| Wednesday, September 17, 2014 |
| Mississippi State Design Students Earn Honors | |
 | Twenty-four members of interdisciplinary teams from Mississippi State University's College of Architecture, Art and Design won honors in the 2014 Brasfield & Gorrie Student Design Competition. Fourth-year architecture majors recently joined with other seniors in art-graphic design, building construction science and interior design -- the academic disciplines in the college -- to plan, design and produce a hypothetical building in just two weeks. In all, 74 students participated in the fourth annual competition. "This year is the first year that the art department, specifically graphic design students and assistant professor Suzanne Powney, were involved in the collaborative studio," said Alexis Gregory, assistant professor of architecture. The collaborative experience previews what real-world work will be like in each respective fields, Powney said. |
| MSU-Meridian to Host GRE Workshop | |
 | MSU-Meridian will be hosting a daylong workshop on the graduate record examination, or GRE, and the registration deadline is quickly approaching. The deadline to register for the workshop is Sept. 23. The workshop will take place at MSU-Meridian Sept. 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The workshop will teach test-taking strategies and focus on the qualitative and quantitative portions of the test. "The test is required for entrance into graduate school," said associate professor Rod Wilson. |
| Starkville changes insurance for same-sex partners | |
 | Starkville aldermen are rolling back a decision that would have allowed city employees to buy health insurance coverage for one other adult, including possibly a same-sex partner. Aldermen Tuesday voted 4-2, with one abstention, to limit that benefit to people whom Mississippi considers legally married. Mayor Parker Wiseman is telling council members that he intends to veto the decision. Aldermen had approved the change earlier this month, but those pushing repeal say Wiseman and administrators hid their true intent. |
| Oktibbeha supervisors approve cost of living adjustment | |
 | While their city counterparts are struggling to find money for pay raises and bailout struggling departments, Oktibbeha County supervisors approved an across-the-board, 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for its employees Monday without increasing the county's operational tax levy. Supervisors set the county's combined millage rate, which includes levies for governmental operations and the Oktibbeha County School District, at 111.88 mills, a slight increase due to a .91-mill hike OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley approved this summer. The additional school district funds are expected to help renovate two OCSD campuses in preparation for 2015's state-mandated consolidation with Starkville School District. |
| Economists: State, nation to see slow uptick | |
 | A new economic reality is taking hold in Mississippi and the U.S., a pair of economists told a crowd Tuesday morning at Millsaps College in Jackson. They said it's not the harsh reality of failed financial-industry pillars and massive job losses that marked 2008 and 2009. Instead, it's one marked by expected modest growth in the next three years, with a bad month or two sprinkled in to keep the economy honest. State economist Darrin Webb and Douglas Handler, chief U.S. economist with IHS Global Insight, gave forecasts for Mississippi's and the nation's economy as part of an annual economic forum presented by Millsaps' Else School of Management. |
| Coast leads Mississippi in urban economic growth in 2013 | |
| The economy along Mississippi's Gulf Coast grew rapidly in 2013, while growth slowed in the state's other metropolitan areas. The figures, released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department, show the gross domestic product expanded by 4 percent in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula metropolitan area in 2013. That's a big pickup from 0.1 percent growth in 2012. Growth in the Hattiesburg metro area slowed to 1 percent in 2013 from 3.9 percent in 2012. In Jackson, growth slowed to 0.4 percent in 2013 from 3.4 percent in 2012. |
| Delta Council says condition of Highway 6 'of crisis dimensions' | |
 | As the 2014 harvest progresses, the transportation arteries that move the crop from the field to its market place in Northwest Mississippi is choked down, according to Stoneville-based Delta Council. Due to structurally deficient bridge structures throughout the Batesville-to-Clarksdale reach of Highway 6, hundreds of trucks loaded full of grain are being detoured to other routes even though they are carrying a legally permitted weight load of grain in their trucks. Delta Council convened concerned farmers, businessmen and public officials to meet with MDOT leaders to identify a short-term, 2014 alternative. |
| Gasification process at Kemper County plant gets international look | |
