard. His guard connections led him to a connection with his representative in Congress, Rep. Trent Kelly, a major general with the state's national guard. "I didn't really have a plan or a path to jump into politics until I started working for Congressman Trent Kelly up in Washington, of course he's also a guard guy," Hall said. "And so that was just kind of where my life, the paths kind of crossed. I guess at one point is where service kind of blended into public policy, and I started to gain a passion for that, working on the hill." Hall began working in Congress initially for former Florida Rep. Jeff Miller and later for Kelly directly. After Miller retired, Hall went back to the national guard, and to Army Ranger School. After completing ranger school, while looking for his next job in Washington D.C., Hall was faced with a decision that would put his political trajectory at odds with his lifelong dream, and his sense of duty. |
| Mississippi seeks new court hearing to revive its permanent stripping of some felons' voting rights | |
| A court ruling striking down Mississippi's practice of permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies should be reconsidered and reversed, the state said Friday as it asked for new hearing by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Enforcement of the voting ban, which is part of the state's constitution, was blocked by in a 2-1 decision by a panel of 5th Circuit judges on Aug. 4. Mississippi attorneys, led by state Attorney General Lynn Fitch, asked the full New Orleans-based court, with 16 active members, to reconsider the case, saying the earlier ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and rulings in other circuit courts. The voting ban affects Mississippi residents convicted of specific felonies, including murder, forgery and bigamy. The Aug. 4 ruling held that denying voting rights violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Mississippi lawyers argued Friday that the panel's decision would "inflict profound damage and sow widespread confusion." If the ruling stands, tens of thousands of people could regain voting rights, possibly in time for the Nov. 7 general election for governor and other statewide offices. But the future of the ruling is uncertain at the 5th Circuit, which is widely considered among the most conservative of the federal appellate courts. The 5th Circuit last year rejected a call to end the state's prohibition of felons' voting, ruling in a lawsuit that argued that the Jim Crow-era authors of the Mississippi Constitution stripped voting rights for crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit, including forgery, larceny and bigamy. The Supreme Court let that decision stand. |
| Former Vice President Pence talks Donald Trump, campaign at Mississippi Book Festival | |
| During his visit to Jackson on Saturday, Mike Pence, who is polling in the low single digits nationally among registered Republican voters, seemed to find a type of audience that has often alluded him on the campaign trail: one willing to applaud him for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. An audience that included multiple state legislators and former Gov. Haley Barbour gave the former Vice President, and current presidential candidate, multiple standing ovations as he presented his autobiography "So Help Me God" at a panel at the Mississippi Book Festival. Pence's remarks came far from breaking new ground -- they would likely be familiar to anyone who has followed him since he left office in 2021 -- and he did not take questions directly from members of the audience or media -- instead focusing on those from former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, who called Pence a mentor and a friend during their shared time in Congress. There were also no protestors in the room, neither from LGBTQ groups who had publicly criticized his inclusion in the festival, nor from supporters of former President Donald Trump who criticize Pence for not going along with the former president's attempt to challenge and overturn the 2020 election of President Joe Biden. What Pence did find in the Old Supreme Court room of the Mississippi State Capitol was a friendly crowd of likeminded Christian conservatives, and if there were detractors they did not make themselves known. For a candidate who has struggled to gain widespread support in early battlegrounds like Iowa, the support was met with typical politician's smiles and waves. |
| Trump looms large over Iowa State Fair, but many GOP voters still mulling their caucus choices | |
| The loop Donald Trump's private jet made above the Iowa State Fair before his visit last weekend was more than just a gesture to the hundreds of supporters -- and a few rival candidates -- on the ground. It was a reminder that the four-time indicted former president casts a Boeing 757-sized shadow over the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. That's where agreement about Trump seems to end. With less than five months before Iowans cast the first votes in the GOP contest, conversations with more than 40 Republicans at the time-honored presidential campaign ritual suggest the party is far from unified on much of anything else. Most voters say that until the winter chill sets in, they're keeping an open mind, honoring the state's tradition of vetting all candidates. Still, many GOP voters say they can't help but weigh their intense feelings about Trump as they consider their choices. Wesley Rose, a corn and soybean farmer in the Mississippi River valley, views the former president as a friend to agriculture. In his mind, the need to oust President Joe Biden eclipses other concerns. "There are some things that he says that ain't right, but I just don't like what's going on with Biden right now," said Rose, 53, of Clinton, adding "time will tell" who he'll support. It wouldn't be the first time animosity toward Biden and the Democrats led Republican voters to swallow concerns about their own candidates. In the 2022 midterm elections, most GOP voters who didn't consider themselves fans of Trump-backed Republican candidates, were motivated by opposition to the Democrats. Those interviewed praised Trump's record in office. But Trump's divisiveness was also frequently cited, including by some who praised his record. The need for healing is reason enough for some to move on. |
