Wednesday, October 29, 2014   
 
West Point students learn rocket science from Mississippi State's Space Cowboys
Rocket science was the main subject being taught at West Point Central Middle School Tuesday. The students took time before school let out to learn about what it's like to be a rocket scientist. A member of Mississippi State University's Space Cowboys Rocket Team wanted to get the students interested in a career in science, technology, engineering or math. He says that America depends on this generation to keep it moving forward. "These fields are what is driving America," said Space Cowboy member Jacob Frady.
 
MSU Expert Offers Tips on Violence Misconceptions, Solutions
Following reports of several National Football League stars allegedly hitting their partners, many U.S. media have focused even more closely on intimate partner violence during the October observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, every minute in the U.S., close to 20 people -- nearly half of whom are college-aged women 18-24 -- become victims of physical violence by loved ones. However, one leading U.S. authority in stalking research is sharing her wealth of knowledge to address common misconceptions about the perpetrators and the victims. Colleen Sinclair, research fellow at the Mississippi State University Social Science Research Center, also offers suggestions about how friends, family, loved ones and even the victims themselves can become part of the solution.
 
Robert Earl Keen to perform at MSU Riley Center
Robert Earl Keen has recorded 18 full-length albums, and his songs have also been covered by artists from the country, folk, and Texas country music scenes including George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, and the Dixie Chicks. Keen wrote poetry while he was in high school, but it wasn't until he went to journalism school at musically fertile Texas A&M that he learned to play the guitar. Considered a patriarch of Americana music, Keen will perform his unique brand of musical storytelling at the MSU Riley Center in downtown Meridian on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Students Get Competitive Over the Egg Bowl of Reading
Students across the state are taking part in a contest that help them read their way to the Egg Bowl. As WCBI's Allie Martin reports, the contest is being taken very seriously by some fierce competitors at one Northeast Mississippi school. For this contest, called "Be A Champion and Read," New Albany Middle School students, faculty and staff choose a team. "I'm an Ole Miss fan" "I'm for Mississippi State." Then they get down to business, reading as many books as they can and earning points in the process. If students read at least six books, they are entered into a drawing for Egg Bowl tickets.
 
Mississippi public pension system shows improved results
With stock market gains replacing steep losses in the accounting ledger, Mississippi's main public employee pension fund posted stronger results last year. The unfunded accrued liability, the amount of money that the system is short of being fully funded, fell last year for the first time in at least a decade, from $15 billion to $14.4 billion. PERS Executive Director Pat Robertson said the improvement supports the argument that the pension system can reduce its shortfall with time. "I think it means that as we've indicated in the past, that time and patience will help get us back on the right path," she said. "Our focus is long-term and our investments on a long-term basis will sustain the plan." The pension plan includes 161,360 active contributors and 93,504 retirees.
 
Oktibbeha County's comprehensive plan nearing completion
Oktibbeha County supervisors will wait at least a month before taking action on their long-awaited and often-delayed comprehensive plan in an effort to yield more public discussion on the matter. The board heard an update on the document Monday from Mike Slaughter, of the Oxford-based Slaughter and Associates, who said the guiding document for future growth is completely written, but supervisors tabled its passage, instead opting to publish it for county constituents in order to draw more feedback. Officials will place an electronic version of the plan on the county's website -- www.oktibbehacountyms.org -- and provide hard copies of the document at the county's administrative home within the Oktibbeha County Courthouse Annex.
 
Starkville armed robbery prompts two arrests
Two Greenwood men were booked in the Oktibbeha County jail for an armed robbery at The Pointe Apartments. Deputies report Tyrone Weaver, 19, and Jacarian Tidwell, 21, were arrested after an investigation into the armed robbery that took place Monday. Investigators say Weaver and Tidwell each face one charge of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
 
Kemper County power plant price tag tops $6.1 billion as costs climb again, start-up delayed
Southern Co. says it will cost at least another $496 million to finish the power plant it's building in eastern Mississippi's Kemper County, pushing the total cost above $6.1 billion. And, unlike other recent overruns, customers could have to pay $167 million of the charges if regulators agree. The Atlanta-based parent of Mississippi Power Co. pushed back the completion date for Kemper from June 2015 to at least March 2016, and said further delays beyond that would cost $20 million to $30 million a month. "We absolutely continue to feel that this is in the best interest of our customers and the state of Mississippi," Mississippi Power President Ed Holland said in a phone interview.
 
