| Wednesday, October 15, 2014 |
| Painted, passed down, found: Why State fans love their cowbells | |
 | Currently, it's the Holy Grail of football. A loud, annoying Holy Grail. But with Mississippi State sitting atop college football rankings, the cowbell reigns -- and rings -- supreme. Most State fans remember their first cowbell. Many of them still have them. For instance, Clinton's Tom Pritchard has rung the same cowbell -- one he purchased at a charity auction -- since 1980. Patton Kincaid got his in 1990 when his SAE pledge trainer told him it was mandatory to own one and take it to the game. Evan Bigby has a cowbell his grandfather took off an actual cow and welded a handle to it. To each Bulldog, their individual cowbell means something unique to them. Mary Grace Eppes, of Madison, grew up an Ole Miss fan, and thought cowbells were obnoxious. Until she transferred to Mississippi State. |
| Winning football teams could boost state's economy | |
 | The entire state of Mississippi could stand to benefit from the impressive success of the Mississippi State and University of Mississippi football teams. The first and third ranked teams could help boost the Mississippi economy. Sports economist Dan Rascher from the University of San Francisco says successful teams sell more merchandise, attract additional tourism, and help raise state revenue through the taxes they pay as a results. Rascher says winning also raises the positive profile of the state potentially attracting even non-football fan. The impact also has the possibility to continue and grow for several weeks if the teams keep winning and head toward a showdown game at the Egg Bowl in late November. |
| Sporting goods stores score big with football success | |
 | With the eyes of the sports world on the Magnolia State, Mississippi State and Ole Miss aren't the only big winners. The same can be said for sporting goods stores. Anything you can think of is being sold with a Mississippi State or Ole Miss logo. With MSU ranked the number one team in the nation, and Ole Miss not far behind at number three, local sporting goods sales continue to rise. "Never have we had this many people come in at one time, store packed, and everyone's just looking for Ole Miss and Mississippi State stuff," said Sports Zone manager Christa Bowens. Retailers say that the big items this season are cow bells and koozies. "We've been long time supporters of Mississippi State. So, we buy merchandise whether they're doing good or they're doing average. We're supporters," said customer Dale Wilkerson. |
| Diversity Is Goal of Successful Vendor Fair at Mississippi State | |
 | Nearly 70 supplier-business owners, representing a range of minorities, women, and veterans, visited Mississippi State University on Tuesday for the Women and Minority Vendor Fair. Also, business owners located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones, or HUBZones, participated in the fair, held in the Hal and Linda Parker Ballroom at MSU's Hunter Henry Center. The day-long networking opportunity facilitated by MSU offered the business owners a chance to meet, share information and take advantage of procurement training opportunities. Marcus Thompson, chief administrative officer for Institutions of Higher Learning, the governing body of all public postsecondary schools in the state, said MSU's tradition of promoting diversity stretches back to the 1960s. He said MSU's focus on diversity, as well as its inclusive environment, sets an example for institutions of higher learning both in Mississippi and across the nation. |
| MSU Emergency Response Team Holds 'Preparathon' Saturday | |
| Mississippi State's Community Emergency Response Team will hold a "Preparathon" Saturday featuring an Emergency Preparedness Fair and half marathon, 5K and Family Fun Run races. Ryan Akers, assistant extension professor of community preparation and disaster management, is coordinator for the MSU CERT organization, which routinely promotes community awareness of disaster issues and stands ready to serve as intermediary responders on campus, as needed. "Families are encouraged to bring children to the fair," Akers said. "The Touch-a-Truck style event will keep the kids entertained and allow for all families to receive preparedness information." |
| Thursday MSU Humanities Event Features Laura Knoppers | |
| An English professor at the University of Notre Dame will be featured Thursday [Oct. 16] for the latest program of Mississippi State University's 2014-15 Humanities Distinguished Lecture Series. Laura Knoppers' presentation is titled "'The Only Jewel I Covet' – Women, Display, and Luxury at the Court of Charles II." Free to all, her program begins at 3:30 p.m. in McCool Hall's Rogers Auditorium. The Institute for the Humanities is part of MSU's College of Arts and Sciences. Its annual lecture series is made possible by support from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the Indiana-based Apgar Foundation. |
| MSU Riley Center Slated for Award | |
 | Meridian's MSU Riley Center for the Performing Arts is being honored for the work it does in this community. It will be given the Arts in the Community Award during the 27th Annual Governor's Arts Awards. The recognition comes from the Mississippi Arts Commission. The awards ceremony is in February 2015, but the winners were recently announced. |
| Star of the Week: Kasi McIntosh | |
 | Growing up as the youngest of three girls in DeKalb, Kasi McIntosh never doubted she would go to college. Education was stressed in her family, and she and her siblings took the advice to heart. After high school, she moved to Meridian and, like her sisters, enrolled at Meridian Community College. Following a conversation with a classmate and some online research, she eventually decided to pursue a psychology degree at Mississippi State University-Meridian after completing her associate's degree. She had hopes that scholarships available at MSU-Meridian could help cover her final two years of study. Happily, McIntosh's dreams were realized when she was selected for the new Riley Scholars Program at the senior institution. |
