| Tuesday, December 9, 2014 |
| MSU Students Hold 'Die-In' Protest Against Police Brutality | |
 | Grand jury decisions to not indict police officers in the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases have lead to protests across the nation in recent weeks. Monday afternoon students at Mississippi State University held their own peaceful protest to bring awareness to police brutality. Students and community leaders gathered at MSU's Colvard Student Union, dressed in all black, holding a "die-in", to make a statement about injustice and police brutality. After the "die-in" the group marched from the MSU campus to the intersection of Highway 12 and Spring Street, holding signs and chanting. |
| MSU students hold protest over racial injustice | |
 | A text message was spreading around the Mississippi State campus on Sunday night and Monday morning. It's content was simple. Come and unite, and stand for change in a campus Die In. "It's for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, many of the African American individuals specifically men that have lost their lives," MSU student Jeannise Louine said. Die In participants laid on the ground for 15 minutes. Eleven minutes for every time Eric Garner said he couldn't breathe and four minutes for the four hours Michael Brown body laid on the ground after he was fatally shot. |
| Decisions Not to Indict in Deaths of Black Men Spark Activism on Campuses | |
 | Two grand juries' decisions not to indict white police officers who killed unarmed black men have galvanized students around the country, creating important teaching moments for law students on the streets of Ferguson, Mo., and calls by anthropologists and sociologists for nonviolent social action. The decisions not to bring charges against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., have prompted a flurry of "die-ins," among other forms of protests, and panel discussions led by black student unions and multicultural student groups. Their challenge, the organizers say, is to sustain the momentum after students, already focused on finals, leave for winter break. |
| Starkville downtown renovation projects soar | |
| Jeremy Tabor looks over landscaping plans, and he can't help but smile. The city is coming to the aid of those who invest in the restoration of downtown buildings. "The history of the downtown is really important to me," said Tabor. Tabor restored the old Borden Milk plant to what is now called Central Station. A building on Lafayette Street is his next project. "We feel like this building is going to be really exciting for the community," added Tabor. The 1910 structure is one of six on Lafayette Street to be renovated for a commercial business. The top will be condominiums. Combine that activity with construction on a new City Hall and a major project in the works by the First Baptist Church. The city is also discussing a three-phase project to improve sidewalks, landscaping and access for the disabled on Lafayette Street. |
| Union Church farmer McCormick wins Mississippi Farm Bureau presidency | |
 | Voting by county Farm Bureau delegates to the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting Monday ended with election of Mike McCormick, a 52-year-old cow-calf and timber farmer from Jefferson County, as the tenth president of the MFBF. McCormick, who raises cattle and timber on a 1,200-acre farm near Union Church , beat out incumbent Randy Knight for the 2-year term as head of the state's largest farm organization. Knight, operator of Pelahatchie cattle farm, served two consecutive terms. The Farm Bureau's highest honor, the MFBF Distinguished Service Award, went to Mississippi State University Extension Service Director Dr. Gary Jackson. |
| Bounds: NU has chance to be 'giant' in higher ed | |
 | Hank Bounds wants to be focused on what the future of higher education looks like. The second of four finalists who will interview to become the next University of Nebraska president, Bounds said public universities have to become drivers for economic development. NU, said Bounds, is in position to affect positive change for the state, country and world. The one-time state superintendent of education in Mississippi said Nebraska is moving ahead of the country in one area he feels will be a central focus of higher education in the future. "I wish that I could change, overnight, the preparation level that students receive in K-12," Bounds said. "That would immediately be a game-changer for Mississippi." Caroline, the 10-year-old daughter of Hank and Susie Bounds, is a big fan of Mississippi State University, which in a lot of ways is similar to UNL, Bounds said. |
| Medicaid remains pivotal question in state budget | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant chose to postpone addressing how to fund growing Medicaid costs in the budget proposal he released last month. Today, the Legislative Budget Committee, which consists of Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and other legislative leaders, will release its budget recommendation for the 2015 Legislature to consider. It is not clear how Medicaid will be addressed in the Budget Committee proposal, which has traditionally been used as a starting point for the entire Legislature when it meets in January to develop a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. "The Medicaid budget is a moving target, and I will work with the Legislature and Medicaid to support proper funding in the upcoming session," Bryant said. |
| Prisons chief: Mississippi prison could see changes | |
 | The temporary head of Mississippi's prison system told lawmakers Monday that he's trying to improve conditions at South Mississippi Correctional Institution, where workers have complained about long hours and low pay and have expressed concerns about their own safety because of short staffing. Interim Corrections Commissioner Rick McCarty told the House Corrections Committee that he will ask the Legislature during the 2015 session to consider increasing the salaries for guards, some of whom make about $22,000 a year. |
