Tuesday, August 19, 2014   
 
Mississippi State plans Evans Hall demolition
Mississippi State University took its first step towards two new residence halls and a new G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans facility Monday, fencing off parking lots to prepare to demolish Evans Hall this fall. In the immediate term, this step will block access to two parking lots at MSU until the construction is complete, lots close to Humphrey Coliseum and Davis Wade Stadium commonly used as parking for MSU athletic events. MSU Parking, Transit and Sustainability Director Jeremiah Dumas said MSU's athletics department had adjusted its parking plans accordingly. (Subscriber-only content.)
 
New MSU-Meridian degree program announced, enrolling students
A new kinesiology program with an emphasis in clinical exercise physiology is underway at MSU-Meridian. Last November, the local Riley Foundation awarded an $11 million grant to the university in support of the new degree program to be located in the Kress Building, the campus' downtown facility. "With Meridian serving as one of the state's best regional healthcare destinations, bringing a program such as kinesiology to the area is ideal for the missions of not only Mississippi State, but the Meridian Campus and The Riley Foundation as well," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. Though the Kress project won't be complete until next year, 12 students already are enrolled in the program. They begin classes this week at the College Park campus while renovations continue. Associate professor Ben Wax is leading the program.
 
Black Bear on MSU-Meridian Campus Monday
MSU-Meridian officials had the welcome mat out for all new and returning students on Monday, but little did they know that a black bear would arrive on campus just about 7 a.m. Some MSU students didn't know whether to laugh or run when they heard the news: "My professor was joking about it," said student Tyler Andrew Vick. "He was making an Ole Miss joke. I thought he was just being his crazy self, but a bear in the back lot, it's a little scary." The bear has apparently been visiting other residents and businesses in the area.
 
Free MSU Programs to Feature Diverse Japanese Films
Beginning later this week, a series of free popular films from Japan will be screened at Mississippi State through September. All taking place on Fridays at the university's Bost Extension Center, the three public showings will take place Aug. 22, Sept. 12 and Sept. 26. Popcorn, cotton candy and soft drinks also will be provided at no charge at each event. The film presentations are sponsored by MSU's School of Human Sciences, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Richard Holmes Cultural Diversity Center and Renasant Bank. The not-for-profit Laurasian Institution and the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership also are providing support.
 
ZZ Top scheduled to play at Mississippi State
ZZ Top will perform at Mississippi State University's Humphrey Coliseum Oct. 30, bringing its famed beards, spinning guitars and Top 40 hits to the Starkville community. (Subscriber-only content.)
 
Starkville market attendance, sales growing
Starkville Community Market's vendor and attendance counts continue to grow under the second year of Greater Starkville Development Partnership control, market manager Jennifer Prather said, as the event has almost doubled the number of sellers this year and maintained about $4,000 in business per week. In addition to increasing advertising initiatives, the GSDP launched the first mid-week produce market this year, which is held Tuesday afternoons. Attendance is expected to remain level as the market concludes its Saturday sales this weekend. Under the Partnership's guidance, the market extended its schedule last year through August. Prather said the Partnership does not wish to compete against home football crowds this year, so the market will end one week before Mississippi State begins its season against Southern Miss.
 
State's jobless rate rises in July, stays worst in U.S.
Mississippi's unemployment rate continued to go in the wrong direction in July, remaining the highest in the nation. The jobless rate rose to 8 percent in July, the third straight monthly increase, as the number of people reporting they had a job fell faster than the labor force. Mississippi's unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in June, but was below the 8.7 percent rate of July 2013. A separate survey showed employer payrolls rose slightly. Both sets of figures -- adjusted to cancel out seasonal changes -- were released Monday by the U.S. Labor Department.
 
