Tuesday, December 16, 2014   
 
Mississippi State's Accreditation Reaffirmed by SACS for Another 10 Years
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has reaffirmed the accreditation for Mississippi State University for the next decade. MSU's reaffirmation came without recommendations for improvement from the commission. MSU President Mark E. Keenum, who in 2012 began serving a three-year term on the SACSCOC Executive Council, said he was "extremely pleased" with the reaffirmation and praised the university team that spearheaded the successful two-year SACSCOC review process.
 
OUR OPINION: Capital construction, growth spur universities' impacts
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal editorializes: "Capital construction projects totaling several hundred million dollars on the campuses of the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University created or will create hundreds of jobs with positive impact on the surrounding areas' economy. ...Economic impact of total construction either underway or completed during 2014 at Mississippi State is $443 million -- including Davis Wade Stadium, a new cafeteria facility, the Lee Hall restoration, the new classroom building/parking garage and several smaller projects, university spokesman Sid Salter said Monday. MSU Architect Tim Muzzi said that the state assigned economic impact at basically two times construction costs, Salter said. ...Better facilities at all levels help grow enrollment, which is another major annual impact."
 
Mississippi State department announces major archaeological find
Six official clay seals found by a Mississippi State University archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period. Jimmy Hardin, associate professor in the MSU Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, said these clay bullae were used to seal official correspondence in much the same way wax seals were used on official documents in later periods.
 
Mississippi State's Michael E. 'Mike' Brown recognized
Professor Michael E. "Mike" Brown, a Mississippi State University faculty member and alumnus who also is the state climatologist, has received a major honor from the National Weather Association. Brown of the geosciences department received NWA's 2014 Public Education Award for "providing significant contributions to increase the public's weather awareness." Brown coordinates the geosciences department's graduate program, and he is a specialist in land-surface-atmosphere interactions. Brown, who became Mississippi's official climatologist in 2012, works to provide the public with accurate information and critical expertise in the fields of climatology and meteorology.
 
Mississippi State's Hankins receives Farm Bureau award
Craig Hankins of Merigold is the recipient of the 2014 Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award for Region 1. He was recognized for his involvement in agriculture, his leadership ability and his involvement and participation in Farm Bureau and his community. Craig, who grew up on a family row crop farm and works as a Bolivar County Extension Agent for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, believes all major issues surrounding agriculture have to do with the need for education. He works hard to educate through his job and his community activities.
 
Community Bank taps Stephen Bass, an MSU alum, for Meridian main office
Stephen Bass has joined Community Bank in the Meridian main office. Bass was previously employed as a branch manager with a different area bank and has over nine years of experience in agriculture lending. A Liberty native, he is a graduate of Mississippi State University with a master's degree in agribusiness management.
 
Starkville man arrested for Oxford burglary
A Starkville man was jailed in Oxford after months of investigation into a burglary. Officers say Jamel Burrell-Karriem, 24, was arrested Thursday in connection with a home burglary that occurred on July 28. Upon speaking to witnesses, police say they were able to determine Burrell-Karriem was involved in the incident.
 
FBI, hacktivist group 'Anonymous' now involved in Jessica Chambers case
The eyes of the nation have been on Mississippi since the news broke about the tragic and gruesome burning death of Courtland teen Jessica Chambers. Chambers was found more than a week ago walking down Herron Road in Panola County with burns over 98 percent of her body. In addition to local, state, and national media, several law enforcement agencies are involved in the hunt for Chambers' killer. On Monday, Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said that in addition to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the US Marshals Service, the FBI is also assisting on the case. In recent days the crime has also sparked the interest of a group claiming to be the hacktivist group "Anonymous."
 
Former Miss America Mobley Collins buried in Ridgeland
Mary Ann Mobley Collins lived in California for decades while starring in movies with Elvis Presley and others, but her daughter said the former Miss America always felt most at home in her native Mississippi. More than 100 relatives, friends and admirers gathered at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson to remember the singer, actress and documentary filmmaker who died of breast cancer Dec. 9. She was 77. Brad Dye, a University of Mississippi friend who was lieutenant governor from 1980 to 1992, said Mobley brought pride to the state when she was crowned Miss America 1959. "When Mary Ann was selected Miss America, the state of Mississippi was at one of its lowest ebbs," said Dye, who stopped short of mentioning the state's strained race relations during segregation.
 