Bryant brings Mississippi Works tour to Hattiesburg
On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Bryant stopped by the Trent Lott Center on the University of Southern Mississippi campus to address the state's economy, workforce training and economic development efforts. It was the fourth stop in the Republican's Mississippi Works Tour, which is scheduled for seven cities over the next few months. "What you will see today is some information and ideas that are seldom seen," Bryant told the crowd of about 100. "They will encourage you, and they will be enlightening. And you will leave here being very proud of where Mississippi is at. You'll say, 'I never heard that,' or 'I didn't know that.' And that's why we're out here showing you these things." Bryant first discussed the growth of the state's economy, which in 2012 totaled more than $100 billion for the first time. Southern Miss President Rodney Bennett applauded the team efforts of the ADP in both university and state growth.
 
Lawmakers express views on education before session
All eyes turned to education Tuesday as the Lee County Library hosted a forum of Mississippi lawmakers who shared their vision for the state's schools before heading into the 2015 legislative session. A three-person panel posed questions to the six representatives: House Education Chairman John Moore, R-Brandon, Senate Education Chairman Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, and four lawmakers who represent parts of Lee County -- Sens. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, and Russell Jolly, D-Houston, as well as Reps. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville and Randy Boyd, R-Mantachie. Part of the discussion centered around the newly implemented Common Core standards and their future. None of the lawmakers expected major changes to the standards.
 
Childers places priority on public education
Senate candidate Travis Childers sat down with the Daily Leader in an effort to share his plans for the U.S. Senate as a representative of Mississippi with Lincoln County residents. Much of his focus dwelled on education and employment in the state and their combined efforts to advance the betterment of the state. "It's time to do something different," Childers said. "I'm a huge proponent of public education."
 
Childers pitches familiar stands to friendly crowd in Ocean Springs
Travis Childers spoke to a friendly crowd of about 50 Democrats on Tuesday morning at Phoenicia Gourmet Restaurant. He drew applause for his support of equal pay for equal work and an increase in the minimum wage and a few chortles when he gigged Congress for its anemic work schedule. He poked fun at U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's refusal to debate and a statement to a Jackson TV reporter that "'(Childers) just wants me to help draw a crowd.' "Ladies and gentlemen," Childers said. "You have a much bigger crowd here than he had in Jackson."
 
McDaniel still in conversations one week before Senate race
Four months have passed since state Senator Chris McDaniel lost to incumbent United States Senator Thad Cochran in what has been called a nasty Republican primary runoff, yet McDaniel's name still appears in conversations surrounding next week's general election. "There's a lot of talk going around right now about Republicans, what's going on right now in November, and, of course, the Supreme Court challenge," said Jones County Republicans chairman Lew Yoder. "I think and I hope, I believe, people will support Senator Cochran."
 
Carroll Waller, wife of ex-governor, dies
Former Mississippi first lady Carroll Waller, who led efforts to restore the Governor's Mansion when her husband was in office, has died at age 87. Her family said she died Tuesday at Manhattan Nursing Home in Jackson after a lengthy bout with Alzheimer's disease. Services are 2 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Jackson Bill Waller Sr. was governor from 1972-76, serving as a Democrat but later campaigning for Republicans. Carroll Waller and University of Mississippi historian David Sansing co-wrote "The History of the Mississippi Governor's Mansion," which helped raise money to restore the badly deteriorated structure and to add formal gardens around the home that had opened in 1842. The Wallers lived in the mansion only a few months after it reopened following the $2.7 million restoration.
 
Mississippi, Burned: How the poorest, sickest state got left behind by Obamacare
The first year of the Affordable Care Act was, by almost every measure, an unmitigated disaster in Mississippi. In a state stricken by diabetes, heart disease, obesity and the highest mortality rate in the nation, President Barack Obama's landmark health care law has barely registered, leaving the country's poorest and most segregated state trapped in a severe and intractable health care crisis. "There are wide swaths of Mississippi where the Affordable Care Act is not a reality," Conner Reeves, who led Obamacare enrollment at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said. Of the nearly 300,000 people who could have gained coverage in Mississippi in the first year of enrollment, just 61,494 -- some 20 percent -- did so. When all was said and done, Mississippi would be the only state in the union where the percentage of uninsured residents has gone up, not down. Why has the law been such a flop in a state that had so much to gain from it?
 
Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General
Attorneys general are now the object of aggressive pursuit by lobbyists and lawyers who use campaign contributions, personal appeals at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and other means to push them to drop investigations, change policies, negotiate favorable settlements or pressure federal regulators, an investigation by The New York Times has found. A robust industry of lobbyists and lawyers has blossomed as attorneys general have joined to conduct multistate investigations and pushed into areas as diverse as securities fraud and Internet crimes. But unlike the lobbying rules covering other elected officials, there are few revolving-door restrictions or disclosure requirements governing state attorneys general, who serve as "the people's lawyers" by protecting consumers and individual citizens.
 
U.S. Beefs Up Security At Some Federal Buildings
The United States is beefing up security at some federal installations across the country, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. In a statement, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said it would not detail the changes because they were "law-enforcement sensitive." But, he said, the new measures will enhance Federal Protective Service presence and security at government buildings in D.C. and across the country. The Federal Protective Service is in charge of guarding 9,500 federal facilities across the U.S.
 
Hackers breach some White House computers
Hackers thought to be working for the Russian government breached the unclassified White House computer networks in recent weeks, sources said, resulting in temporary disruptions to some services while cybersecurity teams worked to contain the intrusion. White House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said that the intruders did not damage any of the systems and that, to date, there is no evidence the classified network was hacked. Recent reports by security firms have identified cyber-­espionage campaigns by Russian hackers thought to be working for the government. Targets have included NATO, the Ukrainian government and U.S. defense contractors. Russia is regarded by U.S. officials as being in the top tier of states with cyber-capabilities.
 
Ole Miss gets $20M grant, will build science facility
The University of Mississippi will expand "Science Row" with a new facility seeded by a $20 million grant from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation. Announced Tuesday, the grant launches a university-led campaign to raise the full $100 million needed for the new building. The building will house various disciplines and is tentatively scheduled for completion by the fall of 2018. Additional money will come from private donations, state and federal funding and internally generated cash, according to a press release.
 
Suspect charged in attempted kidnapping of U. of Alabama student
A man accused of trying to kidnap a University of Alabama student as she walked home from campus last week said he was innocent as investigators led to jail in handcuffs Tuesday night. Gabriel Dorsette Sealey, 32, is accused of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and third-degree assault in connection with the Oct. 22 incident on 10th Avenue. "We're confident that he is the right person and that we have brought this to a close," Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Sgt. Dale Phillips said. "We've got a really good case. The people can rest assured that this individual is off the streets."
 
WISE Fund plans for Louisiana universities move forward
LSU is preparing to add tenure-track faculty positions in computer science, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, kinesiology and other fields. Southern University at New Orleans will beef up its computer information systems program with lab upgrades and assistantships to help students pay for books and tuition. Similarly, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will provide dozens of new scholarships for students in computer science, engineering and nursing. Plans for how Louisiana's colleges and universities will tap into and use $40 million the Legislature put into a new workforce-targeted competitive pool of money this year are starting to come together. "The point of this is to keep the ball moving," Board of Regents Chairman Clinton "Bubba" Rasberry said.
 
Texas A&M eyes tuition hike in bid to keep pace with growth
Texas A&M presented a tuition increase plan Tuesday at a public tuition and fee hearing that will help the university keep up with its expanding student population, address inflation and improve the school's transportation system. Vice President for Finance and Administration Dr. Jerry Strawser's proposal Tuesday to a room of students, faculty and administrators for a 1.93 percent tuition increase and a $2.32 increase in the University Advancement Fee for the 2015-2016 academic year will be voted on by the Texas A&M Board of Regents when it meets on Nov. 6-7. The proposed increases would raise costs from the current $9,242 semester price tag to $9,490 and will only be applied to next year's incoming freshmen, transfer and graduate students.
 
Second U. of Missouri provost candidate to visit campus
A second candidate for the University of Missouri provost position is coming to campus. John Wiencek, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, will speak and field questions from faculty, staff and students at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Stotler Lounge III on the first floor of the north wing of Memorial Student Union. Wiencek has served as interim provost since May after Virginia Commonwealth's former provost, Beverly Warren, was chosen to be president of Kent State University. Before his appointment, Wiencek was the professor and senior vice provost for administration and strategic initiatives and a professor in the Virginia Commonwealth Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering since August 2013.
 