 | A United Nations senior official on climate technology called the technology being used at the Kemper County energy facility "very impressive" during his visit to Mississippi and the facility last week. Jukka Uosukainen, along with Acting Director for the Energy and Environment Program of the Atlantic Council Mihaela Carstei, toured the facility on Thursday. He watched a presentation from Mississippi Power and Southern Company on the environmental benefits of the new energy facility and its gasifying process prior to the tour which included a visit to the top of the gasifier, nearly 300 feet above the ground. |
| WTVA's Spain era ends: Station sold to Heartland Media | |
 | After 57 years of local ownership, WTVA-TV is getting a new owner. Atlanta-based Heartland Media and MSouth Equity Partners have acquired the assets of WTVA for an undisclosed sum. The NBC and ABC affiliate in Tupelo has been owned by the Spain family since it first went on the air in 1957. Jane Spain, who had a 51 percent stake in the company that her late husband, Frank, founded, said Heartland "is particularly well-suited to build on the service that WTVA has provided viewers in Northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama for over five decades." WLOV, the Fox affiliate, is under separate ownership and is not part of the Heartland deal. |
| Are 'No Refusal' DUI checkpoints legal? | |
| Earlier this month, the state highway patrol and local law enforcement officers conducted a "No Refusal Weekend," in which motorists who were suspected of driving impaired and refused sobriety tests could be ordered by a judge to submit to a blood test. The blood test was done by a registered nurse on call at the jail after the judge, who has been notified beforehand of the initiative, determines that there was probable cause to believe the driver was impaired. But a local attorney says the process is nothing more than a way to circumvent state law. "Search warrants are not supposed to be mass produced stuff," Jackson criminal defense attorney Kevin Camp said. |
| Election set to fill Brown's vacated District 17 Senate seat | |
| A special election will be held Nov. 4 to fill the Mississippi Senate seat left vacant when Terry Brown died this month. Gov. Phil Bryant announced the special election Monday. Brown died Sept. 4 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 64. The Republican had held the District 17 seat, which is comprised entirely of Lowndes County, since 2004. He also served in the Mississippi House from 1988 to 2000. The qualifying deadline for candidates is Oct. 6. There will be no party affiliation, according to Lowndes County Circuit Clerk Haley Salazar. |
| Childers: Cochran wrong on women's pay legislation | |
| Democratic former U.S. Rep. Travis Childers said Tuesday that if he's elected to the Senate, he will support a bill requiring employers to pay women and men the same amount for doing the same jobs. "I have learned to listen to the women in my family, especially concerning family issues. I only have to look back as far as my own mother to be able to talk about and tell you that I proudly support the paycheck fairness act," Childers said during a news conference in Jackson. Childers is trying to unseat six-term Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in the Nov. 4 general election, and he criticized Cochran for voting to block such a bill. Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said the incumbent supports equal pay. "This bill is just an election year stunt and a gift to trial lawyers," Russell said. |
| Democratic Party officials may be breaking the law? | |
| Three Democratic Party officials convicted of felonies can continue to serve on their county executive committees despite a new state law that prohibits felons from serving on political executive committees, according to state Democratic Party officials. In August, the Administrative Committee of the Democratic Party sent a letter to Ike Brown of Macon, Louis Armstrong of Jackson, and William Catledge of Houston terminating them from their county Democratic Executive Committee. But last week, the state Democratic Party Executive Committee ruled the proper procedure hadn't been followed to remove Armstrong, Brown and Catledge from the their county committee. But the state Attorney General's office says in an opinion issued in June that state law prohibits a person convicted of a felony from serving on a county party executive committee. |
| Will the South rise up for GOP? | |
 | The Republican Party's path to Senate control runs straight through the South, leaving Democrats fighting not to be wiped out completely in the region. "You've got a number of the key races in the South this year," said Emory University Professor Alan Abramowitz, who's studied the region's political history extensively. If Republicans can sweep the South, they've already won a Senate majority. The GOP needs to net six seats and is a near-lock to pick up open seats in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia, leaving it three seats shy of a majority. But if Democrats can win two or more Southern seats, the GOP's path to the majority narrows considerably. |
