| Tuesday, October 28, 2014 |
| Mississippi State Names Alumni Fellows | |
 | In announcing Monday its 2014 class of Alumni Fellows, the Mississippi State University Alumni Association also is marking the 25th anniversary of the annual special recognition program. Established in 1989, the fellows program seeks to spotlight the 136-year-old land-grant institution's most distinguished graduates by showcasing their talents and accomplishments to current students. "We are proud to welcome some of Mississippi State's most accomplished alumni as our Silver Anniversary fellows group," said Jeff Davis, the alumni association's executive director. "Each of these individuals brings a wealth of experience in their fields to share with students and faculty across the university." |
| Rush Health Systems gives insight on health hiring | |
 | Donnie Smith, vice president of human resources and public relations for Rush Health Systems, shared with business students at MSU-Meridian what businesses and healthcare recruiters are looking for when hiring. Smith spoke to the healthcare systems class late Monday afternoon upon the invitation of professor George White. MSU-Meridian began offering an healthcare administration degree in 2009. |
| Reshoring business in Mississippi workshop | |
 | Bringing jobs back to the Magnolia state -- that's the goal of a Mississippi Make it in America workshop, which will be hosted in Indianola this week. The free Reshoring Opportunities workshop will take place on Oct. 30 at the Capps Center in Indianola. The event host, the Mississippi Make it in America team, includes Mississippi State University, InnovateMEP Mississippi, the Mississippi Development Authority, the Reshoring Initiative, Itawamba Community College, East Mississippi Community College, Mississippi Delta Community College, Holmes Community College, the Three Rivers Planning and Development District and the South Delta Planning and Development District. |
| Pearl River Community College Honors Students Working with Mississippi State on Project | |
 | Students in Pearl River Community College's Honors Institute are teaming up with graduate students from Mississippi State University for the Environmental Protection Agency's Campus RainWorks Challenge. The PRCC students hosted the MSU students Oct. 22 to make their plans and tour the campus. "This is a great opportunity for our students to work on a project that could benefit our campus," said Stephen Black, PRCC Honors Institute director. Three teams will enter the challenge. Each team will include landscape architect and graphic design or engineering students from MSU and PRCC Honors students. Two will design improvements to sites on the PRCC campus and one will put together a campus master plan, said Cory Gallo, MSU assistant professor of landscape architecture. |
| Attorneys for death row inmate Manning argue before Mississippi Supreme Court that key witness lied | |
 | Lawyers for a Mississippi death row inmate told state Supreme Court justices Monday that he deserves a new trial because evidence that defense lawyers did not obtain the first time shows that a key state witness lied Willie Jerome Manning is appealing an Oktibbeha County judge's denial of his post-conviction challenges. Manning came within hours of being put to death last year on separate charges before the state high court halted it. Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the 1993 slayings of 90-year-old Emmoline Jimmerson and her daughter, 60-year-old Alberta Jordan. Police and prosecutors say the women were beaten and had their throats slashed. They were killed during a robbery attempt at their Starkville apartment. |
| Mississippi bans guardrails amid questions | |
 | The Mississippi Department of Transportation has banned the use of highway and bridge guardrails that were the subject of a whistle-blower lawsuit in Texas. Mississippi joined six states that have banned the ET-Plus. Spokesman Jarrod Ravencraft said the agency is putting together an inventory of exactly where the railheads are. A railhead is a flat piece of steel at the front of a guardrail that is meant to slide along the rail on impact. Critics say the heads are dangerous because they could impale drivers. Spending records show Mississippi has paid Trinity Highway Products -- a subsidiary of Trinity Industries -- $1.2 million the past 10 years. |
| State of Mississippi suing architects over new public health lab | |
| The state is suing architects and designers of a new Public Health Lab, saying the $28 million lab wasn't up to containing deadly diseases, biohazards and chemicals. Redesign and retrofitting caused a two-year delay in the Department of Health moving into the new lab, the state claims, which it did so only recently. The lab was supposed to have been completed in 2012. The state is suing Dale Partners Architects, Earl Walls Associates (also known as X-nth Inc), Eldridge and Associates and Environmental Management Plus. Dale Partners hired the other firms as subcontractors. "The estimated damages are $3 million," said attorney Dorsey Carson, who is serving as a special assistant attorney general representing the state. |