Yakov Smirnoff to visit U. of Missouri classes for sitcom research
Branson showman Yakov Smirnoff is coming to the University of Missouri, but this time it's for personal research rather than laughs. Sometime in the next few weeks, Smirnoff is scheduled to sit in on classes related to relationships -- particularly classes focused on intimate relationships -- to gain some additional perspective for a sitcom under development. "Happily Ever Laughter" has been in the works since March, Smirnoff said. He is working with the Carsey Werner Co. -- which produced shows such as "The Cosby Show," "That '70s Show" and "Roseanne" -- and director Jay Sandrich, who directed episodes of "The Cosby Show" and the "Mary Tyler Moore Show," among others. The script is being polished now, Smirnoff said. The sitcom focuses on Smirnoff, a Midwestern comedian, college professor and a marriage counselor.
 
NPR's Audie Cornish preaches the power of interviews at U. of Missouri appearance
To National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" host Audie Cornish, interviewing a subject is like talking to somebody on a plane. "You're stuck with them for a while," she said. "You want it to go well, but you don't know them. You have to establish rapport." In front of a jam-packed Fred Smith Forum at the Reynolds Journalism Institute on Tuesday morning, Cornish dissected her strategies for interviewing subjects and guiding conversations, especially for radio. Cornish, who has hosted "All Things Considered" since 2012, is in town to receive one of seven Missouri Honor Medals for Distinguished Service in Journalism being awarded this year by the Missouri School of Journalism.
 
Colleges Are Tracking When Students Work Out at Rec Centers
UCLA discovered its recreation center drew 43,734 unique visitors last year, or almost 5,000 more than its student enrollment. Purdue University discovered students who worked out more often had higher GPAs. That is some of the research colleges are mining amid criticism of a building boom of gyms with rock-climbing walls and specialty swimming pools. Working to justify their expenditures, schools are tracking student habits and changing their programming based on their findings. While previous generations of college students might have mixed in the occasional softball game amid test cramming and late-night pizza, the current one has grown up amid a fitness and wellness boom.
 
Dartmouth and Stanford Apologize After a Political-Science Experiment Gone Wrong
A joint letter from the presidents of Stanford University and Dartmouth College will be sent to nearly 100,000 Montana voters to apologize for an experiment by three political-science professors at the two institutions. The letter comes after voters and state officials objected to a mailer, sent by the professors, that featured the state's official seal and offered information about the political leanings of candidates for the state's Supreme Court as part of an attempt to see whether such information would alter how Montanans voted. The experiment has been condemned by other researchers in the field as unwise and perhaps unethical. The episode is an embarrassment to the two universities, both of which say they are investigating exactly what happened.
 
CURTIS WILKIE (OPINION): Why Mississippi Hates Washington
Curtis Wilkie, a fellow at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the University of Mississippi, writes for Politico: "To hear the cries of many conservatives in Mississippi, one would think this country's greatest enemy is not the Islamic State, but the federal government. Lately, many conservatives in my home state have been expending their energy fighting various provisions of the Affordable Care Act, resisting gun control, objecting to Department of Education guidelines for local schools, opposing national immigration reform, frowning upon gay rights and doggedly refusing to recognize government-granted abortion rights. What explains Mississippi's -- and much of the South's -- abiding antipathy toward Washington? In a way, it's in their genes."
 
BOBBY HARRISON (OPINION): McDaniel cast his lot with unenforceable law
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "At the heart of Chris McDaniel's attempted legal challenge of his election loss to incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran is a section of law that states a person should not vote in a party primary election unless that voter intends to support the party's nominee in the general election. McDaniel filed his election challenge on numerous grounds, but in reality his primary complaint was that he and his supporters were upset that Cochran apparently convinced people who normally vote in the Democratic primary to participate in the June 24 Republican runoff, giving Cochran a narrow margin of victory. Of course, that issue will not be litigated... McDaniel is chairman of the state Senate Elections Committee. It will be interesting to see if he tries to amend the code section in the 2015 legislative session."
 