| Senate Republican says Trump should drop out of presidential race | |
 | Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Sunday he thinks former President Trump should drop out of the 2024 presidential race. "I think so," Cassidy said on CNN's "State of the Union," when asked whether Trump should drop out. "But obviously, that's up to him. I mean, you're just asking me my opinion, but he will lose to Joe Biden if you look at the current polls." "I'm a Republican. I think any Republican on that stage in Milwaukee will do a better job than Joe Biden. And so I want one of them to win," Cassidy continued. "If former President Trump ends up getting the nomination, but cannot win a general, that means we'll have four more years of policies ... which I think have been deleterious to our country's future." Cassidy -- a Republican with a knack for working across the aisle and who was one of the seven GOP senators to vote for conviction in the second Trump impeachment trial -- said he does not expect American voters to elect a convicted felon. He also said that, of the several indictments Trump faces, the case involving Trump's mishandling and hoarding of national security information seems "almost a slam dunk." "If that is proven, then we may have a candidate for president who has been convicted of a crime," he said. "I think Joe Biden needs to be replaced, but I don't think Americans will vote for someone who's been convicted. So I'm just very sorry about how all of this is playing out." Trump is by far the leading GOP presidential candidate in the 2024 race, with his legal troubles having little impact on support from Republican voters so far. |
| Former Arkansas governor Hutchinson meets donor threshold for Republican presidential primary debate | |
 | Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday he has reached the donor threshold necessary to participate in Wednesday's Republican presidential primary debate. Hutchinson, who served as Arkansas' governor from 2015 to 2023, made up a gap of more than 33,000 unique donors from his July 14 campaign finance report to reach the 40,000 donor threshold. According to America Strong and Free Action PAC, a political action committee associated with Hutchinson, the former governor collected contributions from more than 20,000 donors over the past two weeks. Hutchinson's campaign said it submitted nearly 42,000 unique donors to be verified by the Republican National Committee. "I am thankful to the tens of thousands of Americans who have contributed to my campaign and helped ensure my message of consistent, commonsense, conservative leadership is represented on the debate stage this Wednesday evening," Hutchinson said Sunday morning in a statement. "I intend to continue speaking the truth when it comes to the responsibility that Donald Trump bears for the attacks on our democracy and justice system. I look forward to a substantive debate in Milwaukee." Hutchinson has been a frequent critic of Trump, the party's front-runner, following the latter's repeated use of false claims concerning the 2020 presidential election, adding he does not believe Trump will win the nomination. |
| Mike Pence thinks Trump might still make it to the first debate | |
 | Former President Donald Trump has indicated that he may skip the first Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday. But his former-running-mate-turned-primary-opponent thinks he might still make it to Milwaukee. "I served alongside the president for a long time. And one thing I realized about him, it's not over till it's over," former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday during an interview on ABC's "This Week." Pence is still hoping Trump shows up to Wednesday's debate in Wisconsin. But according to the New York Times, the former president has other plans: an online interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The potential interview with Carlson, who left his prime-time slot on Fox abruptly amid rumors of tension between the host and Fox leadership, would be a slap in the face to the network once lauded by Trump. Other candidates aren't too happy, either. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has attempted to goad the former president onto the debate stage, called Trump a "certified loser, verified coward" in a post on X following the Times report that the former president would be absent from the first debate. "I think every one of us that have qualified for that debate stage ought to be on the stage, be willing to square off, answer the tough questions, and also draw a bright line contrast," Pence said Sunday. |
| How Ron DeSantis Joined the 'Ruling Class' -- and Turned Against It | |
 | Early last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis nestled into his chair onstage in Naples, Fla., to explain to an audience of the would-be conservative elite his journey through the reigning liberal one they hoped to destroy. His host was Larry P. Arnn, the president of Hillsdale College, a small Christian school in southern Michigan that has become an academic hub of the Trump-era right. His subject was Yale University, where Mr. DeSantis was educated and where, as he tells it, he first met the enemy. "I'm a public school kid," Mr. DeSantis told the audience, unspooling a story that he has shared in recent years with aides, friendly interviewers, donors, voters and readers of his memoir, "The Courage to Be Free." "My mom was a nurse, my dad worked for a TV ratings company, installing the metering devices back then. And I show up in jean shorts and a T-shirt." The outfit "did not go over well with the Andover and Groton kids" -- sometimes it is Andover and Groton, sometimes it is Andover and Exeter, sometimes all three -- who mocked his lack of polish. Then there are the parts of the story he doesn't tell: How his new baseball teammates at Yale --- mostly fellow athletic recruits from the South and West who likewise viewed themselves as Yale outsiders --- were among those who teased him about his clothes, and how he would nevertheless adopt their insular culture as his own. How he joined one of Yale's storied "secret societies," those breeding grounds of future senators and presidents, but left other members with the impression that he would have preferred to be tapped by a more prestigious one. How he shared with friends his dream of going to Harvard Law School -- not law school, Harvard Law School -- and successfully applied there, stacking one elite credential neatly onto another. Mr. DeSantis, 44, is not the first Republican politician of his generation to rail against his own Ivy League degrees while milking them for access and campaign cash. But now, as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination, he is molding his entire campaign and political persona around a vengeful war against what he calls the country's "ruling class." |
