| Thursday, September 11, 2014 |
| 'Legend' laid to rest | |
 | Jack Cristil left this world the same way he lived in it: on his own terms. Cristil, the radio voice of Mississippi State football and basketball for 58 years, was laid to rest Wednesday. "His passion for his Bulldogs was never far from the surface, and his intensity came through to those of us who clung to every colorful turn of phrase," said MSU President Mark Keenum, who spoke during the service. "That wonderful baritone voice -- gruff, perhaps, but musical to all who knew it so well." The approximately half-hour Jewish funeral service -- Cristil was a longtime member of Tupelo's Temple B'nai Israel -- was attended by the likes of current athletics director Scott Stricklin, baseball coach John Cohen, former football coach Jackie Sherrill, Cristil's former broadcast partner Jim Ellis, and Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton. |
| Cristil remembered at funeral | |
 | Many familiar faces gathered at a funeral home Wednesday to pay their respects to longtime Mississippi State University announcer Jack Cristil, who died Sunday at the age of 88. "He is revered not only here in this state but all over the nation," said MSU President Mark Keenum. Cristil was the radio voice for Mississippi State sports for 58 years. His career with the university began in 1953. Throughout all those years Cristil called the action, the teams had their ups and downs. "When you lost, I wasn't very happy," said former MSU football coach Jackie Sherrill. "But Jack was able to move me through that very professionally that when I left, I thought I was okay." |
| Jack Cristil left his mark in area radio | |
| Jack Cristil was definitely the lead dog in the Tupelo and Northeast Mississippi radio market, but he was well-liked and respected by his colleagues. Cristil, who died Saturday at age 88 in his hometown of Tupelo, was not only the voice of Mississippi State athletics, but for a time, Tupelo High School football and basketball (1955-85) and Itawamba Community College football. "Jack loved Northeast Mississippi and he loved high school football," said longtime New Albany radio sports announcer Bill Cossitt, who partnered with Cristil for 10 years (1996-2006) on a local sports talk show. "He was something special. You had to study to keep up with him." |
| State university enrollment remains steady | |
| Enrollment across Mississippi's eight public universities grew slightly this year, according to data released on Wednesday. Those eight universities have a total of 79,909 students, an increase of 871 students, or 1.1 percent. The data was released by the state Institutions of Higher Learning. The preliminary enrollment figures are unduplicated and count students one time if enrolled on more than one campus. MSU saw its average ACT score for entering freshmen rise a half point, to 24.4. "It is an indication that students and families continue to see Mississippi State as the premier research university it is," MSU President Mark Keenum said. |
| Mississippi Universities Grow, Community Colleges Shrink | |
 | Enrollment rose slightly for the fall semester at Mississippi's eight public universities, but fell for the fourth straight year at the state's 15 community colleges. Students flocked to Mississippi's community colleges and universities during the recession, trying to improve their job credentials. But leaders say a falling unemployment rate and restrictions on federal student aid may be cutting enrollment at community colleges. Preliminary counts released Wednesday show the number of students rose 1.1 percent at universities to 79,909 overall and fell 1.8 percent at the community colleges to 76,266. |
| Accused South Carolina child killer tied to Mississippi | |
 | A South Carolina father accused of killing his five children, burying them in Alabama, and fleeing to Mississippi has family in the Magnolia State and graduated from Mississippi State University. Timothy Ray Jones, Jr., was arrested Saturday after his ex-wife reported him and their five children as missing persons when she couldn't get in touch with him after several days. Jones' family lives in Amory. Mississippi State has confirmed Timothy Ray Jones graduated in 2011. |
| A Fractured Life, a Failed Marriage and 5 Small Bodies in Alabama | |
 | The small sign posted above the doorway of the mobile home seemed starkly at odds with the collection of toys a few feet away: "Is there life after death? Trespass here and find out." The terse warning and an accompanying illustration of a handgun hung on the home of Timothy R. Jones Jr., 32, who was expected to face murder charges after his five children were found dead on Tuesday in a rural patch of the Alabama Black Belt. About 400 miles from the scene near Camden, Ala., state officials and neighbors here were grappling on Wednesday with whether they had missed conspicuous signals of imminent family violence. And Mr. Jones himself emerged as a tragically paradoxical figure: an engineer, once described by a family therapist as "a highly intelligent, responsible father," who endured an especially bitter divorce and now stands accused of killing his five children and abandoning their bodies, all wrapped in garbage bags. |