Shelton among MSNBC's 'rising stars' in state
Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton received national attention recently on cable news network MSNBC, which identified the first-term elected official as one of four rising stars to watch in state politics. The left-leaning cable news network mentioned the Democratic mayor in one of a continuous series of political profiles of all 50 states. The Daily Rundown, a morning program with Chuck Todd, featured Mississippi's "rising stars" on the Friday broadcast, appearing online Monday. A producer for the show said it asked journalists from throughout the state, and the cable channel did its own research to help determine which politicians -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- to feature. Other Mississippi political leaders featured are Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber, a Democrat, state Treasurer Lynn Fitch and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, both Republicans.
 
Holder at center of Ferguson storm
Attorney General Eric Holder is back in a familiar spot: the center of the storm. Holder, one of Obama's longest-serving lieutenants, is the administration's face on the Ferguson riots, the news story dominating the airwaves this August. The attorney general is spearheading the federal investigation into the killing by police of an unarmed black 18-year-old named Michael Brown, whose death has set off more than a week of unrest in the St. Louis suburb. Holder, who on Monday released a statement that said he was "troubled" by the "selective release of sensitive information" in the case, faces a delicate task.
 
Navy conducts first series of drone and manned fighter jet operations
The U.S. Navy said its jet-powered, bat-winged X-47B drone has conducted carrier deck operations and performed maneuvers alongside an F/A-18 fighter jet, marking the first time manned and unmanned aircraft have operated together on the same carrier. Navy officials hailed the test flights of the experimental drone, which were completed Sunday on the Theodore Roosevelt in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, as a milestone in carrier-based naval aviation. Combat drones used by the Air Force and CIA are controlled remotely by a human pilot, often sitting thousands of miles away. The Navy drone is designed to carry out a combat mission controlled almost entirely by a computer. A human pilot would design its flight path and send it on its way. A computer program would guide it from a ship to the target and back.
 
Celebrity chef headlines fundraiser for future nurses at UMMC
Tuesday night will be a night of food and fundraising as a celebrity chef brings her "Culanthropy" to town to help some aspiring students. Cat Cora from Food Network's Iron Chef America visited the University of Mississippi Medical Center on Monday, where the Jackson native's mother and grandmother were both nurses. Now, she's joining forces with eight area chefs Tuesday night to help raise money for UMMC School of Nursing scholarships. "UMMC has been so great to our family not only my mom's long career here but also my dad had cancer," said Cora. "They were a huge support for us going through that battle with him."
 
USM's learning in retirement program begins 23rd year
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) members at the University of Southern Mississippi will embark on an action-packed schedule when the program opens its 23rd year on Sept. 15. Fall offerings include: 35 classes, 57 seminars, three field trips, and eight additional seminars offered in the University Series. Topical offerings will feature programs dealing with art, computers, cooking, crafts, exercise, gardening, health, history, language, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social activities, sociology, sports and recreation, special events open to guests and a miscellany group. Offerings in the University Series will be eight noon seminars about current university topics. Administrators and faculty members from USM will present the seminars.
 
Delta State campus police department stops car
The Cleveland Police Department and the Delta State University Campus Police were both involved in a short chase and car wreck Thursday afternoon. DSU Campus Police Chief Lynn Buford said, "Late yesterday afternoon between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Cleveland was trying to initiate a traffic stop on an individual. Our officers were on routine patrol and were crossing Highway 8 and Fifth Avenue and had the green light. They were struck by this person speeding that Cleveland was attempting to stop. There were two officers in the car and both of them had bruised hips and ribs. No broken bones. One of the officers had a slight concussion." Buford said both of these DSU officers were transported to Bolivar Medical Center, treated, and released.
 
Area colleges resume classes for fall semester
Area college students returned to school Monday for the start of fall classes. "It's exciting to start a new journey," said York, Ala., resident Danielle Wood, who is a second year student at Meridian Community College entering the college's Respiratory Therapy Program. The parking lot at Meridian Community College was full Monday, and some students were still moving into dorms at East Mississippi Community College. Some students had enrolled in new degree programs at Mississippi State University, and roughly 2,600 students had registered at East Central Community College.
 