| Paul: Mississippi GOP reuniting after 'spirited' primary | |
| Mississippi Republicans are reuniting after a divisive party primary for the U.S. Senate, a potential 2016 presidential candidate said Monday. First-term Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was in Jackson to speak at a $250-per-person fundraising luncheon for the Mississippi Republican Party. During a news conference before the event at the Old Capitol Inn, Paul was asked about the division between establishment Republicans who supported the re-election of Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party Republicans who backed Cochran's unsuccessful primary challenger, state Sen. Chris McDaniel. Paul, a libertarian favorite, said he believes Mississippi Republicans were united by the November general election, when Cochran won a seventh term. |
| Rand Paul: Speaks out on Obama, war on drugs, police | |
 | Police shouldn't have bayonets and heavy military vehicles, the war on drugs "has gone a little overboard," and the officer in New York at whose hands Eric Garner died "probably shouldn't ...be a policeman any more," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said in Jackson on Monday. Paul of Kentucky, a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016, brought his libertarian-leaning messages to Mississippi Republicans at a fundraiser for the state party on Monday. Before the $250-a-plate luncheon, which was closed to the public and media, Paul held a press conference, joined by Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper and state GOP Chairman Joe Nosef. |
| State Sen. Horhn pleads no contest to DUI charge | |
| State Sen. John Horhn of Jackson says he has pleaded no contest to a drunken driving charge. The Democrat has been in the Legislature since 1993. His district includes parts of Hinds and Madison counties. WAPT-TV obtained a copy of an incident report written by the arresting officer, who said Horhn yelled: "Do you know who I am? You are going to lose your job." |
| U.S. Takes Security Precautions Overseas Ahead of CIA Report | |
 | The imminent release of a Senate report sharply critical of the Central Intelligence Agency's detention and interrogation program for foreign terrorism suspects, expected Tuesday, has triggered security alerts and reviews for U.S. personnel and facilities overseas, U.S. officials said. While many top CIA and former administration officials have defended the agency, critics and human-rights advocates have questioned the utility of methods they equate to torture. The report, compiled by the Senate intelligence committee, was completed two years ago, but its release has been delayed by conflicts between the committee and the CIA over its substance and issues relating to how officials handled it once it was finished. |
| Obama's measured approach to race is a letdown for some backers | |
 | Faced with the most racially charged period of his presidency, President Obama is grappling with the persistent tensions of his relationship with African American leaders and activists -- some of his most loyal supporters, but also the most ardent force pushing him to lead on civil rights. In the months since protests over the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., captured national attention, Obama has walked a careful line between empathizing with those outraged by what they see as police bias and avoiding any escalation of a debate that cuts along race lines. The measured approach from the first African American president has disappointed some, particularly the young people. But it has not surprised others. |
| Sources: FAA May Require Licenses To Fly Commercial Drones | |
 | Drones, drones, drones. Everybody wants one. Amazon, to deliver packages, Hollywood to shoot movie scenes, agriculture interests to monitor crops. And everyone is waiting for the FAA to issue regulations as to how commercial drones might be allowed to operate in the U.S. Those regulations are supposed to come out by the end of the month. The FAA has been struggling to write the rules for unmanned aircraft for several years. In 2012, Congress told the agency to get on with it and set a deadline for final regulations by September 2015. According to sources, the FAA is considering requiring operators of commercial drones to get a license; the drones could be flown only as far as the operator could see them, and only in daytime. That's a lot more restrictive than commercial groups want. |
| Ole Miss investigates Snapchat scandal | |
| Students at Ole Miss are talking about a group on the messaging app Snapchat. It's called olemiss_snaps. Student Tre Polk said, "Some of my friends were talking about it this weekend, and they just told me how crazy it was." The university says it is investigating. The photos many students are looking at on olemiss_snaps are of drugs and the name Ole Miss in the background. |
| New curriculum based on Mississippi Blues Trail | |
 | Teachers around the Pine Belt will be learning to teach students how the blues contributed to the state's history and cultural heritage during a Hattiesburg Arts Council development day event in January. Teachers will be introduced to the Mississippi Arts Commission's Mississippi Blues Trail Curriculum, which is already available free online. The curriculum explores Mississippi history through the Mississippi Blues Trail using an arts-integrated approach. Mark Malone, William Carey University music professor and coordinator of music education, co-authored the curriculum. "Many of our current children in the Magnolia State don't know anything about the blues," he said. "The Mississippi Blues Trail is a wonderful gift of heritage and tradition in terms of music, history, geography and humanity." |
| Alabama volleyball assistant coach charged with public intoxication | |