Thad Cochran to chair Appropriations Committee
Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran will once again chair the powerful Appropriations Committee when Republicans take control of the Senate next month, GOP leaders announced Monday. "We're just getting started,'' Cochran said last week about Republicans regaining the majority in the Senate. Cochran said everyone will be looking to see how the appropriations process works under GOP control. "I think it will make us a lot more careful and to ensure we don't waste money," he said. "We don't want to be embarrassed. So I think we're going to run a tight ship." During his re-election campaign, Republican leaders, including Gov. Phil Bryant, "made the case for Cochran, in part, based on his longstanding record of bringing the bacon back to Mississippi," said Rickey Hill, head of the political science department at Jackson State University.
 
Lt. Governor Tate Reeves involved in car accident
Lt. Governor Tate Reeves was involved in a vehicle accident in Collins, Miss., The Covington County Sheriff's Department said. The Collins Fire Department said Reeves and his security detail were traveling in a Ford F-150 when a vehicle pulled out in front of them near Woolwine Ford auto dealership, WDAM reported. Reeves was not injured in the wreck, but the two people in other vehicle suffered minor injuries.
 
What Happens When Your Drone Escapes
A computer that freezes might lose a document. A drone that malfunctions might fly away. As consumer drones take off, the burgeoning industry is struggling to overcome a problem known as "flyaways," when devices go rogue and fly off from their users. Drone makers say their devices can zoom off or drift away with the wind for a variety of reasons. Many incidents end with the devices barreling into buildings, trees or bodies of water. Flyaways are one of several safety risks that the drone industry and aviation officials are aiming to solve, including flights over crowds and conflicts with manned aircraft. Pilots already have reported dozens of cases in which drones flew too close to their aircraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration says the nation's air-traffic system isn't equipped to handle thousands of small devices buzzing around at low altitudes.
 
Stennis Space Center to house supercomputers
A private manufacturer will be sending to two supercomputers to the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County as part of a deal signed with the Department of Defense, according to a report at GeekWire.com. Seattle-based Cray Inc. announced on Monday a $30 million deal it has made with the Department of Defense High Performance Computer Modernization Program. Two Cray XC40 supercomputers and two Cray Sonexion storage systems will live at the U.S. Navy Resource Center at the Stennis Space Center. The computers will be used to study wave-model oceanography.
 
NASA's $349 million monument to its drift
In June, NASA finished work on a huge construction project here in Mississippi: a $349 million laboratory tower, designed to test a new rocket engine in a chamber that mimicked the vacuum of space. Then, NASA did something odd. As soon as the work was done, it shut the tower down. The project was officially "mothballed" -- closed up and left empty -- without ever being used. The reason for the shutdown: The new tower -- called the A-3 test stand -- was useless. Just as expected. The rocket program it was designed for had been canceled in 2010. But, at first, cautious NASA bureaucrats didn't want to stop the construction on their own authority. And then Congress -- at the urging of a senator from Mississippi -- swooped in and ordered the agency to finish the tower, no matter what. The empty tower in Mississippi is evidence of a breakdown at NASA.
 
MUW earns SACS 10-year reaffirmation
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has reaffirmed the accreditation of Mississippi University for Women for another 10 years. The decision represents years of planning by faculty and staff to document and demonstrate the university's compliance with regional and national standards of excellence. "This is an extremely rigorous process that looks at every aspect of the institution and requires extensive analysis and documentation," Dr. Jim Borsig, MUW president, said.
 
Scalia and Kagan praise each other at Ole Miss
One is a sharp-tongued, self-described "wise guy" originalist, who believes the Constitution means today what it meant when it was first written. The other is a diplomatic former Harvard Law School dean who believes there must be "flexibility" in interpreting the nation's governing document. Although they are often at odds with each other in written opinions, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan were full of warm praise for each other Monday, saying that their common ground often overrides their ideological differences on the nation's high court. "We have a really collegial court," Kagan told an audience of about 900 people at a forum organized by the University of Mississippi School of Law. Scalia, as is his style, put a sharper point on it.
 
High court's ideological opposites show mutual affection
The Supreme Court's most senior and junior justices are ideological opposites, but they agreed on nearly everything here Monday -- including the benefits of having an elite cadre of lawyers who dominate the court's docket. Justices Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan, hunting buddies who planned a duck hunting trip after speaking to nearly 1,000 people at the University of Mississippi School of Law, showered praise on each other and showed why they are among the court's wittiest speakers and writers.
 
Scalia, Kagan share UM stage
Antonin Scalia is the U.S. Supreme Court's most outspoken "originalist" while Elena Kagan is a former Harvard Law dean who argues for "flexibility" in interpreting the Constitution. The two associate justices, however, enlightened and delighted a full house Monday at the University of Mississippi's Ford Center with their perspectives, their wit and their obvious enjoyment in sharing the stage with each other. The occasion was the annual James McClure Memorial Lecture in Law, but rather than a literal lecture, the 90-minute presentation was a conversation. Scalia has visited Ole Miss in the past, but this was the first time two sitting Supreme Court justices have visited together.
 