SID SALTER (OPINION): Senate race will test how voters value seniority
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "...a week out from the Nov. 4 general election, the choices facing Mississippi voters haven't changed dramatically over the long, strange course of this campaign. If the GOP retakes control of the U.S. Senate, Cochran will again become chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. ...Mississippians have a long and undeniable history of protecting congressional seniority. ...Some strong voices in the current Mississippi political arena have castigated the value of congressional seniority of late. But other voices have been just as resolute that congressional seniority is like electricity -- easy to take for granted until you don't have it."


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State Leads College Football Playoff Committee's First Rankings
The College Football Playoff selection committee revealed its first set of rankings Tuesday night, placing Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Mississippi as its top four teams, in that order. The 12-person committee met Monday and Tuesday in a conference room at the Gaylord Texan hotel near Dallas to debate the merits of each team and then determine its top 25. The top four teams when the final rankings are released on Dec. 7 will gain entry into the inaugural playoff. In an interview on ESPN minutes after the rankings were released, Jeff Long, the committee's chairman and Arkansas's athletic director, stressed that the members looked at teams' complete body of work. Mississippi State, which has quality wins against Auburn and at L.S.U., is a relatively uncontroversial No. 1 pick.
 
College Football Playoff: Mississippi State tops first rankings issued by committee
Mississippi State University, a longstanding football underdog that last won a Southeastern Conference title in 1941 when it went by the name "Mississippi State College," became an enchanting trivia answer on Tuesday night. Bucking long-established football hierarchy, the Bulldogs became the first team ranked No. 1 by the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee, which issued its findings after two days of data study and secret-balloting at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Mississippi State joined No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Ole Miss in the crucial top four positions.
 
Mississippi State No. 1 in first CFB Playoff Rankings
Mississippi State has carried a No. 1 ranking for the last three weeks in the AP and coaches poll. Tuesday, it earned the top spot in the only poll that matters. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its rankings of the top 25 teams Tuesday night. Mississippi State stood atop the list. The ranking means if the season ended today Mississippi State would play No. 4 Ole Miss in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl. No. 2 Florida State would play No. 3 Auburn at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The winners from each game would play for the national championship in Dallas on Jan. 12. But the season doesn't end today. The Bulldogs still have five games remaining on its schedule, including four in the Southeastern Conference.
 
Mississippi State tops initial ranking from College Football Playoff committee
An incredible season of firsts continues for Mississippi State's football program. The latest came Tuesday night, when the College Football Playoff Committee released its initial Top 25 rankings. Sitting on top of the committee's inaugural rankings, much like it has I the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll, was Mississippi State. The Bulldogs, who earned their first-ever No. 1 ranking in program history three weeks ago, continued to build on that momentum with the release of the College Football Playoff Rankings, the first of eight weekly installments before the final ranking, to be released on Dec. 7, reveals the four teams that will take part in the first College Football Playoff.
 
Dak's 'fashion' statement: 'I'l be ready to play'
Dak Prescott followed the lead of his coach when the quarterback appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter on Tuesday. When asked about the boot he wore after Mississippi State's win against Kentucky on Saturday, Prescott said he wore it for 'fashion' reasons. "I'm wearing the walking boot for fashion," Prescott told ESPN's Chris McKendry. "Really, nothing there. Nothing serious. Nothing to worry about." MSU coach Dan Mullen told reporters Monday that more than a few Mississippi State players were in boots. It all meant nothing.
 
Robinson brings fun to the Mississippi State backfield
No member of Mississippi State's unbeaten football team gets a reaction quite like Josh Robinson. Ask any teammate or MSU coach about the wise-cracking, fun-loving, tackle-shedding, ankle-breaking running back, and the reactions are usually priceless. There are grins, nodding heads, shoulder shrugs. There are blank looks, hearty laughs, momentary pauses. No one has quite figured out a way to describe MSU's 5-foot-9, 210-pound dynamo of a running back, but perhaps it's MSU quarterback Dak Prescott, who teams with Robinson to form the SEC's best 1-2 rushing combination, who gets closest.
 
Mullen throws confidence behind special-teamers Graham, Cooke
Dak Prescott's Heisman momentum, Preston Smith hoarding of SEC defense player of the week awards and a flawless record have masked Mississippi State's deficiencies on special teams. The Bulldogs' 7-0 record has them atop the polls, including the College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday night. But special teams remain an issue.
 
