| Monday, December 1, 2014 |
| Criss Christmas concert at Mississippi State features brass, jazz and more Tuesday | |
 | A variety of holiday music is on tap for Tuesday at the Criss Christmas concert in historic Lee Hall on the Mississippi State University campus. The Starkville-MSU Symphony Association presents this free annual extravaganza featuring the Symphony Orchestra Brass at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge to attend, thanks to individual supporters, corporate and institutional contributors and grants. The Criss concert is sponsored each year by donations to the Symphony Association and the Lyceum Committee at MSU from the Criss Foundation. The event is a joint project of the Symphony Association and the Lyceum and has become a holiday tradition. |
| Work to force closure of Starkville streets | |
 | Starkville city leaders are warning residents about upcoming street closures related to the construction of the new municipal building. Meigs Street will be closed starting December 2 and will remain closed until the completion of the project. People attending First Methodist Church will still have access to the building. Starting December 15, Main Street will close from the intersection of Main Street and Washington Street to the intersection of West Main Street and the east entrance to the Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk's office. |
| Starkville aldermen likely to approve rezoning for industrial park | |
| Starkville could take another step toward breaking ground on a new industrial park as aldermen are expected to rezone about 326 acres of property near Highway 182 and Highway 25 for manufacturing usage. Along with county supervisors, city aldermen gave their support for issuing a combined $10 million in bonds next year to build the Innovation District, a 300-plus acre industrial park that will locate near the northwestern interchange. Tuesday's rezoning is a step toward fruition for the project since reclassifying the area for industrial use is mandatory before the Golden Triangle Development LINK can secure commitments from interested companies. |
| Christmas Parade slated for tonight | |
 | As a competitor on American Idol, Miss Mississippi, and a finalist in the Miss America Pageant, Columbus native Jasmine Murray has made several appearances on national television. But this holiday season, she's making a guest appearance on Starkville's own local television station, WOBV 5. This will be the 38th straight year that WOBV has broadcast the Starkville Christmas Parade, and it will be Melanie Hankins Booth's 23rd year hosting the broadcast. Murray is serving as the grand marshal for this year's parade, and Booth said when she nears the end of the downtown route, she will join Booth at WOBV's perch at First United Methodist Church. (Subscriber-only content.) |
| Nunnelee back on his feet after surgery | |
| Back in May of this year, U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee found out he had a mass in his brain the size of a golf ball. Nunnelee had surgery the following month to remove the mass, but during that surgery, he suffered a stroke. When he woke up from the operation, he couldn't talk or move his left side. "Now, I'm walking and I'm able to talk and communicate," Nunnelee said. In fact, he's doing so well, he has returned to work in Washington, D.C. |
| Attorney: Gay marriages should start soon in Mississippi | |
 | An attorney for two lesbian couples and a gay rights group says marriage licenses should be issued to same-sex couples in Mississippi in about 10 days. A federal judge threw out Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriages earlier this week but gave attorneys for the state about 10 days to appeal his ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorney General Jim Hood and Gov. Phil Bryant have signaled they are preparing those arguments. Hood says if the 5th Circuit doesn't rule in the case, Mississippi clerks may have to start issuing marriage licenses on Dec. 10 "in derogation of Mississippi's strong public policy favoring traditional marriages." |
| School budget proposition could get alternative | |
| Next November, voters will decide whether to amend the Mississippi Constitution to require the state to pay for "an adequate and efficient system of free public schools." It seems like a simple yes-or-no question, except that legislators could complicate the matter by putting a related, alternative proposal right next to it on the ballot. The proposed amendment is going to voters because it survived the initiative process. People working with a group called Better Schools, Better Jobs spent months gathering signatures from 121,691 registered voters --- more than the 107,216 signatures required. House Education Committee Chairman John Moore, R-Brandon, told The Associated Press this past week that legislative leaders have started talking in general terms about putting an alternative next to the education funding initiative on the 2015 ballot, but they haven't agreed on details. |
| Mississippi Capitol undergoing $8.3 million facelift | |