| Defense Officials See Possible Role for U.S. Ground Forces Against Islamic State Militants | |
 | America's top military officer raised the prospect that limited U.S. ground forces would be needed to battle Islamic State militants if fighting in Iraq grows more difficult. That prospect could test President Barack Obama's strict ban on deploying ground troops. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn't recommend U.S. combat forces be used in Iraq now. The White House said that his comments didn't indicate disagreement with Mr. Obama. "To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president," Gen. Dempsey said at a congressional hearing. |
| Ebola survivor: No time to waste as Obama ups aid | |
| An American doctor who survived Ebola said there's no time to waste as President Barack Obama outlined his plan to ramp up the U.S. response to the epidemic in West Africa. "We can't afford to wait months, or even weeks, to take action, to put people on the ground," Dr. Kent Brantly told senators Tuesday. Obama called the Ebola crisis a threat to world security as he ordered up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel to the region along with an aggressive effort to train health care workers and deliver field hospitals. Under the plan, the government could end up devoting $1 billion to containing the disease. |
| Researchers fly drone into hurricane for the first time | |
| U.S. government scientists are launching winged drones into Hurricane Edouard, hoping to collect data that could help forecasters understand what makes some storms strengthen into monsters while others fade away. This week's launches mark the first time that unmanned aircraft have been dispatched from "hurricane hunter" planes flying through Atlantic tropical storms. |
| Could Nissan's battery plant in Tennessee be running out of juice? | |
 | Just as electric vehicle startup Tesla starts work on a $5 billion battery "gigafactory" in Nevada, Japanese automaker Nissan reportedly has begun reassessing its own commitment to making EV batteries, and might even be considering shutting down the $1.4 billion-plus battery plant it opened in Tennessee just two years ago. Although Nissan officially denies that it is backing off of its ambitious EV program, which brought the introduction of the Leaf all-electric car in 2010, the Reuters news service reported that the automaker is "preparing to cut battery manufacturing." However, the reports don't suggest that Nissan is ready to dump its EV program, which includes production of the Leaf at the Smyrna, Tenn., plant. |
| Greek recruitment registration increases for 2014 at UM | |
 | Fraternity and sorority recruitment week is now underway at the University of Mississippi, and just as the freshman class numbers have swelled this year, the numbers of those going through recruitment have increased as well. The number of males registered for fraternity recruitment went up from 1,131 in 2013 to 1,231 in 2014, an increase of 100 enrolled students. Sorority recruitment has increased even more, jumping from 1,386 in 2013 to 1,556 this year, an increase of 170 enrolled students. "As the freshman classes continue to grow, it's just logical that we're going to see the numbers participating in recruitment continue to grow as well," said Danny Blanton, director of public relations for the university. |
| USM announces additions to academic leadership at Gulf Park | |
 | USM leaders announced Tuesday they have filled two key positions on the academic leadership team at Gulf Park. The move means each of the university's six colleges now have a full-time administrator working in Long Beach. Before, there were only four. Calling it an effort to better serve students, faculty and staff at the Gulf Park campus, USM filled two associate dean positions, one in the College of Education and Psychology, the other in the College of Health. "Dr. Bennett's been down here a lot and these recent announcements today is a further indication of how he wants the reorganization that he's in the middle of, to ensure that it includes more communication between Long Beach and Hattiesburg. So that's a very positive step," said Ron Peresich, the chairman of the Gulf Coast Business Council. |
| USM to host Critical Readings Lecture Series | |
 | The Department of English in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Southern Mississippi will host Critical Readings, a lecture series featuring leading cultural critics who consider new questions about literature and culture. All of the lectures will be held in the Liberal Arts Building, room 108. The first lecture in the series will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday when Dr. Ted Atkinson of Mississippi State University presents "Mississippi Bound: Locating the Closed Society in American Culture." Atkinson's areas of interest include Southern Studies, modern and contemporary American literature and culture and one of Mississippi's favorite sons, William Faulkner. He is currently working on a book about the cultural representations of Mississippi as a "closed society." |