| Mississippi Phosphates in Pascagoula files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | |
 | Mississippi Phosphates Corp., a 200-employee diammonium phosphate fertilizer manufacturer in east Jackson County, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The fertilizer manufacturer curtailed production of DAP late last week due to a shortage in raw materials, representatives said in a news release. It did, however, continue most of its operations -- sulfuric acid operations, ammonia terminal operations, dock and port operations and all environmental systems, controls and monitoring -- without interruption. To date, leaders said, there have been no layoffs or employee furloughs. |
| BlueFire may get $270M to help build Fulton ethanol plant | |
 | Five years after plans for construction were announced, BlueFire Renewables ethanol plant here may finally be built. The California-based company recently reached an agreement to get as much as $270 million from China's Export Import Bank to finish building its cellulosic-ethanol plant in Fulton. That project was first announced in 2009. The company said the $300 million plant would eventually employ 70-80 people and produce up to 19 million gallons of ethanol from green and wood wastes. Site development was completed in June 2011, but there has been little progress since. With its new financing expected to be complete by the first half of next year, BlueFire hopes to begin its long-promised construction soon after. |
| Forum in Tupelo highlights school underfunding | |
| Mississippi schools face larger class sizes and aging infrastructure because of cuts to state funding, school leaders said on Monday. The superintendents of the Tupelo, Lee County and Nettleton school districts were among the speakers at the Mississippi Association of Educators' "Strengthen Our Schools" event at Tupelo City Hall. It focused on the impact underfunding has had on Mississippi schools. Monday's event was co-sponsored by Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton and the Tupelo Association of Educators. "Our public education system is an economic development tool," Shelton said. Speakers also touted Better Schools, Better Jobs, an effort to get voters to pass a constitutional amendment that could ensure full funding. |
| Childers vows not to vote for Reid as leader | |
| Democrat Travis Childers of Booneville said Monday he "absolutely would not" vote for Harry Reid to continue as Senate majority leader. Childers, challenging six-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in the Nov. 4 general election, said during a 45-minute interview with the Daily Journal editorial board he would vote for a Democrat, but not current Majority Leader Reid, a Nevada senator who has held the post since 2007. "Let me make this clear -- Harry Reid needs to go and (Senate Republican Leader) Mitch McConnell needs to go," said Childers. Childers, a heavy underdog, addressed a litany of issues Monday. |
| Six candidates vie for U.S. House District 4 seat | |
 | Five candidates are challenging Republican Steven Palazzo's Mississippi 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nov. 4 general election. Democrat Matt Moore; independents Cindy Burleson and Ed Reich; Reform Party opponent Eli "Sarge" Jackson; and the Libertarian Party's Joey Robinson have all thrown their hats in the ring to challenge the two-term incumbent Palazzo. In the 2010 general election, Palazzo unseated 11-term Rep. Gene Taylor to claim the seat. On June 3, he defeated Taylor again to snag the Republican nomination. Palazzo said he wants to return to Washington, D.C., to continue to right what he sees as the wrongs of President Barack Obama's administration. |
| Poll: Midterm momentum belongs to GOP | |
 | Republicans enter the final week of the midterm campaign holding higher ground than the Democrats, aided by public dissatisfaction with President Obama's leadership, with the overall direction of the country and with the federal government's ability to deal with major problems, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Driving attitudes is a pervasive sense of a country in trouble. Overwhelming majorities say the country is badly off-track and give the economy negative ratings. Economic expectations are little better today than they were at this time four years ago. |
| Two Governors' Shifts on Ebola Are Criticized as Politics, Not Science | |