| The Mississippi Capitol is undergoing an $8.3 million restoration designed to help keep it in good working condition for generations to come. Crews have been working several months on the 111-year-old structure, and their efforts will continue even after the legislative session starts in January. "Anytime you have an old building, especially one of historical value, you have to do some work every now and then," said Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, who serves on the Public Property Committee. "It's important to keep your assets up." |
| The coming wave of anti-abortion laws | |
 | The big Republican gains in the November elections strengthened and enlarged the anti-abortion forces in the House and the Senate. But it's the GOP victories in the statehouses and governor's mansions that are priming the ground for another round of legal restrictions on abortion. Abortion rights advocates have had setbacks in the states for several years, with a surge of legislative activity since 2011. Republicans now hold two-thirds of the state legislative bodies, after winning control of 11 more chambers. Activists say they'll push on several fronts, seeking more restrictions in states that have already enacted laws, as well as initiating legislation in states where the GOP has now gained ground. |
| Giving Away Louisiana: Billions of dollars in tax incentives could pose danger to state's future | |
 | "Duck Dynasty" is the most popular show in the history of A&E. Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer. Valero is America's biggest independent refiner, earning $6 billion in profits last year. But despite all that success, they're all receiving generous subsidies from the taxpayers of Louisiana, through programs that funnel more than a billion dollars every year to coveted industries. Every time the Robertson clan films another episode of "Duck Dynasty," Louisiana is on the hook for nearly $330,000, at last count. Louisiana's giveaways to businesses, aimed at boosting economic development in what historically has been one of America's poorest states, have been growing at a much faster rate than the state's economy. |
| USM to hold annual Lighting the Way, Songfest | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi will usher in the holiday season with the annual Lighting the Way for the Holidays and Songfest celebrations this month. Lighting the Way for the Holidays is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday near the Lucas Administration Building on the south lawn of the Hattiesburg campus, while Songfest is set for 6 p.m. today at Reed Green Coliseum. Both events are free and open to the public. |
| ASU waiving out-of-state fees; Alcorn will offer flat tuition rate to students | |
 | Alcorn State is now the third university in Mississippi to waive out-of-state tuition for all students. "This is one key component of Alcorn's comprehensive enrollment management plan, which is centered around affordability and retention," said Alcorn President Alfred Rankins Jr. Vice President for Student Affairs Emanuel Barnes says the flat rate tuition will assist the university's recruiting strategies. |
| William Carey's Gulfport osteopathic medicine school a 'miracle of miracles' | |
 | In the midst of America's financial crisis, and with the Coast continuing to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina's beating, William Carey University found a way to raise $20 million for its College of Osteopathic Medicine. For years, WCU had entertained the idea of creating the state-of-the-art medical school but one after the other, each funding option fell through. With frustrations mounting and hope waning, WCU President Tommy King was stirred awake from a deep slumber at 2 a.m. in late 2007 "by a presence." The Lord, he said, revealed a plan just crazy enough to work. As soon as banks were open, King called a banker friend of his and pitched the idea. |
| Bissell named director of undergrad research at U. of Alabama | |
 | The University of Alabama has named College of Communication and Information Sciences' professor Kim Bissell director of UA's undergraduate research. Bissell is the associate dean for research in the college and director of the Institute for Communication & Information Research. Her new responsibilities include supervising the Emerging Scholars Program, in addition to new research initiatives with undergraduate students, according to a release from UA. |
| Schleyer, UGA professor and world-renowned chemist, passes away | |
 | A University of Georgia professor considered one of the most influential chemists of his generation recently died. Paul Schleyer, 85, didn't receive the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work, but should have, said Fritz Schaefer, a longtime friend and colleague in UGA's department of chemistry and at UGA's Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry. "He was a giant in chemistry," said Jon Amster, chairman of the UGA chemistry department. "He was world-renowned, and it was our good fortune to have him here." Though the Nobel may have eluded Schleyer, he wrote books with Nobel laureates, argued with them and influenced them. |
| A River of Booze: Inside One College Town's Uneasy Embrace of Drinking | |