 | An assistant coach for the University of Alabama's volleyball team was charged with public intoxication early Sunday. Bryn Kehoe, 28 ,was charged with public intoxication around 12:40 p.m. Sunday, Sgt. Brent Blankley, a Tuscaloosa police spokesman said Monday. Bystanders flagged down officers who working in the University Strip area after seeing a woman fall on the street near the Shell Station. Officers located Kehoe walking near University Boulevard and Red Drew Avenue. "The female was staggering and swaying as she walked," Blankley said. "Officers observed that she was bleeding from her chin." |
| UGA student arrested for DUI hit-and-run, drug and firearm charges | |
 | University of Georgia police arrested a student Saturday on drug and firearm charges following a DUI hit-and-run accident in a dormitory building parking lot. UGA police said 19-year-old Alexander David Essig struck a car in the lot at Oglethorpe House off South Lumpkin Street at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday, severely damaging the other car and pushing it into a third vehicle that suffered lesser damages. Witnesses told police that Essig backed up from the wrecked cars and sped away. |
| U. of Kentucky hospital to open observation unit in hopes of reducing long ER waits | |
 | UKHealthCare will announce Tuesday that it is opening a 12-bed unit in University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital that is intended to help to reduce overcrowding in the emergency room and the number of patient readmissions. "It's the idea of getting the right patient into the right place," said Dr. Bernard Boulanger, chief medical officer. The 9,000-square-foot, $6 million observation unit will open Thursday and eventually expand to 24 beds. |
| Mark Hussey says he's staying out of search for Texas A&M's new president | |
 | As Mark Hussey closes in on the one-year mark as Texas A&M University's interim president, he said he's taking a hands-off approach to the search for his full-time replacement. Hussey spoke during Monday's faculty senate meeting at Rudder Tower, saying when former President R. Bowen Loftin resigned in January to become chancellor of the University of Missouri, Hussey only anticipated holding the position for seven months. He said he has removed himself from the search entirely the last four months. Hussey also said during his discussion that A&M's focus with a new leadership change will be on seeing the flagship campus, law school, Health Science Center and branch campuses as one university. |
| New leadership hopes to boost U. of Missouri's relationships with businesses | |
 | The University of Missouri Office of Research is poised to roll out a plan to boost private-sector research funding. When Hank Foley, the UM System's vice president for academic affairs, was appointed the senior vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at MU in March, he came in with a plan to bolster both federally and privately funded research. Foley rearranged his office, naming MU administrator Steve Wyatt as the university's new associate vice chancellor and vice provost for economic development. Foley's plan focuses in part on improving MU's status in the Association of American Universities. A key part of the plan involves fostering students' business ideas and promoting interaction with industry. |
| Video game development a growing industry in Missouri | |
 | Video game development is a growing industry in Missouri, as developers pop up in and move to the state. Direct employment in Missouri by video game developers increased by nearly three times between 2009 and 2012, from 99 jobs to 292, according to the Entertainment Software Association. Dale Musser, associate teaching professor and director of information technology at the University of Missouri, said he has noticed a resurgence of interest in the video game industry at the university. Enough interest has been shown that his department is bringing back a class, Introduction to Game Design, that was discontinued around 2009 because of a lack of faculty to teach it. |
| U. of Virginia Won't Lift Fraternity Ban Amid Furor Over Rape Story in Rolling Stone | |
 | In less than a week, the story of a brutal rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house has turned from a rallying cry against sexual assault on campus to the spine of a divisive political debate playing out on the now-predictable platforms of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. On Sunday, three national fraternity and sorority organizations called upon the University of Virginia to lift and apologize for its ban of Greek life activities, imposed after the furor surrounding a Rolling Stone article, whose accuracy is now in dispute after the magazine said its reporting was inadequate. Just as Congress prepares to address sexual assault on campuses and in the military with measures that have bipartisan support, Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader from Mississippi, a Republican, has been retained by a group of fraternities to lobby for them in Washington. |
| Meet the blogger who says he outed Rolling Stone's 'Jackie' | |
 | It's 7:30 p.m. on Monday night, and the day's most vilified blogger is driving somewhere in California, though he declines to specify where, and with whom. As he talks into the telephone, he confesses he feels targeted: He's recording the conversation. Someone has already hacked him that day. He's deluged with threats. His mom, he said, "is worried about me and worried about herself." This is Charles C. Johnson, the one-time Daily Caller contributor who just outed a woman he claims is Rolling Stone's "Jackie," publicizing what he claims is the real full name of the woman around whom the magazine built its flawed University of Virginia gang rape story. His formula for news seems to work something like this: home in on the most emotionally-charged story of the moment -- whether that's Ferguson or Eric Garner or campus rape -- and stake out the most divisive position possible, amassing allies and enemies in equal number. |
| Clemson fraternity suspends activity after party | |