| Biden, Asian leaders pledge deeper ties amid tensions with China, North Korea | |
 | President Joe Biden and two key Pacific allies on Friday announced a series of joint steps designed to check Chinese and North Korean military and economic aggression. Flanked by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Biden told reporters after a summit at leafy Camp David that their goal was to make joint defense, science and technology, cancer research and other economic efforts as permanent as possible. While the trio were careful to not explicitly call out China, experts said Beijing's actions have been pushing Washington, Tokyo and Seoul closer. "Today, we declare openly that we are united in a common purpose to strengthen our shared region," the three governments said in a joint statement released as the summit was concluding. "Our mandate is to ensure Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States are aligned in our objectives and in our actions." The U.S., Japanese and South Korean leaders announced enhanced joint work on technology and economic security, as well as missile defense. The latter is aimed at guarding against a potential North Korean launch as the reclusive government there continues to defy Washington and its allies with test after test. They also said they will hold more -- and more frequent -- joint military operations, something that no doubt will be noticed in Beijing and Pyongyang. What's more, the countries will launch "early warning system pilots" to guard against economically disruptive supply chain problems and economic coercion -- the latter is a warning to China, though the joint statement does not mention the Asian powerhouse in that section. "If I seem like I'm happy, it's because I am," Biden said during a rare joint news conference from Camp David. "This has been a great, great meeting." |
| High mortgage rates recall an era of ... high mortgage rates | |
| The rising bond yields we've seen this week have sent mortgage rates soaring. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. climbed above 7%, hitting its highest level in more than 20 years. The higher borrowing costs are adding more pain to what is already a uniquely painful housing market. But when we talk about mortgage rates above 7%, it's worth noting that we have experienced this before. Things were different back in the early 2000s. Sure, the low-rise jeans and platform shoes look horrifyingly similar. But mortgage rates? Those hit different. "If you look at that time, sort of in the 6s was pretty normal, so 7 was not a big deal," said economist Richard Green at the University of Southern California. Green bought a house in the '90s at 8% interest and refinanced several years later at a low, low 6.5%. "I felt great about it," he said. "Yeah, it was awesome." Rates were still on the downswing from what had happened more than a decade earlier. "The shock in the 1980s was enormous," said economist Eugene White at Rutgers University, referring to the Volcker shock -- when Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker drastically hiked interest rates to quell inflation, sending mortgage rates to an all-time high of more than 18% in 1981. "And it took a long time for them to come down," White said. All of which is not to scoff at the very real challenges of today's housing market, said Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. |
| Acclaimed blues artist headlines free concert at MC | |
| One of Mississippi's foremost active bluesmen will headline a star-studded cast of preeminent session musicians during a free concert honoring the state's heritage as the "Birthplace of the Blues." Vasti (pronounced Vast-Eye) Jackson, a Grammy Award-nominated performer from Hattiesburg known for his innovative guitar playing and stellar vocals, will kick off the Institute for Southern Storytelling at Mississippi College's event calendar with "Vasti Jackson and Friends: Live in Mississippi!" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31, in the Gore Arts Complex auditorium. The blues, soul, and jazz concert is intended to air as a television special on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and PBS. Amy Bryant Thaxton, executive director of the Institute, said the concert will christen the Institute's burgeoning event initiative. "Our mission at the Institute is to celebrate Southern stories and the things we do well in the South, especially in Mississippi," Thaxton said. "Blues music is made up of stories, so hosting these wonderful musicians is a great way to celebrate this type of music that is special to the state. "At the Institute, we want to celebrate literature, art, and music. We're excited to welcome musicians of this caliber to the Gore Arts Complex auditorium for an amazing night of the Blues." The Institute for Southern Storytelling at MC is an interdisciplinary approach to storytelling through studying the Southern experience. Participants collectively produce inspiring and instructive films, art, music, and writing that help others reflect on the uniqueness of the South and its role in the world. |
| U. of Kentucky to halt work at construction site, assess human bones found there | |