| Former Alcorn administrator/interim president Waters dies at 82 | |
| Alcorn State University says former President Rudolph Waters has died. The university says Water, a longtime dean and vice president, died Sunday at River Region Medical Center in Vicksburg after an extended illness. Waters, 82, served as interim president of Alcorn in parts of 1994 and 1995. He worked at Alcorn for 48 years, starting as dean of students in 1957. |
| New bank slated for site near JSU's eCenter | |
| A bank is part of a multimillion-dollar project planned for land adjacent to Jackson State University's Mississippi eCenter in southwest Jackson. On Monday , the Jackson City Council reversed a city Planning Board decision denying Jackson State University's petition to rezone the one-acre of land. Jason Brookins, who is representing the eCenter on the project, said "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity" for Jackson State, which owns the land. Brookins said the project has a potential $24 million investment. |
| Co-Lin student enrollment follows statewide decrease | |
 | Fewer students are attending Mississippi's community colleges, and that's no different in Natchez. Copiah-Lincoln Community College is Natchez is down by 50 students. Co-Lin has three campuses located in Wesson, Simpson County and Natchez. Enrollment is down by 4.4 percent for the fall 2014 estimated enrollment. Co-Lin Natchez Vice President Teresa Busby said they would have a true picture of the enrollment rate after the sixth week of the semester. Busby speculated that enrollment in all Mississippi community colleges are down because of a change in Pell Grant regulations. |
| U. of Alabama announces record enrollment for fall semester | |
 | The University of Alabama again posted a record enrollment for the fall semester, increasing 3.7 percent over 2013's record class. Enrollment for the fall was 36,155, according to figures released by UA on Tuesday. Enrollment increased by 1,303 over fall 2013. The 2014 enrollment includes 30,754 undergraduates and 5,401 graduate and first professional students. The increase in fall enrollment continues trends of rapid overall growth and a continuing demographic shift to a majority of students coming from outside Alabama. This fall there were 18,325 non-residents and 17,830 Alabamians in the student body, according to the figures released Tuesday. |
| Auburn campus becomes Styrofoam free | |
 | Auburn students and faculty may have noticed something missing on campus this semester: Styrofoam cups. The Office of Sustainability and Tiger Dining have been working to make Auburn a Styrofoam-free campus, and at the end of the summer, Styrofoam was eliminated from private vendors on campus. "We want to make dining on campus more sustainable," Glenn Loughridge, director of Campus Dining, said. "We researched the cost first and saw it was possible to become a Styrofoam-free campus. Now private vendors such as Chick-fil-A have a paper cup available for students," Senior Executive Chef of Auburn University Emil Topel said. The cost of moving from Styrofoam products to paper products will amount to only $5,000 per year, according to Topel. |
| Animal rights complaint alleges pattern of abuse at U. of Florida | |
 | A national animal rights organization has filed two federal complaints against the University of Florida alleging mistreatment of lab animals that the organization says shows a pattern of negligence and potential abuse. The complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture allege UF violated the Animal Welfare Act for failing to give proper prescribed treatment to a dog diagnosed with glaucoma, allowing a rabbit to accidentally strangle itself in its cage, and failing to properly care for nearly two dozen goats that died or were euthanized after suffering from severe anemia. UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said the committee that oversees the treatment and care of research animals investigated the incidents and took appropriate corrective action. |
| UGA says it will create preservation plan for buildings, landscapes | |
 | The University of Georgia will create a preservation plan for the thousands of buildings the university owns across the state. Daniel Nadenicek, dean of UGA's College of Environment and Design, will lead the steering group overseeing the plan's development, university administrators announced Tuesday. The plan ultimately will help UGA avoid the controversies like those that erupted over development plans in recent years. Former UGA President Michael Adams backed off a proposal to dig up Legion Pool shortly before he left office. But Adams also gave the final OK to demolish historic Rutherford Hall and its priceless slate roof to make way for a much larger look-a-like building. |