| Former MSU Student, Prof Earn Honors | |
| A former student and current faculty member at Mississippi State are selections for Love of Learning recognitions by Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Receiving $500 each are Ashley D. Boatner of Benton, a May 2014 summa cum laude graduate in kinesiology/clinical exercise physiology, and forestry professor Donald L. Grebner of the College of Forest Resources' Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Established in 2007, the award program annually recognizes members who seek to continue their educations. The funds may be applied to graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career development, and travel related to teaching and studies. |
| State's peanut farmers feeling good about this year's crop | |
 | Mississippi producers are quite happy with the peanut crop they are harvesting in early October, and recent dry weather has provided excellent drying conditions. "Overall in the state, we're seeing above average yields, and the lowest grade I've heard is 68-69, which is the highest grade some growers have gotten in the past," said Jason Sarver, peanut specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. "Some peanuts have been graded as 80, which is a fantastic grade." John Michael Riley, Extension agricultural economist, said peanut prices have dropped slowly through the year and are ranging from $380 to $440 a ton. |
| Golden Triangle crews work to restore power | |
 | Utility companies that serve the Golden Triangle said that by the end of the day Tuesday service would be restored to the handful of customers who lacked electricity following Monday's storms. Officials at Starkville Electric Department, 4-County Electric and Columbus Light & Water estimated that roughly 17,500 customers lost service after high winds that accompanied a major cold front passed through the Golden Triangle late Monday afternoon and early evening. "It was pretty rough over here," said SED director Terry Kemp. Monday's outage was the most widespread since a storm that swept through the city in December 2010, he said. |
| Starkville cleans-up after powerful storm | |
| Dr. Rob Leach has a big mess to clean up, but he's not complaining. "It spared the pumpkins, but it messed up the scarecrow," said Leach. A portion of the house was damaged, but the tree landed in the right spot. "The limbs just fell just in the right spot to avoid really heavy damage to the house," he added. Meanwhile, Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Director Jim Britt oversees cleanup at Starkville High School. A huge tree knocked out the power here. "We had a lot of tree limbs, a lot of tree and things had started coming down. It took a lot of our power lines down," said Britt. |
| Football weekend sees relatively few arrests | |
| Weekend arrest figures did not spike in correlation with droves of tourists visiting Starkville for Mississippi State University's historic victory over Auburn, law enforcement representatives confirmed Monday. Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney and Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop G spokesperson Criss Turnipseed both said the weekend went smoothly for their respective agencies and low arrest tallies reflect tourists who, for the most part, were on their best behavior after the Bulldogs beat Auburn, vaulting them to the top of The Associated Press' collegiate football poll. |
| Starkville police search for suspects in multiple vehicle thefts | |
| Starkville police are looking for suspects in a rash of stolen vehicles during October. Detectives say the thefts occurred on the weekends of Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, and assume this was due to the high number of vehicles in town for the SEC football games. Surveillance video shows multiple individuals stealing the vehicles, which police say are mostly Ford trucks, particularly F150s and F250s, and GMC SUVs. Authorities say the subjects are focusing on vehicles that have the key left inside, especially those with keyless entry pads that are easily broken into. With the keys inside, the thieves have the chance to drive away with the trucks. |
| Starkville Parks Commission passes budget, projects shortfall | |
| The Starkville Parks Commission passed its Fiscal Year 2015 budget Tuesday during its monthly meeting but will ask aldermen to pitch in more money to pay for utility expenses. The budget projects $1,070,905 in revenues and $1,153,500 in expenses. That's an $82,595 shortfall. The budget projects $250,000 in expenses for utility bills, which Starkville Parks and Recreation Director Herman Peters says are increasing by the year due to increased participation of six to eight percent per year. The commission passed the budget on the condition that it approached Starkville aldermen and requested an extra $125,000 for utility expenses. |
| Kellogg Foundation commits $2.3 million to Civil Rights Museum | |
| The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Tuesday received a commitment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for a $2.3 million endowment. The endowment will go toward the Mississippi Department of Archives and History's development of educational programs for the Civil Rights Museum. The $2.3 million will fund a partnership between Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute. The Civil Rights Museum and an adjoining Mississippi History Museum are expected to open in 2017, the bicentennial of statehood.The museums, situated between North and Jefferson streets in downtown Jackson, have been under construction since last fall. |