Machen to be paid millions to advise U. of Florida trustees, new president
Bernie Machen will spend his post-presidency as a senior adviser to the University of Florida board of trustees and incoming President Kent Fuchs, raising money for endowed faculty positions and the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program that bears Machen's name. Machen, UF's 11th president, will earn $3.9 million during those five years, all of it paid by private money. The post-presidency contract, amended by the board of trustees by teleconference call Friday, is $390,000 more than the lifetime of the original contract terms, which envisioned Machen as a tenured professor of dentistry. Machen said he did not see himself back in the classroom.
 
Secret trials and confidential system: A look inside the inner workings of LSU's sexual misconduct policy
Louisiana's largest university has a confidential internal system for investigating claims of sexual assault and other crimes. The LSU sexual misconduct policy that was adopted before the fall semester says people who claim they have experienced criminal sexual misconduct are "strongly encouraged" to report the offense to campus police or local law enforcement, but there's no requirement that the claims are ever reported to authorities. If they choose instead to go through the university's quasi-judicial process, all parties -- including witnesses whom each side is allowed to bring forward -- must keep all of the details secret. Anyone who reveals information could face disciplinary action themselves, the policy notes.
 
Texas A&M, Brazos Transit looking to buy 20 new buses to get Aggies, A&M faculty to campus
Texas A&M Transportation Services and the Brazos Transit District are working together to buy 20 buses and enable A&M faculty and staff to get to campus easier. The A&M transit service, which is for students, gives 6.5 million rides per year, nearly a 40 percent increase from three years ago, said Peter Lang, the executive director for transportation services at A&M. The university has a fleet of 80 buses. But about 46 of the buses are about 12 years old and nearing the end of their service, Lang said. "We have two things," Lang said of the need for more buses. "The increased ridership and dealing with an aging fleet."
 
Jewish community in Aggieland coming together to celebrate Hanukkah
While many students at Texas A&M University are preparing for finals or heading home for the end of the semester, Aggieland's Jewish community is providing Jewish students chances to celebrate Hanukkah around their schedules. The three Jewish entities in the area have planned parties and menorah-lighting ceremonies over the next week in part to help serve the student population, since final exams started Friday and run through Wednesday. "This is why Hanukkah is complicated in the Brazos Valley," said David Toback, the president of the Congregation Beth Shalom in Bryan. "Hanukkah is coming basically during finals at the end of the school year, and the Brazos Valley is very A&M-centered, so it means that our activities are not going to typically run the way one would expect them to."
 
U. of Missouri System employees choose new health plan
Almost of half of eligible University of Missouri employees switched to a new health insurance plan that encourages them to use MU Health Care services. Betsy Rodriguez, vice president of human resources with the University of Missouri System, said during a presentation Thursday to the Board of Curators that 47 percent of the almost 13,000 eligible employees in Mid-Missouri chose the new plan. Enrollment ended Oct. 31. UM System employees who live in a nine-county area in Mid-Missouri had the choice of a new medical plan, called the custom network plan. UM System spokesman John Fougere said of those eligible for the custom network plan, 6,069 chose the new plan, 2,078 chose the Health Savings Plan, 3,798 chose the PPO plan and 885 waived coverage.
 
Chancellor to revitalize U. of Missouri Strategic Operating Plan committee
MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin said he plans to revitalize the MU Strategic Operating Plan committee after the start of the new year and appoint new faculty and administrators to fill existing vacancies. The committee will evaluate the plan twice per year. "(The plan) is never meant to be final," Loftin said. "It will be continuously evaluated." Three and a half years remain on a total of five fiscal years in MUSOP, MU's most recent version of the university's systemwide strategic planning process. "The thrust of the plan is to bring to Mizzou great students and enable them to be successful academically," MU spokesman Christian Basi said.
 
Big-Data Scientists Face Ethical Challenges After Facebook Study
Though it may not feel like it when you see the latest identity-affirming listicle shared by a friend on Facebook, we are a society moving toward evidence. Our world is ever more quantified, and with such data, flawed or not, the tools of science are more widely applied to our decisions. We can do more than observe our lives, the idea goes. We can experiment on them. No group lives that ethos more than the life-hacking coders of Silicon Valley. Last summer the technologists discovered how unaware everyone else was of this new world.
 
Presidents face scrutiny for involvement in events linked to police killings of black men
When protesters turned up at the student holiday party thrown by Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, she joined in (at least in part). The students wanted Penn to pay more to the City of Philadelphia for its public school system, which Gutmann declined to do, although she noted how much Penn does for the public schools. And the protesters wanted to stage a die-in, as many have been doing nationwide to draw attention to the way grand juries have declined to indict police officers who have killed unarmed black men. Gutmann joined the die-in, and got down on the floor to fully participate for several minutes. Not everyone on the Penn campus was pleased by her public stance.
 
