| Monday, September 29, 2014 |
| Feral pig problem persists in Mississippi | |
 | Local researchers don't know the population of feral pigs in the Golden Triangle Area. What they do know is that the population is growing, and quickly. An estimate of damage they've done around the area to crops and habitat is also not yet known, but the Mississippi State University Extension Service is conducting a survey to get an idea, Wildlife Ecology and Management Associate Extension Professor Bronson Strickland said. Although more prevalent in southeast Mississippi, feral pigs have been sighted more and more in the last 20 years over much of the state, Strickland said. A "crude" estimated wild pig population nationwide is about 5.5 million. |
| Mississippi State student creates website in wake of mother's illness | |
| Kaylie Mitchell lost her smile in May, when her mother's cancer diagnosis came. The Mississippi State University junior was home in Pascagoula, on a break from school. The family ate dinner and everyone was in the living room when her mother asked that the T.V. be turned down. Melinda Mitchell, a lifelong educator, gathered herself and told her two children she had melanoma, a form of cancer. Treatment, she said, would begin immediately, and the family vowed to remain optimistic. Kaylie Mitchell is the youngest, the cheerful child, a 20-year-old graphic design major. She took it the hardest. She stayed home during the summer to help her mother and father. Being close felt right. Then MSU's fall semester arrived, it was time to move back to Starkville and a sadness settled into Kaylie Mitchell's usually upbeat personality. "I couldn't handle that feeling of helplessness," she said. "It took me into a dark place." So she made a decision. |
| Lincoln County alumni celebrate Mississippi State | |
 | The Lincoln County chapter of Mississippi State University's Alumni Association gathered at Mitchell's Thursday night where they heard from Bo Hemphill, senior associate athletic director at MSU, and from Michael Boerner of Weir Boerner Allin Architecture, who presented an overview of the Dudy Noble Field master plan his company drew up for the Diamond Dogs. |
| Main Street group recognizes Starkville merchants, 182 project | |
| Starkville Main Street Association organizers concluded the current fiscal year Thursday by recognizing numerous businesses' commitment to the city's economy and setting its sights on increasing the area's ever-growing push to attract new tourists and sales tax collections. SMSA, a sub-group of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, held its annual awards ceremony Thursday and recognized five local businesses' investments. The winners included Bank of Commerce for best re-investment over $10,000; Dan Camp's Cotton District Parthenon and Savery House for best new development; Stinky Feet Athletics for best new business; Aspen Bay for merchant of the year; and LA Green for best creative window display. SMSA's Partner of the Year recipient, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, has the biggest overall chance to change the face of Starkville's economy after its Mississippi Highway 182 resurfacing project changed the face of one of the town's most important thoroughfares. |
| Starkville Students Prep for Robotics Competition | |
 | Students in Starkville are gearing up to compete in the state robotics competition next month. "So they're not just learning about engineering. They're also learning about the marketing side of producing a product, which is our robot and so there is a job for everyone. It's not just for engineers, it's for marketers as well," says robotics coach Denise Adair. There are nearly 40 students in the RoboJackets club this year. The state robotics competition will be held on Oct. 18 at Mississippi State University. |
| Starkville aldermen approve $18M operating budget for FY '14-'15 | |
| Starkville aldermen concluded a months-long budgetary process Tuesday by passing the city's financial operating parameters in a 4-3 vote Tuesday. Since March, most city department heads promised the three-person Starkville Audit and Budget Committee, comprised of Aldermen Scott Maynard, Lisa Wynn and Roy A. Perkins, they would produce budgets relatively level from their current Fiscal Year 2013-2014 levels. The Dispatch used a Sept. 11 budget worksheet to compare individual departments' line items after the board approved the document without any changes Tuesday. Many departments are relatively flat, but human resources, building department-code enforcement and offices of the city planner and mayor all saw their individual funding streams increase at least $48,000 from the current year's budgeted amounts. |
| Starkville trimming back overall travel allocations | |
| Starkville will slightly scale back its travel budget in the upcoming fiscal year as a budget worksheet shows a near-$6,000 drop in allocations for citywide departments. When reviewing the city's budget as it was obtained from a Sept. 11 worksheet, The Dispatch found 25 separate line items marked travel that spanned various departments, services and even grants. Starkville previously allocated $122,035 for travel, but the city failed to reach half of the expected expenditure according to year-to-date totals shown when the document was produced. Travel frequency and expenses, specifically those for aldermen and the mayor's office, recently became a point of contention. |
| Williams-Sonoma to create 900 new jobs in Southaven | |