| Could Toyotas be in Gulfport state port's future? | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant and state port representatives in Gulfport are courting auto makers Nissan and Toyota for import and export opportunities. Toyota has a plant in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, while Nissan manufactures autos in Canton. "The governor has been out front working with us in an attempt to lure Toyota and Nissan to utilize the state port," Port Executive Director Jonathan Daniels said Tuesday. "We've had several meetings to discuss the possibility, certainly understanding that we're a few years away from us being able to accommodate any vehicle shipments." Daniels said many factors must be considered, including an automotive processing company at or near the port in Gulfport to finish vehicles for the auto maker. |
| Bryant hires former MDEQ director as consultant | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant has hired the former director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality as a consultant. The contract with Trudy Fisher, dated Sept. 5, says she will advise the governor on energy policy, environmental and restoration policy and provide support in court cases. The agreement is good for six months and can be renewed for six months after that. Fisher will charge $195 an hour for herself and others who help her, up to $99,000 over a year. Her work will be overseen by Bryant's chief lawyer, Bobby Waites. A lawyer who led the environmental agency for seven years, Fisher has been deeply involved in Mississippi's recovery efforts following the 2010 BP PLC Gulf of Mexico oil spill. |
| Treasury clears way for oil spill recovery grants | |
| The U.S. Treasury Department says it has cleared the way for Gulf Coast states and local governments to begin applying for recovery grants through a federal RESTORE Act trust fund containing money from civil penalties in the 2010 BP oil spill. A department statement says that, so far, the trust fund has $653 million. That figure is expected to grow by billions. Under rules finalized Tuesday, 35 percent of the Gulf Restoration Trust Fund will be divided equally among Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas state governments and a group of 23 Florida counties. |
| Supreme Court blocks Texas abortion law | |
 | The Supreme Court on Tuesday night blocked a Texas law that had drastically reduced the number of abortion clinics in the nation's second most populous state. The court's order, staying a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that the law could go into effect, will allow more than a dozen of the clinics to resume operation, according to the group that challenged the law, the Center for Reproductive Rights. The court's brief order did not say why it was disagreeing with the appeals court. The order was unsigned, but that apparently meant Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the other five justices --- Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan --- were in agreement. |
| Ebola is 2014 October surprise | |
 | Ebola has become the October surprise of this year's midterm elections, with Democrats and Republicans doing battle over everything from restrictions on travel to the disposal of a victim's remains. The U.S. public is increasingly fearful of the virus following three cases in Texas and news that the fatality rate for infected patients has hit 70 percent in West Africa. The mounting anxiety has made politicians extra attentive to Ebola, with candidates seizing on the spread of the virus to hammer their opponents. The issue is particularly fraught for Democrats, given signs that President Obama's dragging poll numbers could help Republicans take control of the Senate. Though Ebola is unlikely to move the needle in specific races, political strategists say it adds to the darkening public mood. |
| The 9 most ridiculous campaigns of 2014 | |
| We're three weeks from the 2014 election, which means that things have devolved into shocking ads featuring empty wheelchairs and declining to say whether you voted for President Obama. (Of course you did!) These are controversies more befitting a third-grade classroom than the legislature of the Greatest Country in the World. But which campaigns have been the most ridiculous of the ridiculous? We've been mulling this one over for a while, and we've narrowed it down to nine. At No. 7, it's the Mississippi Senate Race -- OK, this one might take the cake, but it's more sad than ridiculous. First of all, you've got the fact that it's nearly three months after the GOP primary runoff and state Sen. Chris McDaniel still hasn't conceded his narrow loss to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). And McDaniel's case has, from the start, been pretty flimsy. |
| Blogger Johnson suspended from Twitter, again | |
| California blogger Charles C. Johnson, who made news in the GOP Mississippi primary aftermath with accusations of vote buying against incumbent Thad Cochran, has been suspended from Twitter for the second time in a week. The suspension is apparently, again, for posting the address or other personal info about someone he said was exposed to Ebola. There's been no word yet on whether Johnson might face any fallout from defying a subpoena to appear last month before a Lauderdale County grand jury. Johnson has accused Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood of "a witch hunt" into whether Johnson or others paid a Meridian man to lie about a Cochran staffer giving him money to buy votes. |
| Obama to delay attorney general nomination until after election | |
 | President Obama will wait until after the November election to name a nominee for attorney general, setting the stage for an intense battle in the postelection Senate that could last until Christmas, a White House official said Tuesday. The delay, which White House officials said came at the request of Senate Democrats, reflected concern about the effect Obama's pick might have on the midterm election, when Republicans appear to be on the verge of taking control of the Senate. Senate leaders are concerned the nomination will become a campaign issue in an already tight election, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. |