| Hosemann convenes panel to consider voting changes | |
| A 51-person panel convened by Mississippi's Secretary of State plans to examine possible changes to voting and elections practices. At its first meeting Wednesday, the panel took up one of the most troublesome issues in the aftermath of the Republican primary fight between U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel: Who should be allowed to vote in party primaries? The panel, brought together by Delbert Hosemann, heard from Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who praised his state's practice of putting all candidates on one primary ballot regardless of party. There, the top two advance to a runoff, unless one candidate wins a majority in the first round. That's unlike Mississippi. |
| Loyalty provision of election law causes concern | |
| The so-called loyalty provision of state election law received much of the focus Wednesday as Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's study group met to discuss party primaries. The provision of Mississippi law says a person should not vote in a party primary unless he or she intends to vote for that party's nominee in the November general election. The federal court has stated "there is no practical way to enforce" the loyalty law. Yet, it has become an issue in the aftermath of the June 24 Republican primary runoff because Chris McDaniel and his supporters have claimed that incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran won by recruiting people who typically vote Democratic to vote for him in the election. |
| Panel ponders Mississippi elections overhaul | |
| Amid the turmoil over the Republican U.S. Senate primary, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has a 51-member panel considering election reforms to present to lawmakers next year. Early voting, online registration, closed or open primaries -- Hosemann said implementing voter ID and "having some bright lights thrown on our election process" from the Senate race makes reform likely. If the panel deadlocks on major issues, such as overhauling Mississippi's hybrid open/closed -- no one's really sure -- primary system, Hosemann said he expects the panel and legislators to at least "nibble around the edges" and make some changes. |
| Childers wants debates in all parts of Mississippi | |
 | U.S. Senate candidate Travis Childers travels light. The former congressman and businessman from Booneville held a popup news conference in Long Beach that lasted all of five minutes to again challenge Sen. Thad Cochran to debate. He brought along a podium, two campaign staffers and a press secretary, and set up against a backdrop of USM-Gulf Park campus Live oaks. No tour bus. No special guests. No bodyguards. All were staples of Chris McDaniel's contentious attempt to unseat Cochran. McDaniel, a state senator and Tea Party favorite, is still challenging his defeat in the GOP primary. Childers is more low key. "We'll be as generous as possible," he said, "as easy to work with as possible." |
| Madison County's legislative clout will increase with lines | |
 | Madison County's influence in the state Legislature will grow significantly in 2015 with new lines, including the newly-created District 73 House seat where one candidate has already thrown his name into the hat. Madison attorney Cory Wilson confirmed Tuesday his plans to run for the new House seat in 2015 when qualifying begins in January. He is currently a senior adviser and counsel to State Treasurer Lynn Fitch. There will be three "whole" House seats -- including District 57 and District 58. District 57 is currently represented by Ed Blackmon, a Democrat and Republican Rita Martinson represents District 58. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn will have some reach into Madison County near Flora. On the Senate side, there will be four representatives: Democrat Kenny Wayne Jones of Canton, Republican Will Longwitz of Madison, Republican Senate Appropriations Chairman Buck Clarke of Hollandale, and Democrat John Hohrn of Jackson. |
| State rep upset after Moss Point School District rejects lawsuit | |
 | A state representative's push to get the Moss Point School District to sue for millions in education funding has hit a snag. Rep. Jeramey Anderson said he publicly asked school board members to join a lawsuit against the state Tuesday night during the board meeting, but his offer was rejected. "It is not like we are suing the state for money that wasn't already allocated to you. It is yours, and it is already sitting there," Anderson said. Anderson said he and his staff will continue to urge the district to say yes to the lawsuit. He wants every Moss Point citizen to call board members to do the same. |
| New north central Mississippi economic development group seeks executive director | |
| A new economic development group established to help with business and industrial growth in north central Mississippi is seeking an executive director. The Regional Economic Enterprise of Mississippi is a partnership between Choctaw, Montgomery and Webster County. REEM will work to bring in new business, support existing business, market the region and provide community education of the economic development process. Applications for the position will be accepted through noon on Sept. 19. |