RICK CLEVELAND (OPINIOIN): Mississippi State's Prescott front-runner for Conerly Trophy
Mississippi syndicated sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "There exist so many other not just merely good -- but really great -- players in this Mississippi football season gone berserk. But now more than halfway through the season, Dak Prescott, the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy also would appear the candidate-to-beat for the Conerly. Every Heisman Trophy poll leading into last weekend showed Prescott as the clear leader. Stands to reason if you are the leading candidate for the best player in the nation you are also the leading candidate for best player in Mississippi."
 
LOGAN LOWERY (OPINION): Mississippi State's Eulls a hero on and off the field
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Logan Lowery writes: "Kaleb Eulls doesn't get the spotlight on Mississippi State's defensive line very often. That's usually because Eulls is tasked with the dirty work of drawing double teams inside to free up stars like Preston Smith and Chris Jones to go make tackles. But this week, Eulls' efforts were recognized by the Southeastern Conference as the league's Defensive Lineman of the Week. The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder tied a season-high with five tackles against Kentucky including a career-best two sacks. Dan Mullen was asked after the game about Eulls' performance. The sixth-year MSU coach became emotional and fought back tears when describing how much Eulls meant to him."
 
Flying drones near stadiums could end in jail time
Operators who fly drones or model planes near or over large sports stadiums and auto racetracks are breaking the law and can be fined and imprisoned for up to a year, the Federal Aviation Administration warned in a notice posted on the agency's website. The notice marks the first time the FAA has sought to criminalize the use of drones and model planes, attorneys representing drone users said. Kenneth Quinn, a former FAA general council who represents several clients concerned about the agency's drone-related regulations, said sports team have expressed concern to the FAA that drones will be used to photograph or record games, diminishing the value of the teams' contracts with television networks. He said there is also concern they might crash into spectators.
 
Suspension of UGA's Todd Gurley extended 2 more games by NCAA
Georgia star tailback Todd Gurley must sit out two more games as punishment for accepting money from memorabilia dealers, the NCAA has ruled. UGA plans to appeal the decision, which came NCAA's reinstatement committee late Tuesday afternoon. UGA and NCAA officials have declined comment. The NCAA determined that Gurley must sit a total of four games -- or 30 percent of the season -- for accepting more than $3,000 in cash from multiple individuals for autographed memorabilia and other items over two years, according to the NCAA's news release on the case. Gurley also will be required repay a portion of the money received to a charity of his choice and complete 40 hours of community service as additional conditions for his reinstatement.
 
Not guilty pleas entered for four U. of Kentucky football players charged in air pistol case
A lawyer for four University of Kentucky football players entered not guilty pleas to charges of second-degree disorderly conduct for a game of "manhunt" that sent the school into an uproar. Jim Lowry appeared on behalf of the players -- Dorian Baker, Drew Barker, Tymere Dubose and Stanley Williams -- Tuesday afternoon in Fayette District Court for an arraignment. Lowry entered the pleas, and the judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 4. The charges stem from an incident on Sept. 28, when UK officials issued an alert about 10 p.m. after receiving a report of shots fired in the Kirwan-Blanding area. According to court documents, the players admitted that they and some other people were playing a game of "manhunt."
 
Colleges' Shift on Four-Year Scholarships Reflects Players' Growing Power
Earlier this month, the Big Ten announced that it would become the first conference to guarantee its athletic scholarships for four years, a change from the widely followed practice of offering a single-year scholarship that can be renewed. Effective immediately, the Big Ten will ensure that none of its recruited athletes -- in any sport -- can lose their financial aid because of injury, poor play or coaches' judgment. As the N.C.A.A. continues to navigate a series of lawsuits aimed at amateurism, an effort to unionize and a vocal chorus of critics, the scholarship -- which usually covers tuition, books, and room and board -- has long provided a window into the complicated relationship between players and their coaches and universities.
 
Graduation rates for athletes hit record high
College athletes are graduating at record rates, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced Tuesday. Eight-four percent of Division I athletes who entered college in 2007 graduated within six years, according to the NCAA's most recent Graduation Success Rate data, an increase of two percentage points from last year. Football players in the Football Bowl Subdivision -- the NCAA's highest competitive level -- graduated at a 75 percent rate, a 4 percentage point increase and an all-time high for the FBS. The NCAA credits the higher rates to ongoing academic reforms, including creating long-term Academic Performance Program penalties. Critics continue to be skeptical of the GSR, however.



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