| Poll shows Obama approval low, GOP enthusiasm higher than Democrats' | |
| Heading into the final weeks of the midterm campaign, the political landscape continues to tilt in favor of the Republican Party, with President Obama's overall approval rating at the lowest level of his presidency and GOP voters signaling greater likelihood than Democrats that they will cast ballots, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Americans look to November and beyond with dissatisfaction about the state of the country and the political leadership in Washington. Two in three say the country is seriously off-track, and more than 6 in 10 say that neither the president nor the Republican contingent in Congress has a clear plan for governing. Public impressions of the two political parties are similarly gloomy. |
| The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons | |
 | Five years after President George W. Bush sent troops into Iraq, soldiers had entered an expansive but largely secret chapter of America's long and bitter involvement in Iraq. From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein's rule. In all, American troops secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, according to interviews with dozens of participants, Iraqi and American officials, and heavily redacted intelligence documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. "I felt more like a guinea pig than a wounded soldier," said a former Army sergeant who suffered mustard burns in 2007 and was denied hospital treatment and medical evacuation to the United States despite requests from his commander. |
| MUW Hosts Annual 'High School Mathematics Day for Girls' | |
| As technology continues to advance, careers involving math and science are in high demand. Historically, many of those jobs are not held by women but programs like STEM encourage girls to pursue math-related fields. On Tuesday, Mississippi University for Women held its annual High School Mathematics Day for Girls. Young women from all over the Golden Triangle came to sharpen their math skills. MUW math professor Dorothy Kerzel says girls need to know that they too can thrive in math and science fields. "Girls and women are just as capable. Sometimes perhaps they need a little more encouragement or they need role models to show them that they can do those things and be successful in those areas," says Kerzel. |
| Wednesday's 'W Walks' part of Passport to Wellness | |
| Mississippi University for Women faculty, staff and students are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and grab a bite to eat for lunch in downtown Columbus Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. W Walks to Lunch is being sponsored by the Passport to Wellness program to encourage an environment of wellness on The W campus and support downtown merchants who will be providing a discount to all patrons who have a W ID, according to April Barlow, coordinator of professional learning. "Our goal here is to get our campus walking. Every step helps create a healthier lifestyle and walking is an excellent exercise that a person can do for a lifetime," she said. "This is a great way to get your whole office, class or even club involved, and don't forget to wear your W blue." |
| U. of Mississippi Medical Center reworking Ebola response plan | |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center is preparing as if they'll receive an Ebola patient "any minute", even though the head of the Infectious Diseases Department doesn't expect it soon. "When we start seeing cases in bigger cities with more international travel, or more West Africans living there, then I'll start to worry about cases coming to Jackson," said Dr. Skip Nolan. Nolan says preparing for Ebola has been challenging because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't been forthcoming with information as quickly as doctors at the Medical Center would like. Then, they learned their Ebola response policy would need to be reworked. |
| Stranded turtle numbers along Mississippi coast remain 'alarming' | |
 | The number of stranded sea turtles along the Mississippi Gulf Coast remains alarming. That's the word from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, which responds to reports of dead or injured turtles. In the five years before the BP oil spill, there were a total of 16 dead Kemp's Ridley sea turtles reported in Mississippi. In 2010, the year of the spill, that number exploded to 289 dead turtles washing ashore. This year, rarely does a day go by, when the IMMS doesn't receive at least one call about a turtle stranding. "They have stayed consistently high. This year we've had 292 live and 142 dead. So this is kind of alarming," said IMMS director, Dr. Moby Solangi. |
| Alleged flamingo bandit creates campaign for defense funds | |
 | A University of Southern Mississippi student who was suspended from campus for his part in the death of two flamingos has reached out to the Internet for legal fee funding. Devin Nottis created an online donation campaign through a popular fundraising website in hopes of raising $5,000 for his defense. Currently, $30 has been donated to his campaign. Nottis gained national attention after allegedly kidnapping a flamingo from the Hattiesburg Zoo as a fraternity pledge prank. Tweets surfaced after his arrest, self proclaiming his part in the incident as "one for the history books." A Snapchat rap also surfaced where he referenced the incident. |
| Accident near Alcorn State campus kills one, injures another | |