 | The University of Kentucky said it will temporarily stop construction on the exterior portion of the Reynolds Building on Scott Street after multiple sets of skeletal remains were discovered at the site. The university also said it wants to learn more about the "nature of the remains." The building, which is in the midst of a major renovation, is a former tobacco warehouse that Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said is in the same area as where a city cemetery was once located in the 1800s. Over the past week and a half, the coroner has been called to the construction site four times because of human bones being discovered, he said Friday, the day the most recent remains were found. UK spokesman Jay Blanton said in a statement Saturday the university will pause construction outside the building while it works to learn more. "We will be working with UK experts and other officials as appropriate to ascertain the nature of remains that have been reported in recent weeks to the Fayette County Coroner," Blanton said in the statement. "Our commitment is to be sensitive to any issues that arise and report fully and transparently what we determine. Work inside the building, which is nearly complete, will continue." Ginn said in an interview Friday that he would not seek to identify the bones but would have them "in safe keeping" until they would eventually be reburied. The Reynolds Building, which is being renamed the Gray Design Building, will house the College of Design and is scheduled to be finished early next year. |
| 2 States Restricted DEI. Here's How Colleges Revised Their Websites. | |
 | When legislatures in Florida and Texas adopted laws this year to all but eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at public colleges and universities, it was unknown what the impact might be on the ground. A few institutions, including Texas State University and the University of North Texas, have since announced that administrative units related to diversity would be dissolved, yet many colleges have remained largely quiet about how they plan to comply. The University of Texas at Dallas announced this week that while it would abide by the new law, it would not lay off employees in its DEI office, The Dallas Morning News reported. A Chronicle analysis of websites at two institutions, the University of Texas at Austin and Florida State University, in May and June, offers some clues. The analysis focused on websites controlled by university administrations rather than individual departments. Neither university responded to requests for comment. As a result, it is unclear whether the website changes reflect shifts to university programs and structures, or if some programs were removed from websites but still exist, and whether the changes were in response to the new laws. The revisions include removing the word "equity" from a web address, cutting a statement about the commitment to diversity, and deleting a page for a diversity institute that had been described as a learning resource for business and community leaders, faculty, staff, and underrepresented students. The lack of clarity about what changes have or haven't been made has led some conservative critics to ask if colleges are merely changing words here and there but keeping the substance of their DEI programs. |
| Incoming students ring in the new school year with Mizzou tradition | |
 | When Nick Hermann got dressed Friday morning, he chose clothes he didn't mind getting covered in paint. Hermann joined other incoming freshman students to continue a decades-old Mizzou tradition, Paint the M, that afternoon at Faurot Field. "My brother went here last year, and he told me it gets pretty messy," Hermann said, "so I wore clothes I don't really care about." The students spread out across the rocks and took turns dunking mop heads into buckets of white paint to coat the gigantic letter "M" overlooking the football field. "This is a total back workout," freshman Lindsay Gilbert said. The tradition began in 1927 when a group of students arranged leftover rocks from the construction of Memorial Stadium into the landmark. Fall semester Welcome Week events continue through the weekend, ending with Tiger Walk on Sunday at Francis Quadrangle. Students will walk between the columns to Jesse Hall to mark their entrance into Mizzou and receive cups of Tiger Stripe ice cream. |
| Scholars See Dangerous Precedent in West Virginia U.'s Plan to Cut Foreign Languages | |
| When leaders at West Virginia University proposed getting rid of the department of world languages, literatures, and linguistics, they said it was one of several hard, mission-driven choices to move away from programs the university can no longer afford to offer. All summer, administrators had analyzed data for academic programs on the Morgantown campus. Student interest in foreign languages, they concluded, is "very low and declining," which aligns with a national trend. The provost's office recommended last week that the department be dissolved. Faculty positions -- currently at 23 -- would drop to zero. Because some students will still want foreign-language instruction, WVU is exploring "alternative methods of delivery," such as a virtual partnership with a fellow Big 12 university or via an online language app. A "modern land-grant university" must provide "modern ways of delivering content," said E. Gordon Gee, the university's president, in an announcement about the cuts. Language professors at West Virginia and around the country recoiled. "I've been doing Spanish on Duolingo for a little over a hundred days. I can't say diddly squat," said Lisa M. Di Bartolomeo, a teaching professor of Russian studies at West Virginia. An app is a fine supplement to classroom instruction, she said, but it cannot be the sole means of a language education. That a flagship, land-grant, R1 university wants to eliminate its world-languages department -- and potentially swap in-person instruction with an app -- is shocking, and seemingly unprecedented, several faculty members told The Chronicle. Paula M. Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language Association, wrote to Gee that "no other state flagship university has forsaken language education for its students." |
| Community Colleges Buoyed by Modest Enrollment Growth | |
 | Wake Technical Community College welcomed its largest ever cohort of fall enrollees last Monday and celebrated the historic tally of just over 24,000 students with a free giveaway of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. "That first week of classes, the first week of anything, can always be a little anxiety-provoking," said the college's president, Scott Ralls, who handed out the doughnuts at one of the college's six campuses each morning. "That's just to make sure students know we appreciate them, that we valued them choosing our college and we really welcome them here." Enrollment is up by 10 percent from the 22,313 students who were enrolled last fall, representing a turning point following the disruptions experienced by Wake Tech and community colleges nationwide during the pandemic. The latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, released in May, suggest community colleges are starting to make a modest comeback from their pandemic enrollment woes. Community college enrollment rose 0.5 percent this spring, a gain of about 22,000 students nationally. That's compared to spring 2022 and following a plunge of 10.1 percent in 2021 and 8.2 percent in 2022. The uptick in enrollment is occurring as the U.S. job market begins to slow, and there may be a link given the historical connection between community college enrollment and the strength or weakness of the job market. The enrollment drop in the last couple of years has been linked in large part to the white-hot nature of the job market in 2021 and 2022. |