JCJC, Mississippi National Guard sign ROTC agreement
Tyler Jenkins' father, Eddie Jenkins, is a command sergeant major in the Army. His great-grandfather also served his country in the military. On Monday, Jenkins, who joined the Mississippi National Guard in February 2013, officially became one of 10 cadets to make up the inaugural class of Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Jones County Junior College. JCJC President Jesse Smith and Maj. Gen. Augustus Collins, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, signed agreements in Jones Hall that allow the National Guard to offer accredited military classes on the Ellisville campus. Plans are in the works to start similar programs at Pearl River, Hinds, Holmes, East Mississippi and Northeast Mississippi community colleges.
 
Meridian Community College Begins Fall Semester
It's that time of the year again where many students gear up and get ready for school. For some, school has been in session for a few weeks, but for others like Meridian Community College, classes are just beginning. MCC Vice President Barbara Jones says although the school year is just beginning, it's been in preparation for several months. "We have had several orientations this summer and we have also tried to get the word out there that Meridian Community College has such a flexibility in their schedule," Jones said.
 
U. of Alabama, national sorority investigating racial incident following Bid Day
The University of Alabama is investigating a Bid Day incident involving a social media post with racially offensive language. Chi Omega national sorority leaders say they've already kicked the responsible member out of the chapter. The photo, sent via social media app Snapchat, shows three white women with a caption using a racial slur seemingly celebrating that Chi O pledged no black women Saturday -- despite the fact the sorority actually pledged two. On Bid Day Saturday, 10 Panhellenic sororities pledged 21 black women, a historic number. A UA spokeswoman said officials were made aware of the picture Saturday afternoon. The Office of Student Conduct is currently conducting a full investigation, which will decide appropriate consequences that will be in addition to Chi O's sanctions.
 
U. of Alabama student expelled from sorority after racially offensive message
The University of Alabama is investigating a racially offensive social media message allegedly sent by a student on Saturday that prompted the Chi Omega sorority's national organization to expel the young woman from its UA chapter. "We are all extremely disappointed when any student uses language that is disrespectful or offensive to any segment of the UA community," UA President Judy Bonner said in a prepared statement released Monday. "We are especially sad that this incident occurred on a day (Saturday's bid day) that was an exciting and happy one for the young women who participated in fall recruitment." A sorority member allegedly sent a Snapchat message containing a racial slur and celebrating that the sorority had no new black members.
 
First day back: Auburn freshmen conquer Haley Center
Monday marked the start of fall semester for Auburn University students, and campus was packed by late morning. The university's more than 25,000 students returned to the Plains, eager for the start of a new school year and football season. Freshman Tyler Carter sat on a nearby bench, eyeing the Tex Tacos food truck line that spilled onto the concourse. During his packed first day, Carter said Auburn's Haley Center didn't give him too much trouble. "I didn't get lost or anything," he said. Carter wasn't alone in conquering Auburn's notoriously confusing Haley Center, where the majority of college freshman attend classes. Nursing student Emma Wall found her English and history classes with ease.
 
UGA starts off school year quietly
The University of Georgia campus bustled Monday as fall semester classes got underway, but without the visible snarls and long lines that once marked the beginning of the UGA school year. UGA's fall enrollment is about 35,000, but thousands of students have already been in town for a week or more. The Miller Student Learning Center next door to the Tate Student Center was full, but quiet, as students sat reading or checking their text messages. One new building was open for business -- the new Bolton Dining Commons. About 2,200 people had breakfast there on the first day of classes -- a new UGA record, said Mike Floyd, the university's director of auxiliary services.
 
UGA Science Learning Center groundbreaking to be held Tuesday
The University of Georgia will break ground on the 122,500-square-foot Science Learning Center 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at the south end of the S10 parking lot off Carlton Street. The ceremony will include remarks from Gov. Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby, UGA President Jere Morehead and UGA student Lydia Babcock-Adams. The $44.7 million building's 33 instructional labs will be designed specifically for interactive learning in core undergraduate science courses. The Science Learning Center also will contain two 280-seat lecture halls and two 72-seat classrooms focused heavily on group-work class participation and technology.
 