 | Shifting stances and a lack of clear standards from the governors of New York and New Jersey over their Ebola quarantine policy left critics and even some allies questioning on Monday whether the two men had fully worked through the details before they announced it. By Monday, the White House, the United Nations secretary general and civil-liberties groups, with varying degrees of anger, were accusing Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo of putting politics ahead of science, at the risk of deterring health care workers needed to treat the disease at its origin in Africa. The governors share not only a border but also a combativeness and a special relationship, which comes across as a nonaggression pact, if not an outright alliance. |
| Hacking Trail Leads to Russia, Experts Say | |
 | Earlier this year, investigators for Silicon Valley security company FireEye Inc. visited a U.S. firm to determine who, and what, sneaked into the firm's network harboring military secrets. There they found what they call a sophisticated cyberweapon, able to evade detection and hop between computers walled off from the Internet. The spy tool was programmed on Russian-language machines and built during working hours in Moscow. FireEye's conclusion, in a report to be released Tuesday: The cyberspying has a "government sponsor---specifically, a government based in Moscow." Collectively, the new research offers evidence supporting a view long expressed privately by U.S. officials and American security researchers: Moscow commands the A-team of Internet adversaries. |
| Science pace picks up as the clock ticks down on the International Space Station's life | |
 | The International Space Station is scheduled to shut down in 2024 -- just 10 years from now -- and scientists inside and outside NASA are working feverishly to get the most from what could be the last large space laboratory for the foreseeable future. "We're feeling it, these (science controllers) are feeling it, the number of hours the crew puts in per week managing the portfolio, yes," a science controller at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville said Monday when asked if the pace has picked up. A NASA study says the station could function safely until 2028 but, for now, the authorized lifespan is 10 more years. That's a fairly short time for the complex research NASA needs to solve the challenges of surviving in space for the two or three years a Mars mission would take. |
| Is 'Leaning In' The Only Formula For Women's Success In Science? | |
 | Don't wait to be invited or encouraged to make a career in science, engineering or technology, Frances Arnold advises the young women she teaches at the California Institute of Technology. If you're a scientist, she says, you should know how to solve a problem. "Bemoaning your fate is not going to solve the problem," she says. "One has to move forward." An award-winning biochemical engineer, and professor and researcher at Caltech for 28 years, Arnold grew up in Pittsburgh and studied engineering at Princeton University only a few years after the college began admitting women. Her father helped build one of the world's first commercial nuclear reactors; when Arnold got her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley she, too, had big ambitions from the start. |
| Southern Baptists laud marriage, only not for gays | |
 | Southern Baptists have railed against the idea of same-sex marriage since it entered mainstream American culture, believing it goes against God's will and serves as a sign of the nation's collapsing morality. Speaker after speaker at an April summit -- the first in modern Southern Baptist history solely devoted to the topic of sex -- repeated the theme of homosexuality's innate wrongness. This week, straight people are getting just as much attention and maybe more. About 1,300 pastors, Christian educators and other interested Baptists are packing "The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage," a conference presented by the denomination's policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. It continues through Wednesday at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. |
| Apple CEO Tim Cook criticizes home state Alabama on gay rights | |
| Alabama was too slow to guarantee the rights of minorities during the civil rights era, and now it's too slow to ensure the rights of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Monday in challenging his home state to change course. Cook's comments came as he, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and UA President Judy Bonner and five others were inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, which recognizes living state natives for their contributions. Speaking at the Capitol in the chamber where the state voted to secede from the Union in 1861, Cook said Alabama and the nation "have a long way to go" before realizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality. |
| Newbery Medal winner speaks about dreams, gifts and memories | |