 | An Alcorn State student is hospitalized and his passenger dead after he tried to run from campus police who smelled marijuana in his vehicle. Trooper Eric Henry with the Mississippi Highway Patrol says around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday 26-year-old Khalil Abdurrahman of Greenville was stopped at the guard gate because an officer smelled marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. When the officer tried to take the contraband, the driver sped off at a high rate of speed, and almost hit another campus police officer in his cruiser. Campus police pursued the vehicle off campus onto MS 552 west where the driver lost control and hit a tree. |
| Former U. of Alabama student recalls lunch with Ronald Reagan in Northport | |
 | Some people find it awkward to be watched while they eat. On Oct. 15, 1984, Charles Patterson ate his McDonald's meal with cameras in his face and microphones dangling above his head. Then he watched himself on every major news channel that night. The cameras weren't there for him. They were there for the man eating shoulder-to-shoulder with Patterson: President Ronald Reagan. Thirty years ago today, Patterson, then a senior at the University of Alabama, listened to Reagan give a speech at what was then Memorial Coliseum a few weeks before the president was re-elected to a second term in office. Minutes later, Patterson and Reagan were at the Northport McDonald's for a 20-minute meal before the president boarded a flight to Georgia. |
| U. of Florida trustees will pick new university president Wednesday | |
 | Two distinctly different provosts from two of the more prestigious private universities in the country will meet with the University of Florida Board of Trustees today for a last round of interviews before the board votes on the next president of UF. he search committee spent nearly four hours Tuesday morning interviewing three semifinalists before selecting Cornell University Provost Kent Fuchs (pronounced Fox), 60, and New York University Provost David McLaughlin, 70, as finalists. The committee has spent the last five months searching for a replacement for UF president Bernie Machen, who steps down in December. "They are both very distinguished gentlemen," said UF physicist Pradeep Kumar, one of the 13 UF trustees who will be voting Wednesday for the president-elect. "They are both wonderful people, and both have extremely broad backgrounds. It's going to be a tough call." |
| HOPE scholarship becomes flashpoint in Georgia governor's race | |
 | The popularity of the HOPE Scholarship has made it a recent topic of heated accusations in the Georgia governor's race. The campaigns of Democrat Jason Carter and incumbent Republican Nathan Deal have traded attacks all fall on a variety of issues, from leadership ability to economic development, but it's only been in the final three weeks when a debate about the scholarship that emotions have seemed to boil over. Ever since the scholarship began two decades ago, a debate has raged over whether it should be awarded on the basis of merit, like Deal supports, or on need, like Carter proposes. |
| Muslim theological scholar gives talk on religion, politics to Texas A&M Bush School students | |
 | Muslim theological scholar Abdolkarim Soroush explained to Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service students Tuesday that the world must find a balance between religious duty and democratic rights to solve world conflicts and issues. Considered one of the leading minds in the Muslim community and named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2005, the Iranian scholar lectured the audience at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs and Bodman Foundation-sponsored event at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center on the dangers of fascist government or religiously-operated government. In religious societies, Soroush outlined the danger of groups that operate on a misinterpreted sense of duty. |
| U. of Missouri more than halfway to United Way goal | |
 | Administrators are trying to improve the University of Missouri's Heart of Missouri United Way campaign despite strong early fundraising pledges. Betsy Rodriguez, one of three people leading the campaign for MU and University of Missouri System vice president of human resources, said the campaign is on pace to exceed last year's goal of $600,000 after just four weeks. The university has raised more than $350,000. between MU, the UM System and MU Health Care. MU administrators set a 25 percent goal for the number of employee donors they hope to reach this year. Last year, they ended with 12 percent, Rodriguez said. |
| U. of Missouri rec complex faces overcrowding problem | |
 | As MU continues to increase its enrollment, campus space is becoming harder to come by. The MU Student Recreation Complex is no exception. The MizzouRec Services and Facilities staff realizes there is an issue with overcrowding. In general, nearly all of its multiuse spaces are at maximum capacity, particularly Monday through Thursday, said Emily Bach, associate director of management, marketing and Team Mizzou at the MU rec complex. The MU rec complex was renovated in 2005 after students requested better facilities in 1996, and a referendum was approved by the student body in 2001 to increase fees by $75 per semester to fund the $49.2 million project. Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the best student rec facility in the nation when it was completed in 2005. The overcrowding began soon after the renovation. |
| U. of Missouri dean picked to lead U. of South Carolina, Palmetto Health through changes | |