 | Williams-Sonoma, Inc. officials along with Gov. Phil Bryant announced Friday the company will add 900 new jobs at its two million-square-foot distribution center in Olive Branch. It was the second trip for Bryant to the region in two days. On Wednesday, Bryant was on hand to announce a major new expansion with Roxul, an insulation manufacturing plant, in nearby Byhalia. Williams-Sonoma Chief Operating Officer Dean Miller thanked Bryant and the Mississippi Development Authority for their partnership in the company's Mississippi enterprise. Williams-Sonoma moved to Mississippi from California in 1998. MDA Executive Director Brent Christensen praised company officials for continuing to make an investment in the state. |
| Budget planning for state begins Tuesday | |
 | The long process of developing a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, officially kicks off Tuesday when the 14-member Legislative Budget Committee convenes. The Budget Committee, which consists of legislative leaders, including Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, will conduct four days of hearings, beginning Tuesday, where key agencies will give budget presentations. All state agencies already have submitted written budget requests to the staff of the Legislative Budget Committee. Some of the highlights of those requests include an increase of $36.9 million, or 3.4 percent, for university campuses, and an increase of $5.5 million, or 12.9 percent, for higher education financial aid. |
| Debate renews on Mississippi indigent defense | |
 | Mississippi's failure to provide for a state-funded public defender in the local courts is at the core of the American Civil Liberties Union's federal lawsuit against Scott County, where the ACLU argues people have been held illegally in jail for as long as a year without appointing counsel or presenting cases to a grand jury. A statewide program, which would have placed a public defender in each circuit court district, was first proposed in 1995. But officials estimated it would have cost $11 million and it was not funded. Matt Steffey, a professor at the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, said the issue in Mississippi is money. Nonetheless, Steffey said in the absence of a public defender system, a person "languishes in jail ... and in some places, there's the lack of a mechanism for keeping track of those in jail." |
| Public schools funding amendment nears deadline for 2015 ballot | |
| Supporters of a constitutional amendment to guarantee "an adequate and efficient system of free public schools" in Mississippi have less than two weeks to turn in signatures if they want their referendum on the 2015 general election ballot. State law says they must turn in at least 107,216 signatures of registered voters at least 90 days before the start of the 2015 Legislature to put the referendum on the ballot for the 2015 general election. Supporters must collect at least 21,443 from each of the state's five former congressional districts as they existed in 2000 by Oct. 8 to meet their stated objective. Backers with the Better Schools, Better Jobs political action committee say they've collected 183,000 signatures so far. |
| Four have qualified for District 17 Senate seat | |
| Four candidates have qualified for the District 17 seat in the Mississippi State Senate. Bill "Doc" Canon qualified 12 days ago, while Bill Gavin, Bobby Patrick and Chuck Younger filed last week. The deadline to qualify is Oct. 6. The winner of the race will replace the late Terry Brown in next year's legislative session. Brown died Sept. 4 after a battle with cancer. The term expires at the end of 2015. Canon, Gavin and Patrick have told The Dispatch they intend to continue on Brown's work to steer economic development projects to the Golden Triangle. Like his fellow candidates, Younger said he wants to see Lowndes County continue to grow. |
| More health exchange options coming to Mississippi | |
| Mississippians who get their health insurance on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care exchanges will have more options next year. UnitedHealthcare will be an option for Mississippians who go to the health insurance exchange to garner coverage for the 2015 year, Mark Haire, deputy commissioner with the Mississippi Department of Insurance, said recently. "There will be more competition," Haire said of the options for Mississippians. Magnolia and Humana, which offered plans on the exchange for the current year, will do so again in 2015. For the current year, some areas of the state were covered by only one of the two companies -- either Magnolia Health or Humana. |
| Candidates Cochran, Childers say airstrikes necessary | |
| Both major party candidates for the U.S. Senate said airstrikes ordered by President Barack Obama against the so-called Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria are necessary. Both Republican incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and Democratic challenger Travis Childers responded via email to questions about the bombing of the terrorists in the two Middle Eastern countries. The election for the U.S. Senate is Nov. 4. |
| Obama: U.S. misjudged the rise of the Islamic State, ability of Iraqi army | |