Student deaths inspire new focus on mental health at Tulane
After the deaths this semester of five students, including three who apparently committed suicide, officials at Tulane University are working to get the Uptown campus talking about mental health. They also are trying to remove social barriers that may keep some students from seeking help as they adjust to college life. The spate of deaths at the campus of 13,500 students -- particularly of those who took their own lives -- is a stark reminder of the challenges college administrators face in trying to identify risk factors and warning signs for what's become the third-leading cause of death for young adults. Michele Many, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, said college students -- typically away from home for the first time -- can be especially vulnerable.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State safety Evans to start in Bulldogs' bowl game -- again
It's that time of the year. Finals are finished, the holiday season is in full swing, and Deontay Evans is preparing for a start. The sophomore has started just two games in his career. The safety will make a third for Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. His first-career start came in the Liberty Bowl last year. "(The) same thing happened last year, but I'm more mentally prepared and more mature," Evans said. "I can really handle the position right now." Last year, Evans started for Nickoe Whitley, who tore his ACL. This year, he'll play in place of Kendrick Market, who is out with a torn Achilles.
 
Orange Bowl: Similarities between linebackers at Mississippi State, Georgia Tech
Benardrick McKinney and P.J. Davis have a lot in common. Both were unheralded two-star recruits out of high school who escaped the attention of most major college football programs. Both have blossomed into all-conference players, McKinney as an All-Southeastern Conference middle linebacker at Mississippi State and Davis as an All-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker at Georgia Tech. Both will be the centers of attention in the Orange Bowl, when each player leads his defense into the Dec. 31 showdown between the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets. That's where the similarities end.
 
Dan Mullen hasn't had contact with Michigan
Dan Mullen confirmed to the Clarion-Ledger via text message Tuesday morning that he hasn't had any discussions regarding coaching positions at other schools. Mississippi State's sixth-year coach first told the school's reporter, Bob Carskadon, he's only spoken with athletic director Scott Stricklin regarding a coaching job. Mullen speaks with the media today after practice. Mullen's name has been tossed around as a potential fit at Michigan since the Wolverines fired their coach, Brady Hoke, on Dec. 2.
 
Boykin, Prescott could be 2015 Heisman favorites
Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota will likely take his game to the NFL next season. So who will be top candidates to win the Heisman in 2015? Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott. A Tebow-like power runner, Prescott spent a few weeks as the Heisman front-runner this fall before tailing off in November. He finished eighth Saturday. Like Boykin, he has another year of eligibility and is not likely to project as a high NFL pick. With one more game to play, Prescott can reach 1,000 yards rushing and 3,000 yards passing.
 
Cost of fan travel to bowl games for Mississippi State, Ole Miss
Local football fans have been expressing an interest in traveling to see Mississippi State or Ole Miss play in a New Year's Eve bowl game. "Last week, we got plenty of phone calls coming in wanting to know how much tickets were to South Florida," Global Travel agent Keisha Gholston said. Miami is where Mississippi State will play Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. The distance between Starkville and Miami amounts to an 1,800 mile roundtrip. "It's further travel, so people are more interested in flying to South Florida instead of driving to Atlanta," Gholston said.
 
Defense triggers No. 22 Mississippi State's victory against Southern Miss
The No. 22 Mississippi State women's basketball team delivered a defensive effort of historical proportions Sunday afternoon. MSU allowed a school-record eight points in the first half and set a new standard by allowing one field goal en route to a 73-46 victory against Southern Mississippi before a national television audience in the Reed Green Coliseum. "We had so much energy in the first half on the defensive end," MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. "We got out in the passing lanes and caused them a lot of problems. I loved our focus on that end. We have talked about how that is an area where we have to be better at. We were really great there on the defensive end in the first half."
 
Mississippi State women inch up to No. 21 in AP poll
South Carolina stays No. 1 in The Associated Press poll for the fourth straight week after a 62-point win in its lone game. Mississippi State moved up one spot this week, to No. 21. The Bulldogs (10-0) are coming off wins against Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss last week.
 
Ole Miss will bowl-in Vaught-Hemingway, increase capacity
Ole Miss' new north endzone will bowl-in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and increase capacity to the largest stadium in the state. Ole Miss announced concrete plans on Monday. Renderings had been released with the start of the Forward Together campaign in 2011 and again last year, but athletics director Ross Bjork said the current plan best fits the needs of the university while staying within what is possible financially. It's expected to be completed in time for the 2016 season, and will push capacity to 64,038.



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