| Three southwest Mississippi counties get transportation grant | |
| The federal government has approved a $17.8 million grant for highway and bridge improvements in three southwest Mississippi counties, including one that's home to Alcorn State University. The Department of Transportation grant was announced Wednesday by Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker. They said the money will help pay for improvements to substandard roads and deteriorating bridges, improving access to regional employment centers, including Alcorn State. It also will be used to improve evacuation routes from the Grand Gulf Nuclear Generating Station near Port Gibson. |
| Farm bill foes find trouble of their own | |
 | "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" was Chiffon margarine's famous line in the '70s. Turns out, that's true, too, for the farm bill. Chiffon's television spot featured actress Dena Dietrich, decked out in a soft white gown and daisies until angry lightning flashes when a raccoon lets slip that she's eating margarine and not "real" butter. Nothing so theatrical is happening with the farm bill, but its supporters can't help noticing how many of their high-profile tormentors have fallen on tough times this political year. |
| Can Airstrikes Stop the Islamic State? | |
 | Restricting the Islamic State's movement and preventing further lightning advances remains a key goal. Propaganda videos showing IS forces advancing swiftly across Iraq's deserts bear an uncanny resemblance to the U.S. invasion of 2003. Yet the group may have lost some advantage now that the United States is acting as Iraq's proxy air force. "There are effects we can have, air-only. We can eliminate artillery and mortars, prevent them massing large infantry forces in the open," says Maj. Gen. Jim Poss, former director of Air Force intelligence who retired in 2012. |
| Obama announces 'broad coalition' to fight Islamic State extremist group | |
 | President Obama on Wednesday night outlined an open-ended campaign to combat the threat posed by the Islamic State, significantly expanding the counter-terrorism strategy that has been a hallmark of his presidency. Obama said in a prime-time speech televised from the White House that the United States will join "with our friends and allies to degrade, and ultimately destroy, the terrorist group known as ISIL," using an alternative acronym for the group that has emerged in Iraq and Syria. Saying the United States is meeting the threat with "strength and resolve," the president also sought to assuage the concerns of Americans who are wary of another foreign entanglement. |
| Reality killed Obama's hope to end U.S. military entanglements | |
 | Unveiling a new defense policy in January 2012 that called for a leaner U.S. military, President Barack Obama assured the nation that more than a decade of foreign conflict that cost thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars was drawing to a close. "The tide of war is receding," Obama declared. A little more than two and a half years later, Obama's national security strategy to limit foreign entanglements and focus on fixing domestic ills -- an approach that mirrored the war-weary popular mood at the time -- appears overly optimistic and out of sync with the world's harsh realities. "Reality has intruded," said Vali Nasr, the dean of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a former State Department adviser. "The president's assumptions about foreign policy are now seriously challenged by facts on the ground." |
| Ceremony Marks 13th Anniversary of Sept. 11 Attacks | |
 | Family members of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and 1993 World Trade Center bombing will gather in lower Manhattan Thursday morning for the annual rite of remembrance. The ceremony, to be held at the National September 11 Memorial, will mark the 13th anniversary of the morning when two passenger planes struck the Twin Towers in a series of attacks that also left destruction at the Pentagon and western Pennsylvania. Hundreds arrived wearing or carrying items bearing messages or photographs of their loved ones who died. Just before the ceremony began at 8:39 a.m. an elderly man roamed the quiet plaza with wearing a necklace bearing the portrait of a man's face. |
| Solar storm heading for Earth | |
 | A "strong" solar flare that launched off the sun Wednesday afternoon could cause some fluctuations in Earth's power grid and slight disturbances in satellites and radio transmissions on Friday and Saturday. Major disruptions are not expected, even though the flare was classified as an "X-class" flare, which is at the high end of the solar flare scale. Wednesday's flare followed a weaker flare late Monday. "We expect geomagnetic storm levels in the G2 (moderate) and G3 (strong) range," said NOAA space weather forecaster Bill Murtagh. |
| Fungus Could Be the Key to Avoiding a Global Food Crisis | |