 | Lois Lowry, two-time Newbery Medalist and author of both "The Giver" and "Number the Stars" along with many others, spoke Thursday night of how our dreams and memories make us who we are. "Dreams and memories are two things that completely fascinate me. They are the only things that are completely our own," said Lowry as she spoke to a full room at the Cambridge Public Library in Clarksdale. This was part of the 2014 Community Book Talks lecture series, is collaboration with the Coahoma County Higher Education Center, and a partnership between Delta State University and Coahoma Community College. |
| Fewer than half of U. of Alabama students are from Alabama | |
 | Alabamians represent 49 percent of the fall enrollment at the University of Alabama, with roughly 51 percent of students on campus coming from outside the borders of the state, according to official demographic data released Monday. This fall, 49 percent of total student enrollment of 36,155 on campus is Alabamians. Of the out-of-state students, 46 percent come from elsewhere in the U.S., and 5 percent are international students from 77 different countries. UA has 30,754 undergraduates, 4,870 graduate students and 531 professional students. Enrollment increased by 3.7 percent over the enrollment in the fall of 2013 of 34,852. UA President Judy Bonner said the influx of nonresident students would not "take spaces away from qualified Alabamians" in comments in September when the fall enrollment was first announced. |
| Louisiana has cut $459 million in higher ed funding since 2008, report finds | |
 | Cuts to state funding for higher education in Louisiana rank among the highest in the country since the 2008 recession, according to a revelatory new report by the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning public research and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2012, Louisiana cut its annual higher ed budget by more than $459 million, a decrease of 28 percent. Only South Carolina (30.39 percent) and Arizona (32.25 percent) saw a larger change in total state funding for public colleges and universities, the report said. n an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bobby Jindal's office called the findings "ridiculous." |
| UGA will soon name new VP, two new deans as administrative faces change under Morehead | |
 | The University of Georgia will soon have another new vice president and two new deans as the face of UGA administration continues to change under President Jere Morehead. Even before Morehead took office nearly 16 months ago, he was UGA's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and played a major role in picking new UGA administrators. Finalists to become dean of the UGA law school and dean of the graduate school visited the campus last month to give public presentations. Current law school Dean Rebecca White is stepping down after more than a decade. Graduate school dean Maureen Grasso returned to her home state to become dean of North Carolina State's graduate school. Four finalists to replace Laura Jolly as vice president for instruction are visiting campus this month and next. |
| U. of Kentucky's 'pizza district' to get a new resident: Blaze Pizza | |
 | The pizza is being slung hot and thick on what Fayette County property valuation administrator David O'Neill has dubbed "Pie Street" -- the area within a minute's walk of the intersection of Pine and Jersey streets. You also might call it the Pizza District. Blaze Pizza, a chain of quick-artisanal pizza restaurants based in Pasadena, Calif., is coming to 341 South Limestone in 2015. Blaze Pizzas are cooked three minutes in ovens with dome temperatures upward of 900 degrees Fahrenheit and oven floor temperatures of 600 to 800 degrees. The pizza chain will join fellow pie purveyors Goodfellas, Mellow Mushroom, Pazzo's Pizza Pub and Joe Bologna's in the area near the University of Kentucky. |
| Texas A&M officials holding forum on tuition plans | |
 | Texas A&M tuition and fee plans for the 2015-2016 academic year will be unveiled at a forum Tuesday. The forum is set for 2 p.m. in Rudder Tower Room 301 and administrators will discuss proposed tuition plans with students, faculty and staff members. University spokeswoman Sherylon Carroll said an open forum is the traditional way to introduce the tuition proposal to students and get feedback. A date for the Texas A&M System Board of Regents to vote on the plan will also be set. Several students said Monday that they would not be in favor of a tuition increase, but weren't interested in attending the forum. |
| Texas A&M's new head of chemistry plans to reform curriculum, increase graduation rates | |
| Francois P. Gabbai, who was appointed earlier this month as head of Texas A&M's Department of Chemistry, recently outlined his vision and priorities, including creating new concentration areas for undergraduates, reforming the graduate curriculum and setting milestones to accelerate average graduation rates. When he spoke last week to the College of Science's External Advisory and Development Council, Gabbai detailed how he'd like to enhance department-wide dialogue and efforts toward technology commercialization. Gabbai -- who was appointed by H. Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science -- is widely regarded as one of the world's top experts in the diverse field of main group chemistry. |