 | The United States underestimated the Islamic State's rise in Iraq and Syria, President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday night in which he also acknowledged the Iraqi army's inability to successfully tackle the threat. On CBS's "60 Minutes," correspondent Steve Kroft referred to comments by James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, in which he said, "We overestimated the ability and the will of our allies, the Iraqi army, to fight." "That's true. That's absolutely true," Obama said. "Jim Clapper has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria." Obama's remarks were his frankest yet in acknowledging that the rise of the Islamic State took the United States by surprise. |
| Oklahoma beheading: Was it an act of terrorism? | |
 | There is so far no evidence to suggest that Alton Nolen, the man who is accused of beheading a coworker in Moore, Okla., Friday, has any formal connection with terror groups. Yet there is also little doubt that Mr. Nolen was deeply sympathetic toward extremist Muslim groups, posting rambling Islamist invectives, photos of Osama bin Laden, and an image of a decapitation to his Facebook page. So was Friday's incident the act of a lone wolf Muslim terrorist? Or was it the act of an angry employee mimicking what he saw online? The answer could lie in a gray area between these two sets of facts and raise questions about what terrorism actually is. |
| Shellshock Bug's Impact Could Be Huge, But It's Unclear For Now | |
 | Hundreds of millions of computers and networks are at risk after a bug called Shellshock was found last week. It turns out it's actually been around for a while -- it took 22 years to discover this bug. If exploited by hackers, the impact could be huge. What has security companies so worried is the wide scope of the systems affected and the potential here for wreaking havoc for systems connected to the Internet. Shellshock affects websites and computers running operating systems such as Mac OS and Linux. And it's estimated that more than 80 percent of the Internet serves websites on the software affected by this bug. Just hours after this security flaw was announced, it was already being exploited. |
| Fall concert to celebrate MUW choral program | |
| Dr. Phillip Stockton is hearing good things at Mississippi University for Women. The Department of Music's choral director, now in his second year at the school, is pleased with how much vocalists retained during the summer break. He is also impressed with their commitment to excellence. Both will be displayed in a fall concert Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall on campus. The MUW Chamber Singers (women and men), Women's Chorale and University Chorus (men) are putting final touches on the repertoire they will present to the community. "It's a very eclectic concert," said Stockton Wednesday. |
| MUW Center Pushes Testing During Dyslexia Month | |
| October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month and the Speech and Hearing Center at Mississippi University for Women wants individuals to be aware of the signs associated with the reading disorder and misconceptions that surround it. While dyslexia is common, there are many misconceptions, including that children who have dyslexia see backwards, have a low IQ and are unable to be treated past age 9. According to Lynn Hanson, instructor of speech/ language pathology at The W, dyslexia is not a vision problem, does not relate to IQ and has no age limits on treatment. "Early detection and intervention are very important. Many cases are missed due to children finding ways to cope with their dyslexia until the reading demands become greater in third grade," said Hanson. |
| Everybody's Tent provides welcoming environment at UM | |
 | Everybody's Tent, an Associated Student Body-run tailgating event, hopes to include those who feel as though they don't have a "home" in the Grove. This year the tent's organizers expect to expand the event with fundraising efforts and increase its student involvement. William Fowler, last year's director of Everybody's Tent, is now is a member of the ASB Inclusion Committee. His main goal this year is including as many people in the Grove as possible. "We want to bring the Grove to everybody," Fowler said. "The majority of visitors at Everybody's Tent come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including international students, students who identify as black and the LGBTQ community. Our location in front of the Student Union Plaza also makes the tent accessible for people with disabilities." |
| USM, William Carey designated Military Friendly Schools | |
 | The word is out -- Hattiesburg loves those who have served their country in the armed forces. The University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University recently were designated Military Friendly Schools by Victory Media Inc., a veteran-owned ratings entity whose work includes identifying organizations, including schools, which engage in practices supportive of active-duty military, veterans and their families. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jeff Hammond, director of veteran and military student services at Southern Miss, says the rating affirms the university's commitment to veterans and active-duty military service members. Hammond said with the upcoming opening of the Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families, Southern Miss is looking to become even more military friendly. |
| USM landmark restored | |