 | The effort to further integrate the University of South Carolina School of Medicine with Palmetto Health will be led by Dr. Les Hall, the school announced Tuesday. Hall will be both executive dean of the school of medicine and the CEO of Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group. Hall is leaving one Columbia for another, stepping away from the position as interim dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He is expected to start at USC on Feb. 1. "Dr. Hall's broad knowledge of academic medicine and his experience leading a medical school through the ever-changing health care environment will serve the faculty and students well at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine," said Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina. |
| Study: Mississippi eighth worst for student loan debt | |
| Outside of mortgages, student loans are the most common form of consumer debt, and Mississippi is one of the worst states for it. WalletHub measured student loan debt relative to individual state economies and residents' incomes. Mississippi landed 44th out of 51 states, including the District of Columbia. Arkansas was the highest-ranked Southeastern state, at 23rd. Utah landed first overall. The study examined seven metrics, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. |
| UAB students forced to perform oral sex, undress in Monday night attack, authorities confirm | |
 | Four UAB students attacked in a campus parking deck Monday night were forced to commit sexual acts, authorities confirmed this evening. The two female undergraduate students were forced at gunpoint to perform oral sex on the male victims, said Jefferson County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Allison. Crime Stoppers aired a segment on the UAB robbery and assaults. Allison also confirmed all four victims -- which included two males -- were forced to strip. They later ran to a nearby restaurant for help. The holdup and subsequent assaults happened about 10:30 p.m. in the 16th Street Parking Deck on 16th Street and 10th Avenue South. UAB Police Chief Anthony Purcell said the students were leaving a residence hall on their way to get something to eat when the gunman approached them. Also on Tuesday, police announced an unrelated kidnapping and robbery of another UAB student that happened Monday afternoon outside of University House, an off-campus student residence complex. |
| BRIAN PERRY (OPINION): Judicial races raise $1.4 million in Mississippi | |
 | Consultant and columnist Brian Perry writes: "The 55 candidates running in 24 contested chancery or circuit court races in Mississippi have raised a combined $1.44 million for their campaigns. The average chancery court candidate raised just shy of $24,000 and the average circuit court candidate raised almost $28,000; but that includes outliers like four candidates who reported raising no money, and on the other end of the spectrum, circuit court candidate Robert Fant Walker who raised $214,141 -- about two and a half times more than the most raised by any other candidate. In the 18 races featuring incumbents, the incumbent has outraised one or more challengers in every case except three. The numbers are from the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State due October 10 which cover fundraising and expenditures from July 1 through September 30 and includes totals year-to-date. The next reports are due October 28 and cover October 1 through October 25. The election for these nonpartisan races is November 4." |
| SID SALTER (OPINION): Football success may trigger 'Flutie Effect' | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Back in 1984, diminutive but gritty Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie heaved a desperation 'Hail Mary' pass to wide receiver Gerald Phelan to give BC a 47-45 win over defending national champion the University of Miami. It ranks in the minds of many as one of the most memorable and unlikely moments in American sports history. The next year at Boston College, the number of applications for admission to the university soared -- and thus was born the debate over the 'Flutie Effect' -- the notion that having a successful sports team can and does increase the popularity and prominence of the university and in many cases actually increases academic enrollment. As Mississippi State and Ole Miss bask in the glow of the 2014 football season -- which has seen both schools gain the national spotlight -- the question of the 'Flutie Effect' is already being asked." |
SPORTS
| Ringing responsibly: Stricklin happy with use of cowbells | |
| Davis Wade Stadium housed the largest on-campus crowd last weekend with 62,945 fans. Unofficially,it likely contained more cowbells than Scott Field has ever had in its 100-year history. It all led to what some national pundits called the toughest environment to play a college football game in this year -- and it was all legal. "I thought Saturday proved that we can follow the rules and create a great gameday atmosphere at the same time," MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin said. Last weekend, the clanging of the cowbells made it difficult for media sitting next to each other to communicate. As Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post tweeted, during Saturday's game, "It's a rare form of goosebumps that comes from thousands of #cowbells." |
| No. 1 Mississippi State, Prescott ready for break | |
| The first half of Mississippi State's football season was perfect. Now Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs get some time to decompress before the second half begins. No. 1 Mississippi State (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) is off this weekend after winning three straight games against top-10 opponents. The Bulldogs don't play again until a road game against Kentucky on Oct. 25. "It's good to get a little break where you don't have to prepare and scout so hard as if you were playing on a Saturday," Prescott said. "It comes at a valuable time after a good little stretch." |
| Mullen: Work for Mississippi State to do in bye week | |