| More women than men have college degrees. That's good news for Democrats. | |
 | In the next few weeks college students will be flowing back onto campuses and the data show there will be a lot more women than men in lecture halls. That continues a trend that analysts have been seeing for years now and it is reshaping the country and its politics. On the most basic level, the number and percentage of Americans with at least a bachelor's degree has been rising steady, climbing nearly 30 points in the last 50 years. Back in 1970, only 11% of Americans 25-or-older had a bachelor's degree. The number has risen every decade to roughly 38% in 2021, according to the data from the Census's Current Population Survey. The jump since 2010 has been especially sharp and one of the big drivers of that has been more women completing their four-year degrees. In fact, in the last decade, women surpassed men in college completion. In 2021, the Census found that the number of American women with degrees was about 3 points higher than the figure for men -- 39.1% versus 36.6% respectively. And looking back at the history of those figures shows how remarkable that change is. Back in 1970, about 8 percent of 25-plus women had a bachelor's. That was about 6 points below where American men were at that time. The difference actually grew slightly in 1980, but then women began closing the gap, and quickly. By 2010, the two sexes were almost even, before women surged ahead in the years since. And to be clear, there is no reason to believe that trend is going to reverse any time soon. The latest college enrollment figures show a wide divide between the sexes regarding who is currently enrolled in college. These figures also may have political impacts in the years ahead. Two of the biggest splits in politics in the last few decades involve sex and education and the college attainment and enrollment numbers look set to reinforce them. |
| Did Reeves' primary showing spell doom for November? | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: Do the Republican primary results show Gov. Tate Reeves in trouble for the general election? The relatively high 25% vote attained by his two little-known opponents has sparked rampant speculation. This speculation arises from comparing this year's vote to primaries when three other Republican governors ran for re-election. In 2015, little-known Mitch Young garnered 8% of the vote against Gov. Phil Bryant. In 2007, little-known Frederick L. Jones got 7% of the vote against Gov. Haley Barbour. In 1995, little-known Richard O'Hara and frequent candidate George "Wagon Wheel" Blair pulled in 6% of the vote together against Gov. Kirk Fordice. This year, little-known Dr. John Witcher and David Hardigree won over 25% of the vote against Gov. Reeves. With the average vote in Republican primaries around 7% based on the historic results above, who were the remaining 18%, about 66,000 voters? One scenario suggests they were crossover Democrats. With only one statewide race in the Democratic primary, fewer voters participated compared to four years ago. |
| Mississippi politicians appear afraid to let citizens vote on abortion like in other states | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The issue of abortion is in a kind of limbo in Mississippi despite the state being viewed as perhaps the most staunchly anti-abortion state in the nation. Many state politicians like to make that claim. Because of bills passed by the Legislature and signed into law by multiple governors, abortion is prohibited in nearly every circumstance in Mississippi. Yet there is a 1990s state Supreme Court ruling that provides a right to an abortion under the Mississippi Constitution. That ruling, in theory, would trump those laws. But still, no provider is willing to provide abortions in Mississippi because of the fear that law enforcement and state courts would ignore that basic legal tenet that the constitution trumps laws. The abortion conflict could be solved by one of two ways: by the state Supreme Court overturning its earlier ruling, or by lawmakers amending the Mississippi Constitution. But it appears staunchly anti-abortion Mississippi legislative leaders are afraid to try to amend the Constitution because to do so would require allowing the people to vote. Polls over the past several months surprisingly show Mississippians almost evenly divided on the emotional and contentious issue, with some polls even saying a plurality supports abortion rights. In every state where abortion has been on the ballot during the past year, including conservative controlled states, proposals to expand abortion rights have prevailed. |
| We should be sick over health-care crisis | |
| The Greenwood Commonwealth's Tim Kalich writes: The photos will make you cringe. One shows a man having his right foot examined by his surgeon after having all five toes on it amputated. In another, a woman is sitting up on the side of her bed, a beautiful white cat perched nearby. Her left leg is a stub, having been amputated well above the knee. In yet another, a man whose foot had been recently amputated is being wheeled through a doctor's waiting room. In the background sits a woman, also in a wheelchair, missing a leg. All of these photos were taken in Greenwood, most of them at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. They are used to illustrate an opinion piece, published this past week in The New York Times, about what's wrong with health care in America, and most particularly what's wrong in the parts of America where the population is overwhelmingly poor. To complement his research, Nicholas Kristof, the longtime writer at The New York Times, came to Greenwood a couple of months ago. Among the doctors he talked to was Raymond Girnys. The surgeon, according to Kristof, said that he has amputated so many limbs since moving to Greenwood in 2005 that he has nightmares of "being chased by amputated legs and toes." Most of these amputations could have been prevented if the patient hadn't developed diabetes or had been able to manage the disease better. Why doesn't that happen? |