 | The world is sitting on time bomb. According to a United Nations report, climate change is poised to decimate the global food supply, with agricultural production expected to decline as much as 2 percent each decade for the rest of this century. Meanwhile, the world population will only increase, almost certainly driving up demand for these crops by as much as 14 percent every decade. The good news is unorthodox companies like Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies are working to reverse this harrowing trend. The Seattle startup has developed an organic seed treatment it calls BioEnsure that allows crops like rice and corn to withstand severe droughts and extreme temperatures. But in the U.S., agriculture is an industry that is as entrenched as it is massive, and Adaptive just happens to be straddling the fine line between being a savior and a threat. Decades of environmental instability have enabled the agricultural industry to develop -- and profit from -- its own set of chemical treatments. |
| Welty Symposium preview to feature author | |
 | Meridian alumni will get a glimpse of what is to come at the 2014 Welty Series set Oct. 23-25 on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. On Sept. 16, the Welty Symposium Preview will be held at Merrehope at 5:30 p.m. It will feature Dr. Kendall Dunkelberg, director of the Welty Symposium, and author Deborah Johnson, whose book "The Secret of Magic," has been chosen as The W's Common Reading Initiative book. |
| USM police warn residents of scam solicitation | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi Police Department is advising Hattiesburg-area residents of two men who may be soliciting donations they claim will benefit the university's baseball team. "We wanted the public to be made aware that this is not how the university nor the athletics department raises funds -- by going door to door," said Rusty Keyes, detective captain with USM police. "This is a scam." The two men were stopped and questioned by the Lamar County Sheriff's Department on Monday for going door-to-door in The Trace subdivision off Mississippi 589 and attempting to collect donations for the baseball team, Keyes said. |
| U. of Alabama student severely beaten in dorm assault | |
 | A University of Alabama student was sent to the ICU with a brain bleed Saturday following a four person assault in a campus dormitory, according to police documents. Graye Taten, 18, was attacked by four other students in the Presidential II dormitory around 12:30 a.m. Saturday after one suspect alleged Taten had assaulted him on a previous night. According to a police deposition, 18-year-old Nicholas Mitrow called friends to come to his location early Saturday morning, saying he had located a subject (Taten) who had assaulted him on a previous night. |
| Community college stereotypes affect LSU transfer rates | |
| While stereotypes of partying frat boys, long-winded professors and class-skipping athletes persist on all college campuses, LSU President F. King Alexander said there is one stereotype crippling the number of transfer students to the University: the community college attendee as a second-rate student. "This is a major weakness in Louisiana," said Alexander, former president of California State University, Long Beach. "Fifty percent of our students in California came from two-year institutions. In Louisiana, it's six." Alexander said he'd like to see the University's number of transfer students grow to 20 percent and emphasized the importance of eliminating negative perceptions of community college students. |
| Fraternity apologizes to LSU for Michael Sam banner backlash, will stop banner tradition | |
 | The LSU fraternity that displayed a game-day banner mocking the NFL's first openly gay player, Michael Sam, has apologized to the university for shedding negative light on LSU. The Delta Kappa Epsilon's Zeta Zeta chapter displayed the message, which some deemed offensive, on what appeared to be a bed sheet secured over the entrance of the fraternity house Saturday (Sept. 6). The apology letter says the chapter will stop hanging signs in front of the DKE house "indefinitely." "Though satire is sometimes the goal, crossing the line and causing offense to others is never the intent," the letter from the DKEs, addressed to LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander, said. "We truly apologize to you and all other members of the LSU community who have had to deal with the effects of this banner." |
| U. of Tennessee police chief explains recent sexual assault reports | |
 | An apparent rash of campus sexual assaults recently reported at the University of Tennessee only reflects new federal reporting requirements, according to UT Police Chief Troy Lane. Four sexual assaults on the Knoxville campus have been reported by local media since fall semester classes began last month. UT Police Department officials have said they do not know if the assaults are connected. The woman involved in the Alumni Memorial assault called police directly. The other victims contacted designated campus officials, known as Campus Security Authorities, or CSAs. UT has roughly 700 CSAs trained on reporting such crimes to police. CSAs are required to report such incidents to the police, even if the victim does not want to pursue charges. |