 | With the University of Southern Mississippi's homecoming approaching university officials are thrilled that an iconic landmark has been restored. It has been nearly three years since the Aubrey Lucas Administration Building's fountain has worked. After a nearly $400,000 project replacing the mechanical infrastructure the fountain is now flowing again, offering a new picturesque "selfie" destination. "We took the old fountain, re-leveled it, and brought everything back almost exactly as it was. We were fortunate to finally come up with some money that enabled us to complete this project," said Chris Crenshaw, Southern Miss Associate Vice President for Facilities, Planning and Management. |
| Delta State colloquia speaker explains finances of a world power | |
 | The first colloquia speaker of the semester at Delta State University was Charles Bowsher, who spoke Thursday in Jobe Auditorium to students, faculty, and members of the community about the state of the nation's finances. According to a press release by DSU, as the Comptroller General of the United States and head of the General Accounting Office for 15 years, Bowsher's appointment by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 capped a background of experience in both government and corporate endeavors. With a congressional mandate to audit, evaluate, or investigate virtually all federal operations, GAO under his leadership became increasingly involved in some of the most important issues of the day. |
| MC student, top cadet in U.S., to join Army as officer | |
 | Grant Whittington, a senior at Mississippi College, has excelled in ROTC, winning national recognition since the summer after his sophomore year. In 2013, among some 1,500 others from across the county at the Leadership Training Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he finished as the nation's No. 1 cadet. Of the 150 students in the Tiger Battalion based at Jackson State University, "Grant quickly established himself as one of the best cadets," says Lt. Col. Travis A. Smith, chairman of the Jackson State Department of Military Science. He's pushed by "his desire for excellence in all that he does." Members of the Army ROTC's Tiger Battalion include 21 students from Mississippi College. Other cadets come from Tougaloo College, Hinds Community College, Jackson State, Millsaps, Belhaven, and Mississippi Valley State University. |
| Khayat speaks at William Carey scholarship dinner | |
| The annual William Carey University scholarship dinner, featuring University of Mississippi Chancellor Emeritus Robert C. Khayat as keynote speaker, was held Sept. 9 at Southern Oaks House and Gardens. The theme for the scholarship dinner was "The Education of a Lifetime: Actions, Not Words," adapted from the title of Khayat's recently published autobiography and from the university's 2014-2015 theme. Khayat was introduced by his friend and former law student, former Mississippi governor Ronnie Musgrove. |
| East Mississippi graduate took 'TIME' to find his way | |
| Dalvin Tate had a good idea what he wanted to do with his life, all he needed was a little TIME. Tate enrolled in East Mississippi Community College's TIME (Technology Initiative in Manufacturing and Engineering) program as a junior and senior at Starkville High School before graduating from EMCC in May as a member of the first Honors class at the Golden Triangle campus. During the closing ceremony for the TIME program, Tate told parents and guests that the program helped him decide on engineering as a college major by exposing him to advanced manufacturing in the Golden Triangle. Tate is now studying computer engineering at Mississippi State University. |
| New Auburn University classrooms provide interactive learning | |
 | Auburn University hosted an open house for the second of its two Engaged Active Student Learning classroom Friday in the Sciences Center Classrooms building. The rooms -- one in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, which holds 72 students, and the other in the College of Liberal Arts' Haley Center, which seats 45 students -- are equipped with a variety of technologies to encourage interactive learning. "The concept really is the students don't necessarily learn in the traditional lecture session," explained Wiebke Kuhn, IT manager for the College of Liberal Arts. |
| Louisiana agriculture officials to FAA: Ease rules on use of drones | |
 | State agricultural officials have asked the federal government to loosen restrictions on the use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles. Rogers Leonard, LSU AgCenter associate vice chancellor for plant and soil sciences, said the state's agriculture community has embraced the new technology, which has a variety of commercial uses. A 17-member Louisiana study group has made a number of recommendations to the FAA, including allowing states to develop regulations that go beyond the FAA's general operation and safety guidelines. "We believe that UAS guidelines for agriculture can be developed that protect privacy and ensure safety but are different from those current rules for hobbyists and commercial aircraft," Leonard said. |
| U. of Kentucky issues alert after report of shots fired on campus | |
 | University of Kentucky officials continue to investigate a report of shots being fired that shut down part of the campus Sunday night. No one was injured and no arrests had been made as of Monday, UK spokesman Jay Blanton said. UK Campus Police Chief Joe Monroe will meet with the press later Monday morning to update the situation, Blanton said. The alert occurred about 9:30 Sunday night with a report of shots being fired in the area around the Kirwan/Blanding complex. Police, including K9 units, searched the area, but found no suspects. |
| U. of Florida has new chief investment officer | |