SPORTS
| Zach Arnett compares Seth Davis to Deuce Vaughn after scrimmage | |
| This year, Mississippi State welcomed undersized running back Seth Davis to campus. He's already turning heads, including that of head coach Zach Arnett who compared the young running back to Deuce Vaughn. Now on the Dallas Cowboys, Deuce Vaughn was a star at Kansas State who was incredibly hard to tackle despite being just 5-feet and 5-inches tall. He ran for 1,558 yards in 2022 to go with nine touchdowns. "It was the second scrimmage in a row where I think Seth Davis might be our most elusive ball carrier," Zach Arnett said. "You look at Deuce Vaughn, I think it was, at Kansas State who's now at the Cowboys, right? And he's kind of gone viral with what he's doing. Seth's kind of looked like that for us." Seth Davis was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He stands at just 5-foot and 7-inches. However, since he's gotten to campus, the staff has already noticed him adding muscle mass. "He's a little bit smaller in stature -- he's muscled up -- but he's a little bit smaller in stature. Can kind of hide behind those linemen at times and then see the seam and slip through there and he does a really nice job of there's never really square contact on him. They're always kind of glancing blows. So, he's done some nice things." Davis is coming to Mississippi State from Katy, Texas where he played for one of the nation's best high school programs. Arnett expects him to make an impact quickly. |
| Mississippi State football: Zach Arnett, coordinators discuss scrimmage | |
| Mississippi State football reached another checkpoint in its preseason slate on Saturday. With the conclusion of the second and final scrimmage, the Bulldogs are set to begin their first mock game week on Monday. While the scrimmage was closed to the media, coach Zach Arnett was joined afterward by offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay and defensive coordinator Matt Brock to discuss what they saw. Here's what they had to say as MSU wraps up what Arnett calls the training camp portion of the preseason and shifts its focus to the regular season, which starts Sept. 2. Barbay inherits a deep and veteran running back room. Jo'quavious Marks, who represented MSU at SEC Media Days in July, is the undisputed starter entering his senior season. He's accompanied by newcomers Keyvone Lee (Penn State transfer) and Jeffery Pittman (junior college signee) along with sophomore Simeon Price. However, freshman Seth Davis has proven hard to keep off the field. "This is a lot of offense for a young man coming in, but he's done a great job of handling it all," Barbay said. "I think the good thing about guys like that -- young players -- is you have to find ways to get them on the field. Don't overthink it." Despite the praise that has come out of preseason practices, Arnett hasn't hesitated to point out flaws as Week 1 approaches. Ball security, particularly with running backs, has been among the concerns. Whether it be fumbles or poor exchanges with quarterbacks, Arnett noted those mistakes could cost Mississippi State games this year. "That's sloppy, bad football" he said. "We cannot have that." |
| Dawgs Dominate Shots in 0-0 Stalemate Against Arizona State | |
| In a fiercely competitive matchup that kept spectators at the edge of their seats, Mississippi State showcased its offensive attack by outshooting Arizona State 13-3, yet the scoreboard remained untouched in a 0-0 tie. The Bulldogs' impressive defensive effort significantly slowed down Arizona State's possession game, making it challenging for the Sun Devils to establish an offensive rhythm. From the opening whistle, the Dawgs demonstrated their dominance in the attacking third by registering five shots on goal within the first 26 minutes, putting the Sun Devil's defense under considerable pressure. Arizona State, however, found their rhythm and managed to weather the storm, preventing any of those attempts from finding the back of the net. State's defensive line effectively neutralized Arizona State's attempts, limiting them to zero shots through the first 61 minutes of play. The Dawg's commitment to defensive excellence was evident, and their efforts contributed significantly to maintaining possession and controlling the pace of the game. The 70th minute saw a heart-stopping moment as Mississippi State nearly broke the deadlock when Bailey Wagenknecht sent a shot thundering off the goalpost. Just six minutes later, Maggie Wadsworth narrowly missed the target with a shot that sailed wide left, as the Dawgs' offensive intent became even more evident. In the 82nd minute, it seemed as though Mississippi State had finally found the breakthrough when Aitana Martinez-Montoya found the back of the net. However, the celebrations were short-lived as the goal was disallowed via offsides, keeping the score level at 0-0. Mississippi State Soccer will return to Starkville for their highlight anticipated 2023 home opener when they face Northwestern State at 6:30 PM Thursday. |
| With super conferences and CFP expansion on horizon, 2023 is the end of an era in college football | |
| Welcome to the final season of college football as we know it. Extreme? Maybe, but 2023 has an end-of-an-era feel. Texas and Oklahoma are taking their last lap in the Big 12. The Pac-12 is still a Power Five conference. Will it even be a conference in 2024 after the Big Ten opens its West Wing and the Big 12 expands yet again? The College Football Playoff is a four-team event for the last time this year before tripling in size. Everything about the collegiate sports model seems ripe for radical changes. But not quite yet. "It does seem like it will feel like a lame-duck year at some point in time," former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. Before the maps are redrawn (again) and the stakes are remade (again), there is one more season to left to appreciate what is being lost -- or long for what's being gained. "I'm resigned to it," said ESPN's Rece Davis on The AP Top 25 College Football Podcast. "There are parts of it I will miss very much because I consider myself, at heart, a traditionalist. I love the nostalgia of the sport. Maybe, save, baseball, I don't think there is another sport that conjures up that type of deep emotional connection that college football does. And we're losing some of that." Realignment taketh away, but it can also giveth. After a decade apart, and insisting they don't care about each other, Texas and Texas A&M will play again in 2024. |