| Competency-based education arrives at three major public institutions in Big Ten | |
 | Competency-based education is going upmarket. Three brand-name, Big Ten-affiliated institutions are now offering degrees in this emerging form of higher education. Yet the new programs at the University of Michigan, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin System are not aimed at the vast numbers of undergraduates who come to those campuses for the traditional college experience. They are narrow in scope, experimental and not all that sexy. A common thread with the three institutions' experiments, university officials said, is that they seek to focus more on what students know and can do rather than how much time they spend in class. |
| Efforts Build to Track School Climate for LGBT Students | |
 | Advocates say many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students have negative experiences in schools. In addition to bullying, they are disciplined at higher rates than their peers, they say. But without consistent, reliable national data about LGBT students, researchers have struggled to prove the extent of the problem or to track the effectiveness of educators' efforts to address it. Federal survey measures that track school climate issues such as peer victimization and disparate discipline rates don't include questions about the sexual orientation or gender identity of students. The next versions of three federal surveys will add new questions related to LGBT students, providing a clearer picture of their experiences. But those surveys will still lack the granular detail about LGBT students that they provide about other student groups. |
| BENNIE THOMPSON (OPINION): National Cybersecurity Awareness Month an opportunity to educate and protect | |
 | Mississippi's Second District Congressman Bennie Thompson writes for The Hill: "October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Most Americans are constantly connected to cyberspace in one way or another. From surfing the worldwide web to storing electronic records, most Americans have a footprint in cyberspace. Simply stated---online systems are part of our daily lives. ...Effective cyber protection depends on strong private sector cooperation, leadership, and accountability to focus on our nation's most pressing cyber vulnerabilities, protecting critical infrastructure systems in our country. ...Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and no one approach can protect us completely. Public and private partners must join together in helping protect our nation's cyber infrastructure." |
| SLIM SMITH (OPINION): Prison stories have ring of truth | |
 | The Dispatch's Slim Smith writes: "I have been reading with great interest the reporting of the Clarion-Ledger's Jerry Mitchell on the conditions of prisons in Mississippi. Mitchell, who has built a reputation as the state's foremost investigative reporter, has painted a grim portrait of life behind bars in the state, a portrait so disturbing that Mississippi Department of Corrections director Christopher Epps felt obliged to respond to the claims. ... While I cannot vouch for the accuracy of Mitchell's reporting, I will say that many of the conditions he describe are consistent with my own prison experience, especially when it comes to the power inmates hold over day-to-day life inside the prison walls. Regular readers will recall previous columns where I noted that I had spent four months in the Arizona Department of Correction in 2007 for aggravated DUI." |
| CHARLIE MITCHELL (OPINION): Robin Hood would be pleased with hunting and fishing amendment | |
 | Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "Robin Hood would be proud. The nonconformist of Nottingham -- who 800 years ago attracted the attention of the shire reeve (or sheriff) for harvesting royal deer (among other trespasses) -- would smile upon Mississippians who stand ready, all these years later, to vote on making hunting and fishing a fundamental right of the people. ...hanks to state Rep. Lester "Bubba" Carpenter, R-Burnsville, the resolution for which he was lead legislative sponsor will be put to the people for a thumbs up. ...If the amendment passes in Mississippi (and it will), the Legislature will still have the power to set seasons, control limits and enact all the game laws it wants to enact. It could even outlaw trapping. But no total bans. Not now, not ever." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State expects to be among top 4 in CFP poll | |