 | The University of Florida on Friday announced that William S. Reeser will serve as its new chief investment officer. Starting Nov. 10, Reeser will begin his new job managing UF's $2.7 billion investment portfolio, UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said in a news release. The UF Investment Corporation manages the endowments of the UF Foundation, the UF Research Foundation, the University Athletic Association and UF Health Shands Hospital and Clinics, Sikes said. Reeser has 35 years of experience in financial management. Most recently, Reeser was head of investments for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, overseeing an investment portfolio even larger than UF's, officials said. |
| Georgia Colleges Prohibiting Tobacco, but Questions About Enforcement Linger | |
 | Amid carefree talk of starting lineups, one public notice to the Sanford Stadium crowd on a recent Saturday stood out: Beginning Oct. 1, the University of Georgia will be among the academic institutions in this state that prohibit tobacco products from its campuses. At the 31 public colleges and universities that make up the University System of Georgia, smoking will be forbidden. The use of chewing tobacco could lead to a penalty. And even products that "simulate the use of tobacco," including e-cigarettes, are scheduled for banishment. But of all the questions that complement the new regulations, the one that seems to loom largest here centers on the extent to which the University of Georgia should enforce the ban. The restrictions will take effect as a rising number of colleges across the country rush to lay down new limits on tobacco use. |
| Tennessee urges students to apply for college | |
 | Educators from across the state of Tennessee are working this week to encourage their students to apply for college as their high school years draw to a close. Gov. Bill Haslam has declared this week the year's official College Application Week, marking an annual tradition that stretches back to 2008. Teachers are slated to share their personal collegiate experiences and promote www.CollegeforTN.org, a state-sponsored resource that helps students navigate each step of the application process. Hundreds of sites are registered to participate including 233 high schools and 15 middle and elementary schools, according to a news release from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. |
| Texas A&M opens shelves in joint library project | |
 | When books are cleared off of the shelves in university library stacks across Texas by the thousands, they have to go somewhere or else they could be ground to a pulp and recycled. That "somewhere" is a sand-colored concrete building on Texas A&M's Riverside campus called the Joint Library Facility, a cost- and space-saving collaboration between the Texas A&M University and University of Texas libraries, where almost 300,000 print texts call home. Joint Library Facilities Director Wyoma vanDuinkerken said the year-old, $6.3 million, 18,000-square-foot facility has become the go-to for print material storage for more than 27 universities across the state as libraries look to free up space on growing campuses to make more room for students. |
| Texas A&M program pairs Faculty Fellows with 'rising star' researchers | |
| Texas A&M University will match top-tier researchers with young faculty talents with the addition of seven new professors to the Institute of Advanced Study for 2014-2015. Three out of the seven Faculty Fellows representing universities across the country and abroad were introduced Wednesday night at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. The program's third group of fellows boasts some of the world's best resumes in their fields of architecture, chemical engineering, computer science, systems engineering, photon science and nuclear and aerospace engineering. IAS Founding Director Dr. John Junkins said the fellows will continue to impact the university long after they have completed their 3- to 12-month tenures. "It's going to change the traditional way a university operates," he said. "It lets professors define their vision for their department by asking them to bring a person in." |
| U. of Missouri gets NSF grants for supercomputer equipment, engineering position | |
 | The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Missouri $1 million in two grants to install a supercomputer for data-intensive research and fund a cyberinfrastructure engineer. Officials hope the added manpower and equipment will lead to a network of data analysis for all of the UM System campuses to access. This would be very similar to a virtual cloud system where information -- in this case, research data -- can be called down to a computer that is connected to the secured cloud. "Research advancements sometimes are hampered by the ability to process the huge amounts of data scientists are collecting," Chi-Ren Shyu, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering and director of the Informatics Institute at MU, said. |
| Prices for new U. of Missouri System health care plan raise questions | |
 | Marcia Flesner sat in the back of a town hall meeting on a Friday, listening to a University of Missouri System human resource employee talk about the changes to systemwide benefits. Flesner has worked at MU for 15 years and is covered by the preferred provider organization health plan. She's in her 60s and has medical problems, so the plan's low deductible and high premiums felt like her best choice. The problem is the plan's monthly premium is rising nearly 10 percent, from $138.50 to $152. So she's taking a long look at a new, cheaper plan the university is offering that would require her to use mostly MU Health Care physicians. The problem is her current doctors won't be "in network" anymore, she said. This is the decision facing many UM System faculty and staff members. |