| Next year, SEC will leave CBS, its longtime TV partner. Here's what to expect in the future | |
 | The Southeastern Conference is leaving CBS after this season, and it won't be taking the intro song with it. But the song is not the only thing lost in the conference's 10-year, $3 billion move to ABC and ESPN. It's mostly a loss of a historic relationship. Disney, which owns ABC and ESPN plans to honor the SEC's traditional 2:30 p.m. slot for its biggest matchup of the week. But now, that 2:30 game will be on ABC, not CBS. "I think there was a prestigious feel for the SEC and CBS in terms of how the presentation goes," New York Post sports media writer Andrew Marchand said. "Because we look at that late window. In the NFL, for example, a lot of people talk about Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Football, but the most-watched time is the late 4 o'clock window either on CBS or Fox. If there's anything that was similar to that, it's been CBS' SEC game-of-the-week window." CBS walked away from negotiations with the SEC in 2019, setting the stage for an ESPN/ABC takeover. But the new world of SEC football broadcasts won't change too much for the average viewer. In fact, it might be easier to find everything fans want in one place. "What we have with our new media agreements is actually the ability to populate a day on broadcast TV," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. "When I say we didn't have a lot of opportunities to access more broadcast TV opportunities, ABC was a part of that. We could now see SEC games on ABC at noon (ET), 3:30 (ET) and then in primetime in 130 million households." |
| Lost rivalries in the Big 12, including no more Bedlam when Oklahoma and Texas switch to SEC | |
| There will be no more Bedlam in the Big 12. Baylor will say farewell to the only conference rival it has played annually for a century. The storied Red River rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas will soon take place in a different league. The Sooners and Longhorns moving to the Southeastern Conference next summer means this season will be the last in the Big 12 for some of its biggest games. The moves will also affect rivalries much older than the Big 12, the league that kicked off in 1996 after the Big Eight merged with four Texas schools from the old Southwest Conference. The changes are casualties of the latest round of conference realignment, which has seen some two dozen schools change affiliation this season and next. As those longstanding rivalries slip away, the league has a chance to build new ones while growing from 10 teams to 16 spread across three time zones and 10 states. There certainly could be some options, including some untraditional ones, though it could take some time for any to develop. "Looking at what has happened so far, it seemed that it was difficult for people to identify and really start consuming a new rivalry," said Cody Havard, a University of Memphis professor and Texas graduate who does research on sports rivalries. But he pointed to some possibilities, from new rivalries that could take shape to old ones that will eventually be coming into the league. |
| Bell Says High Costs Still Stalling New Alabama Athletics Arena | |
| Unreasonably high construction costs are still stalling the University of Alabama's plans to build a massive new athletics area, President Stuart Bell confirmed Wednesday. It's been a year and a half since the UA System Board of Trustees officially approved the preliminary scope and budget for a new 10,400-seat arena to replace Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. The board approved a $183 million arena, but the cost of some construction materials has skyrocketed in the 18 months since then -- Bell said last winter that some prices were up as much as 40 percent, which becomes prohibitive for a project of the area's scope and scale. During an interview with the Thread Wednesday, Bell said prices are still too high in 2023 to pick the project back up. "What an exciting project that is, but we have to make sure the timing is right," Bell said. "It is amazing -- and not in a positive way -- what has happened to construction prices over the last two years. We continue to work towards that project but there are some hard points there, some hard parts we're going to have to be able to address." On a positive note, Alabama's $40 million Intercollegiate Athletics Golf Facility, which was approved at the same February 2022 board meeting as the new arena, is in its final construction stage and that project could wrap up next summer. The arena to replace Coleman Coliseum is much farther off, but Bell said the University realizes how important the new venue is to basketball and gymnastics fans and more. |
| Peyton Manning, now a professor at Tennessee, explains why brother Eli had to attend Ole Miss | |
 | Now it's a battle in the classroom for Peyton Manning and brother Eli. Peyton Manning, the legendary Tennessee quarterback and recently announced professor of practice at his alma mater, compared the college education the two received after his brother took a shot on social media. Eli, the former star at Ole Miss, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that taking Peyton's classes at Tennessee would be an "Easy A!!!" Peyton, making an appearance Saturday on NBC's golf coverage of the U.S. Amateur Championship in Denver, said there was a reason his brother didn't attend Tennessee. "We all know Eli went to Ole Miss because he couldn't get into Tennessee, Dan," Peyton Manning told play-by-play host Dan Hicks. "So, it will be a challenging course for these students for sure." Peyton will be a guest expert in classes at Tennessee that cover leadership and communication, public speaking, sports reporting and video production. "Please don't call me professor," he added on the broadcast. "It is a couple times of year. Not moving to Knoxville yet. We're gonna be a guest lecturer in the College of Communications and talk a little bit about public speaking, so I'm honored to do it but am not moving to Knoxville quite yet." Peyton graduated from UT in 1997 with a degree in speech communication. Peyton rewrote the Tennessee record book during his four years with the Vols. He still holds the record for passing yards with 11,201 yards and passing touchdowns with 89. |