| Louisiana higher ed commissioner search meetings scheduled | |
 | Louisiana Board of Regents members who are handling the search for a new state higher education commissioner will be in Kenner this week for "meetings with interested individuals" at the New Orleans Hilton Airport. Twenty-five people have been under consideration for Louisiana's top higher education leadership post, but the state board has declined to release their names. Board spokeswoman Katara Williams said the board is bringing in individuals who have asked to meet with board members before deciding whether to seek the position. Officials have said the new commissioner will be paid in the mid-$300,000 range. |
| U. of South Carolina researchers earn $8 million alternative medicine grant | |
 | University of South Carolina researchers are helping the science of combating diseases catch up with folk medicine that has been practiced worldwide for centuries. They must be doing something right because the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday announced an $8 million grant to continue the work at the Complementary Alternative Medicine Center at the USC School of Medicine. Folk medicine practitioners have used herbal medicines for centuries without scientific evidence that the medicines work, or if they do, how. The USC center is building on that history with scientific studies, including work pointing to the benefits of hemp seed oil, ginseng and resveratrol, which is found in grape skins. |
| Two weekend rapes reported to U. of Missouri police | |
 | The University of Missouri Title IX office reported two separate incidents involving rape to the MU Police Department on Tuesday. According to a news release from MUPD, one female victim reported an unknown male raped her between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Sunday near the 400 block of South College Avenue. The victim identified the suspect as a white male with brown hair. The second female victim said an unknown male raped her Saturday evening at a residence off Anthony Street. There are no details about the male suspect. The Title IX office also reported a rape to campus police last week. |
| Missouri Students Association video says 'Enough is Enough' to sexual violence and assault | |
 | The Missouri Students Association released a video Tuesday that features MU students and an administrator speaking out against sexual violence and assault in the MU community. The video was shared through a letter emailed to MU students on behalf of Kelsey Haberberger, MSA president. The letter and the video are a strong commentary on the awareness of sexual violence and assault and the intolerance that MSA hopes to promote. "As we move forward as a university and as a student body we must understand that change does not come easily. It is up to us, all of us, to look out for one another," Haberberger wrote. The video features MU students and Vice Provost James Spain explaining that "enough is enough" of bystander behavior in the campus community. |
| New Report's Recipe for Economic Success: Nurturing University-Business Ties | |
 | For the United States to stay economically competitive, research universities must strike many more partnerships with the private sector, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences said in a report issued on Tuesday. The report was written by a 25-member panel of academic, government, and business experts. Their call for tighter ties between universities and businesses was among a series of recommendations for bolstering American research and economic growth. University attitudes toward private partnerships have softened since the 1970s, when American faculty members and their institutions largely shunned business ties. |
| World rankings: Top 10 universities in 2014 | |
 | If there is a one city in the world that can claim to be the global capital of higher education, it's London, which has a staggering five of the world's top 100 universities within its city limits. This according to popular ranking of the world's universities put out this week by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British-based higher education consulting firm. Overall, the United Kingdom has 19 universities in the top 100 on the company's World University Ranking, topped only by the United States, with 28. In general, a ranking of global educational institutions is highly subjective, and must be taken with a large grain of salt, warns Simon Marginson, a professor of international higher education at the University of London and the co-editor-in-chief of the journal Higher Education. |
| Young Science Scholars Try Out Consulting As a Professional Plan B | |