| UGA won't hold summer commencement anymore | |
 | The University of Georgia will no longer conduct summer commencement exercises, university officials announced today. Instead, undergraduates eligible for summer graduation are allowed to walk in spring ceremonies, before they fulfill graduation requirements. Ph.D. and master's students who finish in the summer are eligible to participate in fall graduation exercises, according to the announcement. Fewer and fewer students and families are participating in the summer graduation, and university administrators have decided attendance doesn't justify the cost. Few research universities still hold summer graduation exercises; UGA is the only research university in Georgia that holds a summer ceremony, said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. |
| U. of Georgia, Orianne Society form partnership for research, conservation | |
| An international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of imperiled reptiles and amphibians has partnered with the University of Georgia to collaborate on conservation efforts for these species and their habitats. The Orianne Society, a worldwide conservation organization, is now working with researchers from UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources on several projects that focus on the conservation of reptiles and amphibians and their habitats. Mike Clutter, dean of the Warnell School, said that by combining resources, UGA and the Orianne Society are able to collaborate more effectively on a global conservation initiative. |
| Investors now lead global outreach, U. of Florida audience told | |
 | With globalization, communities in the United States have people living there who embrace the diversity of views seen all over the world, said Andrew O'Brien, special representative for global partnerships for the U.S. State Department. O'Brien spoke to an audience of about 60 at the Ocora at the Bob Graham Center on Wednesday as part of the State Department's Diaspora Tour. He also led a panel discussion on how the diaspora communities in the U.S. can help respond to the challenges of international development and humanitarian outreach. O'Brien said he likes university towns because of the strong self-organizing diaspora communities there. |
| U. of Kentucky touts success of program to reduce sexual violence in high schools | |
 | A program developed by the University of Kentucky to reduce sexual violence in high schools appears to be helping students across the state. In a study of 26 high schools over the past five years, UK researchers found that 13 high schools with the Green Dot program had reduced the frequency of violence, harassment, stalking and dating violence by 50 percent. At 13 high schools without the program, the rate increased slightly. The findings were announced Wednesday in Frankfort by UK President Eli Capilouto, Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear and lead researcher Ann Coker of UK's Center for Research on Violence Against Women. |
| Liver transplant plan could punish donor-rich South | |
 | Discussions next week in Chicago about geographic disparities in liver transplants could mean the difference between life and death for people like Brian Wyatt. He has liver disease and is lucky enough to live in a region of the United States with a high organ donation rate, so his odds of getting a transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are much higher than if he were on the West Coast or the East Coast. The United Network for Organ Sharing is considering a proposal to even out those odds. Vanderbilt's liver transplant center is one of 60 across the nation that have gone on record against the redistricting proposal. Dr. Seth Karp, director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, said reconfiguring liver allocation regions is a more complicated solution than others that should be considered. |
| Week of events set to honor Loftin, U. of Missouri's 175th anniversary | |
 | In honor of the University of Missouri's 175th anniversary and the school's newer administrative leader, Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, the school is hosting a series of celebratory events next week. Among the week's other events is a symposium addressing the future of land-grant institutions as well as the "innovation deficit." At the symposium, Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Kevin Reilly, presidential adviser for leadership with the American Council on Education, and Hank Foley, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at MU, will all discuss the issues ahead for higher education research and land-grant schools. |
| Licensing of Academic Inventions Stays Strong | |
 | Despite a slight decline in federally funded research support, universities and hospitals responding to the latest Association of University Technology Managers survey executed 5,198 licenses on inventions arising from academic research in the 2013 fiscal year, an increase of about 1 percent over the number reported in 2012. The respondents -- 170 universities, 30 hospitals and research institutions, one national laboratory, and one technology investment firm -- also reported forming 818 start-up companies based on academic inventions. And they filed 14,995 new patent applications. |