| For the second time in three weeks, Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen will get to do something rare with his Saturday afternoon. "I get to sit on my couch and play with my kids," Mullen said, "and that's awesome." On the heels of taking MSU to the first No. 1 ranking in school history courtesy of a 38-21 victory against then-No. 2 Auburn last Saturday, MSU enters its second bye week of the season at 6-0 and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference. The open date will give the Bulldogs a chance to decompress before a game Oct. 25 at Kentucky. |
| Bulldogs get back to business as No. 1 team | |
 | Mississippi State held its first practice Tuesday afternoon since learning of its No. 1 ranking following a third straight win over a top 10 opponent. Head coach Dan Mullen made sure to remind his team that hard work led to their rise up the polls. "They can feel like No. 1 out there but when they come (to football practice), we make them feel like No. 2," Mullen joked. "That's so they know it's all about the hard work. That aspect of it keeps a lot in check for them." Mullen is quick to point out that his team has a lot to work on and clean up during this week's open date before playing Kentucky on Oct. 25. |
| Magical Month: Charting Mississippi State's rise to No. 1 | |
| Standing in the middle of the visitors' locker room at LSU's Tiger Stadium, Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen was a picture of confidence surrounded by his players seconds before taking the field. It was a pregame speech like most pregame speeches, aimed at rallying his players before a game against a team that hadn't lost to MSU in more than a decade. But this one was different. Pointing at the locker room door and gesturing beyond the walls and onto the playing field, Mullen said, "They don't have any idea what's about to take this field tonight." Mullen was right. |
| Florida fans coveting Bulldogs' head coach | |
| With his team ranked No. 1 in the country, Dan Mullen is the talk of the town. As it happens, though, that town is Gainesville, Fla. Two websites have been launched in recent days calling for Florida to fire Will Muschamp and hire Mullen, a former Gators assistant, as its next head coach. HireDanMullen.com was registered on Oct. 4 and WeWantDan.com was registered on Oct. 13. "He's an SEC head coach. He has the experience. He knows the conference," WeWantDan.com owner Ray Harney of Cape Coral, Fla. told ESPN.com on Tuesday. |
| Building a Better Bulldog: How Dan Mullen Got Mississippi State Into the Big Time | |
| To hear Dan Mullen tell it, Benardrick McKinney's emergence from obscurity to likely NFL first-rounder had nothing to with odds, gambling, or catching lightning in a bottle. To Mullen, it's all in a day's work. Over five years in Starkville, Mullen has told the same kind of story many times, about many different players, in response to what must be the most frequently asked question since he set foot on campus: How do you find the players to compete at Mississippi State? |
| Why not Mississippi State? | |
| As we stop to catch our breath at the halfway point of a season that's already had a Twilight Zone feel to it, is there any debate about who's the most deserving team to be No. 1 in the polls? Here's a clue: Hail State. It's no coincidence that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blared from the JumboTron loudspeakers just as the fourth quarter began Saturday. It's a song Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen has strategically placed on his iPod when he goes for a jog, and he's made sure it kicks off the fourth quarter for every home game this season. You see, Mullen always believed this was possible, that Mississippi State could rise up and challenge in the SEC, even when just about everybody else thought he was dreaming. Mullen believed when he took the job in 2009 that Mississippi State had a chance to swim in these waters, and he said there's credit to go around, too, from university president Mark Keenum, to athletic director Scott Stricklin, to the Mississippi State fans. |
| Egg Bowl tickets on sale for huge amounts on web | |
| If you want tickets for the Nov. 29 Egg Bowl in Oxford, you better be willing to open your wallet. On Tuesday, tickets on Stubhub.com for the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game ranged from $381.77 for a single ticket to $11,701.08 for a pair of tickets in the north end zone of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. This year's Egg Bowl is setting up to be the most anticipated in the game's history with MSU (6-0) currently ranked No. 1 in the nation and the Rebels (6-0) not far behind at No. 3. There were 1,220 tickets available for the Egg Bowl at StubHub.com as of noon on Tuesday. |
| SEC unveils 2015 football schedule | |
| SEC football teams will only have one open weekend in 2015 -- and both Mississippi State and Ole Miss will have to wait a while for them to arrive. MSU's open date is Oct. 31, while Ole Miss will have to play 10 in a row before its Nov. 14 open date. Every league team has two open dates this season. The schedule released on Tuesday does not indicate an SEC game on Thanksgiving Day -- it's LSU and Texas A&M this season -- but the league has retained the option to move a game into that prime-time slot. The Nov. 28 schedule includes the annual MSU-Ole Miss game, which will be played in Starkville next season. |
| KEVIN SCARBINSKY (OPINION): What happens in Stark Vegas: Mississippi State fans win the day, too | |
| Columnist Kevin Scarbinsky writes for AL.com: "The most impressive performance Saturday in Starkville didn't belong to Dak Prescott, Josh Robinson or De'Runnya Wilson, although that trio of playmakers made play after play after play. No, the real MVP of Mississippi State 38, Auburn 23 was John Q. Public. Joe State Fan. The entire Bulldog Nation, or at least the portion of it that turned Davis Wade Stadium into a miniature Death Valley. It was the most awe-inspiring effort by an SEC fan base in memory. ...The real buzz is that State fans heeded AD Scott Stricklin's pregame warning and knew when to say when. For the most part, when Auburn center Reese Dismukes stood over the ball, their bells stood at attention and went silent. Their voices didn't." |