| Scientists trust numbers. And the employment numbers for graduate students seeking academic jobs in many fields aren't encouraging. So life-sciences doctoral students at the University of Washington in St. Louis started a nonprofit consulting firm aimed at providing industry experience to graduate students looking for a professional Plan B. "I think people are realizing the reality of the funding climate. You'd be kind of silly not considering alternatives," said George Schweitzer, director of finance for BALSA, who is a postdoc in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Washington. Not everyone has embraced that message. |
| Think tank backs changes to Pell by pointing out tricks colleges play with merit aid | |
 | Hundreds of colleges charge low-income students tuition that is half or more of their household's entire yearly income, according to a report released today by the New America Foundation that seeks to shed light on colleges' aid practices and to prod Congress to change the structure of Pell Grants. The purpose of Pell Grants, which help about 9 million low-income Americans attend college, is being undermined by many colleges that either are not admitting many Pell recipients or are doing little else to help needy students pay for college costs not covered by Pell, according to New America. |
| Colleges Brainstorm Ways To Cut Back On Binge Drinking | |
 | With 40 percent of college students binge drinking, efforts to get students to drink less may seem futile. But something as simple as encouraging beer stores to quit selling ping-pong balls can help. |
| OUR VIEW: Onward and upward at MUW | |
| The Dispatch editorializes: "Last week, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (better known as the state college board) released its enrollment figures for this fall. Those figures showed that enrollment at Mississippi University for Women has increased by 68 students compared to last year. The W has 2,697 students enrolled this fall, which represents what might be considered a modest increase of 2.6 percent. But the numbers alone do not tell the story, MUW President Dr. Jim Borsig insists. After 'flat' attendance the last couple of years, the uptick in enrollment should be considered as affirmation of the plan Borsig and the university has been pursuing in his three years at MUW." |
| BOBBY HARRISON (OPINION): Look to Louisiana for what might be | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "A real possibility exists that control of the U.S. Senate will not be determined until Dec. 6 in neighboring Louisiana -- a month after the elections are concluded in other states. Louisiana's unique blanket primary system could result in all political eyes turning toward the Bayou state for a full month after the Nov. 4 general election where national forces battle for control of the Senate. Democrats currently control the U.S. Senate, but most believe the Republicans have at least an even-money chance or better to wrest control of the chamber during this year's elections." |
| BRIAN PERRY (OPINION): Hood, Pickering and the MAEP lawsuit | |
| Consultant and columnist Brian Perry writes: "This week former Governor Ronnie Musgrove announced five more school districts have joined his lawsuit in a Hinds County chancery court against the state, seeking retroactive funding under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) and bringing total plaintiff districts to nineteen. ...Except the MAEP formula, and the amount being sought by the plaintiffs, are not reliable numbers. State law requires State Auditor Stacey Pickering to review the calculations in the MAEP formula which determine funding for districts. In a letter last week to Gov. Phil Bryant and House and Senate leadership, Pickering reported his office, 'finds the data entered into the MAEP formula are not reliable nor do the data support the requests for MAEP funding made on behalf of the State's school districts.'" |
| SID SALTER (OPINION): Fine print raises skepticism of both approaches to MAEP 'full funding' | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove wants Mississippi to sue its way to so-called 'full funding' of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), while other well-intentioned public education advocates want voters to approve a ballot referendum that purports to mandate education funding. ...Another group, called Better Schools, Better Jobs, is pushing a ballot initiative to amend Section 201 of the Mississippi Constitution to require that the state provide and the Legislature fund an 'adequate and efficient' public school system. But both approaches represent significantly flawed approaches to an otherwise noble goal of improving public education in the state by funding a formula that at inception in 1997 was intended to equalize public education funding between the state's poorer and more affluent school districts." |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs will try to continue balance to get signature win | |