| Hammock users, swing at your own risk at U. of Missouri, city parks | |
| Brent Doering was swinging in his hammock south of Jesse Hall one late July afternoon when a man walked out of Jesse and told him to leave the area. Surprised, Doering, an MU sophomore, asked whether using his hammock was against university rules --- he'd done it before and had not been stopped. Without answering, the man told Doering it would make his job easier if he'd leave and go to Peace Park. Doering went but was confused; he assumed that if he wasn't allowed near Jesse he wouldn't be allowed anywhere else on campus. After a half-hour in Peace Park, two police officers appeared and told Doering to take down his hammock again. Capt. Brian Weimer of the MU Police Department said officers have been instructed by MU Campus Facilities to ask anyone hanging hammocks from campus trees to take them down due to the potential damage they could cause. |
| Adjuncts, Retirements and Sexual Harassment: A Survey of Campus HR Leaders | |
 | Chief human resources officers overwhelmingly believe their institutions are doing enough to prevent sexual harassment by employees -- but are far less confident that higher education in general is doing enough to combat such behavior. HR directors – especially those at public colleges and universities -- are growing increasingly concerned about faculty members working well past traditional retirement age, leaving little flexibility for their institutions to hire a new generation of professors. And while half of HR officers say their institutions fairly compensate adjunct faculty members, fewer strongly agree that that's the case than was true last year, and the proportion of public university HR directors who say their institutions offer appropriate job security and due process protections for part-time instructors had tumbled from a year ago. |
| California Shifts to 'Yes Means Yes' Standard for College Sex | |
 | Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed legislation on Sunday that explicitly requires colleges and universities that receive state funds to define consent in students' sexual encounters in terms of "yes means yes" rather than the traditional "no means no." Mr. Brown's signing of the "affirmative consent" bill ushers in a new era in the debate about how to curb sexual assaults on college campuses. The bill's supporters have hailed the measure as an important step in clarifying the standard colleges should use in investigating sexual-assault cases. Some critics have warned, however, that the law tramples on the due-process rights of accused students. |
| SAM R. HALL (OPINION): McDaniel spokesman breaks 'do no harm' rule | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Sam R. Hall writes: "Just when you think things couldn't get stranger with Chris McDaniel's campaign for U.S. Senate, a minor sideshow erupts around an investigation by Attorney General Jim Hood's office into whether or not a Meridian man was paid to lie about vote buying in the primary runoff. Charles C. Johnson, the infamous blogger from California who fancies himself a journalist, released an audio recording of a conversation between McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch and Stevie Fielder, the Meridian man who once alleged he was paid by members of Thad Cochran's campaign to buy votes. The timing of the release of this conversation, which reportedly took place in August, is downright odd. The recording itself doesn't help McDaniel, and it could be argued that it actually hurts his challenge. So what gives?" |
| GEOFF PENDER (OPINION): The budget gopher dance; McDaniel universe gets weirder | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: "And so it begins. The ground work for the 2015 state Legislature starts Tuesday. Agency heads will come before key lawmakers, hats in hands, with their spending requests for next fiscal year. They'll shoot for the stars, hope for the moon. The state budget is in its best shape since the recession hit in 2008, with the rainy day savings account full at more than $400 million and a guess-timated $250 million or so in 'extra' money coming in. But with K-12 education calling for $312 million more in formula funding, universities asking for a $36 million increase and Medicaid $130 million -- well, you get the picture. Plus 2015 is an election year." |
| SID SALTER (OPINION): Nursing home cameras raise privacy questions | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Far more than the Byzantine political considerations, the Cochran nursing home photo uproar raised issues that have absolutely nothing to do with politics and everything to do with privacy and protection. ...The Cochran nursing home photo stunt drew attention in Mississippi because of the sheer invasion of privacy for rank political gain. It was disgusting. It was uncalled for and it was wrong by any reasonable measure. But will the incident produce any reforms in state laws regulating the care of the elderly and the disabled? It's unlikely that nursing home cameras is an issue that will gain a lot of traction in the legislative election year. But in an environment in which the nation's elderly population is increasing right along with reports of abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults, it's only a matter of time before this issue comes to Mississippi." |