| The College Football Playoff Selection Committee releases their first-ever rankings at 6:30 p.m. today. As the No. 1 team in the country, Mississippi State should represent one of the top four spots. Someone will have to inform Bulldogs' coach, Dan Mullen. He won't be watching. "If the playoffs were next week, I'd definitely be watching," Mullen said. "But since they don't start for quite a long time, I don't know. I might be having dinner." The 12-person committee met Monday to discuss the rankings. Today marks the first of seven polls the committee will release. "Our focus is beating Arkansas (on Saturday)," Mullen said. "That's coach talk, but to me, as soon as you start thinking about more than the next play, more than the next opponent, to get past that, you're not going to be very successful." |
| Not satisfied: No. 1 Bulldogs pursue defensive improvement | |
| Mississippi State might be the top-ranked team in the country but its defense ranks last in the Southeastern Conference and is 122nd out of 125 teams nationally against the pass. Despite the statistical shortcomings, the Bulldogs' defense has fared well in the red zone. MSU has the No. 1 red zone defense in the nation allowing only 14 scores in 23 trips. Opponents have scored eight touchdowns (four rushing, four passing) and kicked six field goals inside the 20-yard line. |
| No. 1 Bulldogs face tough rushing attack in Arkansas | |
| Following a 45-31 win at Kentucky, top-ranked MSU returns home to host Arkansas. While the Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0) are one of the top offenses in the country, Mullen acknowledged some offensive miscues against Kentucky but said his team responded well when facing adversity. "You're not always going to feel good,'' Mullen said. "Things aren't always going to go your way during the course of the game. When you have some maturity, which we have in our program, when those things start to happen, guys don't worry that much about it." |
| Mississippi State's Mullen gives Arkansas high praise | |
| When Mississippi State wrapped up its 45-31 victory over Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington, the Bulldogs walked off the field with a slice of school history in tow. Not only did the Bulldogs successfully defend their No. 1 ranking, given two weeks ago by the USA Today Coaches Poll and Associated Press Top 25, but MSU also won its 10th straight game, good for the second-longest streak in program history and the longest under current head coach Dan Mullen. This Saturday, the Bulldogs will meet the team that started the streak. |
| Mississippi State keeping the 'Mississippi Magic' alive; Rebs meet 'Meltdown Bo' | |
| And then there was one all alone atop the Southeastern Conference. With Mississippi State's 45-31 victory at Kentucky, the Bulldogs remain the only unbeaten team in the SEC heading into the most important ranking of the season. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will unveil its top four teams in the country Tuesday night and conventional wisdom says Mississippi State and Florida State are in. A win Saturday night in Death Valley would probably have secured Ole Miss a spot in the top four, but the late meltdown likely has the No. 7 Rebels on the outside looking in. |
| Prescott, Mississippi State healthy heading into Arkansas | |
| Mississippi State left Kentucky without any major injuries, Dan Mullen said on Monday. Quarterback Dak Prescott raised questions t when he showed up to Saturday's postgame press conference in a boot. The junior called it precautionary. His coach echoed that. "We want to get an investment in the walking boots. We've got about 30 different guys, some have them on both feet," Mullen said. "This time of the season, it's more of a fashion statement." |
| Bulldogs rake in weekly honors | |
| Two days after helping No. 1 Mississippi State remain undefeated with a 45-31 road win at Kentucky, a pair of Bulldogs earned honors from the Southeastern Conference Monday night for their performances in Lexington. Junior tailback Josh Robinson, who rushed for a career-high 198 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, was named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week while fifth-year senior Kaleb Eulls, who led MSU's defensive attack with two sacks of Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles, was named the league's Defensive Lineman of the Week. Already named a Midseason All-American by ESPN.com, Mississippi State linebacker Benardrick McKinney added another accolade on Monday morning, as the MSU junior was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top linebacker. |
| Mississippi State's Lewis back to return punts | |
| Mississippi State's Jameon Lewis missed both the Texas A&M and Auburn games due to a right leg injury. The senior wideout returned last weekend in a start against Kentucky but was not targeted and played only minimal reps. Redshirt freshman Gabe Myles once again played most of the snaps in the slot. Lewis "is desperate to get back on the field," said MSU coach Dan Mullen. |