| Gators AD Scott Stricklin: College football is contracting, not expanding | |
| University of Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin is worried about the direction of major college football. He's worried that his good friend Trev Alberts -- the athletic director at Nebraska -- might just be right. In the wake of the Pac-12's demise, Stricklin is worried that college football is headed toward "contraction instead of expansion." "I hope it doesn't come to that because we've already seen a lot of unfortunate things happen to schools on the wrong side of the fence through realignment," Stricklin says. "You'd like to see it settle down and be stable, but there would have to be some sort of paradigm shift for that to happen." Alberts, however, painted a doomsday scenario for those schools "on the wrong side of the fence." We're talking about the many run-of-the-mill programs in Power 5 leagues who have been living off their bigger, richer conference brothers for decades. Alberts told the Lincoln Journal Star a few days ago that he believes "we're moving to 35 to 40 top brands" breaking away and forming an NFL-type super league. "I don't believe [realignment] is done. It's never been done," Alberts said. "It's more likely than not that there will be continued periods of angst. I believe that the next go-around will be far more disruptive than anything we're currently engaged in. We need to prepare ourselves mentally for that." Translation: The gravy train that many lesser programs have been riding on for a century or more may soon be derailed. |
| 'The best athletic director in the country': Texas to extend Chris Del Conte's contract | |
| Texas expects to have Chris Del Conte leading its athletic department for the foreseeable future. UT has recommended that Del Conte receive a contract extension, and the UT System Board of Regents is expected to review that proposal at its meeting next week. Significant contracts that are given to coaches and administrators must be approved by the regents, but those approvals are usually a formality. Del Conte has been Texas' athletics director since December 2017, and his current contract runs through the 2027 fiscal year. Under the proposed extension, Del Conte's deal wouldn't be up until after the 2030 fiscal year. If the regents approve, Del Conte would receive a raise for the four years for which he is already under contract. He would then be guaranteed $2.85 million, $3 million and $3.15 million during the three years tacked on to his deal. According to Texas, the reworked seven-year contract is worth up to $19.25 million. "Chris Del Conte came to the Forty Acres with a vision for elevating Texas Athletics to compete and win both on and off the field and he has consistently delivered," UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said in a news release. "In my opinion, he is the best athletic director in the country. I am excited to see his contract extended to 2030 and look forward to continuing to work with him to make all of Longhorn Nation proud." The additions of Bevo Boulevard and Longhorn City Limits at the Texas football games have been among Del Conte's big-picture ideas. UT also has opened the $375 million Moody Center and renovated the football stadium's south end zone during his tenure. Earlier this year, Texas announced that it had made a surplus of $14,137,637 during the 2022 fiscal year. |
| Kirk Schulz says WSU has three options in conference hunt | |
| Since the PAC-12 collapsed two weeks ago, Washington State President Kirk Schulz has maintained a low profile for a president navigating a crisis. In the immediate aftermath, he granted an interview for an ESPN.com story and a California newspaper. This past week, he announced an advisory committee would be formed to help WSU decide on its future. But that was about it. Schulz finally spoke out in more detail on Friday in a video with a WSU regent. In a nearly hour-long Q&A with WSU Regent Enrique Cerna, Schulz dished on a wide range of topics, including Washington State's remaining options for conference affiliation, the proposed Apple deal UW and Oregon turned down, and whether he felt betrayed by his cross-state rival the University of Washington. Schulz addressed WSU's immediate future at the beginning. "We have three options that we're pursuing," said Schulz. "None of these will be very surprising. One will be to seek membership in the Mountain West Conference, one would be to seek membership in the American Athletic Conference and then the third would be to reconstitute or rebuild I would say the Pac-X. "Right now, there's four members left, but that could change literally within hours. I think each of those we're pursuing in a parallel pathway. We want to evaluate what's best for WSU, what's best for our student-athletes, what's a good academic and athletic fit. We want to be in a position where we control our own destiny as an institution and are not dependent on anybody else. We want to be in a place and a conference where we can win conference championships." |
| Women's soccer has grown, thanks to U.S. college programs | |
| The final match of the 2023 Women's World Cup is set to kick off on Sunday. Spain will play England to crown a champion. But more broadly, this year's tournament has already been a success story for the growth of the women's game at a global level. And, interestingly enough, the business of college sports here in the United States is a big part of the reason why. That's according to Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and professor of history at Arizona State University. She spoke with "Marketplace Morning Report" host Sabri Ben-Achour and the following is an edited transcript of their conversation. |
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