| Study suggests Texas' tuition policies suppressed Hispanic enrollment at research universities | |
 | Hispanic students may have been kept away from Texas' public research universities after the Legislature allowed state colleges to set their own tuition prices, according to a study published this month in The Annals, a journal of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The study comes as Texas officials appear hard-pressed to meet 15-year enrollment targets for Hispanic students. The findings also touch on broader issues in Texas and among those seeking to encourage Latino enrollment in colleges nationally. The report, by two Vanderbilt University scholars, Stella Flores and Justin Shepherd, examined Texas tuition policy after the Legislature in 2003 deregulated college prices. |
| On Campus, Grenade Launchers, M-16s, and Armored Vehicles | |
| Should the campus police at the University of Central Florida ever need a modified grenade launcher, one sits waiting in the department's armory. Retooled to fire tear-gas canisters, the weapon was used several years ago for training purposes, according to Richard Beary, the university's chief of police. It hasn't left storage since. But the university's police force isn't the only one to have come upon a grenade launcher. Hinds Community College -- located in western Mississippi, with a student population of 11,000 -- had one too. Campus police officers at Hinds declined to comment. A woman who worked for the department but declined to identify herself said that the launcher had been repurposed to shoot flares but that the college no longer possessed it. Both institutions received their launchers from the same source: the Department of Defense. |
| BOBBY HARRISON (OPINION): MAEP funding appears shaded by politics | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "In the early 1990s the Legislature passed and then-Gov. Kirk Fordice signed into law a bill saying only 98 percent of the anticipated revenue 'shall' be spent each year to fund the state budget. Policymakers decided the change was needed after a bad economic patch where revenue collections slowed leaving the state in a budget shortfall. They reasoned by expending only 98 percent of anticipated revenue each year, there would be 'a cushion' in the case of declining revenue to hopefully offset or at least ease any budget shortfall. But in times of declining revenue the Legislature and governor often have opted to bypass what is known as the 98 percent rule." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State AD Scott Stricklin talks South Alabama game, scheduling, SEC West | |
| Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin was the guest speaker Monday night at the New Horizons Credit Union 1st & 10 Club meeting at Heron Lakes Country Club. The timing of his appearance worked in the club's favor; Mississippi State, 2-0 on the season, visits Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against 1-0 South Alabama. A sellout crowd is expected -- less than 500 end zone seats remain available for the game -- for what will be the first home game the Jaguars have had against a SEC opponent in their short football history. Prior to addressing the club, Stricklin took part in a Q&A session with AL.com. |
| Mississippi State calls lapses against UAB 'eye-opening' | |
| If Davis Wade Stadium housed a casino, UAB would have left with millions. Mississippi State was successful on 93.5 percent of its defensive snaps last week against the Blazers. Of UAB's 77 plays, 73 went for 214 yards or 2.9 yards per play. That's almost a yard less than the 3.8 yards per play MSU held Southern Miss to in its shutout on Aug. 30. Yet the Golden Eagles gained 283 total yards compared to UAB's 548. The difference was UAB's five other plays, which totaled 334 yards. "They took five shots. Most days they might hit two of them," MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins said. "They hit all five of them. Credit to them." |
| Worth the wait: Walley finds success in long-delayed Mississippi State debut | |
| Gus Walley stood idly by on the Mississippi State sideline for the past two years. For 27 games, Walley had been relegated to that role due to injuries. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder arrived with knee and shoulder injuries sustained in high school which caused his redshirt in 2012. Last season, it was Tommy John surgery that kept him off the field. A concussion prevented him from playing in the Bulldogs' opener against Southern Miss, but Walley was finally able to dress out for the first time as a redshirt sophomore last Saturday. It was an opportunity he took full advantage, finishing as MSU's second-leading receiver with two catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. |
| Clausell returning to Ladd-Peebles Stadium as leader on Mississippi State's offensive line | |