| The Clemson University chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon has suspended all fraternity activities after what the school called "an inappropriate theme party organized by several members last weekend. Multiple media outlets reported that most of the chapter's officers have resigned after white students dressed as gang members at the "Cripmas party." The party sparked a widespread backlash on social media. Pictures on social media early Sunday showed Clemson students covering their faces with red and blue bandanas and wearing T-shirts with images of handcuffs and the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Clemson President Jim Clements said the party raised concerns about the campus racial climate. |
| Students, faculty don't always react quickly to emergency alerts | |
 | After a gunman opened fire at Florida State University's Strozier Library and injured three students in November, many praised the library's security system and the quick response of police officers, who shot and killed the assailant. Also earning praise from administrators and campus security experts were the actions of the roughly 300 students who were studying inside the library at the time. But students' responses to campus emergencies are not always so exemplary, especially when the sound of gunfire isn't prompting them. "I wouldn't make a general statement that students are not at all prepared," said Byron Piatt, emergency manager at the University of New Mexico. "But I would certainly feel a lot better if they took emergencies more seriously." |
| Millions of Student Records Sold in Bankruptcy Case | |
 | When the education technology company ConnectEDU Inc. sought protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law earlier this year, 20 million student records hung in the balance, raising many questions for educators and parents alike. What would happen to the data the company had amassed in its college- and career-ready technology platform for students from middle school through college? Who would own the records? How would they be secured? Because of the bankruptcy court proceedings, the action played out on a public stage, revealing a transfer that usually goes on in a more private way when one company purchases another and data change hands. |
| CHARLIE MITCHELL (OPINION): College football has become a growth industry in Mississippi | |
 | Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "If asked to name an overlooked economic force in Mississippi, an answer would be football. College football to be precise. Now that the season (except for bowls) has ended and it has become clear that Ole Miss will not meet Mississippi State in the first-ever national championship playoffs (which at least for a week or two loomed as an outside possibility), we can take our eyes off of the turf and peek into the cash register." |
SPORTS
| Mullen, Prescott headline Mississippi State's SEC Awards | |
| Dak Prescott wasn't born the last time a Mississippi State quarterback earned AP first-team All-SEC. The 21-year-old junior ended that drought on Monday. Prescott was one of a handful of Bulldogs that were named all-conference on Monday. His coach, Dan Mullen received AP SEC Coach of the Year. "There is no question in my mind that the job that Dan Mullen has done here at Mississippi State, he deserves every one of those awards," Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said. "He can't get enough credit for the unbelievable things that have happened in our football program under his leadership." The American Football Coaches Association named Mullen the 2014 Region 2 Coach of the Year earlier on Monday. |
| Mississippi State's Mullen coach of year; 7 state players on All-SEC first team | |
| Mississippi Mayhem extended to the Associated Press All-SEC team on Monday. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen was named coach of the year, and Ole Miss had five first-team selections and MSU two on the squad selected by AP media members who cover the league. Mullen was joined by MSU first-team selections in quarterback Dak Prescott and guard Ben Beckwith. Bulldogs tailback Josh Robinson was named to the All-SEC second team. Two defensive teammates joined him on the second team, linebacker Benardrick McKinney and end Preston Smith. |
| Mullen's success at Mississippi State should pay off | |
| Mississippi State director of athletics Scott Stricklin is hopeful he and head coach Dan Mullen will be able to come to an agreement on a contract extension. Mullen guided the Bulldogs to one of the best seasons in school history this fall and makes around $3 million under his current contract, which still has three years remaining. "We're 5-for-5 on extending him," Stricklin said. "I'm sure we'll make it 6-for-6. We've had some productive conversations. In Dan's defense, his focus has been on recruiting and bowl prep. But I'm optimistic that we can get that wrapped up pretty soon." |
| Dak Prescott's bid for Heisman Trophy falls short | |
| Dak Prescott's Heisman Trophy campaign officially ended Monday night. The organization announced their three finalists and Prescott wasn't one. Oregon's Marcus Mariota, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and Alabama's Amari Cooper received invites to attend the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City this weekend. At one point, Prescott was considered a front runner to win the Heisman Trophy. On Oct. 11, Prescott helped MSU complete a sweep of three-straight top-10 teams. Mississippi State was 6-0 and the No. 1 team in the country. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball climbs to No. 22 in AP poll | |
| Mississippi State's women's basketball team continued to climb the rankings. The Bulldogs ranked No. 22 in Monday's AP Poll. It's one spot higher than last week's ranking. The Southeastern Conference had six teams in the top 25, including South Carolina at No. 1. MSU is 8-0 after wins against North Dakota State and Southeastern Louisiana last week. Mississippi State hosts Louisiana Tech on Thursday at 7 p.m. |
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