Coca-Cola donates $1.5 million to U. of Florida for citrus greening research
The Coca-Cola Company has donated $1.5 million to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to continue research work in the fight against citrus greening, a bacterial disease that is devastating to the state's orange industry The funding will come in three annual $500,000 increments and follows a previous $1.5 million contribution from Coca Cola, UF said in a press release last week. The new infusion of money will go to research conducted by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation Inc., UF said.
 
USC study: Aerospace industry taking off in South Carolina
Aerospace is South Carolina's stealthiest industry, contributing more than $17.4 billion to the state's economy each year and growing at six times the rate of the state as a whole, according to a report released Tuesday by the University of South Carolina. "Aerospace is typically represented by Boeing as the poster child," said USC economist Joseph Von Nessen of the Moore School of Business, which compiled the study. But its influence has spread across every region of the state as a major economic driver, he said. The study is a partnership between the Moore School, USC's Ronald E. McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research, the S.C. Department of Commerce and New Carolina, South Carolina's Council on Competitiveness.
 
U. of Missouri students make 'hands up, don't shoot' photo
The sound of dozens of students with their hands raised in the air yelling, "Don't shoot" reverberated off the columns at the University of Missouri on yesterday afternoon. Students, some faculty and administrators gathered on the Francis Quadrangle for a "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" photo session to honor the death of Michael Brown, who was shot and killed Aug. 9 in Ferguson. The photo session was the second event MU students hosted since Brown's death. The first was a vigil and moment of silence on Thursday as part of a national effort.
 
Study: Scholars are present on professional networks, but engage on Twitter
Academia.edu, ResearchGate and other websites jostle for the title of go-to social network for researchers, but when faculty members go online to discuss their peers' work, many of them turn to Twitter. That's one takeaway from Richard Van Noorden's study of social media use in higher education, published last week in the science journal Nature. Van Noorden, senior reporter for the journal, surveyed 3,509 scholars worldwide this summer about their online habits, and his results suggest many researchers only use the social networks designed specifically for academics to establish a presence, and not much else.
 
CHARLIE MITCHELL (OPINION): It's too easy to generalize about shootings by police
Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "A problem with public outrage when citizens -- especially young citizens -- are shot and killed by police is that no two situations are alike. Or at least not exactly alike. As the saying goes, any is too many. But there are differences. And they are important."


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State's Mullen varies camp routine
Enduring two-a-days during training camp a month before the opening game can get repetitive. Mississippi State found a way to break-up the monotony with a few outside-the-box activities. Friday night, during the Bulldogs' regularly scheduled team meeting, a special guest arrived. Cornerbacks coach Deshea Townsend secretly snuck in his friend and former teammate with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jerome Bettis, to speak to the team. "His whole speech was basically what we tell our guys on a daily basis about hard work, sacrifice and commitment," said coach Dan Mullen. "If you're willing to work hard and sacrifice then you'll have success and that's the path he followed."
 
Mississippi State looks to McKinney to lead linebackers
When asked where the Mississippi State football team's defense will turn for about leadership this season, junior quarterback Dak Prescott didn't hesitate. "Benardrick (McKinney) is a great leader, great player," Prescott said. "Seeing him on the other side of the ball, I know he has the defense going, and it's hard for me not to get this offense going. We just feed off each other." Such is McKinney's stature in the middle of MSU's defense. Entering his fourth year on campus and his junior season on the field, McKinney, a 6-foot-4 middle linebacker from Tunica Rosa Fort High School, has emerged as the heart and soul of the defense.
 
Dogs searching for right O-line combo
More questions are popping up along Mississippi State's offensive line than answers. With less than two weeks remaining until the start of the regular season, the Bulldogs need a right tackle. MSU ended training camp last week with its second scrimmage at Davis Wade Stadium. It cost the Bulldogs Damien Robinson. The senior right tackle tore his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for the season. "That's an area that we were the least deep, was on the offensive line," MSU coach Dan Mullen said. "But what we have to do is be flexible and have a lot of different options that we can do."



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