 | The supplies are rolling. in. At 1 p.m. on a Thursday, three delivery trucks line College Avenue. Around the corner, five more clog East Clayton Street. In downtown Athens, the center lane belongs to those who bring the booze. Athens, home to the flagship university and some 120,000 people, could be almost anywhere. But here in Athens, everything is amplified. The temptations for young drinkers are plentiful, and the penalties can be severe. Enforcement is vigorous, and so, too, is the university's commitment to prevention. Alcohol is a big business in town, with costs and benefits. It's an uneasy equilibrium, with competing interests. |
| Longtime U. of South Carolina band director dies | |
 | James K. (Jim) Copenhaver, who led the University of South Carolina bands for more than 30 years and after his retirement gave a $1 million endowment to the school in 2012, has died at age 71. Copenhaver, who died Wednesday, directed the bands at USC from 1976 through 2010. On its website, the USC School of Music noted that Copenhaver "will be forever etched into the fabric of the USC School of Music. His commitment, recruitment of star students, dedicated education to all students, and intensive focus on making beautiful music were credited for making the USC band program respected around the country." At the ceremony marking his $1 million gift to the school in 2012, Copenhaver noted that the university music program was his life. "I've been married to my work all my life," he said. "I never got married. I don't have children." |
| Astronomy professor a bright star among Texas A&M faculty | |
 | Nick Suntzeff's professor profile on Texas A&M's website doesn't list his research awards. Among the accolades earned by the distinguished professor of physics and astronomy are Science magazine's "Scientific Breakthrough of the Year" in 1998 across all science disciplines, the 2007 Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and his co-founding of a team whose research led to the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics. It's by choice that he opts not to list these honors, so it comes as no surprise to those who know him that he'll likely leave his latest acknowledgement off: Earlier this month, he was among 50 other scientists to receive the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, which recognizes major insights into the deepest questions of the universe. It comes with a $3 million prize to be shared by the recipients. |
| Plan for campus repairs could open political scramble in Missouri over available funds | |
 | When Gov. Jay Nixon convened the Board of Public Buildings in October to authorize bonds for the long-deferred renovation of Lafferre Hall on the University of Missouri campus, he used new borrowing authority granted by lawmakers to finance the $38.5 million project included in this year's state budget. On a Nov. 21 visit to Springfield, Nixon announced he is ready to use the rest of the $200 million in borrowing authority to fund major maintenance and repair projects on other campuses. But unlike the Lafferre Hall project, divvying up the remaining funds might spark a political fight. |
| With increasing international enrollments, faculty grapple with implications for classrooms | |
 | As U.S. campuses have dramatically increased their international student populations in recent years, more and more faculty members are encountering a different demographic of student than they are used to -- or at least they're encountering that demographic more frequently. They're seeing more non-native speakers of English who in many cases are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with American classroom norms: participating in classroom discussions, asking the professor a question, engaging in group work. Plagiarism can be a problem, in part due to different citation practices in different countries. U.S. universities have long hosted large numbers of international students in their Ph.D. programs, but the recent increase in international students has been especially pronounced at the undergraduate level. |
| SID SALTER (OPINION): Reeves' same-sex ruling tied to 2004 amendment | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "So exactly what was the genesis of the hard-hitting ruling by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves that granted a preliminary injunction blocking Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriages? From a political standpoint, the Mississippi Legislature adopted sort of a belt-and-suspenders approach to the question of same-sex unions in 2003 by putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2004 that would ban same-sex marriage in this state -- a status that had already been illegal by statute in Mississippi since 1997. ...The irony from a political standpoint is the fact that the 2004 vote on the same-sex marriage ban was pushed as a way to increase conservative voter turnout. Now, the 'belt-and-suspenders' tactic is being used by gay marriage activists to drag Mississippi toward the same-sex marriage status recognized when the U.S. Supreme Court negated DOMA in 2013." |
SPORTS
| Starkville, Mississippi State's Hometown, Embraces the Nickname Stark Vegas | |