| The storyline is predictable. But it comes nowhere close to telling the story. Sure, when Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott leads the Bulldogs onto the field for Saturday night's clash with No. 8 LSU in Baton Rouge, he'll be going home, and he'll have the hopes of a fan base yearning for a signature win on his shoulders. A native of Haughton, Louisiana, Prescott grew up just a few hours from LSU's campus, and after he committed to play at Mississippi State during his senior season at Haughton High, the in-state Tigers came calling with a last-second scholarship offer. But Prescott stayed true to his word and signed with Mississippi State, and now he will return to his home state in search of the biggest win of his life when he leads the Bulldogs into Tiger Stadium for the first time as MSU's starting quarterback. |
| Mississippi State's Robinson, others look forward to bout with homestate LSU | |
| Josh Robinson couldn't contain himself two weeks ago when he heard "LSU." Mississippi State had UAB on the horizon, but the Louisiana native's face lit up with a grin: "I've got something for you." No. 8 LSU, Mississippi State and their fans will have to wait until Saturday at 6 p.m. to discover what exactly the "something" is. MSU denied the all media requests for the talkative running back this week. Nine players on the MSU roster call Louisiana home. The most essential Bulldog also hails from the Pelican State. Dak Prescott grew up in Haughton. |
| Wins by Mississippi State, Ole Miss come during emotional week | |
| Saturday was a day of victory on the field and emptiness off it for Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Eerily, both lost longtime members of their radio broadcast teams a little more than 72 hours apart last week. Jack Cristil, 86, the legendary voice of the Bulldogs from 1953 through 2010, died Sept. 7 of complications from kidney disease and cancer. Stan Sandroni, 64, passed away Wednesday night of a heart attack. He had been the sideline reporter for Ole Miss football for the past 26 seasons. He worked the first two games of this season, victories over Boise State and Vanderbilt. Both teams answered the bell Saturday and moved to 3-0. Business-like wins, each of them. But hardly without emotion. |
| Adidas tweet signals throwback uniforms honoring Texas A&M's 1939 championship team | |
 | Throwback uniforms could be in the works for Aggie football after Adidas posted a tweet Tuesday afternoon mentioning the 1939 national championship team with a graphic of a leather helmet. The tweet reads, "Honor the past. Own the future. A tribute to the 1939 National Champion Aggies," along with a Nov. 1 date, marking the Saturday night home game against UL-Monroe. Adidas has tweeted teasers similar to this in anticipation of alternate uniform releases for their sponsored teams. |
| Campout starts after frantic dash for space to wait for UK's Big Blue Madness tickets | |
 | Bige Jones, covered in Kentucky blue, said excitement for the Big Blue Madness campout is something that runs deep in his bloodlines and he's not afraid to show it -- literally. "I just love the atmosphere and our players," but you have "got to be quick on your feet" in order to get a spot, he said while lifting up his shirt to show a University of Kentucky tattoo. An enthused crowd participated Wednesday in the annual run for real estate to camp out for free tickets to the University of Kentucky's Big Blue Madness, which kicks off the season. The start to the traditional campout wasn't without incident as four people were treated for minor injuries. |
| The Philadelphia Eagles' Secret Coaches: Professors | |
| The 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles are already rolling toward another NFC East title. They're doing it with a smart coach in Chip Kelly, a speedy offense and, of course, a secret network of college professors from across the country. Yes, really. Kelly, in his second NFL season after an impressive run at the University of Oregon, has made academics as much a part of the team as the long snapper. Kelly is so devoted to the idea that one of his top lieutenants told professors that Kelly's goal is to have a sort of academic conference, where Kelly is essentially the only beneficiary. |
| LOGAN LOWERY (OPINION): Bulldogs enter critical stretch in their schedule | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Logan Lowery writes: "For Mississippi State, it's time to put up the dessert and bring on the meat. The Bulldogs have faced three cupcakes to start the season 3-0, but enter conference play with a stretch of three straight Top 10 opponents. MSU gets its SEC slate underway this weekend at No. 8 LSU, with home dates against No. 5 Auburn and No. 6 Texas A&M to follow. The Bulldogs are already halfway to bowl eligibility, but we will learn an awful lot of the next three games. If Mississippi State is to make headway in the ever-so-difficult SEC West, winning during this stretch is imperative." |
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