| Second-half surge lifts No. 1 Mississippi State past Kentucky | |
| Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen admits he didn't give his best halftime speech Saturday before his team went on to defeat Kentucky 45-31 at Commonwealth Stadium. Then again, he didn't have to. Instead, Mullen said he had to get the team together midway through its first game as the No. 1 team in the country to eliminate lingering jitters. "Everybody expects some great, dramatic second-half speech," Mullen said. "I just stood in the front of the locker room and gathered the guys up, then I said, 'Everybody take a deep breath.' That's what the whole team did. Once we got that out of the way, I said, 'Now let's go play football.'" The result, following a first half in which MSU led 17-10, was a second-half effort that lifted the Bulldogs to their 10th-consecutive victory, and seventh straight to open the season. |
| Grant looks for strong finish to Mississippi State career | |
| Technically, Kendra Grant's shooting form ranks with the best players in the Southeastern Conference. As Mississippi State women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer puts it, Grant has a "pro shot," or one that has the potential to help her earn a living playing basketball in the United States or overseas. Despite having a sweet stroke, Grant enters her senior season with a career shooting percentage under 40 percent from the field. And one season removed from seeing her minutes decrease by nearly 13 minutes a game, you get the sense Grant wants to add something to her game that she hopes will help her and the Bulldogs have a season to remember. |
| LSU fined $5,000 for fans storming onto the field after victory over Ole Miss | |
 | LSU was fined $5,000 on Monday by the Southeastern Conference for fans rushing the field after Saturday's upset win over then-No. 3 Ole Miss. This was LSU's first violation of the policy, which bans fans from entering the competition area, since it went into effect in 2004. A second violation would cost the school $25,000, and a third and subsequent violations would be a $50,000 penalty. "While we understand the excitement and enthusiasm that are produced by a victory, it must be emphasized that significant risk of injury for student-athletes and fans alike can result from incidents such as these," SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement. LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva said after the game that he did not mind the expected fine from the SEC. LSU's athletic budget is $109 million. |
| UGA halts Gurley merchandise entrepreneurs | |
 | The party's over for "Free Gurley" merchandise sales. University of Georgia officials and the Collegiate Licensing Company, the school's licensing agent, have sent out cease and desist letters to at least five individuals regarding the use of "marks in (Todd) Gurley's name," according to Alan Thomas, UGA's associate athletic director for external operations. Within the a recent 10-day period, the university issued another 15-plus cease and desist letters to address trademark infringements. When it comes to trademark infringement, Georgia has a substantial legal case against anyone using an unlicensed trademark. |
| Judge to hear two experts in Vanderbilt rape case before jury | |
| Two expert witnesses will be allowed to attend the Vanderbilt University rape trial next week. But whether the jury will hear them has not been decided. Judge Monte D. Watkins ruled Monday that two defense experts deserve to be heard without the jury present so that he can determine what, if any, of their testimony should be included in the case. The Davidson County District Attorney had asked the judge to block the two witnesses on grounds that they became part of the case too close to trial and that their testimony might not be reliable. The judge also found Monday that a live video stream that allowed the victim to watch a hearing from outside of the courtroom did not violate court procedures. |
| NCAA's Graduation Rates Don't Necessarily Prove Success | |
 | College athletes are serious students, the National Collegiate Athletic Association says. And every year, it offers up numbers to make its case. Last year, the association reported that 82 percent of Division I athletes had graduated within a recent six-year period, up from 74 percent a decade before. Last year's data also showed that a record proportion of football players from major conferences completed college in that time. New NCAA "graduation success rates" are expected to be released this week. But how accurately do they reflect the academic performance of players? The NCAA says its figures may actually underestimate how many students complete college. But some researchers say the data can be easily manipulated and don't fully account for dropouts. |
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