| RICK CLEVELAND (OPINION): Mississippi football fans should enjoy moment | |
 | Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "Let's forget the rivalry for at least this week. Forget 'The School Up North.' Forget 'Cow College.' Forget, even, the Egg Bowl. Heaven knows, we will get there soon enough. Let's enjoy this. Let's soak it in. Inhale it. Revel in it. This is for all 'Our State.' Let's enjoy that Mississippi State ranks No. 1 in the nation. Let's enjoy that the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss if you prefer, ranks No. 3, inexplicably-considering-the-merits, two points behind No. 2 Florida State. Let's enjoy that ESPN has become MSPN this fall." |
| Mississippi State baseball eager to start fall season | |
| On the eve of his team starting fall practice, Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen stood before the assembled media Monday afternoon and was asked for an opening statement. Naturally, as Cohen crafts his seventh edition of the Diamond Dawgs, he started the fall practice period by talking about MSU's No. 1-ranked football team. "I can't imagine anything being more exciting than what we all saw on Saturday," Cohen said. "I want to take a minute to mention what that does for every one of our student-athletes. We are all in this together. It's an incredibly exciting time of year for our kids and every student at Mississippi State." The momentum provided by the football team is real. And so is the work about to be put in by the MSU baseball team. |
| Mississippi State opens fall with business-like attitude | |
| Unlike last season, Mississippi State's baseball team will begin fall ball under the radar. The school's football team owns the spotlight on campus after being ranked No. 1 in the Associate Press poll for the first time in school history. Last year, the spotlights were reversed. Football coach Dan Mullen and his team were mired in mediocrity at 3-3 through six games. Meanwhile, the baseball team began its season following a trip to the 2013 College World Series finals. It also brought in the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Expectations were at its highest. It's different this year for MSU baseball. |
| Wes Rea ready to relish the pressure in senior season at Mississippi State | |
| It's difficult to hide a 6-5, 275 pound first baseman. It's even worse when he's the team captain and has postseason heroics on his resume. Wes Rea moved up and down Mississippi State's lineup last year. He began the season as the Bulldogs' cleanup slugger. He ended it fighting for a spot in the lineup as the team's No. 8 hitter. As Mississippi State began its fall practice on Tuesday, Rea didn't hide from those numbers. "I didn't have a good year. Period," Rea said. |
| Commissioner of a Powerhouse Conference, SEC's Slive Will Retire | |
| Mike Slive said Tuesday that he planned to retire as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference in July after serving in that position for 13 years and rising to become one of the most powerful people in college sports. Slive, 74, also announced that he would begin treatment for a recurrence of prostate cancer, for which he was first treated in the late 1990s. His prognosis is good, according to the SEC. Paul Finebaum, a close friend of Slive's who hosts a football-themed radio show that now airs on SEC Network, said Slive told him that his proudest moment as commissioner came when Mississippi State hired Sylvester Croom Jr. in 2004, making Croom the first black head football coach in the conference. A national search for Slive's successor will begin this fall, said Nicholas S. Zeppos, the chancellor of Vanderbilt, who serves as chairman of the SEC presidents and chancellors. |
| In Taste of Autonomy, Sports Programs Now Battle for Athletes' Bellies | |
 | The front lines in college sports' new age of autonomy aren't on any football field or basketball court, but smack dab in the middle of an everything bagel. New rules approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the spring lift the limits on what colleges can give their athletes, free of charge, in the way of snacks. The seemingly modest deregulation targeted one of the association's most laughable delineations -- that a free bagel was all right but a bagel with cream cheese was a violation -- and was also aimed at bolstering athletes' nutrition. But the rule change also represents a testing site in deregulation as the NCAA permits colleges to offer more benefits to their scholarship athletes. And the way programs have responded, with some doling out $1 million or more of additional food every year, demonstrates that even an extra banana here or there represents one piece of ammunition in a growing arms race. |
| College Football Playoff Still Leaves Little Room at Top | |
 | The inaugural season of the College Football Playoff brings with it the notion that more schools will be in the mix for the national title. While it remains to be seen which metrics the 13-person selection committee will favor to select the four teams that will play for the championship, if the history of the Associated Press poll is any indication, cracking the top four remains an exclusive club. Through the first six weeks in 2014, there were no changes among the top four (Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma), although there was some shuffling in the order. Chaos reigned two weeks ago after four of the top six teams lost, vaulting three new members into the AP's top four: Auburn, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. |
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