 | Mississippi State's profile has grown exponentially this fall, with several marquee wins, including over then-No. 2 Auburn and at Louisiana State. The team has been graced by two Sports Illustrated covers and a visit from ESPN's "College GameDay." Admission and housing applications are up "tremendously," John Dickerson, the interim executive director of enrollment, said. Athletic donations are up 35 percent, according to Scott Stricklin, the athletic director. The town, too, has received a marketing makeover. Formerly a place you might skip over on the map, it is now known by a popular moniker that rolls off the tongue even if you do not know quite what it means: Stark Vegas. |
| Mississippi State ends regular season ranked No. 10 | |
 | Mississippi State finished its best regular season one spot shy of its top AP finish. The Bulldogs won 10 regular season games for the first time in program history and finished 10th in the AP Poll. Mississippi State can still move up after this weekend's conference championship games occur. Mississippi State had spent eight-straight weeks within the top 4, including four weeks at No. 1. Mississippi State still one more game this season after ending the year with a 10-2 record. Bowls game selections will be released on Dec. 7. |
| Mississippi State, Ole Miss destined for quality bowl games | |
| Ole Miss lost three of its next four games after starting 7-0 and Mississippi State lost two of its final three games, but both teams will likely land on their feet when it comes to bowl bids. The Bulldogs (10-2) appear set to land in one of the four major bowl games outside the College Football Playoff. |
| Mississippi State women improve to 6-0 | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer received the fast start he wanted in his team's first road game of the season Saturday afternoon. No. 25 MSU scored 15 of the first 17 points and cruised to an 85-45 win at New Orleans behind 16 points from freshman Victoria Vivians and five players in double figures. With the win, MSU improved to 6-0. The Bulldogs have won 12 straight in the series against the Privateers. "I was proud of how we played in the second half," Schaefer said. "I thought the press was good. We forced 28 turnovers. We only had 11 of those in the first half, but we really came out and set a tempo." |
| With UAB football team threatened, hundreds of students, alumni respond with rally on campus | |
 | Amid concern over the fate of UAB's football program, hundreds of people rallied on campus Sunday night in support of the team - and in protest of the Board of Trustees. The concerns and upheaval of Sunday were worsened by the stark contrast to Saturday night, when some players were so excited about their victory they could hardly sleep, said Ty Long, a senior and a kicker on the team. "We're staying positive because we know what this program's about," Long said. The Blazers made history this weekend with a win on the road against Southern Miss that ensured bowl eligibility for the first time in a decade. |
| Renowned press box coming down with west side of Texas A&M's Kyle Field | |
| For 35 years, Alan Cannon has had what others describe as the best seat in Aggie Football -- the press box. While Kyle Field is known for hosting some of the largest and loudest fans, the press box high above the gridiron features a more tranquil atmosphere. There are no whoops. No boos. No claps. There is no room for the Spirit of Aggieland in a working press box. "I've actually asked the vice president of the university several years ago to relocate because he was cheering," said Cannon, Texas A&M's Associate athletic director of media relations. On Dec. 21, the press box and the rest of the west side of the stadium will come crumbling down when it is imploded to make way for the second phase of the $450 stadium redevelopment. The press will be relocated next season to a press box on the east side of the stadium. |
| U. of Florida denies coach media reports | |
 | It's a new month, and Florida will soon have a new football coach running its program. But as of Monday morning, the job has not been offered to anyone, according to a statement from the UAA. A few media outlets, citing sources, reported Sunday that Mississippi's Hugh Freeze and Colorado State's Jim McElwain were top candidates to replace Will Muschamp, who was fired Nov. 16. Sports Illustrated reported Freeze was on the short list of Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley, and SB Nation claimed the Ole Miss coach had an offer from the Gators with a base salary in excess of $4 million. UF refuted the latter report Monday. |
| Ohio State mourns apparent suicide of athlete plagued by concussions | |
 | To Kosta Karageorge, to lose was to fail and he hated failure. In the eighth grade, when he didn't make it to the state wrestling championship, he refused to wash from his hand the number designating his weight class. He wanted to memorialize his defeat so he would never forget what it felt like. On Sunday, the 22-year-old Ohio State University athlete, a top-rated wrestler and a walk-on football player, was found dead in a dumpster from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound days after he was reported missing, authorities said. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