| Basketball was Blaine Clausell's first love. That was the sport he concentrated on, at least until his freshman year at Mobile's Baker High School, when he played organized football for the first time. Football soon edged out basketball on Clausell's priority list, so much so that he graduated from Baker in December of 2009, enrolled at Mississippi State in January of 2010 and took part in the Bulldogs' spring practice that year. He took a redshirt year in 2010, but since that time he's been a productive member of the MSU offensive line. Saturday, he returns home as a proven SEC performer as Mississippi State faces South Alabama at a sold out Ladd-Peebles Stadium. |
| Dan Mullen plans to continue rotations vs. South Alabama | |
| Dan Mullen will take his team on the road for the first time this year. Mississippi State heads to Mobile, Alabama for a matchup against South Alabama on Saturday. The change in venue won't alter the head coach's plan of mass substitutions -- including quarterback. "For us, we usually come up with a plan as the week goes on for what our rotation will be," Mullen said. "We review it with everybody on Friday." Mississippi State has rotated at every position this season. What sticks out is quarterback. |
| South Alabama closing out preparations for Saturday's sold out home game against MSU | |
| South Alabama pushed through a hot, but productive two-hour practice Wednesday morning at the team's practice field in preparation for Saturday's 3 p.m. CDT game against Mississippi State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Head coach Joey Jones said he liked what he saw from his team during the workout, and he has been pleased with what the team has done all week in getting ready for the 2-0 Bulldogs. Jones said there haven't been changes to what the Jaguars have done this week because Mississippi State is the opponent. |
| Longtime Ole Miss sideline reporter, radio host Stan Sandroni dead at age 64 | |
 | Longtime Ole Miss football sideline reporter Stan Sandroni has died, Rebels play-by-play man David Kellum announced via Twitter early Thursday. Sandroni died of a heart attack, according to a report by newsms.fm. He was 64. Sandroni also hosted the Rebel Yell hotline call-in show for 21 years and worked for more than two decades at WQLJ 93.7 FM in Oxford. Prior to his time with Ole Miss, he was the voice of Delta State athletics. |
| Former Ole Miss DE Greg Hardy's future could be murky | |
| Former Ole Miss and Briarcrest High Star Greg Hardy may be looking at more punishment from the NFL and the Carolina Panthers for a domestic violence incident he was involved in this spring. Hardy was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and of threatening to kill her at a trial in July. The Charlotte Observer Reports Carolina owner Jerry Richardson broke down crying and said he is "not indifferent" but "firmly against" domestic violence in response to a question about whether he had been too lenient on Hardy. |
| Highway being repaved in Pontotoc County to open for UM game day traffic | |
| A highway being repaved in Pontotoc County will temporarily open for drivers traveling to the University of Mississippi football game on Saturday. The Mississippi Department of Transportation says the eastbound lanes of Highway 278 from the Lafayette County line to State Route 335 in Pontotoc County have been reduced to one lane during a pavement rehabilitation project. On Saturday, however, traffic will open in both lanes for those traveling in the eastbound lanes. |
| Harvey Updyke late on payments to court for poisoning Toomer's Oaks | |
 | Infamous Alabama fan Harvey Updyke may face legal action for failing to meet his financial obligations to the court and Auburn University. According to court documents, Updyke has only paid $99 since he was required to pay nearly $800,000 restitution to Auburn University for poisoning the Toomer's Oaks following the Iron Bowl in 2010. On March 22, 2013, he pleaded guilty to causing damage to a crops facility and was sentenced to six months in jail. However, Updyke was released from jail that June due to jail credit. The restitution story was first reported on Wednesday by The Auburn Plainsman, the student newspaper for Auburn University. |
| Colleges worry about future of football fans, as student attendance declines | |
| Game day. For many college alumni, the phrase alone is enough to conjure autumnal memories of watching football while surrounded by cheering student sections, marching bands, and brisk fall air. But an increasing number of students, researchers say, now see the experience a little differently. For them, attending a football game more likely means sitting outdoors for hours in chilly weather, with little or no access to cell phone reception and alcohol. Once the tailgate party has ended, why not just cheer on the home team from a bar down the street? There are probably some cheap game-day specials, and there may even be free wifi. The students who do still attend games tend to arrive later and leave earlier, said Richard Southall, director of the College Sports Research Institute, which can be an embarrassing headache for athletic programs. Today's uninterested students, athletic directors worry, could easily become tomorrow's uninterested alumni. |
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.