SPORTS
| Center of football universe is here this week | |
| The collective eyes of college football will be on the state of Mississippi this week. Ole Miss and Mississippi State are each 4-0 and sit just outside of the top 10 at No. 11 and No. 12, respectively. Both will have a chance to vault ahead in the rankings with wins on Saturday. The Bulldogs will host No. 6 Texas A&M at 11 a.m. on ESPN, while the Rebels welcome third-ranked Alabama at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. ESPN's College GameDay will air live from the Grove in Oxford, while the Junction in Starkville will be the setting for the SEC Nation pregame show on the SEC Network. |
| Football fans prepare for big matchups | |
| The Southeastern Conference boasts the most fertile ground for college football in the country. Seven teams rank inside the AP's top 15. Saturday there won't be a better place for fans to turn than Mississippi. The Magnolia State will house four teams ranked within the top 12. No. 3 Alabama travels to Oxford to play No. 11 Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m. No. 12 Mississippi State hosts No. 6 Texas A&M in Starkville at 11 a.m. "Football in the South is something people take an awful lot of pride in. It's something they really go hang their hat on," MSU coach Dan Mullen said. "It's fantastic that we can give people here in Mississippi something to be proud of." |
| What we learned about Mississippi State so far | |
| There's not a lot Mississippi State would change through its first four games. The Bulldogs completed the first third of their schedule with a 4-0 record. MSU went into Baton Rouge and scored a one-for-the-record-books' win at Tiger Stadium. It now heads into a matchup with No. 14 Texas A&M. A lot went right for Mississippi State during its first four games. Some things went wrong. Let's examine what the Bulldogs revealed about themselves through the first month of the season. |
| Mississippi State gets good grades for first four games | |
| With the Mississippi State football team's 34-29 win at LSU and subsequent bye week, the Bulldogs are one-third of the way through the season. All the early returns are good, as MSU has climbed to 4-0 and is No. 12 in The Associated Press Top 25. Here is a deeper look at each of MSU's position groups on offense and a grade for their work. On Tuesday, The Dispatch will grade each of MSU's position groups on defense. |
| Bulldogs savoring their big win | |
| Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen usually invokes a 24 hour rule for his players following wins before the team begins preparing for its next opponent. But the Bulldogs are able to savor their 34-29 win over then No. 8 LSU last weekend a little longer. MSU got to celebrate its first victory in Baton Rouge since 1991 all week with an open date this week. "I don't know if there's ever a good time or a bad time for a bye week," Mullen said. |
| Mississippi State climbs to No. 12 after a bye week | |
| Mississippi State didn't play this weekend but still received a boost in the Associated Press' top 25 poll. The Bulldogs climbed two spots to No. 12 this week. MSU debuted at No. 14 after its 34-29 win at LSU last weekend. Mississippi State beat its first top 10 team on the road since 1986 with its win at Baton Rouge. MSU now focuses on another top 10 foe in Texas A&M. |
| Mississippi State kicker Evan Sobiesk makes strides | |
| It's not been fun lately to be a Mississippi State kicker. In some fans' minds, Devon Bell's struggles with field goals last season also make him a bad punter. Evan Sobiesk's missing three of four kicks to end last season carried over to 2014. But through four games, 10 of Bells 24 punts have landed inside the 20. He's averaging 43.5 yards per punt. Not bad at all. Sobiesk took a bit longer to try to dismiss his struggles. He didn't attempt a field goal until MSU's trip to Baton Rouge. He converted on both his attempts. |
| Win over Arkansas a wake-up call for Texas A&M with ranked teams ahead | |
 | The Texas A&M football team got a wake-up call via Arkansas on Saturday. The Aggies weren't sharp but managed to gut out a 35-28 overtime victory. The sixth-ranked Aggies led in regulation for only 4 minutes, 49 seconds. It was a struggle to say the least, especially when you consider it took A&M only 65 seconds to take a 7-0 lead. It often wasn't pretty thereafter, though highly competitive and entertaining. The Aggies will have to play better starting Saturday at Mississippi State followed by 11th-ranked Ole Miss at home and then at third-ranked Alabama. Mississippi State is trying for back-to-back victories over Top 10 teams, having won at then eighth-ranked LSU two weeks ago. |
| LSU's Harris says he has gotten advice from QBs around country, including Mississippi State's Dak Prescott | |
| Brandon Harris talks to the enemy. Well, anything that helps. Harris has received advice from college quarterbacks from around the nation in the past few weeks, he said. One in particular: Dak Prescott, the Mississippi State quarterback who grew up just a few minutes from Harris in Haughton and the same guy who combined for more than 370 yards and three scores in a win over LSU on Sept. 20. "He's been a longtime mentor to me," Harris said. |
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